title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 24 March, Asia-Pacific and European stock markets closed up, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed more than 11% up, the NASDAQ Composite closed more than 8% up, and the S&P 500 closed more than 9% up. Oil prices rose by more than 2%, while the yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities rose to 0.82% and 1.40% respectively. After agreeing to a joint investment €37 billion financial assistance program to European businesses the preceding week, the finance ministers of the Eurozone meeting did not agree to more joint fiscal stimulus. The Bank of Japan lent an additional $89 billion in two-dollar funding operations, while the Indonesian Financial Services Authority raised the capital requirement for the nation's banks to Rp3 trillion ($182.1 million) by 2022. South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced that a planned fiscal stimulus package would be doubled in size to ₩100 trillion ($80 billion). The Hungarian National Bank announced that it would leave its bank and overnight rates at 0.9% and −0.05% respectively but waived its reserve requirements and is expected to announce further quantitative easing measures. Romanian Finance Minister Florin Cîțu announced that the Romanian government would allow banks to defer loan repayments for approximately six months.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 25 March, Asia-Pacific and European stock markets closed up, while the NASDAQ Composite closed down, but the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed up (with the Dow posting its first consecutive gain since the previous month). Oil prices rose, and the yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities fell to 0.79% and 1.33% respectively. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the $2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus package introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell the preceding week. The heads of government in nine Eurozone countries called for the issuance of corona bonds. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced NZ$250 million ($146 million) of open market purchases of governments bonds as part of its quantitative easing program.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: Mexican Finance Minister Arturo Herrera Gutiérrez announce that the Mexican federal government would allow Mexican banks to defer loan repayments. The South African Reserve Bank announced a quantitative easing program of open market purchases of an unspecified amount of government bonds. The Bank of Korea announced that it would finance half of the South Korean government's stimulus program. The Central Bank of Iceland announced that it would lower its average reserve maintenance requirement from 1% to 0%. The Swiss federal government announced a $20.4 billion business credit-line program and the Swiss National Bank announced the creation of a refinancing facility with an unlimited supply of credit for the Swiss banking system.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 26 March, Asia-Pacific stock markets finished with mixed closings while European stock markets closed higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ Composite, and the S&P 500 all rose by 6% (and the Dow capping its largest 3-day upswing since 1931). Oil prices fell, while the yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities rose slightly to 0.80% and 1.37% respectively. At a virtual summit, European Union heads of state and government did not agree to begin issuing corona bonds. The Reserve Bank of Australia announce that it would conduct A$3 billion of open market purchases of government bonds. The central banks of Denmark, Norway, Singapore, and Sweden announced foreign exchange swaps of U.S. dollars with their nation's banks, while the Sveriges Riksbank also announced that it would purchase kr300 billion ($29.84 billion) of commercial paper.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: The Indonesian government announced that it would issue bonds whose proceeds would dedicated for financial assistance programs to business severely distressed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central Bank of Russia announced that it continue selling foreign currency in domestic markets the following week. The Bank of Korea announced that it would conduct open-ended open market purchases of government bonds at repo auctions every Tuesday for the following three months. The Mexican federal government's credit rating was downgraded by S&P Global Ratings to BBB. The Czech National Bank cut its bank rate by an additional 75 basis points to 1%. Singaporean Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced a second fiscal stimulus package of S$48 billion (US$33.7 billion). Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a $23 billion fiscal stimulus package. The Chinese government announced that it was implementing a $344 billion fiscal stimulus program.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 27 March, Asia-Pacific stock markets finished with mixed closings, European stock markets closed down, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 all closed more than 3% down (while finishing up on the week). Oil prices fell by 5% (and closed down for the fifth consecutive week), and yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities fell to 0.77% and 1.36% respectively. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the $2.2 trillion fiscal stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate on 25 March with U.S. President Donald Trump signing the bill into law the same day. The European Central Bank announced an additional €750 billion ($820 billion) in open market purchases of government bonds. The Bank of Canada cut its overnight rate by an additional 50 basis points to 0.25%.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: The Reserve Bank of India announced that it would cut its repo rate by 75 basis points to 4.4%. The Central Bank of Brazil auctioned $610 million in foreign exchange spots, while Central Bank of Brazil President Roberto Campos Neto formally requested the legal authority to implement a quantitative easing program from the National Congress of Brazil. Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a RM250 billion ($57 billion) fiscal stimulus package. The South African government's credit rating was downgraded by Moody's to Ba1 (its highest non-investment grade). The Central Bank of Russia announced a ₽150 billion ($1.92 billion) credit-line program for small- and medium-sized business. Sveriges Riksbank announced that it would conduct kr20 billion ($2.01 billion) of open market purchases of covered bonds.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: "In the 33 days between 19 February and 23 March, the FTSE All-Share Index fell by 33 per cent [...] The MSCI World Index declined by 34 per cent."


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: Over the preceding weekend, the Central Bank of Taiwan announced a T$200 billion ($6.6 billion) credit-line program to small and medium-sized businesses, while the Bank of Korea announced that it would conduct a $12 billion U.S. dollar-funding operation at auctions to South Korean banks. The South African Reserve Bank announced that it would ease banking accounting and capital regulations to release R300 billion in credit, while the Bank of Israel announced that it would ease its capital requirements to facilitate greater lending by its banking system as well.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On Monday, 30 March 2020, Asia-Pacific stock markets closed mostly down while European stock markets closed mostly 1% higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 all closed more than 3% higher. Oil prices fell by more than 6% to an 18-year low, while the yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities fell to 0.66% and 1.24% respectively (while their yield curve remained normal).


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 31 March, Asia-Pacific stock markets finished with mixed closings while European stock markets closed up, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 all fell by more than 1% (with the Dow closing to its worst one-quarter decline in history). Oil prices rose by 2% (but closed at their worst one-month and one-quarter declines in history), while the yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities rose to 0.68% and 1.34% respectively.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 1 April, Asia-Pacific and European stock markets closed mostly down, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the NASDAQ Composite, and S&P 500 all closed 5% down. Oil prices fell, while the yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasury securities fell to 0.61% and 1.23% respectively (while their yield curve finished normal).


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 9 April, Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to oil production cuts. Reuters reported that "If Saudi Arabia failed to rein in output, US senators called on the White House to impose sanctions on Riyadh, pull out US troops from the kingdom and impose import tariffs on Saudi oil."


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: On 11 June, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1861 points, around 7%, as fears of a second wave of COVID-19 along with a press conference from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on the previous day weighed on investor sentiment.


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose throughout August 2020, reaching a peak of 29,199 points on 3 September 2020 at 9:48 EST before plunging nearly 1,000 points throughout the remainder of the day. On 16 September, Jerome Powell and the FOMC gave their final economic projections, which led the DJIA falling approximately 4% over the next three days. Throughout September, the DJIA saw a substantial −9% retreat amidst growing fears of a second COVID-19 infection wave, lack of federal stimulus outlook, and U.S. election instability. However, optimism soon recovered, and the DJIA and S&P 500 both closed 2020 at all-time highs of


title: 2020 stock market crash

text: 30,606 and 3,756 respectively. The MSCI ACWI Index also had recovered to its February peak by September 2020, and closed 2020 at an all-time high of 645 points.


title: This Is America (song)

text: "This Is America" is a song by American rapper Donald Glover, under his musical stage name Childish Gambino. Written and produced by Glover and Ludwig Göransson, with additional writing credits going to American rapper Young Thug, it was released on May 6, 2018 at the same time that Gambino was hosting an episode of "Saturday Night Live". The song features background vocals from Young Thug alongside fellow American rappers Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd, BlocBoy JB, Quavo of Migos, and Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage. The lyrics and accompanying music video, reflecting the core of the Black Lives Matter movement, confront issues of ongoing systemic racism, including prejudice, racial violence, the ghetto, and law enforcement in the United States, as well as the wider issues of mass shootings and gun violence in the United States.


title: This Is America (song)

text: The song's accompanying music video was directed by filmmaker Hiro Murai, a frequent Gambino collaborator. "This Is America" became the 31st song to debut at number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming both Gambino's first number one and top ten single in the country. It has also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The song won in all four of its nominated categories at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. This made Gambino the first hip-hop artist to win Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and "This Is America" the first rap song to win these awards.


title: This Is America (song)

text: The song features a gospel-style choir and background contributions from various American rappers. Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi, BlocBoy JB, 21 Savage and Quavo each deliver an ad-lib. Young Thug returns to supply the song's outro. The lyrics primarily address black culture in the United States and gun violence in the country. It also touches on the subject of police brutality and misconduct. "Pitchfork"'s Stephen Kearse described the song as a representation of the "tightrope of being black", with the song "built on the sharp contrast between jolly, syncretic melodies and menacing trap cadences". Bryan Rolli of "Forbes" calls it "a vicious, urgent take on modern trap music, as Glover adopts the clipped, percussive flow of his contemporaries atop crackling 808s and rumbling bass."


title: This Is America (song)

text: Media outlets reported that a number of listeners accused Gambino of plagiarism over "This Is America", pointing out the similarities between the song and "American Pharaoh" by Jase Harley. CBS News stated, "The tracks have a similar sound, and share similar themes in the lyrics." Harley stated that he felt "This Is America" was influenced by his song, but that he does not have an issue with it. Glover's manager, Fam Rothstein, denied any plagiarism.


title: This Is America (song)

text: The music video was directed by Hiro Murai and released on YouTube simultaneously with Gambino's performance of the song on "Saturday Night Live". The video received about 12.9 million views in 24 hours, and has over 850+ million views as of September 2022. In an interview with the "New York Times", Murai discussed his upcoming season for "Atlanta", a show created by and starring Glover. He stated, "There's sort of a world-weariness in both this season and the music video. They're both reactions to what's happening in the world."


