Nonoxynols

Nonoxynols also known as nonaethylene glycol or polyethylene glycol nonyl phenyl ether are mixtures of nonionic surfactants used as detergents, emulsifiers, wetting agents or defoaming agents. The most commonly discussed compound nonoxynol-9 is a spermicide, formulated primarily as a component of vaginal foams and creams. Nonoxynol was found to metabolize into free nonylphenol when administered to lab animals. Arkopal-N60, with on average 6 ethylene glycol units is a related used surfactant.
Production.
Nonoxynols are produced by ethoxylation of alkylphenols and vary in the number of repeating ethoxy (oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) groups resulting in Nonoxynol-4, Nonoxynol-7, Nonoxynol-9, Nonoxynol-14, Nonoxynol-15, Nonoxynol-18, Nonoxynol-40, Nonoxynol-30 and Nonoxynol-50. Other synonyms are polyethylene glycol (PEG)-7 Nonyl phenyl ether, PEG-14 Nonyl phenyl ether, PEG-18 Nonyl phenyl ether and PEG-50 Nonyl phenyl ether.
The precursor nonylphenol is derived from phenol and a mixture of nonenes.
Use.
Nonoxynols have been used as detergents, emulsifiers and wetting agents in cosmetics, including hair products, and defoaming agents. Only nonoxynol-9 with 9 repeating ethoxy groups, has been used as a spermaticide, for vaginal foams and creams, and on condoms.
Toxicity concerns.
Concerns about the environmental impact of these compounds has increased since the 1990s. These surfactants have a mild to medium estrogenic function. Consequently, this class of detergents has been effectively restricted for commercial "down-the-drain" applications in Europe, and these compounds are no longer used by U.S. laundry manufacturers. On January 14, 2016, the European Commission amended existing restriction on nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) legislation, limiting NPE residues on textile articles to 0.01% by weight, effective February 3, 2021. Previously, the use of NPE was forbidden within the EU, but there was no limit on the level of NPE residue on imported articles.
On 13 August 2008, the Swedish newspaper "Göteborg Posten ()" reported finding high levels of the NPE in Björn Borg underwear. A 2011 investigation found residual levels of NPE in samples of clothing from 14 brands sold in the U.S., including Adidas, Uniqlo, Calvin Klein, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lacoste, Converse and Ralph Lauren.


Houston Gardens, Houston

Houston/Trinity Gardens is an African-American neighborhood in Houston.
History.
The Subsistence Homesteads Division of the Interior Department, a program of the New Deal, developed Houston Gardens for the purpose of giving poor and landless people the opportunity to become homeowners. Houston Gardens was the only such community developed in Greater Houston. The City of Houston annexed it in the 1940s.
Cityscape.
Rafael Longoria and Susan Rogers of the Rice Design Alliance said that Houston Gardens could be described as "rurban," a word coined in 1918 which describes an area with a mix of urban and rural characteristics. The layout of Houston Gardens consists of a large oval parceled on its ends into plots of land shaped like pies. Longoria and Rogers said that "this unique plan is easy to spot on a Houston map."
Demographics.
In 2015 the City of Houston Trinity/Houston Gardens Super Neighborhood had 15,798 residents. 67% were non-Hispanic black, 30% were Hispanic, 2% were non-Hispanic white, and 1% were non-Hispanic others. The percentage of non-Hispanic Asians was zero. In 2000 the super neighborhood had 18,054 residents. 81% were non-Hispanic black, 16% were Hispanic, 2% were non-Hispanic white, and 1% were non-Hispanic others. The percentage of non-Hispanic Asians was zero.
Government and infrastructure.
Houston Gardens is in Houston City Council District B.
Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Hospital District) designated Settegast Health Center for ZIP code 77028. The nearest public hospital is Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in northeast Houston.
Education.
Houston Gardens is within the Houston Independent School District.
Residents are zoned to Ernest McGowen Sr. Elementary School (previously Houston Gardens Elementary School), Key Middle School, and Kashmere High School.
Parks and recreation.
The City of Houston operates the Houston Gardens Park.


