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Phaseolus vulgaris

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, along with other Phaseolus species, is as a member of the legume family Fabaceae. Like most members of this family, common beans acquire the nitrogen they require through an association with rhizobia, which are nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

The common bean has a long history of cultivation. All wild members of the species have a climbing habit, but many cultivars are classified either as bush beans or climbing beans, depending on their style of growth. The other major types of commercially grown beans are the runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) and the broad bean (Vicia faba).

Beans are grown on every continent except Antarctica. Worldwide in 2022, 28 million tonnes of dry common beans were produced, led by India with 23% of the total.

Raw dry beans contain the toxic compound phytohaemagglutinin, which can be inactivated by cooking beans for ten minutes at boiling point (100 °C, 212 °F). The US FDA also recommends an initial soak of at least 5 hours in water which should then be discarded.

Description
Bush varieties form erect bushes 20 – tall, while pole or running varieties form vines 2 – long. All varieties bear alternate, green or purple leaves, which are divided into three oval, smooth-edged leaflets, each 6 – long and 3 – wide. The white, pink, or purple flowers are about 1 cm long and have 10 stamens. The flowers are self-pollinating, which facilitates the selection of stable cultivars. The flowers give way to pods 8 – long and 1–1.5 cm wide. These may be green, yellow, black, or purple, each containing 4–8 beans. Some varieties develop a string along the pod; these are generally cultivated for dry beans, as green stringy beans are not commercially desirable. The beans are smooth, plump, kidney-shaped, up to 1.5 cm long, range widely in color and are often mottled in two or more colors. The beans maintain their germination capacity up to 5 years.

Like most species from Phaseolus, the genome of P. vulgaris has 11 chromosomal pairs (2n = 22). Its genome is one of the smallest in the legume family at 625 Mbp per haploid genome.

Raw or undercooked beans contain a toxic protein called phytohaemagglutinin.

Taxonomy
The common bean, like all species of Phaseolus is a member of the legume family Fabaceae.

In Species Plantarum in 1753, Linnaeus classified the beans known by him into genus Phaseolus and genus Dolichos, naming 11 species of Phaseolus, including 6 cultivated species and 5 "wild" species.

The beans cultivated in Europe prior to the Columbian Exchange were of Asian origin and are unrelated to New World Phaseolus species. The Eurasian species have been transferred to other genera including Vigna, Vicia and Lablab, so members of the Phaseolus genus are now all from the Americas.

Etymology
Ancient Greeks used the word φάσηλος (phasēlos) to refer to the beans of Asian origins which were cultivated in Europe at the time. The Romans used both the Latinized phaseolus and their own faba to refer to different pre-Columbian species of beans, presumably using the word faseolus for smaller seeds like those belonging to the genus Vigna such as the black-eyed peas and the word faba for larger seeds, such as the fava beans. This latter word, faba, was related to the Proto-Germanic bauno, from which the Old English word bean is derived and has the meaning of "bean, pea, legume". When Phaseolus vulgaris arrived in Europe in the 16th Century, this species was yet another seed in a pod, thus there were already words in the European languages describing it.

P. vulgaris was known as ayacotl in the Aztec language nahuatl, búul in Mayan and purutu in the Incan language quechua. In the Americas, indigenous names for P. vulgaris were not derived from Greek/Roman roots phaselus/faseolus, as are Castilian Spanish frijol, Portuguese feijão, and Catalan fesol, but from the local languages. For example, it is called poroto in Chilean Spanish, from the Incan purutu.

History
The wild P. vulgaris is native to the Americas. It was originally believed that it had been domesticated separately in Mesoamerica and in the southern Andes region ~8000 years ago, giving the domesticated bean two gene pools. However, recent genetic analyses show that it was domesticated in Mexico first, before the split into the Mesoamerican and Andean P. vulgaris gene pools.

Beans, squash and maize (corn) are the three Mesoamerican crops that constitute the "Three Sisters", central to indigenous American agriculture.

The common bean arrived in Europe as part of the Columbian exchange. In 1528, the pope, Giulio de' Medici, received some white beans, which thrived. Five years later, he gave a bag of beans as a present to his niece, Catherine, on her wedding to Prince Henri of France, along with the county of the Lauragais, whose county town is Castelnaudary, now synonymous with the white bean dish of cassoulet.

Cultivation
Good commercial yield in favorable environments under irrigation is 6 to 8 ton/ha fresh and 1.5 to 2 ton/ha dry seed.

Cultivars and varieties
Archeologists found large-seeded varieties of the domesticated bean in the highlands of Peru, dating to 2300 BC, and spreading to the coastal regions by around 500 BC. Small-seeded varieties were found in sites in Mexico, dating to 300 BC, which then spread north and east of the Mississippi River by 1000 AD.

Many well-known bean cultivars and varieties belong to this species, and the list below is in no way exhaustive. Both bush and running (pole) cultivars/varieties exist. The colors and shapes of pods and seeds vary over a wide range. See: https://www.legumedata.org/taxonomy/taxon/2537710https://www.legumedata.org/taxonomy/taxon/2537710

Production
In 2022, world production of dry common beans was 28 million tonnes, led by India with 23% of the total (table). Brazil and Myanmar were secondary producers.

Toxicity
The toxic compound phytohaemagglutinin, a lectin, is present in many common bean varieties but is especially concentrated in red kidney beans. White kidney beans contain about a third as many toxins as the red variety; broad beans (Vicia faba) contain 5 to 10% as much as red kidney beans.

Phytohaemagglutinin can be inactivated by cooking beans for ten minutes at boiling point (100 °C, 212 °F). Insufficient cooking, such as in a slow cooker at 80 °C/ 176 °F, is insufficient to deactivate all toxins. To safely cook the beans, the U.S Food and Drug Administration recommends boiling for 30 minutes to ensure they reach a sufficient temperature for long enough to destroy the toxin completely. For dry beans, the FDA also recommends an initial soak of at least 5 hours in water which should then be discarded. Outbreaks of poisoning have been associated with cooking kidney beans in slow cookers.

The primary symptoms of phytohaemagglutinin poisoning are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Onset is from one to three hours after consumption of improperly prepared beans, and symptoms typically resolve within a few hours. Consumption of as few as four or five raw, soaked kidney beans can cause symptoms. Canned red kidney beans are safe to use immediately, as they have already been cooked.

Beans are high in purines, which are metabolized to uric acid. Uric acid is not a toxin but may promote the development or exacerbation of gout. However, more recent research has questioned this association, finding that moderate intake of purine-rich foods is not associated with an increased risk of gout.

Nutrition
Raw green beans are 90% water, 7% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and contain negligible fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 g, raw green beans supply 36 calories, and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin K (41% DV) and a moderate source (10-19% DV) of vitamin C, vitamin B6, and manganese (table).

Dry white common beans after boiling are 63% water, 25% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and contain little fat (table). In a reference amount of 100 g, boiled white common beans supply 139 calories and are a rich source of folate and manganese, with moderate amounts of thiamine and several dietary minerals (table).

Dry beans
Dry beans will keep indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry place, but as time passes, their nutritive value and flavor degrade, and cooking times lengthen. Dried beans are almost always cooked by boiling, often after being soaked in water for several hours. While the soaking is not strictly necessary, it shortens cooking time and results in more evenly textured beans. In addition, soaking beans removes 5 to 10% of the gas-producing sugars that can cause flatulence for some people. The methods include simple overnight soaking and the power soak method, in which beans are boiled for three minutes and then set aside for 2–4 hours. Before cooking, the soaking water is drained off and discarded. Dry common beans take longer to cook than most pulses: cooking times vary from one to four hours but are substantially reduced with pressure cooking.

In Mexico, Central America, and South America, the traditional spice used with beans is epazote, which is also said to aid digestion. In East Asia, a type of seaweed, kombu, is added to beans as they cook for the same purpose. Salt, sugar, and acidic foods such as tomatoes may harden uncooked beans, resulting in seasoned beans at the expense of slightly longer cooking times.

Dry beans may also be bought cooked and canned as refried beans, or whole with water, salt, and sometimes sugar.

Green beans and wax beans
The three commonly known types of green beans are string or snap beans, which may be round or have a flat pod; stringless or French beans, which lack a tough, fibrous string running along the length of the pod; and runner beans, which belong to a separate species, Phaseolus coccineus. Green beans may have a purple rather than green pod, which changes to green when cooked. Wax beans are P. vulgaris beans that have a yellow or white pod. Wax bean cultivars are commonly grown; the plants are often of the bush or dwarf form.

As the name implies, snap beans break easily when the pod is bent, giving off a distinct audible snap sound. The pods of snap beans (green, yellow and purple) are harvested when they are rapidly growing, fleshy, tender (not tough and stringy), and bright in color, and the seeds are small and underdeveloped (8 to 10 days after flowering).