title: This Is America (song)

text: The video contains many scenes involving violence. It starts off with a shirtless Gambino dancing through a warehouse, interacting with a series of chaotic scenes. According to Murai, the video was inspired by the films "Mother!" and "City of God". Prettyman states "The video tests us, taunting us to keep pace as we try to decode every gesture and calculation". Choreographed by Sherrie Silver, Gambino and his entourage of young dancers perform several viral dance moves including the South African Gwara gwara and "Shoot" popularized by BlocBoy JB, who is one of the ad-lib contributors on the song. Gambino's dancing is contrasted against moments of violence. Only 53 seconds into the video, Gambino shoots a man in the back of the head with a handgun, while assuming a comical stance similar to a Jim Crow caricature. The first person depicted as being shot in the video, a guitarist who had been accompanying Gambino's singing up to that point, was musician Calvin the Second, but was initially mistaken by many viewers to be the father of 17-year-old gun violence victim Trayvon Martin. This first shooting also marks a transition in the music, from an African "folk-inspired melody" to "dark, pulsing trap".


title: This Is America (song)

text: At a later point, Childish Gambino uses a Kalashnikov patterned automatic weapon to gun down a church choir, which viewers have interpreted as a reference to the 2015 Charleston church shooting. This may also be his commentary on acculturation, the toxic embrace of capitalism and consumerism, both at the expense of spirituality, where one's history and community are gunned down in pursuit of a toxic American dream. Glover wrote, "Get your money black man," but at what expense?


title: This Is America (song)

text: In both scenes a child appears from off-screen holding a red cloth, on which Gambino gently lays the weapon used, while the bodies are simply dragged away, which viewers have interpreted "as a reference to Americans' willingness to protect gun rights over people". A group of children in school uniforms join Gambino in dancing, only to panic and scatter when the music imitates the sound of gunfire and Gambino positions his arms as if firing a gun, after which he lights a joint; this has been interpreted as a reference to school shootings, as well as a possible comparison of the demonization of marijuana users compared to the celebration of gun owners. Other schoolchildren are seen on a catwalk above, using their cell phones to record the chaos happening in the video as Gambino sings the lyrics "This a celly / That's a tool". Martha Tesema, writer for website Mashable, stated that "cell phones have been used as tools to broadcast police shooting, rioting against, or choking black people in this country". The line serves as a double entendre, also referring to the use of mass incarceration as a tool of the police state. Throughout the video, numerous vehicles from several decades ago are featured, many of them with their hazard lights flashing and the driver's side door ajar, which critics interpreted as representing fatal police shootings during traffic stops, particularly the shooting of Philando Castile, who was shot while in a 1997 Oldsmobile; others have interpreted that the older model cars represent the relative lack of upward mobility of African Americans. American singer SZA makes a cameo appearance towards the end of the video, seated atop one of these vehicles. The video ends with Gambino in a darkened portion of the warehouse, fearfully running towards the camera while being chased by several white people. Viewers have said this resembles scenes from the 2017 film "Get Out".


title: This Is America (song)

text: The dance moves were choreographed by Rwandan-born Sherrie Silver based on various African dances such as the Ghanaian Azonto, Nigerian Shoki, and the South African Gwara gwara, as well as gyration or walking moves from Angola and Ivory Coast.


title: This Is America (song)

text: The music video received widespread critical acclaim. Spencer Kornhaber of "The Atlantic" described the initial reaction on Twitter as "a gushing river of well-deserved praise" and the video as "the most talked-about music video of recent memory." Daniel Kreps of "Rolling Stone" commented that the video "is a surreal, visceral statement about gun violence in America". "Pitchfork" awarded the song the distinction of "Best New Track". "Billboard" critics ranked it 10th among the "greatest music videos of the 21st century." Mahita Gajanan of "Time" quoted music history professor Guthrie Ramsey at the University of Pennsylvania:


title: This Is America (song)

text: Will Gompertz, arts editor of the BBC, asserted that "This Is America" was a "powerful and poignant allegorical portrait of 21st Century America, which warrants a place among the canonical depictions of the USA from Grant Wood's "American Gothic" to Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks", from Emanuel Leutze's "Washington Crossing the Delaware" to "America the Beautiful" by Norman Lewis".


title: This Is America (song)

text: The music video won the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage Award for Best Cinematography in a Music Video, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Music Video at the 61st Grammy Awards.


title: This Is America (song)

text: Glover hosted the May 5 episode of the 43rd season of "Saturday Night Live", and performed two new songs as Childish Gambino on the same episode, the second of which was "This Is America". Daniel Kaluuya, best known as the star of the film "Get Out" which the music video reportedly references, introduced the song's performance.


title: This Is America (song)

text: Several artists attracted attention and millions of views for creating covers of the song and music video with altered lyrics and themes, retaining the song's instrumental and the general structure of its music video. Nigerian rapper Falz released "This Is Nigeria" on May 25, highlighting the nation's issues with corruption and organized crime among others. Bay Area rapper Lil B featured a remix of his own on his "Options" mixtape entitled "This Is the BasedGod" in October of that year.


title: This Is America (song)

text: The music video also spawned popular Internet memes, particularly those in which the audio was replaced so that Childish Gambino appeared to be dancing in time to another song. Versions using Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe", Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" and Banda Blanca's "Sopa de Caracol" were some of the most viewed.


title: This Is America (song)

text: "This Is America" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming the 31st song to do so in the chart's history. It debuted with 78,000 downloads sold and 65.3 million US streams in the first week. Its music video accounted for 68% of the song's streaming total. "This Is America" is also Gambino's first top 10; he previously reached number 12 in August 2017 with "Redbone". "This Is America" overtook Drake's "Nice for What" from the top position for two weeks. Gambino is also the second Emmy Award-winning actor to reach number one on the Hot 100, the first being Justin Timberlake, who topped the chart with "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in 2016. It topped the Hot 100 for two weeks, and left the top ten after five weeks.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and earthquakes. Primarily composed of flowing snow and air, large avalanches have the capability to capture and move ice, rocks, and trees.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanches occur in two general forms, or combinations thereof: slab avalanches made of tightly packed snow, triggered by a collapse of an underlying weak snow layer, and loose snow avalanches made of looser snow. After being set off, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they capture more snow. If an avalanche moves fast enough, some of the snow may mix with the air, forming a powder snow avalanche.


title: Avalanche

text: Though they appear to share similarities, avalanches are distinct from slush flows, mudslides, rock slides, and serac collapses. They are also different from large scale movements of ice.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanches can happen in any mountain range that has an enduring snowpack. They are most frequent in winter or spring, but may occur at any time of year. In mountainous areas, avalanches are among the most serious natural hazards to life and property, so great efforts are made in avalanche control.


title: Avalanche

text: There are many classification systems for the different forms of avalanches, which vary according to their users' needs. Avalanches can be described by their size, destructive potential, initiation mechanism, composition, and dynamics.


title: Avalanche

text: Most avalanches occur spontaneously during storms under increased load due to snowfall and/or erosion. The second largest cause of natural avalanches is metamorphic changes in the snowpack such as melting due to solar radiation. Other natural causes include rain, earthquakes, rockfall and icefall. Artificial triggers of avalanches include skiers, snowmobiles, and controlled explosive work. Contrary to popular belief, avalanches are not triggered by loud sound; the pressure from sound is orders of magnitude too small to trigger an avalanche.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanche initiation can start at a point with only a small amount of snow moving initially; this is typical of wet snow avalanches or avalanches in dry unconsolidated snow. However, if the snow has sintered into a stiff slab overlying a weak layer then fractures can propagate very rapidly, so that a large volume of snow, that may be thousands of cubic metres, can start moving almost simultaneously.


title: Avalanche

text: A snowpack will fail when the load exceeds the strength. The load is straightforward; it is the weight of the snow. However, the strength of the snowpack is much more difficult to determine and is extremely heterogeneous. It varies in detail with properties of the snow grains, size, density, morphology, temperature, water content; and the properties of the bonds between the grains. These properties may all metamorphose in time according to the local humidity, water vapour flux, temperature and heat flux. The top of the snowpack is also extensively influenced by incoming radiation and the local air flow. One of the aims of avalanche research is to develop and validate computer models that can describe the evolution of the seasonal snowpack over time. A complicating factor is the complex interaction of terrain and weather, which causes significant spatial and temporal variability of the depths, crystal forms, and layering of the seasonal snowpack.


title: Avalanche

text: Slab avalanches form frequently in snow that has been deposited, or redeposited by wind. They have the characteristic appearance of a block (slab) of snow cut out from its surroundings by fractures. Elements of slab avalanches include the following: a crown fracture at the top of the start zone, flank fractures on the sides of the start zones, and a fracture at the bottom called the stauchwall. The crown and flank fractures are vertical walls in the snow delineating the snow that was entrained in the avalanche from the snow that remained on the slope. Slabs can vary in thickness from a few centimetres to three metres. Slab avalanches account for around 90% of avalanche-related fatalities in backcountry users.


title: Avalanche

text: The largest avalanches form turbulent suspension currents known as powder snow avalanches or mixed avalanches, a kind of gravity current. These consist of a powder cloud, which overlies a dense avalanche. They can form from any type of snow or initiation mechanism, but usually occur with fresh dry powder. They can exceed speeds of , and masses of 10,000,000 tonnes; their flows can travel long distances along flat valley bottoms and even uphill for short distances.


