title: Digital television

text: Changes in signal reception from factors such as degrading antenna connections or changing weather conditions may gradually reduce the quality of analog TV. The nature of digital TV results in a perfectly decodable video initially, until the receiving equipment starts picking up interference that overpowers the desired signal or if the signal is too weak to decode. Some equipment will show a garbled picture with significant damage, while other devices may go directly from perfectly decodable video to no video at all or lock up. This phenomenon is known as the digital cliff effect.


title: Digital television

text: Block error may occur when transmission is done with compressed images. A block error in a single frame often results in black boxes in several subsequent frames, making viewing difficult.


title: Digital television

text: For remote locations, distant channels that, as analog signals, were previously usable in a snowy and degraded state may, as digital signals, be perfectly decodable or may become completely unavailable. The use of higher frequencies will add to these problems, especially in cases where a clear line-of-sight from the receiving antenna to the transmitter is not available, because usually higher frequency signals can't pass through obstacles as easily.


title: Digital television

text: Television sets with only analog tuners cannot decode digital transmissions. When analog broadcasting over the air ceases, users of sets with analog-only tuners may use other sources of programming (e.g. cable, recorded media) or may purchase set-top converter boxes to tune in the digital signals. In the United States, a government-sponsored coupon was available to offset the cost of an external converter box. Analog switch-off (of full-power stations) took place on December 11, 2006, in The Netherlands, June 12, 2009 in the United States for full-power stations, and later for Class-A Stations on September 1, 2016, July 24, 2011 in Japan, August 31, 2011 in Canada, February 13, 2012 in Arab states, May 1, 2012, in Germany, October 24, 2012, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, October 31, 2012 in selected Indian cities, and December 10, 2013, in Australia. Completion of analog switch-off is scheduled for December 31, 2017 in the whole of India, December 2018 in Costa Rica and around 2020 for the Philippines.


title: Digital television

text: Prior to the conversion to digital TV, analog television broadcast audio for TV channels on a separate FM carrier signal from the video signal. This FM audio signal could be heard using standard radios equipped with the appropriate tuning circuits.


title: Digital television

text: However, after the transition of many countries to digital TV, no portable radio manufacturer has yet developed an alternative method for portable radios to play just the audio signal of digital TV channels; DTV radio is not the same thing.


title: Digital television

text: The adoption of a broadcast standard incompatible with existing analog receivers has created the problem of large numbers of analog receivers being discarded during digital television transition. One superintendent of public works was quoted in 2009 saying; "some of the studies I’ve read in the trade magazines say up to a quarter of American households could be throwing a TV out in the next two years following the regulation change". In 2009, an estimated 99 million analog TV receivers were sitting unused in homes in the US alone and, while some obsolete receivers are being retrofitted with converters, many more are simply dumped in landfills where they represent a source of toxic metals such as lead as well as lesser amounts of materials such as barium, cadmium and chromium.


title: Digital television

text: According to one campaign group, a CRT computer monitor or TV contains an average of of lead. According to another source, the lead in glass of a CRT varies from 1.08 lb to 11.28 lb, depending on screen size and type, but the lead is in the form of "stable and immobile" lead oxide mixed into the glass. It is claimed that the lead can have long-term negative effects on the environment if dumped as landfill. However, the glass envelope can be recycled at suitably equipped facilities. Other portions of the receiver may be subject to disposal as hazardous material.


title: Digital television

text: Local restrictions on disposal of these materials vary widely; in some cases second-hand stores have refused to accept working color television receivers for resale due to the increasing costs of disposing of unsold TVs. Those thrift stores which are still accepting donated TVs have reported significant increases in good-condition working used television receivers abandoned by viewers who often expect them not to work after digital transition.


title: Digital television

text: In Michigan in 2009, one recycler estimated that as many as one household in four would dispose of or recycle a TV set in the following year. The digital television transition, migration to high-definition television receivers and the replacement of CRTs with flatscreens are all factors in the increasing number of discarded analog CRT-based television receivers.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The Compact of Free Association (COFA) is an international agreement establishing and governing the relationships of free association between the United States and the three Pacific Island sovereign states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau. As a result, these countries are sometimes known as the Freely Associated States.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: These nations, together with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, formerly comprised the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, a United Nations trusteeship administered by the United States Navy from 1947 to 1951 and by the US Department of the Interior from 1951 to 1986 (to 1994 for Palau).


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The compact came into being as an extension of the US–UN territorial trusteeship agreement, which obliged the federal government of the United States "to promote the development of the people of the Trust Territory toward self-government or independence as appropriate to the particular circumstances of the Trust Territory and its peoples and the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned". Under the compact, the US federal government provides guaranteed financial assistance over a 15-year period administered through its Office of Insular Affairs in exchange for full international defense authority and responsibilities.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The Compact of Free Association was initiated by negotiators in 1980 and signed by the parties in the years 1982 and 1983. It was approved by the citizens of the Pacific states in plebiscites held in 1983. Legislation on the compact was adopted by the US Congress in 1986 and signed into law on November 13, 1986.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: Each of the associated states actively participates in all Office of Insular Affairs technical assistance activities. The US gives only these countries access to many US domestic programs, including disaster response and recovery and hazard mitigation programs under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, some US Department of Education programs including the Pell Grant, and services provided by the National Weather Service, the United States Postal Service, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and US representation to the International Frequency Registration Board of the International Telecommunication Union. The Compact area, while outside the customs area of the United States, is mainly duty-free for imports.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: Most citizens of the associated states may live and work in the United States, and most US citizens and their spouses may live and work in the associated states. In 1996, the US Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act removed Medicaid benefits for resident foreigners from the states, even after the five-year waiting period that most other resident aliens have. However, in December 2020, Congress restored Medicaid for compact of free association communities.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The COFA allows the United States to operate armed forces in Compact areas and to demand land for operating bases, subject to negotiation, and excludes the militaries of other countries without US permission. The US in turn becomes responsible for protecting its affiliate countries and responsible for administering all international defense treaties and affairs, though it may not declare war on their behalf. It is not allowed to use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons in Palauan territory. In the territories of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia it is not allowed to store such weapons except in times of national emergency, state of war, or when necessary to defend against an actual or impending attack on the US, the Marshall Islands, or the Federated States of Micronesia.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: Citizens of the associated states may serve in America's armed forces, and there is a high level of military enlistment by Compact citizens. For example, in 2008, the Federated States of Micronesia had a higher per-capita enlistment rate than any US state, and had more than five times the national per-capita average of casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan: 9 soldiers out of a population of 107,000.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: In 2003, the compacts with the RMI and FSM were renewed for 20 years. These new compacts provided US$3.5 billion in funding for both countries. US$30 million will also be disbursed annually among American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands in "Compact Impact" funding. This funding helps the governments of these localities cope with the expense of providing services to immigrants from the RMI, FSM, and Palau. The US use of Kwajalein Atoll for missile testing was renewed for the same period. The new compacts also changed certain immigration rules. RMI and FSM citizens traveling to the US are now required to have passports. The US Postal Service was given the option to apply international postage rates for mail between the US and RMI/FSM, phased in over five years. The USPS began implementing the change in January 2006, but decided to resume domestic services and rates in November 2007.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The renewed compact, commonly called "Compact II" for FSM took effect on June 25, 2004, and for RMI on June 30, 2004.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The economic provisions of the Compact for Palau which provided $18 million in annual subsidies and grants, expired on September 30, 2009, and the renewal talk was concluded in late 2010. US financial support for Palau is based on a continuing resolution passed by the US Congress. The Compact Trust Fund set up to replace US financial aid underperformed because of the Great Recession. The military and civil defense provisions remained until 2015.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: An amended Compact, enacted December 17, 2003, as Public Law 108-188, provided financial assistance to the Marshall Islands and Micronesia through 2023. The Compact of Free Association agreement with the Republic of Palau, enshrined in US Public Law 99-658, was followed by a Compact Review Agreement signed between the US and Palau in 2018, extending certain financial provisions through September 30, 2024.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: In March 2022, President Joseph Biden named Ambassador Joseph Yun as US Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations to take over negotiation for amendment and continuation of COFA.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The former government of the United States unincorporated territory of Guam, led by Governor Eddie Calvo, campaigned for a plebiscite on Guam's future political status, with free association following the model of the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau as one of the possible options.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: In Puerto Rico, the "soberanista" movement advocates for the territory to be granted a freely associated status. The 2017 status referendum presented "Independence/Free Association" as an option; if the majority of voters had chosen it, a second round of voting would have been held to choose between free association and full independence. In 2022, the US Congress introduced the Puerto Rico Status Act, which would hold a federally-sponsored referendum on the territory's status, with a free association status expected to be presented as an option.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: The United States' administration of the former trust territories now covered under the Compacts of Free Association has been subject to ongoing criticism over the past several decades. A 1961 United Nations mission report initially noted deficiencies in "American administration in almost every area: poor transportation, failure to settle war damage claims; failure to adequately compensate for land taken for military purposes; poor living conditions[;] inadequate economic development; inadequate education programs; and almost nonexistent medical care." In 1971, congresswoman Patsy Mink further noted that "[A]fter winning the right to control Micronesia, [the US] proceeded to allow the islands to stagnate and decay through indifference and lack of assistance. . . . [T]he people are still largely impoverished and lacking in all of the basic amenities which we consider essential – adequate education, housing, good health standards, modern sanitation facilities."


