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Tapirus

Tapirus is a genus of tapir which contains the living tapir species. The Malayan tapir is usually included in Tapirus as well, although some authorities have moved it into its own genus, Acrocodia.

Extant species
The Kabomani tapir was at one point recognized as another living member of the genus, but is now considered to be nested within T. terrestris.

Evolution
Tapirus first appeared in the Late Miocene in North America, with Tapirus webbi perhaps the oldest known fossil species.

Tapirus spread into South America and Eurasia during the Pliocene. It has been suggested that the tapirs that inhabited North America during the Late Pleistocene may be derived from a South American species that remigrated north, perhaps Tapirus cristatellus.

Tapirs suffered large-scale extinctions at the end of the Pleistocene, and went completely extinct north of southern Mexico.

Fossil species

 * †Tapirus arvernensis Croizet & Jobert, 1828
 * †Tapirus augustus Matthew & Granger, 1923 - Formerly Megatapirus
 * †Tapirus californicus Merriam, 1912
 * †Tapirus cristatellus Winge, 1906
 * †Tapirus greslebini Rusconi, 1934
 * †Tapirus haysii Simpson, 1945
 * †Tapirus johnsoni Schultz et al., 1975
 * †Tapirus lundeliusi Hulbert, 2010
 * †Tapirus merriami Frick, 1921
 * †Tapirus mesopotamicus Ferrero & Noriega, 2007
 * †Tapirus oliverasi Ubilla, 1983 - Invalid
 * †Tapirus polkensis Olsen, 1860
 * †Tapirus rioplatensis Cattoi, 1957
 * †Tapirus rondoniensis Holanda et al., 2011
 * †Tapirus sanyuanensis Huang & Fang, 1991
 * †Tapirus simpsoni Schultz et al., 1975
 * †Tapirus sinensis Owen, 1870
 * †Tapirus tarijensis Ameghino, 1902
 * †Tapirus veroensis Sellards, 1918
 * †Tapirus webbi Hulbert, 2005

title: Tapirus


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Fort Wayne Community Schools

The Fort Wayne Community Schools (FWCS) corporation is the Fort Wayne, Indiana area public school district, and is the largest in Indiana. The second largest is the Indianapolis Public Schools. It operates five high schools, ten middle schools, one intermediate school (1-8 grades) and over thirty elementary schools, serving 30,992 students (nearly 3% of Indiana's K-12 population) in 2012-2013. FWCS's current superintendent is Dr. Mark Daniel. FWCS is divided into several departments, including Technology, Transportation, Academic Services, Continuing Education, Nutrition Services, and Public Affairs.

Boundary
The district's boundary includes St. Joseph, Washington, and Wayne townships, as well as a block of Adams Township. The majority of Fort Wayne and a small section of New Haven are this district.

School Board
The FWCS Board of School Trustees serves as the district's governing and fiscal body, and its meetings are open to the public in the Grile Administrative Center in downtown Fort Wayne and broadcast on local cable channels, Comcast 54 and FiOS/Frontier 24. The School Board approves the FWCS tax rate and any borrowing that will be paid off by property taxes.

Current FWCS board members include Steve Corona, Anne Duff, Julie Hollingsworth, Rohli Booker, Jennifer Matthias, Maria Norman and Noah Smith.

Property tax remonstrace
On April 23, 2007, the School Board voted to fight a remonstrance by property taxpayers in the FWCS district opposing a $500 million Facilities Improvement Plan. The organization Code Blue Schools led the remonstrance. Remonstrance petitions were submitted to the Allen County Auditor on July 1, 2007. Those against the $500 million bond issue submitted over 33,000 signatures, in contrast with the 11,000 signatures collected in favor of the bond issue.

Elmhurst High School closure
On March 22, 2010, a vote was taken by the FWCS School Board to accept a recommendation of the FWCS administration regarding ways to reduce the 2010 district budget by $15 million. The administration's report included the step of closing Elmhurst High School. The budget moves were required because current economic conditions reduced federal and state funds available to the district. The closing of Elmhurst was controversial. By a unanimous vote of 7-0, the board agreed to accept the administration's recommendation for closure, effective upon completion of the 2009-2010 academic year. Returning students were reallocated to other high schools in the FWCS system.

Schools
As well as offering public education during the day, FWCS offers continuing education classes and events that meet in its buildings in the evenings and on weekends (Saturday and Sunday).

High schools

 * North Side High School
 * Northrop High School
 * R. Nelson Snider High School
 * South Side High School
 * Wayne High School

Middle schools

 * Blackhawk Middle School
 * Jefferson Middle School
 * Kekionga Middle School
 * Lakeside Middle School
 * Lane Middle School
 * Memorial Park Middle School
 * Miami Middle School
 * Northwood Middle School
 * Portage Middle School
 * Shawnee Middle School
 * Towles Intermediate Montessori School

Intermediate school

 * Towles Intermediate School (Grades 1-8)

Elementary schools

 * Abbett Elementary School
 * Adams Elementary School
 * Arlington Elementary School
 * Bloomingdale Elementary School
 * Brentwood Elementary School
 * Bunche Montessori Early Childhood Center
 * Croninger Elementary School
 * Fairfield Elementary School
 * Forest Park Elementary School
 * Franke Park Elementary School
 * Glenwood Park Elementary School
 * Haley Elementary School
 * Harris Elementary School
 * Harrison Hill Elementary School
 * Holland Elementary School
 * Indian Village Elementary School
 * Irwin Elementary School
 * Levan Scott Academy
 * Lincoln Elementary School
 * Lindley Elementary School
 * Maplewood Elementary School
 * Nebraska Elementary School (closed in 2016)
 * Northcrest Elementary School
 * Price Elementary School
 * Shambaugh Elementary School
 * South Wayne Elementary School
 * St. Joseph Central Elementary School
 * Study Elementary School
 * Washington Center Elementary School
 * Washington Elementary School
 * Waynedale Elementary School
 * Weisser Park Elementary School
 * Young Early Childhood Center

Other Facilities

 * Anthis Career Center
 * L.C. Ward Education Center

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

title: Fort Wayne Community Schools


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Colloidal gold

Colloidal gold is a sol or colloidal suspension of nanoparticles of gold in a fluid, usually water. The colloid is coloured usually either wine red (for spherical particles less than 100 nm) or blue-purple (for larger spherical particles or nanorods). Due to their optical, electronic, and molecular-recognition properties, gold nanoparticles are the subject of substantial research, with many potential or promised applications in a wide variety of areas, including electron microscopy, electronics, nanotechnology, materials science, and biomedicine.

The properties of colloidal gold nanoparticles, and thus their potential applications, depend strongly upon their size and shape. For example, rodlike particles have both a transverse and longitudinal absorption peak, and anisotropy of the shape affects their self-assembly.

History
Used since ancient times as a method of staining glass colloidal gold was used in the 4th-century Lycurgus Cup, which changes color depending on the location of light source.

During the Middle Ages, soluble gold, a solution containing gold salt, had a reputation for its curative property for various diseases. In 1618, Francis Anthony, a philosopher and member of the medical profession, published a book called Panacea Aurea, sive tractatus duo de ipsius Auro Potabili (Latin: gold potion, or two treatments of potable gold). The book introduces information on the formation of colloidal gold and its medical uses. About half a century later, English botanist Nicholas Culpepper published a book in 1656, Treatise of Aurum Potabile, solely discussing the medical uses of colloidal gold.

In 1676, Johann Kunckel, a German chemist, published a book on the manufacture of stained glass. In his book Valuable Observations or Remarks About the Fixed and Volatile Salts-Auro and Argento Potabile, Spiritu Mundi and the Like, Kunckel assumed that the pink color of Aurum Potabile came from small particles of metallic gold, not visible to human eyes. In 1842, John Herschel invented a photographic process called chrysotype (from the Greek χρῡσός meaning "gold") that used colloidal gold to record images on paper.

Modern scientific evaluation of colloidal gold did not begin until Michael Faraday's work in the 1850s. In 1856, in a basement laboratory of Royal Institution, Faraday accidentally created a ruby red solution while mounting pieces of gold leaf onto microscope slides. Since he was already interested in the properties of light and matter, Faraday further investigated the optical properties of the colloidal gold. He prepared the first pure sample of colloidal gold, which he called 'activated gold', in 1857. He used phosphorus to reduce a solution of gold chloride. The colloidal gold Faraday made 150 years ago is still optically active. For a long time, the composition of the 'ruby' gold was unclear. Several chemists suspected it to be a gold tin compound, due to its preparation. Faraday recognized that the color was actually due to the miniature size of the gold particles. He noted the light scattering properties of suspended gold microparticles, which is now called Faraday-Tyndall effect.

In 1898, Richard Adolf Zsigmondy prepared the first colloidal gold in diluted solution. Apart from Zsigmondy, Theodor Svedberg, who invented ultracentrifugation, and Gustav Mie, who provided the theory for scattering and absorption by spherical particles, were also interested in the synthesis and properties of colloidal gold.

With advances in various analytical technologies in the 20th century, studies on gold nanoparticles has accelerated. Advanced microscopy methods, such as atomic force microscopy and electron microscopy, have contributed the most to nanoparticle research. Due to their comparably easy synthesis and high stability, various gold particles have been studied for their practical uses. Different types of gold nanoparticle are already used in many industries, such as electronics.

Optical
Colloidal gold has been used by artists for centuries because of the nanoparticle’s interactions with visible light. Gold nanoparticles absorb and scatter light resulting in colours ranging from vibrant reds (smaller particles) to blues to black and finally to clear and colorless (larger particles), depending on particle size, shape, local refractive index, and aggregation state. These colors occur because of a phenomenon called localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), in which conduction electrons on the surface of the nanoparticle oscillate in resonance with incident light.

Effect of size, shape, composition and environment
As a general rule, the wavelength of light absorbed increases as a function of increasing nanoparticle size. Both the surface plasmon resonance frequency and scattering intensity depend on the size, shape composition and environment of the nanoparticles. This phenomenon may be quantified by use of the Mie scattering theory for spherical nanoparticles. Nanoparticles with diameters of 30–100 nm may be detected easily by a microscope, and particles with a size of 40 nm may even be detected by the naked eye when the concentration of the particles is 10−4 M or greater. The scattering from a 60 nm nanoparticle is about 105 times stronger than the emission from a fluorescein molecule.

