what is the meaning of the acronym pagasa

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Filipino: Pangasiwaan ng Pilipinas sa Serbisyong Atmospero, Heopisiko at Astronomiya, abbreviated as PAGASA [pagËˆasa], which means "hope" as in the Tagalog word pag-asa) is the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) agency of the Republic of the Philippines mandated to provide protection against natural calamities and to insure the safety, well-being and economic security of all the people, and for the promotion of national progress by undertaking scientific and technological services in meteorology, hydrology, climatology, astronomy and other geophysical sciences. Created on December 8, 1972 by reorganizing the Weather Bureau, PAGASA now serves as one of the Scientific and Technological Services Institutes of the Department of Science and Technology.

PAGASA

Formal meteorological and astronomical services in the Philippines began in 1865 with the establishment of the Observatorio MeteorolÃ³gico de Manila in Padre Faura St., Manila when Francisco Colina, a young Jesuit scholastic and professor at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila started a systematic observation and recording of the weather two or three times a day. Jaime Nonell, another Jesuit scholastic, wrote a brief treatise on these observations, which was printed by the Diario de Manila. The treatise attracted the attention of businessmen in Manila and a request was made to the Jesuit director, Fr. Juan Vidal, SJ, for regular observations for the purpose of warning the public against approaching typhoons. The businessmen financed the procurement and acquisition of an instrument called the Universal Meteorograph (an invention of another Jesuit, Fr. Angelo Seechi, SJ of the Vatican Observatory in Rome) which would greatly aid in the day and night observations of the weather.[2][3]

In 1866, Federico Faura, SJ, became the director of the Observatorio in recognition of scientific abilities. During this time, the Observatorio was engaged in the systematic observation of Philippine weather. On July 7, 1879, after data comparison with another Jesuit friar in the West Indies, the Observatorio issued a warning indicating that a tropical cyclone was crossing Northern Luzon. The colonial government took every possible precaution based on the reliability of the warning and the slight losses from the typhoon finally and permanently cemented the reputation of the Observatorio. This was followed by a prediction in November of the same year that a tropical cyclone will pass by Manila. The Observatorio began conducting seismological and terrestrial magnetism observations in 1880. In 1885, the Observatorio started time service and a system of visual (semaphore) weather warnings for merchant shipping. In 1886, the Faura Aneroid Barometer was released. In 1887, a section devoted to the study of terrestrial magnetism was set up and six years later, the first maps of terrestrial magnetism in the Philippines was published. In 1890, the seismological service was officially established, and in 1899, the astronomical section was opened.[2][3]

This reputation reached foreign shores and other observatories began requesting for the monthly Boletin del Observatorio de Manila. The growing demands for the services of the led Observatorio led to the issuance of a Royal Decree on April 21, 1894. This effectively recognized the Observatorio as an official institution under the Jesuit order, with full support from the Spanish crown. This led to the establishment of a network of secondary stations in various points of Luzon.[2][3]

Under the Treaty of Paris,[4] on December 10, 1898, Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to the United States of America. After a period of great political turbulence that climaxed in the outbreak of Philippine-American War in 1899, an Insular Government was established. On May 22, 1901, the Philippine Commission enacted Act No. 131, reorganizing the Observatorio MeteorolÃ³gico de Manila into the Weather Bureau under the Department of Interior. With the establishment of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) on January 1, 1917, the Weather Bureau was transferred from the Department of Interior to DANR. With the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, the DANR was reorganized into the Department of Agriculture and Commerce.[2]

For nearly 45 years, the Weather Bureau remained active and famous in international expositions and scientific expeditions, and continued to be well known for its accurate typhoon forecasts and scientific works in the field of meteorology, geomagnetism, and astronomy. The first weather map in Far East (released in 1908 by Fr. Coronas) became an important tool in tropical cyclone forecasting thereon. The Bureau's published works on meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, and astronomy were well known and had later proven to be of great value to the American forces in the liberation of the Philippines from the Japanese during the Second World War.[2][3]

On October 4, 1943, with the establishment of the Second Philippine Republic as a puppet state of Japan during its occupation, the Weather Bureau was transferred to the Department of Public Works and Communications. The Bureau was removed from the direction of the Jesuits and for the first time, the Bureau had an all-Filipino staff headed by Mr. Maximo Lachica, head of the Department of Geodetic Engineering of the University of the Philippines. The Japanese occupation period marked limited activity in the Central Office. However, in the field, Bureau personnel were instrumental in bringing accurate weather information over enemy-occupied territory to the combined liberation forces of the American and Filipino soldiers. On February 1945, the Second World War brought the operations of the Weather Bureau to a catastrophic halt when its offices were destroyed during the Battle of Manila. Nothing but the burnt-out shell of its astronomical dome in Padre Faura St, bore testimony to its once glorious past. All the instruments, records, mass of scientific knowledge accumulated through the decades were lost. After the war, the Observatorio ceased to function as the Weather Bureau. The former would later resume independent operations in 1951 as the Manila Observatory.[2][3]

The rebirth of the Weather Bureau began on July 24, 1945 when it was reestablished by seven constituent personnel under the leadership of Edilberto Parulan as Officer-in-Charge. In 1946, pursuant to the Tydings War Damage Act (Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946), a US Weather Bureau mission was sent to Manila by the United States government to undertake a survey of the needs of the Weather Bureau. As a result, the Bureau was able to acquire meteorological equipment and technical assistance from the United States that paved the way for the establishment of standard weather services patterned after similar meteorological institutions in more technically-advanced countries. Furthermore, the Weather Bureau was transferred to the Department of Commerce and Industry. The Bureau's functions were then carried out by five divisions (Synoptic, Climatological, Geophysical, Astronomical, and Administrative).[2]

In 1947, the central office of the Weather Bureau was moved to Marsman Building (opposite Pier 15 at the Port Area of Manila), while the Forecasting Center was transferred to the old Balagbag terminal (site of the first terminal of the Manila International Airport) and became the Manila Main Meteorological Office (MMMO). The first post-war geophysical observatory of the Bureau was established in 1949 behind the campus of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. In 1948, a set of electromagnetic photorecording seismographs was installed in order to improve its seismological services. On April 5, 1949, the Philippines was admitted into the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with the Weather Bureau as its National Meteorological Service.[2] In the same year, temperature, relative humility and pressure observations in the upper atmosphere were made twice daily by the Laoag, Cebu and Zamboanga field stations.[citation needed]

In 1950, a teletype service connected MMMO to Clark Air Force Base, US Naval Station Sangley Point and the Bureau of Telecommunications (precursor to the current National Telecommunications Commission (Philippines). Moreover, Exchange of weather reports with foreign countries, aircraft-in-flight and four aeronautical stations in the country â€“ Laoag, Legazpi, Cebu & Zamboanga began at this year. Private radio systems and the then National Civil Defense Administration also helped to facilitate the reception of data and dissemination of the forecasts and warnings. In 1954, radio transmissions of time signals (which were done seven times daily) began in the geophysical observatory (which was now called Astronomical Observatory at this time).[2]

Weather surveillance radar was first installed in the Philippines in 1963 atop the Central Office of the Bureau (but this was destroyed beyond repair by a fire in 1978).In 1965, on its centenary, half of the weather stations across the country were already linked with each other by single side-band radio transceivers, forming an independent meteorological communication system. In 1968, the Philippines joined the Typhoon Committee formed by the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE, now Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific or ESCAP) and the WMO.[5] The following year saw the transfer of the central office from the Marsman Building to 1424, Quezon Boulevard Extension in Quezon City. The same year also ushered the 5-year "WMO Training and Research Project, Manila". Composed of the Institute of Meteorology in the Weather Bureau and the Department of Meteorology in the University of the Philippines, the project aimed to meet the training needs of the country's meteorological personnel and to carry out research in various fields of meteorology. The Institute provided technical in-service training in various levels while the Department offered a post-graduate course leading to a Master of Science degree in Meteorology. With the implementation of the project, the acquisition of an IBM 1130 was realized and computerization in the Bureau came of age. A telemetry system in the Marikina River Basin was then set up which led to the Bureau's initial efforts in flood forecasting.[2]

Satellite meteorology came to the Philippines in 1970 when an Automatic Picture Transmission system was set-up to intercept phototransmission of the upper atmosphere by weather satellites. The first post-war major research initiative of the Bureau was launched in the same year. Called the "Typhoon Research Project, it was launched in 1970 was made possible through the financial assistance of the National Science Development Board. In 1971, upon invitation of the Philippines, the ECAFE/WMO Joint Unit was reallocated in Manila and was rechristened as the Typhoon Committee Secretariat. In the same year, the linking of five weather surveillance radars installed across different parts of the country and the Manila radar station (it was not yet destroyed until 1978) paved the way for the Weather Radar Surveillance Network of the Bureau.[2]

