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Simone (2002 film)

Simone (stylized as S1M0NE) is a 2002 American satirical science fiction film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Evan Rachel Wood, Rachel Roberts, Jay Mohr, and Winona Ryder. The story follows a fading director creating a virtual actress to star in his films and the attempts he makes to keep her non-presence a secret as she becomes more famous. Simone garnered mixed reviews from critics, grossing $19.6 million worldwide against its $10 million budget.

Plot
When Nicola Anders, the star of the new film by out-of-favor director Viktor Taransky, refuses to finish the film and contractually requires her image to not be used in the film, Taransky is forced to find a replacement actress and re-shoot scenes from the film. Instead of hiring another actress, Taransky experiments with a new computer program he inherits from late acquaintance Hank Aleno which allows the creation of a computer-generated woman which he can easily animate to play the film's central character. Taransky names his virtual actor "Simone," a name derived from the computer program's title, Simulation One. Seamlessly incorporated into the film, Simone gives a fantastic performance, exactly controlled by Taransky. The film is immediately a huge success, and the studio and world grow confused about Simone and campaign to find out who she truly is.

Taransky initially claims that Simone is a recluse and requests her privacy be respected, but that only intensifies media demands for her to appear. Taransky decides he will reveal the secret of her non-existence after the second motion picture she stars in. To satisfy demand, he executes a number of progressively ambitious stunts relying on misdirection and cinematic special effects technology. Eventually, it escalates to simulated remote location video live interviews.

In one instance, two determined tabloid reporters discover Taransky used out-of-date stock photography as a background during an interview instead of being on that site as claimed, and they blackmail him into getting Simone to make a live appearance. He arranges her to perform a song at a stadium event appearing in a cloud of smoke and then using flawless holographic technology. The perception of being in person is reinforced with real-time visualization on the stadium's monitors. Simone becomes even more famous, simultaneously becoming a double winner for the Academy Award for Best Actress, tying with herself in the process.

Though initially happy about his hoax going off, Taransky grows tired of Simone constantly overshadowing him in the press, and decides to make her second film purposely bad; thus Simone's next film, I Am Pig, is her "directorial debut" and a tasteless treatment about zoophilia intended to disgust audiences. Not only does it fail to achieve the desired effect of audience alienation, but it also serves to foster her credibility as a risk-taking, fearless and avant-garde artist. Taransky's subsequent attempts to discredit Simone by having her drink, smoke, and curse at public appearances and use politically incorrect statements similarly backfire when the press instead begins to see her as refreshingly honest. As a last resort, Taransky decides to dispose of Simone completely by using a computer virus to erase her, dumping the hard drive and floppy disks into a steamer trunk, burying the trunk at sea, and then announcing to the press that she has died of a rare virus contracted on her Goodwill Tour of the Third World. During the funeral, the police interrupt, open the coffin and find only a cardboard cutout of Simone. He is arrested and shown a security camera video where he loads a large trunk onto his yacht.

After being charged with her murder, he admits that Simone is not a person, but a computer program. The chest containing the computer data is brought up empty. Taransky's daughter Lainey and ex-wife Elaine enter his studio to try to help him restore Simone, as he has a change of heart. They find Taransky's forgotten virus source disk (Plague) and apply an anti-virus program to eradicate the computer virus. They restore Simone and have her appear on national television laughing while holding up a newspaper headline with her obituary along with a fake story that Simone's death was a hoax. Elaine and Taransky get back together, but Simone and Taransky get into a "public relationship" and even have a virtual baby as a publicity stunt. In a bizarre further twist of events, Simone gains sentience and at the end of the film enters politics so her child can have a good future.

Production
Like Andrew Niccol's predecessor Gattaca, Simone deals with themes of the problematic aspects of technological advances being used to attempt to attain perfection. Unlike the former, however, Simone was Niccol's first attempt at a comedic satire with lighter moments and over-the-top drama. Niccol's first attempt at non-satire had been the earlier and more successful The Truman Show. Pruitt Taylor Vince and Jason Schwartzman were cast as obese tabloid investigator Max Sayer and his shady-looking but peculiarly childlike assistant, Milton, respectively. Rebecca Romijn was cast later in the role of Faith, Viktor's secretary who is so obsessed with Simone that she begins dressing like Simone, dying her hair like Simone and even trying to have sex with Viktor just so that she can hear him call her "Simone". These side-actors built up much of the side comedy surrounding the bizarre cultural phenomenon surrounding Simone. Footage of character Holly Golightly from Breakfast At Tiffany's was obtained from Paramount Studios to be used in the film for part of the basis of the Simone character, while scenic footage used for Simone's "remote interview" backgrounds was obtained from Getty Images. Stylized elements present throughout the film and its post-credits included the use of #1 in place of any letter 'I', and a #0 in place of any letter 'O', which occurs for the entire duration of the credits, including for all cast and crew names featured. Principal photography was done by Edward Lachman, while the entirety of the production was made in California, using the Getty stock footage to fill in for locations such as Egypt's Great Pyramids.

Simone featured a cover of "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", which Simone sings during a concert scene via hologram, and which later plays over the end credits.

Carter Burwell composed the film's score, which was released on CD.

Special effects
The film shows how the fake is produced using the chroma key technique. A post-credits sequence shows Viktor creating fake footage of Simone in a supermarket, which one of her pursuers sees, believing it real.

Box office
The film opened at #9 on the North American box office chart, grossing US$3,813,463 in its opening weekend. The film grossed $19,576,023 worldwide.

Critical response
Simone received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 51% approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of. The site's consensus reads: "The satire in S1m0ne lacks bite, and the plot isn't believable enough to feel relevant." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 49, based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Roger Ebert was critical of Niccol wasting his premise by giving it a broad appeal with "sitcom simplicity" and his cast a narrow direction for their characters, saying: "He wants to edge it in the direction of a Hollywood comedy, but the satire is not sharp enough and the characters, including the ex-wife, are too routine." The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw wrote that "It's reasonable material, but there are no real plot twists or unexpected implications; it all just rolls out easily in a Hollywood that director Niccol makes appear so unreal as to be an easy target". Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle said, "What really irked me about Simone was that it stank of the very thing it appeared to be mocking: it's a big-budget, commercial film taking potshots at big-budget, commercial filmmaking (as well as overripe, over-earnest indies), and although it strives constantly for a sense of knowing, winking irony, the only thing ironic about it is how much it resembles its supposed target." Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said, "The writer-director Mr. Niccol is satirizing the kinds of dazzling empties he himself has made. [Mr. Niccol is] fascinated with surfaces—the films he's been involved with (he wrote The Truman Show and wrote and directed Gattaca) are a mix of populism and deconstruction. His newest effort, Simone, goes beyond postmodern to post-entertainment—it's tepid and vapid."

title: Simone (2002 film)


text:
Talk:Pine Grove, Portage County, Wisconsin

Multiple Pine Grove, Wisconsins
Because of the existence of multiple Pine Grove, Wisconsins, this page has been moved from Pine Grove, Wisconsin to Pine Grove, Portage County, Wisconsin. Pine Grove, Wisconsin is now a disambig page. Kevyn 09:30, 13 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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


text: File:One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest poster.jpg


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Vendela Kirsebom

Vendela Maria Kirsebom (born 12 January 1967) is a Norwegian-Swedish model, television host, and actress.

Early life
Kirsebom was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to a Norwegian mother and a Turkish father.

At the age of 13, she was discovered in a Stockholm restaurant by Eileen Ford. At age 18, she graduated from the Oslo Waldorf School and moved to Italy to pursue a modeling career under the guidance of Ford Models.

Career
Kirsebom moved to New York City at age 20 and signed a six-year contract with Elizabeth Arden soon after, in addition to modeling for fashion brands in the United States and Europe. During the 1990s, Kirsebom appeared on the magazine covers of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar, Brides, Flare, Shape, FHM and Zest. In 1996, she became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Kirsebom appeared in Batman and Robin in 1997 as Nora Fries and played the bridal gown model in the 1998 movie The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan, Natasha Richardson, and Dennis Quaid. She was also featured in the Disney Channel's Model Behavior with Justin Timberlake and Maggie Lawson. Kirsebom appeared as herself in 1995 episodes of The Larry Sanders Show and Murphy Brown, and made a cameo as a "space villainess" in a "Pigs in Space" skit on Muppets Tonight. She also lent her voice to a fictionalized version of herself on Johnny Bravo.

In 1999, Kirsebom hosted the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen 1999, the competition that determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. From 2006 to 2008, she hosted the Norwegian version of Top Model, and also hosted the fourth cycle of the Swedish version in 2007.

Kirsebom released her autobiography in 2017. In 2023, she walked the runway for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Runway Show at Miami Swim Week.

Personal life
Kirsebom was engaged to American film producer Jon Peters during the early 1990s. In 1996, she married Norwegian politician Olaf Thommessen, with whom she shares two daughters. They separated in 2007 after 11 years of marriage.

In 2019, Kirsebom got engaged to Petter Pilgaard and married him in June 2022 after a postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, Kirsebom speaks German, Italian and English fluently.

title: Vendela Kirsebom


text:
Market-based valuation

A Market-based valuation is a form of stock valuation that refers to market indicators, also called extrinsic criteria (i.e. not related to economic fundamentals and account data, which are intrinsic criteria).

