The Bombing of Darwin known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in Darwin's harbour and the town's two airfields in an attempt to prevent the Allies from using them as bases to contest the invasion of Timor and Java during World War II. Darwin was defended relative to the size of the attack, the Japanese inflicted heavy losses upon Allied forces at little cost to themselves; the urban areas of Darwin suffered some damage from the raids and there were a number of civilian casualties. More than half of Darwin's civilian population left the area permanently, before or after the attack; the two Japanese air raids were the first, largest, of more than 100 air raids against Australia during 1942–43. In 1942, Darwin – whilst it was the capital of the Northern Territory – was a small town with limited civil and military infrastructure. Due to its strategic position in northern Australia, the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force had constructed bases near the town in the 1930s and the early years of World War II.
Darwin's pre-war population was 5,800. As early as August 1941, Darwin had been a key in the South Pacific air ferry route designed to avoid routes through the Japanese mandate in the central Pacific for bomber reinforcement of the Philippines; the first flight to use the route occurred when nine B-17D bombers of the 14th Bombardment Squadron left Hawaii on 5 September and passed through Darwin 10–12 September. By October 1941 plans were underway to position fuel and supplies with two ships, including USAT Don Esteban, being chartered and engaged in that purpose when war came. By November 1941 Australia had agreed to allow the establishment of training bases, maintenance facilities, munitions storage and improvement of airfields, including at Darwin, to meet the needs of the B-17 bombers in Australia. Following the outbreak of the Pacific War in early December 1941, Darwin's defences were strengthened. In line with plans developed before the war, several Australian Army and RAAF units stationed in the town were sent to the Netherlands East Indies to strengthen the defences of the islands of Ambon and Timor.
An improvised plan for support of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies was completed in Washington on 20 December 1941 by the U. S. Army General Staff, it envisioned Darwin as the hub of transshipment efforts to supply those forces by landing supplies at Brisbane, shipping overland to Darwin, onward by air and blockade-running ships. In reality, transport to Darwin by sea was necessary. Supplies and shipping intended both to build the Darwin base and to support the Java and Philippine forces were gathered in Darwin and the vicinity. In the two months before the air raids, all but 2,000 civilians were evacuated from the town. Japanese submarines I-121 and I-123 laid mines off Darwin in January 1942. By mid-February 1942 Darwin had become an important Allied base for the defence of the NEI; the Japanese had captured Ambon and Celebes between December 1941 and early-February 1942. Landings on Timor were scheduled for 20 February, an invasion of Java was planned to take place shortly afterwards.
In order to protect these landings from Allied interference, the Japanese military command decided to conduct a major air raid on Darwin. On 10 February a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft overflew the town, identified an aircraft carrier, five destroyers, 21 merchant ships in Darwin Harbour, as well as 30 aircraft at the town's two airfields. Among the ships in harbour were those returned the morning before the attack from the convoy escorted by USS Houston involved in the failed effort to reinforce Timor. Houston had departed for Java but left Mauna Loa and the Meigs which had attempted to transport Australian troops to Timor and the U. S. Army transports Portmar and Tulagi which had embarked a U. S. infantry regiment at Darwin. Despite Darwin's strategic importance to the defence of Australia, the city was poorly defended; the Australian Army's anti-aircraft defences comprised sixteen QF 3.7-inch AA guns and two 3-inch AA guns to counter aircraft flying at high altitude and a small number of Lewis Guns for use against low-flying raiders.
The crews of these guns had conducted little recent training due to ammunition shortages. The air forces stationed in and near the town comprised No. 12 Squadron, equipped with CAC Wirraway advanced trainers, No. 13 Squadron which operated Lockheed Hudson light bombers. Six Hudsons, 3 from No. 2 Squadron and 3 from No. 13 Squadron arrived at Darwin on 19 February after having been evacuated from Timor. None of the six Wirraways at Darwin on the day of the raid were serviceable. At the time of the event, there were no radars functioning to provide early warning of air raids, the town's civil defences were dysfunctional; the Lowe Commission, appointed to investigate the raids shortly after they occurred, was informed that the Australian military estimated that Darwin would have needed 36 heavy anti-aircraft guns and 250 fighter aircraft to defend it against a raid of the scale which occurred on 19 February. In addition to the Australian forces, ten United States Army Air Forces Curtiss P-40 Warhawks were passing through Darwin en route to Java on the day of the attack.