In 1972, at the height of Martial Law of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, the Weather Bureau was abolished and a new agency, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) was established pursuant to the Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Science Act of 1972 (Presidential Decree No. 78, s. 1972) as part of the Integrated Reorganization Plan (Presidential Decree No. 1, s. 1972) of the Philippine Government. This new agency was placed under the authority of the Department of National Defense (DND).[6]

Four organization units initially comprised PAGASA. The National Weather Service undertakes the preparation and subsequent prompt issuance of forecasts and warnings of weather and flood conditions. The National Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Data Service undertakes the acquisition, collection, quality control, processing, and archiving of atmospheric and allied data. The National Geophysical and Astronomical Service undertakes observations and studies of seismological and astronomical phenomena, as well as provides the official time for the country. The National Institute of Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Sciences is responsible for the training of scientists and technical personnel with respect to atmospheric, geophysical and astronomical sciences. In 1977, the Typhoon Moderation Research and Development Office and the National Flood Forecasting Office were placed under administrative supervision of PAGASA, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1149, s. 1977.[7]

PAGASA saw a lot of accomplishments during the Marcos Era. In 1973, the Pampanga River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning Project, a joint undertaking of the PAGASA and the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation and Communications, was inaugurated, and upon recommendations of a survey mission, the Japanese Government provided the equipment and training of personnel for the project. Early in 1974, PAGASA, in cooperation with the Office of Civil Defense, put up a radio station with callsign DZCA. Through a network of automatic stations situated at strategic points along the Pampanga River and its major tributaries, data on the rise and fall of the river levels are sent to the Flood Forecasting Center in the Central Office via existing telemetry system. Impressed with the success of the Flood Forecasting System in the Pampanga River Basin, President Marcos instructed PAGASA to explore the possibility of putting up a similar system in the Agno, Bicol and Cagayan River Basins.The UNESCO-sponsored Regional Seismological Network in Southeast Asia set up an office in the PAGASA Geophysical Observatory in 1974. It sought to standardize the training of personnel and seismological equipment, as well as to improve the accuracy of determining the epicenters of earthquakes in the region. Subsequently, in 1977, a strong motion accelerograph network was put up in Metro Manila. The network was designed to record strong earthquake vibrations in the area. On April 18, 1979, the Science Garden Planetarium was opened to the public. Equipped with a Minolta planetarium projector, it has a seating capacity of 90 people. In June 1981, the Bicol flood forecasting sub-system based on the Pampanga River system was inaugurated. In May of the following year, all three sub-systems (Agno, Bicol and Cagayan) became fully operational. On the same occasion, the Ground Receiving Station for the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite was inaugurated, bringing the satellite meteorology of the Philippines to a giant leap forward.

In April 1983, Flood Forecasting and Warning System for Dam Operations was jointly undertaken by PAGASA, National Power Corporation, and National Irrigation Administration, with financial assistance in the form of loans from the Japanese Government. Phase 1 of the project covered Angat and Pantabangan Dams, while Phase II covered the Magat, Binga, and Ambuklao Dams, as well as the Data Information Center for the project.

The subsequent efforts of the government to centrally direct the integration of all government scientific and technological efforts led to the transfer of PAGASA to the National Science and Technology Authority through Executive Order No. 984, s. 1984.[8] The reorganization also transferred the seismological services of PAGASA to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology (PHIVOLC), now Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).[9]

Following the reestablishment of the democratic government after the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos (see People Power Revolution) in 1986, President Corazon C. Aquino ordered the reorganization of the National Science and Technology Authority (now called Department of Science and Technology) and all agencies under its authority, pursuant to Executive Order 128, s. 1987[10] Five major branches (Weather, Flood Forecasting, Climatology & Agrometeorology, Astronomical, Geophysical & Space Science, and National Disaster Reduction) and three support divisions (Administrative, Finance & Management, and Engineering & Maintenance) now constitute PAGASA. This organizational structure remained until October 2008, when the agency went under a Rationalization Program pursuant to Executive Order 366, s. 2004 issued by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.[11] The Rationalization Program of the government was aimed at making the government focus its efforts on vital/core functions and enhance effectiveness and efficiency of public service.[2]

On January 15, 2003, PAGASA transferred its Central Office from 1424 Quezon Avenue to its permanent headquarters at the Science Garden, located along Agham Road in Diliman, Quezon City. Meanwhile, scientific and technical operations are currently being undertaken in its Weather and Flood Forecasting Center, a facility located just in front of its current headquarters.[2]

On November 3, 2015, Republic Act No. 10692, or the PAGASA Modernization Act of 2015 was signed into law by President Benigno Aquino III. The government will initially spend three billion pesos from the PAGCOR revenues (with a three-year span) for the modernization fund of the state weather bureau, that includes the upgrading and acquisition of equipment, new salary scheme for the employees, manpower training for future weathercasters and the creation of PAGASA Data Center, among other plans.[12]

PAGASA monitors tropical cyclone activity and issues warnings if they fall within the Philippine Area of Responsibility or PAR. This area is bound by an imaginary line drawn along the following coordinates:

Tropical cyclone bulletins are issued by PAGASA every six hours for all tropical cyclones within this area that have or are anticipated to make landfall within the Philippines, or twelve hours when cyclones are not affecting land.

As of May 20, 2015, PAGASA used to classify tropical cyclones into five categories:

On August 27, 2007, PAGASA announced that it was putting up a tornado warning system, days after several more powerful and destructive tornadoes damaged houses in Central Luzon. On August 23, 2007, a 2nd tornado destroyed 30 houses in 4 villages in San Miguel, Bulacan, the first having damaged 27 houses in San Rafael on Aug. 8.[15]

However, as of present time, the weather bureau has yet to provide such warnings.

The climate of the Philippines is discussed in detail on the Climatology page of the PAGASA website.

PAGASA lists patterns of temperature, humidity, rainfall, seasons, and four climate Types, for the Philippines.

Climate Types are:

On August 6, 2010, President Benigno Aquino III announced the removal of Prisco Nilo as the administrator of PAGASA. PAGASA was directly under Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary for Research and Development (R&D) Graciano Yumul.[16] A special order from DOST Secretary Mario Montejo, dated August 5, 2010, designated Yumul as the new PAGASA administrator. Nilo was criticized for lack of modern equipment, forecast inaccuracies, slow voluntary response and the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy in September 2009, and Typhoon Basyang in July 2010.

PAGASA installed its first Doppler weather radar station in Baler, Aurora and another in Baguio. The new weather radars can monitor the typhoon and its movements, amount of rainfall either moderate or heavy and real-time atmospheric forecasts using a visual radar monitor, an example was that of Typhoon Basyang in 2010. Data are used for warnings (such as rainfall) through Project NOAH since June 2012.

PAGASA has installed at least ten Doppler weather radars in the country, currently operational stations are as follows:

Moreover, the weather bureau is now constructing at least two more Doppler weather radar stations in Busuanga (Palawan) and Zamboanga City,[17]. It aims to have thirteen operational radar stations nationwide by the end of 2013.[18]

Before Nilo's leave, an automated rain gauge was also installed in a telecommunications cellsite in Montalban, Rizal (in cooperation with Smart Communications) to monitor excess rainfall as a warning signal to avert the effects of flashfloods and landslides by using cellphones, the weather bureau plans to adopt its swift transfer of data from ground forecasting stations to main headquarters utilizing its automated data acquisition system modeled after Japan Meteorological Agency's AMeDAS in the near future as a solution to forecast inaccuracy and their problems. The Japan International Cooperation Agency will provide modernization programs to enhance the services of PAGASA include meteorology and flood forecasting, and tornado warnings as precautionary measures. Seven new Doppler weather radars placed in different locations are scheduled to operate in June 2011.

In addition, the weather bureau introduced its Landslide Early Warning Sensor (LEWS) (recently invented by the University of the Philippines) to reduce landslide casualties in case of landslides. Using this new device, the sensor picks out signals in the form of computer data to show soil and ground movements and is transferred to the ground station immediately in an event of a landslide, and in order to launch forced evacuation. PAGASA hopes to install 10 sensors in five landslide prone areas by 2012, when it is tested and ready to bury on ground.

Another innovation to flood alerts was the adoption of an Automated Weather Station (AWS) designed to monitor amounts of rainfall and flood levels in case of an incoming warning, the AWS can be controlled by a computer even it is unmanned and a siren to evacuate people for emergencies. Few of the AWS units are installed in few points of the country and many more units will be installed to extend its coverage.

In 2011, Taiwan donated fifteen weather stations to the Philippines' Department of Science and Technology, and it has been reported that "The Philippines weather bureau will also share information from the new weather stations with Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau, helping expand the range of Taiwan's weather forecasts."[19] PAGASA and the Philippines Department of Science and Technology work jointly in the implementation of weather stations.[20]


who proposed that the eye must have receptors for three colors of light

Two complementary theories of color vision are the trichromatic theory and the opponent process theory. The trichromatic theory, or Young–Helmholtz theory, proposed in the 19th century by Thomas Young and Hermann von Helmholtz, as mentioned above, states that the retina's three types of cones are preferentially sensitive to blue, green, and red. Ewald Hering proposed the opponent process theory in 1872.[5] It states that the visual system interprets color in an antagonistic way: red vs. green, blue vs. yellow, black vs. white. Both theories are now accepted as valid, describing different stages in visual physiology, visualized in the diagram on the right.[6] Green ←→ Magenta and Blue ←→ Yellow are scales with mutually exclusive boundaries. In the same way that there cannot exist a "slightly negative" positive number, a single eye cannot perceive a bluish-yellow or a reddish-green. (But such impossible colors can be perceived due to binocular rivalry.)

