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1782 in music

Events

 * March 17 – Violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti makes his début at the Concert Spirituel in Paris.
 * August 4 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constanze Weber in Vienna.
 * September 30 – The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm is inaugurated with a performance of Johann Gottlieb Naumann's Cora och Alonzo.
 * William Shield is appointed resident composer to Covent Garden.
 * Antoine Bournonville and his sister Julie Alix de la Fay join the Royal Swedish Ballet at Stockholm.

Published popular music

 * James Aird (compiled and edited) – A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs (including "The Miners of Wicklow", possibly the first published version of "Yankee Doodle")
 * Robert Burns – John Barleycorn (original version from 16th century)

Classical music

 * Ludwig van Beethoven
 * 9 Variations on a March by Dressler, WoO 63
 * Schilderung eines Mädchen, WoO 107
 * Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Benda – 3 Flute Concertos, Op. 4
 * Luigi Boccherini
 * Symphony in D major, Op. 35 no 1/G 509
 * Symphony in E-flat major, Op 35 no 2/G 510
 * Symphony in A major, Op. 35 no 3/G 511
 * Symphony in F major, Op. 35 no 4/G 512
 * Symphony in E-flat major, Op. 35 no 5/G 513
 * Giuseppe Maria Cambini – Seconde et nouvelle suite de simphonies concertantes à plusieurs instruments
 * Muzio Clementi
 * 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 7
 * 3 Piano Sonatas, Op. 8
 * François Joseph Gossec – Hymne à la Liberté, RH 628
 * Joseph Haydn
 * Symphony No. 73 in D "La chasse"
 * Symphony No. 77 in B-flat major, Hob.I:77
 * Symphony No.78 in C minor, Hob.I:78
 * Divertimento in B-flat major, Hob.II:46 (authorship is disputed)
 * Keyboard Concerto in G major, Hob.XVIII:4
 * Keyboard Concerto in D major, Hob.XVIII:11
 * Mass in C major, Hob.XXII:8 "Mariazellermesse"
 * Michael Haydn – Divertimento in D major, MH 319
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * Symphony No. 35 in D "Haffner", K. 385
 * String Quartet in G, K. 387, No. 14
 * Fantasia in D minor, K.397/385g
 * Suite in C major, K.399/385i
 * Violin Sonata in C major, K.403/385c
 * Adagio in F major, K.410/484d
 * Emanuel Johann Gottfried Pässler – Sechs Sonaten für das Klavier oder die Harfe
 * Dieudonné-Pascal Pieltain – Violin Concerto No.3 in B-flat major
 * Johann Friedrich Reichardt – Klavierstück über eine Petrarchische Ode
 * Antonio Rosetti – 6 Symphonies, Op. 3
 * Johann Abraham Peter Schulz – Lieder im Volkston
 * Johannes Matthias Sperger – String Symphony in C
 * Giovanni Battista Viotti
 * Concerto for Violin No. 2 in E major, G 44
 * Violin Concerto No.4 in D major
 * Violin Concerto No.5 in C major
 * Ernst Wilhelm Wolf – Osterkantate

Opera

 * Giuseppe Maria Cambini – Alcide
 * Domenico Cimarosa
 * L'amor costante
 * La ballerina amante
 * Circe
 * Il convito
 * L'eroe cinese
 * François-Joseph Gossec – Thésée
 * Joseph Haydn – Orlando paladino
 * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Die Entführung aus dem Serail, 16 July, Burgtheater in Vienna.
 * Giovanni Paisiello – Il barbiere di Siviglia
 * Giuseppe Sarti – Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode

Methods and theory writings

 * Anton Bemetzrieder – Abstract of a New Method of Teaching the Principles of Music
 * Heinrich Philipp Bossler – Elementarbuch der Tonkunst zum Unterricht beim Klavier
 * Michel Corrette – L’art de se perfectionner dans le violon
 * Johann Kirnberger – Gedanken über die verschiedenen Lehrarten in der Komposition
 * Louis-Toussaint Milandre – Méthode facile pour la viole d'amour, Op.5
 * Johann Friedrich Reichardt – Musikalisches Kunstmagazin

Births

 * January 29 – Daniel Auber, composer (died 1871)
 * April 14 – Carlo Coccia, composer (died 1873)
 * May 1 – Christopher Meineke, composer, organist (died 1850)
 * July 19 – Jonathan Blewitt, composer and son of Jonas Blewitt (died 1853)
 * July 26 – John Field, pianist and composer (died 1837)
 * September 23 – Jacques Féréol Mazas, composer and musician (died 1849)
 * October 27 – Niccolò Paganini, composer, violinist (died 1840)
 * December 21 – Benoit Tranquille Berbiguier, flautist (died 1835)

Deaths

 * January 1 – Johann Christian Bach, composer (b. 1735)
 * April 12 – Metastasio, poet and lyricist (b. 1698)
 * April 22 – Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger, composer (b. 1716)
 * May – Joseph Kelway, composer and organist (born c. 1702)
 * May 6 – Herman Friedrich Voltmar, Danish composer (born 1707)
 * June 17 – Kane O'Hara, Irish composer (b. 1711)
 * July 15 – Robert Wainwright, composer
 * August – Jean-Baptiste Forqueray, viol player and composer (b. 1699)
 * August 6 – Nicolas Chédeville, composer (b. 1705)
 * September 16 – Farinelli, castrato singer (b. 1702)
 * October – John Parry, blind harpist (b. c. 1710)
 * October 23 – Joseph Riepel, German composer (born 1709)
 * December 28 – Maria Carolina of Savoy, composer and princess (born 1764)
 * date unknown
 * Pedro António Avondano, Portuguese composer (b. 1714)
 * Jacob Raphael Saraval, writer and musician (b. c. 1707)

title: 1782 in music


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Shivini

Shivini, also known as Siuini, Artinis, Ardinis, was a solar god in the mythology of the Iron Age kingdom of Urartu in the Armenian Highlands. He is the third god in a triad with Khaldi and Theispas. The Assyrian god Shamash is a counterpart to Shivini. He was depicted as a man on his knees, holding up a solar disc. His wife was most likely a goddess called Tushpuea who is listed as the third goddess on the Mheri-Dur inscription.

Armen Petrosyan and other scholars argue that his name derives from a Hittite source, and is, therefore, of the same Indo-European origin as the names of Ancient Greek Zeus and Roman Jupiter.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Shivini


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Ectotherm

An ectotherm (from the Greek ἐκτός (ektós) "outside" and θερμός (thermós) "heat"), more commonly referred to as a "cold-blooded animal", is an animal in which internal physiological sources of heat, such as blood, are of relatively small or of quite negligible importance in controlling body temperature. Such organisms (frogs, for example) rely on environmental heat sources, which permit them to operate at very economical metabolic rates.

Some of these animals live in environments where temperatures are practically constant, as is typical of regions of the abyssal ocean and hence can be regarded as homeothermic ectotherms. In contrast, in places where temperature varies so widely as to limit the physiological activities of other kinds of ectotherms, many species habitually seek out external sources of heat or shelter from heat; for example, many reptiles regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun, or seeking shade when necessary in addition to a whole host of other behavioral thermoregulation mechanisms.

In contrast to ectotherms, endotherms rely largely, even predominantly, on heat from internal metabolic processes, and mesotherms use an intermediate strategy.

As there are more than two categories of temperature control utilized by animals, the terms warm-blooded and cold-blooded have been deprecated as scientific terms.

Adaptations
Various patterns of behavior enable certain ectotherms to regulate body temperature to a useful extent. To warm up, reptiles and many insects find sunny places and adopt positions that maximise their exposure; at harmfully high temperatures they seek shade or cooler water. In cold weather, honey bees huddle together to retain heat. Butterflies and moths may orient their wings to maximize exposure to solar radiation in order to build up heat before take-off. Gregarious caterpillars, such as the forest tent caterpillar and fall webworm, benefit from basking in large groups for thermoregulation. Many flying insects, such as honey bees and bumble bees, also raise their internal temperatures endothermally prior to flight, by vibrating their flight muscles without violent movement of the wings. Such endothermal activity is an example of the difficulty of consistent application of terms such as poikilothermy and homeothermy.

In addition to behavioral adaptations, physiological adaptations help ectotherms regulate temperature. Diving reptiles conserve heat by heat exchange mechanisms, whereby cold blood from the skin picks up heat from blood moving outward from the body core, re-using and thereby conserving some of the heat that otherwise would have been wasted. The skin of bullfrogs secretes more mucus when it is hot, allowing more cooling by evaporation.

During periods of cold, some ectotherms enter a state of torpor, in which their metabolism slows or, in some cases, such as the wood frog, effectively stops. The torpor might last overnight or last for a season, or even for years, depending on the species and circumstances.

Owners of reptiles may use an ultraviolet light system to assist their pets' basking.

Pros and cons
Ectotherms rely largely on external heat sources such as sunlight to achieve their optimal body temperature for various bodily activities. Accordingly, they depend on ambient conditions to reach operational body temperatures. In contrast, endothermic animals maintain nearly constant high operational body temperatures largely by reliance on internal heat produced by metabolically active organs (liver, kidney, heart, brain, muscle) or even by specialized heat producing organs like brown adipose tissue. Ectotherms typically have lower metabolic rates than endotherms at a given body mass. As a consequence, endotherms generally rely on higher food consumption, and commonly on food of higher energy content. Such requirements may limit the carrying capacity of a given environment for endotherms as compared to its carrying capacity for ectotherms.

Because ectotherms depend on environmental conditions for body temperature regulation, as a rule, they are more sluggish at night and in early mornings. When they emerge from shelter, many diurnal ectotherms need to heat up in the early sunlight before they can begin their daily activities. In cool weather the foraging activity of such species is therefore restricted to the day time in most vertebrate ectotherms, and in cold climates most cannot survive at all. In lizards, for instance, most nocturnal species are geckos specialising in "sit and wait" foraging strategies. Such strategies do not require as much energy as active foraging and do not require hunting activity of the same intensity. From another point of view, sit-and-wait predation may require very long periods of unproductive waiting. Endotherms cannot, in general, afford such long periods without food, but suitably adapted ectotherms can wait without expending much energy. Endothermic vertebrate species are therefore less dependent on the environmental conditions and have developed a higher variability (both within and between species) in their daily patterns of activity.

