title: Carrion flower

text: Carrion flowers, also known as corpse flowers or stinking flowers, are mimetic flowers that emit an odor that smells like rotting flesh. Apart from the scent, carrion flowers often display additional characteristics that contribute to the mimesis of a decaying corpse. These include their specific coloration (red, purple, brown), the presence of setae and orifice-like flower architecture. Carrion flowers attract mostly scavenging flies and beetles as pollinators. Some species may trap the insects temporarily to ensure the gathering and transfer of pollen.


title: Carrion flower

text: Many plants in the genus "Amorphophallus" (family Araceae) are known as carrion flowers. One such plant is the Titan arum ("Amorphophallus titanum"), which has the world's largest unbranched inflorescence. Rather than a single flower, the titan arum presents an inflorescence or compound flower composed of a spadix or stalk of small and anatomically reduced male and female flowers, surrounded by a spathe that resembles a single giant petal. This plant has a mechanism to heat up the spadix enhancing the emission of the strong odor of decaying meat to attract its pollinators, carrion-eating beetles and "flesh flies" (family Sarcophagidae). It was first described scientifically in 1878 in Sumatra.


title: Carrion flower

text: Flowers of plants in the genus "Rafflesia" (family Rafflesiaceae) emit an odor similar to that of decaying meat. This odor attracts the flies that pollinate the plant. The world's largest single bloom is "R. arnoldii". This rare flower is found in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. It can grow to be across and weigh up to . "R. arnoldii" is a parasitic plant on "Tetrastigma" vine, which grows only in primary rainforests. It has no visible leaves, roots, or stem. It does not photosynthesize, but rather uses the host plant to obtain water and nutrients.


title: Carrion flower

text: Plants in the genus "Stapelia" are also called "carrion flowers". They are small, spineless, cactus-like succulent plants. Most species are native to South Africa, and are grown as potted plants elsewhere. The flowers of all species are hairy to varying degrees and generate the odor of rotten flesh. The color of the flowers also mimics rotting meat. This attracts scavenging flies, for pollination. The flowers in some species can be very large, notably "Stapelia gigantea" can reach in diameter.


title: Carrion flower

text: In North America, the herbaceous vines of the genus "Smilax" are known as carrion flowers. These plants have a cluster of small greenish flowers. The most familiar member of this groups is "Smilax herbacea". These plants are sometimes placed in the genus "Nemexia".


title: Carrion flower

text: Orchids of the genus Bulbophyllum produce flowers which smell of rotting meat. The flowers produce various odors resembling sap, urine, blood, dung, carrion, and, in some species, fragrant fruity aromas. Most are fly-pollinated, and attract hordes of flies. "Bulbophyllum beccarii" in bloom has been likened to smelling like a herd of dead elephants as well as "Bulbophyllum fletcherianum" and "Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis". They are variously described as making it difficult to walk into a greenhouse in which they are being cultivated if the plants are in bloom because of their overpowering floral odors.


title: Carrion flower

text: The sources of the flowers' unique scent are not fully identified, partly due to the extremely low concentration of the compounds (5 to 10 parts per billion). Biochemical tests on "Amorphophallus" species revealed foul-smelling dimethyl sulfides such as dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide, and in other species, trace amounts of amines such as putrescine and cadaverine have been found. Methyl thiolacetate (which has a cheesy, garlic-like odor) and isovaleric acid (smells of sweat) also contribute to the smell of the flower. Trimethylamine is the cause of the "rotten fish smell" towards the end of the flower's life.


title: Carrion flower

text: Both visual interactions and odor are important attractants for pollinators. In order for pollination to occur, a relationship of attraction and reward must be present between the flower and the pollinator. The pollinator's body mechanically promotes pollen adherence, which is necessary for effective pollen dispersal. The recognizable scent of the carrion flowers is produced in the petals of both male and female flowers and the pollen reward attracts beetles and flies. Popular pollinators of carrion flowers are blowflies ("Calliphoridae"), house flies ("Muscidae"), flesh flies ("Sarcophagidae") and varying types of beetles, due to the scents produced by the plant. Fly pollinators are typically attracted to pale, dull plants or those with translucent patches. Additionally, these plants produce pollen, do not have present nectar guides and flowers resemble a funnel or complex trap. The host plant can sometimes trap the pollinator during the pollination/feeding process.


The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.


title: 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference

text: The conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate change, the text of which represented a consensus of the representatives of the 196 attending parties. The agreement was due to enter into force when joined by at least 55 countries which together represented at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions., a target reached on 4 November 2016. On 22 April 2016 (Earth Day), 174 countries signed the agreement in New York,


text: According to the organizing committee at the outset of the talks, the expected key result was an agreement to set a goal of limiting global warming to "well below 2 °C" Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The agreement calls for zero net anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to be reached during the second half of the 21st century. In the adopted version of the Paris Agreement, the parties will also "pursue efforts to" limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C. The 1.5 °C goal will require zero emissions sometime between 2030 and 2050, according to some scientists.


text: Prior to the conference, 146 national climate panels publicly presented a draft of national climate contributions (called "Intended Nationally Determined Contributions", INDCs). These suggested commitments were estimated to limit global warming to 2.7 °C by 2100. For example, the EU suggested INDC is a commitment to a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. The agreement establishes a "global stocktake" which revisits the national goals to "update and enhance" them every five years beginning 2023. However, no detailed timetable or country-specific goals for emissions were incorporated into the Paris Agreement – as opposed to the previous Kyoto Protocol.


text: A number of meetings took place in preparation for COP21, including the Bonn Climate Change Conference, 19 to 23 October 2015, which produced a draft agreement.


text: According to the organizing committee of the summit in Paris, the objective of the 2015 conference was to achieve, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, a binding and universal agreement on climate.


text: Pope Francis published an encyclical letter called "Laudato si'" intended, in part, to influence the conference. The encyclical calls for action against climate change: "Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it." The International Trade Union Confederation has called for the goal to be "zero carbon, zero poverty", and its general secretary Sharan Burrow has repeated that there are "no jobs on a dead planet".


text: The location of UNFCCC talks is rotated by regions throughout United Nations countries. The 2015 conference was held at Le Bourget from 30 November to 12 December 2015.


text: To some extent, France served as a model country for delegates attending COP21 because it is one of the few developed countries in the world to decarbonize electricity production and fossil fuel energy while still providing a high standard of living. As of 2012, France generated over 90% of its electricity from zero carbon sources, including nuclear, hydroelectric, and wind.


text: The conference took place two weeks after a series of terrorist attacks in the 8th ward of Paris, Saint-Denis. Martial law was declared and national security was tightened accordingly, with 30,000 police officers and 285 security checkpoints deployed across the country until after the conference ended.


text: The overarching goal of the Convention is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase. Since COP 17 this increase is set at above pre-industrial levels. However, Christiana Figueres acknowledged in the closing briefing at the 2012 Doha conference: "The current pledges under the second commitment period of the Kyoto protocol are clearly not enough to guarantee that the temperature will stay below 2 °C and there is an ever increasing gap between the action of countries and what the science tells us."


text: During previous climate negotiations, countries agreed to outline actions they intended to take within a global agreement, by 1 October 2015. These commitments are known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDCs. Together, the INDCs would reduce global warming from an estimated 4–5 °C (by 2100) to 2.7 °C, and reduce emissions per capita by 9% by 2030, while providing hope in the eyes of the conference organizers for further reductions in the future that would allow meeting a 2 °C target.


text: Think-tanks such as the World Pensions Council (WPC) argued that the keys to success lay in convincing officials in the U.S. and China, by far the two largest national emitters:


text: "As long as policy makers in Washington and Beijing didn't put all their political capital behind the adoption of ambitious carbon-emission capping targets, the laudable efforts of other G20 governments often remained in the realm of pious wishes. Things changed for the better on 12 November 2014 when President Obama and General Secretary Xi Jinping agreed to limit greenhouse gases emissions."


text: President Obama insisted on America's essential role in that regard: "We've led by example ... from Alaska to the Gulf Coast to the Great Plains ... we've seen the longest streak of private job creation in our history. We've driven our economic output to all time-highs while driving our carbon pollution down to its lowest level in nearly two decades. And then, with our historic joint announcement with China last year, we showed it was possible to bridge the old divide between developed and developing nations that had stymied global progress for so long ... That was the foundation for success in Paris." Harvard University published a case study on one aspect of the negotiations, focussing on the protection of forests.


text: On 12 December 2015, the participating 196 countries agreed, by consensus, to the final global pact, the Paris Agreement, to reduce emissions as part of the method for reducing greenhouse gas. In the 12-page document, the members agreed to reduce their carbon output "as soon as possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 degrees C". In the course of the debates, island states of the Pacific, the Seychelles, but also the Philippines, their very existence threatened by sea level rise, had strongly voted for setting a goal of 1.5 °C instead of only 2 °C.


text: France's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said this "ambitious and balanced" plan was an "historic turning point" in the goal of reducing global warming. However, some others criticized the fact that significant sections are "promises" or aims and not firm commitments by the countries.


text: The Agreement will not become binding on its member states until 55 parties who produce over 55% of the world's greenhouse gas have ratified the Agreement. There is doubt whether some countries, especially the United States, will agree to do so, though the United States publicly committed, in a joint Presidential Statement with China, to joining the Agreement in 2016.