Technical analysis
Technical analysis is the most characteristic market-based method, although it focuses more on timing than pricing.

Also, rough market comparison tools such as the PE ratio and the PEG ratio are used. More sophisticated forms of analysis (fundamental analysis, quantitative analysis, and behavioral analysis) use also some market criteria, such as the risk premium or beta coefficient.

Those criteria might be "tilted" in some valuation models in anticipation of their possible variation in the next future, or to adapt them to their historical statistical range or mean.

title: Market-based valuation


text:
Australia's Funniest Home Videos

Australia's Funniest Home Videos (AFHV, also known as Funniest Home Videos or simply The Video Show, originally Graham Kennedy's Funniest Home Video Show in its first season and Australia's Funniest Home Video Show until 2004) was an Australian television show on the Nine Network that presents home videos sent in by viewers. It was the Australian counterpart to America's Funniest Home Videos, which was also created by Vin Di Bona.

The show was broadcast from March 1990 until February 2014. Although Nine did not officially cancel the show, in 2015 they stated that they had no plans to produce new episodes.

Synopsis
The show is similar in content to You've Been Framed! and America's Funniest Home Videos, which was also created by Vin Di Bona (which was based on Tokyo Broadcasting System's Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan). The videos frequently feature slapstick and lowbrow humour such as people tripping over or animals behaving in amusing ways. Most videos are overdubbed with a voice-over and sound effects. In a deal with various foreign producers of similar shows, some imported clips are used, in exchange for home-grown videos from Australia.

Each new Australian video shown on the programme received $500. At the end of each episode the audience watching at home can choose their favourite video of the night from a selection of 4, via telephone and SMS voting, with the winning clip receiving $10,000. At the end of each year, winning clips compete in a semi-final and grand final, where in the most recent seasons third place received a home theatre package, second place received a prize package worth around $100,000 (typically with two or three cars), while the winner received $250,000 in cash (although in 2012 the winner received $150,000).

In 2005, the show received a major revamp with a new set, logo and theme music, leaving behind the original internationally recognised look of America's Funniest Home Videos for a "futuristic" design with a brighter and more open set. Since then, the set has received both minor and major alterations, but still retains a bright and open appearance.

For most of the show's life, it has been a half-hour program broadcast on Tuesday at 7.30 pm. In mid 2000 the show moved to 6.30 pm Saturday, and in 2004, was extended to one hour. In 2013, the show switched from its regular seasonal broadcast to a "summer season" of repeats to allow for broadcasting of The Voice Australia. In 2014, the show returned to its original half-hour format and aired on Saturday at 7.00 pm.

Theme music
From 1991 to 2004 the theme song was a cover version of "The Funny Things You Do" from the show's American counterpart with the word "America" replaced by "Australia" and the line "You're the red, white and blue" changed to "You're the dinky-di true blue". It was slightly rearranged in 1994 (with vocals from then-host Jo Beth Taylor, which remained after her 1997 departure). In line with the new season in 2000, the show received a refresh in updated video graphics, set recolouring and a brand new theme song with vocals provided by Australian session singer and songwriter, Marty Cobcroft, in a rock-based arrangement. Sydney musician, Andy Payne, provided additional backing vocals. From 2005 onwards, original compositions were used as the theme music.

The theme song served as the show's intro and played before and after each commercial break. Until 2001 the theme song can be heard during the closing credits.

Special episodes
On 19 November 1991, a special international edition of the show hosted by Jacki MacDonald with special guests hosts from versions of the show around the world via video link featuring Bob Saget (America's Funniest Home Videos), Kerry Smith (New Zealand's Funniest Home Videos), Linda de Mol & Billy Hotdog (De Leukste Thuis), Frank Dingenen (Videodinges), Bernard Montiel & Alexandre Debanne (Video Gag), Fausto Silva (Video Cassetadas), Mike Carl and Gundis Zambo (Bitte Lächeln). The episode also includes imported clips from each country featured.

On 28 February 1995, the show celebrated its 200th episode hosted by Jo Beth Taylor during an hour-long special which featured special guest appearances from America's Funniest Home Videos host at the time Bob Saget, Bernard Montiel & Alexandre Debanne from Video Gag via video message, as well as video messages from casts and hosts of other programs on the Nine Network congratulating the show's milestone. The shows anniversary special featured bloopers of former hosts Graham Kennedy, Jacki MacDonald & Lisa Patrick, also including The Channel Nine Marching Band conducted by Geoff Harvey performing the shows theme song in between each segment before and after the breaks.

In the summer of 1999, the show celebrated its 10th birthday, hosted by Kim Kilbey and featuring special guest Frank Bennett, to perform his single "Beautiful People" alongside the Sydney Children's Choir, who sang a special arrangement of the show's theme song along with Jo Beth Taylor. The show's anniversary special included a timeline of hosts; bloopers; fashion (of the female hosts); and interviews of former hosts Graham Kennedy, Jacki MacDonald, Lisa Patrick, Jo Beth Taylor, and Catriona Rowntree. This was also the last episode before moving to the Melbourne network and the inception of a new style for the following season in 2000.

On 31 December 2003, the show celebrated its 14th birthday, which included segments "As The Camera Rolls", where Toni is wearing a feather scarf and Bridge (Richard Wilkins) is wearing a pirate eye patch, an appearance by John Burgess of Burgo's Catch Phrase and videos from past grand final winners. Other features includes host bloopers, the introduction of the "Taped Crusader" character, and a videotaped message from former host Catriona Rowntree who paid homage to inaugural presenter Graham Kennedy. The 14th birthday special concluded with Mercury4 performing their hit single "Get Me Some" at the end of the show.

On 4 April 2009, it celebrated its 20th birthday; some of the features included the timeline of the openings, fashion (all female hosts), and additional features.

On 16 April 2011, the show celebrated its '21st' birthday and featured giveaways from JVC, timeline of the hosts, celebratory messages from Avril Lavigne, Short Stack, Alexis Jordan, Shane Warne and former host Kim Kilbey. Other features includes appearances by Julie Goodwin, Justice Crew, the cast of Hi-5 and a special visit from former host Toni Pearen. During the show Shelley Craft paid tribute to honour inaugural presenter Graham Kennedy who died in 2005. The '21st' birthday special concluded with Justice Crew performing their song 'Friday to Sunday' at the end of the show.

Australia's Funniest Home Videos: Daily Edition
Australia's Funniest Home Videos: Daily Edition (also known simply as The Daily Edition) is a spin-off to Australia's Funniest Home Videos which first aired on the Nine Network from 30 November 2009 to December 2010 and later aired on GO! from 2011. It was a brief 30-minute version of the full show that would broadcast selected clips from the original show, and was hosted by then-current host of the original series Shelley Craft. The show was later cancelled in late 2012.

Australia's Funniest Home Videos: World's Funniest Videos
Australia's Funniest Home Videos: World's Funniest Videos (also known as AFHV: World's Funniest Videos) is a spin-off to Australia's Funniest Home Videos which first aired on the Nine Network from 7 April 2009. The 30-minute show features clips predominately from the American version of Funniest Home Videos, and was hosted by former Australian rules footballer, Shane Crawford and former MTV Australia video jockey, Lyndsey Rodrigues. The show was later cancelled after its third episode on 21 April 2009.

Episodes:

Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos
Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos is a controversial one-off special spin-off to Australia's Funniest Home Videos which aired on the Nine Network on 3 September 1992. It was a highly explicit special, depicting videos of sexual situations and other sexually explicit content, and was hosted by Australian radio personality Doug Mulray. It was planned to be a 60-minute broadcast, but due to complaints from both viewers and then-owner on the Nine Network Kerry Packer, was taken off the air part-way through the first and only episode, making it the only Australian television series to have done so. A copy of the full episode was later located at the Nine Network in 2008, after which the episode was edited to comply with new television standards and re-broadcast with commentary from Bert Newton at 8:30 PM on 28 August 2008, one week short of sixteen years after the original special, and at the same airing time.

title: Australia's Funniest Home Videos


text:
2002 São Toméan parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in São Tomé and Príncipe on 3 March 2002. Following the elections Gabriel Costa was appointed Prime Minister of a coalition government with representatives from all three parties winning seats in parliament.

title: 2002 São Toméan parliamentary election


text:
Packrat parser

The Packrat parser is a type of parser that shares similarities with the recursive descent parser in its construction. However, it differs because it takes parsing expression grammars (PEGs) as input rather than LL grammars.

In 1970, Alexander Birman laid the groundwork for packrat parsing by introducing the "TMG recognition scheme" (TS), and "generalized TS" (gTS). TS was based upon Robert M. McClure's TMG compiler-compiler, and gTS was based upon Dewey Val Schorre's META compiler-compiler. Birman's work was later refined by Aho and Ullman; and renamed as Top-Down Parsing Language (TDPL), and Generalized TDPL (GTDPL), respectively. These algorithms were the first of their kind to employ deterministic top-down parsing with backtracking.

Bryan Ford developed PEGs as an expansion of GTDPL and TS. Unlike CFGs, PEGs are unambiguous and can match well with machine-oriented languages. PEGs, similar to GTDPL and TS, can also express all LL(k) and LR(k). Bryan also introduced Packrat as a parser that uses memoization techniques on top of a simple PEG parser. This was done because PEGs have an unlimited lookahead capability resulting in a parser with exponential time performance in the worst case.

