text:
Short term effects of aerobic training in the clinical management of moderate to severe asthma in children
J Alberto Nedera,
Luiz E Nerya,
Antônio C Silvab,
Anna L B Cabralc,
Ana L G Fernandesa
aRespiratory Division, Department of Medicine, bDepartment of Physiology, cFederal University of Sao Paulo-Paulista School of Medicine (UNIFESP-EPM), Sao Paulo, Brazil Center of Sport Practices of the University of Sao Paulo (CEPEUSP), Sao Paulo, Brazil
Dr J A Neder, Department of Physiology, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE, UK.
BACKGROUND Aerobic training has a number of well known beneficial effects in both normal and asthmatic children. However, the impact of training on the clinical management of the underlying bronchial asthma remains controversial, particularly in the most severe patients.
METHODS Clinical evaluation, spirometric tests, symptom limited maximum exercise testing, and exercise challenge tests were performed in a group of children with stable moderate to severe asthma. Forty two patients (24 boys) aged 8–16 were evaluated twice: before and after supervised aerobic training (group 1, n = 26) and two months apart (untrained group 2, n = 16).
RESULTS Spirometric and maximal exercise variables in the initial evaluation were significantly reduced in group 1 (p<0.05) but medication and clinical scores and the occurrence of exercise induced bronchospasm (EIB) did not differ between the two groups. Aerobic improvement with training (maximal oxygen uptake and/or anaerobic threshold increment >10% and 100 ml) was inversely related to the baseline level of fitness and was independent of disease severity. Although the clinical score and the occurrence of EIB did not change after training, aerobic improvement was associated with a significant reduction in the medication score and the daily use of both inhaled and oral steroids (p<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS Aerobic improvement with training in less fit asthmatic children is related to a short term decrease in the daily use of inhaled and oral steroids, independent of the severity of the disease.
exercise training
maximal oxygen uptake
anaerobic threshold
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/thx.54.3.202
Regular physical activity of adequate intensity and duration involving large muscle groups has been proved to have a number of potential beneficial effects on general health, including improvement in aerobic capacity, body composition, flexibility, muscular strength, and psychosocial measures.1 This improvement might be particularly true for patients who suffer from chronic diseases such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and bronchial asthma. However, patients with chronic respiratory diseases tend to show less tolerance to exercise due to pulmonary limitation, self-restriction of activities, or lack of physical activity secondary to medical advice or family influence.2Thus, children with bronchial asthma, primarily those with a clinically more severe disease, tend to have a sedentary lifestyle and therefore be inclined to have lower aerobic fitness than their healthy non-asthmatic peers.2-7
However, most of the published studies have failed to show a clinical advantage of the improvement in fitness with training.2 ,5 ,6 ,8 Ludwick et al found that normalisation of cardiopulmonary endurance in 65 severe asthmatic children was not related to improvement in pulmonary function.5 Robinson et alshowed that significant aerobic improvement with training was not associated with changes in use of medication, symptoms, or bronchial responsiveness to histamine.6 Cochrane and Clark reported that fitness level was not associated with several clinical and functional characteristics of the disease.3 Recently, Thioet al found that normalisation of cardiovascular fitness in asthmatic children was not related to a lower prevalence of exercise induced bronchospasm (EIB).8 These results contrast with the traditional notion that aerobic improvement may have a number of theoretical advantages for asthma control.2 The objective of this study was to analyse the association between possible changes in aerobic capacity after training and the clinical and functional markers of the severity of bronchial asthma in a group of children with moderate to severe disease.
Forty two asthmatic children (24 boys) of mean (SD) age 12.4 (1.8) years (range 8–16) were studied in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The mean (SD) body mass and height were 40.4 (9.8) kg and 146.8 (10.3) cm, respectively. Although they were physically active, none was following a regular exercise training programme. Medical follow up was performed by the same staff physician. The children were in a stable phase of the disease, with no exacerbation during the 15 days before the start of the tests. The study was approved by the appropriate institutional medical ethics committee and written informed consent was obtained from the patients and their parents. No remuneration was offered.
The subjects were referred from an asthma management centre and were consecutively enrolled in an aerobic training programme. Due to technical and operational limitations the number of patients trained was restricted to the first 26 children (group 1, 15 boys and 11 girls). The remaining 16 subjects had no training (group 2, 9 boys and 7 girls).
A clinical and medication history was obtained from all subjects, followed by physical examination, spirometric tests before and after bronchodilator, and a progressive incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test on a cycle ergometer. On another day the patients performed an exercise challenge test. This protocol was performed twice, before and after training by patients in group 1 and two months apart by those in group 2.
According to the clinical parameters of the International Consensus Report on Diagnosis and Management of Asthma,9severe asthma in children is defined as frequent bronchospasm and nocturnal asthmatic symptoms almost daily, peak expiratory flow (PEF) values <60% predicted at baseline despite optimal therapy, daily use of inhaled anti-inflammatory agents at high doses (beclomethasone >800 μg/day), and frequent use of systemic corticosteroids (>3 times/year). Moderate asthma is defined as symptoms requiring inhaled β2 agonists almost daily and nocturnal asthmatic symptoms more than twice a month but not daily, PEF values of 60–80% predicted at baseline but normal after bronchodilator, and daily use of an anti-inflammatory agent at low or moderate doses (beclomethasone <800 μg/day).
All patients were on an inhaled corticosteroid (beclomethasone 500–1500 μg/day) and 33 had a past history of frequent courses of oral corticosteroids (>3 times/year); nine patients were on systemic steroids at the time of the study. According to the guidelines for the evaluation of impairment/disability in patients with asthma,10 33 patients had a medication score of >3 requiring treatment for adequate clinical control: bronchodilator on demand, inhaled beclomethasone in a daily dose of ⩾800 μg, or more than three courses of oral steroids per year.
SPIROMETRIC TESTS
Patients were asked to refrain from short acting bronchodilators for at least six hours before testing. Spirometric tests were performed in all subjects before and 10 minutes after the inhalation of 200 μg salbutamol via a pressurised metered dose inhaler connected to a spacer. The equipment used was a CPF-S (Medical Graphics Corporation, St Paul, Minnesota, USA) with flow measurement carried out with a pneumotachograph Fleisch No. 3. Technical procedures, acceptability and reproducibility criteria were those recommended by the American Thoracic Society.11 Predicted normal values for all spirometric variables were those of Knudson et al.12 A positive response to bronchodilator was defined as a 12% and 200 ml increase in the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1).11
CARDIOPULMONARY EXERCISE TESTING
Exercise tests were performed using a digital computer based exercise system (MGC-CPX System; Medical Graphics Corporation (MGC), St Paul, Minnesota, USA) with breath by breath analysis of metabolic, ventilatory, and cardiovascular variables. The maximal symptom limited exercise test was carried out on a calibrated electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer (CPE 2000; Medical Graphics Corporation), modified with child pedal cranks. The selected work rate was continuously increased in a linear ramp pattern (15 W/min for height <150 cm; 20 W/min for height >150 cm)13 so that the duration of the incremental exercise test was more than eight and less than 12 minutes. The following data were recorded as a moving average of eight breaths: oxygen uptake (V˙o 2, ml/min STPD); carbon dioxide production (V˙co 2, ml/min STPD); respiratory exchange ratio (R); minute ventilation (V˙e, l/min BTPS), respiratory rate (f, bpm); ventilatory equivalent for oxygen and carbon dioxide (V˙e/V˙o 2 andV˙e/V˙co 2); end tidal partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide (Peto2 and Petco2 , mm Hg); heart rate (HR, bpm), and oxygen pulse (V˙o 2/HR, ml/beat).
The predicted V˙o 2max was calculated according to the equations of Cooper et alfor children,14 taking into account the close demographic and anthropometric similarity of the subjects. The lower limit of normality for V˙o 2max was defined according to the values proposed by these authors (lower 95% confidence limit; estimated –1.64 × SD): girls <11 years = 25 ml/min•kg; girls >11 years = 27 ml/min•kg; boys <13 years = 32 ml/min•kg; boys >13 years = 37 ml/min•kg. TheV˙o 2 at the anaerobic threshold (V˙o 2AT) was measured by the gas exchange method, visually checking the inflection point ofV˙co 2 with regard toV˙o 2 (modified V slope),15and by the ventilatory method in whichV˙e/V˙o 2 andPeto2 increased whileV˙e/V˙co 2 andPetco2 remained stable. The lower limit of normality for V˙o 2AT was defined as 40% of the V˙o 2max predicted since, of the 109 children evaluated by Cooper et al, only one presented with a value below this cut off point.14
EXERCISE CHALLENGE TEST
The test for detection of EIB was carried out with a mechanically braked Monark® cycle ergometer. Methylxanthines and β2 adrenoceptor agonists were withheld 12 hours prior to the test. Before the exercise the patient performed a forced expiratory manoeuvre (Vitatrace® spirometer) with assessment of basal values of forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1. The test was carried out only in patients with normal spirometric values at rest—that is, FEV1 above the lower 95% confidence limit (n = 35).12 The tests were performed at a room temperature of 18–26°C, barometric pressure 680–703 mm Hg, and relative humidity 55–60%. After one minute of light exercise on the cycle ergometer the work load was quickly increased until the heart rate corresponded to 80% of predicted (220–age), and then maintained for six minutes.16 Spirometric evaluations were performed successively at five, 10, and 20 minutes after the exercise. EIB was defined as being present if FEV1 showed a reduction equal to or greater than 10% of its pre-exercise values.16
The two month indoor aerobic training programme on a cycle ergometer was performed by 26 asthmatic children (group 1). Medical supervision was provided during all training sessions. The sessions were performed three times a week (total 24). Inhaled β2adrenergic bronchodilators were administered 10 minutes before training. The target heart rate during the training sessions was individualised. This initially corresponded to the anaerobic threshold and was increased every two weeks to an intensity which the subject was able to endure for 30 minutes. A typical session consisted of 10–15 minutes of callisthenics and stretching warm up exercises, 30 minutes of continuous aerobic activity on a cycle ergometer, and a five minute period of cooling down.
Mean (SD) values are reported. Paired and non-pairedt tests were used to compare within group and between group evaluations, respectively; the χ2(Fisher exact) test to evaluate the association between changes in clinical and functional outcomes and response to training; and Pearson product moment correlation to assess linear association between variables. The level of statistical significance was always set at p<0.05.
INITIAL EVALUATION
In the basal evaluation mean (SD) values of the main spirometric variables were significantly lower in patients in group 1 than in those in group 2 (table 1). However, as anticipated by clinical stability, only two patients in group 1 had post-bronchodilator FEV1values below the lower 95% confidence limit. Furthermore, in patients in group 1 the main parameters of maximum aerobic performance (V˙o 2max,V˙o 2AT, O2 pulse max) were significantly reduced when compared with those of group 2. On the other hand, the clinical and medication scores and prevalence of a positive EIB test were not significantly different between the two groups.
Clinical and functional characteristics of the asthmatic children at baseline and final evaluations
FINAL EVALUATION
The supervised aerobic training was well tolerated and completed by all children in group 1. Only one child experienced a mild episode of EIB during a training session, but it was promptly reversed with an inhaled bronchodilator. Although significant only for the O2 pulse max (p<0.05), we found a trend towards an increase in the maximal exercise variables in the trained group. On the other hand, a worsening trend was identifiable in the untrained children, although this reached statistical significance only forV˙o 2AT. There were, however, no significant changes in the clinical outcomes in the two groups (table1).
As the response to exercise training has consistently been reported to be inversely related to the baseline values,3 ,17-19 we analysed the relationship between the degree of improvement (post–pre/pre) and the initial level of fitness. As shown in fig 1, there was a strongly negative relationship between these variables—that is, the less fit the subject the higher the aerobic gain with training. A positive response to training (V˙o 2max and/orV˙o 2AT post training–pre training/pre-training × 100 more than 10% and 100 ml) was found in 11 subjects (42%); all of these training "responders" presented an abnormally reduced V˙o 2max andV˙o 2AT at the initial evaluation. Although clinical and functional variables at baseline did not differ between "responders" and "non-responders", after training the "responders" had a lower prevalence of subjects with a medication score of >3 (p<0.05, fig 2). In addition, a significant reduction was seen in the mean dose of daily inhaled steroids in the "responders" group (from 1125 (225) to 575 (150) μg/day, p<0.05, fig 3). Finally, in five (of nine) children oral steroids were able to be withdrawn; interestingly, all of them showed aerobic improvement with training.
Relationship between baseline maximal aerobic fitness and degree of improvement after training in 26 children with moderate to severe asthma.
Association between changes in clinical indicators of asthma severity and positive (responders) or negative (non-responders) response to aerobic training. *p<0.05 (Fisher's exact test).
Mean values of daily inhaled beclomethasone in the initial and final evaluations. Group 1 = trained children with (responders) and without (non-responders) aerobic improvement after training; group 2 = untrained children.*p<0.05 (paired t test).
We have evaluated the effect of a supervised aerobic training programme on the cardiorespiratory fitness and clinical indicators of control in a group of children with moderate to severe but stable asthma. The degree of response to training and the positive effect on the clinical management were strongly influenced by the level of fitness in the initial evaluation; beneficial effects were shown only in the less fit patients. Our results suggest that exercise therapy for the most untrained children can have a role, at least in the short term, in reducing the minimal medication needed for control of moderate to severe asthma.
Previous studies in normal and asthmatic patients have shown that the initial grade of fitness and motivation is an important predictor of aerobic improvement after training.3 ,17-19 Cochrane and Clark, for example, found that the relative gain inV˙o 2max after training in asthmatic subjects was negatively related to symptom score on the training day and the baseline level of fitness, and positively to motivation.3 Thus, the improvement after training in muscular capillarisation, oxidative capacity, muscular strength, and cardiocirculatory adjustments is likely to occur in motivated subjects with worse baseline aerobic conditions. However, it should be recognised that the so called "regression to the mean" effect cannot be ruled out by this finding; the random longitudinal variation tends to increase the lower values of a given distribution or, alternatively, the higher values tend to randomly decrease with time. Nevertheless, as previously noted, this higher potential for improvement in the most unfit individuals is a well known phenomenon and it seems highly improbable that such a statistical artefact would be consistently related to another measurable biological effect such as the reduction in inhaled steroids (figs 2 and 3). In this context, there is now growing evidence to show that the systemic effects of inhaled beclomethasone in children are dose dependent20 ,21 and medication usage seems to be a particularly useful index of overall asthma control.9 ,10
Although the respiratory system is usually considered to be largely insensitive to training effects per se (with the possible exception of muscle ventilatory strength and endurance), a cause-effect relationship could explain this association. Thus, one can speculate that a possibly lower occurrence of EIB after training would induce a lower chronic release of inflammatory mediators and therefore reduce the need for inhaled steroids. However, we did not find a significant reduction in the prevalence of a positive EIB test with training, regardless of whether or not there was a positive response (fig 2). Another more plausible hypothesis is that the improvement was related to a higher degree of acceptance and level of self-care in the least fit patients who usually have negative attitudes toward their disease and exertion.22 ,23 Thus, Strunk et al 22 showed that the wide variability in aerobic performance in a group of 90 children with moderate and severe asthma was mainly related to the degree of social and disease adjustment. Engström et al 23 in a group of 10 severely asthmatic children submitted to physical training showed that only psychological modifications correlated significantly with aerobic improvement. Thus, individual variations in acceptance and knowledge of the disease seem to influence the usual level of physical activity in asthmatic children, and therefore their degree of fitness. In this context, exercise training may induce a more decided posture in relation to the disease, with consequences in the minimum medication required for clinical control.
Our results are consistent with those of Thio et al 8 who were not able to find a lower prevalence of EIB after dynamic exercise training, although in a previous cross sectional study we found an association between a reduction inV˙o 2AT and a higher prevalence of EIB in asthmatic children.24 While one can predict a reduction in EIB with aerobic improvement (secondary to training induced lower submaximal ventilation),25 in our study this enhancement alone was probably not sufficient to reduce the EIB, at least when assessed in a formal challenge test.
A particularly notable finding was the relative inefficacy of the training programme in improving the maximal aerobic parameters in almost 60% of the children. However, one should recognise that maximal incremental testing is not representative of the daily pattern of exercise activities in the paediatric group (which is better characterised by short bursts of activity); new submaximal protocols have been suggested to be more suitable for evaluating training responses in children.26 In addition, the degree of fitness in the initial evaluation was above that expected for asthmatic children (table 1) and the low pre-intervention prevalence of unfit children could have induced a type II error. This finding is consistent, however, with the suggestion that secular trends do not reduce the average aerobic fitness of westernised children.27 Our results suggest that this is also the case for asthmatic children, at least those with the studied profile.
In conclusion, our results show that the less fit asthmatic children were able to normalise their aerobic fitness with a supervised training programme without clinical complications. Their ability to improve aerobic capacity was not related to clinical and spirometric severity before training. Interestingly, we found a significant association between aerobic improvement and reduction in use of both inhaled and oral steroids. Further research using larger samples is needed to confirm these findings and to assess the duration of the training induced beneficial effects in treatment requirements, the effectiveness of long term aerobic exercise, the response to submaximal protocols and, finally, to determine which profile of childhood asthma is likely to respond to exercise therapy.
This study was partially supported by research grants from CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil. The authors thank Wandiney A F Carvalho, Respiratory Nurse of the Darcy Vargas Children's Hospital (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Sandra R R Lucas (Federal University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil) for their technical assistance in performing the exercise challenge and cardiopulmonary exercise tests, respectively. The authors are indebted to Mrs Patricia Chapman (Department of Physiology, St George's Medical School) for her careful revision of the English language.
(1991) Guidelines for graded exercise testing and training. (Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia), 4th edn. .
McFadden ER
(1984) Exercise performance in the asthmatic. Am Rev Respir Dis 129:584–587, .
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Clark CJ
(1990) Benefits and problems of a physical training programme for asthmatic patients. Thorax 45:345–351, .
Garfinkel SK,
Kesten S,
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(1992) Physiologic and nonphysiologic determinants of aerobic fitness in mild to moderate asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis 145:741–745, .
Ludwick SK,
Jones JW,
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(1986) Normalization of cardiopulmonary endurance in severely asthmatic children after bicycle ergometry therapy. J Pediatr 109:446–451, .
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Hill PM,
(1992) Effects of a physical conditioning programme in asthmatic patients. N Z Med J 937:253–256, .
Strunk RC,
Rubin D,
Kelly L,
(1988) Determination of fitness in children with asthma: use of standardized tests for functional endurance, body fat composition, flexibility, and abdominal strengh. Am J Dis Child 142:940–944, .
Thio BJ,
Nagelkerke AF,
Ketel AG,
(1996) Exercise-induced asthma and cardiovascular fitness in asthmatic children. Thorax 51:207–209, .
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(1992) International consensus report on diagnosis and management of asthma. Publication No. 92-3091 (NHLBI), .
American Thoracic Society
(1993) Guidelines for the evaluation of impairment/disability in patients with asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis 147:1056–1061, .
(1991) Lung function testing: selection of reference values and interpretative strategies. Am Rev Respir Dis 144:1202–1218, .
Knudson RJ,
Lebowitz MD,
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(1983) Changes in the normal maximal expiratory flow-volume curve with growth and aging. Am Rev Respir Dis 127:725–734, .
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(1971) Cardiorespiratory responses to exercise in normal children. Clin Sci 40:419–431, .
Cooper DM,
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(1984) Aerobic parameters of exercise as a function of body size during growth in children. J Appl Physiol 56:628–634, .
Beaver WL,
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(1986) A new method for detecting the anaerobic threshold by gas exchange. J Appl Physiol 60:2020–2027, .
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(1979) Guidelines for the methodology of exercise challenge testing of asthmatics. J Allergy Clin Immunol 64:642–645, .
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(1993) Assessment of exercise capacity in asthmatic children with various degrees of activity. Pediatr Pulmonol 15:41–43, .
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Katch FI,
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(1996) Training for anaerobic and aerobic power. Exercise physiology. (Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore), 4th edn. pp 393–415, .
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Ingjer F,
Hermansen L
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(1995) Adverse effects of inhaled corticosteroids. Am J Med 98:196–208, .
Yiallourds PK,
Milner AD,
Conway E,
(1997) Adrenal function and high dose inhaled corticosteroids for asthma. Arch Dis Child 76:405–410, .
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(1989) Cardiovascular fitness in children with asthma correlates with psychologic functioning of the child. Pediatrics 84:460–464, .
Engström I,
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(1991) Psychological and respiratory physiological effects of a physical exercise programme on boys with severe asthma. Acta Paediatr Scand 80:1058–1062, .
Nery LE,
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(1994) Exercise tolerance and anaerobic threshold (AT) in children with moderate to severe bronchial asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 149:A786, .
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(1981) The importance of ventilation in exercise-induced asthma. Allergy 36:385–389, .
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(1995) Rethinking exercise testing in children: a challenge. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 152:1154–1157, .
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British Thoracic Society


EWINCHER : The electric winch handle that makes sense.
Beside the existing models which had some trouble convincing us, this electric handle, marketed under the name of Ewincher is different clearly. First, it is quite light (2.2 kilos). Then, it has a length of 254 millimetres, like a standard handle, so that we can use it in manual mode. It was even conceived to this end, with the possibility of combining the electric mode and the manual mode. Eventually, it functions with very powerful battery lithium-ion 24 volts, offering a good density of energy and a sizeable autonomy (the capacity of the battery is of 3,000 mAh). Our test, carried out on board a Sun Odyssey 379, at the port, with a rise at the top of mast, and to sea, with a succession of transfers under genoa, confirmed very intuitive instructions and a completely succeeded design. The most remarkable point is the change of direction of rotation: it is enough to make swivel the handle of 180 degrees. The software detects engine magnetic field and rotation is reversed at once. Thus, we are from the start in the good position – with knowing that we retain the handle while pulling and not while pushing, which is easier.
There is in addition an ad hoc button to manually reverse the direction of rotation. The other button, which orders rotation itself, makes possible to control its speed (from 15 to 80 turns per minute), by adjusting the pressure which one applies above with the finger: nothing easier. In all the cases, the couple is automatically adjusted so that the power does not exceed 350 Watts.
About autonomy, one can largely hoist a person of 80 kilos at the top of mast and renew the exercise (for a mast of about fifteen meters), with the same battery. For a sailboat of 12 meters, according to the manufacturer, autonomy corresponds to three sending of mainsail and a dozen of veering. Except use at the day, one will advise to buy the second battery in option for more comfort. The change of this one is simple and fast.
The ergonomics of the handle, for the use in manual mode, is also very satisfactory. Last but not least, the charge is done in less than two hours out of the 220 volts, and a converter cigar-lighter 12/220 volt is even provided!
Another important point: according to the physical capacities of the user, the maximum necessary force to hold the handle can be adjusted, by means of a small application to be downloaded on a smartphone.
The setting by default fix this force with 23 kilos, which is already not bad. We can lower this value with 15 kilos… or assemble it to 32 kilos. But to go until such a force does not seem very useful to us… At all events, these possibilities of personalized setting are very appreciable.
A small regret: Ewincher is locked on the winch like a normal handle, but it is necessary for that to open locking with a second hand, the first being already used to hold the machine. It is a little the only defect of this handle: it is impossible to pose it on a winch of only one hand. However even if Ewincher is relatively light, it is heavier all the same than a classical handle – which can be positioned with only one hand on the winch. By formed sea, the risk exists to be unbalanced and to possibly make fall to water the invaluable electric handle. It is necessary to take the practice to handle it in sitting position when the sea is formed. In the same way, the adequate pocket for the handle (59.90 euros) appears more or less impossible to circumvent to us.
Ewincher is extremely well thought, even if its price is not negligible… Compared to the cost of an electric winch, it is a little less expensive than a winch of size 46, and it is more or less the price of a kit of electrification for a winch of this power. The electric handle has all the same the advantage of being able to be used on all the winches of the boat!
When one turns the handle of 180 degrees to use the other speed of the winch, rotation is reversed automatically.Difficult to make simpler!Effective and simple to use, this new equipment remains expensive, but few defects well were found to him.Here is thus a rather credible alternative to the electric winch!
A custom-tailored bucket is proposed by the manufacturer. And it is quite useful, even essential.
_Time of charge:approximately 90 minutes (given manufacturer).
_Price: €2,600 (basic kit with a battery), and €2,990 with additional battery (charger and converter 12/220 volts provided in all the cases).


text:
Q: Why node and npm version differs? Look, I have the latest node version installed
node -v   // I get v14.15.0

Then I runned npm init for a small project. Also I created a index.js file, with the following code
console.lo("Hello")

obviously it has a typo, it should be console.log("Hello"), but I did this in order to get which version of node and npm is used by the project.
npm ERR! Linux 5.4.0-81-generic
npm ERR! argv "/usr/bin/node" "/usr/bin/npm" "install" "-g" "npm@next"
npm ERR! node v8.10.0
npm ERR! npm  v3.5.2
npm ERR! path /usr/local/lib/node_modules/.staging/@gar/promisify-ebaab35a
npm ERR! code ENOENT
npm ERR! errno -2
npm ERR! syscall rename

It is using older versions, but I want the latest. I didn't forced to use an older version
So how do I npm init but with newest version of node and npm.
Also when I try to update npm with sudo npm install -g npm@next, I get this error
npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/.staging/@gar/promisify-ebaab35a' -> '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@gar/promisify'
npm ERR! enoent ENOENT: no such file or directory, rename '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/.staging/@gar/promisify-ebaab35a' -> '/usr/local/lib/node_modules/npm/node_modules/@gar/promisify'
npm ERR! enoent This is most likely not a problem with npm itself
npm ERR! enoent and is related to npm not being able to find a file.
npm ERR! enoent

npm ERR! Please include the following file with any support request:
npm ERR!     /home/braulio/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! code 1

I think that npm is forcing node to use v8.10, so maybe until I don't update npm, node wouldn't. How can I fix this?

A: Instead of install the node to /usr/bin/node and npm to /usr/bin/npm, you can download node.js linux tarball and decompress them, the node/npm binaries will be available in the bin directory. Then modify your $PATH of current terminal as the following format:
export $PATH=/opt/node-vxx.xx.x/bin/:$PATH
which node
node -v
which npm
npm -v

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Resources;

// General Information about an assembly is controlled through the following
// set of attributes. Change these attribute values to modify the information
// associated with an assembly.
[assembly: AssemblyTitle("ShockRouter Remote")]
[assembly: AssemblyDescription("Routes audio inputs to main output")]
[assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("")]
[assembly: AssemblyCompany("Shock Radio")]
[assembly: AssemblyProduct("ShockRouter")]
[assembly: AssemblyCopyright("Copyright © Shock Radio 2013")]
[assembly: AssemblyTrademark("")]
[assembly: AssemblyCulture("")]

// Setting ComVisible to false makes the types in this assembly not visible
// to COM components.  If you need to access a type in this assembly from
// COM, set the ComVisible attribute to true on that type.
[assembly: ComVisible(false)]

// The following GUID is for the ID of the typelib if this project is exposed to COM
[assembly: Guid("47f2922c-4e26-48f1-ac81-5cd38fcc7a44")]

// Version information for an assembly consists of the following four values:
//
//      Major Version
//      Minor Version
//      Build Number
//      Revision
//
// You can specify all the values or you can default the Build and Revision Numbers
// by using the '*' as shown below:
// [assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")]
[assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.0")]
[assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("1.0.0.0")]
[assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("en-GB")]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Conker's Bad Fur Day (Nintendo 64) review
"Yes, you can laugh as Conker the Squirrel lurches on-screen and slices the hapless 64 logo in half. You can laugh your silly little brains out for all I care. But should you not also stop and use those shrivelled brains to think for a moment? Yes you jolly well should, ignoramus! That poor logo is just as much a motif – a telling symbol of the game to come – as it is a comic device, and don't you forget it. Conker's Bad Fur Day is the Norman Bates of video games. It is a game full of halves and ..."
Yes, you can laugh as Conker the Squirrel lurches on-screen and slices the hapless 64 logo in half. You can laugh your silly little brains out for all I care. But should you not also stop and use those shrivelled brains to think for a moment? Yes you jolly well should, ignoramus! That poor logo is just as much a motif – a telling symbol of the game to come – as it is a comic device, and don't you forget it. Conker's Bad Fur Day is the Norman Bates of video games. It is a game full of halves and contradictions, and one that ultimately winds up losing sight of itself as the madness takes hold. Let us examine the patient.
It's a game with a simple story to tell, but one that constantly grows and expands into an amazing odyssey.
It's a mish-mash of countless parodies and appropriations, yet it's one of the most strikingly original creations of all time.
It's a wickedly funny and blatantly crass piece, but at its heart lies a poignancy that transcends such stuff.
We begin with poor Conker - the apparent "king of all the land" - bemoaning his state of affairs. Whatever could have happened to this tortured soul? What events could have led to his lowly position of king? We shall find out through flashback, as this "bad fur day" unfolds. It is to be a day of chaos, a day where the inconceivable lies around every corner, and a day the likes of which the gaming community has never seen before. From its humble beginnings - in which a hungover Conker stumbles around a pretty, pastoral environment - to its bloody, confrontational end, this is one journey that will prove to be a constant assault and a constant insult on all of your senses.
Do not be fooled by the pretty surroundings that first greet your eyes. Whilst that big ol' barn over yonder may appear warm and homely, and those cascading waterfalls around the corner may dazzle you with their beauty, the inhabitants of Conker's world do their best to undermine the gorgeous nature of the game. Who knows what will take your breath away more: the level of detail inside a certain little room, its rickety beams and swaying rope ladders spiralling upwards in an endless, intricate maze, or being told to f' off by the grumpy little cog that hangs on its wall. With each new character comes the arrival of a new taboo, each conversation seemingly more vulgar than the last. This game sets out to destabilise any prior notions we may have held about video games, to reinvent and revitalise a medium bogged down to long with the formulaic, and it does this in tremendous style. The concept of the "bad fur day" is simply an excuse to let loose an array of ridiculous circumstances and characters from some depraved minds, and it's a refreshing result. And somewhere along the way, in the midst of all the madness, profanity and sexual innuendo, some truly great gaming moments are born.
Unfortunately, it can only be moments from Conker's Bad Fur Day that leave a lasting impression on us, and nothing more. One cannot marvel at its mighty scale and overall achievements, for it is a heavily fragmented experience and each new section can be judged solely on its own merits. Luckily, there are some moments that will stay well and truly etched onto the psyche long after the game is finished. One can't forget the disturbing pitter-patter of Conker's sticky feet as they trudge through a puddle of poo, nor can one forget the whimsy of a musical montage woven ingeniously into a boss fight. It is the sheer genius and hilarity of such moments that best show how Conker's schizophrenic approach to gameplay quickly turns from an amusing plus into an annoyance. It is not enough to provide us with a few engrossing minutes of shotgun-wielding, zombie-blasting action, or a slight taste of high-octane racing. As soon as one finds something enjoyable within the game, and starts to truly enjoy themselves, they're whisked away in a frenzy to sample the next little adventure. As Conker continually sends up movie after movie and game after game, the unique identity of his own adventure slowly evaporates. We are not so much helping a luckless squirrel get home as we are inserting his character into well-worn roles and laughing occasionally at the results. There are moments of sheer brilliance, but the overall hollowness of Conker's adventures will soon rub off on those who play it. It is not until the final cut-scene that this problem is rectified, the warm-beating heart of the game coming far too late.
That being said, Conker's Bad Fur Day is one of the most important titles to surface in recent years. With its amalgamation of cinematic and gaming elements, and tongue-in-cheek approach to anything and everything, it's a much-needed step in the right direction. The wit and verve that permeates this title is immense, and something greatly missing from far too many games. This is a mould breaker, and while it lacks substance enough to be a classic game in its own right, its original and innovative approach will undoubtedly have an influence for many years to come.
And rightly so!
At its best, Conker's Bad Fur Day will outshine almost anything. The game sparkles with imagination, and will captivate you with its unique approach to game creation. It's a world where death lurks around every corner (wheezing and swearing uncontrollably), where promiscuous bees assault comely flowers, and where cash prizes are your only reward. And somewhere, in the middle of all of these oddball characters and tiresome spoofs, a cute little squirrel just wants to get some sleep. If you can somehow ignore the extraneous elements that weigh down the journey and focus on what's important, you'll be rewarded immeasurably. However it's more likely that you'll be anticipating the end of the "bad fur day" even more than Conker is, and that's a damn shame.
Community review by kingbroccoli (July 09, 2004)
More Reviews by kingbroccoli [+]
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There comes a time in every reviewers life when he has to defy common sense, shut down a large portion of his brain and dive into the neon trash-can that is franchise sports. EA Sports is generally the main offender, churning out the same mindless rubbish year after year, and it just so happens that they are behind the...
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None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Conker's Bad Fur Day is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Conker's Bad Fur Day, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors. Staff and freelance reviews are typically written based on time spent with a retail review copy or review key for the game that is provided by its publisher.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


" We don't sell the wine without touching the vine "
Wolfberger Alsace Riesling is 100 percent Riesling.
Riesling is the most popular grape variety in Alsace. Racy yet slightly fruity, Wolfberger Riesling is a subtle fine wine of citrus and mineral aromas, good acidity and freshness. It has been known for being the perfect "food wine" - great with traditional Alsatian dishes such as sauerkraut, but also, thanks to their vivacity, with fish and shellfish.
A very slow-growing variety, Riesling ripens with chilly nights. The leaves are round and thick with sharp teeth.
The berries – small, green or yellow, with thick skin – grow on a short-stemmed, cylindrical, compact cluster.
The Reisling grows best in soil that isn't too rich, with a preference for light terroirs with lots of sunshine.
After the harvest, the grapes are put into horizontal pneumatic presses where the juice is slowly extracted. After crushing the grapes, the juice (actually the must, which includes the skins, stems and seeds) is stored in different vats, then it is carefully clarified.
Fermenting in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats for 3-4 weeks.
Racking. Fining (3-4 months). Filtration and stabilization, then aging in the bottle.
Excellent with grilled fish or cooked in a sauce, and shellfish.
Wolfberger is a union of producers located in Eguisheim, south of Colmar. The city was also the home of Pope Leo IX, the Reformer (Pope from 1048 – 1054 A.D.). The winery was founded in 1902 when a group of wine-growers in Eguisheim decided to join forces to create one of the first cooperatives in Alsace. The cave counts 800 members today. Wolfberger combines tradition and constant innovation to elaborate high quality wines and preserve their typicity.
The resident oenologist at Wolfberger is Bertrand Praz. A young but extremely capable winemaker, he learned his craft at the famous Dijon wine school and from working at the Mumm Champagne House. He has taken huge strides in raising the quality level here. They also take their evaluative wine tasting very seriously and have a highly efficient set-up for tasters. The amphitheatre style classroom has individual wine-tasting desks each with light, spit bowl and automatic water faucet.
Wolfberger is the rare example, in the wine world, of bigger actually being better.
Bright and light golden-yellow in color. Exotic and sweet vanilla bean aromatics backed by pear and kiwi with a slight orange peel. The palate resonates with texture and depth as stone minerality and cream brioche to match. Flavors of roasted plantains, gravenstein apple, and lemon zest frame the wine for a long yet soft finish.
Planted in the early 90's, this is the coolest vineyard site in the Russian River Valley, located at Lee Martinelli Sr.'s home ranch in Forestville, CA. After riding around with Lee in his pick-up truck when we visited his Woolsey Road, Zio Tony, and River Road Vineyards, he decided to take me to this gem. He kept this particular vineyard in his back pocket until we hit it off. We did, and I think you'll enjoy the ride as well.
Aromas and flavors of black cherry, black plum, cocoa and baking spice will take you at least 10 fathoms deep as you savor sip after sip. Now, all you have to do is find your latitude and longitude, plot your position, and open this wine!


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Studio Visit: Installation Artist Carlie Trosclair
Home / Culture / Studio Visit: Installation Artist Carlie Trosclair
In Culture
Studio Visit: Installation Artist Carlie Trosclair2014-08-212014-08-21http://www.alivemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo_header.pngAlivehttp://alivemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ALIVELogoPlacerImage.jpg200px200px
Coming off the Great Rivers Biennial exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum this summer, artist Carlie Trosclair talks about her inspiration, her process and what creativity means to her.
Photo by Matt Kile
Where she finds inspiration:
"Work I've been doing the past few years is done within or inspired by abandoned buildings … doing site-sensitive cuttings of the wallpaper and plaster to create a lace-like composition that in many ways mimics the deterioration of the wall. I'm taking cues from the decay pattern to create new patterns and melding them together.
"I think of it as engineering an experience. You're creating the full experience a person is walking through.
"The Contemporary Art Museum was a challenge because I'm used to walking into a space and being inspired by the actual layers and buildup of history over time. But the museum setting is obviously not that kind of a setting. So I had some ideas for making sense of it so it felt like it was part of the museum. That's where I got the idea of excavation, a fictional timeline, what was here before.
"That's what's exciting for me—looking at what now seems useless and not a beautiful wallpaper pattern anymore and highlighting this new aesthetic as it's deteriorating."
Her process:
"I'll approach it more like a discovery. I'll go in with some sort of idea of what I want to highlight or touch on, and from there it's just about playing around with what I can do based on the state of the material.
"I always have my Xacto knife. A nail gun is always really handy. For this project, my new tool to always have in my car was a cordless reciprocating saw. Also, I started carrying around a new tool for me: A crowbar.
"I've been thinking a lot about macro and micro. I'll work detailed and up close and then step back to see what the installation looks like from this angle, to see if I'm achieving it—and then make a new mark based on what I noticed when I entered from a new way.
"There's themes of loss and memory. It's part of the urban landscape. Using everyday materials allows access points for people who aren't necessarily around art. We've all grown up in homes. We've all lost homes too. … People get it because it's something we can all relate to."
On creativity:
"Everyone has a creative voice in some form. For me, creativity comes from thinking outside of our constructed norms. … The first step in the creative process is trusting your gut, your eye, your ear.
"The secret is making it for yourself, trusting your eye, listening to your instinct and zoning everything else out."
From The Editor: Inside The September IssueCulture
Studio Visit: Installation Artist Sarah FrostCulture


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Q: Measure distance walked in Google Maps I'm trying to make a mobile app that can calculate the distance covered by the user (with meter as the unitSystem). The app have to calculate in real time the distance covered and save The user's latitude and longitude, and update them (without erasing them) each 3 meters covered.
Apparently, Google Maps API offers tools to do so, but i can't find the exact way to solve my problem.

A: You can use the The Google Maps Distance Matrix API to provide the travel distance and time for a matrix of origins and destinations. The information returned is based on the recommended route between start and end points, as calculated by the Google Maps API, and consists of rows containing duration and distance values for each pair.
You can use Geocoding Service that converts addresses into geographic coordinates to get the user's longitude and latitude.
You can refer in this SO question on how to calculate the distance a person walked. Here is also an example on how to calculate the distance between 2 or more points.

A: I think the road API is much better:
https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/roads/overview


a rainy morning in the desert reminds me of those old koreatown blues.
it really means something to me. i have been following your blog for years now- a lot of other favourites came and went, but to yours i have always stayed true (in that polygamous internet kind of way).
when friends of mine tell me they don't see the point in reading blogs in the first place, i always show them yours.
in that polygamous internet kind of way, of course.
Beautiful photo. I'm planning a road trip to the desert. It's seems like another planet.


Trail running reinvented, no limits, all runners !
The Chamonix Valley, the Valley of Trail Running !
September 29th, 2019 is an important rendez-vous for trail running experts. Since it's first edition the TAR, with its 54km and 4100m vertical gain, has become referenced as 'the' mountain trail race. The Petit TAR has existed for the past 5 years and consists of 15km and 1200m of positive vertical.
You want to create an Espace Trail on your territory ?


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Khloé Kardashian Has Been Buying Groceries For Senior Citizens At Trader Joe's Stores
And the good deed did not stop there.
By Joseph Neese
Stefanie KeenanGetty Images
The news around the COVID-19 outbreak is constantly changing, but information about food safety and how to keep yourself healthy is crucial right now. Here is a comprehensive list on the foods you should be stocking up on during this period of social distancing, as well as information about your local grocery stores' changing hours, an explanation of "no-contact delivery," and a guide on how to help your community and its businesses throughout closures.
While Kylie Jenner is famous for her "epic mom voice" rendition of the children's classic "Rise and Shine," one of her older sisters has truly been seizing the day during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Because one of the groups most at risk of contracting the disease is senior citizens, grocery stores chains across the country have added additional lines and even special shopping hours to help protect them. Taking note, Khloé Kardashian began quietly popping up at Trader Joe's and Ralph's stores across Greater Los Angeles and paying for groceries for this vulnerable group, People reported.
And the good deed did not stop there. Kardashian also provided more than 200 gift cards for employees at the locations she visited. Employees at grocery stores across the country have continued to report to work throughout the outbreak, as they provide an essential service to their communities. One New York-based employee of Trader Joe's died of COVID-19 earlier this month. The individual reportedly had unspecified underlying health conditions.
Fun with memes aside, Kylie has also done her part to help those on the frontlines. The "hero" cosmetics entrepreneur has already donated $1 million to help purchase face masks and shields for healthcare workers.
While it remains unclear if Khloé is dating Tristan Thompson again, the pair is reportedly spending "a bunch of time together" right now in quarantine. But what is clear? Khloé is using her newfound time at home to pay it forward in a very big way.
Trader Joe's Cotton Candy Grapes Are Back
The 12 Best Things You Can Buy at Trader Joe's
Is Trader Joe's Still Open?
Are You Buying Old Food at the Grocery Store
Every Single One Of Trader Joe's $2 Products
Trader Joe's Is Making Major Changes to Its Stores


2019 Ford Ecosport - You're seeking articles on our blog within the headline 2019 Ford Ecosport of choices of articles that we got. If you are trying to find 2019 Ford Ecosport article fails to dwell right here, you can see from several of the articles that may suit your research. We are going to help you to get articles 2019 Ford Ecosport you're looking at some of our content which might be suitable as you are looking for the material.
2019 Ford Ecosport - 2019 ford ecosport review, ratings, specs, prices, , The 2019 ford ecosport wants for safety and styling that match even the lowered standards set by its price. find out why the 2019 ford ecosport is rated 3.7 by the car connection experts.. 2019 ford ecosport pricing, features, ratings reviews, The 2019 ford ecosport is a five-passenger subcompact crossover that slots below the escape in ford's suv lineup. the ecosport s is pretty well equipped, with available all-wheel drive and most. 2019 ford® ecosport compact suv | fun features, big, The 2019 ford ecosport is fun, capable and connected, with available features like an 8-inch touchscreen, one-year subscription fordpass connect ™ 112 with three-month trial on up to 3gb 4g lte wi-fi hotspot 124 and two smart-charging usb ports. check out the perks of the ecosport and how it can be the go-to suv.. 2019 ford ecosport prices, reviews, pictures | ., The 2019 ford ecosport's weak base engine, wavering ride quality, and short list of active safety features contribute to its place near the bottom of our subcompact suv rankings. the 2019 ford ecosport can't measure up to other vehicles in the subcompact suv class. although it features a good. Ford ecosport price 2019, images, mileage, specs & colours, Ford ecosport price ranges from rs. 7.83 - 11.89 lakh in delhi (ex-showroom). check price of ecosport in your city. also view ecosport interiors, specs, features, expert reviews, news, videos. Ford ecosport - wikipedia, The ford ecosport (pronounced ek-ho sport) is a subcompact crossover suv, originally built in brazil by ford brazil since 2003, at the camaçari plant. a second generation concept model was launched in 2012, and is also assembled in new factories in india, thailand, russia and romania. the vehicle entered the north american market for the first time in 2017.. 2019 ford ecosport reviews | ford ecosport price, photos, Check out the ford ecosport review at caranddriver.com. use our car buying guide to research ford ecosport prices, specs, photos, videos, and more.. 2019 ford ecosport updated instrument cluster, 2019 ford ecosport gets updated instrument cluster 18 th feb 2019 4:25 pm. titanium and titanium+ variants of the ford ecosport now get a 4.2-inch multi-information display.. 2019 ford® ecosport compact suv | technology features, The 2019 ecosport offers available technology that makes driving convenient. blis ® (blind spot information system) can help detect vehicles in your blind spot.* available sync ® 3 with an 8-inch color lcd touchscreen 27, apple carplay ™ and android auto ™ compatibility** offer enhanced voice-recognition capability. fast-charging usb ports and a 110v outlet in the rear keep your devices.


Oxley, Harry. (1970) The practical relevance of evolutionism. -- In.: Lambda Alpha Journal of Man, v.2, no.2, p.8-17.
Applied anthropology can never be very satisfactory until its theoretical armoury includes some notion of evolutionary sequence. Author points out that the essential components of such a notion already exist, and suggests some additions to them.
A paper presented by Lambda Alpha members and faculty at Wichita State University in a seminar concerned with the relevance of anthropology at the beginning of 70s.


Thomas Becket pupils are celebrating another year of improved pass rates.
The number of students passing their GCSEs at Thomas Becket Catholic School increased by eight per cent on 2015's figures, despite tougher tests.
Students from the Spinney Hill school were celebrating this morning after discovering they had achieved the best set of GCSE results in recent years.
A total of 51 per cent achieved a standard pass or above in English and maths (now a grade 4).
While comparisons are difficult this year due to changes in how GCSEs are graded, the pass-rate figure is up eight per cent points on 2015 and includes some outstanding individual performances.
According to the school's new head teacher, Ciran Stapleton, the Class of 2017's results are a fantastic platform for the school to build on.
"I want to congratulate the students, their families and staff for all that has been accomplished. We should all be very proud of their successes," he said.
Among the students who excelled were Henna Wilson, Weronika Hinc, Sally Curtis, Norbert Gawrysiak and Josie Diaby, who all secured a raft of A*s, As and Bs.
Mr Stapleton joined Thomas Becket from St Joseph's Catholic High School in Slough, which under his leadership celebrated its best Ofsted result in a decade.
He said: "I was lucky enough to spend the last few weeks of the summer term at Thomas Becket, and during this time I started to get a feel for the potential that the school has.


BYD Qin Taking Down the Competition?
BYD boasted that its Qin plug-in hybrid electric car is selling so well that the automaker has had trouble meeting demand.
According to China's National Passenger Car Association, Qin was introduced in China in December 2013 and is already "China's Best-Selling Electric Vehicle".
BYD Qin now has over 50% market share of NEVs (New Energy Vehicles) in the first quarter of 2014, which is still not even over. The Qin has an extended all-electric range of up to 43 miles.
"In the first weeks of 2014, more than 6,000 vehicles were sold accounting for over half (50%) of the Chinese new-energy vehicle market."
As both Shanghai and Beijing announced earlier this month that they will now permit BYD new energy vehicles to qualify for local municipality green-vehicle incentives and be licensed in those regions, the Chinese market for electric and plug-in hybrids from manufacturer BYD should really take off.
The strong points of Qin's specifications are 0-100 km/h (60 mph) in 5.9 seconds acceleration and consumption of just 1.6 liters of fuel for every one-hundred kilometers (~62 miles), according to BYD.
"This is only the first of many of BYD super-electric vehicles launching as the electric version of the S7-styled SUV internally named the Tang (pronounced "Tah-ng") is set to be released later this year. The QIN is currently available to domestic Chinese and Latin American markets and senior officials at BYD have discussed expanding exported versions of these new energy vehicles in the coming years."