Effect of local refractive index
Changes in the apparent color of a gold nanoparticle solution can also be caused by the environment in which the colloidal gold is suspended. The optical properties of gold nanoparticles depend on the refractive index near the nanoparticle surface, so the molecules directly attached to the nanoparticle surface (i.e. nanoparticle ligands) and the nanoparticle solvent may both influence the observed optical features. As the refractive index near the gold surface increases, the LSPR shifts to longer wavelengths. In addition to solvent environment, the extinction peak can be tuned by coating the nanoparticles with non-conducting shells such as silica, biomolecules, or aluminium oxide.

Effect of aggregation
When gold nanoparticles aggregate, the optical properties of the particle change, because the effective particle size, shape, and dielectric environment all change.

Electron microscopy
Colloidal gold and various derivatives have long been among the most widely used labels for antigens in biological electron microscopy. Colloidal gold particles can be attached to many traditional biological probes such as antibodies, lectins, superantigens, glycans, nucleic acids, and receptors. Particles of different sizes are easily distinguishable in electron micrographs, allowing simultaneous multiple-labelling experiments.

In addition to biological probes, gold nanoparticles can be transferred to various mineral substrates, such as mica, single crystal silicon, and atomically flat gold(III), to be observed under atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Drug delivery system
Gold nanoparticles can be used to optimize the biodistribution of drugs to diseased organs, tissues or cells, in order to improve and target drug delivery. Nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery is feasible only if the drug distribution is otherwise inadequate. These cases include drug targeting of unstable (proteins, siRNA, DNA), delivery to the difficult sites (brain, retina, tumors, intracellular organelles) and drugs with serious side effects (e.g. anti-cancer agents). The performance of the nanoparticles depends on the size and surface functionalities in the particles. Also, the drug release and particle disintegration can vary depending on the system (e.g. biodegradable polymers sensitive to pH). An optimal nanodrug delivery system ensures that the active drug is available at the site of action for the correct time and duration, and their concentration should be above the minimal effective concentration (MEC) and below the minimal toxic concentration (MTC).

Gold nanoparticles are being investigated as carriers for drugs such as Paclitaxel. The administration of hydrophobic drugs require molecular encapsulation and it is found that nanosized particles are particularly efficient in evading the reticuloendothelial system.

Tumor detection
In cancer research, colloidal gold can be used to target tumors and provide detection using SERS (surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy) in vivo. These gold nanoparticles are surrounded with Raman reporters, which provide light emission that is over 200 times brighter than quantum dots. It was found that the Raman reporters were stabilized when the nanoparticles were encapsulated with a thiol-modified polyethylene glycol coat. This allows for compatibility and circulation in vivo. To specifically target tumor cells, the polyethylenegylated gold particles are conjugated with an antibody (or an antibody fragment such as scFv), against, e.g. epidermal growth factor receptor, which is sometimes overexpressed in cells of certain cancer types. Using SERS, these pegylated gold nanoparticles can then detect the location of the tumor.

Gold nanoparticles accumulate in tumors, due to the leakiness of tumor vasculature, and can be used as contrast agents for enhanced imaging in a time-resolved optical tomography system using short-pulse lasers for skin cancer detection in mouse model. It is found that intravenously administered spherical gold nanoparticles broadened the temporal profile of reflected optical signals and enhanced the contrast between surrounding normal tissue and tumors.

Gene therapy
Gold nanoparticles have shown potential as intracellular delivery vehicles for siRNA oligonucleotides with maximal therapeutic impact.

Gold nanoparticles show potential as intracellular delivery vehicles for antisense oligonucleotides (single and double stranded DNA) by providing protection against intracellular nucleases and ease of functionalization for selective targeting.

Photothermal agents
Gold nanorods are being investigated as photothermal agents for in-vivo applications. Gold nanorods are rod-shaped gold nanoparticles whose aspect ratios tune the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band from the visible to near-infrared wavelength. The total extinction of light at the SPR is made up of both absorption and scattering. For the smaller axial diameter nanorods (~10 nm), absorption dominates, whereas for the larger axial diameter nanorods (>35 nm) scattering can dominate. As a consequence, for in-vivo studies, small diameter gold nanorods are being used as photothermal converters of near-infrared light due to their high absorption cross-sections. Since near-infrared light transmits readily through human skin and tissue, these nanorods can be used as ablation components for cancer, and other targets. When coated with polymers, gold nanorods have been observed to circulate in-vivo with half-lives longer than 6 hours, bodily residence times around 72 hours, and little to no uptake in any internal organs except the liver.

Despite the unquestionable success of gold nanorods as photothermal agents in preclinical research, they have yet to obtain the approval for clinical use because the size is above the renal excretion threshold. In 2019, the first NIR-absorbing plasmonic ultrasmall-in-nano architecture has been reported, and jointly combine: (i) a suitable photothermal conversion for hyperthermia treatments, (ii) the possibility of multiple photothermal treatments and (iii) renal excretion of the building blocks after the therapeutic action.

Radiotherapy dose enhancer
Considerable interest has been shown in the use of gold and other heavy-atom-containing nanoparticles to enhance the dose delivered to tumors. Since the gold nanoparticles are taken up by the tumors more than the nearby healthy tissue, the dose is selectively enhanced. The biological effectiveness of this type of therapy seems to be due to the local deposition of the radiation dose near the nanoparticles. This mechanism is the same as occurs in heavy ion therapy.

Detection of toxic gas
Researchers have developed simple inexpensive methods for on-site detection of hydrogen sulfide present in air based on the antiaggregation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Dissolving into a weak alkaline buffer solution leads to the formation of HS-, which can stabilize AuNPs and ensure they maintain their red color allowing for visual detection of toxic levels of.

Gold nanoparticle based biosensor
Gold nanoparticles are incorporated into biosensors to enhance its stability, sensitivity, and selectivity. Nanoparticle properties such as small size, high surface-to-volume ratio, and high surface energy allow immobilization of large range of biomolecules. Gold nanoparticle, in particular, could also act as "electron wire" to transport electrons and its amplification effect on electromagnetic light allows it to function as signal amplifiers. Main types of gold nanoparticle based biosensors are optical and electrochemical biosensor.

Optical biosensor
Gold nanoparticles improve the sensitivity of optical sensors in response to the change in the local refractive index. The angle of the incidence light for surface plasmon resonance, an interaction between light waves and conducting electrons in metal, changes when other substances are bounded to the metal surface. Because gold is very sensitive to its surroundings' dielectric constant, binding of an analyte significantly shifts the gold nanoparticle's SPR and therefore allows for more sensitive detection. Gold nanoparticle could also amplify the SPR signal. When the plasmon wave pass through the gold nanoparticle, the charge density in the wave and the electron I the gold interact and result in a higher energy response, referred to as electron coupling. When the analyte and bio-receptor both bind to the gold, the apparent mass of the analyte increases and therefore amplifies the signal. These properties had been used to build a DNA sensor with 1000-fold greater sensitivity than without the Au NP. Humidity sensors have also been built by altering the atom interspacing between molecules with humidity change, the interspacing change would also result in a change of the Au NP's LSPR.

Electrochemical biosensor
Electrochemical sensor convert biological information into electrical signals that could be detected. The conductivity and biocompatibility of Au NP allow it to act as "electron wire". It transfers electron between the electrode and the active site of the enzyme. It could be accomplished in two ways: attach the Au NP to either the enzyme or the electrode. GNP-glucose oxidase monolayer electrode was constructed use these two methods. The Au NP allowed more freedom in the enzyme's orientation and therefore more sensitive and stable detection. Au NP also acts as immobilization platform for the enzyme. Most biomolecules denatures or lose its activity when interacted with the electrode. The biocompatibility and high surface energy of Au allow it to bind to a large amount of protein without altering its activity and results in a more sensitive sensor. Moreover, Au NP also catalyzes biological reactions. Gold nanoparticle under 2 nm has shown catalytic activity to the oxidation of styrene.

Immunological biosensor
Gold nanoparticles have been coated with peptides and glycans for use in immunological detection methods. The possibility to use glyconanoparticles in ELISA was unexpected, but the method seems to have a high sensitivity and thus offers potential for development of specific assays for diagnostic identification of antibodies in patient sera.

Thin films
Gold nanoparticles capped with organic ligands, such as alkanethiol molecules, can self-assemble into large monolayers (>cm2). The particles are first prepared in organic solvent, such as chloroform or toluene, and are then spread into monolayers either on a liquid surface or on a solid substrate. Such interfacial thin films of nanoparticles have close relationship with Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers made from surfactants.

The mechanical properties of nanoparticle monolayers have been studied extensively. For 5 nm spheres capped with dodecanethiol, the Young's modulus of the monolayer is on the order of GPa. The mechanics of the membranes are guided by strong interactions between ligand shells on adjacent particles. Upon fracture, the films crack perpendicular to the direction of strain at a fracture stress of 11 $$\pm$$ 2.6 MPa, comparable to that of cross-linked polymer films. Free-standing nanoparticle membranes exhibit bending rigidity on the order of 10$$^{5}$$ eV, higher than what is predicted in theory for continuum plates of the same thickness, due to nonlocal microstructural constraints such as nonlocal coupling of particle rotational degrees of freedom. On the other hand, resistance to bending is found to be greatly reduced in nanoparticle monolayers that are supported at the air/water interface, possibly due to screening of ligand interactions in a wet environment.

Surface chemistry
In many different types of colloidal gold syntheses, the interface of the nanoparticles can display widely different character – ranging from an interface similar to a self-assembled monolayer to a disordered boundary with no repeating patterns. Beyond the Au-Ligand interface, conjugation of the interfacial ligands with various functional moieties (from small organic molecules to polymers to DNA to RNA) afford colloidal gold much of its vast functionality.

