title: Budesonide

text: Aeronide (TH); Aquacort (DE); B Cort (CO); Bronex (PH); Budair (MY); Budecort DP (MY); Budenofalk (DE, GB, HK, KP, PH, SG); Budeson (AR); Budeson Aqua (AR); BudeSpray (TH); Budiair (KP); Budicort Respules (IL); Budinide (KSA); Bunase (TH); Clebudan (CN); Cortiment (CA, GB, AU); Cycortide (HK); Denecort (PH); Duasma (TW); Eltair (MY); Entocort (AR, AT, BE, BR, CH, CZ, DK, FI, FR, GB, HK, IE, IL, IT, KP, NL, NO, PL, PT, SE, TR); Giona Easyhaler (MY, SG, TH); Inflammide (PE); Miflonid (CZ); Miflonide (BE, DE, IL, IT, NZ, PT); Neumocort (PY); Novopulmon (DE, FR); Pulmicon Susp for Nebulizer (KP); Pulmicort (AT, BE, BG, BR, CH, CL, CN, CO, CR, CZ, DE, DK, DO, EE, FI, FR, GB, GR, GT, HN, ID, IN, NI, NL, NO, PA, PK, PL, PT, RU, SE, SV, TR, TW, UY, VE, ZA); Pulmicort Nasal Turbohaler (CL, KE, MU, NG); Pulmicort Turbuhaler (KE, MU, NG); Rafton (FR); Rhinocort (AU); Rhinocort Aqua (HK); Rhinoside (GR); Symbicort (FR, UK, US, ZA) Uceris (US).


title: Budesonide

text: Budesonide was recommended in April 2021 by the UK's NHS to treat COVID-19 on a case-by-case basis for those aged 50 years of age and older. After a University of Oxford research team found in a trial with 1,700 patients that budesonide could benefit many people over 50 with COVID-19 symptoms, it was recommended from 12 April 2021, by the National Health Service in the UK for general practitioners (GPs) to treat COVID-19 on a case-by-case basis. Results of a large-scale trial published in August 2021 suggest that inhaled budesonide improves the time of recovery and people's well-being during the recovery process. The recommendation was withdrawn in December 2021 citing the need for more research.


title: Budesonide

text: Inhalational budesonide was added to the recommended treatment for cases of COVID-19 in India in April 2021.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.; ) is an occult initiatory organization founded at the beginning of the 20th century. The origins of the O.T.O. can be traced back to the German-speaking occultists Carl Kellner, Heinrich Klein, Franz Hartmann and Theodor Reuss. Later, the O.T.O. was significantly shaped by the English author and occultist Aleister Crowley.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: After Crowley's death in 1947, four main branches of the O.T.O. have claimed exclusive descent from the original organization and primacy over the other ones. The most important and visible of these is the Caliphate O.T.O., incorporated by Crowley's student Grady McMurtry in 1979.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Originally it was intended to be modeled after and associated with European Freemasonry, such as Masonic Templar organizations, but under the leadership of Aleister Crowley, O.T.O. was reorganized around Crowley's Thelema as its central religious principle.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Similar to many secret societies, O.T.O. membership is based on an initiatory system with a series of degree ceremonies that use ritual drama.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The O.T.O. includes the "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica" (EGC) or Gnostic Catholic Church. Its central rite, which is public, is Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The early history of O.T.O. is difficult to trace reliably. It originated in Germany or Austria between 1895 and 1906. Its apparent founder was Carl Kellner (1851–1905) (probably with the German spelling Karl), a wealthy Austrian industrialist, in 1895 (although nothing verifiable is known of the Order until 1904). Kellner wanted to establish an "Academia Masonica" within which high-grade Freemasonic degrees could be conferred in German-speaking nations.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Theodor Reuss (1855–1923) collaborated with Kellner in creating O.T.O., and succeeded him as head of O.T.O. after Kellner's death. Under Reuss, charters were given to occult brotherhoods in France, Denmark, Switzerland, the United States, and Austria. There were ten degrees, of which the first five were Masonic.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1902, Reuss, along with Franz Hartmann and Henry Klein, purchased the right to perform the Rite of Memphis and Mizraim of Freemasonry from English Freemason John Yarker, the authority of which was confirmed in 1904 and again in 1905. Although these rites are considered to be irregular, they, along with the Swedenborg Rite formed the core of the newly established Order. Kellner, Reuss, Hartmann, and Klein acquired authority to operate the rites of the Martinist Order from French Occultist Gérard Encausse and a clandestine form of the Scottish Rite deriving from Joseph Cerneau. From William Wynn Westcott, Reuss acquired a warrant to start a College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia in Germany.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1902, Reuss began publishing a masonic journal, "The Oriflamme", as the organ of these collected rites. Reuss's rites aroused some degree of curiosity in the German-speaking Masonic milieu, as high degree Freemasonry had not been very widespread in Germany during the 1800s. The O.T.O. had several hundred members and affiliates at its peak, but by 1905 and after Kellner's death, Reuss began to lose his supporters. He was attacked in Masonic periodicals for his alleged lack of Masonic regularity and credentials, and for the alleged homosexual elements in Reuss's initiations. Reuss left Germany and moved to London in 1906, and lost control of most of the lodges previously belonging to the O.T.O. network.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1908, Encausse invited to Reuss to an "International Masonic Conference", where he probably met Joanny Bricaud and was introduced to his Gnostic Catholic Church (E.G.C.), an off-shoot of Jules Doinel's "Église Gnostique". Later O.T.O. documents would present the Order being linked to the E.G.C, and subsequently portray the E.G.C. of O.T.O. as being autonomous with respect to Bricaud's organization.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The sex magic of the higher O.T.O. degrees appears to be based on the writings of the American Occultist Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875), which were adopted by the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor (or of Light), another group which Kellner had supposedly been in contact and whose teachings O.T.O. claimed to incorporate. Scholar Marco Pasi notes, however, that there is no evidence in support of this, and suggests that Reuss acquired sexual ideas and techniques from Yarker, who had in his possession certain unpublished writings by Randolph.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Reuss met Aleister Crowley and in 1910 admitted him to the first three degrees of O.T.O. Two years later, Crowley was placed in charge of Great Britain and Ireland, and was advanced to the X° (tenth degree). The appointment included the opening of the British section of O.T.O., which was called the "Mysteria Mystica Maxima" or the M∴M∴M∴. Crowley then went to Berlin to obtain instructional manuscripts and the title of "Supreme and Holy King of Ireland, Iona and all the Britains within the Sanctuary of the Gnosis". Within the year, Crowley had written the Manifesto of the M∴M∴M∴ which described its basic ten-degree system with Kellner's three degree "Academia Masonica" forming the seventh, eighth and ninth degrees.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1913, Crowley composed the Gnostic Mass while in Moscow, which he described as being the Order's "central ceremony of its public and private celebration". In 1914, soon after World War I broke out, he moved to the United States. It was around this time that Crowley decided to integrate Thelema into the O.T.O. system, and in 1915 prepared revised rituals for use in the M∴M∴M∴.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1917, Reuss wrote a "Synopsis of Degrees" of O.T.O. in which the third degree was listed as "Craft of Masonry" and listed the initiations involved as "Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason" and elaborated on this with "Full instruction in Craft Masonry, including the Catechism of the first three degrees, and an explanation of all the various Masonic systems". The same document shows that the fourth degree of O.T.O. is also known as the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch. It was summarized by Reuss as the Degree of "Scotch Masonry", equivalent to "Scotch Mason, Knight of St. Andrew, Royal Arch", and he described it as "Full instruction in the Scottish degrees of Ancient and Accepted Masonry".


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1919, Crowley attempted to work this Masonic-based O.T.O. in Detroit, Michigan. The result was that he was rebuffed by the Council of the Scottish rite on the basis that O.T.O. rituals were too similar to orthodox Masonry. He described this in a 1930 letter to Arnold Krumm-Heller:


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Crowley subsequently rewrote the initiation rituals of the first three degrees, and in doing so removed most of those rituals' ties to Masonry. He did not, however, rewrite the fourth degree ritual, which remains in its form and structure related to the various Royal Arch rituals of Masonry.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Crowley wrote that Theodore Reuss suffered a stroke in the spring of 1920. In correspondence with one of Reuss' officers, Crowley expressed doubts about Reuss' competence to remain in office. Relations between Reuss and Crowley began to deteriorate, and the two exchanged angry letters in November 1921. Crowley informed Reuss that he was availing himself of Reuss' abdication from office and proclaiming himself Outer Head of the Order. Reuss died on October 28, 1923 without designating a successor, though Crowley claimed in later correspondence that Reuss had designated him. Crowley biographer Lawrence Sutin, among others, casts doubt on this claim, although there is no evidence for or against it, and no other candidate stepped forward to refute Crowley by offering proof of succession. In 1925, during a tumultuous Conference of Grand Masters, Crowley was officially elected as Outer Head of the Order (or O.H.O.) by the remaining administrative heads of O.T.O.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: During this period, O.T.O. members outside of the USA rarely came into contact with one another.: Since the total membership of O.T.O. at that time was counted in the dozens rather than in hundreds or thousands, this may simply have been Crowley's attempt at disguising the low numbers.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: During World War II, the European branches of O.T.O. were either destroyed or driven underground. By the end of the war, the only surviving O.T.O. body was Agapé Lodge in California, although there were various initiates in different countries. Very few initiations were being performed. At this time, Karl Germer, who had been Crowley's representative in Germany, migrated to the United States after being released from Nazi confinement. On March 14, 1942, Crowley appointed him as his successor as Outer Head of the Order, and Germer filled the office after the death of Crowley in 1947.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: After Crowley's death Germer attempted to keep O.T.O. running, with questionable success. Crowley had granted a charter to run an O.T.O. Camp in England to Gerald Gardner, and Germer acknowledged Gardner as the O.T.O.'s main representative in Europe. The two men met in 1948 in New York to discuss plans, but Gardner's continuing ill health led to Germer replacing him with Frederic Mellinger in 1951. Also in 1951 Germer granted a charter to run an O.T.O. Camp in England to Kenneth Grant, who had briefly served as Crowley's secretary during the 1940s. Grant was to be expelled and his charter revoked in 1955 however, and from that time onwards the O.T.O.'s representative in the UK was a IX° member, Noel Fitzgerald.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Germer died in 1962 without naming a successor. It was not until 1969 that Grady McMurtry invoked emergency authorization from Crowley and became the Frater Superior of O.T.O. McMurtry did not claim the title of Outer Head of the Order, stating in 1974 that "There is at present no Outer Head of the Order for Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis. The Outer Head of the Order is an international office (see p. 201, The Blue Equinox) and Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis is not at this time established organizationally to fulfill the requirements of its Constitution in this respect." He began performing initiations in 1970. O.T.O. was incorporated under the laws of the State of California on March 26, 1979. The corporation attained federal tax exemption as a religious entity under IRS Code 501(c)3 in 1982. Grady McMurtry died in 1985.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: McMurtry requested that members of the Sovereign Sanctuary of the Gnosis (i.e. the members of the Ninth Degree) elect the next Caliph, which they did in 1985. William Breeze was elected, taking the name "Hymenaeus Beta". In the Fall 1995 issue of "The Magical Link", he is designated "Hymenaeus Beta X°"; in the Fall 1997 issue of "The Magical Link", he is designated "Hymenaeus Beta XI°"; by May 2005, he is designated "O.H.O. Hymenaeus Beta XII°" on the O.T.O. website.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In 1996, Sabazius X° was appointed as National Grand Master General (G.M.G.) for the U.S. Grand Lodge. In 2005, Frater Hyperion X° was appointed the National G.M.G. of the newly formed UK Grand Lodge. Frater Shiva X° was appointed the G.M.G. of Australia Grand Lodge in 2006. In 2014, Frater Abrasax X° was appointed the National G.M.G. of the newly formed Grand Lodge of Croatia, and Frater Phanes X° was appointed National G.M.G. of the newly formed Grand Lodge of Italy. On October 14, 2014 these five National Grand Masters elected Hymenaeus Beta as "de jure" Outer Head of the Order.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: O.T.O. was described by Crowley as the "first of the great Old Æon orders to accept The Book of the Law". O.T.O. originally borrowed ritual material from irregular Masonic organizations, and although some related symbolism and language remains in use, the context has changed to Thelema and its tenets.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: O.T.O. has two core areas of ritual activity: initiation into the Mysteries, and the celebration of Liber XV, the Gnostic Mass. In addition, the Order organizes lectures, classes, social events, theatrical productions and artistic exhibitions, publishes books and journals, and provides instruction in Hermetic science, yoga, and magick.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Membership in O.T.O. is based upon a system of initiation ceremonies (or "degrees") which use ritual drama to establish fraternal bonds between members as well as impart spiritual and philosophical teachings.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The degrees serve an organizational function, in that certain degrees must be attained before taking on various forms of service in the Order (e.g. taking the degree of K.E.W. is a requirement for ordination as a priest or priestess in "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica").


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: There are thirteen numbered degrees and twelve un-numbered degrees which are divided into three grades or "triads"—the Hermit, the Lover, and the Man of Earth.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Admittance to each degree of O.T.O. involves an initiation and the swearing of an oath which O.T.O claims is similar to those used in Freemasonry.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Advancement through the Man of Earth triad requires sponsorship from ranking members. Advancement into the degree of the Knight of the East and West and beyond requires one to be invited by ranking members.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The ultimate goal of initiation in O.T.O. is "to instruct the individual by allegory and symbol in the profound mysteries of Nature, and thereby to assist each to discover his or her own true Identity".


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: O.T.O. has a federally recognized tax-exempt status in the United States under IRS section 501c(3). It also has California charitable corporation status.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The US Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in the United States. The U.S. National Grand Master is Sabazius X°, who was appointed in 1996.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The UK Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in the United Kingdom. The UK National Grand Master is Frater Hyperion X°, who was appointed in 2005 (93 years after the last Grand Master for the UK, Aleister Crowley, was elevated to that office).


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The Australian Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in Australia and its territories, chartered in April 2006. The A.G.L. National Grand Master is Frater Shiva X°.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The Croatian Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in Croatia and its territories, chartered in May 2014. The C.G.L. National Grand Master is Frater Abrasax X°.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The Italian Grand Lodge is the governing body of O.T.O. in Italy and its territories, chartered in May 2014. The I.G.L. National Grand Master is Frater Phanes X°.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica", or Gnostic Catholic Church, is the ecclesiastical arm of O.T.O. Its central activity is the celebration of Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass. In recent years, other rites have been written and approved for use within the church. These include Baptism, Confirmation (into the Laity), and Ordination (for Deacons, Priests & Priestesses, and Bishops), and Last Rites. There are also several "unofficial" rituals that are celebrated within the context of E.G.C., including Weddings, Visitation and Administration of the Virtues to the Sick, Exorcism, and Rites for Life and Greater Feasts.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Several competing factions have claimed to be legitimate heirs to Aleister Crowley. Both before and after McMurtry revived O.T.O. in California, others came forward with various claims of succession.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Although Karl Germer expelled Kenneth Grant from O.T.O. in 1955, Grant went on to claim himself Outer Head of Ordo Templi Orientis in a series of influential books. His organization has recently changed its name to the Typhonian Order and no longer claims to represent O.T.O.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Hermann Metzger, another claimant, had been initiated into O.T.O. under Germer in Germany in the 1950s, and headed the Swiss branch of the Order. After Germer's death he attempted to proclaim himself head of O.T.O. However, his claims were ignored by everyone outside of his country and he never pressed the issue. He died in 1990.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: Marcelo Ramos Motta (1931–1987), a third claimant, was never initiated into O.T.O. at all, but claimed on the basis that Germer’s wife, Sasha, told him that Karl’s last words stated that Motta was "the follower." He sued for ownership of Crowley’s copyrights, which were denied to him by the U.S. District Court in Maine. Motta died in 1987, although various small groups calling themselves Society O.T.O. (S.O.T.O.) continue to exist and claim authority from him.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: O.T.O. as revived by McMurtry has won two court cases regarding its legitimacy as the continuation of the O.T.O. of Aleister Crowley:


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The following case is also significant in the Order's history, though it does not have as much bearing on the issue of legitimacy:


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: The copyrights were thus Crown property between 1935 and 1991, making dozens of books—even many of O.T.O.'s own editions—unauthorized. Had the "will route" been tried, it would have given O.T.O. an opportunity to gain recognition in UK court as the legitimate continuation of Crowley's O.T.O., since that is a precondition to being found the rightful beneficiary of his will. Thus, the issue of the organization's legitimacy did arise at trial, since it was pleaded into court, but it was not ruled upon. While there is no way to know whether, had it been tested, it would have been confirmed or denied, O.T.O. made thorough legal preparations for this aspect of their case as detailed in their "Particulars of Claim". However it would be misleading to cite this case as affirming the organization's historical legitimacy, since that issue went untried.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In Australia in 2005, O.T.O. began a defamation case against the site GaiaGuys for material put up on their website that directly accused O.T.O., particularly in Australia, of participating in acts of child abuse and sacrifice. The court found in favour of O.T.O.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In June 2008 O.T.O. won a trademark case on appeal in the UK: "OTO", "O.T.O." "Ordo Templi Orientis" and the OTO Lamen were confirmed to be trademarks of the order.


title: Ordo Templi Orientis

text: In February 2006, a long-time high-ranking member and occult author, T. Allen Greenfield, called for the resignation of upper management and stepped down from all managerial duties in protest. He went on to write a detailed analysis of "the failure of the O.T.O." and the "culture of fear" which he says currently exists within O.T.O. which is included as the last chapter and Epilogue of his book "The Roots of Modern Magick". Although he is no longer a member of O.T.O. he continues to be a critic of the current Frater Superior of the Order, Hymenaeus Beta.


title: Tumbleweed

text: A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumbleweed is in effect the entire plant apart from the root system, but in other plants, a hollow fruit or inflorescence might detach instead. Xerophyte tumbleweed species occur most commonly in steppe and arid ecosystems, where frequent wind and the open environment permit rolling without prohibitive obstruction.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Apart from its primary vascular system and roots, the tissues of the tumbleweed structure are dead; their death is functional because it is necessary for the structure to degrade gradually and fall apart so that its seeds or spores can escape during the tumbling, or germinate after the tumbleweed has come to rest in a wet location. In the latter case, many species of tumbleweed open mechanically, releasing their seeds as they swell when they absorb water.


title: Tumbleweed

text: The tumbleweed diaspore disperses seeds, but the tumbleweed strategy is not limited to the seed plants; some species of spore-bearing cryptogams—such as "Selaginella"—form tumbleweeds, and some fungi that resemble puffballs dry out, break free of their attachments and are similarly tumbled by the wind, dispersing spores as they go.


