title: Don Quijote (store)

text: Don Quijote opened its first Southeast Asian store at Orchard Central, Singapore, on December 1, 2017. These stores are branded "Don Don Donki" as the Don Quijote name was in use by a local restaurant at the time. Since then, all Don Quijote stores around the region have also used Singapore's "Don Don Donki" name due to brand recognition. Don Quijote subsequently opened a second store at the 100AM Mall in Tanjong Pagar on June 14, 2018. Don Quijote planned to have 5 stores in Singapore by the end of 2019 and 10 stores at the end of 2020, a target that was met.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: A third store was opened at City Square Mall in Singapore on January 11, 2019 with a fourth at Novena Square on May 8, 2019. A mini store in Singapore was located at Changi Airport's Terminal 3 under the Sweet Potato Factory concept, which eventually closed on September 13, 2020. A store location was announced in June 2019 at Clarke Quay Central and opened on August 2, 2019, increasing the total to five stores. Two more stores opened at Jem (sixth) and JCube (seventh) in Jurong East in November 29, 2019 and January 15, 2020 respectively. On October 30, 2020, an eighth store opened at the Harbourfront Centre. A ninth store opened at NTUC Downtown East in Pasir Ris on April 15, 2021. On June 25, 2021, a tenth store opened at Suntec City.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: In September 2021, Donki announced that it would open two more stores, one at Tampines 1 (the 11th, which opened on October 22, 2021), and the 12th in the North-East Region of the country, eventually revealed to be Waterway Point. In January 2022, it was announced that Donki will open at Jewel Changi Airport. It will be an aviation and travel themed outlet, including a dedicated sake corner and an open-concept kitchen. At , it will be the largest store in eastern Singapore and the second largest in general after the flagship Orchard Central stall at . Two more stores at Northpoint City (13th) in Yishun and Jurong Point (14th) in Jurong West opened on 6 October 2022 and 17 November 2022 respectively. The store at Jewel (15th) is to open on 20 December 2022.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: Singapore has the largest amount of Don Quijote stores outside of the Japanese home islands. In late 2021, store strategy division director Mak Hanawa stated that Don Quijote plans to eventually have "20 to 30 stores" throughout Singapore.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: The founder of Don Quijote, Takao Yasuda, along with his family, also lives in Singapore, specifically at Sentosa. They are permanent residents of Singapore, and he also revealed that his son had also served the country's National Service (NS).


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: Inspired by the success in Singapore, it also expanded to Hong Kong. Don Quijote has five outlets in the special administrative region, one at Mira Place 2 in Tsim Sha Tsui, one at OP Mall in Tsuen Wan, one at Pearl City in Causeway Bay, one at 100QRC in Central and one at Monterey Place in Tseung Kwan O.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: These stores have also adopted the Don Don Donki branding that was first established in Singapore. Don Quijote opened one more store at the Island Resort Mall in Siu Sai Wan in February 2021, and at TMT Plaza in Tuen Mun in July 2021. The store in Amoy Plaza opened in January 2022, and another store opened at Fashion World in The Whampoa in August 2022.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: It also expanded to Hong Kong. Don Quijote has five outlets, one at Mira Place 2 in Tsim Sha Tsui, one at OP Mall in Tsuen Wan, one at Pearl City in Causeway Bay, one at 100QRC in Central and one at Monterey Place in Tseung Kwan O. These stores have also adopted the Don Don Donki branding. Don Quijote opened one more store at the Island Resort Mall in Siu Sai Wan in February 2021, and at TMT Plaza in Tuen Mun in July 2021. The store in Amoy Plaza opened in January 2022, and another store opened at Fashion World in The Whampoa in August 2022.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: The chain now currenly consists of five stores in Thailand, the first store in Thailand opened on February 22, 2019 in the Thonglor area of Bangkok. one in Seacon Square (opened October 1, 2021), one at the MBK Center (opened December 21, 2021), one in Seacon Bangkae (opened June 20, 2022), and one at J-Park Sriracha Nihon Mura in Si Racha, Chonburi. (opened September 9, 2022),


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: On 19 January 2021, the first Don Don Donki store in Taiwan was opened in the Ximending Shopping District, Taipei. The three-floor outlet is open 24 hours a day and is located in close proximity to Ximen metro station. It attracted more than 500 people who lined up in front of the outlet before its grand opening Tuesday.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: On 20 January 2022, the second Don Don Donki store in Taiwan opened in the Zhongxiao Xinsheng district of Taipei. At , the second store is an underground single-floor store. The store is located in close proximity to the Zhongxiao Xinsheng metro station.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: On 19 March 2021, the first Don Don Donki store in Malaysia was opened in Lot 10 of Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. A second store was then opened on 9 December 2021 at Tropicana Gardens Mall in the Petaling Jaya district of Selangor, spanning across two levels of the mall. A third store opened on 15 January 2022 at Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport mall located at Bukit Bintang City Centre. The store also announced that it plans to open 11 outlets by 2026.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: After breaking ground in February 2020, Don Don Donki was expected to open on Guam in the village of Tamuning during September 2021. However, due to delays with visas for H-2B workers, cost increases, and building supply shortage the store is now expected to open around July or August of 2023.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: Don Quijote is known for the distinctive song that plays in its stores. The song is called sung by , a Don Quijote store employee. "Miracle Shopping" was later released as a maxi single in 1999 by . An English and Cantonese version has also been released, the English version also having a remake under the "Don Don Donki" name to accommodate for the outlets in Singapore.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: In December 2004, four stores in the Kantō area were damaged or destroyed by arson attacks. Three store employees, Morio Oshima, 39, Mai Koishi, 20, and Maiko Sekiguchi, 19, died in the first arson incident. In 2007, Noriko Watanabe, 49, was found guilty of setting the fires and sentenced to life imprisonment. Don Quijote received harsh criticism at the time for poor store layout that made it difficult to find exits.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: In 2005, Don Quijote began building a "half-pipe" roller coaster on the roof of its eight-story Roppongi store. Roppongi is a heavily populated area in the core of Tokyo, and many residents and businesses were upset with the idea of having a roller coaster in their neighborhood because of the spectacle, noise and crowds it would likely create. The project was completed in 2006 but due to increasing pressure from concerned groups in the area it was never operated. As of 2019, the structure has been removed.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: On January 4, 2020, a woman was arrested for attacking a Chinese tourist at a Don Quijote branch in Umeda, Osaka. Miki Matsuoka, 34, of Takamatsu, Kagawa, slashed and stabbed the tourist on a staircase in the store. While being questioned, she stated that she had "bought a kitchen knife to kill someone" and she did not like the attitude of the tourist.


title: Don Quijote (store)

text: Don Quijote purchased the Marukai Japanese chain stores in the United States in 2013, splitting it into Marukai and Tokyo Central Markets chains.


title: Count von Count

text: Count von Count (known simply as the Count) is a Muppet character on the PBS/HBO children's television show "Sesame Street." He is meant to parody Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula. He first appeared on the show in the Season 4 premiere in 1972, counting blocks in a sketch with Bert and Ernie.


title: Count von Count

text: The Count's main role is to teach counting skills to children. His signature greeting is, “They call me the Count because I love to count things.” The Count loves counting so much that he will often count anything and everything regardless of size or amount, to the point of annoying other characters. The Count can occasionally lose his temper if interrupted while counting, or feel sad when there is nothing around for him to count. But apart from these, he is typically portrayed as friendly and cheerful. Once he reaches the total number of his targeted item to count, thunderstorms roll (even indoors) while he laughs his iconic "Ah-Ah-Ah!" staccato laugh.


title: Count von Count

text: The Count lives in an old cobweb-infested castle which he shares with many bats, a wolf named Yuba, and a cat named Fatatita. As a running gag, his castle has a squeaky door, which visitors always point out, only for the Count to instantly change the subject to his counting addiction. The Count drives a special car, the Countmobile, designed to look like a bat. (cf. Batmobile)


title: Count von Count

text: The Count has been shown with a number of girlfriends, who tend to be vampire Countesses. These include Countess von Backwards (debuting in "Sesame Street"‘s 28th season), who counts backward, her total is indicated by a wolf howl; Countess Dahling von Dahling (debuted in the 12th season); and one simply called "The Countess" (first appearing in season 8). The von Count family includes an unnamed brother and mother as well as an Uncle Uno and grandparents.


title: Count von Count

text: The Count has a personal cloud hovering over him, which is the possibility of the source of his thunder and lightning. Some residents have been disturbed by it in a few episodes. For example, in episode 0974, he was counting at midnight, and as his punishment, the Amazing Mumford used magic to detach his cloud, therefore taking his thunder and lightning away until he understood. This episode was featured in a 1978 "Sesame Street" bedtime storybook titled "Who Stole the Count's Thunder?"


title: Count von Count

text: According to BBC News, during an interview with the "More or Less" team's Tim Harford, the Count said his favorite number is 34,969. The Count was quoted as saying, "It's a square-root thing.": 34,969 is a perfect square, being 187.


title: Count von Count

text: The Count's signature song is "The Song of the Count". The song was written by Jeff Moss as a traditional Hungarian Csárdás.