title: Compact of Free Association

text: After the compacts, criticism was also received by the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the unfulfilled commitments of the United States to address the impacts of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, which were included as part of the Pacific Proving Grounds. Speakers noted that while section 177 of the Compact of Free Association recognized the United States' responsibility "to address past, present and future consequences of the nuclear testing claims," less than $4 million was awarded out of a $2.2 billion judgment rendered by a Nuclear Claims Tribunal created under the RMI Compact, and the United States Court of Claims had dismissed two lawsuits to enforce the judgment. With respect to these unaddressed claims, medical practitioners also noted the potential widespread impacts of nuclear testing within the Pacific Proving Grounds, indicated by the prevalence of both radiogenic diseases, as well as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity associated with "[a] forced change in dietary patterns and lifestyle" resulting from US administration after the testing. In 2011, lawmakers further noted that the US Congress had continuously failed to cover the costs of promised medical care and services to displaced compact citizens who migrate to the United States for health care, education, and employment opportunities, particularly since the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: Questions regarding US responsibility have also been raised regarding the issue of numerous derelict war ships and oil tankers abandoned or destroyed by the US military in atolls and islands throughout the compact area.


title: Compact of Free Association

text: In 2009, the State of Hawaii, under the administration of then-Governor Linda Lingle, attempted to restrict health care access for Compact citizens by eliminating all Compact residents of Hawaii from Med-QUEST, the state's comprehensive Medicaid coverage plan. COFA residents were instead subject to Basic Health Hawaii, a limited health care plan under which "transportation services are excluded and patients can receive no more than ten days of medically necessary inpatient hospital care per year, twelve outpatient visits per year, and a maximum of four medication prescriptions per calendar month. . . . BHH covers dialysis treatments as an emergency medical service only, and the approximate ten to twelve prescription medications dialysis patients take per month are not fully covered. BHH . . . caus[es] cancer patients to exhaust their allotted doctors' visits within two to three months".


title: Compact of Free Association

text: Noting that such a policy likely constituted unlawful discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, federal District Court Judge John Michael Seabright issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of Basic Health Hawaii. In finding a high likelihood of irreparable harm, Judge Seabright took note of the "compelling evidence that BHH's limited coverage . . . is causing COFA Residents to forego much needed treatment because they cannot otherwise afford it". Lingle's successor, Governor Neil Abercrombie continued the state's appeal of the injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled in favor of the state. When the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case, the Abercrombie administration removed most COFA residents from Med-QUEST and transferred them onto Affordable Care Act plans. In other states, notably Arkansas, which has a significant population of Marshallese, COFA residents have not been eligible for Medicaid.


title: Cruise control

text: Cruise control (also known as speed control, cruise command, autocruise, or tempomat) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle. The system is a servomechanism that takes over the throttle of the car to maintain a steady speed as set by the driver.


title: Cruise control

text: Speed control existed in early automobiles such as the Wilson-Pilcher in the early 1900s. They had a lever on the steering column that could be used to set the speed to be maintained by the engine. In 1908, the Peerless included a governor to maintain the speed of the engine through an extra throttle lever on the steering wheel. Peerless successfully used a flyball governor. They advertised their system as being able to "maintain speed whether uphill or down".


title: Cruise control

text: A governor was used by James Watt and Matthew Boulton in 1788 to control steam engines, but the use of governors dates at least back to the 17th century. On an engine, the governor uses centrifugal force to adjust throttle position to adapt the speed of the engine to different loads (e.g. when going up a hill).


title: Cruise control

text: Modern cruise control (also known as a speedostat or tempomat) was invented in 1948 by the blind inventor and mechanical engineer Ralph Teetor. He came up with the idea due to being frustrated by his driver's habit of speeding up and slowing down as he talked.


title: Cruise control

text: A more significant factor in the developing of cruise control was the speed limit imposed in the US during World War II to reduce gasoline use and tire wear. A mechanism controlled by the driver provided resistance to further pressure on the accelerator pedal when the vehicle reached the desired speed. Teetor's idea of a dashboard speed selector with a mechanism connected to the driveshaft and a device able to push against the gas pedal was patented in 1950. He added a speed lock capability that maintained the car's speed until the driver tapped the brake pedal or turned off the system.


title: Cruise control

text: A 1955 U.S. patent for a "constant speed regulator" was filed in 1950 by M-Sgt Frank J. Riley. He conceived the device while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and installed his invention in his car in 1948.


title: Cruise control

text: Another inventor named Harold Exline, working independently of Riley, also invented a type of cruise control that he first installed on his own car and the cars of friends. Exline filed a U.S. patent for a "vacuum powered throttle control with electrically controlled air valve" in 1951, and the patent was granted in 1956. Despite these patents, Riley, Exline, and subsequent patent holders were not able to collect royalties for any cruise control inventions.


title: Cruise control

text: The first car with Teetor's "speedostat" system was the 1958 Chrysler Imperial (called "auto-pilot") using a speed control dial on the dashboard. This system calculated ground speed from the rotating speedometer-cable and used a bi-directional screw-drive electric motor to vary the throttle position as needed. Cadillac soon renamed and marketed the device as "cruise control."


title: Cruise control

text: In 1965, American Motors Corporation (AMC) introduced a low-priced automatic speed control for its large-sized cars with automatic transmissions. The AMC "cruise command" unit was started through a push-button once the desired speed was reached, and then the throttle position was automatically adjusted by vacuum control directly from the speedometer cable, rather than through an adjustable control on the dashboard.


title: Cruise control

text: Daniel Aaron Wisner invented an "automotive electronic cruise control" in 1968 as an engineer for RCA's Industrial and Automation Systems Division in Plymouth, Michigan. His invention is described in two patents filed that year (US patents 3570622 and 3511329), with the second introducing digital memory, and was the first electronic device that controlled a car.


title: Cruise control

text: Due to the 1973 oil crisis and rising fuel prices, the device became more popular in the U.S. "Cruise control can save gas by avoiding surges that expel fuel" while driving at steady speeds. In 1974, AMC, GM, and Chrysler priced the option at $60 to $70, while Ford charged $103.


title: Cruise control

text: In the late 1980s, an integrated circuit for Wisner's design for an electronic cruise control was finally commercially developed by Motorola as the MC14460 Automotive Speed Control Processor in CMOS. The advantage of electronic speed control over its mechanical predecessor was that it could be integrated with electronic accident avoidance and engine management systems.


title: Cruise control

text: The driver must bring the vehicle up to speed manually and use a button to set the cruise control to the current speed.


title: Cruise control

text: The cruise control takes its speed signal from a rotating driveshaft, speedometer cable, wheel speed sensor from the engine's RPM, or from internal speed pulses produced electronically by the vehicle. Most systems do not allow the use of the cruise control below a certain speed - typically around . The vehicle will maintain the desired speed by pulling the throttle cable with a solenoid, a vacuum-driven servomechanism, or by using the electronic systems built into the vehicle (fully electronic) if it uses a 'drive-by-wire' system.


title: Cruise control

text: All cruise control systems must be capable of being turned off both explicitly and automatically when the driver depresses the brake, and often also the clutch. Cruise control often includes a memory feature to resume the set speed after braking, and a coast feature to reduce the set speed without braking. When the cruise control is engaged, the throttle can still be used to accelerate the car, but once the pedal is released the car will then slow down until it reaches the previously set speed.


title: Cruise control

text: On the latest vehicles fitted with electronic throttle control, cruise control can be integrated into the vehicle's engine management system. Modern "adaptive" systems include the ability to automatically reduce speed when the distance to a car in front, or the speed limit, decreases.


title: Cruise control

text: The cruise control systems of some vehicles incorporate a "speed limiter" function, which will not allow the vehicle to accelerate beyond a pre-set maximum; this can usually be overridden by fully depressing the accelerator pedal. (Most systems will prevent the vehicle from increasing engine speed to accelerate beyond the chosen speed, but will not apply the brakes in the event of overspeeding downhill, nor stop the car from going faster than the chosen speed with the engine just idling.)


title: Cruise control

text: On vehicles with a manual transmission, cruise control is less flexible because the act of depressing the clutch pedal and shifting gears usually disengages the cruise control. The "resume" feature has to be used each time after selecting the new gear and releasing the clutch. Therefore, cruise control is of most benefit at motorway/highway speeds when top gear is used virtually all the time. The speed limiter function however does not have this problem.


title: Cruise control

text: Some modern vehicles have systems for adaptive cruise control (ACC), which is a general term meaning improved cruise control. These improvements can be automatic braking or dynamic set-speed type controls.


title: Cruise control

text: Automatic braking type: the automatic braking type use either a single or a combination of sensors (radar, lidar, and camera) to allow the vehicle to keep pace with the car it is following, slow when closing in on the vehicle in front, and accelerating again to the preset speed when traffic allows. Some systems also feature forward collision warning systems, which warn the driver if a vehicle in front—given the speed of both vehicles—gets too close (within the preset headway or braking distance).


title: Cruise control

text: Dynamic set speed type: The dynamic set speed uses the GPS position of speed limit signs, from a database. Some are modifiable by the driver.