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Dirk Becker (* 4. Mai 1966 in Bielefeld-Gadderbaum) ist ein deutscher Politiker (SPD), ehemaliges Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages und seit 2015 Bürgermeister der lippischen Stadt Oerlinghausen.

Leben
Nach der Mittleren Reife 1983 machte Becker eine Ausbildung im Mittleren Dienst bei der Stadt Bielefeld und war dort anschließend von 1985 bis 1992 im Bereich Wohnungswesen des Bezirksamtes Heepen tätig. Von 1992 bis 1995 absolvierte Becker ein Studium an der Fachhochschule für öffentliche Verwaltung in Bielefeld, welches er als Diplom-Verwaltungswirt (FH) beendete. Anschließend trat er in die Verwaltung der Stadtbibliothek Bielefeld ein und wurde 1999 Verwaltungsleiter der Volkshochschule Bielefeld.

Partei
Becker ist seit 1988 Mitglied der SPD und war von 2008 bis 2014 Vorsitzender des SPD-Kreisverbandes Lippe.

Abgeordneter
Von 2005 bis 2015 war Becker Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestages. Dirk Becker zog 2005 mit 48,0 % der Erststimmen als direkt gewählter Abgeordneter des Wahlkreises Lippe I in den Bundestag ein.

Öffentliche Ämter
Becker gehörte von 1994 bis 2005 dem Rat der Stadt Oerlinghausen an und war hier von 2002 bis 2005 Vorsitzender der SPD-Fraktion. Von 1999 bis 2004 war Becker stellvertretender Bürgermeister der Stadt Oerlinghausen. 2004 war Becker erstmals Spitzenkandidat der SPD für das Amt des Bürgermeisters von Oerlinghausen, konnte sich jedoch nicht gegen die parteilose Amtsinhaberin Ursula Herbort durchsetzen.
Bei der Kommunalwahl am 13. September 2015 erzielte Dirk Becker 70,1 % der Stimmen, sodass er damit zum hauptamtlichen Bürgermeister der Stadt Oerlinghausen wurde. Der mit einem Direktmandat in den Bundestag eingezogene Dirk Becker legte am 21. Oktober 2015 sein Bundestagsmandat nieder. Seine Nachfolgerin im Bundestag wurde Petra Rode-Bosse (SPD).

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Bundestagsabgeordneter (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Kommunalpolitiker (Kreis Lippe)
Bürgermeister (Kreis Lippe)
Stellvertretender Bürgermeister (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
Mitglied des Ausschusses für Wirtschaft und Energie
SPD-Mitglied
Deutscher
Geboren 1966
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Is Taco Bell Taking On the Chicken Chains?
The fast-food chain plans to expand its menu into an area where it has not previously gone.
Daniel B. Kline
(TMFDankline)
Aug 22, 2016 at 10:35AM
Daniel B. Kline is an accomplished writer and editor who has worked for Microsoft on its Finance app and The Boston Globe, where he wrote for the paper and ran the Boston.com business desk. His latest book, "Worst Ideas Ever," (Skyhorse) can be purchased at bookstores everywhere. Follow @tworstideas
Follow @worstideas
Calling Yum! Brands' (NYSE:YUM) Taco Bell menu "Mexican food" stretches the definition, to put it mildly.
For example, on its breakfast menu, the chain offers hash browns and Cinnabon Delights (a doughnut hole-like treat based on the popular cinnamon roll). The same is true for the rest of the day, where items strain the edges of authenticity while at least having some connection to Mexican food.
Taco Bell, which has often marketed itself as an alternative to burger chains, may offer "Mexican Pizza," but that's basically a flat variation on a taco or a burrito. However, so far, the company has mostly avoided abandoning its core identity and adding burgers, hot dogs, or other fare with no relation to Mexican tradition.
That's admirable, but it's apparently about to change because the opportunity in one area -- fried chicken -- has become too big to pass up.
Taco Bell has been aggressive in adding new menu items. Image source: Mike Mozart via Flickr.
What is Taco Bell doing?
Taco Bell plans to take its "Naked Crispy Chicken Shell Chalupa" national in 2017, Brand Eating reported earlier this month. That product borrows from sister chain Kentucky Fried Chicken's Double Down, a sandwich that used fried chicken instead of bread. In the Mexican chain's case, the fried chicken is formed into a taco shell.
That item at least borrows the form of a taco. Taco Bell's other chicken entry reportedly under testing, "Crispy Chicken Chips," seem to be basically triangular chicken nuggets. The only nod to what Americans think of as Mexican food is that it will reportedly be served with a nacho cheese dipping sauce.
Taco Bell has not confirmed a launch for the nugget-like product, but did not exactly deny it in a quote reported by Eater.com. "We're excited to bring Naked Chicken Chalupa to restaurants nationally next year," the company said in a statement. "Chicken as the shell is a concept our fans love, so why stop there?"
Why is Taco Bell doing this?
Fried chicken has been very hot in the fast-food and fast-casual space. Shake Shack (NYSE:SHAK), for example, has a clear hit with its Chick'n Shack sandwich, a rare addition to its core menu. CEO Randy Garutti even cited the chicken sandwich as one of the reasons the company had a good quarter in his remarks in its Q2 earnings report.
"For the second quarter, we increased revenue over 2015 by 37.2%," he said. "Innovating around our core menu continues to be a key driver of our success with the addition of our Chick'n Shack, launched in January."
Shake Shack is not alone in pushing chicken. Chick-fil-A has a chicken-dominated menu and that led it to the highest sales-per-restaurant of any chain, according to a QSR Magazine report in 2015.
Of course, it also helps that chicken generally costs less than pork or beef for restaurants to buy at the moment, but the menu items don't cost less. A chicken sandwich and a burger cost the same for consumers, but the chicken product has a higher margin for the restaurant.
Will this work?
The Naked Chicken Chalupa seems like the type of product that has worked for Taco Bell in the past. It's a semi-ridiculous item that should get media attention and appeal to the company's user base, which has embraced its past innovations.
Crispy Chicken Chips, however, have a better chance to be a game changer for the chain.
A chicken nugget-like product on the menu could make Taco Bell an easier choice for families. That could win the company business over its burger-chain rivals. Little kids may not eat tacos or burritos (or even burgers), but most of them eat chicken nuggets.
Having a pedestrian, not-even-vaguely Mexican item on its menu may break from past practices at Taco Bell, but it opens the chain up to more visits. It's not as clever as a fried chicken taco shell, but it's still a smart move.
Yum! Brands, Inc.
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Is Taco Bell Taking On the Chicken Chains? @themotleyfool #stocks $YUM $SHAK Next Article


text:
/*Write a recursive program for generating and printing all ordered k-element subsets from n-element set (variations Vkn).
Example: n=3, k=2, set = {hi, a, b} → (hi hi), (hi a), (hi b), (a hi), (a a), (a b), (b hi), (b a), (b b)*/
namespace _05.OrderedSubsets
{
    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Text;
    using System.Threading.Tasks;

    public class Program
    {
        static string[] words;
        static string[] result;
        static int k;
        static int n;

        public static void Main()
        {
            n = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
            words = GenerateRandomStringArray(n);

            k = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
            result = new string[k];

            GenerateVariations(0);
        }

        private static string[] GenerateRandomStringArray(int length)
        {
            var array = new string[n];

            for (int i = 0; i < length; i++)
            {
                array[i] = ((char)('a' + i)).ToString();
            }

            return array;
        }

        private static void GenerateVariations(int index)
        {
            if (index == k)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ", result));
                return;
            }

            for (int i = 0; i < words.Length; i++)
            {
                result[index] = words[i];
                GenerateVariations(index + 1);
            }
        }
    }
}


text:
Toolbox talks on fairness, inclusion and respect
VGC Group News and blog Blog Toolbox talks on fairness, inclusion and respect
Richard writes:
I've recently been delivering toolbox talks on language to workers on the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme.
Using the FIR toolkit from the Supply Chain Sustainability School's award-winning resource library, the language presentation aims to create an awareness of how certain behaviours can be perceived. What might be considered harmless banter in the workplace by some, can lead to real isolation and loneliness in others. This in turn can lead to issues around mental health and wellbeing.
We want people to see every individual as a valued contributor; that makes everyone happier at work and leads to better productivity. A bonus, from our point of view, is that it also minimises staff turnover.
Key messages of the talk:
Use language that makes people feel included, not offended.
The only language acceptable at work is that which doesn't offend.
People who feel included work better and safer; the job is easier, and everyone goes home happier.
Developing a culture of fairness, inclusion and respect
VGC is a Gold member of the Supply Chain Sustainability School, which is a collaboration between clients, contractors and suppliers who have a mutual interest in building the skills of their supply chain. We have been involved in the school since 2012. As partners, we can work together with our clients to develop a culture of fairness, inclusion and respect (FIR) within workplaces. This includes promoting equality and diversity, and combating discrimination.
Part of this involves delivering presentations to the workforce on various projects including Crossrail, M25 smart motorway upgrade and the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme. When we deliver these toolbox talks, we do not limit attendance to just VGC staff. We invite everyone, no matter who they work for, to attend.
After one such presentation to the team on the A14 section 1 in January, Ben Cross, A14 IDT supply chain manager, said "This is fantastic, and another example of your team's passion and drive for changing our industry for the better".
Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are fundamental to the way VGC Group undertakes our business. It is not just about processes and procedures but is embedded in our culture throughout the entire organisation. This includes ensuring all our staff at work feel they belong to a team, where they will not encounter any form of discrimination under any circumstances. The way they are spoken to and equally, the way they speak and are perceived by others, forms the basis of this.
Author: Richard Wheeler, HSQE manager


