title: Sakthi (2011 film)

text: Faqtooni, an Egyptian woman, vows to seek revenge for the death of her husband Mukhtar and trains her sons Bashim and Raakha. She wants to retrieve a magical "Jwalamukhi" diamond and a "Rudra" trident. Her brother Jaffer reveals that Mahadevaraya, the Home Minister of India, possesses the diamond. In order to retrieve it, they target his daughter Aishwarya who goes on a secret trip with her friends, after unwittingly packing the diamond in her bag. In Jaipur, they meet Sakthi, a tourist guide who comes to their rescue when goons trouble them. Mahadevaraya learns of Aishwarya's escape from home, and two police officers are assigned to find her. Mahadevaraya requests his former partner Jackie to hand him over the trident in exchange for his entire wealth, but Jackie declines. While in Kashmir, Aishwarya falls for Sakthi after he saves her life. Later, she is kidnapped by Bashim's henchmen but rescued by Sakthi after a fight. Bashim manages to find out they're now heading to Haridwar, where Sakthi comes across the diamond while taking a dip in the Ganges. A sage senses it and informs Mahadevaraya about the cleansing of the diamond and the arrival of Aishwarya's protector. The two cops looking for Aishwarya inform them about her presence in Haridwar. While leaving the city, Aishwarya proposes to Sakthi, but he declines. Soon, Bashim and his henchmen attack them, but Sakthi, revealed to be an undercover agent, protects everyone and captures Bashim after a huge shootout.


title: Sakthi (2011 film)

text: Faqtooni tries to retrieve the trident from Jackie, but he demands a huge sum. Aishwarya is questioned about the diamond, but she doesn't know anything. Sakthi explains to officer Siva, his father, that he went undercover to protect Aishwarya as she was the target of a terrorist group. Raakha is sent to India to rescue Bashim. Aishwarya finds pictures of her in Sakthi's bag, which leads to Sakthi confessing that he loved her from the moment he saw her. Sakthi, along with his parents and Aishwarya, goes to the temple for his birthday and finds the box with the "Jwalamukhi" and opens it. Siva informs Mahadevaraya and is called to Hampi along with both the diamond and Aishwarya. Raakha attacks the prison and frees Bashim, who, having overheard a conversation, tells him Siva is heading to Hampi. Raakha attacks Siva and other officers but is left wounded by Sakthi, who gains powers after touching the diamond. At Hampi, Bashim tries to snatch the diamond but is killed by Sakthi with an ancient sword. Proclaiming Sakthi as the protector, the sage explains how Rudra who is actually Sakthi's biological father, the protector of a secret Sakthi Peetha, sacrificed his life while protecting his pregnant wife and Mahadevaraya's parents from Mukhtar and his henchmen. Jackie, who was initially known as Janaki Varma, killed Mahadevaraya's parents after being paid by Mukhtar and managed to flee with the Rudra trident. After decapitatating Mukhtar in a fight, the dying Rudra handed over his newborn son (who is now Sakthi) to his loyal servant Basava, who sent him away via the river. He was discovered by Siva and his wife and eventually raised by them.


title: Sakthi (2011 film)

text: Sakthi retrieves the trident after killing Jackie's henchmen, Jaffer and Jackie himself. However, Sakthi is betrayed and shot by Mahadevaraya's partner Prachanda, who then acquires the trident and hands it over to Faqtooni as she arrives with a resurrected Raakha. Mahadevaraya stabs Prachanda to death, and Raakha knocks him unconscious. Faqtooni forcibly takes the sage and Aishwarya to perform the compulsory rites conducted every 27 years, and as Raakha begins destruction, Sakthi arrives and fights using the trident. Faqtooni is thrown into a deep pit, while an indestructible Raakha is killed after the sage instructs Sakthi to stab Raakha in his eyes, which were implanted from Mukhtar's severed head. Mahadevaraya regains consciousness, while Sakthi places the trident back and walks out with the diamond in his hand, accompanied by Aishwarya and the sage.


title: Sakthi (2011 film)

text: Shakti mainly received negative reviews from critics. "123Telugu.com" gave the film 1 stars out of 5, appreciating the storyplot, music and Egyptian episodes. Radhika Rajamani from "Rediff.com" gave the film 2 stars out of 5, appreciating the Egyptian connection and the second half. "The Times of India" gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and praised the cinematography, performance, music, storyplot and visualisation, but criticized the action sequences, screenplay and logic mistakes.


title: Sakthi (2011 film)

text: The collections saw a rise in the second week as the film collected a total of INR 15.64 crore in Andhra Pradesh. By the end of its theatrical run, the film collected a total of INR 19.01 crore worldwide.


title: Sakthi (2011 film)

text: The film was dubbed into Tamil, titled as "Om Sakthi." Howerver, the film "was" a commercial failure at the box office.


title: Washington Territory

text: The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the portion of the Oregon Territory north of the lower Columbia River and north of the 46th parallel east of the Columbia. At its largest extent, it also included the entirety of modern Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming, before attaining its final boundaries in 1863.


title: Washington Territory

text: Agitation in favor of self-government developed in the regions of the Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River in 1851–1852. A group of prominent settlers from the Cowlitz and Puget Sound regions met on November 25, 1852, at the "Monticello Convention" in present-day Longview, to draft a petition to the United States Congress calling for a separate territory north of the Columbia River. After gaining approval from the Oregon territorial government, the proposal was sent to the federal government.


title: Washington Territory

text: The bill to establish the territory, H.R. 348, was reported in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Charles E. Stuart on January 25, 1853. Representative Richard H. Stanton argued that the proposed name—the Territory of Columbia—might be confused for the country's capital's Territory of Columbia (now District of Columbia), and suggested a name honoring George Washington instead. The bill was thus amended with the name "Washington", though not without some debate, and passed in the House on February 10, passed in the Senate on March 2, and signed by President Millard Fillmore on the same day. The argument against naming the territory Washington came from Representative Alexander Evans of Maryland, who countered that there were no states named Washington, but multiple counties, cities, and towns were named such and so could be the source of confusion itself. Evans felt that the proposed new territory's name should reflect local native terminology. He stated it would be more appropriate to give the territory "some beautiful Indian name." The decision was contrary to the wishes of residents, and local papers reported mixed feeling from citizens, though the general reception of the renaming was positive.


title: Washington Territory

text: Isaac Stevens, who was appointed the territory's first governor, declared Olympia to be the territorial capital. Stevens was also integral in the drafting and negotiation of treaties with native bands in the Washington Territory. A territorial legislature was elected and first met in February 1854, and the territorial supreme court issued its first decision later in the year. Columbia Lancaster was elected as the first delegate to U.S. Congress.


title: Washington Territory

text: The original boundaries of the territory included all of the present day State of Washington, as well as northern Idaho and Montana west of the continental divide. On the admission of the State of Oregon to the union in 1859, the eastern portions of the Oregon Territory, including southern Idaho, portions of Wyoming west of the continental divide, and a small portion of present-day Ravalli County, Montana were annexed to the Washington Territory. The southeastern tip of the territory (in present-day Wyoming) was sent to Nebraska Territory on March 2, 1861.


title: Washington Territory

text: In 1863, the area of Washington Territory east of the Snake River and the 117th meridian was reorganized as part of the newly created Idaho Territory, leaving the territory within the current boundaries of Washington State, which was admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889, as the 42nd US state.


title: Washington Territory

text: Prior to statehood, multiple settlements in the territory were contending for the title of capital. Among the top contenders for the title, besides Olympia, were Steilacoom, Vancouver, Port Townsend, and Ellensburg, which was devastated in a major fire shortly before statehood. Even after Olympia had been chosen as the capital, contention truly ended only after the completion of the capitol.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the secretary of state for health and social care with three ministers of state and three parliamentary under-secretaries of state.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The department develops policies and guidelines to improve the quality of care and to meet patient expectations. It carries out some of its work through arms-length bodies (ALBs), including executive non-departmental public bodies such as NHS England and the NHS Digital, and executive agencies such as the UK Health Security Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The DHSC also manages the work of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The expenditure, administration and policy of the department are scrutinised by the Health and Social Care Select Committee.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: According to David Nicholson it's attractive to politicians because "Its the largest toy train set in Europe."


