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Thrombocytopenia

In hematology, thrombocytopenia is a condition characterized by abnormally low levels of platelets (also known as thrombocytes) in the blood. Low levels of platelets in turn may lead to prolonged or excessive bleeding. It is the most common coagulation disorder among intensive care patients and is seen in a fifth of medical patients and a third of surgical patients.

A normal human platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets/microliter (μL) of blood. Values outside this range do not necessarily indicate disease. One common definition of thrombocytopenia requiring emergency treatment is a platelet count below 50,000/μL. Thrombocytopenia can be contrasted with the conditions associated with an abnormally high level of platelets in the blood – thrombocythemia (when the cause is unknown), and thrombocytosis (when the cause is known).

Signs and symptoms
Thrombocytopenia usually has no symptoms and is picked up on a routine complete blood count. Some individuals with thrombocytopenia may experience external bleeding, such as nosebleeds or bleeding gums. Some women may have heavier or longer periods or breakthrough bleeding. Bruising, particularly purpura in the forearms and petechiae in the feet, legs, and mucous membranes, may be caused by spontaneous bleeding under the skin.

Eliciting a full medical history is vital to ensure the low platelet count is not secondary to another disorder. Ensuring that the other blood cell types, such as red blood cells and white blood cells, are not also suppressed, is also important. Painless, round, and pinpoint (1 to 3 mm in diameter) petechiae usually appear and fade, and sometimes group to form ecchymoses. Larger than petechiae, ecchymoses are purple, blue, or yellow-green areas of skin that vary in size and shape. They can occur anywhere on the body.

A person with this disease may also complain of malaise, fatigue, and general weakness (with or without accompanying blood loss). Acquired thrombocytopenia may be associated with the use of certain drugs. Inspection typically reveals evidence of bleeding (petechiae or ecchymoses), along with slow, continuous bleeding from any injuries or wounds. Adults may have large, blood-filled bullae in the mouth. If the person's platelet count is between 30,000 and 50,000/μL, bruising with minor trauma may be expected; if it is between 15,000 and 30,000/μL, spontaneous bruising will be seen (mostly on the arms and legs).

Causes
Thrombocytopenia can be inherited or acquired.

Decreased production
Abnormally low platelet production may be caused by:
 * Dehydration, vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency
 * Leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or aplastic anemia
 * Decreased production of thrombopoietin by the liver in liver failure
 * Sepsis, systemic viral or bacterial infection
 * Leptospirosis
 * Hereditary syndromes
 * ACTN1-related thrombocytopenia
 * Amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia with radio-ulnar synostosis
 * ANKRD26 related thrombocytopenia
 * Autosomal dominant thrombocytopenia
 * Bernard–Soulier syndrome (associated with giant platelet disorder)
 * Congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia
 * Congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia and radioulnar synostosis
 * CYCS-related thrombocytopenia
 * Epstein syndrome (associated with giant platelet disorder)
 * ETV6 related thrombocytopenia
 * Fanconi anemia
 * Filaminopathies A
 * FYB related thrombocytopenia
 * Glanzmann's thrombasthenia
 * GNE myopathy with congenital thrombocytopenia
 * Gray platelet syndrome (associated with giant platelet disorder)
 * Harris platelet syndrome (associated with giant platelet disorder)
 * Macrothrombocytopenia and hearing loss
 * May–Hegglin anomaly (associated with giant platelet disorder)
 * MYH9-related disease (associated with giant platelet disorder)
 * PRKACG-related thrombocytopenia
 * Paris-Trousseau thrombocytopenia/Jacobsen syndrome
 * Sebastian syndrome
 * SLFN14-related thrombocytopenia
 * Stormorken syndrome
 * TRPM7-related thrombocytopenia
 * Thrombocytopenia absent radius syndrome
 * Tropomyosin 4-related thrombocytopenia
 * TUBB1-related thrombocytopenia
 * Upshaw–Schulman syndrome
 * Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome
 * X-linked thrombocytopenia
 * X-linked thrombocytopenia with thalassemia

Increased destruction
Abnormally high rates of platelet destruction may be due to immune or nonimmune conditions, including:
 * Immune thrombocytopenic purpura
 * Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
 * Hemolytic–uremic syndrome
 * Disseminated intravascular coagulation
 * Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
 * Antiphospholipid syndrome
 * Systemic lupus erythematosus
 * Post-transfusion purpura
 * Neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia
 * Hypersplenism
 * Dengue fever
 * Gaucher's disease
 * Zika virus

Medication-induced
These medications can induce thrombocytopenia through direct myelosuppression:
 * Valproic acid
 * Methotrexate
 * Carboplatin
 * Interferon
 * Isotretinoin
 * Panobinostat
 * H2 blockers and proton-pump inhibitors

Other causes

 * Laboratory error, possibly due to the anticoagulant EDTA in CBC specimen tubes; a citrated platelet count is a useful follow-up study
 * Snakebite
 * Lyme disease
 * Thrombocytapheresis (also called plateletpheresis)
 * Niemann–Pick disease

Diagnosis
Laboratory tests for thrombocytopenia might include full blood count, liver enzymes, kidney function, vitamin B12 levels, folic acid levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and peripheral blood smear. If the cause for the low platelet count remains unclear, a bone marrow biopsy is usually recommended to differentiate cases of decreased platelet production from cases of peripheral platelet destruction.

Thrombocytopenia in hospitalized alcoholics may be caused by spleen enlargement, folate deficiency, and most frequently, the direct toxic effect of alcohol on production, survival time, and function of platelets. Platelet count begins to rise after 2 to 5 days' abstinence from alcohol. The condition is generally benign, and clinically significant hemorrhage is rare.

In severe thrombocytopenia, a bone marrow study can determine the number, size, and maturity of the megakaryocytes. This information may identify ineffective platelet production as the cause of thrombocytopenia and rule out a malignant disease process at the same time.

Treatment
Treatment is guided by the severity and specific cause of the disease. Treatment focuses on eliminating the underlying problem, whether that means discontinuing drugs suspected to cause it or treating underlying sepsis. Diagnosis and treatment of serious thrombocytopenia is usually directed by a hematologist. Corticosteroids may be used to increase platelet production. Lithium carbonate or folate may also be used to stimulate platelet production in the bone marrow.

Platelet transfusions
Platelet transfusions may be suggested for people who have a low platelet count due to thrombocytopenia.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
Treatment of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a medical emergency, since the associated hemolytic anemia and platelet activation can lead to kidney failure and changes in the level of consciousness. Treatment of TTP was revolutionized in the 1980s with the application of plasmapheresis. According to the Furlan–Tsai hypothesis, this treatment works by removing antibodies against the von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease ADAMTS-13. The plasmapheresis procedure also adds active ADAMTS-13 protease proteins to the patient, restoring a normal level of von Willebrand factor multimers. Patients with persistent antibodies against ADAMTS-13 do not always manifest TTP, and these antibodies alone are not sufficient to explain how plasmapheresis treats TTP.

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura
Many cases of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, can be left untreated, and spontaneous remission (especially in children) is not uncommon. However, counts under 50,000/μL are usually monitored with regular blood tests, and those with counts under 10,000/μL are usually treated, as the risk of serious spontaneous bleeding is high with such low platelet counts. Any patient experiencing severe bleeding symptoms is also usually treated. The threshold for treating ITP has decreased since the 1990s; hematologists recognize that patients rarely spontaneously bleed with platelet counts greater than 10,000/μL, although exceptions to this observation have been documented.

Thrombopoetin analogues have been tested extensively for the treatment of ITP. These agents had previously shown promise, but had been found to stimulate antibodies against endogenous thrombopoietin or lead to thrombosis. Romiplostim (trade name Nplate, formerly AMG 531) was found to be safe and effective for the treatment of ITP in refractory patients, especially those who relapsed following splenectomy.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
Discontinuation of heparin is critical in a case of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Beyond that, however, clinicians generally treat to avoid thrombosis. Treatment may include a direct thrombin inhibitor, such as lepirudin or argatroban. Other "blood thinners" sometimes used in this setting include bivalirudin and fondaparinux. Platelet transfusions are not routinely used to treat HIT because thrombosis, not bleeding, is the primary problem. Warfarin is not recommended until platelets have normalized.

Congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia
Bone marrow/stem cell transplants are the only known cures for this genetic disease. Frequent platelet transfusions are required to keep the patient from bleeding to death before the transplant can be performed, although this is not always the case.

Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived platelets
Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived platelets is a technology currently being researched by the private sector, in association with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that would create platelets outside the human body.

Neonatal thrombocytopenia
Thrombocytopenia affects a few newborns, and its prevalence in neonatal intensive care units is high. Normally, it is mild and resolves without consequences. Most cases affect preterm birth infants and result from placental insufficiency and/or fetal hypoxia. Other causes, such as alloimmunity, genetics, autoimmunity, and infection, are less frequent.

Thrombocytopenia that starts after the first 72 hours, since birth is often the result of underlying sepsis or necrotizing enterocolitis. In the case of infection, polymerase chain reaction tests may be useful for rapid pathogen identification and detection of antibiotic-resistance genes. Possible pathogens include viruses (e.g. cytomegalovirus, rubella virus, HIV ), bacteria (e.g. Staphylococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Streptococcus agalactiae, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Yersinia enterocolitica ), fungi (e.g. Candida spp. ), and Toxoplasma gondii. The severity of thrombocytopenia may be correlated with pathogen type; some research indicates that the most severe cases are related to fungal or Gram-negative bacterial infection. The pathogen may be transmitted during or before birth, by breast feeding,  or during transfusion. Interleukin-11 is being investigated as a drug for managing thrombocytopenia, especially in cases of sepsis or necrotizing enterocolitis.

title: Thrombocytopenia


text:
Beamline

In accelerator physics, a beamline refers to the trajectory of the beam of particles, including the overall construction of the path segment (guide tubes, diagnostic devices) along a specific path of an accelerator facility. This part is either
 * the line in a linear accelerator along which a beam of particles travels, or
 * the path leading from particle generator (e.g. a cyclic accelerator, synchrotron light sources, cyclotrons, or spallation sources) to the experimental end-station.

