title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: On 2 March 2020, Alfa Romeo introduced two new GTA and GTAm models which would have a limited production run of 500 units. The GTA and GTAm versions are developed to celebrate the marque's 110th anniversary in 2020, and pay tribute to one of the most emblematic automobile of Alfa Romeo: Giulia GTA. The GTA and GTAm use the same engine, rated at and are lighter than the Quadrifoglio, allowing for a power to weight ratio of 2.82 kg/PS. The GTA and GTAm can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, with launch control. The GTAm is a track focused model and as a result has two seats, racing harnesses, and Lexan side and rear windows. The GTA's handling was improved by widening the front and rear track by . The car is fitted with single nut wheels for weight reduction measures. Broader fenders cover the additional width. New springs, shocks, and bushings update the suspension as further means to improve the handling. Buyers will also receive a “personalized experience package” which includes a Bell racing helmet in special GTA livery, a full racing suit by Alpinestars, a personalized Goodwool car cover, and a specific driving course devised by the Alfa Romeo Driving Academy.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: Modifications to the engine include higher boost pressure from the turbochargers, an Akrapovič exhaust system and redesigned pistons to ensure constant power and reliability: the piston cooling system now uses four oil jets instead of two as is the case on Quadrifoglio model.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: As of 2022, the Giulia is offered as Giulia, Giulia Ti (for Turismo internazionale), Veloce, and Quadrifoglio trims in the United States. Some models are available with Alfa's Q4 all-wheel-drive system and with the eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters mounted on the steering column (providing a shift time less than 100 milliseconds). The eight-speed automatic transmission is co-developed with ZF.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: Powered by the 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine with of torque, the North American Giulia and Giulia Ti remain as holdovers from previous years, while the Veloce replaces the Ti Sport. The Veloce has more features than the Ti, while the Ti has more features than the so-called base model, although all models have the same engine 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The AWD system is optional and the only transmission option is an eight-speed automatic. The Quadrifoglio is also in the Giulia lineup for the United States.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The first US deliveries of the Giulia took place in September 2016, making it the first Alfa Romeo saloon sold in North America since 1995.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: At the 2018 New York International Auto Show, the Nero Edizione’ Package for the Giulia was announced. The package includes a new exterior appearance through special blacked-out wheels, badging, and other touches.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Polizia di Stato took delivery of two Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce police patrol cars finished in a light blue paint with white stripes on the sides of the car with the words "POLIZIA" in block letters underneath together with the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta and the Jeep Renegade police cars.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Carabinieri took delivery of two Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglios wrapped in navy blue paint, that appear virtually black. They sport red stripes over the car and have flashing lights over the chin spoilers with a white roof. Carabinieri cars are equipped with defibrillator, special portable cooling units, special radio system, additional emergency devices, a long weapon holder and rechargeable LED torches placed in the passenger compartment.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Romeo Ferraris racing team and Hexathron Racing Systems announced in December 2019 they were developing a Giulia-based electric touring car racer for the PURE ETCR series. The inaugural season was held in 2021 and the car was campaigned again in 2022.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Giulia ETCR was designed and engineered by Hexathron under lead engineer Maurizio Soro. As required by ETCR rules, the spec drivetrain and battery are supplied by ETCR promoters WSC Technology, with a rear-drive configuration featuring electronic torque vectoring and output power of up to peak and continuous.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The base models consist of four-cylinder petrol engines, as well as four-cylinder turbo diesel engines.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Quadrifoglio uses the V6 Alfa-Romeo 690T engine, as described above. The petrol engines are built in FCA Italy's Termoli plant. Diesel engines are built in the Pratola Serra plant.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The first models went on sale from February 2016 were the 2.2 L Multijet II turbodiesel and the 2.9 L V6 Quadrifoglio. A 2.0 L MultiAir2 turbo petrol engine was announced at the time of the Giulia Quadrifoglio's debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2015. The 2.0 litre gasoline engines are part of the all new FCA Global Medium Engine (GME) family. The Alfa version will share up to 70% parts with the GME family for other FCA brands.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: For the 2019 model year, the Giulia diesel engine was updated to meet the Euro 6d emission standards, with AdBlue technology introduced to tackle nitrogen oxides in the exhaust. and versions got a power increase by . All models now come with an 8.8-inch infotainment system with Apple Car Play and Android Auto as standard.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: In addition, the Giulia Quadrifoglio Engine was updated to include 6 port Injectors following a shut down of the engine factory to update the production lines.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: Although the engine presented the same power as the previous version, it clearly outdated the previous engine without port injectors.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Giulia's 2020 model year version was first introduced in China. It has an updated interior with a new 8.8-inch touchscreen for the infotainment system, which now offers a Wi-Fi hotspot, over-the-air software upgrades, an integrated emergency call function, and a call assistant function. The interior now has a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel and a leather-wrapped gear lever.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The 2023 Giulia adds a new top Competizione trim, like the Tonale SUV. The Giulia also adopts a 3x3 headlight similar to the Tonale with adaptive LED Matrix technology featuring adaptive lighting technology which adjusts the dipped beam according to the speed of the car and driving conditions.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The 2023 car also features a new ‘Trilobo’ grille to provide what Alfa Romeo refers to as a “strong family resemblance with the Tonale”, and new rear light clusters use smoked glass.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: Inside the 2023 model has a new 12.3-inch digital dash with three different layouts: Evolved, Relax and Heritage.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: All Giulia models have active safety systems as standard, including the Forward Collision Warning (FCW) with Autonomous Emergency Brake (AEB) and pedestrian detection, IBS (Integrated Brake System) based on Continental MK C1 electronic brake control system, Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and cruise control with speed limiter. The Giulia is the first car in the world to use Continental MK C1 electronic brake system. Stopping distance from to 0 are for the Giulia and for the Quadrifoglio.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: Chassis Domain Control (CDC), developed with Magneti Marelli, coordinates and controls all the on-board electronics: Torque Vectoring, Active Aero Splitter, active suspension, brakes, steering and ESC system — according to the mode selected by the driver using the new Alfa DNA Pro.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Giulia was crash tested in June 2016 by EuroNCAP, with a score of 98% for the adult occupant protection — at the time the highest score ever achieved by any car, even with the introduction of a more stringent rating system in 2015. Overall the Giulia achieved five star results.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The Giulia was awarded on October 3, 2017, the Top Safety Pick+ award by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Giulia achieved the highest possible rating in each of the five tests. The TSP+ designation applies to any 2017 model-year Alfa Romeo Giulia produced after May 2017 equipped with Forward Collision Warning-Plus – an option at only $500 MSRP – and bi-xenon projector headlamps (35W) featuring adaptive forward lighting and auto-leveling.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The car is assembled at FCA Italy's Cassino Plant in the province of Frosinone, Central Italy. Pre-series production emerged in late August 2015, with full production and sales originally scheduled for November 2015 and February 2016, respectively. The official production of the Giulia started on 19 April 2016. The Alfa Romeo's Cassino plant manufactures the Giulia saloon, Stelvio SUV and Giulietta compact car. On 6 December 2018 Giulia reached the milestone of 100,000 units produced. The event was honored with the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Thailand, H. E. Lorenzo Galanti and TICC President Mr. Federico Cardini as attendees witnessed the debut of the 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia in Thailand.


title: Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

text: The highly awarded production car, has received many awards from automotive industry groups and media publishers, including following:


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine, as well as the mouth, esophagus, stomach and the anus, whereas ulcerative colitis primarily affects the colon and the rectum.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: IBD also occurs in dogs and is thought to arise from a combination of host genetics, intestinal microenvironment, environmental components and the immune system. There is an ongoing discussion, however, that the term "chronic enteropathy" might be better to use than "inflammatory bowel disease" in dogs because it differs from IBD in humans in how the dogs respond to treatment. For example, many dogs respond to only dietary changes compared to humans with IBD, who often need immunosuppressive treatment. Some dogs may also need immunosuppressant or antibiotic treatment when dietary changes are not enough. After having excluded other diseases that can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain in dogs, intestinal biopsies are often performed to investigate what kind of inflammation is occurring (lymphoplasmacytic, eosinophilic, or granulomatous). In dogs, low levels of cobalamin in the blood have been shown to be a risk factor for negative outcome.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: In spite of Crohn's and UC being very different diseases, both may present with any of the following symptoms: abdominal pain, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, severe internal cramps/muscle spasms in the region of the pelvis and weight loss. Anemia is the most prevalent extraintestinal complication of inflammatory bowel disease. Associated complaints or diseases include arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS). Associations with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) have also been reported. Diagnosis is generally by assessment of inflammatory markers in stool followed by colonoscopy with biopsy of pathological lesions.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: IBD is a complex disease which arises as a result of the interaction of environmental and genetic factors leading to immunological responses and inflammation in the intestine.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: People living with IBD are very interested in diet, but little is known about the impact of diet on these patients. Recent reviews underlined the important role of nutritional counselling in IBD patients. Patients should be encouraged to adopt diets that are best supported by evidence and involve monitoring for the objective resolution of inflammation.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: A 2022 study found that diets with increased intake of fruits and vegetables, reduction of processed meats and refined carbohydrates, and preference of water for hydration were associated with lower risk of active symptoms with IBD, although increased intake of fruits and vegetables alone did not reduce risk of symptoms with Crohn's disease.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Dietary patterns are associated with a risk for ulcerative colitis. In particular, subjects who were in the highest tertile of the healthy dietary pattern had a 79% lower risk of ulcerative colitis.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Gluten sensitivity is common in IBD and associated with having flareups. Gluten sensitivity was reported in 23.6 and 27.3% of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients, respectively.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: A diet high in protein, particularly animal protein, and/or high in sugar may be associated with increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease and relapses.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: As a result of microbial symbiosis and immunity, alterations in the gut microbiome may contribute to inflammatory gut diseases. IBD-affected individuals have been found to have 30–50 percent reduced biodiversity of commensal bacteria, such as decreases in Bacillota (namely Lachnospiraceae) and Bacteroidota. Further evidence of the role of gut flora in the cause of inflammatory bowel disease is that IBD-affected individuals are more likely to have been prescribed antibiotics in the 2–5 year period before their diagnosis than unaffected individuals. The enteral bacteria can be altered by environmental factors, such as concentrated milk fats (a common ingredient of processed foods and confectionery) or oral medications such as antibiotics and oral iron preparations. The mucosal microbiota in the large intestine of IBD patients with active inflammation was found to be associated with pro-inflammatory changes to the host epigenome. However, large international studies have failed to identify a single microbial biomarker of IBD indicating it's not driven by any single micro-organism.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Loss of integrity of the intestinal epithelium plays a key pathogenic role in IBD. Dysfunction of the innate immune system as a result of abnormal signaling through immune receptors called toll-like receptors (TLRs)—which activates an immune response to molecules that are broadly shared by multiple pathogens—contributes to acute and chronic inflammatory processes in IBD colitis and associated cancer. Changes in the composition of the intestinal microbiota are an important environmental factor in the development of IBD. Detrimental changes in the intestinal microbiota induce an inappropriate (uncontrolled) immune response that results in damage to the intestinal epithelium. Breaches in this critical barrier (the intestinal epithelium) allow further infiltration of microbiota that, in turn, elicit further immune responses. IBD is a multifactorial disease that is nonetheless driven in part by an exaggerated immune response to gut microbiota that causes defects in epithelial barrier function.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Pereira et al. reviewed evidence from numerous studies indicating that oxidative stress and DNA damage likely have a role in the pathophysiology of IBD. Oxidative DNA damage as measured by 8-OHdG levels was found to be significantly increased in patients with IBD compared to control patients, and in inflamed mucosa compared with non-inflamed mucosa.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: A genetic component to IBD has been recognized for over a century. Research that has contributed to understanding of the genetics include studies of ethnic groups (e.g., Ashkenazi Jews, Irish), familial clustering, epidemiological studies, and twin studies. With the advent of molecular genetics, understanding of the genetic basis has expanded considerably, particularly in the past decade. The first gene linked to IBD was NOD2 in 2001. Genome-wide association studies have since added to understanding of the genomics and pathogenesis of the disease. More than 200 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or "snips") are now known to be associated with susceptibility to IBD. One of the largest genetic studies of IBD was published in 2012 . The analysis explained more of the variance in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis than previously reported. The results suggested that commensal microbiota are altered in such a way that they act as pathogens in inflammatory bowel diseases. Other studies show that mutations in IBD-associated genes might interfere with the cellular activity and interactions with the microbiome that promote normal immune responses. Many studies identified that microRNAs dysregulation involved in IBD and to promote colorectal cancer. By 2020, single-cell RNA sequencing analysis was launched by a small consortium using IBD patient biopsy material in a search for therapeutic targets.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: The diagnosis is usually confirmed by biopsies on colonoscopy. Fecal calprotectin is useful as an initial investigation, which may suggest the possibility of IBD, as this test is sensitive but not specific for IBD.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Other diseases may cause an increased excretion of fecal calprotectin, such as infectious diarrhea, untreated coeliac disease, necrotizing enterocolitis, intestinal cystic fibrosis and neoplastic pediatric tumor cells.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Conditions with similar symptoms as Crohn's disease includes intestinal tuberculosis, Behçet's disease, ulcerative colitis, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug enteropathy, irritable bowel syndrome and coeliac disease.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Conditions with similar symptoms as ulcerative colitis includes acute self-limiting colitis, amebic colitis, schistosomiasis, Crohn's disease, colon cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, intestinal tuberculosis and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug enteropathy.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Liver function tests are often elevated in inflammatory bowel disease, and are often mild and generally return spontaneously to normal levels. The most relevant mechanisms of elevated liver functions tests in IBD are drug-induced hepatotoxicity and fatty liver.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: The chief types of inflammatory bowel disease are Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Inflammatory bowel diseases fall into the class of autoimmune diseases, in which the body's own immune system attacks elements of the digestive system.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: No disease specific markers are currently known in the blood, enabling the reliable separation of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients. The way doctors can tell the difference between Crohn's disease and UC is the "location" and "nature" of the inflammatory changes. Crohn's can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, from mouth to anus ("skip lesions"), although a majority of the cases start in the terminal ileum. Ulcerative colitis, in contrast, is restricted to the colon and the rectum. Microscopically, ulcerative colitis is restricted to the mucosa (epithelial lining of the gut), while Crohn's disease affects the full thickness of the bowel wall ("transmural lesions"). Lastly, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis present with extra-intestinal manifestations (such as liver problems, arthritis, skin manifestations and eye problems) in different proportions.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: In 10–15% of cases, a definitive diagnosis neither of Crohn's disease nor of ulcerative colitis can be made because of idiosyncrasies in the presentation. In this case, a diagnosis of indeterminate colitis may be made. Although a recognised definition, not all centres refer to this.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: CD and UC are chronic inflammatory diseases, and are not medically curable. However, ulcerative colitis can in most cases be cured by proctocolectomy, although this may not eliminate extra-intestinal symptoms. An ileostomy will collect feces in a bag. Alternatively, a pouch can be created from the small intestine; this serves as the rectum and prevents the need for a permanent ileostomy. Between one-quarter and one-half of patients with ileo-anal pouches do have to manage occasional or chronic pouchitis.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Surgery cannot cure Crohn's disease but may be needed to treat complications such as abscesses, strictures or fistulae. Severe cases may require surgery, such as bowel resection, strictureplasty or a temporary or permanent colostomy or ileostomy. In Crohn's disease, surgery involves removing the worst inflamed segments of the intestine and connecting the healthy regions, but unfortunately, it does not cure Crohn's or eliminate the disease. At some point after the first surgery, Crohn's disease can recur in the healthy parts of the intestine, usually at the resection site. (For example, if a patient with Crohn's disease has an ileocecal anastomosis, in which the caecum and terminal ileum are removed and the ileum is joined to the ascending colon, their Crohn's will nearly always flare-up near the anastomosis or in the rest of the ascending colon).


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Medical treatment of IBD is individualised to each patient. The choice of which drugs to use and by which route to administer them (oral, rectal, injection, infusion) depends on factors including the type, distribution, and severity of the patient's disease, as well as other historical and biochemical prognostic factors, and patient preferences. For example, mesalazine is more useful in ulcerative colitis than in Crohn's disease. Generally, depending on the level of severity, IBD may require immunosuppression to control the symptoms, with drugs such as prednisone, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNF inhibitors), azathioprine, methotrexate, or 6-mercaptopurine.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Steroids, such as the glucocorticoid prednisone, are frequently used to control disease flares and were once acceptable as a maintenance drug. Biological therapy for inflammatory bowel disease, especially the TNF inhibitors, are used in people with more severe or resistant Crohn's disease and sometimes in ulcerative colitis.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Treatment is usually started by administering drugs with high anti-inflammatory effects, such as prednisone. Once the inflammation is successfully controlled, another drug to keep the disease in remission, such as mesalazine in UC, is the main treatment. If further treatment is required, a combination of an immunosuppressive drug (such as azathioprine) with mesalazine (which may also have an anti-inflammatory effect) may be needed, depending on the patient. Controlled release budesonide is used for mild ileal Crohn's disease.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Exclusive enteral nutrition is a first-line therapy in pediatric Crohn's disease with weaker data in adults. Evidence supporting exclusive enteral nutrition in ulcerative colitis is lacking.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Nutritional deficiencies play a prominent role in IBD. Malabsorption, diarrhea, and GI blood loss are common features of IBD. Deficiencies of B vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, essential fatty acids, and key minerals such as magnesium, zinc, and selenium are extremely common and benefit from replacement therapy. Dietary interventions, including certain exclusion diets like the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) can be beneficial for symptom management. Dietary fiber interventions, such as psyillium supplementation (a mixture of soluble and insoluble fibers), may relieve symptoms as well as induce/maintain remission by altering the microbiome composition of the GI tract, thereby improving regulation of immune function, reducing inflammation, and helping to restore the intestinal mucosal lining.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Anaemia is commonly present in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Due to raised levels of inflammatory cytokines which lead to the increased expression of hepcidin, parenteral iron is the preferred treatment option as it bypasses the gastrointestinal system, has lower incidence of adverse events and enables quicker treatment. Hepcidin itself is also an anti-inflammatory agent. In the murine model very low levels of iron restrict hepcidin synthesis, worsening the inflammation that is present. Enteral nutrition has been found to be efficient to improve hemoglobin level in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, especially combined with erythropoietin.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: There is preliminary evidence of an infectious contribution to inflammatory bowel disease in some patients that may benefit from antibiotic therapy, such as with rifaximin. The evidence for a benefit of rifaximin is mostly limited to Crohn's disease with less convincing evidence supporting use in ulcerative colitis.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Fecal microbiota transplant is a relatively new treatment option for IBD which has attracted attention since 2010. Some preliminary studies have suggested benefits similar to those in Clostridium difficile infection but a review of use in IBD shows that FMT is safe, but of variable efficacy. A 2014 review stated that more randomized controlled trials were needed.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Complementary and alternative medicine approaches have been used in inflammatory bowel disorders. Evidence from controlled studies of these therapies has been reviewed; risk of bias was quite heterogeneous. The best supportive evidence was found for herbal therapy, with Plantago ovata and curcumin in UC maintenance therapy, wormwood in CD, mind/body therapy and self-intervention in UC, and acupuncture in UC and CD.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Stem cell therapy is undergoing research as a possible treatment for IBD. A review of studies suggests a promising role, although there are substantial challenges, including cost and characterization of effects, which limit the current use in clinical practice.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Currently, there is no evidence to recommend psychological treatment, such as psychotherapy, stress management and patient's education, to all adults with IBD in general. These treatments had no effect on quality of life, emotional well-being and disease activity. The need for these approaches should be individually assessed and further researched to identify subgroups and determine type of therapy that may benefit individuals with IBD. In adolescents population such treatments may be beneficial on quality of life and depression, although only short-term effects have been found, which also imposes the need for further research.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Crohn's and Colitis Australia, the peak body for IBD in Australia, where prevalence is one of the highest in the world, reviewed the quality of care for patients admitted to Australian hospitals. They found that only one hospital met accepted standards for multidisciplinary care, but that care was improved with the availability of even minimal specialised services.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: While IBD can limit quality of life because of pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, it is rarely fatal on its own. Fatalities due to complications such as toxic megacolon, bowel perforation and surgical complications are also rare. Fatigue is a common symptom of IBD and can be a burden.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Around one-third of individuals with IBD experience persistent gastrointestinal symptoms similar to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the absence of objective evidence of disease activity. Despite enduring the side-effects of long-term therapies, this cohort has a quality of life that is not significantly different to that of individuals with uncontrolled, objectively active disease, and escalation of therapy to biological agents is typically ineffective in resolving their symptoms. The cause of these IBS-like symptoms is unclear, but it has been suggested that changes in the gut-brain axis, epithelial barrier dysfunction, and the gut flora may be partially responsible.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: While patients of IBD do have an increased risk of colorectal cancer, this is usually caught much earlier than the general population in routine surveillance of the colon by colonoscopy, and therefore patients are much more likely to survive.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: New evidence suggests that patients with IBD may have an elevated risk of endothelial dysfunction and coronary artery disease.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: The goal of treatment is toward achieving remission, after which the patient is usually switched to a lighter drug with fewer potential side effects. Every so often, an acute resurgence of the original symptoms may appear; this is known as a "flare-up". Depending on the circumstances, it may go away on its own or require medication. The time between flare-ups may be anywhere from weeks to years, and varies wildly between patients – a few have never experienced a flare-up.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Life with IBD can be challenging; however, many with the condition lead relatively normal lives. IBD carries a psychological burden due to stigmatization of being diagnosed, leading to high levels of anxiety, depression, and a general reduction in the quality of life. Although living with IBD can be difficult, there are numerous resources available to help families navigate the ins and out of IBD, such as the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA).


