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Functional constipation

Functional constipation, also known as chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC), is defined by less than three bowel movements per week, hard stools, severe straining, the sensation of anorectal blockage, the feeling of incomplete evacuation, and the need for manual maneuvers during feces, without organic abnormalities. Many illnesses, including endocrine, metabolic, neurological, mental, and gastrointestinal obstructions, can cause constipation as a secondary symptom. When there is no such cause, functional constipation is diagnosed.

Functional constipation requires symptoms to be present at least a fourth of the time. Causes include anismus, descending perineum syndrome, inability to control the external anal sphincter, poor diet, unwillingness to defecate, nervous reactions, and deep psychosomatic disorders. Comorbid symptoms like headache may also be present, especially in children.

Functional constipation is diagnosed using the Rome criteria, a consensus of experts. The criteria include over 25% of defecations involving straining, 25% resulting in lumpy or hard stools, 25% requiring partial evacuation, 25% experiencing anorectal blockage or obstruction, and 25% using manual techniques. Less than three weekly spontaneous bowel movements are also considered. A thorough history and physical examination, including a digital rectal exam, is crucial for diagnosing constipation. Additional laboratory testing is typically used in cases of uncertainty or to rule out underlying medical conditions.

Functional constipation is a condition that requires nonpharmacological management, including education and lifestyle modifications. It begins with dietary guidelines, focusing on regular fiber and fluid intake. Children with functional constipation should consume a normal intake of fiber, as per ESPGHAN/NASPGHAN criteria. Parents and children should receive counseling about overflow incontinence and withholding behavior. An organized toilet-training program with a reward system can help reduce faecal impaction.

Pharmacological treatment for children with functional constipation consists of maintenance therapy and faecal disimpaction. High-dose oral polyethylene glycol (PEG) or enemas containing active substances can induce fecal disimpaction, while maintenance therapy is recommended after successful disimpaction to avoid reoccurring stool buildup. Glycerine or bisacodyl suppositories are also used for both adults and children. Maintenance treatment for functional constipation includes osmotic laxatives, milk of magnesia, and mineral oil. Stimulant laxatives like senna or bisacodyl are recommended for those with persistent symptoms.

Signs and symptoms
Individuals suffering from functional constipation often exhibit hard or lumpy stools, decreased frequency of bowel movements, a feeling of incomplete evacuation or obstruction, straining, and in some cases, stomach pain and bloating. Generally speaking, symptoms are considered chronic if they have persisted for three months or more.

Faecal incontinence, which is the involuntary loss of stools in the underwear during toilet training and is brought on by an overflow of soft stools passing around a solid faecal mass in the rectum (faecal impaction), is a common symptom in children. Urinary symptoms, including urine incontinence and urinary tract infections, are frequently observed in children who suffer from functional constipation.

Causes
To be considered functional constipation, symptoms must be present at least a fourth of the time. Possible causes are: There is also possibility of presentation with other comorbid symptoms such as headache, especially in children.
 * Anismus
 * Descending perineum syndrome
 * Other inability or unwillingness to control the external anal sphincter, which normally is under voluntary control
 * A poor diet
 * An unwillingness to defecate
 * Nervous reactions, including prolonged and/or chronic stress and anxiety, that close the internal anal sphincter, a muscle that is not under voluntary control
 * Deeper psychosomatic disorders which sometimes affect digestion and the absorption of water in the colon

Diagnosis
Functional constipation cannot be diagnosed with particular testing; instead, the Rome criteria, a consensus of experts, is used to make this diagnosis. The Rome IV criteria define functional constipation as meeting at least two of the six requirements given below:

 * 1) Over ¼ (25%) of defecations involve straining.
 * 2) More than ¼ (25%) of defecations result in lumpy or hard stools (Bristol Stool Form Scale 1-2).
 * 3) Sensation of partial evacuation for over ¼ (25%) of the defecations.
 * 4) Sensation of anorectal blockage or obstruction during more than ¼ (25%) of bowel movements.
 * 5) Manual techniques (such as pelvic floor support and digital evacuation) to assist in more than ¼ (25%) of defecations.
 * 6) Less than three weekly spontaneous bowel movements.
 * 7) Loose stools are rarely seen without the use of laxatives.
 * 8) Not enough criteria met to diagnose irritable bowel syndrome.

A thorough history and physical examination should be performed while evaluating constipation. Along with push and squeeze maneuvers, a comprehensive digital rectal exam (DRE) is a crucial component of the clinical examination.

Generally speaking, additional laboratory testing should be carried out only in cases of uncertainty or to rule out underlying medical conditions such as hypothyroidism or celiac disease. Abdominal radiography, with or without the introduction of radio-opaque markers to determine colonic transit time, and abdominal ultrasonography are frequently employed supplementary tests in the diagnosis of constipation.

Chronic idiopathic constipation is similar to constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C); however, people with CIC do not have other symptoms of IBS, such as abdominal pain.

Treatment
Treatment for functional constipation begins with nonpharmacological management. This includes education and lifestyle modifications, such as diet changes, consistent exercise, and guidance on proper body position and behavior when using the restroom.

The first treatments for constipation are dietary guidelines, which include the requirement for a regular consumption of fiber and fluids. A normal intake of fiber is advocated for children with functional constipation, as per the criteria of ESPGHAN/NASPGHAN. It is not recommended to increase the consumption of fiber above what is considered normal.

In order to effectively treat childhood constipation, it is imperative that parents and children receive counseling. This includes teaching them about the concept of overflow incontinence and the significance of withholding behavior. One way to reduce faecal impaction and lower the risk of faecal incontinence is to use an organized toilet-training program with a reward system that instructs the kid to try to defaecate at least twice or three times a day (after each meal).

Children with functional constipation can be treated pharmacologically in two stages: maintenance therapy and faecal disimpaction. High-dose oral polyethylene glycol (PEG) or enemas containing active substances such sodium phosphate, sodium lauryl sulfoacetate, or sodium ducosate can be used to induce fecal disimpaction. Maintenance therapy is suggested following successful disimpaction in order to avoid reoccurring stool buildup. Adults rarely need faecal disimpaction, although the methods are comparable, and substantial doses of PEG or magnesium citrate are popular oral therapies. For both adults and children, glycerine or bisacodyl suppositories provide an alternative to enemas.

The first-choice maintenance treatment advised for functional constipation is osmotic laxatives. Other often used laxatives include milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide) and mineral oil, a lubricant. Clinical recommendations advocate using stimulant laxatives, such as senna or bisacodyl, in both adults and children if symptoms are still present.

A number of novel therapeutic treatments have been suggested and licensed in recent years for the treatment of functional constipation. Prosecretory drugs including plecanatide, linaclotide, and lubiprostone alter gut epithelial channels, encouraging intestinal fluid secretion and increasing stool volume, which improves GI transit. Functional constipation has been treated with a variety of 5-hydroxytryptamine 4 (5-HT4) agonists. Serotonin (5-HT) is an enteric and central neurotransmitter that binds to the gut's 5-HT4 receptors to boost acetylcholine release, which in turn increases secretion and motility of the gut. Additionally, serotonin promotes motility by stimulating the mucosa's afferent neurons, which in turn triggers the gastrocolic reflex.

Research
A 2014 meta-analysis of three small trials evaluating probiotics showed a slight improvement in management of chronic idiopathic constipation, but well-designed studies are necessary to know the true efficacy of probiotics in treating this condition.

