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It only takes a minute to get started. Fill out our simple sign up form and login to the website.
This step is optional but will dramatically multiply your chances of getting interest from other Christian members on the site. Write a few sentences about yourself, your interests and upload your nicest photo of yourself.
Utilise our website's advanced search to locate members who satisfy your needs. Or just scan through listings of Christian singles and locate people that appeal to you.
Identified someone who takes your fancy? Send a message to them or just a wink and find out if they're interested in you. With a little luck you'll be on your way to a once in a lifetime experience.
It doesn't take long

subset: commoncrawl


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Used in digital signal processing
1 Download
Updated 23 Feb 2011
In signal processing, cross-correlation is a measure of similarity of two waveforms as a function of a time-lag applied to one of them. This is also known as a sliding dot product or inner-product. It is commonly used to search a long duration signal for a shorter, known feature. It also has applications in pattern recognition, single particle analysis, electron tomographic averaging, cryptanalysis, and neurophysiology.
This is a script and not a function, therefore you cannot define input arguments. The values are obtained by INPUT, which has a very limited use and usability. There is no comment or help section in the code. It is not working, because the function "shift" is unknown.
@ Sean all constructive feedback helps community members learn how to improve their files. In regards to the quality, we leave it to the community to rate and comment on files. If you have any concerns, feel free to contact me at email@example.com.
Community Administrator
On the bright side, it doesn't actually require the Communications Toolbox.
And who doesn't enjoy manually entering two signal vectors from the command line?
script that clears all doesn't work because "shift" isn't defined and requires user input to run (well it doesn't run, but it needs input to get to the point where it errors out).
And correlation is misspelled! Come on!
Completely useless: admin please remove.
Download apps, toolboxes, and other File Exchange content using Add-On Explorer in MATLAB.


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Lewis had his Mowers. Does Claude have his Bourque?
View Single Post
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,267
vCash: 500
Originally Posted by
Way to change the hashtag Pie
Unfortunately, I posted the link to here and it seems most of them don't read HF
This was my favorite reply
In all seriousness though, I really don't have an opinion yet - two games in, and two wins at that.
But there are all types of "specialists" in the game, PP, PK, Shootouts, fights, etc. It's the one thing they do good in the game and the reason they are still in the game. So unless they get the opportunity to show they can do it at the NHL level when they have done it at other levels, how else are they suppose to show it?
Yesterday, some people (and I don't mean fans) were asked how much time do you give a player to showcase himself this year after the lockout? The general consensus was 20 games, with a full schedule, but this year 10-12.
Just too early to form a basis here yet. Heck, he's playing with players he's never played with before. There's no chemistry there...yet. I just think it needs more than 2 games before we write him off.
Reality is that if you want to make it in the NHL you need to do something. Nothing special about Bourque. He is not the answer to the PP and he better do something on that line or he will lose his opportunity. Caron is at least a big body. I think the Bruins need to find something better if they want to make a run for the Cup.
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A nationally known young adult librarian, Amy co-authored A Year of Programs for Teens 2 (ALA Editions, 2011) , with the first volume published in 2006. She has edited other professional titles, including Excellence in Library Services for Young Adults (YALSA, 2008). She authored the forthcoming Mind Bending Mysterious Services for Teens (2013). She has also published articles on books, author marketing and social media.
Amy reviews adult and teen titles for national publications, including Booklist and Teenreads.com and has served on the YALSA board. She is a teen librarian at the Schaumburg Township District Library in Illinois, where she has enjoyed the advice of young adults for over seventeen years.
For the past seven years, she has blogged about vintage cookbooks and crafts. Since 2009, she has presented those topics and more to over 200 live audiences locally and nationally.
Her Alana O'Neill short mysteries with recipes are bestsellers on Amazon and her first young adult mystery, Taking the High Ground, will be available in fall 2013 from an independent press.


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Three Reasons to Be Bullish About U.S. Banks
Three Reasons to Be Bullish About Banks
Yesterday we brought you the dark side of the banking world: predictions of mass layoffs, "secular" reductions in revenue and onerous regulations.
And yet, after a painful August, when bank stocks were some of the market's biggest underperformers, September has been far kinder to the financial sector, with most banks rallying over the past week. So here are three explanations for the bank stock rally:
1. Capital requirements. You know banks are being cautious when the largest bank by assets – Bank of America – was holding roughly $210 billion in cash on its balance sheet in the second quarter, earning a 0% return on 8.5% of the company's total asset base. Analysts at Stifel Nicolas point to BofA's cash hoard as an extreme example of the fear and uncertainty that banks have about how much capital international regulators will require them to hold. This weekend, BofA and other banks may start to loosen their collars a bit, when regulators meet in Basel Switzerland to decide capital requirements. Most expect Tier 1 Capital requirements to rise to 8.5% to 9%, which is far higher than last year's U.S. stress tests which required a 4% threshold. Still, most U.S banks are already at or above the levels that many expect to come out of Basel III this weekend.
[Click to keep reading]


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Remember when you were young and you left the front door open or came in from the outdoors and tracked mud everywhere? Your parents would then inevitably say, "Were you raised in a barn?" The newest trend in restoration architecture proves that being raised in a barn is not only a viable option, it's a beautiful one to boot!
View next gallery 8 popsicle hacks that will make your summer even sweeter
X of Y


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RPG Information Edit
Daidoji family (Strength +1)
The Daidoji family are the more physically strong members of the Crane Clan. Their craftiness and cunning are well known throughout Rokugan, and they can be easily identified by their family mon which is tattoed onto their wrists upon reaching their gempukku. [1]
RPG Information Edit
Daidoji family (Reflexes +1)
The Daidoji family are a lineage of warriors dedicated to the subtle arts of combat and tactics that would carry their clan through conflicts against superior numbers and stronger foes. The word best used to describe a Daidoji might be stark. They look decidedly out of place in typical Crane finery, as they tend to have a severe look about them even in the best of situations. [2]
RPG Information Edit
Daidoji family (Stamina +1)
The so-called Iron Crane are the strong arm of the Crane Clan and the enforcers of the Doji and Kakita's will. [3]


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The Rush Limbaugh boycotters and protesters are once again proving their strength. Major sponsors are immediately taking action, after finding their ads were played on Limbaugh's show, without their knowledge. This is due to radio stations scrambling to fill the empty ad spots from thousands of sponsors who have dumped the hate radio talk show host. Recently, Microsoft Store found out one of their ads, was played on Limbaugh's program after being contacted by boycotters. The mega company tweeted back they were taking care of the situation:
@MicrosoftStore: Thank you so much for your feedback. We've asked that our ads not be played during that broadcast.
Two days ago a Ford company claimed their ads were being played erroneously, and they also were ensuring boycotters that their ads would no longer be heard on the hate monger's show.
There are hundreds of messages and tweets like the above from companies saying they were not aware their ads were being played. It is often the case these days. It is very believable, that there was an error made with a Microsoft Store ad being placed unbeknownst to the company as fewer reports were made. As for Ford, it's hard to tell if they had knowledge, as the StopRush Database shows that Ford has been heavily advertising with Limbaugh for a while. In fact last week two major boycott Facebook groups, Boycott Rush Limbaugh and FlushRush groups staged a massive Twitter, Facebook and Email 'blast.' Thousands of concerned consumers contacted Ford companies to let the automaker franchises know they would not support a company that supported Rush Limbaugh. As they see it, companies that support the talk show host, support his hate speech. Looks like it was successful with at least one franchise. We'll see if the other Ford companies follow suit.
UPDATE (July 2, 2013) This message from Ford Motor (Parent) Company, was received by several members in Facebook's 'Boycott Rush Limbaugh Sponsors To Shut Him Down' and 'Join The Fight To Flush Rush':
Ford MotorCompany: Thank you for your note. Ford motor company does not advertise in Rush Limbaugh. What you may have heard was a local dealership ad which may run due to the dealership buying air time on a local radio. We will notify dealers, which are independent businesses and alert them. Thank you
The protestors and boycotters are fairly used to this type of response. It's a bit ambiguous. The true proof is in the pudding – Will Ford Motor Company convince its dealers to avoid Limbaugh's show? We can only hope they makes an earnest attempt. It is their name and image at stake. Meanwhile, stations around the country are monitored daily for ads by StopRush volunteers.
Speaking of suits, one would think some of the companies who are finding their ads are being played on Limbaugh's show without permission, would take legal action. Given the national protest, and the fact that Limbaugh sponsor lists go out to hundreds of thousands everyday, being on that sponsor list can substantially damage a company's reputation – and income.
With so many sponsors (again, thousands) 'flushing' rush, why is Limbaugh still on the air? It's partly due to his unscrupulous parent company, Clear Channel, run by Bob Pittman and John Sykes (who, by the way, lost over $200 million last year, after the Limbaugh Boycotts began). Pitman and Sykes continue to ignore the outrage of the American public and carry Limbaugh's racist, sexist and lgbt hating show on 600 radio stations nationwide. It's also due to the fact that Limbaugh has reportedly received large sums of money from Tea Party affiliates to broadcast their propaganda. How large of a sum? Former FreedomWorks head leaked millions had been given to Limbaugh and his comrades, on Clear Channel's hate parade. Is it legal? That is being investigated, asaccording to FCC, Limbaugh must disclose the receipt of such funding to his audience. It's not 'clear' that he did.
Boycotters are taking other avenues to bring Rush Limbaugh and Clear Channel down. They are contacting mega recording stars like Beyonce', Mariah Cary and Green Day asking them not to support iHeart Radio that is owned by Clear Channel – until the Clear Channel drops Limbaugh. The boycotters are writing to radio stations and the FCC as well
The public is hitting Rush Limbaugh hard, from every angle, and he simply can't last much longer. His malicious commentary is contrary to the majority of public opinion. And they are tired of his hate speech and lies on their public radio. Let him take his vile broadcasting private. The public's voice is being heard loud and clear, and the sponsors are taking action. It's time for Clear Channel network to take action as well, or they will, undoubtedly be going down with the 'Limbaugh-Good-Ship-About-To-Pop'.
There are several ways to get involved:
Sign: Limbaugh Sponsor Petition
Join: Boycott Rush Limbaugh Group
Visit: The StopRush Database
Email: FCC Acting Chairwoman Clyburn
Women's rights organizations like UniteWomen.org, as well as other large groups like , Daily Kos, and Media Matters Liberals Unite and Political Loudmouth have fully supported and helped the movement.
(Story also posted in Daily Kos)
|Leslie Salzillo is an activist, political commentator and visual artist. She began contributing to Liberals Unite in June of 2013.


