title: Heart rate variability

text: The most widely used methods can be grouped under time-domain and frequency-domain. A joint European and American task-force described standards in HRV measurements in 1996. Other methods have been proposed, such as non-linear methods.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Geometric Measures HRV triangular index: integral of density distribution / maximum of density distribution maximum


title: Heart rate variability

text: HRV triangular index = Number of all NN intervals / maximum number. Dependent on the length of the bin -> quote the bin size+ relative insensitive to the analytic quality of the series of NN intervals – need of reasonable number of NN intervals to generate the geometric pattern (in practice 20 min to 24 h) – not appropriate to assess short-term changes in HRV


title: Heart rate variability

text: Frequency domain methods assign bands of frequency and then count the number of NN intervals that match each band. The bands are typically high frequency (HF) from 0.15 to 0.4 Hz, low frequency (LF) from 0.04 to 0.15 Hz, and the very low frequency (VLF) from 0.0033 to 0.04 Hz.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Several methods of analysis are available. Power spectral density (PSD), using parametric or nonparametric methods, provides basic information on the power distribution across frequencies. One of the most commonly used PSD methods is the discrete Fourier transform.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Methods for the calculation of PSD may be generally classified as nonparametric and parametric. In most instances, both methods provide comparable results. The advantages of the "nonparametric" methods are (1) the simplicity of the algorithm used (fast Fourier transform [FFT] in most of the cases) and (2) the high processing speed. The advantages of "parametric" methods are (1) smoother spectral components that can be distinguished independent of preselected frequency bands, (2) easy postprocessing of the spectrum with an automatic calculation of low- and high-frequency power components with an easy identification of the central frequency of each component, and (3) an accurate estimation of PSD even on a small number of samples on which the signal is supposed to maintain stationarity. The basic disadvantage of parametric methods is the need of verification of the suitability of the chosen model and of its complexity (that is, the order of the model).


title: Heart rate variability

text: In addition to classical FFT-based methods used for the calculation of frequency parameters, a more appropriate PSD estimation method is the Lomb–Scargle periodogram. Analysis has shown that the LS periodogram can produce a more accurate estimate of the PSD than FFT methods for typical RR data. Since the RR data is an unevenly sampled data, another advantage of the LS method is that in contrast to FFT-based methods it is able to be used without the need to resample and detrend the RR data.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Alternatively, to avoid artefacts that are created when calculating the power of a signal that includes a single high-intensity peak (for example caused by an arrhythmic heart beat), the concept of the 'instantaneous Amplitude' has been introduced, which is based on the Hilbert transform of the RR data.


title: Heart rate variability

text: A newly used HRV index, which depends on the wavelet entropy measures, is an alternative choice. The wavelet entropy measures are calculated using a three-step procedure defined in the literature. First, the wavelet packet algorithm is implemented using the Daubechies 4 (DB4) function as the mother wavelet with a scale of 7. Once the wavelet coefficients are obtained, the energy for each coefficient are calculated as described in the literature. After calculating the normalized values of wavelet energies, which represent the relative wavelet energy (or the probability distribution), the wavelet entropies are obtained using the definition of entropy given by Shannon.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Given the complexity of the mechanisms regulating heart rate, it is reasonable to assume that applying HRV analysis based on methods of non-linear dynamics will yield valuable information. Although chaotic behavior has been assumed, more rigorous testing has shown that heart rate variability cannot be described as a low dimensional chaotic process. However, application of chaotic globals to HRV has been shown to predict diabetes status. The most commonly used non-linear method of analysing heart rate variability is the Poincaré plot. Each data point represents a pair of successive beats, the x-axis is the current RR interval, while the y-axis is the previous RR interval. HRV is quantified by fitting mathematically defined geometric shapes to the data. Other methods used are the correlation dimension, symbolic dynamics, nonlinear predictability, pointwise correlation dimension, approximate entropy, sample entropy, multiscale entropy analysis, sample asymmetry and memory length (based on inverse statistical analysis). It is also possible to represent long range correlations geometrically.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Sequences of RR intervals have been found to have long-term correlations. However, one flaw with these analyses is their lack of goodness-of-fit statistics, i.e. values are derived that may or may not have adequate statistical rigor. Different types of correlations have been found during different sleep stages.


title: Heart rate variability

text: A basic problem is that all the parameters used to characterize HRV strongly depend on heart rate, but many articles have not adjusted properly or at all for HR differences when comparing HRV in multiple circumstances.


title: Heart rate variability

text: However, the exact HRV(HR) relationship is still a matter of debate. For time domain parameters (RMSSD, SDNN, etc.) the results imply that, if there exists a universal function, it should be either exponential or hyperbolic in nature. The evaluation procedures used to determine HRV(HR) function have not allowed to decide between these options, so far.


title: Heart rate variability

text: A new evaluation method has recently allowed to determine a HRV(HR) function with unprecedented precision: it can be described by two descending exponential components for healthy individuals, in general.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Time domain methods are preferred to frequency domain methods when short-term recordings are investigated. This is due to the fact that the recording should be at least 10 times the wavelength of the lowest frequency bound of interest. Thus, recording of approximately 1 minute is needed to assess the HF components of HRV (i.e., a lowest bound of 0.15 Hz is a cycle of 6.6 seconds and so 10 cycles require ~60 seconds), while more than 4 minutes are needed to address the LF component (with a lower bound of 0.04 Hz).


title: Heart rate variability

text: Although time domain methods, especially the SDNN and RMSSD methods, can be used to investigate recordings of long durations, a substantial part of the long-term variability is day–night differences. Thus, long-term recordings analyzed by time domain methods should contain at least 18 hours of analyzable ECG data that include the whole night.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Although cardiac automaticity is intrinsic to various pacemaker tissues, heart rate and rhythm are largely under the control of the autonomic nervous system. The parasympathetic influence on heart rate is mediated via release of acetylcholine by the vagus nerve. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors respond to this release mostly by an increase in cell membrane K+ conductance. Acetylcholine also inhibits the hyperpolarization-activated "pacemaker" current. The "Ik decay" hypothesis proposes that pacemaker depolarization results from slow deactivation of the delayed rectifier current, Ik, which, due to a time-independent background inward current, causes diastolic depolarization. Conversely, the "If activation" hypothesis suggests that after action potential termination, If provides a slowly activating inward current predominating over decaying Ik, thus initiating slow diastolic depolarization.


title: Heart rate variability

text: The sympathetic influence on heart rate is mediated by release of epinephrine and norepinephrine. Activation of β-adrenergic receptors results in cAMP-mediated phosphorylation of membrane proteins and increases in ICaL and in If the result is an acceleration of the slow diastolic depolarization.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Under resting conditions, vagal tone prevails and variations in heart period are largely dependent on vagal modulation. The vagal and sympathetic activity constantly interact. Because the sinus node is rich in acetylcholinesterase, the effect of any vagal impulse is brief because the acetylcholine is rapidly hydrolyzed. Parasympathetic influences exceed sympathetic effects probably through two independent mechanisms: a cholinergically induced reduction of norepinephrine released in response to sympathetic activity, and a cholinergic attenuation of the response to an adrenergic stimulus.


title: Heart rate variability

text: The RR interval variations present during resting conditions represent beat-by-beat variations in cardiac autonomic inputs. However, efferent vagal (parasympathetic) activity is a major contributor to the HF component, as seen in clinical and experimental observations of autonomic maneuvers such as electrical vagal stimulation, muscarinic receptor blockade, and vagotomy. More problematic is the interpretation of the LF component, which was considered by some as a marker of sympathetic modulation (especially when expressed in normalized units) but is now known to include both sympathetic and vagal influences. For example, during sympathetic activation the resulting tachycardia is usually accompanied by a marked reduction in total power, whereas the reverse occurs during vagal activation. Thus the spectral components change in the same direction and do not indicate that LF faithfully reflects sympathetic effects.


title: Heart rate variability

text: HRV measures fluctuations in autonomic inputs to the heart rather than the mean level of autonomic inputs. Thus, both withdrawal and saturatingly high levels of autonomic input to the heart can lead to diminished HRV.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Depressed HRV after MI may reflect a decrease in vagal activity directed to the heart. HRV in patients surviving an acute MI reveal a reduction in total and in the individual power of spectral components. The presence of an alteration in neural control is also reflected in a blunting of day-night variations of RR interval. In post-MI patients with a very depressed HRV, most of the residual energy is distributed in the VLF frequency range below 0.03 Hz, with only a small respiration-related variations.


title: Heart rate variability

text: In neuropathy associated with diabetes mellitus characterized by alteration in small nerve fibers, a reduction in time domain parameters of HRV seems not only to carry negative prognostic value but also to precede the clinical expression of autonomic neuropathy. In diabetic patients without evidence of autonomic neuropathy, reduction of the absolute power of LF and HF during controlled conditions was also reported. Similarly, diabetic patients can be differentiated from normal controls on the basis of reduction in HRV.


title: Heart rate variability

text: A very reduced HRV with no definite spectral components has been reported in patients with a recent heart transplant. The appearance of discrete spectral components in a few patients is considered to reflect cardiac reinnervation. This reinnervation may occur as early as 1 to 2 years after transplantation and is assumed to be of sympathetic origin. In addition, a correlation between respiratory rate and the HF component of HRV observed in some transplanted patients also indicates that a nonneural mechanism may generate a respiration-related rhythmic oscillation.