Children with functional constipation often claim to lack the sensation of the urge to defecate, and may be conditioned to avoid doing so due to a previous painful experience. One retrospective study showed that these children did indeed have the urge to defecate using colonic manometry, and suggested behavioral modification as a treatment for functional constipation.

title: Functional constipation


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Webs (web hosting)

Webs, formerly Freewebs, was a freemium, primarily static site-only web host founded in 2001. The service offered free and premium website hosting plans, and their own templated website building service. Unusually, Webs does not offer any dynamic content support aside from their own dynamic "apps", despite offering FTP access and allowing HTML uploads.

History
Webs began in 2001 as Freewebs just after the dot-com bubble. It was a start-up launched by brothers Haroon and Zeki Mokhtarzada during their last year at the University of Maryland, College Park with the help of their younger brother Idris. Their goal was to enable anyone in the world to express themselves through the creation of their own website. Between 2003 and 2007, the company grew 1704%.

By April 2007, the site recorded 18 million unique visitors a month.

On November 14, 2008, Freewebs changed its name to Webs, but users' URLs remained in the freewebs.com domain unless they chose to change over. Now, new websites are given subdomains of webs.com, but the old freewebs.com/sitename format still works, even for new websites. Users can also upgrade to a premium package and receive a custom web address without a Webs subdomain.

On December 28, 2011, the online printing service Vistaprint completed its acquisition of Webs for $117.5 million.

On June 4, 2012, Webs released a new version of their Sitebuilder product, called Sitebuilder3. The new version includes a new drag and drop interface, more customizable themes, and simple social media integration.

In early 2013, Webs underwent a redesign of the internal site, which overhauled the user’s building experience. It involved the removal of ads, the modernization of the user interface, and the addition of a step-by-step “successful website” checklist.

On May 3, 2013, Webs introduced a SEO Booster, a search engine optimization tool that helps users identify the best keyword phrases to build into their website in order to improve its position in search engine results.

In late 2020, the parent company, Vistaprint, announced that on March 31, 2021 all the paying websites hosted by webs.com will be migrated to the Vistaprint domain and all the free websites deleted, with their owners' accounts removed. This change was postponed to June 30, 2021. The last free subdomains were finally shut down on August 31, 2023, with all existing domains transferred to ExactHosting.com.

Product
Webs offered a "drag-and-drop" interface and professional-looking themes for users creating a new website. For pro-level websites, there were additional e-commerce features. including unlimited "webstore" items, and Google and Facebook advertising credits. All users could also link their websites to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Webs offered its own themes and site builder, as well as a selection of its own dynamic "apps" such as a blog, photo gallery, or webstore.

Free websites were limited in features and also had a Webs banner on the bottom of the screen. The company offered premium plans with more tools and features and also allowed customers to buy custom domain names.

Webs offered 80% uptime guarantee, after many customers had complained about excessive downtime.

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

title: Webs (web hosting)


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User talk:KaiDream

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia! Hope you like it here, and stick around.

Here are some tips to help you get started:

 * To sign your posts (on talk pages, for example) use the '~' symbol. To insert just your name, type ~~~ (3 tildes), or, to insert your name and timestamp, use ~~~~ (4 tildes).
 * Try the Tutorial, and feel free to experiment in the test area.
 * If you need help, post a question at the Help Desk
 * Follow the Simplified Ruleset
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Remember Neutral point of view
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and, most importantly, have fun!

Good luck!

Image:Bakersfield.jpg
Burgundavia (✈ take a flight?) 00:19, May 26, 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:KaiDream


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Category:Israeli writers

This is a list of Israeli writers.

title: Category:Israeli writers


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McCoy Air Force Base

McCoy AFB (1940–1947, 1951–1975) is a former U.S. Air Force installation located 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Orlando, Florida. It was a training base during World War II. From 1951 to 1975, it was a frontline Strategic Air Command (SAC) base during the Cold War and Vietnam War. It was Orlando's biggest employer and economic backbone prior to the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971.

With McCoy's closure as an active USAF facility in 1975, the site was redeveloped and is known today as Orlando International Airport, which continues to carry the base's original FAA LID airport code of MCO (i.e., McCoy) and ICAO airport code of KMCO.

Over the course of its existence the installation had several names, including Orlando Army Air Field #2, Pinecastle Army Airfield, and Pinecastle Air Force Base.

History
McCoy Air Force Base was named for Colonel Michael Norman Wright McCoy (born 1905) on 7 May 1958. Col McCoy was killed on 9 October 1957 in the crash of a B-47 Stratojet (DB-47B-35-BW), AF Serial No. 51-2177, of the 447th Bombardment Squadron, 321st Bombardment Wing, which suffered wing failure northwest of downtown Orlando, Florida while taking part in a practice demonstration during the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition at Pinecastle Air Force Base, Florida. McCoy was the aircraft commander during the flight and the mishap aircraft was one of two at Pinecastle that had been modified to carry the GAM-63 RASCAL air-to-surface missile.

At the time of his death, McCoy was serving as the commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing, the host wing of Pinecastle AFB. A hugely popular figure in Central Florida, Colonel McCoy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in a funeral that included a flyover of multiple B-47s.

World War II
The facility originally was built in 1940 as a replacement civilian airport after the takeover and conversion of the Orlando Municipal Airport (present day Orlando Executive Airport) to Orlando Army Air Base by the United States Army Air Corps. However, with the expansion of Orlando AAB following establishment of the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) in 1942, the new civilian airport was also leased by the now-renamed U.S. Army Air Forces, initially being designated as Orlando Army Air Field #2 and becoming a sub-base of Orlando AAB. On 1 January 1943, it was renamed as Pinecastle Army Airfield.

Pinecastle AAF was aimed to support the training mission of Orlando AAB. Two bomb squadrons of the 9th Bombardment Group at Orlando AAB, the 5th, equipped with B-24 Liberators and the 99th, with B-25 Mitchells, B-26 Marauders and B-17 Flying Fortresses, operated from Pinecastle during the war. The squadrons had the mission of training future combat aircrews for a wide variety of bombing missions in advanced combat techniques.

In addition to the training mission, beginning in 1943, Pinecastle AAF was used as the AAFSAT Technical Center, operating an Air Force General Maintenance and Supply Depot facility. On 1 June 1944, the 901st Army Air Forces Base Unit (Heavy Bombardment), took over the bomber training mission with two squadrons, "G" and "H".

Records indicate that aircraft from Pinecastle AAF performed test bombing of chemical munitions at one of Pinecastle's numerous bombing and gunnery ranges. It is uncertain whether the chemical warfare materials used in these tests were stored at Pinecastle Army Airfield or transported from the Orlando Toxic Gas and Decontamination Yard at Orlando AAB a few hours before a practice bombing run.

With the drawdown and closure of wartime airfields after the German capitulation in May 1945, units from other bases in Florida were consolidated at Pinecastle AAF. On 1 July 1945, jurisdiction of the field was transferred to Air Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field, Florida. The 901st AAFBU was inactivated and replaced by the 621st Base Unit.

Postwar years
In August 1945, under the Proving Ground Command (PGC), the base was used for testing of the B-32 Dominator bomber, although operations in 1945 at the field were severely curtailed due to personnel shortages caused by post-war demobilization. Weapons tests of the VB-6 Felix infrared heat seeking and VB-3 Razon radio-controlled gliding bombs were also carried out.

Beginning in January 1946, Bell Aircraft Corporation's chief test pilot Jack Woolams tested the X-1 supersonic aircraft, originally designated the XS-1, at the airfield because of the area's then-remote location and 10,000-foot runway.