Packrat keeps track of the intermediate results for all mutually recursive parsing functions. Each parsing function is only called once at a specific input position. In some instances of packrat implementation, if there is insufficient memory, certain parsing functions may need to be called multiple times at the same input position, causing the parser to take longer than linear time.

Syntax
The packrat parser takes in input the same syntax as PEGs: a simple PEG is composed of terminal and nonterminal symbols, possibly interleaved with operators that compose one or several derivation rules.

Symbols

 * Nonterminal symbols are indicated with capital letters (e.g., $$\{S, E, F, D\}$$)
 * Terminal symbols are indicated with lowercase (e.g., $$\{a,b,z,e,g \}$$)
 * Expressions are indicated with lower-case Greek letter (e.g., $$\{\alpha,\beta,\gamma,\omega,\tau\}$$)
 * Expressions can be a mix of terminal symbols, nonterminal symbols and operators

Rules
A derivation rule is composed by a nonterminal symbol and an expression $$S \rightarrow \alpha$$.

A special expression $$\alpha_s$$ is the starting point of the grammar. In case no $$\alpha_s$$ is specified, the first expression of the first rule is used.

An input string is considered accepted by the parser if the $$ \alpha_s $$ is recognized. As a side-effect, a string $$ x $$ can be recognized by the parser even if it was not fully consumed.

An extreme case of this rule is that the grammar $$ S \rightarrow x* $$ matches any string.

This can be avoided by rewriting the grammar as $$ S \rightarrow x*!. $$

Example
$$\begin{cases} S \rightarrow A/B/D \\ A \rightarrow \textbf{'a'}\ S \ \textbf{'a'} \\ B \rightarrow \textbf{'b'}\ S \ \textbf{'b'} \\ D \rightarrow (\textbf{'0'}-\textbf{'9'})? \end{cases}$$

This grammar recognizes a palindrome over the alphabet $$ \{ a,b \} $$, with an optional digit in the middle.

Example strings accepted by the grammar include: $$ \textbf{'aa'} $$ and $$ \textbf{'aba3aba'} $$.

Left recursion
Left recursion happens when a grammar production refers to itself as its left-most element, either directly or indirectly. Since Packrat is a recursive descent parser, it cannot handle left recursion directly. During the early stages of development, it was found that a production that is left-recursive can be transformed into a right-recursive production. This modification significantly simplifies the task of a Packrat parser. Nonetheless, if there is an indirect left recursion involved, the process of rewriting can be quite complex and challenging. If the time complexity requirements are loosened from linear to superlinear, it is possible to modify the memoization table of a Packrat parser to permit left recursion, without altering the input grammar.

Iterative combinator
The iterative combinator $$\alpha +$$, $$\alpha *$$, needs special attention when used in a Packrat parser. As a matter of fact, the use of iterative combinators introduces a secret recursion that does not record intermediate results in the outcome matrix. This can lead to the parser operating with a superlinear behaviour. This problem can be resolved apply the following transformation: With this transformation, the intermediate results can be properly memoized.

Memoization technique
Memoization is an optimization technique in computing that aims to speed up programs by storing the results of expensive function calls. This technique essentially works by caching the results so that when the same inputs occur again, the cached result is simply returned, thus avoiding the time-consuming process of re-computing. When using packrat parsing and memoization, it's noteworthy that the parsing function for each nonterminal is solely based on the input string. It does not depend on any information gathered during the parsing process. Essentially, memoization table entries do not affect or rely on the parser's specific state at any given time.

Packrat parsing stores results in a matrix or similar data structure that allows for quick look-ups and insertions. When a production is encountered, the matrix is checked to see if it has already occurred. If it has, the result is retrieved from the matrix. If not, the production is evaluated, the result is inserted into the matrix, and then returned. When evaluating the entire $$m*n$$ matrix in a tabular approach, it would require $$\Theta(mn)$$ space. Here, $$m$$ represents the number of nonterminals, and $$n$$ represents the input string size.

In a naïve implementation, the entire table can be derived from the input string starting from the end of the string.

The Packrat parser can be improved to update only the necessary cells in the matrix through a depth-first visit of each subexpression tree. Consequently, using a matrix with dimensions of $$m*n$$ is often wasteful, as most entries would remain empty. These cells are linked to the input string, not to the nonterminals of the grammar. This means that increasing the input string size would always increase memory consumption, while the number of parsing rules changes only the worst space complexity.

Cut operator
Another operator called cut has been introduced to Packrat to reduce its average space complexity even further. This operator utilizes the formal structures of many programming languages to eliminate impossible derivations. For instance, control statements parsing in a standard programming language is mutually exclusive from the first recognized token, e.g.,$$\{if, do, while, switch\} $$. When a Packrat parser uses cut operators, it effectively clears its backtracking stack. This is because a cut operator reduces the number of possible alternatives in an ordered choice. By adding cut operators in the right places in a grammar's definition, the resulting Packrat parser only needs a nearly constant amount of space for memoization.

The algorithm
Sketch of an implementation of a Packrat algorithm in a Lua-like pseudocode.

Example
Given the following context, a free grammar that recognizes simple arithmetic expressions composed of single digits interleaved by sum, multiplication, and parenthesis.

$$\begin{cases} S \rightarrow A \\ A \rightarrow M\ \textbf{'+'}\  A \ / \  M \\ M \rightarrow P\ \textbf{'*'}\  M \ / \ P \\ P \rightarrow \textbf{'('}\ A\ \textbf{')'}\ / \ D \\ D \rightarrow (\textbf{'0'}-\textbf{'9'}) \end{cases}$$

Denoted with $$\dashv$$ the line terminator we can apply the packrat algorithm

{| class="wikitable" !Syntax tree !Action !Packrat Table No update because no terminal was recognized Update:
 * +Derivation of $$2*(3+4)\dashv$$
 * Derivation of a context free grammar with packrat.svg
 * Derivation of a context free grammar with packrat.svg
 * Second_step_in_Parsing_a_CFG_with_packrat.svg
 * Second_step_in_Parsing_a_CFG_with_packrat.svg

D(1) = 1;

P(1) = 1;
 * Third_step_of_recognizing_CFG_with_packrat.svg
 * Third_step_of_recognizing_CFG_with_packrat.svg

No update because no nonterminal was fully recognized No update because no terminal was recognized Update:
 * Fourth_step_in_recognizing_CFG_grammar_with_Packrat.svg
 * Fourth_step_in_recognizing_CFG_grammar_with_Packrat.svg
 * 5th step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * 5th step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

D(4) = 1;

P(4) = 1; Hit on P(4)
 * Sixth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Sixth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

Update M(4) = 1 as M was recognized
 * Seventh step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Seventh step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

No update because no terminal was recognized Update:
 * Eighth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Eighth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

D(6) = 1;

P(6) = 1; Hit on P(6)
 * Ninth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Ninth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

Update M(6) = 1 as M was recognized Hit on M(6)
 * Tenth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Tenth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

Update A(4) = 3 as A was recognized

Update P(3)=5 as P was recognized
 * Eleventh step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Eleventh step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

No update because no terminal was recognized Hit on P(3)
 * Twelfth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * Twelfth step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

Update M(1)=7 as M was recognized
 * 13th step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * 13th step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

No update because no terminal was recognized Hit on M(1)
 * 14th step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg
 * 14th step of recognizing CFG with packrat.svg

Update A(1)=7 as A was recognized

Update S(1)=7 as S was recognized
 * }

title: Packrat parser


text:
Zinovy Peshkov

Zinovy Alekseyevich Peshkov (Зиновий Алексеевич Пешков, Zinovi Pechkoff or Pechkov, 16 October 1884 – 27 November 1966) was a Russian-born French general and diplomat.

Early life
Born as Zalman or as Yeshua Zalman Sverdlov (in Russian: Zinovy Mikhailovich Sverdlov), the future Zinovy Peshkov was the second child and eldest son in a Jewish family in Nizhny Novgorod. His father, Mikail Izraylevich (1846?-1921), was a relatively prosperous itinerant coppersmith and copper engraver from the region of Bialystok in the Kingdom of Poland, in an area of Belarusian and Lithuanian influence. His mother, Elizaveta Solomonovna Averbach (1864-1900), was related to merchant families of a city which, since the beginning of the 19th century, had experienced vigorous economic development.

Zinovy's generation was emblematic of the fate of Jewish families who were in contact with the principal powers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In fact, out of the eight known children of Mikhail and Elisabeth, some settled in Soviet Russia – sometimes by adopting the new regime – while others, having chosen emigration, after crossing Western Europe, settled in the United States. Thus Sarah, the oldest daughter, born in Polotsk, near Vitebsk (in present-day Belarus) in 1876, emigrated to New York around 1913. She died there in 1947. Zinovy, the oldest of the sons, born in 1884, was followed by Yakov (1885-1919), the future political colleague of Lenin. Following these two brothers, who had singular and opposite destinies, several sons and daughters arrived who in their turn, were separated by politics and emigration. These include, other than Sarah, Zinovy, Sophie (who died in 1951 in Saratov), Sore (died in 1964), Lev (born 1893, died in 1914 in Russia) and Benjamin Sverdlov (Вениамин, born 1886, emigrated to the USA, returned to Soviet Russia in 1918, shot in 1939).