Ligand exchange/functionalization
After initial nanoparticle synthesis, colloidal gold ligands are often exchanged with new ligands designed for specific applications. For example, Au NPs produced via the Turkevich-style (or Citrate Reduction) method are readily reacted via ligand exchange reactions, due to the relatively weak binding between the carboxyl groups and the surfaces of the NPs. This ligand exchange can produce conjugation with a number of biomolecules from DNA to RNA to proteins to polymers (such as PEG) to increase biocompatibility and functionality. For example, ligands have been shown to enhance catalytic activity by mediating interactions between adsorbates and the active gold surfaces for specific oxygenation reactions. Ligand exchange can also be used to promote phase transfer of the colloidal particles. Ligand exchange is also possible with alkane thiol-arrested NPs produced from the Brust-type synthesis method, although higher temperatures are needed to promote the rate of the ligand detachment. An alternative method for further functionalization is achieved through the conjugation of the ligands with other molecules, though this method can cause the colloidal stability of the Au NPs to breakdown.

Ligand removal
In many cases, as in various high-temperature catalytic applications of Au, the removal of the capping ligands produces more desirable physicochemical properties. The removal of ligands from colloidal gold while maintaining a relatively constant number of Au atoms per Au NP can be difficult due to the tendency for these bare clusters to aggregate. The removal of ligands is partially achievable by simply washing away all excess capping ligands, though this method is ineffective in removing all capping ligand. More often ligand removal achieved under high temperature or light ablation followed by washing. Alternatively, the ligands can be electrochemically etched off.

Surface structure and chemical environment
The precise structure of the ligands on the surface of colloidal gold NPs impact the properties of the colloidal gold particles. Binding conformations and surface packing of the capping ligands at the surface of the colloidal gold NPs tend to differ greatly from bulk surface model adsorption, largely due to the high curvature observed at the nanoparticle surfaces. Thiolate-gold interfaces at the nanoscale have been well-studied and the thiolate ligands are observed to pull Au atoms off of the surface of the particles to form “staple” motifs that have significant Thiyl-Au(0) character. The citrate-gold surface, on the other hand, is relatively less-studied due to the vast number of binding conformations of the citrate to the curved gold surfaces. A study performed in 2014 identified that the most-preferred binding of the citrate involves two carboxylic acids and the hydroxyl group of the citrate binds three surface metal atoms.

Health and safety
As gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are further investigated for targeted drug delivery in humans, their toxicity needs to be considered. For the most part, it is suggested that AuNPs are biocompatible, but the concentrations at which they become toxic needs to be determined, and if those concentrations fall within the range of used concentrations. Toxicity can be tested in vitro and in vivo. In vitro toxicity results can vary depending on the type of the cellular growth media with different protein compositions, the method used to determine cellular toxicity (cell health, cell stress, how many cells are taken into a cell), and the capping ligands in solution. In vivo assessments can determine the general health of an organism (abnormal behavior, weight loss, average life span) as well as tissue specific toxicology (kidney, liver, blood) and inflammation and oxidative responses. In vitro experiments are more popular than in vivo experiments because in vitro experiments are more simplistic to perform than in vivo experiments.

Toxicity and hazards in synthesis
While AuNPs themselves appear to have low or negligible toxicity, and the literature shows that the toxicity has much more to do with the ligands rather than the particles themselves, the synthesis of them involves chemicals that are hazardous. Sodium borohydride, a harsh reagent, is used to reduce the gold ions to gold metal. The gold ions usually come from chloroauric acid, a potent acid. Because of the high toxicity and hazard of reagents used to synthesize AuNPs, the need for more “green” methods of synthesis arose.

Toxicity due to capping ligands
Some of the capping ligands associated with AuNPs can be toxic while others are nontoxic. In gold nanorods (AuNRs), it has been shown that a strong cytotoxicity was associated with CTAB-stabilized AuNRs at low concentration, but it is thought that free CTAB was the culprit in toxicity. Modifications that overcoat these AuNRs reduces this toxicity in human colon cancer cells (HT-29) by preventing CTAB molecules from desorbing from the AuNRs back into the solution. Ligand toxicity can also be seen in AuNPs. Compared to the 90% toxicity of HAuCl4 at the same concentration, AuNPs with carboxylate termini were shown to be non-toxic. Large AuNPs conjugated with biotin, cysteine, citrate, and glucose were not toxic in human leukemia cells (K562) for concentrations up to 0.25 M. Also, citrate-capped gold nanospheres (AuNSs) have been proven to be compatible with human blood and did not cause platelet aggregation or an immune response. However, citrate-capped gold nanoparticles sizes 8-37 nm were found to be lethally toxic for mice, causing shorter lifespans, severe sickness, loss of appetite and weight, hair discoloration, and damage to the liver, spleen, and lungs; gold nanoparticles accumulated in the spleen and liver after traveling a section of the immune system. There are mixed-views for polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified AuNPs. These AuNPs were found to be toxic in mouse liver by injection, causing cell death and minor inflammation. However, AuNPs conjugated with PEG copolymers showed negligible toxicity towards human colon cells (Caco-2). AuNP toxicity also depends on the overall charge of the ligands. In certain doses, AuNSs that have positively-charged ligands are toxic in monkey kidney cells (Cos-1), human red blood cells, and E. coli because of the AuNSs interaction with the negatively-charged cell membrane; AuNSs with negatively-charged ligands have been found to be nontoxic in these species. In addition to the previously mentioned in vivo and in vitro experiments, other similar experiments have been performed. Alkylthiolate-AuNPs with trimethlyammonium ligand termini mediate the translocation of DNA across mammalian cell membranes in vitro at a high level, which is detrimental to these cells. Corneal haze in rabbits have been healed in vivo by using polyethylemnimine-capped gold nanoparticles that were transfected with a gene that promotes wound healing and inhibits corneal fibrosis.

Toxicity due to size of nanoparticles
Toxicity in certain systems can also be dependent on the size of the nanoparticle. AuNSs size 1.4 nm were found to be toxic in human skin cancer cells (SK-Mel-28), human cervical cancer cells (HeLa), mouse fibroblast cells (L929), and mouse macrophages (J774A.1), while 0.8, 1.2, and 1.8 nm sized AuNSs were less toxic by a six-fold amount and 15 nm AuNSs were nontoxic. There is some evidence for AuNP buildup after injection in in vivo studies, but this is very size dependent. 1.8 nm AuNPs were found to be almost totally trapped in the lungs of rats. Different sized AuNPs were found to buildup in the blood, brain, stomach, pancreas, kidneys, liver,  and spleen.

Biosafety and biokinetics investigations on biodegradable ultrasmall-in-nano architectures have demonstrated that gold nanoparticles are able to avoid metal accumulation in organisms through escaping by the renal pathway.

Synthesis
Generally, gold nanoparticles are produced in a liquid ("liquid chemical methods") by reduction of chloroauric acid. To prevent the particles from aggregating, stabilizing agents are added. Citrate acts both as the reducing agent and colloidal stabilizer.

They can be functionalized with various organic ligands to create organic-inorganic hybrids with advanced functionality.

Turkevich method
This simple method was pioneered by J. Turkevich et al. in 1951 and refined by G. Frens in the 1970s. It produces modestly monodisperse spherical gold nanoparticles of around 10–20 nm in diameter. Larger particles can be produced, but at the cost of monodispersity and shape. In this method, hot chloroauric acid is treated with sodium citrate solution, producing colloidal gold. The Turkevich reaction proceeds via formation of transient gold nanowires. These gold nanowires are responsible for the dark appearance of the reaction solution before it turns ruby-red.

Capping agents
A capping agent is used during nanoparticle synthesis to inhibit particle growth and aggregation. The chemical blocks or reduces reactivity at the periphery of the particle—a good capping agent has a high affinity for the new nuclei. Citrate ions or tannic acid function both as a reducing agent and a capping agent. Less sodium citrate results in larger particles.

Brust-Schiffrin method
This method was discovered by Brust and Schiffrin in the early 1990s, and can be used to produce gold nanoparticles in organic liquids that are normally not miscible with water (like toluene). It involves the reaction of a chlorauric acid solution with tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB) solution in toluene and sodium borohydride as an anti-coagulant and a reducing agent, respectively.

Here, the gold nanoparticles will be around 5–6 nm. NaBH4 is the reducing agent, and TOAB is both the phase transfer catalyst and the stabilizing agent.

TOAB does not bind to the gold nanoparticles particularly strongly, so the solution will aggregate gradually over the course of approximately two weeks. To prevent this, one can add a stronger binding agent, like a thiol (in particular, alkanethiols), which will bind to gold, producing a near-permanent solution. Alkanethiol protected gold nanoparticles can be precipitated and then redissolved. Thiols are better binding agents because there is a strong affinity for the gold-sulfur bonds that form when the two substances react with each other. is a commonly used strong binding agent to synthesize smaller particles. Some of the phase transfer agent may remain bound to the purified nanoparticles, this may affect physical properties such as solubility. In order to remove as much of this agent as possible, the nanoparticles must be further purified by soxhlet extraction.

Perrault method
This approach, discovered by Perrault and Chan in 2009, uses hydroquinone to reduce HAuCl4 in an aqueous solution that contains 15 nm gold nanoparticle seeds. This seed-based method of synthesis is similar to that used in photographic film development, in which silver grains within the film grow through addition of reduced silver onto their surface. Likewise, gold nanoparticles can act in conjunction with hydroquinone to catalyze reduction of ionic gold onto their surface. The presence of a stabilizer such as citrate results in controlled deposition of gold atoms onto the particles, and growth. Typically, the nanoparticle seeds are produced using the citrate method. The hydroquinone method complements that of Frens, as it extends the range of monodispersed spherical particle sizes that can be produced. Whereas the Frens method is ideal for particles of 12–20 nm, the hydroquinone method can produce particles of at least 30–300 nm.

Martin method
This simple method, discovered by Martin and Eah in 2010, generates nearly monodisperse "naked" gold nanoparticles in water. Precisely controlling the reduction stoichiometry by adjusting the ratio of NaBH4-NaOH ions to HAuCl4-HCl ions within the "sweet zone," along with heating, enables reproducible diameter tuning between 3–6 nm. The aqueous particles are colloidally stable due to their high charge from the excess ions in solution. These particles can be coated with various hydrophilic functionalities, or mixed with hydrophobic ligands for applications in non-polar solvents. In non-polar solvents the nanoparticles remain highly charged, and self-assemble on liquid droplets to form 2D monolayer films of monodisperse nanoparticles.

