:: wikimiki.org ::

Staff

Staff

You may be looking for information on:
- musical staff
- employees or volunteers in an organization
- quarterstaff or staff (stick)
- staff of office
- staff (building material)
- Leopold Staff (1878–1957), a Polish poet
- Bowstaff There is also the homophone staph, a bacterial infection. The plural form, staves, also describes part of a barrel. ja:スタッフ

Musical staff

In musical notation, the staff or stave is a set of five horizontal lines on which note symbols are placed to indicate pitch and rhythm. The lines are numbered from bottom to top; the bottom line is the first line and the top line is the fifth line. The musical staff can be thought of as a graph of pitch with respect to time; pitches are roughly given by their vertical position on the staff, and notes on the left are played before notes to their right. In both cases, however, the notations are not exactly proportional but are encoded by symbols. Music on the staff is read from left to right: one note to the right of another means that it is to be played later; how much later depends on its note value and the tempo. A time signature groups notes on the staff into measures.

Staff positions

measures The vertical position of the notehead on the staff indicates which note is to be played: notes that are higher in pitch are marked higher up on the staff. The notehead can be placed with the center of its notehead intersecting a line (on a line), or in between the lines touching the lines above and below (in a space). Notes which fall outside the range of the staff are placed on or between ledger lines, lines the width of the note they need to hold, added above or below the staff. Exactly which notes are represented by which staff positions is determined by a clef placed at the beginning of the staff; the clef identifies a particular line as a specific note, and all other notes are determined relative to that line. For example, the treble clef puts the G above middle C on the second line. The interval between adjacent staff positions is one step in the diatonic scale. Once fixed by a clef, the notes represented by the positions on the staff can be modified by the key signature, or by accidentals on individual notes. A clefless staff may be used to represent a set of percussion sounds; each line typically represents a different instrument. When two staves joined by a brace are intended to be played by a single instrument, a grand staff (British - great stave)is created. Typically, the upper staff has a treble clef and the lower staff has a bass clef. In this case, middle C is between the two staves, and it can be written on the first ledger line below the upper staff or the first ledger line above the lower staff. When playing the piano, the upper staff is normally played with the right hand and the lower staff with the left hand. In music intended for the organ, a grand staff includes three staves, one for each hand and one for the feet.

Examples

The following is a grand staff (to be played, for example, on a piano). Each staff has seven notes and one rest. A simple grand staff Here is an example image with some typical music notation. A simple grand staff

Staves with more or less than five lines

The first staves had only four lines, used in neumatic notation for Gregorian chant, starting in the 10th century. Guido d'Arezzo may have invented the staff. Lute tablature, prevalent in the 16th century, often used a six-line staff; other notation for guitar and lute also sometimes used six-line staves. Music education books for beginners (including Orff Schulwerk) sometimes use as few as one or two lines, not to specify exact pitches but only pitch relationships.

External links

- [http://tonalsoft.com/enc/index2.htm?staff.htm Tonalsoft Encyclopaedia of Tuning] Category:Musical notation ja:五線譜

Employee

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. In a commercial setting, the employer conceives of a productive activity, generally with the intention of creating profits, and the employee contributes labour to the enterprise, usually in return for payment of wages. Employment also exists in the public, nonprofit and household sectors. In the United States, the "standard" employment contract is considered to be at-will meaning that the employer and employee are both free to terminate the employment at any time and for any cause, or for no cause at all. To the extent that employment or the economic equivalent is not universal, unemployment exists. Employment is almost universal in capitalist societies. Opponents of capitalism such as Marxists oppose the capitalist employment system, considering it to be unfair that the people who contribute the majority of work to an organization do not receive a proportionate share of the profit. However, the surrealist and the situationist movements were among the few groups to actually oppose work, and during the partially surrealist-influenced events of May 1968 the walls of the Sorbonne were covered with anti-work graffiti. Labourers often talk of "getting a job", or "having a job". This conceptual metaphor of a "job" as a possession has led to its use in slogans such as "money for jobs, not bombs". Similar conceptions are that of "land" as a possession (real estate) or intellectual rights as a possession (intellectual property).

Employer

An employer is a person or institution that hires employees or workers. Employers offer wages to the workers in exchange for the worker's labor-power. Employers include everything from individuals hiring a babysitter to governments and businesses which hired many thousands of employees. In most western societies governments are the largest single employers, but most of the work force is employed in small and medium businesses in the private sector. Note that although employees may contribute to the evolution of an enterprise, the employer maintains autonomous control over the productive base of land and capital, and is the entity named in contracts. The employer typically also maintains ownership of intellectual property created by an employee within the scope of employment and as a function thereof. These are known as "works for hire". Within large organizations the management of employees is often handled by Human Resources departments.

Employee

An employee is any person hired by an employer – typically, a worker hired to do a specific "job". Typical examples include accountants, solicitors, lawyers, photographers, among many other worker categorizations. There are differing classes of employee. Some are permanent and receive a guaranteed salary, while others are hired on short term contracts or as consultants. In this respect, it is important to distinguish independent contractors who are treated differently both in law and in most taxation systems. The employee contributes labour and expertise to an endeavour. Employees perform the discrete activity of economic production. Of the three factors of production, employees usually provide the labor. Some companies feel that a happier work force is a better one and thus offer extra benefits to improve team spirit and performance. However, other employers try to increase profits by giving low wages and few benefits. To resist this, employees can organize into labor unions (American English), or trade unions (British English), who represent most of the available work force and must therefore be listened to by the management. This is the source of considerable bad feeling between the two sides, and sometimes even violence.

Alternatives

An individual who entirely owns the business for which he labours is known as self-employed, although if a self-employed individual has only one client for whom he performs work, he may be considered an employee of that client for tax purposes. Self-employment often leads to incorporation. Incorporation offers certain protections of one's personal assets. Laws of incorporation vary from state to state with California having the most incorporated businesses of any state in the U.S. Workers who are not paid wages, such as volunteers, are generally not considered as being employed. Someone who works under obligation for the purpose of fulfilling a debt without pay is known as a slave and slaveowners are also not considered employers. Some historians suggest that slavery is older than employment, but both arrangements have existed for all recorded history.

Employment Research and Education

[http://www.ilr.cornell.edu Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations] [http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp Labor and Worklife Program] at Harvard Law School

Films

Death on the Job, Filmmakers: William Guttentag and Vince DiPersio,1991 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/ Office Space], written and directed by Mike Judge.

