ASM
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is a professional scientific organization dedicated to advancing the study and application of microbiology, serving as the oldest and largest single life science membership organization globally with over 37,000 members from more than 100 countries as of 2025.[1][2] Founded in 1899 as the Society of American Bacteriologists and renamed in 1960, ASM connects microbial scientists, educators, clinicians, and policymakers to foster discovery, education, and solutions to global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases, and climate impacts on microbial ecosystems.[2][3] ASM's mission emphasizes harnessing microbiology for the benefit of humanity through research dissemination, professional development, and advocacy for science funding and policy.[2] The organization operates through a network of branches, student chapters, country ambassadors, and global health programs that build laboratory capacity in underserved regions and support outbreak responses.[2] Its structure includes divisions focused on subfields like bacteriology, virology, mycology, and parasitology, enabling specialized collaboration among members.[2] Key activities of ASM include leading scientific publishing with over a dozen peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Bacteriology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and mBio, which provide authoritative coverage of basic and clinical microbiology research.[4] ASM also hosts major events like the annual ASM Microbe conference, the world's premier gathering for microbiologists, along with specialized meetings on topics like biofilms and phage therapy. Additionally, through ASM Press, it produces essential resources like the Manual of Clinical Microbiology and educational materials to train the next generation of scientists.[5] ASM's impact extends to public health advocacy, including efforts to strengthen microbial surveillance systems and promote equitable access to microbiological expertise worldwide. In February 2025, ASM removed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content from its website in response to a U.S. presidential executive order.[6] By supporting open science initiatives and interdisciplinary collaborations, ASM continues to drive innovations that address pressing societal needs, from pandemic preparedness to sustainable agriculture.[2]Codes
Country Codes
In the ISO 3166-1 standard, ASM serves as the three-letter alpha-3 code designating American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean.[7] This code was established as part of the initial publication of ISO 3166 in 1974, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in coordination with the United Nations to provide a uniform system for identifying countries and territories worldwide. The standard's alpha-3 format, using three uppercase letters, was designed to enhance clarity in alphanumeric data processing compared to shorter alpha-2 codes, facilitating reliable international communication without ambiguity.[8] The ASM code plays a critical role in various global systems, including data interchange protocols where it uniquely identifies American Samoa in electronic records, databases, and standardized formats such as XML or EDI for seamless information exchange across borders.[9] In international trade, it is employed to denote origin or destination in customs declarations, tariff schedules under the Harmonized System, and shipping manifests, ensuring accurate tracking and compliance with trade regulations.[9] Additionally, the code underpins the .as country code top-level domain (ccTLD), delegated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to the AS Domain Registry for American Samoa since 1997, allowing entities to register domains that reflect territorial affiliation or creative uses like domain hacks. American Samoa's status as a U.S. territory dates to 1900, when the islands of Tutuila and later the Manu'a Islands were ceded to the United States through treaties with local chiefs, with formal U.S. congressional ratification occurring in 1929.[10] This unincorporated and unorganized territory remains under U.S. sovereignty but is not part of any state, granting it a distinct geopolitical position that necessitates precise identifiers like ASM for administrative purposes.[11] The code streamlines logistical references in federal operations, such as postal services, disaster response, and economic reporting, by providing a concise, internationally recognized label that avoids confusion with independent nations or other U.S. possessions.[8] Complementing the alpha-3 format, ISO 3166-1 assigns American Samoa the numeric code 016, a three-digit identifier derived from the United Nations' statistical standards for numerical consistency in automated systems and legacy data formats.[7] This numeric equivalent supports applications where alphabetic codes are impractical, such as in numerical sorting or integration with UN trade statistics, reinforcing ASM's utility in global datasets.[12]Airport Codes
