Education.

Maddy received her Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1979. Her dissertation, "Set Theoretical Realism", was supervised by John P. Burgess.

Research.

Maddy's early work, culminating in "Realism in Mathematics", defended Kurt Gödel's position that mathematics is a true description of a mind-independent realm that we can access through our intuition. However, she suggested that some mathematical entities are in fact concrete, unlike, notably, Gödel, who assumed all mathematical objects are abstract. She suggested that sets can be causally efficacious, and in fact share all the causal and spatiotemporal properties of their elements. Thus, when one sees three cups on a table, one also sees the set. She used contemporary work in cognitive science and psychology to support this position, pointing out that just as at a certain age we begin to see objects rather than mere sense perceptions, there is also a certain age at which we begin to see sets rather than just objects.  In the 1990s, she moved away from this position, towards a position described in "Naturalism in Mathematics". Her "naturalist" position, like Quine's, suggests that since science is our most successful project so far for knowing about the world, philosophers should adopt the methods of science in their own discipline, and especially when discussing science. As Maddy stated in an interview, "If you’re a ‘naturalist’, you think that science shouldn’t be held to extra-scientific standards, that it doesn’t require extra-scientific ratification." However, rather than a unified picture of the sciences like Quine's, she has a picture on which mathematics is separate. This way, mathematics is neither supported nor undermined by the needs and goals of science, but is allowed to obey its own criteria. This means that traditional metaphysical and epistemological concerns of the philosophy of mathematics are misplaced. Like Wittgenstein, she suggests that many of these puzzles arise merely because of the application of language outside its proper domain of significance.  She has been dedicated to understanding and explaining the methods that set theorists use in agreeing on axioms, especially those that go beyond ZFC.

Awards.

Maddy has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1998. The German Mathematical Society awarded her a Gauss Lectureship in 2006.

Penelope Maddy (born 4 July 1950) is an American philosopher. She is a UCI Distinguished Professor of Logic and Philosophy of Science and of Mathematics at the University of California, Irvine. She is well known for her influential work in the philosophy of mathematics, where she has worked on mathematical realism (especially set-theoretic realism) and mathematical naturalism.

Penelope Jo Maddy (* 4. Juli 1950 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) ist eine US-amerikanische Logikerin und Wissenschaftsphilosophin, die sich insbesondere mit Philosophie der Mathematik beschäftigt.


Critical response.

Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" said, "From the moment Ms. Minnelli joins forces with a male singing and dancing quartet to resurrect parts of a famous nightclub act Thompson created in the late 1940s and early ’50s with the Williams Brothers, the Palace Theater blasts off into orbit. There it remains, deliriously spinning until the end of a 2-hour-20-minute show (with intermission) that leaves the star in a state of breathless exaltation. The end of the opening-night show on Wednesday found Ms. Minnelli panting, drenched in sweat, her hair matted, as if she had just finished running the New York marathon, which in a sense she had... I would love to report that Ms. Minnelli’s voice and physical agility have been magically restored to their former glory, but those days seem to be gone. On Wednesday night her voice was in tatters, her diction unsteady. When she belted, her wide vibrato wobbled to the breaking point. Most of her s’s were slurred sh’s. Frequently short of breath, she swallowed phrases. Many of her highest notes were dry, piercing caws. But there were still occasional moments of beautifully focused dramatic singing... As for movement, there were no kicks or even half-kicks, although Ms. Minnelli can still strut stealthily and sprawl across a director’s chair in sensual abandon... Once the show began to soar, though, Ms. Minnelli’s force of will became a triumph of spirit over flesh. As she insisted on doing what she can no longer do, her audacity was inspiring: her message was you do the best you can, and if you have to, fake it. She trusted the listener’s imagination to fill in the blanks."  In "Variety", David Rooney observed, "In her return to Broadway after nearly 10 years’ absence, Minnelli had the opening-night audience in the palm of her hand from her first moment onstage - striking that signature, one-arm-pointed-skyward pose, appropriately framed by a giant pink triangle of light... [W]hat makes Minnelli a great entertainer when she's firing on all cylinders is how hard she works for the audience's love. And how much she clearly thrives on it. In an age in which so many female concert performers are overproduced automatons, deigning to be worshipped by their fans, Minnelli's emotional give-and-take makes her a disarming relic... Sure, the voice is frayed and husky, the control wavers, many of the lyrics are slurred and the big belt at times hides behind the orchestra's ample brass section to disguise the effort. But nobody who would buy a ticket to this show in the first place is going to care a whit. Minnelli's charisma is undiminished and her vocals still have power, warmth and a startling ability to make every song personal."  Brian Scott Lipton of Theatermania.com stated, "To get the big questions out of the way, Minnelli's voice isn't what it was many years ago, but it's strong and powerful and mostly gets the job done, and she moves rather than really dances. But her skills as a performer, honed over five decades, and her genuineness and vulnerability make these shortcomings seem relatively unimportant."

Awards and nominations.

Minnelli won the 2009 Independent Theatre Reviewers Association Award for Best Female Theatrical Performance and a Drama Desk Award "Special Award" for a "beloved American musical theater icon, for her enduring career of sustained excellence, and her glorious performance in "Liza's at The Palace"." The show also won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.  The production was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical and the Drama League Award for Distinguished Production of a Musical.

Recording.

A 2-CD set with liner notes by Michael Feinstein was released on February 3, 2009 on Hybrid Recordings. It debuted at #42 on the "Billboard" Independent Albums chart and at #3 on the Top Cast Albums chart, but failed to chart on the "Billboard" 200. The album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album on December 2, 2009.

Public television special.

Celebrating the one year anniversary of "Liza's at the Palace...", American Public Television (APT) distributed the special to public television stations nationwide beginning in November 2009. Filmed in the Hollywood Theatre at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on September 30 and October 1, 2009, the program featured material performed during the New York engagement.  The concert premiered on the cable network HDNet and was shown three times: November 15, 16 and 22, 2009.

Liza's at the Palace... was a concert presented by Liza Minnelli at the Palace Theatre on Broadway from December 3, 2008 through January 4, 2009. It was produced by John Scher and Metropolitan Talent Presents.

Liza’s at The Palace... ist der Titel eines Bühnenprogramms der US-amerikanischen Sängerin und Schauspielerin Liza Minnelli. Die Varietéshow lief vom 3. Dezember 2008 bis 4. Januar 2009 im Palace Theatre des New Yorker Broadway. Schon vor ihrem Beginn spielte Minnelli ein gleichnamiges Show-Cast-Doppel-Album ein, das am 3. Februar 2009 auf dem Markt erschien. Im November 2009 wurde Liza Minnellis Darbietung dieser Show in Las Vegas auf mehreren Regionalsendern ausgestrahlt.


History.

Early years.

The club was founded in 1976 by Itzhak Perry and reached the top division, where they have remained since in 1988–89 season. At the start of their first season in the top division, Israeli star Miki Berkovich joined Roni Bosani and Richard Rellford and they led the team. Their coach was Moshe Vainkretz and they finished the season in the 6th place. In the following season, Vainkretz was replaced by Tal Tzuker, and the team finished in the 9th place.

The 1990s.

In 1990–91, Vainkretz returned to Maccabi Rishon. With some high-quality players like Miki Berkovich, Gene Banks, Andre Spencer and Motti Aroesti, the team finished the regular season in the 2nd place of the league. In the semi-finals of the playoffs, Maccabi Rishon beat Hapoel Tel Aviv in a 3–0 sweep, and reached their first-ever final series. In the final, they lost in four games (3–1) to Maccabi Tel Aviv. One season later, in 1991–92, most of the key players stayed and the team ended the regular season again in the 2nd place. This time, they lost in the semi-finals series to Hapoel Tel Aviv. However, Maccabi Rishon reached the final of the Israeli cup but lost 76:84 to Hapoel Galil Elyon. They also participated in the European League but lost in the second qualifying round to Dutch champions Den Helder, and dropped to the European Cup, where they eliminated in the group stage with a record of 3 wins and 7 losses.  At the end of the season, some key players such as Banks, Spencer, and Zlotikman left the team and because of it the team ended in 7th place during its 1992–93 campaign, and participated in the bottom playoffs.  The years passed and Pini Gershon returned to a second term with Maccabi Rishon in 1997–98 season. Doron Jamchi led the team in points. Despite the high expectations from Gershon, the team ended the regular season in the 6th place. Rishon lost to Hapoel Eilat in the quarterfinals. In Korac Cup, the team lost in the third round to Polish side Stal Bobrek Bytom. In the following season, Vainkretz returned to a third term in the club and finished the season in the 9th place and in the third round of Korac Cup.

2000s.

