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Seeds and hope in the Sahel
FAO assistance in Africa's Sahel region, struck by droughts in four of the past five years, is aimed at helping vulnerable people get through the current lean season and give them the resilience to face any future emergencies.
One such beneficiary is mother-of-two Ouma Moussa, one of 170 women in Kirari village, northern Niger, who received a 50-kg kit of assorted vegetable seeds from FAO, together with the basic tools and inputs to grow them.
She says the 100 metre² plot she tends by herself can produce up to 70 kilos of potatoes, as well as cabbages, lettuces, tomatoes and peppers. Although the potatoes were just recently introduced to the Sahel, "My children love to eat them" she smiles. "I just boil them".
Next-a cow
Last year's drought meant the well she used to water her plot had run almost dry so her last crop had produced only enough for her family's needs. "But if there's sufficient water in the well this year then I can sell part of my crop to buy a cow," she says.
FAO is also distributing 7 363 tonnes of improved staple crop seeds across the Sahel this year. Fatima Adimou, who farms just one hectare of land near the market town of Gorom Gorom, in northern Burkina Faso, complains of the efforts needed to coax only a meager harvest of millet from the sandy soil. But she has good reason to hope her next crop will be different.
Fatima is one of more than 30 000 vulnerable women in Burkina Faso who received improved seeds under a programme organized by FAO and funded by the EU. She says she expects to grow 50 percent more so that at harvest time she could be bringing home 600-700 kg of millet.
Future guarantee
That would be enough to feed the family - and leave something to sell at market. "These seeds are a guarantee for our future," she says.
One variety of seeds provided by FAO takes 70 days to mature instead of the normal 90-100, and requires less water - an important advantage in the Sahel's arid environment. Apart from millet, beneficiaries also receive improved seeds for other food crops such as niebé beans, cowpeas and sorghum.
In the village of Abala Sani, the Niger, Fadima Mamadou is one of 65 000 household heads to benefit from a seed distribution programme in the region. She was given 10 kg of improved millet and two kg of niebé seeds. Last year's harvest was a disaster, "but I'm expecting to do much better this year", she says.
Clothes and shoes
"I am hoping the new seeds will produce enough for us to eat our fill all year round. If there is a surplus I will sell it to buy clothes, soap, shoes for the children". Vital to food security in the Sahel are livestock. Not only are they an immediate source of food - in the form of eggs, meat and dairy products - but they can be turned into cash to buy food during crises.
In the northern Niger village of Chinfangalan, a woman who gave her name as Seyma was one of 1 400 beneficiaries of an FAO livestock distribution across the region. "All I had left was one donkey - all my other livestock had died," she says, taking delivery of four goats and one ram. "This is going to help me feed my five children. It'll make a huge difference.
Read my face
"I am so happy. Just look at my face!" she adds, beaming a huge, heart-warming smile.
Another beneficiary, Madnitou, a widow with two children, says her goats will make life easier for her small family. "And now I'm better off maybe I'll even find a husband," she grins. Given good grazing, goat herds can increase rapidly, sometimes tripling in the space of a year.
At Bousse Etagge, a Sahelian village of 800 in Burkina Faso, Mohamed Outini says he received two female and one male goat from FAO in 2010, but now his herd has grown to 12. "I sold two rams and with the money I was able to buy medicine for my son when he got sick, and buy bricks to build a house. "My life has changed. Before I just sat under a tree all day. Now I'm aiming to increase my herd to 100." Along with a gift of livestock, Mohamed has also been given hope.


text: Mule chest with drawer from the beautiful Country Living range. Handmade in the UK from Canadian timber to an exclusive LPC design. Classic, traditional farmhouse styled furniture for that perfect homely feel. For more choices of paints and finishes, use the product enquiry tab to speak to one of our staff.

subset: commoncrawl


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Fans of Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D have a new way to enjoy the series: on their iPhones! Digital Manga Publishing has teamed up with Uclick to bring the manga to the Apple App Store, available now!
