text:
National Aeronautic Association

The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the United States and one of the oldest in the world, it serves as the “Aeroclub of the United States” and, by its Mission Statement it is "…dedicated to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation in the United States.” The NAA is headquartered at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in Washington, D.C.

History
The NAA was founded in 1905, as the Aero Club of America (ACA), by members of the Automobile Club of America. From its inception, ACA’s goal was to promote aviation in any way possible, as both a sport and a commercial endeavor. In 1922, it was incorporated as the Aero Club’s successor, and continued the original group’s mission of promoting aviation. The NAA has been steeply involved with the growth of aviation in the United States almost since its beginning, to the point of being the sole issuer of pilot licenses in American until the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1926. The Chairman of the NAA is James Albaugh. The President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAA is Greg Principato.

The NAA and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
In 1905, the NAA joined Germany, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, and France to create an international aviation organization – Fédération Aéronautique Internationale – with the goal of fostering aeronautical activities worldwide. FAI is the organization responsible for establishing the rules for record-setting and competition, and also for recognizing international achievements in aeronautics and astronautics.

The NAA is the largest member of FAI and is responsible for appointing representatives to 15 major air sport and technical committees of FAI. The NAA also represents U.S. interests in aviation at the FAI’s Annual General Conference.

Mission
The NAA has three distinct responsibilities: The recording and certification of Aviation and Aerospace Records, the administration of Aviation Trophies and Awards, and working with Air Sports Organizations in America on the advancement of their individual sports.

Aviation and aerospace records
The NAA has certified aviation and aerospace records in the United States since 1905. Its records database counts over 8,000 record flights to include those of balloons, airships, airplanes, (landplanes, seaplanes, amphibians, very light jets,) gliders, helicopters, autogiros, model aircraft, parachutes, human powered aircraft, spacecraft, tilt-wing/tilt-engine aircraft, hang gliders, paragliders, microlights, space models, and UAVs. In addition, the NAA certifies a wide variety of records including altitude, time-to-climb, distance, speed, greatest payload carried, and efficiency. As the U.S. representative to FAI, the National Aeronautic Association is the sole authority for overseeing and certifying all aviation records that take place within the United States. On average, the NAA certifies 150 records each year. The NAA records process is directed by the NAA Contest and Records Board and managed by the NAA Director of Contest and Records, Arthur W. Greenfield. It is easy to carry out a record attempt with an ordinary plane, but there is some paperwork and verification involved.

 * Contest and Record Board Members (as of January 1, 2012)
 * Rodney M. Skaar, Chairman
 * Richard A. Ionata, Vice-Chairman
 * A.W. Greenfield, Secretary
 * Bernard R. Gross
 * Kristan R. Maynard
 * Scott A. Neumann
 * Brian G. Utley
 * Sandy Anderson
 * Advisory Panel
 * Larry E. Steenstry
 * David B. Higginbotham
 * Ardyth M. Williams

Aviation trophies and awards
The NAA acknowledges the accomplishments and achievements in aviation and aerospace through its trophies and awards.

 * Robert J. Collier Trophy: Established in 1910, is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year."
 * Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy: Established in 1948, to honor the memory of Orville and Wilbur Wright, is awarded annually to a living American for "significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States."
 * Mackay Trophy: Established in 1912, is awarded annually for the "most meritorious flight of the year" by an Air Force person, persons, or organization. The United States Air Force determines the recipient and NAA awards it.
 * Wesley L. McDonald Distinguished Statesman of Aviation Award: Established in 1954, is awarded annually to individuals who, for at least 25 years, has been actively identified with aeronautics and has made contributions of significant value to aeronautics.
 * Frank G. Brewer Trophy: Established in 1943, is awarded annually to an individual, a group of individuals, or an organization for significant contributions of enduring value to aerospace education in the United States.
 * Harmon Trophy for Aeronautics (Ballooning): Commonly known as simply the Harmon Trophy, was established in 1926 and is awarded annually for the most outstanding international achievement in the art and/or science of aeronautics (ballooning) for the previous year.
 * Henderson Trophy: Honoring Clifford W. Henderson’s legacy, was established in 1960, and is awarded annually to a living individual, group of individuals, or an organization whose vision, leadership or skill made a significant and lasting contribution to the promotion and advancement of aviation and aerospace in the United States.
 * Katharine Wright Trophy: Established in 1981 and named after Wilbur and Orville Wright’s sister, Katherine, is awarded annually to a woman who has contributed to the success of others, or made a personal contribution to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation and space flight over an extended period of time.
 * Public Benefit Flying Awards: Established in 1983. A set of national awards designed to recognize the significant contributions to the Nation of volunteer-based Public Benefit Flying and the outstanding work of the individuals and organizations engaged in this humanitarian activity.   Administered jointly by NAA and the Air Care Alliance there are five categories for this award:  Distinguished Volunteer Pilot, Distinguished Volunteer, Outstanding Achievement in Advancement of Public Benefit Flying, Public Benefit Flying Teamwork Award, and Champion of Public Benefit Flying.
 * Stinson Trophy: Established in 1997, to honor the accomplishments of sisters Katherine Stinson and Marjorie Stinson. It is awarded annually to a living woman for an outstanding and enduring contribution, a meritorious flight, or a singular technical development in the field of aviation, aeronautics, space or related sciences.

Within the United States and its Territories, the NAA has the sole responsibility of administering awards established by the FAI.
 * FAI Awards

 * Gold Air Medal: Awarded to individuals who have contributed greatly to the development of aeronautics by their activities, work, achievements, initiative or devotion to the cause of aviation.
 * Gold Space Medal: Awarded to individuals who have contributed greatly to the development of Astronautics by their activities, work, achievements, initiative or devotion to the cause of space.
 * Sabiha Gökçen Medal: Awarded to a woman who performs the most outstanding achievement in any air sport in the previous year.
 * Silver Medal: Awarded to an individual who has occupied high office in FAI or in an aeronautical organization in one of its member countries, and in the discharge of their duties have shown exceptional powers of leadership and influence, to the benefit of the whole international air sport community.
 * Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship: Awarded to a person or a group of persons for a feat of outstanding airmanship in sub-orbital flight during one of the previous two years and which resulted in the saving of life of others and was carried out with that objective. Anyone engaged in a routine search and/or rescue mission shall not be eligible.
 * Paul Tissandier Diploma. Awarded to those who have served the cause of Aviation in general and Sporting Aviation in particular, by their work, initiative, devotion or in other ways.
 * Honorary Group Diploma: Awarded to groups of people (design offices, scientific bodies, aeronautical publications, etc.) that have contributed significantly to the progress of Aeronautics and Astronautics during the previous year or years.
 * International Aviation Art Contest: Held annually to encourage young people worldwide to demonstrate the importance of aviation through art and to motivate them to become more familiar with and participate in aeronautics, engineering and science. The United States portion of the contest is sponsored by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in partnership with the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) and supported by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), National Coalition for Aviation Education (NCAE) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Air Sports In America
The NAA encourages and supports the development and growth of the sport of aviation in the United States and does so primarily through its relationship with eight Air Sport Organizations (ASOs) based in the country. The NAA recognizes the ASOs as the official governing bodies for their respective air sports.

 * Air Sport Organizations
 * Academy of Model Aeronautics
 * Balloon Federation of America
 * International Aerobatic Club
 * Helicopter Club of America (Defunct)
 * Soaring Society of America
 * United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
 * United States Parachute Association
 * United States Ultralight Association

NAA leadership

 * Officers
 * Chairman: Jim Albaugh
 * Vice Chairman: Steve Callghan, Lockheed Martin
 * Treasurer: Carl Johnson, Norsk Titanium
 * Counsel: George Carneal, Hogan Lovells
 * Secretary: Elizabeth Matarese
 * President and CEO: Greg Principato

 * Board of Directors

 * Ed Bolen, National Business Aviation Association
 * Christopher Brunner, United Technologies/Pratt & Whitney
 * Steve Champness, Aero Club of Metropolitan Atlanta
 * Leda Chong, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
 * John R. Dailey
 * Pete Dumont, Air Traffic Control Association
 * James Garrison, Soaring Society of America
 * Arthur W. Greenfield Jr., NAA, Contest & Records Director
 * Angela Gittens, Airport Council International
 * Rich Hanson, Academy of Model Aeronautics
 * Duane Hawkins, Spirit Aerosystems
 * Margaret Jenny
 * TC Jones, Northrop Grumman Corporation
 * Tim Keating Boeing
 * Leo Knaapen, Bombardier Aerospace
 * Dick Koenig, Commemorative Air force
 * Dr. John S. Langford, Aurora Flight Sciences
 * Peter Lengyel, Safran
 * Dr. Samantha Magill, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 * Clay McConnell, Airbus
 * Margaret McKeough, Aero Club of Washington
 * Mary Miller, BBA Aviation
 * Mary Claire Murphy, Textron Aviation
 * Martin Palmaz, US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
 * Ken Panos Aerojet
 * Eric Pierce, Lockheed Martin
 * Pat Prentiss, The Ninety-Nines, Inc.
 * Peter Prowitt, GE Aviation
 * Mark Rector, Honda Aircraft Company
 * Skip Ringo, The Ringo Group
 * Darryl Roberson, Rolls-Royce, North America
 * Jean Rosanvallon, Dassault Falcon
 * John Stammreich, Aero Club of Southern California
 * Bob Stangarone, Stangarone and Associates
 * Alyssa Ten Eyck, Embraer
 * Anthony L. Velocci, Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine (Retired)
 * FlightSafety International
 * Rockwell Collins

 * Staff
 * Art Greenfield, Director of Contests and Records
 * Stephanie Berry, Director for Awards and Events
 * Katherine McCormick, Manager, Office Services

NAA membership
NAA has five groups of members: Corporate, Air Sport, Affiliate, Aero Clubs, and Individuals.