Green beans and wax beans are often steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or baked in casseroles.

Shelling beans
Shell, shelled, or shelling beans are beans removed from their pods before being cooked or dried. Common beans can be used as shell beans, but the term also refers to other species of beans whose pods are not typically eaten, such as lima beans, soybeans, peas, and fava beans. Fresh shell beans are nutritionally similar to dry beans but are prepared more like vegetables, often steamed, fried, or made into soups.

Popping beans
The nuña is an Andean subspecies, P. v. subsp. nunas (formerly P. vulgaris Nuñas group), with round, multicolored seeds that resemble pigeon eggs. When cooked on high heat, the bean explodes, exposing the inner part in the manner of popcorn and other puffed grains.

Other uses
Bean leaves have been used to trap bedbugs in houses. Microscopic hairs (trichomes) on the bean leaves entrap the insects.

From ancient times, beans were used as devices in various methods of divination. Fortune-telling using beans is called favomancy.

P. vulgaris has been found to bio-accumulate zinc, manganese, and iron and have some tolerance to their respective toxicities, suggesting suitability for natural bio-remediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils.

title: Phaseolus vulgaris


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British comics

A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper. As of 2014, the three longest-running comics of all time were all British.

British comics are usually comics anthologies which are typically aimed at children, and are published weekly, although some are also published on a fortnightly or monthly schedule. The two most popular British comics, The Beano and The Dandy, were released by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million. Explaining the enormous popularity of comics in British popular culture during this period, Anita O’Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum, states: "When comics like The Beano and Dandy were invented back in the 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and 60s – these comics were almost the only entertainment available to children."

In 1954, Tiger comics introduced Roy of the Rovers, the hugely popular football based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers. The stock media phrase "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff" is often used by football writers, commentators and fans when describing displays of great skill, or surprising results that go against the odds, in reference to the dramatic storylines that were the strip's trademark. Other comics such as Eagle, Valiant, Warrior, Viz and 2000 AD also flourished. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in a tabloid form. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also appeared in the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine. While the bestselling comics in the UK have historically been native products, American comic books and Japanese manga are also popular.

Overview

The description comics derived from the names of popular titles such as Comic Cuts, and from the fact that in the beginning all the titles presented only comical (i.e. humorous) content.

British comics typically differ from the American comic book. Although historically they shared the same format size, based on a sheet of 30 x 22 inch imperial paper, folded, British comics have moved away from this size, adopting a standard magazine size. Until that point, the British comic was also usually printed on newsprint, with black or a dark red used as the dark colour and the four colour process used on the cover. The Beano and The Dandy both switched to an all-colour format in 1993.

Originally aimed at the semi-literate working class (in that it replaced the text-based stories of the story papers with picture-based stories, which were less challenging for a poorly educated readership), the comic gradually came to be seen as childish (in part because, due to gradual improvements in public education, children were eventually the only remaining market for a format designed to be unchallenging for the reader). Hence by the mid 20th Century it was being marketed exclusively towards children.

Historically, strips were of one or two pages in length, with a single issue of a comic containing upwards of a dozen separate strips, featuring different characters. In more recent times, strips have become longer and have tended to continue over a number of issues and periods of time.

Whilst some comics contained only strips, other publications such as Jackie have had a slightly different focus, providing their girl readers with articles about, and photographs of, pop stars and television/film actors, plus more general articles about teenage life, whilst throwing in a few comic strips for good measure. For boys there were, historically, similar publications based upon soccer, such as Shoot!, which featured non-fiction picture articles about popular footballers, league clubs, and general football news, accompanied by a limited range of football-based comic strips.

In British comics history, there are some extremely long-running publications such as The Beano and The Dandy published by D. C. Thomson & Co., a newspaper company based in Dundee, Scotland. The Dandy began in 1937 and The Beano in 1938. The Beano is still going today while The Dandy ceased print publication in 2012. The Boys' Own Paper, another long-running publication which was aimed at boys in a slightly older age group, lasted from 1879 to 1967.

There has been a continuous tradition, since the 1950s, of black and white comics, published in a smaller page size format, many of them war titles such as Air Ace, inspiring youngsters with tales of the exploits of the army, navy and Royal Air Force, mainly in the two world wars. There have also been some romance titles and some westerns in this format.

On 19 March 2012, the British postal service, the Royal Mail, released a set of stamps depicting characters and series from British comics. The collection featured The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD.

19th century
In the 19th century, story papers (containing illustrated text stories), known as "penny dreadfuls" from their cover price, served as entertainment for British children. Full of close-printed text with few illustrations, they were essentially no different from a book, except that they were somewhat shorter and that typically the story was serialised over many weekly issues in order to maintain sales.

These serial stories could run to hundreds of instalments if they were popular. And to pad out a successful series, writers would insert quite extraneous material such as the geography of the country in which the action was occurring, so that the story would extend into more issues. Plagiarism was rife, with magazines profiting from competitors' successes under a few cosmetic name changes. Apart from action and historical stories, there was also a fashion for horror and the supernatural, with epics like Varney the Vampire running for years. Horror, in particular, contributed to the epithet "penny dreadful". Stories featuring criminals such as 'Spring-Heeled Jack', pirates, highwaymen (especially Dick Turpin), and detectives (including Sexton Blake) dominated decades of the Victorian and early 20th-century weeklies.

Comic strips—stories told primarily in strip cartoon form, rather than as a written narrative with illustrations—emerged only slowly. Scottish-born newspaper proprietor James Henderson began publishing Funny Folks in 1874. Writer Denis Gifford considered Funny Folks to be the first British comic, though at first it tackled topical and political subjects along the same lines as Punch. The magazine was heavily illustrated, with cartoons by John Proctor, known as Puck, among others, and benefitted from innovations in the use of cheap paper and photographic printing. Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884) is regarded as the first comic strip magazine to feature a recurring character (Ally Sloper). This strip cost one penny and was designed for adults. Ally, the recurring character, was a working-class fellow who got up to various forms of mischief and often suffered for it.

In 1890 two more comic magazines debuted before the British public, Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips, both published by Amalgamated Press. These magazines notoriously reprinted British and American material, previously published in newspapers and magazines, without permission. The success of these comics was such that Amalgamated's owner, Alfred Harmsworth, was able to launch the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail newspapers on the profits.

Comics were also published as accompaniments to women's magazines at the end of the century. Jungle Jinks, which held the honor of being the longest running British comic until 1954, first appeared in 1898 as a supplement to Home Chat; drawn by Mabel F. Taylor, it was the first anthropomorphic animal British comic.

20th century
Over the next thirty years or so, comic publishers saw the juvenile market as the most profitable, and thus geared their publications accordingly, so that by 1914 most comics were standalone booklets aimed at eight- to twelve-year-olds.

The interwar period is notable mainly for the publication of annuals by Eagle Press, and also the emergence of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. D. C. Thomson launched both The Beano and The Dandy in the late 1930s, which thrived during the Second World War. Their successful mix of irreverence and slapstick led to many similar titles, notably Buster, Topper and Beezer. However, the originators of this format have outlasted all rivals, and The Beano is still published today.

In the early 1950s, "lurid American 'crime' and 'horror comics' reached Britain", prompting what in retrospect has been characterised as a moral panic. Copies of Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, which arrived as ballast in ships from the United States, were first only available in the "environs of the great ports of Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast and London", but by "using blocks made from imported American matrices", British versions of Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror were printed in London and Leicester (by companies like Arnold Book Company) and sold in "small back-street newsagents." The ensuing outcry was heard in Parliament, and at the urging of the Most Reverend Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Major Gwilym Lloyd George, the Home Secretary and Minister of Welsh Affairs, and the National Union of Teachers, Parliament passed the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955. The act prohibited "any book, magazine or other like work which is of a kind likely to fall into the hands of children or young persons and consists wholly or mainly of stories told in pictures (with or without the addition of written matter), being stories portraying (a) the commission of crimes; or (b) acts of violence or cruelty; or (c) incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature; in such a way that the work as a whole would tend to corrupt a child or young person into whose hands it might fall." Although the act had a sunset clause, in 1969 the Act was made permanent, and continues to be in force today, represented, for example, in the Royal Mail prohibition against mailing horror comics and the matrices used to print them.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the most popular comic for older age-group boys was Eagle published by Hulton Press. Eagle was published in a more expensive format, and was a gravure-printed weekly, with regular sales of nearly one million. (This format was used originally by Mickey Mouse Weekly during the 1930s.) Eagle ' s success saw a number of comics launched in a similar format — TV Century 21, Look and Learn and TV Comic being notable examples. Comics published in this format were known in the trade as "slicks." At the end of the 1960s, these comics moved away from gravure printing, preferring offset litho due to cost considerations arising from decreasing readership.