In ectotherms, fluctuating ambient temperatures may affect the body temperature. Such variation in body temperature is called poikilothermy, though the concept is not widely satisfactory and the use of the term is declining. In small aquatic creatures such as Rotifera, poikilothermy is practically absolute, but other creatures (like crabs) have wider physiological options at their disposal, and they can move to preferred temperatures, avoid ambient temperature changes, or moderate their effects. Ectotherms can also display the features of homeothermy, especially within aquatic organisms. Normally their range of ambient environmental temperatures is relatively constant, and there are few in number that attempt to maintain a higher internal temperature due to the high associated costs.

title: Ectotherm


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User:Gko~enwiki

My name is Gunnar Schaanning Kollstrøm. I live in Norway - the corner most north-east, close to the Russian border, near the town of Kirkenes. I work at the town hall at the municipality of Sør-Varanger with responsibilities related to information and technology.

title: User:Gko~enwiki


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Eurajoki

Eurajoki (Euraåminne) is a municipality of Finland located in the region of Satakunta in the province of Western Finland. The municipality has a population of 0 and covers an area of undefined km2 of which undefined km2 is water. The population density is undefined PD/km2.

The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

Economy
Three of Finland's five nuclear reactors are on the island of Olkiluoto in Eurajoki, and a fourth one is planned since 2008. The two other operating reactors are at the Loviisa Nuclear Power Plant.

Site-preparation for the construction of the Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository, a deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel, is going on (as of Q4 2022). The site will be a permanent facility for spent-fuel storage.

Transport
The distance from the church village of Eurajoki to the nearest town, Rauma, is 15 km, and to the nearest city, Pori, is 35 km. Highway 8 (E8) and the railway between Kokemäki and Rauma run through the municipality.

Politics
Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Eurajoki:

 * Centre Party  33.7%
 * Social Democratic Party  26.4%
 * True Finns  19.2%
 * National Coalition Party  10.9%
 * Left Alliance  5.2%
 * Christian Democrats  2.8%
 * Green League  1.3%

Notable people

 * Jere Laaksonen, ice hockey player
 * Ernesti Rikhard Rainesalo, senator

title: Eurajoki


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Helix (gastropod)

Helix is a genus of large, air-breathing land snails native to the western Palaearctic and characterized by a globular shell.

It is the type genus of the family Helicidae, and one of the animal genera described by Carl Linnaeus at the dawn of the zoological nomenclature.

Members of the genus first appeared in the fossil record during the Miocene.

Well-known species include Helix pomatia (Roman snail, Burgundy snail, or edible snail) and Helix lucorum (Turkish snail). Cornu aspersum (garden snail), though externally similar and long classified as a member of Helix (as "Helix aspersa"), is not closely related to Helix and belongs to a different tribe of Helicinae.

Taxonomy
In Linnaeus' 10th edition of Systema Naturae, which marks the beginning of the zoological nomenclature, the generic name Helix had been used for a variety of terrestrial (e.g. Zonites algirus), freshwater (e.g. Lymnaea stagnalis), and marine (e.g. Fossarus ambiguus) gastropods. Later authors restricted the name's use to stylommatophoran species with flattened to globular shells, including zonitids and other groups. In the course of the 1800s, several thousand species of Europe and abroad have been described in Helix. By the early 1900s, the genus was split into many separate genera, leaving only species closely related to its type species Helix pomatia in the genus. However, due to the previously broad concept of the genus, Helix is part of the original combination (basionym) of many gastropod names and there still are many nominal taxa described in Helix whose generic placement remains unresolved (taxa inquirenda), although they clearly do not refer to any species of Helix in its present sense.

Since the 2000s, Helix has been subject to extensive molecular phylogenetic studies and taxonomic revisions. These led to the exclusion of several species, most notably the garden snail, and inclusion of others (H. ceratina, H. nicaeensis). Maltzanella, for long considered a subgenus of Helix, was also formally removed from the genus, but is the sister group of Helix.

Two subgenera are currently recognized:

 * Helix (Helix) Linnaeus, 1758
 * Helix (Pelasga) Hesse, 1908
 * Helix (Aegaeohelix) Korábek & Hausdorf, 2023

Description
Helix comprises large land snails species, with shell diameter of 2–6 cm. The shell is globular to conical, with five darker bands that may be variably reduced or fuse together. The globular shell distinguishes Helix from most of the related genera (tribe Helicini), except for Maltzanella and Lindholmia. The surface has a structure of fine transversal ribs, developed to a varying degree, and there may be very fine spiral grooves as well. The shell is never malleated. Colour of the foot varies. It may be grey, brown, black or pink; the back of the foot is dark in several species.

The shells of Helix species are dextral. Sinistral individuals are very rare, but are occasionally found (e.g. H. pomatia, H. thessalica and H. lutescens ).

Characters on the genital system have been used to define the genus and its subgenera. Unlike Cornu, the penis of Helix contains two papillae with a central opening. There appears to be a tendency for a shortening of the diverticulum of bursa copulatrix and of the eppiphallus, but there is an overlap with related genera in these characters. Mucous glands adjoining the dart sac are usually richly branched.

Distribution
Helix is a western Palaearctic genus. The species diversity is concentrated to the Balkans and Anatolia, with the greatest phylogenetic diversity in Greece. The natural western distribution limits run through mainland France (Helix pomatia), Corsica (Helix ceratina), and Algeria (Helix melanostoma). In the north, the natural distribution of H. pomatia reaches central Germany and the southern margins of the North European plain. The southernmost species live in North Africa (H. melanostoma, H. pronuba) and the southern Levant (H. engaddensis). The eastern limits are reached in western Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan (H. salomonica) and in the Caucasus (H. lucorum); H. thessalica reaches through Ukraine at least to the western Russian frontier.

Genetics
Haploid genome size was estimated to be nearly 4 Gbp (C-value 4 pg) with a GC-content of ~42%, but it is unclear which species was studied due to a discrepancy between the stated species and sample origin. The haploid number of chromosomes is 27 (studied species were H. lucorum, H. buchii, H. pomatia, H. gussoneana and H. straminea). In H. pomatia, all chromosomes have median or sub-median centromeres. Small supernumerary chromosomes were reported from H. pomatia from England.

The mitochondrial genome of H. pomatia is available (ca. 14 070 bp long).

Genital system
The structure of the genital system corresponds in most aspects to that of other Helicidae. Its anatomy and function have been studied in detail in H. pomatia.

As all stylommatophorans, Helix snails are hermaphrodites. Sperms and egg cells are produced in a common gonad, the ovotestis (hermaphroditic gland), which is embedded in the hepatopancreas (digestive gland) near the apex of the shell. Gametes are transported through a hermaphroditic duct (ovotestis duct) to the fertilization pouch–spermatheca complex (carrefour) embedded at the base of the albumen gland. In this organ, the foreign sperm (sperm from the other individual) is stored in spermathecal sacs (receptacula seminis) and egg fertilization takes place in the fertilisation pouch. The albumen gland provides nourishment for the developing fertilized eggs, and its size greatly varies with the stage of the reproductive cycle. The snail's own sperm and fertilized eggs are transported by specialised regions of the spermoviduct (sperm groove and uterus), which distally separate into a male (vas deferens) and female (free oviduct) parts of the genital system.

The male genitalia consist of a tube that serves the formation of a spermatophore and its transfer into the female parts of the mating partner. The penis is the most distal and muscular part. A spermatophore is formed in the epiphallus (between vas deferens and penis) and the flagellum (continuation of the epiphallus proximally from the vas deferens opening); the latter forms the tail of the spermatophore. During copulation, the penis everts (like a sleeve turned inside out) and is in this process inserted in the vagina. A retractor muscle attaches on the epiphallus and retracts the male genitalia after copulation.

The female part consists of a vagina (sometimes called the copulatory canal ) and the bursa copulatrix (gametolytic gland) with its stalk and usually a diverticulum of the stalk. The vagina serves the transport of the foreign spermatophore and of eggs. The bursa is attached by a thin stalk to the vagina (marking the boundary between vagina and the free oviduct). The stalk in most cases bears a diverticulum, a blind tube that receives the front part of the spermatophore if present. The diverticulum has been proposed to be a remnant of a seminal duct that originally transported foreign sperm into the fertilization pouch. Sperm leave the tail of the spermatophore and migrate into the oviduct and then to the fertilization pouch; the vast majority of the sperm does not escape in this way and is digested in the bursa. In Helix, there is tendency for a reduction of the diverticulum, and it can be missing in several species.

Dart apparatus, although positioned on the vagina, is functionally also part of the male genitalia. It is composed of a single muscular dart sac and two mucous glands (digitiform or accessory glands) on its sides. The mucous glands are branched at their base; the number of branches varies between Helix species. The single dart is aragonitic, straight or only weakly curved, with four blades (vanes) along its length and a corona at its base. The dart apparatus is missing in Helix salomonica. The mucous glands produce mucus that covers the dart during shooting and is thereby injected into the body of the partner, where it induces shortening of the diverticulum and peristaltic movements of the bursa stalk that help the foreign sperm to escape lysis in the bursa.

The whole genital system forms from a single tubular invagination of the ectoderm. During the development, folds form along the internal space of the tube than eventually completely separte first vas deferens and penis, then also bursa copulatrix. The male and female parts open into a common atrium and a genital pore positioned ventrally behind the right optic tentacle.

A rare teratological individual with paired male genitalia (penis, epiphallus, flagellum) has been reported from Germany.

Reproduction
The aspects of reproduction have been studied primarily in H. pomatia, with limited information from other species.

Mating behaviour has been described several times for H. pomatia. In the initial phase, the two snails raise their feet and press the soles against each other and touch each other's tentacles and mouthparts. This takes 15–30 min. Some time later, the dart shooting takes place, although many matings progress without a love dart being employed. The mucous glands produce a whitish secretion just before the shooting, that contains hormones promoting the compound that improves preservation of foreign sperm in the receiving individual. Then, again after a pause, comes the copulation, usually preceded by several unsuccessful attempts in which the reciprocal insertion of penes is not achieved and the genital organs are partially retracted back into the body. Finally, both individuals simultaneously insert the penes into each other's female opening. Within ca. 4–7 min the spermatophore is formed and transferred, after which the snail disengage and retract the everted genital organs. However, the complete reception of the spermatophore takes another 2–3 hours, during which the snails remain partially retracted and inactive.

