text:
Easton Maudit

Easton Maudit is a small village and civil parish in rural Northamptonshire. It takes its name from the Maudit (or Mauduit) family who purchased the estate at what was then just Easton, in 1131. There was no residential landowner in the village until 1578 when the village was acquired by Sir Christopher Yelverton. It is about 8 mi east of Northampton town centre. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and is included in the civil parish of Bozeat.

Thomas Percy was made the rector of the parish at the age of 24; he was a friend of Samuel Johnson, who was a frequent visitor to the Rectory.

Church

The church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.

The church floor was designed by Lord Alwyne Compton, Bishop of Ely, and includes the motto of the Marquesses of Northampton.

Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, David Garrick and other members of the Garrick Club, were friends of the then rector and as well as staying in the village worshipped in the church. The chief monument is to Sir Christopher Yelverton, a Speaker of the House of Commons, who composed the prayer which is still said daily in Parliament. Yelverton's son Henry was Attorney-General to James I.

Outside the churchyard are the remains of a large oak tree - the shell of which is now artificially supported. The village and church feature in "The Hammer of God", the first episode of the 1974 Father Brown television series, starring Kenneth More.

Manor house
The village once housed a manor house. The house was purchased by the Compton family from Castle Ashby and they had the house demolished. All that now remains is the plot of the house surrounded by Lebanon Cedars.

Notable resident
The actor Derek Nimmo lived in Easton Maudit and is buried in the village graveyard.

title: Easton Maudit


text:
Opcode Systems

Opcode Systems, Inc. was founded in 1985 by Dave Oppenheim and based in and around Palo Alto, California, USA. Opcode produced MIDI sequencing software for the classic Mac OS and Microsoft Windows, which would later include digital audio capabilities, as well as audio and MIDI hardware interfaces. Opcode's MIDIMAC sequencer, launched in 1986, was one of the first commercially available MIDI sequencers for the Macintosh.

History
In 1985, Stanford University graduate Dave Oppenheim founded Opcode. Dave was the majority partner, focusing on Research & Development, with Gary Briber the minority partner focusing on Sales & Marketing. Paul J. de Benedictis joined the company to write product manuals, test products and demo the products after meeting Ray Spears in San Francisco while he was printing the beta manual for MIDIMAC Sequencer v1.0. The products were announced at the New Orleans Summer NAMM (June 22–25) (after which Apple objected to the name) and, according to composer Laurie Spiegel, publicly available in July, 1985.

In 1986, two major products were released. One was the MIDIMAC Sequencer, which later became the Opcode Sequencer and, eventually, Vision. The other was the MIDIMAC interface for the Macintosh computer. These products allowed musicians to use the Macintosh platform for music sequencing and were utilized by electronic music pioneers such as Herbie Hancock, Wendy Carlos, Thomas Dolby, and others.

In 1986, music software programmer David Zicarelli licensed his Editor/Librarian for the Yamaha DX-7 to Opcode, which published this product. At its peak, Opcode would market over ten separate Editor/Librarians, software programs designed to facilitate the editing of sound patches for digital synthesizers and the storage and organization of those patches on a personal computer. In 1987, Gary Briber sold his portion of the company to Chris Halaby, with Chris assuming the position of Chief Executive Officer and Marketing and Sales responsibilities falling upon Paul J. de Benedictis and Keith Borman, respectively. Paul de Benedictis was also the product manager for many of the products including the new version of Opcode's sequencer, Vision.

In 1989, Opcode introduced Vision, its award-winning sequencing platform for the Macintosh (and, eventually, Windows computers as well). A simplified version, EZ Vision, was soon released. EZ Vision's successor, MusicShop, included a simple notation view - a first in a sequencing product in that price range (roughly $100 US).

Also in 1989, it licensed the computer music authoring system Max from IRCAM, where it had been developed academically by Miller Puckette. Opcode began selling a commercial version of the program in 1990, developed and extended by David Zicarelli. Never a perfect fit for Opcode Systems, active development on the software ceased in the mid-90s. The current commercial version of Max has since been maintained and distributed by Zicarelli's company, Cycling '74 (founded in 1997), since 1999.

In 1990, Opcode introduced Studio Vision (initially called 'Audio Vision'), which added digital audio recording (using Digidesign's digital audio hardware) to Vision's recording and editing platform. Studio Vision was the first-ever commercially available product integrating MIDI sequencing and digital audio editing and recording on a personal computer. Paul J. de Benedictis was the Studio Vision product manager and helped come up with the idea of audio and MIDI in the same product after speaking with Mark Jeffery, a Digidesign employee key to their software development. A version called VisionDSP was released just before the company folded. Caitlin Johnson (currently Caitlin Bini) was Opcode's Senior Tech Writer, and she wrote the Studio Vision, Vision, EZ Vision, and Galaxy user manuals.

In July 1995, Opcode acquired Music Quest, Inc., makers of MPU-401-compatible expansion cards and peripheral boxes, such as the PC MIDI Card, the MQX-16s, the MQX-32m, and the MIDIEngine. Opcode continued to sell Music Quest's hardware following the acquisition. Opcode's hardware products also included a line of serial MIDI interfaces which included the Studio 3, Studio 4, Studio 5, Studio 64X and 128X, as well as USB interfaces including the DATport, SONICport, MIDIport and STUDIOport lines.

In 1998, Opcode was bought by Gibson Guitar Corporation. Development on Opcode products ceased in 1999.

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

title: Opcode Systems


text: Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece

title: Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece


text:
European VLBI Network

The European VLBI Network (EVN) is a network of radio telescopes located primarily in Europe and Asia, with additional antennas in South Africa and Puerto Rico, which performs very high angular resolution observations of cosmic radio sources using very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI). The EVN is the most sensitive VLBI array in the world, and the only one capable of real-time observations. The Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE) acts as the central organisation in the EVN, providing both scientific user support and a correlator facility. Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) achieves ultra-high angular resolution and is a multi-disciplinary technique used in astronomy, geodesy and astrometry.

The EVN operates an open-sky policy, allowing anyone to propose an observation using the network

EVN Telescopes
The EVN network comprises 22 telescope facilities:

Additionally the EVN often links with the UK-based 7-element Jodrell Bank MERLIN interferometer. It can also be connected to the US Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), achieving a global VLBI, obtaining sub-milliarcsecond resolution at frequencies higher than 5 GHz.

e-EVN
Since 2004, the EVN has started to be linked together using international fibre optic networks, through a technique known as e-VLBI. The EXPReS project was designed to connect telescopes at Gigabit per second links via their National Research Networks and the Pan-European research network GÉANT2, and make the first astronomical experiments using this new technique. This allows researchers to take advantage of the e-EVN's Targets of Opportunity for conducting follow-on observations of transient events such as X-ray binary flares, supernova explosions and gamma-ray bursts.

EXPReS's objectives are to connect up to 16 of the world's most sensitive radio telescopes on six continents to the central data processor of the European VLBI Network at the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE). Specific activities involve securing "last-mile connections" and upgrading existing connections to the telescopes, updating the correlator to process up to 16 data streams at 1 Gbit/s each in real time and research possibilities for distributed computing to replace the centralized data processor.

History
The EVN was formed in 1980 by a consortium of five of the major radio astronomy institutes in Europe (the European Consortium for VLBI). Since 1980, the EVN and the Consortium has grown to include many institutes with numerous radio telescopes in several western European countries as well as associated institutes with telescopes in Russia, Ukraine, China and South Africa. Proposals for an additional telescope in Spain are under consideration.

Observations using the EVN have contributed to scientific research on Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), gravitational lensing, and supermassive black holes.

title: European VLBI Network


text:
367 Amicitia

Amicitia (minor planet designation: 367 Amicitia) is a typical Main belt asteroid that is a member of the Flora family. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 19 May 1893 in Nice.

Amicitia is Latin for Friendship.

title: 367 Amicitia


text:
Academic writing

Academic writing or scholarly writing refers primarily to nonfiction writing that is produced as part of academic work in accordance with the standards of a particular academic subject or discipline, including:

 * reports on empirical fieldwork or research in facilities for the natural sciences or social sciences,
 * monographs in which scholars analyze culture, propose new theories, or develop interpretations from archives,

as well as undergraduate versions of all of these.