Nanoparticle

A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is usually defined as a particle of matter that is between 1 and 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 100 nm in only two directions. At the lowest range, metal particles smaller than 1 nm are usually called atom clusters instead.
Nanoparticles are usually distinguished from microparticles (1-1000 µm), "fine particles" (sized between 100 and 2500 nm), and "coarse particles" (ranging from 2500 to 10,000 nm), because their smaller size drives very different physical or chemical properties, like colloidal properties and optical or electric properties.
Being more subject to the brownian motion, they usually do not sediment, like colloidal particles that conversely are usually understood to range from 1 to 1000 nm.
Being much smaller than the wavelengths of visible light (400-700 nm), nanoparticles cannot be seen with ordinary optical microscopes, requiring the use of electron microscopes or microscopes with laser. For the same reason, dispersions of nanoparticles in transparent media can be transparent, whereas suspensions of larger particles usually scatter some or all visible light incident on them. Nanoparticles also easily pass through common filters, such as common ceramic candles, so that separation from liquids requires special nanofiltration techniques.
The properties of nanoparticles often differ markedly from those of larger particles of the same substance. Since the typical diameter of an atom is between 0.15 and 0.6 nm, a large fraction of the nanoparticle's material lies within a few atomic diameters from its surface. Therefore, the properties of that surface layer may dominate over those of the bulk material. This effect is particularly strong for nanoparticles dispersed in a medium of different composition since the interactions between the two materials at their interface also becomes significant.
Nanoparticles occur widely in nature and are objects of study in many sciences such as chemistry, physics, geology and biology. Being at the transition between bulk materials and atomic or molecular structures, they often exhibit phenomena that are not observed at either scale. They are an important component of atmospheric pollution, and key ingredients in many industrialized products such as paints, plastics, metals, ceramics, and magnetic articles. The production of nanoparticles with specific properties is an important branch of nanotechnology.
In general, the small size of nanoparticles leads to a lower concentration of point defects compared to their bulk counterparts, but they do support a variety of dislocations that can be visualized using high-resolution electron microscopes. However, nanoparticles exhibit different dislocation mechanics, which, together with their unique surface structures, results in mechanical properties that are different from the bulk material.
Anisotropy in a nanoparticle leads to a lot of changes in the properties of the nanoparticles. Non-spherical nanoparticles of gold, silver, and platinum due to their fascinating optical properties are finding diverse applications and are of great interest in the field of research. Non-spherical geometries of nanoprisms give rise to high effective cross-sections and deeper colors of the colloidal solutions. The possibility of shifting the resonance wavelengths by tuning the particle geometry is very interesting for using these nanoparticles in the fields of molecular labeling, for biomolecular assays, trace metal detection, and nanotechnical applications. Anisotropic nanoparticles display a specific absorption behavior and stochastic particle orientation under unpolarized light, showing a distinct resonance mode for each excitable axis. This property can be explained based on the fact that on a daily basis there are new developments being made in the field of synthesis of these nanoparticles for preparing them in high yield.
Definitions.
IUPAC.
In its 2012 proposed terminology for biologically related polymers, the IUPAC defined a nanoparticle as "a particle of any shape with dimensions in the 1 × 10−9 and 1 × 10−7 m range". This definition evolved from one given by IUPAC in 1997.
In another 2012 publication, the IUPAC extends the term to include tubes and fibers with only two dimensions below 100 nm.
ISO.
According to the International Standards Organization (ISO) technical specification 80004, a nanoparticle is an object with all three external dimensions in the nanoscale, whose longest and shortest axes do not differ significantly, with a significant difference typically being a factor of at least 3.
Common usage.
"Nanoscale" is usually understood to be the range from 1 to 100 nm because the novel properties that differentiate particles from the bulk material typically develop at that range of sizes.
For some properties, like transparency or turbidity, ultrafiltration, stable dispersion, etc., substantial changes characteristic of nanoparticles are observed for particles as large as 500 nm. Therefore, the term is sometimes extended to that size range.
Related concepts.
Nanoclusters are agglomerates of nanoparticles with at least one dimension between 1 and 10 nanometers and a narrow size distribution. Nanopowders are agglomerates of ultrafine particles, nanoparticles, or nanoclusters. Nanometer-sized single crystals, or single-domain ultrafine particles, are often referred to as nanocrystals.
The terms colloid and nanoparticle are not interchangeable. A colloid is a mixture which has particles of one phase dispersed or suspended within an other phase. The term applies only if the particles are larger than atomic dimensions but small enough to exhibit Brownian motion, with the critical size range (or particle diameter) typically ranging from nanometers (10−9 m) to micrometers (10−6 m). Colloids can contain particles too large to be nanoparticles, and nanoparticles can exist in non-colloidal form, for examples as a powder or in a solid matrix.
History.
Natural occurrence.
Nanoparticles are naturally produced by many cosmological, geological, meteorological, and biological processes. A significant fraction (by number, if not by mass) of interplanetary dust, that is still falling on the Earth at the rate of thousands of tons per year, is in the nanoparticle range; and the same is true of atmospheric dust particles. Many viruses have diameters in the nanoparticle range.
Pre-industrial technology.
Nanoparticles were used by artisans since prehistory, albeit without knowledge of their nature. They were used by glassmakers and potters in Classical Antiquity, as exemplified by the Roman Lycurgus cup of dichroic glass (4th century CE) and the lusterware pottery of Mesopotamia (9th century CE). The latter is characterized by silver and copper nanoparticles dispersed in the glassy glaze.
19th century.
Michael Faraday provided the first description, in scientific terms, of the optical properties of nanometer-scale metals in his classic 1857 paper. In a subsequent paper, the author (Turner) points out that: "It is well known that when thin leaves of gold or silver are mounted upon glass and heated to a temperature that is well below a red heat (~500 °C), a remarkable change of properties takes place, whereby the continuity of the metallic film is destroyed. The result is that white light is now freely transmitted, reflection is correspondingly diminished, while the electrical resistivity is enormously increased."
20th century.
During the 1970s and 80s, when the first thorough fundamental studies with nanoparticles were underway in the United States (by Granqvist and Buhrman) and Japan (within an ERATO Project), researchers used the term ultrafine particles. However, during the 1990s, before the National Nanotechnology Initiative was launched in the United States, the term nanoparticle had become more common (for example, see the same senior author's paper 20 years later addressing the same issue, lognormal distribution of sizes).
Morphology and structure.
Nanoparticles occur in a great variety of shapes, which have been given many informal names such as nanospheres, nanorods, nanochains, nanostars, nanoflowers, nanoreefs, nanowhiskers, nanofibers, and nanoboxes.
The shapes of nanoparticles may be determined by the intrinsic crystal habit of the material, or by the influence of the environment around their creation, such as the inhibition of crystal growth on certain faces by coating additives, the shape of emulsion droplets and micelles in the precursor preparation, or the shape of pores in a surrounding solid matrix. Some applications of nanoparticles may require specific shapes, as well as specific sizes or size ranges.
Amorphous particles typically adopt a spherical shape (due to their microstructural isotropy).
The study of fine particles is called micromeritics.
Variations.
Semi-solid and soft nanoparticles have been produced. A prototype nanoparticle of semi-solid nature is the liposome. Various types of liposome nanoparticles are currently used clinically as delivery systems for anticancer drugs and vaccines.
The breakdown of biopolymers into their nanoscale building blocks is considered a potential route to produce nanoparticles with enhanced biocompatibility and biodegradability. The most common example is the production of nanocellulose from wood pulp. Other examples are nanolignin, nanchitin, or nanostarches.
Nanoparticles with one half hydrophilic and the other half hydrophobic are termed Janus particles and are particularly effective for stabilizing emulsions. They can self-assemble at water/oil interfaces and act as Pickering stabilizers.
Hydrogel nanoparticles made of N-isopropylacrylamide hydrogel core shell can be dyed with affinity baits, internally. These affinity baits allow the nanoparticles to isolate and remove undesirable proteins while enhancing the target analytes.
Properties.
The properties of a material in nanoparticle form are usually very different from those of the bulk material even when divided into micrometer-size particles. A number of causes contribute to that effect.
Large area/volume ratio.
A bulk material should have constant physical properties (such as thermal and electrical conductivity, stiffness, density, and viscosity) regardless of its size. However, in a nanoparticle, the volume of the surface layer (the material that is within a few atomic diameters of the surface) becomes a significant fraction of the particle's volume; whereas that fraction is insignificant for particles with diameter of one micrometer or more.
Interfacial layer.
For nanoparticles dispersed in a medium of different composition, the interfacial layer — formed by ions and molecules from the medium that are within a few atomic diameters of the surface of each particle — can mask or change its chemical and physical properties. Indeed, that layer can be considered an integral part of each nanoparticle.
Solvent affinity.
Suspensions of nanoparticles are possible since the interaction of the particle surface with the solvent is strong enough to overcome density differences, which otherwise usually result in a material either sinking or floating in a liquid.
Coatings.
Nanoparticles often develop or receive coatings of other substances, distinct from both the particle's material and of the surrounding medium. Even when only a single molecule thick, these coatings can radically change the particles' properties, such as and chemical reactivity, catalytic activity, and stability in suspension.
Diffusion across the surface.
The high surface area of a material in nanoparticle form allows heat, molecules, and ions to diffuse into or out of the particles at very large rates. The small particle diameter, on the other hand, allows the whole material to reach homogeneous equilibrium with respect to diffusion in a very short time. Thus many processes that depend on diffusion, such as sintering can take place at lower temperatures and over shorter time scales.
Ferromagnetic and ferroelectric effects.
The small size of nanoparticles affects their magnetic and electric properties. For example, while particles of ferromagnetic materials in the micrometer range are widely used in magnetic recording media, for the stability of their magnetization state, those smaller than 10 nm can change their state as the result of thermal energy at ordinary temperatures, thus making them unsuitable for that application.
Mechanical Properties.
The reduced vacancy concentration in nanocrystals can negatively affect the motion of dislocations, since dislocation climb requires vacancy migration. In addition, there exists a very high internal pressure due to the surface stress present in small nanoparticles with high radii of curvature. This causes a lattice strain that is inversely proportional to the size of the particle, also well known to impede dislocation motion, in the same way as it does in the work hardening of materials. For example, gold nanoparticles are significantly harder than the bulk material. Furthermore, the high surface-to-volume ratio in nanoparticles makes dislocations more likely to interact with the particle surface. In particular, this affects the nature of the dislocation source and allows the dislocations to escape the particle before they can multiply, reducing the dislocation density and thus the extent of plastic deformation.
There are unique challenges associated with the measurement of mechanical properties on the nanoscale, as conventional means such as the universal testing machine cannot be employed. As a result, new techniques such as nanoindentation have been developed that complement existing electron microscope and scanning probe methods. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to perform nanoindentation to measure hardness, elastic modulus, and adhesion between nanoparticle and substrate. The particle deformation can be measured by the deflection of the cantilever tip over the sample. The resulting force-displacement curves can be used to calculate elastic modulus. However, it is unclear whether particle size and indentation depth affect the measured elastic modulus of nanoparticles by AFM.
Adhesion and friction forces are important considerations in nanofabrication, lubrication, device design, colloidal stabilization, and drug delivery. The capillary force is the main contributor to the adhesive force under ambient conditions. The adhesion and friction force can be obtained from the cantilever deflection if the AFM tip is regarded as a nanoparticle. However, this method is limited by tip material and geometric shape. The colloidal probe technique overcomes these issues by attaching a nanoparticle to the AFM tip, allowing control over size, shape, and material. While the colloidal probe technique is an effective method for measuring adhesion force, it remains difficult to attach a single nanoparticle smaller than 1 micron onto the AFM force sensor.
Another technique is "in situ" TEM, which provides real-time, high resolution imaging of nanostructure response to a stimulus. For example, an "in situ" force probe holder in TEM was used to compress twinned nanoparticles and characterize yield strength. In general, the measurement of the mechanical properties of nanoparticles is influenced by many factors including uniform dispersion of nanoparticles, precise application of load, minimum particle deformation, calibration, and calculation model.
Like bulk materials, the properties of nanoparticles are materials dependent. For spherical polymer nanoparticles, glass transition temperature and crystallinity may affect deformation and change the elastic modulus when compared to the bulk material. However, size-dependent behavior of elastic moduli could not be generalized across polymers. As for crystalline metal nanoparticles, dislocations were found to influence the mechanical properties of nanoparticles, contradicting the conventional view that dislocations are absent in crystalline nanoparticles.
Melting point depression.
A material may have lower melting point in nanoparticle form than in the bulk form. For example, 2.5 nm gold nanoparticles melt at about 300 °C, whereas bulk gold melts at 1064 °C.
Quantum mechanics effects.
Quantum mechanics effects become noticeable for nanoscale objects. They include quantum confinement in semiconductor particles, localized surface plasmons in some metal particles, and superparamagnetism in magnetic materials. Quantum dots are nanoparticles of semiconducting material that are small enough (typically sub 10 nm or less) to have quantized electronic energy levels.
Quantum effects are responsible for the deep-red to black color of gold or silicon nanopowders and nanoparticle suspensions. Absorption of solar radiation is much higher in materials composed of nanoparticles than in thin films of continuous sheets of material. In both solar PV and solar thermal applications, by controlling the size, shape, and material of the particles, it is possible to control solar absorption.
Core-shell nanoparticles can support simultaneously both electric and magnetic resonances, demonstrating entirely new properties when compared with bare metallic nanoparticles if the resonances are properly engineered. The formation of the core-shell structure from two different metals enables an energy exchange between the core and the shell, typically found in upconverting nanoparticles and downconverting nanoparticles, and causes a shift in the emission wavelength spectrum.
By introducing a dielectric layer, plasmonic core (metal)-shell (dielectric) nanoparticles enhance light absorption by increasing scattering. Recently, the metal core-dielectric shell nanoparticle has demonstrated a zero backward scattering with enhanced forward scattering on a silicon substrate when surface plasmon is located in front of a solar cell.
Regular packing.
Nanoparticles of sufficiently uniform size may spontaneously settle into regular arrangements, forming a colloidal crystal. These arrangements may exhibit original physical properties, such as observed in photonic crystals
Production.
Artificial nanoparticles can be created from any solid or liquid material, including metals, dielectrics, and semiconductors. They may be internally homogeneous or heterogenous, e.g. with a Core–shell structure.
There are several methods for creating nanoparticles, including gas condensation, attrition, chemical precipitation, ion implantation, pyrolysis and hydrothermal synthesis.