It has been reported that only one spermatophore is usually transferred during copulation in H. pomatia, so one animal functions as a male and one as a female in each mating. According to that report it is mostly the older snail who lay eggs, while younger function as males.

In H. pomatia, mating takes place mostly from May to June, but often continues more sporadically up to the autumn. However, because activity is dependent on climatic conditions, the timing of mating and egg laying differs in some other species.

In H. pomatia, the snails copulate usually with multiple mates. Received foreign sperm may be stored for more than a year before fertilization. Eggs are laid into a chamber dug in the soil by the parent 4–6 days after mating. The eggs are formed only as the nest is built. As in other pulmonates, the eggs are rich in galactogen produced by the albumen gland. The eggshell is partially mineralized, with crystals of calcium cabonate in a flexible membrane. Clutch size is given in the literature within the range 3–93. Hatching follows roughly 25–26 (range 18–31 ) days after egg laying, but the snails remain additional 8–10 days in the nest. An individual may lay more than one clutch per season. The clutch size may be different in other species. Mean clutch size in H. lucorum is similar to that of H. pomatia, while the range reported for H. albescens (smaller body size than H. pomatia, with larger eggs) is only 7–22 eggs per clutch.

The sperm morphology follows the basic pattern known from "pulmonates". Mitochondria are fused and form a continuous sheath around the flagellum. Large part of mitochondrial derivative is made up by a proteinaceous paracrystalline structure, in which there is a glycogen-filled canal. The canal runs helically along the flagellum, forming a so-called glycogen helix. There is only a single, loosely coiled glycogen helix in Helix.

Life history
In H. pomatia, sexual maturity is reached after 2–4 (–6) overwinterings, i.e. at the age of 2–4 (–6) years, but this differs between localities as well as between snails from the same clutch. Adult snails cease to grow and form a thickened lip around the aperture. However, the snails sometimes mate already shortly before the lip is formed. The life span of H. pomatia may reach 30 years in the wild. However, in the wild, they mostly live for just 5–9 years. The age of H. pomatia individuals can be estimated by counting growth interruptions on the shell and the number of layers deposited on the aperture margin lip.

Data from other species are very limited. Helix lucorum in Greece reaches maturity at 3 years. The small species H. ceratina reaches maturity after 1.5–2 years and lives 4–5 years.

The length of the life cycle is dependent on environmental conditions. The time from hatching to first egg laying can be shortened in H. pomatia to just 12–13 months under optimal conditions in the captivity, mainly by skipping hibernation.

Ecology and behaviour
Species of Helix live in a variety of habitats and under very different climatic regimes. Some species are exclusively found in open limestone rocky habitats (H. secernenda), while others tolerate acidic bedrock (e.g. H. pelagonesica) or live predominantly in forests (e.g. H. thessalica). Members of the genus occur from temperate rainforests (H. buchii) to semi-arid regions (Helix pronuba).

Food preferences are unknown for most species. Helix pomatia feeds on live plants as well as dead plant matter. Observations showed preference for some specific plant species and avoidance of others. The nettle Urtica dioica is a preffered food plant especially in juveniles.

The activity of H. pomatia takes place mostly during the night, especially in juveniles. A homing behaviour has been observed in H. pomatia. The snails disperse during the season, but tend to return to their hibernation grounds towards its end. During the season, they may have an area where they reside and from where they make excursions to known feeding areas and, if needed, attempts to locate new ones. It was also observed that the snails may migrate to specific sites for egg laying and aggregate for mating. The snails are able to find their way back from distances of tens of meters. Active dispersal during the lifetime may lead to displacement by more than 200 m.

Several species (e.g. H. pomatia, H. salomonica) build a thick, calcified epiphragm that closes the shell's aperture during hibernation or aestivation. The epiphragm is followed inside the shell by a few additional membranes made of dried mucus. When the animal emerges from the dormancy, it discards the calcareous epiphragm using the posterior part of the foot. The hibernation and aestivation takes place in the soil, where the snails bury themselves with the foot. Helix species differ in where they spend shorter periods of inactivity: some tend to remain on the soil surface, some hide in the soil (in particular species of the subgenus Pelasga ), and some species often climb on vegetation (tree trunks, shrubs).

The hibernation or aestivation may take a substantial part of the year. For example, H. salomonica in Şırnak, Turkey, spent on average 85 days in hibernation and 165 days in aestivation during one year of observation.

Predators and parasites
Several bird species prey on Helix species. This has been observed in Phasianus colchicus, Burhinus oedicemus, Coracias garrulus, Lanius excubitor, corvids, and probably other birds. Mammals prey on Helix, too. The known predators include hedgehog, mole, shrew, rodents (Rattus, Apodemus) and the wild boar. The slow worm consumes molluscs, including Helix. Helix snails are also attacked by various beetles and flies. The beetle predators belong to the families Carabidae and Lampyridae. The predation by birds, small mammals, and beetles mostly affects juveniles. Larvae of flies from several families attack Helix snails and may kill even adults (Phoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae, Sciomyzidae).

A well known facultative parasite of land snails, including Helix, is the nematode Phasmarhabiditis hermaphrodita. The parasitic mite Riccardoella limacum is found on Helix species.

The kinetoplastid Cryptobia helicis lives in the bursa copulatrix of Helix pomatia. The ciliate Tetrahymena limacis was also reported from Helix.

Bacterial diseases of gastropods including Helix are known, but this field is not well researched.

Influence on other species and the environment
Some bee species build their nests inside empty Helix shells (e.g. Rhodanthidium semptemdentatum).

Human use
Some species, above all H. pomatia and H. lucorum, are collected for human consumption. The culinary use dates back several millennia and has been evidenced for several species across the genus' range.

Mesolithic shell midden dated to 9370 ± 80 and 8110 ± 90 uncalibrated C-14 years bp and providing evidence of collecting was documented for H. pomatella in Abruzzo, Italy. Helix salomonica was consumed in the Zagros in large amount during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, with evidence of consumption from ~12,000 BC. In North Africa, shell middens from the Caspian culture containing large amounts of H. melanostoma were found.

Ancient Romans collected snails for food and even held them in enclosures, as described by Marcus Terentius Varro (in De Re Rustica, and repeated by Pliny the Elder). It is believed that the Roman snail H. pomatia was introduced to England by the Romans.

Conservation
Most of the species included in the IUCN Red List are classified as Least Concern. One of the species, H. ceratina, is critically endangered and the present known distribution is limited to a very small area near the Ajaccio airport.

In the past, collection of wild H. pomatia for food led to fears of over-exploitation and the introduction of protection by law in several countries.

Fossil record
Several extinct taxa of Helix have been described: Some extant species are known from Quaternary deposits. The most studied species in this respect is H. pomatia, where the fossils have been used to document the earliest postglacial occurrences in Central Europe. The earliest record in Czechia was dated directly by radiocarbon to 10,120-9,690 BP (but is likely a few hundred years younger); fossils presumably older than 9,402–9,027 BP or 9,403–9,003 BP were found in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Such records document the speed at which Helix species may extends their ranges by natural means of dispersal.
 * Helix jasonis Mayer, 1856 (Ukraine: Sevastopol. Miocene: Tortonian )
 * Helix pseudoligata Sinzov, 1897 (Ukraine. Miocene: Sarmatian )
 * Helix kadolskyi Neubauer & Harzhauser, 2023 (nom. nov. for Helix toulai Kojumdgieva, 1969 ) (Bulgaria: Balchik. Miocene: middle Tortonian )
 * Helix barbeyana De Stefani in De Stefani et al., 1891
 * Helix krejcii Wenz in Krejci-Graf & Wenz, 1926
 * Helix mrazeci Sevastos, 1922
 * Helix sublutescens Wenz in Krejci & Wenz, 1926
 * Helix maeotica Steklov, 1966 (Russia: Chechnya: river Gums. Miocene: Maeotian =?Tortonian )
 * Helix varnensis Toula, 1892 (Bulgaria: Varna. Miocene: Sarmatian)
 * Helix lucorum supralevantina Wenz, 1942 (Romania. Pliocene)

The quaternary land snail fossil record in more southern parts of Europe is scarce, but some records of Helix do exist. Helix figulina dated ~16,000 BP was recorded from the greek island Antikythera. Helix borealis shells dated to 8,000–27,000 BP were reported from another island, Gavdos.

Other records come from archaeological contexts.

Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships between Helix and related genera as well as the internal relationships within the genus have been so far studied only using partial sequences of mitochondrial genes and of the nuclear rRNA gene cluster.

The cladogram shown is based on phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial sequence data.

Synonyms
The following genus-level taxa are considered synonyms of Helix:
 * Callunea Scudder, 1882
 * Cochlea Da Costa, 1778
 * Coenatoria Held, 1838
 * Cunula Pallary, 1936
 * Glischrus S. Studer, 1820
 * Helicites W. Martin, 1809 (Established for fossils of Helix to distinguish them from extant members of that taxon. Invalid, available only for the purposes of the Principle of Homonymy (Art. 20))
 * Helicogena A. Férussac, 1821
 * Megastoma Scudder, 1882
 * Naegelea P. Hesse, 1918
 * Pachyphallus P. Hesse, 1918
 * Pentataenia A. Schmidt, 1855 (junior objective synonym)
 * Physospira Boettger, 1914
 * Pomatia Beck, 1837
 * Pomatiana Fagot, 1903
 * Pomatiella Pallary, 1909
 * Pseudofigulina P. Hesse, 1917
 * Rhododerma P. Hesse, 1918
 * Tacheopsis Boettger, 1909
 * Tammouzia Pallary, 1939
 * Tyrrhenaria P. Hesse, 1918

title: Helix (gastropod)


text:
User talk:Romiet3625

Hello Romiet3625, welcome to Wikipedia. About Bryozoa. I noticed that you marked your changes as minor. Please don't do this, minor changes are for things like correcting spelling errors or changing the format. If you add or remove information the change is not minor. Cheers theresa knott 11:38, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hi there. Maybe WikiProject Tree of Life might be of interest for you, I have just converted your Membranipora membranacea to fit into the template suggested there. andy 15:46, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Hi. I suggest having a look at Manual_of_Style. It is frowned upon to change the spelling style (ie. from UK to US) unless there is a good reason. (ie. coherence/the article concerns something specifically American, or specifically British.) --snoyes 16:37, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:Romiet3625


text:
Stenolaemata

Stenolaemata are a class of exclusively marine bryozoans. Stenolaemates originated and diversified in the Ordovician, and more than 600 species are still alive today. All extant (living) species are in the order Cyclostomatida, the third-largest order of living bryozoans.

