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Gromov's theorem on groups of polynomial growth

In geometric group theory, Gromov's theorem on groups of polynomial growth, first proved by Mikhail Gromov, characterizes finitely generated groups of polynomial growth, as those groups which have nilpotent subgroups of finite index.

Statement
The growth rate of a group is a well-defined notion from asymptotic analysis. To say that a finitely generated group has polynomial growth means the number of elements of length at most n (relative to a symmetric generating set) is bounded above by a polynomial function p(n). The order of growth is then the least degree of any such polynomial function p.

A nilpotent group G is a group with a lower central series terminating in the identity subgroup.

Gromov's theorem states that a finitely generated group has polynomial growth if and only if it has a nilpotent subgroup that is of finite index.

Growth rates of nilpotent groups
There is a vast literature on growth rates, leading up to Gromov's theorem. An earlier result of Joseph A. Wolf showed that if G is a finitely generated nilpotent group, then the group has polynomial growth. Yves Guivarc'h and independently Hyman Bass (with different proofs) computed the exact order of polynomial growth. Let G be a finitely generated nilpotent group with lower central series

 * $$ G = G_1 \supseteq G_2 \supseteq \cdots. $$

In particular, the quotient group Gk/Gk+1 is a finitely generated abelian group.

The Bass–Guivarc'h formula states that the order of polynomial growth of G is

 * $$ d(G) = \sum_{k \geq 1} k \operatorname{rank}(G_k/G_{k+1}) $$

where:
 * rank denotes the rank of an abelian group, i.e. the largest number of independent and torsion-free elements of the abelian group.

In particular, Gromov's theorem and the Bass–Guivarc'h formula imply that the order of polynomial growth of a finitely generated group is always either an integer or infinity (excluding for example, fractional powers).

Another nice application of Gromov's theorem and the Bass–Guivarch formula is to the quasi-isometric rigidity of finitely generated abelian groups: any group which is quasi-isometric to a finitely generated abelian group contains a free abelian group of finite index.

Proofs of Gromov's theorem
In order to prove this theorem Gromov introduced a convergence for metric spaces. This convergence, now called the Gromov–Hausdorff convergence, is currently widely used in geometry.

A relatively simple proof of the theorem was found by Bruce Kleiner. Later, Terence Tao and Yehuda Shalom modified Kleiner's proof to make an essentially elementary proof as well as a version of the theorem with explicit bounds. Gromov's theorem also follows from the classification of approximate groups obtained by Breuillard, Green and Tao. A simple and concise proof based on functional analytic methods is given by Ozawa.

The gap conjecture
Beyond Gromov's theorem one can ask whether there exists a gap in the growth spectrum for finitely generated group just above polynomial growth, separating virtually nilpotent groups from others. Formally, this means that there would exist a function $$f: \mathbb N \to \mathbb N$$ such that a finitely generated group is virtually nilpotent if and only if its growth function is an $$O(f(n))$$. Such a theorem was obtained by Shalom and Tao, with an explicit function $$n^{\log\log(n)^c}$$ for some $$c > 0$$. All known groups with intermediate growth (i.e. both superpolynomial and subexponential) are essentially generalizations of Grigorchuk's group, and have faster growth functions; so all known groups have growth faster than $$e^{n^\alpha}$$, with $$\alpha = \log(2)/\log(2/\eta ) \approx 0.767$$, where $$\eta$$ is the real root of the polynomial $$x^3+x^2+x-2$$.

It is conjectured that the true lower bound on growth rates of groups with intermediate growth is $$e^{\sqrt n}$$. This is known as the Gap conjecture.


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Stinger

A stinger (or sting) is a sharp organ found in various animals (typically insects and other arthropods) capable of injecting venom, usually by piercing the epidermis of another animal.

An insect sting is complicated by its introduction of venom, although not all stings are venomous. Bites, which can introduce saliva as well as additional pathogens and diseases, are often confused with stings, and vice versa. Specific components of venom are believed to give rise to an allergic reaction, which in turn produces skin lesions that may vary from a small itching weal, or slightly elevated area of the skin, to large areas of inflamed skin covered by vesicles and crusted lesions.

Stinging insects produce a painful swelling of the skin, the severity of the lesion varying according to the location of the sting, the identity of the insect and the sensitivity of the subject. Many species of bees and wasps have two poison glands, one gland secreting a toxin in which formic acid is one recognized constituent, and the other secreting an alkaline neurotoxin; acting independently, each toxin is rather mild, but when they combine through the sting, the combination has strong irritating properties. In a small number of cases, the second occasion of a bee or wasp sting causes a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.

While the overwhelming majority of insects withdraw their stingers from their victims, a few insects leave them in the wounds. For example, of the 20,000 species of bees worldwide, only the half-dozen species of honeybees (Apis) are reported to have a barbed stinger that cannot be withdrawn; of wasps, nearly all are reported to have smooth stingers with the exception of two species, Polybia rejecta and Synoeca surinama. A few non-insect arthropods, such as scorpions, also sting.

Arthropods
Among arthropods, a sting or stinger is a sharp organ, often connected with a venom gland and adapted to inflict a wound by piercing, as with the caudal sting of a scorpion. Stings are usually located at the rear of the animal. Animals with stings include bees, wasps (including hornets) and scorpions, as well as a single beetle species (Onychocerus albitarsis) that can deliver a venomous sting from its antennae, whose terminal segments have evolved to resemble a scorpion's tail.

In all stinging Hymenoptera the sting is a modified ovipositor. Unlike most other stings, honey bee workers' stings are strongly barbed and lodge in the flesh of mammals upon use, tearing free from the honey bee's body, killing the bee within minutes. The sting has its own ganglion, and it continues to saw into the target's flesh and release venom for several minutes. This trait is of obvious disadvantage to the individual but protects the hive from attacks by large animals; aside from the effects of the venom, the remnant also marks the stung animal with honey bee alarm pheromone. The barbs of a honey bee's attack are only suicidal if the skin is elastic, as is characteristic of vertebrates such as birds and mammals; honey bees can sting other insects repeatedly without dying.

The sting of nearly all other bees and other sting-bearing organisms is not barbed and can be used to sting repeatedly. The description of barbed or unbarbed is not precise: there are barbs on the stings of yellowjacket wasps and the Mexican honey wasp, but the barbs are so small that the wasp can sometimes withdraw its sting apparatus from victim's skin.

The stings of some wasps, such as those of the Polistes versicolor, contain relatively large amounts of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in its venoms. The 5-HT in these venoms has been found to play at least two roles: one as a pain-producing agent and the other in the distribution and penetration of the paralyzing components to vulnerable sites in the offender. This helps in the rapid immobilization of the animal or of the body parts receiving the venom.

Spiders only bite, although some tarantulas have barbed bristles called urticating hairs. Certain caterpillars also have urticating hairs. Centipedes also possess a venomous bite rather than a sting, inflicted with a highly modified first pair of legs, called forcipules.

Other animals
Organs that perform similar functions in non-arthropods are often referred to as "stings". These organs include the modified dermal denticle of the stingray, the venomous spurs on the hind legs of the male platypus, and the cnidocyte tentacles of the jellyfish.

The term sting was historically often used for the fang of a snake, although this usage is uncommon today. Snakes are said, correctly, to bite, not sting.

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

title: Stinger


text:
2598 Merlin

2598 Merlin, provisional designation, is a carbonaceous Dorian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 16 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 7 September 1980, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. The asteroid was named after the legendary wizard Merlin in Arthurian legend.

Classification and orbit
Merlin is a member of the Dora family (512), a well-established central asteroid family of more than 1,200 carbonaceous asteroids. The family's namesake is 668 Dora. It is alternatively known as the "Zhongolovich family", named after its presumably largest member 1734 Zhongolovich. The Dora family may also contain a subfamily.

Merlin orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.2–3.4 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,694 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.22 and an inclination of 8° with respect to the ecliptic. In Nombember 1948, the asteroid was first identified at Uccle Observatory, where the body's observation arc begins 32 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.

Physical characteristics
In the SMASS classification, Merlin a Ch-type asteroid, a hydrated subtype of the broader carbonaceous C-complex.

According to the surveys carried out by the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Merlin measures 15.694 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.049.

Lightcurves
As of 2017, no rotational lightcurve of Merlin has been obtained from photometric observations. The body's rotation period and shape remain unknown.

Naming
This minor planet was named after the sage and sorcerer Merlin, featured mentor of King Arthur in Arthurian legend and medieval Welsh poetry. His magic enabled Arthur to pull Excalibur from the rock and become the rightwise king born of all England. The name was suggested by F. Pilcher. The approved naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 4 August 1982 (M.P.C. 7157).

title: 2598 Merlin


text:
Canadian Labour Congress

The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (Congrès du travail du Canada or CTC) is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.

Formation
The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, through a merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) and the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL), the two major labour congresses in Canada at the time. The TLC's affiliated unions represented workers in a specific trade while the CCL's affiliated unions represented all employees within a workplace, regardless of occupation. The trades-based organizational model, which strongly continues today especially in the building and construction industries, is based in older European traditions that can be traced back to guilds. However, with industrialization came the creation of a new group of workers without specific trades qualifications and, therefore, without ready access to the representation offered by the TLC's affiliates. In response, these workers adopted the industrial model of union organization and formed the CCL as their umbrella organization.

The spectacular growth of industrial jobs in the first half of the 20th century, combined with new legislation in most Canadian jurisdictions explicitly recognizing the industrial union organizational model, led to fears of raiding between the unions belonging to the two federations, the TLC and the CCL. Tensions were increased because of significant political differences. The TLC leadership, in the person of President Percy Bongough, had actively supported the Liberal Party. With the defeat of Liberal R. K. Gervin and Conservative A. F. MacArthur by Claude Jodoin at the TLC's convention in August 1953, some of the political differences between the TLC and CCL began to wane. Jodoin was not a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party, having served for a time as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Quebec. However, after some conflicts with the Liberals leadership, he sat as an independent and then ran (and was defeated) as an independent in the general election of 1944. Within the CCL, a different but equally important story had played out. By the early 1950s, the leadership of the CCL unions was clearly in the hands of CCF supporters after a decade-long battle between CCFers and a coalition of Liberals and Communists. This CCF leadership was confident enough in its position to down-play partisanship in order to create harmony between the rival labour organizations.