Academic writing typically uses a more formal tone and follows specific conventions. Central to academic writing is its intertextuality, or an engagement with existing scholarly conversations through meticulous citing or referencing of other academic work, which underscores the writer's participation in the broader discourse community. However, the exact style, content, and organization of academic writing can vary depending on the specific genre and publication method. Despite this variation, all academic writing shares some common features, including a commitment to intellectual integrity, the advancement of knowledge, and the rigorous application of disciplinary methodologies.

Academic style
Academic writing often features prose register that is conventionally characterized by "evidence...that the writer(s) have been persistent, open-minded and disciplined in the study"; that prioritizes "reason over emotion or sensual perception"; and that imagines a reader who is "coolly rational, reading for information, and intending to formulate a reasoned response."

Three linguistic patterns that correspond to these goals across fields and genres, include the following:

 * 1) a balance of caution and certainty, or a balance of hedging and boosting;
 * 2) explicit cohesion through a range of cohesive ties and moves;  and
 * 3) the use of compressed noun phrases, rather than dependent clauses, for adding detail.

The stylistic means of achieving these conventions will differ by academic discipline, seen, for example, in the distinctions between writing in history versus engineering, or writing in physics versus philosophy. Biber and Gray propose further differences in the complexity of academic writing between disciplines, seen, for example, in the distinctions between writing in the humanities versus writing in the sciences. In the humanities, academic style is often seen in elaborated complex texts, while in the sciences, academic style is often seen in highly-structured concise texts. These stylistic differences are thought to be related to the types of knowledge and information being communicated in these two broad fields.

One theory that attempts to account for these differences in writing is known as "discourse communities".

Criticism
Academic style has often been criticized for being too full of jargon and hard to understand by the general public. In 2022, Joelle Renstrom argued that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on academic writing and that many scientific articles now "contain more jargon than ever, which encourages misinterpretation, political spin, and a declining public trust in the scientific process."

Discourse community
A discourse community is a group of people that shares mutual interests and beliefs. "It establishes limits and regularities...who may speak, what may be spoken, and how it is to be said; in addition, [rules] prescribe what is true and false, what is reasonable and what foolish, and what is meant and what not."

The concept of a discourse community is vital to academic writers across all disciplines, for the academic writer's purpose is to influence how their community understands its field of study: whether by maintaining, adding to, revising, or contesting what that community regards as "known" or "true." To effectively communicate and persuade within their field, academic writers are motivated to adhere to the conventions and standards set forth by their discourse community. Such adherence ensures that their contributions are intelligible and recognized as legitimate.

Discourse community constraints
Constraints are the discourse community's accepted rules and norms of writing that determine what can and cannot be said in a particular field or discipline. They define what constitutes an acceptable argument. Every discourse community expects to see writers construct their arguments using the community's conventional style of language, vocabulary, and sources, which are the building blocks of any argument in that community.

Writing for a discourse community
For writers to become familiar with some of the constraints of the discourse community they are writing for, across most discourse communities, writers must:
 * identify the novelty of their position
 * make a claim, or thesis
 * acknowledge prior work and situate their claim in a disciplinary context
 * offer warrants for one's view based on community-specific arguments and procedures

The structure and presentation of arguments can vary based on the discourse community the writer is a part of. For example, a high school student would typically present arguments differently than a college student. It is important for academic writers to familiarize themselves with the conventions of their discourse community by analyzing existing literature within the field. Such an in-depth understanding will enable writers to convey their ideas and arguments more effectively, ensuring that their contributions resonate with and are valued by their peers in the discourse community.

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) is a comprehensive educational initiative designed not only to enhance student writing proficiency across diverse disciplinary contexts but also to foster faculty development and interdisciplinary dialogue. The Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse provides resources for such programs at all levels of education.

Novel argument
In a discourse community, academic writers build on the ideas of previous writers to establish their own claims. Successful writers know the importance of conducting research within their community and applying the knowledge gained to their own work. By synthesizing and expanding upon existing ideas, writers are able to make novel contributions to the discourse.

Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the combining of past writings into original, new pieces of text. According to Julia Kristeva, all texts are part of a larger network of intertextuality, meaning they are connected to prior texts through various links, such as allusions, repetitions, and direct quotations, whether they are acknowledged or not. Writers (often unwittingly) make use of what has previously been written and thus some degree of borrowing is inevitable. One of the key characteristics of academic writing across disciplines is the use of explicit conventions for acknowledging intertextuality, such as citation and bibliography. The conventions for marking intertextuality vary depending on the discourse community, with examples including MLA, APA, IEEE, and Chicago styles.

Summarizing and integrating other texts in academic writing is often metaphorically described as "entering the conversation," as described by Kenneth Burke:

Key elements
While the need for appropriate references and the avoidance of plagiarism are undisputed in academic and scholarly writing, the appropriate style is still a matter of debate. Some aspects of writing are universally accepted as important, while others are more subjective and open to interpretation.

 * Style
 * Contrary to stereotype, published academic research is not particularly syntactically complex; it is instead a fairly low-involvement register characterized by the modification of nominal elements through hedging and refining elaborations, often presented as sequences of objects of prepositions such as what, where, when, and whom.

 * Logical structure
 * Writing should be organized in a manner which demonstrates clarity of thought.

 * Appropriate references
 * Generally speaking, the range and organization of references illustrate the writer's awareness of the current state of knowledge in the field (including major current disagreements or controversies); typically the expectation is that these references will be formatted in the relevant disciplinary citation system.

 * Bibliography
 * Typically, this lists those materials read as background, evidencing wider reading, and will include the sources of individual citations.

 * Avoidance of plagiarism
 * Plagiarism, the "wrongful appropriation of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions", and the representation of them as one's own original work, is considered academic dishonesty, and can lead to severe consequences. However, the delineation of plagiarism is not always straightforward, as interpretations of what constitutes plagiarism can vary significantly across different cultures. This complexity is further amplified by the advent of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), which have both complicated the detection of plagiarism and introduced new considerations in defining originality and authorship.

Academic genres
Academic writing encompasses many different genres, indicating the many different kinds of authors, audiences and activities engaged in the academy and the variety of kinds of messages sent among various people engaged in the academy. The partial list below indicates the complexity of academic writing and the academic world it is part of.

By researchers for other researchers

 * Scholarly monograph, in many types and varieties
 * Chapter in an edited volume
 * Book review
 * Conference paper
 * Essay; usually short, between 1,500 and 6,000 words in length
 * Explication; usually a short factual note explaining some part of a particular work; e.g. its terminology, dialect, allusions or coded references
 * Literature review or review essay; a summary and careful comparison of previous academic work published on a specific topic
 * Research article
 * Research proposal
 * Site description and plan (e.g. in archeology)
 * Technical report
 * Translation
 * Journal article (e.g. History Today); usually presenting a digest of recent research

Technical or administrative forms

 * Brief; short summary, often instructions for a commissioned work
 * Peer review report
 * Proposal for research or for a book
 * White paper; detailed technical specifications and/or performance report

Collating the work of others

 * Anthology; collection, collation, ordering and editing of the work of others
 * Catalogue raisonné; the definitive collection of the work of a single artist, in book form
 * Collected works; often referred to as the 'critical edition'. The definitive collection of the work of a single writer or poet, in book form, carefully purged of publishers' errors and later forgeries, etc.
 * Monograph or exhibition catalog; usually containing exemplary works, and a scholarly essay. Sometime contains new work by a creative writer, responding to the work
 * Transcribing, selecting and ordering oral testimony (e.g. oral history recordings)

Research and planning

 * Empirical research
 * Experimental plan
 * Laboratory report
 * Raw data collection plan
 * Research proposal, including research questions
 * Structured notes

Newer forms

 * Collaborative writing, especially using the internet
 * Hypertext, often incorporating new media and multimedia forms within the text
 * Performative writing (see also: belles-lettres)

By graduate students for their advisors and committees

 * Doctoral dissertation, completed over a number of years, often in excess of 20,000 words in length
 * Masters thesis (in some regions referred to as masters dissertation), often completed within a year and between 6,000 and 20,000 words in length.
 * Thesis or dissertation proposal

By undergraduate students for their instructors

 * Research paper; longer essay involving library research, 3000 to 6000 words in length
 * Book report
 * Exam essays

By instructors for students

 * Exam questions
 * Instructional pamphlet, or hand-out, or reading list
 * Presentations; usually short, often illustrated
 * Syllabus