Here's the full press release:
Classic Sci-Fi Horror Vampire Hunter D Newest Manga on Apple App Store from UCLICK®
Kansas City, MO (April 14, 2009) – Digital Manga Publishing's adaptation of the classic sci-fi horror series Hideyuki Kikuchi's Vampire Hunter D is the latest manga title to arrive in the App Store courtesy of Uclick, the #1 distributor of comics and manga on mobile. The new Vampire Hunter D manga apps present volume one of the DMP series in six downloads, available now for $.99 (US) cents each.
"DMP is very excited to be working with Uclick in bringing Vampire Hunter D to mobile phones," said DMP Production Director Daryl Kuxhouse. "I know fans will enjoy having a completely new way to experience the adventures of Hideyuki Kikuchi's half-vampire hero."
Vampire Hunter D began in 1983 as a very popular series of prose novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi with illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano. Kikuchi mixed elements of gothic horror, science fiction and romance with the classic Western to produce a wholly original, post-apocalyptic vision of the distant future, where humanity is ruled by vampires and tormented by a host of creatures including demons, werewolves and mutants, as well as half-human, half-vampire 'dhampirs' like the series' namesake, D.
Vampire Hunter D novels have an international fan base, having sold more than 17 million copies around the world. The novels have been adapted into two anime movies, an audio drama, a video game and printed manga adaptations.
"The Vampire Hunter D series is similar to our series of Bone apps, in that it's another superb example of a story with tremendous scope and scale, presented on the Multi-Touch display," said Uclick CEO Douglas Edwards. "Uclick is not limited to telling small-scale stories on the Apple devices. This is a blockbuster-sized epic filled with action, horror, romance and intrigue, and we've taken great care to ensure that this series of apps truly captures the power of the story and imagery.
"Our presentation of Vampire Hunter D takes full advantage of the large, backlit iPhone and iPod touch screens to give readers a captivating and unprecedented manga experience."
Uclick has released over 100 manga, comic book, graphic novel and webcomic applications in the Apple App Store. Vampire Hunter D joins a vast and growing group of popular manga titles from Uclick that includes Svetlana Chmakova's three-volume smash-hit Dramacon, the virtual reality-themed comic fantasy Reality Check!, and the sci-fi horror favorite Guilstein. Uclick has also released comic book apps featuring Jeff Smith's Bone, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series Tales of the TMNT and IDW's recent Ghostbusters series.
Most of the iPhone Uclick apps are currently available at $.99 (US) cents each and feature tap-and-swipe, panel-by-panel controls. The Apple devices' large Multi-Touch displays enable a clear, high-resolution presentation. The zoom feature allows an even closer look at any panel.
To get Vampire Hunter D and other favorite manga, comic books and graphic novels for the iPhone and iPod touch go to the Uclick Web App by typing Uclick.com into the Safari browser or visit the App Store on the iPhone or on iTunes.
About UCLICK:
UCLICK® is the leading digital entertainment provider of humor, comic strips, manga, graphic novels, editorial cartoons, and other content for desktop, web and mobile phones. Uclick is also the leading creator and distributor of crosswords, and other word and number puzzles. Partners featuring Uclick content include the leading consumer portals Yahoo!, MSNBC.com, New York Times, Slate.com, washingtonpost.com, CNN, USA Today, and AOL. Uclick features include the top brand franchises Garfield, Doonesbury, Calvin and Hobbes, Paul Frank, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TOKYOPOP, USA Today, Pat Sajak, Wyland, and many more. Uclick creative content and services are available through the GoComics.com website, U.S. mobile phone operators, the iTunes App Store, and other distributors worldwide. UCLICK, LLC is a division of Andrews McMeel Universal, the leading newspaper syndicate and publisher of humor books and calendars in North America.
For more information on Uclick, visit www.uclick.com.
About Digital Manga Publishing, Inc.
