Palladium

Palladium is a chemical element with symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her when she slew Pallas. Palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium form a group of elements referred to as the platinum group metals (PGMs). These have similar chemical properties, but palladium has the lowest melting point and is the least dense of them.

Over half of the supply of palladium and its congener platinum goes into catalytic converters, which convert up to 90% of harmful gases from auto exhaust (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen dioxide) into less-harmful substances (nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor). Palladium is also used in electronics, dentistry, medicine, hydrogen purification, chemical applications, groundwater treatment and jewelry. Palladium plays a key role in the technology used for fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, heat, and water.

Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game

The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game (often shortened to Palladium Fantasy or PFRPG) is a game produced by Palladium Books. It is set in the Palladium world (use of the unofficial name "Palladia" is discouraged by the publisher) some 10,000 years after a great war between the elves and dwarves. First published in July 1983 as The Palladium Role-Playing Game, the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game saw a second edition in April 1996. The two are largely compatible, though the second edition uses a later iteration of Palladium's ruleset to be more compatible with the rest of their Megaverse.

Setting

Race and class

Like many fantasy games, the Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game includes many different sentient races as playable characters. In addition to humans and the aforementioned elves and dwarves, there are gnomes (small humanoids who once had a republic), kobolds (wiry, subterranean humanoids who tend to be evil), goblins (small, ugly, stupid humanoids, some of whom have remnants of faerie magic), ogres (large, strong, primitive humans), orcs, trolls, changelings (who are capable of assuming many humanoid forms), and Wolfen. The Wolfen are large, humanoid wolves who have, in the past century, established their own Empire in the extreme north of the continent. Unlike many other fantasy games, there is very little interbreeding between the races. Humans and ogres are related closely enough that offspring are possible, but any children are considered ogres. Wolfen and the related Coyles (who resemble humanoid coyotes) may be able to breed, as one supplement (Adventures in the Northern Wilderness) implies that a non-player character may be half-Coyle/half-Wolfen, but this is not confirmed.

Palladium (Prague)

Palladium is a shopping mall located in the centre of Prague in the Czech Republic. It opened in 2007. The mall contains 170 shops and 30 restaurants, with a retail area of 39,000 square metres (420,000 sq ft). There is also designated office space in the building totalling 19,500 square metres (210,000 sq ft). It is one of the biggest shopping centres in the Czech Republic. It is directly opposite another shopping centre, Kotva.

History

The site where Palladium stands was under control of the Army until being sold in the 1990s. Construction on Palladium was announced in June 2005, with a projected completion date of autumn 2007. The new design has retained the facade of the previous Josef Barracks building. During the construction process, a number of medieval ruins were found underneath the construction site in an archeological excavation. The remains were removed but not before they were recorded and photographed.

The mall was opened by television personality Leoš Mareš in October 2007, becoming one of the biggest shopping centres in the Czech Republic. The mall closed for three days in February 2008 following a fire. Another fire, in August 2011, caused the evacuation of two floors of the mall, but it was smaller than the 2008 fire. Palladium was the only shopping mall in Prague to be open on Christmas Day 2007, and New Year's Day 2008.

Nathalie

Nathalie is a female given name. It is one popular variant of the name Natalie/Natalia, found in many languages but especially common in French, Spanish and English speaking countries.

Etymology

The name is derived from the Latin "Dies Natalis" , meaning "Natal Day" or "birthday" in reference to the birth of Christ and was traditionally given to girls born around Christmas.

Use

People with the given name Nathalie:

Nathalie...

Nathalie... is a 2003 French drama film directed by Anne Fontaine, and starring Fanny Ardant, Emmanuelle Béart, and Gérard Depardieu.

Plot

Catherine discovers that her husband Bernard is cheating on her. She decides to pay Parisian prostitute Nathalie to have an affair with her husband, and report back to her.

Cast

Reception

Nathalie... received generally positive reviews, currently holding a 73% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "A seductive French import that portrays adult issues of jealousy and betrayal with strong lead performances and considerable French charm." On Metacritic, which uses an average of critics' reviews, the film holds a 69/100 rating, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Remake

Director Atom Egoyan remade the film in 2009, now entitled Chloe. The film stars Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried. A reviewer in the New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weizmann) contrasting the original with the remake says Egoyan "Having adapted a film—via Erin Cressida Wilson's screenplay—from an erotic French drama called Nathalie, Egoyan appears convinced that he's creating a suspenseful work of art, rather than a mildly kinky bit of arthouse exploitation." However, in his self-promotion, the director of the remake, Egoyan, described Chloe as more erotically charged than Nathalie...

Nathalie (singer)

Nathalie Beatrice Giannitrapani (born 16 December 1979), simply known as Nathalie, is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame after winning the fourth series of the Italian version of The X Factor in 2010. Her winning single, "In punta di piedi", was released immediately after the final of the show, and debuted atop the FIMI Top Digital Downloads chart.

In 2011, Nathalie competed in the Big Artists section of the 61st Sanremo Music Festival, placing 7th in a field of 14 with the song "Vivo sospesa", which was released as the lead single from her debut album with the same title. Her second studio set, Anima di vento, was released on 17 September 2013.

Biography

Early life

Nathalie Beatrice Giannitrapani was born in Rome to a Sicilian father of Tunisian origin and a Belgian mother. She began studying music at the age of 13 and writing her first songs at the age of 15, with lyrics in Italian, English and French (also speaking Spanish). Giannitrapani songs are composed in accompaniment of a guitar and piano.