Evolution.

In the early days of radio, amateurs nailed bare copper wires or terminal strips to a wooden board (often literally a board to slice bread on) and soldered electronic components to them. Sometimes a paper schematic diagram was first glued to the board as a guide to placing terminals, then components and wires were installed over their symbols on the schematic. Using thumbtacks or small nails as mounting posts was also common.  Breadboards have evolved over time, with the term now being used for all kinds of prototype electronic devices. For example, US Patent 3,145,483, was filed in 1961 and describes a wooden plate breadboard with mounted springs and other facilities. US Patent 3,496,419, was filed in 1967 and refers to a particular printed circuit board layout as a "Printed Circuit Breadboard". Both examples refer to and describe other types of breadboards as prior art.  The breadboard most commonly used today is usually made of white plastic and is a pluggable (solderless) breadboard. It was designed by Ronald J. Portugal in 1971.

Alternatives.

Alternative methods to create prototypes are point-to-point construction (reminiscent of the original wooden breadboards), wire wrap, wiring pencil, and boards like the stripboard. Complicated systems, such as modern computers comprising millions of transistors, diodes, and resistors, do not lend themselves to prototyping using breadboards, as their complex designs can be difficult to lay out and debug on a breadboard.  Modern circuit designs are generally developed using a schematic capture and simulation system, and tested in software simulation before the first prototype circuits are built on a printed circuit board. Integrated circuit designs are a more extreme version of the same process: since producing prototype silicon is costly, extensive software simulations are performed before fabricating the first prototypes. However, prototyping techniques are still used for some applications such as RF circuits, or where software models of components are inexact or incomplete.  It is also possible to use a square grid of pairs of holes where one hole per pair connects to its row and the other connects to its column. This same shape can be in a circle with rows and columns each spiraling opposite clockwise/counterclockwise.

Solderless breadboard.

Typical specifications.

A modern solderless breadboard socket consists of a perforated block of plastic with numerous tin plated phosphor bronze or nickel silver alloy spring clips under the perforations. The clips are often called "tie points" or "contact points". The number of tie points is often given in the specification of the breadboard.  The spacing between the clips (lead pitch) is typically. Integrated circuits (ICs) in dual in-line packages (DIPs) can be inserted to straddle the centerline of the block. Interconnecting wires and the leads of discrete components (such as capacitors, resistors, and inductors) can be inserted into the remaining free holes to complete the circuit. Where ICs are not used, discrete components and connecting wires may use any of the holes. Typically the spring clips are rated for 1 ampere at 5 volts and 0.333 amperes at 15 volts (5 watts). The edge of the board has male and female dovetail notches so boards can be clipped together to form a large breadboard.

Bus and terminal strips.

Solderless breadboards connect pin to pin by metal strips inside the breadboard. The layout of a typical solderless breadboard is made up from two types of areas, called strips. Strips consist of interconnected electrical terminals. Some manufacturers provide separate bus and terminal strips. Others just provide breadboard blocks which contain both in one block. Often breadboard strips or blocks of one brand can be clipped together to make a larger breadboard.  In a more robust variant, one or more breadboard strips are mounted on a sheet of metal. Typically, that backing sheet also holds a number of binding posts. These posts provide a clean way to connect an external power supply. This type of breadboard may be slightly easier to handle. Several images in this article show such solderless breadboards.

Diagram.

A "full size" terminal breadboard strip typically consists of around 56 to 65 rows of connectors, each row containing the above-mentioned two sets of connected clips (A to E and F to J). Together with bus strips on each side this makes up a typical 784 to 910 tie point solderless breadboard. "Small size" strips typically come with around 30 rows. Miniature solderless breadboards as small as 17 rows (no bus strips, 170 tie points) can be found, but these are only suitable for small and simple designs.

Jump wires.

Jump wires (also called jumper wires) for solderless breadboarding can be obtained in ready-to-use jump wire sets or can be manually manufactured. The latter can become tedious work for larger circuits. Ready-to-use jump wires come in different qualities, some even with tiny plugs attached to the wire ends. Jump wire material for ready-made or homemade wires should usually be 22 AWG (0.33 mm) solid copper, tin-plated wire - assuming no tiny plugs are to be attached to the wire ends. The wire ends should be stripped. Shorter stripped wires might result in bad contact with the board's spring clips (insulation being caught in the springs). Longer stripped wires increase the likelihood of short-circuits on the board. Needle-nose pliers and tweezers are helpful when inserting or removing wires, particularly on crowded boards.  Differently colored wires and color-coding discipline are often adhered to for consistency. However, the number of available colors is typically far fewer than the number of signal types or paths. Typically, a few wire colors are reserved for the supply voltages and ground (e.g., red, blue, black), some are reserved for main signals, and the rest are simply used where convenient. Some ready-to-use jump wire sets use the color to indicate the length of the wires, but these sets do not allow a meaningful color-coding schema.

Advanced solderless breadboards.

Some manufacturers provide high-end versions of solderless breadboards. These are typically high-quality breadboard modules mounted on a flat casing. The casing contains additional equipment for breadboarding, such as a power supply, one or more signal generators, serial interfaces, LED display or LCD modules, and logic probes.  Solderless breadboard modules can also be found mounted on devices like microcontroller evaluation boards. They provide an easy way to add additional periphery circuits to the evaluation board.

High frequencies and dead bugs.

For high-frequency development, a metal breadboard affords a desirable solderable ground plane, often an unetched piece of printed circuit board; integrated circuits are sometimes stuck upside down to the breadboard and soldered to directly, a technique sometimes called "dead bug" construction because of its appearance. Examples of dead bug with ground plane construction are illustrated in a Linear Technologies application note.

Limitations.

Due to relatively large parasitic capacitance compared to a properly laid out PCB (approx 2pF between adjacent contact columns), high inductance of some connections and a relatively high and not very reproducible contact resistance, solderless breadboards are limited to operation at relatively low frequencies, usually less than 10 MHz, depending on the nature of the circuit. The relatively high contact resistance can already be a problem for some DC and very low frequency circuits. Solderless breadboards are further limited by their voltage and current ratings.  Solderless breadboards usually cannot accommodate surface-mount technology devices (SMD) or components with grid spacing other than. Further, they cannot accommodate components with multiple rows of connectors if these connectors do not match the dual in-line layout—it is impossible to provide the correct electrical connectivity. Sometimes small PCB adapters called "breakout adapters" can be used to fit the component to the board. Such adapters carry one or more components and have spaced male connector pins in a single in-line or dual in-line layout, for insertion into a solderless breadboard. Larger components are usually plugged into a socket on the adapter, while smaller components (e.g., SMD resistors) are usually soldered directly onto the adapter. The adapter is then plugged into the breadboard via the connectors. However, the need to solder the components onto the adapter negates some of the advantage of using a solderless breadboard.  Very complex circuits can become unmanageable on a solderless breadboard due to the large amount of wiring required. The very convenience of easy plugging and unplugging of connections also makes it too easy to accidentally disturb a connection, and the system becomes unreliable. It is possible to prototype systems with thousands of connecting points, but great care must be taken in careful assembly, and such a system becomes unreliable as contact resistance develops over time. At some point, very complex systems must be implemented in a more reliable interconnection technology, to have a likelihood of working over a usable time period.

A breadboard is a construction base for prototyping of electronics. Originally the word referred to a literal bread board, a polished piece of wood used for slicing bread. In the 1970s the solderless breadboard ( plugboard, a terminal array board) became available and nowadays the term "breadboard" is commonly used to refer to these.

Une platine d'expérimentation ou platine de prototypage (appelée en anglais "breadboard", "solderless breadboard", "protoboard", "plugboard" ou encore Labdec du nom de la marque la plus répandue) est un dispositif qui permet de réaliser le prototype d'un circuit électronique et de le tester. L'avantage de ce système est d'être totalement réutilisable, car il ne nécessite pas de soudure.


Types and methods.

While all affixed postage stamps and other markings applied to mail to qualify it for postal service is franking, not all types and methods are used to frank all types or classes of mails. Each of the world's national and other postal administrations establishes and regulates the specific methods and standards of franking as they apply to domestic operations within their own postal systems. Although there are differences in the manner that the postal systems of the 191 nations that belong to the Universal Postal Union (UPU) apply and regulate the way their mails are franked, most mails fall under one (and sometimes more) of four major types and/or methods of franking: postage (stamps, etc.), privilege, official business, and business reply mail.  Any and all conflicts that might arise affecting the franking of mails serviced by multiple administrations which result from differences in these various postal regulations and/or practices are mediated by the UPU, a specialized agency of the United Nations which sets the rules and technical standards for international mail exchanges. The UPU co-ordinates the application of the regulations of postal systems of its member nations, including as they relate to franking, to permit the servicing and exchange of international mails. Prior to the establishment of the UPU in 1874, international mails sometimes bore mixed franking (the application of franking of more than one country) before the world's postal services universally agreed to deliver international mails bearing only the franking of the country of origin.

