title: After 7

text: Kevon Edmonds released the solo album 24/7 in October 1999. He invited his nephew Jason Edmonds, son of Melvin, to tour with him as a background singer for years. By the late 2000s, After 7 resumed touring with Jason replacing his father. However, the group decided not to record again without the participation of Melvin. Melvin battled health issues, including a stroke in 2011. Melvin was able to reunite with the group on the 2015 single "I Want You", which reached the top 10 of Billboard's adult R&B songs chart. The group also recorded a version of the song with Babyface. The album "Timeless" was released in October 2016. It featured the group as a quartet (Melvin, Kevon, Keith and Jason) and included "I Want You" and other top 10 adult R&B hits "Runnin' Out" and "Let Me Know".


title: After 7

text: Melvin Edmonds died on May 18, 2019, at the age of 65. Jason left the group shortly thereafter and Danny McClain was added. After 7 released their fifth album "Unfinished Business" in August 2021.


title: Ball grid array

text: A ball grid array (BGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging (a chip carrier) used for integrated circuits. BGA packages are used to permanently mount devices such as microprocessors. A BGA can provide more interconnection pins than can be put on a dual in-line or flat package. The whole bottom surface of the device can be used, instead of just the perimeter. The traces connecting the package's leads to the wires or balls which connect the die to package are also on average shorter than with a perimeter-only type, leading to better performance at high speeds.


title: Ball grid array

text: Soldering of BGA devices requires precise control and is usually done by automated processes such as in computer-controlled automatic reflow ovens.


title: Ball grid array

text: The BGA is descended from the pin grid array (PGA), which is a package with one face covered (or partly covered) with pins in a grid pattern which, in operation, conduct electrical signals between the integrated circuit and the printed circuit board (PCB) on which it is placed. In a BGA the pins are replaced by pads on the bottom of the package, each initially with a tiny solder ball stuck to it. These solder spheres can be placed manually or by automated equipment, and are held in place with a tacky flux. The device is placed on a PCB with copper pads in a pattern that matches the solder balls. The assembly is then heated, either in a reflow oven or by an infrared heater, melting the balls. Surface tension causes the molten solder to hold the package in alignment with the circuit board, at the correct separation distance, while the solder cools and solidifies, forming soldered connections between the device and the PCB.


title: Ball grid array

text: In more advanced technologies, solder balls may be used on both the PCB and the package. Also, in stacked multi-chip modules, (package on package) solder balls are used to connect two packages.


title: Ball grid array

text: The BGA is a solution to the problem of producing a miniature package for an integrated circuit with many hundreds of pins. Pin grid arrays and dual-in-line surface mount (SOIC) packages were being produced with more and more pins, and with decreasing spacing between the pins, but this was causing difficulties for the soldering process. As package pins got closer together, the danger of accidentally bridging adjacent pins with solder grew.


title: Ball grid array

text: A further advantage of BGA packages over packages with discrete leads (i.e. packages with legs) is the lower thermal resistance between the package and the PCB. This allows heat generated by the integrated circuit inside the package to flow more easily to the PCB, preventing the chip from overheating.


title: Ball grid array

text: The shorter an electrical conductor, the lower its unwanted inductance, a property which causes unwanted distortion of signals in high-speed electronic circuits. BGAs, with their very short distance between the package and the PCB, have low lead inductances, giving them superior electrical performance to pinned devices.


title: Ball grid array

text: A disadvantage of BGAs is that the solder balls cannot flex in the way that longer leads can, so they are not mechanically compliant. As with all surface mount devices, bending due to a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between PCB substrate and BGA (thermal stress) or flexing and vibration (mechanical stress) can cause the solder joints to fracture.


title: Ball grid array

text: Thermal expansion issues can be overcome by matching the mechanical and thermal characteristics of the PCB to those of the package. Typically, plastic BGA devices more closely match PCB thermal characteristics than ceramic devices.


title: Ball grid array

text: The predominant use of RoHS compliant lead-free solder alloy assemblies has presented some further challenges to BGAs including "head in pillow" soldering phenomenon, "pad cratering" problems as well as their decreased reliability versus lead-based solder BGAs in extreme operating conditions such as high temperature, high thermal shock and high gravitational force environments, in part due to lower ductility of RoHS-compliant solders.


title: Ball grid array

text: Mechanical stress issues can be overcome by bonding the devices to the board through a process called "underfilling", which injects an epoxy mixture under the device after it is soldered to the PCB, effectively gluing the BGA device to the PCB. There are several types of underfill materials in use with differing properties relative to workability and thermal transfer. An additional advantage of underfill is that it limits tin whisker growth.


title: Ball grid array

text: Another solution to non-compliant connections is to put a "compliant layer" in the package that allows the balls to physically move in relation to the package. This technique has become standard for packaging DRAMs in BGA packages.


title: Ball grid array

text: Other techniques for increasing the board-level reliability of packages include use of low-expansion PCBs for ceramic BGA (CBGA) packages, interposers between the package and PCB, and re-packaging a device.


title: Ball grid array

text: Once the package is soldered into place, it is difficult to find soldering faults. X-ray machines, industrial CT scanning machines, special microscopes, and endoscopes to look underneath the soldered package have been developed to overcome this problem. If a BGA is found to be badly soldered, it can be removed in a "rework station", which is a jig fitted with infrared lamp (or hot air), a thermocouple and a vacuum device for lifting the package. The BGA can be replaced with a new one, or it can be refurbished (or "reballed") and re-installed on the circuit board. Pre-configured solder balls matching the array pattern can be used to reball BGAs when only one or a few need to be reworked. For higher volume and repeated lab work, a stencil-configured vacuum-head pick-up and placement of loose spheres can be used.


title: Ball grid array

text: Due to the cost of visual X-ray BGA inspection, electrical testing is very often used instead. Very common is boundary scan testing using an IEEE 1149.1 JTAG port.


title: Ball grid array

text: A cheaper and easier inspection method, albeit destructive, is becoming increasingly popular because it does not require special equipment. Commonly referred to as dye and pry, the process includes immersing the entire PCB or just the BGA attached module into a dye, and after drying, the module is pried off and the broken joins are inspected. If a solder location contains the dye, then it indicates that the connection was imperfect.


title: Ball grid array

text: During development it is not practical to solder BGAs into place, and sockets are used instead, but tend to be unreliable. There are two common types of socket: the more reliable type has spring pins that push up under the balls, although it does not allow using BGAs with the balls removed as the spring pins may be too short.


title: Ball grid array

text: The less reliable type is a ZIF socket, with spring pinchers that grab the balls. This does not work well, especially if the balls are small.


title: Ball grid array

text: Expensive equipment is required to reliably solder BGA packages; hand-soldering BGA packages is very difficult and unreliable, usable only for the smallest packages in the smallest quantities. However, as more ICs have become available only in leadless (e.g. quad-flat no-leads package) or BGA packages, various DIY reflow methods have been developed using inexpensive heat sources such as heat guns, and domestic toaster ovens and electric skillets.


title: Ball grid array

text: Effectively also the flip chip methods for mounting chip dies to a carrier is sort of a BGA design derivate with the functional equivalent of the balls there being called bumps or micro bumps. This is realized at an already microscopic size level.


title: Ball grid array

text: Primary end-users of BGAs are original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). There is also a market among electronic hobbyists do it yourself (DIY) such as the increasingly popular maker movement. While OEMs generally source their components from the manufacturer, or the manufacturer's distributor, the hobbyist will typically obtain BGAs on the aftermarket through electronic component brokers or .


title: Dormer

text: A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called "dormer") is a form of roof window.


title: Dormer

text: Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space in a loft and to create window openings in a roof plane. A dormer is often one of the primary elements of a loft conversion. As a prominent element of many buildings, different types of dormer have evolved to complement different styles of architecture. When the structure appears on the spires of churches and cathedrals, it is usually referred to as a "lucarne".


title: Dormer

text: The word "dormer" is derived from the Middle French , meaning "sleeping room", as dormer windows often provided light and space to attic-level bedrooms.


title: Dormer

text: One of the earliest uses of dormers was in the form of lucarnes, slender dormers which provided ventilation to the spires of English Gothic churches and cathedrals. An early example are the lucarnes of the spire of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Dormer windows have been used in domestic architecture in Britain since the 16th century.


title: Dormer

text: Dormer windows were popularised by French architect François Mansart, who used dormers extensively in the mansard roofs he designed for 17th-century Paris


title: Dormer

text: In some localities, permission must be sought for construction of dormers and other features. In England and Wales, the General Permitted Development Order states classes of development for which such planning permission is "not" required. Such rights are only applicable outside conservation areas, national parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or The Broads. Dormers may introduce imbalance in the street scene and be seen as inappropriate within the local setting of streets and buildings.


title: Dormer

text: In Vancouver, there are regulations for laneway houses stating the minimum setback of the face of the dormer from the wall below, with exceptions. This is to prevent overshadowing neighbouring yards.


title: Dormer

text: Dormers are popular in Ulster, and commonly used to create extra space when a loft is converted into a habitable room.


title: 2008–09 La Liga

text: The 2008–09 La Liga season (known as the "Liga BBVA" for sponsorship reasons) was the 78th since its establishment. Real Madrid were the defending champions, having won their 31st La Liga title in the previous season. The campaign began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009. A total of 20 teams contested the league, 17 of which already contested in the 2007–08 season, and three of which were promoted from the Segunda División. A new match ball – the Nike T90 Omni – served as the official ball for all matches.