In December 1953 the TLC and CCL created a joint committee to explore means of cooperation and possible merger. On May 9, 1955, the joint committee announced that a merger agreement had been reached. The terms were accepted by the June 1955 TLC convention and in October 1955 by the CCL convention. The formation of the CLC was an important step in maintaining harmony between Canadian unions by recognizing and supporting both models of worker representation and giving all unions affiliated with the CLC a pledge of protection from raiding.

Development
During the initial years of the CLC, industrial growth drove union membership to new heights. These workers tended to be in private sector industries such as manufacturing, transportation and mining.

However, the growth of public sector employment and the new ability of these workers to join unions became the significant story of the 1960s. In 1963, independent unions representing civic workers and workers in the broader public sector merged their organizations to form the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, legislative changes allowed employees of the federal and provincial public service to join unions, bringing new members into CLC-affiliated unions. During this period, hospital workers increasingly became unionized.

In the 1990s, unions of teachers, nurses and other similar groups affiliated with the CLC and the CLC's provincial labour federations.

In January 2018, Unifor, the largest private sector union in Canada, left the CLC to become independent. Unifor stated that among the reasons for leaving were disagreements with the CLC over the rights of workers to choose what union should represent them, and concerns Unifor had about US-based unions working against the rights of their members, as well as two instances of US-based unions interfering in elections for Canadian union local leadership. The CLC accused Unifor of leaving the congress in order to raid an affiliate union, UNITE HERE Local 75, in Toronto. CLC rules prohibit affiliates from raiding each other, which Unifor did a day after leaving the congress.

Structure of the Canadian labour movement
Under the general labour relations laws in effect in all Canadian jurisdictions, groups of workers deemed "appropriate for collective bargaining" may vote to join a union. The appropriateness of a group for collective bargaining is established by the Labour Board of the jurisdiction and may consist of all employees of an enterprise at a single location or a select group of employees—maintenance workers, a specific trade or regulated group (such as teachers or nurses), front office employees, etc.

Where such a vote is successful, the union that they have joined becomes their bargaining agent and the workers in the jobs to which the collective agreement pertains are members of a bargaining unit. Depending upon the terms of the collective agreement, some or all of the workers employed in jobs covered by the collective agreement will become members of the union which has become their bargaining agent. Union members within a bargaining unit elect their stewards, health and safety representatives and unit leadership.

In industrial sectors, local unions may have members in several bargaining units. These are so-called "amalgamated locals" and are increasingly becoming the norm. Within some local unions there may be tens—indeed hundreds—of bargaining units. All the union members in all the bargaining units that belong to the same local union elect their local union executive board, including president. The local union may have various sub-committees of the executive board such as political action and health and safety. In each bargaining unit, the unions will establish a union bargaining committee for the bargaining unit prior to commencing negotiations with the employer. This bargaining committee will meet with the union's members within the bargaining unit to determine the needs and wants of the membership. However, it is important to note that under laws in Canada, since the local union is the legal bargaining agent, the signature of the local union's president or appointed representative must appear on the contract for it to be legally binding. Union constitutions may also require the signature of their national or regional president. Hence the bargaining unit's bargaining committee is essentially an advisory group, and not decisive. However, since the local union's leadership is elected by members in the bargaining units, giving all due weight to the input and objectives of the bargaining committees is critical to the leadership's on-going success.

Local unions are chartered organizations of the national or international union to which they belong. A local union charter may contain clauses that limit and/or protect the scope of the local union. For example, the charter may identify the geographic area, trade, industry, etc. to which the local union must confine itself or to which it has the exclusive mandate to represent workers.

Other sectors have other structures as determined by the needs of the industries and the legal framework. Most jurisdictions have separate legislation under which employees of the public service may form unions. In some provinces, colleges, fire protection and police services have separate Acts. Hotel employees may also have special legislation that works alongside the labour relations legislation for that province but which removes the right to strike and replaces it with binding arbitration.

Due to the mobility of the workforce in the construction sector, most jurisdictions set out special rules for bargaining for workers and employers in that sector. In that sector, local unions receive bargaining agent rights for a trade of workers at a single employer, similar to the industrial sector. However, union construction workers and unionized construction employers create provincial or regional bargaining agents with the authority to negotiate one contract that applies to all bargaining units. These regional bargaining units must be certified by the Labour Board of the jurisdiction and in making the decision regarding what group will be certified as the bargaining agent for workers, the Boards will consider which unions have the preponderance of membership in a given trade. This method tends to reinforce the focus of construction sector unions upon the trade(s) in which they have historic strength and thereby militates against "competition" (i.e.: raiding) between worker organizations—a benefit to both workers and employers of the sector. As a result of the legal framework, a chartered local union within the construction sector will typically have a charter to represent all workers in a specified trade and within a specified region.

Typically, the chartered local unions of a union elect delegations (with the size of the delegation based upon membership size) to attend regional, national and international conventions of the union at which leadership boards are elected.

Local unions are also the fundamental unit of the Canadian Labour Congress. The CLC is a central labour body to which unions are affiliated. Only in rare cases groups of workers with collective bargaining rights can be "directly chartered" as locals of the CLC. Local unions of Canadian labour organizations may affiliate to the CLC and pay the required per capita fees. Payment of affiliation fees allows for participation in the decision-making processes of the CLC. Conventions are held every three years. A union with 1000 or less members is entitled to one delegate. Another delegate is added after each increment of 500 members. Many Canadian labour organizations have, at their own conventions, established policies, by-laws or constitutions requiring local unions to affiliate to the CLC.

Most local unions are affiliated to the Canadian Labour Congress. However, there are a number of unions that discourage their locals from affiliating for a variety or reasons. The largest group is based in Quebec, where the role of the Catholic Church in establishing some unions lead those organizations to reject of the social democratic orientation of unions elsewhere in Canada. When the role of the Catholic Church in Quebec unions disintegrated during the Quiet Revolution, the leadership of the unions in that province was quickly captured by separatists who eschewed participation in national organizations such as the CLC and the New Democratic Party (NDP). This group of Canadian workers remains outside the CLC. Another considerable group outside the CLC is the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), which is strongly opposed by the CLC, which labels it a company union.

The Conventions of the CLC elect the Officers—the President, Secretary-Treasurer and two Executive Vice-Presidents. The executive committee looks after the affairs and administration of the congress. It consists of the officers and vice presidents and meets at least four times a year. The CLC's executive council, which is the governing body of the CLC between conventions, consists of the congress officers, the leadership of the 22 largest unions in the CLC, and representatives of women, people of colour, aboriginal, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, youth and retired workers. This group meets at least three times a year. The role of the CLC is to represent its affiliates to the government, media, etc., to co-ordinate the efforts of various unions on specific campaigns—either electoral or issues-based—and to promote non-competition between its affiliates.

In each Canadian province a federation of labour has been established. While these are separate entities, the leadership of provincial federations are members of the CLC executive council.

The CLC has also chartered approximately 130 district labour councils (DLC), based upon municipal jurisdictions. Local unions with membership within the county, region or city of the DLC may affiliate and participate in the labour council. These councils assist with provincial or national political or issue campaigns and also lead efforts in municipal elections.

The CLC has head offices in Ottawa out of which it runs the Congress of Union Retirees of Canada. Regional offices are in Moncton, Toronto, Regina and Vancouver. Field workers based in these offices assist DLCs and their political and issues campaign

Since 1994, the CLC has been a member of the Halifax Initiative, a coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations for public interest work and education on international financial institutions.

Relationship with political parties
In the aftermath of the Second World War, various political trends played out within the Canadian labour movement as political parties and their supporters rallied for leadership control of the emerging labour movement.

The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada (TLC) held a policy of non-partisan activity right up until the formation of the CLC. However, within the TLC, efforts were made by Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) labour activists to attain a policy of CCF support. A significant measure of this support was the 133–133 tie vote at the TLC's 1954 Ontario convention on the matter of CCF support.

With the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL), the situation was more complex. As a child of the Great Depression and the international romance with revolution in the decades immediately after 1917, Communist Party of Canada labour activists had taken leadership positions in several key unions and locals of CCL-affiliated unions. Indeed, the Workers' Unity League (WUL) was a group of Communist-led unions in the 1930s with considerable organizational success. With adoption of the position of a united front against fascism after 1939, the WUL merged with the CCL.

With the CCL, there were many local unions with Communist leadership. In particular, the United Auto Workers locals in Windsor, Ontario were Communist-led. The orientation of the Windsor UAW locals deeply affected the legislative and parliamentary elections in the Windsor area. In the 1943 elections, the CCF had won all three Windsor-area seats. But in 1945 the UAW locals endorsed three UAW activists who ran as "UAW-Liberal-Labour" candidates with the support of the Labor-Progressive Party (LLP). As a result, the CCF lost all three Windsor seats. Taking advantage of a misstep by the leadership of UAW Local 200 in trying to rally a national one-day strike in sympathy of Ford workers, in 1946 CCF activists within the Locals 195 and 200 overturned their leadership. In addition, the UAW International Board elections of 1947 gave stronger support to Walter Reuther, the CCF-supporting International President. Between these two trends, the Canadian UAW leadership changed directions. In the 1948 provincial elections, the United Auto Workers supported CCF candidates.

The International Woodworkers of America (IWA) in British Columbia was also Communist-led. When, in 1948, CCF supporters gained control of the IWA's New Westminster local, other BC-based (and Communist-led) locals of the IWA withdrew in an attempt to form an independent union. However, this effort failed when the union members did not endorse the change.