In March 1946, the X-1 program was relocated to Muroc Army Air Field, California. The move was a logistics issue as much as anything, as Pinecastle was deemed not suitable for the X-1 project. A move to the remote California desert ensured the X-1 project team could maintain secrecy, an important issue considering the project was highly classified at the time. In addition, Muroc had an expansive landing area, thanks to the surrounding dry lakebeds, and better visibility. The X-1's high sink rate and the problems of keeping the plane in sight amid Florida's frequent clouds also added two more votes in favor of the Army Air Force's decision to go to Muroc.

This aircraft, later flown by then-Captain (Brigadier General, USAF, Retired) Chuck Yeager, would be the first aircraft in history to successfully exceed the speed of sound in level flight. With the X-1 project transferred, Pinecastle AAF was closed and the entire site was transferred to the City of Orlando in 1947 with a reversal clause for future military use if deemed to be necessary for national defense purposes.

Air Training Command
As a result of the outbreak of the Korean War, the United States Air Force's Air Training Command (ATC) reacquired and reactivated the facility, renaming it Pinecastle Air Force Base on 1 September 1951. ATC immediately began a $100 million military construction (MILCON) program at the World War II facility, to include lengthening the existing north–south runway and constructing a parallel north–south runway, both over 12,000 feet in length. Actual flight training operations, however, did not begin until early 1952.

The 3540th Flying Training Wing (later redesignated the 4240th Flying Training Wing) was activated at the base for the purpose of training personnel in Strategic Air Command's (SAC) new Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium jet bomber. Eighty-four B-47s were allocated for the training, and SAC transferred thirty experienced aircraft commanders to Pinecastle to serve as instructors. According to the basic plan, ATC would train forty-nine crews by the end of 1952. But from the beginning, mechanical problems with the B-47 and a lack of equipment prevented training. In addition, the base was inadequate at the time with regards to training facilities. The first B-47 class arrived at the base on 6 November 1952 and the first B-47 crew training program started a few weeks later when Class 53-6A entered combat crew training on 22 December 1952. The first trained B-47 crews graduated from training during the first half of 1953.

On 1 January 1954, ATC transferred both the B-47 crew training mission at Pinecastle AFB and jurisdiction of the base to the Strategic Air Command.

321st Bombardment Wing and 19th Bombardment Wing
On 15 December 1953, the 321st Bombardment Wing (Medium) was activated at Pinecastle AFB, absorbing all B-47 bombers and KC-97 tankers at the base. The B-47 combat crew training mission was also transferred from ATC to SAC. Colonel Michael N.W. McCoy, previously commander of the 306th Bombardment Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, was appointed commander of the 321st Bombardment Wing on 24 May 1954, having earned the unofficial distinction of being the "dean" of the Strategic Air Command's B-47 Stratojet aircraft commanders.

In July 1954, the 19th Bombardment Wing joined the 321st at Pinecastle AFB and the two units came under the control of the 813th Strategic Aerospace Division. The 813th was subsequently inactivated in the summer of 1956 when the 19th Bomb Wing moved to Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.

In November 1957, the base was host to the medium and heavy bombers participating in the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing Navigation and Reconnaissance Competition. During the competition, a B-47 aircraft mishap north of downtown Orlando took the lives of Colonel McCoy, Group Captain John Woodroffe of the Royal Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Joyce, and Major Vernon Stuff during preparations for the event. Despite this tragedy, the 321st Bomb Wing, under the direction of its new commander, Colonel Robert W. Strong, Jr., won the top honors of the meet, including the coveted Fairchild and McKay trophies, distinguishing the 321st as the top B-47 Wing in SAC.

76th Fighter Interceptor Squadron
Another distinguished unit assigned to Pinecastle AFB in November 1957 was the Air Defense Command's 76th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (76 FIS). A descendant of the famous World War II "Flying Tigers," the 76 FIS was commanded by Major Morris F. Wilson and flew the F-89H "Scorpion" all-weather fighter-interceptor. One of the last squadrons to fly the Scorpion, the 76 FIS was transferred from McCoy to Westover AFB, Massachusetts on 1 February 1961.

McCoy AFB
On 7 May 1958, Pinecastle AFB was renamed McCoy Air Force Base in memory of the late Colonel Michael N. W. McCoy. Formal dedication ceremonies were held on 21 May 1958 in conjunction with a mammoth base open house, during which an estimated 30,000 Floridians attended.

In the summer of 1961, a complete reorganization of the base began in order to convert the base from the B-47 Stratojet medium jet bomber to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber. As part of this program, the 321st Bomb Wing began phasing out its operations in June 1961 and was inactivated in October 1961.

4047th Strategic Wing
On 1 July 1961, the 321st was replaced by the 4047th Strategic Wing (Heavy), which was designated and organized under its first commander, Col Francis S. Holmes, Jr. The 4047th was part of SAC's "Strategic Wing" concept, which was to disperse its medium and heavy bombers and tanker aircraft over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. All of the Strategic Wings had one squadron of B-52s, containing 15 aircraft, and most also had a squadron of fifteen KC-135 tanker aircraft. Half of the bombers and tankers were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat, while the remainder were used for training in bombardment missions and air refueling operations.

In August 1961, the first B-52D Stratofortresses were assigned to the new wing, and on 1 September 1961 the 347th Bombardment Squadron was reassigned from Westover AFB, Massachusetts to McCoy AFB as the wing's operational flying squadron for the heavy bombers. On 15 September, the 321st Combat Support Group was also organized and on that same date Colonel William G. Walker, Jr., assumed command of the 4047th Strategic Wing.

966th Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron

The 966th Airborne Early Warning & Control Squadron was activated on 18 December 1961 and was organized two months later at McCoy AFB as a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing at Otis AFB, Massachusetts. While at McCoy, the squadron flew the propeller-driven EC-121 Warning Star radar surveillance aircraft in its EC-121D and EC-121Q variants. The squadron changed its parent wing on 1 May 1963, coming under the 552nd Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, headquartered at McClellan AFB, California. The mission of the 966th Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron covered a broad spectrum of responsibilities. As an Air Defense Command,(later Aerospace Defense Command) (ADC) unit, the 966th also supported Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command (TAC) operations, assisted U.S. Navy P-2 Neptune and P-3 Orion aircraft in anti-submarine and maritime surveillance patrols, and developed weather information. It also furnished airborne radar surveillance and technical control in support of global air defense and Joint Chiefs of Staff contingency operations. 966th aircrews also frequently deployed to distant operational locations including Southeast Asia. The squadron was inactivated on 31 December 1969, although detachments from other EC-121 squadrons would continue to operate at McCoy AFB throughout the early 1970s.

Joint Civil-Military Use: McCoy AFB and the Orlando-McCoy Jetport
In the early 1960s, the then-Orlando Herndon Airport began to start providing commercial jet service. However, its World War II era 6,000-foot runways were dangerously short to handle the new Boeing 707, Convair 880 and Douglas DC-8 commercial passenger jets. In addition, the air terminal built in 1951 was inadequate to accommodate the increasing number of passengers. McCoy Air Force Base, with its two 12,000-foot runways, was more than capable of safely accommodating the passenger jets.

In 1962 an agreement was worked out between the Air Force and the City of Orlando for the joint-use of one of the runways (18L/36R) for airline operations, and the purchase of two former AGM-28 Hound Dog missile storage hangars in the northeast corner of the installation by the city for conversion into a passenger air terminal for use by Delta, Eastern, and National Airlines. The Orlando-McCoy Jetport opened in 1964, with Delta Air Lines being the first airline to offer jet passenger service to the new Orlando-McCoy Jetport with Delta's DC-8 Fanjet aircraft. By 1968, all airline operations had moved from Herndon Airport to the new Orlando-McCoy Jetport.