title: Tumbleweed

text: The tumbleweed dispersal strategies are unusual among plants; most species disperse their seeds by other mechanisms. Many tumbleweeds establish themselves on broken soil as opportunistic agricultural weeds. Tumbleweeds have been recorded in the following plant groups:


title: Tumbleweed

text: In the family Amaranthaceae "s.l." (i.e. broadly defined to include Chenopodiaceae), several annual species of the genus "Kali" are tumbleweeds. They are thought to be native to Eurasia, but when their seeds entered North America in shipments of agricultural seeds, they became naturalized in large areas. In the cinema genre of Westerns, they have long been symbols of frontier areas. "Kali tragus" is the so-called "Russian thistle". It is an annual plant that breaks off at the stem base when it dies, and forms a tumbleweed, dispersing its seeds as the wind rolls it along. It is said to have arrived in the United States in shipments of flax seeds to South Dakota, perhaps about 1870. It now is a noxious weed throughout North America, dominating disturbed habitats such as roadsides, cultivated fields, eroded slopes, and arid regions with sparse vegetation. Though it is a troublesome weed, "Kali tragus" also provides useful livestock forage on arid rangelands.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Other members of the Amaranthaceae (s.l.) that form tumbleweeds include "Kochia" species, "Cycloloma atriplicifolium", and "Corispermum hyssopifolium", which are called plains tumbleweed. "Atriplex rosea" is called the tumbling oracle or tumbling orach.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Among the Amaranthaceae (s.s.) that form tumbleweeds, there are several species of "Amaranthus", such as "Amaranthus albus", native to Central America but invasive in Europe, Asia, and Australia; and "Amaranthus graecizans", native to Africa, but naturalized in North America. "Amaranthus retroflexus", which is indigenous to tropical North and South America, has become nearly cosmopolitan largely as a weed, but like many other species of "Amaranthus", it also is widely valued as animal forage and as human food, though it should be utilised with caution to avoid toxicity.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Several Southern African genera in the family Amaryllidaceae produce highly optimised tumbleweeds; their inflorescences are globular umbels with long, spoke-like pedicels, either effectively at ground level, or breaking off once the stems are dry. When the seeds are about ripe, the fruit remain attached to the peduncles, but the stem of the umbel detaches, permitting the globes to roll about in the wind. The light, open, globular structures form very effective tumbleweed diaspores, dropping their seeds usually within a few days as the follicles fail under the wear of rolling. The seeds are fleshy, short-lived, and germinate rapidly where they land. Being poisonous and distasteful, they are not attractive to candidate transport animals, so the rolling diaspore is a very effective dispersal strategy for such plants. Genera with this means of seed dispersal include "Ammocharis", "Boophone", "Crossyne" and "Brunsvigia".


title: Tumbleweed

text: Some species of the Apiaceae form tumbleweeds from their flower umbels, much as some Amaryllidaceae do.


title: Tumbleweed

text: In the Asteraceae, the knapweed "Centaurea diffusa" forms tumbleweeds. It is native to Eurasia and is naturalized in much of North America. Also in the Asteraceae, "Lessingia glandulifera", native to America, sometimes forms tumbleweeds; it grows on sandy soils in desert areas, chaparral, and open pine forests of the western United States.


title: Tumbleweed

text: In the Brassicaceae, "Sisymbrium altissimum", "Crambe maritima", "Lepidium", and a resurrection plant, "Anastatica" form tumbleweeds.


title: Tumbleweed

text: In the Caryophyllaceae, the garden plant "baby's-breath" ("Gypsophila paniculata"), produces a dry inflorescence that forms tumbleweeds. In parts of central and western North America, it has become a common weed in many locations including hayfields and pastures.


title: Tumbleweed

text: In the legume family (Fabaceae), "Baptisia tinctoria" and some species of "Psoralea" produce tumbleweeds. In "Psoralea" the tumbleweed detaches from the plant by abscission of the stem.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Inflorescences that act as tumbling diaspores occur in some grasses, including "Schedonnardus paniculatus" and some species of "Eragrostis" and "Aristida". In these plants, the inflorescences break off and tumble in the wind instead of the whole plant, much as happens in some of the Apiaceae and Amaryllidaceae. The species of "Spinifex" from Southeast Asia are prominent examples of this dispersal adaptation. These grasses are often called tumble-grasses, including such species as "Panicum capillare" and "Eragrostis pectinacea" in the United States.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Wind dispersed fruits that tumble or roll on the ground, sometimes known as "tumble fruits", are rare. Some are technically achenes. Highly inflated indehiscent fruits that may facilitate tumbling include "Alyssopsis", "Coluteocarpus", "Physoptychis", "Sutherlandia" and "Physaria".


title: Tumbleweed

text: Very similar in habit to "Anastatica", but practically unrelated, are the spore-bearing "Selaginella lepidophylla" (a lycopod) and earthstar mushroom family (Geastraceae). All of these curl into a ball when dry and uncurl when moistened.


title: Tumbleweed

text: The United States Department of Agriculture classified the ubiquitous tumbleweeds as a non-native and extremely invasive plant in the United States. They are considered noxious in nature and detrimental in many ways. Tumbleweeds thrive with disturbed soil situations and are a major contributor to native plant extinctions and wildfires, being highly flammable and bouncing over or rapidly growing in land cleared of vegetation between fields or areas of forest as firebreaks. Despite over a century of cooperation between Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. governments to combat the species, tumbleweeds can be found in most regions of North America.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Some ruderal species that disperse as tumbleweeds are serious weeds that significantly promote wind erosion in open regions. Their effects are particularly harmful to dry-land agricultural operations where the outside application of additional moisture is not practicable. One study showed that a single Russian thistle can remove up to 167 liters (44 gallons) of water from the soil in competition with a wheat crop in one year. The amount of water removed from fallow land more subject to erosion would be even more damaging.


title: Tumbleweed

text: It sometimes happens that species of large tumbleweed, especially if thorny, can form aggregations that are physically hazardous and can block roads and cover buildings and vehicles. This can most obviously happen where fences and similar obstacles cause the accumulation, but the weeds can also entangle each other spontaneously until they form piles that can no longer roll. Such piles can be a serious threat to trapped vehicles or buildings and their occupants, most particularly because they are dry and flammable. Examples of enveloped buildings and vehicles have been documented mainly in the Western regions of the US. In residential areas, an example was the town of Mobridge, South Dakota, where in 1989 tens of tons of large tumbleweeds ("Russian thistles") that had matured in the dry bed of nearby Lake Oahe buried many houses so deeply that mechanical equipment was necessary to remove it, release occupants, and counter the fire hazard.


title: Tumbleweed

text: There was a significant outbreak of "Panicum effusum" in the Australian town of Wangaratta in February 2016 that attracted international attention. The seed heads of the weed, known locally as "hairy panic", had piled several meters deep in some places, forcing residents to spend several hours removing it to regain access to their doors and homes. The local council subsequently indicated it was considering attaching large vacuums to street-sweepers in an attempt to control the outbreak.


title: Tumbleweed

text: On April 18, 2018, strong winds and neglected maintenance of neighboring private land brought in a very large number of tumbleweeds into Victorville, California and about 100 to 150 homes required help from public services after their entryways were at least partly blocked off. The local fire department also participated in the cleanup as the massive influx of tumbleweeds presented both a safety and fire hazard.


title: Tumbleweed

text: A similar incident occurred on December 31, 2019, when high winds dislodged a large number of tumbleweeds on the Hanford Reservation northwest of Richland, Washington. The tumbleweeds piled up deep in some areas, burying cars and trucks and closing Washington State Route 240 for ten hours while road crews used snowplows to remove the tumbleweeds.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Tumbleweeds have also been observed to cause issues with wastewater treatment plants. In some cases of inadequate fencing, they can get entangled in electromechanical equipment within plants such as clarifiers and mechanical aerators leading to increased energy use and labor cost associated with operating and cleaning the units.


title: Tumbleweed

text: Originating in the Western genre, tumbleweeds have come to be occasionally used as a trope in films and TV shows. In shots that are set in a desolate and deserted place, or generally in a locality where little is happening, tumbleweeds may be seen rolling across the scenery. This motif has become clichéd, with the result that it is nowadays primarily used with humoristic intent, for example when a short but embarrassing moment of silence occurs during a scene. One of the best-known uses of tumbleweed in cinema is in the opening sequence of The Big Lebowski (1998), where it symbolizes the "drifting" nature of the main character.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: Born the son of (first Hanzō), a minor samurai in the service of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan. His birth name is , and he became known as the "Second Hanzō". He would later earn the nickname because of the fearless tactics he displayed in his operations; this moniker also distinguished him from Watanabe Hanzo (Watanabe Moritsuna), who is nicknamed .


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: Though Hanzō was born in Mikawa Province (now Iga-chō, Okazaki, Aichi), he often returned to Iga Province, home of the Hattori family. At the age of 16, his first battle was a night time attack during the siege of Udo Castle (1557). At the time, he commanded seventy Iga ninja.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: Hanzo had a great contribution to Tokugawa Ieyasu's rise to power, helping the future Shogun bring down the Imagawa clan. After Imagawa Ujizane had held Ieyasu's wife and son as hostages in 1561, Hanzo made a successful hostage rescue of Tokugawa's family at Kaminogo castle in 1562 and went on to lay siege to Kakegawa castle in 1569 against the Imagawa clan.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: According to the "Kansei Chōshū Shokafu", a genealogy of major samurai completed in 1812 by the Tokugawa shogunate, Hattori Hanzō rendered meritorious service during the Battle of Mikatagahara and became commander of an Iga unit consisting of one hundred fifty men. He captured a Takeda spy named Chikuan, and when Takeda's troops invaded Totomi, Hanzō counterattacked with only thirty warriors at the Tenryū River.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: His most valuable contribution came in 1582 following Oda Nobunaga's death, when he led the future "shōgun" Tokugawa Ieyasu to safety in Mikawa Province across Iga territory with the help of remnants of the local Iga-ryū ji-samurai clans


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: as well as Kōga-ryū the neighboring local samurai families in the nearby Koka region. Hanzo was principal in serving as Ieyasu's guide and commanded 300 ninja guards to ensure his lord's safe passage to Mikawa.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: In 1584, Hattori Hanzo continued to serve his lord at Battle of Komaki and Nagakute with 100 warriors under his command.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: In 1590, Hattori Hanzo served during the Odawara campaign and was awarded 8,000 "koku". By the time Ieyasu entered Kantō, he was awarded an additional 8,000 "koku" and had 30 yoriki and 200 public officials for his services. Ieyasu was said to have also begun to employ more Iga ninja with Hanzō as their leader.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: Historical sources say he lived the last several years of his life as a monk under the name "Sainen" and built the temple Sainenji, which was named after him and mainly built to commemorate Tokugawa Ieyasu's elder son, Tokugawa Nobuyasu.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: After Nobuyasu was accused of treason and conspiracy by Oda Nobunaga and was then ordered to commit seppuku by his father, Ieyasu. Hanzo was called in to act as the official second to end Nobuyasu's suffering, but he refused to take the sword on the blood of his own lord. Ieyasu valued his loyalty after hearing of Hanzo's ordeal and said, "Even a demon can shed tears."