Efforts to dislodge communists from the United Electrical (UE) and the Mine Mill union did not succeed, and these unions were expelled from the Canadian Congress of Labour. By 1950, the Canadian Congress of Labour had become a federation of unions which, to a greater or lesser extent, all supported the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

With the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada–Canadian Congress of Labour merger complete in 1956, a further step was taken. Although political discussion was downplayed during the merger talks, in 1958 the Canadian Labour Congress and Co-operative Commonwealth Federation set up a 20-person joint committee to discuss the foundation of a new political party. These talks resulted in the founding of the New Democratic Party in 1961. The NDP has, in its constitution, an organic relationship with the labour movement. Many local union organizations directly affiliated with the NDP, giving these local union bodies the right to participate in the Party's conventions and councils. NDP constitution also recognizes the CLC's District Labour Councils, organizations of local unions in a single city or town, as delegating bodies to the conventions of the provincial and federal New Democratic Party sections. Hence, by embedding labour organizations in its structure, the NDP went beyond being simply the party for labour and became the party of labour.

Since the foundation of the NDP, and particularly since the 1980s, the labour movement's relationship within the social democratic left has changed in two specific and important ways. First, unions have increased their involvement with social coalition groups such as organizations advocating for women's economic rights, peace or other causes which have an avowedly non-partisan orientation. Second (and not unrelatedly), the relationship of some unions with the NDP became more tactical and seemed less to be a long-term alliance.

These two trends were apparent in the 1988 Canadian federal election. At the outset of the election campaign, several unions had established partnerships with organizations such as The Council of Canadians in order to attempt to derail the Progressive Conservative government's Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement. These social coalition groups and the Liberal Party made opposition to the Free Trade Agreement the focus of their campaign efforts. While the NDP attained what was then their best result in the party's history (they would win more seats in the House of Commons in the 2011 and 2015 federal elections), some union leaders publicly criticized the NDP leadership immediately after the election for not being sufficiently focused on opposition to the Free Trade Agreement.

Since that election, the tactical nature of the relationship between some unions and the NDP has even further degraded to their point where the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW), the successor to the Canadian section of the UAW has, since the late 1990s, supported the Liberal Party federally and in Ontario provincial elections. Nonetheless, other significant unions have remained steadfast in their support and involvement with the NDP and the Bloc Québécois as their top political priorities, even while maintaining involvement in social coalitions. Given the size of the CAW with the Canadian labour movement, the CAW's support for the Liberals has caused significant problems for the CLC leadership in continuing to follow the Congress' policy of NDP and the Bloc support.

National Day of Mourning
The Canadian Labour Congress had officially established April 28 as the National Day of Mourning to workers killed and injured on the job. The National Day of Mourning monument was dedicated by the Canadian Labour Congress on April 28, 1987 in Vincent Massey Park, Ottawa, Ontario.

Presidents

 * Claude Jodoin (1956–1968)
 * Donald MacDonald (1968–1974)
 * Joe Morris (1974–1978)
 * Dennis McDermott (1978–1986)
 * Shirley Carr (1986–1992)
 * Bob White (1992–1999)
 * Ken Georgetti (1999–2014)
 * Hassan Yussuff (2014–2021)
 * Bea Bruske (2021–present)

Secretary-treasurers

 * 1956: Donald MacDonald
 * 1967: William Dodge
 * 1974: Donald Montgomery
 * 1984: Shirley Carr
 * 1986: Richard Mercier
 * 1992: Dick Martin
 * 1999: Nancy Riche
 * 2002: Hassan Yussuff
 * 2014: Barbara Byers
 * 2017: Marie Clarke Walker
 * 2021: Lily Chang

Affiliated unions

 * Affiliated unions of the Canadian Labour Congress

title: Canadian Labour Congress


text:
Talk:Ann Arbor, Michigan

Population
Are the population figures quoted inclusive or exclusive of the student/faculty populations of the university? With order of 30,000 staff and 40,000 students, those two figures would diverge quite sharply depending on the composition. Bluedudemi (talk) 13:15, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

Channel outage.
Twice in two days same approximate time channel goes out. No weather problems. Is your people who can't do their jobs? 2601:406:4D02:2C60:C156:8577:1EF5:C2C9 (talk) 02:08, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

 * Hey, while I understand that the electricity problem in AA is upsetting (and needs to be fixed!), Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and isn't the place for that discussion. ——267 07:29, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

"Ace Deuce" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ace_Deuce&redirect=no Ace Deuce] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. Utopes (talk / cont) 19:58, 8 April 2024 (UTC)

WP:URFA/2020 and WP:FA concerns
I am reviewing this article as part of WP:URFA/2020, an initiative to improve English Wikipedia's older featured articles. I have some concerns with this article, which I am outlining below:
 * Information has been added to the article since it's FAR that is too detailed for an article of this scope. This includes much of the information about various issues in the "Politics" section, much of the Sports section, the 2010 census data and information in the "Economy" section.
 * The "Infrastructure" suffers from MOS:OVERSECTION.
 * There are several uncited passages throughout the article.

Is anyone interested in fixing up this article on this article? Z1720 (talk) 03:07, 31 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ann Arbor, Michigan


text:
Olfactory system

The olfactory system or sense of smell is the sensory system used for smelling (olfaction). Olfaction is one of the special senses, that have directly associated specific organs. Most mammals and reptiles have a main olfactory system and an accessory olfactory system. The main olfactory system detects airborne substances, while the accessory system senses fluid-phase stimuli.

The senses of smell and taste (gustatory system) are often referred to together as the chemosensory system, because they both give the brain information about the chemical composition of objects through a process called transduction.

Peripheral
The peripheral olfactory system consists mainly of the nostrils, ethmoid bone, nasal cavity, and the olfactory epithelium (layers of thin tissue covered in mucus that line the nasal cavity). The primary components of the layers of epithelial tissue are the mucous membranes, olfactory glands, olfactory neurons, and nerve fibers of the olfactory nerves.

Odor molecules can enter the peripheral pathway and reach the nasal cavity either through the nostrils when inhaling (olfaction) or through the throat when the tongue pushes air to the back of the nasal cavity while chewing or swallowing (retro-nasal olfaction). Inside the nasal cavity, mucus lining the walls of the cavity dissolves odor molecules. Mucus also covers the olfactory epithelium, which contains mucous membranes that produce and store mucus, and olfactory glands that secrete metabolic enzymes found in the mucus.

Transduction

Olfactory sensory neurons in the epithelium detect odor molecules dissolved in the mucus and transmit information about the odor to the brain in a process called sensory transduction. Olfactory neurons have cilia (tiny hairs) containing olfactory receptors that bind to odor molecules, causing an electrical response that spreads through the sensory neuron to the olfactory nerve fibers at the back of the nasal cavity.

Olfactory nerves and fibers transmit information about odors from the peripheral olfactory system to the central olfactory system of the brain, which is separated from the epithelium by the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone. Olfactory nerve fibers, which originate in the epithelium, pass through the cribriform plate, connecting the epithelium to the brain's limbic system at the olfactory bulbs.

Central
The main olfactory bulb transmits pulses to both mitral and tufted cells, which help determine odor concentration based on the time certain neuron clusters fire (called 'timing code'). These cells also note differences between highly similar odors and use that data to aid in later recognition. The cells are different with mitral having low firing-rates and being easily inhibited by neighboring cells, while tufted have high rates of firing and are more difficult to inhibit. How the bulbar neural circuit transforms odor inputs to the bulb to the bulbar responses that are sent to the olfactory cortex can be partly understood by a mathematical model.

The uncus houses the olfactory cortex which includes the piriform cortex (posterior orbitofrontal cortex), amygdala, olfactory tubercle, and parahippocampal gyrus.

The olfactory tubercle connects to numerous areas of the amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, brain stem, retina, auditory cortex, and olfactory system. *In total it has 27 inputs and 20 outputs. An oversimplification of its role is to state that it: checks to ensure odor signals arose from actual odors rather than villi irritation, regulates motor behavior (primarily social and stereotypical) brought on by odors, integrates auditory and olfactory sensory info to complete the aforementioned tasks, and plays a role in transmitting positive signals to reward sensors (and is thus involved in addiction).

The amygdala (in olfaction) processes pheromone, allomone, and kairomone (same-species, cross-species, and cross-species where the emitter is harmed and the sensor is benefited, respectively) signals. Due to cerebrum evolution this processing is secondary and therefore is largely unnoticed in human interactions. Allomones include flower scents, natural herbicides, and natural toxic plant chemicals. The info for these processes comes from the vomeronasal organ indirectly via the olfactory bulb. The main olfactory bulb's pulses in the amygdala are used to pair odors to names and recognize odor to odor differences.

Stria terminalis, specifically bed nuclei (BNST), act as the information pathway between the amygdala and hypothalamus, as well as the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. BNST abnormalities often lead to sexual confusion and immaturity. BNST also connects to the septal area, rewarding sexual behavior.

Mitral pulses to the hypothalamus promote/discourage feeding, whereas accessory olfactory bulb pulses regulate reproductive and odor-related-reflex processes.

The hippocampus (although minimally connected to the main olfactory bulb) receives almost all of its olfactory information via the amygdala (either directly or via the BNST). The hippocampus forms new and reinforces existing memories.

Similarly, the parahippocampus encodes, recognizes and contextualizes scenes. The parahippocampal gyrus houses the topographical map for olfaction.

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is heavily correlated with the cingulate gyrus and septal area to act out positive/negative reinforcement. The OFC is the expectation of reward/punishment in response to stimuli. The OFC represents the emotion and reward in decision making.

The anterior olfactory nucleus distributes reciprocal signals between the olfactory bulb and piriform cortex. The anterior olfactory nucleus is the memory hub for smell.

