text:
Feline immunodeficiency virus

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a Lentivirus that affects cats worldwide, with 2.5% to 4.4% of felines being infected.

FIV was first isolated in 1986, by Niels C Pedersen and Janet K. Yamamoto at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in a colony of cats that had a high prevalence of opportunistic infections and degenerative conditions and was originally called Feline T-lymphotropic virus. It has since been identified in domestic cats. It has been suggested FIV originated in Africa and has since spread to feline species worldwide.

Effects
FIV compromises the immune system of cats by infecting many cell types, including CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, and macrophages. FIV can be tolerated well by cats, but can eventually lead to debilitation of the immune system in its feline hosts by the infection and exhaustion of T-helper (CD4+) cells.

FIV and HIV are both lentiviruses. However, humans cannot be infected by FIV, nor can cats be infected by HIV. FIV is transmitted primarily through deep bite wounds, where the virus present in the infected cat's saliva enters the body tissues of another cat. FIV-positive cats can share water bowls, food bowls (for both wet and dry cat food), and use the same litter box with low danger of transmitting the disease. A vigilant pet owner who treats secondary infections can allow an infected cat to live a reasonably long life. The chance that an FIV-infected cat will pass the virus to other cats within a household is low, unless there is fighting between cats, or wounds present that could allow entry of the virus from infected to non-infected cat.

Newborn kittens may test positive for up to six months and most thereafter will gradually test negative. It is thought that this is due to antibodies transferred to the kittens via the mother's milk. However these antibodies are transient so subsequent testing will be negative. Once they have received vaccinations against FIV, they will, in the future, always test positive, as the various blood tests detect and show the antibodies that have developed in response to the vaccination.

FIV is known in other feline species, and in fact is endemic in some large wild cats, such as African lions. Three main clades of FIV are recognized as of 2006, FIV-Ple (lion), FIV-Fca (domestic cat), and FIV-Pco (puma). The host boundaries are usually well-kept due to the limited types of APOBEC3 enzymes viral infectivity factor can neutralize.

In the United States
Consensus in the United States on whether there is a need to euthanize FIV-infected cats has not been established. The American Association of Feline Practitioners (an organization in the United States), as well as many feral cat organizations, recommends against euthanizing FIV-positive cats, or even spending funds to test for the virus.

Pathology
The virus gains entry to host cells through the interaction of its own envelope glycoproteins with the target cells' surface receptors. First, the SU glycoprotein binds to CD134, a receptor on the host cell. This initial binding changes the shape of the SU protein to one that facilitates interaction between SU and the chemokine receptor CXCR4. This interaction causes the viral and cellular membranes to fuse, allowing the transfer of the viral RNA into the cytoplasm, where it is reverse transcribed and integrated into the cellular genome through nonhomologous recombination. Once integrated into the host cell's genome, the virus can lay dormant in the asymptomatic stage for extended periods of time without being detected by the immune system or can cause lysis of the cell.

CD134 is predominantly found on activated T cells and binds to OX40 ligand, causing T-cell stimulation, proliferation, activation, and apoptosis (3). This leads to a significant drop in cells that have critical roles in the immune system. Low levels of CD4+ and other affected immune system cells cause the cat to be susceptible to opportunistic diseases once the disease progresses to feline acquired immune deficiency syndrome (FAIDS).

Transmission
The primary mode of transmission is via deep bite wounds, in which the infected cat's saliva enters the other cat's tissues. FIV may also be transmitted from pregnant females to their offspring in utero; however, this vertical transmission is considered to be relatively rare, based on the small number of FIV-infected kittens and adolescents. This differs from FeLV, which may be spread by more casual, non-aggressive contact, such as mutual grooming and sharing of food bowls.

Risk factors for infection include male sex, adulthood, and outdoor access. One case study conducted in São Paulo found that 75% of FIV-infected cats were males. Higher rates of infection in males than females occurs due to biting being more frequently engaged in by males defending their territory.

Disease stages
FIV progresses through similar stages to HIV. The initial stage, or acute phase, is accompanied by mild symptoms such as lethargy, anorexia, fever, and lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph nodes). This initial stage is fairly short and is followed by the asymptomatic stage. Here the cat demonstrates no noticeable symptoms for a variable length of time. Some cats stay in this latent stage for only a few months, but for some it can last for years. Factors that influence the length of the asymptomatic stage include the pathogenicity of the infecting virus and FIV subtype (A–E), the age of the cat, and exposure to other pathogens. Finally, the cat progresses into the final stage (known as the feline acquired immune deficiency syndrome (FAIDS) stage), wherein the cat is extremely susceptible to secondary diseases that inevitably are the cause of death.

Testing
Veterinarians will check a cat's history, look for clinical signs, and possibly administer a blood test for FIV antibodies. FIV affects 2–3% of cats in the US and testing is readily available. This testing identifies those cats that carry the FIV antibody but does not detect the actual virus.

"False positives" occur when the cat carries the antibody (which is harmless) but does not carry the virus. The most frequent occurrence of this is when kittens are tested after ingesting the antibodies from mother's milk (passive immunity), and when testing cats that have been previously vaccinated for FIV (active immunity). For this reason, neither kittens under eight weeks nor cats that have been previously vaccinated are tested. Kittens and young cats that test positive for the FIV antibody via passive immunity test negative later in life due to seroreversion, provided they have never been infected with FIV and have never been immunized with the FIV vaccine.

Cats that have been vaccinated will test positive for the FIV antibody for the rest of their lives owing to seroconversion, even though they are not infected. Therefore, testing of strays or adopted cats is inconclusive, since it is impossible to know whether or not they have been vaccinated in the past. For these reasons, a positive FIV antibody test by itself should never be used as a criterion for euthanasia.

Tests can be performed in a vet's office with results in minutes, allowing for quick consultation. Early detection helps maintain the cat's health and prevents spreading infection to other cats. With proper care, infected cats can live long and healthy lives.

Treatment options
In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture issued a conditional license for a new treatment aid termed Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator (LTCI). Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator is manufactured and distributed exclusively by T-Cyte Therapeutics, Inc.

Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator is intended as an aid in the treatment of cats infected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and/or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), and the associated symptoms of anemia (reduced oxygen-carrying ability in the blood), opportunistic infection, lymphocytopenia, granulocytopenia, or thrombocytopenia (low levels of lymphocytes, granulocytes, and platelets respectively, the first two are types of white blood cell). The absence of any observed adverse events in several animal species suggests that the product has a very low toxicity profile.

Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator is a potent regulator of CD-4 lymphocyte production and function. It has been shown to increase lymphocyte numbers and Interleukin 2 production in animals. It is a single-chain polypeptide and a strongly cationic glycoprotein, and is purified with cation exchange resin. Purification of protein from bovine-derived stromal cell supernatants produces a substantially homogeneous factor, free of extraneous materials. The bovine protein is homologous with other mammalian species and is a homogeneous 50 kDa glycoprotein with an isoelectric point of 6.5. The protein is prepared in a lyophilized (freeze-dried) 1 microgram dose. Reconstitution in sterile diluent produces a solution for subcutaneous injection.

Vaccine
As with HIV, the development of an effective vaccine against FIV is difficult because of the high number of, and differences between, variations of the virus strains. "Single-strain" vaccines, i.e., vaccines that only protect against a single virus variant, have already demonstrated a good efficacy against homologous FIV strains. A dual-subtype vaccine for FIV released in 2002 called Fel-O-Vax made it possible to immunize cats against more FIV strains. It was developed using inactivated isolates of two of the five FIV subtypes (or clades): A Petaluma and D Shizuoka. The vaccine was shown to be moderately protective (82% of cats were protected) against subtype A FIV, but a later study showed it to offer no protection against subtype A. It has shown 100% effectiveness against two different subtype B FIV strains. Vaccination will cause cats to have positive results on FIV tests, making diagnosis more difficult. For these reasons the vaccine is considered "non-core", and the decision to vaccinate should be made after discussion with a veterinarian and consideration of the risks vs. the effectiveness.

Structure

FIV displays a similar structure to the primate and ungulate lentiviruses. The virion has a diameter from 80 to 100 nanometers and is pleomorphic. The viral envelope also has surface projections that are small, 8 nm, and evenly cover the surface.

The FIV virus genome is diploid. It consists of two identical single-strands of RNA in each case about 9400 nucleotides existing in plus-strand orientation. It has the typical genomic structure of retroviruses and includes LTR, vif, pol, gag, orfA, env, and rev genes. The Gag polyprotein is cleaved into matrix (MA), capsid (CA) and nucleocapsid (NC) proteins. Cleavage between CA and NC releases a nine amino acid peptide, while cleavage at the C-terminus of NC releases a 2kDa fragment (p2). The Pol polyprotein is translated by ribosomal frame-shifting, a feature shared with HIV. Cleavage of Pol by the viral protease releases the protease itself (PR), reverse transcriptase (RT), deoxyuridine triphosphatase (dUTPase or DU) and integrase (IN). The Env polyprotein consists of a leader peptide (L), surface (SU) and transmembrane (TM) glycoproteins. In common with other lentiviruses, the FIV genome encodes additional short open reading frames (ORFs) encoding the Vif and Rev proteins. An additional short ORF termed orfA (also known as orf2) precedes the env gene. The function of OrfA in viral replication is unclear, however the orfA-encoded product may display many of the attributes of HIV-1 accessory gene products such as Vpr, Vpu or Nef.

Among these subtypes, genetic sequences are mostly conserved; however, wide-ranging genetic differences exist between species specific FIV subtypes. Of FIV's genome, Pol is the most conserved across FIV strains along with gag. On the contrary, env, vif, orfa, and rev are the least conserved and exhibit the most genetic diversity among FIV strains.

The capsid protein derived from the polyprotein Gag is assembled into a viral core (the protein shell of a virus) and the matrix protein also derived from Gag forms a shell immediately inside of the lipid bilayer. The Env polyprotein encodes the surface glycoprotein (SU) and transmembrane glycoprotein (TM). Both SU and TM glycoproteins are heavily glycosylated, a characteristic that scientists believe may mask the B-cell epitopes of the Env glycoprotein giving the virus resistance to the virus neutralizing antibodies.