After they lost the first five games of 1999–00 season, Vainkretz resigned and was replaced by Hanan Keren. The club suffered from a lot of economic problems and injuries and finished the season in the 10th place. They were not relegated only because of the league expansion.  In 2004–05, Guy Goodes, was appointed as head coach. The team lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv both in the league quarterfinals and in the semi-finals of the state cup. With Goodes as head coach, the team "recovered" from the difficult years before. Omar Sneed, John Gilchrist, Ryan Sidney and Lee Matthews joined as foreign players, the Israelis Or Eitan and Moran Roth joined also and they all led Rishon to success in 2005–06 season. Rishon Lezion finished the regular season in the 3rd place. They lost in the final four to Hapoel Jerusalem by a last-second shot of Horace Jenkins. However, they beat Irony Naharia in the 3rd place game. Eitan and Sneed were named in the Israeli All-League First Team, and Guy Goodes was named as the Head Coach of the Year.

2010s.

Before 2009–10 season, the team completely changed its front office. Effi Birnbaum appointed as head coach. Aaron McGhee, Darrell Tucker, Ugonna Onyekwe and Larry O'Bannon joined as foreign players alongside the Israeli players Avi Ben Chimol and Meir Tapiro. The team finished only 7th. They lost 3–1 to Hapoel Jerusalem in the quarterfinals. In 2010–11 Birnbaum stayed in his role as head coach, but the players' squad was refreshed. Magee and Tucker stayed, but the latter was later waived in the middle of the season. Isaiah Swann, Dwayne Mitchell and Raymar Morgan arrived in addition to the Israeli forward Nitzan Hanochi. They finished a good season in the 5th place, and beat Bnei Hasharon 3-2 in the quarterfinals series. They qualified to the final four where they were defeated by Maccabi Tel Aviv (100:77) and then by Hapoel Jerusalem in the 3rd place game. Dwayne Mitchell was named to the All-League First Team.  In the 11-12 season, the team reached, in the second time in their history, the Israeli State Cup final, 20 years after the first time. They lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Nokia Arena. In the league, Rishon ended the regular season in the 3rd place. In the quarterfinals of the playoffs, they met Ironi Ashkelon. Ashkelon won the first two games and were close to sweep, but Rishon managed to win three games in a row and reached the final four. In the semi-finals, they lost 75:68 to Maccabi Ashdod, and lost also to Hapoel Holon in the 3rd place game. Kitchen named in the All-League First Team.  Maccabi Rishon started 2012–13 season with Effi Birnbaum as head coach. After 11 games, with only 5 wins, the board decided to terminate Birnbaum's contract and appoint former player and coach, Roni Bosani, as head coach. The team finished the regular season in the 6th place and lost 3–2 to Hapoel Eilat in the quarterfinals series. Rishon started the 2013–14 season very bad. The former assistant coach, Matan Harush, was appointed as head coach. He led the team for 11 games only winning 3 games. The fans started to voice their disappointment, and Harush was fired. A few days later, he was replaced by former Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel NT coach Zvika Sherf. Even with Sherf, the team suffered from instability. The team replaced a lot of players during the season, but Dawson, Hajaj and Solomon stayed. At the end of the season, Rishon and Sherf finished in 10th place from 12. They were saved from relegation by a last matchday win.  In the following season, the team finished the regular season in the 6th place. In the quarterfinals series, they beat Hapoel Holon (3:1) even without the home-court advantage. In the semi-finals series, they lost to Hapoel Jerusalem, 3:0.

Champions after fairytale season (2015–16).

The 2015–16 season was an unbelievable one for Rishon LeZion. Sharon Drucker was fired on the 14th of April and was replaced by Arik Shivek. With some high-quality players like Darryl Monroe and Mark Lyons, the team finished in sixth place in the regular season and reached the quarter-finals of FIBA Europe Cup. After Rishon Lezion beat the higher-ranked Maccabi Haifa in the Playoffs, the team faced Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semi-finals. Rishon stunned the powerhouse team from Tel Aviv, winning 71–69. Rishon LeZion had the right to play in the Israeli League Final for the first time since 1991. On 9 June 2016, the club won their first championship after beating Hapoel Jerusalem 83–77 in the Final, in front of 11,600 spectators at Jerusalem's home arena. Darryl Monroe was named Final Four MVP, after scoring 20 points against Maccabi Tel Aviv and 29 points against Jerusalem.

Modern era.

At the start of the 2018–19 season, Rishon LeZion won the Israeli Basketball League Cup. In the 2018–19 Premier League season, Rishon LeZion was the sixth seed in the regular season but managed to upset third-seeded Hapoel Holon in the playoffs, winning 1–3. In the semi-final of the Final Four, the team surprised Hapoel Jerusalem and won 92–86 to advance to their second-ever final where they lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Fans and Arena.

Gush D.

Gush D is the organized group of supporters that follows the team in home games and in away games. The group was founded in 2001 and named after their seating section in the old arena of the club, Gan Nachum. In January 2014, they started to boycott the team's home games due to a conflict with the club's owner, Itzhak Perry. However, they returned to cheer the team only one year later, in January 2015.

Gan Nahum Municipal Hall (1984–2008).

This was a multi-purpose sports arena with 1,500 seats. Since its opening in 1986 and until Bet Maccabi opening in 2008, it was the main sports hall in the city. It was the home arena of Maccabi Rishon since its opening day in 1986, and also hosted Maccabi and Hapoel Rishon LeZion handball clubs' home games.  The arena can host volleyball, handball, futsal and basketball activities. It has only one stand, in the northern side of the building. In the upper floor there are 1,000 seats and in the lower floor (which is removable) there are 500 seats. Today Gan Nahum Municipal Hall hosts the home games of Hapoel Rishon LeZion women's basketball team.

Sponsorship names.

Due to sponsorship agreements, the club has known several names:

Maccabi Rishon LeZion () is a basketball club based in Rishon LeZion, Israel. The club plays in Ligat Ha'Al. The biggest achievement of the club is an Israeli League championship in 2016.

Maccabi Rischon LeZion ist ein Sportverein aus Rischon LeZion, Israel. Der Verein ist vor allem bekannt für seine Sparten Handball und Basketball. Die ersten Aktivitäten des Klubs erfolgten jedoch im Fußball, wo schon in den 1930er Jahren sportliche Vergleichswettkämpfe erfolgten.


History.

The Society was organized on December 17, 1898, in Portland at the Portland Library Building. Its mission, as expressed in the first volume of its "Oregon Historical Quarterly", was to "bring together in the most complete measure possible the data for the history of the commonwealth, and to stimulate the widest and highest use of them." The first president was Harvey W. Scott, with memberships totaling 370 in the first year. George H. Himes was appointed the Society's first curator in 1899, a post he retained for four decades, until February 1939.  Shortly after its formation, the Society opened its first office and museum in Portland City Hall and began the development of a regional research library and a collection of historical artifacts. In 1900, the first issue of the "Oregon Historical Quarterly" was printed as the official publication of the organization. In 1913, the Society moved from city hall to the Tourny Building, at 2nd and Taylor streets, but remained there for only 41⁄2 years, moving again in September 1917 into Portland's then-new Public Auditorium (now Keller Auditorium). In 1966, the Society moved to its current location.  Thomas Vaughan stepped down from his 35-year directorship in 1989. Chet Orloff, who had left OHS in 1987 for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society in Pasadena, California, was considered by "The Oregonian" to be heir-apparent, but Bill Tramposch was brought in from Williamsburg, Virginia. Tramposch inherited a million-dollar deficit from the previous administration, and his three-year plan to eliminate the deficit, though supported by the board, was unpopular with many long-time staff members, who also criticized Tramposch's management style. Tramposch resigned in 1991, and Orloff returned as executive director in 1992. He remained in the position for nine years, retiring at the end of 2000.  George L. Vogt, a former president of the American Association for State and Local History was appointed as the eighth Executive Director of OHS in November 2006. In July 2007, the Oregon Historical Society was awarded a $2.8 million biennial appropriation from the State of Oregon, though the organization is not a state entity. The $2.8 million given by the state over the two years equals 30% of the annual operating budget. In 2011, Vogt retired and was replaced by Kerry Tymchuk, who was named permanent director in October 2011. The Society sold the Sovereign Hotel in 2014.

Funding.

In November 2010, Multnomah County voters approved a ballot initiative that included a five-year property tax levy to fund the institution and grant county residents free admission to the museum and research library. In 2011, the Oregon Legislative Assembly approved $2.5 million to assist the Society in paying off the mortgage on its temperature-controlled warehouse that preserves and protects the Society's artifacts, maps, books, films, and other assets. At the end of 2011, the Society received a $2 million bequest from the late Fred Fields, a noted businessman and philanthropist in Oregon.

Divisions.