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Like many others, the department with responsibility for the nation's health has had different names and has included other functions at different times.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In the 19th century, several bodies were formed for specific consultative duties and were dissolved when they were no longer required. There were two incarnations of a Board of Health, in 1805 and 1831, and from 1854 to 1858 a General Board of Health reported directly to the Privy Council. Responsibility for health issues was also in part vested in local health boards, which existed from 1848 to 1894. In 1871, the Local Government Board was created to supervise such local functions as health and sanitation and also took over the functions of the Poor Law Board, which was abolished. The Public Health Act 1875 designated sanitary districts, which by the Local Government Act 1894 became rural and urban district councils. With the emergence of modern local government, some of its supervision was done by the Local Government Act Office, part of the Home Office.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The Ministry of Health Act 1919 abolished the Local Government Board and transferred its powers and duties to a new department called the Ministry of Health, which consolidated under a single authority the medical and public health functions of central government. This took on the medical duties of the Board of Education, the duties of the Privy Council under the Midwives Acts, the powers of the Home Secretary in relation to the Children Act 1908, and the duties of the Insurance Commissioners and the Welsh Insurance Commissioners. In the early part of the 20th century, medical assistance had been provided through these National Health Insurance Commissions. Most of the Local Government Board staff transferred to the new ministry.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The co-ordination of local medical services was expanded in connection with emergency and wartime services, from 1935 to 1945, and these developments culminated in the establishment of the NHS in 1948.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In 1968, the Ministry of Health was dissolved and its functions transferred (along with those of the similarly dissolved Ministry of Social Security) to the newly created Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS). Twenty years later, in 1988, these functions were split back into two government departments, forming the Department of Social Security (DSS) and the Department of Health, formally created in through The Transfer of Functions (Health and Social Security) Order 1988.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: After the 2018 British cabinet reshuffle, the department was renamed the Department of Health and Social Care.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The department's headquarters and ministerial offices are at 39 Victoria Street, London. The department moved from its previous location in Richmond House, Whitehall in November 2017. Its other principal offices are Skipton House (Elephant and Castle), Wellington House near Waterloo station and Quarry House in Leeds. Wellington House is now mainly occupied by staff from the department's arms-length bodies. New King's Beam House near Blackfriars Bridge was formerly a Department of Health office prior to the expiry of its lease in October 2011. Alexander Fleming House, Hannibal House and Eileen House (all in Elephant and Castle) were previously used by the department. The archives are at Nelson, Lancashire.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: there are 6 ministerial posts at the DHSC, including: the Secretary of State, two Ministers of State, and three Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The permanent secretary at the Department of Health and Social Care is Sir Christopher Wormald KCB, who was appointed in 2016.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Following the resignation of Sir Nigel Crisp in March 2006, a separate post of Chief Executive of the National Health Service in England was created, held by Sir David Nicholson. Following the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the creation of the independent NHS Commissioning Board, known as NHS England, this post has evolved into Chief Executive of the new organisation.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The department has six chief professional officers who provide it with expert knowledge and also advise the Ministers, other government departments and the Prime Minister. The Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer are also directors of the department's board.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The department acts as a 'steward' for the health and adult social care system in England and oversees fifteen arms-length bodies (ALBs):


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The publication of Professor Lord Darzi's review of the NHS prompted criticism of the government and the Department of Health, claiming that it paved the way for user charging, and so contradicting the NHS Plan 2000 which stated that "user charges are unfair and inequitable in they increase the proportion of funding from the unhealthy, old and poor compared with the healthy, young and wealthy". The report also introduces the concept of personal budgets.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Darzi's report splits previously integrated services into 'core', 'additional' and 'enhanced' services, which critics say will lead to abandoning the open-ended duty of care on which the NHS was founded.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Fatal outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant bacteria ("superbugs"), such as methicillin-resistant "Staphylococcus aureus" (MRSA) and "Clostridium difficile", in NHS hospitals has led to criticism in 2008 of the department's decision to outsource cleaning via private finance initiative contracts as "cutting corners on cleaning".


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: A "Deep Clean" initiative announced by the Department of Health was criticised by infection control experts and by the Lancet as a gimmick which failed to address the causes of in-hospital infections, by the firms doing the work as an attempt to avoid paying for regular better cleaning, and by NHS managers as ineffective.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: It also attracted criticism because only a quarter of the £60m funding for the scheme went to hospitals, and because a number of hospitals missed the completion target, and as of June 2008 one in four NHS trusts was not meeting the government's standards on hygiene.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Its advice to primary care on prescribing drugs such as proton pump inhibitors has been criticised as wasteful.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The DH has attracted criticism for its handling of the outcome of Modernising Medical Careers, in particular in the changes it made to the specialist training of doctors and the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS). These changes left "29,193 junior doctors from the UK and overseas... chasing 15,600 posts..." and resulted in accusations that the DH had broken the law by refusing to reveal scores to candidates. Ultimately there was a judicial review and a boycott of the system by senior doctors across the country. MTAS was eventually scrapped and Patricia Hewitt, the then Secretary of State for Health, resigned following accusations that she had lied to the House of Commons over the system. Even after the abolition of MTAS, anger among the medical profession continued, with the British Medical Association commenting of the DH response that "Not only is this response too late, it does not go far enough".


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The official government inquiry into MMC recommended that the responsibility for medical training be removed from the DH.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Successive DH ministerial teams have been criticised for repeated reorganisations of the NHS in England, where primary care commissioning responsibility, in particular, has been allocated to four different sets of organisations in the last ten years: PCGs, small area Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) (e.g. covering a rural local authority district or part of a city), larger-area PCTs (e.g. covering a whole county), PCT clusters (e.g. quarter of London or South of Tyne and Wear) and the currently unspecified Clinical Commissioning Groups. The tendency to introduce each reorganisation before its predecessor has had time to settle down and generate improved performance has attracted censure amongst healthcare professions in the UK and beyond, including reference to the ironic concept of 'redisorganization'.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Andrew Lansley's promise before the 2010 general election not to impose top-down reorganisation, followed by the instigation from ministerial level of one of the most fundamental NHS reorganisations yet envisaged, has generated especially widespread opprobrium, although some commentators have also suggested that this is to some extent completing the job started under the Blair administration.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The NHS as of 1 April 2013 is no longer situated within the DH, as NHS England also went 'live' at the same time. Therefore, the DH has a further scrutiny role of NHS services and commissioning.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In recent years the Department of Health and the NHS have come under considerable scrutiny for its use of IT. Since being elected to power in 1997 the Labour government had sought to modernise the NHS through the introduction of IT. Although the policy is correct in aim, many claim its execution is lacking.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In September 2008 a new leadership team was established, CIO for Health, Christine Connelly, and director of programme and system delivery Martin Bellamy. Previous CIO Richard Granger was believed to have been the most highly paid civil servant in the UK and was a controversial figure. Connelly left the DH for a position in the Cabinet Office in June 2009 and was replaced by Tim Donohoe and Carol Clarke.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Connelly's role was to "deliver the Department's overall information strategy and integrating leadership across the NHS", according to the DH's website. That strategy, known as the National Programme for IT, is intended to do nothing less than revolutionise NHS information workflow and is costed at about £12.7bn. The success or otherwise of Connelly's reign will be based on her promise to end delays of electronic medical records. She has said that if there is not clear progress by November 2009, a new plan could be hatched.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: On the eve of the departure of Fujitsu as an outsourcing partner, Connelly said in April 2009 that she would open up sourcing to competition at "acute" sites in the south of England and offer toolkits by March 2010 to allow more local configuration of systems.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In January 2009, MPs criticised DH for its confidentiality agreement with key supplier CSC and in March the department was admonished by the Information Commissioner for its records management. In May 2011, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he was considering scrapping the project.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In 2022 Sajid Javid launched the "Plan for Digital Health and Social Care", which includes “regulatory levers” will be used to: “signal that digitisation is a priority, identify the non-negotiable standards of digital capability, [and] explain how we will monitor and support compliance”. Integrated care systems will be required to put in place a joined-up health and social care record by March 2025 in which all clinical teams will have access to a complete view of a person’s record that they can contribute to. In 2022 86% of trusts had “some form of electronic patient record” but only 45% of social care providers used a digital social care record, and 23% of care home staff cannot access the internet consistently. The NHS App is to be a “digital front door” for patients, with increasing functionality to be added and remote consultations with GPs are to be encouraged. £25 million is to be provided in 2022/23 to support the rapid digitisation of social care, including adopting Digital Social Care Records.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: In response to Government spending reduction targets following the 2008-9 international financial crisis and subsequent recession, DH in common with several other Government Departments resorted to large-scale staffing reductions. In order to minimise redundancy costs, the predominant impact was upon DH staff not employed through a traditional civil service 'headcount' contract, with a resultant emphasised effect upon more recent or innovative work-streams dependent upon seconded or externally hosted staff. This has attracted criticism from several of the professional and patient communities of interest concerned, for instance as regards the impact upon Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) and the withdrawal of the practical assistance available to the NHS and local authorities via the national support teams.


