text:
Orthomyxoviridae

Orthomyxoviridae (from Greek ὀρθός, orthós 'straight' + μύξα, mýxa 'mucus') is a family of negative-sense RNA viruses. It includes seven genera: Alphainfluenzavirus, Betainfluenzavirus, Gammainfluenzavirus, Deltainfluenzavirus, Isavirus, Thogotovirus, and Quaranjavirus. The first four genera contain viruses that cause influenza in birds (see also avian influenza) and mammals, including humans. Isaviruses infect salmon; the thogotoviruses are arboviruses, infecting vertebrates and invertebrates (such as ticks and mosquitoes). The Quaranjaviruses are also arboviruses, infecting vertebrates (birds) and invertebrates (arthropods).

The four genera of Influenza virus that infect vertebrates, which are identified by antigenic differences in their nucleoprotein and matrix protein, are as follows:
 * Alphainfluenzavirus infects humans, other mammals, and birds, and causes all flu pandemics
 * Betainfluenzavirus infects humans and seals
 * Gammainfluenzavirus infects humans and pigs
 * Deltainfluenzavirus infects pigs and cattle.

Structure
The influenzavirus virion is pleomorphic; the viral envelope can occur in spherical and filamentous forms. In general, the virus's morphology is ellipsoidal with particles 100–120 nm in diameter, or filamentous with particles 80–100 nm in diameter and up to 20 μm long. There are approximately 500 distinct spike-like surface projections in the envelope each projecting 10–14 nm from the surface with varying surface densities. The major glycoprotein (HA) spike is interposed irregularly by clusters of neuraminidase (NA) spikes, with a ratio of HA to NA of about 10 to 1.

The viral envelope composed of a lipid bilayer membrane in which the glycoprotein spikes are anchored encloses the nucleocapsids; nucleoproteins of different size classes with a loop at each end; the arrangement within the virion is uncertain. The ribonuclear proteins are filamentous and fall in the range of 50–130 nm long and 9–15 nm in diameter with helical symmetry.

Genome
Viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae contain six to eight segments of linear negative-sense single stranded RNA. They have a total genome length that is 10,000–14,600 nucleotides (nt). The influenza A genome, for instance, has eight pieces of segmented negative-sense RNA (13.5 kilobases total).

The best-characterised of the influenzavirus proteins are hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, two large glycoproteins found on the outside of the viral particles. Hemagglutinin is a lectin that mediates binding of the virus to target cells and entry of the viral genome into the target cell. In contrast, neuraminidase is an enzyme involved in the release of progeny virus from infected cells, by cleaving sugars that bind the mature viral particles. The hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N) proteins are key targets for antibodies and antiviral drugs, and they are used to classify the different serotypes of influenza A viruses, hence the H and N in H5N1.

The genome sequence has terminal repeated sequences; repeated at both ends. Terminal repeats at the 5′-end 12–13 nucleotides long. Nucleotide sequences of 3′-terminus identical; the same in genera of same family; most on RNA (segments), or on all RNA species. Terminal repeats at the 3′-end 9–11 nucleotides long. Encapsidated nucleic acid is solely genomic. Each virion may contain defective interfering copies. In Influenza A (H1N1) PB1-F2 is produced from an alternative reading frame in PB1. The M and NS genes produce two different genes via alternative splicing.

Replication cycle

Typically, influenza is transmitted from infected mammals through the air by coughs or sneezes, creating aerosols containing the virus, and from infected birds through their droppings. Influenza can also be transmitted by saliva, nasal secretions, feces and blood. Infections occur through contact with these bodily fluids or with contaminated surfaces. Out of a host, flu viruses can remain infectious for about one week at human body temperature, over 30 days at 0 °C, and indefinitely at very low temperatures (such as lakes in northeast Siberia). They can be inactivated easily by disinfectants and detergents.

The viruses bind to a cell through interactions between its hemagglutinin glycoprotein and sialic acid sugars on the surfaces of epithelial cells in the lung and throat (Stage 1 in infection figure). The cell imports the virus by endocytosis. In the acidic endosome, part of the hemagglutinin protein fuses the viral envelope with the vacuole's membrane, releasing the viral RNA (vRNA) molecules, accessory proteins and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase into the cytoplasm (Stage 2). These proteins and vRNA form a complex that is transported into the cell nucleus, where the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase begins transcribing complementary positive-sense cRNA (Steps 3a and b). The cRNA is either exported into the cytoplasm and translated (step 4), or remains in the nucleus. Newly synthesised viral proteins are either secreted through the Golgi apparatus onto the cell surface (in the case of neuraminidase and hemagglutinin, step 5b) or transported back into the nucleus to bind vRNA and form new viral genome particles (step 5a). Other viral proteins have multiple actions in the host cell, including degrading cellular mRNA and using the released nucleotides for vRNA synthesis and also inhibiting translation of host-cell mRNAs.

Negative-sense vRNAs that form the genomes of future viruses, RNA-dependent RNA transcriptase, and other viral proteins are assembled into a virion. Hemagglutinin and neuraminidase molecules cluster into a bulge in the cell membrane. The vRNA and viral core proteins leave the nucleus and enter this membrane protrusion (step 6). The mature virus buds off from the cell in a sphere of host phospholipid membrane, acquiring hemagglutinin and neuraminidase with this membrane coat (step 7). As before, the viruses adhere to the cell through hemagglutinin; the mature viruses detach once their neuraminidase has cleaved sialic acid residues from the host cell. After the release of new influenza virus, the host cell dies. Orthomyxoviridae viruses are one of two RNA viruses that replicate in the nucleus (the other being retroviridae). This is because the machinery of orthomyxo viruses cannot make their own mRNAs. They use cellular RNAs as primers for initiating the viral mRNA synthesis in a process known as cap snatching. Once in the nucleus, the RNA Polymerase Protein PB2 finds a cellular pre-mRNA and binds to its 5′ capped end. Then RNA Polymerase PA cleaves off the cellular mRNA near the 5′ end and uses this capped fragment as a primer for transcribing the rest of the viral RNA genome in viral mRNA. This is due to the need of mRNA to have a 5′ cap in order to be recognized by the cell's ribosome for translation.

Since RNA proofreading enzymes are absent, the RNA-dependent RNA transcriptase makes a single nucleotide insertion error roughly every 10 thousand nucleotides, which is the approximate length of the influenza vRNA. Hence, nearly every newly manufactured influenza virus will contain a mutation in its genome. The separation of the genome into eight separate segments of vRNA allows mixing (reassortment) of the genes if more than one variety of influenza virus has infected the same cell (superinfection). The resulting alteration in the genome segments packaged into viral progeny confers new behavior, sometimes the ability to infect new host species or to overcome protective immunity of host populations to its old genome (in which case it is called an antigenic shift).

Classification
In a phylogenetic-based taxonomy, the category RNA virus includes the subcategory negative-sense ssRNA virus, which includes the order Articulavirales, and the family Orthomyxoviridae. The genera-associated species and serotypes of Orthomyxoviridae are shown in the following table.

Types
There are four genera of influenza virus, each containing only a single species, or type. Influenza A and C infect a variety of species (including humans), while influenza B almost exclusively infects humans, and influenza D infects cattle and pigs.

Influenza A
Influenza A viruses are further classified, based on the viral surface proteins hemagglutinin (HA or H) and neuraminidase (NA or N). 18 HA subtypes (or serotypes) and 11 NA subtypes of influenza A virus have been isolated in nature. Among these, the HA subtype 1-16 and NA subtype 1-9 are found in wild waterfowl and shorebirds and the HA subtypes 17-18 and NA subtypes 10-11 have only been isolated from bats.

Further variation exists; thus, specific influenza strain isolates are identified by the Influenza virus nomenclature, specifying virus type, host species (if not human), geographical location where first isolated, laboratory reference, year of isolation, and HA and NA subtype.

Examples of the nomenclature are:
 * 1)  - isolated from a human
 * 2)  - isolated from a pig

The type A influenza viruses are the most virulent human pathogens among the three influenza types and cause the most severe disease. It is thought that all influenza A viruses causing outbreaks or pandemics originate from wild aquatic birds. All influenza A virus pandemics since the 1900s were caused by Avian influenza, through Reassortment with other influenza strains, either those that affect humans (seasonal flu) or those affecting other animals (see 2009 swine flu pandemic). The serotypes that have been confirmed in humans, ordered by the number of confirmed human deaths, are:
 * H1N1 caused "Spanish flu" in 1918 and "Swine flu" in 2009.
 * H2N2 caused "Asian Flu".
 * H3N2 caused "Hong Kong Flu".
 * H5N1, "avian" or "bird flu".
 * H7N7 has unusual zoonotic potential.
 * H1N2 infects pigs and humans.
 * H9N2, H7N2, H7N3, H10N7.

Influenza B
Influenza B virus is almost exclusively a human pathogen, and is less common than influenza A. The only other animal known to be susceptible to influenza B infection is the seal. This type of influenza mutates at a rate 2–3 times lower than type A and consequently is less genetically diverse, with only one influenza B serotype. As a result of this lack of antigenic diversity, a degree of immunity to influenza B is usually acquired at an early age. However, influenza B mutates enough that lasting immunity is not possible. This reduced rate of antigenic change, combined with its limited host range (inhibiting cross species antigenic shift), ensures that pandemics of influenza B do not occur.

Influenza C
The influenza C virus infects humans and pigs, and can cause severe illness and local epidemics. However, influenza C is less common than the other types and usually causes mild disease in children.

Influenza D
This is a genus that was classified in 2016, the members of which were first isolated in 2011. This genus appears to be most closely related to Influenza C, from which it diverged several hundred years ago. There are at least two extant strains of this genus. The main hosts appear to be cattle, but the virus has been known to infect pigs as well.

Viability and disinfection
Mammalian influenza viruses tend to be labile, but can survive several hours in mucus. Avian influenza virus can survive for 100 days in distilled water at room temperature, and 200 days at 17 °C. The avian virus is inactivated more quickly in manure, but can survive for up to two weeks in feces on cages. Avian influenza viruses can survive indefinitely when frozen. Influenza viruses are susceptible to bleach, 70% ethanol, aldehydes, oxidizing agents, and quaternary ammonium compounds. They are inactivated by heat of 133 °F for minimum of 60 minutes, as well as by low pH <2.

Vaccination and prophylaxis
Vaccines and drugs are available for the prophylaxis and treatment of influenza virus infections. Vaccines are composed of either inactivated or live attenuated virions of the H1N1 and H3N2 human influenza A viruses, as well as those of influenza B viruses. Because the antigenicities of the wild viruses evolve, vaccines are reformulated annually by updating the seed strains.