Beamlines usually end in experimental stations that utilize particle beams or synchrotron light obtained from a synchrotron, or neutrons from a spallation source or research reactor. Beamlines are used in experiments in particle physics, materials science, life science, chemistry, and molecular biology, but can also be used for irradiation tests or to produce isotopes.

Beamline in a particle accelerator

In particle accelerators the beamline is usually housed in a tunnel and/or underground, cased inside a concrete housing for shielding purposes. The beamline is usually a cylindrical metal pipe, typically called a beam pipe, and/or a drift tube, evacuated to a high vacuum so there are few gas molecules in the path for the beam of accelerated particles to hit, which otherwise could scatter them before they reach their destination.

There are specialized devices and equipment on the beamline that are used for producing, maintaining, monitoring, and accelerating the particle beam. These devices may be in proximity of or attached directly to the beamline. These devices include sophisticated transducers, diagnostics (position monitors and wire scanners), lenses, collimators, thermocouples, ion pumps, ion gauges, ion chambers (for diagnostic purposes; usually called "beam monitors"), vacuum valves ("isolation valves"), and gate valves, to mention a few.

It is imperative to have all beamline sections, magnets, etc., aligned (often by a survey and an alignment crew by using a laser tracker), beamlines must be within micrometre tolerance. Good alignment helps to prevent beam loss, and beam from colliding with the pipe walls, which creates secondary emissions and/or radiation.

Synchrotron radiation beamline
Regarding synchrotrons, beamline may also refer to the instrumentation that carries beams of synchrotron radiation to an experimental end station, which uses the radiation produced by the bending magnets and insertion devices in the storage ring of a synchrotron radiation facility. A typical application for this kind of beamline is crystallography, although many other techniques utilising synchrotron light exist.

At a large synchrotron facility there will be many beamlines, each optimised for a particular field of research. The differences will depend on the type of insertion device (which, in turn, determines the intensity and spectral distribution of the radiation); the beam conditioning equipment; and the experimental end station. A typical beamline at a modern synchrotron facility will be 25 to 100 m long from the storage ring to the end station, and may cost up to millions of US dollars. For this reason, a synchrotron facility is often built in stages, with the first few beamlines opening on day one of operation, and other beamlines being added later as the funding permits.

The beamline elements are located in radiation shielding enclosures, called hutches, which are the size of a small room (cabin). A typical beamline consists of two hutches, an optical hutch for the beam conditioning elements and an experimental hutch, which houses the experiment. Between hutches, the beam travels in a transport tube. Entrance to the hutches is forbidden when the beam shutter is open and radiation can enter the hutch. This is enforced by the use of elaborate safety systems with redundant interlocking functions, which make sure that no one is inside the hutch when the radiation is turned on. The safety system will also shut down the radiation beam if the door to the hutch is accidentally opened when the beam is on. In this case, the beam is dumped, meaning the stored beam is diverted into a target designed to absorb and contain its energy.

Elements that are used in beamlines by experimenters for conditioning the radiation beam between the storage ring and the end station include the following:

1- Beryllium Windows: Beryllium windows can be supplied cooled, or uncooled, with various sizes (and numbers) of window apertures. Windows are sized to suit specific requirements, however the maximum size of a window is determined by the foil thickness and pressure differential to be withstood. Windows can be supplied fitted with a range of beam entry/exit flange sizes to suite specific requirements. 2- CVD Diamond Windows: Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) Diamond offer extreme hardness, high thermal conductivity, chemical inertness, and high transparency over a very wide spectral range. Stronger and stiffer than Beryllium, with lower thermal expansion and lower toxicity, it is ideal for UHV isolation windows in X-ray beamlines. Windows can be supplied embedded in UHV flanges and with efficient water cooling. 3- Exit Windows: Vacuum exit windows come in a variety of materials including Beryllium and CVD diamond detailed above.
 * Windows: windows are used to separate UHV and HV vacuum sections and to terminate the beamline. They are also used between UHV vacuum sections to provide protection from vacuum accidents. The foils used for the window membrane also attenuate the radiation spectrum in the region below 6KeV.

 * Slits: Slits are used to define the beam either horizontally or vertically. They can be used in pairs to define the beam in both directions. the maximum aperture size is selected to suit specific requirements. Options include cooled (white beam operation) or uncooled (monochromatic beam operation) slits and phosphor coating on the upstream side of the slit to assist with beam location. There are four main type of slits: Blade Slits, High Heat Load Slits, Inline Slits, High Precision Slits.
 * Shutters: Beam shutters are used to interrupt radiation from the front end, or optics enclosures when it is not required downstream. They have an equipment and personnel safety function. And there are three types of shutters; Photon Shutters, Monochromatic Beam Shutters, Custom Shutters
 * Beam Filters: (or attenuators) remove unwanted energy ranges from the beam by passing the incident synchrotron radiation through a thin transmissive foil. They are often used to manage heat-loads of white beams to optimize beamline performance according to the energy of operation. A typical filter has two or three racks, with each rack holding three of four separate foils, depending upon the beam cross-section.

 * Focusing mirrors - one or more mirrors, which may be flat, bent-flat, or toroidal, which helps to collimate (focus) the beam
 * Monochromators - devices based on diffraction by crystals which select particular wavelength bands and absorb other wavelengths, and which are sometimes tunable to varying wavelengths, and sometimes fixed to a particular wavelength
 * Spacing tubes - vacuum maintaining tubes which provide the proper space between optical elements, and shield any scattered radiation
 * Sample stages - for mounting and manipulating the sample under study and subjecting it to various external conditions, such a varying temperature, pressure etc.
 * Radiation detectors - for measuring the radiation which has interacted with the sample

The combination of beam conditioning devices controls the thermal load (heating caused by the beam) at the end station; the spectrum of radiation incident at the end station; and the focus or collimation of the beam. Devices along the beamline which absorb significant power from the beam may need to be actively cooled by water, or liquid nitrogen. The entire length of a beamline is normally kept under ultra high vacuum conditions.

Software for beamline modeling
Although the design of a synchrotron radiation beamline may be seen as an application of X-ray optics, there are dedicated tools for modeling the x-ray propagation down the beamline and their interaction with various components. There are ray-tracing codes such as Shadow and McXTrace that treat the x-ray beam in the geometric optics limit, and then there are wave propagation software that takes into account diffraction, and the intrinsic wavelike properties of the radiation. For the purposes of understanding full or partial coherence of the synchrotron radiation, the wave properties need to be taken into account. The codes SRW, Spectra and xrt include this possibility, the latter code supports "hybryd" regime allowing to switch from geometric to wave approach on a given optical segment.

Neutron beamline
Superficially, neutron beamlines differ from synchrotron radiation beamlines mostly by the fact that they use neutrons from a research reactor or a spallation source instead of photons. Since neutrons don't carry charge and are difficult to redirect, the components are quite different (see e.g. choppers or neutron super mirrors). The experiments usually measure neutron scattering from or energy transfer to the sample under study.

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

title: Beamline


text:
Wild Weasel

Wild Weasel is a code name given by the United States Air Force (USAF) to an aircraft of any type equipped with anti-radiation missiles and tasked with the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD): destroying the radar and surface-to-air missile (SAM) installations of enemy air defense systems. The task of a Wild Weasel aircraft is to bait enemy anti-aircraft defenses into targeting it with their radars, whereupon the radar waves are traced back to their source, allowing the Weasel or its teammates to precisely target it for destruction.

The Wild Weasel concept was developed by the USAF in 1965 during the Vietnam War after the introduction of Soviet SAMs and their downing of American strike aircraft participating in Operation Rolling Thunder in the skies over North Vietnam. The program was headed by General Kenneth Dempster. "The first Wild Weasel success came soon after the first Wild Weasel mission 20 December 1965 when Captains Al Lamb and Jack Donovan took out a site during a Rolling Thunder strike on the railyard at Yen Bai, some 75 mi northwest of Hanoi." Wild Weasel tactics and techniques were later adapted by other nations in subsequent conflicts, as well as being integrated into the suppression of enemy air defenses, a plan used by U.S. air forces to establish immediate air supremacy prior to possible full-scale conflict.

Initially known by the operational code "Iron Hand" when first authorized on 12 August 1965, the term "Wild Weasel" derives from Project Wild Weasel, the USAF development program for a dedicated SAM-detection and suppression aircraft. The technique was also called an "Iron Hand" mission, though technically this term referred only to the suppression attack before the main strike. Originally named "Project Ferret", denoting a predatory animal that goes into its prey's den to kill it (hence: "to ferret out"), the name was changed to differentiate it from the code-name "Ferret" that had been used during World War II for radar countermeasures bombers.

Wild Weasel I
The Wild Weasel concept was originally proposed in 1965 as a method of countering the increasing North Vietnamese SAM threat, using volunteer crews flying the two-seat F model of the F-100 Super Sabre; while the United States Navy primarily relied upon the A-4 Skyhawk. While an effective airframe, the F-100F Wild Weasel did not have the performance characteristics to survive in a high threat environment. The first Wild Weasel squadron was the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand. After 45 days of operations against North Vietnamese targets, the 354th had one airplane left and of the 16 aircrew members, four had been killed, two were prisoners of war, three had been wounded and two had quit.