Lentiviral vector
Like HIV-1, FIV has been engineered into a viral vector for gene therapy. Like other lentiviral vectors, FIV vectors integrate into the chromosome of the host cell, where it can generate long-term stable transgene expression. Furthermore, the vectors can be used on dividing and non-dividing cells. FIV vectors could potentially be used to treat neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease, and have already been used for transfer RNAi, which may find use as gene therapy for cancer.

Origin and spread
The exact origins and emergence of FIV in felids is unknown; however, studies of viral phylogenetics, felidae speciation, and FIV occurrence alludes to origins in Africa. Analysis of viral phylogenetics shows phylogenetic trees with a starburst phylogenetic pattern which is usually demonstrated by viruses that are a recent emergence with rapid evolution. However, differences in topology, branch lengths, high genetic divergence suggest a more ancient origin in felidae species. Fossil records indicate extant felids arose from a common ancestor in Asia approximately 10.8 million years ago, and since then thirty eight species from eight distinct evolutionary lineages have spread and successfully inhabited every continent but Antarctica. Despite felidae origins in Asia, FIV is absent from felidae species in Asia except for the Mongolian Pallas cat; however, FIV is highly endemic in Africa with four out of five felids having seropositive PCR results. Due to the widespread occurrence and interspecies divergence of FIV strains in Africa, it's suggested that FIV arose in Africa before disseminating worldwide. The high genetic diversity and divergence between FIV strains in African felidae species and the presence of hyena FIV-Ccr, is consistent with a long residence time giving rise to increased opportunities for inter-species transmission among species. Additionally, lentiviruses are also highly endemic in Africa infecting not only felids, but also primates, and ungulate species. This suggests to the origins of all lentiviruses and supports FIV origins in Africa; however, further research is needed.

The spread of FIV from Africa might have occurred during two points of felidae migration. The earliest migration across the Bering Strait into North America occurred approximately 4.5 million years ago during a period of low sea levels. Early felids in North America descended into seven species of the ocelot lineage, two species of the puma lineage, and four of the modern species of lynx. The most recent migration of Asian lions and jaguars across Eurasia into North and South America occurred during the Pliocene/early Pleistocene. These migrations events increased opportunities for FIV transmission among felids and established infections globally for felidae species.

Wild felids
Comparisons of FIV subtypes illustrate rapid evolution and highlights divergence in FIV strains. FIV-Pco, which is specific to American pumas, has two highly divergent subtypes. Several studies have demonstrated subtypes A and B to have long branch lengths and low geographic similarities which indicates the possibility of two separate FIV introductions into populations coupled with a long residence time. In the late Pleistocene, pumas fell victim to the ice age, went extinct in North America except for a small inbred population in Florida, and did not re-emerge until 10-12,000 years ago. Phylogenetic analysis of FIV-Pco strains in Central, South, and North America show Central and South American strains are more closely related to North American strains than to each other. This suggests FIV-Pco was already present in South American pumas which repopulated North America.

In African lions, FIV-Ple has diverged in to six subtypes A-F which exhibit distinct geographical endemicity to some degree. Approximately 2 million years ago, African lions arose and dispersed throughout Africa, Asia, and North, Central, and South America. Modern lions currently reside only on the African continent except for a small population in India. There is no documented disease association of FIV, but seroprevalence in free- ranging lion populations are estimated to be roughly 90%. Phylogenetic analysis of FIV-Ple subtypes A, B, and C show high intra and interindividual genetic diversity and sequence divergence comparable to genetic differences to strains from other Felidae species. These findings indicate these strains evolved in geographically distant lion populations; however, recent occurrences of these strains within populations in Serengeti National Park suggests recent convergence in the same population.

Domestic felids
In domestic cats, FIV-Fca is pathogenic and can lead to feline AIDS symptoms and subsequent death. Phylogenetic analysis shows FIV to be a monophyletic branch that diverges into three subtypes A, B, and C. Domestic cats arose more recently than other felidae species approximately around 10,000 years ago from a subspecies of wildcat Felis silvestris which inhabited East Asia. Genetic analysis indicates lower genetic diversity of FIV in the domestic cat compared to wild Felidae species, higher evolutionary rates, and higher mortality rates when compared to FIV-Ple and FIV-Pco. This suggests the emergence of FIV in domestic cats was recent since newly emerged viruses tend to have higher evolutionary rates with little to no co-adaption between virus and new host species occurring. Additionally, seroprevalence studies show companion cats to have a 4–12% occurrence while feral cats have an 8–19% prevalence which is much lower compared to wild felidae species which supports the hypothesis of FIV's recent emergence in this species.

Comparison with feline leukemia virus
FIV and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) are sometimes mistaken for one another though the viruses differ in many ways. Although they are both in the same retroviral subfamily (orthoretrovirinae), they are classified in different genera (FeLV is a gamma-retrovirus and FIV is a lentivirus like HIV-1). Their shapes are quite different: FeLV is more circular while FIV is elongated. The two viruses are also quite different genetically, and their protein coats differ in size and composition. Although many of the diseases caused by FeLV and FIV are similar, the specific ways in which they are caused actually differ. Also, while the feline leukemia virus may cause symptomatic illness in an infected cat, an FIV-infected cat can remain completely asymptomatic its entire lifetime.

title: Feline immunodeficiency virus


text:
List of hospitals in Costa Rica

″This is a list of hospitals in Costa Rica which are open and treating patients.

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital San Juan de Dios, built in 1854 and partially rebuilt in 1995, 2004 and 2009
 * Hospital Nacional de Niños, built in 1961
 * Hospital Dr Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, built in 1946 (rebuilt in 1990 and 2015)
 * Centro Nacional de Rehabilitación, built in 1973
 * Hospital Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes (for gerontological and geriatric healthcare), built in 1950 and rebuilt in 2016
 * Hospital Nacional de las Mujeres Dr Ricardo Carit Eva
 * Hospital México, built in 1969
 * Hospital Nacional Psiquiátrico, built in 1970

NATIONAL INSURANCE INSTITUTE: Instituto Nacional de Seguros

 * Hospital de Trauma, built in 2010

PRIVATE OPERATORS in San José

 * Hospital Clínica Bíblica (San José), built in 1927 and rebuilt in 1990, 2002 and 2008
 * Hospital Clínica Católica
 * Hospital Clínica Santa Rita
 * Hospital Metropolitano (San José)

PRIVATE OPERATORS in Escazú

 * Hospital CIMA (Escazú), built in 2000

PRIVATE OPERATORS in Santa Ana

 * Hospital Clínica Bíblica (Santa Ana)
 * Hospital Metropolitano (Santa Ana)

PRIVATE OPERATORS in Tibás

 * Hospital Clínica Unibe
 * Hospital Metropolitano (Tibás)

PRIVATE OPERATORS in Guadalupe

 * Hospital Cristiano Jerusalem

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Dr Fernando Escalante Pradilla

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital San Rafael

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Dr Carlos Luis Valverde Vega

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de San Carlos

PRIVATE OPERATOR in Ciudad Quesada

 * Hospital San Carlos Borromeo

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital San Francisco de Asís

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de Upala

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de Los Chiles

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Max Peralta in Cartago

PRIVATE OPERATOR in Cartago

 * Hospital Universal

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital William Allen in Turrialba

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital San Vicente de Paul

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Enrique Baltodano Briceño in Liberia

PRIVATE OPERATOR in Liberia

 * Hospital CIMA Guanacaste
 * Hospital Clínico San Rafael Arcángel

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de la Anexion

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Monseñor Sanabria in Puntarenas

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Lic Manuel Mora Valverde

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de Ciudad Neilly

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de San Vito

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Dr Tomás Casas Casajús

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Dr Max Terán Valls

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital Dr. Tony Facio Castro

NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social

 * Hospital de Guápiles

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

title: List of hospitals in Costa Rica


text: Talk:Hagakure

title: Talk:Hagakure


text:
Header

Header may refer to:

Computers and engineering

 * Header (computing), supplemental data at the beginning of a data block
 * E-mail header
 * HTTP header
 * Header file, a text file used in computer programming (especially in C and C++)
 * A pin header is a mainly male style of electrical connector on printed circuit boards, including motherboards, providing links to external devices
 * Exhaust manifold, in automotive design

Construction

 * Lintels (headers), structural members in light-frame construction which run perpendicular to floor and ceiling joists, "heading" them off to create an opening
 * Lintel (architecture), a structural member in post-and-lintel building construction
 * Header (brickwork), a brick laid with its short side exposed
 * In piping, a manifold or length of pipe that connects multiple smaller pipes

Sports

 * Header (sailing): a term used in sailboat racing to denote a wind shift
 * Header, a herding dog with a specific method of interacting with its flock
 * Header, a headlong fall, particularly from a penny-farthing bicycle
 * Header (association football), use of the player's head to direct the ball in association football (soccer)
 * Header, a competitor in the team roping rodeo event who specializes in roping a steer's head

Other

 * Header (film), a 2006 film
 * Header (band), an Australian power pop band
 * Page header, in printing or typography the material separated from the main body that appears at the top of a page
 * Combine header or head, part of a combine harvester
 * Stripper (agriculture), type of grain harvester
 * Header, is a reference to an area within a document that serves to provide the needed context on the content that is included in the report. Headers are often used in reporting to segment content in a consistent manner from one report to another. In this context, especially recognizing the evolving technology display user interfaces, the Header information may appear anywhere within that display (aka Quip :).

title: Header


text:
Talk:Standesamt Schneidemühl

(moved to Project page)

I haven't had time to formalize the templates for this yet, I'm letting the "Historical States" project mature a little, and then will propose templates for: Prussian provinces, Bezirkregierungen, Kreise and Standesamter. Please see the articles Standesamt Kolmar, Kreis Kolmar in Posen, Bromberg District, and Province of Posen to see how the structure is arranged. Note that this is only for the time frame of Prussian control. For the actual towns, the link is to the article for that town without limit to time frame. These are titled with the current Polish names.