The Society's museum, archives and research library contains approximately 8.5 million feet of film and videotape, over 2.5 million photographs, 85,000 artifacts, 30,000 books, 25,000 maps, 16,000 rolls of microfilm, of documents, and oral history preserved in more than 8,400 hours of recordings covering over 2,100 interviews. The society has one of the largest collections of historic photographs in the United States.  OHS has published the "Oregon Historical Quarterly" continuously since 1900. Since 1929, the Oregon Historical Society Press has published over 150 books on Oregon history, politics, culture, and biographies, including "Oregon Geographic Names". As of 2009, the press has suspended operations. University of Washington Press is handling all distribution of OHS Press books still in print. Publication of the "Oregon Historical Quarterly" will continue.  The OHS Museum Store is located in the lobby of the National Register of Historic Places-designated Sovereign Hotel. The building was added to the register in 1981. From 1986 to 2001, the Society used the former Meier & Frank Delivery Depot, in the Pearl District, to house its collection (except items on display at the museum at any given time) and for processing of new acquisitions. In 2000, after property values began rising due to redevelopment in the Pearl that started in the late 1990s, the Society sold that building, for $12.7 million. It moved its storage and processing to a warehouse in suburban Gresham over a four-month period in the first half of 2001. The Gresham warehouse was less conveniently located but had cost only $3.2 million to purchase, although modifications to that building were expected to raise the overall cost of the move to about $6 million.

Legacy.

Noting that the four successive presidents after Harvey Scott were attorneys, historian E. Kimbark MacColl stated:  young Portland lawyers at the turn of the [20th] century... rose to civic prominence,... became actively involved in the Oregon Historical Society, and... were instrumental in fabricating an "Oregon Story" that was heavily laden with mythology, hero worship and pioneer idolization. [Charles H.] Carey, Scott, and others, constituted a group of politician-writers who advised: Don't hurt the party. Don't divide up America into classes by denouncing the rich and exciting "the envy and hatred of the poor." Spare the city's reputation.... Carey and Scott would never admit they had made mistakes or that the old system was rotten.

The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is an organization that encourages and promotes the study and understanding of the history of the Oregon Country, within the broader context of U.S. history. Incorporated in 1898, the Society collects, preserves, and makes available materials of historical character and interest, and collaborates with other groups and individuals with similar aims. The society operates the Oregon History Center that includes the Oregon Historical Society Museum in downtown Portland.

Die Oregon Historical Society (OHS) ist eine Organisation, die seit 1898 besteht und sich mit der Geschichte des sogenannten Oregon Country beschäftigt, nicht nur mit der des Bundesstaats Oregon. Dazu unterhält sie das "Oregon History Center" zu dem das "Oregon Historical Society Museum" in Portland gehört.


History.

The franchise was originally owned by Bill MacFarlane and was later taken over by a local ownership group in January 2000. During the 2000–01 season, the team brought in key play makers including Jason Firth, Brant Blackned, and Barry McKinley who helped lead the T-Rex to a regular season championship.

Issues with Tupelo, CHL, and SEHL.

After the 2000–01 season, Tupelo was invited to be a part of the WPHL-Central Hockey League merger. It would have set up a local rivalry with CHL member, the Memphis RiverKings. However, the T-Rex ownership refused and decided not to join the merger. Their attempts to join two other pro leagues backfired when the CHL invoked a non-compete clause, claiming the territorial rights to Tupelo as part of the merger. With no other options, Tupelo folded as a pro franchise and began as a junior team in the America West Hockey League where they lasted two more seasons before folding again in 2003.  In 2003, the T-Rex attempted join the Atlantic Coast Hockey League, which then was succeeded by the South East Hockey League after a league split. However, the team was again barred by the Central Hockey League, which still had a five-year non-compete clause at the BancorpSouth Center and no professional hockey team could enter the venue in Tupelo.  The legal issues the team faced prevented the team from recovering by the time the non-compete clause terminated. Since then, the only ice hockey to have been played at the BancorpSouth Arena has been the Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs DIII men's ice hockey clubs.

See also.

List of defunct Mississippi sports teams

The Tupelo T-Rex was a professional ice hockey team in the Western Professional Hockey League and played their home games at BancorpSouth Center from 1998 to 2001. The owners of the T-Rex also fielded a junior team in the America West Hockey League from 2001 to 2003 when they were unable to continue fielding a professional team.

Die Tupelo T-Rex waren eine US-amerikanische Eishockeymannschaft in Tupelo, Mississippi. Das Team spielte von 1998 bis 2001 in der Western Professional Hockey League.


Early life and education.

Prince Turki was born in 1934. He was a member of the Sudairi Seven, a powerful faction of brothers within the Al Saud. His parents were Ibn Saud and Hassa Al Sudairi. He was known as Turki "the second" (الثاني "ath-thānī") because he was the second son born to Ibn Saud named "Turki". The first Prince Turki was Abdulaziz's first son who died in 1919 due to Spanish flu.  Prince Turki studied at the Princes' School established by his father.

Career.

Turki bin Abdulaziz assumed the Riyadh principality delegation on 10 October 1957, because Prince Salman, (later to become King Salman) then-Riyadh governor, travelled with King Saud to Lebanon. In 1960, the approval of the King was issued to assign Prince Turki as the governor of the Riyadh Province in the period of the formal vacation of Prince Salman. Turki bin Abdulaziz was appointed the deputy defense minister in July 1969 by a royal order. His tenure lasted for nine years and he was forced to resign from office due to his marriage in 1978.

Controversy.

After his falling-out with other princes and joining with the free princes group, Turki bin Abdulaziz moved to Cairo and lived there in self-imposed exile for a time. However, other research on the Free Princes Movement does not mention his name as part of this group; so an alternate explanation of his self-exile in Cairo offers that it occurred as a result of an intra-family dispute due to his marriage to Hind Al Fassi (See also below and "Personal life" section).  In February 1982, Turki bin Abdulaziz and his family, while living in Miami, were accused of holding an Egyptian servant against her will. Officers from the Metro Dade Police Department (MDPD) searched his apartment with a warrant but failed to find the woman. However, the police encountered fierce resistance from Prince Turki's bodyguards. He eventually sued the MDPD for $210 million, wherein the defendant then launched a countersuit. The State Department granted him diplomatic immunity in April 1982 and the lawsuit was dropped in June 1982.  In a letter published by Wagze news agency in July 2010, Prince Turki is reported to have warned Saudi Arabia's ruling family of a fate similar to that of Iraq's executed dictator Saddam Hussein and the ousted Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, calling on them to escape before people "cut off our heads in streets." He argued that the Saudi royal family was no longer able to "impose" itself on people, arguing that deviations in carrying out the religious concepts that make up the basis of the Saudi government "have gotten out of our hands," so that the opposition views our acts as "interfering in people's private life and restricting their liberties." He further urged "Do it today before tomorrow as long as the money we have is enough for us to live anywhere in the world; from Switzerland to Canada and Australia...we should not return as long as we are able to get out safely, we must take our families quickly and pull out.", continuing "Do not fool yourself by relying on the United States or Britain or Israel, because they will not survive the loss; the only door open is now the exit door of no return. Let us go before it closes." He finally warned against a military coup against the ruling family, saying "no one will attack us from outside but our armed forces will attack us." However, later Turki bin Abdulaziz told Saudi Press Agency that the alleged letter to him circulated by some media and internet sites was nonexistent and fabricated by enemy parties wishing to spread confusion and excitement.  Another controversy he experienced was about the death of his wife Hind al Fassi in August 2010. Her brother Allal al Fassi accused his brother-in-law, Prince Turki as well as his nephew and niece of killing his sister with a drug overdose. He submitted a report to the Attorney General and then, disappeared for 24 hours and reappeared after the medical report proved that there was nothing wrong in her system, leading to the withdrawal of all his accusations to his brother in law. On the other hand, Prince Turki's son, Abdul Rahman, sued his uncle Allal al Fassi claiming that he beat him and his father in the hospital where his mother died.  So, as a total result, although in 2012 he was left as Hussa's eldest son, he was of course bypassed for the throne.

Views.

During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Prince Turki argued in a press conference that the United Nations' embargo was not enough to drive the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. For him, military action was required to achieve it.  After returning to Saudi Arabia in 2011, Prince Turki fully supported the appointments of his younger brothers, late Prince Nayef and Prince Salman. He argued in October 2011 that the decision to appoint late Prince Nayef as Crown Prince was totally right and that Prince Nayef had wisdom, sound management and long history in serving the country.

Personal life.

