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User:Maio~enwiki/Gnome Nation, Inc.

 Gnomes do not exist. Go away! You have been warned.

 The first rule of Gnomes is: you do not talk about Gnomes.

The second rule of Gnomes is: Gnomes do not exist.

Third rule of Gnomes, someone yells "Help!" you must succor him/her.

Fourth rule, you can only be invited by a fellow Gnome.

Fifth rule, consider a vandalism on your User Page as a Gnome invitation.

And the sixth and final rule, if this is your first time at the Gnomes, you have to get your Gnome username.

Photography

 * Arpingstone

GNU

 * Stan Shebs

History

 * Adam Carr

Translating

 * Maio (Spanish to English)
 * Mxn (Vietnamese, Taiwanese)

Law & Crime

 * Alex756 (AL)

Digital information

 * Jamesday (NAL)

Biology

 * maveric149

Chemistry

 * Seth Ilys

Library and information science

 * Eclecticology
 * Seth Ilys

Physics

 * Decumanus

Astronomy

 * zandperl (RT)

title: User:Maio~enwiki/Gnome Nation, Inc.


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Royal Commission of Inquiry on Constitutional Problems

The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Constitutional Problems or Tremblay Commission was called for by the premier of Quebec, Maurice Duplessis in 1953. The commission, chaired by Mr. Justice Thomas Tremblay, studied the problem of tax sharing between different levels of government and greater constitutional problems in Canada.

The commission held 97 public meetings throughout Quebec, received 217 briefs, launched several studies, and finally published a five-volume report in 1956. It proposed a maximum level of taxation be established, the provincial responsibility for unemployment benefits, and a shared personal and corporate tax scheme between the federal and provincial governments.

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


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Coreopsis

Coreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various other plants.

Description
These plants range from 46 – in height. The flowers are usually yellow with a toothed tip, but may also be yellow-and-red bicolor. They have showy flower heads with involucral bracts in two distinct series of eight each, the outer being commonly connate at the base. The flat fruits are small and dry and look like insects.

There are 75–80 species of Coreopsis, all of which are native to North, Central, and South America. The name Coreopsis is derived from the Ancient Greek words κόρις, meaning "bedbug", and ὄψις , meaning "view", referring to the shape of the achene.

Taxonomy
Coreopsis is a variable genus closely related to Bidens. In fact, neither Coreopsis nor Bidens, as defined in the 20th century, is strictly monophyletic. Coreopsis is best described as paraphyletic. Previously (1936), Coreopsis was classified into 11 sections and 114 species, but the African species were subsequently reclassified as Bidens, leaving the North and South American species, some 75–80 in all, under Coreopsis. 45 species are in the 11 North American sections, and the remaining 35 are in the South American section Pseudoagarista. The North American species fall into two broad groups, with 5 sections and 12 species in Mexico and North America and the remaining 5 sections and 26 species in Eastern North America.

One group which does seem to be monophyletic consists of temperate species from North America, including five sections of Coreopsis, Bidens coronata and Bidens tripartita, and the genus Thelesperma (five species).

Sections
One classification (GRIN) of the genus consists of eleven sections, shown by cladistic relationships with number of species in parentheses.

 * Coreopsis sect. Pseudoagarista (35)

Selected species
See:

Section Anathysana

 * Coreopsis cyclocarpa S.F.Blake

Section Calliopsis

 * Coreopsis bicolor
 * Coreopsis leavenworthii Torr. & A.Gray – Leavenworth's tickseed
 * Coreopsis paludosa M.E.Jones
 * Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt. – plains coreopsis

Section Coreopsis

 * Coreopsis auriculata L. – lobed tickseed
 * Coreopsis bakeri E.E.Schill.
 * Coreopsis basalis (A.Dietr.) S.F.Blake – goldenmane tickseed
 * Coreopsis grandiflora Hogg ex Sweet – large-flowered tickseed
 * Coreopsis intermedia Sherff – goldenwave tickseed
 * Coreopsis lanceolata L. – lance coreopsis, lance-leaf tickseed
 * Coreopsis nuecensis A.Heller – crown tickseed
 * Coreopsis nuecensoides E.B.Sm. – Rio Grande tickseed
 * Coreopsis pubescens Elliott – star tickseed
 * Coreopsis wrightii (A.Gray) H.M.Parker – rock tickseed

Section Electra

 * Coreopsis cuneifolia Greenm.
 * Coreopsis mexicana
 * Coreopsis mutica DC.

Section Eublepharis

 * Coreopsis floridana E.B.Sm. – Florida tickseed
 * Coreopsis gladiata Walter – coastalplain tickseed
 * Coreopsis integrifolia Poir. – fringeleaf tickseed
 * Coreopsis linifolia Nutt. – Texas tickseed
 * Coreopsis nudata Nutt. – Georgia tickseed
 * Coreopsis palustris Sorrie – swamp tickseed
 * Coreopsis rosea Nutt. – pink tickseed

Section Gyrophyllum (syn. Palmatae)

 * Coreopsis delphiniifolia Lam. – larkspurleaf tickseed
 * Coreopsis major Walter – greater tickseed
 * Coreopsis palmata Nutt. – stiff tickseed
 * Coreopsis pulchra F.E.Boynton – woodland tickseed
 * Coreopsis tripteris L. – tall tickseed
 * Coreopsis verticillata L. – whorled tickseed

Section Leptosyne

 * Coreopsis douglasii (DC.) H.M.Hall – Douglas's tickseed
 * Coreopsis californica (Nutt.) H.Sharsm. – California tickseed
 * Coreopsis stillmanii (A.Gray) S.F.Blake – Stillman's tickseed

Section Pseudoagarista
South America, 35 species
 * Coreopsis mcvaughii D.J.Crawford
 * Coreopsis petrophila A.Gray
 * Coreopsis petrophiloides B.L.Rob. & Greenm.
 * Coreopsis rudis (Benth.) Hemsl.
 * Coreopsis spectabilis A.Gray

Section Pugiopappus

 * Coreopsis bigelovii (A.Gray) Voss – Bigelow's tickseed
 * Coreopsis calliopsidea (DC.) A.Gray – leafstem tickseed
 * Coreopsis hamiltonii (Elmer) H. Sharsm. – Mount Hamilton tickseed

Section Silphidium

 * Coreopsis latifolia Michx. – broadleaf tickseed

Section Tuckermannia

 * Coreopsis gigantea (Kellogg) H.M.Hall – giant coreopsis
 * Coreopsis maritima (Nutt.) Hook.f. – sea dahlia

Distribution and habitat
North American Coreopsis can be found in two habitats in the wild, growing along roadsides and open fields throughout the Eastern United States and Canada. In this environment the plant will self-sow.

Ecology
Coreopsis species are a source of nectar and pollen for insects. The species is known to provide food to caterpillars of some Lepidoptera species, including Coleophora acamtopappi.

Cultivation
Coreopsis can grow in a garden as a border plant, or in a container, preferring well-drained soil. Deadheading the flowers ensures it does not become weedy. Using the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hardiness zones will identify what soil and climate is preferred for different cultivars or species. Notable species found in cultivation are C. grandiflora and C. verticillata, as well as their various cultivars. The sunny, summer-blooming, daisy-like flowers are popularly planted in gardens to attract butterflies. Both annual and perennial types are grown in the home garden (USDA hardiness zone 7a/6b). In the Mid-Atlantic region, insects such as bees, hover flies, and wasps are often observed visiting the flowers.