title: Count von Count

text: The Count debuted on "Sesame Street" in Episode 0406, the premiere of Season 4 (1972–73), and he was conceived by Norman Stiles, who wrote the first script. In the Count's very first scene, Ernie told Bert to watch his pyramid of blocks and make sure nothing happened to it while he got his camera to take a picture of the pyramid. The Count then walked by, counted the blocks, and in the process, took Ernie's pyramid apart before Bert could stop him. He then counted the blocks again, moving them back into place. Bert yelled at the Count for moving Ernie's blocks, so the Count counted the blocks again, taking the pyramid apart. The Count was performed by Jerry Nelson, who brought the character to life. He is made out of the Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet pattern. Before a counting session, he originally greeted the viewers (and the characters) by saying, "Greetings. I am the Count. They call me the Count because I LOVE to count... things." Nelson voiced the Count until his death on August 23, 2012. At that time, Matt Vogel had taken over performing the puppetry of the Count. Upon Nelson's death, Vogel started performing both the Count's voice and puppetry. His first performance of the Count was in a YouTube video called "Counting the Yous in YouTube", a song about the celebration of "Sesame Street"'s YouTube channel reaching 1 billion views.


title: Count von Count

text: Despite the fact that the Count is now friendly and non-threatening, in his earliest appearances from 1972 to 1975, he showed a much more villainous nature. To begin a counting session, the Count would enter the scene holding his cape over his face in an exaggerated Lugosi-style pose before reciting his greeting, and he was often accompanied by creepy organ music. He would not even let anything interrupt him while counting, and to prevent this, he shouted "SILENCE!" and used hypnotic powers to temporarily stun people with a wave of his hands (although he sometimes did this without shouting anything, and even did it for no reason, occasionally). He only did this twice. In his first appearance, he hypnotized Bert before counting Ernie's pyramid blocks, while on season 5, during a skit with Grover, the waiter, he hypnotized Grover to serve him more hot dogs to count instead of eating, leaving Grover breathless. And after counting, he would laugh maniacally, "MWAH HA HA HA HA HAAAA!!!", while thunder and lightning flashed in moody colors, and then he would exit the scene, once again, holding his cape over his face. This aspect of the Count's personality, however, was abruptly ended in 1975 out of concern that it might frighten younger viewers, and this practice was changed, as he became friendlier, did not have hypnotic powers, did not enter or exit the scene holding his cape over his face, and interacted more pleasantly with the characters (both live actors and Muppets). Also, the creepy organ music was removed, the lightning flashes were changed from moodily colored to normally colored, and his laugh was changed from a maniacal laugh to a more throaty, triumphant Lugosi-style laugh, "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!"


title: Count von Count

text: Belvedere Castle, in New York's Central Park, was used for exterior establishing shots of the Count's castle on the show.


title: Count von Count

text: The Count made an appearance in the film "The Muppets Take Manhattan" at Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy's wedding, then in the "Sesame Street" movies "Follow That Bird" (1985) as a supporting character and "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" (1999) as a minor character. Notably, the Count appeared onscreen during the closing credits of "Follow That Bird," where he proceeded to read and count the credits. He also said, "Hi, Mom." when a credit appears for Joan Ganz Cooney, creator of "Sesame Street".


title: Count von Count

text: In Season 33, the Count was given a daily segment on "Sesame Street", simply called "The Number of the Day".


title: Count von Count

text: The Count was originally portrayed by Jerry Nelson. However, Nelson's health began to deteriorate in 2004, so he retired from performing all his characters except for the Count and his other "Sesame Street" characters. Due to his increasingly failing health, Nelson could no longer puppeteer the character of the Count, so he handed over puppeteering duties to Matt Vogel, though Nelson still continued to voice the Count. After Nelson's death in 2012, Vogel took over voicing and puppeteering the Count full time the following year.


title: Count von Count

text: The St. Paul Saints, an independent minor-league baseball team in St. Paul, Minnesota, known for unique and sometimes over-the-top promotions, announced that it would give away 2,500 bobblehead dolls dressed as the Count at its May 23, 2009 game. However, instead of the Count's regular head, this doll's head featured Al Franken on one side and Norm Coleman on the other, and was called "Count von Re-Count"—referring to the extraordinarily prolonged recount and legal battle surrounding the 2008 U.S. Senate election between the two men. The team made further jabs at the election during the game.


title: Count von Count

text: Australian rugby league football international Anthony Minichiello has been nicknamed 'The Count' due to his striking resemblance to the character.


title: Count von Count

text: During the 2020 United States presidential election, which required a ballot-counting period of four days before Joe Biden was declared the winner (a result of record-setting use of mail-in voting and early voting), the Count was featured in many internet memes and social media posts, such as playful wishes that he could be called in to assist the tabulation and the insistence that President Donald Trump's demand to "Stop the Count" was hopeless against the "Sesame Street" character.


title: Relief valve

text: A relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system; pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire. The pressure is relieved by allowing the pressurized fluid to flow from an auxiliary passage out of the system. The relief valve is designed or set to open at a predetermined set pressure to protect pressure vessels and other equipment from being subjected to pressures that exceed their design limits. When the set pressure is exceeded, the relief valve becomes the "path of least resistance" as the valve is forced open and a portion of the fluid is diverted through the auxiliary route. In systems containing flammable fluids, the diverted fluid (liquid, gas or liquid-gas mixture) is either recaptured by a low pressure, high-flow vapor recovery system or is routed through a piping system known as a "flare header" or "relief header" to a central, elevated gas flare where it is burned, releasing naked combustion gases into the atmosphere. In non-hazardous systems, the fluid is often discharged to the atmosphere by a suitable discharge pipework designed to prevent rainwater ingress which can affect the set lift pressure, and positioned not to cause a hazard to personnel. As the fluid is diverted, the pressure inside the vessel will stop rising. Once it reaches the valve's reseating pressure, the valve will close. The "blowdown" is usually stated as a percentage of set pressure and refers to how much the pressure needs to drop before the valve reseats. The blowdown can vary roughly 2–20%, and some valves have adjustable blowdowns.


title: Relief valve

text: In high-pressure gas systems, it is recommended that the outlet of the relief valve is in the open air. In systems where the outlet is connected to piping, the opening of a relief valve will give a pressure build-up in the piping system downstream of the relief valve. This often means that the relief valve will not re-seat once the set pressure is reached. For these systems often so-called "differential" relief valves are used. This means that the pressure is only working on an area that is much smaller than the area of the opening of the valve. If the valve is opened the pressure has to decrease enormously before the valve closes and also the outlet pressure of the valve can easily keep the valve open. Another consideration is that if other relief valves are connected to the outlet pipe system, they may open as the pressure in the exhaust pipe system increases. This may cause undesired operation.


title: Relief valve

text: In some cases, a so-called "bypass valve" acts as a relief valve by being used to return all or part of the fluid discharged by a pump or gas compressor back to either a storage reservoir or the inlet of the pump or gas compressor. This is done to protect the pump or gas compressor and any associated equipment from excessive pressure. The bypass valve and bypass path can be internal (an integral part of the pump or compressor) or external (installed as a component in the fluid path). Many fire engines have such relief valves to prevent the overpressurization of fire hoses.


title: Relief valve

text: In other cases, equipment must be protected against being subjected to an internal vacuum (i.e., low pressure) that is lower than the equipment can withstand. In such cases, "vacuum relief valves" are used to open at a predetermined low-pressure limit and to admit air or an inert gas into the equipment to control the amount of vacuum.


title: Relief valve

text: In the petroleum refining, petrochemical and chemical manufacturing, natural gas processing and power generation industries, the term relief valve is associated with the terms pressure relief valve (PRV), pressure safety valve (PSV) and safety valve:


title: Relief valve

text: In most countries, industries are legally required to protect pressure vessels and other equipment by using relief valves. Also in most countries, equipment design codes such as those provided by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Petroleum Institute (API) and other organizations like ISO (ISO 4126) must be complied with and those codes include design standards for relief valves.


title: Relief valve

text: Formed in 1977, the Design Institute for Emergency Relief Systems was a consortium of 29 companies under the auspices of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) that developed methods for the design of emergency relief systems to handle runaway reactions. Its purpose was to develop the technology and methods needed for sizing pressure relief systems for chemical reactors, particularly those in which exothermic reactions are carried out. Such reactions include many classes of industrially important processes including polymerizations, nitrations, diazotizations, sulphonations, epoxidations, aminations, esterifications, neutralizations, and many others. Pressure relief systems can be difficult to design, not least because what is expelled can be gas/vapor, liquid, or a mixture of the two – just as with a can of carbonated drink when it is suddenly opened. For chemical reactions, it requires extensive knowledge of both chemical reaction hazards and fluid flow.


title: Relief valve

text: DIERS investigated the two-phase vapor-liquid onset/disengagement dynamics and the hydrodynamics of emergency relief systems with extensive experimental and analysis work. Of particular interest to DIERS were the prediction of two-phase flow venting and the applicability of various sizing methods for two-phase vapor-liquid flashing flow. DIERS became a user's group in 1985.