title: Heart rate variability

text: A reduced HRV has been observed consistently in patients with cardiac failure. In this condition characterized by signs of sympathetic activation such as faster heart rates and high levels of circulating catecholamines, a relation between changes in HRV and the extent of left ventricular dysfunction was reported. In fact, whereas the reduction in time domain measures of HRV seemed to parallel the severity of the disease, the relationship between spectral components and indices of ventricular dysfunction appears to be more complex. In particular, in most patients with a very advanced phase of the disease and with a drastic reduction in HRV, an LF component could not be detected despite the clinical signs of sympathetic activation. This reflects that, as stated above, the LF may not accurately reflect cardiac sympathetic tone.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Liver cirrhosis is associated with decreased HRV. Decreased HRV in patients with cirrhosis has a prognostic value and predicts mortality. Loss of HRV is also associated with higher plasma pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and impaired neurocognitive function in this patient population.


title: Heart rate variability

text: HRV is decreased in patients with sepsis. Loss of HRV has both diagnostic and prognostic value in neonates with sepsis. The pathophysiology of decreased HRV in sepsis is not well understood but there is experimental evidence to show that partial uncoupling of cardiac pacemaker cells from autonomic neural control may play a role in decreased HRV during acute systemic inflammation.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Patients with chronic complete high cervical spinal cord lesions have intact efferent vagal neural pathways directed to the sinus node. However, an LF component can be detected in HRV and arterial pressure variabilities of some tetraplegic patients. Thus, the LF component of HRV in those without intact sympathetic inputs to the heart represent vagal modulation.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Victims of sudden cardiac death have been found to have had lower HRV than healthy individuals. HRV can be observed to be depressed prior to the development of SCD, which raises questions about whether or not altered autonomic function plays a role in the development of electrical instability. HRV is also depressed in SCD survivors, whom are at high risk for subsequent episodes.


title: Heart rate variability

text: HRV correlates with the progression of disease and outcome of cancer patients, according to a systematic review of published studies. Patients in the early stages of cancer have a significantly higher HRV when compared to patients in the later stages of cancer, suggesting disease severity influences HRV. Different ranges of HRV can be observed between cancer types.


title: Heart rate variability

text: HRV alterations occur in healthy pregnancies as well as similar changes in pregnancies with gestational diabetes that include lower HRV mean values.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Low RMSSD, thought to represent vagal tone, have been associated with major depression. Lower SDNN and elevated LF/HF were found in those with bipolar disorder, and in particular those characterized as having greater illness severity due to greater number of episodes, illness duration and whether there had been psychosis. Patients with PTSD also had lower HF, a measure of vagal tone.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Interventions that augment HRV may be protective against cardiac mortality and sudden cardiac death. Although the rationale for changing HRV is sound, it also contains the inherent danger of leading to the unwarranted assumption that modification of HRV translates directly into cardiac protection, which may not be the case. Despite the growing consensus that increases in vagal activity can be beneficial, it is not as yet known how much vagal activity (or HRV as a marker) has to increase in order to provide adequate protection.


title: Heart rate variability

text: The data on the effect of β-blockers on HRV in post-MI patients are surprisingly scant. Despite the observation of statistically significant increases, the actual changes are very modest. In conscious post-MI dogs, β-blockers do not modify HRV. The unexpected observation that before MI, β-blockade increases HRV only in the animals destined to be at low risk for lethal arrhythmias after MI may suggest novel approaches to post-MI risk stratification.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Data exist for several antiarrhythmic drugs. Flecainide and propafenone but not amiodarone were reported to decrease time domain measures of HRV in patients with chronic ventricular arrhythmia. In another study, propafenone reduced HRV and decreased LF much more than HF. A larger study confirmed that flecainide, also encainide and moricizine, decreased HRV in post-MI patients but found no correlation between the change in HRV and mortality during follow-up. Thus, some antiarrhythmic drugs associated with increased mortality can reduce HRV. However, it is not known whether these changes in HRV have any direct prognostic significance.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Low-dose muscarinic receptor blockers, such as atropine and scopolamine, may produce a paradoxical increase in vagal effects on the heart, as suggested by a decrease in heart rate. In addition, scopolamine and low dose atropine can markedly increase HRV. However, though the heart rate slowing in proportional to the (low) dose of atropine, the increase in HRV varies widely across and within individuals. This suggests that even for vagal activity to the heart, HRV may be a limited marker.


title: Heart rate variability

text: The effect of thrombolysis on HRV (assessed by pNN50) was reported in 95 patients with acute MI. HRV was higher 90 minutes after thrombolysis in the patients with patency of the infarct-related artery. However, this difference was no longer evident when the entire 24 hours were analyzed.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Exercise training may decrease cardiovascular mortality and sudden cardiac death. Regular exercise training is also thought to modify cardiac autonomic control. Individuals who exercise regularly have a 'training bradycardia' (i.e., low resting heart rate) and generally have higher HRV than sedentary individuals.


title: Heart rate variability

text: The technique called "resonant breathing biofeedback" teaches how to recognize and control involuntary heart rate variability. A randomized study by Sutarto et al. assessed the effect of resonant breathing biofeedback among manufacturing operators; depression, anxiety and stress significantly decreased. A first overall meta-analysis by Goessl VC et al. (24 studies, 484 individuals, 2017) indicates <nowiki>"</nowiki>HRV biofeedback training is associated with a large reduction in self-reported stress and anxiety<nowiki>"</nowiki>, while mentioning that more well-controlled studies are needed.


title: Heart rate variability

text: One study that surveyed the physiological effects of playing Native American flutes found a significant HRV increase when playing both low-pitched and high-pitched flutes.


title: Heart rate variability

text: Even though there are no widely accepted standard values for HRV that can be used for clinical purposes, multiple studies have measured and reported normal values for various populations:


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Ocean Waves, known in Japan as , is a 1993 Japanese anime television film directed by Tomomi Mochizuki and written by Kaori Nakamura based on the 1990–1992 novel of the same name by Saeko Himuro. Animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten and the Nippon Television Network, "Ocean Waves" first aired on May 5, 1993 on Nippon TV. The film is set in the city of Kōchi, and follows a love triangle that develops between two good friends and a new girl who transfers to their high school from Tokyo.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: "Ocean Waves" was an attempt by Studio Ghibli to allow their younger staff members to make a film reasonably cheaply. However, it ended up going both over budget and over schedule. In 1995, a sequel to the novel, "I Can Hear the Sea II: Because There Is Love", was published. In the same year, a TV drama was produced mainly based on this work starring Shinji Takeda and Hitomi Satō.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: In Kōchi, Taku Morisaki receives a call from his friend, Yutaka Matsuno, asking to meet at their high school. He finds Yutaka with an attractive female transfer student, Rikako Muto, whom Yutaka was asked to show around. Rikako is academically gifted and good at sports, but also arrogant. Taku believes she is unhappy about leaving Tokyo.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: On a school trip to Hawaii, Rikako asks Taku to lend her money, as she has lost her own. As Taku has a part-time job, he lends her ¥60,000. Promising to repay him, she warns him not to tell anyone.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Back in Kōchi, the third year begins with Rikako making a friend, Yumi Kohama. Rikako has not returned Taku's money and he wonders if she has forgotten. Out of the blue, a distressed Yumi calls Taku, explaining that Rikako had tricked her into coming to the airport on the pretense of a concert trip, only to discover that their real destination is Tokyo, tickets paid for with Taku's money. He races to the airport.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Rikako's father thanks Taku, repays the loan and arranges a room at the Hyatt Regency. Rikako explains that when her parents were fighting, she had always sided with her father, but had now discovered he was not on her side. Taku offers his bed and attempts to sleep in the bathtub. The next morning, Rikako kicks Taku out so that she can change clothes to meet a friend for lunch. Taku wanders around the city. After catching up on sleep at the hotel, Taku receives a call from Rikako asking to be rescued from her former boyfriend, Okada.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Back home, Rikako ignores Taku, but tells her friends that they spent a night together. Taku confronts Rikako in class for hurting his best friend. They go to the corridor, where she responds by slapping him and he slaps her in return.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: The autumn school cultural festival arrives and Rikako becomes more distant from the other girls, many of whom openly dislike her. Taku sees Rikako defend herself from another student who tries to assault her. Taku comments that he is impressed with the way she handled herself. She slaps him but runs away with regret. Yutaka punches Taku to the ground, calls him an idiot, and walks away. None of the three talks to each other for the rest of the year.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Taku, Yutaka, and Yumi reconnect at a class reunion several years later. Rikako does not attend. While reminiscing about school, Yutaka comments that that the reason he punched Taku was because he was angry that Taku had held off on pursuing Rikako because of Rikako's mistreatment of Yutaka (and Yutaka's unrequited love for her). He was angry his friend had foregone a beautiful possibility on his account. The two watch the sun set and the ocean waves. Later, however, when Taku glimpses Rikako from across a platform, he realizes that he had always been in love with her. Rikako sees him and he smiles.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: The film is based on Himuro's novel which was first serialized, with illustrations by Katsuya Kondō, from the February 1990 to January 1992 issues of "Animage" magazine. The monthly installments were collected in a hardcover book published on February 28, 1993, with some episodes omitted. Both the book and its sequel were republished as a paperback in 1999, with some pop culture references updated. Kondō served as the character designer and animation director for the adaptation. Production of "Ocean Waves" was controlled by Studio Ghibli, but much of the animation was produced with the assistance of J.C.Staff, Madhouse Studios, and Oh! Production, who had worked with Ghibli on past projects. This film is the first Ghibli anime directed by someone other than Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata. Tomomi Mochizuki, who was 34 years old at the time, was brought in to direct. The film was an attempt to make anime solely by the young staff members, mostly in their 20s and 30s. Their motto was to produce "quickly, cheaply and with quality", but ultimately it went over budget and over schedule, and Mochizuki claimed he developed a peptic ulcer because of stress.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 89% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. On another aggregator Metacritic, it has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 4 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: The website Animé Café gave the film 4/5 stars, noting it to be "A graceful and mature offering from Ghibli's younger generation". On the other hand, "Otaku USA" criticized the film, describing it as "[Ghibli's] most lackluster film in comparison to everything else they'd done until "Tales from Earthsea"".


