Perihelion and aphelion
The perihelion is the point in the orbit of a planet, minor planet, or comet, where it is nearest to the Sun. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is the point in the orbit where the celestial body is farthest from its Sun.
The word "perihelion" stems from the Ancient Greek words "peri", meaning "near", and "helios", meaning "the Sun". "Aphelion" derives from the preposition "apo", meaning "away, off, apart". (The similar words "perigee" and "apogee" refer to the nearest and furthest points in some object's orbit around a planet.)
According to Kepler's first law of planetary motion, all planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System have approximately elliptical orbits around the Sun. (Any single revolution of a body around its parent object is only approximately elliptical, because precession of the perihelion prevents the orbit from being a simple closed curve such as an ellipse.) Hence, an orbiting body has a closest and a farthest point from its parent object, that is, a perihelion and an aphelion, known collectively as apsides. Orbital eccentricity measures the flatness (departure from a perfect circle) of the orbit.
Aphelion (album)
Aphelion is the third studio album by the Austrian symphonic metal band Edenbridge. It was released in 2003.
Track listing
All music and lyrics written by Arne "Lanvall" Stockhammer
Personnel
Band members
Guest Musicians
Production
References
Aspirin
Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a medication, often used to treat pain, fever, and inflammation. Aspirin is also used long-term, at low doses, to help prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clot formation in people at high risk of developing blood clots. Low doses of aspirin may be given immediately after a heart attack to reduce the risk of another heart attack or the death of heart tissue. Aspirin may be effective at preventing certain types of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer.
The main side effects of aspirin are gastric ulcers, stomach bleeding, and ringing in the ears, especially with higher doses. While daily aspirin can help prevent a clot-related stroke, it may increase risk of a bleeding stroke (hemorrhagic stroke). In children and adolescents, aspirin is not recommended for flu-like symptoms or viral illnesses, because of the risk of Reye's syndrome.
Aspirin is part of a group of medications called nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but differs from most other NSAIDs in the mechanism of action. The salicylates have similar effects (antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic) to the other NSAIDs and inhibit the same enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX), but aspirin does so in an irreversible manner and, unlike others, affects the COX-1 variant more than the COX-2 variant of the enzyme. Aspirin also has an antiplatelet effect by stopping the binding together of platelets.
Agent counterplan
In policy debate, an agent counterplan is a counterplan that proposes to do affirmative's plan (or part of it) with another agent. For example, if the affirmative plan were: "The USFG should send troops to Liberia" an agent counterplan would be "France should send troops to Liberia." Like most mainstream argument forms in policy debate, they are presumed to be legitimate, though it is possible for the affirmative to defeat them on the grounds that they are illegitimate by arguing that they are unfair, uneducational, or illogical. Because they make it possible for the negative to win without refuting most of the claims of the affirmative case (mooting much of the 1AC offense), they are a key component in many negative strategies.
Most affirmative's try to avoid domestic USFG agent counterplans (e.g., if the plan involves Congressional legislation, the negative might counterplan to have the president issue an executive order) by not specifying their agent beyond the United States federal government in their plan text. On international topics, international agent counterplans cannot be similarly avoided, although many consider them object fiat or otherwise theoretically suspect.
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