External links

- [http://www.asian-nation.org/employment.shtml Asian-Nation: Employment & Occupational Patterns of Asian Americans]
- [http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?r.l1=1073858790&topicId=1073858787&furlname=employment&furlparam=employment&domain=www.businesslink.gov.uk Comprehensive overview of employment law and best practice for the United Kingdom]
- [http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm United States Department of Labor report on the current employment situation]
- [http://www.ozfreeonline.com/jobs/ OzFreeOnline.com: Australian Job Search Listing]
-
- [http://www.GoYocal.com/ GoYocal.com: UK Job Listings]
-
- [http://london.GoYocal.com/ London.GoYocal.com: London Job Listings]
-
- [http://Birmingham.GoYocal.com/ Birmingham.GoYocal.com: Birmingham Job Listings]
- ja:雇用

Organization

:Alternative meaning: Organisation (band). An organisation (Commonwealth English) or organization (American English, and Oxford English) is a formal group of people with one or more shared goals. This topic is a broad one. Organisations are studied by researchers from several disciplines: sociology, economics, political science, psychology, engineering, etc. The area is commonly referred to as organisation theory, organisational behaviour or organisation analysis. it however consists of a number of different theories and perspectives, some of which are compatible and others that are competing. Among those that are or have been most influential are:
- Weberian organisation theory (referring to Max Weber's chapter on Bureaucracy in his book 'Economy and Society'
- Marxist organisation analysis
- Scientific Management (mainly following Frederick W Taylor)
- Human Relations Studies (going back to the Hawthorne studies, Maslow and Hertzberg)
- Administrative theories (with work by e.g. Henri Fayol and Chester Barnard)
- Contingency theory
- New institutionalism and new institutional economics
- Network analysis
- Economic Sociology
- Organisation ecology (or demography of organisations)
- Transaction cost economics
- Agency theory (sometimes called principal - agent theory)
- Studies of organisation culture
- Postmodern organisation studies
- Labour Process Theory
- Critical Management Studies
- Unicist Natural Organisation The most prestigious scientific journals focused on the study of organisations include organisation, Organisation Studies, Administrative Science Quarterly and Academy of Management Review. "Organisation" can also be used to define how the different parts of computer hardware are linked in order to execute the many computational activities most efficiently. Organisations that are legal entities: government, international organisation, non-governmental organisation, armed forces, corporation, partnership, charity, not-for-profit corporation, cooperative, university. The study of organisations includes a focus on optimising [organisational structure]. According to management science, most human organisations fall roughly into four types:
- Pyramids or hierarchies
- Committees or juries
- Matrix organisations
- Ecologies Organisation studies also includes research efforts to inform the effective management of organisations, and addresses organisational culture, organisational learning and managing change as major factors affecting organisational effectiveness, beyond the basics of organisational structure.

Pyramids or hierarchies

A hierarchy exemplifies an arrangement with a leader who leads leaders. This arrangement is often associated with bureaucracy. Hierarchies were satirised in The Peter Principle (1969), a book that introduced the term hierarchiology and the saying that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence". An extremely rigid, in terms of responsibilities, type of organisation is exemplified by Führerprinzip.

Committees or juries

These consist of a group of peers who decide as a group, perhaps by voting. The difference between a jury and a committee is that the members of the committee are usually assigned to perform or lead further actions after the group comes to a decision, whereas members of a jury come to a decision. In common law countries legal juries render decisions of guilt, liability and quantify damages; juries are also used in athletic contests, book awards and similar activities. Sometimes a selection committee functions like a jury. In the middle ages juries in continental Europe were used to determine the law according to consensus amongst local notables. Committees are often the most reliable way to make decisions. Condorcet's jury theorem proved that if the average member votes better than a roll of dice, then adding more members increases the number of majorities that can come to a correct vote (however correctness is defined). The problem is that if the average member is worse than a roll of dice, the committee's decisions grow worse, not better! Staffing is crucial. Parliamentary procedure, such as Robert's Rules of Order, helps prevent committees from engaging in lengthy discussions without reaching decisions.

Staff organisation or cross-functional team

A staff helps an expert get all his work done. To this end, a "chief of staff" decides whether an assignment is routine or not. If it's routine, he assigns it to a staff member, who is a sort of junior expert. The chief of staff schedules the routine problems, and checks that they are completed. If a problem is not routine, the chief of staff notices. He passes it to the expert, who solves the problem, and educates the staff -- converting the problem into a routine problem. In a "cross functional team," like an executive committee, the boss has to be a non-expert, because so many kinds of expertise are required.

Matrix organisation

This organisational type assigns each worker to two bosses in two different hierarchies. One hierarchy is "functional" and assures that each type of expert in the organisation is well-trained, and measured by a boss who is super-expert in the same field. The other direction is "executive" and tries to get projects completed using the experts. Projects might be organised by regions, customer types, or some other schema. See matrix management.

Ecologies

This organisation has intense competition. Bad parts of the organisation starve. Good ones get more work. Everybody is paid for what they actually do, and runs a tiny business that has to show a profit, or they are fired. Companies who utilise this organisation type reflect a rather one-sided view of what goes on in ecology. It is also the case that a natural ecosystem has a natural border - ecoregions do not in general compete with one another in any way, but are very autonomous. The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline talks about functioning as this type of organisation in [http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1294443,00.html this external article] from The Guardian.

"Chaordic" organisations

The chaordic model of organising human endeavours emerged in the [1990]s, based on a blending of chaos and order (hence "chaordic"), comes out of the work of Dee Hock and the creation of the VISA financial network. Blending democracy, complex system, consensus decision making, co-operation and competition, the chaordic approach attempts to encourage organisations to evolve from the increasingly nonviable hierarchical, command-and-control models. Similarly, see Emergent organisations, and the principle of self-organisation. See also group entity for an anarchist perspective on human organisations.

References

- Organisations by Richard Scott: ISBN 0132663546
- Organisations and Institutions by Richard Scott
- Understanding organisations by Charles Handy.
- The Peter Principle, Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull, Pan Books 1970 ISBN 0-330-02519-8
- The Nature of the Firm by Ronald Coase.

External links

- [http://www.globaldharma.org Website of Global Dharma Center, a not-for-profit organisation offering (free) training modules, research papers, workshop exercises etc on Culture Development and Individual/Organisation Transformation] Category:Organizational theory

Quarterstaff

A quarterstaff is a Medieval English variant of the staff weapon, consisting of a long shaft of hardwood, sometimes with metal-reinforced tips. The name is frequently used for the fighting staves of other cultures, such as the Japanese bo, Chinese gùn, or French grand baton.

Terminology

The etymology of the weapon's name is uncertain. One popular theory is that it comes from the way the staff is held: one hand at the center of the staff, and one hand halfway between the center and one end. However, this derivation may be a later folk etymology, as this grip is not actually prescribed in early sources. Another theory links the term to the manner in which the wood is split from the tree. Any connection to a unit of length called a staff is almost certainly spurious.

