Soya and its derivatives represent nutritionally high quality food products whose major drawback is their high content of α-galacto-oligosaccharides. These are not digested in the small intestine due to the natural absence of tissular α-galactosidase in mammals. The passage of these carbohydrates to the large intestine makes them available for fermentation by gas-producing bacteria leading to intestinal flatulence. The aim of the work reported here was to assess the ability of α-galactosidase-producing lactobacilli to improve the digestibility of α-galacto-oligosaccharides in situ.
Gnotobiotic rats were orally fed with soy milk and placed in respiratory chambers designed to monitor fermentative gas excretion. The validity of the animal model was first checked using gnotobiotic rats monoassociated with a Clostridium butyricum hydrogen (H2)-producing strain. Ingestion of native soy milk by these rats caused significant H2 emission while ingestion of α-galacto-oligosaccharide-free soy milk did not, thus validating the experimental system. When native soy milk was fermented using the α-galactosidase-producing Lactobacillus fermentum CRL722 strain, the resulting product failed to induce H2 emission in rats thus validating the bacterial model. When L. fermentum CRL722 was coadministered with native soy milk, a significant reduction (50 %, P = 0.019) in H2 emission was observed, showing that α-galactosidase from L. fermentum CRL722 remained active in situ, in the gastrointestinal tract of rats monoassociated with C. butyricum. In human-microbiota associated rats, L. fermentum CRL722 also induced a significant reduction of H2 emission (70 %, P = 0.004).
These results strongly suggest that L. fermentum α-galactosidase is able to partially alleviate α-galactosidase deficiency in rats. This offers interesting perspectives in various applications in which lactic acid bacteria could be used as a vector for delivery of digestive enzymes in man and animals.
The nutritional value of soya-derived products is high since the amino acid profile of soy protein corresponds more closely to human requirements than most other plant proteins . In recognition of this high quality, the US Department of Agriculture issued a ruling in 2000 allowing soy protein to completely replace animal protein in the Federal School Lunch Program . Soy proteins have also been shown to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease  and, in this context, the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a health claim for the cholesterol-lowering effect of soy proteins . Other key benefits of soya derive from its high content of isoflavones which are thought to exert a range of biological effects against hormone-dependent diseases such as breast and prostate cancer, menopausal symptoms, cardiovascular diseases, and osteoporosis . Taken together, these reported health benefits, along with growing consumer preference for plant-derived food rather than meat, have led to an increasing demand for soy products . However, in addition to these positive properties, soya does have one negative characteristic limiting its use in human nutrition. As is the case with other legumes, soya contains high levels of the α-galacto-oligosaccharides (α-GOS) raffinose and stachyose that are composed of one sucrose moiety and one or two galactose moieties, respectively. Since mammals are deficient in the enzyme α-galactosidase (α-Gal), which hydrolyses the α-1, 6 linkages found in these sugars, α-GOS are not digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract and reach the large intestine where they are fermented by the resident microbiota. The resulting production of fermentative gases can induce abdominal pain as well as the social embarrassment associated with flatulence [7, 8]. Such negative aspects reduce the acceptability of soy products as a major human food source .
One means of avoiding this problem could be to remove α-GOS from the raw agricultural products. This could be achieved by fermenting soya-derived products, such as soy milk, using food grade bacteria that are able to catabolize α-GOS into digestible carbohydrates. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have long been used in food processing, and some of these are able to produce α-Gal, making them good candidates to fulfil this task [10–12]. This approach is promising for the manufacture of soy yoghurts since some LAB are also able to reduce the concentration of the aldehydes responsible for the undesirable beany flavour of soy milk . However, this strategy is limited to food products that are to be fermented by LAB. For soya and α-GOS-rich food products that are not intended to be fermented by LAB, another method of reducing the quantity of gas-producing substrates would be to use LAB as a vehicle for delivering α-Gal to the small intestine, allowing the enzyme to hydrolyse undigested α-GOS prior to their passage to the large intestine. In previous experiments, we selected the Lactobacillus (L.) fermentum CRL722 strain for its high α-Gal activity, which allowed it to degrade raffinose and stachyose in vitro [11, 14]. Following oral administration of live cells or cell-free extracts of this strain, we were able to detect a short-lived α-Gal activity in the small intestinal chyme of conventional rats .
The present study was designed to assess the efficiency of L. fermentum CRL722 to reduce gas production in rats consuming α-GOS. Gnotobiotic rats which were monoassociated with Clostridium (C.) butyricum, a bacterial species known to produce large amounts of gas from carbohydrate fermentation, were first used as an animal model. In a second series of experiments, we investigated the effect of L. fermentum CRL722 in a microbiological environment similar to the human gastrointestinal tract, using human microbiota-associated rats. In all the trials, L. fermentum CRL722 was consumed as a bolus of live cells, and H2 excreted through breath and flatus was used as a biomarker of gas production in the gastrointestinal tract.
A model system was designed in order to assess the potential of L. fermentum-delivered α-Gal to improve the digestion of α-GOS in rats. This system made use of respiratory chambers to monitor gas excretion in gnotobiotic rats in which the microbiota was first simplified to a single strain of C. butyricum that produces H2 from α-GOS fermentation (Cb rats). In these rats, the colonization of the gastrointestinal tract by C. butyricum ranged from 107 to 108 CFU/g of faeces. Initial experiments showed that administration of 1 ml of native soy milk with raffinose and stachyose levels of 4.0 and 7.5 mM, respectively, did not significantly induce H2 emission in Cb rats (data not shown). Therefore, native soy milk was enriched with various amounts of both α-GOS to yield final concentrations of up to 48 and 76 mM of raffinose and stachyose, respectively. These were the concentrations that were then used for further studies. Given that legumes contain around 5 % (w/w) α-GOS (soybeans 5.0 %, lentils 5.5 %, beans 3.2 % and chick-peas 7.5 %), the amount of α-GOS administered to rats corresponded to an intake of about 1.5 g of legumes per rat. When Cb rats received this enriched soy milk, they excreted H2 in expired air and flatus at up to 500 μmol/100 g metabolic weight as shown in Fig. 1. In contrast, when rats received only peptone water, only a slight H2 emission, probably corresponding to background dietary fermentation, was observed. These observations suggest that H2 emission by rats receiving enriched soy milk is linked to their consumption of α-GOS. This was confirmed by preparing soy milk in which α-GOS were degraded using an exogenous α-Gal prior to administration. In this case, a significantly lower (P = 0.003) H2 excretion was observed than when rats received enriched soy milk, indicating that the high H2 excretion found with the latter treatment was due to the presence of the α-GOS raffinose and stachyose from soy milk. Nevertheless, α-GOS-free soy milk induced a significantly higher H2 emission than peptone water (P < 0.05). This was probably related to the presence of non-digestible but fermentable sugars, other than α-GOS, that remained in the soy milk preparation after the α-Gal treatment .
α-GOS-induced H 2 excretion in gnotobiotic rats monoassociated with C. butyricum DSM10702 (Cb rats). The rats (n = 12) were administered intragastrically with the solution to be tested and they were placed in respiratory chambers. Air samples taken from the chambers were analyzed for H2 concentration using GC. Treatments successively applied to all rats (for more details, see Material and Methods section and Fig. 5) are boxed. Cross bars indicate standard error of the mean. MW, metabolic weight; *, indicates that P values (Student-Newman-Keuls test) of the differences with the group receiving soy milk is P < 0.01.
Prior to assessing the potential of L. fermentum CRL722 to allow the digestion of α-GOS in soy milk and in the rat gastrointestinal tract, the effect of the strain alone was assessed in a group of 4 Cb rats taken from the group of 12 rats tested above (Cb-A rats, Figs. 2 and 5). The administration of L. fermentum CRL722 to these rats had no effect on H2 excretion (Fig. 2A). H2 emission following this treatment was close to that observed previously in the same rats receiving α-GOS-free soy milk. L. fermentum CRL722 was used to ferment enriched soy milk whose raffinose and stachyose content was monitored during the fermentation process. This allowed the degradation of about 90 % of raffinose and stachyose (data not shown). The resulting product administered to Cb-B rats induced a slight H2 emission that was significantly lower (P = 0.004) than that observed with α-GOS-rich soy milk (Fig. 2B). This suggests that the degradation of α-GOS by L. fermentum CRL722 upon the fermentation of soy milk, prevented H2 excretion in rats thus confirming that this excretion was due to α-GOS fermentation in rats. We then tested the potential of L. fermentum CRL722 as a vehicle for α-Gal in the gastrointestinal tract of rats. To do this, α-GOS-enriched soy milk and a bacterial suspension of L. fermentum CRL722 were simultaneously given to the Cb-C rats. These rats showed an H2 excretion that was 50 % lower than when they received soy milk only (P = 0.019), and that was similar to values obtained when they were given α-GOS-free soy milk (P > 0.05; Fig. 2C). Analysis of bacterial populations from the faeces up to 72 h after the experiment revealed that L. fermentum CRL722 was present and stable at 106 CFU per g of faeces. This indicates that L. fermentum CRL722 was able to persist in the rats monoassociated with C. butyricum DSM10702. Therefore, the observed α-GOS digestion activity was possibly caused by (i) delivery of α-Gal to the gastrointestinal tract following L. fermentum lysis, or (ii) consumption of α-GOS by a viable and colonizing L. fermentum population.
Ability of L. fermentum CRL722 to reduce α-GOS-induced H 2 excretion in gnotobiotic rats monoassociated with C. butyricum DSM10702. Same legend as Fig. 1, except for the number of rats (n = 4). A, Cb-A rats; B, Cb-B rats; C, Cb-C rats (see Fig 5).
Experimental design of the rat trials. Treatments applied to rats are indicated in italics and numbers of treated rats in brackets. For more details, see Material and Methods section. PW, peptone water. 1, Rats associated with C. butyricum DSM10702; 2, rats associated with a human faecal microbiota; 3, α-GOS-enriched soy milk (see 4 and 5) was added with a 5 % (v/v) coffee bean α-Gal solution at 1 IU/ml and was incubated for 12 h at 37°C; 4, the concentrations of raffinose and stachyose in the α-GOS-enriched soy milk administered to Cb rats were 48 and 76 mM, respectively; 5, the concentrations of raffinose and stachyose in the α-GOS-enriched soy milk administered to HMA rats were 144 and 228 mM, respectively; 6, L. fermentum cultures were at 4 × 109 CFU/ml; 7, α-GOS-enriched soy milk (see 4) was added with a 2 % (v/v) inoculum of a 4 × 109 CFU/ml L. fermentum CRL722 suspension and was allowed to ferment for 16 h at 37°C.