When the antigenicities of the seed strains and wild viruses do not match, vaccines fail to protect the vaccinees. In addition, even when they do match, escape mutants are often generated.

Drugs available for the treatment of influenza include Amantadine and Rimantadine, which inhibit the uncoating of virions by interfering with M2, and Oseltamivir (marketed under the brand name Tamiflu), Zanamivir, and Peramivir, which inhibit the release of virions from infected cells by interfering with NA. However, escape mutants are often generated for the former drug and less frequently for the latter drug.

title: Orthomyxoviridae


text:
Eric II

Eric II may refer to:

 * Eric II of Denmark (c. 1090–1137)
 * Eric II of Norway (1268–1299)
 * Eric II, Duke of Schleswig (c. 1290–1325)
 * Eric II of Pomerania (between 1418 and 1425–1474)
 * Eric II, Duke of Mecklenburg (1483–1508)
 * Eric II, Duke of Calenberg (1528–1584)

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

title: Eric II


text:
Aplysiida

The order Aplysiida, commonly known as sea hares (Aplysia species and related genera), are medium-sized to very large opisthobranch gastropod molluscs with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamilies Aplysioidea and Akeroidea.

The common name "sea hare" is a direct translation from lepus marinus, as the animal's existence was known in Roman times. The name derives from their rounded shape and from the two long rhinophores that project upward from their heads and that somewhat resemble the ears of a hare.

Taxonomy
Many older textbooks and websites refer to this suborder as "Aplysiida". The original author Paul Henri Fischer described the taxon Aplysiida at unspecified rank above family. In 1925 Johannes Thiele established the taxon Aplysiida as a suborder.

2005 taxonomy
Since the taxon Aplysiida was not based on an existing genus, this name is no longer available according to the rules of the ICZN. Aplysiida has been replaced in the new Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005) by the clade Aplysiomorpha.

The scientific name for the order in which they used to be classified, the Aplysiida, is derived from the Greek for "without a shield" and refers to the lack of the characteristic head shield found in the cephalaspidean opisthobranchs. Many Aplysiidans have only a thin, internal and much-reduced shell with a small mantle cavity; some have no shell at all. All species have a radula and gizzard plates.

2010 taxonomy
Jörger et al. (2010) have moved this taxon (named as Aplysiida) to Euopisthobranchia.

2017 taxonomy
The name "Aplysiomorpha" was preferred by Bouchet and Rocroi (2005) over "Aplysiida Fischer", 1883, but the authors now agree that there is a consistent usage for Aplysiida in the recent literature and that the older name must be preferred.

Description
Sea hares are mostly rather large, bulky creatures when adults. Juveniles are mainly unobserved on the shoreline. The biggest species, Aplysia vaccaria, can reach a length of 75 cm and a weight of 14 kg and is arguably the largest gastropod species.

Sea hares have soft bodies with an internal shell, and like all opisthobranch molluscs, they are hermaphroditic. Unlike many other gastropods, they are more or less bilaterally symmetrical in their external appearance. The foot has lateral projections, or "parapodia".

Life habits
Sea hares are herbivorous, and are typically found on seaweed in shallow water. Some young sea hares seemingly are capable of burrowing in soft sediment, leaving only their rhinophores and mantle opening showing. Sea hares have an extremely good sense of smell. They can follow even the faintest scent using their rhinophores, which are extremely sensitive chemoreceptors.

Their color corresponds with the color of the seaweed they eat: red sea hares have been feeding on red seaweed. This camouflages them from predators. When disturbed, a sea hare can release ink from its ink glands, providing a fluid, smoke-like toxic screen, adversely affecting its predators' olfactory senses while acting as a powerful deterrent. The toxic ink may be white, purple, or red, depending on the pigments in their seaweed food source and lightens in color as it spreads, diluted by seawater. Their skin contains a similar toxin that renders sea hares largely inedible to many predators. In addition to the colored ink, sea hares can secrete a clear slime akin to that released defensively by hagfish which physically plugs the olfactory receptors of predators like lobsters.

Some sea hares can employ jet propulsion as a locomotion and others move like stingrays but with greater fluttering fluidity in their jelly-like "wings". In the moving marine environment and without the sophisticated cognitive machinery of the cephalopods, their motion appears to be somewhat erratic, but they do reach their goals, such as the seabed, according to the wave-action, currents, or calmness of their area.

Human use
Sea hares are consumed in several parts of the world. An example may be "酱爆海兔" (jiàng bào hǎi tù), lit. "sauce-fried sea hare", a Chinese dish featuring sea hare and occasionally squid quickly fried in a sauce. In Hawaii, sea hares, or kualakai, are typically cooked in an imu wrapped in ti leaves.

Aplysia californica is a species of sea hare noteworthy for its use in studies of the neurobiology of learning and memory, due to its unusually large axons. It is especially associated with the work of Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel. Research surrounding the aplysia gill and siphon withdrawal reflex may be of particular interest with respect to this.

Reef aquaria
Sea hares are often used as a method of eradicating nuisance algae and cyanobacteria ("red slime algae") in reef aquaria. The hares usually do an excellent job, but when they have eaten all of the algae and cyanobacteria, they often shrink from starvation and eventually starve to death. Many reef-keeping clubs have started programs where groups of hobbyists "share" a single sea hare among a large group.

title: Aplysiida


text:
RSVP (disambiguation)

An RSVP is a request for response to an invitation (from the French: répondez s'il vous plaît)

RSVP or R.S.V.P. may also refer to:

Film

 * R.S.V.P. (1984 film), an American film
 * R.S.V.P. (2002 film), a horror film
 * RSVP (1991 film), a short film directed by Laurie Lynd
 * RSVP Movies, an Indian film production company

Games

 * RSVP (board game), a vertical version of Scrabble

Music

 * R.S.V.P. (supergroup), an American R&B and hip hop group developed as a result of the podcast Verzuz
 * R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal), an album by Nancy Wilson, 2004

Songs

 * "R.S.V.P." (Five Star song), 1985
 * "R.S.V.P.", by Boney James & Rick Braun from Shake It Up, 2000
 * "RSVP", by Half Man Half Biscuit from 90 Bisodol (Crimond), 2011
 * "RSVP", by Heart from Bad Animals, 1987
 * "RSVP", by Knuckle Puck from 20/20, 2020
 * "RSVP", by Maren Morris from Girl, 2019
 * "R.S.V.P.", by Nesian Mystik from Elevator Musiq, 2008
 * "R.S.V.P.", by Pop Will Eat Itself, 1993

Enterprises and organizations

 * Red Sandstone Varied Productions, a performance arts company based in Ireland
 * Resolve to Stop Violence Project, a program to try to help incarcerated prisoners recognize their violent attitudes and change them
 * Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, a volunteerism promotion by Senior Corps
 * RSVP Technologies Inc., an artificial intelligence company based in Canada
 * RSVP.com.au, an Australian dating site

Science and technology

 * Rapid serial visual presentation, a method for measuring the speed of vision
 * Resource Reservation Protocol, a computer network protocol

title: RSVP (disambiguation)


text:
Eric IV

Eric IV may refer to:

 * Eric (IV) of Sweden
 * Eric IV of Denmark (c.  1216–1250)
 * Eric IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (1354–1411/1412)

title: Eric IV


text:
Bla, Mali

Bla (Bambara: ߓߟߊ tr. Bla) is a rural commune, town and capital of the Cercle of Bla in Mali's Ségou Region, located 85 kilometers south of Ségou along Mali's main highway. Bla serves as a central location for NGO activity in the region and is a crossroads for transportation going northeast to Mopti and Gao, as well as south to Sikasso, Burkina Faso, and Côte d'Ivoire. Bla is also the main town for the Djonka, a sub-group of the Bamana. The town's population as of 2004 was around 15,000 people.

Bla was established as an outpost by Biton Mamary Coulibaly during the expansion of the Ségou (or Bamana) Empire around the first half of the 18th century. The verb "ka bila" means to "leave behind" in Bamana, thus Bla's name relates to the town's original function, a supply outpost where the Bamana Empire's military left arms and grain for later use.

title: Bla, Mali


text:
Edward Plantagenet

Edward Plantagenet may refer to:

 * Edward I of England (1239–1307), popularly known as Longshanks, reigned from 1272 until his death
 * Edward II of England (1284–1327), reigned from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327, and was murdered in September
 * Edward III of England (1312–1377), crowned at the age of 14, and one of the more successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages
 * Edward IV of England (1442–1483), reigned from 1461 to 1470, and again from 1471
 * Edward V of England (1470–1483), king for two months in 1483 until deposed and sent to the Tower
 * Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales (1473–1484), only son of King Richard III of England
 * Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York (c. 1373–1415), grandson of Edward III
 * Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (1453–1471), son of King Henry VI
 * Edward, the Black Prince (1330–1376), son of Edward III, known during his lifetime as Edward of Woodstock
 * Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick (1475–1499), son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, himself son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York

title: Edward Plantagenet


text:
Luoshu Square

The Luoshu (pinyin), Lo Shu (Wade-Giles), or Nine Halls Diagram is an ancient Chinese diagram and named for the Luo River near Luoyang, Henan. The Luoshu appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes. It is a unique normal magic square of order three. It is usually paired with the River Map or Hetu—named in reference to the Yellow River—and used with the River Map in various contexts involving Chinese geomancy, numerology, philosophy, and early natural science.

Traditions
The Lo Shu is part of the legacy of ancient Chinese mathematical and divination (cf. the I Ching 易經) traditions, and is an important emblem in Feng Shui (風水)—the art of geomancy concerned with the placement of objects in relation to the flow of qi (氣), or "natural energy".

History
A Chinese legend concerning the pre-historic Emperor Yu (夏禹) tells of the Lo Shu, often in connection with the Yellow River Map (Hetu) and the eight trigrams. In ancient China there is a legend of a huge deluge: the people offered sacrifices to the god of one of the flooding rivers, the Luo river (洛河), to try to calm his anger. A magical turtle emerged from the water with the curiously unnatural Lo Shu pattern on its shell: circular dots representing the integers one through nine are arranged in a three-by-three grid.

Early records dated to 650 BCE are ambiguous, referring to a "river map", but clearly start to refer to a magic square by 80 CE, and explicitly give an example of one since 570 CE. Recent publications have provided support that the Lo Shu Magic Square was an important model for time and space. It served as a basis for city planning, and tomb and temple design. The magic square was incidentally used to designate spaces of political and religious importance.