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: IBD resulted in a global total of 51,000 deaths in 2013 and 55,000 deaths in 1990. The increased incidence of IBD since World War 2 has been correlated to the increase in meat consumption worldwide, supporting the claim that animal protein intake is associated with IBD. However, there are many environmental risk factors that have been linked to the increased and decreased risk of IBD, such as smoking, air pollution and greenspace, urbanization and Westernization. Inflammatory bowel diseases are increasing in Europe. Incidence and prevalence of IBD has risen steadily for the last decades in Asia, which could be related changes in diet and other environmental factors.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Around 0.8% of people in the UK have IBD. Similarly, around 270,000 (0.7%) of people in Canada have IBD, with that number expected to rise to 400,000 (1%) by 2030.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: The following treatment strategies are not used routinely, but appear promising in some forms of inflammatory bowel disease.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Initial reports suggest that "helminthic therapy" may not only prevent but even control IBD: a drink with roughly 2,500 ova of the "Trichuris suis" helminth taken twice monthly decreased symptoms markedly in many patients. It is even speculated that an effective "immunization" procedure could be developed—by ingesting the cocktail at an early age.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Prebiotics and probiotics are focusing increasing interest as treatments for IBD. Currently, there is evidence to support the use of certain probiotics in addition to standard treatments in people with ulcerative colitis but there is no sufficient data to recommend probiotics in people with Crohn's disease. Both single strain and multi-strain probiotics have been researched for mild to moderate cases of ulcerative colitis. The most clinically researched multi-strain probiotic with over 70 human trials is the De Simone Formulation. Further research is required to identify specific probiotic strains or their combinations and prebiotic substances for therapies of intestinal inflammation.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Currently, the probiotic strain, frequency, dose and duration of the probiotic therapy are not established. In severely ill people with IBD there is a risk of the passage of viable bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract to the internal organs (bacterial translocation) and subsequent bacteremia, which can cause serious adverse health consequences. Live bacteria might not be essential because of beneficial effects of probiotics seems to be mediated by their DNA and by secreted soluble factors, and their therapeutic effects may be obtained by systemic administration rather than oral administration.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: In 2005 New Scientist published a joint study by Bristol University and the University of Bath on the apparent healing power of cannabis on IBD. Reports that cannabis eased IBD symptoms indicated the possible existence of cannabinoid receptors in the intestinal lining, which respond to molecules in the plant-derived chemicals. CB1 cannabinoid receptors – which are known to be present in the brain – exist in the endothelial cells which line the gut, it is thought that they are involved in repairing the lining of the gut when damaged.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: The team deliberately damaged the cells to cause inflammation of the gut lining and then added synthetically produced cannabinoids; the result was that gut started to heal: the broken cells were repaired and brought back closer together to mend the tears. It is believed that in a healthy gut, natural endogenous cannabinoids are released from endothelial cells when they are injured, which then bind to the CB1 receptors. The process appears to set off a wound-healing reaction, and when people use cannabis, the cannabinoids bind to these receptors in the same way.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Previous studies have shown that CB1 receptors located on the nerve cells in the gut respond to cannabinoids by slowing gut motility, therefore reducing the painful muscle contractions associated with diarrhea. CB2, another cannabinoid receptor predominantly expressed by immune cells, was detected in the gut of people with IBD at a higher concentration. These receptors, which also respond to chemicals in cannabis, appear to be associated with apoptosis – programmed cell death – and may have a role in suppressing the overactive immune system and reducing inflammation by mopping up excess cells.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Activation of the endocannabinoid system was found efficient in ameliorating colitis and increasing the survival rate of mice, and reducing remote organ changes induced by colitis, further suggest that modulation of this system is a potential therapeutic approach for IBDs and the associated remote organ lesions.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Alicaforsen is a first generation antisense oligodeoxynucleotide designed to bind specifically to the human ICAM-1 messenger RNA through Watson-Crick base pair interactions in order to subdue expression of ICAM-1. ICAM-1 propagates an inflammatory response promoting the extravasation and activation of leukocytes (white blood cells) into inflamed tissue. Increased expression of ICAM-1 has been observed within the inflamed intestinal mucosa of people with ulcerative colitis, pouchitis and Crohn's, where ICAM-1 over production correlated with disease activity. This suggests that ICAM-1 is a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of these diseases.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Cannabinoid CB2 receptor agonists are found to decrease the induction of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 surface expression in human brain tissues and primary human brain endothelial cells (BMVEC) exposed to various pro-inflammatory mediators.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: In 2014, an alliance among the Broad Institute, Amgen and Massachusetts General Hospital formed with the intention to "collect and analyze patient DNA samples to identify and further validate genetic targets."


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: In 2015, a meta-analysis on 938 IBD patients and 953 controls, IBD was significantly associated with having higher odds of vitamin D deficiency.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Gram-positive bacteria present in the lumen could be associated with extending the time of relapse for ulcerative colitis.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Bidirectional pathways between depression and IBD have been suggested and psychological processes have been demonstrated to influence self-perceived physical and psychological health over time. IBD-disease activity may impact quality of life and over time may significantly affect individual's mental well-being, which may be related to the increased risk to develop anxiety and/or depression. On the other hand, psychological distress may also influence IBD activity.


title: Inflammatory bowel disease

text: Higher rates of anxiety and depression are observed among those with IBD compared to healthy individuals, which correlated with disease severity. Moreover, anxiety and depression rates increase during active disease compared with inactive phases.


title: Domenick Lombardozzi

text: Domenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi (, ; born March 25, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Herc in "The Wire", and is also known for his roles in "A Bronx Tale" (1993), "Entourage", and "The Irishman" (2019).


title: Domenick Lombardozzi

text: Lombardozzi was cast in his first film role at age seventeen, when Robert De Niro cast him in "A Bronx Tale" as a low level gun dealer named Nicky Zero. He is best known for playing Ray Zancanelli on the A&E television series "Breakout Kings" and for his roles as Tony Salerno in Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" (2019), as a firefighter in Judd Apatow’s "The King of Staten Island" and on the HBO programs "Oz" as Ralph Galino, "The Wire" as Herc, "Entourage" as Dominick, and "Boardwalk Empire" as Ralph Capone.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Ronald Watkins (born April 18, 1987) is an American conspiracy theorist and site administrator of the imageboard website 8kun (formerly known as 8chan). He has played a major role in spreading the discredited far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, and has promulgated conspiracy theories that widespread election fraud led to Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He is the son of Jim Watkins, the owner and operator of 8kun.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Numerous journalists and researchers believe that one or both of the Watkinses know the identity of, or are themselves, "Q", the person or group of people behind QAnon.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins served as site administrator for 8kun from 2016 until he announced he had resigned in November 2020, though some have questioned the veracity of his resignation.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins was born in 1987. His father, Jim Watkins, is a former member of the United States Army, and Watkins grew up moving often because of his father's military service. His mother, Ton Sun Watkins, is from South Korea, and his parents met when his father was stationed there. They divorced when Watkins was a teenager, at which point Watkins began to live mostly with his mother.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins spent his high school years in Mukilteo, Washington, the city where he lived for the longest period during his childhood. He attended Kamiak High School, where he was active in choir and theater, and graduated in 2005.