Located in Gardena, CA, Digital Manga Publishing is one of the industry's most unconventional and innovative companies, specializing in building corporate and cultural bridges from Japan to the Western Hemisphere – specifically through the licensing, importation and preparation of anime (Japanese animation), manga (Japanese comic books) and related merchandise for the North American mainstream and subculture markets. In this capacity, DMI serves as a catalyst for the expansion of Japanese pop culture institutions into global arenas. The company's imprint line includes DMP: its mainstream imprint, DMP PLATINUM: its classic manga imprint, JUNÉ: its boys love imprint, 801 MEDIA: its adult boys love imprint, and DokiDoki: its exclusive co-publishing imprint with Shinshokan Publishing.
For more information about Digital Manga Publishing, visit www.digitalmanga.com.


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Sustainable design in the Davis Family Library
When the College decided that a new library was needed, the trustees selected the Front Quadrangle as the best site for it. However, the former Science Center located on the desired site was deemed structurally impractical to house the new library. A decision was made to remove the Science Center and build a new library in its place. During the process, the College took its environmental commitment to new heights by diverting over 90 percent of the old building from landfills though salvage, reuse, and recycling. Middlebury consciously selected a deconstruction process to maximize resource recovery and minimize negative impacts to the community (noise, dust, truck traffic). In addition, four historic homes were relocated to College-owed sites within the village and renovated. The College received the 2002 Vermont Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence for its leadership in construction and demolition waste minimization. To learn about the other sustainable features of the Davis Family Library, click on the topics below.
Because over 50 percent of the electrical demand in the Library is due to lighting, natural light from windows and skylights, energy efficient lighting, and sensors are used to minimize electricity use. Lighting in some parts of the Library is controlled by daylight sensors that turn the lights up or down, depending on the amount of natural light measured in the space. Office areas are equipped with passive infrared occupancy sensors, and meeting rooms feature ceiling mounted occupancy sensors to turn off the lights when the room is unoccupied. Vending machines are equipped with VendingMisers, devices that shut off the display lights when no one is around.
Climate Control
Designed to meet College needs for the next 100 years, investments were made in the thermal qualities of the buildings' envelope, high efficiency windows, air lock vestibule entrances, and a mechanical system featuring premium efficiency motors and heat recovery. In order to protect the extensive collections owned by the College, a sophisticated climate control system is employed that, with the aid of energy modeling during the design, allowed for the optimal sizing of cooling and heating equipment for the building.
Local Wood and Furnishings
The new Library features 150,000 board feet of Vermont harvested hardwood. Seventy percent of the wood came from the College's Bread Loaf certified forest lands, and all of the wood was processed in Vermont. Middlebury College awarded a sizable contract for study carrels and stack end panels to the newly-formed employee cooperative Island Pond Woodworkers in 2002, contributing to economic development in the Northeast Kingdom region of Vermont. Vermont furniture manufactures were employed to craft reading tables and chairs, tables for group study rooms, and desks with certified Vermont maple.
The Northeastern Loggers' Association (NELA) awarded Middlebury College the Association's 2003 Outstanding Use of Wood Award for the Library project and other recently completed campus projects. Since 1999, Middlebury has used more than 500,000 board feet of locally harvested and green certified Vermont wood in campus construction and furnishing, influencing both the ecological management of Vermont woodlots and the economic spin-off by optimizing expenditures within the local economy.
Storm Water Management
Storm water runoff, which is a major source of pollution in Vermont waterways, is managed on the Library site through a system of collection areas, swales, and wet meadows. The natural open swale is planted with ferns and irises, and (unlike conventional storm water pipes) it filters the runoff and allows it to soak into the ground where it is available for plants. This process cleans the runoff, reduces its volume, and protects down steam areas from erratic stream flows.
Landscape Design
Landscape architects Andropogon Associates Ltd. redesigned the front quadrangle of campus, creating paths to accommodate new patterns of pedestrian traffic and to highlight views of campus.
Landscape spaces have been enhanced by transplanting trees to desirable locations. An increase of 35 trees, selected from species native to Vermont, is part of the quadrangle redesign. Wheelchair access is provided from Old Chapel Road to the main library entrance by a path that curves down and around a radial plaza. The plaza conforms to the building geometry and features a series of stone steps cut from large pieces of Vermont limestone. Bicycle racks encourage alternative transportation and a pedestrian-oriented campus.