Nanotech studies
Bacillus licheniformis can be used in synthesis of gold nanocubes with sizes between 10 and 100 nanometres. Gold nanoparticles are usually synthesized at high temperatures in organic solvents or using toxic reagents. The bacteria produce them in much milder conditions.

Navarro et al. method
For particles larger than 30 nm, control of particle size with a low polydispersity of spherical gold nanoparticles remains challenging. In order to provide maximum control on the NP structure, Navarro and co-workers used a modified Turkevitch-Frens procedure using sodium acetylacetonate as the reducing agent and sodium citrate as the stabilizer.

Sonolysis
Another method for the experimental generation of gold particles is by sonolysis. The first method of this type was invented by Baigent and Müller. This work pioneered the use of ultrasound to provide the energy for the processes involved and allowed the creation of gold particles with a diameter of under 10 nm. In another method using ultrasound, the reaction of an aqueous solution of HAuCl4 with glucose, the reducing agents are hydroxyl radicals and sugar pyrolysis radicals (forming at the interfacial region between the collapsing cavities and the bulk water) and the morphology obtained is that of nanoribbons with width 30–50 nm and length of several micrometers. These ribbons are very flexible and can bend with angles larger than 90°. When glucose is replaced by cyclodextrin (a glucose oligomer), only spherical gold particles are obtained, suggesting that glucose is essential in directing the morphology toward a ribbon.

Block copolymer-mediated method
An economical, environmentally benign and fast synthesis methodology for gold nanoparticles using block copolymer has been developed by Sakai et al. In this synthesis methodology, block copolymer plays the dual role of a reducing agent as well as a stabilizing agent. The formation of gold nanoparticles comprises three main steps: reduction of gold salt ion by block copolymers in the solution and formation of gold clusters, adsorption of block copolymers on gold clusters and further reduction of gold salt ions on the surfaces of these gold clusters for the growth of gold particles in steps, and finally its stabilization by block copolymers. But this method usually has a limited-yield (nanoparticle concentration), which does not increase with the increase in the gold salt concentration. Ray et al. improved this synthesis method by enhancing the nanoparticle yield by manyfold at ambient temperature.

Antibiotic conjugated nanoparticle synthesis
Antibiotic functionalized metal nanoparticles have been widely studied as a mode to treat multi-drug resistant bacterial strains. For example, kanamycin capped gold-nanoparticles (Kan-AuPs) showed broad spectrum dose dependent antibacterial activity against both gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains in comparison to kanamycin alone.

title: Colloidal gold


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Superquinn

Superquinn was an Irish supermarket chain, founded in 1960 and entirely privately owned by the Quinn family. Select Retail Holdings, a property buying consortium, purchased the company from the Quinn family in 2005. A receiver was appointed to the company on 18 July 2011, and the following day the company was bought by Musgrave Group for an undisclosed sum. On 13 February 2014 all remaining units were rebranded as SuperValu.

Products and services
The company operated 20 supermarkets under the Superquinn brand and 4 convenience shops under the "Superquinn Select" brand. It had three levels of own brand products of increasing quality; "Euro Shopper", "Superquinn" and "Superior Quality". In 2011, the Euroshopper brand was replaced by "Superquinn Essentials", their low cost, but still high quality, own brand products. Superquinn was known for having a very high level of customer service compared to other supermarket chains, its former owner having written a manual on customer service, Crowning the Customer". It was also known for having introduced a number of innovations, including Ireland's first supermarket loyalty card in 1993, SuperClub re branded in 2007 as Reward Card. It also introduced self-scanning of goods by customers in a number of its outlets (Reward Card SuperScan). Superquinn was known as one of the better retail grocery companies to work for.

Superquinn was part of an Irish Internet shopping portal Buy4Now, which provides Internet shopping services for a number of Irish retailers.

History
The business was founded in 1960 as 'Quinns Supermarkets' in Dundalk by Feargal Quinn, and the company headquarters were later moved to Sutton, Dublin. The trading name was subsequently changed to Superquinn, in part to differentiate it from rival Quinnsworth, which had started in the early 1970s. In 1970, the company name was legally registered and founded.

In 1991, Feargal's son Eamonn Quinn took a key management role as deputy chairman.

In January 2005, it was announced that Superquinn was to be sold to a company called Select Retail Holdings, consortium which had been formed in 2002. On 26 August 2005 it was announced that the sale had been completed. Simon Burke replaced Feargal Quinn as Executive Chairman of the company, with Quinn becoming non-executive President of the business. Eamonn Quinn left the company.

In January 2009, the company made the decision to close the Dundalk supermarket. This was the second time Superquinn had failed in Dundalk, but in September 2010 a High Court order forced Superquinn to re-open in its home town again.

Expansion
In February 2007 Superquinn purchased the Montrose Hotel in Donnybrook from Jury's Doyle for €40 million and planned to develop the site as a supermarket and apartments. Superquinn expanded after the SRH takeover. It opened supermarkets in Heuston South Quarter, Rathborne, Rathgar, Ranelagh and Portlaoise and planned to open in Clongriffin.

In early 2010 it was confirmed that the Heuston South Quarter shop was on schedule for a planned opening in October 2010, it opened on 14 October 2010.

The Sunday Times Home section reported in May 2010 that Superquinn Clongriffin was on hold, with Superquinn quoting that they were "not yet in a position to confirm a likely opening date for a store in Clongriffin". Residents of Clongriffin and surrounding neighbourhoods feared the planned opening would not transpire.

On 3 September 2008, The Irish Times reported that a number of approaches had been made to buy Superquinn, including from BWG Foods Limited, The Musgrave Group plc, J Sainsbury plc, and Asda Stores Limited. However, later that day Simon Burke told RTÉ News and Current Affairs that the company was not for sale.

Superquinn opened its refurbished flagship supermarket in Blackrock, Co Dublin in October 2012. The retailer invested over €2m in the layout of the shop, including a complete overhaul of the fresh food section and an expansion of the fish counter, butchery, cheesemonger and parking spaces area. It had also completed work on Ballinter, Blanchardstown, Bray, Knocklyon, Northside, Ranelagh, Swords and Walkinstown.

Failed ventures
The company's innovations did not all become successful. One side effort of the company was the failed bank Tusa (the Irish word for you in the accusative case), a joint venture with TSB Bank (now part of Permanent TSB). A joint venture with Texaco to introduce small Superquinn convenience shops at petrol forecourts, SuperQ, also failed.

Perhaps more importantly for the company was its failure to expand - Superquinn had less than a third of the branches of its other full-service rivals, Tesco Ireland and Dunnes Stores, and was even eclipsed by discount retailers Aldi and Lidl, who have been very aggressive in acquiring sites compared to Superquinn. Its supermarkets were heavily located in the Dublin and Leinster areas (with 3 in Munster, and none at all in Connacht or Ulster) in contrast to the other operators which operated nationwide.

Receivership and sale
On 18 July 2011, it was announced that receivers had been appointed to the Superquinn chain. This was triggered by a consortium of banks believed to be owed around €400m. On 19 July 2011, the chain was reported to have been sold to wholesale group Musgrave Group for just over €100m. Staff were informed that there would be no change to their terms and conditions, or their pensions under the takeover by Musgrave.

The Irish Times reported on 23 July 2011 that two high court actions had been initiated to challenge the receivership and instead place the business in examinership. Lithuanian VP Group was named as a possible bidder for the company.

On 27 July 2011, RTÉ reported that the petition for examinership had been withdrawn, allowing the proposed buyout to proceed. Musgrave provided a €10 million fund to benefit suppliers owed money by Superquinn. The Superquinn name disappeared from Ireland's main streets on 13 February 2014 after owner, the Musgrave Group, announced its decision to rebrand all Superquinn units as SuperValu.

The SuperQuinn brand has been retained for a limited range of products, including sausages.

title: Superquinn


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V. K. Krishna Menon

Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement, India's foreign relations as de facto foreign minister, one of the major architects of Indian foreign policy, and acted as Jawaharlal Nehru's diplomat.

In 1928, Menon founded the India League in London to demand total independence from the British rule in the Indian subcontinent. Towards the end of the 1940s, he presided Indo-British matters and caused the selection of the last British Viceroy of India, Louis Mountbatten.

After the independence of India, he facilitated international diplomacy and resolutions in situations such as the Suez Crisis, Korean War, invasion of Hungary, Cyprus, Indochina, Taiwan, and the Chinese capture of American airmen, while supporting the anti-colonial ethos of what he would eventually name the Non-Aligned Movement. Since the independence of India, he served as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ambassador to the United Nations, and Defence minister. As a Defence minister, he played a role in military conflicts such as Congo Crisis, Annexation of Goa, and Sino-Indian War. During his tenure as defence minister, India saw establishment of domestic military-industrial complex and educational systems, the Sainik Schools, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and other defence and military institutions, while professionalizing the National Cadet Corps and similar entities.

He wrote the first draft of the Preamble to the Constitution of India, created the Constituent Assembly of India, and worked with Nehru, Mountbatten, Sardar Patel, and V.P. Menon to work out the mechanics of Indian independence. Returning to India, he was elected to both houses of the Indian parliament from constituencies such as Mumbai, Bengal, and Trivandrum in his native state of Kerala. He remained a member of the Lok Sabha until his death.

Family
Menon was born into an aristocratic Nair family at Thiruvangad Thalassery, later moving to Panniyankara in Kozhikode, Kerala, where the Vengalil Tharavad maintained estates, including their sixteen-halled pathinarakettu seat. He was named after his father K. Krishna Kurup who is of the Komath Tharavad. V. K. Menon got his family name, Vengalil, through matrilineal succession.

Education
Menon had his early education at the Zamorin's College, Kozhikode. In 1918, he graduated from Presidency College, Chennai, with a B.A. in History and Economics. While studying in the Madras Law College, he was involved in Theosophy and was associated with Annie Besant and the Home Rule Movement. He was a member of the "Brothers of Service", founded by Annie Besant who helped him travel to England in 1924.

Life and activities in England
Menon studied at London School of Economics, securing Bachelor of Science in economics and Master of Science in economics from University of London. Later, he studied at University College London and in 1930, he was awarded an M.A. in Industrial Psychology with first class honours from University of London, for a thesis entitled An Experimental Study of the Mental Processes Involved in Reasoning. In 1934, he secured a MSc in Political Science with first class honours from the London School of Economics, for a thesis titled English Political Thought in the Seventeenth Century.