Asmara International Airport, located in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea, is designated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the code ASM.[13] This code serves as the primary identifier for the facility in global airline scheduling and ticketing systems. The airport sits at an elevation of 7,661 feet (2,336 meters) above sea level, which influences its operational conditions due to the high-altitude environment affecting aircraft performance.[14] As Eritrea's largest and main international airport, it functions as the country's primary gateway for passenger and cargo traffic, handling all scheduled international flights and supporting limited domestic services.[15] The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assigns the code HHAS to Asmara International Airport, which is utilized in aeronautical information publications, flight planning, and air traffic control communications worldwide. This four-letter code facilitates precise coordination among pilots, controllers, and aviation authorities, ensuring safe navigation and routing in the region. Constructed by Italian colonial authorities in 1922 as the first airport in Italian Eritrea, originally named Aeroporto di Asmara-Mai Temenai, the facility has undergone significant historical developments.[16] During World War II, it served as a key military airfield for Allied forces, including British and later U.S. operations, with proximity to the U.S. Kagnew Station—a major communications base established in 1943 that enhanced regional signal intelligence until its closure in 1977.[17] Following Eritrea's federation with Ethiopia in 1952 and independence in 1993, the airport retained its strategic role, particularly during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998–2000), when it was targeted by Ethiopian airstrikes on June 5, 1998, underscoring its importance as a logistical and symbolic asset in the conflict.[18] Today, it continues to operate as a vital hub despite periodic disruptions from regional tensions, including the suspension of Ethiopian Airlines flights since September 2024 due to a frozen bank account and unresolved financial disputes as of August 2025.[19][20]Organizations
Companies
ASM International N.V. is a Dutch multinational corporation headquartered in Almere, specializing in the design, manufacture, and service of equipment for semiconductor device fabrication, with a focus on atomic layer deposition (ALD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technologies. Founded in 1968 by entrepreneur Arthur del Prado as Advanced Semiconductor Materials in Bilthoven, Netherlands, the company emerged at the dawn of the semiconductor industry to address early needs in epitaxial growth and wafer processing tools.[21] In the 1980s, ASM expanded internationally, establishing ASM Japan in 1982 to support plasma CVD product development and tapping into the growing Asian market for semiconductor equipment.[22] In 2024, the company reported net sales with a 12% increase from 2023, driven by demand for advanced deposition solutions in logic and memory chip production.[23] A key innovation from ASM International is the Eagle® XP8 platform, a high-productivity 300mm tool for plasma-enhanced ALD (PEALD) processes essential to advanced chip manufacturing. Launched to enable conformal film deposition for applications like low-temperature spacers in multiple patterning and through-silicon via (TSV) isolation, the Eagle XP8 features up to four dual chamber modules for efficient high-volume production, with independent chambers ensuring wafer-to-wafer uniformity and reduced cost of ownership through low-volume gas usage and quick maintenance access.[24] This platform supports critical dielectric films used in scaling semiconductor nodes, contributing to ASM's leadership in enabling next-generation logic and DRAM devices.[24] ASM Technologies Limited is an Indian engineering and IT services firm providing consulting, product development, and digital solutions, with a emphasis on engineering services and research & development (R&D) for global clients. Established in 1992 and publicly listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1994, the company operates offshore development centers in India while maintaining a presence in the USA, Singapore, UK, Canada, Mexico, and Japan to deliver end-to-end product engineering and human-centric design services.[25] ASM Technologies focuses on sectors including high-tech manufacturing and digital engineering, partnering with international clients to provide outsourced product development, IT infrastructure support, and specialized solutions like cybersecurity managed services through collaborations such as with Netherlands-based EclecticIQ.[26][27]Professional Societies