 * Should I understand that Schneidemühl is the current Polish name of Piła? I don't get it... Halibutt 01:33, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Not at all. This article is only about the time frame: "Standesamt Schneidemühl was one of 9 civil registration districts located in Kreis Kolmar of the Prussian province of Posen, created in October 1874, during Imperial Germany (1871-1918) ". The viewpoint is from the "official" Prussian organization, spellings, etc. of that time, not current. But note that here, where there is a list of communities, they link to the general article for that town (if there is one). Bwood 02:19, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Standesamt Schneidemühl


text: Talk:Miscellaneous Debris

title: Talk:Miscellaneous Debris


text:
Talk:Kling Klang Studio

Untitled
What is meant by "outsiders are not welcome"? Is anyone else confused by that? If the author of Kling Klang was a German speaker translating directly I could see that they may have meant "foreigners", but even that doesn't make sense to me. This definately needs something more in order to remain, IMO. tslack2000 23:20, May 21, 2004 (UTC)

it means "outsiders are not welcome" ie, people kraftwerk dont know/havent invited. they are notoriously reclusive. Jdcooper

I think it's time someone tackled these rumours about it being impossible to contact Kraftwerk. Do you really think that major music festivals sit on their backsides waiting for these guys to call and say they want to play?

From what I can see of news reports not so long ago, it appears to me that Chris Martin of Coldplay repeated, word for word, a statement about the difficulties of contacting Kraftwerk which had been made earlier by Johnny Marr. And by "repeated", I mean down to every last word in the same order. Surely, even if they had the same experience, I do not think they would have spoken exactly the same sentences when interviewed, unless maybe Kraftwerk had hypnotised them into supplying the exact same interview as if they were "the robots".

I am a musician. So far as I am aware it would be impossible (or at least impossibly impractical) for me to legally use portions of someone else's work without appropriate and bi-directional dialogue regarding royalties, copyright issues, advertising, rights to reference the original composer, etc etc. Whether this was through a third party or directly, I think Coldplay or their representatives must have had a significant amount of dialogue with Kraftwerk to make the single "Talk" happen.

To conclude, I believe the whole "no contact" thing may be a "piece of flannel" which the record company occasionally reissues when sales are flagging.

However, in an attempt to settle the point, I am writing to Kling Klang asking Kraftwerk to perform at an event I am organising, and if allowed, I will post whatever reply I receive on Wikipedia. I have worded my communication in a way I think they will appreciate, with no unnecessary frills or unnecessary words. If I get no reply, this will in my eyes prove my point that their record company have vetted the mail, or they have read this and other articles on the web and wish to perpetuate the myth as laid out above. I believe that if the band members truly believe in what they do, I will receive a reply, even if it is a simple "no" to my request.

It is my opinion that Kraftwerk fans, in their hearts, must believe that Kraftwerk, whilst upholding the most clinical of personae are in fact human beings who will respond to their fans when it is necessary. If one of their fans was in a coma from which they might never recover, would Kraftwerk really leave them to die, or would they turn up and play at their death bed in the hope they might save a human life? If it is not the latter, and the band is not busy elsewhere, and there is no financial or other penalty to the band in performing this act, then I would associate such behaviour with (in my eyes bizarre and ill-thought) religious beliefs with which I cannot agree, and I will no longer be a fan. So please don't tell me they can't be contacted.

91.135.13.135 (talk) 00:07, 20 February 2010 (UTC)f2x

An Issue
The following passage contains a rather charming description of the recording studio, but unfortunately it has no references whatsoever. I would argue we reference it or remove it.

"...It is nearly impossible for anyone to come into contact with the studios, as all fan-mail is returned unopened and any outsiders are not welcome. The group is extremely reclusive, and it was rumoured that even though there is a phone installed, the number was not known even by the record company; or that the telephone did not have a ring tone, as the group did not want any unwanted noise to interfere with their recording sessions. Nowadays it is possible to obtain contact details through online searches, yet their reputation for maintaining a carefully controlled distance from others has endured. There is an anecdote about Johnny Marr, of The Smiths fame; Marr wanted to hold a recording session in the studios, and after several fruitless attempts to call the studio directly and mailing to them, he was told by the record company to call at a precise time on a precise date. The phone was answered immediately by a member of Kraftwerk, without showing any sign of ringing."--Pac 03:36, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I have a video from Swedish television on this topic that corroborates the above information.  I can't remember what it was called, but I will look it up and reference it when I get a chance. --Mattlach 17:32, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

 * It's almost a year later now and I have removed the anecdote. Apart from being unsourced, it also doesn't make sense: it's impossible to tell what ringtone (if any) a phone has when you're the one who is calling it. Only the receiver, in this case Kraftwerk, would know if the phone has a ringtone or not.   SIS   15:05, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Google Earth
The upstairs portion of the building that contains the original studio (pre 2009) is pixellated on Google earth Streetview. I wonder if Ralf himself requested this.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.86.52.181 (talk) 20:32, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

title: Talk:Kling Klang Studio


text:
Martin Taylor (guitarist)

Martin Taylor, MBE (born 20 October 1956) is a British jazz guitarist who has performed solo, in groups, guitar ensembles, and as an accompanist.

Early life
Taylor was born in Harlow, Essex, into a family with a musical heritage and a Gypsy tradition. At the age of four, he received his first guitar from his father, jazz bassist William 'Buck' Taylor who only took up music at 30. Buck frequently played the music of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, so the young Martin Taylor became inspired by guitarist Django Reinhardt. At age eight, he was already playing in his father's band and at 15 he quit school to become a professional musician.

The band Martin joined at 15 called the Oo-yah Band was led by Lennie Hastings, a jazz drummer who had been in the Alex Welsh band. The band included Nick Stevenson (trumpet), Peter Skivington (bass guitar), Ron Brown (trombone), Jamie Evans (piano), Malcolm Everson (clarinet and baritone saxophone).

Over the next few years Taylor played in bands at holiday camps, on radio, and on cruise ships. One cruise gig led to his playing with the Count Basie orchestra. Performing dates in and around London brought him into contact with jazz guitarist Ike Isaacs, who became a mentor. Isaacs not only performed with Taylor as a duet, but also helped Taylor develop his sense of jazz harmony and fingerstyle technique. He recorded for the first time in 1978, with bassist Peter Ind.

The Grappelli years
Through Isaacs, Taylor was introduced to Stéphane Grappelli, former violinist of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, in which he played with Django Reinhardt. When one of Grappelli's band members was injured, Taylor was invited to play a few European dates. When Grappelli invited him to join full-time, Taylor accepted and performed and recorded with him for the next eleven years (1979–1990), occupying the position once held by his idol, Django Reinhardt.

His success with Grappelli allowed Taylor more freedom. He reduced some of his commitments and moved to Scotland. Another benefit of his association with Grappelli was that he began to tour North America regularly, helping him reach a larger audience and build new relationships. He has worked with Chet Atkins, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, and Herb Ellis.

Going solo
To avoid relying on other musicians for income, Taylor started to perform as a solo act. His style and engaging stage personality paid off, and the gigs proved successful. After a few years, he stopped touring with Grappelli. A recording contract with Scottish label Linn Records, helped make it possible for him to concentrate on his solo career. Linn was primarily a manufacturer of high-end audio equipment, and found that Taylor's intimate and intricate style and tone ably demonstrated the quality of their equipment. These Linn recordings include solo work (Artistry and Portraits, which featured Chet Atkins) and some recordings with a modern jazz quartet (Don't Fret). The relative success of these albums and his concert dates raised Taylor's profile in the guitar community.

In 1991, Taylor performed in Australia, giving a solo performance on the Hey Hey It's Saturday show. Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel saw him on the show and contacted him, and the two became friends and frequent collaborators. Taylor has stated that although their backgrounds were different, they shared many similarities and found that they had been living parallel lives on opposite sides of the world.

Spirit of Django

In 1994, Taylor started the band Spirit of Django, which was inspired by Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club. He recorded and toured with this band while continuing his solo commitments. At the end of the decade he signed with Sony Music, releasing two albums, Kiss and Tell and Nitelife. After leaving Sony, he signed with P3 Music, which released Solo and The Valley with guest appearances by Bryn Terfel and Sacha Distel.

At a celebration for the film Stéphane Grappelli: A Life in the Jazz Century, Taylor performed with associates of Grappelli, including John Etheridge, Jack Emblow, and Coleridge Goode. Since 2010, he has been teaching guitar on his online school.

Influences
His earliest influence was gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt from the Hot Club of France. Other influences include mentor Ike Isaacs, Ted Greene, Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, and Joe Pass. Although Taylor is inspired by many guitarists, musically he relates more to pianists, particularly Art Tatum.

Taylor's set lists include songs from the Great American Songbook and his own compositions. His arrangements and compositions are often influenced by composers like Nelson Riddle and Duke Ellington and therefore include moving lines to fill in the spaces, e.g. walking basslines, syncopated chordal 'stabs' (to emulate horn sections), and complex jazz harmony. He considers melody the most important part of an arrangement.