title: Avalanche

text: In contrast to powder snow avalanches, wet snow avalanches are a low velocity suspension of snow and water, with the flow confined to the track surface (McClung, first edition 1999, page 108). The low speed of travel is due to the friction between the sliding surface of the track and the water saturated flow. Despite the low speed of travel (≈10–40 km/h), wet snow avalanches are capable of generating powerful destructive forces, due to the large mass and density. The body of the flow of a wet snow avalanche can plough through soft snow, and can scour boulders, earth, trees, and other vegetation; leaving exposed and often scored ground in the avalanche track. Wet snow avalanches can be initiated from either loose snow releases, or slab releases, and only occur in snowpacks that are water saturated and isothermally equilibrated to the melting point of water. The isothermal characteristic of wet snow avalanches has led to the secondary term of isothermal slides found in the literature (for example in Daffern, 1999, page 93). At temperate latitudes wet snow avalanches are frequently associated with climatic avalanche cycles at the end of the winter season, when there is significant daytime warming.


title: Avalanche

text: An ice avalanche occurs when a large piece of ice, such as from a serac or calving glacier, falls onto ice (such as the Khumbu Icefall), triggering a movement of broken ice chunks. The resulting movement is more analogous to a rockfall or a landslide than a snow avalanche. They are typically very difficult to predict and almost impossible to mitigate.


title: Avalanche

text: As an avalanche moves down a slope it follows a certain pathway that is dependent on the slope's degree of steepness and the volume of snow/ice involved in the mass movement. The origin of an avalanche is called the Starting Point and typically occurs on a 30–45 degree slope. The body of the pathway is called the Track of the avalanche and usually occurs on a 20–30 degree slope. When the avalanche loses its momentum and eventually stops it reaches the Runout Zone. This usually occurs when the slope has reached a steepness that is less than 20 degrees. These degrees are not consistently true due to the fact that each avalanche is unique depending on the stability of the snowpack that it was derived from as well as the environmental or human influences that triggered the mass movement.


title: Avalanche

text: From "1950 - 1951 to 2020 - 2021" there were 1,169 people who died in avalanches in the United states. For the 11-year period ending April 2006 445 people died in avalanches throughout North America. On average, 28 people die in avalanches every winter in the United States.


title: Avalanche

text: In 2001 it was reported that globally an average of 150 people die each year from avalanches. Three of the deadliest recorded avalanches have killed over a thousand people each.


title: Avalanche

text: Doug Fesler and Jill Fredston developed a conceptual model of the three primary elements of avalanches: terrain, weather, and snowpack. Terrain describes the places where avalanches occur, weather describes the meteorological conditions that create the snowpack, and snowpack describes the structural characteristics of snow that make avalanche formation possible.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanche formation requires a slope shallow enough for snow to accumulate but steep enough for the snow to accelerate once set in motion by the combination of mechanical failure (of the snowpack) and gravity. The angle of the slope that can hold snow, called the angle of repose, depends on a variety of factors such as crystal form and moisture content. Some forms of drier and colder snow will only stick to shallower slopes, while wet and warm snow can bond to very steep surfaces. In particular, in coastal mountains, such as the Cordillera del Paine region of Patagonia, deep snowpacks collect on vertical and even overhanging rock faces. The slope angle that can allow moving snow to accelerate depends on a variety of factors such as the snow's shear strength (which is itself dependent upon crystal form) and the configuration of layers and inter-layer interfaces.


title: Avalanche

text: The snowpack on slopes with sunny exposures is strongly influenced by sunshine. Diurnal cycles of thawing and refreezing can stabilize the snowpack by promoting settlement. Strong freeze-thaw cycles result in the formation of surface crusts during the night and of unstable surface snow during the day. Slopes in the lee of a ridge or of another wind obstacle accumulate more snow and are more likely to include pockets of deep snow, wind slabs, and cornices, all of which, when disturbed, may result in avalanche formation. Conversely, the snowpack on a windward slope is often much shallower than on a lee slope.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanches and avalanche paths share common elements: a start zone where the avalanche originates, a track along which the avalanche flows, and a runout zone where the avalanche comes to rest. The debris deposit is the accumulated mass of the avalanched snow once it has come to rest in the run-out zone. For the image at left, many small avalanches form in this avalanche path every year, but most of these avalanches do not run the full vertical or horizontal length of the path. The frequency with which avalanches form in a given area is known as the return period.


title: Avalanche

text: The start zone of an avalanche must be steep enough to allow snow to accelerate once set in motion, additionally convex slopes are less stable than concave slopes, because of the disparity between the tensile strength of snow layers and their compressive strength. The composition and structure of the ground surface beneath the snowpack influences the stability of the snowpack, either being a source of strength or weakness. Avalanches are unlikely to form in very thick forests, but boulders and sparsely distributed vegetation can create weak areas deep within the snowpack through the formation of strong temperature gradients. Full-depth avalanches (avalanches that sweep a slope virtually clean of snow cover) are more common on slopes with smooth ground, such as grass or rock slabs.


title: Avalanche

text: Generally speaking, avalanches follow drainages down-slope, frequently sharing drainage features with summertime watersheds. At and below tree line, avalanche paths through drainages are well defined by vegetation boundaries called trim lines, which occur where avalanches have removed trees and prevented regrowth of large vegetation. Engineered drainages, such as the avalanche dam on Mount Stephen in Kicking Horse Pass, have been constructed to protect people and property by redirecting the flow of avalanches. Deep debris deposits from avalanches will collect in catchments at the terminus of a run out, such as gullies and river beds.


title: Avalanche

text: Slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have a lower incidence of avalanches. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snow's angle of repose is between 35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which human-triggered avalanches are most frequent, is 38 degrees. When the incidence of human triggered avalanches is normalized by the rates of recreational use, however, hazard increases uniformly with slope angle, and no significant difference in hazard for a given exposure direction can be found. The rule of thumb is: "A slope that is flat enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche, regardless of the angle."


title: Avalanche

text: The snowpack is composed of ground-parallel layers that accumulate over the winter. Each layer contains ice grains that are representative of the distinct meteorological conditions during which the snow formed and was deposited. Once deposited, a snow layer continues to evolve under the influence of the meteorological conditions that prevail after deposition.


title: Avalanche

text: For an avalanche to occur, it is necessary that a snowpack have a weak layer (or instability) below a slab of cohesive snow. In practice the formal mechanical and structural factors related to snowpack instability are not directly observable outside of laboratories, thus the more easily observed properties of the snow layers (e.g. penetration resistance, grain size, grain type, temperature) are used as index measurements of the mechanical properties of the snow (e.g. tensile strength, friction coefficients, shear strength, and ductile strength). This results in two principal sources of uncertainty in determining snowpack stability based on snow structure: First, both the factors influencing snow stability and the specific characteristics of the snowpack vary widely within small areas and time scales, resulting in significant difficulty extrapolating point observations of snow layers across different scales of space and time. Second, the relationship between readily observable snowpack characteristics and the snowpack's critical mechanical properties has not been completely developed.


title: Avalanche

text: While the deterministic relationship between snowpack characteristics and snowpack stability is still a matter of ongoing scientific study, there is a growing empirical understanding of the snow composition and deposition characteristics that influence the likelihood of an avalanche. Observation and experience has shown that newly fallen snow requires time to bond with the snow layers beneath it, especially if the new snow falls during very cold and dry conditions. If ambient air temperatures are cold enough, shallow snow above or around boulders, plants, and other discontinuities in the slope, weakens from rapid crystal growth that occurs in the presence of a critical temperature gradient. Large, angular snow crystals are indicators of weak snow, because such crystals have fewer bonds per unit volume than small, rounded crystals that pack tightly together. Consolidated snow is less likely to slough than loose powdery layers or wet isothermal snow; however, consolidated snow is a necessary condition for the occurrence of slab avalanches, and persistent instabilities within the snowpack can hide below well-consolidated surface layers. Uncertainty associated with the empirical understanding of the factors influencing snow stability leads most professional avalanche workers to recommend conservative use of avalanche terrain relative to current snowpack instability.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanches only occur in a standing diksnowpack. Typically winter seasons at high latitudes, high altitudes, or both have weather that is sufficiently unsettled and cold enough for precipitated snow to accumulate into a seasonal snowpack. Continentality, through its potentiating influence on the meteorological extremes experienced by snowpacks, is an important factor in the evolution of instabilities, and consequential occurrence of avalanches faster stabilization of the snowpack after storm cycles. The evolution of the snowpack is critically sensitive to small variations within the narrow range of meteorological conditions that allow for the accumulation of snow into a snowpack. Among the critical factors controlling snowpack evolution are: heating by the sun, radiational cooling, vertical temperature gradients in standing snow, snowfall amounts, and snow types. Generally, mild winter weather will promote the settlement and stabilization of the snowpack; conversely, very cold, windy, or hot weather will weaken the snowpack.


title: Avalanche

text: At temperatures close to the freezing point of water, or during times of moderate solar radiation, a gentle freeze-thaw cycle will take place. The melting and refreezing of water in the snow strengthens the snowpack during the freezing phase and weakens it during the thawing phase. A rapid rise in temperature, to a point significantly above the freezing point of water, may cause avalanche formation at any time of year.


title: Avalanche

text: Persistent cold temperatures can either prevent new snow from stabilizing or destabilize the existing snowpack. Cold air temperatures on the snow surface produce a temperature gradient in the snow, because the ground temperature at the base of the snowpack is usually around 0 °C, and the ambient air temperature can be much colder. When a temperature gradient greater than 10 °C change per vertical meter of snow is sustained for more than a day, angular crystals called depth hoar or facets begin forming in the snowpack because of rapid moisture transport along the temperature gradient. These angular crystals, which bond poorly to one another and the surrounding snow, often become a persistent weakness in the snowpack. When a slab lying on top of a persistent weakness is loaded by a force greater than the strength of the slab and persistent weak layer, the persistent weak layer can fail and generate an avalanche.