The protege of Gorky
Reluctant to pursue his studies and prepared from adolescence for any adventure, the young Zinovy trolled the streets of Nizhny Novgorod on the fringes of legality, spending his time with the many thugs on the banks of the Volga. In 1896, salvation came upon his meeting a character who undoubtedly had ties to the Sverdlov family, although we have no knowledge of the exact relations between them. Originally from the region where he was placed under house arrest (Nizhny Novgorod, his home town, is 100 km north of Arzamas, where he was exiled), Maxim Gorky – who was then 28 years old – took under his protection the young Zinovy, who he undoubtedly saw as a kind of double as well as a quirky reflection of his own journey.

Gorky organized meetings, promoting his ideas throughout Russia with an uncommon energy. Acting as a kind of secretary and “jack of all trades”, Zinovy brought him a support that was as fervent as it was efficient. He shared his arrests and imprisonments ordered by a hostile regime, at a moment when Gorky was at the threshold of huge success both in and out of Russia, a success which relied on a radical criticism of the aristocracy. Under the guidance of his mentor, the young man, perhaps at the advice of Stanislavski, tried himself in the theater in Moscow as well as in writing. He also collected romantic conquests and opened himself to the world.

1902 was a milestone for Gorky and Sverdlov. The presentation on the stage of the Moscow Art Theatre of “The Lower Depths” marked the first triumph of the writer. At the same moment, his election to the Academy of Literature – which had been annulled by Nicholas II – a major public event, joined another more private one, the adoption at Arzamas, under Russian Orthodox rites, of the young Zinovy. In order to bypass the law limiting movement and settlement of Jews in the empire, but also to mark his link with the writer, Zinovy was baptized on September 30, 1902, in the city church. He officially changed his name, adopting the real last name of Gorky, Peshkov, since the latter was his official godfather.

Wishing to avoid induction into the armies of the Tsar during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, Zinovy Peshkov went abroad. After Finland, England and Sweden, he ended up settling in Canada, where he worked in a number of trades. Few details are known about this wandering life, except those which his letters to Gorky reveal to us. The 1905 revolution and its upheavals drove the writer into exile. In April 1906, Zinovy joined his friend on a dock in New York, the first step in a tour in which mobs crowded in to hear his speeches. The New York Times interviewed Peshkov, giving information about Gorky's forthcoming visit, and noting that their source "Nikolay Zavolzsky Pieshkoff (sic), Gorky's adopted son", had fled Russia and for more than a year: "has been living quietly on the east side and earning his living in the mailing room of Wilshire's Magazine." Four days later the New York Times covered an event where Gorky spoke at length, and was supported by Mark Twain. In this report Peshkov is described as: "Kikolay Zavolsky Pieshkoff, the adopted son of Gorky". Unfortunately American opinion, at first charmed by the oratorical capacities of Gorky, to which Peshkov’s intermediation provided picturesque relief, changed quickly when it learned that the writer was travelling not with his wife, but with his mistress, Maria Andreieva. Persona non grata, Gorky was forced after being expelled from his hotel to find an improvised pied-a-terre in New York. In October, he left the United States bound for Italy, leaving Zinovy behind.

After a year of wandering across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to New Zealand, Peshkov rejoined his adopted father in Italy in May 1907. This was the period of the “School of Capri”, which was an especially formative time for him since many intellectuals and artists (Chaliapine, for example), gathered there; in addition, there were Bolshevik revolutionaries in exile – Lenin, Bogdanov, Lunacharsky, Bazarov, etc. – generously hosted by the writer who assumed all the costs of these visits, in which political theory and action were in daily contact, threatening the Tsarist empire with the greatest danger.

Zinovy, once again acting as Gorky’s secretary, organized this collective life, supervised the details, profiting as well from these unusual encounters to which he was a witness. He rubbed shoulders with Lenin, whom he bore little respect, whose relations with Gorky he later indicated were complicated by often divergent opinions. It was during October 1910, while staying at La Spezia with Alexander Amfiteatrov, that he married the daughter of a Cossack colonel five days after meeting her. He emigrated with her to the United States, where he struggled to find a situation. Shortly afterward, they were separated. From this short liaison, Peshkov had a daughter, Elizabeth. This wife, Lydia Bourago (1889-1966) was perhaps related to Colonel Alexander Bourago, hero of the 1878 war against Turkey, who died in 1883. She is sometimes referred to under the name of Vicomtesse de Combette. Her daughter, Elisabeth Peshkov, was married to Ivan Markov, Soviet ambassador to Rome, who was liquidated in 1937 by order of Stalin.

In 1913 he returned to Capri, where he once again took up his activities with Gorky, who, shortly afterward, profiting from an amnesty offered by the Romanovs to writers guilty of criminal opinions, returned to Russia. The First World War surprised Zinovy in Italy in August 1914. As in 1905, he had no desire to serve the Tsar. Without our being able to know the deeper reasons – he had no particular ties to France during his exile from the empire, having resided mainly across the Atlantic or in Italy – he went to the French consulate in Genoa to enlist in the Foreign Legion.

The hero of the Foreign Legion
Guided to the recruitment post in Nice, he enlisted on August 31, 1914 as EVDG (an acronym for “voluntary enlisted for the duration of the war”) in the marching battalion of the 1st Foreign Regiment. Two months were sufficient to equip and train the volunteers at the beginning of the conflict. Peshkov, who was special – in addition to Russian, he knew French, English, Italian and German, which was useful in a unit containing men from all over the world – was given the rank of 1st class on October 21, 1914. Named corporal on April 1, 1915, he was put in command of a squad. Several days later, in May 1915, during combat with his division before Arras, he was seriously wounded. During the capture of Carency, a bullet shattered his arm while he was leading his soldiers.

Peshkov’s regiment, like its twin, the 2nd marching regiment of the Foreign Legion, absorbed many Russian Jews assembled in these two units, who distinguished themselves in the battle of the Somme and that of Artois. The attack at Carency in May 1915 was a bloody one for these volunteers, as their losses were very great.

Treated near the front, he had to find the strength to make it to the rear. After succeeding in borrowing a train, he found himself in the American hospital at Neuilly, where only amputation saved him from death. Decorated, Corporal Peshkov underwent rehabilitation and then was pensioned. He then returned to Italy. Introduced into high society, where he was a sensation, he gave lectures on the horrors of war, probably inspired by the meetings organized with Gorky several years earlier, which had a great public success. He then found himself again in Paris. On June 22, 1916, Peshkov again enlisted “for the duration of the war” with the grade of 2nd class. He was attached to the 20th section of the military staff. In Paris, he met Philippe Berthelot, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who realized what this young mutilated soldier, bedecked with decorations, could bring in terms of propaganda aimed at neutral countries, first of all the United States, a place with which Peshkov was well acquainted.

Convinced of the value of this strategy, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Briand sent Zinovy to the French Ambassador, Jusserand, with the grade of temporary 3rd class interpreter (lieutenant), for the duration of his mission. At the end of nine months, Peshkov returned to Paris, having accomplished his mission. In fact, in April 1917, President Wilson had the Senate vote on a declaration of war. The United States joined the allies in the conflict.

At that time, diplomatic attention was focused on the European continent. Promoted to the rank of 2nd class interpreter officer (captain) on May 13, 1917, Peshkov was present at the events which plunged Russia into the revolution. In May, the French government sent a mission to the provisional government. He was then asked to participate, the objective being for France to convince the new Russian power to continue the war against the German Empire. This return to his roots was, for Zinovy, an occasion to renew ties to his native land and his family. By way of his brother Yakov, he had contacts with the Bolsheviks, but in no way shared their point of view. He probably saw his brother Veniamin as well as his sisters who had remained in Russia, all supporters of the revolution. The contacts with Gorky were cold, but this climate did not harm the solid friendship which tied the two men.

Lenin’s seizure of power in October was rapidly followed in December by the Brest-Litovsk armistice, which put an end to the Russo-German war, which was a setback for the French diplomatic mission. Zinovy returned to Paris, but the French government, aware of the diplomatic capabilities of Captain Peshkov, soon sent him to advise the White Armies on all the fronts of the civil war which was then bloodying Russia. He was promoted temporary head of a battalion for the duration of his mission from December 9, 1918. He also met the ataman of the Cossacks, Semenov, in Vladivostok, then Admiral Kolchak in the Urals to help him in reorganizing his army. The defeat of the latter sent him in February 1920 to the Caucasus, where he attempted in vain to play a role with General Wrangel. The definitive victory of the Red Army over the Whites in November obligated Peshkov to return to Paris.

At that time, Peshkov was still a man of fashion, who had been “launched” according to the expression popular during that period. He was received in the greatest homes in the company of Princess Salomea Andronikova, who he had met in the Caucasus, brought to Europe and with whom he was sharing his life. He was made permanent Captain by a decree of January 14, 1920. He was attached to the 1st Foreign Regiment. He was later attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be sent to the United States on January 21, 1921. Returning in May, he remained as secretary of the French delegation of the International Commission for Russia. Still tied to Russia, Zinovy, secretary general of an organization “against famine”, relayed the desperate appeal of Gorky to the international press to gain popular opinion for food aid for his country. This campaign – and the time the writer spent in Germany where he was undergoing treatment – brought the adoptive father and son closer together.