These animals are stationary suspension feeders that live on the ocean floor. They formed colonies with robust, calcified exoskeletons, allowing for a high potential for fossil preservation. The individual zooids in the colony may be tubular, conical, or sac-shaped. Each individual, or zooid, may extend from the colony at an angle, extending its tentacles to feed. The fossil genus Batostoma in the order Trepostomatida existed in monticular colonies.

Stenolaemates were the predominant bryozoan group during the Paleozoic, when many extinct orders proliferated within the class. Some grew as lacy or fan-like colonies that became important reef builders, and in some regions form an abundant component of limestones. The extinct Palaeozoic stenolaemate orders are placed in the superorder Palaeostomata. Their numbers were greatly reduced during the terminal Permian extinction event, and most stenolaemates were extinct by the start of the Jurassic.

However, the basal and previously rare stenolaemate order Cyclostomatida diversified in the Jurassic and became the most abundant group of bryozoans in the late Mesozoic. Cyclostomatida is no longer the most speciose bryozoan group, as the order experienced high rates of extinction during the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, while ctenostome and cheilostome bryozoans in the class Gymnolaemata diversified around the same time. Nevertheless, cyclostomates are still major components of modern marine ecosystems.

Extant and extinct orders in this class include:
 * Cyclostomatida/Cyclostomata (Ordovician-present)
 * Cryptostomata/Cryptostomida † (Ordovician-Triassic)
 * Cystoporida/Cystoporata † (Ordovician-Triassic)
 * Esthonioporata † (Ordovician-Devonian)
 * Fenestrata/Fenestrida † (Ordovician-Permian)
 * Timanodictyina † (Devonian-Permian, may be a suborder of Cryptostomata)
 * Trepostomatida/Trepostomata † (Ordovician-Triassic)

title: Stenolaemata


text:
Judicial Yuan

The Judicial Yuan is the judicial branch of the government of Taiwan. It runs a Constitutional Court and oversees all systems of courts of Taiwan, including ordinary courts like the supreme court, high courts, district courts as well as special courts like administrative courts and disciplinary courts. By Taiwanese law, the Judicial Yuan holds the following powers:
 * Interpretation – Constitutional Court interprets the Constitution and other statutes and regulations by either the central government or local governments.
 * Adjudicate – Most civil, criminal, and administrative cases are adjudicated by the respective courts supervised by the Judicial Yuan. The Constitutional Court adjudicate Presidential impeachment and political party dissolution cases.
 * Discipline – Disciplinary measures with respect to public functionaries are adjudicated by the Disciplinary court.
 * Judicial Administration – The Judicial Yuan supervises administrative affairs of all courts established by Taiwanese law.

According to the current Constitution, the Constitutional Court comprises 15 justices. One justice acts as the President of the court, and another acts as the Vice President. All justices, including the President and Vice President, are appointed by the President of the Republic with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. Upon appointment justices have a term limit of eight years, but this term limit does not apply to the President and Vice President.

History
Before the 1980s, the impact of the Constitutional Court was limited by authoritarian governance. The Court can be seen as an instrument of the Kuomintang regime. It never accepted a case on the constitutionality of the Temporary Provisions, which were the basis of authoritarian rule; The Court declined to hear challenges to these Provisions, and issued a number of decisions that facilitated Kuomintang rule within the confines of at least nominal constitutionalism. For the most part, the court served as a legal advisor to the government, rendering decisions that unified interpretations of statutes or ordinances or providing legitimacy for these politically expedient solutions as a result of extension of legislative representatives' terms. In Interpretation No 31 of 1954, the court extended the legislative representatives' terms, ruling that 'the nation was under crisis and the country could not hold the election for the second term legally'. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Constitutional Court further affirmed the constitutionality of adding extra seats to both the Legislative Yuan and the National Assembly by means of legislative enactments in Interpretation Nos 117 and 150.

Prior to the 1980s, the Constitutional Court rarely asserted itself as the guardian of the Constitution; on rare occasions, however, the court nevertheless risked undermining its own institutional authority by standing in opposition to other branches of government. In Interpretation No 86 of 1960, the court held that the law that allowed the Ministry of Justice to supervise the lower courts was inconsistent with the constitution and required all courts to be placed under the Judicial Yuan. However, this decision was ignored by the government, and the impugned law was not revised until 1980.

After the succession of Lee Teng-hui as President in 1987, however, the Court gradually became more active. It began to strike administrative actions that were vague or delegated too much power to the executive branch. Amongst its decisions, the Court ended the ban on rallies advocating secessionism or communism as a violation of free speech, allowed universities to refuse to allow military "counselors", whose presence in dorms had formerly been mandatory, and allowed teachers to form a union outside the "official" union structure. Constitutional amendments in 1992 provided for the Court to hear challenges against "unconstitutional" political parties, defined as those whose "goals or activities jeopardize the existence of the ROC or a free democratic constitutional order."

Amidst the divided government between 2000 and 2008, the Constitutional Court became a primary political mediator of highly charged political disputes; it adopted a 'dialectic approach' in facilitation of political dialogues. For example, in a constitutional dispute concerning the suspension of the construction of a nuclear power plant, the Court held that the Democratic Progressive Party-led Executive Yuan should negotiate with the Kuomintang-dominated Legislative Yuan to resolve the issue. The unity of the executive and legislative branches since 2008 has seen a decline in the number of politically high-profile cases entering into the Constitutional Court's docket. At the same time, the number of individuals' petitions challenging legislative or executive acts on grounds of violation of constitutional rights continued to rise steadily, and the Constitutional Court has responded to these rights challenges with a high number of declarations of unconstitutionality.

Functions
The Constitutional Court, also previously known as the Council of Grand Justices (大法官會議), provides rulings on the following six categories of cases:
 * 1) Constitutionality of laws and constitutional complaints (Chapter III cases);
 * 2) Disputes between constitutional organs (Chapter IV cases);
 * 3) Impeachment of the President and the Vice President (Chapter V cases);
 * 4) Dissolution of unconstitutional political parties (Chapter VI cases);
 * 5) Local self-government (Chapter VII cases); and
 * 6) Uniform interpretation of statutes and regulations (Chapter VIII cases).

A petition to declare regulations or laws unconstitutional (Chapter III cases) shall be filed in the following circumstances:
 * A highest state organ which, in the exercise of its powers or on account of its subordinate agency's exercise of powers, considers that the applicable law is in contravention of the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the impugned law unconstitutional. A subordinate agency which, in the exercise of its powers, considers that the applicable law is in contravention of the Constitution may request its superior agency to lodge the petition;
 * A quarter or more of the incumbent Legislators who, in the exercise of their powers, believe that the relevant statutory law is in contravention of the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the impugned statutory law unconstitutional;
 * A court which strongly believes, on reasonable grounds, that an applicable statutory law on whose validity depends the court's decision of a pending case is in contravention of the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the impugned applicable law unconstitutional; or
 * After exhaustion of all ordinary judicial remedies, any person who believes that a final court decision that finds against her or him or a legal provision applied in such a court decision contravenes the Constitution may lodge a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judgment declaring the decision or the impugned legal provision unconstitutional.

Justices
There are in total of 15 justices serving in the Constitutional Court, current members are:

Important decisions
Important decisions of the Constitutional Court are listed as the following.

Interpretation No. 31
In 1954, the Council of Grand Justices extended the terms of members of the Legislative Yuan and the Control Yuan elected in 1948, ruling that: "'[T]he nation was under crisis and the country could not hold the election for the second term legally.'"

As a result of the council's ruling, first-term members of the Legislative and Control Yuans continued to serve for the next four decades until 1992, resulting in distortions of representation. Following the death of some of those representatives, the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion were amended to allow vacancies to be filled by holding supplementary elections or by adding more seats for representatives elected locally in Taiwan.

Interpretation No. 261
The Council of Grand Justices issued interpretation No. 261 on June 21, 1990. The Council of Grand Justices ruled on the constitutionality of the continued sitting in the National Assembly of members elected on the mainland in 1948 and ordered that: "'[T]hose first-term national representatives who have not been re-elected on a periodical basis to cease the exercise of their powers no later than December 31, 1991.'"

The court further required the government to hold a nationwide second-term election of the national representatives including a certain number of representatives-at-large for the proper functioning of the constitutional system.

Interpretation No. 499
The Constitutional Court, in voiding the 5th amendment of the Additional Articles of the Constitution, developed criteria by which the constitutionality of a constitutional amendment should be judged:
 * a constitutional amendment must be enacted in accordance with constitutional due process; and
 * since a constitutional amendment is enacted on the basis of powers bestowed by the constitution, it cannot alter ‘the existing constitutional provisions of essential significance, such as the principle of the democratic republic, the principle of sovereignty of and by the people, the core contents of fundamental rights of people, and the principle of checks and balances of governmental powers.’

Supreme court
The Supreme Court is the court of last resort for civil and criminal cases. A civil case can be appealed to the Supreme Court only when more than NT $1,500,000 is at stake. Except for petty offences enumerated in Article 376 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, any criminal case may be appealed to the Court.

This Court exercises jurisdiction over the following cases:
 * appeals from judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of first instance in criminal cases;
 * appeals from judgments of High Courts or their branches as courts of second instance in civil and criminal cases;
 * appeals from rulings of High Courts or their branches;
 * appeals from judgments or rulings rendered by the civil court of second instance by the summary procedure, the amounts in controversy exceeding NT $1,500,000, and with permission granted in accordance with specified provisions;
 * civil and criminal retrials within the jurisdiction of the court of third instance;
 * extraordinary appeals; or
 * any other case as specified by laws.