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: He died at the age of 54 in 1596. There are two theories about his death. One asserts that he was assassinated by a rival Samurai, the pirate Fūma Kotarō. After Hanzo tracked him down to the Inland Sea, Kotarō lured him and his men into a small channel and used oil to set the channel on fire. The second theory is that Hanzo became a monk in Edo where he lived out the rest of his days until he died of illness.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: Hanzo's reputation as a samurai leader who commanded a 200-men strong unit of Iga warriors has grown to legendary proportions. Tales of Hattori's exploits often attributed various supernatural abilities, such as teleportation, psychokinesis, and precognition.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: After his death on 4 November 1596, Hattori Hanzō was succeeded by his son, whose name was also Masanari (third Hanzō), though written with different kanji (正就 instead of 正成). He was given the title of Iwami no Kami and his Iga men would act as guards of Edo Castle, the headquarters of the government of united Japan. Hanzō is actually a name passed down through the leaders of the Hattori family meaning his father was also called Hanzō and so was his successor. Indeed, there are five people known as Hattori Hanzō throughout history.


title: Hattori Hanzō

text: To this day, artifacts of Hanzō's legacy remain. Tokyo Imperial Palace (formerly the "shōgun"s palace) still has a gate called Hanzō's Gate (Hanzōmon), and the Hanzōmon subway line which runs from Hanzōmon Station in central Tokyo to the southwestern suburbs is named after the gate, where his house was once located. The neighborhood outside Hanzō's Gate is known as Wakaba, but before 1943 was named Iga-chō ("Iga Town"). Hanzō's remains now rest in the Sainen-ji temple cemetery in Yotsuya, Tokyo. The temple also holds his favorite spear and his ceremonial battle helmet. The spear, originally long and given to him by Ieyasu, was donated to the temple by Hanzō as a votive offering, but was damaged during the bombing of Tokyo in 1945.


title: Nell Newman

text: Elinor Teresa Newman (born April 8, 1959) is an American former child actress who performed under the name of Nell Potts. She is an environmentalist, biologist, and a prominent supporter of sustainable agriculture, who became an entrepreneur when she founded an organic food and pet food production company, Newman's Own Organics.


title: Nell Newman

text: Born in New York City, she is the eldest child of actress Joanne Woodward and actor Paul Newman. She has two sisters from that marriage and three half-siblings from her father's first marriage. She is a graduate of The Putney School in Putney, Vermont. She attended the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, from which she graduated in 1987.


title: Nell Newman

text: She worked professionally as an actress during the 1960s and 1970s. Under the direction of her father, she played the title character as a child in "Rachel, Rachel" (1968), in which her mother, Joanne Woodward, portrayed the adult Rachel. In the next decade she starred in the film "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds" (1972), which featured her mother as a central character and which was directed by her father.


title: Nell Newman

text: Following her education in human ecology at the College of the Atlantic, she worked for fundraising institutions until 1993, when she founded Newman’s Own Organics using the same ideals she'd learned from her father regarding philanthropy. Newman's Own Organics was a snack and pet food manufacturing company specializing in organic products that became a national brand. Royalties paid by Newman's Own Organics, for use of the Newman name and image, support the charitable activities of Newman's Own Foundation.


title: Nell Newman

text: Her work in organic food was initially inspired by a childhood awareness that her favorite bird, the Peregrine Falcon, was heading for extinction due to the use of DDT, a pervasive chemical pesticide applied to agricultural crops. DDT works its way through the food chain, from insects to birds and rodents up to top predators such as falcons and hawks. Nell’s passion for birds specifically and nature generally led her to pursue a degree in Ecology, so she could better understand natural systems and how they interact with the human landscape.


title: Nell Newman

text: Additionally, having been raised in rural Connecticut she grew up eating vegetables from her mother’s garden and made pies out of apples picked from their trees, which contributed greatly to her work in sustainable agriculture and organic food.


title: Nell Newman

text: She has a long friendship with Alice Waters, the owner of the restaurant Chez Panisse and has remarked that, "With Alice Waters I had the unquestionable proof that organic food doesn't have to taste like 'health food'. As a matter of fact, organic food tastes better." Following that line of thought, "Great-tasting products that happen to be organic" became the slogan of Newman's Own Organics.


title: Nell Newman

text: Her father died of lung cancer on September 26, 2008. He had participated in the business, most importantly by lending his name and image as a boost to the fledgling business that began as a division of Newman's Own, founded in 1982. In 2014, her license with Newman's Own was not renewed and Nell moved on to pursue her ongoing commitment to conservation, organic farming and philanthropy.


title: Nell Newman

text: She and her father were featured together in many of its marketing campaigns, often posed to resemble "American Gothic", an iconic painting by Grant Wood.


title: Nell Newman

text: In 2014, Newman received the prestigious Rachel Carson Award from The National Audubon Society for her environmental leadership.


title: Nell Newman

text: In 2017, Newman was inducted into the Specialty Food Hall of Fame, which “honor(s) individuals whose accomplishments, impact, contributions, innovations, and successes within the specialty food industry deserve praise and recognition.”


title: Esther Williams

text: Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold-medal winner and "Tarzan" star Johnny Weissmuller. Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, and alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in "A Guy Named Joe", Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.


title: Esther Williams

text: Every year from 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film among the 20 highest-grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in "Million Dollar Mermaid", which went on to become her nickname while she was at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed network television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams was also a successful businesswoman. Before retiring from acting, she invested in a "service station, a metal products plant, a manufacturer of bathing suits, various properties and a successful restaurant chain known as Trails." She lent her name to a line of swimming pools, retro swimwear, and instructional swimming videos for children, and served as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.


title: Esther Williams

text: Esther Jane Williams was born on August 8, 1921, in Inglewood, California. She was the fifth and youngest child of Louis Stanton Williams (January 19, 1886  – June 10, 1968) and Bula Myrtle (née Gilpin; October 8, 1885 – December 29, 1971). The two lived on neighboring farms in Kansas and carried on a nine-year courtship until June 1, 1908, when they eloped and set off for California. However, they ran out of money in Salt Lake City, Utah, and settled there. Esther's brother, Stanton (September 4, 1912 – March 3, 1929) was discovered by actress Marjorie Rambeau, which led to the family (including sisters Maurine and June, and brother David) moving to the Los Angeles area to be near the studios. Louis Williams purchased a small piece of land in the southwest area of town and had a small house built there. Esther was born in the living room, which was also where the family slept until Louis Williams was able to add bedrooms. In 1929, Stanton Williams died after his colon burst. He was 16 years old.


title: Esther Williams

text: In 1935, Bula Myrtle Williams invited 16-year-old Buddy McClure to live with her family. McClure had recently lost his mother and Bula was still grieving over the death of her son, Stanton. Esther recounted in her autobiography that one night, when the rest of the family was visiting relatives in Alhambra, McClure raped her. She was terrified to tell anyone about the incident and waited two years before finally revealing the truth to her parents. Williams' mother seemed unsure about her story, claiming McClure was "sensitive" and felt sympathetic towards him when he admitted his guilt. However, Bula Williams then banished him from her home. McClure joined the United States Coast Guard, and Williams never saw him again.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams was enthusiastic about swimming in her youth. Her older sister, Maurine, took her to Manhattan Beach and to the local pool. She took a job counting towels at the pool to pay the five-cent entry fee, and while there, had swimming lessons from the male lifeguards. From them, she learned the "male only" swimming strokes, including the butterfly, with which she would later break records.


title: Esther Williams

text: Her medley team set the record for the 300-yard relay at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1939, and was also national AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle, with a record-breaking time of 1 minute 9.0 seconds. By age 16, Williams had won three US national championships in breaststroke and freestyle swimming.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams graduated from Washington High School (now known as Washington Preparatory High School) in Los Angeles, 1939, where she served as class vice president, and later president. However, Williams never trained in swimming while there.


title: Esther Williams

text: During her senior year of high school, Williams received a D in her algebra course, preventing her from getting a scholarship to the University of Southern California. She enrolled in Los Angeles City College to retake the course. In 1939, Williams expressed interest in pursuing a degree in physical education in order to teach it one day. To earn money for tuition, Williams worked as a stock girl at the I. Magnin department store, where she also modeled clothing for customers and appeared in newspaper advertisements.


title: Esther Williams

text: While Williams was working at I. Magnin, she was contacted by Billy Rose's assistant and asked to audition as a replacement for Eleanor Holm in his Aquacade show. Williams impressed Rose and she got the role. The Aquacade was part of the Golden Gate International Exposition, and Williams was partnered with Olympic swimmer and "Tarzan" star Johnny Weissmuller, who, Williams wrote in her autobiography, repeatedly tried to seduce her. Despite this, Williams remained with the show until it closed on September 29, 1940. Williams had planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II.


title: Esther Williams

text: It was at Aquacade that Williams first attracted attention from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts. MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer, had been looking for a female sports star for the studio to compete with Fox's figure skating star, Sonja Henie. Williams signed her contract with MGM in 1941.


