Cholecalciferol

Cholecalciferol (/ˌkoʊləkælˈsɪfərɒl/) (vitamin D₃) is one of the five forms of vitamin D. It is a secosteroid, that is, a steroid molecule with one ring open. This and all forms of vitamin D are misnamed: vitamins by definition are essential organic compounds which cannot be synthesized by the body and must be ingested; cholecalciferol is synthesized by the body, and functions as a prehormone. Cholecalciferol is inactive: it is converted to its active form by two hydroxylations: the first in the liver, the second in the kidney, to form calcitriol, whose action is mediated by the vitamin D receptor, a nuclear receptor which regulates the synthesis of hundreds of enzymes and is present in virtually every cell in the body.

Synthesis

7-Dehydrocholesterol is the precursor of cholecalciferol. Within the epidermal layer of skin, 7-Dehydrocholesterol undergoes an electrocyclic reaction as a result of UVB radiation, resulting in the opening of the vitamin precursor B-ring through a conrotatory pathway. Following this, the pre-cholecalciferol undergoes a [1,7] antarafacial sigmatropic rearrangement and therein finally isomerizes to form vitamin D₃. Cholecalciferol is then hydroxylated in the liver to become calcifediol (25-hydroxyvitamin D₃). Calcifediol is then hydroxylated in the kidney, and becomes calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃) or active vitamin D₃.

Delta Cafés

Delta Cafés (Portuguese pronunciation: [dɛɫtɐ kɐfɛʃ]) is a Portuguese coffee roasting and coffee packaging company headquartered in Campo Maior, Alentejo. The company was founded in 1961 and is among the top market leaders in the Iberian Peninsula. The company belongs to Nabeiro Group, the personal conglomerate of its founder Rui Nabeiro, which include interests on agribusiness, agriculture, real estate, hotels, and other services.

History

Delta Cafés was founded by Rui Nabeiro in 1961 in the town of Campo Maior, Alentejo in a small 50-m² warehouse, which could only handle two 30 kg roasters. In 1998, the Nabeiro/Delta Cafés Group was restructured and gave rise to 22 companies organized into strategic areas, with turnover of approximately €160 million. In the 2000s, it become the market leader for coffee in Portugal, with a market share of 38%. It has 47,000 direct retail clients (among the largest of which is Sonae, a leading Portuguese retailer) and 3,000 employees. Also in the 2007, Delta Cafés launched its own espresso products, Delta Q, based on a proprietary system of single-serving "capsules" containing ground coffee and rooibos, and specialized machines to brew espresso from the contents of the capsules in a similar way to that of Nestlé's Nespresso brand portfolio.

Delta (video game)

Delta is a horizontally scrolling shooter computer game originally released for the Commodore 64 by Thalamus Ltd in 1987. It was programmed by Stavros Fasoulas and the music was written by Rob Hubbard. The menu-music is based on the theme of Koyaanisqatsi by Philip Glass and the in-game-music is based on Pink Floyd's On the Run. The game was also released for the ZX Spectrum in 1990 as Delta Charge.

The game was released as Delta Patrol in the United States by Electronic Arts for its Amazing Software line of action-oriented software programs, in 1987 on the Commodore 64.

The player controls a spaceship and gains power-up points by destroying formations of enemies. Some enemy formations instead subtract power-up points for the player, so the player must take note of which formations to destroy. Periodically blocks containing the power-ups (higher speed, faster rate of fire) appear and the player can pick one of them up: The more points the player has collected, the more powerful are the power-ups that can be chosen. Unavailable power-ups are gray and kill the player if he flies into them, making them part of the obstacles in the game. The effects of the power-ups are lost over time and must therefore be regained. The player gets a choice between in-game music or in-game sound effects. There is also a high score table but no way to save it when the game is turned off.

Delta (Delta Goodrem album)

Delta is the third studio album by Australian singer Delta Goodrem. It was released in Australia on 20 October 2007 through Sony BMG. Goodrem began work on the album in 2006 and collaborated with several writers including Vince Pizzinga, Tommy Lee James, Jörgen Elofsson, Richard Marx, Stuart Crichton and major contributions by Brian McFadden. The album debuted at No. 1 in Australia, making it her third consecutive chart-topping album there. The album was also released in the United States, by Mercury Records, making it Goodrem's first album to be released there.

Background and development

After the release of her second album Mistaken Identity in 2004, Delta reflected that the album was rushed - written and recorded while she was still recovering from chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Goodrem remarked that she felt overexposed and claimed, "I'd burnt myself out. By the end of 'Mistaken Identity' I thought, 'This is nothing of what I am. I know I can do all of this a lot better'." After a period of being angry, Delta felt she was healed and embraced herself and being in the public eye. Therefore, she started developing a new album, stating, "For a while I was writing songs for this album I didn't want to talk about things, so I didn't want to write about them either. "I had to get over a couple of things. My parents divorced, there was a lot going on. But now I truly am inspired again. I feel regenerated. I feel I've got my energy back."