title: Ising model

text: This includes nearest neighbor and next-nearest neighbor interactions, as expected, but also a four-spin interaction which is to be discarded. To truncate to nearest neighbor interactions, consider that the difference in energy between all spins the same and equal numbers + and – is:


title: Ising model

text: From nearest neighbor couplings, the difference in energy between all spins equal and staggered spins is 8"J". The difference in energy between all spins equal and nonstaggered but net zero spin is 4"J". Ignoring four-spin interactions, a reasonable truncation is the average of these two energies or 6"J". Since each link will contribute to two odd spins, the right value to compare with the previous one is half that:


title: Ising model

text: For small "J", this quickly flows to zero coupling. Large "J"'s flow to large couplings. The magnetization exponent is determined from the slope of the equation at the fixed point.


title: Ising model

text: Variants of this method produce good numerical approximations for the critical exponents when many terms are included, in both two and three dimensions.


title: Ising model

text: The original motivation for the model was the phenomenon of ferromagnetism. Iron is magnetic; once it is magnetized it stays magnetized for a long time compared to any atomic time.


title: Ising model

text: In the 19th century, it was thought that magnetic fields are due to currents in matter, and Ampère postulated that permanent magnets are caused by permanent atomic currents. The motion of classical charged particles could not explain permanent currents though, as shown by Larmor. In order to have ferromagnetism, the atoms must have permanent magnetic moments which are not due to the motion of classical charges.


title: Ising model

text: Once the electron's spin was discovered, it was clear that the magnetism should be due to a large number of electron spins all oriented in the same direction. It was natural to ask how the electrons' spins all know which direction to point in, because the electrons on one side of a magnet don't directly interact with the electrons on the other side. They can only influence their neighbors. The Ising model was designed to investigate whether a large fraction of the electron spins could be oriented in the same direction using only local forces.


title: Ising model

text: The Ising model can be reinterpreted as a statistical model for the motion of atoms. Since the kinetic energy depends only on momentum and not on position, while the statistics of the positions only depends on the potential energy, the thermodynamics of the gas only depends on the potential energy for each configuration of atoms.


title: Ising model

text: A coarse model is to make space-time a lattice and imagine that each position either contains an atom or it doesn't. The space of configuration is that of independent bits "B", where each bit is either 0 or 1 depending on whether the position is occupied or not. An attractive interaction reduces the energy of two nearby atoms. If the attraction is only between nearest neighbors, the energy is reduced by −4"JB""B" for each occupied neighboring pair.


title: Ising model

text: The density of the atoms can be controlled by adding a chemical potential, which is a multiplicative probability cost for adding one more atom. A multiplicative factor in probability can be reinterpreted as an additive term in the logarithm – the energy. The extra energy of a configuration with "N" atoms is changed by "μN". The probability cost of one more atom is a factor of exp(−"βμ").


title: Ising model

text: For lattices where every site has an equal number of neighbors, this is the Ising model with a magnetic field "h" = ("zJ" − "μ")/2, where "z" is the number of neighbors.


title: Ising model

text: In biological systems, modified versions of the lattice gas model have been used to understand a range of binding behaviors. These include the binding of ligands to receptors in the cell surface, the binding of chemotaxis proteins to the flagellar motor, and the condensation of DNA.


title: Ising model

text: The activity of neurons in the brain can be modelled statistically. Each neuron at any time is either active + or inactive −. The active neurons are those that send an action potential down the axon in any given time window, and the inactive ones are those that do not. Because the neural activity at any one time is modelled by independent bits, Hopfield suggested that a dynamical Ising model would provide a first approximation to a neural network which is capable of learning.


title: Ising model

text: Following the general approach of Jaynes, a recent interpretation of Schneidman, Berry, Segev and Bialek,


title: Ising model

text: is that the Ising model is useful for any model of neural function, because a statistical model for neural activity should be chosen using the principle of maximum entropy. Given a collection of neurons, a statistical model which can reproduce the average firing rate for each neuron introduces a Lagrange multiplier for each neuron:


title: Ising model

text: But the activity of each neuron in this model is statistically independent. To allow for pair correlations, when one neuron tends to fire (or not to fire) along with another, introduce pair-wise lagrange multipliers:


title: Ising model

text: where formula_166 are not restricted to neighbors. Note that this generalization of Ising model is sometimes called the quadratic exponential binary distribution in statistics.


title: Ising model

text: This energy function only introduces probability biases for a spin having a value and for a pair of spins having the same value. Higher order correlations are unconstrained by the multipliers. An activity pattern sampled from this distribution requires the largest number of bits to store in a computer, in the most efficient coding scheme imaginable, as compared with any other distribution with the same average activity and pairwise correlations. This means that Ising models are relevant to any system which is described by bits which are as random as possible, with constraints on the pairwise correlations and the average number of 1s, which frequently occurs in both the physical and social sciences.


title: Ising model

text: where the "S"-variables describe the Ising spins, while the "J" are taken from a random distribution. For spin glasses a typical distribution chooses antiferromagnetic bonds with probability "p" and ferromagnetic bonds with probability 1 − "p". These bonds stay fixed or "quenched" even in the presence of thermal fluctuations. When "p" = 0 we have the original Ising model. This system deserves interest in its own; particularly one has "non-ergodic" properties leading to strange relaxation behaviour. Much attention has been also attracted by the related bond and site dilute Ising model, especially in two dimensions, leading to intriguing critical behavior.


title: Ising model

text: 2D melt pond approximations can be created using the Ising model; sea ice topography data bears rather heavily on the results. The state variable is binary for a simple 2D approximation, being either water or ice.


title: Ising model

text: In order to investigate an Ising model with potential relevance for large (e.g. with formula_168 or formula_169 interactions per node) neural nets, at the suggestion of Krizan in 1979, obtained the exact analytical expression for the free energy of the Ising model on the closed Cayley tree (with an arbitrarily large branching ratio) for a zero-external magnetic field (in the thermodynamic limit) by applying the methodologies of and


title: Ising model

text: where formula_171 is an arbitrary branching ratio (greater than or equal to 2), t ≡ formula_172, formula_173 ≡ formula_174, J ≡ formula_175 (with formula_176 representing the nearest-neighbor interaction energy) and there are k (→ ∞ in the thermodynamic limit) generations in each of the tree branches (forming the closed tree architecture as shown in the given closed Cayley tree diagram.) The sum in the last term can be shown to converge uniformly and rapidly (i.e. for z → ∞, it remains finite) yielding a continuous and monotonous function, establishing that, for formula_171 greater than or equal to 2, the free energy is a continuous function of temperature T. Further analysis of the free energy indicates that it exhibits an unusual discontinuous first derivative at the critical temperature (, .)


title: Ising model

text: The spin-spin correlation between sites (in general, m and n) on the tree was found to have a transition point when considered at the vertices (e.g. A and Ā, its reflection), their respective neighboring sites (such as B and its reflection), and between sites adjacent to the top and bottom extreme vertices of the two trees (e.g. A and B), as may be determined from


title: Ising model

text: where formula_179 is equal to the number of bonds, formula_180 is the number of graphs counted for odd vertices with even intermediate sites (see cited methodologies and references for detailed calculations), formula_181 is the multiplicity resulting from two-valued spin possibilities and the partition function formula_182 is derived from formula_183. (Note: formula_184 is consistent with the referenced literature in this section and is equivalent to formula_185 or formula_186 utilized above and in earlier sections; it is valued at formula_187.) The critical temperature formula_188 is given by


title: Ising model

text: The critical temperature for this model is only determined by the branching ratio formula_171 and the site-to-site interaction energy formula_176, a fact which may have direct implications associated with neural structure vs. its function (in that it relates the energies of interaction and branching ratio to its transitional behavior.) For example, a relationship between the transition behavior of activities of neural networks between sleeping and wakeful states (which may correlate with a spin-spin type of phase transition) in terms of changes in neural interconnectivity (formula_171) and/or neighbor-to-neighbor interactions (formula_176), over time, is just one possible avenue suggested for further experimental investigation into such a phenomenon. In any case, for this Ising model it was established, that “the stability of the long-range correlation increases with increasing formula_171 or increasing formula_176.”


title: Ising model

text: For this topology, the spin-spin correlation was found to be zero between the extreme vertices and the central sites at which the two trees (or branches) are joined (i.e. between A and individually C, D, or E.) This behavior is explained to be due to the fact that, as k increases, the number of links increases exponentially (between the extreme vertices) and so even though the contribution to spin correlations decrease exponentially, the correlation between sites such as the extreme vertex (A) in one tree and the extreme vertex in the joined tree (Ā) remains finite (above the critical temperature.) In addition, A and B also exhibit a non-vanishing correlation (as do their reflections) thus lending itself to, for B level sites (with A level), being considered “clusters” which tend to exhibit synchronization of firing.


title: Ising model

text: Based upon a review of other classical network models as a comparison, the Ising model on a closed Cayley tree was determined to be the first classical statistical mechanical model to demonstrate both local and long-range sites with non-vanishing spin-spin correlations, while at the same time exhibiting intermediate sites with zero correlation, which indeed was a relevant matter for large neural networks at the time of its consideration. The model’s behavior is also of relevance for any other divergent-convergent tree physical (or biological) system exhibiting a closed Cayley tree topology with an Ising-type of interaction. This topology should not be ignored since its behavior for Ising models has been solved exactly, and presumably nature will have found a way of taking advantage of such simple symmetries at many levels of its designs.


title: Ising model

text: It was a natural and common belief among early neurophysicists (e.g. Umezawa, Krizan, Barth, etc.) that classical neural models (including those with statistical mechanical aspects) will one day have to be integrated with quantum physics (with quantum statistical aspects), similar perhaps to how the domain of chemistry has historically integrated itself into quantum physics via quantum chemistry.