The layout
The odd and even numbers alternate in the periphery of the Lo Shu pattern; the four even numbers are at the four corners, and the five odd numbers (which outnumber the even numbers by one) form a cross in the center of the square. The sums in each of the three rows, in each of the three columns, and in both diagonals, are all 15. Since "5" is in the center cell, the sum of any two other cells that are directly through the five from each other must be 10; e.g., opposite squares and corners add up to 10, the number of the Yellow River Map.

In numerology
The Lo Shu is sometimes connected numerologically with the "Bagua" (八卦 or eight trigrams"), that can be arranged in the eight outer cells, reminiscent of circular trigram diagrams. Because north is placed at the bottom of maps in China, the 3x3 magic square having number 1 at the bottom and 9 at the top is used in preference to the other rotations/reflections. As seen in the "Later Heaven" arrangement, 1 and 9 correspond with ☵ Kǎn 坎 "Water 水" and ☲ Lí 離 "Fire 火" respectively. In the "Early Heaven" arrangement, they would correspond with ☷ Kūn 坤 "Earth 地" and ☰ Qián 乾 "Heaven 天" respectively. Like the Yellow River Map, the Lo Shu square, in conjunction with the Bagua, is sometimes used as a mandalic representation important in Feng Shui geomancy.

title: Luoshu Square


text:
Jim Gibbons (Irish politician)

James M. Gibbons (2 August 1924 – 20 December 1997) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Agriculture from 1970 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Minister for Defence from 1969 to 1970 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance from 1965 to 1969. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency from 1957 to 1981 and February 1982 to November 1982. He also served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1973 to 1977.

Early life
Gibbons was born in Bonnettsrath, County Kilkenny, the son of Martin Gibbons, a local farmer, and his wife Agnes (née Bowe). Gibbons was born into a political family. His uncle Seán Gibbons was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at the 1923 general election, but later joined the Farmer's Party and eventually joined Fianna Fáil.

Gibbons was educated locally and later attended Kilkenny CBS and St Kieran's College. Here, he earned a reputation on the sports field, winning a Leinster colleges' hurling title. Following the completion of his Leaving Certificate he studied medicine at University College Dublin, however, he abandoned his studies after two years to return to Kilkenny where he concentrated on farming. Gibbons later bought a 300-acre farm at the Pheasantgry, Dunmore, about four miles from Kilkenny.

Political career
Gibbons was politically active from an early age, having joined Fianna Fáil in his youth. He was co-opted onto Kilkenny County Council in 1954, and secured election to that authority in his own right the following year. He remained as a county councillor until 1967.

Gibbons was elected to Dáil Éireann for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the 1957 general election. He secured re-election at the 1961 general election, however, he remained on the government backbenches for a second term.

Following the 1965 general election, Gibbons secured promotion to the junior ministerial ranks under Seán Lemass, when he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance. In this position he served under Jack Lynch and later under Charles Haughey.

Minister for Defence (1969–1970)
Following Fianna Fáil's fourth general election triumph in succession at the 1969 general election, Gibbons joined Jack Lynch's cabinet as Minister for Defence. His short tenure in the role would come to define his political career. In August 1969, civil unrest in Northern Ireland boiled over and the Irish government were forced to act. Lynch urged his cabinet to take a cautious line and established a cabinet subcommittee to organise emergency assistance and relief. A government fund of £100,000 was set up to provide relief to nationalist civilians forced out of their homes by the Troubles, and Charles Haughey, as Minister for Finance, was given sole authority over this money. The Minister for Agriculture, Neil Blaney, allegedly made plans with Captain James Kelly to import weapons from continental Europe. Haughey provided the money for the purchase from his civilian relief fund, and also tried to arrange customs clearance for the shipment.

In May 1970, the Arms Crisis broke when Haughey and Blaney were sacked by Lynch when the plot to import arms was revealed. At the subsequent Arms Trial Gibbons would be the chief prosecutorial witness and his evidence would contradict Haughey's. Haughey was found not guilty, therefore Gibbons was implied to have been dishonest, an allegation that affected him deeply. He was never charged with any offence himself and was angry that a Dáil motion of confidence in the government effectively turned into a debate about him personally.

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries (1970–1973)
In the wake of the Arms Crisis and the ministerial sackings, Gibbons was appointed as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries. As a farmer, he was respected and liked by the farming community and its representatives. In his new role Gibbons played a key role in the agricultural negotiations concerning entry into the European Economic Community and in the amalgamation of creameries in the country.

In opposition (1973–1977)
Fianna Fáil lost office to a Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition following the 1973 general election. He remained a key member of Jack Lynch's team. Shortly after the general election, he was appointed a member of the second delegation from the Oireachtas to the European Parliament. In 1975 Gibbons was appointed to Jack Lynch's new front bench as Spokesperson on Agriculture. Charles Haughey, with whom he had clashed in the Arms Crisis, also re-joined the front bench.

Minister for Agriculture (1977–1979)
Following Fianna Fáil's huge triumph at the 1977 general election, Gibbons's tenure as an MEP ended and he returned to Jack Lynch's new cabinet as Minister for Agriculture. Once again his appointment was welcomed by farmers.

In 1979, Gibbons clashed with Charles Haughey, the Minister for Health, over the Family Planning Bill. As a devout Catholic, Gibbons voted against the bill that legalised the sale of contraceptives. Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, took no action against him. This action only exacerbated the ill-feeling between Gibbons and Haughey.

In December 1979, Jack Lynch announced his resignation as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader. The subsequent leadership election was a contest between Haughey and George Colley. The latter had the backing of almost every member of the cabinet; however, a backbench revolt saw Haughey narrowly become Taoiseach and party leader.

In the resulting cabinet reshuffle Gibbons and Bobby Molloy lost their ministerial positions, as Haughey promoted backbenchers who had supported him.

Later political career
Following his departure from cabinet, Gibbons became a vocal critic of Haughey's leadership of Fianna Fáil. After he lost his seat at the 1981 general election he openly called for a change of leadership within the party.

Gibbons regained his seat at the February 1982 general election and voted against Haughey in the leadership challenge that was proposed by Charlie McCreevy. Leaving Leinster House after the vote he was attacked by a number of drunken Fianna Fáil supporters and forced to the ground. A friend of his saw off the attackers. In the aftermath, new swivel doors were erected to prevent mobs pushing their way into the parliament building. The incident was recounted by Desmond O'Malley in the RTÉ documentary series Seven Ages (although O'Malley does not mention Gibbons by name), and was later also referred to in the 2005 RTÉ biographical series Haughey.

A few weeks after this incident Gibbons suffered a heart attack and was unable to vote for Haughey later that year in a no-confidence motion at which point the government fell. He lost his seat at the November 1982 general election and effectively retired from politics.

Retirement
In retirement Gibbons suffered from ill health and suffered a number of heart attacks and strokes. He never fully recovered from the physical assault on him outside the Dáil in 1982.

In 1986, Gibbons offered his support to Desmond O'Malley and the new Progressive Democrats, as he believed that there was no longer a place for him within Haughey's Fianna Fáil party. His son Martin Gibbons was elected to the Dáil for the new party in the 1987 general election. In 1997 another son, Jim Gibbons Jnr, was nominated by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as a member of the 21st Seanad.

Death
Jim Gibbons died on 20 December 1997 aged 73. He had married Margaret (Peg) O'Neill in 1950, and they had five sons and six daughters.

title: Jim Gibbons (Irish politician)


text:
St. Elsewhere

St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as teaching doctors at an aging, rundown Boston hospital who give interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions. The series was produced by MTM Enterprises, which had success with a similar NBC series, the police drama Hill Street Blues, during that same time. The series were often compared to each other for their use of ensemble casts and overlapping serialized storylines (an original ad for St. Elsewhere quoted a critic that called the series "Hill Street Blues in a hospital").

Recognized for its gritty, realistic drama, St. Elsewhere gained a small yet loyal following (the series never ranked higher than 47th place in the yearly Nielsen ratings) over its six-season, 137-episode run; however, the series also found a strong audience in Nielsen's 18–49 age demographic, a young demo later known for a young, affluent audience that TV advertisers were eager to reach. The series also earned critical acclaim during its run, earning 13 Emmy Awards for its writing, acting, and directing and is widely regarded as one of the greatest television shows of all time.

Overview
St. Elsewhere was set at the fictional St. Eligius Hospital, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood. (The South End's Franklin Square House Apartments, formerly known as the St. James Hotel and located next to Franklin and Blackstone Squares, stood in for the hospital in establishing shots, including the series' opening sequence.) The hospital's nickname, "St. Elsewhere", is a slang term used in the medical field to refer to lesser-equipped hospitals that serve patients turned away by more prestigious institutions; it is also used in medical academe to refer to teaching hospitals in general.

In the pilot episode, surgeon Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels) informs his colleagues that the local Boston media had bestowed the derogatory nickname upon St. Eligius since they perceived the hospital as "a dumping ground, a place you wouldn't want to send your mother-in-law." In fact, the hospital was so poorly regarded that its shrine to Saint Eligius was commonly defiled by the hospital's visitors and staff. Despite the hospital's reputation, they employed some first-rate doctors—including Craig, a world-class heart surgeon. As well, their administrative staff was shown to care deeply about the hospital's mission, even as they dealt with a lack of up-to-date equipment, funding, and experienced personnel.

Just as in Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere employed a large ensemble cast, a gritty, "realistic" visual style, and a multitude of interlocking serialized stories, many of which continued over the course of multiple episodes or seasons. In the same way Hill Street was regarded as a groundbreaking police drama, St. Elsewhere also broke new ground in medical dramas, creating a template that influenced ER, Chicago Hope, and other later shows in the genre. St. Elsewhere portrayed the medical profession as an admirable but less-than-perfect endeavor; the St. Eligius staff, while mostly having good intentions in serving their patients, all had their own personal and professional problems, with the two often intertwining. The staff's problems, and those of their patients (some of whom did not survive), were often contemporary in nature, with storylines involving breast cancer, AIDS, and addiction. Though the series dealt with serious issues of life, death, the medical profession, and the human effects of all three, a substantial number of comedic moments, inside jokes, and references to television history were included, as well as tender moments of humanity.

The producers for the series were Bruce Paltrow, Mark Tinker, John Masius, Tom Fontana, John Falsey and Abby Singer. Tinker, Masius, Fontana, and Paltrow wrote a number of episodes as well; other writers included John Tinker, John Ford Noonan, Charles H. Eglee, Eric Overmyer, Channing Gibson, and Aram Saroyan. The show's main and end title theme was composed by famed jazz musician and composer Dave Grusin. Noted film and TV composer J. A. C. Redford wrote the music for the series (except for the pilot, which was scored by Grusin). No soundtrack was ever released, but the theme was released in two different versions: the original TV mix and edit appeared on TVT Records' compilation Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3: 70s & 80s, and Grusin recorded a full-length version for inclusion on his Night Lines album, released in 1983.