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Amazon Herb
Lluvia Natural Skin Care is a very rare find. It is all natural from the wonderful 215,000 species of plants in the Amazon Rainforest. There are no chemicals at all. It is stabilized with natural stabilizers like grapefruit seed extract and preserved by concentrated essential oils. If you think you are using an all natural product , look at the label and make sure. Your skin is your largest organ. We have so many toxic things going on in our environment. It's adding up to a lot of diseases.
With all natural ingredients, this oil is a great remedy for both dry hair and skin that has been damaged by the elements of summer.Tags: lotions, organic, oil, hair, moisture, Sephora, all natural, organic beauty, pureAdded 6 Years Ago from Sephora


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Outbreeding Depression in Hybrids Between Spatially Separated Pink Salmon, Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, Populations: Marine Survival, Homing ability, and Variability in Family Size
- 237 Downloads
Hybridization between distinct populations and introgression of nonnative genes can erode fitness of native populations through outbreeding depression, either by producing a phenotype intermediate to that of both contributing genomes (and maladapted in either population's environment) or by disrupting distinct coadapted complexes of epistatic genes. In salmon, fitness-related traits such as homing ability or family-size distribution may be eroded. We investigated geographically separated pink salmon populations in repeated trials in independent broodyears (odd and even). Hybrids were made between female Auke Creek (Southeast Alaska) pink salmon and Pillar Creek (Kodiak Island, ∼1 000 km away) males; hybrids and their offspring were compared to offspring of control crosses of the same females with Auke Creek males. Parentage assignment from microsatellite analysis was used to improve estimates of survival and straying and to examine variation of family size. Hybridization reduced return rates of adults (a proxy for survival at sea) in the F1 generation in the odd-year broodline (p < 0.0001) but not in the even-year broodline (p = 0.678). Hybridization reduced survival in both the odd- and even-broodyear F2 (p < 0.005 and p < 0.0001). Hybridization did not appear to impair homing ability; weekly surveys revealed similar straying rates (∼2%) by both hybrid and control fish into nearby (∼1 km) Waydelich Creek in both generations in both trials. Hybridization did not increase the index of variability (σ2/μ) in family size. Decreased survival in the hybrid F2 generation supports an epistatic model of outbreeding depression; nonepistatic effects may have contributed to reduced survival in the odd-broodyear F1 hybrid fish. Outbreeding depression in hybrids of geographically separated populations demonstrates that introgression of nonnative fish can erode fitness, and should be recognized as a potential detriment of both aquaculture and management practices.
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.


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Friday 17 June 1932
It was Friday, under the sign of Gemini. The US president was Herbert Hoover (Republican).
Famous people born on this day include John P Murtha and Derek Ibbotson.
But much more happened that day: find out below..
You can also have a look at the whole 1932 or at June 17 across the years.
Old Newspapers
Have a look at the old newspapers from 17 June 1932 and get them!
Which were the most popular movies released in the last months ?
TV Series
Which were the most popular TV series released in the last months ?
Find out your future
Get a FREE Numerology report based on the digits of 17 June 1932!
Wish him/her..
Historical Events
Which were the important events of 17 June 1932 ?
- St. Albert Chmielowski.
- National holiday of West Germany until 1990, see Workers' Uprising of 1953 in East Germany.
- Iceland's national day, celebrating independence from Denmark in 1944.
Famous Birthdays:
- John P Murtha: (Rep-D-Pennsylvania, 1974- ).
- Derek Ibbotson: 5K runner (1956 Olympics - Bronze Medalist).
- Peter Lupus: American bodybuilder and actor.
- John Murtha: American colonel and politician (d. 2010).
- Oil tanker Cymbeline explodes in Montreal, Canada
- Bonus Army: around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits.
Make this date unforgettable
Search For Your Ancestors
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Don't miss our monthly news, no spam guarantee Click here to Subscribe
...and if 17 June 1932 was your Birth Date then Join our Birthday Club!
Genealogy: find out your family heritage
Which were the most popular books released in the last weeks ?
Remember when
What videogames would you be playing back in the days ?


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houghton foto Photographer
Kate SuppleeModel Female Los Angeles, California, US
My MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/katens
Mayhem # 2212360
About MeI am an aspiring professional dancer (contemporary/hip hop). I have a little bit of modeling experience and would really like to pursue it more. I look forward to working with and meeting a lot of people! If you'd like to work together feel free to contact me through this site, I check it often. Thanks so much! :)
Have you worked with Kate Supplee? Add Credits for Kate Supplee! >>
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Since the Middle Ages a rivalry has existed between the two German cities Düsseldorf and Köln. Today there's still some disagreement about who has the better beer or football team.
To settle the argument, we'd like you to join our BBQ event in Düsseldorf!
We'll leave the Südbahnhof Köln at 3.15pm this Saturday towards Düsseldorf. Please bring your own food and beverages!
[Picture: The famous Königsallee, by Mikhail Shcherbakov]


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The choice is leave or take a bullet to the head; you have ten hours to get out or die; take nothing but the clothes on your back; oh, you need that glucose meter? Your blood pressure meds? That's too bad.The Christians interviewed here make me feel very proud, and very humbled. They are obviously hurting, obviously shocked and displaced, yet full of spirit. And who wouldn't be a bit angry and undone in such a case? As the lady says, "what have the Christians done to you?"And yet, when … [Read more...]
Expelled Iraqi Christians, Give Witness to ISIS Fascism – UPDATE! KURDS!
5 Things You Can Do Right Now as ISIS Threatens Iraqi Christians and Shiites – UPDATE
The headlines are coming fast and furious, and they are horrifying:Execution or Exodus: Iraqi Christians face grim choiceIraq is heading towards a humanitarian, cultural and historical disasterJihadists seize Iraq monasteryA Desperate Cry from Iraqi ChristiansReligious Freedom in Peril"ISIS took the keys of their convent in Mosul."ISIS Attacks 1800 Year Old Christian Church, And Completely Burn It Down And Destroy ItISIS in Mosul, Iraq "No aid to Christians and … [Read more...]
US Bank "Blessing" Brouhaha; Not a Hill to Die On? – UPDATE
Over at Kathy Shiffer's place, she links to a story about a woman who goes beyond "Have a Nice Day!" and is suing US Bank, for her "right" to do so.Except, from the story at Christian Today, it kinda sounds like this woman was making a pest of herself and her faith, not merely wishing blessings but putting people on the spot, too:The former Walton branch employee had worked for the bank for over 20 years. She said that she started saying "have a blessed day" to all of her customers … [Read more...]
Cake and Hammers: Frank Underwood Has a Word for Kirsten Powers
Here we are, a bare week out of Lent, and the Christians are banging on one another, as we too often do, this time about whether or not Christ Jesus would bake a wedding cake for a same sex couple.It all started with Kirsten Powers, writing at USA Today, declaring that Christians wanted to go all Jim Crow against gay couples, and adding "Maybe they should just ask themselves, "What would Jesus do?" I think he'd bake the cake."Powers followed that up with another indictment, this time in … [Read more...]
John Allen's Stark Reality of a Global War on Christians – UPDATED
Deacon Greg Kandra has linked to the words of an Orthodox Priest, Fr. Peter-Michael Preble, who is sketching out the difference between what American Christians perceive as persecution, and what what real persecution is:Are you, as a Christian, prevented by anyone from setting up a Christmas tree in your home? Are you, as a Christian, prevented from attending the church of your choice on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?. . .Have armed rebels stormed your church or home and taken you hostage … [Read more...]
5 Myths about Christian Persecution
Given the interest in this subject, let's go to the invaluable John Allen as he debunks a few myths. (via the also-invaluable New Advent)French intellectual Régis Debray, a veteran leftist who fought alongside Che Guevara in Bolivia, has observed that anti-Christian persecution unfolds squarely in the political blind spot of the West -- the victims are usually "too Christian" to excite the left, "too foreign" to interest the right.As a contribution towards erasing that blind spot, let's … [Read more...]


text: I saw a precipitation map on TV that showed the Midwest is still below normal for precipitation. Even though there's been some rain it is still in "drought" status. Then I saw another program where the Army Corps of Engineers is refusing to flood the Missippi to improve shipping because they believe they may need the stores of water for next summer. Anybody else seeing any signs of what to expect for next season?