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: Most health policy in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved to the department's counterparts:


title: Department of Health and Social Care

text: The comparability factor (the proportion of spending in this area which is devolved) was 99.5% for all three countries for 2021/22.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was an American military officer, politician, and statesman. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1848 Democratic presidential nominee. A slaveowner himself, he was a leading spokesman for the Doctrine of Popular Sovereignty, which held that the people in each territory should decide whether to permit slavery.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy before establishing a legal practice in Zanesville, Ohio. After serving in the Ohio House of Representatives, he was appointed as a U.S. Marshal. Cass also joined the Freemasons and would eventually co-found the Grand Lodge of Michigan. He fought at the Battle of the Thames in the War of 1812 and was appointed to govern Michigan Territory in 1813. He negotiated treaties with Native Americans to open land for American settlement and led a survey expedition into the northwest part of the territory.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass resigned as governor in 1831 to accept appointment as Secretary of War under Andrew Jackson. As Secretary of War, he helped implement Jackson’s policy of Indian removal. After serving as ambassador to France from 1836 to 1842, he unsuccessfully sought the presidential nomination at the 1844 Democratic National Convention; a deadlock between supporters of Cass and former President Martin Van Buren ended with the nomination of James K. Polk. In 1845, the Michigan Legislature elected Cass to the Senate, where he served until 1848. Cass’s nomination at the 1848 Democratic National Convention precipitated a split in the party, as Cass's advocacy for popular sovereignty alienated the anti-slavery wing of the party. Van Buren led the Free Soil Party's presidential ticket and appealed to many anti-slavery Democrats, possibly contributing to the victory of Whig nominee Zachary Taylor.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass returned to the Senate in 1849 and continued to serve until 1857 when he accepted appointment as the Secretary of State. He unsuccessfully sought to buy land from Mexico and sympathized with American filibusters in Latin America. Cass resigned from the Cabinet in December 1860 in protest of Buchanan's handling of the threatened secession of several Southern states. Since his death in 1866, he has been commemorated in various ways, including with a statue in the National Statuary Hall.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass was born on October 9, 1782, in Exeter, New Hampshire, near the end of the American Revolution. His parents were Molly (née Gilman) Cass and Major Jonathan Cass, a Revolutionary War veteran who fought under General George Washington at Bunker Hill.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass attended the private Phillips Exeter Academy. In 1800, the family moved to Marietta, Ohio, part of a wave of westward migration after the end of the war and defeat of Native Americans in the Northwest Indian War. Cass studied law with Return J. Meigs Jr., was admitted to the bar, and began a practice in Zanesville.


title: Lewis Cass

text: In 1806, Cass was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. The following year, President Thomas Jefferson appointed Cass as the U.S. Marshal for Ohio.


title: Lewis Cass

text: He joined the Freemasons, an increasingly popular fraternal organization in that period, being initiated as an Entered Apprentice in what was later American Union Lodge No.1 at Marietta on December 5, 1803. He achieved his Fellow Craft degree on April 2, 1804, and his Master Mason degree on May 7, 1804. On June 24, 1805, he was admitted as Charter member of the Lodge of Amity 105 (later No.5), Zanesville. He served as the first Worshipful Master of the Lodge of Amity in 1806. Cass was one of the founders of the Grand Lodge of Ohio, representing the Lodge of Amity at the first meeting on January 4, 1808. He was elected Deputy Grand Master on January 5, 1809, and Grand Master on January 3, 1810, January 8, 1811, and January 8, 1812.


title: Lewis Cass

text: When the War of 1812 began against the United Kingdom, Cass took command of the 3rd Ohio Volunteer Regiment. He became colonel of the 27th United States Infantry Regiment on February 20, 1813. Soon after, he was promoted to brigadier general in the Regular Army on March 12, 1813. Cass took part in the Battle of the Thames, a defeat of British and Native Indian forces. Cass resigned from the Army on May 1, 1814.


title: Lewis Cass

text: As a reward for his military service, Cass was appointed Governor of the Michigan Territory by President James Madison on October 29, 1813, serving until 1831. As he was frequently traveling on business, several territorial secretaries often acted as governor in his place. During this period, he helped negotiate and implement treaties with Native American tribes in Michigan, by which they ceded substantial amounts of land. Some were given small reservations in the territory.


title: Lewis Cass

text: In 1817, Cass was one of the two commissioners (along with Duncan McArthur), who negotiated the Treaty of Fort Meigs, which was signed on September 29 with several Native American tribes of the region, under which they ceded large amounts of territory to the United States. This helped open up areas of Michigan to settlement by Euro-Americans. That same year, Cass was named to serve as Secretary of War under President James Monroe, but he declined the appointment.


title: Lewis Cass

text: In 1820, Cass led an expedition to the northwestern part of Michigan Territory, in the Great Lakes region in today's northern Minnesota. Its purpose was to map the region and locate the source of the Mississippi River. The headwater of the great river was then unknown, resulting in an undefined border between the United States and British North America, which had been linked to the river. The Cass expedition erroneously identified what became known as Cass Lake as the Mississippi's source. It was not until 1832 that Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, the Cass expedition's geologist, identified nearby Lake Itasca as the headwater of the Mississippi.


title: Lewis Cass

text: In 1830, Cass published an article in the North American Review that argues passionately that Indians are inherently inferior to whites, and incapable of being civilized and thus should be removed from the eastern United States. This article caught the attention and approval of Andrew Jackson. On August 1, 1831, Cass resigned as governor of the Michigan Territory to take the post of Secretary of War under President Andrew Jackson, a position he would hold until 1836. Cass was a central figure in implementing the Indian removal policy of the Jackson administration; Congress had passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. While it was directed chiefly against the Southeastern tribes, especially the Five Civilized Tribes, it also affected tribes in Ohio, Illinois, and other areas east of the Mississippi River. Most were forced to Indian Territory in present-day Kansas and Oklahoma, but a number of bands negotiated being allowed to remain in Michigan.


title: Lewis Cass

text: At the end of his term, President Jackson appointed Cass to succeed Edward Livingston as the U.S. Minister to France on October 4, 1836. He presented his credentials on December 1, 1836, and served until he left his post on November 12, 1842, when he was succeeded by William R. King, who later became the 13th Vice President of the United States under President Franklin Pierce.


title: Lewis Cass

text: In the 1844 Democratic convention Cass stood as a candidate for the presidential nomination, losing on the 9th ballot to dark horse candidate James K. Polk.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass was elected by the state legislature to represent Michigan in the United States Senate, serving in 1845-48. He served as chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs in the 30th Congress.


title: Lewis Cass

text: In 1848, he resigned from the Senate to run for president in the 1848 election. William Orlando Butler was selected as his running mate. Cass was a leading supporter of the doctrine of popular sovereignty, which held that the American citizens who lived in a territory should decide whether to permit slavery there. His nomination caused a split in the Democratic Party, leading many antislavery Northern Democrats to join the Free Soil Party, which nominated former President Martin Van Buren.


title: Lewis Cass

text: After losing the election to Zachary Taylor, Cass was returned by the state legislature to the Senate, serving from 1849 to 57. He was the first non-incumbent Democratic presidential candidate to lose an election and the first Democrat who was unsuccessful in his bid to succeed another Democrat as president. Apart from James Buchanan’s election to succeed Franklin Pierce in 1856, subsequent Democrats who attempted election to succeed another Democrat as President all failed in their bid to do so.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass made another bid for president in 1852 but neither he nor rival Democratic contenders Buchanan and Stephen Douglas secured a majority of delegates’ votes at the Democratic Convention in Baltimore, and the party went with Franklin Pierce instead.


title: Lewis Cass

text: On March 6, 1857, President James Buchanan appointed Cass to serve as Secretary of State as a consolation prize for his previous presidential runs. Although retaining incumbent Secretary of State William L. Marcy was considered the best option by many, Buchanan made it clear that he did not want to keep anyone from the Pierce Administration. Moreover, Marcy had opposed his earlier presidential bids, and was in poor health in any event, ultimately dying in July 1857. Cass, aged 75, was seen by most as too old for such a demanding position and was thought to likely be little more than a figurehead. Buchanan, weighing many of the other options for Secretary of State, considered that Cass was the best choice to avoid political infighting and sectional tensions. Buchanan wrote a flattering letter offering him the post of Secretary of State, commenting that he was remarkably active and energetic for his advanced age. Cass, who was retiring from the Senate, but not eager to leave Washington and return home to Michigan, immediately accepted.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Taking the position, Cass promised to refrain from making anti-British remarks in public (having served in the War of 1812, Cass had a low opinion of London). Most assumed Cass was a temporary Secretary of State until a younger, more fit man could be found, however, he ultimately served for all but the final four months of Buchanan’s administration. As expected, the aged Cass largely delegated major decision-making to subordinates, but eagerly signed his name on papers and dispatches penned by them.


title: Lewis Cass

text: While sympathetic to American filibusters in Central America, he was instrumental in having Commodore Hiram Paulding removed from command for his landing of Marines in Nicaragua and compelling the extradition of William Walker to the United States. Cass attempted to buy more land from Mexico, but faced opposition from both Mexico and congressional leaders. He also negotiated a final settlement to the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, limiting U.S. and British control of Latin American countries. The chiefs of Raiatea and Tahaa in the South Pacific, refusing to accept the rule of King Tamatoa V, unsuccessfully petitioned the United States to accept the islands under a protectorate in June 1858.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass resigned on December 14, 1860, because of what he considered Buchanan’s failure to protect federal interests in the South and failure to mobilize the federal military, actions that might have averted the threatened secession of Southern states.


title: Lewis Cass

text: On May 26, 1806, Cass married Elizabeth Spencer (1786–1853), the daughter of Dr. Joseph Spencer Jr. and Deborah (née Seldon) Spencer. Her paternal grandfather was Joseph Spencer, a Continental Congressman who was a major general in the Continental Army. Lewis and Elizabeth were the parents of seven children, five of whom lived past infancy:


title: Lewis Cass

text: Through his daughter Mary, he was the great-grandfather of Cass Canfield (longtime president and chairman of Harper & Brothers, later Harper & Row).


title: Lewis Cass

text: Through his daughter Matilda, he was the grandfather of Elizabeth Cass Ledyard (wife of Francis Wayland Goddard); Henry Brockholst Ledyard Jr. (who was president of the Michigan Central Railroad); Susan Livingston Ledyard (wife of Hamilton Bullock Tompkins); Lewis Cass Ledyard (a prominent lawyer with Carter Ledyard & Milburn who was the personal counsel of J. Pierpont Morgan); and Matilda Spancer Ledyard.