title: Cruise control

text: Dynamic radar cruise control: uses a camera and millimeter-wave radar to maintain a setpoint distance from vehicles in front of the car; the system will automatically slow down or speed up based on the vehicles in front. The system cannot detect completely stationary vehicles or pedestrians unless equipped with a camera system, so the driver must always pay attention. Vehicles with adaptive cruise control are considered a Level 1 autonomous car, as defined by SAE International.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: The Brittany is a breed of gun dog bred primarily for bird hunting. Although it is often referred to as the Brittany Spaniel, they are not actually spaniels. The AKC reclassified them in 1984 as just Brittanys, since they are pointing dogs and have less genetically in common with Spaniels, and more in common with Setters, which are pointing dogs. The breed's working characteristics are more akin to those of a pointer or setter than a spaniel. Brittanys were developed in Brittany, a province in northwest France, between the 17th and 19th centuries, becoming officially recognized early in the 20th. There are French Brittanys as well as American Brittanys. French Brittanys are used for upland birds and rabbits, whereas the American Brittanys are used for upland birds hunting exclusively.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: The name "Brittany" is taken from the Brittany region in northwestern France where the dog originated. Images of orange and white Brittany-like dogs hunting and retrieving game were first seen on tapestries and paintings from the 17th century. The first written and verifiable record of Brittanys comes from a hunting description written by Reverend Davies in 1850. He described hunting with small "bobtailed" dogs who pointed and were excellent retrievers. It was around the same time that the modern Brittany is rumored to have been bred by mating with English Setters.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: The Brittany was first recognized as a breed in 1907 when an orange and white male named Boy was registered in France. As a result, the first standards were outlined in the same year. America recognized the Brittany in 1931 and the breed was approved by the American Kennel Club in 1934. In 1982 the "Spaniel" was officially dropped from the name.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: The Brittany is typically quite athletic, compact, energetic, and solidly built without being heavy. Their heads are of average size with floppy ears, expressions usually of intelligence, vigour, and alertness, and gait elastic, long, and free.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: Most Brittanys are born with long tails docked to a length of . Yet sometimes they are born with short tails.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: The breed's coat color is varied: orange and white coat or liver and white are most common in the American Brittany; other colors include orange roan and liver roan, all of which are acceptable in the show ring. The American Brittany Standard specifies an acceptable tri-color of liver, orange, and white with very specific color placement. Some Brittanys may have a dark brown coat, which is rare.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: Brittanys are medium-sized dogs, with American lines ( at the withers according to an AKC standard adopted in 1990) tending to be larger and have a blockier head than French (), and females at the lower end. A properly constructed and healthy Brittany maintains a weight between , depending upon height. Generally, Brittanys are smaller than setters but leggier than spaniels.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: Many breeders differentiate between "American" Brittanys and "French"-style dogs. Although generally recognized as subsets of the same breed, there are recognizable differences between the two. The "American Brittany" is typically larger than the "French Brittany" and a bigger running dog, while the smaller French Brittany generally works more closely to the guns, but will work according to the local terrain. However, some breeders consider these "differences" to be unsound generalizations and that American standards should be updated to reflect the breed's standard in its country of origin; i.e. France, where black has become an acceptable coat color since 1956, while it is still considered a fault in America.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: Though it resembles a spaniel-like dog used for flushing game, such as Springers and Cockers, Brittanys are more akin to pointers and all-purpose sporting dogs. Known in the United Kingdom as an HPR breed (Hunt, Point and Retrieve), they are expected to point and retrieve all birds and ground game up to, and including, hare. These unique qualities have given the Brittany more Dual Champions than any other AKC Sporting Breed, a landmark reached with the 500th in 2006.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: The Brittany was originally bred as a hunting dog and noted for being easy to train and sweet-natured. The breed is generally more sensitive to correction than other hunters, and harsh corrections are often unnecessary. Brittanys can become very shy if not thoroughly socialized at a young age, and even among well-socialized dogs there is significant variation in levels of friendliness.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: When well socialized, Brittanys are all-around sound dogs, excelling as companions, family pets, and field dogs. Eager to please and friendly, they generally learn quickly and are loyal and attached to their owners. They are energetic and need at least an hour of vigorous exercise every day, with many needing more than this. Some animals will be over-active or hyper-sensitive, but these problems are almost invariably due to lack of exercise and training, and are not characteristics of well cared-for dogs.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: With more American dual champions (dogs with titles in both conformation shows and field trials) than any other breed, the Brittany maintains strong hunting instincts in all bloodlines.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: Brittanys are generally healthy and hardy dogs. The median lifespan for Brittanys in France is 12.6 years. A UK Kennel Club survey puts the breed's median lifespan at 12 years 11 months, with about 1 in 5 dogs dying of old age at an average of 14–15 years. Brittanys have no undercoat and need minimal grooming or bathing. However, their floppy ears tend to trap moisture in the ear canal and should be cleaned regularly.


title: Brittany (dog)

text: Diseases found in the breed include hip dysplasia, with 14.9% of Brittanys tested between 1974 and 2009 by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals displaying the condition, and a lesser rate of 10.3% for dogs born 2003–2004. The breed is listed among those commonly affected by Canine discoid lupus erythematosus. Epilepsy is also found.


title: Zaytoven

text: Xavier Lamar Dotson (born January 12, 1980), professionally known as Zaytoven, is an American trap music record producer, disc jockey, and keyboardist from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released collaborative projects with artists including Gucci Mane, Usher, Future, Young Dolph, Migos, Lecrae, Lil Yachty, Chief Keef, Young Scooter, B.o.B, Boosie Badazz, Waka Flocka Flame, Jack Harlow and Deitrick Haddon.


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven signed a deal with friend/rap star Gucci Mane to become 1017 Brick Squad's in-house producer & Then went on to win a Grammy Award in 2011 for his contribution to Usher's "Raymond v. Raymond" album, as a co-producer and writer for the single "Papers" along with Sean Garrett.


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven spent a lot of time at church growing up, as his father was a preacher when not working for the Army. He learned to play instruments through the church bands along with his three younger siblings. He gravitated toward playing the piano and organ.


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven was introduced to rap in middle school by a friend. He learned to produce music while attending high school in his spare time between school and basketball, Zaytoven played the keyboard during halftime at his high school football games. While he was performing one day at the game, local producer JT the Bigga Figga liked what he heard, and invited Zaytoven to his studio, where Zaytoven had unlimited access to his keyboards. He truly began to utilize his skills as a producer while making beats in JT the Bigga Figga's studio before he started making a name for himself in Atlanta.


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven started going over to JT the Bigga Figga's studio every day to make beats and learn how to use the equipment. He began to sell beats to JT, and went on to collaborate with Bay Area artists such as Messy Marv and E-40 while still in high school. During his senior year in high school, Zaytoven's family moved to Atlanta, Georgia due to his father's retirement. Zaytoven decided to stay in San Francisco, finish his senior year, and continue his producing for local rappers. He realized that he needed a studio of his own where he could produce with his own equipment and work at any time of the day.


title: Zaytoven

text: Having saved up money from his day job as a barber, Zaytoven began to buy equipment for producing. He would ship this to his parents' house in Atlanta, to which he eventually moved, and set up his own studio there. He enrolled in a local barber college in Atlanta and got a job as a barber to help finance the rest of his studio. While attending barber school, a classmate of his introduced Zaytoven to Gucci Mane, who would become his right-hand man in his career as a producer. Zaytoven and Gucci Mane began to work together everyday after meeting each other. Zaytoven said in an interview with Fader that Gucci Mane would call him at 7 in the morning asking if he was ready to start making music for that day. Zaytoven and Gucci Mane spent the majority of the early 2000s making music together and selling mixtapes out of the trunks of their cars in Atlanta. It wasn't until 2005 that the two gained mainstream recognition from their hit song "Icy", with features from Young Jeezy and Boo. This recognition gave Zaytoven's career the boost it needed to take off, landing the hit song "Papers" with Usher in 2010 on Usher's certified platinum album "Raymond v. Raymond".


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven's work on Usher's album "Raymond v. Raymond" earned him a Grammy Award in 2011 and a serious reputation in the hip-hop world. He started to work with more artists as his popularity grew in the Atlanta rap scene. He helped shaped the careers of artists such as OJ Da Juiceman, Yung LA, Yung Ralph, the Shop Boyz, Lil Scrappy, Jagged Edge, and Gorilla Zoe.


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven collaborated with a young group named Migos. He produced several tracks on the Migos 2013 mixtape, "Y.R.N.", including the hit track "Versace", which peaked at 53 on the "Billboard" chart. Zaytoven's collaboration with Migos continued; he helped produce their followup mixtape "No Label II", released on June 3, 2014.


title: Zaytoven

text: In 2015, Zaytoven provided exclusive production for ten mixtapes, including Future's "Beast Mode", released on January 15. He also worked on Future's album "DS2", which debuted on July 17.


title: Zaytoven

text: In July 2016, Zaytoven produced or co-produced seven songs on Gucci Mane's first album since being released from prison, "Everybody Looking". In the same month, Lil Uzi Vert's "The Perfect Luv Tape" was released, containing the Zaytoven-produced songs "Money Mitch" and "Sideline Watching (Hold Up)". In 2017, Zaytoven contributed to projects such as Gucci Mane's "Mr. Davis", 21 Savage's "Issa Album", Migos' "Culture", Moneybagg "Yo's Heartless", and Yo Gotti's "I Still Am". Zaytoven also released two independent projects, "Wake Up & Cook Up" and "Where Would The Game Be Without Me".