However, the boys' adventure comic was still popular, and titles such as Valiant and Tiger, published by IPC Magazines, saw new adventure heroes become stars, including Roy of the Rovers who would eventually gain his own title. Odhams Press was a company that mainly printed (adventure-oriented) new material; it also reprinted American Marvel Comics material in its Power Comics line, which included the titles Smash! and Fantastic.

By 1970 the British comics market was in a long-term decline, as comics lost popularity in the face of the rise of other popular pastimes for children. Initially, the challenge was the rising popularity of television, a trend which the introduction of colour television to Britain during 1969 set in stone. In an effort to counter the trend, many publishers switched the focus of their comics to television-related characters. The television shows of Gerry Anderson, such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, had begun this in the mid-1960s with the launch of tie-in comics such as TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope, which included strips related to Anderson's TV shows (as well as other popular programs of the era). Polystyle Publications already published a TV-related comic for young children called TV Comic, and in 1971 moved into the older market with Countdown (later retitled TV Action). The teenage market saw Look-in magazine feature strips solely based on popular television programs.

Another strand of the reaction to television was the launch of comics focused entirely on association football (a sport as popular as television amongst boys), with titles such as Shoot and Scorcher and Score. Those comics that didn't compete with the popularity of television began to close down, merging with the few survivors.

In the 1970s very few boys' comics in the "slick" format were launched, although Polystyle's Countdown was one exception, launching in 1971 with content similar to TV21 (which had disappeared by then) and TV Comic. Vulcan, a reprint title, was another, in 1976. Girls' titles which had launched in the slick format in the 1960s continued in that format into the 1970s; and others, such as Diana and Judy, changed to become slicks. They found themselves in the same market as teenage titles for girls such as Boyfriend and Blue Jeans, which had changed their content and were featuring mainly product-related articles and photo comics.

In 1972, Marvel set up a publishing arm in the UK, Marvel UK, reprinting American superhero strips. These proved extremely popular, and a range of weekly titles was being published by 1975. So much so that in 1976 the parent company briefly published a minimal amount of new material specifically for the UK market in Captain Britain. The American reprint material proved to be more successful and continued to appear into the 1980s, at which stage Marvel UK also began diversifying into home-produced original material, both UK-originated strips featuring American created characters such as Captain Britain, the Hulk and the Black Knight, and wholly original strips like Night Raven. They also began producing television-based material, initially with Doctor Who Weekly, launched in 1979.

In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, the underground comics movement inspired two new comics in the UK: Oz and Nasty Tales were launched with the underground premise of counter-culture rebellion. Oz notoriously featured the children's character Rupert the Bear performing sexual acts. Both magazines were tried at the Old Bailey under the Obscene Publications Act because of their content. The Oz defendants were convicted, although the conviction was overturned on appeal. The Nasty Tales defendants were cautioned. However, both these comics ceased publication soon after their trial, as much due to the social changes at the end of the counter-culture movement as any effect of the court cases. These were always adult magazines, not aimed at the mainstream children's market.

In the mid-1970s, British comics became more action-oriented. The first such title to be launched was Warlord in 1974. Published by DC Thomson, it proved to be a success, and led to its then-rival, IPC Magazines Ltd, producing Battle Picture Weekly, a comic notably grimmer in style than its competitor. Battle's success led to IPC launching another, similarly styled title, Action, which became a success too but also became controversial, due to its violent content, such as a front cover illustration which appeared to show armed children beating up a helpless police officer. Complaints about its tone eventually led to questions being asked in the House of Commons. As a result, and despite the comics' popularity, IPC decided to drastically tone down the content after 36 issues, and issue 37 was pulped. When it returned to newsstands it was far less violent, which neutered the comic's appeal. The title quickly declined and was merged with Battle.

Action's position as the UK's most popular title was taken over by 2000 AD, a science-fiction comic launched in 1977 by IPC. Created as a comic for older boys, it also held appeal for teenage and even adult readers. In the 1960s IPC began to source comic art from Spain, mainly for financial reasons. This trend was continued through to the launch of 2000 AD. Carlos Ezquerra is the most notable Spanish artist to have worked in British comics, having worked on both Battle and 2000 AD, and is credited with the creation of the look of Judge Dredd.

Star Wars Weekly, published by Marvel UK, launched in 1977, lasted until 1986. In 1982 Eagle was relaunched, this time including photo comics, but still with Dan Dare as the lead story. The comic moved it from the front page to the centre pages to allow a more magazine-style cover.

In 1978 The Adventures of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot began serialisation in Near Myths (and continued in other comics after that title folded). Luther Arkwright was later collected as a graphic novel, and has been called the first British graphic novel.

In 1982 Dez Skinn launched Warrior, possibly the most notable comic of the period, as it contained both the Marvelman and V for Vendetta strips, by Alan Moore. Warrior was a British equivalent of Heavy Metal magazine. Marvelman was a Captain Marvel clone that Skinn acquired, although the legality of that acquisition has been questioned. In Moore's hands, the strip became an "adult" style superhero, and was later reprinted, with the story continued, in an American full-color comic, with the name changed from "Marvelman" to "Miracleman" to avoid any lawsuits that Marvel Comics may have considered. Eventually, Warrior succumbed to copyright issues.

Adult comics also witnessed a slight resurgence with Pssst!, an attempt to market a French-style monthly bande dessinée, and Escape magazine, published by Paul Gravett, former Pssst! promotions man. Escape featured early work from Eddie Campbell and Paul Grist, amongst others. Neither comic managed to survive in the vagaries of the comics market, Escape beset by lack of publisher interest.

During this period a number of smaller publishers were formed to provide inventive publications appealing to niche markets. Congress Press was one of these companies, releasing titles such as Birthrite, Heaven & Hell and a graphic novel, Spookhouse. Other small publishers of the era included Harrier Comics (1984–1989) and Acme Press (1986–1995).

Most of the surviving titles published by IPC, Fleetway, and DC Thomson were merged into each other in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics waned further in response to a surge in the popularity of television (a popularity which received another major boost from the late 1970s onward as domestic videocassette recorders became available), and due to the popularity of video games (as inexpensive home computers such as the ZX Spectrum, mainly used for gaming, became available from 1980). Although new comics titles were launched in this period, none seemed to find a sustainable audience.

Notable comics of the period included Deadline, Toxic!, Crisis, and Revolver. Deadline was conceived by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins, and mixed original strips with reprints of U.S. strips, notably Love & Rockets, and articles and interviews on the British independent music scene of the time. Tank Girl was its most notable strip. Crisis was published by Fleetway Publications, a company formed from IPC's comics holdings. It was aimed at readers who had outgrown 2000 AD, and featured first works by Garth Ennis and Sean Phillips amongst others.

One publication of that period did find an audience. Viz began life in 1979 as a fanzine style publication, before, in 1989, becoming the biggest-selling comic in the country. Based upon bad taste, crude language, crude sexual innuendo, and the parodying of strips from The Dandy (among them Black Bag – the Faithful Border Bin Liner, a parody of The Dandy's Black Bob series about a Border Collie), the popularity of Viz depended entirely upon a variant of Sixties counter-culture; and it promptly inspired similarly themed titles, including Smut, Spit!, Talking Turkey, Elephant Parts, Gas, Brain Damage, Poot!, UT and Zit, all of which failed to achieve Viz's longevity and folded, while Viz remained one of the United Kingdom's top-selling magazines.

21st century
Beginning in 2000, the British market arrested its long decline. However, there is no sign of any great growth in circulation for the few remaining titles, and no sign of any new launches from mainstream publishers into the comics arena. An ever-increasing number of small press and fanzine titles are being produced, such as Solar Wind or FutureQuake, aided by the cheapness and increasingly professional appearance of desktop publishing programs. It is from this scene that the UK's new talents now tend to emerge (e.g. Al Ewing, Henry Flint or Simon Spurrier).

The English musician Peter Gabriel issued in 2000 The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped comic book as part of the CD edition with the title "OVO The Millennium Show". The 2000 Millennium Dome Show based on it.

After they were purchased by Rebellion Developments, both 2000 AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine have seen the release of more adaptations and trade paperbacks, including complete reprint collections of the entire runs of Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Nemesis the Warlock. Starting in 2006 the Megazine began a regular small press section which usually features an article on a title by Matthew Badham or David Baillie and a small press story.

