Emollients are cosmetic preparations used for protecting and lubricating the skin. These functions are performed by sebum produced by healthy skin; the word "emollient" is derived from the Latin verb mollire. Water evaporates from the deeper layers of the skin, an effect known as transepidermal water loss. By regulating its water content, skin maintains a dry shed surface as a barrier against pathogens, dirt, or damage, while protecting itself from drying out and becoming brittle and rigid; the ability to retain moisture depends on the lipid bilayer between the corneocytes. Emollients prevent evaporation of water from the skin by forming an occlusive coating on the surface of the stratum corneum. TEWL is about 4–8 g/. A layer of petrolatum applied to normal skin can reduce the TEWL by 50–75% for several hours. Humectants have an emollient effect, but they act differently, by drawing water into the stratum corneum; the more lipid in the formulation, the greater the emollient effect. Ointments are more emollient than oily creams which are more so than aqueous creams, while most lotions have no emollient effect.
Emollients are available as lotions, ointments, bath oils, or soap substitutes. Petrolatum is the most effective emollient. Other popular emollients are castor oil, cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, cocoa butter, isopropyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, liquid paraffin, polyethylene glycols, shea butter, silicone oils, stearic acid, stearyl alcohol. Mineral oils and waxes are insensitive to rancidity. For this reason, they have replaced vegetable oils in emollients and topical medication. Emollient cosmetics may additionally contain antioxidants, emulsifiers, humectants, penetration enhancers and solvents; some products are marketed as having skin enhancement effects. Many plant and animal extracts have been claimed to impart skin benefits, with little scientific evidence. Although various lipids or emollients have been used for anointing throughout history, this use hardly counts as cosmetical in today's sense. Scientific cosmetic chemistry exists only since 1920. Emollients are used for the treatment of certain skin ailments, such as psoriasis, ichthyosis vulgaris and pruritus in atopic dermatitis.
More they are bases or vehicles for topical medication, such as in Whitfield's ointment. They are combined with keratolytic agents, such as salicylic acid and urea. Emollients are widely used in sunscreens, skin cleansers, shaving creams and hair tonics. Emollients are used in disposable napkins to prevent dry napkin dermatitis. A Cochrane review noted; the same review did not find evidence. Moisturizing lotions are intended to improve the skin, but can harm it. Moisturizers contain ingredients that are either humectant. Occlusive agents are used to help block the loss of water from the skin. Humectant agents are used to attract water to the skin. Significant water exposure to the skin can cause the loss of soluble natural factors. Persistent moisturization to the skin from exposure to water may contribute to an allergic reaction or irritant contact dermatitis, can result in penetration of foreign objects. Changes in the skin's normal ecological environment, in or on the skin, can support the overgrowth of pathological organisms.
Lotions contain 65-85% of water. Water acts as an agent to disperse the inactive ingredients in the lotion. A high water content serves as a way for the absorption of some components and evaporation of the moisturizer. Water acts as a temporary hydration agent. Barrier cream
The Last Pin is a series of mystery stories by author Howard Wandrei. It was released in 1996 by F & B Mystery in an edition of 1,600 copies of which 100 were specially bound and released in a slipcase with Wandrei's Saith the Lord; the stories appeared in the magazines Detective Fiction Weekly, Private Detective Stories, Detective Action Stories, Spicy Detective Stories, Romantic Detective, Black Mask under Wandrei's pseudonyms, Robert A. Garron and H. W. Guernsey. Introduction, by D. H. Olson "Smot Guy" "Wrong Number" "I’ll Be Murdering You" "The Man with the Molten Face" "League of Bald Men" "Marked in Indigo" "Too Good Looking" "Dressed to Kill" "Jongkovski’s Wife" "Fur-Bearing Animal" "The Last Pin" Brown, Charles N.. "The Locus Index to Science Fiction". Retrieved 2008-03-30. Chalker, Jack L.. The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 255
Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna, was an Italian General and Marshal of Italy, most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army during the first part of World War I. Luigi Cadorna was born to General Raffaele Cadorna in Verbania Pallanza, Piedmont in 1850. In 1860 Cadorna became a student at the "Teuliè" Military School in Milan. At fifteen he entered the Turin Military Academy. Upon graduation he was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery in 1868. In 1870, as an officer in the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, Cadorna participated in the occupation of Rome as part of a force commanded by his father; as major he was appointed to the staff of General Pianell, afterwards taking the post of Chief of Staff of the Verona Divisional Command. As Colonel commanding the 10th Regiment of Bersaglieri from 1892 Cadorna acquired a reputation for strict discipline and harsh punishment, he wrote a manual of infantry tactics. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1898 Cadorna subsequently held a number of senior staff and divisional/corps command positions.
