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Acronym List
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
An acronym is a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. To add an acronym to our list send an email to Carey Noll (Carey.Noll@nasa.gov).
Acronym Finder - searchable database containing common acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military.
| Acronym | Definition |
|---|---|
| A | |
| AAC | Associate Analysis Center |
| AC | Analysis Center |
| AC | Astronomical Council (Russia) |
| ACSnet | Australian Computer Science Network |
| ACT | Australian Capital Territory |
| ADEOS | Advanced Earth Observing Satellite |
| AFB | Air Force Base |
| AFGL | Air Force Geophysics Laboratory |
| AFSPC | Air Force Space Command (USA) |
| AGU | American Geophysical Union |
| AIUB | Astronomical Institute of Berne (Berne, Switzerland) |
| ALO | Astronomical Latitude Observatory (Poland) |
| AMSAT | Amateur Satellite |
| APD | Avalanche Photo Diode |
| APRGP | Asia-Pacific Regional Geodetic Project |
| APSG | Asia-Pacific Space Geodynamics Project |
| ARC | Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, CA) |
| ARI | Academic Research Infrastructure |
| ARPAnet | Advanced Research Projects Agency Network |
| ASAR | Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange |
| ASI | Italian Space Agency (Italy) |
| ASL | Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory |
| ATEx | Advanced Tether Experiment |
| ATSC | AlliedSignal Technical Services Corporation (Lanham, MD) |
| AUSLAS | Graz, Austria Laser Station |
| AUSLIG | Australian Surveying and Land Information Group |
| AWG | Analysis Working Group |
| AZ | Azimuth |
| AZ-EL | Azimuth-Elevation |
| B | |
| BAE | British Aerospace (Australia) |
| BBS | Bulletin Board System |
| BE-C | Beacon Explorer C |
| BFEC | Bendix Field Engineering Corporation (USA) |
| BIH | Bureau International de l'Heure |
| BIPM | Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (France) |
| BITnet | Because It's Time Network |
| BKG | Bundesamt fr Kartographie und Geodsie (Germany) |
| BM | Bench Mark |
| C | |
| CALTECH | California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) |
| CB | Central Bureau |
| CCD | Charged Coupled Device |
| CDDIS | Crustal Dynamics Data Information System |
| CDP | Crustal Dynamics Project |
| CEE | Centro de Estudios Espaciales (Chile) |
| CERGA | Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Geodynamiques et Astronomiques (France) |
| CERN | Center for European Laboratory for Particle Physics (Switzerland) |
| CF | Constant Fraction |
| CfA | Center for Astrophysics (USA) |
| CGS | Centro de Geodesia Spaziale (Italy) |
| CHAMP | CHAllenging Mini-Satellite Payload |
| ChO | Changchun Observatory/National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| CIO | Conventional International Origin |
| CIS | Commonwealth of Independent States |
| CIS | Conventional Inertial System |
| CM | Center of Mass |
| CMONOC | Crustal Movement Observation Network of China |
| CNES | Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (France) |
| CODE | Center for Orbit Determination in Europe |
| COI | Co-Investigator |
| COM | Center Of Mass |
| CONAE | Comisin Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (Argentina) |
| CONUS | Continental United States |
| COSPAR | Committee on Space Research |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit |
| CRL | Communications Research Laboratory (Japan) |
| CSIR | Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa) |
| C-SPAD | Compensated Single Photoelectron Avalanche Detector |
| CSR | Center for Space Research (University of Texas, Austin, TX) |
| CSTG | International Coordination of Space Techniques for Geodesy and Geodynamics |
| CSnet | Computer Science Network |
| CTLRS | Chinese Transportable Laser Ranging System |
| CTU FNSPE | Czech Technical University Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering |
| D | |
| D-PAF | Germany Processing and Analysis Facility |
| DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (USA) |
| DBMS | Data Base Management System |
| DDN | Defense Data Network |
| DDNA | Divided Difference Noise Analysis |
| DEC | Digital Equipment Corporation |
| DECnet | DEC networking product |
| DEOS | Delft Institute for Earth-Oriented Space Research (The Netherlands) |
| DET | Detachment |
| DFPWG | Data Formats and Procedures Working Group |
| DGFI | Deutsches Geodtisches ForschungsInstitut (Germany) |
| DGPS | Differential GPS |