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: The film premiered on Nippon TV in Japan on May 5, 1993, as part of the network's 40th Anniversary schedules.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Following its initial premiere, the movie was released on VHS and Laserdisc by Tokuma Shoten on June 25, 1993, through the "Animage Video" imprint. Originally, "Ocean Waves" was not initially part of the Disney-Tokuma deal due to its status as a television movie, but was eventually included as part of an agreement extension and so was re-released on VHS by Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan on July 23, 1999.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: BVHE Japan released the movie on DVD on August 8, 2003. A remastered version was initially released by Disney as part of the "Ghibli ga Ippai Director's Collection" boxset in December 2021 before gaining a standalone release on April 20, 2022.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: In 2008, distribution company Wild Bunch announced that it had licensed the film to a number of European releasing companies, including Optimum. It was released in the UK under the title "Ocean Waves" on January 25, 2010 shortly before the planned theatrical release of "Ponyo", as part of the "Studio Ghibli Collection".


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: Disney originally had the rights of distribution of "Ocean Waves" in United States, but they never released the film onto any home media platform, likely due to its more mature content when compared to most Ghibli movies.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: In 2016, GKIDS announced that they would release "Ocean Waves" in limited North American theaters starting on December 28 of that year and expanding during early 2017. It was later released on US and Canada from January 3, to March 24, 2017. The film earned US$12,039 upon its screenings on December 28, 2016.


title: Ocean Waves (film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by GKIDS on April 18, 2017, with only the Japanese audio with English subtitles.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Spezia Calcio is a professional football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, Italy. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who played for the early Crystal Palace amateur teams in London during his time there as a student. He played for Crystal Palace again in 1909.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The first Spezia playing kit, light blue and white, was a second-hand amateur Crystal Palace kit donated to Hurny when he returned to La Spezia. In 1911, following the decision of Alberto Picco and others to honour Pro Vercelli as an example of a small team able to beat the big teams, a plain white shirt was adopted with black shorts and black socks, which is still in use today. In the 1920s prior to the creation of Serie A, Spezia played several top league games against the giants of Italian football including AC Milan, Juventus, and Inter Milan. The club has participated in all tiers of the Italian football system.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Spezia won the 1944 Campionato Alta Italia which was officially recognized by FIGC (the Italian Football Federation) in 2002 after a long dispute and the use of a special permanent badge was authorized. The tricolour badge is exhibited on the official jerseys during games and has a different shape and size compared to the ordinary Scudetto.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Following the fall from Serie B in 1951, Spezia was destined to languish in third and fourth division for 55 years. The 2000s saw the return to Serie B in 2006, bankruptcy and the rebirth re-establishing themselves as a regular Serie B team once again. In 2020, exactly 100 years from its first appearance at the top level, Spezia finally returned to Serie A as the winner of the promotion play-offs, securing a second Serie A term for the 2021–22 season.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurny (or Hurni in some documents), who played for the reserves of Crystal Palace in London during his time there as a student.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Allegedly the first Spezia kit, light blue and white, was a second hand Crystal Palace kit donated to Hurny when he returned to La Spezia. He played for Crystal Palace again (in its revived form) in 1909.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: In 1926, they won the Seconda Divisione and were promoted to the Prima Divisione, which was at that time the second-highest level of Italian football. In 1929 Spezia won the Prima Divisione but the league was demoted to become the third division in Italy so the team remained at the second level, playing in Serie B.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: For the 1929-30 season, the club played in the first season of the newly formed Serie B and changed their name to AC Spezia. Spezia remained at this level before suffering relegation in 1935, only to swiftly return for the 1936-37 season.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: In 1944, because of World War II, the Italian football federation decided to split the top league into regional rounds. The team, named "42° Corpo dei Vigili del Fuoco della Spezia" (Firefighters of La Spezia) after a merger with the local firefighter to have a sufficient number of players, was included in Round D of Emilia-Romagna, together with Corradini Suzzara, Fidentina, Orlandi Busseto and Parma. Spezia won the round and qualified to the semi-finals, in which it challenged Suzzara, Carpi and Modena. Spezia won also this round, winning five of the six matches played, losing only to Carpi. By winning the semi-final round, Spezia was admitted to play a two-legs play-off against Bologna.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The first match, played in Bologna, was suspended because of incidents after the 1–0 goal of Spezia by the Bologna supporters; Spezia was awarded a 2–0 win because of that. The return match, scheduled to be played in La Spezia, was first moved to Carpi, because of the heavy bombings in the Ligurian city during the period, then cancelled because of protests by Bologna chairman Renato Dall'Ara, so Spezia was admitted to the final without playing the return match.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The finals, held in Milan, were played against Venezia and Torino. On 9 July 1944, the first match between Spezia and Venezia was played: it ended in a 1–1 draw. commented by the Gazzetta dello Sport as a "surprising result".


title: Spezia Calcio

text: On 16 July, Spezia challenged the "Grande Torino", with Vittorio Pozzo as coach and Silvio Piola as striker. The match ended in an epic 2–1 victory for Spezia. After the third match, in which Torino beat Venezia in a 5–2 win, Spezia was declared champion.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Following the decision of FIGC in 2002, Spezia is authorized by the Italian Federation to exhibit a tricolour badge on the official jerseys which is unique, being the only example of a permanent one in Italy.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: After the war, the Italian football system once again consisted of national leagues, as opposed to regional rounds, and Spezia returned to Serie B from 1946 to 1951. Relegation in the 1950-51 season led to a rapid fall through the divisions, as the club was relegated in three consecutive seasons back into the local Promozione Ligure in 1953. The club's name was changed to A.C. Spezia-Arsenal in 1954, only to change again to Football Club Spezia 1906 just a year later.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Promotion back to Serie C in 1958 marked the beginning of a period in which the club bounced back and forth between the third and fourth levels of Italian football, a cycle that would continue until finally returning to Serie B in the 2000s. The most consistent spell in a single division was Spezia's run in Serie C from 1966 to 1979, when the club finished in 17th position and was again relegated to the fourth-division Serie C2. Spezia returned the next year with another promotion but again fell back down in 1981. Another spell in Serie C was to follow from 1986 to 1997, when the club returned to the fourth tier once more. The name of the club was changed to its current name Spezia Calcio in 1995.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: In 2002, the club reached an agreement with Internazionale, making the club Inter's feeder club, with the Milan club holding a percentage in Spezia ownership shares. The team signed Goran Pandev, Aco Stojkov, and Alex Cordaz in the first season. In the second season, Cristian Lizzori, Luca Ceccarelli and Nicola Napolitano were signed. In 2004–05 season, Spezia received Antonio Rizzo from Fiorentina and Paolo Castelli from Internazionale.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Players like Alex Cordaz, Riccardo Meggiorini and Paolo Hernán Dellafiore joined the team directly from Inter to boost the team in January 2005. The season ended with winning Coppa Italia Serie C against Frosinone. After the season, Inter sold most of its shares in Spezia.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The next season (2005–06) started with the arrival of a new owner, Giuseppe Ruggieri, and a new manager, Antonio Soda. After a long battle for the first position with rivals Genoa, Spezia were crowned Serie C1 champion and promoted to Serie B after 55 years of absence. The squad included Vito Grieco, Massimiliano Guidetti, Giuseppe Alessi, Massimiliano Varricchio and Roberto Maltagliati.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Life in Serie B with traditional Italian powerhouses Juventus, Genoa and Napoli was difficult for the newly promoted Ligurian side, which themselves were fighting to avoid the relegation spots in the 2006-07 campaign. With a squad consisting of mid-season signing Guilherme do Prado, Tomás Guzmán, Corrado Colombo, Massimiliano Guidetti, Nicola Santoni, amongst others, Spezia managed to survive in Serie B through finishing in 19th place, gaining participation in the playout round after a late victory in Turin against Juventus. Having tied 2–2 with Juventus, the Ligurians were only seconds away from relegation, but a dramatic goal on the 91st minute by Nicola Padoin condemned Arezzo to the drop to Serie C and qualified Spezia for the playoffs. The first leg against Hellas Verona, who had ended the regular season in 18th position, ended in a 2–1 win for Spezia, and a 0–0 tie in the return match secured Spezia's place in Serie B for the following season.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: However, in the next season, with the team led by players such as Isah Eliakwu, Colombo and Do Prado, the club failed to make the miracle happen in consecutive seasons, primarily due to a troubling situation in the financiers of the club and growing economic issues. Spezia finished the 2007/08 season in 21st place, only above Cesena and three points behind Avellino in the final safety position, relegated after two seasons back in Serie B.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: In 2008, due to financial difficulty and following their relegation from Serie B, the club was forced to declare bankruptcy. In June 2011 FIGC sanctioned a number of former board members of the bankrupted Spezia for sports fraud.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The team was refounded in 2008 as A.S.D. Spezia Calcio 2008 by Gabriele Volpi, the owner of water polo team of Pro Recco and Croatian side HNK Rijeka, winner of numerous scudetti and admitted to the non-professional Serie D, thanks to "Article 52 NOIF of FIGC".