Reading Garden
Following a completion in the spring of 2004, the Committee on Art in Public Places (CAPP) selected sculptor Michael Singer to design a reading garden located to the south of the Davis Family Library in the front quad. Materials used in The Garden of the Seasons include Vermont granite and copper-coated cast aluminum in a juxtaposition of the natural and man-made that is a signature of Singer's work. The project incorporates water as well as native plantings in a manner that highlights the qualities of these elements at different times of the year.


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50 Gijang-daeroGijang-eup, Gijang-gunBusan, Korea
6-8: 75
9-12: 91
Total: 294
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Senior Associate Sally Gordon spent three years sailing the seas aboard a catamaran with her husband Robert, also an experienced educator (and sailor).


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CP 4813 Fridge-freezer with SmartFrost
|Energy efficiency class
|Product dimensions (H/W/D)
|201.1 / 60.0 / 65.5 cm
|Net capacity, total
|342 l
|Connectable (SmartDevice-capable)
Accurate and independent temperature control of the refrigerator compartment and freezer compartment of combined fridge-freezers is achieved through DuoCooling with two completely separate cooling circuits. And there is no air exchange between the refrigerator and freezer compartment. This prevents odour transfer and stops the stored food from drying out.


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Case ends against Eagles running back
Charges will be tossed in six months if Dion Lewis and his brother, Lamar, stay out of trouble
ALBANY — Criminal charges against Philadelphia Eagles running back Dion Lewis will be dismissed in six months as long as the former Albany Academy standout stays out of trouble.
The agreement extends to Lewis' brother, Lamar, who appeared Monday afternoon in Albany City Court alongside his younger brother and their attorneys. Dion and Lamar Lewis were both charged with felony falsely reporting a fire and misdemeanor reckless endangerment on July 8 after an incident at the Hampton Inn on Chapel Street. Police said the brothers tried to knock down the glass doors to the hotel's lobby and then pulled a fire alarm after they were not allowed back inside by hotel security.
On Monday, David Gonzalez, the Albany County assistant district attorney who handled the case, said that the fire alarm was never pulled, but rather that the clear plastic case that protects the fire alarm was jostled. That triggered a different alarm that hotel staff described as the fire alarm, Gonzalez said.
At the beginning of the brief court appearance, Gonzalez asked Judge Thomas Keefe to reduce the felony charges against both Dion and Lamar Lewis to misdemeanor counts of the same crime and that those charges then be dismissed. Keefe granted the motion and, with the counts of reckless endangerment being the only remaining charges, agreed to adjourn the case in anticipation of dismissal.
"The evidence demonstrated that no crime was committed," said E. Stewart Jones, who represented Lamar Lewis, 35. Craig Crist represented Dion Lewis, 21. Both brothers declined to comment as they left court.
Reached by phone, District Attorney David Soares said the dismissal was the result of a thorough investigation.
"I don't think the charges were sustainable," Soares said. "What you have here was an overreaction on the part of the caller."
The incident unfolded around 4 a.m. after the brothers, intoxicated after a night of drinking on Pearl Street, according to police and attorneys, were locked out of the hotel without their room keys. A hotel staffer said the brothers were banging on the doors "trying to break them down" and that Lamar Lewis was seen with a small knife in the hotel's lobby minutes earlier. In a panicked 911 call, a copy of which was obtained by the Times Union via a Freedom of Information Law request, the staffer tells the dispatcher that one of the brothers has a knife and that "you need to get here right away."
On Monday, police acknowledged that they used pepper spray on both brothers before taking them into custody. Both police spokesman Steve Smith and Soares said that officers used the spray because they believed Dion and Lamar Lewis were trying to break into the hotel and were in possession of a knife.
Video footage of the incident, which also was obtained by the Times Union through a Freedom of Information Law request, shows Dion and Lamar Lewis being arrested but, because of the vantage point of the security camera, does not capture the brothers allegedly banging on the door.