In May 1922, he was put at the disposal of Marshall Lyautey, commander of the troops in Morocco, to be attached to the staff of Meknes. Then he was allocated to the 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment on February 17, 1923, where he commanded the 12th company. Once again, everything about this appointment was astonishing. Peshkov, who received French nationality only the following year, was again in the Foreign Legion with the rank of chief of battalion, although he had no training in command and no experience in the position. Nevertheless, he met the challenge. “The Magnificent One-Armed Man”, as he was nicknamed by his soldiers, led his troops into combat with courage. In June 1925, his left leg was injured during an attack at Bab Taza, “for the sake of symmetry” he quipped, showing the right sleeve of his uniform, useless for the past ten years.

Zinovy, who continued to maintain his ties to foreign affairs, alternated periods of command with diplomatic missions. His stay at the French embassy in the United States from 1926 to 1929 did not prevent him from paying a visit to Gorky at Sorrento during vacations, prior to the writer’s permanent departure for the USSR. During this time Peshkov had a relationship with Irving Thalberg. He met him in Paris in March 1928, with a possible project of adapting his work on the Foreign Legion (published in English as The Bugle Sounds: Life in the Foreign Legion). During his many stays cut short by his command in Morocco, he played an important role in the Levant, particularly intervening with Shi’ite groups in Gabal Amil (now southern Lebanon). During this epoch, he met his second wife, Jacqueline Delaunay-Belleville, the widow of a diplomat, but this marriage, like the earlier one, was quickly dissolved. On the eve of global conflict, chief of battalion Peshkov commanded a unit in Morocco with panache and vigor; his celebrity brought him into close and regular contact with many personalities, members of high society and journalists. It was in this position in North Africa, commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Foreign Regiment, that he learned of the collapse of the French troops facing the Wehrmacht in May 1940.

The Gaullist diplomat
After having heard the appeal of 18 June of General de Gaulle, then in refuge in London, he decided to join him. His project succeeded, but his first contacts with the head of Free France were difficult. Nevertheless, at the end of 1941, de Gaulle promoted him to the rank of colonel (he remained almost 20 years the head of battalion) and sent him on a mission to South Africa, where he organized the transport of arms for the Allied troops, while keeping an eye on Madagascar, which was relatively near. As was often the case, Peshkov succeeded in establishing confidential relations with the head of the armies in the region, General Smuts. The British occupation of the Big Island precipitated events. Uninterested in a critical and controversial involvement with the English, whom he liked, Zinovy then arranged to be sent to French West Africa, where he brilliantly organized the rallying of the colonies.

Appointed Brigadier General in April 1944, Peshkov was soon sent as a delegate of the French Committee of National Liberation to the Republic of China to meet with Chiang Kai-shek, who had just broken with Vichy. Upon arrival at Chung King, the new capital of the country due to the Japanese occupation, Zinovy had to deal with the presence of another French mission sent by General Giraud, a competitor which he knew how to marginalize with subtlety. Made ambassador in November 1944, his presence once again gave him an occasion to demonstrate his capacity to make himself appreciated by leaders of all backgrounds which were so numerous in a China in full revolution.

After this Chinese period, Peshkov was named French ambassador to Japan in 1946 (or more precisely, head of the French liaison mission with the superior allied commander in the Far East). He was close to General MacArthur, whom he admired, since upon the return of the hero of the Philippines, he was not able to hide the interest he showed toward this officer, who impressed him with his uniqueness. On December 14, 1946 he invested MacArthur with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.

Concerned with looking after the defeated, the diplomat devoted himself to creating ties of confidence with the Japanese government, which he succeeded gradually in achieving during his mandate. In 1950, General Peshkov was retired and replaced by Maurice Dejean. He left Japan for a final return to Paris. Two years later, the government granted him the honor of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, which profoundly touched the young roughneck of Nizhny Novgorod.

The return to action of General de Gaulle in 1958 pleased General Peshkov, who had always respected the chief of Free France. Upon his return, the head of state did not forget his loyal ally of the hard times. He charged him with a number of diplomatic missions before sending him in 1964 to Chiang Kai-shek. Since France had decided to support the People's Republic of China – i.e. to recognize it diplomatically – the announcement of this turnaround had to be done with the greatest respect for the aged marshal in refuge in Taiwan. The choice of Zinovy was a great homage given to these two soldiers of exceptional destiny.

Zinovy Peshkov died in Paris in November 1966. His ashes are in the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery. At his request, his tombstone bears only the following inscription: ZINOVI PECHKOFF LEGIONNAIRE 16 X 1884 27 XI 1966

Published work
The Foreign Legion in Morocco, 1927. With a preface by André Maurois. The author wrote this book in 1925 while in the military hospital of Rabat, being treated for the wound in his left leg received in combating the Rifians.

title: Zinovy Peshkov


text: File:Saving Private Ryan poster.jpg

title: File:Saving Private Ryan poster.jpg


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Beta (finance)

In finance, the beta (β or market beta or beta coefficient) is a statistic that measures the expected increase or decrease of an individual stock price in proportion to movements of the stock market as a whole. Beta can be used to indicate the contribution of an individual asset to the market risk of a portfolio when it is added in small quantity. It refers to an asset's non-diversifiable risk, systematic risk, or market risk. Beta is not a measure of idiosyncratic risk.

Beta is the hedge ratio of an investment with respect to the stock market. For example, to hedge out the market-risk of a stock with a market beta of 2.0, an investor would short $2,000 in the stock market for every $1,000 invested in the stock. Thus insured, movements of the overall stock market no longer influence the combined position on average. Beta measures the contribution of an individual investment to the risk of the market portfolio that was not reduced by diversification. It does not measure the risk when an investment is held on a stand-alone basis.

The beta of an asset is compared to the market as a whole, usually the S&P 500. By definition, the value-weighted average of all market-betas of all investable assets with respect to the value-weighted market index is 1. If an asset has a beta above 1, it indicates that its return moves more than 1-to-1 with the return of the market-portfolio, on average; that is, it is more volatile than the market. In practice, few stocks have negative betas (tending to go up when the market goes down). Most stocks have betas between 0 and 3.

Most fixed income instruments and commodities tend to have low or zero betas; call options tend to have high betas; and put options and short positions and some inverse ETFs tend to have negative betas.

Mathematical definition
The market beta $$\beta_{i}$$ of an asset $$i$$, observed on $$t$$ occasions, is defined by (and best obtained via) a linear regression of the rate of return $$r_{i,t}$$ of asset $$i$$ on the rate of return $$r_{m,t}$$ of the (typically value-weighted) stock-market index $$m$$:
 * $$r_{i,t} = \alpha_{i} + \beta_{i} \cdot r_{m,t} + \varepsilon_{t}$$

where $$\varepsilon_{t}$$ is an unbiased error term whose squared error should be minimized. The coefficient $$\alpha_{i}$$ is often referred to as the alpha.

The ordinary least squares solution is:
 * $$\beta_{i} = \frac {\operatorname{Cov}(r_{i},r_{m})}{\operatorname{Var}(r_{m})},$$

where $$\operatorname{Cov}$$ and $$\operatorname{Var}$$ are the covariance and variance operators. Betas with respect to different market indexes are not comparable.

Relationship between own risk and beta risk
By using the relationship between standard deviation and variance, $$\sigma \equiv \sqrt{\operatorname{Var}(r)}$$ and the definition of correlation $$\rho_{a,b} \equiv \frac{\operatorname{Cov}(r_{a}, r_{b})}{\sqrt{ \operatorname{Var}(r_{a}) \operatorname{Var}(r_{b}) }}$$, market beta can also be written as
 * $$\beta_{i} = \rho_{i,m}\frac{\sigma_{i}}{\sigma_{m}}$$,

where $$\rho_{i,m}$$ is the correlation of the two returns, and $$\sigma_{i}$$, $$\sigma_{m}$$ are the respective volatilities. This equation shows that the idiosyncratic risk ($$\sigma_{i}$$) is related to but often very different to market beta. If the idiosyncratic risk is 0 (i.e., the stock returns do not move), so is the market-beta. The reverse is not the case: A coin toss bet has a zero beta but not zero risk.

Attempts have been made to estimate the three ingredient components separately, but this has not led to better estimates of market-betas.

Adding an asset to the market portfolio
Suppose an investor has all his money in the market $$m$$ and wishes to move a small amount into asset class $$i$$. The new portfolio is defined by
 * $$r_{p} = (1 - \delta) r_{m} + \delta r_{i}.$$

The variance can be computed as
 * $$\operatorname{Var}(r_{p}) = (1 - \delta)^{2} \operatorname{Var}(r_{m}) + 2 \delta (1 - \delta) \operatorname{Cov}(r_{m}, r_{i}) + \delta^{2} \operatorname{Var}(r_{i}) .$$

For small values of $$\delta$$, the terms in $$\delta^{2}$$ can be ignored,
 * $$\operatorname{Var}(r_{p}) \approx (1 - 2 \delta) \operatorname{Var}(r_{m}) + 2 \delta \operatorname{Cov}(r_{m},r_{i}).$$

Using the definition of $$\beta_{i} = \operatorname{Cov}(r_{m}, r_{i}) / \operatorname{Var}(r_{m}),$$ this is
 * $$\operatorname{Var}(r_{p}) / \operatorname{Var}(r_{m}) \approx 1 + 2 \delta (\beta_{i} - 1).$$

This suggests that an asset with $$\beta$$ greater than 1 increases the portfolio variance, while an asset with $$\beta$$ less than 1 decreases it if added in a small amount.