With the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971, the amount of air traffic increased substantially, especially with Boeing 727, Boeing 737 and Douglas DC-9 aircraft. As a result, the agreement with the Air Force was amended to allow for an expansion of the civil airport facilities. Additional acreage was provided to Orlando east of the airfield in 1972 and two modern airport terminals were constructed between 1978 and 1981, along with improved parking and other infrastructure. With the improved civil airport at McCoy, the new wide-body Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10, and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar airliners began scheduled service.

Cuban Missile Crisis
On 14 October 1962, a Lockheed U-2 from the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas piloted by Major Richard S. Heyser, USAF, launched from Edwards AFB, California for a high altitude reconnaissance flight over Cuba. Arriving over the island an hour after sunrise, Heyser photographed the Soviet military installing nuclear armed SS-4 medium range and SS-5 intermediate range ballistic missiles in Cuba, thereby precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Heyser concluded this flight at McCoy AFB and the 4080th subsequently established a U-2 operating location at McCoy AFB, launching and recovering numerous flights over Cuba for the duration of the crisis. On 21 October, Attorney General of the United States Robert F. Kennedy; United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Maxwell Taylor, USA; and General Walter C. Sweeney, Jr., USAF met with President John F. Kennedy concerning a military contingency plan regarding this development. The 4080th's operating location at McCoy AFB, designated OL-X, operated two U-2 aircraft and flew at least 82 missions over Cuba from McCoy AFB from 22 October – 6 December 1962.

General Sweeney, as Commander of Tactical Air Command (TAC), proposed an operational plan which first called for an air attack on the surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites in the vicinity of known medium range (MRBM) and intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) launchers by eight fighter-bombers per SAM site. Concurrently, each of the Cuban MiG airfields thought to be protecting MRBM/IRBM sites were to be struck by at least twelve fighters. Following the air strikes on SAM sites and MiG fighter airfields, each MRBM and IRBM launch site was to be attacked by at least twelve aircraft. General Sweeney's plan was accepted and, additionally, Cuban Ilyushin Il-28 "Beagle" medium bomber airfields were added to the target list.

To support this plan, the USAF deployed the following TAC units to McCoy AFB while simultaneously dispersing the 4047th Strategic Wing's B-52 and KC-135 aircraft: (Deployed from Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina) (Deployed from Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina) (Deployed from Langley AFB, Virginia)
 * 4th Tactical Fighter Wing: 67 F-105Bs
 * 354th Tactical Fighter Wing: 63 F-100D/Fs
 * 427th Air Refueling Squadron: 20 KB-50Js

On the morning of 27 October, a U-2 piloted by Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., USAF, departed McCoy AFB on yet another Cuban overflight mission. A few hours into his mission, Anderson's aircraft was engaged by a Soviet-manned SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile site in the vicinity of Banes, Cuba. Hit by two of three SA-2 missiles fired, the aircraft was shot down over Cuba, killing Major Anderson.

A week following the shoot down, Major Anderson's remains were turned over to a United Nations representative and returned to the United States. Major Anderson became the first recipient of the Air Force Cross, the U.S. Air Force's second highest decoration for valor after the Medal of Honor, which was awarded to him posthumously.

The Cuban missile confrontation was ultimately resolved and the air strikes, which would have been followed by an invasion of Cuba, were never launched. However, all of the aforementioned squadrons and detachments except one remained at McCoy until the end of November 1962. The 4080th at Laughlin AFB and its successor unit, the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, would continue to maintain a permanent operating location at McCoy AFB for U-2 detachment operations monitoring Cuba through 1973, when it relocated to nearby Patrick AFB. In later years, these operations would occasionally be augmented by SR-71 detachments from the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California.

306th Bombardment Wing
SAC's Strategic Wing concept was phased out in early 1963. In most cases, the aircraft and crews remained at the same base, but the wing (and its bomb squadron) were given new designations. On 1 April 1963, the 306th Bombardment Wing (306 BW), a B-47 Stratojet unit originally scheduled for inactivation, moved on paper from MacDill AFB, Florida to McCoy AFB, converting to a B-52D Stratofortress and KC-135A Stratotanker wing by absorbing the assets and personnel of the 4047th Strategic Wing. With this standup of the 306 BW, the 4074th Strategic Wing was inactivated.

.

In addition to its "host wing" responsibilities for operating and maintaining the installation, the 306th's primary operational mission at McCoy AFB was deterring nuclear attack on the United States by maintaining constant ground alert and flying frequent cycles of airborne alert.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the 306th and McCoy AFB was a frequent host for the annual Strategic Air Command Bombing and Navigation Competition between SAC wings operating B-52, FB-111 and KC-135 aircraft from throughout the Strategic Air Command, competing for the prestigious Fairchild Trophy. Vulcan B.2 bombers and Victor K.2 tankers from the Royal Air Force (RAF) Strike Command would also travel to McCoy AFB from their home bases in the United Kingdom to participate in this multi-week competition.

Vietnam War
In 1966, the 306 BW began preparing and training for deployment to the Western Pacific in support of Projects Arc Light & Young Tiger. In September 1966, the wing deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam and Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. Its mission while in the Western Pacific was to "...Conduct bombing raids in support of US and allied ground forces fighting in the Vietnamese War." Later, the wing also operated from U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand as U.S. forces built up in the Vietnam theater. In 1967, the 919th Air Refueling Squadron (919 ARS) was also reassigned to the 306th Bomb Wing.

When not forward deployed for operations over Vietnam, the 306th continued to operate out of McCoy AFB for both training evolutions and in its stateside strategic nuclear alert role. In January 1968, the 306 BW received another Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for this "double-duty" for combat operations in Southeast Asia while maintaining an alert status for SAC.

In 1971, the 919 ARS was inactivated and its personnel and aircraft merged into the 306th Air Refueling Squadron (306 ARS). In 1972, the 306 BW would be part of the heavy bombing raids Linebacker I and Linebacker II over North Vietnam. The 306 BW returned to McCoy AFB from its final Southeast Asia deployment in early 1973 after the Paris Peace Accords ended American involvement in the conflict.

From 1971 through 1973 other training activities at McCoy AFB included KC-135Q instruction by the 306 ARS and KC-135A instruction by the 32d Air Refueling Squadron (32 ARS). Whereas KC-135A aircraft typically carried JP-4 jet fuel, KC-135Q aircraft were specifically modified and equipped to offload JP-7 fuel and supported worldwide in-flight refueling requirements for USAF SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.

55th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron
In February 1970, following the transfer of Kindley AFB, Bermuda to the United States Navy and its redesignation as NAS Bermuda, McCoy AFB briefly became home to the 55th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (55 ARRS) and its HC-130 Hercules aircraft. Assigned to Military Airlift Command (MAC) and its subordinate sub-command, the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service, the squadron relocated from McCoy AFB to Eglin AFB, Florida in June 1971.

42nd Air Division
In 1971, the 42d Air Division, was transferred from Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas and headquartered at McCoy AFB. In September 1973, with the force reduction-directed closure of McCoy AFB in progress, the air division headquarters was transferred back to Blytheville (later renamed Eaker AFB).