title: Ron Watkins

text: 8kun, which was formerly known as 8chan, is an imageboard website that has been linked to white supremacism, neo-Nazism, the alt-right, child pornography, racism, and antisemitism, hate crimes, and multiple mass shootings. It was home to the proponents of the Gamergate controversy beginning in 2014, and in 2018 became a central part of the QAnon conspiracy theory when "Q", the anonymous figure claiming to be a high-level government official with Q clearance, began exclusively using 8kun to post their messages.


title: Ron Watkins

text: In 2014, after seeing an Al Jazeera America documentary about 8kun creator Fredrick Brennan, Watkins told his father about Brennan. The imageboard had recently taken off in popularity after it was adopted by proponents of Gamergate, and Brennan was having trouble keeping up with server costs. The elder Watkins contacted Brennan to offer a partnership, and in 2014, Brennan moved to Manila in the Philippines to work for him. In 2014, Jim Watkins became the official owner and operator of 8kun. Ron Watkins began working on the site every day. Brennan remained the site administrator until 2016, at which time he relinquished the role and Ron Watkins took up the position.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins was responsible for the creation of a cryptocurrency through which 8kun posters can pay to have their posts listed prominently through a program called "King of the Shekel".


title: Ron Watkins

text: On November 3, 2020, the day of the United States presidential election, Watkins announced on Twitter that he was resigning his position as site administrator. He told journalists he wanted to spend more time woodworking and writing a book about constitutional law. His resignation was described as "abrupt", and fed doubts among some QAnon adherents about the movement. Some have questioned the veracity of his resignation. Conspiracy theory researcher Julian Feeld said, "His 'departure' from 8kun is highly suspect and possibly just a PR move more than anything else... It allows him more freedom as a right-wing operative, specifically around the various voter fraud conspiracy theories."


title: Ron Watkins

text: QAnon is a discredited far-right conspiracy theory alleging that a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles running a global child sex-trafficking ring is plotting against former President Donald Trump, who is battling them. Watkins has played a major role in helping to amplify the theory. According to conspiracy theory expert Julian Feeld, QAnon adherents see Watkins as "the technical brain behind the platform where Q posts". Feeld has said that despite Watkins' lower profile in the movement compared to his father, he has "played just as big a role in the... movement's growth". Watkins has been described as a de facto QAnon leader.


title: Ron Watkins

text: On January 20, 2021, QAnon followers struggled to reconcile that Joe Biden had been inaugurated with their beliefs that Trump would still become president, or that there would be a "Great Awakening" or "the Storm": a day on which Trump and military allies would gather their political opponents for execution. Watkins appeared to be one of the figures abandoning the theory, posting on Telegram, "We gave it our all. Now we need to keep our chins up and go back to our lives as best we are able." QAnon researcher Travis View warned against believing Watkins, pointing to his past claim that he had quit 8kun to focus on his woodworking only to "[fill] the vacuum of Q by spreading conspiracy theories".


title: Ron Watkins

text: Numerous journalists and conspiracy theory researchers have connected Ron, Jim, or both Watkinses to Q, an account run by an unknown person or group of people, whose posts are the basis of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Watkins and his father were two of only a few people who could verify that posts on 8kun were from the "real" Q, which also contributed to theories that they were behind the persona.


title: Ron Watkins

text: 8kun's founder, Fredrick Brennan, was quoted in a June 2020 article in "The Atlantic" saying, "I definitely, definitely, 100 percent believe that Q either knows Jim or Ron Watkins, or was hired by Jim or Ron Watkins." In an interview on a September 2020 episode of the podcast "Reply All", Brennan explained that he believes the Q account was originally operated by someone else, but that Watkins and his father took control of the persona, most likely around December 2017. PJ Vogt of "Reply All" has said he discussed Brennan's theory with other journalists who write about Q, and that "some of them think it's likely; everyone agrees it's more than plausible". Both Watkinses have denied knowledge of Q's identity. In September 2020, Brennan theorized that the original "Q" was a South African 4chan poster called Paul Furber, and that once Q moved to 8chan, Ron Watkins used his login privileges as the forum's administrator to take control of the account.


title: Ron Watkins

text: A verified account on Parler claiming to be Watkins made several posts on November 15, 2020, appearing to confirm theories that his father was Q. It was later determined that security researcher Aubrey Cottle had taken advantage of Parler security flaws to change the name of an already-verified Parler account, giving it the appearance of belonging to and having been verified as Watkins. This incident led to a feud between Watkins and Parler investor Dan Bongino, with Watkins publicly criticizing Parler's security on Twitter and describing the service as "compromised". Bongino responded by tweeting insults at Watkins.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins and his father were interviewed over several years for Cullen Hoback's six-part HBO docuseries about QAnon and the identity of Q, titled "Q: Into the Storm". In the final episode of the series, Watkins said in an interview, "It was basically three years of intelligence training, teaching how to do intelligence work. It was basically what I was doing anonymously before, but never as Q." Watkins then smiled and corrected himself, saying "Never as Q. I promise. Because I am not Q, and I never was". Hoback viewed this as an inadvertent admission from Watkins, and concluded from this interview and his other research that Ron Watkins is Q.


title: Ron Watkins

text: On February 19, 2022, "The New York Times" reported that linguistic analysis of the Q posts by two forensic linguistic teams indicated that Paul Furber was the main author of the initial Q posts, and Ron Watkins took over in 2018. Watkins again denied being Q, and published on Telegram a sonnet rebutting the claims.


title: Ron Watkins

text: After resigning from his 8kun position in November 2020, Watkins worked to build his reputation among those attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election. He spread conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems, the creators of some voting machines used in the election. He posted videos on Twitter of a Dominion employee using one of the machines, falsely stating that the employee was pictured tampering with election results. The employee received death threats as a result, and a noose was found hanging outside his home.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins was named as an expert witness in a lawsuit filed by Sidney Powell, a lawyer and conspiracy theorist also involved in challenging the election results. In his affidavit, he claimed that based on his reading of the online user guide for the Dominion software, it is "within the realm of possibility" for a poll worker to manipulate votes. According to "The Washington Post", Watkins described himself in the affidavit as "an information security expert with nine years of experience as a 'network and information defense analyst' and security engineer", and did not mention that his experience mostly came from his work with 8kun.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins was interviewed multiple times about Dominion on the pro-Trump One America News Network (OANN), which introduced him as a "large system technical analyst". His comments on electoral fraud were also reported by other right-wing outlets, including "The Gateway Pundit".


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins earned a large following on Twitter following the election, where he used the name "CodeMonkeyZ". In the month of November he nearly doubled his follower count to 400,000, and by early January had more than 500,000 followers. Trump had retweeted Watkins five times between Election Day and January 6, 2021, and "Foreign Policy" described Watkins as "an integral part of Trump's post-election messaging".


title: Ron Watkins

text: On the night of January 5, 2021, the day before the U.S. Capitol attack, Watkins told his father and journalist Cullen Hoback that he was about to "make a claim, it's going to shatter some institutions". On Twitter, Watkins announced plans to "drop" information he called "The Mother of All [truth] Bombs". According to Hoback, Watkins claimed to have received a back-channel information from the White House. In the early hours of January 6, Watkins posted a tweet accusing Vice President Mike Pence of orchestrating a coup. He also linked to a blog post which called for "the immediate arrest of [Pence], for treason."


title: Ron Watkins

text: On January 8, Twitter cracked down on accounts that were "solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content". Watkins's account was among the accounts Twitter permanently suspended, as were the accounts belonging to Sidney Powell and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.


title: Ron Watkins

text: Amid the Maricopa county election audit, Watkins falsely alleged that 200,000 Trump votes went uncounted.


title: Ron Watkins

text: In October 2021, Watkins appeared at a conference called "For God & Country: Patriot Double Down" in Las Vegas, where he called himself a "digital Rosa Parks", comparing his bans from mainstream social media to Parks' bus arrest.


title: Ron Watkins

text: In October 2021, Watkins filed a statement of interest with the Arizona Secretary of State to run for the United States House of Representatives in Arizona's 1st congressional district as a Republican. He officially announced his run for Congress with a video in which he called Democratic incumbent Tom O'Halleran the "dirtiest Democrat in the D.C. swamp".


title: Ron Watkins

text: Watkins campaigned mostly through Telegram; he hired conspiracy theorist podcaster Tony Teora as a campaign manager and associated with a local sovereign citizen activist. In January 2022, he appeared at a school board meeting in Scottsdale, where he accused "communist creeps" in school boards of indoctrinating children with "transsexual propaganda" and critical race theory and of taking away parental rights by "teaching our children that they can be vaccinated without parental consent".


title: Ron Watkins

text: In February 2022, it was reported that Watkins' campaign had raised just above $33,000, some of which was in the form of a loan from his father. Watkins also entered into polemics with Arizona senator Wendy Rogers, whom he accused of botching the Maricopa County election audit. Rogers responded by calling Watkins a "weirdo" and mocking his fundraising efforts. She later said she would enact a "ceasefire" with Watkins.