title: Avalanche

text: Any wind stronger than a light breeze can contribute to a rapid accumulation of snow on sheltered slopes downwind. Wind slabs form quickly and, if present, weaker snow below the slab may not have time to adjust to the new load. Even on a clear day, wind can quickly load a slope with snow by blowing snow from one place to another. Top-loading occurs when wind deposits snow from the top of a slope; cross-loading occurs when wind deposits snow parallel to the slope. When a wind blows over the top of a mountain, the leeward, or downwind, side of the mountain experiences top-loading, from the top to the bottom of that lee slope. When the wind blows across a ridge that leads up the mountain, the leeward side of the ridge is subject to cross-loading. Cross-loaded wind-slabs are usually difficult to identify visually.


title: Avalanche

text: Snowstorms and rainstorms are important contributors to avalanche danger. Heavy snowfall will cause instability in the existing snowpack, both because of the additional weight and because the new snow has insufficient time to bond to underlying snow layers. Rain has a similar effect. In the short-term, rain causes instability because, like a heavy snowfall, it imposes an additional load on the snowpack; and, once rainwater seeps down through the snow, it acts as a lubricant, reducing the natural friction between snow layers that holds the snowpack together. Most avalanches happen during or soon after a storm.


title: Avalanche

text: Daytime exposure to sunlight will rapidly destabilize the upper layers of the snowpack if the sunlight is strong enough to melt the snow, thereby reducing its hardness. During clear nights, the snowpack can re-freeze when ambient air temperatures fall below freezing, through the process of long-wave radiative cooling, or both. Radiative heat loss occurs when the night air is significantly cooler than the snowpack, and the heat stored in the snow is re-radiated into the atmosphere.


title: Avalanche

text: When a slab avalanche forms, the slab disintegrates into increasingly smaller fragments as the snow travels downhill. If the fragments become small enough the outer layer of the avalanche, called a saltation layer, takes on the characteristics of a fluid. When sufficiently fine particles are present they can become airborne and, given a sufficient quantity of airborne snow, this portion of the avalanche can become separated from the bulk of the avalanche and travel a greater distance as a powder snow avalanche. Scientific studies using radar, following the 1999 Galtür avalanche disaster, confirmed the hypothesis that a saltation layer forms between the surface and the airborne components of an avalanche, which can also separate from the bulk of the avalanche.


title: Avalanche

text: Driving an avalanche is the component of the avalanche's weight parallel to the slope; as the avalanche progresses any unstable snow in its path will tend to become incorporated, so increasing the overall weight. This force will increase as the steepness of the slope increases, and diminish as the slope flattens. Resisting this are a number of components that are thought to interact with each other: the friction between the avalanche and the surface beneath; friction between the air and snow within the fluid; fluid-dynamic drag at the leading edge of the avalanche; shear resistance between the avalanche and the air through which it is passing, and shear resistance between the fragments within the avalanche itself. An avalanche will continue to accelerate until the resistance exceeds the forward force.


title: Avalanche

text: Attempts to model avalanche behaviour date from the early 20th century, notably the work of Professor Lagotala in preparation for the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix. His method was developed by A. Voellmy and popularised following the publication in 1955 of his "Ueber die Zerstoerungskraft von Lawinen" (On the Destructive Force of Avalanches).


title: Avalanche

text: Voellmy used a simple empirical formula, treating an avalanche as a sliding block of snow moving with a drag force that was proportional to the square of the speed of its flow:


title: Avalanche

text: He and others subsequently derived other formulae that take other factors into account, with the Voellmy-Salm-Gubler and the Perla-Cheng-McClung models becoming most widely used as simple tools to model flowing (as opposed to powder snow) avalanches.


title: Avalanche

text: Since the 1990s many more sophisticated models have been developed. In Europe much of the recent work was carried out as part of the SATSIE (Avalanche Studies and Model Validation in Europe) research project supported by the European Commission which produced the leading-edge MN2L model, now in use with the "Service Restauration des Terrains en Montagne" (Mountain Rescue Service) in France, and D2FRAM (Dynamical Two-Flow-Regime Avalanche Model), which was still undergoing validation as of 2007. Other known models are the SAMOS-AT avalanche simulation software and the RAMMS software.


title: Avalanche

text: Preventative measures are employed in areas where avalanches pose a significant threat to people, such as ski resorts, mountain towns, roads, and railways. There are several ways to prevent avalanches and lessen their power and develop preventative measures to reduce the likelihood and size of avalanches by disrupting the structure of the snowpack, while passive measures reinforce and stabilize the snowpack "in situ". The simplest active measure is repeatedly traveling on a snowpack as snow accumulates; this can be by means of boot-packing, ski-cutting, or machine grooming. Explosives are used extensively to prevent avalanches, by triggering smaller avalanches that break down instabilities in the snowpack, and removing overburden that can result in larger avalanches. Explosive charges are delivered by a number of methods including hand-tossed charges, helicopter-dropped bombs, Gazex concussion lines, and ballistic projectiles launched by air cannons and artillery. Passive preventive systems such as snow fences and light walls can be used to direct the placement of snow. Snow builds up around the fence, especially the side that faces the prevailing winds. Downwind of the fence, snow build-up is lessened. This is caused by the loss of snow at the fence that would have been deposited and the pickup of the snow that is already there by the wind, which was depleted of snow at the fence. When there is a sufficient density of trees, they can greatly reduce the strength of avalanches. They hold snow in place and when there is an avalanche, the impact of the snow against the trees slows it down. Trees can either be planted or they can be conserved, such as in the building of a ski resort, to reduce the strength of avalanches.


title: Avalanche

text: In turn, socio-environmental changes can influence the occurrence of damaging avalanches: some studies linking changes in land-use/land-cover patterns and the evolution of snow avalanche damage in mid latitude mountains show the importance of the role played by vegetation cover, that is at the root of the increase of damage when the protective forest is deforested (because of demographic growth, intensive grazing and industrial or legal causes), and at the root of the decrease of damage because of the transformation of a traditional land-management system based on overexploitation into a system based on land marginalization and reforestation, something that has happened mainly since the mid-20th century in mountain environments of developed countries


title: Avalanche

text: In many areas, regular avalanche tracks can be identified and precautions can be taken to minimize damage, such as the prevention of development in these areas. To mitigate the effect of avalanches the construction of artificial barriers can be very effective in reducing avalanche damage. There are several types: One kind of barrier (snow net) uses a net strung between poles that are anchored by guy wires in addition to their foundations. These barriers are similar to those used for rockslides. Another type of barrier is a rigid fence-like structure (snow fence) and may be constructed of steel, wood or pre-stressed concrete. They usually have gaps between the beams and are built perpendicular to the slope, with reinforcing beams on the downhill side. Rigid barriers are often considered unsightly, especially when many rows must be built. They are also expensive and vulnerable to damage from falling rocks in the warmer months. In addition to industrially manufactured barriers, landscaped barriers, called avalanche dams stop or deflect avalanches with their weight and strength. These barriers are made out of concrete, rocks, or earth. They are usually placed right above the structure, road, or railway that they are trying to protect, although they can also be used to channel avalanches into other barriers. Occasionally, earth mounds are placed in the avalanche's path to slow it down. Finally, along transportation corridors, large shelters, called snow sheds, can be built directly in the slide path of an avalanche to protect traffic from avalanches.


title: Avalanche

text: Warning systems can detect avalanches which develop slowly, such as ice avalanches caused by icefalls from glaciers. Interferometric radars, high-resolution cameras, or motion sensors can monitor instable areas over a long term, lasting from days to years. Experts interpret the recorded data and are able to recognize upcoming ruptures in order to initiate appropriate measures. Such systems (e.g. the monitoring of the Weissmies glacier in Switzerland) can recognize events several days in advance.


title: Avalanche

text: Modern radar technology enables the monitoring of large areas and the localization of avalanches at any weather condition, by day and by night. Complex alarm systems are able to detect avalanches within a short time in order to close (e.g. roads and rails) or evacuate (e.g. construction sites) endangered areas. An example of such a system is installed on the only access road of Zermatt in Switzerland. Two radars monitor the slope of a mountain above the road. The system automatically closes the road by activating several barriers and traffic lights within seconds such that no people are harmed.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanche accidents are broadly differentiated into 2 categories: accidents in recreational settings, and accidents in residential, industrial, and transportation settings. This distinction is motivated by the observed difference in the causes of avalanche accidents in the two settings. In the recreational setting most accidents are caused by the people involved in the avalanche. In a 1996 study, Jamieson et al. (pages 7–20) found that 83% of all avalanches in the recreational setting were caused by those who were involved in the accident. In contrast, all of the accidents in the residential, industrial, and transportation settings were due to spontaneous natural avalanches. Because of the difference in the causes of avalanche accidents, and the activities pursued in the two settings, avalanche and disaster management professionals have developed two related preparedness, rescue, and recovery strategies for each of the settings.


title: Avalanche

text: Two avalanches occurred in March 1910 in the Cascade and Selkirk Mountain ranges; On 1 March the Wellington avalanche killed 96 in Washington state, United States. Three days later 62 railroad workers were killed in the Rogers Pass avalanche in British Columbia, Canada.


title: Avalanche

text: During World War I, an estimated 40,000 to 80,000 soldiers died as a result of avalanches during the mountain campaign in the Alps at the Austrian-Italian front, many of which were caused by artillery fire. Some 10,000 men, from both sides, lost their lives in avalanches in December 1916.


title: Avalanche

text: In the northern hemisphere winter of 1950–1951 approximately 649 avalanches were recorded in a three-month period throughout the Alps in Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany. This series of avalanches killed around 265 people and was termed the Winter of Terror.


title: Avalanche

text: A mountain climbing camp on Lenin Peak, in what is now Kyrgyzstan, was wiped out in 1990 when an earthquake triggered a large avalanche that overran the camp. Forty-three climbers were killed.


title: Avalanche

text: In 1993, the Bayburt Üzengili avalanche killed 60 individuals in Üzengili in the province of Bayburt, Turkey.


