Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, viscous liquid, sweet-tasting and non-toxic; the glycerol backbone is found in those lipids known as glycerides. Due to having antimicrobial and antiviral properties it is used in FDA approved wound and burn treatments, it can be used as an effective marker to measure liver disease. It is widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pharmaceutical formulations. Owing to the presence of three hydroxyl groups, glycerol is miscible with water and is hygroscopic in nature. Although achiral, glycerol is prochiral with respect to reactions of one of the two primary alcohols. Thus, in substituted derivatives, the stereospecific numbering labels the molecule with a "sn-" prefix before the stem name of the molecule. Glycerol is obtained from plant and animal sources where it occurs in triglycerides, esters of glycerol with long-chain carboxylic acids; the hydrolysis, saponification, or transesterification of these triglycerides produces glycerol as well as the fatty acid derivative: Triglycerides can be saponified with sodium hydroxide to give glycerol and fatty sodium salt or soap.

Typical plant sources include soybeans or palm. Animal-derived tallow is another source. 950,000 tons per year are produced in the United States and Europe. The EU directive 2003/30/EC set a requirement that 5.75% of petroleum fuels are to be replaced with biofuel sources across all member states by 2010. It was projected in 2006 that by the year 2020, production would be six times more than demand, creating an excess of glycerol. Glycerol from triglycerides is produced on a large scale, but the crude product is of variable quality, with a low selling price of as low as 2-5 U. S. cents per kilogram in 2011. It can be purified; some glycerol is burned for energy. Crude glycerol from the hydrolysis of triglycerides can be purified by treatment with activated carbon to remove organic impurities, alkali to remove unreacted glycerol esters, ion exchange to remove salts. High purity glycerol is obtained by multi-step distillation. Although not cost-effective, glycerol can be produced by various routes from propylene.

The epichlorohydrin process is the most important: it involves the chlorination of propylene to give allyl chloride, oxidized with hypochlorite to dichlorohydrins, which reacts with a strong base to give epichlorohydrin. This epichlorohydrin is hydrolyzed to give glycerol. Chlorine-free processes from propylene include the synthesis of glycerol from acrolein and propylene oxide; because of the large-scale production of biodiesel from fats, where glycerol is a waste product, the market for glycerol is depressed. Thus, synthetic processes are not economical. Owing to oversupply, efforts are being made to convert glycerol to synthetic precursors, such as acrolein and epichlorohydrin. (See the Chemical intermediate section of this article. In food and beverages, glycerol serves as a humectant and sweetener, may help preserve foods, it is used as filler in commercially prepared low-fat foods, as a thickening agent in liqueurs. Glycerol and water are used to preserve certain types of plant leaves; as a sugar substitute, it has 27 kilocalories per teaspoon and is 60% as sweet as sucrose.

It does not cause dental cavities. As a food additive, glycerol is labeled as E number E422, it is added to icing to prevent it from setting too hard. As used in foods, glycerol is categorized by the U. S. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as a carbohydrate; the U. S. Food and Drug Administration carbohydrate designation includes all caloric macronutrients excluding protein and fat. Glycerol has a caloric density similar to table sugar, but a lower glycemic index and different metabolic pathway within the body, so some dietary advocates accept glycerol as a sweetener compatible with low-carbohydrate diets, it is recommended as an additive when using polyol sweeteners such as erythritol and xylitol which have a cooling effect, due to its heating effect in the mouth, if the cooling effect is not wanted. Glycerin is an FDA approved treatment for wounds; the Red Cross reports that an 85% solution of glycerin shows bactericidal and antiviral effects, wounds treated with glycerin show reduced inflammation after 2 hours.

Due to this it is used in wound care products, including glycerin based hydrogel sheets for burns and other wound care. It is approved for all types of wound care except third degree burns, is used to package donor skin used in skin grafts. There is no topical treatment approved for third degree burns, so this limitation is not exclusive to glycerin. Glycerol is used in medical and personal care preparations as a means of improving smoothness, providing lubrication, as a humectant. Ichthyosis and xerosis have been relieved by the topical use glycerin, it is found in allergen immunotherapies, cough syrups and expectorants, mouthwashes, skin care products, shaving cream, hair care products and water-based personal lubricants. In solid dosage forms like tablets, glycerol is used as a tablet holding agent. For human consumption, glycerol is classified by the U. S. FDA among the sugar alcohols as a caloric macronutrient. Glycerol is used in blood banking to preserve red blood cells prior to freezing.