B-52 crash at McCoy AFB
On 31 March 1972, a 306th Bombardment Wing B-52D, AF Serial Number 56-0625, sustained multiple engine failures and an engine pod fire shortly after takeoff from McCoy AFB on a routine training mission. The aircraft was not carrying any weapons. The aircraft immediately attempted to return to the base, but crashed 3220 ft short of Runway 18R in a civilian residential area immediately north of the airfield, destroying or damaging eight homes. The crew of 7 airmen and a 10-year-old boy on the ground were killed. An Orange County, Florida historical marker honoring the flight crew was placed adjacent to the crash site in 2012.

Major commands to which assigned

 * Army Air Forces Air Training Command, 1 August 1940
 * Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics, 1 October 1943 – 1 July 1945
 * Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command, 1 July 1945 – 1947
 * Air Training Command, 1 September 1951 – 1 January 1954
 * Strategic Air Command, 1 January 1954 – 1975
 * Air Defense Command / Aerospace Defense Command (Tenant activity; attached 1 March 1957 – 1 February 1961; 1 February 1962 – 31 December 1973)

World War II units assigned

 * 5th Bombardment Squadron, 15 April 1943 – 7 June 1943; 13 February-9 March 1944
 * 99th Bombardment Squadron, 31 October 1942 – 5 February 1943; 25 February-9 March 1944

Major USAF units assigned

 * 3540th Flying Training Wing 1 September 1951
 * Redesignated: 4240th Flying Training Wing, 1 April 1952 – 1 June 1954

 * 321st Bombardment Wing, 4 December 1953 – 25 October 1961
 * 321st Air Refueling Squadron, 1 April 1952 – 1 August 1956
 * 19th Bombardment Wing, 11 June 1954 – 1 June 1956
 * 813th Strategic Aerospace Division, 15 July 1954 – 1 June 1956
 * 76th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (ADC), 8 November 1957 – 1 February 1961
 * 4047th Strategic Wing, 1 September 1961 – 1 April 1963
 * Replaced by: 306th Bombardment Wing, 1 April 1963 – 1 July 1974

 * 306th Air Refueling Squadron, 1 April 1963 – 30 September 1973 (Not operational 1–30 September 1973)
 * 919th Air Refueling Squadron, 25 March 1967 – 30 June 1971 (Not operational 15–30 June 1971)
 * 966th Airborne Air Control Squadron, 18 December 1961 – 31 December 1973
 * Deployed from: 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, Otis AFB, Massachusetts

 * 42d Air Division, 30 June 1971 – 1 September 1973

 * Units Deployed to McCoy during Cuban Missile Crisis:
 * From 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina (TAC), 21 October – 29 November 1962
 * 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron
 * 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron
 * 336th Tactical Fighter Squadron
 * From 354th Tactical Fighter Wing, Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina (TAC), 21 October – 1 December 1962
 * 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron
 * 356th Tactical Fighter Squadron
 * From 4505th Air Refueling Wing, Langley AFB, Virginia (TAC), 21 October – 1 December 1962
 * 427th Air Refueling Squadron (Deployed From Robins AFB, Georgia)
 * Detachment, 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing
 * Operating Location XX (OL-XX), October 1962 – February 1966
 * Detachment, 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing
 * Operating Location LF (OL-LF), February 1966 – o/a June 1974

Realignment and closure
In April 1973, following the cease fire agreement with North Vietnam, the return of all American prisoners of war, and anticipated reduced defense budgets, the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) announced the closure of more than forty (40) bases as part of a post-Vietnam reduction in force (RIF).

Included were the major SAC installations of Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico; Westover AFB, Massachusetts; Kincheloe AFB, Michigan; and McCoy AFB, Florida. In making this announcement, SECDEF Elliot Richardson noted that Ramey was on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico and Westover and McCoy near the east coast of the United States and therefore, as a rationale for their closure, were "...subject to short warning time attacks by (Soviet) submarine-launched ballistic missiles." Richardson's decision was consistent with earlier SAC guidance, issued in 1954, to avoid basing strategic bomber forces within 250 miles of the Atlantic or Gulf Coasts, although this guidance had never been implemented.

However, the 250 mile rationale had been partially employed (in addition to other factors, ranging from the retirement of SAC B-47s in the early 1960s to the costs of maintaining SAC B-52 units in Southeast Asia in support of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s) in the earlier transitioning of MacDill AFB and Homestead AFB in Florida from SAC bomber/tanker bases to TAC fighter bases, the removal of a tenant SAC bomb wing at Eglin AFB, Florida to also be replaced by a TAC fighter wing, the turnover of Turner Air Force Base, Georgia to the United States Navy and its redesignation as Naval Air Station Albany, and the turnover of Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia to the U.S. Army and its redesignation as Hunter Army Airfield.

Westover AFB would transition to Westover Air Reserve Base, an airlift installation under Air Force Reserve control, initially for C-123 Provider and C-130 Hercules aircraft, and eventually for C-5 Galaxy aircraft. Ramey AFB, Kincheloe AFB, and McCoy AFB were destined for civilian airport status, although Ramey would become home to Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen with HH-3F Pelican and continuing today with HH-65C Dolphin helicopters and as a periodic operating location for USAF KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft.

With the announcement of McCoy AFB's closure, it was also announced that the 306th Bombardment Wing would also be inactivated. The 306th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) inactivated in July 1974 as activities at the base were phased down prior to the closure, while its personnel, along with its B-52D and KC-135A aircraft assets, were redistributed to other SAC bomb wings. However, this inactivation was short-lived, when the 306th was reactivated in 1975 as the 306th Strategic Wing at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, coordinating SAC KC-135 assets in support of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) until it was replaced by the 100th Air Refueling Wing in 1992. Today, it operates as the 306th Flying Training Group, an Air Education and Training Command (AETC) unit at the U.S. Air Force Academy and Pueblo Memorial Airport as a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the 12th Flying Training Wing at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

EC-121 and U-2 detachment operations at McCoy AFB were also relocated in 1973 and 1974, with ADC's EC-121 aircraft moving 210 miles south to Homestead AFB and the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing's Lockheed U-2 detachment and associated aircraft Operating Location (OL) moving 45 miles east-southeast to Patrick AFB.

Final closure of McCoy AFB was concluded in early 1975. Those portions of McCoy AFB which were not slated for transfer to other U.S. Government activities (primarily the United States Navy and U.S. Army) were transferred to the General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA subsequently transferred title of the remaining McCoy AFB property, to include the airfield, to the City of Orlando for the sum of $1.00, a standard amount at the time for the transfer of former military air bases to state and local governments. This transfer also contained a reversal clause, another standard practice at the time, enabling the Air Force to return to McCoy in the future if national security requirements ever dictated same.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) was established the following year as a successor to the City of Orlando Aviation Department via an act of the Florida State Legislature. GOAA was charged to operate and maintain both the former McCoy AFB and Herndon Airport, the latter subsequently renamed Orlando Executive Airport. The large hangars and myriad of aircraft maintenance support buildings at McCoy were eventually transferred to other U.S. Government agencies or leased by GOAA to private interests, and today many of them remain supporting the civilian aviation community. The combined former McCoy AFB and extant Orlando-McCoy Jetport was renamed the Orlando International Airport, and was greatly expanded to support the growing tourist industry in Orlando as well as the expanding business and commercial expansion of the area. Today Orlando International Airport is among the busiest commercial airports in the world as measured by annual passenger throughput. Over thirty airlines serve the airport with hundreds of daily flights to destinations across the United States and overseas. Orlando International Airport still retains the ICAO code of KMCO and the FAA and IATA code MCO, a legacy of both the Orlando-McCoy Jetport and McCoy AFB.

