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Sudha Murty

Sudha Murty (Kulkarni; born 20 August 1951) is an Indian educator, author, and philanthropist. She is married to the co-founder of Infosys, N. R. Narayana Murty. She was a former chairperson of the non-profit charitable organization Infosys Foundation. In 2024, Murty was nominated as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha on 8 March 2024 for her contribution in social work and education. Murty was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for social work by the Government of India in 2006. In 2023, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award in India.

Sudha Murty began her professional career in computer science and engineering. She is a member of the public health care initiatives of the Gates Foundation. She has founded several orphanages, participated in rural development efforts, supported the movement to provide all Karnataka government schools with computer and library facilities, and established Murty Classical Library of India at Harvard University.

Murty is best known for her philanthropy and her contribution to literature in Kannada and English. Dollar Bahu, a novel originally authored by her in Kannada and later translated into English as Dollar Bahu, was adapted as a televised dramatic series by Zee TV in 2001. Runa, a story by Sudha Murty was adapted as a Marathi film, Pitruroon by director Nitish Bhardwaj. Sudha Murty has also acted in the film as well as a Kannada film Prarthana.

Early life and education
Sudha Murty was born to a Kannada-speaking family on 20 August 1951 in Shiggaon, Haveri district in Mysore State (present-day Karnataka), India, the daughter of R. H. Kulkarni, a surgeon, and his wife Vimala Kulkarni, a schoolteacher. She was raised by her parents and maternal grandparents. These childhood experiences form the historical basis for her first notable work entitled How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, Wise and Otherwise and Other Stories. Murty completed a BEng in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology (now known as KLE Technological University), and then a MEng in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Science.

Career
Sudha Murty became the first female engineer hired at India's largest auto manufacturer TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO). She joined the company as a Development Engineer in Pune and then worked in Mumbai & Jamshedpur as well. She had written a postcard to the company's Chairman complaining of the "men only" gender bias at TELCO. As a result, she was granted a special interview and hired immediately. She later joined Walchand Group of Industries at Pune as Senior Systems Analyst.

In 1996, she started Infosys Foundation and to date has been the Trustee of Infosys Foundation and a Visiting Professor at the PG Center of Bangalore University. She also taught at Christ University.

Sudha Murty has written and published many books which include novels, non-fiction, travelogues, technical books, and memoirs. Her books have been translated into all major Indian languages. She is also a columnist for English and Kannada newspapers.

Philanthropy
Murty's Infosys Foundation is a public charitable trust founded in 1996.

Personal life
Sudha Murty is married to Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy. They married when she was employed as an engineer at TELCO in Pune. The couple have two children, including fashion designer Akshata Murty, who is married to former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak.

Her siblings include Caltech astrophysicist Shrinivas Kulkarni and Jaishree Deshpande (wife of Gururaj Deshpande) who co-founded the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT.

Awards

 * 2004: Raja-Lakshmi Award by Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in Chennai
 * 2006: India's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri
 * 2006: She also received the R.K. Narayana's Award for Literature.
 * 2010: Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award by Karnataka Government.
 * 2011: Murty was conferred honorary LL.D (Doctor of Laws) degrees for contributions to promote formal legal education and scholarship in India.
 * 2013: Basava Shree-2013 Award was presented to Narayan Murty & Sudha Murty for their contributions to society.
 * 2018: Murty received the Crossword Book award in popular (Non-Fiction) category.
 * 2019: IIT Kanpur awarded her Honorary Degree (Honoris Causa) of Doctor of Science.
 * 2023: Padma Bhushan by the Government of India
 * 2023: Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar.
 * 2023: The Global Indian Award, which is worth $50, 000, is given each year to a prominent Indian who has made a major mark in his or her chosen field. Her husband Narayana Murthy too got the same award in 2014, so they became first couple conferred with this award. She donated the sum to the Field Institute (University of Toronto).

Books
Kannada
 * Computer lokadalli (2000)
 * Hakkiya Teradali (2003)
 * Guttondu Heluve (2006)
 * Saamaanyralli Asaamaanyaru (2006)
 * Athirikthe (2007)
 * Tumula (2007)
 * Yashasvi (2007)
 * Runa (2008)
 * Sukeshini Mattu Itara Makkala Kathegalu (2008)
 * Paridhi (2009)
 * Yerilitada Daariyalli (2017)
 * Kaveri inda Mekaangige
 * Nooniya Sahasagalu

Marathi

 * Astitva (2002)

English
 * Wise and Otherwise (2002)
 * Mahashweta (2002)
 * How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories (2004)
 * The Old Man And His God (2006)
 * Gently Falls The Bakula (2008)
 * The Bird with Golden Wings (2009)
 * The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk (2012)
 * Grandma's Bag of Stories (2012)
 * House of Cards (2013)
 * Dollar Bahu (2013)
 * The Magic Drum and Other Favorite Stories (2013)
 * The Mother I Never Knew (2014)
 * Something Happened on the Way To Heavens (2014)
 * The Magic of the Lost Temple (2015)
 * The Serpent's Revenge (2016)
 * Three Thousand Stitches (2017)
 * The Man from the Egg (2017)
 * Here, There, Everywhere (2018)
 * The Upside Down King (2018)
 * How The Sea Became Salty (2019)
 * The Daughter From A Wishing Tree (2019)
 * How The Onion got its layers (2020)
 * Grandparents Bag of Stories (2020)
 * The Gopi Diaries: Coming Home (2020)
 * The Gopi Diaries: Finding Love (2021)
 * The Sage With Two Horns (2021)
 * The Gopi Diaries: Growing Up (2022)
 * Common yet uncommon (2023)
 * The Magic of the Lost story (2022)

title: Sudha Murty


text:
Anaco

Anaco is a city in Anzoátegui State, Venezuela, the shire town of Anaco Municipality. It is an industrial town, connected to the natural gas and petroleum industries. Estimated population (as of 2005): 106,275 inhabitants.

Transport
The city is served by Anaco Airport. No longer in service for commercial flights. Anaco is on the San Tomé-Puerto la Cruz highway that connects the town with San Tomé and El Tigre to the south and Puerto la Cruz on the coast.

Notable people

 * Omar Rudberg, singer and actor.
 * Nathalie Rayes, activist and sociologist.
 * Orlando Arcia, Atlanta Braves shortstop, younger brother of Oswaldo Arcia
 * Oswaldo Arcia, Minnesota Twins outfielder, older brother of Orlando Arcia
 * Ruddy Rodríguez – former Miss Venezuela
 * Miguel Cairo – Professional baseball player

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

title: Anaco


text: Category:1588 deaths

title: Category:1588 deaths


text: Category:1587 deaths

title: Category:1587 deaths


text: Category:1586 deaths

title: Category:1586 deaths


text: Category:1586 births

title: Category:1586 births


text: Category:1585 deaths

title: Category:1585 deaths


text: Category:1585 births

title: Category:1585 births


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Faucett Perú Flight 251

Faucett Perú Flight 251 refers to a Boeing 737-200 that was operating a domestic scheduled Lima–Arequipa–Tacna passenger service and crashed on 29 February 1996, while completing the first leg, on approach to Rodríguez Ballón International Airport. All 123 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft lost their lives in the accident. It is the deadliest aviation accident that occurred on Peruvian soil.

Aircraft and crew
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-222, tail number OB-1451, c/n 19072, that had its maiden flight on 21 October 1968. Equipped with Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B engines, the airplane started its commercial career on 28 October 1968, when it was delivered new to United Airlines and registered N9034U.

Re-registered N73714 on 14 June 1971 when Aloha Airlines took possession of the airplane until late October 1980, when it was transferred to Air California with the same registration. Air California was rebranded AirCal in October 1981, and the aircraft was re-registered again to N459AC. Following the absorption of AirCal into American Airlines, the airplane continued its career with this carrier until Braniff Inc. received it, with the same registration, on 2 March 1989, later going to AL AC 2 Corp, on 15 May 1990.

Finally, the aircraft was delivered to Faucett on 15 July 1991, and registered OB-1451. The airframe was old at the time of the accident. On its final flight, it was piloted by Captain Juan Mayta Basurto and First Officer Julio Paz Castillo, both pilots were properly qualified to fly the 737.

Description
Inbound from Jorge Chávez International Airport, the aircraft was on a VOR/DME approach to Rodríguez Ballón International Airport's runway 09, at night, in rain and mist, with thunderstorms reported in the area.

The flight crew asked for the lights of the runway to be brightened as they could not see them when they should on normal approach, receiving a response from air traffic controllers that they were at full intensity. The airplane crashed into hills at 8200 ft —the airport elevation is 8405 ft —, at 20:25, approximately 2 km short of the runway and 8 km off Arequipa. The aft section broke off on impact, and the main fuselage section continued to fly past the initial ridge and impacted near the top of the second one. The tail section fell into a crevasse between the two ridges.

There were 123 people aboard the aircraft, of whom 117 were passengers. The nationalities of the victims were as follows:

Among those killed was Juan Lorenzo de Szyszlo, a dual American-Peruvian citizen, aged 36, and the second son of the renowned Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo and his wife, the poet Blanca Varela. Lorenzo was reportedly heading to Arequipa to oversee an exhibition of his father's work there.

Investigation
The investigation was assisted by representatives from the US National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, as well as Boeing and Pratt & Whitney, all of whom arrived at the scene of the crash by 1 March. The aircraft's flight data recorder (FDR) and cockpit voice recorder (CVR) were retrieved from the wreckage and on 5 March were sent to Washington D.C. for analysis by the NTSB.

Early press coverage reported that the FDR and CVR were already yielding information. However, while the FDR was found to be usable, the partly-burned and partly-damaged CVR had its magnetic tape broken at its beginning, and only isolated Spanish-language voices could be heard. These were seemingly recorded inside a hangar, possibly during maintenance, and thus no recording of the flight crew's final voices before the crash was made. The airline claimed to have acquired the CVR in July 1995 and to have done maintenance on it in two occasions immediately prior to the crash (December 1995 and February 1996), however, the CVR had not been maintained in six years, showing in its interior registry that the date of its last opening was December 1989.