 * Corporate members

 * Aerojet
 * Airbus Group
 * Aurora Flight Sciences
 * Bombardier
 * The Boeing Company
 * Embraer
 * GE Aviation
 * Gulfstream
 * Honda Aircraft Company
 * Jeppesen
 * Lockheed Martin Corporation
 * Northrop Grumman Corporation
 * Rockwell Collins, Inc
 * Rolls-Royce North America
 * Safe Flight Instrument Corporation
 * Signature Flight Support
 * Spirit AeroSystems
 * Textron Aviation
 * United Technologies Corporation

 * Air Sport members
 * Academy of Model Aeronautics
 * Balloon Federation of America
 * International Aerobatic Club
 * Soaring Society of America
 * United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association
 * United States Parachute Association
 * United States Ultralight Association

 * Affiliate members
 * Air Line Pilots Association
 * Air Traffic Control Association
 * Aerospace Industries Association
 * Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
 * Airlines For America
 * Airports Council International – NA
 * American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
 * AUVSI
 * Cargo Airline Association
 * Experimental Aircraft Association
 * General Aviation Manufacturers Association
 * Helicopter Association International
 * National Air Traffic Controllers Association
 * National Air Transport Association
 * National Association of State Aviation Officials
 * National Business Aviation Association
 * Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics
 * The Ninety-Nines

 * Aero Club members
 * Aero Club of Metropolitan Atlanta
 * Aero Club of New England
 * Aero Club of Northern California
 * Aero Club of Southern California
 * Aero Club of Washington
 * Wichita Aeroclub

As of December 31, 2014 NAA has 1,029 individual members.
 * Individual members

NAA Luncheon Program
The NAA Luncheon Program brings together leaders in the aviation and aerospace industry with professionals from around the Metropolitan Washington, DC region. Speakers from the highest levels of government, industry, and associations have addressed important issues related to the Department of Defense, the military services, and Aerospace Industry Affairs.

The NAA Luncheon Program is directed by the NAA National Aviation Awards and Events Committee.

title: National Aeronautic Association


text:
Siderophore

Siderophores (Greek: "iron carrier") are small, high-affinity iron-chelating compounds that are secreted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. They help the organism accumulate iron. Although a widening range of siderophore functions is now being appreciated, siderophores are among the strongest (highest affinity) Fe3+ binding agents known. Phytosiderophores are siderophores produced by plants.

Scarcity of soluble iron
Despite being one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's crust, iron is not readily bioavailable. In most aerobic environments, such as the soil or sea, iron exists in the ferric (Fe3+) state, which tends to form insoluble rust-like solids. To be effective, nutrients must not only be available, they must be soluble. Microbes release siderophores to scavenge iron from these mineral phases by formation of soluble Fe3+ complexes that can be taken up by active transport mechanisms. Many siderophores are nonribosomal peptides, although several are biosynthesised independently.

Siderophores are also important for some pathogenic bacteria for their acquisition of iron. In mammalian hosts, iron is tightly bound to proteins such as hemoglobin, transferrin, lactoferrin and ferritin. The strict homeostasis of iron leads to a free concentration of about 10−24 mol L−1, hence there are great evolutionary pressures put on pathogenic bacteria to obtain this metal. For example, the anthrax pathogen Bacillus anthracis releases two siderophores, bacillibactin and petrobactin, to scavenge ferric ion from iron containing proteins. While bacillibactin has been shown to bind to the immune system protein siderocalin, petrobactin is assumed to evade the immune system and has been shown to be important for virulence in mice.

Siderophores are amongst the strongest binders to Fe3+ known, with enterobactin being one of the strongest of these. Because of this property, they have attracted interest from medical science in metal chelation therapy, with the siderophore desferrioxamine B gaining widespread use in treatments for iron poisoning and thalassemia.

Besides siderophores, some pathogenic bacteria produce hemophores (heme binding scavenging proteins) or have receptors that bind directly to iron/heme proteins. In eukaryotes, other strategies to enhance iron solubility and uptake are the acidification of the surroundings (e.g. used by plant roots) or the extracellular reduction of Fe3+ into the more soluble Fe2+ ions.

Structure
Siderophores usually form a stable, hexadentate, octahedral complex preferentially with Fe3+ compared to other naturally occurring abundant metal ions, although if there are fewer than six donor atoms water can also coordinate. The most effective siderophores are those that have three bidentate ligands per molecule, forming a hexadentate complex and causing a smaller entropic change than that caused by chelating a single ferric ion with separate ligands. Fe3+ is a strong Lewis acid, preferring strong Lewis bases such as anionic or neutral oxygen atoms to coordinate with. Microbes usually release the iron from the siderophore by reduction to Fe2+ which has little affinity to these ligands.

Siderophores are usually classified by the ligands used to chelate the ferric iron. The major groups of siderophores include the catecholates (phenolates), hydroxamates and carboxylates (e.g. derivatives of citric acid). Citric acid can also act as a siderophore. The wide variety of siderophores may be due to evolutionary pressures placed on microbes to produce structurally different siderophores which cannot be transported by other microbes' specific active transport systems, or in the case of pathogens deactivated by the host organism.

Diversity
Examples of siderophores produced by various bacteria and fungi:

Hydroxamate siderophores

Catecholate siderophores

Mixed ligands

Amino carboxylate ligands

A comprehensive list of siderophore structures (over 250) is presented in Appendix 1 in reference.

Bacteria and fungi
In response to iron limitation in their environment, genes involved in microbe siderophore production and uptake are derepressed, leading to manufacture of siderophores and the appropriate uptake proteins. In bacteria, Fe2+-dependent repressors bind to DNA upstream to genes involved in siderophore production at high intracellular iron concentrations. At low concentrations, Fe2+ dissociates from the repressor, which in turn dissociates from the DNA, leading to transcription of the genes. In gram-negative and AT-rich gram-positive bacteria, this is usually regulated by the Fur (ferric uptake regulator) repressor, whilst in GC-rich gram-positive bacteria (e.g. Actinomycetota) it is DtxR (diphtheria toxin repressor), so-called as the production of the dangerous diphtheria toxin by Corynebacterium diphtheriae is also regulated by this system.

This is followed by excretion of the siderophore into the extracellular environment, where the siderophore acts to sequester and solubilize the iron. Siderophores are then recognized by cell specific receptors on the outer membrane of the cell. In fungi and other eukaryotes, the Fe-siderophore complex may be extracellularly reduced to Fe2+, while in many cases the whole Fe-siderophore complex is actively transported across the cell membrane. In gram-negative bacteria, these are transported into the periplasm via TonB-dependent receptors, and are transferred into the cytoplasm by ABC transporters.

Once in the cytoplasm of the cell, the Fe3+-siderophore complex is usually reduced to Fe2+ to release the iron, especially in the case of "weaker" siderophore ligands such as hydroxamates and carboxylates. Siderophore decomposition or other biological mechanisms can also release iron, especially in the case of catecholates such as ferric-enterobactin, whose reduction potential is too low for reducing agents such as flavin adenine dinucleotide, hence enzymatic degradation is needed to release the iron.

Plants
Although there is sufficient iron in most soils for plant growth, plant iron deficiency is a problem in calcareous soil, due to the low solubility of iron(III) hydroxide. Calcareous soil accounts for 30% of the world's farmland. Under such conditions graminaceous plants (grasses, cereals and rice) secrete phytosiderophores into the soil, a typical example being deoxymugineic acid. Phytosiderophores have a different structure to those of fungal and bacterial siderophores having two α-aminocarboxylate binding centres, together with a single α-hydroxycarboxylate unit. This latter bidentate function provides phytosiderophores with a high selectivity for iron(III). When grown in an iron -deficient soil, roots of graminaceous plants secrete siderophores into the rhizosphere. On scavenging iron(III) the iron–phytosiderophore complex is transported across the cytoplasmic membrane using a proton symport mechanism. The iron(III) complex is then reduced to iron(II) and the iron is transferred to nicotianamine, which although very similar to the phytosiderophores is selective for iron(II) and is not secreted by the roots. Nicotianamine translocates iron in phloem to all plant parts.

Chelating in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Iron is an important nutrient for the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, however, iron is not easily accessible in the environment. To overcome this problem, P. aeruginosa produces siderophores to bind and transport iron. But the bacterium that produced the siderophores does not necessarily receive the direct benefit of iron intake. Rather all members of the cellular population are equally likely to access the iron-siderophore complexes. The production of siderophores also requires the bacterium to expend energy. Thus, siderophore production can be looked at as an altruistic trait because it is beneficial for the local group but costly for the individual. This altruistic dynamic requires every member of the cellular population to equally contribute to siderophore production. But at times mutations can occur that result in some bacteria producing lower amounts of siderophore. These mutations give an evolutionary advantage because the bacterium can benefit from siderophore production without suffering the energy cost. Thus, more energy can be allocated to growth. Members of the cellular population that can efficiently produce these siderophores are commonly referred to as cooperators; members that produce little to no siderophores are often referred to as cheaters. Research has shown when cooperators and cheaters are grown together, cooperators have a decrease in fitness while cheaters have an increase in fitness. It is observed that the magnitude of change in fitness increases with increasing iron-limitation. With an increase in fitness, the cheaters can outcompete the cooperators; this leads to an overall decrease in fitness of the group, due to lack of sufficient siderophore production.

Pyoverdine and siderophore production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
In a recent study, the production of pyoverdine (PVD), a type of siderophore, in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been explored. This study focused on the construction, modeling, and dynamic simulation of PVD biosynthesis, a virulence factor, through a systemic approach. This approach considers that the metabolic pathway of PVD synthesis is regulated by the phenomenon of quorum-sensing (QS), a cellular communication system that allows bacteria to coordinate their behavior based on their population density.

The study showed that as bacterial growth increases, so does the extracellular concentration of QS signaling molecules, thus emulating the natural behavior of P. aeruginosa PAO1. To carry out this study, a metabolic network model of P. aeruginosa was built based on the iMO1056 model, the genomic annotation of the P. aeruginosa PAO1 strain, and the metabolic pathway of PVD synthesis. This model included the synthesis of PVD, transport reactions, exchange, and QS signaling molecules.

The resulting model, called CCBM1146, showed that the QS phenomenon directly influences the metabolism of P. aeruginosa towards the biosynthesis of PVD as a function of the change in QS signal intensity. This work is the first in silico report of an integrative model that comprises the QS gene regulatory network and the metabolic network of P. aeruginosa, providing a detailed view of how the production of pyoverdine and siderophores in Pseudomonas aeruginosa are influenced by the quorum-sensing phenomenon

Ecology
Siderophores become important in the ecological niche defined by low iron availability, iron being one of the critical growth limiting factors for virtually all aerobic microorganisms. There are four major ecological habitats: soil and surface water, marine water, plant tissue (pathogens) and animal tissue (pathogens).

Soil and surface water
The soil is a rich source of bacterial and fungal genera. Common Gram-positive species are those belonging to the Actinomycetales and species of the genera Bacillus, Arthrobacter and Nocardia. Many of these organisms produce and secrete ferrioxamines which lead to growth promotion of not only the producing organisms, but also other microbial populations that are able to utilize exogenous siderophores. Soil fungi include Aspergillus and Penicillium predominantly produce ferrichromes. This group of siderophores consist of cyclic hexapeptides and consequently are highly resistant to environmental degradation associated with the wide range of hydrolytic enzymes that are present in humic soil. Soils containing decaying plant material possess pH values as low as 3–4. Under such conditions organisms that produce hydroxamate siderophores have an advantage due to the extreme acid stability of these molecules. The microbial population of fresh water is similar to that of soil, indeed many bacteria are washed out from the soil. In addition, fresh-water lakes contain large populations of Pseudomonas, Azomonas, Aeromonas and Alcaligenes species. As siderophores are secreted into the surroundings, siderophores can be detected by bacterivorous predators, including Caenorhabditis elegans, resulting in the nematode migration to the bacterial prey.

Marine water
In contrast to most fresh-water sources, iron levels in surface sea-water are extremely low (1 nM to 1 μM in the upper 200 m) and much lower than those of V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn. Virtually all this iron is in the iron(III) state and complexed to organic ligands. These low levels of iron limit the primary production of phytoplankton and have led to the Iron Hypothesis where it was proposed that an influx of iron would promote phytoplankton growth and thereby reduce atmospheric CO2. This hypothesis has been tested on more than 10 different occasions and in all cases, massive blooms resulted. However, the blooms persisted for variable periods of time. An interesting observation made in some of these studies was that the concentration of the organic ligands increased over a short time span in order to match the concentration of added iron, thus implying biological origin and in view of their affinity for iron possibly being of a siderophore or siderophore-like nature. Significantly, heterotrophic bacteria were also found to markedly increase in number in the iron-induced blooms. Thus there is the element of synergism between phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria. Phytoplankton require iron (provided by bacterial siderophores), and heterotrophic bacteria require non-CO2 carbon sources (provided by phytoplankton).

The dilute nature of the pelagic marine environment promotes large diffusive losses and renders the efficiency of the normal siderophore-based iron uptake strategies problematic. However, many heterotrophic marine bacteria do produce siderophores, albeit with properties different from those produced by terrestrial organisms. Many marine siderophores are surface-active and tend to form molecular aggregates, for example aquachelins. The presence of the fatty acyl chain renders the molecules with a high surface activity and an ability to form micelles. Thus, when secreted, these molecules bind to surfaces and to each other, thereby slowing the rate of diffusion away from the secreting organism and maintaining a relatively high local siderophore concentration. Phytoplankton have high iron requirements and yet the majority (and possibly all) do not produce siderophores. Phytoplankton can, however, obtain iron from siderophore complexes by the aid of membrane-bound reductases and certainly from iron(II) generated via photochemical decomposition of iron(III) siderophores. Thus a large proportion of iron (possibly all iron) absorbed by phytoplankton is dependent on bacterial siderophore production.

Plant pathogens

Most plant pathogens invade the apoplasm by releasing pectolytic enzymes which facilitate the spread of the invading organism. Bacteria frequently infect plants by gaining entry to the tissue via the stomata. Having entered the plant they spread and multiply in the intercellular spaces. With bacterial vascular diseases, the infection is spread within the plants through the xylem.

Once within the plant, the bacteria need to be able to scavenge iron from the two main iron-transporting ligands, nicotianamine and citrate. To do this they produce siderophores, thus the enterobacterial Erwinia chrysanthemi produces two siderophores, chrysobactin and achromobactin. Xanthomonas group of plant pathogens produce xanthoferrin siderophores to scavenge the iron.

Like in humans, plants also possess siderophore binding proteins involved in host defense, like the major birch pollen allergen, Bet v 1, which are usually secreted and possess a lipocalin-like structure.

Animal pathogens
Pathogenic bacteria and fungi have developed the means of survival in animal tissue. They may invade the gastro-intestinal tract (Escherichia, Shigella and Salmonella), the lung (Pseudomonas, Bordetella, Streptococcus and Corynebacterium), skin (Staphylococcus) or the urinary tract (Escherichia and Pseudomonas). Such bacteria may colonise wounds (Vibrio and Staphylococcus) and be responsible for septicaemia (Yersinia and Bacillus). Some bacteria survive for long periods of time in intracellular organelles, for instance Mycobacterium. (see table). Because of this continual risk of bacterial and fungal invasion, animals have developed a number of lines of defence based on immunological strategies, the complement system, the production of iron–siderophore binding proteins and the general "withdrawal" of iron.

There are two major types of iron-binding proteins present in most animals that provide protection against microbial invasion – extracellular protection is achieved by the transferrin family of proteins and intracellular protection is achieved by ferritin. Transferrin is present in the serum at approximately 30 μM, and contains two iron-binding sites, each with an extremely high affinity for iron. Under normal conditions it is about 25–40% saturated, which means that any freely available iron in the serum will be immediately scavenged – thus preventing microbial growth. Most siderophores are unable to remove iron from transferrin. Mammals also produce lactoferrin, which is similar to serum transferrin but possesses an even higher affinity for iron. Lactoferrin is present in secretory fluids, such as sweat, tears and milk, thereby minimising bacterial infection.

Ferritin is present in the cytoplasm of cells and limits the intracellular iron level to approximately 1 μM. Ferritin is a much larger protein than transferrin and is capable of binding several thousand iron atoms in a nontoxic form. Siderophores are unable to directly mobilise iron from ferritin.

In addition to these two classes of iron-binding proteins, a hormone, hepcidin, is involved in controlling the release of iron from absorptive enterocytes, iron-storing hepatocytes and macrophages. Infection leads to inflammation and the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6 ) which stimulates hepcidin expression. In humans, IL-6 production results in low serum iron, making it difficult for invading pathogens to infect. Such iron depletion has been demonstrated to limit bacterial growth in both extracellular and intracellular locations.

In addition to "iron withdrawal" tactics, mammals produce an iron –siderophore binding protein, siderochelin. Siderochelin is a member of the lipocalin family of proteins, which while diverse in sequence, displays a highly conserved structural fold, an 8-stranded antiparallel β-barrel that forms a binding site with several adjacent β-strands. Siderocalin (lipocalin 2) has 3 positively charged residues also located in the hydrophobic pocket, and these create a high affinity binding site for iron(III)–enterobactin. Siderocalin is a potent bacteriostatic agent against E. coli. As a result of infection it is secreted by both macrophages and hepatocytes, enterobactin being scavenged from the extracellular space.

Medical applications
Siderophores have applications in medicine for iron and aluminum overload therapy and antibiotics for improved targeting. Understanding the mechanistic pathways of siderophores has led to opportunities for designing small-molecule inhibitors that block siderophore biosynthesis and therefore bacterial growth and virulence in iron-limiting environments.

Siderophores are useful as drugs in facilitating iron mobilization in humans, especially in the treatment of iron diseases, due to their high affinity for iron. One potentially powerful application is to use the iron transport abilities of siderophores to carry drugs into cells by preparation of conjugates between siderophores and antimicrobial agents. Because microbes recognize and utilize only certain siderophores, such conjugates are anticipated to have selective antimicrobial activity. An example is the cephalosporin antibiotic cefiderocol.

Microbial iron transport (siderophore)-mediated drug delivery makes use of the recognition of siderophores as iron delivery agents in order to have the microbe assimilate siderophore conjugates with attached drugs. These drugs are lethal to the microbe and cause the microbe to apoptosise when it assimilates the siderophore conjugate. Through the addition of the iron-binding functional groups of siderophores into antibiotics, their potency has been greatly increased. This is due to the siderophore-mediated iron uptake system of the bacteria.

Agricultural applications
Poaceae (grasses) including agriculturally important species such as barley and wheat are able to efficiently sequester iron by releasing phytosiderophores via their root into the surrounding soil rhizosphere. Chemical compounds produced by microorganisms in the rhizosphere can also increase the availability and uptake of iron. Plants such as oats are able to assimilate iron via these microbial siderophores. It has been demonstrated that plants are able to use the hydroxamate-type siderophores ferrichrome, rhodotorulic acid and ferrioxamine B; the catechol-type siderophores, agrobactin; and the mixed ligand catechol-hydroxamate-hydroxy acid siderophores biosynthesized by saprophytic root-colonizing bacteria. All of these compounds are produced by rhizospheric bacterial strains, which have simple nutritional requirements, and are found in nature in soils, foliage, fresh water, sediments, and seawater.

Fluorescent pseudomonads have been recognized as biocontrol agents against certain soil-borne plant pathogens. They produce yellow-green pigments (pyoverdines) which fluoresce under UV light and function as siderophores. They deprive pathogens of the iron required for their growth and pathogenesis.

Other metal ions chelated
Siderophores, natural or synthetic, can chelate metal ions other than iron ions. Examples include aluminium,  gallium,   chromium,  copper,  zinc, lead, manganese, cadmium, vanadium, zirconium, indium, plutonium, berkelium, californium, and uranium.

Related processes
Alternative means of assimilating iron are surface reduction, lowering of pH, utilization of heme, or extraction of protein-complexed metal. Recent data suggest that iron-chelating molecules with similar properties to siderophores, were produced by marine bacteria under phosphate limiting growth condition. In nature phosphate binds to different type of iron minerals, and therefore it was hypothesized that bacteria can use siderophore-like molecules to dissolve such complex in order to access the phosphate.

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

title: Siderophore


text:
Baron Colepeper

Baron Colepeper is an extinct title in the Peerage of England. Colepeper is sometimes rendered Culpeper, Baron Colepeper of Thoresway, or Baron Thoresway. The barony was created in 1644 and became extinct following the death of the fourth baron in 1725.

All Saints Church, Hollingbourne, Kent, contains numerous monuments and memorials to the Culpeper family, owners of Leeds Castle and Hollingbourne Manor. These include the first, third and fourth Barons Colepeper: John Colpeper (d. 1660), John Colepeper (d. 1719) and Cheny Colepeper (d. 1725). The memorials for the third and fourth barons are by John Michael Rysbrack.

Barons Colepeper (1640 or 1644)

 * John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper (died 11 June 1660)
 * Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper (1635–1689)
 * John Colepeper, 3rd Baron of Colepeper
 * Cheney Colepeper, 4th Baron Colepeper

North American history
The title was held by several members of the Colepeper family who controlled land in the North American Colony of Virginia, in particular the Northern Neck. In the context of Colonial history in North America, the family is often recorded as Culpeper. Culpeper County, Virginia is named for colonial governor of Virginia Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper; his only surviving daughter, Catherine Culpeper; or another close relative.

title: Baron Colepeper


text:
Sovetsk

Sovetsk (Сове́тск) is the name of several urban localities in Russia.

 * Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast, a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, formerly Tilsit
 * Sovetsk, Kirov Oblast, a town in Sovetsky District of Kirov Oblast; 57.58333°N, 48.98333°W
 * Sovetsk, Tula Oblast, a town in Shchyokinsky District of Tula Oblast

title: Sovetsk


text: Category:Districts of Thuringia

title: Category:Districts of Thuringia


text:
User:Fbd

I am also known as Friðrik Bragi Dýrfjörð at the Icelandic Wikipedia. You can find me at freenode most of the time as fbd. If you need help with Icelandic texts or something related, feel free to contact me. I mostly monitor the New pages section.

title: User:Fbd


text:
Talk:List of Bombay stations

from VfD:

I merged it with Mumbai suburban railway. There wasn't anything really to merge that other article didn't have except to mark which stops are the fast ones. Still, if I'm missing something that the other article contains, I'd like someone to catch it. So, either stop the deletion because you believe I should merge something else in, or delete it. Message me if there is, though I'll be watching this vfd, too. --flyhighplato 19:46, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: If the merge has been done, a redirect is possible. You could do that.  If it's not a redirect, though, delete it.  "List of Bombay stations" is virtually unsearchable, IMO.  (I would expect radio or TV stations by that title.)  Geogre 00:45, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * redirect to Mumbai suburban railway and get rid of the rest.--[[User:Plato|Comrade Nick @  )---^-- ]] 02:32, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Alright, it's been redirected. With a dictator's fist, I have only counted two votes. I think general sentiment is along the same lines, though. If anyone wants a coup, it's still available for undeletion, of course. --flyhighplato 13:16, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC) ;)

end moved discussion

title: Talk:List of Bombay stations


text:
The Roman Mysteries

The Roman Mysteries is a series of historical novels for children by Caroline Lawrence. The first book, The Thieves of Ostia, was published in 2001, finishing with The Man from Pomegranate Street, published in 2009, and totaling 17 novels, plus a number of "mini-mysteries", spinoffs, and companion titles.

The books take place during the ancient Roman Empire during the reign of the Emperor Titus. They detail the adventures of four children who solve mysteries and have adventures in Ostia Antica, Rome, Greece, and beyond: Flavia, a rich Roman girl who lives in Ostia; Nubia, a freed slave girl from Africa; Jonathan, a rich Jewish boy; and Lupus, an orphaned mute beggar boy.

The four detectives

 * Flavia Gemina: A wealthy Roman girl, daughter of a sea captain, Marcus Flavius Geminus
 * Jonathan ben Mordecai: A kind but pessimistic Jewish/Christian boy
 * Nubia: An African girl, former slave of Flavia, good with animals
 * Lupus: A mute beggar boy with a tragic past

Other characters

 * Marcus Flavius Geminus: Flavia's father, a sea captain
 * Mordecai: Jonathan's father, a doctor
 * Miriam bat Mordecai: Jonathan's older sister
 * Aristo: Greek tutor of the children

Characters based on historical persons

 * Pliny the Elder, admiral of the Misenum fleet and an accomplished natural historian.
 * Pliny the Younger, nephew of the Elder
 * Titus, Emperor of Rome
 * Berenice of Cilicia, Titus' exiled Jewish mistress
 * Domitian, Titus' younger brother
 * Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, the famous historian, who appears as a young man initially betrothed to Flavia.
 * Gaius Valerius Flaccus, the poet, who appears in several novels as a teenaged man, and a love interest of Flavia's.
 * Titus Flavius Josephus, famous Jewish historian.
 * Julia Flavia, Titus' daughter.

Novels

 * 1) The Thieves of Ostia (2001)
 * 2) The Secrets of Vesuvius (2001)
 * 3) The Pirates of Pompeii (2002)
 * 4) The Assassins of Rome (2002)
 * 5) The Dolphins of Laurentum (2003)
 * 6) The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina (2003)
 * 7) The Enemies of Jupiter (2003)
 * 8) The Gladiators from Capua (2004)
 * 9) The Colossus of Rhodes (2005)
 * 10) The Fugitive from Corinth (2005)
 * 11) The Sirens of Surrentum (2006)
 * 12) The Charioteer of Delphi (2006)
 * 13) The Slave-girl from Jerusalem (2007)
 * 14) The Beggar of Volubilis (2008)
 * 15) The Scribes from Alexandria (2008)
 * 16) The Prophet from Ephesus (2009)
 * 17) The Man from Pomegranate Street (2009)

Omnibus

 * 1) The Roman Mysteries Omnibus I: The Thieves of Ostia, the Secrets of Vesuvius and the Pirates of Pompeii.
 * 2) The Roman Mysteries Omnibus II: The Assassins of Rome, the Dolphins of Laurentum, the Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina.
 * 3) The Roman Mysteries Omnibus III: The Enemies of Jupiter, the Gladiators from Capua, the Colossus of Rhodes.

Mini-mysteries

 * 1) Bread and Circuses (short story published in 2003 in The Mammoth Book of Roman Whodunits); re-published in a shorter version as a novella, titled The Code of Romulus for World Book Day in April 2007)
 * 2) Trimalchio's Feast and other mini-mysteries (2007)
 * 3) The Legionary from Londinium and other mini-mysteries (2010)

Companion books

 * 1) The First Roman Mysteries Quiz Book
 * 2) The Second Roman Mysteries Quiz Book
 * 3) The Roman Mysteries Treasury (2007)
 * 4) From Ostia to Alexandria with Flavia Gemina: Travels with Flavia Gemina (2008)

Sequel trilogy
In 2008 a sequel trilogy for young adults was proposed, with the main characters being Jonathan's 14-year-old orphaned twin nephews. The stories would have been partly set in Roman Britain. The first book was to be published in March 2010. The working title for the trilogy was the Flavian Trilogy, with individual stories "Brothers of Jackals", "Companion of Owls" and "Prey of Lions". On her blog and website, Caroline Lawrence has said the content was deemed "too edgy" for the Roman Mysteries brand and as a result has been put on hold indefinitely.

In April 2010, author Caroline Lawrence announced that she is planning a spinoff for younger readers. The main character will be Threptus, an 8-year-old Ostian beggar boy who makes appearances in the final Roman Mystery, The Man from Pomegranate Street and the final short story in The Legionary from Londinium and other mini-mysteries.

Special features
Each of the novels has at least one map of the area covered in the story, sometimes also plans or diagrams; these are by Richard Russell Lawrence. The chapters are called scrolls, after the rolls of papyrus which were Roman 'books', and are numbered with Roman numerals. The glossary explaining Roman terms is called "Aristo's Scroll", after Flavia's tutor, and the author's note, which separates fact from fiction, is called "The Last Scroll".

TV series
The BBC produced a television series based on the books, entitled Roman Mysteries. The first season was broadcast in 2007, the second season in 2008.

title: The Roman Mysteries


text:
Talk:Underground city

Shumen Bulgaria
I suggest adding Shumen in Bulgaria. There were plans for a huge (largely underground) development. Some of it actually has been built, but it is not in use. It's fascinating. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.211.79.146 (talk) 21:41, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

In Seattle's Metropolitan Tract
Note the modern subways in Seattle connect buildings within the Metropolitan Tract. Back in the early 1980s it was also possible to walk underground between the Financial Center and Rainier Square via the Cobb Building (and might possibly still be). The passage resembled a stairwell or maintenance corridor; although open to tenants, it was not signed nor known to the public.

There was a skybridge across Fifth between the Financial Center and the Olympic Hotel before (and during) the hotel's renovation into the Four Seasons Olympic 1981-82, when its main entrance was relocated from Fourth around the corner to University Ave. The skybridge might never have reopened and a glimpse at Google Earth shows it no longer exists. The 1971 Financial Center has a remarkable, virtually unused elevated exterior walkway in a one-story setback all around the 2d floor, and the unique pedestal design of the Rainier Square (before retail expansion pushed the base up a floor), offered similar exposed space at the 2d floor level, which gave me the impression that when the Tract was redeveloped in the late sixties it may have been intended to connect all of the Tract buildings via skybridges, before the Rainier Square/Union Squares subway came to be.

A heavily-used skyway also connects the lobby of the ferry terminal with the sidewalk of Marion St across Alaskan Way, passing beneath the 99/Aurora/Alaskan Way Viaduct. (Access from Alaskan Way street level to the terminal lobby was via a weird inclined moving walkway.) After the First Interstate Center opened about 1983, many ferry commuters bound for offices on Fourth and Fifth found its public, exterior (though covered) escalator on the west (3d Ave entrance) a great way to avoid the steep sidewalk trek from 3rd to 4th, although this involved tromping through the bank lobby at the upper end. Some would also snag an elevator between the 2d and 3d Ave lobbies of the New Federal Building (two floors apart) to avoid the first part of that steep climb, but I'm sure those days are long over. These "lobby shortcuts" probably do not qualify as tunnels, but serve a similar function, as they offered shelter from the rain and wind off the bay, as well as a lift. Jeffreykopp 06:18, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Philadelphia
In Philadelphia, it is possible to walk underground from 18th Street to 8th Street, and also about 4 blocks south on Broad Street through the same network of walkways.

At 18th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard, one will find the westernmost entrance to Suburban Station, which extends to around 15th Street and Market Street (Market is one block south of JFK) where one can find City Hall and 15th Street Station of the Market-Frankford subway. South Broad Concourse is connected to the entrance of 15th Street Station via a long empty tunnel, which opens up into a larger empty tunnel, extending southward under Broad Street from Market Street to about Locust Street (I think). That's about four blocks. Back to City Hall... another series of small tunnels lead from here along Market Street. The main walkway parallels the MFL, opening up at the 13th Street and 11th Street subway stops. At 11th Street, one can gain entrance to Market East Station and The Gallery, a large partially underground shopping mall which spans from 11th to 8th along Market Street. Walking through The Gallery, one will come to 8th Street Station, located at the junction of 8th & Market Streets.

Hopefully relevant for you. There may be some minor inaccuracies. I doubt all those small details are necessary anyway. cromonna 02:38, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Burlington
Does Burlington (UK) belong here?

Sacramento
I know that Sacramento has a large abandoned underground city. Does anyone have more information about that? 156.34.51.201 (talk) 23:58, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Minneapolis
Except for the tunnels around the University, everything else described here is above ground. Should be removed. 69.95.232.3 (talk) 20:17, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

pedestrian tunnels
pedestrian tunnel redirects here yet there's no mention of them. i wasn't sure they belong here, but have no clue where they'd be better suited. this may be based on my understanding of underground city as similar to an aboveground city, when it is simply a term for the underground parts of the city. i would like to encourage anyone to add any tunnels they know of. 151.201.30.98 (talk) 23:31, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Calgary
Calgary has a similar system in the downtown core which is not mentionned in this article 142.179.219.229 (talk) 13:03, 19 April 2009 (UTC)

climate
So, umm.. "Underground cities are especially important in cities with cold climates, as they permit the downtown core to be enjoyed year round without regard to the weather." Funny, I was just thinking that, only in terms of places with -hot- climates.

Comparative floorspace?
How are the various floorspace estimates being calculated? Does the PATH estimate include the entire Eaton Centre, just its sub-surface levels, or exclude it and the Atrium on Bay entirely and count only the exclusively underground malls? If the first, could Edmonton instantly rival Toronto if someone were to build a low-rise office building with an underground connection to the West Edmonton Mall? Are the Japanese and Canadian numbers defined the same way? I suspect the former do not include suface-level retail, can anyone verify?--207.245.10.220 (talk) 23:28, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

What about bunkers?
This article doesn't mention anything about military bunkers - some of them are practically as big as cities. Smartse (talk) 23:27, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

Not what I expected
This article doesn't have what I expected. I expected to find a list of underground cities sorted by size. To me this means extensive bunkers and large underground shopping malls. Subway systems without large shopping infrastructure don't seem relevant. Nor do skyways. I also see one obvious omission - the COEX mall in Seoul. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.55.54.38 (talk) 18:32, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Toronto and Montreal
The article starts off by saying that Toronto has the largest according to Guiness World of Record 2008, but then under CANADA, it says Montreal has the largest one in the world.

I didnt edit anything, but looking at the articles current state this was addressed some time ago. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.84.5.210 (talk) 17:19, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Strand Concourse, Cape Town, South Africa
There is a shop lined walkway called Strand Concourse linking the grounds of Cape Town Station to the Golden Acre Shopping Center, the Old Mutual Building, the Woolworths Department Store, and a local hotel (cant remember its current name and its access might be closed) and a number of street entrances, the building is directly below Strand Street in the city center. Radavvadra (talk) 22:37, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

oslo should perhaps be mentioned
in oslo it is possible to move from oslocity to byporten just by walking through jernbanetorget subway station. it is also possible to walk to oslo s directly from that station. i used the norwegian names because i am norwegian.84.208.64.62 (talk) 15:18, 20 October 2013 (UTC)
 * Is this bigger or smaller than the underground shopping concourse between T-Centralen and Sergels torg in Stockholm (seen in this photo)? What you are describing sounds like an underground concourse, but I don't see any indication that this is as extensive as an underground city. Do you have any reliable sources (in English or Norwegian) that refer to this area as an "underground city" or underjordby? Wilhelm Meis (☎ Diskuss | ✍ Beiträge) 03:22, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

Proposing split
I propose that this article be split into two pages, one at the current title and another at List of underground cities. Comments? —George8211 / T 18:38, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Can a "city" exist without housing?

 * A city is a large human settlement. Cities generally have extensive systems for housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, land use, and communication. Their density facilitates interaction between people, government organizations and businesses, sometimes benefiting different parties in the process.

The above is from the introductory paragraph in the WP article on Cities (citations omitted). Most of the underground constructions cited in this Underground cities article do not come close to meeting the above definition of a city. They instead are developments devoted to commerce and mostly have little to no living accommodations. At very least there needs to be a source (or more) that explains this different standard of definition, perhaps specific enough to allow an editor to reject entries based on that standard.

GeeBee60 (talk) 00:30, 8 October 2017 (UTC)

 * It's possible that the phrase 'underground city' isn't directly related to the word 'city'. I'd have to go through the citations of this article to confirm whether the phrase is used for underground structures without a resident population. sheridan (talk) 11:50, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

 * Obviously "city" is a term used fluidly and loosely including here. At risk of seeming picky, we none-the-less should aspire to a better, and better sourced, definition. GeeBee60 (talk) 15:58, 10 October 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (January 2018)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on Underground city. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070814101708/http://www.railcity.ch/index/index_zuerich.htm to http://www.railcity.ch/index/index_zuerich.htm
 * Added archive https://archive.is/20120729112735/http://russell.visitmt.com/listings/9512.HTM to http://russell.visitmt.com/listings/9512.HTM

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 04:57, 22 January 2018 (UTC)

Bakersfield tunnels
I think the section on tunnels between Bakersfield and Tehachapi should be removed. The tunnels are racist conjecture.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/the-legend-of-bakersfields-downtown-tunnels-truth-or-fiction/article_1e0428e9-68f7-5c1b-b27b-e0b914f61943.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 104.134.1.128 (talk) 17:12, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Gibraltar
The Rock has more tunnels than roads - still, no mention. Jensstark (talk) 22:27, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

Terrible article
This article needs to be massively shortened. Not every underground structure is a city. This has suffered for too long from people adding what they want 71.105.148.209 (talk) 15:31, 29 October 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Underground city


text:
Quinqui jargon

Quinqui jargon is associated with quincalleros (an itinerant group), semi-nomadic people who live mainly in the northern half of Spain. They prefer to be called mercheros. They are reduced in number and possibly vanishing as a distinct group.

The language is based on Germanía, an old Spanish criminal argot, with elements of Caló, a dialect of the Spanish Roma. The term comes from the word quincallería (ironmongery), from ironmongers who first used this cant as part of their trade. Because the men were frequently blamed for petty crime, the word is associated in modern Spanish with delinquents, petty thieves, or hoodlums. The mercheros identify as a distinct group separate from the Roma gitanos.

Scholars have many theories about the social origins of mercheros, summarized as the following:
 * Descendants of mechanical workers who arrived in Spain from central Europe in the 16th century;
 * Descendants of peasants who lost their land in the 16th century;
 * Descendants of intermarriage between the Roma and non-Roma populations;
 * Descendants of Muslims who became nomads after the expulsion in the 15th century to escape persecution; and/or
 * A mixture of the above.

Notable mercheros

 * Eleuterio Sánchez, a.k.a. El Lute (born 1942). A petty thief in his early life, he was convicted of armed robbery and murder; after escaping from prison, he was listed among Spain's "Most Wanted" criminals by the Spanish police.  Later he earned a law degree and wrote five books.  He was pardoned at age 39.

title: Quinqui jargon


text:
Donskoy cat

The Donskoy cat, also known as Don Sphynx or Russian Hairless, is a hairless cat breed of Russian origin. It is not related to the better-known Sphynx cat (Canadian Hairless) whose characteristic hairlessness is caused by a recessive mutation in the keratin 71 gene. The Donskoy's hairlessness, on the other hand, is caused by a dominant mutation.

History
The Donskoy breed is able to be traced back to one kitten. This breed started in 1987 with the discovery of a hairless cat in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don by cat breeder Elena Kovaleva. She had rescued a blue tortoiseshell kitten, which she named Varvara. At around four months of age, the cat began to lose fur. Varvara mated with a local tomcat and produced a litter of kittens. Some were born hairless, and the others started with hair but lost it like their mother. These kittens are the founding stock of the Donskoy breed and were later outcrossed with European Shorthair cats.

Over time, breeders learned more about the Donskoy's hair loss gene. Unlike the recessive gene carried by the Sphynx, the Donskoy's gene is dominant. So, all cats with the gene either are born hairless or lose their coats as they grow.

The Donskoy was first officially recognized by the World Cat Federation (WCF) in 1987 and by The International Cat Association (TICA) in 2005. The standard of points describes the cat as being medium-sized and muscular, with large ears, almond shaped eyes and distinctive long, webbed toes. They require frequent grooming, in spite of their lack of coat. Over-bathing can cause the skin to become very oily.

The Peterbald breed was originally created by crossing Donskoy with Oriental Shorthair cats to create a hairless cat of Oriental-type. Matings between the Donskoy and the Peterbald are no longer permitted since 2000, and outcrossing is not permitted, except with the domestic shorthair, due to the effect of the Donskoy's dominant hairless mutation.

Visibility of hairless cats increased significantly in 1997 due to the Blockbuster film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and subsequently in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, where Mr. Bigglesworth (played by Ted Nude Gent) was prominently featured as the beloved pet of Dr. Evil. Important to note, the hairless cat featured in the Austin Powers franchise was actually a Sphynx cat not a Donskoy cat.

Breeding ban
Since 2014, it is illegal in the Netherlands to breed with parent cats which bear genetic mutations or other physical abnormalities that cause health or welfare issues in their offspring. The lack of protecting fur in hairless cats, such as the Donskoy, is one of these banned mutations in parent cats.

Physical Appearance
The most striking physical characteristics of Donskoy cats is its hairlessness. Unlike many cats, Donskoys lack whiskers as well. Donskoys are medium sized, muscular cats in build. Their heads are triangular, with large ears and eyes which give Donskoys an elf-like appearance. Donskoy skin is very wrinkled, especially concentrated on the face, neck, chest, and the base of its tail.

Skin and eye color can range in Donskoy cats. Skin pattern colors tend to appear faded. While  eye color can range from blue, green, amber, orange, yellow, or brown.

Some Donskoy cats may grow a faint fur coat during colder winter months, but the hair eventually falls off as warmer weather months return.

Types of Donskoys
Donskoys can be segmented into four different categories, based primarily on the types of coats and the amount of hairlessness. See categories below.

Rubber Bald: Born completely bald these Donskoys will remain that way throughout their lives.

Flock Coat: Flock Coat Donsksoys are born with a light peach-fuzz like coat. Eventually as these Donskoys grow, they will often lose the fuzz and become completely bald.

Velour Coat: Unlike the Flock Coat and Rubber Bald, these Donskoy kittens are born with a wavy, short coat and a bald spot of the top of their heads. The wavy coat is short-lived, as within the first year, the kittens will lose their hair. Some Velour Coat Donskoys will continue to have a small amount of fuzz on their face, legs, and tail. Other Velour Coat Donskoys will lose all of their hair and become completely bald.

Brush Coat: Like the Velour Coat, the Brush Coat is also born with a short coat of fur; however, it usually bristly or wiry. These Donskoys have bald spots on their head, neck, and back and do not lose the rest of fur as they grow. Then Brush Coat Donskoy is the only type of Donskoy disqualified from the show ring.

Health
Not all cat registries recognize the Donskoy, and there are some concerns about the genetic health of the breed. The dominant genetic mutation causing hairlessness in Peterbalds and Donskoys could cause feline ectodermal dysplasia in its homozygous form, causing problems including poor dentition and compromised ability to lactate or sweat. Similar dominant mutations (such as in FOXI3) cause the condition in hairless dogs, and the symptoms in dominant-type hairless cats and dogs mirror those of human ectodermal dysplasia (which also results in sparse or absent hair).

Demeanor
Unlike some other cat breeds, the Donskoy cat is extremely social. Beyond its hairlessness, the Donskoy cat is very intriguing and inquisitive and soft-hearted. Donskoy cats are typically active, therefore they require sufficient stimulation to keep them entertained. They spent more time moving around than the average cat. Due to their social behavior Donskoy cats do not do well being left alone for long periods of time.

Additionally, Donskoys are friendly and extremely intelligent. These characteristics make Donskoy cats ideal for training. The Donskoy cat’s good and gentle nature, along with social demeanor, makes them perfectly suited for families and are also great with children. The general disposition of the Donskoy cat is loving and amiable.

Thanks to their demeanor, Donskoys usually get along well with other cat breeds especially other playful cats. Their activity levels can cause challenges with older cats. Donskoys are capable of getting along with dogs as well, if properly introduced.

Characteristics
Source:

title: Donskoy cat


text:
Kosmos 238

Kosmos 238 (Космос 238 meaning Cosmos 238) was the final test series of the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft prior to the launch of Soyuz 2. It tested the orbital maneuvering system, reentry, descent and landing systems that had been modified and improved after the Soyuz 1 accident.

Mission parameters

 * Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-OK
 * Mass: 6520 kg
 * Crew: None
 * Launched: 28 August 1968, 10:04:00 GMT
 * Landed: 1 September 1968, 09:03:00 GMT
 * Perigee: 194 km
 * Apogee: 313 km
 * Inclination: 51.7°
 * Period: 88.5 minutes
 * NSSDC ID: 1968-072A

title: Kosmos 238


text:
Church economy

Church economy is either

 * An Eastern Orthodox bishop's discretionary power to dispense with rules that parish priests must otherwise rigidly follow; see economy (Eastern Orthodoxy); or
 * Church economics. (disambiguation)

title: Church economy


text:
Bisentō

A 'brow blade' (眉尖刀) is a polearm used in feudal Japan. The bisentō has various descriptions, "a double-edged long sword with a thick truncated blade", "a spear-like weapon with a blade at the end that resembles a scimitar", "a polearm resembling a glaive, with a long, heavy haft and a heavy, curved blade". The bisentō is said to have been used by ninja and peasants.

Depictions of this weapon can be found in the Chinese military compilations the Wǔ jīng zǒng yào, Sāncái tú huì, the Wǔbèi zhì, and many others, though no artifact representations currently exist of this implement.

title: Bisentō


text:
Deerfield, Ohio

Deerfield, Ohio could refer to the following places:

 * Deerfield Township, Morgan County, Ohio
 * Deerfield Township, Portage County, Ohio
 * Deerfield Township, Ross County, Ohio
 * Deerfield Township, Warren County, Ohio
 * South Lebanon, Ohio, a village originally known as Deerfield

title: Deerfield, Ohio


text: Talk:Economic vegetarianism

title: Talk:Economic vegetarianism


text:
User talk:193.120.102.167

Proposed deletion of Daibhidh Ó Duibhgheannáin

The article Daibhidh Ó Duibhgheannáin has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern: "No inline sources, no established notability, zero results on Google Scholar, no identified sigcov"

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the page to address the issues raised. Removing will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. InvadingInvader (talk) 21:40, 25 October 2022 (UTC)

title: User talk:193.120.102.167


text:
Megascale engineering

Megascale engineering (or macro-engineering) is a form of exploratory engineering concerned with the construction of structures on an enormous scale. Typically these structures are at least 1000 km in length—in other words, at least one megameter, hence the name. Such large-scale structures are termed megastructures.

In addition to large-scale structures, megascale engineering is also defined as including the transformation of entire planets into a human-habitable environment, a process known as terraforming or planetary engineering. This might also include transformation of the surface conditions, changes in the planetary orbit, and structures in orbit intended to modify the energy balance.

Astroengineering is the extension of megascale engineering to megastructures on a stellar scale or larger, such as Dyson spheres, Ringworlds, and Alderson disks.

Several megascale structure concepts such as Dyson spheres, Dyson swarms, and Matrioshka brains would likely be built upon space-based solar power satellites. Other planetary engineering or interstellar transportation concepts would likely require space-based solar power satellites and the accompanying space logistics infrastructure for their power or construction.

Megascale engineering often plays a major part in the plot of science fiction movies and books. The micro-gravity environment of outer space provides several potential benefits for the engineering of these structures. These include minimizing the loads on the structure, the availability of large quantities of raw materials in the form of asteroids, and an ample supply of energy from the Sun. The capabilities to employ these advantages are not yet available, however, so they provide material for science fiction themes.

Quite a few megastructures have been designed on paper as exploratory engineering. However, the list of existing and planned megastructures is complicated by the ambiguity in classifying what exactly constitutes a megastructure. By strict definition, no megastructures currently exist (with the space elevator being the only such project under serious consideration). By more lenient definitions, the Great Wall of China (6.7 Mm) counts as a megastructure.

A more complete list of conceptual and existing megastructures, along with a discussion of megastructure criteria, is found under megastructure.

Of all the proposed megastructures, only the orbital elevator, the Lofstrom launch loop, and Martian or lunar space elevator concepts could be built using conventional engineering techniques, and are within the grasp of current material science. Carbon nanotubes may have the requisite tensile strength for the more technologically challenging Earth-based space elevator, but creation of nanotubes of the required length is a laboratory exercise, and adequate cable-scale technology has not yet been shown at all.

The assembly of structures more massive than a space elevator would likely involve a combination of new engineering techniques, new materials, and new technologies. Such massive construction projects might require the use of self-replicating machines to provide a suitably large "construction crew". The use of nanotechnology might provide both the self-replicating assemblers, and the specialized materials needed for such a project. Nanotechnology is, however, another area of speculative exploratory engineering at this time.

title: Megascale engineering


text:
Category talk:Outdoor sculptures

comment
Should this category exist? It seems basically unused, and there are plenty of "outdoor" sculptures that are simply categorized under "Category:Sculptures". Maastrictian 19:50, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

title: Category talk:Outdoor sculptures


text:
Hellalive

Hellalive is the first live album by American heavy metal band Machine Head.

The album was released to fulfill Machine Head's commitment to Roadrunner Records (the band released Through the Ashes of Empires shortly after). Former Vio-lence guitarist Phil Demmel is present on "None But My Own" and "The Burning Red", in place of Ahrue Luster, due to these songs being taken from 2002's Full Force Festival and by that time Luster had left the band. Demmel filled in, as is credited in the liner notes to "Hellalive" and he later joined the band as permanent lead guitarist. As of 2012 the album has sold over 38,000 copies in the United States and an estimated 78,000 copies worldwide since its 2003 release.

Machine Head

 * Robb Flynn – vocals, rhythm guitar
 * Adam Duce – bass
 * Dave McClain – drums
 * Ahrue Luster – lead guitar (tracks 1–7, 9–11, 13 and 14)
 * Phil Demmel – lead guitar (tracks 8 and 12 only)

title: Hellalive


text:
Lepaca Kliffoth

Lepaca Kliffoth is the fourth studio album by Swedish symphonic metal band Therion. The title refers to the qlippoth. Stylistically, it retains the aggressive riffing and sheds the harsh growls of the band's previous death metal output, while also incorporating more elements of traditional heavy metal and more pronounced gothic and symphonic elements, often leading to this album being viewed as a transitional album in Therion's discography.

Reception
For Metal Storm, the album "stands between the band's more Death roots and later symphonic grandiosity" and "turns out to be a fine piece of work, the great songwriting, mixed with Arabic-influenced keyboards is remarkable, and those mysterious lyrics just add more charm".

Deathmetal.org states that Lepaca Kliffoth "should be avoided by the serious listener" because the structural genius of earlier Therion albums is here only available as distracting ornamentation, rendering it "very cheesy radio hard rock".

Track listing
Lyrics and Music by Christofer Johnsson, except where stated.

 * "Enter the Voids" was previously released before only on the original LP version of "Lepaca Kliffoth"
 * The first release of digipack from November 15, 1996, has a black tray and missing #8 track "Sorrows of the Moon" on the back cover. The second release (ca. 1999) has a clear tray, fixed track listing, and additional pictures on the inside cover.

Credits

 * Christofer Johnsson - guitar, vocals and keyboards
 * Piotr Wawrzeniuk - drums
 * Fredrik Isaksson - bass guitar
 * Harris Johns - engineering, mixing (except "Darkness Eve")

Guest musicians

 * Hans Groning - bass-baritone vocals ("The Beauty in Black", "Evocation of Vovin")
 * Claudia Maria Mokri - soprano vocals ("The Beauty in Black", "Evocation of Vovin", "Black")
 * Harris Johns - lead guitar (first part of solo in "The Beauty in Black")
 * "Jan" - additional vocals (chorus parts of "Wings of the Hydra", "Sorrows of the Moon")

Single

 * "The Beauty in Black"

Credits

 * Album cover and design made by Holmen & Ungman Productions.
 * Original painting by Kristian Wåhlin.
 * Tom Eriksen is an album's art director. He is also responsible for cover's computer treatments.

title: Lepaca Kliffoth


text:
User:Gregholmes

Thus far I have done some simple editing, and contributed an economic example, and a piece of creation science terminology.

title: User:Gregholmes


text:
Hack writer

Hack writer is a pejorative term for a writer who is paid to write low-quality, rushed articles or books "to order", often with a short deadline. In fiction writing, a hack writer is paid to quickly write sensational, pulp fiction such as "true crime" novels or "bodice ripping" paperbacks. In journalism, a hack writer is deemed to operate as a "mercenary" or "pen for hire", expressing their client's political opinions in pamphlets or newspaper articles. Hack writers are usually paid by the number of words in their book or article; as a result, hack writing has a reputation for quantity taking precedence over quality.

History
The term "hack writer" was first used in the 18th century, "when publishing was establishing itself as a business employing writers who could produce to order." The derivation of the term "hack" was a "shortening of hackney, which described a horse that was easy to ride and available for hire." In 1728, Alexander Pope wrote The Dunciad, which was a satire of "the Grub-street Race" of commercial writers who worked in Grub Street, a London district that was home to a bohemian counterculture of impoverished writers and poets. In the late 19th century, Anthony Trollope's novel The Way We Live Now (1875) depicts a female hack writer whose career was built on social connections rather than writing skill.

Many authors who would later become famous worked as low-paid hack writers early in their careers, or during a downturn in their fortunes. As a young man, Anton Chekhov had to support his family by writing short newspaper articles; Arthur Koestler penned a dubious Dictionary of Sexuality for the popular press; Samuel Beckett translated for the French Reader's Digest; and William Faulkner churned out Hollywood scripts.

A number of films have depicted hack writers, perhaps because the way these authors are "prostituting" their creative talents makes them an interesting character study. In the film adaptation of Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), author Graham Greene added a hard-drinking hack writer named Holly Martins. In Jean-Luc Godard's film Contempt (1963), a hack screenwriter is paid to doctor a script. In the film Adaptation (2002), Nicolas Cage depicts an ill-educated character named Donald Kaufman who finds he has a knack for churning out cliché-filled film scripts.

Use as a pejorative
In the US, the term "hack" is used as a pejorative description among writers, journalists, bloggers, and comedians. It is especially used for journalists that are perceived to take partisan sides.

The term "hack" has been used by some UK journalists as a form of humorous, self-deprecating self-description. The term was popularized in the UK by Private Eye magazine, which refers to male journalists as "hacks" and female journalists as "hackettes."

title: Hack writer


text: User:Jah Da

title: User:Jah Da


text:
Talk:Sogdian language

Untitled
"This early script was taken from the Aramaic script and was almost solely ideographic." - Aramaic was not ideographic, how could Sogdian became one?

"...is in the Sogdian Script that has its roots in the same Aramaic script and like Middle Persian, contains many Logograms?." - as far as I know neither Middle Persian nor Sogdian contained NO Logograms.

I going to edit the article if no evidence of those statement are provided here.

Logograms and Ideograms
Aramaic was not ideographic, but Pahlavi and Sogdian were greatly ideographic (or as it is called now, heterographic, and called Arameograms by some). Logogram is just another name for it.

The process of the formation of ideograms in Pahlavi and Sogdian are quite complecated, but have their roots in the scribal practices of the Achaemenid administration. If you read the original Pahlavi and Sogdian texts, they are full of logo/ideo/hetero/arameograms! (e.g. BRA for "pus" and MN for 'az').

---

It is definetely not the same thing as ideograms and logograms usually understood, so I would either use "heterogram" or explain in details what is it all about. And, by the way, is there any evidence that Aramaic heterograms were actully 'pronounced' as Pahlavi/Sogdian words, not like foreign words, as they were spelled?

For example, English is never called 'highly ideographic language' however it has more than half of the words taken from Latin and French. Vassili Nikolaev 01:02, 24 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Aramaic
I wikilinked Aramaic, but it doesn't seem to be correct? Please clarify the sentence. --Pjacobi 13:59, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I recorded this article as a spoken article but didn't know the correct pronunciations--phonetic helps? NB

Sounds good, but here's a couple for the next edit:
 * Achaemenid - a-kigh-men-id
 * Manichaean - man-ick-key-an

ፈቃደ (ውይይት) 19:30, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

Comments for Amanda
4/13/09 Amanda, I think you did a good job on this page. I was able to get a good understanding of the history of the language and where/how it was used. That was awesome. One thing I would say you could add (though I think it is already great) if more details about the workings of the script itself. Maybe you could go into more detail about the languages its similar to and what makes them similar. Just a suggestion. :)

~Kara BearsBeatBattlestarGalactica —Preceding undated comment added 04:25, 13 April 2009 (UTC).

Hi,

Good work! This page is already leaving the realm of stubness, with the information that you added about the language itself. However, you might want to consider putting in more about the writing system, since our class in on writing systems. Most of them have a little box including type of system, parent systems, daughter systems, and dates from which the writing system was in use. The information is already on the page, but it might be better to throw all that into a box to make it easier to find.

Lychee512 (talk) 21:51, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Dearest Amanda (aka baller), I'm really impressed with what you've done with the page. Before reading this I had never even heard of the Sogdian language (I'm actually quite surprised that there are this many books about it out there - then again, I guess not everyone is as ignorant as I am!). I'm glad that you mentioned that it descended from the Semitic script - I feel like that really ties the Sogdian language back to what we are learning in class. I'm also glad that you discuss Sogdian's similarities to other scripts so we can better understand how it works. Hgun (talk) 03:04, 14 April 2009 (UTC)

Hi Amanda! You edited the page very well and added a lot of good information. You should probably elaborate more about the writing system or maybe show a picture of what it looks like (although I myself havent figured out how to add pictures, so I probably shouldn't tell you to add them), but I liked how you gave a transliteration/ translation of text. The section about the discovery of the texts is interesting; I'm glad you added that. The page is really good so far, keep up the good editing!

Kimbo9324 (talk) 14:26, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

"Sogdian Buddhism"?!
Do tell!

I was not aware of BuddhaDharma west of Afghanistan.

"Sogdian was the lingua franca of a vast Central Asian region along the Silk Road" ... fascinatin'. --BenTremblay (talk) 01:16, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

Sogdian loanwords in Persian
Loanwords from Sogdian into Persian were adopted through the cultural relations and commercial interactions which existed between Iran proper and Transoxiana, the birth place of Sogdian language. --Zyma (talk) 02:00, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Sogdian language. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20040905091926/http://www.uni-koeln.de:80/phil-fak/indologie/lil/sd-search.html to http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/indologie/lil/sd-search.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers.—cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 12:45, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Sogdian language


text:
Maria McKee

Maria Luisa McKee (born August 17, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her work with Lone Justice, her 1990 song "Show Me Heaven", and her song "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)" from the film Pulp Fiction.

Early life
Maria McKee was born in Los Angeles in 1964. She grew up in a bohemian family and is the half-sister of Bryan MacLean (1946-1998), the guitarist of the band Love (he died in 1998 at age 51).

Music
McKee was a founding member of the cowpunk and proto-Americana band Lone Justice in 1982, with whom she released two albums. In 1983, she sang the song "Never Be You" for the soundtrack of the movie "Streets of Fire" (1984). Several compilations, of both previously released and unreleased material, and a BBC Live in Concert album, have been released since the group disbanded in 1987. Bob Dylan wrote the song "Go Away Little Boy" for the band's debut album, Lone Justice, which later appeared as a B-side. The band opened for such acts as U2 and Tom Petty. During this period of her career, she was managed by Jimmy Iovine.

When she was 19, McKee wrote Feargal Sharkey's 1985 song "A Good Heart", which she has since recorded and released herself on her album Late December. Sharkey also covered "To Miss Someone", from her self-titled solo debut, on his third solo album, Songs from the Mardi Gras. In 1987, she appeared in the Robbie Robertson music video "Somewhere Down the Crazy River" (directed by Martin Scorsese), and contributed back-up vocals to his debut solo album, which included the song. McKee released her first solo, self-titled album in 1989, on which Richard Thompson played guitar and Steve Wickham (from The Waterboys) played fiddle. It received critical acclaim in Europe, prompting McKee to move to Ireland.

Her song "Show Me Heaven", which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Days of Thunder, topped the charts in Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom, where the song topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, becoming Britain's sixth biggest-selling song of 1990. Additionally, "Show Me Heaven" became McKee's second number one – and first self-performed – song on the UK Singles Chart after Sharkey's "A Good Heart" topped the chart in November 1985. She rarely performed this song in public until recently, before she sang it at Dublin Pride.

Her song "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)" was personally selected by Quentin Tarantino for his feature film Pulp Fiction. It is the only original song on the soundtrack.

In 1992, she released the song "Sweetest Child", which was produced by Youth and featured Robert "Throb" Young from the band Primal Scream.

Following her debut, McKee released five studio records and two live albums. The album Life Is Sweet featured her lead guitar work described as "feral" by the British Mojo magazine, which listed it as a runner-up to album of the year in their critics’ poll. The raw, postmodern album (produced by Mark Freegard) was a marked shift from her previous roots rock style. Her later three records, High Dive (2003), Peddlin' Dreams (2005) and Late December (2007), were released independently via her own label, Viewfinder Records (distributed in the UK via Cooking Vinyl).

In 1995, Bette Midler recorded two of McKee's songs—"To Deserve You" and "The Last Time"—for her platinum album, Bette of Roses. In 1998, country trio The Chicks recorded McKee's "Am I the Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way?)", featuring several notable solos by fiddler Martie Maguire. The band included the track on their Grammy-nominated debut album Wide Open Spaces. In 2003, during their Top of the World Tour, The Chicks invited opening act Joan Osborne back to the stage to perform the song with them on several occasions.

McKee appears on the 2014 compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring that paired Western musicians with artists from the Arab Spring. On the album, her performance of the Tony Joe White song "Ol' Mother Earth" was meshed with "I Still Exist" by the Egyptian band Massar Egbari.

She recorded a medley of "Ride a White Swan" and "She Was Born to Be My Unicorn" for the Marc Bolan tribute album Angel Headed Hipster, produced by Hal Willner. The album also includes tracks by Gavin Friday, Father John Misty and Nick Cave.

Session and guest work
In addition to writing Sharkey's song, "A Good Heart", McKee has contributed to the Victoria Williams' tribute album Sweet Relief, on the song "Opelousas (Sweet Relief)". She has also provided backing vocals to U2's cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" (B-side of 1992 "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" single from their Achtung Baby album), as well as to Counting Crows' 1993 debut August and Everything After on "Sullivan Street" and "Mr. Jones". On Robin Zander's 1993 solo album she sang backing vocals for the track "Reactionary Girl". She also sang backing vocals on Robbie Robertson's debut and self-titled solo album, on the track "American Roulette". Much lesser known is her contribution of lead and co-lead vocals on two tracks on a contemporary Christian praise and worship album called Come As You Are.

She also contributed a song, "Never Be You," for the soundtrack to the Walter Hill movie Streets of Fire. She recorded a duet, "Friends in Time", with The Golden Horde on their eponymously titled album in 1991. She also recorded the duet "This Road is Long" with Stuart A. Staples of the band Tindersticks on his 2006 album Leaving Songs. In addition she co-wrote a duet titled "Promise You Anything" with Steve Earle, which appeared on his 1990 album The Hard Way. She teamed up with Dwight Yoakam for a duet on "Bury Me," from his 1986 debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. She contributed the lyrics and vocals to the song "No Big Bang" on the only album by The Heads, No Talking, Just Head, also playing guitar and synthesizer on the song together with the band, mostly ex-members of Talking Heads.

In 2016, she performed the Blind Willie Johnson song "Let Your Light Shine On Me" on the tribute album God Don't Never Change: The Songs of Blind Willie Johnson.

Film work
In 2013, McKee and her husband, Jim Akin, self-released their first independent feature film, After the Triumph of Your Birth, through their production company, Shootist Films. The film was written, directed, shot, recorded, and edited by Akin and features McKee (who co-produced) in her acting debut as an ensemble cast member. They scored the film together and the soundtrack was released in 2012.

Shootist Films' second feature film The Ocean of Helena Lee (featuring her in a supporting role) was released May 2015 with accompanying soundtrack. The film played a week run at The American Cinematheque at The Egyptian Theater. Akin, McKee and drummer Tom Dunne (also an actor and lead player in the film) performed a set of music after each screening. The film screened in competition at The Indie Memphis Film Festival and The Pesaro International Film Festival as well as out of competition in The Fastnet Film Festival in Schull, Ireland.

Published fiction
In 2009, McKee's short story, "Charcoal", was included in the Melville House Publishing short fiction anthology Amplified: Fiction from Leading Alt-Country, Indie Rock, Blues and Folk Musicians. In 2018, an audio version of "Charcoal" was recorded by voice actor Patrice Gambardella and published on Bibliophone, a free audio book platform.

Personal life
McKee is married to musician and filmmaker Jim Akin. She came out in 2018 as pansexual, and referred to herself as a "dyke". She is also an advocate for queer and transgender rights.

She is a dog lover, and she and Akin have had a range of breeds as pets over the years, including a pug, greyhound, and whippet. She also has volunteered with a greyhound adoption group. Her song "My First Night without You" was written after one of her pugs died.

, she lives in London, where she recorded La Vita Nuova.

title: Maria McKee


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Recipes proposal

Recipes proposal

 * For the record, I don't think this is the right place to put proposals. --Improv 20:32, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Move. This could be a discussion somewhere, but not a Wikipedia article.


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Brotherhood

The Brotherhood
I originally speedied this as it only consisted of one paragraph of patent nonsense. The author asked me to undelete it, as he wished to redeem it or something like. I've read what I've seen and I still think it's nonsense, just more of it. Mike H 19:55, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. Obvious nonsense and/or fantasy; author's continuing edits make it clear this article isn't heading anywhere good.   —Triskaideka 20:31, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Do not delete  I have not finished it yet, and it is not nonsense anyway. It is based entirely on truth. The story is indeed true, the characters are real and It is written in the 1st person by Duke Leto Atreides.
 * So you're saying that it is a story that you are writing? Fiction with historical characters? That's nice, but Wikipedia is not the place for it. I suggest you check out Geocities or some such place that offers free web hosting. Anyway, please make a local copy of your work in progress this time. —Stormie 21:18, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * delete That it's written in the first person is only one of its problems. --Christofurio 21:13, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete, even if it is true it is original research. —Stormie 21:18, Oct 13, 2004 (UTC)*It's not even as funny as it could be. Make it funnier before we delete it.--Tomheaton 21:23, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep It's hilarious that it mentions Cosmo Kramer, a fictious character, as part of this brotherhood. Nice work. Just make it even funnier. THE INTERNET OVERLORD
 * User has 5 edits, 2 of them to VFD. Gamaliel 22:52, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)

--Asmodai 12:01, Oct 14, 2004 (UTC)
 * Another secret they are apparently keeping (and keeping well) from the public is the answer to the question: "Why should we care?" Delete. While it definitely is an inane attempt at comedy, it definitely isn't encyclopaedic. Fire Star 22:43, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete this article and the editor who created it. Gamaliel 22:50, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: Duke Leto Atreides is a character in Dune. He can't write anything, as he is written. Secondly, it says that this is a real organization but that everything that follows that sentence is fiction.  Third, there are no organizations to link the individuals in question.  Fourth, it seems like a joke from Foucault's Pendulum. Geogre 00:48, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * BJAODN, with this vote, too, please. I think this vote is as funny as the article. Geogre 00:18, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * What you do not realise is that the Brotherhood is real. The stories may be fictional. If it is necesary i will post a full list of the members. The story is not meant to be funny, but if humour is needed to save the page, then by all means someone make it funny.
 * Delete it if you must. But I would strongly recommend against it. The Brotherhood IS real, so are its many members. I see you have pages on other societies such as the Masonry, so why not this one? Once it is completed you will see. The Brotherhood has a book, similar to the bible i suppose, but with no relious aspects. Brothers are free to any religion, I know I am a Brother. We call the Bokk the "Codice di ultima saggezzo". Once this page is complete it will contain all the may writings of the Codice. We go by nicknames. I am Duke Leto Atreides, there is EL-Filibusterismo, Sir Dean Dnumgis Kimberly Mansig Jario the 3rd of Ignoramus, Don Rosierro, Willtran, Adamcis, Darby, Montgomery, Migz, Phesajh, Mds. And these are just the council elders. I know the Brotherhood is real, I created it.
 * Delete. Secret society vanity. If this would have been invented by Umberto Eco, it would be at least semi-notable. Since "The Brotherhood" seems to be a new original creation, why don't the author keep it and it's details entirely secret? jni 08:39, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Ah yes Cosmo Kramer is out there controlling the building of pyramids, so the vile aliens can come and take over our little planet. Their first step is Wikipedia. Let's take a stand now and stop them Delete. At least Discordians have enough pop culture influence so they can be notable...
 * speedy delete. Patent nonsense.  Nuf' said.  Speedy it (tag already on it) Terrapin 14:42, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete it, don't feed it. Unsinnlich und auch nicht komisch! --Improv 17:44, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * hurry up and delete it for gods sake! Leto Atreides
 * Patent nonsense: Speedy delete if possible. There are indeed things man was not meant to know, and this is clearly one of them. Pnot 21:28, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * BJAODN material at best. --Goblin 21:32, Oct 14, 2004 (UTC)
 * I have speedily deleted it, on the basis of the overwhelming consensus here, and Leto's "hurry up and delete it for gods sake!" comment above. —Stormie 01:44, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)
 * It's a pity that the article has been deleted. I could have placed it on BJAODN. What was its content, anyway? - Mike Rosoft 08:45, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)