title: Lewis Cass

text: Cass's great-great grandson, Republican Thomas Cass Ballenger, represented North Carolina's 10th Congressional District from 1986 to 2005.


title: Mark McGann

text: He attended the De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. Mark's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commando who died in 1984, and his mother Clare was a teacher. His three brothers Paul, Stephen, and Joe (named after his father), are all actors. He also has a younger sister, named Clare after their mother.


title: Mark McGann

text: McGann's first breakthrough role was as the eponymous hero in the company's production of "Lennon" in 1981, which received good reviews and ran for 10 months at the London Astoria Theatre, winning McGann the first of his two Olivier Award nominations for best actor in a West End theatre production. He was later to reprise the role for the film "" for NBC television in the United States in 1985.


title: Mark McGann

text: His first television appearances were in 1982 in "Recording Studio" opposite Peter Howitt and Robert Stephens for Granada TV, and "Moving On The Edge", a BBC "Play for Today" TV drama starring Eleanor Bron. He then appeared as Mad Dog in the Channel 4 TV series "Scully" by Alan Bleasdale in 1983 with Cathy Tyson and Elvis Costello. It was the first of three separate collaborations with Bleasdale, which included the films "No Surrender" in 1985 and "Pleasure" for Channel 4 in 1990.


title: Mark McGann

text: McGann's career in TV has seen him play Marcus Bannerman in the World War I era drama series by Russell T. Davies "The Grand" in 1999 for Granada TV; Joseph Bazalgette, the Victorian industrial engineer in the award-winning factual drama-documentary "Seven Great Industrial Wonders of the World" in 2002 for the BBC; Tom Crean, the Irish companion of Ernest Shackleton in "Shackleton" opposite Kenneth Branagh; and Niven Craig in Peter Medak's "Let Him Have It" with Christopher Eccleston and Tom Courtenay. He appeared as Conor Phelan in the multi-BAFTA nominated "The Hanging Gale", a BBC drama set against the backdrop of the Great Famine, which also starred Mark's three actor brothers.


title: Mark McGann

text: Mark McGann has appeared in theatre productions as Mickey in "Blood Brothers" by Willy Russell in 1984, "An Inspector Calls" by J. B. Priestley for a National Theatre tour, in which he played Inspector Goole, and at the National Theatre in "On the Ledge".


title: Mark McGann

text: Since 2007, McGann has been the director of Drama Direct Ltd, a creative production company producing original productions and projects for the entertainment and education industries.


title: Mark McGann

text: In 2017, McGann launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund his short film "Perplexed Music", based on the Elizabeth Barrett Browning Petrarchan sonnet of the same name. McGann's film is written and directed and stars his brother Paul and nephew Jake "Sonny" McGann in leading roles. The film was released in 2018.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar (born Sharmon Shah; June 28, 1974), known previously as Karim Abdul-Jabbar, is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). Al-Jabbar played college football for the UCLA Bruins. He was drafted in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins. He also played for the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: Born in Los Angeles, al-Jabbar attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he played for the Bruins from 1992 to 1995 under head coach Terry Donahue. He set the school record for rushing yards in a season and was named team MVP in consecutive years under the names 'Sharmon Shah' in 1994 and 'Karim Abdul-Jabbar' in 1995. He was a three-year letterman and two-year starter at UCLA. Despite leaving school with one season of eligibility remaining, he ranks third on the Bruins' all-time rushing list with 3,030 yards on 482 carries (5.2 avg.) with 26 touchdowns. He also added 36 receptions for 885 yards with 9 touchdown. Karim averaged 110.1 total yards per game in college and was the only player in school history (and seventh in Pac-10 annals) to rush for over 1,600 yards.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: Al-Jabbar was drafted in the third round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, with whom he would play three and a half seasons. In his rookie year, he set many of the Dolphins' rookie records for rushing by a running back. He became only the second Dolphin to lead the team in rushing in each of his first two seasons in the league. In 1997, he led the NFL in total touchdowns with 16 and tied Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis for the league lead with 15 rushing touchdowns. Afterwards his productivity decreased. In 1999, he started the first three games of for the Dolphins before getting deactivated and benched for rookies Cecil Collins and J.J. Johnson. He was subsequently traded to the Cleveland Browns. At the time of the trade, he was second in Dolphins history with 33 rushing touchdowns and fifth in franchise history with 3,063 rushing yards.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: On October 19, 1999, the Dolphins traded him to the 0-6 expansion Cleveland Browns for a sixth round draft pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. He started 6 of the 10 games he played in Cleveland, finishing second on the team with 350 yards on 115 rushing attempts. He did not re-sign with the team following the season.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: On July 13, 2000, the Colts signed Al-Jabbar to a one year contract to replace the late Fred Lane, who was murdered by his wife the week before. Al-Jabbar carried the ball one time for negative two yards in one appearance for Indianapolis.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: In 1995, al-Jabbar, a Muslim, was given the name "Karim Abdul-Jabbar" by his Imam. The new name he was given quickly garnered major attention upon his NFL debut. Some commentators mistakenly believed that he was the son of former basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who also attended UCLA (under the name Lew Alcindor) and who himself has a son named Kareem. He also wore number 33, the same number that the basketball player had worn.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: The name controversy was periodically spoofed on postgame recaps, such as in 1996 when Chris Berman of ESPN called an Abdul-Jabbar touchdown rush with an imitation of Marv Albert, who was famous for announcing basketball as well as football games.


title: Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar

text: The controversy eventually led to the basketball player suing the football player in 1997. The lawsuit led to the football player changing his legal name to Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: In fortification architecture, a rampart is a length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth and/or masonry.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: Many types of early fortification, from prehistory through to the Early Middle Ages, employed earth ramparts usually in combination with external ditches to defend the outer perimeter of a fortified site or settlement. Hillforts, ringforts or "raths" and ringworks all made use of ditch and rampart defences, and they are the characteristic feature of circular ramparts. The ramparts could be reinforced and raised in height by the use of palisades. This type of arrangement was a feature of the motte and bailey castle of northern Europe in the early medieval period.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: The composition and design of ramparts varied from the simple mounds of earth and stone, known as dump ramparts, to more complex earth and timber defences (box ramparts and timberlaced ramparts), as well as ramparts with stone revetments. One particular type, common in Central Europe, used earth, stone and timber posts to form a "Pfostenschlitzmauer" or "post-slot wall". Vitrified ramparts were composed of stone that was subsequently fired, possibly to increase its strength.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: During the classical era, societies became sophisticated enough to create tall ramparts of stone or brick, provided with a platform or wall walk for the defenders to hurl missiles from and a parapet to protect them from the missiles thrown by attackers. Well known examples of classical stone ramparts include Hadrian's Wall and the Walls of Constantinople.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: After the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe, there was a return to the widespread use of earthwork ramparts which lasted well into the 11th century, an example is the Norman motte and bailey castle. As castle technology evolved during the Middle Ages and Early Modern times, ramparts continued to form part of the defences, but now they tended to consist of thick walls with crenellated parapets. Fieldworks, however, continued to make use of earth ramparts due to their relatively temporary nature.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: In response to the introduction of artillery, castle ramparts began to be built with much thicker walling and a lower profile, one of earliest examples first being Ravenscraig Castle in Scotland which was built in 1460. In the first half of the 16th century, the solid masonry walls began to be replaced by earthen banks, sometimes faced with stone, which were better able to withstand the impact of shot; the earth being obtained from the ditch which was dug in front of the rampart. At the same time, the plan or "trace" of these ramparts began to be formed into angular projections called bastions which allowed the guns mounted on them to create zones of interlocking fire. This bastion system became known as the "trace italienne" because Italian engineers had been at the forefront of its development, although it was later perfected in northern Europe by engineers such as Coehoorn and Vauban and was the dominant style of fortification until the mid-19th century.


title: Rampart (fortification)

text: As well as the immediate archaeological significance of such ramparts in indicating the development of military tactics and technology, these sites often enclose areas of historical significance that point to the local conditions at the time the fortress was built.


title: Alan Magee

text: Alan Eugene Magee (January 13, 1919 – December 20, 2003) was an American airman during World War II who survived a 22,000-foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17 Flying Fortress. He was featured in the 1981 "Smithsonian Magazine" as one of the 10 most amazing survival stories of World War II.


title: Alan Magee

text: Immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack, Magee joined the United States Army Air Forces and was assigned as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber.


title: Alan Magee

text: On January 3, 1943, his Flying Fortress—B-17F-27-BO, "41-24620", nicknamed "Snap! Crackle! Pop!"—part of the 360th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, was on a daylight bombing run over Saint-Nazaire, France. This was Magee's seventh mission.


title: Alan Magee

text: Magee left his ball turret when it became inoperative after being damaged by German flak, and discovered his parachute had been torn and rendered useless. Another flak hit then blew off a section of the right wing, causing the aircraft to enter a deadly spin. Magee, in the process of moving from the bomb bay to the radio room, blacked out from lack of oxygen because of the high altitude and was thrown clear of the aircraft. He fell over four miles before crashing through the glass roof of the St. Nazaire railroad station. The glass roof shattered, mitigating the force of Magee's impact. Rescuers found him on the floor of the station.


