Pearl

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusc. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes (baroque pearls) occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.

The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls. Cultured or farmed pearls from pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority of those currently sold. Imitation pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of their iridescence is usually very poor and is easily distinguished from that of genuine pearls. Pearls have been harvested and cultivated primarily for use in jewelry, but in the past were also used to adorn clothing. They have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines and paint formulations.

Pearl (literary magazine)

Pearl was an American literary journal published between 1974 and 2014 in Long Beach, California.

History and profile

Pearl was founded by Joan Jobe Smith in 1974. The first issue appeared in May 1974. It was edited by Joan Jobe Smith, Marilyn Johnson, and Barbara Hauk. Pearl was based in Long Beach. It released an annual fiction issue and an annual poetry issue as well as hosting an annual poetry prize.

After several issues published Pearl went defunct until 1986 when Joan Jobe Smith and Marilyn Johnson relaunched it.

The magazine ceased publication in 2014.

Contributors

See also

References

External links

Pearl (disambiguation)

A pearl is a hard object produced by mollusks.

Pearl may also refer to:

People

Nicknamed Pearl

Places

Literature

Music

Organic

Organic may refer to:

Chemistry

Farming, certification and products

List of Internet top-level domains

This list of Internet top-level domain extensions contains all top-level domains, which are those domains in the DNS root zone of the Domain Name System of the Internet.

The official list of all top-level domains is maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). IANA also oversees the approval process for new proposed top-level domains. As of January 2016, the root domain contains 1205 top-level domains, while a few have been retired and are no longer functional.

Types

As of 2015, IANA distinguishes the following groups of top-level domains:

Original top-level domains

Seven generic top-level domains were created early in the development of the Internet, and pre-date the creation of ICANN in 1998.

Organic unit

An organic unit is a military unit that is a permanent part of a larger unit and (usually) provides some specialized capability to that parent unit. For instance, the US Marine Corps incorporates its own aviation units (distinct from the US Air Force and US Navy) that provide it with fire support, electronic warfare, and transport.

At a lower level of organization, infantry units commonly incorporate organic armour or artillery units to improve their combined arms capability. Organic assets are closely integrated into their parent unit's command structure and their personnel are familiar with other personnel in the parent unit, improving coordination and responsiveness and making the parent unit more self-sufficient.

However, over-emphasis of organic assets can create wasteful redundancy. For instance, an infantry unit assigned to urban peacekeeping duties might have little use for its organic artillery, while another unit deployed elsewhere might have less artillery support than it required. The question of how much to emphasise the use of organic assets, as opposed to coordination with separate units ('joint organization') is a subject of debate and heavily dependent on questions of command and control.