In 1934, he continued to study law and was called to the bar at Middle Temple, marking the end of his formal education at the age of 37. As a barrister, Menon represented poor lascas pro bono, and, Udham Singh, in his trial for the killing of Michael O'Dwyer in vengeance for the Amritsar Massacre.

During the 1930s, Menon worked as an editor for The Bodley Head and its Twentieth Century Library (1932-1935), for Selwyn & Blount and its Topical Books series, and then, from 1937, for Penguin Books and its founder Sir Allen Lane. Menon was the editor of the educational series Pelican Books since its inception.

Political life in the UK
After joining the Labour Party he was elected borough councillor of St Pancras, London, in which context he befriended Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Lord Mountbatten. Due to the patronage of the Mountbattens, in the pre-war British society, Menon was able to consolidate political alliances with Labour potentates like Clement Attlee (future prime minister), Sir Stafford Cripps (future chancellor) and Aneurin Bevan, while gaining entry to the social circles of George VI and the then-Queen Elizabeth. Additional intimates included, political and intellectual figures such as Bertrand Russell, J.B.S. Haldane, Michael Foot, E.M. Forster, and Queen Frederica of Greece. St. Pancras, later gave him the "Freedom of the Borough", the other person having received this, was George Bernard Shaw. In 1939, the Labour Party began preparations to nominate him as its candidate for the Dundee Parliamentary constituency but that fell through because of his perceived connections with the Communist Party. He resigned (or was expelled, according to other sources) from the Labour Party in protest but rejoined in 1944.

India League and the independence movement
In 1928, Menon founded India League to demand total independence of India from the British rule. He worked as a journalist and as president of the India League from 1928 to 1947. In 1930s, Menon along with other contributors had created a 554-page report on the situation in India. The report was banned in India. Menon worked to help Nehru succeed Mahatma Gandhi as the moral leader and executive of the Indian independence movement, and to support Nehru's accession as the first Prime Minister of an independent India. As Secretary, he built the India League into the Indian lobby in the British Parliament, and turned British sentiment towards the cause of Indian independence. In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi praised the efforts of the Indian League for its "hurricane propaganda on the danger to world peace of a rebellious India in bondage".

He also took interest in the Colonial Seamen's Association from which he met Chris Braithwaite and Surat Alley.The origins of the policy of non-alignment were evident in Menon, where he condemned Britain and Germany, although he marched several times in anti-Nazi demonstrations. When asked whether India would prefer to be ruled by the British or the Germans, Menon replied that "[one] might as well ask a fish if it prefers to be fried in butter or margarine".

High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
After India gained independence in 1947, Menon was appointed High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, a post in which he remained until 1952. Menon's distrust of the West extended to the United Kingdom, and his opposition to British political manoeuvres led MI5 to deem him a "serious menace to security". From 1929 onwards, Menon had been kept under surveillance, with a warrant to intercept his correspondence being issued in December 1933, identifying him as an "important worker in the Indian revolutionary movement". Clandestine surveillance intensified following Menon's 1946 meeting in Paris with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov, and Indian independence. In 2007, hundreds of pages of MI5 files documenting their coverage of Menon were released, including transcripts of phone conversations and intercepted correspondences with other statesmen and Nehru himself.

Advance Payment for Gaeity Theatre
In what some people say was a diabolical swindle by him, Krishna Menon paid advance of 10,000 pounds in July 1950 to a private company floated in 1949 to buy Gaeity Theatre, London. On why would govt. of India may need this theatre, nobody knows. The adventurer Cleminson was involved in this also like other corruption scandals of Krishna Menon. Loss to Govt of India was Rs. 2,28,000.

Jeep Scandal
During his tenure as the high commissioner, Menon was accused of being involved in the jeep scandal case, it was the first alleged case of corruption in independent India. In 1948, Menon had ignored protocols and signed a Rs 8 million contract for the purchase of army jeeps with a foreign firm for the Indo-Pakistani war of 1947–1948. The deal was later rescinded by the Indian deputy High Commissioner in London due to the failure of the completion of the order. The investigation into the matter was closed in 1955 after nothing was found against anybody including Menon.

India's representative to the United Nations
In 1949, Menon accepted the command of the Indian delegation to the United Nations, a position he held until 1962. He headed India's diplomatic missions to the United Kingdom and the United Nations, and established himself in diplomatic matters including the Suez crisis. He engineered solutions to complex international political issues, including a peace plan for Korea, a ceasefire in Indo-China, the deadlocked disarmament talks, and the French withdrawal from the UN over Algeria.

Earlier, he led the overseas wing of the Indian independence movement, launching the India League in London in 1928, rallying within the United Kingdom to win public support for Indian independence, and of world powers such as the Soviet Union.

Diplomacy and non-alignment
During this period, Menon was a spokesman for Nehru's foreign policy, dubbed non-alignment in 1952, charting a third course between the US and the Soviet Union. Menon was critical of the United States, and expressed sympathies with Soviet policies, earning the ire of many Indians by voting against a UN resolution calling for the USSR to withdraw troops from Hungary, although he reversed his stance three weeks later under pressure from New Delhi.

In 1966, Indira Gandhi had consulted Menon for drafting Vietnam plan which called for international effort to rehabilitate Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and criticised the United States for its role in the Vietnam War.

China and the United Nations
Menon also supported the admission of China to the United Nations, which earned him the enmity of many American statesmen, including Senator William F. Knowland. In 1955, Menon intervened in the case of several American airmen who had been held by China, meeting with Chinese premier Zhou Enlai before flying to Washington to confer with and counsel American President Dwight Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, at the request of British Prime Minister Anthony Eden.

Nuclear disarmament
Menon was an opponent of nuclear weapons, and partnered with many in his quest against their proliferation.

Suez Crisis
During the Suez Crisis, Menon attempted to persuade Gamal Nasser to compromise with the West, and facilitated moving Western powers towards an awareness that Nasser might prove willing to compromise. During the emergency conference on Suez convened in London, Menon, invited by British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, offered a counterproposal to John Foster Dulles' plan for resolution, in which Egypt would be allowed to retain control of the Suez Canal.

While known for his alignment with the British Labour party and its Commonwealth analogues, by the 1950s, world diplomats referred to Menon's allies, comprising Eden, British foreign minister Selwyn Lloyd, Canadian foreign minister and future premier Lester Pearson, Australian foreign minister and future governor-general Richard Casey, particularly to the fury of US Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Menon's proposal was estimated by US diplomats to have more support than the Dulles plan, and was viewed as an attempt to hybridise the Dulles plan with Egypt's claims. The Dulles plan passed, with Menon voting against, alongside Russia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Menon, however, softened his opposition in the final hours, leaving Soviet Foreign Minister Dmitri Shepilov in contraposition.

Speech on Kashmir
On 23 January 1957 Menon delivered an eight-hour speech defending India's stand on Kashmir. To date, the speech is the longest delivered in the United Nations, covering five hours of the 762nd meeting on 23 January, and two hours and forty-eight minutes on the 24th, concluding with Menon's collapse on the Security Council floor. Between the two parts, Menon collapsed from exhaustion and had to be hospitalized.

During the filibuster, Nehru went onto consolidate Indian power in Kashmir. Menon's defence of Indian sovereignty in Kashmir enlarged his base of support in India, and led to the Indian press dubbing him the "Hero of Kashmir".

Minister of Defence
Krishna Menon became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1953 from Madras. In 1956, he joined the Union Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and was made Minister of Defence in April 1957, after winning the North Mumbai seat to the Lok Sabha.

Menon developed India's domestic military-industrial complex and educational systems. During his reign as defence minister, India saw establishment of the Sainik Schools, the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and other defence and military institutions, while professionalizing the National Cadet Corps and similar entities.

Menon brought with him a degree of governmental, public, and international attention that India's military had not previously known. He suspended the seniority system within the army, replacing it with a merit-based method of promotion, and restructured much of India's military command system, eventually leading to the resignation of the Chief of the Army Staff, General K.S. Thimayya.

Congo Crisis
In 1960, Menon remarked on Congo crisis that freedom for African countries meant not only political independence but also the right to be able to develop economically and defend themselves from subversion from both inside and outside the country. Menon criticized the Belgians for not providing military training to the Congolese before leaving the country. In 1961, Nehru sent an Indian Army brigade of about 4,700 troops for the United Nations Operation in the Congo.

Annexation of Portuguese India
The annexation of Goa was linked with the 1961 elections to the Lok Sabha. Menon addressed the issue of Indian sovereignty over the Portuguese colony of Goa, in a partial reprise of his earlier defence of Kashmir. In New York, Menon met US Ambassador and two-time presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson behind closed doors, before meeting with President John F. Kennedy, who had expressed his reservations about Menon's anti-imperialism during the state visit of Nehru. Menon lectured Kennedy on the importance of US-Soviet compromise, before returning to India. On 17 December 1961, Menon and the Indian Army overran Goa, leading to Western condemnation. Menon dismissed the admonishments of Kennedy and Stevenson as "vestige(s) of Western imperialism". Indian annexation of Goa had subtle ramifications throughout Asia, as in the case of Indonesian president Sukarno, who refrained from invading the Portuguese colony of East Timor partially from fear of being compared to Menon. The invasion also spawned a complex mass of legal issues relating to differences between eastern and western interpretations of United Nations law and jurisdiction.

The Sino-Indian War
In 1962 China attacked India, leading to the Sino-Indian War, and a temporary reversal in India's non-aligned foreign policy. On 14 October, about 6 days before the war, Menon gave a speech in Bangalore where he announced that India would fight "to the last man, to the last gun". Menon was criticised both inside and outside parliament for his handling of the conflict. The Indian government's analysis, the Henderson Brooks–Bhagat Report remains classified. Menon believed that Pakistan – not China – is the real threat on the border. Menon was held responsible for India's lack of military preparation to repel China in the full-scale war to the extent that Indian politicians invested more effort in getting Menon removed than in actually waging war. Menon had resigned on 31 October 1962 as Minister of Defence. Nevertheless, Menon remained a counselor to Nehru and continued to assist the Indian government with foreign policy.