Summaries of knowledge for researchers, students or general public

 * Annotated bibliography
 * Annotated catalogue, often of an individual or group's papers and/or library
 * Simplified graphical representation of knowledge; e.g. a map, or refining a display generated from a database. There will often be a 'key' or written work incorporated with the final work
 * Creating a timeline or chronological plan. There will often be a 'key' or written work incorporated with the final work
 * Devising a classification scheme; e.g. for animals, or newly arisen sub-cultures, or a radically new style of design
 * Encyclopedia entry or handbook chapter

Disseminating knowledge outside the academy

 * Call for papers
 * Documentary film script or TV script or radio script
 * Obituary
 * Opinion; an academic may sometimes be asked to give an expert written opinion, for use in a legal case before a court of law
 * Newspaper opinion article
 * Public speech or lecture
 * Review of a book, film, exhibition, event, etc.
 * Think-tank pamphlet, position paper, or briefing paper

Personal forms often for general public
These are acceptable to some academic disciplines, e.g. Cultural studies, Fine art, Feminist studies, Queer theory, Literary studies
 * Artist's book or chapbook
 * Autobiography
 * Belles-lettres; stylish or aesthetic writing on serious subjects, often with reference to one's personal experience
 * Commonplace book
 * Diary or weblog
 * Memoire; usually a short work, giving one's own memories of a famous person or event
 * Notebooks

Emotions in higher-education academic writing
Participating in higher education writing can entail high stakes. For instance, one's GPA may be influenced by writing performance in a class and the consequent grade received, potentially stirring negative emotions such as confusion and anxiety. Research on emotions and writing indicates that there is a relationship between writing identity and displaying emotions within an academic atmosphere. Instructors cannot simply read off one's identity and determine how it should be formatted. The structure of higher education, particularly within universities, is in a state of continual evolution, shaping and developing student writing identities. Nevertheless, this dynamic can lead to a positive contribution to one's academic writing identity in higher education. Unfortunately, higher education does not value mistakes, which makes it difficult for students to discover an academic identity. This can lead to a lack of confidence when submitting assignments. A student must learn to be confident enough to adapt and refine previous writing styles to succeed.

Academic writing can be seen as stressful, uninteresting, and difficult. When placed in the university setting, these emotions can contribute to student dropout. However, academic writing development can prevent fear and anxiety from developing if self-efficacy is high and anxiety is low. External factors can also prevent enjoyment in academic writing including finding time and space to complete assignments. Studies have shown core members of a "community of practice" concerning writing reports are more of a positive experience than those who do not. Overall emotions, lack of confidence, and prescriptive notions about what an academic writing identity should resemble can hinder a student's ability to succeed.

Format
A commonly recognized format for presenting original research in the social and applied sciences is known as IMRD, an initialism that refers to the usual ordering of subsections: and
 * Introduction (Overview of relevant research and objective of current study)
 * Method (Assumptions, questions, procedures described in replicable or at least reproducible detail)
 * Results (Presentation of findings; often includes visual displays of quantitative data charts, plots)
 * Discussion (Analysis, Implications, Suggested next steps)

Standalone methods sections are atypical in presenting research in the humanities; other common formats in the applied and social sciences are IMRAD (which offers an "Analysis" section separate from the implications presented in the "Discussion" section) and IRDM (found in some engineering subdisciplines, which features Methods at the end of the document).

Other common sections in academic documents are:
 * Abstract
 * Acknowledgments
 * Indices
 * Bibliography
 * List of references
 * Appendix/Addendum, any addition to a document

General

 * C. Bazerman, J. Little, T. Chavkin, D. Fouquette, L. Bethel, and J. Garufis (2005). Writing across the curriculum. Parlor Press and WAC Clearinghouse.  https://wac.colostate.edu/books/referenceguides/bazerman-wac/
 * C. Bazerman & D. Russell (1994). Landmark essays in writing across the curriculum.  Davis, CA: Hermagoras Press.
 * Borg, Erik (2003). 'Discourse Community', English Language Teaching (ELT) Journal, Vol. 57, Issue 4, pp. 398–400
 * Coinam, David (2004). 'Concordancing Yourself: A Personal Exploration of Academic Writing', Language Awareness, Vol. 13, Issue 1, pp. 49–55
 * Goodall, H. Lloyd, Jr. (2000). Writing Qualitative Inquiry: Self, Stories, and Academic Life (Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press)
 * Johns, Ann M. (1997). Text, Role and Context: Developing Academic Literacies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
 * King, Donald W., Carol Tenopir, Songphan Choemprayong, and Lei Wu (2009). 'Scholarly Journal Information Seeking and Reading Patterns of Faculty at Five U.S. Universities', Learned Publishing, Vol. 22, Issue 2, pp. 126–144
 * Kouritzin, Sandra G., Nathalie A. C Piquemal, and Renee Norman, eds (2009). Qualitative Research: Challenging the Orthodoxies in Standard Academic Discourse(s) (New York: Routledge)
 * Lincoln, Yvonna S, and Norman K Denzin (2003). Turning Points in Qualitative Research: Tying Knots in a Handkerchief (Walnut Creek, CA; Oxford: AltaMira Press)
 * Luey, Beth (2010). Handbook for Academic Authors, 5th edn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
 * Murray, Rowena, and Sarah Moore (2006). The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach (Maidenhead: Open University Press)
 * Nash, Robert J. (2004). Liberating Scholarly Writing: The Power of Personal Narrative (New York; London: Teachers College Press)
 * Paltridge, Brian (2004). 'Academic Writing', Language Teaching, Vol. 37, Issue 2, pp. 87–105
 * Pelias, Ronald J. (1999). Writing Performance: Poeticizing the Researcher's Body (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press)
 * Prior, Paul A. (1998). Writing/Disciplinarity: A Sociohistoric Account of Literate Activity in the Academy (Mahwah, NJ; London: Lawrence Erlbaum)
 * Rhodes, Carl and Andrew D. Brown (2005). 'Writing Responsibly: Narrative Fiction and Organization Studies', The Organization: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Organizations and Society, Vol. 12, Issue 4, pp. 467–491
 * Richards, Janet C., and Sharon K. Miller (2005). Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum)
 * The University of Sydney. (2019). Academic Writing.
 * Prior, Paul A. (1998). Writing/Disciplinarity: A Sociohistoric Account of Literate Activity in the Academy (Mahwah, NJ; London: Lawrence Erlbaum)
 * Rhodes, Carl and Andrew D. Brown (2005). 'Writing Responsibly: Narrative Fiction and Organization Studies', The Organization: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Organizations and Society, Vol. 12, Issue 4, pp. 467–491
 * Richards, Janet C., and Sharon K. Miller (2005). Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum)
 * The University of Sydney. (2019). Academic Writing.
 * The University of Sydney. (2019). Academic Writing.

Architecture, design and art

 * Crysler, C. Greig (2002). Writing Spaces: Discourses of Architecture, Urbanism and the Built Environment (London: Routledge)
 * Francis, Pat (2009). Inspiring Writing in Art and Design: Taking a Line for a Write (Bristol; Chicago: Intellect)
 * Frayling, Christopher (1993). 'Research in Art and Design', Royal College of Art Research Papers, Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 1–5
 * Piotrowski, Andrzej (2008). 'The Spectacle of Architectural Discourses', Architectural Theory Review, Vol. 13, Issue 2, pp. 130–144

title: Academic writing


text:
Agrilus anxius

Agrilus anxius, the bronze birch borer, is a wood-boring buprestid beetle native to North America, more numerous in warmer parts of the continent and rare in the north. It is a serious pest on birch trees (Betula), frequently killing them. The river birch Betula nigra is the most resistant species, other American birches less so, while the European and Asian birches have no resistance to it at all and are effectively impossible to grow in the eastern United States as a result.

It is closely related to the emerald ash borer.

title: Agrilus anxius


text:
KOSMA

The Kölner Observatorium für SubMillimeter Astronomie (KOSMA) was a radio telescope for submillimeter astronomy located at 3135 m on Gornergrat near Zermatt (Switzerland). It was operated by I. Physikalisches Institut, University of Cologne, and Radioastronomisches Institut, University of Bonn.

The telescope had a primary diameter of 3 m, and a secondary diameter of 0.27 m. It was equipped with heterodyne receivers covering 210 to 820 GHz, corresponding to wavelengths between 0.35 and 1.4 mm, for observations of lines from the interstellar medium.