I got 2004 mountaineer, recently I notice a vibration and noise on the front wheel. I replaced all the tires with Michelin latitude. wheel balancing and wheel alignment has been done and still I am having same problem. Any advice to solve it?
At certain speeds? Is the noise louder when turning left or right? The same ? for the vibes. It's a V-8 with 4WD right?


text:
Library to hold club meetings, story sessions
Boulder City Library, 701 Adams Blvd., has several activities planned for the coming weeks. These include:
— STEAM club, 3:30 p.m. today in the community room. Explore science, technology, engineering, art and math through stories, crafts and activities. For those 6-11.
— Movie, 5:30 p.m. Friday in the community room. "Captain America: The First Avenger" will be shown. Bring chairs, pillows and/or blankets.
— Teen advisory group, 3 p.m. Monday in the community room. Open to those 12-18, the group offers advice on activities, programs and materials in the youth services department.
— Drop-in story time, 10 a.m. Tuesday in the board room. For all ages.
— Anime club, 5 p.m. Tuesday in the board room. For those in junior high grades.
— Toddler story time, 10 a.m. Wednesday in the board room. For children younger than 36 months and their caregivers.
— Crazy 8s math club, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the community room. For those in kindergarten through second grade. The eight-week, hands-on program will include activities to get children excited about math. Reservations required.
Call 702-293-1281 for details, reservations or more information.
Downsizing, decluttering topic for Anew
Anew Women's Network will meet at 1:30 p.m. April 9 at the Boulder City Library, 701 Adams Blvd..
Guest speaker for the session will be Pat Foll, who will discuss downsizing and decluttering a home. She has taught design, worked in the commercial design field and consulted for residential design projects.
The group is for widows and offers friendship and resources.
A light lunch will be served.
For further details, call Fran Jordan at 702-371-5932 or Marjorie Kitchell at 702-293-1352.
Lend A Hand offering free wellness program, lunch
As part of the expansion of its respite program, Lend A Hand will present "Eat, Laugh and Be Well …" from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 27 at the Elaine K. Smith Center, 700 Wyoming St.
The session will feature a "super foods" lunch prepared by chefs from Nevada Senior Services and a presentation by Marty Jacobs, a certified yoga instructor. The program is appropriate for those of any fitness level and everything can be done while seated.
Additionally, information about resources for senior citizens and caregivers will be presented.
The program is designed for those 60 and older. There is no cost to participate.
Advanced registration is required. To register or for more information, call Patty at the Lend A Hand office, 702-294-2363.
PFLAG schedules April 12 meeting
PFLAG will meet at 7 p.m. April 12 at Boulder City Library, 701 Adams Blvd.
The group offers round-table discussions centered on education, advocacy and mutual support to discuss family issues with others who have experienced sexual-orientation issues.
The Boulder City chapter is a pending member of the national organization. Family unity and individual dignity are issues the group supports.
Those who attend are straight and gay.
The group sponsors a hotline at 702-241-4050 or can be reached by email at pflagofbouldercity@gmail.com. For additional information, contact Terry McClain at 702-321-7779 or tmcclain44@earthlink.net.
For more information about PFLAG, visit http://community.pflag.org.
Republican women set monthly meeting
The Boulder City Republican Women Club will host its monthly luncheon and meeting April 21 in the banquet room of Railroad Pass, 2800 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson.
Doors open at 11 a.m. and lunch will be served at 11:45.
Guest speakers will be Eric Johnson and Scott Holper, who are running for district court judge seats.
Cost is $21 per person.
Reservations are required and must be made by noon April 14. They can be made by calling 702-393-1228 or emailing bcgop@yahoo.com.
Art guild members' work on display at lodge
The Boulder City Art Guild, in conjunction with the Hoover Dam Lodge, is presenting "Southwest USA," an exhibit of fine art by guild members. It continues through May 31 at the resort, 18000 U.S. Highway 93.
Works by 25 artists are on display.
The success of the first collaboration prompted Hoover Dam Lodge to double the amount of exhibit space for this show.
Church seeks donations for Country Store
Grace Community Church is now accepting donations for its annual Country Store.
Donations of clothing, hardware, furniture and household items will be accepted.
They can be brought to the church at 1100 Wyoming Ave. from 9-11 a.m. on Mondays.
For additional information, call the church at 702-293-2018.


I decided not to take pictures of the hotel because aside from the sign, the building wasn't all that spectacular. The service, however, was amazing along with the onsen and staff. I know the pictures of the meal are bad but, trust me, the food was inssaaaaane!


text:
Q: jQuery Mobile Refresh Element after AJAX I'm using JQM 1.4.3. I have an AJAX that sets the value of a localStorage key and then changes the page:
login.js
$.ajax({
    url: url,
    type: 'GET',
    dataType: 'json',
    data: 'method=login&username=' + encodeURIComponent(username) + '&token=' + encodeURIComponent(token),
    //async: false,
    //crossDomain: true,
    error: function(XMLHttpRequest, textStatus, errorThrown) {
        console.log(JSON.stringify(XMLHttpRequest));
        console.log(JSON.stringify(textStatus));
        console.log(JSON.stringify(errorThrown));
    },
    success: function( user ){
        console.log(JSON.stringify(user));
        if(user) {
            $('#welcome').remove();
            storage.setItem("uid", user);
            storage.setItem("username", username);
            $('#welcome').trigger("create");
            $.mobile.changePage( "#page_dashboard", { transition: "slideup" });
            console.log(storage.username);
        }
    }
});

index.html

Hello

index.js (attached to index.html)
$( document ).delegate("#page_dashboard", "pageinit", function() {
        $('#welcome').trigger("create");
        $('#welcome').text("Hello " + storage.username);
});

I'm attempting to refresh the value of text on #page_dashboard to reflect the new user. I'm using page_init and page_beforecreate and neither refresh the text. If I refresh the page manually the text changes. How do I refresh the element to reflect the new localStorage value?

A: *

*"pageinit" is triggered when the DOM is ready. If you want to do in
only once then use pageinit.

*"pagebeforeshow" is triggered just before your page is showed. You
can use this event when you need to do an action before displaying,
like add div or HTML structure. If you need it each time page is
visited then use pagebeforeshow.
$( document ).delegate("#page_dashboard", "pagebeforeshow", function() {
   $('#welcome').trigger("create");
   $('#welcome').text("Hello " + storage.username);
});


1 Finding Affordable Dental Implants in Laton, California– Why So Expensive?
5 How Do I Get Dental Implants in Laton CA?
You believed every little thing was fine. No one appeared to see that you were missing a couple of teeth, and after that somebody went across the line. You were provided gran slippers as well as a crocheted blanket for Christmas, the tip being that it was time to snuggle on the couch with your pet cat and a glass of warm milk.
Finding Affordable Dental Implants in Laton, California– Why So Expensive?
Shedding your teeth has actually started to make you look old. You barely speak to anybody any longer anyway, so why not work out in for a very early snooze? Rubbish! When affordable dental implants are simply a phone call away, you don't have to clear up.
Probably member of the family will be extra sensible as well as direct regarding it, however somebody has to tell you that affordable dental implants could be life-changing. Finding affordable dental implants begins with a web search and the determination to travel a bit. Opportunities are you will need to go to a significant city to find a dental practitioner that makes it his business to offer budget-friendly dental services to individuals who require them. It might appear like incorrect economic climate if you have to spend for train tickets or gas, however simply note the difference in expense as well as it soon becomes clear: traveling is well worth the effort to have your smile once again.
The reason dental implants are so expensive is that great deals of people get associated with making them, putting them and also completing them. Add this to the price of materials plus the dental practitioner's helicopter costs, and soon you will certainly need to offer your car to be able to eat steak again.
How Do I Get Dental Implants in Laton CA?
Dental experts can reduce costs by doing just what every consumer does to conserve cash: buying wholesale. Since there is no such thing as a poor dental practitioner, it is clear that these treatments happen often enough for a professional to buy materials in advance. If he is trained, he can execute even more of the work himself instead compared to sending you to a different person to take on each portion of the process. All this might conserve you cash, after you request a solid sedative to obtain you with the procedure.
The majority of these oral methods promote solutions over the net. Web marketing helps to keep expenses down and reach more individuals, while widening their client base at the same time. More clients as well as lower media expenses amount to savings we can pass on to consumers. When you see one of our dental experts, make sure to request an expense analysis for the dental implants.
Consider making use of these services prior to anybody has to trigger you. Surprise them with a new smile. The advantages start with self-confidence, which is essential to living a full life. Not everybody that sheds teeth will be elderly. Many youngsters endure from oral conditions or injuries which bring about tooth loss. When you can not grin or talk openly, this cuts you off from individuals as well as hampers your opportunities of success, particularly if you wish to function in a client service capacity.
Even worse still, your jaw requires teeth in it to stay healthy and balanced. Without anything to support, your jaw starts to squander away like a muscle mass that never obtains made use of. Your mouth will certainly alter form so that, even if you wish to obtain dentures ultimately, they will not fit. Act promptly to stop this from happening and offer us a call today.
The benefit of selecting affordable dental implants over dentures is that they will assist you to maintain bone mass, whereas dentures do not. You have just as great a chance of losing bone if you use dentures as you do without teeth.
Even dentures could be put in your mouth semi-permanently. Your dental expert will certainly repair them to a variety of messages so that you take hip hop lessons without losing them. While the yelling of your fellow professional dancers or the target market as they go flying could be exciting, the policy of 'finders caretakers' can spell your downfall for locating affordable dental implants.
Pay little focus on the price of your pal's procedure. Her mouth is different from yours, so the services you need will not set you back the very same amount. It can take longer for your treatment to be ended up. More materials can be needed. Bone grafting could be necessary before any type of further job could be done. Attempt not to be daunted, though.
When selecting affordable dental implants, just discover exactly what type of anesthetic solutions are offered at the same time. This need to place you at your simplicity. You might be asleep during. This is specifically handy if your primary concern concerning going to the dental practitioner is that you are simply scared. An anxiety of dental experts prevails, yet is occasionally preventable. Do not enjoy 'Little Shop of Horrors' or 'Marathon Male,' and you can be simply fine.
Possibly family members will be extra sensible and also direct concerning it, but someone needs to inform you that affordable dental implants can be life-altering. Discovering affordable dental implants starts with a net search as well as the readiness to take a trip a bit. While the shrieking of your other dancers or the audience as they go flying can be exciting, the regulation of 'finders keepers' might spell your failure for discovering affordable dental implants.