Wild Weasel II and III
The Wild Weasel II version was the first unsuccessful attempt to use the F-4C Phantom as a Wild Weasel platform. When that effort failed, the Wild Weasel role was then passed to the F-105F in the summer of 1966. The F-105F was converted for the role and was designated Wild Weasel III. The F-105F was equipped with more advanced radar, jamming equipment, and a heavier armament. Anti-radiation missiles were outfitted that could seek out radar emplacements. The F-105F Wild Weasel airframes were eventually modified with improved countermeasures components in a standardized configuration and designated the F-105G. The F-105G was also designated Wild Weasel III; 61 F-105F units were upgraded to F-105G specifications. Although in some documentation the F-105F was referred to as an EF-105F, that designation never existed in the operational flying squadrons.

Wild Weasel IV
The F-105 was no longer in production by 1964. With severe combat attrition of the F-105 inventory, the need for a more sophisticated aircraft resulted in the conversion of 36 F-4C Phantom II aircraft, designated F-4C Wild Weasel IV. The F-4C Wild Weasel IV also bore the unofficial designation of EF-4C.

Wild Weasel V
The F-4E, the most advanced Phantom variant with extensive ground-attack capabilities and an internal gun, became the basis for the F-4G Wild Weasel V (also known as the Advanced Wild Weasel). This modification consisted of removing the gun and replacing it with the APR-38(t) Radar Homing and Warning Receiver (later upgraded to the APR-47), and a cockpit upgrade for the back seat to manage the electronic combat environment. A total of 134 F-4G models were converted from F-4Es with the first one flying in 1975. Squadron service began in 1978.

F-4Gs were deployed to three active wings. One was stationed at George AFB, Victorville, California, as part of the Rapid Deployment Force; one wing was assigned to USAFE (US Air Forces in Europe) at Spangdahlem AB, Germany; and the other to PACAF (Pacific Air Forces) at Clark AB, Philippines. F-4Gs from George AFB, Clark AB and Spangdahlem AB saw combat during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, successfully protecting strike packages from enemy air defenses. During this conflict the F-4G saw heavy use, with only a single loss: an aircraft from Spangdahlem AB crashed in Saudi Arabia while returning from a mission, after one of the AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles hang fired which left the aircraft's instruments not displaying the correct altitude information and a significant frame tweak from the damage made the plane hard to control. After an investigation into the loss of the aircraft which occurred during several aborted landing attempts in a sandstorm, it was determined that a fuel cell was punctured by anti-aircraft fire. The pilot and EWO safely ejected after the engines shut down when the aircraft ran out of fuel attempting to land at a forward airstrip.

After Desert Storm, some of the George AFB aircraft were assigned to the 124th Wing of the Air National Guard at Boise, Idaho, 190th Fighter Squadron. Aircraft from Spangdahlem, Clark, and the remainder from George were assigned to the 561st Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Wing (Active Duty) at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas. The aircraft remained in service until 1996, with both squadrons participating in frequent deployments to Saudi Arabia and Turkey in support of Operation Provide Comfort, Operation Southern Watch, and Operation Vigilant Warrior enforcing the no-fly zones over Iraq. By this time the F-4G was the last operational variant of the Phantom II in the US forces. Many of the airframes were later used as target drones and Aircraft Battle Damage Repair training aids.

Current
A change in aircraft design theory to stress versatile multi-role aircraft meant that the F-4G Phantom was the last aircraft in the USAF inventory specifically outfitted for the SEAD role. The Wild Weasel mission is now assigned to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, using the Block 50 and Block 52, with production beginning in 1991. The single-seat Block 50/52 F-16C is specifically tasked with this mission and aircraft modified for this mission are designated F-16CJ/DJ. The pilot now performs both the role of flying the airplane and targeting and employing against ground threats. Other aircraft, while capable of engaging anti-air emplacements, are typically tasked with other primary missions; the A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog", primarily tasked with CAS missions, lacks the avionics to perform a true SEAD mission and does not carry the AGM-88 HARM. The F-15E Strike Eagle, possessing advanced air-to-ground avionics but also high speed and long range, is typically tasked with "deep strike" missions, which can include SAM installations but typically focuses on high-value targets such as enemy command & control, infrastructure and production, and likewise does not carry HARM.

The ECR variant of the Panavia Tornado is dedicated to SEAD missions and is currently operated by the German Air Force and Italian Air Force. The Royal Air Force used the GR4 variant to conduct similar missions utilising the ALARM missile, though they were mainly used in the interdiction/CAS role. The RAF retired the ALARM missile in 2013 and retired the Tornado in 2019. The F-35 Lightning II is slated to gradually replace these aircraft for various air-to-ground roles, including SEAD, beginning with its introduction in 2016. Its stealth capabilities promise a significant increase in effectiveness against air-defence radars, though to maintain its lowest radar signature, its payload capacity would be limited to the internal weapons bays, reducing the number of missile site attacks per sortie. However, it can carry more or larger air to ground weapons internally than even the F-22 and is more advanced in a ground attack capacity, potentially making it the best crewed aircraft for destroying sophisticated enemy air defenses. Additionally, the AGM-88G AARGM-ER, itself an evolution of the AGM-88 HARM, is being integrated into all three variants of the F-35. The F-35A and F-35C will have the ability to carry the AARGM-ER internally, while the F-35B will only be able to carry the missile externally owing to its smaller internal weapons bays.

Mission tactics

In 1966 over North Vietnam, Wild Weasel flights of four aircraft sometimes were led by a single F-105F/G two-seat aircraft (aided by its Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) with his electronic receivers and analyzers) plus three F-105Ds. Sometimes two "F"s, each with a "D" wingman, operated independently.

The Wild Weasel mission was to precede strike flights, clearing the target area of radar guided Surface-to-Air Missile threats (predominantly SA-2 'Guideline' systems), leaving the threat area last, which sometimes would result in 3.5-hour missions, before returning to Royal Thai Air Force Bases. This was achieved by turning toward the air defense site in a threatening manner, firing radar homing missiles at the site, or visually locating the site to dive bomb it. These tactics were attempted while under attack by MiGs and anti-aircraft artillery.

The F-105F did not use radar jamming devices since its purpose was to provide a decoy target, protecting the strike flights, and encouraging SAM launches that generated enough bright smoke to make possible seeing the SAM site for immediate dive bombing attack. With multiple incoming missiles in visual sight it was possible to dive abruptly or sharply break to avoid them. Failure to see the missiles approaching at three times fighter cruise speed would result in the destruction of the aircraft and failure of the mission.

Vietnam War tactics of using "Hunter-Killer" teams, where an F-4G Wild Weasel would be teamed with one or more conventional F-4E Phantoms, were improved upon with the newer equipment. The Wild Weasel would destroy missile radar emitters, clearing the way for the F-4E's to destroy the rest of the missile site using cluster munitions.

A tactic used during Operation Desert Storm was known as "Here, kitty kitty", wherein one Weasel would get the attention of a SAM or anti-aircraft artillery site while other Weasels would then sneak up behind the site and destroy it.

In one of the Wild Weasel concept's most famous uses in military operations, five F-105Gs, using the call-signs "Firebird 01–05", provided support for the Son Tay P.O.W. Rescue Mission, which was conducted in the early morning hours of 21 November 1970. One of these aircraft was shot down by an SA-2 surface-to-air missile, but its crew ejected safely and was rescued by the HH-53 "Super Jolly" helicopters that also participated in the raid. None of the aircraft of the raiding force protected by Wild Weasels was lost to enemy action.

Motto and traditions
The unofficial motto of the Wild Weasel crews is YGBSM: "You Gotta Be Shittin' Me". This appears prominently on the logo patch of some squadrons. As the story goes, this was the response of Jack Donovan, a former B-52 EWO (Electronic Warfare Officer):

"This was the natural response of an educated man, a veteran EWO on B-52s and the like, upon learning that he was to fly back seat to a self-absorbed fighter pilot while acting as flypaper for enemy SAMs."

According to Dan Hampton in his memoir, Viper Pilot: A Memoir of Air Combat, Jack Donovan said: "'You want me to fly in the back of a tiny little jet with a crazy fighter pilot who thinks he's invincible, home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam, and shoot it before it shoots me? You've gotta be shittin' me!'"

The motto "First in, Last out" was also used.

The "WW" tailcode of the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing and the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing derives from their Wild Weasel heritage.

title: Wild Weasel


text:
John Cooper

John Cooper may refer to:

Academics and science

 * John Thomas Cooper (1790–1854), English chemist
 * John Montgomery Cooper (1881–1949), American anthropologist, priest, sociologist
 * John Cobb Cooper (1887–1967), American lawyer, administrator, aerospace expert
 * John Miller Cooper (1912–2010), American kinesiology researcher, educator
 * John A. D. Cooper (1918–2002), American medical education administrator
 * John Philip Cooper (1923–2011), professor of agricultural botany
 * John Cooper (Islamic studies scholar) (Yahya Cooper) (1947–1998), British Islamic scholar and professor at the University of Cambridge
 * John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich (1929–2018), English historian
 * John M. Cooper (philosopher) (1939–2022), American philosopher
 * John M. Cooper (historian) (born 1940), American historian and educator
 * John A. Cooper, American biochemist affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine

Arts and entertainment

 * John Cooper (composer) (c. 1570–1626), English classical composer
 * John Gilbert Cooper (1722–1769), British poet and miscellaneous writer
 * John Cooper (actor) (1793–1870), English actor
 * John Paul Cooper (1869–1933), arts and crafts designer in metalwork and jewelry
 * John W. Cooper (1873–1966), American ventriloquist and singer
 * John Nelson Cooper (1906–1987), custom knife maker
 * John Cooper (artist) (1942–2015), English comic illustrator
 * John Cooper (author) (born 1958), Canadian writer and communications specialist
 * John Cooper (musician) (born 1975), American singer for Skillet
 * John Cooper (fl. 1980s–2010s), director of the Sundance Film Festival

Military

 * John B. Cooper, US Air Force general
 * John B. R. Cooper (1791–1872), California pioneer, sea captain
 * John Laver Mather Cooper (1828–1891), U.S. Navy, Medal of Honor recipient
 * John Cooper (British Army officer) (born 1955), commander of British forces in Iraq 2008