Current uses
Today a majority of the McCoy AFB site is operated and maintained by the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) as Orlando International Airport. As a governmental entity chartered by the Florida Legislature and as an enterprise fund of the City of Orlando, GOAA is tasked with the operation, administration, maintenance, and oversight of expansions and enhancements to both Orlando International Airport and the Orlando Executive Airport. GOAA also leases buildings and property to private individuals and companies, primarily for aviation-related activities in support of the respective airports. Redeveloped areas on the former McCoy AFB / current Orlando International Airport include:
 * The current 1000 acre site for the Orlando International Airport landside and airside terminal complexes and associated support areas.
 * Two International Arrivals Concourses with customs, immigration, and agricultural inspection facilities administered by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Of the total 114 airport gates, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority manages eleven gates with seven additional gates available for international operations. Expansive fixed-base operator, domestic, and charter flight operations facilities are also located on airport property.
 * The Orlando Tradeport, a 1400 acre master planned integrated cargo center with direct airside access, 140 acre of cargo ramp, a 205 acre Foreign Trade Zone, and an ultramodern Plant Inspection Station with several perishable handling facilities. Originally a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) facility, the station was transferred to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2003. Concurrently, many of the former USAF hangars and maintenance facilities have been taken over by civilian airlines and other aeronautical and aviation firms.

Tributes to Colonel McCoy and McCoy AFB at and near the airport include:
 * The airport's ICAO, FAA, and IATA airfield identifiers, as well as all airline tickets and baggage tags, continue to read "MCO" which stands for McCoy. The FAA also has an established standard instrument departure (SID) for aircraft departing MCO known as the MCCOY ONE Departure.
 * A portrait of Colonel McCoy hangs in the airport's main landside terminal near the airport chapel.
 * One of the restaurants in the airport's Hyatt Hotel is named McCoy's.
 * The Orange County Public School System operates the Colonel Michael McCoy Elementary School, which is located just north of the airport, while a nearby thoroughfare is called McCoy Road.
 * McCoy AFB's original military credit union continues to operate throughout Central Florida as the McCoy Federal Credit Union.

Over the past 30 years, the majority of the former McCoy AFB has been subjected to extensive modification due to the addition of new structures, taxiways, or runways. In addition, the remaining lands have been subjected to extensive excavation, landfill, and improvement activities. Although several former military structures remain and a new joint military reserve facility added, a significant portion of the former air force base is barely recognizable.

A continuing impact of both the former Pinecastle AAF, Pinecastle AFB, McCoy Air Force Base, and the former Orlando AAB is the continued excavation of unspent ammunition, including small practice bombs, aerial rockets, and machine gun rounds from the World War II era in the areas northeast of the current Orlando International Airport and east and southeast of the current Orlando Executive Airport. These formerly remote and uninhabited areas were leased from local landowners at the time and used as bombing and gunnery ranges for Orlando AAB and Pinecastle AAF when both were Army Air Forces facilities during World War II. At the conclusion of the war, they were returned to the original owners and their previous primarily agricultural purposes. With Central Florida's increasing population in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 21st century, these landowners and/or their descendants sold these properties for private redevelopment, predominantly residential housing and associated support infrastructure such as schools, parks, and retail, often with limited or no knowledge of these properties previous wartime utilization. In recent years, new discoveries of unspent conventional munitions have caused repeated closures of Odyssey Middle School, northeast of Orlando International Airport.

Post-closure military presence
Up until 1980, Strategic Air Command considered retaining the former SAC Alert Facility on the south end of the airfield as either an Operating Location (OL) or as a smaller installation to be called McCoy Air Force Station under control of an air base squadron for occasional dispersal basing of two B-52D/G/H and two KC-135A/E/Q aircraft from other SAC installations. This concept never came to fruition, but the Alert Facility, a nose dock hangar and several buildings on the north end of the McCoy ramp were turned over to the United States Army Reserve (USAR) for use as the 49th Army Aviation Support Facility for USAR units, specifically the 138th Aviation Company (EW), which operated RU-8D, JU-21A, RU-21A, RU-21B and RU-21C aircraft until replaced by C-12 Huron and RC-12G electronic reconnaissance aircraft, plus the 348th Medical Detachment with UH-1 medical evacuation helicopters. This arrangement permitted USAF access to the remaining military facilities at MCO if and when it became necessary. The United States Army Reserve aviation units were inactivated in 1999 pursuant to an earlier Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) decision, but most of the Alert Facility still remains under United States Army Reserve control as a non-flying military facility.

A significant portion of the McCoy AFB base facilities were transferred to the United States Navy between 1974 and 1975, primarily base housing, base exchange, commissary, medical clinic, base chapel, and morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) facilities, becoming the Naval Training Center Orlando McCoy Annex. From 1975 to 1999, the Annex supported various tenant command activities at the Annex that included the Army Reserve aviation units, other units of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Reserve, U.S. Army Reserve, Florida Army National Guard, and the U.S. Air Force Liaison Office of the Florida Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Administrative support and housing area for both McCoy Annex activities and primary command and tenant command activities at the nearby Naval Training Center Orlando were also maintained.

In 1984, a B-52D Stratofortress, AF Serial No. 56-0687, on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, was flown to Orlando International Airport from the 7th Bomb Wing at the then-Carswell AFB, Texas for permanent static display at the airport's McCoy AFB / B-52 Memorial Park. It is located north-northwest of the current civilian commercial terminal and just east of and adjacent to the former location of the since dismantled Orlando-McCoy Jetport civilian terminal.

McCoy Annex operated until Naval Training Center Orlando's closure in late 1999 pursuant to a 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) decision. The former military family housing area originally constructed by the Air Force and later utilized by the Navy and other military service branches was fully turned over to the City of Orlando in late 1999 and was redeveloped into The Villages at Southport. Housing sales began in 1996 and the complex was awarded a US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) award for outstanding development.

With the closure of NTC Orlando in late 1999, The only military activities remaining at the former McCoy AFB today are units of the Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces.

The 1LT David R. Wilson Armed Forces Reserve Center hosts the United States Army Reserve 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), 912th Human Resources Company, 196th Transportation Company, 146th Transportation Detachment, 520th Transportation Detachment/3rd Team, 174th Judge Advocate General Detachment/10th Team, 174th Judge Advocate General Detachment/11th Team, 174th Judge Advocate General Detachment, the United States Navy Reserve Navy Operational Support Center Orlando (NOSC Orlando) and the United States Marine Corps Reserve Motor Transportation Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 451.

The Taft United States Army Reserve Center is located at 9500 Armed Forces Reserve Drive and includes the 689th Engineer Company and 418th Military Police Detachment.

The McCoy United States Army Reserve Center is home for the 377th Military Intelligence Battalion, which utilizes McCoy AFB's former SAC bomber and tanker flight crew Alert Facility (e.g., "mole hole").

The Orlando Armory of the Florida Army National Guard is located within the grounds of the former McCoy AFB, having converted the former McCoy AFB Officers Club into the 164th Air Defense Artillery Brigade (FL ARNG) Headquarters.