Glycerol is a component of glycerin soap. Essential oils are add

Thomas E. Corcoran was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Siege of Vicksburg, he was awarded the medal for rescuing his crewmates during the sinking of his ship, the USS Cincinnati, in the Mississippi River. Under heavy fire from a Confederate artillery battery and three other men swam back and forth between the riverbank and the sinking ship, helping crewmen who could not swim reach shore; the four men towed a small boat, carrying wounded sailors and the ship's commander, to the safety of Union forces. Corcoran was born in Dublin, October 12, 1839, he enlisted from New York for a three-year term of service in the U. S. Navy on May 12, 1861, one month after the start of the American Civil War. Assigned first as a landsman to the USS North Carolina, he transferred to the USS Santee and reached the rank of able seaman; because the crew of the Santee began to fall ill with scurvy, Corcoran was discharged from the Navy on September 10, 1862, less than half-way through his enlistment.

He re-enlisted the next month, on October 22, again for a three-year term, was posted as a landsman to Cincinnati for service on the upper Mississippi River. On May 27, 1863, during the Siege of Vicksburg, Cincinnati was ordered to steam down the Mississippi River and destroy two Confederate artillery guns which were impeding the advance of General William Tecumseh Sherman's right flank. Between Cincinnati and the two guns was a Confederate eleven-piece heavy artillery battery which, from its position atop a bluff, had command over that entire stretch of the river; the Union forces had been aware of the battery, shortly before Cincinnati received its orders, the battery had disappeared and was assumed to have been moved elsewhere. Unbeknownst to them, the battery's guns had been removed from view by lowering them from their carriages, both to protect them from the fire of ships on the river and to deceive the Union forces; the commander of the battery had discovered the Union signal code, when he intercepted a message describing Cincinnati's mission, he had the guns re-assembled during the night and concealed them in brush.

On the morning of May 27, Cincinnati headed downstream and reached its target, the two artillery guns. Just as it fired its first shots, the hidden battery on the bluff opened fire surprising the Union ship; the first Confederate shell scored a direct hit, passing through Cincinnati's magazine and exiting through the bottom of the ship. Another shell disabled the ship's steering mechanism. Cincinnati's own guns could not be elevated enough to return fire on the high battery. Knowing his ship was doomed, the commander, Lieutenant George M. Bache, headed Cincinnati full-steam back up the river in search of a place on which to beach the ship. A suitable spot being found, Cincinnati was run aground, a hawser tied to a tree, gangplank laid out. Before the men could evacuate, the hawser came loose and the ship slipped from the bank out into the river, where it began to sink in about 18 feet of water. Many of the crew, including the commander, could not swim. Still under intense fire and three others, Boatswain's Mate Henry Dow, Seaman Thomas Jenkins, Seaman Martin McHugh, swam back and forth, helping their crewmates to shore.

They reboarded Cincinnati, hastily repaired a small boat, damaged by the Confederate fire, loaded it with men who were too badly wounded to be dragged through the water. After Lieutenant Bache climbed into the boat, they towed it to the safety of a Union flotilla. For these actions, Corcoran was awarded the Medal of Honor a month and a half on July 10, 1863; the other three swimmers, Jenkins, McHugh, two more Cincinnati crewmen received the medal for their part in the action. After the sinking of Cincinnati, Corcoran was transferred to the USS Lexington to finish out his term of service, he died March 12, 1904, at age 64 and was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, New York. His grave can be found in section 17, range 12, plot D, grave 8. Rank and organization: Landsman, U. S. Navy. Born: 1838, New York. Accredited to: New York. G. O. No.: 17, July 10, 1863. Citation: Served on board the U. S. S. Cincinnati during the attack on the Vicksburg batteries and at the time of her sinking. Engaging the enemy in a fierce battle, the Cincinnati, amidst an incessant fire of shot and shell, continued to fire her guns to the last, though so penetrated by shellfire that her fate was sealed.

Serving bravely during this action, Corcoran was conspicuously cool under the fire of the enemy, never ceasing to fight until this proud ship went down, "her colors nailed to the mast." List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History. "Thomas E. Corcoran". Hall of Valor. Military Times. Retrieved March 10, 2010

The concept of semi-variable cost is used to project financial performance at various scales of production, where it is an expense which contains both a fixed-cost component and a variable-cost component. It is related to the scale of production within the business where there is a fixed cost which remains constant across all scales of production whilst the variable cost increases proportionally to production levels. Adopting the example of a factory, fixed costs can include the leasing of the factory building and insurance whilst the variable costs can be listed as overtime pay and purchasing of the raw materials. In the simplest case, where cost is linear in output, the equation for the total semi-variable cost is as follows: Y = a + bXwhere Y = Total costa = Total fixed costb = Variable cost per unitX = Output produced A factory costs £5000 per week to produce goods at a minimum level and due to high demand it has to produce for an extra 20 hours in the week. Including the wages, utility bills, raw materials etc. the extra cost per hour is £300.