Culture
All Coreopsis species were designated the state wildflower of the U.S. state of Florida in 1991. In the language of flowers, Coreopsis means to be always cheerful, while Coreopsis arkansa in particular stands for love at first sight.

title: Coreopsis


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Michael Patrick Cashin

Sir Michael Patrick Cashin, (29 September 1864 – 30 August 1926) was a Newfoundland businessman and politician.

He was elected to the legislature in 1893 as an independent but worked closely with the Liberal Party. In 1907 he joined the Newfoundland People's Party of Sir Edward Patrick Morris and became minister of finance in 1909. When Morris resigned as party leader, Cashin succeeded him. The People's Party had formed a wartime national government which opposition member William F. Lloyd, a Liberal, had joined as minister of justice.

Despite the fact that Cashin had succeeded Morris as leader of the dominant party, the governor appointed Lloyd to the position of prime minister. On 20 May 1919, Cashin, who was still minister of finance, rose and moved a motion of no confidence in the government he was a member of. The motion passed and Cashin became prime minister.

Cashin's government was short-lived, however; the House of Assembly had not seen an election for six years due to the First World War, and a return to the polls was long overdue. An election was held in November 1919 which defeated Cashin's government and elected the opposition Liberals (now called the Liberal Reform Party).

In opposition Cashin changed the name of the People's Party to the Liberal-Labour-Progressive Party before retiring as party leader in 1923. He did not run for re-election in 1924.

Cashin's son, Peter John Cashin, was a prominent Newfoundland politician in his own right and his grandson, Richard Cashin was a federal politician in the 1960s and a trade union leader in the 1970s and 1980s.

He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1918.

He died at his home in St. John's on 30 August 1926.

title: Michael Patrick Cashin


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Ordered ring

In abstract algebra, an ordered ring is a (usually commutative) ring R with a total order ≤ such that for all a, b, and c in R:

 * if a ≤ b then a + c ≤ b + c.
 * if 0 ≤ a and 0 ≤ b then 0 ≤ ab.

Examples
Ordered rings are familiar from arithmetic. Examples include the integers, the rationals and the real numbers. (The rationals and reals in fact form ordered fields.) The complex numbers, in contrast, do not form an ordered ring or field, because there is no inherent order relationship between the elements 1 and i.

Positive elements
In analogy with the real numbers, we call an element c of an ordered ring R positive if 0 <  c, and negative if c < 0. 0 is considered to be neither positive nor negative.

The set of positive elements of an ordered ring R is often denoted by R+. An alternative notation, favored in some disciplines, is to use R+ for the set of nonnegative elements, and R++ for the set of positive elements.

Absolute value
If $$ a$$ is an element of an ordered ring R, then the absolute value of $$a$$, denoted $$|a|$$, is defined thus:

 * $$|a| := \begin{cases} a, & \mbox{if } 0 \leq a,  \\ -a,  & \mbox{otherwise}, \end{cases} $$

where $$-a$$ is the additive inverse of $$a$$ and 0 is the additive identity element.

Discrete ordered rings
A discrete ordered ring or discretely ordered ring is an ordered ring in which there is no element between 0 and 1. The integers are a discrete ordered ring, but the rational numbers are not.

Basic properties
For all a, b and c in R:
 * If a ≤ b and 0 ≤  c, then ac ≤  bc. This property is sometimes used to define ordered rings instead of the second property in the definition above.
 * ab| = |a| |b|.
 * An ordered ring that is not trivial is infinite.
 * Exactly one of the following is true: a is positive, −a is positive, or a = 0. This property follows from the fact that ordered rings are abelian, linearly ordered groups with respect to addition.
 * In an ordered ring, no negative element is a square: Firstly, 0 is square. Now if a ≠ 0 and a = b2 then b ≠ 0 and a  = (−b)2; as either b or −b is positive, a must be nonnegative.

title: Ordered ring


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Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Quebec

The Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Quebec, also known as the Bélanger-Campeau Commission, was established by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, at the initiative of Premier Robert Bourassa, after the demise of the Meech Lake Accord. The commission was mandated to examine the political and constitutional status of Quebec and to make recommendations for changes. The Bélanger-Campeau Report was published in 1991 and revised in 2002.

Co-chairman

 * Michel Bélanger
 * Jean Campeau

Deputies of the Liberal Party of Quebec

 * Robert Bourassa
 * Gil Rémillard
 * Claude Ryan
 * Louise Bégin
 * Guy Bélanger
 * Claude Dauphin
 * Claire-Hélène Hovington
 * Cosmo Maciocia
 * Christiane Pelchat
 * Russ Williams

Deputies of the Parti québécois

 * Jacques Parizeau
 * Jeanne Blackburn
 * Jacques Brassard
 * Guy Chevrette
 * Louise Harel
 * Jacques Léonard
 * Pauline Marois

Other sovereignist commissioners

 * Lucien Bouchard
 * Jean-Claude Beaumier
 * Claude Béland
 * Louis Laberge
 * Gérald Larose
 * Roger Nicolet
 * Serge Turgeon
 * Lorraine Pagé
 * Jacques Proulx

Other federalist commissioners

 * Marcel Beaudry
 * Cheryl Campbell Steer
 * Ghislain Dufour
 * Guy D'Anjou
 * Jean-Pierre Hogue
 * Richard Holden
 * Charles-Albert Poissant
 * André Ouellet


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Pierre Bourgault

Pierre Bourgault (January 23, 1934 – June 16, 2003) was a politician and essayist, as well as an actor and journalist, from Quebec, Canada. He is most famous as a public speaker who advocated sovereignty for Quebec from Canada.

Biography
Bourgault was born in East Angus in the Estrie (Eastern Townships) region of Quebec. His father was a civil servant and his mother, a homemaker. His parents sent him to boarding school at age seven, determined that he should receive the education which they lacked. After secondary school, he briefly attended the seminary and entertained the idea of a possible entry into the priesthood, per ancestral tradition, but reneged on his obligation shortly thereafter. He is today entombed within the traditionally Catholic Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.

Beginning in the early 1960s, he supported Quebec independence from Canada and in 1960 joined the pro-independence Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale. A famed and inflammatory orator, he led a number of union strikes and marches that resulted in violence. In 1964, he became leader of the RIN, and came up just short in the Duplessis riding of Northern Quebec. During the St. Jean Baptiste celebration in 1968, a demonstration for Quebec nationalism turned into a riot when other supporters threw projectiles at newly minted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. He and 300 others were arrested for this incident, while Trudeau's stoic response significantly helped.

In 1968, popular cabinet minister and television host René Lévesque founded Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, a more moderate sovereignist party. Lévesque rebuffed in an attempt to have the RIN included en masse, fearing the RIN's reputation for protests and violence would hurt the movement. Bourgeault disbanded the party and invited its members to join the MSA one by one and the new Ralliement national in the newly founded Parti Québécois, under Lévesque's leadership.

In the 1970 Quebec election, he was the Parti Québécois candidate in Mercier electoral district, running unsuccessfully against Liberal leader (and soon-to-be Premier) Robert Bourassa, who would become a close personal friend. Bourgault himself did not play any role in the PQ government that came to power in the 1976 Quebec election and was given a patronage appointment. He often quarreled with Lévesque, especially in the lead up to the 1980 referendum because he disagreed with the strategy on sovereignty advocated by the premier of Quebec. Bourgault leaves the PQ during the 1980s.

In his early life, he was a journalist at Montreal newspaper La Presse, and he returned to this publication in the 1990s as a columnist for Le Journal de Montréal newspaper. After 1976, he was a professor of communications at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). He was also the co-host or regular columnist of several radio shows aired on la Société Radio-Canada, the French language sector of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

In 1992, he had an acting role in the film Léolo, cast by director Jean-Claude Lauzon. to whom Bourgault was a mentor. Lauzon denied he was cast for political reasons.