| DIF | DOMES Information Form |
| DIS | Data Information System |
| DMA | Defence Mapping Agency (USA) |
| DMAHTC | Defence Mapping Agency Hydrographic and Topographic Center (Japan) |
| DMS | Data Measurement System |
| DOD | Department of Defense (USA) |
| DOMES | Directory Of MERIT Sites |
| DOMEX | DOMEs EXtended |
| DORIS | Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite |
| DOSE | Dynamics of the Solid Earth |
| D-PAF | Germany Processing and Analysis Facility |
| DREN | Defense Research and Engineering Network |
| DUT | Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) |
| DUT/OSG | Delft University of Technology/Observatory for Space Geodesy (The Netherlands) |
| E | |
| EARN | European Academic Research Network |
| ED | European Datum |
| EDC | EUROLAS Data Center (Munich, Germany) |
| EDM | Electronic Distance Measuring |
| EGS | European Geophysical Society |
| ELV | Expendable Launch Vehicle |
| ENVISAT | ENVIronmental SATellite |
| EOC | Earth Observation Center (NASDA) |
| EOP | Earth Orientation Parameter |
| EOS | Earth Observing System |
| EOS | European Optical Society |
| EOS | Electro Optical Systems (Australia) |
| ERA | Ephemeris Research in Astronomy (Russia) |
| ERI | Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo (Japan) |
| ERS | Earth Resources Satellite |
| ERS-1 | Earth Resources Satellite 1 |
| ERS-2 | Earth Resources Satellite 2 |
| ESA | European Space Agency (Germany) |
| ESOC | European Space Operations Center (Germany) |
| ESRIN | European Space Research Institute |
| ETS | Engineering Test Satellite |
| EUROLAS | European Laser Consortium |
| Euro-SPAN | European Space Physics Analysis Network |
| F | |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration (USA) |
| FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions |
| FAS | Federation of American Scientists |
| FAX | Facsimile System |
| FDR | Foundation for Research Development (South Africa) |
| FESG | Forschungseinrichting Satellitengeodsie (Research Facility for Space Geodesy, Germany) |
| FFDP | Far Field Diffraction Pattern |
| FFI | Forsvarets ForskningsInstitutt (Norway) |
| FGCC | Federal Geodetic Control Committee |
| FGI | Finnish Geodetic Institute |
| FGNP | Field Generated Normal Points |
| FINLAS | Metsahovi, Finland Laser Station |
| FLINN | Fiducial Laboratories for an International Natural Science Network |
| FR | Full-Rate |
| FRD | Foundation for Research and Development (South Africa) |
| FTLRS | French Transportable Laser Ranging System |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol |
| G | |
| GAOUA | Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine |
| GB | Gigabyte |
| GB | Governing Board |
| GDR | Geophysical Data Record |
| GeoDAF | Geodetical Data Archive Facility (Italy) |
| GeodIS | Geodetic Information System (Germany) |
| GEOS | Geodetic and Earth Orbiting Satellite |
| GEOSAT | Geodesy Satellite |
| GFO | GEOSAT Follow-On |
| GFO-1 | GEOSAT Follow-On 1 |
| GFZ | GeoForschungsZentrum (Potsdam, Germany) |
| GGAO | Goddard Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory (Greenbelt, MD) |
| GGP | Global Geodynamics Project (Gravity) |
| GI | Geological Institute (Russia) |
| GIF | Graphic Image Format (CompuServe) |
| GIS | Geographic Information System |
| GLAS | Geoscience Laser Altimeter System |
| GLONASS | Global Navigation Satellite System |
| GLONASS | Global'naya Navigatsionnay Sputnikovaya Sistema |
| GLRS | Geodynamics Laser Ranging System |
| GM | Gravity Model |
| GMT | Greenwich Mean Time |
| GOES | Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite |
| GP-B | Gravity Probe B |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| GRACE | Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment |
| GRGS | Groupe de Recherches de Godsie Spatiale (France) |
| GROSS | Geodynamics, Rotation of the Earth, Orbit determination Searching Software (Russia) |
| GRS | Global Reference System |
| GSC | Geological Survey of Canada |
| GSFC | Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) |
| GSI | Geographical Survey Institute (Tsukuba, Japan) |
| GSN | Global Seismographic Network |
| GSS | Geodetic Survey Squadron |
| H | |
| HAVAGO | Horizontal and Vertical Adjustment of Geodetic Observations |
| HDJ | Hydrographic Department of Japan |
| HEPnet | High Energy Physics Network |
| HMC | Hydrogen Maser Clock |
| HO | Haystack Observatory (Haystack, MA) |
| HOLLAS | Haleakala Laser Station (Maui, HI) |
| HOPLAS | Mount Hopkins Laser Station (Mt. Hopkins, AZ) |