Y = Total costa = £5000b = £300X = 20 hoursTotal cost = 5000 + The total cost would be £11,000 to run the factory for this particular week. A common method used by managers and accountants alike to estimate the variable and fixed cost components is the high-low method. By identifying the time period where production is at its highest and lowest and inputting the figures into the high–low equation we can separate out the variable and fixed costs. Variable Costs = ÷ Y1 = Cost at the low level of activityY2 = Cost at the high level of activityX1 = Low activity levelX2 = High activity levelY1= 3500Y2 = 5600X1 = 4000X2 = 7000Variable costs = / Variable costs = 2100/3000Variable cost = 0.7Using the original semi-variable cost equation Y = a + bX7000 = Fixed cost + Fixed cost = 7000 – 3920Fixed cost = £3080The equation to calculate the semi-variable cost in this example is as follows. This enables an estimate for the fixed costs and variable costs can be found in a short time, with only basic mathematics and no expensive programs to run the calculations, allowing for the firm to invest their finite resources elsewhere.

This is useful for smaller firms which do not that the budget to afford external, more qualified accountants. As this particular method only uses the highest and lowest figures it means individuals in companies can research the data in the company database; this would allow all employees in the business to calculate the semi-variable costs and its components resulting in them having a better understanding of how the company performs and its expenses. However, the high-low method can only produce an estimate; as it only uses two sets of data, the highest and lowest at that, it can be unreliable as firms can have high variances in production levels and this method would not be able to capture the average activity levels, causing an incorrect figure to be found. There are more accurate methods such as the least-squares regression, although this is much more complex to use. A major drawback of the high-low method is. Once a level of production has been reached the firm would have to purchase additional assets such as machines or employees in order to attain the increase in production levels.

The disadvantage of calculating semi-variable costs through this particular method is that it would underestimate the cost as it does not separate the fixed and variable costs, leading to the increase in expenditure being neglected and resulting in incorrect forecasts. This could lead to the firms bottom line eroding as the individual would estimate lower costs than what it would occur and profits would be lower than expected

Aulus Claudius Charax was a Roman senator and historian of the second century AD, who held a number of offices in the emperor's service. He served as suffect consul for the nundinium April-June 147 with Quintus Fuficius Cornutus as his colleague. Charax wrote Hellenika, in forty books, of which only fragments survive; the cursus honorum for Charax is known from a Greek inscription erected in Pergamum. Inscriptions from elsewhere in Asia Minor and Greece provide other details of his life. Bernard Remy, in his monograph on the Fasti of Roman officials of the provinces of Asia Minor, suggests that while traveling through the eastern provinces, the emperor Hadrian met Charax. There is ample evidence that Charax was wealthy. Being respectably wealthy, a cultured man, he appealed to the hellenophile emperor who decided to facilitate the latter's election as quaestor; the inscription from Pergamum attests Charax discharged this office in the public province of Sicilia adds the puzzling note that he was adlected inter aedilicios -- or as an aedile -- which makes better sense if Charax had skipped the office of quaestor.

Remy suggests that the person who wrote the inscription may have been confused about the details of Charax's adlection. Anthony Birley suggests that this could "indicate some special role for of the senate at the time of Antoninus' accession."In any case, after this event Charax advanced to the office of praetor, after which he held a series of promotions at what Remy describes as a fast rate. He was appointed curator of the Via Latina; this was followed by legatus or commander of Legio II Augusta, stationed in Roman Britain. During these years the legion was involved with the campaigns of governor Quintus Lollius Urbicus in Scotland, with the building of the Antonine Wall; this was followed by governorship of Cilicia, which Alföldy dates from after Charax left his commission to around the time of his consulship. Here the information on the Pergamum inscription ends, indicating it was inscribed shortly after Charax's consulate. Details from the other inscriptions now come into play, he constructed at his own expense the vestibule for the Asklépiéion in Pergamum.

Another inscription from Sparta attests he was an eponymous Patronomos around the middle of the second century.