It was found that the crew had been issued an outdated barometric altimeter setting after bypassing an ILS signal, causing them to fly almost 1000 ft lower than the altitude they believed they were flying at. In fact, they had the wrong impression the aircraft was flying at 9500 ft, when it actually was at 8640 ft, some 850 ft below the glideslope.

title: Faucett Perú Flight 251


text: Category:1520 births

title: Category:1520 births


text: Category:1583 deaths

title: Category:1583 deaths


text:
Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) are strains of Staphylococcus aureus that have acquired resistance to the glycopeptide antibiotic vancomycin. Bacteria can acquire resistant genes either by random mutation or through the transfer of DNA from one bacterium to another. Resistance genes interfere with the normal antibiotic function and allow bacteria to grow in the presence of the antibiotic. Resistance in VRSA is conferred by the plasmid-mediated vanA gene and operon. Although VRSA infections are uncommon, VRSA is often resistant to other types of antibiotics and a potential threat to public health because treatment options are limited. VRSA is resistant to many of the standard drugs used to treat S. aureus infections. Furthermore, resistance can be transferred from one bacterium to another.

Mechanism of acquired resistance
Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was first reported in the United States in 2002. To date, documented cases of VRSA have acquired resistance through uptake of a vancomycin resistance gene cluster from Enterococcus (i.e. VRE). The acquired mechanism is typically the vanA gene and operon from a plasmid in Enterococcus faecium or Enterococcus faecalis.

This mechanism differs from strains of vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (VISA), which appear to develop elevated MICs to vancomycin through sequential mutations resulting in a thicker cell wall and the synthesis of excess amounts of D-ala-D-ala residues.

Diagnosis
The diagnosis of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) is performed by performing susceptibility testing on a single S. aureus isolate to vancomycin. This is accomplished by first assessing the isolate's minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) using standard laboratory methods, including disc diffusion, gradient strip diffusion, and automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems. Once the MIC is known, resistance is determined by comparing the MIC with established breakpoints

Resistant or "R" designations are assigned based on agreed upon values called breakpoints. Breakpoints are published by standards development organizations such as the U.S. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptiblity Testing.

Treatment of infection
When the minimum inhibitory concentration of vancomycin is > 2 µg/mL, alternative antibiotics should be used. The approach is to treat with at least one agent to which the bacteria known to be susceptible by in vitro testing. The agents that are used include daptomycin, linezolid, telavancin, ceftaroline, and quinupristin–dalfopristin. For people with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia in the setting of vancomycin failure the Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends high-dose daptomycin, if the isolate is susceptible, in combination with another agent (e.g., gentamicin, rifampin, linezolid, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, or a beta-lactam antibiotic).

History
Three classes of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus have emerged that differ in vancomycin susceptibilities: vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA), heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (hVISA), and high-level vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA).

Vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA)
Vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) ( or ) was first identified in Japan in 1996 and has since been found in hospitals elsewhere in Asia, as well as in the United Kingdom, France, the U.S., and Brazil. It is also termed GISA (glycopeptide-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus), indicating resistance to all glycopeptide antibiotics. These bacterial strains present a thickening of the cell wall, which is believed to reduce the ability of vancomycin to diffuse into the division septum of the cell required for effective vancomycin treatment.

Vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA)
High-level vancomycin resistance in S. aureus has been rarely reported. In vitro and in vivo experiments reported in 1992 demonstrated that vancomycin resistance genes from Enterococcus faecalis could be transferred by gene transfer to S. aureus, conferring high-level vancomycin resistance to S. aureus. Until 2002 such a genetic transfer was not reported for wild S. aureus strains. In 2002, a VRSA strain ( or ) was isolated from a patient in Michigan. The isolate contained the mecA gene for methicillin resistance. Vancomycin MICs of the VRSA isolate were consistent with the VanA phenotype of Enterococcus species, and the presence of the vanA gene was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. The DNA sequence of the VRSA vanA gene was identical to that of a vancomycin-resistant strain of Enterococcus faecalis recovered from the same catheter tip. The vanA gene was later found to be encoded within a transposon located on a plasmid carried by the VRSA isolate. This transposon, Tn1546, confers vanA-type vancomycin resistance in enterococci.

As of 2019, 52 VRSA strains have been identified in the United States, India, Iran, Pakistan, Brazil, and Portugal.

Heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (hVISA)
The definition of hVISA according to Hiramatsu et al. is a strain of Staphylococcus aureus that gives resistance to vancomycin at a frequency of 10−6 colonies or even higher.


text: Category:1582 deaths

title: Category:1582 deaths


text:
VRSA

VRSA may refer to:
 * Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus.
 * Vila Real de Santo António Municipality, a city and municipality in the Algarve, Portugal.
 * Vrsa or Vṛṣabha, a month in the Hindu calendar and a zodiac in Hindu astrology (equivalent to Taurus)

title: VRSA


text:
David Kyle

David A. Kyle (February 14, 1919 – September 18, 2016) was an American science fiction writer and member of science fiction fandom.

Professional career
Kyle served as a reporter in the Air Force Reserves with the rank of lieutenant colonel, writing civil defense material, while working at radio station WPDM in Potsdam, New York.

With Martin Greenberg, Kyle founded Gnome Press in 1948. He wrote two pictorial histories of science fiction (A Pictorial History of Science Fiction and The Illustrated Book of Science Fiction Ideas and Dreams) and three licensed novels set in the Lensman universe (The Dragon Lensman, Lensman from Rigel and Z-Lensman).

He appeared with Paul Levinson, Greg Bear and many others on the History Channel's 2002 documentary, Fantastic Voyage: Evolution of Science Fiction. He died at the age of 97 on September 18, 2016.

Fandom
Kyle, an active fan since the earliest days of organized science fiction fandom, was an original member of New York's Futurians. In 1936, he published The Fantasy World, possibly the first comics fanzine.

He attended the first Worldcon, and both wrote and printed the "Yellow Pamphlet" condemning the organizers. The manifesto led chairman Sam Moskowitz to ban several prominent members of the Futurians from that convention.

Kyle chaired the 1956 14th World Science Fiction Convention (NyCon II), an incident at which inspired the fan catchphrase, "Dave Kyle says you can't sit here." He was created a Knight of The Order of Saint Fantony in 1961, and was awarded the Big Heart Award in 1973. Kyle was also Fan Guest of Honor at ConStellation, the 41st World Science Fiction Convention, in 1983.

In addition, he wrote hundreds of articles for various fanzines, including regular articles for Richard and Nicki Lynch's Mimosa.

Kyle married another fan, Ruth Evelyn Landis (whom he had met through fandom), on August 31, 1957; for their honeymoon they flew to England for the 1957 Worldcon there, together with 53 friends and in-laws, on a specially chartered flight. They remained married until her death on January 5, 2011. They had a son Arthur and a daughter Kerry.

title: David Kyle


text: Category:1581 deaths

title: Category:1581 deaths


text:
Category:Vaccines

A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to produce active immunity to a disease, in order to prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by any natural or "wild" strain of the organism.

title: Category:Vaccines


text:
Talk:Port of Spain

Page name
I have proposed that the page be moved to Port-of-Spain in accordance with Wikipedia naming conventions. Guettarda 17:02, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Hyphens
Could you please decide unambigously whether the hyphens are needed or not? I mean, the title should agree with the article text consistently. Adam78 03:03, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Hyphens were recently removed from the article. Both are common - I believe that the hyphenated form is more correct.  Guettarda 03:05, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm. There's even discrepancies on POS' website. http://www.cityofportofspain.org.tt/ CaribDigita 22:47, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

 * As User:Nicholas Laughlin pointed out in his edits to the PoS article a while ago, Port of Spain is more common usage, while Port-of-Spain is a bit archaic (although still widely used). Although I undid his changes for consistency, the more I thought about it the more I felt he was right.  So after thinking about it for a while, I decided to be bold.  If people feel it's a bad idea - well, that's what rollback and the AutoWikiBrowser are made for ;)  Guettarda 23:41, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Thank you very much. I'll believe you. :) Adam78 00:57, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Artists rendition of the new Queen's Park Savannah facilities
I thought this link was too good to pass up. Especially for future article expansion. The link has an artists' rendition of the new Grand/North stand replacement to be built down the Queen's Park Savannah. Although it's copyright it's better to have something-- as backup until something can be found in public domain. CaribDigita 01:41, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Although it's on the Express website, my assumption is that the drawing would be copyright of the architect, so I suspect that a good argument could be made for fair use. Guettarda 04:59, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Revert to Hyphens
Why? Not for any reason really, except that T-N-T's capital is not Spain's Port, which is what "Port of Spain" implies. It is instead Port-of-Spain...Ishango 20:14, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

Slavery
I find the lack of reference to slavery quite odd.

new york of the caribbean
Has anyone actually heard this term used, or is it just another one of these things the guide books make up?

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/caribbean/trinidad_and_tobago/attractions.htm

"The pulse of the city is Independence Square ... "the New York of the Caribbean" because of its active nightlife and vibrant cultural scence." This paragraph is copied verbatim from the above site.

I also concerned about the image - it even has a watermark from http://www.triniting.com/

Guettarda 20:49, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Trinidadians do not commonly use it to describe their city. I've heard it used by people from our small island neighbours up north. Port of Spain is too plauged with problems for Trinidadians to even compare ourselves with this US city. However, in some aspects such as shopping and business it is partially true.

 * Never heard of "NYC of the Caribbean" here. However, I did see the Washington Times did have an article saying the "Hong Kong of the Caribbean" though. CaribDigita (talk) 00:55, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

List of nightclubs
I have removed the lsit of individual night club names because:
 * It lacks notability - the fact that Port of Spain has an active nightlife is notable in the context of the article but the names of particular clubs are not unless there is something individually distinctive about them.
 * It is unverified original research - the list is unsourced and the existence of these clubs and their representativeness of all clubs in the city cannot be determined; and
 * It gives undue weight to nightclubs in the cotnext of the article - there are nigth clubs in Port of Spain, but is this such an important point that it needs a section as long as this?