As a Supreme Court advocate
Following his resignation from the cabinet ministry, Menon practiced as a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court with a group of lawyers. He specifically focused on the Labour matters and he took them up without taking any fees. Former Supreme Court Judge V. R. Krishna Iyer remarked Menon's legal career as: "Great human causes, not petty problems, find the jurist in him. He is halting in humdrum areas but heroic in the higher values of our legalpolitical system."

Rajya Sabha
Menon was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1953 from Madras.

1957
In 1957, Menon sought a seat in the Lok Sabha, contesting a constituency from North Mumbai. Admired for his defence of India's sovereignty in Kashmir on the world stage, Menon was met with rapturous receptions on the campaign trail, and won in a contest against PSP candidate Alvares Peter Augustus by 47,741 votes (171,708 to 123,967).

1961
In October 1961, Menon, the sitting Defence Minister, was challenged by the 74-year-old Acharya Kripalani, a previous president of the Indian National Congress. The race, which witnessed the direct intervention of Jawaharlal Nehru, was viewed as of importance due to the personas and influence of the two candidates. Having previously endorsed Menon's foreign policies, Kripalani attacked Menon's persona, seeking to avoid confrontation with the prestige of Nehru and the Congress Party. Menon won nearly doubling the vote total of Kripalani, and winning majorities in all six of North Mumbai's districts. The electoral results established Menon as second to Nehru in Indian politics.

1967
In 1962, Menon was denied a seat from Mumbai by the Congress on the grounds that he was a non-Maharashtrian after Congress leadership in Delhi had succumbed to the demands of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee. This move by the committee had appalled Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who remarked that: "Here is a question of whom the party wants and whom the people want. My position among people is uncontested." Menon resigned from the Congress and stood for elections as an independent candidate from the North East Mumbai constituency, of which he was the sitting member of parliament. He lost to the Congress candidate, Mr. S.G. Barve, a retired ICS officer, by a margin of 13,169 votes. Mr. Barve died later that year, and his sister, Mrs. Tara Sapre, contested the by-election which ensued as the Congress candidate. Menon again stood as an independent, and lost to Mrs. Tara Sapre by a wider margin than had been the case with her brother. In both, 1967 and 1969 elections, Shiv Sena had campaigned for both of the Congress candidates.

1969
In 1969, Menon contested a seat in the Lok Sabha from the Bengal constituency of Midnapore, running as an independent in a by-election, and defeating his Congress rival by a margin of 106,767 votes in May of that year.

1971
In 1971, Menon contested as an independent candidate and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Trivandrum, in his home state of Kerala.

Evaluations
Menon was a significant figure of the Indian politics during his life, and has remained so even well after his death. In response to US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles' assertion that US weapons supplied to Pakistan were intended for defence against a Soviet invasion, Menon stated that "the world has yet to see an American gun that can only shoot in one direction", and that "I am yet to come across a vegetarian tiger". In London, Menon responded to novelist Brigid Brophy: "my English is better than yours. You merely picked it up: I learnt it." When criticised for the Rolls-Royces he kept as official vehicles, he replied, "I can scarcely hire a bullock-cart to call on 10 Downing Street". Indian President R. Venkataraman described him as "the epitome of a representative of the Indian State, personally abstemious but at the same time uncompromising in maintaining the prestige of his high office."

His meteroic rise was resented by many senior Congress leaders. At one time some used to believe that he would become successor to Nehru. Some of his Indian colleagues had a mixed view. Foreign Secretary Subimal Dutt commented that Menon, "did not always measure his words", while statesman K. R. Narayanan said, "India has been fortunate to have had not only a glorious heritage of culture and civilisation but a succession of great men from the Buddha to Gandhi, from Ashoka to Nehru, from Kautilya to Krishna Menon."

Menon was reviled by Western statesmen who loathed his arrogance and anti-Western stances. American President Dwight D. Eisenhower considered Menon a "menace", governed by ambition to prove himself the international manipulator and politician of the age". Western publications referred to him as "India's Rasputin" or "Nehru's Evil Genius".

Menon's role in the development of India's military infrastructure has attracted attention of analysts and scholars with regards to the importance of Menon's vision and foresight in military development. Political figures as varied as President and Minister of Defence R. Venkataraman and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court of India have analysed and defended Menon's role in India's rise as a military power. Menon is often noted as the architect of self-sufficiency in India's defence production.

Intellectual reputation
Whether by his supporters or critics, Menon inspired adulation as well as detraction in both India and the West. To his supporters, he was an advocate of India in the face of Western imperialism, who "taught the white man his place". According to The Tribune, "Few Indians have dominated global politics or aroused as much awe and antagonism as V. K. Krishna Menon, one of the prominent personalities of the 20th century.

As a student, his tutor, Harold Laski, described him as the "best" and "brilliant" student he had, and the only one from whom he had learnt anything. While his thesis supervisor, Charles Spearman, in reviewing his work with C.E. Beeby, judged that "by virtue of intense intellectual study, together with natural capacity, he appears to have acquired mastery of psychological science. Furthermore he has shown capacities for both original investigation and also for exposition. He has, I believe, a distinguished career before him."

Another supervisor, John Flugel, predicted that when published Menon's dissertation "would (render him) one of the young and brilliant psychologists of this century." Bertrand Russell remarked that Menon was a "particularly brilliant young man" and "an exceptionally gifted and experienced speaker and typically representative of the advanced thought of modern young India".

P.N. Haksar attested to the "vastness of his intellectual perception". “From a intellectual point of view, I cannot remember having met any person with a keener intellect”, commented Nehru in 1951. Shashi Tharoor, while noting his intolerance of those intellectually inferior to him and habitual rudeness, nonetheless highlighted his "brilliance and intellectual stamina' and mastery "of the extensive discourse on world affairs, human history and international politics that Menon so magisterially managed." Swedish Ambassador Alva Myrdal attributed Menon's hold over Nehru to Menon's brilliance and for being the "only genuinely intellectual foil Nehru had in his government, with whom he could discuss Marx and Mill, Dickens and Dostoevsky.

Death
Menon fell ill about three months before his death when he was in London to attend a musical event, organised for raising donations for Nehru memorial fund. He was hospitalised on 4 October following exhaustion. He died at the age of 78 due to heart attack on 6 October 1974.

Indian President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed said on his death that the country has lost an "eminent statesman and great leader". He added that:

"'Menon was an intrepid fighter for the freedom of the country and carried on the struggle from England. He served free India with remarkable distinction and played a crucial role in the international forum. His mastery of the world, legal acumen and oratorical skill were always used to serve great causes.'"

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi described Menon as "unusually forceful contemporary who has left a distinctive mark on our political life". She added that:

"'A volcano is extinct. Krishna Menon was a person of deep conviction, great intellectual power and passionate dedication to the country's cause. His pioneering work as spokesman of our freedom movement in Europe and as a link with radical movements of other countries is part of our nation's history. After independence he was one of the most eloquent exponents in the United Nations and other world forums, of policy of non-alignment and peaceful co-existence and our opposition to all forms of colonialism and racialism.'"

James Callaghan, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and later PM of the United Kingdom, said:

"'Krishna Menon was a man of remarkable talents and personality would have shone in any circumstances and at any time but for us he was also the embodiment of the movement within Britain for India's freedom.'"

An all-party meeting of the members of parliament was held in Central Hall of Parliament to mourn Menon's death. On his funeral, wreaths were placed by president Ahmed, vice-president B. D. Jatti, PM Indira Gandhi and her cabinet members, MPs and also high commissioner for Britain and the Egyptian ambassador. Louis Mountbatten, Jayaprakash Narayan, J. B. Kripalani and other prominent figures also shared their condolences.

Personal life
In private, Menon abstained from tobacco, alcohol and meat, fasting for days, and forwent his luxury townhouse in Kensington Palace Gardens in favour of a single room in the Indian High Commission during his official tenure in London. As high commissioner, Menon drew the token salary of one rupee per month, later refusing a salary outright. Menon dressed publicly in bespoke suits, earning him the epithet "Mephistopheles in a Savile Row suit".

Awards
In 1954, Menon was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan. In 1968, he was awarded with the Syrian Örder of Merit by the Syrian President Nureddin al-Atassi. In 2008 he was posthumously awarded with the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo.

Commemoration
The V. K. Krishna Menon Institute was established in 2006 to commemorate and facilitate the life, times and achievements of Menon. One of the Institute's objectives include awarding people from India and diaspora from Asia for their accomplishments in the fields of science, literature, economics, politics, diplomacy and human rights. A blue plaque commemorating Menon was placed at 30 Langdon Park Road, in Highgate, London by English Heritage in 2013.

title: V. K. Krishna Menon


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Company store

A company store is a retail store selling a limited range of food, clothing and daily necessities to employees of a company. It is typical of a company town in a remote area where virtually everyone is employed by one firm, such as a coal mine. In a company town, the housing is owned by the company but there may be independent stores there or nearby.

Employee-only company stores often accept scrip or non-cash vouchers issued by the company in advance of periodic cash paychecks, and gives credit to employees before payday. Except in very remote areas, company stores in mining towns became scarcer after the miners bought automobiles and could travel to a range of stores. Even so, the stores could survive because they provided convenience and easy credit. Company stores served numerous additional functions, as well, such as a locus for the government post office, and as the cultural and community center where people could freely gather. Company stores were monopolistic institutions, funneling workers' incomes back to the owners of the company. This is because company stores often faced little or no competition for workers' earnings on account of their geographical remoteness, the inability and/or unwillingness of other nearby merchants (if any existed) to accept company scrip, or both. Prices, therefore, were typically high. Allowing purchases on credit enforced a kind of debt slavery, obligating employees to remain with the company until the debt was cleared.

Regarding this reputation, economic historian Price V. Fishback wrote: "The company store is one of the most reviled and misunderstood of economic institutions. In song, folktale, and union rhetoric the company store was often cast as a villain, a collector of souls through perpetual debt peonage. Nicknames, like the 'pluck me' and more obscene versions that cannot appear in a family newspaper, seem to point to exploitation. The attitudes carry over into the scholarly literature, which emphasizes that the company store was a monopoly." The songs Fishback mentions include the popular song "Sixteen Tons", which contains such lines as "Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cuz I can't go. I owe my soul to the company store."