High court
There are six High Court branches in Taiwan:

The High Courts and its branches exercise jurisdiction over the following cases:
 * Appeals from judgments of the District Courts or their branches as courts of the first instance in ordinary proceedings of civil and criminal cases;
 * Interlocutory appeals from rulings of the District Courts or their branches in ordinary proceedings;
 * First instance criminal cases relating to rebellion, treason, and offenses against friendly relations with foreign states;
 * Military appellate cases whose judgments are imprisonment for a definite period rendered by the High Military Courts and their branches; and
 * Other cases prescribed by law.

The High Courts and its Branch Courts are divided into civil, criminal and specialized divisions. Each Division is composed of one Division Chief Judge and two Associate Judges. Additionally, the High Court and its Branch Courts have a Clerical Bureau, which is headed by a Chief Clerk who assists the President with administrative affairs.

Cases before the High Courts or its Branch Courts are heard and decided by a panel of three judges. However, one of the judges may conduct preparatory proceedings.

The Court has seven civil courts, each of which has one presiding judge and three judges to handle civil appeals of the second instance and counter-appeal cases under the system of collegial panels, but they do not deal with simple litigation. The Court has eleven criminal courts, each of which has one presiding judge and two or three judges to handle criminal appeals of the second instance and counter-appeal cases under the system of collegial panels as well as litigation of the first instance concerning civil strife, foreign aggression or violation of foreign relations. Based on various needs, the Court manages several professional courts such as the Professional Court of Fair Trade Cases, Family Professional Court, Professional Court of International Trade, Maritime Professional Court, Professional Court of State Compensation, Professional Court of Anti-corruption, Professional Court of Intellectual Property Rights, Professional Court of Juvenile Delinquency, Professional Court of Serious Criminal Cases, Professional Court of Public Security, Professional Court of Fair Trade Act, Professional Court of Sexual Harassment, etc.

District court
There are currently 22 District Courts in Taiwan:

Each District Court may establish one or more summary divisions for the adjudication of cases suitable for summary judgment. The civil summary procedure is for cases involving an amount in controversy of not more than 300,000 New Taiwan dollar and for simple legal disputes. Currently there are a total of 45 divisions in Taiwan. Additionally, there is a Taiwan Kaohsiung Juvenile Court, established in accordance with the Law Governing the Disposition of Juvenile Cases.

Each of the District Courts has civil, criminal and summary divisions and may establish specialized divisions to handle cases involving juveniles, family, traffic, and labor matters as well as motions to set aside rulings on violations of the Statute for the Maintenance of Social Order. Each division has a Division Chief Judge who supervises and assigns the business of the division. Each District Court has a Public Defenders' Office and a Probation Officers' Office.

A single judge hears and decides cases in ordinary and summary proceedings as well as in small claims cases. A panel of three judges decides cases of great importance in ordinary proceedings as well as appeals or interlocutory appeals from the summary and small claims proceedings. Criminal cases are decided by a panel of three judges, with the exception of summary proceedings which may be held by a single judge. The Juvenile Court hears and decides only cases involving juveniles.

Administrative court
The administrative courts handle cases regarding administrative litigation. The current administrative litigation system adopts a "Two Level Two Instance System" litigation procedure. The administrative courts are classified into the High Administrative Court, which is the court of first instance, and the Supreme Administrative Court, which is the appellate court. The first instance of the High Administrative Court is a trial of facts. The Supreme Administrative Court is an appellate court.

Intellectual Property and Commercial Court
The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court handles cases regarding intellectual properties and commerce.

Disciplinary court
The disciplinary court maintains official discipline and punishes public servants, regardless of rank or appointment, for violations of the law or negligence in his or her duty in accordance with Article 77 of the Constitution.

Judges
Article 80 of the Constitution states that Judges shall be above partisanship and shall, in accordance with law, hold trials independently, free from any interference. Furthermore, Article 81 states that Judges shall hold office for life. No judge shall be removed from office unless he has been guilty of a criminal offense or subjected to disciplinary measure, or declared to be under interdiction. No judge shall, except in accordance with law, be suspended or transferred or have his salary reduced. Judges shall be appointed from those persons who have passed the Examination of Judicial Officials, completed the Training Course for Judicial Officials and possessed distinguished records after a term of practice.

President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan
Since a constitutional amendment ratified in 1997, the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan need to be justices. However, they are not subject to the 8-year term limit like the other 13 justices. In the current constitution, the President and Vice President of the Judicial Yuan are appointed by the President of the Republic with the approval of the Legislative Yuan.

title: Judicial Yuan


text:
Mastercard

Mastercard Inc. (stylized as MasterCard from 1979 to 2016, mastercard from 2016 to 2019) is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York. It offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services (such as travel-related payments and bookings). Throughout the world, its principal business is to process payments between the banks of merchants and the card-issuing banks or credit unions of the purchasers who use the Mastercard-brand debit, credit and prepaid cards to make purchases. Mastercard has been publicly traded since 2006.

Mastercard (originally Interbank, then Master Charge) was created by an alliance of several banks and regional bankcard associations in response to the BankAmericard issued by Bank of America, which later became Visa and is still its biggest competitor. Prior to its initial public offering, Mastercard Worldwide was a cooperative owned by the more than 25,000 financial institutions that issue its branded cards.

History
Although BankAmericard's debut in September 1958 was a disaster, it began to turn a profit by May 1961. Bank of America deliberately kept this information secret and allowed then-widespread negative impressions to linger in order to ward off competition. This strategy was successful until 1966, when BankAmericard's profitability had become far too big to hide. From 1960 to 1966, there were only 10 new credit cards introduced in the United States, but from 1966 to 1968, approximately 440 credit cards were introduced by banks large and small throughout the country. These newcomers promptly banded together into regional bankcard associations.

One reason why most banks chose to join forces was that at the time, 16 states limited the ability of banks to operate through branch locations, while 15 states entirely prohibited branch banking and required unit banking. A unit bank can legally operate only at a single site and is thereby forced to remain very small. By joining a regional bankcard association, a unit bank could quickly add a credit card to its lineup of financial products, and achieve economies of scale by outsourcing tedious back office tasks like card servicing to the association. Such associations also enabled unit banks to aggregate their customer bases and merchant networks in order to make a credit card useful for both customers and merchants; early credit cards had failed because they could only be used within a small radius around their respective issuing banks.

In 1966, Karl H. Hinke, an executive vice president at Marine Midland Bank, asked representatives of several other banks to meet him in Buffalo, New York. Marine Midland had just launched its own regional bankcard in the Upstate New York market after Bank of America declined its request for a BankAmericard regional license on the basis that Marine Midland was too big. The result of the Buffalo meeting was that several banks and regional bankcard associations soon agreed to join forces as Interbankard, Inc., which then became the Interbank Card Association (ICA). By the end of 1967, ICA had 150 members and Hinke became ICA's chairman. Bank of America eventually joined MasterCard as well. (In the 21st century, Bank of America would revive the BankAmericard brand name as a Mastercard credit card, which it remains today).

The Interbank branding in 1966 initially consisted only of a small unobtrusive lowercase i inside a circle in the lower right-hand corner of the front of each Interbank card; the rest of the card design was the prerogative of each issuing bank. This tiny logo proved to be entirely unsatisfactory for creating nationwide brand awareness in order to compete against the established leader, BankAmericard. In 1969, Interbank developed a new national brand, "Master Charge: The Interbank Card" by combining the two overlapping yellow and orange circles of the Western States Bankcard Association with the "Master Charge" name coined by the First National Bank of Louisville, Kentucky.

That same year, First National City Bank joined Interbank and merged its proprietary Everything Card with Master Charge.

In 1968, the ICA and Eurocard started a strategic alliance, which effectively allowed the ICA access to the European market, and for Eurocard to be accepted on the ICA network. The Access card system from the United Kingdom joined the ICA/Eurocard alliance in 1972. In 1979, Master Charge: The Interbank Card was renamed MasterCard.

In 1983, MasterCard International Inc. became the first bank to use holograms as part of their card security. They acquired the Cirrus network of automated tellers in 1985.

In 1997, MasterCard took over the Access card; the Access brand was then retired. In 2002, MasterCard International merged with Europay International, another large credit-card issuer association, of which Eurocard had become a part in 1992. MasterCard became a Delaware corporation in connection with the merger, as well as in anticipation of an IPO.

The company, which had been organized as a cooperative of banks, had an initial public offering on May 25, 2006, selling 95.5 million shares at $39 each. The stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol MA, with a market capitalization of $434 billion as of April 2024. The deal was designed to maintain the value of the brand and minimise regulatory costs.

In August 2010, MasterCard Worldwide, as it had been rebranded, expanded its e-commerce offering with the acquisition of DataCash, a UK-based payment processing and fraud/risk management provider. In March 2012, MasterCard announced the expansion of its mobile contactless payments program, including markets across the Middle East.

In spring 2014, MasterCard acquired Australia's leading rewards program manager company Pinpoint for an undisclosed amount. In August 2017, Mastercard acquired Brighterion, a company with a portfolio of intellectual property in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Brighterion holds several patents.

In April 2021, Mastercard created a calculator that gathers information and measures the carbon footprints of the customers in order to help them know how much they are contributing in carbon emissions and global warming.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mastercard complied with United States sanctions and banned cards from being issued or used in Russia, including foreign cards from other countries. Mastercard suspended all business operations in Russia, which had accounted for 4% of their revenue. However, bank cards themselves continue to work in Russia due to the transfer of internal transactions to the Russian National Card Payment System.

Finances
As of 2024, Mastercard ranked 164 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

Market power
Operating a payment processing network entails risk of engaging in anticompetitive practices due to the many parties involved (that is, the customer and their bank and the merchant and their bank).

Few companies have faced more antitrust lawsuits both in the US and abroad.

United States
Mastercard, along with Visa, engaged in systematic parallel exclusion against American Express during the 1980s and 1990s. Mastercard used exclusivity clauses in its contracts and blacklists to prevent banks from doing business with American Express. Such exclusionary clauses and other written evidence were used by the United States Department of Justice in regulatory actions against Mastercard and Visa. Discover has sued Mastercard for similar issues.