Main cast
Along with established actors Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels, St. Elsewhere's ensemble cast included David Morse, Alfre Woodard, Bruce Greenwood, Christina Pickles, Kyle Secor, Ed Begley Jr., Stephen Furst, Howie Mandel, Mark Harmon, Denzel Washington and Helen Hunt. Notable guest stars include Tim Robbins, whose first major role was in the series' first three episodes as domestic terrorist Andrew Reinhardt, and Doris Roberts and James Coco, who each earned Emmy Awards for their season-one appearance as a bag lady and her mentally challenged husband.

Episodes
St. Elsewhere ran for six seasons and 137 episodes; the first season (1982–83) aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET), with remaining seasons airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

St. Elsewhere was noteworthy for featuring episodes with unusual aspects or significant changes to the series' status quo. Some of those episodes included:

"Qui Transtulit Sustinet"
Original air date: November 16, 1983

Dr. Morrison learns of the death of his wife, Nina (with whom he had an argument midway through the previous episode, which was the last time he saw her alive), after slipping and hitting her head. Nina's heart is donated to a heart transplant patient—a patient of Dr. Craig. The poignant final scene of the episode finds Morrison entering the patient's room and, with a stethoscope, hearing the patient's new heart—Nina's heart—steadily beating.

"Cheers"
Original air date: March 27, 1985

St. Elsewhere ended its 3rd season with this TV crossover that found Drs. Westphall, Auschlander, and Craig getting together at Cheers. The scene, which was filmed on the main Cheers soundstage (Stage 25 at the Paramount Studios lot), finds Cliff Clavin trying and failing to gain free medical advice from the doctors, Auschlander confronting his former accountant Norm Peterson, and barmaid Carla Tortelli voicing her displeasure with the doctors regarding her stay in St. Eligius two years earlier for the birth of her baby. The scene ends with Westphall announcing to his two colleagues that he has decided to leave St. Eligius and medicine, a short-lived departure, as he returned in the Season 4 premiere.

The merger of Cheers' and St. Elsewhere's universes created a discontinuity with the second season finale, "Hello, Goodbye", in which Dr. Morrison and his young son spend a day on the town and visit the real-world Bull and Finch Pub, the banners out front celebrating it as the inspiration for (and exterior view of) Cheers.

"Time Heals"
Original air date: February 19 and 20, 1986

This two-part episode featured storylines that fleshed out the 50-year history of St. Eligius, each sequence taped in a different style (i.e. black-and-white for the 1930s setting, muted colors for the 1940s). The storylines included the hospital's 1936 founding by Fr. Joseph McCabe (played by Edward Herrmann), the arrivals of Dr. Auschlander and Nurse Rosenthal, the early struggles of Mark Craig and his relationship with his mentor (which mirrored Craig's later mentoring of Dr. Ehrlich), the death of Dr. Westphall's wife, and Dr. Morrison simultaneously dealing with an overdose patient, a knee injury, and the disappearance of his son. TV Guide ranked "Time Heals" No. 44 on its 1997 list of "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time", calling the episode "a masterwork of dramatic writing."

"After Life"
Original air date: November 26, 1986

This episode deals with the shooting of Dr. Wayne Fiscus, who is critically wounded after being shot by the vengeful wife of a patient he is treating in the ER. As the staff frantically try to save him, Fiscus ventures back-and-forth between Hell (where he meets former colleague, and rapist, Peter White), Purgatory, and Heaven, where he has a conversation with God, who presents Himself as a spitting image of Fiscus. Just as Fiscus shakes hands with Lou Gehrig, his colleagues successfully revive him back to Earth.

"Last Dance at the Wrecker's Ball"
Original air date: May 27, 1987

In the season-five finale, all attempts to save St. Eligius from closing seem to have failed. As demolition begins, a frail Dr. Auschlander, accidentally left in the hospital after a relapse, attempts to escape.

"A Moon For the Misbegotten"
Original air date: September 30, 1987

St. Eligius is saved (and any damage from the above-mentioned "Wrecker's Ball" repaired), but it falls under the new ownership of Ecumena Corporation, a national managed health care concern. (The use of "Ecumena" garnered some real-life controversy, as Humana thought the use of that name sounded too much like its own. The trademark-infringement lawsuit that ensued prompted NBC to begin airing post-episode disclaimers stating that Ecumena was indeed fictional, and to change the corporate name mid-season to "Weigert". ) Ecumena's choice to head St. Eligius, Dr. John Gideon, did not get along well with the St. Eligius staff, especially Dr. Westphall, who, in the final scene of this episode (and Ed Flanders's last moment as a St. Elsewhere series regular), delivers his resignation "in terms you can understand"—by dropping his pants and exposing his bare buttocks to Gideon ("You can kiss my ass, pal"). This scene, which would normally be considered controversial, was preserved by NBC's censors as they did not consider Westphall's display to be erotic in nature.

"Their Town"
Original air date: April 20, 1988

In a somewhat change-of-pace episode, Drs. Craig and Novino, Ellen Craig, and Lizzie Westphall visit Donald and Tommy Westphall (Lizzie's father and brother, respectively), who appear to be enjoying the quiet life in small town New Hampshire. The episode features Dr. Westphall occasionally breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the viewer, a la the "Stage Manager" character in Our Town (the episode title and its location are nods to the Thornton Wilder play). The teleplay for "Their Town" was written by St. Elsewhere cast member Sagan Lewis (as "S.J. Lewis"), although her character of Dr. Wade does not appear.

"The Last One"
Original air date: May 25, 1988

St. Elsewhere's series finale features momentous changes for several main characters, including the departures of Drs. Fiscus and Morrison and the death of Dr. Auschlander, as well as the return of Dr. Westphall to an active leadership role at St. Eligius after Weigert agrees to sell the hospital back to the Boston archdiocese, as Dr. Gideon is set to move on to another hospital in San Jose, California.

The finale is more known for its provocative final scene: Westphall and his son Tommy Westphall (played by Chad Allen), who has autism, are seen in Dr. Auschlander's office watching snow falling outside. The image cuts to an exterior shot of the hospital, shaking. At that moment, Tommy and Daniel Auschlander are seen in an apartment building, with Tommy sitting on the floor playing with a snow globe. A much younger-looking Donald arrives home from a day of work, and it is clear from the uniform he wears and the dialog in this scene that he works in construction. "Auschlander" is revealed to be Donald's father, and thus Tommy's grandfather. Donald laments to his father, "I don't understand this autism thing, Pop. Here's my son. I talk to him. I don't even know if he can hear me, because he sits there, all day long, in his own world, staring at that toy. What's he thinking about?" As Tommy shakes the snow globe, he is told by his father to come and wash his hands for dinner. Donald places the snow globe on the family's television set and walks into the kitchen with Tommy and Auschlander; as they leave the room, the camera closes in on the snow globe—which holds a replica of St. Eligius.

The most common interpretation of this scene is that the entire series of events in the series St. Elsewhere has been a product of Tommy Westphall's imagination, with elements of the above scene used as its own evidence. Author Cynthia Burkhead explains that with this final shot, "St. Elsewhere managed to take the idea of a dream and alter it just enough, putting it in the imagination of an autistic boy", and surmises that an ending constructed in this manner "reminds viewers that the fiction they have watched for six years is actually fiction within a fiction, occupying a second level of unreality, one level beyond the space of illusion filled by all narrative television." A notable result of this ending has been the attempt by individuals to determine how many television shows are also products of Tommy Westphall's mind owing to its shared fictional characters (the "Tommy Westphall Universe").

"The Last One"'s closing credits differ from those of the rest of the series. In all other episodes, the credits appear over a still image of an ongoing surgical operation, followed by the traditional MTM Productions black-backgrounded logo, featuring Mimsie the Cat in a cartoon surgical cap and mask. Here, the credits appear on a black background, flanked by an electrocardiogram and an IV bag, with Mimsie lying on her side at the top of the screen; at the end of the credits, the heart monitor flatlines, marking Mimsie's death and the end of St. Elsewhere. Coincidentally, Mimsie the Cat died in real life shortly after the airing of "The Last One" at the age of 20.

"The Last One" brought in 22.5 million viewers, ranking 7th out of 68 programs that week and attracting a 17.0/29 rating/share, and ranking as the most watched episode of the series. In 2011, the finale was ranked No. 12 on the TV Guide Network special TV's Most Unforgettable Finales.

Broadcast history and Nielsen ratings
The ratings for St. Elsewhere's first season were so poor that NBC hesitated to renew the show and the crew understood it to be cancelled. After a ratings pop from the season finale, network CEO Grant Tinker (Mark's father and a co-founder of MTM) personally intervened to continue the show. However, it struggled for renewals throughout its run due to its below-average overall ratings/viewership.