In order to more closely mimic conditions in the human gastrointestinal tract, the animal model described above was modified so that the rat gastrointestinal tract was colonized by a human faecal microbiota. In this complex microbial digestive environment, rats fed with the α-GOS-rich soy milk used for Cb rats did not excrete significantly more H2 than rats given α-GOS-free soy milk (data not shown). This may have been the result of either a low level of gas-producing bacteria in the human microbiota used as an inoculum, or, more probably, from the activity of H2-consuming microorganisms . Trials with 1 ml soy milk with concentrations of raffinose and stachyose that were artificially increased 2- or 3-fold higher were performed. These trials showed that human microbiota-associated (HMA)-rats administered with soy milk whose α-GOS concentration was enhanced 3-fold, i.e. 144 and 228 mM raffinose and stachyose, respectively, exhibited H2 excretion levels of the same order of magnitude as those observed in Cb rats (Fig. 3). Under these new conditions, the activity of L. fermentum CRL722 was again assessed by coadministration of the strain with the α-GOS-rich soy milk. This experiment showed that H2 emission was reduced by about 70 % compared with the α-GOS-rich soy milk treatment (P = 0.004, Fig. 3), and this reduction attained statistical significance 3 h after feeding (P = 0.012). Monitoring of the L. fermentum CRL722 population present in faecal samples showed that the population decreased 100-fold each day, indicating that, in contrast with the situation observed in Cb rats, this strain was unable to colonize the gastrointestinal tract of HMA rats.
Ability of L. fermentum CRL722 to reduce α-GOS-induced H 2 excretion in human microbiota-associated (HMA) rats. Same legend as Fig. 1, except for the number of rats (n = 4).
The primary aim of this work was to assess the potential of LAB to facilitate the digestion of soy α-GOS through their α-Gal activity. In this context, we have previously characterized α-Gals from various lactobacilli, and one from L. fermentum CRL722 appeared to be the most active . The present work focused on assessing the ability of the α-Gal producing L. fermentum CRL722 strain to improve the digestibility of soy α-GOS via its α-Gal activity expressed either during soy milk fermentation or in the gastrointestinal tract of rats. Using an animal model consisting of gnotobiotic rats monoassociated with an H2-producing C. butyricum strain, we first showed that depletion of α-GOS from soy milk using L. fermentum CRL722 as a starter greatly decreased sugar fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract of rats as shown by an important reduction in H2 excretion. We further showed that L. fermentum CRL722, when coadministered with soy milk rich in α-GOS, greatly reduced H2 excretion derived from α-GOS fermentation. This suggests that L. fermentum CRL722 α-Gal is active and available in the intestine to degrade α-GOS. In our animal model consisting of gnotobiotic rats monoassociated with an H2-producing C. butyricum strain, we observed that L. fermentum CRL722 was able to colonize the gastrointestinal tract. This means that at least a fraction of the L. fermentum CRL722 inoculum survived the conditions encountered in the upper part of the gastro-intestinal tract and found an appropriate environment to multiply in the large intestine, despite the presence of a resident species. As a consequence, the observed reduction in gas production may have been caused either by the metabolic activity of L. fermentum CRL722 in the small intestine or as a result of the strain colonizing the large intestine and competing there with C. butyricum for α-GOS utilization. To assess which of these mechanisms applied, we went on to use another animal model consisting of rats harbouring a human faecal microbiota. This latter was expected to form a natural defence barrier , preventing L. fermentum CRL722 to settle in the large intestine. Using this system, the α-GOS amount previously administered to Cb rats did induce a lower H2 emission than that monitored in Cb rats. This may result either from a poor level of gas producing bacteria in the used human microbiota, or, most likely, from the activity of H2-consuming microorganisms such as methanogenic archeae, sulfatoreducing or reductive acetogenic bacteria. Therefore, the α-GOS amount administered to HMA rats was increased 3 fold. This corresponds to an average intake of 4.5 g of legumes which is a physiologically acceptable dose for rats. Under these conditions, L. fermentum CRL722 still improved α-GOS digestibility although, as expected, it was unable to colonize the large intestine. This strongly suggests that the enzyme activity occurs in the small intestinal compartment. In further preliminary experiments to distinguish between L. fermentum CRL722 α-GOS utilization and delivery of α-Gal activity by L. fermentum CRL722, we used another α-Gal+ L. fermentum strain that is deficient in α-GOS transport. Interestingly, this L. fermentum strain exhibited an in vivo effect similar to that of L. fermentum CRL722, suggesting that the latter strain acts through delivery of α-Gal to the small intestine rather than via α-GOS utilization (data not shown). This observation is consistent with a previous study in which we found that the majority of L. fermentum CRL722 cells did not survive the duodenal portion of the small intestine, as has been found for another LAB, Lactococcus lactis [15, 19]. In this latter work, a significant, although short-lived, α-Gal activity was found in the duodenum of rats fed L. fermentum CRL722. It appears that this short life of α-Gal is sufficient to allow digestion of the α-GOS present in the diet, as shown by the present work.
The model presented here should allow further elucidation of both the mechanisms and the parameters that govern the expression of LAB enzymatic activities in vivo. Few other studies have been performed in this area. Lactococcus lactis strains genetically engineered to produce lipase have been shown to be capable of alleviating a lipase pancreatic insufficiency caused by ligation of the pancreatic duct in pigs . Other studies have suggested that LAB improve lactose digestion of dairy products in lactase-deficient individuals by delivery of β-galactosidase to the gastrointestinal tract . However, a recent systematic review stressed the variability found in these studies and the difficulty in drawing definitive conclusions on the positive effect of LAB in lactase supplementation . The α-Gal host deficiency retained in the present model system is, in contrast to lipase and lactase deficiencies, constitutive in mammals; this model should therefore reduce inter-individual variation. Furthermore, the animal model described here makes it possible to perform quick analyses. This will allow the effect of different parameters such as the influence of the LAB vehicle (susceptibility to lysis, colonizing ability, etc.) and of the mode of administration of LAB to be studied.
This study showed that a given host enzyme deficiency can be supplemented by orally administered LAB that produce this enzyme at high level. This type of work opens up the possibility of using LAB vehicles for delivery of other digestive enzymes to the digestive tract. LABs have great potential in this field. First, since these bacteria have long been ingested by man in fermented products, the mucosal digestive immune system has developed a tolerance to these bacteria, some of which are commensal . Furthermore, LABs form a heterogeneous family of bacteria originating from various ecological niches. These bacteria therefore have a diverse range of enzymatic activities required for their adaptation to those niches . Finally, their designation as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by the US Food and Drug Administration, positions them as particularly well-suited organisms for this type of application.
Soy milk was kindly provided by Lallemand Inc. (Montreal, Canada). Raffinose, stachyose, p-nitrophenyl-α-D-galactopyranoside (pNPG) and α-Gal from green coffee beans were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France). 5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl α-D-galactopyranoside (X-α-Gal) was from Research Organics (Cleveland, OH). Man Rogosa Sharp (MRS) medium was prepared as described elsewhere , Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) medium was purchased from Difco (Detroit, MI) and peptone water contained 1 g/l peptone (Difco).
Lactobacillus fermentum CRL722 was obtained from the Culture Collection of the Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (CERELA, Tucuman, Argentina) and has been characterized elsewhere [10, 11, 14]. A spontaneous rifampicin-resistant (RifR) derivative was checked for the α-Gal+ phenotype, using the chromogenic substrate X-α-Gal. Briefly, bacteria were grown on MRS agar plates containing 0.5 % (w/v) glucose and spread with 50 μl of a 20 g/l X-α-Gal solution using glass beads. Quantification of α-Gal activity was performed according to a previously described method , using pNPG as a substrate. No significant differences in α-Gal activity could be found between the RifR derivative and the parental strain. L. fermentum CRL722 and its RifR derivative were routinely grown at 37°C under anaerobiosis in MRS medium, supplemented with 100 μg/ml rifampicin when required. Clostridium butyricum DSM10702 was obtained from the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany); it originates from the intestine of swine and is the type strain of the species. It was chosen because of its ability to produce large amounts of gas, namely hydrogen and carbon dioxide, from raffinose and stachyose fermentation . C. butyricum DSM10702 was routinely grown in BHI medium at 37°C under anaerobiosis. All strains were stored at -80°C in 20 % glycerol/80 % culture medium (v/v). The human faecal microbiota originated from stools provided by a 37-year-old Caucasian woman with Western dietary habits who had not taken any laxative or antibiotic during the preceeding three months.
Germ-free 10–12 week old male F344 rats (mean weight 266 g (SD 19 g)) were obtained from the Germ-Free Rodent Breeding Facilities of UR910 – Unit of Ecology and Physiology of the Digestive Tract (INRA, Jouy-en-Josas, France). They were randomly separated into two groups and housed in a series of Plexiglas® isolators fitted with a double-door sealed transfer system (Ingénia, Vitry-sur-Seine, France). Throughout the study, rats were kept in pairs in standard macrolon cages with sterile wood shavings as bedding. They were given free access to autoclaved tap water and to a pelleted semi-synthetic diet (Scientific Animal Food and Engineering, Augy, France) sterilized by γ-irradiation at 45 kGy (IBA Mediris, Fleurus, Belgium) . Isolators were maintained under controlled conditions of light (07.00–19.00 h), temperature (20–22°C) and humidity (45–55 %).
Respiratory chambers used in the present study have been previously described in detail, and have been routinely used for measuring H2 and CH4 excretion in gnotobiotic animals exposed to various dietary regimens [29–32]. They are shown in Fig. 4. Briefly, they consisted of sterile 32-litre cubic boxes made of thick polyvinyl chloride and equipped with a polyethylene lid fitting the double-door sealed transfer system of the isolators, to allow rapid transfer of animals without breaking containment. Within the chamber, the rat was placed in a macrolon cage with a wire mesh in the bottom and a water-containing plastic bottle on the wire lid. Both chamber and cage were transparent so that the animal could be observed. During the test period, chambers were operated in closed-circuit mode. Air circulation was maintained by a gas-tight and adjustable peristaltic pump (Masterflex, Cole-Parmer Instrument Co., Vernon Hills, IL) at a flow rate of 120 litre/h. Thus, air circulated continuously through Tygon tubing (inner diameter 9.0 mm), passing through sterile paper filters (Camfil SAS, La Garenne Colombes, France) on entering and leaving the chamber. Moisture and CO2 were removed by including 1-litre cylinders filled with silica gel and 7 M-potassium hydroxide, respectively, in the circuit. An O2-sensor (Mettler Toledo Analyse Industrielle, Paris, France) was connected to the air circuit. As O2 concentrations decreased due to rat respiration, the sensor triggered an electromagnetic valve that allowed gas entry from a cylinder of compressed O2 (Air Liquide, Paris, France). In this system, H2 and CH4 produced by gastrointestinal fermentation and excreted via breath and flatulence accumulated. Air samples were taken at intervals through a sampling-port, using a gas tight 50-ml syringe (Terumo Europe, Leuven, Belgium). H2 and CH4 concentrations were immediately determined by GC using a QuinTron Model DP MicroLyzer (QuinTron Instrument Company, Milwaukee, WI) with a solid-state sensor detector (sensitivity 1 ppm, accuracy 2 ppm, linear range 2–150 ppm). The QuinTron MicroLyzer was operated according to the manufacturer's instructions: the injection port was fitted with a tube containing a Drierite desiccant to allow for drying of the air samples; injection volume was 20 ml and medical-grade air was used as the carrier gas (23 ml/min); external calibration was carried out twice daily with a QuinGas™ reference standard (QT07021-G, QuinTron Instrument Company).