Description

The quarterstaff may be made from many kinds of wood, commonly ash, oak, hazel, or hawthorn. It may have metal spikes or caps at one or both ends; these are depicted or referred to in some Elizabethan and Jacobean sources. The length of the staff varies, typically ranging from 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 metres); in addition, long staves of 12 to as much as 18 feet (3.6 to 5.4 metres) were employed in Early Modern times. The weapon seems to have become shorter and lighter later in its history, though nine-foot staves were still sometimes employed in Victorian England. In this period, the staff was often made from bamboo for safety, since it was mostly used for sport (though self-defence use continued to some extent); quarterstaff fencers wore protective body armour derived from other sports including sabre fencing, boxing and cricket. The quarterstaff is effectively a long two-handed club, although its weight distribution is generally even throughout its entire length (some forms did have weighted tips, however). It was used both to deliver crushing blows, and to thrust like a spear. The art of using the staff was closely related to that of other polearms, and it was often employed as a training weapon for the latter. Moves include many different forms of blocks, thrusts, strikes, and sweeps.

History

The staff being a very simple weapon to manufacture, it has a long history of use, and a wide cultural dispersion. The staff is a traditional weapon of many Asian martial arts. The quarterstaff proper was historically a common weapon in England, where it features in the Robin Hood legend as the favorite weapon of Little John. There are also many tools that can easily be used as or quickly converted to a staff. This made it a weapon of choice for people who were not allowed by law to carry bladed weapons, such as in Japan, where weapons such as swords were limited to samurai. In the TV show Xena Warrior Princess, the quarterstaff was for a period of time the preferred weapon of the character Gabrielle (portrayed by Renee O'Connor).

External links

- Thomas A. McCarthy, "[http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_mccarthy_0901.htm Quarter-staff: A Practical Manual]". London : W. Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 1883.
- Allanson-Winn, R.G. and C. Phillipps-Wolley, "Broadsword and Singlestick - with Chapters on Quarter-staff, Bayonet, Cudgel, Shillalah, Walking Stick, Umbrella and other Weapons of Self Defence; [http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2001/jmanlyart_a-wp-w_0901.htm The Quarter-Staff]". London : George Bell & Sons. 1st edition, 1898.
- Author unknown, "[http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/2002/jmanlyart_scouts_1102.htm Boy Scout Quarterstaff]". c. 1914 - 1920.
- Tony Wolf, "[http://www.alliancemartialarts.com/quarterstaff.htm The Manly Art of Quarter-staff: Origins of a Victorian Combat Sport]".
- Frank Docherty, "[http://ejmas.com/jwma/articles/2001/jwmaart_docherty_0501.htm A Brief History of the Quarterstaff]".
- George Silver, "[http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/paradoxes.html Paradoxes of Defence]". London: Edward Blount, 1599.
- Joseph Swetnam, "[http://www.thearma.org/Manuals/swetnam.htm The Schoole of the Noble and Worthy Science of Defence]". London: Nicholas Okre, 1617.
- Zach Wylde, "[http://www.the-exiles.org/ManualZachWylde.htm The English Master of Defence or, the Gentleman's A-la-mode Accomplish]". Tork: John White, 1711.

References

- Silver, G. c. 1599. Paradoxes of Defense. Category: Pole weapons Category: Primitive weapons Category: Middle Ages weapons Category: Stick fighting

Staff of office

A staff of office is a staff, the carrying of which often denotes an official's position, a social rank or a degree of social prestige. Church sidesmen or dodsmen bear sticks or rods or wands of office; bishops may wield their croziers or crooks; monarchs often have a sceptre signifying their office. A gold- or silver-topped cane can express social standing (or dandyism). Teachers or prefects in schools traditionally carried less elaborate canes which marked their right (and potential threat) to administer canings, and military officers carry a residual threat of physical punishment in their swagger sticks. The conductors of orchestras have in their batons symbols of authority as well as tools of their trade. For positions which take their titles from their staff of office, see:
- Black Rod
- tipstaff Compare corporate bodies' use of maces, and note Sigmund Freud's views on phallic symbolism.

Staff (building material)

Staff is a kind of artificial stone used for covering and ornamenting buildings. It is made chiefly of powdered gypsum or plaster of Paris, with a little cement, glycerin, and dextrine, mixed with water until it is about as thick as molasses, when it may be cast in molds into any shape. To strengthen it coarse cloth or bagging, or fibers of hemp or jute, are put into the molds before casting. It becomes hard enough in about a half hour to be removed and fastened on the building in construction. Staff may easily be bent, sawed, bored, or nailed. Its natural color is murky white, but it may be made to resemble any kind of stone.jute Staff was invented in France about 1876 and was used in the construction and ornamentation of the buildings of the Paris Expositions of 1878 and of 1889. It was also largely used in the construction of the buildings of the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago in 1893, at the Omaha and Buffalo Expositions in 1898 and 1901, and at later expositions and on temporary buildings of other kinds.

1878

1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).

Events

January - April

- January - Cleopatra's Needle arrives in London
- January 9 - Humbert I becomes King of Italy
- January 5 - Battle of Shipka Pass IV
- January 17 - Battle of Plovdiv
- January 23 - Disraeli orders British fleet to Dardanelles
- January 28 - The Yale News becomes the first daily, college newspaper in the United States.
- January 31 - Turkey agrees to armistice at Adrianople
- February 2 - Greece declares war on Turkey.
- February 8 - British fleet enters Turkish waters and anchors off Constantinople - Russia threatens to occupy Constantinople but does not carry out the threat Constantinople on February 20]]
- February 11 - 1st US bicycle club, Boston Bicycle Club, forms.
- February 11 - 1st weekly Weather report published in UK
- February 18 - The Lincoln County War begins in Lincoln County, New Mexico
- February 19 - The phonograph is patented by Thomas Edison
- February 20 - Leo XIII becomes new pope
- February 24 - Anti-Russian demonstrations in Hyde Park, London
- February 28 - Mississippi State University is created by the Mississippi Legislature (under the name The Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi)
- March 3 - Bulgaria regained its independence from Ottoman Empire.
- March 3 - The Treaty of San Stefano concludes the Russo-Turkish War
- March 24 - The UK frigate Eurydice sinks, killing 300.
- March 25 - Russia rejects British proposal to lay San Stefano treaty before European congress
- March 27 - In anticipation with war with Russia, Disraeli mobilizes the reserves and calls up Indian troops to Malta

May - August

- May 15 - Tokyo Stock Exchange established
- June 4 - Cyprus Convention: The Ottoman Empire cedes Cyprus to the United Kingdom but retains nominal title.
- June 12-July 12 - Congress of Berlin about the Ottoman Empire
- July 13 - The Treaty of Berlin makes Serbia completely independent
- July 26 - In California, the poet and American West outlaw calling himself "Black Bart" makes his last clean getaway when he steals a safe box from a Wells Fargo stagecoach. The empty box will be found later with a taunting poem inside.