He was openly gay, though he said in an interview for Radio-Canada a few years before his death that in his later years he chose to stop having sexual relations.

Bourgault was a fluent and eloquent speaker of English. For a brief period in the 1980s, he was a weekly columnist for Montreal's anglophone daily, The Gazette.

Works

 * Québec quitte ou double, 1970
 * Oui à l'indépendance du Québec, 1977
 * Le plaisir de la liberté, 1983
 * Écrits polémiques 1960-1981, 1989
 * Moi, je m'en souviens, 1989
 * Maintenant ou jamais, entretiens, 1990
 * Écrits polémiques 1. La Politique, Montréal, VLB éditeur, 1982
 * Écrits polémiques 2. La Culture, Montréal, VLB éditeur, 1983
 * Écrits polémiques, Montréal, Boréale compact, 1988
 * Écrits polémiques 3. La Colère, Montréal, Lanctôt éditeur, 1996
 * Écrits polémiques 4. La Résistance, Montréal, VLB éditeur, 1999

Biographies

 * Andrée LeBel, Pierre Bourgault, le plaisir de la liberté (entretiens), Nouvelle optique, 1983.
 * Jean-François Nadeau, Bourgault, Lux éditeur, 2013.

Filmography

 * Jean-Claude Labrecque, Le RIN, Production Virage/Télé-Québec, 2002.
 * Manuel Foglia, Paroles et liberté, Productions J, 2007.
 * C’était Bourgault, with Marie-Claude Beaucage and Franco Nuovo, Société Radio-Canada, 2013

Podcast
Pierre Bourgault: Podcast, BaladoQuébec, 2018.

Awards

 * 1983 - Prix Air Canada
 * 1997 - Prix Georges-Émile-Lapalme
 * 2000 - Prix Jules-Fournier
 * 2001 - Prix Condorcet

Note
Some items from the sections, Works, Biographies, Filmography and Podcast were copied and adapted from the French Wikipedia page of Pierre Bourgault. See that page's history for attribution.

title: Pierre Bourgault


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Wil Tirion

Wil Tirion (19 February 1943 – 5 July 2024) was a Dutch uranographer (celestial cartographer). His most famous work, Sky Atlas 2000.0, is renowned by astronomers for its accuracy and beauty. The second edition of his most complete work, Uranometria 2000.0, was published in 2001 by Willmann-Bell. He was also responsible for the sky charts found in many other publications. He was originally a graphic designer. The minor planet (asteroid) 4648 Tirion is named after him. Tirion died on 5 July 2024, at the age of 81.

title: Wil Tirion


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Boutigny

Boutigny may refer to several communes in France:

 * Boutigny, Seine-et-Marne, in Seine-et-Marne département
 * Boutigny-Prouais, a commune in the Eure-et-Loir département
 * Boutigny-sur-Essonne, a commune in the Essonne département, a suburb of Paris

title: Boutigny


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ASW

ASW, a three-letter abbreviation, may refer to:

 * Alumino silicate wool, a type of mineral wool
 * Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, former UK trade union
 * American School of Warsaw, Poland.
 * Amphibian Species of the World, an online herpetology database hosted by the American Museum of Natural History.
 * Anti-submarine warfare
 * Arc System Works, a video game development company
 * Artificial seawater
 * Arriva Scotland West, a defunct Scottish bus operator
 * aSmallWorld, an online social network service
 * ASW Distillery, a manufacturer of liquor located in Atlanta, Georgia
 * Aswan International Airport (IATA airport code "ASW"), an airport in Egypt
 * Asynchronous SpaceWarp, a framerate smoothing technique used on the Oculus Rift

Sports

 * All-Star Wrestling, a former professional wrestling promotion based in Vancouver, Canada
 * All Star Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion based in Liverpool, England
 * Altijd Sterker Worden, a club from Dordrecht, Netherlands that merged into SC Emma
 * Altijd Sterker Worden, a club from Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands under its original name

title: ASW


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Colostrum

Colostrum is the first form of milk produced by the mammary glands of humans and other mammals immediately following delivery of the newborn. It may be called beestings when referring to the first milk of a cow or similar animal. Most species will begin to generate colostrum just prior to giving birth. Colostrum has an especially high amount of bioactive compounds compared to mature milk to give the newborn the best possible start to life. Specifically, colostrum contains antibodies to protect the newborn against disease and infection, and immune and growth factors and other bioactives that help to activate a newborn's immune system, jumpstart gut function, and seed a healthy gut microbiome in the first few days of life. The bioactives found in colostrum are essential for a newborn's health, growth and vitality. Colostrum strengthens a baby's immune system and is filled with white blood cells to protect it from infection.

At birth, the surroundings of the newborn mammal change from the relatively sterile environment in the mother's uterus, with a constant nutrient supply via the placenta, to the microbe-rich environment outside, with irregular oral intake of complex milk nutrients through the gastrointestinal tract. This transition puts high demands on the gastrointestinal tract of the neonate, as the gut plays an important part in both the digestive system and the immune system. Colostrum has evolved to care for highly sensitive mammalian neonates and contributes significantly to initial immunological defense as well as to the growth, development, and maturation of the neonate's gastrointestinal tract by providing key nutrients and bioactive factors. Bovine colostrum powder is rich in protein and low in sugar and fat. Bovine colostrum can also be used for a range of conditions in humans, and can boost a neonate's immunity.

Colostrum also has a mild laxative effect, encouraging the passing of a baby's first stool, which is called meconium. This clears excess bilirubin, a waste-product of dead red blood cells which is produced in large quantities at birth due to blood volume reduction from the infant's body and which is responsible for jaundice.

Bioactive components in colostrum
Newborns have very immature and small digestive systems, and colostrum delivers its bioactives in a very concentrated low-volume form. Colostrum is known to contain immune cells (as lymphocytes) and many antibodies such as IgA,  IgG, and IgM. These are some of the components of the adaptive immune system. Other immune components of colostrum include the major components of the innate immune system, such as lactoferrin, lysozyme, lactoperoxidase, complement, and proline-rich polypeptides (PRP). A number of cytokines (small messenger peptides that control the functioning of the immune system) are found in colostrum as well, including interleukins, tumor necrosis factor, chemokines, and others.

Colostrum also contains a number of growth factors, such as insulin-like growth factors I (IGF-1), and II, transforming growth factors alpha, beta 1 and beta 2, fibroblast growth factors, epidermal growth factor, granulocyte-macrophage-stimulating growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and colony-stimulating factor-1.

Human colostrum
Colostrum, which is produced for the first two to four days after childbirth, enhances immunity and is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties. It is suggested infants fed with human colostrum have lower incidence of gastrointestinal infections. In addition, colostrum also has a laxative effect, encouraging the baby's body to excrete stool, which helps eliminate excess bilirubin. This helps prevent jaundice and allergies in babies.

Human consumption of bovine colostrum
While it has long been understood that the colostrum a mother produces is vital to a newborn's health in the first few days of life, research has shown that bovine (cow) colostrum and its components can continue to support important biological activities when given to more mature children and adults, so that the benefits of colostrum can extend well beyond the neonatal period of development.