title: Ron Watkins

text: In the voting, on August 2, 2022, Watkins came in last among 7 candidates to the Republican primary, with less than 4% of the votes.


title: Ron Watkins

text: After high school, Watkins moved to China. Watkins lived with his father in Manila in the Philippines in the 2010s. , Watkins was living in Japan; in October 2021 he moved to Arizona. In a 2022 speech he gave at Prescott, Arizona, Watkins mentioned that he had a 5-year-old daughter and was divorced.


title: Ship prefix

text: A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/nationality. In the modern environment, prefixes are cited inconsistently in civilian service, whereas in government service a vessel's prefix is seldom omitted due to government regulations dictating that a certain prefix be used. Today the common practice is to use a single prefix for all warships of a nation's navy, and other prefixes for auxiliaries and ships of allied services, such as coast guards. For example, the modern navy of Japan adopts the prefix "JS" – Japanese Ship. However, not all navies use prefixes. Among the blue-water navies, those of France, Brazil, China, Russia, Germany, and Spain do not use ship prefixes. NATO designations such as FS (French Ship), FGS (Federal German Ship), and SPS (Spanish Ship) can be used if needed.


title: Ship prefix

text: Historically, prefixes for civilian vessels often identified the vessel's mode of propulsion, such as "MV" (motor vessel), "SS" (screw steamer; often cited as "steam ship"), or "PS" (paddle steamer).


title: Ship prefix

text: These days, general civilian prefixes are used inconsistently, and frequently not at all. In terms of abbreviations that may reflect a vessel's purpose or function, technology has introduced a broad variety of differently named vessels onto the world's oceans, such as "LPGC" (liquified petroleum gas carrier), or "TB" (tug-boat), or "DB" (derrick barge). In many cases though, these abbreviations are used for purely formal, legal identification and are not used colloquially or in the daily working environment. Prefixes indicating a vessel's purpose (e.g., "RMS" (Royal Mail ship) or "RV" (research vessel)) are also used.


title: Ship prefix

text: Prefixes used for naval ships primarily reflect ownership, but may also indicate a vessel's type or purpose as a sub-set. Historically, the most significant navy was Britain's Royal Navy, which has usually used the prefix "HMS", standing for "His/Her Majesty's Ship". The Royal Navy also adopted nomenclature that reflected a vessel's type or purpose, e.g. HM Sloop. Commonwealth navies adopted a variation, with, for example, HMAS, HMCS, and HMNZS pertaining to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, respectively.


title: Ship prefix

text: In the early days of the United States Navy, abbreviations often included the type of vessel, for instance "USF" (United States Frigate), but this method was abandoned by President Theodore Roosevelt's Executive Order No. 549 of 1907, which made "United States Ship" (USS) the standard signifier for USN ships on active commissioned service. United States Navy prefixes officially only apply while a ship is in active commission, with only the name used before or after a period of commission and for all vessels "in service" rather than commissioned status.


title: Ship prefix

text: However, not all navies used prefixes; this includes the significant navies of China, France and Russia.


title: Ship prefix

text: From the 20th century onwards, most navies identify ships by letters or hull numbers (pennant numbers) or a combination of such. These identification codes were, and still are, painted on the side of the ship. Each navy has its own system: the United States Navy uses hull classification symbols, and the Royal Navy (e.g. 'D35' is destroyer 35 – HMS "Dragon") and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth use pennant numbers.


title: Ship prefix

text: The designations for United Kingdom ships applied at the time of the British Empire, before the establishment of separate navies for the Dominions.


title: Ship prefix

text: In the Royal Netherlands Navy, "HNLMS" is the prefix in English, a translation of the Dutch original "Hr.Ms." or "Zr.Ms.". "Hr.Ms." should preferably not be used in English-language documents; nevertheless it is often seen on the World Wide Web. Until the moment a Dutch naval ship officially enters active service in the fleet, the ship's name is used without the prefix. Since King Willem-Alexander succeeded Queen Beatrix on 30 April 2013, "Hr.Ms." is replaced by "Zr.Ms.".


title: Ship prefix

text: In Australia, the prefix NUSHIP is used to denote ships that have yet to be commissioned into the fleet.


title: Ship prefix

text: In the United States, all prefixes other than "USS", "USNS", "USNV", and "USRC" were made obsolete in 1901, when President Theodore Roosevelt issued an Executive order fixing American naval nomenclature. USRC was replaced by USCGC when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Lifesaving Service to become the United States Coast Guard in 1915. USLHT also was replaced by USCGC when the United States Lighthouse Service became a part of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939. USC&GS was replaced by NOAAS when the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey merged with other U.S. Government scientific agencies to form the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1970. USFC was replaced by USFS when the United States Commission on Fish and Fisheries was reorganized as the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries in 1903, and USFS in turn was replaced in 1940 by US FWS when the Bureau of Fisheries merged with the United States Department of the Interior's Division of Biological Survey to form the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (which in 1956 was reorganized as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service). Seagoing ships Fish and Wildlife Service ships with the prefix US FWS that were transferred to NOAA when NOAA was created in 1970 switched to the NOAAS prefix.


title: Ship prefix

text: A United States Navy ship that is not in active commission does not hold the title of United States Ship with simply the name without prefix used before and after commissioned service. Vessels, such as yard and harbor craft that are not commissioned and "in service" are officially referred to by name or hull number without prefix. Prior to commissioning, ships may be described as a pre-commissioning unit or PCU; for example, the uncommissioned has been described as the "pre-commissioning unit (PCU) "Gerald R. Ford"." However, the vessel's official name is "Gerald R. Ford" without any prefix, and will be known as USS "Gerald R. Ford" once commissioned. Military Sealift Command (MSC) civilian crewed ships "in service" are given the prefix United States Naval Ship (USNS).


title: Ship prefix

text: When it is stricken from the fleet list, a ship typically has the prefix "ex-" added to its name, to distinguish it from any active ships bearing the same name. For example, after USS "Constellation" (CV-64) was retired in 2003, she became referred to as ex-"Constellation".


title: Ship prefix

text: Fictional equivalents of tri-letter prefixes frequently appear in English-language science fiction works, applied to seafaring and spaceborne ships alike.


title: Oran

text: Oran () is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural importance. It is west-south-west from Algiers. The total population of the city was 803,329 in 2008, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000 making it the second-largest city in Algeria.


title: Oran

text: The word "Wahran" comes from the Berber expression "wa - iharan" (place of lions). A locally popular legend tells that in the period around AD 900, there were sightings of Barbary lions in the area. The last two lions were killed on a mountain near Oran, and it became known as "la montagne des lions" ("The Mountain of Lions"). Two giant lion statues stand in front of Oran's city hall, symbolizing the city.


title: Oran

text: During the Roman Empire, a small settlement called "Unica Colonia" existed in the area of current Oran, but this settlement disappeared after the Arab conquest of the Maghreb.


title: Oran

text: Present-day Oran was founded in 903 by the azdaja and ajissa berbers of the Maghrawa confederation who lived the area and eventually founded the modern city of Oran. the city enjoyed a period of prosperity under the Almohad Caliph Abd al-Mu'min for a lengthy period of time where he built thirty vessels to connect it with Andalasia. It endured a long, prosperous reign under the zayyanid of tlemcen and used their ports as a key out outlet to spain in particular. It was captured by the Castilians under Cardinal Cisneros in 1509, and Spanish sovereignty lasted until 1708, when the city was conquered by the Algerians during the siege of Siege of Oran (1707–1708). Spain recaptured the city in 1732. However, its value as a trading post had decreased greatly, so during the reign of King Charles IV the city was recaptured in 1790-1792 by a coalition of Algerian troops against Spain which resulted in victory for the bey of Oran despite the many attempts in 1563. The beylik lasted until 1831, when the city fell to the French.


title: Oran

text: Under French rule during the 19th and 20th centuries, Oran was the capital of a "département" of the same name (number 92). In July 1940, the British navy shelled French warships in the port after they refused a British ultimatum to surrender; this action was taken to ensure the fleet would not fall into German hands, as the Nazis had defeated France and occupied Paris. The action increased the hatred of the Vichy regime for Britain but convinced the world that the British would fight on alone against Nazi Germany and its allies. The Vichy government held Oran during World War II until its capture by the Allies in late 1942, during Operation Torch.


title: Oran

text: Also, during French rule, Jews were encouraged to modernize and take on jobs they had not before including agriculture, while Muslims were forced out of the city and their ancestral fertile lands were confiscated and given to Colons. Jews In the city were allowed to join the French Army starting October 24, 1870, while Muslims were forced to do military service. Algerian Jews were granted citizenship Algerian Muslims were not. French Jews would soon be targeted after not choosing to side with the Algerian Muslims who fought for independence against France.


title: Oran

text: Before the Algerian War, 1954–1962, Oran had one of the highest proportions of Europeans of any city in North Africa. In July 1962, after a ceasefire and accords with France, the FLN entered Oran and were shot at by a European. A mob attacked pied-noir neighborhoods in response to the attack and massacred thousands of Europeans in Oran; 453 have been said to have "disappeared." This triggered a larger exodus of Europeans to France, which was already underway. Shortly after the end of the war, most of the Europeans and Algerian Jews living in Oran fled to France. In less than three months, Oran lost about half its population. This population loss is similar to the Jews as many fled after siding with France in the Algerian War for Independence. As the war progressed, those who supported independence in Algeria threatened those who sided with France causing these people to flee.