text: Each country that ratifies the agreement will be required to set a target for emission reduction or limitation, called a "nationally determined contribution", or NDC, but the amount will be voluntary. There will be neither a mechanism to force a country to set a target by a specific date nor enforcement measures if a set target is not met. There will be only a "name and shame" system or, as János Pásztor, the U.N. assistant secretary-general on climate change, told CBS News, a "name and encourage" plan.


text: Some analysts have also observed that the stated objectives of the Paris Agreement are implicitly "predicated upon an assumption – that member states of the United Nations, including high polluters such as China, US, India, Canada, Russia, Indonesia and Australia, which generate more than half the world's greenhouse gas emissions, will somehow drive down their carbon pollution voluntarily and assiduously without any binding enforcement mechanism to measure and control CO emissions at any level from factory to state, and without any specific penalty gradation or fiscal pressure (for example a carbon tax) to discourage bad behaviour."


text: Speaking at the 5th annual World Pensions Forum held on the sidelines of the COP21 Summit, Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs argued that institutional investors would eventually divest from carbon-reliant firms if they could not react to political and regulatory efforts to halt climate change: "Every energy company in a pension fund's portfolio needs to be scrutinized from purely a financial view about its future, 'Why is this [a company] we would want to hold over a five- to 20-year period?'... If we continue to hold major energy companies that don't have an answer to a basic financial test, we are just gambling. We have to take a fiduciary responsibility – these are not good bets."


text: Some US policy makers concurred, notably Al Gore, insisting that "no agreement is perfect, and this one must be strengthened over time, but groups across every sector of society will now begin to reduce dangerous carbon pollution through the framework of this agreement."


text: As is usual before such major conferences, major NGOs and groups of governments have drafted and published a wide variety of declarations they intend to seek a consensus on, at the Paris conference itself. These include at least the following major efforts:


text: The conference was budgeted to cost €170m (US$186.87m at the time). The French government said that 20% of the cost would be borne by French firms such as EDF, Engie (formerly known as GDF Suez), Air France, Renault-Nissan and BNP Paribas. Sponsors were among others BMW, Avery Dennison, Carbon Trade Exchange, Cool Effect, The Coca-Cola Company, the Climate Resources Exchange and Vattenfall.


text: Around the world, 600,000 took part in demonstrations in favour of a strong agreement, such as the Global Climate March organized by 350.org (and other events such as Alternatiba, Village of Alternatives). Paris had a ban on public gatherings in the wake of recent terrorist attacks (state of emergency), but allowed thousands to demonstrate on 12 December against what they felt was a too-weak treaty. There was also an illegal demonstration in Paris, including violent clashes between police and anarchists; ten policemen were injured and 317 people arrested.


text: On 30 November, the first day of the conference, a "climate strike" was organised by students in over 100 countries; over 50,000 people participate.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Echinococcosis is a parasitic disease of tapeworms of the "Echinococcus" type. The two main types of the disease are "cystic echinococcosis" and "alveolar echinococcosis". Less common forms include "polycystic echinococcosis" and "unicystic echinococcosis".


title: Echinococcosis

text: The disease often starts without symptoms and this may last for years. The symptoms and signs that occur depend on the cyst's location and size. "Alveolar" disease usually begins in the liver, but can spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs or brain. When the liver is affected, the patient may experience abdominal pain, weight loss, along with yellow-toned skin discoloration from developed jaundice. Lung disease may cause pain in the chest, shortness of breath, and coughing.


title: Echinococcosis

text: The infection is spread when food or water that contains the eggs of the parasite is ingested or by close contact with an infected animal. The eggs are released in the stool of meat-eating animals that are infected by the parasite. Commonly infected animals include dogs, foxes, and wolves. For these animals to become infected they must eat the organs of an animal that contains the cysts such as sheep or rodents. The type of disease that occurs in human patients depends on the type of "Echinococcus" causing the infection. Diagnosis is usually by ultrasound though computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also be used. Blood tests looking for antibodies against the parasite may be helpful as may biopsy.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Prevention of cystic disease is by treating dogs that may carry the disease and vaccination of sheep. Treatment is often difficult. The cystic disease may be drained through the skin, followed by medication. Sometimes this type of disease is just watched. The "alveolar" form often requires surgical intervention, followed by medications. The medication used is albendazole, which may be needed for years. The "alveolar" disease may result in death.


title: Echinococcosis

text: The disease occurs in most areas of the world and currently affects about one million people. In some areas of South America, Africa, and Asia, up to 10% of the certain populations are affected. In 2015, the cystic form caused about 1,200 deaths; down from 2000 in 1990. The economic cost of the disease is estimated to be around US$3 billion a year. It is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD) and belongs to the group of diseases known as helminthiases (worm infections). It can affect other animals such as pigs, cows and horses.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Terminology used in this field is crucial, since "echinococcosis" requires the involvement of specialists from nearly all disciplines. In 2020, an international effort of scientists, from 16 countries, led to a detailed consensus on terms to be used or rejected for the genetics, epidemiology, biology, immunology and clinical aspects of "echinococcosis".


title: Echinococcosis

text: In the human manifestation of the disease, "E. granulosus", "E. multilocularis", "E. oligarthrus" and "E. vogeli" are localized in the liver (in 75% of cases), the lungs (in 5–15% of cases) and other organs in the body such as the spleen, brain, heart, and kidneys (in 10–20% of cases). In people who are infected with "E. granulosus" and therefore have cystic echinococcosis, the disease develops as a slow-growing mass in the body. These slow-growing masses, often called cysts, are also found in people that are infected with alveolar and polycystic echinococcosis.


title: Echinococcosis

text: The cysts found in those with cystic echinococcosis are usually filled with a clear fluid called hydatid fluid, are spherical, and typically consist of one compartment and are usually only found in one area of the body. While the cysts found in those with alveolar and polycystic echinococcosis are similar to those found in those with cystic echinococcosis, the alveolar and polycystic echinococcosis cysts usually have multiple compartments and have infiltrative as opposed to expansive growth.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Depending on the location of the cyst in the body, the person could be asymptomatic even though the cysts have grown to be very large, or be symptomatic even if the cysts are absolutely tiny. If the person is symptomatic, the symptoms will depend largely on where the cysts are located. For instance, if the person has cysts in the lungs and is symptomatic, they will have a cough, shortness of breath and/or pain in the chest.


title: Echinococcosis

text: On the other hand, if the person has cysts in the liver and is symptomatic, they will experience abdominal pain, abnormal abdominal tenderness, hepatomegaly with an abdominal mass, jaundice, fever and/or anaphylactic reaction. In addition, if the cysts were to rupture while in the body, whether during surgical extraction of the cysts or by trauma to the body, the person would most likely go into anaphylactic shock and have high fever, pruritus (itching), edema (swelling) of the lips and eyelids, dyspnea, stridor and rhinorrhea.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Unlike intermediate hosts, definitive hosts are usually not hurt very much by the infection. Sometimes, a lack of certain vitamins and minerals can be caused in the host by the very high demand of the parasite.


title: Echinococcosis

text: The incubation period for all species of "Echinococcus" can be months to years, or even decades. It largely depends on the location of the cyst in the body and how fast the cyst is growing.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Also like many other parasite infections, the course of "Echinococcus" infection is complex. The worm has a life cycle that requires definitive hosts and intermediate hosts. Definitive hosts are normally carnivores such as dogs, while intermediate hosts are usually herbivores such as sheep and cattle. Humans function as accidental


title: Echinococcosis

text: hosts, because they are usually a dead end for the parasitic infection cycle, unless eaten by dogs or wolves after death.


title: Echinococcosis

text: An adult worm resides in the small intestine of a definitive host. A single gravid proglottid releases eggs that are passed in the feces of the definitive host. The egg is then ingested by an intermediate host. The egg then hatches in the small intestine of the intermediate host and releases an oncosphere that penetrates the intestinal wall and moves through the circulatory system into different organs, in particular the liver and lungs. Once it has invaded these organs, the oncosphere develops into a cyst. The cyst then slowly enlarges, creating protoscolices (juvenile scolices), and daughter cysts within the cyst. The definitive host then becomes infected after ingesting the cyst-containing organs of the infected intermediate host. After ingestion, the protoscolices attach to the intestine. They then develop into adult worms and the cycle starts all over again.


title: Echinococcosis

text: "Echinococcus" eggs contain an embryo that is called an oncosphere or hexcanth. The name of this embryo stems from the fact that these embryos have six hooklets. The eggs are passed through the feces of the definitive host and it is the ingestion of these eggs that lead to infection in the intermediate host.


title: Echinococcosis

text: From the embryo released from an egg develops a "hydatid cyst", which grows to about 5–10 cm within the first year and is able to survive within organs for years. Cysts sometimes grow to be so large that by the end of several years or even decades, they can contain several liters of fluid. Once a cyst has reached a diameter of 1 cm, its wall differentiates into a thick outer, non-cellular membrane, which covers the thin germinal epithelium. From this epithelium, cells begin to grow within the cyst. These cells then become vacuolated, and are known as brood capsules, which are the parts of the parasite from which protoscolices bud. Often, daughter cysts also form within cysts.


title: Echinococcosis

text: "Echinococcus" adult worms develop from protoscolices and are typically 6 mm or less in length and have a scolex, neck and typically three proglottids, one of which is immature, another of which is mature and the third of which is gravid (or containing eggs). The scolex of the adult worm contains four suckers and a rostellum that has about 25–50 hooks.