title: Esther Williams

text: In her contract were two clauses: the first being that she receive a guest pass to The Beverly Hills Hotel where she could swim in the pool every day, and the second that she would not appear on camera for nine months to allow for acting, singing, dancing, and diction lessons. Williams wrote in her autobiography, "If it took nine months for a baby to be born, I figured my 'birth' from Esther Williams the swimmer to Esther Williams the movie actress would not be much different."


title: Esther Williams

text: While top stars at the studios such as Judy Garland, Betty Grable, and Shirley Temple took part in bond tours during the war, Williams was asked to take in hospital tours. At this point, Williams had achieved pin-up status because of the number of photographs of her in bathing suits. To prepare, Williams and her publicity assistant would listen to Bob Hope and Jack Benny's radio programs, retelling the funniest jokes while at the hospitals. Williams also invited GIs to dance with her on stage and take part in mock screen tests. The men would receive a card telling them their lines, and they would act out the scene in front of the other soldiers. These tests were always romantic scenes to which the men were required to refuse multiple times. When the men said the final, "No", Williams would pull at her tear-away skirt and sweater leaving nothing but a gold lamé swimsuit. The scenes would always end with the men giving in and kissing her after that stunt. Her hospital tours continued into the 1950s. A (forged) signed, waterproof portrait of Williams was circulated among men in the United States Navy for a "capture the Esther" competition. This competition continues to this day in the Royal Australian Navy, which holds in its archives an "original" forged signed portrait while maintaining a "capturable" image for use in the fleet.


title: Esther Williams

text: Three weeks after Williams signed her contract, George Sidney directed her first screen test. According to Williams's autobiography, the studio used this test to get Lana Turner back in line with the terms of her contract and as punishment for Turner's having eloped with Artie Shaw. Williams screen tested with the leading man, Clark Gable, for the film "Somewhere I'll Find You". However, when Turner divorced Shaw after four months of marriage, she rejoined the film. Following several short subject films, Williams appeared as Sheila Brooks in "Andy Hardy's Double Life". Sheila was a coed with whom Andy falls in love. Next was a small part in the film "A Guy Named Joe", starring Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne. It was here she first worked with Van Johnson, with whom she would partner in five films.


title: Esther Williams

text: "Bathing Beauty", previously titled "Mr. Coed", starred Red Skelton as a man who enrolls in a women's college to win back his swimming instructor fiancée, played by Williams. This was her first Technicolor musical. The studio changed the title of the film to showcase Williams. Almost all of the film's posters featured Williams in a bathing suit, though the swimming sequences make up a small portion of the film. Her date to the premiere at the Astor Theater in New York City was future husband Ben Gage. For the event, MGM publicity set up a six-story-tall billboard of Williams diving into Times Square with a large sign that said "Come on in! The story's fine!"


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams appeared in the film "Ziegfeld Follies" as herself. This was followed by the musical "Thrill of a Romance". Van Johnson co-starred as a decorated war veteran who falls in love with Williams while on her honeymoon. "Thrill of a Romance" was the 8th highest-grossing film of 1945. Williams had to help Johnson swim, and she placed her hand under his back to keep him afloat. The studio's publicity department tried to put the two together in public as much as possible in the hopes of encouraging a romance, even though Williams was involved with Gage at the time. When asked why they didn't date, Johnson replied, "because I'm afraid she can't get her webbed feet into a pair of evening sandals."


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams tried a more serious role in "The Hoodlum Saint" (1946), with William Powell and Angela Lansbury. Audiences expected Powell's Nick Charles persona and rejected the idea of a romance between Williams and Powell onscreen due to their age difference. She also appeared in "Easy to Wed", a remake of 1936's "Libeled Lady", with Johnson and Lucille Ball. It was the first singing part in a film for Williams, who had Harriet Lee as her singing teacher.


title: Esther Williams

text: "Fiesta" (originally called "Fiesta Brava") starred Williams as Ricardo Montalbán's twin sister, Maria, who pretends to be her bullfighting brother in hopes of luring him back home. Audiences, and Williams, thought the film was silly, as Williams and Montalbán had vastly different accents. Montalbán was born in Mexico and was a native Spanish speaker while Williams had a mid-western accent picked up from her Kansas-born parents. Production was difficult with a multitude of problems. By 1947, Gage and Williams were married. Gage had traveled to Mexico for the making of the film. He got into a fight with an employee of the cast's hotel, was arrested, and subsequently thrown out of the country. The director of photography, Sidney Wagner, and one other crew member died of cholera from eating contaminated street food. Many of the film's stuntmen were sent to the hospital after being gored by bulls. Director Dick Thorpe hadn't wanted the bulls killed (as they usually were at the end of a bullfight) because he believed them to be too expensive to replace.


title: Esther Williams

text: After filming was completed on "Fiesta", Williams appeared in the romance "This Time for Keeps" (1947) with singer Johnnie Johnston. In 1948, Williams signed a contract with swimwear company Cole of California to appear as their spokesperson, and Williams and the other swimmers in her films wore Cole swimsuits. Since the aqua-musicals were an entirely new genre, the studio's costume designers had little experience creating practical swimsuits. William's plaid flannel swimsuit for "This Time for Keeps" was so heavy that she was dragged to the bottom of the pool, and had to unzip the suit, swimming naked to the edge of the pool to avoid drowning. Cole swimsuits used latex, which meant zippers were no longer necessary. While filming "Skirts Ahoy!" (1952), Williams discovered that members of the WAVES program received thin, cotton, shapeless swimsuits as part of their uniforms. Williams modeled a Cole swimsuit for the Secretary of the Navy and explained that the new swimsuits helped support women's figures. The United States Navy ordered 50,000 suits immediately.


title: Esther Williams

text: Filming "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1949) was, according to Williams in her autobiography, an experience of "pure misery." A period musical starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, the two male leads' characters were players in a baseball team owned by K.C. Higgins, Williams's role. She claimed that Kelly and co-writer Stanley Donen treated her with contempt and went out of their way to make jokes at her expense. The film was well-received critically and became a major commercial success, raking in $3.4 million in rentals and becoming the 11th highest-earning film of the year. Williams made "Neptune's Daughter" (also 1949) around the same time with co-stars Ricardo Montalbán, Red Skelton and Betty Garrett, who had also been in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." In the film, Williams sings "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Montalbán. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 22nd Academy Awards. Williams and Montalbán were originally slated to sing "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China", but studio censors thought the song was too sexual (interpreting the word "get" as "have") and instead gave them "Baby, It's Cold Outside." "Neptune's Daughter" became the 10th highest-grossing film of 1949.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams made "Duchess of Idaho" (1950), shot on location in Sun Valley, Idaho, co-starring Van Johnson and John Lund. MGM paired her with Howard Keel for three films, "Pagan Love Song" (also 1950), "Texas Carnival (1951") and later "Jupiter's Darling" (1955). They both had cameos in the film "Callaway Went Thataway" (1951).


title: Esther Williams

text: In "Million Dollar Mermaid" (1952), Williams portrayed Annette Kellermann, a real-life Australian swimming and diving star. Williams co-starred with Victor Mature, who played Kellermann's husband and manager, James Sullivan. The two engaged in a passionate affair during filming. Williams often called this her favorite film and named her autobiography after it. Williams also won the "Henrietta Award" at the 1952 Golden Globes, for World Film Favorite – Female. "Easy to Love" (1953), also with Van Johnson, was filmed on location in Cypress Gardens, where a swimming pool in the shape of the state of Florida had been built specifically for the film. Williams was pregnant during shooting, but still performed all her own waterskiing stunts.


title: Esther Williams

text: In "Dangerous When Wet" (also 1953), Williams worked with three important males – Tom and Jerry and future husband Fernando Lamas. During casting, Lamas told Williams he did not want to star in the film with her because he only wanted to be involved in "important pictures". His part had to be rewritten to persuade him to take part in the film.


title: Esther Williams

text: In 1953, Williams had been on maternity leave for three months while pregnant with daughter Susan, and assumed she would go straight to work on the film "Athena" when she returned. However, production started without her, and the studio cast Jane Powell in the lead role, rewriting much of the premise that Williams and writers Leo Pogostin and Chuck Walters had come up with. The studio moved her to "Jupiter's Darling." Two more films were planned, "Bermuda Encounter" and "Olympic Venus", about the first Olympic swimmers; however, these were never made.


title: Esther Williams

text: Many of her MGM films, such as "Million Dollar Mermaid" and "Jupiter's Darling", contained elaborately staged synchronized swimming scenes, with considerable risk to Williams. She broke her neck filming a 115 ft dive off a tower during a climactic musical number for the film "Million Dollar Mermaid" and was in a body cast for seven months. She subsequently recovered, although she continued to suffer headaches as a result of the accident. Her many hours spent submerged in a studio tank resulted in ruptured eardrums numerous times. She also nearly drowned after not being able to find the trapdoor in the ceiling of a tank. The walls and ceiling were painted black and the trapdoor blended in. Williams was pulled out only because a member of the crew realized the door was not opening.


title: Esther Williams

text: After 15 years of appearing in films, Williams was threatened with contract suspension from MGM after refusing the lead role in "The Opposite Sex" (eventually released in 1956), a musical remake of 1939's "The Women". The role of Mary would have been rewritten to be an aquacade star (and was eventually filled by June Allyson as "Kay", a nightclub singer). Williams redecorated her dressing room to accommodate returning star Grace Kelly, packed her terry cloth robes and swimsuits and drove off the studio lot. As a result of leaving her contract, Williams lost almost $3 million in deferred contract payments, which had been taken from her paychecks over the previous 14 years and put aside as both a nest egg and a tax deferral. She was, however, still able to collect on the $50,000 signing bonus from when she first signed her contract.