title: Oran

text: With its location as the closest port to Spain and its prominence on the Mediterranean, Jewish refugees first immigrated to Oran to flee persecution and conversion to Christianity in Spain in 1391. This refuge brought other religious refugees that included both Jews again and Muslims in both 1492 and 1502. On October 24, 1870, with the French dominance, Algerian Jews were given French citizenship with the Crémieux Decree. Later, despite a World War II sentiment that favored acceptance, Oran still had a history marked by intolerance. There was a decrease in the Jewish population as Muslims were the only group granted citizenship protection in 1963, one year after Algerian independence.


title: Oran

text: Before the Spaniards, the Portuguese launched a failed expedition to capture the city in July 1501. Four years later, the Spanish took Mers-el-Kébir, located just west of Oran. Thus began the first organized incursions against the city which, at the time, numbered 25,000 inhabitants and counted 6,000 "fueros". Count Pedro Navarro, on the orders of Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, finally captured the city on May 17, 1509. The occupying forces set fire to the books and archives of the town.


title: Oran

text: By 1554, the Turks had reached Algiers. The governor of Oran, Count Alcaudete, allied himself with Moroccan Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh against them. Nine years later, in 1563, Álvaro de Bazán, Marquis de Santa Cruz, built the fort of Santa-Cruz, strategically placed at the top of a mountain, l'Aïdour, more than above the sea, directly to the west of the city. Pedro Garcerán de Borja, Grand Master of the Order of Montesa, was captain of Oran when, on July 14, 1568, John of Austria (the illegitimate son of Charles I and paternal half-brother of King Philip II), led a flotilla of 33 galleys against the Algerians.


title: Oran

text: In April 1669 the Spanish governor, the 6th Marquess of Los Vélez, expelled all the Jews who lived in Oran and Mers El Kébir sending them to be resettled in either Nice, or Livorno.


title: Oran

text: The Spanish rebuilt Santa Cruz Fort to accommodate their city governors. "The fortifications of the place were composed of thick and continuous walls of over two and a half km in circumference, surmounted by strong towers spaced between them," with a central castle or "kasbah" where the Spanish governor had his headquarters. Under Spanish rule, the city continued to grow, requiring enlargement of the city walls. In spite of the improved fortifications, the city was the object of repeated attacks. Notable in this regard, Moroccan Sharif Moulay Ismail tried to force his way past the defences in 1707, only to see his army decimated.


title: Oran

text: In 1744, king Philip V asked the governor Tomás du Rollet de la tour for dromedaries to replenish the stock at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez.


title: Oran

text: However, the former bey of Oran had banned trade with the Spaniards and those dromedaries gradually sent to the king had been sold by thieving tribesmen.


title: Oran

text: Most of the maintenance of the place was paid by the bull of the Crusade, a contribution of the Spanish Catholic church.


title: Oran

text: The Spanish occupied the city until 1708, when the Bey of Mascara, Mustapha Ben Youssef ("Bouchelaghem"), vassal of the Deylik of Algiers, and who was an Arabized Berber from the Mascara region took advantage of the War of Spanish Succession to drive the Spanish out.


title: Oran

text: In 1732, Spanish forces returned under José Carrillo de Albornoz, capturing the city from Bouchelaghem. Spain maintained its hold over Oran for the next six decades.


title: Oran

text: In the night after October 8, 1790, a violent earthquake claimed more than 3,000 victims in less than seven minutes. Charles IV saw no advantage in continuing the occupation of the city, which had become increasingly expensive and perilous. He initiated discussions with the Dey of Algiers.


title: Oran

text: After another earthquake damaged the Spanish defences, the forces of the new Bey of Oran, Mohamed el-Kébir besieged the city. By the end of 1790, there was a clear Algerian advantage. The Spanish, not wanting to risk their troops, signed an agreement with the Algerians on 12 September in Algiers, and on 12 December in Madrid, which recognized Algerian control over the city. By February all Spanish troops evacuated. The capital was moved there the same year. In 1792, the Bey settled a Jewish community there. In 1796, the Pasha Mosque (in honour of Hassan Pasha, Beylerbey of Algiers) was built by the Bey with ransom money paid for the release of Spanish prisoners after Spain's final departure.


title: Oran

text: The town of 10,000 inhabitants was still in the possession of the Ottoman Empire when a squadron under the command of captain Bourmand seized el-Kébir on December 14, 1830. The city was in a wretched state. On January 4, 1831, the French commanded by General Damrémont occupied Oran.


title: Oran

text: In September 1831, General Berthezène appointed Mr. Pujol as mayor of Oran; he had been captain of cavalry in retirement and was wounded in the right hand under the Empire.


title: Oran

text: In 1832, leading a force of five thousand men, the young Emir Abd al-Qadir attacked Oran. In April 1833, commander-in-chief, General Boyer, was replaced by the baron Louis Alexis Desmichels. The city's defenders, under attack by Abd al Qadir, held their ground.


title: Oran

text: In World War II, Oran was one of the landing points in Operation Torch, the first American action in the Europe-North Africa theatre in November 1942. The Task Force suffered some damage to its fleet, trying to land in shallow water, but the enemy ships were sunk or driven off, and Oran surrendered after heavy fire from British battleships.


title: Oran

text: Due to the exodus of Pieds-Noirs, the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur d'Oran was converted into a public library in 1984. Further information: Aubert Library of Oran


title: Oran

text: Today, Oran is a major port and a commercial centre, and has three universities. The old quarter of Oran has a casbah and an 18th-century mosque. The modern section of Oran is referred to as La Ville Nouvelle and was built after 1831; this section contrasts with the older section, La Blanca.


title: Oran

text: Oran features a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification "BSk"/"BSh"). Oran's climate does show influences of a Mediterranean climate; however, the combination of the city's relatively high average annual temperature and relatively low annual precipitation precludes it from falling under that climate category. Oran averages of precipitation annually, the bulk of which falls between November and May. Summers are the warmest times of the year, with average high temperatures in the warmest month (August) approaching 32 degrees Celsius. Winters are the coolest times of the year in Oran, with high temperatures in the coolest month (January) at around 17 degrees Celsius.


title: Oran

text: As Oran is located in Northern Algeria, it faces the threat of earthquakes that can cause damage. However, the last major earthquake was in 1790; 3,000 people died as a result. Many of the existing older buildings in the city have been reinforced, and newer construction is designed to withstand earthquakes. While the city dates back to the 900s, the oldest remaining buildings are from the French period in the 1800s making it easier to reinforce these buildings.


title: Oran

text: or, "new city" in English, is a large historical and popular district. It was one of the Muslim quarters during the French colonial period. In this district, there is one of the biggest markets in the country, called Le Marché de Medina Jedida (Medina Jedida Market).


title: Oran

text: El Hamri is a large and popular district in the center of Oran, known under French rule as Lamur. The football club Mouloudia d'Oran is found there.


title: Oran

text: The historical district is a suburb in the north of the d'Oran city. The Saint-Louis college is there, as well as the old mosque of the Pasha dating from the 17th century. In this district the skin of Saint-Patron of the city in the name of "Sidi El Houari" rests. Other tourist curiosities: one ancient prefecture of the data base Stalingrad, the Spanish vestiges dating from the 16th century, and especially the Palate of the Bey d'Oran.


title: Oran

text: Mers El Kébir ("The Great Port") is a municipality northwest of Oran, about from the city centre. As its name indicates, it is a major port and has an important naval base, home to the Algerian Navy.


title: Oran

text: Aïn El Turk ("Fountain of the Turks") is also northwest of Oran, at a distance of . It is a seaside town which includes several hotels and other tourist attractions.


title: Oran

text: Es Sénia, located in the south of Oran, is home to industrial parks, several university institutes (Oran-Es-Sénia University, Institut of Communication, ENPO "National Polytechnic School of Oran", CRASC "Research center in social sciences" etc.) and the international airport.


title: Oran

text: Bir El Djir is a commune that represents the suburbs of Oran (apart from the districts). It is the future beating heart of the Oranian agglomeration. It has several buildings which are the seats of institutions as the headquarters of Sonatrach's downstream activity, the hospital "Établissement Hospitalo-universitaire" "November 1st, 1954", the convention center (Palais des Congrès), University of sciences and technology (conceived by the Japanese architect Kenzō Tange), the Institute of medical sciences, the Court of Justice and the National Centre of Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology. There is as well a stadium with a capacity of 50000 places under construction.


title: Oran

text: Bir El Djir is an urban extension east of Oran, from the city center, with a population of 118,000 inhabitants.


title: Oran

text: The city's public transportation is centered on the Oran Metro covering coastal neighborhoods with the connecting Oran tramway covering suburbs not yet served by the metro. There is an extensive network of "clandestine" taxis in the City. A project started in 2008/9 and lasted approximately two to three years, to deliver the first line of the tramway in 2010. It should comprise 31 stations over a distance of going to Es-Sénia, in the South and Sidi Maarouf in the east side, while passing by the centre town The tramway should serve Haï Sabbah, University of Sciences and Technology (USTO), the Crossroads of the Three Private clinics, the Law courts, Dar El Baïda, the Plate-Saint Michel, the Place of the 1st November, Saint-Anthony, Boulanger, Saint-Hubert, the 3rd Ring road and finally The University of Es-Sénia. The Ahmed Ben Bella Airport, also known as Es-Senia Airport, serves both domestic and international flights, with frequent connections to the capital Algiers, served by the public airline company Air Algerie. The same company also has flights to many French cities (Marseille, Paris, Lyon, etc.) and other European and EMEA cities. The Es Senia Airport also serves passengers from most smaller towns in proximity to Oran (Sig, Mostaganem, Arzew, etc.). The airport building is a fairly limited construction and does not operate on a 24-h basis.