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We help you search for a South Brent composition tutor. Composition tuition are a brilliant method to start a stimulating new hobby, pick up a new talent and attain confidence in composition. Use our service to search for South Brent composition teachers and determine which suits your requirements so you can start your composition tuition in South Brent today!
This is the fastest way to locate South Brent composition teachers in the UK, helping you discover South Brent composition tuition close to you and South Brent tutors to assist with any instrument, for example, piano, violin or guitar. We can help you find South Brent composition lessons or a one-to-one South Brent composition tutor to prepare for composition exams and develop your composition skills! Our search will order South Brent composition teachers local to you according to their lesson charges and distance from you.
If you are a composition tutor and would like to offer composition tuition services in South Brent or anywhere else across the UK, please register with First Tutors: Music or find out more about us here. Becoming a South Brent composition tutor is a great way to re-affirm your own skills through giving composition lessons while helping others, all in your local South Brent area!


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People also say i look young for my age.
Shows: How I Met Your Mother, 1リットルの涙, American's/Britain's got talent, X-factor, Gokusen, My Boss, My Hero, Great Teacher Onizuka, Fate Zero, Fate UBW, Mind Your Language
Movies: Terminator 2, movies starring Jim Carrey, Jackie Chan, Steve Carrell, 21 Jump Street and other comedic, sci-fi action/anime related stuff.
Music: Groove Coverage, Ayumi Hamasaki, Lady Gaga, Home Made Kazoku, Flight of the Conchords, Lindsey Stirling, KT Tunstall, Sarah Brightman, various youtube musicians.
2. Chili
3. Good food
4. Tissues
5. Computer


text:
Shop All Coaster
Item #: CF5045RLC
Item #: CF5045RLC
- Home
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- Robyn Leather Chair
Robyn Leather Chair
Though this item is long gone, we've curated a few other products that you might also be interested in. Check them out!
Robyn Leather Chair
by Coaster Furniture
At A Glance:
Bring a sleek and sophisticated hint of city living into your home with the Robyn Leather Chair. Smooth pillow-top style cushions and arm rests give a clean look while the angled and capped chrome leg supports lend a touch of shine and sophistication.
- Overall Size: 30.5" h x 43.5" w x 34" d
- Saddlebag style pillow arm
- Semi-attached back
- Webbed seat back construction
- Sinuous spring base
- Chrome base
Materials & Measurements
Materials: Constructed of hardwoods, veneers, and bonded leather
Measurements: 30.5" h x 43.5" w x 34" d
Seat Depth: 19.5" d
Seat Height: 20" h
Carton Size: 21" h x 44.5" w x 41.25" d
Shipping Weight: 88 pounds
Shipping & Delivery
Options are good. Here are your 2 shipping options:
Free Front Door Delivery: Free
Front door delivery service means that your item will ship as quickly and safely as possible from our warehouse to your garage or primary entrance. If you live in an apartment building, the item will be left in the lobby. Prior to delivery, our shipper will contact you using the number provided to us during checkout to schedule a delivery appointment. The driver will unload the item from the truck and place it at your door. Keep in mind that this service does not include product placement inside your home, debris removal or assembly, so if you need one of these options be sure to check out our shipping upgrades or contact us at 888-467-6278 for a custom quote.
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Inside delivery is a cost effective way to have large, heavy items delivered inside your home or office when you just do not want to be bothered by moving and lifting. We recommend inside delivery because this item is either extremely large, extremely heavy or ships in multiple boxes. When your order reaches the local station in your area, you will be contacted to schedule a delivery appointment (with a 4 hour window). The driver will place the item inside your home and do all of the heavy lifting for you!
This item ships FREE within 2-3 days of the purchase date to arrive within 5-7 days, in the contiguous United States.
Product Q&A
This product is subject to a 1-year limited warranty for manufacturing defects.


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by Staff Writers
Chicago IL (SPX) Jul 29, 2014
Physicists have identified the "quantum glue" that underlies a promising type of superconductivity -- a crucial step towards the creation of energy superhighways that conduct electricity without current loss.
The research, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a collaboration between theoretical physicists led by Dirk Morr, professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and experimentalists led by Seamus J.C. Davis of Cornell University and Brookhaven National Laboratory.
The earliest superconducting materials required operating temperatures near absolute zero, or -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. Newer unconventional or "high-temperature" superconductors function at slightly elevated temperatures and seemed to work differently from the first materials.
Scientists hoped this difference hinted at the possibility of superconductors that could work at room temperature and be used to create energy superhighways.
Superconductivity arises when two electrons in a material become bound together, forming what is called a Cooper pair. Groundbreaking experiments performed by Freek Massee and Milan Allan in Davis's group were analyzed using a new theoretical framework developed at UIC by Morr and graduate student John Van Dyke, who is first author on the report.
Their results pointed to magnetism as the force underlying the superconductivity in an unconventional superconductor consisting of cerium, cobalt and indium, with the molecular formula CeCoIn5.
"For a long time, we were unable to develop a detailed theoretical understanding of this unconventional superconductor," said Morr, who is principal investigator on the study. Two crucial insights into the complex electronic structure of CeCoIn5 were missing, he said: the relation between the momentum and energy of electrons moving through the material, and the 'quantum glue' that binds the electrons into a Cooper pair.
Those questions were answered after the Davis group developed high-precision measurements of CeCoIn5 using a scanning tunneling spectroscopy technique called quasi-particle interference spectroscopy. Analysis of the spectra using a novel theoretical framework developed by Morr and Van Dyke allowed the researchers to extract the missing pieces of the puzzle.
The new insight allowed them to explore the 30-year-old hypothesis that the quantum glue of superconductivity is the magnetic force.
Magnetism is highly directional, Morr said.
"Knowing the directional dependence of the quantum glue, we were able, for the first time, to quantitatively predict the material's superconducting properties using a series of mathematical equations," he said.
"Our calculations showed that the gap possesses what's called a d-wave symmetry, implying that for certain directions the electrons were bound together very strongly, while they were not bound at all for other directions," Morr said. Directional dependence is one of the hallmarks of unconventional superconductors.
"We concluded that magnetism is the quantum glue underlying the emergence of unconventional superconductivity in CeCoIn5."
The finding has "lifted the fog of complexity" surrounding the material, Morr said, and was only made possible by "the close collaboration of theory and experiment, which is so crucial in advancing our understanding of complex systems."
"We now have an excellent starting point to explore how superconductivity works in other complex material," Morr said. "With a working theory, we can now investigate how we have to tweak the system to raise the critical temperature -- ideally, all the way up to room temperature."
Related Links
University of Illinois at Chicago
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.


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Pedr James (born 21st June, 1942 in Cardiff) worked as a director on Coronation Street from September 1986 to August 1987 with 6 episodes to his name.
James worked as an insurance clerk for five years before enrolling at Coleg Harlech in North Wales, then working for the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool and for Mersey Television. His other credits include Brookside, the BBC adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit and Our Friends In The North. From 1997 to 2000 he was Head of Drama at BBC Wales.
Episodes directed by Pedr JamesEdit
1986 (2 episodes)
1987 (4 episodes)