| HRAO | Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory |
| HREF | Hypertext Reference |
| HTC | Hydrographic and Topographic Center |
| HTML | Hypertext Markup Language |
| HTSI | Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc. (USA) |
| HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol |
| H/W | Hardware |
| I | |
| IAA/RAS | Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences |
| IAG | International Association of Geodesy |
| IAPG | Institut fr Astronomische und Physikalische Geodsie (Germany) |
| IAU | International Astronomical Union |
| ICESat | Ice, Cloud, & land Elevation SATellite |
| ICCG | Interagency Coordinating Committee for G |
| ICG | Inter-Union Commission of Geodynamics |
| ICRF | International Celestial Reference Frame |
| ICRS | International Celestial Reference System |
| IDA | International Deployment of Accelerometers Network |
| IERS | International Earth Rotation Service |
| IESAS | Academia Sinica, Institute of Earth Sciences (Taiwan) |
| IFAG | Institut fur Angewandte Geodaesie (Germany) |
| IGEX | International Glonass EXperiment |
| IGLOS | International GLOnass Service |
| IGN | Institut Geographique National (France) |
| IGS | International GPS Service for Geodynamics |
| IGSCB | IGS Central Bureau |
| ILRS | International Laser Ranging Service |
| IMVP | Institute of Metrology for Time and Space (Russia) |
| INASAN | Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences |
| INTA | Instituto Nacional de Technica Aeroespacial (Spain) |
| ION | Institute of Navigation |
| IPIE | Institute for Precision Instrument Engineering (Russia) |
| IR | Infra-Red |
| IRIS | Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (USA) |
| IRS | Indian Remote Sensing Satellite |
| IRV | Inter-Range Vector |
| ISAS | Institute for Space and Astronautic Science (Sagamihara, Japan) |
| ISIR | International Space Industry Report |
| ISRO | Institute for Space Research Observatory (Graz, Austria) |
| ISRO | Indian Space Research Organisation |
| ISTRAC | ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (India) |
| ITRF | International Terrestrial Reference Frame |
| ITRS | International Terrestrial Reference System |
| ITSM | Institute for Time and Space Metrology (Russia) |
| ITSS | Raytheon Information Technology and Scientific Services (USA) |
| IUGG | International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics |
| IVS | International VLBI Service for Geodesy and Astrometry |
| J | |
| JAnet | Joint Academic Network (United Kingdom) |
| JAXA | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency |
| JCET | Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (USA) |
| JEA | Environmental Agency of Japan |
| JGM | Joint Gravity Model |
| JGR | Journal of Geophysical Research |
| JHD | Japanese Hydrographic Department |
| JILA | Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (USA) |
| JPL | Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) |
| K | |
| KACST | King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) |
| L | |
| LAGEOS | LAser GEOdynamics Satellite |
| LAN | Local Area Network |
| LASER | Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation |
| LASSO | Laser Synchronization from Stationary Orbit |
| LEO | Low Earth Orbit |
| LIDAR | Light Detection and Ranging |
| LLR | Lunar Laser Ranging |
| LOD | Length Of Day |
| LRA | Laser Retroreflector Array |
| LRRA | Lunar RetroReflector Array |
| LRE | Laser Ranging Equipment Satellite |
| L+T | Swiss Federal Office of Topography |
| LURE | LUnar Ranging Experiment |
| M | |
| MAO | Main Astronomical Observatory (Ukraine) |
| MATLAS | Matera, Italy Laser Station |
| MCC | Mission Control Center (Russia) |
| MCEP | Mean Celestial Ephemeris Pole |
| MCP | Micro Channel Plate |
| MEDLAS | Mediterranean Laser Campaign |
| MERIT | Monitoring of Earth Rotation and Intercomparison of Techniques |
| MILnet | Defense data network |
| MIT | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) |
| MJ | Millijoule |
| MLRO | Matera Laser Ranging Observatory (Italy) |
| MLRS | McDonald Laser Ranging System |
| MOA | Mount Observer Automation |
| MOBLAS | MOBile LASer Ranging System |
| MOM | Mobile Optical Mount |
| MSL | Mean Sea Level |
| MSSSO | Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatory (Canberra, NSW, Australia) |
| MSTI | Miniature Seeker Technology Integration |
| MTLRS | Modular Transportable Laser Ranging System |
| MTPE | Mission to Planet Earth (USA) |