Both Mastercard and Visa have paid approximately $3 billion in damages resulting from a class-action lawsuit filed in January 1996 for debit card swipe fee price fixing. The litigation cites several retail giants as plaintiffs, including Wal-Mart, Sears, Roebuck & Co., and Safeway.

In 1996, four million merchants sued Mastercard in federal court for making them accept debit cards if they wanted to accept credit cards and dramatically increasing credit card swipe fees. This case was settled with a multibillion-dollar payment in 2003. This was the largest antitrust award in history.

In 1998, the Department of Justice sued Mastercard over rules prohibiting their issuing banks from doing business with American Express or Discover. The Department of Justice won in 2001 and the verdict withstood appeal. American Express also filed suit.

On August 23, 2001, Mastercard International Inc. was sued for violating the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

On November 15, 2004, Mastercard Inc. paid damages to American Express, due to anticompetitive practices that prevented American Express from issuing cards through U.S. banks, and paid $1.8 billion for settlement.

Swipe fee fixing and merchant discount bans
On November 27, 2012, a federal judge entered an order granting preliminary approval to a proposed settlement to a class-action lawsuit filed in 2005 by merchants and trade associations against Mastercard and Visa. The suit was filed due to alleged price-fixing practices employed by Mastercard and Visa. About one-fourth of the named class plaintiffs have decided to opt-out of the settlement. Opponents object to provisions that would bar future lawsuits and prevent merchants from opting out of significant portions of the proposed settlement.

Plaintiffs allege that Visa Inc. and Mastercard fixed interchange fees, also known as swipe fees, that are charged to merchants for the privilege of accepting payment cards. In their complaint, the plaintiffs also alleged that the defendants unfairly interfere with merchants from encouraging customers to use less expensive forms of payment such as lower-cost cards, cash, and checks.

A settlement of $6.24 billion got preliminary approval in November, 2019. A settlement of $5.54B was approved in 2019. Certain merchants appealed the settlement and were heard. The case is ongoing.

Antitrust settlement with U.S. Justice Department
In October 2010, Mastercard and Visa reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in another antitrust case. The companies agreed to allow merchants displaying their logos to decline certain types of cards (because interchange fees differ), or to offer consumers discounts for using cheaper cards.

ATM operators
Mastercard, along with Visa, has been sued in a class action by ATM operators that claim the credit card networks' rules effectively fix ATM access fees. The suit claims that this is a restraint of trade in violation of federal law. The lawsuit was filed by the National ATM Council and independent operators of automated teller machines. More specifically, it is alleged that Mastercard's and Visa's network rules prohibit ATM operators from offering lower prices for transactions over PIN-debit networks that are not affiliated with Visa or Mastercard. The suit says that this price-fixing artificially raises the price that consumers pay using ATMs, limits the revenue that ATM operators earn, and violates the Sherman Act's prohibition against unreasonable restraints of trade. Johnathan Rubin, an attorney for the plaintiffs said, "Visa and Mastercard are the ringleaders, organizers, and enforcers of a conspiracy among U.S. banks to fix the price of ATM access fees in order to keep the competition at bay."

Oceania
In 2003, the Reserve Bank of Australia required that interchange fees be dramatically reduced, from about 0.95% of the transaction to approximately 0.5%. One notable result has been the reduced use of reward cards and increased use of debit cards. Australia also prohibited the no surcharge rule, a policy established by credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard to prevent merchants from charging a credit card usage fee to the cardholder. A surcharge would mitigate or even exceed the merchant discount paid by a merchant, but would also make the cardholder more reluctant to use the card as the method of payment. Australia has also made changes to the interchange rates on debit cards and has considered abolishing interchange fees altogether.

As of November 2006, New Zealand was considering similar actions, following a Commerce Commission lawsuit alleging price-fixing by Visa and Mastercard. In New Zealand, merchants pay a 1.8% fee on every credit card transaction.

Europe
The European Union has repeatedly criticized Mastercard for monopolistic trade practices. In April 2009, Mastercard reached a settlement with the European Union in an antitrust case, promising to reduce debit card swipe fees to 0.2 percent of purchases. In December 2010, a senior official from the European Central Bank called for a break-up of the Visa/Mastercard duopoly by the creation of a new European debit card for use in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

WikiLeaks published documents showing that American authorities lobbied Russia to defend the interests of Visa and Mastercard. In response, Mastercard blocked payments to WikiLeaks. Members of the European Parliament expressed concern that payments from European citizens to a European corporation could apparently be blocked by the United States and called for a further reduction in the dominance of Visa and Mastercard in the European payment system.

In 2013, Mastercard was under investigation by the European Union for the high fees it charged merchants to accept cards issued outside the EU, compared to cards issued in the EU, as well as other anti-competitive practices that could hinder electronic commerce and international trade, and high fees associated with premium credit cards. The EU's competition regulator said that these fees were of special concern because of the growing role of non-cash payments. Mastercard was banned from charging fees on cross-border transactions conducted wholly within the EU via a ruling by the European Commission in 2007. The European Commission said that their investigation also included large differences in fees across national borders. For instance, a €50 payment might cost €0.10 in the Netherlands but eight times that amount in Poland. The Commission argues that Mastercard rules that prohibit merchants from enjoying better terms offered in other EU countries may be against antitrust law.

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) praised the action against Mastercard. BEUC said interbank fees push up prices and hurt consumers. BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said, "So in the end, all consumers are hit by a scheme which ultimately rewards the card company and issuing bank."

In January 2019, the European Commission imposed an antitrust fine of €570,566,000 on Mastercard for "obstructing merchants' access to cross-border card payment services", due to Mastercard's rules obliging acquiring banks to apply the interchange fees of the country where a retailer was located. The Commission concluded that Mastercard's rules prevented retailers from benefitting from lower fees and restricted competition between banks cross border, in breach of EU antitrust rules. The infringement of antitrust rules ended when Mastercard amended its rules due to the entering into force of the Interchange Fee Regulation in 2015, which introduced caps on interchange fees. The Commission did grant Mastercard a 10% reduction of the fine however, in return for Mastercard acknowledging the facts and cooperating with the antitrust investigation.

In February 2021, following an investigation by the British Payment Systems Regulator, Mastercard admitted liability for breaching competition rules in relation to pre-paid cards.

United States internet gambling transactions
Mastercard, Visa, and other credit cards have been used to fund accounts since online gambling began in the mid-1990s.

On March 20, 2000, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, reviewed motions in Re: MasterCard International Inc. regarding multi-district litigation alleging Mastercard illegally interacted with a number of internet casinos. The plaintiffs alleged, among other claims, that Mastercard had violated the Federal Wire Act. They sought financial relief for losses suffered at online gambling sites outside the United States.

The District Court's ruling on February 23, 2001, later upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, sided with Mastercard. The Fifth Circuit also clarified the application of the Wire Act to illegal online gambling. The Court determined that the wire act only applied to gambling activities related to a "sporting event or contest". Therefore, the court could not conclude that Mastercard had violated the Wire Act.

When PASPA was overturned May 14, 2018, Mastercard had to provide new guidance to its member banks. It clarified that state location restrictions apply to the individual placing the wager, not the member bank processing the transaction. According to various state gaming laws, sports betting providers must use Internet geolocation to determine a customer's physical location prior to accepting a wager. The Independent Community Bankers of America specifically requested information about a new online gambling merchant category code. Mastercard has dedicated MCC 7801 to online gambling. This code is distinct from 7800 for government owned lotteries and 7802 for government licensed horse and dog tracks.

Blocking payments to WikiLeaks
In December 2010, Mastercard blocked all payments to whistleblowing platform WikiLeaks due to claims that they engage in illegal activity. In response, a group of online activists Anonymous organized a denial-of-service attack; as a result, the Mastercard website experienced downtime on December 8–9, 2010. On December 9, 2010, the servers of Mastercard underwent a massive attack as part of an Operation Avenge Assange for closing down payments to WikiLeaks. The security of thousands of credit cards was compromised during that attack due to a phishing-site set up by the attackers. However, Mastercard denied this, stating that account data had "not been placed at risk". WikiLeaks' spokesman said, "We neither condemn nor applaud these attacks." U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that closing down credit lines for donations to WikiLeaks "could be interpreted as an attempt to censor the publication of information, thus potentially violating WikiLeaks' right to freedom of expression".

In July 2011, Iceland-based IT firm DataCell, the company that enabled WikiLeaks to accept credit and debit card donations, said it would take legal action against Visa Europe and Mastercard, and that it would move immediately to try to force the two companies to resume allowing payments to the website. Earlier on December 8, 2010, DataCell's CEO Andreas Fink had stated that "suspension of payments towards WikiLeaks is a violation of the agreements with their customers." On July 14, 2011, DataCell announced they had filed a complaint with the European Commission claiming the closure by Visa and Mastercard of Datacell's access to the payment card networks violated the competition rules of the European Community.

On July 12, 2012, a Reykjavík court ruled that Valitor, Visa and Mastercard's partner in Iceland, had to start processing donations within fourteen days or pay daily fines to the amount of ISK 800,000 (some $6000) for each day after that time, to open the payment gateway. Valitor also had to pay DataCell's litigation costs of ISK 1,500,000.

Corporate branding of all Nigerian identity cards
In 2014, pursuant to an agreement between Mastercard and the Nigerian Government, acting through the National Identity Management Commission, the new Nigerian ID cards bear the Mastercard logo, contain personal database data and double as payment cards, irrevocably linking such payments to the individuals, sparking criticism by the Civil Rights Congress alleging that it "represents a stamped ownership of a Nigerian by an American company ... reminiscent of the logo pasted on the bodies of African slaves transported across the Atlantic."

Selling of credit card data
In 2018, Bloomberg News reported that Google had paid millions of dollars to Mastercard for its users' credit card data for advertising purposes. The deal had not been publicly announced.