title: Oran

text: Oran held its first international marathon on November 10, 2005. The event, sponsored by Toyota of Algeria, attracted runners from Morocco, Libya, Spain, France and Kenya. The marathon served to publicize the health benefits of running and to provide a novel form of public entertainment for the city's residents.


title: Oran

text: The folk music Raï ("opinion" in Arabic), had its beginnings in Oran. This genre of music was formulated by shepherds in the 1930s through Arab and European influences. This music was surrounded by controversy due to women's key role in public performances of the music, as well as the hedonistic lyrics about love and alcohol. This led to strict governmental control in the area which led to arrests, injuries, and assassinations. Many notable Raï musicians (including Cheb Hasni, Cheb Khaled, and Rachid Taha) hail from Oran. The violinist Akim el Sikameya was also born in Oran. One of Oran's most famous emigrants is Yves Saint Laurent.


title: Oran

text: Oran has become a major trading centre for the wider area, serving Arzew, the area's oil/gas port as well as Sonatrach, the country's biggest oil and gas company. Sonelgaz has built a new congress centre in Oran and in 2010 the 16th International Conference & Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas was held in the city of Oran, which attracted around 3,000 visitors and major companies from around the world.


title: Oran

text: To accommodate all visitors, new hotels are currently being constructed and floating hotels will be used in the future. With a growth in urbanization, water quality and management is being harmed in Oran; this change in water quality is affecting marine life and the state of beaches in this tourism driven city.


title: Oran

text: The city and region participates in the R20 Regions of Climate Action, with goals focused on reduced waste valorization and energy efficiency.


title: Oran

text: Oran has numerous hotels in all categories, from luxury to basic, as well as many restaurants offering Algerian specialities and other foods. Tourists will also find a variety of cinemas, arts centres, the regional theatre, an open-air theatre, the Museum, the historic city centre of Oran, the district of Sidi El Houari, the municipal gardens, Médina Djedida with its artisanal products, the cathedral, Djebel Murdjadjo, and nearby seaside resorts. Ahmed Ben Bella Airport is from the town centre. One can also reach Oran by ferries from the ports of Marseilles, Sète, Alicante and Almería, via the national company Algérie Ferries. The Great Mosque is another attraction for tourists. The Great Mosque was built in 1796 to celebrate the end of Spanish rule of the city.


title: Oran

text: The main museum in Oran is called Musée National Ahmend Zabana. Although often overlooked by tourists, it includes a natural history exhibit in addition to art pieces like mosaics and portraits.


title: Oran

text: Bey's Palace is another favorite spot for tourists, situated in Sidi al-Houari in the city center. It is an Ottoman era palace built of Islamic architecture, consists of harem, guard towers and stucco-painted halls.


title: Oran

text: Water supply in Oran has historically been stressed because of the lack of consistent rainfall. The regional government invested in hydraulic projects in the 2010s to increase retention of water, and installing a desalination plant increased water security. Oran's region uses a mix of groundwater (11%), surface water (51%) and desalinization (38%). The wilaya of Oran is also equipped with five desalination plants, including the unit of Macta, with a maximum daily capacity of 500,000 m³.


title: David Bromstad

text: David Reed Bromstad (born August 17, 1973) is an American designer and television personality. In 2006, he became the winner of the debut season of "HGTV Design Star". He has hosted a number of HGTV shows, including "Color Splash", "Beach Flip" and "My Lottery Dream Home".


title: David Bromstad

text: Bromstad was born the youngest of four children to Diane Marlys Bromstad (née Krueger) and Richard Harold David Bromstad in Cokato, Minnesota. His mother is of Swedish and German descent, and his father is of Norwegian descent. He has three older siblings, Dean Richard Bromstad, Dynelle Renee Bromstad, and Dyonne Rachael Bromstad. He was always interested in art and design, and while attending Wayzata High School made a decision to pursue a career as a Disney animator. He attended the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, a school known as a starting point for careers with Disney. After graduating, he worked as a Disney illustrator.


title: David Bromstad

text: After being placed on leave as a Disney illustrator, he started his own company, Bromstad Studio. At the urging of a friend, Bromstad moved to Miami Beach and tried out for HGTV's "Design Star", a reality show competition to pick a host for a new show on the HGTV cable network. On "Design Star", Bromstad competed against nine other potential designers, winning the grand prize – a car, and the chance to host his own show on HGTV.


title: David Bromstad

text: Bromstad was a guest on the second season of "HGTV Design Star", appearing as a guest-judge in the first episode and as moral support to the finalists in "Challenge 7: Island Dreams." He was a mentor from Season 6, and host from Season 7.


title: David Bromstad

text: In 2012, he hosted "Design Star All-Stars." He appeared on HGTV's "Design at Your Door" and was a competitor in the second season of "Rock the Block," partnered with designer Tiffany Brooks. He has also appeared on "HGTV'd", "HGTV Showdown" and "Bang for Your Buck."


title: David Bromstad

text: He owns a home in Orlando, Florida, which was featured on "My Lottery Dream Home: David's Dream Home".


title: David Bromstad

text: He has a "tattoo addiction" and favors designs that speak to his love of family, color, gay pride and Disney.


title: David Bromstad

text: He was the first HGTV personality to be named to "Out" magazine's Out100 list of prominent LGBTQ people.


title: Groupthink

text: Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Cohesiveness, or the desire for cohesiveness, in a group may produce a tendency among its members to agree at all costs. This causes the group to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation.


title: Groupthink

text: Groupthink is a construct of social psychology, but has an extensive reach and influences literature in the fields of communication studies, political science, management, and organizational theory, as well as important aspects of deviant religious cult behaviour.


title: Groupthink

text: Groupthink is sometimes stated to occur (more broadly) within natural groups within the community, for example to explain the lifelong different mindsets of those with differing political views (such as "conservatism" and "liberalism" in the U.S. political context or the purported benefits of team work vs. work conducted in solitude). However, this conformity of viewpoints within a group does not mainly involve deliberate group decision-making, and might be better explained by the collective confirmation bias of the individual members of the group.


title: Groupthink

text: The term was coined in 1952 by William H. Whyte Jr. Most of the initial research on groupthink was conducted by Irving Janis, a research psychologist from Yale University. Janis published an influential book in 1972, which was revised in 1982. Janis used the Bay of Pigs disaster (the failed invasion of Castro's Cuba in 1961) and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 as his two prime case studies. Later studies have evaluated and reformulated his groupthink model.


title: Groupthink

text: Groupthink requires individuals to avoid raising controversial issues or alternative solutions, and there is loss of individual creativity, uniqueness and independent thinking. The dysfunctional group dynamics of the "ingroup" produces an "illusion of invulnerability" (an inflated certainty that the right decision has been made). Thus the "ingroup" significantly overrates its own abilities in decision-making and significantly underrates the abilities of its opponents (the "outgroup"). Furthermore, groupthink can produce dehumanizing actions against the "outgroup". Members of a group can often feel under peer pressure to "go along with the crowd" for fear of "rocking the boat" or of how their speaking out will be perceived by the rest of the group. Group interactions tend to favor clear and harmonious agreements and it can be a cause for concern when little to no new innovations or arguments for better policies, outcomes and structures are called to question. (McLeod). Groupthink can often be referred to as a group of “yes men” because group activities and group projects in general make it extremely easy to pass on not offering constructive opinions.


title: Groupthink

text: Some methods that have been used to counteract group think in the past is selecting teams from more diverse backgrounds, and even mixing men and women for groups (Kamalnath). Groupthink can be considered by many to be a detriment to companies, organizations and in any work situations. Most positions that are senior level need individuals to be independent in their thinking. There is a positive correlation found between outstanding executives and decisiveness (Kelman). Groupthink also prohibits an organization from moving forward and innovating if no one ever speaks up and says something could be done differently.


title: Groupthink

text: Antecedent factors such as group cohesiveness, faulty group structure, and situational context (e.g., community panic) play into the likelihood of whether or not groupthink will impact the decision-making process.


title: Groupthink

text: William H. Whyte Jr. derived the term from George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four", and popularized it in 1952 in "Fortune" magazine:


title: Groupthink

text: Groupthink was Whyte’s diagnosis of the malaise affecting both the study and practice of management (and, by association, America) in the 1950s.Whyte was dismayed that employees had subjugated themselves to the tyranny


title: Groupthink

text: of groups, which crushed individuality and were instinctively hostile to anything or anyone that challenged the collective view.


title: Groupthink

text: Irving Janis pioneered the initial research on the groupthink theory. He does not cite Whyte, but coined the term again by analogy with "doublethink" and similar terms that were part of the newspeak vocabulary in the novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell. He initially defined groupthink as follows:


title: Groupthink

text: Janis set the foundation for the study of groupthink starting with his research in the American Soldier Project where he studied the effect of extreme stress on group cohesiveness. After this study he remained interested in the ways in which people make decisions under external threats. This interest led Janis to study a number of "disasters" in American foreign policy, such as failure to anticipate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941); the Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco (1961); and the prosecution of the Vietnam War (1964–67) by President Lyndon Johnson. He concluded that in each of these cases, the decisions occurred largely because of groupthink, which prevented contradictory views from being expressed and subsequently evaluated.