Postage (stamps, etc).

"Postage" franking is the physical application and presence of postage stamps, or any other markings recognized and accepted by the postal system or systems providing service, which indicate the payment of sufficient fees for the class of service which the item of mail is to be or had been afforded. Prior to the introduction to the world's first postage stamps in Britain in 1840 ("Penny Black") and 1841 ("Penny Red"), pre-paid franking was applied exclusively by a manuscript or handstamped "Paid" marking and the amount of the fee collected. The first US postage stamp was the red brown Five cent Franklin (SC-1) issued in 1847.  In addition to stamps, postage franking can be in the form of printed or stamped impressions made in an authorized format and applied directly by a franking machine, postage meter, computer generated franking labels or other similar methods ("Postage Evidencing Systems"), any form of preprinted "postage paid" notice authorized by a postal service permit ("Indicia"), or any other marking method accepted by the postal service and specified by its regulations, as proof of the prepayment of the appropriate fees. Postal franking also includes "Postage Due" stamps or markings affixed by a postal service which designate any amount of insufficient or omitted postage fees to be collected on delivery.

Franking privilege.

"Privilege" franking is a personally pen-signed or printed facsimile signature of a person with a "franking privilege" such as certain government officials (especially legislators) and others designated by law or Postal Regulations. This allows the letter or other parcel to be sent without the application of a postage stamp. In the United States this is called the "Congressional frank" which can only be used for "Official Business" mail.  In addition to this type of franking privilege, from time to time (especially during wartimes) governments and/or postal administrations also authorize active duty service members and other designated individuals to send mails for free by writing "Free" or "Soldier's Mail" (or equivalent) on the item of mail in lieu of paid postal franking, or by using appropriate free franked postal stationery. In the United States, unless otherwise designated, such mails are serviced by both the military and civil postal systems that accept them as First Class letter mail.

"Official Business".

"Official Business" franking is any frank printed on or affixed to mails which are designated as being for official business of national governments (i.e. governments which also have postal administrations) and thus qualify for postal servicing without any additional paid franking. In Commonwealth countries the printed frank reads "Official Paid" and is used by government departments on postmarks, stationery, adhesive labels, official stamps, and handstruck or machine stamps.  In Canada, the monarch, the Governor General, members of the Senate of Canada, members of the House of Commons, the Clerk of the House of Commons, Parliamentary Librarian, Associate Parliamentary Librarian, officers of parliament, and the Senate Ethics Officer all have franking privilege and mails sent to or from these people are sent free of charge. Bulk mail from members of the House of Commons is limited to four mailings per year and to the member's own electoral district. Individuals may send letters to any of the above office-holders without charge.  In the United States such mails are sent using postal stationery or address labels that include a "Penalty" frank ("Penalty For Private Use To Avoid Payment of Postage $300") printed on the piece of mail, and/or is franked with Penalty Mail Stamps (PMS) of appropriate value. Such mails are generally serviced as First Class Mail (or equivalent) unless otherwise designated (such as "bulk" mailings).

"Business Reply Mail".

"Business Reply Mail" (BRM) franking is a preprinted frank with a Permit number which authorizes items so marked to be posted as First Class Mail with the authorizing postal service without advance payment by the person posting the item. (International Reply Mail may specify Air Mail as the class of service.) Postage fees for BRM are paid by the permit holder upon its delivery to the specified address authorized by the permit and preprinted on the item of business reply mail. Governments also use BRM to permit replies associated with official business purposes.

History of the "franking privilege".

A limited form of franking privilege originated in the British Parliament in 1660, with the passage of an act authorizing the formation of the General Post Office. By 1772, the abundance of franked letters represented lost revenue of more than one third the total collections of the Post Office. In the 19th century, as use of the post office increased significantly in Britain, it was expected that anybody with a Parliament connection would get his friends' mail franked.  In the United States, the franking privilege predates the establishment of the republic itself, as the Continental Congress bestowed it on its members in 1775. The First United States Congress enacted a franking law in 1789 during its very first session. Congress members would spend much time "inscribing their names on the upper right-hand corner of official letters and packages" until the 1860s for the purpose of sending out postage free mail. Yet, on January 31, 1873, the Senate abolished "the congressional franking privilege after rejecting a House-passed provision that would have provided special stamps for the free mailing of printed Senate and House documents." Within two years, however, Congress began to make exceptions to this ban, including free mailing of the Congressional Record, seeds, and agricultural reports. Finally, in 1891, noting that its members were the only government officials required to pay postage, Congress restored full franking privileges. Since then, the franking of congressional mail has been subject to ongoing review and regulation.  The phrase franking is derived from the Latin word "francus" meaning free. Another use of that term is speaking "frankly", i.e. "freely". Because Benjamin Franklin was an early United States Postmaster General, satirist Richard Armour referred to free congressional mailings as the "Franklin privilege."  The use of a franking privilege is not absolute but is generally limited to official business, constituent bulk mails, and other uses as prescribed by law, such as the "Congressional Frank" afforded to Members of Congress in the United States. This is not "free" franking, however, as the USPS is compensated for the servicing of these mails by annual tax-funded appropriations against which each Member is given a budgeted amount upon which he or she may draw.  A six-member bipartisan Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, colloquially known as the "Franking Commission," is responsible for oversight and regulation of the franking privilege in the Congress. Among the Commission's responsibilities is to establish the "Official Mail Allowance" for each Member based proportionally on the number of constituents they serve. Certain other persons are also accorded the privilege such as Members-elect and former presidents and their spouse or widow as well. A president who is convicted in the Senate as a result of an impeachment trial would not have a franking privilege after being forced to leave office. The sitting president does not have personal franking privileges but the vice president, who is also President of the Senate, does.  In Italy, mail sent "to" the President was free of charge until this franking privilege was abolished in 1999.  In New Zealand, individuals (though not organisations) writing to a Member of Parliament can do so without paying for postage.

Franking comprises all devices, markings, or combinations thereof ("franks") applied to mails of any class which qualifies them to be postally serviced. Types of franks include uncanceled and precanceled postage stamps (both adhesive and printed on postal stationery), impressions applied via postage meter (via so-called "postage evidencing systems"), official use "Penalty" franks, Business Reply Mail (BRM), and other permit Imprints (Indicia), manuscript and facsimile "franking privilege" signatures, "soldier's mail" markings, and any other forms authorized by the 191 postal administrations that are members of the Universal Postal Union.

L'affranchissement est, dans les systèmes postaux, le fait de s'acquitter de la taxe que coûte l'expédition d'un courrier ou de toute autre missive, et qui est généralement signalé par l'apposition d'un signe distinctif sur la dite missive (timbre ou empreinte de machine à affranchir).


History.

The Baum–Welch algorithm was named after its inventors Leonard E. Baum and Lloyd R. Welch. The algorithm and the Hidden Markov models were first described in a series of articles by Baum and his peers at the Institute for Defense Analyses in the late 1960s and early 1970s. One of the first major applications of HMMs was to the field of speech processing. In the 1980s, HMMs were emerging as a useful tool in the analysis of biological systems and information, and in particular genetic information. They have since become an important tool in the probabilistic modeling of genomic sequences.

Description.

A hidden Markov model describes the joint probability of a collection of "hidden" and observed discrete random variables. It relies on the assumption that the "i"-th hidden variable given the ("i" − 1)-th hidden variable is independent of previous hidden variables, and the current observation variables depend only on the current hidden state.  The Baum–Welch algorithm uses the well known EM algorithm to find the maximum likelihood estimate of the parameters of a hidden Markov model given a set of observed feature vectors.  Let formula_1 be a discrete hidden random variable with formula_2 possible values (i.e. We assume there are formula_2 states in total). We assume the formula_4 is independent of time formula_5, which leads to the definition of the time-independent stochastic transition matrix The initial state distribution (i.e. when formula_7) is given by The observation variables formula_9 can take one of formula_10 possible values. We also assume the observation given the "hidden" state is time independent. The probability of a certain observation formula_11 at time formula_5 for state formula_13 is given by Taking into account all the possible values of formula_9 and formula_1, we obtain the formula_17 matrix formula_18 where formula_19 belongs to all the possible states and formula_11 belongs to all the observations.  An observation sequence is given by formula_21.  Thus we can describe a hidden Markov chain by formula_22. The Baum–Welch algorithm finds a local maximum for formula_23 (i.e. the HMM parameters formula_24 that maximise the probability of the observation).

