Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2016 June 11

= June 11 =

Are hormone blockers just used for trans kids only?
Just wondering. 50.68.118.24 (talk) 06:01, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
 * This says that hormone blockers can be used to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. It's reasonable to suppose that hormone blockers could be used for anything that would be beneficial to a patient. There's an article called Hormone therapy which might get into its various uses. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:17, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Hormonr therapy is used by transgender adults, too, not just kids. KägeTorä - (影虎)  ( もしもし！ ) 12:38, 12 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator: It causes estrogen to have a reduced effect in breast tissue, which is used therapeutically in breast cancer patients whose cancers are estrogen-sensitive, and may be used by men who use (or abuse) certain anabolic steroids to prevent gynecomastia (male breast development) that arises as a result from the conversion of testosterone (from the steroids) into estrogen. Interestingly, tamoxifen increases the effect of estrogen on bone tissue, so women undergoing breast cancer treatment may be at a lower risk of osteoporosis-related fractures. Aromatase inhibitors are drugs that block the conversion of testosterone (whether natural or caused by steroid use) into estrogen, and are used in men who use steroids. They are also a second-line drug in breast cancer treatment (because they inhibit estrogen throughout the body, leading to an increased risk of osteoporosis in women). Finally, perhaps one of the best colloquially known hormone blockers is the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor Propecia, which is used for androgenic hair loss, as well as treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (an enlarged prostate): 5-ARIs work like aromatase inhibitors, but reduce the conversion of testosterone (whether natural or from steroids) into dihydrotestosterone—which can cause those issues. Put briefly, the use of "hormone blockers" by transgender individuals really only forms a very small subset of usage of these pharmaceuticals, and as far as I know they were all developed to address very different conditions. —/M endaliv /2¢/Δ's/ 18:05, 14 June 2016 (UTC)

Questions about short people
1. Is there a phone number for http://www.littlepeopleofbc.org/contact-Little-People-of-BC.html website? 2. Is there a website where I can find friends of short people but not for dating? 50.68.118.24 (talk) 06:36, 11 June 2016 (UTC)


 * First: You could do no worse than email Contact-Little-People-of-BC for their phone number (stating why etc. and in their inquiry box click other). Second: you can ask them about your second question. No doubt they have been asked this question before  - and perhaps many times. Consider too, this may be a very small organisation that can't afford a full-time representative to man-the-phones. Hence, no telephone number appearing on the website.Aspro (talk) 11:44, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Little People of America is an organization for individuals with Dwarfism and their families. Contact their office at info@lpaonline.org or your local chapter for information. See also Wikipedia's List of dwarfism organisations worldwide. AllBestFaith (talk) 14:09, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

H4SO4
Why does H4+S+O4 not exist? --Ip80.123 (talk) 14:01, 11 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Because the sulphate ion is bivalent. Wymspen (talk) 21:04, 11 June 2016 (UTC)


 * That would be orthosulfurous acid. At you can see mention in the context of naming. Some organic derivatives exist such as perfluoropinacol orthosulfite (two rings joined at sulfur),  tetraphenyl orthosulfite may have a trigonal bipyramid shape at the sulfur, bis(hydroxy-n-butyltin) orthosulfite contains two small rings of tin, two oxygens and sulfur joined at the sulfur. These could also be called tetraoxysulfuranes, so your substance could be hydrogentetraoxysulfurane. It would be unstable, decomposing to Sulfur dioxide and water. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 01:01, 12 June 2016 (UTC)


 * He means S(OH)4, which follows the rules for tetravalent sulfur just fine (same valence as sulfites or sulfur dioxide), but is not stable. --Trovatore (talk) 01:34, 12 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Just change the S (sulfur, atomic #16) to Si (silicon #14) and you can have orthosilicic acid H4SiO4, upon which ocean diatoms feed. AllBestFaith (talk) 09:44, 12 June 2016 (UTC)
 * And just change the H to an O in H2O, and you have ozone. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:14, 12 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Unless you get London, Nairobi, Amsterdam, Guangzhou or Pune. AllBestFaith (talk) 23:34, 12 June 2016 (UTC)
 * O, not 0. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 15:41, 13 June 2016 (UTC)
 * The compound sulfur tetrahydroxide is mentioned here . Sleigh (talk) 00:18, 13 June 2016 (UTC)
 * Page 76 and 81. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 00:55, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Maserati
Is it known if Alfieri Maserati did know personaly Ferruccio Lamborghini or Enzo Ferrari? where they friends? --Ip80.123 (talk) 18:25, 11 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Maserati dies in 1932 - at which point Lamborghini was 16. Lamborghini didn't start his manufacturing company till 1948 - and they started by making tractors! Maserati and Ferrari were racing at the same period, so it is very likely that they met competitively. Wymspen (talk) 21:12, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