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven was scheduled to release his debut album "Trap Holizay" on May 25, 2018, and a collaborative album with Lecrae called "Let the Trap Say Amen" on June 22, 2018.


title: Zaytoven

text: Zaytoven made his acting debut in the 2012 film "Birds of a Feather", co-starring with Gucci Mane. The sequel "Birds of a Feather 2" was released in 2018.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 is an Italian modular assault rifle manufactured by Beretta. Developed for the Italian Armed Forces as part of the "Soldato Futuro" (English: "Future Soldier") program, the ARX160 was launched in 2008 as a commercial weapon system independent from the "Soldato Futuro" ensemble, complete with a companion single-shot 40×46mm NATO low-velocity grenade launcher, called the GLX160, which can be mounted underneath the rifle or used with an ad hoc stock system as a stand-alone weapon.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 was launched in 2008 as a commercial weapon system and was developed for the Italian Armed Forces as part of the layered "Soldato Futuro" ("Future Soldier") program. The current program aims to replace the older Beretta AR70/90 as the standard assault rifle for the Italian Armed Forces.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The project started as an evolution of the Beretta AR 70/90 and Beretta SC 70/90 and was initially presented as a simple update of the construction materials and addition of small changes to the Beretta AR 70/90. Later a more elaborate prototype was then introduced, which introduced a stock that was not foldable but adjustable in length and the cocking lever in the upper front position, a feature however not comfortable during use. Subsequent developments led to the definitive version of the ARX-160, which is currently in production and has supplanted all the three versions its predecessor, the AR 70/90.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Italian Army ordered a first batch of 800 weapons in 2008 for field trials in Afghanistan, which was followed by orders for 11,500 units in 2010 and 10,000 in 2012. Between 2008 and 2014, there were around 30,000 ARX160 A2s that are chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge that have been supplied to the Italian Army, Italian Navy, Italian Air Force and Italian Special Forces.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In 2012, Beretta introduced the 7.62×39mm configuration of the ARX160, and on the same year Beretta also introduced the ARX160 A2 which is currently in use with the Italian Army and Special Forces.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In 2013, Beretta introduced the ARX160 A3, which is an improved variant of the ARX160. The improvements includes a redesigned handguard with an improved heat ventilation and an extended Picatinny rail on its bottom, and an improved pistol grip design.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In 2014, the Italian Ministry of Defence allocated US$2.7 million to Beretta for the development of the ARX200 battle rifle. Also, the Italian Armed Forces has announced a possible requirement for 1,170 rifles chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In late 2015, the Beretta ARX200 battle rifle was introduced and is being supplied to the Italian Army. It is a distant derivative of the ARX160 modular assault rifle. It has passed the following military and environmental tests; cold and hot temperature, temperature and humidity, ice, salt fog, heavy rain, salt water, sand and dust, mud, unlubricated, double feeding proof, and barrel obstruction proof.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 was one of the five Phase II contenders in the United States Army Individual Carbine competition to replace the M4 carbine. The Individual Carbine competition was cancelled before a winning weapon was chosen.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In February 2013, the Argentine Army received an ARX160 rifle and GLX160 grenade launcher for evaluation for their special forces. In December 2016, state-owned Argentine arms manufacturer Fabricaciones Militares signed a deal with Beretta to produce the ARX200 under license.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Indian Army tested the ARX160 as a replacement for the INSAS rifle. The tender was retracted in June 2015.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The ARX160 A3 was one of the 5 finalists of the French Army tender to replace the FAMAS, eventually won by the German-made HK416.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In January 2019, the Romanian Armed Forces have chosen the ARX160 A3 to replace the old PM Md.1963 (7,62 x 39 mm) and PM Md.1986 (5,45 x 39 mm) of the Romanian Land Forces. Production should start in Autumn 2019 at Uzina Plopeni of ROMARM.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 departs from the previously issued AR70/90 on several points. It is composed of an upper and lower receiver, both manufactured mostly from polymer, and operates through a short-stroke piston system. It is chambered in either 5.56×45mm NATO or 7.62×39mm cartridge. Feeding is through STANAG magazines for the 5.56×45mm NATO configuration and AK-47 or AKM magazines for the 7.62×39mm configuration. Other calibres, including 5.45×39mm and 6.8mm Remington SPC were planned.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: It features an ambidextrous safeties, magazine release (right side, left side, and "AK" style), bolt release and charging handle, as well as the ability to change which side spent casings are ejected, a quick-change barrel which can be removed and replaced in seconds without any tools, Picatinny rails, and a foldable telescopic stock.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The lightweight barrel is chrome lined and manufactured by the hammer forging process at the Beretta factory in Gardone Val Trompia, Lombardy. Barrel lengths for this rifle are 16 in (40.6 cm) for its standard barrel, and a 12 in (30.48 cm) barrel for special operators. The flash hider has 5 radial cuts and 4 smaller cuts to control muzzle climb in automatic firing. Barrels have a 1:7 twist to fire NATO standard ball and tracer rounds. The non-free-floated barrel is easily removed simply by pulling on slide levers and pulling it out. The bayonet lug, designed by Beretta in association with Extrema Ratio for the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonet is positioned above the barrel rather than underneath it.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: However, on the ARX160 A3 the bayonet lug is repositioned under the barrel and it ditches the proprietary bayonet lug design meant for mounting the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonet for a re-designed bayonet lug that is compatible with the M9 bayonet. On the ARX160 A3 issued to the Italian army the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonet has been replaced by FKMD Oplita bayonet. The newly designed bayonet lug on the ARX160 A3 is also compatible with the existing Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Ranger bayonets that have always been the standard issue bayonets of the Alpine Paratroopers. Thus it negates the need to switch over to the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonets.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The ARX160 operating system is unique in that the piston moves almost , while other systems move fractions of an inch. The piston follows the bolt carrier almost all the way rearward, resulting in low gas pressure levels and a less sudden and more constant push on the carrier group.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: It has the ability to eject the empty shells out of either in the right side or left side for ambidextrous operation. The bolt has seven lugs and an extractor on the left and right, with no ejector. The extractors are spring-loaded and which way cases are ejected is selected by pressing a case through a small hole located past the port. It is small and optimised for the tip of a bullet to fit. The ejection port is open on both sides and directs shells at a 45 degree angle from the barrel. The cocking lever is on the bolt carrier and can be positioned on either side by pulling it out, swinging it through the ejection port, and pushing it in to secure it in place.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: It features a standard back-up iron sights that are made of the same polymer as the weapon's receiver. The front sight post is adjustable for windage and elevation and the rear peep sight has six positions to fire in increments from 100 to 600 meters. The primary optical sight is the Aimpoint ACIES, a domestic version of the Aimpoint CompM2. Telescopic sights, night vision systems, vertical forward grips, and other accessories will be available through the Soldato Futuro program.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 can be chambered in either 5.56×45mm NATO or 7.62×39mm cartridge. It features a Picatinny rail on the top of the receiver, and on the 3-,6-,9-o'clock position of the handguard for mounting various optics, grips and other accessories. It is worth mentioning that the Picatinny rail that is located at the 6 o'clock position is limited, Beretta does offer an extended Picatinny rail accessory to mitigate this. It has a quick change barrel feature, a barrel length of 12- and 16-inch, a folding back-up iron sights, ambidextrous fire/safety selector, magazine release, bolt release and charging handle, case ejector that can eject the empty brass either to the right side or left side by pressing on the case ejection selector with a tip of a 5.56×45mm NATO cartridge, and a telescopic folding buttstock that is also adjustable for length of pull. A conversion kit for 7.62×39mm is also available, it requires changing the barrel, bolt, lower receiver assembly and magazine in order to change the calibre. It uses the AKM magazines for the 7.62×39mm configuration and STANAG magazines for the 5.56×45mm NATO configuration.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 A2, also referred to as the ARX160 SF (Special Forces) is similar to the ARX160 but features a shorter buttstock, an extended Picatinny rail on the bottom of its handguard and uses a 12-inch barrel. It was developed for the Italian special forces and was later adopted by them.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 A3 is an improved variant of the ARX160 which features some design changes. The changes includes a redesigned handguard, where its top row air vent slits have been replaced with a larger square cut outs, though the bottom row air vent still retains the thinner slits. These larger cut outs reduces some weight of the rifle while letting more air to circulate around the barrel. It features an improved pistol grip design and a barrel length of 11- and 16-inch. The bayonet lug on the ARX160 A3 is repositioned under the barrel and it ditches the proprietary bayonet lug design meant for mounting the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonet for a re-designed bayonet lug that is compatible with the M9 bayonet. On the ARX160 A3 issued to the Italian army the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonet has been replaced by the FKMD Oplita bayonet. The newly designed bayonet lug on the ARX160 A3 is also compatible with the existing Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Ranger bayonets that have always been the standard issue bayonets of the Alpine Paratroopers. Thus it negates the need to switch over to the Extrema Ratio Fulcrum E.I. bayonets.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX100 is a semi-automatic only variant of the ARX160 intended for the civilian market. It features a Picatinny rail on the top of the receiver for mounting various optics, on both sides of the hand guard for mounting various accessories and on the bottom of the handguard for mounting various grips, a quick change barrel, a barrel length of 16 inch, a folding back-up iron sights, ambidextrous fire/safety selector, magazine release, bolt release and charging handle, a case ejector that can eject the empty brass either to the right side or left side by pressing on the case ejection selector with a tip of a 5.56×45mm NATO (.223 Remington) cartridge, and a telescopic folding buttstock that is also adjustable for length of pull.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Beretta ARX160 .22 LR is a rimfire variant of the ARX100, chambered in .22 Long Rifle cartridge. It features an 18-inch barrel for the carbine configuration and an 8.5-inch barrel for the pistol configuration and uses a 5-, 10-, 15- or 20-round magazine.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: In late 2015, Beretta introduced the ARX200 chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. It operates through a short-stroke gas piston system with a rotating bolt, capable of fully automatic and semi-automatic fire. It has a cyclic rate of fire of around 600–650 rounds per minute.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The ARX200 is planned to fill the gap in Italian infantry armament between the 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle and large-calibre bolt-action sniper rifles, based on combat experience in Afghanistan. The Italian Armed Forces has ordered four hundred ARX200s for trials and evaluation. It's also expected that the first batch of ARX200s will be delivered by the end of 2015. They are also testing on how to introduce a battle rifle into small infantry units. Possibly 2 to 3 designated marksman rifles and battle rifles are planned for use at squad level.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The Italian Army is planning to introduce two configurations of the ARX200; a battle rifle and a designated marksman rifle. The battle rifle configuration is to be equipped with an interface for the Beretta GLX160 grenade launcher chambered in 40×46mm NATO, a foldable telescopic stock with adjustable cheek rest, shock absorber back plate and four fixed sling attachments. On the other hand, the designated marksman rifle configuration is to be equipped with a fixed buttstock and a computerised Intelligent Combat Sight (ICS), developed by Steiner Optics (a subsidiary of Beretta Defense Technologies), which integrates a laser rangefinder, an inclinometer and a ballistic calculator into a compact 6×40 optic.


