Acireale

Acireale [ˌatʃireˈaːle] (Sicilian: Jaciriali; locally shortened to Jaci or Aci) is a coastal city and commune in the north-east of the province of Catania, Sicily, Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. It is a diocese, famous for its churches, including the Neo-Gothic St. Peter's Basilica, St. Sebastian's Basilica in the Sicilian Baroque style, and the 17th century Acireale Cathedral, and a seminary, for the training of priests. Acireale is also noted for its art and paintings: the oldest academy in Sicily, the "Accademia dei Dafnici e degli Zelanti", is located here.

History

According to tradition, the city's origins trace back to Xiphonia, a mysterious Greek city now completely disappeared. In Roman times, there existed another Greek town, Akis, which was involved in the Punic Wars. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, there is a great love between Acis, the spirit of the Acis River, and Galatea the sea-nymph. According to mythology, the tears of Galatea after the death of Acis gave birth to the Acis River, Fiume di Jaci, flowing past Acireale (the ancient Akis or Acium).

ACI

ACI may refer to:

Places

Schools

Technology and science

Transportation

6522 Aci

6522 Aci, provisional designation 1991 NQ, is a stony asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, about 6 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American female astronomer Eleanor Helin at the U.S. Palomar Observatory in California, on 9 July 1991.

The S-type asteroid is a member of the Phocaea family, a group of asteroids with similar orbital characteristics. It orbits the Sun at a distance of 1.9–2.9 AU once every 3 years and 8 months (1,345 days). Its orbit shows an eccentricity of 0.20 and is tilted by 22 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic. A photometric light-curve analysis performed at the U.S. Palomar Transient Factory in 2010, rendered a rotation period of 7000769210000000000♠7.6921±0.0017 hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.68 in magnitude. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.23, a typical value for an asteroid with a stony surface composition and identical to the albedo of the family's namesake, 25 Phocaea.

The minor planet was named for the river southeast of Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy. The towns and villages along the river, such as Aci Castello, Aci Trezza, Aci-Reale, and Aci Sant'Antonio, were also honoured. The river also evokes the myth of Aci from Greek mythology, about a young Sicilian shepherd, who was in love with the Nereid Galatea, after whom the minor planet 74 Galatea is named. The jealous cyclops Polyphemus hurled a large rock and killed Aci, whose blood was transformed into an underground river that plunged into the Ionian Sea to hug his beloved Galatea.

American Concrete Institute

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) is a non-profit technical society and standard developing organization (SDO). ACI was founded in 1904 and its headquarters are currently located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA. ACI's mission is "ACI develops and disseminates consensus-based knowledge on concrete and its uses."

ACI History

A lack of standards for making concrete blocks resulted in a negative perception of concrete for construction. An editorial by Charles C. Brown in the September 1904 issue of Municipal Engineering discussed the idea of forming an organization to bring order and standard practices to the industry. In 1905 the National Association of Cement Users was formally organized and adopted a constitution and bylaws. Richard Humphrey was elected as the first President of the association. The first committees were appointed at the 1905 convention in Indianapolis and offered preliminary reports on a number of subject areas. The first complete committee reports were offered at the 1907 convention. The association's first official headquarters was established in 1908 at Richard Humphrey's office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Clerical and editorial help was brought on to more effectively organize conventions and publish proceedings of the institute. The "Standard Building Regulations for the Use of Reinforced Concrete" was adopted at the 1910 convention and became the association's first reinforced concrete building code. By 1912 the association had adopted 14 standards. At the December 1912 convention the association approved publication of a monthly journal of proceedings. In July 1913 the Board of Direction of NACU decided to change its name to the American Concrete Institute. The new name was deemed to be more descriptive of the work being conducted within the institute.