Algorithm.

Set formula_25 with random initial conditions. They can also be set using prior information about the parameters if it is available; this can speed up the algorithm and also steer it toward the desired local maximum.

Forward procedure.

Let formula_26, the probability of seeing the observations formula_27 and being in state formula_28 at time formula_5. This is found recursively:  Since this series converges exponentially to zero, the algorithm will numerically underflow for longer sequences. However, this can be avoided in a slightly modified algorithm by scaling formula_32 in the forward and formula_33 in the backward procedure below.

Backward procedure.

Let formula_34 that is the probability of the ending partial sequence formula_35 given starting state formula_28 at time formula_5. We calculate formula_38 as,

Update.

We can now calculate the temporary variables, according to Bayes' theorem: which is the probability of being in state formula_28 at time formula_5 given the observed sequence formula_44 and the parameters formula_24 which is the probability of being in state formula_28 and formula_48 at times formula_5 and formula_50 respectively given the observed sequence formula_44 and parameters formula_24.  The denominators of formula_53 and formula_54 are the same ; they represent the probability of making the observation formula_44 given the parameters formula_24.  The parameters of the hidden Markov model formula_24 can now be updated: which is the expected frequency spent in state formula_28 at time formula_60. which is the expected number of transitions from state "i" to state "j" compared to the expected total number of transitions away from state "i". To clarify, the number of transitions away from state "i" does not mean transitions to a different state "j", but to any state including itself. This is equivalent to the number of times state "i" is observed in the sequence from "t" = 1 to "t" = "T" − 1. where is an indicator function, and formula_64 is the expected number of times the output observations have been equal to formula_65 while in state formula_28 over the expected total number of times in state formula_28.  These steps are now repeated iteratively until a desired level of convergence.  Note: It is possible to over-fit a particular data set. That is, formula_68. The algorithm also does not guarantee a global maximum.

Multiple sequences.

The algorithm described thus far assumes a single observed sequence formula_69. However, in many situations, there are several sequences observed: formula_70. In this case, the information from all of the observed sequences must be used in the update of the parameters formula_71, formula_72, and formula_73. Assuming that you have computed formula_74 and formula_75 for each sequence formula_76, the parameters can now be updated: where is an indicator function

Example.

Suppose we have a chicken from which we collect eggs at noon everyday. Now whether or not the chicken has laid eggs for collection depends on some unknown factors that are hidden. We can however (for simplicity) assume that there are only two states that determine whether the chicken lays eggs. Now we don't know the state at the initial starting point, we don't know the transition probabilities between the two states and we don't know the probability that the chicken lays an egg given a particular state. To start we first guess the transition and emission matrices. We then take a set of observations (E = eggs, N = no eggs): N, N, N, N, N, E, E, N, N, N  This gives us a set of observed transitions between days: NN, NN, NN, NN, NE, EE, EN, NN, NN  The next step is to estimate a new transition matrix. For example, the probability of the sequence NN and the state being then is given by the following, formula_81 Thus the new estimate for the to transition is now formula_82 (referred to as "Pseudo probabilities" in the following tables). We then calculate the to, to and to transition probabilities and normalize so they add to 1. This gives us the updated transition matrix:  Next, we want to estimate a new emission matrix, The new estimate for the E coming from emission is now formula_83.  This allows us to calculate the emission matrix as described above in the algorithm, by adding up the probabilities for the respective observed sequences. We then repeat for if N came from and for if N and E came from and normalize.  To estimate the initial probabilities we assume all sequences start with the hidden state and calculate the highest probability and then repeat for. Again we then normalize to give an updated initial vector.  Finally we repeat these steps until the resulting probabilities converge satisfactorily.

Applications.

Speech recognition.

Hidden Markov Models were first applied to speech recognition by James K. Baker in 1975. Continuous speech recognition occurs by the following steps, modeled by a HMM. Feature analysis is first undertaken on temporal and/or spectral features of the speech signal. This produces an observation vector. The feature is then compared to all sequences of the speech recognition units. These units could be phonemes, syllables, or whole-word units. A lexicon decoding system is applied to constrain the paths investigated, so only words in the system's lexicon (word dictionary) are investigated. Similar to the lexicon decoding, the system path is further constrained by the rules of grammar and syntax. Finally, semantic analysis is applied and the system outputs the recognized utterance. A limitation of many HMM applications to speech recognition is that the current state only depends on the state at the previous time-step, which is unrealistic for speech as dependencies are often several time-steps in duration. The Baum–Welch algorithm also has extensive applications in solving HMMs used in the field of speech synthesis.

Cryptanalysis.

The Baum–Welch algorithm is often used to estimate the parameters of HMMs in deciphering hidden or noisy information and consequently is often used in cryptanalysis. In data security an observer would like to extract information from a data stream without knowing all the parameters of the transmission. This can involve reverse engineering a channel encoder. HMMs and as a consequence the Baum–Welch algorithm have also been used to identify spoken phrases in encrypted VoIP calls. In addition HMM cryptanalysis is an important tool for automated investigations of cache-timing data. It allows for the automatic discovery of critical algorithm state, for example key values.

Applications in bioinformatics.

Finding genes.

Prokaryotic.

The GLIMMER (Gene Locator and Interpolated Markov ModelER) software was an early gene-finding program used for the identification of coding regions in prokaryotic DNA. GLIMMER uses Interpolated Markov Models (IMMs) to identify the coding regions and distinguish them from the noncoding DNA. The latest release (GLIMMER3) has been shown to have increased specificity and accuracy compared with its predecessors with regard to predicting translation initiation sites, demonstrating an average 99% accuracy in locating 3' locations compared to confirmed genes in prokaryotes.

Eukaryotic.

The GENSCAN webserver is a gene locator capable of analyzing eukaryotic sequences up to one million base-pairs (1 Mbp) long. GENSCAN utilizes a general inhomogeneous, three periodic, fifth order Markov model of DNA coding regions. Additionally, this model accounts for differences in gene density and structure (such as intron lengths) that occur in different isochores. While most integrated gene-finding software (at the time of GENSCANs release) assumed input sequences contained exactly one gene, GENSCAN solves a general case where partial, complete, or multiple genes (or even no gene at all) is present. GENSCAN was shown to exactly predict exon location with 90% accuracy with 80% specificity compared to an annotated database.

Copy-number variation detection.

Copy-number variations (CNVs) are an abundant form of genome structure variation in humans. A discrete-valued bivariate HMM (dbHMM) was used assigning chromosomal regions to seven distinct states: unaffected regions, deletions, duplications and four transition states. Solving this model using Baum-Welch demonstrated the ability to predict the location of CNV breakpoint to approximately 300 bp from micro-array experiments. This magnitude of resolution enables more precise correlations between different CNVs and across populations than previously possible, allowing the study of CNV population frequencies. It also demonstrated a direct inheritance pattern for a particular CNV.

In electrical engineering, computer science, statistical computing and bioinformatics, the Baum–Welch algorithm is a special case of the EM algorithm used to find the unknown parameters of a hidden Markov model (HMM). It makes use of the forward-backward algorithm to compute the statistics for the expectation step.

L'algorithme de Baum-Welch est un algorithme utilisé pour réestimer les paramètres d'un modèle de Markov caché. Il utilise l'algorithme forward-backward et porte les noms de Leonard E. Baum et.


History.

The post office was first established in Avard in 1895 and the town was incorporated in 1904 when the Frisco tracks were extended westward from Enid to tie in with the Santa Fe. The town was named for Isabell Avard Todd, the wife of Robert Todd. The town was served by the Southern Arkansas Railway (Santa Fe) and Arkansas Valley and Western Railroad (Frisco).  Avard had mercantile establishments, two hotels, a bank, a livestock auction, and an elevator. A weekly newspaper, the Avard Tribune operated from 1904 to 1918. It was a major cattle shipping point for the area.  250 people lived in the town in 1909.  It was an important rail transfer point for freight and passengers from 1910 to 1930.

Decline.

Avard continued to grow until the mid-1930s. During this period the town declined due to the economic depression, dust storms, farm consolidation, and changing travel habits. Additionally, the town was struck by tornadoes in 1943 and 1944.  Today only an elevator and church are left in operation. There are also a few unused store buildings.

Geography.

