title: Elton Brand

text: When Brand became a restricted free agent in 2003, the Miami Heat made an offer worth $82 million over six years. In what was an unprecedented move by team owner Donald Sterling, the Clippers matched Miami's offer and managed to keep Brand a Clipper. Prior to this, the biggest contract Sterling had approved to that point was a five-year, $15 million deal for Eric Piatkowski in 1998. Sterling had also refused to offer Brand a contract extension one year prior, when he was willing to accept less than the maximum.


title: Elton Brand

text: In the 2006 NBA season, Brand experienced a professional renaissance. He posted career-highs in points per game (24.7) and field-goal percentage (52.7), while leading the Clippers to a 47–35 record, their then-best record in team history, and good enough for the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Brand was selected to the 2006 NBA All-Star Game and considered as a strong candidate for the 2006 NBA MVP. Brand led the franchise to its first playoff series win since 1976, when the team was known as the Buffalo Braves. Although the Clippers eventually lost in Game 7 of the second round (Western Conference Semifinals) against the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers had the best season that their franchise had ever seen at that time. Brand received the Joe Dumars Trophy after being named the 2005–06 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner.


title: Elton Brand

text: Following his stellar 2005–06 season, Brand regressed somewhat in the following season. His scoring average in 2006–07 dropped and the Clippers missed the playoffs.


title: Elton Brand

text: He missed most of the 2007–08 season due to a ruptured left Achilles' tendon. However, Brand made his return to the Clippers' lineup April 2, 2008 after being out since the end of the previous season. He contributed 19 points in his return. Brand played in only eight games that season. Brand later opted out of the final year of his contract and became a free agent. Sources indicated that Brand chose to opt out from his contract in order to provide Clippers with more payroll flexibility in hopes of strengthening their roster. This came to fruition when Clippers landed Golden State Warriors star Baron Davis. Briefly, this gave Clippers' management and the media the reassurance that Brand would indeed re-sign with the team.


title: Elton Brand

text: On July 9, 2008, Brand signed with the Philadelphia 76ers to a reported five-year, $82 million contract. Brand longed to return to the East Coast, and chose Philadelphia as it was the closest suitor to his hometown of Peekskill, New York.


title: Elton Brand

text: It was announced on February 5, 2009 that Brand would have season-ending shoulder surgery for the injury he sustained on December 17, 2008. During the game that night against the Milwaukee Bucks, Brand dislocated his shoulder when he was knocked to the floor while going for a rebound. Brand had been coming off of the bench so that he could be slowly worked back into the lineup, but after over a month on the bench and only six games back during which his production was severely limited, the decision was made to go forward with the surgery. The procedure was successfully performed on February 9.


title: Elton Brand

text: On February 4, 2012 Brand scored a Sixers career high 33 points in a 100–98 win over the New York Knicks. He finished his first tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers averaging 11 points per game and just over 8 rebounds per game during the 2011–12 season. He averaged 8.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in the 2012 NBA Playoffs in a total of 13 games when the Sixers lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Boston Celtics 85–75.


title: Elton Brand

text: On July 13, 2012, Brand was claimed off waivers by the Dallas Mavericks with a winning bid of $2.1 million. The 76ers still had to pay out the remaining balance of the $18.2 million owed to Brand this season in the final year of his contract.


title: Elton Brand

text: In 2012–13, he averaged 7.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 assists in 21.2 minutes per game. He played 72 games and started 18 of them. The Mavericks finished 41–41 and missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1999–2000 season.


title: Elton Brand

text: On July 15, 2013, Brand signed with the Atlanta Hawks. On September 23, 2014, he re-signed with the Hawks and changed his long-time jersey number of 42, to 7. On August 11, 2015, Brand announced his retirement from professional basketball.


title: Elton Brand

text: On January 4, 2016, Brand came out of retirement to re-enter the NBA, citing that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski helped convince him to return to play. Later that day, he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, returning to the franchise for a second stint. On January 26, he was activated for the first time, but did not play for the 76ers against the Phoenix Suns. On March 4, he made his season debut for the 76ers, playing in an NBA game for the first time since May 20, 2015. In 13 minutes off the bench, he recorded eight points and four rebounds in a 112–102 loss to the Miami Heat. On March 12, he recorded a 10-point game against the Detroit Pistons, scoring in double digits for the first time since April 14, 2014. On March 27, he recorded a second 10-point game in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. Two days later, he scored seven points and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets, as he became the 51st player in NBA history to reach 9,000 career rebounds.


title: Elton Brand

text: On September 7, 2016, Brand re-signed with the 76ers. However, on October 20, 2016, he announced his second retirement.


title: Elton Brand

text: On December 6, 2016, Brand was named as the player development consultant of the Philadelphia 76ers. On August 28, 2017, he was named general manager of the Delaware 87ers (now Delaware Blue Coats).


title: Elton Brand

text: On September 20, 2018, Brand was promoted to general manager position of the Philadelphia 76ers. He extended his contract in 2020.


title: Elton Brand

text: Early in his career, Brand established himself as one of the top power forwards of the NBA. He holds career averages of 15.9 points, 8.5 rebounds (3.1 being offensive rebounds) and 1.7 blocks per game in 1,058 career games.


title: Elton Brand

text: Brand uses his wide body and surprising athleticism for a man his weight in order to out-muscle his opponents. A large wingspan also allows him to be a proficient shot-blocker.


title: Elton Brand

text: In his first years in the league, he had a few, but effective and powerful moves underneath the basket which already made him an effective post player. During the off-season prior to the 2005–06 season, he trimmed his weight to increase his quickness and added more finesse moves underneath the basket so that he could score without having to utilize power all the time. But most importantly, he worked on his shooting range and developed a dependable 18 ft. jumper. As a result, he raised his scoring by 4.7 points in that season.


title: Elton Brand

text: Brand started the "Elton Brand Foundation" in the spring of 2000. His foundation is an organization that provides support to worthy causes in Chicago, Illinois; Peekskill, New York; and Durham, North Carolina.


title: Elton Brand

text: In the summer of 2006, Elton married his longtime girlfriend (and fellow Duke student) Shahara Simmons in North Carolina. Brand also played for Team USA in the 2006 FIBA World Basketball Championships, averaging 8.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.


title: Elton Brand

text: Brand made a cameo appearance in the film Just Wright. Brand is a founding member and president of Gibraltar Films, a company engaged in film investment, acquisition, production, and distribution of motion pictures. The first project of Gibraltar Films was the production of a Vietnam-era prisoner-of-war film "Rescue Dawn", directed by Werner Herzog. Brand attended the film's premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Aedes albopictus ("Stegomyia albopicta"), from the mosquito (Culicidae) family, also known as the (Asian) tiger mosquito or forest mosquito, is a mosquito native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia. In the past few centuries, however, this species has spread to many countries through the transport of goods and international travel. It is characterized by the white bands on its legs and body.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: This mosquito has become a significant pest in many communities because it closely associates with humans (rather than living in wetlands), and typically flies and feeds in the daytime in addition to at dusk and dawn. The insect is called a tiger mosquito for its striped appearance, which resembles that of the tiger. "Ae. albopictus" is an epidemiologically important vector for the transmission of many viral pathogens, including the yellow fever virus, dengue fever, and Chikungunya fever, as well as several filarial nematodes such as "Dirofilaria immitis". "Aedes albopictus" is capable of hosting the Zika virus and is considered a potential vector for Zika transmission among humans.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In 1894, a British-Australian entomologist, Frederick A. Askew Skuse, was the first to scientifically describe the Asian tiger mosquito, which he named "Culex albopictus" (lat. ' "gnat", "midge" and ' "white-painted"). Later, the species was assigned to the genus "Aedes" (gr. , "unpleasant") and referred to as "Aedes albopictus". Like the yellow fever mosquito, it belongs to the subgenus "Stegomyia" (Gr. , "covered, roofed", referring to the scales that completely cover the dorsal surface in this subgenus, and , "fly") within the genus "Aedes". In 2004, scientists explored higher-level relationships and proposed a new classification within the genus "Aedes" and "Stegomyia" was elevated to the genus level, making "Aedes albopictus" now "Stegomyia albopicta". This is, however, a controversial matter, and the use of "Stegomyia albopicta" versus "Aedes albopictus" is continually debated.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The adult Asian tiger mosquito is less than long from end to end with a striking white and black pattern. The variation of the body size in adult mosquitoes depends on the density of the larval population and food supply within the breeding water. Since these circumstances are seldom optimal, the average body size of adult mosquitoes is considerably smaller than 10 mm. For example, the average length of the abdomen was calculated to be , the wings , and the proboscis .