When different odor objects or components are mixed, humans and other mammals sniffing the mixture (presented by, e.g., a sniff bottle) are often unable to identify the components in the mixture even though they can recognize each individual component presented alone. This is largely because each odor sensory neuron can be excited by multiple odor components. It has been proposed that, in an olfactory environment typically composed of multiple odor components (e.g., odor of a dog entering a kitchen that contains a background coffee odor), feedback from the olfactory cortex to the olfactory bulb suppresses the pre-existing odor background (e.g., coffee)  via olfactory adaptation, so that the newly arrived foreground odor (e.g.,  dog) can be singled out from the mixture for recognition.

Clinical significance
Loss of smell is known as anosmia. Anosmia can occur on both sides or a single side.

Olfactory problems can be divided into different types based on their malfunction. The olfactory dysfunction can be total (anosmia), incomplete (partial anosmia, hyposmia, or microsmia), distorted (dysosmia), or can be characterized by spontaneous sensations like phantosmia. An inability to recognize odors despite a normally functioning olfactory system is termed olfactory agnosia. Hyperosmia is a rare condition typified by an abnormally heightened sense of smell. Like vision and hearing, the olfactory problems can be bilateral or unilateral meaning if a person has anosmia on the right side of the nose but not the left, it is a unilateral right anosmia. On the other hand, if it is on both sides of the nose it is called bilateral anosmia or total anosmia.

Destruction to olfactory bulb, tract, and primary cortex (brodmann area 34) results in anosmia on the same side as the destruction. Also, irritative lesion of the uncus results in olfactory hallucinations.

Damage to the olfactory system can occur by traumatic brain injury, cancer, infection, inhalation of toxic fumes, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. These conditions can cause anosmia. In contrast, recent finding suggested the molecular aspects of olfactory dysfunction can be recognized as a hallmark of amyloidogenesis-related diseases and there may even be a causal link through the disruption of multivalent metal ion transport and storage. Doctors can detect damage to the olfactory system by presenting the patient with odors via a scratch and sniff card or by having the patient close their eyes and try to identify commonly available odors like coffee or peppermint candy. Doctors must exclude other diseases that inhibit or eliminate 'the sense of smell' such as chronic colds or sinusitus before making the diagnosis that there is permanent damage to the olfactory system.

Prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in the general US population was assessed by questionnaire and examination in a national health survey in 2012–2014. Among over a thousand persons aged 40 years and older, 12.0% reported a problem with smell in the past 12 months and 12.4% had olfactory dysfunction on examination. Prevalence rose from 4.2% at age 40–49 to 39.4% at 80 years and older and was higher in men than women, in blacks and Mexican Americans than in whites and in less than more educated. Of concern for safety, 20% of persons aged 70 and older were unable to identify smoke and 31%, natural gas.

Causes of olfactory dysfunction

The common causes of olfactory dysfunction: advanced age, viral infections, exposure to toxic chemicals, head trauma, and neurodegenerative diseases.

Age
Age is the strongest reason for olfactory decline in healthy adults, having even greater impact than does cigarette smoking. Age-related changes in smell function often go unnoticed and smell ability is rarely tested clinically unlike hearing and vision. 2% of people under 65 years of age have chronic smelling problems. This increases greatly between people of ages 65 and 80 with about half experiencing significant problems smelling. Then for adults over 80, the numbers rise to almost 75%. The basis for age-related changes in smell function include closure of the cribriform plate, and cumulative damage to the olfactory receptors from repeated viral and other insults throughout life.

Viral infections
The most common cause of permanent hyposmia and anosmia are upper respiratory infections. Such dysfunctions show no change over time and can sometimes reflect damage not only to the olfactory epithelium, but also to the central olfactory structures as a result of viral invasions into the brain. Among these virus-related disorders are the common cold, hepatitis, influenza and influenza-like illness, as well as herpes. Notably, COVID-19 is associated with olfactory disturbance. Most viral infections are unrecognizable because they are so mild or entirely asymptomatic.

Exposure to toxic chemicals
Chronic exposure to some airborne toxins such as herbicides, pesticides, solvents, and heavy metals (cadmium, chromium, nickel, and manganese), can alter the ability to smell. These agents not only damage the olfactory epithelium, but they are likely to enter the brain via the olfactory mucosa.

Head trauma
Trauma-related olfactory dysfunction depends on the severity of the trauma and whether strong acceleration/deceleration of the head occurred. Occipital and side impact causes more damage to the olfactory system than frontal impact. However, recent evidence from individuals with traumatic brain injury suggests that smell loss can occur with changes in brain function outside of olfactory cortex.

Neurodegenerative diseases
Neurologists have observed that olfactory dysfunction is a cardinal feature of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Most of these patients are unaware of an olfactory deficit until after testing where 85% to 90% of early-stage patients showed decreased activity in central odor processing structures.

Other neurodegenerative diseases that affect olfactory dysfunction include Huntington's disease, multi-infarct dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and schizophrenia. These diseases have more moderate effects on the olfactory system than Alzheimer's or Parkinson's diseases. Furthermore, progressive supranuclear palsy and parkinsonism are associated with only minor olfactory problems. These findings have led to the suggestion that olfactory testing may help in the diagnosis of several different neurodegenerative diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases with well-established genetic determinants are also associated with olfactory dysfunction. Such dysfunction, for example, is found in patients with familial Parkinson's disease and those with Down syndrome. Further studies have concluded that the olfactory loss may be associated with intellectual disability, rather than any Alzheimer's disease-like pathology.

Huntington's disease is also associated with problems in odor identification, detection, discrimination, and memory. The problem is prevalent once the phenotypic elements of the disorder appear, although it is unknown how far in advance the olfactory loss precedes the phenotypic expression.

History
Linda B. Buck and Richard Axel won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on the olfactory system.

title: Olfactory system


text:
Auditory system

The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing. It includes both the sensory organs (the ears) and the auditory parts of the sensory system.

System overview
The outer ear funnels sound vibrations to the eardrum, increasing the sound pressure in the middle frequency range. The middle-ear ossicles further amplify the vibration pressure roughly 20 times. The base of the stapes couples vibrations into the cochlea via the oval window, which vibrates the perilymph liquid (present throughout the inner ear) and causes the round window to bulb out as the oval window bulges in.

Vestibular and tympanic ducts are filled with perilymph, and the smaller cochlear duct between them is filled with endolymph, a fluid with a very different ion concentration and voltage. Vestibular duct perilymph vibrations bend organ of Corti outer cells (4 lines) causing prestin to be released in cell tips. This causes the cells to be chemically elongated and shrunk (somatic motor), and hair bundles to shift which, in turn, electrically affects the basilar membrane's movement (hair-bundle motor). These motors (outer hair cells) amplify the traveling wave amplitudes over 40-fold. The outer hair cells (OHC) are minimally innervated by spiral ganglion in slow (unmyelinated) reciprocal communicative bundles (30+ hairs per nerve fiber); this contrasts inner hair cells (IHC) that have only afferent innervation (30+ nerve fibers per one hair) but are heavily connected. There are three to four times as many OHCs as IHCs. The basilar membrane (BM) is a barrier between scalae, along the edge of which the IHCs and OHCs sit. Basilar membrane width and stiffness vary to control the frequencies best sensed by the IHC. At the cochlear base the BM is at its narrowest and most stiff (high-frequencies), while at the cochlear apex it is at its widest and least stiff (low-frequencies). The tectorial membrane (TM) helps facilitate cochlear amplification by stimulating OHC (direct) and IHC (via endolymph vibrations). TM width and stiffness parallels BM's and similarly aids in frequency differentiation.

The superior olivary complex (SOC), in the pons, is the first convergence of the left and right cochlear pulses. SOC has 14 described nuclei; their abbreviation are used here (see Superior olivary complex for their full names). MSO determines the angle the sound came from by measuring time differences in left and right info. LSO normalizes sound levels between the ears; it uses the sound intensities to help determine sound angle. LSO innervates the IHC. VNTB innervate OHC. MNTB inhibit LSO via glycine. LNTB are glycine-immune, used for fast signalling. DPO are high-frequency and tonotopical. DLPO are low-frequency and tonotopical. VLPO have the same function as DPO, but act in a different area. PVO, CPO, RPO, VMPO, ALPO and SPON (inhibited by glycine) are various signalling and inhibiting nuclei.

The trapezoid body is where most of the cochlear nucleus (CN) fibers decussate (cross left to right and vice versa); this cross aids in sound localization. The CN breaks into ventral (VCN) and dorsal (DCN) regions. The VCN has three nuclei. Bushy cells transmit timing info, their shape averages timing jitters. Stellate (chopper) cells encode sound spectra (peaks and valleys) by spatial neural firing rates based on auditory input strength (rather than frequency). Octopus cells have close to the best temporal precision while firing, they decode the auditory timing code. The DCN has 2 nuclei. DCN also receives info from VCN. Fusiform cells integrate information to determine spectral cues to locations (for example, whether a sound originated from in front or behind). Cochlear nerve fibers (30,000+) each have a most sensitive frequency and respond over a wide range of levels.