A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held to celebrate the grand opening of the Grocery Outlet in Lake Forest, 10 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 7.
Grocery Outlet, a growing discount grocer with nearly 300 locations across the country, will occupy the former Stater Bros. site on Barton Road in Grand Terrace, the city announced this week.
Vacant for more than six years, the 18,000-square-foot building, at 22441 Barton Road, anchors a shopping center that includes a Dollar Tree and a handful of small restaurants. In 2011, Stater Bros. moved to a new shopping center down the street.
Grocery Outlet, which is opening Inland Empire stores in Riverside, Moreno Valley and Rialto, has signed a 10-year lease agreement with Viking Investment Properties, with four five-year renewals. Between the grocer and the property owner, approximately $4.3 million will be invested into the shopping center.
The new Grocery Outlet is expected to open in spring 2019.
"It's going to be great for not only Grand Terrace, but the Highgrove area, too," City Manager G. Harold Duffey said.
Started in 1946, Grocery Outlet currently is managed by third-generation family members of founder Jim Read.
All locations are operated by joint venture partners who usually are a husband and wife who live in the community. Up to 50 people will be employed, Duffey said.
The new Grocery Outlet is expected to generate as much as $30,000 in annual sales tax revenue.
The shopping center's other tenants should see a boost in business, too, Duffey said. And, with nearly 3,500 new residential units under development within two miles of the site, Grocery Outlet will offer new and longtime residents an alternative to Stater Bros., Duffey said.


text:
India: Cash In hand
IndiaFinancial Services
The national rollout of the government Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) scheme in early January is the largest and most comprehensive overhaul of India's subsidies and benefits distribution programmes to date. However, the programme's quick introduction, as well as a number of other challenges, may prove problematic to its implementation and success.
The DCT scheme will attempt to circumvent a problematic welfare distribution system that has cultivated a record of wastage and corruption. In December Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress, said, "The purpose of this scheme is to ensure that the money being disbursed in pension, scholarship, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act wage payments and social benefit schemes reaches the beneficiaries directly and without any delay."
The scheme will eventually channel around $58bn annually in subsidies and benefits directly to the bank accounts of India's poor and most vulnerable. However, the government faces several challenges in implementing the new scheme.
Since its announcement in the 2011/12 budget, several of India's state governments have been vocal in their criticism and protests regarding the policy's breakneck implementation. Most have centred on technological and infrastructure shortfalls, which became evident on December 31, 2012, hours before the scheme's official launch.
Intended to cover 51 districts in January, 18 states by April 2013 and the rest of the country later this year, the scheme was pared back on its January 1 launch to 20 districts. Also affected was the number of welfare schemes introduced, which was reduced to 26 from the 36 originally intended. Several key areas of the scheme, however, such as food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies, were introduced at the launch.
DCT's introduction has been congruent with India's new "Aadhaar" card national identity programme, which gives every citizen a 12-digit numerical identification card. Serving as proof of identity and address, Aadhaar cards are correcting many of the inefficiencies seen in government service delivery – notably the inability to authenticate the identity of individuals. This shortfall has helped cultivate corrupt practices, denied beneficiaries their rations or welfare and deterred private sector institutions from deepening their presence in poorer markets.
The introduction of both the Aadhaar card and the DCT scheme will now make it easier for India's unbanked to open accounts. At present, just 40% of India is considered "banked", though the government has been making progress in rolling out financial services to poor and rural areas.
Responding to edicts issued in 2011 for banks to open branch services in rural areas and habitations of 5000, more than half of the 4000 settlements identified by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had been covered by October 2012. The government has also expanded its "Swabhimaan" Financial Inclusion Campaign to more than 110,000 settlements with a population above 1000 through branches, business correspondent agents, mobile vans and micro ATMs at local shops. In March 2012, the RBI reported that more than 30m "no frills" bank accounts had been opened, bringing the total to 99m.
However, where progress in banking may have been notable, the Aadhaar card rollout has been comparatively slow. Over 210m Aadhaar numbers have been created, but this is less than one-third of the number targeted under the DCT, with Delhi reporting just 40% coverage in January.
In a population of 1.2bn, such challenges are not unexpected. However, the DCT scheme is a warranted reform, as losses due to corruption and inefficiency are estimated to be as high as 40%. The past year has seen a number of national anti-corruption protests after it was revealed that some $14.5bn had been stolen from a food subsidy programme in one state alone over the past decade.
The Indian government has cited successful sister schemes in Brazil and Mexico, yet these make poor comparisons as they target small percentages of their population, whereas an estimated 46% of Indian children are malnourished and require food subsidies. Moreover, the DCT provides no protection against perennial local market price manipulation and wider inflation.
Yet while these issues are not enough to derail the programme's rollout, it has highlighted that errors are unavoidable. While a 2% margin of error seen in trials may be considered small, nationally this extrapolates to tens of millions.
Nonetheless, the DCT scheme remains an arguable improvement on current mechanisms, and monies saved from seepage may constitute the bedrock of future welfare schemes, as well as provide some measure of political emancipation. It will take several months to know whether the DCT programme will prove successful enough to survive the vicissitudes of Indian democracy,but the potential benefits are clear.
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Perhaps there's no better way to celebrate spring finally being here than by watching Stadium Super Trucks spring into action in three of four consecutive weekends to kick off their 2019 season. Last weekend saw SST launch its latest campaign with a doubleheader at Circuit of the Americas, and this week, they remain in the Lone Star State with two more rounds at Texas Motor Speedway.
After multiple years of partnering up with IndyCar, this year's Outdoor Powersports Off-Road Rumble pairs up with NASCAR as it moves from June to March. The move makes sense when considering the COTA round, as the series only needed to pack up its trucks and ramps and move across the state. It also enables TMS, which has heavily promoted SST ever since welcoming it to the track just a few short years ago, to package the action with one of its strongest weekends of the year.
Picking up where the series left off in January at the Race of Champions, which served as the 2018 championship finale, sophomore Blade Hildebrand and defending series champion Matt Brabham opened the 2019 schedule with a victory apiece in last weekend's doubleheader from COTA. Hildebrand's victory was his first in SST competition, and he celebrated by bringing his truck up on two wheels before rolling it; consider it series founder Robby Gordon's revenge, as Gordon couldn't get by Hildebrand for the race win but successfully pulled off the bike after the checkered flag and probably had a chuckle after seeing the roll in his rear view mirror.
Sunday's race saw Brabham, who was also the quickest qualifier of the weekend, hold off fellow SST veterans Jeff Hoffman and Gavin Harlien for the victory. All told, six of the eight drivers who competed at COTA stood on the podium. The others were both returning after spending time out of the truck: Travis PeCoy, who last competed in SST in 2014, filled in for Cole Potts, while Bill Hynes competed for the first time since running at TMS last June. Both scored a top-five finish on the weekend.
Coming into the 2019 season, Continental Tire announced that it would become SST's second tire manufacturer for 2019, joining Toyo as the brands backed four trucks apiece in the opener. Continental will also serve as title sponsor of an SST truck in 2019, which defending Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro Lite champion Ryan Beat immediately drove to a podium in the Saturday race. Beat will be joined by two-time SST champion and 2018 ARCA champion Sheldon Creed, as well as NASCAR superstar Greg Biffle, in the truck over the course of the season. Biffle will be in Texas working with Kyle Busch Motorsports on its NASCAR Truck Series program, but it's Creed who will run the truck this weekend.
Stadium Super Trucks will first take to the track at Texas on Saturday for qualifying, and will run dual main events before and after the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday. As always, expect the races to be live streamed on the SST Facebook page, and aired on the CBS Sports Network at a later date.


text:
Femmes Fatales May 10 2009
A very strong news week.
British model and tabloid favorite Jean Shrimpton, sporting her world famous mane on an iconic cover of the American magazine Newsweek, forty-four years ago today.
BritainNewsweekJean Shrimptonsex symbol
Intl. Notebook Feb 2 2009
Modern day bad girls are nothing compared to Patty Hearst.
Winona, Paris, Nicole—read and learn. Patty Hearst was first a millionaire socialite, then a kidnap victim, then a self-described urban revolutionary and machine gun toting bank robber. She went on trial for armed robbery in January 1976, and the proceedings continued through March. Newsweek produced the grainy cover you see above twenty-two years ago today. Despite the efforts of celebrity lawyer F. Lee Bailey, Hearst was sentenced to 35 years. But her sentence was commuted by president Jimmy Carter after a mere 22 months of time served, even though she had refused at trial to give evidence against her kidnappers/accomplices. She was later given a full pardon by Bill Clinton. Psychologists claim Hearst was not responsible for her actions due to the effects of Stockholm syndrome, which basically means she started digging her kidnappers. We're gonna try that excuse next time we get arrested, but we have a feeling it won't work.
NewsweekStockholm syndromeJimmy CarterBill ClintonF. Lee BaileyPatty Hearstrobberytrial