The P-40 pilots were in the main little experienced in combat. A total of 65 Allied warships and merchant vessels were in Darwin harbour at the time of the raids; the warships included the United States Navy destroyer Peary and seaplane tender William B
Slamball is a form of basketball played with four trampolines in front of each net and boards around the court edge. The name SlamBall is the trademark of SlamBall, LLC. While SlamBall is based on basketball, it is a contact sport, with blocks and rough physical play a part of the game, similar to elements of football and hockey. Professional SlamBall games aired on television with Spike TV for two seasons in 2002–2003, the POWERade SlamBall Challenge was aired on CSTV, now CBS Sports Network, in 2007. SlamBall returned in August 2008, airing on Versus, now NBC Sports Network, CBS; the 2008 SlamBall season aired at one point on weekends on Cartoon Network. Slamball was shown on One HD in Australia during 2009. SlamBall held its first major international tournament in China in 2012. Scoring is achieved by putting the ball into the net at the opponent's end of the court for points, while preventing the opposing team from doing the same at one's own net; the aim is to have outscored the opposing team.
A successful score can be worth two points if the ball is thrown through the hoop without the offensive player touching the hoop. Slam dunks are scored three points. All shots outside the three-point arc are worth three points as well. Four players from each team may be on the court at one time. Substitutions can be done during play; each team has a coach and additional staff which includes assistant coaches, statisticians, etc. The game is controlled by the table officials; the table keeps track of the score, team possessions and the shot clock. Games are played unlike the NBA, which plays for four 12-minute quarters; the game commences with a "bounce-off". The ball must reach its apex uninterrupted, at which point the players are allowed to "check" each other. Ten minutes are allowed for a half-time break. A 15-second shot clock is utilized. Teams change ends for the second half. A tie score at the end of regulation time is settled by a series of "face offs"; each team has four players on the court at any one time.
There are three positions: Handler: This is the primary ball handler on the team. It is his job to run the offense and organize the other members while controlling the flow of the game, he would be responsible to set up the gunners to attack the basket while adding in his own offensive threat, comparable to a point guard in basketball. Gunner: The primary scorer on the team. A team's gunner will be the player on the team that will attack the basket and finish plays against the opposing teams' stopper, comparable to a forward or wing player in soccer or hockey. Stopper: This position is for the primary defensive player, he trails the offense only when necessary, he protects the rim from attacking players by using himself as a shield. Goaltending is legal. Teams are free to choose their own configuration, the usual formations being 1 stopper, 2 handlers, 1 gunner OR 1 stopper, 1 handler, 2 gunners; each player can commit just three personal fouls. A coach or player displaying poor sportsmanship may be charged with a technical foul.
Two technical fouls results in a disqualification. When a foul is called, the player who has committed it will take position on the baseline of the lower trampolines while the player, offended will take up offensive position at center court; this is called a face-off. Upon a signal from the referee the offensive player will be free to mount an attack at the basket, which the defender now must endeavor to stop; the defender must enter the lower trampoline only after bouncing in from the side trampoline. If the offensive player is successful points will be awarded depending on the shot converted and the offensive players' team will retain possession of the ball. In the case of any tie-ups, the defensive team always gain possession, but if the shot was blocked, the offensive team retains the ball from center court. List of common fouls: When an offensive player has the ball and a defensive player checks him in the back. Result: Faceoff When an offensive player has the ball and a defensive player checks him before he has begun to dribble the ball.
Result: Faceoff When an offensive player has the ball and a defensive player checks him while he is attempting to enter the trampoline. Result: Faceoff When two offensive players step/bounce on the same trampoline. Result: Turnover When an offensive player bounces on a trampoline twice while in possession of the ball. Result: Turnover When either a Player or the Coach of a team argues with the referee and uses physical or verbal abuse in anger. Result: Can either be a Faceoff or Turnover When two players from the same team are on the same island or trampoline, or'station' as it is called. Result: Turnover Three-second violation: When any offensive player is stationed in an island area for three seconds. Result: Turnover When a shot is attempted from an island. Result: Turnover When the defense holds position on an island, a charge can be called against the opposition. Result: Turnover. Popcorn effect: When a defensive player deliberately interferes with the offensive player's bounce, caused by standing on the offensive player's landing spot to cause the equivalent of a trip in basketball.
Result: Faceoff The spring floor lies adjacent to two sets of four trampoline or sp
Inverse beta decay abbreviated to IBD, is a nuclear reaction involving electron antineutrino scattering off a proton, creating a positron and a neutron. This process is used in the detection of electron antineutrinos in neutrino detectors, such as the first detection of antineutrinos in the Cowan–Reines neutrino experiment, or in neutrino experiments such as KamLAND and Borexino, it is an essential process to experiments involving low-energy neutrinos such as those studying neutrino oscillation, reactor neutrinos, sterile neutrinos, geoneutrinos. The IBD reaction can only be used to detect antineutrinos due to lepton conservation. Inverse beta decay proceeds as νe + p → e+ + n,where an electron antineutrino interacts with a proton to produce a positron and a neutron; the IBD reaction can only be initiated when the antineutrino possesses at least 1.806 MeV of kinetic energy. This threshold energy is due to a difference in mass between the products and the reactants and slightly due to a relativistic mass effect on the antineutrino.