Regulatory ban In India
On July 14, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) indefinitely barred Mastercard from issuing new debit or credit cards to domestic Indian customers starting July 22, 2021, for violating data localization and storage rules as set by RBI on April 6, 2018, under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act). This ban does not affect cards already issued and working in India. Mastercard is the third major payment systems provider to be restricted in India after American Express and Diners Club International. On June 16, 2022, the business restrictions imposed were lifted by RBI with immediate effect.

Regulatory ban In Vietnam
In 2018, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) requested that banks temporarily halt the issuance of new Mastercard cards due to violations of international payment regulations. Specifically, Mastercard did not comply with the regulation of conducting payments through the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS). In 2020, the ban was lifted after Mastercard committed to complying with Vietnamese regulations. Despite its widespread acceptance, using Mastercard in Vietnam still comes with certain limitations: Some Vietnamese websites and applications do not accept Mastercard as a payment method. Not all ATMs in Vietnam allow cash withdrawals using Mastercard. Some Mastercard users in Vietnam have reported experiencing inadequate customer service.

Adult content restrictions
In December 2020, Mastercard barred the use of its credit cards on Pornhub, an online pornography site. In April 2023, The Hill reported on an update to Mastercard's policy for adult content that would require sellers to have age and identity verifications and content review prior to posting in place. The new policies took effect in October 2021. On August 30, 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union, in combination with a coalition of other organizations, filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission requesting an investigation into the policy as an unfair business practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.

Products
Depending on the geographical location, Mastercard issuers can issue cards in tiers, from the lowest to the highest, Traditional/Classic/Standard, Gold/Titanium, Platinum, World and World Elite.

Through a partnership with an Internet company that specializes in personalized shopping, Mastercard introduced a Web shopping mall on April 16, 2010, that it said can pinpoint with considerable accuracy what its cardholders are likely to purchase.

In September 2014 Mastercard worked with Apple to incorporate a new mobile wallet feature into Apple's new iPhone and Apple Watch models known as Apple Pay, enabling users to more readily use their Mastercard, and other credit cards.

In May 2020, Mastercard announced the Mastercard Track Business Payment Service. The service will provide business-to-business payments between buyers and suppliers. According to the head of global commercial products, it "creates a directory of suppliers, enabling suppliers to publish their payment rules so they can better control how they receive payments while making it easier for buyers to find suppliers and understand their requirements".

On February 10, 2021, Mastercard announced their support of cryptocurrencies saying that later in 2021, Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on their network. One of the main focus areas that Mastercard wants to support is using digital assets for payments, and that crypto assets will need to offer the stability people need in a vehicle for spending, not investment. In October 2021, Mastercard announced that through its partnership with Bakkt, any bank or merchant on its network would soon be able to offer crypto services. In June 2022, Mastercard announced that it would now be allowing cardholders to purchase NFTs via various NFT scaling platforms.

Prepaid debit cards
Mastercard, Comerica Bank, and the U.S. Treasury Department teamed up in 2008 to create the Direct Express Debit Mastercard. The federal government uses the Express Debit product to issue electronic payments to people who do not have bank accounts. Comerica Bank is the issuing bank for the debit card.

The Direct Express cards give recipients a number of consumer protections.

In June 2013, Mastercard announced a partnership with British Airways to offer members the Executive Club Multi-currency Cash Passport, which will allow members to earn extra points and make multi-currency payments. The Passport card allows users to load up to ten currencies (euro, pound, U.S. dollar, Turkish lira, Swiss franc, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, New Zealand dollar, U.A.E. dirham, and South African rand) at a locked-in rate. When used, the card selects the local currency to ensure the best exchange rate, and if the local currency is not already loaded onto the card, funds are used from other currencies.

QkR
QkR is a mobile payment app developed by Mastercard operating in the US and Australia for the purpose of ordering products and services through a smartphone with payments charged to the associated credit card. It is being deployed for use in large-scale events, such as sport events, concerts, movie theaters or schools. Unlike other Mastercard mobile payment apps such as Pay Pass, QkR does not use NFC from the phone, but rather an Internet connection.

Users can open the app, scan a QR code located on the back of the seat in front of them, and place orders for refreshments of their choice. The order is dispatched to a nearby concession stand.

QkR is being marketed to vendors as a replacement for other mobile payment apps and a mobile ordering app, either distributed by the vendor (such as Starbucks's app, McDonald's' app, or Chipotle's mobile ordering app) or by a third party, such as Square, headed by Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey.

Mastercard Contactless
Mastercard Contactless (formerly PayPass ) is an EMV-compatible, contactless payment feature similar to American Express' ExpressPay, and Visa payWave. All three use the same symbol as shown on the right. It is based on the ISO/IEC 14443 standard that provides cardholders with a simpler way to pay by tapping a payment card or other payment device, such as a phone or key fob, on a point-of-sale terminal reader rather than swiping or inserting a card. Contactless can currently be used on transactions up to and including 100 GBP, 50 EUR, 60 BAM, 80 CHF, 50 USD, 100 CAD, 200 SEK, 500 NOK, 100 PLN, 350 DKK, 80 NZD, 100 AUD, 1000 RUB, 500 UAH, 500 TRY depending on the card's currency rather than the transaction currency or 5000 INR.

In 2003, Mastercard concluded a nine-month PayPass market trial in Orlando, Florida, with JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and MBNA. More than 16,000 cardholders and more than 60 retailer locations participated in the market trial. In addition, Mastercard worked with Nokia and the Nokia 6131, AT&T Wireless, and JPMorgan Chase to incorporate Mastercard PayPass into mobile phones using near-field communication technology, in Dallas, Texas. In 2011, Google and Mastercard launched Google Wallet, an Android application which allows a mobile device to send credit/debit card information directly to a PayPass-enabled payment terminal, bypassing the need for a physical card, up until the creation of Google Pay. In 2014, the Apple released Apple Pay for iOS devices.

During late 2015, Citicards in the US stopped issuing PayPass-enabled plastic, but the keyfob was still available upon request. Effective July 16, 2016, Citicards stopped supporting PayPass completely. While existing plastic and keyfobs continued to work until their expiration date, no new PayPass-enabled hardware was issued to US customers after that date.

Crypto
In April 2023, Mastercard announced its intention to expand its partnerships with cryptocurrency firms. At the time of the announcement, the firm had already partnered with other financial companies to offer cards linked to crypto in some nations. This was despite an increasingly intense regulatory environment, and it followed rival company Visa stopping its agreement with FTX in November 2022. The company said its Mastercard Crypto Credential service would allow for transactions between countries that met requirements like so-called "travel rule" by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), using technology from CipherTrace. It also worked with wallet providers Bit2Me, Lirium, Mercado Bitcoin, and Uphold. Its head of crypto and blockchain, Raj Dhamodharan, said uses for NFT transactions would come later on.

Branding
Mastercard is associated with security and is believed to be reliable in emergencies. Antitrust litigation over the years has damaged the brand. Mastercard's current advertising campaign tagline is Priceless. It started in 1997. The slogan associated with the campaign is ''There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Mastercard.'' The Priceless campaign in more recent iterations has been applicable to both Mastercard's credit card and debit card products. They also use the Priceless description to promote products such as their priceless travel site, which features deals and offers for Mastercard holders, and priceless cities, offers for people in specified locations.

In mid-2006, MasterCard International changed its name to MasterCard Worldwide. This was to suggest a more global scale. In addition, the company introduced a new corporate logo adding a third circle to the two that had been used in the past (the familiar card logo, resembling a Venn diagram, remained unchanged). A new corporate tagline was introduced at the same time—The Heart of Commerce.

In July 2016, Mastercard introduced their new rebranding, along with a new corporate logo. In addition, they changed their service name from "MasterCard" to "mastercard".

In January 2019, Mastercard removed its name from its logo, leaving just the overlapping discs.

In 2021, Mastercard was ranked number 13 on Morning Consult's list of most trusted brands.

Sports sponsorships
Mastercard sponsors major sporting events and teams throughout the world. These include rugby's New Zealand, the MLB, the UEFA Champions League and the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational. Previously, it also sponsored the FIFA World Cup but withdrew its contract after a court settlement and its rival, Visa, took up the contract in 2007. In 1997, Mastercard was the main sponsor of the Mastercard Lola Formula One team, which withdrew from the 1997 Formula One season after having failed to qualify its first race due to financial problems. It also partners the Brazil national football team and the Copa Libertadores.

Mastercard was also the title sponsor for the Alamo Bowl game from 2002 until 2005.

In late 2018, Mastercard became the first major sponsor for League of Legends esports. The company sponsors the League of Legends World Championship, Mid-Season Invitational, and the All-stars event for League of Legends.

Until 2018, Mastercard was the sponsor of the Memorial Cup, the CHL's annual championship between its three leagues.

In September 2022, Mastercard acquired the title sponsorship rights for all international and domestic home matches organized by the Board of Cricket Control in India.

Corporate affairs
Mastercard has its headquarters in the Mastercard International Global Headquarters in Purchase, New York. The Global Operations Center is located in O'Fallon, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.

Mastercard was listed as one of the best companies to work for in 2013 by Forbes. In 2016, Mastercard UK became one of 144 companies who signed the HM Treasury's Women in Finance Charter, a pledge for balanced gender representation in the company.