title: 2008–09 La Liga

text: On 16 May 2009, after Villarreal's 3–2 victory over Real Madrid, Barcelona were declared champions, their 19th La Liga title, with three matches to play. Lionel Messi received the inaugural LaLiga Award for Best Player from the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional.


title: 2008–09 La Liga

text: Real Zaragoza, Real Murcia and Levante were relegated to the 2008–09 Segunda División after finishing in the bottom three spots of the table at the end of the 2007–08 La Liga. Zaragoza were relegated to the Segunda División after five seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Spain; Levante returned in Segunda División after two-year tenured in La Liga; and Murcia made their immediate return to the second level.


title: 2008–09 La Liga

text: The three relegated teams were replaced by three 2007–08 Segunda División sides. Champions Numancia, who ended their second-level status after three years, runners-up Málaga, who returned to the top flight after two season in the second level, and Sporting de Gijón returned to the highest Spanish league after ten years.


title: 2008–09 La Liga

text: For the first time in La Liga's history, its governing body, the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional, honoured the competition's best players and coach with the LaLiga Awards.


title: 2008–09 La Liga

text: The Zamora Trophy is awarded by newspaper "Marca" to the goalkeeper with least goals-to-games ratio. A goalkeeper must play at least 28 games of 60 or more minutes to be eligible for the trophy.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: It features the JASDF Air Defense Command Headquarters (ADC headquarters) since 26 March 2012. The headquarters of United States Forces Japan is also located there. Other base facilities are the broadcast center for the American Forces Network Tokyo radio service and a detachment of Pacific Air Forces' Band of the Pacific.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The facility which houses Yokota Air Base was originally constructed by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in 1940 as Tama Airfield, and used as a flight test center. During World War II Yokota became the center of Japanese Army Air Forces flight test activities and the base was the site of the first meeting between Japanese and Italian wartime allies.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Tama was first identified by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in November 1944 by a 3d Reconnaissance Squadron F-13 Superfortress photo-reconnaissance aircraft, flying from Tinian in the Mariana Islands. It was identified as being associated with the aircraft manufacturing plant belonging to Nakajima Aircraft Company in the nearby town (now city) of Musashino. Along with Tachikawa Air Base to the east and the factory of Showa Aircraft Industry to the south, it was compared to the aircraft development complex of the USAAF Wright-Patterson Field in Ohio. According to the USAAF intelligence at the time, the two bases conducted all IJA flight testing. In the spring of 1945, XXI Bomber Command attacked the base eight times along with the aircraft manufacturing plant, but each time heavy clouds forced the bombers to attack secondary targets. The Nakajima plant was finally attacked in April 1945, but the Tama airfield never was bombed.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: With the Surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, a detachment of the United States Army 1st Cavalry Division arrived at the base on 4 September. The airfield's buildings were largely intact, and some 280 of the IJA's most modern aircraft were discovered in hangars.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The 1st Cavalry named the facility Fussa Army Airfield, then at the end of September renamed it Yokota Army Airfield after a nearby village (now incorporated in Musashimurayama) the name of which appeared on a 1944 US map.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The name was to have been changed to Wilkins Army Air Base (WAAB) after Medal of Honor recipient Raymond "Ray" Wilkins, but orders for this never arrived and it remained under the name Yokota Army Airfield until the USAAF became the USAF in 1947, at which point it became Yokota Air Base. Some metal manhole covers stamped "WAAB" remain in use around the base as of 2017.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The initial USAAF use for the base was for airlift operations when the 2d Combat Cargo Group arrived with four C-47 Skytrain squadrons. When the old runway deteriorated under heavy usage, the runway was repaired and Yokota supported operations of the A-26 Invader-equipped 3d Bombardment Group by August 1946. Additional construction during the 1940s and 1950s was completed and the base reached its current size around 1960.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: On the occasion of extension, the course of Hachiko Line and National Route 16 was changed, and Itsukaichi Kaidō was divided.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: During the Korean War, Yokota was used for combat missions over North and South Korea. Known units based there were:


title: Yokota Air Base

text: With the Korean War reaching an armistice in July 1953, Yokota Air Base returned to a peacetime Cold War status. Two major wings were stationed at the base during the 1950s, the 67th Reconnaissance Wing (1956–60) flying RF-80s, RF-84s and lastly RF-101s. The 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (1954–57) flew F-86 Sabres from the base. A Tactical Air Command (TAC) air refueling unit, the 421st Air Refueling Squadron flew KB-29s, and later KB-50Js from Yokota from 1953 to 1965. All of these units were under the command of the 41st Air Division.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The 35th TFW was reassigned in 1957 and the 67th TRW in 1960. Defense budget restrictions in the late 1950s caused several PACAF wings based in Japan to be reassigned or inactivated. These tactical fighter units were replaced by the B-57 equipped 3rd Bombardment Wing where it trained in bombardment, reconnaissance and aerial refueling operations. The Air Defense Command 40th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (December 1961 – May 1962) equipped with the F-102 Delta Dagger performing an air defense mission.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The 6102d Air Base Wing assumed host unit status for the base, being replaced by the 441st Combat Support Group in 1964.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The Vietnam War resulted in an increased combat and airlift aircraft presence at the base. Yokota was used for ferrying B-52 Stratofortresses to Southeast Asia along with being a base for US-based deployed F-105 Thunderchief 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. The 610th Military Airlift Support Squadron (1966–78) was created by Military Airlift Command (MAC) to service the large increase in transiting airlift. The 65th Military Airlift Support Group (1969–71) was a headquarters organization for MAC airlift support squadrons in the Pacific and Far East.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The F-105 squadrons deployed frequently to USAF-operated bases in Thailand to fly combat missions over North and South Vietnam, and to South Korea for alert missions. Initially the fighter squadrons were under the command of the 41st Air Division, but was reassigned shortly after to the 6441st Tactical Fighter Wing, activated in April 1965 to control the F-105 squadrons after their parent organization, the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, relocated to George Air Force Base, California to become an F-4 Phantom II unit. With the reassignment of the 347th Fighter Wing to Yokota in 1968, the 347th assumed responsibility for all tactical fighters until its reassignment to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea in March 1971.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: In 1971, all combat squadrons were transferred to Kadena and Misawa Air Base and Yokota became a non-flying station hosted by the 475th Air Base Wing. The 475th had no numbered flying squadrons, but operated a few T-39 Saberliners and UH-1 helicopters, along with supporting transient MAC cargo and passenger aircraft. Assigned flying squadrons returned to Yokota in 1975 when the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron was assigned with its C-130Es.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Headquarters, Fifth Air Force was transferred to Yokota on 11 November 1974 from Fuchū Air Base, Japan.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: In 2005, the Japanese government announced that the headquarters of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Air Defense Command would be moved to Yokota.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has advocated opening Yokota to civilian flights as a method of relieving traffic at Haneda and Narita Airport. Governor Shintaro Ishihara raised the joint-use proposal during the 2003 gubernatorial election, and Governor Naoki Inose made comments in 2013 that suggested joint use as a possible solution to cope with visitor demand during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: In April 2010 Colonel Frank Eppich, the USAF commander of base, banned screenings of the film "The Cove" at the base theater. A base spokesman said that "The Cove" was banned because using a base venue to display the film could be seen as an endorsement of the film. The spokesman added, "We have a lot of issues with Japan... and anything done on an American base would be seen as an approval of that event."