title: Relief valve

text: European DIERS Users’ Group (EDUG) is a group of mainly European industrialists, consultants and academics who use the DIERS technology. The EDUG started in the late 1980s and has an annual meeting. A summary of many of key aspects of the DIERS technology has been published in the UK by the HSE.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: Mattia De Sciglio (; born 20 October 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Juventus and the Italy national team.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: He made his professional debut for Milan in 2011, after several seasons in the club's youth system, and subsequently became a regular in the line-up, being able to play as either right or left back, winning two Supercoppa Italiana titles. He joined Juventus in 2017, winning a domestic double in his first season with the club, followed by two more consecutive Serie A titles and a Supercoppa Italiana.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: At international level, De Sciglio made his senior debut in March 2013 and he was selected in the Italian squads for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (where he won a bronze medal), the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: A native of Milan, De Sciglio started playing football as a child at the "Santa Chiara e San Francesco" parish recreation centre in the nearby municipality of Rozzano, before moving to local amateur team Cimiano in 2001.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: The following year, aged ten, De Sciglio joined A.C. Milan's youth system, where he spent nine seasons. In 2010, he was a member of the under-19 squad who won the Coppa Italia Primavera, 25 years after the team's last success in the competition.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: At the start of the 2011–12 season De Sciglio was officially included in the first team squad by manager Massimiliano Allegri. He made his professional debut on 28 September 2011, coming on as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League group stage home game against Viktoria Plzeň, which Milan won 2–0. He was given his first start (and second overall appearance) in a 2–2 away draw against the same team on 6 December. Four months later, on 10 April, De Sciglio also made his league debut, playing as a starter in a 1–0 away win over Chievo. The following month, on 6 May, he played in his first Milan derby against city rivals Inter, replacing an injured Daniele Bonera midway through the first half of a 4–2 loss.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: As from the 2012–13 season De Sciglio was assigned the number 2 shirt, which he called "very important" as in the past it was worn "by great players like Mauro Tassotti and Cafu", adding that he hoped to "live up to their standards". Throughout the season, De Sciglio became a regular in the starting line-up thanks to a series of convincing performances. He made 33 appearances in the 2012–13 season, managing three assists in the process. He played as both a left back and right back, showing competence on either flank.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: The 2013–14 season was a frustrating one for De Sciglio. He missed 20 matches in total due to various injuries which limited him to making just 21 appearances for the season in all competitions. On 18 May, De Sciglio was sent off in Milan's game against Sassuolo. De Sciglio healed in time to participate with his national side Italy in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: De Sciglio made 18 appearances for Milan in the 2014–15 season as he struggled with injury and vied with Ignazio Abate for the starting right-back spot. Towards the end of the season, however, he started to fall into Filippo Inzaghi's favor and began to start most games. Despite this, he also received criticism due to a perceived lack of discipline, particularly citing the 3–0 loss to Napoli on 3 May, where De Sciglio conceded a penalty (saved by Diego López) and was sent off in the first minute of the match for a foul in the penalty area.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: Inzaghi's replacement as coach, Siniša Mihajlović, has firmly established De Sciglio in the right-back position, having started him in almost every game this season, mostly replacing Abate on the right-back but also playing in place of the injured left-back Luca Antonelli. On 6 March 2016, De Sciglio made his 100th Milan appearance, being given the captain's armband to mark the occasion, in a 2–0 away loss to Sassuolo.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: Following impressive performances at UEFA Euro 2016, it was reported that Milan had rejected a €15 million offer from Napoli.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: Under the new Milan manager, Vincenzo Montella, De Sciglio started almost every match, mostly as a left-back. On 23 December 2016, he started the match against Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana, which Milan went on to win 4–3 in a penalty shoot-out, with De Sciglio winning his second Supercoppa Italiana title.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: On 20 July 2017, De Sciglio joined Juventus for €12 million on a five-year contract. On 13 August, he made his club debut, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat to Lazio in the 2017 Supercoppa Italiana.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: On 26 November, De Sciglio scored his first ever goal, in a 3–0 home win over Crotone. After struggling in his later seasons at Milan to replicate the promising performances he had shown in his early years at the club, De Sciglio's form improved significantly after his move to Juventus, and his consistent defensive performances drew praise in the media.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: De Sciglio missed the first part of the 2018–19 season after picking up an injury during the pre-season. He returned to action on 27 October 2018, in a 2–1 away win over Empoli in Serie A.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: On 9 January 2022, De Sciglio scored the winning goal in a 4–3 win against Roma, and scored his second league goal of his career. On 16 June, Juventus announced De Sciglio had renewed his contract until 30 June 2025.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: De Sciglio won eight caps for Italy under-19 between 2010 and 2011, including two appearances and one goal in the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualifying round. Subsequently, he represented Italy under-20, winning five caps between 2011 and 2012. On 25 April 2012, he made his debut for Italy under-21, coming on as a substitute midway through the second half of a friendly match against Scotland, which Italy won 4–1. For the under-21 side, he went on to make four further appearances, all in 2012.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: Less than four months after making his debut for the under-21 side, De Sciglio received his first call-up to the Italy senior team, as manager Cesare Prandelli named him to the squad for a friendly match against England to be played on 15 August 2012. However, he was left as an unused substitute in the 2–1 defeat. He went on to make his debut for the senior team on 21 March 2013, in a friendly match against Brazil that ended in a 2–2 draw.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: At the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup De Sciglio played in four games out of five, including the third-place match against Uruguay that Italy won on penalties following a 2–2 draw after extra time, even though De Sciglio had missed his spot kick in the eventual 3–2 win.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: After appearing in Italy's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, De Sciglio was chosen under Prandelli to take part at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He made his World Cup debut during the tournament, starting in Italy's final group match against Uruguay, although Italy were eliminated in the first round following a 1–0 defeat.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: On 31 May 2016, De Sciglio was named to Antonio Conte's 23-man Italy squad for UEFA Euro 2016. After having been benched for Italy's first two games, he was highly praised for his performances in Italy's final group match against Republic of Ireland (a 1–0 loss) and Italy's round of 16 match against Spain (a 2–0 victory).


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: On 3 July 2016, he started the quarterfinal match against Germany; following a 1–1 draw after extra-time, he successfully converted his penalty in the resulting shoot-out, but Italy were eventually eliminated from the tournament by a 6–5 defeat.


title: Mattia De Sciglio

text: De Sciglio is primarily a right-sided full-back or wing-back, who can also play comfortably on the left side due to his ability with his left foot as well as his stronger right foot; he has also been deployed as a wide midfielder on occasion, or even as a centre-back, a position which he formerly played in his youth. Former Milan player Alberigo Evani, who coached him during the 2007–08 season, described De Sciglio as "a fast runner, with good technique", and also as "a versatile footballer". Along with fellow Italian fullback Davide Santon, De Sciglio's precocious displays for Milan and the Italian national side led players, managers and pundits to describe him as the heir apparent of Paolo Maldini in 2013; he has also been compared to former Milan right-back Mauro Tassotti, who noted that De Sciglio reminded him of himself due to his athleticism and stamina. His managers have also praised him for his maturity, tenacity and composure, both when attacking or defending. A solid, defensive-minded full-back, he is mainly known for his consistency, decision-making, positioning, and tactical intelligence, as well as his ability to read the game and time his challenges.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana (, meaning "gathering of the Tswana people"), officially the Republic of Bophuthatswana (; ), was a Bantustan (also known as "Homeland"; an area set aside for members of a specific ethnicity) that was declared (nominally) independent by the apartheid regime of South Africa in 1977. However, its independence, like the other Bantustans (Ciskei, Transkei and Venda) was not recognized by any country other than South Africa.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana was the second Bantustan to be declared an independent state, after Transkei. Its territory constituted a scattered patchwork of enclaves spread across what was then Cape Province, Orange Free State and Transvaal. Its seat of government was Mmabatho, which is now a suburb of Mahikeng.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: On 27 April 1994, it was reintegrated into South Africa with the coming into force of the country's interim constitution. Its territory was distributed between the new provinces of the Free State, Gauteng and North West Province.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: The area comprising former native reserves was set up as the only "homeland" for Tswana-speaking people in 1961 and administered by the Tswana Territorial Authority. It was given nominal self-rule in 1971, and elections were held the following year.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Following the 1977 elections, Lucas Mangope became president after his Bophuthatswana Democratic Party won a majority of seats.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: The territory became nominally independent on 6 December 1977. Bophuthatswana's independence was not recognized by any government other than those of South Africa and Transkei, the first homeland to gain nominal independence. In addition, it was later internally recognized by the two additional countries within the TBVC-system, Ciskei and Venda.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Arguing in favour of independence, President Mangope claimed that the move would enable its population to negotiate with South Africa from a stronger position: "We would rather face the difficulties of administering a fragmented territory, the wrath of the outside world, and accusations of ill-informed people. It's the price we are prepared to pay for being masters of our own destiny."


title: Bophuthatswana

text: United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim stated that he "strongly deplored" the establishment of "another so-called independent tribal homeland in pursuance of the discredited policies of apartheid", and in resolution A/RES/32/105N, passed on 14 December 1977, the United Nations General Assembly linked Bophuthatswana's "so-called 'independence to South Africa's "stubborn pursuit" of its policies, and called upon all governments to "deny any form of recognition to the so-called 'independent' bantustans".


title: Bophuthatswana

text: During a parliamentary debate in the UK on 6 December 1977, Foreign Secretary David Owen replied in the negative when asked "whether Her Majesty's Government intend to recognise travel documents issued by the authorities of ... Bophuthatswana for the purpose of admitting visitors to the United Kingdom".


title: Bophuthatswana

text: While the majority of news reports echoed these official declarations, there were others which opined that Western critics should "suspend judgment for a time", and despite its generally critical stance on South Africa's policies, "Time" magazine wrote that Bophuthatswana had "considerable economic potential" with an expected $30 million a year coming from mining revenues.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Despite its official isolation, however, the government in Mmabatho managed to set up a trade mission in Tel Aviv, Israel, and conducted some business with neighbouring Botswana in an effort to sway attitudes; furthermore, Botswana agreed on "informal arrangements" short of official recognition in order to facilitate cross-border travel.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana maintained an unofficial embassy in Israel during the 1980s, located next to the British embassy in Tel Aviv. The Israeli Foreign Ministry objected to the embassy's presence, as Israel did not recognize Bophuthatswana as a country. The bantustan's president, Lucas Mangope, was nevertheless able to meet with prominent figures such as Moshe Dayan during visits to Israel.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: In the 1982 elections, the Democratic Party won all 72 elected seats. It also won a large majority in the 1987 elections.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: On 10 February 1988 Rocky Malebane-Metsing of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) became the President of Bophuthatswana for one day when he took over the government through a military coup. He accused Mangope of corruption and charged that the recent election had been rigged in the government's favour. A statement by the defence force said "serious and disturbing matters of great concern" had emerged, citing Mangope's close association with a multimillionaire Soviet emigre.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Subsequently, the South African Defence Force invaded Bophuthatswana and Mangope was reinstated and continued his term unabated. P. W. Botha, president of South Africa at the time, justified the reinstatement by saying that "[t]he South African Government is opposed in principle to the obtaining or maintaining of power by violence."