Bovine colostrum and human colostrum are highly similar in their makeup, both containing many of the same antibodies, immune and growth factors, and other nutrients. Because they share so many of the same components, the way they work in the body is also highly similar. The benefit of bovine colostrum for human health has been studied in many areas including:

There is also research suggesting that a large proportion of colostrum is not fit for human consumption "due to tremendous bacterial loads". Salmonella was also detected in 15% of unpasteurised samples. Pasteurisation reduces the bioactive proteins many of the benefits rely upon, however.
 * Immune health: Colostrum is composed of bioactive compounds that support immune health, including immunoglobulins and oligosaccharides. These compounds have been shown to work together to support not only the immune system but also respiratory health in adults and children.
 * Digestive health: Colostrum is composed of bioactive compounds that support digestive health, including immunoglobulins, growth factors, and oligosaccharides. These compounds work together to maintain and support intestinal integrity and improve nutrient absorption, while its naturally occurring prebiotics feed beneficial gut bacteria and support a balanced gut in adults and children.
 * Early life nutrition: While colostrum and breast milk are a critical part of newborn nutrition, research has shown that colostrum has continued benefits in children over the age of one. As a component in early life nutrition, colostrum can help to support children's immune systems, soothe digestive upsets, and otherwise support children's digestive health.
 * Sports nutrition: Bovine colostrum contains several bioactives that help support sports nutrition, including immunoglobulins and growth factors. These bioactives combine to help maintain a healthy immune system during the stress during athletic training, while supporting cellular proliferation and restitution as well as protein synthesis and soft tissue repair.

Colostrum use in animal husbandry
Colostrum is crucial for newborn farm animals. They receive no passive transfer of immunity via the placenta before birth, so any antibodies that they need have to be ingested (unless supplied by injection or other artificial means). The ingested antibodies are absorbed from the intestine of the neonate. The newborn animal must receive colostrum within 6 hours of being born for maximal absorption of colostral antibodies to occur. Recent studies indicate that colostrum should be fed to bovines within the first thirty minutes to maximize IgG absorption rates. The role of colostrum for newborn animals is to provide nutrition, and essential protection against infection while the immune and digestive systems are developing and maturing. Bovine colostrum provides macro- and micro-nutrients, as well as growth factors, cytokines, nucleosides, oligosaccharides, natural antimicrobials, antioxidants; and a range of immunoglobulins such as IgG, IgA, IgD, IgM and IgE. It is well established that minimal levels of IgG are essential to prevent failure of passive transfer. The iron-binding glycoproteins lactoferrin and transferrin in bovine colostrum assist in attacking pathogens by impacting their cell membrane and making them more susceptible to the immune systems attack by neutrophils. Cytokines present in bovine colostrum enhance B and T cell maturation and increase endogenous antibody production. They also play a major role in regulation of epithelial cell growth and development, proliferation, and restitution. Transfer factors enhance the activity of T cells. Other growth and immune factors such as IGF-1, IGF-2, FGF, EGF, TGF, PDGF, etc.

Bovine colostrum boosts immunity and gut health in all animals. Its rich bioactive components fight bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Early, high-quality colostrum is crucial for survival and healthy development. It repairs intestinal damage, improves nutrient absorption, and benefits human and animal babies alike. In calves, colostrum helps develop their gut and prevents death. It reduces infections, antibiotic use, and diarrhea, leading to faster growth and higher profits for farmers.

Colostrum use in companion animals
Much like in humans and production animals, companion animal survival in the newborn stage of life is largely dependent upon colostrum. Companion animal immune systems require several weeks to several months in order to fully develop. Maternal antibodies provide benefit for a relatively short period of time so a gap exists with immune sufficiency where an animal is at risk of infection. Like humans, companion animal immune response changes with age where early life and later in life have similarities. That is, an immune bias whereby the animal has less of an ability to fend off infections and greater prevalence of allergy at both ends of the age spectrum. Stress also affects a companion animal's immune system including changes in environment, diet, etc. Maintaining gut microbial balance is key to maintaining a healthy immune system as well as mucosal integrity, similar to humans. Bovine colostrum has been demonstrated to benefit companion animal immunity and digestive health.

Bovine colostrum plays a role in increasing Ig levels, increasing lymphocyte proliferation stimulating activity and increasing phagocytosis activity. These are supported by other components of colostrum which further enhance the activity of the immune response. The iron binding glycoproteins lactoferrin and transferrin in bovine colostrum assist in attacking pathogens by impacting their cell membrane and making them more susceptible to the immune systems attack by neutrophils. Cytokines present in bovine colostrum enhance B and T cell maturation and increase endogenous antibody production. They also play a major role in regulation of epithelial cell growth and development, proliferation, restitution. Transfer factors enhance the activity of T cells. Other growth and immune factors such as IGF-1, IGF-2, FGF, EGF, TGF, PDGF, etc. Colostrum contains glycomacropeptides which help to regulate appetite. Bovine colostrum boosts animal immunity, leading to stronger vaccine responses, improved gut health, and reduced illness from diarrhea and respiratory issues.

Bovine colostrum history of study and potential future applications
Dairy cattle are naturally exposed to pathogens and produce immunoglobulins against them. These antibodies are present in the cow's bloodstream and in the colostrum. These immunoglobulins are specific to many human pathogens, including Escherichia coli, Cryptosporidium parvum, Shigella flexneri, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus species, and rotavirus (which causes diarrhea in infants). Before the development of antibiotics, colostrum was the main source of immunoglobulins used to fight bacteria. In fact, when Albert Sabin made his first oral vaccine against polio, the immunoglobulin he used came from bovine colostrum. When antibiotics began to appear, interest in colostrum waned, but, now that antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogens have developed, interest is once again returning to natural alternatives to antibiotics, namely, colostrum.

Although bovine colostrum has been consumed by humans for centuries, only in recent decades have we seen an increase in randomized clinical trials to support assertions of health benefits. It is probable that little absorption of intact growth factors and antibodies into the bloodstream occurs, due to digestion in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the presence of casein and other buffering proteins does allow growth factors and other bioactive molecules to pass into the lumen of the small intestine intact, where they can stimulate repair and inhibit microbes, working via local effects. This provides a probable mechanism explaining reductions in gut permeability after colostrum administration in some published studies,  while another study found colostrum promising as treatment for distal colitis. Evidence for the beneficial effect of colostrum on extra-gastrointestinal problems is less well developed, due in part to the limited number of randomised double-blind studies published, although a variety of possible uses have been suggested.

The gut plays several important roles including acting as the main pathway for fluid, electrolyte and nutrient absorption while also acting as a barrier to toxic agents present in the gut lumen including acid, digestive enzymes and gut bacteria. It is also a major immunological defence mechanism, detecting natural commensals and triggering immune response when toxic microbes are present. Failure of homeostasis due to trauma, drugs and infectious microbes not only damages the gut but can lead to influx of damaging agents into the bloodstream. These mechanisms have relevance for multiple conditions affecting all areas of the world and socioeconomic groups such as ulcers, inflammation, and infectious diarrhea. There is currently much interest in the potential value of colostrum for the prevention and treatment of these conditions as it is derived from natural sources and can influence damaging factors through multiple pathways including nutritional support, immunological intervention (through its immunoglobulin and other anti-microbial factors) and growth/healing factor constituents. As pointed out by Kelly, inconsistency between results in some published studies may be due in part to variation in dose given and to the timing of the colostrum collection being tested (first milking versus pooled colostrum collected up to day 5 following calving).

Some athletes have used colostrum in an attempt to improve their performance, decrease recovery time, and prevent sickness during peak performance levels. Supplementation with bovine colostrum, 20 grams per day (g/d), in combination with exercise training for eight weeks may increase bone-free lean body mass in active men and women.