title: Beretta ARX160

text: The ARX200 has three gas settings; normal, adverse and suppressed firing. It features a fully ambidextrous controls that include the bolt catch lever, magazine release button and fire selector. Unlike the ARX160, it lacks the capability to change which side the empty shells are ejected. However, the charging handle remains reversible and can be switched from the right- to left-side of the upper receiver and the barrel locking bolt is located in front of the magazine well. It is equipped with a quick-change, free-floating, cold hammer-forged barrel which can be removed and replaced in a minute using one wrench. It has a weight of 4.5 kg without a magazine and unloaded, a length of 730 mm with the stock folded, 890 mm with the stock collapsed and 1,000 mm with the stock extended, a 406 mm (16 in) heavy barrel (excluding the flash hider) with match-grade rifling with four right-hand grooves and a 279 mm (11 in) twist rate, a monolithic upper receiver with a long Picatinny rail on top made of steel-reinforced polymer which includes internal rails for a weapon bolt carrier, a more streamlined forend for operators who use the C-clamp grip when shooting, and Beretta claims that it has an accuracy of 1.5 MOA with 5 shots at 100 metres. The polymer lower receiver is equipped with a modular magazine well for the new Beretta 20-round polymer magazine and also has a special magazine-well adapter that can be removed in order to use the M110/SR-25 magazines.


title: Chihayafuru

text: The manga has won the Manga Taishō and the Kodansha Manga Award. Since its fourth volume was released in March 2009, it has regularly appeared on the Japanese Comic Ranking chart, and in 2022 was estimated to have over 27 million copies in print. Its popularity has boosted the profile of competitive karuta in Japan.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Chihaya Ayase is a girl who has spent most of her life simply supporting her sister in her modeling career. That changes when she meets a boy named Arata Wataya, a talented karuta player. After becoming friends, he believes that Chihaya has potential to become a great player. As Chihaya takes on a new dream of becoming Japan's best karuta player, she is soon separated from her karuta playing friends as they grow up. Now in high school, Chihaya is reunited with her childhood friend, Taichi Mashima. Together, they form the Mizusawa Karuta Club. With her teammates and friends supporting her, Chihaya strives to become the best karuta player in the world and to one day be with Arata again.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Yuki Suetsugu belonged to a "karuta" club in high school and feels that the school years are a period of a person's life where "you can dedicate the most genuine part of yourself to something." The name of the series is a poetic "makurakotoba", or pillow word, and comes from the first five syllables of the seventeenth poem in the "Hyakunin Isshu" poetry anthology, a collection of 100 poems which are printed on the "karuta" cards. In this poem "chihayaburu" is used as an epithet to "kami" and can be translated into English as "shaken in fury" and "swift in fury", according to Edwin A. Cranston, or "awesome", as offered by Joshua S. Mostow.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu, "Chihayafuru" was serialized in the "josei" manga magazine "Be Love" from December 28, 2007 to August 1, 2022, with a spinoff side story chapter released on November 1, 2022. The series' 247 chapters and the side-story chapter were collected by publisher Kodansha into 50 "tankōbon" volumes, released between May 13, 2008 and December 13, 2022. Kodansha has also published the first three volumes in a two-volume bilingual edition, with English translations by Stuart Varnam Atkin and Yōko Toyozaki. On 14 February 2017, Kodansha Comics began publishing a digital edition of the series in English; 34 volumes have been released as of October 2022. The manga is licensed in French by Pika Édition, in Korean by Haksan Culture Company, in Taiwanese by Tong Li Publishing, and in Thai by Bongkoch Publishing.


title: Chihayafuru

text: A 25-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by the studio Madhouse under the direction of Morio Asaka, aired on Nippon Television from 4 October 2011 to 27 March 2012. The screenplay was written by Naoya Takayama and character designs were by Kunihiko Hamada. The music was composed by Kousuke Yamashita, and the sound director is Masafumi Mima of Techno Sound. The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll. Animax Asia aired an English version of the anime from 13 February to 18 March 2013. The series was released in nine DVD and Blu-ray Disc volumes from 21 December 2011 to 22 August 2012. A Blu-ray Disc box set was released on 18 July 2013.


title: Chihayafuru

text: A second 25-episode season, "Chihayafuru 2", aired on Nippon Television between 11 January and 28 June 2013, and was simulcast by Crunchyroll. An original video animation episode was released on DVD bundled with the special edition of the 22nd manga volume on 13 September 2013. The season was collected in a two-volume Blu-ray and DVD box set released on 22 May 2013 and 18 September 2013.


title: Chihayafuru

text: A 24-episode third season was originally announced to premiere on Nippon Television's AnichU block in April 2019, with the main cast and staff reprising their roles, but was delayed and aired from 22 October 2019 to 24 March 2020. The season was collected in a two-volume Blu-ray and DVD box set released on 25 December 2019 and 25 March 2020.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Sentai Filmworks licensed the first two seasons of the anime series for home video release in North America. The series' first episode premiered with English subtitles on the Hidive streaming service on 15 June 2017. Sentai Filmworks' dub is streamed by Hidive starting from 29 August 2017. The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 12 September 2017. In December 2019, Sentai Filmworks announced that they had licensed the series' third season.


title: Chihayafuru

text: The first season's opening and ending themes are "Youthful" by 99RadioService and by Asami Seto respectively. 99RadioService released "Youthful" as a single on 30 November 2011. The original soundtrack with character song albums was released in two volumes on 18 January and 28 March 2012. The second season's opening and ending themes are "Star" by 99RadioService and by Seto. The third season's opening and ending themes are "Colorful" by 99RadioService and by Band Harassment.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Kodansha released several guidebooks for the series, with the first released on 9 November 2011. It provided a study guide for the poetry and background for the story.


title: Chihayafuru

text: A 4-volume novel series, "Chihayafuru: Chūgakusei-hen", was published by Kodansha under their "KC Deluxe" imprint between 9 September 2012, and 13 December 2013. The books were written by Yui Tokiumi and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu and follow the middle-school years of the three protagonists. A manga adapting the novels, written by Tokiumi and illustrated by Oto Tooda, was published in "Be Love" from 13 October 2017 to 1 November 2018 and compiled into three volumes.


title: Chihayafuru

text: On 11 April 2015, it was reported that the series would be adapted into a live-action film. A live action film adaptation titled "Chihayafuru: Kami no Ku" was released on 19 March 2016, with a second film, "Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku", released on 29 April 2016. "Chihayafuru: Musubi", a third and final feature length film in the trilogy, was released on 17 March 2018. The films got a five-episode tie-in series on Hulu Japan. on February 20, 2018. The series is titled "Chihayafuru -Tsunagu-" ("Chihayafuru: Connect"), and connected the story of the second and third films. It also included behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews. In addition, the third film got another tie-in titled "Chihayafuru -Manabi-" ("Chihayafuru: Study") on Hulu Japan on the same day that introduced the new members of the Mizusawa Karuta Club and explained the rules of karuta.