Allusions, crossovers, and homages
St. Elsewhere was known for the insertion of several allusions both large and small to classic movies, pop culture, and television events (the latter especially) throughout its run, including other shows that were produced by MTM Enterprises. Some of the more noteworthy allusions have included:
 * The St. Eligius public address loudspeakers periodically summoned characters from other television series, often going unnoticed by the show's characters.
 * The character of hospital orderly Warren Coolidge (played by Byron Stewart) was carried over from The White Shadow, where Coolidge had been a student at Carver High. (Before St. Elsewhere, Bruce Paltrow served as Shadow's showrunner.) Coolidge occasionally sported a Carver High T-shirt while working at St. Eligius. In third-season episode "Any Portrait in a Storm", Coolidge sees guest star Timothy Van Patten (another Shadow alumnus) in an elevator and calls out "Hey! Salami!," to which Van Patten, playing an unrelated character (named Dean, in a three episode story arc), replies "You got the wrong guy, pal," leaving Coolidge trying to plead his case with a confused "No – it's Warren," as the elevator doors close.
 * In the third season episode "Playing God, Part 2", the Craigs are in their bedroom and Mrs. Craig says she wants to see who is on The Merv Griffin Show. Dr. Craig says, "Probably some stupid comic." She turns on the TV and Howie Mandel, the actor/comedian who played Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the show, can be heard. Dr. Craig says, "What is he wearing, a hand?" (a reference to Mandel's routine that involved wearing a surgical glove on his head).
 * The third season episode "Sweet Dreams" features a recreation of the music video for the ZZ Top song "Legs". It features the Eliminator car, but the band was played by members of the cast.
 * The fourth season episode "Close Encounters" has numerous crossovers.
 * In the psychiatric ward, patients watch various MTM-produced shows on television – MTM (headed by Mary Tyler Moore and Grant Tinker) was the company that produced St. Elsewhere.
 * The patients briefly watch MTM's The White Shadow, produced by St. Elsewhere showrunner Bruce Paltrow. It is seen here as fictional, even though orderly Warren Coolidge is a carryover from The White Shadow (see above). (In the previous season, the bar from Cheers is seen as both fictional and part of the St. Elsewhere universe.)
 * The amnesiac patient John Doe #6, a recurring character played by Oliver Clark, while watching an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on a hospital TV, believes himself to be that series' lead character Mary Richards. He then mistakes guest star Betty White for Sue Anne (the character White had played on that same show). She responds, "I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else."
 * John Doe #6 is verbally disparaged by another patient in the psychiatric ward — Elliott Carlin, the resident neurotic from The Bob Newhart Show played by Jack Riley. Carlin's treatment of Doe mirrored his behavior toward Oliver Clark's Bob Newhart Show character, Mr. Herd. Mr. Carlin subsequently appeared on an episode of Newhart, still uncured from the damage caused by "some quack in Chicago."
 * In "Santa Claus is Dead", Dr. Craig mentions serving in Korea with his drinking buddy, B.J. Hunnicutt, implying that Dr. Hunnicutt was reassigned to another unit in Korea following the July 1953 deactivation of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital at the end of M*A*S*H's finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen".
 * The crew filled the series finale, "The Last One", with an abundance of allusions and homages. The cold open has Dr. Fiscus saying to an ER patient "General Sarnoff..." (the man responsible for launching NBC, the first television network, in 1926) "... cut down the time you spend in front of the television". There is a direct reference to the 1967 series finale of The Fugitive, when orderly Coolidge catches a "One-Armed Man", on a water tower, for "Dr. Kimble". A patient appears to get his hair cut by (The Andy Griffith Show's) Floyd the Barber, including his first name, face and clothing. There is a call over the public address system for a Code Blue (someone has reached their "end") in Room 222. There is a direct reference to the 1977 series finale of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, including a group hug, a group shuffle to get tissues and a suggestion that they sing "It's a Long Way to Tipperary". The finale for the character Dr. Henry Blake in a 1975 episode of M*A*S*H is referred to when cadaver "4077" is autopsied after a "helicopter crash". There are numerous song references, including Dr. Fiscus saying "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine", and Dr. Auschlander exclaiming "Jumpin' Jack, what was that flash?"

St. Elsewhere was also host to one crossover, served as the source material for two others, and has been paid homage to in several ways:
 * The third season's finale featured Drs. Westphall, Auschlander, and Craig visiting the eponymous pub of Cheers (also set in Boston) for a drink. During the second season of Cheers, barmaid Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman) gave birth to a child at St. Eligius, and here expresses her displeasure about her hospitalization there, even getting into a verbal altercation with Dr. Craig.
 * Two St. Elsewhere characters were carried over to the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street, which was executive produced by St. Elsewhere alumnus Tom Fontana. In an episode in season six entitled "Mercy", Alfre Woodard reprises her role of Dr. Roxanne Turner, who is accused of illegally euthanizing a cancer patient. Woodard was nominated for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her performance. In other Homicide episodes, the character of Detective Tim Bayliss (played by Kyle Secor) develops a bad back and is treated by an offscreen "Dr. Ehrlich". In the Homicide: The Movie finale, Ed Begley Jr., makes an uncredited appearance as Dr. Victor Ehrlich.
 * Ed Begley Jr., William Daniels, Stephen Furst, and Eric Laneuville reunited to appear in a season-one episode of Scrubs where the actors, rather than reprising their St. Elsewhere roles, play a quartet of doctors that fall sick at a medical convention. The episode was part of a week-long series of events honoring NBC's 75th Anniversary.
 * Episode 7 ("There Are No F**king Sides") of Season 1 of Showtime's series City on a Hill (based in early 1990s Boston) includes an establishing shot of the exterior of St. Eligius, along with hospital scenes in which Dr. Morrison is referenced by a character, and in which Drs. Axelrod, Wade, Westphall, and Fiscus and Nurse Papandreau are paged in the background on the hospital's PA system. In S01E08, St. Eligius was mentioned by name.
 * In Oz, the company Weigert (which played a major role in St. Elsewhere's final season) takes over the prison's medical ward after the company makes a deal with Governor Devlin in Season 3. During the final season, nurse and angel of mercy serial killer is mentioned as having been fired from numerous hospitals prior to joining Oz's medical staff, including St. Elsewhere.
 * In the 2023 Rock N Roll Biographies comic book on King Diamond from Ten Ton Press, the ending is a direct homage to the final episode which writer Spike Steffenhagen has called "The greatest ending to any television show." The final panel features a couple looking at their two black cats (who have appeared as giants throughout the story) staring into a snow globe with a haunted house in it.

Awards and nominations
St. Elsewhere won 24 out of 106 award nominations. The series garnered 62 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning 13 of them. Out the thirteen wins, Ed Flanders won once and William Daniels won twice for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Bonnie Bartlett and Doris Roberts each won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, James Coco won for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, John Masius and Tom Fontana won two awards for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, and Mark Tinker won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series. It received five Golden Globe Award nominations, with four of them for Best Television Series – Drama. St. Elsewhere received seven TCA Award nominations, winning once for Outstanding Achievement in Drama. The series also won three out of four Q Awards. Additional accolades include a Peabody Award and People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Dramatic Program.

Film adaptation
In May 2003, Walden Media announced a partnership with Roth Films to create a film adaptation of the television series. It was never made.

Syndication
After its initial run, reruns of St. Elsewhere aired for a time in syndication, with later runs on Nick at Nite, TV Land, Bravo and AmericanLife TV Network.

Also a popular series in the United Kingdom, St. Elsewhere has been aired twice by two separate British broadcasters. Channel 4 aired the series between 1983 and 1989, with Sky One later airing repeats in a daily Midday timeslot during 1992–93. In 2009, Channel 4 began showing the series again, usually at around 03:30 AM, and have repeated the entire series several times since then. All 137 episodes are also available to view online at All 4.

Nick at Nite first added St. Elsewhere to its regular lineup on April 29, 1996, as part of an all-night sneak peek of sister network TV Land. After the sneak peek, Nick at Nite aired St. Elsewhere regularly from May 4 until July 6, 1996, every Saturday night as part of a short-lived programming block called Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler. St. Elsewhere was one of many rotating shows airing Saturday nights as part of Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler, which included (among other shows) Petticoat Junction, That Girl and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour along with past Nick at Nite Classics Mister Ed and Green Acres. Nick at Nite aired reruns of St. Elsewhere once again from June 30 until July 4, 1997, as part of the week-long event The 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. Theme music-- St. Elsewhere/Music composed by Dave Grusin. Robert David Grusin, an American composer, arranger, producer, jazz pianist, and band leader, has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy Award and 10 Grammy Awards.

Home media
On November 28, 2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the complete first season of St. Elsewhere on DVD in Region 1.

In Region 2, Channel 4 DVD released the first season on DVD in the UK on April 2, 2007. All episodes have been made available on Channel 4's UK on-demand internet stream All 4 in the UK and Ireland, though these episodes are edited versions for syndication and not as they were originally aired.

As of June 2021, all six seasons of the series are available for streaming on Hulu.

title: St. Elsewhere


text:
Ernest Starling

Ernest Henry Starling (17 April 1866 – 2 May 1927) was a British physiologist who contributed many fundamental ideas to this subject. These ideas were important parts of the British contribution to physiology, which at that time led the world.

He made at least four significant contributions: 1. In the capillary, water is forced out through the pores in the wall by hydrostatic pressure and driven in by the osmotic pressure of plasma proteins (or oncotic pressure). These opposing forces approximately balance; which is known as Starling's Principle. 2. The discovery of the hormone secretin—with his brother-in-law William Bayliss—and the introduction of the word hormone. 3. The analysis of the heart's activity as a pump, which is known as the Frank–Starling law. 4. Several fundamental observations on the action of the kidneys. These include evidence for the existence of vasopressin, the anti-diuretic hormone. He also wrote the leading textbook of physiology in English, which ran through 20 editions.

Rising to prominence
Ernest Starling became a medical student at Guy's Hospital, London, in 1882 (when he was 16). He had a brilliant career there and set his sights on becoming a Harley Street physician. But the science behind medicine—physiology—attracted him much more; he spent a long vacation in Wilhelm Kühne's laboratory in Heidelberg, studying the mechanisms of lymph formation and convinced himself that he could become a physiologist. At that time such a job description did not exist in Britain.

Guy's had no physiological laboratories, but Starling's enthusiasm changed all this, and he published nine papers on lymph and capillary function between 1893 and 1897. He showed that there are opposing forces across the capillary wall—an outward movement of water due to hydrostatic pressure (derived from the heart's contraction) and an inward movement, secondary to the osmotic pressure of the plasma proteins within the capillary. Without awareness of these forces, the physician cannot begin to understand such conditions as edema. The inward and outward forces are often referred to as "Starling forces". They established him as a serious contributor.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1899.

Hormones
Starling enjoyed collaborating with William Bayliss (1860–1924), who was on the staff of University College London (UCL), and together they published on the electrical activity of the heart and on peristalsis. In 1891, when he was 25, Starling married Florence Amelia Wooldridge, the widow of Leonard Charles Wooldridge, who had been his physiology teacher at Guy's and died at the age of 32. She was a great support to Starling as a sounding board, secretary, and manager of his affairs as well as mother of their four children. In 1893 Bayliss married Gertrude, Starling's sister, so the two were brothers-in-law. When Starling was appointed professor at UCL in 1899, the scientific family was even closer. Bayliss and Starling were in the newspaper's headlines when involved in the Brown Dog affair, a controversy relating to vivisection.

Bayliss and Starling investigated pancreatic secretion, which at that time was believed to be entirely under nervous control. They showed that whenever food or acid was put into the duodenum some blood-borne stimulus was released, causing the pancreas to secrete. They called this substance secretin and Starling proposed that the body produces many secretin-like molecules, and in 1905 proposed that these substances should be called hormones. By doing this, he began a whole new biological subject, which became known as endocrinology.

Medical education
Starling felt passionately about many subjects, one of which was medical education. He found the lack of science behind medical practice intolerable, and when in 1910 a Royal Commission (The Haldane Commission) was set up to improve medical education, Starling was an enthusiastic contributor. One of the consequences of the commission was the establishment of medical units in London teaching hospitals: clinical practice supported by laboratory research is now taken for granted in every large institution. For this, we must thank Starling's and William Osler's evidence given before the Haldane Commission.