Mechanical.
Friable macro- or micro-scale solid particles can be ground in a ball mill, a planetary ball mill, or other size-reducing mechanism until enough of them are in the nanoscale size range. The resulting powder can be air classified to extract the nanoparticles.
Breakdown of biopolymers.
Biopolymers like cellulose, lignin, chitin, or starch may be broken down into their individual nanoscale building blocks, obtaining anisotropic fiber- or needle-like nanoparticles. The biopolymers are disintegrated mechanically in combination with chemical oxidation or enzymatic treatment to promote breakup, or hydrolysed using acid.
Pyrolysis.
Another method to create nanoparticles is to turn a suitable precursor substance, such as a gas or aerosol, into solid particles by combustion or pyrolysis. This is a generalization of the burning of hydrocarbons or other organic vapors to generate soot.
Traditional pyrolysis often results in aggregates and agglomerates rather than single primary particles. This inconvenience can be avoided by ultrasonic nozzle spray pyrolysis, in which the precursor liquid is forced through an orifice at high pressure.
Condensation from plasma.
Nanoparticles of refractory materials, such as silica and other oxides, carbides, and nitrides, can be created by vaporizing the solid with a thermal plasma, which can reach temperatures of 10,000 kelvin, and then condensing the vapor by expansion or quenching in a suitable gas or liquid. The plasma can be produced by dc jet, electric arc, or radio frequency (RF) induction. Metal wires can be vaporized by the exploding wire method.
In RF induction plasma torches, energy coupling to the plasma is accomplished through the electromagnetic field generated by the induction coil. The plasma gas does not come in contact with electrodes, thus eliminating possible sources of contamination and allowing the operation of such plasma torches with a wide range of gases including inert, reducing, oxidizing, and other corrosive atmospheres. The working frequency is typically between 200 kHz and 40 MHz. Laboratory units run at power levels in the order of 30–50 kW, whereas the large-scale industrial units have been tested at power levels up to 1 MW. As the residence time of the injected feed droplets in the plasma is very short, it is important that the droplet sizes are small enough in order to obtain complete evaporation.
Inert gas condensation.
Inert-gas condensation is frequently used to produce metallic nanoparticles. The metal is evaporated in a vacuum chamber containing a reduced atmosphere of an inert gas. Condensation of the supersaturated metal vapor results in creation of nanometer-size particles, which can be entrained in the inert gas stream and deposited on a substrate or studied in situ. Early studies were based on thermal evaporation. Using magnetron sputtering to create the metal vapor allows to achieve higher yields. The method can easily be generalized to alloy nanoparticles by choosing appropriate metallic targets. The use of sequential growth schemes, where the particles travel through a second metallic vapor, results in growth of core-shell (CS) structures.
Radiolysis method.
Nanoparticles can also be formed using radiation chemistry. Radiolysis from gamma rays can create strongly active free radicals in solution. This relatively simple technique uses a minimum number of chemicals. These including water, a soluble metallic salt, a radical scavenger (often a secondary alcohol), and a surfactant (organic capping agent). High gamma doses on the order of 104 Gray are required. In this process, reducing radicals will drop metallic ions down to the zero-valence state. A scavenger chemical will preferentially interact with oxidizing radicals to prevent the re-oxidation of the metal. Once in the zero-valence state, metal atoms begin to coalesce into particles. A chemical surfactant surrounds the particle during formation and regulates its growth. In sufficient concentrations, the surfactant molecules stay attached to the particle. This prevents it from dissociating or forming clusters with other particles. Formation of nanoparticles using the radiolysis method allows for tailoring of particle size and shape by adjusting precursor concentrations and gamma dose.
Wet chemistry.
Nanoparticles of certain materials can be created by "wet" chemical processes, in which solutions of suitable compounds are mixed or otherwise treated to form an insoluble precipitate of the desired material. The size of the particles of the latter is adjusted by choosing the concentration of the reagents and the temperature of the solutions, and through the addition of suitable inert agents that affect the viscosity and diffusion rate of the liquid. With different parameters, the same general process may yield other nanoscale structures of the same material, such as aerogels and other porous networks.
The nanoparticles formed by this method are then separated from the solvent and soluble byproducts of the reaction by a combination of evaporation, sedimentation, centrifugation, washing, and filtration.
Alternatively, if the particles are meant to be deposited on the surface of some solid substrate, the starting solutions can be by coated on that surface by dipping or spin-coating, and the reaction can be carried out in place.
The suspension of nanoparticles that result from this process is an example of colloid. Typical instances of this method are the production of metal oxide or hydroxide nanoparticles by hydrolysis of metal alkoxides and chlorides.
Besides being cheap and convenient, the wet chemical approach allows fine control of the particle's chemical composition. Even small quantities of dopants, such as organic dyes and rare earth metals, can be introduced in the reagent solutions end up uniformly dispersed in the final product.
Ion implantation.
Ion implantation may be used to treat the surfaces of dielectric materials such as sapphire and silica to make composites with near-surface dispersions of metal or oxide nanoparticles.
Functionalization.
Many properties of nanoparticles, notably stability, solubility, and chemical or biological activity, can be radically altered by coating them with various substances — a process called functionalization. Functionalized nanomaterial-based catalysts can be used for catalysis of many known organic reactions.
For example, suspensions of graphene particles can be stabilized by functionalization with gallic acid groups.
For biological applications, the surface coating should be polar to give high aqueous solubility and prevent nanoparticle aggregation. In serum or on the cell surface, highly charged coatings promote non-specific binding, whereas polyethylene glycol linked to terminal hydroxyl or methoxy groups repel non-specific interactions.
Nanoparticles can be linked to biological molecules that can act as address tags, directing them to specific sites within the body specific organelles within the cell, or causing them to follow specifically the movement of individual protein or RNA molecules in living cells. Common address tags are monoclonal antibodies, aptamers, streptavidin or peptides. These targeting agents should ideally be covalently linked to the nanoparticle and should be present in a controlled number per nanoparticle. Multivalent nanoparticles, bearing multiple targeting groups, can cluster receptors, which can activate cellular signaling pathways, and give stronger anchoring. Monovalent nanoparticles, bearing a single binding site, avoid clustering and so are preferable for tracking the behavior of individual proteins.
It has been shown that catalytic activity and sintering rates of a functionalized nanoparticle catalyst is correlated to nanoparticles' number density
Coatings that mimic those of red blood cells can help nanoparticles evade the immune system.
Uniformity requirements.
The chemical processing and synthesis of high-performance technological components for the private, industrial, and military sectors requires the use of high-purity ceramics (oxide ceramics, such as aluminium oxide or copper(II) oxide), polymers, glass-ceramics, and composite materials, as metal carbides (SiC), nitrides (Aluminum nitrides, Silicon nitride), metals (Al, Cu), non-metals (graphite, carbon nanotubes) and layered (Al + Aluminium carbonate, Cu + C). In condensed bodies formed from fine powders, the irregular particle sizes and shapes in a typical powder often lead to non-uniform packing morphologies that result in packing density variations in the powder compact.
Uncontrolled agglomeration of powders due to attractive van der Waals forces can also give rise to microstructural heterogeneity. Differential stresses that develop as a result of non-uniform drying shrinkage are directly related to the rate at which the solvent can be removed, and thus highly dependent upon the distribution of porosity. Such stresses have been associated with a plastic-to-brittle transition in consolidated bodies, and can yield to crack propagation in the unfired body if not relieved.
In addition, any fluctuations in packing density in the compact as it is prepared for the kiln are often amplified during the sintering process, yielding inhomogeneous densification. Some pores and other structural defects associated with density variations have been shown to play a detrimental role in the sintering process by growing and thus limiting end-point densities. Differential stresses arising from inhomogeneous densification have also been shown to result in the propagation of internal cracks, thus becoming the strength-controlling flaws.
Inert gas evaporation and inert gas deposition are free many of these defects due to the distillation (cf. purification) nature of the process and having enough time to form single crystal particles, however even their non-aggreated deposits have lognormal size distribution, which is typical with nanoparticles. The reason why modern gas evaporation techniques can produce a relatively narrow size distribution is that aggregation can be avoided. However, even in this case, random residence times in the growth zone, due to the combination of drift and diffusion, result in a size distribution appearing lognormal.
It would, therefore, appear desirable to process a material in such a way that it is physically uniform with regard to the distribution of components and porosity, rather than using particle size distributions that will maximize the green density. The containment of a uniformly dispersed assembly of strongly interacting particles in suspension requires total control over interparticle forces. Monodisperse nanoparticles and colloids provide this potential.
Characterization.
Nanoparticles have different analytical requirements than conventional chemicals, for which chemical composition and concentration are sufficient metrics. Nanoparticles have other physical properties that must be measured for a complete description, such as size, shape, surface properties, crystallinity, and dispersion state. Additionally, sampling and laboratory procedures can perturb their dispersion state or bias the distribution of other properties. In environmental contexts, an additional challenge is that many methods cannot detect low concentrations of nanoparticles that may still have an adverse effect. For some applications, nanoparticles may be characterized in complex matrices such as water, soil, food, polymers, inks, complex mixtures of organic liquids such as in cosmetics, or blood.
There are several overall categories of methods used to characterize nanoparticles. Microscopy methods generate images of individual nanoparticles to characterize their shape, size, and location. Electron microscopy and scanning probe microscopy are the dominant methods. Because nanoparticles have a size below the diffraction limit of visible light, conventional optical microscopy is not useful. Electron microscopes can be coupled to spectroscopic methods that can perform elemental analysis. Microscopy methods are destructive and can be prone to undesirable artifacts from sample preparation, or from probe tip geometry in the case of scanning probe microscopy. Additionally, microscopy is based on single-particle measurements, meaning that large numbers of individual particles must be characterized to estimate their bulk properties.
Spectroscopy, which measures the particles' interaction with electromagnetic radiation as a function of wavelength, is useful for some classes of nanoparticles to characterize concentration, size, and shape. X-ray, ultraviolet–visible, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used with nanoparticles. Light scattering methods using laser light, X-rays, or neutron scattering are used to determine particle size, with each method suitable for different size ranges and particle compositions. Some miscellaneous methods are electrophoresis for surface charge, the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method for surface area, and X-ray diffraction for crystal structure, as well as mass spectrometry for particle mass, and particle counters for particle number. Chromatography, centrifugation, and filtration techniques can be used to separate nanoparticles by size or other physical properties before or during characterization.
Health and safety.
Nanoparticles present possible dangers, both medically and environmentally.
 Most of these are due to the high surface to volume ratio, which can make the particles very reactive or catalytic. They are also thought to aggregate on phospholipid bilayers and pass through cell membranes in organisms, and their interactions with biological systems are relatively unknown. However, it is unlikely the particles would enter the cell nucleus, Golgi complex, endoplasmic reticulum or other internal cellular components due to the particle size and intercellular agglomeration. A recent study looking at the effects of ZnO nanoparticles on human immune cells has found varying levels of susceptibility to cytotoxicity. There are concerns that pharmaceutical companies, seeking regulatory approval for nano-reformulations of existing medicines, are relying on safety data produced during clinical studies of the earlier, pre-reformulation version of the medicine. This could result in regulatory bodies, such as the FDA, missing new side effects that are specific to the nano-reformulation. However considerable research has demonstrated that zinc nanoparticles are not absorbed into the bloodstream in vivo.
Concern has also been raised over the health effects of respirable nanoparticles from certain combustion processes. Preclinical investigations have demonstrated that some inhaled or injected noble metal nano-architectures avoid persistence in organisms. As of 2013 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was investigating the safety of the following nanoparticles:
Regulation.
As of 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had conditionally registered, for a period of four years, only two nanomaterial pesticides as ingredients. The EPA differentiates nanoscale ingredients from non-nanoscale forms of the ingredient, but there is little scientific data about potential variation in toxicity. Testing protocols still need to be developed.
Applications.
As the most prevalent morphology of nanomaterials used in consumer products, nanoparticles have an enormous range of potential and actual applications. Table below summarizes the most common nanoparticles used in various product types available on the global markets.
Clay nanoparticles, when incorporated into polymer matrices, increase reinforcement, leading to stronger plastics, verifiable by a higher glass transition temperature and other mechanical property tests. These nanoparticles are hard, and impart their properties to the polymer (plastic). Nanoparticles have also been attached to textile fibers in order to create smart and functional clothing.
The inclusion of nanoparticles in a solid or liquid medium can substantially change its mechanical properties, such as elasticity, plasticity, viscosity, compressibility.
Being smaller than the wavelengths of visible light, nanoparticles can be dispersed in transparent media without affecting its transparency at those wavelengths. This property is exploited in many applications, such as photocatalysis.
Nanoscale particles are used in biomedical applications as drug carriers or imaging contrast agents.
Scientific research on nanoparticles is intense as they have many potential applications in medicine, physics, optics, and electronics. The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative offers government funding focused on nanoparticle research.|The use of nanoparticles in laser dye-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) laser gain media was demonstrated in 2003 and it has been shown to improve conversion efficiencies and to decrease laser beam divergence. Researchers attribute the reduction in beam divergence to improved dn/dT characteristics of the organic-inorganic dye-doped nanocomposite. The optimum composition reported by these researchers is 30% w/w of SiO2 (~ 12 nm) in dye-doped PMMA.|Nanoparticles are being investigated as potential drug delivery system. Drugs, growth factors or other biomolecules can be conjugated to nano particles to aid targeted delivery. This nanoparticle-assisted delivery allows for spatial and temporal controls of the loaded drugs to achieve the most desirable biological outcome. Nanoparticles are also studied for possible applications as dietary supplements for delivery of biologically active substances, for example mineral elements. Bitumen modification through clay and fumed silica nanoparticles can be considered as an interesting low-cost technique in asphalt pavement engineering providing novel perspectives in making asphalt materials more durable.
Nanoparticles have been found to impart some extra properties to various day to day products. For example, the presence of titanium dioxide nanoparticles imparts what is known as the self-cleaning effect, which lend useful water-repellant and antibacterial properties to paints and other products. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have been found to have superior UV blocking properties and are widely used in the preparation of sunscreen lotions, being completely photostable though toxic.