title: Groupthink

text: After the publication of Janis' book "Victims of Groupthink" in 1972, and a revised edition with the title "Groupthink: Psychological Studies of Policy Decisions and Fiascoes" in 1982, the concept of groupthink was used to explain many other faulty decisions in history. These events included Nazi Germany's decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941, the Watergate scandal and others. Despite the popularity of the concept of groupthink, fewer than two dozen studies addressed the phenomenon itself following the publication of "Victims of Groupthink", between the years 1972 and 1998. This was surprising considering how many fields of interests it spans, which include political science, communications, organizational studies, social psychology, management, strategy, counseling, and marketing. One can most likely explain this lack of follow-up in that group research is difficult to conduct, groupthink has many independent and dependent variables, and it is unclear "how to translate [groupthink's] theoretical concepts into observable and quantitative constructs".


title: Groupthink

text: Nevertheless, outside research psychology and sociology, wider culture has come to detect groupthink in observable situations, for example:


title: Groupthink

text: Although it is possible for a situation to contain all three of these factors, all three are not always present even when groupthink is occurring. Janis considered a high degree of cohesiveness to be the most important antecedent to producing groupthink, and always present when groupthink was occurring; however, he believed high cohesiveness would not always produce groupthink. A very cohesive group abides with all group norms; but whether or not groupthink arises is dependent on what the group norms are. If the group encourages individual dissent and alternative strategies to problem solving, it is likely that groupthink will be avoided even in a highly cohesive group. This means that high cohesion will lead to groupthink only if one or both of the other antecedents is present, situational context being slightly more likely than structural faults to produce groupthink.


title: Groupthink

text: As observed by Aldag and Fuller (1993), the groupthink phenomenon seems to rest on a set of unstated and generally restrictive assumptions:


title: Groupthink

text: It has been thought that groups with the strong ability to work together will be able to solve dilemmas in a quicker and more efficient fashion than an individual. Groups have a greater amount of resources which lead them to be able to store and retrieve information more readily and come up with more alternative solutions to a problem. There was a recognized downside to group problem solving in that it takes groups more time to come to a decision and requires that people make compromises with each other. However, it was not until the research of Janis appeared that anyone really considered that a highly cohesive group could impair the group's ability to generate quality decisions. Tight-knit groups may appear to make decisions better because they can come to a consensus quickly and at a low energy cost; however, over time this process of decision-making may decrease the members' ability to think critically. It is, therefore, considered by many to be important to combat the effects of groupthink.


title: Groupthink

text: According to Janis, decision-making groups are not necessarily destined to groupthink. He devised ways of preventing groupthink:


title: Groupthink

text: The devil's advocate in a group may provide questions and insight which contradict the majority group in order to avoid groupthink decisions. A study by Ryan Hartwig confirms that the devil's advocacy technique is very useful for group problem-solving. It allows for conflict to be used in a way that is most-effective for finding the best solution so that members will not have to go back and find a different solution if the first one fails. Hartwig also suggests that the devil's advocacy technique be incorporated with other group decision-making models such as the functional theory to find and evaluate alternative solutions. The main idea of the devil's advocacy technique is that somewhat structured conflict can be facilitated to not only reduce groupthink, but to also solve problems.


title: Groupthink

text: A similar term to groupthink is the Abilene paradox, another phenomenon that is detrimental when working in groups. When organizations fall into the Abilene paradox, they take actions in contradiction to what their perceived goals may be and therefore defeat the very purposes they are trying to achieve. Failure to communicate desires or beliefs can cause the Abilene paradox.


title: Groupthink

text: The Watergate scandal is an example of this. Before the scandal had occurred, a meeting took place where they discussed the issue. One of Nixon's campaign aides was unsure if he should speak up and give his input. If he had voiced his disagreement with the group's decision, it is possible that the scandal could have been avoided.


title: Groupthink

text: After the Bay of Pigs invasion fiasco, President John F. Kennedy sought to avoid groupthink during the Cuban Missile Crisis using "vigilant appraisal". During meetings, he invited outside experts to share their viewpoints, and allowed group members to question them carefully. He also encouraged group members to discuss possible solutions with trusted members within their separate departments, and he even divided the group up into various sub-groups, to partially break the group cohesion. Kennedy was deliberately absent from the meetings, so as to avoid pressing his own opinion.


title: Groupthink

text: Cass Sunstein reports that introverts can sometimes be silent in meetings with extroverts; he recommends explicitly asking for each person's opinion, either during the meeting or afterwards in one-on-one sessions. Sunstein points to studies showing groups with a high level of internal socialization and happy talk are more prone to bad investment decisions due to groupthink, compared with groups of investors who are relative strangers and more willing to be argumentative. To avoid group polarization, where discussion with like-minded people drives an outcome further to an extreme than any of the individuals favored before the discussion, he recommends creating heterogeneous groups which contain people with different points of view. Sunstein also points out that people arguing a side they do not sincerely believe (in the role of devil's advocate) tend to be much less effective than a sincere argument. This can be accomplished by dissenting individuals, or a group like a Red Team that is expected to pursue an alternative strategy or goal "for real".


title: Groupthink

text: Testing groupthink in a laboratory is difficult because synthetic settings remove groups from real social situations, which ultimately changes the variables conducive or inhibitive to groupthink. Because of its subjective nature, researchers have struggled to measure groupthink as a complete phenomenon, instead frequently opting to measure its particular factors. These factors range from causal to effectual and focus on group and situational aspects.


title: Groupthink

text: Park (1990) found that "only 16 empirical studies have been published on groupthink", and concluded that they "resulted in only partial support of his [Janis's] hypotheses". Park concludes, "despite Janis' claim that group cohesiveness is the major necessary antecedent factor, no research has shown a significant main effect of cohesiveness on groupthink." Park also concludes that research on the interaction between group cohesiveness and leadership style does not support Janis' claim that cohesion and leadership style interact to produce groupthink symptoms. Park presents a summary of the results of the studies analyzed. According to Park, a study by Huseman and Drive (1979) indicates groupthink occurs in both small and large decision-making groups within businesses. This results partly from group isolation within the business. Manz and Sims (1982) conducted a study showing that autonomous work groups are susceptible to groupthink symptoms in the same manner as decisions making groups within businesses. Fodor and Smith (1982) produced a study revealing that group leaders with high power motivation create atmospheres more susceptible to groupthink. Leaders with high power motivation possess characteristics similar to leaders with a "closed" leadership style—an unwillingness to respect dissenting opinion. The same study indicates that level of group cohesiveness is insignificant in predicting groupthink occurrence. Park summarizes a study performed by Callaway, Marriott, and Esser (1985) in which groups with highly dominant members "made higher quality decisions, exhibited lowered state of anxiety, took more time to reach a decision, and made more statements of disagreement/agreement". Overall, groups with highly dominant members expressed characteristics inhibitory to groupthink. If highly dominant members are considered equivalent to leaders with high power motivation, the results of Callaway, Marriott, and Esser contradict the results of Fodor and Smith. A study by Leana (1985) indicates the interaction between level of group cohesion and leadership style is completely insignificant in predicting groupthink. This finding refutes Janis' claim that the factors of cohesion and leadership style interact to produce groupthink. Park summarizes a study by McCauley (1989) in which structural conditions of the group were found to predict groupthink while situational conditions did not. The structural conditions included group insulation, group homogeneity, and promotional leadership. The situational conditions included group cohesion. These findings refute Janis' claim about group cohesiveness predicting groupthink.


title: Groupthink

text: Overall, studies on groupthink have largely focused on the factors (antecedents) that predict groupthink. Groupthink occurrence is often measured by number of ideas/solutions generated within a group, but there is no uniform, concrete standard by which researchers can objectively conclude groupthink occurs. The studies of groupthink and groupthink antecedents reveal a mixed body of results. Some studies indicate group cohesion and leadership style to be powerfully predictive of groupthink, while other studies indicate the insignificance of these factors. Group homogeneity and group insulation are generally supported as factors predictive of groupthink.


title: Groupthink

text: Groupthink can have a strong hold on political decisions and military operations, which may result in enormous wastage of human and material resources. Highly qualified and experienced politicians and military commanders sometimes make very poor decisions when in a suboptimal group setting. Scholars such as Janis and Raven attribute political and military fiascoes, such as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal, to the effect of groupthink. More recently, Dina Badie argued that groupthink was largely responsible for the shift in the U.S. administration's view on Saddam Hussein that eventually led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States. After the September 11 attacks, "stress, promotional leadership, and intergroup conflict" were all factors that gave rise to the occurrence of groupthink. Political case studies of groupthink serve to illustrate the impact that the occurrence of groupthink can have in today's political scene.


title: Groupthink

text: The United States Bay of Pigs Invasion of April 1961 was the primary case study that Janis used to formulate his theory of groupthink. The invasion plan was initiated by the Eisenhower administration, but when the Kennedy administration took over, it "uncritically accepted" the plan of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). When some people, such as Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Senator J. William Fulbright, attempted to present their objections to the plan, the Kennedy team as a whole ignored these objections and kept believing in the morality of their plan. Eventually Schlesinger minimized his own doubts, performing self-censorship. The Kennedy team stereotyped Fidel Castro and the Cubans by failing to question the CIA about its many false assumptions, including the ineffectiveness of Castro's air force, the weakness of Castro's army, and the inability of Castro to quell internal uprisings.


title: Groupthink

text: Janis argued the fiasco that ensued could have been prevented if the Kennedy administration had followed the methods to preventing groupthink adopted during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which took place just one year later in October 1962. In the latter crisis, essentially the same political leaders were involved in decision-making, but this time they learned from their previous mistake of seriously under-rating their opponents.