Gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, traditionally used to classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their cell wall. Gram-positive bacteria take up the crystal violet stain used in the test, appear to be purple-coloured when seen through an optical microscope; this is because the thick peptidoglycan layer in the bacterial cell wall retains the stain after it is washed away from the rest of the sample, in the decolorization stage of the test. Gram-negative bacteria cannot retain the violet stain after the decolorization step, their peptidoglycan layer is much thinner and sandwiched between an inner cell membrane and a bacterial outer membrane, causing them to take up the counterstain and appear red or pink. Despite their thicker peptidoglycan layer, gram-positive bacteria are more receptive to certain cell wall targeting antibiotics than gram-negative bacteria, due to the absence of the outer membrane. In general, the following characteristics are present in gram-positive bacteria: Cytoplasmic lipid membrane Thick peptidoglycan layer Teichoic acids and lipoids are present, forming lipoteichoic acids, which serve as chelating agents, for certain types of adherence.

Peptidoglycan chains are cross-linked to form rigid cell walls by a bacterial enzyme DD-transpeptidase. A much smaller volume of periplasm than that in gram-negative bacteria. Only some species have a capsule consisting of polysaccharides. Only some species are flagellates, when they do have flagella, have only two basal body rings to support them, whereas gram-negative have four. Both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria have a surface layer called an S-layer. In gram-positive bacteria, the S-layer is attached to the peptidoglycan layer. Gram-negative bacteria's S-layer is attached directly to the outer membrane. Specific to gram-positive bacteria is the presence of teichoic acids in the cell wall; some of these are lipoteichoic acids, which have a lipid component in the cell membrane that can assist in anchoring the peptidoglycan. Along with cell shape, Gram staining is a rapid method used to differentiate bacterial species; such staining, together with growth requirement and antibiotic susceptibility testing, other macroscopic and physiologic tests, forms the full basis for classification and subdivision of the bacteria.

The kingdom Monera was divided into four divisions based on Gram staining: Firmicutes, Gracilicutes and Mendocutes. Based on 16S ribosomal RNA phylogenetic studies of the late microbiologist Carl Woese and collaborators and colleagues at the University of Illinois, the monophyly of the gram-positive bacteria was challenged, with major implications for the therapeutic and general study of these organisms. Based on molecular studies of the 16S sequences, Woese recognised twelve bacterial phyla. Two of these were gram-positive and were divided on the proportion of the guanine and cytosine content in their DNA; the high G + C phylum was made up of the Actinobacteria and the low G + C phylum contained the Firmicutes. The Actinobacteria include the Corynebacterium, Mycobacterium and Streptomyces genera; the Firmicutes, have a 45 -- 60 % GC content. Although bacteria are traditionally divided into two main groups, gram-positive and gram-negative, based on their Gram stain retention property, this classification system is ambiguous as it refers to three distinct aspects, which do not coalesce for some bacterial species.

The gram-positive and gram-negative staining response is not a reliable characteristic as these two kinds of bacteria do not form phylogenetic coherent groups. However, although Gram staining response is an empirical criterion, its basis lies in the marked differences in the ultrastructure and chemical composition of the bacterial cell wall, marked by the absence or presence of an outer lipid membrane. All gram-positive bacteria are bounded by a single-unit lipid membrane, and, in general, they contain a thick layer of peptidoglycan responsible for retaining the Gram stain. A number of other bacteria—that are bounded by a single membrane, but stain gram-negative due to either lack of the peptidoglycan layer, as in the Mycoplasmas, or their inability to retain the Gram stain because of their cell wall composition—also show close relationship to the Gram-positive bacteria. For the bacterial cells bounded by a single cell membrane, the term "monoderm bacteria" or "monoderm prokaryotes" has been proposed.

In contrast to gram-positive bacteria, all archetypical gram-negative bacteria are bounded by a cytoplasmic membrane and an outer cell membrane. The presence of inner and outer cell membranes defines a new compartment in these cells: the periplasmic space or the periplasmic compartment; these bacteria have been designated as "diderm bacteria." The distinction between the monoderm and diderm bacteria is supported by conserved signature indels in a number of important proteins. Of these two structurally distinct groups of bacteria, monoderms are indicated to be ancestral. Based upon a number of observations including that the gram-positive bacteria are the major producers of antibiotics and that, in general, gram-negative bacteria are resistant to them

Swiss Super League 2008–09 is the 112th season of top-tier football in Switzerland. The competition is named AXPO Super League due to sponsoring purposes, it began on 18 July 2008 with a match between Young Boys Bern and reigning champions FC Basel, which the latter won by 2–1. The last matches were played in May 2009. FC Thun were relegated after finishing in last place in 2007 -- 08 Swiss Super League, they were replaced by Challenge League 2007–08 champions FC Vaduz, who are the first team from Liechtenstein participating in Switzerland's top football league. 9th placed FC St. Gallen and Challenge League runners-up AC Bellinzona competed in a two-legged relegation play-off after the end of last season. Bellinzona thus earned promotion, while St. Gallen were relegated. FC Lucern as 9th-placed team of the Super League will play a two-legged play-off against Challenge League runners-up AC Lugano. Teams play each other four times in this league. In the first half of the season each team played every other team twice and do the same in the second half of the season.

