title: Music (Madonna song)

text: Negative criticism came from "The Guardian"s Garry Mulholland, who described the track as "the sound of a bunch of middle-aged trend-watchers second-guessing what today's kids go for [...] the absolute definition of mutton-dressed-as-lamb middle-youth". Alex Pappademas from "Spin", pointed out that "its dancefloor liberation mantra feels forced". Danny Eccleston from "Q" described the song as "daring gambit" and found that the track did not resemble any Madonna endeavor. He panned the over-usage of the electronic sounds and compared "Music" unfavorably to Daft Punk's "Around the World" (1997).


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" topped the charts in 25 countries. Prior to the official release of the song, it started receiving airplay in US radios due to public demand, as noted by Paul Bryant, program director at WHTZ (Z100) station in New York. There was equal anticipation regarding retail sales of the track. On August 12, 2000, "Music" entered at number 41 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming the second-highest debuting single based solely on radio play. Fred Bronson from "Billboard" noted that it was Madonna's highest-debuting single on the Hot 100 since "The Power of Good-Bye" entered at number 24 in October 1998. The song debuted at number 38 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, garnering an audience of 38 million. "Music" continued ascending up the Hot 100 and following the commercial release, it jumped from number 14 to number 2 on the chart dated September 9, 2000. The CD maxi and 12-inch vinyl sold a combined 62,500 copies, leading it to debut at number three on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart. Silvio Pietroluongo from "Billboard" observed that only Madonna's "This Used to Be My Playground" single had debuted with more sales, 76,000 copies in August 1992.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: The next week, "Music" sold a further 156,234 units and topped the Hot 100, replacing Janet Jackson's "Doesn't Really Matter". It was Madonna's 12th song to reach the summit, her first number-one single since "Take a Bow" in February 1995 and her most recent number one on the chart to this day. She tied the Supremes and moved to fifth rank among artists with most Hot 100 number-ones. The song amassed the highest weekly sales total and the highest points (23,110) for a song topping the chart. "Music" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipment of over a million copies, and as of August 2009 had sold 1.136 million in physical CD sales, and an additional 217,000 in digital download. "Music" placed at number 17 on the "Billboard" Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2000. Aided by the official remixes, the song also reached number-one on the Dance Club Songs chart, remaining atop for five weeks. It was the top ranking Dance Club song of 2000 and the second most-successful Dance Club song of the 2000s decade in the United States, behind Madonna's own "Hung Up" (2005). In Canada, the song debuted at number 23 on the "RPM" Singles Chart and reached the top after five weeks. It was present on top of the charts for a total of nine weeks and was the final song to remain atop the chart when "RPM" ceased publication in November 2000.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks and a total of four weeks. It was the fourth best-selling single in the country and was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 140,000 copies. In New Zealand, "Music" debuted at number 33 on the New Zealand Singles Chart, and ascended to the top ten, finally peaking at number one on the week of October 1, 2000.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Music" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number one with first-week sales of 115,000 copies. It faced tough competition with Spiller's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" and beat the latter by 1,000 sales. Madonna became the first solo female artist to collect ten number-one singles. The song was present on the chart for 24 weeks, and was the 24th best selling release of 2000 in the country. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified it gold in July 2013, and according to the Official Charts Company, "Music" is Madonna's 14th best-selling single and sold 415,000 copies in the region as of February 2014. Making its debut at its peak position of number 8, "Music" charted for a total of 20 weeks in France, before falling out on January 6, 2001. On August 31, 2000, "Music" debuted at number two on the Swedish Singles Chart. Similarly in Switzerland, the song debuted at number one, and spent 21 weeks in the chart. The single's performancein the UK and Europe enabled it to debut atop the European Hot 100 Singles chart, with greatest gaining points on the radio and dance charts. It was present in the position for six weeks In Italy, "Music" debuted at the top of the "Musica e Dischi" charts, spending seven weeks at the number one, of which six were consecutives.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: The accompanying music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund, who had previously helmed Madonna's "Ray of Light" clip in 1998. It stars Madonna, her longtime backup singer Niki Haris and her friend, actress Debi Mazar, as well as comedian Sacha Baron Cohen as his famous character Ali G. Madonna became a fan of the comedian after watching his Christmas special, "Ali G, Innit" (1999). When the video was planned Madonna thought that Baron Cohen "would be great in it", although it was confirmed that he was not going to be involved in the musical aspects. Åkerlund stated that originally they intended to have American comedian Chris Rock in the video. Since Baron Cohen was not known in the US at that time, the director showed everyone clips from "Da Ali G Show" so they could see the Ali G character.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: When we did the 'Music' video, it was a weird time. [Madonna] was pregnant and we didn't want her to look pregnant—so we had to work around that. We had an idea to do a fun party video with her and her girls, make it a little bling and cowboy hats and all that. We wanted to have some comedy in there and I wanted to do some animation.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: The video was shot in Los Angeles, California in April 2000, to accommodate Madonna's pregnancy and her then-growing waistline. Crew members were asked to sign confidentiality documents for the filming. Madonna conceptualized the clip, wanting to show her take on the stereotypical R&B and rap music videos. She wanted to do role reversals with females enacting characters generally reserved for males. However, her range was limited being pregnant so she "had to think of a concept that would incorporate me being almost a voyeur rather than the central force in the video. So I figured if I played this kind of mack-daddy/pimp character, where things just came to me, happened to me and happened around me while I was watching it all happen, I could kill two birds with one stone."


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: Madonna's look in the clip was described by O'Brien as a "ghetto-fabulous female in a feather boa and stetson; all diamonds and bling, going to lapdancing bars and travelling in the back of a luxury limousine". She had initially enlisted some actors to portray her accompaniments in the video, but she did not feel comfortable with their stiffness, their model-like appearance and lack of personality. So she called up Mazar and Harris to come and star in the video. "I was at home when Madonna called me. She said 'I need my girlfriend, not these fake girl-friends trying to be my girlfriends. Throw on some clothes and come down'", recalled Harris. Ali G kept entertaining everyone in the set with Madonna not being able to "keep a straight face" during her takes. She kept her coat shut all the time and had to sit in the limousine to hide her belly.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: The music video debuted on MTV and VH1 on August 22, 2000. VH1 channel aired a special hour-long program, "Madonna's Music", in which Madonna called in for a phone interview. It was hosted by VH1's Rebecca Rankin who presided a discussion with "Rolling Stone" music critic Joe Levy about Madonna and her looks, as well as a video interview with Mazar and Harris. VH1 also aired a countdown of Madonna's previous videos and offered its viewers to listen to a remix of "Music".


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: The clip starts with Madonna and her friends getting into a limousine, driven by Ali G. As the music starts Ali G is directed to take them to a club where Madonna and her friends dance and drink. He later takes them to a strip-club, where Madonna goes inside but he is denied entrance. An animated section follows where Madonna, as a superhero character with superpowers, flies above rooftops, swims underwater, and works as a DJ at a club with a dozen arms like a Hindu deity. Madonna's animated character also attacks various neon signs displaying the names of her previous singles. The video ends with Madonna and her friends traveling in the limousine packed with the strippers and Ali G engaging in a rendezvous with them. According to author Georges Claude Guilbert, throughout the clip Madonna wears a gold necklace around her neck that says "Mommy", a reference to her apparent pregnancy. In the extended version of the music video, there is a variation at the end of the animated section. Ali G briefly interrupts the song to demonstrate his rap skills to persuade Madonna to include him on her next single. An annoyed Madonna asks him to stop and to turn the song back on.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: Jarman-Ivens noted the use of American imagery in the clip, especially Madonna's cowboy garb and her popularizing of cowboy fashion. She found it interesting that Madonna "turned" to Americana, "underlining her interest in exploring her relationship to mainstream America through a fashion and cultural style that is rich and multi-layered in its meaning". The author also emphasized Madonna's sexual assertiveness in the music video, and emphatic defining of herself as "a sexual free spirit", as well as portrayal of expensive accouterments. "Music" was released as a DVD single on September 5, 2000. It reached the top of the UK Music Video charts and number three on the US Music Video charts, receiving gold certification in both regions. The clip was parodied on the sixth season of "Mad TV" and was called "My Movies". It featured Mo Collins as Madonna and poked fun at Madonna's filmography, with an animated version of Madonna attacking signs displaying her commercially flop films. In 2009, the video was included on Madonna's compilation, "".


