Monosaccharides called simple sugar, are the simplest form of sugar and the most basic units of carbohydrates. They cannot be further hydrolyzed to simpler chemical compounds; the general formula is CnH2nOn. They are colorless, water-soluble, crystalline solids; some monosaccharides have a sweet taste. Examples of monosaccharides include glucose and galactose. Monosaccharides are the building blocks of polysaccharides. Unless a primary carbon each carbon atom that supports a hydroxyl group is chiral, giving rise to a number of isomeric forms, all with the same chemical formula. For instance and glucose are both aldohexoses, but have different physical structures and chemical properties. With few exceptions, monosaccharides have this chemical formula: x, where conventionally x ≥ 3. Monosaccharides can be classified by the number x of carbon atoms they contain: triose, pentose, heptose, so on; the most important monosaccharide, glucose, is a hexose. Examples of heptoses include the ketoses and sedoheptulose.

Monosaccharides with eight or more carbons are observed as they are quite unstable. In aqueous solutions monosaccharides exist as rings. Simple monosaccharides have a linear and unbranched carbon skeleton with one carbonyl functional group, one hydroxyl group on each of the remaining carbon atoms. Therefore, the molecular structure of a simple monosaccharide can be written as HnmH, where n + 1 + m = x. By convention, the carbon atoms are numbered from 1 to x along the backbone, starting from the end, closest to the C=O group. Monosaccharides are the simplest form of sugar. If the carbonyl is at position 1, the molecule begins with a formyl group H− and is technically an aldehyde. In that case, the compound is termed an aldose. Otherwise, the molecule has a carbonyl − − between two carbons. Ketoses of biological interest have the carbonyl at position 2; the various classifications above can be combined, resulting in names such as "aldohexose" and "ketotriose". A more general nomenclature for open-chain monosaccharides combines a Greek prefix to indicate the number of carbons with the suffixes "-ose" for aldoses and "-ulose" for ketoses.

In the latter case, if the carbonyl is not at position 2, its position is indicated by a numeric infix. So, for example, H4H is pentose, H3H is pentulose, H22H is pent-3-ulose. Two monosaccharides with equivalent molecular graphs may still be distinct stereoisomers, whose molecules differ in spatial orientation; this happens only if the molecule contains a stereogenic center a carbon atom, chiral. Those four bonds can have any of two configurations in space distinguished by their handedness. In a simple open-chain monosaccharide, every carbon is chiral except the first and the last atoms of the chain, the carbon with the keto group. For example, the triketose HH has no stereogenic center, therefore exists as a single stereoisomer; the other triose, the aldose H2H, has one chiral carbon — the central one, number 2 —, bonded to groups −H, −OH, −CH2, −H. Therefore, it exists as two stereoisomers whose molecules are mirror images of each other. Monosaccharides with four or more carbons may contain multiple chiral carbons, so they have more than two stereoisomers.

The number of distinct stereoisomers with the same diagram is bounded by 2c, where c is the total number of chiral carbons. The Fischer projection is a systematic way of drawing the skeletal formula of an acyclic monosaccharide so that the handedness of each chiral carbon is well specified; each stereoisomer of a simple open-chain monosaccharide can be identified by the positions in the Fischer diagram of the chiral hydroxyls. Most stereoisomers are themselves chiral. In the Fischer projection, two mirror-image isomers differ by having the positions of all chiral hydroxyls reversed right-to-left. Mirror-image isomers are chemically identical in non-chiral environments, but have different biochemical properties and occurrences in nature. While most stereoisomers can be arranged in pairs of mirror-image forms, there are some non-chiral stereoisomers that are identical to their mirror images, in spite of having chiral centers; this happens whenever the molecular graph is symmetrical, as in the 3-ketopentoses H22H, the two halves are mirror images of each other.

In that case, mirroring is equivalent to a half-turn rotation. For this reason, there are only three distinct 3-ketopentose stereoisomers though the molecule has two chiral carbons. Distinct stereoisomers that are not mirror-images of each other have different chemical properties in non-chiral environments. Therefore, each mirror pair and each non-chiral stereoisomer may be given a specific monosaccharide name. For example, there are 16 distinct aldohexose stereoisomers, but the name "glucose" means a specific pair of mirror-image aldohexoses. In the Fischer projection, one of the two

Vince Williams is a former ice hockey defenseman and a current scout with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights. He was the head coach of the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL from 2013-2015 and the Trenton Titans from 2011-2013. Williams attended Concordia University until 1998, where he played on their ice hockey team for two seasons where he recorded 25 points; when he left college, Williams was signed by the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL. After 33 games with Indianapolis, Williams was signed by the Columbus Chill of the ECHL where he tallied 13 points in 43 games. In 1999-2000, Williams was acquired by the Trenton Titans and played in 1 game for the AHL's Lowell Lock Monsters, the furthest he's progress professionally. Williams split time with Trenton and the Orlando Solar Bears of the IHL. In 2001-2002 Williams once again changed teams, heading to the Florida Everblades of the ECHL where he exploded for a career high 22 points in 70 games; the next season, Williams was traded back to the Titans.

In the final three seasons of his playing career, Williams' offensive numbers decreased and his penalty minutes increased as he took on more of a leadership role for the Titans. The team's efforts culminated in a Kelly Cup victory in 2004–05 ECHL season. Vince Williams proceeded to retire following the 2005–06 ECHL season. After a season away from the sport, Vince Williams returned as assistant coach of the new Trenton Devils organization, who were directly affiliated with the Albany Devils of the AHL and New Jersey Devils of the NHL; the Trenton Devils went on to miss the playoffs 3 of the 4 seasons of their existence, the team folded after the 2010–11 ECHL season. Late in the summer of 2011, the Trenton Titans were brought back with an independent ownership led by Blue Line Sports LLC and Rich Lisk, who became the team's general manager, CEO. Lisk brought Vince Williams back in a higher capacity. Williams was named head coach of the Trenton Titans on August 1, 2011. Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Machynys, or Machynys Peninsula is a coastal area just to the south of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. In the nineteenth century an industrial community lived here working at the brickworks and tinplate works that occupied the site; when the industrial activity ceased in the mid-twentieth century, the buildings were demolished and the site lay derelict. It has now been redeveloped as a golf course as part of the Llanelli Waterside regeneration plan. Machynys translates from the Welsh as "Monk's Island", thus, local legend holds that the area was home to a monastery built by Saint Pyr in 513, although there is no concrete evidence of its existence. Another meaning of the name's origin is that it was Calle "Bach ynys" meaning "small island", the "b" turned into an "m", it is further assumed from its name. It was shown as an island on a map of the Stepney Estate as late as 1761; until the mid-nineteenth century a single farm occupied the site, but after the Enclosure Acts enabled common land to be developed, industrial development began at Machynys with the digging of clay and the opening of the first of three brickworks.

The row of cottages known as "Brick Row" was built then. After the tinplate industry got underway at Kidwelly and Llanelli, a tinplate works was built at Machynys in 1872 that became known as the "South Wales Works". Two other tinplate works opened on the peninsular in 1910 and 1912 and workers housing was built; the tinplate was exported to America. In 1951, a huge new tinplate factory was opened at Trostre on the other side of Llanelli; the Machynys factories could not compete and closed by 1961. Many of the workers moved to Trostre, their houses and the tinplate works were demolished. For many years the site remained derelict awaiting abortive regeneration plans; the site has been transformed beyond recognition since 1960. It is now home to the Machynys Peninsula Golf Country Club which hosted the Wales Ladies Championship of Europe from 2005-2008. To the west of the golf course lies a recent development, Nicklaus Village, that consists of 175 New England style homes. Machynys is part of the Welsh Assembly Government's Llanelli Waterside regeneration plan.

The Llanelli Millennium Coastal Park, which includes National Cycle Network route 4, runs along the coast of Machynys. There are scenic views of the Bury Estuary from along the coast. Machynys Ponds, a Site of Special Scientific Interest notable for its dragonfly population, is to the east of the village of Machynys