The footage shows officers entering through the doors leading to the hotel's lobby with guns drawn and pushing Dion and Lamar Lewis to the ground. With his gun still in his hand, one of the officers then quickly sprays pepper spray at both brothers before they are put in handcuffs and eventually dragged out in front of the hotel.
Neither attorney would comment on the use of force by police. Jones said the family does not plan file any civil suits stemming from the arrest.
"This case is over," Jones said.
Smith said the incident is being reviewed, a standard procedure any time force is used, but that there was nothing to indicate that the officers acted inappropriately. Soares concurred, saying that the officers only used force because of the way the hotel staffer described the incident.
"Think in terms of the police's reaction, you listen to the call, it sounded distressed," Soares said. "(The caller) is alleging that there were two men with weapons attempting to break into the hotel. The police responded in that context."
Dion and Lamar Lewis could have faced up to four years in prison if charged and convicted of the original felony count of falsely reporting a fire. Their mother, Linda Lewis, who appeared in court with her sons, said that Dion Lewis will report to Eagles training camp later this week.
"Both my sons have been through a lot," Linda Lewis said. "We're all pleased that this is over."
Dion Lewis, picked in the fifth round in the 2011 NFL Draft after a record-setting career at the University of Pittsburgh, is slated to be the Eagles' backup running back this season.
email@example.com • 518-454-5414 • @BFitzgeraldTU


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SSC Results 2013 Alternate Site for www.educationboardresults.gov.bd
SSC Result 2012 has been published today, Thursday, May 9, 2013. Education board Bangladesh website has been flooded with visitors and became unusable and unavailable for SSC Result 2013. All examinees, their parents, relatives and friends are searching for online SSC Result 2013. In this regard, RootsBD.com setup an alternate powerful website for SSC Result 2012 which can handle unlimited number of users.
The examinees can get, view & download their SSC results 2013 directly from this 'Alternate' result site –
Select Board & enter your SSC Exam Roll No., then click on 'Submit' button
SSC Results 2013 Published Today – Get Your SSC Result Now – www.educationboardresults.gov.bd
The results of this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations will be published simultaneously today, Thursday, May 9, 2012.
The results will be released at 1:00pm through the respective centres, educational institutions, websites of all education boards and also short message services (SMS) of different mobile phone operators, officials said.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will announce the results at a press conference at his ministry at 1:00pm after handing over the copy of the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 10:00am in the monring.
Students have been asked to collect their results from respective centres or educational institutions. Heads of all academic institutions have been advised to receive the result sheets from the officials of the respective centres.
The results will also be sent to the email addresses of the colleges and madrasas that had submitted their addresses earlier.
Results will not be available at the education boards, education ministry and newspaper offices.
This year a total of 1,420,057 students from 26,855 educational institutions sat for the examinations at 2,464 centres under 10 educational boards. Of the candidates, 745,229 were male while 684,828 female.
A total of 1,052,969 students from 15,933 institutions took part in this year's SSC examinations under eight general education boards while 275,930 from 9,197 madrasas sat for Dakhil exams under madrasa board.
Besides, 91,158 students from 1,725 institutions sat for SSC vocational examinations this year.


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FA Cup preview
The FA Cup fourth round gets underway with 13 Premier League clubs and two non-league sides among those still hopeful of reaching Wembley.
Last Updated: 25/01/13 11:38am
The FA Cup continues with a busy fourth-round fixture list this weekend with 13 Premier League clubs and two non-league sides still in with a chance of reaching Wembley.
Four top-flight sides have been pitted against each other, with Stoke and 2011 winners Manchester City set to go head-to-head, while 11-time winners Manchester United host Fulham.
Elsewhere, lower league sides will be looking to pull off giant-killings as Arsenal visit Brighton and holders Chelsea travel to Brentford.
Macclesfield and Luton are the two non-league sides who remain in the tournament and will be seeking major upsets against Wigan and Norwich respectively.
Manchester City toppled Stoke at Wembley almost two years ago to lift the FA Cup, ending a 35-year wait for silverware, and the two sides will meet again on Saturday lunch-time at the Britannia Stadium as the Potters seek revenge for that defeat.