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" earned two nominations at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, in the categories of Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It also won the ASCAP Awards in the categories of Most Performed Pop Songs and Top Dance Songs. The video won several awards, including "Best Pop Clip of the Year" at the 2000 "Billboard" Music Video Awards and "Best Dance Video" at the International Dance Music Awards in 2000. At the Danish Music Awards it won the trophy of Best International Hit. The 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards nominated the track in the category of Best Song. "Music" also received a nomination at the 2001 TEC Awards, for its record production, and International Song of the Year at the 2001 NRJ Music Award.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" has been included in many critic lists for Madonna's top singles and is often ranked as one of the best songs of the 2000s. "Dotmusic" placed it within its top-ten singles for 2000. In 2003, "Q Magazine" ranked the song at number 778 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". "Rolling Stone" listed "Music" as the 66th best of the 2000s decade, commenting that "despite all the new pop starlets out there trying to jump her train, Madonna definitely [is] not slackening pace. When she dropped "Music". she was older than Britney and Christina combined, yet she took them to school with vintage electro-boom, Eurodisco flourishes from French producer Mirwais, and her own inimitable sass." The publication also ranked it at number nine on their list of Madonna's 50 Greatest Songs, writing that "After years spent making albums that bridged boundaries of race, gender and sexual orientation, Madonna finally wrote a tune explicitly devoted to the democratizing power of music itself." "The Huffington Post"s Matthew Jacobs ranked it at number 11 on his list "The Definitive Ranking Of Madonna Singles". Jacobs believed that the phrase "Hey Mr. DJ" gave rise to the usage of name-checking in songs thereafter, employed by other artists like Jennifer Lopez, Black Eyed Peas and Mariah Carey.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: In 2011, VH1 created a countdown of the top songs of 2000 decade and placed Music" at number 28. "Entertainment Weekly" likewise ranked "Music" at number seven on their list of Madonna's 35 top singles, saying that the "message [in the song] is universal". Michael Roffman from Consequence of Sound listed the track at number 15, feeling that the commercial reception to the release of "Music" was "almost meta come to think of it; the song "did" make people come together". Enio Chola of "PopMatters" placed "Music" at number five in his list of The Top 15 Madonna Singles of All Time, feeling that "After the confessional "Ray of Light", Madonna was ready to dance again, and like no one else can, she proved that her ability to write pure unadulterated mega pop hits was still in full form as she began the third decade of her music career." "LA Weekly"s Michael Cooper ranked the track at number 12 in his list of Madonna's Top 20 Singles. He opined that Ahmadzaï's production of the track "[helped] to cement Madonna as the queen of reinvention". Ed Masley of "The Arizona Republic" placed it at number 13 on his Essential Madonna playlist. Writing for "The Guardian", Jude Rogers listed "Music" at number 10 on her ranking of Madonna's singles, in honor of her 60th birthday. Similarly, "Entertainment Weekly" listed it as her seventh best single.


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: The first live performance of "Music" took place during the promotional concerts for the album, held on November 5, 2000, at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, and on November 29 at London's Brixton Academy. During the New York performance, she wore a black tank top with "Britney Spears" written on it, along with cowboy hats and boots. For the London performance, Madonna wore a different T-shirt, with the names of her son Rocco and daughter Lourdes printed on it. On November 16, 2000, Madonna performed "Music" during the MTV Europe Music Awards 2000. She was introduced by Ali G as "Maradona" and wore a tank top with "Kylie Minogue" printed on it. A day later, she later performed "Music" and "Don't Tell Me" on British television program "Top of The Pops" and one week later on French television program "Nulle Part Ailleurs".


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: On February 21, 2001, Madonna opened the 43rd Grammy Awards with a performance of the track. The stage had five giant video screens, which showed clippings from her career. Madonna entered the stage in a Cadillac driven by rapper Bow Wow. She emerged dressed in a full-length fur coat, which she removed to reveal a tight leather jacket and jeans. She took off the jacket to reveal a black tank top with the words "Material Girl" and performed the song, joined by backup singers Niki Haris and Donna De Lory. For the Drowned World Tour in the same year, "Music" was used as the final encore. Madonna wore tight black jeans and a customized Dolce & Gabbana halter top that proclaimed "Mother" in the front and "F*cker" in the back. She sang the song surrounded by her dancers, while images from her past music videos were displayed on the backdrops. In his review, "NME"s Alex Needham commented that the performance "underlines how easily [Madonna] could have brought the audience to collective orgasm by simply reeling out her classics". The performance on August 26, 2001, at The Palace of Auburn Hills was recorded and released in the live video album, "Drowned World Tour 2001".


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" was later added to the Re-Invention World Tour of 2004. Set to a slower, hip-hop inspired remix, the performance featured Madonna and her dancers wearing Scottish kilts and a lighted staircase surrounding a DJ Station. At the end, Madonna and her dancers lifted up their kilts to spell the word "FREEDOM", with glitter letters on their underpants. MTV's Corey Moss opined that during the performance "Madonna and her dancers transformed the arena into a steamy nightclub". The next year, Madonna performed "Music" at the Live 8 benefit concert in London. On the 2006 Confessions Tour, Madonna performed "Music Inferno", a mashup of "Music" and The Trammps's "Disco Inferno". It began with several dancers on roller skates emerging from beneath the stage to perform ""Xanadu"-worthy tricks", while the stage was bathed in deep red lights. Madonna appeared wearing a white suit and performed the track; the performance also included a sample from her song "Where's The Party", from her third studio album "True Blue" (1986), at the beginning. Halfway through the performance, Madonna walked to the center stage where, according to MTV's Corey Moss, she did "her best "Saturday Night Fever"-era John Travolta routine, complete with the 'hitchhike' (you know, thumbs to the side)". The performance of the song at the August 15–16, 2006 shows in London, at the Wembley Arena, were recorded and included on Madonna's second live album, "The Confessions Tour" (2007).


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" was the closing song on the Hard Candy Promo Tour. Madonna wore a skintight black suit and a lace top, and began the performance by singing the song at the very front of the stage a cappella, before all her dancers joined. It ended with Madonna racing up the stage to the subway doors, behind which she disappeared. It was also included as the last song of the "Old School" segment of her Sticky & Sweet Tour (2008–09), where Madonna performed the same version as the promotional tour, but sampling Indeep's "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life" at the beginning as well as mashing it up with Fedde le Grand's "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit"; the backdrop screens depicting a graffiti-splattered New York City Subway train. Madonna's outfit, a pair of gym shorts with long socks and sneakers, was a reference to her old days in New York. The performance of the song at River Plate Stadium of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was recorded and released on the live CD-DVD album, "Sticky & Sweet Tour" (2010).


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: In 2012, Madonna included the song on her Super Bowl XLVI halftime show set list, where it was remixed with LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" and "Sexy and I Know It". The same year, she performed it on The MDNA Tour at New York City's Madison Square Garden, on November 13. She invited South Korean rapper Psy and performed together his song "Gangnam Style" and her 2008 single, "Give It 2 Me". "Music" opened the final section of the Rebel Heart Tour (2015–2016), with Madonna decked in a "Harlem-flapper-meets-Paris-in-the-Twenties" dress, adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals. The song "began as a Jazz Age ballad before kicking into banger mode". Madonna's dancers were dressed in Golden Twenties inspired costumes with one of them topless. Joe Lynch from "Billboard", opined that "the presence of 'Music' was an effective reminder that while some compulsive naysayers "tsk" the Queen of Pop for trend chasing with Diplo, she brought techno to the pop mainstream years before EDM was an ubiquitous term". The performance of the song at the March 19–20, 2016 shows in Sydney's Allphones Arena was recorded and released in the live album, "Rebel Heart Tour". On December 6, 2016, Madonna performed "Music" during the Carpool Karaoke segment of "The Late Late Show with James Corden". On April 30, 2022, Madonna joined singer Maluma during his Medallo en el mapa concert in Medellín, Colombia to perform "Music" along with their 2019 single "Medellín".


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: In 2004, Canadian tech-metal band Out of Your Mouth released a cover version of "Music" as their debut single. Vocalist Jason Darr commented, "I absolutely love her, I've bought her records and when she came out with that song it was like I was hit over the head with it". In 2007, The Dynamics recorded and released an eight-minute reggae cover on their album "Versions Excursions". David Dacks from "Exclaim!" was satisfied with the recording, saying that it "fares well too, with the lyrics adapting well to a reggae context". French metal band Eths added a cover of the song as a bonus track on their third studio album "III" (2012). In addition, remixed eurodance cover versions of the song have appeared on the "Dancemania" series albums, including an uptempo cover remix by Nancy and the Boys on the 2001 album "Dancemania Speed 6".


title: Music (Madonna song)

text: "Music" was featured during the ninth season of American reality competition series, "RuPaul's Drag Race". It was used as the lip-sync song for the sixth episode, between contestants Peppermint and Cynthia Lee Fontaine, with the former winning the round. The runway that week was themed around Madonna's iconic looks. Madonna herself referenced "Music" in her 13th studio album, "Rebel Heart" (2015), in the track "Veni Vidi Vici" by singing the line: "I saw a Ray of Light / Music saved my life".


title: Free energy principle

text: The free energy principle is a mathematical principle in biophysics and cognitive science that provides a formal account of the representational capacities of physical systems: that is, why things that exist look as if they track properties of the systems to which they are coupled. It establishes that the dynamics of physical systems minimise a quantity known as surprisal (which is just the negative log probability of some outcome); or equivalently, its variational upper bound, called free energy. The principle is formally related to variational Bayesian methods and was originally introduced by Karl Friston as an explanation for embodied perception-action loops in neuroscience, where it is also known as active inference.


title: Free energy principle

text: The free energy principle models the behaviour of systems that are distinct from, but coupled to, another system (e.g., an embedding environment), where the degrees of freedom that implement the interface between the two systems is known as a Markov blanket. More formally, the free energy principle says that if a system has a "particular partition" (i.e., into particles, with their Markov blankets), then subsets of that system will track the statistical structure of other subsets (which are known as internal and external states or paths of a system).