Color vision

Color vision is the ability of an organism or machine to distinguish objects based on the wavelengths (or frequencies) of the light they reflect, emit, or transmit. Colors can be measured and quantified in various ways; indeed, a person's perception of colors is a subjective process whereby the brain responds to the stimuli that are produced when incoming light reacts with the several types of cone cells in the eye. In essence, different people see the same illuminated object or light source in different ways.

Isaac Newton discovered that white light, after being split into its component colours when passed through a dispersive prism, could, by passing them through a different prism, be recombined to make white light.

The characteristic colours are, from long to short wavelengths (and, correspondingly, from low to high frequency), red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Sufficient differences in wavelength cause a difference in the perceived hue; the just-noticeable difference in wavelength varies from about 1 nm in the blue-green and yellow wavelengths, to 10 nm and more in the longer red and shorter blue wavelengths. Although the human eye can distinguish up to a few hundred hues, when those pure spectral colors are mixed together or diluted with white light, the number of distinguishable chromaticities can be quite high.[ambiguous]

In very low light levels, vision is scotopic: light is detected by rod cells of the retina. Rods are maximally sensitive to wavelengths near 500 nm, and play little, if any, role in colour vision. In brighter light, such as daylight, vision is photopic: light is detected by cone cells which are responsible for colour vision. Cones are sensitive to a range of wavelengths, but are most sensitive to wavelengths near 555 nm. Between these regions, mesopic vision comes into play and both rods and cones provide signals to the retinal ganglion cells. The shift in colour perception from dim light to daylight gives rise to differences known as the Purkinje effect

The perception of "white" is formed by the entire spectrum of visible light, or by mixing colours of just a few wavelengths in animals with few types of colour receptors. In humans, white light can be perceived by combining wavelengths such as red, green, and blue, or just a pair of complementary colours such as blue and yellow.[1]

Perception of color begins with specialized retinal cells containing pigments with different spectral sensitivities, known as cone cells. In humans, there are three types of cones sensitive to three different spectra, resulting in trichromatic color vision.

Each individual cone contains pigments composed of opsin apoprotein, which is covalently linked to either 11-cis-hydroretinal or more rarely 11-cis-dehydroretinal.[2]

The cones are conventionally labeled according to the ordering of the wavelengths of the peaks of their spectral sensitivities: short (S), medium (M), and long (L) cone types. These three types do not correspond well to particular colors as we know them. Rather, the perception of color is achieved by a complex process that starts with the differential output of these cells in the retina and it will be finalized in the visual cortex and associative areas of the brain.

For example, while the L cones have been referred to simply as red receptors, microspectrophotometry has shown that their peak sensitivity is in the greenish-yellow region of the spectrum. Similarly, the S- and M-cones do not directly correspond to blue and green, although they are often described as such. The RGB color model, therefore, is a convenient means for representing color, but is not directly based on the types of cones in the human eye.

The peak response of human cone cells varies, even among individuals with so-called normal color vision;[3] in some non-human species this polymorphic variation is even greater, and it may well be adaptive.[4]

A range of wavelengths of light stimulates each of these receptor types to varying degrees. Yellowish-green light, for example, stimulates both L and M cones equally strongly, but only stimulates S-cones weakly. Red light, on the other hand, stimulates L cones much more than M cones, and S cones hardly at all; blue-green light stimulates M cones more than L cones, and S cones a bit more strongly, and is also the peak stimulant for rod cells; and blue light stimulates S cones more strongly than red or green light, but L and M cones more weakly. The brain combines the information from each type of receptor to give rise to different perceptions of different wavelengths of light.

The opsins (photopigments) present in the L and M cones are encoded on the X chromosome; defective encoding of these leads to the two most common forms of color blindness. The OPN1LW gene, which codes for the opsin present in the L cones, is highly polymorphic (a recent study by Verrelli and Tishkoff found 85 variants in a sample of 236 men).[9] A very small percentage of women may have an extra type of color receptor because they have different alleles for the gene for the L opsin on each X chromosome. X chromosome inactivation means that while only one opsin is expressed in each cone cell, both types occur overall, and some women may therefore show a degree of tetrachromatic color vision.[10] Variations in OPN1MW, which codes the opsin expressed in M cones, appear to be rare, and the observed variants have no effect on spectral sensitivity.

Color processing begins at a very early level in the visual system (even within the retina) through initial color opponent mechanisms. Both Helmholtz's trichromatic theory, and Hering's opponent process theory are therefore correct, but trichromacy arises at the level of the receptors, and opponent processes arise at the level of retinal ganglion cells and beyond. In Hering's theory opponent mechanisms refer to the opposing color effect of red–green, blue–yellow, and light–dark. However, in the visual system, it is the activity of the different receptor types that are opposed. Some midget retinal ganglion cells oppose L and M cone activity, which corresponds loosely to red–green opponency, but actually runs along an axis from blue-green to magenta. Small bistratified retinal ganglion cells oppose input from the S cones to input from the L and M cones. This is often thought to correspond to blue–yellow opponency, but actually runs along a color axis from yellow-green to violet.

Visual information is then sent to the brain from retinal ganglion cells via the optic nerve to the optic chiasma: a point where the two optic nerves meet and information from the temporal (contralateral) visual field crosses to the other side of the brain. After the optic chiasma the visual tracts are referred to as the optic tracts, which enter the thalamus to synapse at the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN).

The lateral geniculate nucleus is divided into laminae (zones), of which there are three types: the M-laminae, consisting primarily of M-cells, the P-laminae, consisting primarily of P-cells, and the koniocellular laminae. M- and P-cells receive relatively balanced input from both L- and M-cones throughout most of the retina, although this seems to not be the case at the fovea, with midget cells synapsing in the P-laminae. The koniocellular laminae receive axons from the small bistratified ganglion cells.[11][12]

After synapsing at the LGN, the visual tract continues on back to the primary visual cortex (V1) located at the back of the brain within the occipital lobe. Within V1 there is a distinct band (striation). This is also referred to as "striate cortex", with other cortical visual regions referred to collectively as "extrastriate cortex". It is at this stage that color processing becomes much more complicated.

In V1 the simple three-color segregation begins to break down. Many cells in V1 respond to some parts of the spectrum better than others, but this "color tuning" is often different depending on the adaptation state of the visual system. A given cell that might respond best to long wavelength light if the light is relatively bright might then become responsive to all wavelengths if the stimulus is relatively dim. Because the color tuning of these cells is not stable, some believe that a different, relatively small, population of neurons in V1 is responsible for color vision. These specialized "color cells" often have receptive fields that can compute local cone ratios. Such "double-opponent" cells were initially described in the goldfish retina by Nigel Daw;[13][14] their existence in primates was suggested by David H. Hubel and Torsten Wiesel and subsequently proven by Bevil Conway.[15] As Margaret Livingstone and David Hubel showed, double opponent cells are clustered within localized regions of V1 called blobs, and are thought to come in two flavors, red–green and blue–yellow.[16] Red–green cells compare the relative amounts of red–green in one part of a scene with the amount of red–green in an adjacent part of the scene, responding best to local color contrast (red next to green). Modeling studies have shown that double-opponent cells are ideal candidates for the neural machinery of color constancy explained by Edwin H. Land in his retinex theory.[17]

From the V1 blobs, color information is sent to cells in the second visual area, V2. The cells in V2 that are most strongly color tuned are clustered in the "thin stripes" that, like the blobs in V1, stain for the enzyme cytochrome oxidase (separating the thin stripes are interstripes and thick stripes, which seem to be concerned with other visual information like motion and high-resolution form). Neurons in V2 then synapse onto cells in the extended V4. This area includes not only V4, but two other areas in the posterior inferior temporal cortex, anterior to area V3, the dorsal posterior inferior temporal cortex, and posterior TEO.[19][20] Area V4 was initially suggested by Semir Zeki to be exclusively dedicated to color, but this is now thought to be incorrect.[21] In particular, the presence in V4 of orientation-selective cells led to the view that V4 is involved in processing both color and form associated with color.[22] Color processing in the extended V4 occurs in millimeter-sized color modules called globs.[19][20] This is the first part of the brain in which color is processed in terms of the full range of hues found in color space.[19][20]

Anatomical studies have shown that neurons in extended V4 provide input to the inferior temporal lobe. "IT" cortex is thought to integrate color information with shape and form, although it has been difficult to define the appropriate criteria for this claim. Despite this murkiness, it has been useful to characterize this pathway (V1 > V2 > V4 > IT) as the ventral stream or the "what pathway", distinguished from the dorsal stream ("where pathway") that is thought to analyze motion, among many other features.