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The males are roughly 20% smaller than the females, but they are morphologically very similar. However, as in all mosquito species, the antennae of the males in comparison to the females are noticeably bushier and contain auditory receptors to detect the characteristic whine, almost inaudible to humans, of the female. The maxillary palps of the males are also longer than their proboscis, whereas the females' maxillary palps are much shorter. (This is typical for the males of the Culicinae.) In addition, the tarsus of the hind legs of the males is more silvery. Tarsomere IV is roughly 75% silver in the males whereas the females' is only about 60% silver.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The other characteristics do not differentiate between sexes. A single silvery-white line of tight scales begins between the eyes and continues down the dorsal side of the thorax. This characteristic marking is the easiest and surest way to identify the Asian tiger mosquito.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The proboscis is dark colored, the upper surface of the end segment of the palps is covered in silvery scales, and the labium does not feature a light line on its underside. The compound eyes are distinctly separated from one another. The scute, the dorsal portion of an insect's thoracic segment, is black alongside the characteristic white midline. On the side of the thorax, the scutellum, and the abdomen are numerous spots covered in white-silvery scales.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Such white-silvery scales can also be found on the tarsus, particularly on the hind legs that are commonly suspended in the air. The bases of tarsomeres I through IV have a ring of white scales, creating the appearance of white and black rings. On the fore legs and middle legs, only the first three tarsomeres have the ring of white scales, whereas tarsomere V on the hind legs is completely white. The femur of each leg is also black with white scales on the end of the "knee". The femora of the middle legs do not feature a silver line on the base of the upper side, whereas, the femora on the hind legs have short white lines on base of the upper side. The tibiae are black on the base and have no white scales.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The terga on segments II through VI of the abdomen are dark and have an almost triangular silvery-white marking on the base that is not aligned with the silvery bands of scales on the ventral side of the abdomen. The triangular marking and the silvery band are only aligned on abdominal segment VII. The transparent wings have white spots on the base of the costae. With older mosquito specimens, the scales could be partially worn off, making these characteristics not stand out as much.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: As with other members of the mosquito family, the female is equipped with an elongated proboscis that she uses to collect blood to feed her eggs. The Asian tiger mosquito has a rapid bite and an agility that allows it to escape most attempts by people to swat it. By contrast, the male member of the species primarily feeds on nectar and does not bite.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The female lays her eggs near water, not directly into it as other mosquitoes do, but typically near a stagnant pool. However, any open container containing water will suffice for larvae development, even with less than an ounce (30mL) of water. It can also breed in running water, so stagnant pools of water are not its only breeding sites. It is more likely to lay eggs in water sources near flowers than in water sources without flowers. It has a short flight range (less than ), so breeding sites are likely to be close to where this mosquito is found.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Other mosquito species may be visually confused with the tiger mosquito. Comparison with approved pictures is the best way to determine the species with certainty. Behavioral cues like almost-silent flight and difficulty in catching combined with knowledge of the range of local endemic mosquitoes may also aid this process.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Some mosquitoes in North America, such as "Ochlerotatus canadensis", have a similar leg pattern. In North and South America, "Ae. albopictus" can be distinguished from "Aedes taeniorhynchus" since only "Ae. albopictus" has back markings.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In Europe, the mosquito "Culiseta annulata", which is very common, but does not occur in high densities, can be mistaken for an Asian tiger mosquito because of its black-and-white-ringed legs. However, this species is missing the distinctive white line that runs from the middle of its head and down the thorax. It is also considerably larger than "Ae. albopictus", is not black and white, but rather beige and grey striped, and has wings with noticeable veins and four dark, indistinct spots. The Tree Hole mosquito or Aedes geniculatus – a native to Europe and North Africa- has also been mistaken for "Ae. albopictus." This is because the Tree Hole mosquito has very white scales on a very similar body.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In the eastern Mediterranean area, "Ae. albopictus" species can be mistaken for "Aedes cretinus", which also belongs to the subgenus "Stegomyia" and uses similar breeding waters. "Aedes cretinus" also has a white stripe on the scute, but it ends shortly before the abdomen, and also has two additional stripes to the left and right of the middle stripe. So far "Aedes cretinus" is only located in Cyprus, Greece, North Macedonia, Georgia and Turkey.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In Asia, the Asian tiger mosquito can be mistaken for other members of the subgenus "Stegomyia", particularly the yellow fever mosquito "Aedes aegypti" (the most prevalent species in the tropics and subtropics), because both species display a similar black and white pattern. It can be hard to distinguish "Ae. albopictus" from the closely related "Aedes scutellaris" (India, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines), "Aedes pseudoalbopictus" (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam) and "Aedes seatoi" (Thailand).


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Like other mosquito species, only the females require a blood meal to develop their eggs. Apart from that, they feed on nectar and other sweet plant juices just as the males do. In regards to host location, carbon dioxide and organic substances produced from the host, humidity, and optical recognition play important roles.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The search for a host takes place in two phases. First, the mosquito exhibits a nonspecific searching behavior until it perceives host stimulants, whereupon it secondly takes a targeted approach. For catching tiger mosquitoes with special traps, carbon dioxide and a combination of chemicals that naturally occur in human skin (fatty acids, ammonia, and lactic acid) are the most attractive.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The Asian tiger mosquito particularly bites in forests during the day, so has been known as the forest day mosquito. Depending upon region and biotype, activity peaks differ, but for the most part, they rest during the morning and night hours. They search for their hosts inside and outside of human dwellings, but are particularly active outside. The size of the blood meal depends upon the size of the mosquito, but it is usually around 2 μl. Their bites are not necessarily painful, but they are more noticeable than those from other kinds of mosquitoes. Tiger mosquitoes generally tend to bite a human host more than once if they are able to.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: "Ae. albopictus" also bites other mammals besides humans, as well as birds. The females are always on the search for a host and are persistent but cautious when it comes to their blood meal and host location. Their blood meal is often broken off before enough blood has been ingested for the development of their eggs, so Asian tiger mosquitoes bite multiple hosts during their development cycle of the egg, making them particularly efficient at transmitting diseases. The mannerism of biting diverse host species enables the Asian tiger mosquito to be a potential bridge vector for certain pathogens that can jump species boundaries, for example the West Nile virus.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Primarily, other mosquito larvae, flatworms, swimming beetles, fungi, ciliates, paramecia, protozoans which act as parasites, predatory copepods, and spiders are natural enemies of the larval stage of Asian tiger mosquitoes.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: "Toxorhynchites" larvae, a mosquito genus that does not suck blood, feeds upon other mosquito larvae and are often found with tiger mosquito larvae. Flatworms and small swimming beetles are considered natural predators.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Fungi from the genus "Coelomomyces" (order Blastocladiales) develop inside the visceral cavity of mosquito larvae. The species "Coelomomyces stegomyiae" was first found on the Asian tiger mosquito.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Paramecia, or ciliates, can also affect "Ae. albopictus" larvae, and the first detected species was "Lambornella stegomyiae" (Hymenostomatida: Tetrahymenidae). The virulence, mortality rate, and subsequent possibilities of "Lambornella" being implemented as a biological remedy to control "Ae. albopictus", however, has conflicting views.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Sporozoans of the genus "Ascogregarina" (Lecudinidae) infect the larval stage of mosquitoes. The species "Ascogregarina taiwanensis" was found in Asian tiger mosquitoes. When the adult mosquitoes emerge from their pupal case, they leave the infectious intermediary stage of parasites in the water and close off the infection cycle. Infected adults are generally smaller than non-infected adults and have an insignificantly higher mortality rate; therefore, food supply and larval density apparently play a role. In competitive situations, an infection with sporozoans can also reduce the biological fitness of other uninfected mosquitoes. However, the use of the parasites as an effective biological remedy to control mosquito populations is implausible because the host must reach the adult stage for the transmission of the parasites.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Though they do not commonly occur in the natural habitats of Asian tiger mosquitoes, predatory copepods from the family Cyclopidae seem to willingly feed on them given the opportunity. Relatives of different genera could therefore present a possibility in the control of tiger mosquitoes.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Predators of adult "Ae. albopictus" in Malaysia include various spider species. Up to 90% of the gathered spiders from rubber plantations and a cemetery fed upon Asian tiger mosquitoes. Whether the spiders would have an effect on the mosquito population is still unclear. Tiger mosquitoes were abundantly present despite the existence of the spiders.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The Asian tiger mosquito originally came from Southeast Asia. In 1966, parts of Asia and the island worlds of India and the Pacific Ocean were denoted as the area of circulation for the Asian tiger mosquito. "Ae. albopictus" as a native to tropical and subtropical regions with warm and humid climate, is active all year long; however, it has been adapting successfully to cooler, temperate regions, where they hibernate over winter. Eggs from strains in the temperate zones are more tolerant to the cold than ones from warmer regions. The species can even tolerate snow and temperatures under freezing. Adult tiger mosquitoes can survive throughout winter in suitable microhabitats.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Since the mid-1960s, the tiger mosquito has spread to Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East. As of 2008 "Ae. albopictus" was one of the 100 world's worst invasive species according to the Global Invasive Species Database.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: As of 2006, "Ae. albopictus" was not native to Australia and New Zealand. The species was introduced there multiple times, but has yet to establish itself. This is due to the well-organized entomological surveillance programs in the harbors and airports of these countries. Nevertheless, as of 2006 it has become domestic on the islands in the Torres Strait between Queensland, Australia, and New Guinea.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In Europe, Asian tiger mosquitos first emerged in Albania in 1979, introduced through a shipment of goods from China. In 1990–1991, they were most likely brought to Italy in used tires from Georgia (USA), and since then have spread throughout the entire mainland of Italy, as well as parts of Sicily and Sardinia. Since 1999, they have established themselves on the mainland of France, primarily southern France. In 2002, they were also discovered in a vacation town on the island of Corsica, but did not completely establish themselves there until 2005. In Belgium, they were detected in 2000 and 2013, in 2001 in Montenegro, 2003 in Canton Ticino in southern Switzerland, and Greece, 2004 in Spain and Croatia, 2005 in the Netherlands and Slovenia, and 2006 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the fall of 2007, the first tiger mosquito eggs were discovered in Rastatt (Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany). Shortly before, they were found in the northern Alps of Switzerland in Canton Aargau. since 2010, it has also been sighted increasingly in Malta during summer. In September 2016, Public Health England found eggs, though no mosquitos, in a lorry park at Folkestone service station on the M20, near Westenhanger, which is 6 miles West of the Eurotunnel. The Swiss Autobahns are especially of concern. Governments and universities in Switzerland cooperate every year to monitor the invasion using traps at Autobahn rest stations, and also at airports and commercial hubs.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In the United States, this species invaded the Southern United States in the 1980s and rapidly spread northward into novel climate compared to its native range. It was initially found in 1983 in Memphis, Tennessee. then at the Port of Houston in a 1985 shipment of used tires, and spread across the South up the East Coast to become prevalent in the Northeast. It was not discovered in Southern California until 2001, then eradicated for over a decade; however, by 2011, it was again being found in Los Angeles County traps, then over the next two years expanded its range to Kern County and San Diego County.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: , North American land favoring the environmental conditions of the Asian tiger mosquito was expected to more than triple in size in the coming 20 years, especially in urban areas. "Aedes albopictus" mosquitoes have been identified in 1,368 counties in 40 U.S states. A 2019 study in Nature Microbiology that modeled expansion of "Aedes albopictus" due to climate change, urbanization, and human movement found that the species would likely continue to spread throughout the coming decades.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In Latin America, the Asian tiger mosquito was first discovered 1986 in Brazil and in 1988 in Argentina and Mexico, as well. Other parts of Latin America where the Asian tiger mosquito was discovered are the Dominican Republic in 1993, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, and Guatemala in 1995, El Salvador in 1996, Paraguay in 1999, Panama in 2002, and Uruguay and Nicaragua in 2003.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In Africa, the species was first detected in 1990 in South Africa. In Nigeria, it has been domestic since at least 1991. It spread to Cameroon in 1999/2000, to the Bioko Island of Equatorial Guinea in 2001, and to Gabon in 2006.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In the Middle East, the species was detected in Lebanon in 2003 and in Syria in 2005; the first record in Israel was published in 2003.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: "Ae. albopictus" can outcompete and even eradicate other species with similar breeding habitats from the very start of its dispersal to other regions and biotopes. In Kolkata, for example, it was observed in the 1960s that egg depositing containers were being settled by the Asian tiger mosquito in city districts where the malaria mosquito (genus "Anopheles") and yellow fever mosquito ("Aedes aegypti") had both been eliminated by the application of DDT. This may be because primarily the inner walls of the houses were treated with DDT to kill the mosquitoes resting there and fight the malaria mosquito. The yellow fever mosquito also lingers particularly in the inside of buildings and would have been also affected. The Asian tiger mosquito rests in the vicinity of human dwellings would therefore have an advantage over the other two species. In other cases where the yellow fever mosquito was repressed by the Asian tiger mosquito, for instance in Florida, this explanation does not fit. Other hypotheses include competition in the larval breeding waters, differences in metabolism and reproductive biology, or a major susceptibility to sporozoans (Apicomplexa).