title: Avalanche

text: A large avalanche in Montroc, France, in 1999, 300,000 cubic metres of snow slid on a 30° slope, achieving a speed in the region of . It killed 12 people in their chalets under 100,000 tons of snow, deep. The mayor of Chamonix was convicted of second-degree murder for not evacuating the area, but received a suspended sentence.


title: Avalanche

text: The small Austrian village of Galtür was hit by the Galtür avalanche in 1999. The village was thought to be in a safe zone but the avalanche was exceptionally large and flowed into the village. Thirty-one people died.


title: Avalanche

text: On 1 December 2000, the Glory Bowl Avalanche formed on Mt. Glory which is located within the Teton Mountain Range in Wyoming, United States. Joel Roof was snowboarding recreationally in this backcountry, bowl-shaped run and triggered the avalanche. He was carried nearly 2,000 feet to the base of the mountain and was not successfully rescued.


title: Avalanche

text: In Europe, the avalanche risk is widely rated on the following scale, which was adopted in April 1993 to replace the earlier non-standard national schemes. Descriptions were last updated in May 2003 to enhance uniformity.


title: Avalanche

text: In France, most avalanche deaths occur at risk levels 3 and 4. In Switzerland most occur at levels 2 and 3. It is thought that this may be due to national differences of interpretation when assessing the risks.


title: Avalanche

text: In the United States and Canada, the following avalanche danger scale is used. Descriptors vary depending on country.


title: Avalanche

text: The Canadian classification for avalanche size is based upon the consequences of the avalanche. Half sizes are commonly used.


title: Avalanche

text: The size of avalanches are classified using two scales; size relative to destructive force or D-scale and size relative to the avalanche path or R-scale. Both size scales range from 1 to 5 with the D size scale half sizes can be used.


title: Avalanche

text: Slab avalanche hazard analysis can be done using the Rutschblock Test. A 2 m wide block of snow is isolated from the rest of the slope and progressively loaded. The result is a rating of slope stability on a seven step scale.


title: Avalanche

text: Avalanche formation and frequency is highly affected by weather patterns and the local climate. Snowpack layers will form differently depending on whether snow is falling in very cold or very warm conditions, and very dry or very humid conditions. Thus, climate change may affect when, where, and how often avalanches occur, and may also change the type of avalanches that are occurring.


title: Avalanche

text: Overall, a rising seasonal snow line and a decrease in the number of days with snow cover are predicted. Climate change-caused temperature increases and changes in precipitation patterns will likely differ between the different mountain regions, and the impacts of these changes on avalanches will change at different elevations. In the long term, avalanche frequency at lower elevations is expected to decline corresponding to a decrease in snow cover and depth, and a short-term increase in the number of wet avalanches are predicted.


title: Avalanche

text: Precipitation is expected to increase, meaning more snow or rain depending on the elevation. Higher elevations predicted to remain above the seasonal snow line will likely see an increase in avalanche activity due to the increases in precipitation during the winter season. Storm precipitation intensity is also expected to increase, which is likely to lead to more days with enough snowfall to cause the snowpack to become unstable. Moderate and high elevations may see an increase in volatile swings from one weather extreme to the other. Predictions also show an increase in the number of rain on snow events, and wet avalanche cycles occurring earlier in the spring during the remainder of this century.


title: Avalanche

text: The warm, wet snowpacks that are likely to increase in frequency due to climate change may also make avalanche burials more deadly. Warm snow has a higher moisture content and is therefore denser than colder snow. Denser avalanche debris decreases the ability for a buried person to breath and the amount of time they have before they run out of oxygen. This increases the likelihood of death by asphyxia in the event of a burial. Additionally, the predicted thinner snowpacks may increase the frequency of injuries due to trauma, such as a buried skier striking a rock or tree.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Battlefield 3 is a 2011 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is a direct sequel to 2005's "Battlefield 2".


title: Battlefield 3

text: In "Battlefield 3"s campaign, players take on the personas of several military roles: a U.S. Marine, an F/A-18F Super Hornet weapon systems officer, an M1A2 Abrams tank operator, and a Spetsnaz GRU operative. The campaign takes place in various locations and follows the stories of two characters, Henry Blackburn and Dimitri Mayakovsky.


title: Battlefield 3

text: The game sold 5 million copies in its first week of release, and received mostly positive reviews. The game's sequel, "Battlefield 4", was released in 2013.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3" features the combined arms battles across single-player, co-operative and multiplayer modes. It reintroduces several elements absent from the "" games, including fighter jets, the prone position and 64-player battles on PC. To accommodate the lower player count on consoles, the ground area is limited for Xbox 360 and PS3, though fly space remains the same.


title: Battlefield 3

text: The game features maps set in Paris, Tehran (as well as other locations in Iran), Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, New York City, Wake Island, Oman, Kuwait City, and other parts of the Persian Gulf. The maps cover urban streets, metropolitan downtown areas, and open landscapes suited to vehicle combat. "Battlefield 3" introduces the "Battlelog"; a free cross-platform social service with built-in text messaging, voice communications, game statistics, and the ability to join games that friends are already playing (though both players need to be on the same platform).


title: Battlefield 3

text: A demo featuring the new co-op mode was featured at Gamescom 2011. Split screen is not available. "Battlefield 3"s new Battlelog social network, DICE noted, would be tied to all co-op matches, allowing players to try to beat friends' scores and to track their performance. Participating in co-op mode allows the player to collect points that unlock additional content that can be used in multiplayer.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3"s multiplayer matches see players take on one of four roles: Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon. The Assault class focuses on assault rifles and healing teammates. The Support class focuses on light machine guns and supplying ammunition. The Engineer class focuses on supporting and destroying vehicles. The Recon class focuses on sniping and spotting enemies. The mechanics of the weapons have been changed to utilize the new engine: compatible weapons may have bipods attached which can then be deployed when in the prone position or near suitable scenery, and provide a significant boost to accuracy and recoil reduction. Suppressive fire from weapons blurs the vision and reduces the accuracy of those under fire, as well as health regeneration. The Recon class can put a radio beacon anywhere on the map and all squad members will be able to spawn on the location of the beacon.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Several game modes are present, including Conquest, Rush, Squad Deathmatch, Squad Rush and for the first time since "Battlefield 1942", Team Deathmatch. However, more game modes are available through the purchase of extra downloadable content packs. The PC version of "Battlefield 3" is by default launched via a web browser from the Battlelog web site. A server browser is present in console versions of the game.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3"s Campaign story is set during the fictional "War of 2014" and covers events that occur over the span of nine months. Most of the story takes place in the Iran–Iraq region. Other locations include the Iranian-Azerbaijani border, Paris, and New York City. Most missions occur as flashbacks on part of the interrogation of Sergeant Henry Blackburn, and do not occur in order of events.


title: Battlefield 3

text: The Campaign puts the player in control of four different player characters. For most of the story, the player controls Sergeant Henry "Black" Blackburn (portrayed by Gideon Emery), a member of the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Recon Battalion and main protagonist. The player also controls Sgt. Jonathan "Jono" Miller, a M1 Abrams tank operator deployed in Tehran; Lt. Jennifer "Wedge" Colby Hawkins, an F/A-18F Super Hornet weapon systems officer; and Dimitri "Dima" Mayakovsky, a Russian GRU operative. The main antagonist, Solomon, is an overseas asset for the Central Intelligence Agency. Non-player characters include: Misfit 1, Blackburn's squad (David Montes, Steve Campo, Christian Matkovic, Jack Chaffin, and Cpt. Quinton Cole); Dima's GRU squadmates Vladimir and Kiril; and CIA Agents Gordon and Whistler, who interrogate Blackburn for much of the Campaign.


title: Battlefield 3

text: On 15 March 2014, Blackburn's squad, Misfit 1, attempts to locate a U.S. squad investigating an improvised explosive device in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, whose last known position was in territory controlled by the People's Liberation & Resistance (PLR), an Iranian paramilitary insurgent group. They are eventually ambushed by the PLR, who critically wound Chaffin, and is required to be extracted. They find the missing squad which had been ambushed by the PLR; but before they can escape, a massive earthquake wrecks the city. Blackburn, fellow squadmate Montes, and other survivors fight their way out of the ruins of the city. On the same day, the PLR stage a "coup d'état" in Iran, turning it into a military dictatorship, and the U.S. subsequently invades. Lt. Hawkins takes part in a raid on enemy fighters over Iran and an air strike over Mehrabad Airport. In the aftermath of the air strikes, Misfit 1 is sent into Tehran to perform battle damage assessment and apprehend the leader of the PLR, Faruk Al-Bashir. While investigating an underground bank vault in the target's suspected location, Blackburn and his team learn that the PLR have acquired Russian suitcase nukes, with two of the three devices missing. Being overrun, Misfit requests backup from an M1 Abrams column "Anvil 3", including Sergeant Miller. Miller facilitates Misfit 1's helicopter extraction, but his Abrams tank is disabled and overrun while the crew awaits the arrival of the Quick Reaction Force. Knocked out and taken prisoner, Miller is promptly executed by Solomon and Al-Bashir, with the event being filmed and posted on the Internet.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Later, Misfit 1 manages to capture Al-Bashir, who is fatally wounded when they cause his escape vehicle to crash. Realizing that he had been betrayed and used, Al-Bashir reveals some of Solomon's plan—to detonate the nukes in Paris and New York City—before succumbing to his wounds. Misfit 1 gets a lead on arms dealer Amir Kaffarov, who was working with Solomon and Al-Bashir. They attempt to capture Kaffarov from his villa on the Caspian Sea coast, near the Azerbaijani border. However, they run into a Russian paratrooper battalion, also after Kaffarov, who engage them. In the ensuing chaos, Blackburn's squadmates, Campo and Matkovic, are killed in an enemy strafing run. Meanwhile, a Spetsnaz team led by Dima assaults Kaffarov's villa. Kaffarov tries to bribe the team, but is promptly beaten by Dima. Blackburn arrives at the villa and finds Dima with a deceased Kaffarov. Dima reveals Solomon's plot to Blackburn, and requests his cooperation to prevent "a war between [their] nations". Meanwhile, Misfit 1's commanding officer Cole arrives, and Blackburn is forced to shoot him before he can kill Dima. Blackburn's shooting of his commanding officer results in his eight-hour interrogation by the C.I.A. at Hunters Point, Queens.