Because of the good climatic conditions at the altitude of 3135 m (10285 ft), astronomical observatories have been located in both towers of the Kulmhotel at Gornergrat since 1967. In 1985, the KOSMA telescope was installed in the southern tower by the Universität zu Köln and, in the course of 1995, replaced by a new dish and mount. In the northern tower, a 1.5 m infrared telescope was operated until 2005 by an Italian association of universities (TIRGO).

In 2010, the telescope was moved to a site in Yangbajain in Damxung County in Tibet at an altitude of 4300m and renamed CCOSMA.

title: KOSMA


text:
Aspergillus

 Aspergillus  is a genus consisting of several hundred mold species found in various climates worldwide.

Aspergillus was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Micheli was reminded of the shape of an aspergillum (holy water sprinkler), from Latin spargere (to sprinkle), and named the genus accordingly. Aspergillum is an asexual spore-forming structure common to all Aspergillus species; around one-third of species are also known to have a sexual stage. While some species of Aspergillus are known to cause fungal infections, others are of commercial importance.

Species
In March 2010, Aspergillus covered 837 species of fungi. Notable species placed in Aspergillus include:
 * Aspergillus flavus is a notable plant pathogen impacting crop yields and a common cause of aspergillosis.
 * Aspergillus fumigatus is the most common cause of aspergillosis in individuals with an immunodeficiency.
 * Aspergillus nidulans has seen heavy use as research organism in cell biology.
 * Aspergillus niger is used in the chemical industry for a variety of applications, while also being a known food contaminant and a possible pathogen to humans.
 * Aspergillus oryzae and A. sojae are used in East Asian cuisine in the production of sake, soy sauce and other fermented food products.
 * Aspergillus terreus is used in the production of organic acids but can also cause opportunistic infections in humans.

Inner Taxonomy
The expansive genus Aspergillus is currently divided into six subgenera of which many are further split into a total of 27 sections.
 * Subgenus Circumdati, divided in 10 sections.
 * Subgenus Nidulantes, divided in 9 sections.
 * Subgenus Fumigati, divided in 4 sections.
 * Subgenus Aspergillus, divided in 2 sections.
 * Subgenus and section Cremei
 * Subgenus and section Polypaecilum

Growth and distribution

Aspergillus is defined as a group of conidial fungi—that is, fungi in an asexual state. Some of them, however, are known to have a teleomorph (sexual state) in the Ascomycota. With DNA evidence, all members of the genus Aspergillus are members of the phylum Ascomycota.

Members of the genus possess the ability to grow where a high osmotic pressure exists (high concentration of sugar, salt, etc.). Aspergillus species are highly aerobic and are found in almost all oxygen-rich environments, where they commonly grow as molds on the surface of a substrate, as a result of the high oxygen tension. Commonly, fungi grow on carbon-rich substrates like monosaccharides (such as glucose) and polysaccharides (such as amylose). Aspergillus species are common contaminants of starchy foods (such as bread and potatoes), and grow in or on many plants and trees.

In addition to growth on carbon sources, many species of Aspergillus demonstrate oligotrophy where they are capable of growing in nutrient-depleted environments, or environments with a complete lack of key nutrients. Aspergillus niger is a prime example of this; it can be found growing on damp walls, as a major component of mildew.

Several species of Aspergillus, including A. niger and A. fumigatus, will readily colonise buildings, favouring warm and damp or humid areas such as bathrooms and around window frames.

Aspergillus are found in millions of pillows.

Commercial importance
Species of Aspergillus are important medically and commercially. Some species can cause infection in humans and other animals. Some infections found in animals have been studied for years, while other species found in animals have been described as new and specific to the investigated disease, and others have been known as names already in use for organisms such as saprophytes. More than 60 Aspergillus species are medically relevant pathogens. For humans, a range of diseases such as infection to the external ear, skin lesions, and ulcers classed as mycetomas are found.

Other species are important in commercial microbial fermentations. For example, alcoholic beverages such as Japanese sake are often made from rice or other starchy ingredients (like manioc), rather than from grapes or malted barley. Typical microorganisms used to make alcohol, such as yeasts of the genus Saccharomyces, cannot ferment these starches. Therefore, koji mold such as Aspergillus oryzae is used to first break down the starches into simpler sugars.

Members of the genus are also sources of natural products that can be used in the development of medications to treat human disease. Aspergillus spp. are known to produce anthraquinone which has commercial importance due to its antibacterial and antifungal properties.

Perhaps the largest application of Aspergillus niger is as the major source of citric acid; this organism accounts for over 99% of global citric acid production, or more than 1.4 million tonnes (>1.5 million US tons) per year. A. niger is also commonly used for the production of native and foreign enzymes, including glucose oxidase, lysozyme, and lactase. In these instances, the culture is rarely grown on a solid substrate, although this is still common practice in Japan, but is more often grown as a submerged culture in a bioreactor. In this way, the most important parameters can be strictly controlled, and maximal productivity can be achieved. This process also makes it far easier to separate the chemical or enzyme of importance from the medium, and is therefore far more cost-effective.

Research

A. nidulans (Emericella nidulans) has been used as a research organism for many years and was used by Guido Pontecorvo to demonstrate parasexuality in fungi. Recently, A. nidulans was one of the pioneering organisms to have its genome sequenced by researchers at the Broad Institute. As of 2008, a further seven Aspergillus species have had their genomes sequenced: the industrially useful A. niger (two strains), A. oryzae, and A. terreus, and the pathogens A. clavatus, A. fischerianus (Neosartorya fischeri), A. flavus, and A. fumigatus (two strains). A. fischerianus is hardly ever pathogenic, but is very closely related to the common pathogen A. fumigatus; it was sequenced in part to better understand A. fumigatus pathogenicity.

Sexual reproduction
Of the 250 species of aspergilli, about 64% have no known sexual state. However, many of these species likely have an as yet unidentified sexual stage. Sexual reproduction occurs in two fundamentally different ways in fungi. These are outcrossing (in heterothallic fungi) in which two different individuals contribute nuclei, and self-fertilization or selfing (in homothallic fungi) in which both nuclei are derived from the same individual. In recent years, sexual cycles have been discovered in numerous species previously thought to be asexual. These discoveries reflect recent experimental focus on species of particular relevance to humans.

A. fumigatus is the most common species to cause disease in immunodeficient humans. In 2009, A. fumigatus was shown to have a heterothallic, fully functional sexual cycle. Isolates of complementary mating types are required for sex to occur.

A. flavus is the major producer of carcinogenic aflatoxins in crops worldwide. It is also an opportunistic human and animal pathogen, causing aspergillosis in immunocompromised individuals. In 2009, a sexual state of this heterothallic fungus was found to arise when strains of opposite mating types were cultured together under appropriate conditions.

A. lentulus is an opportunistic human pathogen that causes invasive aspergillosis with high mortality rates. In 2013, A. lentulus was found to have a heterothallic functional sexual breeding system.

A. terreus is commonly used in industry to produce important organic acids and enzymes, and was the initial source for the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin. In 2013, A. terreus was found to be capable of sexual reproduction when strains of opposite mating types were crossed under appropriate culture conditions.

These findings with Aspergillus species are consistent with accumulating evidence, from studies of other eukaryotic species, that sex was likely present in the common ancestor of all eukaryotes.

A. nidulans, a homothallic fungus, is capable of self-fertilization. Selfing involves activation of the same mating pathways characteristic of sex in outcrossing species, i.e. self-fertilization does not bypass required pathways for outcrossing sex, but instead requires activation of these pathways within a single individual.

Among those Aspergillus species that exhibit a sexual cycle, the overwhelming majority in nature are homothallic (self-fertilizing). This observation suggests Aspergillus species can generally maintain sex though little genetic variability is produced by homothallic self-fertilization. A. fumigatus, a heterothallic (outcrossing) fungus that occurs in areas with widely different climates and environments, also displays little genetic variability either within geographic regions or on a global scale, again suggesting sex, in this case outcrossing sex, can be maintained even when little genetic variability is produced.

Genomics
The simultaneous publication of three Aspergillus genome manuscripts in Nature in December 2005 established the genus as the leading filamentous fungal genus for comparative genomic studies. Like most major genome projects, these efforts were collaborations between a large sequencing centre and the respective community of scientists. For example, the Institute for Genome Research (TIGR) worked with the A. fumigatus community. A. nidulans was sequenced at the Broad Institute. A. oryzae was sequenced in Japan at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The Joint Genome Institute of the Department of Energy has released sequence data for a citric acid-producing strain of A. niger. TIGR, now renamed the J. Craig Venter Institute, is currently spearheading a project on the A. flavus genome.