Low IGF-1 levels may be associated with dementia in the very elderly, although causation has not been established. Malnutrition can cause low levels of IGF-1, as can obesity. Supplementation with colostrum, which is rich in IGF-1, can be a useful part of a weight reduction program. Although IGF-1 is not absorbed intact by the body, some studies suggest it stimulates the production of IGF-1 when taken as a supplement whereas others do not.

Colostrum also has antioxidant components, such as lactoferrin and hemopexin, which binds free heme in the body.

The Isle of Man had a local delicacy called "Groosniuys", a pudding made with colostrum. In Finland, a baked cheese called Leipäjuusto is traditionally made with either cow colostrum or reindeer milk.

A sweet cheese-like delicacy called 'Junnu' or 'Ginna' is made with colostrum in the south Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is made with both cow and buffalo milk; in both cases it is the milk produced on the second day after giving birth which is considered best for making this pudding-like delicacy. Colostrum is in very high demand in these states, resulting in product adulteration.

Hyperimmune colostrum
Hyperimmune colostrum is natural bovine colostrum collected from a population of cows immunized repeatedly with a specific pathogen. The colostrum is collected within 24 hours of the cow giving birth. Antibodies towards the specific pathogens or antigens that were used in the immunization are present in higher levels than in the population before treatment. Although some papers have been published stating that specific human pathogens were just as high as in hyperimmune colostrum, and natural colostrum nearly always had higher antibody titers than did the hyperimmune version. Clinical trials have shown that if the immunization is by surface antigens of the bacteria, the Bovine Colostrum Powder can be used to make tablets capable of binding to the bacteria so that they are excreted in stools. This prevents the successful colonization of the gut, which would otherwise lead to bacteria releasing enterotoxigenic materials.

Proline-rich polypeptides
These small immune signaling peptides (PRPs) were independently discovered in colostrum and other sources, such as blood plasma, in the United States, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Hence they appear under various names in the literature, including Colostrinin, CLN, transfer factor and PRP. They function as signal transducing molecules that have the unique effect of modulating the immune system, turning it up when the body comes under attack from pathogens or other disease agents, and damping it when the danger is eliminated or neutralized. At first thought to actually transfer immunity from one immune system to another, it now appears that PRPs simply stimulate cell-mediated immunity.

title: Colostrum


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Don Cossacks

Don Cossacks (Донские казаки, Донські козаки) or Donians (донцы, донці), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (Донское казачье войско, Головне Донське військо), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic republic in present-day Southern Russia and parts of the Donbas region of Ukraine, from the end of the 16th century until 1918. As of 1992, by presidential decree of the Russian Federation, Cossacks can be enrolled on a special register. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further Cossack cultural traditions, including those of the Don Cossack Host. Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition - they played an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participated in most of its major wars.

Etymology
The name Cossack (казак; козак) was widely used to characterise "free people" (compare Turkic qazaq, which means "free men") as opposed to others with different standing in feudal society (i.e., peasants, nobles, clergy, etc.). The name "cossack" was also applied to migrants, free-booters and bandits.

It has the same etymological root as "Kazakh", an unrelated Central Asian Turkic people.

Origins
The exact origins of Cossacks remain unclear. In the modern view, Don Cossacks descend from Slavic people connected with Russian lands like the Povolzhye, the Novgorod Republic, and the Principality of Ryazan, and Ukrainian lands like the Dnieper. As well as nomadic Turkic tribes inhabiting the Steppes. Gotho-Alans could also have played a role in forming Don Cossack culture, which originated in the western part of the North Caucasus.

Turkic theory
The theory of Russian historian A. M. Orlov is that Cossacks hosts were formed among Turkic nomads. He then thinks, that the Don Cossacks were originally formed largely by "Meshchera Tatars" under the Golden Horde, which he also connects to later Mishar Tatars.

A. V. Mirtov wrote that the life and language of Don Cossacks were heavily influenced by "Tatars from Meshchera". G. Shtekl on the other hand wrote that the first Russian Cossacks were simply "Russified Tatars." V. N. Tatishchev: "Some of them lived in the small cities of Meshchera, their capital being Donskoy, where the Donskoy Monastery is now." A. A. Gordeyev connects them to the Golden Horde also, and states: "They did not fall under the Khans of the Orda, did not accept serfdom, were pained by all kinds of social injustice, and rebelled against feudal rule".

Early history
More than two thousand years ago the Scythians lived on the banks of the river Don. Many Scythian tombs have been found in this area. Subsequently, the area was inhabited by the Khazars and the Polovtsians. From the 16th to the 18th centuries the steppes of the Don River were part of "the Wild Field" (Дикое Поле). In the late Middle Ages the area was under the general control of the Golden Horde, and numerous Tatar (especially Crimean Tatar) armed groups roamed there, attacking and enslaving merchants and settlers.

The first Christians to settle on the territories around the Don were the Jassi and Kosogi tribes of the Khazar Kaghanate of the 7th to 10th centuries. After the fall of the Golden Horde in 1480, more colonists started to expand onto this land from the Novgorod Republic after the Battle of Shelon (1471), and from the neighboring Principality of Ryazan. Until the end of the 16th century, the Don Cossacks inhabited independent free territories.

15th–17th centuries
Cossacks of Ryazan are mentioned in 1444 as defenders of Pereslavl-Zalessky against the units of Golden Horde and in a letter of Ivan III of Russia from 1502. After the Golden Horde fell in 1480, the area around the Don River was divided between the Crimean west side and the Nogai east side. On their border since the 14th century the vast steppe of the Don region was populated by those people who were not satisfied with the existing social order, by those who did not recognize the power of the land-owners, by runaway serfs, by those who longed for freedom. In the course of time they turned into a united community and were called "the Cossacks". At first the main occupation of these small armed detachments was hunting and fishing—as well as the constant struggle against the Turks and the Tatars who attacked them. Only later they began to settle and work on the land.

16th century
The first records relating to the Cossack villages: the "stanitsas", date back to 1549. In the year 1552 Don Cossacks under the command of Ataman Susar Fedorov joined the Army of Ivan the Terrible during the Siege of Kazan in 1552. On 2 June 1556 the Cossack regiment of Ataman Lyapun Filimonov, together with the Army of Moscovits comprising strelets, conquered and annexed the Astrakhan Khanate.

During the reign of Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV), the ataman Yermak Timofeyevich went on an expedition to conquer Siberia. After defeating Khan Kuchum in the fall of 1582 and occupying Isker, the capital of the Siberian Khanate, Yermak sent a force of Cossacks down the Irtysh in the winter of 1583. The detachment, led by Bogdan Bryazga (according to other sources, the Cossack chieftain Nikita Pan) passed through the lands of the Konda-Pelym Voguls and reached the walls of the town of Samarovo. Surprised by the Cossack attack, the Ostyaks surrendered. In fall 1585, shortly after Yermak's death, Cossacks led by voevoda (army commander) Ivan Mansurov founded the first Russian fortified town in Siberia, Obskoy, at the mouth of the Irtysh river on the right bank of the Ob river. The Mansi and Khanty lands thus became part of the Russian state, finally secured by the founding of the cities of Pelym and Berezov in 1592 and Surgut in 1594. As a result of Yermak's expedition, Russia was able to annex Siberia.

17th century
In the 17th century Cossacks waged war against the Ottomans and the Crimean Khanate. In 1637 the Don Cossacks, joined by the Zaporozhian Cossacks, captured the strategic Ottoman fortress of Azov, which guarded the Don. The defense of the Azov Fortress in 1641 was one of the key actions in Don Cossack history. After total taking of the Free Territories of Don Cossacks under the Moscovy control, Don Cossack history became more intertwined with the history of the rest of Russia. In exchange for protection of the Southern borders of medieval Russia, the Don Cossacks were given the privilege of not paying taxes and the tsar's authority in Cossack lands was not as absolute as in other parts of Russia.