Most of the antineutrino energy is distributed to the positron due to its small mass relative to the neutron. The positron promptly undergoes matter–antimatter annihilation after creation and yields a flash of light with energy calculated as Evis = 511 keV + 511 keV + Eνe − 1806 keV = Eνe − 784 keV,where 511 keV is the electron and positron rest energy, Evis is the visible energy from the reaction, Eνe is the antineutrino kinetic energy. After the prompt positron annihilation, the neutron undergoes neutron capture on an element in the detector, producing a delayed flash of 2.22 MeV if captured on a proton. The timing of the delayed capture is 200–300 microseconds after IBD initiation; the timing and spatial coincidence between the prompt positron annihilation and delayed neutron capture provides a clear IBD signature in neutrino detectors, allowing for discrimination from background. The IBD cross section is dependent on antineutrino energy and capturing element, although is on the order of 10−44 cm2.
Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Antineutrino Detector
Eucommia ulmoides is a species of small tree native to China. It belongs to the monotypic family Eucommiaceae, it is considered vulnerable in the wild, but is cultivated in China for its bark and is valued in herbology such as traditional Chinese medicine. Eucommia ulmoides grows to about 15 m tall; the leaves are deciduous, arranged alternately, simple ovate with an acuminate tip, 8–16 cm long, with a serrated margin. If a leaf is torn across, strands of latex exuded from the leaf veins solidify into rubber and hold the two parts of the leaf together, it flowers from March to May. The flowers are inconspicuous and greenish. E. ulmoides is the sole living species of the genus Eucommia. Eucommia is the only genus of the family Eucommiaceae, was considered to be a separate order, the Eucommiales, it is sometimes known as "gutta-percha tree" or "Chinese rubber tree", but is not related to either the true gutta-percha tree of southeastern Asia, nor to the South American rubber tree. This tree is occasionally planted in botanical gardens and other gardens in Europe, North America and elsewhere, being of interest as the only cold-tolerant rubber-producing tree.
Fossils of other Eucommia species have been found in 10- to 35-million-year-old brown coal deposits in central Europe and in North America, indicating that the genus had a much wider range in the past. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbology; because of the low production and high demand for natural rubber in China, a unique process has been developed to manufacture elastic materials with Eucommia ulmoides gum as substitutes for natural rubber products. Unlike the latex used to produce natural rubber, the EUG is the polymer trans-1,4-polyisoprene, thus materials made from EUG may demonstrate characteristics other than those of natural rubber, such as higher elasticity, lower thermoplastic temperature, etc. The iridoid glucoside geniposidic acid can be found in E. ulmoides. Chinese herbology 50 fundamental herbs HUEC Nutrition & Obesity online
The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centred on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the Gironde department of Aquitaine. The Bordeaux region is divided by the Gironde Estuary into a Left Bank area which includes the Médoc and Graves and a Right Bank area which includes the Libournais and Blaye; the Médoc is itself divided into Bas-Médoc. There are various sub-regions within the Haut-Médoc, including St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St.-Julien and Margaux and the less well known areas of AOC Moulis and Listrac. Graves includes the sub-regions of Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes, Sauternes in turn includes the sub-region of Barsac; the Libournais includes the sub-regions of Pomerol. There is an additional wine region of Entre-Deux-Mers, so called because it lies between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, which combine to form the Gironde; this region contains several less well known sweet wine areas of St. Croix de Mont..
All of these regions have their own appellation and are governed by Appellation d'origine contrôlée laws which dictate the permissible grape varieties, alcohol level, methods of pruning and picking, density of planting and appropriate yields as well as various winemaking techniques. Bordeaux wine labels will include the region on the front if all the grapes have been harvested in a specific region and the wine otherwise complies with the AOC requirements. There are about 50 AOCs applicable to the Bordeaux region. Both red and white Bordeaux wines are invariably blended; the permissible grape varieties in red Bordeaux are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. While wine making styles vary, a rule of thumb is that the Left Bank is predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon based with the Right Bank being more Merlot based; the Graves area produces both red wine and white wine from the Sauvignon blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle grapes. The area of Sauternes is known for its botrytized dessert wines.