title: Alan Magee

text: Magee was taken as a prisoner of war and given medical treatment by his captors. He had 28 shrapnel wounds in addition to his injuries from the fall: several broken bones, severe damage to his nose and eye, lung and kidney damage, and a nearly severed right arm.


title: Alan Magee

text: Magee was liberated in May 1945 and received the Air Medal for meritorious conduct and the Purple Heart. On January 3, 1993, the 50th anniversary of the attack, the people of St. Nazaire honored Magee and the crew of his bomber by erecting a memorial to them.


title: Alan Magee

text: After the war, he earned his pilot's license and worked in the airline industry in a variety of roles. He retired in 1979 and moved to northern New Mexico. He died in San Angelo, Texas, on December 20, 2003, from stroke and kidney failure, at the age of 84.


title: Contamination

text: Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc.


title: Contamination

text: Within the sciences, the word "contamination" can take on a variety of subtle differences in meaning, whether the contaminant is a solid or a liquid, as well as the variance of environment the contaminant is found to be in. A contaminant may even be more abstract, as in the case of an unwanted energy source that may interfere with a process. The following represent examples of different types of contamination based on these and other variances.


title: Contamination

text: In chemistry, the term "contamination" usually describes a single constituent, but in specialized fields the term can also mean chemical mixtures, even up to the level of cellular materials. All chemicals contain some level of impurity. Contamination may be recognized or not and may become an issue if the impure chemical causes additional chemical reactions when mixed with other chemicals or mixtures. Chemical reactions resulting from the presence of an impurity may at times be beneficial, in which case the label "contaminant" may be replaced with "reactant" or "catalyst." (This may be true even in physical chemistry, where, for example, the introduction of an impurity in an intrinsic semiconductor positively increases conductivity.) If the additional reactions are detrimental, other terms are often applied such as "toxin", "poison", or pollutant, depending on the type of molecule involved. Chemical decontamination of substance can be achieved through decomposition, neutralization, and physical processes, though a clear understanding of the underlying chemistry is required. Contamination of pharmaceutics and therapeutics is notoriously dangerous and creates both perceptual and technical challenges.


title: Contamination

text: In environmental chemistry, the term "contamination" is in some cases virtually equivalent to pollution, where the main interest is the harm done on a large scale to humans, organisms, or environments. An environmental contaminant may be chemical in nature, though it may also be a biological (pathogenic bacteria, virus, invasive species) or physical (energy) agent. Environmental monitoring is one mechanism available to scientists to detect contamination activities early before they become too detrimental.


title: Contamination

text: Another type of environmental contaminant can be found in the form of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), specifically when they come in contact with organic agriculture. This sort of contamination can result in the decertification of a farm. This sort of contamination can at times be difficult to control, necessitating mechanisms for compensating farmers where there has been contamination by GMOs. A Parliamentary Inquiry in Western Australia considered a range of options for compensating farmers whose farms had been contaminated by GMOs but ultimately settled on recommending no action.


title: Contamination

text: In food chemistry and medicinal chemistry, the term "contamination" is used to describe harmful intrusions, such as the presence of toxins or pathogens in food or pharmaceutical drugs.


title: Contamination

text: In environments where nuclear safety and radiation protection are required, radioactive contamination is a concern. Radioactive substances can appear on surfaces, or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable, and processes can give rise to their presence in such places. Several examples of radioactive contamination include:


title: Contamination

text: Note that the term "radioactive contamination" may have a connotation that is not intended. The term refers only to the presence of radioactivity, and gives no indication itself of the magnitude of the hazard involved. However, radioactivity can be measured as a quantity in a given location or on a surface, or on a unit area of a surface, such as a square meter or centimeter.


title: Contamination

text: Like environmental monitoring, radiation monitoring can be employed to catch contamination-causing activities before much harm.


title: Contamination

text: Interplanetary contamination occurs when a planetary body is biologically contaminated by a space probe or spacecraft, either deliberately or unintentionally. This can work both on arrival to the foreign planetary body and upon return to Earth.


title: Contamination

text: In forensic science, evidence can become contaminated. Contamination of fingerprints, hair, skin, or DNA—from first responders or from sources not related to the ongoing investigation, such as family members or friends of the victim who are not suspects—can lead to wrongful convictions, mistrials, or dismissal of evidence.


title: Contamination

text: In the biological sciences, accidental introduction of "foreign" material can seriously distort the results of experiments where small samples are used. In cases where the contaminant is a living microorganism, it can often multiply to dominate the sample and render it useless, as in contaminated cell culture lines. A similar affect can be seen in geology, geochemistry, and archaeology, where even a few grains of a material can distort results of sophisticated experiments.


title: The Gods Must Be Crazy II

text: The Gods Must Be Crazy II is a 1989 comedy film written and directed by Jamie Uys, and a sequel to the 1980 film "The Gods Must Be Crazy", which Uys also wrote and directed. An international co-production between South Africa, Botswana and the United States, it was produced by the Weintraub Entertainment Group and released by 20th Century Fox on 13 October 1989. In the United States, it was released by Columbia Pictures on 13 April 1990.


title: The Gods Must Be Crazy II

text: The story starts with two elephant poachers, the chronically mean "Big Ben" Brenner and his affable but not-very-bright assistant George, crossing the area in which Xixo's tribe lives. Curious about their vehicle, Xixo's son Xiri and daughter Xisa climb into the water tank trailer and are taken for an involuntary ride as the poachers continue. Xixo follows on foot, determined to retrieve his children.


title: The Gods Must Be Crazy II

text: Dr. Ann Taylor, a young lawyer from New York City, arrives at a bush resort to give a lecture at a legal conference. Since she has spare time, she accepts the invitation of a young man to take a joyride in a two-seat, twin engine ultralight aircraft. They go to see scientist Dr. Stephen Marshall, who has just been radioed that he must report to the resort where Dr. Taylor just came from to tend to a wounded animal they have found. Leaving the other pilot to watch his truck and equipment, he heads for the resort in the ultralight with Ann aboard, but encounter severe weather and crash, stranding them in the Kalahari desert. In addition, war is brewing, personified by a lost Cuban soldier (Mateo) and his Angolan enemy (Timi), who repeatedly attempt to take each other prisoner.


title: The Gods Must Be Crazy II

text: In the course of the movie, all these people cross paths with Xixo and/or his children. Finally, the plot culminates in the poachers capturing Xixo, Taylor, Marshall, and the two soldiers. Xixo manages to save them, and George, who is actually a nice guy kept under the heel of his boss, gives Xixo directions to his children. The poachers are captured, both soldiers come to somewhat reluctant terms and part without further violence, Taylor and Marshall return to civilization (though not without a last embarrassing accident), entering into a romantic relationship, and Xixo finds his children.


title: The Gods Must Be Crazy II

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 13 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.8 out of 10. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average, gave the film a score of 51 out of 100 based on 17 reviews, meaning "mixed or average reviews."


title: Chest tube

text: A chest tube (also chest drain, thoracic catheter, tube thoracostomy or intercostal drain) is a surgical drain that is inserted through the chest wall and into the pleural space or the mediastinum in order to remove clinically undesired substances such as air (pneumothorax), excess fluid (pleural effusion or hydrothorax), blood (hemothorax), chyle (chylothorax) or pus (empyema) from the intrathoracic space. An intrapleural chest tube is also known as a Bülau drain or an intercostal catheter (ICC), and can either be a thin, flexible silicone tube (known as a "pigtail" drain), or a larger, semi-rigid, fenestrated plastic tube, which often involves a flutter valve or underwater seal.


title: Chest tube

text: The concept of chest drainage was first advocated by Hippocrates when he described the treatment of empyema by means of incision, cautery and insertion of metal tubes. However, the technique was not widely used until the influenza epidemic of 1918 to evacuate post-pneumonic empyema, which was first documented by Dr. C. Pope, on a 22-month-old infant. The use of chest tubes in postoperative thoracic care was reported in 1922, and they were regularly used post-thoracotomy in World War II, though they were not routinely used for emergency tube thoracostomy following acute trauma until the Korean War.


title: Chest tube

text: Contraindications to chest tube placement include refractory coagulopathy and presence of a diaphragmatic hernia, as well as hepatic hydrothorax. Additional contraindications include scarring in the pleural space (adhesions).


title: Chest tube

text: The most common complication of a chest tube is chest tube clogging. Chest tube clogging is widely recognized in published surveys of surgeons and nurses. In one study, 100% had seen chest tube clogging, and a majority had seen adverse patient outcomes from chest tube clogging. In a prospective observational study, over 36% of patients had chest tube clogging after heart surgery. Chest tube clogging can lead to retained blood around the heart and lungs that can contribute to complications and increase mortality. If a chest tube clogs when the patient is still bleeding they can become hypotensive from tamponade, or develop a large hemothorax. If there is not enough to cause a mechanical compression of the heart or lungs, the resulting inflammatory response to the retained blood can lead to pleural and pericardial effusions and contribute to the triggering of postoperative atrial fibrillation in susceptible individuals.


