Meo (ethnic group)

Meo (pronounced May-o & Mev) (also called Mewati) is a Muslim Rajput from North-Western India, particularly in and around Mewat that includes Mewat district of Haryana and parts of adjacent Alwar and Bharatpur districts in Rajasthan. Meos speak Mewati, a language of the Indo-Aryan language family.

History and origin

Meos are inhabitants of Mewat, a region that consists of Mewat district of Haryana and some parts of adjoining Alwar and Bharatpur districts of Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh, where the Meos have lived for a millennium. They were Hindu Rajputs who converted to Islam between 12th and 17th century, until as late as Aurangzeb's rule but they have maintained their age-old distinctive cultural identity until today. They have shared this region with a number of other Muslim Rajput communities, such as Khanzada, Qaimkhani and Malkana.

Hindu origins

The Meo represent a blending of Hinduism and Islam. Meo profess the beliefs of Islam but the roots of their ethnic structure are in Hindu caste society. The neighbouring Hindu Jats, Minas, Ahirs and Rajputs share the same mores. According to some sources, the Meo community may have a common origin with the Meena community.

MEO (Portugal)

MEO is a mobile and fixed telecommunications service and brand from Portugal Telecom, managed by MEO - Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia. The service was piloted in Lisbon in 2006 and was later extended to Porto and Castelo Branco.

History

The commercial launch of the ADSL2+ service took place in June 2007. The satellite service began in April 2008, using the Hispasat satellite, soon followed by the FTTH service. The ADSL2+ and FTTH offers reached across Portugal and included broadband Internet services (at up to 400Mbit/s) as well as a telephone service.

MEO was officially founded after the separation of PT Comunicações and PT Multimédia (later ZON Multimédia). While PT Multimédia employed coaxial cables, after separation, MEO started making use of copper cables. The television service supplied by MEO within the copper cable network is served on the ADSL line.

In May 2009 PT Comunicações announced, after Terrestrial Digital Television (TDT) transmissions had started, that the triple play service was also available with fiber optic speeds can achieve 400 Mbits/s.

5-MeO-DMT

5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine) is a powerful psychedelic tryptamine. It is found in a wide variety of plant species, and a single psychoactive toad species. Like its close relatives DMT and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT), it has been used as an entheogen by South American shamans for thousands of years.

Chemistry

5-MeO-DMT was first synthesized in 1936, and in 1959 it was isolated as one of the psychoactive ingredients of Anadenanthera peregrina seeds used in preparing Yopo snuff. It was once believed to be a major component of the psychoactive effects of the snuff, although this has recently been shown to be unlikely, due to the limited—sometimes nonexistent—quantity contained within the seeds of this plant, which instead achieve their psychoactivity due to the bufotenin that they contain. It occurs in many organisms that contain bufotenin (5-HO-DMT), and is the O-methyl analogue of that compound. It is metabolized mainly by CYP2D6.

History

Traditionally 5-MeO-DMT has been used in psychedelic snuff made from virola bark resin, and may be a trace constituent of ayahuasca when plants such as Diplopterys cabrerana are used as an admixture. 5-MeO-DMT is also found in the venom of the Colorado River toad (Incilius alvarius [= Bufo alvarius]), although there was no direct evidence this was used as a hallucinogen until recent times.

DMT

DMT may refer to the following:

Chemical substances

Sports

Other uses

2,alpha-DMT

2,alpha-DMT, or 2,α-dimethyltryptamine, is a tryptamine and a lesser-known psychedelic drug. It is the 2,a-dimethyl analog of DMT. 2,α-DMT was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin. In his book TiHKAL (Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved), Shulgin lists the dosage as 300-500 mg, and the duration as 7-10 hours. 2,α-DMT causes mydriasis and paresthesia. It also produces a calm, drunk-like feeling. Very little data exists about the pharmacological properties, metabolism, and toxicity of 2,α-DMT.

References

External links

DMT1

The divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), also known as natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 2 (NRAMP 2), and divalent cation transporter 1 (DCT1), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC11A2 (solute carrier family 11, member 2) gene. DMT1 represents a large family of orthologous metal ion transporter proteins that are highly conserved from bacteria to humans.

As its name suggests, DMT1 binds a variety of divalent metals including cadmium (Cd²⁺), copper (Cu²⁺), and zinc (Zn^2+,,) however it is best known for its role in transporting ferrous iron (Fe²⁺); DMT1 expression is regulated by body iron stores to maintain iron homeostasis. DMT1 is also important in the absorption and transport of manganese (Mn²⁺). In the digestive tract, it is located on the apical membrane of enterocytes, where it carries out H⁺ coupled transport of divalent metal cations from the intestinal lumen into the cell.

Role in neurodegenerative diseases

Toxic accumulation of divalent metals, especially iron and/or manganese, are frequently discussed aetiological factors in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. DMT1 may be the major transporter of manganese across the blood brain barrier and expression of this protein in the nasal epithelium provides a route for direct absorption of metals into the brain. DMT1 expression in the brain may increase with age, increasing susceptibility to metal induced pathologies. DMT1 expression is found to be increased in the substantia nigra of Parkinson's patients and in the ventral mesencephalon of animal models intoxicated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) - a neurotoxin widely used experimentally to produce Parkinsonian symptoms.

Operation Sigma Sigma

The Sigma is an experimental glider developed in Britain from 1966 by a team led by Nicholas Goodhart. After disappointing performance during flight testing the Sigma was passed on to a Canadian group which carried out modifications, making the Sigma more competitive.

Design and development

Designed to compete in the 1970 World Championships, the team aimed to develop a wing that would climb well through a high lift coefficient and a large wing area, but equally had the "maximum possible reduction of area for cruise at low lift coefficients". At the same time for the minimum possible drag they aimed for "extensive" laminar flow. To achieve this they employed flaps that would alter both wing area and wing camber. Based on analysis of the nature of thermals encountered in cross-country flying, they reasoned that by having a slow turning circle, their sailplane could stay close to the central (and strongest) part of the thermal and gain maximum benefit.

Its unusual feature is its ability to vary its wing area using Fowler flaps. It had been tried before by the Hannover Akaflieg in 1938 with their AFH-4, the South African Beatty-Johl BJ-2 Assegai and the SZD Zefir gliders.