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Personnel and aircraft from the base assisted with Operation Tomodachi following and during the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima I nuclear accidents. The base also served as an important hub for airlifted assistance during the disaster recovery efforts. During the crisis, around 600 American family members voluntarily departed the base for locations outside Japan.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: On 21 March 2012 JASDF units completed moving from Fuchū Air Base (Tokyo). On 26 March, JASDF Yokota Air Base started operations.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: On 5 April 2018 five CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft deployed to the base. They had originally been scheduled to deploy to Yokota in 2020, but the deployment was brought forward. As the first permanent deployment of the aircraft outside of Okinawa, the move sparked local protests. The number of aircraft will eventually reach 10.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The host unit at Yokota is the 374th Airlift Wing and is currently used for airlift missions throughout East Asia. The 374th includes four groups: operations, mission support, maintenance and medical. Each group manages a various number of squadrons in order to carry out the wing's mission.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: It is not uncommon to see a KC-135 Stratotanker, C-5 Galaxy, KC-10 Extender, C-130, C-17, or civilian charter (Omni Air International, Air Transport International etc. mostly Boeing 757 or 767) and cargo (Atlas Air, Kalitta Air etc. mostly Boeing 747) airline aircraft on military charters on the Transient Aircraft ramp.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: RQ-4B Global Hawks of Detachment 1, 319th Operations Group deploy to Yokota from Andersen AFB in Guam during the typhoon season, normally between June to December.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The newly renovated Air Mobility Command (AMC) Passenger Terminal is on the main part of the base next to the flightline. It is a 5 to 7-minute walk from the Kanto Lodge (see below) and offers Space-Available flights to various destinations in PACAF such as Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Korea, Okinawa, Singapore, as well as the Continental United States.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Yokota, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Resistance to the air base immediately followed the end of US occupation. Gravel used in the construction of the airfields was taken from the Tama River, lowering the riverbed and affecting the traditional irrigation system (Fuchū-yōsui), which had provided water to local communities since the early Edo period. The base also caused great stress to nearby inhabitants in a number of other ways, such as fuel leaks and spills that contaminated groundwater and well water, foul odors and fires, deafening noise pollution, and repeated plane crashes. Although local leaders succeeded in bringing about the return of land that had been taken for the base in Tachikawa, at Yokota, the number of departures and landings per year reached 20,000. Pilot training that simulated landing jets on aircraft carriers was also held several times each year, often throughout the night. Because such training, together with the engine testing and daily flights, created a level of noise pollution that local inhabitants found unbearable, numerous lawsuits were filed against the Japanese and U.S. governments, calling for a halt in flights and compensation for damages caused by the noise pollution. At present, a small fraction of the compensation demanded for past damages appears likely to be awarded. "Yokota Airbase Pollution Lawsuit No. 9", filed on 12 December 2012 and "New Yokota Airbase Pollution Lawsuit No. 2", filed on 26 March 2013, are currently being disputed.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The 374th Force Support Squadron is responsible for providing an enhanced quality of life, facilities and programs for 11,000 military, civilian and dependents as well as 150,000 transient personnel per year. The 374th Force Support Squadron provides manpower and personnel support, membership clubs, child development, youth programs, food service, lodging, sports/fitness, recreation/leisure activities, comprehensive readiness program, marketing/publicity, linen exchange, and mortuary operations for Yokota AB.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Each year in September, Yokota Air Base opens the gates to the Japanese community for its annual Friendship Festival. For two days, local residents can learn about Yokota Air Base. Food and events are provided for all ages. Roughly 200,000 visitors show up each year, although non-Japanese visitors may be turned away from the gates for security reasons.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: For those two days, visitors are able to examine many types of aircraft and even tour some of the large cargo planes from inside.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: In 2020 and 2021, it was canceled due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. 2022 was held on May 21 and May 22, three months earlier than usual. On the May 22, the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, visited Japan with the arrival of related equipment, including the dedicated Air Force One, but the Friendship Festival was held as scheduled.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The Department of Defense Education Activity operates schools at Yokota for children of personnel assigned to the base.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Higher educational opportunities for those in the military and working for the Department of Defense, as well as for family members at Yokota are available through several contracted academic institutions. For example:


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The Tama Hills Recreation Area comprises about one-half of the 500-acre Tama Services Division Annex, the other half being the Tama Hills Golf Course.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: The base was the setting of "Almost Transparent Blue", a best-selling novel written by Ryu Murakami and published in 1976, as well as the anime "Blood the Last Vampire" and the short film "Baby Blue" from Genius Party, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Yokota Air Base and its surrounding area were the central location for the 2006 movie "Sugar and Spice" and mentioned briefly in . It is also the setting of parts of "The Yokota Officers Club : A Novel" by Sarah Bird. The base is also the birthplace of US Marine Captain, former UFC fighter and Fox Sports analyst Brian Stann. The base was also briefly featured in the 2016 biopic "Snowden" as one of Edward Snowden's workplaces.


title: Yokota Air Base

text: Some of the text in this article was taken from pages on the Yokota Air Base website, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by:


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: The Real World: Back to New York is the tenth season of MTV's reality television series "The Real World", which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships. It is the second season of "The Real World" to be filmed in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States, specifically in New York after "".


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: The season featured seven people who lived in a four-floor loft at 632 Hudson Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. As its title indicates, "Back to New York" is the first season to take place in a city that had hosted a previous season, as the show's was set in New York in 1992.


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: The "Back to New York" season was filmed January 9 to June 2, 2001. It premiered July 3 of that year and consisted of 22 episodes.


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: The cast lived in an , four story loft at 632 Hudson Street in Manhattan's West Village, just over a mile from the SoHo loft used in the filming of . The building was built in 1847, and for forty years following World War II, housed a Spanish-style sausage factory called the Esteve Packing Corporation. The building was purchased in the early 1990s for $450,000. The third and fourth floors, which included the penthouse level and roof deck, were renovated for the series. The production equipment included 15 video cameras, 29 monitors, 142 studio lights, dozens of microphones, and a mile of cable. After completion of the season, the building was placed on the rental market for special events and short-term stays.


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: Participation in the assignment was mandatory for the cast, and a roommate who was terminated from the assignment would be evicted from the residence and from the cast. The "Back to New York" housemates were assigned jobs as receptionists for Arista Records during the day, and helped gain publicity for their up-and-coming bands at night.


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: This season of "Real World" along with "" was the first and only season to be preceded by a casting special in which 27 potential cast members spent time together for a week to see how they interacted. Among the goings-on during the special was conflict between Coral and Ellen (who would eventually be cast on "The Quest").


title: The Real World: Back to New York

text: After filming, Mike Mizanin parlayed his "Miz" persona into a career as a professional wrestler for WWE, where he has held several championship titles, including the WWE Intercontinental Championship, the World Tag Team Championship, the WWE Tag Team Championship, the WWE United States Championship, Unified Tag Team Championship, and the WWE Championship. He also main-evented WrestleMania XXVII defeating John Cena in 2011. Mizanin and Trishelle Cannatella of "" appeared on "Fear Factor", where they won first place. He currently stars on "Miz & Mrs." alongside his wife, Maryse Ouellet. The couple welcomed two daughters: Monroe Sky Mizanin (born on March 27, 2018) and Madison Jade Mizanin (born on September 20, 2019). In 2021, The Miz competed on the 30th season of "Dancing with the Stars".


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: John Gillespie Magee (October 10, 1884 – September 11, 1953) was an American Episcopal priest, best known for his work in Nanking as a missionary, and for the films and pictures he shot during the Nanking Massacre. He is also credited with saving thousands of lives throughout the event.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: Magee was born in 1884 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Magee came from a wealthy Pittsburgh family. His brother was aviator and Congressman James McDevitt Magee. Magee went to school at Yale University, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and then on to divinity school in Massachusetts. A missionary in China, he was the minister at an Episcopal mission in Nanking from 1912 to 1940.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: While in China, Magee married a missionary from Helmingham in Suffolk, England, Faith Emmeline Backhouse. They had four sons: John, Hugh, David and Christopher. Their oldest son went on to write the famous poem "High Flight", when he served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: During the Nanking Massacre, Magee was performing missionary work in Nanking and was at the same time the chairman of Nanking Committee of the International Red Cross Organization. During the period when hundreds of thousands of defenseless Chinese were slaughtered by the Japanese army, Magee was appalled by the atrocity of the Japanese invaders.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: Disregarding his own safety, Magee ran out of the Nanking Safety Zone, going through streets and lanes, and took part in rescuing more than 200,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians who were facing being slaughtered. Magee filmed several hundred minutes with what was then the most advanced 16mm movie camera, which filmed at 6 frames per second.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: Some people wanted to buy Magee's original film for large sums of money for political purposes, yet he would not budge. He said he wanted to give the historical materials to the right person without charge at the right moment.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: Magee managed to film abuses of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers during the Nanking Massacre in December 1937. Magee's films were smuggled out of Nanking; copies were shown to members of the United States government, and sent to the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade them to institute sanctions against the Japanese government.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: On 10 February 1938, the Legation Secretary of the German Embassy, Rosen, wrote to his Foreign Ministry about a film made in December by Magee to recommend its purchase. Here is an excerpt from his letter and a description of some of its shots, kept in the Political Archives of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: Magee's role in documenting the Nanking Massacre is featured in the movie "Don't Cry, Nanking". In the film "Nanking", Magee was portrayed by actor Hugo Armstrong.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: In 2001, John Magee's son, David Magee, donated the four rolls of film tape (105 minutes in length) that his father documented with a 16mm camera to Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: In 1953 Magee left the 16mm camera and the film to his son David, who had accompanied him in Nanking. In 2002, when David heard of the news that China was going to build a museum in memory of the people who were killed during the Nanking Massacre, he came to Nanking.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: According to his father's last wish, he offered the historical materials without charge. To remember the special contribution that Magee had made to the Nanking people, a library was built in John Magee’s name.


title: John Magee (missionary)

text: After Magee left Nanking, he served as curate at Church of the Presidents St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. While there, he was one of the Episcopal priests who officiated at the funeral of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945. Magee also served as chaplain to President Harry S. Truman.


title: John Kastner

text: Jean-Guy "John" Kastner (born 12 August 1969) is a Canadian musician and composer born in Beaconsfield, Quebec. He is the singer for Montreal hardcore punk band the Asexuals as well as singer-guitarist for Montreal alternative band Doughboys and alternative band All Systems Go!. He is also the manager and former rhythm guitarist for the band Men Without Hats.


title: John Kastner

text: Jean-Guy Kastner was born in Beaconsfield, Quebec, to Charles Kastner and Kathryn Ann Watt. He had been interested in rock 'n' roll since elementary school. By the time he was 9 years old, he was following musicians who worked in downtown Montreal and who performed at the Forum.


title: John Kastner

text: Kastner joined the Asexuals in 1983 and recorded a 7-inch and two LPs with them before quitting in 1987, over musical differences. While a member of the Asexuals, he fronted the band and helped the Montreal hardcore scene become well known outside the city through the frequent tours the group made in Canada, the United States and Europe.


title: John Kastner

text: Between 1990 and 1992, he played rhythm guitar in Men Without Hats, recording on their album "Sideways".