City's Premier League title rivals Manchester United also face top-flight opposition as they look to take a step closer to lifting the trophy for the first time since 2004. Sir Alex Ferguson's men host Fulham at Old Trafford, with the Cottagers struggling to find consistent form this season.
Reigning champions Chelsea were dumped out of the Capital One Cup by Swansea in midweek and will be keen to bounce back from that disappointment on Sunday when they make the trip to League One high-fliers Brentford, who have lost just one in 11 in all competitions.
Arsenal also visit lower league opposition when they travel to Championship Brighton looking to build on their midweek 5-1 thumping of West Ham, with Gus Poyet's men sitting just outside the second-tier play-off places and unbeaten in five in all competitions. The Gunners know the FA Cup is now their best chance of silverware this season and will hope to avoid another shock after being dumped out of the League Cup by League Two Bradford.
Blue Square Premier side Macclesfield, the lowest-ranked club left in the competition, will be eyeing a shock win when they host Wigan, having already pulled off one big upset by beating Championship leaders Cardiff 2-1 in the third round. The struggling Latics are second-bottom of the Premier League and will hope to avoid humiliation against their non-league hosts.
Also seeking a giant-killing are Conference Premier club Luton, who visit Norwich looking to take advantage of a side who have lost six of their last nine games. For the Canaries, though, it is a chance to inject some much-needed confidence into the side as they target a change in fortunes.
In-form Tottenham make the trip to Championship club Leeds on Sunday looking to build on an impressive run of one defeat from 14 games, but Andre Villas-Boas' men will be wary of a Whites side who have caused upsets by knocking Southampton and Everton out of the Capital One Cup earlier this season.
Sunday's other game sees last year's runners-up Liverpool visit League One Oldham, who are 19th in the third-tier table but upset Nottingham Forest in the previous round to advance. They will be out for revenge after being thumped 5-1 by the Reds in the third round at Anfield last season.
Struggling Aston Villa get the fourth-round action started on Friday evening when they travel to Championship Millwall. Villa have already suffered one cup upset this week when they exited the League Cup at the hands of League Two Bradford at the semi-final stage and will be desperate to avoid another against the Lions.
Sheffield United have seen their automatic League One promotion hopes stutter in recent weeks and will be targeting a shock cup win at Reading to lift spirits in the Blades camp, with the top-flight strugglers third-bottom in the table but buoyed by four wins from their last five games.
QPR remain rock-bottom of the Premier League as manager Harry Redknapp continues to try and turn things around and they also host League One promotion hopefuls in MK Dons as they bid to stretch a five-game unbeaten run.
The final top-flight club still in the competition are Everton, who make the trip to Championship side Bolton looking to build on their 5-1 rout of Cheltenham last time out in the cup.
A Yorkshire derby sees Hull host second-tier rivals Barnsley, with the two clubs sitting at opposite ends of the Championship table.
Two other all-Championship encounters see Derby host midtable rivals Blackburn, while managerless strugglers Huddersfield welcome promotion hopefuls Leicester.
Finally, Middlesbrough will look to sidestep an upset when they entertain League Two side Aldershot.


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TLC style guru Stacy London was at Westfield Montgomery Mall last weekend to impart her fashion wisdom unto local shoppers as part of her Westfield Style Tour.
"Style is sort of available to all here," London said of D.C. fashion. She credits the Obama administration and the diverse demographic of the area as helping to define the city's style.
"It's an amazing place, because there's a real cross-section of a lot of different types of people," she said. "You have political style, you have a lot of wealth here, and then you have a lot of sort of middle class, working people who all have different needs, and yet there's style available to all here."
She also thinks her company, Style for Hire, had an impact on the area's style. Style for Hire offers a local network of personal stylists available at varying price points. The service beta-tested in D.C. in fall 2010, and launched nationally on Monday.
"There's a much more style-savvy kind of person that's coming up in D.C., not related to politics," London told us in September 2010. "There's a lot more going on related to image and style, than just that idea of the politician in the blue suit with the red tie."