title: Echinococcosis

text: The major morphological difference among different species of "Echinococcus" is the length of the tapeworm. "E. granulosus" is approximately 2 to 7 mm while "E. multilocularis" is often smaller and is 4 mm or less. On the other hand, "E. vogeli" is found to be up to 5.6 mm long and "E. oligarthrus" is found to be up to 2.9 mm long. In addition to the difference in length, there are also differences in the hydatid cysts of the different species. For instance, in "E. multilocularis", the cysts have an ultra thin limiting membrane and the germinal epithelium may bud externally. Furthermore, "E. granulosus" cysts are unilocular and full of fluid while "E. multilocularis" cysts contain little fluid and are multilocular. For "E. vogeli", its hydatid cysts are large and are actually polycystic since the germinal membrane of the hydatid cyst actually proliferates both inward, to create septa that divide the hydatid into sections, and outward, to create new cysts. Like "E. granulosus" cysts, "E. vogeli" cysts are filled with fluid.


title: Echinococcosis

text: As one can see from the life cycles illustrated above, all disease-causing species of "Echinococcus" are transmitted to intermediate hosts via the ingestion of eggs and are transmitted to definitive hosts by means of eating infected, cyst-containing organs. Humans are accidental intermediate hosts that become infected by handling soil, dirt or animal hair that contains eggs.


title: Echinococcosis

text: While there are no biological or mechanical vectors for the adult or larval form of any "Echinococcus" species, coprophagic flies, carrion birds and arthropods can act as mechanical vectors for the eggs.


title: Echinococcosis

text: There are a few aberrant cases in which carnivores play the role of the intermediate hosts. Examples are domestic cats with hydatid cysts of "E. granulosus."


title: Echinococcosis

text: The most common form found in humans is cystic echinococcosis (also known as unilocular echinococcosis), which is caused by "Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato". The second most common form is alveolar echinococcosis (also known as alveolar colloid of the liver, alveolar hydatid disease, alveolococcosis, multilocular echinococcosis, "small fox tapeworm"), which is caused by "Echinococcus multilocularis" and the third is polycystic echinococcosis (also known as human polycystic hydatid disease, neotropical echinococcosis), which is caused by "Echinococcus vogeli" and very rarely, "Echinococcus oligarthrus". Alveolar and polycystic echinococcosis are rarely diagnosed in humans and are not as widespread as cystic echinococcosis, but polycystic echinococcosis is relatively new on the medical scene and is often left out of conversations dealing with echinococcosis, and alveolar echinococcosis is a serious disease that has a significantly high fatality rate, and may have the potential to become an emerging disease in many countries.


title: Echinococcosis

text: A formal diagnosis of any type of echinococcosis requires a combination of tools that involve imaging techniques, histopathology, or nucleic acid detection and serology. For cystic echinococcosis diagnosis, imaging is the main method—while serology tests (such as indirect hemagglutination, ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay), immunoblots or latex agglutination) that use antigens specific for "E. granulosus" verify the imaging results. The imaging technique of choice for cystic echinococcosis is ultrasonography, since it is not only able to visualize the cysts in the body's organs, but it is also inexpensive, non-invasive and gives instant results. In addition to ultrasonography, both MRI and CT scans can and are often used although an MRI is often preferred to CT scans when diagnosing cystic echinococcosis since it gives better visualization of liquid areas within the tissue.


title: Echinococcosis

text: As with cystic echinococcosis, ultrasonography is the imaging technique of choice for alveolar echinococcosis and is usually complemented by CT scans since CT scans are able to detect the largest number of lesions and calcifications that are characteristic of alveolar echinococcosis. MRIs are also used in combination with ultrasonography though CT scans are preferred. Like cystic echinococcosis, imaging is the major method used for the diagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis while the same types of serologic tests (except now specific for "E. multilocularis" antigens) are used to verify the imaging results. It is also important to note that serologic tests are more valuable for the diagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis than for cystic echinococcosis since they tend to be more reliable for alveolar echinococcosis since more antigens specific for "E. multilocularis" are available. In addition to imaging and serology, identification of "E. multilocularis" infection via PCR or a histological examination of a tissue biopsy from the person is another way to diagnose alveolar echinococcosis.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Similar to the diagnosis of alveolar echinococcosis and cystic echinococcosis, the diagnosis of polycystic echinococcosis uses imaging techniques, in particular ultrasonography and CT scans, to detect polycystic structures within the person's body. However, imaging is not the preferred method of diagnosis since the method that is currently considered the standard is the isolation of protoscoleces during surgery or after the person's death and the identification of definitive features of "E. oligarthrus" and "E. vogeli" in these isolated protoscoleces. This is the main way that PE is diagnosed, but some current studies show that PCR may identify "E. oligarthrus" and "E. vogeli" in people's tissues. The only drawback of using PCR to diagnose polycystic echinococcosis is that there aren't many genetic sequences that can be used for PCR that are specific only "E. oligarthrus" or "E. vogeli".


title: Echinococcosis

text: There are several different strategies that are currently being used to prevent and control cystic echinococcosis (CE). Most of these various methods try to prevent and control CE by targeting the major risk factors for the disease and the way it is transmitted. For instance, health education programs focused on cystic echinococcosis and its agents, and improved water sanitation attempt to target poor education and poor drinking water sources, which are both risk factors for contracting echinococcosis. Furthermore, since humans often come into contact with "Echinococcus" eggs via touching contaminated soil, animal feces and animal hair, another prevention strategy is improved hygiene. In addition to targeting risk factors and transmission, control and prevention strategies of cystic echinococcosis also aim at intervening at certain points of the parasite's life cycle, in particular, the infection of hosts (especially dogs) that reside with or near humans. For example, many countries endemic to echinococcosis have researched programs geared at de-worming dogs and vaccinating dogs and other livestock, such as sheep, that also act as hosts for "E. granulosus".


title: Echinococcosis

text: Proper disposal of carcasses and offal after home slaughter is difficult in poor and remote communities and therefore dogs readily have access to offal from livestock, thus completing the parasite cycle of "Echinococcus granulosus" and putting communities at risk of cystic echinococcosis. Boiling livers and lungs that contain hydatid cysts for 30 minutes has been proposed as a simple, efficient and energy- and time-saving way to kill the infectious larvae.


title: Echinococcosis

text: A number of strategies are geared towards prevention and control of alveolar echinococcosis—most of which are similar to those for cystic echinococcosis. For instance, health education programs, improved water sanitation, improved hygiene and de-worming of hosts (particularly red foxes) are all effective to prevent and control the spread of alveolar echinococcosis. Unlike cystic echinococcosis, however, where there is a vaccine against "E. granulosus", there is currently no canidae or livestock vaccine against "E. multilocularis".


title: Echinococcosis

text: While a number of control and prevention strategies deal with cystic and alveolar echinococcosis, there are few methods to control and prevent polycystic echinococcosis. This is probably due to the fact that polycystic echinococcosis is restricted to Central and South America, and that the way that humans become accidental hosts of "E. oligarthrus" and "E. vogeli" is still not completely understood.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Currently there are no human vaccines against any form of echinococcosis. However, there are studies being conducted that are looking at possible vaccine candidates for an effective human vaccine against echinococcosis.


title: Echinococcosis

text: A number of therapy options are presently available. Treatment with albendazole, whether combined or not with praziquantel, is useful for smaller, uncomplicated cysts (< 5 cm). Only 30% of cysts disappear with medical treatment alone. Albendazole is preferred twice a day for 1–5 months. An alternative to albendazole is mebendazole for at least 3 to 6 months.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Surgery is indicated for bigger liver cysts (> 10 cm), cysts at risk of rupture and/or complicated cysts. A laparoscopic approach provides excellent cure rates with minimal morbidity and mortality. The radical technique (total cystopericystectomy) is preferable because of its lower risk for postoperative abdominal infection, biliary fistula, and overall morbidity. Conservative techniques are appropriate in endemic areas where surgery is performed by nonspecialist surgeons.


title: Echinococcosis

text: PAIR (puncture-aspiration-injection-reaspiration) is an innovative technique representing an alternative to surgery. PAIR is a minimally invasive procedure that involves three steps: puncture and needle aspiration of the cyst, injection of a scolicidal solution for 20–30 min, and cyst-re-aspiration and final irrigation. People who undergo PAIR typically take albendazole or mebendazole from 7 days before the procedure until 28 days after the procedure. It is indicated for inoperable cases and/or patients who reject surgery, for recurrence after surgery, and for lack of response to medical treatment. There have been a number of studies that suggest that PAIR with medical therapy is more effective than surgery in terms of disease recurrence, and morbidity and mortality.


title: Echinococcosis

text: There is currently research and studies looking at new treatment involving percutaneous thermal ablation (PTA) of the germinal layer in the cyst by means of a radiofrequency ablation device. This form of treatment is still relatively new and requires much more testing before being widely used.