title: Chihayafuru

text: A 3-volume novelization of the films, "Eiga Chihayafuru", was published by Kodansha under their KC Deluxe imprint. The first two volumes were released on 11 March 2016 and the third on 13 February 2018. The books were written by Yui Tokiumi, based on the screenplay by Norihiro Koizumi. They were re-released in hardcover from 24 February 2017 to 28 February 2018.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Another 3-volume novelization of the films by Yūki Arisawa, "Shōsetsu Chihayafuru", was published by Kodansha under their Kodansha Bunko imprint in 2018. The first two volumes were released on 16 January and the third on 15 February.


title: Chihayafuru

text: "Chihayafuru" won the second Manga Taishō award, and the 35th Kodansha Manga Award in the shōjo manga category. When "Chihayafuru" won the Manga Taishō award, it was commented that the series combines elements of the sport genre and literary elements with a discerning eye on the subject matter. It was one of the Jury Recommended Works in the Manga category at the 16th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2012. The manga had over 16 million copies in circulation in Japan as of the first half of 2016, over 24 million by the end of 2019, and over 27 million by the beginning of 2022. Its popularity has boosted the popularity of competitive "karuta". The manga has regularly appeared on Oricon's Japanese Comic Ranking chart. Between March 2009 and September 2011, the fourth through fourteenth volumes all appeared in the top 25 during the week of their release and the week after.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Among North American reviewers, Gia Manry, writing about the first episode of "Chihayafuru", felt that despite the animators' efforts, "karuta" seemed boring, and criticised the overuse of CG sakura, describing it as a "mixed bag" of an anime. Bamboo Dong says that Chihaya's passion and characterisation make "karuta" interesting. Carlo Santos felt that the series was the "first genuinely good show of the season", citing its characterisation, unusual subject, and polish of the first episode. Marcus Speer enjoyed the production values of the first episode, but felt that the theme songs were "standard fare". He was intrigued by how the characters' childhood impacted on their present interactions. Theron Martin appreciated the focus on the characters rather than the game, feeling that while the teenage Chihaya seemed "gimmicky", her younger self was "quite likable". Chris Beveridge praised the tension shown between Arata and Taichi in the second episode's "karuta" match. Theron Martin felt the second episode's "karuta" tournament was tense and compelling, and that despite the plot unfolding in a predictable fashion, the execution made this forgivable.


title: Chihayafuru

text: Crunchyroll listed it in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s". "IGN" also listed "Chihayafuru" among the best anime series of the 2010s. Writing for "Forbes", Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2011; she wrote, "Even Western viewers will quickly become invested in the fast-paced drama of competitive "karuta"".


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Algorithmic trading is a method of executing orders using automated pre-programmed trading instructions accounting for variables such as time, price, and volume. This type of trading attempts to leverage the speed and computational resources of computers relative to human traders. In the twenty-first century, algorithmic trading has been gaining traction with both retail and institutional traders. It is widely used by investment banks, pension funds, mutual funds, and hedge funds that may need to spread out the execution of a larger order or perform trades too fast for human traders to react to. A study in 2019 showed that around 92% of trading in the Forex market was performed by trading algorithms rather than humans.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: The term algorithmic trading is often used synonymously with automated trading system. These encompass a variety of trading strategies, some of which are based on formulas and results from mathematical finance, and often rely on specialized software.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Examples of strategies used in algorithmic trading include systematic trading, market making, inter-market spreading, arbitrage, or pure speculation, such as trend following. Many fall into the category of high-frequency trading (HFT), which is characterized by high turnover and high order-to-trade ratios. HFT strategies utilize computers that make elaborate decisions to initiate orders based on information that is received electronically, before human traders are capable of processing the information they observe. As a result, in February 2012, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) formed a special working group that included academics and industry experts to advise the CFTC on how best to define HFT. Algorithmic trading and HFT have resulted in a dramatic change of the market microstructure and in the complexity and uncertainty of the market macrodynamic, particularly in the way liquidity is provided.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Computerization of the order flow in financial markets began in the early 1970s, when the New York Stock Exchange introduced the "designated order turnaround" system (DOT). SuperDOT was introduced in 1984 as an upgraded version of DOT. Both systems allowed for the routing of orders electronically to the proper trading post. The "opening automated reporting system" (OARS) aided the specialist in determining the market clearing opening price (SOR; Smart Order Routing).


title: Algorithmic trading

text: With the rise of fully electronic markets came the introduction of program trading, which is defined by the New York Stock Exchange as an order to buy or sell 15 or more stocks valued at over US$1 million total. In practice, program trades were pre-programmed to automatically enter or exit trades based on various factors. In the 1980s, program trading became widely used in trading between the S&P 500 equity and futures markets in a strategy known as index arbitrage.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: At about the same time, portfolio insurance was designed to create a synthetic put option on a stock portfolio by dynamically trading stock index futures according to a computer model based on the Black–Scholes option pricing model.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Both strategies, often simply lumped together as "program trading", were blamed by many people (for example by the Brady report) for exacerbating or even starting the 1987 stock market crash. Yet the impact of computer driven trading on stock market crashes is unclear and widely discussed in the academic community.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: The financial landscape was changed again with the emergence of electronic communication networks (ECNs) in the 1990s, which allowed for trading of stock and currencies outside of traditional exchanges. In the U.S., decimalization changed the minimum tick size from 1/16 of a dollar (US$0.0625) to US$0.01 per share in 2001, and may have encouraged algorithmic trading as it changed the market microstructure by permitting smaller differences between the bid and offer prices, decreasing the market-makers' trading advantage, thus increasing market liquidity.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: This increased market liquidity led to institutional traders splitting up orders according to computer algorithms so they could execute orders at a better average price. These average price benchmarks are measured and calculated by computers by applying the time-weighted average price or more usually by the volume-weighted average price.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: A further encouragement for the adoption of algorithmic trading in the financial markets came in 2001 when a team of IBM researchers published a paper at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence where they showed that in experimental laboratory versions of the electronic auctions used in the financial markets, two algorithmic strategies (IBM's own "MGD", and Hewlett-Packard's "ZIP") could consistently out-perform human traders. "MGD" was a modified version of the "GD" algorithm invented by Steven Gjerstad & John Dickhaut in 1996/7; the "ZIP" algorithm had been invented at HP by Dave Cliff (professor) in 1996. In their paper, the IBM team wrote that the financial impact of their results showing MGD and ZIP outperforming human traders "...might be measured in billions of dollars annually"; the IBM paper generated international media coverage.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: In 2005, the Regulation National Market System was put in place by the SEC to strengthen the equity market. This changed the way firms traded with rules such as the Trade Through Rule, which mandates that market orders must be posted and executed electronically at the best available price, thus preventing brokerages from profiting from the price differences when matching buy and sell orders.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: As more electronic markets opened, other algorithmic trading strategies were introduced. These strategies are more easily implemented by computers, as they can react rapidly to price changes and observe several markets simultaneously.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Many broker-dealers offered algorithmic trading strategies to their clients - differentiating them by behavior, options and branding. Examples include Chameleon (developed by BNP Paribas), Stealth (developed by the "Deutsche Bank"), Sniper and Guerilla (developed by "Credit Suisse"). These implementations adopted practices from the investing approaches of arbitrage, statistical arbitrage, trend following, and mean reversion.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Profitability projections by the TABB Group, a financial services industry research firm, for the US equities HFT industry were US$1.3 billion before expenses for 2014, significantly down on the maximum of US$21 billion that the 300 securities firms and hedge funds that then specialized in this type of trading took in profits in 2008, which the authors had then called "relatively small" and "surprisingly modest" when compared to the market's overall trading volume. In March 2014, Virtu Financial, a high-frequency trading firm, reported that during five years the firm as a whole was profitable on 1,277 out of 1,278 trading days, losing money just one day, demonstrating the benefits of trading millions of times, across a diverse set of instruments every trading day.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: A third of all European Union and United States stock trades in 2006 were driven by automatic programs, or algorithms. As of 2009, studies suggested HFT firms accounted for 60–73% of all US equity trading volume, with that number falling to approximately 50% in 2012. In 2006, at the London Stock Exchange, over 40% of all orders were entered by algorithmic traders, with 60% predicted for 2007. American markets and European markets generally have a higher proportion of algorithmic trades than other markets, and estimates for 2008 range as high as an 80% proportion in some markets. Foreign exchange markets also have active algorithmic trading, measured at about 80% of orders in 2016 (up from about 25% of orders in 2006). Futures markets are considered fairly easy to integrate into algorithmic trading, with about 20% of options volume expected to be computer-generated by 2010. Bond markets are moving toward more access to algorithmic traders.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Algorithmic trading and HFT have been the subject of much public debate since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in reports that an algorithmic trade entered by a mutual fund company triggered a wave of selling that led to the 2010 Flash Crash. The same reports found HFT strategies may have contributed to subsequent volatility by rapidly pulling liquidity from the market. As a result of these events, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its second largest intraday point swing ever to that date, though prices quickly recovered. (See List of largest daily changes in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.) A July 2011 report by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), an international body of securities regulators, concluded that while "algorithms and HFT technology have been used by market participants to manage their trading and risk, their usage was also clearly a contributing factor in the flash crash event of May 6, 2010." However, other researchers have reached a different conclusion. One 2010 study found that HFT did not significantly alter trading inventory during the Flash Crash. Some algorithmic trading ahead of index fund rebalancing transfers profits from investors.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Use of computer models to define trade goals, risk controls and rules that can execute trade orders in a methodical way. Systematic trading includes both high frequency trading (HFT, sometimes called algorithmic trading) and slower types of investment such as systematic trend following. It also includes passive index tracking.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Recent research by Sergio Alvarez-Teleña (PhD) has found that injecting financial insights into this strategy surpasses a generally data-driven only calibration process. This means that the strategy is enhanced by using data-driven calibration, but also insights. Furthermore, the use of particle swarm optimization can achieve a bid-offer discount without increasing the risk profile of a trading agent. A deeper analysis and dive into machine learning in systematic trading can be found under Alvarez Teleña's thesis at the University College of London and book Trading 2.0: Learning Adaptive Machines. Subsequently, his findings led to the emergence of a new unit at the bank BBVA, called Global Strategies & Data Science.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Most retirement savings, such as private pension funds or 401(k) and individual retirement accounts in the US, are invested in mutual funds, the most popular of which are index funds which must periodically "rebalance" or adjust their portfolio to match the new prices and market capitalization of the underlying securities in the stock or other index that they track. Profits are transferred from passive index investors to active investors, some of whom are algorithmic traders specifically exploiting the index rebalance effect. The magnitude of these losses incurred by passive investors has been estimated at 21–28bp per year for the S&P 500 and 38–77bp per year for the Russell 2000. John Montgomery of Bridgeway Capital Management says that the resulting "poor investor returns" from trading ahead of mutual funds is "the elephant in the room" that "shockingly, people are not talking about".