Politics

 * John Cooper (MP for Worcester), in 1380 and 1395 Member of Parliament (MP) for Worcester
 * John Cooper (MP for Maldon), in 1421 and 1425 MP for Maldon
 * John Cooper (fl. 1529), MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed
 * Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet (died 1630), English landowner and politician
 * John Cooper (died 1779), British politician
 * John Cooper (New Jersey politician) (1729–1785), public official from New Jersey during the American Revolution
 * John Tyler Cooper (1844–1912), American politician
 * John G. Cooper (1872–1955), American politician
 * John Sherman Cooper (1901–1991), U.S. Senator from Kentucky
 * John Cooper (Arkansas politician) (born 1947), member of the Arkansas State Senate since 2014
 * John Cooper (Tennessee politician) (born 1956), mayor of Nashville
 * John Cooper (barrister) (born 1958), British barrister and Queen's Counsel
 * John Lewis Cooper, Liberian businessman and government official
 * John Cooper (British politician), Scottish MP (elected 2024) and journalist

Sports

 * John Cooper (footballer, born 1897) (1897–1975), English footballer
 * John Cooper (Scottish footballer) (fl. 1930s), Scottish footballer
 * John Cooper (car maker) (1923–2000), British racing driver & entrepreneur
 * John Cooper (cricketer, born 1855) (1855–1928), English cricketer and solicitor
 * John Cooper (cricketer, born 1922) (1922–2012), Australian cricketer
 * John Cooper (Australian footballer) (1933–2020), Australian footballer
 * John Cooper (American football) (born 1937), coach
 * John Cooper (motorcyclist) (born 1938), British Grand Prix motorcycle racer
 * John Cooper (hurdler) (1940–1974), British athlete
 * John Cooper (tennis) (born 1946), Australian tennis player
 * John Grantley Cooper (born 1954), Welsh chess master
 * John Cooper (basketball) (born 1969), head men's basketball coach at Miami University

Other people

 * John Cooper (archdeacon of Westmorland) (died 1896)
 * John Cooper (archdeacon of Aston) (born 1933), British Anglican priest
 * John Cooper (journalist), Scottish journalist and Conservative parliamentary candidate
 * John Cooper (serial killer) (born 1944), serial killer from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire
 * John Henry Cooper (c. 1855–1910), English architect

Fictional

 * John Cooper (Southland), a character on Southland
 * John Cooper, a character in Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive

title: John Cooper


text:
Talk:David Poole

Untitled
Is this the same David Poole referred to in William Vander Zalm and British Columbia Social Credit Party? If so, this article should probably refer to Poole's connections to the Socreds; if not, we need disambiguation.

Karl Naylor 15:00, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

 * I seriously doubt that "the second most powerful man in Vancouver" took bit parts in movies like Bikini Carwash II. This must be a different David Poole. Kainaw 14:26, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:David Poole


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Talk:Regular grammar

I have taken the liberty to disntnguish between right regular grammars and left regular grammars more clearly -- rp, mar 09 2004

It would be nice to give a sense of what (N, Σ, P, S) are without sending readers immediately to Formal_grammar. Is there a way to do this that would make sense? Jodi.a.schneider 04:01, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Redundancy in definition of left/right regular grammar
If you allow the empty rhs, so A → ε, you do not need the form A → a, since you can add a non-terminal E → ε and then use the rule A → aE.

So, having form A → a along A → aB makes only sense if you restrict the empty rhs to the start symbol, meaning S → ε.

I suggest to refine the definitions (or, if not wished, explain their redundancy clearly). Andreasabel (talk) 18:49, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

 * I think you will find that definitions vary. Some authors don't allow empty productions at all. Rp (talk) 07:42, 23 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I think we should mention the most typical definition variants of regular grammars, so if you can provide a citation (textbook preferred) about your variant, please provide it here, or insert an appropriate remark directly into the article. Currently, only the "extended" version by Hopcroft+Ullman 1979 is sourced. - Jochen Burghardt (talk) 11:47, 23 February 2023 (UTC)

Regular Grammar
On some books left regular grammar is defined as below

A → a* - where A is a non-terminal in N and a is a terminal in Σ A → Ba* - where A and B are in N and a is in Σ

However in Wikipedia the definition has excluded the possibility of having more than one terminals on the right hand side of the production. Why is this difference?

For what I know there is no real difference: the grammars showed on the page are "strongly" (or "strictly") linear, while the ones you report are just linear (even if the way you wrote them is not so clear to me, because if you write a* it could mean "0 or more instances of the same symbol (the one which 'a' refers to)", and that wouldn't mean "regular" because it could produce an infinite sequence: in BNF you would use recursion to mean that, and you'd get something like A → B A for the second rule, which makes the grammar absolutely not regular). From a linear grammar you can always get its strictly linear equivalent by substituting the non-strict rules with sets of rules each of which produce at most a terminal symbol (i.e., each rule does only one step). Sorry for my English, anyway... and if I said something wrong let me know! :-) --Ma82 12:12, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

if you write a* it could mean 0 or more instances of the same symbol and that wouldn't mean "regular" because it could produce an infinite sequence

No. You can have more than one terminal on the right side. Every Formal Languages and Automata book states this.

However, you cannot write the production as:

A → a*

You can have multiple terminals on the right-side of the production. And in the case of a language consisting of a*, you could use the following productions to generate the language:

A → aA

A → ε

which is completely legal and can produces valid string of infinite length for the regular language L = {a* | a is an element of Σ = {a}*}.

The issue here is you're not writing the production, you're giving the form for the production. And productions can be of the form both shown in the current article and seen below:

right-linear:

S → abS | aba

left-linear:

S → Aaba

A → Aab | B

B → ε

Where each production contains at most one Variable that is contained in N and zero or more Terminals that are an element of the language Σ*. Both grammars produce the regular language ab(ab)*a and are valid forms of the right-linear and left-linear regular grammars.

The way this page is set up right now, it looks like you cannot produce a right or left grammar for a regular language containg an infinite amount of strings, such as a*, b*, (ab)*, a*b*, (a + b)*, etc.

--Sparkticus 17:59, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

prefix grammar
I just tripped over the article prefix grammar, which is almost nearly a left regular grammar, but not quite. I think that a prefix grammar can be described so that its isomorphic to a left regular grammar, but I'm not expert enough to try to guess how, off the top of my head. Clarification in both articles would be appreciated. linas 21:07, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Question on claim in article

 * Every context-free grammar can be easily rewritten into a form in which only a combination of left regular and right regular rules is used. Therefore, such grammars can express all context-free languages. Regular grammars, which use either left-regular or right-regular rules but not both, can only express a smaller set of languages, called the regular languages. In that sense they are equivalent with finite state automata and regular expressions. (for illustration: the paradigmatic context-free language with strings of the form aibi is generated by the grammar G with N = {S, A}, Σ = {a, b}, P with the rules
 * S → aA
 * A → Sb
 * S → ε

 * and S being the start symbol. Note that this grammar has both left-regular and right-regular rules and is therefore not regular any more.)

How do you express the language of valid bracket pairings in this setup? Seems to me you'd need to be able to replace one nonterminal with two to do that. Ben Standeven 04:44, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Indeed. Grammars with a single nonterminal that are able to write terminals both to the left are called linear rammars, and are less powerful than the context-free grammars. They have a nice connection to push-down automata though: they can be accepted by PDA which make a single turn (from pushing to popping). One-sided linear grammars are then called left-linear and right-linear respectively depending on the side of the nonterminal. Jochgem 16:09, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

Quite easily:

 * S → { A
 * A → }
 * A → S }
 * A → } S

No? BadZen (talk) 17:28, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

 * How would you derive " – – " from S with this grammar? - Jochen Burghardt (talk) 19:57, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

 * S →1 {A →4 {}S →3 {}{A →2 {}{}
 * The idea of the proof: all rules with right hand sides of length > 2 can be replaced with shorter equivalent rules by interjecting newly invented nonterminals. E.g. a production A → aBcD can be replaced with A → aX; X → BY; Y → cD.  For linear grammars, this can be done such that no right hand side has two nonterminals, e.g. A → abCde can be replaced with A → aX; X → bY; Y → Ze; Z → Cd. Rp (talk) 09:03, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Floating point example
This rule set requires at least one digit after the dot, should the dot occur. Not every programming language disallows "3." as a valid floating point number (though none that I know of allow ".e0", but many might allow "0.e0" or ".0e0" or both). It wouldn't hurt for the example to comment on the assumptions underlying the floating-point language recognized. — MaxEnt 03:20, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

In desperate need of a practical expample.
The example (section) really isn’t one. It’s just more abstract theory and non-descriptive single-letter symbol walls.

How about a real-world example of a simple regular grammar. (Are globbing patterns a regular grammar?)

As almost always on Wikipedia, the article is completely obfuscated and incomprehensible to everyone except those who already know the subject better than the author. ^^

— 109.42.178.250 (talk) 21:08, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Regular grammar


text:
Göbekli Tepe

Göbekli Tepe (, Potbelly Hill; Kurdish: Girê Mirazan or Xirabreşkê, 'Wish Hill') is a Neolithic archaeological site in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from c. 9500 to at least, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is famous for its large circular structures that contain massive stone pillars – among the world's oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are decorated with anthropomorphic details, clothing, and sculptural reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists rare insights into prehistoric religion and the particular iconography of the period. The 15 m high, 8 ha tell is densely covered with ancient domestic structures and other small buildings, quarries, and stone-cut cisterns from the Neolithic, as well as some traces of activity from later periods.

Current excavators interpret Göbekli Tepe as a settlement, based on recent findings such as domestic structures and features, water supply installations, and Neolithic tools associated with domestic use. The site's original excavator Klaus Schmidt had described it as a sanctuary used by groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers from a wide area, with few or no permanent inhabitants.

The site was first used at the dawn of the Southwest Asian Neolithic period, which marked the appearance of the oldest permanent human settlements anywhere in the world. Prehistorians link this Neolithic Revolution to the advent of agriculture, but disagree on whether farming caused people to settle down or vice versa. Göbekli Tepe, a monumental complex built on the top of a rocky mountaintop, with no clear evidence of agricultural cultivation produced to date, has played a prominent role in this debate. Archaeological evidence suggests that the inhabitants processed cereal at the site, though it is unclear whether it was wild or cultivated.

No definitive purpose has been determined for the megalithic enclosures; Schmidt had described them as the "world's first temple[s]", but incorrectly surmised that they were intentionally and ritually backfilled. Recent stratigraphic studies have instead revealed that they were filled by slope slide events, and sometimes repaired and modified thereafter. The architecture and iconography is not unique to the site, with over a half-dozen other similar sites like Karahan Tepe having been found across modern Şanlıurfa Province, dating to approximately the same time period.

The site was first noted in a survey in 1963. Schmidt recognized its significance in 1994 and began excavations there the following year. After his death in 2014, work continued as a joint project of Istanbul University, Şanlıurfa Museum, and the German Archaeological Institute, under the direction of Turkish prehistorian Necmi Karul. Göbekli Tepe was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, recognising its outstanding universal value as "one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture". , less than 5% of the site had been excavated.

Geography and environment
Göbekli Tepe is located in the Taş Tepeler ('Stone Hills'), in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains. It overlooks the Harran plain and the headwaters of the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates. The site is a tell (artificial mound) situated on a flat limestone plateau. In the north, the plateau is connected to the neighbouring mountains by a narrow promontory. In all other directions, the ridge descends steeply into slopes and steep cliffs.

At the time when Göbekli Tepe was occupied, the climate of the area was warmer and wetter than it is today. It was surrounded by an open steppe grassland, with abundant wild cereals, including einkorn, wheat, and barley, and herds of grazing animals such as wild sheep, wild goat, gazelle, and equids. Large herds of goitered gazelle may have passed by the site in seasonal migrations. There is no evidence of substantial woodlands nearby; 90% of the charcoal recovered at the site was from pistachio or almond trees.

Like most Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) sites in the Urfa region, Göbekli Tepe was built on a high point on the edge of the mountains, giving it both a wide view over the plain beneath, and good visibility from the plain. This location also gave the builders good access to raw material: the soft limestone bedrock from which the complex was built, and the flint to make the tools to work the limestone. The prehistoric village acquired drinking water through a rainwater harvesting system, consisting of carved channels that fed several cisterns carved into the bedrock under the site, which could hold at least 150 m3 of water. Additionally, the local water table may have been higher, activating springs closer to the site which are dormant today.

Excavations have taken place at the southern slope of the tell, south, and west of a mulberry that marks an Islamic pilgrimage, but archaeological finds come from the entire plateau. The team has also found many remains of tools. At the western escarpment, a small cave has been discovered in which a small relief depicting a bovid was found. It is the only relief found in this cave.

Dawn of village life
Göbekli Tepe was built and occupied during the earliest part of the Southwest Asian Neolithic, known as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN, ). Beginning at the end of the last Ice Age, the PPN marks "the beginnings of village life", producing the earliest evidence for permanent human settlements in the world. Archaeologists have long associated the appearance of these settlements with the Neolithic Revolution—the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture—but disagree on whether the adoption of farming caused people to settle down, or settling down caused people to adopt farming. Despite the name, the Neolithic Revolution in Southwest Asia was "drawn out and locally variable". Elements of village life appeared as early as 10,000 years before the Neolithic in places, and the transition to agriculture took thousands of years, with different paces and trajectories in different regions. Archaeologists divide the Pre-Pottery Neolithic into two subperiods: the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA, ) and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB, c. 8800 and ). The earliest phases at Göbekli Tepe have been dated to the PPNA; later phases to the PPNB.

Evidence indicates the inhabitants of Göbekli Tepe were hunter-gatherers who supplemented their diet with early forms of domesticated cereal and lived in villages for at least part of the year. Tools such as grinding stones and mortars and pestles found at the site have been analyzed and suggest considerable cereal processing. Archaeozoological evidence hints at "large-scale hunting of gazelle between midsummer and autumn."

PPN villages consisted mainly of clusters of stone or mud brick houses, but sometimes also substantial monuments and large buildings. These include the tower and walls at Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), as well as large, roughly contemporaneous circular buildings at Göbekli Tepe, Nevalı Çori, Çayönü, Wadi Feynan 16, Jerf el-Ahmar, Tell 'Abr 3, and Tepe Asiab. Archaeologists typically associate these structures with communal activities which, together with the communal effort needed to build them, helped to maintain social interactions in PPN communities as they grew in size.

The T-shaped pillar tradition seen at Göbekli Tepe is unique to the Urfa region, but is found at the majority of PPN sites there. These include Nevalı Çori, Hamzan Tepe, Karahan Tepe, Harbetsuvan Tepesi, Sefer Tepe, and Taslı Tepe. Other stone stelae—without the characteristic T shape—have been documented at contemporary sites further afield, including Çayönü, Qermez Dere, and Gusir Höyük.

Chronology
Radiocarbon dating shows that the earliest exposed structures at Göbekli Tepe were built between 9500 and, towards the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period. The site was significantly expanded in the early and remained in use until around, or perhaps slightly later (the early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, PPNB). There is evidence that smaller groups returned to live amongst the ruins after the Neolithic structures were abandoned.

Schmidt originally dated the site to the PPN based on the types of stone tools found there, considering a PPNA date "most probable". Establishing its absolute chronology took longer due to methodological challenges. Though the first two radiocarbon dates were published in 1998, these and other samples from the of the structure dated to the late 10th and early 9th millennium – 500 to 1000 years later than expected for a PPNA site. Schmidt's team explained the discrepancy in light of their theory that this material was brought to the site from elsewhere when it was abandoned, and so was not representative of the actual use of the structures. They instead turned to a novel method of dating organic material preserved in the plaster on the structure's walls, which resulted in dates more consistent with a PPNA occupation, in the middle or even early. Subsequent research led to a significant revision of Schmidt's chronology, including the abandonment of the hypothesis that the fill of the structures was brought from elsewhere, and a recognition that direct dates on plaster are affected by the old wood effect. Together with new radiocarbon dates, this has established the site's absolute chronology as falling in the period 9500 to – the late PPNA and PPNB.

Building phases
The preliminary, now abandoned, stratigraphic model by Klaus Schmidt consisted of three architectural layers. The large circular enclosures were attributed to Layer III, dated to the (PPNA). The smaller rectangular structures and the abandonment of the site were assigned to Layer II in the (early to middle PPNB). Layer I consisted of all post-Neolithic activities up to the modern surface.

The revised chronology consists of eight phases that span at least 1,500 years. It details the history of the large circular enclosures, including events that led to their alteration or abandonment, and the evolution of the domestic buildings surrounding them.
 * Phase 1: The earliest settlement phase dates to the second half of the and includes the first versions of enclosures A to D and round-oval domestic structures, which indicate a (semi) sedentary lifestyle.
 * Phase 2: In the second phase (early ) significant modifications of enclosures A-D were undertaken: New walls were erected, which incorporated the first monolithic T-shaped pillars. An increasing number of domestic structures were built, still mostly oval-round, though with a rising tendency for a rectangular floor plan.
 * Phases 3–5: In the early PPNB, the northern and western slopes saw the erection of rectangular (domestic) structures. They underwent multiple construction phases, for instance, the addition of benches with incorporated T-shaped pillar, and new inner walls resulting in more rectangular rooms. The large enclosures were modified as well. Walls were repaired and new ones added. Benches were placed against the interior sides of phase 2 walls. At the end of the early PPNB, a slope slide inundated the lower lying structures, flushing sediments and domestic rubble (likely including midden and burials) downhill. This caused extensive damage to enclosure D, and led to stabilization works in Phase 5. Building C was reconstructed for the last time, and a terrace wall was placed above it, to prevent future slope-slides. Nonetheless, a second major slope-slide event occurred, which likely resulted in enclosure D being abandoned in the late.
 * Phases 6 and 7: Building activity gradually declined in phases 6 and 7 (late 9th to early ). The loss of enclosures B and D may have led to the construction of building G and the "Lion Pillar Building". In Phase 7 another terrace wall was constructed in a last attempt to stabilize the northern slope.
 * Phase 8: In the final occupation period, small habitation structures were built within the remains of the abandoned Neolithic village.

Large enclosures
The first circular compounds appear around the latter half of the. They range from 10 to 30 m in diameter. Their most notable feature is the presence of T-shaped limestone pillars evenly set within thick interior walls composed of unworked stone. Four such circular structures have been unearthed so far. Geophysical surveys indicate that there are 16 more, enclosing up to eight pillars each, amounting to nearly 200 pillars in all. The slabs were transported from bedrock pits located approximately 100 m from the hilltop, with workers using flint points to cut through the limestone bedrock. The pillars are the oldest known megaliths in the world.

Two taller pillars stand facing one another at the centre of each circle. Whether the circles were provided with a roof is uncertain. Stone benches designed for sitting are found in the interior. Many of the pillars are decorated with abstract, enigmatic pictograms and carved animal reliefs. The pictograms may represent commonly understood sacred symbols, as known from Neolithic cave paintings elsewhere. The reliefs depict mammals such as lions, bulls, boars, foxes, gazelle, and donkeys; snakes and other reptiles; arthropods such as insects and arachnids; and birds, particularly vultures. Vultures also feature prominently in the iconography of Çatalhöyük and Jericho.

Few humanoid figures have appeared in the art at Göbekli Tepe. Some of the T-shaped pillars have human arms carved on their lower half, however, suggesting to site excavator Schmidt that they are intended to represent the bodies of stylized humans (or perhaps deities). Loincloths appear on the lower half of a few pillars. The horizontal stone slab on top is thought by Schmidt to symbolize shoulders, which suggests that the figures were left headless. Whether they were intended to serve as surrogate worshippers, symbolize venerated ancestors, or represent supernatural, anthropomorphic beings is not known.

Some of the floors in this, the oldest, layer are made of terrazzo (burnt lime); others are bedrock from which pedestals to hold the large pair of central pillars were carved in high relief. Radiocarbon dating places the construction of these early circles c..

Later enclosures were rectangular in shape, perhaps to make more efficient use of space compared with circular structures. They often are associated with the emergence of the Neolithic, but the T-shaped pillars, the main feature of the older enclosures, also are present here, indicating that the buildings continued to serve the same function in the culture, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). The several adjoining rectangular, doorless, and windowless rooms have floors of polished lime reminiscent of Roman terrazzo floors. Carbon dating has yielded dates between 8800 and. Several T-pillars up to 1.5 meters tall occupy the center of the rooms. A pair decorated with fierce-looking lions is the rationale for the name "lion pillar building" by which their enclosure is known.

Slope slide events
The enclosures, lying over 10 m below the highest areas of the settlement, were subject to several slope slide events during the occupation period of Göbekli Tepe. A particularly severe one occurred at the end of the early PPNB. which inundated enclosure D with rubble of domestic structures and sediments, including burials and midden deposits. This caused severe damage to the enclosure, which led to repairs and stabilization works to be conducted. At a later point, in Building Phase 5, terrace walls were erected, likely to prevent future damage from such events. These measures, however, proved futile, when a second major slope slide probably caused the enclosure to the abandoned during Building Phase 6, around the late 9th millennium BCE. Other enclosure suffered a similar fate, which might have led to new enclosures being constructed to replace them.

Previously, it had been assumed that the large enclosures were intentionally back-filled, an interpretation that has fallen out of favor since Klaus Schmidt's death.

Domestic structures
In the earliest occupation phase, round-oval domestic structures were built alongside the large enclosures, which indicate a (semi) sedentary lifestyle. Over time there was an increasing tendency of these buildings to have a rectangular floor plan. In the final settlement phase only small structures were erected.

Burials
Before any burials were found, Schmidt speculated that graves could have been located in niches behind the walls of the circular building. In 2017, fragments of human crania with incisions were discovered at the site, interpreted as a manifestation of the widespread Neolithic skull cult. Special preparation of human crania in the form of plastered human skulls is known from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period at Levantine sites such as Tell es-Sultan (also known as Jericho), Tell Aswad, and Yiftahel, and later in Anatolia at Çatalhöyük.

Other structures
At the western edge of the hill, a lionlike figure was found. In this area, flint and limestone fragments occur more frequently. It was, therefore, suggested that this could have been some kind of sculpture workshop. It is unclear, on the other hand, how to classify three phallic depictions from the surface of the southern plateau. They are near the quarries of classical times, making their dating difficult.

Apart from the tell, there is an incised platform with two sockets that could have held pillars and a surrounding flat bench. This platform corresponds to the oldest parts of the tell. Continuing the naming pattern, it is called "complex E". Owing to its similarity to the cult-buildings at Nevalı Çori it has also been called "Temple of the Rock". Its floor has been carefully hewn out of the bedrock and smoothed, reminiscent of the terrazzo floors of the younger complexes at Göbekli Tepe. Immediately northwest of this area are two cistern-like pits that are believed to be part of complex E. One of these pits has a table-high pin as well as a staircase with five steps.

Later structures
The uppermost layer of the tell is the shallowest but accounts for the longest stretch of time. It consists of loose sediments caused by erosion and the virtually-uninterrupted use of the hill for agricultural purposes since it ceased to operate as a ceremonial center.

Around the beginning of the, Göbekli Tepe lost its importance. The advent of agriculture and animal husbandry brought new realities to human life in the area, and the "Stone-age zoo" apparently lost whatever significance it had had for the region's older, foraging communities.

Construction
The plateau Göbekli Tepe is situated on has been shaped by erosion and quarrying from the Neolithic onwards. There are four 10 m and 20 cm channels on the southern part of the plateau, interpreted as the remains of an ancient quarry from which rectangular blocks were taken. These are possibly related to a square building in the neighbourhood, of which only the foundation is preserved. Presumably, this is the remains of a Roman watchtower that was part of the Limes Arabicus, though this is conjecture. Most structures on the plateau seem to be the result of Neolithic quarrying, with the quarries being used as sources for the huge, monolithic architectural elements. Their profiles were pecked into the rock, with the detached blocks then levered out of the rock bank. Several quarries where round workpieces had been produced were identified. Their status as quarries was confirmed by the find of a 3-by-3 metre piece at the southeastern slope of the plateau. Unequivocally Neolithic are three T-shaped pillars that had not yet been levered out of the bedrock. The largest of them lies on the northern plateau. It has a length of 7 m and its head has a width of 3 m. Its weight may be around 50 tons. The two other unfinished pillars lie on the southern Plateau.

Archaeologists disagree on how much labour was needed to construct the site. Schmidt maintained that "the work of quarrying, transporting, and erecting tons of heavy, monolithic, and almost universally well-prepared limestone pillars [...] was not within the capability of a few people". Using Thor Heyerdahl's experiments with the moai of Rapa Nui as a reference, he estimated that moving the pillars alone must have involved hundreds of people. According to these experiments, one moai of similar size to a T-shaped pillar from Göbekli Tepe would have taken 20 people a year to carve, and 50–75 people a week to transport 15 km. Schmidt's team has also cited a 1917 account of the construction of a megalith on the Indonesian island of Nias, which took 525 people three days. These estimates underpin their interpretation that the site was built by a large, non-resident workforce, coerced or enticed there by a small religious elite. However, others estimate that just 7–14 people could have moved the pillars using ropes and water or another lubricant, with techniques used to construct other monuments such as Stonehenge. Experiments at Göbekli Tepe itself have suggested that all the PPNB structures currently exposed could have been built by 12–24 people in less than four months, allowing for time spent quarrying stone and gathering, and preparing food. These labour estimates are thought to be within the capability of a single extended family or village community in the Neolithic. They also match the number of people that could have comfortably been inside one of the buildings at the same time.

Enclosures B, C and D were initially planned as a single, hierarchical complex that forms an equilateral triangle, according to Haklay and Gopher.

Tools
Göbekli Tepe is littered with flint artifacts, from the ridge-top site to the slopes. The tool assemblage found resembles that of other Northern Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic (settlement) sites.

In 1963, over 3,000 Neolithic tools were uncovered, the vast majority of excellent quality flint, only a handful of obsidian. Cores, various blades, flakes, scrapers, burins, and projectile points, were the most common tool types.

Excavations of Space 16, a small building adjacent to enclosure D, yielded almost 700 tools. Most common were retouched artifacts, followed by scrapers, perforators and artifacts with gloss. Heavy duty tools, burins and microliths were also present.

Over 7000 grinding stones have been found, spanning the entirety of the sites usage, which are suggested to have been used to process cereal based on phytoliths found in associated soil, though it is unclear whether the cereal was wild or cultivated.

Pillars

The stone pillars in the enclosures at Göbekli Tepe are T-shaped, similar to other Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in the region. Unlike at these other sites, however, many of the pillars are carved – typically in low relief, though sometimes in high relief. Most carvings depict animals, mostly serpents, foxes, and boars, but also gazelle, mouflon (wild sheep), onager, ducks, and vultures. Insofar as they can be identified, the animals are male, and often depicted with an aggressive posture.

Abstract shapes are also depicted, mostly an upright or horizontal H-shaped symbol, but also crescents and disks. Depictions of humans are rare; pillar 43 in enclosure D includes a headless man with an erect phallus. However, the 'T'-shape of the pillars themselves is anthropomorphic: the shaft is the body, and the top is the head. This is confirmed by the fact that some pillars include – in addition to animal reliefs – carvings of arms, hands, and loincloths.

The two central pillars occupied a special place in the symbolic architecture of the enclosures. Those in Enclosure D represent humans, with arms, a belt, and a piece of cloth that hides the genitals. The sex of the individuals depicted cannot be clearly identified, though Schmidt suggested that they are two men because the belts they wear are a male attribute in the period. There is only one certain representation of a woman, depicted naked on a slab.

Schmidt and zooarchaeologist Joris Peters have argued that the variety of fauna depicted on the pillars means they likely do not express a single iconography. They suggest that, since many of the animals pictured are predators, the stones may have been intended to stave off evils through some form of magic representation, or served as totems.

Other objects
The structures at Göbekli Tepe have also yielded a number of smaller carved stones, which typically cannot be attributed to one period or another. The iconography of these objects is similar to that of the pillars, mostly depicting animals, but also humans, again primarily male.

A "totem pole" was discovered in one of the structures, dating to the early PPNB. Reassembled, it is 192 cm tall and 30 cm in diameter. It depicts three figures (from top to bottom): a predator (a bear or large felid) with a missing head, and the neck and arms of a human; another figure missing a head with human arms, likely male; and a third figure with a head that had survived intact. Snakes are carved on either side.

Interpretation
Klaus Schmidt's view was that Göbekli Tepe was a stone-age mountain sanctuary. He suggested it was a central location for a cult of the dead and that the carved animals are there to protect the dead. Butchered bones found in large numbers from the local game such as deer, gazelle, pigs, and geese have been identified as refuse from food hunted and cooked or otherwise prepared for the congregants. Zooarchaeological analysis shows that gazelle were only seasonally present in the region, suggesting that events such as rituals and feasts were likely timed to occur during periods when game availability was at its peak. Schmidt saw the construction of Göbekli Tepe as contributing to the later development of urban civilization.

Schmidt also speculated on the belief systems of the groups that created Göbekli Tepe, based on comparisons with other shrines and settlements. He presumed shamanic practices and suggested that the T-shaped pillars represent human forms, perhaps ancestors, whereas he saw a fully articulated belief in deities as not developing until later, in Mesopotamia, that was associated with extensive temples and palaces. This corresponds well with an ancient Sumerian belief that agriculture, animal husbandry, and weaving were brought to humans from the sacred mountain Ekur, which was inhabited by Annuna deities, very ancient deities without individual names. Schmidt identified this story as a primeval oriental myth that preserves a partial memory of the emerging Neolithic. It is apparent that the animal and other images give no indication of organized violence, i.e. there are no depictions of hunting raids or wounded animals, and the pillar carvings generally ignore game on which the society depended, such as deer, in favour of formidable creatures such as lions, snakes, spiders, and scorpions. Expanding on Schmidt's interpretation that round enclosures could represent sanctuaries, Gheorghiu's semiotic interpretation reads the Göbekli Tepe iconography as a cosmogonic map that would have related the local community to the surrounding landscape and the cosmos.

The assumption that the site was strictly cultic in purpose and not inhabited has been challenged as well by the suggestion that the structures served as large communal houses, "similar in some ways to the large plank houses of the Northwest Coast of North America with their impressive house posts and totem poles." It is not known why every few decades the existing pillars were buried to be replaced by new stones as part of a smaller, concentric ring inside the older one. According to Rémi Hadad, in recent years "the interpretative enthusiasm that sought to see Göbekli Tepe as a regional ceremonial centre where nomadic populations would periodically converge is giving way to a vision that is more in line with what is known about other large Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites, where ritual and profane functions coexist." For example, the discovery of domestic buildings and rainwater harvesting systems has forced a revision of the 'temple' narrative.

Research history
Before being documented by archaeologists, the hill Göbekli Tepe stands on, known locally in Kurdish as Girê Mirazan or Xerabreşk (Giré Mirazan meaning: wish hill), was considered a sacred place.

The archaeological site was first noted in a survey conducted by Istanbul University and the University of Chicago in 1963. American archaeologist Peter Benedict identified the stone tools collected from the surface of site as characteristic of the Aceramic Neolithic, but apparently mistook the upper parts of the T-shaped pillars for grave markers. The hill had long been under agricultural cultivation, and generations of local inhabitants had frequently moved rocks and placed them in clearance piles, which may have disturbed the upper layers of the site. At some point, attempts had been made to break up some of the pillars, presumably by farmers who mistook them for ordinary large rocks.

In October 1994, German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who had previously been working at Nevalı Çori, was looking for evidence of similar sites in the area and decided to re-examine the location described by the Chicago researchers in 1963. Asking in nearby villages about hills with flint, he was guided to Göbekli Tepe by Mahmut Yıldız, whose family owned the land the site was situated on. The Yıldız family had previously discovered finds while ploughing there, which they reported to the local museum. Having found similar structures at Nevalı Çori, Schmidt recognized the possibility that the stone slabs were not grave markers as supposed by Benedict, but the tops of prehistoric megaliths. He began excavations the following year and soon unearthed the first of the huge T-shaped pillars. Ultimately he found only three tombs on the eastmost hill-group, which were a pilgrimage destination. Yıldız went on to work on the excavations and serve as the site's guard.

Schmidt continued to direct excavations at the site on behalf of the Şanlıurfa Museum and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) until his death in 2014. Since then, the DAI's research at the site has been coordinated by Lee Clare. , work on the site is conducted jointly by Istanbul University, the Şanlıurfa Museum, and the DAI, under the overall direction of Necmi Karul. Recent excavations have been more limited than Schmidt's, focusing on detailed documentation and conservation of the areas already exposed.

Conservation

Göbekli Tepe was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, recognising its outstanding universal value as "one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture". , less than 5% of the site had been excavated.

Conservation work at the site caused controversy in 2018, when Çiğdem Köksal Schmidt, an archaeologist, and widow of Klaus Schmidt, said that damage was caused by the use of concrete and "heavy equipment" during the construction of a new walkway. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism responded that no concrete was used and that no damage had occurred.

title: Göbekli Tepe


text: User talk:169.142.1.1

title: User talk:169.142.1.1


text:
Entre Ríos Province

Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east.

Its capital is Paraná (400,000 inhabitants ), which lies on the Paraná River, opposite the city of Santa Fe.

Together with Córdoba and Santa Fe, since 1999, the province is part of the economic-political association known as the Center Region.

History

The first inhabitants of the area that is now Entre Ríos were the Charrúa and Chaná who each occupied separate parts of the region. Spaniards entered in 1520, when Rodríguez Serrano ventured up the Uruguay River searching for the Pacific Ocean.

The first permanent Spanish settlement was erected in the current La Paz Department at the end of the 16th century. As governor of Asunción first and then of Buenos Aires, Hernandarias conducted expeditions to Entre Ríos unexplored lands. Juan de Garay, after founding Santa Fe, explored this area, which he called la otra banda ("the other bank").

However, the region remained entirely indigenous and uninhabited by Europeans until a group of colonists from neighbouring Santa Fe Province settled on the Bajada del Paraná in the late seventeenth century, now the site of the provincial capital. At the same time towns appear, which we now know as Nogoyá, Victoria, Gualeguay, Gualeguaychú, Concepción del Uruguay and Concordia.

Tomás de Rocamora further explored the area in 1783 under the threat of a Portuguese invasion from Brazil, and gave official status to many of the above-mentioned towns. He was also the first to refer to the region as Entre Ríos. At this stage, European settlement was minimal, though during the May Revolution, the few colonists in the cities along the Paraná shore supported Manuel Belgrano and his army on his way to Paraguay.

On September 29, 1820, the leader (caudillo) Francisco Ramírez declared the territory an autonomous entity, the Republic of Entre Ríos. This lasted until his assassination on July 10 of the next year.

In 1853, in a meeting of all the provinces except Buenos Aires, Paraná was elected as the capital of the Argentine Confederation, and the Governor of Entre Ríos and leader (caudillo) Urquiza as its first president. The provincial capital was moved to Concepción del Uruguay. Later Urquiza, who had first won against Buenos Aires at the Battle of Cepeda in 1859, let his troops move back in the even Battle of Pavón in 1861, which allowed his rival Bartolomé Mitre from Buenos Aires to become president. At the time he was fulfilling his third term as governor of the province from 1860 to 1864 and after a voluntary interruption was reelected in 1886, but he was assassinated in 1870 after altogether 16 years of governing before finishing his mandate, which had probably been ordered by his supportor Ricardo López Jordán, not trusting him anymore.

Urquiza encouraged immigration through "colonization contracts", setting up many agricultural colonies with European (mainly Volga Germans, Russians (including Russian Jews and Poles), Italians, Swiss and French) settlers. According to data of the 1903 census, of the 425,373 inhabitants of the province, 153,067 were immigrants.

Economy

Entre Rios' economy is the sixth largest in Argentina. Its output in 2006 was estimated at US$7.71 billion, or, US$6,710 per capita in 2006 (about a fourth less than the national average). In 2013, its output was estimated at $63.814 billion Pesos (about US$11.688 billion) or, 48,327 pesos (about US$8,851) per capita at current market prices. This was 21% below the average GDP per capita of 69,678 pesos (about US$12,762) for Argentina in 2013 at current market prices.

Its economy has long been more agricultural than the median in Argentina, comprising about 15% of output. Entre Rios' agricultural products include rice (60% of the national production), soybeans, wheat, maize, and citrus of which it is the second biggest producer, and exporting 16% of the production mainly to Europe. Livestock production focuses on cattle (4.5 million head), and in sheep production in a decreasing proportion, covering 60,000 km2. The dairy industry, currently in expansion, produces almost 250 thousand tons per year of dairy products.

Of the national production of chickens and eggs, Entre Ríos contributes 37% of the first and 25% percent of the second. Another emerging production is honey and its derivatives, mainly for export.

Manufacturing has a sizable presence in Entre Rios, making up another 15% of output. Its industries are mostly linked to agriculture, as in food and drinks industry and flour and rice mills. Other industries include timber-wood, chemical, metallurgy, and machinery.

Geography

As part of the Mesopotamic region, the land is almost completely flat, with hills some 100 meters in height. There are two main systems of low hills, called lomadas or cuchillas: the Cuchilla de Montiel (west) and the Cuchilla Grande (east), which are separated by the Gualeguay River.

The name of the province means "between rivers". Entre Ríos is limited and traversed by many rivers and streams: the Paraná River and its delta to the west and south; the Uruguay River and the Mocoretá River to the east; and the Guayquiraró River to the north.

Two national parks are located within the province: El Palmar National Park and Predelta National Park. There are also hot springs in several locations, especially along the basin of the Uruguay River, located in cities like Federación, Villa Elisa, Colón, etc.

Climate
The province is divided into 2 climatic regions: The first one is a humid, temperate climate that covers most of the central and southern parts of the province. Mean temperatures range from 10 C in winter to 26 C in summer while the mean annual precipitation in this region is 1000 mm. The second climatic region is a subtropical climate located in the northern parts of the province where mean temperatures range from 13 C in winter to 27 C in summer. Winters are more shorter while precipitation is higher, averaging 1300 mm per year.

Government
The provincial government is divided into the usual three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoint the cabinet; the legislative; and the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court. The legislative branch is a bicameral body composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The Legislature is charged with introducing and passing local laws.

The Constitution of Entre Ríos Province forms the formal law of the province.

In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the Argentine Federal Police but the additional work is carried out by the Entre Ríos Provincial Police.

Political division
(departamentos singular departamento).

The province is divided in 17 departments Department (Capital)
 * 1) Colón (Colón)
 * 2) Concordia (Concordia)
 * 3) Diamante (Diamante)
 * 4) Federación (Federación)
 * 5) Federal (Federal)
 * 6) Gualeguay (Gualeguay)
 * 7) Gualeguaychú (Gualeguaychú)
 * 8) Islas del Ibicuy (Villa Paranacito)
 * 9) La Paz (La Paz)
 * 10) Nogoyá (Nogoyá)
 * 11) Paraná (Paraná)
 * 12) San José de Feliciano (San José de Feliciano)
 * 13) San Salvador (San Salvador)
 * 14) Tala (Rosario del Tala)
 * 15) Uruguay (Concepción del Uruguay)
 * 16) Victoria (Victoria)
 * 17) Villaguay (Villaguay)

Villages
• Aldea Asunción

• Aldea San Francisco

• Antelo

• Aranguren

• Betbeder

• Cerrito

• Colonia Avigdor

• Colonia Baylina

• Colonia Oficial Nº 5

• Don Cristóbal Primero

• El Pingo

• Enrique Carbó

• Estación Camps

• Estación Escriña

• Estación Lazo

• Faustino M. Parera

• Gilbert

• Las Cuevas

• Las Moscas

• Los Charrúas

• Paso de la Arena

• Pastor Britos

• Pueblo Brugo

• Puerto Ibicuy

• Puntas del Gualeguaychú

• Tezanos Pinto

title: Entre Ríos Province


text:
Entre Rios

Entre Rios (literally "Between Rivers" in Portuguese) or Entre Ríos (in Spanish) may refer to:

Argentina

 * Entre Ríos Province, a central province of Argentina.
 * Republic of Entre Ríos, short-lived republic in the current province (1820–21)
 * Isla Entre Ríos, an exclave and island in Corrientes Province

Bolivia

 * Entre Ríos, Tarija, a town in the Bolivian Tarija Department.
 * Entre Ríos, Cochabamba, a small town in the Cochabamba Department of the South American Andean Republic of Bolivia

Brazil

 * Entre Rios, Bahia, Brazilian municipality in the state of Bahia
 * Entre Rios, Santa Catarina, Brazilian municipality in the state of Santa Catarina
 * Entre Rios do Oeste, Brazilian municipality in the state of Paraná
 * Entre Rios do Sul, Brazilian municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul
 * Entre Rios de Minas, municipality in the state of Minas Gerais
 * Desterro de Entre Rios, Brazilian municipality in the state of Minas Gerais

Other uses

 * Entre Ríos (band), an Argentine indietronica band
 * Entre Ríos Railway (The Entre Ríos Railway (ER)), a former British-owned railway company
 * Entre Ríos/Rodolfo Walsh (Buenos Aires Metro)

title: Entre Rios


text:
User talk:Aram Goldsmith

Hello. Stop vandalizing the Turkey article. Lupo 15:10, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Do not vandalize articles or you will be blocked.

Serious NPOV contributions are welcome, see Welcome newcomers for more informaiton. -- Infrogmation 15:12, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Dear Aram, welcome to Wikipedia! Please note that we use a Non Point of view policy and that blanking articles is considered vandalism. Please visit the Community Portal (link in Main Page to learn more about the project. If you have any queries jus ask in my talk page. Thank you, Muriel 15:11, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Please do not remove information from articles. Thanks, Muriel 15:24, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Aram Goldsmith


text:
Monkey Dust

Monkey Dust is a British adult animated satirical sketch comedy series created by Harry Thompson and Shaun Pye. The series is characterised by its dark humour, frequent shifts in animation styles, and handling of taboo topics such as bestiality, murder, suicide and paedophilia. Three series were broadcast on BBC Three between 2003 and 2005. Following co-creator Thompson's death, no further series were made.

Episodes
Each episode featured animation by several different companies including Slinky Pictures, Nexus Productions, Sherbet Animation, Caroline Mabey, Picasso Pictures, and VooDooDog, but is linked by recurring themes/jokes and seamless transitions between sketches. The episodes are untitled but instead are known by the characters introduced or the one-off sketches included. The principal writers and creators of the series were Harry Thompson and Shaun Pye, although other contributors were responsible for a significant proportion of the work; sometimes collaborating with Thompson and/or Pye; sometimes contributing fully formed sketches to the show.

A short overview of the main characters, called a nocturne, set in the various characters' bedrooms with no dialogue and a depressing accompanying song, usually precedes the final section.

Music
The animation in each episode is accompanied by contemporary music which helps the transition between scenes. Numerous songs by Goldfrapp, Boards of Canada and Black Box Recorder feature. The theme music for all three series is by Eels ("That's Not Really Funny" from Souljacker).

The inclusion of music from Goldfrapp during the first series would have pre-dated the commercial release of their debut album, but production on the series took so long that by the time of airing, Goldfrapp were about to release their second album. Thompson and Pye comment on this in the Series 1 DVD commentary.

Release
On 8 November 2004, the first series of Monkey Dust was released in the UK on DVD. Several musical substitutions had to be made from the television airing, as artists such as Cliff Richard and David Gray would not allow their work to be used on the DVD. Cover versions of the original songs were used instead.

The second and third series were broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Three respectively. Only the first series of Monkey Dust was commercially released on DVD; however, in September 2009 eight episodes from across series 2 and 3 (along with four episodes from the already released series 1) were made available for download from iTunes, though these are no longer available. Another reason for the lack of DVD releases of the later series is thought to be the 'teenage jihadi' sketches being considered unsuitable in the wake of the 7 July 2005 London bombings that occurred a few months later.

Reception
In 2003, The Observer listed Harry Thompson as one of the 50 funniest or most influential people in British comedy, citing Monkey Dust as evidence and calling it: "the most subversive show on television. The topical animated series is dark and unafraid to tackle taboo subjects such as paedophilia, taking us to Cruel Britannia, a creepy place where the public are hoodwinked by arrogant politicians and celebrities. This edgy show doesn't always work, but when it does there is nothing quite like it". It has received positive reviews from Vice and Digital Spy.

Awards

 * 2003: International Student Jury Award (Banff Rockies Awards)
 * 2004: Best Multichannel Programme (Broadcast Awards)
 * 2004: Best Comedy (British Animation Awards)

title: Monkey Dust


text:
Silver Arrow

Silver Arrow, Silver Arrows or The Silver Arrow may refer to:

 * The Pierce Silver Arrow, a luxury car introduced in 1933
 * Frecciargento (Italian for SilverArrow), the brand name for 200-250 km/h Italian high speed trains
 * Silver Arrow (rail-air service), a former intermodal passenger transport service between London and Paris
 * Silverpilen (The Silver Arrow) – a nickname for the Swedish SL C5 metro train
 * Silverpilen (The Silver Arrow) – a ghost train roaming the Stockhilm metro, see The Silver Train of Stockholm
 * Silver Arrow, a division of Elbit Systems that builds unmanned aerial vehicles
 * Zilverpijl (Silver arrow), Belgian comic book series about the American Old West
 * Silver Arrow, a limited dealer edition of the Saab 900
 * Silver Arrows, nickname given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939

title: Silver Arrow


text:
Optically stimulated luminescence

In physics, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) is a method for measuring doses from ionizing radiation. It is used in at least two applications:
 * Luminescence dating of ancient materials: mainly geological sediments and sometimes fired pottery, bricks etc., although in the latter case thermoluminescence dating is used more often
 * Radiation dosimetry, which is the measurement of accumulated radiation dose in the tissues of health care, nuclear, research and other workers, as well as in building materials in regions of nuclear disaster

The method makes use of electrons trapped between the valence and conduction bands in the crystalline structure of certain minerals (most commonly quartz and feldspar). The trapping sites are imperfections of the lattice — impurities or defects. The ionizing radiation produces electron-hole pairs: Electrons are in the conduction band and holes in the valence band. The electrons that have been excited to the conduction band may become entrapped in the electron or hole traps. Under the stimulation of light, the electrons may free themselves from the trap and get into the conduction band. From the conduction band, they may recombine with holes trapped in hole traps. If the centre with the hole is a luminescence center (radiative recombination centre), emission of light will occur. The photons are detected using a photomultiplier tube. The signal from the tube is then used to calculate the dose that the material had absorbed.

The OSL dosimeter provides a new degree of sensitivity by giving an accurate reading as low as 1 mrem for x-ray and gamma ray photons with energies ranging from 5 keV to greater than 40 MeV. The OSL dosimeter's maximum equivalent dose measurement for x-ray and gamma ray photons is 1000 rem. For beta particles with energies from 150 keV to in excess of 10 MeV, dose measurement ranges from 10 mrem to 1000 rem. Neutron radiation with energies of 40 keV to greater than 35 MeV has a dose measurement range from 20 mrem to 25 rem. In diagnostic imaging, the increased sensitivity of the OSL dosimeter makes it ideal for monitoring employees working in low-radiation environments and for pregnant workers.

To carry out OSL dating, mineral grains have to be extracted from the sample. Most commonly these are so-called coarse grains of 100-200 μm or fine grains of 4-11 μm. Occasionally other grain sizes are used.

The difference between radiocarbon dating and OSL is that the former is used to date organic materials, while the latter is used to date minerals. Events that can be dated using OSL are, for example, the mineral's last exposure to sunlight; Mungo Man, Australia's oldest human find, was dated in this manner. It is also used for dating the deposition of geological sediments after they have been transported by air (aeolian sediments) or rivers (fluvial sediments). In archaeology, OSL dating is applied to ceramics: The dated event is the time of their last heating to a high temperature (in excess of 400 °C).

Recent OSL dating of stone tools in Arabia pushed the "out-of-Africa" date hypothesis of human migration back 50,000 years and added a possible path of migration from the African continent to the Arabian peninsula instead of through Europe.

The most widely-used OSL method is called single-aliquot regeneration (SAR).

title: Optically stimulated luminescence