title: Battlefield 3

text: During Blackburn's captivity, Dima's Spetsnaz squad attempts to stop the attack in Paris. However, Vladimir is killed, and the nuke detonates, killing 80,000 people. Meanwhile, the C.I.A. agents do not believe Blackburn's story, since Solomon is a C.I.A. informant, and there is no concrete proof of his involvement in the terrorist attacks. They instead believe that Russia is responsible for the attacks, and that Dima has tricked Blackburn.


title: Battlefield 3

text: With no other options, Blackburn and Montes break out of captivity to stop the attack in New York. Evading police, Blackburn manages to sneak into the hijacked Long Island Rail Road commuter train, which is full of Solomon's men and explosive charges. He fights his way to the front car, where he is ambushed by Solomon. In the melee, Blackburn gains the upper hand by obtaining and activating the detonator to the charges, causing the train to crash. Blackburn pursues Solomon through the sewers and up to street level. Montes, having obtained a vehicle, picks up Blackburn and engages Solomon and the PLR in a brief vehicular chase, which ends with both cars crashing in Times Square. As a bewildered crowd watches on, Solomon shoots Montes, but Blackburn manages to kill Solomon by bludgeoning him to death with a brick in the ensuing brawl and prevents the nuclear bomb from detonating.


title: Battlefield 3

text: In the epilogue, it is revealed that Dima had survived the Paris detonation, albeit suffering from radiation poisoning. He writes about the efforts of both himself and Blackburn to stop Solomon's plan "to set fire to the world". As he finishes, he examines a pistol. A knock comes from his door, the screen cuts to black, and the last sound is that of the pistol being loaded as Dima presumably prepares to defend himself.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3"s lead platform was originally the PC until it was switched to consoles midway through development. The Xbox 360 version of "Battlefield 3" is shipped on two discs due to the disc size limit; however, the PS3 version ships on one Blu-ray Disc. It is the first game in the series that does not support versions of Windows prior to Windows Vista as the game only supports DirectX 10 and 11. The PC version was exclusive to EA's Origin platform, through which PC users also authenticate when connecting to the game; however the game eventually arrived on Steam in June 2020.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3" debuts the new Frostbite 2 engine. This updated Frostbite engine can realistically portray the destruction of buildings and scenery to a greater extent than previous versions. Unlike previous iterations, the new version can also support dense urban areas. "Battlefield 3" used a new type of character animation technology called ANT that has been used in EA Sports games such as "FIFA", but for "Battlefield 3" is adapted to create a more realistic soldier, with the ability to transition into cover and turn the head before the body, as well as "drag fallen comrades into safety and mount weapons on almost any part of the terrain". EA stated that Commander Mode was unlikely to be included, which was met with some criticism on the EA forum.


title: Battlefield 3

text: During Sony's E3 2011 press conference, Jack Tretton of Sony Computer Entertainment of America announced that the PlayStation 3 version of the game would be bundled with a free copy of "Battlefield 1943", however, at launch, the game was not included. EA then said that "Battlefield 3" PlayStation 3 owners would receive timed-exclusive DLC for the game instead. On 20 November 2011, Law firm Edelson McGuire took EA to court on behalf of disappointed gamers. The complaint focuses on EA's communication of the change of plan, second proposal with early DLC that had already been announced. Shortly after EA was threatened with being taken to court over its failure to deliver the free game as announced at E3, EA announced they will offer owners of the PlayStation 3 version of "Battlefield 3" a free downloadable copy of "Battlefield 1943".


title: Battlefield 3

text: On 7 June 2011, during Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference, John Riccitiello of EA games expressed interest in Nintendo's upcoming system, the Wii U. Patrick Liu, the executive producer of "Battlefield 3", stated that DICE currently have no games in development for the Wii U and a port for the console "probably won't happen".


title: Battlefield 3

text: The open beta commenced on 29 September 2011, for all platforms, and ended on 10 October 2011. 48 hour early access was granted to players who bought the Tier 1 edition of "Medal of Honor" or pre-ordered the digital version of "Battlefield 3: Limited Edition" through Origin.


title: Battlefield 3

text: A soundtrack album was released on 24 October 2011, one day before the game was released. It is available on iTunes and Amazon. The music was composed by Johan Skugge and Jukka Rintamäki.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3" and its five DLC packs contain numerous Easter eggs. Hiding in obscure areas of the game are references to other Electronic Arts games and franchises including "Mirror's Edge" and "Mass Effect". Some sources suggested other Easter eggs pointed to future "Battlefield" games or DLC packs. During the firefight in the mall trying to protect Al-Bashir, the store in which they are defending Al-Bashir has copies of games on the shelf and one game being titled "Frostbite" which references the engine used by "Battlefield 3". A wall on the multiplayer map "Wake Island" featuring the number 2143 and a futuristic hovercraft on a different map in the "End Game" DLC have been said to suggest a follow up to 2006's "Battlefield 2142" is in the works.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Several dinosaur Easter eggs—such as a flying pterodactyl on the map "Nebandan Flats" and tyrannosaurus skulls or toy statues on various maps—have led others to believe a dinosaur-related game or DLC would be released in the future. The idea of a dinosaur-related minigame originated from fan feedback through social media outlets prior to "Battlefield 3"s release. Neither of these possible upcoming games has been confirmed by EA.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3" was revealed on 3 February 2011 by "Game Informer". The coverage included information on building the game and interviews with the developer DICE, as well as three trailers: a teaser and the first two parts in a series of gameplay from the level "Fault Line". Several other trailers were released showing different aspects of the game, including both single and multiplayer, as well as emphasizing the new engine. On 16 August 2011, co-op gameplay and a "Caspian Border Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer" were shown at Gamescom 2011 illustrating the co-op mode and the first footage of air combat, respectively.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Trailer releases gained momentum in the week before the release of the game. EA released a multiplayer trailer which showed the variety of maps available in multiplayer, with short scenes of actual gameplay. It also featured shots of a map that is included in the "Back to Karkand" downloadable content (DLC). EA released a launch trailer, showing off the various missions in the single-player campaign.


title: Battlefield 3

text: EA CEO John Riccitiello stated that "Battlefield 3" is aimed at competing with the "Call of Duty" series. EA planned on spending over $100 million on a marketing campaign for "Battlefield 3". Electronic Arts stated that "Battlefield 3" is a "flat out superior" to "Call of Duty". EA has said it is going on the "offense" in regards to its marketing on "Battlefield 3", saying that it started its campaign early to establish a "beachhead". Anyone who had watched a trailer for the upcoming film "Act of Valor" through the official "Battlefield 3" website could receive free downloadable dogtags for use with any version of the game.


title: Battlefield 3

text: For marketing and distribution to Japan, EA worked with Sega's Japanese branch to distribute the game nationwide. In January 2017, the game was made backwards compatible with the Xbox One (alongside "") and was subsequently added to the EA Access service.


title: Battlefield 3

text: All pre-orders of the "Limited Edition" grant free access to the "Back to Karkand" DLC pack, a reference to the "Strike at Karkand" map (a popular "Battlefield 2" map), to include four maps brought over from "Battlefield 2", ten new weapons, four new vehicles, five new achievements/trophies, and a new addition to the series, "Assignments". The maps from the expansion pack will be: Strike at Karkand, Gulf of Oman, Wake Island, and Sharqi Peninsula.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Pre-ordering at selected retailers and Origin included the "Physical Warfare Pack", granting access to time-based exclusive weapons and items; including a light machine gun, a sniper rifle accessory, and armor-piercing ammunition. Also included is launch day access to the DAO-12 semi-automatic shotgun, which other players can unlock through game play. Pre-order at select retailers also provide the "SPECACT Kit Upgrade", the "Dog Tag Pack" and "Battlefield 3" gear for the player's console avatar. Pre-ordering at Origin gave players a shotgun and beret for "Battlefield Play4Free", and 48 hour early access to the "Battlefield 3" beta.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Originally the "Physical Warfare Pack" was to be exclusive to pre-orders, but fan reaction to this was negative, causing EA to clarify that it would be made available to all players for free later in the year. On 2 September 2011, a trailer for the Physical Warfare Pack was released on YouTube showing all the content included within the pack in action in-game.


title: Battlefield 3

text: All the content except the "Back to Karkand" pack was available from day one. The pack was released on 6 December 2011 for the PlayStation 3, and a week later for the Xbox 360 and PC.


title: Battlefield 3

text: To access the game's online multiplayer mode on consoles, players need to activate an online pass. New copies of the game include one online pass for the original owner of the game to access the multiplayer; however, if a player buys a used copy or rents the game, they must purchase an online pass separately, or access a 48-hour trial via the official game site. When asked why the developers implemented the pass system, game designer Alan Kertz replied, "because servers cost money, and used games don't make developers any money." Some of the online pass codes were invalid from the time of purchase, which EA responded to by telling affected consumers to ask the retailer for a replacement code.


title: Battlefield 3

text: The first DLC pack, "Back to Karkand", was announced before launch and was released on 13 December 2011 for PC and Xbox 360, while PlayStation 3 owners received it a week earlier. It was priced at US$15 but was free for all users who purchased the limited edition. It features four maps remade from "Battlefield 2", three new vehicles and ten new weapons.