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Marketing Checklist Top priorities for agent.sbobet2.com :
79 personalized tasks for
online marketing success!
Title Tag
Sign In
Length: 7 character(s)
HTML title tags appear in browser tabs, bookmarks and in search results.
It looks like your title tag is a little outside the ideal length. Since they are one of the most important on-page SEO elements you should make your title tags between 50 and 60 characters. Make sure each page has a unique title and use your most important keywords. For internal pages start your title tags with your most important keyword(s).
We did not find HTML headings (<H1> to <H6>) on this page.
HTML header tags (or simply header tags) differentiate between headings, subheadings and the rest of the content on the page.
sbobet2.com currently has 0 HTML header tags. Each page should have one, and only one, <H1> tag. Use keywords in your headings with your most important keywords in the top level, and be sure to maintain the <H1> to <H6> hierarchy.
While it is important to ensure every page has an <H1> tag, only include more than one per page if you're using HTML5. Instead, use multiple <H2> - <H6> tags.
Keywords Cloud
This Keyword Cloud provides an insight into the frequency of keyword usage within the page.
It's important to carry out keyword research to get an understanding of the keywords that your audience is using. There are a number of keyword research tools available online to help you choose which keywords to target.
Keyword Consistency
|Keywords (2 words)
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Keyword consistency is the use of keywords throughout the different elements of the webpage. Consistent keyword use helps crawlers index your site and determine relevancy to search queries.
The table above highlights the most frequently used keywords on your page and how consistently you're using them.
Alt Attribute
We found 2 images on this web page.
2 ALT attributes are empty or missing.
Alternative text allows you to add a description to an image. Since search engine crawlers cannot see images, they rely on alternative text attributes to determine relevance to a search query. Alternative text also helps makes an image more likely to appear in a Google image search and is used by screen readers to provide context for visually impaired users.
It looks like you're missing alternative text for 2 images on sbobet2.com. Check the images on your website to make sure accurate and relevant alternative text is specified for each image on the page.
Try to minimize the number of alt text characters to 150 or less (including spaces!) to optimize page load times.
Discovered Pages
A low number can indicate that bots are unable to discover your pages, which is commonly caused by bad site architecture & internal linking, or you're unknowingly preventing bots and search engines from crawling & indexing your pages. An unusually high number could be an indication of duplicate content due to URL parameters.
Make sure your website's XML sitemap is present and that you've submitted it to the major search engines. Building backlinks to your website's internal pages will also help bots to discover, crawl and index them, while building authority to help them rank in search results at the same time.
Check Index Status and Crawl Errors in Google Search Console to track the status of your crawled/indexed pages.
If you use parameters in your URL like session IDs or sorting and filtering, use the rel="canonical" tag tag to tell search engines which version of those pages is the original.
Make sure your website's XML sitemap is present and that you've submitted it to the major search engines. Building backlinks to your site's internal pages will also help bots find, crawl and index them, while at the same time building authority to help them rank in the search results. Nofollow links from reputable forums, discussion boards and social media will also help crawlers find and index your pages.
Check Index Status and Crawl Errors in Google Search Console to track the status of your crawled/indexed pages.
If you use parameters in your URL like session IDs or sorting and filtering, use the rel="canonical" tag tag to tell search engines which version of those pages is the original.
In-Page Links
We found a total of 2 link(s) including 1 link(s) to files
|No Anchor Text
|Internal Links
|Create your login seal
|Internal Links
Links pass value from one page to another. This value is called 'link juice'.
A page's link juice is split between all the links on that page so lots of unnecessary links on a page will dilute the value attributed to each link. There's no exact number of links to include on a page but best practice is to keep it under 200.
Using the Nofollow attribute in your links prevents some link juice, but these links are still taken into account when calculating the value that is passed through each link, so using lots of NoFollow links can still dilute PageRank.
Broken links
No broken links were found on this web page
Broken links send users to non-existent web pages. They hurt a site's usability and reputation, which impacts SEO.
Fortunately your page doesn't contain any broken links.
Be proactive in checking your pages to make sure they don't have any broken links.
A robots.txt file allows you to restrict the access of search engine crawlers to prevent them from accessing specific pages or directories. They also point the web crawler to your page's XML sitemap file.
Your site currently has a robot.txt file. You can use Google Search Console's Robots.txt Tester to submit and test your robot.txt file and to make sure Googlebot isn't crawling any restricted files.
XML Sitemap
We checked sbobet2.com but couldn't find an XML sitemap.XML sitemaps contain the list of your URLs that are available to index and allows the search engines to read your pages more intelligently. They can also include information like your site's latest updates, frequency of changes and the importance of URLs.
Your site is currently missing an XML sitemap. We recommend you generate one for your site and submit it through both Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Normally, your XML sitemap would be found at sbobet2.com/sitemap.
Make sure to only include the pages you want search engines to crawl, so leave out any that have been blocked in a robots.txt file. Avoid using any URLs that cause redirects or error codes and be consistent in using your preferred URLs (with or without www.), correct protocols (http vs. https) and trailing slashes. You should also use your robots.txt file to point search engine crawlers to the location of your sitemap.
URL Parameters
Good, the URLs look clean.
Use the URL Parameters Tool in Google Search Console to tell Google how your URL parameters affect page content and how to to crawl URLs with parameters. Use this tool very carefully - you can easily prevent Google from crawling pages you want indexed through overly restrictive crawling settings, especially if you have URLs with multiple parameters.
Underscores in the URLs
Great, you are not using underscores (these_are_underscores) in your URLs.
Great, you aren't using underscores (these_are_underscores) in your URLs.
Google sees hyphens as word separators while underscores aren't recognized. So the search engine sees www.example.com/green_dress as www.example.com/greendress. The bots will have a hard time determining this URL's relevance to a keyword.
Blocking Factors
Flash: No
Frames: No
Great, you aren't using Flash or frames on your site.
While it often looks nicer, Flash content can't be properly indexed by search engines. Maximize your SEO efforts by avoiding Flash.
Search engines also have problems with frames because they can't crawl or index the content within them. Avoid them if you can and use a NoFrames tag when you can't.
Length: 7 character(s)
Keep your URLs short and clean and avoid long domain names when possible.
A descriptive URL is better recognized by search engines. A user should be able to look at the address bar and make an accurate guess about the content of the page before reaching it (e.g., http://www.mysite.com/en/products).
Keep in mind that URLs are also an important part of a comprehensive SEO strategy. Use clean URLs to make your site more "crawlable" by Google™.
Resource: Search for a good domain name. If no good names are available, consider a second hand domain. To prevent brand theft, you might consider trademarking your domain name.
Your website does not have a favicon.
Favicons are the small icons that appear next to your site's name or URL in a browser. They can be displayed in the address bar, a browser tab title or bookmarks. Make sure it is consistent with your brand.
Here is a way one company used a special favicon to improve user experience.
Page Size
15.7 KB (World Wide Web average is 2 Mb)
Two of the main reasons for an increase in page size are images and JavaScript files. Large page size contributes to slow page speeds so try to keep your page size below 2 Mb.
Tip: Use images with a small size and optimize their download with gzip.
Load Time
0.65 second(s) (24.03 kB/s)
Your website is fast. Well done.
Site speed is an important factor for ranking high in Google™ search results and enriching the user experience.
Resources: Check out Google™'s developer tutorials for tips on how to to make your website run faster.
Monitor your server and receive SMS alerts when your website is down with a web monitoring service.
Declared: Missing
Detected: English
Your website hasn't specified a language yet. Use the META Language Attribute to declare the intended language of your website. We've detected that your website is currently in English.
Here are some tips for multilingual websites:
- Define the language of the content in each page's HTML code.
- Specify the language code in the URL as well (e.g., "mywebsite.com/fr/mycontent.html").
- Use hreflang tags to specify language and country for Google, and the "content-language" meta tag to specify the language and country for Bing.
Structured Data Markup
No Structured Data Markup has been detected
Get the most out of Google's rich snippets for content types such as: Reviews, People, Products, Businesses and Organizations, Recipes, Events, Videos and Music. If your website covers one of these topics, then we suggest that you annotate it with Schema.org using microdata. Structured Data Markup is used to generate Rich Snippets in search engine results. It is a way for website owners to send structured data to search engine robots; helping them to understand your content and create well-presented search results.
Get the most out of Google's rich snippets for content types such as: reviews, people, products, businesses and organizations, recipes, events, videos and music.
If sbobet2.com covers one of these topics, then we suggest that you annotate it with Schema.org using microdata.
Domain Availability
|Expires 2 years ago
|This domain is booked
|This domain is booked
|Available. Register it now!
|Available. Register it now!
Register the various extensions of your domain to protect your brand from cybersquatters.
Typo Availability
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Register the various typos of your domain to protect your brand from cybersquatters.
Email Privacy
Good, no email address has been found in plain text.
We don't recommend adding plain text/linked email addresses to your webpages, as malicious bots scrape the web in search of email addresses to spam. Instead, consider using a contact form.
Server IP
Server location: MAKATI
Your server's IP address has little impact on your SEO. Nevertheless, try to host your website on a server which is geographically close to your visitors. Search engines take the geolocation of a server into account as well as the server speed.
Use DNSstuff for comprehensive reports on your server.
Get to know the technologies used for your website. Some codes might slow down your website. Ask your webmaster to take a look at this.
Speed Tips
Warning: your website's speed could be slightly improved.
Too bad, your server is not using a caching method.
Too bad, your website is using nested tables, which can slow down page rendering.
Too bad, your website is using inline styles.
Perfect, your website has few CSS files.
Perfect, your website has few JavaScript files.
Perfect, your website takes advantage of gzip.
Website speed has a huge impact on performance, affecting user experience, conversion rates and even rankings. By reducing page load-times, users are less likely to get distracted and the search engines are more likely to reward you by ranking your pages higher in the SERPs.
Conversion rates are far higher for websites that load faster than their slower competitors.
See Google's PageSpeed Insights Rules for more information on how to improve each of the elements in this section.
Web analytics let you measure visitor activity on your website. You should have at least one analytics tool installed, but It can also be good to install a second in order to cross-check the data.
Popular Analytics Tools Include: Google Analytics, Quantcast™, AdobeAnalytics™, Piwik™, chartbeat™, Clicky™, ClickTale™, etc.
Great, language/character encoding is specified: ISO-8859-1
Specifying language/character encoding can prevent problems with the rendering of special characters.
SSL Secure
Warning! Your website is not SSL secured (HTTPS).
- Use a serious issuer to purchase your SSL certificate
- Redirect all pages from HTTP://www.sbobet2.com to HTTPS://www.sbobet2.com versions
- Use HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) in your headers
- Renew your SSL certificate every year, before it expires
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- Update your XML sitemap to ensure the URLs include HTTPS and update the robots.txt file to reference this version
- Register HTTPS://www.sbobet2.com in Google & Bing Search Console/Webmaster Tools.
Crawl Errors
Backlinks Counter
We've detected 3,516 backlinks pointing to your site.
Backlinks are links that point to your website from other websites. They are like letters of recommendation for your site.
Since this factor is crucial to SEO, you should have a strategy to improve the quantity and quality of backlinks.
Keyword Tool
Traffic Estimations
This shows your estimated traffic for sbobet2.com compared to any competitors you have chosen. We use Alexa for this information.
Traffic Rank
5,687th most visited website in the World
A low rank means that your website gets a lot of visitors.
Your Alexa Rank is a good estimate of the worldwide traffic to sbobet2.com, although it is not 100 percent accurate.
Reviewing the most visited websites by country can give you valuable insights.
SEMRush provides similar services.
Adwords Traffic
Visitors Localization
We recommend that you book the domain names for the countries where your website is popular. This will prevent potential competitors from registering these domains and taking advantage of your reputation in such countries.