Management and board of directors
Key executives include:

 * Michael Miebach: president and chief executive officer
 * Walt Macnee: vice chairman
 * Robert Reeg: president – global technology & operations
 * Raja Rajamannar: chief marketing officer – global marketing
 * Gary Flood: president – products & services
 * Noah Hanft: general counsel, chief franchise officer and corporate president
 * Michael Fraccaro: chief human resources officer
 * Chris McWilton: president – North American markets
 * Ann Cairns: president – international markets
 * Javier Perez: president – Europe
 * Kevin Stanton: Chief Transformation Officer
 * Ari Sarker: president – Asia-Pacific
 * Betty Devita: president – Canada
 * Gilberto Caldart: president – Latin America & Caribbean

Prior to its IPO in 2006, Mastercard was an association that had a board of directors composed of banks. The current board of directors includes the following individuals:
 * Merit Janow, Non-Executive Chair, and Dean Emerita, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
 * Candido Botelho Bracher, Former CEO, Itaú Unibanco Group, Independent Director
 * Richard K. Davis Former Executive Chairman and CEO, U.S. Bancorp, Independent Director
 * Julius Genachowski Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, Independent Director
 * Choon Phong Goh, CEO, Singapore Airlines Limited, Independent Director
 * Oki Matsumoto, Founder, chairman and CEO, Monex Group, Inc., Independent Director
 * Michael Miebach, President and CEO, Mastercard
 * Youngme Moon, Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, Independent Director
 * Rima Qureshi, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, Verizon Communications Inc., Independent Director
 * Gabrielle Sulzberger Strategic Advisor, Two Sigma Impact, Independent Director
 * Jackson Tai, Former Vice Chairman and CEO, DBS Group and DBS Bank Ltd., Independent Director
 * Harit Talwar, Former Partner and chairman, Consumer Business (Marcus), Goldman Sachs, Independent Director
 * Lance Uggla CEO, BeyondNetZero, Independent Director

World Beyond Cash
In 2017, CEO Ajay Banga reinforced the company's goal of extending financial services to those outside the current system by bringing digital payment systems to the unbanked around the world. The company invested $500M in India with offices in Pune and Vadodara to help Mastercard bring cashless transactions to the largest population in the world. The company also is scheduled to invest an additional $750M in cashless apps and technology, especially focused on India between 2017 and 2020.

Banknet
Mastercard operates Banknet, a global telecommunications network linking all Mastercard card issuers, acquirers, and data processing centers into a single financial network. The operations hub is located in St. Louis, Missouri. Banknet uses the ISO 8583 protocol.

Mastercard's network differs significantly from Visa's. Visa's is a star-based system where all endpoints terminate at one of several main data centers, where all transactions are processed centrally. Mastercard's network is an edge-based, peer-to-peer network where transactions travel a meshed network directly to other endpoints, without the need to travel to a single point. This allows Mastercard's network to be much more resilient, in that a single failure cannot isolate a large number of endpoints.

title: Mastercard


text:
Moisés Alou

Moisés Rojas-Alou Beltré (born July 3, 1966) is an American former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 17 seasons in the National League. In 1,942 career games, Alou had a batting average of .303 with 2,134 hits, 421 doubles, 332 home runs, and 1,287 runs batted in.

He is a member of one of the sport's most notable families of the late 20th century, being the son of famed first baseman and manager Felipe Alou. A mainly offensive player who admitted himself that he was not particularly strong on defense, Alou was never a serious Hall of Fame contender, but his career was noteworthy in several respects nevertheless: He was a six-time All Star and a vital contributor to the 1997 and 2003 Florida Marlins World Series Championships.

Baseball career
Alou was more interested in playing basketball during his youth and did not play organized baseball until he attended Cañada College in Redwood City, California, at the age of 18. It was there that baseball scouts noticed his bat speed and speed on the base paths. In 1986, Alou was the second overall pick in the MLB January Draft, chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Alou is one of the few modern baseball players who batted without the use of batting gloves. Instead, Moisés Alou revealed that during the baseball season, he'd urinate on his hands to toughen them up.

Montreal Expos
In 1990, he was traded to the Montreal Expos where he would later play under his father while he managed the Expos.

Alou suffered a severe ankle injury in 1993 that would rob him of his speed and force him to become strictly a corner outfielder. He recovered in 1994, hitting .339 and had the game-winning hit in that year's All-Star Game. For the next two seasons, he would enjoy success at the plate in Montreal, although surgery to both shoulders prematurely ended his 1995 season.

Florida Marlins
Prior to the 1997 season, Alou signed as a free agent with the Florida Marlins, where he led the team with 23 home runs and 115 RBIs. The Marlins made the playoffs as a wild card team and defeated the San Francisco Giants in the National League Divisional Series. The Marlins then defeated the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series before going to the World Series, which Florida won in seven games. Alou led the team by hitting .321 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in the World Series (although, pitcher Liván Hernández, by virtue of his wins in Games 1 and 5, was named the Series Most Valuable Player instead).

Houston Astros
Before the 1998 season, the Marlins traded Alou to the Houston Astros. In his first season with the team, Alou hit a career-high 38 home runs and drove in 124 runs while leading the Astros to a (then) franchise-record 102 wins. However, he tore his ACL in a treadmill accident in the offseason and missed the entire 1999 season. Once recovered, he returned to the Astros lineup to hit .355 in 2000 and .331 in 2001, while driving in at least 108 runs in each season. After the 2001 season, the Astros did not offer Alou a new contract due to budget constraints, making him a free agent.

Chicago Cubs
In December 2001, he signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.

At the start of the 2002 season Alou again ended up on the disabled list, and once healthy, he hit .275 and 15 home runs. After the 2002 season, Alou hired a personal trainer and dedicated himself to returning to his old form. In the 2003 season, Alou batted over .300 for most of the season before a late-season slump dropped his season batting average to .280, with 22 home runs and 91 RBI. Alou went on to lead the team in batting average in its two series against the Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins.

In Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins that year, Alou was involved in the Steve Bartman incident, in which Cubs fan Steve Bartman deflected a foul ball landing one row into the stands. Bartman's deflection prevented Alou, who reached into the stands, from attempting to catch the ball for an out that could have been the second out of the 8th Inning. However, the Marlins went on to score eight runs in the inning, in which the Cubs had been ahead 3–0. The Cubs, who had led the series 3–2, lost the game 8–3 and eventually lost the series in 7 games. Alou openly admitted later in interviews that while he was frustrated at the moment, he could not have made the catch anyway. Later, Alou denied making such a statement and said if he had, it was only to make Bartman feel better.

In 2004, Alou set new career highs in home runs (39) and doubles (36), while driving in 106 runs. However, the Cubs missed the playoffs after losing seven of their last nine games. The Cubs refused to offer arbitration and let him go, citing numerous fights with umpires who, he claimed, had a vendetta against him.

San Francisco Giants and New York Mets
In October 2004, Alou announced that he had talked to his father, Felipe, about possibly playing for him and the Giants next season. In December 2004, he signed a one-year deal with the Giants worth $13.5 million, with a player option for a second year. Alou was expected to regularly play in right field for the first time since 2001, but because of injuries to left fielder Barry Bonds, he started most games in left field. Alou had stated that he would retire if the Giants won the World Series in 2005. They did not, and Alou exercised his option to stay with San Francisco in the 2006 season, hitting 22 home runs and 74 RBI.

On November 20, 2006, the New York Mets signed Alou to a one-year contract worth $7.5 million with a club option for 2008. After hitting .318 in his first month as the regular left fielder, Alou suffered a torn quadriceps muscle and was forced out until August. Upon his return, Alou led the Mets with a .345 batting average and had a 30-game hitting streak. The streak was the longest streak of the 2007 season, was the longest hitting streak by a player over age 40, and broke the Mets' overall and single-season hitting streak records. On October 31, 2007, the Mets exercised their option on Alou's contract for the 2008 season. On March 5, 2008, Alou underwent hernia surgery and missed the start of the 2008 season. On July 9, Alou suffered a torn right hamstring playing in the outfield for AA Binghamton in Norwich, Connecticut. Mets general manager Omar Minaya stated in a press conference the following day that Alou would likely need surgery and miss the remainder of the 2008 season, which ended his career.

On March 5, 2009, Alou announced that he would retire after the World Baseball Classic.

Post playing career
In 2014, in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility, Alou received six votes (1.1%) and was dropped from subsequent ballots.

Personal life
He is the youngest of three sons born to Felipe and his first wife Maria Beltre, who raised him in the Dominican Republic after his parents divorced when he was two.

His father Felipe, who managed Moises with the Expos from 1992 to 1996 and the Giants from 2005 to 2006, as well as uncles Matty and Jesús, and cousin Mel Rojas, all had long careers in Major League Baseball. In 2008, he was one of four active major leaguers (along with Prince Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr., and Daryle Ward) to hit 20 home runs in a season whose fathers had also hit 20 home runs in an MLB season.

His half-brother, Luis Rojas, was the manager of the New York Mets in 2020 and 2021.

title: Moisés Alou


text:
Gymnolaemata

Gymnolaemata are a class of Bryozoans. Gymnolaemata are sessile, mostly marine organisms and grow on the surfaces of rocks, kelp, and in some cases on animals, like fish. Zooids are cylindrical or flattened. The lophophore is protruded by action of muscles pulling on the frontal wall. This order includes the majority of living bryozoan species.

Orders
Source:

 * Cheilostomata Busk, 1852
 * Ctenostomatida Busk, 1852

title: Gymnolaemata


text:
Cheilostomatida

Cheilostomatida, also called Cheilostomata, is an order of Bryozoa in the class Gymnolaemata.

They are exclusively marine, colonial invertebrate animals. Cheilostome colonies are composed of calcium carbonate and grow on a variety of surfaces, including rocks, shells, seagrass and kelps. The colony shapes range from simple encrusting sheets to erect branching and even unattached forms. As in other bryozoan groups, each colony is composed of a few to thousands of individual polypides. Each individual has a U-shaped gut, and no respiratory or circulatory system. Unique among bryozoans, cheilostome polypides are housed in a box-shaped zooids, which do not grow larger once the zooid is mature. The opening through which the polypide protrudes is protected by a calcareous or chitinous lidlike structure, an operculum. Cheilostomes possess avicularia, which have modified the operculum into a range of mandibles (possibly for defense) or hair-like setae (possibly for cleaning).

The cheilostomes are the most abundant and varied of modern bryozoans. The classification in suborders is based upon frontal calcification and the mechanism of lophophore protrusion.

Evolution
Cheilostomes first appeared in the Late Jurassic (Pyriporopsis) but diversified very slowly during the Early Cretaceous, with only 1 family known up to the Albian. During the Late Cretaceous, cheilostomes diversified rapidly to reach a level of more than 20 families in the Maastrichtian, replacing cyclostomes as the dominant group of bryozoans. At the same time new forms evolved which partly or fully used aragonite instead of calcite in their exoskeleton. This diversification is thought to be a consequence of the evolution of a new larval type. Though the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event had some impact on genetic diversity, the rapid diversification continued into the Eocene, then apparently reaching a plateau of about 50 families up to the Holocene.

Most species incubate their offspring in brood chambers which has evolved independently at least 10 times in the order.

title: Cheilostomatida