title: Battlefield 3

text: At GDC 2012 DICE revealed it would release three more DLCs. The second DLC, "Close Quarters" arrived in June 2012 featuring four new infantry-oriented maps, ten new weapons, HD Destruction, ten new assignments, five unique Dogtags, and a new game mode, Conquest Domination, a Conquest mode adapted for smaller spaces.


title: Battlefield 3

text: The third DLC, "Armored Kill" arrived on 4 September 2012 for premium PlayStation 3 users and 11 September for Xbox 360 and PC users. The DLC was made available for non-premium PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users on 25 September 2012. Armored Kill included new vehicles, specifically tanks, ATVs, and mobile artillery, as well as new vehicle-oriented maps and what is called "the biggest map in Battlefield history".


title: Battlefield 3

text: A DLC titled "Aftermath" was revealed in a trailer for "Battlefield 3" Premium. It was released to PlayStation 3 Premium subscribers on 27 November 2012 and to PC and Xbox 360 Premium subscribers on 4 December 2012. "Aftermath" was released to non-Premium subscribers on PlayStation 3 on 11 December 2012, and on PC and Xbox 360 on 18 December 2012. A video released by DICE games revealed that there would be a crossbow, with customizable scopes and various bolts before its release.


title: Battlefield 3

text: The fifth DLC, "End Game", was released for PlayStation 3 Premium members on 5 March 2013 and to PC and Xbox 360 Premium members on 12 March 2013, then to non-Premium PlayStation 3 players on 19 March 2013 and to PC and Xbox 360 players on 26 March 2013. It was developed in conjunction with Visceral Games.


title: Battlefield 3

text: Andy McNab penned a tie-in novel titled "Battlefield 3: The Russian", which follows the story of GRU Spetsnaz commando Dmitri "Dima" Mayakovsky and his involvement against the PLR, as well as his connection to the antagonist, Solomon. McNab also served as the game's consultant on military tactics. The novel was released on 25 October 2011.


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Battlefield 3" received mostly positive reviews. IGN gave it a score of 9.0 out of 10.0 for all platforms, and praised the graphics and multiplayer game, but criticism for the occasional glitches of the game engine, it still gave the game a mostly positive review, "Regardless of the narrative missteps or the occasional glitches, "Battlefield 3 "offers an unforgettable, world-class multiplayer suite that's sure to excite shooter fans."


title: Battlefield 3

text: Joystiq awarded the game 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating that the campaign was "tactically linear" and that the A.I. within the game were "murderously un-fun to fight". Complaints were also made of the multiplayer aspect, stating that destruction was less than expected: "It's not "", and levels won't start out intact and end looking like the surface of the moon the way they often did in that game." They did, however, praise the multiplayer experience as "unmatched", stating that this should be the sole reason to buy the game.


title: Battlefield 3

text: GameSpot gave "Battlefield 3" a score of 8.5 out of 10 across all platforms. They praised the deep multiplayer mode, great variety of vehicles, many well-designed environments, and a great reward system for team play. The cooperative mode was viewed favorably; the only criticism on the cooperative missions was that "there aren't more of them to keep you busy".


title: Battlefield 3

text: "Official Xbox Magazine" gave the game 9 out of 10, commending the game for its multiplayer mode, but criticizing the solo campaign. Similarly, "Official Xbox Magazine" (UK) gave the game 8 out of 10, applauding its multiplayer gaming and calling it "The most expansive, refined Battlefield multiplayer yet".


title: Battlefield 3

text: According to EA, "Battlefield 3" garnered 3 million pre-orders by the day of its release. The pre-order total makes it "the biggest first-person shooter launch in EA history", according to the publisher. Two days after launch, EA CEO John Riccitiello announced via a conference call to investors that "Battlefield 3" has already shipped 10 million units within a week of release, with 3 million of those being pre-orders. Electronic Arts stated that the title sold 5 million units within the first week of availability, easily becoming its fastest-selling game. After one month, EA chief financial officer Eric Brown announced "Battlefield 3" had sold 8 million copies, and that the publisher has shipped 12 million copies of the game to retailers, 2 million more than it shipped for launch week. Peter Moore, the high-profile COO of EA, insisted that "Battlefield 3" successfully captured a slice of ""'s market share. On 29 June 2012 EA revealed that the game has sold 15 million copies.


title: Battlefield 3

text: In Japan, "Battlefield 3" had sold around 123,379 copies for the PlayStation 3 and 27,723 copies for the Xbox 360 when it was released. In the first week, the game had sold 18,792 copies for the PlayStation 3 for a total of 142,171 copies. The PlayStation 3 version later sold 8,094 copies for a total of 150,265 copies.


title: Battlefield 3

text: A scene in which the player is prompted to kill a rat that is attacking their character was criticized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In a press release issued by the organization's German office, it claimed that the game "treats animals in a sadistic manner". The release also went further on to say that the scene can have "a brutalising effect on the young male target audience".


title: Battlefield 3

text: The reproduction of various scenes in "Battlefield 3" are highly accurate of their real-life counterparts such as the Grand Bazaar. Iran has reacted to the scenes set within Iran by banning the sale of the game. As the game had not been officially released in the country, the authorities were strictly enforcing the prevention of the distribution of pirated copies of the game. This comes after Iranian gamers had protested the release of the game and called for an apology.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid, abbreviated with a lipid number of 18:1 "cis"-9, and a main product of Δ9 desaturase. It has the formula CH(CH)CH=CH(CH)COOH. The name derives from the Latin word "oleum", which means oil. It is the most common fatty acid in nature. The salts and esters of oleic acid are called oleates.


title: Oleic acid

text: Fatty acids (or their salts) often do not occur as such in biological systems. Instead fatty acids such as oleic acid occur as their esters, commonly triglycerides, which are the greasy materials in many natural oils. Oleic acid is the most common monounsaturated fatty acid in nature. It is found in fats (triglycerides), the phospholipids that make membranes, cholesterol esters, and wax esters.


title: Oleic acid

text: Triglycerides of oleic acid comprise the majority of olive oil (about 70%). Olive oil exceeding 2% free oleic acid is graded unfit for human consumption. It also makes up 59–75% of pecan oil, 61% of canola oil, 36–67% of peanut oil, 60% of macadamia oil, 20–80% of sunflower oil, 15–20% of grape seed oil, sea buckthorn oil, 40% of sesame oil, and 14% of poppyseed oil. High oleic variants of plant sources such as sunflower (~80%) and canola oil (70%) also have been developed. Karuka contains 52.39% oleic acid. It is abundantly present in many animal fats, constituting 37 to 56% of chicken and turkey fat, and 44 to 47% of lard.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid is the most abundant fatty acid in human adipose tissue, and second in abundance in human tissues overall, following palmitic acid.


title: Oleic acid

text: The biosynthesis of oleic acid involves the action of the enzyme stearoyl-CoA 9-desaturase acting on stearoyl-CoA. In effect, stearic acid is dehydrogenated to give the monounsaturated derivative, oleic acid.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid undergoes the reactions of carboxylic acids and alkenes. It is soluble in aqueous base to give soaps called oleates. Iodine adds across the double bond. Hydrogenation of the double bond yields the saturated derivative stearic acid. Oxidation at the double bond occurs slowly in air, and is known as rancidification in foodstuffs and as drying in coatings.


title: Oleic acid

text: Reduction of the carboxylic acid group yields oleyl alcohol. Ozonolysis of oleic acid is an important route to azelaic acid. The coproduct is nonanoic acid:


title: Oleic acid

text: The trans isomer of oleic acid is called elaidic acid or "trans"-9-octadecenoic acid. These isomers have distinct physical properties and biochemical properties. Elaidic acid, the most abundant trans fatty acid in diet, appears to have an adverse effect on health. A reaction that converts oleic acid to elaidic acid is called elaidinization.


title: Oleic acid

text: In chemical analysis, fatty acids are separated by gas chromatography of their methyl ester derivatives. Alternatively, separation of unsaturated isomers is possible by argentation thin-layer chromatography.


title: Oleic acid

text: In ethenolysis, methyl oleate, the "methyl ester" of the acid, converts to 1-decene and methyl 9-decenoate:


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid is used as a component in many foods, in the form of its triglycerides. It is a component of the normal human diet, being a part of animal fats and vegetable oils.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid as its sodium salt is a major component of soap as an emulsifying agent. It is also used as an emollient. Small amounts of oleic acid are used as an excipient in pharmaceuticals, and it is used as an emulsifying or solubilizing agent in aerosol products.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid is used to induce lung damage in certain types of animals for the purpose of testing new drugs and other means to treat lung diseases. Specifically in sheep, intravenous administration of oleic acid causes acute lung injury with corresponding pulmonary edema.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid is widely used in the solution phase synthesis of nanoparticles, functioning as a to control the size and morphology of nanoparticles.


title: Oleic acid

text: Oleic acid is the topmost monounsaturated fat in the human diet. Monounsaturated fat consumption has been associated with decreased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and possibly with increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Oleic acid may be responsible for the hypotensive (blood pressure reducing) effects of olive oil that is considered a health benefit. A 2017 review found that diets enriched in oleic acid are beneficial for regulating body weight.


title: Oleic acid

text: The United States FDA has approved a health claim on reduced risk of coronary heart disease for high oleic (> 70% oleic acid) oils. Some oil plants have cultivars bred to increase the amount of oleic acid in the oils. In addition to providing a health claim, the heat stability and shelf life may also be improved, but only if the increase in monounsaturated oleic acid levels correspond to a substantial reduction in polyunsaturated fatty acid (especially α-Linolenic acid) content. When the saturated fat or trans fat in a fried food is replaced with a stable high oleic oil, consumers may be able to avoid certain health risks associated with consuming saturated fat and trans fat.