During this period, three of Russia's most notorious rebels, Stenka Razin, Kondraty Bulavin and Emelian Pugachev, were Don Cossacks.

18th–19th centuries
After 1786, the territory of the Don Cossacks was officially called Don Host Land, and was renamed Don Host Oblast in 1870 (presently part of the Rostov, Volgograd, and Voronezh regions of the Russian Federation as well as part of the Luhansk region of Ukraine).

In 1805 the Don Cossack capital was shifted from Cherkassk to Novocherkassk (New Cherkassk).

Don Cossacks are credited with playing a significant part in repelling Napoleon's Invasion of Russia. Under the command of Count Matvey Ivanovich Platov, the Don Cossacks fought in a number of battles against the Grande Armée. In the Battle of Borodino, Don Cossacks made raids to the rear of the French Army. Platov commanded all the Cossack troops and successfully covered the retreat of the Russian Army to Moscow. The Don Cossacks distinguished themselves in subsequent campaigns, and took part in the capture of Paris. Napoleon is credited with declaring, "Cossacks are the finest light troops among all that exist. If I had them in my army, I would go through all the world with them."

In the general census of 1884, the male population of the Don Cossacks was reported to number 425,000. The Don Cossacks were the largest of the ten cossack hosts then in existence, providing over a third of total cossack manpower available for military service.

World War I
On the eve of World War I, the Don Cossack Host comprised 17 regular regiments plus 6 detached sotnias (squadrons). In addition two regiments of the Imperial Guard were recruited from the Don territory. By 1916 the Don Host had expanded to 58 line regiments and 100 detached sotnias. The central location of the Don territories meant that these units were employed extensively on both the German and Austro-Hungarian fronts, though less so against the Ottoman Turks to the south. The continued value of the Don and other Cossacks as mounted troops was illustrated by the decision taken in 1916 to dismount about a third of the regular Russian cavalry, but to retain the cossack regiments in their traditional role.

February 1917 Revolution
At the outbreak of the February 1917 Revolution, three regiments of Don Cossacks (the 1st, 4th and 14th) formed part of the garrison of St. Petersburg. Consisting partly of new recruits from the poorer regions of the Host territory, these units were influenced by the general disillusionment with the Tsar's government. Accordingly, they did not act effectively when ordered to disperse the growing demonstrations in the city. Reports that the historically loyal Don Cossacks could no longer be relied on were a significant factor in the sudden collapse of the Tsarist regime.

Bolshevik persecution
The Don Cossack Host was disbanded on Russian soil in 1918, after the Russian Revolution, but the Don Cossacks in the White Army and those who emigrated abroad, continued to preserve the traditions, musical and otherwise, of their host. Many found employment as trick riders in various circuses throughout Europe and the United States. Admiral Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak, one of the leaders of the White movement during the Russian Civil War, was of Don Cossack descent. Following the defeat of the White Army in the Russian Civil War, a policy of decossackization ("Raskazachivaniye") took place on the surviving Cossacks and their homelands, since they were viewed as a threat to the new Soviet regime.

The Cossack homelands were often very fertile, and during the collectivisation campaign many Cossacks shared the fate of the kulaks. According to historian Michael Kort, "During 1919 and 1920, out of a population of approximately 1.5 million Don Cossacks, the Bolshevik regime killed or deported an estimated 300,000 to 500,000". Others, such as Peter Holquist, estimate a figure of 10,000 deaths during this period, while a far greater number would die during the engineered Soviet famines of 1932–33 and the Holodomor.

Don Cossacks in World War II
On 20 April 1936 the earlier ban on Cossacks serving in the Red Army was lifted. Later the same year two existing Red Army cavalry divisions were re-designated as Don Cossacks. By 1939 a number of these regiments had been issued with traditional Cossack uniforms, in ceremonial and field service versions. The dress of the Don Cossack units included dark-blue breeches with broad red stripes which had distinguished them prior to the Revolution. The Don Cossack Cavalry Corps saw extensive active service until 1943, after which its role diminished, as did that of the other remaining horse-mounted units in the Red Army. However Don Cossack cavalry was still in existence in 1945 and participated in the Victory Parade in Moscow.

During World War II, the Don Cossacks mustered the largest single concentration of Cossacks within the German Army, the XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps, a great part of them former Soviet citizens. The XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps included the 1st Cossack Division and the 2nd Cossack Division.

The majority of the Cossacks remained loyal to the Red Army. In the earliest battles, particularly the encirclement of Belostok Cossack units such as the 94th Beloglisnky, 152nd Rostovsky and 48th Belorechensky regiments fought to their death.

In the opening phase of the war, during the German advance towards Moscow, Cossacks were extensively used for raids behind enemy lines. The most famous of these took place during the Battle of Smolensk under the command of Lev Dovator, whose 3rd Cavalry Corps consisted of the 50th and 53rd Cavalry divisions from the Kuban and Terek Cossacks mobilised from the Northern Caucasus. The raid in ten days covered 300 km and destroyed the hinterlands of the 9th German Army before successfully breaking out. Whilst units under the command of General Pavel Belov, the 2nd Cavalry Corps of Don, Kuban and Stavropol Cossacks spearheaded the counter-attack onto the right flank of the 6th German Army, delaying its advance towards Moscow.

The high professionalism that the Cossacks under Dovator and Belov (both generals would later be granted the title Hero of the Soviet Union and their units raised to a Guards (elite) status) ensured that many new units would be formed. The Germans during the whole war only managed to form two Cossack Corps, while the Red Army in 1942 alone had 17. Many of the newly formed units were filled with ethnically Cossack volunteers. The Kuban Cossacks were allocated to the 10th, 12th and 13th Corps. However, the most famous Kuban Cossack unit was the 17th Cossack Corps under the command of general Nikolay Kirichenko.

During one particular attack, Cossacks killed up to 1,800 enemy soldiers and officers, took 300 prisoners, and seized 18 artillery pieces and 25 mortars. The 5th and 9th Romanian Cavalry divisions fled in panic, and the 198th German Infantry division hastily departed with large losses to the left bank of the river Ei.

During the opening phase of the Battle of Stalingrad, when the Germans overran the Kuban, the majority of the Cossack population, long before the Germans began their agitation with Krasnov and Shkuro, became involved in Partisan activity. Raids on the German positions from the Caucasus mountains became commonplace. After the German defeat at Stalingrad, the 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Corps, strengthened by tanks and artillery, broke through the German lines and liberated Mineralnye Vody, and Stavropol.

Modern Don Cossacks
The Don Cossacks were revived in the early 1990s and were officially recognised by the Russian Government in 1997, its Ataman holding the rank, insignia and uniform of a full Marshal.

In 1992 they joined the separatist forces during the Transnistria War.

Don Cossacks volunteered by hundreds to fight in South Ossetia during the 2008 Russo-Georgian war.

In 2009, the Ukrainian Security Service banned a leader of the Don Cossacks from entering Ukraine in order to prevent the creation of an illegal parliamentary formation on Ukrainian territory.

Since 2014, members of Don Cossacks have participated in the war in Eastern Ukraine as independent volunteers for the pro-Russian Donbass militias. Reportedly several military formations were formed though most of these groups were subsequently disbanded and integrated into the armed forces of the DPR and LPR.

Flag of Don Cossacks

The Don Cossacks flag 3:4 was inaugurated during the Don Cossacks assembly in Novocherkassk, Don Republic, on 4 May 1918 under chiefing of Ataman Pyotr Krasnov. The flag has three colours: blue, yellow, and red. The flag is similar to that of the Ukrainian State, also established in 1918, which the Don Republic bordered to its west.