title: Free energy principle

text: The free energy principle is based on the Bayesian idea of the brain as an “inference engine.” Under the free energy principle, systems pursue paths of least surprise, or equivalently, minimize the difference between predictions based on their model of the world and their sense and associated perception. This difference is quantified by variational free energy and is minimized by continuous correction of the world model of the system, or by making the world more like the predictions of the system. By actively changing the world to make it closer to the expected state, systems can also minimize the free energy of the system. Friston assumes this to be the principle of all biological reaction. Friston also believes his principle applies to mental disorders as well as to artificial intelligence. AI implementations based on the active inference principle have shown advantages over other methods. Although challenging even for experts, the free energy principle is ultimately quite simple and fundamental, and can be re-derived from conventional mathematics following maximum entropy inference. Indeed, it can be shown that any large enough random dynamical system will display the kind of boundary that allows one to apply the free energy principle to model its dynamics: the probability of finding a Markov blanket in the underlying potential of the system (and therefore, being able to apply the free energy principle) goes to 100% as the size of the system goes to infinity.


title: Free energy principle

text: The free energy principle is a mathematical principle of information physics: much like the principle of maximum entropy or the principle of least action, it is true on mathematical grounds. To attempt to falsify the free energy principle is a category mistake, akin to trying to falsify calculus by making empirical observations. (One cannot invalidate a mathematical theory in this way; instead, one would need to derive a formal contradiction from the theory.) In a 2018 interview, Friston explained what it entails for the free energy principle to not be subject to falsification: "the free energy principle is what it is — a principle. Like Hamilton's principle of stationary action, it cannot be falsified. It cannot be disproven. In fact, there’s not much you can do with it, unless you ask whether measurable systems conform to the principle."


title: Free energy principle

text: The notion that self-organising biological systems – like a cell or brain – can be understood as minimising variational free energy is based upon Helmholtz’s work on unconscious inference and subsequent treatments in psychology and machine learning. Variational free energy is a function of observations and a probability density over their hidden causes. This variational density is defined in relation to a probabilistic model that generates predicted observations from hypothesized causes. In this setting, free energy provides an approximation to Bayesian model evidence. Therefore, its minimisation can be seen as a Bayesian inference process. When a system actively makes observations to minimise free energy, it implicitly performs active inference and maximises the evidence for its model of the world.


title: Free energy principle

text: However, free energy is also an upper bound on the self-information of outcomes, where the long-term average of surprise is entropy. This means that if a system acts to minimise free energy, it will implicitly place an upper bound on the entropy of the outcomes – or sensory states – it samples.


title: Free energy principle

text: Active inference is closely related to the good regulator theorem and related accounts of self-organisation, such as self-assembly, pattern formation, autopoiesis and practopoiesis. It addresses the themes considered in cybernetics, synergetics and embodied cognition. Because free energy can be expressed as the expected energy of observations under the variational density minus its entropy, it is also related to the maximum entropy principle. Finally, because the time average of energy is action, the principle of minimum variational free energy is a principle of least action.


title: Free energy principle

text: Active inference applies the techniques of approximate Bayesian inference to infer the causes of sensory data from a 'generative' model of how that data is caused and then uses these inferences to guide action.


title: Free energy principle

text: Bayes' rule characterizes the probabilistically optimal inversion of such a causal model, but applying it is typically computationally intractable, leading to the use of approximate methods.


title: Free energy principle

text: In active inference, the leading class of such approximate methods are variational methods, for both practical and theoretical reasons: practical, as they often lead to simple inference procedures; and theoretical, because they are related to fundamental physical principles, as discussed above.


title: Free energy principle

text: These variational methods proceed by minimizing an upper bound on the divergence between the Bayes-optimal inference (or 'posterior') and its approximation according to the method.


title: Free energy principle

text: This upper bound is known as the "free energy", and we can accordingly characterize perception as the minimization of the free energy with respect to inbound sensory information, and action as the minimization of the same free energy with respect to outbound action information.


title: Free energy principle

text: This holistic dual optimization is characteristic of active inference, and the free energy principle is the hypothesis that all systems which perceive and act can be characterized in this way.


title: Free energy principle

text: In order to exemplify the mechanics of active inference via the free energy principle, a generative model must be specified, and this typically involves a collection of probability density functions which together characterize the causal model.


title: Free energy principle

text: The system is modelled as inhabiting a state space formula_1, in the sense that its states form the points of this space.


title: Free energy principle

text: The state space is then factorized according to formula_2, where formula_3 is the space of 'external' states that are 'hidden' from the agent (in the sense of not being directly perceived or accessible), formula_4 is the space of sensory states that are directly perceived by the agent, formula_5 is the space of the agent's possible actions, and formula_6 is a space of 'internal' states that are private to the agent.


title: Free energy principle

text: These density functions determine the factors of a "joint model", which represents the complete specification of the generative model, and which can be written as


title: Free energy principle

text: Bayes' rule then determines the "posterior density" formula_17, which expresses a probabilistically-optimal belief about the external state formula_18 given the preceding state and the agent's actions, sensory signals, and internal states.


title: Free energy principle

text: Since computing formula_19 is computationally intractable, the free energy principle asserts the existence of a "variational density" formula_20, where formula_21 is an approximation to formula_19.


title: Free energy principle

text: where the internal states formula_26 are typically taken to encode the parameters of the 'variational' density formula_21 and hence the agent's "best guess" about the posterior belief over formula_3.


title: Free energy principle

text: Note that the free energy is also an upper bound on a measure of the agent's (marginal, or average) sensory surprise, and hence free energy minimization is often motivated by the minimization of surprise.


title: Free energy principle

text: Free energy minimisation has been proposed as a hallmark of self-organising systems when cast as random dynamical systems. This formulation rests on a Markov blanket (comprising action and sensory states) that separates internal and external states. If internal states and action minimise free energy, then they place an upper bound on the entropy of sensory states:


title: Free energy principle

text: This is because – under ergodic assumptions – the long-term average of surprise is entropy. This bound resists a natural tendency to disorder – of the sort associated with the second law of thermodynamics and the fluctuation theorem. However, formulating a unifying principle for the life sciences in terms of concepts from statistical physics, such as random dynamical system, non-equilibrium steady state and ergodicity, places substantial constraints on the theoretical and empirical study of biological systems with the risk of obscuring all features that make biological systems interesting kinds of self-organizing systems.


title: Free energy principle

text: All Bayesian inference can be cast in terms of free energy minimisation. When free energy is minimised with respect to internal states, the Kullback–Leibler divergence between the variational and posterior density over hidden states is minimised. This corresponds to approximate Bayesian inference – when the form of the variational density is fixed – and exact Bayesian inference otherwise. Free energy minimisation therefore provides a generic description of Bayesian inference and filtering (e.g., Kalman filtering). It is also used in Bayesian model selection, where free energy can be usefully decomposed into complexity and accuracy:


title: Free energy principle

text: Models with minimum free energy provide an accurate explanation of data, under complexity costs (c.f., Occam's razor and more formal treatments of computational costs). Here, complexity is the divergence between the variational density and prior beliefs about hidden states (i.e., the effective degrees of freedom used to explain the data).


title: Free energy principle

text: Variational free energy is an information-theoretic functional and is distinct from thermodynamic (Helmholtz) free energy. However, the complexity term of variational free energy shares the same fixed point as Helmholtz free energy (under the assumption the system is thermodynamically closed but not isolated). This is because if sensory perturbations are suspended (for a suitably long period of time), complexity is minimised (because accuracy can be neglected). At this point, the system is at equilibrium and internal states minimise Helmholtz free energy, by the principle of minimum energy.


title: Free energy principle

text: Free energy minimisation is equivalent to maximising the mutual information between sensory states and internal states that parameterise the variational density (for a fixed entropy variational density). This relates free energy minimization to the principle of minimum redundancy


title: Free energy principle

text: Free energy minimisation provides a useful way to formulate normative (Bayes optimal) models of neuronal inference and learning under uncertainty and therefore subscribes to the Bayesian brain hypothesis. The neuronal processes described by free energy minimisation depend on the nature of hidden states: formula_31 that can comprise time-dependent variables, time-invariant parameters and the precision (inverse variance or temperature) of random fluctuations. Minimising variables, parameters, and precision correspond to inference, learning, and the encoding of uncertainty, respectively.


title: Free energy principle

text: Free energy minimisation formalises the notion of unconscious inference in perception and provides a normative (Bayesian) theory of neuronal processing. The associated process theory of neuronal dynamics is based on minimising free energy through gradient descent. This corresponds to generalised Bayesian filtering (where ~ denotes a variable in generalised coordinates of motion and formula_32 is a derivative matrix operator):


title: Free energy principle

text: Usually, the generative models that define free energy are non-linear and hierarchical (like cortical hierarchies in the brain). Special cases of generalised filtering include Kalman filtering, which is formally equivalent to predictive coding – a popular metaphor for message passing in the brain. Under hierarchical models, predictive coding involves the recurrent exchange of ascending (bottom-up) prediction errors and descending (top-down) predictions that is consistent with the anatomy and physiology of sensory and motor systems.


title: Free energy principle

text: In predictive coding, optimising model parameters through a gradient descent on the time integral of free energy (free action) reduces to associative or Hebbian plasticity and is associated with synaptic plasticity in the brain.


title: Free energy principle

text: Optimizing the precision parameters corresponds to optimizing the gain of prediction errors (c.f., Kalman gain). In neuronally plausible implementations of predictive coding, this corresponds to optimizing the excitability of superficial pyramidal cells and has been interpreted in terms of attentional gain.