Simplified, nerve fibers' signals are transported by bushy cells to the binaural areas in the olivary complex, while signal peaks and valleys are noted by stellate cells, and signal timing is extracted by octopus cells. The lateral lemniscus has three nuclei: dorsal nuclei respond best to bilateral input and have complexity tuned responses; intermediate nuclei have broad tuning responses; and ventral nuclei have broad and moderately complex tuning curves. Ventral nuclei of lateral lemniscus help the inferior colliculus (IC) decode amplitude modulated sounds by giving both phasic and tonic responses (short and long notes, respectively). IC receives inputs not shown, including visual (pretectal area: moves eyes to sound. superior colliculus: orientation and behavior toward objects, as well as eye movements (saccade)) areas, pons (superior cerebellar peduncle: thalamus to cerebellum connection/hear sound and learn behavioral response), spinal cord (periaqueductal grey: hear sound and instinctually move), and thalamus. The above are what implicate IC in the 'startle response' and ocular reflexes. Beyond multi-sensory integration IC responds to specific amplitude modulation frequencies, allowing for the detection of pitch. IC also determines time differences in binaural hearing. The medial geniculate nucleus divides into ventral (relay and relay-inhibitory cells: frequency, intensity, and binaural info topographically relayed), dorsal (broad and complex tuned nuclei: connection to somatosensory info), and medial (broad, complex, and narrow tuned nuclei: relay intensity and sound duration). The auditory cortex (AC) brings sound into awareness/perception. AC identifies sounds (sound-name recognition) and also identifies the sound's origin location. AC is a topographical frequency map with bundles reacting to different harmonies, timing and pitch. Right-hand-side AC is more sensitive to tonality, left-hand-side AC is more sensitive to minute sequential differences in sound. Rostromedial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices are involved in activation during tonal space and storing short-term memories, respectively. The Heschl's gyrus/transverse temporal gyrus includes Wernicke's area and functionality, it is heavily involved in emotion-sound, emotion-facial-expression, and sound-memory processes. The entorhinal cortex is the part of the 'hippocampus system' that aids and stores visual and auditory memories. The supramarginal gyrus (SMG) aids in language comprehension and is responsible for compassionate responses. SMG links sounds to words with the angular gyrus and aids in word choice. SMG integrates tactile, visual, and auditory info.

Outer ear
The folds of cartilage surrounding the ear canal are called the auricle. Sound waves are reflected and attenuated when they hit the auricle, and these changes provide additional information that will help the brain determine the sound direction.

The sound waves enter the auditory canal, a deceptively simple tube. The ear canal amplifies sounds that are between 3 and 12 kHz. The tympanic membrane, at the far end of the ear canal marks the beginning of the middle ear.

Middle ear

Sound waves travel through the ear canal and hit the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. This wave information travels across the air-filled middle ear cavity via a series of delicate bones: the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil) and stapes (stirrup). These ossicles act as a lever, converting the lower-pressure eardrum sound vibrations into higher-pressure sound vibrations at another, smaller membrane called the oval window or vestibular window. The manubrium (handle) of the malleus articulates with the tympanic membrane, while the footplate (base) of the stapes articulates with the oval window. Higher pressure is necessary at the oval window than at the tympanic membrane because the inner ear beyond the oval window contains liquid rather than air. The stapedius reflex of the middle ear muscles helps protect the inner ear from damage by reducing the transmission of sound energy when the stapedius muscle is activated in response to sound. The middle ear still contains the sound information in wave form; it is converted to nerve impulses in the cochlea.

Inner ear
The inner ear consists of the cochlea and several non-auditory structures. The cochlea has three fluid-filled sections (i.e. the scala media, scala tympani and scala vestibuli), and supports a fluid wave driven by pressure across the basilar membrane separating two of the sections. Strikingly, one section, called the cochlear duct or scala media, contains endolymph. The organ of Corti is located in this duct on the basilar membrane, and transforms mechanical waves to electric signals in neurons. The other two sections are known as the scala tympani and the scala vestibuli. These are located within the bony labyrinth, which is filled with fluid called perilymph, similar in composition to cerebrospinal fluid. The chemical difference between the fluids endolymph and perilymph fluids is important for the function of the inner ear due to electrical potential differences between potassium and calcium ions.

The plan view of the human cochlea (typical of all mammalian and most vertebrates) shows where specific frequencies occur along its length. The frequency is an approximately exponential function of the length of the cochlea within the Organ of Corti. In some species, such as bats and dolphins, the relationship is expanded in specific areas to support their active sonar capability.

Organ of Corti

The organ of Corti forms a ribbon of sensory epithelium which runs lengthwise down the cochlea's entire scala media. Its hair cells transform the fluid waves into nerve signals. The journey of countless nerves begins with this first step; from here, further processing leads to a panoply of auditory reactions and sensations.

Hair cell
Hair cells are columnar cells, each with a "hair bundle" of 100–200 specialized stereocilia at the top, for which they are named. There are two types of hair cells specific to the auditory system; inner and outer hair cells. Inner hair cells are the mechanoreceptors for hearing: they transduce the vibration of sound into electrical activity in nerve fibers, which is transmitted to the brain. Outer hair cells are a motor structure. Sound energy causes changes in the shape of these cells, which serves to amplify sound vibrations in a frequency specific manner. Lightly resting atop the longest cilia of the inner hair cells is the tectorial membrane, which moves back and forth with each cycle of sound, tilting the cilia, which is what elicits the hair cells' electrical responses.

Inner hair cells, like the photoreceptor cells of the eye, show a graded response, instead of the spikes typical of other neurons. These graded potentials are not bound by the "all or none" properties of an action potential.

At this point, one may ask how such a wiggle of a hair bundle triggers a difference in membrane potential. The current model is that cilia are attached to one another by "tip links", structures which link the tips of one cilium to another. Stretching and compressing, the tip links may open an ion channel and produce the receptor potential in the hair cell. Recently it has been shown that cadherin-23 CDH23 and protocadherin-15 PCDH15 are the adhesion molecules associated with these tip links. It is thought that a calcium driven motor causes a shortening of these links to regenerate tensions. This regeneration of tension allows for apprehension of prolonged auditory stimulation.

Neurons
Afferent neurons innervate cochlear inner hair cells, at synapses where the neurotransmitter glutamate communicates signals from the hair cells to the dendrites of the primary auditory neurons.

There are far fewer inner hair cells in the cochlea than afferent nerve fibers – many auditory nerve fibers innervate each hair cell. The neural dendrites belong to neurons of the auditory nerve, which in turn joins the vestibular nerve to form the vestibulocochlear nerve, or cranial nerve number VIII. The region of the basilar membrane supplying the inputs to a particular afferent nerve fibre can be considered to be its receptive field.

Efferent projections from the brain to the cochlea also play a role in the perception of sound, although this is not well understood. Efferent synapses occur on outer hair cells and on afferent (towards the brain) dendrites under inner hair cells

Cochlear nucleus
The cochlear nucleus is the first site of the neuronal processing of the newly converted "digital" data from the inner ear (see also binaural fusion). In mammals, this region is anatomically and physiologically split into two regions, the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), and ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN). The VCN is further divided by the nerve root into the posteroventral cochlear nucleus (PVCN) and the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN).

Trapezoid body
The trapezoid body is a bundle of decussating fibers in the ventral pons that carry information used for binaural computations in the brainstem. Some of these axons come from the cochlear nucleus and cross over to the other side before traveling on to the superior olivary nucleus. This is believed to help with localization of sound.

Superior olivary complex
The superior olivary complex is located in the pons, and receives projections predominantly from the ventral cochlear nucleus, although the dorsal cochlear nucleus projects there as well, via the ventral acoustic stria. Within the superior olivary complex lies the lateral superior olive (LSO) and the medial superior olive (MSO). The former is important in detecting interaural level differences while the latter is important in distinguishing interaural time difference.

Lateral lemniscus
The lateral lemniscus is a tract of axons in the brainstem that carries information about sound from the cochlear nucleus to various brainstem nuclei and ultimately the contralateral inferior colliculus of the midbrain.

Inferior colliculi
The inferior colliculi (IC) are located just below the visual processing centers known as the superior colliculi. The central nucleus of the IC is a nearly obligatory relay in the ascending auditory system, and most likely acts to integrate information (specifically regarding sound source localization from the superior olivary complex and dorsal cochlear nucleus) before sending it to the thalamus and cortex. The inferior colliculus also receives descending inputs from the auditory cortex and auditory thalamus (or medial geniculate nucleus).

Medial geniculate nucleus
The medial geniculate nucleus is part of the thalamic relay system.

Primary auditory cortex
The primary auditory cortex is the first region of cerebral cortex to receive auditory input.

Perception of sound is associated with the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG). The superior temporal gyrus contains several important structures of the brain, including Brodmann areas 41 and 42, marking the location of the primary auditory cortex, the cortical region responsible for the sensation of basic characteristics of sound such as pitch and rhythm. We know from research in nonhuman primates that the primary auditory cortex can probably be divided further into functionally differentiable subregions. The neurons of the primary auditory cortex can be considered to have receptive fields covering a range of auditory frequencies and have selective responses to harmonic pitches. Neurons integrating information from the two ears have receptive fields covering a particular region of auditory space.

The primary auditory cortex is surrounded by secondary auditory cortex, and interconnects with it. These secondary areas interconnect with further processing areas in the superior temporal gyrus, in the dorsal bank of the superior temporal sulcus, and in the frontal lobe. In humans, connections of these regions with the middle temporal gyrus are probably important for speech perception. The frontotemporal system underlying auditory perception allows us to distinguish sounds as speech, music, or noise.

The auditory ventral and dorsal streams
From the primary auditory cortex emerge two separate pathways: the auditory ventral stream and auditory dorsal stream. The auditory ventral stream includes the anterior superior temporal gyrus, anterior superior temporal sulcus, middle temporal gyrus and temporal pole. Neurons in these areas are responsible for sound recognition, and extraction of meaning from sentences. The auditory dorsal stream includes the posterior superior temporal gyrus and sulcus, inferior parietal lobule and intra-parietal sulcus. Both pathways project in humans to the inferior frontal gyrus. The most established role of the auditory dorsal stream in primates is sound localization. In humans, the auditory dorsal stream in the left hemisphere is also responsible for speech repetition and articulation, phonological long-term encoding of word names, and verbal working memory.

Clinical significance
Proper function of the auditory system is required to able to sense, process, and understand sound from the surroundings. Difficulty in sensing, processing and understanding sound input has the potential to adversely impact an individual's ability to communicate, learn and effectively complete routine tasks on a daily basis.

In children, early diagnosis and treatment of impaired auditory system function is an important factor in ensuring that key social, academic and speech/language developmental milestones are met.

Impairment of the auditory system can include any of the following:
 * Auditory brainstem response and ABR audiometry test for newborn hearing
 * Auditory processing disorder
 * Hyperacusis
 * Health effects due to noise
 * Tinnitus
 * Endaural phenomena

title: Auditory system


text:
Cambarus

Cambarus is a large and diverse genus of crayfish from the United States and Canada. The adults range in size from about 5 cm up to approximately 15 cm.