Mexico
In Mexico, during the Porfiriato period (late 1800 to early 1900), the "tiendas de raya" (company stores) were a prominent symbol of labor and peasant exploitation. These stores, operated by the owners of haciendas or factories, sold essential items to workers, often at inflated prices and typically paying with vouchers instead of cash. This kept workers in a continuous debt cycle to the hacienda or company, binding them almost like slaves to the land or industrial work without the possibility of escaping poverty.

A notable instance of the oppressive nature of tiendas de raya occurred in the early 1900s at Río Blanco, Veracruz, home to Mexico's largest cotton mill. Workers there were paid in scrip, which could only be used at the company's store. In 1907, textile workers, fed up with this system, went on labor strike and attacked and looted the company store. The Mexican military responded harshly, gunning down many of the strikers. Despite the tragic violence, the aftermath saw the opening of more retail outlets in Río Blanco, as if to reinforce the tienda de raya system.

From the earliest insurrections of the Mexican revolution, led and promoted by the Mexican Liberal Party, the looting and destruction of the tiendas de raya became key symbolic and strategic actions. With the actual outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, this resentment intensified. The deep social discontent, built up after years of exploitation, was primarily directed towards these stores and their managers.

Finally, in 1915, Venustiano Carranza, one of the revolutionary leaders and eventual president of Mexico, took decisive action against this oppressive system. By his order, the tiendas de raya were eliminated across the country, marking a significant shift in the fight for social and economic justice. This act was intended not only to relieve the direct economic exploitation of workers but also to break down the economic power that large landowners and businessmen held over the working class.

Hawaii
Possibly the first company store in the world was in Hawaii. William Hooper started Hawaiiʻs first sugar plantation in 1835 at Koloa, on the island of Kauai. He hired 23 Hawaiian locals and paid them in a cardboard scrip, notated in various amounts. The scrip could only be exchanged for merchandise at his store.

title: Company store


text:
Rocket from the Crypt

Rocket from the Crypt is an American punk rock band from San Diego, California, originally active from 1990 to 2005, then active during 2011 and again from 2013 to the present.

The band gained critical praise and the attention of major record labels after the release of their 1992 album Circa: Now!, leading to a recording contract with Interscope Records. They experienced a surge of popularity with the release of the albums Scream, Dracula, Scream! (1995) and RFTC (1998), accompanied by numerous vinyl singles and EPs released on independent labels. However, album sales did not meet expectations and Interscope soon turned their attention to higher-grossing acts. The band left the label, and shortly thereafter drummer Atom Willard departed the group.

After a period of inactivity in 1999 and 2000, during which singer/guitarist John Reis formed Hot Snakes and Sultans and launched his Swami Records label, the band signed to Vagrant Records and recruited new drummer Ruby Mars. They experienced a revitalization of creative energy and released two more albums, but were not as prolific as in the past.

Over the next few years the band members became increasingly involved with other projects and Rocket from the Crypt became less of a focus. They decided to disband in 2005, playing a sold-out farewell show on Halloween in their hometown of San Diego.

The band reunited in 2011 for a one-off appearance on the television program Yo Gabba Gabba!, and in 2013 reformed once more for a series of performances in the US, Europe and Australia.

Formation
After the breakup of his post-hardcore band Pitchfork in 1990, Reis formed both Rocket from the Crypt and Drive Like Jehu in July and August of that year respectively. Envisioned as a punk-inspired rock and roll band, Rocket from the Crypt's original lineup consisted of Reis, guitarist Andy Stamets, bassist Pete Reichert, drummer Sean, and backing vocalist Elaina. The band took their name from the then-defunct 1970s underground punk band Rocket from the Tombs. This lineup lasted roughly six months and recorded the band's debut album Paint as a Fragrance, released in 1991 on local label Cargo Music. At this time, Reis began to use the pseudonym "Speedo" when working with the band. He was also simultaneously performing in Drive Like Jehu, who recorded their debut album around the same time. When Sean and Elaina moved away from San Diego, drummer Adam Willard joined the band under the stage name "Atom." The rest of the band also assumed stage monikers, with Stamets performing as "ND" and Reichert as "Petey X."

The band soon added a horn section, recruiting saxophone player Paul "Apollo 9" O'Beirne. They developed a reputation for their creative and energetic live shows, taking unusual measures to encourage audience participation such as handing out homemade lyric booklets and noisemakers. They released many vinyl singles around this time and began to attract a dedicated underground following. Reis recalls: "'It was really immediate; that's why we loved putting out singles early on. We recorded some songs for Sympathy for the Record Industry, and two weeks later, we had some finished copies of them. The turnaround time was amazing. And by the time people were able to get them, it was still under a month. They're hearing something that is completely fresh–this is something we're doing at the moment. We did that for, like, a three-year period.'" Their second album Circa: Now! was released in 1992, followed by their first tour and music videos for the songs "Ditchdigger" and "Sturdy Wrist." The band also added a second member to its horn section, bringing in trumpeter Jason "JC 2000" Crane. Around this time Reis announced in a fanzine that all fans with Rocket from the Crypt tattoos would be allowed into the band's shows for free, for life, causing tattoos of their logo to become an international phenomenon.

Signing to Interscope
Fueled by a label interest in Drive Like Jehu, both Rocket from the Crypt and Drive Like Jehu signed to Interscope Records in 1992, with Rocket negotiating a deal that included the freedom to record vinyl releases for other labels. Many of the band's vinyl singles and other rarities were compiled and released as All Systems Go, while Interscope re-released Circa: Now! and pushed for the band to continue touring in support of the album. Even with market saturation high, however, the band members decided to take a six-month break in 1994 while Reis recorded a second and final album with Drive Like Jehu.

Regrouping after their hiatus, the band experienced a flurry of creative energy that resulted in several more vinyl singles and a trilogy of records in 1995, beginning with the EP The State of Art is on Fire and continuing with the critically acclaimed Hot Charity. They embarked on a six-week "free tour" in support of Hot Charity, with Interscope covering the costs so that fans were not charged admission to any of the band's performances across the United States. This was followed by the recording of their first album for Interscope, the critically acclaimed Scream, Dracula, Scream! The band took advantage of their large recording budget, bringing in string sections and hiring producers to make the album sound as epic as possible, and it would later be regarded by most as their creative peak. Music videos were filmed for the singles "On a Rope," "Born in '69" and "Young Livers" and the band embarked on tours of the US, UK and Europe. They experienced a surge of popularity in the UK, where "On a Rope" entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 12, and was a hit on MTV Europe, earning them rave reviews in NME and allowing them to play Top of the Pops. 1996 also saw them win The Phillip Hall Radar award at the NME awards event.

They were also an alternative rock hit in the US, where their videos were featured on MTV and the band received many positive reviews in both mainstream and underground music presses. Then-ubiquitous MTV VJ Kennedy sported a tattoo of the band's logo on her ankle on national television, and increased radio and MTV airplay continued. A large headlining tour ensued in 1996, as well as supporting tours with Rancid and Soundgarden. The band also gained a reputation for a series of interesting and, at times, seemingly ludicrous gimmicks and stage antics which included holding raffles during live performances, spinning a large game show wheel to determine set lists, onstage fire breathing, annual Halloween and New Year's shows, and the wearing of coordinated and progressively more ornate stage costumes. In Europe the band also hosted a German variety show, played children's shows and morning shows, and did interviews with fashion magazines.

Lineup change
In 1998, Rocket from the Crypt released RFTC. For the accompanying tour they were joined by Chris Prescott from San Diego bands Tanner and No Knife, who performed as touring percussionist and keyboardist. Though overall reaction was positive and singles "Break it Up" and "Lipstick" received radio airplay, the album failed to sell well. The band settled some contractual obligations and then left their label. In 1999 San Diego music magazine SLAMM named them the "best San Diego band of all time" in their coverage of local acts leading up to New Year's Eve 2000. The band tried to maintain their creativity with the release of the EP Cut Carefully and Play Loud that year, but disagreements between members over the band's direction resulted in drummer Atom Willard departing the group in early 2000 (he would go on to act as Weezer's drum technician and play in The Special Goodness, later becoming permanent drummer in both The Offspring and Angels & Airwaves). Rocket took a brief hiatus, during which Reis launched his own record label Swami Records and released a second rarities collection called All Systems Go 2, as well as debut albums by his newly formed bands Hot Snakes and Sultans.

Signing to Vagrant
In 2000, the band signed to independent label Vagrant Records and began work on the album Group Sounds, with Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster filling in on drums. Partway through the recording process they recruited San Diego drummer and professional skateboarder Mario Rubalcaba as their full-time drummer, giving him the stage name "Ruby Mars." The addition of Rubalcaba gave the band renewed energy, and Group Sounds was released in 2001 to positive reviews. Some touring followed, but band members drifted into other projects and Rocket became less the focus. In 2002 Rocket released what would prove to be their final studio album, Live From Camp X-Ray, after which Reis devoted more energy to recording and touring with Hot Snakes and Sultans and to signing and producing bands for his Swami label. Rocket would perform infrequently over the next few years.

Demise
In August 2005, after breaking up Hot Snakes, Reis announced that Rocket from the Crypt would play their final show that Halloween in San Diego. After a final east coast performance in New York, they played a farewell show before a capacity crowd at the Westin Horton Plaza Hotel in downtown San Diego on Halloween, which was filmed for a DVD release.

Following the band's breakup Reis focused his energy on running Swami Records and continued to play with the Sultans until their breakup in January 2007. He then formed The Night Marchers, with whom he currently performs. Reichert founded and runs the online merchandise company Merch Lackey. O'Beirne teaches project management and marketing at a San Diego high school, while Crane left San Diego semi-permanently for Belize. Stamets continues to perform in San Diego-area bands such as Beehive & the Barracudas. Rubalcaba became part-owner of the independent record store Thirsty Moon Records in the Hillcrest area of San Diego and plays with the bands Earthless and Off!. He also joined Reis in the Sultans for infrequent performances until that group's breakup in January 2007.