Avard is located at (36.699116, -98.790078).  According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2000, there were 26 people, 13 households, and 6 families residing in the town. The population density was 126.7 people per square mile (47.8/km). There were 17 housing units at an average density of 82.8 per square mile (31.3/km). The racial makeup of the town was 96.15% White, and 3.85% from two or more races.  There were 13 households, out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, and 53.8% were non-families. 46.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 3.00.  In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.2% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 26.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 116.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.0 males.  The median income for a household in the town was $23,750, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $23,750 versus $14,583 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,757. There were no families and 17.1% of the population living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 50.0% of those over 64.

Avard was a town in Woods County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 26 at the 2000 census and is sometimes considered a ghost town. After initial growth Avard began declining in the 1930s. Avard had a post office from June 1, 1895, until November 22, 1963. As of the 2010 census, Avard was listed as disincorporated.

Avard est une communauté non incorporée américaine, située dans le comté de Woods, dans l'Oklahoma. Sa population était en 2000 de 26 habitants.


Plot.

Darrell Rivers begins her first year at Malory Towers, a castle-like clifftop boarding school in Cornwall. Determined to do well and make friends, her first term is turbulent. Her temper causes problems, her efforts at playing the fool backfire, the first book ends with Darrell becoming best friends with Sally Hope.  Darrell's career from this point is smoother, and she eventually covers herself in the personal, scholastic and sporting glory that was originally expected of her. She is head of the fourth form, games captain of the fifth, and head girl in her final year as well as being a successful lacrosse and tennis player. When she is in the fourth form, her younger sister, Felicity, joins her as a first former at the school. From then up until "Last Term at Malory Towers", we also focus on Felicity and the rest of her form, especially June, the troublesome cousin of Alicia. In all of the books Darrell plays a pivotal role, though she is not always successful in her endeavours and indeed is temporarily stripped of her fourth-form captaincy (she is caught shaking a smaller girl (June) who was threatening to reveal the secret of a midnight feast held by the fourth formers out of personal spite), though she gets it back again by resolving a particularly complicated case of sibling rivalry. She is on friendly terms with most of her classmates and even makes her peace with Gwendoline Lacey at the end, when a personal tragedy strikes the vain, selfish class outcast.  At the end of her school life, Darrell is bound for the University of St Andrews with her best friend, Sally Hope. She puts her younger sister Felicity in charge of upholding the standard that she and her classmates set.  The second series of six books follows Felicity from the third year to her final term.  In the seventh book, "New Term at Malory Towers", Felicity battles with clingy friends as well as her enemy and snobbish new girl, Amy. In the eighth book, "Summer Term at Malory Towers", the girls help Darrell’s friends when someone tries to ruin their new horse riding stables.  The ninth book, "Winter Term at Malory Towers", shows the struggles of trying to put on a successful show whilst dealing with the troubles of pushy Sylvia, sullen Olive and interfering Miss Tallant. Millicent and June clash in "Fun and Games at Malory Towers" when girls must choose between music and sport. The eleventh book, "Secrets at Malory Towers", sees the return of a familiar face from the second book: Jo, a girl who was expelled back when Felicity was in the second form, returns as Alice. A kind and caring girl who eventually saves another girl from a burning building; changing the girl’s view of her forever.  Daffy Hope a new first former and Sally Hope’s (from the first six books) younger sister joins for the final book in the Malory Towers series, "Goodbye Malory Towers", sees Felicity through the ups and downs of her last term at Malory Towers. It also sees the return of Gwendoline Lacey.

Characters.

Darrell Rivers is the main character of the first six books. She is hot-tempered and this causes her many problems, but she learns to control it as she goes up the school, and she is also a very responsible, hard-working girl. She is very popular with her form, as is her best friend Sally Hope. When she gets into the upper school she becomes head-girl of the fourth form, games captain in the fifth and finally, in sixth form, Head Girl of the school. As she gets older at Malory Towers she begins to realise her talent for writing and goes on to be a writer. She is very well known in the school and was looked up to by all the smaller children in her time as Head Girl.  Gwendoline Lacey was a silly girl, always thinking that she was good, even when she was doing the wrong things. Alicia especially liked to pick on her, making Gwen (Gwendoline's nickname) both afraid and angry towards her. Her attitude only changed when her father fell very sick during her last term, and she was told that he would die. Realising that she had to stop being so fussy about things, she starts to wonder about her dreadful future. She had wished to go to a Swiss finishing school, but since her father had lost his job, she would not be able to afford it, and have to go to a local one.  Alicia Johns was the form joker. There was no end to the tricks she played on the poor teachers. Although she was very popular because of her pranks and jokes she was also very sharp-tongued and scornful of those less talented or healthy than her. She had a very quick brain and if she really worked hard at something then it would be amazing however, she was far too busy playing the fool. Her years at Malory Towers did soften her and she became less sharp-tongued and hard. She was never given any role of responsibility because she was far too fond of playing the fool.  Sally Hope was Darrell's best friend. Although at first she was very odd and quiet because of troubles at home, she soon blossomed into a calm, responsible young lady. The troubles at home were all because Sally was jealous of her younger sister, Daffy, for taking all her parents' attention. Poor Sally was so upset that she thought her parents sent her away to Malory Tower because they didn't want her. The issue was resolved when Sally fell ill and her parents left the baby at home and came all the way down to Cornwall, which was where the school was, to see Sally. Convinced that her parents did love her, she turned into a much nicer and happier girl and soon Sally and Darrell became best friends. Jealousy had always been an issue with Sally and she tried hard to get rid of it while she was at Malory Towers. In second form she became head girl and then in the sixth became games captain.  Betty was Alicia's best friend from a different tower and she was very similar to Alicia, that's why Miss Grayling (the head mistress) wouldn't let Betty move into Alicia's tower.  Mary-Lou- A timid little thing who was even scared of her own shadow when she first came. However, she did get better. She was Gwen's 'best friend' but Gwen was only using her really, then she made a threesome with Darrell and Sally before she finally found a friend of her own, Daphne, who appeared in the second form.  Daphne was a silly, pretty girl who joined in the second form. She initially made friends with Gwendoline, before becoming a better person and befriending Mary-Lou.  Felicity Rivers was Darrell's younger sister who joins the first form when Darrell is in the fourth. She is the main character of Pamela Cox's sequel series.  June Johns was Alicia's cousin who was in Felicity's form. Like her cousin, she was extremely mischievous and troublesome, but not quite as good-hearted and ended up hurting many other girls' feelings.  Susan Blake was Felicity's best friend. She was very sensible and responsible but with a good sense of humour and therefore very popular among her form.  Miss Potts was the first form mistress and head of North Tower. She was very strict and always had an eye on mischief-makers such as Alicia and June.  Mam'zelle Dupont was one of the two French mistresses. She was very silly and was afraid of many things, meaning that she was the victim of most of the girls' tricks and pranks, although she had a very hot temper. Because of her general jolliness and good-humour she was popular with the girls.  Miss Grayling was the headmistress. She was very sensible and strict, but also kind and gentle. Every girl in the school was in awe of her.

School building.

The school has four towers that are four storeys high. The kitchen, dining hall and common rooms are on the ground floor, dormitories are on the first and second floors, teachers' rooms and storage are on the top floor.  The school forms a square with a courtyard in the middle. The sides of the school are three storeys high. Between the west and the north towers there are the classrooms. Between the north and east towers are the'san' and the headmistress's rooms. Between the east and south towers are the entrance, gym, assembly hall, labs and art room. Between the south and west tower are the mistress's rooms.  The school also has a rose garden, stables, tennis courts, sports pitches and an outside, natural swimming pool.

Books.

The six official books of the series are:  Pamela Cox wrote six sequels of the series in 2009 which focus on the adventures of Felicity Rivers, June Johns and Susan Blake:

Related books.

Blyton wrote two other series about boarding-school life: the "St. Clare's" and the "Naughtiest Girl" series.

Adaptations.

Stage musical.

A stage production written and directed by Emma Rice and her company Wise Children has been touring theatres in 2019. It is a co-production with York Theatre Royal, in association with the Bristol Old Vic.

TV series.

In 2019, it was announced that a television adaptation was being produced for British children's channel CBBC, in association with Canada's Family Channel. It was developed by Rachel Flowerday, who had previously worked on the television series "Father Brown", and Sasha Hails. It premiered on 23 March 2020.

Malory Towers is a series of six novels by English children's author Enid Blyton. The series is based on a girls' boarding school that Blyton's daughter attended, Benenden School, which relocated during the war to the Cornish seaside. The series follows the protagonist, Darrell Rivers, on her adventures and experiences in boarding school. Darrell Rivers' name was inspired by that of Blyton's second husband, Kenneth Darrell Waters.

Malory School (titre original : "Malory Towers", littéralement : Les Tours Malory), est une série de six romans pour la jeunesse écrite par Enid Blyton — la créatrice de "Le Club des Cinq" — et parue au Royaume-Uni de 1946 à en 1951, et en France de 1971 à 1975 aux éditions Hachette dans la collection Bibliothèque rose.