While British companies and creators have helped create the market for collected volumes there have, with a few exceptions like Raymond Briggs, been very few British original graphic novels published. Briggs himself has said "On the Continent, graphic novels have been as accepted as films or books for many years, but England has had a snobby attitude towards them. They've always been seen as something just for children". However, thanks to the strong sales for Briggs' Ethel and Ernest, and Jimmy Corrigan winning The Guardian's best first novel award, publishers have started expanding into this area. Random House UK's imprint Jonathan Cape has tripled its graphic novel output and Random House has also established Tanoshimi to publish manga. Other publishers have also been increasing their output, which, as well as producing original works like Alice in Sunderland, have also been included adaptations of works of literature. There are a number of new publishers who are specifically targeting this area, including Classical Comics and Self Made Hero, the latter having an imprint focused on manga adaptations of the works of Shakespeare.

This highlights another recent change, as there has been an increase in British original English-language manga. Self Made Hero's 'Manga Shakespeare' imprint draws on talent discovered in Tokyopop's UK/Irish version of Rising Stars of Manga, including members of the UK collective Sweatdrop Studios, who have also contributed to other British-based efforts like ILYA's Mammoth Book of Best New Manga and MangaQuake. Creators involved in those collections who have gone on to do several manga style graphic novels include British based Japanese creators such as Chie Kutsuwada and Michiru Morikawa, as well as, conversely, a British writer based in Japan, Sean Michael Wilson.

Released at the start of the 21st century was Toxic, a comic which mixed comic strips alongside game reviews and other articles. Beginning in 2002, this comic proved very successful and is still running. Its influence can be felt on other comics as well most notably when The Dandy, Britain's longest-running comic at the time, became the Dandy Xtreme in August 2007; it borrowed many of the features prevalent in Toxic, mixing articles alongside comic strips. However, The Dandy eventually moved away with this strategy in October 2010, when the comic was revamped, and published its final issue on its 75th anniversary in 2012. The BeanoMAX (which also started in 2007) also borrowed some of Toxic's features. That title was then replaced by The 100% Official Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Megazine, which was later renamed Epic before ending in 2019.

The DFC launched at the end of May 2008 drawing together creators from the small press and manga, as well as figures from mainstream British comics and other fields, including author Philip Pullman. As it transpired, it didn't make it to its first birthday, ending with issue 43. A new more successful comic, however, The Phoenix, began in January 2012, a successor to The DFC which has already reached 500 issues.

Starting in May 2023, Rebellion published a five-issue series of Battle Action, with each issue featuring two complete stories.

Reprint market for US comics
After World War II, the UK was intent on promoting homegrown publishers, and thus banned the direct importation of American periodicals, including comic books. As a result, U.S. comic books typically arrived in the UK as ballast on ships. Although the comics-reading public in the UK was not always able to get reliable supplies of American comics, it has always enjoyed the different approach to comics writing from the other side of the Atlantic.

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle — a female version of Tarzan (with an element of H. Rider Haggard's "She who must be obeyed" – She... Na!) — was licensed from the Eisner & Iger studio for a British/Australasian tabloid, Wags, in 1937. The success of this character led to the Sheena stories being repackaged for publication in the United States for Fiction House's Jumbo Comics, thus exporting the character back to her country of origin.

Beginning in the 1940s, the available American comics were supplemented by a variety of black-and-white reprints of Fawcett's Captain Marvel, characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, and Marvel Comics' 1950s monster comics. Several reprint companies were involved in this repackaging American material for the British market, notably L. Miller & Son, the Arnold Book Company, Alan Class Comics, and the importer/distributor/publisher Thorpe & Porter.

Thorpe & Porter began by publishing Dell's Four Color series and Classics Illustrated in the UK. They also republished similar formatted titles under various names. Thorpe & Porter' Stratos imprint published a long-running Western comics series, Kid Colt, Outlaw, which contained black-and-white reprints from both Atlas Comics and DC. T & P also published some material never published in the US.

When Captain Marvel ceased publication in the United States because of a lawsuit, L. Miller & Son copied the entire Captain Marvel idea in every detail, and began publishing their own knock-off under the names Marvelman and Young Marvelman, taking advantage of different copyright laws. These clone versions, created by British writer/artist Mick Anglo, continued for a few years and, as seen above, were revived years later in Warrior. The British publishers reprinted many other American series, including the early 1950s Eerie and Black Magic in black-and-white format. These usually contained the American stories related to the cover but also additional backup stories to fill up the 64 pages.

In 1959, the UK ban on direct importation was lifted. Thorpe & Porter became the sole UK distributor of both DC and Marvel comics. The comics were printed on American printing presses — along with a special cover giving the British price instead of the price in cents — and shipped across the Atlantic. Thus it was that brand-new American-printed copies of Fantastic Four #1, Amazing Fantasy #15, and countless others appeared in the UK.

Thorpe & Porter went bankrupt in 1966 and was purchased by the distribution arm of DC Comics, then known as IND. As a result, T & P's output became almost exclusively reprints of DC titles. Marvel Comics superhero reprints appeared in Odhams Press' Power Comics line in 1966–1969, overlapping for a period with Alan Class Comics' reprinting of some of Marvel's superhero characters. Marvel reprints also appeared in City Magazines' TV21 in 1970–1971. And in 1972 Marvel launched Marvel UK, cornering the market on Marvel reprints; key titles included The Mighty World of Marvel and Spider-Man Comics Weekly. The importation of Marvel's American comics continued to be erratic due to Marvel UK's promotion of their own reprints, which meant some titles were not offered for periods — The Amazing Spider-Man being a prime example.

The reprint market really took off in the 1980s with Titan Books releasing collections of British material, as well as signing deals with DC Comics to release that company's titles in the UK. Igor Goldkind was Titan's (and Forbidden Planet's, which was owned by the same company) marketing consultant at the time; he helped popularise the term "graphic novel" for the trade paperbacks they were releasing, which generated a lot of attention from the mainstream press.

Panini Comics took over in 1994, reprinting many of Marvel's titles, as well as Marvel UK reprints. Panini's titles include Ultimate Spider-Man (originally holding two issues of either Ultimate Spider-Man or Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, now existing as a double feature with Ultimate X-Men) and also a Collector's Edition line of comics, featuring a cardboard cover, three stories and a letters page on the inside back cover. Other titles include Astonishing Spider-Man, Essential X-Men, and Mighty World of Marvel, which reprints a variety of Marvel Comics. Beginning in 2003, Panini also published one DC comic, Batman Legends, reprinting various Batman adventures (e.g. two parts of a multi-title crossover and an issue of Batman: Year One); this title is now published by Titan Magazines.

Reprints of Japanese and European comics
Since 2005, a small selection of American translations of the most popular Japanese comics have been reprinted in the UK by major publishers such as Random House (through their Tanoshimi imprint) and the Orion Publishing Group. Both no longer publish British versions of Japanese comics; Random House abandoned all Japanese comics translations in early 2009, while Orion switched to publishing the original American versions.

Simultaneously, the very small press Fanfare/Ponent Mon published a few UK-exclusive English-language editions of alternative Japanese manga and French bande dessinée.

List of British comics
There have been hundreds of comics in the UK over the years, including: • 2000 AD (1977–current)

• Action (1976–1977)

• Action Man (1996–2006)

• Adventure (1921–1961)

• Air Ace Picture Library (1960–1970)

• Battle Picture Weekly (1975–1988)

• The Beano (1938–current)

• BeanoMAX (2007–2013)

• The Beezer (1956–1993)

• Blast! (1991)

• Bonnie (1974–1975)

• Boyfriend (1959–1966)

• The Boy's Own Paper (1879–1967)

• Boys' World (1963–1964)

• Bullet (1976–1978)

• Bunty (1958–2001)

• Buster (1960–2000)

• Buzz (1973–1975)

• The Champion (1922–1955 and 1966)

• Cheeky Weekly (1977–1980)

• Classics from the Comics (1996–2010)

• Cometman (1951–1956)

• Comic Cuts (1890–1953)

• Commando Comics (1961–current)

• Cor!! (1970–1974)

• Countdown (1971–1972)

• Cracker (1975–1976)

• Crisis (1988–1991)

• The Dandy (1937–2012)

• The Daredevils (1983)

• Deadline (1988–1995)

• Death's Head (1988–1989)

• The DFC (2008–2009)

• Diana (1963–1976)

• Diceman (1986)

• Doctor Who Magazine (1979–current)

• Donald and Mickey (1972–1975)

• Dragon's Claws (1988–1989)

• Eagle (1950–1969 and 1982–1994)

• Escape (1983–1989)

• Fantastic (1967–1968)

• Fast Forward (1989–1995)

• Film Fun (1920–1962)

• Fun Size Beano (1997–2010)

• Fun Size Dandy (1997–2010)

• Funny Wonder (1914–1942)

