Panda

Scourge

Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is chronic type of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is also often called simply eczema, but "eczema" is also used to refer to dermatitis, the larger group of skin conditions. Atopic dermatitis results in itchy, red, swollen, and cracked skin. Clear fluid may come from the affected areas, which can thicken over time. The thickening phenomenon is known as lichenification. Atopic dermatitis affects about 20% of people at some point in their lives. It is more common in younger children. Females are affected slightly more often than males. Millions of people have outgrown the condition. While the condition may occur at any age, it typically begins in childhood, with varying severity over the years. In children under one year of age, the face, limbs, and much of the body may be affected. As children get older, the areas on the insides of the knees and folds of the elbows and around the neck are most commonly affected. In adults, the hands and feet are commonly affected. Scratching the affected areas worsens the eczema and increases the risk of skin infections. Many people with atopic dermatitis develop hay fever or asthma. The cause is unknown but is believed to involve genetics, immune system dysfunction, environmental exposures, and difficulties with the permeability of the skin. If one identical twin is affected, the other has an 85% chance of having the condition. Those who live in cities and dry climates are more commonly affected. Exposure to certain chemicals or frequent hand washing makes symptoms worse. While emotional stress may make the symptoms worse, it is not a cause. The disorder is not contagious. A diagnosis is typically based on the signs, symptoms, and family history. Treatment involves avoiding things that make the condition worse, enhancing the skin barrier through skin care, and treating the underlying skin inflammation. Moisturising creams are used to make the skin less dry and prevent AD flare-ups. Anti-inflammatory corticosteroid creams are used to control flare-ups. Creams based on calcineurin inhibitors (tacrolimus or pimecrolimus) may also be used to control flares if other measures are not effective. Certain antihistamine pills might help with itchiness. Things that commonly make the condition worse include house dust mite, stress, and seasonal factors. The material of clothing worn from day-to-day can also make a difference—synthetic fabrics and wool are frequently found to aggravate conditions. Phototherapy may be useful in some people. Antibiotics (either by mouth or topically) are usually not helpful unless there is secondary bacterial infection or the person is unwell. Dietary exclusion does not benefit most people, and it is only needed if food allergies are suspected. More severe AD cases may need systemic medicines such as ciclosporin, methotrexate, dupilumab, or baricitinib. Other names of the condition include "infantile eczema", "flexural eczema", "prurigo Besnier", "allergic eczema", and "neurodermatitis".

Being

Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leopold I and Queen Louise, Leopold succeeded his father to the Belgian throne in 1865 and reigned for 44 years until his death, the longest reign of a Belgian monarch to date. He died without surviving legitimate sons; the current king of the Belgians, Philippe, descends from his nephew and successor, Albert I. He is popularly referred to as the Builder King in Belgium in reference to the great number of buildings, urban projects and public works he commissioned. Leopold was the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State, a private colonial project undertaken on his own behalf as a personal union with Belgium. He used Henry Morton Stanley to help him lay claim to the Congo, the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, the colonial nations of Europe authorised his claim and committed the Congo Free State to him. Leopold ran the Congo, which he never personally visited, by using the mercenary Force Publique for his personal gain. He extracted a fortune from the territory, initially by the collection of ivory and, after a rise in the price of rubber in the 1890s, by forced labour from the Indigenous population to harvest and process rubber. Leopold's administration was characterised by systematic brutality and atrocities in the Congo Free State, including forced labour, torture, murder, kidnapping, along with the amputation of the hands and sometimes feet of men, women, and children when the quota of rubber was not met. In one of the first uses of the term, George Washington Williams described the practices of Leopold's administration of the Congo Free State as "crimes against humanity" in 1890. While it has proven difficult to accurately estimate the pre-colonial population and the extent to which it changed under the Congo Free State, estimates for the Congolese population decline during Leopold's rule range from 1 million to 15 million. The causes of the decline included epidemic disease, a reduced birth rate, and violence and famine caused by the regime. He was widely condemned because of his brutal and oppressive regime in the Congo that resulted in widespread suffering and loss of life including exploitation, violence, and immense human rights abuses, particularly involving the rubber trade.