title: Free energy principle

text: Concerning the top-down vs bottom-up controversy that has been addressed as a major open problem of attention, a computational model has succeeded in illustrating the circulatory nature of reciprocation between top-down and bottom-up mechanisms. Using an established emergent model of attention, namely, SAIM, the authors suggested a model called PE-SAIM that – in contrast to the standard version – approaches the selective attention from a top-down stance. The model takes into account the forwarding prediction errors sent to the same level or a level above to minimize the energy function indicating the difference between data and its cause or – in other words – between the generative model and posterior. To enhance validity, they also incorporated the neural competition between the stimuli in their model. A notable feature of this model is the reformulation of the free energy function only in terms of prediction errors during the task performance:


title: Free energy principle

text: where formula_35 is the total energy function of the neural networks entail, and formula_36 is the prediction error between the generative model (prior) and posterior changing over time.


title: Free energy principle

text: Comparing the two models reveals a notable similarity between their respective results while also highlighting a remarkable discrepancy, whereby – in the standard version of the SAIM – the model's focus is mainly upon the excitatory connections, whereas in the PE-SAIM, the inhibitory connections are leveraged to make an inference. The model has also proved to be fit to predict the EEG and fMRI data drawn from human experiments with high precision. In the same vein, Yahya et al. also applied the free energy principle to propose a computational model for template matching in covert selective visual attention that mostly relies on SAIM. According to this study, the total free energy of the whole state-space is reached by inserting top-down signals in the original neural networks, whereby we derive a dynamical system comprising both feed-forward and backward prediction error.


title: Free energy principle

text: When gradient descent is applied to action formula_37, motor control can be understood in terms of classical reflex arcs that are engaged by descending (corticospinal) predictions. This provides a formalism that generalizes the equilibrium point solution – to the degrees of freedom problem – to movement trajectories.


title: Free energy principle

text: Active inference is related to optimal control by replacing value or cost-to-go functions with prior beliefs about state transitions or flow. This exploits the close connection between Bayesian filtering and the solution to the Bellman equation. However, active inference starts with (priors over) flow formula_38 that are specified with scalar formula_39 and vector formula_40 value functions of state space (c.f., the Helmholtz decomposition). Here, formula_41 is the amplitude of random fluctuations and cost is formula_42. The priors over flow formula_43 induce a prior over states formula_44 that is the solution to the appropriate forward Kolmogorov equations. In contrast, optimal control optimises the flow, given a cost function, under the assumption that formula_45 (i.e., the flow is curl free or has detailed balance). Usually, this entails solving backward Kolmogorov equations.


title: Free energy principle

text: Optimal decision problems (usually formulated as partially observable Markov decision processes) are treated within active inference by absorbing utility functions into prior beliefs. In this setting, states that have a high utility (low cost) are states an agent expects to occupy. By equipping the generative model with hidden states that model control, policies (control sequences) that minimise variational free energy lead to high utility states.


title: Free energy principle

text: Neurobiologically, neuromodulators such as dopamine are considered to report the precision of prediction errors by modulating the gain of principal cells encoding prediction error. This is closely related to – but formally distinct from – the role of dopamine in reporting prediction errors "per se" and related computational accounts.


title: Free energy principle

text: Active inference has been used to address a range of issues in cognitive neuroscience, brain function and neuropsychiatry, including action observation, mirror neurons, saccades and visual search, eye movements, sleep, illusions, attention, action selection, consciousness, hysteria and psychosis. Explanations of action in active inference often depend on the idea that the brain has 'stubborn predictions' that it cannot update, leading to actions that cause these predictions to come true.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: Nineveh Governorate (, , ), also known as Ninawa Governorate, is a governorate in northern Iraq. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,453,000 people as of 2003. Its largest city and provincial capital is Mosul, which lies across the Tigris river from the ruins of ancient Nineveh. Before 1976, it was called "Mosul Province" and included the present-day Dohuk Governorate. The second largest city is Tal Afar, which has an almost exclusively Turkmen population.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: An ethnically, religiously and culturally diverse region, it was partly conquered by ISIS in 2014. Iraqi government forces retook the city of Mosul in 2017.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: Its two cities endured the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and emerged unscathed. In 2004, however, Mosul and Tal Afar were the scenes of fierce battles between US-led troops and Iraqi insurgents. The insurgents moved to Nineveh after the Battle of Fallujah in 2004.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: After the invasion, the military of the province was led by (then Major General) David Petraeus of the 101st Airborne Division and later by (then Brigadier General) Carter Ham as the multi-national brigade for Iraq. During the time, the American civil head of the local office of the Coalition Provisional Authority was US Foreign Service Officer and former Kurdish refugee to the States, Herro Mustafa. Mustafa administered her nominees on the provincial council and through members of the Kashmoula family.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: In June 2004, Osama Kashmoula became the interim governor of the province and in September of the same year he was assassinated en route to Baghdad. He was succeeded as interim Governor by Duraid Kashmoula, who was elected governor in January 2005. Duraid Kashmoula resigned in 2009. In April 2009, Atheel al-Nujaifi, a hardline Arab nationalist and member of Al-Hadba, became governor. While al-Nujaifi's Arab Muttahidoon bloc lost its majority to the Kurdish Brotherhood and Coexistence Alliance List in the 2013 provincial election, al-Nujaifi was reelected as governor by a larger Sunni Arab coalition that was later formalized as the Nahda Bloc.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: In June 2014, insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIS or ISIL) overran the capital Mosul, forcing an estimated 500,000 refugees to flee the area, including governor al-Nujaifi, who was subsequently deposed by the Iraqi Parliament.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: While the Kurdish list proposed Hassan al-Allaf, an Arab affiliated with the Islamic Party, the provincial council elected Nofal Hammadi (formerly Loyalty to Nineveh List) with the votes of the Nahdha bloc.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: An offensive to retake Mosul from ISIL control began in October 2016, with Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers supported by a U.S.-led coalition of 60 nations.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: The province borders the governorates of Dohuk, Kirkuk, Erbil, Saladin, and Anbar. It also shares a border with Syria, mostly Al-Hasakah Governorate, and Deir ez-Zor Governorate.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: Nineveh Governorate comprises 9 districts, listed below with their areas and populations as estimated in 2018:


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: Nineveh Province is multiethnic. There are significant numbers of Arabs, Assyrians, Turkmens, Kurds and Yazidis who live in both in towns and cities, and in their own specific villages and regions. There are also many Armenians, Kawliya, Mandeans and Shabaks.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: The majority are Sunni Muslim, with 80% of the Arabs being Sunni Muslim, as well as Turkmens and Kurds also being Sunni Muslim. About 5–10% of the population is Christian. Generally, Yazidis, Shabaks and Mandeans are followers of their respective heritage religions, Yazidism, Shabakism, and Mandaeism.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: The primary spoken language is Arabic. Minority languages include Turkmen, Neo-Aramaic dialects, Kurdish (predominantly Kurmanji) and Armenian.


title: Nineveh Governorate

text: Many Assyrian leaders advocate an autonomous Assyrian homeland within the Nineveh Province (mostly in the Nineveh Plains region) for the Assyrian population.


title: Marian feast days

text: Marian feast days in the liturgical year are celebrated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The number of Marian feasts celebrated, their names (and at times dates) can vary among Christian denominations.


title: Marian feast days

text: The earliest feasts that relate to Mary grew out of the cycle of feasts that celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Given that according to the Gospel of Luke (), forty days after the birth of Jesus, along with the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, Mary was purified according to Jewish customs, the "Feast of the Purification" began to be celebrated by the 5th century, and became the "Feast of Simeon" in Byzantium.


title: Marian feast days

text: The origin of Marian feasts is lost to history. Although there are references to specific Marian feasts introduced into the liturgies in later centuries, there are indications that Christians celebrated Mary very early on. Methodius, a bishop (died 311) from the 3rd and early 4th century, wrote:


title: Marian feast days

text: And what shall I conceive, what shall I speak worthy of this day? I am struggling to reach the inaccessible, for the remembrance of this holy virgin far transcends all words of mine. Wherefore, since the greatness of the panegyric required completely puts to shame our limited powers, let us betake ourselves to that hymn which is not beyond our faculties, and boasting in our own unalterable defeat, let us join the rejoicing chorus of Christ’s flock, who are keeping holy-day ... We keep festival, not according to the vain customs of the Greek mythology; we keep a feast which brings with it no ridiculous or frenzied banqueting of the gods, but which teaches us the wondrous condescension to us men of the awful glory of Him who is God over all ... Do thou, therefore, O lover of this festival ...


title: Marian feast days

text: A separate feast for Mary, connected with the Christmastide, originated in the 5th century, even perhaps before the First Council of Ephesus of 431. It seems certain that the sermon by Proclus before Nestorius (the Archbishop of Constantinople whose Nestorianism rejected the title of Theotokos) which began the controversy that led to the council was about a feast for the Virgin Mary.


title: Marian feast days

text: In the 7th and 8th centuries four more Marian feasts were established in the Eastern Church. Byzantine Emperor Maurice selected August 15 as the date of the feast of Dormition and Assumption. The feast of the Nativity of Mary was perhaps started in the first half of the 7th century in the Eastern Church. In the Western Church a feast dedicated to Mary, just before Christmas was celebrated in the Churches of Milan and Ravenna in Italy in the 7th century. The four Roman Marian feasts of Purification, Annunciation, Assumption and Nativity of Mary were gradually and sporadically introduced into England and by the 11th century were being celebrated there.


title: Marian feast days

text: Over time, the number and nature of feasts (and the associated Titles of Mary) and the venerative practices that accompany them have varied a great deal among diverse Christian traditions. Overall, there are significantly more titles, feasts and venerative Marian practices among Roman Catholics than any other Christians traditions.


title: Marian feast days

text: Some differences in feasts originate from doctrinal issues – the Feast of the Assumption is such an example. Given that there is no agreement among all Christians on the circumstances of the death, Dormition or Assumption of Mary, the feast of assumption is celebrated among some denominations and not others. In his early years, Martin Luther used to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption, but towards the end of his life he stopped celebrating it.


title: Marian feast days

text: While the Western Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August, some Eastern Catholics celebrate it as Dormition of the Mother of God, and may do so on 28 August, if they follow the Julian calendar. The Eastern Orthodox also celebrate it as the Dormition of the Mother of God, one of their 12 Great Feasts. The Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Feast of Dormition not on a fixed date, but on the Sunday nearest 15 August. Moreover, the practices apart from doctrinal differences also vary, e.g. for the Eastern Orthodox the feast is preceded by the 14-day Dormition Fast.


title: Marian feast days

text: Feasts continue to be developed, e.g. the feast of the Queenship of Mary was declared in the 1954 in the papal encyclical "Ad Caeli Reginam" by pope Pius XII. The initial ceremony for this feast involved the crowning of the Salus Populi Romani icon of the Virgin Mary in Rome by Pius XII as part of a procession in Rome, and is unique to Roman Catholics.


title: Marian feast days

text: Other differences in feasts relate to specific events that occurred in history. For instance, the Feast of Our Lady of Victory (later renamed Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary) was based on the 1571 victory of the Papal States against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lepanto, is hence unique to Roman Catholics.


title: Marian feast days

text: There are many more Marian commemorations celebrated in various localities, but not included in the General Roman Calendar.


title: Marian feast days

text: During the month of May, May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary take place in many Catholic regions. There is no firm structure as to the content of a May devotion. It includes usually the singing of Marian anthems, readings from the Scriptures, a sermon or a presentation by local choirs. The whole rosary is prayed separately and is usually not a part of a Marian devotion, although Hail Marys are included. The devotion was promoted by the Jesuits and spread to Jesuit colleges and to the entire Latin Church and since that time it has been a regular feature of Catholic life. Marian devotions may be held within the family, around a "May Altar" consisting of a table with a Marian picture decorated with many May flowers. The family would then pray together the rosary. May devotions exist in the entire Latin church and since that time have been a regular feature of Catholic life.


title: Marian feast days

text: Traditionally, the month of October is "rosary month" in the Catholic Church, when the faithful are encouraged to pray the rosary if possible. Since 1571, Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, is venerated on October 7. In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI stated:


title: Marian feast days

text: Among the most prominent Marian feast days in the Eastern Orthodox and Greek-Catholic liturgical calendars are:


title: Marian feast days

text: Note: Feasts ranked among the twelve Great Feasts are in bold face. Minor feasts are in regular face.


title: Marian feast days

text: Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary in Russian Church is treated as twelve Great Feasts.


title: Marian feast days

text: In the Coptic Orthodox rite St. Mary is commemorated on the 21st of each Coptic month (Generally the 30th/31st of each Gregorian month).


title: Marian feast days

text: In calendars throughout the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican churches, the following Marian feasts may be observed, although the practice of different provinces varies widely:


title: Marian feast days

text: Lutherans tend to de-emphasize the importance of Mary out of respect for the centrality of Jesus, yet many or all of the traditional medieval Marian days are retained. Due to disagreements about the perpetual virginity of Mary, many Lutherans avoid using the traditional title of "Blessed Virgin Mary" to preface the feasts or don't celebrate them, although many still retain the title and continue the observances (the Book of Concord also explicitly reaffirms the perpetual virginity of Mary in the Latin form of Martin Luther's Smalcald Articles, and suggests it strongly elsewhere in the German form).


title: Marian feast days

text: When Johann Sebastian Bach worked as "Thomaskantor" in Leipzig, three Marian feasts were observed for which he composed church cantatas:


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 15 August 2019, 28-year-old English police constable Andrew Harper was killed near Sulhamstead, Berkshire, England in the line of duty. Harper and a fellow officer were responding to a report of a burglary, after which Harper was dragged behind a car for a mile (1.6 km), causing his death. In July 2020, three teenage males were found guilty of manslaughter and received sentences of 16 and 13 years imprisonment. They were acquitted on the charge of murder. Harper's killing led to the passing of Harper's Law, which introduced a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for anyone convicted of killing emergency workers.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: Andrew James Harper (22 March 1991 – 15 August 2019) grew up in Wallingford. He was educated at The Henley College, where he showed an ambition for joining the police.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: Harper initially joined Thames Valley Police as a special constable in 2010 at the age of 19, before joining as a regular police constable in 2011. He joined Thames Valley Police's road policing unit approximately six weeks before his death, and was based at the force's Abingdon station. On 18 July 2019, Harper married his partner of 13 years, Lissie (née Beckett). They had been expecting to go on their honeymoon in mid-August.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: At 23:17 on 15 August 2019, Thames Valley Police received a 999 call from a property near Stanford Dingley, Berkshire, reporting a burglary-in-progress and theft of a quad bike. Harper and fellow constable Andrew Shaw, who were finishing a surveillance shift in Reading, responded to the call in their unmarked BMW police car. At 23:28, Shaw and Harper happened upon a SEAT Toledo towing the stolen quad bike on Admoor Lane near Bradfield Southend. Harper, the passenger of the BMW, alighted the police vehicle and ran to the suspects' vehicle. In doing so, he was caught in a strap that had been used to tow the quad bike. With the quad bike no longer attached, the suspects drove south-east on Lambden's Hill with Harper "lassoed" to the rear of the SEAT vehicle.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: Shaw lost sight of the SEAT but in his pursuit found Harper's stab vest in the road. The SEAT, with Harper still being dragged behind, arrived at the lane's junction with the A4 Bath Road—approximately from where the police came upon the suspects. The SEAT crossed the A4 into Ufton Lane near Sulhamstead, and Harper became disentangled. At 23:30, Shaw received a radio transmission from another responding officer which warned of "a body in the road"; Shaw replied that he believed the body was that of Harper. Shaw arrived at the location to find another officer tending to Harper, who was pronounced dead by paramedics at 23:45.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: The SEAT was later found at Four Houses Corner travellers' site near Burghfield Common by a police helicopter using thermal imaging.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: At 00:50 on 16 August, police arrested an 18-year-old male and a 17-year-old male at the caravan site. In a separate operation, a 20-year-old man from Pingewood was arrested on suspicion of murder. A second 17-year-old male was also later arrested. Media reported that in total, 10 males aged between 13 and 30 had been arrested. On 19 August, the 20-year-old was charged with murder.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 17 August, Thames Valley Police's Major Crimes Unit stated that a post mortem performed the previous day gave Harper's cause of death as "multiple injuries", which was congruent with their theory that he had been "caught between a vehicle and the road, and then dragged for a distance". The post mortem also showed that Harper had sustained a "very severe" brain injury; a pathologist stated that it was likely Harper lost consciousness when he fell to the ground. Investigations showed that Harper was dragged in 91 seconds, with the defendants averaging .


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 18 September, 18-year-old Henry Long and 17-year-olds Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole were charged with murder. A fourth male, a 21-year-old from Basingstoke, was charged with conspiracy to steal a quad bike and subsequently pleaded guilty to the charge. On 19 September, the Crown Prosecution Service said that they had discontinued the case against a fifth defendant, a 20-year-old who had previously been charged with the murder.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: The murder trial, presided over by Mr. Justice Andrew Edis, began at the Old Bailey on 10 March 2020. Bowers and Cole—both minors at the time of the offence and originally protected by Section 39 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933—pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal a quad bike but denied manslaughter. Long, who was driving the SEAT, had previously admitted manslaughter and conspiracy to steal a quad bike. All three defendants denied murder.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 13 March, the court heard that all parties agreed that the police constable first to attend to Harper on the A4 did not strike him with his vehicle, contrary to early reports of the incident.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: The trial was temporarily suspended on 17 and 18 March as a member of the jury was unwell. The trial, which was being held during the COVID-19 pandemic, resumed on 19 March after two of the jurors were discharged because they were self-isolating. On 23 March, along with all other jury trials in England and Wales, the trial was suspended pending a review of operations amid the spread of COVID-19. During this subsequently abandoned trial, Thames Valley Police said they had received intelligence suggesting possible jury intimidation.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: A retrial began on 23 June following changes to the UK's COVID-19 lockdown. On 20 July, a juror was discharged after a prison officer reported that she had mouthed "bye boys" to the defendants in the courtroom. The following day, the 11-person jury retired to deliberate. On 24 July, the three defendants were cleared of murder. Long had pleaded guilty to, and Bowers and Cole were found guilty of, manslaughter. Harper's widow had made a victim impact statement and later released an open letter, in which she implored Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel to allow a retrial seeking a murder verdict.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 31 July, Long was sentenced to 16 years and both Bowers and Cole to 13 years in prison. In his summary, on the matter as to whether the jury had been subject to any improper pressure, Edis said: "To the best of my knowledge and belief there is no truth in that at all". Harper's MP, John Howell, had said that he intended to ask for a review of the sentences.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 4 August, the Attorney General's Office confirmed that it had received a request to review the sentences under the unduly lenient sentence scheme.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 19 August 2020, Bowers and Cole made applications for permission to appeal against their convictions for manslaughter, and against the sentences that they had received.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 21 August, the Attorney-General applied for permission to refer the killers' sentences to the Court of Appeal on the basis that she considered them to be "unduly lenient".


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 28 August, Long applied for permission to appeal against his sentence, on the basis that it was too severe.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: The Attorney-General's application for permission to refer and the defendants' applications for permission to appeal were heard by the Court of Appeal on 30 November 2020, the Attorney-General Suella Braverman appearing personally.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: Bowers and Cole's applications for permission to appeal against their sentences were granted, to enable the Court of Appeal to correct an error made in their sentencing for the offence of conspiracy to steal. Their sentences in respect of the manslaughter convictions were not altered. As their sentences for conspiracy to steal and for manslaughter were to run concurrently, their overall sentences were not affected.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: Harper's funeral was held on 14 October 2019 at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Members of the public lined the streets to watch the funeral procession, and over 800 people attended the service including Home Secretary Priti Patel and Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran—both of whom later paid respect to Harper in the House of Commons.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On 27 October 2019, 5,000 motorcyclists took part in a "ride of respect" between RAF Benson and Abingdon Airfield. On 28 January 2020, Harper was given a posthumous award by the Police Federation of England and Wales. In June 2020, Thames Valley Police have named the newest horse of their mounted section "Harper" as a tribute.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: In August 2020, Harper's widow launched a campaign for a new law which would require life imprisonment for criminals whose actions result in the death of any police officer, prison officer, firefighter, nurse, doctor, or paramedic. Separately, Harper's mother launched a campaign to require killers of police officers to receive minimum jail terms of 20 years.


title: Killing of Andrew Harper

text: On November 24, 2021, the Ministry of Justice announced that they would introduce "Harper's Law", a bill extending mandatory life sentences to "anyone who commits the manslaughter of an emergency worker on duty – including police, prison officers, firefighters and paramedics – while carrying out another crime unless there are truly exceptional circumstances." The law was added to the statute book on 28 April 2022 and is now law. Both the Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Justice Secretary Dominic Raab credited Lissie Harper's campaign with convincing them to pass the law. Harper's Law did not affect the sentences of the three men already imprisoned for killing Andrew Harper.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: The abstract factory pattern provides a way to encapsulate a group of individual factories that have a common theme without specifying their concrete classes. In normal usage, the client software creates a concrete implementation of the abstract factory and then uses the generic interface of the factory to create the concrete objects that are part of the theme. The client does not know (or care) which concrete objects it gets from each of these internal factories, since it uses only the generic interfaces of their products. This pattern separates the details of implementation of a set of objects from their general usage and relies on object composition, as object creation is implemented in methods exposed in the factory interface.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: An example of this would be an abstract factory class codice_1 that provides interfaces to create a number of products (e.g., codice_2 and codice_3). The system would have any number of derived concrete versions of the codice_1 class like codice_5 or codice_6, each with a different implementation of codice_2 and codice_3 that would create a corresponding object like codice_9 or codice_10. Each of these products is derived from a simple abstract class like codice_11 or codice_12 of which the client is aware. The client code would get an appropriate instance of the codice_1 and call its factory methods. Each of the resulting objects would be created from the same codice_1 implementation and would share a common theme (they would all be fancy or modern objects). The client would only need to know how to handle the abstract codice_11 or codice_12 class, not the specific version that it got from the concrete factory.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: A factory is the location of a concrete class in the code at which objects are constructed. The intent in employing the pattern is to insulate the creation of objects from their usage and to create families of related objects without having to depend on their concrete classes. This allows for new derived types to be introduced with no change to the code that uses the base class.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: Use of this pattern makes it possible to interchange concrete implementations without changing the code that uses them, even at runtime. However, employment of this pattern, as with similar design patterns, may result in unnecessary complexity and extra work in the initial writing of code. Additionally, higher levels of separation and abstraction can result in systems that are more difficult to debug and maintain.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: that describe how to solve recurring design problems to design flexible and reusable object-oriented software, that is, objects that are easier to implement, change, test, and reuse.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: because it commits the class to particular objects and makes it impossible to change the instantiation later independently from (without having to change) the class.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: This makes a class independent of how its objects are created (which concrete classes are instantiated).


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: A class can be configured with a factory object, which it uses to create objects, and even more, the factory object can be exchanged at run-time.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: The essence of the Abstract Factory Pattern is to "Provide an interface for creating families of related or dependent objects without specifying their concrete classes."


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: The "factory" determines the actual "concrete" type of object to be created, and it is here that the object is actually created (in Java, for instance, by the new operator). However, the factory only returns an "abstract" pointer to the created concrete object.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: This insulates client code from object creation by having clients ask a factory object to create an object of the desired abstract type and to return an abstract pointer to the object.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: As the factory only returns an abstract pointer, the client code (that requested the object from the factory) does not know — and is not burdened by — the actual concrete type of the object that was just created. However, the type of a concrete object (and hence a concrete factory) is known by the abstract factory; for instance, the factory may read it from a configuration file. The client has no need to specify the type, since it has already been specified in the configuration file. In particular, this means:


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: the codice_17 class that requires codice_18 and codice_19 objects does not instantiate the codice_20 and codice_21 classes directly.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: which makes the codice_17 independent of how the objects are created (which concrete classes are instantiated).


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: The codice_25 class implements the codice_23 interface by instantiating the codice_20 and codice_21 classes.


title: Abstract factory pattern

text: The codice_17 object calls codice_30 on the codice_25 object, which creates and returns a codice_20 object.


title: Metallurgical coal

text: Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled to the demand for steel. Primary steelmaking companies often have a division that produces coal for coking, to ensure a stable and low-cost supply.


title: Metallurgical coal

text: Metallurgical coal comes mainly from Canada, the United States, and Australia, with Australia exporting 58% of seaborne trade, mostly going to China. In the United States, the electric power sector used "93% of total U.S. coal consumption between 2007 and 2018"; only 7% of the total was metallurgical coal and coal for other uses such as heating.


title: Metallurgical coal

text: Metallurgical coal is low in ash, moisture, sulfur and phosphorus content, and its rank is usually bituminous. Some grades of anthracite coal are used for sintering, pulverized coal injection, direct blast furnace charge, pelletizing, and in production of ferro-alloys, silicon-manganese, calcium-carbide and silicon-carbide. Metallurgical coal produces strong, low-density coke when it is heated in a low-oxygen environment. On heating, the coal softens, and volatile components evaporate and escape through pores in the mass. During coking, the material swells and increases in volume.