title: Bophuthatswana

text: In 1990, a second coup attempt took place in which an estimated 50,000 protesters demanded the president's resignation over his handling of the economy. "The New York Times" reported that seven people had been killed and 450 wounded "after police officers in armoured cars fired their rifles into the crowds and used tear gas and rubber bullets".


title: Bophuthatswana

text: After Mangope had asked for help from the South African government, he declared a state of emergency and cut telephone links to the territory "for political reasons", claiming that "normal laws had become inadequate". Human Rights Watch put the number of protesters at 150,000.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: In the beginning of 1994 with South Africa heading for democratic elections, the President Lucas Mangope resisted the elections taking place in Bophuthatswana and opposed reincorporation of the territory into South Africa. This resulted in increasing unrest and 40 people were wounded when Bophuthatswana Defence Force troops opened fire on striking civil servants. Mangope took an increasingly hardline stance, rejected Independent Electoral Commission chairman Judge Johann Kriegler's plea for free political activity in the territory, and fired the staff of the Bophuthatswana Broadcasting Corporation, closing down two television stations and three radio stations.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: With unrest growing and rumors of ANC supporters massing at Bophuthatswana's borders, Mangope invited General Constand Viljoen, head of the right-wing Afrikaner Volksfront, to immediately assist in keeping the peace. The Afrikaners were hastily rallied and mobilised, including the white supremacist group Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), which took the opportunity to move in and try to restore the apartheid status quo. Uniformed members of the AWB on an armed incursion to the Mmabatho/Mafikeng area shot at unarmed civilians blocking the road, injuring and killing many.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: They themselves were shot at by members of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) and the Police and forced to retreat. One member of the AWB travelling back in a blue Mercedes Benz shot at some people along the road, which was then followed by members of the Bophuthatswana police opening fire at the car. The driver, Nicolaas Fourie, and his two passengers promptly surrendered and were disarmed. After the media were allowed to photograph the badly injured prisoners, they were then executed at point-blank range by a Bophuthatswana policeman, Ontlametse Bernstein Menyatsoe. These killings effectively spelt the end of white right-wing military opposition to democratic reforms.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: On 12 March 1994, Mangope was deposed as President of Bophuthatswana by the South African government and the Transitional Executive Council. South African Ambassador to Bophuthatswana, Prof. Tjaart van der Walt, was then appointed as the territory's new administrator.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: With the end of apartheid after the first multi-racial elections and the coming into force of the Interim Constitution of South Africa on 27 April 1994, Bophuthatswana ceased to exist and once again became part of South Africa.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: The majority of the country became part of the North West province, while the Thaba 'Nchu district became part of the Free State, and the Mathanjana exclave north-east of Pretoria became part of Mpumalanga. The capital, Mmabatho, was merged with Mafikeng and the combined city is now the capital of the North-West province.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana had a surface area of approximately and consisted of seven enclaves dispersed over the former South African provinces of Cape Province, Transvaal, and Orange Free State. Six of the enclaves were located relatively close together with three in the Cape Province and another three in Transvaal. The seventh enclave was in the Orange Free State between Bloemfontein and the Lesotho border.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: One of the enclaves shared a border with Botswana, while two of the enclaves were located near Pretoria and its surrounding industrial areas. The townships in these enclaves, such as Ga-Rankuwa and Mabopane continued to serve as dormitory townships for the supply of labour (as they had done prior to Bophuthatswana's independence) despite being located in Bophuthatswana territory. Other enclaves were similarly located near South African cities such as Rustenburg and Bloemfontein.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: The territory and borders of the country were fluid as the South African government frequently incorporated territory into the country. As a result, when independence was declared in 1977, the country originally consisted of six enclaves but just before its reincorporation into South Africa, it had seven enclaves. Another example was the incorporation of Mafeking, which was located just outside the borders of Bophuthatswana when it gained independence in 1977, into the country in 1980 after a local referendum.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: The homeland was set up to house Setswana-speaking peoples. In 1983, it had more than 1,430,000 inhabitants; in 1990, it had an estimated population of 2,352,296. Only 10% of Bophuthatswana's total land area was arable, and much of that was covered with scrub brush.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Though the majority of its population was Tswana-speaking, Tswana, English, and Afrikaans were all designated as official languages by the constitution.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana was the richest of the TBVC-states as it had platinum mines, which accounted for two-thirds of the total platinum production in the Western world. It was also rich in asbestos, granite, vanadium, chromium and manganese. Additional revenues came from the Sun City casino, which was a day trip from Johannesburg and Pretoria, where gambling was illegal under the National Party government, as it was throughout all of South Africa.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana also issued bearer development bonds. The so-called "Bop Bonds" are not recognized or redeemable in South Africa, and are worthless as financial instruments. However, bonds in excellent condition are considered collectible. Bonds issued in 1988 and 1989, in R10 and R20 denominations, currently trade at 10–25% of original face value.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana ran a now-defunct television station called Bop TV. Bop TV was also available in some townships like Soweto, for Tswana people (who were ostensibly citizens of Bophuthatswana), but the signal was also watched by white South Africans seeking a more entertaining alternative to the SABC.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana Recording Studios, also known as BRS or BOP, was constructed in 1991 as an effort to raise the international profile of South Africa.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Towards the end of its existence, the Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) had an estimated number of 4,000 troops, mostly infantry. It was organized into six military regions, and its ground forces included two infantry battalions, possessing two armoured personnel carriers. The Bophuthatswana Air Force of 150 personnel possessed three combat aircraft and two armed helicopters. The president was commander-in-chief and was authorised to deploy the armed forces in both cross-border operations as well as domestically.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: During its last days in 1994, the Bophuthatswana Police had 6,002 police officers, operating from 56 police stations throughout the territory.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: With the dissolution of Bophuthatswana in 1994, the BDF and the Bophuthatswana Police were incorporated into the South African National Defence Force and the South African Police Service, respectively.


title: Bophuthatswana

text: Bophuthatswana was the first and only Bantustan to produce its own coins. Two coins were minted as a proof set only, the South African Rand remained the official currency.


title: Endless knot

text: The endless knot or eternal knot is a symbolic knot and one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols. It is an important symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. It is an important cultural marker in places significantly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism such as Tibet, Mongolia, Tuva, Kalmykia, and Buryatia. It is also found in Celtic and Chinese symbolism.


title: Endless knot

text: The endless knot appears on clay tablets from the Indus Valley civilization (2500 BC) and on a historic era inscription.


title: Endless knot

text: In Hinduism, Srivatsa is mentioned as 'connected to shree', i.e the goddess Lakshmi. It is a mark on the chest of Vishnu where his consort Lakshmi resides. According to the Vishnu purana, the tenth avatar of Vishnu, Kalki, will bear the Shrivatsa mark on his chest. It is one of the names of Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranamam. Srivatsa is considered to be auspicious symbol in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.


title: Endless knot

text: In Jainism it is one of the eight auspicious items, an asthamangala, however found only in the Svetambara sect. It is often found marking the chests of the 24 tirthankaras. It is more commonly referred to as the Shrivatsa.


title: Harvey Neville

text: Harvey James Neville (born 26 June 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Born in England, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 level. He is the son of former England player Phil Neville.


title: Harvey Neville

text: Born on 26 June 2002, Neville is the son of former England international Phil Neville. He began his career in the youth setup of his father's former club, Manchester United. He later moved and played with the youth squads at Manchester City and Spanish club Valencia.


title: Harvey Neville

text: In 2018, Neville returned to Manchester United. In July 2020, he signed his first professional contract with Manchester United.


title: Harvey Neville

text: On 7 May 2021, Neville moved to the United States and signed with USL League One club Fort Lauderdale CF, the reserve affiliate of Major League Soccer side Inter Miami. He made his professional debut for the club on 22 May 2021 in a 2–1 defeat against the Chattanooga Red Wolves.


title: Harvey Neville

text: On 26 January 2022, Neville made his non-competitive debut for Inter Miami and scored during a 4–0 pre-season victory over Club Universitario de Deportes. On 11 May 2022, Neville made his competitive debut for Inter Miami as an 84th minute substitute for DeAndre Yedlin during a 3–1 U.S. Open Cup win at home to Tormenta FC.


title: Harvey Neville

text: Neville officially joined the Inter Miami first team roster on 23 August 2022, signing a deal through to the end of the 2024 season.