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), established in 1899, is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the microbial sciences through research, education, and advocacy, serving over 38,000 members worldwide including scientists, educators, and health professionals.[2] It focuses on addressing global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases, and climate impacts on microbiomes, fostering collaboration across disciplines. ASM publishes influential open-access journals like mBio, which disseminates high-impact research on microbial biology and pathogenesis. The society hosts annual conferences, notably ASM Microbe, launched in 2016 as a premier event combining general meetings and specialized symposia to showcase cutting-edge microbial research and facilitate networking.[28] ASM International, founded in 1913 as the American Society for Metals and renamed in 1986, is the world's largest association of materials-centric engineers and scientists, with over 12,000 professional members and 3,800 students, emphasizing education, knowledge sharing, and professional development in materials science and engineering.[29][30] It provides certifications in areas such as metallurgy, failure analysis, and heat treatment to enhance industry expertise and career advancement.[31] Key publications include Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, a peer-reviewed journal covering physical metallurgy, processing, and structure-property relationships in materials.[32] The organization organizes events like the Materials Science & Technology (MS&T) conference series, which promotes innovation through technical presentations, exhibitions, and interdisciplinary discussions on advanced materials applications. The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS), formed in 1969, is a non-profit dedicated to promoting the development and dissemination of knowledge in mass spectrometry and allied topics, supporting researchers in fields ranging from proteomics to environmental analysis.[33] It offers resources for professional growth, including workshops and advocacy for the technique's role in scientific discovery. ASMS publishes the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (JASMS), a monthly peer-reviewed outlet for original research on instrumentation, methodologies, and applications of mass spectrometry.[34] The society's flagship event is its annual Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics, a major gathering featuring plenary lectures, workshops, and poster sessions to highlight advancements and foster collaborations among global experts.[35]Sports Clubs
ASM Clermont Auvergne, founded in 1911 and based in Clermont-Ferrand, France, is a prominent French rugby union club competing in the Top 14 league.[36] The club has secured two French championships (Brennus Shield) in 2010 and 2017, along with three European Rugby Challenge Cup titles in 1999, 2007, and 2019.[37] They play their home matches at the Stade Marcel-Michelin, a 19,022-capacity venue known as the "Yellow Army's" fortress.[38] Notable players include prop Michael Alaalatoa and captain Baptiste Jauneau, who lead the squad's forward pack and leadership on the field.[39] In the 2025–26 Top 14 season, as of November 2025, ASM Clermont Auvergne holds a mid-table position, highlighted by a narrow 9-7 victory over Montpellier on November 1.[40] ASM Béziers Hérault, established in 1911 in Béziers, France, is a historic rugby union club renowned for its golden era in the 1970s and 1980s, during which it captured 11 French championships, the last in 1984.[41] The club has also won four Challenge Yves du Manoir trophies and remains a cornerstone of local identity, fostering community pride through its rugby heritage and youth development programs.[42] Home games are hosted at the Stade Raoul Barrière, which holds approximately 13,500 spectators and serves as a hub for regional sporting events.[43] Key figures include fly-half Samuel Marques, the team's leading scorer and try-maker in recent seasons, alongside emerging talents like hooker Yanis Lockwood.[44] In the 2025–26 Pro D2 season, the second-tier league, ASM Béziers stands at 13th place with 15 points as of mid-November 2025, aiming for promotion through consistent performances.[43]Other Organizations
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) is a UK-based professional association and trade union founded in 1977 as the Secondary Heads Association through the merger of the Association of Headmistresses and the Headmasters' Association.[45] It supports school, college, and trust leaders across primary, secondary, and post-16 education by providing advocacy on key issues such as funding, workload, and curriculum development, alongside tailored training programs to enhance leadership skills.[46] Post-2020, ASCL has actively influenced education reforms, including campaigns for sustainable funding amid rising costs and staff shortages, as well as contributing to policy discussions on recovery from the COVID-19 disruptions through submissions to parliamentary committees and the publication of a 2025 roadmap for a resilient education system emphasizing ethical leadership and collaboration.[47] Membership benefits include access to expert legal and employment advice, discounted professional development opportunities, and a network for peer support among over 25,000 leaders, with key initiatives such as the ASCL Trust Leaders Executive Programme offering certification-level training in strategic management and governance for aspiring and current CEOs of multi-academy trusts.