Medical News Schering

Medical News Schering (German: Medizinische Mitteilungen Schering) was a medical journal published by the medical research division of the pharmaceutical company Schering AG (now Bayer) from 1929 to 1980.
It was originally published in German under the title "Medizinische Mitteilungen" from 1929 to 1971, and under the title "Medizinische Mitteilungen Schering" from 1972 to 1980. From 1957 it was also published in English under the title "Medical News" and later as "Medical News Schering". The German version appeared biannually, the English version with irregular frequency. It was distributed free of charge to doctors, and thus had a significant readership and influence in central Europe in the early and mid 20th century. It has been described as an early and influential example of pharmaceutical companies publishing their own medical journals to give greater scientific legitimacy to their products. The journal mainly published articles on pharmacology and drug development, but also articles on more general medical topics and the history of medicine.
The journal is partially indexed in MEDLINE/PubMed.


Henri Begleiter

Henri Begleiter (September 11, 1935 in Nimes, France – April 6, 2006 in Long Island, NY) was a neurophysiologist and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry
and Neuroscience at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. He was a leader in the nascent field of biomedical alcohol research in the
1970s, postulating alcoholism as a brain disorder. He founded and headed the world-renowned Neurodynamics Laboratory at SUNY Downstate Medical
Center, Brooklyn, which has been renamed in 2007 into the 'Henri Begleiter Neurodynamics Laboratory'.
The highlights of Begleiter’s career include the ground breaking finding published in Science that some neurophysiological anomalies in alcoholics were
already present in their young offspring before any exposure to alcohol and drugs. These seminal findings led Henri to propose a model that changed
the thinking in the field: namely, that rather than being a consequence of alcoholism, this underlying neural hyperexcitability was a predisposing
factor leading to the development of alcoholism and related disorders. This innovative study was replicated throughout the world and launched him on
a systematic search to elucidate the genetic vulnerability underlying a predisposition toward alcoholism and related disorders.
In 1990, with his foresight and charismatic leadership, Henri Begleiter was instrumental in assembling scientists in various domains to organize the
large Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism — COGA, which he has led since its inception. Under his leadership, with a strong
emphasis on novel approaches such as using brain oscillations as endophenotypes, COGA has successfully identified several genes involved in the
predisposition to develop alcoholism and related disorders, and this approach is still state-of-the-art today.


Clinical research center

The term "Clinical research center" (CRC) or "General clinical research center" (GCRC) refers to any designated medical facility used to conduct clinical research, such as at a hospital or medical clinic. They have been used to perform clinical trials of various medical procedures. The medical profession has had specific uses for CRC facilities, including awarding grants to support various types of research.
For example, the U.S. National Institutes of Health had, for years, issued GCRC grants, but later changed to awarding a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). Many hospitals or clinics have included a wing, ward, or other area titled as "Clinical Research Center" (with capitalized words).
Some examples of CRC facilities are:


National Network to End the War Against Iraq

The National Network to End the War Against Iraq (NNEWAI) (2001–2004) was the first formal coalition in the United States founded specifically to oppose the policy of economic sanctions and ongoing bombing of targets inside Iraq.
History.
The Network was founded in February 2001 at the Second National Organizing Conference on Iraq, held in Denver, Colorado and hosted by the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace. The first National Organizing Conference on Iraq had been held in October 1999 at Ann Arbor, Michigan, where proposals for the formation of the Network had produced ambiguous results. Subsequent national organizing conferences on Iraq were held in 2002 (Palo Alto, California), 2003 (College Park, Maryland) and 2004 (Bloomington, Indiana). After the 2003 conference, held during the US invasion of Iraq, the Network's name was officially changed to the National Grassroots Peace Network (NGPN), but the new name never gained much currency.
During its three and a half year history, the Network grew from around 70 to over 350 member organizations in 48 states. During each year of its existence, the Network co-ordinated nationwide protests, vigils and other actions conducted locally by member groups. The Network supported the global day of protest against the impending invasion of Iraq on February 15, 2003, the largest protest action in history. On February 15, 2004, the Network independently organized a Vigil for Peace in 120 cities in a dozen countries.
Mission: Opposition to Sanctions.
The primary cause that brought Network members together was the humanitarian crisis in Iraq resulting from the trade embargo imposed through the United Nations at the urging of the United States and the United Kingdom. Network members were appalled at studies by UNICEF and other UN agencies that showed that the combined effects of the 1991 bombing campaign and sanctions had led to as many as 1.5 million additional Iraqi deaths by 1995, including more than 500,000 children.
Organizing Philosophy.
Tensions between local member groups and existing national organizations existed within the Network throughout its existence. The Network represents one in a long line of efforts to build a grassroots, "bottom-up" structure of organization to operate within the peace movement. This left the Network with a weak center. While the emergence of half a dozen or more national coalitions opposing the US invasion and occupation of Iraq from late 2002 may have made the Network's continuation impossible, the Network's collapse in late 2004 was primarily due to the inability of member groups to agree on a fundraising strategy to sustain the national office, or whether to pursue incorporation.


Hugo Salmson

Hugo Fredrik Salmson (7 July 1843 - 1 August 1894) was a Swedish painter; known for figures and genre scenes.
Biography.
Salmson was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the son of Fredrik Ludvig Salmson and Maria Perlberg.
His father was a wholesaler. He initially studied business, but soon decided on an artistic career. In 1862, he began his studies at the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts where he was trained by Johan Christoffer Boklund. His painting of Sten Sture the Younger meeting Gustav Trolle in Uppsala Cathedral (1867) won him a Royal Medal and a travelling scholarship.
In 1868, he went to Paris, via Düsseldorf. The classes taught by Léon Bonnat and Alexandre Cabanel had no vacancies, so he took private lessons from Pierre-Charles Comte.
He had his début at the Salon in 1870 with a genre scene of a cottage in Dalarna titled "Révélation". During the Franco-Prussian War, he lived and worked in Brussels. He maintained a studio in Paris until the early 1880s and often visited Picardy. From 1883, Salmson usually spent the summers at Dalby in Skåne.
Upon returning to Sweden, he became a member of the Royal Academy and gave lessons to Prince Eugen, but later joined a group opposed to the Academy's teaching methods ("Opponenterna"). In addition to the Paris Salon, he participated in a number of the Academy's exhibitions in Stockholm in (1886–1888), the World Exhibition in (1878), the Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris, the Nordic Exhibition of 1888 in Copenhagen, Forers exhibition at Charlottenborg Palace (1879), the Art Exhibition in Gothenburg (1881), as well as Swedish Association of Artists' Exhibitions at Stockholm and Gothenburg in (1886).
During his last years, Salmson mainly painted portraits in oil or pastel. He was frequently reclusive, uncommunicative and suffered from depression. He died during 1894 while staying at a hotel in Lund.
Salmson is represented at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Gothenburg Art Museum, Malmö Art Museum, Prince Eugens Waldemarsudde, Lund University, Musée de Picardie, Musée d'Orsay, Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, Bergen City Museum and Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C.