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The Asian tiger mosquito is similar, in terms of its close socialization with humans, to the common house mosquito ("Culex pipiens"). Among other differences in their biology, "Culex pipiens" prefers larger breeding waters and is more tolerant to cold. In this respect, no significant competition or suppression between the two species likely occurs.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: A possible competition among mosquito species that all lay their eggs in knotholes and other similar places ("Ae. cretinus", "Ae. geniculatus", and "Anopheles plumbeus") has yet to be observed.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In Europe, the Asian tiger mosquito apparently covers an extensive new niche. This means that no native, long-established species conflict with the dispersal of "Ae. albopictus".


title: Aedes albopictus

text: "Ae. albopictus" is known to transmit pathogens and viruses, such as the yellow fever virus, dengue fever, Chikungunya fever, and Usutu virus. There is some evidence supporting the role of "Ae. albopictus" in the transmission of Zika virus, which is primarily transmitted by the related "Ae. aegypti".


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The Asian tiger mosquito was responsible for the Chikungunya epidemic on the French Island La Réunion in 2005–2006. By September 2006, an estimated 266,000 people were infected with the virus, and 248 fatalities occurred on the island. The Asian tiger mosquito was also the transmitter of the virus in the first and only outbreak of Chikungunya fever on the European continent. This outbreak occurred in the Italian province of Ravenna in the summer of 2007, and infected over 200 people. Evidently, mutated strains of the Chikungunya virus are being directly transmitted through "Ae. albopictus" particularly well and in such a way that another dispersal of the disease in regions with the Asian tiger mosquito is feared.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: On the basis of experimental evidence and probability estimates, the likelihood of mechanical or biological transmission of HIV by insects is virtually nonexistent.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The tiger mosquito is relevant to veterinary medicine. For example, tiger mosquitoes are transmitters of "Dirofilaria immitis", a parasitic roundworm that causes heart failure in dogs and cats.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: "Wolbachia" infection are the most common infection in arthropods today, and over 40% of arthropods have contracted it. "Wolbachia" can be transmitted from parent to offspring or between breeding individuals. "Wolbachia" is easily transmitted within the "Ae. albopictus" mosquito due to the effects it has on fecundity in females. Once female Asian tiger mosquitos have contracted the infection, they produce more eggs, give birth more frequently, and live longer than uninfected females. In this way, "Wolbachia" provides a fitness advantage to the infected females and prevents uninfected females from reproducing. This allows control of the spread of diseases that many species carry by suppressing reproduction of the individuals with the harmful disease, but without the "Wolbachia" infection. "Wolbachia" can also be used to transfer certain genes into the population to further control the spread of diseases.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In the natural environment, "Wolbachia" and the Asian tiger mosquito are in a symbiotic relationship, so both species benefit from each other and can evolve together. The relationship between "Wolbachia" and its host might not have always been mutualistic, as "Drosophila" populations once experienced decreased fecundity in infected females, suggesting that "Wolbachia" evolved over time so that infected individuals would actually reproduce much more. The mechanism by which "Wolbachia" is inherited through maternal heredity is called cytoplasmic incompatibility. This changes the gamete cells of males and females, making some individuals unable to mate with each other. Although little is known about why cytoplasmic incompatibility exists, "Wolbachia" infection creates a fitness advantage for infected females, as they can mate with either infected or uninfected males. Despite this, infected males cannot reproduce with uninfected females. Therefore, over time, a population exposed to "Wolbachia" transitions from a few infected individuals to all individuals becoming infected, as the males that cannot reproduce successfully do not contribute to future generations. This is called population replacement, where the population's overall genotype is replaced by a new genotype. This shows how populations of Asian tiger mosquitoes can vary in number of "Wolbachia"-infected individuals, based on how often the infection is transmitted. Due to "Wolbachia's" ability to transmit from one host to the next, it can change the average genotype of a population, potentially reducing the population's gene flow with other nearby populations.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: This type of cytoplasmic incompatibility where an infected male cannot reproduce successfully with an uninfected female is called unidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility. It occurs because "Wolbachia" modifies the paternal chromosomes during sperm development, leading to complications for these offspring during embryonic development.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Also, bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility occurs when an infected male carrying one strain of "Wolbachia" reproduces with an infected female carrying a different strain of "Wolbachia". This also results in failed reproduction. Bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility also has evolutionary implications for populations of "Ae. albopictus" and other vectors of the infection. This is because bidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility in "Wolbachia" creates unviable offspring, reducing gene flow between two populations, which can eventually lead to speciation.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: "Ae. albopictus" is very difficult to suppress or to control due to its remarkable ability to adapt to various environments, its close contact with humans, and its reproductive biology.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The containment of infestations is generally effected by public health services through area-wide integrated control plans, which aim to reduce the nuisance perceived by populations and the risks of viraemic transmission. Such plans consist of different activities that include entomological surveillance, larvicide treatments in public and private areas, information campaigns, and treatments against adult mosquitoes in the zones affected by suspected cases of transmissible viroses.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Efficient monitoring or surveillance is essential to prevent the spread and establishment of this species. In addition to the monitoring of ports, warehouses with imported plants, and stockpiles of tires, rest areas on highways and train stations should be monitored with appropriate methods.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: The control of Asian tiger mosquitoes begins with destroying the places where they lay their eggs, which are never far from where people are being bitten, since they are weak fliers, with only about a 180-m (650-ft) lifetime flying radius. Puddles that last more than three days, sagging or plugged roof gutters, old tires holding water, litter, and any other possible containers or pools of standing water should be drained or removed. Bird baths, inlets to sewers and drainage systems holding stagnant water, flower pots, standing flower vases, knotholes, and other crevices that can collect water should be filled with sand or fine gravel to prevent mosquitoes from laying their eggs in them.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Any standing water in pools, catchment basins, etc., that cannot be drained, or dumped, can be periodically treated with properly labeled insecticides or "Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis" (Bti), often formed into doughnut-shaped "mosquito dunks". Bti produces toxins which are effective in killing larvae of mosquitoes and certain other dipterans, while having almost no effect on other organisms. Bti preparations are readily available at farm, garden, and pool suppliers.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Flowing water will not be a breeding spot, and water that contains minnows is not usually a problem, because the fish eat the mosquito larvae.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Dragonflies are also an excellent method of control. Dragonfly larvae eat mosquito larvae in the water, and adults snatch adult mosquitoes as they fly.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: In any case, an efficient surveillance is essential to monitor the presence of tiger mosquitoes and the effect of control programs. Ovitraps are normally used for the monitoring of "Ae. albopictus". They are black water containers with floating Styrofoam blocks or small wooden paddles that are in contact with the surface of the water. Female tiger mosquitoes lay their eggs on these surfaces. Through the identification of these eggs or of the larvae that hatch from these eggs in the laboratory, the presence and abundance of mosquito species can be estimated. Versions of these traps with an adhesive film (sticky traps) that catch the egg-depositing mosquitoes make the analysis much easier and quicker, but are more complicated in terms of handling. The results of ovitraps are often variable and depend on the availability of alternative egg-depositing waters. Due to this, it is best to use them in large numbers and in conjunction with other monitoring methods.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: To date, few effective traps for adult Asian tiger mosquitoes are available. Those traps that catch other species of mosquitoes do not catch tiger mosquitoes efficiently. A form of an ovitrap called a lethal ovitrap mimics the breeding site for "Ae. albopictus" just like the monitoring tool, but it has the added benefit of containing chemicals that are toxic to the mosquitoes when they enter, but do not harm humans. These traps have had success in some countries to control "Aedes" mosquito populations. A new trap type has now been shown to catch significant numbers of "Ae. albopictus". This device, with the help of a ventilator, produces an upward air current of ammonia, fatty acids, and lactic acids that takes a similar form and smell of a human body. With the addition of carbon dioxide, the efficacy of the trap is increased. This means a suitable tool is available for trapping adult tiger mosquitoes, and for example, examining the existence of viruses in the trapped mosquitoes. Previously, the mosquitoes had to be collected from volunteers to be studied, which is ethically questionable, especially during epidemics. Recent research also indicates this trap type may also have a use as a control tool; in a study in Cesena, Italy, the number of biting tiger mosquitoes was reduced in places where traps were installed.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: An amino acid substitution mutation – F1534C – is overwhelmingly the most common voltage-gated sodium channel in "A. albopictus" in Singapore. This channel being the target of pyrethroids, this is suspected to be a knockdown resistance ("kdr") mutation, and that that is the reason for its prevalence.