The article still points to the fact that there is an active night life and that clubs and restaurants are located on Ariapita Street. This seems sufficient unless any of the nightclubs are so distinctive that their special characteristics should be separately noted.

Other opinions welcome. Euryalus (talk) 01:13, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

 * Why not remove the restaurant list as well? The list is certainly not complete and suffers the same issues. In fact, I would say the clubs are more notable than the restaurants. Akon's song Sorry, Blame It on Me has lyrics based on the infamous incident that occurred at Club Zen in Port of Spain. Machel Montano is also in court now based on an incident at and outside the club. Not saying I disagree with the decision to remove the clubs, but they certainly play a big part in Port of Spain's notability. The cultural section in the article is not representative of its importance to the city. I would be 100% for removing the list of US fast food chains as well. Rasadam (talk) 02:50, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

 * Removing all or part of the restaurant list sounds good to mee too. I'd also say the Club Zen details you provided above are sufficiently notable to restore a mention of this club to the article - not simply because it is a nightclub in Port of Spain, but because it has notability in its own right for the reasons you give above. Euryalus (talk) 03:00, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

I created the list of restaurants and I still believe it needs to remain. The first thing you do upon visiting a city and finding a hotel is you find a place to eat. If you like japanese, you want to know if there is a japanese restaurant, etc. Listing the restaurants and their type of cuisine is not advertising them. In many cases, these are the only restaurants of their type in the island and their quality was cited in a reference to an article which was published online by fodor's about Port of spain restaurants - google it. I will not change anything for now. But if you agree with me, I might. To me, I wouldn't care as much about the history of a city - I want to know about its contemporary qualities - what it can offer me right now. Can't you guys see that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.6.235.101 (talk) 01:50, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

 * Hello, I don't think anyone would argue the usefulness of a restaurant list to a prospective traveler. But you're missing a key underlying concept, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia not a travel guide website. The aim is to document the history and describe cities, not to serve as a tourists guide to any location. People looking for this information should visit a tourism website, like the Government Tourism Page and not this article. If you're interested in working on a travel guide Wiki, I would recommending having a look at one of the sister wiki sites, Wikitravel, which in fact has a Port of Spain page that is in dire need of expansion. Rasadam (talk) 02:11, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

 * I agree with Rasadam, especially about the need to improve the Wikitravel Port of Spain page which contains very little useful content. Euryalus (talk) 03:24, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

 * The nightclubs don't belong. Simple enough.  Look at some other major cities.  Guettarda (talk) 04:13, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Problems with the tone in the article
While I don't want to diminish the efforts of the contributors who have made drastic improvements to the content and quality of the article, I have serious problems with the direction this article is headed. Virtually every section, including the lead and areas relevant to modern day Port of Spain are essentially touting efforts by the Government left right and center. For example, the lead suggests this with "The Government promoted this in 2008 by launching the International Finance Center at the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre" alluding to T&T becoming a financial powerhouse thanks to having large building. This is an opinion of the government and especially the current Prime Minister but is disputed by many people in T&T. The fact is that the current IFC only really has a hotel/conference centre (For the record, most of the summits meetings occurred on the cruise ships leased) and most of the "tall buildings" will be holding government ministries.

The article bleeds government propaganda with heavy emphasis on Government's Vision 2020. There's way too much emphasis on proposed projects or in-construction works. As much as I love to see our country put the best foot forward on Wikipedia, having an article with government propaganda is of little encyclopedic benefit. --   R45    talk! 14:49, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Poverty and Minor Crimes
I agree 100% on the section about crime and it can be expanded to include the daily purse,chain and cellphone snatching, the prostitution, illegal vending, public defecation, traffic violations, unfair price fixing, and homeless population (who were twice literally hunted down like dogs). Google Trinidad Express for more details. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.213.229.67 (talk) 02:11, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

CRIME SECTION
Crime is a burning issue in POS, but we need to be rational about it. To avoid anymore rumours, hearsay and speculation as opposed to hard facts being entered into the section, please don't edit it unless you have reliable sources of information or statistics. Thank you.Belchman9006 (talk) 13:21, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Climate Table
The table containing the temperatures seems to be wrong. Especially the Average highs for the first months of the year. --ALE! (talk) 14:17, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

-- WTF is wrong with the climate! that's pretty fake, going to fix it right now! It's IMPOSIBLE that Port of Spain reached to temperatures below 10ºC, and the links are from San Juan (Puerto Rico) NOT FROM PORT OF SPAIN --200.8.37.151 (talk) 18:44, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

The temperature data and climate information was obviously false. The description listed frequent snow and hail. All dubious climate information was deleted and climate table was fixed with data from the weather channel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rawls1989 (talk • contribs) 00:43, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Population
The population listed in the side bar is incorrect. Port of spain's population is 49031 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.93.55.190 (talk) 15:50, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I have reverted changes by that causes this. Materialscientist (talk) 21:44, 7 June 2013 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Port of Spain


text: Category:1580 deaths

title: Category:1580 deaths


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text: User talk:207.235.164.2

title: User talk:207.235.164.2


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Glyptodont

Glyptodonts are an extinct clade of large, heavily armoured armadillos, reaching up to 1.5 m in height, and maximum body masses of around 2 tonnes. They had short, deep skulls, a fused vertebral column, and a large bony carapace made up of hundreds of individual scutes. Some glyptodonts had clubbed tails, similar to ankylosaurid dinosaurs.

The earliest widely recognised fossils of glyptodonts in South America are known from the late Eocene, around 38 million years ago, and they spread to southern North America after the continents became connected around 2.7 million years ago. The best-known genus within the group is Glyptodon.

Glyptodonts were historically considered to constitute the distinct family Glyptodontidae, with their relationships to modern armadillos being contested. In 2016, an analysis of the mitochondrial genome of Doedicurus found that it was, in fact, nested within the modern armadillos as the sister group of a clade consisting of Chlamyphorinae (fairy armadillos) and Tolypeutinae (giant, three-banded and naked-tailed armadillos). For this reason, glyptodonts and all armadillos but Dasypus (long-nosed or naked-tailed armadillos) were relocated to a new family, Chlamyphoridae, and glyptodonts were demoted to the subfamily Glyptodontinae. Other authors have continued to use Glyptodontidae. Based on the morphology of the inner ear, a close relationship with pampatheres has also been proposed.

Glyptodonts abruptly became extinct approximately 12,000 years ago at the end of the Late Pleistocene, as part of the Late Pleistocene extinctions, along with most other large animals in the Americas. Evidence has been found suggesting that they were hunted by recently arrived Paleoindians, which may have played a role in their extinction.

Evolution
Glyptodonts first evolved during the Eocene in South America, which remained their center of species diversity. For example, an Early Miocene glyptodont with many primitive features (comparatively to other species), Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis, was discovered at a now-elevated site in Chile and described in 2007. After the Isthmus of Panama formed about three million years ago, the genus Glyptotherium spread north as part of the Great American Interchange, as did pampatheres, armadillos and a number of other types of xenarthrans (e.g., ground sloths).

Analysis of inner ear morphology corroborates this position, while also finding that pampatheres are the closest relatives of glyptodonts:

Glyptodonts are divided into two major groups, which split during or prior to the Early Miocene. The first is the traditional Glyptodontinae, which is includes the well known genera of Glyptodon and Glyptotherium, which probably originated in Northern South America, while the second is the unnamed "Austral clade", containing the majority of glyptodont diversity, which as the name suggests probably originated in Southern South America.

Cladogram after Barasoain et al. 2022:

Description
The largest glyptodonts like Doedicurus reached a height of 1.5 m and 4 m in length, with a body mass of over two tonnes. The body of glyptodonts was covered in a large immobile carapace made up of hundreds of bony scutes/osteoderms, with the underside of the body and the top of the head also being protected with osteoderms. This protection reached a thickness of 2.5 cm. The vertebrae of the back were extensively fused to each other. The limbs were short and robustly built, with the pectoral girdle being wide. The head was short and blunt, with deep jaws. The teeth were grooved, and were evergrowing. The tail was covered in rings composed of osteoderms, which allowed the tail to flex. In many glyptodonts (members of the "Austral clade" other than Propalaehoplophorus and Eucinepeltus), the end of the tail was covered in a completely fused "caudal tube". The end of caudal tubes of at least some glyptodonts are covered in depressions which in life are suggested to have been anchoring points for horny, likely keratinous spikes, allowing for the tail to function as an effective weapon when swung. These "tail clubs" are similar in construction to those of ankylosaurid dinosaurs.

Ecology
Glyptodonts are thought to have been herbivores that fed on low lying vegetation, with mixed feeding or grazing based diets. Some glyptodonts were likely selective feeders, while others were likely bulk feeders. Damage to some glyptodont carapaces suggested to be caused by tail club impacts suggests that tail clubs may have been used in combat between rival males.

Extinction
At the end of the Late Pleistocene, all then-living glyptodont species, which belonged to the genera Glyptodon, Hoplophorus, Glyptotherium, Panochthus, Doedicurus and Neosclerocalyptus, abruptly became extinct around 12,000 years ago as part of the Late Pleistocene extinctions, simultaneously with the vast majority of other large mammals in the Americas. The importance of human vs climatic factors in these extinctions has been the subject of contention. Several sites across South America are suggested to document hunting of glyptodonts by the recently arrived Paleoindians, which may have played a role in their extinction. At the Muaco and Taima-Taima sites in Falcón State in northwestern Venezuela, several skulls of Glyptotherium display distinctive fracture marks on the skull roof that occurred around the time of death, suggested to have been caused by a deliberate percussive blow to a relatively thin part of the skull by a club or stone tool.

title: Glyptodont


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Patricia N. Willoughby

Patricia N. Willoughby is an American educator and former government appointee from North Carolina. She was appointed by Governor Mike Easley as the interim North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction in September 2004, following the resignation of Mike Ward, and served the remaining months of Ward's term.