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Upon promotion in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione at the end of the Serie D 2008-09 season, A.S.D. Spezia changed its denomination in the current "Spezia Calcio", a return to the club name from 1995. Spezia finished Girone A of Lega Pro Seconda Divisione as second and qualified for promotion play-offs in 2009–10 season. Spezia defeated Pavia at semifinal and Legnano at final and were promoted to Girone A of Lega Pro Prima Divisione after making a second consecutive promotion.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: During the 2011–12 season, the club secured a Lega Pro treble for the first time; finishing as champions of Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B and being promoted to Serie B, winning the Coppa Italia Lega Pro, and also winning the Supercoppa di Lega di Prima Divisione. A 3–0 victory against Latina on 6 May 2012 secured promotion, Spezia's third in four seasons as part of a rise from the fifth to the second level of the national football system.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: After returning to Serie B, the club enjoyed relative success, generally finishing in mid-table or qualifying for the promotion playoffs from 2012 to 2019. In this time, Spezia qualified for the playoffs on five occasions, only to be eliminated in the first round four times and was defeated in the semifinals by Trapani in the 2015-16 season. This period established the club as a consistent contender for promotion to Serie A. A big international investment was made by Australian businessman Lucas Vivarelli during this time, when he bought the team's home kit, enabling the club to grow further with such significant funding.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: In the 2019–20 season, Spezia finished in third place, only behind the automatically promoted Benevento and Crotone, equaling their highest ever league finish. This was the sixth occasion in which Spezia had reached the Serie B promotion playoffs in the previous eight years. After beating Chievo in the semi-final of the promotion play-offs, Spezia won promotion to Serie A for the first time on 20 August 2020 by defeating Frosinone in the final via the tiebreaker rule over two legs (with each team having won 1–0 in each leg respectively, but Spezia ending the regular league season five places higher than eighth placed Frosinone). This was Spezia's fourth promotion since Volpi's refoundation in 2008 (the club rising from the-then fifth-tier Serie D to Serie A in just 12 years).


title: Spezia Calcio

text: After clinching promotion just over a month prior, Spezia played its first home game of the 2020–21 Serie A season against Sassuolo on 27 September 2020, ending in a 4–1 home defeat, with Andrey Galabinov scoring their first-ever top-flight goal. Spezia won its first Serie A match on 30 September, against Udinese, ending in a 2–0 away win. Volpi, having owned the club for just under 13 years and supporting its rise through the Italian professional divisions, sold the club in February 2021 to an American ownership group headed by the family of Robert Platek, a partner of U.S. private investment firm MSD Capital. Despite having been widely expected to lose its relegation battle at the end of the first season in Serie A, Spezia impressively overcame much larger and wealthier clubs on several occasions throughout the season, including a home win against Milan, a 2–1 away victory over Napoli, followed by further success in the Liguria derby against Sampdoria, whilst also earning draws against Internazionale, Roma and Atalanta. Boosted by the flexible attacking-based tactics of coach Vincenzo Italiano, Spezia's on-field success was most notable in their improved second half of the season, which led to a 15th-place finish with 39 points (six more than Benevento in the final relegation position), with survival eventually being secured through a 4–1 win at home to Torino on 15 May 2021. Another notable feat during the season was the call-up of star midfielder Matteo Ricci to the Italian national team in March 2021, 85 years after club legend Luigi Scarabello played for Italy (the last Italian international to have played for Spezia simultaneously). Alongside Ricci, key players who impressed for the Ligurians upon their survival in the top-flight include striker M'Bala Nzola, scorer of 11 goals in 2020/21, loanee Tommaso Pobega, Emmanuel Gyasi, as well as academy products Giulio Maggiore and Simone Bastoni.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Ahead of Spezia's second season in Serie A, the club lost coach Italiano, who was appointed by Fiorentina. He would be replaced by Thiago Motta. The club was also hit by the news that it had been subjected to a two-year transfer ban by FIFA, active from January 2022, due to a breach of national immigration law through illegally signing 13 underage players from Nigeria.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Spezia's official club colours are white and black. The home kit traditionally consists of a plain white shirt with black trim, black shorts and black socks. White shorts and socks are also commonly used in the event of kit clashes with opponents. Away kits typically feature either an all-black design for shirts, shorts and socks, or the reverse of the home kit, but may also feature a variety of different colours, often changing each season. The club's nickname is "Gli Aquilotti" (The Eagles).


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The club hosts its matches at the 10,336-capacity Stadio Alberto Picco, which has been the club's home stadium since 1919. For the 2020-21 season, Spezia was forced to play many of its home matches at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Cesena, which has a capacity of just under 24,000, because its home stadium did not meet Serie A requirements. However, Spezia was eventually able to return to the Alberto Picco in the latter stage of the season after undergoing renovations.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: Spezia's fanbase is almost exclusively based in the city of La Spezia and the surrounding areas, due to the domination of Liguria of its two largest clubs, Genoa and Sampdoria, who are heavily supported throughout the region. With Liguria having become known as a breeding ground for multiple teams since the early days of football in Italy, many derbies have emerged between the football clubs of the region. Spezia maintains minor rivalries with Liguria's more traditional powerhouses, Genoa and Sampdoria, with fierce historical meetings with the former in their battle for promotion in the 2005–06 Serie C season as well as on numerous occasions in Serie B, along with the more recent matches between Spezia and both of these two clubs in Serie A from Spezia's first season in 2020/21. Similarly, the club has played many notable fixtures against Pisa, which has become known as the "Tuscan-Ligurian Derby", as well as a rivalry with Carrarese in the "Derby Lunense". Other rivalries that Spezia has contested throughout its history, particularly in its time in the lower leagues of Italian football, include those with other Ligurian sides such as Virtus Entella, Savona, Sestrese and Sanremese.


title: Spezia Calcio

text: The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup Finals, while playing for Spezia.


title: Scotiabank

text: The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five banks, it is the third largest Canadian bank by deposits and market capitalization. It serves more than 25 million customers around the world and offers a range of products and services including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, corporate and investment banking. With more than 92,001 employees and assets of Can$1,136 billion (according to 2020 annual report), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto () and New York () exchanges. The Scotiabank swift code is NOSCCATT and the institution number is 002.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank was founded in 1832 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where it was headquartered until relocating to Toronto in 1900. Scotiabank has billed itself as "Canada's most international bank" due to its acquisitions primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean, and also in Europe and parts of Asia. Scotiabank is a member of the London Bullion Market Association and one of fifteen accredited institutions which participate in the London gold fixing. From 1997 to 2019, this was conducted through its precious metals division ScotiaMocatta.


title: Scotiabank

text: The bank was incorporated by the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia on March 30, 1832, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with William Lawson serving as the first president. Scotiabank was founded in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1832 under the name of The Bank of Nova Scotia. The bank intended to facilitate the trans-Atlantic trade of the time. Later, in 1883, the Bank of Nova Scotia acquired the Union Bank of Prince Edward Island, although most of the bank's expansion efforts in the century took the form of branch openings.


title: Scotiabank

text: The bank launched its branch banking system by opening in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The expansion was limited to the Maritimes until 1882, when the bank moved west by opening a branch in Winnipeg, which later closed, but the bank continued to expand into the American Midwest. This included opening a branch in Minneapolis in 1885, which later transferred to Chicago in 1892. Following the collapse of the Commercial Bank of Newfoundland and Union Bank of Newfoundland on December 10, 1894, the Bank of Nova Scotia established on December 15, 1894, in Newfoundland.


title: Scotiabank

text: The bank opened a branch in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1889 to facilitate the trading of sugar, rum, and fish. This was Scotiabank's first move into the Caribbean and historically the first branch of a Canadian bank to open outside of the United States or the United Kingdom. In 1899, Scotiabank opened a branch in Boston, Massachusetts. By the end of the 19th century, the bank was represented in all of the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba. In 1900, the bank moved its headquarters to Toronto, Ontario.


title: Scotiabank

text: The bank continued to grow with the opening of new branches in the early 20th century. In 1906, the Bank of Nova Scotia opened a branch in Havana, Cuba, followed by a branch in New York City in the following year. In 1910, the bank opened a branch in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The bank also grew with the merger and acquisition of other banks, including the Bank of New Brunswick in 1913, and the Toronto-based Metropolitan Bank in 1914. The acquisition of Metropolitan Bank made the Bank of Nova Scotia the fourth largest financial institution in Canada at that time. In 1919, the bank amalgamated with the Bank of Ottawa.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 1919, the bank opened a branch in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. In the following year, the bank opened a branch in London, and another in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The bank also saw growth in Cuba, with five branches in Havana, and one branch each in Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Manzanillo, and Santiago de Cuba by 1931.


title: Scotiabank

text: During the mid-20th century, the bank grew not only in size but also in breadth of products and services. Progress was conditioned by changing consumer needs, legal changes, or acquisitions of external service providers. Major changes include: Following the passage of the "National Housing Act", the Bank of Nova Scotia created a mortgage department in 1954. Further changes to the "Bank Act of 1954" in 1958 led to the bank introducing its consumer credit program.


title: Scotiabank

text: The bank's branches in Cuba continued to operate until 1960, when the Government of Cuba nationalized all banks in Cuba, and the Bank of Nova Scotia withdrew its services from all eight branches. During the 1960s, the Bank of Nova Scotia became the first Canadian bank to appoint women as bank managers, with the first appointed on September 11, 1961. In the next year, the bank expanded into Asia with the opening of a Representative Office in Japan.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 1975, the Bank of Nova Scotia adopted "Scotiabank" as its worldwide brand name. On September 28, 1978, Scotiabank and Canadian Union of Public Employees signed a collective agreement in Toronto, making Scotiabank the first Canadian bank to sign a collective agreement with a union.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 1986, Scotiabank created Scotia Securities to provide discount brokerage and security underwriting services. The late 1980s and 1990s saw the bank acquire several firms, including McLeod Young Weir Ltd brokerage firm (co-founded by Donald Ivan McLeod, William Ewart Young, James Gordon Weir and John Henry (Harry) Ratcliffe in 1921) in 1988, and Montreal Trustco Inc. in 1994. In 1997, the bank acquired National Trust Company for Can$1.25 billion. In the same year, Scotiabank acquired Banco Quilmes in Argentina.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2000, Scotiabank increased its stake in Mexican bank Grupo Financiero Inverlat to 55 percent. The Mexican bank was subsequently renamed to Grupo Financiero Scotiabank Inverlat. Scotiabank later acquired Inverlat banking house in 2003, taking over all of its branches and establishing a strong presence in the country.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2002, Scotiabank shut its branches (formerly Banco Quilmes) in Argentina during the currency crisis and massive sovereign default. In the following year, Scotiabank's Guangzhou branch was awarded the first licence to a Canadian bank by the Chinese government to deal in Chinese currency. In 2007, Scotiabank acquired a 24.98 per cent stake in Thanachart Bank, with that share later increasing to 48.99 per cent by December 2014. With the acquisition of Siam City Bank, Thanachart Bank is now the 6th largest bank (by assets) in Thailand with over 16,000 staff serving more than four million customers through 680 branches and 2,100 ATMs across the country.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2010, the bank opened its first offices in Bogotá, Colombia. On October 20, 2011, Scotiabank acquired a 51 per cent stake in , Colombia's fifth largest bank and second largest issuer of credit cards, for $1 billion Canadian in cash and stock (10 million shares). It is the second largest foreign transaction ever by a Canadian financial company overseas, behind Royal Bank of Canada's purchase in Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2012, Scotiabank entered into an agreement to acquire ING Direct Bank of Canada from ING Groep N.V. Two years later, Scotiabank would acquire ING Direct Bank of Canada for Can$3.13 billion. The sale completed on November 15, 2012, and ING Bank of Canada was later renamed it Tangerine in April 2014.