Peter Jones was a Welsh-born broadcaster, best known as a sports commentator on BBC radio in the United Kingdom, although many of his commentaries were broadcast internationally on the BBC World Service. He worked alongside Maurice Edelston, Bryon Butler, Alan Parry and, Alan Green and Mike Ingham, he was educated at Swansea Grammar School and Queens' College, where he read Modern Languages. He subsequently taught at Bradfield College, his career as a broadcaster began in 1966 after a chance meeting with Maurice Edelston, who lived in nearby Reading. In his early years he commentated on group matches in the 1966 World Cup, held in England, but in 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1986 he was the main commentator on the World Cup, covering the final. Along with his regular weekly football commentaries, Jones covered every major football event from the late 1960s until his death, including the FA Cup Final of 1968, the replay in 1970 and all finals from 1971 to 1989, he described victories for English clubs in the European Cup finals of 1968, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1984, in 1985 he gave an eloquent description of the Heysel Stadium disaster.

As a presenter rather than a commentator, he fronted the BBC's coverage of Wimbledon during the 1970s and 1980s, presented the BBC's Saturday afternoon radio sports coverage from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. He was the BBC's regular commentator on swimming for many years, covering the sport at many Olympic and Commonwealth Games with Anita Lonsbrough, he commentated on cricket, covered the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race which turned out to be his last time commentating on a sporting event. As a serious broadcaster with a mellifluous voice and a deep sense of gravitas, he was called upon to describe the opening and closing ceremonies at events such as the Olympic Games and World Cup, covered non-sporting events such as the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, that of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson in 1986, he lent his talents to coverage of the State Opening of Parliament. Unrivalled for his ability to paint word pictures and capture the excitement of a great occasion, Jones was still regarded as a great broadcaster in the late 1980s, despite the rise of younger, brasher commentators who did not share his Standard English accent.

He was affected and saddened by the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which he witnessed from the commentary box, gave an emotional description of the memorial service for the victims of the disaster, reciting the words of "You'll Never Walk Alone". He continued to broadcast but it has been claimed that he never recovered and from the experience of witnessing the Hillsborough disaster, on 31 March 1990 he collapsed on the BBC launch during his commentary on the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, he died some 36 hours later. He was universally mourned as a great broadcaster and the last of a line, for soon after his death sports broadcasting in the UK underwent a revolution with the arrival of Sky TV and of BBC Radio 5, taking a more informal and, more populist and less eloquent style. Peter Jones was married with two sons. Stuart Jones became Tennis Correspondent for The Times in 1990s, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, moved to Barbados, died in 2013. "Peter was an old school charmer and an inspirational colleague for all aspiring broadcasters such as I was when I joined BBC Radio Sport in 1984.

In my opinion, nobody before or since has broadcast with greater descriptive brilliance that Peter did on the day of the Hillsborough disaster. He was exceptional, is still missed 20 years after his death." - John Rawling. BBC Radio BBC World Service Hillsborough disaster The Times

Kuala Lumpurs Dagons is a professional basketball team based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that plays in the ASEAN Basketball League. It played as the Blustar Detergent Dragons at the PBA Developmental League in 2016. In their first year of existence, they were known as the KL Dragons before becoming the Westports KL Dragons after a sponsorship deal with Westports. Before the 2012 season, the team became the Westports Malaysia Dragons. Malaysia has made the ABL semifinals in all of its first four seasons in the league but lost all four times in the semi-finals: the AirAsia Philippine Patriots in its first two semi-finals appearances, the San Miguel Beermen in its third year, to the Indonesia Warriors in its fourth semi-final appearance. But, in the 2014 season, the Dragons made it all the way to the finals before losing to Hi-Tech Bangkok City in the finals. In 2011, the Dragons was the ABL representative in the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup held in the Philippines after the champion Chang Thailand Slammers failed to make it because of a suspension by FIBA.

KL failed to win a single game in the tourney. The team won the 2015–16 ASEAN Basketball League season and qualify for the 2016 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, they entered the 2016 PBA D-League Foundation Cup under the name Blustar Detergent Dragons. The Dragons again failed to win a single game in the tourney; the team changed its name to the Kuala Lumpur Dragons for the 2019–20 ASEAN Basketball League season. Team owners: Datuk Wira Dani Daim Datuk Robin Tan Yeong Ching Datuk Ruben GnanalingamTeam President: Datuk Wira Dani Daim To appear in this section a player must have either:- Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player. - Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time. Goh Cheng Huat Ariel Vanguardia Chris Thomas Jamie Pearlman Official website Malaysian basketball on Asia-Basket.com website