title: Chest tube

text: A common complication after thoracic surgery that arises within 30–50% of patients are air leaks. If a chest tube clogs when there is an airleak the patient will develop a pneumothorax. This can be life-threatening. Here, digital chest drainage systems can provide real time information as they monitor intra-pleural pressure and air leak flow, constantly. Keeping vigilant about chest tube clogging is imperative for the team taking care of the patient in the early postoperative period.


title: Chest tube

text: Major insertion complications include hemorrhage, infection, and reexpansion pulmonary edema. Injury to the liver, spleen or diaphragm is possible if the tube is placed inferior to the pleural cavity. Injuries to the thoracic aorta and heart can also occur.


title: Chest tube

text: When chest tubes are placed due to either blunt or penetrating trauma, antibiotics decrease the risks of infectious complications.


title: Chest tube

text: Minor complications include a subcutaneous hematoma or seroma, anxiety, shortness of breath, and cough (after removing large volume of fluid). In most cases, the chest tube related pain goes away after the chest tube is removed, however, chronic pain related to chest tube induced scarring of the intercostal space is not uncommon.


title: Chest tube

text: Subcutaneous emphysema indicates backpressure created by undrained air, often caused by a clogged chest tube or insufficient negative pressure. If a patient has subcutaneous emphysema, it is likely their chest tube is not draining and consideration should be given if it should be unclogged or another tube should be placed so that the air leaking from the lung can be adequately drained.


title: Chest tube

text: Chest tubes are commonly made from clear plastics like PVC and soft silicone. Chest tubes are made in a range of sizes measured by their external diameter from 6 Fr to 40 Fr. Chest tubes, like most catheters, are measured in French catheter scale. For adults, 20 Fr to 40 Fr (6.7 to 13.3mm external diameter) are commonly used, and 6 Fr to 26 Fr for children. Conventional chest tubes feature multiple drainage fenestrations in the section of the tube which resides inside the patient, as well as distance markers along the length of the tube, and a radiopaque stripe which outlines the first drainage hole. Chest tubes are also provided in right angle, trocar, flared, and tapered configurations for different drainage needs. As well, some chest tubes are coated with heparin to help prevent thrombus formation, though the effect of this is disputed.


title: Chest tube

text: Chest tube have an end hole (proximal, toward the patient) and a series of side holes. The number of side holes is generally 6 on most chest tubes. The length of tube that has side holes is the effective drainage length (EDL). In chest tubes designed for pediatric heart surgery, the EDL is shorter, generally by only having 4 side holes.


title: Chest tube

text: Channel style chest drains, also called Blake drains, are so-called silastic drains made of silicone and feature open flutes that reside inside the patient. Drainage is thought to be achieved by capillary action, allowing the fluids to travel through the open grooves into a closed cross section, which contains the fluid and allows it to be suctioned through the tube. Though these chest tubes are more expensive than conventional ones, they are theoretically less painful.


title: Chest tube

text: A chest drainage system is typically used to collect chest drainage (air, blood, effusions). Most commonly, drainage systems use three chambers which are based on the three-bottle system. The first chamber allows fluid that is drained from the chest to be collected. The second chamber functions as a "water seal", which acts as a one way valve allowing gas to escape, but not reenter the chest. Air bubbling through the water seal chamber is usual when the patient coughs or exhales but may indicate, if continual, a pleural or system leak that should be evaluated critically. It can also indicate a leak of air from the lung. The third chamber is the suction control chamber. The height of the water in this chamber regulates the negative pressure applied to the system. A gentle bubbling through the water column minimizes evaporation of the fluid and indicates that the suction is being regulated to the height of the water column. In this way, increased wall suction does not increase the negative pressure of the system. Newer drainage systems eliminate the water seal using a mechanical check-valve, and some also use a mechanical regulator to regulate the suction pressure. Systems which employ both these are dubbed "dry" systems, whereas systems that retain the water seal but use a mechanical regulator are called "wet-dry" systems. Systems which use a water seal and water column regulator are called "wet" systems. Dry systems are advantageous as tip-overs of wet systems can spill and mix with blood, mandating the replacement of the system. Even newer systems are smaller and more ambulatory so the patient can be sent home for drainage if indicated.


title: Chest tube

text: The free end of the tube is usually attached to an underwater seal, below the level of the chest. This allows the air or fluid to escape from the pleural space, and prevents anything returning to the chest. Alternatively, the tube can be attached to a flutter valve. This allows patients with pneumothorax to remain more mobile.


title: Chest tube

text: More recently digital or electronic chest drainage systems have been introduced. An onboard motor is used as vacuum source along with an integrated suction control canister and water seal. These systems monitor the patient and will alert if the measured data are out of range. Due to the digital control of the negative pressure, the system is able to objectively quantify the presence of a pleural or system leak. Digital drainage systems allow clinicians to mobilize patients early, even for those on continuous suction, which is difficult to accomplish with the traditional water-seal system under suction. Recently published clinical data indicates, that application of such systems can also lead to a reduction in complications.


title: Chest tube

text: It can be inserted in an area described as the "safe zone", which is a region bordered by the lateral border of pectoralis major, a horizontal line inferior to the axilla, the anterior border of latissimus dorsi and a horizontal line superior to the nipple. This should translate to the tube being inserted into the fifth intercostal space slightly anterior to the mid axillary line.


title: Chest tube

text: Chest tubes are usually inserted under local anesthesia. The skin over the area of insertion is first cleansed with antiseptic solution, such as iodine, before sterile drapes are placed around the area. The local anesthetic is injected into the skin and down to the muscle, and after the area is numb a small incision is made in the skin and a passage made through the skin and muscle into the chest. The tube is placed through this passage. If necessary, patients may be given additional analgesics for the procedure. Once the tube is in place it is sutured to the skin to prevent it falling out and a dressing applied to the area. Once the drain is in place, a chest radiograph will be taken to check the location of the drain. The tube stays in for as long as there is air or fluid to be removed, or risk of air gathering.


title: Chest tube

text: Chest tubes can also be placed using a trocar, which is a pointed metallic bar used to guide the tube through the chest wall. This method is less popular due to an increased risk of iatrogenic lung injury. Placement using the Seldinger technique, in which a blunt guidewire is passed through a needle (over which the chest tube is then inserted) has been described.


title: Chest tube

text: The placement technique for postoperative drainage (e.g. cardiac surgery) differs from the technique used for emergency situations. At the completion of open cardiac procedures, chest tubes are placed through separate stab incisions, typically near the inferior aspect of the sternotomy incision. In some instances multiple drains may be used to evacuate the mediastinal, pericardial, and pleural spaces. The drainage holes are placed inside the patient and the chest tube is passed out through the incision. Once the tube is in place, it is sutured to the skin to prevent movement. The chest tube is then connected to the drainage canister using additional tubing and connectors and connected to a suction source, typically regulated to -20 cm of water.


title: Chest tube

text: After suturing, dressings are applied for hygienical reasons covering the wound. First, a y-slit compress is used around the tube. Second, a compress (10 x 10 cm) is placed on top and finally an adhesive plaster is added in a way that tension is avoided. A bridle rein is recommended to fix the tube to the skin. This tape bridge will prevent the tube from moving backwards and the possibility to cause clogging. It also prevents pain as it reduces tension on the fixation stitch. Alternatively, a large adhesive plaster that functions like a tape bridge may be used.


title: Chest tube

text: Chest tubes should be kept free of dependent loops, kinks, and obstructions which may prevent drainage. In general, chest tubes are not clamped except during insertion, removal, or when diagnosing air leaks.


title: Chest tube

text: Chest tube clogging with blood clots of fibrinous material is common. When this occurs, it can result in retained blood around the heart or lungs that can lead to complications such as hematoma that needs to be drained, effusions, empyema, or, in the long term, fibrothorax. Thus its critical to maintain chest tube patency. Manual manipulation, often called milking, stripping, fan folding, or tapping, of chest tubes is commonly performed to clear chest tube obstructions. However these approaches are controversial. No conclusive evidence has demonstrated that any of these techniques are more effective than the others, and no method has shown to improve chest tube drainage. Furthermore, chest tube manipulation has proved to increase negative pressure, which may be detrimental, and painful to the patient. For these reasons, many hospitals do not allow these types of manual tube manipulations.


title: Chest tube

text: One option is active chest tube clearance without breaking the sterile field. According to a consensus of multiple experts in cardiac surgery, anesthesia and critical care in 2019 the ERAS Guidelines for Perioperative Care recommends active clearance of chest tubes to prevent retained blood and other complications. Makeshift efforts such as open chest tube clearing that involves breaking the sterile environment separating the chest tube from the drainage canister tubing to suction it out should not be performed.


title: Chest tube

text: In December 2018 the "European Respiratory Journal" published correspondences that raise the possibility of improving mobility as well as patient outcomes by placing a chest tube more optimally.


title: Windows Aero

text: Windows Aero (a backronym for "Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open") is a design language introduced in the Windows Vista operating system. The changes made in the Aero interface affected many elements of the Windows interface, including the incorporation of a new look, along with changes in interface guidelines reflecting appearance, layout, and the phrasing and tone of instructions and other text in applications.


title: Windows Aero

text: Windows Aero was used as the design language of Windows Vista and Windows 7. The flat design-based Metro design language was introduced on Windows 8, although aspects of the design and features promoted as part of Aero on Windows Vista and 7 have been retained in later versions of Windows (barring design changes to comply with Metro or Fluent).