title: Aedes albopictus

text: Although the "Wolbachia" infection is prevalent in arthropod species, especially the Asian tiger mosquito, it is a useful mechanism for inhibiting the spread of dengue. "Ae. aegypti" individuals, a close relative of "Ae. albopictus", with an artificial "Wolbachia" infection, cannot transmit dengue, an infectious virus, but they can pass on the "Wolbachia" infection to other populations. This could lead to many more discoveries in disease control for "Ae. albopictus" and other mosquito species. In addition, due to the cytoplasmic incompatibility caused by "Wolbachia", the artificial infection of males can serve as a biological control as they are unable to reproduce successfully with uninfected females (unidirectional CI). When artificially infected males are unable to reproduce, the population size can be controlled, thereby reducing the transmission of the harmful disease of interest. Artificial infection of males is achieved by the removal of cytoplasm from infected oocytes, which is then transferred into embryos prior to the blastoderm stage.


title: Jeremy Irons on stage and screen

text: The following is an on stage and screen filmography of the English stage actor Jeremy Irons; he is known for his work on stage, theatre, film, and television.


title: Jeremy Irons on stage and screen

text: Following his training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Irons first acted with the school's theatre company:


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. Development began with the "Type 142", a civil airliner, in response to a challenge from Lord Rothermere to produce the fastest commercial aircraft in Europe. The "Type 142" first flew in April 1935, and the Air Ministry, impressed by its performance, ordered a modified design as the "Type 142M" for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber. Deliveries of the newly named Blenheim to RAF squadrons commenced on 10 March 1937. In service the Type 142M became the Blenheim Mk.I which would be developed into the longer Type 149, designated the Blenheim Mk.IV, except in Canada where Fairchild Canada built the Type 149 under licence as the Bolingbroke. The Type 160 Bisley was also developed from the Blenheim, but was already obsolete when it entered service.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In addition to operating as medium bombers, both versions were converted into heavy fighters by the addition of a gun pack with four Browning machine guns mounted under the fuselage. The Mk.IV was also used as a maritime patrol aircraft and both aircraft were also used as bombing and gunnery trainers once they had become obsolete as combat aircraft.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Blenheim was one of the first British aircraft with an all-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable landing gear, flaps, a powered gun turret and variable-pitch propellers. The Mk.I was faster than most of the RAF's biplane fighters in the late 1930s but advances soon left it vulnerable if flown in daylight, though it proved successful as a night fighter. The Blenheim was effective as a bomber but many were shot down. Both Blenheim types were used by foreign operators, and examples were licence built in Yugoslavia and Finland, in addition to Canada.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In 1933 Frank Barnwell, Bristol's chief designer, went to the United States to collect first-hand information on their latest twin-engined, low-wing monoplane airliners. When he returned home he discussed one of them, the Lockheed Electra 12A, with Roy Fedden and prepared a design to match it using Fedden's Bristol Aquila engine which produced 500 hp, the same power as the engine used in the Electra. Sir Archibald Russell described Barnwell's design as "close to being a replica of the Electra". It was designated "Type 135".