title: Lululemon murder

text: The Lululemon murder occurred on March 11, 2011, at a Lululemon Athletica store located in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, when Brittany Norwood, a store worker, murdered her coworker Jayna Troxel Murray. The case received widespread media coverage and was commonly referred to as the "Lululemon murder." In January 2012, Norwood was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.


title: Lululemon murder

text: On March 12, 2011, a manager arrived in the morning to find the door unlocked, merchandise strewn across the floor, and mannequins in disarray. She could hear someone moaning near the back of the store. Frightened, she asked a man outside to help her search the store. He found Jayna Murray lying in a back hallway, face down in a pool of blood, with a ligature around her neck. Brittany Norwood was found in the bathroom, apparently semi-conscious, with zipties binding her wrists and ankles and blood on her face. Bloody footprints were tracked through the store.


title: Lululemon murder

text: Norwood told police that after she and Murray had closed the store the previous evening, she realized that she had forgotten her wallet and called Murray to let her back into the store. Alarm records showed that the door was unlocked at 10:05pm. Then, according to Norwood, two men wearing dark clothing and ski masks entered the store, attacked them, and sexually assaulted them. While police initially treated Norwood as a victim, it soon became clear that the evidence did not support her account. Murray had been savagely attacked, sustaining at least 331 wounds from at least five different weapons, including a knife and a hammer, which may have come from a toolbox in the store. Norwood's injuries were relatively minor, and appeared to be consistent with self-inflicted wounds. A forensic expert at the trial testified that the blood on her face, from a cut on her forehead, had dripped straight down, suggesting that she had been upright most of the night, not lying on the bathroom floor where she was found. The bloody footprints in the store came from two pairs of shoes—a pair of men's size 14 Reebok sneakers, which were found inside the store, and Norwood's own shoes. Additionally, the tracks ended before either exit from the store. Nor did investigators find evidence that either woman had been sexually assaulted, though Norwood had cut a hole in Murray's pants to make it appear that she had been.


title: Lululemon murder

text: During the investigation, it emerged that an employee and manager at the Apple Store next door had heard an altercation through the wall the previous evening; surveillance footage from inside the Apple Store shows them standing next to the shared wall, then walking away, while a security guard sits nearby listening to music on an iPod. The employee testified at Norwood's trial that she heard women arguing, one saying "Talk to me. Don't do this. Talk to me. What's going on?", followed by screams, sounds of something or someone being hit or dragged, and a weak voice saying "God help me...please help me." The manager testified that he thought the noise was "just drama."


title: Lululemon murder

text: Police also found blood in Murray's car, which was identified at the trial as a mix of Norwood's blood and Murray's. When they asked Norwood whether she had moved the car, which was found at a farmer's market three blocks away, she admitted that she had, but said that the men inside had ordered her to, and told her that if she didn't come back in 10 minutes, they would kill her. She also said that she had seen a police officer while she was moving the vehicle, but hadn't spoken to him.


title: Lululemon murder

text: Norwood was arrested a week after the slaying, and charged with first-degree murder. Statements by police officials and testimony during the trial indicated that on the evening of the murder, Murray and Norwood checked each others' bags for unpaid merchandise, a routine security procedure at Lululemon and other retail stores. Murray found a pair of pants in Norwood's bag, and called their manager after she left the store. The manager said she would deal with it in the morning. A few minutes later, Norwood called Murray to say she'd forgotten something, and asked Murray to return to the store and let her in. When Murray arrived, Norwood attacked her, moved her car, then staged the scene to look like a robbery, putting on a pair of men's shoes to track blood across the floor; tossing mops, broom, and chairs around the store; and finally cutting herself and binding her own wrists and ankles with zipties.


title: Lululemon murder

text: The murder has been covered in a number of true crime podcasts, including and "Generation Why". It was also the subject of a 2012 episode of "Snapped" and a 2014 episode of "Redrum".


title: Lululemon murder

text: In 2013, "Washington Post" police reporter Dan Morse published the book, "The Yoga Store Murder: The Shocking True Account of the Lululemon Athletica Killing".


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic disorder of the eyes that causes loss of vision. Symptoms include trouble seeing at night and decreasing peripheral vision (side and upper or lower visual field). As peripheral vision worsens, people may experience "tunnel vision". Complete blindness is uncommon. Onset of symptoms is generally gradual and often begins in childhood.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Retinitis pigmentosa is generally inherited from one or both parents or rarely it can be caused by a miscoding during DNA division. It is caused by genetic miscoding of proteins in one of more than 300 genes involved. The underlying mechanism involves the progressive loss of rod photoreceptor cells that line the retina of the eyeball. The rod cells secrete a neuroprotective substance (Rod-derived cone viability factor, RdCVF) that protects the cone cells from apoptosis (cell death). However, when the rod cells die, this substance is no longer provided. This is generally followed by the loss of cone photoreceptor cells. Diagnosis is by eye examination of the retina finding dark pigment deposits caused by the rupture of the underlying retinal pigmented epithelial cells, given that these cells contain a pigment known as melanin. Other supportive testing may include the electroretinogram (ERG), visual field testing (VFT), ocular coherence tomography (OCT) and DNA testing to determine the gene responsible for a person's particular type of RP (now called Inherited Retinal Dystrophy (IRD).


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: There is currently no cure for retinitis pigmentosa. Efforts to manage the problem may include the use of low vision aids, portable lighting, or orientation and mobility training. Vitamin A palmitate supplements may be useful to slow worsening. A visual prosthesis may be an option in certain people with severe disease.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Currently there is only one FDA-approved gene therapy that is commercially available to RP patients with Leber congenital amaurosis type 2. It replaces the miscoded RPE65 protein that is produced within the retinal pigmented epithelium. It has been found to effectively work in about 50% of the patients who receive the therapy. The earlier the child receives the RPE65 therapy the better the chances for a positive outcome. There are many other therapies being researched at this time with the goal of being approved in the next few years.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: The initial retinal degenerative symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa are characterized by decreased night vision (nyctalopia) and the loss of the mid-peripheral visual field. The rod photoreceptor cells, which are responsible for low-light vision and are orientated mainly in the retinal periphery, are the retinal processes affected first during non-syndromic (without other conditions) forms of this disease. Visual decline progresses relatively quickly to the far peripheral field, eventually extending into the central visual field as tunnel vision increases. Visual acuity and color vision can become compromised due to accompanying loss of the cone photoreceptor cells, which are responsible for color vision, visual acuity, and sight in the central visual field. The progression of disease occurs in both eyes in a similar but not identical pattern.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: A variety of indirect symptoms characterize retinitis pigmentosa along with the direct effects of the initial rod photoreceptor degeneration and later cone photoreceptor decline. Phenomena such as photophobia, which describes the event in which light is perceived as an intense glare, and photopsia, the presence of blinking, swirling or shimmering lights spontaneously occurring within the visual field, often manifest during the later stages of RP.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Findings related to RP have often been characterized in the fundus (back layer) of the eye as the "ophthalmic triad". This includes the development of (1) a mottled appearance of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) that gives the same visual appearance of Bone Spicule patterns (but are not Bone Spicules), (2) a waxy yellow appearance of the optic disk, and (3) the attenuation of blood vessels in size and Arterial/Venous ratio as they enter and exit the Optic Disk of the retina and transverse it.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Non-syndromic RP (RP appears alone without other co-morbidities) usually presents a variety of the following symptoms:


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: (2) syndromic, with other neurosensory disorders, developmental abnormalities, or complex clinical findings, or


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Acquired conditions resulting in ophthalmoscopic findings resembling RP include eye inflammation associated with infection in early age (rubella, syphilis, toxoplasmosis, herpesvirus), autoimmune paraneoplastic retinopathy, drug toxicity (phenothiazines and chloroquine, less commonly with Thioridazine and Hydroxychloroquine), diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis and eye trauma. Acquired conditions may be unilateral or bilateral, and static or progressive.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: There are multiple genes that code for proteins needed in the visual pathway, when mutated, they can cause the retinitis pigmentosa phenotype. Inheritance patterns of RP have been identified as autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked, and maternally (mitochondrially) acquired, and are dependent on the specific RP gene mutations present in the parental generation. (Of note, Autosomal Dominant RP Type 11 (PRPF-31) can be inherited as a genotype only, because of incomplete penetrance, thus coded for in the DNA but, does not manifest the disease as a phenotype.) In 1989, a mutation of the gene for rhodopsin, a pigment that plays an essential part in the visual transduction cascade enabling vision in low-light conditions, was identified. The rhodopsin gene encodes a principal protein of photoreceptor outer segments. Mutations in this gene most commonly presents as missense mutations or misfolding of the rhodopsin protein, and most frequently follow autosomal dominant inheritance patterns. Since the discovery of the rhodopsin gene, more than 100 RHO mutations have been identified, accounting for 15% of all types of retinal degeneration, and approximately 25% of autosomal dominant forms of RP.


title: Retinitis pigmentosa

text: Over 100 mutations have been reported to date in the opsin gene associated with the RP since the Pro23His mutation in the intradiscal domain of the protein was first reported in 1990. These mutations are found throughout the opsin gene and are distributed along the three domains of the protein (the intradiscal, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic domains). One of the main biochemical causes of RP in the case of rhodopsin mutations is protein misfolding, and the disruption of molecular chaperones. It was found that the mutation of codon 23 in the rhodopsin gene, in which proline is changed to histidine, accounts for the largest fraction of rhodopsin mutations in the United States. Several other studies have reported various codon mutations associated with retinitis pigmentosa, including Thr58Arg, Pro347Leu, Pro347Ser, as well as deletion of Ile-255. In 2000, a rare mutation in codon 23 was reported causing autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, in which proline changed to alanine. However, this study showed that the retinal dystrophy associated with this mutation was characteristically mild in presentation and course. Furthermore, there was greater preservation in electroretinography amplitudes than the more prevalent Pro23His mutation.