[48] The Aerospace Sciences Meeting (ASM), organized annually by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) since 1963, serves as a premier non-profit forum for advancing aerospace research through the presentation of technical papers on topics including aerodynamics, propulsion, and space systems.[49] This event fosters collaboration among scientists, engineers, and policymakers, featuring plenary sessions, workshops, and student competitions that highlight emerging technologies like hypersonics and sustainable aviation.[50] The 2025 ASM, held as part of the AIAA SciTech Forum from January 6–10 in Orlando, Florida, adopted a hybrid format to accommodate both in-person attendance at the Hyatt Regency and virtual participation, enabling broader global access with live-streamed sessions and on-demand content for over 5,000 combined attendees.[50] Participation benefits include networking opportunities, access to proceedings via the AIAA Digital Library, and awards recognizing high-impact contributions, such as the Dryden Lecture in Research.[51] In scientific fields, professional societies like the AIAA host events such as the ASM to bridge research and application, distinct from ongoing membership organizations.[52]Military Applications
Air-to-Surface Missiles
Air-to-surface missiles (ASMs) are precision-guided munitions launched from fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, or other aerial platforms to strike targets on land or the sea surface, setting them apart from air-to-air missiles designed for aerial intercepts. These weapons enhance strike capabilities by allowing attacks from standoff distances, minimizing exposure to ground-based defenses. Guidance systems vary but commonly include inertial navigation, satellite-aided GPS, electro-optical tracking, or laser designation to ensure accuracy against fixed or mobile targets. For instance, the U.S. AGM-65 Maverick missile employs semi-active laser homing in its E model, where a ground or airborne laser illuminator designates the target for the missile's seeker to home in on reflected energy, enabling effective engagement of armored vehicles and fortifications.[53] The evolution of ASMs began during World War II with unguided rockets, such as the U.S. High Velocity Aircraft Rocket (HVAR), a 5-inch folding-fin aerial rocket deployed from fighter-bombers like the P-47 Thunderbolt to suppress ground targets, though their unguided nature limited hit probabilities to around 5-10% under combat conditions. Early guided variants appeared late in the war, exemplified by the German Henschel Hs 293, an air-launched glide bomb with radio command guidance that was used against Allied shipping starting in 1943, achieving several hits but proving vulnerable to electronic countermeasures. Postwar developments in the Cold War era shifted toward autonomous guidance, with the U.S. deploying tactical ASMs like the AGM-12 Bullpup in the 1950s, which used radio command for semiactive control against bunkers and bridges.[54][55][56] Modern ASMs represent a leap in range, lethality, and survivability, incorporating stealth features and advanced seekers. The UK's Brimstone, developed in the 1990s by MBDA and entering RAF service in 2005, features dual-mode millimeter-wave radar and laser guidance for fire-and-forget operations against moving vehicles, with a blast-fragmentation tandem warhead optimized for anti-armor penetration. In the U.S., the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), initiated in the late 1990s and operational by the mid-2000s, provides stealthy, low-observable cruise capability with GPS/inertial guidance and a 1,000-pound penetrating blast-fragmentation warhead, with the standard variant having a range of approximately 370 km and the extended-range variant (JASSM-ER) achieving up to 1,000 km to evade integrated air defenses.[57] These systems prioritize network-centric warfare integration, allowing real-time target updates via datalinks. Some ASMs also support anti-ship roles for engaging surface naval targets from airborne platforms.[58] ASMs have seen extensive operational deployment, notably in the 1991 Gulf War, where the AGM-65 Maverick was fired over 5,000 times by U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt II and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft to neutralize Iraqi Republican Guard armor and artillery, contributing to the coalition's rapid ground campaign success with a reported hit rate exceeding 80% in clear weather. Contemporary platforms like the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II integrate ASMs such as JASSM for precision strikes, enabling internal carriage in stealth configurations to maintain low observability while delivering warheads against high-value ground targets in contested environments. This integration supports multi-domain operations, with the F-35's sensor fusion providing terminal guidance cues to enhance missile effectiveness.[59][60]Anti-Ship Missiles