There are a number of classifications of Bordeaux wines. None of these attempts to be a comprehensive classification of all the producers within a given area: rather, only the producers perceived as being of an unusually high standard are included in the classification; the châteaux included in the classification are referred to as classed or classé, those not included are referred to as unclassed. Some classifications sub-divide the classed châteaux, according to the perceived quality. On the Left Bank, the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 is the starting point for classification. Although this purports to be a classification of all Bordeaux wine, it in fact lists red wine producers from the Haut-Médoc plus Château Haut-Brion of Graves, sweet white wine producers from Sauternes. Estates in the Médoc which were not classified in that listing may be classified under the Cru Bourgeois label. In 1953, a Classification of Graves wine was produced. Although this purports to classify the whole of Graves, it lists châteaux in Pessac-Léognan.
In 1954, a separate classification of Saint-Émilion wine was set up for this Right Bank region. There are eight AOCs. Any producer within the region is entitled to use these appellations, whether or not they are entitled to use a more specific regional appellation; these appellations are: Bordeaux, Bordeaux Supérieur, Bordeaux Sec, Bordeaux Moelleux, Bordeaux Clairet, Crémant-de-Bordeaux, Bordeaux Rosé and Vin de Pays de l'Atlantique. Where these appellations are used for wines which would otherwise be entitled to use a more specific appellation, they are used for wines of lower quality made by a négociant or co-operative. Many of Bordeaux's supermarket brands like Mouton Cadet, Dourthe Numero 1 and Sichel Sirius utilise these generic Bordeaux AOCs. More than half of Bordeaux's production uses these generic appellations. Red wine produced under the Bordeaux AOC is made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with the addition of Cabernet Franc and small amounts of Petit Verdot and Carmenère; this appellation covers around 42,600 hectares of vines and produces around 223 million litres of wine.
White wine produced under the Bordeaux Sec AOC is made from Sauvignon blanc and Sémillon, with the addition of some Muscadelle, Mauzac, Merlot blanc and Ugni blanc. It must contain no more than 4g/l of residual sugar; this appellation covers around 38 million litres of wine. If it has more than 4g/l of residual sugar it may be labelled as Bordeaux Molleux AOC, but little wine is in fact produced under this AOC. Bordeaux Supérieur AOC covers both red and white wines, the grapes used are the same, but permitted yields are lower, minimum alcohol content is higher and longer aging is required; the amount of red wine produced under this appellation is much greater than the amount of white wine produced. Rosé wine produced under the Bordeaux Rosé AOC is made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc; as is usual for Rosé, the grape skins are brief
Bayern is a Brandenburg-class frigate of the German Navy. Bayern and the three other frigates of the Brandenburg class were designed as replacements for the Hamburg-class destroyers, she was laid in 1993 at the yards of Nordseewerke and launched in June 1994. She was christened by Karin Stoiber, the wife of the Minister-President of Bavaria Edmund Stoiber. After undergoing trials she was commissioned on 15 June 1996, assigned to 6. Fregattengeschwader. After the naval structure was reorganised, Bayern was assigned to 2. Fregattengeschwader, based at Wilhelmshaven. Bayern has been involved in several foreign missions since her commissioning, including deploying in the Adriatic in 1999 during Operation Allied Force, the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Between April and November 2005 she served as the flagship for Wolfgang Kalähne, Commander-in-Chief of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. Bayern was deployed with the Group in various manoeuvres, to support Operation Active Endeavour. Between September 2007 to March 2008 Bayern was the flagship of Hans-Christian Luther, Commander-in-Chief of the Maritime Task Force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
In late January 2008 Bayern came to the assistance of the container ship Gevo Victory, in distress off the Lebanese coast. Bayern rescued 14 crew members. On 18 July 2011 Bayern left Wilhelmshaven to join Operation Atalanta, the anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa, she arrived on station on 13 August, with Thomas Jugel taking over command of the taskforce, with Bayern as his flagship. Bayern was deployed in support of the operation until 6 December, returned to Wilhelmshaven, arriving on 22 December 2011, her next deployment was as flagship of Thorsten Kähler, commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. This lasted until 1 June 2012, after which she took part in exercises, manoeuvres related to Operation Active Endeavour. Bayern deployed once more, on 26 January 2015, to join Operation Atalanta, remaining on station until returning to her home port on 3 July 2015, she returned to Operation Atalanta on 23 March, serving as the flagship of Flotilla Admiral Jan Christian Kaack. This deployment lasted for five months, Bayern sailing some 32,000 nautical miles, before returning home on 8 August 2016.
On 7 March 2018, Bayern sailed from Wilhelmshaven to rejoin Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 in the Aegean Sea, replacing the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main. Bayern is expected to complete this deployment at the end of August 2018