title: Ising model

text: Several additional statistical mechanical problems of interest remain to be solved for the closed Cayley tree, including the time-dependent case and the external field situation, as well as theoretical efforts aimed at understanding interrelationships with underlying quantum constituents and their physics.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is a medium-sized gundog bred primarily for hunting. It is often referred to as a "toller". It is the smallest of the retrievers, and is often mistaken for a small Golden Retriever. Tollers are intelligent, eager to please, alert, and energetic. The name "toller" is derived from their ability to lure waterfowl within gunshot range. The breed originated in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The American Kennel Club ranks the toller as the 87th most popular dog breed.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: The breed was developed in the Acadian community of Little River Harbour in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, around the beginning of the 19th century. The toller was originally referred to as the Little River Duck Dog before being officially recognized by the Canadian Kennel Club in 1945 as a purebred dog. The toller is a mixture of retrievers, spaniels, setters, and possibly a farm collie mongrel, although this has yet to be confirmed. The breed was perfected in the second half of the 19th century.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: The breed gained national recognition in 1980, and was declared the provincial dog of Nova Scotia in 1995, when two Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers were awarded Best in Show at championship events that included many breeds.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers are named for their ability to entice or lure waterfowl within gunshot range, called "tolling". The hunter stays hidden in a blind and sends the dog out to romp and play near the water, usually by tossing a ball or stick to be retrieved. The dog's appearance is similar to that of a fox. Its unusual activity and white markings pique the curiosity of ducks and geese, which swim over to investigate.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: When the birds are close, the hunter calls the dog back to the blind, then rises, putting the birds to flight and allowing themselves a shot. The Toller then retrieves any downed birds. They are particularly suited for retrieving in cold water climates because of their water-repellent double coat.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers are often mistaken for small Golden Retrievers, but the Toller is more active, both physically and mentally. According to the breed standards, the Toller is athletic, muscular, compact, medium to heavy boned, balanced and powerful. The chest is deep. Conformation judges require Tollers to be capable of tolling and physical faults that inhibit working ability are heavily penalized. They should be of moderate build — a lack of substance or a heavy build are penalized by judges because both detract from the breed standard and athleticism. The legs are sturdy and solid and they have webbed feet.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers can be any shade of red ranging from a golden red through dark coppery red with lighter featherings on the underside of the tail, pantaloons, and body. The lighter shades of golden red are deeply pigmented and rich in colour. The Toller should not be buff, brown, or beige, though some buff and sable Tollers do appear in breeding lines.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: It is common for a Toller to have at least one of the following white markings: tip of tail, feet (not extending above the pasterns) and chest. Lack of white is not a fault; Tollers can be born without white markings. Dogs with white on the shoulders, around ears, back of neck, across back or flanks, or with silvery, grey or black areas in coat are disqualified from conformation shows.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: The Toller was bred to retrieve from icy waters and must have a water-repellent double coat of medium length and softness and a soft dense undercoat. The coat may have a slight wave on the back but is otherwise straight. Some winter coats may form a long loose curl at the throat. Featherings are soft and moderate in length, the tail is well feathered and held jauntily when the dog is excited or moving. The hair on the muzzle is short and fine. Seasonal shedding is to be expected.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Those who breed Tollers for conformation shows consider the head (clean cut, slightly wedge-shaped) to be an important feature and believe it should resemble that of a fox and must never be blocky like that of a Golden Retriever. The ears are triangular and set high and well back from the skull. The pigment on a toller's nose, lips and eye rims should match, and should be either black (which normally fades with age) or liver, blending into the coat. Lips fit fairly tightly around the mouth. The correct bite is a scissor bite, full dentition is required. Jaws are strong enough to carry a large bird, but Tollers must have a soft mouth too. Eyes are set well apart, almond shaped, and medium-sized and amber to dark brown in colour. Expression is friendly, alert, and intelligent.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers are the smallest of all the retriever breeds. They range in height from at the withers, and weigh , with females being slightly shorter and lighter. Tollers are a medium-sized breed.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers are known to be very intelligent, curious, alert, outgoing, and high-energy dogs. They are affectionate, eager to please, busy, and get along well with children. They are good family dogs, however during the decision process potential owners should be wary of the physical and mental commitment that is required in order to keep a Toller busy. Physical stimulation should be provided for these dogs each day since they may become destructive when they are not exercised enough or are left alone for long periods of time.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Duck Tollers are working animals and are happiest when they have a job to do. Tollers are excellent hunting companions. They excel at many types of sporting competitions such as agility, dock diving, and obedience. Their keen sense of smell, intelligence, drive for work, and small size make them perfect search and rescue dogs. The breed standard states that the dog should have a strong retrieving drive, intense birdiness, endurance, and a love for water.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers do not have an aggressive bark. Some have a unique sounding bark known as the "Toller scream", a high-pitched howl-like sound which is often referred to as their "singing". They do not use this in violent situations, rather; the "toller scream" is expressed when they are excited.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers have the capacity to be very social dogs as long as they are sufficiently socialized early on in life. While Tollers are energetic and outgoing around their owners and family, their cautious nature makes them reserved around strangers. Exposure to new people, locations, smells, and sights are crucial to the healthy development of the Toller breed. They tend to get along well with other dogs, however, they have a strong prey drive and may chase after cats or other small animals. Their prey drive can be avoided if cats, for example, are introduced early on in a Toller's life. Failure to properly socialize Tollers at a young age may result in aggressive, destructive, or timid behaviour in maturity.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Tollers are generally hardy. However, like almost all dog breeds, certain genetic disorders are known to occur in the breed. This is sometimes blamed on a relatively small gene pool. The Finnish breed club states the largest health problems in the breed tend to be immunity related. They can be affected by eye problems and hip dysplasia and are predisposed to immune-mediated rheumatic disease and steroid-responsive meningitis–arthritis.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) affects about 7% of Tollers with an estimated 40% being carriers. The type of PRA associated with the breed is known as progressive rod-cone degeneration. The disease causes cells in the retina to degenerate and die. This causes night blindness at first and eventually complete blindness. Collie eye anomaly is estimated to have a carrier rate of 5% and an affected rate of 0.5%. It generally only causes mildly impaired vision, although in more severe cases it can lead to retinal hemorrhaging and detachments resulting in blindness.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Thyroid problems have been identified by American breeders as a priority issue, together with epilepsy and hip dysplasia. As many as 1 in 6 Tollers may have autoimmune thyroiditis. Symptoms of thyroid problems includes weight gain, skin and hair problems including hair loss, weakness, cold intolerance or infertility.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Addison's disease affected 1% of Tollers in a health survey, an incidence rate 10 times more than the general dog population. Carrier rate is estimated at 18%. This disease is also considered an important issue in the breed. Signs include lethargy, decreased appetite, vomiting, weakness, diarrhea, increased drinking and urination, and shivering.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Aseptic meningitis (sometimes called steroid-responsive meningitis) has been diagnosed in increasing numbers in the Norwegian Toller population in recent years. Symptoms include intensive neck pain, fever, and lethargy. Prevalence is estimated at 2.5% in the Norwegian population.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: Health tests are available for both eye diseases and autoimmune thyroiditis. A test for Addison's disease is available but it is only for one form of the disease and there are other forms which also affect the breed. A test is also available for one form of cleft palate that is exclusive to Tollers. Early testing shows a carrier rate of about 15%.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: A survey conducted in 2002 by the Canadian Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever breed club to discover which diseases and conditions occur in the Toller population, involving owners of 1180 dogs worldwide, showed 73% reported in excellent health and a total of 7.5% reporting poor or bad health. 141 dogs (12%) were reported as deceased with the average age at death being 6.4 years. The most common cause of death was cancer, reported in 25% of deaths, with old age being the next most common at 9%.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: A worldwide study of the Tollers' registration history in 17 countries shows that about 90% of the genetic diversity present in the founding population has been lost. Tollers born between 1999–2008 have an effective founder size of 9.8, realized effective population size of 18 and an average inbreeding coefficient of 0.26. Breeders are working to prevent losing heterozygosity and to maintain sufficient genetic variations. High kinship value means the breed is not able to maintain a steady level of inbreeding in the long term.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: The Toller is known to excel in various sporting and obedience activities, and health and safety related jobs. The breeds' high energy and intelligence makes them perfect candidates for difficult jobs that require tremendous dedication and skill. Tollers enjoy working and being outside, therefore, it is no surprise that they excel at various sport and job related activities.


title: Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

text: The breed is categorized as a "sporting" dog under the CKC and AKA organizations making tollers ideal dogs for various physical activities. Other kennel clubs such as the AKNC and UKC categorize tollers as a "gundog" which depicts their drive, mental intelligence, and intuitive hunting sense. Kennel clubs throughout the world recognize Tollers as an athletic, intelligent, and a driven breed that has the innate ability to excel in any of the following activities: dog agility, dock jumping, disc catching, flyball, lure coursing, obedience, search and rescue, therapy dog, and hunting.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Yuri Borisovich (Bentsionovich) Milner (; born 11 November 1961) is a Soviet-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist. He is a cofounder and former chairperson of internet company Mail.Ru Group (now VK) and a founder of investment firm DST Global. Through DST Global, Milner is an investor in Byju’s, Facebook, Wish, and many others.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In 2012 Milner's personal investments included a stake in 23andMe, Habito, Planet Labs, minority stake in a real estate investments startup, Cadre in 2017.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Born into a Jewish family from Ukraine on 11 November 1961 in Moscow, Yuri Milner was the second child of Soviet intellectuals. His father, Bentsion Zakharovitch Milner, was Chief Deputy Director at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences and was active in the sphere of management and organization. Betty Iosifovna Milner, Yuri's mother, worked at the capital's state-run virological laboratory for disease control. His older sister, eight years his senior, is an architect.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Milner became an Israeli citizen in 1999. In 2005, he moved to Israel with his family, and they relocated to California in 2014. According to Milner, he has not been to Russia since 2014. He formally renounced his Russian citizenship in August 2022.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Milner studied theoretical physics at Moscow State University, graduating in 1985. He went on to work at Lebedev Physical Institute, one of the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences. As a doctoral candidate in particle physics, Milner befriended Soviet nuclear physicist and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov. Sakharov's forward thinking would later influence Milner's venture investment strategy.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In 1990, Milner became the first non-émigré from the Soviet Union to travel to the United States to receive a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The press quoted him as saying that he made this decision after "being disappointed in myself as a physicist." Milner was a commencement speaker for the Wharton Business School's 2017 class. In September 2020, the Friends of Israel, the non-profit foundation co-founded by Milner, established an MBA fellowship at the Wharton School. The $10 million fellowship supports more than 60 Israeli students at Wharton over 10 years.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Milner started his business career selling gray market DOS computers in the Soviet Union, which displeased his father. When the USSR collapsed, he stopped selling computers in order to enroll at the Wharton School to earn an MBA.


title: Yuri Milner

text: After graduating, Milner spent the first half of the 1990s at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as a Russian banking specialist focused on the development of private sector banking. He has described his time at the World Bank as his "lost years", due to watching from afar the privatization of government holdings during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin. In the spring of 1995, Milner was appointed CEO of Alliance-Menatep, a stock brokerage company belonging to then oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In December 1996, Milner worked as vice president and Head of Investment Management of Menatep Bank. In February 1997 Milner was appointed the deputy chairperson and the head of the investment division of Menatep Bank but left this position in early 1998. At the time, the market makers described him as "a well-known professional, who will bring the bank valuable experience in international financial institutions and transactions in the Russian investment market".


title: Yuri Milner

text: In 1999, after reading a review by Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker on the prospects for online businesses, Milner decided to create an Internet company. He sought funding from his friend from Menatep days Gregory Finger, who at the time led the Russian branch of the US investment fund New Century Holding. The fund agreed to invest $4.5 million with the proviso that Milner and Finger each personally invest $750,000. Milner, Finger, and NCH created a new company, NetBridge. In 2000, Milner became the president of Netbridge Services Ltd. (netBridge) – the company that was, "created as an Internet incubator and investment fund". Netbridge succeeded in transferring a variety of U.S.-pioneered Internet business models to Russia, creating companies including the portal List.ru, online auction site Molotok.ru (based on eBay), free web-hosting Boom.ru (based on GeoCities), and online shop 24×7, using the formula of Amazon.com.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In February 2001, netBridge and Port.ru (which owned Mail.ru) announced a merger. Milner became CEO of the new company named Mail.Ru (though the legal name Port.ru was also retained).


title: Yuri Milner

text: In 2005, NCH shifted its focus from Russian Internet projects and Milner founded the investment fund Digital Sky Technologies (DST), becoming its chairperson in 2006. A meeting through mutual friends resulted in Alisher Usmanov becoming a shareholder of Digital Sky Technologies (DST) in 2008. On 16 September 2010, Digital Sky Technologies (DST) changed its name to "Mail.ru Group".


title: Yuri Milner

text: In 2010 Mail.ru Group completed successful initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange with market valuation of $5.6 billion.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In March 2012, Milner stepped down from the role of chairperson of Mail.ru and from the board of directors. Dmitry Grishin was elected to the board and appointed as chairperson while retaining his CEO position. There were no other changes to management or to the board.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Post Mail.ru Group's IPO, DST is the sole vehicle for further international investments. The company is now fully independent of Mail.ru Group.


title: Yuri Milner

text: From May 2009 to January 2012 Milner was a member of the Commission on Modernization established by Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian President from 2008 to 2012.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In January 2009, while in Palo Alto, Milner became acquainted with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The meeting led to an agreement on 26 May 2009 under which DST bought a 1.96% stake in Facebook for $200 million.


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 16 September 2010, Digital Sky Technologies (DST) changed its name to "Mail.ru Group". The group's portfolio included Mail.ru, Odnoklassniki.ru, ICQ, a minority stake in the social network VKontakte (Russian Facebook equivalent), online payments service OSMP.ru, e‑Port, as well as some other Russian assets. Milner's commercial interests in Facebook, Zynga, and Groupon were transferred to DST Global. Milner became the CEO of DST Global and the chairperson of the board of directors of Mail.ru Group. In November 2010, Mail.ru Group held its offering on the London Stock Exchange. In March 2012, Milner stepped down from the role of chairperson of Mail.ru and from the board of directors.


title: Yuri Milner

text: DST Global became one of the world's leading technology investors and its portfolio has included some of the world's most prominent Internet companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Airbnb, Spotify, Alibaba, and others.


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 5 November 2017, "The New York Times" reported that Milner had strong Kremlin backing for his investments in Facebook (over 8%) and Twitter (5%). His companies sold these holdings two years before that report was made public however. Milner denied this allegation in his open letter published in ReCode.


title: Yuri Milner

text: DST Global has invested over $12.5 bn in over 80 companies between 2009 and 2021. Less than 3% was raised from Russian institutions as limited partners, all prior to 2011, and was fully returned by 2014. The remaining 97% was raised over the course of the past 12 years from international institutions and private investors. DST Global has no institutional investors from Russia since 2014, has no office or investments in Russia.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Among a small group of invited technology entrepreneurs and CEOs including Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Eric Schmidt (Google) and Hiroshi Mikitani (Rakuten), Yuri Milner participated in the G8 Summit in Deauville, France in May 2011, where they discussed the internet and the world economy.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In September 2021, an investment vehicle held for the benefit of the Breakthrough Foundation, founded by Milner, which supports existing and future philanthropic projects in fundamental sciences invested in Altos Labs together with Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. Altos Labs is a generously funded biotechnology company dedicated to harnessing cellular reprogramming to develop longevity therapeutics. The company has recruited prominent scientists such as Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte (known for work on rejuvenation through reprogramming), Steve Horvath (known for work in epigenetic aging clocks), and Shinya Yamanaka (the Nobel Prize-winning inventor of cellular reprogramming in mammalian cells). Milner reportedly originally considered pursuing reprogramming philanthropically, having already awarded three-year grants of $1 million a year to several geroscience researchers, but was convinced by former National Cancer Institute head Richard Klausner that a generously funded biotech company would lead to faster progress.


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 29 January 2018, Milner's name was included in the United States Treasury Department's "Report to Congress Pursuant to Section 241 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 Regarding Senior Foreign Political Figures and Oligarchs in the Russian Federation and Russian Parastatal Entities" (CAATSA), a list of 96 individuals of Russian heritage who "have an estimated net worth of $1 billion or more".


title: Yuri Milner

text: Although it was widely reported in the media that those on the list "may be subject to sanctions", the CAATSA Report itself made clear that it "in no way should be interpreted to impose sanctions on those individuals or entities". It also specified that inclusion in the report "does not constitute the determination by any agency that any of those individuals or entities meet the criteria for designation under any sanctions program", and in no way indicates that "the U.S. Government has information about the individual’s involvement in malign activities". Shortly after the list was released, it was reported that the Treasury Department had simply copied it from the Forbes’ 2017 "The World's Billionaires" list: people on the Forbes list who had Russian heritage and a net worth of $1 billion or more had been indiscriminately included in the CAATSA Report.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In its response to a lawsuit asserting that the compilation of the list was "arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law", the Treasury Department has confirmed that it is "not challenging" the allegation that it had "simply republished" the Forbes billionaires list. In April 2020, in its annual Billionaire List Forbes magazine re-classified Yuri Milner from Russian list to Israeli list of billionaires, confirming his Israeli citizenship and close ties to the country.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In July 2012, Yuri and Julia Milner established the Breakthrough Prize, joined the following year by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Anne Wojcicki and Mark Zuckerberg. The Prize is a set of international awards recognizing three fields of endeavor: Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, and Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. Laureates receive $3 million each in prize money, making the Breakthrough Prizes the largest scientific awards in the world. There are also New Horizons awards in physics and mathematics for younger researchers who have already shown and produced significant works.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Committees of previous laureates choose the winners from candidates nominated in a process that is online and open to the public. , $174.8m in prize-money has been awarded to 70 individual scientists and four large research teams.


title: Yuri Milner

text: The Prizes are presented annually at a gala ceremony featuring celebrity presentations, films, comedy and live music. The last four ceremonies took place at Hangar One (Mountain View, California). The annual celebrations also includes symposiums in the three recognized fields. The program is broadcast live on the web.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In July 2015, Milner launched Breakthrough Initiatives, a scientific program to investigate the question of life in the Universe. He announced the initiatives at the Royal Society in London, alongside Stephen Hawking, Martin Rees, Frank Drake, Geoff Marcy and Ann Druyan.


title: Yuri Milner

text: The first, Breakthrough Listen, will invest $100 million over 10 years in a search for evidence of civilizations beyond Earth. Utilizing the Green Bank, Parkes, Lick, and FAST observatories, Listen is searching for radio and laser signals from the nearest million stars, the nearest 100 galaxies, and the plane and center of the Milky Way. The initiative will also use the SETI@home distributed computing project.


title: Yuri Milner

text: The second initiative, Breakthrough Message, will be a $1 million annual prize for digital messages representing Earth and humanity, that could be decoded by another civilization. The messages will not be sent into space until a global discussion on the ethics of such a move has taken place.


title: Yuri Milner

text: The third project, Breakthrough Starshot, was announced 12 April 2016. Starshot is a US$100 million program to develop a proof-of-concept light sail spacecraft fleet able to make the journey to Alpha Centauri at 20% the speed of light (60 million m/s or 215 million km/h) taking about 20 years to get there, and 4.4 years to notify Earth of a successful arrival.


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 20 April 2017, the Breakthrough Discuss conference was held, during which the results of a year worth of data analysis was discussed. According to the researchers, 692 stars were analyzed.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In September 2015, the Breakthrough Prize launched the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a science competition for people between thirteen and eighteen years of age, in collaboration with Khan Academy.


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 25 March 2020, the Milner Foundation, a non-profit foundation founded by Yuri and Julia Milner, announced $3 million donation to three Israeli institutions: Magen David Adom, the national emergency medical response organization, which is operating an innovative project to reduce the number of people coming to clinics; Tel Aviv University Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, where it will support research efforts aiming to develop treatments for the virus; and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Ichilov Hospital, where it will directly fund the intensive care department that is caring for COVID-19 sufferers.


title: Yuri Milner

text: A few weeks later, Milner Foundation announced a donation of 3 million face masks for people of Israel. Yuri Milner in his open letter published by Calcalist wrote that "a significant fraction of these masks will go to organizations providing essential services, whose frontline workers are still required to do their jobs during the lockdown". The masks arrived to Ben Gurion Airport on 16 April 2020, on board of dedicated charted El Al “Jerusalem of Gold” Dreamliner plane and were distributed by Magen David Adom to its emergency services staff, as well as to a range of hospitals, government offices, and national institutions providing essential services to the public.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Due to Russia’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine since February 2022, millions of refugees were forced to flee the country. Yuri and Julia Milner announced several donations to help these refugees.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Milner said, "The great irony is that we are the least Russian fund right now and have been because we made a consistent effort." He told Bloomberg News that DST hasn't taken money from Russia since a $900 million fund in 2011, and most Western banks were in business with Russia until years after he stopped.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In April 2022 the foundation established by Yuri and Julia Milner pledged $100 million to Tech for Refugees, a philanthropic initiative launched with Airbnb.org, Flexport.org and Spotify. The initiative is focused on using technology to help refugees from Ukraine to find provisions, shelter and comfort, and it plans to expand the program to address other refugee crises around the world.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In March 2022, Yuri and Julia Milner’s non-profit foundation, DST Global and the Breakthrough Prize Foundation all donated funds to support humanitarian relief for refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Breakthrough Prize Foundation donated $3 million to international relief organizations to help the victims of the conflict, and pledged a further $3 million to support scientists forced to flee from Ukraine. Pledged $3 million were distributed to:


title: Yuri Milner

text: DST Global committed $3.5 million to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s Stand With Ukraine initiative to help the refugee relief efforts. The foundation established by Yuri and Julia Milner gave a further $2 million to Stand With Ukraine, as well as donating $3m to the Conference of European Rabbis to support efforts to help Jewish refugees from Ukraine.


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 10 December 2013, Yuri and Julia Milner joined the Giving Pledge, the initiative created by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates in which signatories pledge to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. The Milners announced that their donations would go to predominantly scientific causes and programs, with Yuri Milner stating: “In my opinion, scientific brilliance is currently under-capitalized. If the market dictates that a top banker can earn a thousand times more than a great scientist, then this is an area where philanthropy can make a world of difference—and so make a difference to the world.”


title: Yuri Milner

text: In the past few years I simply do not have time for hobbies. I am even starting to forget what I was fond of. Such as in the past it was reading of literature not related to work.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Milner is married to former high fashion model and contemporary artist Julia Milner ("née" Bochkova). She is interested in photography: during the 52nd Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art she produced a contribution entitled "Click I Hope".


title: Yuri Milner

text: In 2011, Milner bought a $100 million home in Los Altos Hills, California. The compound spans three plots totaling seven hectares and includes a roughly main house and a guest house. The current tax bill is about $304,000 a year. "The Wall Street Journal" reported the price as $100 million, saying it was the most ever paid for a single-family home in the United States. The property is appraised by the Santa Clara County assessor at $50 million. Milner attends synagogue, but is only minimally religiously observant.


title: Yuri Milner

text: Milner believes that the Internet will eventually develop into a "global brain"—which is often described as an intelligent network of individuals and machines—functioning as a nervous system for the planet Earth. He also envisages that the advent of the Internet of things and ever increasing use of social media will increase humans' collective intelligence.


title: Yuri Milner

text: He published some of his ideas on humanity’s place in the Universe in a book, "Eureka Manifesto: the Mission for Our Civilization".


title: Yuri Milner

text: On 24 March 2020, Milner published a fact sheet setting out his and DST Global’s relations with Russia. It included statements that he is an Israeli citizen, has never met Vladimir Putin, made 97% of his capital outside Russia, has no assets in Russia and has not visited the country since 2014. Also, DST Global has no investments in Russia and has received no investments from a Russian institution since 2011. In addition, in 2018 the "Wall Street Journal" confirmed that it had incorrectly named DST Global a Russian firm and it has corrected 13 additional articles containing the same error.


title: Yuri Milner

text: In September 2017 Forbes included Milner to the list of 100 greatest living business minds. Milner was named one of the World's Greatest Leaders by "Fortune" magazine in March 2017, was listed in the "Titans" category of "Time" magazine's 2016 "Time" 100. "Foreign Policy" magazine included Milner on its "Power List" – an inaugural list of the 500 most powerful people on the planet in May 2013. Milner was included in Bloomberg Markets' 2012 50 Most Influential list. In "Fortune"s 2010 list of the world's fifty most prominent businessmen, Milner was ranked 46th. That same year Russian business magazine "Vedomosti" recognized him as "Businessman of the Year".


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Verbascum thapsus, the great mullein, greater mullein or common mullein is a species of mullein native to Europe, northern Africa, and Asia, and introduced in the Americas and Australia.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: It is a hairy biennial plant that can grow to 2 m tall or more. Its small, yellow flowers are densely grouped on a tall stem, which grows from a large rosette of leaves. It grows in a wide variety of habitats, but prefers well-lit, disturbed soils, where it can appear soon after the ground receives light, from long-lived seeds that persist in the soil seed bank. It is a common weedy plant that spreads by prolifically producing seeds, and has become invasive in temperate world regions. It is a minor problem for most agricultural crops, since it is not a competitive species, being intolerant of shade from other plants and unable to survive tilling. It also hosts many insects, some of which can be harmful to other plants. Although individuals are easy to remove by hand, populations are difficult to eliminate permanently.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Although commonly used in traditional medicine, no approved drugs are made from this plant. It has been used to make dyes and torches.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: "V. thapsus" is a dicotyledonous plant that produces a rosette of leaves in its first year of growth. The leaves are large, up to 50 cm long. The second-year plants normally produce a single unbranched stem, usually 1–2 m tall. In the eastern part of its range in China, it is, however, only reported to grow up to 1.5 m tall. The tall, pole-like stems end in a dense spike of flowers that can occupy up to half the stem length. All parts of the plants are covered with star-shaped trichomes. This cover is particularly thick on the leaves, giving them a silvery appearance. The species' chromosome number is 2n = 36.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: On flowering plants, the leaves are alternately arranged up the stem. They are thick and decurrent, with much variation in leaf shape between the upper and lower leaves on the stem, ranging from oblong to oblanceolate, and reaching sizes up to 50 cm long and 14 cm across (19 inches long and 5 inches wide). They become smaller higher up the stem, and less strongly decurrent down the stem. The flowering stem is solid and 2–2.5 cm (nearly an inch) across, and occasionally branched just below the inflorescence, usually following damage. After flowering and seed release, the stem and fruits usually persist in winter, drying into dark brown, stiff structures of densely packed, ovoid-shaped, and dry seed capsules. The dried stems may persist into the following spring or even the next summer. The plant produces a shallow taproot.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Flowers are pentamerous with (usually) five stamen, a five-lobed calyx tube, and a five-petalled corolla, the latter bright yellow and an wide. The flowers are almost sessile, with very short pedicels (2 mm, 0.08 in). The five stamens are of two types, with the three upper stamens being shorter, their filaments covered by yellow or whitish hairs, and having smaller anthers, while the lower two stamens have glabrous filaments and larger anthers. The plant produces small, ovoid (6 mm, 0.24 in) capsules that split open by way of two valves, each capsule containing large numbers of minute, brown seeds less than 1 mm (0.04 in) in size, marked with longitudinal ridges. A white-flowered form, "V. thapsus" f. "candicans", is known to occur. Flowering lasts up to three months from early to late summer (June to August in northern Europe), with flowering starting at the bottom of the spike and progressing irregularly upward; each flower opens for part of a day and only a few open at the same time around the stem.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: For the purpose of botanical nomenclature, "Verbascum thapsus" was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 '. The specific epithet "thapsus" had been first used by Theophrastus (as , ') for an unspecified herb from the Ancient Greek settlement of Thapsos, near modern Syracuse, Sicily, though it is often assimilated to the ancient Tunisian city of Thapsus.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: At the time, no type specimen was specified, as the practice only arose later, in the 19th century. When a lectotype (type selected amongst original material) was designated, it was assigned to specimen 242.1 of Linnaeus' herbarium, the only "V. thapsus" specimen. The species had previously been designated as type species for "Verbascum". European plants exhibit considerable phenotypical variation, which has led to the plant acquiring many synonyms over the years. Introduced American populations show much less variation.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: The taxonomy of "Verbascum" has not undergone any significant revision since Svanve Mürbeck's monographies in the 1930s, with the exception of the work of Arthur Huber-Morath, who used informal grouping in organizing the genus for the florae of Iran and Turkey to account for many intermediate species. Since Huber-Morath's groups are not taxonomical, Mürbeck's treatment is the most current one available, as no study has yet sought to apply genetic or molecular data extensively to the genus. In Mürbeck's classification, "V. thapsus" is placed in section Bothrospermae subsect. "Fasciculata" (or sect. "Verbascum" subsect. "Verbascum" depending on nomenclatural choices) alongside species such as "Verbascum nigrum" (black or dark mullein), "Verbascum lychnitis" (white mullein), and "Verbascum sinuatum" (wavy-leaved mullein).


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: In all subspecies but the type, the lower stamens are also hairy. In "V. t. crassifolium", the hairiness is less dense and often absent from the upper part of the anthers, while lower leaves are hardly decurrent and have longer petioles. In "V. t. giganteum", the hairs are densely white tomentose, and lower leaves are strongly decurrent. "V. t. crassifolium" also differs from the type in having slightly larger flowers, which measure 15–30 mm wide, whereas in the type, they are 12–20 mm in diameter. Both "V. t. giganteum" and "V. t. crassifolium" were originally described as species. Due to its morphological variation, "V. thapsus" has had a great many subspecies described. A recent revision led its author to maintain "V. giganteum" but sink "V. crassifolium" into synonymy.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: The plant is also parent to several hybrids ("see table"). Of these, the most common is "V." × "semialbum" Chaub. (× "V. nigrum"). All occur in Eurasia, and three, "V." × "kerneri" Fritsch, "V." × "pterocaulon" Franch. and "V." × "thapsi" L. (syn. "V." × "spurium" W.D.J.Koch), have also been reported in North America.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: "V. thapsus" is known by a variety of names. European reference books call it "great mullein". In North America, "common mullein" is used while western United States residents commonly refer to mullein as "cowboy toilet paper".


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: In the 19th century, it had well over 40 different common names in English alone. Some of the more whimsical ones included "hig candlewick", "Indian rag weed", "bullicks lungwort", "Adams-rod", "hare's-beard", and "ice-leaf". Vernacular names include innumerable references to the plant's hairiness: "woolly mullein", "velvet mullein", or "blanket mullein", "beggar's blanket", "Moses' blanket", "poor man's blanket", "Our Lady's blanket", or "old man's blanket", and "feltwort", and so on ("flannel" is another common generic name). "Mullein" itself derives from the French word for "soft".


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Some names refer to the plant's size and shape: "shepherd's club(s)" or "staff", "Aaron's rod" (a name it shares with a number of other plants with tall, yellow inflorescences), and a plethora of other "X's staff" and "X's rod". The name "velvet dock" or "mullein dock" is also recorded, where "dock" is a British name applied to any broad-leaved plant.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: "V. thapsus" has a wide native range including Europe, northern Africa, and Asia, from the Azores and Canary Islands east to western China, north to the British Isles, Scandinavia, and Siberia, and south to the Himalayas. In northern Europe, it grows from sea level up to 1,850 m altitude, while in China it grows at 1,400–3,200 m altitude.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: It has been introduced throughout the temperate world, and is established as a weed in Australia, New Zealand, tropical Asia, La Réunion, North America, Hawaii, Chile, Hispaniola, and Argentina. It has also been reported in Japan.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: In the United States, it was imported very early in the 18th century and cultivated for its medicinal and piscicide properties. By 1818, it had begun spreading so much that Amos Eaton thought it was a native plant. In 1839, it was already reported in Michigan and in 1876, in California. It is now found commonly in all the states. In Canada, it is most common in the Maritime Provinces and southern Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, with scattered populations in between.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Great mullein most frequently grows as a colonist of bare and disturbed soil, usually on sandy or chalky ones. It grows best in dry, sandy, or gravelly soils, although it can grow in a variety of habitats, including banksides, meadows, roadsides, forest clearings, and pastures. This ability to grow in a wide range of habitats has been linked to strong phenotype variation rather than adaptation capacities.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Great mullein is a biennial and generally requires winter dormancy before it can flower. This dormancy is linked to starch degradation activated by low temperatures in the root, and gibberellin application bypasses this requirement. Seeds germinate almost solely in bare soil, at temperatures between 10 and 40 °C. While they can germinate in total darkness if proper conditions are present (tests give a 35% germination rate under ideal conditions), in the wild, they in practice only do so when exposed to light, or very close to the soil surface, which explains the plant's habitat preferences. While it can also grow in areas where some vegetation already exists, growth of the rosettes on bare soil is four to seven times more rapid.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Seeds germinate in spring and summer. Those that germinate in autumn produce plants that overwinter if they are large enough, while rosettes less than across die in winter. After flowering, the entire plant usually dies at the end of its second year, but some individuals, especially in the northern parts of the range, require a longer growth period and flower in their third year. Under better growing conditions, some individuals flower in the first year. Triennial individuals have been found to produce fewer seeds than biennial and annual ones. While year of flowering and size are linked to the environment, most other characteristics appear to be genetic.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: A given flower is open only for a single day, opening before dawn and closing in the afternoon. Flowers are self-fecundating and protogynous (with female parts maturing first), and will self-pollinate if they have not been pollinated by insects during the day. While many insects visit the flowers, only some bees actually accomplish pollination. The flowering period of "V. thapsus" lasts from June to August in most of its range, extending to September or October in warmer climates. Visitors include halictid bees and hoverflies. The hair on lower stamens may serve to provide footholds for visitors.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: The seeds maintain their germinative powers for decades, up to 100 years, according to some studies. Because of this, and because the plant is an extremely prolific seed bearer (each plant produces hundreds of capsules, each containing up to 700 seeds, with a total up to 180,000 or 240,000 seeds), it remains in the soil seed bank for extended periods of time, and can sprout from apparently bare ground, or shortly after forest fires long after previous plants have died. Its population pattern typically consists of an ephemeral adult population followed by a long period of dormancy as seeds. Great mullein rarely establishes on new grounds without human intervention because its seeds do not disperse very far. Seed dispersion requires the stem to be moved by wind or animal movement; 75% of the seeds fall within 1 m of the parent plant, and 93% fall within 5 m.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Megachilid bees of the genus "Anthidium" use the hair (amongst that of various woolly plants) in making their nests. The seeds are generally too small for birds to feed on, although the American goldfinch has been reported to consume them. Other bird species have been reported to consume the leaves (Hawaiian goose) or flowers (palila), or to use the plant as a source when foraging for insects (white-headed woodpecker). Additionally, deer and elk eat the leaves.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Seeds of "V. thapsus" have been recorded from part of the Cromer Forest Bed series and at West Wittering in Sussex from some parts of the Ipswichian interglacial layers.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Because it cannot compete with established plants, great mullein is no longer considered a serious agricultural weed and is easily crowded out in cultivation, except in areas where vegetation is sparse to begin with, such as Californian semidesertic areas of the eastern Sierra Nevada. In such ecological contexts, it crowds out native herbs and grasses; its tendency to appear after forest fires also disturbs the normal ecological succession. Although not an agricultural threat, its presence can be very difficult to eradicate and is especially problematic in overgrazed pastures. The species is legally listed as a noxious weed in the US state of Colorado (class C) and Hawaii, and the Australian state of Victoria (regionally prohibited in the West Gippsland region, and regionally controlled in several others).


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Despite not being an agricultural weed in itself, it hosts a number of insects and diseases, including both pests and beneficial insects. It is also a potential reservoir of the cucumber mosaic virus, "Erysiphum cichoraceum" (the cucurbit powdery mildew) and Texas root rot. A study found "V. thapsus" hosts insects from 29 different families. Most of the pests found were western flower thrips ("Frankliniella occidentalis"), "Lygus" species such as the tarnished plant bug ("L. lineolaris"), and various spider mites from the family Tetranychidae. These make the plant a potential reservoir for overwintering pests.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Other insects commonly found on great mullein feed exclusively on "Verbascum" species in general or "V. thapsus" in particular. They include mullein thrips ("Haplothrips verbasci"), "Gymnaetron tetrum" (whose larva consume the seeds), and the mullein moth ("Cucullia verbasci"). Useful insects are also hosted by great mullein, including predatory mites of the genera "Galendromus", "Typhlodromus", and "Amblyseius", the minute pirate bug "Orius tristicolor", and the mullein plant bug ("Campylomma verbasci"). The plant's ability to host both pests and beneficials makes it potentially useful to maintain stable populations of insects used for biological control in other cultures, like "Campylomma verbasci" and "Dicyphus hesperus" (Miridae), a predator of whiteflies. A number of pest Lepidoptera species, including the stalk borer ("Papaipema nebris") and gray hairstreak ("Strymon melinus"), also use "V. thapsus" as a host plant.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Control of the plant, when desired, is best managed via mechanical means, such as hand pulling and hoeing, preferably followed by sowing of native plants. Animals rarely graze it because of its irritating hairs, and liquid herbicides require surfactants to be effective, as the hair causes water to roll off the plant, much like the lotus effect. Burning is ineffective, as it only creates new bare areas for seedlings to occupy. "G. tetrum" and "Cucullia verbasci" usually have little effect on "V. thapsus" populations as a whole. Goats and chickens have also been proposed to control mullein. Effective (when used with a surfactant) contact herbicides include glyphosate, triclopyr and sulfurometuron-methyl. Ground herbicides, like tebuthiuron, are also effective, but recreate bare ground and require repeated application to prevent regrowth.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Phytochemicals in "V. thapsus" flowers and leaves include saponins, polysaccharides, mucilage, flavonoids, tannins, iridoid and lignin glycosides, and essential oils. The plant's leaves, in addition to the seeds, have been reported to contain rotenone, although quantities are unknown.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Although long used in herbal medicine, no drugs are manufactured from its components. Dioscorides first recommended the plant 2000 years ago, considering it useful as a folk medicine for pulmonary diseases. Leaves were smoked to attempt to treat lung ailments, a tradition that in America was rapidly transmitted to Native American peoples. The Zuni people, however, use the plant in poultices of powdered root applied to sores, rashes, and skin infections. An infusion of the root is also used to treat athlete's foot. All preparations meant to be drunk have to be finely filtered to eliminate the irritating hairs.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Oil from the flowers was used against catarrhs, colics, earaches, frostbite, eczema, and other external conditions. Topical application of various "V. thapsus"-based preparations was recommended for the treatment of warts, boils, carbuncles, hemorrhoids, and chilblains, amongst others. Glycyrrhizin compounds with bactericide effects in vitro were isolated from flowers. The German Commission E describes uses of the plant for respiratory infections. It was also part of the National Formulary in the United States and United Kingdom.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Roman soldiers are said to have dipped the plant stalks in grease for use as torches. Other cultures use the leaves as wicks. Native Americans and American colonists lined their shoes with leaves from the plant to keep out the cold.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Mullein may be cultivated as an ornamental plant. As for many plants, (Pliny the Elder described it in his "Naturalis Historia"), great mullein was linked to witches, although the relationship remained generally ambiguous, and the plant was also widely held to ward off curses and evil spirits. The seeds contain several compounds (saponins, glycosides, coumarin, rotenone) that are toxic to fish, and have been widely used as piscicide for fishing.


title: Verbascum thapsus

text: Due to its weedy capacities, the plant, unlike other species of the genus (such as "V. phoeniceum"), is not often cultivated.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Neil Thomas Giraldo (born December 29, 1955) is an American musician, record producer, arranger, and songwriter best known as the musical partner of Pat Benatar since 1979and spouse since 1982. He has also performed, written and produced for artists including Rick Derringer, John Waite, Rick Springfield, Kenny Loggins, Steve Forbert, The Del-Lords, Scott Kempner, and Beth Hart. Giraldo's diverse work has sold over 45 million records and his contributions have produced five Grammy Awards and an additional four Grammy nominations. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Benatar.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Giraldo was born on December 29, 1955, in Cleveland, Ohio, graduating from Parma Senior High School in Parma, Ohio, to Sicilian parents, Anthony and Angela Giraldo. At the age of six, Giraldo received his first guitar as a gift from his parents. Giraldo notes his first live performances as playing Italian songs after church for family and friends, alongside his sister Priscilla, who played the accordion. He later started playing in local bands at the age of 14, venturing into nightclubs with his uncle, who sang while Giraldo played the guitar. He learned to play the piano at the age of 12, and afterwards learned the drums. Throughout his childhood, Giraldo credits being influenced by revolutionary bands of the 1960s and 1970s such as The Yardbirds, The Kinks, and The Who. Jazz artists such as bandleader Count Basie, jazz pianist Jay McShann, and blues shouter Big Joe Turner provided inspiration and deepened Giraldo's respect and admiration for the genre.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Giraldo began his professional music career in 1978 as a member of the Rick Derringer band after competing alongside 200 fellow guitarists for the position. Giraldo provided his guitar, as well as piano skills for Derringer's 1979 recording of Guitars and Women. In the spring of 1979, Mike Chapman introduced Giraldo to a singer named Pat Benatar who had recently signed a recording contract with Chrysalis Records. Chapman felt Giraldo's affinity for arranging and musical direction would facilitate the creation of a sound both identifiable and powerful. Over the years Giraldo has produced some of Benatar's biggest hits including "Love Is a Battlefield" and "We Belong". Giraldo has performed on every Benatar album and produced all but two.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Benatar's debut album "In the Heat of the Night" was released in August 1979 and reached No. 12 in the US in early 1980. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in December 1980. The album featured the Giraldo penned hit "We Live for Love".


title: Neil Giraldo

text: The release of "Crimes of Passion", in August 1980, featured the single "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," which reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over a million copies in the United States, achieving a gold certification by the RIAA. Also on the album was the controversial song "Hell Is for Children," co-written by Giraldo, which was inspired by a New York Times article about child abuse in America The album peaked for five consecutive weeks at No. 2 in the US and was featured in the 1981 adult animated musical drama film "American Pop".


title: Neil Giraldo

text: "Precious Time" marked the first of many Benatar albums produced by Giraldo, and was released in July 1981, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard US Top 200 LP chart, followed in late 1982 by "Get Nervous", which reached No. 4 in the US and earned RIAA and CRIA platinum certifications. "Live from Earth", recorded during the band's Get Nervous world tour, reached No. 13 and received RIAA and CRIA platinum certification.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: On August 1, 1981, the MTV network launched and debuted the music video "You Better Run" as the 2nd-ever video to air on the network, thus distinguishing Giraldo as the first guitarist to appear on MTV.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: The 1981 album "Working Class Dog" by Rick Springfield featured Giraldo as the guitarist, bassist, and producer for "I’ve Done Everything for You" and the number one hit "Jessie's Girl”


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Giraldo was also the producer for the John Waite album "Ignition", released on May 21, 1982. The album featured the single "Change", which also appeared on the soundtrack for the 1985 film, "Vision Quest".


title: Neil Giraldo

text: "Tropico" was released in August 1984, featuring a new sound, less hard rock. It, too, earned RIAA and CRIA platinum certification. A year later, "Seven the Hard Way", was released, earning an RIAA gold certification. Giraldo and Benatar's success continued with "Wide Awake in Dreamland" in the summer of 1988, again earning RIAA gold certification.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In late April 1991, "True Love" was released, followed by "Gravity's Rainbow" in 1993, which was the last album recorded with Chrysalis Records.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: "Innamorata" was released in June 1997 and was recorded under the CMC International record label. The album featured the single "Strawberry Wine".


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Giraldo began film scoring in 2001 with his debut work for the film "Nailed", starring Harvey Keitel.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: The Benatar album "Go" was released in August 2003 under the Bel Chiasso label. The album included the 9/11 charity single, "Christmas in America".


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In 2004 Giraldo was the film composer for the film "Smile", which featured Sean Astin, Beau Bridges, and Linda Hamilton.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In September 2019, Giraldo received the AFMX 2019 Music Award, as part of the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience Festival.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In 2017, Giraldo founded and is the chairman of Steel Bending Spirits LLC. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the spirits company released its inaugural offering, Three Chord Bourbon in July 2018. In July 2019, Steel Bending Spirits expanded its Three Chord Bourbon product line, introducing two new variations, Twelve Bar Reserve and Amplify Rye.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Neil Giraldo married singer Pat Benatar in 1982. They have two daughters, Haley Giraldo and Hana Giraldo (who have both appeared on the E! reality television series "" and "Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules" in late 2005 and early 2022).


title: Neil Giraldo

text: Giraldo has been a long time advocate for the support of children and their well-being. Since 1996 Giraldo has been hosting and performing at fundraising events and lending assistance to the non-profit organization, The Children's Lifesaving Foundation. The Children's Lifesaving Organization supports the lives of homeless and high-risk youth in Los Angeles by providing social, academic and domestic support.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In 2016 Giraldo became involved with the Oakland School for the Arts, a charter school located in Oakland California. In April 2016, the school unveiled the Neil Giraldo Recording Studio as a welcome gift to the music department.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In 2019 the United Outreach Foundation welcomed Giraldo as a member of the board of directors. United Outreach Foundation is a 501c3 organization providing community support for homelessness, food scarcity, education and animal welfare.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: In 2016 Giraldo and Benatar were awarded the Children's LSF foundation's Angel of the Year Award for their continued service with the organization.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: On April 12, 2016, Giraldo and Benatar were honored with the Artistic Award of Courage, celebrating both artists for their advocacy toward the ending of child abuse. The award was presented in conjunction with the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Board of Advisors, via The Stewart and Lydia Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA.


title: Neil Giraldo

text: On October 15, 2019, Giraldo was co-nominated with his wife for induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His nomination came for his co-creating the Pat Benatar band, where he was lead guitarist, songwriter and producer for 40 years. Although the duo was not chosen for induction in 2020, they were again nominated in 2022 and were chosen as one of seven inductees.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: Destroy All Humans! is an open world action-adventure video game franchise that is designed as a parody of Cold War-era alien invasion films. "Destroy All Humans!" and "Destroy All Humans! 2" are available for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, "Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed" is available for the Wii, and "Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon" is available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (in Australia and Europe). "Destroy All Humans!" and "Destroy All Humans! 2" were added to the PlayStation 4 on October 17, 2016 and November 28, 2016 both being emulated at 1080p. On April 23, 2018 "Destroy All Humans!" was added to Xbox’s backwards compatibility program. A remake of the original game was developed by Black Forest Games and was released in 2020.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: The two main protagonists of the series are voiced by J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz, with the exception of the game "Big Willy Unleashed", in which actors Sean Donnellan and Darryl Kurylo portray the characters. The musical score for the series is performed by composer Garry Schyman.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: The games take place mostly on Earth where the Furon Cryptosporidium, also known as Crypto, is tasked by his superiors to gather Furon DNA locked inside human brain stems in order to save his race from cloning themselves to extinction. In "Destroy All Humans!", Crypto's objectives also include investigating what happened to his previous clone. "Destroy All Humans! 2" features Crypto hunting for revenge, after the KGB try to assassinate him and successfully destroy the mothership and his mission officer, Orthopox-13 (Pox), as well as exterminating the Furons' enemy from the Martian War, the Blisk. "Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed" involves Crypto protecting Pox's new fast food chain using a giant robot mech disguised as the restaurant's mascot, called "Big Willy". "Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon" is available on Xbox 360 (and PlayStation 3 only in Australia and Europe), and involves Crypto seeking enlightenment to help him stop a conspiracy that threatens the Furon empire. "Destroy All Humans!" takes place in 1959; "Destroy All Humans! 2" takes place in 1969; "Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed" takes place in 1975; "Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon" takes place in 1979.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: During the year 1959, Cryptosporidium 137 first arrived on the Earth to investigate the planet and search for his predecessor clone, Cryptosporidium 136, who disappeared in 1947 after Orthopox 13 sent him to Earth on a similar mission. Pox sends Crypto on a mission to harvest human brain stems (which contain a small amount of pure Furon DNA due to an encounter between Furon warriors and humans in ancient times) to prevent his species from going extinct. To accomplish his mission, he must defeat Majestic, a shadowy government organization led by a black-clad figure named Silhouette. After accomplishing this, Crypto takes over the United States by posing as the President.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: Ten years have passed since Crypto defeated Majestic and replaced the US government. Orthropox 13 has died after a Soviet nuclear missile destroyed the Furon mothership. Pox has downloaded his consciousness into a personal holographic projector designed to communicate between Furons on Motherships and planet surfaces. Pox's unit, dubbed a HoloPox, allows him to communicate with, advise, and vex Crypto down on Earth. Crypto 137 has died of unknown causes, but appears in "Big Willy Unleashed" and Crypto 138, a clone with pure Furon DNA harvested from human brains, has taken his place as the President. Crypto 138 is the first Furon in millennia to possess genitalia, as his pure DNA has not been corrupted by radiation. When the KGB destroy the mothership and Pox, Crypto must find a way to stop them from destroying what he has worked so hard on to achieve. Along the way, he is supported by Natalya Ivanova, a rogue KGB agent whom he constantly hits on. He also comes across the Blisk, the dreaded enemy that the Furons thought they defeated in the Martian War.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: "Big Willy Unleashed" takes place after "Destroy All Humans! 2". Crypto and Pox start a fast food restaurant that serves human meat from all the people Crypto has killed harvesting more Furon DNA. Later, their rival restaurant, Colonel Kluckin' (a parody of Colonel Sanders), discovers their secret, whereupon Crypto must protect the restaurant with the Big Willy mascot mech.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: Using the money earned from the Big Willy fast food franchise that Orthopox started in "Big Willy Unleashed", Pox and his destructive Furon warrior minion Crypto have opened a "family friendly" casino which they use to obtain a steady financial income and human DNA. Crypto has lost his motivation because of the death of Natalya (which was a clone with a four year lifespan), and has forgotten what it means to destroy humans. He drinks too much alcohol, watches too much television, and has ultimately become lazy. Later Crypto is attacked by mysterious cyborgs called Nexosporidium Warriors, who arrive from his own planet, which frightens both Crypto and his commander Pox. Soon Crypto finds himself face-to-face with a conspiracy from his own homeworld that, if not stopped, could destroy his entire race. In the midst of all the chaos, Crypto hears a voice in his head, telling him to go to the city of Shen Long. Later, Crypto, while in Sunnywood, is shot in the neck, faints, and then wakes up in a Kung Fu monastery where he is greeted by a Furon martial arts expert known as The Master. The Master beseeches him to submit to his tutelage, and train in mind and firepower, to help him defeat these new threats. Now Crypto is about to go down the path to enlightenment, shape his own destiny, and uncover who is behind this frightening conspiracy.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: The franchise intellectual property (IP) holder, THQ, went bankrupt on December 19, 2012 and its many IPs were subsequently sold off. In 2013, Nordic Games, now known as THQ Nordic, purchased the rights to "Destroy All Humans!" among other IPs for $4.9 million. In late 2016, the PlayStation 2 versions of "Destroy All Humans!" and "Destroy All Humans! 2" were released on PlayStation 4 as part of a selection of PlayStation 2 games emulated on PlayStation 4, and were rendered at 1080p with additional features that supported trophies and remote play. In 2018, the Xbox version of "Destroy All Humans!" was added to the Xbox One's backwards compatibility catalog.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: In 2019, THQ Nordic announced a remake of "Destroy All Humans!" via a reveal trailer shown at E3. The remake was developed by Black Forest Games and released on July 28, 2020 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, on December 8, 2020 for Stadia, and on June 29, 2021 for Nintendo Switch.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: A standalone multiplayer spin-off, titled "Destroy All Humans! Clone Carnage" was released for Microsoft Windows via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.com, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 31, 2022.


title: Destroy All Humans!

text: In 2021, THQ Nordic announced a remake of "Destroy All Humans! 2" via a reveal trailer shown with development being handled by Black Forest Games. It was released on August 30, 2022 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.


title: Dan Snow

text: Born in Westminster, London Dan Snow is the youngest son of Peter Snow, BBC television journalist, and Canadian Ann MacMillan, managing editor emerita of CBC's London Bureau; thus he holds dual British-Canadian citizenship. Through his mother, he is the nephew of Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan and also a great-great-grandson of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George.


title: Dan Snow

text: One of his father's cousins is the Channel 4 news reporter Jon Snow and his paternal great-grandfather was Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, a British infantry general during World War I.


title: Dan Snow

text: Snow was educated in London at Westfield Primary School (now Barnes Primary) and at St Paul's School where he was Captain of School and rowed for its VIII. He then went to Balliol College, Oxford, his father's alma mater, and graduated with first-class honours in Modern History. A keen rower since his secondary school days, he won the U-23 men's division at the 2000 British Indoor Rowing Championships and rowed three times in the Boat Race, winning in 2000 and losing the controversial 2001 Boat Race when club President.


title: Dan Snow

text: Snow presented his first programme in October 2002 just after graduating from university, co-presenting the BBC's 60th anniversary special on the Battles of El Alamein with his father Peter. The two then collaborated to present an eight-part documentary series called "Battlefield Britain", which aired in 2004, and won a BAFTA Craft Award for special effects. The same year, Snow won a Sony award as one of the presenters on the LBC Boat Race coverage.


title: Dan Snow

text: Snow has presented on many state occasions such as the 200th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar, "Beating Retreat" 2006, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the 90th anniversary of the Armistice in November 2008, Trooping the Colour and the Lord Mayor's Show. Snow again collaborated with his father to present BBC 2's "20th Century Battlefields" and its print edition. The series covers battles all around the world and is presented in similar fashion to the first "Battlefield Britain".


title: Dan Snow

text: In early 2022, Snow was part of the Endurance22 expedition that found Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's lost vessel, Endurance, 107 years after it sank in the Weddell Sea.


title: Dan Snow

text: Snow was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to history. In 2019 Snow was awarded a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) honoris causa from Lancaster University. Other awards and honours include:


title: Dan Snow

text: On 27 November 2010, Snow married the criminologist and philanthropist Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor, second daughter of The 6th Duke of Westminster. Their daughter Zia (named after Zia Wernher) was born in 2011 and their son Wolf Robert in 2014; and another daughter Orla, born after Wolf.


title: Dan Snow

text: On 18 April 2010, Snow and a few friends took three rigid-hulled inflatable boats from Dover to Calais to help people return to Britain, after they had been stranded in France by the air travel disruption after the Icelandic eruption. When they arrived at Calais they were told by the French authorities that they could not return to collect any more people. He did manage to get 25 people back but was unable to return for more.


title: Dan Snow

text: In August 2011, he chased a group of rioters through Notting Hill in west London before tackling and performing a citizen's arrest on a looter who was fleeing from a shoe shop.


title: Dan Snow

text: Snow serves as President of the Council for British Archaeology and is a member of the Royal Historical Society. As an atheist and a humanist, he is a Patron of Humanists UK and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. He is also an advocate for political reform, being the Electoral Reform Society's first ambassador. He played a prominent part in the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum in the UK; after he released a viral video, the campaign used a version of it, featuring him, as their final Referendum Broadcast.


title: Dan Snow

text: In August 2014, Snow was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to "The Guardian" expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue. In June 2019, Snow wrote in a Twitter thread if Brexit happened and if the Scottish National Party won a majority of votes in Scotland, he would "get" why Scottish people would want to have a second referendum, as leaving the European Union could "put up barriers" for Scotland. He was then asked if this meant he now advise Scots to vote for independence, and he replied "No way. One thing Brexit has taught me is the utter insanity of trying to rip countries apart".


title: Dan Snow

text: Snow is one of sixteen conveners of More United, which plans to support candidates in parliamentary elections that support their values. The movement was set-up "to stand up for our values of opportunity, tolerance, the environment, democracy, and openness" in Summer 2016.


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: LisaGay Hamilton (born March 25, 1964) is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the ABC legal drama "The Practice" (1997–2003). She also portrayed Melissa Thoreau on the TNT comedy-drama "Men of a Certain Age" (2009-2011), Celia Jones on the Netflix series "House of Cards" (2016), Suzanne Simms on the Hulu series "Chance" (2016), and Kayla Price on the Hulu series "The First" (2018).


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Hamilton's film credits include roles in "12 Monkeys" (1995), "Jackie Brown" (1997), "Beloved" (1998), "True Crime" (1999), "The Sum of All Fears" (2002), "The Soloist" (2009), "Beastly" (2011), "Beautiful Boy" (2018), and "Vice" (2018). Her theater credits include "Measure for Measure" (Isabella), "Henry IV Parts I & II" (Lady Hotspur), Athol Fugard's, "Valley Song" and "The Ohio State Murders". Hamilton was also an original cast member in the Broadway productions of August Wilson’s "The Piano Lesson" and "Gem of the Ocean". In 2005 she won a Peabody Award for creating and directing the 2003 documentary film "".


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California but spent most of her childhood in Stony Brook, New York on Long Island. Her father, Ira Winslow Hamilton, Jr., hailed from Bessemer, Alabama, and her mother, the former Eleanor Albertine "Tina" Blackwell, was from Meridian, Mississippi. Both parents graduated from historically black colleges—Tina attended Talladega while Ira went to Morehouse—and they both became successful professionals. Ira worked for a while as an engineer and then went into business as a general contractor. Tina eventually earned a master's degree in social work and worked for the Girl Scouts for many years.


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Hamilton fell in love with theater at an early age. During the 1970s, she saw several off-Broadway productions by the Negro Ensemble Company, including "A Soldier's Story" and "The First Breeze of Summer". She enrolled in Carnegie Mellon University to study theater, but after a year was accepted into New York University's Tisch Drama School where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater in 1985. She then pursued graduate studies at The Juilliard School where she earned a M.A. in drama in 1989.


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Early on, Hamilton set her sights on classical theater. In one of her first notable roles, she played opposite Kevin Kline in "Measure for Measure" in the New York Shakespeare Festival. Hamilton's performances in "Much Ado About Nothing, Tartuffe, Reckless, Family of Mann", and "Two Gentlemen of Verona", earned her a reputation as a serious dramatic actor. In 1995–96, her portrayal of a young, aspiring South African singer in Athol Fugard's "Valley Song" garnered an Obie Award, the Clarence Derwent Award, the Ovation nomination for best actress, and a Drama Desk nomination. More recently, Hamilton earned critical acclaim, her second Obie, and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for her role as Suzanne Alexander in Adrienne Kennedy's, "The Ohio State Murders".


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Hamilton appeared in over two dozen films, including "The Truth About Charlie" and "Beloved" for director Jonathan Demme, Clint Eastwood's "True Crime", the independent films; "Palookaville", "Drunks", Showtime's "A House Divided", and as Ophelia in director Campbell Scott's film version of "Hamlet". She has worked on several projects with director Rodrigo García, notably his films "Ten Tiny Love Stories", "Nine Lives", and "Mother and Child". "Honeydripper" directed by John Sayles and "The Soloist", directed by Joe Wright.


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Hamilton won a Peabody Award in 2005 for creating and directing the 2003 documentary film "". The film tells the story of pioneering black actress Beah Richards, who had broken ground for African-American actresses. The two women had met on the set of "Beloved" (1998). Over the next two years, Hamilton made a record of more than 70 hours of their conversations. Hamilton's film explored Richards' political activism as well as her poetry. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the AFI Film Festival. After Richards died in 2000, Hamilton collaborated with illustrator R. Gregory Christie to turn one of her poems into a children's book. "Keep Climbing Girls" was published by Simon and Schuster in 2006.


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: Hamilton played the role of Melissa in "Men of a Certain Age", an hour-long comedy-drama television series starring Ray Romano, Andre Braugher, and Scott Bakula that ran from 2009 to 2011.


title: LisaGay Hamilton

text: In the fall of 2010, Hamilton took a faculty position in the School of Theater for the California Institute of the Arts.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, and "tabloid journalism" replaced the earlier label of "yellow journalism" and "scandal sheets". Not all newspapers associated with tabloid journalism are tabloid size, and not all tabloid-size newspapers engage in tabloid journalism; in particular, since around the year 2000 many broadsheet newspapers converted to the more compact tabloid format.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: In some cases, celebrities have successfully sued for libel, demonstrating that tabloid stories have defamed them.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: Tabloid journalism has changed over the last decade to more online platforms that seek to target and engage youth consumers with celebrity news and entertainment.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: Scandal sheets were the precursors to tabloid journalism. Around 1770, scandal sheets appeared in London, and in the United States as early as the 1840s. Reverend Henry Bate was the editor of one of the earliest scandal sheets, "The Morning Post", which specialized in printing malicious society gossip, selling positive mentions in its pages, and collecting suppression fees to keep stories unpublished. Other Georgian era scandal sheets were Theodore Hook's "John Bull", Charles Molloy Westmacott's "The Age", and Barnard Gregory's "The Satirist". William d'Alton Mann, owner of the scandal sheet "Town Topics", explained his purpose: "My ambition is to reform the Four Hundred by making them too deeply disgusted with themselves to continue their silly, empty way of life." Many scandal sheets in the U.S. were short-lived attempts at blackmail. One of the most popular in the States was the "National Police Gazette".


title: Tabloid journalism

text: Scandal sheets in the early 20th century were usually 4- or 8-page cheap papers specializing in the lurid and profane, sometimes used to grind political, ideological, or personal axes, sometimes to make money (because "scandal sells"), and sometimes for extortion. A Duluth, Minnesota example was "The Rip-saw", written by a puritanical journalist named John R. Morrison who was outraged by the vice and corruption he observed in that 1920s mining town. "The Rip-saw" regularly published accusations of drunkenness, debauchery, and corruption against prominent citizens and public officials. Morrison was convicted of criminal libel in one instance, but his scandal sheet may have contributed to several politicians losing their elections. After Morrison published an issue claiming that State Senator Mike Boylan had threatened to kill him, Boylan responded by helping to pass the Public Nuisance Bill of 1925. It allowed a single judge, without jury, to stop a newspaper or magazine from publishing, forever. Morrison died before the new law could be used to shut down "The Rip-saw". "The Saturday Press" was another Minnesota scandal sheet. When the Public Nuisance Bill of 1925 was used to shut down "The Saturday Press", the case made its way to the United States Supreme Court which found the gag law to be unconstitutional.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: In the United States and Canada, "supermarket tabloids" are large, national versions of these tabloids, usually published weekly. They are named for their prominent placement along the supermarkets checkout lines.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: In the 1960s, the "National Enquirer" began selling magazines in supermarkets as an alternative to newsstands. To help with their rapport with supermarkets and continue their franchise within them, they had offered to buy back unsold issues so newer, more up to date ones could be displayed.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: These tabloids—such as "The Globe" and the "National Enquirer"—often use aggressive and usually mean-spirited tactics to sell their issues. Unlike regular tabloid-format newspapers, supermarket tabloids are distributed through the magazine distribution channel like other weekly magazines and mass-market paperback books. Leading examples include the "National Enquirer", "Star", "Weekly World News" (later reinvented as a parody of the style), and the "Sun". Most major supermarket tabloids in the U.S. are published by American Media, Inc., including the "National Enquirer", "Star", "The Globe", and "National Examiner".


title: Tabloid journalism

text: A major event in the history of U.S. supermarket tabloids was the successful libel lawsuit by Carol Burnett against the "National Enquirer" ("Carol Burnett v. National Enquirer, Inc."), arising out of a false 1976 report in the "National Enquirer", implying she was drunk and boisterous in a public encounter with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Though its impact is widely debated, it is generally seen as a significant turning point in the relations between celebrities and tabloid journalism, increasing the willingness of celebrities to sue for libel in the U.S., and somewhat dampening the recklessness of U.S. tabloids. Other celebrities have attempted to sue tabloid magazines for libel and slander including Richard Simmons in 2017 and Phil McGraw in 2016.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: Tabloids may pay for stories. Besides scoops meant to be headline stories, this can be used to censor stories damaging to the paper's allies. Known as "catch and kill", tabloid newspapers may pay someone for the exclusive rights to a story, then choose not to run it. Publisher American Media has been accused of burying stories embarrassing to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Donald Trump, and Harvey Weinstein.


title: Tabloid journalism

text: The term "red tops" refers to British tabloids with red mastheads, such as "The Sun", the "Daily Star", the "Daily Mirror", and the "Daily Record".


title: Tabloid journalism

text: In the last decade, much of tabloid journalism and news production has changed mediums to online formats due to the transition to digital media. This change is to keep up with the era of digital media and allow for increased accessibility of readers. With a steady decline in paid newspapers, the gap has been filled by expected free daily articles, mostly in the tabloid format. Tabloid readers are often youths and studies show that consumers of tabloids are on average less educated. It can often depict inaccurate news and misrepresent individuals and situations.


title: Adrienne La Russa

text: Adrienne La Russa (born May 15, 1948) is an American actress known for her role as Brooke Hamilton on "Days of Our Lives", which she played from 1975 to 1977. Her film career included roles in "The Black Sheep" (1968), "Beatrice Cenci" (1969), "Keep It in the Family" (1973), "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976) and "Uncle Joe Shannon" (1978).


title: Adrienne La Russa

text: She also made a few guest appearances on television in the late 1970s and early 1980s and she had a supporting role in the 1978 miniseries "Centennial". La Russa played Clemma Zendt, the tempestuous daughter of series protagonists Levi and Lucinda Zendt.


title: Adrienne La Russa

text: Russo was born in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City, New York, where a childhood friend was fellow future actor Henry Winkler. She graduated from Cold Spring Harbor High School in Cold Spring Harbor, New York, on Long Island.


title: Adrienne La Russa

text: Her 1984 marriage to actor and martial artist Steven Seagal was annulled that same year. She married Robert French on December 31, 1987.


title: Lorenzo Mannino

text: Lorenzo "Lore" Mannino (born 1959) is according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation a powerful caporegime in the Gambino crime family.