Equipment
Martin Taylor often uses guitars built by Scottish-based luthier Mike Vanden. They produced the Martin Taylor Artistry archtop with another, nylon-stringed, archtop used for Spirit of Django. Throughout the 1990s he played a Yamaha AEX1500, which he helped develop. In 2012, Peerless guitars announced the release of two guitars endorsed by Martin. In 2018, in collaboration with UK based premium hand-crafted guitar specialist, Fibonacci Guitars, the Martin Taylor branded "Joya" guitar was launched followed in 2022 by the slightly smaller and thinner "Lola" model

Awards and honors
Member of the Order of the British Empire, awarded by Queen Elizabeth II (2002)

As leader

 * Taylor Made (Wave, 1979)
 * After Hours (JTC, 1979)
 * Triple Libra (Wave, 1981)
 * Skye Boat (Concord Jazz, 1982)
 * A Tribute to Art Tatum (Hep, 1986)
 * Sarabanda (Gaia, 1989)
 * Don't Fret! (Linn, 1990)
 * Change of Heart (Linn, 1991)
 * Gordon Giltrap & Martin Taylor (Prestige, 1991)
 * Artistry (Linn, 1992)
 * Spirit of Django (Linn, 1994)
 * Tone Poems 2 with David Grisman (Acoustic Disc, 1995)
 * Portraits with Chet Atkins (Linn, 1996)
 * Years Apart (Linn, 1996)
 * Two's Company (Linn, 1997)
 * Gypsy (Linn, 1998)
 * Kiss and Tell (Columbia, 1999)
 * I'm Beginning to See the Light with David Grisman (Acoustic Disc, 1999)
 * Martin Taylor in Concert (Milestone/Fantasy, 2000)
 * Nitelife (Columbia, 2001)
 * Solo (P3 Music, 2002)
 * Masterpiece Guitars with Steve Howe (P3 Music, 2002)
 * Gypsy Journey (P3 Music, 2003)
 * The Valley (P3 Music, 2004)
 * Martins4 (P3 Music, 2005)
 * Freternity (P3 Music, 2007)
 * Double Standards (P3 Music, 2008)
 * 1 AM with Alison Burns (P3 Music, 2008)
 * Last Train to Hauteville (P3 Music, 2010)
 * Live at Wigmore Hall with David Grisman (Acoustic Disc, 2011)
 * Two for the Road with Alan Barnes (Woodville, 2011)
 * First Time Together! with David Grisman, Frank Vignola (Acoustic Disc, 2012)
 * The Colonel and the Governor with Tommy Emmanuel (Mesa/Bluemoon, 2013)
 * I'll Be Home with Alison Burns (P3 Music, 2014)

As sideman
With Buddy DeFranco
 * On Tour UK: Buddy DeFranco Quartet Featuring Martin Taylor (Hep, 1984)
 * Groovin (Hep, 1985)
 * Garden of Dreams (ProJazz, 1988)

With Stephane Grappelli
 * Vintage 1981 (Concord Jazz, 1981)
 * At the Winery (Concord Jazz, 1981)
 * We've Got the World On a String (Angel, 1982)
 * Just One of Those Things (EMI, 1984)
 * Bringing It Together (Cymekob, 1984)
 * Live in San Francisco (Storyville, 1986)
 * Together at Last (Flying Fish, 1987)
 * Olympia 1988 (Atlantic, 1988)
 * Stephane Grappelli Plays Jerome Kern (GRP, 1987)
 * Milou en Mai (CBS, 1990)
 * Reunion (Linn, 1993)
 * Celebrating Grappelli (Honest, 1997)
 * Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival (True North/Fuel 2000, 1999)

With Karl Jenkins
 * Adiemus IV The Eternal Knot (Venture/Virgin, 2000)
 * Live (Venture, 2001)
 * Vocalise (OmTown/Virgin, 2003)

With Yehudi Menuhin
 * Strictly for the Birds (Angel, 1980)
 * Top Hat (His Master's Voice, 1984)
 * For All Seasons (EMI, 1985)
 * Menuhin & Grappelli Play Jealousy & Other Great Standards (EMI, 1988)

With Bill Wyman
 * Anyway the Wind Blows (BMG/RCA, 1998)
 * Struttin' Our Stuff (BMG/RCA, 1997)
 * Groovin (Roadrunner/Papillon/Ripple, 2000)
 * Live in Europe (Ripple, 2000)
 * Double Bill (Disky, 2001)
 * Travlin' Band (Ripple, 2002)
 * On the Road Again (Ripple, 2003)
 * Just for a Thrill (Ripple, 2004)
 * The Kings of Rhythm Vol. 1: Jump, Jive and Wail (Edsel, 2016)

With others
 * Denys Baptiste, Alternating Currents (Dune, 2001)
 * Teresa Brewer, On the Road Again (Doctor Jazz, 1983)
 * Teresa Brewer, American Music Box Vol. 1 The Songs of Irving Berlin (Doctor Jazz, 1987)
 * Elkie Brooks, Live with Friends (Eventful Music, 2006)
 * Chas and Dave, That's What Happens (Warner 2013)
 * Jaki Graham, Heaven Knows (EMI, 1985)
 * David Grisman, David Grisman's Acoustic Christmas (Rounder, 1983)
 * David Grisman, Dawg Jazz & Dawg Grass (Warner Bros., 1983)
 * Peter Ind, Jazz Bass Baroque (Wave, 1988)
 * Kiri Te Kanawa, Kiri Sings Karl (EMI, 2006)
 * Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, Gossip (Mushroom, 1986)
 * Carol Kidd, All My Tomorrows (Aloi, 1985)
 * Didier Lockwood, Waltz Club (EmArcy, 2006)
 * Didier Lockwood, For Stephane (Ames, 2008)
 * Claire Martin, Off Beat (Linn, 1995)
 * Courtney Pine, Journey to the Urge Within (Antilles, 1986)
 * Prefab Sprout, Andromeda Heights (Kitchenware/Columbia, 1997)
 * Spike Robinson, London Reprise (Capri, 1984)
 * Bryn Terfel, Bryn (Deutsche Grammophon, 2003)

title: Martin Taylor (guitarist)


text:
Talk:Kreis Obornik

Untitled
See talk page of the Standesamt Schneidemuhl article. The link here is to the Standesamt article, which in turn will link to the town article.

So the Polish version should theoretically link to Pila County or Pila commune. However, since apparently noone is planning to list all Polish communes one by one (several thousands altogether), the link to the city had some importance. Any reason to delete it? Or just bad will? Halibutt 01:31, 22 May 2004 (UTC)
 * "The Polish version" of what? Please be specific as there are many possible interpretations of that phrase. The link to the city still exists, but it's not in this article, it's in the Standesamt article. At least as far as this set of organized articles is concerned. By linking to the town article, you broke the link to the Standesamt article (either existing or planned). Please see the Kreis Kolmar in Posen, and Standesamt Kolmar articles to see some that are more developed in content. Pila County would be an article outside of this particular organization or articles. Bwood 02:15, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

 * IMHO there should be some linking to both the actual town and (if there exists one) to the present-day Piła County in this very article. Just like it's strange not to add a link to Berlin in an article about Berlin in the Kreuzberg article or not including a link to London in the London borough article. This is a relevant piece of information and, unless you plan to add separate maps, entries and so on, might be really helpful for those who are trying to find the mythical Schneidemuehl on a map or anywhere else on the wiki. A link is needed. Halibutt 12:23, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

 * The Kreuzberg article is not part of a structured, time-specific hierarchy, while the Kreis, Standesamt, Province articles are. I repeat, if you link to the town here (in the table of Standesamter), where do we put the link for the Standesamt article? The link should go in the next table, which is only a stub in this instance. Again, refer to the Kreis Kolmar in Posen article for a more complete instance.

Sorted as part of the Notability wikiproject! == ==

The article is unarguably notable for Wikipedia, but desperately lacking any geographical information. Namely where was that county on the map, which settlemants was it including etc. These are mentioned on this page, not on the main one. I hope I"m treating this article right cause I can see people already discussing it. ---Futurano 19:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

 * I trust recent updates address these issues. Bwood 14:39, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Kreis Obornik


text:
John Cator

John Cator (21 March 1728 – 26 February 1806) was an English timber merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1772 and 1793. He became a landowner and property developer with estates in later life in: Blackheath, Beckenham, Addington, Croydon and Waltham Forest – now in London, then in Kent, Surrey and Essex; at Leigh and Hever in Kent.

Business
The son of John Cator the Elder, a Herefordshire timber merchant and Quaker (who in turn was the son of Jonah Cator of Ross-on-Wye, a glovemaker), Cator joined the family business which had relocated to a new London base at Mould Strand Wharf (now the Bankside site of the Tate Modern art gallery) in Southwark, and sought to capitalise on the growth of the capital by investing in property, mainly in south-east London and Kent. He married Mary Collinson (daughter of botanist Peter Collinson) in 1753. In 1778, Fanny Burney wrote:

 * "Mr. C--, who was formerly a timber-merchant, but having amassed a fortune of one million of pounds, he has left off business. He is a good-natured busy sort of man."

At one time Cator negotiated lending money to the Prince Regent and his brothers but withdrew in case it was seen by lawyers as treasonable as repayment details turned on the death of the ailing King.

He was MP for Wallingford from 1772 to 1780. Following his election for Ipswich in 1784, his rival Charles Crickitt took out a successful petition against him accusing him of bribery. He was then elected for Stockbridge from 1790 to 1793. He was appointed High Sheriff of Kent for 1780–81.

Beckenham
Cator's first land purchase in Beckenham/Lewisham was at Stump's Hill in 1757, where he built a house between 1760 and 1762 on part of what was Foxgrove Manor lands. His father-in-law visited in September 1762, commenting:

 * "... went, for the first time, to visit my son-in-law John Cater [sic] (who married my daughter), at his new-built house, now finished, at Stump's Hill, half-way (on the south side of the road) between Southend and Beckenham, in Kent, began in the spring 1760, on a pretty wooded estate that he had purchased. The plantations about it, all of his own doing, I found in a thriving condition, and when grown up will adorn so stately a house, in so delectable a situation, and make it a Paradise."

In 1773, he became Lord of the Manor of Beckenham, having purchased the land from Lord Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke had previously exchanged the old manor house for Woolseys Farm with the Burrells. Cator was established at Stumps Hill and whether the house of 1760 was altered is unknown but it was eventually altered to a more Palladian-style mansion with the epithet 'Beckenham Place', Beckenham Place (attribution unknown, but may be architect Sir Robert Taylor), much admired by Dr Samuel Johnson. The purchase from Bolingbroke was fraught with problems as Bolingbroke had previously leased the manor lands to a Mrs. Hare and court cases went on until 1780. After Cator acquired full control of the Beckenham Manor lands he exchanged property with the Burrells of Kelsey and Langley so that he had a contiguous estate north of Beckenham village and the Burrells under Peter Burrell/Lord Gwydyr had most of the land south of the village after 1793. Cator's land dealings, money lending and business affairs will perhaps never be fully understood. He was a shareholder in the East India Company and some of his brothers worked for the Company.

Cator Park and Cator Road are named after John Cator.

Blackheath
Around 1783, slightly closer to central London at Blackheath, Cator bought the Wricklemarsh mansion (formerly owned by Sir Gregory Page) and its 250-acre (1 km2) estate for a bargain £22,250. The Palladian mansion (designed by architect John James) was gradually demolished from 1787 onwards and Cator began to break up the estate into small packages of land to be individually developed. Among the earliest commissions was one for architect Michael Searles to design a 14-house crescent, "The Paragon", on the south side of the Heath. Some of its colonnades are said to incorporate pillars used in Page's mansion.

The Cator estates
Cator died in London in 1806 at his Adelphi apartment and was buried in the churchyard of St George's Church, Beckenham. At the time of his death he had property in Beckenham, Croydon, Addington, Leigh, Chiddingstone, Waltham Forest, Chingford and a small amount in Hereford which had been his father's. His only child a daughter Maria had died in infancy so he had no direct heir.

His estates were inherited by his nephew John Barwell Cator (1791–1850), who "with a young man's flair, exploited the Blackheath estate with style and profit," though it was not until the mid 1820s that building started in earnest. J. Barwell Cator had purchased estates in Woodbastwick in Norfolk (Woodbastwick Hall is still the family seat), and it later fell to other Cators – his younger brother Peter Cator (1796-1873) and son Albemarle Cator (1813-1868) – to expand the developments of Beckenham and Blackheath to take advantage of the growth of the railway network during the mid 19th century. John Cator had intended the Beckenham Estates to remain intact for the family but a Private Act of Parliament 1825 permitted J. Barwell Cator and other trustees of the estate to sell or lease property with the intention of replacing sales with other purchases so Woodbastwick expanded, and the family under Albemarle Cator also acquired property in Trewsbury in Gloucestershire.

The upmarket Blackheath Park neighbourhood south-east of the heath itself bears alternate name "the Cator Estate".

John Barwell Cator's descendant, Elizabeth Cator (died 1959) was the mother of Michael Bowes-Lyon, 17th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.

title: John Cator


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Steve Easterbrooks CM ResourceGuide

This page is an archive of the discussion surrounding the proposed deletion of the page entitled Steve Easterbrook's CM ResourceGuide.

This page is kept as an historic record.

The result of the debate was to delete the article.

Delete - Google has next to nothing aside from the Steve Easterbrook is a UofToronto prof who is into Linux. Burgundavia 23:24, May 21, 2004 (UTC)
 * Neutral. Borderline. "CM Resource Guide" gets over 100 hits, "Steve Easterbrooks" and "Steven Easterbrooks" each get over 2000. Could possibly be notable enuf for an article. However, current contents are too POV. Niteowlneils 14:20, 22 May 2004 (UTC)
 * At a minimum, it would be nice if someone explained just what the CM Community is. RickK 20:02, 22 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Sounds like advert for website or book. Andris 21:59, May 26, 2004 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue or the deletion should be placed on other relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.


text:
Immanuel Mifsud

Immanuel Mifsud (born September 12, 1967) is a writer of poetry and prose, born in Paola, Malta. He was for a time involved in research theatre. He has written novels, short story and poetry collections, and also books for children.

In 2011, he became the first Maltese writer to win the European Union Prize for Literature.

In 2014, he was appointed Member of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Malta.

Mifsud became the first Maltese writer to be hosted at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., where on February 16, 2017, he gave a reading and was interviewed during a special event. In the same year he was commissioned to write a poem for Commonwealth Day; Mifsud read "The Book" during Commonwealth Day Celebration at Westminster Abbey on March 13.

Mifsud studied at the University of Malta where he was given a doctorate in literature in 2012. He teaches literature and literary theory at the same university.

Prose
1991: Stejjer ta' Nies Koroh (Stories of Ugly People)

1993: Il-Ktieb tas-Sibt Filgħaxija (Stories for Saturday Night)

1999: Il-Ktieb tal-Maħbubin Midruba (The Book of Maimed Lovers)

2002: L-Istejjer Strambi ta' Sara Sue Sammut (Sara Sue Sammut's Strange Stories)

2005: Kimika (Chemistry)

2006: Happy Weekend (in English)

2008: Stejjer li ma kellhomx jinkitbu (Forbidden Tales)

2010: Fl-Isem tal-Missier (u tal-Iben) (In the Name of the Father (and of the Son))

2014: Jutta Heim

2016: Fid-Dlam tal-Lejl Ħarisna (In the Dark Night We Looked)

2019: L-Aqwa Żmien

Poetry
1998: Fid-Dar ta' Clara (At Clara's)

2001: Il-Ktieb tar-Riħ u l-Fjuri (The Book of the Wind and Flowers)

2004: Polska-Slovensko (bilingual, Maltese-English)

2005: km (bilingual, Maltese-English)

2005: Confidential Reports (in English)

2007: Poland Pictures (in English)

2013: Penelopi Tistenna (Penelope Waits)

2016: Ħuta (Fish)

2016: The Play of Waves (in English)

2019: Sagħtejn u Nofs 'il Bogħod mill-Ġenna (Two and a Half Hours Away from Heaven)

2023: Għażiż Ġismi (My Dear Body)

Theatre

 * 2013: translated Molière's Don Juan for the first edition of the Valletta International Baroque Festival.
 * 2014: translated and adapted for stage Nicholas Monsarrat's The Kappillan of Malta. Produced by Stagun Teatrali Malti for the Malta International Arts Festival (2014).
 * 2015: wrote  Faith, Hope u Charity  for Stagun Teatrali Malti, presented at the Malta International Arts Festival (2015).
 * 2016: translated Anders Lustgarten's Lampedusa for Unifaun Theatre.
 * 2016: wrote this year's edition of Il-Qarcilla.
 * 2023: wrote Dik is-Siġra f'Nofs ta' Triq (A Tree in the Middle of a Road), a play in verse, for Theatre Anon. and co-produced with Teatru Malta

Children's literature
2004: Stejjer li Kibru fl-Art (Stories Growing on the Ground)

2009: Orqod, qalbi, Orqod (Sleep, my child, Sleep)

2021: Paramm Paramm

Literary awards

 * 2021: National Literary Award, co-winner, Jien-Noti-Jien (with Toni Sant)
 * 2016: National Literary Award, winner, Ħuta
 * 2015: National Literary Award, winner, Jutta Heim
 * 2014: National Literary Award, winner, Penelopi Tistenna
 * 2011: European Union Prize for Literature, winner Malta, Fl-Isem tal-Missier (tal-iben)
 * 2008: Premio Strega Europa, shortlist, L-Istejjer Strambi ta' Sara Sue Sammut
 * 2005: National Literary Award, second place, Kimika
 * 2002: National Literary Award, winner, L-Istejjer Strambi ta' Sara Sue Sammut
 * 2001: National Literary Award, second place, Il-Ktieb tar-Riħ u l-Fjuri

title: Immanuel Mifsud


text:
List of hospitals in the Bahamas

This is a list of hospitals in the Bahamas.

 * Doctors Hospital – Nassau, New Providence, 25.07525°N, -77.33302°W
 * Epcot Medical Center – Nassau, New Providence, 25.06658°N, -77.33545°W
 * Immuno-Augmentative Clinic – Freeport, City of Freeport
 * Lyford Cay Hospital, Nassau, New Providence, 25.03233°N, -77.51343°W
 * Princess Margaret Hospital – Nassau, New Providence, 25.07455°N, -77.33657°W
 * Rand Memorial Hospital – Freeport, Freeport, 26.53235°N, -78.69283°W
 * Sandilands Psychiatric Hospital – Nassau, New Providence
 * Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre – Nassau, New Providence, 25.03095°N, -77.293°W
 * Sandy Port Royal Hospital (former Royal Sandy Port Institute for the Insane), Freeport, Freeport, 25.0767°N, -77.42711°W

title: List of hospitals in the Bahamas


text:
User:Pratul

Pratul is an active user and great admirer of Wikipedia and all other free resources of knowledge in the world. He currently lives in CA.

Email: pratul@hotmail.com

title: User:Pratul


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for comment/VeryVerily

 * (VeryVerily | talk | contributions)

Statement of the dispute
This is a summary written by users who dispute this user's conduct.

VeryVerily reverted Augusto Pinochet and History of the Soviet Union (1927-1953) nearly 50 times. This was done in an edit war with User:172, who's actions have been listed separately on Requests for review of admin actions, as well as on a separate RfC page
 * Description:

 * Evidence of disputed behavior (provide diffs and links):
 * Revert war on Soviet Union article
 * Revert war on Augusto Pinochet

 * Applicable policies:
 * How to revert a page to an earlier version, specifically the policy against more than 3 reverts in a day.

 * Evidence of trying and failing to resolve the dispute (provide diffs and links):
 * Talk:Augusto Pinochet
 * Talk:History of the Soviet Union (1927-1953)
 * User talk:VeryVerily

 * Users certifying the basis for this dispute (sign with ~ ):
 * Snowspinner 23:30, 21 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Michael Snow 00:08, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Other users who endorse this summary (sign with ~ ):
 * Nat Krause 07:24, 25 May 2004 (UTC) With reservations, given that 172 apparently thinks of VV's efforts to resolve the conflict as "tattling to teacher". Still, I just can't condone this many reverts, and I don't think it improves the situation.
 * fvw 02:50, 2004 Oct 19 (UTC)

Response
This is a summary written by the user whose conduct is disputed, or by other users who think that the dispute is unjustified and that the above summary is biased or incomplete.

(Quick version): I do not like edit wars, and agree that they are Very Bad. But 172 is an exception. I have seen how he reverts almost on sight any edit which displeases him in the smallest way, showing no respect for others' work or other viewpoints. He is personally abusive and rude to many, and I have seen again and again how he has scared off many potentially useful contributors with his tactics (cf. Don't bite the newbies). Many more meek users, who favor slow discussion and consensus building, bless their souls, just back away and let him have his way rather than fight. This is not what Wiki is, and 172 is a menace to this community.

My first few encounters I was shocked by his behavior, erasing huge edits of mine over one or two words he disliked. And I finally did walk away. But our paths continued to cross, and I learned more and more that (a) there is no way of having one's contributions not annihilated other than fighting and (b) all the Wikipedia rules combined have been wholly ineffective in ending his behavior.

In the Augusto Pinochet article, several editors had collaborated on an intro which incorporated all of our concerns. We were making real headway on a tricky and delicate issue. But then 172 showed up, erased all our work on the intro, and wrote his own. He did not propose it in Talk and then discuss it, he did not engage in a dialog over possible changes, no, he just imposed it. And four or five others users pointed out problems and made modifications, and he reverted them all. Not one word would he allow changed. He then went from page to page calling me and others trolls and vandals, POV pushers, etc., in addition to crude personal abuse I won't repeat.