Typical respiratory chamber used to monitor H 2 excretion in rats. a, respiratory chamber fitted with a rapid transfer system allowing connection to isolators housing gnotobiotic rats; b, oxygen probe; c, oxygen inlet controlled with a magnetic valve; d, silica gel-containing cylinder to trap moisture; e, KOH-containing cylinder to trap CO2; f, peristaltic pump; g, sampling port with syringe. Arrows indicate the direction of air flow through the system.
In order to selectively quantify L. fermentum CRL722 in the rat faeces, the spontaneous RifR derivative was used in the animal trials. The RifR strain was grown overnight in MRS broth. The following morning, bacterial cells were pelleted and suspended in peptone water at a concentration of 4 × 109 CFU/ml for immediate use. Soy milk was sterilized by autoclaving (10 min, 110°C) and enriched with aqueous sterile stock solutions of raffinose and stachyose. Final concentrations of raffinose and stachyose in soy milk were 48 and 76 mM, respectively, for rats monoassociated with C. butyricum DSM10702 and 144 and 228 mM, respectively, for human microbiota-associated rats. The α-GOS-free soy milk was prepared by incubating the α-GOS-enriched soy milk with coffee bean α-Gal (5 % of a 1 IU/ml stock solution, v/v) at 37°C for 12 h. The enzyme was then inactivated by heat treatment (10 min, 100°C) and total degradation of raffinose and stachyose was confirmed by HPLC (Waters 625LC system, Mildford, MA) using a Bio-Rad Aminex HPX-87H column (Bio-Rad Labs, Hercules, CA). Elution was performed at 25°C with an isocratic flow of 0.4 ml/min 0.005 N-phosphoric acid. Eluted sugars were detected by differential refractometry (Waters 410). Sugar quantification was performed using the external standard method . Both soy milk preparations were stored at -20°C until use.
All procedures were carried out in accordance with the European guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals. Animals of one group (n = 12) were inoculated intragastrically with 1 ml of an overnight culture of C. butyricum DSM10702 (1010 CFU/ml) using a stainless-steel stomach tube; they were subsequently designated as Cb (C. butyricum) rats. Animals belonging to the other group (n = 4) were colonized with a faecal suspension made from the stools of the human donor, as described previously . Briefly, fresh stools were introduced into an anaerobic glove box and dispersed in BHI broth (1 %, w/v); aliquots of the suspension were subsequently transferred to the isolators and given to the rats with a stomach tube (1 ml/rat); these rats were designated as HMA (human microbiota-associated) rats. The experiment began after a 3-wk acclimatization period to the new bacterial status. First, fresh faecal pellets were collected from each rat to confirm the microbial colonization of the gastrointestinal tract. Serial 10-fold suspensions, prepared from faecal samples of Cb rats, were spread onto BHI agar plates which were then incubated under anoxic conditions at 37°C for 48 h prior to colony counting. In HMA rats, the microbiological abundance and diversity of the faeces was assessed by light microscopic examination. The Cb rats were then randomly allocated to three groups (n = 4), namely Cb-A, Cb-B and Cb-C (Fig. 5). In all groups, each rat was successively fed orally with (i) peptone water to determine the basal level of H2 excretion, (ii) the α-GOS-free soy milk as a negative control, and (iii) the α-GOS-rich soy milk as a positive control. The fourth treatment differed according to the group: the Cb-A rats were fed with L. fermentum CRL722 alone to assess whether the bacterium per se, affected H2 excretion (strain control); the Cb-B rats received the α-GOS-rich soy milk previously incubated with the L. fermentum inoculum (2 %, v/v) for 16 h at 37°C under anaerobiosis; finally, the Cb-C rats received the α-GOS-rich soy milk along with the L. fermentum inoculum. In the case of the HMA rats, they received successively (i) the α-GOS-free soy milk (negative control), (ii) the α-GOS-rich soy milk (positive control), and (iii) the combination of the α-GOS-rich soy milk and the L. fermentum inoculum. In both Cb- and HMA groups, a one-week wash out period was allowed between each treatment. The trials were performed as follows. After overnight deprivation of food, the rats were fed with a 2 ml-mixture, the composition of which is detailed in Fig. 5, using a stainless-steel stomach tube. Immediately after feeding, each rat was transferred to a respiratory chamber where it remained for up to 9 h, and air samples were taken in duplicate every 90 min for H2 analysis. Rats were thereafter returned to their original isolators and fresh faecal pellets were collected at intervals for 72 h to enumerate the L. fermentum population.
Freshly-collected faecal pellets were thoroughly homogenized in peptone water and serial 10-fold dilutions were prepared. These were spread onto MRS agar plates that contained rifampicin at 100 μg/ml, and plates were incubated under anoxia at 37°C for 48 h prior to colony counting. Under these conditions, only the RifR L. fermentum derivative could grow while both C. butyricum and the microbiota of human origin were inhibited. Bacterial counts were expressed as CFU/g of faeces.
All data are expressed as mean values of H2 excretion per 100 g of rat metabolic weight (MW; live weight to the 0.75 power) and standard errors of the mean. In each group of rats, the effect of the treatments on H2 excretion was assessed using ANOVA for repeated measurements. When ANOVA indicated significant differences, treatments were compared using the Student-Newman-Keuls multiple comparison test. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Calculations were performed using the SigmaStat software package (Systat Software Inc., Richmond, CA).
Jean Guy LeBlanc, Florence Ledue-Clier contributed equally to this work.
This work was supported by the European Community under the Research and Technological Development program Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources 'Nutra Cells' (QLK1-CT-2000-01376), by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET, Argentina), by Agencia de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, CIUNT (Argentina) and by ECOS-Sud (France). We are grateful to Marc Weber for preparing Fig. 4 and to Alan Duncan and Maarten van de Guchte for revising the English style of the manuscript. We thank Anthony Bouclet for technical assistance with the gnotobiotic rats. We appreciate helpful discussion with Elise Durant and Aurelia Hiron as well as critical reading of the manuscript by Lionel Rigottier-Gois.
JGL, FLC, MB, and TG carried out the microbiological work and the animal studies. GSG, FS, and JCP conceived the study. JGL, SR, and JCP designed the experiments. FLC, VJ, and SR performed the statistical analyses and prepared the figures. JGL and JCP wrote the draft of the manuscript. GSG, FS, SR, and VJ revised it for significant intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.


text:
Charles Brownlow
Mounted emu egg 1890s
Mounted emu egg
silver, emu egg and ebonised wood
AusVELS Level 2 to 6 (PDF, 433.15 KB)
AusVELS Level 7 to VCE (PDF, 253.73 KB)
Charles Brownlow, Mounted emu egg (PDF, 185.17 KB)
Charles Brownlow was born on 25 July 1861 at Cullin Lane, Geelong, just three years after the first ever recorded game of what we know today as Australian Rules Football. His father, also named Charles, was a book binder in Oxford in the United Kingdom. In 1858, Charles Snr. married Eliza Whitaker from Releigh, Essex, and shortly after they voyaged to Australia. In 1880, the teenage Charles played his first match in the blue and white hoops of the Geelong Football Club.
Most sports fans know of Charles Brownlow's football achievements. They might know that in 1883–84 Brownlow captained the Geelong Football Club. They might know he retired eight years later, in 1891, and that he was club secretary from 1885– 1923 and president of the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1918–19. They almost certainly know that his name lives on in football in the Brownlow Medal—officially the Charles Brownlow Trophy.
What people might not know is that even before Charles first played for Geelong, he was acquiring skills in a completely different field. In 1880, the same year Brownlow began his football career, he completed a silversmith apprenticeship. His teacher was an outstanding Geelong silversmith of the time, Edward Fischer (1828–1911).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning
On a crisp autumn morning, the rising sun casts a cool light on the manor house. Shadows are long and there's a suggestion of dew on the grass of the meadows. The windows of the manor house and the stream meandering past it twinkle, and the few feathery clouds are tinged with gold. We are high up, so the view is spread before us, allowing us to pick out each incident within the whole: the man shooting partridges, the couple on their way to market and the lord and lady of the manor, the nearby nursemaid cradling their baby.
Peter Paul Rubens worked as a diplomat as well as an artist, and had been ennobled both in Spain by Philip IV and in England by Charles I. His status and wealth enabled him to purchase the manor of Het Steen, near Malines (now known as Mechelen), in 1635. In this landscape painting he celebrates what he treasured most: his own success, perhaps, but also the prosperity and peace of Flanders, his native land.
Peter Paul Rubens was the greatest public artist of the seventeenth century. He was invited to palaces and great churches throughout Europe to paint grand state portraits, rituals of the Catholic faith and opulent allegories. But in this landscape he celebrates what he treasured most: the prosperity and peace of Flanders, his native land.
In 1630 Rubens returned to Antwerp exhausted and in poor health. His beloved first wife, Isabella Brant, had died four years before, but he was now able to find domestic happiness again with his second wife, Hélène Fourment. There were to be no more diplomatic missions. He took on a few portraits and other commissions, but concentrated on the kind of paintings he wanted to do for himself: landscapes. Rubens had been ennobled both in Spain by Philip IV and in England by Charles I; in 1635, this status and wealth enabled him to purchase the manor of Het Steen, near Malines (now known as Mechelen), with the approval of the Council of Brabant (such a purchase was not open to people of lower rank or prosperity).