Turki bin Abdulaziz's first wife whom he divorced to marry Hind Al Fassi was Noura bint Abdallah bin Abdul Rahman. His second wife was Hind Al Fassi, a member of the Saudi Arabian al-Fassi family and daughter of Sheikh Shams ed-din Al Fassi, a Sufi religious leader from the Shadhili order, and great-grandson of Moroccan Sufi Imam al-Fassi, a Hasani Idrissi descendant of Prophet Mohammed, who had settled in Mecca in the late 18th-century. Turki bin Abdulaziz sacrificed his position as deputy defense minister and moved from the Kingdom into a self exile because he refused to divorce her in late 1970s. Therefore, he lost not only his position but also his candidacy for the Saudi Throne. Later, he and his wife went to Egypt in the late 1970s and never returned to Saudi Arabia together again. She died in 2010 in Cairo at the age of 57. After her death, Prince Turki returned to Saudi Arabia.  Prince Turki had four sons from his first marriage, Prince Khalid (born December 1957), Prince Sultan (born May 1968), Prince Faisal (born January 1965) and Prince Fahd (born August 1959). In 1975, Prince Turki's elder sons took $1.1 million loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) to finance their business in relation to rice mills in Saudi Arabia.  One of Prince Turki's daughters is married to Khalid bin Sultan. His son, Sultan bin Turki II bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, was "kidnapped" in Geneva and placed under house arrest in Riyadh in 2004 after he spoke out in favour of reform in Saudi Arabia. Another son, Faisal bin Turki, is an adviser at the ministry of petroleum and natural resources.  Prince Turki died on 11 November 2016. He was buried at Al Oud cemetery in Riyadh.

Turki (II) bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (, "") (1934 – 11 November 2016) was a member of the House of Saud.

Turki ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (; * 1934; † 2016) war ein saudi-arabischer Geschäftsmann und Angehöriger der saudischen Königsfamilie.


History.

At the end of World War I, Kanae Yamamoto proposed an overhaul of the Japanese education system. He thought that it had been geared too much towards uncritical absorption of information by imitation and wanted to promote a less restraining system, a vision he expounded in his book "Theory of self-expression" which described the "Jiyu-ga" method, "learning without a teacher". Teachers Rinzo Satake and his brother-in-law Shuku Sasaki read Yamamoto's work and became fanatical supporters. They became keen to implement his ideas by replacing the many hours Japanese children had to spend drawing ideograms with black Indian ink with free drawing hours, filled with as much color as possible. For this, they decided to produce an improved wax crayon and in 1921 founded the "Sakura Cray-Pas Company" and began production. The new product wasn't completely satisfactory, pigment concentration was low and blending or impasto was impossible, so in 1924 they decided to develop a high viscosity crayon: the oil pastel. This used a mixture of mashed paraffin, stearic acid and coconut oil as a binder. Designed as a relatively cheap, easily applied, colorful medium, oil pastels granted younger artists and students a greater freedom of expression than the expensive chalk-like pastels normally associated with the fine arts. Until the addition of a stabiliser in 1927, oil pastels came in two types: winter pastels with additional oil to prevent hardening and summer pastels with little oil to avoid melting. State schools simply couldn't afford the medium and, suspicious of the very idea of "self-expression" in general, favoured the coloured pencil, a cheaper German invention then widely promoted in Europe as a means to instill work discipline in young children.  Oil pastels were an immediate commercial success and other manufacturers were quick to take up the idea, such as Dutch company "Talens", who began to produce Panda Pastels in 1930. However, none of these were comparable to the professional quality oil pastels produced today. These early products were intended to introduce western art education to Japanese children, and not as a fine arts medium, although Sakura managed to persuade some avant-garde artists to acquaint themselves with the technique, among them Pablo Picasso. In 1947 Picasso, who for many years had been unable to procure oil pastels because of the war conditions, convinced Henri Sennelier, a French manufacturer who specialized in high quality art products, to develop a fine arts version. In 1949 Sennelier produced the first oil pastels intended for professionals and experienced artists. These were superior in wax viscosity, texture and pigment quality and capable of producing more consistent and attractive work. The Japanese "Holbein" brand of oil pastel appeared in the mid-1980s with both student and professional grades; the latter with a range of 225 colours. Another brand, Caran d'Ache, introduced Neocolor wax crayons onto the market in 1965, using a patented polyethylene wax with superior lubrication; in the nineties these were developed into an oil pastel, Neopastel.

Use.

Oil pastels can be used directly in dry form; when done lightly, the resulting effects are similar to oil paints. Heavy build-ups can create an almost impasto effect. Once applied to a surface, the oil pastel pigment can be manipulated with a brush moistened in white spirit, turpentine, linseed oil, or another type of vegetable oil or solvent. Alternatively, the drawing surface can be oiled before drawing or the pastel itself can be dipped in oil. Some of these solvents pose serious health concerns.  Oil pastels are considered a fast medium because they are easy to paint with and convenient to carry; for this reason they are often used for sketching, but can also be used for sustained works. Because oil pastels never dry out completely, they need to be protected somehow, often by applying a special fixative to the painting or placing the painting in a sleeve and then inside a frame. There are some known durability problems: firstly, as the oil doesn't dry, it keeps permeating the paper. This process degrades both the paper and the colour layer as it reduces the flexibility of the latter. A second problem is that the stearic acid makes the paper brittle. Lastly both the stearic acid and the wax will be prone to efflorescence or "wax bloom", the building-up of fatty acids and wax on the surface into an opaque white layer. This is easily made transparent again by gentle polishing with a woolen cloth; but the three effects together result in a colour layer consisting mainly of brittle stearic acid on top of brittle paper, a combination that will crumble easily. A long term concern is simple evaporation: palmitic acid is often present and half of it will have evaporated within 40 years; within 140 years half of the stearic acid will have disappeared. Impregnation of the entire art work by beeswax has been evaluated as a conservation measure.

Surface and techniques.

The surface chosen for oil pastels can have a very dramatic effect on the final painting. Paper is a common surface but this medium can be used on other surfaces including wood, metal, hardboard (often known as "masonite"), MDF, canvas and glass. Many companies make papers specifically for pastels that are suitable for use with oil pastels.  Building up layers of color with the oil pastel, called "layering", is a very common technique. Other techniques include "underpainting" and "scraping down" or sgraffito. Turpentine, or similar liquids such as mineral spirits, are often used as a blending tool to create a wash effect similar to some watercolor paintings. Commercially available oil sketching papers are preferred for such technique.

Brands.

There are a number of types of oil pastels, each of which can be classified as either "scholastic", "student" or "professional" grade.  "Scholastic grade", for example the Loew Cornell brand, is the lowest grade: generally the oil pastels are harder and less vibrant than higher grades. It is generally meant for children or people starting out with oil pastels, and is fairly cheap compared to other grades, often about US$5 for a large box. The middle grade, "student grade", is meant for art students and can be much more expensive but softer and more vibrant than scholastic grade. They are usually more expensive and cost around $1 to $2 each. An example of a student grade oil pastel is "Van Gogh", manufactured by Talens. "Professional grade" is the highest grade of oil pastel and can be very expensive, often costing $3 to $5 per oil pastel, but are also the softest and most vibrant. Professional quality brands of oil pastel include Sennelier, Holbein, Garich, and Sakura Specialist.

Oil pastel (also called wax oil crayon) is a painting and drawing medium with characteristics similar to pastels and wax crayons. Unlike "soft" or "Japanese" pastel sticks, which are made with a gum or methyl cellulose binder, oil pastels consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and wax binder. The surface of an oil pastel painting is therefore less powdery, but more difficult to protect with a fixative. Oil pastels provide a harder edge than "soft" or "French" pastels but are more difficult to blend.

Ölkreiden sind Feststoffe, die beim Verreiben gut deckende und kräftige Farben liefern, die sich ähnlich wie Ölfarben zu feinen, transparenten Farbverläufen verwischen lassen. Sie enthalten neben Füllstoffen und Farbpigmenten im Gegensatz zu Pastellkreiden deutliche Anteile von Öl und Wachs. Außerdem werden häufig Bindemittel zugesetzt, um die mechanische Stabilität zu verbessern.


Early life and education.

Van Eysinga was born 1878 in Noordwijkerhout, now the municipality of Noordwijk, to a prominent political family. His father, Tjalling, was the mayor of Noordwijkerhout and his grandfather, Frans van Eysinga, was President of the Dutch Senate from 1880 to 1888. Van Eysinga received a Doctor of Law and a Doctor of Political Science from the University of Leiden in 1900 and 1906 respectively. He married Coralie Leopoldina, baroness van Hogendorp, in 1908.

Academia and diplomacy.

Van Eysinga worked in the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1902 to 1908, eventually rising to Director of the Legal and Political Section. He served as an assistant delegate to the 1907 Hague Convention, and in 1910 was appointed the Dutch representative on the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, a position he held until 1930. Van Eysinga was a professor of public law at the University of Groningen from 1908 to 1912, at which point he became a professor of public international law at the University of Leiden.  After World War I, Van Eysinga served as a member of the Dutch delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, where he took part in the negotiations leading to the Covenant of the League of Nations and portions of the Treaty of Versailles relating to the Rhine. From 1920 to 1931 he was a member of the Dutch representation in the Assembly of the League of Nations. During that time van Eysinga also participated in the development of the transit organization of the League of Nations.