Nothing categorically distinguishes the visible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation from invisible portions of the broader spectrum. In this sense, color is not a property of electromagnetic radiation, but a feature of visual perception by an observer. Furthermore, there is an arbitrary mapping between wavelengths of light in the visual spectrum and human experiences of color. Although most people are assumed to have the same mapping, the philosopher John Locke recognized that alternatives are possible, and described one such hypothetical case with the "inverted spectrum" thought experiment. For example, someone with an inverted spectrum might experience green while seeing'red' (700 nm) light, and experience red while seeing 'green' (530 nm) light. Synesthesia (or ideasthesia) provides some atypical but illuminating examples of subjective color experience triggered by input that is not even light, such as sounds or shapes. The possibility of a clean dissociation between color experience from properties of the world reveals that color is a subjective psychological phenomenon.

The Himba people have been found to categorize colors differently from most Euro-Americans and are able to easily distinguish close shades of green, barely discernible for most people.[23] The Himba have created a very different color scheme which divides the spectrum to dark shades (zuzu in Himba), very light (vapa), vivid blue and green (buru) and dry colors as an adaptation to their specific way of life.

Perception of color depends heavily on the context in which the perceived object is presented. For example, a white page under blue, pink, or purple light will reflect mostly blue, pink, or purple light to the eye, respectively; the brain, however, compensates for the effect of lighting (based on the color shift of surrounding objects) and is more likely to interpret the page as white under all three conditions, a phenomenon known as color constancy

Many species can see light with frequencies outside the human "visible spectrum". Bees and many other insects can detect ultraviolet light, which helps them to find nectar in flowers. Plant species that depend on insect pollination may owe reproductive success to ultraviolet "colors" and patterns rather than how colorful they appear to humans. Birds, too, can see into the ultraviolet (300–400 nm), and some have sex-dependent markings on their plumage that are visible only in the ultraviolet range.[24][25] Many animals that can see into the ultraviolet range, however, cannot see red light or any other reddish wavelengths. For example, bees' visible spectrum ends at about 590 nm, just before the orange wavelengths start. Birds, however, can see some red wavelengths, although not as far into the light spectrum as humans.[26] It is an incorrect popular belief that the common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infrared and ultraviolet light,[27] their color vision extends into the ultraviolet but not the infrared.[28]

The basis for this variation is the number of cone types that differ between species. Mammals in general have color vision of a limited type, and usually have red-green color blindness, with only two types of cones. Humans, some primates, and some marsupials see an extended range of colors, but only by comparison with other mammals. Most non-mammalian vertebrate species distinguish different colors at least as well as humans, and many species of birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, and some invertebrates, have more than three cone types and probably superior color vision to humans.

In most Catarrhini (Old World monkeys and apesâ€”primates closely related to humans) there are three types of color receptors (known as cone cells), resulting in trichromatic color vision. These primates, like humans, are known as trichromats. Many other primates (including New World monkeys) and other mammals are dichromats, which is the general color vision state for mammals that are active during the day (i.e., felines, canines, ungulates). Nocturnal mammals may have little or no color vision. Trichromat non-primate mammals are rare.[29][30]

Many invertebrates have color vision. Honeybees and bumblebees have trichromatic color vision which is insensitive to red but sensitive to ultraviolet. Osmia rufa, for example, possess a trichromatic color system, which they use in foraging for pollen from flowers.[31] In view of the importance of color vision to bees one might expect these receptor sensitivities to reflect their specific visual ecology; for example the types of flowers that they visit. However, the main groups of hymenopteran insects excluding ants (i.e., bees, wasps and sawflies) mostly have three types of photoreceptor, with spectral sensitivities similar to the honeybee's.[32] Papilio butterflies possess six types of photoreceptors and may have pentachromatic vision.[33] The most complex color vision system in the animal kingdom has been found in stomatopods (such as the mantis shrimp) with up to 12 spectral receptor types thought to work as multiple dichromatic units.[34]

Vertebrate animals such as tropical fish and birds sometimes have more complex color vision systems than humans; thus the many subtle colors they exhibit generally serve as direct signals for other fish or birds, and not to signal mammals.[35] In bird vision, tetrachromacy is achieved through up to four cone types, depending on species. Each single cone contains one of the four main types of vertebrate cone photopigment (LWS/ MWS, RH2, SWS2 and SWS1) and has a colored oil droplet in its inner segment.[32] Brightly colored oil droplets inside the cones shift or narrow the spectral sensitivity of the cell. It has been suggested that it is likely that pigeons are pentachromats.[36]

Reptiles and amphibians also have four cone types (occasionally five), and probably see at least the same number of colors that humans do, or perhaps more. In addition, some nocturnal geckos have the capability of seeing color in dim light.[37]

In the evolution of mammals, segments of color vision were lost, then for a few species of primates, regained by gene duplication. Eutherian mammals other than primates (for example, dogs, mammalian farm animals) generally have less-effective two-receptor (dichromatic) color perception systems, which distinguish blue, green, and yellowâ€”but cannot distinguish oranges and reds. There is some evidence that a few mammals, such as cats, have redeveloped the ability to distinguish longer wavelength colors, in at least a limited way, via one-amino-acid mutations in opsin genes.[38] The adaptation to see reds is particularly important for primate mammals, since it leads to identification of fruits, and also newly sprouting reddish leaves, which are particularly nutritious.

However, even among primates, full color vision differs between New World and Old World monkeys. Old World primates, including monkeys and all apes, have vision similar to humans. New World monkeys may or may not have color sensitivity at this level: in most species, males are dichromats, and about 60% of females are trichromats, but the owl monkeys are cone monochromats, and both sexes of howler monkeys are trichromats.[39][40][41][42] Visual sensitivity differences between males and females in a single species is due to the gene for yellow-green sensitive opsin protein (which confers ability to differentiate red from green) residing on the X sex chromosome.

Several marsupials such as the fat-tailed dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata) have been shown to have trichromatic color vision.[43]

Marine mammals, adapted for low-light vision, have only a single cone type and are thus monochromats.[citation needed]

Color perception mechanisms are highly dependent on evolutionary factors, of which the most prominent is thought to be satisfactory recognition of food sources. In herbivorous primates, color perception is essential for finding proper (immature) leaves. In hummingbirds, particular flower types are often recognized by color as well. On the other hand, nocturnal mammals have less-developed color vision, since adequate light is needed for cones to function properly. There is evidence that ultraviolet light plays a part in color perception in many branches of the animal kingdom, especially insects. In general, the optical spectrum encompasses the most common electronic transitions in matter and is therefore the most useful for collecting information about the environment.

The evolution of trichromatic color vision in primates occurred as the ancestors of modern monkeys, apes, and humans switched to diurnal (daytime) activity and began consuming fruits and leaves from flowering plants.[45] Color vision, with UV discrimination, is also present in a number of arthropodsâ€”the only terrestrial animals besides the vertebrates to possess this trait.[46]

Some animals can distinguish colors in the ultraviolet spectrum. The UV spectrum falls outside the human visible range, except for some cataract surgery patients.[47] Birds, turtles, lizards, many fish and some rodents have UV receptors in their retinas.[48] These animals can see the UV patterns found on flowers and other wildlife that are otherwise invisible to the human eye.

Ultraviolet vision is an especially important adaptation in birds. It allows birds to spot small prey from a distance, navigate, avoid predators, and forage while flying at high speeds. Birds also utilize their broad spectrum vision to recognize other birds, and in sexual selection.[49][50]

A "physical color" is a combination of pure spectral colors (in the visible range). Since there are, in principle, infinitely many distinct spectral colors, the set of all physical colors may be thought of as an infinite-dimensional vector space, in fact a Hilbert space. We call this space Hcolor. More technically, the space of physical colors may be considered to be the (mathematical) cone over the simplex whose vertices are the spectral colors, with white at the centroid of the simplex, black at the apex of the cone, and the monochromatic color associated with any given vertex somewhere along the line from that vertex to the apex depending on its brightness.

An element C of Hcolor is a function from the range of visible wavelengths—considered as an interval of real numbers [Wmin,Wmax]—to the real numbers, assigning to each wavelength w in [Wmin,Wmax] its intensity C(w).

A humanly perceived color may be modeled as three numbers: the extents to which each of the 3 types of cones is stimulated. Thus a humanly perceived color may be thought of as a point in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. We call this space R3color.

Since each wavelength w stimulates each of the 3 types of cone cells to a known extent, these extents may be represented by 3 functions s(w), m(w), l(w) corresponding to the response of the S, M, and L cone cells, respectively.