Narrative.

One day, while walking in the bamboo forest, an old bamboo cutter called comes across a mysterious, shining stalk of bamboo. When he cuts it open, he is surprised to find an infant the size of his thumb sitting inside. The man and his wife, who have no children of their own, decide to raise the infant as their daughter, naming her. From that moment on, every time the old man cuts a bamboo stalk, he finds a small nugget of gold inside. The family becomes rich, and in the span of three months, Kaguya-hime grows from a small baby into a woman of ordinary size and extraordinary beauty. At first, the old man tries to keep Kaguya-hime away from outsiders, but news of her beauty spreads across Japan, attracting many suitors who seek her hand in marriage.  Among them are five nobles:,,,, and. They eventually persuade the old man to tell Kaguya-hime to choose from among them. Uninterested, Kaguya-hime devises five impossible tasks, agreeing to marry the noble who could bring her the item specified for him: the stone begging bowl of the Buddha, a jeweled branch from the island of Hōrai, a robe of Chinese fire-rat skins, a colored jewel from a dragon's neck, and a cowry shell born from a swallow.  Realizing the impossibility of his task, the first noble presents a fake stone bowl made from a blackened pot, but is exposed when Kaguya-hime notices that the bowl does not glow with holy light. The second noble presents a branch crafted by the finest jewelers in Japan, but is exposed when a messenger of the craftsmen arrives at Kaguya-hime's house to collect payment. The third noble is deceived by a merchant from China, who sells him a false robe that burns when tested with fire. The fourth noble attempts to find a dragon at sea, but abandons his plans after encountering a storm. The final noble falls from a great height while trying to reach into a swallow's nest.  After this, the Emperor of Japan comes to see Kaguya-hime and, after falling in love, asks her to marry him. Although he is not subjected to the impossible trials that thwarted the nobles, Kaguya-hime rejects his request for marriage as well, telling him that she is not from his country and therefore cannot go to the palace with him. She remains in contact with the Emperor, but continues to rebuff his requests and marriage proposals. Three years pass as they continue to communicate by letter. That summer, whenever Kaguya-hime sees the full moon, her eyes fill with tears. Though her adoptive parents become very worried and question her, she is unable to tell them what is wrong. Her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic until she reveals that she is not of this world and must return to her people on the Moon. In some versions, it is said that she was sent to the Earth, where she would inevitably form material attachment, as a temporary punishment for some crime, while in others, she was sent to Earth for her safety during a celestial war. The gold that the old man found was a stipend from the people of the Moon, sent to pay for Kaguya-hime's upkeep. As the day of her return approaches, the Emperor sends many guards to protect her from the Moon's people, but when an embassy of heavenly beings descends upon the bamboo cutter's house, the guards are blinded by a strange light. Kaguya-hime announces that, though she loved her many friends on Earth, she must return with the beings to her true home on the Moon. She writes sad notes of apology to her parents and to the Emperor, then gives her parents her own robe as a memento. She then takes a little of the elixir of immortality, attaches it to her letter to the Emperor, and gives it to a guard officer. As she hands it to him, a feather robe is placed on her shoulders, and all of her sadness and compassion for the people of the Earth are apparently forgotten. The entourage ascends into the sky, taking Kaguya-hime back to and leaving her earthly foster parents in tears.  The parents become very sad and are soon put to bed sick. The officer returns to the Emperor with the items Kaguya-hime gave him as her last mortal act, and reports what happened. The Emperor reads her letter and is overcome with sadness. He asks his servants, "Which mountain is the closest place to Heaven?"; in response, one suggests the Great Mountain of Suruga Province. The Emperor orders his men to take the letter to the summit of the mountain and burn it, in the hope that his message would reach the distant princess. The men are also commanded to burn the elixir of immortality, since the Emperor does not wish to live forever without being able to see her.  Legend has it that the word "immortality", 不死 ("fushi"), became the name of the mountain, Mount Fuji. It is also said that the kanji for the mountain, 富士山 (literally "mountain abounding with warriors"), are derived from the Emperor's army ascending the slopes to carry out his order. It is said that the smoke from the burning still rises to this day. (In the past, Mount Fuji was a much more active volcano and therefore produced more smoke.)

Literary connections.

Elements of the tale were drawn from earlier stories. The protagonist Taketori no Okina appears in the earlier poetry collection "Man'yōshū" (c. 759; poem# 3791). In it, he meets a group of women and he recites a poem to them. This indicates that there previously existed an image or tale revolving around a bamboo cutter and celestial or mystical women.  A similar retelling of the tale appears in the c. 12th century "Konjaku Monogatarishū" (volume 31, chapter 33), although the relationship between these texts is debated.

Banzhu Guniang.

In 1957, "Jinyu Fenghuang" (金玉鳳凰), a Chinese book of Tibetan tales, was published. In the early 1970s, Japanese literary researchers became aware that "Banzhu Guniang" (班竹姑娘), one of the tales in the book, had certain similarities with "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter". Initially, many researchers thought that "Banzhu Guniang" must be related to "Tale of Bamboo Cutter", although some were skeptical.  In the 1980s, studies showed that the relationship between these stories is not as simple as initially thought. Okutsu provides an extensive review of the research, and notes that the book "Jinyu Fenghuang" was intended to be for children, and as such, the editor took some liberties in adapting the tales. No other compilation of Tibetan tales contains the story.  A Tibetan-born person wrote that he did not know the story. A researcher went to Sichuan and found that, apart from those who had already read "Jinyu Fenghuang", local researchers in Chengdu did not know the story. Several Tibetan sources in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture did not know the story either.

Legacy.

"The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" is a popular folk tale in Japan. It has been adapted, updated and reworked into numerous modern media, especially Japanese pop culture media such as manga and anime.  "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" has been identified as proto-science fiction. Some of its science fiction plot elements include Kaguya-hime being a princess from the Moon who is sent to Earth for safety during a celestial war, an extraterrestrial being raised by a human on Earth, and her being taken back to the Moon by her real extraterrestrial family. A manuscript illustration also depicts a round flying machine that resembles a flying saucer. Kaguya's story also has similarities to a modern superhero origin story, particularly that of Superman.

Modern adaptations.

Generally faithful adaptations of the original story include the following:  Modern updates and reworkings of the original story are found in numerous other works, which include the following:

External links.

The tale is also known as, after its protagonist. It primarily details the life of a mysterious girl called Kaguya, who is discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo plant.

, est un personnage d'un conte folklorique japonais datant du, appelé également ou. Ce conte est considéré comme le texte narratif japonais le plus ancien. Le texte, en prose, est écrit entièrement en "kana", dans une langue très simple et il est en réalité composé de sept contes. Il n'a pas d'auteur connu. Cette ancienne légende est également illustrée dans un "emakimono" par Kose Ōmi et calligraphiée par Ki no Tsurayuki.


Nomenclature.

"γ Ursae Minoris" (Latinised to "Gamma Ursae Minoris") is the star's Bayer designation. The fainter 11 Ursae Minoris has been called "γ1 Ursae Minoris", in which case "Gamma Ursae Minoris" would be designated "γ2". However this usage is rarely seen.  Gamma Ursae Minoris bore the traditional name "Pherkad", which derived from the Arabic فرقد "farqad" "calf", short for "aḫfa al farkadayn" "the dim one of the two calves", that is Pherkad and Kochab (the full name Ahfa al Farkadain is traditionally applied to Zeta Ursae Minoris). Gamma Ursae Minoris was mostly called "Pherkad Major" to distinguish it from "Pherkad Minor" (11 Ursae Minoris). In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalogue and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN approved the name "Pherkad" for Gamma Ursae Minoris on 21 August 2016 and it is now so included in the List of IAU-approved Star Names.  In Chinese, (), meaning "North Pole", refers to an asterism consisting of Gamma Ursae Minoris, Beta Ursae Minoris, 5 Ursae Minoris, 4 Ursae Minoris and Σ 1694. Consequently, the Chinese name for Gamma Ursae Minoris itself is (, ), representing (), meaning "Crown Prince".

Properties.

Gamma Ursae Minoris has apparent magnitude +3.05 and can be readily observed with the naked eye even in a city-lit night sky. It has an absolute magnitude of –2.84. Measurement of the star's spectrum resulted in a stellar classification of A3 Iab, with the luminosity class of 'Iab' indicating this is an intermediate luminosity supergiant star. The effective temperature of the star's outer envelope is 8,280 K, giving it the typical white hue of an A-type star. It is rotating rapidly, with the projected rotational velocity of providing a lower limit on the azimuthal velocity along the star's equator.  This is classified as a shell star that has a circumstellar disk of gas around the star's equator, which may be causing it to vary in magnitude. It is 1100 times more luminous than the Sun, and possesses a radius 15 times that of the Sun.