Stephen Kuffler

Stephen William Kuffler (August 24 Táp, Austria-Hungary, 1913 – October 11, 1980) was a pre-eminent Hungarian-American neurophysiologist. He is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Neuroscience". Kuffler, alongside noted Nobel Laureates Sir John Eccles and Sir Bernard Katz gave research lectures at the University of Sydney, strongly influencing its intellectual environment while working at Sydney Hospital. He founded the Harvard Neurobiology department in 1966, and made numerous seminal contributions to our understanding of vision, neural coding, and the neural implementation of behavior. He is known for his research on neuromuscular junctions in frogs, presynaptic inhibition, and the neurotransmitter GABA. In 1972, he was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University.
Honors and awards.
Kuffler was widely recognized as a truly original and creative neuroscientist. In addition to numerous prizes, honorary degrees, and special lectureships from countries over the world, Steve was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1964 and to the Royal Society as Foreign Member in 1971. In 1964 he was named the Robert Winthrop professor of neurophysiology and neuropharmacology. From 1966 to 1974 he was the Robert Winthrop professor of neurobiology, and in 1974 he became John Franklin Enders university professor.
A detailed, affectionate, and authoritative account of Stephen Kuffler's life and work has been provided by Sir Bernard Katz ("Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society", vol. 28, pp. 225–59, 1982) and in a book entitled "Steve, Remembrances of Stephen W. Kuffler, compiled and introduced by U. J. McMahan" (Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates, 1990). An account of Kuffler's work is given by Eric R. Kandel, "In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind" (New York: Norton, 2006), stating: 'I don't think anyone on the American scene since then has been as influential or as beloved as Steve Kuffler.'


Ruth Parriott

Ruth Parriott is an American CEO of the Twin Cities Medical Society. Prior to her appointment she was a representative of the American Cancer Society's Tobacco Tax Policy Project and held positions at the Neighborhood Health Care Network and The Minneapolis Foundation. She is a graduate of Hamline University and the University of Minnesota.


Suhayl ibn Amr

Suhayl ibn Amr (), also known as Abu Yazid, was a contemporary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a prominent leader among the Quraysh of Mecca. Clever and articulate, he was known as the "Khatib" or orator of the tribe, and his opinion carried great weight among them.
Family.
He was the son of Amr ibn Abd Shams, of the Amir ibn Luayy clan, and Uzza bint Sufyan, from the Umayya clan, both of the Quraysh tribe. He had four half-brothers.
Suhayl is described as a tall, fair-skinned, handsome man of pleasant appearance, though he had a cleft lower lip.
He married three times and had several children.
Early Islam.
Suhayl was one of the elders of Mecca in the earliest days of Islam. He was among those tasked with feeding the pilgrims.
He was one of the leaders who refused to protect Muhammad on his return from Ta'if in 620, saying, "Amir ibn Luayy do not give protection against the clans of Kaab," the latter being the majority of the Quraysh.
In 622 the Quraysh heard that some pilgrims from Medina had met with Muhammad at Aqaba and pledged to fight them. Suhayl and some others pursued the Medinans and captured one of their leaders, Sa'd ibn Ubadah. They tied his hands to his neck with his own belt and dragged him by the hair back to Mecca, beating him as they went. Sa'd said that he expected Suhayl to treat him well, but Suhayl delivered "a violent blow in the face". However, when Sa'd called for help, the Quraysh realised he had allies in Mecca and they let him go.
In 624 Suhayl and his son Abdullah set out with the Quraysh army to meet Abu Sufyan's caravan. When they reached Badr, where Muhammad's army was waiting, Abdullah deserted the Quraysh and joined the Muslim side for the Battle of Badr. Suhayl was among those captured and taken prisoner at the battle. Umar offered to knock out his two front teeth so that "his tongue will stick out and he will never be able to speak against you again;" but Muhammad would not allow it. Suhayl was brought to Medina with his hands roped to his neck. He was brought to the house of his former sister-in-law, Sawda, who recalled: "I could hardly contain myself when I saw Abu Yazid in this state and I said, 'O Abu Yazid, you surrendered too readily! You ought to have died a noble death!'" forgetting that he had been fighting on the side of her opponents. In due course Mikraz ibn Hafs ibn al-Akhyaf came to negotiate Suhayl's ransom, which Muhammad agreed to take in camels. Since Mikraz did not have the animals with him, he remained in Medina as security while Suhayl returned to Mecca to arrange the payment.
Suhayl was instrumental in concluding the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in 628. He insisted that the treaty be signed from the Muslim side as Muhammad, son of Abdullah (Muhammad ibn Abdullah) rather than the Prophet Muhammad, saying that the Qurayshi side did not accept his prophethood. Before the writing-up was finished, Suhayl's son Abu Jandal appeared, saying he was a Muslim and wanted to go to Medina. Suhayl slapped his face and reminded Muhammad that they had just agreed that no Meccans would be allowed to desert to Medina. Muhammad concurred, and Abu Jandal had to return to Mecca. Umar walked beside him, offering a sword, which he hoped Abu Jandal would use to kill his father; but Abu Jandal did not take it.
Conversion to Islam.
Suhayl joined Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl in Mecca's final resistance against Muhammad at Khandama Pass. However, the resistance was flattened by Khalid ibn al-Walid's cavalry. When Muhammad entered Mecca as conqueror, Suhayl converted to Islam along with everyone else. Muhammad gave him a gift of a hundred camels "to win over his heart".
He calmed the Muslims in Mecca after the death of Muhammad.
He participated in the battle of Yarmuk alongside the Muslims.
Death.
He died in 639 from the plague epidemic in Imwas, a small village near Jerusalem in Palestine.


Augustine Baker

Fr. Augustine Baker OSB (9 December 1575 – 9 August 1641), also sometimes known as "Fr. Austin Baker", was a well-known Benedictine mystic and an ascetic writer. He was one of the earliest members of the English Benedictine Congregation which was newly restored to England after the Reformation.
Early life.
Augustine Baker was born David Baker at Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, on 9 December 1575. His father was William Baker, steward to Baron Abergavenny, and his mother was a daughter of Lewis ap John (alias Wallis), vicar of Abergavenny. His parents were "church papists" , meaning that although outwardly they conformed to Anglican worship, they remained Catholic by conviction.
He was educated at Christ's Hospital and at Broadgate's Hall, now Pembroke College, Oxford, afterwards becoming a member of Clifford's Inn, and later of the Middle Temple. In 1598 he was made Recorder of Abergavenny.
Conversion.
At Oxford he lost his faith in the existence of God, but after some years, being in extreme peril of death, he escaped by what appeared to him a miracle. Following this, he was led to the threshold of the Catholic Church, and was received into its fold.
Career.
In 1605 he joined the Benedictine Order at the Abbey of Santa Giustina, taking the religious name "Augustine", but ill health obliged him to postpone his religious profession, and he returned home to find his father on the point of death. Having reconciled him to the Catholic Church and assisted him in his last moments, Baker hastened to settle his own worldly affairs and to return to the cloister. He was professed by the Italian Fathers in England as a member of the Cassinese Congregation, but subsequently aggregated to the English Congregation.
At the desire of his superiors he now devoted his time and the ample means which he had inherited, to investigating and refuting the recently started error that the ancient Benedictine congregation in England was dependent on that of Cluny, founded in 910. He used the Cottonian Library, which contained many works from Benedictine monasteries in England, placed at his disposal. In collaboration with Father Jones and Father Clement Reyner he wrote up his research in "Apostolatus Benedictorum in Anglia". At Sir Robert Cotton's, Baker came in contact with the antiquary William Camden and with other learned men of his day.
In 1624 he was sent to the newly established convent of Benedictine nuns at Cambrai (today succeeded by the community at Stanbrook Abbey) in Flanders, not as chaplain, but to aid in forming the spiritual character of the religious. Here he remained for about nine years, during which time he wrote many of his mystical treatises, an abstract of which is contained in the valuable work "Sancta Sophia" (1657) compiled by Father Serenus Cressy. Some of the transcriptions of his works by the Cambrai nun Dame Barbara Constable are the only known copies. In 1633 he removed to Douai, where he wrote his long treatise on the English mission. The English Benedictine Congregation investigated the use of Baker's ideas at the convent in Cambrai. Catherine Gascoigne, the abbess, and Gertrude More, the founder, stepped up in his defence and no further action was taken.
In 1655 the English Benedictine Congregation moved again to try and censure the use of Augustine Baker's approach. Gascoigne refused to cooperate and would not send them the papers they required for the investigation. She threatened that she would leave the EBC if they insisted on her cooperation. The investigation ceased.
During his short stay in London, Baker was frequently forced to change where he stayed in order to avoid those tracking him.
Death.
Baker died from the bubonic plague in London at the age of 65. He was buried at St Andrew's in Holborn.
Legacy.
Of more than thirty treatises chiefly on spiritual matters written by Baker, many are to be found in manuscript at Downside Abbey, Ampleforth Abbey, Stanbrook Abbey, and other Benedictine monasteries in England.
Abbot Justin McCann, former Master of St Benet's Hall, Oxford and titular Abbot of Westminster from 1947, was an interpreter of Baker.


