C&A

C&A is an international Dutch chain of fashion retail clothing stores, with its European head offices in Vilvoorde, Belgium, and Düsseldorf, Germany. It has retail stores in many countries in Europe, Central America and South America. Its brands include Angelo Litrico, Canda, Clockhouse, Here+There, Palomino, Rodeo (ski and snowboard clothes), Westbury, Yessica, Yessica Pure, and Your Sixth Sense.

The company was founded by brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer in 1841 as a Dutch textile company, taking its company name from their initials. In 1906 Clemen's son, Bernard Joseph, started discounting in Amsterdam (Rekenen in Centen, in plaats van Procenten) and by 1910 there were ten stores in the Netherlands. They were from the German Brenninkmeyer family which traded in linen and textiles since the 17th century from its hometown of Mettingen, Germany.

For many years, C&A retail clothing stores were a major presence on high streets throughout the United Kingdom. C&A also opened stores in a number of out-of-town locations, most notably its store at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the West Midlands, which opened in November 1989. The company's strategy of selling budget clothes from high-rent city-centre retail stores made it vulnerable to a new breed of competitors operating in cheaper, out-of-town locations, including Matalan and the rapidly expanding clothing operations of supermarket food chains such as Tesco and Asda, and to expanding high street names such as H&M, Zara, and Topshop.

Côa River

The Côa River is a tributary of the Douro River, in central and northeastern Portugal. It is one of the few Portuguese rivers that flows south to north. It flows through the municipalities of Sabugal Municipality, Almeida Municipality, Pinhel Municipality, Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo Municipality and Vila Nova de Foz Côa Municipality, all located in the Guarda District.

Thousands of ancient carvings in stone were discovered in the Côa Valley in the 1980s and 1990s. These are of particular interest due to the high concentration of Paleolithic art, and because these carvings are found outside of caves, on rocks in plain sight: Jean Clottes, a prominent French prehistorian, had confirmed that "is the biggest open air site of paleolithic art in Europe, if not in the world".

The drawings attracted worldwide attention when plans to build a hydroelectric dam across the Côa Valley threatened to submerge them. Although hydroelectric development was already well underway, outcry from locals, the scientific community and the media led to dam construction being halted in 1995 after a change in the national government following elections. A significant proportion of the drawings in the Canada do Inferno area were already underwater by that time. The Côa Valley Archaeological Park, opened in 1996 , was declared a protected UNESCO world heritage site in 1998.

Complement component 4

Complement component 4 is a protein involved in the complement system.

It is cleaved into proteins 4a and 4b; 4b can be further cleaved into 4c and 4d.

Clinical significance

It is responsible for the Chido Rodgers blood group system.

C4d has been identified as a biomarker for systemic lupus erythematosus.

The gene that codes for C4 is being investigated for the role it may play in schizophrenia risk and development.

References

Master of ceremonies

A master of ceremonies (also used in its abbreviated forms MC or emcee) or compère [commère being the female form] is the official host of a staged event or similar performance.

An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, entertains people, and generally keeps the event moving. An MC may also tell jokes or anecdotes. The MC sometimes also acts as the protocol officer during an official state function.

The term is also used to refer to television game show hosts and/or hostesses.

In hip hop and electronic dance music, an MC, also referred to as a rapper, is a music artist and/or performer who usually creates and performs vocals for his/her own original material. An emcee focuses on skills, lyrical ability, and subject matter.

Origins

The term originates from the Catholic Church. The Master of Ceremonies is an official of the Papal Court responsible for the proper and smooth conduct of the elegant and elaborate rituals involving the Pope and the sacred liturgy. He may also be an official involved in the proper conduct of protocols and ceremonials involving the Roman Pontiff, the Papal Court, and other dignitaries and potentates. Examples of official liturgical books prescribing the rules and regulations of liturgical celebrations are Cæremoniale Romanum and Cæremoniale Episcoporum.

Renesas Electronics

Renesas Electronics Corporation (ルネサス エレクトロニクス株式会社, Runesasu Erekutoronikusu Kabushiki Gaisha) TYO: 6723 is a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo. It has manufacturing, design and sales operations in around 20 countries. It is the world's largest auto semiconductor maker in 2014, one of the world's largest makers of semiconductor systems for mobile phones, the world's largest maker of microcontrollers, and the second largest maker of application processors. It also makes LCD drivers, RF ICs, mixed-signal integrated circuits and system on a chip semiconductors.

Name

"Renesas" is an invented name and a contraction of Renaissance Semiconductor for Advanced Solutions.

History

Renesas Electronics started operation in April 2010, through the integration of NEC Electronics Corporation and Renesas Technology Corporation. NEC Electronics was established in November 2002 by a spin-off of the semiconductor operations of NEC. Renesas Technology was established on April 1, 2003, as a joint venture of Hitachi, Ltd. (55%) and Mitsubishi Electric (45%).

M60 machine gun

The M60, officially the United States Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of live ammunition approved for use in the M60, including ball, tracer, and armor-piercing rounds.

Introduced in 1957, it has served with every branch of the U.S. military and still serves with other armed forces. Its manufacture and continued upgrade for military and commercial purchase continues into the 21st century, though it has been replaced or supplemented in most roles by other designs, notably the M240 in U.S. service.

Overview

The M60 is a belt-fed machine gun that fires the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge (.308 Winchester) commonly used in larger rifles. It is generally used as a crew-served weapon and operated by a team of two or three individuals. The team consists of the gunner, the assistant gunner (AG in military slang), and the ammunition bearer. The gun's weight and the amount of ammunition it can consume when fired make it difficult for a single soldier to carry and operate. The gunner carries the weapon and, depending on his strength and stamina, anywhere from 200 to 1000 rounds of ammunition. The assistant carries a spare barrel and extra ammunition, and reloads and spots targets for the gunner. The ammunition bearer carries additional ammunition and the tripod with associated traversing and elevation mechanism, if issued, and fetches more ammunition as needed during firing.