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In early 1934, Lord Rothermere, owner of the "Daily Mail" newspaper, challenged the British aviation industry to build a high-speed aircraft capable of carrying six passengers and two crew members – he referred to the ambition as seeking "the fastest commercial aeroplane in Europe, if not the world". At the time, German firms were producing a variety of record-breaking high-speed designs, such as the single-engined Heinkel He 70, and Rothermere wanted the prestige of being able to claim to have the fastest civilian aircraft, as well as to purchase such an aircraft himself. Rothermere also intended to encourage businesses and key figures to make greater use of civil aviation, and to demonstrate to the British Air Ministry how their fighter aircraft may not be able to match modern transport aircraft, which may be easily converted to, or used as the basis for, a bomber aircraft.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Rothermere became aware of Bristol's "Type 135" proposal and, in response to his inquiry, on 3 March 1934, Barnwell issued him with a quote of the specification and performance statistics of the design, including an estimated top speed of at . By this point, proposed use of the Aquila engine had been shelved in favour of the supercharger-equipped, poppet-valve Bristol Mercury engine. Deeming it suitable for the issued challenge, the design of Type 135 was further adapted to produce the "Type 142" in order to meet the requirements outlined by Rothermere. In late March 1934, Rothermere placed an order for a single "Type 142" aircraft, under which he paid for half of the estimated £18,500 cost up front and the remainder upon the aircraft's first flight in the following year.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: On 12 April 1935, the "Type 142", which had been given the name "Britain First", conducted its maiden flight from Filton Aerodrome, South Gloucestershire. Flight tests soon proved that the aircraft was in fact faster than any fighter in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the time, having demonstrated a top speed of . Rothermere presented the aircraft to the nation for a formal evaluation as a potential bomber. By June 1935, the Air Ministry had become interested in the project due to its high performance. On 9 July 1935, a design conference was held by Bristol at the ministry's request into the question of converting the "Type 142" into a suitable medium bomber.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Based upon talks from the conference, the Air Ministry quickly formalised Specification B.28/35 for prototypes of a bomber version; the "Type 142M" (M for military). One principal change between the "Type 142M" bomber and its "Type 142" predecessor was the repositioning of the wing from a low-wing to a mid-wing position, which allowed for more internal space within the fuselage underneath the main spar to accommodate a sizable bomb bay. Other modifications included the addition of a bomb-aimer's position and a Browning machine gun in the nose along with provisions for a semi-retractable gun turret in the dorsal position.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In September 1935, an initial contract for 150 aircraft was placed. The Air Ministry had chosen to order the type directly from the drawing board, having been urgently sought as one piece of a wider and rapid expansion of the RAF. The first aircraft built of this production model, "K7033", served as the only prototype; on 25 June 1936, "K7033" conducted its first flight from Filton. The service name for the aircraft became "Blenheim Mk I" after the famous battle during the War of the Spanish Succession. On 10 March 1937, production deliveries to the RAF formally started; 114 Squadron became the first squadron to receive the Blenheim. On 13 January 1938, the Blenheim entered service with No. 30 Squadron, the first overseas squadron to receive the type; in early 1939, the first Blenheims arrived in India.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: From July 1936 onwards, various additional orders were placed for the "Blenheim Mk I", including multiple orders for the export market. By the end of 1936, 1,568 aircraft were on order. In order to meet the demand, secondary assembly lines were established at Chadderton by Avro and at Speke by Rootes Securities. The aircraft was built under licence by foreign countries, including Finland, who completed a total of 55 aircraft, and Yugoslavia, which completed 16 aircraft with a further 24 in advanced stages of completion when Germany invaded Yugoslavia. Other countries also procured the Blenheim, including Romania, Greece and Turkey. By September 1939, orders for the Blenheim had risen to 2,088 aircraft. Total production of the "Blenheim Mk I" in England was 1,351 aircraft prior to the end of the production run in 1939; production had been terminated in favour of more advanced variants.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Blenheim production programme saw several shifts in requirements and in capacity. A modified Blenheim design, given the name "Bolingbroke", was manufactured under licence in Canada by Fairchild Aircraft. The Bolingbroke, which had been developed in response to Air Ministry Specification G.24/35 to procure a coastal reconnaissance/light bomber as a replacement for the Avro Anson, had substantial improvements that would serve as the basis for improved variants of the Blenheim. Both the navigator's station and range limitations of the Blenheim Mk.I had been subject to considerable criticism, prompting the development of an improved model to rectify the shortcomings. On 24 September 1937, an experimental Blenheim Mk.I, modified with an extended forward fuselage beyond its original stepless cockpit, smooth-fronted nose enclosure, made its first flight from Filton.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Formal work on an extended-range reconnaissance version started as the Blenheim Mk II, which increased tankage from . Only one Blenheim Mk II was completed, as flight tests revealed the increase in speed to be marginal and not warranting further development. Another modification resulted in the Blenheim Mk III, which lengthened the nose, dispensing with the "stepless cockpit" format of the Mk.I, introducing a true windscreen in front of the pilot, to provide more room for the bomb aimer. This required the nose to be "scooped out" in front of the pilot to maintain visibility during takeoff and landing. Both modifications were combined, along with a newer version of the Mercury engine with . The turret acquired a pair of Brownings in place of the original single Vickers K gun, creating the Blenheim Mk IV.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In early 1939, the first batch of Blenheim Mk IVs were accepted into service; these lacked outer fuel tanks but were accepted due to the urgent demand for the type. Early Blenheim Mk IVs were also equipped with the Mercury VIII engine, most were fitted with the more powerful Mercury XV or Mercury 25 models. Further aircraft deliveries were made to the production standard and were primarily manufactured by Avro and Rootes. Production of the Blenheim IV continued until June 1943, when newcomers such as the Beaufort-derived Beaufighter had succeeded the type. A total of 3,307 were produced.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: A long-range fighter version, the Blenheim Mk IF, was also developed. For this role, about 200 Blenheims were fitted with a gun pack under the fuselage for four Brownings. Later, the Airborne Intercept (AI) Mk III or IV radar was fitted to some aircraft in use as night fighters; these were the first British fighters to be equipped with radar. The Blenheim had been selected as the first aircraft to be adapted for this role as its fuselage was sufficiently roomy to accommodate the additional crew member and radar apparatus. Their performance was marginal as a fighter but they served as an interim type pending availability of the more capable Beaufighter derivative. About 60 Mk IVs were also equipped with the gun pack as the Mk IVF and were used by Coastal Command to protect convoys from German long-range bombers.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The last bomber variant was conceived as an armoured ground attack aircraft, with a solid nose containing four more Browning machine guns. Originally known as the Bisley, (after the shooting competitions held at Bisley Ranges), the production aircraft were renamed Blenheim Mk V and featured a strengthened structure, pilot armour, interchangeable nose gun pack or bomb-aimer position and another Mercury variant with . The Mk V was ordered for conventional bombing operations, with the removal of armour and most of the glazed nose section. The Mk V (Type 160) was used primarily in the Middle East and Far East. The Blenheim served as the basis for the Beaufort torpedo bomber, which led to the Beaufighter, with the lineage performing two evolutions of bomber-to-fighter.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Bristol Blenheim was a twin-engine high performance all-metal medium bomber aircraft, powered by a pair of Bristol Mercury VIII air-cooled radial engines, each capable of . Each engine drove a three-bladed controllable-pitch propeller, and were equipped with both hand-based and electric engine starters. To ease maintenance, the engine mountings were designed with a split-segment to facilitate rapid engine removal without disturbing the carburettors. A pair of fuel tanks, each containing up to 140 gallons, were housed within the centre-section of the fuselage.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The fuselage of the Blenheim employed a light-alloy monocoque structure using open-section stringers, and was constructed in three sections. The wing is also built in three sections, the centre-section of which is bolted and rivetted to the fuselage. The outer wing sections are tapered in chord and thickness. Extensive use of Alclad sheeting is made in elements such as the ribs, skin, flaps, and web reinforcement of the spars. The tail unit is of a cantilever monoplane style, using an all-metal tailplane and fin while the aerodynamically-balanced rudder and elevators use a metal frame covered with fabric. The undercarriage was hydraulically-retracted, with an auxiliary hand-pump for emergency actuation; medium-pressure tyres were used, complete with pneumatically-actuated differentially-control brakes.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Blenheim typically carried a crew of three – pilot, navigator/bombardier and wireless (radio) operator/air gunner. The pilot's quarters on the left side of the nose were so cramped that the control yoke obscured all flight instruments while engine instruments eliminated the forward view on landings. Most secondary instruments were arranged along the left side of the cockpit, essential items such as the propeller pitch control were actually placed behind the pilot where they had to be operated by feel alone. The navigator/bombardier was seated alongside the pilot, and made use of a sliding/folding seat whilst performing the bomb aiming role. Dual flight controls could be installed. The wireless operator/air gunner was housed aft of the wing alongside the aircraft's dorsal gun turret.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Armament comprised a single forward-firing Browning machine gun outboard of the port engine and a Lewis Gun in a semi-retracting Bristol Type B Mk I dorsal turret firing to the rear. From 1939 onwards, the Lewis gun was replaced by the more modern Vickers VGO machine gun. A bomb load could be carried in the internal bomb bay set into the centre section of the fuselage. Like most contemporary British aircraft, the bomb bay doors were kept closed with bungee cords and opened under the weight of the released bombs. Because there was no way to predict how long it would take for the bombs to force the doors open, bombing accuracy was consequently poor. The bomb bay could be loaded using a hand-operated winch incorporated into the fuselage.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: To achieve its relatively high speed, the Blenheim used a very small fuselage cross-section, with its upper front glazing all at one angle in the form of a "stepless cockpit" that used no separate windscreen panels for the pilot, a notable feature of a substantial majority of German bomber designs, first conceived during the war years. Both fixed and sliding window panels were present, along with a transparent sliding roof. Other onboard equipment included a radio, cameras, navigation systems, electric lighting, oxygen apparatus, and stowage for parachutes and clothing.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In September 1939, the month in which the Second World War broke out, the Blenheim Mk I equipped two home-based squadrons and 11 overseas squadrons in locations such as Egypt, Aden, Iraq, India, and Singapore. Further RAF squadrons had received, or were in the process of converting to, the more capable Blenheim Mk IV; 168 Blenheim Mk IV aircraft had entered RAF operational strength by the outbreak of war.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim Mk IV, "N6215", piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast to perform a high altitude reconnaissance mission upon the German Navy in the vicinity of Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony. The following morning, 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions to attack the ships spotted on the previous day. The raid was a failure, only nine aircraft attacked, and only superficial damage was done to the cruiser "Emden", when one of No. 107 Squadron's Blenheims crashed into the cruiser, killing 11 crewmen. RAF Coastal Command were soon using the Blenheim with the stated mission of protecting British shipping convoys off the east coast.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Shortly after the conflict's start, the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF) was deployed to numerous airfields in France, allowing for shorter range bombing missions against German targets, including industries. Several squadrons of Blenheim IVs were assigned to the AASF, being frequently used against targets in France and the Low Countries once the Battle of France had begun. Blenheims were also assigned to the air component of the British Expeditionary Force of the Army.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In May 1940, AASF and BEF Blenheims participated in the Battle of France, being sent against German forces moving towards Brussels, resulting in many aircraft quickly sustaining heavy damage or being lost to enemy fire. German attacks upon the French airfields also damaged a considerable number of Blenheims on the ground. On 14 May, a combined force of Fairey Battles and Blenheims was dispatched on a counter-attack upon German forces as they broke through defensive lines: 40 out of 71 aircraft were lost in this sortie. This is claimed to be the highest ever losses known to the RAF. Further action by Blenheims of Bomber Command that day sustained a 25% aircraft loss despite a high level of British fighter cover. Shortly thereafter, the mostly-depleted squadrons were withdrawn to Britain. Around 50 Blenheims supported the Dunkirk evacuation by harassing enemy forces.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Rapid advances in technology which had taken place in the late 1930s had rendered the Blenheim mostly obsolete by the outbreak of the war. In particular, it had become heavier as extra service equipment was installed; much of this was found to be necessary through operational experience. This, coupled with the rapid performance increases of the fighters that would oppose it, had eclipsed the Blenheim's speed advantage. In January 1941, the Air Staff classified the Blenheim as inadequate in terms of performance and armament for current operations.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The light armament was seldom able to deter fighter opposition. Squadrons were forced to use several different improvisations in an attempt to provide better defensive armament, until officially sanctioned modifications were able to be introduced in early 1940. The Blenheim also proved to be vulnerable to anti-aircraft artillery, especially around the rear fuselage. Flexible, self-sealing liners had been fitted to the fuel tanks but they were still not fully protected against the MG FF cannon carried by the "Luftwaffe"s Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Blenheim squadrons were still in immediate and high demand after their withdrawal from France as part of the British action during the Norwegian campaign. Typically operating from bases in the northern areas of the British mainland, such as RAF Lossiemouth, flying for extended periods over the North Sea led to the weather posing almost as much of a risk as enemy combatants, particularly as most of the Blenheim IVs lacked any heating or deicing systems; in response, some aircraft were later equipped with boilers fixed onto the starboard engine exhaust. A sizeable number of losses occurred, caused by both enemy action and mid-air engine failures due to icing.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: After the fall of France in June 1940, the Free French Air Force was formed at RAF Odiham, Hampshire, in the form of "Groupe Mixte de Combat" (GMC) 1, consisting of a mixed bag of Blenheims and Westland Lysander liaison/observation aircraft, which were later dispatched to North Africa and saw action against Italian and German forces.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Blenheim units operated throughout the Battle of Britain, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. From July to December 1940, Blenheims raided German-occupied airfields both in daylight and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of twelve Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a "Staffelkapitän" identified as "Hauptmann" Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another, and caused lighter damage to four more.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a "Luftwaffe" airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by twelve aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged but was killed on another operation before a court martial was held); the other eleven, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim units had also been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against "Luftwaffe" fighters and they took constant casualties.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: On 12 August 1941, an action described by "The Daily Telegraph" in 2006 as being the "RAF's most audacious and dangerous low-level bombing raid, a large-scale attack against power stations near Cologne" took place. The raid was a low-level daylight raid by 54 Blenheims under the command of Wing Commander Nichol of No. 114 Squadron RAF. They hit their targets (Fortuna Power Station in Oberaußem-Fortuna and the Goldenberg Power Station in Hürth-Knapsack), but twelve of the Blenheims were lost during the raid, 22% of those that took part, which was far above the sustainable loss rate of less than 5%. The England cricketer Squadron leader Bill Edrich was awarded the DFC for his part in the raid.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: From 5 September 1940 Blenheims of Bomber Command began a bombing campaign targeting German-occupied ports along the English Channel, alongside heavier bomber types. Bomber Command Blenheims also performed anti-shipping patrols due to Coastal Command's own strike squadrons being heavily depleted throughout the latter half of 1940. On 11 March 1940, a Blenheim IV, "P4852", became the first RAF aircraft to sink a U-boat, having scored two direct hits on U-31 in the Schillig Roads. In April 1941, a campaign aiming to completely close off the Channel to enemy shipping was launched using an initial flight of Blenheims stationed at RAF Manston. Between April and June that year, a total of 297 Blenheims of No 2. Group attacked German shipping at sea, losing 36 aircraft, while Coastal Command launched 143 attacks in the same period, losing 52 aircraft; by the end of the year, 698 ships had been attacked and 41 of these sunk for the loss of 123 aircraft.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Bristol Blenheim was used by both Bomber and Fighter Commands. About two hundred Mk I bombers were modified into Mk IF long-range fighters with 600 (Auxiliary Air Force) Squadron, based at Hendon, the first squadron to take delivery in September 1938. By 1939, at least seven squadrons were operating them as fighters, increasing to about 60 squadrons within a few months. The Mk IF proved to be slower and less manoeuvrable than expected, and by June 1940 daylight Blenheim losses caused concern for Fighter Command. The Mk IF was relegated mainly to night fighter duties where No. 23 Squadron RAF, which had already operated them at night, soon relegated them to night intruder operations as they were not effective as night fighters.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. The Blenheim was replaced by the faster and more heavily-armed Bristol Beaufighter in 1940–1941.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: On 11 June 1940, only hours after Italy's entry into the war on Germany's side, several Blenheim IVs bombed Italian positions. In mid-1940, reinforcement ferry routes were established throughout Africa, starting in Takoradi on the Gold Coast. By the end of 1940, a total of three RAF squadrons equipped with Blenheim IV aircraft were performing anti-shipping, bombing, and reconnaissance missions in support of Allied ground forces in North Africa.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: By July 1941, it had been recognised that, in response to the increasing intensity of combat in North Africa and in the Middle East theatres, additional squadrons were urgently required. In the latter half of 1941, several Blenheim squadrons were flown out to Malta, many being stationed there into early 1942 before mainly being absorbed in the Western Desert air operations. As Bomber Command gradually took Blenheims out of the Northern Europe theatre, they were often dispatched to other areas such as North Africa. Upon the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, some Blenheim squadrons in the Middle East were relocated from the theatre to the Far East in response to the new threat from Japanese forces.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Blenheims continued to operate widely in many combat roles until about 1943, equipping RAF squadrons in the UK and at British bases in Aden, India, British Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies. Many Blenheims were lost to Japanese fighters during the Malayan Campaign and the battles for Singapore and Sumatra. By that point, the traditional daylight light bomber role was more effectively carried out by suitable fighter-bombers, and the surviving examples were relegated to training duties. Nonetheless, the Blenheim played a role in preventing India from falling and in recapturing Burma, destroying over 60 aircraft on the ground in raids on Bangkok early in the campaign.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Air Ministry's replacement for the Blenheim as a daylight bomber, another Bristol design, the Buckingham, was overtaken by events and changes in requirements, and considered inferior to the de Havilland Mosquito, and as such did not see combat. The final ground-attack version – the Blenheim Mk V – first equipped 139 Squadron in June 1942. Eventually thirteen squadrons – mainly in the Middle East and Far East – received this variant but operated them generally only for a few months.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: On 9 April 1942, nine Blenheims from the 11 Squadron RAF attacked Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's "Kidō Butai"; the Imperial Japanese main carrier battle group. The Blenheims approached undetected by the A6M2 "Zero" combat air patrol (CAP) fighters, resulting in a total surprise-attack upon the Japanese carrier battle group. While the bombers were able to drop bombs on fleet carrier "Akagi" from an altitude of , they fell off-target without scoring any hits. Four of the Blenheims were shot down over the carriers by CAP "Zeroes" (two of which were claimed by ace-fighter pilot Kaname Harada from the "Soryu"), and by other Japanese aircraft returning from the earlier-strike on HMS "Hermes". This was the first time a Japanese carrier force had faced a concerted air attack in the Pacific War.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In 1936, the Finnish Air Force became the first export customer for the Blenheim, ordering 18 Blenheim Mk Is, which were delivered from Britain between June 1937 and July 1938. Two years later, Finland obtained a manufacturing licence for the Blenheim. Before any aircraft could be manufactured at the "Valtion lentokonetehdas" (State Aeroplane Factory) in Finland, the Winter War broke out, forcing the Finns to order more aircraft from the UK. A further 24 British-manufactured Blenheims were ordered during the Winter War and were delivered from the RAF's own stocks.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In the aftermath of the Winter War, 55 Blenheims were constructed in Finland, the final aircraft being completed in September 1944; this brought the total number of Blenheims in Finnish service to 97 (75 Mk Is and 22 Mk IVs). The Finns also received 20 half-completed ex-Yugoslavian Mk IV Blenheims captured by Germany, together with manufacturing tools, production equipment, and a huge variety of spare parts, although some of these had been damaged or otherwise destroyed through sabotage. Yugoslavia had ceased production of the Mk I and commenced a production run of Mk IVs just prior to the April 1941 invasion. The British-made Blenheims had RAF green interiors, RAF seat belts and instruments on imperial units, while Finnish-made Blenheims had medium grey interiors, Finnish-style seat belts and metric instruments.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Finnish Blenheims flew 423 missions during the Winter War, and close to 3,000 missions during the Continuation War and Lapland War. Blenheim machine-gunners also shot down eight Soviet aircraft. Thirty-seven Blenheims were lost in combat during the wars.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: Series I with doorless bomb bays could carry bomb load in the bomb bay and up to in wing cells. Series II, V and VI could carry load on bomb bay and on wing cells and fuselage racks. Series III and IV had the original RAF bomb bays and racks and could carry only load on bomb bay and on wing cells. The bomb bays, bomb bay doors and bomb racks of various series were modified on major overhauls to host bigger bombs.,