Beta as a linear operator
Market-beta can be weighted, averaged, added, etc. That is, if a portfolio consists of 80% asset A and 20% asset B, then the beta of the portfolio is 80% times the beta of asset A and 20% times the beta of asset B.
 * $$r_{p} = w_{a} \cdot r_{a} + w_{b} \cdot r_{b} \Rightarrow \beta_{p,m} = w_{a} \cdot \beta_{a,m} + w_{b} \cdot \beta_{b,m} .$$

Financial analysis
In practice, the choice of index makes relatively little difference in the market betas of individual assets, because broad value-weighted market indexes tend to move closely together. Academics tend to prefer to work with a value-weighted market portfolio due to its attractive aggregation properties and its close link with the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). Practitioners tend to prefer to work with the S&P 500 due to its easy in-time availability and availability to hedge with stock index futures.

In the idealized CAPM, beta risk is the only kind of risk for which investors should receive an expected return higher than the risk-free rate of interest. When used within the context of the CAPM, beta becomes a measure of the appropriate expected rate of return. Due to the fact that the overall rate of return on the firm is weighted rate of return on its debt and its equity, the market-beta of the overall unlevered firm is the weighted average of the firm's debt beta (often close to 0) and its levered equity beta.

In fund management, adjusting for exposure to the market separates out the component that fund managers should have received given that they had their specific exposure to the market. For example, if the stock market went up by 20% in a given year, and a manager had a portfolio with a market-beta of 2.0, this portfolio should have returned 40% in the absence of specific stock picking skills. This is measured by the alpha in the market-model, holding beta constant.

Occasionally, other betas than market-betas are used. The arbitrage pricing theory (APT) has multiple factors in its model and thus requires multiple betas. (The CAPM has only one risk factor, namely the overall market, and thus works only with the plain beta.) For example, a beta with respect to oil price changes would sometimes be called an "oil-beta" rather than "market-beta" to clarify the difference.

Betas commonly quoted in mutual fund analyses often measure the exposure to a specific fund benchmark, rather than to the overall stock market. Such a beta would measure the risk from adding a specific fund to a holder of the mutual fund benchmark portfolio, rather than the risk of adding the fund to a portfolio of the market.

Special cases
Utility stocks commonly show up as examples of low beta. These have some similarity to bonds, in that they tend to pay consistent dividends, and their prospects are not strongly dependent on economic cycles. They are still stocks, so the market price will be affected by overall stock market trends, even if this does not make sense.

Foreign stocks may provide some diversification. World benchmarks such as S&P Global 100 have slightly lower betas than comparable US-only benchmarks such as S&P 100. However, this effect is not as good as it used to be; the various markets are now fairly correlated, especially the US and Western Europe.

Derivatives are examples of non-linear assets. Whereas Beta relies on a linear model, an out of the money option will have a distinctly non-linear payoff. In these cases, then, the change in price of an option relative to the change in the price of its underlying asset is not constant. (True also - but here, far less pronounced - for volatility, time to expiration, and other factors.) Thus "beta" here, calculated traditionally, would vary constantly as the price of the underlying changed.

Accommodating this, mathematical finance defines a specific volatility beta. Here, analogous to the above, this beta represents the covariance between the derivative's return and changes in the value of the underlying asset, with, additionally, a correction for instantaneous underlying changes. See volatility (finance), volatility risk,.

Empirical estimation
A true beta (which defines the true expected relationship between the rate of return on assets and the market) differs from a realized beta that is based on historical rates of returns and represents just one specific history out of the set of possible stock return realizations. The true market-beta is essentially the average outcome if infinitely many draws could be observed. On average, the best forecast of the realized market-beta is also the best forecast of the true market-beta.

Estimators of market-beta have to wrestle with two important problems. First, the underlying market betas are known to move over time. Second, investors are interested in the best forecast of the true prevailing beta most indicative of the most likely future beta realization and not in the historical market-beta.

Despite these problems, a historical beta estimator remains an obvious benchmark predictor. It is obtained as the slope of the fitted line from the linear least-squares estimator. The OLS regression can be estimated on 1–5 years worth of daily, weekly or monthly stock returns. The choice depends on the trade off between accuracy of beta measurement (longer periodic measurement times and more years give more accurate results) and historic firm beta changes over time (for example, due to changing sales products or clients).

Improved estimators
Other beta estimators reflect the tendency of betas (like rates of return) for regression toward the mean, induced not only by measurement error but also by underlying changes in the true beta and/or historical randomness. (Intuitively, one would not suggest a company with high return [e.g., a drug discovery] last year also to have as high a return next year.) Such estimators include the Blume/Bloomberg beta (used prominently on many financial websites), the Vasicek beta, the Scholes–Williams beta, the Dimson beta, and the Welch beta.

 * The Blume beta shrinks the estimated OLS beta towards a mean of 1, calculating the weighted average of 2/3 times the historical OLS beta plus 1/3. A version based on monthly rates of return is widely distributed by Capital IQ and quoted on all financial websites. It predicts future market-beta poorly.
 * The Vasicek beta varies the weight between the historical OLS beta and the number 1 (or the average market beta if the portfolio is not value-weighted) by the volatility of the stock and the heterogeneity of betas in the overall market. It can be viewed either as an optimal Bayesian estimator under the (violated) assumption that the underlying market-beta does not move.  It is modestly difficult to implement.  It performs modestly better than the OLS beta.
 * The Scholes–Williams and Dimson betas are estimators that account for infrequent trading causing non-synchronously quoted prices. They are rarely useful when stock prices are quoted at day's end and easily available to analysts (as they are in the US), because they incur an efficiency loss when trades are reasonably synchronous.  However, they can be very useful in cases in which frequent trades are not observed (e.g., as in private equity) or in markets with rare trading activity.
 * The Welch beta is a slope-winsorized beta estimator that bounds daily stock returns within the range of −2 and 4 times the contemporaneous daily market return. The slope-winsorized daily return of a stock follows $$\text{rsw}_{i,d} \in (-2 \cdot r_{m,d}, 4 \cdot r_{m,d}) $$, effectively restricts beta estimates to be between −2 and 4. The beta is estimated with the weighted least squares (WLS) estimation on slope-winsorized daily stock returns and the market returns. It outperforms OLS beta, Blume beta, Vasicek beta, and Dimson betas in forecasting the future realizations of market betas and hedging.

These estimators attempt to uncover the instant prevailing market-beta. When long-term market-betas are required, further regression toward the mean over long horizons should be considered.

title: Beta (finance)


text:
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United Kingdom providing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs, sperm or embryos. It also regulates human embryo research.

Background to the establishment of the HFEA
After the birth of Louise Brown, the world's first IVF baby, in 1978, there was concern about the implications of this new technology. In 1982, the UK government formed a committee chaired by philosopher Mary Warnock to look into the issues and see what action needed to be taken.

Hundreds of interested individuals including doctors, scientists and organisations such as health, patient and parent organisations as well as religious groups gave evidence to the committee.

In the years following the Warnock report, proposals were brought forward by the government in the publication of a white paper Human Fertilisation and Embryology: A Framework for Legislation in 1987. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 was drafted taking the report into account.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
The 1990 Act provided for the establishment of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), an executive, non-departmental public body, the first statutory body of its type in the world. The HFEA is the independent regulator for IVF treatment and human embryo research and came into effect on 1 August 1991. The 1990 Act ensured the regulation, through licensing, of:
 * the creation of human embryos outside the body and their use in treatment and research
 * the use of donated gametes and embryos
 * the storage of gametes and embryos.

The Act also requires the HFEA keep a database of every IVF treatment carried out since that date and a database relating to all cycles and use of donated gametes (egg and sperm).

Cloning
In 2001, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Research Purposes) Regulations 2001/188 extended the purposes for which embryo research could be licensed to include "increasing knowledge about the development of embryos", "increasing knowledge about serious disease", and "enabling any such knowledge to be applied in developing treatments for serious disease".

This allows researchers to carry out embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning providing that an HFEA Licence Committee considers the use of embryos necessary or desirable for one of these purposes of research.

The Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001 was introduced to explicitly prohibit reproductive cloning in the UK, but it was repealed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008.

Donor anonymity
In 2004, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (Disclosure of Donor Information) Regulations 2004/1511, enabled donor-conceived children to access the identity of their sperm, egg or embryo donor upon reaching the age of 18.

The Regulations were implemented on 1 April 2005 and any donor who donated sperm, eggs or embryos from that date onwards is, by law, identifiable. Since that date, any person born as a result of donation is entitled to request and receive the donor's name and last known address, once they reach the age of 18.

European Union Tissues and Cells Directive
The European Union Tissues and Cells Directives (EUTCD) introduced common safety and quality standards for human tissues and cells across the European Union (EU).

The purpose of the directives was to facilitate a safer and easier exchange of tissues and cells (including human eggs and sperm) between member states and to improve safety standards for European citizens. The EUTCD was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 2 March 2004 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 7 April 2004. Member States were obliged to comply with its provisions from 7 April 2006.

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
In 2005, the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee published a report on Human Reproductive Technologies and the Law.