Coat of arms
The Don Cossacks Coat of Arms was known from the 17th century. It was adopted as a symbol of the Don Republic on 15 September 1918.

Uniform
Until 1914 the distinguishing colour of the Don Cossack Host was red: worn on the cap bands and wide trouser stripes of a dark blue uniform of the loose-fitting cut common to the Steppe Cossacks. Tall lambskin hats were worn on occasion, with red cloth tops edged in white lace. Silver metal scrolls were worn on the headdress to denote the distinguished conduct of individual regiments. Officers had silver braiding on their collars and epaulettes plus silver/black girdles. Shoulder-straps of other ranks were the same dark blue as the caftan (coat). A whip was used instead of spurs. Prior to 1908, individual cossacks from all Hosts were required to provide their own uniforms (together with horses and harness). However the size and relative affluence of the Don Cossack Host permitted the setting up of communally owned clothing factories.

A khaki field tunic was adopted in 1908, replacing the dark blue coats or white (summer) blouses previously worn for ordinary duties. However the blue riding breeches with broad red stripes long characteristic of the Don Host, continued to be worn even on active service during both World Wars.

The Don Cossack Battery of the Imperial Guard wore a "Tsar's green" (a dark shade common to the army) uniform, with the black and red distinctions of the artillery as a branch.

Anthem of Don Cossacks
Всколыхнулся, взволновался православный Тихий Дон written by Fedor Anisimov in 1853.

Religion
Most Don Cossacks are Russian Orthodox, who consider themselves guardians of the faith. However, a large percentage of Don Cossacks were Starovers. Even in 1903, a minimum of 150,000 from a total of the 2,500,000 parish members of the Don Eparchy were Starovers. Ataman count Matvei Platov was of a Popovtsy Old Believers Family. Don Cossacks were tolerant of other religions – with the exception of Jews – and accepted Buddhists, Muslims, Old Believers, and pagans into their communities.

Traditions and culture

The Cossacks had a democratic society where the most important decisions were made during a Common Assembly (Казачий Круг). The assembly elected temporary authorities — atamans.

Don Cossacks were skilled horsemen and experienced warriors, due to their long conflict with the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. They sold their military services to different powers in Eastern Europe. Together with the Polish King, they raided Moscow during the Time of Troubles (Смутное Время) and, under Russian authority, carried out raids and expeditions against Ottoman Turkey and Qajar Persia.

Isolated between Russian and Muslim territory, the Don Cossacks developed a distinct culture and language which fused Ukrainian, Russian, Kalmyk, and Tatar elements.

The Don Cossacks have a tradition of choral singing and many of their songs, such as Chyorny Voron (Black Raven) and Lyubo, Bratsi, Lyubo (It's good, brothers, good) became popular throughout the rest of Russia. Many of the songs are about death in war.

Up to the 18th century marriages and divorces were held in the Common Assembly (Казачий Круг). If a Cossack wanted to marry a woman he was expected to bring her to the Common Assembly for presentation. If the Common Assembly gave approval, the marriage followed. The same procedure took place if there was a divorce. Peter I banned these practices in the Common Assembly, requiring Cossacks to marry only in church.

A Cossack marriage is a complex ritual, accompanied by songs, dances and performances. A bridegroom arrives on horseback and takes his bride to the church, followed by a marriage train. After the wedding all present would adjourn to the bridegroom's house. There, the parents would bless the couple, break a loaf of bread above their heads, and sprinkle them with wheat, nuts, sweets and hops. The bride's hair would then be unbraided according to traditional rites.

When a son was born to a Cossack family, his parents presented him with an arrow, a bow, a cartridge, a bullet and a gun. All of these items were hung on the wall, over the boy's bed. At the age of three, the boy began to ride a horse. At the age of 7 to 8 he was allowed to ride in the street, to go fishing and hunt with adults.

Horse racing was a popular pastime with Don Cossacks. Riders competed to hit a target, firing weapons from horseback. The most dexterous were able to do this standing on the horses back. It was traditional practice for Cossack families to provide a young Cossack with two horses, a uniform and weapons.

Cossack leave-taking was always festive. All departing Cossacks would gather in the church, then hang a small bag around their necks containing a pinch of their native soil before setting off singing. Having left their stanitsa, they drank a cup of vodka and said good-bye to their native land.

Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff
The Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff was a group of former officers of the Russian Imperial Army who were discovered singing in Çilingir (near Constantinople), where they had fled after the defeat of their army in the Crimea. They made their formal concert debut in Vienna in 1923, led by their founder, conductor and composer, Serge Jaroff.

The choir became popular in America, Japan and Europe, touring the world in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, till today. The men, dressed as Cossacks, sang a cappella in a repertory of Russian sacred and secular music, army, folk and art songs. Cossack dancing was eventually added to their programme.

In popular culture
Mikhail Sholokhov's monumental work, "And Quiet Flows the Don", deals sympathetically with the Don Cossacks and depicts the destruction of their way of life as a result of World War I and the Russian Civil War.

Notable Don Cossacks

 * Don Cossacks noble families
 * Kondraty Bulavin
 * Alexei Kaledin
 * Pyotr Krasnov
 * Matvei Platov
 * Stepan Razin01Рада.jpg
 * Yermak Timofeyevich
 * Ivan Turchaninov — Union army brigadier general in the American Civil War.
 * Aleksandr Khanzhonkov

Don Cossacks government and policy

 * Don Republic
 * Don Army
 * Cossacks in Turkey
 * List of Imperial Russian Army Don Cossack regiments

Don Cossack books

 * "And Quiet Flows the Don"

Genocide and Don Cossacks

 * Kiev pogroms of 1919 "Carried by Don Cossacks".
 * Decossackization
 * Repatriation of Cossacks after World War II — "betrayal of the Cossacks".
 * "Victims of Yalta" — 1977 book.
 * Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians
 * Genocides in history
 * Human rights in the Soviet Union
 * Population transfer in the Soviet Union

title: Don Cossacks


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Central European Time

Central European Time (CET) is a standard time of Central, and parts of Western Europe, which is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The time offset from UTC can be written as UTC+01:00. It is used in most parts of Europe and in a few North African countries. CET is also known as Middle European Time (MET, German: MEZ) and by colloquial names such as Amsterdam Time, Berlin Time, Brussels Time, Budapest Time, Madrid Time, Paris Time, Rome Time, Prague time, Warsaw Time or Romance Standard Time (RST).

The 15th meridian east is the central axis per UTC+01:00 in the world system of time zones.

As of 2023, all member states of the European Union observe summer time (daylight saving time), from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October. States within the CET area switch to Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+02:00) for the summer.

In Africa, UTC+01:00 is called West Africa Time (WAT), where it is used by several countries, year round. Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia also refer to it as Central European Time.

Current usage
As of 2017, Central European Time is currently used in Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo (partially recognised as an independent country), Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (except the Canary Islands), Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City.

