Elan (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the elan is a type of fictional creature for player characters to encounter. Players can also use the elan as a player character race.

Publication history

The elan appeared in the third edition in the Expanded Psionics Handbook (2004). The Athasian elan appeared as a player character race for the Dark Sun setting in Dragon #319 (May 2004).

Description

Elan are a race of aberrations with psionic powers. Originally human, they are changed into a new form by other elan. While still humanoid looking, they are immortal and able to sustain their bodies with psionic power instead of food and drink.

References

Elan (company)

Elan is a Slovenian company, located in Begunje na Gorenjskem, specializing in the production of sporting goods. It is best known for its skis and snowboards. Other products include sailboats from 30 to 50 ft length, motor yachts, apparel (mostly sportswear), and equipment for sports facilities. The brand became better known in the 1970s, when Swedish skiing ace Ingemar Stenmark won three consecutive Alpine skiing World Cups on Elan skis. The company also manufactured license-built DG gliders from 1978 to 1991.

History

The company originated from a Slovene Partisan workshop that operated during the Second World War, when skis were produced for the Yugoslavian Partisan forces. Begunje fielded the only specialized Partisan ski-unit of Yugoslavia during the war. In 1949, the company started with production of small boats, like canoes and kayaks which was later expanded into the production ofFRP boats and yachts. The company has also started the production of wide range of gym equipment and sports clothing. In 1978, the production of license-built DG gliders was started. In 1991 Elan company was split into several subdivisions which continue the production.

Elan (snowmobile)

The Elan was a very popular and affordable snowmobile that was built by Skidoo from 1971 to 1996. They were offered with a rather large variety of option including 1 or 2 cylinder engines, different designs on the hood, and other choices. In 1971 the Elans originally came with rotax engines 250cc (247cc) single cylinder rated at 12 hp which had the options of having an electric start as well as a recoil starter. in 1973 they introduced 2 new engines, a 250cc (247cc)twin cylinder rated at 16 hp had a standard muffler and a single HR carb, and the SS model that was a 250 (247cc) twin cylinder rated at 22 hp with dual HR carbs, tuned exhaust, disc brake, and new standard chrome bumper.

Engine specifications

Wakefulness

Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world such as communication, ambulation, eating, and sex. Being awake is the opposite of the state of being asleep in which most external inputs to the brain are excluded from neural processing.

Effects upon the brain

The longer the brain has been awake, the greater the spontaneous firing rates of cerebral cortex neurons with this increase being reversed by sleep. Another effect of wakefulness (which may or may not be related to this) is that it lowers the small stores of glycogen held in the astrocytes that can supply energy to the brain's neurons—one of the functions of sleep, it has been proposed, is to create the opportunity for them to be replenished.

Maintenance by the brain

Wakefulness is produced by a complex interaction between multiple neurotransmitter systems arising in the brainstem and ascending through the midbrain, hypothalamus, thalamus and basal forebrain. The posterior hypothalamus plays a key role in the maintenance of the cortical activation that underlies wakefulness. Several systems originating in this part of the brain control the shift from wakefulness into sleep and sleep into wakefulness. Histamine neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus and nearby adjacent posterior hypothalamus project to the entire brain and are the most wake-selective system so far identified in the brain. Another key system is that provided by the orexins (also known as hypocretins) projecting neurons. These exist in areas adjacent to histamine neurons and like them project widely to most brain areas and associate with arousal. Orexin deficiency has been identified as responsible for narcolepsy.

Awake (Donkeyboy song)

Awake is an English language hit in Norway for the Norwegian band Donkeyboy, their fourth single taken from their album Caught in a Life after singles "Ambitions" and "Sometimes" (both #1s for 13 and 8 weeks consecutively in the Norwegian Singles Chart) and "Broke My Eyes" (that reached #6).

"Awake" released in 2009 reached #8 in the Norwegian Singles Chart.

Charts

References

Awake (Josh Groban album)

Awake is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Josh Groban. Announced on September 13, 2006, it is his third studio album, and a follow-up to his multi-platinum album Closer. Awake was released on November 7, 2006.

The album was certified 2x platinum in the US by the RIAA on January 31, 2008, and has sold 2.3 million albums as of October 2015. It is the third top selling classical album of the 2000s in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Album information

The album's first single is "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)". The album features producers Imogen Heap, Marius De Vries, Guy Sigsworth, Eric Mouquet, Glen Ballard, and David Foster (who also worked on previous Groban works). As with all Josh Groban albums, songs on Awake are performed in English, Italian and Spanish. The album offered a more modern vibe to his voice by using more instruments aside from the occasional classic piano accompaniment in his previous albums. The album also featured Groban's head voice technique as evident in most of the tracks in the album.