• Girl (1951–1964 and 1981–1990)

• Hoot (1985–1986)

• Hornet (1963–1976)

• The Hotspur (1933–1981)

• Illustrated Chips (1890–1953)

• Jackpot (1979–1982)

• Jack and Jill (1885–1887 and 1954–1985)

• Jackie (1964–1993)

• Jeff Hawke (1955–1974)

• Jinty (1974–1981)

• Judge Dredd Megazine (1990–current)

• Judy (1960–1991)

• June (1961–1974)

• Knockout (1939–1963 and 1971–1973)

• Krazy (1976–1978)

• Lion (1952–1974)

• Look and Learn (1962–1982)

• Look-in (1971–1994)

• The Magic Comic (1939–1941)

• Mandy (1967–1991)

• Mickey Mouse Weekly (1936–1955)

• Mirabelle (1956–1977)

• Misty (1978–1980)

• Monster Fun (1975–1976, 2022–current)

• Near Myths (1978–1979)

• Nikki (1985–1988)

• Nipper (1987)

• Nutty (1980–1985)

• Oink! (1986–1988)

• The Phoenix (2012–current)

• Picture Politics (1894–1914)

• Picture Fun (1909–1920)

• Pippin (1966–1986)

• Playhour (1954–1987)

• Plug (1977–1979)

• Poot! (1985–1990 and 2009–2011)

• Pow! (1967–1968)

• Prehistoric Peeps (1890s)

• Princess (1960–1967; merged with Tina) and Princess Tina (1967–1973)

• Puck (1904–1940)

• Radio Fun (1938–1961)

• Rainbow (1914–1956)

• Ranger (1965–1966)

• Red Dwarf Smegazine (1992-1994)

• Revolver (1990–1991)

• Robin (1953–1969)

• Romeo (1957–1974)

• Roy of the Rovers (1976–1993)

• School Friend (1950–1965)

• School Fun (1983–1984)

• Scorcher (1970–1974)

• Scream! (1984)

• Shift (2020–current)

• Shiver and Shake (1973–1974)

• Smash! (1966–1971, 2023)

• Smut (1989–2007)

• Sonic the Comic (1993–2002)

• Sparky (1965–1977)

• Speed (1980; merged into Tiger)

• Starblazer (1979–1991)

• Starlord (1978)

• Star Wars Weekly (1978–1986)

• Swift (1954–1963)

• Tammy (1971–1984)

• Terrific (1967–1968)

• Tiger (1954–1985 when merged into The Eagle)

• Tiger Tim's Weekly (1920–1940)

• The Topper (1953–1990)

• Tornado (1978–1979)

• Toxic! (1991)

• Toxic (2002–current)

• The Transformers (1984–1992 and seasonal reprints until the late 1990s)

• TV Action (1972–1973)

• TV Century 21 (1965–1971)

• TV Comic (1951–1984)

• Twinkle (1968–1999)

• Valentine (1957–1974)

• Valiant (1962–1976)

• The Victor (1961–1992)

• Viz (1979–current)

• Vulcan (1975 to 1976)

• War Picture Library (1958–1984)

• Warlord (1974–1986)

• Warrior (1982–1985)

• Wham! (1964–1968)

• Whizzer and Chips (1969–1990)

• Whoopee! (1974–1985)

• Wildcat (1988–1989)

• Wonder (1942–1953)

• Wow! (1982–1983)

• Zit (1991–2002)

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

title: British comics


text:
Talk:Respiration (physiology)

Untitled
Theoretically this page could dichotomize by species (humans, fish, etc...), but I think most of this info is already just for humans so i will leave it.

I have added "breathing" in parantheses to the opening paragraph. As a layman, this does seem to be what we would say in the vernacular. Please revert this change if I have completely misunderstood this topic. -- dpol 07:00, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Good work!
I really love this page and it's linked pages. And I look forward to the norwegian translations. --Ekko 08:35, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC) lol

Removing the merge, please
What do you think, everyone? How about making the respiration page about Aerobic and Anaerobic Respiration, (about internal, or cellular respiration) and removing the whole merge thing. --eshcorp

I agree. Respiration is by no means the same as respiration, so please remove merge.

 * Ditto and removing merge. Cburnett 05:04, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Signalling agreement with this decision. User:Ceyockey ( talk to me ) 14:08, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Total rewrite - definition of respiration
The name of this page is Respiration (physiology), but the existing page is not a physiological definition, it's a biochemical definition. Nearly all the content is already presented at cellular respiration. I have rewritten the bulk of the article to properly reflect the term's use in animal/human physiology. I removed a good deal of content, and have moved it here:

Robotsintrouble 04:29, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Respiration is the process by which an organism obtains energy by reacting oxygen with glucose to give water, carbon dioxide and ATP (energy). Respiration takes place on a cellular level where as breathing is on a different level. Respiration takes place in the mitochondrial membrane complex of eukaryotes and on the cell membrane of prokaryotes and provides the cells with energy.

Respiration also takes place in plants, where during the night they respire the products of photosynthesis - oxygen and glucose - to give energy, water and carbon dioxide.

Reaction of respiration
Aerobic respiration

Aerobic respiration requires oxygen in order to generate energy. It is the preferred method of pyruvate breakdown from glycolysis and requires that pyruvate enter the mitochondrion to be fully oxidized by the Krebs cycle. The product of this process is energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), by substrate-level phosphorylation, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and reduced flavin adenine dinucleotide (FADH2).

The chemical equation for glucose is: Ŗ C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O + Energy released (2830 kJ mol−1)

Anaerobic respiration

Anaerobic respiration (also known as fermentation) refers to the oxidation of molecules in the absence of oxygen to produce energy. These processes require another electron acceptor to replace oxygen. Anaerobic respiration is often used interchangeably with fermentation, especially when the glycolytic pathway exists in the cell. However, certain anaerobic prokaryotes generate all of their ATP using an electron transport system and ATP synthase.

The chemical equation is:

C6H12O6 → C2H5OH + Energy released (120 kJ mol−1)

Anaerobic respiration releases much less energy than aerobic respiration because the alcohol released through anaerobic respiration still contains a great deal of energy.

Merge from External respiration
I suggested this merge, as it appears that the content of the above page merely covers the stage of pulmonary gas exchange and does not yet have enough breadth to merit its own article. Your views are appreciated. Robin S 01:02, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

I am really confused I really need help why don't you explain it more straight forward all I need is the tale of respiration it is very confusing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.9.44.232 (talk) 17:53, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Misplaced text
I moved the following text to here, because it seems a bit off topic. Please sort the text out that specifically deals with respiration, or at least relate it more clearly. Mikael Häggström (talk) 05:43, 1 May 2010 (UTC)

Garbage.
Both physiological and cellular respiration REQUIRE OXYGEN ?!?!? This is just not true. Nor does the definition of physiological respiration adequately include the importance of transport of the Redox metabolites to the cell (or transport IN the cell for that matter). I will leave it to those more skilled in the science to define the difference between physiological, cellular (and perhaps biochemical) respiration (cycles). This article is not up to Wikipedia's normal standards.71.31.147.72 (talk) 06:31, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

Proposed merge with Respiratory physiology
No need for second page Iztwoz (talk) 12:18, 21 May 2017 (UTC)
 * They are both rudimentary and contain similar content (very little), so I don't see any reason for keeping both. One thing which can be dropped is the statement that the topic is a branch of human physiology, as respiration an aspect of all physiology. Which title do you propose? • • • Peter (Southwood) (talk): 17:00, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Hello Peter (Southwood) thanks for your response. Would prefer Respiration (physiology) - seems more apt and it's on Respiration dab page. Best --Iztwoz (talk) 19:58, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I don't have any strong opinions on the more appropriate title at this point. Someone else may have a stronger argument one way or the other. If not, I will go with the flow. Are you planning to expand the resulting article? The current pair are in dire need of work, and it is not my field. • • • Peter (Southwood) (talk): 20:13, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I was just spurred to merge proposal since the pages were just saying the same thing in essence. I've been looking at the pages and am of the opinion that the resulting page be further merged into Respiratory system as there is a large section on the physiology there already containing most of the info on these pages. --Iztwoz (talk) 20:21, 31 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I was just spurred to merge proposal since the pages were just saying the same thing in essence. I've been looking at the pages and am of the opinion that the resulting page be further merged into Respiratory system as there is a large section on the physiology there already containing most of the info on these pages. --Iztwoz (talk) 20:21, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

Anatomy GNM nursing
Describ the physiology of Respiration 2409:4051:4E87:7919:0:0:660A:A10F (talk) 04:37, 5 April 2022 (UTC)

Basic science
Respiration — Preceding unsigned comment added by 102.89.32.157 (talk) 08:31, 26 May 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Respiration (physiology)


text:
User talk:Killer-Soybean

What's topology ever done to you? Just curious. Ensiform 23:37, 27 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Heh, very funny. I failed a topology maths once. . . and never looked back.