text:
The Copper Box Arena, Olympic Park, London
Sunday 12th March 2017
Join Look Good Feel Better for our first ever charity Netball Tournament, in partnership with England Netball and M&S Beauty.
Hosted at the prestigious Copper Box Arena, this one day tournament will welcome 30 teams to battle it out on court to raise vital funds and awareness for Look Good Feel Better. The tournament is open to all abilities, and what's more, all players will have the opportunity to meet and be coached by elite England Netball players.
For our full list of FAQs click here
When you're not on court, players and spectators can also enjoy an array of activities taking place in our exclusive Playground:
- La Roche-Posay will be providing expert skincare advice
- Balance Me will be giving guests skin scanning consultations with product recommendations as well as gorgeous hand and arm massages
- Studio 10 will be offering make-overs
- The Healing Zone Clinic will be offering some well-deserved sports massages
- Look Good Feel Better will be leading mini Masterclasses throughout the day, giving people an insight into the LGFB experience
- The Perfume Shop
- Ultra Sun
Please note that some stand holders may request a voluntary donation for some of the activities.
1. Player Entry (£35) - SOLD OUT
2. Team Entry (£350) - SOLD OUT
3. Spectator pass (£10) - bring along friends and family to cheer you on. A spectator pass will give them full access to the Beauty Playground and a goody bag
Online booking fee


text:
McDonald's.... Pfft your lovin' Me ......................... ....................................................................... LONG LIVE THE "BGoA" ... "Boulder Guild of Assassins"
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.
don't know what else to call it... this is my first attempt at anything other than ships or weaponry...
as you can see it is still pretty basic, the hands still need a bit of work since with how they are they won't move
and I'm thinking about rebuilding the "hip joints", since they look a bit bulky and not very movable


text:
Bangar Bil Zabadi - Egyptian Beet Salad
Recipe by Mia in Germany
From a German website about travelling in Egypt. They say that beet root is a popular compound of salads in Egypt and also a popular side dish. Cooking time is chilling time. Submitted for Visit Egypt / NAME forum May 2012
Top Review by Lazarus
This was very easy to make, and quite tasty. I felt it was missing something, though, to sharpen up the flavour. Perhaps extra garlic, or maybe a tiny bit of red wine vinegar. The base is excellent, so it wouldn't take much to make this dish an excellent salad. Thanks Mia. Made for PAC Fall 2012.
See Discussion:1 Review
Ingredients Nutrition
- 1⁄2 lb beet, boiled
- 3 1⁄2 ounces tomatoes
- 3 1⁄2 ounces cucumbers
- 1 cup yoghurt
- 1 garlic clove
- salt, to taste
Directions See How It's Made
- Cube the boiled beets.
- Cube tomatoes and cucumber.
- Finely mince garlic, combine with yoghurt and salt to taste.
- Combine yoghurt dressing with vegetables and chill for one hour before serving.


text:
|Kakita Hazuko
|Six un-named brothers
Kakita Hazuko was a young shugenja who trained with the Asahina family. She was graceful, attractive and intelligent, and would frequently grace Winter Courts. [1]
Family Edit
Her mother terrified Hazuko about motherhood, and the Asahina avoided love, marriage and childbirth. Hazuko became an isolated and insulated girl. Her six brothers were trained at the Kakita Dueling Academy. [1]
Training Edit
HAzuko was trained in the Asahina Shugenja school at Shinden Asahina, and her teachers guided Hazuko to the "gliding" dance, a dance style which used Air spell to assist in impressive dancing moves. In such a way she realized the world was less harsh than her mother had said. [1]
Cursed Edit
Hazuko was cursed by a critically injured pregnant woman, while Hazuko was removing her from the sacred Asahina grounds. The Asahina did not wish her death could contaminate its purity, and their cruel orders were accomplished. [1]
Single Edit
Hazuko's mother made a deep scrutiny of any suitor who wished Hazuko's hand, and the matchmakers gave up their attempts for easier brides. In several winter courts a secret contest known as "Thawing of the Ice" was secretelly sprung, and any who managed some form of personal contact with the Kakita maiden would be awarded with great prizes, of such valor as a Kaiu Blade. It was not known any winner of these rewards. [1]
See Also Edit
|This Crane Clan related article is a stub. That means that it has been started, but is incomplete. You can help by adding to the information here.


text:
Sell your property in Vale of White Horse without the high street agent fees
Leading online estate agent. Sell for £795 with no hidden fees. Call us 7 days on 0333 121 4950.
Our activity around Vale of White Horse
Properties Listed
Average Customer Saving
Viewings Requested
Offers Made
Better Service
99.1% of customers recommend us*
Our award-winning team is available 7 days a week to help progress your sale, supervising and problem-solving all the way until moving day to make the process as stress-free as possible.
*Based on 1109 reviews on allagents.co.uk
Better Everywhere
Properties we're currently selling around Vale of White Horse
We've sold homes in 98% of postcodes areas in the UK. Here's what we're currently selling around Vale of White Horse
Flat 3/Cygnet Court, Caldecott Road, , Abingdon, OX14 5ET
1 Bedroom
Asking price: £169,900
Buttercross Lane, Witney, OX28
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £375,000
Corn Street, Witney, OX28
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £375,000
Mereland Road, Didcot, OX11
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £311,950
Dickenson Road, Taw Hill, Swindon, SN25
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £275,000
Cowleaze, Swindon, SN5
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £279,995
Hazel Grove, Thatcham, RG18
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £465,000
Red House Road, Bodicote, Banbury, OX15
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £319,995
Caldecott Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £460,000
Bradstocks Way, Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, OX14
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £230,000
Nursery Close, Oxford
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £274,500
Birdlip Close, Witney, Oxon, OX28
4 Bedroom
Asking price: £415,000
Broadway Close, Witney, Oxfordshire
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £325,000
Hailey Road, Witney, OX28
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £265,000
Catherine Street, Oxford, OX4
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £425,000
Hill Crescent, Finstock, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7
3 Bedroom
Asking price: £290,000
Flatford Place, Kidlington, OX5
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £295,000
Chapel Mews, Cirencester Road, Fairford, GL7
1 Bedroom
Asking price: £129,950
Clapham Close, Swindon, SN2
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £195,000
5 Jubilee Road, Swindon, SN2 2LW
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £120,000
Deneb Drive, Swindon, SN25
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £165,000
Teale Close, Bicester, OX25
2 Bedroom
Asking price: £259,000
Better Value
Our sellers saved an average of £4,378 in fees with eMoov.
Over 5,000 homes sold. No hidden fees. No sole-agency agreements.
Just great features, with a great service, at a fairer price.
See what you could save
What could you save?
Property price
Traditional estate agent fee
You could save with eMoov
Better Results
34% more likely to sell with eMoov
vs. the average of 8 high street agents and online agents (Jan 2016). Here's how we've sold over 5,000 properties at 99% of last advertised price.
- 1. List with eMoov
- 2. Photography & Floorplans
- 3. We promote your home
- 4. Qualified Viewings
- 5. Offer Negotiation
- 6. Support to Completion
List with eMoov
You can sell your home with eMoov online or on the phone by calling us on 0333 121 4950. We offer secure payment methods, with the option to pay now or pay later with 0% finance.
We believe in our services so much that we even offer a money back guarantee.
- Secure payments via credit card, Paypal or a 0% financing option.
- Pay online or over the phone on 0333 121 4950.
- Free Valuation service if you're not quite sure what how to price your property.
Photography & Floorplans
Our media team will visit your property to take photographs, compile a floorplan and carry out an EPC if needed.
- We use SLR cameras for higher quality photographs.
- You choose which photos to use before your listing is published.
- Manage your entire listing online. Instantly change price, property description, etc.
We promote your home
Your home will be quickly advertised on 100's of the biggest property websites like Rightmove, Zoopla, Prime Location, S1 Homes (Scotland) and eMoov.co.uk. That's millions of buyer visitors each month.
- Visits per month – 117.5 million
- Pages viewed per day – 58.5 million
- Visits per month – 50 million
- Page viewed per day – 13 million
Qualified Viewings
Our viewings team will qualify potential buyers and work with you to schedule appointments at your convenience. As you are the expert on your property we believe you are the best person to show prospective buyers around and impart it's selling points. Buyers prefer this too.
- We qualify all buyers to understand their position.
- Buyers can use social login to fully verify themselves.
- We follow on all viewings to gather feedback.
- Log in to our platform and set your viewing availability.
- Accept and manage viewings 24/7.
Offer Negotiation
We verify every offer that we receive on your behalf to confirm they can proceed. We then negotiate the very best price for you, informing you of any updates along the way and passing on your decision to accept or reject it.
Our recent performance shows that we typically achieve sold prices of 99% of the last asking price compared with the average UK agent at just 97% (Source: Hometrack 2016).
- In-house team who negotiate a great price for you.
- 99% of last advertised asking price typically achieved.
- Properties to a value of over £1bn sold to date.
- Sold properties ranging from £38,000 up to £3.15m.
Support to Completion
Our award-winning team is available 7 days a week to help progress your sale through to completion. We'll ensure that property lawyers are instructed by both parties and a memorandum of sale is sent. We then supervise and problem-solve where necessary all the way until moving day.
- We'll chase others in the chain so you don't have to.
- Award winning, in-house team.
- 99% customer satisfaction (Source: allagents.co.uk).
Narrow your search within Vale of White Horse
Reasons to love Vale of White Horse
Estate agents in Vale of White Horse
Whether you're looking to buy or sell in the Vale of White Horse area, eMoov can help you achieve what you want. We are a leading online estate agent, listing and selling properties in the Vale of White Horse area and across the length and breadth of the UK.
There are several high profile estate agents operating in and around the Vale of White Horse including Blue Door, Hodsons Estate Agents, Thomas Merrifield Estate Agents and Savills. All of these traditional high street estate agents are likely to charge an estate agent fee of around 1.5% to sell your home. eMoov, though, are able to sell your home in Vale of White Horse for as little as £595, saving you thousands.
Around Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse is a district in Oxfordshire in the south of England. It is sandwiched between The Cotswolds and The Chilterns; two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Vale of White Horse is also located incredibly close to the city of Oxford, only 20 minutes by road.
Sell your home in Vale of White Horse
There's a wonderful array or property for sale in and around the Vale of White Horse area, attracting those who wish to live in the Oxford suburbs. Property prices in the area have increased by 5% in the past year, to an average of £391,000.
If you're looking for an estate agent you can trust in the Vale of White Horse area, or anywhere else in the UK, then why not give eMoov a call to see how we can help sell your home for the best price? You can contact our team for a free property valuation today.