Aspergillus is characterized by high levels of genetic diversity and, using protostome divergence as a scale, is as diverse as the Vertebrates phylum although both inter and intra-specific genome structure is relatively plastic. The genomes of some Aspergillus species, such as A. flavus and A. oryzae, are more rich and around 20% larger than others, such as A. nidulans and A. fumigatus. Several mechanisms could explain this difference, although the combination of segmental duplication, genome duplication, and horizontal gene transfer acting in a piecemeal fashion is well-supported.

Genome sizes for sequenced species of Aspergillus range from about 29.3 Mb for A. fumigatus to 37.1 Mb for A. oryzae, while the numbers of predicted genes vary from about 9926 for A. fumigatus to about 12,071 for A. oryzae. The genome size of an enzyme-producing strain of A. niger is of intermediate size at 33.9 Mb.

Pathogens
Some Aspergillus species cause serious disease in humans and animals. The most common pathogenic species are A. fumigatus and A. flavus, which produces aflatoxin which is both a toxin and a carcinogen, and which can contaminate foods such as nuts. The most common species causing allergic disease are A. fumigatus and A. clavatus. Other species are important as agricultural pathogens. Aspergillus spp. cause disease on many grain crops, especially maize, and some variants synthesize mycotoxins, including aflatoxin. Aspergillus can cause neonatal infections.

A. fumigatus (the most common species) infections are primary pulmonary infections and can potentially become a rapidly necrotizing pneumonia with a potential to disseminate. The organism can be differentiated from other common mold infections based on the fact that it takes on a mold form both in the environment and in the host (unlike Candida albicans which is a dimorphic mold in the environment and a yeast in the body).

Aspergillosis
Aspergillosis is the group of diseases caused by Aspergillus. The most common species among paranasal sinus infections associated with aspergillosis is A. fumigatus. The symptoms include fever, cough, chest pain, or breathlessness, which also occur in many other illnesses, so diagnosis can be difficult. Usually, only patients with already weakened immune systems or who suffer other lung conditions are susceptible.

In humans, the major forms of disease are:
 * Acute invasive aspergillosis, a form that grows into surrounding tissue, more common in those with weakened immune systems such as AIDS or chemotherapy patients
 * Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, which affects patients with respiratory diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, and sinusitis
 * Aspergilloma, a "fungus ball" that can form within cavities such as the lung
 * Disseminated invasive aspergillosis, an infection spread widely through the body

Fungal infections from Aspergillus spores remain one theory of sickness and untimely death of some early Egyptologists and tomb explorers. Ancient spores which grew on the remains of food offerings and mummies sealed in tombs and chambers may have been blown around and inhaled by the excavators, ultimately linked to the notion of the curse of the pharaohs.

Aspergillosis of the air passages is also frequently reported in birds, and certain species of Aspergillus have been known to infect insects.

Most people inhale Aspergillus into their lungs everyday, but generally only the immuno-compromised become sick with aspergillosis.

title: Aspergillus


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368 Haidea

Haidea (minor planet designation: 368 Haidea) is a large asteroid residing in the asteroid belt. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 19 May 1893 in Nice.

Its name meaning is not known; it may be taken from the opera Haydée or one of several fictional characters named Haidée. The Tagish Lake meteorite is believed to derive from 368 Haidea, due to its reflectance spectrum.

title: 368 Haidea


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The Orchard Keeper

The Orchard Keeper is the first novel by the American novelist Cormac McCarthy. It won the 1966 William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel.

Plot
The Orchard Keeper is set during the inter-war period in and around the hamlet of Red Branch, a small, isolated mountain community in Tennessee. The story revolves around three characters: Uncle Arthur Ownby, an isolated woodsman, who lives beside a rotting apple orchard; John Wesley Rattner, a young mountain boy; and Marion Sylder, an outlaw and bootlegger.

The novel begins with Marion picking up a hitchhiker named Kenneth Rattner, who attacks Marion with a tire iron, attempting to murder and rob him. After a struggle, Marion strangles Kenneth to death. Marion dumps the corpse in a gravel pit on Arthur Ownby's property, as he knows the land well from his frequent pickups of bootleg whiskey. Arthur soon discovers the corpse, but rather than inform authorities, he covers the pit over to keep the body hidden. As time passes, Kenneth's wife, Mildred, and son, John Wesley, come to accept he has likely been killed, and Mildred makes her son vow one day to take vengeance upon his father's killer.

One night, as Marion picks up a whiskey shipment hidden on Arthur's property, he witnesses Arthur unloading a shotgun into a tank the government installed on his land. Unnerved, Marion collects the whiskey and leaves the property, fearing Arthur might do him harm. Arthur passively watches Marion's car drive off into the night. Marion's car careens off the road and into a stream. John Wesley happens to be checking some traps in the area and, hearing the crash, comes to Marion's aid, helping the injured man to land. John Wesley is unaware Marion is his father's killer, and Marion does not recognize John Wesley as the son of the man he killed.

Grateful for his help, Marion gives John Wesley one of his dogs, and the two develop a friendly, almost father-and-son relationship, with Marion teaching John Wesley how to hunt. The local police discover Marion's vehicle in the stream, its whiskey cargo mostly destroyed, as well as the defaced government tank. John Wesley becomes a suspect and is threatened with criminal charges if he doesn't admit Marion was driving the whiskey-filled car. John Wesley refuses to cooperate. The police then go to Arthur's cabin to question him.

As they pull into his yard, Arthur emerges from the cabin wielding a shotgun. The police return with reinforcements, and a shoot-out ensues. Arthur wounds a few officers, then flees, but is captured a short while later. Marion, too, is captured, when his new vehicle breaks down on a bridge, its trunk filled with whiskey. Arthur is diagnosed as insane or senile and is sent to a mental hospital, where he will likely spend the remainder of his days. Marion is sentenced to three years in prison for illegally transporting whiskey. Still oblivious to Marion's role in his father's death, John Wesley leaves Red Branch. Several years later, he returns to find the town abandoned.

Themes
Like much of McCarthy's works, The Orchard Keeper's central themes are highly Biblical in nature: innocence, the end of days, and the relationship between fathers and sons. Both Arthur and Marion take on mentor relationships with John Wesley, acting as surrogate fathers. After Marion killed John's father, Arthur tends to the corpse, which, unbeknownst to John, is concealed in Arthur's spray pit. The dense woodlands of Red Branch, described by McCarthy in gorgeous and elaborate detail, are a kind of Eden, in which characters live in a state of ignorant bliss. This bliss is slowly eroded over the course of the novel, as violence, death, decay, and modern civilization slowly but inevitably encroach on Arthur, John Wesley, and Marion's way of life. The novel ends with John Wesley returning to Red Branch after spending several years out West, only to find the hamlet abandoned and dilapidated. Like Adam and Eve, John Wesley can never return to his idyllic place of birth; it has been forever lost to him.

Characters

 * Kenneth Rattner is an unemployed hitchhiker who attempts to rob and kill Marion Sylder. Sylder strangles him to death and dumps his corpse in Arthur's spray pit.
 * John Wesley Rattner is Kenneth Rattner's son. Throughout most of the novel, John Wesley is approximately fourteen years old. No physical description of him is ever given, but McCarthy alludes that he lives alone with his mother. John Wesley is loyal, highly independent, and good natured.
 * Marion Sylder is an outlaw and bootlegger who killed Rattner in self-defence. Sylder is married, but his relationship with his wife is never expanded upon.
 * Arthur Ownby, also referred to as "The Old Man" and "Uncle Ather", is a hermit who lives alone with his dog in the wilderness. He is acquainted with some of the local boys, eventually including John Wesley.

Reception
In 1965, critic Orville Prescott argued that McCarthy’s extensive use of Faulknerian literary devices and mannerisms in The Orchard Keeper is “exasperating”, though also wrote, “Mr. McCarthy is expert in generating an emotional climate, in suggesting instead of in stating, in creating a long succession of brief, dramatic scenes described with flashing visual impact. He may neglect the motivation of some of his characters. He may leave some doubt as to what is going on now. But he does write with torrential power.” In Kirkus Reviews, it was written that “McCarthy's novel, While [sic] desolate, is effective in many ways; there is some unusual writing furrowed by a stark, visual imagery while the story itself has a shadowed fascination.”

title: The Orchard Keeper


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The Titan (novel)

The Titan is a novel by Theodore Dreiser, completed in 1914 as a sequel to his 1912 novel The Financier. Both books were originally a single manuscript, but the narrative's length required splitting it into two separate novels. Dreiser's manuscript of The Titan was rejected by Harper & Brothers, publisher of The Financier, due to its uncompromising realism; John Lane published the book in 1914. The Titan is the second part of Dreiser's Trilogy of Desire, a saga of ruthless businessman Frank Cowperwood (modeled after real-life streetcar tycoon Charles Yerkes). The third part of the trilogy, The Stoic, was Dreiser's final novel, published in 1947 after his death.

Plot summary
After his release from prison, Frank Cowperwood invests in stocks subsequent to the Panic of 1873, and becomes a millionaire again. He decides to move out of Philadelphia and start a new life in the West. He moves to Chicago with Aileen and his attorney is finally able to persuade Lillian to agree to a divorce. Frank decides to take over the street-railway system. He bankrupts several opponents with the help of John J. McKenty and other political allies. Meanwhile, Chicago society finds out about his past in Philadelphia and the couple are no longer invited to dinner parties; after a while, the press turns on him too. Cowperwood is unfaithful many times. Aileen finds out about a certain Rita and beats her up. She gives up on him and has an affair with Polk Lynde, a man of privilege; she eventually loses faith in him. Meanwhile, Cowperwood meets young Berenice Fleming; by the end of the novel, he tells her he loves her and she consents to live with him. However, the ending is bittersweet as Cowperwood has not managed to obtain the fifty-year franchise for his railway schemes that he wanted.

Allusions to other works

 * Allusions to other works include Ishmael, Caesar, Euripides, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Milton's Masque of Comus, William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, Molière's Les Femmes Savantes, Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals, Sophocles's Electra, Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book, John Keats's The Eve of St. Agnes, and Cellini's autobiography.
 * Cowperwood collects paintings; some painters mentioned include Lord Leighton, Gabriel Rossetti, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Henry Raeburn, Jean-François Millet, Jan Steen, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, and Jean-Léon Gérôme.
 * In Chapter XXIX, Florence Cochrane is said to read Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson.
 * In Chapter LI, Braxmar says he has read George du Maurier's Trilby.
 * Music is mentioned with Sarah Bernhardt, Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, and Puccini.
 * Greek mythology is also mentioned with Chaldea, Circe, Helen, Troy, and Andromache.

Allusions to actual history

 * Historical allusions include Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, the Haymarket affair, Henry George, and Robert Owen.

title: The Titan (novel)


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Air Alliance

Air Alliance was a Canadian regional airline based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, which was operational from its formation in 1987 until 1999, when it was absorbed into Air Nova. The brand name Alliance was then used by Air Canada until 2011 to refer to its eastern Tier III operation operated by Air Georgian.

Fleet
Air Alliance operated the following aircraft:

title: Air Alliance


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369 Aëria

Aëria, (minor planet designation: 369 Aëria) provisional designation, is a metallic asteroid and the parent body of the Aeria family. It orbits in the central region of the asteroid belt, rotates every 4.778 hours and measures approximately 65 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 4 July 1893, by French astronomer Alphonse Borrelly at the Marseille Observatory in southeastern France. It was named for "Air", one of the four classical elements: earth, water, air and fire.

Orbit and classification
Aëria is the parent body of the Aeria family (539), a small asteroid family of less than 300 known members, while the Lightcurve Data Base dynamically groups it to the much larger Eunomia family (502). Named members of the Aeria family include 1184 Gaea, 3324 Avsyuk, 130066 Timhaltigin and 144303 Mirellabreschi.

Aëria orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 2.4–2.9 AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,577 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.10 and an inclination of 13° with respect to the ecliptic. The body's observation arc begins at Marseille on 6 July 1893, two nights after its official discovery observation.

Physical characteristics
In the Tholen classification, Aëria is a metallic M-type asteroid. This agrees with the more generic X-type, assigned to members of the Aeria family.

Rotation period
Several rotational lightcurves of Aëria have been obtained from photometric observations since 1984, when it was first observed at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile. Lightcurve analysis gave a consolidated rotation period of 4.778 hours with a brightness amplitude between 0.04 and 0.13 magnitude (U=2/2/3/2/1).

Diameter and albedo
According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Aëria measures between 60.00 and 73.77 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.127 and 0.1919.

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.1919 and a diameter of 60.0 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 8.52.

Occultation events
Aëria has been observed by astronomers during at least two occultation events: the first in December 2015 and the other in February 2018. These provided information on the size and shape of the asteroid.

Naming
This minor planet was named after "Air", one of the four classical elements: earth, water, air and fire. It is thought that the asteroid's name may have also been inspired by the two letters of its provisional designation,.

title: 369 Aëria


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370 Modestia

Modestia (minor planet designation: 370 Modestia) is probably a typical Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 14 July 1893 in Nice.

title: 370 Modestia


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371 Bohemia

Bohemia (minor planet designation: 371 Bohemia) is a sizeable Main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 16 July 1893 in Nice.

title: 371 Bohemia


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Penrice Castle

Penrice Castle (Castell Pen-rhys) is a 13th-century castle near Penrice, Swansea on the Gower Peninsula, Wales. Nearby is a neo-classical mansion house built in the 1770s. The mansion is a Grade I listed building, and the surrounding gardens and park is also listed at Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

History
Penrice Castle is the 13th-century successor to a strong ringwork to the south east, known as the Mountybank. It was built by the de Penrice family, who were given land there for their part in the Norman Conquest of Gower. The last de Penrice married a Mansel in 1410 and the castle and its lands passed to the Mansel family. The Mansels later bought Margam Abbey and made it their main seat, while retaining their Gower lands. The castle was damaged in the 17th-century English Civil War.

The stone castle is a large, irregular hexagon with a round keep on the west side, to which were attached two other towers and a partial mantlet or chemise wall. At the north-west corner is a twin square-towered gatehouse with another tower inside. The ground falls away steeply to the north, east, south and south west, where there are various other turrets, though not scientifically disposed. The whole structure is now in a dangerous condition, but the south wall can be seen from the footpath that runs past the 18th-century mansion on the estate (51.5742°N, -4.1707°W), immediately to the south.

Edward Hancorne was granted ownership of the castle and its lands in 1708 by his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Mansel, 1st Baron Mansel. His eldest son Thomas inherited the lands upon his father's death.

The mansion built in the 1770s by the neo-classical architect Anthony Keck for Thomas Mansel Talbot (1747–1813) of Margam and Penrice, is itself Grade I listed and among the finest country houses in Wales. While the mansion was being built, the surrounding park, also Grade I listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, was laid out in about 1773–76 by William Emes, a follower of Capability Brown. The mansion was built to house Thomas Mansel Talbot's collection of antiquities and works of art. He visited Italy between 1769 and 1773 and bought antiquities from Thomas Jenkins, Gavin Hamilton and Giambattista Piranesi, including a Minerva with bronze helmet and a funerary monument (now in the Courtauld Institute, London). He also bought modern furniture by Albacini and Valadier and contemporary sculpture by Johan Tobias Sergel, and commissioned busts of himself and Pope Clement XIV from Christopher Hewetson (the latter now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London). In addition he bought paintings by Rembrandt and Jacob Philipp Hackert, and drawings by Nicolas Poussin. His collections were shipped from Italy in 1772 and 1775 and displayed after his marriage in 1792. Much of the collection was later transferred to Margam Castle in Wales, and sold at auction in 1941.

Information on the Penrice household and family in 1799–1806 and after appears in the published diaries and correspondence of a Scottish-born governess, Agnes Porter. This was collated by Joanna Martin, after finding the source materials in the castle attic in about 1973.

The mansion is now inhabited by the Methuen-Campbell family, who are direct descendants of the de Penrices.

The name Penrice Castle was borne by Castle Class locomotive No. 5057 of the Great Western Railway. The name was transferred to locomotive No. 5081 in 1937 and further transferred to No. 7023 in 1949.

title: Penrice Castle


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Caddisfly

The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis of the adult mouthparts. Integripalpian larvae construct a portable casing to protect themselves as they move around looking for food, while annulipalpian larvae make themselves a fixed retreat in which they remain, waiting for food to come to them. The affinities of the small third suborder Spicipalpia are unclear, and molecular analysis suggests it may not be monophyletic. Also called sedge-flies or rail-flies, the adults are small moth-like insects with two pairs of hairy membranous wings. They are closely related to the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) which have scales on their wings; the two orders together form the superorder Amphiesmenoptera.

The aquatic larvae are found in a wide variety of habitats such as streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, spring seeps and temporary waters (vernal pools), and even the ocean. The larvae of many species use silk to make protective cases, which are often strengthened with gravel, sand, twigs, bitten-off pieces of plants, or other debris. The larvae exhibit various feeding strategies, with different species being predators, leaf shredders, algal grazers, or collectors of particles from the water column and benthos. Most adults have short lives during which they do not feed.

In fly fishing, artificial flies called dry flies are tied to imitate adults, while larvae and pupae are imitated with artificial flies called wet flies or nymphs. It is also possible to use them as bait, though this is not as common as artificial flies and is known as bait fishing. Common and widespread genera such as Helicopsyche and Hydropsyche are important in the sport, where caddisflies are known as "sedges". Caddisflies are useful as bioindicators, as they are sensitive to water pollution and are large enough to be assessed in the field. In art, the French artist Hubert Duprat has created works by providing caddis larvae with small grains of gold and precious stones for them to build into decorative cases.

Etymology
The name of the order "Trichoptera" derives from the Greek: θρίξ (thrix, "hair"), genitive trichos + πτερόν (pteron, "wing"), and refers to the fact that the wings of these insects are bristly. The origin of the word "caddis" is unclear, but it dates back to at least as far as Izaak Walton's 1653 book The Compleat Angler, where "cod-worms or caddis" were mentioned as being used as bait. The term cadyss was being used in the fifteenth century for silk or cotton cloth, and "cadice-men" were itinerant vendors of such materials, but a connection between these words and the insects has not been established.

Fossil history
Fossil caddisflies have been found in rocks dating back to the Triassic. The largest numbers of fossilised remains are those of larval cases, which are made of durable materials that preserve well. Body fossils of caddisflies are extremely rare, the oldest being from the Early and Middle Triassic, some 230 million years ago, and wings are another source of fossils. The evolution of the group to one with fully aquatic larvae seems to have taken place sometime during the Triassic. The finding of fossils resembling caddisfly larval cases in marine deposits in Brazil may push back the origins of the order to the Early Permian period.

Evolution
Nearly all adult caddisflies are terrestrial, but their larvae and pupae are aquatic. They share this characteristic with several distantly-related groups, namely the dragonflies, mayflies, stoneflies, alderflies and lacewings. The ancestors of all these groups were terrestrial, with open tracheal systems, convergently evolving different types of gills for their aquatic larvae as they took to the water to avoid predation. Caddisflies was the only group of these insects to use silk as part of their lifestyle, which has been a contributing factor to their success and why they are the most species-rich order of aquatic insects.

About 14,500 species of caddisfly in 45 families have been recognised worldwide, but many more species remain to be described. Most can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the basis of the adult mouthparts. The characteristics of adults depend on the palps, wing venation and genitalia of both sexes. The latter two characters have undergone such extensive differentiation among the different superfamilies that the differences between the suborders is not clear-cut. The larvae of Annulipalpians are campodeiform (free-living, well sclerotized, long legged predators with dorso-ventrally flattened bodies and protruding mouthparts). The larvae of Integripalpians are polypod (poorly sclerotized detritivores, with abdominal prolegs in addition to thoracic legs, living permanently in tight-fitting cases). The affinities of the third suborder, Spicipalpia, are unclear; the larvae are free-living with no cases, instead creating net-like traps from silk.

Phylogeny
The cladogram of external relationships, based on a 2008 DNA and protein analysis, shows the order as a clade, sister to the Lepidoptera, and more distantly related to the Diptera (true flies) and Mecoptera (scorpionflies).

The cladogram of relationships within the order is based on a 2002 molecular phylogeny using ribosomal RNA, a nuclear elongation factor gene, and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase. The Annulipalpia and Integripalpia are clades, but the relationships within the Spicipalpia are unclear.

Distribution
Caddisflies are found worldwide, with the greater diversity being in warmer regions. They are associated with bodies of freshwater, the larvae being found in lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and other water bodies. The land caddis, Enoicyla pusilla (family: Limnephilidae), lives in the damp litter of the woodland floor. In the United Kingdom it is found in and around the county of Worcestershire in oakwoods.

Ecology

Caddisfly larvae can be found in all feeding guilds in freshwater habitats. Most early stage larvae and some late stage ones are collector-gatherers, picking up fragments of organic matter from the benthos. Other species are collector-filterers, sieving organic particles from the water using silken nets, or hairs on their legs. Some species are scrapers, feeding on the film of algae and other periphyton that grows on underwater objects in sunlight. Others are shredder-herbivores, chewing fragments off living plant material while others are shredder-detritivores, gnawing at rotting wood or chewing dead leaves that have been pre-processed by bacteria and fungi; most of the nutrients of the latter group come from consumption of the bacteria and fungi. The predatory species either actively hunt their prey, typically other insects, tiny crustaceans and worms, or lie in wait for unwary invertebrates to come too close. A few species feed opportunistically on dead animals or fish, and some Leptoceridae larvae feed on freshwater sponges.

One such opportunistic species is Gumaga nigricula (family: Sericostomatidae) which has been observed scavenging fish carcasses and even bits of deer flesh. This particular family of caddisflies is typically classified among the shredders, suggesting caution when classifying macroinvertebrates into strict ecological functional groups, as some may shift their diets opportunistically.

Like mayflies, stoneflies and dragonflies, but to a somewhat lesser extent, caddisflies are an indicator of good water quality; they die out of streams with polluted waters. They are an important part of the food web, both larvae and adults being eaten by many fish. The newly hatched adult is particularly vulnerable as it struggles to the surface after emerging from the submerged pupa, and as it dries its wings. The fish find these new adults easy pickings, and fishing flies resembling them can be successful for anglers at the right time of year.

The adult stage of a caddisfly may only survive for a few weeks; many species do not feed as adults and die soon after breeding, but some species are known to feed on nectar. The winged insects are nocturnal and provide food for night-flying birds, bats, small mammals, amphibians and arthropods. The larval stage lasts much longer, often for one or more years, and has a bigger impact on the environment. They form an important part of the diet of fish such as the trout. The fish acquire them by two means, either plucking them off vegetation or the stream-bed as the larvae move about, or during the daily behavioural drift; this drift happens during the night for many species of aquatic larvae, or around midday for some cased caddisfly species, and may result from population pressures or be a dispersal device. The larvae may drift in great numbers either close to the bottom, in mid-water or just below the surface. The fish swallow them whole, case and all.

Cases
Caddisflies are best known for the portable cases created by their larvae. About thirty families of caddisfly, members of the suborder Integripalpia, adopt this stratagem. These larvae eat detritus, largely decaying vegetable material, and the dead leaf fragments on which they feed tend to accumulate in hollows, in slow-moving sections of streams and behind stones and tree roots. The cases provide protection to the larvae as they make their way between these resources.

The case is a tubular structure made of silk, secreted from salivary glands near the mouth of the larva, and is started soon after the egg hatches. Various reinforcements may be incorporated into its structure, the nature of the materials and design depending on the larva's genetic makeup; this means that caddisfly larvae can be recognised by their cases down to family, and even genus level. The materials used include grains of sand, larger fragments of rock, bark, sticks, leaves, seeds and mollusc shells. These are neatly arranged and stuck onto the outer surface of the silken tube. As the larva grows, more material is added at the front, and the larva can turn round in the tube and trim the rear end so that it does not drag along the substrate.

Caddisfly cases are open at both ends, the larvae drawing oxygenated water through the posterior end, over their gills, and pumping it out of the wider, anterior end. The larvae move around inside the tubes and this helps maintain the water current; the lower the oxygen content of the water, the more active the larvae need to be. This mechanism enable caddisfly larvae to live in waters too low in oxygen content to support stonefly and mayfly larvae.

Fixed retreats
In contrast to larvae that have portable cases, members of the Annulipalpia have a completely different feeding strategy. They make fixed retreats in which they remain stationary, waiting for food to come to them. Members of the Psychomyiidae, Ecnomidae and Xiphocentronidae families construct simple tubes of sand and other particles held together by silk and anchored to the bottom, and feed on the accumulations of silt formed when suspended material is deposited. The tube can be lengthened when the growing larva needs to feed in new areas. More complex tubes, short and flattened, are built by Polycentropodidae larvae in hollows in rocks or other submerged objects, sometimes with strands of silk suspended across the nearby surface. These larvae are carnivorous, resembling spiders in their feeding habits and rushing out of their retreat to attack any unwary small prey crawling across the surface.

Silk domes
Larvae of members of the family Glossosomatidae in the suborder Spicipalpia create dome-shaped enclosures of silk which enables them to graze on the periphyton, the biological film that grows on stones and other objects, while carrying their enclosure around like turtles. In the family Philopotamidae, the nets are sac-like, with intricate structure and tiny mesh. The larvae have specialised mouthparts to scrape off the microflora that get trapped in the net as water flows through.

Nets

The larvae of other species of caddisfly make nets rather than cases. These are silken webs stretching between aquatic vegetation and over stones. These net-making larvae usually live in running water, different species occupying different habitats with varying water speeds. There is a constant drift of invertebrates washed downstream by the current, and these animals, and bits of debris, accumulate in the nets which serve both as food traps and as retreats.

Development and morphology
Caddisfly larvae are aquatic, with six pairs of tracheal gills on the underside of the abdomen. The eggs are laid above water on emergent twigs or vegetation or on the water surface although females of some species enter water to choose sites. Although most species lay eggs, a few in the genus Triplectides are ovoviviparous. Some species lay eggs on land and although most are associated with freshwater, a few like Symphitoneuria are found in coastal saline water. Philanisus plebeius females lay their eggs into the coelomic cavity of intertidal starfish. The larvae are long and roughly cylindrical, very similar to those of lepidoptera but lacking prolegs. In case-bearing species, the heads are heavily sclerotised while the abdomen is soft; the antennae are short and the mouthparts adapted for biting. Each of the usually ten abdominal segments bears a pair of legs with a single tarsal joint. In case-bearing species, the first segment bears three papillae, one above and two at the sides, which anchor the larva centrally in the tube. The posterior segment bears a pair of hooks for grappling. There are five to seven larval instars, followed by an aquatic pupa which has functional mandibles (to cut through the case), gills, and swimming legs.

The pupal cocoon is spun from silk, but like the larval case, often has other materials attached. When pupating, species that build portable cases attach them to some underwater object, seal the front and back apertures against predators while still allowing water to flow through, and pupate within it. Once fully developed, most pupal caddisflies cut through their cases with a special pair of mandibles, swim up to the water surface, moult using the exuviae as a floating platform, and emerge as fully formed adults. They can often fly immediately after breaking from their pupal cuticle. Emergence is mainly univoltine (once per year) with all the adults of a species emerging at the same time. Development is within a year in warm places, but takes over a year in high latitudes and at high elevation in mountain lakes and streams.

The adult caddisfly is a medium-sized insect with membranous, hairy wings, which are held in a tent-wise fashion when the insect is at rest. The antennae are fairly long and threadlike, the mouthparts are reduced in size and the legs have five tarsi (lower leg joints). Adults are nocturnal and are attracted to light. Some species are strong fliers and can disperse to new localities, but many fly only weakly. Adults are usually short-lived, most being non-feeders and equipped only to breed. Once mated, the female caddisfly lays eggs in a gelatinous mass, attaching them above or below the water surface depending on species. The eggs hatch in a few weeks.

In angling
Adult caddisflies are called sedges by anglers. Individual species emerge en masse at different times, and are used one after the other, often for only a few days each year, as models for artificial fishing flies for fly fishing in trout streams. A mass emergence is known as a hatch. Each type has its own angling name, so for example Mystacides is the dancer; Sericostoma the caperer; Leptocerus the silverhorn; Phryganea the murragh or great red sedge; Brachycentrus subnubilis the grannom; Lepidostoma the silver sedge; Oecetis the longhorn sedge; Cheumatopsyche the little sister sedge; Helicopsyche the speckled Peter, an important fishing fly in North America; and Hydropsyche the specked sedge, perhaps the most important caddisfly genus for anglers with over 50 species of net-makers.

As bioindicators
Caddisflies are useful as bioindicators (of good water quality), since they are sensitive to water pollution, and are large enough to be assessed conveniently in the field. Some species indicate undisturbed habitat, and some indicate degraded habitat. Although caddisflies may be found in waterbodies of varying qualities, species-rich caddisfly assemblages are generally thought to indicate clean water bodies, such as lakes, ponds, and marshes. Together with stoneflies and mayflies, caddisflies feature importantly in bioassessment surveys of streams and other water bodies.

In art
While caddisflies in the wild construct their cases out of twigs, sand, aquatic plants, and rocks, the French artist Hubert Duprat makes art by providing wild caddisflies with precious stones and other materials. He collected caddisfly larvae from the wild and put them in climate-controlled tanks. He removes the larvae from their original cases and adds precious and semi-precious items such as grains of gold into the tank. The larvae then build new cases out of precious items, creating a unique form of artwork. The resulting works are sold across the world.

As food
In Japan the larvae of Stenopsyche marmorata are eaten as a delicacy called Zazamushi.

Taxonomy
There are roughly 14,500 species in some 45 families worldwide.

 * Suborder Annulipalpia
 * Superfamily Hydropsychoidea
 * Family Dipseudopsidae
 * Family Ecnomidae
 * Family †Electralbertidae
 * Family Hydropsychidae
 * Family Polycentropodidae
 * Family Psychomyiidae
 * Family Xiphocentronidae
 * Superfamily Philopotamoidea
 * Family Philopotamidae
 * Family Stenopsychidae
 * Suborder Integripalpia
 * Superfamily Leptoceroidea
 * Family Atriplectididae
 * Family Calamoceratidae
 * Family Molannidae
 * Family Leptoceridae
 * Family Limnocentropodidae
 * Family Odontoceridae
 * Family Philorheithridae
 * Superfamily Limnephiloidea
 * Family Apataniidae
 * Family Brachycentridae
 * Family Goeridae
 * Family Limnephilidae
 * Family Lepidostomatidae
 * Family Oeconesidae
 * Family Pisuliidae
 * Family Rossianidae
 * Family †Taymyrelectronidae
 * Family Uenoidae
 * Superfamily †Necrotaulioidea
 * Family †Necrotauliidae
 * Superfamily Phyrganeoidea
 * Family †Baissoferidae
 * Family †Dysoneuridae
 * Family †Kalophryganeidae
 * Family Phryganeidae
 * Family Phryganopsychidae
 * Family Plectrotarsidae
 * Superfamily Sericostomatoidea
 * Family Anomalopsychidae
 * Family Antipodoeciidae
 * Family Barbarochthonidae
 * Family Beraeidae
 * Family Calocidae
 * Family Chathamiidae
 * Family Conoesucidae
 * Family Helicophidae
 * Family Helicopsychidae
 * Family Hydrosalpingidae
 * Family Kokiriidae
 * Family Petrothrincidae
 * Family Sericostomatidae
 * Superfamily Tasimioidea
 * Family Tasimiidae
 * Superfamily †Vitimotaulioidea
 * Family †Vitimotauliidae
 * Family †Cladochoristidae
 * Family †Microptysmatidae
 * Family †Prosepididontidae
 * Family †Protomeropidae
 * Family †Uraloptysmatidae
 * Suborder Spicipalpia
 * Superfamily Hydroptiloidea
 * Family Glossosomatidae
 * Family Hydroptilidae
 * Family Ptilocolepidae
 * Superfamily Rhyacophiloidea
 * Family Hydrobiosidae
 * Family Rhyacophilidae

title: Caddisfly


text:
372 Palma

Palma (minor planet designation: 372 Palma) is one of the largest main-belt asteroids. It is a B-type asteroid.

It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on August 19, 1893, in Nice. It is thought to be named for the capital city of Majorca, an island in the Balearics (Spain), which are located south of France. It is one of seven of Charlois's discoveries that were expressly named by the Astromomisches Rechen-Institut (Astronomical Calculation Institute).

Occultations
Since 2000, it has been observed 14 times in an asteroid occultation event, a number of which produced multiple chords revealing the asteroid's size and shape. On September 13, 2018, it was revealed to be 120 miles long (193 kilometers long). It is in a fixed orbit around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

title: 372 Palma


text:
373 Melusina

373 Melusina (prov. designation: or ) is a large Main belt asteroid. It is classified as a C-type asteroid and is probably composed of carbonaceous material. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois on 15 September 1893 in Nice.

title: 373 Melusina