The law of the heart
The physiological discovery most often associated with Starling is the Law of the Heart. Occupying two years of his life (1910–1912) his investigations examined how the heart increased its output in response to more blood entering the organ, which increases the size of the chambers during filling. For this work he made use of the anaesthetized dog, in an experimental arrangement known as the heart-lung preparation. This played an important role in subsequent experiments, when he was not primarily interested in blood flow.

Starling was unaware of previous work by a German physiologist, Otto Frank, using the isolated frog heart. Frank showed that the longer the heart-muscle fibres were stretched the stronger the contraction. He did this with no interest in the circulation as a whole, so his findings have to be taken in parallel with Starling's, thus it became the Frank–Starling law.

World War I
During the 1914–1918 war, Starling first was involved in research into poison gases. As a commissioned officer he found the organization of the matter chaotic and on several occasions was very outspoken to his war office superiors. This did his prospects no good at all. Many of his distinguished contemporaries received knighthoods. Starling was awarded a CMG. He resigned from the army in June 1917 and finally was able to undertake war work that utilized his abilities. As chairman of the Royal Society Food (War) Committee, he was instrumental in setting up rationing that provided needed calories and also the nutritional supplements then known. Rationing actually improved nutrition in wartime Britain. Germany had a similar food shortage during the war, but coped with it disastrously.

Post-war
Starling returned to UCL at the end of the war. His wartime experiences had left him with a scathing vision on how the country was run, and in particular the educational system. He was especially outspoken on public (the British designation for private) school education. And particularly the teaching of classics themes: "After nine years, nine-tenths of the boys can read neither Latin nor Greek. They may have acquired a few catchwords or allusions to classical mythology, but they can give no account of the manner in which the Greeks lived, or the part played by Greek philosophy in the evolution of modern ideas, or in the way in which western government has been founded on Roman inventions."

During the 1920s he was very busy doing experiments and his reputation attracted distinguished collaborators. Many of these involved the heart-lung preparation. It was used to investigate the control of blood pressure (with G. V. Anrep), the activity of insulin (with F. P. Knowlton ), and renal function (with E. B. Verney). In 1923–24 the American embryologist, George Washington Corner worked with Starling in his laboratory. In 1920, Starling was found to have colonic cancer, and the surgeon Arbuthnot Lane removed half of his colon. It seriously limited his exceptional physical activities: he gave up mountaineering, for example.

The Nobel Committee
Starling's relationship with the Nobel Prize is of interest. He was first proposed for the prize in 1913 by Otto Loewi (who won a Prize himself in 1936). Starling's subject was hormones, with secretin being prominent. The assessor, J. E. Johansson, decided that Starling should receive the prize, but not yet. No prize was given during World War I. In 1920 August Krogh, a Danish physiologist was rewarded for his work on capillaries (his findings were not actually as significant as Starling's had been, twenty years before: but the significance of 'Starling forces' in the capillary had not become apparent).

In 1926, Starling was proposed again, this time for his work on the kidney. On this occasion, Johansson felt that Starling's hormone studies should have been rewarded. But by then the experiments had been done almost a quarter of a century before, and Johansson felt that the prize should be given for recent discoveries. He had forgotten that it was he who had put Starling's work on the back burner in 1913. Subsequent British Laureates (such as Gowland Hopkins and Charles Sherrington) were given the prize for work they had done twenty or thirty years before. But by this time Johansson was no longer involved with the awarding of the prize.

Death
The exact circumstances of Starling's death are far from clear. He was on a pleasure cruise in the West Indies, but when his ship, the Elders & Fyffes banana boat Ariguani, tied up in Kingston harbour he was found to be dead. He was apparently travelling by himself, and there were no friends or relations at his funeral—in pouring rain—in Kingston, Jamaica. No autopsy was performed, so the cause of his death— which one may presume to be cancer secondary to his colon tumour—was never established.

His death marked the end of an outstanding contributor to medical science. In the words of Henry Dale, "All had found him a generous comrade and leader, and it is impossible to think of physiology in the last thirty years without Starling as the central figure of inspiration … his courage was indomitable, his energy and his passion for knowledge flouted all restraint."

Descendants
Two of his great-grandchildren, Boris Starling (born 1969) and Belinda Starling (1972–2006) are writers.

His daughter Muriel (born c1893), married Sydney Patterson at St. Mary's Kilburn, London in 1919.

title: Ernest Starling


text:
User talk:Achilstone

Welcome
Hello, welcome to Wikipedia.

You might find these links helpful in creating new pages or helping with the above tasks: How to edit a page, How to write a great article, Naming conventions, Manual of Style. You should read our policies at some point too.

If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

 * If you made any edits before you got an account, you might be interested in assigning those to your username.

 * You can sign your name using three tildes, like this: . If you use four, you can add a datestamp too.

 * If you ever think a page or image should be deleted, please list it at the votes for deletion page. There is also a votes for undeletion page if you want to retrieve something that you think should not have been deleted.

Again, welcome! - UtherSRG 16:41, 17 Mar 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Achilstone


text:
Alfons Goppel

Alfons Goppel (1 October 1905 – 24 December 1991) was a German politician of the CSU party and Prime Minister of Bavaria (1962–1978).

Biography
Alfons Goppel was born in Reinhausen (now Regensburg), one of the nine children of the baker Ludwig Goppel and his wife Barbara.

He married Gertrud Wittenbrink in 1935 and they had six sons.

Goppel studied law in Munich from 1925 to 1929 and, after graduating, moved back to Regensburg, where he became a lawyer. He joined the state prosecutors office in 1934 and was posted to Mainburg, Kaiserslautern and finally Aschaffenburg. He joined the conservative Bavarian People's Party in 1930 and was a member until the party's self-dissolution in November 1933. He joined the SA (1933) and the NSDAP (1937) in the following years.

He took part in the campaigns in France and Russia in the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War and later became an instructor at the Infanterieschule Döberitz, near Berlin, a training camp of the German army.

Returning from the war, he became an official at the city of Aschaffenburg, responsible for housing and refugees. He was elected to the Bavarian Landtag in October 1947 but barred from taking up his seat due to his political past. He, unsuccessfully, campaigned for the Landtag in 1950 again, became second mayor of Aschaffenburg in 1952 and finally, in 1954, was elected to the Landtag and permitted to take up his seat. He remained in the Bavarian parliament until 1978, when he gave it up to become a member of the European Parliament.

He unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Würzburg in 1956 and became an under secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of Justice the year after. He was Bavarian Minister of the Interior (1958–1962) and prime minister of Bavaria from 11 December 1962 to 7 November 1978, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 1972/73. In 1974 he gained the highest election victory for the CSU in Bavarian history with 62.1% of the votes.

From 1979 to 1984 he was a member of the European Parliament, as such being part of the first freely elected group of MPs in 1979. He died, aged 86, in Johannesberg, near Aschaffenburg.

One of his sons, Thomas Goppel, later served amongst others as Minister of Science, Research and the Arts (2003–2008).

The Alfons-Goppel-Stiftung (Alfons Goppel Foundation), formed in 1980 and named after him, supports needy children in third-world countries.

Honors

 * Honorary doctorate of the University of Würzburg and the St. John's University Minnesota.

title: Alfons Goppel


text:
Sun River

The Sun River (also called the Medicine River) is a tributary of the Missouri River in the Great Plains, approximately 130 mi (209 km) long, in Montana in the United States. It rises in the Rocky Mountains in two forks, the North Fork and South Fork, which join in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest above Gibson Reservoir along the county line between Teton and Lewis and Clark counties. It flows E, SE, and E away from the mountains, past Simms, Sun River, and Vaughn and joins the Missouri at Great Falls.

The water of the river is used extensively for irrigation, through the Sun River Project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The irrigation area covers approximately 92,000 acres (372 km2).

The North Fork of the Sun River begins high up in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and flows generally Southward for about 20 mi until it meets up with the South Fork of the Sun River. Almost immediately the two forks flow into Gibson Reservoir, impounded by Gibson Dam. From when the water leaves the reservoir until it meets the Missouri River in Great Falls, the flowage is known as the Sun River.

The Sun is a Class I river from Gibson Dam to its confluence with the Missouri River for public access for recreational purposes.

History
A sign located 3 miles south of Great Falls gives information on the history of the Sun River. This river was called "The Medicine" by the Indians. On the return trip from the coast Capt. Lewis of the Lewis & Clark Expedition struck this river approximately 50 miles west of here. He followed it down to the Missouri passing near this point July 11, 1806. In his journal under that date he said: "when I arrived in sight of the white-bear Islands the missouri bottoms on both sides of the river were crowded with buffaloe I sincerely believe that there were not less than 10 thousand buffaloe within a circle of 2 miles around that place"

The City of Great Falls covers a portion of the plain across which the Expedition made their difficult 18 mile portage around the falls of the Missouri in June 1805

title: Sun River


text:
Bavarian State Opera

The Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper) is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra.

History
The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Electress consort Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, when Giovanni Battista Maccioni's L'arpa festante was performed in the court theatre. In 1753, the Residence Theatre (Cuvilliés Theatre) was opened as a major stage. While opera performances were also held in the Prinzregententheater (completed in 1901), the company's home base is the Nationaltheater München on Max-Joseph-Platz.

In 1875, the Munich Opera Festival took place for the first time. Sir Peter Jonas became the general manager in 1993, the first British general manager of any major German-speaking opera house. In 2008, Nikolaus Bachler became Intendant (general manager) of the opera company, and Kirill Petrenko became Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) in 2013. In 2014, the Bavarian State Opera received the Opernhaus des Jahres (opera house of the year) award from Opernwelt magazine. In October 2015, the company announced the extensions of the contracts of Bachler and of Petrenko through August 2021. Both Bachler and Petrenko stood down from their respective posts at the close of the 2020–2021 season.

In March 2018, the company announced the appointments of Serge Dorny as its next general manager, and of Vladimir Jurowski as its next Generalmusikdirektor, both effective with the 2021–2022 season. It received the "Opera Company of the Year" award at the 2018 and 2023 International Opera Awards.