Finally, since a beam of light can be composed of many different wavelengths, to determine the extent to which a physical color C in Hcolor stimulates each cone cell, we must calculate the integral (with respect to w), over the interval [Wmin,Wmax], of C(w)·s(w), of C(w)·m(w), and of C(w)·l(w). The triple of resulting numbers associates with each physical color C (which is an element in Hcolor) a particular perceived color (which is a single point in R3color). This association is easily seen to be linear. It may also easily be seen that many different elements in the "physical" space Hcolor can all result in the same single perceived color in R3color, so a perceived color is not unique to one physical color.

Thus human color perception is determined by a specific, non-unique linear mapping from the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space Hcolor to the 3-dimensional Euclidean space R3color.

Technically, the image of the (mathematical) cone over the simplex whose vertices are the spectral colors, by this linear mapping, is also a (mathematical) cone in R3color. Moving directly away from the vertex of this cone represents maintaining the same chromaticity while increasing its intensity. Taking a cross-section of this cone yields a 2D chromaticity space. Both the 3D cone and its projection or cross-section are convex sets; that is, any mixture of spectral colors is also a color.

In practice, it would be quite difficult to physiologically measure an individual's three cone responses to various physical color stimuli. Instead, a psychophysical approach is taken. Three specific benchmark test lights are typically used; let us call them S, M, and L. To calibrate human perceptual space, scientists allowed human subjects to try to match any physical color by turning dials to create specific combinations of intensities (IS, IM, IL) for the S, M, and L lights, resp., until a match was found. This needed only to be done for physical colors that are spectral, since a linear combination of spectral colors will be matched by the same linear combination of their (IS, IM, IL) matches. Note that in practice, often at least one of S, M, L would have to be added with some intensity to the physical test color, and that combination matched by a linear combination of the remaining 2 lights. Across different individuals (without color blindness), the matchings turned out to be nearly identical.

By considering all the resulting combinations of intensities (IS, IM, IL) as a subset of 3-space, a model for human perceptual color space is formed. (Note that when one of S, M, L had to be added to the test color, its intensity was counted as negative.) Again, this turns out to be a (mathematical) cone, not a quadric, but rather all rays through the origin in 3-space passing through a certain convex set. Again, this cone has the property that moving directly away from the origin corresponds to increasing the intensity of the S, M, L lights proportionately. Again, a cross-section of this cone is a planar shape that is (by definition) the space of "chromaticities" (informally: distinct colors); one particular such cross section, corresponding to constant X+Y+Z of the CIE 1931 color space, gives the CIE chromaticity diagram.

This system implies that for any hue or non-spectral color not on the boundary of the chromaticity diagram, there are infinitely many distinct physical spectra that are all perceived as that hue or color. So, in general there is no such thing as the combination of spectral colors that we perceive as (say) a specific version of tan; instead there are infinitely many possibilities that produce that exact color. The boundary colors that are pure spectral colors can be perceived only in response to light that is purely at the associated wavelength, while the boundary colors on the "line of purples" can each only be generated by a specific ratio of the pure violet and the pure red at the ends of the visible spectral colors.

The CIE chromaticity diagram is horseshoe-shaped, with its curved edge corresponding to all spectral colors (the spectral locus), and the remaining straight edge corresponding to the most saturated purples, mixtures of red and violet.

In color science, chromatic adaptation is the estimation of the representation of an object under a different light source from the one in which it was recorded. A common application is to find a chromatic adaptation transform (CAT) that will make the recording of a neutral object appear neutral (color balance), while keeping other colors also looking realistic.[51] For example, chromatic adaptation transforms are used when converting images between ICC profiles with different white points. Adobe Photoshop, for example, uses the Bradford CAT.[52]

In color vision, chromatic adaptation refers to color constancy; the ability of the visual system to preserve the appearance of an object under a wide range of light sources.[53]


what is the name of the special cake eaten in france on 6 january

The "king cake" takes its name from the biblical kings. In Western Christian liturgical tradition, the Solemnity of Epiphany—commemorated on January 6—celebrates the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. The Eve of Epiphany (the night of January 5) is popularly known as Twelfth Night (the Twelve Days of Christmas are counted from Christmas Eve until this night). The season for king cake extends from the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Twelfth Night and Epiphany Day), up until the end of Shrovetide: Mardi Gras, "Fat Tuesday," or Shrove Tuesday; the day before the start of Lent. Some organizations or groups of friends may have "king cake parties" every week through the Carnival season. In Portugal and France, whoever gets the King cake trinket is expected to buy the next cake for these get-togethers.

King cake

A king cake (sometimes shown as kingcake, kings' cake, king's cake, or three kings cake) is a type of cake associated in a number of countries with the festival of Epiphany at the end of the Christmas season; in other places, it is associated with the pre-Lenten celebrations of Mardi Gras/Carnival.

What started out roughly 300 years ago as a dry French breadâ€“type dough with sugar on top and a bean inside now comes in many varieties depending on the country. Some king cakes are made of a sweet brioche dough in the shape of a hollow circle with a glazed topping sprinkled with colored sugar. Hundreds of thousands of King Cakes are eaten in New Orleans during the Carnival season. In other countries, king cakes are made with a puff pastry, filled with one of several fillings (e.g., almond, apple, chocolate/pear, etc.), and have a small figurine hidden inside. The figurine changes from bakery to bakery and often represents a hit movie or other cultural icon.

The cake often has a small plastic baby (to represent the Baby Jesus) inside or underneath; and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations.[1][2]

It is a popular food item during the Christmas season (Christmas Eve to Epiphany) in Belgium, France, Quebec and Switzerland (galette or gâteau des Rois or galette des rois), Portugal (bolo rei), Spain and Latin America (roscón or rosca de reyes) and, Greece and Cyprus (vasilopita) and Bulgaria (banitsa). In the United States, Carnival is traditionally observed in the Southeastern region of the country, particularly in New Orleans, Bay Saint Louis, Mobile, Pensacola, Galveston, and other towns and cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In these regions, the king cake is closely associated with Mardi Gras traditions and is served throughout the Carnival season, which lasts from Epiphany Eve to Fat Tuesday.[3] The King Cake tradition is thought to have been brought to New Orleans from France in 1870.[4] Now, as part of the celebration, it is traditional to bake a cake (King Cake) in honor of the three kings. The official colors of Mardi Gras – created in 1872 by the Krewe of Rex – are purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.[3]

Related culinary traditions are the tortell of Catalonia, the gâteau des Rois or reiaume in Provence or the galette des Rois in the northern half of France, and the Greek and Cypriot vasilopita. The galette des Rois is made with puff pastry and frangipane (while the gâteau des Rois is made with brioche and candied fruits). A little bean was traditionally hidden in it, a custom taken from the Saturnalia in the Roman Empire: the one who stumbled upon the bean was called "king of the feast." In the galette des Rois, since 1870 the beans have been replaced first by porcelain and now by plastic figurines.

Samuel Pepys recorded a party in London on Epiphany night, 6 January 1659/1660, and described the role the cake played in the choosing of a "King" and "Queen" for the occasion: "...to my cousin Stradwick, where, after a good supper, there being there my father, mothers, brothers, and sister, my cousin Scott and his wife, Mr. Drawwater and his wife, and her brother, Mr. Stradwick, we had a brave cake brought us, and in the choosing, Pall was Queen and Mr. Stradwick was King. After that my wife and I bid adieu and came home, it being still a great frost."[5] The choosing of King and Queen from the pie, usually by the inclusion of a bean and a pea, was a traditional English Twelfth Night festivity. The cake was called a "Twelfth Cake", "Twelfth-night cake", or "Twelfth-tide cake".[6]

The cake traditionally celebrating Epiphany in France and Quebec is sold in most bakeries during the month of January. Three versions exist: in northern France, Quebec, and Belgium the cake called galette des rois in French or Koningentaart in Flemish/Dutch (which can be either circular or rectangular) consists of flaky puff pastry layers with a dense center of frangipane or apple. In the west of France a sablé galette is made, a form of sweetcrust pastry. In southern France—Occitania, Roussillon, Provence, Catalan where it is called tortell—the cake called gâteau des rois or royaume, is a torus-shaped brioche with candied fruits and sugar, similar in its shape and colors to a crown. This later version is also common to Spain and very similar to New-Orleans king cake.

Tradition holds that the cake is “to draw the kings” to the Epiphany. A figurine, la fève, which can represent anything from a car to a cartoon character, is hidden in the cake and the person who finds the trinket in his or her slice becomes king for the day and will have to offer the next cake. Originally, la fève was literally a broad bean (fève), but it was replaced in 1870 by a variety of figurines out of porcelain or—more recently—plastic.[7] These figurines have become popular collectibles and can often be bought separately. Individual bakeries may offer a specialized line of fèves depicting diverse themes from great works of art to classic movie stars and popular cartoon characters. The cakes are usually sold in special bags, some of which can be used to heat the cake in a microwave without ruining the crispness of the cake. A paper crown is included with the cake to crown the "king" who finds the fève in their piece of cake. To ensure a random distribution of the cake shares, it is traditional for the youngest person to place him- or herself under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person in charge of the service.