September - December

- September 3 - Over 640 die when the crowded pleasure boat Princess Alice collides with the Bywell Castle in the River Thames.
- October 1 - Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) opens as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.
- October 14 - The worlds first recorded floodlit football fixture is played at Bramall Lane in Sheffield
- October 15 - The Edison Electric Company begins operation.
- October 17 - John A. Macdonald returns to office as Prime Minister of Canada.
- November 21 - Second Afghan War commences when the British attack Ali Masjid in the Khyber Pass.
- November 29 - Kahua, the chief of Jaluits in the Marshall Islands, declares himself king of the Ralik Islands

Unknown date

- The Buchan School was founded on the Isle of Man.
- Newton Heath founded in that year. Later the team was renamed as Manchester United.
- Yellow fever in Mississippi Valley - over 13.000 dead
- US arbitration rejects Argentinean claims to Paraguay's part of Chaco region
- West Bromwich Albion F.C. play their first match.
- The Hindu founded
- Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld is the first one to navigate the Northern Sea Route, which is a shipping lane from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean along the Siberian coast.
- The Stawell Gift is run for the first time.

Births

- January 6 - Carl Sandburg, American poet and historian (d. 1967)
- January 12 - Ferenc Molnár, author (d. 1952)
- January 20 - Ruth St. Denis, dancer (d. 1968)
- January 25 - Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish-born television pioneer (d. 1975)
- February 2 - Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer and architect (d. 1955)
- February 5 - André Citroën, French automobile manufacturer (d. 1935)
- February 8 - Martin Buber, Austrian philosopher (d. 1965)
- February 14 - Hirota Koki, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
- February 26 - Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano (d. 1930)
- March 16 - Clemens August Graf von Galen, German Catholic cardinal (d. 1946)
- March 22 - Michel Théato, Luxembourg athlete (d. 1919)
- March 31 - Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946)
- April 6 - Erich Mühsam, German author (d. 1934)
- April 24 - Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
- April 28 - Lionel Barrymore, American actor (d. 1954)
- April 28 - Willem Mengelberg, Dutch conductor (d. 1951)
- May 10 - Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1929)
- May 26 - Isadora Duncan, American dancer (d. 1927)
- May 28 - Paul Pelliot, French sinologist (d. 1945)
- June 1 - John Masefield, English poet and novelist (d. 1967)
- June 3 - Barney Oldfield, American automobile racer and pioneer (d. 1946)
- June 5 - Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (d. 1923)
- July 4 - George M. Cohan, American singer, dancer, composer, actor, and writer (d. 1942)
- July 24 - Edward Plunkett, Baron Dunsany, Irish author (d. 1957)
- August 10 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)
- August 28 - George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)
- August 31 - Frank Jarvis, American athlete (d. 1933)
- September 13 - Matilde Moisant, American pilot (d. 1964)
- September 22 - Yoshida Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1967)
- September 20 - Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968)
- September 24 - C. F. Ramuz, Swiss writer (d. 1947)
- October 1 - Othmar Spann, Austrian philosopher and economist (d. 1950)
- October 16 - Maxey Long, American athlete (d. 1959)
- November 1 - Carlos Saavedra Lamas, Argentine politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1959)
- November 14 - Leopold Staff, Polish poet (d. 1957)
- November 17 - Grace Abbott, American social worker and activist (d. 1939)
- December 18 - Joseph Stalin, Soviet leader (d. 1953)
- December 25 - Louis Chevrolet, Swiss-born race driver and automobile builder (d. 1941)
- December 25 - Joseph Schenck, Russian-born film executive (d. 1961)
- December 31 - Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-born beautician and cosmetics entrepreneur (d. 1966)
- December 31 - Horacio Quiroga, Argentina's writer was born in Salto, Uruguay

Deaths

- January 9 - King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
- January 18 - Antoine César Becquerel, French scientist (b. 1788)
- February 7 - Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
- February 11 - Gideon Welles, American politician (b. 1802)
- February 19 - Charles-Francois Daubigny, French painter (b. 1817)
- March 8 - Archduke Franz Karl of Austria (b. 1802)
- April 12 - William Marcy Tweed, American politician (b. 1823)
- April 25 - Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
- May 28 - John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
- June 6 - Robert Stirling, Scottish clergyman and inventor (b. 1790)
- June 8 - Porter Rockwell, Mormon bodyguard (b. 1815)
- June 12 - George V of Hanover (b. 1819)
- July 17 - Aleardo Aleardi, Italian poet (b. 1812)
- November 28 - Orson Hyde, American religious leader (b. 1805)
- December 10 - Henry Wells, American businessman (b. 1805)
- December 14 - Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (b. 1843)
- Angelo Secchi, Italian astronomer (b. 1818) Category:1878 ko:1878년 th:พ.ศ. 2421

Polish poet

Poets who have written much of their poetry in the Polish language. There have been four Polish Nobel Prize laureates in literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, Władysław Reymont, Czesław Miłosz, Wisława Szymborska. The last two have been poets. __NOTOC__

A - E

- Adam Asnyk
- Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński
- Stanisław Barańczak
- Miron Białoszewski
- Biernat of Lublin (1465? – after 1529).
- Tadeusz Borowski
- Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński
- Władysław Broniewski
- Ernest Bryll
- Jan Brzechwa (1900–1966)
- Andrzej Bursa
- Jacek Dehnel

F - G

- Aleksander Fredro (1793–1876)
- Tadeusz Gajcy
- Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński
- Stefan Garczyński
- Cezary Geroń
- Cyprian Godebski
- Stanisław Grochowiak (1934–1976)

H - J

- Jerzy Harasymowicz
- Zbigniew Herbert
- Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980)
- Bruno Jasieński (1901–1938)
- Mieczysław Jastrun
- Zbigniew Jerzyna

K - L

- Jan Kochanowski
- Maria Konopnicka
- Kajetan Koźmian
- Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801).
- Mira Kuś
- Andrzej Kuśniewicz
- Jan Lechoń
- Teofil Lenartowicz
- Bolesław Leśmian
- Ewa Lipska

M - O

- Adam Mickiewicz
- Bogdan Miklusz
- Czesław Miłosz (June 30, 1911 – August 14, 2004
- Grazyna Miller
- Adam Naruszewicz
- Cyprian Kamil Norwid
- Franciszek Nowicki
- Artur Oppman

P - R

- Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (1891–1945)
- Wincenty Pol (1807–1872)
- Halina Poświatowska (1935–1967)
- Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer a.k.a. Kazimierz Tetmajer (1865–1940)
- Mikołaj Rej (1505–1569)
- Władysław Reymont (1867–1925)
- Tadeusz Różewicz
- Tomasz Różycki
- Lucjan Rydel (1870–1918)

S

- Mikołaj Sęp-Szarzyński
- Henryk Sienkiewicz
- Antoni Słonimski (1895–1976)
- Juliusz Słowacki
- Edward Stachura
- Leopold Staff (1878–1957)
- Anatol Stern
- Marcin Świetlicki
- Władysław Syrokomla
- Wisława Szymborska

T - V

- Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, a.k.a. Kazimierz Tetmajer (1865–1940)
- Irena Tuwim
- Julian Tuwim (1894–1953)
- Jan Twardowski
- Kornel Ujejski

W - Z

- Adam Ważyk
- Adam Wiedemann
- Kazimierz Wierzyński
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz a.k.a. “Witkacy” (1885–1939)
- Rafał Wojaczek
- Maryla Wolska
- Józef Wybicki
- Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907)
- Adam Zagajewski
- Katarzyna Ewa Zdanowicz
- Eugeniusz Żytomirski; (1911–1975)

Bowstaff

A bowstaff or bow staff is a piece of wood which is to be made into a bow. It is also a misspelling of bo (staff).