title: Windows Aero

text: For the first time since the release of Windows 95, Microsoft completely revised its user interface guidelines, covering aesthetics, common controls such as buttons and radio buttons, task dialogs, wizards, common dialogs, control panels, icons, fonts, user notifications, and the "tone" of text used.


title: Windows Aero

text: On Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers that meet certain hardware and software requirements, the Windows Aero theme is used by default, primarily incorporating various animation and transparency effects into the desktop using hardware acceleration and the Desktop Window Manager (DWM). In the "Personalize" section added to Control Panel of Windows Vista, users can customize the "glass" effects to either be opaque or transparent, and change the color it is tinted. Enabling Windows Aero also enables other new features, including an enhanced Alt-Tab menu and taskbar thumbnails with live previews of windows, and "Flip 3D", a window switching mechanism which cascades windows with a 3D effect.


title: Windows Aero

text: Windows 7 features refinements in Windows Aero, including larger window buttons by default (minimize, maximize, close and query), revised taskbar thumbnails, the ability to manipulate windows by dragging them to the top or sides of the screen (to the side to make it fill half the screen, and to the top to maximize), the ability to hide all windows by hovering the Show Desktop button on the taskbar, and the ability to minimize all other windows by shaking one.


title: Windows Aero

text: Use of DWM, and by extension the Windows Aero theme, requires a video card with 128MB of graphics memory (or at least 64MB of video RAM and 1GB of system RAM for on-board graphics) supporting pixel shader 2.0, and with WDDM-compatible drivers. Windows Aero is also not available in Windows 7 Starter, only available to a limited extent on Windows Vista Home Basic, and is automatically disabled if a user is detected to be running a non-genuine copy of Windows. Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 also support Windows Aero as part of the "Desktop Experience" component, which is disabled by default.


title: Windows Aero

text: Wizard 97 had been the prevailing standard for wizard design, visual layout, and functionality used in Windows 98 through to Windows Server 2003, as well as most Microsoft products in that time frame. Aero Wizards are the replacement for Wizard 97, incorporating visual updates to match the aesthetics of the rest of Aero, as well as changing the interaction flow.


title: Windows Aero

text: Notifications allow an application or operating system component with an icon in the notification area to create a pop-up window with some information about an event or problem. These windows, first introduced in Windows 2000 and known colloquially as "balloons", are similar in appearance to the speech balloons that are commonly seen in comics. Balloons were often criticized in prior versions of Windows due to their intrusiveness, especially with regard to how they interacted with full-screen applications such as games (the entire application was minimized as the bubble came up). Notifications in Aero aim to be less intrusive by gradually fading in and out, and not appearing at all if a full-screen application or screensaver is being displayed—in these cases, notifications are queued until an appropriate time. Larger icons and multiple font sizes and colors are also introduced with Aero's notification windows.


title: Windows Aero

text: The Segoe UI typeface is the default font for Aero with languages that use Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic character sets. The default font size is also increased from 8pt to 9pt to improve readability. In the Segoe UI typeface prior to Windows 8, the numeral zero ("0") is narrow, while capital letter "O" is wider (Windows 8's Segoe UI keeps this difference), and numeral one ("1") has a top hook, while capital letter "I" has equal crown and base (Windows 8's "1" has no base, and the "I" does not have a crown or base).


title: Windows Aero

text: The Vista User Experience Guidelines also address the issue of "tone" in the writing of text used with the Aero user interface. Prior design guidelines from Microsoft had not done much to address the issue of how user interface text is phrased, and as such, the way that information and requests are presented to the user had not been consistent between parts of the operating system.


title: Windows Aero

text: The guidelines for Vista and its applications suggest messages that present technically accurate advice concisely, objectively, and positively, and assume an intelligent user motivated to solve a particular problem. Specific advice includes the use of the second person and the active voice (e.g. "Print the photos on your camera") and avoidance of words like "please", "sorry" and "thank you".


title: Windows Aero

text: The Aero interface was unveiled for Windows Vista as a complete redesign of the Windows interface, replacing Windows XP's "Luna" theme. Until the release of Windows Vista Beta 1 in July 2005, little had been shown of Aero in public or leaked builds, with alpha builds containing interim designs such as "Plex".


title: Windows Aero

text: Windows Aero is revised in Windows 7, with many UI changes, such as a more touch friendly interface, and many new visual effects and features including pointing device gestures:


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population. The country's largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, closely followed by the Greek Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches, which has a common root with the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch, and then by Oriental Orthodox Churches like Syriac Orthodox Church and Armenian Apostolic Church. There are also a minority of Protestants and members of the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church. The city of Aleppo is believed to have the largest number of Christians in Syria. In the late Ottoman rule, a large percentage of Syrian Christians emigrated from Syria, especially after the bloody chain of events that targeted Christians in particular in 1840, the 1860 massacre, and the Assyrian genocide. According to historian Philip Hitti, approximately 900,000 Syrians arrived in the United States between 1899 and 1919 (more than 90% of them Christians). The Syrians referred include historical Syria or the Levant encompassing Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Syrian Christians tend to be relatively wealthy and highly educated.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The Christian population of Syria comprise 10% of the population. In Syria today there around 1.2 million among their population in Syria in 2010 before the civil war started. Most Syrians are members of either the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (700,000), or the Syriac Orthodox Church. The vast majority of Catholics belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which was created as a result of a schism within the Greek Orthodox Church, largely over a disputed election to the Patriarchal See of Antioch in 1724. Other Christian Churches in union with Rome include the Maronites, Syriac Catholics, Armenians, Chaldeans and a small number of Latin Rite Catholics. The rest belong to the Eastern communions, which have existed in Syria since the earliest days of Christianity. The main Eastern groups are:


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The schisms that brought about the many sects resulted from political and doctrinal disagreements. The doctrine most commonly at issue was the nature of Christ. In 431, the Nestorians were separated from the main body of the Church because of their belief in the dual character of Christ, i.e., that he had two distinct but inseparable ""qnoma"" (ܩܢܘܡܐ, close in meaning to, but not exactly the same as, hypostasis), the human Jesus and the divine Logos. Therefore, according to Nestorian belief, Mary was not the mother of God but only of the man Jesus. The Council of Chalcedon, representing the mainstream of Christianity, in 451 confirmed the dual nature of Christ in one person; Mary was therefore the mother of a single person, mystically and simultaneously both human and divine. The Miaphysites taught that the Logos took on an instance of humanity as His own in one nature. They were the precursors of the present-day Syrian and Armenian Orthodox churches.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: By the thirteenth century, breaks had developed between Eastern or Greek Christianity and Western or Latin Christianity. In the following centuries, however, especially during the Crusades, some of the Eastern churches professed the authority of the pope in Rome and entered into or re-affirmed communion with the Catholic Church. Today called the Eastern Catholic churches, they retain a distinctive language, canon law and liturgy.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The largest Christian denomination in Syria is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (officially named the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East), also known as the Melkite church after the 5th and 6th century Christian schisms, in which its clergy remained loyal to the Eastern Roman Emperor (""melek"") of Constantinople.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Adherents of that denomination generally call themselves ""Rūm"" which means "Eastern Romans" or "Asian Greeks" in Arabic. In that particular context, the term "Rūm" is used in preference to ""Yūnāniyyūn"" which means "European Greeks" or Ionians in Classical Arabic. The appellation "Greek" refers to the Koine Greek liturgy used in their traditional prayers and priestly rites.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Members of the community sometimes also call themselves "Melkites", which literally means ""supporters of the emperor"" in Semitic languages - a reference to their past allegiance to Roman and Byzantine imperial rule. But, in the modern era, this designation tends to be more commonly used by followers of the local Melkite Catholic Church.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Syrians from the Greek Orthodox Community are also present in the Hatay Province of Southern Turkey (bordering Northern Syria), and have been well represented within the Syrian diasporas of Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Canada and Australia.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Traditional Christianity in Syria is also represented by Oriental Orthodox communities, that primarily belong to the ancient Syriac Orthodox Church, and also to the Armenian Apostolic Church.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The Syriac Orthodox Church is the largest Oriental Orthodox Christian group in Syria. The Syriac Orthodox or Jacobite Church, whose liturgy is in Syriac, was severed from the favored church of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Orthodoxy), over the Chalcedonian controversy.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The Armenian Apostolic Church is the second largest Oriental Orthodox Christian group in Syria. It uses an Armenian liturgy and its doctrine is Miaphysite (not monophysite, which is a mistaken term used or was used by the Chalcedonian Catholics and Chalcedonian Orthodox).


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Of the Eastern Catholic Churches the oldest is the Maronite, with ties to Rome dating at least from the twelfth century. Their status before then is unclear, some claiming it originally held to the Monothelite heresy up until 1215, while the Maronite Church claims it has always been in union with Rome. The liturgy is in Aramaic (Syriac).