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: After the war, Finland was prohibited from flying bomber aircraft by the Paris Peace Treaty, with Finland's Blenheims being placed into storage in 1948. However, in 1951, five Blenheims were re-activated for use as target tugs, with the last flight of a Finnish Blenheim taking place on 20 May 1958.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In Finland, the sole surviving original Blenheim in the world, a Mk IV registered as BL-200 of the Finnish Air Force, has been completely restored and is now on display at the Aviation Museum of Central Finland at Tikkakoski.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: An airworthy Blenheim was rebuilt from a scrapped Bolingbroke over a 12-year period, only to crash at an airshow at Denham within a month of completion in 1987.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: A replacement Bolingbroke Mk IVT was rebuilt to flying status over five years and painted to represent a Blenheim Mk IV in RAF wartime service. It began flying at air shows and exhibitions in the UK in May 1993, and was used in the 1995 film version of Shakespeare's "Richard III". This aircraft crashed on landing at Duxford on 18 August 2003, but after extensive repair and conversion to the Mark I "Short nose" version by The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC) at Duxford, was displayed to the public on 30 May 2014, and flew again, for 29 minutes, on 20 November 2014, following restoration at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England. The aircraft appeared in the 2017 Christopher Nolan film "Dunkirk".


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: In summer 1996, a Bristol Blenheim Mk IVF was recovered from the sea, a few kilometres off Rethymnon, Crete. The aircraft belonged to No. 203 Squadron RAF and was downed by friendly fire on 28 April 1941. The Blenheim was moved to the Hellenic Air Force Museum for restoration.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Kent Battle of Britain Museum in Hawkinge has begun a project to build a Blenheim IVF using the remains of four Bristol Bolingbrokes. The Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC) provided the left-over parts from its own Blenheim restoration.


title: Bristol Blenheim

text: The Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels exhibits a Bolingbroke painted as a No. 139 Squadron RAF Blenheim XD-A that crash landed in May 1940 in Belgium


title: Star 80

text: Star 80 is a 1983 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bob Fosse. It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Village Voice" article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter and is based on Canadian "Playboy" model Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her husband Paul Snider in 1980. The film’s title is taken from one of Snider's vanity license plates.


title: Star 80

text: The film stars Mariel Hemingway as Stratten and Eric Roberts as Snider, with supporting roles by Cliff Robertson, Carroll Baker, Roger Rees, Stuart Damon, Josh Mostel and David Clennon. The film chronicles Stratten's relationship with Snider, their move to Los Angeles, her success as a "Playboy" model, the dissolution of their relationship and her murder.


title: Star 80

text: "Star 80" was filmed on location in Vancouver, British Columbia and Los Angeles, California; the death scene was filmed in the same house in which the real murder-suicide took place. Hugh Hefner, disliking his depiction in the film, sued its producers. In accordance with the Stratten family's wishes, Stratten's mother is never mentioned by name in the film and the names of her sister and brother were changed. Other names were changed because of legal concerns.


