Mud

Mud is a mixture of water and any combination of soil, silt, and clay, and usually forms after rainfall or near water sources. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone (generally called lutites). When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds.

Building and construction

Adhesive

In the construction industry, mud is a semi-fluid material that can be used to coat, seal, or adhere materials. Depending on the composition of the mud, it can be referred by many different names, including slurry, mortar, plaster, stucco, and concrete.

Material

Mud, cob, adobe, clay, and many other names are historically used synonymously to mean a mixture of subsoil and water possibly with the addition of stones, gravel, straw, lime, and/or bitumen. This material was used a variety of ways to build walls, roofs and floors.

Mudbrick

Mud can be made into mud bricks,also called adobe, by mixing mud with water, placing the mixture into moulds and then allowing it to dry in open air. Straw is sometimes used as a binder within the bricks, as it adds a support lattice. When the brick would otherwise break, the straw will redistribute the force throughout the brick, decreasing the chance of breakage. Such buildings must be protected from groundwater, usually by building upon a masonry, fired brick, rock or rubble foundation, and also from wind-driven rain in damp climates, usually by deep roof overhangs. In extremely dry climates a well drained flat roof may be protected with a well-prepared (puddled) and properly maintained dried mud coating, viable as the mud will expand when moistened and so become more water resistant. Adobe mudbricks were commonly used by the Pueblo Indians to build their homes and other necessary structures.

Mudá

Mudá is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 105 inhabitants.

Mudá is first recorded in 1059, under the name Mudave.

Coordinates: 42°53′N 4°24′W / 42.883°N 4.400°W / 42.883; -4.400

Żmudź

Żmudź may refer to:

Amica

Amica is the Latin word for "friend" in the feminine (i.e., "female friend") and may also refer to:

Businesses and products

Film, television and theatre

Sports

Other uses

See also

Amica Mutual Insurance

Amica Mutual Insurance is an American mutual insurance company which sells automobile, homeowners, marine, personal umbrella liability, and life insurance, founded in 1907. It employs more than 3,200 people in 40 offices across the United States, and is headquartered in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Company history

Automobile Mutual Insurance Company of America was founded by A.T. Vigneron in 1907 in Providence, Rhode Island, offering auto, fire and theft insurance.

Amica was organized as a mutual insurance company, meaning that the company was owned by policyholders rather than stockholders.

In 1941, Amica opened its first branch office in Boston, Massachusetts. The company added homeowners' insurance in 1956 and later added marine and personal excess liability insurance. In 1970, Amica Life Insurance began. In 1994, Amica's corporate offices moved from Providence, Rhode Island, to a much larger campus in nearby Lincoln.

Subsidiaries

Amica (opera)

Amica is an opera in two acts by Pietro Mascagni, originally composed to a libretto by Paul Bérel (the pseudonym of Paul de Choudens). The only opera by Mascagni with a French libretto, it was an immediate success with both the audience and the critics on its opening night at the Théâtre du Casino in Monte-Carlo on 16 March 1905. Mascagni himself conducted the performance. The opera had its Italian premiere (with an Italian libretto by Mascagni's close collaborator, Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti) on 13 May 1905 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.

However, like many of Mascagni's operas apart from Cavalleria rusticana, the work then fell into obscurity. One of its few revivals in modern times was on 4 August 2007 at the Festival della Valle d'Itria, using the original French libretto. (It has been released on CD and DVD. See below.). In October 2008, Opera di Roma used the Italian libretto for a new production of Amica in collaboration with Opéra de Monte-Carlo and the Teatro Carlo Goldoni in Livorno.