I stood up to him, fighting back reverts with reverts, because it's the only thing that's ever worked. I don't regret this decision. He was putting misinformation in the article and acting with complete disregard for community rules and standards and procedures, and nothing and no one was stopping him.

Users who endorse this summary (sign with ~ ):
 * 1) VV 02:17, 22 May 2004 (UTC) (I wrote it.)
 * 2) Sam [Spade] 02:53, 22 May 2004 (UTC) (altho I don't entirely endorse the "I don't regret this decision" comment. It seems likely to me there was a better answer, like maybe listing 172 of RfC.)
 * 3) *I should add to above that RfC pages is one of the things I tried - in fact, on two different ones I voiced these same concerns. Nothing came of it. VV 05:29, 22 May 2004 (UTC)
 * 4) Ruhrjung 08:14, 22 May 2004 (UTC) (It obviously describes VV's position) What's lacking, however, is the understanding of how VV's fighting back contributes to the detoriated social climate that he describes, the general barbaization of debate and contributions, including VV's own abusive remarks and actions directed against other contributors, which is bound to cause harm to wikipedia of the same magnitude as that caused by 172. Hence I do both agree with VV's summary and support strong measures against this kind of behavior which he is only yet another representative of.
 * 5) Atemperman 23:58, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC) I wouldn't go as far as Ruhrjung in his disapproval of VV's behavior; what's troubling is that no one has offered an alternative (that hadn't already been tried) to what VV did.  I'm sure there's a better one out there, and I wish I could think of it.

Outside view
This is a summary written by users not directly involved with the dispute but who would like to add an outside view of the dispute.

Looking at the articles I see:
 * that the History of the Soviet Union fight proximately started after this edit by VV. I find no fault with this edit - it was described as "rework p for bias" and did so, though there's useful material which the edit removed - a combination of material in both paragraphs seems to be better than either of the versions the revert war is being faught over. 172 then used a minor edit to revert it - not a good initial step when you should know that the change is likely to be controversial. The more remote origin appears to be this edit. I'm not much impressed by that edit - it seems to be more to try to advance a particular viewpoint held by 172 than to be neutral.
 * that the history of the Augusto Pinochet dispute goes back to this set of revisions, where the history shows some reluctance by some parties to recognise the now well documented US support for Pinochet in his rise to power and ample reason to accept that the US supported the coup, with those opposing the mention not apparently willing or able to effectively counter the cited reasons for that view. US support for Pinochet seems significant enough to merit an early mention. The proximate cause for the edit war appears to be this edit in which 172 undid an apparently discussed compromise. After a, comparatively, brief edit war the page was protected. On unprotection the edit ware promptly resumed. While I see merit in the desire to include the US aspect early, I don't see much merit in the removal of the longer introductory material and see even less in using an edit war to overturn a reasonably discussed possible resolution instead of further discussing the matter and presenting evidence to support different views. As with the history article I see minor edits being used by 172 for edits 172 clearly should have known were controversial.
 * overall, I'm unimpresed by 172s reluctance to discuss things instead of using edit wars in what appears to be effectively virtual bullying to get 172's way. While it's clear that the conduct of both is highly reprehensible, the comparative lack of respect for the use of discussion and use of minor edits for significant edits causes me to more greatly disfavor 172 in this pair of disputes.

Users who endorse this summary (sign with ~ ):
 * 1) (The above was written by User:Jamesday, who presumably endorses it. VV 05:31, 22 May 2004 (UTC))
 * 2) Sam [Spade] 05:33, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

Discussion
All signed comments and talk not related to a vote or endorsement, should be directed to this page's discussion page.


text:
Richard Roma

Richard Roma is a fictional character from David Mamet's 1983 play Glengarry Glen Ross and its 1992 film adaptation. Roma has been portrayed by a range of actors, including Joe Mantegna, Al Pacino and Liev Schreiber, although the role was originated by Jack Shepherd.

Actors portraying Roma have won and been nominated for multiple stage awards—both Mantegna and Schreiber received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for their performances, while Shepherd earned a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. In film, Pacino received nominations for both the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

Conceptual history
Roma, along with the rest of the salesmen in Glengarry Glen Ross, was written based on playwright David Mamet's previous experiences selling "worthless" Arizona real estate from an office in Chicago. Mamet described the colorful dialogue used by the character—which has also been described as "following in the steps of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman—as having been influenced by overheard conversations and street slang.

Plot
Richard Roma is a cutthroat and successful real estate salesman who derives his success from eloquent and convincing pitches, preying on insecure clients with illusions of power and machismo. During the events of Glengarry Glen Ross, Roma is in contention for a prize to be awarded to the top "closer" at his firm, having just closed a large sale to a man called Lingk. Overnight, the firm's office is burgled, and promising real estate leads are stolen. Lingk arrives at the office during the investigation, forced by his wife to cancel his land purchase during his cooling-off period. Roma attempts to distract Lingk from doing so in the hope that this period will pass, trapping Lingk in the sale, but well-intentioned comments by the firm's manager, John Williamson, trying to play along, catch Roma in a lie, and Lingk demands a refund on his purchase. Furious, Roma berates Williamson in front of the entire office, and storms out, threatening to quit.

Character
Writing for The New York Times, Mickey Rapkin considered Roma to be the central character of the play, describing him as "the salesman’s salesman, a shark in a sharkskin suit". Mantegna has stated that he feels Roma is not a "sleazy" character, but simply a man who can convince customers to follow through on their dreams. Reviewing a 2012 revival at the La Jolla Playhouse, Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times compared Roma to a Giacomo Casanova-type figure, adding that "when Roma puts the moves on a prospective buyer, it's as though he's making love to them". The Guardian Mark Lawson wrote that Roma is an amoral character, considering him a "super-schmoozer". In the same article, Aidan Gillen, then portraying the character in the Apollo Theatre in London, described him as a "cunt with a romantic, poetic streak".

Depictions
Portrayals of Roma have often been received positively by critics. Schreiber's portrayal in the 2005 Broadway revival was praised as that of "a most crafty spider indeed", with the actor's grasp of the character's Chicago accent praised for its subtlety. Gillen's 2007 turn as Roma has been described as "sweaty and aggressive with a hard, rodent-like quality", with reviewer Lyn Gardner of The Guardian finding the performance excellent. Manu Narayan's 2012 depiction was described as "adding velocity" to a "high testosterone" production, coming across as rhythmic and an effective focal point in the piece. Reviewing the 1992 film version, Roger Ebert praised Pacino's acting, writing "any kid can play a war hero. But it takes a real man to play a busted-down real estate salesman".

Accolades
Shepherd's original performance as Roma earned the actor a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in 1983. On Broadway, both Mantegna and Schreiber have won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play while portraying Roma—Mantegna at the 38th Tony Awards in 1984, and Schreiber at the 59th Tony Awards in 2005. Pacino's role in the film adaptation earned him several award nominations, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, both times losing out to Gene Hackman in Unforgiven.

title: Richard Roma


text:
Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, California. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 ft of total elevation change. It is host to one of the few NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses. It has also played host to the IndyCar Series, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events with some open to the public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America. The track is 30 mi north of San Francisco and Oakland.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR wanted a West Coast road course event to replace it, and chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside Raceway was razed for the Moreno Valley Mall.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporate sponsor, Infineon Technologies. On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Infineon would not renew their contract for naming rights when the deal expired in May 2012.

1968–1979
The 2.520 mi road racing course was constructed on 720 acre by Marin County owners Robert Marshall Jr., an attorney from Point Reyes, and land developer Jim Coleman of Kentfield. The two conceived of the idea of a race track while on a hunting trip. Ground was broken in August 1968 and paving of the race surface was completed in November. The first official event at Sears Point was an SCCA Enduro, held on December 1, 1968.

In 1969 the track was sold to Filmways Corp., a Los Angeles-based entertainment company for $4.5 million. In May 1970 the track was closed and became a tax shelter for Filmways after losses of $300,000 were reported. Hugh Harn of Belvedere and Parker Archer of Napa arranged to lease the track from Filmways in 1973. Bob Bondurant, owner and operator of the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, and partner Bill Benck took over management and control of the leased raceway from Parker Archer and Hugh Harn in 1974. A few years later a group calling itself Black Mountain Inc., which included Bondurant, William J. Kolb of Del Mar and Howard Meister of Newport Beach, purchased the track from Filmways for a reported $1.5 million.

American Motorcycle Association national motocross races in the hills north of Turn 7 became popular with Bay Area fans, but were phased out by the end of the decade because of rising insurance costs.

1980–2000
In 1981 Filmways regained ownership of the track after a financial dispute with Black Mountain group. Jack Williams, the 1964 NHRA top-fuel drag racing champion, Rick Betts and John Andersen purchased the track from Filmways at an auction for $800,000. The track was renamed Sears Point International Raceway. In 1985 the track was completely repaved, in part with funds donated from the "Pave the Point" fund raising campaign. The first shop spaces (buildings A, B, C, and D in the main paddock area) were built. In 1986 Harvey "Skip" Berg of Tiburon, CA took control of the track and became a major stockholder in Brenda Raceway Corp., which controlled the track until 1996. Additional buildings constructed on the property brought shop space to more than 700,000 sqft during 1987. In addition, a five-year contract was signed with the National Hot Rod Association for the California Nationals. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series debuted at the raceway in 1989.

In 1994 more than $1 million was spent on a beautification project and construction of a 62 ft-high, four-sided electronic lap leader board in the center of the road course. In the following years a major $3 million renovation plan included VIP suites and a two-story driver's lounge/emergency medical facility. In 1995 Trans-Am and SportsCar races returned to Sears Point and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was added to the major-events schedule. Owner "Skip" Berg sold the track to O. Bruton Smith, chairman of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. in November 1996. Major renovations began at Sears Point Raceway in 1998 with the creation of "the Chute", an 890 ft high-speed stretch. The first-ever running of the American Le Mans Series took place at Sears Point in July 1999. In 2000 Sears Point Raceway gained unanimous approval from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors by a 5–0 vote to begin work on a $35 million Modernization Plan that included 64,000 Hillside Terrace seats, repaving of both the road course and drag strip and increased run-off around the entire track.