| MWG | Missions Working Group |
| MWV | MicroWave Radiometer |
| N | |
| NAD | North American Datum |
| NAO | National Astronomical Observatory (Tokyo, Japan) |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NASCOM | NASA COMmunications Network |
| NASDA | National Space Development Agency (Japan) |
| NAVNET | Navy VLBI Network |
| NAVSTAR | Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging |
| NBSM | National Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (PRC) |
| NCL | University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (United Kingdom) |
| NCMN | National Crustal Motion Network |
| NEOS | National Earth Orientation Service |
| NERC | Natural Environment Research Council (United Kingdom) |
| NEWG | Networks and Engineering Working Group |
| Nd YAG | Neodymium Yttrium Aluminum Garnet |
| NGRS | National Geodetic Reference System |
| NGS | National Geodetic Survey |
| NGVD | National Geodetic Vertical Datum |
| NIES | National Institute for Environmental Studies (Japan) |
| NIPRNET | Non-Classified IP Router Network |
| NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
| NORAD | North American Aerospace Defense Command |
| NOS | National Ocean Survey |
| NP | Normal Point |
| NRAO | National Radio Astronomy Observatory |
| NRIAG | National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (Egypt) |
| NRL | Naval Research Laboratory (USA) |
| NSF | National Science Foundation (USA) |
| NSFnet | National Science Foundation Network |
| NSI | NASA Science Internet |
| NSI-DECnet | NASA Science Internet DECnet Protocol |
| NSI-TCP/IP | NASA Science Internet TCP/IP Protocol |
| NSN | NASA Science Network |
| NSSDC | National Space Science Data Center (GSFC) |
| NWS | National Weather Service (USA) |
| O | |
| OAC | Operational Analysis Center |
| OCA | Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur |
| OMC | Observed Minus Computed |
| ONP | On-site Normal Point |
| ORRLAS | Orroral, Australia Laser Station |
| ORT | Optical Ranging Telescope |
| OSC | Orbital Sciences Corporation (USA) |
| OSGB | Ordinance Survey of Great Britain |
| OSTA | Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications |
| P | |
| PAS | Polish Academy of Sciences |
| PC | Personal Computer |
| PCGIAP | Permanent Committee for GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific |
| Portable Document Format | |
| Probability Density Function | |
| PI | Principal Investigator |
| PL | Phillips Laboratory (USA) |
| PM | Polar Motion |
| PM/UT | Polar Motion/Universal Time |
| PMT | Photo Multiplier Tube |
| POD | Precision Orbit Determination |
| POLAC | Paris Observatory Lunar Analysis Center (France) |
| POLARIS | POLar motion Analysis by Radio Interferometry |
| PPME | Pacific Plate Motion Experiment |
| PRARE | Precise Range and Range-rate Equipment |
| PRC | Peoples Republic of China |
| PRN | Pseudo Random Noise |
| PSI | Packetnet Systems Interface |
| PSLR | Portable Satellite Laser Ranging System (Latvia) |
| PSN | Piano Spazial Nazionale (Italy) |
| R | |
| R&D | Research and Development |
| RA | Radar Altimeter |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| RAS | Russian Academy of Sciences |
| RESURS | Earth Remote Sensing Satellite |
| RFI | Radio Frequency Interference |
| RGO | Royal Greenwich Observatory (Great Britain) |
| RGOLAS | RGO, Herstmonceux, Great Britain Laser System |
| RIS | Reflector in Space |
| RISC | Reduced Instruction-Set Computing |
| RISDE | Russian Institute of Space Device Engineering |
| RITSS | Raytheon Information Techology and Scientific Services (USA) |
| RM | Reference Monument |
| RMS | Root Mean Square |
| RMT | Reference MonumenT |
| ROSAVIAKOSMOS | Russian Aerospace Agency |
| RRA | RetroReflector Array |
| RSA | Russian Space Agency |
| S | |
| SA | Selective Availability |
| SAAO | South African Astronomical Observatory |
| SAC | Astronomical Station of Cagliari (Italy) |
| SAFE | San Andreas Fault Experiment |
| SAFRD | South African Foundation for Research Development |
| SALRO | Saudi Arabian Laser Ranging Observatory (Riyahd, Saudi Arabia) |
| SAO | Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory |
| SAO | Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (PRC) |
| SAR | Synthetic Aperture Radar |
| SCEC | Southern California Earthquate Center |
| SDSC | San Diego Supercomputer Center |
| SENH | Solid Earth and Natural Hazards |
| SEWP | Scientific and Engineering Workstation Procurement |
| SGAPO | Space Geodesy and Altimetry Projects Office |