Description
The genus Cambarus is the second largest freshwater crayfish genus inhabiting the Northern Hemisphere, with only sixty fewer species than the genus Procambarus. Though Cambarus are varied across species, the two terminal elements that make up the male form I gonopod form ninety degree angles with the central appendage, allowing for their identification. Unlike the genus Procambarus whose first pleopod tends to have three processes at the tip, Cambarus has only one or two. Cambarus reach 17–26 mm carapace lengths in their first year, while average adult carapace length ranges from 55–62 mm. The name Cambarus comes from an alteration of Latin cammarus, meaning "lobster".

As a genus containing nearly 100 species, Cambarus's coloration is variable. Cambarus bartonii is dark brown, while species like Cambarus pauleyi range from subtle to vibrant blues and reds. Other species are light green or grayish in color.

Biogeography
Most species of Cambarus are restricted to the United States and Canada. They are distributed along the eastern coast, extending from New Brunswick to northern Florida. However, the genus extends as far westward as the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Colorado, inhabiting a variety of freshwater environments.

Habitat
Cambarus occupy a range of freshwater environments including streams, rivers, lakes, and burrows. Burrowing species of the genus include Cambarus dubius. Cambarus also include many cave-dwelling species, both stygobites and stygophiles. While salinity and temperature changes minimally affect Cambarus, the genus has shown an intolerance to pollution.

Diet
Like other crayfish, Cambarus are foragers. Diets are largely plant-based, though Cambarus also consume small marine organisms like molluscs, larvae, tadpoles and amphibian eggs. Cambarus consume small rodents or birds when available. In their first year, Cambarus typically consume 1-4% of their overall body-weight each day. The genus is central to many freshwater food webs as they help maintain water quality through consumption of algae.

Vulnerability
One of the largest crayfish genera, Cambarus includes a sizable number of vulnerable species. Cave-dwellers like Cambarus jonesi are at risk due to their lack of genetic diversity and low population count. Other species like Cambarus veteranus are at risk due to human practices like logging and mining, which increase sediment amounts in freshwater environments. Increased sediment causes these freshwater environments to be uninhabitable, and Cambarus are forced to relocate as a result.

Growth
Molting occurs among Cambarus approximately 5-10 times during their first year, and 3-5 times during subsequent years. Cambarus remain relatively inactive during periods of molting, as the shedding of chitinous exoskeletons leaves them more vulnerable to predation and injury. Many species of Cambarus continue to grow well into adulthood.

Reproduction
Cambarus typically mate in the early spring. Both Cambarus bartonii and Cambarus robustus only mate once during their three-year life span, with females of both carrying fewer eggs than those of the genus Orconectes.

Classification
The genus Cambarus contains around 100 species, many of which are listed on the IUCN Red List. Species in the genus were formerly divided among 12 subgenera. In a 2017 study, these subgenera were found to lack any phylogenetic validity and were therefore eliminated.

 * Cambarus aculabrum Hobbs & Brown, 1987 Status iucn CR icon.svg – Benton County cave crayfish
 * Cambarus acuminatus Faxon, 1884 Status iucn LC icon.svg - Acuminate Crayfish
 * Cambarus adustus Thoma, Fetzner, Stocker and Loughman, 2016 Status iucn DD icon.svg - Dusky Mudbug
 * Cambarus aldermanorum J. E. Cooper and Price, 2010 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus andersoni Jones and Eversole, 2015 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus angularis Hobbs & R. W. Bouchard, 1994 Status iucn NT icon.svg
 * Cambarus appalachiensis Loughman, Welsh and Thoma, 2017 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus asperimanus Faxon, 1914 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus bartonii (Fabricius, 1798) Status iucn LC icon.svg – Appalachian Brook Crayfish
 * Cambarus batchi Schuster, 1973 Status iucn LC icon.svg – bluegrass crayfish
 * Cambarus bouchardi Hobbs, 1970 Status iucn VU icon.svg – Big South Fork crayfish
 * Cambarus brachydactylus Hobbs, 1953 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus brimleyorum Cooper, 2006 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus buntingi R. W. Bouchard, 1973 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Bunting crayfish
 * Cambarus callainus Thoma, Loughman & Fetzner, 2014 - Big Sandy crayfish
 * Cambarus carinirostris Hay, 1914 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Rock Crayfish
 * Cambarus carolinus (Erichson, 1846) Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus catagius Hobbs & Perkins, 1967 Status iucn DD icon.svg – Greensboro Burrowing Crayfish
 * Cambarus causeyi Reimer, 1966 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus chasmodactylus James, 1966 Status iucn LC icon.svg – New River crayfish
 * Cambarus chaugaensis Prins & Hobbs, 1972 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Chauga crayfish
 * Cambarus clairitae Schuster and Taylor, 2016 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus clivosus Taylor, Soucek & Organ, 2006 Status iucn VU icon.svg
 * Cambarus conasaugaensis Hobbs & Hobbs III, 1962 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus coosae Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus coosawattae Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn NT icon.svg – Coosawattae crayfish
 * Cambarus cracens R. W. Bouchard & Hobbs, 1976 Status iucn EN icon.svg
 * Cambarus crinipes R. W. Bouchard, 1973 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus cryptodytes Hobbs, 1941 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Dougherty Plain cave crayfish
 * Cambarus cumberlandensis Hobbs & R. W. Bouchard, 1973 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Cumberland crayfish
 * Cambarus cymatilis Hobbs, 1970 Status iucn EN icon.svg – Conasauga blue burrower
 * Cambarus davidi J. E. Cooper, 2000 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Carolina Ladle Crayfish
 * Cambarus deweesae R. W. Bouchard & Etnier, 1979 Status iucn LC icon.svg – valley flame crayfish
 * Cambarus distans Rhoades, 1944 Status iucn LC icon.svg – boxclaw crawfish
 * Cambarus diupalma Jones and Eversole, 2015 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus doughertyensis Cooper & Skelton, 2003 Status iucn DD icon.svg - Dougherty burrowing crayfish
 * Cambarus dubius Faxon, 1884 Status iucn LC icon.svg – upland burrowing crayfish
 * Cambarus ectopistes Loughman & Williams, 2021 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus eeseeohensis Thoma, 2005 Status iucn VU icon.svg
 * Cambarus elkensis Jezerinac & Stocker, 1993 Status iucn VU icon.svg – Elk River crayfish
 * Cambarus englishi Hobbs & Hall, 1972 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus extraneus Hagen, 1870 Status iucn DD icon.svg – Chickamauga crayfish
 * Cambarus fasciatus Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn DD icon.svg – Etowah crayfish
 * Cambarus friaufi Hobbs, 1953 Status iucn LC icon.svg – hairy crayfish
 * Cambarus gentryi Hobbs, 1970 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus georgiae Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Little Tennessee crayfish
 * Cambarus girardianus Faxon, 1884 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus graysoni Faxon, 1914 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Two-spot crayfish
 * Cambarus guenteri Loughman, Henkanaththegedara, Fetzner and Thoma, 2017 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus halli Hobbs, 1968 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus hamulatus (Cope, 1881) Status iucn LC icon.svg – Prickly cave crayfish
 * Cambarus harti Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn EN icon.svg – Piedmont blue burrower
 * Cambarus hatfeildi Z. J. Loughman, 2013 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus hazardi Loughman, Henkanaththegedara, Fetzner and Thoma, 2017 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus hiwasseensis Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Hiwassee crayfish
 * Cambarus hobbsorum J. E. Cooper, 2001 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Rocky River crayfish
 * Cambarus howardi Hobbs & Hall, 1969 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Chattahoochee crayfish
 * Cambarus hubbsi Creaser, 1931 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus hubrichti Hobbs, 1952 Status iucn DD icon.svg – Salem cave crayfish
 * Cambarus hystricosus Cooper & Cooper, 2003 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus jezerinaci Thoma, 2000 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus johni Cooper, 2006 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus jonesi Hobbs & Barr, 1960 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Alabama cave crayfish
 * Cambarus laconensis Buhay & Crandall, 2009 Status iucn CR icon.svg - Lacon Exit cave crayfish
 * Cambarus latimanus (Le Conte, 1856) Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus lenati J. E. Cooper, 2000 Status iucn NT icon.svg – Broad River crayfish
 * Cambarus lentiginosus Jones and Eversole, 2016 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus longirostris Faxon, 1885 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus longulus Girard, 1852 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus loughmani Foltz II et al., 2018 - Blue Teays mudbug
 * Cambarus maculatus Hobbs & Pflieger, 1988 Status iucn LC icon.svg – freckled crayfish
 * Cambarus magerae Thoma and Fetzner, 2015 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus manningi Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus monongalensis Ortmann, 1905 Status iucn LC icon.svg - Monongahela or blue crayfish
 * Cambarus nerterius Hobbs, 1964 Status iucn NT icon.svg – Greenbrier cave crayfish
 * Cambarus nodosus R. W. Bouchard & Hobbs, 1976 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus obeyensis Hobbs & Shoup, 1947 Status iucn CR icon.svg – Obey crayfish
 * Cambarus obstipus Hall, 1959 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus ortmanni Williamson, 1907 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Ortmann mudbug
 * Cambarus parrishi Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn DD icon.svg – Hiwassee headwater crayfish
 * Cambarus parvoculus Hobbs & Shoup, 1947 Status iucn LC icon.svg – mountain midget crayfish
 * Cambarus pauleyi Loughman, Thoma, Fetzner and Stocker, 2015 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus pecki (Hobbs, 1967) Status iucn EN icon.svg - phantom cave crayfish
 * Cambarus polypilosus Loughman & Williams, 2018 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus pristinus Hobbs, 1965 Status iucn DD icon.svg – pristine crayfish
 * Cambarus pyronotus R. W. Bouchard, 1978 Status iucn DD icon.svg – fireback crayfish
 * Cambarus reburrus Prins, 1968 Status iucn LC icon.svg – French Broad crayfish
 * Cambarus reduncus Hobbs, 1956 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus reflexus Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus robustus Girard, 1852 Status iucn LC icon.svg – big water crayfish
 * Cambarus rusticiformis Rhoades, 1944 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Depression crayfish
 * Cambarus sciotensis Rhoades, 1944 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Teays River crayfish
 * Cambarus scotti Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Chattooga crayfish
 * Cambarus setosus Faxon, 1889 Status iucn NT icon.svg – bristly cave crayfish
 * Cambarus smilax Loughman, Simon, and Welch, 2011 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Greenbrier crayfish
 * Cambarus speciosus Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn NT icon.svg
 * Cambarus speleocoopi Buhay & Crandall, 2009 Status iucn EN icon.svg - Sweet Home Alabama Crayfish
 * Cambarus sphenoides Hobbs, 1968 Status iucn LC icon.svg
 * Cambarus spicatus Hobbs, 1956 Status iucn DD icon.svg - Broad River spiny crayfish
 * Cambarus stockeri Thoma, 2011 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus striatus Hay, 1902 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Hay Crayfish
 * Cambarus strigosus Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn DD icon.svg – lean crayfish
 * Cambarus subterraneus Hobbs III, 1993 Status iucn CR icon.svg – Delaware County cave crayfish
 * Cambarus tartarus Hobbs & M. R. Cooper, 1972 Status iucn CR icon.svg – Oklahoma cave crayfish
 * Cambarus taylori Loughman, Henkanaththegedara, Fetzner and Thoma, 2017 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus tenebrosus Hay, 1902 Status iucn LC icon.svg – cavespring crayfish
 * Cambarus theepiensis Loughman, Foltz, Garrison and Welsh, 2013 Status iucn DD icon.svg
 * Cambarus truncatus Hobbs, 1981 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Oconee burrowing crayfish
 * Cambarus tuckasegee Cooper & Schofield, 2002 Status iucn NT icon.svg
 * Cambarus unestami Hobbs & Hall, 1969 Status iucn LC icon.svg – Blackbarred crayfish
 * Cambarus veitchorum J. E. Cooper & M. R. Cooper, 1997 Status iucn CR icon.svg – White Spring cave crayfish
 * Cambarus veteranus Faxon, 1914 Status iucn DD icon.svg – Guyandotte River crayfish
 * Cambarus williami R. W. Bouchard & J. W. Bouchard, 1995 Status iucn NT icon.svg – Brawleys Fork crayfish
 * Cambarus zophonastes Hobbs & Bedinger, 1964 Status iucn CR icon.svg – Hell Creek cave crayfish

