Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), poor nourishment, poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, loss of nerve supply to the target organ, excessive amount of apoptosis of cells, and disuse or lack of exercise or disease intrinsic to the tissue itself. In medical practice, hormonal and nerve inputs that maintain an organ or body part are said to have trophic effects. A diminished muscular trophic condition is designated as atrophy.
Atrophy is the general physiological process of reabsorption and breakdown of tissues, involving apoptosis. When it occurs as a result of disease or loss of trophic support due to other disease, it is termed pathological atrophy, although it can be a part of normal body development and homeostasis as well.
Examples of atrophy as part of normal development include shrinking and the involution of the thymus in early childhood, and the tonsils in adolescence. In old age, effects include, but are not limited to, loss of teeth, hair, thinning of skin that creates wrinkles, weakening of muscles, loss of weight in organs and sluggish mental activity.
Atrophy is a thrash metal band formed in Tucson, Arizona.
Atrophy, originally named Heresy, was formed in 1986 by Chris Lykins, James Gulotta, and Brian Zimmerman. Tim Kelly and Rick Skowron later joined the band.
In 1987, the band produced two cassette demos and were subsequently picked up by thrash metal label, Roadrunner Records. They recorded two albums: Socialized Hate in 1988 and Violent By Nature in 1990. They toured the U.S. and Europe with bands like Sacred Reich, Forced Entry and Coroner. Following the European tour, Lykins left the band. Atrophy was subsequently dropped by their record label.
The band reformed in 2015.
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The term "revolver" refers to a handgun, but other weapons may also have a revolving chamber. These include some models of grenade launchers, shotguns, and rifles.
Though the original name was revolving gun, the short-hand "revolver" is universally used. (Cannon using this mechanism are known as revolver cannon.) Nearly all early revolvers and many modern ones have six chambers in the cylinder, giving rise to the slang term six-shooter; however, revolvers with a number of different chambers have been made, with most modern revolvers having 5 or 6 chambers.
The revolver allows the user to fire multiple rounds without reloading. Each time the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name. In a single-action revolver, the user pulls the hammer back with his free hand or thumb; the trigger pull only releases the hammer. In a double-action revolver, pulling the trigger moves the hammer back, then releases it, which requires a longer and heavier trigger pull than single-action. Loading and unloading a double-action revolver requires the operator to swing out the cylinder and insert the proper ammunition, all while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction.
Revolver (band) were a London-based guitar band in existence from 1990 until 1994, comprising Mat Flint (guitar/vocals), Hamish Brown (bass) and Nick Dewey (drums). Flint and Dewey had been in school bands together, and when the two moved to London in the autumn of 1990 met Brown who completed the line-up.
The band, after attracting attention from several record labels, including Dedicated, One Little Indian, and Creation Records, signed to the Virgin Records subsidiary Hut Records in the summer of 1991. The band quickly picked up a following, supporting the likes of Chapterhouse, Slowdive, Teenage Fanclub and Blur, and gained a lot of press coverage, most notably in NME, Melody Maker and The Face. Their first single, "Heaven Sent An Angel" topped the UK independent charts, as did the follow-up "Crimson", and the third single "Venice". The band specialised in bright, abrasive guitar-pop songs with strong melodies, and were determined (but ultimately failed) to distinguish themselves from the other guitar bands of the era. The UK press lumped them in with the shoegazing movement, a tag with which that the band was not comfortable.
Revolver is a 2005 crime thriller film co-written and directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore and André Benjamin. The film centres on a revenge-seeking confidence trickster whose weapon is a universal formula that guarantees victory to its user, when applied to any game or confidence trick.
This is the fourth feature film by Ritchie and his third to centre on crime and professional criminals. It was released in UK theatres on 22 September 2005, but performed poorly at the box office. A reworked version was released to a limited number of US theatres on 7 December 2007.
Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta) is a gang boss involved in illegal gambling all over the city. With the help of three goons, known as "the three Eddies", he controls several games that take place in the underground. On one occasion, just before a big game, Macha loses his card man. With no chances left, Macha asks for help of Jake Green (Jason Statham), a card man with a good reputation underground. When Jake refuses, they harass Jake's brother, Billy (Andrew Howard), and Billy's family to convince Jake to play. He succumbs and plays the game, which he ends up winning. The loser, a high roller named George, insults Jake's mother and Jake responds by shooting him in the foot, igniting a gunfight in which the game's money vanishes.