Intendant

 * Johann Nepomuk von Poißl (1824–1848)
 * Karl Theodor von Küstner (1848–1851)
 * Franz von Dingelstedt (1851–1858)
 * Karl von Perfall (1868–1893)
 * Ernst von Possart (1895–1906)
 * Albert von Speidel (1907–1912)
 * Clemens von Franckenstein (1912–1918)
 * Karl Zeiss (1918–1924)
 * Clemens von Franckenstein (1924–1934)
 * Hans Knappertsbusch (1934–1935)
 * Oskar Walleck (1935–1937)
 * Clemens Krauss (1937–1940)
 * Georg Hartmann (director) (1945–1952)
 * Rudolf Hartmann (director) (1952–1967)
 * Günther Rennert (1967–1976)
 * August Everding (1977–1982)
 * Wolfgang Sawallisch (1982–1993)
 * Peter Jonas (1993–2006)
 * Kent Nagano (2006–2008)
 * Nikolaus Bachler (2008–2021)
 * Serge Dorny (2021–present)

Generalmusikdirektor

 * Franz Lachner (1836–1867)
 * Hans von Bülow (1864–1869)
 * Franz Wüllner (1870–1877)
 * Hermann Levi (1872–1896)
 * Richard Strauss (1894–1896)
 * Max Erdmannsdörfer (1896–1898)
 * Bernhard Stavenhagen (1898–1902)
 * Hermann Zumpe (1901–1903)
 * Felix Mottl (1904–1911)
 * Bruno Walter (1913–1922)
 * Hans Knappertsbusch (1922–1935)
 * Clemens Krauss (1937–1944)
 * Hans Knappertsbusch (1945)
 * Georg Solti (1946–1952)
 * Rudolf Kempe (1952–1954)
 * Ferenc Fricsay (1956–1958)
 * Joseph Keilberth (1959–1968)
 * Wolfgang Sawallisch (1971–1992)
 * Peter Schneider (interim, 1992–1998)
 * Zubin Mehta (1998–2006)
 * Kent Nagano (2006–2013)
 * Kirill Petrenko (2013–2021)
 * Vladimir Jurowski (2021–present)

Recordings
Bavarian State Opera has issued numerous recordings under record labels such as Deutsche Grammophon. In May 2021, it launched its own recording label, Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings (BSOrec).

Among the company's noted recordings are the 1989 video recording of Wagners' Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festival conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, which won Best Video in the 1993 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The 1973 recording of Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, conducted by Carlos Kleiber and released in 2008, was highly acclaimed and selected as Editor's Choice in the April 2009 issue of Gramophone Magazine.

At International Opera Awards, the Bayerische Staatsoper won the 2018 the Opera Company Award. Their recording of Handel's Agrippina, directed by Barrie Kosky from the Royal Opera House, has been shortlisted for the 2018 Opera Awards.

In 1977, a recording by the Bavarian State Opera was selected by NASA to be included on the Voyager Golden Record, a gold-plated copper record that was sent into space on the Voyager space craft. The record contained sounds and images which had been selected as examples of the diversity of life and culture on Earth. In the recording, soprano Edda Moser sings "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" from Mozart's opera, The Magic Flute, conducted by Sawallisch.

title: Bavarian State Opera


text:
Averse Sefira

Averse Sefira was a black metal band from Austin, Texas.

Biography
Averse Sefira was formed in 1996 by guitarist and vocalist Sanguine Mapsama and bassist Wrath Sathariel Diabolus. Their demo, Blasphomet Sin Abset, was released later that year. It featured a drum machine in lieu of a live drummer. Three years later, in 1999, their first full-length album, which was entitled Homecomings March, was released on Arrogare Records, their own label which was created specifically for the purpose of releasing that album. Again, the band had to make use of a drum machine instead of a real drummer. A remastered version of the album was released in 2003, with the interludes as separate tracks.

2001 had the band releasing a second album, Battle's Clarion. For this album, the band, for the first time, had a live drummer, The Carcass, who was previously a member of Texas death metal band Death of Millions, and was, at one point, a touring drummer for Incantation. The music on this album took on a profound death metal influence, at times reminiscent of early Deicide or Morbid Angel, but was still easily identifiable as black metal.

After Battle's Clarion, the band toured internationally for a few years intermittently, both with well-known bands such as Dark Funeral and underground acts such as Antaeus and Watain. The band quickly gained a reputation for putting on a fierce live show and gained followings in Europe and South America, particularly in Brazil.

Four years after Battle's Clarion, in 2005, the band returned to the studio to record their third full-length album, Tetragrammatical Astygmata. For the first time, the band had a powerful production, provided by Necromorbus Studio. This album saw the band continuing both in the more sonorous direction employed on Homecomings March and the chaotic direction first seen on Battle's Clarion. A newly found sense of harmonics, similar to Immortal's Pure Holocaust, aided in the creation of the band's sound as well as connecting it to the contemplative moments. Interludes on this album were more limited than on any prior work, occasionally making a brief appearance to connect two songs.

Advent Parallax was issued on February 25 by Candlelight Records. And again it was produced by Tore Stjerna (Necromorbus).

In a blog post on May 3, 2012 Averse Sefira announced the band had come to an end. "It is over. The entity Averse Sefira has fractured back into its earthly parts, never to take wing again."

Musical style and ideology
The band's early music was "stylistically most like early Mayhem and Gorgoroth". Around Battle's Clarion, they "explored a more death-oriented sound, and helped mold the style of the Texas outfit into something a bit more developed". On Advent Parallax, Averse Sefira "provide raw, scorching, bludgeoning black metal" with "hints of death metal on occasion, but black metal is the main ingredient -- and that means sinister-sounding rasp vocals […], thunderous blastbeats, and an ambience of total doom. One of the things that makes Advent Parallax effective is the fact that you can actually understand the lyrics that are coming out of Mapsama's mouth. So many black metal and death metal vocalists are difficult to understand, but Mapsama is quite understandable on pummeling tracks such as 'Viral Kinesis,' 'Serpent Recoil,' 'Cognition of Rebirth,' and 'Seance in a Warrior's Memory.' All things considered, this early-2008 release is a respectable, noteworthy example of an American band with a very Scandinavian-influenced sound" wrote Alex Henderson for AllMusic.

Sanguine has stated that as a Satanist, he finds it "somewhat insulting to see bands who write lyrics where every other word is 'SATAN!'", and Wrath Sathariel Diabolus disassociated himself from US death metal bands believing themselves to be black metallers because they use corpse paint and scream "Satan", pointing out that behind black metal, there is an idea first and not just strongly distorted guitars. Wrath named John Milton's Paradise Lost as a "great piece of literature" he gets inspiration from. He is also inspired by some magical, "particularly ones dealing with Enochian magick", and the Old Testament, "only because it portrays god and the angels as destructive and terrifying. I like that." Sanguine is inspired by the works of Arthur Edward Waite, William Blake and Charles Baudelaire. Referring to the 1990s NSBM trend, Wrath pointed out that Averse Sefira never had any link with Nazism; and Sanguine sees "it as somewhat contradictory that people are linking national-socialism and satanism together, although it seems that most of the NS bands are dumping their Satanic roots. Adopting National-Socialism seems like a last ditch shock tactic."

Studio releases

 * Homecoming's March - (1999)
 * Battle's Clarion - (2001)
 * Tetragrammatical Astygmata - (2005)
 * Advent Parallax - (2008)

Live and compilation releases

 * A Union in Blood - Live in Bordeaux (live, 2003)
 * Bestien in Engelgestalt (split w/ Secrets of the Moon, 2003)

Demos and bootlegs

 * Blasphomet Sin Abset (demo, 1996)
 * Promotional Demo 1999 (demo, 1999)

Current members

 * Sanguine Mapsama - guitar, vocals
 * Wrath Sathariel Diabolus - bass, backing vocals
 * The Carcass - drums
 * Lady of the Evening Faces - effects, "interludes", keyboards

Former members

 * "Nuclear" Gregg Garbach - drums (1999–2000)

title: Averse Sefira


text:
Pinus ponderosa

Pinus ponderosa, commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the most widely distributed pine species in North America.

Pinus ponderosa grows in various erect forms from British Columbia southward and eastward through 16 western U.S. states and has been introduced in temperate regions of Europe and in New Zealand. It was first documented in modern science in 1826 in eastern Washington near present-day Spokane (of which it is the official city tree). On that occasion, David Douglas misidentified it as Pinus resinosa (red pine). In 1829, Douglas concluded that he had a new pine among his specimens and coined the name Pinus ponderosa for its heavy wood. In 1836, it was formally named and described by Charles Lawson, a Scottish nurseryman. It was adopted as the official state tree of Montana in 1949.

Description

Pinus ponderosa is a large coniferous pine (evergreen) tree. The bark helps distinguish it from other species. Mature to overmature individuals have yellow to orange-red bark in broad to very broad plates with black crevices. Younger trees have blackish-brown bark, referred to as "blackjacks" by early loggers. Ponderosa pine's five subspecies, as classified by some botanists, can be identified by their characteristically bright-green needles (contrasting with blue-green needles that distinguish Jeffrey pine). The Pacific subspecies has the longest—19.8 cm—and most flexible needles in plume-like fascicles of three. The Columbia ponderosa pine has long—12 –—and relatively flexible needles in fascicles of three. The Rocky Mountains subspecies has shorter—9.2 –—and stout needles growing in scopulate (bushy, tuft-like) fascicles of two or three. The southwestern subspecies has 11.2 –, stout needles in fascicles of three (averaging 68.5-89 mm). The central High Plains subspecies is characterized by the fewest needles (1.4 per whorl, on average); stout, upright branches at narrow angles from the trunk; and long green needles—14.8 –—extending farthest along the branch, resembling a fox tail. Needles are widest, stoutest, and fewest (averaging 56-71 mm) for the species.

The egg-shaped cones, which are often found in great number under trees, are 8-13 cm long. They are purple when first chewed off by squirrels, but become more brown and spherical as they dry. Each scale has a sharp point.

Sources differ on the scent of P. ponderosa. Some state that the bark smells of turpentine, which could reflect the dominance of terpenes (alpha- and beta-pinenes, as well as delta-3-carene). Others state that it has no distinctive scent, while still others state that the bark smells like vanilla if sampled from a furrow. Sources agree that the Jeffrey pine is more strongly scented than the ponderosa pine. When carved into, pitch-filled stumps emit a scent of fresh pitch.

Size
The National Register of Big Trees lists a ponderosa pine that is 235 ft tall and 8.2 m in circumference. In January 2011, a Pacific ponderosa pine in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon was measured with a laser to be 81.79 m high. The measurement was performed by Michael Taylor and Mario Vaden, a professional arborist from Oregon. The tree was climbed on October 13, 2011, by Ascending The Giants (a tree-climbing company in Portland, Oregon) and directly measured with tape-line at 81.77 m high. As of 2015, a Pinus lambertiana specimen was measured at 83.45 m, which surpassed the ponderosa pine previously considered the world's tallest pine tree.