Anti-ship missiles (ASMs) are guided munitions specifically engineered to target and disable or sink naval vessels, including warships and merchant ships, by exploiting vulnerabilities in their hulls and superstructures.[61] These weapons typically feature advanced guidance systems, such as active radar homing seekers, to achieve precision in maritime environments cluttered by waves and electronic interference. A prominent early example is the French-developed Exocet MM38, introduced in the 1970s, which uses a solid-propellant rocket motor and active radar for terminal guidance, with a range of approximately 40 kilometers from surface launch platforms.[62] Later variants extended this capability, incorporating sea-skimming flight profiles to evade radar detection by hugging the ocean surface at altitudes as low as 1-2 meters.[63] The evolution of ASMs has progressed from subsonic cruise missiles to advanced supersonic and hypersonic systems, enhancing speed, range, and survivability against modern defenses. The U.S. Harpoon missile, first deployed in 1977, marked a significant milestone as an all-weather, over-the-horizon weapon launchable from air, surface, and submarine platforms, with a turbojet engine enabling ranges up to 124 kilometers in its early variants.[64] This design influenced global developments, emphasizing fire-and-forget autonomy and countermeasures like electronic jamming resistance. By the 2020s, hypersonic ASMs emerged, exemplified by Russia's 3M22 Zircon, a scramjet-powered missile capable of Mach 8-9 speeds and over 1,000-kilometer range, with initial naval deployments beginning in 2022 on frigates and submarines. The Zircon has been used in combat, with Russia deploying it against Ukrainian targets starting in 2024. Sea-skimming remains a core evasion technique across platforms, allowing missiles to exploit radar horizon limitations and reduce reaction time for interceptors.[65][66] ASMs have seen combat deployment in key conflicts, demonstrating their tactical impact on naval operations. During the 1982 Falklands War, Argentine forces launched Exocet missiles from Super Étendard aircraft, sinking the British destroyer HMS Sheffield and damaging HMS Glamorgan, which highlighted the vulnerability of unalerted fleets to low-flying attacks.[67] In recent years, escalating Indo-Pacific tensions have intensified ASM proliferation, with China's 2020 test of an anti-ship ballistic missile against a moving target underscoring threats to carrier strike groups, while U.S. integration of Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs) on aircraft like the F/A-18, operational as of 2025, aims to counter regional naval expansions.[68][69] These developments, including Japan's 2025 testing of the ground-launched Type 88, reflect a strategic arms race focused on denying sea control in contested waters.[70]Computing and Technology
Assembly Language
Assembly language is a low-level programming language that provides a symbolic representation of a computer's machine code instructions, tailored to a specific processor architecture. It employs human-readable mnemonics—such as MOV for moving data between registers or memory—to abstract binary opcodes, making it easier to write and understand code that directly controls hardware. Programs written in assembly language are translated into executable machine code by an assembler, a tool like NASM (Netwide Assembler), which uses Intel syntax, or GAS (GNU Assembler), which defaults to AT&T syntax.[71][72] The development of assembly language began in 1947 with Kathleen Booth's creation of the first such language for the ARC (Automatic Relay Calculator) at Birkbeck College, University of London, enabling symbolic programming over raw binary. This was followed by early implementations like the initial orders for the EDSAC computer in 1949, which introduced subroutine libraries to simplify coding. Assembly languages have since evolved alongside processor architectures, resulting in dialects specific to instruction sets such as x86-64 for general-purpose computing, ARM for mobile and embedded devices, and MIPS for educational and networking applications. These dialects are essential in domains requiring fine-grained hardware control, including operating system kernels for boot processes and interrupt handling, embedded systems for optimizing performance in memory-limited environments, and reverse engineering for disassembling and analyzing compiled binaries.[73][74][75][76][77] Central to assembly language programming are concepts like registers and addressing modes, which facilitate efficient data manipulation and access. Registers, such as EAX in the x86 architecture, are small, high-speed storage locations within the CPU used for temporary data holding and arithmetic operations. Addressing modes specify how the CPU retrieves operands, including immediate (direct values), register (data in CPU registers), direct (specific memory locations), and indirect (via pointers). A simple example is the x86 instruction that loads an immediate value into a register:This mnemonic-based instruction assembles to the corresponding binary opcode, illustrating how assembly bridges human intent with machine execution.[71]assemblyMOV AX, 5 ; Loads the value 5 into the 16-bit AX [register](/page/Register)MOV AX, 5 ; Loads the value 5 into the 16-bit AX [register](/page/Register)