Judicial career.

In 1921, van Eysinga served on an arbitral panel led by Max Huber, tasked settling a dispute between Germany and certain Dutch banks. He was the President of the Committee of Jurists asked by the Council of the League of Nations in 1925 with providing an opinion on a dispute between Danzig and Poland. Van Eysinga was the Dutch government's representative at the 1930 League of Nations Codification Conference, which purported to codify certain aspects of international law. During this period he was also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.  In 1930, van Eysinga was elected by the Assembly and Council of the League of Nations to serve on the Permanent Court of International Justice. He started his term in 1931, serving until the dissolution of the Court in 1945.

Willem Jan Mari van Eysinga (31 Jan 1878 - 24 Jan 1961) was a Dutch diplomat and jurist. He served as a judge on the Permanent Court of International Justice from 1931 to 1945.

Jonkheer Willem Jan Mari van Eysinga (* 31. Januar 1878 in Noordwijkerhout; † 24. Januar 1961 in Leiden) war ein niederländischer Jurist und Diplomat. Er wirkte von 1908 bis 1912 als Professor für öffentliches Recht an der Universität Groningen und anschließend als Professor für Völkerrecht an der Universität Leiden. Von 1931 bis 1946 fungierte er als Richter am Ständigen Internationalen Gerichtshof.


History.

Behavior-driven development is an extension of test-driven development: development that makes use of a simple, domain-specific scripting language. These DSLs convert structured natural language statements into executable tests. The result is a closer relationship to acceptance criteria for a given function and the tests used to validate that functionality. As such it is a natural extension of TDD testing in general.  BDD focuses on:  At its heart, BDD is about rethinking the approach to unit testing and acceptance testing in order to avoid issues that naturally arise. For example, BDD suggests that unit test names be whole sentences starting with a conditional verb ("should" in English for example) and should be written in order of business value. Acceptance tests should be written using the standard agile framework of a user story: "As a [role] I want [feature] so that [benefit]". Acceptance criteria should be written in terms of scenarios and implemented as classes: Given [initial context], when [event occurs], then [ensure some outcomes].  Starting from this point, many people developed BDD frameworks over a period of years, finally framing it as a communication and collaboration framework for developers, QA and non-technical or business participants in a software project. During the "Agile specifications, BDD and Testing eXchange" in November 2009 in London, Dan North gave the following description of BDD:  BDD is a second-generation, outside-in, pull-based, multiple-stakeholder, multiple-scale, high-automation, agile methodology. It describes a cycle of interactions with well-defined outputs, resulting in the delivery of working, tested software that matters.  During an interview with Dan North at GOTO Conference in 2013, Liz Keogh defines BDD as: It's using examples to talk through how an application behaves... And having conversations about those examples. Dan North created a BDD framework, JBehave, followed by a story-level BDD framework for Ruby called RBehave which was later integrated into the RSpec project. He also worked with David Chelimsky, Aslak Hellesøy and others to develop RSpec and also to write "The RSpec Book: Behaviour Driven Development with RSpec, Cucumber, and Friends". The first story-based framework in RSpec was later replaced by Cucumber mainly developed by Aslak Hellesøy. Capybara, which is a part of the Cucumber testing framework is one such web-based test automation software.

Principles of BDD.

Test-driven development is a software-development methodology which essentially states that for each unit of software, a software developer must:  This definition is rather non-specific in that it allows tests in terms of high-level software requirements, low-level technical details or anything in between. One way of looking at BDD therefore, is that it is a continued development of TDD which makes more specific choices than TDD.  Behavior-driven development specifies that tests of any unit of software should be specified in terms of the desired behavior of the unit. Borrowing from agile software development the "desired behavior" in this case consists of the requirements set by the business — that is, the desired behavior that has business value for whatever entity commissioned the software unit under construction. Within BDD practice, this is referred to as BDD being an "outside-in" activity.

Behavioral specifications.

Following this fundamental choice, a second choice made by BDD relates to "how" the desired behavior should be specified. In this area BDD chooses to use a semi-formal format for behavioral specification which is borrowed from user story specifications from the field of object-oriented analysis and design. The scenario aspect of this format may be regarded as an application of Hoare logic to behavioral specification of software units using the Domain Language of the situation.  BDD specifies that business analysts and developers should collaborate in this area and should specify behavior in terms of user stories, which are each explicitly written down in a dedicated document. Each User Story should, in some way, follow the following structure:  BDD does not have any formal requirements for exactly how these user stories must be written down, but it does insist that each team using BDD come up with a simple, standardized format for writing down the user stories which includes the elements listed above. However, in 2007 Dan North suggested a template for a textual format which has found wide following in different BDD software tools. A very brief example of this format might look like this:  The scenarios are ideally phrased declaratively rather than imperatively — in the business language, with no reference to elements of the UI through which the interactions take place.  This format is referred to as the Gherkin language, which has a syntax similar to the above example. The term "Gherkin", however, is specific to the Cucumber, JBehave, Lettuce, behave and Behat software tools.

Specification as a ubiquitous language.

Behavior-driven development borrows the concept of the "ubiquitous language" from domain driven design. A ubiquitous language is a (semi-)formal language that is shared by all members of a software development team — both software developers and non-technical personnel. The language in question is both used and developed by all team members as a common means of discussing the domain of the software in question. In this way BDD becomes a vehicle for communication between all the different roles in a software project.  A common risk with software development includes communication breakdowns between Developers and Business Stakeholders. BDD uses the specification of desired behavior as a ubiquitous language for the project Team members. This is the reason that BDD insists on a semi-formal language for behavioral specification: some formality is a requirement for being a ubiquitous language. In addition, having such a ubiquitous language creates a domain model of specifications, so that specifications may be reasoned about formally. This model is also the basis for the different BDD-supporting software tools that are available.  The example given above establishes a user story for a software system under development. This user story identifies a stakeholder, a business effect and a business value. It also describes several scenarios, each with a precondition, trigger and expected outcome. Each of these parts is exactly identified by the more formal part of the language (the term Given might be considered a keyword, for example) and may therefore be processed in some way by a tool that understands the formal parts of the ubiquitous language.  Most BDD applications use text-based DSLs and specification approaches. However, graphical modeling of integration scenarios has also been applied successfully in practice, e.g., for testing purposes.

Specialized tooling support.

Much like test-driven design practice, behavior-driven development assumes the use of specialized support tooling in a project. BDD can be seen as a more specific version of TDD, as it requires to supply not only test code but a separate document in addition to describe the behavior in a more human-readable language. This requires a two-step process for executing the tests, reading and parsing the descriptions, and reading the test code and finding the corresponding test implementation to execute. This process makes BDD slightly more laborious to work with as a developer, but due to its human-readable nature the value of those documents extends to an even less technical audience, and can hence serve as a communication means for describing requirements ("features").

Tooling principles.

In principle a BDD support tool is a testing framework for software, much like the tools that support TDD. However, where TDD tools tend to be quite free-format in what is allowed for specifying tests, BDD tools are linked to the definition of the ubiquitous language discussed earlier.  As discussed, the ubiquitous language allows business analysts to write down behavioral requirements in a way that will also be understood by developers. The principle of BDD support tooling is to make these same requirements documents directly executable as a collection of tests. If this cannot be achieved because of reasons related to the technical tool that enables the execution of the specifications, then either the style of writing the behavioral requirements must be altered or the tool must be changed. The exact implementation of behavioral requirements varies per tool, but agile practice has come up with the following general process:  Dan North has developed a number of frameworks that support BDD (including JBehave and RBehave), whose operation is based on the template that he suggested for recording user stories. These tools use a textual description for use cases and several other tools (such as CBehave) have followed suit. However, this format is not required and so there are other tools that use other formats as well. For example, Fitnesse (which is built around decision tables), has also been used to roll out BDD.

Tooling examples.