title: Echinococcosis

text: For alveolar echinococcosis, surgical removal of cysts combined with chemotherapy (using albendazole and/or mebendazole) for up to two years after surgery is the only sure way to completely cure the disease. However, in inoperable cases, chemotherapy by itself can also be used. In treatment using just chemotherapy, one could use either mebendazole in three doses or albendazole in two doses. Since chemotherapy on its own is not guaranteed to completely rid of the disease, people are often kept on the drugs for extended periods of times (i.e. more than 6 months, years). In addition to surgery and chemotherapy, liver transplants are being looked into as a form of treatment for alveolar echinococcosis although it is seen as incredibly risky since it often leads to echinococcosis re-infection in the person afterwards.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Since polycystic echinococcosis is constrained to such a particular area of the world and is not well described or found in many people, treatment of polycystic echinococcosis is less defined than that of cystic and alveolar echinococcosis. While surgical removal of cysts was the treatment of choice for the previous two types of echinococcosis, chemotherapy is the recommended treatment approach for polycystic echinococcosis. While albendazole is the preferred drug, mebendazole can also be used if the treatment is to be for an extended period of time. Only if chemotherapy fails or if the lesions are very small is surgery advised.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Very few countries are considered to be completely free of "E. granulosus". Areas of the world where there is a high rate of infection often coincide with rural, grazing areas where dogs are able to ingest organs from infected animals.


title: Echinococcosis

text: "E. multilocularis" mainly occurs in the Northern hemisphere, including central Europe and the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. However, its distribution was not always like this. For instance, until the end of the 1980s, "E. multilocularis" endemic areas in Europe were known to exist only in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. But during the 1990s and early 2000s, there was a shift in the distribution of "E. multilocularis" as the infection rate of foxes escalated in certain parts of France and Germany.


title: Echinococcosis

text: As a result, several new endemic areas were found in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria and surrounding countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, and Italy. There is also evidence showing that the Baltic Countries are endemic areas.


title: Echinococcosis

text: While alveolar echinococcosis is not extremely common, it is believed that in the coming years it will be an emerging or re-emerging disease in certain countries as a result of "E. multilocularis"’ ability to spread.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Unlike the previous two species of "Echinococcus", "E. vogeli" and "E. oligarthrus" are limited to Central and South America. Furthermore, infections by "E. vogeli" and "E. oligarthrus" (polycystic echinococcosis) are considered to be the rarest form of echinococcosis.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Echinococcosis is a disease that has been recognized by humans for centuries. There has been mention of it in the Talmud. It was also recognized by ancient scholars such as Hippocrates, Aretaeus, Galen and Rhazes. The recommended treatments were based on herbs like "thymus vulgaris" and raw garlic. Although echinococcosis has been well known for the past two thousand years, it was not until the past couple of hundred years that real progress was made in determining and describing its parasitic origin. The first step towards figuring out the cause of echinococcosis occurred during the 17th century when Francesco Redi illustrated that the hydatid cysts of echinococcosis were of "animal" origin. Then, in 1766, Pierre Simon Pallas predicted that these hydatid cysts found in infected humans were actually larval stages of tapeworms.


title: Echinococcosis

text: A few decades afterwards, in 1782, Goeze accurately described the cysts and the tapeworm heads, while in 1786 "E. granulosus" was accurately described by Batsch. Half a century later, during the 1850s, Karl von Siebold showed through a series of experiments that "Echinococcus" cysts do cause adult tapeworms in dogs. Shortly after this, in 1863, "E. multilocularis" was identified by Rudolf Leuckart. Then, during the early to mid 1900s, the more distinct features of "E. granulosus" and "E. multilocularis", their life cycles and how they cause disease were more fully described as more and more people began researching and performing experiments and studies. While "E. granulosus" and "E. multilocularis" were both linked to human echinococcosis before or shortly after the 20th century, it was not until the mid-1900s that "E. oligarthrus" and "E. vogeli" were identified as and shown as being causes of human echinococcosis.


title: Echinococcosis

text: Two calcified objects recovered from a 3rd- to 4th-century grave of an adolescent in Amiens (Northern France) were interpreted as probable hydatid cysts. A study of remains from two 8,000-year-old cemeteries in Siberia showed presence of echinococcosis.


title: Flags of Austria-Hungary

text: Austria-Hungary (often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire) did not have a common flag (a "national flag" could not exist since the Dual Monarchy consisted of two sovereign states). However, the black-gold flag of the ruling Habsburg Dynasty was sometimes used as a "de facto" national flag and a common civil ensign was introduced in 1869 for civilian vessels. Until 1918, the k.u.k. War Fleet continued to carry the Austrian ensign it had used since 1786; and the regiments of the k.u.k. Army carried the double-eagle banners they had used before 1867, as they had a long history in many cases. New ensigns created in 1915 were not implemented due to the ongoing war. At state functions, the Austrian black-yellow and the Hungarian red-white-green tricolor were used.


title: Flags of Austria-Hungary

text: Austria was represented by the black-yellow flag. The Hungarian half of the state, on the other hand, legally had no flag of its own. According to the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement (art. 62 and 63), in all joint Croatian and Hungarian affairs, symbols of both Croatia and Hungary respectively had to be used. For instance, whenever the joint Hungarian-Croatian Parliament held its session in Budapest, both the Croatian and Hungarian flags were hoisted on the parliament building in Budapest. In Vienna, in front of Schönbrunn Palace, the black and yellow flag was flown for Cisleithania (Austrian half), while both Croatian and Hungarian flags were flown for Transleithania (Hungarian half). Hungary proper used a red-white-green tricolor defaced with the Hungarian coat of arms, sometimes used to represent the entirety of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown. The "double" civil ensign, as a symbol of "corporate identity", was also used as the consular flag, as decreed on 18 February 1869. It came into use on 1 August 1869. Legations, however, flew the black-and-yellow flag of Austria alongside the red-white-green flag of Hungary, while embassies flew the two national flags alongside the imperial standard.


title: Sri (actor)

text: While pursuing a degree in Visual Communications at Alpha and Arts Science College, later at Loyola College, Sri appeared in his first acting role in the television serial "Kana Kaanum Kaalangal" on STAR Vijay and tried to audition for the lead role in Balaji Sakthivel's "Kalloori" (2007), without success. Sri was subsequently cast in the director's next film, the drama thriller "Vazhakku Enn 18/9" (2012) featuring newcomers, and it went on to open to unanimously positive reviews. To prepare for the role, he went to roadside eateries in Ramapuram and familiarised himself in the lifestyle of settlers. It subsequently went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, as well as Best Film at both the Vijay Awards and the Filmfare Awards, while a reviewer from The Hindu praised Sri's performance, adding "he has large eyes that reveal the right amount of innocence." The success of the film saw him gain further offers, but he was reluctant to only opt for promising scripts and turned down an opportunity to work on Nalan Kumarasamy's "Soodhu Kavvum" (2013) during the period. His second film, Mysskin's "Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum" (2013) also fetched critical acclaim, with a critic from Sify.com noting Sri delivers "a riveting performance and is an actor of substance in the making." His following films, the comedy "Soan Papdi" (2015) and "Vil Ambu" (2016), which was presented by director Suseenthiran, had low-profile responses at the box office, even though the latter received good reviews.


title: Sri (actor)

text: Sri's next film was "Maanagaram" (2017) directed by newcomer Lokesh Kanagaraj, and featured him alongside Sundeep Kishan and Regina Cassandra. Portraying a young man frustrated with life in Chennai, Sri won critical acclaim for his role in the film, while the film went on to become one of the most profitable films of the year. Sri then participated in the first season of the Tamil reality show "Bigg Boss", but left the show on the fourth day due to personal problems.


title: An Angel at My Table

text: An Angel at My Table is a 1990 biographical drama film directed by Jane Campion. The film is based on Janet Frame's three autobiographies, "To the Is-Land" (1982), "An Angel at My Table" (1984), and "The Envoy from Mirror City" (1984). The film was very well received. It won awards at the New Zealand Film and Television awards, the Toronto International Film Festival, and second prize at the Venice Film Festival.


title: An Angel at My Table

text: "An Angel at My Table" is a dramatisation of the autobiographies of New Zealand author Janet Frame. Originally produced as a television mini-series, the film, as with Frame's autobiographies, is divided into three sections, with the lead role played by three actresses who portray Frame at different stages of her life: Alexia Keogh (child), Karen Fergusson (teenager), and Kerry Fox (adult). The film follows Frame from when she grows up in a poor family, through her years in a mental institution, and into her writing years after her escape.


title: An Angel at My Table

text: "An Angel at My Table" was the first film from New Zealand to be screened at the Venice Film Festival, where it received multiple standing ovations and was awarded the Grand Special Jury Prize despite evoking yells of protest that it did not win The Golden Lion. In addition to virtually sweeping the local New Zealand film awards, it also took home the prize for best foreign film at the Independent Spirit Awards and the International Critics' Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film not only established Jane Campion as an emerging director and launched the career of Kerry Fox, but it also introduced a broader audience to Janet Frame's writing.


title: An Angel at My Table

text: Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, stating; "[The film] tells its story calmly and with great attention to human detail and, watching it, I found myself drawn in with a rare intensity". The film also received praise in "The Guardian" where film critic Derek Malcolm called it "one of the very best films of the year". "The Sydney Morning Herald" wrote, ""Angel" is a film where almost every image strikes the eye with the vividness of an inspired art composition: one where small incidents gain magical properties". "Variety" said the film is "potentially painful and harrowing...imbued with gentle humor and great compassion, which makes every character come vividly alive". In 2019, the BBC polled 368 film experts from 84 countries to name the 100 greatest films directed by women, with "An Angel at My Table" voted at No. 47.


title: Nonsectarian

text: Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group.