History
After World War II Monaco, Andorra and Gibraltar implemented CET.
 * 1884
 * Serbia starts using CET.
 * 1 October 1891
 * Austro-Hungarian Empire adopts CET. At first railways and post offices, cities such as Prague and Budapest, but not Vienna. (present-day Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and some other regions)
 * 1 April 1893
 * The German Empire unified its time zones to use CET (MEZ).
 * Malta uses CET.
 * Vienna (then part of Austro-Hungarian Empire) starts using CET.
 * 1 November 1893
 * Italy starts using CET.
 * 1894
 * Switzerland switches from UTC+00:30 to CET
 * Liechtenstein introduces CET.
 * Denmark adopts CET.
 * 1895
 * Norway adopts CET.
 * 1900
 * Sweden adopts CET.
 * 1904
 * Luxembourg introduces CET, but leaves 1918.
 * 1914
 * Albania adopts CET.
 * 1914–1918
 * During World War I CET was implemented in all German-occupied territories.
 * 1920
 * Lithuania adopts CET (but subsequently rescinded in 1940) and 1998−1999 again.
 * 1922
 * Poland adopts CET.
 * 1940
 * Under German occupation:
 * The Netherlands was switched from UTC+00:20 to CET.
 * Belgium was switched from UTC+00:00.
 * Luxembourg was switched from UTC+00:00.
 * France, which had adopted Paris time on 14 March 1891 and Greenwich Mean Time on 9 March 1911, was switched to CET.
 * Spain switched to CET.

Portugal used CET in the years 1966–1976 and 1992–1996.

The time around the world is based on Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) which is roughly synonymous with Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). From late March to late October, clocks in the United Kingdom are put forward by one hour for British Summer Time (BST). Since 1997, most of the European Union aligned with the British standards for BST.
 * United Kingdom

In 1968 there was a three-year experiment called British Standard Time, when the UK and Ireland experimentally employed British Summer Time (GMT+1) all year round; clocks were put forward in March 1968 and not put back until October 1971.

Central European Time is sometimes referred to as continental time in the UK.

Other countries
Several African countries use UTC+01:00 all year long, where it is known as West Africa Time (WAT), although Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia use the term Central European Time despite being in North Africa.

Between 2005 and 2008, Tunisia observed daylight saving time. Libya also used CET during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997 and 2012–2013.

For other countries see UTC+01:00 and West Africa Time.

Discrepancies between official CET and geographical CET

The criteria for drawing time zones is based on many factors including: legal, political, economic, and physical or geographic. Consequently, time zones rarely adhere to meridian lines. The CET time zone, were it drawn by purely geographical terms, would consist of exactly the area between meridians 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E. As a result, there are European locales that despite lying in an area with a "physical" or "nominal" UTC+01:00 time, actually use another time zone (UTC+02:00 in particular – there are no "physical" UTC+01:00 areas that employ UTC+00:00). Conversely, there are European areas that have gone for UTC+01:00, even though their "physical" time zone is UTC (typically), UTC−01:00 (westernmost Spain), or UTC+02:00 (e.g. the very easternmost parts of Norway, Sweden, Poland and Serbia). On the other hand, people in Spain still have all work and meal hours one hour later than France and Germany despite sharing the same time zone. Historically Gibraltar maintained UTC+01:00 all year until the opening of the land border with Spain in 1982, when it followed its neighbour and introduced CEST. The following is a list of such "incongruences":

Areas within UTC+01:00 longitudes using other time zones
These areas are between 7°30′ E and 22°30′ E ("physical" UTC+1)

Areas using UTC+02:00

 * The westernmost part of Greece, including the cities of Patras, Ioannina and the island of Corfu
 * The westernmost parts of the Bulgarian provinces of Vidin and Kyustendil
 * The westernmost part of Romania, including most of the area of the counties of Caraș-Severin, Timiș (capital Timișoara), Arad, and Bihor, as well as the westernmost tips of the counties of Mehedinți and Satu Mare
 * The westernmost tip of Ukraine, near the border with Hungary and Slovakia, at the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), essentially comprising the city of Uzhhorod and its environs. (Although CET is used as local, non-official time in Transcarpathia).
 * Western Lithuania, including the cities of Klaipėda, Tauragė, and Telšiai
 * Western Latvia, including the cities of Liepāja and Ventspils
 * The westernmost parts of the Estonian islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, including the capital of the Saare County, Kuressaare
 * The southwestern coast of Finland, including the city of Turku; also the Åland islands (of Finnish jurisdiction) – the Åland islands are the westernmost locale applying EET in the whole of Europe
 * The northwesternmost part of Finland, including Kilpisjärvi and Kaaresuvanto.
 * The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast, excluding however its easternmost slice (the city of Nesterov is east of 22°30′ E, but that of Krasnoznamensk is not)

Areas outside UTC+01:00 longitudes using UTC+01:00 time
These areas are either west of 7°30′ E or east of 22°30′ E (outside nominal UTC+01:00)

Areas between 22°30′ W and 7°30′ W (nominal UTC−01:00)

 * The westernmost part of mainland Spain (Galicia, e.g. the city of A Coruña); Cape Finisterre and nearby points in Galicia, at 9°18′ W, are the westernmost places of CET in Spain.
 * The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen lies entirely within this area and extends nearly as far west as Cape Finisterre, with its western tip at 9°5′ W and its eastern tip at 7°56′ W.
 * Western Morocco including the city of Casablanca, at 7°35′ W. CET usage in Morocco extends as west as 13°10′ W.
 * The entirety of Western Sahara with its western tip at 17°6′ W and its eastern tip at 8°40′ W.

Areas between 7°30′ W and 7°30′ E (nominal UTC+00:00)

 * Andorra
 * Belgium
 * France, with the small exception of two separate easternmost parts of the mainland, one along eastern Alsace, incl. Strasbourg and the other in parts of the Alpes-Maritimes department, as well as the island of Corsica. Overseas departments of France use local times.
 * The very westernmost part of Germany, incl. the cities of Saarbrücken, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Aachen, and Trier
 * The absolutely westernmost part of Italy, incl. the cities of Aosta in Aosta Valley and Cuneo in Piedmont
 * Luxembourg
 * Monaco
 * Netherlands
 * The westernmost part of Norway, incl. the cities of Bergen and Stavanger
 * Spain, except for the westernmost part of the mainland (see above) and the Canary Islands (which are further than 7°30′ W and use UTC+00:00).
 * Gibraltar
 * The part of Switzerland west of Bern (inclusive), also incl. cities such as Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, and Fribourg
 * Most of Algeria including its capital Algiers.

Areas between 22°30′ E and 37°30′ E (nominal UTC+02:00)

 * The easternmost part of North Macedonia, including the city of Strumica
 * The easternmost part of Serbia, in the Pirot District, including the city of Pirot, and small easternmost parts of Bor District.
 * The easternmost tips of Hungary and Slovakia, bordering to the north and south respectively the Ukrainian Transcarpathian Oblast (Zakarpattia Oblast), a bit to the east of Vásárosnamény, Hungary – Uzhhorod, Ukraine (both at 22°18′ E) line
 * The easternmost part of Poland, including the cities of Lublin and Białystok
 * The northeast of Sweden, in the Norrbotten province, including the cities of Kalix and Haparanda
 * The northeast of Norway, lying north of Finland, roughly coinciding with the county of Finnmark. The easternmost town in Norway, Vardø, lies at 30°51′ E, which is so far east, so as to be east even of the central meridian of EET (UTC+02:00), i.e. east of Istanbul and Alexandria. The sun reaches its highest point at 10:56 (when not DST), although the sun does not vary so much in height at the latitude 70°N. The Norwegian–Russian and the Polish-Belarusian border are the only places where CET (UTC+1/+2) borders Moscow time (UTC+03:00), resulting in a two hours time change (or one hour in summer) for the travellers crossing that border.
 * There is a "tri-zone" point (where UTC+01:00, UTC+02:00, and UTC+03:00 meet, winter times) at the Norway–Finland–Russia tripoint near Muotkavaara. During the summer Finland and Russia both have UTC+03:00.

title: Central European Time