Formerly, the cake was divided into as many shares as there were guests, plus one. The latter, called "the share of God," "share of the Virgin Mary," or "share of the poor" was intended for the first poor person to arrive at the home.[8]

The roscón de reyes in Spain or rosca de reyes in Latin America is traditionally eaten on January 6, during the celebration of the Día de los reyes magos (Epiphany or the "Day of the Three Wisemen"). In most of Spain, Mexico and in Latino communities in the United States, this is the day when children get presents from the Three Wise Men. Before going to bed, children in Mexico leave a shoe outside their home, filled with hay or dried grass and a bowl of water as a present for the animals the reyes ride, along with a note for the reyes. The roscón de reyes has an oval shape to symbolize a crown. For decoration, people sometimes use dried and candied fruits such as figs, quince or cherries. The fruit symbolizes the many jewels that a crown would have.

The tradition of placing a bean, candy or figurine of the baby Jesus inside the cake is followed. Whoever finds it must take it to the nearest church on February 2, DÃa de la candelaria (Candlemas Day), which celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. According to the Jewish tradition, an infant was to be presented to God in the Temple forty days after his birth. The use of candles on Candlemas represents the light of Christ presented to the world. In Mexico and the Mexican diaspora in the United States, people who find the baby Jesus figurine in their piece of cake usually agree to host a party on Candlemas (February 2) and to provide the guests with tamales and atole.[9]

In Argentina, the tradition of consuming a rosca on January 6 is also followed, although no figurine is included. In addition, a similar version with whole cooked eggs on top of the cake is also served on Easter as rosca de Pascua.

In some places, the rosca de reyes is replaced by panettone.[10]

In the southern United States, the tradition was brought to the area by Basque settlers in 1718.[11] Originally, it was a cinnamon-filled bready cake eaten to celebrate Epiphany, but it is now associated with Carnival (also known as Mardi Gras). Celebrated across the Gulf Coast region from the Florida Panhandle to East Texas, King cake parties are documented back to the 18th century.

The king cake of the Louisiana tradition comes in a number of styles. The most simple, said to be the most traditional, is a ring of twisted cinnamon roll-style dough. It may be topped with icing or sugar, which may be colored to show the traditional Mardi Gras colors of green, yellow, and purple. King cakes may also be filled with additional foodstuffs, the most common being cream cheese, praline, cinnamon, or strawberry. A so-called "Zulu King Cake" has chocolate icing with a coconut filling, because the Krewe of Zulu parade's most celebrated throw is a coconut. Some bakers now offer king cakes for other holidays that immediately surround the Mardi Gras season, such as king cakes with green and red icing for Christmas, cakes with pink and red icing for Valentine's Day, and cakes with green and white icing for St. Patrick's Day. Others have gone a step further and produce specialty king cakes from the beginning of football season for Louisiana State University and New Orleans Saints tailgate parties, then for Halloween, then Thanksgivingâ€”and do not cease until after Mardi Gras season, when they produce an Easter holiday king cake.

In the Southern culture, whoever finds the trinket must provide the next king cake or host the next Mardi Gras party.

Starting on Epiphany on January 6, residents begin holding parties especially dedicated to King Cake. King Cake parties bring families and community members together to celebrate the season of Mardi Gras, with its krewe parades and festivals. King Cake is so symbolic of the Mardi Gras celebration for residents it is believed that consuming King Cake outside of the Carnival season will result in rain on Mardi Gras day.[12] The dessert’s “search for the baby,” the small figurine located inside the cake, is a fun way for residents of New Orleans to celebrate their Christian faith.[13]

The dessert’s significance to the city was evident in the first Mardi Gras season (2006) after Hurricane Katrina: thousands of King Cake orders flooded bakeries both inside and outside of Louisiana, an example of how significant the dessert’s tradition is both inside and outside of the region.[14]

Some sports teams around the area have also infused the tradition of the king cake baby into their teams. The Miami Marlins AAA minor league baseball affiliate, formerly known as the New Orleans Zephyrs, changed their name to the New Orleans Baby Cakes, starting in the 2017 season. The New Orleans Pelicans introduced the King Cake Baby as a second mascot during games around Mardi Gras, to accompany their main mascot, Pelican Pierre.

Traditionally, a small plastic or porcelain baby[15] is hidden into the king cake. Originally, the baby was placed into the cake to symbolize baby Jesus. Fava beans were also used to represent Jesus.

Today, the baby symbolizes luck and prosperity to whoever finds it in his/her slice of cake. In some traditions, the finder of the baby is designated “king” or “queen” for the evening. That person is also responsible for purchasing next year’s cake,[16] or for throwing the next Mardi Gras party.

Many bakers have recently been placing the baby outside of the cake, and leaving the hiding to the customer because there is a potential of customers choking on or swallowing the baby, and bakers want to stay clear of this liability.[17]

There are many different recipes for king cake. However, the most common ones include: milk, butter, yeast, water, brown and white sugar, eggs, salt, nutmeg, flour and cinnamon. The frosting is typically made from confectioner's sugar, water, lemon juice, and colored sugar crystals.[18]

The colors of the king cake originally came from the Christian religion. The purple symbolizes justice, the green symbolizes faith, and the gold symbolizes power. The three colors honor the three kings who visited the Christ child (Jesus) on Epiphany, the 12th day after Christmas.[3]

French Galette des Rois with cardboard "crowns"

Galette des Rois

Kings' Cake (βασιλόπιτα) of Greece

Kringle from Racine, Wisconsin

Kings' Cake in Spain

Rosca de reyes in Mexico

DreikÃ¶nigskuchen in Switzerland

Bolo Rei of Portugal

Black bun of Scotland


who plays the little girl on remember the titans

Hayden Leslie Panettiere (/ˌpænəˈtɪər/; born August 21, 1989)[1] is an American actress, model, singer, and activist. She is known for her roles as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC sci-fi series Heroes (2006–10), Juliette Barnes in the ABC/CMT musical-drama series Nashville (2012–present) and Kairi in the video game series Kingdom Hearts.

Hayden Panettiere

A native of New York City, she first appeared in a commercial at the age of 11 months. She began her acting career by playing Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live (1994–97), and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light (1996–2000), before starring at age 10 as Sheryl Yoast in the Disney feature film Remember the Titans. Other notable roles include her portrayal of the title character in the true crime drama Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy and Kirby Reed in the slasher film Scream 4. She received two nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film, for her work on Nashville in 2012 and 2013.[2]

Panettiere was born in and partly raised in Palisades, New York. She is the daughter of Lesley R. Vogel, a former soap opera actress, and Alan Lee "Skip" Panettiere, a fire captain. She has Italian, and some English and German ancestry. She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere.[3][4][5] Her mother's family lives in Indiana.[6][7]

After Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York, she was homeschooled from grade nine to the completion of high school.[8]

Panettiere first appeared in commercials at the age of 11 months, beginning with an advertisement for a Playskool toy train.[9] She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live from 1994 to 1997, which was followed by Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light in 1996, and again from 1997 to 2000. While on Guiding Light, Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. For drawing the attention of daytime viewers to the disease, and for improving national awareness, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society gave her its Special Recognition Award.

For her performance in Lifetime Television's 1999 TV movie If You Believe, she was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Young Actress Age Ten or Under in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie or Pilot.[10] Panettiere appeared on Fox's Ally McBeal as the title character's daughter, played the daughter of a man transitioning to female in HBO Films' Normal, had a recurring guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and guest starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in two different roles. In 2004, Panettiere had her first starring role in the Disney Channel film Tiger Cruise.

Panettiere became most prominent as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes, which was created by Tim Kring, as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Thanks to her role on Heroes, she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including Gen Con, New York Comic Con, and Fan Expo Canada. Panettiere has complained that her acting options are sometimes limited because "people look at [her] as either the popular cheerleader type or just the blonde".[11]

In early 2007, Panettiere appeared on the MTV show, Punk'd. The appearance was engineered by her mother and involved a male "fan" discussing her work with her, instigating a jealous reaction from the man's spouse. In April 2012, she hosted an episode of the new series.

In March 2012, it was announced Panettiere had been cast opposite Connie Britton on the ABC musical drama series Nashville. She portrays Juliette Barnes.[12][13] In May 2012, ABC bought the pilot as a series.[14] The pilot reunites Panettiere with Burgess Jenkins (who appears in the first few episodes) from Remember the Titans. ABC canceled the series in May 2016 but it was later picked up by CMT and Hulu for a fifth season.

Panettiere made her feature film debut with 1998's A Bug's Life,[15] but her first film to actually be released was the same year's The Object of My Affection, in which she appears briefly as a mermaid in the school play in the opening scene. In 1999, she portrayed the girl on a sinking sailboat in Message In A Bottle. She played the role of Coach Yoast's daughter, Sheryl, in the 2000 Disney film Remember the Titans. In 2004, she played Kate Hudson's title character's adolescent niece in Raising Helen. In 2005, she was the title character's rival in a skating contest in Ice Princess. In the same year she played the main (human) role in the film Racing Stripes as budding jockey Channing Walsh. She subsequently starred in 2006's Bring It On: All or Nothing as a cheerleader and had a supporting role as Adelaide Bourbon in the 2007 independent film Shanghai Kiss.