-Killer_Soybean

title: User talk:Killer-Soybean


text:
Talk:Yogachara

Frauwallner
Frauwallner (1956), The Earliest Vinaya and the Beginnings of Buddhist Literature,mentions Yogacara only once, at p.21; he does not say that Tathāgatagarbha thought formed a separate school. According to Wiiliams (2008), Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations,chpater 5 (The Tathāgatagarbha),note 1, Tathāgatagarbha is not a philosophical school, but an idea or notion. Joshua Jonathan - Let's talk!  16:09, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Sorry, my mistake. It is supposed to be Frauwallner E. "Die Philosophie des Buddhismus," Berlin, 1956 (p.255-264, die Schule Saramatis). And works by Minoru Kiyota, etc. --173.68.165.114 (talk) 19:26, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I can't find the term "Saramatis" in that book; could you be more specific,orprovide a quote? Tathāgatagarbha-thought is not regarded as a separate school of philosophy, as far as I know. Joshua Jonathan  - Let's talk!  21:44, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
 * The second chapter. --173.68.165.114 (talk) 22:42, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks; clarifying. Nevertheless, as far as I know, it's not usual regarded as a 'school of philosophy', but more as a 'current of thought'. But some adaptation must be possible. Joshua Jonathan  - Let's talk!  04:05, 26 December 2018 (UTC)
 * I expanded the text, including a note on Sāramati (娑囉末底), c.q. Maitreya-nātha. Joshua Jonathan  - Let's talk!  08:21, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Yogachara


text:
Psion Series 5

The Psion Series 5 was a personal digital assistant (PDA) from Psion. It came in two main variants, the Series 5 (launched in 1997) and the Series 5mx (1999), the latter having a faster processor, clearer liquid crystal display (LCD), and updated software. There was also a rare Series 5mx Pro, which differed only in having the operating system (OS) loaded into random-access memory (RAM) and hence upgradeable. Ericsson marketed a version of the Series 5mx renamed as MC218.

The Psion Series 5 was a major upgrade from the Psion Series 3. A Psion Series 4 does not exist, due to Psion's concern of tetraphobia in their Asian markets. The external appearance of the Psion Series 5 and the Psion Series 5mx are broadly similar, but their mainboards and other internal components were different and not interchangeable. The screens are not interchangeable because of different screen cables.

The Series 5 was the first to feature a unique sliding clamshell design, whereby the keyboard slides forward as the device opens to counterbalance the display, and brace it such that touchscreen actuation does not topple the device, a feature mentioned in the granted European patent EP 0766166B1. This novel design approach was the work of Martin Riddiford, an industrial designer for Therefore Design. A simplified version of this design was also used in the Psion Revo.

The moving parts and hinges can wear out or break. The most serious common problem arose because of a design fault in the screen cable where tooling holes caused needless stresses due to extra bending of the cable at this point each time the Psion Series 5 was opened or closed, and eventually leading to failure of the cable, which caused a serious display malfunction and horizontal lines appearing. The screen cable to the Psion Series 5 was more durable than the screen cable of the Psion Series 5mx. There was an after-market cable available for the 5mx which aimed to eliminate this problem.

At its heart was the 32-bit ARM710-based CL-PS7110 central processing unit (CPU) running at 18 MHz (Series 5) or 36 MHz (5mx), with 4, 8, or 16 MB of RAM. It was powered by two AA batteries, typically giving 10–20 hours of use. The display is a touch-sensitive, backlit half-Video Graphics Array (VGA, 640 × 240 pixel) LCD with 16 greyscales. The keyboard, which has a key-pitch of 12.5 mm, is generally considered to be amongst the best for its size, with large-travel keys and touch-type capability. Both RS-232 and infra-red serial connections were provided. A speaker and microphone were also provided, giving dictation as well as music playing ability. External storage was on CompactFlash.

The EPOC operating system, since renamed Symbian OS, was built-in, along with application software including a word processor, spreadsheet, database, email, contact and diary manager, and Psion's Open programming language (OPL) for developing software. A Java virtual machine, the mobile browser STNC HitchHiker and synchronizing software for Microsoft Windows was bundled with the 5mx as optional installations and, later, the Executive Edition of the 5mx was bundled with various hardware and software extras including version 3.62 of the Opera web browser and a mains electric outlet adapter. A wealth of third-party software was also available, including games, utilities, navigation, reference, communication, and productivity applications, and standard programming tools like Perl and Python.

An open-source software project, OpenPsion, formerly PsiLinux, supports Linux on the Psion 5mx and other Psion PDAs.

Psion's experience designing for this form factor and attention to detail made these machines a favourite with power users, many of whom kept using them, despite their age and the appearance of Symbian OS for mobile phones and other PDAs with more impressive specifications.

In 2017, a team of original Psion engineers created a startup company, Planet Computers, to make an Android device in a similar form factor, the Gemini (PDA). The Cosmo Communicator is a development of this device, enhancements including an external touchscreen on the rear of the clamshell lid, mainly to facilitate use as a mobile phone without opening. In 2022 they introduced an updated model called "Astro Slide 5G", but according to many backers on the Indiegogo crowdfunding website, have largely failed to deliver the product to many that paid for it, and have since 2023 not provided any further updates on the project, leaving the backers disappointed and asking for their money paid to be returned.

title: Psion Series 5


text:
Gagarin, Smolensk Oblast

Gagarin (Гага́рин), known until 1968 as Gzhatsk (Гжатск), is a town and the administrative centre of Gagarinsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Gzhat River, 240 km northeast of Smolensk, the administrative centre of the oblast. Population:

The town's former name is from that of the Gzhat River, which is of Baltic origin (cf. Old Prussian gudde, meaning "forest").

Climate
Gagarin has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb in the Köppen climate classification).

History
In 1718, a village on the territory of modern Gagarin was transformed by a decree of Peter the Great to a transshipment landing stage (called Gzhatsky landing stage). From the mid-18th century, Gzhatsk was a sloboda, and in 1776, by a decree by Catherine the Great, it was granted uyezd town status and a coat of arms showing "a barge loaded with bread ready for departure, on a field argent", meaning that the town was a good landing stage for grain.

The town was built at the crossing of the Moscow road (east-west) and the Smolensk road (north-south, paralleling the river). By the plan of 1773, it was laid out in triangular form. One part paralleled the Gzhat River, another—the road to Moscow, and the base of the triangle connected them.

On August 29, 1812, in the village of Tsaryovo-Zaymishche near Gzhatsk, Mikhail Kutuzov accepted command of the Russian army. On the day of Napoleon's invasion, the town was set on fire and burned for several days. It was near Gzhatsk where Denis Davydov's guerrilla group started to operate. Russian troops entered the town again on November 2, 1812. When the town was rebuilt in 1817, the former regular layout was basically kept.

On, 1917, Soviet power was proclaimed in Gzhatsk and its uyezd. A year later, there was a counterrevolutionary insurrection.

During World War II, the town housed a flax factory, a sawmill, a brickyard, a roller-mill, a bakehouse complex, a weaving factory, a power station, and a number of guilds. In the course of the war, Gzhatsk was occupied by the German Army from October 9, 1941 until March 6, 1943, when it was liberated by the troops of the Soviet Western Front.

In 1968, the town was renamed Gagarin in honor of the first person to travel into space, Yuri Gagarin, who was born in 1934 in the nearby village of Klushino.

Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Gagarin serves as the administrative center of Gagarinsky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with one rural locality (the settlement of Trufany), incorporated within Gagarinsky District as Gagarinskoye Urban Settlement. As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban settlement status and is a part of Gagarinsky Municipal District.

International relations
Gagarin is twinned with:

 * 🇧🇾 Barysaw, Belarus
 * 🇧🇾 Krupki, Belarus
 * 🇧🇾 Orsha, Belarus
 * 🇩🇪 Ratingen, Germany

title: Gagarin, Smolensk Oblast


text:
George Dalgarno

George Dalgarno (c. 1616 – 1687) was a Scottish intellectual interested in linguistic problems. Originally from Aberdeen, he later worked as a schoolteacher in Oxford in collaboration with John Wilkins, although the two parted company intellectually in 1659.

Life
Dalgarno matriculated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1631. Subsequently, he was a schoolteacher in Oxford in the 1650s. In 1657, he was encouraged to upgrade a system of shorthand on which he was working, by Samuel Hartlib, to a more ambitious universal system and he published on the subject later the same year. This effort brought him into contact with members of the Oxford Philosophical Club, one of the precursors of the Royal Society.