title: Cambarus


text:
Signal crayfish

The signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) is a North American species of crayfish. It was introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European Astacus astacus fisheries, which were being damaged by crayfish plague, but the imports turned out to be a carrier of that disease. The signal crayfish is now considered an invasive species across Europe, Japan, and California, ousting native species there.

Description and ecology
Members of this species are typically 6 - 9 cm long, although sizes up to 16 - 20 cm are possible. They are bluish-brown to reddish-brown in colour, with robust, large, smooth claws. They have a white to pale blue-green patch near the claw hinge, like the white flags that signalmen used for directing trains—hence the name.

The lifecycle of the signal crayfish is typical for the family Astacidae. Around 200–400 eggs are laid after mating in the autumn, and are carried under the female's tail until they are ready to hatch the following spring. The eggs hatch into juveniles, which pass through three stages (two moults) before leaving their mother. Sexual maturity is reached after 2–3 years, and the lifespan can be up to 20 years.

The signal crayfish is an omnivore, with most of its dietary intake being detritus.

Native range
The signal crayfish is native to North America west of the Rocky Mountains, including the Canadian province of British Columbia, and the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It was introduced to California in 1912 into the San Lorenzo River watershed and from there rapidly spread throughout the state. The only native crayfish remaining in California (aside from Pacifastacus leniusculus klamathensis, a subspecies of signal crayfish believed to be native to the Klamath River in Northern California) is the Shasta crayfish, of Shasta County, California (Pacifastacus fortis), where efforts are being made to create a barrier to signal crayfish invasion. Within North America, it has also been introduced to Nevada, and the populations in Utah may be the result of introductions. It has also been found in Alaska, specifically Kodiak Island, in the Buskin River and Buskin Lake. It is listed as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List.

Introduction into Europe
From 1907, crayfish plague, an infectious disease caused by the water mould Aphanomyces astaci, damaged stocks of the native European crayfish Astacus astacus. Since the signal crayfish occupied a similar ecological niche in its native range, it was imported in the 1960s to Sweden and Finland to allow recreational and commercial crayfish capture. At the time, the signal crayfish was not recognized as a carrier of the crayfish plague. All American species carry the infection, but it is only lethal to individuals that are already stressed; to European species, the infection is rapidly fatal. The signal crayfish is now the most widespread alien crayfish in Europe, occurring in 25 countries, from Finland to Great Britain and from Spain to Greece. It was first introduced to Great Britain in 1976, and is now widespread across the British mainland as far north as the Moray Firth. It has also been observed on the Isle of Man, but not in Ireland, the last European country to have no alien crayfish.

In both Sweden and Finland (where crayfish are eaten), the catch of signal crayfish exceeds that of A. astacus (European/noble crayfish). The former is sold at roughly half the price compared to the latter.

In Europe, the signal crayfish is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union. The signal crayfish is often considered a nuisance species amongst anglers in Europe.

Multiple studies have been published to find out how the damage caused by the settlement — and subsequent overpopulation — of invasive signal crayfish in Europe can be mitigated, including studies regarding effective upstream barriers against signal crayfish that don’t negatively impact the migration of fish, as well as other, aggressive but more efficient approaches which may harm an existing ecosystem further, such as eradication (by means of drainage or destruction of waterways, and biocides) and suppression (by means of extensive trapping, electrocution of waterways, and introduction of predatory fish), with eradication being most successful.

title: Signal crayfish


text:
User:Belizian/temp photos

This is a placeholder. You can replace, in the title bar, the words "temp_photos" with whatever you want and just edit the new empty page. --Dante Alighieri | Talk 21:03, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

title: User:Belizian/temp photos


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Handwriting foreign accent

I tried to follow along the article, the Talk page associated with it, and some of the previous edits, and for the life of me, I cannot see the value or usefulness of this (aside from its quality, which is poor -- it's already noted as needing attention. Alcarillo 18:01, 4 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Or maybe merge with graphology? (dear god either way it needs help)Rhymeless 21:05, 4 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. It seems to have value to me. The stuff about 7s being crossed or uncrossed sounds familiar.  But I think the article title is probably a bit of a fudge. Think needing attention seems a good place for it for now. - --bodnotbod 21:08, May 4, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, certainly, but change title. Opposed to merging with graphology, but possibly with penmanship. -- Jao 22:04, 4 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, merge with penmanship.--Samuel J. Howard 03:06, May 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. I think it is a quite valid topic and worthy of further attention. Don't merge it IMO. Marcika 05:40, May 6, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, an interesting topic, wants a better title. Not sure if penmanship,  palaeography, or diplomatics would be the closest match.  The palaeography article needs help as well, and apparently we don't have diplomatics yet.  Smerdis of Tlön 19:35, 6 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep or merge But mostly no true. I wirte the "I" without the bars. And I'm not Chinese.Pedro 01:51, 8 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, but merge and/or rename. - Fennec 14:50, May 9, 2004 (UTC)


text:
The Tartan (Carnegie Mellon University)

The Tartan (formerly known as The Carnegie Tartan) is the original student newspaper of Carnegie Mellon University. Publishing since 1906, it is one of Carnegie Mellon's largest and oldest student organizations. It currently has over 170 student members, who contribute on a weekly basis. It is funded by advertisements and the university's student activities fee.

Sections
There are two sections in The Tartan. One is a standard broadsheet news section and the other is an entertainment, arts, and living tabloid section called Pillbox.

News
The News section consists of the front page and two or three other pages of timely, campus-focused content covering events, accomplishments and disappointments of the student body. The section's semi-regular features include news analysis, personality profiles, investigative reporting, and trend reporting. Its regular features include news briefs, a preview of the university's lectures, featured photographs of campus events, and a weekly dose of topical statistics.

Forum
The Forum section is where Carnegie Mellon's campus discusses current issues. It contains letters to the editor, op-ed pieces, a "Leadership Perspectives" column that features input from student leaders, and articles from the campus community. It also contains one or more editorial pieces that are the general opinion of the Editorial Staff.

Science & Technology
This section covers the school's many achievements in the fields of robotics, computer science, biology, physics, and other fields, as well as lectures and events with a technology or science slant. As Carnegie Mellon is a research university, The Tartan's "SciTech" section holds a special significance to the newspaper's total university coverage. Envisioned in 2000, the SciTech section originally ran on alternate weeks with a Business section. However, in 2003 the Business section was discontinued and SciTech became a weekly section of the newspaper.

Sports
This section covers the weekly games, home and away, of Carnegie Mellon's sports teams, including intramural ones. Its features include analysis of professional sports leagues, commentaries, and a schedule of upcoming games and events.

Pillbox
Pillbox is The Tartan's arts, living, and entertainment section. As an insert accompanying the broadsheet, it has its own comics editor in addition to a section editor. Pillbox covers the latest restaurant openings in the Oakland, Shadyside, and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods, campus fashion, on-campus concerts, dramatic performances, and organizations. It also contains music and movie reviews, and larger feature articles that encompass a greater scope.

The second section of the paper has undergone several iterations, especially in the past 15 years. In the 1980s, the subsections included Features and Diversions. Features contained information on student living, campus life, and city life. Diversions focused specifically on Arts and Entertainment. At this time the second section was also a broadsheet.

In 2000, as part of the newspaper's redesign several changes were made. Since the lines between Features and Diversions were already blurred, they were merged into an Arts and Living Section. SciTech and Business made up another subsection. Eventually, Business was discontinued, and Arts and Living became a tabloid section, Pillbox.