Last updated: 24 May 2009.

Cloud Peak is the highest peak within the Bighorn Mountains in the U. S. state of Wyoming. It provides onlookers with dramatic views and vistas; the mountain can be climbed most from the western side, accessed by either the Battle Park or West Tensleep trail-heads and is 24 miles round-trip from both. The peak is located in the 189,000 acre Cloud Peak Wilderness within Bighorn National Forest; the northeast slope of Cloud Peak is a deep cirque which harbors Cloud Peak Glacier, the last active glacier in the Bighorn Mountains. Cloud Peak is on the border between Johnson County and Big Horn County in Wyoming and is the high point of both counties; as the high point of an isolated range, Cloud Peak has the greatest topographic prominence in the state, 7,077 feet, one foot more than the state's highest mountain, 13,810 foot Gannett Peak, fifteenth greatest in the contiguous United States. 4000 meter peaks of North America Central Rocky Mountains Mountain peaks of North America Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains Mountain peaks of the United States List of Ultras of North America List of Ultras of the United States "US ultra-prominent peaks".

PeakList.org. Retrieved 2011-05-09. "Cloud Peak on Summitpost". SummitPost.org. Retrieved 2011-05-09. "Cloud Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-05-09

Dr William Saunders FRS FRSE was a Scottish physician, the first President of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society. He was born on 9 July 1743 in Banff, the son of Dr James Saunders MD. From 1755 to 1759 he took a Science degree at Marischal College in Aberdeen, he studied Medicine under Dr William Cullen at the University of Edinburgh and became Cullen's assistant. Writing a thesis on the medical use of antimony he gained his doctorate in 1765, he moved to London, where he first taught pharmacy in private schools. He came to fame by contesting Sir George Baker's theory that the high levels of colic in Devonshire derived from over-consumption of cider, instead proving, by experiment that it came from the dissolving of lead during the cider-making process, was lead-poisoning rather than alcohol-poisoning. In 1769 he was made a Licenciate of the Royal College of Physicians and in 1770 became a physician at Guy's Hospital, where he developed and delivered courses of medical lectures. In 1790 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, to whom he delivered the Goulstonian Lecture of 1792 on diseases of the liver.

In 1792 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were William Wright and Andrew Duncan, the elder, he delivered the Harveian Oration of 1796. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1793 and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Anatomical Society and a member of the Geological Society, he left Guy's Hospital in 1802. He was a founding member of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society and in 1805 was elected their first President, he was mentor in London to Rev Dr Sayer Walker. In 1807 he was appointed Physician Extraordinaire to Prince George Augustus Frederick, who became the Prince Regent in 1811. During his working life he published a number of works on a variety of medical subjects, he retired in 1814 and died in Enfield, London on 4 June 1817. He is buried in Enfield Parish Churchyard. A Thesis on Antimony A Treatise on the Devonshire Colic On the Red Bark On Liver Diseases On MIneral Waters: Their Uses and Abuses On the Use and Abuse of Mercury on Liver and Other Diseases He was twice married and had four sons and two daughters

William Trevor Thomas known by the nickname of "Ocker", was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played representative level rugby union for Wales, at club level for Abertillery RFC, as a flanker, i.e. number 6 or 7, representative level rugby league for Wales, at club level for Oldham, Wigan, as a second-row, i.e. number 11 or 12, during the era of contested scrums. William "Ocker" Thomas was born in Merthyr Tydfil, he died aged 61 in Pentwynmawr, Wales. Thomas won a cap for Wales while at Abertillery RFC in 1930 against England, won 3 caps for Wales in 1932–1940 while at Oldham, Wigan. During Thomas' time at Oldham, they had a 12-0 victory over St Helens Recs in the 1933 Lancashire County Cup Final during the 1933–34 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 18 November 1933. Thomas played right-second-row, i.e. number 12, in Wigan's 10-7 victory over Salford in the 1938 Lancashire County Cup Final during the 1938–39 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 22 October 1938.

Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com

John William Brown was a British trade union leader and political activist. He came to greatest prominence as general secretary of the International Federation of Trade Unions. Brown attended Christchurch School in Barnet Luton Technical School, followed by Ruskin College, from which he received a Diploma in Economic and Physical Science, validated by the University of Oxford. In 1919, he became the secretary of a trade union. Brown became active in the Labour Party, stood as its candidate in the 1919 St Albans by-election. Campaigning among railway workers, non-manual workers who he believed had been hit by profiteering during the war, he won 42.4% of the vote, a close second place. He stood again in the 1922 United Kingdom general election, dropping back only to 42.2% of the votes cast. Brown's trade union career progressed as he was elected as vice-chairman of the National Federation of Professional Workers in 1923 as assistant secretary of the International Federation of Trade Unions; the Trades Union Congress were unhappy that he was junior to non-British officers, in August succeeded to having him promoted to become joint general secretary.

In 1927, Brown uncovered evidence which, he claimed, showed that European trade unions were intriguing against the British unions, which wished to bring Russian trade unions into the organisation. The TUC argued that Brown should be elected as sole general secretary. In the face of an impasse, both Brown and another general secretary, Jan Oudegeest, chose to resign