title: Esther Williams

text: In 1956, she moved to Universal International and appeared in a non-musical dramatic film, "The Unguarded Moment" (1956). After that, her film career slowly wound down. She later admitted that husband Fernando Lamas preferred her not to continue in films. She would, however, make occasional appearances on television, including mystery guest appearances for "What's My Line?", "The Donna Reed Show", "The Ed Sullivan Show", and two aqua-specials, "The Esther Williams Aqua Spectacle" (1956) and "Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens" which was telecast on August 8, 1960. More than half of all television sets in use in the United States were tuned in to watch the "Cypress Gardens" special. She starred in an aqua-special at Wembley Stadium in London. In 1966, Williams was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams retired from acting in the early 1960s and later turned down the role of Belle Rosen, a character with a crucial swimming scene, in "The Poseidon Adventure". (The role eventually went to Shelley Winters.)


title: Esther Williams

text: She continued to lend her name to a line of retro women's swimwear. Williams said, "Women worldwide are fighting a thing called gravity ... I say to women when I talk to them, 'You girls of 18 have until about 25, 30 at the most, and then you have to report to me. My suits are quality fabric. She went on: "I put you in a suit that contains you and you will swim in. I don't want you to be in two Dixie cups and a fish line."


title: Esther Williams

text: She was also the namesake of a company that manufactures swimming pools and swimming pool accessories. She came out with a line of "Swim, Baby, Swim" videos, which helped parents teach their children how to swim. She also appeared as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Williams met her fourth husband as a result of his calling her to coordinate her appearance. She co-wrote her autobiography, "The Million Dollar Mermaid" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), with popular media critic and author Digby Diehl. In 1994 she made her first new big-screen appearance in 31 years as one of the hosts of the retrospective "That's Entertainment! III".


title: Esther Williams

text: In a 2007 interview with Diane Sawyer, Williams admitted that she had recently suffered a stroke. "I opened my eyes and I could see, but I couldn't remember anything from the past", she said. In June 2008, Williams was able to attend Cyd Charisse's funeral, albeit in a wheelchair.


title: Esther Williams

text: In April 2010, Williams appeared at the first Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, California, alongside two-time co-star Betty Garrett. Their film, "Neptune's Daughter" (1949), was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel, along with a performance of the Williams-inspired synchronized swimming troupe, The Waterlilies. South Beach Miami's 2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim, a showcase of designer swimwear, included a Williams suit, complete with a beach summer theme and sand palette with aqua accents.


title: Esther Williams

text: In 2000, an account of Williams's life and career appeared in the Swedish book "Esther Williams — Skenbiografin" ("Esther Williams: The Fake Biography") written by Jane Magnusson, in which the author shares with readers her own fascination for art swimming as a genre and, here, in particular, Williams as—to the author—both a bewildering and mesmerizing front figure and icon in this field.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams married four times. She met her first husband, Leonard Kovner, while attending Los Angeles City College. She later wrote in her autobiography "The Million Dollar Mermaid" that "he was smart, handsome, dependable ... and dull. I respected his intelligence, and his dedication to a future career in medicine. He loved me, or so he said, and even asked me to marry him." They were married in the San Francisco suburb of Los Altos on June 27, 1940. On their split she said "I found, much to my relief, that all I needed for my emotional and personal security was my own resolve and determination. I didn't need a marriage and a ring. I had come to realize all too quickly that Leonard Kovner was not a man I could ever really love." They divorced on September 12, 1944.


title: Esther Williams

text: She married singer/actor Ben Gage on November 25, 1945; they had three children, Benjamin Stanton (born August 6, 1949), Kimball Austin (October 30, 1950 – May 6, 2008) and Susan Tenney (born October 1, 1953). In her autobiography, she portrayed Gage as an alcoholic parasite who squandered $10 million of her earnings. Gage and Williams separated in 1952, and divorced in April 1959.


title: Esther Williams

text: During the filming of "Pagan Love Song" in Hawaii, Williams learned she was pregnant with her third child, and notified the studio in California. Gage had met a man at the hotel who owned a ham radio and persuaded the man to let them use it to call California. What they failed to realize at the time, though, was that anyone could be listening in on their conversation, and news of her pregnancy was broadcast to the entire West Coast.


title: Esther Williams

text: She disclosed in her autobiography that she had an affair with actor Victor Mature while they were working on "Million Dollar Mermaid", citing that at the time her marriage was in trouble and, feeling lonely, she turned to Mature for love and affection, and he gave her all she wanted. The affair stopped while Williams was recovering from her fall during the shooting of "Million Dollar Mermaid." She was romantically linked with Jeff Chandler. She claims in her autobiography that Chandler was a cross-dresser and that she broke off the relationship. According to the "Los Angeles Times", many friends and colleagues of Chandler's rebutted Williams' claims. Jane Russell commented, "I've never heard of such a thing. Cross-dressing is the last thing I would expect of Jeff. He was a sweet guy, definitely all man."


title: Esther Williams

text: She married her former lover, Argentine actor/director, Fernando Lamas on December 31, 1969. She later claimed that for 13 years she lived in total submission to him. She had to stop being "Esther Williams" and could not have her children live with her. In return, he would be faithful. Nonetheless, they remained married until Lamas's death from pancreatic cancer on October 8, 1982.


title: Esther Williams

text: In September 1959, Cary Grant told "Look" magazine that he had taken LSD under a doctor's supervision, and it had changed his life. Grant's therapist, Mortimer Hartman, described LSD as "a psychic energizer which empties the subconscious and intensifies emotion and memory a hundred times". Grant said that, with the help of LSD, he had "found that [he] had a tough inner core of strength", and that when he was young, he "was very dependent upon older men and women. Now, people [came] to [him] for help." Williams stated that she wanted to be one of those people. As she said in "Million Dollar Mermaid", "At that point, I really didn't know who I was. Was I that glamorous femme fatale? ... Was I just another broken-down divorcée whose husband left her with all the bills and three kids?" Shortly after reading the article, she contacted Grant. He called his doctor and made an appointment for her. Williams said LSD seemed like instant psychoanalysis.


title: Esther Williams

text: Esther Williams died in her sleep on June 6, 2013, from natural causes, in her Los Angeles home. She was 91. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.


title: Esther Williams

text: On her death, CNN quoted her International Swimming Hall of Fame biography, saying, "Her movie career played a major role in the promotion of swimming, making it attractive to the public, contributing to the growth of the sport as a public recreation for health, exercise, water safety – and just plain fun." Her stepson Lorenzo Lamas tweeted she was "The best swim teacher and soul mom." Her friend Annabeth Gish also tweeted a tribute, writing that Esther Williams was "An elegant, gracious movie star, legend and neighbor". Film historian Leonard Maltin called her "a major, major star, a tremendous box office attraction."


title: Esther Williams

text: For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street. She left her hand and footprints in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on August 1, 1944.


title: Esther Williams

text: Williams was mentioned in the "Court Charades" sketch in the 1970 "Monty Python's Flying Circus" episode "The Spanish Inquisition" where Eric Idle mentions her to which Graham Chapman responds "How can you find the defendant 'Not Esther Williams'?"


title: Esther Williams

text: In Katie Crouch's 2021 novel, "Embassy Wife," the embassy wife Persephone Wilder is compared to Esther Williams when describing the character's enthusiasm as a government spouse.


title: Esther Williams

text: Scarlett Johansson's character, DeeAnna Moran in the 2016 Coen Brothers film, "Hail, Caesar!", shares several similarities with Williams, most notably being an aquamusical star who becomes pregnant during production.


title: Esther Williams

text: Esther Williams donated her personal film archive, including twenty home movies, to the Academy Film Archive. The Academy Film Archive has subsequently preserved several of these home movies.


title: Esther Williams

text: For a number of years, US movie exhibitors voted Esther Williams among the most popular film stars in the country:


title: Esther Williams

text: With the exception of "The Hoodlum Saint" and "Jupiter's Darling", no film in which Williams starred for MGM lost money and some were extremely profitable.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), sometimes known as acne inversa or Verneuil's disease, is a long-term dermatological condition characterized by the occurrence of inflamed and swollen lumps. These are typically painful and break open, releasing fluid or pus. The areas most commonly affected are the underarms, under the breasts, and the groin. Scar tissue remains after healing. HS may significantly limit many everyday activities, for instance, walking, hugging, moving, and sitting down. Sitting disability may occur in patients with lesions in sacral, gluteal, perineal, femoral, groin or genital regions; and prolonged periods of sitting down itself can also worsen the condition of the skin of these patients.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: The exact cause is usually unclear, but believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors. About a third of people with the disease have an affected family member. Other risk factors include obesity and smoking. The condition is not caused by an infection, poor hygiene, or the use of deodorant. Instead, it is believed to be caused by hair follicles being obstructed, with the nearby apocrine sweat glands being strongly implicated in this obstruction. The sweat glands themselves may or may not be inflamed. Diagnosis is based on the symptoms.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: No cure is known. Warm baths may be tried in those with mild disease. Cutting open the lesions to allow them to drain does not result in significant benefit. While antibiotics are commonly used, evidence for their use is poor. Immunosuppressive medication may also be tried. In those with more severe disease, laser therapy or surgery to remove the affected skin may be viable. Rarely, a skin lesion may develop into skin cancer.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: If mild cases of HS are included, then the estimate of its frequency is from 1–4% of the population. Women are three times more likely to be diagnosed with it than men. Onset is typically in young adulthood and may become less common after 50 years old. It was first described between 1833 and 1839 by French anatomist Alfred Velpeau.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: The exact cause of hidradenitis suppurativa remains unknown, and there has, in the recent past, been notable disagreement among experts in this regard. The condition, however, likely stems from both genetic and environmental causes. Specifically, an immune-mediated pathology has been proposed, although there have been sources that have already contradicted the probable likelihood of such an idea.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Lesions will occur in any body areas with hair follicles, although areas such as the axilla, groin, and perineal region are more commonly involved. This theory includes most of these potential indicators:


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: The historical understanding of the disease suggests dysfunctional apocrine glands or dysfunctional hair follicles, possibly triggered by a blocked gland, which creates inflammation, pain, and a swollen lesion.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Some cases have been found to result from mutations in the "NCSTN", "PSEN1", or "PSENEN" genes. The genes produce proteins that are all components of a complex called gamma- (γ-) secretase. This complex cuts apart (cleaves) many different proteins, which is an important step in several chemical signaling pathways. One of these pathways, known as notch signaling, is essential for the normal maturation and division of hair follicle cells and other types of skin cells. Notch signaling is also involved in normal immune system function. Studies suggest that mutations in the "NCSTN", "PSEN1", or "PSENEN" gene impair notch signaling in hair follicles. Although little is known about the mechanism, abnormal notch signaling appears to promote the development of nodules and to lead to inflammation in the skin. In addition, the composition of the intestinal microflora and as a consequence dietary patterns appear to play a role. Although dysbiosis of the cutaneous microbiome apparent in HS is not observed, the concurrent existence of inflammatory gut and skin diseases has led to the postulation of a gut-skin axis in which gut microbiota is implicated. Indeed, analysis of bacterial taxa in fecal samples from HS patients support the possibility of a role for intestinal microbial alterations in this chronic inflammatory skin disease.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Hidradenitis suppurativa presents itself in three stages. Due to the large spectrum of clinical severity and the severe impact on quality of life, a reliable method for evaluating HS severity is needed.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Hurley's staging system was the first classification system proposed, and is still in use for the classification of patients with skin diseases (i.e., psoriasis, HS, acne). Hurley separated patients into three groups based largely on the presence and extent of cicatrization and sinuses. It has been used as a basis for clinical trials in the past and is a useful basis to approach therapy for patients. These three stages are based on Hurley's staging system, which is simple and relies on the subjective extent of the diseased tissue the patient has. Hurley's three stages of hidradenitis suppurativa are:


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: The Sartorius staging system is more sophisticated than Hurley's. Sartorius "et al." suggested that the Hurley system is not sophisticated enough to assess treatment effects in clinical trials during research. This classification allows for better dynamic monitoring of the disease severity in individual patients. The elements of this staging system are:


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Points are accumulated in each of the above categories, and added to give both a regional and total score. In addition, the authors recommend adding a visual analog scale for pain or using the dermatology life quality index (DLQI, or the 'skindex') when assessing HS.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Treatment depends upon presentation and severity of the disease. Due to the poorly studied nature of the disease, the effectiveness of the drugs and therapies listed below is unclear. Possible treatments include the following:


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Warm baths may be tried in those with mild disease. Weight loss and the cessation of smoking are also recommended.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: When the process becomes chronic, wide surgical excision is the procedure of choice. Wounds in the affected area do not heal by secondary intention, and immediate or delayed application of a split-thickness skin graft is an option.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Another option is covering the defect with a perforator flap. With this technique, the (mostly totally excised) defect is covered with tissue from an area nearby. For example, the axilla with a fully excised defect of 15 × 7 cm can be covered with a thoracodorsal artery perforator flap.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: The 1064-nm wavelength laser for hair removal may aid in the treatment of HS. A randomized control study has shown improvement in HS lesions with the use of an .


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: In stage III disease, as classified by the Hurley's staging system, fistulae left undiscovered, undiagnosed, or untreated, can rarely lead to the development of squamous cell carcinoma in the anus or other affected areas. Other stage III chronic sequelae may also include anemia, multilocalized infections, amyloidosis, and arthropathy. Stage III complications have been known to lead to sepsis, but clinical data are still uncertain.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: A surgeon from Paris, Velpeau described an unusual inflammatory process with formation of superficial axillary, submammary, and perianal abscesses, in a series of three publications from 1833 to 1839. One of his colleagues, also located in Paris, named Verneuil, coined the term "hidrosadénite phlegmoneuse" about 15 years later. This name for the disease reflects the former pathogenetic model of acne inversa, which is considered inflammation of sweat glands as the primary cause of hidradenitis suppurativa. In 1922, Schiefferdecker suspected a pathogenic association between acne inversa and apocrine sweat glands. In 1956, Pillsbury postulated follicular occlusion as the cause of acne inversa, which they grouped together with acne conglobata and "perifolliculitis capitis abscendens et suffodiens" ("dissecting cellulitis of the scalp") as the "acne triad". Plewig and Kligman added another element to their acne triad, pilonidal sinus. Plewig "et al." noted that this new "acne tetrad" includes all the elements found in the original "acne triad", in addition to a fourth element, pilonidal sinus. In 1989, Plewig and Steger introduced the term "acne inversa", indicating a follicular source of the disease and replacing older terms such as "Verneuil disease".


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Hidradenitis suppurativa has been referred to by multiple names in the literature, as well as in various cultures. Some of these are also used to describe different diseases, or specific instances of this disease.


title: Hidradenitis suppurativa

text: Although hidradenitis suppurativa is often referred to as acne inversa, it is not a form of acne, and lacks the core defining features of acne such as the presence of closed comedones and increased sebum production.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Decentralized finance (often stylized as DeFi) offers financial instruments without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks by using smart contracts on a blockchain. DeFi platforms allow people to lend or borrow funds from others, speculate on price movements on assets using derivatives, trade cryptocurrencies, insure against risks, and earn interest in savings-like accounts. DeFi uses a layered architecture and highly composable building blocks. Some applications promote high interest rates but are subject to high risk.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Decentralized exchanges (abbreviated DEXs) are alternative payment ecosystems with new protocols for financial transactions that emerged within the framework of decentralized finance, which is part of blockchain technology and FinTech.


title: Decentralized finance

text: CEXs, DEXs and DEX aggregators are all built on the multi-layered DeFi architecture or components, where each layer serves a well-defined purpose. (See Figure: "Multi-layered Architecture of the DeFi Stack").


title: Decentralized finance

text: While they share common components of the first four layers, such as "Settlement layer", "Asset layer", "Protocol layer" and "Application layer", DEX aggregators have an additional component or "Aggregator layer", which allows them to connect and interact with other DEXs via smart contracts.


title: Decentralized finance

text: The Ethereum blockchain popularized smart contracts, which are the basis of DeFi, in 2017. Other blockchains have since implemented smart contracts.


title: Decentralized finance

text: MakerDAO is a prominent lending DeFi platform based on a stablecoin that was established in 2017. It allows users to borrow DAI, a token pegged to the US dollar. Through a set of smart contracts that govern the loan, repayment, and liquidation processes, MakerDAO aims to maintain the stable value of DAI in a decentralized and autonomous manner.


title: Decentralized finance

text: In June 2020, Compound Finance started rewarding lenders and borrowers with cryptocurrencies, in addition to typical interest payments to lenders, units of a cryptocurrency called COMP. This token, which is used for running Compound, can also be traded on cryptocurrency exchanges. Other platforms followed suit, leading to stacked investment opportunities known as "yield farming" or "liquidity mining," where speculators shift cryptocurrency assets between pools in a platform and between platforms to maximize their total yield, which includes not only interest and fees but also the value of additional tokens received as rewards.


title: Decentralized finance

text: In July 2020, "The Washington Post" described decentralized finance techniques and the risks involved. In September 2020, Bloomberg said that DeFi made up two-thirds of the cryptocurrency market in terms of price changes and that DeFi collateral levels had reached $9 billion. Ethereum saw a rise in developers during 2020 due to the increased interest in DeFi.


title: Decentralized finance

text: "The Economist" regarded the future of digital finance in 2022 as a "three-way fight" between: Big Tech, such as Facebook with its digital wallet; "big rich countries" that have been testing their own digital currencies; and software developers "building all sorts of applications" to decentralize finance. Handling the risks presented by crypto-assets already valued at $2.5 trillion was a particular challenge for US regulators.


title: Decentralized finance

text: DeFi revolves around decentralized applications, also known as DApps, that perform financial functions on distributed ledgers called blockchains, a technology that was made popular by Bitcoin and has since been adapted more broadly. Rather than transactions being made through a centralized intermediary such as a cryptocurrency exchange or a traditional securities exchange, transactions are directly made between participants, mediated by smart contract programs. These smart contracts, or DeFi protocols, typically run using open-source software that is built and maintained by a community of developers.


title: Decentralized finance

text: DApps are typically accessed through a browser extension or application. For example, MetaMask allows users to directly interact with Ethereum through a digital wallet. Many of these DApps can be linked to create complex financial services. For example, stablecoin holders can lend assets like USD Coin or DAI to a liquidity pool in a borrow/lending protocol like Aave, and allow others to borrow those digital assets by depositing their own collateral. The protocol automatically adjusts interest rates based on the demand for the asset. Some DApps source external (off-chain) data, such as the price of an asset, through blockchain oracles.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Additionally, Aave introduced "flash loans", which are uncollateralized loans of an arbitrary amount that are taken out and paid back within a single blockchain transaction. Many exploits of DeFi platforms have used flash loans to manipulate cryptocurrency spot prices.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Another DeFi protocol is Uniswap, which is a decentralized exchange (DEX) set up to trade tokens issued on Ethereum. Rather than using a centralized exchange to fill orders, Uniswap pays users to form liquidity pools in exchange for a percentage of the fees collected from traders swapping tokens in and out of the liquidity pools. Because no centralized party runs Uniswap (the platform is governed by its users), and any development team can use the open-source software, there is no entity to check the identities of the people using the platform and meet KYC/AML regulations. It is not clear what position regulators will take on the legality of such platforms.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Decentralized exchanges (DEX) are a type of cryptocurrency exchange which allows for direct peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions to take place without the need for an intermediary.


title: Decentralized finance

text: In transactions made through decentralized exchanges, the typical third party entities which would normally oversee the security and transfer of assets (e.g. banks, stockbrokers, online payment gateways, government institutions, etc.) are substituted by a blockchain or distributed ledger. Some common methods of operation include the use of smart contracts or order book relaying, although many other variations are possible and with differing degrees of decentralization.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Because traders on a decentralized exchange often do not need to transfer their assets to the exchange before executing a trade, decentralized exchanges reduce the risk of theft from hacking of exchanges, but liquidity providers do need to transfer tokens to the decentralized exchange. Decentralized exchanges can also prevent price manipulation or faked trading volume through wash trading, and are more anonymous than exchanges which implement know your customer (KYC) requirements.


title: Decentralized finance

text: There are some signs that decentralized exchanges have been suffering from low trading volumes and market liquidity. The 0x project, a protocol for building decentralized exchanges with interchangeable liquidity attempts to solve this issue.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Due to a lack of KYC processes, and no way to revert a transaction, users are at a loss if they are ever hacked for their passwords or private keys.Additionally, users staking in DeFi protocols can suffer what is called an impermanent loss.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Although liquidity pool DEX are the most widely used, they may have some drawbacks. The most common problems of liquidity pool DEXes are price slippage and front running.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Price slippage occurs because of the AMM (Automated Market Makers) nature itself — the larger the deal, the stronger impact it has on the price. For example, if the constant product AMM is in use, every deal must keep the product xy = k constant, where x and y are quantities of two cryptocurrencies (or tokens) in the pool. So the larger is the input amount Δx, the lower is the final ratio y / x that gives an exchange price. The problem is mostly significant for large deals or small liquidity pools.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Front running is a special type of attack in public blockchains when some participant (usually a miner) seeing an upcoming trading transaction puts his own transaction ahead (playing with a transaction fee for example), making the initial transaction less profitable or even reverted.


title: Decentralized finance

text: A decentralized exchange can still have centralized components, whereby some control of the exchange is still in the hands of a central authority.


title: Decentralized finance

text: In July 2018, decentralized exchange Bancor was reportedly hacked and suffered a loss of $13.5M in assets before freezing funds. In a Tweet, Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin spoke out and claimed an exchange cannot be decentralized if it can lose or freeze customer funds.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Operators of decentralized exchanges can face legal consequences from government regulators. One example is the founder of EtherDelta, who in November 2018 settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over operating an unregistered securities exchange.


title: Decentralized finance

text: Coding errors and hacks are common in DeFi. Blockchain transactions are irreversible, which means that an incorrect or fraudulent DeFi transaction cannot be corrected easily.


title: Decentralized finance

text: The person or entity behind a DeFi protocol may be unknown, and may disappear with investors' money. Investor Michael Novogratz has described some DeFi protocols as "Ponzi-like".


title: Decentralized finance

text: DeFi has been compared to the initial coin offering craze of 2017, part of a cryptocurrency bubble. Inexperienced investors are at particular risk of losing money because of the sophistication required to interact with DeFi platforms and the lack of any intermediary with customer support. On the other hand, as the code for DeFi smart contracts is generally open-source software that can be copied to set up competing platforms, experienced users and user-created bots might create instabilities as funds shift between platforms which share the same code. In addition, DeFi platforms might inadvertently provide incentives for cryptocurrency miners to destabilize the system.


title: Decentralized finance

text: In 2021, half of cryptocurrency crime was related to DeFi. This rise has been attributed to a combination of developer incompetence and non-existent or poorly enforced regulations. Theft from DeFi can come from either external hackers stealing from vulnerable projects, or "rug pulls", where the developers and influencers promote a project and then take the money, as a form of pump-and-dump.


title: Decentralized finance

text: In October 2021, the FATF included DeFi in the guidance for crypto service providers, making the authority's aim to regulate this type of asset. They are expecting each individual country to determine if individuals involved in DeFi can be considered a virtual asset provider and be subjected to the FATF's guidelines.


title: Egyptians

text: Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to the Mediterranean and enclosed by desert both to the east and to the west. This unique geography has been the basis of the development of Egyptian society since antiquity.


title: Egyptians

text: The daily language of the Egyptians is a continuum of the local varieties of Arabic; the most famous dialect is known as Egyptian Arabic or "Masri". Additionally, a sizable minority of Egyptians living in Upper Egypt speak Sa'idi Arabic, a mix between the Sahidic Coptic dialect and Arabic. Egyptians are predominantly adherents of Sunni Islam with a Shia minority and a significant proportion who follow native Sufi orders. A considerable percentage of Egyptians are Coptic Christians who belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, whose liturgical language, Coptic, is the most recent stage of the ancient Egyptian language and is still used in prayers along with Egyptian Arabic.


title: Egyptians

text: There are an estimated 92.1 million Egyptians. Most are native to Egypt, where Egyptians constitute around 99.6% of the population.


title: Egyptians

text: Approximately 84–90% of the population of Egypt are Muslim adherents and 10–15% are Christian adherents (10–15% Coptic Christian, 1% other Christian Sects (mainly Greek Orthodox)) according to estimates. Most of Egypt’s people live along the banks of the Nile River, and more than two-fifths of the population lives in urban areas. Along the Nile, the population density is one of the highest in the world, in excess of 5,000 persons per square mile (2,000 per square km) in a number of riverine governorates. The rapidly growing population is young, with roughly one-third of the total under age 15 and about three-fifths under 30. In response to the strain put on Egypt’s economy by the country’s burgeoning population, a national family planning program was initiated in 1964, and by the 1990s it had succeeded in lowering the birth rate. Improvements in health care also brought the infant mortality rate well below the world average by the turn of the 21st century. Life expectancy averages about 72 years for men and 74 years for women. Egyptians also form smaller minorities in neighboring countries, North America, Europe and Australia.


title: Egyptians

text: Egyptians also tend to be provincial, meaning their attachment extends not only to Egypt but to the specific provinces, towns and villages from which they hail. Therefore, return migrants, such as temporary workers abroad, come back to their region of origin in Egypt. According to the International Organization for Migration, an estimated 2.7 million Egyptians live abroad and contribute actively to the development of their country through remittances (US$7.8 billion in 2009), circulation of human and social capital, as well as investment. Approximately 70% of Egyptian migrants live in Arab countries (923,600 in Saudi Arabia, 332,600 in Libya, 226,850 in Jordan, 190,550 in Kuwait with the rest elsewhere in the region) and the remaining 30% are living mostly in Europe and North America (318,000 in the United States, 110,000 in Canada and 90,000 in Italy).


title: Egyptians

text: A sizable Egyptian diaspora did not begin to form until well into the 1980s, when political and economic conditions began driving Egyptians out of the country in significant numbers. Today, the diaspora numbers nearly 4 million (2006 est). Generally, those who emigrate to the United States and western European countries tend to do so permanently, with 93% and 55.5% of Egyptians (respectively) settling in the new country. On the other hand, Egyptians migrating to Arab countries almost always only go there with the intention of returning to Egypt; virtually none settle in the new country on a permanent basis.


title: Egyptians

text: Prior to 1974, only few Egyptian professionals had left the country in search for employment. Political, demographic and economic pressures led to the first wave of emigration after 1952. Later more Egyptians left their homeland first after the 1973 boom in oil prices and again in 1979, but it was only in the second half of the 1980s that Egyptian migration became prominent.


title: Egyptians

text: Egyptian emigration today is motivated by even higher rates of unemployment, population growth and increasing prices. Political repression and human rights violations by Egypt's ruling régime are other contributing factors (see ). Egyptians have also been impacted by the wars between Egypt and Israel, particularly after the Six-Day War in 1967, when migration rates began to rise. In August 2006, Egyptians made headlines when 11 students from Mansoura University failed to show up at their American host institutions for a cultural exchange program in the hope of finding employment.


title: Egyptians

text: Egyptians in neighboring countries face additional challenges. Over the years, abuse, exploitation and/or ill-treatment of Egyptian workers and professionals in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Libya have been reported by the Egyptian Human Rights Organization and different media outlets. Arab nationals have in the past expressed fear over an "'Egyptianization' of the local dialects and culture that were believed to have resulted from the predominance of Egyptians in the field of education" (see also Egyptian Arabic – Geographics).


title: Egyptians

text: The Egyptians for their part object to what they call the "" of their culture due to Saudi Arabian petrodollar-flush investment in the Egyptian entertainment industry. Twice Libya was on the brink of war with Egypt due to mistreatment of Egyptian workers and after the signing of the peace treaty with Israel. When the Gulf War ended, Egyptian workers in Iraq were subjected to harsh measures and expulsion by the Iraqi government and to violent attacks by Iraqis returning from the war to fill the workforce.


title: Egyptians

text: Ancient Egypt saw a succession of thirty dynasties spanning three millennia. During this period, Egyptian culture underwent significant development in terms of religion, arts, language and customs.


title: Egyptians

text: Egypt fell under Hyksos rule in the Middle Bronze Age. The native nobility managed to expel the conquerors by the Late Bronze Age, thereby initiating the New Kingdom. During this period, the Egyptian civilization rose to the status of an empire under Pharaoh Thutmose III of the 18th Dynasty. It remained a super-regional power throughout the Amarna Period as well as during the 19th and 20th dynasties (the Ramesside Period), lasting into the Early Iron Age.


title: Egyptians

text: The Bronze Age collapse that had afflicted the Mesopotamian empires reached Egypt with some delay, and it was only in the 11th century BC that the Empire declined, falling into the comparative obscurity of the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. The 25th Dynasty of Nubian rulers was again briefly replaced by native nobility in the 7th century BC, and in 525 BC, Egypt fell under Persian rule.


title: Egyptians

text: Then fell under greeks when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC. The Late Period of ancient Egypt is taken to end with his death in 323 BC. The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt from 305 BC to 30 BC and introduced Hellenic culture to Egyptians. 4,000 Celtic mercenaries under Ptolemy II had even attempted an ambitious but doomed coup d'état around the year 270 BC.