Professional athletes
For the purposes of this question, I'm thinking mostly of the sports that are played in the US. I live in the US and don't follow sports too much at all.

For the major sports such as American football, baseball, basketball, etc., players make enough to live on and such just from their team salaries. When they retire, they often go on to jobs in the organizations that they've been working in. Working in the front office or coaching or what have you. Some go on to be commentators for television networks. As examples, I've looked through the articles of some of the players that I know of. Scottie Pippin worked for the Bulls organization, Isiah Thomas did some coaching and commentating, Dick Butkus was a commentator, etc. Some went on to acting such as Alex Karras.

So, what do athletes in less popular sports do? Sports such as pole vault, discus, hammer throw, slalom, etc. Are they paid by their organizations... if they have organizations. Do they have to take coaching jobs on the side? And then what about when they retire from the sport? I realize that there's no blanket answer, so whatever can be provided would quell my curiosity. Dismas |(talk) 21:54, 11 June 2016 (UTC)
 * You are comparing careers in heavily American media-sponsored Team sports with Athletics which embraces individual sports of competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking and is governed by the IAAF. The highest career attainment for an athlete is an Olympic award. AllBestFaith (talk) 09:26, 12 June 2016 (UTC)


 * A very large fraction of the elite athletes in what you referred to as the less popular sports are university students and they generally go on to do what their university colleagues do - be that their chosen profession or asking customers if they'd like fries with that. Hayttom (talk) 16:02, 12 June 2016 (UTC)


 * There are a few routes for an athlete to make a living. One, as you suggest, is to become a coach, commentator or teacher. Another, as Hayttom says, is to be a student on a scholarship. The top athletes can be sponsored by groups such as UK Athletics, allowing them to give up work or only work part time. Some are drawn from military and police forces, who will exempt the athlete from active service for the PR and morale boost of having a successful sportsperson on the force (the Soviets and other Communist nations were big fans of this, which gave them a big advantage in the Olympics during the era when all athletes were expected to be amateurs - on paper, their athletes were soldiers and cops, but they might never have done a day's actual duty). A very successful athlete can make a living on prize money, sponsorship and starring in adverts (for someone of the calibre of Michael Phelps or Jessica Ennis). Finally, as probably happens in the vast majority of cases, it's to work more-or-less full time, and squeeze your training and competition into evenings, weekends and holiday. Smurrayinchester 07:52, 13 June 2016 (UTC)
 * "Don't quit your day job" - WP:WHAAOE! SemanticMantis (talk) 14:27, 13 June 2016 (UTC)


 * Some athletics events offer prize money; the winner of the Boston Marathon takes home $150,000 and all the other big city marathons have similar {if slightly smaller) prizes, according to this page. I believe that the IAAF Diamond League also has prize money although I am having trouble finding details online. However, if you're not getting placed, you go home empty-handed. Alansplodge (talk) 19:19, 13 June 2016 (UTC)
 * "The IAAF Diamond League is offering a total of USD$8 million in prize money in 2015... The overall winner of each of the 32 Diamond Races will receive a USD$40,000 cash prize..." See 2015 IAAF DIAMOND LEAGUE – MONEY, POINTS, STATISTICS.  Alansplodge (talk) 19:28, 13 June 2016 (UTC)
 * As for after retirement, there have been a few studies on this. It can be difficult, psychologically, and many national federations offer some sort of support in helping people access training and job opportunities outside the sport .  But, aside from coaching jobs, there are very few opportunities to find work within less popular sports, and need to find work elsewhere. Warofdreams talk 15:52, 15 June 2016 (UTC)