Pherkad in fiction.

Pherkad (spelled as "Pherkard") also features in Cthulhu Mythos, in the short story "The Thing in the Library", by Crispin Burnham and E.P. Berglund. It is mentioned as the stellar abode of the flaming Outer God Yomagn'tho.

Gamma Ursae Minoris (γ Ursae Minoris, abbreviated Gamma UMi, γ UMi), also named Pherkad, is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. Together with Beta Ursae Minoris (Kochab), it forms the end of the dipper pan of the "Little Dipper", which is an asterism forming the tail of the bear. Based upon parallax measurements obtained during the Hipparcos mission, it is approximately from the Sun.

Gamma Ursae Minoris (γ UMi / γ Ursae Minoris) est une étoile légèrement variable de la constellation de la Petite Ourse. Elle porte également le nom traditionnel Pherkad. Avec Beta Ursae Minoris, Gamma forme l'extrémité de la queue du « Petit Chariot ». Le nom « Pherkad » provient de l'arabe pour « les deux veaux », qui s'appliquait à l'origine à Kochab et à Pherkad. Ensemble, elles sont appelées également les « Gardiennes du Pôle ».


History.

The oldest Neolithic location in this area is in Ždralovi, a suburb of Bjelovar, where, while building a basement for the house of Josip Horvatić, a dugout was found and identified as belonging to the Starčevo culture (5000 – 4300 BC). Finds from Ždralovi belong to a regional subtype of a late variant of the Neolithic culture. It is designated the Ždralovi "facies" of the Starčevo culture, or the final-stage Starčevo. There are also relics of the Korenovo culture, Sopot culture, Lasinja culture, and the Vučedol culture.  After the drop of the Ottoman Empire domination, Bjelovar (named "Bellowar" before 1850 ) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia after the compromise of 1867), in the Croatian Military Frontier, Warasdin-Kreutzer Regiment N°V until 1881.  In the late 19th and early 20th century, Bjelovar was the seat of the Bjelovar-Križevci County of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia.  From 1929 to 1939, Bjelovar was part of the Sava Banovina and from 1939 to 1941 of the Banovina of Croatia within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

Demographics.

Population by settlement:

Geography.

The city of Bjelovar stands on a plateau in the southern part of Bilogora (north-west Croatia), 135 metres above sea level. It is the capital of the Bjelovar-Bilogora county, and the natural, cultural and political centre of the area.  Bjelovar is at an intersection of roads in this area: the D28 intersects with the D43, and it lies on the road between Zagreb and west Slavonia, Podravina and Osijek. Bjelovar is currently being connected by dual carriageway with Zagreb.  The city of Bjelovar has an area of, and administratively it includes 31 other areas. North-east of Bjelovar there is a long, low elevation called Bilogora, with an average height of 150–200 m (highest point: Rajčevica, 309 m). The geology of the area consists of Pliocene sandy marl and sandstones with lesser layers of lignite. Older rocks do not appear on the surface in this area. In deep boreholes there are crystalline rocks.

Climate.

Bjelovar has a temperate continental climate. Winters are moderately cold and summers are warm. Precipitation of about per year is normal. The prevailing wind during winter is northerly, with easterlies becoming stronger in spring, when it may be quite cold, often blowing for a several days consecutively. In summer the wind is southerly; it is warm and more humid. The mean yearly temperature in Bjelovar is about.

Culture.

Bjelovar contains three war memorials. The Barutana memorial area is dedicated to those who died defending the city on September 29, 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence. The Lug memorial area is dedicated to Ustashi soldiers killed by Partisans in 1945, and the Borik memorial area is dedicated to Partisans killed during the Second World War.  Bjelovar hosts the yearly "BOK" (Bjelovarski odjeci kazališta or Bjelovar Echoes of Theatre) theatre festival. It was founded and is run by Bjelovar actor Goran Navojec, and it hosts a selection of the best plays performed in Croatia during previous year.  The building of a former synagogue in now used as a cultural center, the Bjelovar Synagogue.

Sport.

In the 1970s, Bjelovar was known as the handball capital of Europe, when its local squad RK Bjelovar (under the name Partizan) dominated Croatian, Yugoslav, and European handball. The team came solely from Bjelovar and its environs.

International relations.

Twin towns and sister cities.

Bjelovar is twinned with:

Bjelovar (,, Kajkavian: "Belovar") is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2011 census, there were 40,276 inhabitants, of whom 91.25% were Croats.

Bjelovar est une ville et une municipalité située dans la région de Slavonie, en Croatie. C'est le chef-lieu du comitat de Bjelovar-Bilogora. Au recensement de 2001, la municipalité comptait habitants, dont 90,51 % de Croates et la ville seule comptait habitants.


History.

The area was first designated a protected area in 1896 by the German Governor of Tanganyika Hermann von Wissmann, and became a hunting reserve in 1905. The reserve was named after Frederick Selous, a famous big game hunter and early conservationist, who died at Beho Beho in this territory in 1917 while fighting against the Germans during World War I. Scottish explorer and cartographer Keith Johnston had died at Beho Beho in 1879 while leading a Royal Geographical Society expedition to the Great Lakes of Africa with Joseph Thomson.  Since 2005, the protected area is considered a Lion Conservation Unit.  A boundary change to allow the use of uranium deposits has been approved. The approval for the boundary change was given by the UNESCO and seriously criticized by environmentalists and organizations e.g., Uranium-Network and Rainforest Rescue.  Tanzania president John Magufuli has given an approval of constructing a new Stiegler's Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station of 2,115MW over the Rufiji River. The power station will result to an additional 2,100 megawatts of electricity, more than tripling Tanzania's installed hydropower capacity of 562 megawatts. The project started on 26 July 2019 and should be completed by 2022. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has criticised the Government of Tanzania for failing to consider, the impact of the flooding of nearly 1,000 km2 will have, on both the people and biodiversity of the reserve. Thousands of people are dependent on the river for fishing and agriculture.

Description.

Interesting places in the park include the Rufiji River, which flows into the Indian Ocean opposite Mafia Island and the Stiegler Gorge, a canyon of 100 metres depth and 100 metres width. Habitats include grassland, typical "Acacia" savanna, wetlands and extensive Miombo woodlands. Although total wildlife populations are high, the reserve is large and densities of animals are lower than in the more regularly visited northern tourist circuit of Tanzania. In 1976, the Selous Game Reserve contained about 109,000 elephants, then the largest population in the world. By 2013, the numbers had dropped to about 13,000 – including a 66% drop from 2009 to 2013. Sources blame corrupt politicians, officials and businessmen who help poachers.  Most of the reserve remains set aside for game hunting through a number of privately leased hunting concessions, but a section of the northern park along the Rufiji River has been designated a photographic zone and is a popular tourist destination. There are several high end lodges and camps mainly situated along the river and lake systems in this area. Rather difficult road access means most visitors arrive by small aircraft from Dar es Salaam, though train access is also possible. Walking safaris are permitted in the Selous, and boat trips on the Rufiji are a popular activity.

External links.

e

The Selous Game Reserve is a protected area in southern Tanzania. It covers a total area of and has additional buffer zones. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982 due to its wildlife diversity and undisturbed nature. Some of the typical wildlife of the miombo inhabits the reserve, such as African bush elephant, black rhino, hippopotamus, lion, East African wild dog, Cape buffaloes, Masai giraffe, Plains zebra, and Nile crocodile. Permanent human habitation is not permitted within the reserve. All human entry and exit is controlled by the Wildlife Division of the Tanzanian Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

La réserve de gibier de Selous en République unie de Tanzanie, d'une superficie de, est divisée par la rivière Rufiji. Seuls 8% du territoire dans la partie Nord sont réservés aux safaris photos ; le reste est une réserve de chasse pour les compagnies spécialisées.


Life.