title: Nonsectarian

text: Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelphi University, Berea College, Boston University, Bradley University, Brandeis University, Columbia College in Missouri, Concordia University in Montréal, Canada, Cornell University, Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Denison University, Duke University, Elon University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Franklin & Marshall College, George Washington University, Hawaii Pacific University, Hillsdale College, Hofstra University, Howard University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, National University, New York University, Northwestern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Pratt Institute, Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, Reed College in Oregon, Whitman College in Washington, Rice University, the University of Richmond, Syracuse University, Tulane University, the University of Chicago, the University of Denver, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, the Washington University in St. Louis, and Woodbury University in California.


title: Nonsectarian

text: Private primary and secondary schools in the US that self-identify as being nonsectarian include Allendale Columbia School in Rochester, New York, Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in New York, Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania (the oldest nonsectarian school in the U.S.), Pine Crest School in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and The Pembroke Hill School.


title: Nonsectarian

text: Pi Lambda Phi ( or Pi Lam) is a college social fraternity founded by Frederick Manfred Werner, Louis Samter Levy, and Henry Mark Fisher at Yale University in 1895. It was founded as the first non-sectarian fraternity, "a fraternity in which all men were brothers, no matter what their religion; a fraternity in which ability, open-mindedness, farsightedness, and a progressive, forward-looking attitude would be recognized as the basic attributes." It currently boasts 35 chapters and four colonies in the United States and one chapter in Canada. The fraternity founded the "Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity Educational Foundation"


title: Nonsectarian

text: The first nonsectarian sorority was Phi Sigma Sigma. Phi Sigma Sigma (), colloquially known as "Phi Sig," was the first collegiate nonsectarian sorority, welcoming women of all faiths and backgrounds. Founded by 10 women on November 26, 1913 at Hunter College in New York, Phi Sigma Sigma is now an international sorority with 60,000 initiated members, 115 collegiate chapters and more than 100 alumnae chapters, clubs and associations across the United States and Canada.


title: Nonsectarian

text: Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, founded in 1917, was the first nonsectarian social sorority founded at a professional school.


title: Nonsectarian

text: A 1956 amendment to the constitution of the State of Virginia allowed for tuition grants to be paid by the state to "nonsectarian private schools".


title: Nonsectarian

text: Blaine amendments to thirty-eight state constitutions forbid direct government aid to educational institutions that have a religious affiliation. The typical wording, "religious sects or denominations," is most often used to challenge support to Catholic parochial schools (38% of private school attendance); Protestant schools with an undifferentiated "Christian," often get a pass. These schools often claim both "nonsectarian" and "Christian" in their promotional materials. The United States Department of Education differentiates "Christian" from "Conservative Christian" in its analyses.


title: Nonsectarian

text: Organizations that are explicitly nonsectarian include the Apex Clubs of Australia, those participating in the Ethical Culture Movement, International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, and the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. In Northern Ireland, nonsectarian refers to groups identifying themselves as neither Republican or Unionist, such as the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, Green Party Northern Ireland, People Before Profit or the Police Service of Northern Ireland.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The three services have around 346,700 active personnel; conscription has never been imposed in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lanka Coast Guard is also under the purview of the Ministry of Defence and its members are all from the Sri Lanka Navy.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Sri Lanka has a military history going back to more than 2000 years. The roots of the modern Sri Lankan military lead back to the colonial era when the Portuguese, Dutch and British established local militias to support their wars against the local Kingdoms. The British created the Ceylon Rifle Regiment during the Kandyan wars. Although it had natives in its ranks, it was largely composed of Malays. It was disbanded in 1873.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The lineage of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces dates back to 1881, when the British created a volunteer reserve on the island named the Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers. Created to supplement the British garrison in Ceylon in the event of an external threat, it gradually increased in size. In 1910 it was renamed the Ceylon Defence Force (CDF) and consisted of several regiments. The CDF mobilized for home defence in World War I and again in World War II when its units were deployed along with allied forces in Asia and Africa. At the end of the war it has grown in size to that of an independent brigade, but was de-mobilized in 1946 and disbanded in 1949. In 1937 the "Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force" was established (later renamed as the Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (CRNVR)), it was mobilized for war in 1939 and was incorporated into the Royal Navy.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Following the establishment of the Dominion of Ceylon with Britain granting independence in 1948, work began to establish a regular military. The Army Act No. 17 of 1949 was passed by Parliament on 11 April 1949 and formalized in the Gazette Extraordinary No. 10028 of 10 October 1949. This marked the creation of the Ceylon Army, and the CDF and the CRNVR were disbanded to make way for a regular navy. On 9 December 1950 the Royal Ceylon Navy (RCyN) was established. Finally, in 1951 the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) was established as the youngest of the three forces. From the outset Britain played a significant role in helping the Ceylon government in developing its armed forces.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The growth of the Ceylon Armed Forces was slow due to lack of foreign threat, since Ceylon maintained cordial relations with its neighbor India and had a defence treaty with Britain. In the 1950s it was mainly employed in internal security assisting the police. There was an attempted coup in 1962 by a group of reservists, which led to cuts in military spending and the disbandment of several regiments. This, together with the lack of an intelligence agency, left it ill-prepared for the insurgency launched by the Marxist JVP in April 1971.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The 1971 JVP Insurrection saw Ceylon Armed Forces mobilizing for combat operations for the first time and its size grew rapidly. The insurrection was brought under control in a few months. In 1972 Ceylon became a republic and the Ceylon Armed Forces became the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: By the early 1980s, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces mobilized against the insurgency of Tamil militant groups in the north of the island. This was the beginning of the Sri Lankan Civil War. The size of the Armed Forces grew rapidly in the 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the Armed Forces began launching operations in the like of conventional warfare against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which had by then became the most powerful of the Tamil militant groups. This led to India intervening by entering Sri Lankan air space to carry out food drops. Shortly afterward the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord was signed and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was sent to Sri Lanka to establish peace.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The military was redistricted to its bases but was soon involved in another insurrection by the JVP in the south of the island from 1987 to 1989. In the north, tension increased with the LTTE and the IPKF leading to open war with the two suffering heavy casualties. In 1990 the IPKF pulled out and the war commenced with the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and the LTTE.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In 1994, a brief ceasefire came into place and peace talks began. The ceasefire ended when the LTTE attacked several docked naval gunboats. The phase of the war that followed, known as Eelam War III, saw a conventional war taking place in the northern and eastern provinces of the island and terrorist attacks in other parts of the country. The Sri Lankan Army began deploying full divisions in offensive operations and the Navy and Air Force increased their inventories to support the Army.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In 2002, a new ceasefire was established with Norwegian mediation and peace talks began. The SLMM was established to monitor the ceasefire and certain progress archived until the LTTE withdrew from the peace talks in 2003. Although the ceasefire continued no peace talks took place till 2005. In the meantime, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) filed a report stating the LTTE had violated the ceasefire 3,471 times since the signing of the ceasefire, including matters such as child recruiting, torture, abduction, firing of weapons, sabotage, carrying of arms in government-held areas, construction of new positions, movement of arms, ammunition and military equipment, denial of access to families of detainees and the obstruction of truce monitors. However the security forces violated the ceasefire only 162 times.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Some defense reforms also commenced in 2002 when the Prime Minister established the Defence Review Committee (DRC) which formulated extensive recommendations that encapsulate force modernization as well as the restructuring of command and control in ways that would make the army more responsive to civil control. The first task of the Committee was to assess the Higher Defence Organisation, given the decision by the President to relinquish the defense portfolio. When a paper drafted by the Committee was inadvertently made public, concerns were raised that the Committee's recommendations for restructuring Higher Defence Organisation might be constitutionally flawed in relation to the role of the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces. Although the work of the Committee thereafter proceeded apace, the DRC itself became a political football amidst the growing tension between the President and the Prime Minister. In 2003 the President took the decision to bring an end to the work of the DRC and, instead, assigned the task of SSR to the Joint Operations Headquarters, since when little progress has been evident.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In April 2006 following a suicide bomb attack on the Commander of the Army, airstrikes began followed by skirmishes, however, both the government and the LTTE claimed that the ceasefire was still in place. The offensive by the Armed Forces was launched when the LTTE closed the sluice gates of the Mavil Aru reservoir on 21 July and cut the water supply to 15,000 villages in government controlled areas. This led to several major attacks by the LTTE in the eastern province and the north. The Armed Forces went on the offensive successfully liberating LTTE control areas in the eastern province during 2007.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In 2017 Sri Lanka Armed Forced deployed nearly 10,000 personnel and equipment for relief, help and rescue operations of 2017 Sri Lanka floods. This is the biggest military deployment of the peacetime.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: On 3 January 2008 the government informed Norway of its decision to quit the ceasefire, with it the ceasefire officially ended on 16 January 2008, following several bombings in the capital. Along with the ceasefire operations of the SLMM also ended.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: During 2008 there was heavy fighting in the northern province where the Sri Lanka Armed Forces launched major offensives and succeeded in liberating LTTE controlled areas of the Mannar District, the Vavuniya District and moving into the Mullaitivu District and Kilinochchi District. During December 2008, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces were engaged in offensives on all fronts, with heavy fighting around Kilinochchi (where the LTTE had its headquarters) and close to Mullaitivu.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In early 2009 the Armed Forces liberated in quick succession Kilinochchi and the strategically important Elephant Pass. Thus establishing a land route to the government controlled Jaffna Peninsula which had been supplied by sea and air for over 10 years after its liberation in 1995. Shortly thereafter Mullaitivu was liberated by the 59th Division of the SLA. Boxed into a small land area north of Mullaitivu, the LTTE with its remaining cadres and leadership was effectively trapped, with this land mass being slowly reduced until May 2009.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: On 19 May 2009, the Sri Lanka Armed Forces won its final battle against the LTTE with the death of several LTTE leaders, including its head Velupillai Prabhakaran while he was attempting to flee.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: On 22 May 2009, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa confirmed that 6,261 personnel of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had lost their lives and 29,551 were wounded during Eelam War IV since July 2006.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Armed Forces along with the LTTE have been accused of committing war crimes during the war, particularly during the final stages. A panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to advise him on the issue of accountability with regard to any alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the final stages of the civil war found "credible allegations" which, if proven, indicated that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the Tamil Tigers.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The posture of the military has been defensive due to the nature of the strategic threats to Sri Lanka. In the short-term, internal security is considered the main threat to the nation's future. In the long-term, the threat is seen as primarily external from current and future superpowers in their rival quests for dominance of the Indian Ocean; at one point these were the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: As head of state, the President of Sri Lanka, is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The National Security Council, chaired by the President is the authority charged with formulating and executing defence policy for the nation. The highest level of military headquarters is the Ministry of Defence, since 1978 except for a few rare occasions the President retained the portfolio defence, thus being the Minister of Defence. The ministry and the armed forces have been controlled during these periods by either a Minister of State, Deputy Minister for defence, and recently by the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Defence. Prior to 1978 the Prime Minister held the portfolio of Minister of Defence and External Affairs, and was supported by a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the management of the forces, while the planning and execution of combined operations is the responsibility of the Joint Operations Command (JOC). The JOC is headed by the Chief of the Defence Staff who is the most senior officer in the Armed Forces and is an appointment that can be held by a General, Admiral, or Air Chief Marshal. The three services have their own respective professional chiefs: the Commander of the Army, the Commander of the Navy and the Commander of the Air Force, who have much autonomy.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of Sri Lanka's three armed services. Established as the Royal Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became a republic in 1972. The Army of approximately 203,000 regular and reserve personnel including 73,000 National Guardsmen and is responsible for overseeing land-based military and humanitarian operations.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: At present the army has deployed 12 divisions and forming 4 more in while carrying out combat operations. Since 2004 the Sri Lankan Army maintains a battalion and support units of around 1000 personnel in the United Nations peacekeeping operations.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Sri Lankan Navy with approximately 48,000 personal is the key maritime division of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and is classed as the most vital defence force of Sri Lanka. It conducts maritime operations at sea for the defence of the Sri Lankan nation and its interests. The professional head of the navy is the Commander of the navy, who exercises his command from the Naval Headquarters in Colombo. Established in 1950 as the Royal Ceylon Navy it was renamed as the Sri Lanka Navy in 1972.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In recent years it had played a key role it the Sri Lankan civil war, conducting deep sea, coastal & inshore patrols, amphibious and supply operations. The navy has its own elite naval special forces unit, the Special Boat Squadron and Navy Marines.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Sri Lanka Air Force with approximately 28,700 personal is the aerial defense division and the youngest of the Sri Lankan Tri Forces. Founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force, it relied on the British Royal Air Force for its earliest equipment, training, and leadership. The Air Force played a major role in the war against Tamil separatists. Although Sri Lanka is only a small island state, its Air Force has proven highly capable and efficient. In recent times the air force has expanded to specialize mainly in providing air-support to ground forces and landing troops and carrying airstrikes on rebel held areas in the Northern and Eastern provinces.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Sri Lankan Coast Guard was established in 2010 and is under the purview of the Ministry of Defence, staffed by civilian personnel.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: There are two official paramilitary forces under the command of the Ministry of Defence, as well as another under the Minister of Justice:


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Today the training of all armed services are carried out in Sri Lanka. With a Defence University, a Staff College, three Military Academies for the three armed services and many specialized training schools and centers members of the Sri Lanka armed forces have a high-level training and professionalism.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Sri Lankan military has received specialized training assistance from other nations such as China, Pakistan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United States, India, and South Africa.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Referring to the overseas military training given to Sri Lanka, the U.S. government's contribution at a higher level. The "Foreign Military Financing (FMF)" and "International Military Education and Training (IMET)" programs helping to standardizing and strengthening the country's military greatly.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Although much of the current military hardware used by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces is acquired from China, Pakistan, Israel, India, Russia, and the United States. Indigenous weapon systems have been developed and produces within Sri Lanka to suit its requirements. Most of these have been produced by the armed forces. In 1992 the Ordnance Factory was established beginning the manufacture of artillery and ammunition including trip flares in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (SLEME) is responsible for the production of armoured vehicles and other equipment to the armed forces and have produced several MRAP-type vehicles such as the Unibuffel. Naval Boat Building Yard (NBBY) of the Navy is responsible for the production of small boats such as the Cedric and Wave Rider classes alongside other private companies such as Solas Marine Lanka while the Colombo Dockyard supplies larger vessels.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Centre for Research & Development (CRD) is the Research and Development organisation of the Ministry of Defence and has developed UAVs, electronic warfare equipment, weapon systems, various simulators and network-centric warfare systems for the military. The tri-forces have their own R&D organisations with the Army Research Analysis Projection & Development Branch (RAP&D) of the Sri Lanka Army, Research and Development Unit of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Research and Development Wing of the Sri Lanka Air Force.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The highest military decoration awarded by the tri-forces is the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, awarded to all regular and volunteer officers and service personnel who display extraordinary individual bravery in combat; thus far, all PWVs have been posthumous. A related award is the Uththama Pooja Pranama Padakkama, an exclusively posthumous decoration awarded to the family or next-of-kin of service personnel confirmed to be killed- or missing in action.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The highest civilian decoration awarded by the armed forces of Sri Lanka is the Weerodara Vibhushanaya, the military equivalent being the Weera Wickrama Vibhushanaya. The most recent commemorative decoration awarded was the Sri Lanka Air Force 50th Anniversary Medal, awarded in 2001. The armed forces (especially the Army) awards campaign medals for personnel that have taken part in successful, notable and high-risk operations: the first of these was the Vadamarachchi Operation Medal in 1983, while the latest (the Northern and Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medals) were awarded in 2010, following the conclusion of the Eelam War.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Since the end of the civil war in May 2009 Sri Lanka's 300,000 strong military has increased its non-military activities, leading to accusations of militarisation and even military rule. The military is involved in everything from large-scale property developments to the running of roadside cafes. The military has built roads, bridges, houses and stadiums. The Urban Development Authority, which spends hundreds billions of rupees a year, was taken over by the Ministry of Defence in 2010. A year later the ministry was renamed Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. The ministry will have a budget of 229.9 billion rupees ($2.1 billion) in 2012, the largest of any government ministry.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: In early 2011, as food prices soared, the Army bought vegetables from farmers and then sold them to the public at below market prices. Some of the vegetables came from military farms. The Army also runs a travel agency called "Air Travel Services (Pvt) Ltd" selling air-tickets and foreign package holidays. In the war affected north of the country, where the military presence is significantly higher than the rest of the country even after the end of the conflict, the military operates numerous small restaurants and shops catering mainly for tourists from the south. Most of the roadside cafes along the A9 highway are owned and operated by the Army. The Army runs a luxurious holiday resort called "Thalsevana" near Kankesanthurai inside the Valikamam North High Security Zone where the residents were forcibly expelled in the early 1990s and have not been allowed to resettle despite the end of the civil war. The Army also runs two other holiday resorts, one in Kukuleganga and the other in Wadduwa. In November 2011 it was announced that the Army would build a five star hotel in Colombo. During 2010-11, whilst local government was suspended in Colombo using emergency regulations, the Army took over many of the functions of the Colombo Municipal Council such as supervision of the collection of rubbish, demolition of low income housing and even decoration of the streets during festivals.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: The Navy's "Jetliner" (A542) passenger ship is used as a recreational cruise ship providing onboard weddings, receptions, corporate events, parties and other social functions. The Navy's A543 vessel provides a whale and dolphin watching service for tourists. The Navy also provides a canal-boat service in Colombo from Wellawatta to Nawala, a boat service to Adam's Bridge for tourists and a vegetable shop. Helitours is the commercial arm of the Air Force established in the 1970s. It was inactive during the civil war but after its end the business has started functioning again, taking advantage of the country's booming tourism.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: From 2011 all undergraduates are required to take part in compulsory leadership training and the government has chosen the military to provide this training. In November 2011 it was announced that the military would take over the maintenance of the country's three international cricket stadiums from the financially troubled national cricket board. The Army has taken over the Hambantota Cricket Stadium, the Navy Pallekele Cricket Stadium and the Air Force Premadasa Stadium.


title: Sri Lanka Armed Forces

text: Many senior military commanders have been appointed to senior positions in the diplomatic and civil services: Air Chief Marshal Jayalath Weerakkody is the High Commissioner to Pakistan; Air Chief Marshal Donald Perera is the Ambassador to Israel; Major General Nanda Mallawaarachchi is the Ambassador to Indonesia; Major General Udaya Perera is the Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia; Major General Jagath Dias is the Deputy Ambassador to Germany, Switzerland and the Vatican; Major General Shavendra Silva is the Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN; Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda is the Ambassador to Japan; Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe is the High Commissioner to Australia; Major General Amal Karunasekara is the chargé d'affaires in Eritrea; Major General G. A. Chandrasiri is the Governor of Northern Province; Mohan Wijewickrema s the Governor of Eastern Province; Rohan Daluwatte is the Chairman of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority; and Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke are board members of the Water's Edge Complex.