| SGF | Space Geodesy Facility (United Kingdom) |
| SGMS | Space Geodetic Measurement Sites |
| SGP | Space Geodesy Project |
| SHAO | Shanghai Observatory (PRC) |
| SHO | Simosato Hydrographic Observatory (Japan) |
| SHOLAS | Simosato, Japan Laser Station |
| SI | International System of Units |
| SINEX | Software INdependent EXchange format |
| SIO | Scripps Institution of Oceanography (San Diego, CA) |
| SLR | Satellite Laser Ranging |
| SNR | Signal to Noise Ratio |
| SOAP | Single Operator Automation System |
| SOD | Site Occupation Designator |
| SOPAC | Scripps Orbit and Permanent Array Center |
| SOR | Starfire Optical Range (USA) |
| SP | Signal Processing |
| SPAD | Single Photon Avalanche Diode |
| SPAN | Space Physics Analysis Network |
| SPE | Single Photo Electron |
| SPIE | International Society for Optical Engineers |
| SPNLAS | San Fernando, Spain Laser Station |
| SPRINTmail | SPRINT Mail (formerly TELEMAIL) |
| SPWG | Signal Processing Working Group |
| SRDC | Shanghai Regional Data Center (China) |
| SRI | Space Research Institute (Russia) |
| SRP | System Reference Point |
| SSC | Set of Station Coordinates |
| SSFPO | Space Station Freedom Project Office |
| SSL | Space Science Laboratory (MSFC) |
| SSV | Set of Station Velocities |
| STALAS | Standard Laser Station |
| STDN | Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network |
| SUNSAT | Stellenbosch UNiversity SATellite |
| SV | Space Vehicle |
| S/W | Software |
| T | |
| TAC | Totally Accurate Clock |
| TAI | International Atomic Time |
| TB | TerraByte |
| TBF | Time Bias Function |
| TCUP | TLRS Upgrade Project |
| TCP/IP | Transmission Control Protocol/INTERnet Protocol |
| TDRSS | Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System |
| TELENET | GTE public packet switching network |
| TFO | TOPEX/Poseidon Follow-ON |
| THEnet | Texas Higher Education Network |
| TIGO | Transportable Integrated Geodetic Observatory |
| TIPS | Tether Physics and Survivability Experiment |
| TIRV | Tuned Inter-Range Vector |
| TIU | Time Interval Unit |
| TLRS | Transportable Laser Ranging System |
| TOPEX | Ocean TOPography EXperiment |
| T/P | TOPEX/Poseidon |
| T/R | Transfer/Receive |
| TRF | Terrestrial Reference Frame |
| TROS | TRansportable Observation Station |
| TTandC | Tracking-Telemetry/Control |
| TUJJB | Turkish Union of Geodesy and Geophysics |
| TUM | Technical University of Munich (Germany) |
| U | |
| UARS | Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| UM | University of Maryland (College Park, MD) |
| UMBC | University of Maryland Baltimore County (USA) |
| UNAVCO | University NAVSTAR Consortium |
| UOSATS | University of Surrey Satellite (United Kingdom) |
| UPF | Universit de la Polynsie Franaise (French Polynesia) |
| URL | Uniform Resource Locator |
| USA | United States of America |
| USAF | United States Air Force |
| USC & GS | United States Coast and Geodetic Survey |
| USGS | United States Geological Survey |
| USN | United States Navy |
| USNO | United States Naval Observatory |
| USSPACECOM | United States Space Command |
| UT | Universal Time |
| UT | University of Texas (USA) |
| UT Austin | University of Texas, Austin (USA) |
| UTC | Universal Coordinated Time |
| UTCSR | University of Texas Center for Space Research |
| UTOPIA | University of Texas Orbit Processor (USA) |
| UTXM | University of Texas McDonald Observatory (USA) |
| UUCP | Unix to Unix Copy Program |
| V | |
| VAFB | Vandenberg Air Force Base (Vandenberg, CA) |
| VCL | Vegetation Canopy Lidar |
| VLBA | Very Long Baseline Array |
| VLBI | Very Long Baseline Interferometry |
| VNIIFTRI | All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Physical-Technical and Radiotechnical Measurements (Russia) |
| VOL | Variation Of Latitude |
| W | |
| WEGENER | Working Group of European Geoscientists for the Establishment of Networks for Earth-science Research |
| WETLAS | Wettzell, Germany Laser Station |
| WGS | World Geodetic System |
| WLRS | Wettzell Laser Ranging System (Germany) |
| WESTPAC | Western Pacific Laser Tracking Network Satellite |
| WFF | Wallops Flight Facility (NASA) |
| WG | Working Group |
| WLRS | Wettzell Laser Ranging System (Germany) |
| WPLTN | Western Pacific Laser Tracking Network |
| WRMS | Weighted Root Mean Square |
| WTU | Wuhan Technical University (PRC) |
| WWW | World Wide Web |
| X | |
| X.25 | Level II communication protocal for packet |
| Y | |
| Y2K | Year 2000 |
| Z | |
| ZIMLAS | Zimmerwald, Switzerland Laser Station |