title: John Kastner

text: After leaving the Asexuals, he started the Doughboys, releasing seven albums from 1987 to 1996. The band broke up in 1996 and Kastner moved to California; he established himself in Silverlake and started writing music for soundtracks.


title: John Kastner

text: In 1998, he started the band All Systems Go! with Frank Daly and Mark Arnold of Big Drill Car and released five albums and EPs from 1999 to 2003 before going on a hiatus in 2005. They released another album in 2007, then went on another hiatus. Kastner also recorded and released the 2006 album entitled "Have you seen Lucky?", which featured a number of his previous bandmates.


title: John Kastner

text: Kastner wrote music for many movies and TV show soundtracks, including "Phil the Alien", "" and "Brats of the Lost Nebula". and collaborated on records by Mega City Four, The Weekend, Mark Lanegan Band and Men Without Hats.


title: John Kastner

text: In 2008, John joined Bran Van 3000 as guitar player and in 2010 reunited with the Asexuals to play a show in Montreal.


title: John Kastner

text: In 2010, he appeared in the documentary "Open Your Mouth And Say... Mr. Chi Pig", a Canadian film about the life of SNFU singer Mr. Chi Pig directed by Sean Patrck Shaul and released by Prairie Coast Films.


title: John Kastner

text: Kastner married actress Nicole de Boer on 18 December 1999. They have a daughter, Summer Lee Kastner, born in January 2007. In 2012, John and de Boer separated, and later divorced.


title: John Kastner

text: In May 2013, Kastner began dating actress and "Mad Men" star Jessica Paré. On 19 March 2015, Paré gave birth to a son, who was named Blues Anthony Paré Kastner.


title: John Kastner

text: Kastner has a sister, Debbie, and a brother, Jason. On 26 March 2008, Kastner's mother Kathryn Ann Watt died of cancer.


title: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation

text: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd. - (TNSTC) is a Government owned public transport bus operator in Tamil Nadu, India. It operates Intercity bus services to cities within Tamil Nadu, and from Tamil Nadu to its neighbouring states. It also operates town busses from major cities and towns of Tamil Nadu to its neighborhoods, with the exception of Chennai, where the public bus service is operated by MTC, a subsidiary of TNSTC. It is the largest government bus transport corporation in India, and the biggest corporation in the world.


title: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation

text: The planning concussion, in consultation with this ministry, have advised the state government to set up a road transport corporation under the Transport Corporations Act and the matter is under the consideration of the state government. Operation of nationalized transport services through a corporation is favoured so as to achieve railroad coordination, and to ensure operation on business lines. The general policy of the government is to establish corporations and the planning commission have advised that if the state governments want to nationalise the road services, they should form corporations and they should not be run as far as possible through government departments. It has also been suggested by the planning commission that the railways should participate or contribute to the state governments for running all the nationalised road services only when they decide to set up a corporation.


title: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation

text: TNSTC is fully owned and operated by the Government of Tamil Nadu. TNSTC has started online booking facilities to book bus tickets between major cities served by TNSTC. It caters to all the districts within Tamil Nadu and also operates services to neighboring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and union territory of Puduchery. Until 1997, the transport corporation was divided into 21 divisions which was later merged to form eight divisions. TNSTC owns 321 depots and five workshops with a combined fleet strength of 21,678 buses. TNSTC also offers contract and tourist services. Every bus owned by the corporation displays a portrait of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar along with a two-line verse from Thirukkural inside the bus.


title: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation

text: In 1984, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Limited established Institute of Road and Transport Technology in Erode. In 2013, Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Limited established Amma Kudineer (Amma packaged drinking water) which is involved in the production and packaging of mineral water in one-litre plastic bottles, and selling them in long-distance running state-owned buses and in bus stations. The price has been fixed at ₹10 per bottle, and the production plant is set up in Gummidipoondi in Thiruvallur district. This venture is closed


title: Prurigo nodularis

text: Prurigo nodularis (PN), also known as nodular prurigo, is a skin disease characterised by pruritic (itchy) nodules which usually appear on the arms or legs. Patients often present with multiple excoriated lesions caused by scratching. PN is also known as "Hyde prurigo nodularis", "Picker's nodules", atypical nodular form of "neurodermatitis circumscripta", "lichen corneus obtusus."


title: Prurigo nodularis

text: The cause of prurigo nodularis is unknown, although other conditions may induce PN. PN has been linked to Becker's nevus, linear IgA disease, an autoimmune condition, liver disease and T cells. Systemic pruritus has been linked to cholestasis, thyroid disease, polycythaemia rubra vera, uraemia, Hodgkins disease, HIV and other immunodeficiency diseases. Internal malignancies, liver failure, kidney failure, and psychiatric illnesses have been considered to induce PN, although more recent research has refuted a psychiatric cause for PN. Patients report an ongoing battle to distinguish themselves from those with psychiatric disorders, such as delusions of parasitosis and other psychiatric conditions.


title: Prurigo nodularis

text: Chronic and repetitive scratching, picking, or rubbing of the nodules may result in permanent changes to the skin, including nodular lichenification, hyperkeratosis, hyperpigmentation, and skin thickening. Unhealed, excoriated lesions are often scaly, crusted or scabbed. Many patients report a lack of wound healing even when medications relieve the itching and subsequent scratching.


title: Prurigo nodularis

text: Diagnosis is based on visual examination and the presence of itching. A skin biopsy is often performed to exclude other diseases. Lesion biopsies usually show light inflammation, sometimes with increased numbers of eosinophils. A culture of at least one lesion will rule out staphylococcus infection, which has been significantly linked to atopic dermatitis.


title: Prurigo nodularis

text: "Prurigo nodularis" is very hard to treat, but current therapies include steroids, Dupixent, vitamins, cryosurgery, thalidomide and UVB light. In the event that staphylococcus or other infection is present, antibiotics have proven effective, but tend to cause more harm than good for this particular disease. A physician may administer a strong dose of prednisone, which will almost immediately stop the itch/scratch cycle. However, cessation of steroids allows relapse to occur, usually within a few weeks. Horiuchi "et al" recently reported significant improvement in PN with antibiotic therapy.


title: Prurigo nodularis

text: Another drug a physician may administer is Apo-Azathioprine. Azathioprine, also known by its brand name Imuran, is an immunosuppressive drug used in organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases and belongs to the chemical class of purine analogues.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: A semi-structured interview is a method of research used most often in the social sciences. While a structured interview has a rigorous set of questions which does not allow one to divert, a semi-structured interview is open, allowing new ideas to be brought up during the interview as a result of what the interviewee says. The interviewer in a semi-structured interview generally has a framework of themes to be explored.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: Semi-structured interviews are widely used in qualitative research; for example in household research, such as couple interviews. A semi-structured interview involving, for example, two spouses can result in "the production of rich data, including observational data."


title: Semi-structured interview

text: An unstructured interview is the opposite of structured interview, because it tends to be more informal and free flowing and it is more like an everyday conversation. A structured interview is a type of interview that is completely planned, which means every interviewee gets the same interview questions. "A semi-structured interview is the one in between". The questions are loosely structured and give interviewees more opportunities to fully express themselves. However, semi-structured interviews are less objective and legally harder to defend when compared with structured interviews. Semi-structured interviews somewhat restrict the interviewee's free flow of thoughts which limited the potential possibility of the interview as a whole.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: Because semi-structured interview is a combination of both structured interviewing and unstructured interviewing, it has both of their advantages. For interviewers, the constructed part of semi-structured interview gives them a general overview of the interviewees. It helps them draw an objective comparison from the interviewees, which is helpful for either qualitative research study or job interview. For interviewees, because the unstructured part of semi-structured interview gives them more space to ask for clarification on answers and to express free flow of thoughts, the interviewees normally feel less stress during the interview. They would present more communication skills to the interviewers and build personal bond with them under the relatively warm and friendly atmosphere.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: Since a semi-structured interview is a combination of an unstructured interview and a structured interview, it has the advantages of both. The interviewees can express their opinions and ask questions to the interviewers during the interview, which encourages them to give more useful information, such as their opinions toward sensitive issues, to the qualitative research. And they could more easily give the reasons for their answers during the interviews. Plus, the structured part of semi-structured interviews gives the interviewers reliable, comparable qualitative data as well.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: Even though a semi-structured interview has several advantages, it needs time for the interviewers to prepare and do research before actually starting the interview. And in order to make the results reliable, interviewers need to meet an adequate number of people to conduct the interview. Since it allows people to freely express their thoughts, the interviewers need to carefully plan the questions to make sure they can get the answers they want, which also requires good communication and interviewing skills. Interviewers are responsible for the confidentiality of the interviews.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: The specific topic or topics that the interviewer wants to explore during the interview are typically thought about well in advance—especially during interviews for research projects. It is generally beneficial for interviewers to have an interview guide prepared. An interview guide is an informal grouping of topics and questions that the interviewer can ask in different ways for different participants. Interview guides help researchers to focus an interview on the topics at hand without constraining them to a particular format. This freedom can help interviewers to tailor their questions to the interview context/situation, and to the people, they are interviewing.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: There are several things for interviewers to pay attention to while preparing and conducting their interviews. When preparing for the semi-structured interview, the interviewers need to consider the characteristics of their questions. They should use open-ended questions but dichotomous questions which only lead to two opposite answers, and they should avoid asking multiple questions, leading questions or why questions. It is helpful for the interviewers that they have a scale for grading the answers prior to the interview. The drawback of the leading question is that it could subtly orient interviewers toward a certain way. And the downside of why questions is they can make the questions sound judgmental and might generate negative answers. During the interview, interviewers could try to restate and summarize the interviewees' answers to confirm their opinions. They could generate new questions based on interviewers' answers, but the questions should be around the particular qualities and experiences that they are looking for in interviewers. It is also helpful to take detailed notes or recording the whole interview to compare the answers afterward.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: Because semi-structured interviews allow people to communicate and express their free flow of thoughts at some degrees, the interviewers need to pay attention to their intercultural competence and cultural dimensions during the communication. Intercultural competence requires people to recognize and respect the diversity of different cultural backgrounds.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: People with high intercultural competence often tend to respect individual variations and different cultural patterns. They often have self-assessments and are aware of the differences between people. They make their conclusions and assessments based on reliable evidence. People can improve their intercultural competence by regular self-assessments including their values, beliefs and personal biases to improve their self-awareness. The interviewers need to understand that their personal beliefs and biases may slightly impact the way they address questions and, as a result, influence the outcomes of semi-structured interviews.