Since 2000
After the turn of the millennium, Infineon Technologies bought the naming rights, and on June 22, 2002, the course was renamed Infineon Raceway. In 2006, the Grand Prix of Sonoma was transferred to the Rolex Sports Car Series, who would limit it to Daytona Prototypes only for 2007–2008 before the event was discontinued altogether. Since 2010, however, the course has seen a mild resurgence, with the circuit becoming a sponsor for various events as well as hosting an increasing amount of lesser series, including the WTCC and the return of the SCCA World Challenge. The year 2012 saw the end of Infineon as the corporate sponsor, with the track being renamed Sonoma Raceway.

Full circuit
The standard, full length road course at Sonoma Raceway is a 2.520 mi 12-turn course. This course was utilized by all competition through 1997. Most races, including the Grand Prix of Sonoma, use the full course. The course is noted for turns two and three, which are negative-camber ("off-camber") turns, with the inside of the turn higher than the outside. This provides a challenge for the driver, as turn two would normally have the drivers moving to the left side of the track.

The raceway also has a 440 yd dragstrip used for NHRA drag racing events. The drag strip was originally located on part of the front straightaway of the course. Track changes completed in 2002 separated the road course from the drag strip.

The Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, an annual classic car racing event, uses the full circuit.

NASCAR returned to using the full circuit in 2019 as a part of the tracks 50th anniversary. The full circuit was used in 2019 & 2021 (event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic), but in 2022 they will return to the modified layout instead of running the original.

The track was closed in 2020 because of government regulations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. All national events were removed from the schedule.

The Chute
The track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6 (the Carousel), shortening the course to 1.949 mi. The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and was criticized by many drivers, who prefer the full layout. In 2001, it was replaced with the 70° turn, 4A bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.990 mi.

The Chute was built primarily for spectator visibility, to increase speeds, and improve competition for the stock cars, which are not necessarily groomed well for road course racing. However, it has been criticized for taking away a primary passing point, and some INDYCAR drivers believe eliminating the Chute and replacing it with a new hairpin at Turn 4A, then rejoining the track at Turn 5, would create a circuit with three passing zones (Turn 4, Turn 7, and Turn 11). Furthermore, the speeds of the current layout with the Chute have been slower than if the full configuration was used.

The layout is now used as a Club circuit with options, as at the end of 2018 season, NASCAR returned to the full circuit in 2019. In 2022, NASCAR returned to the Chute layout.

Gilligan's Island
From 1989 to 2001, the pit road could only accommodate 34 pit stalls. So, during the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Cup Series race, some teams were required to share pit stalls while other teams were forced to pit inside the garage area. When cars dropped out of the race, their pit stalls were reassigned to cars who were sharing.

Before the 1994 NASCAR race, a makeshift auxiliary pit road was constructed inside the hairpin (turn 11) nicknamed Gilligan's Island. Cars that had the nine slowest qualifying speeds were relegated to these pit stalls. Pitting in this area was considered an inconvenience and a competitive disadvantage, more so than even the disadvantages one would experience pitting on the backstretch at a short track at the time.

Since the length of the auxiliary pit road was significantly shorter than the main pit road, the cars that pitted there were held from 15 to 20 seconds to make up for the time that would have been spent if the cars had traveled the entire main pit road.

Pitting on Gilligan's Island had several other inconveniences. The location (the staging area for drag races) was landlocked by the race course, and crew members were unable to leave once the race began. Teams sent only the primary pit crew to Gilligan's Island, and once they were there, they could not access the garage area or their transporters to collect spare parts/tools. The only repairs that could be made were routine tire changes and refueling, as well as only minor repairs. Other auxiliary pit crew members, who were not part of the main crew, were staged in the garage area, and would have to service the car if it required major repairs. If a team pitting on Gilligan's Island dropped out of the race, the crew was unable to pack up their supplies and prepare to leave (a common practice at other tracks) until the race was over.

Before the 2002 NASCAR track renovations were completed which extended the main pit road, up to the start-finish straight, which removed the need for Gilligan's Island and it has not reappeared in any NASCAR race at the track since.

Modified course
Variations of Sonoma's circuits are often used. Motorcycles use a 2.320 mi, 12-turn course. It is based on the full layout, and does not include the Chute. This layout, opened in 2003, skips the later section of the Esses (8A and 9) and the run from Turn 10 to Turn 11 (the hairpin), using instead Turn 11a as Turn 11 has no runoff. This hairpin is located just past the drag strip control tower and offers a fairly straight run to the start-finish line. It was used by INDYCAR from 2006 to 2011.

Another factor in removing the hairpin is the fact that the turn is only visible from the garages or the bleachers behind the esses. This is due to grandstands built along the front straight that serve also as the drag strip's grandstands.

The official FIA Grade 2 variant, the Grand Prix layout, was used by INDYCAR from 2012 to 2018 and others. This version uses the end of the dragstrip (instead of the Keyhole) to create a Magny Cours-style hairpin that joints the drag strip to Turn 7 to open an overtaking opportunity. The circuit also modified Turn 9A (the chicane similar to Spa's new Bus Stop) by widening it by 10 ft to allow for more room. A new Turn 11B has been made, moving further past the drag strip tower (Motorcycle Turn 11), being lengthened by 200 ft to create a passing zone (it is located just before the race logos painted in Turn 11), and is located where the drag strip staging area is located. During the World Touring Car races, the course used most of the Grand Prix layout except for the full Turn 11 hairpin.

Events

 * Current

 * March: National Auto Sport Association
 * April: Trans Am West Coast Championship Sonoma SpeedTour, GT World Challenge America, GT America Series, GT4 America Series, TC America Series, Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup North America
 * May: National Auto Sport Association
 * June: NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350, NASCAR Xfinity Series Sonoma 250, ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200
 * July: NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, National Auto Sport Association
 * August: Ferrari Challenge North America
 * September: Formula Car Challenge, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, San Francisco Region SCCA
 * October: National Auto Sport Association
 * November: 24 Hours of Lemons

 * Former

 * American Le Mans Series
 * Grand Prix of Sonoma (1999–2005)
 * Auto GP (2012)
 * Barber Pro Series (1987–1990, 1995–1996)
 * Can Am Series (1977, 1980, 1984)
 * IMSA GT Championship
 * California Grand Prix (1976–1990, 1995–1997)
 * IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge (2017–2018)
 * IndyCar Series
 * Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma (2005–2018)
 * Indy Lights (2005–2010, 2014)
 * Mazdaspeed Miata Cup (2005)
 * MotoAmerica (1977–1979, 1982–1988, 1993–1999, 2001–2012, 2017–2019)
 * NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
 * DoorDash 250 (1995–1998, 2022)
 * NASCAR Southwest Series (1987–2005)
 * Rolex Sports Car Series
 * Armed Forces 250 (2006–2008)
 * SCCA Continental Championship (1969–1970)
 * Star Mazda Championship (1999–2005, 2011, 2014)
 * Trans-Am Series (1969, 1978, 1981–1993, 1995, 2001, 2003–2004, 2022)
 * USAC Championship Car Series (1970)
 * U.S. F2000 National Championship (2004, 2014)
 * World Touring Car Championship
 * FIA WTCC Race of the United States (2012–2013)

All-time lap records
NOTE: NASCAR records based on full course.

NASCAR Cup Series records
(As of June 12, 2023)

Race lap records
The fastest official all-time track record set during a race weekend on the original Long Grand Prix Road Course is 1:20.683, set by Allan McNish in an Audi R8 during qualifying for the 2000 Grand Prix of Sonoma. As of June 2024, the fastest official race lap records at Sonoma Raceway for different classes are listed as:

Seating capacity
Sonoma Raceway has a permanent seating capacity of 47,000. This includes the grandstands and terraces around the track. During major races, hospitality tents and other stages are erected around the track, which brings the total capacity up to 102,000 seats. The facility underwent a major expansion in 2004 which resulted in 64,000 hillside seats, 10,000 permanent grandstand seats, a wastewater treatment facility, 100 acre of restored wetlands, permanent garages, new retail space, a go-kart track and a new drag strip.

In popular culture
In the 1970 motorcycle road racing film Little Fauss and Big Halsy, starring Michael J. Pollard and Robert Redford, Redford's character, Halsy, saw Sears Point as the brass ring in the world of racing, and the film was loosely based around that idea.

Sonoma has been featured in many racing video games, beginning with Papyrus's NASCAR Racing for the PC, released in 1994 and has been a frequent addition to NASCAR based games and more recently road course variations have appeared. Bill Elliott's NASCAR Challenge included the course released in 1991. It appeared in Gran Turismo 4, and Need For Speed ProStreet as Infineon Raceway, and more recently in Project CARS 2 and recent Forza Motorsport titles. It has also been digitally scanned and used in iRacing.

Scenes from a Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR race were used in the softcore porn series Hotel Erotica in Season 1 Episode 3 The Fast and the Curious

title: Sonoma Raceway


text:
Tim Crow

Timothy John Crow is a British psychiatrist and researcher from Oxford. Much of his research is related to the causes of schizophrenia. He also has an interest in neurology and the evolutionary theory. He is the Honorary Director of the Prince of Wales International Centre for Research into Schizophrenia and Depression. He qualified at the Royal London Hospital in 1964 and obtained a PhD at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1970. He is a fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences. Crow was for twenty years Head of the Division of Psychiatry of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Research Centre at Northwick Park Hospital and then a member of the External Scientific staff of the MRC in Oxford.

Psychosis and schizophrenia
Crow's long term research interests are in the nature and causation of the major psychoses. These illnesses are characterised by the presence of delusions, hallucinations, and disorders of thinking that are generally onset in early and middle adult life. Encompassing schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis, these disorders are common, affecting around 2% of the population in the course of a lifetime.

In the first CT scan study in 1976 Crow and colleagues at Northwick Park demonstrated that there are structural changes (e.g. a degree of enlargement of the cerebral ventricles) in individuals who have suffered from schizophrenia. Much subsequent work with MRI scans and in post-mortem brain studies has confirmed this and suggests that the changes are in the cerebral cortex and particularly are related to the subtle asymmetries that are characteristic of the human cortex. Through various experiments and observation, Crow has also proven that people with Schizophrenia show less left-sided dominance for language.