On the eve of Italy's entry into World War he was close to peace-time retirement age and had a history of differences with his political and military superiors. Cadorna had been offered the post of Chief of Staff for the first time in 1908, which he had rejected over the issue of political control during wartime, he was again offered the position in July 1914, as the Triple Entente and Central Powers girded for war. When Italy entered the war in May 1915 on the side of the Entente, Cadorna fielded thirty-six infantry divisions composed of 875,000 men, but with only 120 modern artillery pieces. Cadorna inherited a difficult military situation; the government of Premier Antonio Salandra favored initial neutrality over Italy's treaty commitments under the Triple Alliance. Cadorna was accordingly obliged to reverse long established strategic plans while discovering that the army was ill-prepared for war against Austria-Hungary and Germany. In particular large numbers of men and quantities of equipment had been deployed to Tripolitania leaving the home army disorganized.
Cadorna launched four offensives in all along the Isonzo River. The goal of these offensives was the fortress of Gorizia, the capture of which would permit the Italian armies to pivot south and march on Trieste, or continue on to the Ljubljana Gap. All four offensives failed. Cadorna would fight eleven battles on the Isonzo between 1915 and 1917. Additional forces were arrayed along the Trentino salient, attacking towards Rovereto and Bolzano; these attacks failed. The terrain along the Isonzo and Trentino was unsuited for offensive warfare–mountainous and broken, with no room for maneuver. On 24 October 1917 a combined Austro-Hungarian/German army struck across the Isonzo at Kobarid and by 12 November had advanced all the way to the Piave River. Cadorna's disposition of most of his troops far forward, with little defense in depth, contributed to the Defeat at Caporetto. Cadorna himself had been on leave for most of October and his immediate subordinate was ill; the Italian Army seemed on the verge of total collapse.
Italy's allies Britain and France insisted on the dismissal of Cadorna and sent eleven divisions to reinforce the Italian front. However, these troops played no role in stemming the advancing Germans and Austro-Hungarians, because they were deployed on the Mincio River, some 97 kilometres behind the Piave, as the British and French strategists did not believe the Piave line could be held; the king appointed the respected General Armando Diaz as Chief of General Staff, with Badoglio named as his second-in-command. Cadorna was reassigned as the Italian representative to the Allied Supreme War Council set up in Versailles; the restored Italian defensive line was held during the subsequent Battle of the Piave River and served as springboard for the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, where the Austro-Hungarian army was defeated, after four days of resistance, by 51 Italian divisions, 3 British divisions, 2 French divisions, 1 Czechoslovak Division, 1 U. S. Infantry Regiment; the Italians and their allies captured 426,000 enemy soldiers.
After the war, there was an enquiry held by the Italian government to investigate the defeat at Caporetto. It was published in 1919 and was critical of Cadorna, at that time a bitter man busy with writing his memoirs who claimed that he had no responsibility for the defeat, despite fleeing to Padua during the battle and abandoning the entire Italian Second Army to its fate, he was made a Field Marshal in 1924 after Benito Mussolini seized power. Cadorna died in Bordighera in 1928. Historians record Cadorna as an unimaginative martinet, ruthless with his troops and dismissive of his country's political authorities. David Stevenson, Professor of International History at the London School of Economics, describes him as earning "opprobrium as one of the most callous and incompetent of First World War commanders." In manner he appeared a aristocratic officer of the old-fashioned Piedmontese school. During the course of the war Cadorna dismissed 217 officers, during the Battle of Caporetto, he ordered the summary execution of officers whose units retreated Six percent of Italian soldiers under his leadership faced a disciplinary charge d
The Brothers Bloom is a 2008 American caper comedy-drama film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The film stars Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Maximilian Schell, Robbie Coltrane; the film went into wide release in May 2009. The Brothers Bloom, orphaned at a young age, begin performing confidence tricks as young children. Stephen creates his first con as a way of encouraging his brother to talk to girls. Twenty-five years the brothers are the world's most successful con men, they have a regular accomplice: Bang Bang, a Japanese explosives expert who speaks. Bloom, however, is dissatisfied with being nothing but an actor in Stephen's schemes, he is tired of being no more than the characters his brother has come up with and wants an'unwritten life'. He moves to Montenegro. Three months Stephen finds Bloom and convinces him to execute one final con. Bloom reluctantly agrees; the brothers will masquerade as antiques dealers and target Penelope Stamp, a rich, socially-isolated heiress who lives alone in a New Jersey mansion.
Bloom and Penelope meet. Penelope reveals that she has been alone for most of her life and has picked up an array of strange hobbies such as juggling and kung fu. Bloom senses Penelope's craving for adventure and hints; the next morning, Penelope arrives at the harbor to sail with the brothers to Greece. On the ship, Melville, a Belgian hired by Stephen, begins the con, telling Penelope that the brothers Bloom are in fact antiques smugglers and he wants their help with a smuggling job in Prague. Penelope is thrilled with the idea of becoming a smuggler and convinces the brothers to accept the job, unaware that this is part of the con. Meanwhile and Penelope are becoming attracted to one another, but Stephen warns Bloom that the con will fail if he falls in love with Penelope. At the hotel bar in Prague, Bloom is visited by the brothers' former mentor and current enemy, Diamond Dog, he warns Bloom that Stephen will not be around forever, tells Bloom he should join him. Stephen stabs Diamond Dog in the hand with a broken bottle, telling him to stay away.