This inquiry investigated the legislative framework provided by the 1990 Act and challenges presented by technological advance and "recent changes in ethical and societal attitudes". In light of the Committee's report, and legislative changes that had already been made, the Department of Health undertook a review of the 1990 Act. They then held a public consultation based on their review of the Act, and following this published a White Paper, Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, within which Government presented its initial proposals to revise the legislation.

A Joint Committee of both houses scrutinised the Government's recommendations, and provided its views on what ought to be the final form of the Bill to be brought to parliament.

The Bill was finally brought to the House of Lords in November 2007, passing through the House of Commons through Spring and Autumn of 2008, and finally receiving Royal Assent on 13 November 2008. The HFE Act 2008 updates the law to ensure it is fit for purpose in the 21st century. It is divided into three parts:

 * 1) amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
 * 2) parenthood
 * 3) miscellaneous and general.

The main new elements of the Act are:

 * ensuring that the creation and use of all human embryos outside the body – whatever the process used in their creation – are subject to regulation
 * a ban on selecting the sex of offspring for social reasons
 * continuing to require that clinics take account of "the welfare of the child" when providing fertility treatment, and replacing the previous requirement that they also take account of the child's "need for a father" with "supportive parenting"
 * allowing for the recognition of both partners in a same-sex relationship as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos
 * enabling people in same sex relationships and unmarried couples to apply for an order allowing for them to be treated as the parents of a child born using a surrogate
 * changing restrictions on the use of data collected by the HFEA to make it easier to conduct research using this information
 * provisions clarifying the scope of legitimate embryo research activities, including regulation of "human admixed embryos" (embryos combining both human and animal material).

Current responsibilities
The current statutory functions of the HFEA, as a regulator under the HFE Acts 1990 and 2008 and other legislation include:
 * license and monitor clinics carrying out in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and donor insemination
 * license and monitor establishments undertaking human embryo research
 * maintain a register of licences held by clinics, research establishments and storage centres
 * regulate storage of gametes (eggs and sperm) and embryos
 * implement the requirements of the European Union Tissue and Cells Directive (EUTCD) to relicense IVF clinics and to license Intrauterine Insemination (IUI), Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) and other services.

Policy decisions

 * As of 2017, centres receiving sperm donation could distribute sperm to no more families than the number specified by the donor, and the donor could not specify more than ten.
 * In October and November 2007, the HFEA decided on a policy to reduce multiple births from fertility treatment. This forms part of a wider national strategy to reduce the risk of multiple births from fertility treatment involving professional bodies, patient groups and NHS-funding bodies.

Multiple pregnancy is the single biggest risk to patients and children born as a result of fertility treatment. Women undergoing IVF treatment are twenty times more likely to have a multiple birth than if they conceive naturally.

After carefully considering views from clinics, patients and professional bodies, the HFEA decided to set a maximum multiple birth rate that clinics should not exceed, which will be lowered each year. All clinics will have their own strategy setting out how they will lower the multiple birth rate in their clinic by identifying the patients for whom single embryo transfer is the most appropriate treatment. The HFEA aims to reduce multiple births from IVF treatment to 10% over a period of years.

 * In September 2007, after an extensive consultation with the UK public, the Authority decided that there is no fundamental reason to prevent cytoplasmic hybrid research. Individual research teams should be able to undertake research projects involving the creation of cytoplasmic hybrid embryos, provided that an HFEA Licence Committee is satisfied that their planned research is necessary and desirable. They must also meet the overall standards required by the HFEA for any embryo research. In January 2008, the HFEA granted licenses to Newcastle University and King's College London to carry out cytoplasmic hybrid research projects
 * In 2007 the Authority agreed to allow women to be able to donate their eggs to research projects, provided that there are strong safeguards in place to ensure the women are properly informed of the risks of the procedure and are properly protected from coercion
 * In 2006, the HFEA approved in principle the screening of embryos for genes that may lead to certain cancers in middle age
 * In 2005, the HFEA granted a licence to treat mitochondrial diseases by allowing researchers to attempt to create an embryo with two genetic mothers
 * In 2004, the HFEA granted British scientists a licence to produce cloned human cells, making it only the second country in the world to permit such a procedure

Current and former members

 * Chair – Julia Chain
 * Deputy Chair – Gemma Hobcraft
 * Chief Executive – Peter Thompson

Former Chairs include Professor Lisa Jardine, Walter Merricks, Shirley Harrison, Lord Harries, Dame Suzi Leather, Baroness Deech, Sir Colin Campbell and Sally Cheshire.

Other notable former members include Professor Emily Jackson and Margaret Auld, former Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland.


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Yellow-crested cockatoo

The yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea) also known as the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo, is a medium-sized (about 34-cm-long) cockatoo with white plumage, bluish-white bare orbital skin, grey feet, a black bill, and a retractile yellow or orange crest. The sexes are similar.

The yellow-crested cockatoo is found in wooded and cultivated areas of East Timor and Indonesia's islands of Sulawesi and the Lesser Sundas. It is easily confused with the larger and more common sulphur-crested cockatoo, which has a more easterly distribution and can be distinguished by the lack of pale yellow coloring on its cheeks (although some sulphur-cresteds develop yellowish patches). Also, the yellow-crested cockatoo's crest is a brighter color, closer to orange. The citron-crested cockatoo, which used to be considered a subspecies of the yellow-crested cockatoo, is similar, but its crest is orange and it is endemic to Sumba.

The yellow-crested cockatoo's diet consists mainly of seeds, buds, fruits, nuts, and herbaceous plants.

Taxonomy
In the 18th century, yellow-crested cockatoos were imported into Europe as pets and these birds were described by various naturalists. In 1738 English naturalist Eleazar Albin included a description and illustration of the "Cockatoo or White crested parrot" in his A Natural History of Birds based on a bird displayed at "The Tiger" tavern on Tower Hill in London. In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included "Le Kakatoes à hupe jaune" in his Onithologie based on a live bird that he had seen in Paris. Then in 1764, George Edwards included the "Lesser white cockatoo with a yellow crest" in his Gleanings of natural history from a pet bird kept at a home in Essex, and in 1779 French polymath Comte de Buffon included the bird in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.

When the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae in 1788 he included the yellow-crested cockatoo based on the accounts of earlier naturalists. He placed it with the parrots in the genus Psittacus and coined the binomial name Psittacus sulphureus. The type locality is the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The yellow-crested cockatoo is now one of 11 species placed in the genus Cacatua that was introduced in 1817 by Louis Pierre Vieillot.

According to the International Ornithological Congress, 5 subspecies are recognized:

 * C. s. sulphurea (nominate subspecies) (Gmelin, JF, 1788) – Sulawesi and nearby islands Muna and Butung
 * C. s. abbotti (Abbott's yellow-crested cockatoo) (Oberholser, 1917) – Masalembu Islands
 * C. s. djampeana Hartert, E, 1897 – Tanahjampea and Tukangbesi Islands
 * C. s. occidentalis Hartert, E, 1898 – Western and central Lesser Sundas (Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Padar, Rinca, Flores, Pantar and Alor)
 * C. s. parvula (Timor yellow-crested cockatoo) (Bonaparte, 1850) – Central Lesser Sundas (Roti, Semau, and Timor)

Previously, only 4 of these were recognized, but djampeana and occidentalis were recognized in 2022 based on a 2014 phylogenetic study. The subspecies paulandrewi, thought to be endemic to the Tukangbesi Islands and also recognized in the 2014 study, is not recognized by the IOC.

Until 2023, the citron-crested cockatoo (Cacatua citrinocristata) was considered by the IOC to be a subspecies of yellow-crested cockatoo.

Breeding
The yellow-crested cockatoo nests in tree cavities. The eggs are white and usually two in a clutch. The incubation is shared by both parents. The eggs are incubated for about 28 days and the chicks leave the nest about 75 days after hatching.

Status and conservation
The yellow-crested cockatoo is critically endangered. Numbers have declined dramatically due to illegal trapping for the cage-bird trade. Between 1980 and 1992, over 100,000 of these birds were legally exported from Indonesia, yet a German proposal submitted to CITES to move it to Appendix I was not approved. It has since been moved to Appendix I. The current population is estimated at fewer than 2,500 individuals and is thought to be declining in number.

The subspecies C. s. abbotti is found only on the island of Masakambing. Its population on this tiny island (about 5 km2 or 1.9 mi2) had fallen to 10 as of June and July 2008. The decline results from trapping and logging, especially of mangroves (Avicennia apiculata) and kapok trees.

Several national parks their habitat, including Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park on Sulawesi, Komodo National Park on Komodo Island, the national parks of Manupeu Tanah Daru and Laiwangi Wanggameti on Sumba, and the Nino Konis Santana National Park in East Timor (Timor-Leste).

Introduced population
An introduced population of these birds is found in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s feral population is estimated to be around 200, 10% of the total wild population. They are a common sight across the densely populated area on both sides of the harbour, easily spotted in the woods and public parks in the north and west of Hong Kong Island. The large group has developed from some caged birds that have been released into the Hong Kong area over many years. An often repeated story is that Hong Kong Governor Sir Mark Aitchison Young released the Government House's entire bird collection – including a large number of yellow-crested cockatoos – hours before surrendering Hong Kong to Japanese troops in December 1941. Historians and conservation biologists in Hong Kong have found no evidence to corroborate this story, and believe that Hong Kong's yellow-crested cockatoo population is made up of escaped pets. The earliest record of an escaped yellow-crested cockatoo pet comes from 1959.

title: Yellow-crested cockatoo


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Insemination

Insemination is the introduction of sperm into a female 's reproductive system in order to fertilize the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous (egg-laying) animal. Female mammals are inseminated during sexual intercourse/copulation, but can also be inseminated by artificial insemination.