text:
George Constant is a trusts and estates attorney who focuses on helping individuals, families and business owners plan for everything they own and everyone they love. He excels in explaining complex and confusing legal issues to clients so that they can ultimately make the best decisions for themselves and their families. George guides his client in creating plans that not only protect and preserve their assets for their loves ones, but also pass on their values and life lessons as part of a comprehensive legacy.
George is an adjunct professor at Salem State College, teaching estate planning in the Graduate Certificate Program in Financial Planning. He is a frequently requested lecturer for private industry, community groups and charitable organizations, and has been featured as an estate planning expert on financial radio programs.
George holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from Boston University School of Law, and a Juris Doctorate from New England School of Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Skidmore College, where years later he proudly served as a Director on the Alumni Board. Prior to starting his own practice, George was associated with a downtown Boston Trusts & Estates firm, where he represented high-net-worth families and their businesses. George has also served as a consultant to both local and internationally renowned charitable organizations seeking to advance their missions through charitable gift planning.
When he's not working, George enjoys spending time with his wife Joan, and their two sons, Dean and John. An avid soccer fan and certified "Soccer Dad", George travels to the far ends of Massachusetts (and beyond) most weekends to watch his kids play the ultimate team sport.


text:
Candy Cane Kisses
Recipe by CrewCrews
Made these from Nick Jr family magazine-- easy and turned out great!
Top Review by sprue
these were super easy and yummy. the recipe didnt specify when to put in the vanilla so guesses. also my mix never was able to make stiff peaks but the finished product was delicious. i only had one cookie sheet so i made them a little bigger and i like them because they were chewier in the center. next time i make them... and there will be a next time. i think i will add some dark chocolate flakes to the mix. they were really good with chocolate! very festive looking cookies!
See Discussion:2 Reviews
Ingredients Nutrition
- 8 regular size candy canes
- 2 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch cream of tartar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3⁄4 cup superfine sugar
Directions See How It's Made
- TIP: When separating the eggs be sure that absolutely NO yolk gets in with the whites.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line two large cookie sheets with Parchment paper
- Place unwrapped candy canes in zip lock or paper bag and crush with rolling pin or mallet. (Should have about 1 cup).
- Place egg whites in bowl and beat until foamy.
- Add salt and cream of tartar.
- Beat again at medium.
- Gradually sprinkle in sugar, about a tbs at a time.
- Continue beating until mixture is shiny and forms stiff peaks.
- Fold in candy until barely incorporated.
- Drop batter on parchment covered cookie sheet in heaping teaspoons about 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Place into hot oven, shut door.
- Turn off the oven.
- Leave in oven at least one hour. (can also make these before bed and remove in morning.)
- For cookies to crisp properly, do not open the oven door!
- Finish cooling on rack.
- Store in covers tin at room temperature to maintain crispness.


text:
A man arrested on suspicion of arson following a fire in which a 40-year-old died has been bailed until the new year.
Yesterday a police spokesman said: "Police and forensic teams continue to investigate the cause of a fire to which emergency services were called at around 3.50am on Wednesday in St George's Terrace, Brighton.
"The cause of the fire is currently unexplained.
"The local man, who was brought out of the property but was pronounced dead at the scene, has not yet been formally identified and the cause of his death has not yet been established, but a post-mortem is due to take place today or tomorrow.
"The 48-year-old local man arrested near the scene on suspicion of arson was released on police bail on Wednesday evening until January 14 2013 while enquiries continue."
See the latest news headlines from The Argus:
- Hundreds of jobs to go at major drugs plant
- Tributes pour in for Big Issue seller Bob
- Proposal for A27 upgrade not a 'longer-term fix'
- Man freed after four vehicle crash near golf course
- Man charged after gunshots fired at house and car


