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

Complement component 2

Complement C2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the C2 gene. The protein encoded by this gene is part of the classical pathway of complement system, acting as a multi-domain serine protease. Deficiency of C2 has been associated with certain autoimmune diseases.

Function

In the classical and lectin pathways of complement activation, formation of the C3-convertase and C5-convertases requires binding of C2 to an activated surface-bound C4b in the presence of Mg²⁺; the resultant C4bC2 complex is then cleaved by C1s or MASP2 into C2a and C2b. It is thought that cleavage of C2 by C1s, while bound to C4b. results into a conformational rotation of C2a whereas the released C2b fragment may retain most of its original structure. C2a is the larger, enzymatically active fragment which is incorporated into the C3 convertase in this pathway, C4b2. C2b is released into the fluid phase.

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Gulfstream V

The Gulfstream V (or G-V or GV) is a business jet aircraft produced by Gulfstream Aerospace. It is also used by the US military under the designation C-37A. The G500 and G550 are improved versions. The Gulfstream G550 was formerly known as the Gulfstream V SP (G-V SP).

Design and development

The Gulfstream V (also called the G-V) first flew in 1995, was certified in 1997, and was one of the first "ultra-long range" (~6,000-nautical-mile (11,000 km)) business aircraft. Capable of carrying up to 16 people in standard seating configurations, and able to fly up to 6,500 nmi (12,000 km), the GV became the longest range business jet ever made (at the time of its introduction). Total production of the Gulfstream V was 191 aircraft.

C-37A

Designated C-37A in U.S. Air Force service, the Gulfstream V is used by government and Defense Department officials. The US Coast Guard operates two C-37A for transportation of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary and the Commandant of the Coast Guard. The US Navy operates one C-37A.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries & CSR Sifang C151A

The Kawasaki Heavy Industries & CSR Sifang C151A is the fourth generation and the currently newest rolling stock in operation on the East West Line and North South Line in Singapore. This additional batch of trains, together with a new track and platform at Jurong East Interchange, has increased the capacity of both lines by 15%.

22 trainsets of 6 cars each were awarded to Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang by the Land Transport Authority. In 2013, a further order of 13 trainsets under Batch 2 was placed and as of 2014, all 35 trainsets have been officially put into revenue service.

This is the last batch of rolling stock on the North South MRT Line and East West MRT Line to be used in the original livery, including all Batch 2 Trains even though they were made and painted in 2014.

History

On May 6, 2009, the Land Transport Authority announced that Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang had won over Hyundai Rotem, Bombardier Transportation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to secure the contract at a cost of S$369 million, despite Hyundai Rotem offering the lowest bid at S$323 million for the order of 22 trainsets under Batch 1. CSR Sifang handled the manufacturing and testing of the rolling stock, while Kawasaki oversaw the project and design. The C151A contract was the first successful joint venture between these two companies in the international market.