Object

A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or, if three-wheeled, a trike) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar from a saddle-style seat. Motorcycle designs vary greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising, sport (including racing), and off-road riding. Motorcycling is riding a motorcycle and being involved in other related social activities such as joining a motorcycle club and attending motorcycle rallies. The 1885 Daimler Reitwagen made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Germany was the first internal combustion petroleum-fueled motorcycle. In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first series production motorcycle. Globally, motorcycles are comparable numerically to cars as a method of transport: in 2021, approximately 58.6 million new motorcycles were sold around the world, while 66.7 million cars were sold over the same period. In 2022, the top four motorcycle producers by volume and type were Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki. According to the US Department of Transportation, per 100 million Vehicle Miles Travelled in 2024 in the U.S., the fatality rate for motorcyclists (28.00) was almost 27 times the passenger car occupant fatality rate (1.05) and over 44 times the fatality rate for light-truck occupants (0.63). The motorcyclist injury rate (391) was nearly 5 times the injury rate of passenger car occupants (86) and over 7 times the injury rate of light-truck occupants (54).

Being

Jordan Haworth Peele (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Peele started his career in comedy before transitioning to writing and directing psychological horror with comedic elements. In the early 2000s Peele began his career in improv comedy and performed with Boom Chicago and The Second City. His breakout role came in 2003 when he was hired as a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series Mad TV, where he spent five seasons, leaving the show in 2008. In the following years Peele and his frequent Mad TV collaborator, Keegan-Michael Key, created and starred in their own Comedy Central sketch comedy series Key & Peele (2012–2015). The series was critically acclaimed, winning two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. The two wrote, produced, and starred in the comedy film Keanu (2016) and have appeared in various projects since. His 2017 directorial debut, the horror film Get Out, was a critical and box office success for which he received numerous accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, along with nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. He received another Academy Award nomination for Best Picture for producing Spike Lee's comedy-drama BlacKkKlansman (2018). He directed, wrote, and produced the films Us (2019) and Nope (2022). Critics have since frequently named Us, Nope, and in particular Get Out as among the best films of the 21st century. He founded the film and television production company Monkeypaw Productions in 2012. He co-wrote and produced Candyman (2021) and Wendell and Wild (2022), co-starring in the latter. Peele has also voice-acted in the animated films Storks (2016), Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), and Toy Story 4 (2019), as well as in the adult animated sitcom Big Mouth (2017–2025). He co-created the TBS comedy series The Last O.G. (2018–2022) and the YouTube Premium comedy series Weird City (2019). He also served as the host and producer of the Paramount+ revival of the anthology series The Twilight Zone (2019–2020).

Land

Perpignan (UK: , US: , French: [pɛʁpiɲɑ̃] ; Catalan: Perpinyà [pəɾpiˈɲa]; Occitan: Perpinhan [peɾpiˈɲa]) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea and the scrublands of the Corbières massif. It is the centre of the Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole metropolitan area. In 2021, Perpignan had a population of 119,656 in the commune proper, and the agglomeration had a total population of 205,183, making it the last major French city before the Spanish border. Perpignan is sometimes seen as the "entrance" to the Iberian Peninsula. Perpignan was the capital of the former province and County of Roussillon (Rosselló in Catalan) and continental capital of the Kingdom of Majorca in the 13th and 14th centuries, as well as one of the most important cities of the Principality of Catalonia. It has preserved an extensive old centre with its bodegas in the historic centre, coloured houses in a series of picturesque streets and alleys stretching between the banks of the Têt and its tributary, the Basse. The city is also known for its International Festival of Photojournalism, the medieval Trobades festival and its centuries-old garnet industry.