In June 2007, she signed with the William Morris Agency, after previously being represented by the United Talent Agency.[16] Forbes estimated that she earned $2Â million in 2007.[17]

In 2008, Panettiere appeared in the drama Fireflies in the Garden as a younger version of Emily Watson's character, Jane Lawrence. In September 2008, she appeared in a satirical video, a mock-PSA (public service announcement) on funnyordie.com titled "Hayden Panettiere PSA: Your Vote, Your Choice".[18] In October, Panettiere appeared in another satirical PSA video on funnyordie.com titled "Vote for McCain: He's just like George Bush, except older and with a worse temper".[19]

In July 2009, Panettiere starred in the teen comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper. In September 2010, she was signed to star as Amanda Knox in the controversial Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy.[20] Panettiere also provided the voice of Kate in 2010's Alpha and Omega.[21]

In April 2011, Panettiere appeared in the Scream sequel, Scream 4, playing Kirby Reed, a role for which she received acclaim and was considered to be a highlight of the film, which received mixed reviews. The same year she replaced Anne Hathaway as the voice of Red for the animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil. In 2012, The Forger, in which she played the role of Amber, was released direct to DVD (both this and Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil were made in 2009).

In April 2015, Panettiere joined the cast of Custody,[22] alongside Viola Davis (both actresses appeared in 2006's The Architect).

Panettiere voiced Kairi in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. While she was replaced by Alyson Stoner in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, she reprised her role in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and also voiced Xion in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance.[23]

She voiced and modeled the character of Sam in Until Dawn, which was released on PlayStation 4 on August 25, 2015.[24]

Panettiere was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for A Bug's Life.[25] In 2004, she recorded a song entitled "My Hero Is You" with a video for the Disney Channel film she starred in, Tiger Cruise, and "Someone Like You," a duet with Watt White for another film, The Dust Factory (also with an accompanying video). The next year she recorded a song entitled "I Fly" for the Disney film Ice Princess in which she also co-starred. She recorded a song for the Hollywood Records compilation Girl Next (2006) and another song entitled "Go to Girl" for Girl Next 2 (2007). Also in 2007, she recorded a cover for "Cruella De Vil" for DisneyMania 5, "Try" for the Bridge to Terabithia soundtrack and a ballad called "I Still Believe" for Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.

Panettiere's first single, "Wake Up Call", was digitally released on August 5, 2008. The clothing brand Candie's announced that it was premiering an ad campaign for the single in late July. Similarly, Candie's would also provide additional promotion for the single with a television advertisement and a music video.[26] Sebastian Stan, who portrayed the brother of Panettiere's character in The Architect, played her boyfriend in the video.

She has recorded several songs for Nashville, which were released as singles and included on the show's soundtrack albums. In 2013, Panettiere recorded a version of "The Fabric of My Life" for a Cotton Incorporated campaign.[27]

In late 2006, Neutrogena made Panettiere the cover girl for their new worldwide ad campaign;[28] following in the footsteps of actresses Kristin Kreuk, Josie Bissett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Mandy Moore, Mischa Barton, Gabrielle Union and Jennifer Freeman. In September 2007, Panettiere appeared in a Heroes-themed Got Milk? ad for which the photographs were shot by Annie Leibovitz.[29] In February 2008, Kohl's announced that Panettiere would be their next Candie's spokesperson.[30] From 2007 to 2008, Panettiere designed limited edition hand bags for Dooney & Bourke and modeled their bags in magazine ads [31][32][33]

In 2009, Panettiere was one of the celebrities featured in the coffee table book Room 23,[34] produced by Diana Jenkins and photographed by Deborah Anderson.[35]

Panettiere dated her Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia from December 2007 to February 2009.[36][37] She met former heavyweight world champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko in 2009 at the book launch party for mutual acquaintance Diana Jenkins' Room 23 (both appeared in the book), and they soon began dating.[38] Panettiere was ringside for Klitschko's knockout victory over Samuel Peter on September 11, 2010.[39] In May 2011, she announced that they had broken up amicably after two years together. Both cited the long-distance nature of their relationship as the reason, and said they would remain close friends.[40] Panettiere confirmed reports that she and Klitschko had resumed their romantic relationship in an April 2013 interview.[38] In October 2013, she announced her engagement to Klitschko.[41][42] In December 2014, Panettiere gave birth to their daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko.[43]

Panettiere followed a vegetarian diet while she starred in Heroes but has since added chicken and fish to her diet, stating that she "didn't respond well" to a vegetarian diet, and she had "low energy".[44][45][46]

In 2015, she stated that following the birth of her daughter she experienced post-partum depression. In her September 28 appearance on Live with Kelly and Michael, she said that it's "scary and needs to be talked about".[47][48] In October, Panettiere voluntarily checked into a facility for treatment, causing her to miss filming for a few episodes of Nashville.[49] She returned to treatment in May 2016.[50]

In 2007, Panettiere became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.[51]

On October 31, 2007, Panettiere joined with The Whaleman Foundation to try to disrupt the annual dolphin hunt in Taiji, Wakayama, Japan. She was involved in a confrontation between Japanese fishermen and five other surfers of the group from Australia and the United States (including former Home and Away star Isabel Lucas). The confrontation lasted more than 10 minutes before the surfers were forced to return to the beach, after which they left the country.[52] Parts of the confrontation can be seen on the award-winning Sundance Film Festival documentary film The Cove. The fishermen consider the condemnation as an attack on their culture.[53]

In November 2007, she was awarded the "Compassion in Action Award" from the animal rights group PETA for her efforts to stop the dolphin hunt in Japan.[54]

On January 28, 2008, Panettiere handed a letter of protest to the Norwegian ambassador in the U.S. arguing that Norway should stop its hunt for whales. She also delivered a letter to the Japanese ambassador calling for the end of Japan's hunting of whales. At a 2007 Greenpeace event in Anchorage, Alaska, Panettiere defended aboriginal whaling, saying that there is a difference between commercial whaling and the whaling practiced by aboriginal tribes in the U.S.[55]

In May 2008, Panettiere was involved in an eBay auction to benefit Save the Whales Again, a campaign of The Whaleman Foundation. The auction included tickets to a fundraising dinner hosted at the Hollywood restaurant Beso, owned by Eva Longoria, and a whale watching tour, with Panettiere, off the coast of Santa Barbara.[56] The same month, during an interview with Teen Vogue, she explained how her fame gives her a platform for her activism: "The show [Heroes] put me in a place to speak for things that I'm passionate about."[57]

In September 2008, Panettiere launched her own line of calfskin leather bags for the company Dooney & Bourke.[58] In October, she delved into the presidential election, releasing a public service announcement through the website Funny or Die. In this video, Panettiere mocked Republican candidate John McCain for his age and temper.[59] She subsequently made clear her intention to vote for Barack Obama, and urged other young people to vote.[60]

Panettiere also appeared in a public service announcement with DC Shadow Senator Paul Strauss endorsing voting rights for the District of Columbia.[61] She is also a teen ambassador for the Candie's Foundation, whose mission is to prevent teen pregnancy. On May 6, 2009, she participated in a town hall meeting in New York City alongside Bristol Palin and Major League Baseball pitcher Matt Garza on the issue of teen pregnancy.[62]

On December 6, 2013, Panettiere and her fiancé Wladimir Klitschko visited the Euromaidan-protests in Kiev (the capital of Ukraine).[63] Wladimir's brother Vitali was one of the leading figures of these protests.[64][65] She and her fiancé addressed the crowds.[66]

Other charted songs


most common type of virus leading to rhinitis

Rhinitis is commonly caused by a viral or bacterial infection, including the common cold, which is caused by Rhinoviruses, Coronaviruses, and influenza viruses, others caused by adenoviruses, human parainfluenza viruses, human respiratory syncytial virus, enteroviruses other than rhinoviruses, metapneumovirus, and measles virus, or bacterial sinusitis, which is commonly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis. Symptoms of the common cold include rhinorrhea, sneezing, sore throat (pharyngitis), cough, congestion, and slight headache.[14][citation needed]

Rhinitis

Rhinitis, also known as coryza,[3] is irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane inside the nose. Common symptoms are a stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing, and post-nasal drip.[4]

The inflammation is caused by viruses, bacteria, irritants or allergens. The most common kind of rhinitis is allergic rhinitis,[5] which is usually triggered by airborne allergens such as pollen and dander.[6] Allergic rhinitis may cause additional symptoms, such as sneezing and nasal itching, coughing, headache,[7] fatigue, malaise, and cognitive impairment.[8][9] The allergens may also affect the eyes, causing watery, reddened, or itchy eyes and puffiness around the eyes.[7] The inflammation results in the generation of large amounts of mucus, commonly producing a runny nose, as well as a stuffy nose and post-nasal drip. In the case of allergic rhinitis, the inflammation is caused by the degranulation of mast cells in the nose. When mast cells degranulate, they release histamine and other chemicals,[10] starting an inflammatory process that can cause symptoms outside the nose, such as fatigue and malaise.[11] In the case of infectious rhinitis, it may occasionally lead to pneumonia, either viral or bacterial. Sneezing also occurs in infectious rhinitis to expel bacteria and viruses from the respiratory system.