Swami Records released a "rough cut" of the Rocket from the Crypt farewell concert DVD in October 2006, but a fire at the offices of Fourth Project, the video company producing the DVD, pushed back the final version. It was eventually released in February 2008 as a CD/DVD set entitled R.I.P. A third installment in their rarities series, All Systems Go 3, was released on August 28, 2008. A fourth, and final, volume of the All Systems Go series is in the works, and will be a CD/DVD set.

Reunion
Rocket from the Crypt reunited, with drummer Adam Willard, in October 2011 for an episode of the children's television show Yo Gabba Gabba! Reis, who plays a recurring role on the show as "The Swami", remarked that the band was "only interested in playing to audiences of 5 to 10 people between the ages of 3 to 6" and would "most likely never play as a band ever again". They performed an original song, "He's a Chef", which was released as a single exclusively through Volcom clothing stores. In December 2012 the band announced a full reunion, resulting in gigs in the US, Europe and Australia. In March 2015, Vintage Piss was released by Sonny Vincent and Rocket from the Crypt. The album was originally recorded with Vincent in 2003 following a tour with Rocket from the Crypt serving as his backing band however the album was left unmixed and unfinished until twelve years later following the reunion of Rocket from the Crypt when John Reis decided to go back and complete the album, which he also produced.

The band continues to play sporadically, and regularly performs their annual Halloween show.

Band members

 * Current members
 * Speedo (John Reis) – guitar, lead vocals (1990–2005, 2011, 2013–present)
 * Petey X (Pete Reichert) – bass guitar, backing vocals (1990–2005, 2011, 2013–present)
 * ND (Andy Stamets) – guitar, backing vocals (1990–2005, 2011, 2013–present)
 * Apollo 9 (Paul O'Beirne) – saxophone, percussion, backing vocals (1991–2005, 2011, 2013–present)
 * JC 2000 (Jason Crane) – trumpet, percussion, backing vocals (1994–2005, 2011, 2013–present)
 * Ruby Mars (Mario Rubalcaba) – drums (2001–2005, 2013–present)

 * Former members
 * Elaina (Elaina Torres) – backing vocals (1990–1991)
 * Sean (Sean Flynn) – drums (1990–1991)
 * Atom (Adam Willard) – drums (1991–2000, 2011, 2013, 2014)

General references

 * Pecorelli, John. Into the Void: A Short, Woefully Incomplete Oral History of Rocket from the Crypt. Alternative Press, February 2006, 72–76.

title: Rocket from the Crypt


text:
Rayner Hoff

George Rayner Hoff (27 November 1894 – 19 November 1937) was a British-born sculptor who mainly worked in Australia. He fought in World War I and is chiefly known for his war memorial work, particularly the sculptures on the Anzac War Memorial in Sydney.

Early life and training
Hoff was born on the Isle of Man, the son of a stone and wood carver of Dutch descent. He began helping his father on architectural commissions at a very young age and attended the Nottingham School of Art where he studied drawing, design, and modelling, from 1910 to 1915. During World War I, he was in the British Army and fought in the trenches in France, an experience from which he was to draw most passionately in the creation of his various war memorials. Later in the war, he made maps based on aerial photographs.

Returning from the trenches following the War he enrolled in the Royal College of Art in London studying under Francis Derwent Wood for three years. In 1922, Hoff won the British Prix de Rome which allowed him the opportunity to study in Rome. There he did little work in sculpture beyond making sketch models but drew much and mentally studied the many examples of classical and Renaissance art to be found in that country. In May 1923, on the recommendation of Sir George Frampton, R.A., and F. Derwent Wood, R.A., he became director of sculpture and drawing at the East Sydney Technical College (Australia) and set up his private studio. In 1933, he was named the head of the ESTC Art School.

Australian work
Hoff came to Australia as a young man of 28. He soon adapted himself to Australian conditions, and his quiet, slightly whimsical personality made him generally liked. He was a quick worker and an artist of great originality, although his work, originally based on the Greeks, shows he had paid attention to tradition. He had studied much that was best in Italian work of the Renaissance, the Assyrian friezes, the attempt to retain only the essentials, characteristic of some of the moderns, and the simple sincerity of the Chinese.

His modelling is in a lyrical, classical art-deco manner which effortlessly combines sensuous curves with geometric line patterns.

Hoff's coming to Sydney was a great gain to Australia. He speedily reorganized the school and succeeded in winning the enthusiasm of the students. He became a member of the Society of Artists and later the Sculptors’ Society of Australia, and submitted work to their exhibitions and competitions. In 1924 he designed the Society of Artists' medal, and in 1927 was responsible for sculpture for the National War Memorial at Adelaide. In the same year he was awarded the Wynne prize at Sydney. His best-known works are the figures on the exterior of the Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park, Sydney, the central group in the interior, and the bronze reliefs. The figures on the exterior and the interior group, including Sacrifice, are cited by sculptor, Ron Robertson-Swann as "Sydney's most moving example of publicly visible architecture". Art historian, Professor Virginia Spate, wrote in 1999: "Even incomplete, [it] is the most perfect sculptural monument in Australia." An example of his sculpture associated with architecture is at the University of Sydney, where four medallion portraits of great scientists are on the façade of the physics building.

Rayner also produced a variety of smaller work, built up a fine school of sculpture, and in 1934 was commissioned to design the Victorian centenary medal. His use of a ram's head as the design for one side of it was much criticised, and it is not one of his most successful efforts. At the time of his death on 19 November 1937 he was engaged on the George V Memorial for Canberra. He had recently been commissioned to design part of the new coinage for the Commonwealth, and earlier in 1937 had become an invited foundation member of Robert Menzies' anti-modernist organisation, the Australian Academy of Art.

Among his works is the emblem of the Holden Australian car company, a stylised 'Lion and Stone' symbol representing a legend of man's invention of the wheel.

Architectural sculpture
The Anzac War Memorial, completed in 1934, is the main commemorative military monument in Sydney, designed by C. Bruce Dellit, has an exterior adorned with monumental figural reliefs and sculptures by Rayner Hoff, and is arguably the finest Art Deco structure in Australia.
 * Medallions for various University of Sydney buildings, 1924
 * Egyptian Room, Royal Arch Masonic Temple at 23-35 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 1927.
 * The Spirit of Womanhood, National War Memorial, Adelaide, South Australia, 1927–30

 * Figures and panels, Anzac War Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia, 1931–34
 * Theatre Arts & Pan Liberty Theatre, Sydney, Australia, 1934
 * Ride of the Valkyries relief panel, Hotel Manly, Manly, Australia, 1935
 * Panels, Hotel Sydney, Sydney, Australia, 1935
 * Relief panels, City Mutual Life Insurance building, Sydney, Australia, 1936
 * Mercury, Transportation House, Sydney, Australia, 1938

Other works

 * War memorial panels, Dubbo, New South Wales
 * Australian Venus, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1927
 * Sacrifice, figure inside Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney, 1934
 * Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal for outstanding research by an Australian mathematician or physicist, first awarded in 1935.
 * Bust of William Farrer in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, 1937
 * King George V Memorial, Canberra, 1937-53 (designed by Hoff and finished by John Moorefield following Hoff's death)
 * Bronze memorial plaque to John Irvine Hunter in Wesley College, University of Sydney

Death
Hoff died on 19 November 1937, eight days before his 43rd birthday, and was survived by his wife and two daughters.

title: Rayner Hoff


text:
First Bank Tower

First Bank Tower may refer to:

 * 225 South Sixth, Minneapolis, formerly known as First Bank Tower
 * First Bank and Trust Tower, New Orleans, more commonly known as the LL&E Tower
 * First Canadian Place, Toronto, also known as First Bank Tower

title: First Bank Tower


text:
Gelfond–Schneider constant

The Gelfond–Schneider constant or Hilbert number is two to the power of the square root of two:
 * 2$√2$ ≈ $2.665$...

which was proved to be a transcendental number by Rodion Kuzmin in 1930. In 1934, Aleksandr Gelfond and Theodor Schneider independently proved the more general Gelfond–Schneider theorem, which solved the part of Hilbert's seventh problem described below.

Properties
The square root of the Gelfond–Schneider constant is the transcendental number
 * $$\sqrt{2^{\sqrt{2}}}=\sqrt{2}^{\sqrt{2}} \approx $$ $1.633$....

This same constant can be used to prove that "an irrational elevated to an irrational power may be rational", even without first proving its transcendence. The proof proceeds as follows: either $$\sqrt{2}^\sqrt{2}$$ is a rational which proves the theorem, or it is irrational (as it turns out to be) and then
 * $$\left(\sqrt{2}^{\sqrt{2}}\right)^{\sqrt{2}}=\sqrt{2}^{\sqrt{2}\times\sqrt{2}}=\sqrt{2}^2=2$$

is an irrational to an irrational power that is a rational which proves the theorem. The proof is not constructive, as it does not say which of the two cases is true, but it is much simpler than Kuzmin's proof.

Hilbert's seventh problem
Part of the seventh of Hilbert's twenty-three problems posed in 1900 was to prove, or find a counterexample to, the claim that ab is always transcendental for algebraic a ≠ 0, 1 and irrational algebraic b. In the address he gave two explicit examples, one of them being the Gelfond–Schneider constant 2√2.

In 1919, he gave a lecture on number theory and spoke of three conjectures: the Riemann hypothesis, Fermat's Last Theorem, and the transcendence of 2√2. He mentioned to the audience that he didn't expect anyone in the hall to live long enough to see a proof of this result. But the proof of this number's transcendence was published by Kuzmin in 1930, well within Hilbert's own lifetime. Namely, Kuzmin proved the case where the exponent b is a real quadratic irrational, which was later extended to an arbitrary algebraic irrational b by Gelfond and by Schneider.

title: Gelfond–Schneider constant


text:
Esashi

Esashi may refer to:

Places in Japan

 * Esashi, Iwate, previously a city, now a ward in Ōshū city, Iwate Prefecture
 * Esashi District, Hokkaidō, a district in Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaidō
 * Esashi, Hokkaidō (Hiyama), the capital town of Hiyama Subprefecture, Hokkaidō
 * Esashi, Hokkaidō (Sōya), a town in Esashi District, Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaidō

People with the surname

 * Masayoshi Esashi, Japanese engineer

title: Esashi