A new superintendent was to be chosen in the Council of State elections in November 2004. She was not a candidate in that election. Her term lasted until August 23, 2005, when her successor, Democrat June Atkinson, was sworn in.

Willoughby, a North Carolina native, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and worked as a public school teacher. She earned a master's degree in education from Meredith College in 1990, and was appointed to the North Carolina State Board of Education by Governor Mike Easley in July 2001. Willoughby was an instructor in elementary education at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina.

After leaving office, she began serving as the director the North Carolina Business Committee for Education in the office of the North Carolina governor. She is married to Wake County district attorney, Colon Willoughby, and has two daughters.

title: Patricia N. Willoughby


text:
Shawna McCarthy

Shawna Lee McCarthy (born 1954) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor and literary agent.

McCarthy graduated from the Wilkes University and studied at the American University.

Career
McCarthy edited various magazines for several years, starting as editorial assistant and editor of Firehouse Magazine before working as the managing editor at Asimov's. In 1983, she took over from Kathleen Moloney as the editor-in-chief of Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, a change under which the magazine "acquired an edgier and more literary and experimental tone." During her time at Asimov's, McCarthy edited four anthologies of stories from the magazine (Isaac Asimov's Wonders of the World (1982), Isaac Asimov's Aliens & Outworlders (1983), Isaac Asimov's Space of Her Own (1984) and Isaac Asimov's Fantasy! (1985)), and received the 1984 Hugo Award for Best Professional Editor (she was nominated for this award three times). She left the magazine in 1985 and was succeeded by Gardner Dozois.

After leaving Asimov's, McCarthy became an editor for Bantam in 1985 and co-edited the first two volumes of that publisher's Full Spectrum anthology series with Lou Aronica, et al. Upon leaving Bantam in 1988, she began working as a literary agent, first with Scott Meredith, then with Scovil Chichak Galen, and now as an independent. In addition, she was the fiction editor of Realms of Fantasy magazine from its debut in 1994 until its closure after the October 2011 issue.

title: Shawna McCarthy


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Cyanotoxin

Cyanotoxins are toxins produced by cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria are found almost everywhere, but particularly in lakes and in the ocean where, under high concentration of phosphorus conditions, they reproduce exponentially to form blooms. Blooming cyanobacteria can produce cyanotoxins in such concentrations that they can poison and even kill animals and humans. Cyanotoxins can also accumulate in other animals such as fish and shellfish, and cause poisonings such as shellfish poisoning.

Some of the most powerful natural poisons known are cyanotoxins. They include potent neurotoxins, hepatotoxins, cytotoxins, and endotoxins. Despite the similarity in name, they are unrelated to cyanides. Exposure to cyanobacteria can result in gastro-intestinal and hayfever symptoms or pruritic skin rashes. Exposure to the cyanobacteria neurotoxin BMAA may be an environmental cause of neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. There is also an interest in the military potential of biological neurotoxins such as cyanotoxins, which "have gained increasing significance as potential candidates for weaponization."

The first published report that blue-green algae or cyanobacteria could have lethal effects appeared in Nature in 1878. George Francis described the algal bloom he observed in the estuary of the Murray River in Australia, as "a thick scum like green oil paint, some two to six inches thick." Wildlife which drank the water died rapidly and terribly. Most reported incidents of poisoning by microalgal toxins have occurred in freshwater environments, and they are becoming more common and widespread. For example, thousands of ducks and geese died drinking contaminated water in the midwestern United States. In 2010, for the first time, marine mammals were reported to have died from ingesting cyanotoxins.

Background

Cyanobacteria are ecologically one of the most prolific groups of phototrophic prokaryotes in both marine and freshwater habitats. Both the beneficial and detrimental aspects of cyanobacteria are of considerable significance. They are important primary producers as well as an immense source of several secondary products, including an array of toxic compounds known as cyanotoxins. Abundant growth of cyanobacteria in freshwater, estuarine, and coastal ecosystems due to increased anthropogenic eutrophication and global climate change has created serious concern toward harmful bloom formation and surface water contamination.

Cyanobacteria are considered the most primitive groups of photosynthetic prokaryotes and possibly appeared on the Earth about 3.5 billion years ago. They are ubiquitous in nature and thrive in a variety of ecological niches ranging from desert to hot springs and ice-cold water. Most cyanobacteria are an immense source of several secondary natural products with applications in the food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, agriculture, and energy sectors. Moreover, some species of cyanobacteria grow vigorously and form a dominant microflora in terms of their biomass and productivity in specific ecosystems. Bloom formations due to excessive growth of certain cyanobacteria followed by the production of toxic compounds have been reported in many eutrophic to hypertrophic lakes, ponds, and rivers throughout the world.

A range of toxic secondary compounds, called cyanotoxins, have been reported from cyanobacteria inhabiting freshwater and marine ecosystems. These toxic compounds are highly detrimental for survival of several aquatic organisms, wild and/or domestic animals, and humans. Aquatic organisms, including plants and animals, as well as phytoplankton and zooplankton inhabiting under toxic bloom rich ecosystems, are directly exposed to the harmful effects of different cyanotoxins. The intoxication occurring in wild and/or domestic animals and humans is either due to direct ingestion of cells of toxin producing cyanobacteria or the consumption of drinking water contaminated with cyanotoxins. The toxicity of different cyanotoxins is directly proportional to the growth of cyanobacteria and the extent of their toxin production. It has been shown that the growth of different cyanobacteria and their toxin biosynthesis is greatly influenced by different abiotic factors such as light intensity, temperature, short wavelength radiations, pH, and nutrients. Global warming and temperature gradients can significantly change species composition and favor blooms of toxic phytoplanktons.

It has been assumed that cyanotoxins play an important role in chemical defense mechanisms giving survival advantages to the cyanobacteria over other microbes or deterring predation by higher trophic levels. Cyanotoxins may also take part in chemical signalling.

Cyanotoxins are produced by cyanobacteria, a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. The prefix cyan comes from the Greek κύανoς meaning "a dark blue substance", and usually indicates any of a number of colours in the blue/green range of the spectrum. Cyanobacteria are commonly referred to as blue-green algae. Traditionally they were thought of as a form of algae, and were introduced as such in older textbooks. However modern sources tend to regard this as outdated; they are now considered to be more closely related to bacteria, and the term for true algae is restricted to eukaryotic organisms. Like true algae, cyanobacteria are photosynthetic and contain photosynthetic pigments, which is why they are usually green or blue.

Cyanobacteria are found almost everywhere; in oceans, lakes and rivers as well as on land. They flourish in Arctic and Antarctic lakes, hotsprings and wastewater treatment plants. They even inhabit the fur of polar bears, to which they impart a greenish tinge. Cyanobacteria produce potent toxins, but they also produce helpful bioactive compounds, including substances with antitumour, antiviral, anticancer, antibiotic and antifungal activity, UV protectants and specific inhibitors of enzymes.

Harmful algal blooms

Cyanotoxins are often implicated in what are commonly called red tides or harmful algal blooms. Lakes and oceans contain many single-celled organisms called phytoplankton. Under certain conditions, particularly when nutrient concentrations are high, these organisms reproduce exponentially. The resulting dense swarm of phytoplankton is called an algal bloom; these can cover hundreds of square kilometres and can be easily seen in satellite images. Individual phytoplankton rarely live more than a few days, but blooms can last weeks.

While some of these blooms are harmless, others fall into the category of harmful algal blooms, or HABs. HABs can contain toxins or pathogens which result in fish kill and can also be fatal to humans. In marine environments, HABs are mostly caused by dinoflagellates, though species of other algae taxa can also cause HABs (diatoms, flagellates, haptophytes and raphidophytes). Marine dinoflagellate species are often toxic, but freshwater species are not known to be toxic. Neither are diatoms known to be toxic, at least to humans.

In freshwater ecosystems, algal blooms are most commonly caused by high levels of nutrients (eutrophication). The blooms can look like foam, scum or mats or like paint floating on the surface of the water, but they are not always visible. Nor are the blooms always green; they can be blue, and some cyanobacteria species are coloured brownish-red. The water can smell bad when the cyanobacteria in the bloom die.

Strong cyanobacterial blooms reduce visibility to one or two centimetres. Species which are not reliant on sight (such as cyanobacteria themselves) survive, but species which need to see to find food and partners are compromised. During the day blooming cyanobacteria saturate the water with oxygen. At night respiring aquatic organisms can deplete the oxygen to the point where sensitive species, such as certain fish, die. This is more likely to happen near the sea floor or a thermocline. Water acidity also cycles daily during a bloom, with the pH reaching 9 or more during the day and dropping to low values at night, further stressing the ecosystem. In addition, many cyanobacteria species produce potent cyanotoxins which concentrate during a bloom to the point where they become lethal to nearby aquatic organisms and any other animals in direct contact with the bloom, including birds, livestock, domestic animals and sometimes humans.

In 1991 a harmful cyanobacterial bloom affected 1,000 km of the Darling-Barwon River in Australia at an economic cost of $10M AUD.

Chemical structure
Cyanotoxins usually target the nervous system (neurotoxins), the liver (hepatotoxins) or the skin (dermatoxins). The chemical structure of cyanotoxins falls into three broad groups: cyclic peptides, alkaloids and lipopolysaccharides (endotoxins).

Most cyanotoxins have a number of variants (analogues). As of 1999, altogether over 84 cyanotoxins were known and only a small number have been well studied.

Cyclic peptides
A peptide is a short polymer of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. They have the same chemical structure as proteins, except they are shorter. In a cyclic peptide, the ends link to form a stable circular chain. In mammals this stability makes them resistant to the process of digestion and they can bioaccumulate in the liver. Of all the cyanotoxins, the cyclic peptides are of most concern to human health. The microcystins and nodularins poison the liver, and exposure to high doses can cause death. Exposure to low doses in drinking water over a long period of time may promote liver and other tumours.