Giovanni Andrea Biscaino

Giovanni Andrea Biscaino was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, described by the "Grove Dictionary of Art" as a "mediocre landscape painter". He was born in Genoa. He was the father and teacher of the painter, etcher and draughtsman Bartolomeo Biscaino. He died at Genoa of the plague in 1657.


Journal of Emergency Nursing

The Journal of Emergency Nursing is the official peer-reviewed journal of the Emergency Nurses Association, covering emergency nursing. It is published on behalf of the association by Elsevier and was established in 1983. The journal is abstracted and indexed in CINAHL, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Scopus. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2013 impact factor of 1.131.


Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (a.k.a. JPET) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering pharmacology. It has been published since 1909 by the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). The journal publishes mainly original research articles, and accepts papers covering all aspects of the interactions of chemicals with biological systems.
John Jacob Abel founded ASPET in December 1908 when he invited 18 pharmacologists to his laboratory in order to organize a new society. At the end of the meeting Abel announced the establishment of JPET.
According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal received a 2016 impact factor of 3.867.
In 2017, it was announced that the entirety of the journal would be indexed in Meta.


Biometrics (journal)

Biometrics is a journal that publishes articles on the application of statistics and mathematics to the biological sciences. It is published by the International Biometric Society (IBS).
Originally published in 1945 under the title "Biometrics Bulletin", the journal adopted the shorter title in 1947. A notable contributor to the journal was R.A. Fisher, for whom a memorial edition was published in 1964. In a survey of statistics researchers' opinions, it was ranked fifth overall among 40 statistics journals, and it was second only to the "Journal of the American Statistical Association" in the ranking provided by biometrics specialists.


U.S. Fund for UNICEF

The U.S. Fund for UNICEF, doing business as UNICEF USA, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) in the United States that supports the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Founded in 1947 by Helenka Pantaleoni, it is the oldest of the 36 UNICEF National Committees that support UNICEF worldwide through fundraising, advocacy and education. Since its inception, the U.S. Fund has provided UNICEF and various NGOs with $6.3 billion in cash and gifts-in-kind.
Campaigns.
UNICEF USA administers the long-running Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign, which began as a local fundraising event in Pennsylvania in 1950 and has since raised more than US$170 million to support UNICEF's work. The U.S. Fund also sponsors the UNICEF Tap Project, which provides children around the world with access to safe, clean water.
Leadership.
The President and CEO of UNICEF USA is Michael J. Nyenhuis. Current members of the National Board of Directors are Andrew D. Beer, Robert T. Brown, Daniel J. Brutto, Nelson Chai, Gary M. Cohen, Mary Callahan Erdoes, Pamela Fiori, Dolores Rice Gahan, Sarah Godlewski, Mindy Grossman, Hilary Gumbel, Vincent John Hemmer, John A. Herrmann Jr., Franklin Hobbs, Peter Lamm (Chair), Barrie Landry, Téa Leoni, Bob Manoukian, Dikembe Mutombo, Anthony Pantaleoni, Henry Schleiff, Caryl M. Stern, Bernard Taylor, and Sherrie Rollins Westin.
Headquarters and offices.
The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is headquartered in Manhattan in New York City and maintains regional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
Finances.
UNICEF USA carries Charity Navigator's 3-Star (Good) financial standards rating for charities. Out of every dollar spent, 89 cents goes toward helping children. 8 cents is spent on fundraising costs, and 3 cents on administration.
Cards and gifts.
The first UNICEF greeting card was created in 1949, the design featuring a "thank you picture" by a seven-year-old girl whose village in Czechoslovakia received emergency assistance from UNICEF. The card launched a worldwide fundraising activity that continues to provide a significant source of revenue to UNICEF. The U.S. Fund makes UNICEF greeting cards and gifts available in the United States through the UNICEF Market website.
The U.S. Fund also supports UNICEF with UNICEF Inspired Gifts. Through this program, individuals can purchase lifesaving supplies for children such as therapeutic milk or anti-malarial mosquito nets and have them shipped to one of the over 150 countries and territories in which UNICEF works.
UNICEF Ambassadors.
UNICEF USA has a long history of support from its celebrity ambassadors and high-profile supporters who play a significant role in promoting UNICEF and advocating and fundraising on its behalf. Current UNICEF USA Ambassadors include Katy Perry, Laurence Fishburne, Selena Gomez, Dayle Haddon, Angie Harmon, Téa Leoni, Lucy Liu, Joel Madden, Alyssa Milano, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marcus Samuelsson, Tyson Chandler and Vern Yip.


Mary Louise Day

Mary Louise Day (born February 19, 1968) is a teenaged girl who mysteriously disappeared from her home in Seaside, California in 1981.
Childhood.
Day was born in Little Falls, New York on February 19, 1968 to her mother, Charlotte (Pressler) Day and her father, Charles Day. She was the oldest to her two sisters, Kathy and Sherrie. Day and her two sisters did not have an easy childhood. They were constantly in and out of a foster home since their mother couldn't care for them in their early years.
At some point while the girls were in foster care, Charlotte divorced from Charles and married a man named William Houle. Houle enlisted in the United States Army and Charlotte managed to regain custody of Mary and Kathy in 1976 and permanently took them out of foster care. The family moved to Hawaii due to Houle's status in the army in 1978.
By this time, Sherrie was legally adopted by her foster family, separating her from her two sisters. Charlotte gave birth to two more children, Billie Jean and William Jr. Charles Day was killed in an accident sometime afterwards and left an inheritance to Mary and Kathy. They would discuss it as their escape plan and used the code word "Mohawk" when discussing it.
In December 1980, Mary was removed from her mother and stepfather's care and taken into protective custody. It was discovered that William was physically abusing Mary. The family was still living in Hawaii at the time of the alleged abuse. The family then moved to Seaside, California, following a change in William's base. Mary was left in protective custody in Hawaii as a result.
A few months later, Mary was taken out of protective custody and sent to live with the rest of her family in California. When Mary was in Seaside, she frequently attempted to run away from her home but would always be brought back.
Disappearance.
At some point in July 1981, Mary mysteriously disappeared from her home in California. Her parents did not report her missing and almost no one besides her family knew she was gone. In 1994, Sherrie Calgaro filed a missing persons report but by then 13 years had passed and an investigation did not start at the time. Mary's photograph and information was sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children afterwards. They created an age-progressed image of how Mary might look at age 31 in 1999.
Sherrie spoke to police regarding Mary's troubled life before her disappearance such as their time in foster care. An official investigation into Mary Day's disappearance was opened in 2002, investigators found no trace of Mary after 1981. Her family were the only ones who knew about her disappearance. Their neighbors could barely recall the family and they certainly did not remember Mary. She wasn't enrolled in school while living in the Seaside area either.
According to Kathy, Mary went missing one night in 1981. She and Mary were left home while William, Charlotte, and the other two children went out to dinner. When they returned, William's beloved dog became sick and appeared to be dying in the kitchen area. He was extremely angry and immediately accused Mary of poisoning the dog, and he began to beat Mary. During a 2003 interview, Kathy says William began to yell, which caused fear in her and all hell broke loose. She said she remembers the fight between Mary and William and could recall Mary yelling. Kathy says the last time she saw Mary, who had blood coming out of her mouth. She never saw her sister again after that.
The next morning, Kathy said Mary was gone without a trace. When she asked her mother what happened to Mary, Charlotte said Mary ran away and to never mention her name again. Her existence began to fade and it almost seemed as though Mary Day never actually lived there. After Mary went missing, the family moved to New York where Sherrie visited. She noticed Mary wasn't with them and asked Charlotte where she was. Charlotte again said Mary was a runaway. When she attempted to ask Kathy about it, Kathy said they weren't allowed to speak about Mary. Sherrie told police she remembered her mother talking about hiding bodies in California and that there were certain places one could hide one and it would never be found. She began to believe her sister was murdered.
Investigation.
After interviewing Kathy and Sherrie, investigators also began to believe Mary was murdered in 1981. In addition to Kathy and Sherrie, investigators were able to track Charlotte and William Houle down to Kansas and have them interviewed by local police about Mary. Charlotte seemed to not remember many of the facts regarding her missing daughter. She said the last time she saw her daughter was in 1981 when she ran away and admitted she and William should have taken steps to actually try and locate her after her initial disappearance. She even said that she thought William filed a runaway report with the Salinas Police department, but there's no record of anyone reporting her missing until 1994.
It is possible that Charlotte and William chose to not report their daughter missing because they were cashing her Social Security benefits at the time of her disappearance. However, investigators and Mary's siblings thought they were hiding something sinister about Mary's disappearance. Charlotte even said in her interview, "If she’s dead, she’s dead." Police also questioned William Houle about the case. He initially claimed that he was checking each bedroom and noticed Mary had disappeared from the house. He said he and Charlotte panicked and contacted police. This was incorrect, however, and William would later admit to beating Mary on the night she was last seen. He said he was extremely angry over what happened to his dog and viciously beat her. He said that Mary attempted to leave the house and that he used a martial arts technique to try and subdue her. It was a choking type technique and he might have hit her throat.
The next morning after Mary went missing, Charlotte told William she saw "Satan" in his eyes that night. It was like he was possessed by a demon. When asked if he could have killed Mary, he said no. He was additionally asked if the demon inside of him could have killed her and he said yes. Kathy told investigators that shortly after Mary went missing, William told the children to not go in a specific corner of the homes backyard. Investigators brought her back to the old home in 2003 and she directed them to the spot. Cadaver dogs were brought in and they detected the scent of human remains in the area. When police dug, they found a small child's shoe. The shoe appeared to be a tennis shoe of some type and Kathy said they wore that type of footwear.
Investigators felt they had something and began to compile a homicide case against Mary's parents. Before any actions were taken, a break in the case came after a traffic stop in the state of Arizona. This break brought more questions than answers in Mary’s missing persons case.
Reappearance.
On November 25, 2003, a routine traffic stop likely cracked the whole mystery. The stop showed the pickup truck had stolen plates and police ran the IDs of the passengers. One of the passengers was a woman named Mary Day. She showed an Arizona state identification card that bore the name, date of birth, and total statistics that the missing Mary had. When interviewed, the woman who is dubbed commonly as "Phoenix Mary" claimed she ran away from her home to avoid abuse from Charlotte and William Houle. Investigators were skeptical as to her accounts. They noticed Mary had a thick southern accent which was odd since Mary did not have such an accent when she was a child. Police also discovered the Arizona ID had been issued 3 weeks before she was arrested in November; this was when the homicide investigation was ongoing.
Investigators initially theorized she was an imposter and wanted to prove she was lying about who she was. The DNA proved that the woman was a biological child of Charlotte Houle and the mystery was solved. The DNA results closed the investigation into Mary's disappearance and her two sisters invited her to live with them in North Carolina. Despite the match, her two sisters had doubts of her true identity due to her southern accent. Sherrie also noticed that the woman's magazines were shipped to the name "Monica Devereaux". Kathy did not believe the woman since she didn't remember much from her childhood, including the inheritance and the codeword "Mohawk".
This woman died in 2017 and there was no funeral.


Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March

Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster, 8th Baron Mortimer (6 November 139118 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive to King Richard II of England, his paternal first cousin twice removed and maternal half great-uncle, when Richard II was deposed in favour of Henry IV. Edmund Mortimer's claim to the throne was the basis of rebellions and plots against Henry IV and his son Henry V, and was later taken up by the House of York in the Wars of the Roses, though Mortimer himself was an important and loyal vassal of Henry V and Henry VI. Edmund was the last Earl of March of the Mortimer family.
Early life.
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, was born at New Forest, Westmeath, one of his family's Irish estates, on 6 November 1391, the son of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, and Eleanor Holland. He had a younger brother, Roger (1393c. 1413), and two sisters: Anne, who married Richard, Earl of Cambridge, younger son of the Duke of York (executed 1415), and Eleanor, who married Sir Edward de Courtenay (d. 1418), and had no issue.
Edmund Mortimer's mother was the daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, and Alice FitzAlan. Thomas Holland's mother, Joan of Kent, a granddaughter of Edward I, was the mother of Richard II by her second marriage; Alice Fitzalan was the daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 3rd Earl of Arundel, and his second wife, Eleanor, daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, grandson of King Henry III.
Edmund Mortimer was thus a descendant of Henry III and Edward I and a half-great-nephew of Richard II through his mother, and more importantly a descendant of King Edward III through his paternal grandmother Philippa of Clarence, only child of King Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence. Because King Richard II had no issue, Edmund's father, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, was heir presumptive during his lifetime, and at his death in Ireland on 20 July 1398 his claim to the throne passed to his eldest son, Edmund. Thus in terms of male primogeniture Edmund was heir to the throne over and above the house of Lancaster, the children of Edward III's third son John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
However, on 30 September 1399, when Edmund Mortimer was not yet eight years of age, his fortunes changed entirely. Richard II was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke, the new Duke of Lancaster, who became King Henry IV and had his own son, the future King Henry V, recognized as heir apparent at his first Parliament. The King put the young Edmund and his brother Roger in the custody of Sir Hugh Waterton at Windsor and Berkhamsted castles, but they were treated honourably, and for part of the time brought up with the King's own children, John and Philippa.
Rebellion against Henry IV.
On 22 June 1402, Edmund's uncle, Sir Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl, was captured by the Welsh rebel leader, Owain Glyndŵr, at the Battle of Bryn Glas. Henry IV accused Sir Edmund of deserting to Glyndŵr, refused to ransom him, and confiscated his property. Sir Edmund then married Glyndŵr's daughter, and on 13 December 1402 proclaimed in writing that his nephew Edmund was the rightful heir to King Richard II.
Sir Edmund's sister, Edmund's aunt, was married to Henry "Hotspur" Percy, son of the Earl of Northumberland. In 1403, the Percys rose in rebellion in collusion with Glyndŵr and Sir Edmund. Hotspur was defeated and slain at Shrewsbury.
The alliance of Glyndŵr, Sir Edmund, and the Percys survived this setback. In February 1405, they agreed to a three-way division of the kingdom. This agreement was apparently connected to a plot to free Edmund and his brother Roger from King Henry's custody and carry them into Wales. On 13 February 1405 the boys were abducted from Windsor Castle, but they were quickly recaptured near Cheltenham. Constance of York was held responsible and arrested. She implicated her brother, the Duke of York, who was imprisoned at Pevensey Castle for seventeen weeks. As a result of the failed abduction, on 1 February 1406 Edmund and Roger were put under stricter supervision at Pevensey Castle under Sir John Pelham (d.1429), where they remained until 1409. On 1 February 1409 Edmund and Roger were given in charge to the King's son, the Prince of Wales, who was only five years older than Edmund. They remained in custody for the remainder of Henry IV's reign.
Edmund Mortimer's sisters, Anne and Eleanor, who were in the care of their mother until her death in 1405, were not well treated by Henry IV, and were described as 'destitute' after her death.
Reign of Henry V.
On his accession in 1413 Henry V set Edmund Mortimer at liberty, and on 8 April 1413, the day before the new King's coronation, Edmund Mortimer and his brother Roger were made Knights of the Bath. Nothing further is heard of Roger Mortimer, and it seems likely he died in or shortly after 1413.
On 9 June 1413 the King granted Edmund Mortimer livery of his estates. Henry IV's Queen, Joan of Navarre, had been granted authority over Edmund's marriage on 24 February 1408, but she later ceded this to Henry while Prince of Wales. On 17 January 1415 Edmund obtained a papal dispensation to marry ‘a fit woman' related to him in the third degree of kindred or affinity. This allowed him to marry his second cousin once removed, Anne Stafford, the daughter of Anne of Gloucester and Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford. Like Mortimer, she was a descendant of Edward III. The King was displeased, and imposed an enormous fine of 10,000 marks.
Despite this momentary discord, Edmund Mortimer was entirely loyal to Henry V. He never made any claim to the throne, despite being senior in descent. He was one of Henry's most trusted counsellors.
On 16 April 1415 Mortimer was present at the council which determined on war with France, and on 24 July 1415 he was a witness to the King's will.
While preparations for the invasion were underway, some discontented nobles launched the Southampton Plot, to take Mortimer to Wales and proclaim him king. The chief plotter was his sister Anne's husband, the Earl of Cambridge. When Mortimer was made privy to this plan, he revealed the conspiracy to the King at Portchester on 31 July. Afterward, he sat on the commission which condemned Cambridge and the other conspirators to death; they were beheaded on 2 and 5 August. On 7 August, the King formally pardoned Mortimer for any nominal involvement in the plot.
Mortimer was deeply in debt when he accompanied Henry V's forces to France. He took part in several campaigns in Normandy, including the Siege of Harfleur, where he contracted dysentery, and was forced to return to England. On 15 August 1416 he was appointed a captain of the expedition sent to relieve Harfleur under John, Duke of Bedford, and Sir Walter Hungerford, and was with the army which conquered Normandy in 1417 and 1418. In July 1420 he was at the siege of Melun.
In February 1421 Mortimer accompanied the King back to England with his bride, Catherine of Valois, and bore the sceptre at Catherine's coronation on 21 February. He returned to France with Henry V in June 1421, and was at the Siege of Meaux, where the King fell mortally ill, dying on 31 August 1422.
Final years.
Henry V was succeeded by his nine-month-old son, King Henry VI, and on 9 December 1422 Mortimer was appointed to the Regency Council of the regency government, 1422–1437.
On 9 May 1423 he was appointed the King's lieutenant in Ireland for nine years, but at first exercised his authority through a deputy, and remained in England. However, after a violent quarrel with the King's uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and the execution of his kinsman, Sir John Mortimer, Mortimer was "sent out of the way to Ireland". He arrived there in the autumn of 1424, and on 18 or 19 January 1425 died of plague at Trim Castle. He was buried at Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk, where he had founded a college of secular canons in 1414.
Mortimer had no issue, and at his death the Mortimer line of the Earls of March became extinct. The heir to his estates and titles was the son of his sister Anne and the Earl of Cambridge, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (1411–1460). Richard also inherited Mortimer's claim to the throne, which he eventually raised, causing the Wars of the Roses.
His widow, Anne, married, before 6 March 1427, John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter. She died 20 or 24 September 1432, and was buried in the church of St Katharine's by the Tower.
The Wigmore chronicle describes Edmund Mortimer as "severe in his morals, composed in his acts, circumspect in his talk, and wise and cautious during the days of his adversity".
Shakespeare and the Mortimers.
Events in the life of Sir Edmund Mortimer, uncle of Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, were dramatized by Shakespeare in "Henry IV, Part 1". In the play, Shakespeare accurately identifies the former as Hotspur's brother-in-law, but simultaneously conflates him with his nephew by referring to him as "Earl of March".
The Southampton Plot is dramatized in Shakespeare's play "Henry V". However, its intent is misstated, and Mortimer's role in exposing it and condemning the plotters is completely omitted.
Edmund Mortimer also appears in "Henry VI, Part 1". He is incorrectly depicted as an old man who has been imprisoned in the Tower of London since the rise of Henry IV. Furthermore, in an entirely fictional scene, Mortimer explains to his nephew Richard their family's claim to the throne, praises the efforts of Richard's father to make Mortimer king, and urges Richard to pursue his own claim to the throne. In reality, Richard was thirteen-years-old when his uncle died, and at the time was being raised in the north of England as a ward of the crown by Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.
References.
Attribution:


Journal of Fungi

Journal of Fungi is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by MDPI quarterly covering all aspects of Fungi. It was established in 2015. The editor in chief is David S. Perlin (Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation). The journal is associated with the European Confederation of Medical Mycology.
Abstracting and indexing.
The journal is abstracted and indexed in:


Expert Opinion on Drug Safety

Expert Opinion on Drug Safety is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal publishing review articles on all aspects of pharmacovigilance and original papers on the clinical implications of drug treatment safety issues. It was established in 2002 and is published by Informa. The editor-in-chief is Roger McIntyre (University of Toronto).
Abstracting and indexing.
The journal is abstracted and indexed in Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Index Medicus/MEDLINE, and the Science Citation Index Expanded. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2017 impact factor of 3.156.