title: Harvey Neville

text: Neville qualifies for Republic of Ireland through his maternal grandmother. In October 2019, Neville was named in the Republic of Ireland U19 squad for the first time. He made his debut later that month in a loss to Denmark.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is a chronic functional condition of unknown pathogenesis. CVS is characterized as recurring episodes lasting a single day to multiple weeks. Each episode is divided into four phases: inter-episodic, prodrome, vomiting, and recovery. Inter-episodic phase (symptom free phase), is characterized as no discernible symptoms, normal everyday activities can occur, and this phase typically lasts one week to one month. The prodrome phase is known as the pre-emetic phase, characterized by the initial feeling of an approaching episode, still able to keep down oral medication. Emetic or vomiting phase is characterized as intense persistent nausea, and repeated vomiting typically lasting hours to days. Recovery phase is typically the phase where vomiting ceases, nausea diminishes or is absent, and appetite returns. This syndrome is most commonly seen in children usually between ages 3 and 7, however adult diagnosis is quite common. This disorder is thought to be closely related to migraines and family history of migraines.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Affected individuals may vomit or retch 6–12 times in an hour and an episode may last from a few hours to over three weeks and in some cases months, with a median episode duration of 41 hours. Stomach acid, bile and, if the vomiting is severe, blood may be vomited. Some with the condition will ingest water to reduce the irritation of bile and acid on the esophagus during emesis. Between episodes, the affected individual is usually normal and healthy otherwise but can be in a weak state of fatigue or experience muscle pain. In approximately half of cases the attacks, or episodes, occur in a time-related manner. Each attack is stereotypical; that is, in any given individual, the timing, frequency and severity of attacks is similar. Some affected people experience episodes that progressively get worse when left untreated, occurring more frequently with reduced symptom free phase.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Episodes may happen every few days, every few weeks or every few months, for some happening at common uniform times, typically mornings. For other affected people, there is not a pattern in time that can be recognized. Some with the condition have a warning of an episodic attack; they may experience a prodrome, some documented prodromal symptoms include: unusually intense nausea and pallor, excess salivation, sweating, flushing, rapid/irregular heartbeat, diarrhea, anxiety/panic, food aversion, restlessness/insomnia, irritability, depersonalization, fatigue/listlessness, intense feelings of being hot or chilled, intense thirst, shivering/shaking, retching, tachypnea, abdominal pain/cramping, limb paresthesias, hyperesthesia, photophobia, phonophobia, headache, and dyspnea, heightened sensitivity, especially to light, though sensitivity to smell, sound, pressure, and temperature, as well as oncoming muscle pain and fatigue, are also reported by some patients. Many experiences a full panic attack when nausea begins and continue to panic once the vomiting has begun. Medications like Lorazepam, Alprazolam, and other benzodiazepines are prescribed by their doctors and instructed to take immediately at the onset of any of their CVS symptoms and/or triggers. Some prodromal symptoms are present inter-episodically as well as during acute phases of illness. The majority of affected people can identify triggers that may precede an attack. The most common are various foods, infections (such as colds), menstruation, extreme physical exertion, lack of sleep, and psychological stresses, both positive and negative.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: An affected person may also be light-sensitive (photophobic), sound-sensitive (phonophobic) or, less frequently, temperature- or pressure-sensitive during an attack. Some people also have a strong urge to bathe in warm or cold water. In fact, many people with CVS experience a compulsion to be submerged in hot water, and end up taking several baths during the duration of an episode. For some the psychological compulsion to be in hot water is so extreme that they cannot stop themselves from taking very long baths in near scalding hot water several times per day. For some of these people, they may have just finished taking a lengthy bath in extremely hot water and immediately feel this compulsion again and end up taking another bath right after drying off. Some people with the condition experience insomnia, diarrhea (GI complications), hot and cold flashes, and excessive sweating before an episode. Some report that they experience a restless sensation or stinging pain along the spine, hands, and feet followed by weakness in both legs. Some of these symptoms may be due to dehydration or hypokalemia from excessive vomiting, rather than the underlying cause of CVS.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: There is no known genetic pathogenesis for CVS. Recent studies suggest many affected individuals have a family history of related conditions, such as migraines, psychiatric disorders and gastrointestinal disorders. Inheritance is thought to be maternal, a possible genetic mitochondrial inheritance. Adolescents show higher possible mitochondrial inheritance and maternal inheritance than found in adults. Single base-pair and DNA rearrangements in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been associated with these traits.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: The cause of CVS has not been determined and there are no diagnostic tests for CVS. Several other medical conditions, such as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), can mimic the same symptoms, and it is important to rule these out. If all other possible causes have been excluded, a diagnosis of CVS using Rome criteria by a physician may be appropriate.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Once formal investigations to rule out gastrointestinal or other causes have been conducted, these tests do not need to be repeated in the event of future episodes.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Due to the lack of specific biomarkers available for the disorder, and if all other possible causes can be ruled out (such as intestinal malrotation), physicians rely on the Rome IV process criteria in order to diagnose patients. Patients must meet all three of the following criteria to receive diagnosis:


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Criteria must be fulfilled for the last 3 months with symptom onset at least 6 months prior to diagnosis. A history of family history of migraine headaches can also be used in facilitating diagnosis.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Because the symptoms of CVS are similar (or perhaps identical) to those of the disease well-identified as "abdominal migraine," prophylactic migraine medications, such as topiramate and amitriptyline, have seen recent success in treatment for the prodrome and vomiting phases, reducing the duration, severity, and frequency of episodes.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Therapeutic treatment for the prodromal phase, characterized by the anticipation of an episode, consists of sumatriptan (nasal or oral) an anti-migraine medication, anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce abdominal pain, and possible anti-emetic drugs. These options may be helpful in preventing an episode or reducing the severity of an attack.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: The most common therapeutic strategies for those already in the vomiting phase are maintenance of salt balance by appropriate intravenous fluids and, in some cases, sedation. Having vomited for a long period prior to attending a hospital, patients are typically severely dehydrated. For a number of patients, potent anti-emetic drugs such as ondansetron (Zofran) or granisetron (Kytril), and dronabinol (Marinol) may be helpful in either preventing an attack, aborting an attack, or reducing the severity of an attack. Many patients seek comfort during episodes by taking prolonged showers and baths typically quite hot. The use of a heating pad may also help reduce abdominal pain.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Lifestyle changes may be recommended, such as extended rest, reduction of stress, frequent small meals, and to abstain from fasting. A diet change may be recommended avoid food allergens, eliminating trigger foods such as chocolates, cheese, beer, and red wine.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Fitzpatrick et al. (2007) identified 41 children with CVS. The mean age of the sample was 6 years at the onset of the syndrome, 8 years at first diagnosis, and 13 years at follow-up. As many as 39% of the children had resolution of symptoms immediately or within weeks of the diagnosis. Vomiting had resolved at the time of follow-up in 61% of the sample. Many children, including those in the remitted group, continued to have somatic symptoms such as headaches (in 42%) and abdominal pain (in 37%).


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Most children who have this disorder miss on average 24 school days a year. The frequency of episodes is higher for some people during times of excitement. Charitable organizations to support affected people and their families and to promote knowledge of CVS exist in several countries.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: A 2005 study by Fleisher et al. identified 41 adults who had been previously seen for complaints compatible with CVS. The average age at presentation of the sample was 34 years, and the mean age at onset was 21 years. The mean duration of the CVS at the time of consultation was 12 years. Of the 39 patients surveyed, 85% had episodes that were fairly uniform in length. Most patients reported these attacks in the morning hours. Of those 39 patients, 32% were completely disabled and required financial support due to CVS. Despite this, data suggests that the prognosis for CVS is generally favorable.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: The average age at onset is 3–7 years, with described cases as young as 6 days and as old as 73 years. Typical delay in diagnosis from onset of symptoms is 3 years. Females show a slight predominance over males.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: One study found that 3 in 100,000 five-year-olds are diagnosed with the condition. Two studies on childhood CVS suggest nearly 2% of school-age children may have CVS.


title: Cyclic vomiting syndrome

text: Cyclic vomiting syndrome was first described in France by Swiss physician Henri Clermond Lombard and first described in the English language by pediatrician Samuel Gee in 1882.


title: Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World (season 2)

text: "" is an anime adaptation of a light novel series written by Tappei Nagatsuki and illustrated by Shinichirou Otsuka. On March 23, 2019, it was announced that a second season was in production. The cast and staff reprised their roles for the second season. It was scheduled to premiere in April 2020, but was delayed to July 2020 due to production complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season is split into two halves, with the first half premiering on July 8, 2020, and the second half premiering on January 6, 2021. For episodes 1–13, the opening theme is "Realize" by Konomi Suzuki while the ending theme is "Memento" by nonoc. For episodes 14–25, the opening theme is "Long shot" by Mayu Maeshima while the ending theme is "Believe in you" by nonoc.


title: Oath

text: Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to give an affirmation instead. Nowadays, even when there is no notion of sanctity involved, certain promises said out loud in ceremonial or juridical purpose are referred to as oaths. "To swear" is a verb used to describe the taking of an oath, to making a solemn vow.


title: Oath

text: The word come from Anglo-Saxon "" judicial swearing, solemn appeal to deity in witness of truth or a promise," from Proto-Germanic "*aiþaz" (source also of Old Norse eiðr, Swedish ed, Old Saxon, Old Frisian eth, Middle Dutch eet, Dutch eed, German Eid, Gothic aiþs "oath"), from PIE *oi-to- "an oath" (source also of Old Irish oeth "oath"). Common to Celtic and Germanic, possibly a loan-word from one to the other, but the history is obscure and it may ultimately be non-Indo-European, in reference to careless invocations of divinity, from the late 12th century.


title: Oath

text: Oaths usually have referred to a deity significant in the cultural sphere in question. The reciter's personal views upon the divinity of the aspects considered sacred in a predictated text of an oath may or may not be taken in to account. There might not be alternative personal proclamations with no mention of the sacred dogma in question, such as affirmations, to be made. This might mean an impasse to those with unwillingness to edify the dogma they see as untrue and those who decline to refer to sacred matters on the subject at hand.


title: Oath

text: The essence of a divine oath is an invocation of divine agency to be a guarantor of the oath taker's own honesty and integrity in the matter under question. By implication, this invokes divine displeasure if the oath taker fails in his or her sworn duties. It therefore implies greater care than usual in the act of the performance of one's duty, such as in testimony to the facts of the matter in a court of law.