title: Semi-structured interview

text: Interviewers are also required to realize the cultural dimensions. Lack of the recognition of cultural dimensions could lead to miscommunication and unpleasant results during semi-structured interviews. Having high level of cultural dimensions can be reflected as, for example, respecting masculine, individualistic, uncertainty avoidance cultures.


title: Alliance Party (United States)

text: The Alliance Party is a centrist American political party formed in 2019. It is affiliated with the American Party of South Carolina, Independence Party of Minnesota, Independent Party of Connecticut, and Reform Party of Florida. In 2020, Independence Party of New York affiliated with the Alliance Party, but disaffiliated in 2021.


title: Alliance Party (United States)

text: On May 10, 2016, the Independence Party of Minnesota and the Independent Party of Oregon announced that they would seek to unite fourteen centrist minor political parties and possibly run a presidential candidate. Bernie Sanders won the Independent Party of Oregon's presidential primary, but could not run due to sore-loser legislation and the Independent Party of Oregon chose to not nominate a presidential candidate. The Independence Party of Minnesota gave its presidential nomination to Evan McMullin.


title: Alliance Party (United States)

text: The Alliance Party was formed on October 14, 2018. On December 17, 2018, the American Party of South Carolina successfully asked the South Carolina Election Commission to record that the party had changed its name to the Alliance Party. On May 4, 2019, the Independence Party of Minnesota voted to affiliate with the Alliance Party at its state convention. The Independent Party of Connecticut also affiliated with the Alliance Party and the Alliance Party became ballot qualified in Mississippi.


title: Alliance Party (United States)

text: On April 25, 2020, the party nominated businessman Rocky De La Fuente for president and historian Darcy Richardson for vice president. The ticket was approved by a vote of twenty four to two. The convention was conducted through Zoom, chaired by Jim Rex, and attended by delegates including Greg Orman, Brian Moore, and Michael Steinberg.


title: Alliance Party (United States)

text: On June 20, the Reform Party nominated De La Fuente and Richardson. De la Fuente defeated three other recognized candidates, Max Abramson, Souraya Faas, and Ben Zion. On June 23, the Natural Law Party of Michigan nominated De La Fuente and Richardson. On August 15, the American Independent Party nominated De La Fuente, but chose Kanye West rather than Richardson as their vice-presidential nominee.


title: Alliance Party (United States)

text: De La Fuente and Richardson received 88,238 votes in the presidential election, around 0.06% of the national total. Following the presidential election, the American Delta Party and the Independence Party of New York joined the Alliance Party.


title: Janie's Got a Gun

text: "Janie's Got a Gun" is a song by American rock band Aerosmith and written by Steven Tyler and Tom Hamilton. The song was released as the second single from "Pump" in 1989, peaking at number four on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and number two on the "Billboard" Album Rock Tracks chart in 1990. In Australia, the song reached number one, becoming Aerosmith's first of two number-one singles there. It also reached number two in Canada, number 12 in Sweden, and number 13 in New Zealand.


title: Janie's Got a Gun

text: The song describes a young woman planning her revenge for childhood abuse. It won the band a 1990 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.


title: Janie's Got a Gun

text: On the album, "Janie's Got a Gun" is preceded by a 10-second instrumental called "Water Song", which features the work of instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch, who uses a glass harmonica, wind gong, and bullroarers to produce the special effects heard at the start of the song.


title: Janie's Got a Gun

text: Tyler came up with the main riff using a low-tone setting on his keyboard. Hamilton created the bassline. The guitars and drum parts were configured later and Tyler wrote the lyrics. The guitar solo, by Joe Perry, is accompanied by the main riff and rhythmic clapping. The song also uses the Slap Bass instrument patch from the Korg M1. In a 1994 interview with "Rolling Stone", Tyler described the origin of the song:


title: Janie's Got a Gun

text: The singer declared, "I got really angry that nobody was paying homage to those who were abused by mom and dad." The line "He jacked a little bitty baby" was originally "He raped a little bitty baby," but Geffen Records A&R executive John Kalodner argued that the band should change it, explaining that he felt the song had the potential to be a hit and was certain it would not get played on commercial radio with the word "rape" in it. Tyler often sings the original line when performing live. In addition, the line "...and put a bullet in his brain" changed to "...she left him in the pouring rain" for the radio version.


title: Janie's Got a Gun

text: The music video was directed by David Fincher. Janie is portrayed by actress Kristin Dattilo. Her parents are played by Nicholas Guest and Lesley Ann Warren.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The fourth season of the American television series "Arrow" premiered on The CW on October 7, 2015, and concluded on May 25, 2016, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to Starling City (later renamed "Star City") to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. In the fourth season, Oliver and Felicity try and start a new life in Ivy Town, but return to the city, now renamed Star City, when a terrorist group known as H.I.V.E., headed by the mystically enhanced Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough), is attacking the city. Oliver resumes vigilantism under the new moniker of "Green Arrow". John discovers his brother Andy (Eugene Byrd) is alive and a H.I.V.E. soldier; Thea works with Oliver as "Speedy", but with a violent temper; Laurel attempts to resurrect Sara using the Lazarus Pit; and Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum) aids Felicity and the team. Oliver's life as a vigilante and with Felicity are complicated by his mayoral run and the discovery of the existence of his son, William (Jack Moore). Laurel dies in a fight with Damien, and Oliver discovers his plan to detonate nuclear weapons and rule the Earth's remains. The season features flashbacks to Oliver's fourth year since he was presumed dead, where Amanda Waller sends Oliver back to Lian Yu to infiltrate Shadowspire, where he meets John Constantine (Matt Ryan) and encounters a mystical idol used by Darhk in the present-day narrative.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The series was renewed for its fourth season in January 2015, and filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that July and ended in April 2016. The season premiere received a positive critical response, however the season as a whole was received more negatively. The season averaged 2.9 million viewers each week. This season includes the second annual Arrowverse crossover with TV series "The Flash", which served as an introduction to spin-off TV series "Legends of Tomorrow". It also featured the first live-action appearance of Megalyn Echikunwoke as Vixen, from the eponymous animated web series, as well as an appearance by Matt Ryan reprising his role as John Constantine from the NBC series "Constantine". The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30, 2016. The series was renewed for a fifth season on March 11, 2016.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: In January 2015, The CW President Mark Pedowitz announced "Arrow" renewal for a fourth season at the 2014 Television Critics Association event. Series creator Marc Guggenheim returned as showrunner, while co-executive producer and writer Wendy Mericle was promoted to co-showrunner.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The season introduces two major changes to the series: Starling City being renamed as Star City, and Oliver Queen returning to vigilantism as the "Green Arrow", the same vigilante identity he uses in the comics. Regarding the latter, speaking before the season premiere, Wendy Mericle said, "It felt right for the natural evolution of Oliver's character to become what we know in the comics". Teasing Damien Darhk, the season's big bad, series co-creator Andrew Kreisberg said, "We've always referred to Ra's al Ghul [Matt Nable] as the worst thing that can happen to Oliver and his team, but when you see the first two episodes of season four, you'll quickly realize that Ra's was in the nursery compared to what Damien's got in store for everybody". He called Darhk a "different" villain than the previous ones, saying "He's a bit more colorful, a bit more fun and is very dangerous and commanding and leads an army of followers who would die at his command. But he's funnier, more charming and fits in with our whole shading this year where we've made things lighter." The season also sees many of the characters taking on vigilante codenames: Spartan (John Diggle), Speedy (Thea Queen), and Overwatch (Felicity Smoak).


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: Main cast members Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Emily Bett Rickards, John Barrowman and Paul Blackthorne return from previous seasons as Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance / Black Canary, John Diggle / Spartan, Thea Queen / Speedy, Malcolm Merlyn, and Quentin Lance. This was initially Cassidy's final season as a regular, due to her character dying in the episode "Eleven-Fifty-Nine"; she would later return as a guest star in season 5, and be reinstated as a regular starting with season 6. Colton Haynes, who portrayed Roy Harper / Arsenal as a regular in seasons two and three, returned in a guest capacity. Neal McDonough recurs as Damien Darhk.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The Green Arrow costume was designed by Maya Mani. It is more armored than the Arrow costume, eschews sleeves and features shoulder pads and archer's gauntlets, in addition to having many pockets and holsters. Diggle's Spartan costume consists of a steel gray jacket-and-pants combination along with a face-protecting helmet. In response to criticism of the Spartan helmet resembling that worn by the Marvel Comics character Magneto, Ramsey said, "I know there's a lot of criticism that it looks like the Magneto helmet. But by the time you see Diggle in action – we also get into what the helmet can do – you won't be thinking of the X-Men at all."