Mark Brunetz

Mark Brunetz (born August 14, 1963) is an American television host, interior designer and author. He has hosted the programs "Clean House" and "Clean House: The Messiest Home in the Country" on the Style Network.
Biography.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Brunetz received a Bachelor's degree in Biology Pre-Med. at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC and Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology where his first professional post was as staff Exercise Physiologist for the Jane Fonda Workout in Beverly Hills, CA. Brunetz went on to create and co-star in two of Fonda's exercise videos, 'Lower Body Solution' and 'Step Aerobics & Abdominal Workout' which grossed over 90 million dollars worldwide. He also produced lifestyle products for Sheena Easton, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Kathy Smith and Kim Alexis while serving as the National Vice-Chair for Workout for Hope for the City of Hope in Duarte, CA.
In 1994, Brunetz co-founded Fortis Films with actress and producer Sandra Bullock, developing several projects including Hope Floats for 20th Century Fox, Practical Magic for Warner Bros. Pictures and George Lopez for ABC Television.
In 1999, Brunetz segued into special event design working as Creative Director for Masterpiece Productions, a special events company charged with designing and producing high-end events for the launch of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The following year, Brunetz founded Mark Brunetz Interior Design, a residential and commercial design firm based in Los Angeles, California.
Brunetz made appearances on 'AREA' for the Style Network, 'Crib Crashers' for MTV, 'Outer Spaces' for HGTV, 'Faking It' for TLC, 'Reality Remix' for Fox Reality Channel and '50 Most Outrageous TV Moments' for E!. In 2003, he shared hosting responsibilities with actress Niecy Nash and comedians Matt Iseman and Trish Suhr on Style Network's 'Clean House', 'Clean House: The Messiest Home in the Country' and 'Clean House Comes Clean' for which her served as consulting producer. In 2010, Brunetz received an Emmy Award for his work on 'Clean House: The Messiest Home in the Country'.
Brunetz has contributed to a variety of newspapers and magazines including the New York Times, LA Times, the Washington Post, Us Weekly and People and In Touch.
In 2006, Brunetz launched a line of home furnishings on the Home Shopping Network in partnership with Celebrity Licensing based in Hollywood, Florida.
In 2008, Brunetz founded Design Without Borders, an organization that conducts makeovers in developing areas of the world. The first makeover was held in Cape Town, South Africa in September 2009. He went on to create Design For A Difference in partnership with the International Design Guild, which to date has contributed over 7.5 million dollars in goods and services to makeover spaces at charities in the US and Canada.
In 2010, Brunetz co-authored "Take the U Out of Clutter" with NY Times best-selling author Carmen Renee Berry for Penguin Books.
In 2019, Brunetz launched UCURIO, a content creation and digital marketing company that works closely with clients in the design and build sector.
As of 2020, Brunetz lives in Glendale, California.


National Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Day

On October 7, 2015, a national action day was observed, National Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Day. It arose based on a bill in the House of Representatives of the 114th Congress called The Helping Families in Mental Health] Crisis Act of 2015, HR2646. The bill was originally introduced as The Helping Families of Mental Health Crisis Act of 2013, HR3717. HR2646 contains a number of provisions that will serve to reform mental health care for those Americans with serious mental illness (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression). The national day of observance, which was noted in National Review and has been endorsed by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will occur in early October each year to raise awareness and encourage action on mental health care policy.


Gideon Mer

Gideon Mer (, 1894, Panevėžys - 22 March 1961 Rosh Pinna) was an Israeli scientist whose work was mostly concerned with the eradication of malaria. He was the father of Arna Mer-Khamis and the grandfather of Juliano Mer-Khamis.
Biography.
Gideon Mer was born in Lithuania, then part of Imperial Russia. He studied medicine in France. He immigrated to Palestine in 1914. During World War I he was a medical officer in the Jewish Legion, a unit of the British Army, and served at Gallipoli, in Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. After the war he returned to Rosh Pinna, a Jewish settlement in the north of Palestine, and his laboratory there eventually became a research station for the study of the bionomics of mosquitoes and methods of malaria control. With the opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem he joined the Department of Preventive Medicine.
In 1927 Israel Jacob Kligler founded the "Malaria Research Station" of the Hebrew University in Rosh Pina, where pioneering field work was carried out relating to the eradication of malaria. Two years later he appointed Dr. Gideon Mer as the station manager and together they published a series of articles on malaria.
During the Second World War Mer served in the British Forces with the rank of colonel and was malaria adviser to Middle East Command. After the war he joined the staff of the new school of medicine and became chief malaria adviser to the Ministry of Health in Israel, of which he was acting director in 1956 and 1957. As malaria was brought under control Professor Mer investigated the control of other insects, particularly the horse-fly, and the Rosh Pinna research station undertook the testing of insecticides and the training of scientists.


Cigarette Girl (2009 film)

Cigarette Girl is a 2009 film written and directed by Mike McCarthy and starring Cori Dials, Ivy McLemore, Helen Bowman, and Danny Vinson. The film premiered on July 10, 2009 at the Revelation Perth International Film Festival in Australia.
Plot.
In the not too distant future, society has levied laws against smoking and forced citizens to live in a certain part of town called the "SMOKING SECTION" if one wants to smoke cigarettes. After crossing the line into the smoking ghetto, Cigarettes now cost $63.49 a pack, and are sold on the street corners and underground bars. The unnamed heroine (Cori Dials) of the film works in the "Vice Club", an abandoned 1930s era cigarette factory turned club, where a once iconic emblem of a giant cigarette tipping over into a giant ashtray, now sits atop the factory coated with rust like a cancer. Occasionally still tilting into the astray if the wind is strong enough, the giant cigarette squeaks like a siren, going throughout the city.
We find the heroine, after her grandmother (Helen Bowman) is hospitalized with emphysema, the Cigarette Girl attempts to break her addiction to nicotine while also escaping the clutches of her employers, the mob-associated operators of the smoker hangout, the Vice Club. Deciding to start packing a pistol along with her packs of cigarettes, the Cigarette Girl becomes an angel of death when she stops smoking and starts killing on the third day to alleviate her acute psychological withdrawal manifested primarily by the ghost of a cowboy who is always on her back to keep smoking. The film's tag line "She'd kill for a smoke."
Reception.
"Both sex and violence are embodied in the fishnet film-noir presence of the striking Dials, 28, a McCarthy 5-foot-9 'starlet' who works as an intern mortician in a Virginia funeral home when she's not stalking through McCarthy's eccentric mise-en-scene or singing lead vocals in his rock group, Fingers Like Saturn." Written by John Beifuss in the Commercial Appeal on September 7, 2009.
"Everything in Cigarette Girl orbits around Dials, though. McCarthy demands a lot from her in what might be considered something of a superhero origin story. She is asked to be an iconic presence, and she delivers. Dials is a spectacle even when not stripped down to bra, panties, and fishnets. Her palpable combination of toughness and vulnerability makes her character click." Written by Chris Herrington on Sept. 10, 2009.
"Pure 'smokesploitation,' CIGARETTE GIRL mixes misfit social commentary with beautiful babes and bad boys, guns and glamour, and lots of cigarettes, all shot with the feel of a classic drive-in grindhouse roughie. McCarthy's works include the crowd pleasing SORE LOSERS and TEENAGE TUPELO, regarded as a classic of the underground-into-indie film scene of the '90s. CIGARETTE GIRL looks like it will be his biggest film to date." Live from Memphis on Aug. 20, 2009.
"'Cigarette Girl' epitomizes guerrilla indie film by experimenting liberally with the medium. It employs hazy, green-toned imagery and dilapidated settings. The retro décor of the sets and the rockabilly costumes feel natural in the world McCarthy has created. It looks like a sleazy dystopian hell to the square crowd, but the progressive viewer will appreciate the detailed fantasy world, rich with atmosphere and attitude." Small Town Critic on Sept. 11, 2009.
"Cigarette Girl, American indie director, Mike McCarthy’s first feature film since Superstartlet AD in 2000, was shot in Memphis over eleven days and is a noirish, low budget genre piece that has parallels with exploitation-oriented films such as Tarantino’s Kill Bill diptych. The lead is a strong, kickass, take-no-prisoners type who, through the film, despite its being set in future times, wears the 1940s cigarette girl nightclub uniform - lacy crinoline skirt, corset, fishnet stockings, and stiletto heels - and drives a black 1970 Cadillac Deville. She is both tender and compassionate whilst being equally willing and able to dole out justice to anyone who wrongs her." Written by Shannon O'Neil on Cinephilia.
"Cori Dials and Michael McCarthy caused great interest with their special brand of Memphis styled exploitation with Cigarette Girl" Monster Year Ends on Revelation Perth International Film Festival, July 14, 2009.


Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse

The Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse at the American Medical Association (AMA) was established by the temperance-oriented Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with an initial grant of $5 million, followed by more substantial funding.
As a national program office of the foundation, it established and is promoting the "A Matter of Degree" program. This is a major campus and community partnership demonstration project at ten colleges and universities across the United States. The goal of the program was to encourage local communities and campus administrations to work together to reduce situations and environments that would encourage high-risk or binge drinking among students. Preliminary results of its effectiveness have not been positive.
Other projects focus on reducing alcoholic beverage advertising, changing parental behaviors related to alcohol consumption, and alcoholic beverage taxes.