title: Oath

text: A person taking an oath indicates this in a number of ways. The most usual is the explicit "I swear", but any statement or promise that includes "with * as my witness" or "so help me *", with '*' being something or someone the oath-taker holds sacred, is an oath. Many people take an oath by holding in their hand or placing over their head a book of scripture or a sacred object, thus indicating the sacred witness through their action: such an oath is called "corporal". However, the chief purpose of such an act is for ceremony or solemnity, and the act does not of itself make an oath.


title: Oath

text: Making vows and taking oaths became a symbolic concept in law practice that developed over time in different cultures.


title: Oath

text: The concept of oaths is deeply rooted within Judaism. It is found in Genesis 8:21, when God swears that he will "never again curse the ground because of man and never again smite every living thing". This repetition of the term "never again" is explained by Rashi, the pre-eminent biblical commentator, as serving as an oath, citing the Talmud Shavous 36a for this ruling.


title: Oath

text: The first personage in the biblical tradition to take an oath is held to be Eliezer, the chief servant of Abraham, when the latter requested of the former that he not take a wife for his son Isaac from the daughters of Canaan, but rather from among Abraham's own family.


title: Oath

text: The foundational text for oath making is in Numbers 30:2: "When a man voweth a vow unto the Lord, or sweareth an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." According to the Rabbis, a neder (usually translated as "vow") refers to the object, a "shâmar" (usually translated as "oath") to the person. The passage distinguishes between a "neder" and a "shvua", an important distinction between the two in Halakha: a "neder" changes the status of some external thing, while a "shvua" initiates an internal change in the one who swears the oath.


title: Oath

text: In the Roman tradition, oaths were sworn upon "Iuppiter Lapis" or the Jupiter Stone located in the Temple of Jupiter, Capitoline Hill. "Iuppiter Lapis" was held in the Roman tradition to be an Oath Stone, an aspect of Jupiter in his role as divine law-maker responsible for order and used principally for the investiture of the oathtaking of office.


title: Oath

text: In Hindu epics, like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, oaths, called "pratigya", are taken seriously. It is mentioned that people would give up their lives, but not break a vow. Due to this, King Dasharatha took an oath for his Queen Kaikeyi (on her maid, Manthara's insistence) and thus had to exile his favorite son, Lord Rama along with his wife Devi Sita and brother Lakshmana for fourteen years in the forest.


title: Oath

text: In the Mahabharata, Devrata took an oath of celibacy so that Satyavati's father would marry her to Devrata's father, King Shantanu. He also took an oath to not rule the kingdom and remain loyal to the king, who would be a descendant of Satyavati. Thus, Devavrata got the name "Bhishma", which means someone who has taken a terrible oath. Many others also took oaths that they fulfilled.


title: Oath

text: Walter Burkert has shown that since Lycurgus of Athens (d. 324 BCE), who held that "it is the oath which holds democracy together", religion, morality and political organization had been linked by the oath, and the oath and its prerequisite altar had become the basis of both civil and criminal, as well as international law.


title: Oath

text: In traditional Greek folk songs, such as The Dead Brother's Song, the significance of the oath is highlighted. The power of an oath is such that it transcends death, as the deceased brother arises from the grave to fulfill his oath to his mother.


title: Oath

text: Various religious groups have objected to the taking of oaths, most notably the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and Anabaptist groups, like Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites and Schwarzenau Brethren. This is principally based on , the Antithesis of the Law. Here, Christ is reported as having said: "I say to you: 'Swear not at all. James the Just stated in , "Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No', no, or you will be condemned." Beyond this scriptural authority, Quakers place importance on being truthful at all times, so the testimony opposing oaths springs from a view that "taking legal oaths implies a double standard of truthfulness" suggesting that truthfulness in legal contexts is somehow more important than truthfulness in non-legal contexts and that truthfulness in those other contexts is therefore somehow less important.


title: Oath

text: Not all Christians interpret this reading as forbidding all types of oaths, however. Opposition to oath-taking among some groups of Christian caused many problems for these groups throughout their history. Quakers were frequently imprisoned because of their refusal to swear loyalty oaths. Testifying in court was also difficult; George Fox, Quakers' founder, famously challenged a judge who had asked him to swear, saying that he would do so once the judge could point to any Bible passage where Jesus or his apostles took oaths — the judge could not, but this did not allow Fox to escape punishment. Legal reforms from the 18th century onwards mean that everyone in the United Kingdom now has the right to make a solemn affirmation instead of an oath. The United States has permitted affirmations since it was founded; it is explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Only President Franklin Pierce has chosen to affirm rather than swear at his inauguration.


title: Oath

text: As late as 1880, Charles Bradlaugh was denied a seat as an MP in the Parliament of the United Kingdom because of his professed atheism as he was judged unable to swear the Oath of Allegiance in spite of his proposal to swear the oath as a "matter of form".


title: Oath

text: A prose passage inserted in the eddic poem "Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar" relates: Hedin was coming home alone from the forest one Yule-eve, and found a troll-woman; she rode on a wolf, and had snakes in place of a bridle. She asked Hedin for his company. "Nay," said he. She said, "Thou shalt pay for this at the "bragarfull"." That evening the great vows were taken; the sacred boar was brought in, the men laid their hands thereon, and took their vows at the "bragarfull". Hedin vowed that he would have Sváva, Eylimi's daughter, the beloved of his brother Helgi; then such great grief seized him that he went forth on wild paths southward over the land, and found Helgi, his brother.


title: Oath

text: Such Norse traditions are directly parallel to the "bird oaths" of late medieval France, such as the voeux du faisan (oath on the pheasant) or the (fictional) voeux du paon (oath on the peacock). Huizinga, "The Autumn of the Middle Ages" (ch. 3); Michel Margue, "Vogelgelübde" am Hof des Fürsten. Ritterliches Integrationsritual zwischen Traditions- und Gegenwartsbezug (14. – 15. Jahrhundert)


title: Oath

text: In the modern law, oaths are made by a witness to a court of law before giving testimony and usually by a newly appointed government officer to the people of a state before taking office. However, in both of those cases, an affirmation can usually be replaced with a written statement, only if the author swears the statement is true. This statement is called an "affidavit". The oath given to support an affidavit is frequently administered by a notary, who will certify the giving of the oath by affixing her or his seal to the document. Willfully delivering a false oath (or affirmation) is the crime of perjury.


title: Oath

text: There are some places where there is a confusion between the "oath" and other statements or promises. For example, the current Olympic Oath is really a pledge, not properly an oath, since there is only a promise but there is no appeal to a sacred witness. Oaths may also be confused with vows, but vows are really just a special kind of an oath.


title: Oath

text: Instead of, or in addition to, holding one's hand upon an object of ceremonial importance, it can be customary for a person swearing an oath to hold a raised hand in a specific gesture. Most often the right hand is raised. This custom has been explained with reference to medieval practices of branding palms.


title: Oath

text: The Scout Sign can be made while giving the Scout Promise. In "Scouting for Boys" the movement's founder, Robert Baden-Powell, instructed: "While taking this oath the scout will stand, holding his right hand raised level with his shoulder, palm to the front, thumb resting on the nail of the digitus minimus (little finger) and the other three fingers upright, pointing upwards."


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Geothermal gradient is the rate of temperature change with respect to increasing depth in Earth's interior. As a general rule, the crust temperature rises with depth due to the heat flow from the much hotter mantle; away from tectonic plate boundaries, temperature rises in about 25–30 °C/km (72–87 °F/mi) of depth near the surface in most of the world. However, in some cases the temperature may drop with increasing depth, especially near the surface, a phenomenon known as "inverse" or "negative" geothermal gradient. The effects of weather, sun, and season only reach a depth of approximately 10-20 metres.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Strictly speaking, "geo"-thermal necessarily refers to Earth but the concept may be applied to other planets. In SI units, the geothermal gradient is expressed as °C/km, K/km or mK/m. These are all equivalent.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Earth's internal heat comes from a combination of residual heat from planetary accretion, heat produced through radioactive decay, latent heat from core crystallization, and possibly heat from other sources. The major heat-producing nuclides in Earth are potassium-40, uranium-238, uranium-235, and thorium-232. The inner core is thought to have temperatures in the range of 4000 to 7000 K, and the pressure at the centre of the planet is thought to be about 360 GPa (3.6 million atm). (The exact value depends on the density profile in Earth.) Because much of the heat is provided for by radioactive decay, scientists believe that early in Earth's history, before nuclides with short half-lives had been depleted, Earth's heat production would have been much higher. Heat production was twice that of present-day at approximately 3 billion years ago, resulting in larger temperature gradients within Earth, larger rates of mantle convection and plate tectonics, allowing the production of igneous rocks such as komatiites that are no longer formed.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: The top of the geothermal gradient is influenced by atmospheric temperature. The uppermost layers of the solid planet are at the temperature produced by the local weather, decaying to approximately the annual mean-average temperature (MATT) at a shallow depth of about 10-20 metres depending on the type of ground, rock etc;


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Temperature within Earth increases with depth. Highly viscous or partially molten rock at temperatures between are found at the margins of tectonic plates, increasing the geothermal gradient in the vicinity, but only the outer core is postulated to exist in a molten or fluid state, and the temperature at Earth's inner core/outer core boundary, around deep, is estimated to be 5650 ± 600 Kelvin. The heat content of Earth is 10 joules.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: In Earth's continental crust, the decay of natural radioactive nuclides makes a significant contribution to geothermal heat production. The continental crust is abundant in lower density minerals but also contains significant concentrations of heavier lithophilic elements such as uranium. Because of this, it holds the most concentrated global reservoir of radioactive elements found in Earth. Naturally occurring radioactive elements are enriched in the granite and basaltic rocks, especially in layers closer to Earth's surface. These high levels of radioactive elements are largely excluded from Earth's mantle due to their inability to substitute in mantle minerals and consequent enrichment in melts during mantle melting processes. The mantle is mostly made up of high density minerals with higher concentrations of elements that have relatively small atomic radii such as magnesium (Mg), titanium (Ti), and calcium (Ca).