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: Filming for the season began in mid-July 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and ended in late April 2016.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: In May 2015, Amell revealed he had had discussions with DC Entertainment to portray Oliver Queen on "Constantine" because its title character, John Constantine is an expert on the Lazarus Pit, a concept used on "Arrow". In August 2015, it was confirmed that "Constantine" star Matt Ryan would appear on "Arrow" in the fourth season episode "Haunted", per a "one-time-only" deal that would involve his character being "brought in to deal with the fallout of the resurrection of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) via Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit." As "Arrow" and "Constantine" were both produced by Warner Bros. Television, the producers of "Arrow" were able to acquire Ryan's original outfits. John Badham, who was a director on "Constantine", directed "Haunted". On filming the episode, Guggenheim stated it felt like the production team was "doing a "Constantine"/"Arrow" crossover, and it's so exciting... we're just really glad we got the chance to extend Matt Ryan's run as Constantine by at least one more hour of television. I think you'll see he fits very neatly into our universe. It never feels forced, it feels right."


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: Season four includes the second annual crossover with "The Flash": "Heroes Join Forces", which also serves as the setup for "Legends of Tomorrow". The season also saw the live-action debut of Vixen with, Megalyn Echikunwoke reprising her role from the animated web series of the same name.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The season began airing in the United States on The CW on October 7, 2015, and completed its 23-episode run on May 25, 2016.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 30, 2016 with special features including the second annual Arrowverse crossover event titled "Heroes Join Forces". It began streaming on Netflix on October 5, 2016.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The season premiere earned positive reviews, with Jesse Schedeen of IGN giving it 8.5, stating ""Arrow" is showing every sign of addressing the flaws that bogged down Season 3", and Morgan Jeffery of "Digital Spy" describing the series as being "back on form".


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: However, the response to the season as a whole was more critical. Whilst overall Alasdair Wilkins of "The A.V. Club" considered the season finale to be a "perfectly decent end to a perfectly decent season", and that season four addressed some of the weaknesses of previous seasons, in particular in terms of a strong villain presence in Neil McDonough he also noted that "This season was a step in the right direction, but a proper return to past glory still feels awfully far away." "Entertainment Weekly"s Jonathon Dornbush summarized the season as "one that at times hinted at the promise of the show's glory days but often was almost as at odds with itself as Oliver is with himself." Overall, he criticized the lack of focus in the flashbacks, a failure to build up Dahrk's plans and motivations consistently and the lack of hope in a season where Oliver was attempting to give hope to others.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: Writing for TV Overmind, Andy Behbakht criticized the decision to kill off Laurel Lance, feeling the character was underutilized and "The Black Canary was in many ways one of "Arrow" big hearts and seeing the show losing that character, makes the series lose a lot of its remaining magic". For the same website, Caroline Schlafly criticized the way Felicity was written throughout the season and felt that at times it gave her too much focus. However, overall she was pleased with the change in tone the season brought, and in particular praised the growth in Oliver's character, noting that, ""Arrow" is no longer a dark show about a vigilante who’s willing to murder. It’s about Oliver Queen and his teammates, and how they develop and interact as they fight crime and villains and Star City. Sure, right now the team is monopolized by Felicity – but hopefully that will change, and we’ll still be left with these other fantastic changes." In his review of "Canary Cry", Eric Francisco of "Inverse" said, ""Arrow" is not a good TV show anymore [...] The centerpiece series that started the evolving, expansive DC TV universe has mutated into a horrid, audio/visual white noise", and was particularly critical of the portrayals of Oliver, Diggle, Thea and Felicity in the season, along with the handling of Laurel's death.


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: Reviewing the season as a whole for IGN, Jesse Schedeen noted that "The fourth season made some significant strides, but ultimately failed to address the show's fundamental problem ". He praised the addition of McDonough as Darhk, as well as guest appearances including Matt Ryan as Constantine which helped seat the show within a wider DC Universe. He noted how the season suffered at times in its first half from having to lay the groundwork for spin-off "Legends of Tomorrow". Whilst he praised the work of directors Lexi Alexander and James Bamford, as well as actress Emily Bett Rickards and felt the first half of the season built well, overall he felt that the season was failed in the second half by a feeling that "the writers were merely spinning their wheels before ushering in the final battle against HIVE". He was particularly critical of the narrative structure of the flashback sequences and the way in which many of the season's major plot lines ended where "the payoff didn't do justice to the setup." Giving the season a 6.6, he concluded ""Arrow"s fourth season had plenty of great episodes but ultimately failed to come together as a satisfying whole."


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: Rotten Tomatoes gave the season an 85% approval rating based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 7.55/10. The critical consensus reads: "Season four of "Arrow" flourishes with a refreshing new tone, a thrilling new villain, and a gripping story arc."


title: Arrow (season 4)

text: The fourth season averaged 2.90 million viewers across the 23 episodes and ranked 145th among television show viewership.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Fluorocarbons are chemical compounds with carbon-fluorine bonds. Compounds that contain many C-F bonds often has distinctive properties, e.g., enhanced stability, volatility, and hydrophobicity. Fluorocarbons and their derivatives are commercial polymers, refrigerants, drugs, and anesthetics.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluorocarbons or PFCs, are organofluorine compounds with the formula CF, i.e., they contain only carbon and fluorine. The terminology is not strictly followed and many fluorine-containing organic compounds are called fluorocarbons.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Compounds with the prefix perfluoro- are hydrocarbons, including those with heteroatoms, wherein all C-H bonds have been replaced by C-F bonds. Fluorocarbons includes perfluoroalkanes, fluoroalkenes, fluoroalkynes, and perfluoroaromatic compounds.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluoroalkanes are very stable because of the strength of the carbon–fluorine bond, one of the strongest in organic chemistry.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Its strength is a result of the electronegativity of fluorine imparting partial ionic character through partial charges on the carbon and fluorine atoms, which shorten and strengthen the bond through favorable covalent interactions. Additionally, multiple carbon–fluorine bonds increase the strength and stability of other nearby carbon–fluorine bonds on the same geminal carbon, as the carbon has a higher positive partial charge. Furthermore, multiple carbon–fluorine bonds also strengthen the "skeletal" carbon–carbon bonds from the inductive effect. Therefore, saturated fluorocarbons are more chemically and thermally stable than their corresponding hydrocarbon counterparts, and indeed any other organic compound. They are susceptible to attack by very strong reductants, e.g. Birch reduction and very specialized organometallic complexes.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Fluorocarbons are colorless and have high density, up to over twice that of water. They are not miscible with most organic solvents (e.g., ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and chloroform), but are miscible with some hydrocarbons (e.g., hexane in some cases). They have very low solubility in water, and water has a very low solubility in them (on the order of 10 ppm). They have low refractive indices.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: As the high electronegativity of fluorine reduces the polarizability of the atom, fluorocarbons are only weakly susceptible to the fleeting dipoles that form the basis of the London dispersion force. As a result, fluorocarbons have low intermolecular attractive forces and are lipophobic in addition to being hydrophobic and non-polar. Reflecting the weak intermolecular forces these compounds exhibit low viscosities when compared to liquids of similar boiling points, low surface tension and low heats of vaporization. The low attractive forces in fluorocarbon liquids make them compressible (low bulk modulus) and able to dissolve gas relatively well. Smaller fluorocarbons are extremely volatile. There are five perfluoroalkane gases: tetrafluoromethane (bp −128 °C), hexafluoroethane (bp −78.2 °C), octafluoropropane (bp −36.5 °C), perfluoro-n-butane (bp −2.2 °C) and perfluoro-iso-butane (bp −1 °C). Nearly all other fluoroalkanes are liquids; the most notable exception is perfluorocyclohexane, which sublimes at 51 °C. Fluorocarbons also have low surface energies and high dielectric strengths.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: In the 1960s there was a lot of interest in fluorocarbons as anesthetics. The research did not produce any anesthetics, but the research included tests on the issue of flammability, and showed that the tested fluorocarbons were not flammable in air in any proportion, though most of the tests were in pure oxygen or pure nitrous oxide (gases of importance in anesthesiology).


title: Fluorocarbon

text: In 1993, 3M considered fluorocarbons as fire extinguishants to replace CFCs. This extinguishing effect has been attributed to their high heat capacity, which takes heat away from the fire. It has been suggested that an atmosphere containing a significant percentage of perfluorocarbons on a space station or similar would prevent fires altogether.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: When combustion does occur, toxic fumes result, including carbonyl fluoride, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen fluoride.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluorocarbons dissolve relatively high volumes of gases. The high solubility of gases is attributed to the weak intermolecular interactions in these fluorocarbon fluids.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: The table shows values for the mole fraction, , of nitrogen dissolved, calculated from the Blood–gas partition coefficient, at 298.15 K (25 °C), 0.101325 MPa.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: The development of the fluorocarbon industry coincided with World War II. Prior to that, fluorocarbons were prepared by reaction of fluorine with the hydrocarbon, i.e., direct fluorination. Because C-C bonds are readily cleaved by fluorine, direct fluorination mainly affords smaller perfluorocarbons, such as tetrafluoromethane, hexafluoroethane, and octafluoropropane.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: A major breakthrough that allowed the large scale manufacture of fluorocarbons was the Fowler process. In this process, cobalt trifluoride is used as the source of fluorine. Illustrative is the synthesis of perfluorohexane:


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Industrially, both steps are combined, for example in the manufacture of the Flutec range of fluorocarbons by F2 chemicals Ltd, using a vertical stirred bed reactor, with hydrocarbon introduced at the bottom, and fluorine introduced halfway up the reactor. The fluorocarbon vapor is recovered from the top.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Electrochemical fluorination (ECF) (also known as the Simons' process) involves electrolysis of a substrate dissolved in hydrogen fluoride. As fluorine is itself manufactured by the electrolysis of hydrogen fluoride, ECF is a rather more direct route to fluorocarbons. The process proceeds at low voltage (5 – 6 V) so that free fluorine is not liberated. The choice of substrate is restricted as ideally it should be soluble in hydrogen fluoride. Ethers and tertiary amines are typically employed. To make perfluorohexane, trihexylamine is used, for example:


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Fluoroalkanes are not ozone depleting, as they contain no chlorine or bromine atoms, and they are sometimes used as replacements for ozone-depleting chemicals.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: The term fluorocarbon is used rather loosely to include any chemical containing fluorine and carbon, including chlorofluorocarbons, which are ozone depleting. Fluoroalkanes are sometimes confused with fluorosurfactants, which significantly bioaccumulate.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluoroalkanes do not bioaccumulate; those used in medical procedures are rapidly excreted from the body, primarily via expiration with the rate of excretion as a function of the vapour pressure; the half-life for octafluoropropane is less than 2 minutes, compared to about a week for perfluorodecalin.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Low-boiling perfluoroalkanes are potent greenhouse gases, in part due to their very long atmospheric lifetime, and their use is covered by the Kyoto Protocol. The global warming potential (compared to that of carbon dioxide) of many gases can be found in the IPCC 5th assessment report, with an extract below for a few perfluoroalkanes.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: The aluminium smelting industry has been a major source of atmospheric perfluorocarbons (tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoroethane especially), produced as by-product of the electrolysis process. However, the industry has been actively involved in reducing emissions in recent years.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: As they are inert, perfluoroalkanes have essentially no chemical uses, but their physical properties have led to their use in many diverse applications. These include:


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Unsaturated fluorocarbons are far more reactive than fluoroalkanes. Although difluoroacetylene is unstable (as is typical for related alkynes, see dichloroacetylene), hexafluoro-2-butyne and related fluorinated alkynes are well known.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Fluoroalkenes polymerize more exothermically than normal alkenes. Unsaturated fluorocarbons have a driving force towards sp hybridization due to the electronegative fluorine atoms seeking a greater share of bonding electrons with reduced s character in orbitals. The most famous member of this class is tetrafluoroethylene, which is used to manufacture polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), better known under the trade name Teflon.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Fluoroalkenes and fluorinated alkynes are reactive and many are toxic for example perfluoroisobutene. To produce polytetrafluoroethylene various fluorinated surfactants are used, in the process known as Emulsion polymerization, and the surfactant included in the polymer can bioaccumulate.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluoroaromatic compounds contain only carbon and fluorine, like other fluorocarbons, but also contain an aromatic ring. The three most important examples are hexafluorobenzene, octafluorotoluene, and octafluoronaphthalene.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluoroaromatic compounds can be manufactured via the Fowler process, like fluoroalkanes, but the conditions must be adjusted to prevent full fluorination. They can also be made by heating the corresponding perchloroaromatic compound with potassium fluoride at high temperature (typically 500 °C), during which the chlorine atoms are replaced by fluorine atoms. A third route is defluorination of the fluoroalkane; for example, octafluorotoluene can be made from perfluoromethylcyclohexane by heating to 500 °C with a nickel or iron catalyst.


title: Fluorocarbon

text: Perfluoroaromatic compounds are relatively volatile for their molecular weight, with melting and boiling points similar to the corresponding aromatic compound, as the table below shows. They have high density and are non-flammable. For the most part, they are colorless liquids. Unlike the perfluoralkanes, they tend to be miscible with common solvents.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: Inverse transform sampling (also known as inversion sampling, the inverse probability integral transform, the inverse transformation method, Smirnov transform, or the golden rule) is a basic method for pseudo-random number sampling, i.e., for generating sample numbers at random from any probability distribution given its cumulative distribution function.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: Inverse transformation sampling takes uniform samples of a number formula_1 between 0 and 1, interpreted as a probability, and then returns the largest number formula_2 from the domain of the distribution formula_3 such that formula_4. For example, imagine that formula_3 is the standard normal distribution with mean zero and standard deviation one. The table below shows samples taken from the uniform distribution and their representation on the standard normal distribution.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: We are randomly choosing a proportion of the area under the curve and returning the number in the domain such that exactly this proportion of the area occurs to the left of that number. Intuitively, we are unlikely to choose a number in the far end of tails because there is very little area in them which would require choosing a number very close to zero or one.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: Computationally, this method involves computing the quantile function of the distribution — in other words, computing the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the distribution (which maps a number in the domain to a probability between 0 and 1) and then inverting that function. This is the source of the term "inverse" or "inversion" in most of the names for this method. Note that for a discrete distribution, computing the CDF is not in general too difficult: we simply add up the individual probabilities for the various points of the distribution. For a continuous distribution, however, we need to integrate the probability density function (PDF) of the distribution, which is impossible to do analytically for most distributions (including the normal distribution). As a result, this method may be computationally inefficient for many distributions and other methods are preferred; however, it is a useful method for building more generally applicable samplers such as those based on rejection sampling.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: For the normal distribution, the lack of an analytical expression for the corresponding quantile function means that other methods (e.g. the Box–Muller transform) may be preferred computationally. It is often the case that, even for simple distributions, the inverse transform sampling method can be improved on: see, for example, the ziggurat algorithm and rejection sampling. On the other hand, it is possible to approximate the quantile function of the normal distribution extremely accurately using moderate-degree polynomials, and in fact the method of doing this is fast enough that inversion sampling is now the default method for sampling from a normal distribution in the statistical package R.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: The probability integral transform states that if formula_6 is a continuous random variable with cumulative distribution function formula_7, then the random variable formula_8 has a uniform distribution on [0, 1]. The inverse probability integral transform is just the inverse of this: specifically, if formula_9 has a uniform distribution on [0, 1] and if formula_6 has a cumulative distribution formula_7, then the random variable formula_12 has the same distribution as formula_6 .


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: From formula_14, we want to generate formula_6 with CDF formula_16 We assume formula_17 to be a strictly increasing function, which provides good intuition.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: We want to see if we can find some strictly monotone transformation formula_18, such that formula_19. We will have


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: Expressed differently, given a continuous uniform variable formula_22 in formula_33 and an invertible cumulative distribution function formula_7, the random variable formula_42 has distribution formula_7 (or, formula_6 is distributed formula_7).


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: A treatment of such inverse functions as objects satisfying differential equations can be given. Some such differential equations admit explicit power series solutions, despite their non-linearity.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: Let "F" be a continuous cumulative distribution function, and let "F" be its inverse function (using the infimum because CDFs are weakly monotonic and right-continuous):


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: Inverse transform sampling can be simply extended to cases of truncated distributions on the interval formula_59 without the cost of rejection sampling: the same algorithm can be followed, but instead of generating a random number formula_1 uniformly distributed between 0 and 1, generate formula_1 uniformly distributed between formula_62 and formula_63, and then again take formula_64.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: In order to obtain a large number of samples, one needs to perform the same number of inversions of the distribution.


title: Inverse transform sampling

text: One possible way to reduce the number of inversions while obtaining a large number of samples is the application of the so-called Stochastic Collocation Monte Carlo sampler (SCMC sampler) within a polynomial chaos expansion framework. This allows us to generate any number of Monte Carlo samples with only a few inversions of the original distribution with independent samples of a variable for which the inversions are analytically available, for example the standard normal variable.


title: Sexy prime

text: In number theory, sexy primes are prime numbers that differ from each other by 6. For example, the numbers 5 and 11 are both sexy primes, because both are prime and .


title: Sexy prime

text: If or (where is the lower prime) is also prime, then the sexy prime is part of a prime triplet. In August 2014 the Polymath group, seeking the proof of the twin prime conjecture, showed that if the generalized Elliott–Halberstam conjecture is proven, one can show the existence of infinitely many pairs of consecutive primes that differ by at most 6 and as such they are either twin, cousin or sexy primes.


title: Sexy prime

text: , the largest-known pair of sexy primes was found by S. Batalov and has 51,934 digits. The primes are:


title: Sexy prime

text: Sexy primes can be extended to larger constellations. Triplets of primes (, +6, +12) such that +18 is composite are called sexy prime triplets. Those below 1,000 are (, , ):


title: Sexy prime

text: Ken Davis further improved the record with a 6,180 digit Brillhart-Lehmer-Selfridge provable triplet in October 2019:


title: Sexy prime

text: Sexy prime quadruplets (, +6, +12, +18) can only begin with primes ending in a 1 in their decimal representation (except for the quadruplet with 5). The sexy prime quadruplets below 1000 are (, , , ):


title: Sexy prime

text: In November 2005 the largest-known sexy prime quadruplet, found by Jens Kruse Andersen had 1,002 digits:


title: Sexy prime

text: In October 2019 Gerd Lamprecht and Norman Luhn announced a 3,025 digit quadruplet with 121152729080 × 7019#/1729 + 1.