text:
Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. (NASDAQ:HMIN)
Q2 2008 Earnings Call
August 11, 2008 9:00 pm ET
Ethan Ruan - Investor Relations Manager
David Sun - Chief Executive Officer, Director
May Wu - Chief Financial Officer
Chris Woronka - Deutsche Bank
David Katz - Oppenheimer
Hao Hung - Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Marisa Ho - Credit Suisse
Brenda Li - Merrill Lynch
Lin Hi - Morgan Stanley
Hello and thank you for standing by for Home Inns second quarter 2008 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the meeting over to your host for today's conference, Ethan Ruan, Home Inns' Investor Relations Manager. Please proceed.
Ethan Ruan
Hello, everyone and welcome to Home Inns' second quarter 2008 earnings conference call. Our second quarter earnings results were released earlier and are available on the company's website as well as on Newswire services. Today you will hear from David Sun, our Chief Executive Officer, and May Wu, our Chief Financial Officer. After their remarks, David and May will be available to answer your questions.
Before we continue, please note that the discussion today will include forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, our results may be materially different from the views expressed today. A number of potential risks and uncertainties are outlined in our public filings with the SEC. Home Inns does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law.
As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. In addition, a webcast of this conference call will be available on Home Inns' investor relations website at English.homeinns.com.
I will now turn the call over to our CEO, David Sun.
David Sun
Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us for Home Inns' second quarter 2008 earnings conference call. The second quarter was another positive one for Home Inns. Although there were challenges, both anticipated and unexpected, we worked to overcome them to achieve strong revenue growth, improve bottom line results, and further expand our hotel chain.
During the second quarter, we almost doubled our revenues year-on-year due in large part of our continued expansion throughout China. We opened 67 new hotels in the quarter, meaning that in the first half of the year, we have reached half of the 200 new hotels target for 2008, putting us well ahead of last year's progress at this point.
Our mature hotels, or those in operation for longer than 18 months, maintained their strong stable performance with REVPAR of RMB193 compared to RMB192 a year ago. Our Top Star hotels, despite 20% of the properties being directly impacted by the earthquake, reached REVPAR of RMB95, up [significantly] from Q1, while achieving a positive EBITDA for the quarter.
During the first half of the year, we opened 100 hotels or 50% of our target for the year. At the midpoint of 2007, only 28% of the year's target for the new hotels had been achieved, as this is the period during which the pace of construction is typically slow due to the Chinese New Year and winter weather, although the rapid growth of our hotel chain during the earlier part of the year resulted in the higher expense as well as a greater percentage of new hotels. This was an important step to ensure we are capturing key locations, penetrating important markets ahead of our competition, and to bring more hotels online during the first half of the year, we believe that opening a great number of hotels in the first half will be beneficial as these hotels will be operating during the traditional strong second half of the year, unless we have a short break-even period, then those hotels will open later in the year.
To ensure that we continue to be the best positioned economy hotel chain in China, we believe that expanding at a faster rate than our competitors is an important goal. However, I would like to note that while our expansion plans are robust, they are sensible and we remain [inaudible] at the overall macro environment that we face and ensure that we do not overly erode margins and profitability. This balance is actually becoming easier to achieve as we have recently been experiencing less pressure from competitors who are slowing down their own expansion plans.
Looking forward to the rest of 2008, with our target of 200 new hotels, we believe that even as this strategy has temporarily put pressure on margins, it will alleviate operational and financial costs from hotel conversion and opening for the latter part of the year. We aim to achieve a prudent and potentially self-financed plan so as not to be impacted by the cost of [inaudible] and marketing conditions, and we will benefit in future quarters as the hotels under construction are temporarily offset by the large number of hotels in operation.
While there were many positive aspects from the quarter, we did experience pressure on REVPAR and occupancy rate. Overall, REVPAR in the second quarter was RMB153 or RMB160 excluding our Top Star hotels, compared to RMB174 a year ago. This decline can be attributed to the large mix of new hotels due to our accelerate hotel openings in the first half, the increasing mix in low tier cities as expected, and the impact of the earthquake, which was obviously not anticipated. This impact was especially meaningful to our newer hotels, as these hotels do not yet have a stable customer base and we currently have a large mix of such hotels.
While we believe these metrics will show some recovery from the earthquake related levels as normal travel resumes, the trend overall, we continue as we gain exposure in key markets.
Overall, occupancy was 88.2% or 90% excluding Top Star, which while lower than the 95% a year ago. Given the larger mix of new hotels and the earthquake impact, we believe this illustrates some strong business fundamentals and our ability to execute despite facing headwinds.
20% of our Top Star hotels were located within the more severely impacted earthquake zone, which experienced a significant decrease in travel activities. While this was a setback for our effort to develop the Top Star hotels, the overall operating performance of those hotels will continue to improve as it becomes more integrated into Home Inns. Top Star as a whole reached 95 REVPAR in the second quarter, up substantially from Q1, to reach positive EBITDA. In addition, we have also seen a further rebound in REVPAR in July.
As you know, the Olympics began on August 8th here in China and based on the most recent information, we continue to believe the Olympic Games will be a neutral event with regard to our operational and financial performance. The benefits of the number of people attending the games is expected to be largely offset by reduced business activity during the Olympic period.
With regard to the overall increase in travel costs that has been experienced globally, this should have a limited impact on our performance as the majority of our customers are domestic Chinese and the majority travel by train.
Home Inns remains a leader in the economy hotel space and we are taking steps to ensure that remains the case. The overall economy hotel market is still strong, as evidenced by our same hotel REVPAR comparison, and we are seeing evidence that large, more established hotel chains are gaining overall market share in China. This aspect, as well as our nationwide coverage and strong brand recognition, mean that Home Inns is well-positioned to benefit from this trend.
Now I will turn the call over to May Wu, our CFO, to walk you through the financials. May.
May Wu
Thank you, David and hello, everyone. As per usual, I will be taking you through some of the detailed financials and discussing some of the drivers behind them and how they are going to impact Home Inns. And as usual, please note that all the figures I mention will be in RMB.
For the second quarter of 2008, Home Inns had total revenue of RMB448.1 million, which represents a 93% increase year over year and a 25.5% increase sequentially. Excluding Top Star, total revenues were RMB409.7 million, representing a 76.4% increase year over year and a 24.6% increase sequentially.
Revenues from leased-and-operated hotels for the second quarter were RMB424.6 million, representing a 91.4% increase from a year ago while franchise and managed hotels had revenues of RMB23.5 million, representing an impressive 125.5% increase.
Revenue growth is largely due to our expansion plan, which saw 67 net new hotels open during the quarter, for a total of 100 during the first half of the year. We opened 51 new leased and operated hotels during the second quarter to reach a total of 271 leased and operated hotels, including the 26 Top Star hotels. In contrast, during the same period a year ago Home Inns opened 20 new leased and operated hotels.
Sixteen net new franchised and managed hotels were opened during the second quarter, reaching a total of 95 such hotels compared to only 6 net new franchised-and-managed hotels during the same period a year ago. Currently, Home Inns has 137 hotels under contract and development.
Our hotels performed strongly during the quarter, although below previous levels due to the factors David had mentioned. Overall, the occupancy rate for the entire Home Inns hotel chain was 88.2% in the second quarter of 2008. Excluding the impact of Top Star, which was more impacted than the overall chain by the earthquake, the occupancy rate was 90.8% for the quarter, compared with 95.2% in the same period in 2007 and 86% in the previous quarter. As we discussed earlier, this decline from a year ago was by and large due to the impact of the earthquake, changes made to China's national holiday schedule in May, as well as the higher proportion of new hotels in our overall hotel mix. The sequential increase in occupancy rate was a result of the second quarter being typically a seasonally stronger quarter.
These factors impact ADR in a singular manner, with ADR being RMB173 and without Top Star, RMB176 for the quarter, compared with RMB183 in the same period in 2007 and RMB174 in the previous quarter. In addition, the ADR trend also reflects Home Inns' increased presence in lower-tier cities where room rates are typically lower.
This resulted in REVPAR for the quarter of RMB153, and without Top Star, this jumps back up to RMB160, compared with RMB174 in the same period in 2007 and RMB150 in the previous quarter.
Despite the negative impact of the earthquake and changes in the national holiday schedule, we were able to achieve the level of revenue which was within our previously expected range due to accelerated growth. Along with this growth also came increased costs, which in our opinion is a viable use of capital to ensure our position and future profitability.
Total operating costs and expenses for the quarter were RMB390.5 million. Excluding those from Top Star and share-based compensation expense, operating costs and expenses for the quarter were RMB346.4 million, or 84.6% of total revenues. This compared with operating expenses excluding share-based compensation of RMB176.7 million during the same period a year ago, or 76.1% of revenue.
Operating costs and expenses include the costs incurred by our leased and operated hotels, our sales and marketing, and general and administrative costs. The high expense level this quarter was largely caused by the substantial costs associated with our leased and operated hotels.
Total leased and operated hotel costs for the second quarter were RMB348.7 million, or 82.1 % of the leased and operated hotel revenues, and excluding Top Star, total leased and operated hotel costs were RMB311.2 million, representing 80.6% of the leased and operated hotel revenues. This compared with the 69.8% of leased and operated hotel revenues for the same quarter in 2007. This increase can be attributed to the large number of leased and operated hotels under construction, a higher mix of new hotels, and an increased hotel mix in lower tiered cities, as well as the negative impact of the earthquake.
Sales and marketing expenses for the second quarter were RMB5.5 million, or 1.2% of total revenue, while G&A expenses were RMB36.3 million. G&A expenses excluding share-based compensation were RMB30.9 million, or 6.9% of total revenue. These expenses as a percentage of revenue were largely similar to the level from a year ago.
The above leads to Home Inns' reporting an income from operations of RMB31.3 million, and without Top Star, income from operations was RMB33.6 million, and if we also exclude share-based compensation expense, income from operations was RMB39 million, compared to RMB10.5 million in the previous quarter.
This quarter's income from operations was 9.5% of total revenue compared to 18% in the same period of 2007 and 3.2% in the previous quarter.
EBITDA was RMB63 million and excluding foreign exchange losses and share-based
compensation expenses and Top Star, our adjusted EBITDA was RMB78.7 million, up 27.8% year over year and 62.1% from the previous quarter, because the unfavorable D&A, depreciation and amortization cost ratio that impacted income from operations did not impact EBITDA. Also, Top Star achieved a positive EBITDA during the quarter, which is a satisfying achievement compared to last quarter.
Adjusted net income for the second quarter was RMB26.6 million, a decrease of 33% year over year but significantly up from RMB3.6 million we reported last quarter. U.S. GAAP net profit for the quarter was RMB7.5 million.
For the second quarter of 2008, excluding for-ex losses and share-based compensation expenses, adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share were RMB0.38 and RMB0.36 respectively. Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS were RMB0.75 and RMB0.72 respectively.
Looking forward, given the factors we are facing and the growth that we have experienced, we expect total revenue in the third quarter of 2008 to be in the range of RMB500 million to RMB520 million. This forecast reflects Home Inns' current and preliminary view, which is subject to change.
I would like to close by noting that we believe that many of the factors that have impacted profitability are now largely behind us and we are well-positioned to cost effectively manage our expansion in order to improve margins and achieve attractive top line revenue growth.
David Sun
Thank you, May. As in any business, there are challenges we must work and overcome, many of which we are aware of and working to address through the measures, such as cost control. However, I believe that we may have now reached an inflection point in our business model as our mature hotels continue to provide stable revenues and as our chain continues to expand. The cost of adding new hotels as a percentage of overall revenue is declining. The long-term strategy that we have been implementing over the past quarters is working and the dedicated commitment of our entire team has led to our continued success. I am looking forward to updating you on our progress in the future.
Now, we are happy to answer any of your questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Chris Woronka with Deutsche Bank. Please proceed.
Chris Woronka - Deutsche Bank
A couple of questions; one, we appreciate the breakout of the hotels that have been open for 18 months or more with the REVPAR. Can you just directionally maybe tell us how the margins on those compare to the margins for hotels open less than 18 months?
May Wu
Well, the hotels that have been open for over 18 months, typically our hotels reach stabilization after six months. We use the 18 months hotels for year-over-year comparisons because we are comparing their mature performance with their mature performance a year ago. So to answer your question, how do our ramped up hotels perform, we would like to say that for all our hotels that have been open for over six months, in the second quarter overall as a portfolio that margin is down in the 2% to 3% range year over year, exactly as we had anticipated due to the migration to the lower tier cities.
On a same hotel basis, for the hotels that's in the 18-plus month portfolio, their margin has been very stable or increasing slightly.
Chris Woronka - Deutsche Bank
Okay, great and could you tell us what the Top Star REVPAR would have been without, if you kind of took out the 20% of the hotels that were impacted by earthquakes, the earthquake?
May Wu
Let me get back to you on the exact figures; however, think about it this way -- overall, Top Star reached a REVPAR of 95 during the second quarter and the 20% of the property that's in the earthquake region, their REVPAR was only in the 60, 70 range, starting from mid-May, so for about half of the second quarter, but we can get back to you on the exact figures later on.
Chris Woronka - Deutsche Bank
Okay, very good and then one final one -- can you maybe tell us a little bit about the mix of hotels you opened in the second quarter, kind of tier one versus tier two or tier three? And then how does that look for the hotels you have in the pipeline? And maybe even within that, kind of what is the mix of leased and operated versus franchise look like? Because it looks like you were skewed a little bit more towards the leased side in the second quarter.
May Wu
Sure. Of the hotels that we have in the pipeline in terms of tiers of city breakdown, approximately 10% of the new properties will be in first tier cities, about 70% will be second tier cities, and about 20% will be in even lower tier cities or test markets.
With regard to the mix of leased and operated versus franchised hotels, yes, the first half opening was more geared towards leased and operated hotels and this is by and large a function of our entering a lot of new markets starting from late last year. However, if you look at our pipeline, we have 137 hotels under development and almost 40% of that is franchise and managed hotels, which again is a natural function of the fact that now that we are in these markets and we have hotels opened in the first half and attracted franchisees as a result.
David Sun
Adding on to that, that's really -- it's our new strategy, is try to improve the local franchise mix in the future, so that you can see in the second half of 2008, we are starting to increase the franchise mix in the pipeline.
Chris Woronka - Deutsche Bank
Okay, very good. Thank you.
Your next question comes from the line of David Katz with Oppenheimer. Please proceed.
David Katz - Oppenheimer
Good evening, or good morning. So I just want to make sure I'm clear -- I know we've sliced this a couple of ways and I apologize if you've already sort of gone through this but if we exclude Top Star and we -- margins were still -- I think they were still down, correct? And if we remove -- how do we get to a clean number and figure out where the profitability is excluding some of the noise that was in the quarter, particularly Top Star?
May Wu
Sure. At this point, what we have disclosed is the cost associated with the hotels that's under construction. What we do is to recognize expenses, especially rental as well as utilities as personnel costs that's incurred during the construction period as operating expenses. And this cost was $26.7 million in the second quarter of 2008 versus $7.8 million a year ago, or this quarter it was over 6% of leased and operated hotel revenue versus a little over 3% a year ago. So there we lost about 3% margin. And the -- if we exclude the expense associated with hotels under construction for the entire leased and operated hotel segment, this quarter margin was still down quite a bit compared to last year. By looking at my number, this year the margin on a year-over-year basis would be down by about 6%. Now, this 6%, as I mentioned to Chris Woronka earlier, the hotels that have been open for over six months had fairly -- had margins decrease of 2% to 3%, exactly as we had anticipated due to the migration to lower tier cities. And the remainder 3% to 4% margin erosion was caused by the large number of hotels that's opened for fewer than six months in the portfolio.
Last year at the same period, the hotels that opened in the previous three quarters represented about 30% of our leased and operated hotel portfolio. And this year, because we accelerated hotel openings in the first half, that figure was about 40%. And also, the fact that during the earthquake period, in addition to the hotels that were impacted directly in the earthquake region, we did see a slight slow down in national travel activity and that impact was not felt substantially in our mature hotels but it was more felt at our new hotels, which do not yet have a stable customer base.
So overall, the hotels that are younger than six months achieved a lower margin this quarter compared to a year ago, which contributed to the overall margin deterioration. So these are the factors that impacted second quarter. We believe going forward as our growth pattern becomes more smooth throughout the year and as the percentage of new hotels younger than six months becomes a stable proportion of our -- or a lower proportion of our hotel portfolio, the impact will also be stable or even reduced going forward.
David Katz - Oppenheimer
Okay. That's lots of good information. Thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of [Hao Hung] with Brean Murray. Please proceed.
Hao Hung - Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Thank you. Just two questions; firstly, I'm just wondering, because now you are expanding really fast, probably at the fastest pace in your history, I'm just wondering how difficult it is to find 137 hotels and open all of them in the next couple of months. That's like opening a hotel every other day so I'm just wondering what kind of challenges you will be facing executing your expansion on such a grand scale.
David Sun
Okay, first of all, I'd say in the first half, we have already opened 100 hotels. That means we do have a capacity to open the hotels -- open 100 hotels for the first half of the year, and also that in the pipeline, we do have 137 hotels in the pipeline. That means not all these hotels will be open in the second half. The majority of them will be open in the second half but not all of them will be open. And also, if you look at the mix of leased and operated and the franchised and managed, that's about 40% are the franchised and managed hotels, so we are pretty confident to say that we do have the capacity and also we do have the ability to maintain our expansion speed.
Hao Hung - Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
That's great. Also then, what are some of the responses you get from your competitors?
David Sun
I think the competitive environment in economy hotels in China because of [inaudible] the captive market, because of the market conditions get a little bit changed, so starting from the later of last year, the competition is getting a little bit slowed down. Most of our competitors have slowed down their expansion plans so that we really benefit from the property selection and also the construction paths. So in this moment, we say that's really the whole market, the whole industry is getting slowed down a little bit.
Hao Hung - Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Right. Because also recently the property price in China appreciation is starting to slow and in some cities actually declining, I'm just wondering whether you would get some benefit in terms of your rental payment.
David Sun
In this movement because most of our hotels in the pipeline, we signed the contract before, about two or three months ago, so we start to see the competition of the property selection or choice start to getting to slow down, but it's not a direct benefit on the rental side.
Hao Hung - Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
Okay, just one last one on the tax rate, I noticed that the tax rate has been substantially better than the last two quarters. Just going forward in the next two quarters, will we see the tax rate coming back to the 20% rate?
May Wu
We believe the tax rate will stay in the low to mid 20% range and the reason it substantially improved this quarter is some of the Top Star hotels started to be profitable and also there is more of a prospect of those hotels being profitable, so we are able to recognize some deferred tax assets going forward.
So overall, we still continue to expect, excluding share-based compensation and the for-ex loss, our tax rate should be in the low to mid 20% range for the full year.
Hao Hung - Brean Murray, Carret & Co.
That's great. Thanks, May. Thanks, David.
Your next question comes from the line of Marisa Ho with Credit Suisse. Please proceed.
Marisa Ho - Credit Suisse
Good morning, David. Good morning, May. Could you remind us of your expectations for pre-operating expenses going into the third quarter and the fourth quarter of this year? I mean, should we expect that number to be fairly consistent with the roughly RMB25 million to RMB26 million per quarter as seen in the first half? And perhaps if you can also talk about how the second half pre-operating expenses should compare to the same number a year ago as well?
May Wu
Sure. Yes, we do expect costs for hotels under construction to be in the RMB20 million to RMB25 million per quarter range for each of the third and fourth quarter. As we opened 100 hotels in the first half and we expect to open another 100 in the second half, although with a slightly higher franchise mix, so the pre-opening costs will be similar or slightly lower for each of the third and fourth quarter going forward.
Last year in the third quarter, pre-opening costs were about $10 million in the third quarter and about $18 million in the fourth quarter, so considering that our revenues have almost doubled in the second quarter, going forward the third quarter comparison will be somewhat neutral and fourth quarter comparisons on the pre-opening side will be more favorable.
Marisa Ho - Credit Suisse
Great, thanks.
Your next question comes from the line of Brenda Li with Merrill Lynch. Please proceed.
Brenda Li - Merrill Lynch
Hi May, hi, David. I have just a few very simple questions. First is on the expansion pace; does your previous guidance of 1,000 hotels by the end of 2011 still stand or do you have intention to achieve slow down of new hotels opening pace from 2009 onwards?
And just May mentioned that the margin has achieved pretty stable for existing hotels. We know that the cost elements of hotel operations has been increasing in China so how do you achieve that? Could you please share the dynamics?
And in terms of investment cost per hotel, are you saying that your costs are essentially much lower compared to your competitors? Could you tell us how you achieve that? Thank you.
David Sun
First of all, regarding the 1,000 hotels target objective, we still maintain the 1,000 hotels, open 1,000 hotels before 2011, end of 2011, because we reviewed our expansion plan and we believe if we add 200 new hotels in 2008, that's put our whole chain wise -- opened hotels would reach about 460 to 470, so if we still maintain the pace of 200 hotels new opening in the rest of three years, that definitely we can reach our objective in 1,000 hotels by the end of 2011.
May Wu
And let me answer the question with regard to investment cost and inflation -- first on the investment cost, we have been able to maintain the RMB50,000 to RMB55,000 per room investment all along since our -- since a few years ago and we have only seen a very modest increase in this cost in the low-single-digit range on an annualized basis. This is a result of our more efficiently managing the construction process as well as utilizing our purchasing power as economy of scale and we are very pleased with that and we continue to vigorously execute on that front.
So with regard to the margin of our existing hotels, as you can see in our same hotel comparison, the hotel that is open for 18 months or more, in the first quarter the price increase was about 4% year over year and in the second quarter, the price was -- the utilized ADR was about 2% year over year, somewhat impacted by the earthquake. But overall for the mature hotels, we aim to increase price in the low- to mid-single-digit range on a year-over-year basis.
And when you look at our cost structure at those hotels, rent is the largest component but that's fixed and stable. The cost items we are experiencing the worst inflation is utility and personnel, which combined represent in the low to mid 20% of our -- as the percentage of revenue. Those are going up by the 10% to 15% range, so that will cost us low- to mid-single-digit in terms of margin, which is pretty much offset by the price increase.
So this is how -- while the other cost components are pretty stable, so that's how we are able to maintain or even increase slightly our margin at our mature hotels and unfortunately, we are in a -- we are still in an inflationary environment. Should the inflation moderate, we think we also have some margin improvement opportunities at those mature hotels.
Your next question comes from the line of [Lin Hi] with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed.
Lin Hi - Morgan Stanley
Hi, May, hi, David. My question is regarding the trend of operating margins. We all understand that the rapid expansion and your lower tier city strategy and also some natural disasters in the first half of this year had some negative impact on the operating margins but could you give us some guidance -- when do you expect that the operating margins will show some sign of stabilization?
May Wu
We believe that by the fourth quarter of this year, we will experience some favorable year-over-year comparison. Again, the margins, we've always said that all else equal, we expect overall margin to be down in the 2% to 3% range because of the migration into the lower tier cities, where the room rates are lower but some of the cost components are not. So this 2% to 3% margin deterioration was due to the mix change. But on top of that, in the first half we experienced unfavorable comparisons due to the accelerated hotel opening in the first half, as well as the resulting launch mix of new hotels in the portfolio.
So this opening schedule will reverse compared to a year ago. The comparison will reverse versus a year ago, which will lead to a possibly neutral comparison in the third quarter and a favorable comparison in the fourth quarter, so that's on that front.
And then, coming back to the margins in lower tier cities, how are we going to offset that, this year we are still expanding units by 70% to 80%, but starting next year, if we still add about 200 hotels and let's say with about 60% of that being leased and operated, the percentage of new hotels in the portfolio will start to moderate and we would have reached a stage where we can potentially utilize leverage on our SG&A. So starting from next year, we do expect margin stabilization to the very least.
Lin Hi - Morgan Stanley
Okay, great. Thank you.
With no further questions in the queue, ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude your presentation of today's conference. You may now disconnect and have a good day.
David Sun
Thank you.
May Wu
Thank you.
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