The sixteenth-century manorial castle with park, pastureland and meadows was a place of retreat in the summer months. There, Rubens could recover his health and paint the landscapes he loved rather than the subjects he was obliged to do for his patrons. At the time, landscapes were considered inferior in status to large images of historical events or biblical stories and to portraits of people of high standing. Only genre paintings were seen as of a lower order. Rubens was one of the first to recognise and grasp the significance of landscape as a means of expressing mood, atmosphere and, not least, delight in the natural world. His nephew wrote that the estate of Het Steen gave the artist the opportunity 'to paint vividly and from nature the surrounding mountains, plains, valleys and meadows, at sunrise and sunset with their horizons' – as he did when painting An Autumn Landscape with a View of Het Steen in the Early Morning.
On a crisp autumn morning, the rising sun casts a cool light on the manor of Het Steen. The low rays of the sun flicker across the vast surrounding landscape, bringing it and the inhabitants to life. Shadows are long and there's a suggestion of dew on the grass of the meadows. The windows of the manor house and the stream meandering past it twinkle, and the few feathery clouds are tinged with gold. We are high up so the view is spread before us, allowing us to pick out each incident within the whole, from the tiny, almost invisible, towers of the city way off in the distance to the turrets of the manor house close by. A man with a gun and a lurcher dog crouches, ready to shoot the partridge feeding nearby. Milkmaids are already at work among the cows in the field beyond. On the left, colours are mellowed in the shadow of the tall, spindly birch trees. A couple set off to market on their sturdy farm cart, the rosy-cheeked wife enthroned on a heap of their goods, a giant brass milk-pitcher on her arm. Behind them, the lord and lady of the manor take a stroll as a nursemaid cradles their baby and a man fishes for breakfast in the moat.
The high view also allows us to see how the wide panorama is achieved through bands of colour that extend across the picture – browns enlivened with deep red for the foreground, greens and golds for the middle ground and blue for the misty distance. This was the 'bird's-eye view' of traditional Flemish landscapes and one of the last in this style that Rubens painted. Many of his other landscapes still have a high viewpoint, but in them we look down on the scene rather than out at it, focusing on one incident. The far distance is often blocked with rocks and trees, as it is in The Watering Place, another of his most famous landscapes.
Rubens painted this picture for his own delight – perhaps as a mark of a life well lived and a reward well earned. We can be reasonably sure that it was never a commission because of the oak panel, or panels, on which it is painted. The supports of other great pictures intended for wealthy patrons, like Samson and Delilah, are always in no more than two or perhaps three large sections. The support for this work, however, appears to have been cobbled together from several small and unevenly shaped panels in an almost higgledy-piggledy fashion, with bits added and pinned together with short planks as Rubens went along – a method unacceptable to a collector.
The picture was in Rubens's possession when he died, together with its companion, The Rainbow Landscape (now in the Wallace Collection, London). That work, which is also painted on patched-together panels, gives a different view of his estate in the evening. It is thought that the paintings once hung in Rubens's house, on opposite walls of the same room. The wall in between had a window, and the paintings were probably positioned so that the sunlight pouring into the room matched that depicted in each work. The sun shines from the left in The Rainbow Landscape, so that work probably hung on the right-hand wall; in An Autumn Landscape with a View of Het Steen in the Early Morning, the sun appears on the right, so it must have hung on the left-hand wall.
An Autumn Landscape with a View of Het Steen in the Early Morning
Oil on oak
131.2 × 229.2 cm
Sir George Beaumont Gift, 1823/8
More paintings by Peter Paul Rubens
A Landscape with a Shepherd and his Flock
A Lion Hunt
A Roman Triumph
A Shepherd with his Flock in a Woody Landscape
A Wagon fording a Stream
Aurora abducting Cephalus
Descent from the Cross
Family of Jan Brueghel the Elder
Kings Clothar and Dagobert dispute with a Herald
Landscape by Moonlight
Minerva protects Pax from Mars ('Peace and War')
Oil Sketch for High Altarpiece, St Bavo, Ghent
Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione, after Raphael
Portrait of Ludovicus Nonnius
Portrait of Susanna Lunden(?) ('Le Chapeau de Paille')
Portrait of Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel
Saint Bavo is received by Saints Amand and Floribert
Samson and Delilah
The Apotheosis of the Duke of Buckingham
The Brazen Serpent
The Coup de Lance
The Judgement of Paris
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes
The Rape of the Sabine Women
Three Female Witnesses
Portrait of the Archduke Albert
Studio of Peter Paul Rubens
Portrait of the Infanta Isabella
The Holy Family with Saints in a Landscape
The Horrors of War
After Peter Paul Rubens


text:
Please Address The Astronomical Distance Question
Posted by Richard Ruquist on September 26, 2002 16:59:23 UTC
Since this is an astronomical forum, first and foremost the creationists should address the problem of the size of our Milky Way, 100,000 light years, and the conclusion from the finite speed of light that the light we see from stars in this galaxy is up to 70,000 years old.
No creationist has ever satisfactorily solved this problem. It is the most direct proof that the creation of the world could not have happened in six days some 6,000 years ago.
This is the most dramatic disagreement between thw facts of science and the bible.
It is proof that the bible is not correct in a literal sense. If you cannot refute these facts of science, then you should give up the literal interpetation of your translation of the bible.
Ok. - kc2gwx - September 26, 2002 - 19:24 UTC
Actually, the article that I had to post... - richard - September 26, 2002 - 20:48 UTC
It's the speed of light in vacuum that counts - yanniru - September 26, 2002 - 23:27 UTC
Is there "Dark Matter" in a Vacuum, by the way? - carefuluniverse - September 27, 2002 - 01:16 UTC
Yes, within the galactic limits - yanniru - September 27, 2002 - 15:57 UTC
You cannot do all three - carefuluniverse - September 27, 2002 - 01:21 UTC
All religions are compatible with science - yanniru - September 27, 2002 - 16:01 UTC
All science fiction is compatible with science too, so... - occupant - September 27, 2002 - 20:50 UTC
All religions seem alike when you are in the dark - carefuluniverse - October 7, 2002 - 05:41 UTC
All created by God - yanniru - October 7, 2002 - 13:16 UTC
as were all viruses - carefuluniverse - October 8, 2002 - 01:52 UTC
Sorry but that is your logic - yanniru - October 8, 2002 - 12:58 UTC
It is universal logic, which you seem to evade - carefuluniverse - October 8, 2002 - 16:33 UTC
God, science and truth should agree. - bobsr - January 26, 2003 - 17:33 UTC
Have you ever heard.. - fasteddy - September 27, 2002 - 05:36 UTC
Yes- God gave us free will - yanniru - September 27, 2002 - 16:03 UTC
And Can take it away again after we screw up? - occupant - September 27, 2002 - 20:57 UTC
Please Address The Astronomical Distance Question - yanniru - September 27, 2002 - 16:05 UTC
well hmm... - emperor__alikar - September 28, 2002 - 03:00 UTC
Get an education, will ya? - richard - September 28, 2002 - 04:23 UTC
Define effected - kc2gwx - September 28, 2002 - 15:14 UTC
Effected? - richard - September 28, 2002 - 16:33 UTC
Then why is a black hole black? - emperor__alikar - September 29, 2002 - 19:10 UTC
Photons have no mass - yanniru - September 30, 2002 - 12:26 UTC
Fossils aren't a problem. Light slowing down. - emperor__alikar - September 30, 2002 - 21:14 UTC
creationists to prove the light is 6,000 years old ???? - yanniru - October 1, 2002 - 13:30 UTC
Aaron, my friend - harvey1 - October 1, 2002 - 19:01 UTC
Correction - harvey1 - October 1, 2002 - 19:03 UTC
Actually, no. - kc2gwx - October 2, 2002 - 11:59 UTC
You'll have to give examples - harvey1 - October 2, 2002 - 16:24 UTC
Oops, I mean beyond the Cretaceous! - harvey1 - October 2, 2002 - 16:27 UTC
You might be correct - harvey1 - October 2, 2002 - 17:05 UTC
If Aaron & Sam don't heed, we may guess at their true purpose - something - October 1, 2002 - 23:58 UTC
Please tell me. - emperor__alikar - October 2, 2002 - 01:07 UTC
Listen to other Christians - harvey1 - October 2, 2002 - 02:51 UTC
Darwin was a Christian. Do you think THAT has swayed him? - something - October 2, 2002 - 03:19 UTC
hmm be careful who you refer to... - emperor__alikar - October 4, 2002 - 17:48 UTC
Huh? - harvey1 - October 4, 2002 - 18:10 UTC
I believe this is what he meant... - kc2gwx - October 5, 2002 - 04:24 UTC
I need the source - harvey1 - October 5, 2002 - 13:20 UTC
The eye is one of the easier things to evolve - carefuluniverse - October 4, 2002 - 18:10 UTC
Hmm.... - kc2gwx - October 5, 2002 - 04:37 UTC
I recall - fasteddy - October 4, 2002 - 18:51 UTC
It is proven better than that the Bible is correct - something - October 2, 2002 - 03:27 UTC


They speak on the issues that matter to them, from gender equality to LGBTQ rights.
We launched our web series, Dear Future President, one week before the election. I sat on set and greeted youth activists from all over the country, of all different backgrounds, and watched, transfixed, as they eloquently listed their demands and desires for our nation. What struck me the most was asking a question to our interviewees that I considered to be innocuous: Why do you love America? Almost all of our respondents balked at the prompt, and turned their eyes towards me.
They thought I was joking.
In this job, I've had the opportunity to meet so many incredible young people, all of whom are positive agents for change. Ours is a brand that has the honor of representing the youth of today — and we consider values like acceptance, diversity, and equality to be key among our audience. I've met 14-year-olds who have schooled me on the tenets of intersectional feminism, 16-year-olds who have launched businesses, and college students who have pioneered scientific innovations. I've read e-mails from girls marching for #BlackLivesMatter in our cities, and been tagged in photos by aspiring photographers and artists. There are so many reasons I love the work that we do at Teen Vogue, but I have to say — it'd mean nothing without you, our readers.
In the aftermath of this election, I can't help but feel that our country let young people down — that we gave this generation a reason to flinch when they're asked if they love this country. The data show that, if young people had their way, we'd have a different outcome of this election today. But there is — despite what Change.org tells you — no real promise of changing the results, and thus, dreaming of an alternate universe seems futile. When each of you are ready, have mourned and processed your emotions, join hands with your neighbor and find your own way to rise up.
The next four years will not bring Doomsday, but they're not shaping up to be easy, either. We will have to continue to fight — and, perhaps fight even harder — for reproductive and LGBTQ rights, gender equality, religious freedom, police reform, and our environment. The President-elect Donald Trump has outlined policies that jeopardize these things, and in some cases, threaten to turn back the clock on progress. We can't let that happen.