Works
Dalgarno was the author of Didascalocophus or the Deaf and Dumb man's tutor (1680), which proposed a totally new linguistic system for use by deaf mutes. Dalgarno was also interested in constructing what he called a 'philosophical language', now more usually referred to as universal language. A modern translation of his Ars signorum (Art of Signs, 1661) was published in 2001 in an edition that also includes his autobiography and other manuscript writings.

title: George Dalgarno


text:
OLT Express Germany

OLT Express Germany (formerly OLT Ostfriesische Lufttransport GmbH or OLT) was an airline based in Bremen in Germany. The company moved to Bremen from Emden in February 2012. It operated regional scheduled and charter flights linking northern Germany to other parts of the country and Bremen to other European destinations. Its main base was Bremen Airport.

Founding and first years
OLT was founded on 1 November 1958 by Martin Dekker and Jan Janssen as Ostfriesische Lufttaxi - Dekker und Janssen OHG, initially operating air taxi flights to islands in the North Sea from Emden. The first aircraft was a KZ VII from Skandinavisk Aero Industri A/S in Copenhagen. In 1961 the airline hired its first own staff: a pilot and a 'groundstewardess'.

OLT had, by 1968, five aircraft and operated 13,174 flights. After Janssen's death the company AGIV (Aktiengesellschaft für Verkehrswesen) and the shipping company Reederei Visser & van Doornums became 1970 new shareholders and the airlines was renamed into Ostfriesische Lufttaxi GmbH. A schedule service from Emden to Bremen and Hamburg was introduced then. Soon later AGIV became the single shareholder of OLT and positioned the new CEO Christian Ulrich Baron von Kaltenborn-Stachau.

39 Years of operation as OLT - Ostfriesische Lufttransport
In 1972 the airlines was renamed again, now into Ostfriesische Lufttransport GmbH (OLT) and Kaltenborn-Stachau took over 26%. Several new schedule services were introduced like from Kassel, Düsseldorf to Cologne/Bonn in 1973 and Hanover, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart, Münster/Osnabrück and Frankfurt in 1974. For the regional airlines business strategy the company DLT (Deutsche Lufttransport-Gesellschaft mbH) was created and OLT was renamed into DLT Luftverkehrsgesellschaft. But soon later AGIV decided to split the Emden (OLT) operation away from DLT. This unit (Emden operation) was sold then to AG EMS and OLT restart its old core activities under its own name. To ensure a flexible operation, especially in the charter sector, OLT organised 1976 a joint platform called OFD with the participating airlines OLT, FLN and Dollart GmbH.

At the beginning 1990s, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the airlines faced an increase of their business activities. OLT started operations in the former East German provinces and 1990 took over Roland Air from Bremen. In 1991 OLT set up a base in Bremen and started with its scheduled services there. In 1996 all OFD activities were integrated into OLT and therefore under the control of AG EMS.

OLT is one of very few airlines that has succeeded in driving a low-cost rival off a route. In December 2005, easyJet started daily flights between Bristol and its base in Hamburg. OLT was operating twice-daily weekday-only services. The route being a predominantly business route, frequency won out over price and easyJet cancelled the route at the end of October 2006.

OLT Express Germany
OLT announced on 4 August 2011 it would undergo major restructuring after losing its shuttle flights contract with Airbus Industries. Effective October 2011 all Fokker and Saab aircraft operations would stop and 100 of its 120 employees were to leave the company. Only the 'island-hopping' services from Emden to Heligoland and Borkum with small aircraft were to remain. In August 2011, OLT was bought by a Polish shadow banking Ponzi scheme company Amber Gold, which also bought Polish regional carrier Jet Air and the Polish charter airline Yes Airways. These two Polish companies were combined under the brand OLT Express while OLT became OLT Express Germany. The island flights were taken over by a new independent company, OFD Ostfriesischer-Flug-Dienst.

OLT Express Germany completed the purchase of Contact Air in September 2012. The purchase included Contact Air's wet-lease contract to operate two aircraft on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines. The same week as the Contact Air purchase Amber Gold was reported to be experiencing financial difficulty and funding for the deal was in question. On 27 July, the Polish OLT Express suspended all services without notice.

In August 2012 Dutch company Panta Holdings announced it was buying OLT Germany from Amber Gold and also finalised the purchase of Contact Air. Panta also owns Denim Air and Maas Air Leasing. Both subsidiaries own Fokker aircraft and Maas leased out two Fokker 100 to Contact Air. In December 2012 it was announced that the wet-lease contract with Swiss International Air Lines would not be renewed and was scheduled to conclude in March 2013.

OLT Express Germany ceased all operations on 27 January 2013 due to financial difficulties. The company filed for bankruptcy two days later.

Destinations
OLT operated the following services. Note that all island flights had been transferred to the independent company OFD Ostfriesischer-Flug-Dienst back in 2011.

Operated as OLT Express Germany

 * 🇦🇹 Austria
 * Vienna - Vienna International Airport seasonal
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark
 * Copenhagen - Copenhagen Airport
 * 🇫🇷 France
 * Toulouse - Toulouse-Blagnac Airport
 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * Bremen - Bremen Airport Hub
 * Dresden - Dresden Airport
 * Hamburg - Hamburg Airport
 * Karlsruhe - Baden Airpark
 * Münster - Münster Osnabrück Airport
 * Munich - Munich Airport
 * Saarbrücken - Saarbrücken Airport Hub
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland
 * Zürich - Zurich Airport
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
 * London - London Southend Airport

Operated for Swiss International Air Lines

 * 🇩🇪 Germany
 * Stuttgart - Stuttgart Airport
 * Munich - Munich Airport
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary
 * Budapest - Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport
 * 🇵🇱 Poland
 * Warsaw - Warsaw Chopin Airport
 * 🇷🇸 Serbia
 * Belgrade - Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland
 * Zürich - Zurich Airport Base

Fleet
, the OLT Express Germany fleet consisted of the following aircraft:

title: OLT Express Germany


text:
Helvetic Republic

The Helvetic Republic (République helvétique, Helvetische Republik, Repubblica Elvetica, Republica helvetica) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, marking the end of the ancien régime in Switzerland. Throughout its existence, the republic incorporated most of the territory of modern Switzerland, excluding the cantons of Geneva and Neuchâtel and the old Prince-Bishopric of Basel.

The Swiss Confederacy, which until then had consisted of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance (and ruling over subject territories such as Vaud), was invaded by the French Revolutionary Army and turned into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic". The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place. Resistance was strongest in the more traditional Catholic cantons, with armed uprisings breaking out in spring 1798 in the central part of Switzerland. The French and Helvetic armies suppressed the uprisings, but opposition to the new government gradually increased over the years, as the Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, the new taxes, the centralization and the hostility to religion. Nonetheless, there were long-term effects.

The Republic's name Helvetic, after the Helvetii, the Gaulish inhabitants of the Swiss Plateau in antiquity, was not an innovation; rather, the Swiss Confederacy had occasionally been dubbed Republica Helvetiorum in humanist Latin since the 17th century, and Helvetia, the Swiss national personification, made her first appearance in 1672. In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represents an early attempt to establish a centralized government in the country.

History

During the French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s, the French Republican armies expanded eastward. In 1793, the National Convention had imposed friendship with the United States and the Swiss Confederation as the sole limit while delegating its powers in foreign policy to the Committee of Public Safety, but the situation changed when the more conservative Directoire took power in 1795 and Napoleon conquered Northern Italy in 1796. The French Republican armies enveloped Switzerland on the grounds of "liberating" the Swiss people, whose own system of government was deemed feudal, especially for annexed territories such as Vaud.

Some Swiss nationals, including Frédéric-César de La Harpe, had called for French intervention on these grounds. The invasion proceeded largely peacefully since the Swiss people failed to respond to the calls of their politicians to take up arms.

On 5 March 1798, French troops completely overran Switzerland and the Old Swiss Confederation collapsed. On 12 April 1798, 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic, "One and Indivisible". On 14 April 1798, a cantonal assembly was called in the canton of Zürich, but most of the politicians from the previous assembly were re-elected. The new régime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudal rights. The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the French Revolution.

Many Swiss citizens resisted these "progressive" ideas, particularly in the central areas of the country. Some of the more controversial aspects of the new regime limited freedom of worship, which outraged many of the more devout citizens.

In response, the Cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden raised an army of about 10,000 men led by Alois von Reding to fight the French. This army was deployed along the defensive line from Napf to Rapperswil. Reding besieged French-controlled Lucerne and marched across the Brünig pass into the Berner Oberland to support the armies of Bern. At the same time, the French General Balthasar Alexis Henri Antoine of Schauenburg marched out of occupied Zürich to attack Zug, Lucerne and the Sattel pass. Even though Reding's army won victories at Rothenthurm and Morgarten, Schauenburg's victory near Sattel allowed him to threaten the town of Schwyz. On 4 May 1798, the town council of Schwyz surrendered.

On 13 May, Reding and Schauenburg agreed to a cease-fire, the terms of which included the rebel cantons merging into a single one, thus limiting their effectiveness in the central government. However, the French failed to keep their promises in respecting religious matters and before the year was out there was another uprising in Nidwalden which the authorities crushed, with towns and villages burnt down by French troops.

No general agreement existed about the future of the Swiss. Leading groups split into the Unitaires, who wanted a united republic, and the Federalists, who represented the old aristocracy and demanded a return to cantonal sovereignty. Coup attempts became frequent and the new régime had to rely on the French to survive. Furthermore, the occupying forces insisted that the accommodation and feeding of the soldiers be paid for by the local populace, which drained the economy. The treaty of alliance of 19 August with France, which also reaffirmed the French annexation of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel and imposed French rights over the Upper Rhine and the Simplon Pass for evident strategic reasons towards Germany and Italy, also broke the tradition of neutrality established by the Confederation. All this made it difficult to establish a new working state.

In 1799, Switzerland became a virtual battle-zone between the French, Austrian, and Imperial Russian armies, with the locals supporting mainly the latter two, rejecting calls to fight with the French armies in the name of the Helvetic Republic.

Instability in the Republic reached its peak in 1802–1803; it included the Bourla-papey uprising and the Stecklikrieg civil war of 1802. By then, the Republic was 12 million francs in debt, having started with a treasury of 6 million francs. This, together with local resistance, caused the Helvetic Republic to collapse, and its government took refuge in Lausanne.

At that time, Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, summoned representatives of both sides to Paris in order to negotiate a solution. Although the Federalist representatives formed a minority at the conciliation conference, known as the "Helvetic Consulta", Bonaparte characterised Switzerland as federal "by nature" and considered it unwise to force the country into any other constitutional framework.

On 19 February 1803, the Act of Mediation abolished the Helvetic Republic and restored the cantons. With the abolition of the centralized state, Switzerland became a confederation once again, called the Swiss Confederation.

Constitution
Before the advent of the Helvetic Republic, each individual canton had exercised complete sovereignty over its own territory or territories. Little central authority had existed, with matters concerning the country as a whole confined mainly to meetings of leading representatives from the cantons: the Diets.

The constitution of the Helvetic Republic came mainly from the design of Peter Ochs, a magistrate from Basel. It established a central two-chamber legislature which included the Grand Council (with 8 members per canton) and the Senate (4 members per canton). The executive, known as the Directory, comprised 5 members. The Constitution also established actual Swiss citizenship, as opposed to just citizenship of one's canton of birth. Under the Old Swiss Confederacy, citizenship was granted by each town and village only to residents. These citizens enjoyed access to community property and in some cases additional protection under the law. Additionally, the urban towns and the rural villages had differing rights and laws. The creation of a uniform Swiss citizenship, which applied equally for citizens of the old towns and their tenants and servants, led to conflict. The wealthier villagers and urban citizens held rights to forests, common land and other municipal property which they did not want to share with the "new citizens", who were generally poor. The compromise solution, which was written into the municipal laws of the Helvetic Republic, is still valid today. Two politically separate but often geographically similar organizations were created. The first, the so-called municipality, was a political community formed by-election and its voting body consists of all resident citizens. However, the community land and property remained with the former local citizens who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde.

After an uprising led by Alois von Reding in 1798, some cantons were merged, thus reducing their anti-centralist effectiveness in the legislature. Uri, Schwyz, Zug and Unterwalden together became the canton of Waldstätten; Glarus and the Sarganserland became the canton of Linth, and Appenzell and St. Gallen combined as the canton of Säntis.

Due to the instability of the situation, the Helvetic Republic had over 6 constitutions in a period of four years.

Legacy
The Helvetic Republic did highlight the desirability of a central authority to handle matters for the country as a whole (as opposed to the individual cantons which handled matters at the local level). In the post-Napoleonic era, the differences between the cantons (varying currencies and systems of weights and measurements) and the perceived need for better co-ordination between them came to a head and culminated in the Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848. The Republic's 5-member Directory resembles the 7-member Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland's executive.

The Helvetic Republic is still very controversial within Switzerland. Carl Hilty described the period as the first democratic experience in Swiss territory, while within conservatism it is seen as a time of national weakness and loss of independence. For cantons such as Vaud, Thurgau and Ticino, the three who in 1898 celebrated the centenary of their independence, the Republic was a time of political freedom and liberation from the rule of other cantons. However, the period was also marked by foreign domination and instability, and for the cantons of Bern, Schwyz and Nidwalden it signified military defeat. In 1995, the Federal Assembly chose not to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Helvetic Republic but to allow individual cantons to celebrate if they wished. The Federal Councilors took part in official events in Aargau in January 1998.

The Helvetic period represents a key step toward the modern federal state. For the first time, the population was defined as Swiss, not as inhabitants of a specific canton.

Administrative divisions

The Helvetic Republic reduced the formerly sovereign cantons to mere administrative division, though keeping the denomination of cantons, while also raising to such status unrepresented territories previously ruled as subjects of the Confederation. In order to weaken the old power-structures, it defined new boundaries for some cantons. The Act of 1798 and subsequent developments resulted in the following cantons:

 * Aargau (without Baden and Fricktal)
 * Baden
 * Basel
 * Bellinzona
 * Bern (without Oberland)
 * Fribourg
 * Fricktal, created in 1802
 * Léman (corresponding to Vaud)
 * Linth
 * Lugano
 * Lucerne
 * Oberland
 * Raetia (corresponding to Graubünden/Grisons)
 * Säntis
 * Schaffhausen
 * Solothurn
 * Thurgau
 * Waldstätten
 * Valais
 * Zürich

Predecessor states
As well as the Old Swiss Confederacy, the following territories became part of the Helvetic Republic:

Associate states
There were four associated states:

 * Valais coa old.svg Republic of the Seven Tithings
 * Coa Abbey Saint Gall.svg Imperial Abbey of St Gall
 * Coa stgallen.svg Imperial City of St Gall
 * Free state of the Three Leagues
 * Wappen Gotteshausbund.svg League of God's House
 * Wappen Grauer Bund1.svg Grey League
 * CHE Davos COA.svg League of the Ten Jurisdictions

Condominiums
There were 21 condominiums:

 * Coat of arms of Baden AG.svg County of Baden
 * Snake-coat of arms.svg Vogtei of Bellinzona
 * Blenio-coat of arms.svg Vogtei of Blenio
 * Freiamt blason.png Freie Ämter
 * Wappen Gams.png Vogtei of Gams / Hohensax
 * CHE Grandson COA.svg Lordship of Grandson
 * Leventina-coat of arms.svg Vogtei of Leventina
 * CHE Locarno COA.svg Landvogtei of Locarno
 * CHE Lugano COA.svg Landvogtei of Lugano
 * CHE Mendrisio logo COA.svg Landvogtei of Mendrisio
 * Murten-coat of arms.png Vogtei of Murten
 * Orbe-coat of arms.svg Échallens-coat of arms.svg Vogtei of Orbe-Échallens
 * Wappen Pfaefers.png Imperial Abbey of Pfäfers
 * Wappen Vogtei Rheintalsvg.svg Vogtei of Rheintal
 * Vogtei Riviera wappen.svg Vogtei of Rivera
 * Wappen Grafschaft Sargans.svg County of Sargans
 * Wappen Grasburg.svg Schwarzenburg / Grasburg
 * Wappen Vogtei Thurgau.svg Landgraviate of Thurgau
 * Wappen Uznach.svg County of Uznach
 * Vallemaggia-coat of arms.svg Landvogtei of Valmaggia
 * Wappen Vogtei Windegg.svg Vogtei of Windegg

Protectorates
There were five protectorates:

 * CHE Engelberg COA.svg Engelberg Abbey
 * Wappen Gersau.svg Republic of Gersau
 * Rapperswil CoA.svg City of Rapperswil
 * Wappen Sax.svg Barony of Sax-Forstegg
 * Wappen Werdenberger1.svg County of Werdenberg

Unassociated territories
The Helvetic Republic also annexed two territories not previously part of Switzerland:

 * Coat of arms of the archduchy of Austria.svg Fricktal, a part of the Breisgau, within the Habsburg Further Austria, retained by Aargau
 * Konstanz Bischofswappen.jpg Konstanz, a part of the Bishopric of Constance, later restored to the Grand Duchy of Baden

title: Helvetic Republic