title: Sexy prime

text: In an arithmetic progression of five terms with common difference 6, one of the terms must be divisible by 5, because 5 and 6 are relatively prime. Thus, the only sexy prime quintuplet is (5,11,17,23,29); no longer sequence of sexy primes is possible.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virginia. Prior to the American War of Independence, the upper house of the General Assembly was represented by the Virginia Governor's Council, consisting of up to 12 executive counselors appointed by the colonial royal governor as advisers and jurists.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The lieutenant governor presides daily over the Virginia Senate. In the lieutenant governor's absence, the president pro tempore presides, usually a powerful member of the majority party. The Senate is equal with the House of Delegates, the lower chamber of the legislature, except that taxation bills must originate in the House, similar to the federal U.S. Congress. Members of the Virginia Senate are elected every four years by the voters of the 40 senatorial districts on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November. The last election took place in November 2019. There are no term limits for senators. The Senate also employs 40 pages (ages 13–14) to help with daily tasks during each general session in a full-time residential program of high regard.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The Senate of Virginia was created by the 1776 Constitution of Virginia, and originally consisted of twenty-four members. Along with the House of Delegates, the Senate comprised a new bicameral legislature designed to replace the colonial Virginia House of Burgesses, which formally dissolved on May 6, 1776. The Senate replaced the legislative functions of the appointed Virginia Council of State.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: Pursuant to the original Virginia Constitution, the Senate was only permitted to file amendments, while the House of Delegates had the power to propose bills. Accordingly, the Senate had far less power than the House, until the revised Virginia constitution of 1851 allowed the Senate to propose new laws.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: In the 2007 elections, the Democratic Party reclaimed the majority in the Senate for the first time since 1995, when the Republican Party gained a 20–20 split. The Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in history after a January 1998 special election. The 2011 elections resulted in a 20–20 split between the parties, but as the tie breaker was Republican lieutenant governor Bill Bolling, the Republicans effectively regained control.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: After the 2013 elections, Democratic state senator Ralph Northam became the lieutenant governor, but the Democrats did not regain control of the chamber until January 28, 2014, following a series of special elections including that of Northam's vacated 6th district seat. The Democratic majority would prove short-lived, however, as Senator Phil Puckett (D-38th) resigned, effective June 8, handing the GOP a majority of 20 to 19. The Republicans solidified their majority following a special election win on August 19, 2014, which increased their total number of seats to 21.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The Democratic Party regained control of Senate after the 2019 election and new members were sworn into office on January 8, 2020. As the legislative session opened, Louise Lucas was elected as the first female and African-American President Pro Tempore.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The annual salary for senators is $18,000 per year. To qualify for office, senators must be at least 21 years of age at the time of the election, residents of the district they represent, and qualified to vote for General Assembly legislators. The regular session of the General Assembly is 60 days long during even numbered years and 30 days long during odd numbered years, unless extended by a two-thirds vote of both houses.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The Senate of Virginia has its own coat of arms designed and granted by the College of Arms in England. The coat of arms also makes up the official seal of the Virginia Senate. It bears no resemblance to the Seal of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which is the seal of the state as a whole.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The coat of arms adopted January 22, 1981, was designed by the College of Arms and based on the coat of arms used by the London Company, the royally-chartered English entrepreneurs who funded the European settlement of Virginia. This is not to be confused with the Seal of the London Company, for other than both devices displaying a quartered shield, there is little resemblance between them.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The Senate's arms have a shield in the center which is divided into four sections by a red cross. In each quarter are smaller shields representing the arms of four countries (England, France, Scotland, and Ireland) that contributed settlers to Virginia's early waves of European immigration.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: The four coats of arms, a small crest of a crowned female head with unbound hair representing Queen Elizabeth (the Virgin Queen who named Virginia, and the dragon (part of the Elizabethan royal seal of England) represent Virginia's European heritage.


title: Senate of Virginia

text: An ivory gavel emblazoned on the vertical arm of the red cross represents the Senate as a law making body. The cardinal and dogwood depicted are Virginia's official state bird and tree. The ribbon contains the Latin motto of the Senate, "Floreat Senatus Virginiae", which means "May the Senate of Virginia flourish."


Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country is a 2018 action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch console. It is a story expansion to the 2017 game, "Xenoblade Chronicles 2", and was released both as downloadable content and as a standalone title on a physical cartridge.


title: Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country

text: "Torna – The Golden Country" expands on "Xenoblade Chronicles 2" by introducing a new combat system. The battle system and other gameplay systems were changed from the base game because Tetsuya Takahashi had a strong desire to make it easy for players to engage with the game. Since the game was designed as a separate DLC experience, the team incorporated as many new gameplay elements as possible to go along with its story and characters.


text: In comparison to the base game, "Torna – The Golden Country" made improvements to the user interface and tutorials. One such example is the ability to switch characters and entire teams with a single button when out in the field. The collectible items in the field are now sorted into categories to make them easier to collect. Monolith Soft also added a "Tips" section to the game, allowing players to review previous tutorials. Regarding the battle system, there are three members in a team, and a maximum of three teams, making the total amount of playable characters at nine. When in battle, only one team can be in direct control while the other teams are controlled by the CPU. The battle composition for the active team includes the Vanguard and the Rear Guard. The character in the frontline and rear line is represented by the Vanguard and Rear Guard respectively. Unlike in the main game, the Rear Guard is an active participator in the battle. The way that Blade combos and chain attacks work have also been revamped.


text: The team streamlined the sidequests, implementing a new "Community" system. "Community" is a more straightforward version of the "Affinity Chart" in "Xenoblade Chronicles" and "Xenoblade Chronicles X". Compared to the base game, there is more of an emphasis on how the sidequest characters relate to the main characters. Monolith Soft integrated a new system called "Camping", which is an amalgamation of the main game's crafting, Inn, and Heart-to-Hearts.


text: "Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country" features a brand-new story and environments, taking place 494 years before the events of "Xenoblade Chronicles 2". It explores the pasts of several main characters from the base game, such as Jin, Mythra, Malos, and Praetor Amalthus, and introduces characters such as Lora and Addam as playable party members.


text: 494 years prior to the events of "Xenoblade Chronicles 2", the Aegis Malos has been awakened by the misanthropic Quaestor Amalthus of Indol and embarked on a campaign of destruction. The mercenary Lora and her trusted partner Jin are recruited by Addam Origo, fourth prince of Torna and Driver of Malos' counterpart Mythra, to battle Malos. Together with Addam's young attendant Milton, the group detours to Gormott to track down Lora's mother, who has perished in a bandit attack. In Gormott, the group is joined by Emperor Hugo Ardanach of Mor Ardain and attacked by Gort, Lora's abusive stepfather who stole Jin's Core Crystal from the Tornan royal family and tried to kill her when she bonded to it 17 years prior. Lora defeats Gort, who unbeknownst to her is captured by Amalthus' men. The party returns to Torna, and learn that Malos is targeting the Tornan capital Auresco. When they arrive in Auresco, Malos besieges the city and declares his intention to overload the Tornan titan with ether energy and cause it to explode. The party pursues Malos to the Titan's core and battles him, but Malos launches an attack on Auresco that kills Milton. A distraught and enraged Mythra unleashes her full power to drive off Malos, but loses control and accidentally kills Hugo and destroys Torna. Devastated over the destruction that she caused fighting Malos, Mythra retreats into a split personality named Pyra. Addam departs for Leftheria to seal Pyra away, while Jin takes Lora and the others to a militia camp in Spessia to meet up with Tornan survivors. In Spessia, Lora is again attacked by Gort, who has been transformed by Amalthus into a monstrous Blade Eater, and is forced to kill him in self-defense. Amalthus launches a coup to take control of Indol. Some time later, after Lora has been killed in an attack on the Tornan survivors by Amalthus and Jin has consumed her heart to become a Flesh Eater, Jin burns the remnants of his old life and embarks on a quest for revenge against Amalthus. In a post-credits scene, Rex discovers the room where Pyra was sealed by Addam, leading into the events of the main game.


text: In 2015, "Torna – The Golden Country" was one of the potential story candidates in the initial prototype for "Xenoblade Chronicles 2". According to series creator Tetsuya Takahashi, Monolith Soft quickly decided against showing the prototype to Nintendo because they knew it would significantly inflate the budget and development time of the main game. As a result, they shelved the concept and stored it on Takahashi's computer hard drive. Later on, they went back and revived the scenario as a story expansion pass. Additionally, the story was originally planned to be in between chapters seven and eight of the base game's story, but they opted to keep them separate so that they could expand the scope of the story. The game boasts a new rendering engine which is slightly graphically enhanced compared to the base game. Takahashi specifically pointed out the difference between the fields of Gormott between both games.


text: According to Takahashi, they received a ton of feedback from new players regarding the gameplay systems in general. He noted that a lot of new players found the base game's battle system to be a bit intimidating. As a result, Monolith Soft designed this entry to be easier to pick up for the first time. There are more tutorials in the early stages to explain some of the more complex aspects of battle and character development, and the map had been streamlined so they are easier to understand. For Takahashi, who is used to working on games lasting at 80 hours at minimum, he said that the biggest challenge the development team faced was balancing the actual game work and flow in a way that felt right into a 20-hour-long RPG.