Today, we dedicate these videos to the formally-announced "Future President," Mr. Donald Trump. We address you, the next leader of our nation, as youth concerned about the future. We address you as agents of change, activists, advocates, and the fearless, tireless leaders of tomorrow. Dear Future President: We won't be quiet, and we won't back down. We'll be watching.
Dear Future President, We're Not Sure If We Love America Right Now.
One of the most difficult parts of filming this series was a loaded question we asked right at the beginning: Why do you love America? At this, most of our respondents took a big pause, or even grimaced. It can be hard to really truly love America when you feel it doesn't love you back — as is the case for many of the people in this video. Hunter Schafer, for example, is currently battling legislation that prevents her from using the restroom that corresponds with her gender identity. Johnetta Elzie has been protesting against police brutality for a long time, yet we still see statistics of cops killing Black people at alarmingly high rates. The people here, overall, felt they could love America, or what America could stand for. But we may not be at that point just yet.
Dear Future President, Don't Underestimate Young People.
Dear Future President: #BlackLivesMatter. Period. End of sentence. We hate that this is still considered a radical statement — that people manipulate and warp this hashtag to mean erase the plight of Black people in this country — so this bears repeating until it is acknowledged and heard, and echoed throughout our legal system. Listen here to young activists like the fearless Johnetta Elzie, a cofounder of Campaign Zero, as they explain what race really feels like in America...and how we can start to solve the systemic problems at play.
Dear Future President, Women Are Watching.
Today, for the first time in history, a woman is on the ballot as a nominee for the president of the United States. While Hillary Clinton's clinching of the Democratic presidential nomination is certainly a show of how far we've come — consider that just 97 years ago, women weren't even allowed to vote — we've still got a long way to go as a society to ensuring equal rights for all women, in all aspects of life. As activist and Harvard undergrad Amanda Gorman puts simply, "when we're looking at holistic and comprehensive policies to ensure the social, political, and economic equality of women, we need to make sure we are not perpetuating other systems of oppression such as heteronormativity or racism." This means being inclusive, and not just targeting the rights and needs of one type of woman. In the video above, listen as our incredible youth activists break down what women need from our next president, and how they can start taking action now.
On Hunter: Hilfiger Collection dress, $490. Tommy Hilfiger NY. On Xiuhtezcatl: Hilfiger Edition blazer, $229. Tommy Hilfiger NY. Only NY fleece, $88. onlyny.com. On Amani: Eloquii cardigan, $100, and dress, $90. eloquii.com. On Avery: Hilfiger Collection sweater, $390. Tommy Hilfiger NY. On Aiden: Tim Coppens t-shirt, $295. barneys.com. Tim Coppens jacket, $695. shopbop.com. On Sadie: Eloquii dress, $120. eloquii.com. On Johnetta: Eloquii jacket, $120, and dress, $90. eloquii.com. On Amanda: Hilfiger Collection dress, $630. Tommy Hilfiger NY. On Sage: Maison Kitsuné pullover, $450. kitsune.fr.


I love to craft and so I have been trying to come up some type of new towel or jewelry holder, or in my case both, to go in my bathroom. So like anyone who loves to craft, I immediately went to Pinterest (Pinterest is like the go- to manual for crafters). After searching around, I found the BEST IDEA. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I decided to get some faucet handles that matched my bathroom and added them to wood and "BAM! I have a towel/jewelry holder." Okay I know what you are thinking… that sounds really sketchy, but no, it turned out amazing. I simply drove to my local hardware store and looked around at some faucet handles I might like. The ones I saw online were antique, but I'm too impatient to wait for spring to come around to go garage sale hopping. Instead, I went into the Plumbing section and right away I found the perfect handles. The Danco Universal Replacement Cross Handle in White (model # 46004) was just what I needed, so I bought 3. Next, it was time to buy some wood and trust me, I don't know anything about wood except that it grows on trees (get it – wood joke). The wood guy helped me pick out some pine wood that was a 1x4 and he cut it down to 20 inches long for me. He didn't trust me with a saw either. Weird. I stained the wood and once it was dry I simply screwed in holes evenly apart at the 3.5, 10, and 16.5 inch mark on the board. I put the whole faucet handle on the top and then stuck a 2.5 inch deck screw through each handle. Then I put the index button on top to hide the screws. And woooohoooo! I was done. Time to hang up all of my stuff, which come to find out, I have a lot of. Maybe it is time for some early spring cleaning or maybe I'll wait till later. Yes, I'll wait till later. I'm sure my mom is very happy to hear that! Anyway, I hope this helps you make something great!


text:
Secretlab Titan Evo: A Review of the Ergonomic Gaming Chair
Gaming Tech Reviews TECH REVIEWS
Written by: Abigail | Published: 26 March 2022
Gaming Tech Reviews
Secretlab is the leading provider of gaming chairs in the industry, and the Secretlab Titan Evo is their latest edition gaming chair. The chair combines the best features of its award-winning predecessors, the Omega and Titan gaming chair lines. It also improves upon a few design aspects, making it a compelling option for gamers and casual users alike. Buckle up as we explore the materials, mechanics, and design options offered by this ergonomic and innovative gaming chair.
What Is Secretlab Titan Evo?
Photo by Secretlab via Secretlab Official Website
Secretlab is a company that specializes in creating gaming chairs for gamers around the world. The company was founded by competitive gamers Ian Alexander Ang and Alaric Choo in the year 2014.
The pair came up with the idea for a gaming chair company after failing to find reliable gaming chairs for themselves. The company initially launched in Singapore before expanding to Malaysia, Australia, the United States, and Canada.
Since then, the company has released two major gaming chair editions. This includes Omega and Titan editions. Both would acquire a highly favorable reputation for their quality builds and excellent design, and both editions would become bestsellers and garner a selection of awards from the gaming industry.
In 2022, the company would release a new gaming chair edition called the Secretlab Titan Evo gaming chair. The Titan Evo builds upon the best features of the original Omega and Titan product lines, which makes it the best gaming chair the company has produced yet.
Check it out on their official website
Photo by Yan Krukov via Pexels
Gaming chairs may not help you win games, but they can make a difference by supporting healthy posture during long-term sitting sessions. These chairs use ergonomic science and cutting-edge design to ensure a perfect balance of comfort, durability, and innovation. Let's take a look at all the things that make the Secretlab Titan Evo special to help you decide whether it's worth your while:
Secretlab Titan Evo: Assembly
Assembling gaming chairs always comes with some inconvenience. This is because nearly all of these chairs arrive Ikea-style, with parts in separate components that you need to put together. Secretlab tries to make things a bit easier than usual. Thanks to a few pre-assembled parts and a few design tweaks intended to make it easier to put the remaining pieces together.
The pre-assembled portion includes the seat base and the armrest already screwed in. The backrest comes in a single chunk of stitched, faux leather material. Essentially, the assembly process has been shortened by a few steps. Having said this, Secretlab leaves you with minor assembly tasks, which involve snapping in peripheral components like the wheelbase, backrest, arm pads, and headrest.
Secretlab also makes an effort to ensure that its chairs are as DIY-friendly as possible. For example, the back of the chair contains metal holes that easily snap onto the hinges near the back end of the chair. This is a refreshing departure from having holes buried underneath the chair, and it eliminates the need to push in the bolts for them to attach securely to the base.
Meanwhile, the sides of the chair contain metal hinge brackets that make it easier to align holes and screw in the bolts. These brackets come with plastic covers that magnetically attach to the chair. These covers not only keep your assembly points looking clean and tidy and they also protect the bolts and screws from the elements.
The use of premium materials and solid build of the chair comes at a cost, though, as it weighs 76 pounds. Nonetheless, the individual components are light enough to put together without much trouble.
Secretlab Titan Evo: Design
Photo from Secretlab
Traditional gaming chairs are known to focus on aesthetics over things like durability and comfort. But what makes the Titan Evo unique is that it performs well on all metrics that matter. And, of course, that includes everything from build quality to durability and design. They offer many different ways you can customize your chair, from the size to upholstery type and aesthetics.
Secretlab offers the gaming chair in three sizes following the industry-standard (small, medium, and large). Each chair size comes with a specific weight and height limit, so you don't have to guess which one you will fit in.
The Small (S) chair measures 17.7 inches across. This size comes highly recommended for people with a height of less than 5'6" and weight of less than 200 pounds. Meanwhile, the Medium (R) chair has a more prominent seat measuring 18.5 inches across. This is ideal for people who are anywhere between 5'6 and 6'2" in height with a weight of less than 220 pounds.
Meanwhile, people between 5'11" and 6'9" with a height of at least 395 pounds are most likely to fit into the XL-sized chair, which measures 19.3 inches in width.
Upholsteries
Adding to its premium-quality build are premium-grade upholsteries. The options include Napa leather, NEO Hybrid Leatherette, and SoftWeave Plus Fabric.
Secretlab's NEO Hybrid Leatherette is made of a faux-leather material with a light resin layer. The resin mimics the natural look and feels of Napa leather, except that it's not real leather. This material comes with PU reinforced by a 3D structure of ultra-fine fibers, making it 12 times more durable than your typical PU-styled chair.
A slightly more expensive option would be the SoftWeave Plus fabric. This fabric is reportedly an improvement over the original SoftWeave fabric. The fabric is made up of interlocking yarn fibers (usually of different colors) that are very soft to touch and allow for many different designs to be woven into the fabric.
Napa leather is the most expensive option, though it's only occasionally available on the Secretlab's website. Napa is a strong but soft and smooth type of natural leather commonly used in luxury car seats.
Color Signatures
Naturally, you also have options when it comes to the aesthetics of your gaming chair. There are over 20 basic color options available on the site. The list includes Stealth, Black, Royal (blue), Ash, Baby Pink, Lime Green, and so on.
If you prefer thematic designs, they also feature eSports-themed chairs. The list includes Cloud9, Team Secret, Team Liquid, TI10, Worlds 2021, Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, and so on.
Additionally, they have chairs designed after popular games like The Witcher, Pokemon, Yasuo, Dota 2. They also feature movie and TV-show-inspired gaming chairs. Examples include Batman, Harry Potter, Monster Hunter, and two Game of Thrones-themed chairs, to name a few.
It's great to see that the company isn't taking the one-size-fits-all approach. They took the time to get to know their audience to present a more personalized look and feel to their products.
Secretlab Titan Evo: Comfort
Nearly everyone who has ever tried to sit on the Secretlab Titan Evo chair has said the same thing, and that is along the lines of how comfortable it is to sit in. It can be akin to using an ergonomic bed for sleeping. It offers the perfect balance between soft and firm, with the right amount of support for your back, tuckus, and upper legs.
