4006+229 encountered difficulties in Mallow with the 0925 Crok - Heuston. The train was eventually failed there, and passengers transferred to the following 1025 Cork - Heuston.

 

Due to a GAA match in Croke Park, the 1025 ex Cork made an additional call at Hazelbatch and Celbridge, with 8x29000 used to bring supporters to Drumcondra (see European Rail's video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D35J0OdU2Zw)

 

I didn't hear about this move until it was just too late, but was able to get this instead. 223 hauls 4006+229 over the Barrow Bridge in Monastetevin with the 1400 Mallow - Inchicore

Fuji FP100C, shot with a Polaroid 100 Automatic.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease has since spread worldwide, leading to an ongoing pandemic.

 

Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, but often include fever, cough, fatigue, breathing difficulties, and loss of smell and taste. Symptoms begin one to fourteen days after exposure to the virus. Of those people who develop noticeable symptoms, most (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging), and 5% suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). Older people are more likely to have severe symptoms. At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus remain asymptomatic and do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time, but they still can spread the disease.[ Around 20% of those people will remain asymptomatic throughout infection, and the rest will develop symptoms later on, becoming pre-symptomatic rather than asymptomatic and therefore having a higher risk of transmitting the virus to others. Some people continue to experience a range of effects—known as long COVID—for months after recovery, and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.

 

The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads mainly when an infected person is in close contact[a] with another person. Small droplets and aerosols containing the virus can spread from an infected person's nose and mouth as they breathe, cough, sneeze, sing, or speak. Other people are infected if the virus gets into their mouth, nose or eyes. The virus may also spread via contaminated surfaces, although this is not thought to be the main route of transmission. The exact route of transmission is rarely proven conclusively, but infection mainly happens when people are near each other for long enough. People who are infected can transmit the virus to another person up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, as can people who do not experience symptoms. People remain infectious for up to ten days after the onset of symptoms in moderate cases and up to 20 days in severe cases. Several testing methods have been developed to diagnose the disease. The standard diagnostic method is by detection of the virus' nucleic acid by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), or by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) from a nasopharyngeal swab.

 

Preventive measures include physical or social distancing, quarantining, ventilation of indoor spaces, covering coughs and sneezes, hand washing, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face. The use of face masks or coverings has been recommended in public settings to minimise the risk of transmissions. Several vaccines have been developed and several countries have initiated mass vaccination campaigns.

 

Although work is underway to develop drugs that inhibit the virus, the primary treatment is currently symptomatic. Management involves the treatment of symptoms, supportive care, isolation, and experimental measures.

 

SIGNS AND SYSTOMS

Symptoms of COVID-19 are variable, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Common symptoms include headache, loss of smell and taste, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea, cough, muscle pain, sore throat, fever, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. People with the same infection may have different symptoms, and their symptoms may change over time. Three common clusters of symptoms have been identified: one respiratory symptom cluster with cough, sputum, shortness of breath, and fever; a musculoskeletal symptom cluster with muscle and joint pain, headache, and fatigue; a cluster of digestive symptoms with abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In people without prior ear, nose, and throat disorders, loss of taste combined with loss of smell is associated with COVID-19.

 

Most people (81%) develop mild to moderate symptoms (up to mild pneumonia), while 14% develop severe symptoms (dyspnea, hypoxia, or more than 50% lung involvement on imaging) and 5% of patients suffer critical symptoms (respiratory failure, shock, or multiorgan dysfunction). At least a third of the people who are infected with the virus do not develop noticeable symptoms at any point in time. These asymptomatic carriers tend not to get tested and can spread the disease. Other infected people will develop symptoms later, called "pre-symptomatic", or have very mild symptoms and can also spread the virus.

 

As is common with infections, there is a delay between the moment a person first becomes infected and the appearance of the first symptoms. The median delay for COVID-19 is four to five days. Most symptomatic people experience symptoms within two to seven days after exposure, and almost all will experience at least one symptom within 12 days.

Most people recover from the acute phase of the disease. However, some people continue to experience a range of effects for months after recovery—named long COVID—and damage to organs has been observed. Multi-year studies are underway to further investigate the long-term effects of the disease.

 

CAUSE

TRANSMISSION

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads from person to person mainly through the respiratory route after an infected person coughs, sneezes, sings, talks or breathes. A new infection occurs when virus-containing particles exhaled by an infected person, either respiratory droplets or aerosols, get into the mouth, nose, or eyes of other people who are in close contact with the infected person. During human-to-human transmission, an average 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions are thought to initiate a new infection.

 

The closer people interact, and the longer they interact, the more likely they are to transmit COVID-19. Closer distances can involve larger droplets (which fall to the ground) and aerosols, whereas longer distances only involve aerosols. Larger droplets can also turn into aerosols (known as droplet nuclei) through evaporation. The relative importance of the larger droplets and the aerosols is not clear as of November 2020; however, the virus is not known to spread between rooms over long distances such as through air ducts. Airborne transmission is able to particularly occur indoors, in high risk locations such as restaurants, choirs, gyms, nightclubs, offices, and religious venues, often when they are crowded or less ventilated. It also occurs in healthcare settings, often when aerosol-generating medical procedures are performed on COVID-19 patients.

 

Although it is considered possible there is no direct evidence of the virus being transmitted by skin to skin contact. A person could get COVID-19 indirectly by touching a contaminated surface or object before touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes, though this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. The virus is not known to spread through feces, urine, breast milk, food, wastewater, drinking water, or via animal disease vectors (although some animals can contract the virus from humans). It very rarely transmits from mother to baby during pregnancy.

 

Social distancing and the wearing of cloth face masks, surgical masks, respirators, or other face coverings are controls for droplet transmission. Transmission may be decreased indoors with well maintained heating and ventilation systems to maintain good air circulation and increase the use of outdoor air.

 

The number of people generally infected by one infected person varies. Coronavirus disease 2019 is more infectious than influenza, but less so than measles. It often spreads in clusters, where infections can be traced back to an index case or geographical location. There is a major role of "super-spreading events", where many people are infected by one person.

 

A person who is infected can transmit the virus to others up to two days before they themselves show symptoms, and even if symptoms never appear. People remain infectious in moderate cases for 7–12 days, and up to two weeks in severe cases. In October 2020, medical scientists reported evidence of reinfection in one person.

 

VIROLOGY

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. It was first isolated from three people with pneumonia connected to the cluster of acute respiratory illness cases in Wuhan. All structural features of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus particle occur in related coronaviruses in nature.

 

Outside the human body, the virus is destroyed by household soap, which bursts its protective bubble.

 

SARS-CoV-2 is closely related to the original SARS-CoV. It is thought to have an animal (zoonotic) origin. Genetic analysis has revealed that the coronavirus genetically clusters with the genus Betacoronavirus, in subgenus Sarbecovirus (lineage B) together with two bat-derived strains. It is 96% identical at the whole genome level to other bat coronavirus samples (BatCov RaTG13). The structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 include membrane glycoprotein (M), envelope protein (E), nucleocapsid protein (N), and the spike protein (S). The M protein of SARS-CoV-2 is about 98% similar to the M protein of bat SARS-CoV, maintains around 98% homology with pangolin SARS-CoV, and has 90% homology with the M protein of SARS-CoV; whereas, the similarity is only around 38% with the M protein of MERS-CoV. The structure of the M protein resembles the sugar transporter SemiSWEET.

 

The many thousands of SARS-CoV-2 variants are grouped into clades. Several different clade nomenclatures have been proposed. Nextstrain divides the variants into five clades (19A, 19B, 20A, 20B, and 20C), while GISAID divides them into seven (L, O, V, S, G, GH, and GR).

 

Several notable variants of SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2020. Cluster 5 emerged among minks and mink farmers in Denmark. After strict quarantines and a mink euthanasia campaign, it is believed to have been eradicated. The Variant of Concern 202012/01 (VOC 202012/01) is believed to have emerged in the United Kingdom in September. The 501Y.V2 Variant, which has the same N501Y mutation, arose independently in South Africa.

 

SARS-CoV-2 VARIANTS

Three known variants of SARS-CoV-2 are currently spreading among global populations as of January 2021 including the UK Variant (referred to as B.1.1.7) first found in London and Kent, a variant discovered in South Africa (referred to as 1.351), and a variant discovered in Brazil (referred to as P.1).

 

Using Whole Genome Sequencing, epidemiology and modelling suggest the new UK variant ‘VUI – 202012/01’ (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020) transmits more easily than other strains.

 

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

COVID-19 can affect the upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) and the lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs). The lungs are the organs most affected by COVID-19 because the virus accesses host cells via the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is most abundant in type II alveolar cells of the lungs. The virus uses a special surface glycoprotein called a "spike" (peplomer) to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell. The density of ACE2 in each tissue correlates with the severity of the disease in that tissue and decreasing ACE2 activity might be protective, though another view is that increasing ACE2 using angiotensin II receptor blocker medications could be protective. As the alveolar disease progresses, respiratory failure might develop and death may follow.

 

Whether SARS-CoV-2 is able to invade the nervous system remains unknown. The virus is not detected in the CNS of the majority of COVID-19 people with neurological issues. However, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected at low levels in the brains of those who have died from COVID-19, but these results need to be confirmed. SARS-CoV-2 could cause respiratory failure through affecting the brain stem as other coronaviruses have been found to invade the CNS. While virus has been detected in cerebrospinal fluid of autopsies, the exact mechanism by which it invades the CNS remains unclear and may first involve invasion of peripheral nerves given the low levels of ACE2 in the brain. The virus may also enter the bloodstream from the lungs and cross the blood-brain barrier to gain access to the CNS, possibly within an infected white blood cell.

 

The virus also affects gastrointestinal organs as ACE2 is abundantly expressed in the glandular cells of gastric, duodenal and rectal epithelium as well as endothelial cells and enterocytes of the small intestine.

 

The virus can cause acute myocardial injury and chronic damage to the cardiovascular system. An acute cardiac injury was found in 12% of infected people admitted to the hospital in Wuhan, China, and is more frequent in severe disease. Rates of cardiovascular symptoms are high, owing to the systemic inflammatory response and immune system disorders during disease progression, but acute myocardial injuries may also be related to ACE2 receptors in the heart. ACE2 receptors are highly expressed in the heart and are involved in heart function. A high incidence of thrombosis and venous thromboembolism have been found people transferred to Intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-19 infections, and may be related to poor prognosis. Blood vessel dysfunction and clot formation (as suggested by high D-dimer levels caused by blood clots) are thought to play a significant role in mortality, incidences of clots leading to pulmonary embolisms, and ischaemic events within the brain have been noted as complications leading to death in people infected with SARS-CoV-2. Infection appears to set off a chain of vasoconstrictive responses within the body, constriction of blood vessels within the pulmonary circulation has also been posited as a mechanism in which oxygenation decreases alongside the presentation of viral pneumonia. Furthermore, microvascular blood vessel damage has been reported in a small number of tissue samples of the brains – without detected SARS-CoV-2 – and the olfactory bulbs from those who have died from COVID-19.

 

Another common cause of death is complications related to the kidneys. Early reports show that up to 30% of hospitalized patients both in China and in New York have experienced some injury to their kidneys, including some persons with no previous kidney problems.

 

Autopsies of people who died of COVID-19 have found diffuse alveolar damage, and lymphocyte-containing inflammatory infiltrates within the lung.

 

IMMUNOPATHOLOGY

Although SARS-CoV-2 has a tropism for ACE2-expressing epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, people with severe COVID-19 have symptoms of systemic hyperinflammation. Clinical laboratory findings of elevated IL-2, IL-7, IL-6, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), interferon-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α), and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) indicative of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) suggest an underlying immunopathology.

 

Additionally, people with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have classical serum biomarkers of CRS, including elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), D-dimer, and ferritin.

 

Systemic inflammation results in vasodilation, allowing inflammatory lymphocytic and monocytic infiltration of the lung and the heart. In particular, pathogenic GM-CSF-secreting T-cells were shown to correlate with the recruitment of inflammatory IL-6-secreting monocytes and severe lung pathology in people with COVID-19 . Lymphocytic infiltrates have also been reported at autopsy.

 

VIRAL AND HOST FACTORS

VIRUS PROTEINS

Multiple viral and host factors affect the pathogenesis of the virus. The S-protein, otherwise known as the spike protein, is the viral component that attaches to the host receptor via the ACE2 receptors. It includes two subunits: S1 and S2. S1 determines the virus host range and cellular tropism via the receptor binding domain. S2 mediates the membrane fusion of the virus to its potential cell host via the H1 and HR2, which are heptad repeat regions. Studies have shown that S1 domain induced IgG and IgA antibody levels at a much higher capacity. It is the focus spike proteins expression that are involved in many effective COVID-19 vaccines.

 

The M protein is the viral protein responsible for the transmembrane transport of nutrients. It is the cause of the bud release and the formation of the viral envelope. The N and E protein are accessory proteins that interfere with the host's immune response.

 

HOST FACTORS

Human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) is the host factor that SARS-COV2 virus targets causing COVID-19. Theoretically the usage of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) and ACE inhibitors upregulating ACE2 expression might increase morbidity with COVID-19, though animal data suggest some potential protective effect of ARB. However no clinical studies have proven susceptibility or outcomes. Until further data is available, guidelines and recommendations for hypertensive patients remain.

 

The virus' effect on ACE2 cell surfaces leads to leukocytic infiltration, increased blood vessel permeability, alveolar wall permeability, as well as decreased secretion of lung surfactants. These effects cause the majority of the respiratory symptoms. However, the aggravation of local inflammation causes a cytokine storm eventually leading to a systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

 

HOST CYTOKINE RESPONSE

The severity of the inflammation can be attributed to the severity of what is known as the cytokine storm. Levels of interleukin 1B, interferon-gamma, interferon-inducible protein 10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 were all associated with COVID-19 disease severity. Treatment has been proposed to combat the cytokine storm as it remains to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 disease.

 

A cytokine storm is due to an acute hyperinflammatory response that is responsible for clinical illness in an array of diseases but in COVID-19, it is related to worse prognosis and increased fatality. The storm causes the acute respiratory distress syndrome, blood clotting events such as strokes, myocardial infarction, encephalitis, acute kidney injury, and vasculitis. The production of IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and interferon-gamma, all crucial components of normal immune responses, inadvertently become the causes of a cytokine storm. The cells of the central nervous system, the microglia, neurons, and astrocytes, are also be involved in the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines affecting the nervous system, and effects of cytokine storms toward the CNS are not uncommon.

 

DIAGNOSIS

COVID-19 can provisionally be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and confirmed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or other nucleic acid testing of infected secretions. Along with laboratory testing, chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection. Detection of a past infection is possible with serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to the infection.

 

VIRAL TESTING

The standard methods of testing for presence of SARS-CoV-2 are nucleic acid tests, which detects the presence of viral RNA fragments. As these tests detect RNA but not infectious virus, its "ability to determine duration of infectivity of patients is limited." The test is typically done on respiratory samples obtained by a nasopharyngeal swab; however, a nasal swab or sputum sample may also be used. Results are generally available within hours. The WHO has published several testing protocols for the disease.

 

A number of laboratories and companies have developed serological tests, which detect antibodies produced by the body in response to infection. Several have been evaluated by Public Health England and approved for use in the UK.

 

The University of Oxford's CEBM has pointed to mounting evidence that "a good proportion of 'new' mild cases and people re-testing positives after quarantine or discharge from hospital are not infectious, but are simply clearing harmless virus particles which their immune system has efficiently dealt with" and have called for "an international effort to standardize and periodically calibrate testing" On 7 September, the UK government issued "guidance for procedures to be implemented in laboratories to provide assurance of positive SARS-CoV-2 RNA results during periods of low prevalence, when there is a reduction in the predictive value of positive test results."

 

IMAGING

Chest CT scans may be helpful to diagnose COVID-19 in individuals with a high clinical suspicion of infection but are not recommended for routine screening. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with a peripheral, asymmetric, and posterior distribution are common in early infection. Subpleural dominance, crazy paving (lobular septal thickening with variable alveolar filling), and consolidation may appear as the disease progresses. Characteristic imaging features on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) of people who are symptomatic include asymmetric peripheral ground-glass opacities without pleural effusions.

 

Many groups have created COVID-19 datasets that include imagery such as the Italian Radiological Society which has compiled an international online database of imaging findings for confirmed cases. Due to overlap with other infections such as adenovirus, imaging without confirmation by rRT-PCR is of limited specificity in identifying COVID-19. A large study in China compared chest CT results to PCR and demonstrated that though imaging is less specific for the infection, it is faster and more sensitive.

Coding

In late 2019, the WHO assigned emergency ICD-10 disease codes U07.1 for deaths from lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and U07.2 for deaths from clinically or epidemiologically diagnosed COVID-19 without lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection.

 

PATHOLOGY

The main pathological findings at autopsy are:

 

Macroscopy: pericarditis, lung consolidation and pulmonary oedema

Lung findings:

minor serous exudation, minor fibrin exudation

pulmonary oedema, pneumocyte hyperplasia, large atypical pneumocytes, interstitial inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration and multinucleated giant cell formation

diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) with diffuse alveolar exudates. DAD is the cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxemia.

organisation of exudates in alveolar cavities and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis

plasmocytosis in BAL

Blood: disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC); leukoerythroblastic reaction

Liver: microvesicular steatosis

 

PREVENTION

Preventive measures to reduce the chances of infection include staying at home, wearing a mask in public, avoiding crowded places, keeping distance from others, ventilating indoor spaces, washing hands with soap and water often and for at least 20 seconds, practising good respiratory hygiene, and avoiding touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

 

Those diagnosed with COVID-19 or who believe they may be infected are advised by the CDC to stay home except to get medical care, call ahead before visiting a healthcare provider, wear a face mask before entering the healthcare provider's office and when in any room or vehicle with another person, cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, regularly wash hands with soap and water and avoid sharing personal household items.

 

The first COVID-19 vaccine was granted regulatory approval on 2 December by the UK medicines regulator MHRA. It was evaluated for emergency use authorization (EUA) status by the US FDA, and in several other countries. Initially, the US National Institutes of Health guidelines do not recommend any medication for prevention of COVID-19, before or after exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, outside the setting of a clinical trial. Without a vaccine, other prophylactic measures, or effective treatments, a key part of managing COVID-19 is trying to decrease and delay the epidemic peak, known as "flattening the curve". This is done by slowing the infection rate to decrease the risk of health services being overwhelmed, allowing for better treatment of current cases, and delaying additional cases until effective treatments or a vaccine become available.

 

VACCINE

A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19). Prior to the COVID‑19 pandemic, there was an established body of knowledge about the structure and function of coronaviruses causing diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), which enabled accelerated development of various vaccine technologies during early 2020. On 10 January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence data was shared through GISAID, and by 19 March, the global pharmaceutical industry announced a major commitment to address COVID-19.

 

In Phase III trials, several COVID‑19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy as high as 95% in preventing symptomatic COVID‑19 infections. As of March 2021, 12 vaccines were authorized by at least one national regulatory authority for public use: two RNA vaccines (the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna vaccine), four conventional inactivated vaccines (BBIBP-CorV, CoronaVac, Covaxin, and CoviVac), four viral vector vaccines (Sputnik V, the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, Convidicea, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), and two protein subunit vaccines (EpiVacCorona and RBD-Dimer). In total, as of March 2021, 308 vaccine candidates were in various stages of development, with 73 in clinical research, including 24 in Phase I trials, 33 in Phase I–II trials, and 16 in Phase III development.

Many countries have implemented phased distribution plans that prioritize those at highest risk of complications, such as the elderly, and those at high risk of exposure and transmission, such as healthcare workers. As of 17 March 2021, 400.22 million doses of COVID‑19 vaccine have been administered worldwide based on official reports from national health agencies. AstraZeneca-Oxford anticipates producing 3 billion doses in 2021, Pfizer-BioNTech 1.3 billion doses, and Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Johnson & Johnson 1 billion doses each. Moderna targets producing 600 million doses and Convidicea 500 million doses in 2021. By December 2020, more than 10 billion vaccine doses had been preordered by countries, with about half of the doses purchased by high-income countries comprising 14% of the world's population.

 

SOCIAL DISTANCING

Social distancing (also known as physical distancing) includes infection control actions intended to slow the spread of the disease by minimising close contact between individuals. Methods include quarantines; travel restrictions; and the closing of schools, workplaces, stadiums, theatres, or shopping centres. Individuals may apply social distancing methods by staying at home, limiting travel, avoiding crowded areas, using no-contact greetings, and physically distancing themselves from others. Many governments are now mandating or recommending social distancing in regions affected by the outbreak.

 

Outbreaks have occurred in prisons due to crowding and an inability to enforce adequate social distancing. In the United States, the prisoner population is aging and many of them are at high risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 due to high rates of coexisting heart and lung disease, and poor access to high-quality healthcare.

 

SELF-ISOLATION

Self-isolation at home has been recommended for those diagnosed with COVID-19 and those who suspect they have been infected. Health agencies have issued detailed instructions for proper self-isolation. Many governments have mandated or recommended self-quarantine for entire populations. The strongest self-quarantine instructions have been issued to those in high-risk groups. Those who may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and those who have recently travelled to a country or region with the widespread transmission have been advised to self-quarantine for 14 days from the time of last possible exposure.

Face masks and respiratory hygiene

 

The WHO and the US CDC recommend individuals wear non-medical face coverings in public settings where there is an increased risk of transmission and where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. This recommendation is meant to reduce the spread of the disease by asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic individuals and is complementary to established preventive measures such as social distancing. Face coverings limit the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets dispersed when talking, breathing, and coughing. A face covering without vents or holes will also filter out particles containing the virus from inhaled and exhaled air, reducing the chances of infection. But, if the mask include an exhalation valve, a wearer that is infected (maybe without having noticed that, and asymptomatic) would transmit the virus outwards through it, despite any certification they can have. So the masks with exhalation valve are not for the infected wearers, and are not reliable to stop the pandemic in a large scale. Many countries and local jurisdictions encourage or mandate the use of face masks or cloth face coverings by members of the public to limit the spread of the virus.

 

Masks are also strongly recommended for those who may have been infected and those taking care of someone who may have the disease. When not wearing a mask, the CDC recommends covering the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and recommends using the inside of the elbow if no tissue is available. Proper hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is encouraged. Healthcare professionals interacting directly with people who have COVID-19 are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95 or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.

 

HAND-WASHING AND HYGIENE

Thorough hand hygiene after any cough or sneeze is required. The WHO also recommends that individuals wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the toilet or when hands are visibly dirty, before eating and after blowing one's nose. The CDC recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol, but only when soap and water are not readily available. For areas where commercial hand sanitisers are not readily available, the WHO provides two formulations for local production. In these formulations, the antimicrobial activity arises from ethanol or isopropanol. Hydrogen peroxide is used to help eliminate bacterial spores in the alcohol; it is "not an active substance for hand antisepsis". Glycerol is added as a humectant.

 

SURFACE CLEANING

After being expelled from the body, coronaviruses can survive on surfaces for hours to days. If a person touches the dirty surface, they may deposit the virus at the eyes, nose, or mouth where it can enter the body cause infection. Current evidence indicates that contact with infected surfaces is not the main driver of Covid-19, leading to recommendations for optimised disinfection procedures to avoid issues such as the increase of antimicrobial resistance through the use of inappropriate cleaning products and processes. Deep cleaning and other surface sanitation has been criticized as hygiene theater, giving a false sense of security against something primarily spread through the air.

 

The amount of time that the virus can survive depends significantly on the type of surface, the temperature, and the humidity. Coronaviruses die very quickly when exposed to the UV light in sunlight. Like other enveloped viruses, SARS-CoV-2 survives longest when the temperature is at room temperature or lower, and when the relative humidity is low (<50%).

 

On many surfaces, including as glass, some types of plastic, stainless steel, and skin, the virus can remain infective for several days indoors at room temperature, or even about a week under ideal conditions. On some surfaces, including cotton fabric and copper, the virus usually dies after a few hours. As a general rule of thumb, the virus dies faster on porous surfaces than on non-porous surfaces.

However, this rule is not absolute, and of the many surfaces tested, two with the longest survival times are N95 respirator masks and surgical masks, both of which are considered porous surfaces.

 

Surfaces may be decontaminated with 62–71 percent ethanol, 50–100 percent isopropanol, 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.2–7.5 percent povidone-iodine. Other solutions, such as benzalkonium chloride and chlorhexidine gluconate, are less effective. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation may also be used. The CDC recommends that if a COVID-19 case is suspected or confirmed at a facility such as an office or day care, all areas such as offices, bathrooms, common areas, shared electronic equipment like tablets, touch screens, keyboards, remote controls, and ATM machines used by the ill persons should be disinfected. A datasheet comprising the authorised substances to disinfection in the food industry (including suspension or surface tested, kind of surface, use dilution, disinfectant and inocuylum volumes) can be seen in the supplementary material of.

 

VENTILATION AND AIR FILTRATION

The WHO recommends ventilation and air filtration in public spaces to help clear out infectious aerosols.

 

HEALTHY DIET AND LIFESTYLE

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health recommends a healthy diet, being physically active, managing psychological stress, and getting enough sleep.

 

While there is no evidence that vitamin D is an effective treatment for COVID-19, there is limited evidence that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms. This has led to recommendations for individuals with vitamin D deficiency to take vitamin D supplements as a way of mitigating the risk of COVID-19 and other health issues associated with a possible increase in deficiency due to social distancing.

 

TREATMENT

There is no specific, effective treatment or cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, the cornerstone of management of COVID-19 is supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support and prone positioning as needed, and medications or devices to support other affected vital organs.

 

Most cases of COVID-19 are mild. In these, supportive care includes medication such as paracetamol or NSAIDs to relieve symptoms (fever, body aches, cough), proper intake of fluids, rest, and nasal breathing. Good personal hygiene and a healthy diet are also recommended. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that those who suspect they are carrying the virus isolate themselves at home and wear a face mask.

 

People with more severe cases may need treatment in hospital. In those with low oxygen levels, use of the glucocorticoid dexamethasone is strongly recommended, as it can reduce the risk of death. Noninvasive ventilation and, ultimately, admission to an intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation may be required to support breathing. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been used to address the issue of respiratory failure, but its benefits are still under consideration.

Several experimental treatments are being actively studied in clinical trials. Others were thought to be promising early in the pandemic, such as hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, but later research found them to be ineffective or even harmful. Despite ongoing research, there is still not enough high-quality evidence to recommend so-called early treatment. Nevertheless, in the United States, two monoclonal antibody-based therapies are available for early use in cases thought to be at high risk of progression to severe disease. The antiviral remdesivir is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several other countries, with varying restrictions; however, it is not recommended for people needing mechanical ventilation, and is discouraged altogether by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to limited evidence of its efficacy.

 

PROGNOSIS

The severity of COVID-19 varies. The disease may take a mild course with few or no symptoms, resembling other common upper respiratory diseases such as the common cold. In 3–4% of cases (7.4% for those over age 65) symptoms are severe enough to cause hospitalization. Mild cases typically recover within two weeks, while those with severe or critical diseases may take three to six weeks to recover. Among those who have died, the time from symptom onset to death has ranged from two to eight weeks. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that the median time between the onset of symptoms and death was twelve days, with seven being hospitalised. However, people transferred to an ICU had a median time of ten days between hospitalisation and death. Prolonged prothrombin time and elevated C-reactive protein levels on admission to the hospital are associated with severe course of COVID-19 and with a transfer to ICU.

 

Some early studies suggest 10% to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month.[191][192] A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems including fatigue and shortness of breath. On 30 October 2020 WHO chief Tedros Adhanom warned that "to a significant number of people, the COVID virus poses a range of serious long-term effects". He has described the vast spectrum of COVID-19 symptoms that fluctuate over time as "really concerning." They range from fatigue, a cough and shortness of breath, to inflammation and injury of major organs – including the lungs and heart, and also neurological and psychologic effects. Symptoms often overlap and can affect any system in the body. Infected people have reported cyclical bouts of fatigue, headaches, months of complete exhaustion, mood swings, and other symptoms. Tedros has concluded that therefore herd immunity is "morally unconscionable and unfeasible".

 

In terms of hospital readmissions about 9% of 106,000 individuals had to return for hospital treatment within 2 months of discharge. The average to readmit was 8 days since first hospital visit. There are several risk factors that have been identified as being a cause of multiple admissions to a hospital facility. Among these are advanced age (above 65 years of age) and presence of a chronic condition such as diabetes, COPD, heart failure or chronic kidney disease.

 

According to scientific reviews smokers are more likely to require intensive care or die compared to non-smokers, air pollution is similarly associated with risk factors, and pre-existing heart and lung diseases and also obesity contributes to an increased health risk of COVID-19.

 

It is also assumed that those that are immunocompromised are at higher risk of getting severely sick from SARS-CoV-2. One research that looked into the COVID-19 infections in hospitalized kidney transplant recipients found a mortality rate of 11%.

See also: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children

 

Children make up a small proportion of reported cases, with about 1% of cases being under 10 years and 4% aged 10–19 years. They are likely to have milder symptoms and a lower chance of severe disease than adults. A European multinational study of hospitalized children published in The Lancet on 25 June 2020 found that about 8% of children admitted to a hospital needed intensive care. Four of those 582 children (0.7%) died, but the actual mortality rate could be "substantially lower" since milder cases that did not seek medical help were not included in the study.

 

Genetics also plays an important role in the ability to fight off the disease. For instance, those that do not produce detectable type I interferons or produce auto-antibodies against these may get much sicker from COVID-19. Genetic screening is able to detect interferon effector genes.

 

Pregnant women may be at higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection based on data from other similar viruses, like SARS and MERS, but data for COVID-19 is lacking.

 

COMPLICATIONS

Complications may include pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, septic shock, and death. Cardiovascular complications may include heart failure, arrhythmias, heart inflammation, and blood clots. Approximately 20–30% of people who present with COVID-19 have elevated liver enzymes, reflecting liver injury.

 

Neurologic manifestations include seizure, stroke, encephalitis, and Guillain–Barré syndrome (which includes loss of motor functions). Following the infection, children may develop paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, which has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease, which can be fatal. In very rare cases, acute encephalopathy can occur, and it can be considered in those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have an altered mental status.

 

LONGER-TERM EFFECTS

Some early studies suggest that that 10 to 20% of people with COVID-19 will experience symptoms lasting longer than a month. A majority of those who were admitted to hospital with severe disease report long-term problems, including fatigue and shortness of breath. About 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital progress to severe or critical disease, including pneumonia and acute respiratory failure.

 

By a variety of mechanisms, the lungs are the organs most affected in COVID-19.[228] The majority of CT scans performed show lung abnormalities in people tested after 28 days of illness.

 

People with advanced age, severe disease, prolonged ICU stays, or who smoke are more likely to have long lasting effects, including pulmonary fibrosis. Overall, approximately one third of those investigated after 4 weeks will have findings of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced lung function as measured by DLCO, even in people who are asymptomatic, but with the suggestion of continuing improvement with the passing of more time.

 

IMMUNITY

The immune response by humans to CoV-2 virus occurs as a combination of the cell-mediated immunity and antibody production, just as with most other infections. Since SARS-CoV-2 has been in the human population only since December 2019, it remains unknown if the immunity is long-lasting in people who recover from the disease. The presence of neutralizing antibodies in blood strongly correlates with protection from infection, but the level of neutralizing antibody declines with time. Those with asymptomatic or mild disease had undetectable levels of neutralizing antibody two months after infection. In another study, the level of neutralizing antibody fell 4-fold 1 to 4 months after the onset of symptoms. However, the lack of antibody in the blood does not mean antibody will not be rapidly produced upon reexposure to SARS-CoV-2. Memory B cells specific for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 last for at least 6 months after appearance of symptoms. Nevertheless, 15 cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported using stringent CDC criteria requiring identification of a different variant from the second infection. There are likely to be many more people who have been reinfected with the virus. Herd immunity will not eliminate the virus if reinfection is common. Some other coronaviruses circulating in people are capable of reinfection after roughly a year. Nonetheless, on 3 March 2021, scientists reported that a much more contagious Covid-19 variant, Lineage P.1, first detected in Japan, and subsequently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated with Covid-19 disease reinfection after recovery from an earlier Covid-19 infection.

 

MORTALITY

Several measures are commonly used to quantify mortality. These numbers vary by region and over time and are influenced by the volume of testing, healthcare system quality, treatment options, time since the initial outbreak, and population characteristics such as age, sex, and overall health. The mortality rate reflects the number of deaths within a specific demographic group divided by the population of that demographic group. Consequently, the mortality rate reflects the prevalence as well as the severity of the disease within a given population. Mortality rates are highly correlated to age, with relatively low rates for young people and relatively high rates among the elderly.

 

The case fatality rate (CFR) reflects the number of deaths divided by the number of diagnosed cases within a given time interval. Based on Johns Hopkins University statistics, the global death-to-case ratio is 2.2% (2,685,770/121,585,388) as of 18 March 2021. The number varies by region. The CFR may not reflect the true severity of the disease, because some infected individuals remain asymptomatic or experience only mild symptoms, and hence such infections may not be included in official case reports. Moreover, the CFR may vary markedly over time and across locations due to the availability of live virus tests.

 

INFECTION FATALITY RATE

A key metric in gauging the severity of COVID-19 is the infection fatality rate (IFR), also referred to as the infection fatality ratio or infection fatality risk. This metric is calculated by dividing the total number of deaths from the disease by the total number of infected individuals; hence, in contrast to the CFR, the IFR incorporates asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections as well as reported cases.

 

CURRENT ESTIMATES

A December 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis estimated that population IFR during the first wave of the pandemic was about 0.5% to 1% in many locations (including France, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal), 1% to 2% in other locations (Australia, England, Lithuania, and Spain), and exceeded 2% in Italy. That study also found that most of these differences in IFR reflected corresponding differences in the age composition of the population and age-specific infection rates; in particular, the metaregression estimate of IFR is very low for children and younger adults (e.g., 0.002% at age 10 and 0.01% at age 25) but increases progressively to 0.4% at age 55, 1.4% at age 65, 4.6% at age 75, and 15% at age 85. These results were also highlighted in a December 2020 report issued by the WHO.

 

EARLIER ESTIMATES OF IFR

At an early stage of the pandemic, the World Health Organization reported estimates of IFR between 0.3% and 1%.[ On 2 July, The WHO's chief scientist reported that the average IFR estimate presented at a two-day WHO expert forum was about 0.6%. In August, the WHO found that studies incorporating data from broad serology testing in Europe showed IFR estimates converging at approximately 0.5–1%. Firm lower limits of IFRs have been established in a number of locations such as New York City and Bergamo in Italy since the IFR cannot be less than the population fatality rate. As of 10 July, in New York City, with a population of 8.4 million, 23,377 individuals (18,758 confirmed and 4,619 probable) have died with COVID-19 (0.3% of the population).Antibody testing in New York City suggested an IFR of ~0.9%,[258] and ~1.4%. In Bergamo province, 0.6% of the population has died. In September 2020 the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention reported preliminary estimates of age-specific IFRs for public health planning purposes.

 

SEX DIFFERENCES

Early reviews of epidemiologic data showed gendered impact of the pandemic and a higher mortality rate in men in China and Italy. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported the death rate was 2.8% for men and 1.7% for women. Later reviews in June 2020 indicated that there is no significant difference in susceptibility or in CFR between genders. One review acknowledges the different mortality rates in Chinese men, suggesting that it may be attributable to lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking alcohol rather than genetic factors. Sex-based immunological differences, lesser prevalence of smoking in women and men developing co-morbid conditions such as hypertension at a younger age than women could have contributed to the higher mortality in men. In Europe, 57% of the infected people were men and 72% of those died with COVID-19 were men. As of April 2020, the US government is not tracking sex-related data of COVID-19 infections. Research has shown that viral illnesses like Ebola, HIV, influenza and SARS affect men and women differently.

 

ETHNIC DIFFERENCES

In the US, a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred among African Americans and other minority groups. Structural factors that prevent them from practicing social distancing include their concentration in crowded substandard housing and in "essential" occupations such as retail grocery workers, public transit employees, health-care workers and custodial staff. Greater prevalence of lacking health insurance and care and of underlying conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease also increase their risk of death. Similar issues affect Native American and Latino communities. According to a US health policy non-profit, 34% of American Indian and Alaska Native People (AIAN) non-elderly adults are at risk of serious illness compared to 21% of white non-elderly adults. The source attributes it to disproportionately high rates of many health conditions that may put them at higher risk as well as living conditions like lack of access to clean water. Leaders have called for efforts to research and address the disparities. In the U.K., a greater proportion of deaths due to COVID-19 have occurred in those of a Black, Asian, and other ethnic minority background. More severe impacts upon victims including the relative incidence of the necessity of hospitalization requirements, and vulnerability to the disease has been associated via DNA analysis to be expressed in genetic variants at chromosomal region 3, features that are associated with European Neanderthal heritage. That structure imposes greater risks that those affected will develop a more severe form of the disease. The findings are from Professor Svante Pääbo and researchers he leads at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the Karolinska Institutet. This admixture of modern human and Neanderthal genes is estimated to have occurred roughly between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago in Southern Europe.

 

COMORBIDITIES

Most of those who die of COVID-19 have pre-existing (underlying) conditions, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease. According to March data from the United States, 89% of those hospitalised had preexisting conditions. The Italian Istituto Superiore di Sanità reported that out of 8.8% of deaths where medical charts were available, 96.1% of people had at least one comorbidity with the average person having 3.4 diseases. According to this report the most common comorbidities are hypertension (66% of deaths), type 2 diabetes (29.8% of deaths), Ischemic Heart Disease (27.6% of deaths), atrial fibrillation (23.1% of deaths) and chronic renal failure (20.2% of deaths).

 

Most critical respiratory comorbidities according to the CDC, are: moderate or severe asthma, pre-existing COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis. Evidence stemming from meta-analysis of several smaller research papers also suggests that smoking can be associated with worse outcomes. When someone with existing respiratory problems is infected with COVID-19, they might be at greater risk for severe symptoms. COVID-19 also poses a greater risk to people who misuse opioids and methamphetamines, insofar as their drug use may have caused lung damage.

 

In August 2020 the CDC issued a caution that tuberculosis infections could increase the risk of severe illness or death. The WHO recommended that people with respiratory symptoms be screened for both diseases, as testing positive for COVID-19 couldn't rule out co-infections. Some projections have estimated that reduced TB detection due to the pandemic could result in 6.3 million additional TB cases and 1.4 million TB related deaths by 2025.

 

NAME

During the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China, the virus and disease were commonly referred to as "coronavirus" and "Wuhan coronavirus", with the disease sometimes called "Wuhan pneumonia". In the past, many diseases have been named after geographical locations, such as the Spanish flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, and Zika virus. In January 2020, the WHO recommended 2019-nCov and 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease as interim names for the virus and disease per 2015 guidance and international guidelines against using geographical locations (e.g. Wuhan, China), animal species, or groups of people in disease and virus names in part to prevent social stigma. The official names COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 were issued by the WHO on 11 February 2020. Tedros Adhanom explained: CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for when the outbreak was first identified (31 December 2019). The WHO additionally uses "the COVID-19 virus" and "the virus responsible for COVID-19" in public communications.

 

HISTORY

The virus is thought to be natural and of an animal origin, through spillover infection. There are several theories about where the first case (the so-called patient zero) originated. Phylogenetics estimates that SARS-CoV-2 arose in October or November 2019. Evidence suggests that it descends from a coronavirus that infects wild bats, and spread to humans through an intermediary wildlife host.

 

The first known human infections were in Wuhan, Hubei, China. A study of the first 41 cases of confirmed COVID-19, published in January 2020 in The Lancet, reported the earliest date of onset of symptoms as 1 December 2019.Official publications from the WHO reported the earliest onset of symptoms as 8 December 2019. Human-to-human transmission was confirmed by the WHO and Chinese authorities by 20 January 2020. According to official Chinese sources, these were mostly linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. In May 2020 George Gao, the director of the CDC, said animal samples collected from the seafood market had tested negative for the virus, indicating that the market was the site of an early superspreading event, but that it was not the site of the initial outbreak.[ Traces of the virus have been found in wastewater samples that were collected in Milan and Turin, Italy, on 18 December 2019.

 

By December 2019, the spread of infection was almost entirely driven by human-to-human transmission. The number of coronavirus cases in Hubei gradually increased, reaching 60 by 20 December, and at least 266 by 31 December. On 24 December, Wuhan Central Hospital sent a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL) sample from an unresolved clinical case to sequencing company Vision Medicals. On 27 and 28 December, Vision Medicals informed the Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese CDC of the results of the test, showing a new coronavirus. A pneumonia cluster of unknown cause was observed on 26 December and treated by the doctor Zhang Jixian in Hubei Provincial Hospital, who informed the Wuhan Jianghan CDC on 27 December. On 30 December, a test report addressed to Wuhan Central Hospital, from company CapitalBio Medlab, stated an erroneous positive result for SARS, causing a group of doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital to alert their colleagues and relevant hospital authorities of the result. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to various medical institutions on "the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" that same evening. Eight of these doctors, including Li Wenliang (punished on 3 January), were later admonished by the police for spreading false rumours and another, Ai Fen, was reprimanded by her superiors for raising the alarm.

 

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission made the first public announcement of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause on 31 December, confirming 27 cases—enough to trigger an investigation.

 

During the early stages of the outbreak, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days. In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration and Wuhan being a transport hub and major rail interchange. On 20 January, China reported nearly 140 new cases in one day, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. Later official data shows 6,174 people had already developed symptoms by then, and more may have been infected. A report in The Lancet on 24 January indicated human transmission, strongly recommended personal protective equipment for health workers, and said testing for the virus was essential due to its "pandemic potential". On 30 January, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. By this time, the outbreak spread by a factor of 100 to 200 times.

 

Italy had its first confirmed cases on 31 January 2020, two tourists from China. As of 13 March 2020 the WHO considered Europe the active centre of the pandemic. Italy overtook China as the country with the most deaths on 19 March 2020. By 26 March the United States had overtaken China and Italy with the highest number of confirmed cases in the world. Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travellers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country. Retesting of prior samples found a person in France who had the virus on 27 December 2019, and a person in the United States who died from the disease on 6 February 2020.

 

After 55 days without a locally transmitted case, Beijing reported a new COVID-19 case on 11 June 2020 which was followed by two more cases on 12 June. By 15 June there were 79 cases officially confirmed, most of them were people that went to Xinfadi Wholesale Market.

 

RT-PCR testing of untreated wastewater samples from Brazil and Italy have suggested detection of SARS-CoV-2 as early as November and December 2019, respectively, but the methods of such sewage studies have not been optimised, many have not been peer reviewed, details are often missing, and there is a risk of false positives due to contamination or if only one gene target is detected. A September 2020 review journal article said, "The possibility that the COVID-19 infection had already spread to Europe at the end of last year is now indicated by abundant, even if partially circumstantial, evidence", including pneumonia case numbers and radiology in France and Italy in November and December.

 

MISINFORMATION

After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, misinformation and disinformation regarding the origin, scale, prevention, treatment, and other aspects of the disease rapidly spread online.

 

In September 2020, the U.S. CDC published preliminary estimates of the risk of death by age groups in the United States, but those estimates were widely misreported and misunderstood.

 

OTHER ANIMALS

Humans appear to be capable of spreading the virus to some other animals, a type of disease transmission referred to as zooanthroponosis.

 

Some pets, especially cats and ferrets, can catch this virus from infected humans. Symptoms in cats include respiratory (such as a cough) and digestive symptoms. Cats can spread the virus to other cats, and may be able to spread the virus to humans, but cat-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has not been proven. Compared to cats, dogs are less susceptible to this infection. Behaviors which increase the risk of transmission include kissing, licking, and petting the animal.

 

The virus does not appear to be able to infect pigs, ducks, or chickens at all.[ Mice, rats, and rabbits, if they can be infected at all, are unlikely to be involved in spreading the virus.

 

Tigers and lions in zoos have become infected as a result of contact with infected humans. As expected, monkeys and great ape species such as orangutans can also be infected with the COVID-19 virus.

 

Minks, which are in the same family as ferrets, have been infected. Minks may be asymptomatic, and can also spread the virus to humans. Multiple countries have identified infected animals in mink farms. Denmark, a major producer of mink pelts, ordered the slaughter of all minks over fears of viral mutations. A vaccine for mink and other animals is being researched.

 

RESEARCH

International research on vaccines and medicines in COVID-19 is underway by government organisations, academic groups, and industry researchers. The CDC has classified it to require a BSL3 grade laboratory. There has been a great deal of COVID-19 research, involving accelerated research processes and publishing shortcuts to meet the global demand.

 

As of December 2020, hundreds of clinical trials have been undertaken, with research happening on every continent except Antarctica. As of November 2020, more than 200 possible treatments had been studied in humans so far.

Transmission and prevention research

Modelling research has been conducted with several objectives, including predictions of the dynamics of transmission, diagnosis and prognosis of infection, estimation of the impact of interventions, or allocation of resources. Modelling studies are mostly based on epidemiological models, estimating the number of infected people over time under given conditions. Several other types of models have been developed and used during the COVID-19 including computational fluid dynamics models to study the flow physics of COVID-19, retrofits of crowd movement models to study occupant exposure, mobility-data based models to investigate transmission, or the use of macroeconomic models to assess the economic impact of the pandemic. Further, conceptual frameworks from crisis management research have been applied to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on organizations worldwide.

 

TREATMENT-RELATED RESEARCH

Repurposed antiviral drugs make up most of the research into COVID-19 treatments. Other candidates in trials include vasodilators, corticosteroids, immune therapies, lipoic acid, bevacizumab, and recombinant angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.

 

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Solidarity trial to assess the treatment effects of some promising drugs: an experimental drug called remdesivir; anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine; two anti-HIV drugs, lopinavir/ritonavir; and interferon-beta. More than 300 active clinical trials were underway as of April 2020.

 

Research on the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine showed that they were ineffective at best, and that they may reduce the antiviral activity of remdesivir. By May 2020, France, Italy, and Belgium had banned the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment.

 

In June, initial results from the randomised RECOVERY Trial in the United Kingdom showed that dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third for people who are critically ill on ventilators and one fifth for those receiving supplemental oxygen. Because this is a well-tested and widely available treatment, it was welcomed by the WHO, which is in the process of updating treatment guidelines to include dexamethasone and other steroids. Based on those preliminary results, dexamethasone treatment has been recommended by the NIH for patients with COVID-19 who are mechanically ventilated or who require supplemental oxygen but not in patients with COVID-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen.

 

In September 2020, the WHO released updated guidance on using corticosteroids for COVID-19. The WHO recommends systemic corticosteroids rather than no systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of people with severe and critical COVID-19 (strong recommendation, based on moderate certainty evidence). The WHO suggests not to use corticosteroids in the treatment of people with non-severe COVID-19 (conditional recommendation, based on low certainty evidence). The updated guidance was based on a meta-analysis of clinical trials of critically ill COVID-19 patients.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Today we at the We're Here group are taking Silly Self Portraits .

Difficulty walking on a cobblestone street in a wedding dress and high heel shoes.

Venice or the difficulties on rendering in a different way one of the most photographed place!! My choice has been to create a scene like that inside a theatre showing the buildings of the Prcuraties developing in diagonal: the left one, in the shadow, from left to right and the right one, in the sunlight, from right to left by the way both are converging to the main subjects of the frame, The S Marco Basilica and the Bell Tower. The buldings of Procuraties, developing in diagonal, form as a courtain in a scene of a theatre. The Basilica and the Bell Tower were built on the 13th century, while the Procuraties, the place of the Governement of Venice, on about 1500. During those three centuries Venice hab been the most important and powerful city in all the known world.

Zighy

View from Mt Difficulty winery and restaurant where we had lunch. March 6, 2014 South Island, New Zealand.

 

Mt Difficulty Wines is located in Bannockburn and the Cellar Door at Mt Difficulty Wines is known as much for its dramatic views of rugged rock and thyme landscapes as it is for its stylish wine and food.

 

All wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Estate label are subject to two strict criteria: they have to be sourced from vineyards situated in a very specific area – Bannockburn, south of the Kawarau River – and they are to be under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty management team. The reasons for these self-imposed constraints are that we believe this to be an area with very special qualities for growing grapes, and that the management of the vineyard is reflected in the quality of the ultimate product.

For More Info: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/vineyards/bannockburn-map.html

  

Part of one of the largest shopping malls in the world, Ski Dubai is an indoor ski resort with 22,500 square metres (250,000 sq. ft.) of ski area. The 60-meter (200 ft.) high indoor mountain offers five slopes of varying difficulty.

The level of his analytical skills had seriously decreased, he probably did not have the expertise to perform this function and the most terrible thing for me at the time was that I realized that after only a year and a half of experience, I had acquired more experience than him to handle the files under management.

I experienced this misfortune as a great injustice because not only on the subjects I did not master, he was of no help to me and I was not reassured because he showed no common sense. That's when I made several mistakes. My anger became visible. I must admit that I had a lot of difficulty respecting this person and following his recommendations. Finally, I tried to implicitly demonstrate to him that our team did not give him any credit.

 

"Hubris syndrome: the disease of power. Loss of sense of reality, intolerance to contradiction, piecemeal actions, obsession with one's own image and abuse of power: these are some of the symptoms of a newly identified mental illness that is reported to develop during the exercise of power. It's hubris syndrome. "dixit dictionary

 

I had to paint a quick picture of the evolution of the "millennium" to return very quickly to the virtues due to spiritual coaching. It seems essential to replace the old workings of an entrepreneurial world that is in trouble, with a new cure in the bud of the new incubators? Technology prevails over conventional workplaces to increase workers' incomes without any major leverage affecting revenues, creating a loss of organizational spirituality in many workplaces. Over the years in the research field, spirituality in the workplace has acquired a vital importance that would inspire employee confidence. The gap in university research is still present since this topic is still in the development stage and many empirical research studies have demonstrated a significant interaction between workplace spirituality and positive task results and job satisfaction. Peers who felt that the meaning of their work exists and who have a sense of connection and interaction in the work environment provided better performance and even added value through their dedication to improving the work environment.

 

I can imagine a spiritual coach on the trays of the new incubators, just as I imagine a crèche for the many couples who will come to work here, there is already an organic canteen and all that is missing is the spiritual coach. The psychologist with his antidepressants has become obsolete, like the treadmill or the fitness room replaced by yoga.

 

We must measure the effects of the revolution due to artificial intelligence and the arrival of robots, we have not yet understood that this is a tsunami that will sweep away an entire part of the old economy with its vertical enterprises and its systematizations that have become almost insolent, as they do not evaluate the change in mentalities?

 

I will voluntarily use a mystical vocabulary in such a way as to replace its meaning in the entrepreneurial world and would like to briefly recall its definition for sceptical or resistant minds to spiritual matter.

 

"doxa: All opinions received without discussion, as obvious, in a given civilization. "The spiritual doxa currently finds the obsolescence of its meaning in old catechism books, it precedes the episteme "All the regulated knowledge (world view, sciences, philosophies...) specific to a social group, at a time " the new century that is opening up to us, is perhaps placed in a form of episteme of the spiritual fact? The company would be the vase that would contain this alchemy specific to the development of the modern individual?

 

The awareness of this issue leads us directly to an antagonism, so it will be necessary to believe that such a heterogeneous assembly will immediately inspire a cloud of prejudices incompatible with this presentation. I would especially like to warn agnostic readers that this presentation does not wish to change their secular nature, nor does it wish to be a backdoor form of proselytism. The question asked may be worth a detour outside the contours of the moralizing doxa and religiously diverted from its initial message.

 

"In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  

Thought to be the most powerful hunter, with leadership and resourcefulness traits, the mountain lion is the guardian of the northern direction. He is associated with the color yellow and appears in both hunting and healing directional sets. Today, mountain lion fetishes are carved with great realism and detail and also in the more ancient, primitive style. Before the introduction of power tools, most mountain lions were represented with their tails up and over the back. Now carvers are able to carve long, flowing tails that extend behind the back or even curl in delicate swirls. The mountain lion can remind us to persevere, clarify our goals and move forward to achieving our dreams.

 

Many startups run in cult mode, it is clear that employees will do more for a guru, the vertical and elitist leader may have some worries to deal with within the coming decade. It is interesting to understand the so-called "millennium" generation, i. e. those born around the year 2000, to see with their eyes, to rub our eyes of the last century and remove the contours of our appearance, to look without make-up, appearance is not a criteria anymore, we can buy unknown brands and buy organic baskets without even going through a sign, we can even do our market in the company's hall and find everything in a box supplied by delivery people.

 

The generation that drives its shopping cart is dying with their old leaders and counterproductive authoritarianism. I find many values classified as religious, rarely as spiritual, the word is probably too positive to evoke the different churches, so I find all its new values very spiritual, they come from the spirit, the pure spirit and leave the price on the side, it seeks ethics, is the fabric of the clothing made with animals that have not suffered? Does the toy wood come from a forest which is well managed?

 

We are witnessing a revolution in mentalities and production methods between artificial intelligence and robots, it is an even more important revolution than the industrial revolution of the 19th century and perhaps even more so than the revolution of the nomadic man who became a farmer! The man-machine will forget all executive tasks and the subordinates will disappear in favour of more docile machines. There will therefore be a lot of exclusion and certainly major divisions, we are living off the premises in the riots in the suburbs. The company is becoming a temporary place, Nokia has flooded the planet with its phones and then disappeared, the brands no longer have a status of eternity and the management of the near future is already in the process of setting up in startups. I am not saying that the startup is a new paradise, I even think that the startup is somewhere a negation of the social progress made between 1920 and 1990. Why 1990? Because in 1990 the Anglo-Saxons and Germans changed their management methods. The British scuttled their industry to build a financial empire, a kind of tax haven at the gates of Europe and the Germans invented mini-jobs for 300 euros, a Mercedes is the price of a Ford to build!

 

My presentation would like to draw a line between spirituality and religious principles. I also wish to leave behind the traditional divisions between excessive secularism, fearing with stupor the supernatural fact and firmly committed to an old logic and perhaps already overtaken by recent societal developments. The business world is constantly changing. A company is a living social organism. It is the interaction of human beings who manufacture a product, i.e. who produce a good or provide a service. Like humans, living beings or nature in general, we can never fully understand such a social organism. It is not just a simple machine or a complicated device, but something living that follows an evolution.

 

I suggest introducing the concept of spirituality as part of a business, in the sense of undertaking together and perhaps under the aegis of an egregore, not religious but mental and respectful of the general harmony.

 

"A egregore (or eggregore) is, in esotericism, a concept designating a group spirit influenced by the common desires of several individuals united for a well-defined purpose. This force would need to be constantly nurtured by its members through established and defined rituals. »

 

The notion of egregore can be applied to the business world, in the definition taken from Wikipedia, I try to extract: "common group spirit of several individuals" it seems to resemble the definition of a company, not necessarily with vertical management and perhaps soon archaic?

 

The dogmas of the academic business elite are sinking into the void of psychoanalysis. We are at a turning point with our society, which also attracts ever wider circles in business life.

 

People's consciousness is growing rapidly. More and more people who are integrated into the work process feel overwhelmed or have the inner feeling that things cannot continue like this.

 

Older workers cannot cope with new digital developments, and young workers have no desire for a meaningless activity.

 

It is impossible to say that they prefer to live hidden under lazy skin. Quite the contrary! They are perfectly aware of the daily reality, but only if it makes sense to them. There are many employees, workers, executives who feel the same frustration with a hierarchy inherited from the old school of a previous century!

 

Spirituality could change outdated practices in the workplace. It would create interconnections that foster greater trust between a company's employees. Desktops are part of a particular work process that can lead to feelings of cooperation and sometimes lead to an overall organizational culture based on motivation. It is illustrated by a scientific response to human problems and depends essentially on the competence of psychologists. Psychologists often do not have answers to the problems of differentiation. They are the source of a deep sense of loneliness and this pathology usually leads employees to become depressed. Psychologists practice a levelling to promote a societal norm that reflects scientific projections. Practitioners generally use antidepressant medications to enslave individuals who experience this loneliness of mind. They are unanimously very close to Freudian psychoanalysis, rather agnostic. They generally lack a magical or symbolic part that is the basis of all civilizations. Ours feeds on Harry Potter or Halloween to compensate for this lack of symbolism in social relationships.

 

Hughes Songe

 

On Nov. 15, 2018 at 11:04, Hughes wrote:

 

Yes, it is a point of view that can be applied to a coach, spiritual or agnostic, he remains a coach.

 

It is interesting to develop why in 2018/28 we are in the midst of a revolution (artificial intelligence, robots) and how humanity finds itself in spirituality and why another coaching will be imposed! The spiritual coach is the future! As an architect, I imagine a kind of "chapel" that would be placed on the open Space and that we would leave our intimate "confessions" there. I am visionary and not formatted by an education that imposes a strict vision of spirituality on me, for me spirituality is in the subway and consists in getting up to let the other sit down, it consists in saying hello in a stairwell or smiling in the morning and distributing positive impressions to others and especially to myself. The negative, the doubt is the demon? The angel lives with hope and love for himself and others?

 

On Nov. 14, 2018 at 14:59, Priscilla wrote:

 

I'm reading what you wrote.

For me, a good coach is inspired by spirituality, that is to say, he would have a method that consists precisely in helping the consultant to find the balance between his daily life and his deep aspirations.

we're okay with that?

 

On Nov 13, 2018 at 14:45, Hughes wrote:

I just finished the work the day before yesterday Monday evening, I spent two hours between the break and one hour in the subway and then at Claire's from 8am until now. It's a little short to smooth everything out. As you have seen, I am rewriting the information received on German and American books. I add a spiritual and a little French touch to it. It is a long work to make these ten pages edible by agnostic minds and very formatted by Hautes Études Commerciales. I am also thinking of Hugues Couratier, my grandfather who graduated from this school in 1929...

 

Have a good reading

 

(Your comments can help me a lot to finalize tomorrow)

 

"AM I know he prefer Blue but seeing the hotness of Red Saber body in a wrestling match with only a loincloth with a bra is really intriguing tbh? With Red Saber personality, her boldness is enough to K.O. any men.Gilgamesh lost because of her hot body. TBH, any guy would die happily in a wrestling match with her. Hey, for all we know, Gil prefers blue Saber's... lesser endowments.flatlands fetish lol :D On the one hand Saber wrestled a lion.On the other hand Gilgamesh wrestled a divine bull sent from the heavens. On a mysterious third hand skills are still active, so Imperial Privelage would likely allow Saber to perform well enough to overcome him, assuming wrestling is included in the "other" aspect of the description. If that's what you mean by "no abilities" though, then Gil wins for having slightly superior strength and a lot more luck unless Saber performs a clever distraction with her performing abilities. Bane even prayed for Dick when he became Batman. Are they both contracted to Rin at the same time, or are there two distinct individual iterations of Rin and each one happens to be the master of one of them? Also, is/are Rin/the Rins watching? Is one of the Rins evil? Does Evil Rin have a different hairstyle? Abilities are not allowed so Red Saber can not use Imperial Privilege.Red Saber's master is black haired Rin and Gilgamesh's master is blonde haired Rin."We have 55 characters, I'd really like an even number."

it, just put Wolverine in again and see if they notice." Then Extra Saber should win, since FSN Rin is far and away the superior magus, since the concept of magecraft is way different in the Extra universe (where Blonde Rin is from). Though if you just want to ignore the Masters altogether, Gilgamesh would still win. You begin to suspect that your bowl is a portal to the Meat Dimension. More than likely they'd just make out anyway, but yeah, I figured that was the point of the question's imagery? Bane even prayed for Dick when he became Batman. -- Frostbite_Zero I just want to note...Gilgamesh becomes a zombie at an assertive woman. Look at Carnival Phantasm Just for laugh, watch the whole episode!

Red Saber wins with her personality. This show how bold she is. Red Saber is truly a bold woman indeed.yeah. it's a privilege to us to see that part. ahahaanyway thanks for the link. i tend to repeat that part when i'm bored lol.Official Praetor of Saber in the Fate/Extra Boards www.facebook.com/pages/Saber-FateExtra/286251641405745 HERCULES. Easily identified by a lion skin and a club, his favorite weapon, the ... MERCURY ... also sometimes holds the caduceus, a herald's staff with two...The Club of Hercules : Studies in the classical background of ...

www.amazon.fr/The-Club-Hercules-classical.../dp/B0014VL50...

Panorama from 5 shots taken during a bike descent in the Black Forest from Titisee to Freiburg.

 

The route has breathtaking views, with an intermediate level of difficulty. Here it is: www.endomondo.com/routes/217869200

I thought I should provide a 360-degree "view" of the overall scene, using a video camera, so you would get a more complete "picture" of what it's like out here at the edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park

 

*******************************

 

Because I work and live in Manhattan, I don’t often visit the four other boroughs of New York City … but there’s a magical place in Brooklyn that I want to tell you about, located in Brooklyn Bridge Park at the edge of the East River. It’s right on the water, framed by the Manhattan Bridge on the north and the Brooklyn Bridge on the south. A few NYC residents and perhaps even a few visitors are already nodding their heads as they read this, but I suspect that most readers of these Flickr notes are as oblivious as I was, and have never heard of Jane’s Carousel.

 

“Jane” is, as I’ve now learned, Jane Walentas, an artist who spent 20 years overseeing the restoration of a magnificent 48-horse carousel, created by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, and first installed in a park in Youngstown, Ohio in 1922. Ms. Walentas and her husband, David, bought the carousel and the wooden horses at an auction in 1984 for $385,000; I have no idea what inspired them to do so, or what could possibly have inspired Jane to spend the next 20 years scraping off layers of paint and restoring the original design and colors, the pin-striping and the gold leaf as the carousel sat in a studio in Dumbo (for the non-New Yorkers who might have stumbled onto this page of notes, “DUMBO” is an acronym that means “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).

 

Anyway, the carousel was opened in mid-September 2011, and for reasons unknown, I was completely oblivious as to its existence for the next three years. It’s located in a $9 million transparent acrylic “jewel box” that was designed by the French architect Jean Novel, and it’s absolutely stunning to see. My wife coaxed me into taking the somewhat laborious subway ride from the Upper West Side (via the “C” and the “F” trains) over to Brooklyn a couple days ago, and we were lucky to have chosen a brilliantly sunny Saturday afternoon, arriving just at the beginning of the “golden hour” when the light was perfect for photography.

 

In the three years since it opened, Jane’s Carousel has apparently attracted a lot of attention: there were some New Yorkers like me wandering around, and some visitors from nearby New Jersey and Long Island … but I also heard and saw evidence of visitors from France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Korea, and a lot of other places which would normally have great difficulty distinguishing Brooklyn from the Bronx or Staten Island. You can arrange birthday parties at the carousel; and there were heavily-costumed bridal parties along with the dog-walkers, the photographers, and the tour boats (including the venerable Circle Line) cruising up and down the East River.

 

And speaking of the East River, one of the most dazzling aspects of this place is the view that you get, with the two mammoth bridges spanning the river, along with the Wall Street skyline, the South Street Seaport, and the massive Freedom Tower in the background. Even if you didn’t spend a minute looking at the brightly painted carousel horses, and listening to the hypnotic music of the carousel, you could easily spend the afternoon watching the tugboats and sailboats and barges and ferries, the cruise boats and the motorboats chugging up and down the river. One can only imagine what it must have been like a century ago, before the railroads and jet planes had eliminated the bulk of water travel.

 

I’m embarrassed that it took me so long to visit this place, and I hope that you’ll take the hint and go see it yourself, at your first opportunity. If you would like to see some more details about the place, you might want to start with the official website for Jane’s Carousel, located here:

 

janescarousel.com

 

A New York Times article, written shortly before the official opening of the carousel in mid-September 2011, can be found here

 

www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/arts/design/janes-carousel-at-...

 

and an October 2012 New Yorker article about the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the carousel can be found here:

 

www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-carousel-survives

For this weblog post: The Foundations are Canyoning.

 

From the Quran, chapter 94, The Expansion:

 

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1. Have We not expanded (for) you your breast? -

2. And removed from you your burden

3. Which weighed down your back? -

4. And raised high the esteem (in which) you (are held)?

5. So, verily, with every difficulty there is relief:

6. Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.

7. Therefore, when you are free (from your immediate task), still labor hard,

8. And to your Lord turn (all) your attention.

If you have some difficulty reading the inscription on the tombstone, here is what it says: ‘In memory of Col Robert Nelles, who was born 6th Oct 1761 in Palatine, on the Mohawk river, State of New York, and died 27th July, 1842, at Grimsby, after a residence of 62 years in Canada’. Colonel Nelles’ grave is located in the cemetery of St Andrews Anglican Church, Grimsby, Ontario. He was one of the original families in the area and in his lifetime fought in the American Revolution (for Britain), the War of 1812-14 (which is generally regarded as the founding of Canada’s identity as a nation), was a businessman, and served in the legislature of Upper Canada (roughly equivalent to Southern Ontario). This little memorial to him was put together to submit to the Flickr group, We’re Here on the theme for May 23, 2020: Gift Graveyard, which I interpreted somewhat differently than originally posed. I put a comma between the theme title. The little offerings were never asked for and hence not wanted, and the items were never used, at least not by Colonel Nelles. Here’s one to the memory of Colonel Nelles. - JW

 

Date Taken: 2020-05-23

 

Tech Details:

 

Taken using a tripod-mounted Nikon D800 fitted with an AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm 1:4.0 lense set to 52mm, ISO100, Daylight WB, Matrix metering, Aperture priority Mode, f/14.0, 1/20 sec with an EV+0.67 exposure bias. PP in free Open Source GIMP: load the image as two layers, top layer for grass adjustment, bottom layer for the stone, add a black/transparent layer mask to the top/grass layer and on the mask use white paint and a soft brush to paint in the grass, use the curves tool to darken the grass in the top/grass layer and then desaturate the grass layer somewhat, brighten slightly and add contrast to the bottom/stone layer, create new working layer from visible result, sharpen, save, add fine black-and-white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale image to 2048 high wide for posting online, sharpen very slightly, save.

After our lunch at Mt Difficulty we went up the Felton Road to Felton Road Winery. March 6, 2014 Central Otago, Bannockburn, South Island, New Zealand.

 

Felton Road Winery. is situated on warm, north facing slopes of glacial loess soils in Bannockburn, in the heart of Central Otago. The modern gravity fed winery receives 100% estate grown fruit from its three vineyards that are all farmed biodynamically and are fully certified by Demeter. Minimal intervention in the winemaking with such practices as wild yeast, no fining or filtration, allow the unique vineyard characters to further express their considerable personality.

Since the first vintage in 1997, Felton Road has acquired a formidable worldwide reputation.

 

Zero waste By-products:

Winery waste is, probably more than any other substance, lees. Lees are a mixture of sediments left over from winemaking, and consist mainly of dead yeast and tartaric and malic acid. It isn’t particularly hostile stuff, but acids are a problem in any waste system, so winery waste management systems are designed to deal with this mixture. It takes a lot of money to build a waste management system and a lot of energy to run it so, in a perfect world, we’d do without one. But is it possible to do that? We have demonstrated that it is. Our solution is simple: don’t throw anything away. Nothing whatsoever goes down our drains unless we have failed to find a better use for it. And since almost all waste has some form of value, there is a better use out there. Lees, for example, get separated into fine lees (the more liquid stuff) and the solid gunk. The solids are composted. It might be tricky to compost something this acidic for some wineries, but as we make well over 100 tonnes of compost a year anyway, the lees solids are literally a drop in the manure heap. That leaves the more liquid stuff to deal with. Each year it goes to a beautiful wood fired copper still and is distilled into “Fine”: the term for brandy distilled from wine lees. Roughly a thousand litres of lees yields about 100 litres of wonderful brandy. After 5 years of aging in French oak using a “solera” type system, it is ready to bottle.

 

What better way to recycle something that most regard as an industrial waste product?

Taken from and for more info: www.nzwine.com/winery/felton-road/

"Forget difficulties, but not the lessons learned from them." - author unknown

 

i saw this dragonfly taking a rest. i was impressed on how it holds on while time passes by. this photo was taken at digos, davao del sur, philippines.

 

listen:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKYWOwWAguk

 

Copyright © Paojus Alquiza. All rights reserved. Please note that the fact that "This photo is public" doesn't mean it is public domain or a free stock image. Therefore, its use without written consent by the author is illegal and punished by law.

The picture-postcard desert scenery of Wadi Rum is a major highlight of a visit to Jordan to many, being one of the most spectacular natural environments in the Middle East.

 

The wadi itself is comprised of a set of valleys in the red sand desert, dotted with giant granite, basalt and sandstone mountains rising up to 800m sheer from the desert floor. The scenery is characterized by networks of canyons and ravines, naturally formed rock bridges and hidden springs.

 

Following our Dana to Petra trek, we moved to Wadi Rum for a 2-day stay in this unique Mars-like desert, opting for a more relaxed jeep tour across numerous sights of the wadi.

 

-----

 

Our journey started with the visit of the Lawrence spring (Ain Abu Aineh), a natural spring located at a fig tree in the middle of a mountain slope near the Wadi Rum village.

 

Frankly, camels were the main attraction here, and we quickly continued to the much more appealing red sand dune in Wadi Um Ishrin. Having climbed the dune and nearby rocks, we were rewarded by beautiful views of the surrounding red desert with massive rock walls.

 

A small yet beautiful ravine of the Khazali canyon followed. One of the most famous places in Wadi Rum, it's a short deep and narrow crack in Jabal Khazali, whose inner walls are covered with numerous Nabatean, Islamic (Kufic) and Thamudic inscriptions and petroglyph rock drawings.

 

Then, we were driven to the beautiful Little bridge, located in Khor al Ajram and named after its size. With its approximately 4-meter span it's one of the smaller rock bridges in Wadi Rum, and there is no difficulty to walk across it (couldn't imagine such bridges being freely accessible and possible to be walked over anywhere in Europe for different reasons :-) ).

 

The weather and winds have carved a few sandstone and granite rocks of Wadi Rum into increadible shapes, and the Mushroom rock was a good example, somehow reminding me of Salvator Dalí Desert in Eduardo Abaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, Bolivia.

 

An interesting short through-walk of the El Mahama canyon followed. Features of the beautiful gorge included lovely fig trees, rocks, sand and a tight area that required some light scrambling.

 

The last attraction we visited was the stunning Um Fruth rock bridge. Raising for about 15 meters up from the desert floor, the more adventurous visitors may try to climb to the top of it and cross it over; it's less dangerous than it seems (a hiker prone to vertigo says :-) ).

 

☞ Northern Adventures

A Photojournalistic Documentation of how Covid-19 has affected the North, and how the North has adapted to overcome these difficulties.

 

Whilst the Highlands has always been popular with national and international tourists, there has been a massive rise of Scots enjoying a staycation, with camper vans and tents being the popular choice for accommodation as opposed to the hotels and hostels dotted around the North. Also on the rise are those travelling in their own cars, motorbikes, cycling and even 2 former hearses, who camp in tents at the roadside.

 

With the rise of staycationers, shops and restaurants have been extra vigilant to keep to the governments guidelines by measuring distancing on shop floors, having signs in shop windows to remind visitors to wear a face coverings, some shops limiting the amount of customers in at a time, offering hand sanitiser at the entrance, and many even having artwork of some form thanking the NHS for its hard work.

 

Not everything is fully open however, but those who can open have had to change how they operate. Tourist destinations that are able to open have had to limit the amount of customers to keep everyone safe, so for many tourists and staycationers they are opting to avoid tourist hotspots and are mostly interacting with activities they can do by themselves, so instead of visiting castles, museums and activity centres, tourists drive to beauty spots, go for walks, and are interacting with the natural landscape more. Instead of tourist hotspots like Eilean Donan Castle being queued out the door, tourists only go as far as the car park, get some photos of the castle, then leave to visit something else.

  

So has Highland tourism been affected by Covid-19? Yes, where folk are more cautious, shops and restaurants have signage in place requesting patrons wear face coverings, where town centres are quieter than usual, where public toilets have signage, where campsites won’t allow motorhomes unless they have on-board toilets, where almost every lay-by in the evening has someone camping overnight. So whilst it has affected the tourist season it hasn’t stopped tourism, if anything the Highlands are busier than normal due to a massive rise in staycationers, it’s made tourist and locals alike be more careful, where local community councils are making sure there are toilet facilities available or trowels left in camping locations to bury human waste, where hand sanitiser is available at popular tourist destinations, shops and public toilets, where many shops have upgraded their payment options where previously they only accepted cash, many have modernised and installed card payments.

 

So yes, it’s been affected, but the most notable negative impact is that businesses are losing trade as less folk are spending money in restaurants, shops and tourist hotspots, so whilst there is an increase in visitors to the Highlands, there is a decrease in money being spent.

 

All in all, the North has been doing a fantastic job with its Covid-19 precautions, they’re taking it seriously and making sure visitors are safe.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill (in case there's someone out there who doesn't know who he was... British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)

 

On being told he's a hopeless drunk, he's said to have retorted “I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.”

 

And to Lady Nancy Astor....

she said: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea.

he said: Nancy, if I were your husband, I'd drink it.”

   

Quite a humorous man, I must say, and apparently, never at the loss for smart words... :) And that first quote is so true. I know both pessimists and optimists, and boy is it easy to tell them apart... :)

 

All Rights Reserved © 2008 EL (e_digitalis)

 

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones. – Keynes”

 

Dismissal for this Week Macro Monday challenge!

 

Macro Monday project – 08/12/13

“Round”

Crinoline Difficulties. M Burr. Etiquette au dos.

Michael Burr n’était pourtant pas un débutant, pourquoi avoir écrasé son omnibus si près de ces personnages... Aucune profondeurs, trop obnubilé par cette série avec crinolines sans fin. Pour une fois, vous avez même droit aux bas de la femme en difficulté… Je trouvais la mise en couleurs trop légère par nos petites mains, finalement, elle est parfaitement discrète et bien vue pour faire ressortir la robe du personnage central.

 

Michael Burr was not a beginner, why crash his omnibus so close to these characters... No depth, too obsessed with this series with endless crinolines. For once, you even get the stockings of the woman in difficulty... I found the coloring too light by our little hands, finally, it is perfectly discreet and well seen to bring out the dress of the central character.

  

I had difficulty trying to fit everything into this shot. My back was already against the corner wall :) A fisheye or an UWA lens would have been useful but currently those would have to wait. Anyway, I just wanted you to see a part of the beautiful lobby of this hotel. I'll try posting an overhead view next time.

 

Explore: April 1, 2009 #453 | H.P. #318 Thanks for the support everyone!

Why do human beings find relationships so hard? Many of the difficulties we experience in life come directly from our relationships-not just with our mates, but with our parents, children, teachers, bosses, friends. In short, with virtually anyone from whom we want something. This is a key point; almost all of our relationship difficulties come from wanting something or someone to be different. Considering the amount of suffering that arises from relationships, it’s surprising that the Buddha didn’t include them in his list of the primary causes of suffering, along with sickness, old age, and death. One thing is certain: relationships, like serious illnesses, push us right to the edge of where we’re stuck. Stephen Levine has noted that relationship, though not the easiest method for finding peace, is certainly the most effective for discovering what blocks it.

 

The fact that relationships often bring the most painful and unhealed aspects of our life out of the shadows makes them a potentially powerful teacher. But let’s be honest, who actually wants such a teacher? What do we really want from relationships? We want what we want! We want someone to fulfill our needs, someone who will make us feel good, give us security, appreciation, affection, and love. We also want our relationships, at least in part, to mask our core pain: the anxious quiver of being that cries out for relief. But the more we rely on our relationships to either gratify our needs or assuage our pain, the more we solidify our suffering. Another person can never heal our core pain; we can only do that for ourselves. But that doesn’t keep us from asking others to do it. And when we don’t get what we want, the messiness of relationship begins.

 

As soon as a conflict arises and we feel threatened in some way, we tend to forget all about relationships as a vehicle of awakening. We tenaciously hold on to our views, judgments, and need to be right. We protect and defend our self-image. We close down or lash out. And, believing in all these reactions as the unquestioned truth, we perpetuate our suffering. As we continue to do this, the disappointment we cause ourselves and others becomes a pain we can’t ignore. That’s the beauty of relationships as spiritual practice. The pain motivates us to awaken; disappointment is often our best teacher. This is when practice can really begin. But this view of relationship is very different from what we have been taught.

 

We were taught that relationships are supposed to give us security or save us. We usually assume that they’re supposed to make us feel good through being supported, appreciated, loved, nurtured, or pleasured. We imagine that being in a relationship will relieve us of our loneliness.

 

That’s how we approach relationships. Based on these expectation, requirements, and desires, we want something. We need, or think we need, the other person to BE a certain way, or to make US feel a certain way-safe, happy, or whatever. “I care for you” often means “I need you.” We care for others as long as they satisfy our particular need, as long as they make us feel some special way. That’s the set up.

 

(to be continued)

from: At Home in the Muddy Water: A guide to finding peace within everyday chaos, by Ezra Bayda

  

Ursula has been fully deboxed, and placed sitting down next the empty display stand. I turn her head (with great difficulty) so she is facing forward.

 

I got the Ariel and Ursula Doll Set on Tuesday October 20, 2015, at my local Disney Store's raffle. I was 17th of 18 called, so I'm very glad I was able to get her in store. There was about the same amount of people who were there for the Snow/Hag set, so about 10 people missed out today. My set is #4185 of 6000. I will show this set boxed, during deboxing, and fully deboxed. I took the set I was given. I noticed that Ariel's eyelashes were not at the same angle between her two eyes, but it didn't bother me enough to ask for another set. There were no other noticeable defects in the set.

 

I have deboxed Ariel, and found to my surprise that the pile of rocks is totally separate from the display case, and is free standing. Ariel is supposed to free sit on the rock stand, and stay in position just by the friction of her sequined tail on the uneven surface of the top rock. It also helps if the floor of is rough (like a carpet) rather than the smooth surface that I was using for the photoshoot. Next, I was pleasantly surprised is that she has the old Designer Princess body, so rubber legs and swivel waist joint. As I expected, her hair is heavily gelled to keep her curls, but not as heavily as the 17'' LE Ariel from 2013. So only the bottom third of her curls are stiff. There were a couple of stray hairs stuck in her neck joint (ouch!) and some short hairs (like trimmings) that I had to remove from her face and chest. She is pretty, but not drop dead gorgeous as were the previous two Designer Ariel dolls (from 2011 and 2013). I also don't like her see through top. It has a rough surface, so her hairs kept on getting caught in it.

 

Her sequins making up her tail are iridescent, so it appears to be different colors (various shades of green, blue and purple) depending on the angle of the light and angle of viewing. That is similar to how the scales of an actual fish appear. This was an unexpected feature of her tail that makes me like it much more than I did from the stock photos, or even from viewing her in person in the display dolls before I bought her and deboxed her. I also really like her fins, which are wired to stiffen them, and are posable.

 

I also compare Designer Ariel side by side with the OOAK Ariel made by a fellow collector, who used the 2014 Classic Ariel as the base.

 

I have now deboxed Ursula. I like her alot, I think more than the LE Ursula. But she is by no means a perfect Ursula. The build in stand for her is a smaller version of the one for the LE doll. It is a metal pole with a flat disk that fits into a pocket on the underside of Ursula. Unlike the LE doll stand, this one is not portable. Only her front four tentacles are articulated. The two rear ones are just stuffed, so don't really help support Ursula. However she can still free stand, with her tentacles stretched out. Her arms are fully articulated, a big improvement over the LE Ursula, but her hands don't have much freedom of movement forward or backward. Her neck is VERY stiff, so I moved her head will great difficulty, and I was afraid to damage her head or neck if I applied any more force. Perhaps it will become looser with over time. As with LE Ursula, her top is removable (although I haven't done so yet), and the lower portion of her torso is stuffed with her leather like skin permanently sewn on. With her sitting down with her tentacles spread out, she looks like a starfish, and she is very stable. With her tentacles upright, she can free stand, but isn't very stable. It would have helped greatly if her two rear tentacles were articulated, to help support her standing pose. Standing up, she comes up to about Ariel's height, so is far smaller than the animated character. While deboxing and posing her, one rhinestone and one sequin fell off, but I don't miss them since there are hundreds of those on her body and tentacles.

 

Fourth release of the 2015 Disney Fairytale Designer Collection is Ariel in mermaid form and Ursula in sea witch form. She sold out online a few hours after the release.

 

Ariel and Ursula Doll Set - Disney Fairytale Designer Collection

US Disney Store

Released In Store 2015-10-20

Released Online 2015-10-21

Sold Out Online 2015-10-21

$129.95

Item No. 6003040901260P

 

Tail of wonder

Ariel is paired with the wicked sea witch Ursula in this limited edition The Little Mermaid set. Part of the Disney Fairytale Designer Collection's heroes and villains series, the finely detailed duo feature exquisite costumes.

 

Magic in the details...

 

Please Note: Purchase of this item is limited to 1 per Guest.

 

As part of the Disney Fairytale Designer Collection's heroes and villains series, Ariel and Ursula were carefully crafted by artists inspired by Disney's The Little Mermaid. Reimagined in exquisite detail, these limited edition dolls were brought to life with thoughtful attention, and uniquely capture the essence of the fairytale characters, creating a one-of-a-kind set that will be a treasured keepsake of collectors and Disney fans.

 

• Global Limited Edition of 6000

• Includes Certificate of Authenticity

• Ariel's diaphanous bodice is adorned with intricate embroidery and sparkling rhinestones

• Tail features iridescent sequins with translucent fins accented with glitter

• Rooted red hair

• Dramatic make-up and rooted eyelashes

• Ursula's black faux leather bodice and outer tentacles are studded with black rhinestones

• Purple underside of tentacles are accented with sequins

• Gold shell earrings and gold shell necklace

• Rooted white hair

• Rock accessory

• Dolls sold in a special keepsake display case with intricate details on the base, including a golden plate with the names of Ariel and Ursula

• Includes special Disney Fairytale Designer Collection Gift Bag

• Part of the Disney Fairytale Designer Collection

 

* Intended for adult collectors -- Not a child's toy.

 

The bare necessities

 

• Plastic / polyester

• Ariel: 16'' H

• Ursula: 11'' H

• Imported

Repository: California Historical Society

Photographer: Wetmore, George P.

Date: Undated

Format: Photographic print: b&w; 11 x 11 cm.

Digital object ID: CHS2014.1608.jpg

Preferred citation: [Bay City Wheelmen, touring under difficulties], courtesy, California Historical Society, CHS2014.1608.jpg.

Online finding aid: www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt009nc26n

 

The difficulty of a journey is not defined by the distance traveled, but by the path one has to take. At the Maha Kumbh, a young girl walked a tightrope. Few noticed her, and many walked past. She, too, was oblivious to the crowd as she moved steadily from one end of the rope to the other. Her skill, passed down through generations, carries with it the story of hardship – a life where balance is not just an act, but a way of survival.

60163 - Tornado is seen here at York Rail Station on June 4th 2016.

 

Apologises about the spot of sun reflection, I had some difficulties getting a decent shot due to the sun's location.

We did something silly. We went to the 2015 Moon lantern festival in Adealide. We should have known something was up when it took 1 hour to travel 1 km by car.

People everywhere. I kept saying, all these people can't be going to the same place, surely. It seems like a long way to walk for a festival of lanterns.

Turns out, 50,000 people went to a party designed for 20,000. It was chaos. Not enough food (The lines went on into the distance, wait time around 2 hours). Not enough toilets and even the parade could not follow the selected path. There were so many people that you had to walk shoulder to shoulder. Not good for kids.

 

From the local news paper, "The Advertiser"

www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/adelaides-riv...

Adelaide’s riverbanks light up for 2015 Moon Lantern fest, featuring the mother of all dragons

 

A HUGE crowd turned out in glorious Spring weather Sunday night to see thousands of magnificent coloured lanterns on parade in Elder Park for the annual Moon Lantern Festival. Thousands of people lined the riverbank lawns to watch the spectacle. The annual Moon Lantern Festival, within the heart of the OzAsia celebrations, is Australia’s largest parade of its kind.

 

This year there was a bounty of never-before-seen creations, including the largest lantern ever paraded. More than 40 people, including Adelaide Festival Centre staffer Anna Chan, were needed to carry the giant Hong Kong Dragon lantern made of 150m of festooning, 200m of fabric, 300m of tassels, 8 litres of paint, 5 litres of glue, 10,000 cable ties and a massive 2.6km of wire.

 

Another 38 large lanterns were carried by more than 1100 people, including school students, and more than 1500 vivid and pretty display and floating lanterns lit up the riverside site.

Ms Chan, who is from Hong Kong, was excited about the event “We have similar events at home, but this is the largest lantern I have ever seen,” she said of the dragon.

 

Event director Joseph Mitchell said it was perfect weather after two years of rain hindering activities.

He said the event provided “wonderful balance” to all the OzAsia activities.

Other activities included Bollywood dancing, martial arts demonstrations, Cirkidz roving performances, and a Lion Dance.

Celebrations ended with fireworks lighting the sky and water.

 

Some people took to social media afterwards to complain about long queues at the event and transport and parking difficulties.

 

Jane Bell wrote on The Advertiser’s Facebook page: “Extremely packed. We also had to stand to see and barely saw the tops of the items in the parade Didn’t bother with the food as the queues were huge. Transport home was ridiculous. No extra trains trams or buses were put on. The buses also were rerouted with no information. More work to be done to make this event worth going back to!”

 

But others, such as Tammy Thornhill, said they had a great time.

 

She wrote on Facebook: “We had a great time, got there about 4pm, couldn’t get food but luckily we sent one of our group up to O’Connell street to get fish n chips.. Didn’t have an issue with small kids & the toilet, loved the parade & the fireworks, the line up for the tram was long but we ended up getting friends to take us back to our car at the entertainment centre. We would definitely go again!”

 

Canon EOS 5D

 

2015

 

IMG_3511

University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton

 

It was my daughter's Applicants' Day at the University of Sussex, so we headed down to Brighton. It is more than thirty years since I was a student there, and I haven't set foot on the campus since, until yesterday.

 

The University was one of the dozen or so new campus universities of the 1960s, mostly set in the grounds of former Big Houses (in Sussex's case, Stanmer Park) and designed by leading architects of the day. At Sussex this was Sir Basil Spence, who had recently completed Coventry Cathedral. The idea was a red brick Italianate hill village, climbing up into the South Downs, designed for about 2,500 students, though there are probably four times that many now.

 

I was never really very happy at Sussex, although as Philip Larkin observed of Coventry, it's not the place's fault after all. I was a post-graduate education student, and I had done my first degree in the centre of lovely, friendly Sheffield. I had partly chosen the University because the family of a girlfriend of the time had recently moved to Brighton (the University's high reputation was no doubt secondary). As you will no doubt have guessed, the relationship had ended before I arrived at Sussex.

 

Everybody seems to love Brighton, and they can't understand it when I say that I don't, but I was too miserable there. Brighton, for me, will be forever associated with debt, and with the transience of being a student. There has never been a time in my life, before or since, when I have been so poor. And then, extraordinarily, a brief, doomed relationship, a love affair, became the one vivid thing, a brief, sweet memory of my year in that brash town.

 

How narrow was the single bed we shared, how intense those brief few weeks. And she loved me more than I could possibly have loved her, for I had already met the woman who would become my wife. And so it was messy, and then it ended. My most dramatic memory of our time together is of leaving her flat shortly before daylight on an October morning and cycling back to my own house only to be stopped by a police roadblock, because the IRA had bombed the Grand Hotel half an hour earlier.

 

The University campus has expanded since I was there, but is still entirely graspable. The wide-open spaces and reflections of water under arches that Basil Spence aimed at are now overwhelmed by blocks in the same red brick but without any life to them whatsoever. I thought it was a shame. And yet, the campus still has the intensely intellectual vibe of a major University sequestered in the hills, the thrill of promise and the energy of youth. In some ways it was good to be back.

Sunnyvale has an established flock of Conures. I first saw them when I moved to downtown Sunnyvale in the 1980's. The flock is rumored to be descendants of birds that escaped from Marine Word - Africa USA when it closed down.

 

I have had some difficulty identifying them because of the multiple common names used for describing different Parakeet species.

 

Note: Parakeet is not a small parrot, it is a long tailed parrot. These parakeets are around 15" long, so they are not small birds!

 

Thus, the common names:

Mitred Parakeet

Mitred Conure

Red-Headed Conure

Cherry-Headed Conure

 

There is an entire genus with mostly similar looking species including the pretty similar "Masked Parakeet"

 

My job as I see it, is to identify them, tell you I call them Cherry-Headed Conures. And to let my fellow bird watches know that they are a large, noisy, comical flock that is easily seen, e.g. a good field trip! I went to Las Palmas Park, Sunnyvale for the first time in years and I saw them!

 

Simply find a spot on the lawn between the palm trees in the middle of the park, and the tennis courts in the late afternoon / early evening. You will hear them first. You will know when you hear them. They tend to be loudest when they are flying making it a simple matter to follow them from place to place!

 

I'll eventually post more photos. I took many photos, but in the short time I was there, I did not manage to get any great shots. But it was fun. I definitely will go back and do it again!

 

I realize that this is not a native species, and will probably never be considered "naturalized", and that some birders will be furious that I really love them. I think that they didn't ask to come here, they were brought here. More importantly, the seem to have a stable population and don't seem to be rapidly spreading. Basically they are in the same spot for the last 40 years! I accept them, and derive pleasure from watching them.

 

There you have it. I am politically incorrect!

St Thomas’ Church is the principal Roman Catholic church in

Jersey. It is said by some to be the finest example of modern ecclesiastical architecture in the Channel Islands

 

History

When the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate arrived in Jersey at the end of 1880 they found the actual church much too small for the numerous population of French-speaking Catholics. While these numbered over 4,000, the Church itself could accommodate, at the utmost, only 400.

 

Their predecessors, no doubt, had been anxious to solve the problem, but were held up by the difficulty of finding among a poor congregation, for the majority, the resources necessary for building a suitable place of worship. One of these, the Rev F Volkerick, Rector of St Thomas' from 1860 to 1878, having already provided a school for girls in 1869, with the assistance of the Ladies of St Andrew, and desirous to have a proper parochial school for boys, who were badly off for room in New Street, and a more spacious church, had acquired part of the necessary ground in Val Plaisant, and had collected some £2,000 for this double purpose.

 

He was not given the pleasure of realizing his project. After 18 years of a very saintly and apostolic ministry in Jersey, he was recalled to England and was succeeded by the Rev Fr Morin, a French priest from the diocese of Rennes. He, in turn, was replaced very shortly after, at the end of 1880, by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who, when the Religious Orders in France were refused the liberty of association, were invited by Bishop Dana, the Vicar Apostolic of London, to take charge.

 

Fr Bourde was the first Oblate of MI to he named Superior and Rector of St Thomas's. He held office from 1880 to the end of 1885. It was during his Rectorship that Rev Fr Michaux, OMI, was invited to preach at St Thomas' Church in the special occasion of First Communion, and, as events proved, this choice was a very providential one.

 

Fr Michaux was grieved at the sight of the children crowded together in the sanctuary, and of their parents and other members of the faithful being unable to find a seat in the much too small edifice. “What" said he, "in a town like St Helier where error is glaringly spread abroad, where there are decent churches for all denominations, should Catholics he the only ones without a church worthy of their Faith and of their God?"

 

I dare say that this inspired apostrophe of the preacher decided the building of the new chuich at an early date, for Fr Michaux was asked to undertake the work he had suggested.

 

The Rev Father, who had already given proof of his ability in the restoration of the famous sanctuary of Our Lady of Sion in Lorraine, France, was the man sent by Divine Providence to the Jersey French-speaking Catholics to enable them to realize their dream of many years.

 

Offerings

He began his heavy task of collecting offerings, being greatly helped by the Rev Fr Volkerick was still greatly devoted to his former parish, where he had left half of his heart, made him acquainted with all his benefactors or would-be benefactors.

 

Indeed all the parishioners, rich and poor, were generous in their help. He sent an appeal to all the descendants cf the noble refugees who came to Jersey during the French Revolution and to the wealthy Catholics of France. The answers to his call were so numerous that he was able to lay the foundation stone of the new church on 6 September 1883.

 

Four years later, 30 October 1887, the Church was solemnly blessed and opened to public worship. The consecration took place on 5 September 1893, to commemorate the centenary of the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in the Channel Isles, in 1793, when the bill of tolerance was handed over to Mathieu de Gruchy, a Jerseyman and a convert who became a priest in the French diocese of Lucon before the Revolution.

 

Having refused to subscribe to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, he had to fly and came to his native land where also five bishops and more than 2,000 priests took shelter during these hard days. Of these, two bishops and nearly 200 priests died during their exile in the Island.

 

The church

St Thomas' Church is constructed in the 13th century style and comprises nave, aisles, transepts with chapels forming the arms of the Cross, and a chancel. Two small chapels lengthening the lower sides westward have the appearance of chancels to either aisles. On each side of the tower are two other chapels with groined vaults of a very pleasing effect, that at the south end having a deep recess in the centre of which stands the baptismal font.

 

At the apsis of the chancel and in corbel on a low granite shaft with moulded base and sculptured capital is a richly framed niche, occupying the centre arch of an arcade with a bud ornament. Inside the niche is a group representing the Apparition of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary at Paray-le-Monial (France). Above is a circular window with a twelve section tracery work.

 

The frescos

The simili-fresco paintings on either side of the rose window represent, at the top, left to right, St Michael and guardian angels, angels playing musical instruments and angels singing, and above the cornice, saints: St Thomas of Aquinas and St Thomas the Apostle, St Louis, King of France, St George, the patron saint of England, St Joan of Arc, St Peter, the Blessed Virgin, St Joseph, St Anne, two Carmelite Saints, and two Virgins and Martyrs. They are by P Dubois and P Couturier of the Maurice Denis School of Art.

 

The two other paintings in the lancet arches, with a blending of allegorical and realistic designs, symbolize the Good Shepherd and the Holy Redeemer. They are by P Couturier.

 

The hollow of the cornice under the niche, the lancets and on the sides of the altar is of a richly foliated work.

 

The Nave

The nave is divided into seven arches, two lancets and five large; the chancel is separated from the adjacent chapels by a large equilateral arch and a lancet-arch. Each of the lancets, west and east of the transepts is surmounted by sculptured brackets to receive statues for which sculptured canopies have also been arranged. The walls of the nave and of the chancel are supported on each side by piers of clustered shafts in Crozannes stone. Each semi-detached shaft is crowned with a sculptured capital from which spring the arches. Each capital has a different design of sculptured foliage, flowers and buds, both in the nave and chancel and the aisles and transepts.

 

All the sculpturing inside and outside is the work of the late Mr Bedane, the sculptor, and gives abundant evidence of his talent.

 

Dimensions

The height of the nave is 60 feet beneath the vault; that of the aisles is 30 feet.

 

The length of the nave is 109 feet from the communion rail to the inner door of the porch; the chancel is 36 feet. The breadth across the transepts is 89 feet.

 

The total length of the Church externally is 179 feet from the niche to the portal; internally it is 163 feet, inclusive of the depth of the porch under the steeple which is 18 feet.

 

The vaults

All the groined roof is made of hollow bricks covered with plaster, having the appearance of stone, that of the nave, of the chancel, of the transepts and of the chapels forming the arms of the Cross is ornamented with moulded arches with sculptured keystones.

 

The vaults arc strengthened by interior and exterior buttresses surmounted by gargoyles representing chimeras of different kinds

 

The steeple

The tower, built of Brittany granite, is composed of a rectangular portion into which the portal opens and is surmounted by an open-work spire. The portal, with a tympanum representing the Apparition of our Lord, after His Resurrection, to St Thomas, the Apostle, and signed Louis Dupont, is surmounted by a beautiful three-light window with mullions and a tracery rose, in blue granite of Brittany very artistically sculptured.

 

It gives light to the gallery from the east. The steeple is 111 feet from the ground to the spire windows, and from these to the summit of the Cross it is 85 feet, giving a total of 196 feet.

 

The Belfry

The portion of the tower above the roof of the church holds the belfry with a peal of five bells :

 

treble B, 5 cwt, Eloise-Ida-Therese de l’FJ

3 F sharp, 16 cwt, Clotilde-Louise-Leonie

4 E, 20 cwt, Marie Immaculee

tenor B, 52 cwt, Anne-Marie-Andree-Ignace

Treble B and G sharp have been cast by Cornille-Havard of Villedieu, while F sharp, E and tenor B are by Paccard of Annecy.

 

The clock

In the room below the belfry is the clock which is moved electrically and strikes the hours only.

 

The organ and gallery

The organ was erected in 1959 by Henry Willis and Sons. It is an instrument fully reconditioned with two keyboards and a pedal-board. It seems to be ideal for our church and presents a fine feature upon the gallery.

 

This vast gallery, extending over the porch and projecting into the nave, is supported by a three arched vault with mouldings at the groins. The arches, at the back, spring from the clustered pillars flanking the tower wall, and, on the front side, from the two last piers of clustered shafts of the nave and from the two circular piers, with mouldings at the base and finely sculptured capitals, which stand in the centre, forming three arches, one large and two small. On top of these runs the sloped cornice with a parapet in three panels of quatrefoil open-work.

 

The lancet arches at the sides and under the gallery are of a pleasing effect.

 

The paving

The paving of the chancel and side chapels is in ceramic squares from Anneuil; that of the transepts, of the nave and of the aisles is from a Maubeuge factory.

 

The pulpit

The pulpit which stands against the second pillar of the nave, on the Gospel side, is made of polished oak and beautifully carved. It is supported by four clustered shafts with carved bases and capitals, the capital of the centre shaft supporting the whole surface of the floor. The plan is hexagonal with panels containing the figures of the four evangelists.

 

The canopy in two storeys, richly designed with trefoiled and crocketed pediments and pinnacles with finials, is terminated by a spire in open-work with a Cross as finial, the foot of which is sunk in a fleur de lis centre. The spire is supported by openwork mullions and four-leaved rose windows with flying buttresses or arch-buttants. The rail of the staircase is of an elegant open tracery with a moulded cornice decorated in the hollow with a three-leaved ornament.

 

The pews

The pews are of polished oak with carved ends and finials.

 

The confessionals

These are also of polished oak and of exquisite workmanship, with richly decorated doors and frontons and with slender shafts supporting the cornice with a crested parapet. The latter is surmounted by crocketed pediments and plain pinnacles with finials.

 

Stations of the Cross

The stations of the Cross are of a very delicate colouring, with wonderfully life-like and expressive figures. They are the work of L Chovet and I Beau, of Paris. Each station is framed in a beautifully carved design of polished oak with two decorated shafts hearing angels on the summit, a round and ornamented trefoil arch surmounted by a crocketed Pediment with a cross on the summit as a finial, turrets with crocketed pinnacles at the corners and a bas-rclief stiitli pendants.

 

The high altar

The beautiful Gothic altar which stands at the end of the chancel, at the rise of the first pillars of the great arches, of purest white marble, is the workmanship of the firm Poussielgue, of Paris. The four shafts supporting the altar table are of red marble with gilt brass bases and capitals. Between the shafts and against the wall of the altar there are three gilt brass quatrefoil roses. The middle one has a cross in the rose with centre ot green marble, while the other two have a foliated decoration. On both sides is a coat of arms engraved in a plate of gilt brass with enamel armorial bearings and an inscription in Gaelic.

 

The levels in hollow of the front edges of the altar bear an ornament of gilt brass buds.

 

The tabernacle of gilt brass has the form of a porch supported by circular shafts with moulded bases and carved capitals, surmounted by a flour de lis and enriched with crockets in vine leaves and bunches of grapes.

 

The tympanum bears the monogram of Christ with the two Greek letters A — O (Alpha — Omega) and the door has a statue of Christ the Divine Doctor, on a rectangular bracket.

 

The reredos, with a buttressed square tower in the centre, is also of while marble. The tower, with a three leaved ornament in the hollow of the cornice is surmounted by a quadrangular canopy of gilt brass with four decorated pediments supported by slender cylindrical shafts with moulded bases arid sculptured capitals, encircled midway with annulated mouldings, and standing on a brass basis.

 

The four frontons or pediments in trefoiled arches are adorned with crockets and finials flour de lis in open-work and at each corner is a small square turret with crocketed pinnacles. The four-roofed top of the canopy with ornamented crests is terminated by a cross fixed in a double truncated fleur de lis.

 

The reredos itself comprises three blank arches, each side of the tower, with small shafts of pink marble with gilt brass bases, capitals and trefoils. The centre of the arches bears a foliated decoration on grey marble. The arches arc separated by buttresses with turrets, crocketed pinnacles and finials. The crest of the parapet bears a five leaf and flower ornament. In the hollow is a three-leaved decoration similar to that of the tower. At each end stands a white marble octagonal turret with buttresses and pink marble shafts, and on the summit a candelabrum.

 

Separated from the altar are two white marble pedestals with standing angels bearing candelabra.

 

The stalls

The stalls of the choristers, on either side of the altar, are of polished oak with blank trefoiled pediments, in the upper part, bearing crockets and finials, and divided into sections separated by truncated pinnacles with finials.

 

Those of the clergy, in the large arches, have a back of blank arched work in the lower division, whilst the upper one consists of a series of open pointed and trefoiled arches forming a row of five pediments with crockets and finials, and truncated pinnacles with finials between the sections. The seats work on hinges; when turned up each shows a moulded misericorde. They have on either part elbow rests in moulding supported half-way by a small cylindrical shaft, resting on the sides. These latter are decorated with a quatrefoil opening and mouldings. In front of the seats is a running desk or rail to the kneeling stools resting on a four-leaved parapet in open-work with a carved cornice carried along the top of the lower part which consists of five panels in open-work.

 

Each panel forms three arches composed of two cylindrical and two semi-cylindrical shafts with moulded bases and carved capitals, the latter shafts flanking the buttressed pillars of each section. The rail has a one arch panel at each end.

 

The communion rail

The communion rail is in a very artistic iron scroll work of long carved foliation and long stems with buds, while the kneeling stool running along the rail is of blue granite. The design is the same for the High Altar rail and those of the aisles altars.

 

The Blessed Virgin Chapel

The chapel of the Blessed Virgin forms a chancel to the south aisle. The altar, the tabernacle and the reredos, all of white marble, are ornamented with trefoiled arches on shafts.

 

On a sculptured bracket above the altar is a beautiful statue of Mary Immaculate, crushing the serpent's head and standing on the moon crescent.

 

St Joseph's Chapel

St Joseph's chapel is the counterpart of the Virgin chapel and forms a chancel to the north aisle. The altar is of white marble, ornamented with trefoiled arches on shafts. On a bracket above the altar is a fine statue of the Saint with the Holy Child Jesus standing by him. The rose windows in the gables of these latter chapels are a double-leaved quatrefoil in tracery. They are much like two large Crosses of the Malta Knights with a curved shape to the corners.

 

St Michael's Chapel

St Michael's altar stands at the southwest end of the transepts, in a recess. It is made of white marble, in Norman style, and is much too small for the place. Above the altar on a bracket stands a statue representing the archangel lighting against the dragon, with a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left.

 

St Theresa of the Child Jesus

Opposite the altar of St Michael is a beautiful statue, in Caen stone, by Bouet, of St Theresa, generally known as "The Little Flower", standing in the centre of a three section pedestal on a semi-octagonal shaft with moulded base and finely sculptured capital with a rose, the emblem of the saint.

 

The two sections, either side of the shaft, have a cornice in moulding with a rose garland running in the hollow. The saint is represented pressing the cross and roses on her heart with one hand and with the other dropping roses on the earth, an allusion to one of her last sayings.

 

The Holy Face

Against the south wall of the transepts, between the one-light windows, is a shield with the Holy Face, whilst underneath is a three section pedestal of polished oak with a moulded cornice projecting in the central section and suivoned by two shafts with mouldings at the base and carved capitals.

 

St Joan of Arc Chapel

St Joan of Arc chapel is at the northeast of the transepts above the altar in painted wood with marbled shafts. The statue of the saint, brandishing her sword point downwards, stands on a sculptured bracket projecting from the wall above the altar.

 

The Chapel of Our Lath of Lourdes

This chapel is at the north side of the tower. Above the altar, of white stone with gilt ornaments, is the statue of our Lady of Lourdes. Against the wall of the steeple on a circular shalt, is the statue representing our Lady as she appeared at Pontmain (Mayenne).

 

The Chapel of the Font

The font, placed at the south end of the steeple, in a recess, has the form of an octagonal vessel in simili-stone decorated with a uniform ornament of squares with buds. It is supported by a clustered pier formed of a central column and four shafts with bases and capitals. The shafts are of red simili-marble with a moulded base of white marble and a white stone plinth.

 

The vessel has the appearance of a gigantic capital to the supporting pier. The cover represents the Baptism of our Lord.

 

In the chapel of the Font, between the one-light windows, is the Memorial Altar erected to the War dead, with a beautiful group surmounting the reredos and representing a Pieta at the foot of the Cross with St John and St Mary Magdalen.

 

The reredos is of white simili-stone and represents crossed flags, swords and rifles with olive branches and oak leaves with acorns. The tabernacle is in the centre of an arch with a tympanum, on double black marble shafts with white moulded bases and sculptured capitals. In the centre of the tympanum is a Cross of the French Legion of Honour.

 

The table of the altar is supported by black marble shafts, forming a square-headed trefoil arch in the centre and pointed arches on either side of the latter. The centre arch bears an In Memoriam on a stab of white marble while the names of the dead of St Thomas’ parish are engraved on a white marble slab fixed on the wall at the east.

 

The English Union Jack, the French and the Jersey flags are hanging on their staffs on either side and in front of the altar, making a pleasing decoration to the chapel.

 

The windows

The stained glass of the windows comes from different establishments. Those of the two-light windows with small roses of the chancel were made by the firm Emmanuel Champigneulle of Bar-le-Duc, from designs supplied by Marechal, the well-known glass painter.

 

The glass of the windows and of the eight-section tracery roses of the transept has been supplied by the firm Champigneulle and Co of Paris; also the one-light windows of the south representing the Virgin Mother with the Holy Child Jesus, and St Michael, the patron saint of Jersey, and those of the north representing St Joseph and St Louis, King of France.

 

The glasswork of the windows of the nave is by Bastard, glass painter of Paris, while the double-light ones, between the buttresses in the aisles, with a slender shaft in the centre, and representing different saints are due to George Claudius Lavergne, of Paris.

 

The subjects are, on the north aisle: St John the Apostle and Evangelist and St Andrew, the Apostle; St Ignatius and St Louis of Gonzague; St Ives and St Lawrence; St Vincent of Paule and St Francis of Assisi; St Anne and our Lady of Pontmain. On the south: St Peter and St Paul; St Helier and St Martin; St Achilles and St Nereus, martyrs; St Thomas and St Matthew, the apostles; St Jane of Valois and St Donat.

 

Of the one-light windows in the chapel of the Baptismal Font and of our Lady of Lourdes two are in stained glass design and two with figures. That of the Font represents the Baptism of our Lord, whilst that of our Lady of Lourdes represents her apparition to Saint Bernadette Soubirous. They are by the firm Champigneulle of Bar-le-Duc.

 

In the centre of the first recess between the two buttresses at the back of the pulpit is the monumental slab of white marble, with two sculptured angels on pinnacles, supported by a plinth of blue granite, erected to the memory of Rev Fr Michaux, the founder of the church, and on either side, two smaller slabs give the names of the bishops and priests since 1792.

 

In the north aisle and facing the pulpit, the monumental slab of white marble gives the historic dates of the church.

 

The Vestries

There are two vestries, north and south, opening off St Joseph's and the Blessed Virgin's chapels by double doors in a square-headed trefoil arch. This is framed in an equilateral arch with an unsculptured tympanum. The windows are in the shape of square-headed trefoil arches.

 

The Holy Rood and the statues

The holy rood at the north entrance of the chancel against the right west pier of the transepts has been erected to commemorate the first Mission preached at St Thomas’. Opposite on a sculptured dais bracket, surmounted by a canopy, stands the statue of the patron saint, St Thomas, the apostle.

 

By the south-west pier of Our Lady's chapel, the Guardian Angel is represented with a child. Opposite, by the north-west pier of St Joseph's chapel is the statue of St Louis of Gonzague, the patron saint of Catholic Youth, while in St Joan of Arc Chapel is the statue of St Benedict.

 

Two other statues in the north and south recesses between the last buttresses are respectively those of St Anne with the Blessed Virgin as a child, and of St Anthony of Padua.

 

The Exterior of the Building

Of the exterior of the church built of blue Brittany granite, are the arrises, cornices, tracery, cappings, the top of the gables, the monumental fleurs de lis, the cross with pierced spandrels surmounting the gable of the apsis, the pinnacles and crosses of the north, south and east gables, the gargoyles as well as all the steeple. The rest is in reidish granite from the La Moye quarries, the colour contrasting with that of Brittany granite.

 

The doors

The doors are of polished oak with a rich iron scroll work at the hinges.

 

The porches

There are five porches to the church, one large under the steeple, with a deep arch on slender shafts, a tympanum representing the Apparition of our Lord, after His resurrection, to St Thomas, the apostle, and bearing the inscription: Dominus meus et Deus meus, "My Lord and my God". At the summit of the crocketed pediment is a cross. The small porches, two at the north and two at the south are formed of a small arch with slender shafts, and the summit of their pediments bears a fleur de lis as finial. The railing of the steps are in iron scroll work.

 

Thomas' Church, but we have not been able to establish what position he held, and when. He is not mentioned in Diane Moore's Deo Gratias, the definitive history of the Roman Catholic Church in Jersey

Priests in charge

The Catholic Church, re-established in Jersey in 1793, was under the double direction of Bishop de Cheylus of Bayeux, and of Bishop de Mintier of St Brieuc. They were helped in their sacred ministry by Rev Mathieu de Gruchy and a certain number of other priests who administered the sacraments in private oratories.

 

Priests in charge of French-speaking Catholics from 1803:

 

J Philibert, 1803 director of St Louis Oratory

F Le Guedois, 1809 director of St Louis Oratory

J Morlais, 1837 director of St Louis Oratory; 1842, Rector of St Thomas and Dean

J Volkerick, 1860 Rector of St Thomas

M Morin, 1878 Rector of St Thomas

V Bourdc, 1880 Rector of St Thomas

V Fick 1885 Rector of St Thomas

C Le Vacon, OMI 1895 Rector of St Thomas

L Legrand, OMI 1899 Rector of St Thomas

L Guillient, OMI 1911 Rector of St Thomas

A Mao, OMI 1920 Rector of St Thomas

T Mare, OMI 1933 Rector of St Thomas

P Jon, OMI 1946 Rector of St Thomas

H Verkin, OMI 1955 Rector of St Thomas

J Simon, OMI 1961 Rector of St Thomas

The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it WOULD twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away:...

 

...Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.

My bait Kozy girl. I am calling her Boo, which is short for Caboose...'cause she's a bit of a trainwreck LOL. Let's hope she's really a diamond in the rough!

  

NOT MY PHOTO

View from Mt Difficulty winery and restaurant where we had lunch. March 6, 2014 South Island, New Zealand.

 

Mt Difficulty Wines is located in Bannockburn and the Cellar Door at Mt Difficulty Wines is known as much for its dramatic views of rugged rock and thyme landscapes as it is for its stylish wine and food.

 

All wines that carry the Mt Difficulty Bannockburn Estate label are subject to two strict criteria: they have to be sourced from vineyards situated in a very specific area – Bannockburn, south of the Kawarau River – and they are to be under the umbrella of the Mt Difficulty management team. The reasons for these self-imposed constraints are that we believe this to be an area with very special qualities for growing grapes, and that the management of the vineyard is reflected in the quality of the ultimate product.

For More Info: www.mtdifficulty.co.nz/vineyards/bannockburn-map.html

  

French postcard. Edition Pathé Frères. Photo Henri Manuel. A difficulty with this card, which is easily found online as well, is that it dates from around 1910-1914, while the actress, born in 1864, was 50 in 1914. We could not trace whether Pathé used a pre-1900 photo, a photo of a relative with the same name (a daughter?), or just a photo of somebody else.

 

Jeanne Bérangère (1864-1927) was a French stage and screen actress.

 

Jeanne Bérangère was born as Françoise Béraud, daughter of Pierre Béraud and his wife Appoline née Dumont, on June 9, 1864, in Ainay-le-Château, in the Auvergne. Her parents were wealthy landowners in La Chaume, east of this small medieval village, cradle of the oldest lords of Bourbon. Little is known about her childhood and youth, but at the end of the 19th century beautiful Françoise became a popular theatre actress in Paris under the name of Mademoiselle Bérangère. Her Parisian fame caused her to pose often for postcards, allowing her to spread her image throughout France. After an impressive stage career in Paris, Michel Carré selected her in 1909 to play her first role on screen in La peur, directed by Henri Desfontaines. Once under contract by Pathé, Jeanne Bérangère did one film after another there until the beginning of the Great War. She appeared in one of the very first versions of Cléopatra (Henri Andréani and Ferdinand Zecca, 1910), with Madeleine Roch in the title role. Among the twenty or so films of this period, she had the female lead in Affaire d'honneur (Matter of Honour, Charles Decroix, 1910), Henri IV et le bucheron (Henry IV and the Woodchopper, Georges Denola, 1911), La rivale de Richelieu (Musketeer’s Love, Gérard Bourgeois, 1911), La fille de Jephté (Jephta’s daughter, Henri Andréani, 1913), and several films directed by Albert Capellani. For Éclair, she acted e.g. in Maurice Tourneur's grand guignol comedy Mademoiselle Cent Millions (The Conspiracy, 1913) and Trompe-la-mort (The Master Criminal, 1913), an adaptation of Honoré de Balzac's novel by director Charles Krauss. The First World War removed Bérangère from the cinema, apart from the propaganda film Français !... n’oubliez jamais (Robert Boudrioz, Roger Lion, 1916), but she never ceased to act on the Parisian stage.

 

After the war, Jeanne Bérangère resumed her way to the studios for Lucien Lehmann's film La chimère (1918), alongside Edmond Van Daële and Geneviève Félix. She collaborated to two films for Marcel L'Herbier, L'homme du large (Man of the Sea, 1920) with Jaque-Catelain, and Eldorado (1921) with Eve Francis. She also worked with Germaine Dulac (La mort du soleil, 1921; Âme d’artiste, 1924), Victor Tourjansky (Calvaire d’amour, 1923), Yakov Protazanov (Justice d’abord, 1920; Le sense de la mort, 1921), Raymond Bernard (Triplepatte, 1922), Andre Hugon, Gaston Ravel and Louis Mercanton. She was also noticed in four very popular serials of the 1920s: Charles Burguet's L'Essor (The Rise, 1920), Charles Maudru and Maurice de Marsan's L'Assommoir (The Drinking Den, 1921), Les mystères de Paris (Mysteries of Paris, Charles Burguet, 1922), and Belphégor (Henri Desfontaines, 1926), starring Lucien Dalsace.

 

Jeanne Bérangère died prematurely in Paris on November 19, 1928. Pascal Donald writes, “’like many actresses of the silent cinema, her name, face and films have sunk into the almost complete oblivion.” Thanks to festivals such as Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna and Le giornate del cinema muto in Pordenone, we can still see some of these films now and then.

 

Source: IMDB, www.cineartistes.com/fiche-Jeanne+B%E9rang%E8re.html.

 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to everyone who celebrates this special day today!

 

What a mess Flickr was last night! I had difficulty adding titles to my uploaded images, comments didn't save and, after I had added a description to each of the 20 photos, the descriptions all disappeared. When I opened Flickr this morning, there was still no sign of them. Then, suddenly, they re-appeared.

 

My photos taken at the National Butterfly Centre, Mission, South Texas, have now come to an end, so you can sigh a huge sigh of relief : ) After that, I have just a few photos taken at another place that we called in at later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we only had an hour there before closing time, but how glad we were that we found this place. The highlight there was watching 25 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons coming in to roost for the night in the trees, right where we were standing! What a great sight this was, and we were lucky enough to have a good, close view of these gorgeous birds. We also saw some Purple Martins and their circular, hanging nest "gourds".

 

On Day 6 of our birding holiday in South Texas, 24 March 2019, we left our hotel in Kingsville, South Texas, and started our drive to Mission, where we would be staying at La Quinta Inn & Suites for three nights. On the first stretch of our drive, we were lucky enough to see several bird species, including a Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Hooded Oriole, Red-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Harris's Hawk, Pyrrhuloxia male (looks similar to a Cardinal) and a spectacular Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. I'm not sure if this stretch is called Hawk Alley.

 

We had a long drive further south towards Mission, with only a couple of drive-by photos taken en route (of a strangely shaped building that turned out to be a deserted seed storage building). Eventually, we reached our next planned stop, the National Butterfly Centre. This was a great place, my favourite part of it being the bird feeding station, where we saw all sorts of species and reasonably close. Despite the name of the place, we only saw a few butterflies while we were there. May have been the weather or, more likely, the fact that I was having so much fun at the bird feeding station. We also got to see Spike, a giant African Spurred Tortoise. All the nature/wildlife parks that we visited in South Texas had beautiful visitor centres and usually bird feeding stations. And there are so many of these parks - so impressive!

 

nationalbutterflycenter.org/nbc-multi-media/in-the-news/1...

 

"Ten years ago, the North American Butterfly Association broke ground for what has now become the largest native plant botanical garden in the United States. This 100-acre preserve is home to Spike (who thinks he is a butterfly) and the greatest volume and variety of wild, free-flying butterflies in the nation. In fact, USA Today calls the National Butterfly Center, in Mission, Texas, 'the butterfly capitol of the USA'." From the Butterfly Centre's website.

 

The Centre is facing huge challenges, as a result of the "Border Wall". The following information is from the Centre's website.

 

www.nationalbutterflycenter.org/about-nbc/maps-directions...

 

"No permission was requested to enter the property or begin cutting down trees. The center was not notified of any roadwork, nor given the opportunity to review, negotiate or deny the workplan. Same goes for the core sampling of soils on the property, and the surveying and staking of a “clear zone” that will bulldoze 200,000 square feet of habitat for protected species like the Texas Tortoise and Texas Indigo, not to mention about 400 species of birds. The federal government had decided it will do as it pleases with our property, swiftly and secretly, in spite of our property rights and right to due process under the law."

 

"What the Border Wall will do here:

1) Eradicate an enormous amount of native habitat, including host plants for butterflies, breeding and feeding areas for wildlife, and lands set aside for conservation of endangered and threatened species-- including avian species that migrate N/S through this area or over-winter, here, in the tip of the Central US Flyway.

 

2) Create devastating flooding to all property up to 2 miles behind the wall, on the banks of the mighty Rio Grande River, here.

 

3) Reduce viable range land for wildlife foraging and mating. This will result in greater competition for resources and a smaller gene pool for healthy species reproduction. Genetic "bottlenecks" can exacerbate blight and disease.

 

IN ADDITION:

 

4) Not all birds can fly over the wall, nor will all butterfly species. For example, the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, found on the southern border from Texas to Arizona, only flies about 6 ft in the air. It cannot overcome a 30 ft vertical wall of concrete and steel.

 

5) Nocturnal and crepuscular wildlife, which rely on sunset and sunrise cues to regulate vital activity, will be negatively affected by night time flood lighting of the "control zone" the DHS CBP will establish along the wall and new secondary drag roads. The expansion of these areas to vehicular traffic will increase wildlife roadkill.

 

6) Animals trapped north of the wall will face similar competition for resources, cut off from native habitat in the conservation corridor and from water in the Rio Grande River and adjacent resacas. HUMANS, here, will also be cut off from our only source of fresh water, in this irrigated desert.

Due to financial difficulties Alfa Romeo stopped racing in 1933 (Alfa’s own version of the story is that the marque had already proved itself) and sold off its racing division to Enzo Ferrari, who established his own racing team, ‘Scuderia Ferrari’.

 

The legendary racing driver Louis Chiron took part in the 1933 Le Mans race for the Scuderia in this car, which has bodywork designed by Touring. The regulations for participating touring cars specified that they had to be fitted with a windshield, mudguards, a silencer, lighting, a horn and four seats. Needless to say, everything was kept to a minimum in order to limit the weight. The rear seats, for example, aren’t really usable. The car weighs just over 1,000 kilograms. Note the fin at the rear, an important step towards the streamlining of racing cars.

 

The 2.3-litre, eight-cylinder engine introduced by Alfa Romeo in 1931 was in fact made up of two four-cylinder blocks, one behind the other, with an ingenious gear mechanism that drove the camshafts as well as the compressor. The cylinder capacity was increased to 2.6 litres for this Le Mans version.

 

2,6 Liter

8 Cylinder

180 HP

 

Louwman Museum

Den Haag - The Hague

Nederland - Netherlands

Augustus 2019

Apparently the RR guessed I was coming and raised the degree of difficulty, 4 lane road, no trespassing between tracks and road, both on sidings...improvise overcome adapt. when's the last time you saw two PRR GP9 high hoods together???? When in York, Pa. take ex PRR GP9 pix on ex PRR trackage, now East Penn trackage. Ah 1701, the starship(some will get it) and ex Conrail GP10 former PRR GP9.

Iarnród Éireann Class 071 locomotive,088 at Cork Kent station, awaiting departure with the 12:20 Cobh - Limerick leg of the RPSI 'Southwestern' railtour of Saturday 13th October 2018.

 

The section to/from Cobh sadly being deleted on the day due to various operational difficulties.

Due to financial difficulties Alfa Romeo stopped racing in 1933 (Alfa’s own version of the story is that the marque had already proved itself) and sold off its racing division to Enzo Ferrari, who established his own racing team, ‘Scuderia Ferrari’.

 

The legendary racing driver Louis Chiron took part in the 1933 Le Mans race for the Scuderia in this car, which has bodywork designed by Touring. The regulations for participating touring cars specified that they had to be fitted with a windshield, mudguards, a silencer, lighting, a horn and four seats. Needless to say, everything was kept to a minimum in order to limit the weight. The rear seats, for example, aren’t really usable. The car weighs just over 1,000 kilograms. Note the fin at the rear, an important step towards the streamlining of racing cars.

 

The 2.3-litre, eight-cylinder engine introduced by Alfa Romeo in 1931 was in fact made up of two four-cylinder blocks, one behind the other, with an ingenious gear mechanism that drove the camshafts as well as the compressor. The cylinder capacity was increased to 2.6 litres for this Le Mans version.

 

2,6 Liter

8 Cylinder

180 HP

 

Louwman Museum

Den Haag - The Hague

Nederland - Netherlands

March 2013

Fangruida: human landing on Mars 10 cutting-edge technology

 

[Fangruida- human landing on Mars 10 innovative and sophisticated technologies]

 

Aerospace Science and space science and technology major innovation of the most critical of sophisticated technology R & D project

-------------------------------------------------- -------------

Aerospace Science Space Science and Technology on behalf of the world's most cutting-edge leader in high technology, materials, mechatronics, information and communication, energy, biomedical, marine, aviation aerospace, microelectronics, computer, automation, intelligent biochips, use of nuclear energy, light mechanical and electrical integration, astrophysics, celestial chemistry, astrophysics and so a series of geological science and technology. Especially after the moon landing, the further development of mankind to Mars and other planets into the powerful offensive, the world's major powers eager to Daxian hand of God, increase investment, vigorously develop new sophisticated technology projects for space to space. Satellite, space station, the new spacecraft, the new space suits, the new radiation protection materials, intelligent materials, new manufacturing technology, communications technology, computer technology, detector technology, rover, rover technology, biomedical technology, and so one after another, is expected to greater breakthroughs and leaps. For example, rocket technology, spacecraft design, large power spacecraft, spacesuits design improvements, radiation multifunctional composite materials, life health care technology and space medicine, prevention against microgravity microgravity applicable drugs, tracking control technology, landing and return technology. Mars lander and returned safely to Earth as a top priority. Secondly, Mars, the Moon base and the use of transforming Mars, the Moon and other development will follow. Whether the former or the latter, are the modern aerospace science, space science basic research, applied basic research and applied research in the major cutting-edge technology. These major cutting-edge technology research and innovation, not only for human landing on Mars and the safe return of great significance, but for the entire space science, impact immeasurable universe sciences, earth sciences and human life. Here the most critical of the most important research projects of several sophisticated technology research and development as well as its core technology brief. Limit non-scientific techniques include non-technical limits of technology, the key lies in technology research and development of technology maturity, advanced technology, innovative, practical, reliable, practical application, business value and investment costs, and not simply like the idea mature technology achievements, difficult to put into things. This is the high-tech research and development, testing, prototype, test application testing, until the outcome of industrialization. Especially in aerospace technology, advanced, novelty, practicality, reliability, economy, maturity, commercial value and so on. For technical and research purely science fiction and the like may be irrelevant depth, but not as aerospace engineering and technology practice. Otherwise, Mars will become a dream fantasy, and even into settling crashed out of danger.

 

Regardless of the moon or Mars, many technical difficulties, especially a human landing on Mars and return safely to Earth, technical difficulties mainly in the following aspects. (Transformation of Mars and the Moon and other planets and detect other livable technology more complex and difficult, at this stage it is difficult to achieve and therefore not discussed in detail in this study). In fact, Mars will be the safe return of a full set of technology, space science, aerospace crucial scientific research development, its significance is not confined to Mars simply a return to scientific value, great commercial value, can not be measure.

1. Powered rocket, the spacecraft overall structural design not be too complex large, otherwise, the safety factor to reduce the risk of failure accidents. Fusion rocket engine main problem to be solved is the high-temperature materials and fuel ignition chamber (reaction chamber temperatures of up to tens of millions of supreme billion degrees), fissile class rocket engine whose essence is the miniaturization of nuclear reactors, and placed on the rocket. Nuclear rocket engine fuel as an energy source, with liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid ammonia working fluid. Nuclear rocket engine mounted in the thrust chamber of the reactor, cooling nozzle, the working fluid delivery and control systems and other components. This engine due to nuclear radiation protection, exhaust pollution, reactor control and efficient heat exchanger design and other issues unresolved. Electrothermal rocket engine utilizing heat energy (resistance heating or electric arc heating) working medium (hydrogen, amines, hydrazine ), vaporized; nozzle expansion accelerated after discharged from the spout to generate thrust. Static rocket engine working fluid (mercury, cesium, hydrogen, etc.) from the tank enter the ionization chamber is formed thrust ionized into a plasma jet. Electric rocket engines with a high specific impulse (700-2500 sec), extremely long life (can be repeated thousands of times a starter, a total of up to thousands of hours of work). But the thrust of less than 100N. This engine is only available for spacecraft attitude control, station-keeping and the like. One nuclear - power rocket design is as follows: Firstly, the reactor heats water to make it into steam, and then the high-speed steam ejected, push the rocket. Nuclear rocket using hydrogen as working substance may be a better solution, it is one of the most commonly used liquid hydrogen rocket fuel rocket carrying liquid hydrogen virtually no technical difficulties. Heating hydrogen nuclear reactor, as long as it eventually reaches or exceeds current jet velocity hydrogen rocket engine jet speed, the same weight of the rocket will be able to work longer, it can accelerate the Rockets faster. Here there are only two problems: First, the final weight includes the weight of the rocket in nuclear reactors, so it must be as light as possible. Ultra-small nuclear reactor has been able to achieve. Furthermore, if used in outer space, we can not consider the problem of radioactive residues, simply to just one proton hydrogen nuclei are less likely to produce induced radioactivity, thus shielding layer can be made thinner, injected hydrogen gas can flow directly through the reactor core, it is not easy to solve, and that is how to get back at high speed heated gas is ejected.

  

Rocket engine with a nuclear fission reactor, based on the heating liquid hydrogen propellant, rather than igniting flammable propellant

High-speed heavy rocket is a major cutting-edge technology. After all, space flight and aircraft carriers, submarines, nuclear reactors differ greatly from the one hand, the use of traditional fuels, on the one hand can be nuclear reactor technology. From the control, for security reasons, the use of nuclear power rocket technology, safe and reliable overriding indicators. Nuclear atomic energy in line with the norms and rules of outer space. For the immature fetal abdominal hatchery technology, and resolutely reject use. This is the most significant development of nuclear-powered rocket principle.

Nuclear-powered spaceship for Use of nuclear power are three kinds:

The first method: no water or air space such media can not be used propeller must use jet approach. Reactor nuclear fission or fusion to produce a lot of heat, we will propellant (such as liquid hydrogen) injection, the rapid expansion of the propellant will be heated and then discharged from the engine speed tail thrust. This method is most readily available.

The second method: nuclear reactor will have a lot of fast-moving ions, these energetic particles moving very fast, so you can use a magnetic field to control their ejection direction. This principle ion rocket similar to the tail of the rocket ejected from the high-speed mobile ions, so that the recoil movement of a rocket. The advantage of this approach is to promote the unusually large ratio, without carrying any medium, continued strong. Ion engine, which is commonly referred to as "electric rocket", the principle is not complicated, the propellant is ionized particles,

Plasma Engine

Electromagnetic acceleration, high-speed spray. From the development trend, the US research scope covers almost all types of electric thrusters, but mainly to the development of ion engines, NASA in which to play the most active intake technology and preparedness plans. "

The third method: the use of nuclear explosions. It is a bold and crazy way, no longer is the use of a controlled nuclear reaction, but to use nuclear explosions to drive the ship, this is not an engine, and it is called a nuclear pulse rocket. This spacecraft will carry a lot of low-yield atomic bombs out one behind, and then detonated, followed by a spacecraft propulsion installation disk, absorbing the blast pushing the spacecraft forward. This was in 1955 to Orion (Project Orion) name of the project, originally planned to bring two thousand atomic bombs, Orion later fetal nuclear thermal rocket. Its principle is mounted on a small rocket reactor, the reactor utilizing thermal energy generated by the propellant is heated to a high temperature, high pressure and high temperature of the propellant from the high-speed spray nozzle, a tremendous impetus.

  

Common nuclear fission technologies, including nuclear pulse rocket engines, nuclear rockets, nuclear thermal rocket and nuclear stamping rockets to nuclear thermal rocket, for example, the size of its land-based nuclear power plant reactor structure than the much smaller, more uranium-235 purity requirements high, reaching more than 90%, at the request of the high specific impulse engine core temperature will reach about 3000K, require excellent high temperature properties of materials.

  

Research and test new IT technologies and new products and new technology and new materials, new equipment, things are difficult, design is the most important part, especially in the overall design, technical solutions, technical route, technical process, technical and economic particularly significant. The overall design is defective, technology there are loopholes in the program, will be a major technical route deviation, but also directly related to the success of research trials. so, any time, under any circumstances, a good grasp of the overall control of design, technical design, is essential. otherwise, a done deal, it is difficult save. aerospace technology research and product development is true.

  

3, high-performance nuclear rocket

Nuclear rocket nuclear fission and fusion energy can rocket rocket two categories. Nuclear fission and fusion produce heat, radiation and shock waves and other large amounts of energy, but here they are contemplated for use as a thermal energy rocket.

Uranium and other heavy elements, under certain conditions, will split their nuclei, called nuclear fission reaction. The atomic bomb is the result of nuclear fission reactions. Nuclear fission reaction to release energy, is a million times more chemical rocket propellant combustion energy. Therefore, nuclear fission energy is a high-performance rocket rockets. Since it requires much less propellant than chemical rockets can, so to its own weight is much lighter than chemical rockets energy. For the same quality of the rocket, the rocket payload of nuclear fission energy is much greater than the chemical energy of the rocket. Just nuclear fission energy rocket is still in the works. 

Use of nuclear fission energy as the energy of the rocket, called the atomic rockets. It is to make hydrogen or other inert gas working fluid through the reactor, the hydrogen after the heating temperature quickly rose to 2000 ℃, and then into the nozzle, high-speed spray to produce thrust. 

A vision plan is to use liquid hydrogen working fluid, in operation, the liquid hydrogen tank in the liquid hydrogen pump is withdrawn through the catheter and the engine cooling jacket and liquid hydrogen into hydrogen gas, hydrogen gas turbine-driven, locally expansion. Then by nuclear fission reactors, nuclear fission reactions absorb heat released, a sharp rise in temperature, and finally into the nozzle, the rapid expansion of high-speed spray. Calculations show that the amount of atomic payload rockets, rocket high chemical energy than 5-8 times.

Hydrogen and other light elements, under certain conditions, their nuclei convergent synthesis of new heavy nuclei, and release a lot of energy, called nuclear fusion reaction, also called thermonuclear reaction. 

Using energy generated by the fusion reaction for energy rocket, called fusion energy rocket or nuclear thermal rockets. But it is also not only take advantage of controlled nuclear fusion reaction to manufacture hydrogen bombs, rockets and controlled nuclear fusion reaction needs still studying it.

Of course there are various research and development of rocket technology and technical solutions to try.

It is envisaged that the rocket deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen with deuterium nuclear fusion reaction of helium nuclei, protons and neutrons, and release huge amounts of energy, just polymerized ionized helium to temperatures up to 100 million degrees the plasma, and then nozzle expansion, high-speed ejection, the exhaust speed of up to 15,000 km / sec, atomic energy is 1800 times the rocket, the rocket is the chemical energy of 3700 times.

 

Nuclear rocket engine fuel as an energy source, with liquid hydrogen, liquid helium, liquid ammonia working fluid. Nuclear rocket engine mounted in the thrust chamber of the reactor, cooling nozzle, the working fluid delivery and control systems and other components. In a nuclear reactor, nuclear energy into heat to heat the working fluid, the working fluid is heated after expansion nozzle to accelerate to the speed of 6500 ~ 11,000 m / sec from the discharge orifice to produce thrust. Nuclear rocket engine specific impulse (250 to 1000 seconds) long life, but the technology is complex, apply only to long-term spacecraft. This engine due to nuclear radiation protection, exhaust pollution, reactor control and efficient heat exchanger design and other issues not resolved, is still in the midst of trials. Nuclear rocket technology is cutting-edge aerospace science technology, centralized many professional and technical sciences and aerospace, nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, materials science, the long term future ___-- wide width. The United States, Russia and Europe, China, India, Japan, Britain, Brazil and other countries in this regard have studies, in particular the United States and Russia led the way, impressive. Of course, at this stage of nuclear rocket technology, technology development there are still many difficulties. Fully formed, still to be. But humanity marching to the universe, nuclear reactor applications is essential.

  

Outer Space Treaty (International Convention on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space) ****

Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space Principle 15

General Assembly,

Having considered the report of its thirty-fifth session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and the Commission of 16 nuclear

It can be attached in principle on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space of the text of its report, 17

Recognize that nuclear power sources due to small size, long life and other characteristics, especially suitable for use even necessary

For some missions in outer space,

Recognizing also that the use of nuclear power sources in outer space should focus on the possible use of nuclear power sources

Those uses,

Recognizing also that the use of nuclear power sources should include or probabilistic risk analysis is complete security in outer space

Full evaluation is based, in particular, the public should focus on reducing accidental exposure to harmful radiation or radioactive material risk

risk,

Recognizing the need to a set of principles containing goals and guidelines in this regard to ensure the safety of outer space makes

With nuclear power sources,

Affirming that this set principles apply exclusively on space objects for non-power generation, which is generally characteristic

Mission systems and implementation of nuclear power sources in outer space on similar principles and used by,

Recognizing this need to refer to a new set of principles for future nuclear power applications and internationally for radiological protection

The new proposal will be revised

By the following principles on the use of nuclear power sources in outer space.

Principle 1. Applicability of international law

Involving the use of nuclear power sources in outer space activities should be carried out in accordance with international law, especially the "UN

Principles of the Charter "and" States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Activities

Treaty "3

.

2. The principle terms

1. For the purpose of these principles, "launching State" and "launching State ......" two words mean, in related

Principles related to a time of nuclear power sources in space objects exercises jurisdiction and control of the country.

2. For the purpose of principle 9, wherein the definition of the term "launching State" as contained in that principle.

3. For the purposes of principle 3, the terms "foreseeable" and "all possible" two words are used to describe the actual hair

The overall likelihood of students that it is considered for safety analysis is credible possibilities for a class of things

Member or circumstances. "General concept of defense in depth" when the term applies to nuclear power sources in outer space refers to various settings

Count form and space operations replace or supplement the operation of the system in order to prevent system failures or mitigate thereafter

"Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 20" 16 (A / 47/20).

17 Ibid., Annex.

38

fruit. To achieve this purpose is not necessarily required for each individual member has redundant safety systems. Given space

Use and special requirements of various space missions, impossible to any particular set of systems or features can be specified as

Necessary to achieve this purpose. For the purpose of Principle 3 (d) of paragraph 2, "made critical" does not include

Including such as zero-power testing which are fundamental to ensuring system safety required.

Principle 3. Guidelines and criteria for safe use

To minimize the risk of radioactive material in space and the number involved, nuclear power sources in outer space

Use should be limited to non-nuclear power sources in space missions can not reasonably be performed

1. General goals for radiation protection and nuclear safety

(A) States launching space objects with nuclear power sources on board shall endeavor to protect individuals, populations and the biosphere

From radiation hazards. The design and use of space objects with nuclear power sources on board shall ensure that risk with confidence

Harm in the foreseeable operational or accidental circumstances, paragraph 1 (b) and (c) to define acceptable water

level.

Such design and use shall also ensure that radioactive material does not reliably significant contamination of outer space.

(B) the normal operation of nuclear power sources in space objects, including from paragraph 2 (b) as defined in foot

High enough to return to the track, shall be subject to appropriate anti-radiation recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection of the public

Protection goals. During such normal operation there shall be no significant radiation exposure;

(C) To limit exposure in accidents, the design and construction of nuclear power source systems shall take into account the international

Relevant and generally accepted radiological protection guidelines.

In addition to the probability of accidents with potentially serious radiological consequences is extremely low, the nuclear power source

Design systems shall be safely irradiated limited limited geographical area, for the individual radiation dose should be

Limited to no more than a year 1mSv primary dose limits. Allows the use of irradiation year for some years 5mSv deputy agent

Quantity limit, but the average over a lifetime effective dose equivalent annual dose not exceed the principal limit 1mSv

degree.

Should make these conditions occur with potentially serious radiological consequences of the probability of the system design is very

small.

Criteria mentioned in this paragraph Future modifications should be applied as soon as possible;

(D) general concept of defense in depth should be based on the design, construction and operation of systems important for safety. root

According to this concept, foreseeable safety-related failures or malfunctions must be capable of automatic action may be

Or procedures to correct or offset.

It should ensure that essential safety system reliability, inter alia, to make way for these systems

Component redundancy, physical separation, functional isolation and adequate independence.

It should also take other measures to increase the level of safety.

2. The nuclear reactor

(A) nuclear reactor can be used to:

39

(I) On interplanetary missions;

(Ii) the second high enough orbit paragraph (b) as defined;

(Iii) low-Earth orbit, with the proviso that after their mission is complete enough to be kept in a nuclear reactor

High on the track;

(B) sufficiently high orbit the orbital lifetime is long enough to make the decay of fission products to approximately actinides

Element active track. The sufficiently high orbit must be such that existing and future outer space missions of crisis

Risk and danger of collision with other space objects to a minimum. In determining the height of the sufficiently high orbit when

It should also take into account the destroyed reactor components before re-entering the Earth's atmosphere have to go through the required decay time

between.

(C) only 235 nuclear reactors with highly enriched uranium fuel. The design shall take into account the fission and

Activation of radioactive decay products.

(D) nuclear reactors have reached their operating orbit or interplanetary trajectory can not be made critical state

state.

(E) nuclear reactor design and construction shall ensure that, before reaching the operating orbit during all possible events

Can not become critical state, including rocket explosion, re-entry, impact on ground or water, submersion

In water or water intruding into the core.

(F) a significant reduction in satellites with nuclear reactors to operate on a lifetime less than in the sufficiently high orbit orbit

For the period (including during operation into the sufficiently high orbit) the possibility of failure, there should be a very

Reliable operating system, in order to ensure an effective and controlled disposal of the reactor.

3. Radioisotope generators

(A) interplanetary missions and other spacecraft out of Earth's gravitational field tasks using radioactive isotopes

Su generator. As they are stored after completion of their mission in high orbit, the Earth can also be used

track. We are required to make the final treatment under any circumstances.

(B) Radioisotope generators shall be protected closed systems, design and construction of the system should

Ensure that in the foreseeable conditions of the track to withstand the heat and aerodynamic forces of re-entry in the upper atmosphere, orbit

Conditions including highly elliptical or hyperbolic orbits when relevant. Upon impact, the containment system and the occurrence of parity

Physical morpheme shall ensure that no radioactive material is scattered into the environment so you can complete a recovery operation

Clear all radioactive impact area.

Principle 4. Safety Assessment

1. When launching State emission consistent with the principles defined in paragraphs 1, prior to the launch in applicable under the

Designed, constructed or manufactured the nuclear power sources, or will operate the space object person, or from whose territory or facility

Transmits the object will be to ensure a thorough and comprehensive safety assessment. This assessment shall cover

All relevant stages of space mission and shall deal with all systems involved, including the means of launching, the space level

Taiwan, nuclear power source and its equipment and the means of control and communication between ground and space.

2. This assessment shall respect the principle of 3 contained in the guidelines and criteria for safe use.

40

3. The principle of States in the Exploration and Use, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Outer Space Activities Article

Results of about 11, this safety assessment should be published prior to each transmit simultaneously to the extent feasible

Note by the approximate intended time of launch, and shall notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations, how to be issued

This safety assessment before the shot to get the results as soon as possible.

Principle 5. Notification of re-entry

1. Any State launching a space object with nuclear power sources in space objects that failed to produce discharge

When radioactive substances dangerous to return to the earth, it shall promptly notify the country concerned. Notice shall be in the following format:

(A) System parameters:

(I) Name of launching State, including which may be contacted in the event of an accident to Request

Information or assistance to obtain the relevant authorities address;

(Ii) International title;

(Iii) Date and territory or location of launch;

(Iv) the information needed to make the best prediction of orbit lifetime, trajectory and impact region;

(V) General function of spacecraft;

(B) information on the radiological risk of nuclear power source:

(I) the type of power source: radioisotopes / reactor;

(Ii) the fuel could fall into the ground and may be affected by the physical state of contaminated and / or activated components, the number of

The amount and general radiological characteristics. The term "fuel" refers to as a source of heat or power of nuclear material.

This information shall also be sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

2. Once you know the failure, the launching State shall provide information on the compliance with the above format. Information should as far as possible

To be updated frequently, and in the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere is expected to return to a time when close to the best increase

Frequency of new data, so that the international community understand the situation and will have sufficient time to plan for any deemed necessary

National contingency measures.

3. It should also be at the same frequency of the latest information available to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Principle 6. consultation

5 According to the national principles provide information shall, as far as reasonably practicable, other countries

Requirements to obtain further information or consultations promptly reply.

Principle 7. Assistance to States

1. Upon receipt of expected with nuclear power sources on space objects and their components will return through the Earth's atmosphere

After know that all countries possessing space monitoring and tracking facilities, in the spirit of international cooperation, as soon as possible to

The Secretary-General of the United Nations and the countries they may have made space objects carrying nuclear power sources

A fault related information, so that the States may be affected to assess the situation and take any

It is considered to be the necessary precautions.

41

2. In carrying space objects with nuclear power sources back to the Earth's atmosphere after its components:

(A) launching State shall be requested by the affected countries to quickly provide the necessary assistance to eliminate actual

And possible effects, including nuclear power sources to assist in identifying locations hit the Earth's surface, to detect the re substance

Quality and recovery or cleanup activities.

(B) All countries with relevant technical capabilities other than the launching State, and with such technical capabilities

International organizations shall, where possible, in accordance with the requirements of the affected countries to provide the necessary co

help.

When according to the above (a) and subparagraph (b) to provide assistance, should take into account the special needs of developing countries.

Principle 8. Responsibility

In accordance with the States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies activities, including the principles of Article

About Article, States shall bear international responsibility for their use of nuclear power sources in outer space relates to the activities

Whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or non-governmental entities, and shall bear international responsibility to ensure that this

Such activities undertaken by the country in line with the principles of the Treaty and the recommendations contained therein. If it involves the use of nuclear power sources

Activities in outer space by an international organization, should be done by the international organizations and States to participate in the organization

Undertakes to comply with the principles of the Treaty and the recommendations contained in these responsibilities.

Principle 9. Liability and Compensation

1. In accordance with the principle of States in the Exploration and Use, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies Outer Space Activities Article

And the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects covenant of Article 7

Provisions, which launches or on behalf of the State

Each State launching a space object and each State from which territory or facility a space object is launched

Kinds of space object or damage caused by components shall bear international liability. This fully applies to this

Kind of space object carrying a nuclear power source case. Two or more States jointly launch a space object,

Each launching State shall in accordance with the above Article of the Convention for any damages jointly and severally liable.

2. Such countries under the aforesaid Convention shall bear the damages shall be in accordance with international law and fair and reasonable

The principles set out in order to provide for damages to make a claim on behalf of its natural or juridical persons, national or

International organizations to restore to the state before the occurrence of the damage.

3. For the purposes of this principle, compensation should be made to include reimbursement of the duly substantiated expenses for search, recovery and clean

Cost management work, including the cost of providing assistance to third parties.

10. The principle of dispute settlement

Since the implementation of these principles will lead to any dispute in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter, by negotiation or

Other established procedures to resolve the peaceful settlement of disputes.

 

Here quoted the important provisions of the United Nations concerning the use of outer space for peaceful nuclear research and international conventions, the main emphasis on the Peaceful Uses of provisions related constraints .2 the use of nuclear rockets in outer space nuclear studies, etc., can cause greater attention in nuclear power nuclear rocket ship nuclear research, manufacture, use and other aspects of the mandatory hard indicators. this scientists, engineering and technical experts are also important constraints and requirements. as IAEA supervision and management as very important.

 

2. radiation. Space radiation is one of the greatest threats to the safety of the astronauts, including X-rays, γ-rays, cosmic rays and high-speed solar particles. Better than aluminum protective effect of high polymer composite materials.

3. Air. Perhaps the oxygen needed to rely on oxidation-reduction reaction of hydrogen and ilmenite production of water, followed by water electrolysis to generate oxygen. Mars oxygen necessary for survival but also from the decomposition of water, electrolytically separating water molecules of oxygen and hydrogen, this oxygen equipment has been successfully used in the International Space Station. Oxygen is released into the air to sustain life, the hydrogen system into the water system.

4. The issue of food waste recycling. At present, the International Space Station on the use of dehumidifiers, sucked moisture in the air to be purified, and then changed back to drinkable water. The astronauts' urine and sweat recycling. 5. water. The spacecraft and the space station on purification system also makes urine and other liquids can be purified utilization. 6. microgravity. In microgravity or weightlessness long-term space travel, if protective measures shall not be treated, the astronauts will be muscle atrophy, bone softening health. 7. contact. 8. Insulation, 9 energy. Any space exploration are inseparable from the energy battery is a new super hybrid energy storage device, the asymmetric lead-acid batteries and supercapacitors in the same compound within the system - and the so-called inside, no additional separate electronic control unit, this is an optimal combination. The traditional lead-acid battery PbO2 monomer is a positive electrode plate and a negative electrode plate spongy Pb composition, not a super cell. : Silicon solar cells, multi-compound thin film solar cells, multi-layer polymer-modified electrode solar cells, nano-crystalline solar cells, batteries and super class. For example, the solar aircraft .10. To protect the health and life safety and security systems. Lysophosphatidic acid LPA is a growth factor-like lipid mediators, the researchers found that this substance can on apoptosis after radiation injury and animal cells was inhibited. Stable lysophosphatidic acid analogs having the hematopoietic system and gastrointestinal tract caused by acute radiation sickness protection, knockout experiments show that lysophosphatidic acid receptors is an important foundation for the protection of radiation injury. In addition to work under high pressure, the astronauts face a number of health threats, including motion sickness, bacterial infections, blindness space, as well as psychological problems, including toxic dust. In the weightless environment of space, the astronaut's body will be like in preadolescents, as the emergence of various changes.

Plantar molt

After the environment to adapt to zero gravity, the astronaut's body will be some strange changes. Weightlessness cause fluid flow around the main flow torso and head, causing the astronauts facial swelling and inflammation, such as nasal congestion. During long-term stay in space

 

Bone and muscle loss

Most people weightlessness caused by the impact may be known bone and muscle degeneration. In addition, the calcium bones become very fragile and prone to fracture, which is why some of the astronauts after landing need on a stretcher.

Space Blindness

Space Blindness refers astronaut decreased vision.

Solar storms and radiation is one of the biggest challenges facing the long-term space flight. Since losing the protection of Earth's magnetic field, astronauts suffer far more than normal levels of radiation. The cumulative amount of radiation exposure in low earth orbit them exceeded by workers close to nuclear reactors, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.

Prolonged space flight can cause a series of psychological problems, including depression or mood swings, vulnerability, anxiety and fear, as well as other sequelae. We are familiar with the biology of the Earth, the Earth biochemistry, biophysics, after all, the Earth is very different astrophysics, celestial chemistry, biophysics and astrophysics, biochemistry and other celestial bodies. Therefore, you must be familiar with and adapt to these differences and changes.

 

Osteoporosis and its complications ranked first in the space of disease risk.

  

Long-term health risks associated with flying Topics

  

The degree of influence long-term biological effects of radiation in human flight can withstand the radiation and the maximum limit of accumulated radiation on physiology, pathology and genetics.

 

Physiological effects of weightlessness including: long-term bone loss and a return flight after the maximum extent and severity of the continued deterioration of other pathological problems induced by the; maximum flexibility and severity of possible long-term Flight Center in vascular function.

 

Long-term risk of disease due to the high risk of flight stress, microbial variation, decreased immune function, leading to infections

 

Radiation hazards and protection

    

1) radiation medicine, biology and pathway effects Features

  

Radiation protection for interplanetary flight, since the lack of protective effect of Earth's magnetic field, and by the irradiation time is longer, the possibility of increased radiation hazard.

       

Analysis of space flight medical problems that may occur, loss of appetite topped the list, sleep disorders, fatigue and insomnia, in addition, space sickness, musculoskeletal system problems, eye problems, infections problems, skin problems and cardiovascular problems

  

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Development of diagnostic techniques in orbit, the development of the volume of power consumption, features a wide range of diagnostic techniques, such as applied research of ultrasound diagnostic techniques in the abdominal thoracic trauma, bone, ligament damage, dental / sinus infections and other complications and integrated;

 

Actively explore in orbit disposal of medical technology, weightlessness surgical methods, development of special surgical instruments, the role of narcotic drugs and the like.

  

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However, space technology itself is integrated with the use of the most advanced technology, its challenging technical reserves and periodic demanding

 

With the continuous development of science and technology, space agencies plan a manned landing on the moon and Mars, space exploration emergency medicine current concern.

 

Space sickness

  

In the weightless environment of space, in the weightless environment of space, surgery may be extremely difficult and risky.

  

Robot surgeons

 

Space disease in three days after entering the space started to ease, although individual astronauts might subsequently relapse. January 2015 NASA declared working on a fast, anti-nausea and nasal sprays. In addition, due to the zero-gravity environment, and anti-nausea drugs can only be administered by injection or transdermal patches manner.

        

Manned spaceflight in the 21st century is the era of interplanetary flight, aerospace medicine is closely watched era is the era of China's manned space flourish. Only the central issue, and grasp the opportunity to open up a new world of human survival and development.

 

Various emergency contingency measures in special circumstances. Invisible accident risk prevention. Enhancing drugs and other screening methods immunity aerospace medicine and tissue engineering a microgravity environment. Drug mixture of APS, ginseng polysaccharides, Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides, polysaccharides and Lentinan, from other compounds. Drug development space syndrome drug, chemical structure modification will be an important part.

These issues are very sensitive, cutting-edge technology is a major difficulty landing on Mars. Countries in the world, especially the world's major space powers in the country strategies and technical research, the results of all kinds continue to emerge. United States, Russia, China, Europe, India, Japan and other countries is different. United States, Russia extraordinary strength. Many patented technology and health, and most belong to the top-secret technology. Especially in aerospace engineering and technological achievements is different from the general scientific literature, practical, commercial, industrial great, especially the performance of patents, know-how, technical drawings, engineering design and other aspects. Present Mars and return safely to Earth, the first manned, significance, everything is hard in the beginning, especially the first person to land on Mars This Mars for Human Sciences Research Mars, the moon, the earth, the solar system and the universe, life and other significant. Its far greater than the value of direct investments and business interests.

 

In addition, it is the development of new materials, suitable for deep space operations universe, life, and other detection, wider field.

Many aerospace materials, continuous research and development of materials are key areas of aerospace development, including material rocket, the spacecraft materials, the suit materials, radiation materials, materials and equipment, instruments, materials and so on biochemistry.

Temperature metal-based compound with a metal matrix composite body with a more primordial higher temperature strength, creep resistance, impact resistance, thermal fatigue and other excellent high temperature performance.

In B, C, SiC fiber reinforced Ti3Al, TiAl, Ni3Al intermetallic matrix composites, etc.

W Fiber Reinforced with nickel-based, iron-based alloys as well as SiC, TiB2, Si3N4 and BN particle reinforced metal matrix composites

High temperature service conditions require the development of ceramic and carbon-based composite materials, etc., not in this eleven Cheung said.

  

Fuel storage

  

In order to survive in space, people need many things: food, oxygen, shelter, and, perhaps most importantly, fuel. The initial quality Mars mission somewhere around 80 percent of the space launch humans will be propellant. The fuel amount of storage space is very difficult.

  

This difference in low Earth orbit cause liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen - rocket fuel - vaporization.

Hydrogen is particularly likely to leak out, resulting in a loss of about 4% per month.

  

When you want to get people to Mars speed to minimize exposure to weightlessness and space radiation hazards

 

Mars

 

Landings on the Martian surface, they realized that they reached the limit. The rapid expansion of the thin Martian atmosphere can not be very large parachute, such as those that will need to be large enough to slow down, carry human spacecraft.

Therefore, the parachute strong mass ratio, high temperature resistance, Bing shot performance and other aspects of textile materials used have special requirements, in order to make a parachute can be used in rockets, missiles, Yu arrows spacecraft and other spacecraft recovery, it is necessary to improve the canopy heat resistance, a high melting point polymeric fiber fabric used, the metal fabric, ceramic fiber fabrics, and other devices.

  

Super rigid parachute to help slow the landing vehicle.

Spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere at 24,000 km / h. Even after slowing parachute or inflatable, it will be very

  

Once we have the protection of the Earth magnetic field, the solar radiation will accumulate in the body, a huge explosion threw the spacecraft may potentially lethal doses of radiation astronauts.

  

In addition to radiation, the biggest challenge is manned trip to Mars microgravity, as previously described.

  

The moon is sterile. Mars is another case entirely.

 

With dust treatment measures.

  

Arid Martian environment to create a super-tiny dust particles flying around the Earth for billions of years.

 

Apollo moon dust encountered. Ultra-sharp and abrasive lunar dust was named something that can clog the basic functions of mechanical damage. High chloride salt, which can cause thyroid problems in people.

 

*** Mars geological structure and geological structure of the moon, water on Mars geology, geology of the Moon is very important, because he, like the Earth's geology is related to many important issues. Water, the first element of life, air, temperature, and complex geological formations are geological structure. Cosmic geology research methods, mainly through a variety of detection equipment equipped with a space probe, celestial observations of atmospheric composition, composition and distribution of temperature, pressure, wind speed, vertical structure, composition of the solar wind, the water, the surface topography and Zoning, topsoil the composition and characteristics of the component surface of the rock, type and distribution, stratigraphic sequence, structural system and the internal shell structure.

 

Mars internal situation only rely on its surface condition of large amounts of data and related information inferred. It is generally believed that the core radius of 1700 km of high-density material composition; outsourcing a layer of lava, it is denser than the Earth's mantle some; outermost layer is a thin crust. Compared to other terrestrial planets, the lower the density of Mars, which indicates that the Martian core of iron (magnesium and iron sulfide) with may contain more sulfur. Like Mercury and the Moon, Mars and lack active plate movement; there is no indication that the crust of Mars occurred can cause translational events like the Earth like so many of folded mountains. Since there is no lateral movement in the earth's crust under the giant hot zone relative to the ground in a stationary state. Slight stress coupled with the ground, resulting in Tharis bumps and huge volcano. For the geological structure of Mars is very important, which is why repeated explorations and studies of Martian geological reasons.

  

Earth's surface

 

Each detector component landing site soil analysis:

 

Element weight percent

Viking 1

Oxygen 40-45

Si 18-25

Iron 12-15

K 8

Calcium 3-5

Magnesium 3-6

S 2-5

Aluminum 2-5

Cesium 0.1-0.5

Core

Mars is about half the radius of the core radius, in addition to the primary iron further comprises 15 to 17% of the sulfur content of lighter elements is also twice the Earth, so the low melting point, so that the core portion of a liquid, such as outside the Earth nuclear.

 

Mantle

Nuclear outer coating silicate mantle.

 

Crust

The outermost layer of the crust.

Crustal thickness obtained, the original thickness of the low north 40 km south plateau 70 kilometers thick, an average of 50 kilometers, at least 80 km Tharsis plateau and the Antarctic Plateau, and in the impact basin is thin, as only about 10 kilometers Greece plains.

  

Canyon of Mars there are two categories: outflow channels (outflow channel) and tree valley (valley network). The former is very large, it can be 100 km wide, over 2000 km long, streamlined, mainly in the younger Northern Hemisphere, such as the plain around Tyre Chris Canyon and Canyon jam.

 

In addition, the volcanic activity sometimes lava formation lava channels (lava channel); crustal stress generated by fissures, faults, forming numerous parallel extending grooves (fossa), such as around the huge Tharsis volcanic plateau radially distributed numerous grooves, which can again lead to volcanic activity.

  

Presumably, Mars has an iron as the main component of the nucleus, and contains sulfur, magnesium and other light elements, the nuclear share of Mars, the Earth should be relatively small. The outer core is covered with a thick layer of magnesium-rich silicate mantle, the surface of rocky crust. The density of Earth-like planets Mars is the lowest, only 3.93g / cc.

Hierarchy

  

The crust

  

Lunar core

The average density of the Moon is 3.3464 g / cc, the solar system satellites second highest (after Aiou). However, there are few clues mean lunar core is small, only about 350 km radius or less [2]. The core of the moon is only about 20% the size of the moon, the moon's interior has a solid, iron-rich core diameter of about 240 kilometers (150 miles); in addition there is a liquid core, mainly composed of iron outer core, about 330 km in diameter (205 miles), and for the first time compared with the core of the Earth, considered as the earth's outer core, like sulfur and oxygen may have lighter elements [4].

 

Chemical elements on the lunar surface constituted in accordance with its abundance as follows: oxygen (O), silicon (Si), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), titanium ( Ti). The most abundant is oxygen, silicon and iron. The oxygen content is estimated to be 42% (by weight). Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) only traces seem to exist only in trace amounts deposited in the solar wind brings.

 

Lunar Prospector from the measured neutron spectra, the hydrogen (H) mainly in the lunar poles [2].

 

Element content (%)

Oxygen 42%

Silicon 21%

Iron 13%

Calcium 8%

Aluminum 7%

Magnesium 6%

Other 3%

 

Lunar surface relative content of each element (% by weight)

  

Moon geological history is an important event in recent global magma ocean crystallization. The specific depth is not clear, but some studies have shown that at least a depth of about 500 kilometers or more.

 

Lunar landscape

Lunar landscape can be described as impact craters and ejecta, some volcanoes, hills, lava-filled depressions.

  

Regolith

TABLE bear the asteroid and comets billions of years of bombardment. Over time, the impact of these processes have already broken into fine-grained surface rock debris, called regolith. Young mare area, regolith thickness of about 2 meters, while the oldest dated land, regolith thickness of up to 20 meters. Through the analysis of lunar soil components, in particular the isotopic composition changes can determine the period of solar activity. Solar wind gases possible future lunar base is useful because oxygen, hydrogen (water), carbon and nitrogen is not only essential to life, but also may be useful for fuel production. Lunar soil constituents may also be as a future source of energy.

Here, repeatedly stressed that the geological structure and geological structure of celestial bodies, the Earth, Moon, Mars, or that this human existence and development of biological life forms is very important, especially in a series of data Martian geological structure geological structure is directly related to human landing Mars and the successful transformation of Mars or not. for example, water, liquid water, water, oxygen, synthesis, must not be taken lightly.

  

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Mars landing 10 Technology

 

Aerospace Science and space science and technology major innovation of the most critical of sophisticated technology R & D project

  

[

"1" rocket propulsion technology ion fusion nuclear pulse propulsion rocket powered high-speed heavy rocket technology, space nuclear reactors spacecraft] brought big problems reflected in the nuclear reaction, nuclear radiation on spacecraft launch, control, brakes and other impact.

In particular, for the future of nuclear power spacecraft, the need to solve the nuclear reactor design, manufacture, control, cooling, radiation shielding, exhaust pollution, high thermoelectric conversion efficiency and a series of technical problems.

In particular, nuclear reactors produce radiation on astronauts' health will pose a great threat, which requires the spacecraft to be nuclear radiation shielding to ensure astronaut and ship the goods from radiation and heat from the reactor influence, but this will greatly increase the weight of the detector.

Space nuclear process applications, nuclear reaction decay is not a problem, but in a vacuum, ultra-low temperature environment, the nuclear reaction materials, energy transport materials have very high demands.

Space facing the reality of a nuclear reactor cooling cooling problems. To prevent problems with the reactor, "Washington" aircraft carrier to take four heavy protective measures for the radiation enclosed in the warship. These four measures are: the fuel itself, fuel storage pressure vessel, reactor shell and the hull. US Navy fuel all metal fuel, designed to take the impact resistance of the war, does not release fission product can withstand more than 50 times the gravity of the impact load; product of nuclear fission reactor fuel will never enter loop cooling water. The third layer of protection is specially designed and manufactured the reactor shell. The fourth layer is a very strong anti-impact combat ship, the reactor is arranged in the center of the ship, very safe. Engage in a reactor can only be loaded up to the aircraft, so as to drive the motor, and then drive the propeller. That is the core advantage of the heat generated by the heated gas flow, high temperature high pressure gas discharge backward, thereby generating thrust.

  

.

  

After installation AMPS1000 type nuclear power plant, a nuclear fuel assembly: He is a core member of the nuclear fuel chain reaction. Usually made into uranium dioxide, of which only a few percent uranium-235, and most of it is not directly involved in the nuclear fission of uranium 238. The uranium dioxide sintered into cylindrical pieces, into a stainless steel or a zirconium alloy do metal tubes called fuel rods or the original, then the number of fuel rods loaded metal cylinder in an orderly composition of the fuel assembly, and finally put a lot of vertical distribution of fuel assemblies in the reactor.

 

Nuclear reactor pressure vessel is a housing for containing nuclear fuel and reactor internals, for producing high-quality high-strength steel is made to withstand the pressure of dozens MPa. Import and export of the coolant in the pressure vessel.

 

The top of the pressure vessel closure, and can be used to accommodate the fixed control rod drive mechanism, pressure vessel head has a semi-circular, flat-topped.

 

Roof bolt: used to connect the locking pressure vessel head, so that the cylinder to form a completely sealed container.

  

Neutron Source: Plug in nuclear reactors can provide sufficient neutron, nuclear fuel ignition, to start to enhance the role of nuclear reactors and nuclear power. Neutron source generally composed of radium, polonium, beryllium, antimony production. Neutron source and neutron fission reactors are fast neutron, can not cause fission of uranium 235, in order to slow down, we need to moderator ---- full of pure water in a nuclear reactor. Aircraft carriers, submarines use nuclear reactor control has proven more successful.

 

Rod: has a strong ability to absorb neutrons, driven by the control rod drive mechanism, can move up and down in a nuclear reactor control rods within the nuclear fuel used to start, shut down the nuclear reactor, and maintain, regulate reactor power. Hafnium control rods in general, silver, indium, cadmium and other metals production.

 

Control rod drive mechanism: He is the executive body of nuclear reactors operating system and security protection systems, in strict accordance with requirements of the system or its operator control rod drives do move up and down in a nuclear reactor, nuclear reactor for power control. In a crisis situation, you also can quickly control rods fully inserted into the reactor in order to achieve the purpose of the emergency shutdown

 

Upper and lower support plate: used to secure the fuel assembly. High temperature and pressure inside the reactor is filled with pure water (so called pressurized water reactors), on the one hand he was passing through a nuclear reactor core, cooling the nuclear fuel, to act as a coolant, on the other hand it accumulates in the pressure vessel in play moderated neutrons role, acting as moderator.

  

Water quality monitoring sampling system:

Adding chemical system: under normal circumstances, for adding hydrazine, hydrogen, pH control agents to the primary coolant system, the main purpose is to remove and reduce coolant oxygen, high oxygen water suppression equipment wall corrosion (usually at a high temperature oxygen with hydrogen, especially at low temperatures during startup of a nuclear reactor with added hydrazine oxygen); when the nuclear reactor control rods stuck for some reason can not shutdown time by the the system can inject the nuclear reactor neutron absorber (such as boric acid solution), emergency shutdown, in order to ensure the safety of nuclear submarines.

 

Water system: a loop inside the water will be reduced at work, such as water sampling and analysis, equipment leaks, because the shutdown process cooling water and reduction of thermal expansion and contraction.

 

Equipment cooling water system:

Pressure safety systems: pressure reactor primary coolant system may change rapidly for some reason, the need for effective control. And in severe burn nuclear fuel rods, resulting in a core melt accident, it is necessary to promptly increase the pressure. Turn the regulator measures the electric, heating and cooling water. If necessary, also temporary startup booster pump.

 

Residual Heat Removal System: reactor scram may be due to an accident, such as when the primary coolant system of the steam generator heat exchanger tube is damaged, it must be urgently closed reactors.

 

Safety Injection System: The main components of this system is the high-pressure injection pump.

 

Radioactive waste treatment systems:

 

Decontamination Systems: for the removal of radioactive deposits equipment, valves, pipes and accessories, and other surfaces.

 

Europe, the United States and Russia and other countries related to aircraft carriers, submarines, icebreakers, nuclear-powered research aircraft, there are lots of achievements use of nuclear energy, it is worth analysis. However, nuclear reactor technology, rocket ships and the former are very different, therefore, requires special attention and innovative research. Must adopt a new new design techniques, otherwise, fall into the stereotype, it will avail, nothing even cause harm Aerospace.

 

[ "2" spacecraft structure]

 

[ "3"] radiation technology is the use of deep-sea sedimentation fabric fabrics deepwater technology development precipitated silver metal fibers or fiber lint and other materials and micronaire value between 4.1 to 4.3 fibers made from blends. For radiation protection field, it greatly enhances the effects of radiation and service life of clothing. Radiation resistant fiber) radiation resistant fiber - fiber polyimide polyimide fibers

60 years the United States has successfully developed polyimide fibers, it has highlighted the high temperature, radiation-resistant, fire-retardant properties.

 

[ "4" cosmic radiation resistant clothing design multifunctional anti-aging, wear underwear] ① comfort layer: astronauts can not wash clothes in a long flight, a lot of sebum, perspiration, etc. will contaminate underwear, so use soft, absorbent and breathable cotton knitwear making.

 

② warm layer: at ambient temperature range is not the case, warm layer to maintain a comfortable temperature environment. Choose warm and good thermal resistance large, soft, lightweight material, such as synthetic fibers, flakes, wool and silk and so on.

 

③ ventilation and cooling clothes clothes

Spacesuit

In astronaut body heat is too high, water-cooled ventilation clothing and clothing to a different way of heat. If the body heat production more than 350 kcal / h (ventilated clothes can not meet the cooling requirements, then that is cooled by a water-cooled suit. Ventilating clothing and water-cooled multi-use compression clothing, durable, flexible plastic tubing, such as polyvinyl chloride pipe or nylon film.

 

④ airtight limiting layer:

 

⑤ insulation: astronaut during extravehicular activities, from hot or cold insulation protection. It multilayer aluminized polyester film or a polyimide film and sandwiched between layers of nonwoven fabric to be made.

 

⑥ protective cover layer: the outermost layer of the suit is to require fire, heat and anti-space radiation on various factors (micrometeorites, cosmic rays, etc.) on the human body. Most of this layer with aluminized fabric.

New space suits using a special radiation shielding material, double design.

And also supporting spacesuit helmet, gloves, boots and so on.

  

[ "5" space - Aerospace biomedical technology, space, special use of rescue medication Space mental health care systems in space without damage restful sleep positions - drugs, simple space emergency medical system

]

[ "6" landing control technology, alternate control technology, high-performance multi-purpose landing deceleration device (parachute)]

 

[ "7" Mars truck, unitary Mars spacecraft solar energy battery super multi-legged (rounds) intelligent robot] multifunction remote sensing instruments on Mars, Mars and more intelligent giant telescope

 

[8 <> Mars warehouse activities, automatic Mars lander - Automatic start off cabin

]

[ "9" Mars - spacecraft docking control system, return to the system design]

 

Space flight secondary emergency life - support system

  

Spacecraft automatic, manual, semi-automatic operation control, remote control switch system

 

Automatic return spacecraft systems, backup design, the spacecraft automatic control operating system modular blocks of]

 

[10 lunar tracking control system

 

Martian dust storms, pollution prevention, anti-corrosion and other special conditions thereof

 

Electric light aircraft, Mars lander, Mars, living spaces, living spaces Mars, Mars entry capsule, compatible utilization technology, plant cultivation techniques, nutrition space - space soil]

 

Aerospace technology, space technology a lot, a lot of cutting-edge technology. Human landing on Mars technology bear the brunt. The main merge the human landing on Mars 10 cutting-edge technology, in fact, these 10 cutting-edge technology, covering a wide range, focused, and is the key to key technologies. They actually shows overall trends and technology Aerospace Science and Technology space technology. Human triumph Mars and safe return of 10 cutting-edge technology is bound to innovation. Moreover, in order to explore the human Venus, Jupiter satellites and the solar system, the Milky Way and other future development of science and laid the foundation guarantee. But also for the transformation of human to Mars, the Moon and other planets livable provides strong technical support. Aerospace Science and Technology which is a major support system.

 

Preparation of oxygen, water, synthesis, temperature, radiation, critical force confrontation. Regardless of the moon or Mars, survive three elements bear the brunt.

 

Chemical formula: H₂O

 

Formula: H-O-H (OH bond between two angle 104.5 °).

 

Molecular Weight: 18.016

 

Chemical Experiment: water electrolysis. Formula: 2H₂O = energized = 2H₂ ↑ + O₂ ↑ (decomposition)

 

Molecules: a hydrogen atom, an oxygen atom.

  

Ionization of water: the presence of pure water ionization equilibrium following: H₂O == == H⁺ + OH⁻ reversible or irreversible H₂O + H₂O = = H₃O⁺ + OH⁻.

 

NOTE: "H₃O⁺" hydronium ions, for simplicity, often abbreviated as H⁺, more accurate to say the H9O4⁺, the amount of hydrogen ion concentration in pure water material is 10⁻⁷mol / L.

 

Electrolysis of water:

 

Water at DC, decomposition to produce hydrogen and oxygen, this method is industrially prepared pure hydrogen and oxygen 2H₂O = 2H₂ ↑ + O₂ ↑.

 

. Hydration Reaction:

 

Water with an alkaline active metal oxides, as well as some of the most acidic oxide hydration reaction of unsaturated hydrocarbons.

 

Na₂O + H₂O = 2NaOH

 

CaO + H₂O = Ca (OH) ₂

 

SO₃ + H₂O = H₂SO₄

 

P₂O₅ + 3H₂O = 2H₃PO₄ molecular structure

 

CH₂ = CH₂ + H₂O ← → C₂H₅OH

  

6. The diameter of the order of magnitude of 10 water molecules negative power of ten, the water is generally believed that a diameter of 2 to 3 this organization. water

 

7. Water ionization:

 

In the water, almost no water molecules ionized to generate ions.

 

H₂O ← → H⁺ + OH⁻

 

Heating potassium chlorate or potassium permanganate preparation of oxygen

  

Pressurized at low temperatures, the air into a liquid, and then evaporated, since the boiling point of liquid nitrogen is -196 deg.] C, lower than the boiling point of liquid oxygen (-183 ℃), so the liquid nitrogen evaporated from the first air, remaining the main liquid oxygen.

Of course, the development of research in space there is a great difference, even more special preparation harsh environments on Earth and synthetic water and oxygen, over the need for more technological breakthroughs.

The main component of air oxygen and nitrogen. The use of oxygen and nitrogen with

I learned fairly early that in wildlife rehabilitation, it is easy to bite off more than you can chew. The emus walked out of their box and into our living room with all the assurance of a pair of aristocrats returning to their ancestral seat, and looked very determined to take up residence. Endearing as they were, they would, of course, have to be moved on to more spacious accommodation before they put on a growth spurt. Fortunately, there were two wildlife parks in Canberra, and these were well equipped for raising larger birds and mammals and preparing them for release, and to one of these they went. I remember their striped heads looking out at me from the top of their box as they were carried away.

 

There were other tasks which were best undertaken in small doses. My experiences of rearing baby possums and kangaroos were usually limited to a single week, often when I was sick at home. More than this was quite impossible for a schoolboy, for marsupial babies are every bit as demanding as human ones, albeit a good deal less raucous. The most exciting of these was Norman, a young grey kangaroo who, by the time he went on to his next foster-parent, was capable of leaping the fourteen steps to our back verandah in a single bound.

 

Once, the vet to whom I obsessively apprenticed myself every holiday received a wedge-tailed eagle with a broken wing: far too dangerous a proposition for me to handle. The proprietor of the same local wildlife park and two of his burly assistants were called in to wrestle the bird to the floor whilst the vet examined its fractured wing. I remember the fixed and malignant glare in its eye, and its talons as big as a man’s hand.

 

Some of the animals that I did take on nevertheless taxed me to the utmost. Amongst these, the friar birds were perhaps the most remarkable. I have already mentioned the unspeakable agony I experienced on more than one occasion after inadvertently allowing a friar bird to grasp my hand with its claws, but after treatment, a new and equally taxing challenge arose. Friar birds are honeyeaters, and are so named because their vulturine heads and necks are completely bald, as though their monkish barber had grown a little overenthusiastic with the tonsuring shears. The exposed skin is black, and the eyes are a deep orange. At the base of the beak, in front of those eyes, there is a knobbly lump. This combination of characteristics lends the friar bird a rather demonic appearance, which is augmented by the bird’s yobbling, subtly human-sounding voice.

 

The friar bird with whom I grew most familiar was, predictably, christened Friar Tuck – a name which delighted some of my friends, who were just discovering the appeal of spoonerisms – and he had an insatiable appetite for honey, fruit and insects. Honey, mixed with warm water, was tied in test-tubes to the side of his cage, where it could be conveniently lapped by his black and feathery tongue. Soon, I discovered that he was partial to bottled baby food, particularly ‘fruit and honey breakfast’, and shopkeepers began to look quizzically at this fifteen-year-old boy and his basketfuls of baby-food purchases. So far, so good: fruit and honey were in abundant supply. The insects were the problem. Anyone who has worked in wildlife rehabilitation will confirm that insectivorous birds are peculiarly demanding. I had the requisite colony of mealworms, but it was impossible to induce them to reproduce at quite the exponential rate that was required. In any case, friar birds cannot live on meal-worms alone: they require variety, or else they get bad-tempered. My parents invested in a glowing purple blowfly-zapper for their kitchen, and I found myself constantly checking the tray beneath it for the half-fried remains. The bird didn't seem to object to the blackened bits. I turned over stones looking for Christmas beetle larvae and worms, but usually only found red-backed spiders. There were innumerable woodlice, of course, but most birds (chickens excepted) seem to find these distasteful. Soon, I was devising insect traps with all the inventiveness of a trap-door spider, enslaved to a bald-headed bird with evil eyes which gobbled everything I offered, and then squawked expectantly for more.

 

Perhaps, after all, it would have been easier to take on the emus.

 

Photo hand-tinted by Leslie Watson, c. 1986.

Not as easy as you might think. Everyone has their own struggles and difficulties to overcome.

 

"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." - Christ Jesus

 

Canon EOS Rebel T1i

Canon EF 50mm f1.8

 

Edit: Film/Troy

📷: Nikon Z6ii with Viltrox AF 16mm f/1.8 FE

 

💻: Lightroom

 

Explore my work at:

www.antonisdeligiannis.com

 

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combined multiple lightning shots using layer masks and blending modes. the shots were all on a tripod, so the register was right on, the difficulty was in the varied light exposure in each one--If I spent about 4 to 5 hours on this I could really make it perfect... maybe some day.