title: Celestial marriage

text: Celestial marriage (also called the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage, Eternal Marriage, Temple Marriage) is a doctrine that marriage can last forever in heaven. This is a unique teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) or Mormonism, and branches of Mormon fundamentalism.


title: Celestial marriage

text: Within the LDS Church, family relationships can be sealed, thereby continuing beyond death, via the sealing ordinance. The ordinance is associated with a covenant that takes place inside temples by those authorized to hold the sealing power. The only people allowed to enter the temple, be married there, or attend these sealings are those who hold an official temple recommend. Obtaining a temple recommend requires one to abide by LDS Church doctrine and be interviewed and considered worthy by their bishop and stake president. A prerequisite to contracting an eternal marriage, in addition to obtaining a temple recommend, involves undergoing the temple endowment, which involves making of covenants of obedience and devotion to God and his commandments.


title: Celestial marriage

text: To receive the promised blessings of the sealing covenant, one must fulfill his or her promise to be obedient to all the Lord's commandments, including living a clean chaste life, abstaining from any impure thing, willing to sacrifice and consecrate all that one has for the Lord. In the marriage ceremony, a man and a woman make covenants to God and to each other and are said to be sealed as husband and wife for time and all eternity. The religion, citing and , distinguishes itself on this point from some other religious traditions by emphasizing that marriage relationships and covenants made in this life in the temple will continue to be valid in the next life if they abide by these covenants.


title: Celestial marriage

text: In the 19th century, the term "celestial marriage" usually referred to the practice of plural marriage, a practice which the LDS Church formally abandoned in 1890. The term is still used in this sense by Mormon fundamentalists not affiliated with the LDS Church.


title: Celestial marriage

text: In the LDS Church today, both men and women may enter a celestial marriage with only one living partner at a time. A man may be sealed to more than one woman. If his wife dies, he may enter another celestial marriage, and be sealed to both his living wife and deceased wife or wives. Many Mormons believe that all these marriages will be valid in the eternities and the husband will live together in the celestial kingdom as a family with all to whom he was sealed. In 1998, the LDS Church changed the policy and now also allows women to be sealed to more than one man. A woman, however, may not be sealed to more than one man at a time while she is alive. She may only be sealed to subsequent partners after she has died. Proxy sealings, like proxy baptisms, are offered to the person in the afterlife. According to church teachings, the celestial marriage covenant, as with other covenants, requires the continued righteousness of the couple to remain in effect after this life. If only one remains righteous that person is promised a righteous eternal companion in eternity.


title: Celestial marriage

text: In , Jesus is asked about the continuing state of marriage after death and he replies that after the resurrection of the dead, "people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." Mormons do not interpret Jesus' statement as meaning "that marriages will not "exist" after the Resurrection, but that marriages will not be "performed" after the Resurrection; for all questions of marital status must be settled before that time." Thus, Mormons believe that only mortals can be the subject of an eternal marriage ordinance; mortals may receive the ordinance for themselves or by proxy for those who have already died.


title: Celestial marriage

text: Celestial marriage is an instance of the LDS Church doctrine of sealing. Following a celestial marriage, not only are the couple sealed as husband and wife, but children born into the marriage are also sealed to that family. In cases where the husband and wife have been previously married civilly and there are already children from their union, the children accompany their parents to the temple and are sealed to their parents following the marriage ceremony.


title: Celestial marriage

text: LDS Church members believe that through this sealing, the family, constituted of a man, wife, and children will live together forever, if obedient to God's commandments.


title: Celestial marriage

text: There is substantial doctrinal dispute between the LDS Church and its offshoots as to whether celestial marriage is plural or monogamous. Some critics argue that the official Mormon scripture, Doctrine and Covenants section 132, which describes celestial marriage, specifies that only plural marriages qualify. Others argue that the text indicates "a wife", which would mean that any temple sealing ordinance of marriage could qualify. The latter view is supported by the official "History of the Church", which indicates that marriage for eternity was monogamous except in "some circumstances":


title: Celestial marriage

text: [I]t is borne in mind that at this time the new law of marriage for the Church—marriage for eternity, "including plurality of wives under some circumstances"—was being introduced by the Prophet [Joseph Smith], it is very likely that the following article was written with a view of applying the principles here expounded to the conditions created by introducing said marriage system.


title: Celestial marriage

text: In the following quote, apostle Lorenzo Snow, who later became president of the LDS Church, refers to "celestial plural marriage" rather than simply "celestial marriage":


title: Celestial marriage

text: He knew the voice of God—he knew the commandment of the Almighty to him was to go forward—to set the example, and establish Celestial plural marriage. He knew that he had not only his own prejudices and pre-possessions to combat and to overcome, but those of the whole Christian world...; but God ... had given the commandment. Nevertheless, it is correct that "celestial marriage" was often used to refer to plural marriage.


title: Celestial marriage

text: Mormon fundamentalists cleave to the view that there is no celestial marriage that is not plural, while the LDS Church claims otherwise. As viewed by the LDS Church, plural marriages in the early church, when properly authorized and conducted, were, in fact, celestial marriages; but celestial marriages need not be plural marriages. In addition, since celestial marriages must be performed by someone with proper priesthood authority, and since plural marriage is no longer authorized by the LDS Church, no authorized celestial plural marriages can be performed today. Mormon fundamentalists argue, in return, that they have retained the priesthood authority to perform these marriages.


title: Celestial marriage

text: A concept of celestial marriage was described by Emanuel Swedenborg as early as 1749. Swedenborg's Latin term "conjugium coeleste" was translated as "celestial marriage" by John Clowes in 1782. Two more recent translators have preferred the term "heavenly marriage." In all his authoritative writing, Swedenborg only mentions the term "celestial marriage" twice.


title: Celestial marriage

text: Swedenborg defined the celestial marriage or heavenly marriage as the marriage of love with wisdom or of goodness with truth. He wrote, "Truth and good joined together is what is called the celestial marriage, which constitutes heaven itself with a person." Swedenborg does not use "celestial marriage" to refer to the marriage of husband and wife, although he says that the marriage of husband and wife has its origin in the heavenly or celestial marriage of goodness and truth.


title: Celestial marriage

text: According to Swedenborg, true married love forms an eternal bond, an actual joining together of minds, so that married partners who truly love each other are not separated by death but continue to be married to eternity. He writes that this love is "celestial, spiritual, holy pure and clean above every love which exists from the Lord with angels of heaven and people in the church." None can come into this love, he says, but those who are monogamous and "who go to the Lord and love the truths of the church and do the good things it teaches."


title: Celestial marriage

text: Craig Miller has investigated the possibility that Swedenborg influenced Joseph Smith, as there are similarities between some of their teachings. He concludes that Smith may have learned something about Swedenborg through third parties, but was unlikely to have read much if any of Swedenborg's works for himself. Among Smith's connections was Sarah M. Cleveland, who was married to a Swedenborgian at the time of her plural marriage to Smith in 1842. It was shortly afterwards, in July 1843, that Smith recorded receiving a revelation regarding eternal marriage in Doctrine and Covenants 132.


title: Frederick Koehler

text: Frederick Koehler (born June 16, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Chip Lowell on "Kate & Allie" as well as Andrew Schillinger on the HBO drama "Oz".


title: Frederick Koehler

text: After "Kate & Allie", Koehler attended Carnegie Mellon University, from where he said he received "a huge education in theater."


title: Canadair

text: Canadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. In 1986, its assets were acquired by Bombardier Aerospace, the aviation division of Canadian transport conglomerate Bombardier Inc.


title: Canadair

text: Canadair's origins lie in the establishment of a factory for Canadian Vickers in the Saint-Laurent borough of Montreal, at Cartierville Airport. It was created as a separate entity by the government of Canada on 11 November, 1944.


title: Canadair

text: Throughout much of its existence, it was a subsidiary of various other aircraft manufacturers prior to being nationalized by the Canadian government in 1976.


title: Canadair

text: For a decade, the company operated as a federally-owned Crown Corporation. In 1986, Canadair was privatized via its sale to Bombardier, after which it became a core element of the firm's aerospace division. The company's former principal manufacturing facility, "Canadair Plant One", remains intact to the present day, although Cartierville Airport itself has been closed and since undergone redevelopment.


title: Canadair

text: During its operational years, Canadair achieved several aviation firsts; the CL-44D, based on the British Bristol Britannia airliner, was the first design that allowed access by swinging the entire rear fuselage. The CL-89 and CL-289 were the first surveillance drones to be put into service in several countries' armed forces. The experimental CL-84 was the first VTOL aircraft that rotated the wings to achieve vertical lift-off (tiltwing). The CL-215 was the first purpose-designed water bomber.


title: Canadair

text: Canadair was formally created on 11 November 1944 as a separate entity by the government of Canada. Having absorbed the operations of the Canadian Vickers company, it initially operated as a manufacturer of Consolidated PBY "Canso" flying boats on behalf of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Benjamin W. Franklin became its first president. In addition to the PBY contract, a development contract to produce a new variant of the Douglas DC-4 transport was also underway. The resulting aircraft, the Canadair DC-4M, which was powered by an arrangement of four British-sourced Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, began production during 1946; it was marketed under the "Northstar" name.