Dynamic Lumbar Support
The chair features a dynamic lumbar support system that automatically adapts to the curvature of your spine. It does this with the help of internal lattices on the backrest and headrest, which are adjustable via dials located at the sides of the chair.
Adjustable Components
The Secretlab Titan Evo was also designed to be highly adjustable, which only contributes to its comfort factor. For starters, the backrest can recline backward for up to 165 degrees, and it can also move up and down to accommodate a normal or reclining sitting position. If you get the right chair size, you should have extra room to sit on it cross-legged or sideways.
While the arms of the chair are bolted shut, it does have padded armrests that are magnetically attached to a metal base. The magnetic attachment allows you to adjust the armrests in any direction. And by any direction, we mean up, down, left, right, forward, backward, and even in a twisted position. You can also replace the padding anytime with something more comfortable.
You also have the headrest, which is padded with memory foam. Secretlab also infused their headrest with a cooling gel to prevent it from absorbing heat from your head. Like the armrests, the padded headrest magnetically attaches to the backrest, and this makes it possible to adjust the headrest without risking it falling off like other headrests.
Secretlab Titan Evo: Pricing
Photo by Rupixen via Unsplash
At a starting price of USD 548, the Secretlab Titan Evo certainly doesn't come cheap. The gaming chair originally debuted at more affordable prices.
Original prices started at $429 for the small, USD 449 for the regular, and USD 499 for the large-sized chairs.
However, due to supply chain issues over the past few years, the company was forced to increase the price to upwards of USD 500.
Now, pricing for the gaming chair starts at $549 for the small and regular-sized chairs with leatherette upholstery. The XL-sized chair is pricier, and it has a starting price of USD 599 for the leatherette version and USD 620 for the fabric version. While the price increase is not regrettable, the increase doesn't affect the overall quality of the product.
Secretlab offers a three-year default warranty for the Titan Evo. Three years is a lot longer compared to the warranties offered by other gaming chair brands. You can purchase a two-year extension on that warranty for an extra USD 50. Another way you can get the extension is if you post about the chair on social media and tag the company.
Once you have a reliable and comfortable gaming chair at your side, you may want to take care of the other essential components of your gaming rig. The chances are that you already have a gaming PC, so why not get specialized accessories to go along with it? We've got just the right recommendations for the best gaming keyboards, gaming mice, and gaming headsets.
Final Thoughts on the Secretlab Titan Evo And Is It Worth It?
This concludes our review of the Secretlab Titan Evo. As far as we can tell, Secretlabs made this chair with love and precision, with highly adjustable and durable components that are about as stylish as you can get. Granted, it doesn't come cheap, but the solid improvements over its predecessors and the health benefits that come with it certainly make it worth the cost. Then there's also the prospect of using the chair for at least five years. Unless the chair breaks sometime in between, you should be able to use it for that long, or even longer, which would spread the cost far along into the future. Despite the increasingly stiff competition in the industry, this chair still manages to stand out and hold its own.
Also read: Best Prebuilt Gaming PC Models For You to Buy
Pulse 3D Wireless Headset: Is It Worth It? (Review)
Razer Iskur Review: Is It A Great Gaming Chair
by Abigail | 19 December 2022
by Abigail | 9 December 2022


'AC 360 Later' to debut Sept. 16 along with revived 'Crossfire' at 6:30 p.m.
CNN formalized its early evening and prime-time lineups Tuesday, saying it would launch its revived version of "Crossfire" Monday, Sept. 16, along with a 10 p.m. hour led by Anderson Cooper and a panel of guests dubbed "AC 360 Later." The new programs will launch Monday, Sept. 16.
The new Cooper hour will compete directly in the time slot with "On The Record with Greta Van Susteren" on Fox News Channel and "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC.
The announcements codify much of what was already in place in prime time. For the past several months, CNN would air Cooper's program at 8 p.m., then repeat it at 10 p.m, though at times he has returned to the air at 10 after "Piers Morgan Live" to present new material. CNN experimented briefly in April with a panel talk show led by MSNBC and CNBC personality Donny Deutsch, but "(Get To) The Point" was yanked after just a week on the air.
After struggling for many years with its prime-time schedule, CNN has seen new momentum in the daypart and elsewhere on its schedule, lifted by breaking-news coverage of such events as the recent George Zimmerman trial. In July, the network finished second to 21st Century Fox's Fox News Channel total day, prime-time Monday through Friday and daytime in both total viewers as well as viewers between the ages of 25 and 54, the demographic most favored by sponsors of news programming.
"Crossfire" will launch at 6:30 p.m., CNN said. Wolf Blitzer, the anchor who typically holds forth in the 6 p.m. hour with "The Situation Room," will add the 1 p.m. hour of "CNN Newsroom" to his duties as of Sept.16, CNN said. Suzanne Malveaux currently anchors that hour, along with the previous 60-minute slot.


text:
Monstrum 2
Monstrum 2 is a survival horror game for 2-5 players, set inside the procedurally-generated sea labyrinth – Sparrowlock. Join a team of prisoners evading the terrors within whilst figuring out how to escape, or become one of the deadly monstrosities whose only goal is to hunt them down.
When was Monstrum 2 released?
Who was the developer that made Monstrum 2?
What are the names of the monsters in Monstrum?
Will Monstrum 2 be on Xbox?
Will there be a Monstrum 2?
What is the story behind Monstrum?
Is Monstrum coop?
Is Gow coop?
Can you play God of War with 2 players?
Will Monstrum 2 have single player?
What games has co-op campaign?
Does Endless Space 2 have single-player?
What is the hardest monster in Monstrum?
Monstrum 2 was released on 28 Jan, 2021
Team Junkfish were the developers that made Monstrum 2
– The Brute.
– The Hunter.
– The Fiend.
What Parents Need to Know. Parents need to know that Monstrum 2 is an upcoming survival horror game for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.4 Feb 2021
Monstrum 2 hits early access in Jan 2021.
Monstrum is a first person survival horror game created by Team Junkfish, which finds players stranded aboard a vast, derelict ship filled with traps, environmental hazards, and another passenger in the shape of a terrifying and deadly beast.
"Unlike Ys VIII, where co-op was mostly limited to combat, the second player is largely equivalent to the primary player in terms of capabilities in Ys IX, including movement and combat abilities, using Monstrum Gifts, discovering and triggering landmarks, enemies and events, opening chests, picking up collectibles, …18 Jan 2022
But if you're thinking of playing it, you might be wondering if it has any co-op or competitive multiplayer features. As Kratos journeys with his son, Atreus, for pretty much the entirety of God of War, you might be surprised to hear that there are no co-op features to be found in it whatsoever.14 Jan 2022
God of War is a strictly single-player game, focusing solely on offering a brilliant single-player campaign that takes tens of hours to complete. With a combat system so good, it is a shame that God of War doesn't feature any multiplayer modes though.God of War is a strictly single-playersingle-playerA single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usually a game mode designed to be played by a single player, though the game also contains multi-player modes.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Single-player_video_gameSingle-player video game – Wikipedia game, focusing solely on offering a brilliant single-player campaign that takes tens of hours to complete. With a combat system so good, it is a shame that God of War doesn't feature any multiplayer modes though.14 Jan 2022
Asymmetrical horror games can sometimes have a fair bit of staying power, as demonstrated by Dead by Daylight. Monstrum 2 is an asymmetrical sequel to a single-player, procedurally-generated survival-horror game.28 Jan 2021
– Monster Hunter World.
– Warhammer: Vermintide 2. …
– Diablo 3. …
– Payday 2. …
– Borderlands 3. Co-op type: Online. …
– Dying Light. Co-op type: Online. …
– Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Co-op type: Online. …
– Back 4 Blood. Co-op type: Online. …
Endless Space 2
Mode(s)
However, the Fiend's persistence in searching a relatively large but narrowly focused area, coupled with its electric distortions, makes it arguably the most difficult monster to get away from if the player hides in areas such as the Upper Deck where the Life Raft is, and in the Engine Room.


No teams have formally inquired about trading for Andy Sonnanstine, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. However, the right-hander could become the topic of a few trade rumors before the season begins, given Tampa Bay's surplus of starting pitching.
Morosi tweets a few teams that could use another starting pitcher: the Diamondbacks, Mariners, Mets, Twins, Dodgers and Nationals. That list could easily double by Opening Day, with spring performances and injuries potentially raising depth concerns for a few more clubs.
The Rays shouldn't feel any pressure to deal Sonnanstine though. Even if there's no room for him in their rotation, their starting pitching depth is a luxury. As the FOX report suggests, the Rays could use Sonnanstine out of the bullpen as a long reliever, or even send him to Triple-A to start the year, since he has options remaining.
If you were running the Rays, what's your move here? Would you start shopping Sonnanstine, hoping to get some value in return? Or would you keep the right-hander around, providing insurance in case youngsters like Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson struggle?
This goes both ways. Given an injury to one of our pitchers, we most likely should keep him. However, we have a surplus in fielders as well. This Rays team has one of the greatest depths in the MLB. We (Rays) should only deal him unless they receive someone in particular that they want. I don't feel they should shop him just yet, but only listen to some offers.
agreed completely, Sonny last his trade value last year. The Rays have to hold on to him to get anything of value. Lets not forget Sonnanstine posted a 3.91 FIP and a 4.26 FIP ('07 and '08) before last years abortion. Andy is an above average pitcher and can throw 200 innings, which is very valuable and should prove to be a valuable trade chip.
The Dodgers have a half dozen guys in camp that could do better than Sonnenstein's 6.77 ERA! I doubt they are interested.
I don't think sonnastine would be good as a long reliever, in the AL east at that. He just doesn't have that one pitch to put him over the top. I think the rays should take the chance to trade him since there's a little buzz going around. Maybe trade him for some prospects to a NL team where he might be a little more successful.
You definitely shop surplus talent at any position, but there's no need to move him. Barring any really strong offers, keeping him makes sense.
I think you have to at least keep him around to start the season. I would think he's first in line for spot starts in case of injury. But as the deadline approaches, you know more about how Hellickson is handling AAA this season, hopefully Sonny's trade value has gone up in the eyes of some team looking to make a move, and you can assess the options then. The fact that he has minor league options and the fact that the bullpen to this point in spring hasn't exactly set the world on fire makes keeping him now and reassessing later a no-brainer.
I agree with other commenters so far. I wouldn't trade him before the season starts because you definitely don't know what pitchers are going to pan out or not. If they hold onto him for a couple months and see that they don't need him, then start shopping him around.
I have wanted him on the Dodgers for about a year now.
so, yeah, hang onto him for now until the Rays develop a hole a trade can fill.
If he returns to 2008 form, he could be a pretty good bargain. Especially for NL teams.
I would move him; they will be in contention either way for at least the wild card. They could get some good return for a guy with a few years before free agency from alot of the teams that can't usually afford the guys that usually become available.
Twins, Rangers, D'backs, Marlins, Nats. would be able to bid against the sox, yanks, angles, mets etc.
Almost any team has a fifth starter with less potential for 2010 than this guys. I would definitely put him on the market.
Interesting how depth is measured these days. #3 and 4 starters that made 1 start in the majors prior to '09, a #5 that has 6 majors starts under his belt, and absent Sonnanstine, the next guy Hellickson has 9 AAA starts under his belt. Of course, I'm clearly forgetting NRI and AAA's Carlos Hernandez and his 9 starts in his last majors action – in 2004.
Not denying the talent, but injuries do happen to pitchers, young ones and old ones. That the Rays have been virtually immune to such in the last 2 years has no bearing on whether that will continue. Playoff contention requires depth, and I don't see majors ready SP depth here, especially if Sonnanstine is traded. Great depth in SP prospects in their system, but somebody's got to be available to step in in case of injury.
The Rays do have good depth, but they could certainly afford some position players from AA down to Low A, levels in which they are far from loaded aside from starting pitchers.


At Mercedes-Benz of Jacksonville, we know that buying a new car can be extremely overwhelming. Most drivers will spend hours online searching different models, makes, and trims. The staff at Mercedes-Benz of Jacksonville is here to help you out with a side-by-side comparison between the 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLC and 2019 Lincoln MKC.
Let's break down the basics on the 2019 Lincoln MKC. In terms of fuel economy, the 2019 Lincoln MKC has an EPA-estimated 20 mpg in the city. Drivers can also expect 245 to 285 horsepower in the base model. Suffice to say, this vehicle is both luxurious and capable. The 2019 Lincoln MKC is designed to assist its drivers with everyday occurrences, which is why features like a hands-free liftgate and approach detection are so fantastic. What's more, systems like Park Assist and Adaptive Cruise Control make driving the 2019 Lincoln MKC easy.
By comparison, the 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 stands up to the challenge. Drivers can anticipate an EPA-estimated 22 mpg city. As for horsepower? It achieves a maximum 362 horsepower. The 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 also combines luxury with capability by including noteworthy special and safety features. An ECO Start/Stop system satisfies drivers who are interested in a more efficient ride. Moreover, the 2019 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 sets the standard in terms of interior and exterior design by combining sporty and luxe style.
Visit Mercedes-Benz of Jacksonville today to learn more!


text:
Home India Delhi Aam Aadmi Party is a sinking ship, says Yogendra Yadav
Aam Aadmi Party is a sinking ship, says Yogendra Yadav
Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav today described the Aam Aadmi Party as a "sinking ship", and said there was a "naked power struggle" taking place in the Arvind Kerjiwal-led party.
In an apparent reference to his and his colleague Prashant Bhusan's expulsion from AAP in 2015, Yadav said there was a "fundamental difference" between what happened then and now.
"My sense is that there is fundamental difference between what happened two years ago and what is happening now. There was a break-up more than two years ago but that was about principles; today it is about power. It is a naked power struggle," he told PTI.
During the rift then, "principles" were put out in the public domain in a transparent way but today's negotiations "are taking place behind closed doors," he said.
"Two years ago questions were raised at the peak of power of AAP. Today it is a sinking ship which people are deserting.
There is a negative change…people who had invested so much hope at one point are now stepping back," he said.
The AAP was more than a party when it started and it was a "phenomenon" which represented the possibility of hope and reform in politics, Yadav said.
"Unfortunately that hope has receded and has led to a severe setback for the people," he added.
Post its drubbing in the recent bypoll and MCD polls, the AAP has been facing internal rumblings, with the party today suspending Okhla MLA Amnanatullah Khan who had accused senior leader Kumar Vishwas of being an "RSS-BJP agent."
The suspension is seen as a compromise after Vishwas had threatened to quit the party.
Vishwas had accused Khan of being a "mask" and acting at the behest of a "coterie" surrounding Kejriwal.
Earlier, Yadav, along with former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, flagged off a 'Yatra' (rally) in support of farmers affected by drought in Tamil Nadu.
"Tamil Nadu today faces the worst drought in 140 years.
This is a natural calamity. It is shocking that tiny things in Delhi make national news but this is not. The whole country must be aware of this and we are here to express solidarity with the farmers," he said.
The yatra will cover various parts of the state including severely drought-affected Cauvery delta regions, such as Nagapattinam and Tiruchirapalli among others.
He earlier called on DMK Working President and state Leader of Opposition, M K Stalin, to discuss the plight of farmers.
Previous articleNoida dist admin orders inspection of petrol dispensing
Next articleHawala operator held in Mumbai for funding suspected ISI man


text:
Susan Slaughter joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1969 and four years later became the first woman to be named principal trumpet of a major symphony orchestra. A graduate of Indiana University, she received the coveted performer's certificate in recognition of outstanding musical performance. Slaughter has studied with Herbert Müeller, Bernard Adelstein, Arnold Jacobs, Robert Nagel, Claude Gordon and Laurie Frink.
Prior to accepting a position in St. Louis, Slaughter spent two years as principal trumpet of the Toledo Symphony. She has been on the faculty of the Grand Teton Orchestra Seminar and the National Orchestra Institute. In 1990, she performed with the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic in San Francisco and, in 1991, at the invitation of baseball commissioner Fay Vincent, Slaughter performed the National Anthem for game three of the World Series.
Slaughter founded Trumpet Lab, a week-long workshop designed to give young musicians the opportunity to study orchestral literature with a professional musician. She is also the founder of the annual International Women's Brass Conference, an organization dedicated to providing opportunities and recognition for women brass musicians.
Personal Observations: Susan Slaughter expected the same of me as of herself: perfection. She was never satisfied, always knowing that I could do better. She was particularly helpful by re-teaching me to double- and triple-tongue, begin to combat my tendency to rush, and she first got me really thinking about the psychology of trumpet playing. I studied with her about one year.


text:
Phu Quoc projects lure foreign investors
Property developer Sun Group sold 80 condotels in Premier Residences Phu Quoc Emerald Bay and 30 villas in Premier Village Phu Quoc Resort to investors in HCM City on March 27.
The property developer launched its sale at an event that attracted more than 500 local and international investors.
More than 500 local and international investors attend Sun Group sale event in HCM City on March 27. — VNS Photo
Investor Huynh Thao from Phu Nhuan District said she had invested in the projects because of Sun Group's reputation.
Troy Griffiths, deputy managing director of Savills Viet Nam, said the group's projects had four outstanding advantages of having international-standard real estate, global-level designers, well-known managers and prime locations that bring sustainable profitability.
Thus, he said, foreign investors from Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong also paid great attention to the group's products.
Marc Townsend, managing director of CBRE Viet Nam, said condotel investment has been developing in the Asian market over the last 30 years, especially in well-known destinations such as Phuket in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia. Having advantages similar to the two above-mentioned destinations are Sun Group's projects in Bai Khem Beach and Ong Doi Cape, which are among the most natural and beautiful beaches in Phu Quoc Island in southern Viet Nam.
However, Townsend said the Sun Group offered more competitive and profitable opportunities to investors of its projects, with a guaranteed nine per cent profits over 10 years.
Marc Townsend said, "There is no other international market of real estate that can offer such a deal," especially when the local inflation rate was stable.
Together with projects in Phu Quoc, Sun Group has developed the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort and Premier Village Danang Resort in Da Nang and the world's longest three-rope cable car system that connects Muong Hoa Valley with Fansipan Mountain, the so-called "Roof of Indochina" in the northern Lao Cai Province.
Related Topics:CBRE Viet NamPhu Quoc ResortSavills Viet Nam
City to demolish 120,000sq.m of dilapidated apartment towers
Foreign shops driving rents up
The executives argue that new airports and upgrades will help overhaul the country's poor aviation infrastructure, now a bottleneck for tourism development.
"My view is we need more airports and upgrades, because infrastructure, especially in important destinations, is critical for future development," said Tran Trong Kien, chairman and CEO of Thien Minh Group (TMG), one of Vietnam's top travel and hospitality companies.
Tan Son Nhat is handling 36 million passengers, which is way above its designed capacity of 25 million. Shutterstock/AsiaTravel
Kien was responding to a VnExpress International question about the controversy over provincial proposals on building airports like the one near renowned tourist venue Sapa in northern Vietnam.
Several aviation experts have remarked that there are too many proposals and plans for new airports, and that the country has too many already.
Kien said the first priority should be to expand the Tan Son Nhat airport, second to expand the Noi Bai and Da Nang airports. These three meet or exceed their design capacity.
"Hue and Chu Lai airports are also extremely important, and Hai Phong airport is also a very good solution for future development," Kien said on the sidelines of the Vietnam Travel & Tourism Summit 2018 Wednesday. He is also chairman of the National Tourism Advisory Board (TAB).
Hue currently has Phu Bai airport while Chu Lai airport is located in the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone in Quang Nam Province. Both are in central Vietnam. The northern city of Hai Phong has Cat Bi airport.
Kien said that up to 80 percent of foreign tourists come to Vietnam by air, but air connections from and to Vietnam, regionally and globally, are much lower than big cities in Asia like Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Kuala Lumpur.
Luong Hoai Nam, deputy general director of joint stock company Vietstar Airlines, also said the country definitely needs new airports and upgrades to the old, poor ones.
"Phu Quoc and Van Don are the only two new airports up and running since 1975 (when the Vietnam War ended). Apart from them, the only changes in aviation infrastructure have been upgrades to military airports whereby limited expansions were made due to limited land areas," Nam told the tourism event organized by VnExpress.
The Phu Quoc airport in southern Vietnam is a public investment project while the latest, Van Don, is a private project of the Sun Group in the northern province of Quang Ninh.
Nam said Vietnam has 21 airports while Thailand has 38. The aggregate annual capacity of 21 airports in Vietnam is only equivalent to Thailand's biggest Suvarnabhumi Airport, Singapore's Changi and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur.
"Lack of airports, especially the bigger ones, leads to an overload, with airports serving about 105 million passengers this year against the designed capacity of only 75 million."
The biggest airport Tan Son Nhat which is handling 36 million passengers, way above its designed capacity of 25 million, has suffered overloading for many years, but the "upgrades are very slow".