The Navy Exchange (to include an NEX MaxiMart grocery facility in lieu of a Defense Commissary Agency commissary) continued operations at the former McCoy Air Force Base. The Navy Exchange facility has a Barber Shop, Optical Shop, Tailor Shop, Subway restaurant and a Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) Information, Tours and Tickets office. This is due to the continued presence of Naval Air Warfare Center and Naval Support Activity Orlando, a large National Guard & Reserve Component presence, and the military retiree population in the Orlando/Central Florida area that makes the facility financially self-sustaining.

title: McCoy Air Force Base


text:
Mazgaon

Mazagaon, also spelled Mazgaon and Mazagon (Portuguese era Mazagão ), and pronounced by the Christian Bombay East Indians as 'Mazgon' or 'Maz-a-gon' and Marathi-speakers as Mazhgav. It was one of the seven islands of Bombay. It is now a part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Area.

title: Mazgaon


text:
Portable Antiquities Scheme

The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme began in 1997 and now covers most of England and Wales.

It is primarily focused on private metal detectorists who through their hobby regularly discover artefacts that would otherwise go unrecorded. Members of the public can also report objects they have found and finds of non-metallic objects are also covered by the scheme. Finds that legally constitute treasure are dealt with through the Treasure Act 1996. This however concentrates on precious metals, prehistoric base metal, and finds in association with them. Non-prehistoric base metal and non-metal finds would not be recognised as treasure and therefore be unrecorded. The PAS exists to fill this gap. The scheme funds the posts of Finds Liaison Officers (FLOs) at county councils or local museums to whom finders can report their objects. The FLO is qualified to examine the find and provide the finder with more information on it. They also record the find, its function, date, material and location and place this information into a database which can be analysed. The information on the findspot can be used to organise more research on the area. Many previously unknown archaeological sites have been identified through the scheme and it has contributed greatly to the level of knowledge of the past. FLOs maintain close links with local metal detecting societies and have contributed to a thaw in relationships between the detectorists and archaeologists who often previously disdained one another.

Finds are photographed, often from multiple angles, and a text description is recorded. The photographs are made available under an open licence.

The find remains the property of the finder or the landowner who are free to dispose of non-treasure finds.

Other activities
The PAS engages widely with the professional and amateur archaeological community through conferences, workshops and public activities. It also provides host servers and technical support for the Day of Archaeology.

History of the programme

In March 1996, during the run-up to the passing of the new Treasure Act, what was then the Department of National Heritage (DNH) (now the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)) published ''Portable Antiquities. A discussion document''. The aim of this document was to complement the impending Treasure Act, address the issue of non-treasure archaeological finds and to propose solutions for dealing with these.

The general response to the DNH's proposals was that the recording of all archaeological finds was important and that a consistent voluntary scheme to record finds should be established. As a result, in December 1996, the DNH announced that funding would be provided for two years for a programme of six pilot schemes, starting in September 1997. The main aim of the pilot schemes was “to enable an accurate estimate to be made of the resources that would be needed to extend the scheme across the whole of England” (DNH 1997). The essential aim was to advance knowledge of history and archaeology.

The project was ultimately overseen by the DCMS and administered by the Museums and Galleries Commission (later Resource, now Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA))

Expressions of interest in hosting the pilot schemes were then invited and host organisations chosen. The schemes were based in museums and archaeology services in Kent, Norfolk, the West Midlands, North Lincolnshire, the North West England and Yorkshire. A Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) was put in place as part of each pilot scheme. The six posts and schemes were co-ordinated by a further post which was based at, and funded by, the British Museum.

These six regions were chosen for the pilot schemes in consultation with the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), and were representative of the existing diversity in recording finds systems. Some areas, such as Norfolk, had already established a tradition of recording finds and developed good relationships with finders and in particular among these, metal detectorists. Other areas, such as the North West, did not have systems in place for recording such finds.

A database was devised and put on the web in July 1999 to enable wider access to the information collated by the scheme. During the first year of the pilot scheme, over 13,500 objects were recorded. The scheme was very successful, but further funding was needed to extend the scheme nationally. Therefore, bids were successfully put forward to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to fund five more FLO posts plus an Outreach Officer post for eighteen months, starting from January–March 1999. The DCMS agreed to fund the existing posts during this period. The five new FLO posts were based in museums and archaeology services in Dorset and Somerset (one post covering two counties), Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and Wales. The Outreach Officer was based at the British Museum, working alongside the Co-ordinator.

Shortly after this, further funding was applied for from the HLF to establish a comprehensive national scheme covering the whole of England and Wales. However, before awarding funding to extend the scheme nationally, the HLF required an independent evaluation of the work of the scheme and its impact. This delayed the progression of the application considerably and as an interim measure, while the evaluation was being undertaken, funding was ultimately secured from the DCMS and the HLF for the existing posts until September 2001. The HLF questioned the long-term sustainability of such an ambitious scheme, particularly in consideration of its funding. While a decision was being reached, funding for the existing posts was provided once more by the DCMS as an interim measure until March 2003.

However, in April 2002, the HLF decided to support the bid for three years starting in April 2003, bringing about the scheme as we know it today. As from April 2006 the scheme secured full funding from the DCMS, until March 2008. Administration of the scheme changed hands from MLA to the British Museum. Also in April 2006, the Portable Antiquities Scheme central unit became an official department within the BM, the Department of Portable Antiquities & Treasure.

The scheme continues to grow and now consists of a network of:

 * thirty-six FLOs
 * a part-time illustrator
 * six Finds Advisers
 * an ICT Adviser
 * a Resources Manager (formerly administrator)
 * a Deputy Head and
 * the Head of Portable Antiquities & Treasure

The work of the scheme is supported by many temporary assistants and volunteers, working with FLOs and Finds Advisers.

A late medieval harness pendant found in Lincolnshire in October 2021 became the 1 millionth record logged on the scheme database.

Notable people

 * Roger Bland, Keeper of the Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure from 2005 to 2013
 * Geoff Egan, national finds adviser on early medieval to post-medieval finds
 * Helen Geake, Finds Liaison Officer and Finds Adviser
 * Sally Worrell, Finds Adviser

Institutions of the Portable Antiquities Scheme

 * Oxford University Celtic Coin Index (CCI)
 * Royal Institution of Cornwall (CORN) covers the Cornwall region
 * Cardiff University's Iron Age and Roman coins of Wales project (IARCW)

title: Portable Antiquities Scheme


text:
Greenguard Environmental Institute

The Greenguard Environmental Institute (corporately styled "GREENGUARD") is an industry-independent organization that aims to protect human health and improve quality of life by enhancing indoor air quality and reducing people’s exposure to chemicals and other pollutants. As an ISO-IEC Guide 65:1996 accredited, third-party certifying body, the Greenguard Environmental Institute certifies products and materials for low chemical emissions and serves as a public resource for choosing healthier products and materials for indoor environments. In 2011, UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories) acquired Greenguard Environmental Institute.

The UL GREENGUARD Certification Program requires that products undergo independent, scientific testing and ongoing monitoring of their chemical emissions. Only products that meet UL Environment’s stringent emissions standards qualify for certification. These standards are based on established criteria from key public health agencies.

More than 10,000 products on the market today are UL GREENGUARD Certified, representing over 350 manufacturers and 19 industries. The UL Sustainable Products Database, the organization's online database of certified or validated products, helps people identify certified products and is searchable by product category, manufacturer, sustainable credits, product attributes, and certification type. GREENGUARD Certification is broadly recognized and accepted by sustainable building programs and building codes worldwide.

History
The Greenguard Environmental Institute was founded in 2001 by indoor air quality scientist Dr. Marilyn Black. Her vision was to create a third-party product certifier that could educate consumers and industry professionals about the importance of good indoor air quality and low-emitting products.

Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certification
The Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certification was Greenguard’s first certification offering. Products that are Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified meet strict chemical emissions limits and are designed for use in office environments and other indoor spaces. Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certification gives credence to manufacturers’ sustainability claims, backing them with empirical scientific data from an unbiased, third-party organization.

Greenguard Children & Schools Certification (now GREENGUARD GOLD)
In 2005, the Greenguard Children & Schools Certification was launched to address the indoor air quality needs of schools, daycares, and other sensitive environments in which children spend a lot of time. As such, it enforces stricter chemical emissions limits than the original certification. The Greenguard Children & Schools standard is referenced by both the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Building Rating System. In 2013, Greenguard Children & Schools Certification was renamed GREENGUARD GOLD Certification.

Social media
UL Environment actively engages with its key audiences via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.

For more information
Extensive information about UL Environment and its portfolio of products and services can be found on its website at www.ul.com/environment. Specific information about GREENGUARD and GREENGUARD GOLD can be found at www.ul.com/gg.

title: Greenguard Environmental Institute


text:
Cathy Come Home

"Cathy Come Home" is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 Radio Times readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" and a 2000 industry poll rated it as the second-best British television programme ever made. Filmed in a gritty, realistic drama documentary style, it was first broadcast on 16 November 1966 on BBC1. The play was shown in the BBC's The Wednesday Play anthology strand, which often tackled social issues.

Plot
The play tells the story of a young couple, Cathy (played by Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks), and their descent into poverty and homelessness. At the start of the film, Cathy leaves her parents' overcrowded rural home and hitchhikes to the city, where she finds work and meets Reg, a well-paid lorry driver. They fall in love, marry and rent a modern flat in a building that does not allow children. Cathy soon becomes pregnant and must stop working, and Reg is injured on the job and becomes unemployed. The loss of income and birth of baby Sean force them to leave their flat, and they are unable to find another affordable place to live that permits children.

They move in with Reg's mother, until tensions develop between her and Cathy in the crowded flat. A kind elderly landlady, Mrs. Alley, rents to them for a while, during which time Cathy has another son, Stevie. Mrs. Alley even allows them to stay when they fall behind on the rent. However, she dies suddenly and an agent of her nephew and heir appears at the door demanding all the back rent, which they are unable to pay. Again Cathy and Reg go house hunting but are continually turned down as they can find nothing available that permits children. During this time Cathy gives birth to her third child, a girl they call Marlene. Their new landlord takes them to court and the judge rules against them. The family are evicted by bailiffs. The family then moves to a caravan parked in a camp where several other families are already living in caravans, but the local residents object to the camp and set it on fire, killing several children. Cathy, Reg and their children are forced into illegal squatting in a wrecked, abandoned building. They repeatedly try to get decent housing through the local council, but are not helped because of their many moves and the long list of other people also seeking housing assistance.

Cathy and Reg decide to separate temporarily so that Cathy and the children can move into an emergency homeless shelter where husbands are not allowed to stay. Reg leaves the area to seek employment. Cathy's loneliness and frustration finally boil over and she becomes belligerent with the shelter authorities, who are often cold and judgmental towards the women living in the shelter. Cathy's allotted time at the shelter expires while Reg is away, and she and her two remaining children (one having been sent to live with Reg's mother) have nowhere to go. They go to a railway station, where Cathy's children are taken away from her by social services.

Production
The play was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach, who went on to become a major figure in British film. Loach employed a realistic documentary style, using predominantly 16 mm film on location, which contrasted with the vast amount of BBC drama of the time, the bulk of which was entirely shot in a television studio. Union regulations of the time forced about ten minutes of Cathy Come Home to be shot in this way, with the material shot in a studio on electronic cameras being telerecorded and spliced into the film as required.

The cinematographer was Tony Imi, whose innovative use of a hand-held camera to take moving action shots and close-ups gave Cathy Come Home almost a feel of a current affairs broadcast and a realism which was rare in British television drama at the time. This produced shots some traditionalists thought "not technically acceptable". Imi commented: "I was stuck in a rut after working on Dr Finlay's Casebook and Maigret – standard BBC productions. All of a sudden, with The Wednesday Play and Ken, there was a newness that fitted into the way I was thinking at the time."

Loach's naturalistic style helped to heighten the play's impact. Many scenes were improvised, and some include unknowing members of the public, such as the final scene in which Cathy's children are taken from her at a railway station (none of the passers-by intervened).

The song that is played at the beginning and end of the film is a cover version of "500 Miles" by Sonny & Cher.

Broadcast
After the first transmission in 1966, the play was repeated on BBC1 on 11 January 1967, 13 November 1968 and again on BBC2 on 11 August 1976. It was broadcast in the United States on National Educational Television (NET) on 28 March 1969, capitalizing on Carol White's international success in Poor Cow and I'll Never Forget What's'isname in 1967, and The Fixer in 1968. It was also screened by Channel 4 on 31 March 1993 as part of a season of programmes on homelessness, and by BBC Four in a season on the same subject in 2006. BBC Four also aired this drama on 5 and 11 June 2003 (shown as part of Time Shift). On 31 July 2016 it was repeated on BBC Four as part of a retrospective on 1966 and repeated again on BBC Four on 13 November 2016. In 2022 it was shown again on BBC Four as part of a retrospective on The Wednesday Play, then in May alongside an interview with Ken Loach.

Reception
The play broached issues that were not then widely discussed in the popular media, such as homelessness, unemployment and the rights of mothers to keep their own children. It was watched by 12 million people – a quarter of the British population at the time – on its first broadcast. Its hard-hitting subject matter and highly realistic documentary style, new to British television, created a huge impact on its audience.

One commentator called it "an ice-pick in the brain of all who saw it". The play produced a storm of phone calls to the BBC, and discussion in Parliament. For years afterwards Carol White was stopped in the street by people pressing money into her hand, convinced she must be actually homeless.

In a 2000 poll of industry professionals conducted by the British Film Institute to determine the BFI TV 100 of the 20th century, Cathy Come Home was voted second (the highest-placed drama on the list), behind the comedy Fawlty Towers. In 2005 it was named by Broadcast as the UK's most influential TV programme of all time.

Impact
In the light of public reaction to the film, and following a publicity campaign led by Willam Shearman and Iain Macleod highlighting the plight of the homeless, the charity Crisis was formed the following year in 1967.

By coincidence, another charity for the homeless, Shelter, was launched a few days after the first broadcast. Though it was not connected to the programme, "the film alerted the public, the media, and the government to the scale of the housing crisis, and Shelter gained many new supporters."

However, Ken Loach has said that despite the public outcry following the play, it had little practical effect in reducing homelessness other than changing rules so that homeless fathers could stay with their wives and children in hostels. Indeed, housing policy was only considerably reformed over a decade later with the passing of the Housing (Homeless Persons) Act 1977.

Home media
In 2003 the play was released on VHS and DVD by the British Film Institute with an audio commentary by Loach, and original production documentation (the BFI has screened the play on numerous occasions, including in a 2011 Ken Loach film festival). In 2011 the play was re-released on DVD by 2 Entertain with audio commentary by Loach. Along with other Loach films, it is available to watch on Loach's YouTube channel. It is also available as a special feature on the 2011 Criterion Blu-ray and DVD release of Kes, another Ken Loach film.

Theatrical adaptation
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the film, a theatrical adaptation of Cathy Come Home was staged at the Barbican Theatre in 2016. It starred Elle Payne as Cathy and Denholm Spurr as Reg.

title: Cathy Come Home