Microcystins

As with other cyanotoxins, microcystins were named after the first organism discovered to produce them, Microcystis aeruginosa. However it was later found other cyanobacterial genera also produced them. There are about 60 known variants of microcystin, and several of these can be produced during a bloom. The most reported variant is microcystin-LR, possibly because the earliest commercially available chemical standard analysis was for microcystin-LR.

Blooms containing microcystin are a problem worldwide in freshwater ecosystems. Microcystins are cyclic peptides and can be very toxic for plants and animals including humans. They bioaccumulate in the liver of fish, in the hepatopancreas of mussels, and in zooplankton. They are hepatotoxic and can cause serious damage to the liver in humans. In this way they are similar to the nodularins (below), and together the microcystins and nodularins account for most of the toxic cyanobacterial blooms in fresh and brackish waters. In 2010, a number of sea otters were poisoned by microcystin. Marine bivalves were the likely source of hepatotoxic shellfish poisoning. This was the first confirmed example of a marine mammal dying from ingesting a cyanotoxin.

Nodularins

The first nodularin variant to be identified was nodularin-R, produced by the cyanobacterium Nodularia spumigena. This cyanobacterium blooms in water bodies throughout the world. In the Baltic Sea, marine blooms of Nodularia spumigena are among some of the largest cyanobacterial mass events in the world. (Parts of nine industrialized countries drain into the Baltic Sea, which has little water exchange with the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. It is consequently one of the more polluted bodies of water in the world (nutrient-rich, from the perspective of cyanobacteria).)

Globally, the most common toxins present in cyanobacterial blooms in fresh and brackish waters are the cyclic peptide toxins of the nodularin family. Like the microcystin family (above), nodularins are potent hepatotoxins and can cause serious damage to the liver. They present health risks for wild and domestic animals as well as humans, and in many areas pose major challenges for the provision of safe drinking water.

Alkaloids
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds which mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms. They are produced by a large variety of organisms, including cyanobacteria, and are part of the group of natural products, also called secondary metabolites. Alkaloids act on diverse metabolic systems in humans and other animals, often with psychotropic or toxic effects. Almost uniformly, they are bitter tasting.

Anatoxin-a

Investigations into anatoxin-a, also known as "Very Fast Death Factor", began in 1961 following the deaths of cows that drank from a lake containing an algal bloom in Saskatchewan, Canada. The toxin is produced by at least four different genera of cyanobacteria and has been reported in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and New Zealand.

Toxic effects from anatoxin-a progress very rapidly because it acts directly on the nerve cells (neurons) as a neurotoxin. The progressive symptoms of anatoxin-a exposure are loss of coordination, twitching, convulsions and rapid death by respiratory paralysis. The nerve tissues which communicate with muscles contain a receptor called the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Stimulation of these receptors causes a muscular contraction. The anatoxin-a molecule is shaped so it fits this receptor, and in this way it mimics the natural neurotransmitter normally used by the receptor, acetylcholine. Once it has triggered a contraction, anatoxin-a does not allow the neurons to return to their resting state, because it is not degraded by cholinesterase which normally performs this function. As a result, the muscle cells contract permanently, the communication between the brain and the muscles is disrupted and breathing stops.

The toxin was called the Very Fast Death Factor because it induced tremors, paralysis and death within a few minutes when injected into the body cavity of mice. In 1977, the structure of VFDF was determined as a secondary, bicyclic amine alkaloid, and it was renamed anatoxin-a. Structurally, it is similar to cocaine. There is continued interest in anatoxin-a because of the dangers it presents to recreational and drinking waters, and because it is a particularly useful molecule for investigating acetylcholine receptors in the nervous system. The deadliness of the toxin means that it has a high military potential as a toxin weapon.

Cylindrospermopsins

Cylindrospermopsin (abbreviated to CYN or CYL) was first discovered after an outbreak of a mystery disease on Palm Island in Australia. The outbreak was traced back to a bloom of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii in the local drinking water supply, and the toxin was subsequently identified. Analysis of the toxin led to a proposed chemical structure in 1992, which was revised after synthesis was achieved in 2000. Several variants of cylindrospermopsin, both toxic and non-toxic, have been isolated or synthesised.

Cylindrospermopsin is toxic to liver and kidney tissue and is thought to inhibit protein synthesis and to covalently modify DNA and/or RNA. There is concern about the way cylindrospermopsin bioaccumulates in freshwater organisms. Toxic blooms of genera which produce cylindrospermopsin are most commonly found in tropical, subtropical and arid zone water bodies, and have recently been found in Australia, Europe, Israel, Japan and the USA.

Saxitoxins

Saxitoxin (STX) is one of the most potent natural neurotoxins known. The term saxitoxin originates from the species name of the butter clam (Saxidomus giganteus) whereby it was first recognized. Saxitoxin is produced by the cyanobacteria Anabaena spp., some Aphanizomenon spp., Cylindrospermopsis sp., Lyngbya sp. and Planktothrix sp., among others). Puffer fish and some marine dinoflagellates also produce saxitoxin. Saxitoxins bioaccumulate in shellfish and certain finfish. Ingestion of saxitoxin, usually through shellfish contaminated by toxic algal blooms, can result in paralytic shellfish poisoning.

Saxitoxin has been used in molecular biology to establish the function of the sodium channel. It acts on the voltage-gated sodium channels of nerve cells, preventing normal cellular function and leading to paralysis. The blocking of neuronal sodium channels which occurs in paralytic shellfish poisoning produces a flaccid paralysis that leaves its victim calm and conscious through the progression of symptoms. Death often occurs from respiratory failure. Saxitoxin was originally isolated and described by the United States military, who assigned it the chemical weapon designation "TZ". Saxitoxin is listed in schedule 1 of the Chemical Weapons Convention. According to the book Spycraft, U-2 spyplane pilots were provided with needles containing saxitoxin to be used for suicide in the event escape was impossible.

Aetokthonotoxin

Aetokthonotoxin (abbreviated to AETX) was discovered in 2021 as the cyanobacterial neurotoxin causing vacuolar myelinopathy (VM). As the biosynthesis of aetokthonotoxin depends on the availability of bromide in freshwater systems and requires an interplay between the toxin-producing cyanobacterium Aetokthonos hydrillicola and the host plant it epiphytically grows on (most importantly hydrilla), it took > 25 years to discover aetokthonotoxin as the VM-inducing toxin after the disease has first been diagnosed in bald eagles in 1994. The toxin cascades through the food-chain: Among other animals, it affects fish and waterfowl such as coots or ducks which feed on hydrilla colonized with the cyanobacterium. Aetokthonotoxin is transmitted to raptors, such as the bald eagle, that prey on these affected animals.

Vacuolar myelinopathy is characterized by widespread vacuolization of the myelinated axons (intramyelinic edema) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord. Clinical signs of the intoxication include the severe loss of motor functions and sight. Affected birds fly into objects, lack coordination in swimming, flying and walking, develop tremors of the head and lose their responsiveness. As the toxin has been shown to bioaccumulate, there is concern that it might also be a threat to human health. However, toxicity to mammals has yet to be confirmed experimentally.

Lipopolysaccharides
Lipopolysaccharides are present in all cyanobacteria. Though not as potent as other cyanotoxins, some researchers have claimed that all lipopolysaccharides in cyanobacteria can irritate the skin, while other researchers doubt the toxic effects are that generalized.

BMAA
The non-proteinogenic amino acid beta-Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is ubiquitously produced by cyanobacteria in marine, freshwater, brackish, and terrestrial environments. The exact mechanisms of BMAA toxicity on neuron cells is being investigated. Research suggests both acute and chronic mechanisms of toxicity. BMAA is being investigated as a potential environmental risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

Gallery
Other cyanotoxins:

title: Cyanotoxin


text:
Bark River (Michigan)

Bark River is a 23.7 mi river on the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The river flows into Green Bay on Lake Michigan in Ford River Township about 15 mi southwest of Escanaba at 45.57278°N, -87.24278°W.

The Bark River rises from the outflow of Second Lake (which is fed by Pine Creek and the outflow of First Lake) on the boundary between Delta County and Menominee County at 45.73861°N, -87.31917°W. The North Branch Bark River rises in a marshy area just east of Schaffer, Michigan in Bark River Township and joins the main course at 45.72444°N, -87.27306°W.

The Bark River was named by some of the first railroad engineers in the area who saw a great quantity of bark floating on the water.

title: Bark River (Michigan)


text:
Vishishtadvaita

Vishishtadvaita (IAST ; विशिष्टाद्वैत) is a school of Hindu philosophy belonging to the Vedanta tradition. Vedanta refers to the profound interpretation of the Vedas based on Prasthanatrayi. Vishishta Advaita, meaning "non-duality with distinctions", is a non-dualistic philosophy that recognizes Brahman as the supreme reality while also acknowledging its multiplicity. This philosophy can be characterized as a form of qualified monism, attributive monism, or qualified non-dualism. It upholds the belief that all diversity ultimately stems from a fundamental underlying unity.

Ramanuja, the 11–12th century philosopher and the main proponent of Vishishtadvaita philosophy, contends that the Prasthanatrayi ("The three courses"), namely the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Brahma Sutras are to be interpreted in a way that shows this unity in diversity, for any other way would violate their consistency. Vedanta Desika, another major scholar who significantly helped expand the philosophy of Vishitadvaita, defines Vishishtadvaita using the statement, Aseṣa Chit-Achit Prakāram Brahmaikameva Tatvam: Brahman, as qualified by the sentient and insentient modes (or attributes), is the only reality.

History
The Vishishtadvaita philosophy is believed to have a long history, with its earliest works no longer available. The names of these earliest philosophers are only mentioned in Ramanuja's Vedarthasamgraha. Bodhayana, Dramida, Tanka, Guhadeva, Kapardi, and Bharuci are some of the well-known philosophers in the line of those who are thought to have developed the Vishishtadvaita system.

Bodhayana is considered to have written an extensive vritti (commentary) on the Purva and Uttara Mimamsas. Tanka is attributed with having written commentaries on Chandogya Upanishad and Brahma Sutras. Nathamuni of the ninth century AD, the foremost Acharya of the Vaishnavas, collected the Tamil prabandhas, classified them, made the redaction, set the hymns to music and spread them everywhere. He is said to have received the divine hymns straight from Nammalvar, the foremost of the twelve Alvars, by yogic insight in the temple at Alwar Thirunagari, which is located near Tirunelveli in South India. Yamunacharya renounced kingship and spent his last days in the service of the deity at Srirangam and in laying the fundamentals of the Vishishtadvaita philosophy by writing four basic works on the subject.

Ramanuja is the main proponent of Vishishtadvaita philosophy. Ramanuja continues along the line of thought of his predecessors while expounding the knowledge expressed in the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita. Vedanta Desika and Pillai Lokacharya, disciples in the tradition of Ramanuja, had minor disagreements not on the philosophy, but on some aspects of the theology, giving rise to the Vadakalai and Tenkalai schools of thought.

Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Sampradaya, propagated a related philosophy and partly based the sampradaya on these ideals. The BAPS, a Swaminarayan sect, published its view on his philosophy through the Prasthanatrayi in the Swaminarayan Bhashyam. Swaminarayan expounded the existence of five eternal entities, distinguishing Brahman from Parabrahman eternally. He also emphasized Jivanmukti and the importance of becoming brahmarupa. This interpretation of Swaminarayan's philosophy by BAPS sadhus is known as Akshar-Purushottam Darshan.

Key principles
There are three key principles of Vishishtadvaita: Viśiṣṭa means most exclusive (not equal / different from rest).
 * Tattva: The knowledge of the three real entities, namely jiva (living souls, the sentient), ajiva (the nonsentient) and Ishvara (Vishnu-Narayana or Parabrahman, Supreme-self and the cause of all manifestations and in-dwelling giver of grace based on Karma).
 * Hita: The means of realization, as through bhakti (devotion) and prapatti (self-surrender)
 * Purushartha: The goal to be attained, as moksha or liberation from bondage.

Pramanas
Pramana ("sources of knowledge", Sanskrit) refers to factual knowledge obtained through reasoning of any object. Pramana forms one part of a triputi (trio):
 * 1) Pramatir, the subject; the knower of knowledge
 * 2) Pramana, the cause or the means of knowledge
 * 3) Prameya, the object of knowledge

In Vishishtadvaita Vedanta, only the following three pramanas are accepted as valid means of knowledge:
 * Pratyaksa — knowledge gained by means of perception. Perception in this context generally refers to sensory perception. In modern-day usage, this will also include knowledge obtained by means of observation through scientific instruments, since they are considered an extension of perception.
 * Anumana — knowledge gained by means of inference. Inference refers to deductive reasoning and analysis.
 * Shabda — knowledge gained by means of shruti. Shruti refers to knowledge gained from scriptures—primarily the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

Rules of epistemology
There are three rules of hierarchy when there is apparent conflict between the three modes of acquiring knowledge:
 * Shabda or Shruti, Pramana occupies the highest position in matters which cannot be settled or resolved by pratyaksa (perception) or by anumana (inference).
 * Anumana occupies the next position. When an issue cannot be settled through sensory perception alone, it is settled based on inference, that is, whichever is the more logical argument.
 * When pratyaksa yields a definitive position on a particular issue, such a perception cannot be ignored by interpreting Shabda in a way which violates that perception.

Ontology
The ontology in Vishishtadvaita consists of explaining the relationship between Ishvara (Parabrahman), the sentient beings (chit-Brahman) and the insentient Universe (achit-Brahman). In the broadest sense, Ishvara is the Universal Soul of the pan-organistic body consisting of the Universe and sentient beings. The three ontological entities are described below:

Ishvara
Ishvara (denoted by Vishnu (Narayana)) is the Supreme Cosmic Spirit who maintains complete control over the Universe and all the sentient beings, which together also form the pan-organistic body of Ishvara. The triad of Ishvara along with the universe and the sentient beings is Brahman, which signifies the completeness of existence. Ishvara is Parabrahman endowed with innumerable auspicious qualities (Kalyana Gunas). Ishvara is perfect, omniscient, omnipresent, incorporeal, independent, the creator of the universe, its active ruler and also its eventual destroyer. He is causeless, eternal and unchangeable—and is yet the material and the efficient cause of the universe and sentient beings. He is both immanent (like whiteness in milk) and transcendent (like a watch-maker independent of a watch). He is the subject of worship. He is the basis of morality and giver of the fruits of one's Karma. He rules the world with His Maya—His divine power.

Ishvara is considered to have a 2-fold characteristic: he is the indweller of all beings and all beings dwell in Ishvara.

Antaryamin
The inner controller (antar-yāmin) is the thread connecting everything, governing this world, the next, and all beings from within (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7.3-23). "He who inhabits water, yet is within water, whom water does not know, whose body water is and who controls water from within—He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal."

"He who inhabits the sun, yet is within the sun, whom the sun does not know, whose body the sun is and who controls the sun from within—He is your Self, the Inner Controller, the Immortal" — Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.7.4–14

Bahuvyapi
When Ishvara is thought of as the all encompassing and the residence of all beings that is, all beings reside in Ishvara, he is referred to as the paramapurusha. The sentient beings and the insentient universe which form part of the pan-organistic body of Ishvara are encapsulated by Ishvara.

Sarvam khalv idam Brahma Chandogya Upanishad

Isavasyam idam sarvam Isha Upanishad

Chit
Chit is the world of sentient beings, or of entities possessing consciousness. It is similar to the Purusha of Samkhya system. The sentient beings are called Jivas and they are possessors of individual consciousness as denoted by "I". The scope of Chit refers to all beings with an "I" consciousness, or more specifically self-awareness. Therefore, all entities which are aware of their own individual existence are denoted as chit. This is called dharmi-jnana or substantive consciousness. The sentient beings also possess varying levels of dharma-bhuta-jnana or attributive consciousness

The jivas possess three different types of existence:
 * Nityas, or the eternally free Jivas who were never in Samsara
 * Muktas, or the Jivas that were once in Samsara but are free
 * Baddhas, or the Jivas which are still in Samsara pavana (due to Karma and Ignorance)

Achit
Achit is the world of insentient entities as denoted by matter or more specifically the non-conscious Universe. It is similar to the Prakriti of Samkhya system.

Brahman
There is a subtle difference between Ishvara and Brahman. Ishvara is the substantive part of Brahman, while jivas and jagat are its modes (also secondary attributes), and kalyana-gunas (auspicious attributes) are the primary attributes. The secondary attributes become manifested in the effect state when the world is differentiated by name and form. The kalyana-gunas are eternally manifest.

''Brahman is the description of Ishvara when comprehended in fullness—i.e., a simultaneous vision of Ishvara with all his modes and attributes. ''

The relationship between Brahman and Jivas, Jagat is expressed by Rāmānujā in numerous ways. He calls this relationship as one of:
 * sharira/shariri       (body/indweller);
 * prakara/prakari     (attribute or mode/substance);
 * shesha/sheshi         (Owned/owner);
 * amsha/amshi           (part/whole);
 * Adharadeya/sambandha (supporter/supported);
 * niyamya/niyanta     (controlled/controller);
 * rakshya/rakshaka     (redeemed/redeemer);

These relationships can be experienced holding Brahman as the father, son, mother, sister, wife, husband, friend, lover and lord. Hence, Brahman is a personal being.
 * What does Nirguna Brahman mean?

Ramanuja argues vehemently against understanding Brahman as one without attributes. Brahman is Nirguna in the sense that impure qualities do not touch it. He provides three valid reasons for staking such a claim:

Shruti/Shabda Pramana: All shrutis and shabdas denoting Brahman always list either attributes inherent to Brahman or not inherent to Brahman. The shrutis only seek to deny Brahman from possessing impure and defective qualities which affect the world of beings. There is evidence in the shrutis to this regard. The shrutis proclaim Brahman to be beyond the tri-gunas which are observed. However, Brahman possesses an infinite number of transcendental attributes, the evidence of which is given in vakhyas like "satyam jnanam anantam Brahma" (Taittiriya Upanishad).

Pratyaksha Pramana: Ramanuja states that "a contentless cognition is impossible". And all cognition must necessarily involve knowing Brahman through the attributes of Brahman.

Anumana Pramana: Ramanuja states that "Nirgunatva" itself becomes an attribute of Brahman on account of the uniqueness of no other entity being Nirguna. Ramanuja had simplified relationship between bramha and soul. According to him though soul is integral part of bramha it has independent existence.

Theory of Existence
The three ontological entities i.e. Ishvara, Chit and Achit are fundamentally real. It upholds the doctrine of Satkaryavada as against Asatkaryavada.

Briefly,
 * Satkaryavada is pre-existence of the effect in the cause. It maintains that karya (effect) is sat or real. It is present in the karana (cause) in a potential form, even before its manifestation.
 * Asatkaryavada is non-existence of the effect in the cause. It maintains that karya (effect) is asat or unreal until it comes into being.  Every effect, then, is a new beginning and is not born out of cause.

More specifically, the effect is a modification of what exists in the cause and does not involve new entities coming into existence. This is called as parinamavada or evolution of effect from the cause. This doctrine is common to the Samkhya system and Vishishtadvaita system. The Samkhya system adheres to Prakriti-Parinama vada whereas Vishishtadvaita is a modified form of Brahma-Parinama vada.

The (cause) and  (effect) in Vishishtadvaita is different from other systems of Indian philosophy. Brahman is both the (cause) and the  (effect). Brahman as the cause does not become the Universe as the effect.

Brahman is assigned two (ways of being the cause):

 * 1)  — Being the Efficient/ Instrumental cause. For example, a goldsmith is assigned  as he acts as the maker of jewellery and thus becomes the jewellery's Instrumental cause.
 * 2)  — Being the material cause. For example, the gold is assigned  as it acts as the material of the jewellery and thus becomes the jewellery's material cause.

According to Vishishtadvaita, the Universe and Sentients always exist. However, they begin from a subtle state and undergo transformation. The subtle state is called a causal state, while the transformed state is called the effect state. The causal state is when Brahman is internally not distinguishable by name and form.

It can be said that Vishishtadvaita follows Brahma-Prakara-Parinama Vada. That is to say, it is the modes (Jivas and Jagat) of Brahman which is under evolution. The cause and effect only refer to the pan-organistic body transformation. Brahman as the Universal Self is unchanging and eternal.

Brahman having the subtle (sūkṣma) chit and achit entities as his Śarīra/Prakāra(body/mode) before manifestation is the same Brahman having the expanded (sthūla) chit and achit entities as Śarīra/Prakāra(body/mode) after manifestation.

The essential feature is that the underlying entity is the same, the changes are in the description of that entity.

For e.g. ''Jack was a baby. Jack was a small kid. Jack was a middle-aged person. Jack was an old man. Jack is dead''

The body of a single personality named Jack is described as continuously changing. Jack does not become "James" because of the change.

Ethics
Souls and Matter are only the body of God. Creation is a real act of God. It is the expansion of intelligence. Matter is fundamentally real and undergoes real revelation. The Soul is a higher mode than Matter, because it is conscious. It is also eternally real and eternally distinct. Final release, that comes, by the Lord's Grace, after the death of the body is a Communion with God. This philosophy believes in liberation through one's karmas (actions) in accordance with the Vedas, the Varna (caste or class) system and the four ashramas (stages of life), along with intense devotion to Vishnu. Individual Souls retain their separate identities even after moksha. They live in fellowship with God either serving him or meditating on Him. The philosophy of this school is subscribed by Sri Vaishnavism, a branch of Vaishnavism.

Interpretation of Mahāvākyas
1. sarvam khalv idam brahma from Chandogya Upanishad 3.14.1

Translated literally, this means All this is Brahman. The ontology of Vishishtadvaita system consists of:

a. Ishvara is Para-Brahman with infinite superlative qualities, whose substantive nature imparts the existence to the modes

b. Jivas are chit-Brahman or sentient beings (which possess consciousness). They are the modes of Brahman which show consciousness.

c. Jagat is achit-Brahman or matter/Universe (which are non-conscious). They are the mode of Brahman which are not conscious.

Brahman is the composite whole of the triad consisting of Ishvara along with his modes i.e. Jivas and Jagat.

2. ayam ātmā brahma from Mandukya Upanishad 1.2

Translated literally, this means the Self is Brahman. From the earlier statement, it follows that on account of everything being Brahman, the self is not different from Brahman.

3. Tat tvam asi from Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7

Translated literally, it means Thou art that

that here refers to Brahman and thou refers to jiva

Rāmānujā chooses to take the position of universal identity. He interprets this passage to mean the subsistence of all attributes in a common underlying substratum. This is referred to as samānādhikāraṇya. Thus Rāmānujā says the purport of the passage is to show the unity of all beings in a common base. Ishvara (Parabrahman) who is the Cosmic Spirit for the pan-organistic body consisting of the Universe and sentient beings, is also simultaneously the innermost self (Ātman) for each individual sentient being (Jīva). All the bodies, the Cosmic and the individual, are held in an adjectival relationship (aprithak-siddhi) in the one Isvara.

Tat tvam asi declares that oneness of Ishvara.

When multiple entities point to a single object, the relationship is established as one of substance and its attributes.

For e.g. in a statement:

Jack is a tall and intelligent boy

The descriptors tall-ness, intelligence and boy-ness all refer to a common underlying Jack

Similarly, when the Upanishads declare Brahman is the Universe, Purusha, Self, Prana, Vayu, and so on, the entities are attributes or modes of Brahman.

If the statement tat tvam asi is taken to mean as only the self is Brahman, then sarvam khalv idam brahma will not make sense.

Understanding Neti-Neti
This is an Upanishadic concept which is employed while attempting to know Brahman. The purport of this exercise is understood in many different ways and also influences the understanding of Brahman. In the overall sense, this phrase is accepted to refer to the indescribable nature of Brahman who is beyond all rationalisations.

Taittiriya Upanishad 2-9-1 passage "yato vacho nivartante.." (words recoil, mind can not grasp...) etc., state the same concept regarding Brahman. The visishtadvaita interpretation is that these passages do not indicate a black hole, but the incompleteness of any statement or thought or concept concerning Brahman. Brahman is these and more. This interpretation is consistent with "sarvam khalv idam brahma". Antaryami Brahmana of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad passage "yasya prithvi shariram yasya atma shariram" is also interpreted to show that Brahman is not a zero point - "nirvisesha chinmatra" (an entity which has nothing except existence)

The typical interpretation of Neti-Neti is not this, not this or neither this, nor that. It is a phrase meant to convey the inexpressibility of Brahman in words and the futility of trying to approximate Brahman with conceptual models. In VisishtAdvaita, the phrase is taken in the sense of not just this, not just this or not just this, not just that. This means that Brahman cannot be restricted to one specific or a few specific descriptions. Consequently, Brahman is understood to possess infinite qualities and each of these qualities are infinite in extent.

Purpose of human existence
The purpose or goal of human existence is called purushartha. According to the Vedas, there are four goals namely artha (wealth), kama (pleasure), dharma (righteousness) and moksha (permanent freedom from worldly bondage). According to this philosophy, the first three goals are not an end by themselves but need to be pursued with the ideal of attaining moksha.

Moksha (Liberation)
Moksha means liberation or release from samsara, the cycle of rebirth. In Vishishtadvaita, baddha (bounded) jiva is only self-aware and is in a state of ignorance of sharira-shariri relationship. Karma loaded with countless births and deaths in samsara keeps the jiva from dharma-bhuta-jnana (attributive consciousness) of God. With creation process of Isvara, evolving through different bodies, jiva attains human body in which it puts effort to gain true nature of self and true knowledge of God through Bhakti and attains liberated state with grace of God. Liberation simply means gaining true knowledge of God and serving God in Vaikuntha (God's abode). In liberation, jiva keeps its individuality and has infinte knowledge and bliss like Brahman, but doesn't become one with Brahman. Unlike advaita, liberation is only after death (videhamukti) and there is no concept of jivanmukti.

The Vadakalai school accepts the importance of God's grace in gaining liberation alongside individual effort, similar to how a baby monkey must hold onto its mother. The Tenkalai school sees God's grace as the only requirement for liberation, similar to how a cat will carry a kitten without any effort from the kitten.

Bhakti as the means of attaining moksha
Bhakti is the sole means of liberation in Vishishtadvaita. Through Bhakti (devotion), a Jiva ascends to Vaikuntha, where it continues to delight in His service in a body which is sat-cit-ananda. Karma Yoga and Jnana Yoga are sub processes of Bhakti, total surrender, as the devotee acquires the knowledge that the deity is the inner self. A devotee realizes his own state as dependent on, and supported by, and being led by the deity, who is the Master. One is to lead a life as an instrument of the deity, offering all his thought, word, and deed to the feet of the deity. One is to see the deity in everything and everything in Him. This is the unity in diversity achieved through devotion. However, Ramanuja accepts Sharanagati, total surrender at the Lord's lotus feet alone as the sole means to moksha. Wherein, moksha is defined as liberation from samsara and going to Vaikuntha to serve Narayana (Balaji) in a spiritual body. This is a distinguishing feature of this school of philosophy, as both Adi Shankara's advaita and Anandatirtha's dvaita accept bhakti for two different concepts of moksha. Ramanuja has supported this opinion with various citations directly from the vedas, and various incidents highlighting sharangathi as means to attain personal stay in the realm of Vaikuntha. Observing total surrender at the Lord's feet guarantees moksha at the end of this birth, and in the time between sharanagathi and death, the surrendered soul must spend his time performing the nice forms of devotion. So bhakti is not a moksha sadhana, but for anubhāva (experience) and reaching Vaikuntha, in the Vishishtadvaita Sampradaya.

Tenkalai and Vadakalai schools of thought
The Sri Vaishnava tradition has two major sub-traditions called Vadakalai (northern) and Tenkalai (southern) in Tamil. The Vadakalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism associate themselves with Vedanta Desikan and Ramanuja. Vedanta Desika is one of the foremost learned scholars and philosophers of medieval India, who has written more than a hundred works in Sanskrit and Tamil, Prakrit and Manipravala. He is said to have been born as an incarnation of the divine bell of Venkateshwara of Tirupati and also of Ramanuja in the month of Purattasi under the star Thiruvonam (Sravana), in the year 1268 CE. All of his works are characterized by his versatility, irrefutable reasoning, logic, examination, deep spiritual insight, ethical fervour and excellent expressions of devotional emotion in delightful style. His Paduka-sahasram and Rahasyatrayasaram are some classic examples. He was a great teacher, logician, expositor, debater, poet, philosopher, thinker and defender of the faith of Vaishnavism. "Kavitaarkika Simham" (lion among poets and debaters), "Sarvatantra Svatantrar" (all-knowing and all-powerful), "Vedantacharya" (the master and preceptor of the Vedanta) are some of the titles attributed to him.

Pillai Lokacharya literally meaning "Teacher for the whole world" is one of the leading lights on the Sri Vaishnava Vedanta philosophy. His work Sri Vachana Bhusanam is a classic and provides the essence of Upanishads. The Tenkalai sect of Sri Vaishnavism looks up to him apart from Swami Ramanuja and Swami Manavala Mamuni. He was a senior contemporary of Vedanta Desika. He is said to have been born as an amsa ("essence") of Kanchi Devaraja (Varadaraja) Perumal to document and immortalize Ramanuja's message in the month of Aippaci under the star Thiruvonam (Sravana), in the year 1205 CE. He is said to have lived for 106 years, during which time, he also helped to safeguard the idol of Ranganatha at Srirangam from Muslim invaders. Pillai Lokacharya confirmed the basics of the Sri Vaishnava system in his 18 monumental works popularly known as Ashtadasa Rahasyangal ("the eighteen secrets") also called the Rahasya granthas ("doctrines that explain the inner meanings") out of which Sri Vachana Bhushanam and Mumukshuppadi are the most famous. Manavala Mamuni expanded on and popularized Lokacharya's teachings arguments in Tamil.

Traditions following Vishishtadvaita

 * Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya of southern India
 * Sri Ramanandi Sect of Northern India, it has the largest monastic order in whole India
 * Dāmodariya Vaiśņava sampradaya of Assam
 * Swaminarayan sampradaya of Gujarat

Visishtadvaita and Sri Vaishnavism
The Absolute Supreme Reality referred to as Brahman, is a Transcendent Personality. He is Narayana, also known as deity Vishnu.

A man who has discrimination for his charioteer and holds the reins of the mind firmly, reaches the end of the road; and that is the supreme position of Vishnu. - 1.3.9 Katha Upanishad

''Beyond the senses are the objects; beyond the objects is the mind; beyond the mind, the intellect; beyond the intellect, the Great Atman; beyond the Great Atman, the Unmanifest; beyond the Unmanifest, the Purusha. Beyond the Purusha there is nothing: this is the end, the Supreme Goal.''- 1.3.10,11 Katha Upanishad

In terms of theology, Ramanuja puts forth the view that both the Supreme Goddess Lakshmi and Supreme God Narayana together constitute Brahman - the Absolute. Lakshmi is the female personification of Brahman and Narayana is the male personification of Brahman, but they are both inseparable, co-eternal, co-absolute and are always substantially one. Thus, in reference to these dual aspects of Brahman, the Supreme is referred as Sriman Narayana in the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya.

The most striking difference between Sri Vaishnavas and other Vaishnava groups lies in their interpretation of Vedas. While other Vaishnava groups interpret Vedic deities like Indra, Savitar, Bhaga, Rudra, etc. to be same as their Puranic counterparts, Sri Vaishnavas consider these to be different names/roles/forms of Narayana, claiming that the entire Veda is dedicated for Vishnu worship alone. Sri Vaishnavas have remodelled Pancharatra homas like Sudarshana homa, etc. to include Vedic Suktas like Rudram in them, thus giving them a Vedic outlook.

title: Vishishtadvaita


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Vulca

Vulca was an Etruscan artist from the town of Veii. The only Etruscan artist mentioned by ancient writers, he worked for the last of the Roman kings, Tarquinius Superbus (who died in 495 BC). He is responsible for creating a terracotta statue of Jupiter that was inside the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, and possibly the Apollo of Veii. His statue of Jupiter, which being made of terracotta had a red face, was so famous that victorious Roman generals would paint their faces red during their triumphal marches through Rome. Pliny the Elder wrote that his works were "the finest images of deities of that era...more admired than gold."

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User talk:Johnnyeponymous

Hi! Welcome to Wikipedia. I notice you've created the articles Dave Kyle and David Kyle. I want to draw your attention to two things. First, it's not really beneficial to have two identical articles under different names. In a case like this, where an article could be expected to appear under more than one name you can use redirects to redirect one name to the other.

Second, and most importantly, it doesn't appear from the content of either article that Mister Kyle has done anything of sufficient note to earn him a place in an encyclopaedia. A good rule of thumb is to consider whether you would expect to find an article on him in a print-based encyclopaedia like the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. If you are Dave Kyle, you may want to put the content of one of these articles on your user page.

If you have any questions about Wikipedia or its policies, feel free to ask a question at my talk page and I'll answer you as quickly as I can. In the mean time you may want to look at some of these pages to learn about the 'pedia and how it works: I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using three tildes, like this: ~ ~ ~. Four tildes (~ ~ ) produces your name and the current date. Again, welcome! —Rory ☺ 15:57, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * How to edit a page
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UGC (cinema operator)

UGC is a cinema operator in France and Belgium, operating 57 cinemas as of 2022. It is also a major film production and distribution company.

France & Belgium
UGC was originally an exclusively French operator, privatized in 1971, who merged with several regional cinema companies running 22 cinemas. The name originally stood for Union Générale Cinématographique, but today only the initials are used. The company is focused on the business side of the film business and French-dubbed versions, showing little interest in the screening of artistic cinema, on the contrary to Pathé and Gaumont cinemas, except in some UGC Paris theatres where the programming is very diversified and includes both subtitled and dubbed versions. Out of Paris, in some cities like Nantes, Bordeaux or Lyon, a part of this diversified programming does exist, but mostly UGC cinemas are like Pathé and Gaumont cinemas. Its competitors include Pathé Cinémas, Cinéville, CGR and Kinepolis Group.

In 2016, Kinepolis Group had sold the four Belgian Utopolis cinemas it had happened to acquire when it had taken over Utopia Group to UGC. UGC had already owned three Belgian cinemas (one in Antwerp and two in Brussels) and now more than doubled that number, adding one cinema each in Aarschot, Lommel, Mechelen and Turnhout.

As of January 2022, UGC had:

 * France: 50 cinemas, 512 screens;
 * Belgium: 7 cinemas, 74 screens.

Italy and Spain
In Italy there were 4 UGC multiplexes : Porta di Roma and Parco Leonardo in Rome and Fiumicino, 45 ° N in Moncalieri in the urban area of Turin (located exactly on the 45th parallel north, from which it takes its name) and Romagna in Savignano sul Rubicone , close to Cesena and Rimini. The 4 multiplexes consisted of 66 screens and 15,000 total seats.

In Spain UGC had 5 multiplexes: three in Madrid and one each in Valladolid and Cadiz.

Odeon and UCI Cinema Group purchased in 2011 the UGC Cinemas in Italy which are integrated in UCI Cinemas Italy and in Spain which were integrated in the local chain of cinemas Cinesa.

UK and Ireland
UGC was formerly also a leading UK cinema owner following the purchase of Richard Branson's Virgin Cinema Group, which it purchased in October 1999. In December 2004, the business was sold to Blackstone Group and joined with Cine-UK to trade as Cineworld. UGC's chain in the UK and Ireland consisted of:

 * UK: 41 cinemas, 391 screens;
 * Ireland: 1 cinema, 17 screens.

In July 2005, Cineworld began to phase out the UGC brand, replacing it with its own Cineworld logo. This rebranding was completed in September 2005. Cineworld has retained certain aspects of the UGC offer, including the Unlimited season ticket, originally introduced by Virgin, and the free magazine of the same name.

title: UGC (cinema operator)


text: Talk:Psychopathic Records

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John James Deutsch

John James Deutsch (26 February 1911 – March 18, 1976) was a Canadian economist who served as the first chairman of the Economic Council of Canada, and as principal (1968–74) of Queen's University.

Born in Quinton, Saskatchewan, and educated at Queen's, he worked in journalism and in government, as well as at the university. In 1947 Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King asked Deutsch to negotiate a trade agreement with the United States, that would have produced a sweeping liberalization of Canada-U.S. trade, had it not in the end been repudiated by King's government. He subsequently became an economics professor at Queen’s, and then the university's vice-principal (administration), before being selected as principal.

In 1966, he received an honorary doctorate from Sir George Williams University, which later became Concordia University.

During his term as Principal, Queen's underwent a substantial expansion of its infrastructure, to meet the increased demands of the baby boomer generation, which was growing towards university enrollment age. A new stadium, a new athletics complex, a new student union building, new residence accommodation, and several new academic buildings were all opened under Deutsch's leadership.

Deutsch, who died in 1976, is remembered at Queen’s through the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC), the student union building, and through the John Deutsch Institute for the Study of Economic Policy, in the university's department of economics. A large banner, containing hoods from his 23 honorary degrees, is prominently displayed in the JDUC.

In 1969 he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

title: John James Deutsch


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Calonectris

Calonectris is a genus of seabirds. The genus name comes from Ancient Greek kalos, "good" and nectris, "swimmer".

The genus comprises four large shearwaters. There are two other shearwater genera. Puffinus, which comprises about twenty small to medium-sized shearwaters, and Procellaria with another four large species. The latter are usually named as petrels, although they are thought to be more closely related to the shearwaters than to the other petrels.

The species in this group are long-winged birds, dark brown or grey-brown above, and mainly white below. They are pelagic outside the breeding season. They are most common in temperate and cold waters.

These tubenose birds fly with stiff wings, and use a shearing flight technique to move across wave fronts with the minimum of active flight. Their flight appears more albatross-like than the Puffinus species.

Calonectris shearwaters are long-distance migrants. The streaked shearwater disperses from its east Asian breeding islands throughout the western Pacific and into the eastern Indian Ocean. They come to islands and coastal cliffs only to breed. They are nocturnal at the colonial breeding sites, preferring moonless nights to minimise predation. They nest in burrows and often give eerie contact calls on their night time visits. They lay a single white egg. They feed on fish, squid and similar oceanic food. They will follow fishing boats to take scraps.

Taxonomy
The genus Calonectris was introduced in 1915 by the ornithologists Gregory Mathews and Tom Iredale with the streaked shearwater as the type species. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek kalos meaning "good" or "noble" with the genus name Nectris that was used for shearwaters by the German naturalist Heinrich Kuhl in 1820. The name Nectris comes from the Ancient Greek nēktris meaning "swimmer".

Scopoli's shearwater and Cory's shearwater were previously considered as conspecific and formed the Cory's shearwater complex (Calonectris diomedea). Based on the lack of hybridization and differences in mitochondrial DNA, morphology and vocalization, the complex was split into two separate species. The English name "Cory's shearwater" was transferred to Calonectris borealis while what was previously the nominate subspecies became Scopoli's shearwater (Calonectris diomedea).

Species
The genus contains four species.

Extinct species, Calonectris krantzi from the Early Pliocene and Calonectris wingatei from the Middle Pleistocene, have also been described from fossils. Calonectris kurodai, another fossil from the Middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Chesapeake Bay is named after the Japanese ornithologist Nagahisa Kuroda.

Phylogeny
Phylogeny based on a study by Joan Ferrer Obiol and collaborators published in 2022.

title: Calonectris