"Our airports are like a house designed to accommodate 25 people, but last year 36 were living in it and the figure this year is 40.
"The images of passengers running, pulling their suitcases to Tan Son Nhat airport (instead of having cars driving them to the gate due to traffic congestion) published in local and foreign media are harming the image of our aviation and tourism sectors."
Too many already
Previously, in interviews with VnExpress International some aviation experts claimed Vietnam was building too many airports without carefully evaluating their necessity.
Authorities in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province have been working with private firm Ho Tram Ltd, the investor of the Grand Ho Tram Strip resort, on plans to construct a $194 million civilian airport nearby.
Ba Ria-Vung Tau already has an operational airport on Con Dao Island and the mega Long Thanh International Airport being planned in southern Dong Nai Province is just 40 kilometers away.
In July, Lao Cai Province proposed that a $246 million airport built near Sapa for both civilian and military purposes.
Nguyen Thien Tong, former faculty head of aeronautical engineering at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, said it's not necessary to have two new airports in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, as the province does not have a large (enough) number of tourists.
Ngo Viet Nam Son, an architect who participated in designing the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal in the Philippines, argued that it would be much more efficient if money is spent on building an expressway which connects Ba Ria-Vung Tau and HCMC.
As for the proposed airport near Sa Pa, Tong claimed that roads should be the focus of this area, not airports as investing in roads in this area will allow different vehicles to travel to multiple destinations in the north, serving the majority of the population.
Son was concerned about the distance from the airport to Sa Pa town, which is about 100 kilometers away, a distance too long to attract tourists.
The Ministry of Transport in September approved amendments to the expansion plan for HCMC's Tan Son Nhat airport.
The plan, which lists targets until 2020 with orientation towards 2030, includes the addition of a third terminal and a 250 hectare expansion of the airport's area. Specifically, the airport's total area will be increased from the current 545 hectares (1,350 acres) to 791 hectares.
Regarding Hanoi's Noi Bai airport Deputy Minister of Transport Le Dinh Tho in October urged related agencies to quickly review plans to expand the airport to the south. Their aim is to increase the capacity to 100 million passengers a year in 2050.
The airport now has a capacity of 21 million passengers per year, but accommodated some 24 million passengers in 2017.
With China and the U.S. suspending imposition of new trade tariffs, Chinese companies are rethinking their move to Vietnam.
The cost of building a new factory and hiring land at industrial parks in Vietnam has increased in the past few months and become an obstacle for many foreign investors, including those from China.
Given the higher costs, many Chinese export manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized ones, have taken advantage of the recent trade cease-fire between China and the U.S. to postpone plans to relocate their factories to Vietnam, according to South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Prices to rent industrial land in Vietnam have increased in recent time.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have recently agreed to a ceasefire in a trade war that has seen the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods between the world's two largest economies disrupted by tariffs.
The two leaders agreed to hold off on imposing more tariffs for 90 days starting December 1 while they negotiate a deal to end the dispute following months of escalating tensions, according to Reuters.
But experts repeatedly expressed doubt that any concrete steps to totally ease tensions between the two economic giants can be achieved in so short a time.
"This is not a truce, this is not an armistice," Steve Okun, senior advisor at McLarty Associates, told CNBC. He noted the additional tariffs that the U.S. and China have imposed on each other's products are still in place, so the 90-day withholding of further levies doesn't signal the end of the trade fight.
Even so, many export manufacturers, especially small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in China, have jumped at the chance to postpone.
Xie Jun, a Chinese furniture exporter, said the cost of building a new factory in Vietnam had soared in the past few months and become unaffordable to many.
A sofa foam and sponge factory owner in China's eastern province of Zhejiang moved to set up a factory in Vietnam's southern Dong Nai Province early this year, he said.
The preparatory steps cost him nearly 10 million yuan ($1.4 million), including paying for and converting the industrial plants, transferring automated production lines from Zhejiang, as well as paying allowances to send skilled Chinese workers there.
The expense was even higher than building a new factory of the same size in Zhejiang, Xie said.
"So the [trade war] truce is really a relief for us. And we hope the government can really end [the trade war] next year," Xie told the SCMP.
At an industrial park in Dong Nai, the price to rent industrial land on a long-term lease of up to 50 years reached $90 per square meter as of last month, up from $60 to $70 last year.
The prices also increase in other localities.
The average rent of industrial land in northern Vietnam hit $82 per square meter per lease term in Q3, an increase of nearly 9 percent compared to Q1, according to a report of real estate service firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) on Vietnam's property market in the Q3.
Hanoi's average rents increased significantly to $137 per square meter per lease term, the highest in the north, driven by limited supply.
JLL said the country's industrial properties will remain desirable due to strong foreign direct investment coming mostly from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Gao Jian, co-founder of Vnocean Business Consulting Service company, which helps more than 50 industrial parks in Vietnam to recruit Chinese manufacturers, said there were various costs associated with setting up a plant.
"If we talk about founding a small electronics factory of about 300 workers in popular industrial parks near Ho Chi Minh City, it would cost about $1 million," Gao said.
Thus, for those firms that remain in China, the tariff truce has allowed them to cling to the possibility that there might be no need to relocate, at least in the short run.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just requested the city's Department of Planning and Investment to review Berjaya Corporation Bhd.'s Vietnam International University Township (VIUT) project in the northwest urban area.
Accordingly, the department has to either resolve any difficulties that the Malaysian company is having in implementing this project or revoke the investment certificate.
The project, which received its certificate in July 2008, is located at Tan Thoi Nhi commune in Hoc Mon district. It has an area of 925 hectares and investment capital of $3.5 billion.
According to design, Berjaya is going to set aside 100 hectares for a university. The township is going to have 20 schools offering education from kindergarten to high school. The remaining 15-hectare area is going to be a multi-purpose complex with a commercial area, residential area, administrative and cultural area, and a healthcare centre that will operate in conjunction with the university, as well as a gym and a park.
Ten years after receiving the investment certificate, the project is still a field of grass. At the point of receiving the certificate in 2008, VIUT was the largest foreign direct investment project in Ho Chi Minh City. The city authorities placed a lot of hope on the project, giving credit to Berjaya's renown as a big real estate developer.
The northwest urban area is 19 kilometres from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City. Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee asked the Department of Transport to list out roads that need to be built in order to call for investors for construction under the Build-Operate-Transfer format, offering payment in land to the investors.
In Vietnam, Berjaya has a series of real estate projects that came along slowly after receiving their investment certificates. Besides VUIT, there is Vietnam Financial Centre, also in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2013, the authorities of the southern province of Dong Nai revoked Berjaya's investment certificate for the Nhon Trach New City Centre project because the company failed to start implementation. In addition, sales were lacklustre at the Bien Hoa City Square apartment complex in Dong Nai, and Hanoi Garden City urban area in Hanoi.
Last month, Berjaya, through its subsidiary Berjaya Gia Thinh Investment (Berjaya GTI), launched the first phase of its Vietnamese lottery business. Berjaya is the first foreign investor to tap into Vietnam's lottery market.
Source: VIR


text:
Google News - Technology
Rani Molla
President Trumps new immigration proposal would be terrible for tech
vox.com 05/17/2019 21:40:00 Rani Molla
President Trump proposed an immigration plan that, on the surface, looks good for tech. Its not.
President Donald Trumps merit-basedimmigration proposal is never going to happen. But what it does do is try and cover up the fact that his administration has systematically thwarted high-skilled immigrants and the tech companies trying to employ them.
Using executive orders, the president has made it more difficult  and expensive  to hire high-skilled tech workers from other countries. The administration has throttled a program that encouraged entrepreneurs to come to the US. Its also ending work permits for spouses of H-1B holders, who are often highly skilled professionals themselves, among other measures to stop immigration. One result has been a net decline in high-skilled visas, known as H-1Bs, which has been bad for tech companies in the US (but good for Canada).
In a Rose Garden speech yesterday, Trump proposed a plan that sounded like it would be good for tech.
He suggested replacing green cards for US citizens siblings, parents, and adult children  as well as permanent residents spouses and children, among others  with visas for workers, especially high-skilled ones. Using a merit-based point system, the proposal would favor people with extraordinary talent,professional and specialized vocations,and exceptional academic track records.
The overall number of issuances would remain the same at 1.1 million.
Of all green cards, these so-called Build Americavisas would capture 57 percent for people in the employment and skill category, plus 33 percent for immediate family, and 10 percent to humanitarian causes, according to the White House fact sheet, which is otherwise rather sparse on details.
Currently, the majority of green cards are issued to families of US citizens.
Using what information the White House did provide as well as existing immigration data, Boundless Immigration, a venture-backed company that helps people navigate the US immigration system, took an educated guess as to how the proposal would shift green card issuance:
While at first this may seem good for tech  an industry experiencing cutthroat competition for the limited number of US tech workers  its completely unrealistic. You cant expect people to move and work here without the hope of bringing their families with them.
Its also insulting that the White House is only paying lip service to high-skilled workers and their families.
People coming to work in the US  who aid American companies and generally benefit the overall economy  are entitled to live full lives. For many immigrants (not to mention, people in general) these lives include their families. These relationships also contribute to integration and child care, assets not easily quantified in dollars and cents.
Theyre hiding the fact that thats a huge downside by trying to create a dichotomy between low-skill, low-paid, family immigrants and high-tech, high-wage, not-jobs-stealing, merit-based immigrants,Doug Rand, a Boundlesss co-founder, told Recode. The fact is everyone has family.
Not allowing high-skilled tech immigrants to bring their families would inhibit workers willingness to accept jobs here. They can work elsewhere. Indeed, tech immigrants are increasingly choosing to take jobs in Canada, where the immigration policy is more liberal.
Still, there are enough people who want to immigrate to the US that the 1.1 millions spots would be filled even if this dead-on-arrival proposal did happen, according to David Bier, a policy analyst at Cato Institute who specializes in immigration.
Youre just going to have a different type of person who wants to come here as a consequence of restriction on family sponsorships,Bier said.
Recode and Vox have joined forces to uncover and explain how our digital world is changing  and changing us. Subscribe to Recode podcasts to hear Kara Swisher and Peter Kafka lead the tough conversations the technology industry needs today.
Published on Fri, 17 May 2019 21:40:00 GMT, © All rights reserved by the publisher.


I dont found the app on Google play. Can you post the URL ?
Yes - I just published - perhaps it takes time for their servers to take effect.
You must have special prepared files for programs conversion? How I can do such as for games, except Caesar III?
OK Thanks for your answer. Where can we found WCH ?
So where do we get the WCH (Winulator Converter Helper)??