title: Geothermal gradient

text: The geothermal gradient is steeper in the lithosphere than in the mantle because the mantle transports heat primarily by convection, leading to a geothermal gradient that is determined by the mantle adiabat, rather than by the conductive heat transfer processes that predominate in the lithosphere, which acts as a thermal boundary layer of the convecting mantle.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Heat flows constantly from its sources within Earth to the surface. Total heat loss from Earth is estimated at 44.2 TW (). Mean heat flow is 65 mW/m over continental crust and 101 mW/m over oceanic crust. This is 0.087 watt/square metre on average (0.03 percent of solar power absorbed by Earth), but is much more concentrated in areas where the lithosphere is thin, such as along mid-ocean ridges (where new oceanic lithosphere is created) and near mantle plumes.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Earth's crust effectively acts as a thick insulating blanket which must be pierced by fluid conduits (of magma, water or other) in order to release the heat underneath. More of the heat in Earth is lost through plate tectonics, by mantle upwelling associated with mid-ocean ridges. Another major mode of heat loss is by conduction through the lithosphere, the majority of which occurs in the oceans due to the crust there being much thinner and younger than under the continents.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: The heat of Earth is replenished by radioactive decay at a rate of 30 TW. The global geothermal flow rates are more than twice the rate of human energy consumption from all primary sources. Global data on heat-flow density are collected and compiled by the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC) of the IASPEI/IUGG.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Heat from Earth's interior can be used as an energy source, known as geothermal energy. The geothermal gradient has been used for space heating and bathing since ancient Roman times, and more recently for generating electricity. As the human population continues to grow, so does energy use and the correlating environmental impacts that are consistent with global primary sources of energy. This has caused a growing interest in finding sources of energy that are renewable and have reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In areas of high geothermal energy density, current technology allows for the generation of electrical power because of the corresponding high temperatures. Generating electrical power from geothermal resources requires no fuel while providing true baseload energy at a reliability rate that constantly exceeds 90%. In order to extract geothermal energy, it is necessary to efficiently transfer heat from a geothermal reservoir to a power plant, where electrical energy is converted from heat by passing steam through a turbine connected to a generator. The efficiency of converting the geothermal heat into electricity depends on the temperature difference between the heated fluid (water or steam) and the environmental temperature, so it is advantageous to use deep, high-temperature heat sources. On a worldwide scale, the heat stored in Earth's interior provides an energy that is still seen as an exotic source. About 10 GW of geothermal electric capacity is installed around the world as of 2007, generating 0.3% of global electricity demand. An additional 28 GW of direct geothermal heating capacity is installed for district heating, space heating, spas, industrial processes, desalination and agricultural applications.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: The geothermal gradient varies with location and is typically measured by determining the bottom open-hole temperature after borehole drilling. Temperature logs obtained immediately after drilling are however affected due to drilling fluid circulation. To obtain accurate bottom hole temperature estimates, it is necessary for the well to reach stable temperature. This is not always achievable for practical reasons.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: In stable tectonic areas in the tropics a temperature-depth plot will converge to the annual average surface temperature. However, in areas where deep permafrost developed during the Pleistocene a low temperature anomaly can be observed that persists down to several hundred metres. The Suwałki cold anomaly in Poland has led to the recognition that similar thermal disturbances related to Pleistocene-Holocene climatic changes are recorded in boreholes throughout Poland, as well as in Alaska, northern Canada, and Siberia.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: In areas of Holocene uplift and erosion (Fig. 1) the shallow gradient will be high until it reaches a point (labeled "Inflection point" in the figure) where it reaches the stabilized heat-flow regime. If the gradient of the stabilized regime is projected above this point to its intersection with present-day annual average temperature, the height of this intersection above present-day surface level gives a measure of the extent of Holocene uplift and erosion. In areas of Holocene subsidence and deposition (Fig. 2) the initial gradient will be lower than the average until it reaches a point where it joins the stabilized heat-flow regime.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Variations in surface temperature, whether daily, seasonal, or induced by climate changes and the Milankovitch cycle, penetrate below Earth's surface and produce an oscillation in the geothermal gradient with periods varying from a day to tens of thousands of years, and an amplitude which decreases with depth. The longest-period variations have a scale depth of several kilometers. Melt water from the polar ice caps flowing along ocean bottoms tends to maintain a constant geothermal gradient throughout Earth's surface.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: If the rate of temperature increase with depth observed in shallow boreholes were to persist at greater depths, temperatures deep within Earth would soon reach the point where rocks would melt. We know, however, that Earth's mantle is solid because of the transmission of S-waves. The temperature gradient dramatically decreases with depth for two reasons. First, the mechanism of thermal transport changes from conduction, as within the rigid tectonic plates, to convection, in the portion of Earth's mantle that convects. Despite its solidity, most of Earth's mantle behaves over long time-scales as a fluid, and heat is transported by advection, or material transport. Second, radioactive heat production is concentrated within the crust of Earth, and particularly within the upper part of the crust, as concentrations of uranium, thorium, and potassium are highest there: these three elements are the main producers of radioactive heat within Earth. Thus, the geothermal gradient within the bulk of Earth's mantle is of the order of 0.5 kelvin per kilometer, and is determined by the adiabatic gradient associated with mantle material (peridotite in the upper mantle).


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Negative geothermal gradients occur where temperature decreases with depth. This occurs in the upper few hundreds of meters near the surface. Because of the low thermal diffusivity of rocks, deep underground temperatures are hardly affected by diurnal or even annual surface temperature variations. At depths of a few meters, underground temperatures are therefore similar to the annual average surface temperature. At greater depths, underground temperatures reflect a long-term average over past climate, so that temperatures at the depths of dozens to hundreds of meters contain information about the climate of the last hundreds to thousands of years. Depending on the location, these may be colder than current temperatures due to the colder weather close to the last ice age, or due to more recent climate change.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Negative geothermal gradients may also occur due to deep aquifers, where heat transfer from deep water by convection and advection results in water at shallower levels heating adjacent rocks to a higher temperature than rocks at a somewhat deeper level.


title: Geothermal gradient

text: Negative geothermal gradients are also found at large scales in subduction zones. A subduction zone is a tectonic plate boundary where oceanic crust sinks into the mantle due to the high density of the oceanic plate relative to the underlaying mantle. Since the sinking plate enters the mantle at a rate of a few centimeters per year, heat conduction is unable to heat the plate as quickly as it sinks. Therefore, the sinking plate has a lower temperature than the surrounding mantle, resulting in a negative geothermal gradient.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In 2011, Olympus attracted worldwide media scrutiny when it fired its CEO and the matter snowballed into a corporate corruption investigation with multiple arrests. It paid $646 million in kickback fines in 2016.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In 1936, Olympus introduced its first camera, the Semi-Olympus I, fitted with the first Zuiko-branded lens. The Olympus Chrome Six was a series of folding cameras made by Takachiho, and later Olympus, from 1948 to 1956, for 6×4.5 cm or 6×6 cm exposures on 120 film.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: The first innovative camera series from Olympus was the Pen, launched in 1959. It used a half-frame format, taking 72 18×24 mm photographs on a standard 36-exposure 35mm film cassette, which made Pen cameras compact and portable for their time.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: The Pen system design team, led by Yoshihisa Maitani, later created the OM system, a full-frame professional 35mm SLR system designed to compete with Nikon and Canon's bestsellers. The OM system introduced a new trend towards more compact cameras and lenses, being much smaller than its competitors and presenting innovative design features such as off-the-film (OTF) metering and OTF flash automation. Eventually the system included 14 different bodies, approximately 60 Zuiko-branded lenses, and numerous camera accessories.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In 1983, Olympus, along with Canon, branded a range of video recording equipment manufactured by JVC, and called it "Olympus Video Photography", even employing renowned photographer Terance Donovan to promote the range. A second version of the system was available the year after, but this was Olympus's last foray into the world of consumer video equipment until digital cameras became popular.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, who was later to become president of Olympus, foresaw the demand for the digital SLR, and is credited with the company's strategy in digital photography. He fought for commitment by Olympus to enter the market in high-resolution photographic products. As a result of his efforts, Olympus released an 810,000-pixel digital camera for the mass market in 1996, when the resolution of rivals' offerings was less than half. The next year, Olympus hit the market with a 1.41 million pixel camera. By 2001, the company's annual turnover from digital photography was in excess of ¥100 billion. Olympus manufactures compact digital cameras and is the designer of the Four Thirds system standard for digital single-lens reflex cameras. Olympus's Four Thirds system flagship DSLR camera is the E-5, released in 2010. Olympus is also the largest manufacturer of Four Thirds lenses, under the Zuiko Digital brand. After the introduction of the Micro Four Thirds system, and the general market growth of the Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras, the regular Four Thirds system became neglected. Then, in 2017, after three years without a new lens, and seven years without a new body, Olympus officially discontinued the Four Thirds system


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Olympus and Panasonic started a new development together, called the Micro Four Thirds system. It was an interchangeable lens system, with the Four Thirds sensor size, and no mirrors (Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera). The lack of mirrors allowed the camera body to be a lot smaller than that of a DSLR, while maintaining its image quality and the interchangeability of the lenses. The first product in the Micro Four Thirds system was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, released in 2008. The first Olympus-branded MFT camera was the Olympus PEN E-P1. Because it was very expensive, they made a cheaper option, called the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL1. The market growth of the MILC cameras made Olympus introduce a new series in their lineup, which was the modern, digital implementation of the legendary OM series, the OM-D. It maintained the Micro Four Thirds system, but added a built-in electronic viewfinder, a more ergonomic button layout packaged in a retro style chassis. The first model in this family was the E-M5, released in 2012. Since then, Olympus has developed their two lines (PEN and OM-D) and the Micro Four Thirds system, still alongside Panasonic. The latest Olympus camera is the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark IV as of 20 August 2020.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: At one time, Olympus cameras used only the proprietary xD-Picture Card for storage media. This storage solution is less popular than more common formats, and recent cameras can use SD and CompactFlash cards. The most recent development is Olympus's focus on the Micro Four Thirds system.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Olympus first introduced the Microcassette. The Olympus Pearlcorder L400, released in the 1980s, was the smallest and lightest microcassette voice recorder ever offered for sale, 2.9 (L) × 0.8 (H) × 2.0 in. (W) / 73 (L) × 20 (H) × 52 (W) .