title: Canadair

text: During the immediate postwar era, Canadair purchased the "work in progress" on the existing Douglas DC-3/C-47 series. In 1946, the Electric Boat Company, an American industrial group, bought a controlling interest in the company; shortly thereafter, the two companies merged to form the American company General Dynamics in 1952. During 1954, General Dynamics opted to purchase Convair, which had been created by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft; as a result of this purchase, Canadair was reorganised as Convair's Canadian subsidiary.


title: Canadair

text: During the 1950s, Canadair decided that it would develop its own indigenous trainer aircraft as a private venture. This aircraft, which would become the CT-114 Tutor was the product of the company’s in-house Preliminary Design department. By August 1957, the basic configuration had been completed, which was of a turbojet-powered, low-wing aircraft, complete with a tricycle undercarriage and a side-by-side cockpit arrangement. Despite a lack of official backing from the Canadian Government, the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Directorate of Training’s Jet Trainer Liaison Committee had closely engaged with the company; their involvement in the project had reportedly made a significant impact in the aircraft's final design. During September 1961, the Canadian government, having been impressed by the performance of the prototype, placed a sizeable order for 190 production aircraft on behalf of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Serving as the service's primary trainer platform, the Tutor would be operated as such for over thirty years.


title: Canadair

text: Another indigenously-developed design was the CL-215 amphibian. It arose from an internal research study during the early 1960s at Canadair, originally conceived of as a twin-engined floatplane transport based on the design of the "369 Canso" (a variant of the PBY). However, it was altered into a "firefighter" following a request by forestry officials in the Quebec Service Aérien (Quebec Government Air Service) who wanted a more effective way of delivering water to forest fires. The 1962 preliminary design, designated as the "CL-204", was a purpose-designed water bomber that evolved into an amphibian flying boat configuration, powered by two shoulder-mounted Pratt & Whitney R-2800 piston engines. Its design was shaped by a desire for the CL-205 to be well-suited for performing a range of roles, including air-sea search and rescue, cargo haulage and commercial passenger-carrying, in addition to the water bomber mission. The definitive design was publicly revealed at the 1965 Paris Air Show. While the "CL-215A" served as the standard water bomber configuration, another model, designated as the "CL-215C", had been envisioned to dispense with compromises meant to enhance its performance at the water bomber role, allowing it be furnished with larger doors on the sides of the fuselage and a revised underfloor hull structure.


title: Canadair

text: Perhaps the company's most commercially successful product was the Challenger 600 business jet. Originally conceived of by the American aviation inventor Bill Lear as the "LearStar 600", at the end of 1975, Canadair gave its backing to the concept; during April 1976, the company opted to acquire the whole project, formally launching it with the backing of the Canadian federal government shortly thereafter. Development of the Challenger 600 was hampered by a deadly crash amid the flight test programme on 3 April 1980; despite this, type certification for the aircraft was approved by both Transport Canada and the Federal Aviation Administration later that same year., The high cost of developing the Challenger 600 has been attributed as a major cause of Canadair's poor financial situation during the 1980s, being reportedly close to bankruptcy; the company's condition in turn ultimately contributed to its acquisition by Bombardier Inc. during 1986. In the long run, the business jet was well received by the market and can be considered to be a success, being produced for over four decades. In excess of 1,000 Challenger 600s had been reportedly completed by late 2018.


title: Canadair

text: Outside of the field of aviation, Canadair opted to diversify into various other sectors, developing its own range of industrial and commercial products. The "Canarch" division was involved in curtain wall design and manufacture for a number of buildings. They also produce the cabins for many air traffic control towers operated by the Federal Aviation Administration in the United States. Both tracked and air-cushioned vehicles were designed and underwent testing; however none proceeded into commercial production.


title: Canadair

text: In the late 1950s, the United States Army contracted Canadair to develop a small light-weight all-terrain amphibious tracked vehicle. In turn, Canadair developed the CL-70 RAT "Remote Articulated Track"; this vehicle, while not a commercial success, gave Canadair useful experience towards the development of the upgraded CL-91 Dynatrac, which was a marketing success and purchased by the US Army as "XM-571".


title: Canadair

text: During 1976, the Canadian government acquired Canadair Ltd. from General Dynamics. It remained a federal crown corporation until 1986 when, having experienced record losses during its development of the Challenger business jet, the Mulroney government sold it to Bombardier Inc. Shortly after Canadair's acquisition, Bombardier was able to restore it to profitability; the company soon acquired other aviation companies, such as the near-bankrupt Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the business jet specialist Learjet of Wichita, Kansas, American, as well as de Havilland Aircraft of Canada of Toronto, Ontario. Together with these other entities, Canadair became a core component of Bombardier Aerospace.


title: Canadair

text: Following the company's acquisition by Bombardier, the Canadair name had continued to be prominently used in the branding of its larger series of business jets and regional jets, which have been marketed as the Canadian Regional Jet (CRJ). However, this branding has since been dropped; new projects from all of Bombardier's various aircraft divisions have since simply been known as Bombardier Aerospace.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: William Currie Watson (born September 23, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, banjo player, actor and founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show. His debut solo album "Folk Singer, Vol. I", was released in May 2014; its follow-up "Folksinger, Vol. 2" was released September 15, 2017 on Acony Records. He has appeared at the Newport Folk Festival and other major music festivals. He currently resides in the Woodland Hills district of Los Angeles.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: Watson appears as The Kid in Joel and Ethan Coen's 2018 film "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", also performing on the soundtrack.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: William Currie Watson was born in Watkins Glen, New York (Schuyler County), and raised there, in Upstate New York, around Ithaca. Growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, Watson listened to music on the radio – from Michael Jackson to Nirvana – but also his father's record albums, including The Rolling Stones and Neil Young. He recalls:


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: He first met Ben Gould in high school and they began playing music together. Around Ithaca and next-door Tompkins County "a lot of old-time fiddle music" was being played, some of it by banjo player Richie Stearns and the group Donna The Buffalo. Watson was exposed to old-time music firsthand at a weekly old-time jam.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: Both Watson and Gould dropped out of school and formed the band The Funnest Game, which like Richie Stearns' group The Horse Flies had "clawhammer banjo, electric guitar, drums." Their brand of electric/old-time was heavily influenced by the old-time scene prominent in Tompkins and Schuyler County, New York, including The Horse Flies and The Highwoods Stringband. Performing locally, the young band earned the respect of local musicians and gained a following, appearing weekly at the Rongovian Embassy with Richie Stearns and annually at the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in Trumansburg, New York.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: Future bandmate Ketch Secor described it as a "young folksy kind of jam element acoustic band that was really popular in the southern tier region of New York State." Watson, he says, "was playing shows statewide by the time he was sixteen" with "this group that had some congas and some clawhammer banjo."


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: Watson met future co-founder of Old Crow Medicine Show Ketch Secor after the latter finished high school in New Hampshire, his band broke up in Virginia, and he enrolled in Ithaca College. Secor brought friend and former bandmate Chris "Critter" Fuqua up to New York State from Virginia. Watson dissolved The Funnest Game while the three assembled musicians around Ithaca, New York "where there is a very lively old-time music scene." According to Mac Benford, Ithaca had for 40 years "been a center of old time music, nationally," including Kevin Hayes They recorded "Trans:mission", a cassette of ten songs they could sell on the road.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: The group left Ithaca for their "Trans:mission" tour in October 1998, busking west across Canada. They circled back east in Spring of 1999 and moved into a farmhouse on Beech Mountain, near Boone, North Carolina. They were embraced by the Appalachian community, and their repertoire of old-time songs grew as they played with local musicians."


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: After being discovered busking in Boone, North Carolina by Doc Watson—while "playing on Doc's old corner" where he'd "started playing in the 1950s" on King Street —the famed folk-country legend said, "Boys, that was some of the most authentic old-time music I've heard in a long while. You almost got me crying." Doc invited the band to participate in his annual MerleFest music festival, founded in 1988 in memory of Doc's son Eddy Merle Watson, who died in a farm tractor accident in 1985, as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community College and to celebrate "traditional plus" music. There they met Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings who introduced them to the Nashville music scene, where they promptly relocated.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: Watson performed with the group, writing and singing many of their more notable songs. He left to embark on a solo career in the autumn of 2011, a couple months before Fuqua rejoined the group, citing time on the road, new parenthood, and direction the band was headed as reasons for the split.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: Watson's transition to solo appearances began slowly with an invitation from siblings Sean and Sara Watkins to join them on a Cayamo cruise—a "singer-songwriter, folk, rootsy festival on a ship around the Bahamas." Sean "took the liberty" of putting Watson on the performance schedule. He subsequently would "go pretty often and ... sing a few songs" at "this little revue called the Watkins Family Hour at Largo" where the Watkins would encourage him to try appearing solo.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: In 2012–2013 Watson began appearing in venues in and around Venice Beach, California, making appearances with the John C. Reilly band and John Prine, and opening for acts such as Punch Brothers, Sarah Jarosz, and Dawes. Initially he was performing original music, then realized he got more out of performing the old songs—and his audience seemed to enjoy them more. As he explains:


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: In 2014, he performed at SXSW in Austin, Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio, California, Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, Pickathon Music Festival in Oregon, Fayetteville Roots Festival in Arkansas, and Steelfest in Missouri. A tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland takes him to Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, London, and Dublin.


title: Willie Watson (musician)

text: He appears at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville during September. Of his transition to a solo career, Watson says: