In music, a quartet or quartette is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. In Classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quartets most consist of two violins, a viola, a cello; the particular choice and number of instruments derives from the registers of the human voice: soprano, alto and bass. In the string quartet, two violins play the soprano and alto vocal registers, the viola plays the tenor register and the cello plays the bass register. Composers of notable string quartets include Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvořák, Alexander Borodin, Béla Bartók, Elizabeth Maconchy, Darius Milhaud, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Dmitri Shostakovich; the Italian composer Luigi Boccherini, wrote 91 string quartets. Less string quartets are written for other combinations of the standard string ensemble; these include quartets for one violin, two violas, one cello, notably by Carl Stamitz and others.

Another common standard classical quartet is the piano quartet, consisting of violin, viola and piano. Romantic composers Beethoven and Mendelssohn each wrote three important compositions in this form, Mozart, Dvořák, Gabriel Fauré each wrote two. Wind quartets are scored either the same as a string quartet with the wind instrument replacing the first violin or are groups of four wind instruments. Among the latter, the SATB format woodwind quartet of flute, oboe and bassoon is common. An example of a wind quartet featuring four of the same types of wind instruments is the saxophone quartet, consisting of soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone and baritone saxophone or. A second alto may be substituted for the soprano part or a bass saxophone may be substituted for the baritone. Compositions for four singers have been written for quartets a cappella. Brahms and Schubert wrote numerous pieces for four voices that were once popular in private salons, although they are performed today.

Vocal quartets feature within larger classical compositions, such as opera, choral works, symphonic compositions. The final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the Verdi Requiem are two examples of renowned concert works that include vocal quartets. A vocal quartet is composed of: Soprano, alto and bass, for mixed ensembles; the baroque quartet is a form of music composition similar to the trio sonata, but with four music parts performed by three solo melodic instruments and basso continuo. The solo instruments could be strings or wind instruments. Examples of baroque quartets are Telemann's Paris quartets. Quartets are popular in jazz fusion music. Jazz quartet ensembles are composed of a horn, classically clarinet, a chordal instrument, a bass instrument and a drum kit; this configuration is sometimes modified by using a second horn replacing the chordal instrument, such as a trumpet and saxophone with string bass and drum kit, or by using two chordal instruments. In 20th century Western popular music, the term "vocal quartet" refers to ensembles of four singers of the same gender.

This is common for barbershop quartets and Gospel quartets. Some well-known female US vocal quartets include The Carter Sisters; some well-known male US vocal quartets include The Oak Ridge Boys. The only known U. S. drag quartet is The Kinsey Sicks. Some mixed-gender vocal quartets include The Pied Pipers; the quartet lineup is common in pop and rock music. A standard quartet formation in pop and rock music is an ensemble consisting of two electric guitars, a bass guitar, a drum kit; this configuration is sometimes modified by using a keyboard instrument or a soloing instrument in place of the second electric guitar. A Russian folk-instrument quartet consists of a bayan, a prima balalaika, a prima or alto domra, a contrabass balalaika. Configurations without a bayan include a prima domra, a prima balalaika, an alto domra, a bass balalaika. Allen, Ray. Singing in the Spirit: African-American Sacred Quartets in New York City, in series, Publication of the American Folklore Society: New Series. Philadelphia, Penn.: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.

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Nikolai Mikhailovich Maksimov is a retired officer of the Russian Navy. He holds the rank of admiral in the reserve, has most been head of the Navy Shipbuilding and Weapons Research Institute. Maksimov was born in the Ukrainian SSR in 1956, began his naval education with studies at the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School and the Higher Naval School of Submarine Navigation, his career has been spent with the Northern Fleet, where he served as an officer aboard submarines, rising through the ranks to command nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. This was followed by staff appointments with the fleet's various submarine divisions becoming deputy commander of the Northern Fleet in 2005 and its commander in 2007. During his time in command he oversaw various naval exercises, including those in 2008, which were the largest the Russian navy had held in the Atlantic since 1991, he continued his studies with attendance at the Higher Special Officer Classes, the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy, the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia.

Maksimov became chief of staff and first deputy commander of the troops of the Western Military District in 2011, before retiring from active military service in 2012. As an admiral in the reserve, he continued to play an important role in naval affairs, serving as head of the Naval Academy until 2016, as head of the Navy Shipbuilding and Weapons Research Institute. Maksimov was born on 15 May 1956 in Odessa Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, in the Soviet Union, he studied at the Nakhimov Naval School in Leningrad from 1971 until 1973, the Higher Naval School of Submarine Navigation from 1973, graduating in 1978. He took the Higher Special Officer Classes, between 1985 and 1986, after entering the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy in 1993, graduated with honours in 1995. In 2000 he graduated with a gold medal after two years of study at the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia. Maksimov's career has been spent with the Northern Fleet, where he went from the commander of a departmental group aboard a submarine, to weapons commander, assistant commander between 1978 and 1985, senior assistant to the submarine commander between 1986 and 1992.

He served as commander of the Project 667A Navaga nuclear ballistic missile submarine K-137 Leninets between 1992 and 1993, followed by the Project 667BDRM Delfin nuclear ballistic missile submarine K-18 in 1993. He was promoted to deputy commander of the 31st Submarine Division from 1995 until 1996, served as the division's commander until 1998. From 2000 to 2001 Maksimov was deputy commander of the 7th Operational Squadron, from 2001 to 2002 he was Chief of Staff of the 3rd Submarine Flotilla. In 2002 he became commander of the 12th submarine squadron, holding the post until 2005, when he was appointed deputy commander of the Northern Fleet. With the appointment of the fleet's commander, Vladimir Vysotskiy, as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Vice-Admiral Maksimov became acting-commander of the Northern Fleet, was confirmed in the post by presidential decree on 19 November 2007; as Northern Fleet commander, Maksimov was in charge of joint naval-air exercises with elements of the Northern and Black Sea Fleets in the Atlantic Ocean in January 2008.

The exercises, the largest Russian military manoeuvres in the Atlantic since 1991, involved 11 vessels, including the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the guided missile cruiser Moskva, 47 aircraft. The live-fire exercises off the French and Spanish coasts included the Moskva striking a target ship with a P-500 Bazalt cruise missile at a range of 560 km. Maksimov announced the intent of the exercises was to restore "Russia's naval presence in key operational areas of the world's oceans." The following year he oversaw the Northern Fleet's "Dvina" exercises, attended by Navy commander Vladimir Vysotskiy, President Dmitry Medvedev and Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov. Maksimov was appointed chief of staff and first deputy commander of the troops of the Western Military District on 30 March 2011, holding the post until his retirement from service on 29 October 2012. On 7 November 2012 he was appointed head of the N. G. Kuznetsov Naval Academy, he held this post until 17 May 2016, having been elected chairman of the International Association of Public Organizations of Navy Veterans and Submariners in December 2013.

From May 2016 he served as head of the Navy Weapons Research Institute. Over his career Maksimov has been awarded the Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" Third Class, the Order of Military Merit, the Order of Naval Merit, the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" Fourth Class, various medals, he is a Candidate of Military Sciences. Maksimov is married, with two sons

Uintatheriidae is a family of extinct ungulate mammals that includes Uintatherium. Uintatheres belong to the order Dinocerata, one of several extinct orders of primitive hoofed mammals that are sometimes united in the Condylarthra. Uintatheres were the largest land animals of their time, surviving from the late Paleocene into the Uintan Epoch of the Middle Eocene, they were heavy animals, with thick legs, massive bones, broad feet, tiny brains. The most distinctive feature of the great majority of species, was the presence of multiple blunt "horns" similar to the ossicones of modern giraffes, the presence of large, sabre-like canine teeth, they were replaced as large browsing animals by the larger brontotheres. Family Uintatheriidae Subfamily Uintatheriinae Genus Prodinoceras Genus Bathyopsis Genus Uintatherium Genus Tetheopsis Genus Eobasileus Subfamily Gobiatheriinae Genus GobiatheriumBecause the skulls of the species of Gobiatherium lack the diagnostic ossicones and fang-tusks of other uintatheres, the genus is sometimes placed within its own family, "Gobiatheriidae."

The Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia is the national meteorological service in Russia, part of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. It was founded in 1921 as the Meteorological Service of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In 1929 it joined the Hydrometeorological Centre of the USSR. In accordance with Government Decree on the establishment of a single hydrometeorological service of January 1, 1930 was organized by the Central Weather Bureau, converted in 1936 into the Central Weather Institute. In 1965, the Central Institute of forecasts and the Joint Centre of the Academy of Sciences and the Main Directorate of Hydrometeorological Service were merged into one institution: Hydrometeorological Research Center of the USSR. From 1992 it is called Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia. An important event determined the fate of research at the Hydrometeorological Center of Russia, was giving it the Government Decree №1167 of October 14, 1994 the status of the State Scientific Center of Russian Federation.

In January 2007, by decision of the Government of Russia, this status has been saved. In the system of the World Weather Watch of the World Meteorological Organization Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia provides the fulfillment of international obligations of the Russian Federation on the international exchange of information and data forecasting meteorological observations, functions as: World Meteorological Centre; the main tasks of Russian Hydrometeorological Center are: Obtaining new knowledge about the processes of weather in the system "atmosphere-ocean-land". Operational support of the country and economic structures of hydro-meteorological information, including warnings of adverse weather and dangerous phenomena. Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring

The Jazz Passengers are an American jazz group founded in 1987 by saxophonist Roy Nathanson and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes. The band grew out of a partnership between Nathanson and Fowlkes in 1987, after the two had played with John Lurie's band The Lounge Lizards. Other regular members include vibraphonist Bill Ware, bassist Brad Jones and drummer E. J. Rodriguez. Guitarists Marc Ribot and David Fiuczynski played in earlier formations of the group; the album, their masterpiece, the Hal Willner-produced In Love, features vocal contributions from Deborah Harry, Jeff Buckley, Jimmy Scott, Bob Dorough and Mavis Staples. Harry became a regular member of the band, appearing on a number of follow-up albums, including Individually Twisted, Costello sings on another track without Harry; the Passengers have recorded infrequently as a full ensemble, though the individual bandmembers' recent side projects tend to feature many fellow Passengers, as well as a skewed musical sensibility. In 2005, Nathanson composed a work commemorating the world's oldest object, a 4.404 billion year old zircon found in Australia.

The work was performed by The Jazz Passengers at a "Rock Concert" held in Madison, Wisconsin in April of that year. 1987 – Broken Night Red Light 1988 – Deranged and Decomposed 1990 – Implement Yourself 1991 – Live at the Knitting Factory 1993 – Plain Old Joe 1994 – In Love 1996 – Individually Twisted with Deborah Harry 1998 – "Live" in Spain with Deborah Harry 2010 – Reunited 2017 - Still Life with Trouble The Jazz Passengers "Jazz Passengers, A Modernist Septet", by Jon Pareles "Jazz and Theater Add Up To a New Form of Vaudeville", by Peter Watrous "The Jazz Passengers Discography at Allmusic" The Jazz Passengers Discography at Discogs

Live in Porto is the "authorised bootleg" of a live performance by Coil, which took place on June 21, 2003 at the Casa da Música Festival, Portugal. At this show, Coil were Peter Christopherson and Ossian Brown. Jhonn Balance was too sick to attend, as in case of Montreal concert at MUTEK Festival; this limited edition bootleg in semi-transparent hand-made packaging came in six designs: white, red, blue and pink. The package inside a clear plastic wallet includes audio CD, clear plastic CD-size disc with text printed onto it, printed acetates displaying colourful biological micrographs, printed semi-transparent paper inserts containing single colour designs; each of these six edition was limited to 100 numbered copies, making 600 copies total. Last ones were made available for sale via Threshold House website on February 1, 2008, together with still available downloads in FLAC, aac and mp3 formats. Jhonn Balance does not appear on this recording, so all five tracks are instrumental. "Blue Rats" was released in studio form on A Thousand Lights in a Darkened Room by Black Light District.

"Triple Sun" was never recorded in studio, but it was played during Coil tournee. Its reworked version appears on The Ape of Naples. "Radio Westin" appeared as "Wraiths and Strays" on Black Antlers and Selvaggina, Go Back into the Woods. "The First Five Minutes After Death" is an extended version of exit song from Horse Rotorvator. "Blue Rats" – 18:14 "Triple Sun" – 12:56 "Radio Westin" – 13:32 "Drip Drop" – 10:04 "The First Five Minutes After Death" – 11:24