There are several different examples of BDD software tools in use in projects today, for different platforms and programming languages.  Possibly the most well-known is JBehave, which was developed by Dan North, Elizabeth Keogh and several others. The following is an example taken from that project:  Consider an implementation of the Game of Life. A domain expert (or business analyst) might want to specify what should happen when someone is setting up a starting configuration of the game grid. To do this, he might want to give an example of a number of steps taken by a person who is toggling cells. Skipping over the narrative part, he might do this by writing up the following scenario into a plain text document (which is the type of input document that JBehave reads):  The bold print is not part of the input; it is included here to show which words are recognized as formal language. JBehave recognizes the terms "Given" (as a precondition which defines the start of a scenario), "When" (as an event trigger) and "Then" (as a postcondition which must be verified as the outcome of the action that follows the trigger). Based on this, JBehave is capable of reading the text file containing the scenario and parsing it into clauses (a set-up clause and then three event triggers with verifiable conditions). JBehave then takes these clauses and passes them on to code that is capable of setting a test, responding to the event triggers and verifying the outcome. This code must be written by the developers in the project team (in Java, because that is the platform JBehave is based on). In this case, the code might look like this: private Game game; private StringRenderer renderer;  @Given("a $width by $height game") public void theGameIsRunning(int width, int height) { @When("I toggle the cell at ($column, $row)") public void iToggleTheCellAt(int column, int row) {  @Then("the grid should look like $grid") public void theGridShouldLookLike(String grid) {  The code has a method for every type of clause in a scenario. JBehave will identify which method goes with which clause through the use of annotations and will call each method in order while running through the scenario. The text in each clause in the scenario is expected to match the template text given in the code for that clause (for example, a Given in a scenario is expected to be followed by a clause of the form "a X by Y game"). JBehave supports the matching of clauses to templates and has built-in support for picking terms out of the template and passing them to methods in the test code as parameters. The test code provides an implementation for each clause type in a scenario which interacts with the code that is being tested and performs a test based on the scenario. In this case:  The primary function of this code is to be a bridge between a text file with a story and the code being tested. Note that the test code has access to the code being tested (in this case an instance of codice_4) and is very simple in nature. The test code has to be simple, otherwise a developer would end up having to write tests for his tests.  Finally, in order to run the tests, JBehave requires some plumbing code that identifies the text files which contain scenarios and which inject dependencies (like instances of codice_4) into the test code. This plumbing code is not illustrated here, since it is a technical requirement of JBehave and does not relate directly to the principle of BDD-style testing.

Story versus specification.

A separate subcategory of behavior-driven development is formed by tools that use specifications as an input language rather than user stories. An example of this style is the RSpec tool that was also originally developed by Dan North. Specification tools don't use user stories as an input format for test scenarios but rather use functional specifications for units that are being tested. These specifications often have a more technical nature than user stories and are usually less convenient for communication with business personnel than are user stories. An example of a specification for a stack might look like this:  Such a specification may exactly specify the behavior of the component being tested, but is less meaningful to a business user. As a result, specification-based testing is seen in BDD practice as a complement to story-based testing and operates at a lower level. Specification testing is often seen as a replacement for free-format unit testing.  Specification testing tools like RSpec and JDave are somewhat different in nature from tools like JBehave. Since they are seen as alternatives to basic unit testing tools like JUnit, these tools tend to favor forgoing the separation of story and testing code and prefer embedding the specification directly in the test code instead. For example, an RSpec test for a hashtable might look like this: describe Hash do  end This example shows a specification in readable language embedded in executable code. In this case a choice of the tool is to formalize the specification language into the language of the test code by adding methods named codice_6 and codice_7. Also there is the concept of a specification precondition – the codice_8 section establishes the preconditions that the specification is based on.  The result of test will be:

The Three Amigos.

The Three Amigos, also referred to as a "Specification Workshop", is a meeting where the Product Owner discusses the requirement in the form of Specification by Example with different stakeholders like the QA and development team. The key goal for this discussion is to trigger conversation and identify any missing specifications. The discussion also gives a platform for QA, development team and Product owner to converge and hear out each other's perspective to enrich the requirement and also make sure if they are building the right product.  The three Amigos are

In software engineering, behavior-driven development (BDD) is an Agile software development process that encourages collaboration among developers, QA and non-technical or business participants in a software project. It encourages teams to use conversation and concrete examples to formalize a shared understanding of how the application should behave. It emerged from test-driven development (TDD). Behavior-driven development combines the general techniques and principles of TDD with ideas from domain-driven design and object-oriented analysis and design to provide software development and management teams with shared tools and a shared process to collaborate on software development.

Behavior Driven Development (BDD, ), auch als Specification Driven Development (SDD, ) bezeichnet, ist eine Technik der agilen Softwareentwicklung, welche die Zusammenarbeit zwischen Qualitätsmanagement und Business-Analyse in Softwareentwicklungsprojekten stärkt. Beim Behavior Driven Development werden während der Anforderungsanalyse die Aufgaben, Ziele und Ergebnisse der Software in einer bestimmten Textform festgehalten, die später als automatisierte Tests ausgeführt werden kann und damit die Software auf ihre korrekte Implementierung getestet werden kann. Die Softwareanforderungen werden dabei meist in „Wenn-dann“-Sätzen basierend auf der ubiquitären Sprache des Domain-driven Designs verfasst. Damit soll der Übergang zwischen der Sprache der Definition der fachlichen Anforderungen und der Programmiersprache, mittels derer die Anforderungen umgesetzt werden, erleichtert werden.


History.

Vehicle vinyl wrap and color change wraps grew in popularity out of the wrap advertising business. A large milestone in the shift from small production vinyl lettering to a full vehicle vinyl color change took place in Germany in 1993 when the vinyl manufacturer Kay Premium Marking Films (KPMF) was asked to produce a film to be used in place of paint for the purpose of converting cars into taxis. At this time, German taxi companies were required by law to paint their fleets in a government mandated color, beige. KMPF provided an alternative to painting, which allowed taxi companies to bring a large fleet of vehicles into compliance with German law while maintaining the future resale value of the vehicle. Prior to this point, decommissioned taxis were heavily discounted or had to be completely repainted. With the use of vinyl vehicle wraps there was no need to repaint them or discount them as the vinyl could be removed without damaging the paint underneath. KPMF documented after 3 years of taxi service was complete, the vinyl was removed leaving a pristine and unscratched paint surface.  Wrap installers that performed advertising vinyls, began to offer accent and full vinyl wraps as a cosmetic enhancement. Vehicle owners, correspondingly drove demand and requested vinyl wraps that suited their desires. Rather than advertise a company or brand, vehicle owners wanted to change the color and finish of their vehicle for cosmetic or protective purposes. Manufacturers of vinyl wrap followed this trend by producing more colors and easier to install, durable materials.  One of the earliest cosmetic vinyl treatments dates to the 1950s and an aftermarket product by Newhouse Automotive Industries of Los Angeles, California. Costs for DIY partial decorative (plaid or polka dot) vinyl treatments ranged from $10-$20.  The Newhouse Automotive ads described vinyl as "very latest automotive sensation:" vehicle wraps. The Newhouse ads began in 1954.  By 2017, color change vinyl wraps, paint color matching vinyl wraps, and overlaminates evolved to include complex and creative graphic designs and advanced colors. Metallic, chrome, color shifting and even vinyl wraps that match OEM paint code colors are available.  Color Change and "Paint Wrap" is a term used by wrap installers and refers to a full-color change, as if one were 'painting' car with vinyl wrap. Demand for color matching vinyl wrap has grown. Wrap is manufactured to match vehicle paint colors and metallics, as well as in colors used in print such as Pantone colors.

Technologies.

Cast Vinyl is the most common material used in color change wraps. A cast vinyl starts as a liquid and is cast into a sheet or form and then processed through ovens, evaporating solvents in the liquid. When the solvents evaporate, the remainder is a solid film usually between 2 mil (printable media) to 4 mil (solid color) thick. Cast films conform well to curved shapes and strongly retain their original shape. This durability of shape allows for predictability on application and in applying heat to relax the material back to its natural form after modest stretching. Cast vinyls are less prone to shrinkage because stress (such as extrusion as in calendered films) is not applied to the material during the manufacturing process. At a glance all ranges may seem the same and at the same time the only visual thing to be seen is the colors, each brand is committed to many colors and effects but really what differentiates each other is the way of application and the elasticity and adherence of them, that is why we can never talk about what brands like 3M Arlon Avery Apa Oracal Hexis Macta etc, each wap professional is more attached to one or the other brand. For the price, that is, for the quality, which is the most recommended, we must value that for a job well done there must be behind a brand that supports it, one of the best for its technology and R&D is Oracal that bets strong of which they have as official distributors throughout the world such as in Spain to totenser which bet 30 years ago for the product and continues to do so without reference port for many applicators of the sector as gsix9 gothicrotulations and many more that reflect in their work the quality of the materials used

A vehicle vinyl wrap describes the automotive aftermarket practice of completely or partially covering a vehicle's original paint with a vinyl wrap of a different color, and sometimes the same color with a differing finish like a gloss, matte or clear protective layer. Other terms used to refer to vehicle vinyl wrap are car wrap, paint wrap, color change wrap, vehicle graphics, and paint protection film.

Der Begriff Fahrzeugvollverklebung, auch engl. "Car Wrapping" genannt, bezeichnet die großflächige Anbringung von selbstklebender, hochelastischer und dehnfähiger Kunststofffolie auf der Außenhaut von Fahrzeugen. Dies kann aus Gestaltungs-, Kennzeichnungs- oder Werbezwecken erfolgen. So ist ein weit verbreitetes Anwendungsgebiet die Ganzreklame auf öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln. Außerdem wird sie zur Kennzeichnung von Fahrzeugen des Rettungsdienstes oder der Polizei genutzt. Im privaten Bereich findet die Fahrzeugvollverklebung beim Fahrzeugtuning Anwendung. Durch Automobilhersteller wird beim sogenannten "Erlkönig" mit einem Spezialmuster versucht, das Aussehen ihrer Prototypen geheim zu halten.


Plot.

The story is told by Barbie to her younger sister Kelly, who doesn't have confidence in her painting abilities.  Rapunzel is a young woman with long, floor-length hair who lives as a servant to the wicked witch Gothel, who resides in an magically secluded manor in the woods. She grows up believing that Gothel saved her from abandonment as a baby and finds companionship in Penelope, a young dragon and Hobie, an anxious rabbit. She spends her time painting pictures of places she dreams of going when she is free one day which Gothel disapproves of, accusing Rapunzel of not appreciating everything Gothel has done for her.  One day, Rapunzel and her friends open a secret passage to the basement where Rapunzel finds a gift from her parents: a silver hairbrush engraved with a message. Penelope also discovers a tunnel underneath the floor. Rapunzel follows it, leading to the small kingdom outside. Outside the castle Rapunzel saves Princess Katrina from a pit trap with the help of her older brother, Prince Stefan. He tells her the trap was set by King Wilhelm, the ruler of an opposing kingdom who has an ongoing feud with Stefan's father, King Frederick. Rapunzel hurries off without learning Stefan's name to avoid Gothel discovering her disappearance. However, Gothel's pet ferret, Otto, who had followed Rapunzel, informs his mistress of Rapunzel meeting a man. When Rapunzel insists she doesn't know the name of the man she met when Gothel questions her, her paintings are destroyed and her room transformed into a high tower with Penelope's father, Hugo, tasked with ensuring she doesn't leave. As Rapunzel sleeps, the hairbrush magically transforms into a paintbrush.  When Rapunzel attempts to use the brush, a mural of the kingdom magically appears on her wall which she discovers acts as a portal. Rapunzel uses it to meet Stefan again, though she insists he never tell her his name for fear of Gothel. Stefan gives her an invitation to the masquerade ball that night. Afraid that her father will be punished if Gothel finds out Rapunzel has left, Penelope goes through the portal and begs Rapunzel to come back. Promising to meet Stefan again, Rapunzel paints a portal back to the tower and returns with Penelope. Back at the tower, she paints herself a beautiful costume. Unfortunately, Otto swipes Rapunzel's invitation and takes it to his mistress. Gothel cuts off Rapunzel's hair, shatters the paintbrush, and destroys the portal to the kingdom. When Rapunzel once again cannot give Stefan's name, Gothel then puts a spell on the tower to never release its lying prisoner.  With the help of her friends, Rapunzel manages to escape the tower as she never lied about not knowing Stefan's name, and Penelope flies them to the castle. At the ball, Stefan is lured outside and attacked by a disguised Gothel wearing Rapunzel's hair, while at the same moment, King Wilhelm infiltrates the castle, intending to end the feud by force. Wilhelm accuses Frederick of kidnapping his daughter many years ago—the source of the feud; Gothel arrives and reveals that she was the one who took Wilhelm's daughter, Rapunzel, due to her unrequited love for him, wanting the kingdoms to destroy each other. Rapunzel arrives and Wilhelm recognizes her as his daughter. Rapunzel tricks Gothel into running into her painting of the tower where she becomes permanently imprisoned for her lies.  Rapunzel is reunited with her biological parents and marries Stefan. The feud ends and the two kingdoms are united, as Rapunzel's dreams of freedom come true.  Kelly now feels better and begins painting after Barbie reminds her that creativity is the true magic in art.

Music.

The film makes heavy use of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, also known as the "New World Symphony" - presumably a reference to Rapunzel's venture into the 'new world' of the village.

Release.

The DVD and VHS was released on October 1, 2002.

Barbie as Rapunzel is a 2002 American-Canadian direct-to-DVD computer-animated fairytale film directed by Owen Hurley. It is the 2nd entry in the Barbie film series, and features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as Barbie. The film is adapted from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Rapunzel".

Barbie als Rapunzel (Original: "Barbie as Rapunzel") ist ein US-amerikanischer Film von Owen Hurley, der im Jahr 2002 erschien. Er ist der zweite von bisher 34 computeranimierten Filmen zu Barbie.


Structure.

Vinculin is a 117-kDa cytoskeletal protein with 1066 amino acids. The protein contains an acidic N-terminal domain and a basic C-terminal domain separated by a proline-rich middle segment. Vinculin consists of a globular head domain that contains binding sites for talin and α-actinin as well as a tyrosine phosphorylation site, while the tail region contains binding sites for F-actin, paxillin, and lipids.  Essentially, there is an 835 amino acid N-terminal head, which is split into four domains. This is linked to the C-terminal tail with a linker region.  The recent discovery of the 3D structure sheds light on how this protein tailors its shape to perform a variety of functions. For example, vinculin is able to control the cell’s motility by simply altering its shape from active to inactive. When in its ‘inactive’ state, vinculin’s conformation is characterized by the interaction between its head and tail domains. And, when transforming to the ‘active’ form, such as when talin triggers binding, the intramolecular interaction between the tail and head is severed. In other words, when talin’s binding sites (VBS) of α-helices bind to a helical bundle structure in vinculin’s head domain, the ‘helical bundle conversion’ is initiated, which leads to the reorganization of the α-helices (α1- α-4), resulting in an entirely new five-helical bundle structure. This function also extends to cancer cells, and regulating their movement and proliferation of cancer to other parts of the body.

Mechanism and function.

Cell spreading and movement occur through the process of binding of cell surface integrin receptors to extracellular matrix adhesion molecules. Vinculin is associated with focal adhesion and adherens junctions, which are complexes that nucleate actin filaments and crosslinkers between the external medium, plasma membrane, and actin cytoskeleton. The complex at the focal adhesions consists of several proteins such as vinculin, α-actinin, paxillin, and talin, at the intracellular face of the plasma membrane.  In more specific terms, the amino-terminus of vinculin binds to talin, which, in turn, binds to β-integrins, and the carboxy-terminus binds to actin, phospholipids, and paxillin-forming homodimers. The binding of vinculin to talin and actin is regulated by polyphosphoinositides and inhibited by acidic phospholipids. The complex then serves to anchor actin filaments to the membrane and thus, helps to reinforce force on talin within the focal adhesions.  The loss of vinculin impacts a variety of cell functions; it disrupts the formation of the complex, and prevents cell adhesion and spreading. The absence of the protein demonstrates a decrease in spreading of cells, accompanied by reduced stress fiber formation, formation of fewer focal adhesions, and inhibition of lamellipodia extension. It was discovered that cells that are deficient in vinculin have growth cones that advance more slowly, as well as filopodia and lamellipoida that were less stable than the wild-type. Based on research, it has been postulated that the lack of vinculin may decrease cell adhesion by inhibiting focal adhesion assembly and preventing actin polymerization. On the other hand, overexpression of vinculin may restore adhesion and spreading by promoting recruitment of cytoskeletal proteins to the focal adhesion complex at the site of integrin binding. Vinculin's ability to interact with integrins to the cytoskeleton at the focal adhesion appears to be critical for control of cytoskeletal mechanics, cell spreading, and lamellipodia formation. Thus, vinculin appears to play a key role in shape control based on its ability to modulate focal adhesion structure and function.

Activation.

Vinculin is present in equilibrium between an active and inactive state. The active state is triggered upon binding to its designated partner. These changes occur when vinculin interacts with focal adhesion points to which it is binding to. When vinculin resides in its inactive form, the protein is kept designated to the cytoplasm unlike the focal adhesion points bound from the active state. The molecule talin is thought to be the major initiator of vinculin activation due to its presence in focal complexes. The combinatorial model of vinculin states that either α-actinin or talin can activate vinculin either alone or with the assistance of PIP2 or actin. This activation takes place by separation of the head-tail connection within inactive vinculin.

Binding site.

Vinculin binding sites are predominantly found in talin and talin-like molecules, enabling binding of vinculin to talin, stabilising integrin-mediated cell-matrix junctions. Talin, in turn, links integrins to the actin cytoskeleton. The consensus sequence for Vinculin binding sites is LxxAAxxVAxxVxxLIxxA, with a secondary structure prediction of four amphipathic helices. The hydrophobic residues that define the VBS are themselves'masked' and are buried in the core of a series of helical bundles that make up the talin rod.

Splice variants.