Comics
There is a comics section in Pillbox, with many student-drawn comics and a few syndicated comics.

Staff
The staff of The Tartan comprises two major levels, the Editorial Staff and regular staff.

Editorial Staff
The Editorial Staff constitutes the core of The Tartan's contributors, making decisions about the articles, photographs, and art pieces submitted by the regular staff. The Editorial Staff is divided into editors and managers. Editors deal directly with the assigning, production, and processing of content, while managers coordinate their staffs to provide a service to the publication.

As a general rule, people are voted into the Editorial Staff by their peers.

Editorial Board
The Editorial Board is a subgroup of the Editorial Staff, charged with formulating and communicating the newspaper's formal opinion every week. Each issue contains between one and three editorials, marked "From the Editorial Board," all of which are written by Editorial Board members and vetted by the entire Board before publication. The Board is appointed by the Editor-in-Chief and approved by a majority vote of the Editorial Staff.

Regular Staff
Students are considered a junior staff writer after joining the newspaper. After contributing to six issues or having two published articles in each of two separate sections, the student becomes a full staff writer. After a year of regular contribution, the staff writer is eligible to become a senior staff writer (a position which confers no tangible benefits, but senior staff do get their names in the masthead each week).

A brief independence: 2002–2004
In 2002, The Tartan's leadership decided to leave the student funding process of Carnegie Mellon University. Advertising revenues were healthy, and the paper's leadership was confident that the paper could remain independent so long as future leadership maintained a strong focus on maintaining and growing revenue from advertising and subscriptions. Breaking away was also an attempt to remove the ethical burden of reporting on the same entities that allocated funds to the newspaper. The paper failed to grow and maintain its advertising income, and accumulated a large amount of debt by 2004. The Tartan rejoined the student funding process in the spring of 2004.

Missing website: 2004
In the spring of 2004, a disgruntled staff member accessed The Tartans servers and removed the code for The Tartans Web site, along with the content of the site, shortly after leaving a meeting in which the editor-in-chief failed to nominate him for a contributing editor position. A complaint was filed with campus police, and the University held a disciplinary hearing, in which the committee determined the code belonged to the former staff member. Since then, The Tartan has rebuilt its internal and external Web sites from scratch.

Controversy: April 2004
The Tartan has traditionally published an annual joke issue called the "Natrat" (Tartan spelled backwards) on April Fool's Day. In the 2004 edition, a comic containing a racial slur for African Americans and a "joke" about murdering an African American, along with other offensive items, including a poem about the fatal rape of a woman with an ice skate blade, was published. Jim Puls, the editor-in-chief and Alex Meseguer, the managing editor resigned in the wake of the ensuing media attention and campus outcry. Bob Rost, the artist of the offending cartoon was also dismissed from the newspaper.

Controversy: November 2004
In November 2004, The Tartan declined to run an advertisement submitted by conservative writer David Horowitz. Horowitz has gained publicity by placing or attempting to place similar ads in a number of student newspapers across the country. This action caused The Tartan to once again gain media attention, this time drawing fire from conservatives who viewed the paper as having a liberal agenda.

title: The Tartan (Carnegie Mellon University)


text:
Alphonse Allais

Alphonse Allais (20 October 1854 in Honfleur – 28 October 1905 in Paris) was a French writer, journalist and humorist. He was also the editor of the Chat Noir, a satirical magazine.

Work
He is the author of many collections of whimsical writings. A poet as much as a humorist, he cultivated the verse form known as holorhyme (all verses are homophonous, where entire lines are pronounced the same). For example:

Par les bois du djinn où s'entasse de l'effroi,

Parle et bois du gin, ou cent tasses de lait froid.

Allais wrote the earliest known example of a completely silent musical composition. His Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Great Deaf Man of 1897 consists of 24 blank measures. It predates similarly silent but intellectually serious works by John Cage and Erwin Schulhoff by many years. His prose piece "Story for Sara" was translated and illustrated by Edward Gorey.

Allais participated in humorous exhibitions, including those of the Salon des Arts Incohérents of 1883 and 1884, held at the Galerie Vivienne. At these, inspired by his friend Paul Bilhaud's 1882 exhibit of an entirely black painting entitled "Negroes fight in a tunnel" (which he later reproduced with a slightly different title), Allais exhibited arguably some of the earliest examples of monochrome painting: for instance his plain white sheet of Bristol paper Première communion de jeunes filles chlorotiques par un temps de neige (First Communion of Anemic Young Girls In The Snow) (1883), and a similar red work Apoplectic Cardinals Harvesting Tomatoes on the Shore of the Red Sea (Aurora Borealis Effect) (1884). Allais published his Album primo-avrilesque in 1897, a monograph with seven monochrome artworks, accompanied by the score of his silent funeral march. (Bilhaud was not the first to create an all-black artwork: for example, Robert Fludd published an image of "Darkness" in his 1617 book on the origin and structure of the cosmos; and Bertall published his black Vue de La Hogue (effet de nuit) in 1843.) However, Allais's activity bears more similarity to 20th century Dada, or Neo-Dada, and particularly the works of the Fluxus group of the 1960s, than to 20th century monochrome painting since Malevich.

While consuming absinthe at café tables, Allais wrote 1600 newspaper and magazine pieces, and co-founded the Club of the Hydropaths (those allergic to water). He was a journalist, columnist and editor as well.

A film based on his novel L'Affaire Blaireau appeared in 1958 as Neither Seen Nor Recognized . Earlier versions with the same title as the original novel appeared in 1923 and 1932.

Miles Kington, humorous writer and musician, translated some of Allais' pieces into idiomatic English as The World of Alphonse Allais (UK). In the United States, Doug Skinner has translated fifteen books by Allais, including Captain Cap and his only novel.

Honfleur has a street, rue Alphonse Allais, and a school, Collège Alphonse Allais, named for him. There is a Place Alphonse-Allais in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. The Académie Alphonse-Allais has awarded an annual prize, the Prix Alphonse-Allais, in his honor since 1954.

Discovery
In 2018, the French expert Johann Naldi, a specialist in nineteenth-century art, discovered among a previously unpublished set of seventeen works of Incoherents "Des souteneurs encore dans la force de l'âge et le ventre dans l'herbe boivent de l'absinthe", consisting of a green carriage curtain embellished with a cartel with a title. Executed before 1897, when Allais was compiling his monochroidal experiments in his Album primo-avrilesque, this work is the only monochrome by Alphonse Allais identified to date, classified as a National Treasure on May 7, 2021 by decision of the Ministry of Culture.

In February 2024, the work made its world premiere in the exhibition "Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Parigi 1881-1901" at the Palazzo Roverella, in Rovigo, Italy.

Museum
The Alphonse Allais Museum, also called Le Petit Musée, in Honfleur, claiming to be the smallest museum in France (8 m2), consists of a small collection of "rarities", including the skull of Voltaire at age seventeen and a true piece of a False Cross (cf. True Cross), as well as inventions such as a special Chinese teacup made for left-handed people (cf. chawan), blue, white, and red starch to keep flags flying when there is no wind, black confetti for widows, and so on. The museum was founded on the second floor in Allais' parents' pharmacy in 1999 by the owner of the pharmacy, and moved to a new location in 2019 (rue des Petites boucheries).

Organizations
Two non-profit organizations celebrate Allais:
 * The Association des Amis d'Alphonse Allais (AAAA), founded in 1934, manages the Allais Museum and promotes young humorists who follow in the spirit of Allais.
 * The Académie Alphonse Allais, created in 1954, Allais' 100th birthday, by Henri Jeanson, like the Académie française, names new members annually and sponsors the "Alphonse Allais" literary prize.

Principal works

 * À se tordre, 1891
 * Vive la vie !, 1892
 * Deux et deux font cinq, 1895
 * Amours, délices et orgues, 1898
 * L'Affaire Blaireau (The Blaireau Case), 1899
 * Ne nous frappons pas (literally Let's not hit each other), 1900

English translations

 * Published in the US
 * My Rent Is Due!. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 979-8-9908521-4-3, 2024)
 * We Are Not Sheep. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 979-8-9881850-2-4, 2023)
 * Let's Not Hit Each Other. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 979-8986922423, 2023)
 * Loves, Delights, & Organs. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-1737943099, 2022)
 * 2 + 2 = 5. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-1735764672, 2021)
 * Pink and Apple-Green. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-1734816617, 2020)
 * The Alphonse Allais Reader. Compiled and translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-1732350670, 2018)
 * No Bile!. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-0999262290, 2018)
 * Masks. Translated & illustrated by Norman Conquest (Absurdist Texts & Documents #1), ISBN 978-1987530230, 2018)
 * Long Live Life!. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-0999262245, 2017)
 * I Am Sarcey. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 9780997777161, 2017)
 * Double Over. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-0997777130, 2016)
 * The Blaireau Affair. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-0692519523, 2015)
 * The Squadron's Umbrella. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-0692392126, 2015)
 * Selected Plays of Alphonse Allais. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 978-0692275085, 2014)
 * Captain Cap: His Adventures, His Ideas, His Drinks. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books, ISBN 9780615843407, 2013)
 * Captain Cap: Vol. I. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 11, 2013)
 * Captain Cap: Vol. II: The Apparent Symbiosis Between the Boa and Giraffe. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 14, 2013)
 * Captain Cap: Vol. III: The Antifilter & Other Inventions. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 17, 2013)
 * Captain Cap: Vol. IV: The Sanatorium of the Future. Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents Series No. 20, 2013)
 * How I Became an Idiot by Francisque Sarcey (Alphonse Allais). Translated by Doug Skinner (Black Scat Books: Absurdist Texts & Documents - Interim Edition No. 00, 2013)
 * The Adventures of Captain Cap. Translated by Brian Stableford (Black Coat Press, ISBN 9781612272184, 2013)

title: Alphonse Allais