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The Patriarchate of Antioch never recognized the mutual excommunications of Rome and Constantinople of 1054, so it was canonically still in union with both. After a disputed patriarchal election in 1724, it divided into two groups, one in union with Rome and the other with Constantinople. Today the term "Melkite" is in use mostly among the Greek Catholics of Syria and Lebanon. Like its sister-church the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch ('Eastern Orthodox'), the Melkite Greek Catholic Church uses both Greek and Arabic in its traditional liturgy. Most of the 375,000 Catholics in Syria belong to the Melkite Rite, the rest are Latin Rite, Maronites (52,000), Armenian or Syriac Rites.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Seven popes from Syria ascended the papal throne. Many of them lived in Italy. Pope Gregory III, was the last pope born outside Europe before Francis (elected in 2013).


title: Christianity in Syria

text: In Syria, there is also a minority of Protestants. Protestantism was introduced by European missionaries and a small number of Syrians are members of Protestant denominations. The Gustav-Adolf-Werk (GAW) as the Evangelical Church in Germany Diaspora agency actively supports persecuted Protestant Christians in Syria with aid projects. A 2015 study estimates some 2,000 Muslim converted to Christianity in Syria, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: By one estimate made by Elisabe Granli from University of Oslo, around 1,920 Syrian Druze converted to Christianity, according to the same study Christian of Druze background (Druze converts to Christianity) still regard themselves as Druze, and they claims that there is no contradiction between being Druze and being Christian.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The number of Christians in Syria has been disputed for many decades. There has been no official census on Religion in Syria since the sixties.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Damascus was one of the first regions to receive Christianity during the ministry of St Peter. There were more Christians in Damascus than anywhere else. With the military expansion of the Islamic Umayyad empire into Syria and Anatolia, non-Muslims who retained their native faiths were required to pay a tax (jizya) equivalent to the Islamic Zakat, and were permitted to own land; they were, however, not eligible for Islamic social welfare as Muslims were.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Damascus still contains a sizeable proportion of Christians, with some churches all over the city, but particularly in the district of Bab Touma (The "Gate of Thomas" in Aramaic and Arabic). Masses are held every Sunday and civil servants are given Sunday mornings off to allow them to attend church, even though Sunday is a working day in Syria. Schools in Christian-dominated districts have Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, while the official Syrian weekend falls on Friday and Saturday.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Christians engage in every aspect of Syrian life and Syrian Christians are relatively wealthy and more highly educated than other Syrian religious groups. Following in the traditions of Paul, who practiced his preaching and ministry in the marketplace, Syrian Christians are participants in the economy, the academic, scientific, engineering, arts, and intellectual life, entertainment, and the Politics of Syria. Many Syrian Christians are public sector and private sector managers and directors, while some are local administrators, members of Parliament, and ministers in the government. A number of Syrian Christians are also officers in the armed forces of Syria. They have preferred to mix in with Muslims rather than form all-Christian units and brigades, and fought alongside their Muslim compatriots against Israeli forces in the various Arab–Israeli conflicts of the 20th century. In addition to their daily work, Syrian Christians also participate in volunteer activities in the less developed areas of Syria. As a result, Syrian Christians are generally viewed by other Syrians as an asset to the larger community.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: In September 2017, the deputy Hammouda Sabbagh, a Syriac Orthodox Christian and member of the Ba'ath Party, was elected speaker of parliament with 193 votes out of 252.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Syrian Christians are more urbanized than Muslims; many live either in or around Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, or Latakia. In the 18th century, Christians were relatively wealthier than Muslims in Aleppo. Syrian Christians have their own courts that deal with civil cases like marriage, divorce and inheritance based on Bible teachings.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The Constitution of Syria states that the President of Syria has to be a Muslim; this was as a result of popular demand at the time the constitution was written. However, Syria does not profess a state religion.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented the new constitution (after reaching power through a military coup in 1970), which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the president of Syria to be of the Islamic faith, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the "ulama". They labeled Assad as the "enemy of Allah" and called for a "jihad" against his rule. Robert D. Kaplan has compared Assad's coming to power to "a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries."


title: Christianity in Syria

text: The government survived a series of armed revolts by Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Christians spread throughout Syria and have sizable populations in some cities/areas; important cities/areas are:


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Syrian Christians, in line with their fellow citizens, have been badly affected by the Syrian Civil War. According to Syrian law, all Syrian men of adult age with brothers are eligible for military conscription, including Christians.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, 300,000 to 900,000 Christians have left the country, but as the situation began to stabilize in 2017 following recent army gains, return of electricity and water to many areas and stability returning to many government controlled regions, some Christians began returning to Syria, most notably in the city of Homs.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: During the Syrian civil war, several attacks by ISIS have targeted Syrian Christians, including the 2015 al-Qamishli bombings and the July 2016 Qamishli bombings. In January 2016, YPG militias conducted a surprise attack on Assyrian checkpoints in Qamishli, in a predominantly Assyrian area, killing one Assyrian and wounding three others.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: More than 120 churches and Christian places of worship have been destroyed since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: In November 2021, the Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs in Raqqa’s city center was rebuilt by the aid group called the Free Burma Rangers.


title: Christianity in Syria

text: Following a visit to Syria, to participante in a conference that brought together representatives of the Syrian churches and NGOs working with them in the country, Regina Lynch, project director for Aid to the Church in Need, described the difficult situation the local communities endure, but added that "for many Christians, the war has had a positive effect on the faith, and, in spite of everything, it has been an opportunity for the Church to put its teaching on charity and forgiveness into action".


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: Tropic of Capricorn is a semi-autobiographical novel by Henry Miller, first published by Obelisk Press in Paris in 1939. A prequel of sorts to Miller's first published novel, 1934's "Tropic of Cancer", it was banned in the United States until a 1961 Justice Department ruling declared that its contents were not obscene.


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: During a three-week vacation from Western Union in 1922, Miller wrote his first novel, "Clipped Wings", a study of 12 Western Union messengers. It has never been published; only fragments remain, although parts of it were recycled in later works, including in the brief portraits of Western Union messengers in "Tropic of Capricorn".


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: In the spring of 1927, Miller was living in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights with his second wife June Miller and her lover, Jean Kronski. He had recently obtained a new job working for the Parks Department. One day, he returned home to find a note saying they had taken a boat to Paris. Soon after, Miller moved back in with his parents in Brooklyn. One night in May 1927, Miller stayed at the Parks Department office after work and typed up a 32-page document he called "June", outlining the details of their relationship. He would use the document as source material for "Tropic of Capricorn" as well as "The Rosy Crucifixion" trilogy. Miller would also repurpose numerous scenes into "Tropic of Capricorn" from his unpublished third novel "Lucky Lesbians" (later retitled "Crazy Cock"), which he worked on from 1928 to 1930 and which was ultimately published in 1991 (over a decade after his death).


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: Miller began writing "Tropic of Capricorn" in earnest toward the end of 1933 while living in Paris. At the time, he was also writing "Black Spring", and putting the finishing touches on "Tropic of Cancer". Early on, he referred to "Tropic of Capricorn" as "the June book." His biographer Robert Ferguson called the book Miller's attempt at "retrieving in written form as much as possible of the disappearing past." Although referred to as "the June book," his second wife is more of an influence than a primary character, making only a short appearance. The book is dedicated "To Her," in reference to June.


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: "Tropic of Capricorn" was published in France, in English, by Obelisk Press in February 1939. A French translation appeared as "Tropique du Capricorne" in July 1946. Sales of the book, along with "Tropic of Cancer", were boosted by the controversy surrounding their censorship, with complaints against Miller and his publisher on charges of pornography. In the 1940s and 1950s, Miller's books were hard to find and expensive. The banned books were occasionally smuggled into the US, although they were often seized by Customs. In 1944, accompanied by his soon-to-be third wife Janina Martha Lepska, Miller read excerpts from "Tropic of Capricorn" and "Black Spring" at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: "Tropic of Capricorn" was banned in the United States until a 1961 Justice Department ruling declared that its contents were not obscene. After Grove Press published the novel in the US in September 1962, Miller gained a new, younger generation of readers for his work, which coincided with the sexual revolution of the 1960s. He was seen by many as a champion of the new sexual freedom, and was endorsed by well-known literary figures of the time, including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac.


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: The novel covers Miller's growing inability and outright refusal to accommodate what he sees as America's hostile environment. It is autobiographical but not chronological, jumping between Miller's adolescent adventures in Brooklyn in the 1900s, recollections of his first love Una Gifford, a love affair with his nearly-30-year-old piano teacher when he was 15, his unhappy marriage to his first wife Beatrice, his years working at Western Union (called The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company in the book) in Manhattan in the 1920s, and his fateful meeting with his second wife June (known in the book as Mara), whom he credits with changing his life and making him into a writer.


title: Tropic of Capricorn (novel)

text: "The Rosy Crucifixion" continues the story of June in greater detail, over the course of nearly 1,500 pages. It describes the process of Miller finding his voice as a writer, until eventually he sets off for Paris, where the activities depicted in "Tropic of Cancer" begin.


The 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2, 2010, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, alongside 33 U.S. Senate elections in other states, elections in all states for the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections.


title: 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska

text: The general election was preceded by primary elections which were held on August 24, 2010. Scott McAdams, the Mayor of Sitka, became the Democratic nominee; Joe Miller, an attorney and former federal magistrate, became the Republican nominee after defeating incumbent U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Miller was endorsed by the Tea Party movement and former Governor Sarah Palin. Murkowski announced that regardless of her defeat in the primary, she would run in the general election as a write-in candidate.