title: Metallurgical coal

text: The coking ability of coal is related to its physical properties such as its rank, but laboratory testing is required to completely evaluate the coking ability of a coal. The strength and density of coke are particularly important when it is used in a blast furnace, as the coke supports part of the ore and flux burden inside the furnace. Metallurgical coal contrasts with thermal coal, which does not produce coke when heated. Because of their different end-uses, prices for the two types of coal are usually quite different.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: The Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas; , , ; /"trəy riec"/; ), is a large, threatened species of catfish (order Siluriformes) in the shark catfish family (Pangasiidae), native to the Mekong basin in Southeast Asia and adjacent China. It is considered critically endangered due to accelerating habitat loss.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Grey to white in color and lacking stripes, the Mekong giant catfish is distinguished from other large catfish species in the river by the near-total lack of barbels and the absence of teeth. Young Mekong catfish do exhibit barbels and oral teeth, but these features diminish as they age and are absent by the time they grow to be 30-50cm in length.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Mekong giant catfish are one of the largest species of freshwater fish. In 2005, the Mekong giant catfish attained the "Guinness World Record"' for the world's largest freshwater fish. Attaining a length of up to , the Mekong giant catfish grows extremely quickly, reaching a mass of in only six years. It can reportedly weigh up to . The largest catch recorded in Thailand since record-keeping began in 1981 was a female measuring in length and weighing . This specimen, caught in 2005, was widely recognized as the largest entirely freshwater fish ever caught (the largest sturgeon species can far exceed this size, but they are anadromous), until surpassed in June of 2022 by a giant freshwater stingray specimen caught in Cambodia. Thai fisheries officials stripped the giant catfish, caught in 2005, of its eggs as part of a breeding program, intending then to release it, but the fish died in captivity and was sold as food to local villagers.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: The Mekong giant catfish is a threatened species in the Mekong, and conservationists have focused on it as a flagship species to promote conservation on the river. Although research projects are currently ongoing, relatively little is known about this species. Historically, the fish's natural range reached from the lower Mekong in Vietnam (above the tidally influenced brackish water of the river's delta) all the way to the northern reaches of the river in the Yunnan Province of China, spanning almost the entire length of the river. Due to threats, this species no longer inhabits the majority of its original habitat. It is now believed to only exist in small, isolated populations in the middle Mekong region. Fish congregate during the beginning of the rainy season and migrate upstream to spawn. They live primarily in the main channel of the river, where the water depth is over , while researchers, fishermen and officials have found this species in the Tonle Sap River and Lake in Cambodia, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In the past, fishers have reported the fish in a number of the Mekong's tributaries. Today, however, essentially no sightings are reported outside of the main Mekong river channel and the Tonle Sap region. A 150 kg individual was found in a Kelantan river in Malaysia, it is believed to have been released illegally.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Understanding of the species’ migration pattern is incomplete. The fish are thought to rear primarily in the Mekong and Cambodia's Tonle Sap lake and migrate hundreds of miles north to spawning grounds in Thailand. Spawning fish in the upper Cambodia are being over harvested. Fragmentation caused by infrastructure development of dams are becoming increasingly common posing threats to larval fish and reducing breeding abilities. Overfishing, damming, destruction of spawning, and breeding grounds and siltation have taken a toll on the species' habitat.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: As fry, this species feeds on zooplankton in the river and is known to be cannibalistic. After about one year, the fish becomes herbivorous, feeding on filamentous algae, probably ingesting larvae and periphyton accidentally. The fish likely obtains its food from algae growing on submerged rocky surfaces, as it does not have any sort of dentition. The Mekong giant catfish are toothless herbivores that live off of the plants and algae in the river. One scientific study found zooplankton and phytoplankton in their stomach contents.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Mekong giant catfish are now successfully bred in Thailand, they are often hybridised with the iridescent shark to make the Mekong iridescent shark. They also have a short body form like the paroon shark and iridescent shark. They are also bred for the aquarium trade. Ownership and importation of the fish has been restricted in various states of Australia due to fears it could become an invasive species.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Mekong giant catfish along with the giant barb, giant pangasius, redtail catfish and alligator gar are a common sport fish in exotic fishing ponds in Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. This is because of their giant size and because they often put up a strong fight after getting hooked.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Endemic to the lower half of the Mekong River, this catfish is in danger of extinction due to overfishing, as well as the decrease in water quality due to development and upstream damming. A 2018 study suggests that the Mekong stocks could fall up to 40% as the result of dam projects. The current IUCN Red List for fishes classes the species as critically endangered; the number living in the wild is unknown, but catch data indicate the population has fallen by 80% in the last 14 years. It is also listed in Appendix I of CITES, banning commercial international trade involving wild-caught specimens.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: In "The Anthropologists' Cookbook" (1977), Jessica Kuper noted the importance of the "pa beuk" to the Lao people and remarked, "In times gone by, this huge fish, which is found only in the Mekong, was fairly plentiful, but in the last few years, the number taken annually has dwindled to forty, thirty or twenty, and perhaps in 1976 even fewer. This is sad, as it is a noble fish and a mysterious one, revered by the Lao." In 2000, fishermen hauled out 11 giant catfish. In 2001 they caught seven. In 2002 they caught just five.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: Fishing for the Mekong giant catfish is illegal in the wild in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, but the bans appear to be ineffective and the fish continue to be caught in all three countries. In recognition of the threat to the species, though, nearly 60 Thai fishermen agreed to stop catching the endangered catfish in June 2006, to mark the 60th anniversary of Bhumibol Adulyadej's ascension to the throne of Thailand. Thailand is the only country to allow fishing for private stocks of Mekong giant catfish. This helps save the species, as lakes purchase the small fry from the government breeding programme, generating extra income that allows the breeding program to function. Fishing lakes, such as Bueng Samran (บึงสำราญ) in Bangkok, have the species up to . The most common size landed is , although some companies specialise in landing the larger fish.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: The species needs to reach to breed, and it does not breed in lakes. The Thailand Fisheries Department has instituted a breeding programme to restock the Mekong River. From 2000 to 2003, about 10,000 captive-bred specimens were released by the Thai authorities. Specimens are released into reservoirs rather than the Mekong River itself.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: The Mekong giant catfish is described as a contemporary example of overharvest. Millions of tons of fish are harvested in Cambodia every year, with spawning fish being overharvested. Fragmentation caused by dams increasingly poses threats to larval fish. Trends in water use, energy production, consumption, and associated environmental degradation are projected to continue rising in Southeast Asia. Mekong giant catfish are highly migratory, requiring large stretches of river for seasonal journeys and specific environmental conditions in their spawning and breeding areas.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: The World Wide Fund for Nature works in partnership with other organizations including the Mekong River Commission and the Asian Development Bank which aims to ensure that environmental and social impacts are considered in developments of hydropower infrastructures. It also implements projects dedicated to conservation, research, monitoring, and raising awareness of the Mekong giant catfish.


title: Mekong giant catfish

text: In Thai folklore, this fish is regarded with reverence, and special rituals are followed and offerings are made before fishing it. The species is represented as ancient art along the Mekong River.


title: Timeline of major famines in India during British rule

text: The timeline of major famines in India during British rule covers major famines on the Indian subcontinent from 1765 to 1947. The famines included here occurred both in the princely states (regions administered by Indian rulers), British India (regions administered either by the British East India Company from 1765 to 1857; or by the British Crown, in the British Raj, from 1858 to 1947) and Indian territories independent of British rule such as the Maratha Empire.


text: The year 1765 is chosen as the start year because that year the British East India Company, after its victory in the Battle of Buxar, was granted the "Diwani" (rights to land revenue) in the region of Bengal (although it would not directly administer Bengal until 1784 when it was granted the "Nizamat", or control of law and order.) The year 1947 is the year in which the British Raj was dissolved and the new successor states of Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan were established. The eastern half of the Dominion of Pakistan would become the People's Republic of Bangladesh in 1971.


text: A "major famine" is defined according to a "magnitude" scale, which is an end-to-end assessment based on total excess death. According to it: (a) a "minor" famine is accompanied by less than 999 excess deaths); (b) a "moderate" famine by between 1,000 and 9,999 excess deaths; (c) a "major" famine by between 10,000 to 99,999 excess deaths; (d) a "great" famine by between 100,000 to 999,999 excess deaths; and (e) a "catastrophic" famine by more than 1 million excess deaths.


text: The British era is significant because during this period a very large number of famines struck India. There is a vast literature on the famines in colonial British India. The mortality in these famines was excessively high and in some may have been increased by British policies. The mortality in the Great Bengal famine of 1770 was between one and 10 million; the Chalisa famine of 1783–1784, 11 million; Doji bara famine of 1791–1792, 11 million; and Agra famine of 1837–1838, 800,000. In the second half of the 19th-century large-scale excess mortality was caused by: Upper Doab famine of 1860–1861, 2 million; Great Famine of 1876–1878, 5.5 million; Indian famine of 1896–1897, 5 million; and Indian famine of 1899–1900, 1 million. In the first third of the 20th-century, benefitting from earlier work on analysis and prevention of famines by the British authories, the scale and frequency of the famines decreased, although some severe crop failures and famines did occur. However, the Bengal famine of 1943, which affected the Bengal region during wartime, was one of the major South Asian famines in which anywhere between 1.5 million and 3 million people died.


text: The era is significant also because it is the first period for which there is systematic documentation. Major reports, such as the Report on the Upper Doab famine of 1860–1861 by Richard Baird Smith, those of the Indian Famine Commissions of 1880, 1897, and 1901 and the Famine Inquiry Commission of 1944, appeared during this period, as did the Indian Famine Codes. These last, consolidating in the 1880s, were the first carefully considered system for the prediction of famine and the pre-emptive mitigation of its impact; the codes were to affect famine relief well into the 1970s. The Bengal famine of 1943, the last major famine of British India occurred in part because the authorities failed to take notice of the famine codes in wartime conditions. The indignation caused by this famine accelerated the decolonization of British India. It also impelled Indian nationalists to make food security an important post-independence goal. After independence, the Dominion of India and thereafter the Republic of India inherited these codes, which were modernized and improved, and although there were severe food shortages in India after independence, and malnutrition continues to the present day, there were neither serious famines, nor clear and undisputed-, or large-scale ones. The economist Amartya Sen who won the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in part for his work on the economic mechanisms underlying famines, has stated in his 2009 book, "The Idea of Justice":Though Indian democracy has many imperfections, nevertheless the political incentives generated by it have been adequate to eliminate major famines right from the time of independence. The last substantial famine in India — the Bengal famine — occurred only four years before the Empire ended. The prevalence of famines, which had been a persistent feature of the long history of the British Indian Empire, ended abruptly with the establishment of a democracy after independence.


text: Migration of indentured labourers from India to the British tropical colonies of Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, Surinam, Natal and British Guyana has been correlated to a large number of these famines. The first famine of the British period, the Great Bengal famine of 1770, appears in work of the major Bengali language novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee; the last famine of the British period, Bengal famine of 1943 appears in the work of the major Indian film director, Satyajit Ray. The inadequate official response to the Great Famine of 1876–1878, led Allan Octavian Hume and William Wedderburn in 1883 to found the Indian National Congress, the first nationalist movement in British Empire in Asia and Africa. Upon assumption of its leadership by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, Congress was to secure India both independence and reconciliation.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" is a song by British R&B band Soul II Soul featuring the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. It appears on a secondary version of their debut album, "Club Classics Vol. One" (1989) (titled "Keep On Movin" in the United States), and was released as its second single on 29 May 1989. "Back to Life" is one of two songs on the album featuring British R&B singer Caron Wheeler and gained success in both North America and Europe, topping the charts in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and peaking at number four in the United States. The group won their first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal with the song in 1990.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: The album version of the song was an a cappella which was remixed and re-recorded before being released as a single. Two new versions were produced — the first taking the original recording with instrumentation added, and the second was a re-working of the song with new lyrics and chorus (also adding "However Do You Want Me" to the title). It was the second version that became most popular. In a 2012 interview with British newspaper "The Guardian" on how "Back to Life" was made, producer Jazzie B said:


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: Everything about this single was magic. We weren't trying to follow any trend or fit into any category – we were just doing our own thing. ... Its shuffling beats were a cross between reggae and what was to become known as hip-hop: breakbeats and electronic sound. Caron Wheeler's vocal, coming over these very heavy bass beats, was the icing on the cake. ... We also had the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra on the track, and the RPO became a key part of our sound. ... We often look to America for our influences, but this was a moment that put British music back on the map. It also came out at a special time in the industry's history – just before digital took over and everything seemed to fall apart.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: For a time, the album was packaged together with a CD3 single including the new versions of the song.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: Justin Chadwick from Albumism wrote in his review of "Club Classics Vol. One", "While “Keep on Movin'” lit the fuse for the group’s ascendance across radio and the sales charts, another Wheeler blessed composition kept the flame burning bright. Originally—and in retrospect, somewhat incredulously—included on the album in stripped-down, acapella form, “Back to Life” further illuminated Wheeler’s vocal prowess as she sang about seeking romantic clarity, with the drums borrowed from Graham Central Station's "The Jam" kicking in at the 2:40 mark. In short order following the album’s release, the song was reworked into a more robust midtempo groove, its instant earworm appeal and unforgettable hook (“How ever do you want me, how / How ever do you need me”) all but ensuring its ubiquity throughout the summer of 1989." AllMusic editor Alex Henderson described it as a "Chic-influenced gem". Geir Rakvaag from Norwegian newspaper "Arbeiderbladet" called it "delicate". Daryl Easlea for BBC noted its "swooning chorus and churning beat". Duff Marlowe from "Los Angeles Times" wrote in his review, that "the gorgeously arranged, a cappella "Back to Life", shows that the sound-system concept not only works, but also may be an effective way of presenting a wide range of talent."


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" peaked at number-one on both the "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Play chart in the United States and the "RPM" Dance/Urban chart in Canada. It went to number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming one of Soul II Soul's most successful singles in the United States (and the only one to enter in the top 10). In the United Kingdom it performed even better, reaching number-one in the UK Singles Chart for four weeks in June and July 1989. In Europe, it peaked at number-one also in the Netherlands, as well as on the Eurochart Hot 100. The single made it into the top 10 also in Belgium, West Germany, Greece (number two), Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland (number two). In Oceania, it peaked at number four in New Zealand and number 45 in Australia. "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" earned a gold record in Canada and Sweden, a silver record in the UK, and a platinum record in the US. It went on to win the group their first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1990.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: The accompanying music video for "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" was directed by Monty Whitebloom & Andy Delaney, of Big TV! and was shot in Epping Forest. Wheeler's former-Afrodiziak member and friend Claudia Fontaine sings and dances to the song throughout the video.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: The video starts with an opening silhouette of the group dancing in a forest and proceeds with repeated close-up shots of Wheeler singing "Back to life, back to reality". While Wheeler sings the first verse, video shots of the other Soul II Soul members and the band are shown. Another scene is shown on a rooftop during early sunrise as the group parties and dances to the song. Close to the end of the video, the group is shown dancing at night on the same rooftop. Wheeler closes out the song as she sings and dances to the song. The video was published on YouTube in March 2009. By January 2021, it had more than 64.1 million views.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: Wheeler performed "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" on various televised appearances, including the "Arsenio Hall Show", "Rockopop", and "Later... with Jools Holland". At the end of 1989, Wheeler later departed from the group. When Soul II Soul performed the song at 1990 Soul Train Music Awards, Marcia Lewis; a new addition to the group, performed the lead vocals.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: The song was included in the group's set list for their in 1990 and was performed late in the set on tour dates. Lamya, a later addition to group, performed the lead vocals to the song during the tour. Wheeler also included the song during her solo tours. A live recording of the song was released on Wheeler's live CD/DVD "Live at Duo Music Exchange", which featured her performing live in Tokyo, Japan. In 2007, Wheeler reunited with the group and performed the song at the Lovebox Festival. In August 2012, Soul II Soul performed the song at the Rewind Festival in Remenham, Berkshire, with Charlotte Kelly singing lead vocals.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: In December 2016, Soul II Soul released their live album "Origins: The Roots of Soul II Soul" which included a live recorded version on the song, sung by Wheeler.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: VH1 listed "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" at number 50 in its list of the "100 Greatest Dance Songs" in 2000.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: "The Guardian" featured "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" on its "A history of modern music: Dance" in 2011.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 18th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.


title: Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)

text: The song was featured in the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, as part of an extended dance sequence involving popular British songs from the 1960s through the 2010s.


title: Li Shuxian

text: Li Shuxian, also known as Li Shu-Hsien (李淑賢; pinyin: Lĭ Shūxían) (4 September 1924 – 9 June 1997), was the fifth and last wife of Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty in China.


title: Li Shuxian

text: She was a Han Chinese and a former hospital worker. In 1959, after ten years in prison, Puyi was pardoned. The pair were introduced to one another by a friend in 1962 and wed that same year. Premier Zhou Enlai greeted their marriage. They had no children. She accompanied Puyi to his last days.


title: Li Shuxian

text: After her husband's death, Li retired from public view. Since she was not a regular hospital employee, her life became difficult.


title: Li Shuxian

text: In the early eighties, she sought and received legal ownership of royalties from Puyi's autobiography from the government of China. She later became wealthy by publishing her own memoirs about her final years with Puyi, which she dictated to a scribe.


title: Li Shuxian

text: Under the approval of the government, she moved Puyi's ashes closer to his ancestors in the Western Qing Tombs (清西陵) from the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. She died of lung cancer at the age of 72. In her will, she requested that she, Puyi, and Puyi's first concubine Tan Yuling (谭玉龄) be buried together in the cemetery. However, her wishes have thus far not been realized.


title: Orléanist

text: Orléanist () was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that century in France, three different phases of Orléanism can be identified:


title: Orléanist

text: Orleanism was opposed by the two other monarchist trends: the more conservative Legitimism that was loyal to the eldest branch of the House of Bourbon after 1830, and the Bonapartism that supported Napoleon’s legacy and heirs.


title: Orléanist

text: On 26 July 1830, the revolution of the so-called Three Glorious Days (or July Revolution) erupted due to the authoritarian and anti-Gallican tendencies showed by Charles X and his Prime Minister Jules de Polignac, expressed by the recently approved Saint-Cloud Ordinances. Despite the abdication of Charles X and the Dauphin Louis in favor to Charles X's grandson Henri, Duke of Bordeaux, on 2 August 1830, only seven days later Louis Philippe I, still Duke of Orléans, was elected by the Chamber of Deputies as new "King of the French". The enthronement of Louis Philippe was strongly wanted by "Doctrinaires", the liberal opposition to Charles X's ministries, under the concept "nationalize the monarchy and royalize France". On 14 August 1830, the Chamber approved a new Constitution, who became the "de facto" political manifesto for the Orléanists, containing the basis for a constitutional monarchy with a central Parliament. The Orléanism, became the dominant tendency within political life, easily divided inside the Chamber of Deputies between the centre-left of Adolphe Thiers and the centre-right of François Guizot. Louis Philippe showed himself more aligned with Guizot, entrusted to the higher offices of government, and rapidly became associated with the rising "new men" of the banks, industries and finance, gaining the epithet of ""Roi bourgeois"". In the early 1840s, Louis Philippe's popularity decreased, due to his strong connection to upper classes and repression against workers' strikes, and showed few concerns for his weakened position, leading the writer Victor Hugo to describe him as "a man with many little qualities". The Orléanist regime finally fell in 1848, when a revolution erupted and on 24 February Louis Philippe abdicated in favor to his grandson Philippe, Count of Paris, under regency of his mother Helene, Duchess of Orléans, who was quickly ousted out from the Chamber of Deputies during the regency's formalization, who was interrupted by republican deputies who instead proclaimed the Second Republic.


title: Orléanist

text: After 18 years of reign, Louis Philippe left the Orléanist base well-defined inside the magistrature, the press, universities and academies, especially the "Académie française". However, also some great aristocratic families joined the court, like the Dukes of Broglie, as well former Bonapartist officers like the Marshal Soult and Édouard Mortier. This establishment constituted the majority of the Party of Order, led by Thiers, who represented the conservatives and monarchists under the Second Republic.


title: Orléanist

text: Orléanism revived after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 which caused the fall of the Second Empire which had succeeded to the Second Republic under Emperor Napoleon III, the former president of France who had been enthroned after the coup d'état of 1851. The Second Empire was succeeded itself officially in 1871 by the Third Republic. A National Assembly, composed by 638 on 778 seats, was formed and new elections were called for the 8 February of the same year, which resulted in a victory for the monarchist right: 396 seats won, divided to 214 Orléanists and 182 Legitimists, nicknamed "cavalrymen". Initially divided about the dynastic issue, the Orléanists found a compromise with the Legitimists, supporting the rights of Henri, Count of Chambord (former Duke of Bordeaux, currently childless) in return of the recognition of the Count of Paris as his heir, echoing an 1862 statement of Chambord. Although Chambord never mentioned the Count of Paris as his heir, probably fearing the defection of his ultraconservative supporters, the informal agreement sanctioned the "fusion" of Legitimists and Orléanists, who quite easily formed a conservative coalition.


title: Orléanist

text: The monarchist majority, led by the Duke of Aumale (son of Louis Philippe), and the centre-left endorsed the centre-right candidate Thiers as president of the Republic, but due to the continued arguments between Legitimists and Orléanists and the memory of the dynastic divisions of the past 40 years, Thiers moved to support a "conservative republic" instead of a divided monarchy.