title: Scotiabank

text: As a result of the FATCA agreement between Canada and the United States, signed between the two countries in 2014, Scotiabank has also spent almost $100 million implementing a controversial system to report to the United States the account holdings of close to one million Canadians of American origin and their Canadian-born spouses. Scotiabank has been forced to implement this system in order to comply with FATCA. According to Financial Post, FATCA requires Canadian banks to provide information to the United States including total assets, account balances, account numbers, transactions, account numbers, and other personal identifying information, as well as assets held jointly with Canadian-born spouses and other family members.


title: Scotiabank

text: On July 14, 2015, Scotiabank announced that it would buy Citigroup's retail and commercial banking operations in Panama and Costa Rica. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The purchase would increase Scotiabank's client base in both countries from 137,000 to 387,000, and would add 27 branches to the existing 51 branches in both Central American nations.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank's former President, CEO and Chairman Cedric Ritchie died on March 20, 2016. He was a President of Scotiabank from 1972, and CEO and Chairman from 1974 to 1995. Under his leadership, Scotiabank expanded into more than 40 countries and grew to 33,000 employees.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2018, Scotiabank acquired Montreal investment firm Jarislowsky Fraser, also in 2018 Scotiabank completed the acquisition of a 68.19 per cent stake in BBVA Chile for Can$2.9 billion, as a result BBVA Chile was merged into Scotiabank Chile. On February 21, 2019, the Prosecutor in the Central American country of Costa Rica raided Scotiabank's offices in San José, Costa Rica, claiming that the bank had failed to provide the government with information on accounts and deposits that could allegedly implicate Alejandro Toledo, the former president of Peru, in money laundering. Later that year, in June 2019 it was announced that OFG Bancorp would acquire all branches of Scotiabank within Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands territories as part of a $550 million cash deal.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2019, Scotiabank underwent a rebranding, modifying its wordmark logo and introducing a new corporate font based on its design, downplaying the company's S and globe monogram, and increasing use of the abbreviated name "Scotia".


title: Scotiabank

text: The bank has amalgamated with several other Canadian financial institutions through the years and purchased several other banks overseas. Most have been rebranded since their acquisition, although a few continue to utilize their former names. Several branches of the former Montreal Trust and National Trust were rebranded Scotiabank & Trust, and continue to operate as such.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank is the title sponsor for a number of sports events including the Calgary Marathon, the CONCACAF Champions League tournament (since 2015), and the Jewish National Fund's "Pitch for Israel" event. Scotiabank is also the title sponsor for running events that form a part of the Canada Running Series. They include Banque Scotia 21k de Montreal + 10k & 5k in April; Scotiabank Vancouver Half-Marathon & 5k Run/Walk in June; Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half-Marathon & 5k in October; and the Scotiabank Bluenose Marathon. Since 2005, Scotiabank has also been the title sponsor of the CFL playoffs semi-final and conference final games, with games titled as the Scotiabank East Semi-finals and Scotiabank West Semi-finals. This is in addition to being the official financial services provider to the Canadian Football League. Scotiabank was also a primary sponsor for Champion Boxer Miguel Cotto during his 2009 bout with Manny Pacquiao.


title: Scotiabank

text: Other sporting events Scotiabank has sponsored includes the 2007 Cricket World Cup, during which it was awarded the title as the official bank of the tournament by the International Cricket Council. During the event, several stadia and venues across the Caribbean (and Guyana in South America) are to become outfitted with Scotiabank automated banking machines. In 2010, Scotiabank was a sponsor of the World Rally Championship's Corona Rally Mexico. Since 2008, Scotiabank has been the official team sponsor of Canadian Cricket Team and the title sponsor of National T20 Championship in Canada.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank also sponsors sports leagues and teams, becoming a sponsor for Club Deportivo Guadalajara in 2013; and becoming the official sponsor for the Chilean Primera División after signing a five-year period contract in 2014. Scotiabank is also the official bank of the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association. Scotiabank also sponsors the Little NHL (native hockey league) and several girls' hockey festivals across Canada. In October 2007, Scotiabank became a sponsor of the "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcast by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Sportsnet and the title sponsor for its pregame show, "Scotiabank Hockey Tonight". Other sports broadcasts sponsored by Scotiabank includes CTV Television Network's and TSN's coverage of Premier League Soccer and the FA Cup Final, since 2013.


title: Scotiabank

text: In addition to sporting broadcasts and events, Scotiabank is also the title sponsor for a number of athletic facilities. They include the Scotiabank Aquatics Center in Guadalajara; Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary (since October 8, 2010); and the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax (since June 25, 2014). The naming rights for the Scotiabank Centre was signed for ten years, with annual fees of $650,000 for said rights. The facility official opened its doors as the rebranded Scotiabank Centre on September 19, 2014. On August 29, 2017, Scotiabank and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, announced that Scotiabank purchased the naming rights to the Air Canada Centre for $800 million. The multi-sport complex was renamed July 1, 2018, as "Scotiabank Arena". From 2006 through 2013, Scotiabank held the naming rights to the arena of the Ottawa Senators, branding it Scotiabank Place. Canadian Tire took over the naming rights for the Senators' arena in June 2013.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank has been a title sponsor for a number of cultural events and institutions in Canada. In 2005, Scotiabank became title sponsor of the Giller Prize. From 2006 to 2015, Scotiabank was the title sponsor for the Nuit Blanche event in Toronto. In 2008, Scotiabank announced a two-year sponsorship of Toronto's Caribana which would be rebranded as Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto. The sponsorship of the Caribbean festival was extended until 2015, when the partnership with the festival ended. In 2016 Scotiabank held its first hackathon with the goal of solving Canadian debt.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank and Canadian theatre operator Cineplex Entertainment partnered in 2007 to create a loyalty rewards program called Scene+. The program allows patrons to sign up for a special card that grants them points which can be redeemed for free movies or concession discounts. Scotiabank customers can also request a debit card which gives them points when used, and a Visa credit card was launched in early May. Five Cineplex Entertainment locations were also rebranded as "Scotiabank Theatres." In 2015, the two companies announced they extended the partnership through October 31, 2025, and would expand naming rebrand another five theatres as Scotiabank Theatres. On December 14, 2021, the new Scene+ program was launched. It merged Scene and Scotia Rewards points.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank is also the title sponsor for two post-secondary facilities in Canada, including Scotiabank Hall at Brock University in St. Catharines; and Scotiabank Hall in the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Scotiabank has also established an industry partnership with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus.


title: Scotiabank

text: A 2001 investigation into the murder of Maru Oropesa, a Scotiabank branch manager in Mexico City revealed US$14 million missing from the branch. Initially, investigators found that Oropesa and Jaime Ross, her former boss, had illegally transferred US$5 million from client investment accounts. The money was eventually transferred to the United States where it was used to purchase three aircraft. As the investigation continued, officials found an additional $9 million missing and involvement of 16 other bank employees in the fraud. Ross was convicted of fraud and money laundering for his role and sentenced to 15 years. Scotiabank terminated the other 16 employees, but did not prosecute them.


title: Scotiabank

text: In 2014, the bank reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that covered thousands of workers owed more than a decade of unpaid overtime. The lawsuit included 16,000 Scotiabank employees across Canada who worked as personal banking officers, senior personal banking officers, financial advisors, and small business account managers from January 1, 2000, to December 1, 2013. The 2007 lawsuit was similar to a class-action filed by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) bank teller Dara Fresco of Toronto.


title: Scotiabank

text: Under terms of the settlement, employees received 1.5 times their standard wage at the time, but no interest. Scotiabank also paid legal fees of $10.45 million.


title: Scotiabank

text: In June 2005, David Berry, a very successful Canadian Scotiabank trader who had built a $75 million/year business in trading preferred shares, was fired on the grounds that he had committed securities regulatory violations. At the time, as part of a 20 per cent direct drive deal, he was making more than double the CEO's salary and Scotiabank management had already taken steps to limit his compensation. The regulatory violation allegations from his former employer, left him unemployable to Scotiabank's competitors despite the appeal of potentially adding more than $75 million/year to their equity trading profits.


title: Scotiabank

text: Documents delivered to the media showing that Scotiabank management had sought advice on terminating Berry prior to the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) violation accusation, and the results of questioning during the IIROC inquiries strongly suggest that the securities charges were part of a plan by Scotiabank senior management to remove Berry from his position and simultaneously prevent him from becoming their competitor.


title: Scotiabank

text: In a ruling on January 15, 2013, more than seven years after the initial accusation, a hearing panel of the IIROC dismissed all charges against Berry.


title: Scotiabank

text: David Berry filed a $100 million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against Scotiabank. As of January 2015, and nine years after Berry was terminated, Scotiabank settled with Berry for an undisclosed amount. Barry Critchley, who followed the story since its beginning, wrote an article on November 6, 2014, in which he believes Scotiabank's $55 million reported legal charges would likely be connected to the $100 million lawsuit; but it is unlikely to ever be known.


title: Scotiabank

text: Scotiabank is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) and registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC), a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks. It is also a member of the Global ATM Alliance, a joint venture of several major international banks that allows customers of the banks to use their ATM cards or check cards at certain other banks within the Global ATM Alliance without fees when traveling internationally. Other participating banks are Barclays (United Kingdom), Bank of America (United States), BNP Paribas (France and Ukraine through UkrSibbank), Deutsche Bank (Germany), and Westpac (Australia and New Zealand). Other international associations the bank is a member of includes:


title: Horseshoe

text: A horseshoe is a fabricated product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, although much larger and thicker. However, there are also cases where shoes are glued.


title: Horseshoe

text: Horseshoes are available in a wide variety of materials and styles, developed for different types of horse and for the work they do. The most common materials are steel and aluminium, but specialized shoes may include use of rubber, plastic, magnesium, titanium, or copper. Steel tends to be preferred in sports in which a strong, long-wearing shoe is needed, such as polo, eventing, show jumping, and western riding events. Aluminium shoes are lighter, making them common in horse racing where a lighter shoe is desired, and often facilitate certain types of movement; they are often favored in the discipline of dressage. Some horseshoes have "caulkins", "caulks", or "calks": protrusions at the toe or heels of the shoe, or both, to provide additional traction.


title: Horseshoe

text: The fitting of horseshoes is a professional occupation, conducted by a farrier, who specializes in the preparation of feet, assessing potential lameness issues, and fitting appropriate shoes, including remedial features where required. In some countries, such as the UK, horseshoeing is legally restricted to people with specific qualifications and experience. In others, such as the United States, where professional licensing is not legally required, professional organizations provide certification programs that publicly identify qualified individuals.


title: Horseshoe

text: When kept as a talisman, a horseshoe is said to bring good luck. A stylized variation of the horseshoe is used for a popular throwing game, horseshoes.


title: Horseshoe

text: Since the early history of domestication of the horse, working animals were found to be exposed to many conditions that created breakage or excessive hoof wear. Ancient people recognized the need for the walls (and sometimes the sole) of domestic horses' hooves to have additional protection over and above any natural hardness. An early form of hoof protection was seen in ancient Asia, where horses' hooves were wrapped in rawhide, leather, or other materials for both therapeutic purposes and protection from wear. From archaeological finds in Great Britain, the Romans appeared to have attempted to protect their horses' feet with a strap-on, solid-bottomed "hipposandal" that has a slight resemblance to the modern hoof boot.


title: Horseshoe

text: Historians differ on the origin of the horseshoe. Because iron was a valuable commodity, and any worn out items were generally reforged and reused, it is difficult to locate clear archaeological evidence. Although some credit the Druids, there is no hard evidence to support this claim. In 1897 four bronze horseshoes with what are apparently nail holes were found in an Etruscan tomb dated around 400 BC. The assertion by some historians that the Romans invented the "mule shoes" sometime after 100 BC is supported by a reference by Catullus who died in 54 BC. However, these references to use of horseshoes and muleshoes in Rome may have been to the "hipposandal"—leather boots, reinforced by an iron plate, rather than to nailed horseshoes.


title: Horseshoe

text: Existing references to the nailed shoe are relatively late, first known to have appeared around AD 900, but there may have been earlier uses given that some have been found in layers of dirt. There are no extant references to nailed horseshoes prior to the reign of Byzantine Emperor Leo VI, and by 973 occasional references to them can be found. The earliest clear written record of iron horseshoes is a reference to "crescent figured irons and their nails" in AD 910. There is very little evidence of any sort that suggests the existence of nailed-on shoes prior to AD 500 or 600, though there is a find dated to the fifth century AD of a horseshoe, complete with nails, found in the tomb of the Frankish King Childeric I at Tournai, Belgium.


title: Horseshoe

text: Around 1000 AD, cast bronze horseshoes with nail holes became common in Europe. A design with a scalloped outer rim and six nail holes was common. According to Gordon Ward the scalloped edges were created by double punching the nail holes causing the edges to bulge. The 13th and 14th centuries brought the widespread manufacturing of iron horseshoes. By the time of the Crusades (1096–1270), horseshoes were widespread and frequently mentioned in various written sources. In that period, due to the value of iron, horseshoes were even accepted in lieu of coin to pay taxes.


title: Horseshoe

text: By the 13th century, shoes were forged in large quantities and could be bought ready made. Hot shoeing, the process of shaping a heated horseshoe immediately before placing it on the horse, became common in the 16th century. From the need for horseshoes, the craft of blacksmithing became "one of the great staple crafts of medieval and modern times and contributed to the development of metallurgy." A treatise titled "No Foot, No Horse" was published in England in 1751.


title: Horseshoe

text: In 1835, the first U.S. patent for a horseshoe manufacturing machine capable of making up to 60 horseshoes per hour was issued to Henry Burden. In mid-19th-century Canada, marsh horseshoes kept horses from sinking into the soft intertidal mud during dike-building. In a common design, a metal horseshoe holds a flat wooden shoe in place.


title: Horseshoe

text: In China, iron horseshoes became common during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), prior to which rattan and leather shoes were used to preserve animal hooves. Evidence of the preservation of horse hooves in China dates to the Warring States period (476–221 BC), during which Zhuangzi recommended shaving horse hooves to keep them in good shape. The Discourses on Salt and Iron in 81 BC mentions using leather shoes, but it is not clear if they were used for protecting horse hooves or to aid in mounting the horse. Remnants of iron horseshoes have been found in what is now northeast China, but the tombs date to the Goguryeo period in 414 AD. A mural in the Mogao Caves dated to 584 AD depicts a man caring for a horse's hoof, which some speculate might be depicting horseshoe nailing, but the mural is too eroded to tell clearly.


title: Horseshoe

text: The earliest reference to iron horseshoes in China dates to 938 AD during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. A monk named Gao Juhui sent to the Western Regions writes that the people in Ganzhou (now Zhangye) taught him how to make "horse hoof "muse"", which had four holes in it that connected to four holes in the horse's hoof, and were thus put together. They also recommended using yak skin shoes for camel hooves. Iron horseshoes however did not become common for another three centuries. Zhao Rukuo writes in "Zhu Fan Zhi", finished in 1225, that the horses of the Arabs and Persians used metal for horse shoes, implying that horses in China did not. After the establishment of the Yuan dynasty in 1271 AD, iron horseshoes became more common in northern China. When Thomas Blakiston travelled up the Yangtze, he noted that in Sichuan "cattle wore straw shoes to prevent their slipping on the wet ground" while in northern China, "horses and cattle are shod with iron shoes and nails." The majority of Chinese horseshoe discoveries have been in Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Sichuan, and Tibet.


title: Horseshoe

text: Many changes brought about by the domestication of the horse have led to a need for shoes for numerous reasons, mostly linked to management that results in horses' hooves hardening less and being more vulnerable to injury. In the wild, a horse may travel up to per day to obtain adequate forage. While horses in the wild cover large areas of terrain, they usually do so at relatively slow speeds, unless being chased by a predator. They also tend to live in arid steppe climates. The consequence of slow but nonstop travel in a dry climate is that horses' feet are naturally worn to a small, smooth, even, and hard state. The continual stimulation of the sole of the foot keeps it thick and hard. However, in domestication, the manner in which horses are used differ from what they would encounter in their natural environment. Domesticated horses are brought to colder and wetter areas than their ancestral habitat. These softer and heavier soils soften the hooves and make them prone to splitting, making hoof protection necessary. Consequently, it was in northern Europe that the nailed horseshoe arose in its modern form.


title: Horseshoe

text: Domestic horses do not always require shoes. When possible, a "barefoot" hoof, at least for part of every year, is a healthy option for most horses. However, horseshoes have their place and can help prevent excess or abnormal hoof wear and injury to the foot. Many horses go without shoes year round, some using temporary protection such as hoof boots for short-term use.


title: Horseshoe

text: Shoeing, when performed correctly, causes no pain to the animal. Farriers trim the insensitive part of the hoof, which is the same area into which they drive the nails. This is analogous to a manicure on a human fingernail, only on a much larger scale.


title: Horseshoe

text: Before beginning to shoe, the farrier removes the old shoe using pincers (shoe pullers) and trims the hoof wall to the desired length with nippers, a sharp pliers-like tool, and the sole and frog of the hoof with a hoof knife. Shoes do not allow the hoof to wear down as it naturally would in the wild, and it can then become too long. The coffin bone inside the hoof should line up straight with both bones in the pastern. If the excess hoof is not trimmed, the bones will become misaligned, which would place stress on the legs of the animal.


title: Horseshoe

text: Shoes are then measured to the foot and bent to the correct shape using a hammer, anvil, forge, and other modifications, such as taps for shoe studs, are added. Farriers may either cold shoe, in which they bend the metal shoe without heating it, or hot shoe, in which they place the metal in a forge before bending it. Hot shoeing can be more time consuming, and requires the farrier to have access to a forge; however, it usually provides a better fit, as the mark made on the hoof from the hot shoe can show how even it lies. It also allows the farrier to make more modifications to the shoe, such as drawing toe- and quarter-clips. The farrier must take care not to hold the hot shoe against the hoof too long, as the heat can damage the hoof.


title: Horseshoe

text: Hot shoes are placed in water to cool them. The farrier then nails the shoes on by driving the nails into the hoof wall at the white line of the hoof. The nails are shaped in such a way that they bend outward as they are driven in, avoiding the sensitive inner part of the foot, so they emerge on the sides of the hoof. When the nail has been completely driven, the farrier cuts off the sharp points and uses a clincher (a form of tongs made especially for this purpose) or a clinching block with hammer to bend the rest of the nail so it is almost flush with the hoof wall. This prevents the nail from getting caught on anything, and also helps to hold the nail, and therefore the shoe, in place.


title: Horseshoe

text: The farrier then uses a rasp (large file), to smooth the edge where it meets the shoe and eliminate any sharp edges left from cutting off the nails.


title: Horseshoe

text: Horseshoes have long been considered lucky. They were originally made of iron, a material that was believed to ward off evil spirits, and traditionally were held in place with seven nails, seven being the luckiest number. The superstition acquired a further Christian twist due to a legend surrounding the tenth-century saint Dunstan, who worked as a blacksmith before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. The legend recounts that, one day, the Devil walked into Dunstan's shop and asked him to shoe his horse. Dunstan pretended not to recognize him, and agreed to the request; but rather than nailing the shoe to the horse's hoof, he nailed it to the Devil's own foot, causing him great pain. Dunstan eventually agreed to remove the shoe, but only after extracting a promise that the Devil would never enter a household with a horseshoe nailed to the door.


title: Horseshoe

text: Opinion is divided as to which way up the horseshoe ought to be nailed. Some say the ends should point up, so that the horseshoe catches the luck, and that the ends pointing down allow the good luck to be lost; others say they should point down, so that the luck is poured upon those entering the home.


title: Horseshoe

text: Superstitious sailors believe that nailing a horseshoe to the mast will help their vessel avoid storms.


title: Horseshoe

text: In heraldry, horseshoes most often occur as canting charges, such as in the arms of families with names like Farrier, Marshall, and Smith. A horseshoe (together with two hammers) also appears in the arms of Hammersmith and Fulham, a borough in London.


title: Horseshoe

text: The flag of Rutland, England's smallest historic county, consists of a golden horseshoe laid over a field scattered with acorns. This refers to an ancient tradition in which every noble visiting Oakham, Rutland's county town, presents a horseshoe to the Lord of the Manor, which is then nailed to the wall of Oakham Castle. Over the centuries, the Castle has amassed a vast collection of horseshoes, the oldest of which date from the 15th century.


title: Horseshoe

text: A massive golden horseshoe structure is erected over the shopping mall of the Tuuri village in Alavus, a town of Finland. It is one of the most famous monuments in the locality; however, it stands at number three in Reuters' list of world's ugliest buildings and monuments.


title: Horseshoe

text: The sport of horseshoes involves a horseshoe being thrown as close as possible to a rod in order to score points. As far as it is known, the sport is as old as horseshoes themselves. While traditional horseshoes can still be used, most organized versions of the game use specialized sport horseshoes, which do not fit on horses' hooves.


title: Poison

text: Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broad sense.


title: Poison

text: Whether something is considered a poison may change depending on the amount, the circumstances, and what living things are present. Poisoning could be accidental or deliberate, and if the cause can be identified there may be ways to neutralise the effects or minimise the symptoms.


title: Poison

text: In biology, a poison is a chemical substance causing death, injury or harm to organisms or their parts. In medicine, poisons are a kind of toxin that are delivered passively, not actively. In industry the term may be negative, something to be removed to make a thing safe, or positive, an agent to limit unwanted pests. In ecological terms, poisons introduced into the environment can later cause unwanted effects elsewhere, or in other parts of the food chain.


title: Poison

text: In broad metaphorical (colloquial) usage of the term, "poison" may refer to any thing deemed harmful.


title: Poison

text: In biology, poisons are substances that can cause death, injury or harm to organs, tissues, cells, and DNA usually by chemical reactions or other activity on the molecular scale, when an organism is exposed to a sufficient quantity.


title: Poison

text: Medicinal fields (particularly veterinary medicine) and zoology often distinguish poisons from "toxins" and "venoms". Both poisons and venoms are toxins, which are toxicants produced by organisms in nature. The difference between venom and poison is the delivery method of the toxin. Venoms are toxins that are actively delivered by being injected via a bite or sting through a "venom apparatus", such as fangs or a stinger, in a process called envenomation, whereas poisons are toxins that are passively delivered by being swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin.


title: Poison

text: Industry, agriculture, and other sectors employ many poisonous substances, usually for reasons other than their toxicity to humans. For example, many poisons are important feedstocks (e.g. feeding chickens Arsenic antihelminths


title: Poison

text: ), solvents (e.g. rubbing alcohol, turpentine), cleaners (e.g. bleach, ammonia), coatings (e.g. Arsenic wallpaper


title: Poison

text: ), and so on. Even the toxicity itself sometimes has economic value, when it serves agricultural purposes of weed control and pest control. Most poisonous industrial compounds have associated material safety data sheets and are classified as hazardous substances. Hazardous substances are subject to extensive regulation on production, procurement and use in overlapping domains of occupational safety and health, public health, drinking water quality standards, air pollution and environmental protection. Due to the mechanics of molecular diffusion, many poisonous compounds rapidly diffuse into biological tissues, air, water, or soil on a molecular scale. By the principle of entropy, chemical contamination is typically costly or infeasible to reverse, unless specific chelating agents or micro-filtration processes are available. Chelating agents are often broader in scope than the acute target, and therefore their ingestion necessitates careful medical or veterinarian supervision.


title: Poison

text: Pesticides are one group of substances whose toxicity to various insects and other animals deemed to be pests (e.g., rats and cockroaches) is their prime purpose. Natural pesticides have been used for this purpose for thousands of years (e.g. concentrated table salt is toxic to many slugs). Bioaccumulation of chemically-prepared agricultural insecticides is a matter of concern for the many species, especially birds, which consume insects as a primary food source. Selective toxicity, controlled application, and controlled biodegradation are major challenges in herbicide and pesticide development and in chemical engineering generally, as all lifeforms on earth share an underlying biochemistry; organisms exceptional in their environmental resilience are classified as extremophiles, these for the most part exhibiting radically different susceptibilities.


title: Poison

text: A poison which enters the food chain—whether of industrial, agricultural, or natural origin—might not be immediately toxic to the first organism that ingests the toxin, but can become further concentrated in predatory organisms further up the food chain, particularly carnivores and omnivores, especially concerning fat soluble poisons which tend to become stored in biological tissue rather than excreted in urine or other water-based effluents.


title: Poison

text: Apart from food, many poisons readily enter the body through the skin and lungs. Hydrofluoric acid is a notorious contact poison, in addition to its corrosive damage. Naturally occurring sour gas is a notorious, fast-acting atmospheric poison (as released by volcanic activity or drilling rigs). Plant-based contact irritants, such as that possessed by poison ivy or poison oak, are often classed as allergens rather than poisons; the effect of an allergen being not a poison as such, but to turn the body's natural defenses against itself. Poison can also enter the body through faulty medical implants, or by injection (which is the basis of lethal injection in the context of capital punishment).


title: Poison

text: In 2013, 3.3 million cases of unintentional human poisonings occurred. This resulted in 98,000 deaths worldwide, down from 120,000 deaths in 1990. In modern society, cases of suspicious death elicit the attention of the Coroner's office and forensic investigators.


title: Poison

text: Of increasing concern since the isolation of natural radium by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898—and the subsequent advent of nuclear physics and nuclear technologies—are radiological poisons. These are associated with ionizing radiation, a mode of toxicity quite distinct from chemically active poisons. In mammals, chemical poisons are often passed from mother to offspring through the placenta during gestation, or through breast milk during nursing. In contrast, radiological damage can be passed from mother or father to offspring through genetic mutation, which—if not fatal in miscarriage or childhood, or a direct cause of infertility—can then be passed along again to a subsequent generation. Atmospheric radon is a natural radiological poison of increasing impact since humans moved from hunter-gatherer lifestyles though cave dwelling to increasingly enclosed structures able to contain radon in dangerous concentrations. The 2006 poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko was a novel use of radiological assassination, presumably meant to evade the normal investigation of chemical poisons.


title: Poison

text: Poisons widely dispersed into the environment are known as pollution. These are often of human origin, but pollution can also include unwanted biological processes such as toxic red tide, or acute changes to the natural chemical environment attributed to invasive species, which are toxic or detrimental to the prior ecology (especially if the prior ecology was associated with human economic value or an established industry such as shellfish harvesting).


title: Poison

text: The scientific disciplines of ecology and environmental resource management study the environmental life cycle of toxic compounds and their complex, diffuse, and highly interrelated effects.


title: Poison

text: The word "poison" was first used in 1200 to mean "a deadly potion or substance"; the English term comes from the "...Old French poison, puison (12c., Modern French poison) "a drink", especially a medical drink, later "a (magic) potion, poisonous drink" (14c.), from Latin potionem (nominative potio) "a drinking, a drink", also "poisonous drink" (Cicero), from potare "to drink".


title: Poison

text: The use of "poison" as an adjective ("poisonous") dates from the 1520s. Using the word "poison" with plant names dates from the 18th century. The term "poison ivy", for example, was first used in 1784 and the term "poison oak" was first used in 1743. The term "poison gas" was first used in 1915.


title: Poison

text: The term "poison" is often used colloquially to describe any harmful substance—particularly corrosive substances, carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens and harmful pollutants, and to exaggerate the dangers of chemicals. Paracelsus (1493–1541), the father of toxicology, once wrote: "Everything is poison, there is poison in everything. Only the dose makes a thing not a poison"


title: Poison

text: (see median lethal dose). The term "poison" is also used in a figurative sense: "His brother's presence poisoned the atmosphere at the party". The law defines "poison" more strictly. Substances not legally required to carry the label "poison" can also cause a medical condition of poisoning.


title: Poison

text: Some poisons are also toxins, which is any poison produced by animals, vegetables or bacteria, such as the bacterial proteins that cause tetanus and botulism. A distinction between the two terms is not always observed, even among scientists. The derivative forms "toxic" and "poisonous" are synonymous. Animal poisons delivered subcutaneously (e.g., by sting or bite) are also called "venom". In normal usage, a poisonous organism is one that is harmful to consume, but a venomous organism uses venom to kill its prey or defend itself while still alive. A single organism can be both poisonous and venomous, but that is rare.


title: Poison

text: All living things produce substances to protect them from getting eaten, so the term "poison" is usually only used for substances which are poisonous to humans, while substances that mainly are poisonous to a common pathogen to the organism and humans are considered antibiotics. Bacteria are for example a common adversary for "Penicillium chrysogenum" mold and humans, and since the mold's poison only targets bacteria humans may use it for getting rid of bacteria in their bodies. Human antimicrobial peptides which are toxic to viruses, fungi, bacteria and cancerous cells are considered a part of the immune system.


title: Poison

text: Environmentally hazardous substances are not necessarily poisons, and vice versa. For example, food-industry wastewater—which may contain potato juice or milk—can be hazardous to the ecosystems of streams and rivers by consuming oxygen and causing eutrophication, but is nonhazardous to humans and not classified as a poison.


title: Poison

text: Biologically speaking, any substance, if given in large enough amounts, is poisonous and can cause death. For instance, several kilograms worth of water would constitute a lethal dose. Many substances used as medications—such as fentanyl—have an only one order of magnitude greater than the ED50. An alternative classification distinguishes between lethal substances that provide a therapeutic value and those that do not.


title: Poison

text: Poisoning can be either acute or chronic, and caused by a variety of natural or synthetic substances. Substances that destroy tissue but do not absorb, such as lye, are classified as corrosives rather than poisons.


title: Poison

text: Acute poisoning is exposure to a poison on one occasion or during a short period of time. Symptoms develop in close relation to the exposure. Absorption of a poison is necessary for systemic poisoning. Furthermore, many common household medications are not labeled with skull and crossbones, although they can cause severe illness or even death. Poisoning can be caused by excessive consumption of generally safe substances, as in the case of water intoxication.


title: Poison

text: Agents that act on the nervous system can paralyze in seconds or less, and include both biologically derived neurotoxins and so-called nerve gases, which may be synthesized for warfare or industry.


title: Poison

text: Inhaled or ingested cyanide, used as a method of execution in gas chambers, or as a suicide method, almost instantly starves the body of energy by inhibiting the enzymes in mitochondria that make ATP. Intravenous injection of an unnaturally high concentration of potassium chloride, such as in the execution of prisoners in parts of the United States, quickly stops the heart by eliminating the cell potential necessary for muscle contraction.


title: Poison

text: Most biocides, including pesticides, are created to act as acute poisons to target organisms, although acute or less observable chronic poisoning can also occur in non-target organisms (secondary poisoning), including the humans who apply the biocides and other beneficial organisms. For example, the herbicide 2,4-D imitates the action of a plant hormone, which makes its lethal toxicity specific to plants. Indeed, 2,4-D is not a poison, but classified as "harmful" (EU).


title: Poison

text: Many substances regarded as poisons are toxic only indirectly, by toxication. An example is "wood alcohol" or methanol, which is not poisonous itself, but is chemically converted to toxic formaldehyde and formic acid in the liver. Many drug molecules are made toxic in the liver, and the genetic variability of certain liver enzymes makes the toxicity of many compounds differ between individuals.


title: Poison

text: Two common cases of acute natural poisoning are theobromine poisoning of dogs and cats, and mushroom poisoning in humans. Dogs and cats are not natural herbivores, but a chemical defense developed by "Theobroma cacao" can be incidentally fatal nevertheless. Many omnivores, including humans, readily consume edible fungi, and thus many fungi have evolved to become decisively inedible, in this case as a direct defense.


title: Poison

text: Chronic poisoning is long-term repeated or continuous exposure to a poison where symptoms do not occur immediately or after each exposure. The person gradually becomes ill, or becomes ill after a long latent period. Chronic poisoning most commonly occurs following exposure to poisons that bioaccumulate, or are biomagnified, such as mercury, gadolinium, and lead.


title: Poison

text: In 2010, poisoning resulted in about 180,000 deaths down from 200,000 in 1990. There were approximately 727,500 emergency department visits in the United States involving poisonings—3.3% of all injury-related encounters.


title: Poison

text: Poisonous compounds may be useful either for their toxicity, or, more often, because of another chemical property, such as specific chemical reactivity. Poisons are widely used in industry and agriculture, as chemical reagents, solvents or complexing reagents, e.g. carbon monoxide, methanol and sodium cyanide, respectively. They are less common in household use, with occasional exceptions such as ammonia and methanol. For instance, phosgene is a highly reactive nucleophile acceptor, which makes it an excellent reagent for polymerizing diols and diamines to produce polycarbonate and polyurethane plastics. For this use, millions of tons are produced annually. However, the same reactivity makes it also highly reactive towards proteins in human tissue and thus highly toxic. In fact, phosgene has been used as a chemical weapon. It can be contrasted with mustard gas, which has only been produced for chemical weapons uses, as it has no particular industrial use.


title: Poison

text: Biocides need not be poisonous to humans, because they can target metabolic pathways absent in humans, leaving only incidental toxicity. For instance, the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is a mimic of a plant growth hormone, which causes uncontrollable growth leading to the death of the plant. Humans and animals, lacking this hormone and its receptor, are unaffected by this, and need to ingest relatively large doses before any toxicity appears. Human toxicity is, however, hard to avoid with pesticides targeting mammals, such as rodenticides.


title: Poison

text: The risk from toxicity is also distinct from toxicity itself. For instance, the preservative thiomersal used in vaccines is toxic, but the quantity administered in a single shot is negligible.


title: Poison

text: Throughout human history, intentional application of poison has been used as a method of murder, pest-control, suicide, and execution. As a method of execution, poison has been ingested, as the ancient Athenians did (see Socrates), inhaled, as with carbon monoxide or hydrogen cyanide (see gas chamber), injected (see lethal injection), or even as an enema. Poison's lethal effect can be combined with its allegedly magical powers; an example is the Chinese "gu" poison. Poison was also employed in gunpowder warfare. For example, the 14th-century Chinese text of the "Huolongjing" written by Jiao Yu outlined the use of a poisonous gunpowder mixture to fill cast iron grenade bombs.


title: Poison

text: While arsenic is a naturally occurring environmental poison, its artificial concentrate was once nicknamed inheritance powder. In Medieval Europe, it was common for monarchs to employ personal food tasters to thwart royal assassination, in the dawning age of the Apothecary.


title: Poison

text: The term poison is also used in a figurative sense. The slang sense of alcoholic drink is first attested 1805, American English. (e.g., a bartender might ask a customer "what's your poison?" or "Pick your poison")


title: Poison

text: Figurative use of the term dates from the late 15th century. Figuratively referring to persons as poison dates from 1910. The figurative term poison-pen letter became well known in ...1913 by a notorious criminal case in Pennsylvania, U.S.; the phrase dates to 1898.


title: Class action

text: A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action originated in the United States and is still predominantly a US phenomenon, but Canada, as well as several European countries with civil law, have made changes in recent years to allow consumer organizations to bring claims on behalf of consumers.


title: Class action

text: In a typical class action, a plaintiff sues a defendant or a number of defendants on behalf of a group, or class, of absent parties. This differs from a traditional lawsuit, where one party sues another party, and all of the parties are present in court. Although standards differ between states and countries, class actions are most common where the allegations usually involve at least 40 people who the same defendant has injured in the same way. Instead of each damaged person bringing one's own lawsuit, the class action allows all the claims of all class members—whether they know they have been damaged or not—to be resolved in a single proceeding through the efforts of the representative plaintiff(s) and appointed class counsel.


title: Class action

text: The antecedent of the class action was what modern observers call "group litigation," which appears to have been quite common in medieval England from about 1200 onward. These lawsuits involved groups of people either suing or being sued in actions at common law. These groups were usually based on existing societal structures like villages, towns, parishes, and guilds. Unlike modern courts, the medieval English courts did not question the right of the actual plaintiffs to sue on behalf of a group or a few representatives to defend an entire group.


title: Class action

text: From 1400 to 1700, group litigation gradually switched from being the norm in England to the exception. The development of the concept of the corporation led to the wealthy supporters of the corporate form becoming suspicious of all unincorporated legal entities, which in turn led to the modern concept of the unincorporated or voluntary association. The tumultuous history of the Wars of the Roses and then the Star Chamber resulted in periods during which the common law courts were frequently paralyzed, and out of the confusion the Court of Chancery emerged with exclusive jurisdiction over group litigation.


title: Class action

text: By 1850, Parliament had enacted several statutes on a case-by-case basis to deal with issues regularly faced by certain types of organizations, like joint-stock companies, and with the impetus for most types of group litigation removed, it went into a steep decline in English jurisprudence from which it never recovered. It was further weakened by the fact that equity pleading, in general, was falling into disfavor, which culminated in the Judicature Acts of 1874 and 1875. Group litigation was essentially dead in the United Kingdom after 1850.


title: Class action

text: Class actions survived in the United States thanks to the influence of Supreme Court Associate Justice Joseph Story, who imported it into US law through summary discussions in his two equity treatises as well as his opinion in "West v. Randall" (1820). However, Story did not necessarily endorse class actions, because he "could not conceive of a modern function or a coherent theory for representative litigation."