Homophone

(The definitions given here are based on those found in many standard modern dictionaries, but in practice there is a great deal of confusion about the precise meaning of these words, and a variety of other interpretations may be encountered.) A homonym is a word that has the same pronunciation or spelling (or both) as another word, but a different meaning. Homonyms can be subdivided into:
- Homophones – words that are pronounced the same (and may or may not be spelt the same), but differ in meaning, such as waste and waist.
- Homographs – words that are spelt the same (and may or may not be pronounced the same), but differ in meaning, such as desert (abandon) and desert (arid region). Homonyms that are spelt and pronounced the same – such as mean (intend) and mean (miserly) – are both homophones and homographs. Some sources state that hononym meanings must be unrelated (rather than just different), or that the words must have a different origin. Thus read (present tense) and read (past tense) would not be homonyms. Heteronyms (also sometimes called heterophones) are words that are spelt the same but have different pronunciations and meanings (in other words, they are homographs which differ in pronunciation). For example, the homographs desert (abandon) and desert (arid region) are heteronyms, but mean (intend) and mean (miserly) are not. In derivation, homonym means "same name", homophone means "same sound", homograph means "same writing", heteronym (somewhat confusingly) means "different name", and heterophone means "different sound". Significant variant interpretations include:
- Chambers 21st Century Dictionary [http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/chref/chref.py/main?query=homonym&title=21st] defines a homonym as "a word with the same sound and spelling as another, but with a different meaning" (my italics). Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=homonym] also says that a homonym is "one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning" (my italics), but appears to also give homonym as a synonym for either homophone or homograph.
- Cambridge Dictionary of American English [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=homonym
- 1+0&dict=A] defines homonym as "a word that is spelled the same as another word but that does not have the same meaning" (the same as what above is called a homograph).
- The entry for homonym in The Encyclopaedia Britannica (14th Edition) states that homographs are "words spelt but not sounded alike", and homophones are "words alike only in sound [i.e. not alike in spelling]" (my italics and commentary).
- The Encarta dictionary [http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861617704] defines heteronym as "each of two or more words that are spelled the same, but differ in meaning and often in pronunciation" (my italics). The "Fun with Words" website [http://www.fun-with-words.com/nym_words.html] says that a heteronym is "One of two (or more) words that have the same spelling, but different meaning, and sometimes different pronunciation too" (in other words, what we are calling a homograph). Homonym also has a specialised meaning in scientific nomenclature, described below. Homograph is sometimes used in typography as a synonym for homoglyph, and heteronym has a specialised meaning in poetry (see Heteronym (poetry)).

Further Examples

A further example of a homonym which is both a homophone and a homograph is fluke. Fluke is a fish, as well as a flatworm, the end parts of an anchor, the fins on a whale's tail, and a stroke of luck, all of which four separate lexemes with separate etymologies, share the one form, fluke. Similarly, a river bank, a savings bank, and a bank of switches share only a common spelling and pronunciation, but not meaning. The first homonyms that one learns in English are probably the homophones to, too, and two, but the sentence "Too much to do in two days" would confuse no one. (Note, however, when read with a natural rhythm in many dialects, to has a schwa and is not homophonous with too or two.) There, their, and they're are familar examples, as are lead (the metal) and led (the verb past participle). Moped (the motorized bicycle) and moped (the past tense of mope) are examples of homographs; they are not homophones, because they are pronounced differently. In some accents, various sounds have merged in that they are no longer distinctive, and thus words that differ only by those sounds in an accent that maintains the distinction (a minimal pair) are homophonous in the accent with the merger. Some examples are pin and pen in many southern American accents, and merry, marry, and Mary in many western American accents. The pairs do, due and forward, foreword are homophonous in most American accents but not in most British accents. Similarly, the pairs talk, torque, and court, caught are distinguished in most dialects of American English, but are homophones in British English. Homophones are sometimes used in message encryption to increase the difficulty in cracking the decryption code. In this case the clear text is altered prior to being encrypted and the decrypting party substitutes the homophones for their true meaning after decrypting the message Many puns rely on homophones for their humor. Homograph disambiguation is critically important in speech synthesis, natural language processing and other fields. See also polysemy for a closely related idea.

Homonyms in scientific nomenclature

In scientific nomenclature, homonyms are scientific names that are identical in spelling but pertain to different organisms. The rule of zoological nomenclature is that the first name to be published is valid (the senior homonym); any others are junior homonyms and must be replaced with new names. For example, Georges Cuvier proposed the genus Echidna in 1797 for the spiny anteater. However, Johann Reinhold Forster had published the name Echidna in 1777 for a genus of moray eels. Forster's use thus has priority, with Cuvier's being a junior homonym; Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger published the replacement name Tachyglossus in 1811. In botanical nomenclature the principle is much the same, the first published homonym is to be used. A later homonym is "illegitimate" and is not to be used unless conserved.

Quotation

:His death, which happen'd in his berth, :At forty-odd befell: :They went and told the sexton, and :The sexton toll'd the bell :::Thomas Hood, "Faithless Sally Brown"

External links

- [http://www.cooper.com/alan/homonym_list.html Alan Cooper's Homonym List ]
- [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=1905&CurriculumID=14 Quiz to learn homonyms]
- [http://www.kwiznet.com/p/takeQuiz.php?ChapterID=2027&CurriculumID=14 Quiz Using Picture Clues] Category:Semantics Category:Types of words ja:同音異義語

Staph

thumb Staphylococcus aureus (which is occasionally given the nickname golden staph) is a bacterium, frequently living on the skin or in the nose of a healthy person, that can cause illnesses ranging from minor skin infections (such as pimples, boils, and cellulitis) and abscesses, to life-threatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis and septicemia. Each year some 500,000 patients in American hospitals contract a staphylococcal infection.

Microbiology

Staphylococcus aureus appears as a Gram-positive coccus, in grape-like clusters when viewed through a microscope and as large, round, golden-yellow colonies, often with β-hemolysis, when grown on blood agar plates. S. aureus can be differentiated from most other staphylococci by the coagulase test. S. aureus is coagulase-positive, while most other staphylococci are coagulase-negative. S. aureus is also catalase positive and thus able to convert hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) to water and oxygen, which makes the Catalase test useful to distinguish S. aureus from S. faecalis. The species has been subdivided into two subspecies: S. aureus aureus and S. aureus anaerobius. The latter requires anaerobic conditions for growth, is an infrequent cause of infection, and is rarely encountered in the laboratory.

Antibiotic sensitivity

S. aureus has become resistant to many commonly used antibiotics. Up to 20% of all Staphylococcus isolates are resistant to penicillin, which has led to the introduction of flucloxacillin and cloxacillin as first-line antistaphylococcal antibiotics. An increasing problem since the 1950s has been resistance of S. aureus to flucloxacillin, oxacillin, and similar β-lactam antibiotics that are deactivated by β-lactamase. As methicillin is used in laboratories to assess for this type of resistance, the term Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is in use to denote these strains. MRSA is generally sensitive to the glycopeptide antibiotics vancomycin and teicoplanin. In 1997, physicians were alarmed to encounter staph strains that resist even vancomycin, to which it had previously always been sensitive. Due to this resistance, S. aureus is sometimes referred to as a superbug. Staphylococcal resistance to penicillins and cephalosporins is expressed as beta-lactamase production: enzymes which break down the beta-lactam ring of the penicillin molecule. Other resistance-conferring mutations include altered penicillin-binding proteins to which penicillins bind poorly. With the increased incidence of MRSA infections, vancomycin or teicoplanin (glycopeptide antibiotics) are often a treatment of choice in infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) is a strain of Staphylococcus aureus that has become resistant to the glycopeptides. Three cases of VRSA infection have been reported in the United States.

Role of pigment in resistance

The vivid yellow pigmentation of S. aureus may be a factor in its virulence. When comparing a normal strain of S. aureus with a strain modified to lack the yellow coloration, the pigmented strain was more likely to survive dousing with an oxidizing chemical such as hydrogen peroxide than the mutant strain was. Colonies of the two strains were also exposed to human neutrophils. The mutant colonies quickly succumbed while many of the pigmented colonies survived. Wounds on mice were swiped with the two strains. The pigmented strains created lingering abcesses. Wounds with the unpigmented strains healed quickly. These tests suggest that the yellow pigment may be key to S. aureus's ability survive immune attacks. Drugs that inhibit the bacterium's production of the carotenoids responsible for the yellow coloration may weaken it and renew its susceptibility to antibiotics.

Role in disease

The Staphylococcus lives as a commensal on the skin and in the nose of humans and animals, as well as in the environment. It can infect other tissues when normal barriers have broken down (e.g. skin or mucosal lining). This leads to furuncles (boils) and carbuncles (a collection of furuncles). Staphylococcal infections can be spread through contact with pus from an infected wound, skin to skin contact with an infected person, and contact with objects such as towels, sheets, clothing, or athletic equipment used by an infected person. Deep Staphylococcus infections can be very severe. Prosthetic joints are particularly at risk, and staphylococcal endocarditis (infection of the heart valves) and pneumonia may be rapidly fatal. Basic handwashing techniques such as that developed by Professor G.A.J. Ayliffe, which has six steps, are effective in preventing the transmission of Staphylococcus aureus. By the use of "standard precautions", and where necessary "additional precautions", the risk of transmission can be further reduced.

Note

# PMID 15811021 # PMID 16009720

External links

- [http://textbookofbacteriology.net/staph.html Staphylococcus] - Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology Category:Staphylococcaceae ja:黄色ブドウ球菌

Bacterium

Actinobacteria
Aquificae
Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi
Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia
Chloroflexi
Chrysiogenetes
Cyanobacteria
Deferribacteres
Deinococcus-Thermus
Dictyoglomi
Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria
Firmicutes
Fusobacteria
Gemmatimonadetes
Nitrospirae
Planctomycetes
Proteobacteria
Spirochaetes
Thermodesulfobacteria
Thermomicrobia
Thermotogae Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. Most are microscopic and unicellular, with a relatively simple cell structure lacking a cell nucleus, and organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts. Their cell structure is further described in the article about prokaryotes, because bacteria are prokaryotes, in contrast to organisms with more complex cells, called eukaryotes. The term "bacteria" has variously applied to all prokaryotes or to a major group of them, otherwise called the eubacteria, depending on ideas about their relationships. In Wikipedia, bacteria is used specifically to refer to the eubacteria. Bacteria are the most abundant of all organisms. They are ubiquitous in soil, water, and as symbionts of other organisms. Many pathogens are bacteria. Most are minute, usually only 0.5-5.0 μm in their longest dimension, although giant bacteria like Thiomargarita namibiensis and Epulopiscium fishelsoni may grow past 0.5 mm in size. They generally have cell walls, like plant and fungal cells, but with a very different composition (peptidoglycans). Many move around using flagella, which are different in structure from the flagella of other groups.

History and taxonomy

The first bacteria were observed by Antony van Leeuwenhoek in 1683 using a single-lens microscope of his own design. The name bacterium was introduced much later, by Ehrenberg in 1828, derived from the Greek word βακτηριον meaning "small stick". Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) and Robert Koch (1843-1910) described the role of bacteria as conveyors and causes of disease or pathogens.

Metabolism

Bacteria show a wide variety of different metabolisms and can accordingly be classified into primary nutritional groups. The most common division is between heterotrophs, which depend on an organic source of carbon, and autotrophs, which are able to synthesize organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water. Autotrophs that obtain energy by oxidizing chemical compounds are called chemotrophs, and those that obtain their energy from light, via photosynthesis, are called phototrophs. There are many variations on this terminology such as chemoautotrophs and photosynthetic autotrophs and so on. In addition, bacteria are distinguished based on the source of reducing equivalents they are using. Those using inorganic compounds (e. g. water, hydrogen, sulfide or ammonia) for this purpose are called lithotrophs and others needing organic compounds (e. g. sugars or organic acids) and are called organotrophs. The metabolic modes of energy metabolism (phototrophy or chemotrophy), reducing equivalent sources (lithotrophy or organotrophy) and carbon sources (autotrophy or heterotrophy) can be combined differently in any single microorganism, and even shifting between different modes frequently occurs in many species. Other nutritional requirements include nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, vitamins and metallic elements such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc, cobalt, copper and nickel for normal growth. For some species, additional trace elements such as selenium, tungsten, vanadium or boron are needed. Based on their response to oxygen, most bacteria can be placed into one of three groups: Some bacteria can grow only in the presence of oxygen and are called aerobes; others can grow only in the absence of oxygen and are called anaerobes; and some can grow in the presence or absence of oxygen and are called facultative anaerobes.

Movement

Motile bacteria can move about, either using flagella, bacterial gliding, or changes of buoyancy. A unique group of bacteria, the spirochaetes, have structures similar to flagella, called axial filaments, between two membranes in the periplasmic space. They have a distinctive helical body that twists about as it moves. Bacterial flagella are arranged in many different ways. Bacteria can have a single polar flagellum at one end of a cell, clusters of many flagella at one end or flagella scattered all over the cell, as with Peritrichous. Many bacteria (such as E.coli) have two distinct modes of movement: forward movement (swimming) and tumbling. The tumbling allows them to reorient and introduces an important element of randomness in their forward movement. (see external links below for link to videos). Motile bacteria are attracted or repelled by certain stimuli, behaviors called taxes - for instance, chemotaxis, phototaxis, mechanotaxis and magnetotaxis. In one peculiar group, the myxobacteria, individual bacteria attract to form swarms and may differentiate to form fruiting bodies. The myxobacteria move only when on solid surfaces, unlike E. coli which is motile in liquid or solid media.

Groups and identification

myxobacteria Bacteria come in a variety of different shapes. Most are rod-shaped, sphere-shaped, or helix-shaped; these are respectively referred to as bacilli, cocci, and spirilla. An additional group, vibrios, are comma-shaped. Shape is no longer considered a defining factor in the classification of bacteria, but many genera are named for their shape (e.g. Bacillus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus) and it is an important part in their identification. Another important tool is Gram staining, named after Hans Christian Gram who developed the technique. This separates bacteria into two groups, based on the composition of their cell wall. The first formal grouping of bacteria into phyla was based largely on this test:
- Gracilicutes - bacteria with a second cell membrane containing lipids, giving them Gram-negative stains
- Firmicutes - bacteria with a single membrane and thick peptidoglycan wall, giving them Gram-positive stains
- Mollicutes - bacteria with no second membrane or wall, giving them Gram-negative stains The archeabacteria were originally included as the Mendosicutes. As given, these phyla are no longer believed to represent monophyletic groups. The Gracilicutes have been divided into many different phyla. Most gram-positive bacteria are placed in the phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, which are closely related. However, the Firmicutes have been redefined to include the mycoplasmas (Mollicutes) and certain Gram-negative bacteria.

Benefits and dangers

Bacteria are both harmful and useful to the environment, and animals, including humans. The role of bacteria in disease and infection is important. Some bacteria act as pathogens and cause tetanus, typhoid fever, pneumonia, syphilis, cholera, foodborne illness and tuberculosis. Sepsis, a systemic infectious syndrome characterized by shock and massive vasodilation, or localized infection, can be caused by bacteria such as streptococcus, staphylococcus, or many gram-negative bacteria. Some bacterial infections can spread throughout the host's body and become systemic. In plants, bacteria cause leaf spot, fireblight, and wilts. The mode of infection includes contact, air, food, water, and insect-borne microorganisms. The hosts infected with the pathogens may be treated with antibiotics, which can be classified as bacteriocidal and bacteriostatic, which at concentrations that can be reached in bodily fluids either kill bacteria or hamper their growth, respectively. Antiseptic measures may be taken to prevent infection by bacteria, for example, prior to cutting the skin during surgery or swabbing skin with alcohol when piercing the skin with the needle of a syringe. Sterilization of surgical and dental instruments is done to make them sterile or pathogen-free to prevent contamination and infection by bacteria. Sanitizers and disinfectants are used to kill bacteria or other pathogens to prevent contamination and risk of infection. In soil, microorganisms help in the transformation of nitrogen to ammonia with enzymes secreted by these microbes, which reside in the rhizosphere (a zone that includes the root surface and the soil that adheres to the root after gentle shaking). Some bacteria are able to use molecular nitrogen as their source of nitrogen, converting it to nitrogenous compounds, a process known as nitrogen fixation. Many other bacteria are found as symbionts in humans and other organisms. For example, the presence of the gut flora in the large intestine can help prevent the growth of potentially harmful microbes. The ability of bacteria to degrade a variety of organic compounds is remarkable. Highly specialized groups of microorganisms play important roles in the mineralization of specific classes of organic compounds. For example, the decomposition of cellulose, which is one of the most abundant constituents of plant tissues, is mainly brought about by aerobic bacteria that belong to the genus Cytophaga. This ability has also been utilized by humans in industry, waste processing, and bioremediation. Bacteria capable of digesting the hydrocarbons in petroleum are often used to clean up oil spills. Some beaches in Prince William Sound were fertilized in an attempt to facilitate the growth of such bacteria after the infamous 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. These efforts were effective on beaches that were not too thickly covered in oil. Bacteria, often in combination with yeasts and molds, are used in the preparation of fermented foods such as cheese, pickles, soy sauce, sauerkraut, vinegar, wine, and yogurt. Using biotechnology techniques, bacteria can be bioengineered for the production of therapeutic drugs, such as insulin, or for the bioremediation of toxic wastes.

Miscellaneous

Two organelles, mitochondria and chloroplasts, are generally believed to have been derived from endosymbiotic bacteria. Microorganisms are widely distributed and are most abundant where they have food, moisture, and the right temperature for their multiplication and growth. They can be carried by air currents from one place to another. The human body is home to billions of microorganisms; they can be found on skin surfaces, in the intestinal tract, in the mouth, nose, and other body openings. They are in the air one breathes, the water one drinks, and the food one eats. The great antiquity of the bacteria has enabled them to evolve a great deal of genetic diversity. They are far more diverse than, say, the mammals or insects. For instance, the genetic distance between E. coli and Thermus aquaticus is greater than the distance between humans and oak trees.

References

- Some text in this entry was merged with the Nupedia article entitled Bacteria, written by Nagina Parmar; reviewed and approved by the Biology group (editor: Gaytha Langlois, lead reviewer: Gaytha Langlois, lead copyeditors: Ruth Ifcher and Jan Hogle)
-

External links

- [http://www.dsmz.de/bactnom/bactname.htm Bacterial Nomenclature Up-To-Date from DSMZ]
- [http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc99/4_17_99/fob5.htm The largest bacteria]
- [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Eubacteria&contgroup=Life_on_Earth Tree of Life]
- [http://www.rowland.harvard.edu/labs/bacteria/index_movies.html Videos] of bacteria swimming and tumbling, use of optical tweezers and other fine videos.
- Category:Bacteriology ko:세균 ja:真正細菌 th:แบคทีเรีย

Barrel (storage)

] ]] :For other uses, see Barrel (disambiguation). A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of wood staves and bound with iron hoops. Someone who makes such barrels is known as a cooper. Contemporary barrels are also made in aluminium (also called kegs) and plastic. Barrels often have a convex shape, bulging at the middle. This constant bulge makes it relatively easy to roll a well built wooden barrel on its side, changing directions with little friction. It also helps to distribute stress evenly in the material by making the container more spherical. Casks used for ale or beer are equipped with shives, spiles and keystones in their openings.

History

In ancient times, in Europe, liquids like oil and wine were carried in vessels, for instance amphora, sealed with pine resin. The Romans began to use barrels in the 3rd century AD, as a result of their commercial and military contacts with the Gauls, who had been making barrels for several centuries. For nearly 2,000 years barrels were the most convenient form of shipping or storage container, for those who could afford the superior price. All kinds of bulk goods, from nails to gold coins, were stored in them. Bags and most crates were cheaper, but they were not as sturdy and they were more difficult to manhandle, for the same weight. Barrels slowly lost their importance in the 20th century, with the introduction of pallet based logistics and Containerization. In the late 20th century, large steel casks began to be used in the United States for the storage of nuclear waste. This system, known as dry cask storage, has proven to be very controversial, but it is seen as the most practical of few available alternatives until a site such as the Yucca Mountain storage facility opens.