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Pairs trading or pair trading is a long-short, ideally market-neutral strategy enabling traders to profit from transient discrepancies in relative value of close substitutes. Unlike in the case of classic arbitrage, in case of pairs trading, the law of one price cannot guarantee convergence of prices. This is especially true when the strategy is applied to individual stocks – these imperfect substitutes can in fact diverge indefinitely. In theory, the long-short nature of the strategy should make it work regardless of the stock market direction. In practice, execution risk, persistent and large divergences, as well as a decline in volatility can make this strategy unprofitable for long periods of time (e.g. 2004-2007). It belongs to wider categories of statistical arbitrage, convergence trading, and relative value strategies.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: In finance, delta-neutral describes a portfolio of related financial securities, in which the portfolio value remains unchanged due to small changes in the value of the underlying security. Such a portfolio typically contains options and their corresponding underlying securities such that positive and negative delta components offset, resulting in the portfolio's value being relatively insensitive to changes in the value of the underlying security.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets: striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices. When used by academics, an arbitrage is a transaction that involves no negative cash flow at any probabilistic or temporal state and a positive cash flow in at least one state; in simple terms, it is the possibility of a risk-free profit at zero cost. Example: One of the most popular Arbitrage trading opportunities is played with the S&P futures and the S&P 500 stocks. During most trading days, these two will develop disparity in the pricing between the two of them. This happens when the price of the stocks which are mostly traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ markets either get ahead or behind the S&P Futures which are traded in the CME market.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Arbitrage is not simply the act of buying a product in one market and selling it in another for a higher price at some later time. The long and short transactions should ideally occur "simultaneously" to minimize the exposure to market risk, or the risk that prices may change on one market before both transactions are complete. In practical terms, this is generally only possible with securities and financial products which can be traded electronically, and even then, when first leg(s) of the trade is executed, the prices in the other legs may have worsened, locking in a guaranteed loss. Missing one of the legs of the trade (and subsequently having to open it at a worse price) is called 'execution risk' or more specifically 'leg-in and leg-out risk'. In the simplest example, any good sold in one market should sell for the same price in another. Traders may, for example, find that the price of wheat is lower in agricultural regions than in cities, purchase the good, and transport it to another region to sell at a higher price. This type of price arbitrage is the most common, but this simple example ignores the cost of transport, storage, risk, and other factors. "True" arbitrage requires that there be no market risk involved. Where securities are traded on more than one exchange, arbitrage occurs by simultaneously buying in one and selling on the other. Such simultaneous execution, if perfect substitutes are involved, minimizes capital requirements, but in practice never creates a "self-financing" (free) position, as many sources incorrectly assume following the theory. As long as there is some difference in the market value and riskiness of the two legs, capital would have to be put up in order to carry the long-short arbitrage position.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Mean reversion is a mathematical methodology sometimes used for stock investing, but it can be applied to other processes. In general terms the idea is that both a stock's high and low prices are temporary, and that a stock's price tends to have an average price over time. An example of a mean-reverting process is the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck stochastic equation.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Mean reversion involves first identifying the trading range for a stock, and then computing the average price using analytical techniques as it relates to assets, earnings, etc.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: When the current market price is less than the average price, the stock is considered attractive for purchase, with the expectation that the price will rise. When the current market price is above the average price, the market price is expected to fall. In other words, deviations from the average price are expected to revert to the average.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: The standard deviation of the most recent prices (e.g., the last 20) is often used as a buy or sell indicator.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Stock reporting services (such as Yahoo! Finance, MS Investor, Morningstar, etc.), commonly offer moving averages for periods such as 50 and 100 days. While reporting services provide the averages, identifying the high and low prices for the study period is still necessary.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Scalping is liquidity provision by non-traditional market makers, whereby traders attempt to earn (or "make") the bid-ask spread. This procedure allows for profit for so long as price moves are less than this spread and normally involves establishing and liquidating a position quickly, usually within minutes or less.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: A market maker is basically a specialized scalper. The volume a market maker trades is many times more than the average individual scalper and would make use of more sophisticated trading systems and technology. However, registered market makers are bound by exchange rules stipulating their minimum quote obligations. For instance, NASDAQ requires each market maker to post at least one bid and one ask at some price level, so as to maintain a two-sided market for each stock represented.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Most strategies referred to as algorithmic trading (as well as algorithmic liquidity-seeking) fall into the cost-reduction category. The basic idea is to break down a large order into small orders and place them in the market over time. The choice of algorithm depends on various factors, with the most important being volatility and liquidity of the stock. For example, for a highly liquid stock, matching a certain percentage of the overall orders of stock (called volume inline algorithms) is usually a good strategy, but for a highly illiquid stock, algorithms try to match every order that has a favorable price (called liquidity-seeking algorithms).


title: Algorithmic trading

text: The success of these strategies is usually measured by comparing the average price at which the entire order was executed with the average price achieved through a benchmark execution for the same duration. Usually, the volume-weighted average price is used as the benchmark. At times, the execution price is also compared with the price of the instrument at the time of placing the order.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: A special class of these algorithms attempts to detect algorithmic or iceberg orders on the other side (i.e. if you are trying to buy, the algorithm will try to detect orders for the sell side). These algorithms are called sniffing algorithms. A typical example is "Stealth".


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Some examples of algorithms are VWAP, TWAP, Implementation shortfall, POV, Display size, Liquidity seeker, and Stealth. Modern algorithms are often optimally constructed via either static or dynamic programming


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Recently, HFT, which comprises a broad set of buy-side as well as market making sell side traders, has become more prominent and controversial. These algorithms or techniques are commonly given names such as "Stealth" (developed by the Deutsche Bank), "Iceberg", "Dagger", " Monkey", "Guerrilla", "Sniper", "BASOR" (developed by Quod Financial) and "Sniffer". Dark pools are alternative trading systems that are private in nature—and thus do not interact with public order flow—and seek instead to provide undisplayed liquidity to large blocks of securities. In dark pools, trading takes place anonymously, with most orders hidden or "iceberged". Gamers or "sharks" sniff out large orders by "pinging" small market orders to buy and sell. When several small orders are filled the sharks may have discovered the presence of a large iceberged order.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: "Now it's an arms race," said Andrew Lo, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Laboratory for Financial Engineering. "Everyone is building more sophisticated algorithms, and the more competition exists, the smaller the profits."