In Prague, Melville cons Penelope out according to plan. Penelope still wants to go ahead as an antiques smuggler and steal the rare book that Melville told her about; the brothers tell Bang Bang to set off a small explosive in Prague Castle that will trigger the fire alarm, allowing Penelope to sneak in and steal the book. But Penelope accidentally switches the backpacks containing the explosives and they blow up the entire tower, creating panic in Prague. Despite this, Penelope steals the book, she somehow convinces the chief of police to let her go. The team goes to Mexico to complete the con. Bloom, who has fallen in love with Penelope, reveals to her that they are con men and the whole adventure has been a con. Stephen has written it into his plan; the brothers fight and a gun accidentally discharges. Penelope checks out the wound, realizes that it is fake blood, leaves with a broken heart. Bloom punches leaves for Montenegro once again. Three months Penelope finds Bloom, wanting to be with him and to become a con artist.
Unable to deny his love for her but not wanting her to be like him, Bloom meets with Stephen to set up one final con, where they will fake their own deaths. The team goes to St. Petersburg, they are ambushed by Diamond Dog's gang while heading to the exchange. Stephen is held for $1.75 million. Bloom suspects. Bang Bang takes this opportunity to quit working for the Bloom brothers. Bloom goes into an abandoned theater to make the exchange, finds Stephen tied up and beaten. Bloom demands that Stephen tell him if it is a con. A hit man tosses Bloom a phone, Diamond Dog confirms that it is real; the hit man attacks them, Stephen takes a bullet for Bloom and collapses on the floor. Bloom again asks whether this was real, or just the "perfect con". Stephen assures Bloom that he is fine. Stephen tells Bloom to leave St. Petersburg with Penelope, that they will meet again. Bloom and Penelope drive away. After several hours, Bloom discovers that Stephen's bloodstain on his shirt has changed in color from red to brown, indicating that it is not fake blood.
Realizing that Stephen has died, Bloom breaks down on the side of the road while Penelope tries to comfort him. As they are leaving, Bloom recalls what Stephen had said earlier, "The perfect con is one where everyone involved gets just the thing they wanted" – and that his brother pulled off the perfect con. Mark Ruffalo as Stephen Bloom: When Johnson first sat down with Ruffalo it was for the part of Bloom, but his actual personality was so similar to Stephen, Johnson chose to switch. Max Records as young Stephen Rachel Weisz as Penelope Stamp: Weisz was being offered drama roles but was interested in doing a comedy, she was drawn to the script. After Weisz decided on it she told her agent, "this is the one, this is the one." While working on the film she developed a rapport with her costar Adrien Brody. Adrien Brody as Bloom Bloom: When Brody first got the script
Zhang Zhongjun known as Tsun-Tsing Chang or T. T. Chang, was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Zhang was born in Jiashan, Zhejiang Province in 1913, he attended Shanghai Jiao Tong University and was awarded a BSE in 1934. Upon graduation he set out to the United States to continue his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was awarded a S. M. within 9 months, SC. D. in Electrical Engineering and minor in mathematics in 1938. He was a Rockefeller Scholar and stayed on as a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, after completing his studies; as World War II broke out he followed the Nationalist Government to Chongqing. He taught graduate classes at the National Central University until the end of war. Zhang returned to and worked in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University from 1945, he was director of Electrical Research Institute. Jiang Zemin president of China, was one of his students, he was advising the Shanghai Power Company and worked on the restoration of power shortage from National Chinese air raid and Naval blockade.
In the 1950s, he established the electric power simulation system of Shanghai. In the mid-1950s he was a delegate of China to Soviet Union on electrical power research. After the 1960s his interest turned to the field of control engineering and founded Department of Automation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he was elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980
Phelsuma astriata astriata is a subspecies of Seychelles small day gecko. It is a small, slender lizard with bright green colour that feeds on insects, it is found on several islands of the Seychelles. Its body is lime green with coloured bars on the back; those reddish dots sometimes form a mid-dorsal stripe, which can be faint. Males have a bluish or turquoise-coloured tail and lower back. On both sides of the snout, a reddish-brown stripe extends from the nostrils to the eyes; the undersurface of the body is off-white. These lizards reach a total length of about 14 cm; this gecko is found on the Seychelles islands of Astove, Mahé, Curieuse, La Digue, Frégate. This species is found on coconut palms and banana trees, it lives near human settlements. Phelsuma astriata astriata lays two 10 mm eggs. Seychelles small day geckos are not gluers. Incubation is 65 – 70 days at 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Henkel, F. W. and Schmidt, W. Amphibien und Reptilien Madagaskars, der Maskarenen, Seychellen und Komoren. Ulmer Stuttgart.
ISBN 3-8001-7323-9 McKeown, Sean Day Geckos. Advanced Vivarium Systems, Lakeside CA. ISBN 1-882770-22-6 Species Phelsuma astriata at The Reptile Database