Aging in barrels

Yucca Mountain Main article: Aging barrel The term "Barrel" typically referes to wooden vessels that are small enough to be moved by hand. This would include up to Puncheon size (see below.) Barrels are used for the storage of liquids, to ferment wine, and to age wine (notably brandy, sherry, and port) and whiskey. Some wine is said to be fermented "in barrel," as opposed to a neutral container such as a steel or concrete tank. Wine can also be fermented in large wooden tanks, often called "open-tops", because they are open to the atmosphere. Other wooden cooperadge for storing wine or spirits is called "casks", and they are large (up to thousands of gallons) with either elliptical or round heads.

Beer "Barrels"

Although it is common to refer to draught beer containers of any size as barrels, this is strictly correct only if the container actually holds 36 gallons. The terms "keg" and "cask" refer to containers of any size, the distinction being that kegs are used for pasteurised beers intended to be served using external gas cylinders. Real ale and similar beers undergo part of their fermentation process in their containers, which are called casks. Casks are available in several sizes, and it is also usual to refer to "a firkin" or "a kil" (kilderkin) instead of a cask.

Sizes

English traditional, wine

Like other units, the pre-1824 definitions continued to be used in the US, the wine gallon of 231 cubic inches staying (since 1707) the standard gallon for liquids (accompanied by the corn gallon of 268.8 cubic inches for solids), whereas in Britain that gallon was abolished and replaced by the Imperial gallon. The tierce later became the petrol barrel. The tun originally was 256 gallons, which explains where the quarter, being 8 bushels or 64 (wine) gallons, comes from.

English traditional, beer and ale

Oil barrel

The standard barrel of crude oil or other petroleum product (abbreviated bbl) is 42 US gallons, 35 Imperial gallons or 158.97 litres. This measurement originated in the early Pennsylvania oil fields, and permitted both British and American merchants to refer to the same unit, which was based on the old English wine measure, the tierce. Earlier, another size of whiskey barrel was once the most common size; this was the 40 US-gallon (151.40 liters) barrel, which was of the same volume as 5 US bushels. However, by 1866 the oil barrel was standardized at 42 US-gallons. Oil has not been shipped in barrels for a very long time [http://www.slate.com/id/2115219/] since the introduction of oil tanker ships, but the 42-US-gallon size is still used as a unit for measurement, pricing, and in tax and regulatory codes, each 42(US)-gallon barrel making about 19½ gallons of gasoline.

Disciplinary use

As the expression over a barrel (i.e. vulnerably at someone's mercy) recalls, a commonly available timber barrel has been used a cheap and convenient alternative (in fact a passive pervertible) to more elaborate whipping posts and other, often more 'ritual', appararus for corporal punishment, in the private sphere or even for judicial administration of lashes to the backside (usually the posterior: for the back a straiter position as over a bench is preferred) of bend-over culprits, as the following links show still in the British 1899-1902 Boers-repression ([http://www.geocities.com/pen_kop/pow.htm South Africa and prisoner exile on the Bermudas], whipping naked boys as artist-illustrated) and even 1937 [http://www.corpun.com/usju3708.htm Ohio village marshall strapping juveniles].
- compare the barrel pillory or Spanish mantle

Sources and External links

- [http://corpun.master.com/texis/master/search/?q=barrel&s=SS| CorPun website on various corporal punishments]
- [http://medien.akbild.ac.at/armin/crates_and_barrels/ Crates and barrels in videogames] Category:Containers Category:Wine ja:樽

Disyembre 29

An Disyembre 29 an ika-363 nga adlaw han tuig han kalendaryo Gregoriano. Mayda pa 2 nga adlaw nga nahabilin hit tuig.

Mga Importante nga Nahinabo Yana nga Adlaw

Mga Natawo Yana nga Adlaw

Mga Namatay Yana nga Adlaw

Mga Ginsasaurog Yana nga Adlaw

Mga Sumpay ha Gawas

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/12/29 Today in History: December 29] Category:Mga Adlaw

venice luxury hotels g�od�wka poker SYLWESTER accommodation in Glasgow

:: RELATED NEWS ::

Depayin Massacre
Depayin massacre 1. On 30 May 2003, hundreds of government-organised thugs carried out a well-organised and premeditated attack on members and supporters of the National League for Democracy, killing, according to eyewitness accounts, at least 70 people. Although this was but one of many atrocities committed by the Government of Myanmar against its citizens, it should be regarded with particular seriousness given the number of persons killed at one time, the extent to which the event appears to have been

Fort Mims Massacre
The Fort Mims massacre occurred on 30 August, 1813 when a force of "Red Sticks" under Peter McQueen attacked a group of settlers and militia in Fort Mims.

Background

At the start of the Creek Civil War, settlers north of Mobile, particularly mixed-blood Creeks from the lower towns, began to take refuge with the American settlers in the stockades of Fo

WOGI
WOGI, Froggy 98 FM, is a Country music outlet serving the Pittsburgh area. The station, which is owned by Forever Broadcasting, operates at 98.3MHz with a ERP 3.5kw and is licensed to Duquesne, Pennsylvania.

History

WOGI was originally Adult Contemporary WESA-FM and was licensed to Charleroi, Pennsylvania. In the late

Everett Massacre
The Everett massacre was an armed confrontation between sheriff deputies, vigilantes and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Union members, which took place in Everett, Washington on Sunday, November 5 1916. The unfortunate event marked a time of rising tensions in Pacific Northwe

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jodie Andrews

This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page.

Staff

Musical staff

Staff positions

Examples

Staves with more or less than five lines

External links

Employee

Employer

Employee

Alternatives

Employment Research and Education

Films

See also

External links

Organization

Pyramids or hierarchies

Committees or juries

Staff organisation or cross-functional team

Matrix organisation

Ecologies

"Chaordic" organisations

See also

Related lists

References

External links

Quarterstaff

Terminology

Description

History

See also

External links

References

Staff of office

Staff (building material)

1878

Events

January - April

May - August

September - December

Unknown date

Births

Deaths

Polish poet

A - E

F - G

H - J

K - L

M - O

P - R

S

T - V

W - Z

See also

Bowstaff

Homophone

Further Examples

Homonyms in scientific nomenclature

Quotation

See also

External links

Staph

Microbiology

Antibiotic sensitivity

Role of pigment in resistance

Role in disease

Note

External links

Bacterium

History and taxonomy

Metabolism

Movement

Groups and identification

Benefits and dangers

Miscellaneous

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Barrel (storage)

History