He was the son of Eucrates, born in the city of Gadara, now Umm Qais in Jordan, which was then a partially Hellenized community that was noted for its "remarkable contribution to Greek culture". He was educated in Tyre and spent his later life in Cos where he died at an advanced age (est. 70 years old). According to short autobiographical poems he wrote, Meleager was proud of his hometown and identified himself as cosmopolitan, being both "Attic" (i.e. Hellenistic) and Syrian, and also praised Tyre for having "made [him] a man" and Kos for taking "care of [him] in [his] old age".  The scholiast to the Palatine manuscript of the Greek Anthology says he flourished in the reign of Seleucus VI Epiphanes (95 – 93 BC). The uppermost date of his compilation of the Anthology is 60 BC, as it did not include Philodemus of Gadara, though later editors added thirty-four epigrams.  Some writers classed him among the Cynics, and according to historian Benjamin Isaac Meleager's belief that "all men are equal and compatriots" strengthens this view, as some Cynics already held such a world view possibly as early as the 5th century BC. Like his compatriot Menippus, Meleager wrote what were known as "spoudogeloia" (Greek singular: ), satirical prose essays putting philosophy in popular form with humorous illustrations. These are completely lost. Meleager's fame is securely founded on the one hundred and thirty-four epigrams of his own which he included in his Anthology. The manuscripts of the "Greek Anthology" are the sole source of these epigrams.

"The Garland" of Meleager.

Meleager is famous for his anthology of poetry entitled "The Garland" (). Polemon of Ilium and others had created collections of monumental inscriptions, or of poems on particular subjects earlier, but Meleager first did so comprehensively. He collected epigrams by forty-six Greek poets, from every lyric period up to his own. His title referred to the commonplace comparison of small beautiful poems to flowers, and in the introduction to his work, he attached the names of various flowers, shrubs, and herbs — as emblems — to the names of the several poets. The "Garland" itself has survived only as one of the original constituent roots to the "Anthologia Graeca".

Poetry.

Meleager's poetry is concerned with personal experience and emotions, frequently with love and its discontents. He typically describes himself not as an active and engaged lover, but as one struck by the beauty of a woman or boy. The following is an example:

Meleager of Gadara (; fl. 1st century BC) was a poet and collector of epigrams. He wrote some satirical prose, now lost, and he wrote some sensual poetry, of which 134 epigrams survive. He also compiled numerous epigrams from diverse poets in an anthology known as the "Garland", and although this does not survive, it is the original basis for the "Greek Anthology".

Méléagre de Gadara (en grec ancien ) est un poète grec né vers à Gadara dans la Jordanie actuelle, et mort vers à Cos.


Early life.

Smith was born in Jericho, now Bainbridge, Chenango County, New York, on January 6, 1799, Jedediah, 1st and Sally Strong, both of whom were descended entirely from families that came to New England from England during the Puritan emigration between 1620 and 1640. Smith received an adequate English instruction, learned some Latin, and was taught how to write decently. Around 1810, Smith's father, who owned a general store, was caught up in a legal issue involving counterfeit currency after which the elder Smith moved his family west to Erie County, Pennsylvania.  At the age of 13, Smith worked as

Smith joins "Ashley's Hundred".

Coming from a family of very modest means, Smith struck out to make his own way. He may have left his family in search of a trade or employment a year prior to their settlement in Green Township. In 1822, Smith was living in St. Louis. The same year Smith responded to an advertisement in the Missouri Gazette placed by Gen. William H. Ashley. General Ashley and Major Andrew Henry, veterans of the War of 1812, had established a partnership to engage in the fur trade and were looking for "One Hundred" ""Enterprising Young Men"" to explore and trap in the Rocky Mountains. Superintendent of Indian Affairs William Clark had granted Ashley-Henry license to trade with

Arikaras massacre.

The next spring (1823), Major Henry ordered Smith to go back down the Missouri to the Grand River to take a message to Ashley to buy horses from the Arikaras, who due to a recent skirmish with Missouri Fur Company men were antagonistic to the white traders. Ashley, who was bringing supplies as well as 70 new men upriver by boat, met Smith at the Arikara village on May 30. They negotiated a trade for several horses and 200 buffalo robes and planned to leave as soon as possible to avert trouble, but weather delayed them, and before they could depart, an incident provoked an Arikara attack. Forty Ashley men, including Smith, were caught in

First expedition, grizzly bear attack, and South Pass.

After the campaign, in the fall of 1823, Smith and several other of Ashley's men traveled downriver to Fort Kiowa. Leaving Fort Kiowa in September, Smith and 10 to 16 men headed west, beginning his first far-western expedition, to make their way overland to the Rocky Mountains. Smith and his party were the first Euro-Americans to explore the southern Black Hills, in present-day South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. While looking for the Crow tribe to obtain fresh horses and get westward directions, Smith was attacked by a large grizzly bear. Smith was tackled to the ground by the grizzly breaking his ribs. Members of his party witnessed him fight the bear, which ripped open his side with its claws and took his head in its mouth. When the bear retreated, Smith's men ran to help him. They found his scalp and ear ripped off, but he convinced a friend, Jim Clyman, to sew it loosely back on, giving him directions. The trappers fetched water, bound up his broken ribs, and cleaned his wounds. After recuperating from his bloody wounds and broken ribs, Smith wore his hair long to cover the large scar from his eyebrow to his ear. The only known portrait of Jedediah Smith, painted after his death in 1831, showed the long hair he wore over the side of his head, to hide his scars.  The party spent the rest of 1823 wintering in the Wind River Valley. In 1824, Smith sent an expedition to find an expedient route through the Rocky Mountains. Smith was able to retrieve information from Crow natives. When communicating with the Crows, one of Smith's men made a unique

First Rendezvous of 1825 and "Smith, Jackson & Sublette" partnership.

Ashley left St. Louis late in 1824 and after an exploring expedition in Wyoming and Utah he and Smith were reunited on July 1, 1825,

Second Rendezvous of 1826.

During the second rendezvous in the summer of 1826, Ashley decided no longer to be directly involved in the business of harvesting furs. Smith left a cache near the rendezvous site at what would become known as Cache Valley in northern Utah, and he and Ashley traveled north to meet David E. Jackson ("Virginia"), and William L. Sublette ("Kentucky") at Bear River area near present-day Soda Springs, Idaho. Ashley sold his interest in his and Smith's partnership to the newly created partnership of Smith, Jackson & Sublette but agreed to continue to send supplies to the rendezvous  The new partners were immediately faced with the reality, that beaver were rapidly disappearing from the region the two previous partnerships had traditionally trapped. But contemporaneous maps showed promise of untrapped rivers to the west, most notably the legendary Buenaventura. The Buenaventura was also thought to be a navigable waterway to the Pacific Ocean possibly providing an alternative to packing loads of furs back to St. Louis. The previous spring, Smith had searched for rivers flowing to the Pacific west and northwest of the Great Salt Lake. Although he pushed into eastern Nevada, he failed to find the Humboldt River, the probable source of the legend of the Buenaventura. Having determined the Buenaventura must lie further south, Smith made plans for an exploratory expedition deep into the Mexican territory of Alta California.

First trip to California, 1826–27.

Smith and his party of 15 other men left the Bear River on August 7, 1826, and after retrieving the cache he had left earlier headed south through present-day Utah and Nevada to the Colorado River, finding increasingly harsh conditions and difficult travel. Finding shelter in a friendly Mojave village near present-day Needles, California, the men and horses recuperated and Smith hired two runaways from the Spanish missions in California to guide them west. After leaving the river and heading into the Mojave Desert, the guides led them through the desert via the Mohave Trail that would become the western portion of the Old Spanish Trail. Upon reaching the San Bernardino Valley of California, Smith and Abraham LaPlant (who spoke some Spanish) borrowed horses from a rancher and rode to the San Gabriel Mission on November 27, 1826, to present themselves to its director, Father José Bernardo Sánchez, who received them warmly.  The next day, the rest of Smith's men arrived

Third Rendezvous of 1827 and second trip to California, 1827–28.

As agreed, Ashley had sent provisions for the rendezvous, and his men took back of Smith, Jackson & Sublette furs and a letter from Smith to William Clark, then in the office of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the region west of the Mississippi River, describing what he had observed the previous year. Smith left to rejoin the men he had left in California almost immediately after the rendezvous. He was accompanied by 18 men and two French-Canadian women, following much of the same route as the previous year. However, in the ensuing year, the Mojave along the Colorado River who had been so welcoming the previous year had clashed with trappers from Taos and were set on revenge against the whites. While crossing the river, Smith's party was attacked; 10 men, including Silas Gobel, were killed, and the two women were taken captive. Smith and the eight surviving men, one badly wounded from the fighting, prepared to make a desperate stand on the west bank of the Colorado, having made a makeshift breast work out of trees and fashioned lances by attaching butcher knives to light poles. The men still had five guns among them, and as the Mojave began to approach, Smith ordered his men to fire on those within range. Two Mojaves were shot and killed, one was wounded, and the remaining attackers ran off. Before the Mojave could regroup, Smith and eight other surviving men retreated on foot across the Mojave Desert on the Mohave Trail to the San Bernardino Valley.  Smith and the other survivors were again well received in San Gabriel. The party moved north to meet with the group that had been left in the San Joaquin Valley, reuniting with them on September 19, 1827. Unlike in San Gabriel, they were coolly received by the priests at Mission San José, who had already received warning of Smith's renewed presence in the area. Smith's party also visited the settlements at Monterey and Yerba Buena (San Francisco).  Governor Echeandía, who was at the time in Monterey (capital of Alta California), once again arrested Smith, this time along with his men. Yet despite the breach of trust, the governor once again released Smith after several English-speaking residents vouched for him, including John B. R. Cooper and William Edward Petty Hartnell in Monterey. After posting a $30,000 bond, Smith received a passport, on the same promise – to leave the province immediately and not to return. Also as before, Smith and his party remained in California hunting in the Sacramento Valley for several months. Upon reaching the northern edge of the valley, the party scouted the route to the northeast afforded by the Pit River, but determined it to be impassable, so veered northwest toward the Pacific coast to find the Columbia River and return to the Rocky Mountain region. Jedediah became the first explorer to reach the Oregon Country over land by traveling up the California coast.

Death.

Having no response from Eaton, Smith joined his partners and left St. Louis to trade in Santa Fe on April 10, 1831. Smith was leading the caravan on the Santa Fe Trail on May 27, 1831, when he left the group to scout for water near the Lower Spring on the Cimarron River in present-day southwest Kansas. He never returned to the group. The remainder of the party proceeded on to Santa Fe hoping Smith would meet up with them, but he never did. They arrived in Santa Fe on July 4, 1831, and shortly thereafter members of the party discovered a comanchero with some of Smith's personal belongings. It was relayed that Smith had encountered and communicated with a group of comancheros just prior to his approaching a group of Comanche. Smith tried to negotiate with the Comanche, but they surrounded him in preparation for attack.

Aftermath.

In the aftermath of Smith's death, President Andrew Jackson, during his second term in 1836, launched the federally funded oceanic United States Exploring Expedition, led by Charles Wilkes, from 1838 to 1842. One of the expedition's accomplishments was the exploration of the Pacific Northwest and to lay claim on the Oregon Country, that Smith had previously explored, dominated by the British Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. The federally funded overland exploration of the

Personal characteristics and beliefs.

Jedediah Smith was "no ordinary mountain man." He had a dry, not raucous, sense of humor and was not known to use the profanity common to his peers. Smith's immediate family were practicing Christians; his younger brother Benjamin was named after a Methodist circuit preacher and his letters indicate his own Christian beliefs. Although after his death the legend of Smith as a "Bible-toter" and a missionary grew, assertions that he carried a Bible with him in the wilderness have no basis in any accounts by him or his companions, and the only documentation of any public demonstration of faith was a prayer said at the burial of one of the Arikara massacre victims. However, neither do those accounts speak of him drinking alcohol to excess or bedding Native American women, indicating he had the discipline often associated with a strict moral code. He owned at least two slaves, which conflicted with his northern Methodist upbringing, and his behavior was not always honorable when dealing with those he considered his antagonists. He was known to be physically strong, cool under pressure, extremely skilled at surviving in the wild and possessed of extraordinary leadership skills. Smith's true character is an enigma still open to interpretation

Views of Native Americans.

While traveling throughout the American West, Smith's policy with the Native Americans was to maintain friendly relations with gifts and exchanges, learning from their cultures. As he traveled through Northern California for the first time, then part of Mexican territory Alta California, he tried to maintain that policy, but the situation quickly deteriorated. The Maidu were very fearful and defensive, and Smith's men killed at least seven of them upon his orders when they refused peaceful advances and demonstrated aggressive behaviors. He later wrote that they were "the lowest intermediate link between man and the Brute creation." Later, during his trek across the Great

Historical reputation.

Smith for the most part was forgotten by his countrymen as a historical figure for over 75 years after his death. In 1853, Peter Skene Ogden had written about the Umpqua massacre in "Traits of American Indian Life and Character by a Fur Trader", and the Oregon Pioneers Association and Hubert Howe Bancroft wrote versions of it in 1876 and 1886, respectively. There are mentions of him in memoirs by other fur trappers, and mentions by George Gibbs and F. V. Hayden in their reports. "Recollection of a Septuagenarian" by William Waldo, published by the Missouri Historical Society in 1880, discussed Smith, focusing on hearsay evidence of his piety. There was no mention of Smith in the 1891 volume 5 publication of "Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography" edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. The first known publication solely about Smith was in the 1896 "Annual Publication of the Historical Society of Southern California". In 1902, Hiram M. Chittenden wrote of him extensively in "The American Fur Trade of the West" The same year Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh wrote about Smith's exploits with the Mojave Indians in his book "The Romance of the Colorado River: The Story of Its Discovery in 1540 with an Account of Later Explorations". Smith, however, again was not listed in the 1906 volume 9 publication of American Biographical Society's "Biographical Dictionary of America", edited by Rossiter Johnson. It wasn't until 1908, when John G. Neihardt and Doane Robinson lamented the obscurity of Smith, that more extensive efforts to publicize his accomplishments were initiated.  In 1912, an article about Smith written by a grand-nephew, Ezra Delos Smith of Meade, Kansas, was published by the Kansas Historical Society. Five years later, Smith's status as

Author of journal.

Another important piece of the Jedediah Smith story was discovered in 1967, when another portion of the 1830–31 narrative (again in Parkman's hand) was found amongst other historical papers in an

Legacies.

Geographic namesakes.

Smith's exploration of northwestern California and southern Oregon resulted in two rivers, the Smith River (California) and Smith River (Oregon) being named for him.

Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831), was an American clerk, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartographer, and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the North American West, and the Southwest during the early 19th century. After 75 years of obscurity following his death, Smith was rediscovered as the American whose explorations led to the use of the -wide South Pass as the dominant point of crossing the Continental Divide for pioneers on the Oregon Trail.

Jedediah Strong Smith (né le dans le comté de Chenango de l'État de New York et probablement tué le aux abords de la rivière Cimarron, dans le Kansas, lors d'un voyage entre Saint-Louis et Santa Fe) était un trappeur, explorateur et commerçant de fourrures américain. Il est considéré comme l'un des plus importants "" de la conquête de l'Ouest. Il fut le premier « Blanc » connu à explorer la route à travers les montagnes Rocheuses vers la Californie par le désert des Mojaves et plus tard à traverser les montagnes de la chaîne côtière californienne pour atteindre l'Oregon au sud. Selon Maurice Sullivan :.


Distribution.

Geoffroy's rousette occurs throughout Southeast Asia and in the Malesia region of Oceania, in Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the island of Borneo, East Timor, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, and Papua New Guinea.

Description.

Like other fruit bats, "R. amplexicaudatus" has sensitive hearing and sense of smell and good eyesight which helps it to manoeuvre well during flight, specifically at night. What makes it different from other fruit bats is its echolocating ability. It can be distinguished by its grey-brown to brown upperpart which is darker on top of the head and paler underpart which is usually grey-brown. It has long pale hairs on the chin and neck despite having short and sparse fur. It sometimes has pale yellow tufts of hair on the side of its neck which occur in adult for this species, especially males. Most males are substantially larger than females. The most distinguishable figure of this bat besides producing a distinctive, audible clicking call is its wings. It is attached to the sides of the back and separated by a broad band of fur. The lower incisors are bifid, the canines have a longitudinal groove on the outer surface which is slightly medial to center, and the first premolars are smaller than second premolars, especially on the upper jaw.

Biology and ecology.

Specimens in the Sabah Museum were collected from coconut plantations on Mantani Island and the highland of Crocker Range, while the one from Sarawak was from Niah Cave. This medium-sized bat normally roosts in caves, and feeds on fruit, nectar, and pollen. It roosts dark caves, rock crevices and old tombs.  The Monfort Bat Cave in the southern Philippines has the largest gathering of these bats.

External measurements.

The Sabah Museum specimens had forearm length measurements between 82.22 and 86.76 mm for the females (NH3134, NH3142, NH3144) and an adult male from Sarawak (SM016/2) was FA 81.43 mm. The external measurements are within the range of 78 to 87 mm recorded by Payne et al. (1985) and 80–90 mm by Ingle and Heaney (1992).

Geoffroy's rousette ("Rousettus amplexicaudatus") is a species of megabat or Old World fruit bats. It is one of 10 species in the genus "Rousettus".

La Roussette de Geoffroy ("Rousettus amplexicaudatus") est une espèce de chauves-souris frugivores de l'Ancien Monde. C'est l'une des dix espèces du genre "Rousettus".