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In 2012, the company announced that Sony and Fujifilm had offered forming a capital alliance and the company would focus on Mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras (MILC).


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In 2020, Olympus announced that the camera department would be sold to Japan Industrial Partners at the end of the year. In October 2020, Olympus transferred its Imaging division to the newly established OM Digital Solutions. On 1 January 2021, 95% of the shares in OM Digital Solutions were transferred to OJ Holdings, Ltd, a specially established subsidiary of Japan Industrial Partners. Olympus retained ownership of the remaining 5%.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Olympus manufactures endoscopic, ultrasound, electrocautery, endotherapy, and cleaning and disinfection equipment. The first flexible Endoscope in the world was co-developed and manufactured by Olympus in Tokyo. With a comprehensive product range, Olympus accounts for a large share of the world market in gastro-intestinal endoscopes. It has roughly 70% share of the global market whose estimated valued at US$2.5 billion. On 28 September 2012, Olympus and Sony announced that the two companies will establish a joint venture to develop new surgical endoscopes with 4K resolution (or higher) and 3D capability.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Since the beginning, the company has been a manufacturer of microscopes and optics for specialised needs, such as medical use. The first microscope manufactured at Olympus was called the Asahi. Currently, Olympus is a worldwide renowned manufacturer of microscopes. Olympus offers a complete range of microscopes, which covers applications from education and routine studies up to state of the art research imaging systems, both in life science and materials science.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas Corporation is a Waltham, Massachusetts-based manufacturer, and is a subsidiary of Olympus Corporation. One of its companies, for example, is Olympus Imaging and Measuring Systems, specializing in imaging instruments for testing and measurement during industrial inspections.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Olympus manufactures and sells industrial scanners, flaw detectors, probes and transducers, thickness gages, digital cameras, image analysis software, industrial videoscopes, fiberscopes, light sources, XRF and XRD analyzers, and high-speed video cameras.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Shareholding in Olympus is dispersed, and the company's key institutional investors are largely passive. As of 31 March 2011, investors included Nippon Life Insurance (8.4%), Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (4.98%), and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (3.13%), and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (2.55%). Foreign institutions and individuals spoke for 27.71% of Olympus shares. On 28 September 2012, Olympus and Sony announced that Olympus would receive a 50 billion yen capital injection from Sony. On 22 February 2013, Sony became the largest shareholder (11.46%) of Olympus, later cutting that stake in half during one of its own restructurings, only to sell its entire remaining stake in Olympus, totaling 5% of the company, after a request by activist investor Daniel S. Loeb to do so, in 2019.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: According to its 2011 Annual Report, Olympus was governed by a 15-person board of directors, with Tsuyoshi Kikukawa its President and CEO, and Michael C. Woodford as President and chief operating officer. Mr Kikukawa resigned in the following year and was arrested by Tokyo police for alleged criminal offenses during and before his term as president and CEO. The corporation in 2011 had three "outside directors". It had a four-member 'Board of Auditors' which supervises and audits directors' performance. The company's executive committee consisted of 28 members, responsible for the day-to-day operations.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In 2011, the company attracted worldwide media scrutiny when it fired its newly appointed British chief executive (CEO) Michael Woodford, a 30-year Olympus veteran, for probing into financial irregularities and unexplained payments totaling hundreds of millions of US dollars. Although the board initially dismissed Woodford's concerns via mass media as "disruptive" and Woodford himself as failing to grasp the local culture, the matter quickly snowballed into a corporate corruption scandal concerning alleged concealment of more than ¥117.7 billion ($1.5 billion) in investment losses, kickbacks, and covert payments to criminal organizations dating back as far as the 1980s. One of the longest-lasting accounting scandals in Japanese corporate history, the incident wiped out over three-quarters of the company's valuation and led much of the board to resign in disgrace. Investigations were launched across Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, culminating in the arrests of numerous corporate directors, senior managers, auditors, and bankers and raising significant concerns over prevailing standards of corporate governance and transparency, as well as the state of Japanese financial markets. Woodford himself, who stated he had received death threats for his role in exposing the cover-up, was reportedly awarded £10 million ($16 million) in damages for defamation and wrongful dismissal. In the wake of this turmoil, Olympus announced plans to shed 2,700 jobs (seven percent of its workforce) and shutter 40 percent of its 30 manufacturing plants by 2015.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: On 1 April 2011, Michael Woodford, 51, was named president and chief operating officer – the first ever foreigner to hold the position – replacing Kikukawa, who became chairman. Woodford, an Olympus veteran of 30 years, was previously executive managing director of Olympus Medical Systems Europa. Olympus appointed Woodford its CEO six months later, but the board suddenly removed him as chief executive two weeks into the job, while allowing him to retain his board seat.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Woodford alleged that his removal was linked to several prior acquisitions he questioned, particularly the US$2.2 billion deal in 2008 to acquire British medical equipment maker Gyrus Group. Thomson Reuters reported that US$687 million was paid to a middle-man as a success fee – a sum equal to 31% of the purchase price, and which ranks as the highest ever M&A fee. According to the "Daily Telegraph", some of the sums paid out relating to the acquisition of a technology company ITX were also under examination. Woodford noted that an article in Japanese financial magazine "Facta" in July prompted his suspicion of the transactions. Reports also said the company acquired three other Japanese companies outside its core business, and recognised that the assets were worth US$721 million less than their acquisition value 12 months previously.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: Shareholders expressed concern after Olympus's share price nearly halved in value following the Woodford revelations, and asked for "prompt action". Following his dismissal, Woodford passed on information to the British Serious Fraud Office, and requested police protection. He said the payments may have been linked to "forces behind" the Olympus board. Japanese newspaper "Sankei" suggested that a total of US$1.5 billion in acquisition-related advisory payments could be linked to the Yakuza.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: The company responded on 19 October that "major differences had arisen between Mr. Woodford and other management regarding the direction and conduct of the company’s business". On the Gyrus acquisition, it also declared the Audit Board's view that "no dishonesty or illegality is found in the transaction itself, nor any breach of obligation to good management or any systematic errors by the directors recognised." On 26 October, the company announced that to assuage shareholders' concerns, Kikukawa resigned as chairman; he was replaced by Shuichi Takayama. Olympus shares rebounded 23 percent.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: On 8 November 2011, the company admitted that the money had been used to cover losses on investments dating to the 1990s and that company's accounting practice was "not appropriate", thus coming clean on "one of the biggest and longest-running loss-hiding arrangements in Japanese corporate history", according to the "Wall Street Journal". The company laid the blame for the inappropriate accounting on ex-president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, auditor Hideo Yamada, and executive VP Hisashi Mori.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: On 21 December 2011, Japanese authorities, including the Tokyo prosecutor's office, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, raided the company's offices in Tokyo.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: In February 2012, seven Olympus executives were arrested by Japanese police and prosecutors. Former president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa, former executive vice president Hisashi Mori, and former auditor Hideo Yamada were taken into custody on suspicion of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law, along with former bankers Akio Nakagawa and Nobumasa Yokoo and two others, suspected of having helped the board hide significant losses.


title: Olympus Corporation

text: On 25 September 2012, the company and Kikukawa, Yamada, and Mori pleaded guilty to collusion to submit false financial reports.


title: Karlsruher SC

text: Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the DFB-Pokal in 1955 and 1956. In Europe, KSC won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1996, which remains the club's last major honor.


title: Karlsruher SC

text: Formed as Karlsruher Fussball Club Phönix in 1894, the modern form of the club was formed as the result of several mergers in 1952, and its early success granted KSC a spot in the inaugural Bundesliga season in 1963. KSC spent the next few decades as a yo-yo club frequently being promoted and relegated between the top two divisions, with their best Bundesliga season coming in 1996 when KSC finished 6th in the table. Relegation followed in 1998, and the club has since spent all but two seasons between the second and third tiers. KSC maintains a fierce rivalry with VfB Stuttgart, a game in which old Badenese-Württembergian animosities are played out.


title: Karlsruher SC

text: The most successful of these ancestral clubs was Karlsruher Fussball Club Phönix, formed on 6 June 1894 by dissatisfied members of the gymnastics club Karlsruher Turngemeinde. They quickly became a strong regional side, playing in the Südkreis-Liga, and captured the national title in 1909, defeating defending champions Viktoria 89 Berlin 4–2 in the championship final that season. In 1912, Phönix merged with KFC Alemannia, established in 1897, to create KFC Phönix (Phönix Alemannia).