In humans, the act and form of insemination has legal, moral and interpersonal implications. However, whether insemination takes place naturally or by artificial means, the pregnancy and the progress of it will be the same. Insemination may be called in vivo fertilisation (from in vivo meaning "within the living") because an egg is fertilized inside the body, this is in contrast with in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

In plants, the fertilization process is referred to as pollination. It is the process of transfer of pollen grains from one anther to stigma of other plants.

Natural insemination
Insemination by penile-vaginal penetration during sexual intercourse is referred to as "natural insemination" (i.e., insemination by natural means). If an artificial lubricant needs to be used, care must be taken that it does not have spermicidal properties. During ejaculation, semen, containing male gametes known as sperm, is expelled from the penis through the male urethra into the moist and warm environment of the female reproductive tract. In humans, semen is usually ejaculated into the posterior vaginal fornix in direct contact with cervical mucus, though sperm may swim from other areas of the vagina or vulva to the cervix. The average volume of semen produced at ejaculation is 2 to 5ml (about 1 teaspoon), containing an average of 182 million sperm. Only a small proportion of the sperm in each ejaculation reach the site of fertilization in the fallopian tubes, their numbers decreasing exponentially as they progress through the female reproductive tract. The majority of sperm either die in the acidic environment of the vagina or drip out with the semen. Prior to ovulation, the cervical mucus becomes thinner and more hospitable to sperm. Sperm swim rapidly into the uterus upon encountering cervical mucus, though many become lost in the cervical crypts where they either die or are delayed. Further attrition occurs in the uterus, where sperm are attacked by the female immune system. Only about 100-1000 sperm reach the fallopian tubes, where they may survive for up to 6 days. If ovulation occurs and the sperm encounter an ovum in the fallopian tube, fertilization may occur.

A woman may also be naturally inseminated while having penile-vaginal intercourse for pleasure without any intent to conceive. This may be unintentional as a result of the failure of a barrier or behavioural method of contraception, or may be intentional if relying on female contraceptive methods or indifferent to the possibility of pregnancy. In most cultures, insemination by a male through sexual intercourse, whether the woman's husband, normal sex partner or not, is subject to social and sexual inhibitions and taboos, and has legal, moral and interpersonal implications.

The term is also used in the context of third-party insemination, where a male who is not the woman's usual sexual partner (i.e., a sperm donor) fathers a child for the woman by providing his sperm through sexual intercourse rather than by providing his sperm for it to be used to produce a pregnancy in the woman by artificial means. The incidence of natural insemination by a sperm donor is usually a private matter, and may also carry greater health risks than where sperm has been processed by a fertility center. Advocates claim natural insemination generates higher pregnancy rates and a more 'natural' conception which does not involve the intervention and intrusion of third parties. However, it has not been medically proven that natural insemination has an increased chance of pregnancy. Additionally, conceiving through natural insemination is considered a natural process, so the father may be liable for child support and have custody and other rights of the child. The law usually draws a distinction between a man fathering a child by natural means, and a man who provides his sperm for it to be used to father a child by artificial means (i.e. by artificial insemination).

Artificial insemination

Artificial insemination is the introduction of sperm into the reproductive tract of a female by means other than sexual intercourse for the purpose of impregnating or fertilizing the female. In humans, artificial insemination may be used when a woman or her normal sex partner cannot, for any of a number of reasons, conceive by natural means. A number of artificial insemination strategies are available, including intracervical insemination (ICI) and intrauterine insemination (IUI). Compared with natural insemination, artificial insemination may be more invasive, and may require professional assistance and medical expertise, which will have a higher cost.

ICI attempts to simulate natural insemination, without the sexual element. It is painless and is the simplest, easiest and most common method of artificial insemination, and can be performed in the home, either by the female on herself or with non-professional assistance. ICI involves the introduction of unwashed or raw semen into the vagina at the entrance to the cervix, usually by means of a needleless syringe.

The sperm for insemination may be provided by either a sexual partner of the female's choice or by a sperm donor. Donor sperm is most commonly used by lesbian couples, single women, and heterosexual couples when the male partner is suffering from male infertility. There have been situations where a female has been inseminated with sperm collected from a female's partner before him going off to war or even harvested after he has already died. There are laws in some countries which restrict and regulate who can donate sperm and who is able to receive artificial insemination, and the consequences of such insemination. Subject to any regulations restricting who can obtain donor sperm, donor sperm is available to all women who, for whatever reason, want or need it. Some women living in a jurisdiction which does not permit artificial insemination in the circumstance in which she finds herself may travel to another jurisdiction (a 'fertility destination') which permits it. (See Sperm donation laws by country.)

Artificial insemination has been and continues to be commonly used in livestock breeding as an efficient way of increasing production.

Other forms of insemination
In various other animal species, sperm can be introduced into the female's reproductive tract by various means. For example, in some species of hemiptera sperm can be introduced violently by traumatic insemination, parenteral injection through the body wall. In some species of animals, sperm finds its way through the body wall when the spermatophore is left in contact with the female's skin, such as in the onychophora (velvet worms).

title: Insemination


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Quba District (Azerbaijan)

Quba District (Guba District; Quba rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. Located in the northeast of the country, it belongs to the Guba-Khachmaz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Qusar, Qabala, Ismayilli, Shamakhi, Shabran, and Khachmaz. Its capital and largest city is Quba. As of 2020, the district had a population of 173,400.

The fertile region surrounding Quba is best known for its production of apples and the city area of Quba is known for its fine carpets.

History
Quba rose to prominence in the 18th century. In 1747, Nader Shah ruler of the Afsharid Dynasty was assassinated. That same year, Hussein-Ali, the Shah's designated ruler of the region, decided to attempt to unify the Azeri khanates as an independent kingdom. One of his first moves was to relocate his capital from the less defensible Xudat in the Caspian lowlands to Quba where he built a fortress. Hussein-Ali died in 1757 and his son Fatali Khan carried on the expansion with Quba reaping the riches of its status as the capital. Some ruins from this period, such as Çirax Qala on the way to Baku, exist today.

However, upon Fatali Khan's death in 1789, the city's fortunes began to turn. In 1806, the khanate was occupied and soon absorbed by the Russian Empire. As a result, the city fell into the background of Azerbaijani history and politics.

The city is home to several historic buildings, including the Juma Mosque (Cuma Məscid or Friday Mosque), Ardabil Mosque (Ərdəbil Məscid) and old hamman (baths).

The region is home to Azerbaijan's largest community of Mountain Jews in the community of Qırmızı Qəsəbə (formerly in Krasnaya Sloboda, Red Town), located just across the river from Quba City.

Agriculture of Quba
Guba region has been known for its fruitful gardens since the Soviet era. According to the annual report of the Azerbaijan Statistical Committee, the apple orchards in the Guba-Khachmaz economic region covers nearly 22,000 hectares. About 14,000 hectares of these are in the Guba district.

Apple festival
Since 2012, every year an apple festival is held in Guba. Compositions, national dances reflecting Azerbaijani custom and traditions, different types of apples, sweets and drinks prepared from apple are demonstrated at the ceremony. Various competitions are held among the gardeners at the "Apple Festival".

Historical and architectural monuments
There are 134 historical and archaeological monuments in the Quba district. These include the temple of fire worshipers near the village of Khinalig, the Mausoleums of Aghbil dating back to the 16th century, the Sakina Khanum mosque, the Juma mosque, Ardabil mosque, which dates back to the 19th century.

Demographics
Azerbaijanis (All parts of district) - 79.22%, Tats (Southern parts) - 9.10% and Lezgians (Northwestern parts) - 5.87 % are the largest ethnic groups of Quba District. Khinalugs (1.43%) are living in the village of Khinalug. Buduq (Budukh).

Languages

 * Azeri (mother tongue of 86% of the population)
 * Lezgi
 * Tati (Judeo-Tat)
 * Khinalug
 * Buduq

Population
According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic, the number total of the population was 137,8 thousand in 2000. This figure increased by approximately 32.2 thousand and reached 170 thousand In 2018.

Healthcare
There are Central hospital, Regional Perinatal Center, regional Diagnostic center of Guba, rehabilitation centers, center of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Guba Branch of the Scientific Research Institute of Hematology and Transfusiology named after B. Eyvazov, 91 medical stations.

Education
There are 155 educational institutions, 135 secondary schools, 15 preschools and 5 kindergartens in the district. There is also a branch of the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Guba Social-Economic College, Medical College, Vocational High School, Private Vocational School.

Notable natives

 * Abbasgulu Bakikhanov (also spelt Bakixanov or Bakikhanli), a 19th-century writer, historian and philosopher, who lived in the village of Amsar located in 6 km far from Quba city. His museum is located in Quba city.
 * Sakina Akhundzadeh, playwright, was born here in 1865

title: Quba District (Azerbaijan)


text: File:Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) theatrical poster.jpg


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Talk:Universal Network Objects

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title: Talk:Universal Network Objects