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Strategies designed to generate alpha are considered market timing strategies. These types of strategies are designed using a methodology that includes backtesting, forward testing and live testing. Market timing algorithms will typically use technical indicators such as moving averages but can also include pattern recognition logic implemented using finite-state machines.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Backtesting the algorithm is typically the first stage and involves simulating the hypothetical trades through an in-sample data period. Optimization is performed in order to determine the most optimal inputs. Steps taken to reduce the chance of over-optimization can include modifying the inputs +/- 10%, shmooing the inputs in large steps, running Monte Carlo simulations and ensuring slippage and commission is accounted for.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Forward testing the algorithm is the next stage and involves running the algorithm through an out of sample data set to ensure the algorithm performs within backtested expectations.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Live testing is the final stage of development and requires the developer to compare actual live trades with both the backtested and forward tested models. Metrics compared include percent profitable, profit factor, maximum drawdown and average gain per trade.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: As noted above, high-frequency trading (HFT) is a form of algorithmic trading characterized by high turnover and high order-to-trade ratios. Although there is no single definition of HFT, among its key attributes are highly sophisticated algorithms, specialized order types, co-location, very short-term investment horizons, and high cancellation rates for orders.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: In the U.S., high-frequency trading (HFT) firms represent 2% of the approximately 20,000 firms operating today, but account for 73% of all equity trading volume. As of the first quarter in 2009, total assets under management for hedge funds with HFT strategies were US$141 billion, down about 21% from their high. The HFT strategy was first made successful by Renaissance Technologies.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: High-frequency funds started to become especially popular in 2007 and 2008. Many HFT firms are market makers and provide liquidity to the market, which has lowered volatility and helped narrow bid–offer spreads making trading and investing cheaper for other market participants. HFT has been a subject of intense public focus since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission stated that both algorithmic trading and HFT contributed to volatility in the 2010 Flash Crash. Among the major U.S. high frequency trading firms are Chicago Trading Company, Optiver, Virtu Financial, DRW, Jump Trading, Two Sigma Securities, GTS, IMC Financial, and Citadel LLC.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: There are four key categories of HFT strategies: market-making based on order flow, market-making based on tick data information, event arbitrage and statistical arbitrage. All portfolio-allocation decisions are made by computerized quantitative models. The success of computerized strategies is largely driven by their ability to simultaneously process volumes of information, something ordinary human traders cannot do.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Market making involves placing a limit order to sell (or offer) above the current market price or a buy limit order (or bid) below the current price on a regular and continuous basis to capture the bid-ask spread. Automated Trading Desk, which was bought by Citigroup in July 2007, has been an active market maker, accounting for about 6% of total volume on both NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Another set of HFT strategies in classical arbitrage strategy might involve several securities such as covered interest rate parity in the foreign exchange market which gives a relation between the prices of a domestic bond, a bond denominated in a foreign currency, the spot price of the currency, and the price of a forward contract on the currency. If the market prices are different enough from those implied in the model to cover transaction cost then four transactions can be made to guarantee a risk-free profit. HFT allows similar arbitrages using models of greater complexity involving many more than 4 securities. The TABB Group estimates that annual aggregate profits of low latency arbitrage strategies currently exceed US$21 billion.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: A wide range of statistical arbitrage strategies have been developed whereby trading decisions are made on the basis of deviations from statistically significant relationships. Like market-making strategies, statistical arbitrage can be applied in all asset classes.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: A subset of risk, merger, convertible, or distressed securities arbitrage that counts on a specific event, such as a contract signing, regulatory approval, judicial decision, etc., to change the price or rate relationship of two or more financial instruments and permit the arbitrageur to earn a profit.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Merger arbitrage also called risk arbitrage would be an example of this. Merger arbitrage generally consists of buying the stock of a company that is the target of a takeover while shorting the stock of the acquiring company. Usually the market price of the target company is less than the price offered by the acquiring company. The spread between these two prices depends mainly on the probability and the timing of the takeover being completed, as well as the prevailing level of interest rates. The bet in a merger arbitrage is that such a spread will eventually be zero, if and when the takeover is completed. The risk is that the deal "breaks" and the spread massively widens.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: One strategy that some traders have employed, which has been proscribed yet likely continues, is called spoofing. It is the act of placing orders to give the impression of wanting to buy or sell shares, without ever having the intention of letting the order execute to temporarily manipulate the market to buy or sell shares at a more favorable price. This is done by creating limit orders outside the current bid or ask price to change the reported price to other market participants. The trader can subsequently place trades based on the artificial change in price, then canceling the limit orders before they are executed.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Suppose a trader desires to sell shares of a company with a current bid of $20 and a current ask of $20.20. The trader would place a buy order at $20.10, still some distance from the ask so it will not be executed, and the $20.10 bid is reported as the National Best Bid and Offer best bid price. The trader then executes a market order for the sale of the shares they wished to sell. Because the best bid price is the investor's artificial bid, a market maker fills the sale order at $20.10, allowing for a $.10 higher sale price per share. The trader subsequently cancels their limit order on the purchase he never had the intention of completing.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Quote stuffing is a tactic employed by malicious traders that involves quickly entering and withdrawing large quantities of orders in an attempt to flood the market, thereby gaining an advantage over slower market participants. The rapidly placed and canceled orders cause market data feeds that ordinary investors rely on to delay price quotes while the stuffing is occurring. HFT firms benefit from proprietary, higher-capacity feeds and the most capable, lowest latency infrastructure. Researchers showed high-frequency traders are able to profit by the artificially induced latencies and arbitrage opportunities that result from quote stuffing.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Network-induced latency, a synonym for delay, measured in one-way delay or round-trip time, is normally defined as how much time it takes for a data packet to travel from one point to another. Low latency trading refers to the algorithmic trading systems and network routes used by financial institutions connecting to stock exchanges and electronic communication networks (ECNs) to rapidly execute financial transactions. Most HFT firms depend on low latency execution of their trading strategies. Joel Hasbrouck and Gideon Saar (2013) measure latency based on three components: the time it takes for (1) information to reach the trader, (2) the trader's algorithms to analyze the information, and (3) the generated action to reach the exchange and get implemented. In a contemporary electronic market (circa 2009), low latency trade processing time was qualified as under 10 milliseconds, and ultra-low latency as under 1 millisecond.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Low-latency traders depend on ultra-low latency networks. They profit by providing information, such as competing bids and offers, to their algorithms microseconds faster than their competitors. The revolutionary advance in speed has led to the need for firms to have a real-time, colocated trading platform to benefit from implementing high-frequency strategies. Strategies are constantly altered to reflect the subtle changes in the market as well as to combat the threat of the strategy being reverse engineered by competitors. This is due to the evolutionary nature of algorithmic trading strategies – they must be able to adapt and trade intelligently, regardless of market conditions, which involves being flexible enough to withstand a vast array of market scenarios. As a result, a significant proportion of net revenue from firms is spent on the R&D of these autonomous trading systems.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Most of the algorithmic strategies are implemented using modern programming languages, although some still implement strategies designed in spreadsheets. Increasingly, the algorithms used by large brokerages and asset managers are written to the FIX Protocol's Algorithmic Trading Definition Language (FIXatdl), which allows firms receiving orders to specify exactly how their electronic orders should be expressed. Orders built using FIXatdl can then be transmitted from traders' systems via the FIX Protocol. Basic models can rely on as little as a linear regression, while more complex game-theoretic and pattern recognition or predictive models can also be used to initiate trading. More complex methods such as Markov chain Monte Carlo have been used to create these models.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Algorithmic trading has been shown to substantially improve market liquidity among other benefits. However, improvements in productivity brought by algorithmic trading have been opposed by human brokers and traders facing stiff competition from computers.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Technological advances in finance, particularly those relating to algorithmic trading, has increased financial speed, connectivity, reach, and complexity while simultaneously reducing its humanity. Computers running software based on complex algorithms have replaced humans in many functions in the financial industry. Finance is essentially becoming an industry where machines and humans share the dominant roles – transforming modern finance into what one scholar has called, "cyborg finance".


title: Algorithmic trading

text: While many experts laud the benefits of innovation in computerized algorithmic trading, other analysts have expressed concern with specific aspects of computerized trading.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: "The downside with these systems is their black box-ness," Mr. Williams said. "Traders have intuitive senses of how the world works. But with these systems you pour in a bunch of numbers, and something comes out the other end, and it's not always intuitive or clear why the black box latched onto certain data or relationships."


title: Algorithmic trading

text: "The Financial Services Authority has been keeping a watchful eye on the development of black box trading. In its annual report the regulator remarked on the great benefits of efficiency that new technology is bringing to the market. But it also pointed out that 'greater reliance on sophisticated technology and modelling brings with it a greater risk that systems failure can result in business interruption'."


title: Algorithmic trading

text: UK Treasury minister Lord Myners has warned that companies could become the "playthings" of speculators because of automatic high-frequency trading. Lord Myners said the process risked destroying the relationship between an investor and a company.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Other issues include the technical problem of latency or the delay in getting quotes to traders, security and the possibility of a complete system breakdown leading to a market crash.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: "Goldman spends tens of millions of dollars on this stuff. They have more people working in their technology area than people on the trading desk...The nature of the markets has changed dramatically."


title: Algorithmic trading

text: On August 1, 2012 Knight Capital Group experienced a technology issue in their automated trading system, causing a loss of $440 million.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: This issue was related to Knight's installation of trading software and resulted in Knight sending numerous erroneous orders in NYSE-listed securities into the market. This software has been removed from the company's systems. ... Clients were not negatively affected by the erroneous orders, and the software issue was limited to the routing of certain listed stocks to NYSE. Knight has traded out of its entire erroneous trade position, which has resulted in a realized pre-tax loss of approximately $440 million.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Algorithmic and high-frequency trading were shown to have contributed to volatility during the May 6, 2010 Flash Crash, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 600 points only to recover those losses within minutes. At the time, it was the second largest point swing, 1,010.14 points, and the biggest one-day point decline, 998.5 points, on an intraday basis in Dow Jones Industrial Average history.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: Financial market news is now being formatted by firms such as Need To Know News, Thomson Reuters, Dow Jones, and Bloomberg, to be read and traded on via algorithms.


title: Algorithmic trading

text: "Computers are now being used to generate news stories about company earnings results or economic statistics as they are released. And this almost instantaneous information forms a direct feed into other computers which trade on the news."


title: Algorithmic trading

text: The algorithms do not simply trade on simple news stories but also interpret more difficult to understand news. Some firms are also attempting to automatically assign "sentiment" (deciding if the news is good or bad) to news stories so that automated trading can work directly on the news story.