Taxonomy
Modern forestry research has identified five different taxa of P. ponderosa, with differing botanical characters and adaptations to different climatic conditions. Four of these have been termed "geographic races" in forestry literature. Some botanists historically treated some races as distinct species. In modern botanical usage, they best match the rank of subspecies and have been formally published.

Subspecies and varieties

 * Pinus ponderosa subsp. brachyptera Engelm. – southwestern ponderosa pine
 * Four corners transition zone, including southern Colorado, southern Utah, northern and central New Mexico and Arizona, westernmost Texas, and a single disjunct population in the far northwestern Oklahoma panhandle. The Gila Wilderness contains one of the world's largest and healthiest forests. Hot with bimodal monsoonal rainfall; wet winters and summers contrast with dry springs and falls; mild winters.

 * Pinus ponderosa subsp. critchfieldiana Robert Z. Callaham subsp. novo – Pacific ponderosa pine
 * Western coastal parts of Washington State; Oregon west of the Cascade Range except for the southward-extending Umpqua–Tahoe Transition Zone; California except for both that transition zone and the Transverse-Tehahchapi Mountains Transition zone in southern California and Critchfield's far Southern California Race. Mediterranean hot, dry summers in California; mild wet winters with heavy snow in mountains.

 * Pinus ponderosa var. pacifica J.R. Haller & Vivrette – Pacific ponderosa pine
 * 100 – on coastal-draining slopes of major mountain ranges in California, and in southwestern Oregon, Washington.

 * Pinus ponderosa subsp. ponderosa Douglas ex C. Lawson – Columbia ponderosa pine, North plateau ponderosa pine
 * Southeast British Columbia, eastern Washington State and Oregon east of the Cascade Range, 1200 – in northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, Idaho and west of the Helena, Montana, transition zone. Cool, relatively moist summers; very cold, snowy winters (except in the very hot and very dry summers of central Oregon, most notably near Bend, which also has very cold and generally dry winters).

 * Pinus ponderosa subsp. readiana Robert Z. Callaham subsp. novo – central High Plains ponderosa pine
 * Southern South Dakota and adjacent northern Nebraska and far eastern Colorado, but neither the northern and southern High Plains nor the Black Hills, which are in P. p. scopulorum. Hot, dry, very windy summers; continental cold, wet winters.

 * Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum (Engelm. in S.Watson) E. Murray, Kalmia 12:23, 1982 – Rocky Mountains ponderosa pine
 * East of the Helena, Montana, transition zone, North & South Dakota, but not the central high plains, Wyoming, Nebraska, northern and central Colorado and Utah, and eastern Nevada. Warm, relatively dry summers; very cold, fairly dry winters.

 * Pinus ponderosa var. washoensis (H. Mason & Stockw.) J.R. Haller & Vivrette – Washoe pine
 * Predominantly in northeastern California, and into Nevada and Oregon, at 2000 –, upper mixed-conifer to lower subalpine habitats.

Distributions of the subspecies in the United States are shown in shadow on the map. Distribution of ponderosa pine is from Critchfield and Little. The closely related five-needled Arizona pine (Pinus arizonica) extends southward into Mexico.

Before the distinctions between the North Plateau and Pacific races were fully documented, most botanists assumed that ponderosa pines in both areas were the same. In 1948, when a botanist and a geneticist from California found a distinct tree on Mt. Rose in western Nevada with some marked differences from the ponderosa pine they knew in California, they described it as a new species, Washoe pine Pinus washoensis. Subsequent research determined this to be one of the southernmost outliers of the typical North Plateau race of ponderosa pine. Its current classification is Pinus ponderosa var. washoensis.

An additional variety, tentatively named P. p. var. willamettensis, found in the Willamette Valley in western Oregon, is rare. This is likely just one of the many islands of Pacific subspecies of ponderosa pine occurring in the Willamette Valley and extending north to the southeast end of Puget Sound in Washington.

Distinguishing subspecies
The subspecies of P. ponderosa can be distinguished by measurements along several dimensions: Notes

Names of taxa and transition zones are on the map.

Numbers in columns were derived from multiple measurements of samples taken from 10 (infrequently fewer) trees on a varying number of geographically dispersed plots.

Numbers in each cell show calculated mean ± standard error and number of plots.

Distribution
Pinus ponderosa is a dominant tree in the Kuchler plant association, the ponderosa shrub forest. Like most western pines, the ponderosa is generally associated with mountainous topography. However, it is found on banks of the Niobrara River in Nebraska. Scattered stands occur in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and in the Okanagan Valley and Puget Sound areas of Washington. Stands occur throughout low level valleys in British Columbia reaching as far north as the Thompson, Fraser and Columbia watersheds. In its Northern limits, it only grows below 1300 m elevation, but is most common below 800 m. Ponderosa covers 1 e6acre, or 80%, of the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is found on foothills and mid-height peaks of the northern, central, and southern Rocky Mountains, in the Cascade Range, in the Sierra Nevada, and in the maritime-influenced Coast Range. In Arizona, it predominates on the Mogollon Rim and is scattered on the Mogollon Plateau and on mid-height peaks (6000 to 9300 ft) in Arizona and New Mexico. Arizona pine (P. arizonica), found primarily in the mountains of extreme southwestern New Mexico, southeastern Arizona, and northern Mexico and sometimes classified as a variety of ponderosa pine, is presently recognized as a separate species. Ponderosa pine are also found in the Chisos, Davis, and Guadalupe Mountains of Texas, at elevations between 4000 and 8000 ft.

Ecology
The fire cycle for ponderosa pine is 5 to 10 years, in which a natural ignition sparks a low-intensity fire. Low, once-a-decade fires are known to have helped specimens live for half a millennium or more. The tree has thick bark, and its buds are protected by needles, allowing even some younger individuals to survive weaker fires. In addition to being adapted to dry, fire-affected areas, the species often appears on the edges of deserts as it is comparatively drought resistant, partly due to the ability to close its leaf pores. It can also draw some of its water from sandy soils. Despite being relatively widespread in the American West, it is intolerant of shade.

Pinus ponderosa needles are the only known food of the caterpillars of the gelechiid moth Chionodes retiniella. Blue stain fungus, Grosmannia clavigera, is introduced in sapwood of P. ponderosa from the galleries of all species in the genus Dendroctonus (mountain pine beetle), which has caused much damage. Western pine and other beetles can be found consuming the bark. The seeds are eaten by squirrels, chipmunks, quail, grouse, and Clark's nutcracker, while mule deer browse the seedlings. American black bears can climb up to 12 feet up a ponderosa.

Various animals nest in the ponderosa pines, such as the piliated woodpecker.

Pathology
Pinus ponderosa is affected by Armillaria, Phaeolus schweinitzii, Fomes pini, Atropellis canker, dwarf mistletoe, Polyporus anceps, Verticicladiella, Elytroderma needle cast, and western gall rust.

As an invasive species
Pinus ponderosa is classed as a "wilding pine" and spreads as an invasive species throughout the high country of New Zealand, where it is beginning to take over, causing the native species of plants not to be able to grow in those locations. It is also considered a "weed" in parts of Australia.

Uses
Native Americans consumed the seeds and sweet inner bark. They chewed the dried pitch, which was also used as a salve. They used the limbs and branches as firewood and building material, and the trunks were carved into canoes. The needles and roots were made into baskets. The needles were also boiled into a solution to treat coughs and fevers.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, old-growth trees were widely used by settlers as lumber, including for railroads. Younger trees are of poor quality for lumber due to the tendency to warp.

Cultivation
Cultivated as a bonsai, ponderosas are prized for their rough, flaky bark, contorted trunks, flexible limbs, and dramatic deadwood. Collected specimens can be wildly sculpted by their environment, resulting in beautiful twisted trunks, limbs and deadwood. In the mountains they can be found growing in pockets in the rock, stunting their growth. The main challenge for this species in bonsai cultivation is the natural long length of its needles, which takes years of training and care to reduce.

This species is grown as an ornamental plant in parks and large gardens.

In nuclear testing
During Operation Upshot–Knothole in 1953, a nuclear test was performed in which 145 ponderosa pines were cut down by the United States Forest Service and transported to Area 5 of the Nevada Test Site, where they were planted into the ground and exposed to a nuclear blast to see what the blast wave would do to a forest. The trees were partially burned and blown over.

Culture
Pinus ponderosa is the official state tree of Montana. In a 1908 poll to determine the state tree, Montana schoolchildren chose the tree over the Douglas fir, American larch, and cottonwood. However, the tree was not officially named the state tree until 1949.

title: Pinus ponderosa


text:
Zazpiak Bat

Zazpiak Bat is a heraldic nickname for the Basque coat of arms which includes the arms of the seven provinces mentioned, stressing their unity. It was designed by the historian Jean de Jaurgain in 1897 for the Congrès et Fêtes de la Tradition basque celebrated at Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

Name
Zazpiak Bat is a motto attributed to Basque explorer Antoine-Thomson d'Abbadie in the late nineteenth century, from the Basque words zazpiak meaning 'the seven' and bat meaning 'one', translates as "the seven [are] one" and refers to the seven Basque Country traditional provinces. However, it was first cited in 1836 by a friend and collaborator of Antoine d'Abbadie's, the Souletin Agosti Xaho (Etudes grammaticales sur la langue euskarienne, dedicated to the Zazpirak Bat). The motto is based on a similar one fashioned by the Enlightenment society Real Sociedad Bascongada de Amigos del País in 1765, Irurac bat, 'the three [are] one', after the provinces currently making up the Basque Autonomous Community), while a like variant was created too in the 19th century known as Laurak bat ('the four [are] one', after the four Basque provinces in Spain), a motto quoted and celebrated by the Provincial Government of Navarre in 1866.

History

The original Zazpiak Bat features a design of traditional arms of six Basque territories, namely Álava, Gipuzkoa, and Biscay (the three which make the Basque Autonomous Community) plus Navarre (both in Spain); and the two that are part of the French department of the Pyrénées Atlantiques - Soule and Labourd. The coat of arms of the third traditional province, Lower Navarre is subsumed under the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Navarre, therefore omitted and represented by the latter. The modern design is based on the current simplified heraldry of these territories.

Laurak Bat
Laurak Bat with the four Basque provinces in Spain was adopted as the coat of arms of the Basque autonomous community. The coat of arms of Navarre was originally included in the seven quarter of the shield, but following a protest from the UPN led government of Navarre, the Constitutional Court of Spain forced the Basque government to remove the chains of Navarre from the Basque insignia. The red background of the Navarrese insignia currently occupies the fourth quarter of the coat of arms of the Basque Country.

title: Zazpiak Bat