Rhinitis is very common. Allergic rhinitis is more common in some countries than others; in the United States, about 10%â€“30% of adults are affected annually.[12] Mixed rhinitis (MR) refers to patients with nonallergic rhinitis and allergic rhinitis. MR is a specific rhinitis subtype. It may represent between 50 and 70% of all AR patients. However, true prevalence of MR has not been confirmed yet.[13]

Rhinitis is categorized into three types (although infectious rhinitis is typically regarded as a separate clinical entity due to its transient nature): (i) infectious rhinitis includes acute and chronic bacterial infections; (ii) nonallergic (vasomotor) rhinitis includes idiopathic, hormonal, atrophic, occupational, and gustatory rhinitis, as well as rhinitis medicamentosa (drug-induced); (iii) allergic rhinitis, triggered by pollen, mold, animal dander, dust, Balsam of Peru, and other inhaled allergens.[5]

Nonallergic rhinitis refers to rhinitis that is not due to an allergy. The category was formerly referred to as vasomotor rhinitis, as the first cause discovered was vasodilation due to an overactive parasympathetic nerve response. As additional causes were identified, additional types of nonallergic rhinitis were recognized. Vasomotor rhinitis is now included among these under the more general classification of nonallergic rhinitis.[15] The diagnosis is made upon excluding allergic causes.[16] It is an umbrella term of rhinitis of multiple causes, such as occupational (chemical), smoking, gustatory, hormonal, senile (rhinitis of the elderly), atrophic, medication-induced (including rhinitis medicamentosa), local allergic rhinitis, non-allergic rhinitis with eosinophilia syndrome (NARES) and idiopathic (vasomotor or non-allergic, non-infectious perennial allergic rhinitis (NANIPER), or non-infectious non-allergic rhinitis (NINAR).[17]

In vasomotor rhinitis,[18][19] certain nonspecific stimuli, including changes in environment (temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, or weather), airborne irritants (odors, fumes), dietary factors (spicy food, alcohol), sexual arousal, exercise,[20] and emotional factors trigger rhinitis.[21] There is still much to be learned about this, but it is thought that these non-allergic triggers cause dilation of the blood vessels in the lining of the nose, which results in swelling and drainage.

Non-allergic rhinitis can co-exist with allergic rhinitis, and is referred to as "mixed rhinitis".[22] The pathology of vasomotor rhinitis appears to involve neurogenic inflammation[23] and is as yet not very well understood. The role of transient receptor potential ion channels on the non-neuronal nasal epithelial cells has also been suggested. Overexpression of these receptors have influence the nasal airway hyper-responsiveness to non-allergic irritant environmental stimuli (e.g., extremes of temperature, changes in osmotic or barometric pressure).[24] Vasomotor rhinitis appears to be significantly more common in women than men, leading some researchers to believe that hormones play a role. In general, age of onset occurs after 20 years of age, in contrast to allergic rhinitis which can be developed at any age. Individuals with vasomotor rhinitis typically experience symptoms year-round, though symptoms may be exacerbated in the spring and autumn when rapid weather changes are more common.[15] An estimated 17 million United States citizens have vasomotor rhinitis.[citation needed]

Drinking alcohol may cause rhinitis as well as worsen asthma (see alcohol-induced respiratory reactions).  In certain populations, particularly those of East Asian countries such as Japan, these reactions have a nonallergic basis.[25] In other populations, particularly those of European descent, a genetic variant in the gene that metabolizes ethanol to acetaldehyde, ADH1B, is associated with alcohol-induced rhinitis.  It is suggested that this variant metabolizes ethanol to acetaldehyde too quickly for further processing by ALDH2 and thereby leads to the accumulation of acetaldehyde and rhinitis symptoms.[26] In these cases, alcohol-induced rhinitis may be of the mixed rhinitis type and, it seems likely, most cases of alcohol-induced rhinitis in non-Asian populations reflect true allergic response to the non-ethanol and/or contaminants in alcoholic beverages, particularly when these beverages are wines or beers.[25] Alcohol-exacerbated rhinitis is more frequent in individuals with a history of rhinitis exacerbated by aspirin.[27]

Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly those that inhibit cyclooxygenase 1 (COX1), can worsen rhinitis and asthma symptoms in individuals with a history of either one of these diseases.[28] These exacerbations most often appear due to NSAID hypersensitivity reactions rather than NSAID-induced allergic reactions.[29]

The antihistamine azelastine, applied as a nasal spray, may be effective for vasomotor rhinitis.[30] Fluticasone propionate or budesonide (both are steroids) in nostril spray form may also be used for symptomatic treatment. The antihistamine cyproheptadine is also effective, probably due to its antiserotonergic effects.

A systematic review on non-allergic rhinitis reports improvement of overall function after treatment with capsaicin (the active component of chili peppers). The quality of evidence is low, however.[31]

Allergic rhinitis or hay fever may follow when an allergen such as pollen, dust, or Balsam of Peru[32] is inhaled by an individual with a sensitized immune system, triggering antibody production. These antibodies mostly bind to mast cells, which contain histamine. When the mast cells are stimulated by an allergen, histamine (and other chemicals) are released. This causes itching, swelling, and mucus production.

Symptoms vary in severity between individuals. Very sensitive individuals can experience hives or other rashes. Particulate matter in polluted air and chemicals such as chlorine and detergents, which can normally be tolerated, can greatly aggravate the condition.[citation needed]

Characteristic physical findings in individuals who have allergic rhinitis include conjunctival swelling and erythema, eyelid swelling, lower eyelid venous stasis, lateral crease on the nose, swollen nasal turbinates, and middle ear effusion.[33]

Even if a person has negative skin-prick, intradermal and blood tests for allergies, they may still have allergic rhinitis, from a local allergy in the nose. This is called local allergic rhinitis.[34] Many people who were previously diagnosed with nonallergic rhinitis may actually have local allergic rhinitis.[35]

A patch test may be used to determine if a particular substance is causing the rhinitis.

Rhinitis medicamentosa is a form of drug-induced nonallergic rhinitis which is associated with nasal congestion brought on by the use of certain oral medications (primarily sympathomimetic amine and 2-imidazoline derivatives) and topical decongestants (e.g., oxymetazoline, phenylephrine, xylometazoline, and naphazoline nasal sprays) that constrict the blood vessels in the lining of the nose.[36]

Chronic rhinitis is a form of atrophy of the mucous membrane and glands of the nose.

Chronic form of dryness of the mucous membranes.

Chronic rhinitis associated with polyps in the nasal cavity.

Most prominent pathological changes observed are nasal airway epithelial metaplasia in which goblet cells replace ciliated columnar epithelial cells in the nasal mucous membrane.[24] This results in mucin hypersecretion by goblet cells and decreased mucociliary activity. Nasal secretion are not adequately cleared with clinical manifestation of nasal congestion, sinus pressure, post-nasal dripping, and headache. Over-expression of transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels, such as TRPA1 and TRPV1, may be involved in the pathogenesis of non-allergic rhinitis.[37]

Neurogenic inflammation produced by neuropeptides released from sensory nerve endings to the airways is a proposed common mechanism of association between both allergic and non-allergic rhinitis with asthma. This may explain higher association of rhinitis with asthma developing later in life.[38] Environmental irritants acts as modulators of airway inflammation in these contiguous airways. Development of occupational asthma is often preceded by occupational rhinitis. Among the causative agents are flours, enzymes used in processing food, latex, isocyanates, welding fumes, epoxy resins, and formaldehyde. Accordingly, prognosis of occupational asthma is contingent on early diagnosis and the adoption of protective measures for rhinitis.[39]

In the case of infectious rhinitis, vaccination against influenza viruses, adenoviruses, measles, rubella, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, diphtheria, Bacillus anthracis, and Bordetella pertussis may help prevent it.

The management of rhinitis depends on the underlying cause.

For allergic rhinitis, intranasal corticosteroids are recommended.[40] For severe symptoms intranasal antihistamines may be added.[40]

Rhinitis is pronounced /raɪˈnaɪtɪs/,[41] while coryza is pronounced /kəˈraɪzə/.[42]

Rhinitis comes from the Ancient Greek ῥίς rhis, gen.: ῥινός rhinos "nose". Coryza has a dubious etymology. Robert Beekes rejected an Indo-European derivation and suggested a Pre-Greek reconstruction *karutya.[43] According to physician Andrew Wylie, "we use the term [coryza] for a cold in the head, but the two are really synonymous. The ancient Romans advised their patients to clean their nostrils and thereby sharpen their wits."[44]