Definition.

Amdahl's law can be formulated in the following way: where  Furthermore,  shows that the theoretical speedup of the execution of the whole task increases with the improvement of the resources of the system and that regardless of the magnitude of the improvement, the theoretical speedup is always limited by the part of the task that cannot benefit from the improvement.  Amdahl's law applies only to the cases where the problem size is fixed. In practice, as more computing resources become available, they tend to get used on larger problems (larger datasets), and the time spent in the parallelizable part often grows much faster than the inherently serial work. In this case, Gustafson's law gives a less pessimistic and more realistic assessment of the parallel performance.

Derivation.

A task executed by a system whose resources are improved compared to an initial similar system can be split up into two parts:  An example is a computer program that processes files from disk. A part of that program may scan the directory of the disk and create a list of files internally in memory. After that, another part of the program passes each file to a separate thread for processing. The part that scans the directory and creates the file list cannot be sped up on a parallel computer, but the part that processes the files can.  The execution time of the whole task before the improvement of the resources of the system is denoted as formula_4. It includes the execution time of the part that would not benefit from the improvement of the resources and the execution time of the one that would benefit from it. The fraction of the execution time of the task that would benefit from the improvement of the resources is denoted by formula_5. The one concerning the part that would not benefit from it is therefore. Then:  It is the execution of the part that benefits from the improvement of the resources that is accelerated by the factor formula_7 after the improvement of the resources. Consequently, the execution time of the part that does not benefit from it remains the same, while the part that benefits from it becomes:  The theoretical execution time formula_9 of the whole task after the improvement of the resources is then:  Amdahl's law gives the theoretical speedup in latency of the execution of the whole task "at fixed workload formula_11", which yields

Parallel programs.

If 30% of the execution time may be the subject of a speedup, "p" will be 0.3; if the improvement makes the affected part twice as fast, "s" will be 2. Amdahl's law states that the overall speedup of applying the improvement will be:  For example, assume that we are given a serial task which is split into four consecutive parts, whose percentages of execution time are,,, and respectively. Then we are told that the 1st part is not sped up, so, while the 2nd part is sped up 5 times, so, the 3rd part is sped up 20 times, so, and the 4th part is sped up 1.6 times, so. By using Amdahl's law, the overall speedup is Notice how the 5 times and 20 times speedup on the 2nd and 3rd parts respectively don't have much effect on the overall speedup when the 4th part (48% of the execution time) is accelerated by only 1.6 times.

Serial programs.

For example, with a serial program in two parts "A" and "B" for which and,  Therefore, making part "A" to run 2 times faster is better than making part "B" to run 5 times faster. The percentage improvement in speed can be calculated as

Optimizing the sequential part of parallel programs.

If the non-parallelizable part is optimized by a factor of, then  It follows from Amdahl's law that the speedup due to parallelism is given by  When formula_20, we have formula_21, meaning that the speedup is measured with respect to the execution time after the non-parallelizable part is optimized.  When formula_22,  If formula_24, formula_25 and formula_26, then:

Transforming sequential parts of parallel programs into parallelizable.

Next, we consider the case wherein the non-parallelizable part is reduced by a factor of, and the parallelizable part is correspondingly increased. Then  It follows from Amdahl's law that the speedup due to parallelism is given by  The derivation above is in agreement with Jakob Jenkov's analysis of the execution time vs. speedup tradeoff.

Relation to the law of diminishing returns.

Amdahl's law is often conflated with the law of diminishing returns, whereas only a special case of applying Amdahl's law demonstrates law of diminishing returns. If one picks optimally (in terms of the achieved speedup) what to improve, then one will see monotonically decreasing improvements as one improves. If, however, one picks non-optimally, after improving a sub-optimal component and moving on to improve a more optimal component, one can see an increase in the return. Note that it is often rational to improve a system in an order that is "non-optimal" in this sense, given that some improvements are more difficult or require larger development time than others.  Amdahl's law does represent the law of diminishing returns if on considering what sort of return one gets by adding more processors to a machine, if one is running a fixed-size computation that will use all available processors to their capacity. Each new processor added to the system will add less usable power than the previous one. Each time one doubles the number of processors the speedup ratio will diminish, as the total throughput heads toward the limit of 1/(1 − "p").  This analysis neglects other potential bottlenecks such as memory bandwidth and I/O bandwidth. If these resources do not scale with the number of processors, then merely adding processors provides even lower returns.  An implication of Amdahl's law is that to speedup real applications which have both serial and parallel portions, heterogeneous computing techniques are required. For example, a CPU-GPU heterogeneous processor may provide higher performance and energy efficiency than a CPU-only or GPU-only processor.

In computer architecture, Amdahl's law (or Amdahl's argument) is a formula which gives the theoretical speedup in latency of the execution of a task at fixed workload that can be expected of a system whose resources are improved. It is named after computer scientist Gene Amdahl, and was presented at the AFIPS Spring Joint Computer Conference in 1967.

Das amdahlsche Gesetz (benannt 1967 nach Gene Amdahl) ist ein Modell in der Informatik über die Beschleunigung von Programmen durch parallele Ausführung. Nach Amdahl wird der Geschwindigkeitszuwachs vor allem durch den sequentiellen Anteil des Problems beschränkt, da sich dessen Ausführungszeit durch Parallelisierung nicht verringern lässt.


History.

First foundation (1906–1945).

The name 1. FC Union Berlin was used by two football clubs that shared a common origin as "FC Olympia 06 Oberschöneweide", founded in 1906 in Oberschöneweide, which by that time was a suburb of Berlin. The side took on the name SC Union 06 Oberschöneweide in 1910. Union was one of Berlin's premier clubs in the interwar period, regularly winning local championships and competing at the national level, including an appearance in the 1923 German championship final which they lost 0–3 to Hamburger SV.  Early on, the team was nicknamed "Schlosserjungs" (English: metalworker-boys) because of their then all blue kit, reminiscent of the typical work clothing worn in the factories of the industrial Oberschöneweide district. The popular cry of Union-supporters – "Eisern Union!" (Iron Union) – also emerged at this time. Since its foundation the club has had a distinct working-class image, in contrast to other local clubs with more middle-class origins, such as Viktoria 89 Berlin, Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin, BSV 92 Berlin or Tennis Borussia Berlin.  In 1933, German football was reorganized under the Third Reich into 16 top flight divisions known as Gauligen. Oberschöneweide' became part of the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg where they generally earned middling, unexceptional results. They were relegated in 1935 and returned to first division play in 1936 after only one season's absence. In 1940, the team finished first in Group B of the division and then defeated Blau-Weiss (1–2, 3–0) to win the overall division title. That advanced the club to the national playoffs where they were put out by Rapid Wien in the opening group round (2–3, 1–3). Union resumed its place as an unremarkable side. They were relegated again in 1942 and played the final war-shortened Gauliga season in 1944–45.

Dissolution and split up (1945–1961).

After World War II, occupying Allied authorities ordered the dissolution of all organizations in Germany, including sports and football associations. A new Municipal Sports Group called SG Oberschöneweide was formed in late 1945 and it played in the City League organized immediately after the war which had four regional departments. The team did not qualify to the newly created Oberliga Berlin (I) in 1946 after a poor season, but was promoted in 1947, won the division title right away and regained club status as SG Union 06 Oberschöneweide during 1948–49.  The club finished the 1949–50 season in second place in Berlin and qualified to take part in the national final rounds. However, escalating Cold War tensions led Soviet authorities to refuse the team permission to travel to take part. Two Union teams then emerged as most players and coaches fled to the west to form Sport-Club Union 06 Berlin which took part in the scheduled playoff match in Kiel against Hamburger SV, losing 0–7.  The players remaining in the east carried on as Union Oberschöneweide while a number of players who had fled to the west to form SC organized a third side called Berliner Ballspiel-Club Südost. The western team was a strong side until the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, drawing huge crowds to matches in the Olympiastadion. The division of the city led to a change of fortunes for the club which plays today in the lower divisions before meager crowds.

Restart as Union Berlin (1961–1990).

The eastern branch of the club went through a number of name changes: Union Oberschöneweide (1950), BSG Motor Oberschöneweide (1951), SC Motor Berlin (1955), TSC Oberschöneweide (1957), TSC Berlin (1963) – finally becoming the football club 1. FC Union Berlin in 1966. The club was sponsored by the state controlled national trade union FDGB. They developed a bitter rivalry with BFC Dynamo, which was sponsored by the Stasi. While their arch rivals won 10 titles in a row, Union yo-yoed between the DDR-Oberliga and the DDR-Liga with very little success. Union managed to win the East German Cup in 1968 when they defeated FC Carl Zeiss Jena 2–1 although they lost in their second cup appearance in 1986 to 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig by a score of 1–5.

2. Bundesliga era (1990–2019).

After German reunification in 1990, the team continued to perform well on the field, but almost collapsed financially. They managed to hang on through some tight times and find sponsorship, but only after winning their division in both 1993 and 1994 and each time being denied a license to play in the 2. Bundesliga due to their financial problems. The club had another close brush with financial failure in 1997.  Union again came close to advancing to 2. Bundesliga in 1998–99 and 1999–2000, but were disappointed. They were finally successful in 2000–01, under Bulgarian manager Georgi Vasilev, easily winning the Regionalliga Nord (III) and moving up a division to become the city's second most popular side. That same year they appeared in the final of the German Cup where they lost 0–2 to FC Schalke 04, and advanced as far as the second round in UEFA Cup before being put out by Bulgarian side PFC Litex Lovech. The club slipped to the Regionalliga Nord (III) in 2004–05 and then to the NOFV-Oberliga Nord (IV) in 2005–06, but returned to third division play after capturing the Oberliga title. In 2008–09, Union became one of the founding clubs of the new 3. Liga, and its inaugural champion, securing first place and promotion to the 2. Bundesliga on 10 May. They remained in the 2nd-tier until the 2018–19 season, when they secured their first ever promotion into the Bundesliga after defeating VfB Stuttgart in the play-offs. The fans invaded the pitch, but no one was harmed.

Bundesliga era (2019–present).

Union Berlin became the first Bundesliga club from the former East Berlin and the fifth from the former East Germany, after Dynamo Dresden, Hansa Rostock, VfB Leipzig and Energie Cottbus. The team is the sixth to win promotion from the 2. Bundesliga by beating the 16th-placed Bundesliga team in the playoff – since it began in the 1981–82 season, the others being Bayer Uerdingen, 1. FC Saarbrücken, Stuttgarter Kickers, 1. FC Nürnberg and Fortuna Düsseldorf. Ahead of Union Berlin's debut season in the Bundesliga, the club signed Neven Subotić, Anthony Ujah and Christian Gentner, as well as re-signing Marvin Friedrich, who had scored a decisive goal against Stuttgart in the play-offs in the previous season to secure promotion for the club. The first ever Bundesliga goal was scored by Sebastian Andersson in a 1–1 draw against Augsburg. On 31 August 2019, the club claimed its first ever Bundesliga victory by beating Borussia Dortmund 3–1 in a home game.

Stadium.

In 1920 SC Union Oberschöneweide (forerunner of today's 1. FC Union Berlin) had to find a new home ground as its former pitch had been built over by developers with residential buildings. The club moved a little further away from the city to the north-western part of the borough of Köpenick. The new stadium was officially opened in August 1920 with a match between Oberschöneweide and the then German champions 1. FC Nürnberg (1–2). The inaugural match in at the Alte Försterei had already been played on 17 March, when Union challenged Viktoria 89 Berlin.  When Union won promotion to the DDR-Oberliga (the top flight in East Germany) in 1966, the stadium soon needed to be expanded. The ground was first expanded in 1970 when the Gegengerade terrace was raised, whilst further extensions to the terracing at both ends in the late 1970s and early 1980s increased the capacity furthermore to 22,500. However, the somewhat spartan facilities at Alte Försterei had quickly begun to show their age and went into a serious decline.  After German reunification, when Union were assigned by the German Football Association to play in the third league, the outdated stadium proved only one of a number of factors that hampered the club's push for promotion to higher leagues.  In the middle of 2008, the club decided to finally modernise the stadium, the Stadion An der Alten Försterei (Old Forester's House). Money was still tight, and so the fans simply built the ground themselves. More than 2,000 Union supporters invested 140,000 working hours to create what is now regarded as the largest football-specific stadium in Berlin. During the redevelopment, Union played at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. Inside the stadium an array of outside beer kiosks and open air grills serving bratwurst and pork steaks at the back of the stand provide the culinary staples. The official opening on 12 July 2013, was celebrated with a friendly against Scottish Champions Celtic. It holds 22,012 people with 3,617 seats. The rest is terracing.

World Cup living room.

In 2014, the club came up with the idea of inviting their fans to take their own sofas to the ground for the whole of the World Cup, in order to enjoy the televised matches in the company of fellow supporters. More than 800 sofas were placed on the pitch in rows in front of a big screen. The event was later recognized with the Fan Experience Award at The Stadium Business Summit 2015 in Barcelona.

Players.

Reserve team.

The club's reserve team, "1. FC Union Berlin II", most recently played in the tier four Regionalliga Nordost, having won promotion to the league in 2012. Previous to this it spent two seasons in the NOFV-Oberliga Nord. At the end of the 2014–15 season the club withdrew the team from competition.

Women.

Union Berlin's was formed in September 1969, becoming the first women's team in Berlin and one of the first in East Germany. The women's team initially competed against Union Berlin's youth teams due to a lack of opponents, playing their first game on 17 January 1970, losing 7–1. In 1971, the team were amalgamated into KWO Berlin's women's team, before KWO merged with Union Berlin in June 1990 following German reunification. The team currently compete in the.

Club culture.

1. FC Union Berlin is recognized as one of Europe's "cult" clubs, based on many unique fan and club initiatives over the last two decades.  The nicknames of the club are "Eiserne" (the Iron Ones) or "Eisern Union" (Iron Union). These nicknames evolved from the earlier sobriquet "Schlosserjungs" (metalworker boys), a reference to the blue kit the Union played in, as it was reminiscent of the overalls worn by local workers.  In May 2004, the supporters raised enough money to secure the club's license for fourth-division football through a campaign called 'Bleed for Union'. This catchphrase was not meant metaphorically. One element of the campaign was that fans donated blood to Berlin hospitals and then gave the money they received from the blood bank to their club.  After 2010, Union Berlin became increasingly attractive for new Berliners, even internationals, who were drawn to the atmosphere at the club.

Rivalries.

In former GDR times, Union was known for a rivalry with BFC Dynamo which was reputedly affiliated with East Germany's Secret Service (Stasi). Union was patronized by Eastern German Trade Union FDGB. The club played some identificatory role in the unofficial opposition against the authorities of the communist system. Between 1979 and 1988, BFC Dynamo won ten consecutive East German league titles, with popular allegations of sporting misconduct helping to fuel the rivalry, and clashes between both sets of fans occurred. Despite Union Berlin and Hertha BSC making up Berlin's two biggest clubs, a rivalry between the two is much less pronounced. On 27 January 1990, 79 days after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Hertha hosted Union Berlin at the Olympiastadion in a friendly in front of 52,000 spectators. Fans of both club's paid for admission in East and West Germany's respective currencies and sang songs of German reunification as Hertha won 2–1. Over twenty years later, on 17 September 2010, the duo faced each other for a second time, in their first competitive meeting, at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, drawing 1–1 in the 2. Bundesliga. On 2 November 2019, Union Berlin faced Hertha at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, in the first clash between the clubs in the top flight of German football. An 87th minute Sebastian Polter penalty secured a 1–0 win for Union, in a game temporarily suspended by referee Deniz Aytekin, following fireworks fired by Hertha fans landing amongst Union Berlin fans, as well as on the playing surface. 1,100 police officers were on duty for the game, with Hertha fans burning Union Berlin shirts, flags and scarves during the game. Following full time, Union Berlin goalkeeper Rafał Gikiewicz won praise from fans and media alike after ushering Union Berlin ultras from the field of play, following a minor pitch invasion devised to attack Hertha supporters.  Union Berlin also holds rivalries with Hansa Rostock, Dynamo Dresden, and Magdeburg dating back to when the teams used to compete in the DDR-Oberliga.  More recently, the club has developed a rivalry with RB Leipzig, following the takeover of license and teams from fifth division side SSV Markranstädt financed by Red Bull GmbH and the ascension by Leipzig to the Bundesliga system. In 2011, Union Berlin ran adverts against the investment of the club whilst also cancelling a pre-season friendly with the club. On 21 September 2014, Union Berlin fans staged a silent protest for the first 15 minutes of a 2. Bundesliga home game against RB Leipzig, labelling RB Leipzig a "marketing product pushed by financial interests" with "brainwashed consumers in the stands". Union Berlin won the game 2–1. On 18 August 2019, during Union Berlin's first ever Bundesliga game, at home against RB Leipzig, the club's oldest ultras group, the "Wuhlesyndikat", successfully called for a 15-minute silent protest at the start of the club's 2019–20 opener.

Songs.

The official Union Berlin song is "Eisern Union" by German punk singer Nina Hagen. The composition was recorded in 1998. Four versions were issued on a CD single by G.I.B Music and Distribution GmbH.  The famous supporters' chant 'Eisern Union' (Iron Union) bounces back and forth between the terraces named "Waldseite" and the "Gegengerade", and is followed by mutual acknowledging applause.

Christmas tradition.

Union Berlin is also well known for its Christmas traditions celebrated in their home stadium. In 2003 the yearly Union Weihnachtssingen started as an unofficial gathering to which just 89 fans showed up. In 2013, 27,500 people attended, including players and supporters of other teams from around Germany and Europe. Fans drink Glühwein (mulled wine), wave candles around, light flares and sing a combination of Christmas carols and football chants.

Mascot.

"Ritter Keule" (Literally: Cudgel the Knight) is the mascot of Union Berlin. He was first introduced in 2000.

Movies and games.

"Union fürs Leben" (Union for life) is a 2014 documentary film that showcases the supporters passion for 1. FC Union Berlin.

Organization.

1. FC Union Berlin is led mostly by fans. Since 2004, Dirk Zingler serves as the club's president. The club had 11,000 registered members in 2013.

Sponsorships.

In 2014, 1. FC Union Berlin was sponsored by 301 private and corporate partners.

1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Union Berlin (), is a professional German association football club based in Köpenick, Berlin. The club emerged under the current name in 1966 but its origins can be traced back to 1906, when its predecessor FC Olympia Oberschöneweide was founded. From 2009 until 2019, they competed in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. In 2019, after defeating VfB Stuttgart in the relegation play-offs, Union won promotion to the Bundesliga top flight for the first time in the club's history, for the 2019–20 season.

Der 1. Fußballclub Union Berlin e. V., kurz 1. FC Union Berlin oder einfach nur Union Berlin, ist ein Fußballverein aus dem Berliner Ortsteil Köpenick im Bezirk Treptow-Köpenick. Er wurde 1966 gegründet und basiert auf dem in der ersten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts aktiven "SC Union Oberschöneweide", der mit der Deutschen Vizemeisterschaft 1923 seinen größten Erfolg feiern konnte. Seit 1920 spielen der 1. FC Union Berlin und dessen Vorgängervereine im Stadion An der Alten Försterei.


Etymology.

The name "Balochistan" is generally believed to derive from the name of the Baloch people. The Baloch people are not mentioned in pre-Islamic sources. It is likely that the Baloch were known by some other name in their place of origin and that they acquired the name "Baloch" after arriving in Balochistan sometime in the 10th century.  Johan Hansman relates the term "Baloch" to "Meluḫḫa", the name by which the Indus Valley Civilisation is believed to have been known to the Sumerians (2900–2350 BC) and Akkadians (2334–2154 BC) in Mesopotamia. "Meluḫḫa" disappears from the Mesopotamian records at the beginning of the second millennium BC. However, Hansman states that a trace of it in a modified form, as "Baluḫḫu", was retained in the names of products imported by the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC). Al-Muqaddasī, who visited the capital of Makran - Bannajbur, wrote 985 AD that it was populated by people called "Balūṣī" (Baluchi), leading Hansman to postulate "Baluch" as a modification of "Meluḫḫa" and "Baluḫḫu".  Asko Parpola relates the name "Meluḫḫa" to Indo-Aryan words "mleccha" (Sanskrit) and "milakkha/milakkhu" (Pali) etc., which do not have an Indo-European etymology even though they were used to refer to non-Aryan people. Taking them to be proto-Dravidian in origin, he interprets the term as meaning either a proper name "milu-akam" (from which "tamilakam" was derived when the Indus people migrated south) or "melu-akam", meaning "high country", a possible reference to Balochistani high lands. Historian Romila Thapar also interprets "Meluḫḫa" as a proto-Dravidian term, possibly "mēlukku", and suggests the meaning "western extremity" (of the Dravidian-speaking regions in the Indian subcontinent). A literal translation into Sanskrit, "aparānta", was later used to describe the region by the Indo-Aryans.  During the time of Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), the Greeks called the land "Gedrosia" and its people "Gedrosoi", terms of unknown origin. Using etymological reasoning, H. W. Bailey reconstructs a possible Iranian name, "uadravati", meaning "the land of underground channels", which could have been transformed to "badlaut" in the 9th century and further to "balōč" in later times. This reasoning remains speculative.

History.

The earliest evidence of human occupation in what is now Balochistan is dated to the Paleolithic era, represented by hunting camps and lithic scatter, chipped and flaked stone tools. The earliest settled villages in the region date to the ceramic Neolithic (c. 7000–6000 BCE) and included the site of Mehrgarh in the Kachi Plain. These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic when interaction was amplified. This involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including chank shell, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and ceramics. By 2500 BCE (the Bronze Age), the region now known as Pakistani Balochistan had become part of the Harappan cultural orbit, providing key resources to the expansive settlements of the Indus river basin to the east.  From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the Pāratarājas (lit. "Pārata Kings"), a dynasty of Indo-Scythian or Indo-Parthian kings. The dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the Pāradas of the Mahabharata, the Puranas and other Vedic and Iranian sources. The Parata kings are primarily known through their coins, which typically exhibit the bust of the ruler (with long hair in a headband) on the obverse, and a swastika within a circular legend on the reverse, written in Brahmi (usually silver coins) or Kharoshthi (copper coins). These coins are mainly found in Loralai in today's western Pakistan.  Herodotus in 450 BCE described the "Paraitakenoi" as a tribe ruled by Deiokes, a Persian king, in northwestern Persia (History I.101). Arrian describes how Alexander the Great encountered the "Pareitakai" in Bactria and Sogdiana, and had them conquered by Craterus (Anabasis Alexandrou IV). The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st century CE) describes the territory of the "Paradon" beyond the Ommanitic region, on the coast of modern Balochistan.  The Hindu Sewa Dynasty ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly Kalat. The Sibi Division, which was carved out of Quetta Division and Kalat Division in 1974, derives its name from Rani Sewi, the queen of the Sewa dynasty.  The region was fully Islamized by the 9th century and became part of the territory of the Saffarids of Zaranj, followed by the Ghaznavids, then the Ghorids. Ahmad Shah Durrani made it part of the Afghan Empire in 1749. In 1758 the Khan of Kalat, Mir Noori Naseer Khan Baloch, revolted against Ahmed Shah Durrani, defeated him, and freed Balochistan, winning complete independence.  In the 1870s, Baluchistan came under control of the British Indian Empire in colonial India. During the time of the Indian independence movement, "three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics", such as the Anjuman-i-Watan Baluchistan, which favoured a united India and opposed its partition.

Governance and political disputes.

The Balochistan region is administratively divided among three countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. The largest portion in area and population is in Pakistan, whose largest province (in land area) is Balochistan. An estimated 6.9 million of Pakistan's population is Baloch. In Iran there are about two million ethnic Baloch and a majority of the population of the eastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province is of Baloch ethnicity. The Afghan portion of Balochistan includes the Chahar Burjak District of Nimruz Province, and the Registan Desert in southern Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The governors of Nimruz province in Afghanistan belong to the Baloch ethnic group.  In Pakistan, insurgencies by Baloch nationalists in Balochistan province have been fought in 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and 1973–1977 – with a new ongoing and reportedly stronger, broader insurgency beginning in 2003. Historically, drivers of the conflict are reported to include "tribal divisions", the Baloch-Pashtun ethnic divisions, "marginalization by Punjabi interests", and "economic oppression".  In Iran, separatist fighting has reportedly not gained as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan, but has grown and become more sectarian since 2012, with the majority-Sunni Baloch showing a greater degree of Salafist and anti-Shia ideology in their fight against the Shia-Islamist Iranian government.

Music.

The main instruments of Baluchi music are the sorud fiddle, the doneli double flute, the benju zither, the tanburag lute, and the dholak.

Balochistan (; ; also Baluchistan) is an arid desert and mountainous region in south-western Asia. It comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan, the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and the southern areas of Afghanistan, including Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces. Balochistan borders the Pashtunistan region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and Persian regions to the west. South of its southern coastline, including the Makran Coast, are the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman.

Belutschistan () ist eine geographische Region im Iranischen Hochland, die sich über den Osten Irans, den Süden Afghanistans und den Südwesten Pakistans erstreckt. Die Fläche beträgt etwa 690.000 km2.


Number.

Transcription factors are essential for the regulation of gene expression and are, as a consequence, found in all living organisms. The number of transcription factors found within an organism increases with genome size, and larger genomes tend to have more transcription factors per gene.  There are approximately 2800 proteins in the human genome that contain DNA-binding domains, and 1600 of these are presumed to function as transcription factors, though other studies indicate it to be a smaller number. Therefore, approximately 10% of genes in the genome code for transcription factors, which makes this family the single largest family of human proteins. Furthermore, genes are often flanked by several binding sites for distinct transcription factors, and efficient expression of each of these genes requires the cooperative action of several different transcription factors (see, for example, hepatocyte nuclear factors). Hence, the combinatorial use of a subset of the approximately 2000 human transcription factors easily accounts for the unique regulation of each gene in the human genome during development.

Mechanism.

Transcription factors bind to either enhancer or promoter regions of DNA adjacent to the genes that they regulate. Depending on the transcription factor, the transcription of the adjacent gene is either up- or down-regulated. Transcription factors use a variety of mechanisms for the regulation of gene expression. These mechanisms include:

Function.

Transcription factors are one of the groups of proteins that read and interpret the genetic "blueprint" in the DNA. They bind to the DNA and help initiate a program of increased or decreased gene transcription. As such, they are vital for many important cellular processes. Below are some of the important functions and biological roles transcription factors are involved in:

Basal transcription regulation.

In eukaryotes, an important class of transcription factors called general transcription factors (GTFs) are necessary for transcription to occur. Many of these GTFs do not actually bind DNA, but rather are part of the large transcription preinitiation complex that interacts with RNA polymerase directly. The most common GTFs are TFIIA, TFIIB, TFIID (see also TATA binding protein), TFIIE, TFIIF, and TFIIH. The preinitiation complex binds to promoter regions of DNA upstream to the gene that they regulate.

Differential enhancement of transcription.

Other transcription factors differentially regulate the expression of various genes by binding to enhancer regions of DNA adjacent to regulated genes. These transcription factors are critical to making sure that genes are expressed in the right cell at the right time and in the right amount, depending on the changing requirements of the organism.

Development.

Many transcription factors in multicellular organisms are involved in development. Responding to stimuli, these transcription factors turn on/off the transcription of the appropriate genes, which, in turn, allows for changes in cell morphology or activities needed for cell fate determination and cellular differentiation. The Hox transcription factor family, for example, is important for proper body pattern formation in organisms as diverse as fruit flies to humans. Another example is the transcription factor encoded by the Sex-determining Region Y (SRY) gene, which plays a major role in determining sex in humans.

Response to intercellular signals.

Cells can communicate with each other by releasing molecules that produce signaling cascades within another receptive cell. If the signal requires upregulation or downregulation of genes in the recipient cell, often transcription factors will be downstream in the signaling cascade. Estrogen signaling is an example of a fairly short signaling cascade that involves the estrogen receptor transcription factor: Estrogen is secreted by tissues such as the ovaries and placenta, crosses the cell membrane of the recipient cell, and is bound by the estrogen receptor in the cell's cytoplasm. The estrogen receptor then goes to the cell's nucleus and binds to its DNA-binding sites, changing the transcriptional regulation of the associated genes.

Response to environment.

Not only do transcription factors act downstream of signaling cascades related to biological stimuli but they can also be downstream of signaling cascades involved in environmental stimuli. Examples include heat shock factor (HSF), which upregulates genes necessary for survival at higher temperatures, hypoxia inducible factor (HIF), which upregulates genes necessary for cell survival in low-oxygen environments, and sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP), which helps maintain proper lipid levels in the cell.

Cell cycle control.

Many transcription factors, especially some that are proto-oncogenes or tumor suppressors, help regulate the cell cycle and as such determine how large a cell will get and when it can divide into two daughter cells. One example is the Myc oncogene, which has important roles in cell growth and apoptosis.

Pathogenesis.

Transcription factors can also be used to alter gene expression in a host cell to promote pathogenesis. A well studied example of this are the transcription-activator like effectors (TAL effectors) secreted by Xanthomonas bacteria. When injected into plants, these proteins can enter the nucleus of the plant cell, bind plant promoter sequences, and activate transcription of plant genes that aid in bacterial infection. TAL effectors contain a central repeat region in which there is a simple relationship between the identity of two critical residues in sequential repeats and sequential DNA bases in the TAL effector's target site. This property likely makes it easier for these proteins to evolve in order to better compete with the defense mechanisms of the host cell.

Regulation.

It is common in biology for important processes to have multiple layers of regulation and control. This is also true with transcription factors: Not only do transcription factors control the rates of transcription to regulate the amounts of gene products (RNA and protein) available to the cell but transcription factors themselves are regulated (often by other transcription factors). Below is a brief synopsis of some of the ways that the activity of transcription factors can be regulated:

Synthesis.

Transcription factors (like all proteins) are transcribed from a gene on a chromosome into RNA, and then the RNA is translated into protein. Any of these steps can be regulated to affect the production (and thus activity) of a transcription factor. An implication of this is that transcription factors can regulate themselves. For example, in a negative feedback loop, the transcription factor acts as its own repressor: If the transcription factor protein binds the DNA of its own gene, it down-regulates the production of more of itself. This is one mechanism to maintain low levels of a transcription factor in a cell.

Nuclear localization.

In eukaryotes, transcription factors (like most proteins) are transcribed in the nucleus but are then translated in the cell's cytoplasm. Many proteins that are active in the nucleus contain nuclear localization signals that direct them to the nucleus. But, for many transcription factors, this is a key point in their regulation. Important classes of transcription factors such as some nuclear receptors must first bind a ligand while in the cytoplasm before they can relocate to the nucleus.

Activation.

Transcription factors may be activated (or deactivated) through their signal-sensing domain by a number of mechanisms including:

Accessibility of DNA-binding site.

In eukaryotes, DNA is organized with the help of histones into compact particles called nucleosomes, where sequences of about 147 DNA base pairs make ~1.65 turns around histone protein octamers. DNA within nucleosomes is inaccessible to many transcription factors. Some transcription factors, so-called pioneer factors are still able to bind their DNA binding sites on the nucleosomal DNA. For most other transcription factors, the nucleosome should be actively unwound by molecular motors such as chromatin remodelers. Alternatively, the nucleosome can be partially unwrapped by thermal fluctuations, allowing temporary access to the transcription factor binding site. In many cases, a transcription factor needs to compete for binding to its DNA binding site with other transcription factors and histones or non-histone chromatin proteins. Pairs of transcription factors and other proteins can play antagonistic roles (activator versus repressor) in the regulation of the same gene.

Availability of other cofactors/transcription factors.

Most transcription factors do not work alone. Many large TF families form complex homotypic or heterotypic interactions through dimerization. For gene transcription to occur, a number of transcription factors must bind to DNA regulatory sequences. This collection of transcription factors, in turn, recruit intermediary proteins such as cofactors that allow efficient recruitment of the preinitiation complex and RNA polymerase. Thus, for a single transcription factor to initiate transcription, all of these other proteins must also be present, and the transcription factor must be in a state where it can bind to them if necessary. Cofactors are proteins that modulate the effects of transcription factors. Cofactors are interchangeable between specific gene promoters; the protein complex that occupies the promoter DNA and the amino acid sequence of the cofactor determine its spatial conformation. For example, certain steroid receptors can exchange cofactors with NF-κB, which is a switch between inflammation and cellular differentiation; thereby steroids can affect the inflammatory response and function of certain tissues.

Structure.

Transcription factors are modular in structure and contain the following domains:

DNA-binding domain.

The portion (domain) of the transcription factor that binds DNA is called its DNA-binding domain. Below is a partial list of some of the major families of DNA-binding domains/transcription factors:

Response elements.

The DNA sequence that a transcription factor binds to is called a transcription factor-binding site or response element.  Transcription factors interact with their binding sites using a combination of electrostatic (of which hydrogen bonds are a special case) and Van der Waals forces. Due to the nature of these chemical interactions, most transcription factors bind DNA in a sequence specific manner. However, not all bases in the transcription factor-binding site may actually interact with the transcription factor. In addition, some of these interactions may be weaker than others. Thus, transcription factors do not bind just one sequence but are capable of binding a subset of closely related sequences, each with a different strength of interaction.  For example, although the consensus binding site for the TATA-binding protein (TBP) is TATAAAA, the TBP transcription factor can also bind similar sequences such as TATATAT or TATATAA.  Because transcription factors can bind a set of related sequences and these sequences tend to be short, potential transcription factor binding sites can occur by chance if the DNA sequence is long enough. It is unlikely, however, that a transcription factor will bind all compatible sequences in the genome of the cell. Other constraints, such as DNA accessibility in the cell or availability of cofactors may also help dictate where a transcription factor will actually bind. Thus, given the genome sequence it is still difficult to predict where a transcription factor will actually bind in a living cell.  Additional recognition specificity, however, may be obtained through the use of more than one DNA-binding domain (for example tandem DBDs in the same transcription factor or through dimerization of two transcription factors) that bind to two or more adjacent sequences of DNA.

Clinical significance.

Transcription factors are of clinical significance for at least two reasons: (1) mutations can be associated with specific diseases, and (2) they can be targets of medications.

Disorders.

Due to their important roles in development, intercellular signaling, and cell cycle, some human diseases have been associated with mutations in transcription factors.  Many transcription factors are either tumor suppressors or oncogenes, and, thus, mutations or aberrant regulation of them is associated with cancer. Three groups of transcription factors are known to be important in human cancer: (1) the NF-kappaB and AP-1 families, (2) the STAT family and (3) the steroid receptors.  Below are a few of the better-studied examples:

Potential drug targets.

Approximately 10% of currently prescribed drugs directly target the nuclear receptor class of transcription factors. Examples include tamoxifen and bicalutamide for the treatment of breast and prostate cancer, respectively, and various types of anti-inflammatory and anabolic steroids. In addition, transcription factors are often indirectly modulated by drugs through signaling cascades. It might be possible to directly target other less-explored transcription factors such as NF-κB with drugs. Transcription factors outside the nuclear receptor family are thought to be more difficult to target with small molecule therapeutics since it is not clear that they are "drugable" but progress has been made on Pax2 and the notch pathway.

Role in evolution.

Gene duplications have played a crucial role in the evolution of species. This applies particularly to transcription factors. Once they occur as duplicates, accumulated mutations encoding for one copy can take place without negatively affecting the regulation of downstream targets. However, changes of the DNA binding specificities of the single-copy LEAFY transcription factor, which occurs in most land plants, have recently been elucidated. In that respect, a single-copy transcription factor can undergo a change of specificity through a promiscuous intermediate without losing function. Similar mechanisms have been proposed in the context of all alternative phylogenetic hypotheses, and the role of transcription factors in the evolution of all species.

Analysis.

There are different technologies available to analyze transcription factors. On the genomic level, DNA-sequencing and database research are commonly used The protein version of the transcription factor is detectable by using specific antibodies. The sample is detected on a western blot. By using electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA), the activation profile of transcription factors can be detected. A multiplex approach for activation profiling is a TF chip system where several different transcription factors can be detected in parallel.  The most commonly used method for identifying transcription factor binding sites is chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). This technique relies on chemical fixation of chromatin with formaldehyde, followed by co-precipitation of DNA and the transcription factor of interest using an antibody that specifically targets that protein. The DNA sequences can then be identified by microarray or high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) to determine transcription factor binding sites. If no antibody is available for the protein of interest, DamID may be a convenient alternative.

Classes.

As described in more detail below, transcription factors may be classified by their (1) mechanism of action, (2) regulatory function, or (3) sequence homology (and hence structural similarity) in their DNA-binding domains.

Mechanistic.

There are two mechanistic classes of transcription factors:

Functional.

Transcription factors have been classified according to their regulatory function:

Structural.

Transcription factors are often classified based on the sequence similarity and hence the tertiary structure of their DNA-binding domains:

In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding to a specific DNA sequence. The function of TFs is to regulate—turn on and off—genes in order to make sure that they are expressed in the right cell at the right time and in the right amount throughout the life of the cell and the organism. Groups of TFs function in a coordinated fashion to direct cell division, cell growth, and cell death throughout life; cell migration and organization (body plan) during embryonic development; and intermittently in response to signals from outside the cell, such as a hormone. There are up to 1600 TFs in the human genome.

Ein Transkriptionsfaktor ist in der Molekularbiologie ein Protein, das für die Initiation der RNA-Polymerase bei der Transkription von Bedeutung ist. Außerdem kann es bei der Regulation der Elongation und Termination beteiligt sein. Transkriptionsfaktoren können an die DNA binden und den Promotor aktivieren oder reprimieren. Es gibt auch Transkriptionsfaktoren, die nicht direkt an die DNA, sondern zum Beispiel an andere DNA-bindende Proteine binden. Es werden allgemeine (basale) und genspezifische Transkriptionsfaktoren unterschieden.


Mechanism.

The reaction is an example of a concerted pericyclic reaction. It is believed to occur via a single, cyclic transition state, with no intermediates generated during the course of the reaction. As such, the Diels–Alder reaction is governed by orbital symmetry considerations: it is classified as a [4 + 2] cycloaddition, indicating that it proceeds through the suprafacial/suprafacial interaction of a 4π electron system (the diene structure) with a 2π electron system (the dienophile structure), an interaction that leads to a transition state without an additional orbital symmetry-imposed energetic barrier and allows the Diels-Alder reaction to take place with relative ease.  A consideration of the reactants' frontier molecular orbitals (FMO) makes plain why this is so. (The same conclusion can be drawn from an orbital correlation diagram or a Dewar-Zimmerman analysis.) For the more common "normal" electron demand Diels–Alder reaction, the more important of the two HOMO/LUMO interactions is that between the electron-rich diene's "ψ" as the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) with the electron-deficient dienophile's π* as the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). However, the HOMO–LUMO energy gap is close enough that the roles can be reversed by switching electronic effects of the substituents on the two components. In an inverse (reverse) electron-demand Diels–Alder reaction, electron-withdrawing substituents on the diene lower the energy of its empty "ψ" orbital and electron-donating substituents on the dienophile raise the energy of its filled π orbital sufficiently that the interaction between these two orbitals becomes the most energetically significant stabilizing orbital interaction. Regardless of which situation pertains, the HOMO and LUMO of the components are in phase and a bonding interaction results as can be seen in the diagram below. Since the reactants are in their ground state, the reaction is initiated thermally and does not require activation by light.  The "prevailing opinion" is that most Diels–Alder reactions proceed through a concerted mechanism; the issue, however, has been thoroughly contested. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Diels–Alder reactions exhibit stereospecific, syn addition of the two components, a diradical intermediate has been postulated (and supported with computational evidence) on the grounds that the observed stereospecificity does not rule out a two-step addition involving an intermediate that collapses to product faster than it can rotate to allow for inversion of stereochemistry.  There is a notable rate enhancement when certain Diels–Alder reactions are carried out in polar organic solvents such as dimethylformamide and ethylene glycol. and even in water. The reaction of cyclopentadiene and butenone for example is 700 times faster in water relative to 2,2,4-trimethylpentane as solvent. Several explanations for this effect have been proposed, such as an increase in effective concentration due to hydrophobic packing or hydrogen-bond stabilization of the transition state.  The geometry of the diene and dienophile components each propagate into stereochemical details of the product. For intermolecular reactions especially, the preferred positional and stereochemical relationship of subtituents of the two components compared to each other are controlled by electronic effects. However, for intramolecular Diels–Alder cycloaddition reactions, the conformational stability of the structure the transition state can be an overwhelming influence.

Regioselectivity.

Frontier molecular orbital theory has also been used to explain the regioselectivity patterns observed in Diels–Alder reactions of substituted systems. Calculation of the energy and orbital coefficients of the components' frontier orbitals provides a picture that is in good accord with the more straightforward analysis of the substituents' resonance effects, as illustrated below.  In general, the regioselectivity found for both normal and inverse electron-demand Diels–Alder reaction follows the ortho-para rule, so named, because the cyclohexene product bears substituents in positions that are analogous to the "ortho" and "para" positions of disubstituted arenes. For example, in a normal-demand scenario, a diene bearing an electron-donating group (EDG) at C1 has its largest HOMO coefficient at C4, while the dienophile with an electron withdrawing group (EWG) at C1 has the largest LUMO coefficient at C2. Pairing these two coefficients gives the "ortho" product as seen in case 1 in the figure below. A diene substituted at C2 as in case 2 below has the largest HOMO coefficient at C1, giving rise to the "para" product. Similar analyses for the corresponding inverse-demand scenarios gives rise to the analogous products as seen in cases 3 and 4. Examining the canonical mesomeric forms above, it is easy to verify that these results are in accord with expectations based on consideration of electron density and polarization.  In general, with respect to the energetically most well-matched HOMO-LUMO pair, maximizing the interaction energy by forming bonds between centers with the largest frontier orbital coefficients allows the prediction of the main regioisomer that will result from a given diene-dienophile combination. In a more sophisticated treatment, three types of substituents (Z "withdrawing": HOMO and LUMO lowering (CF, NO, CN, C(O)CH), X "donating": HOMO and LUMO raising (Me, OMe, NMe), C "conjugating": HOMO raising and LUMO lowering (Ph, vinyl)) are considered, resulting in a total of 18 possible combinations. The maximization of orbital interaction correctly predicts the product in all cases for which experimental data is available. For instance, in uncommon combinations involving X groups on both diene and dienophile, a 1,3-substitution pattern may be favored, an outcome not accounted for by a simplistic resonance structure argument. However, cases where the resonance argument and the matching of largest orbital coefficients disagree are rare.

Stereospecificity and stereoselectivity.

Diels–Alder reactions, as concerted cycloadditions, are stereospecific. Stereochemical information of the diene and the dienophile are retained in the product, as a "syn" addition with respect to each component. For example, substituents in a "cis" ("trans", resp.) relationship on the double bond of the dienophile give rise to substituents that are "cis" ("trans", resp.) on those same carbons with respect to the cyclohexene ring. Likewise, "cis","cis"- and "trans","trans"-disubstitued dienes give "cis" substituents at these carbons of the product whereas "cis","trans"-disubstituted dienes give "trans" substituents: Diels–Alder reactions in which adjacent stereocenters are generated at the two ends of the newly-formed single bonds imply two different possible stereochemical outcomes. This is a stereoselective situation based on the relative orientation of the two separate components when they react with each other. In the context of the Diels–Alder reaction, the transition state in which the most significant substituent (an electron-withdrawing and/or conjugating group) on the dienophile is oriented towards the diene π system and slips under it as the reaction takes place is known as the "endo" transition state. In the alternative "exo" transition state, it is oriented away from it. (There is a more general usage of the terms "endo" and "exo" in stereochemical nomenclature.)  In cases where the dienophile has a single electron-withdrawing / conjugating substituent, or two electron-withdrawing / conjugating substituents "cis" to each other, the outcome can often be predicted. In these "normal demand" Diels–Alder scenarios, the "endo" transition state is typically preferred, despite often being more sterically congested. This preference is known as the Alder endo rule. As originally stated by Alder, the transition state that is preferred is the one with a "maximum accumulation of double bonds." "Endo" selectivity is typically higher for rigid dienophiles such as maleic anhydride and benzoquinone; for others, such as acrylates and crotonates, selectivity is not very pronounced. The most widely accepted explanation for the origin of this effect is a favorable interaction between the π systems of the dienophile and the diene, an interaction described as a "secondary orbital effect", though dipolar and van der Waals attractions may play a part as well, and solvent can sometimes make a substantial difference in selectivity. The secondary orbital overlap explanation was first proposed by Woodward and Hoffmann. In this explanation, the orbitals associated with the group in conjugation with the dienophile double-bond overlap with the interior orbitals of the diene, a situation that is possible only for the "endo" transition state. Although the original explanation only invoked the orbital on the atom α to the dienophile double bond, Salem and Houk have subsequently proposed that orbitals on the α and β carbons both participate when molecular geometry allows.  Often, as with highly substituted dienes, very bulky dienophiles, or reversible reactions (as in the case of furan as diene), steric effects can override the normal "endo" selectivity in favor of the "exo" isomer.

The diene.

The diene component of the Diels–Alder reaction can be either open-chain or cyclic, and it can host many different types of substituents; it must, however, be able to exist in the s-"cis" conformation, since this is the only conformer that can participate in the reaction. Though butadienes are typically more stable in the s-trans conformation, for most cases energy difference is small (~2–5 kcal/mol).  A bulky substituent at the C2 or C3 position can increase reaction rate by destabilizing the s-"trans" conformation and forcing the diene into the reactive s-"cis" conformation. 2-"tert"-butyl-buta-1,3-diene, for example, is 27 times more reactive than simple butadiene. Conversely, a diene having bulky substituents at both C2 and C3 are less reactive because the steric interactions between the substituents destabilize the s-"cis" conformation.  Dienes with bulky terminal substituents (C1 and C4) decrease the rate of reaction, presumably by impeding the approach of the diene and dienophile.  An especially reactive diene is 1-methoxy-3-trimethylsiloxy-buta-1,3-diene, otherwise known as Danishefsky's diene. It has particular synthetic utility as means of furnishing α,β–unsaturated cyclohexenone systems by elimination of the 1-methoxy substituent after deprotection of the enol silyl ether. Other synthetically useful derivatives of Danishefsky's diene include 1,3-alkoxy-1-trimethylsiloxy-1,3-butadienes (Brassard dienes) and 1-dialkylamino-3-trimethylsiloxy-1,3-butadienes (Rawal dienes). The increased reactivity of these and similar dienes is a result of synergistic contributions from donor groups at C1 and C3, raising the HOMO significantly above that of a comparable monosubstituted diene. Unstable (and thus highly reactive) dienes, of which perhaps the most synthetically useful are "o"-quinodimethanes, can be generated in situ. A strong driving force for the [4+2] cycloaddition of such species is a result of the establishment (or reestablishment) of aromaticity. Common methods for generating "o"-quinodimethanes include pyrolysis of benzocyclobutenes or the corresponding sulfone, 1,4-elimination of ortho benzylic silanes or stannanes, and reduction of α,α'-ortho benzylic dibromides.  On the contrary, stable dienes are rather unreactive and undergo Diels–Alder reactions only at elevated temperatures: for example, naphthalene can function as a diene, leading to adducts only with highly reactive dienophiles, such as "N"-phenyl-maleimide. Anthracene, being less aromatic (and therefore more reactive for Diels–Alder syntheses) in its central ring can form a 9,10 adduct with maleic anhydride at 80 °C and even with acetylene, a weak dienophile, at 250 °C.

The dienophile.

In a normal demand Diels–Alder reaction, the dienophile has an electron-withdrawing group in conjugation with the alkene; in an inverse-demand scenario, the dienophile is conjugated with an electron-donating group. Dienophiles can be chosen to contain a "masked functionality". The dienophile undergoes Diels–Alder reaction with a diene introducing such a functionality onto the product molecule. A series of reactions then follow to transform the functionality into a desirable group. The end product cannot not be made in a single DA step because equivalent dienophile is either unreactive or inaccessible. An example of such approach is the use of α-chloroacrylonitrile (CH=CClCN). When reacted with a diene, this dienophile will introduce α-chloronitrile functionality onto the product molecule. This is a "masked functionality" which can be then hydrolyzed to form a ketone. α-Chloroacrylonitrile dienophile is an equivalent of ketene dienophile (CH=C=O), which would produce same product in one DA step. The problem is that ketene itself cannot be used in Diels–Alder reactions because it reacts with dienes in unwanted manner (by [2+2] cycloaddition), and therefore "masked functionality" approach has to be used. Other such functionalities are phosphonium substituents (yielding exocyclic double bonds after Wittig reaction), various sulfoxide and sulfonyl functionalities (both are acetylene equivalents), and nitro groups (ketene equivalents).

Variants on the classical Diels–Alder reaction.

Hetero-Diels–Alder.

Diels–Alder reactions involving at least one heteroatom are also known and are collectively called hetero-Diels–Alder reactions. Carbonyl groups, for example, can successfully react with dienes to yield dihydropyran rings, a reaction known as the oxo-Diels–Alder reaction, and imines can be used, either as the dienophile or at various sites in the diene, to form various "N"-heterocyclic compounds through the aza-Diels–Alder reaction. Nitroso compounds (R-N=O) can react with dienes to form oxazines. Chlorosulfonyl isocyanate can be utilized as a dienophile to prepare Vince lactam.

Lewis acid activation.

Lewis acids such as zinc chloride, boron trifluoride, tin tetrachloride, aluminum chloride, etc. can act as catalysts of normal-demand Diels–Alder reactions by coordination to the dienophile. The complexed dienophile becomes more electrophilic and more reactive toward the diene, increasing the reaction rate and often improving the regio- and stereoselectivity as well. Lewis acid catalysis also enables Diels–Alder reactions to proceed at low temperatures, i.e. without thermal activation.

Asymmetric Diels–Alder.

Many methods have been developed for influencing the stereoselectivity of the Diels–Alder reaction, such as the use of chiral auxiliaries, catalysis by chiral Lewis acids, and small organic molecule catalysts. Evans' oxazolidinones, oxazaborolidines, "bis"-oxazoline–copper chelates, imidazoline catalysis, and many other methodologies exist for effecting diastereo- and enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions.

Applications.

The retro Diels–Alder reaction is used in the industrial production of cyclopentadiene. Cyclopentadiene is a precursor to various norbornenes, which are common monomers. The Diels–Alder reaction is also employed in the production of vitamin B6.

History.

The work by Diels and Alder is described in a series of 28 articles published in the "Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie" and "Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft" from 1928 to 1937. The first 19 articles were authored by Diels and Alder, while the later articles were authored by Diels and various contributors.  The first application of Diels–Alder reaction in total synthesis was illustrated by R. B. Woodward's syntheses of the steroids cortisone and cholesterol. The reaction of butadiene with the quinone below furnished the C and D rings of the steroid skeleton with the desired regiochemistry.  E. J. Corey, in his original 1969 synthesis of prostaglandins F2α and E2, utilized a Diels–Alder reaction early in the synthesis to establish the relative stereochemistry of three contiguous stereocenters on the prostaglandin cyclopentane core. To mitigate isomerization of the substituted cyclopentadiene via 1,5-hydride shift, it was found necessary to keep this intermediate below 0 °C until the Diels–Alder could take place. Thus activation by strongly Lewis acidic cupric tetrafluoroborate was required to allow for the reaction to take place. The use of 2-chloroacrylonitrile as dienophile is a viable synthetic equivalent for ketene, a structure that typically underdoes a [2+2] cycloaddition to give a cyclobutanone dimer rather than participating in Diels–Alder reactions with 1,3-dienes. Hydrolysis of the epimeric mixture of chloronitrile adducts revealed the desired bicycloheptanone in high yield.  Samuel J. Danishefsky used a Diels–Alder reaction to synthesize disodium prephenate, a biosynthetic precursor of the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, in 1979. This sequence is notable as one of the earliest to feature 1-methoxy-3-siloxybutadiene, the so-called Danishefsky diene, in total synthesis. Its utility is apparent below, namely, the ready furnishing of α,β–unsaturated cyclohexenone systems.  In their 1980 synthesis of reserpine, Paul Wender and coworkers used a Diels–Alder reaction to set the cis-decalin framework of the D and E rings of the natural product. The initial Diels-Alder between 2-acetoxyacrylic acid and the 1,2-dihydropyridine-1-carboxylate shown below put the newly installed carboxyl group in a position to rearrange exclusively to the cis-fused rings after conversion to the isoquinuclidene shown below. The cis-fusion allowed for the establishment of the stereochemistry at C17 and C18: first by cleavage of the acetate group at C18 to give a ketone that can modulate the stereochemistry of the methoxy group C17, and then by reduction of the ketone at C18 from the exo face to achieve the stereochemistry of the final product.  In Stephen F. Martin's synthesis of reserpine, the cis-fused D and E rings were also formed by a Diels–Alder reaction. Intramolecular Diels–Alder of the pyranone below with subsequent extrusion of carbon dioxide via a retro [4+2] afforded the bicyclic lactam. Epoxidation from the less hindered α-face, followed by epoxide opening at the less hindered C18 afforded the desired stereochemistry at these positions, while the cis-fusion was achieved with hydrogenation, again proceeding primarily from the less hindered face.  A pyranone was similarly used as the dienophile by K. C. Nicolaou's group in the total synthesis of taxol. The intermolecular reaction of the hydroxy-pyrone and α,β–unsaturated ester shown below suffered from poor yield and regioselectivity; however, when directed by phenylboronic acid the desired adduct could be obtained in 61% yield after cleavage of the boronate with 2,2-dimethyl-1,3-propanediol. The stereospecificity of the Diels–Alder reaction in this instance allowed for the definition of four stereocenters that were carried on to the final product.  A Diels–Alder reaction was the key step in Amos Smith's synthesis of (-)-furaquinocin C. Dione 1 was converted to the requisite diene by enolization using two successive silylations with TMSCl. The Diels–Alder cycloaddition with bromoquinone was followed by a spontaneous dehydrohalogenation to re-form the aromatic ring. The diene in this instance is notable as a rare example of a cyclic derivative of Danishefsky's diene.  Viresh Rawal and Sergey Kozmin, in their 1998 synthesis of tabersonine, used a Diels–Alder to establish cis relative stereochemistry of the alkaloid core. Conversion of the cis-aldehyde to its corresponding alkene by Wittig olefination and subsequent ring-closing metathesis with a Schrock catalyst gave the second ring of the alkaloid core. The diene in this instance is notable as an example of a 1-amino-3-siloxybutadiene, otherwise known as a Rawal diene.  In 1988, William Okamura and Richard Gibbs reported an enantioselective synthesis of (+)-sterpurene that featured a remarkable intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction of an allene. The [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement of the thiophenyl group to give the sulfoxide as below proceeded enantiospecifically due to the predefined stereochemistry of the propargylic alcohol. In this way, the single allene isomer formed could direct the Diels-Alder to occur on only one face of the generated 'diene'.  Andrew Myers' 2005 synthesis of (-)-tetracycline achieved the linear tetracyclic core of the antibiotic with a Diels–Alder reaction. Thermally initiated, conrotatory opening of the benzocyclobutene generated the o-quinodimethane, which reacted intermolecularly to give the tetracycline skeleton; the diastereomer shown was then crystallized from methanol after purification by column chromatography. The authors note that the dienophile's free hydroxyl group was integral to the success of the reaction, as hydroxyl-protected variants did not react under several different reaction conditions.  Takemura et al. synthesized cantharadrin in 1980 by Diels-Alder, utilizing high pressure.  Synthetic applications of the Diels–Alder reaction have been reviewed extensively.

In organic chemistry, the Diels–Alder reaction is a chemical reaction between a conjugated diene and a substituted alkene, commonly termed the dienophile ("also spelled dieneophile"), to form a substituted cyclohexene derivative. It is the prototypical example of a pericyclic reaction with a concerted mechanism. More specifically, it is classified as a thermally-allowed [4+2] cycloaddition with Woodward–Hoffmann symbol [4 + 2]. It was first described by Otto Diels and Kurt Alder in 1928. For the discovery of this reaction, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1950. Through the simultaneous construction of two new carbon–carbon bonds, the Diels–Alder reaction provides a reliable way to form six-membered rings with good control over the regio- and stereochemical outcomes. Consequently, it has served as a powerful and widely applied tool for the introduction of chemical complexity in the synthesis of natural products and new materials. The underlying concept has also been applied to π-systems involving heteroatoms, such as carbonyls and imines, which furnish the corresponding heterocycles; this variant is known as the hetero-Diels–Alder reaction. The reaction has also been generalized to other ring sizes, although none of these generalizations have matched the formation of six-membered rings in terms of scope or versatility. Because of the negative values of Δ"H"° and Δ"S"° for a typical Diels–Alder reaction, the microscopic reverse of a Diels–Alder reactions becomes favorable at high temperatures, although this is of synthetic importance for only a limited range of Diels-Alder adducts, generally with some special structural features; this reverse reaction is known as the retro-Diels–Alder reaction.

Die Diels-Alder-Reaktion ist eine chemische Reaktion, bei der Bindungen zwischen Kohlenstoff-Atomen aufgebaut werden. Sie wurde nach ihren Entdeckern Otto Diels und Kurt Alder aus Kiel benannt, die für ihre Arbeit 1950 mit dem Nobelpreis ausgezeichnet wurden.


History.

Scholastic was founded in 1920 by Maurice R. Robinson right outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a publisher of youth magazines, the first publication was "The Western Pennsylvania Scholastic." It covered high school sports and social activities and debuted on October 22, 1920.  In the 1940s, Scholastic entered the book club business.  In the 1960s, international publishing locations were added in England (1964), New Zealand (1964) and Sydney (1968). Also in the 1960s, Scholastic entered the book publishing business.  In the 1980s, Scholastic entered the book fair business.  In February 2012, it bought Weekly Reader Publishing from Reader's Digest Association, and announced in July that year that it planned to discontinue separate issues of "Weekly Reader" magazines after more than a century of publication, and co-branded the magazines as "Scholastic News/Weekly Reader".

Marketing initiatives.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

Founded in 1920 by Maurice R. Robinson, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, administered by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, have recognized more than 9 million young artists and writers, and provided more than $25 million in awards and scholarships and are the nation's longest-running art and writing awards.  Recipients of The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards include:  all of whom won when they were in high school.

James Patterson Pledge.

In March 2018, author James Patterson announced an increase in his annual donations for classroom libraries from $1.75 million to $2 million, in a program run in conjunction with the Scholastic Book Clubs. Patterson is also distributing 4,000 gifts of $500 each to teachers around the country.

Imprints and corporate divisions.

Trade Publishing Imprints include:

Corporate divisions.

Children's Press (spelled until 1995 as ). Founded in 1945 and originally based in Chicago, Illinois, this press published the Rookie Read-About series and also has a secondary imprint, Franklin Watts. In 1996, Children's Press became a division of Grolier, which became an imprint of Scholastic Corporation in 2000.

Technology products.

FASTT Math.

In 2005 the company developed FASTT Math with Tom Snyder to help students with their proficiency with math skills, specifically being Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction through a series of games and memorization quizzes gauging the student's progress.

Scholastic Media.

Scholastic Media is a corporate division led by Deborah Forte since 1995. It covers "all forms of media and consumer products, and is four main groups – Productions, Marketing & Consumer Products, Interactive, and Audio." Weston Woods is its production studio, acquired in 1996, as was Soup2Nuts from 2001–2015 before shutting down.  Scholastic has produced audiobooks such as the Caldecott/Newbery Collection; TV serial adaptations such as "Clifford the Big Red Dog", "Animorphs", "The Magic School Bus", "Goosebumps" and "His Dark Materials"; and feature films such as "Tuck Everlasting", "Clifford's Really Big Movie", "Goosebumps", "The Golden Compass," "", "" and "The Bad Guys". It will produce the "39 Clues" and as Scholastic Productions produced the series "Voyagers!", "My Secret Identity", and "Charles in Charge".

Book clubs.

Scholastic book clubs are offered at schools in many countries. Typically, teachers administer the program to the students in their own classes, but in some cases, the program is administered by a central contact for the entire school. Within Scholastic, Reading Clubs is a separate unit (compared to, e.g., Education). Reading clubs are arranged by age/grade.

Scholastic Parents Media.

Scholastic Parents Media publishes the "Scholastic Parent & Child" magazine. The group also specializes in online advertising sales and custom programs designed for parents with children aged 0–6.

Criticism.

In July, 2005, Scholastic determined that certain leases previously accounted for as operating leases should have been accounted for as capital leases. The cumulative effect, if recorded in the current year, would be material. As a result, it decided to restate its financial statements.  Scholastic has been criticized for inappropriately marketing to children. Also, Scholastic now requires parents to submit children's names with birth dates to place online orders, creating controversy. A significant number of titles carried have strong media tie-ins and are considered relatively short in literary and artistic merit by some critics. Consumer groups have also attacked Scholastic for selling too many toys and video games to children, rather than focusing on just books.

Ankhkheperure Smenkhkare Djeser Kheperu (sometimes spelled "Smenkhare", "Smenkare" or "Smenkhkara") was a short-lived pharaoh in the late 18th dynasty. The names of this pharaoh translate as 'Living are the Forms of Re' and 'Vigorous is the Soul of Re – Holy of Forms'. His or her reign, for it is uncertain whether Smenkhkare was male or female, was during the Amarna Period, a time when Akhenaten sought to impose new religious views. He or she is sometimes distinguished from the immediate predecessor (successor?), the female ruler Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten (usually identified as Nefertiti). Unlike Neferneferuaten, Smenkhkare did not use epithets in his or her royal name or cartouche.

Semenchkare war vermutlich ein altägyptischer König (Pharao) der 18. Dynastie (Neues Reich), welcher etwa von 1336–1333 v. Chr. (Helck: 1324–1319, Rolf Krauss: 1335–1332 v. Chr.) regierte.


Triangle centers on the Euler line.

Individual centers.

Euler showed in 1765 that in any triangle, the orthocenter, circumcenter and centroid are collinear. This property is also true for another triangle center, the nine-point center, although it had not been defined in Euler's time. In equilateral triangles, these four points coincide, but in any other triangle they are all distinct from each other, and the Euler line is determined by any two of them.  Other notable points that lie on the Euler line include the de Longchamps point, the Schiffler point, the Exeter point, and the Gossard perspector. However, the incenter generally does not lie on the Euler line; it is on the Euler line only for isosceles triangles, for which the Euler line coincides with the symmetry axis of the triangle and contains all triangle centers.  The tangential triangle of a reference triangle is tangent to the latter's circumcircle at the reference triangle's vertices. The circumcenter of the tangential triangle lies on the Euler line of the reference triangle. The center of similitude of the orthic and tangential triangles is also on the Euler line.

A vector proof.

Let formula_1 be a triangle. A proof of the fact that the circumcenter formula_2, the centroid formula_3 and the orthocenter formula_4 are collinear relies on free vectors. We start by stating the prerequisites. First, formula_3 satisfies the relation  This follows from the fact that the absolute barycentric coordinates of formula_3 are formula_8. Further, the problem of Sylvester reads as  Now, using the vector addition, we deduce that  By adding these three relations, term by term, we obtain that  In conclusion, formula_12, and so the three points formula_2, formula_3 and formula_4 (in this order) are collinear.  In Dörrie's book, the Euler line and the problem of Sylvester are put together into a single proof. However, most of the proofs of the problem of Sylvester rely on the fundamental properties of free vectors, independently of the Euler line.

Distances between centers.

On the Euler line the centroid "G" is between the circumcenter "O" and the orthocenter "H" and is twice as far from the orthocenter as it is from the circumcenter:  The segment "GH" is a diameter of the orthocentroidal circle.  The center "N" of the nine-point circle lies along the Euler line midway between the orthocenter and the circumcenter:  Thus the Euler line could be repositioned on a number line with the circumcenter "O" at the location 0, the centroid "G" at 2"t", the nine-point center at 3"t", and the orthocenter "H" at 6"t" for some scale factor "t".  Furthermore, the squared distance between the centroid and the circumcenter along the Euler line is less than the squared circumradius "R" by an amount equal to one-ninth the sum of the squares of the side lengths "a", "b", and "c":  In addition,

Representation.

Equation.

Let "A", "B", "C" denote the vertex angles of the reference triangle, and let "x" : "y" : "z" be a variable point in trilinear coordinates; then an equation for the Euler line is  An equation for the Euler line in barycentric coordinates formula_23 is

Parametric representation.

Another way to represent the Euler line is in terms of a parameter "t". Starting with the circumcenter (with trilinear coordinates formula_25) and the orthocenter (with trilinears formula_26 every point on the Euler line, except the orthocenter, is given by the trilinear coordinates formed as a linear combination of the trilinears of these two points, for some "t".  For example:

Slope.

In a Cartesian coordinate system, denote the slopes of the sides of a triangle as formula_36 formula_37 and formula_38 and denote the slope of its Euler line as formula_39. Then these slopes are related according to  Thus the slope of the Euler line (if finite) is expressible in terms of the slopes of the sides as  Moreover, the Euler line is parallel to an acute triangle's side "BC" if and only if formula_43

Relation to inscribed equilateral triangles.

The locus of the centroids of equilateral triangles inscribed in a given triangle is formed by two lines perpendicular to the given triangle's Euler line.

In special triangles.

Right triangle.

In a right triangle, the Euler line coincides with the median to the hypotenuse—that is, it goes through both the right-angled vertex and the midpoint of the side opposite that vertex. This is because the right triangle's orthocenter, the intersection of its altitudes, falls on the right-angled vertex while its circumcenter, the intersection of its perpendicular bisectors of sides, falls on the midpoint of the hypotenuse.

Isosceles triangle.

The Euler line of an isosceles triangle coincides with the axis of symmetry. In an isosceles triangle the incenter falls on the Euler line.

Automedian triangle.

The Euler line of an automedian triangle (one whose medians are in the same proportions, though in the opposite order, as the sides) is perpendicular to one of the medians.

Systems of triangles with concurrent Euler lines.

Consider a triangle "ABC" with Fermat–Torricelli points "F" and "F". The Euler lines of the 10 triangles with vertices chosen from "A, B, C, F" and "F" are concurrent at the centroid of triangle "ABC".  The Euler lines of the four triangles formed by an orthocentric system (a set of four points such that each is the orthocenter of the triangle with vertices at the other three points) are concurrent at the nine-point center common to all of the triangles.

Generalizations.

Quadrilateral.

In a convex quadrilateral, the quasiorthocenter "H", the "area centroid" "G", and the quasicircumcenter "O" are collinear in this order on the Euler line, and "HG" = 2"GO".

Tetrahedron.

A tetrahedron is a three-dimensional object bounded by four triangular faces. Seven lines associated with a tetrahedron are concurrent at its centroid; its six midplanes intersect at its Monge point; and there is a circumsphere passing through all of the vertices, whose center is the circumcenter. These points define the "Euler line" of a tetrahedron analogous to that of a triangle. The centroid is the midpoint between its Monge point and circumcenter along this line. The center of the twelve-point sphere also lies on the Euler line.

Simplicial polytope.

A simplicial polytope is a polytope whose facets are all simplices. For example, every polygon is a simplicial polytope. The Euler line associated to such a polytope is the line determined by its centroid and circumcenter of mass. This definition of an Euler line generalizes the ones above.  Suppose that formula_44 is a polygon. The Euler line formula_45 is sensitive to the symmetries of formula_44 in the following ways:  1. If formula_44 has a line of reflection symmetry formula_48, then formula_45 is either formula_48 or a point on formula_48.  2. If formula_44 has a center of rotational symmetry formula_53, then formula_54.  3. If all but one of the sides of formula_44 have equal length, then formula_45 is orthogonal to the last side.

Related constructions.

A triangle's Kiepert parabola is the unique parabola that is tangent to the sides (two of them extended) of the triangle and has the Euler line as its directrix.

In geometry, the Euler line, named after Leonhard Euler (), is a line determined from any triangle that is not equilateral. It is a central line of the triangle, and it passes through several important points determined from the triangle, including the orthocenter, the circumcenter, the centroid, the Exeter point and the center of the nine-point circle of the triangle.

Die eulersche Gerade oder Euler-Gerade ist eine spezielle Gerade am Dreieck, eine sogenannte Dreieckstransversale, auf der eine Reihe von ausgezeichneten Dreieckspunkten liegen, darunter der Schwerpunkt, der Umkreismittelpunkt, der Höhenschnittpunkt und der Mittelpunkt des Feuerbachkreises. Benannt ist sie nach dem Mathematiker Leonhard Euler. Für das allgemeine Tetraeder im dreidimensionalen Raum gibt es den analogen Begriff (s. u.).


Etymology.

The word 'Ghat' has been derived from Dravidian etymons such as Tamil/Kannada words "Kaatu"/"Kaadu"(காடு/ಕಾಡು) (Forest, Side of a mountain, ridge)or Telugu "katta" and "gattu" (dam and embankment)

Type of ghats in India.

Mountain ghats.

The word "ghati" (Hindi: घाटी) means valley. In Marathi, Hindi, Gujarati and Kannada, "ghat" is a term used to identify a difficult passage over a mountain. One such passage is the Bhor Ghat that connects the towns Khopoli and Khandala, on NH 4 about north of Mumbai. Charmadi Ghat of Karnataka is also notable. In many cases, the term is used to refer to a mountain range itself, as in the "Western Ghats" and "Eastern Ghats". 'Ghattam' in Malayalam also refers to mountain ranges when used with the name of the ranges being addressed (e.g., paschima ghattam for Western Ghats), while the passage road would be called a 'churam'. Eastern Ghats on the east coast of India and Western Ghats on the west coast of India are the largest ghats in pensular India.  Western Ghats, also known as "Sahyadri" (Benevolent Mountains), is a mountain range covers an area of 140,000 km2 in a stretch of 1,600 km parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, traverse the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight "hottest hot-spots" of biological diversity in the world. It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India.. It is a biodiversity hotspot that contains a large proportion of the country's flora and fauna; many of which are only found here and nowhere else in the world. According to UNESCO, Western Ghats are older than Himalayan mountains. It also influences Indian monsoon weather patterns by intercepting the rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the south-west during late summer. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea. A total of thirty-nine properties including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites - twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra. Ghati people, literally means the "people of hills or ghats (valleys)", is an exonym used for the marathi people specially those from the villages in Western Ghats, often in pejorative terms.  The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from the northern Odisha through Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka and in the Wayanad region of Kerala. They are eroded and cut through by four major rivers of peninsular India, viz. Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri. The mountain ranges run parallel to the Bay of Bengal. The Deccan Plateau lies to the west of the range, between the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats. The coastal plains, including the Coromandel Coast region, lie between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The Eastern Ghats are not as high as the Western Ghats. The Eastern Ghats are older than the Western Ghats, and have a complex geologic history related to the assembly and breakup of the ancient supercontinent of Rodinia and the assembly of the Gondwana supercontinent. The Eastern Ghats are made up of charnockites, granite gneiss, khondalites, metamorphic gneisses and quartzite rock formations. The structure of the Eastern Ghats includes thrusts and strike-slip faults all along its range. Limestone, bauxite and iron ore are found in the Eastern Ghats hill ranges.

River ghats.

The numerous significant ghats along the Ganges are the Varanasi ghats (the city of Varanasi has 88 ghats) and generically the "ghats of the Ganges". Most of these were constructed under the patronage of various Maratha rulers such as Ahilyabai Holkar (Queen of the Malwa Kingdom from 1767 to 1795) in the 18th century.  In Madhya Pradesh in central India there are further significant ghats along the Narmada River. People who live on the steps are also called ghats.

Shmashana - the cremation ghats.

Ghats such as these are useful for both mundane purposes (such as cleaning) and religious rites (i.e. ritual bathing or ablutions); there are also specific "shmashana" or "cremation" ghats where bodies are cremated waterside, allowing ashes to be washed away by rivers; notable ones are Nigambodh Ghat and Raj Ghat in Delhi on the Yamuna, the latter of which was the cremation area for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and numerous political leaders after him, and the Manikarnika Ghat at Varanasi on the Ganges.

Ghats as place name suffix.

"Ghat" and "Ghata" is also a suffix used in several place names across the subcontinent. This is an incomplete list:

Ghats outside India.

The word is also used in some places outside the Indian subcontinent where there are Indian communities. For example, in George Town, Penang in Malaysia, the label "Ghaut" is used to identify the extensions of those streets which formerly ended in ghats before reclamation of the quayside (e.g., Church St Ghaut - in Malay "Gat Lebuh Gereja" - is the name of the extension of Church St beyond where the street used to descend to the water via a ghat). In both Penang and Singapore, there are areas named Dhoby Ghaut (dhobi meaning "launderer" or "laundry", depending on whether it refers to a person or a business).  Aapravasi Ghat or "The Immigration Depot" is a building complex located in Port Louis on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, labour workforce from India. From 1849 to 1923, half a million Indian indentured labourers passed through the Immigration Depot, to be transported to plantations throughout the British Empire. The large-scale migration of the laborers left an indelible mark on the societies of many former British colonies, with Indians constituting a substantial proportion of their national populations. In Mauritius alone, 68 percent of the current total population is of Indian ancestry. The Immigration Depot has thus become an important reference point in the history and cultural identity of Mauritius.

Ghat, a term used in the Indian subcontinent, depending on the context could refer either to a range of stepped-hills with valleys (ghati in Hindi), such as the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats; or the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aapravasi Ghat. Roads passing through ghats are called Ghat Roads.

Ghat (Sanskrit घाट, Hindi, m., घाट ) nennt man in Indien eine zu einem Gewässer (Fluss, See, Tempelteich, Stufenbrunnen) hinunterführende Böschung oder Stufung. Sie ist oft gesäumt von hinduistischen Tempeln und anderen Bauten.


Geography.

Absam is 15 km from Innsbruck, in the lower Inn Valley ("Unterinntal"), at the slopes of the "Zunterkopf Haller" group, north of Hall in Tirol to which is connected with the regional road (Landesstraße) L 225, while the L 372 is the road connecting with Innsbruck via Mühlau, Arzl, Rum and Thaur.  It is possible to reach the village by using bus lines D and E from Innsbruck.  The highest point in the municipality is the summit of "Große Bettelwurf" at altitude of 2775 m.  The neighbour municipalities are: Baumkirchen, Fritzens, Gnadenwald, Hall in Tirol, Innsbruck, Mils, Tyrol, Scharnitz, Thaur, Vomp.

History.

Origin.

The origin of a prehistoric settlement in Absam is not sure, although a disk pommel of a sword and a brooch of copper were found there dating to 1500 BC. Traces of Roman settlements have not been found, a coin dating from the time of Diocletian has been discovered, though the Romans had conquered the Tyrol in 15 AD. The place names were of the Roman period, including "Abazanes", which became Absam. Abazanes was mentioned for the first time in 995, in a document kept in the records of the Diocese of Brixen; at that time the Bishop of Augsburg was the owner of most of the land in the region, which was administered by the "Maierhof". The village, in 1282, belonged to the parish of Thaur that covered the entire region. In 1288 the name "Abzan" appeared in the register of the lands of Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia, and in the fourteenth century Absam was cited 14 times in the documents including a citation, on September 21, 1331, concerning the appointment of church to parish, until then affiliated with Thaur.  Absam is located in the area, along with Hall in Tirol and Thaur, of a salt mine, a source of income for the sovereign of the time. The documents reported the beginning of the mining in 1232. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth century the production of salt culminated, so that in 1615 were 547 workers employed in the extraction which, benefiting from a good salary, contributed to the development of trade in the village. At the same time there was a decisive step towards the industrialization of Absam, due to the energy produced by the stream "Baubach", with the opening of sawmills, forges and mills and the development of coppersmith crafts, so that the firm of "Oswald Kofler" provided for the production of fifteen thousand sheets of copper for the roof of the church of Schwaz. In 1809 during the Tyrolean Rebellion 73 shooters of Absam joined the Tyrolean troops under the command of Josef Speckbacher.  In 1845, Absam, opened his first factory, spinning and weaving company "Faistenberger", followed by others including a foundry, chocolate, boot and paint factories and a metal carpentry, aiding industrial development while mining, because of new extraction techniques and lower world prices, was in decline. As result mining in Tyrol closed on September 5, 1967. The Swarovski company moved to Absam the Optik department in 1949 in the neighbourhood of "Eichat" where, during the last war, the Wehrmacht built a barracks.

Population.

Coat-of-arms.

The emblem of Absam is quartered. The first depicts the face of the Virgin Mary, symbolizing the divine appearance in 1797, the remaining part has been a violin on gold background, in memory of the luthier Jakobus Stainer, who lived in Absam. The emblem was adopted on July 20, 1965.

Sights.

Religious architecture.

Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel.

The first documented mention of the church of St. Michael the Archangel, as parish of Absam, dates back to September 21, 1331 by decree of the Bishop of Brixen "Heinrich von Taufers". In 1413, with the invasion of the Bavarii, the church was destroyed; in 1420 under the leadership of "Hans Sewer" from Hall in Tirol, the reconstruction began, in late Gothic style with three naves and columns, which was completed in 1440. Two works of art date from this period: an altarpiece of 1470 in late Gothic style, discovered during the restoration of 1930, depicting the Madonna with four women and a crucifix, said "Fiegersche", dating to 1492. During the 1670 earthquake that struck the valley, the bell tower was damaged. It was rebuilt in 1677, replacing the pyramid roof with a dome. In 1871, the church roof was covered with copper plates. In 1776 the church was appointed as a curacy and in 1779 it was renovated internally in the Rococo style with frescoes by "Josef Anton Zoller".  On 24 June 1797 the image of the Virgin Mary, which appeared on the glass window of the peasant "Rosina Buecher"’s house on January 17, 1797, was transferred to the church; the church was then called Maria Absam Sanctuary.  On June 24, 2000, the day of St. John the Baptist and the village's second patron saint, the church was proclaimed Basilica, although there had been no petition for such a change by the community. It thus became the first sanctuary without a monastery in Tyrol to get this designation.

Economy.

Industries.

Absam is home to the Swarovski Optik KG founded in 1935 by "Wilhelm Swarovski"; having developed a process of smoothing lenses and prisms, he applied it to the production of binoculars. The first serial product, "Habicht 7 x 42" is still in production and used mainly in the hunting optics. Swarovski Optik also manufactures telescopes, rifle scopes, optronic instruments, range finders and image intensifier tubes.

Absam is a municipality in the Innsbruck-Land District, Tyrol (Austria) situated at an altitude of 632 m, which had an area of 51.92 km and 6,776 inhabitants as January 2015.

Absam ist eine österreichische Gemeinde in Tirol mit Einwohnern (Stand ). Die Gemeinde liegt im Gerichtsbezirk Hall in Tirol. Absam ist ein Pilgerort am Jakobsweg, dessen Wallfahrtskirche im Jahre 2000 zur Basilica minor erhoben wurde.