title: Star 80

text: In 1980, Dorothy Stratten lies dead as her husband rants to himself about the events that led up to the present moment. Through a series of flashbacks that are interspersed by the murderer's rants, the story is told. Two years earlier, Stratten was working at a Dairy Queen in her hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia when she met Paul Snider, a brash small-time scam artist and pimp. Snider charms Stratten into taking him to her high-school prom. He woos Stratten with attention and flattery, convincing her to pose nude in Polaroid photographs. He tries to run Dorothy's life, threatens any other man who comes near her and insists on being her personal manager.


title: Star 80

text: Snider uses the nude photographs to persuade a professional to create a portfolio for Stratten. Snider forges the signature of Stratten's mother on a consent form and sends the portfolio to "Playboy". The magazine invites Stratten to Los Angeles to pose for a professional photographer.


title: Star 80

text: "Playboy" founder and publisher Hugh Hefner makes Stratten Playmate of the Month for the August 1979 issue. Hefner provides lodging for Stratten and gives her a job as a bunny at an L.A. Playboy Club. Snider pressures Stratten into marrying him. She begins an acting career with small film and television roles and is made 1980's Playmate of the Year.


title: Star 80

text: Snider purchases a new Mercedes SL with the vanity license plate STAR 80, but feels dejected after losing money on failed business ventures and being eclipsed by Stratten's success. At the Playboy Mansion, Stratten catches the eye of film director Aram Nicholas, who lets her read for a film role. Snider hires a private investigator to follow Stratten and learns that Stratten and Nicholas are sleeping together. Snider buys a shotgun after Stratten insists that she intends to leave him. Against Nicholas's wishes, Stratten meets with Snider to arrange a financial settlement. Snider pleads with Stratten not to leave him, but she says that the marriage is over. Enraged, he rapes and shoots her. As he then turns the gun on himself, the screen turns to black with the gunshot.


title: Star 80

text: The idea for the project began when Bob Fosse's friend Paddy Chayefsky recommended a Pulitzer Prize-winning article about Stratten written by Teresa Carpenter that had appeared in "The Village Voice". In May 1981, it was announced that Fosse was developing a screenplay, originally titled "The Dorothy Stratten Story."


title: Star 80

text: Mariel Hemingway believed she was ideal for the part and campaigned for it vigorously with letters, telephone messages and visits to Fosse’s home. She eventually won the role after four readings and her casting was announced in March 1982. Some in the media reported that Hemingway had undergone breast augmentation surgery to secure the part. In the 2020 documentary "", Hemingway admits she did indeed have a breast-enlargement procedure before being cast, but says, "I did it for me. I wouldn't have done that because of a movie." Nude photographs of Hemingway posing as Stratten appeared in the January 1984 issue of "Playboy" magazine.


title: Star 80

text: According to Fosse, he had to persuade Eric Roberts to play the role of Paul Snider, a character whom Roberts considered unlikeable. Early media speculation suggested that Harry Dean Stanton might be cast as "Playboy" publisher Hugh Hefner, but Cliff Robertson was later reported to be researching the role by visiting Hefner's mansion. The film was Carroll Baker's first Hollywood production since her 1967 return from Europe.


title: Star 80

text: Director Peter Bogdanovich, Stratten's boyfriend at the time of her murder, expressed opposition to the project, arguing that Fosse "didn’t know the true story." Fosse acknowledged this to be true but countered that the film was actually about Snider. Bogdanovich refused to allow his name to be used in the film and threatened to sue if he found the character of Aram Nicholas to be objectionable. He provided his opinions of the film in his 1984 biography of Stratten, "The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten, 1960-1980", but did not pursue legal action.""


title: Star 80

text: Preproduction began in Stratten’s hometown of Vancouver in January 1982. Sets were created to represent Stratten’s bedroom, high-school gymnasium and the Dairy Queen where she had met Snider. After Hefner refused to allow filming at his estate, an unoccupied mansion in Pasadena was renovated to resemble that of Hefner. After the film's release, Hefner expressed disappointment, describing it as "too shallow." The film's party scenes show actual "Playboy" models.


title: Star 80

text: Principal photography began on July 6, 1982 in Vancouver and continued for four months, including four weeks in Vancouver and 12 weeks in Los Angeles, and finished three days ahead of schedule.


title: Star 80

text: "Star 80" is the second film based on the murder of Stratten, preceded by the 1981 television film "", with Jamie Lee Curtis as Stratten and Bruce Weitz as Snider.


title: Star 80

text: The film was dedicated to Fosse's longtime friend Paddy Chayefsky who died two years before the film.


title: Star 80

text: The film opened in 16 theaters in major cities on November 10, 1983, grossing $233,313 on its opening weekend. Warner Bros. planned to release the film to more theaters for the Christmas season and to give it a wide release in time for the next Academy Awards ceremony. Eventually, the film grossed $6,472,990 domestically and was shown at a peak of 502 theaters in early 1984. "Star 80" has an 81% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. On Metacritic it has a weighted average score 63% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: Star 80

text: Critical reception to the film was generally mixed, but it was praised for Hemingway’s and Roberts's performances. Roberts won the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. Fosse was nominated for the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. "Star 80" marked Fosse's final film as director before his death in 1987.


title: Star 80

text: The film was screened out of competition at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. "The Washington Post" called it "Bob Fosse's latest stylish stinker." Gene Siskel of "The Chicago Tribune" placed the film on his list of the ten best films of 1983, though acknowledging that the film was very unpleasant.


title: Star 80

text: "Chicago Sun-Times" critic Roger Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars and deemed it an "important movie." Appearing with Siskel on an October 1986 edition of "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers", Ebert said that Roberts should have been nominated for an Oscar for his work on "Star 80". Ebert coined the phrase ""Star 80" syndrome" after claiming that Gary Oldman's performance as Sid Vicious in "Sid and Nancy" was snubbed for the same reason as was Roberts: "Hollywood will not nominate an actor for portraying a creep, no matter how good the performance is."


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: "The Joker and the Queen" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, taken from his fifth studio album, "=", that was released on 29 October 2021 by Asylum and Atlantic Records. Sheeran wrote and produced the song with Johnny McDaid, Fred, and Sam Roman. A duet version of the song, featuring American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, was released on 11 February 2022 as the album's fourth single.


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: The single is a slow-paced folk ballad driven by a cinematic piano, waltz tempo, and 1950s-inspired strings. It marks the fourth collaboration between Sheeran and Swift, following "Everything Has Changed" (2012), "End Game" (2017), and "Run" (2021). An accompanying music video, itself a sequel to the video of "Everything Has Changed" and featuring the same actors, was released on the same day as the song. The single charted at number two in Japan and the UK, number three in Singapore, number five in Ireland, Lithuania and Malaysia, number 11 in Australia, Belgium, and Vietnam, number 12 in Canada, number 15 in the Philippines, and number 19 in Hong Kong and Switzerland.


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: "The Joker and the Queen" is a song written and produced by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, alongside his collaborators Johnny McDaid, Fred and Sam Romans. After writing "Bad Habits", Sheeran thought that he finished writing for the day before Fred played him a piano instrumental created by Romans, which Fred found "very beautiful" but was never able to expand it into a song. Sheeran then spent about 20 minutes writing down various metaphors, including coming up with the song's title and the line "I fold, you saw my hand, you let me win, you put the cards on the table." Sheeran thought that the song was too easy to write and disliked it. However, Sheeran's brother Matthew created a string composition for the song, which Sheeran admired for sounding like an "old classic that had been around since the '50s".


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: The song was recorded at Fieldwork Studio in London and Suffolk, Stamford Street in London, Promised Land Music Studios in London, Abbey Road Studios in London and Pixel in London. The mixing was handled by Mark "Spike" Stent at the Mixsuite while it was mastered by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis Studios in London. "The Joker and the Queen" was released on 29 October 2021 as the sixth track on Sheeran's fifth studio album "=".


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: Shortly after "=" was released, Sheeran confirmed that a new recording of the song featuring an American singer had been recorded and was set to be released in January 2022; however, he cautioned that it was not official as it had not been cleared for release. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, a frequent collaborator of Sheeran, began hinting that she was the featured artist on the song, using several easter eggs such as in Swift's music video for "I Bet You Think About Me" where she carves the equals sign on a wedding cake; the video's director Blake Lively promoted the video with the joker emoji on social media. Swift also released playing cards in promotion of her 2021 re-recorded album "Red (Taylor's Version)". Additionally, in Sheeran's "Overpass Graffiti" music video, Swift's name can be seen in a newspaper column as well as on a leather jacket that Sheeran wears which also has joker and queen print.


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: In December 2021, Sheeran confirmed that the duet "The Joker and the Queen" would be released as the fourth single from "=" in 2022. On 1 February 2022, Sheeran revealed on social media that he was signing some CDs for a new project, which featured an artwork with a joker and a queen that resembled Swift. Four days later, the song credits in the lyric video for "The Joker and the Queen" showed "(feat. Taylor Swift)" in the title. Sheeran officially revealed that the remix of "The Joker and the Queen" would feature Swift at the 42nd Brit Awards on 8 February 2022 in a red carpet interview with "LADbible". Sheeran announced the single via social media the following day, set for release on 11 February 2022. The single marked the fourth collaboration between Sheeran and Swift, after "Everything Has Changed" (2013), "End Game" (2017) and "Run" (2021).


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: "The Joker and the Queen" is a folk waltz. It has been described as a "cinematic" piano ballad. In the duet remix, Swift takes over the second verse with a female perspective, replacing Sheeran's original lyrics. The lyrics explain love using a card game analogy.


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: The track received positive reviews. Melissa Ruggieri of "USA Today" said the duet is a tender, heartfelt ballad, accentuated by "a sumptuous piano melody with a cinematic swoosh of strings". "Billboard" writer Hannah Dailey wrote that the song is a delicate piano ballad about rekindling lost love. Jason Brow of "Hollywood Life" described it as "another great addition to the Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift lore". Michael Major of "BroadwayWorld" dubbed the track a beautifully reimagined version of the original album track. Robin Murray of "Clash" called it an "undiverting ear-worm", claiming it was "pleasant but definitely not distracting, sitting more in Sheeran's MOR vein than Taylor's recent reclamation work." He said Swift and Sheeran are " relishing classicism, utilising form to craft a gentle delight". "Gulf News" labelled it a "soothing romantic ballad" and a "Valentine’s Day gift to (their) fans".


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: Upon the release of "=", the album version of "The Joker and the Queen" debuted at number 66, 78, and 99 on Australia's ARIA Singles, Canadian Hot 100, and the "Billboard" Global 200 charts, respectively. Following the release of the duet version, "The Joker and the Queen" reached a new peak of number 11 in Australia, and debuted at numbers two and five on the UK Singles and Irish Singles charts, respectively. It debuted at number 15 on "Billboard" Philippine Songs chart and reached number 10 on the "Billboard" Global 200.


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: The music video of "The Joker and the Queen" continued the storyline from the video for Swift's 2013 single featuring Sheeran, "Everything Has Changed"; the child actors who resembled Swift and Sheeran in the latter video—Ava Ames and Jack Lewis, respectively—play the grown-up versions of themselves in the former. The video shows a text message between the two characters, which is a real text-exchange between Sheeran and Swift that was shared to Swift's Instagram account in 2015. A screenshot of the "Everything Has Changed" music video also appears as a framed photograph in "The Joker and the Queen" video.


title: The Joker and the Queen

text: Sheeran performed "The Joker and the Queen" at the 42nd Brit Awards on 8 February 2022, and in Paris, Stade de France on 30 July 2022.


title: Escarpment

text: An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.


title: Escarpment

text: The terms "scarp" and "scarp face" are often used interchangeably with "escarpment". Some sources differentiate the two terms, with "escarpment" referring to the margin between two landforms, and "scarp" referring to a cliff or a steep slope. In this usage an escarpment is a ridge which has a gentle slope on one side and a steep scarp on the other side.


title: Escarpment

text: More loosely, the term "scarp" also describes a zone between a coastal lowland and a continental plateau which shows a marked, abrupt change in elevation caused by coastal erosion at the base of the plateau.


title: Escarpment

text: Scarps are generally formed by one of two processes: either by differential erosion of sedimentary rocks, or by movement of the Earth's crust at a geologic fault. The first process is the more common type: the escarpment is a transition from one series of sedimentary rocks to another series of a different age and composition. Escarpments are also frequently formed by faults. When a fault displaces the ground surface so that one side is higher than the other, a fault scarp is created. This can occur in dip-slip faults, or when a strike-slip fault brings a piece of high ground adjacent to an area of lower ground.


title: Escarpment

text: Earth is not the only planet where escarpments occur. They are believed to occur on other planets when the crust contracts, as a result of cooling. On other Solar System bodies such as Mercury, Mars, and the Moon, the Latin term rupes is used for an escarpment.


title: Escarpment

text: When sedimentary beds are tilted and exposed to the surface, erosion and weathering may occur. Escarpments erode gradually and over geological time. The mélange tendencies of escarpments results in varying contacts between a multitude of rock types. These different rock types weather at different speeds, according to Goldich dissolution series so different stages of deformation can often be seen in the layers where the escarpments have been exposed to the elements.


title: Class (biology)

text: In biological classification, class () is a taxonomic rank, as well as a taxonomic unit, a taxon, in that rank. It is a group of related taxonomic orders. Other well-known ranks in descending order of size are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order.


title: Class (biology)

text: The class as a distinct rank of biological classification having its own distinctive name (and not just called a "top-level genus" "(genus summum)") was first introduced by the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in his classification of plants that appeared in his "Eléments de botanique", 1694.


title: Class (biology)

text: Insofar as a general definition of a class is available, it has historically been conceived as embracing taxa that combine a distinct "grade" of organization—i.e. a 'level of complexity', measured in terms of how differentiated their organ systems are into distinct regions or sub-organs—with a distinct "type" of construction, which is to say a particular layout of organ systems. This said, the composition of each class is ultimately determined by the subjective judgment of taxonomists. Often there is no exact agreement, with different taxonomists taking different positions. There are no objective rules for describing a class, but for well-known animals there is likely to be consensus.


title: Class (biology)

text: In the first edition of his "Systema Naturae" (1735), Carl Linnaeus divided all three of his kingdoms of Nature (minerals, plants, and animals) into classes. Only in the animal kingdom are Linnaeus's classes similar to the classes used today; his classes and orders of plants were never intended to represent natural groups, but rather to provide a convenient "artificial key" according to his "Systema Sexuale", largely based on the arrangement of flowers. In botany, classes are now rarely discussed. Since the first publication of the APG system in 1998, which proposed a taxonomy of the flowering plants up to the level of orders, many sources have preferred to treat ranks higher than orders as informal clades. Where formal ranks have been assigned, the ranks have been reduced to a very much lower level, e.g. class Equisitopsida for the land plants, with the major divisions within the class assigned to subclasses and superorders.


title: Class (biology)

text: The class was considered the highest level of the taxonomic hierarchy until George Cuvier's "embranchements", first called Phyla by Ernst Haeckel, were introduced in the early nineteenth century.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: Tammy Lynn Leppert (born February 5, 1965 - disappeared July 6, 1983) was an American actress, model and beauty queen who went missing under mysterious circumstances at the age of 18.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: Leppert was employed primarily as a model throughout her late-childhood and teenage years, appearing on the front of "CoverGirl" magazine in October 1978. She began participating in beauty contests at 4 years old. As a child, she competed in nearly 300 beauty pageants and won the vast majority of them, taking home about 280 crowns. Just before her disappearance, she appeared in the 1983 film "Scarface" as the girl who was a distraction to the lookout car during the bloody chainsaw shower scene. Before that, among other minor roles, she played a participant in a boxing match in the teen movie "Spring Break". Reportedly, her legs, hips and torso were used in the main poster for the movie. It is claimed she had plans to go to Hollywood in 1983.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: After the shooting of the film "Spring Break" was finished, Leppert went unaccompanied to a weekend party. She came home from the party "a different person" according to her close friend Wing Flannagan's testimony. When she was playing in her next film, "Scarface," she suddenly returned home after the fourth day of filming. Her mother assumed that Leppert had been afraid of being murdered by someone, and that she had become overtaken by this delusion. Her mother felt obliged to have her examined by a doctor, but after 72 hours in a medical center, Leppert was released and there seemed to be no signs of drug or alcohol use according to doctor statements.""


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: Leppert was last seen in Cocoa Beach, Florida on July 6, 1983. She was reported to have worn a blue denim shirt decorated with flowers, along with a matching skirt, a gray purse, and sandals. Some agencies have stated that she left without shoes or money. A friend of Leppert's told authorities that he had an argument with her while driving her from her home in Rockledge, Florida, that he had later "left her [...] in a parking lot." Although he is the last person believed to have seen her, he is not considered a suspect. However, her mother has claimed that Leppert was "afraid" of him.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: After Tammy Leppert's disappearance, Cocoa Beach Detective Harold Lewis received two telephone calls from a woman claiming that Leppert was still alive. In the first call, the woman said that Leppert was well and would make contact when the time was right. During the second call, she said that Leppert was doing what she always wanted: going to school to become a nurse.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: At the time of her disappearance, Leppert was between and and weighed between . She had curly blonde hair and hazel eyes. It is also speculated that she may have been three months pregnant.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: Christopher Bernard Wilder was a serial killer linked by the FBI to the murders of 12 women from Florida to California; officials say Wilder lured women with promises of photographing them for magazines. Wilder died in a shootout with police in 1984. Leppert's family sued Wilder before he was killed, but eventually halted the process, as some had doubts as to whether he was involved. Their agent also stated that she did not believe Wilder killed Leppert. Authorities have not linked Wilder to Leppert's disappearance.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: Another person of interest in the case was John Crutchley, a convicted kidnapper and rapist who was suspected of killing as many as 30 women. He committed suicide in prison in 2002. Leppert's mother theorized that her daughter could have been murdered due to her knowledge of local drug trafficking. She said Leppert exhibited signs of paranoia, as she was cautious when consuming food and would not drink from open containers. She had also allegedly filed a report to police.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: Several age progressions have been created to show what Leppert may have looked like if she were still alive, by forensic artists Danny Sollitti, Diana Trepkov, and those from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Profiles detailing the case have been created by the Doe Network, National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in hopes of generating leads from tips. Leppert's DNA profile has since been processed, but her dental records and fingerprints have not been accessed by local police. It is believed that her dental information had been acquired at some point, but that poor record keeping resulted in the data being lost.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the following unidentified decedents have been ruled out as being the remains of Tammy Leppert.


title: Tammy Lynn Leppert

text: The television program "Unsolved Mysteries" profiled Leppert's disappearance in September 1992, Season 5 Episode 1. This episode includes: Tami [sic] Lynn, Hudson Valley UFO (Pts. 1 & 2) and Daredevil Doe & UD. Language: English Runtime: 42 minutes Release date: December 31, 1992.