Smooth muscles and skeletal muscles (and probably to a lower extent in cardiac muscle) in their well-differentiated (contractile) state co-express (along with vinculin) a splice variant carrying an extra exon in the 3' coding region, thus encoding a longer isoform meta-vinculin (meta VCL) of ~150KD molecular weight — a protein whose existence has been known since the 1980s. Translation of the extra exon causes a 68- to 79-amino acid acid-rich insert between helices I and II within the C-terminal tail domain. Mutations within the insert region correlate with hereditary idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.  The length of the insert in metavinculin is 68 AA in mammals and 79 in frog. Compared metavinculin sequences from pig, man, chicken, and frog, and found the insert to be bipartite: the first part variable and the second highly conserved. Both vinculin isoforms co-localize in muscular adhesive structures, such as dense plaques in smooth muscles, intercalated discs in cardiomyocytes, and costameres in skeletal muscles. Metavinculin tail domain has a lower affinity for the head as compared with the vinculin tail. In case of metavinculin, unfurling of the C-terminal hydrophobic hairpin loop of tail domain is impaired by the negative charges of the 68-amino acid insert, thus requiring phospholipid-activated regular isoform of vinculin to fully activate the metavinculin molecule.

Interactions.

Vinculin has been shown to interact with:  In cases of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth presented as IBS symptoms, anti-CdtB antibodies have been identified to affect vinculin function, which is required in gut motility.

In mammalian cells, vinculin is a membrane-cytoskeletal protein in focal adhesion plaques that is involved in linkage of integrin adhesion molecules to the actin cytoskeleton. Vinculin is a cytoskeletal protein associated with cell-cell and cell-matrix junctions, where it is thought to function as one of several interacting proteins involved in anchoring F-actin to the membrane.

Vinculin (aus dem lat. 'vinculum' für Fessel) ist ein 116 kDa großes Protein, das man in fast allen Zellen von Tieren findet. Es bindet Aktin, ein Strukturprotein, und ist Bestandteil von Zell-Zell-Verbindungen, den sogenannten Adherens Junctions und auch von Zell-Extrazellulären Kontakten, die in der Gruppe der Fokalen Adhäsionen zusammengefasst werden.


Plot.

The Ozunu Clan, led by the ruthless Lord Ozunu, trains orphans from around the world to become the ultimate ninja assassins. Raizo is one of the orphans. The Ozunu Clan's training is extremely brutal, especially for Raizo since he is to be the next successor of the clan. The only kindness he ever feels is from a young kunoichi named Kiriko, with whom he eventually develops a romantic bond. As time goes by, Kiriko becomes disenchanted with the Ozunu's routine and decides to abandon it. One rainy night, Kiriko climbs a wall to escape and encourages Raizo to join her, but he chooses to stay. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko is captured and later executed in front of Raizo by their elder ninja brother Takeshi, who impales her through the heart.  Years later, an adult Raizo is instructed by Lord Ozunu to complete his first assassination. After the mission, Raizo meets the rest of his clan atop a city skyscraper in Berlin. There, Lord Ozunu orders him to execute a kunoichi traitor. Remembering Kiriko's death, Raizo slashes Lord Ozunu's face with his kyoketsu-shoge and fights against his fellow ninjas. Barely surviving, he falls off the rooftop and into a river. After years, Raizo recovers and trains on his own to intervene in, and foil, all of Ozunu's assassination attempts.  Meanwhile, Europol agent Mika Coretti has been investigating money-linked political murders and finds out that they are possibly connected to the Ozunu. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow, and retrieves secret agency files to find out more about the investigation. Mika meets Raizo and convinces him to see Maslow for protection, as well as to provide evidence against the Ozunu. However, Raizo is arrested by Maslow and abducted by Europol agents for interrogation.  Although feeling betrayed, Mika is assured by Maslow that he is still on her side and gives her a tracking device for emergencies. The Ozunu ninjas infiltrate the Europol safe house, where Raizo is being held, in an attempt to kill him and everybody inside. Mika frees Raizo and they both manage to escape, but Raizo suffers near-fatal wounds. Mika then takes him to a motel to hide. Resting in the motel, Mika implants the tracking device into Raizo, as the ninjas remain in pursuit. Unable to fend off the Ozunu, she hides outside the motel until Special Forces arrive to help her.  By the time they arrive, the ninjas have already kidnapped Raizo, bringing him before Lord Ozunu for execution. During the transport back to the Ozunu, Raizo uses his ninja techniques to heal his own wounds. Europol Special Forces and tactical teams led by Maslow storm the secluded Ozunu retreat (nestled in the mountains) using the tracking device on Raizo.  Turning the night into day by saturating the sky above with powerful flares, the military forces are able to fight the ninjas on their own terms. In the confusion, Mika frees Raizo from his bindings. He proceeds to kill Takeshi and confront Lord Ozunu in a sword duel. Mika interferes to help but gets stabbed by Lord Ozunu. Enraged, Raizo uses a "shadow blending" technique for the first time to distract and kill Lord Ozunu. Mika, seemingly fatally wounded, is in fact saved by a quirk of birth: her heart is actually on the right side of her chest.  With the Ozunu defeated, Europol leaves. Raizo stays behind in the ruins of the Ozunu retreat. Climbing the same wall Kiriko did in the past, he looks out at the surrounding countryside with a smile, feeling his freedom for the first time.

Production.

"Ninja Assassin" was directed by James McTeigue, who had previously worked with producers The Wachowskis and Joel Silver on "V for Vendetta" four years prior. The Wachowskis were inspired to make the film by actor Rain's impressive ninja-based fight scenes in their 2008 film "Speed Racer". The initial screenplay was written by Matthew Sand, and was rewritten by J. Michael Straczynski only six weeks prior to filming due to the Wachowskis' initial dissatisfaction. Martial Artist turned actor Sho Kosugi had previously starred in a number of ninja movies playing ninja villains and heroes several times in the 1980s, and had become a cult icon, hence his role as the antagonist Lord Ozunu, named after En no Ozunu, a 7th-century Japanese mystic and one of the developers of ninjutsu. ""If you've ever watched any ninja films from the 1980s, you know that Sho Kosugi is the ninja; he is the man,"" asserts McTeigue.  Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg provided filmmakers US$1 million in funding, and Germany's Federal Film Fund provided an additional US$9 million to the film's funding.

Filming.

Principal photography began in Berlin, Germany at the end of April 2008. Filming took place in Babelsberg Studios and on location throughout Berlin.  McTeigue cited various influences in filming "Ninja Assassin" such as the films "Panic in the Streets" (1950), "The Getaway" (1972), "Badlands" (1973), "Ninja Scroll" (1993), and the anime "Samurai Champloo" (2004–2005). Actor Collin Chou was originally cast for an undisclosed lead role after Jet Li turned down an offer to appear in it, but Chou later left the role.

Marketing.

Video game.

On November 5, 2009, Warner Bros. Entertainment released the video game application based on the film for the IPhone.

Release.

Critical response.

The film received mixed reviews by critics, while some praised the revival of the martial arts genre, the movie still failed on originality. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 25% of 114 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews, with a rating average of 4.24/10. The consensus reads "Overly serious and incomprehensibly edited, Ninja Assassin fails to live up to the promise of its title." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 34% based on 20 reviews. While critics generally panned the film as a melange of gore scenes without a convincing plot, some critics commended the film's numerous action scenes.  Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" described the film as "a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest." Joe Williams of the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" opined that "this amateurish action flick is so lacking in personality or punch, it ought to be titled 'V for Video Store Discount Bin.'"  "Entertainment Weekly"s Chris Nashawaty wrote "...this slick slice of martial-arts mayhem from the producers of "The Matrix" is awash in blood. It spurts and sprays in geysers. And it never lets up. There's a brutal (and admittedly very cool) fight scene every five minutes... But let's be honest, killing is this film's business... and business is good."

Box office.

"Ninja Assassin" opened at #6 at the North American box office earning $13,316,158 in its first opening weekend. The film grossed $60,462,347, of which $38,122,883 was from North America. In Japan, this film opened on the March 6, 2010 in only one movie theater in Shinjuku and then also opened on the March 20 in Osaka. "Ninja Assassin" earned 2,214,000 yen (Approximately $25,672 U.S.) during its first opening weekend in Shinjuku.

Awards.

On June 9, 2010, Rain was awarded the "Biggest Badass" award on the MTV Movie Awards for his work in "Ninja Assassin".

Home media.

"Ninja Assassin" was released on DVD, Online Streaming and Blu-ray Disc formats on March 16, 2010.

Ninja Assassin is a 2009 neo-noir martial arts film directed by James McTeigue. The story was written by Matthew Sand, with a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski. The film stars South Korean pop musician Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his former mentor, played by ninja film legend Sho Kosugi. "Ninja Assassin" explores political corruption, child endangerment and the impact of violence. The Wachowskis, Joel Silver, and Grant Hill produced the film for Legendary Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment and Silver Pictures. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Ninja Assassin ist ein US-amerikanisch-deutscher Martial-Arts-Film. Er wurde von den Wachowski-Geschwistern und Joel Silver produziert; Regie führte James McTeigue. Kinostart in Deutschland war am 10. Dezember 2009.