In the 1980s, Crow published an article that became a breakthrough in the field of research on schizophrenia. Crow focused on the classification of the symptoms of the disease instead of focusing on patients. Crow later introduced two syndromes of schizophrenia, one that is based on positive symptoms and the other on negative symptoms.

title: Tim Crow


text:
Spl (Unix)

spl (short for set priority level, after the PDP-11 assembler instruction of the same name ) is the name for a collection of Unix kernel routines or macros used to change the interrupt priority level. This was historically needed to synchronize critical sections of kernel code that should not be interrupted. Newer Unix variants which support symmetric multiprocessing now mostly use mutexes for this purpose, which is a more general solution, so multiple processors can execute kernel code at the same time.

On older PDP-11 versions of Unix, there were eight of these routines, ranging from  to , each corresponding to one PDP-11 interrupt priority level, in addition to  , which restores a previous priority level (returned by one of the other routines). On BSD Unix and its derivatives, these are called,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , and.

, the spl family of primitives is still heavily used in OpenBSD and NetBSD, which is evidenced by the plentiful calls to  within the networking code;  whereas FreeBSD and DragonFly BSD use more modern concepts; for example, in DragonFly, LWKT tokens may be used in place of spl.

title: Spl (Unix)


text:
University of KwaZulu-Natal

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN; INyuvesi yakwaZulu-Natali, Universiteit van KwaZulu-Natal) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville.

History
The university was formed by the merger of the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville, in 2004.

The Council of the University of Natal voted on 31 May 2002 to offer the post of Vice-Chancellor and University Principal to world-renowned medical scientist and former Medical Research Council President – Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, who assumed office on 1 September 2002. He was entrusted with leading the University of Natal into the merger with the University of Durban-Westville. In so doing, he became the last Vice-Chancellor of the University of Natal. Professor Makgoba succeeded Professor Brenda Gourley as Vice-Chancellor.

Having served a brief stint as the interim Vice-Chancellor in 2004 he was formally appointed as the founding Vice-Chancellor of the newly merged University of KwaZulu-Natal. He was installed at a ceremony on 30 September 2005.

Professor Makgoba served two five-year terms of office and retired in 2015. His tenure, however, was plagued with controversies. Makgoba is said to have created a "culture of hostility" at the university that resulted in an exodus of world-class academics. He was succeeded by Dr Albert van Jaarsveld.

Organization
The university is governed in accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1997, and its constitution is specified in the Statute of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as approved by the South African Minister of Education and the Parliament of South Africa.

In the statute, the university consists of:
 * the chancellor (the titular head). The first chancellor of the merged university was Dr Frene Ginwala. It is currently Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
 * the vice chancellor (the executive head)
 * two or more deputy vice chancellors (currently there are five full and one acting)
 * the registrar (responsible for registering students)
 * the council (responsible for governance of the institution as a whole)
 * the senate (responsible for governance of academic activities)
 * the students representative council (responsible for students representation)
 * the institutional forum (responsible for advising the council on matters of human rights and equality)
 * the colleges (currently there are four)
 * the academic and support staff
 * the students
 * the convocation (all the alumni and some others)

Academic structure
The university is made up of four colleges, which are in turn made up of several schools. In most cases, a subdivision is spread across one or more of the university's campuses. For example, the Chemistry is in both the Pietermaritzburg and Westville campuses.

College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science

 * School of Engineering(all)
 * School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences
 * School of Chemistry and Physics
 * School of Life Sciences
 * School Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science

College of Health Sciences

 * School of Clinical Medicine
 * School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences
 * School of Health Sciences
 * School of Nursing and Public Health

College of Humanities

 * School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics
 * School of Arts
 * School of Social Sciences
 * School of Applied Human Sciences
 * School of Built Environment and Development Studies
 * School of Education

College of Law and Management Studies

 * Graduate School of Business and Leadership (Business Management Association in cooperation with Hampton College Durban)
 * School of Accounting, Economics and Finance
 * School of Law
 * School of Management, IT and Governance

An institute built in cooperation with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is the new KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, opened in 2012. It is on the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine campus.

Campuses
The university is geographically divided into five distinct campuses, which partially correspond to its managerial and academic divisions. Two campuses (Edgewood and the Medical School) house specific academic divisions (education and medicine respectively), but the remainder of the university's academic divisions span Howard College, Pietermaritzburg and Westville.

Pietermaritzburg campus
Pietermaritzburg campus was the main location of the University of Natal and its predecessor, the Natal University College, until the opening of the Howard College campus in Durban. This campus contains the university's oldest structure, Old Main Building, built in 1912. Pietermaritzburg campus offers a broad range of academic degrees and is the only UKZN campus providing training in agriculture, theology and fine arts.

Howard College campus
Howard College campus was the Durban location of the University of Natal until the 2004 merger. It is located on the Berea Ridge. and is situated in a thriving environmental conservancy. The campus was opened in 1931, having been donated by Mr T. B. Davis, in honor of his son, Howard Davis, who died in the Battle of the Somme during the first world war. Howard College offers a wide range of degrees, with a large engineering department consisting of Electrical engineering and Chemical engineering. The College of Humanities and College of Law and Management are also positioned on this campus together with the Centre For Creative Arts (CCA) and the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre which host annually the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF), Poetry Africa, Time of the Writer and the creative dance festival JOMBA! which is produced by the FlatFoot Dance company.

Westville campus
Westville campus is in an environmental conservancy in Westville, about 10 km west of Durban. It was formerly the site of the University of Durban-Westville before the 2004 merger. Westville offers a range of degrees, and will soon be the main home of the disciplines of commerce and management.

Nelson Mandela medical school
Nelson Mandela medical school campus, created in 1950, was originally a racially segregated part of the University of Natal reserved for non-white students. It was one of the few tertiary institutions legally allowed to provide education to black people under apartheid. It was granted Nelson Mandela's name on its 50th anniversary in 2000. The medical school is the home of health sciences.

Edgewood campus
Edgewood campus is located in Pinetown, about 20 km west of Durban. The buildings originally formed the Edgewood College of Education, which was incorporated into the University of Natal in 2001. Edgewood is the main location of the university's Faculty of Education, current Dean is Prof Thabo, youngest Dean in South Africa and P-rated NRF researcher.

Student life
UKZN is home to various student organizations such as debating unions, film clubs, poetry societies, and sports teams.

The UKZN Rugby team - The UKZN Impi - features in the highly contested Varsity Cup national rugby competition, and the Howard College Debating Union competes in both the World Universities Debating Championships as well as the South African National Universities Debating Championships.

UKZN established the Centre for Creative Arts (CCA) in 1996. The CCA is a multi-disciplinary arts organisation based within the School of Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It coordinates several respected annual festivals, providing students with access to creative platforms and interesting opportunities aimed at developing their artistic talents. The four main festivals organized by the UKZN CCA are:

The UKZN Time of the Writer festival invites international authors to take place in a variety of roundtable discussions, readings, seminars, book launches, and developmental programmes such as workshops, master classes and motivational talks. The festival has been running since 1998.
 * Time of the Writer

First held in 1979, The Durban International Film Festival is one of the oldest and largest film festivals in southern Africa.
 * Durban International Film Festival

The UKZN Poetry Africa started in 1997, and features performances, readings, and book-launches from some poets
 * JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience
 * Poetry Africa

Law clinics
UKZN has two law clinics, one in Pietermaritzburg and one in Durban, that provide free legal assistance to those that are unable to afford it. Specializing in the areas of HIV and AIDS, Family Law, and social justice matters, the UKZN law clinics are considered to be among the leading law clinics in the country. The law clinics also provide a practical training environment for final year law students, who are mentored by the clinic's experienced practitioners. Both clinics also engage directly with the communities throughout the province through regular outreach initiatives, where the students and legal practitioners travel to various remote, impoverished communities with the intention of providing access to justice for those that are most vulnerable.

Rankings and reputation

UKZN was ranked fourth out of the universities in South Africa by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and sixth by the QS World University Rankings in 2018. UKZN has historically had a very strong reputation in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and is ranked first in the country for physical sciences and engineering, second for computer science, and third for mathematics. The university has also produced a number of prominent entrepreneurs and innovators. It was ranked first in Sub-Saharan Africa in Q4 2020 by the amount of venture capital funding raised by Unicorn startups founded by UKZN's alumni.

Internationally, UKZN is ranked in the 401-500 bracket by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and in the 701-750 bracket by the QS World University Rankings 2018. As of March 2021, it was ranked in the 801-1000 bracket by the QS World University Rankings.

Controversies
There have been a number of controversies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal since its foundation.

Firstly, there have been several staff strikes and student protests, with some protests from 2009 onward involving police intervention and the use of riot control measures, as well as violence on the part of some strikers.

Secondly, there have been a series of legal and disciplinary actions taken by senior university management against academics for speaking in public about the university. These actions have drawn wide criticism from academics and from organisations such as Cosatu and UNESCO.

They were also the cause of a 2008 staff strike.

Notable alumni

 * John Smit, World Cup winning South African Rugby Union captain.
 * Imani Sanga, composer and ethnomusicologist
 * Lize Heerman, singer-songwriter and media personality
 * Gita Ramjee, scientist and researcher in HIV prevention
 * Ncoza Dlova, first black dermatologist produced by the university and head of the School of Clinical Medicine
 * Salome Maswime, global health expert and activist
 * Mondo Mazwai, legal practitioner and chair South Africa's Competition Tribunal from 2019
 * Mosa Moshabela, 11th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
 * Promise Mthembu, HIV/AIDS activist
 * Nokwanda Makunga, biotechnologist

For alumni of the previous institutions see:

 * Category:University of Natal alumni
 * Category:University of Durban-Westville alumni

title: University of KwaZulu-Natal


text:
Standesamt Adelnau

Standesamt Adelnau was one of the civil registration districts located in Kreis Adelnau of the Prussian province of Posen, created in October 1874, during Imperial Germany (1871–1918) and administered the communities of:

title: Standesamt Adelnau