Nowadays, "D.C. is sort of taking pride in being D.C." she told us Saturday, "and not some sort of 'second city.'"
As far as D.C. shopping goes, London notes Georgetown, Westfield Montgomery Mall and local boutique Urban Chic as some of her favorite places to shop in the area.
London said she hopes the Style Tour will make buying clothing more convenient. "Part of the purpose of our style tour [is to] give you a roadmap to get what you want faster."
Shoppers were able to get individualized "what to wear" feedback from the "What Not to Wear" star and her team, plus hair and makeup consultations.
London weighed in on spring trends, such as nude with neon. "It's a great way to cut bright color and make it a little bit more sophisticated," she said. She's also digging ladylike trends, such as a sheath dress with a peplum.
One of her biggest pieces of advice was to invest in a suit. "The great thing about a suit is that it's also an investment," she said. "It's a ready-made outfit."
The Style Tour featured clothes that are available at Westfield Montgomery Mall, such as BCBG Max Azria and The Limited. Style for Hire stylists also generally mix high- and low-end features.
"Coming out of the recession, we're seeing people have a new understanding of the way to spend money," London told us in 2010. "You don't have to spend a ton of money to look good."
Missed the event last weekend? You have another shot -- sort of. The team will be back -- sans London -- Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22 in the center court of the Westfield Montgomery Mall (7101 Democracy Blvd., Bethesda). RSVP here for your free consultation or makeover.
Check Out the Scene: Keep up with what's happening in the D.C. area anytime, anywhere. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Sign up for our e-mail newsletters.


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Luke's Lobster Introduces a New 'Gluten-Friendly' Roll
We recently got word that Luke's Lobster has joined the growing list of restaurants offering gluten-free alternatives to their gluten-ful menu items. After four years of gluten-free customers BYOBreading and requesting lobster rolls sans bun, the East Village lobster shack (and its food truck) has introduced a new "gluten-friendly" bun.
They say "gluten-friendly" and not "gluten-free" because Luke's tiny kitchen can't guarantee food totally and completely devoid of gluten. But for those with more lenient intolerances, the "friendly" works as a disclaimer, steering clear of misleading those whose stomachs will start to riot after a single bite of potato roll. The buns are supplied by Better Bread, a gluten-free bakery, with a $2 supplement to the $15 roll.
We got two lobster rolls, one on the normal bun and one on the gluten-friendly version for a head to head comparison. The verdict? The gluten-friendly roll is totally edible, but not something we'd go out of our way for. Thanks to the butter the buns are toasted in, the gluten-friendly bun is somewhat similar in flavor to the original, but its dry, foamy texture lacked the gentle chew of the original version.
We're admittedly biased in our judgements, as none of us have gluten intolerances and are just fine indulging in wheat flour bread. But for those on a gluten-free diet, Luke's new bun is a perfectly acceptable substitute, and there's no need to continue bringing your own bun just to get a lobster fix.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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I wonder how much money was spent to collect, collate, process and puree the hosptial mortality rates of heart attacks, pneumonia and heart failure in our nation's hospitals, and plotting these data nice little graphs on a website?
I looked at data from most of the hospitals near our facility and was not surprised to find that there was really no big difference in mortality between centers.
So I guess what this data tells us is this: all hospitals are pretty good at collecting data. Whoop dee do.
Now, can we get back to treating patients?


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UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format with 8-bit units) is an alternative way to store Unicode data. It is implemented according to RFC 3629, which describes encoding sequences that take from one to four bytes. MySQL support for UTF-8 does not include 4-byte sequences. (An older standard for UTF-8 encoding, RFC 2279, describes UTF-8 sequences that take from one to six bytes. RFC 3629 renders RFC 2279 obsolete; for this reason, sequences with five and six bytes are no longer used.)
The idea of UTF-8 is that various Unicode characters are encoded using byte sequences of different lengths:
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The Theory, Process, And Application Of This Technology
The seven-post rig is a process that has been talked about and thought about by many race teams. Most teams struggle to understand how this would help their program. It is, in fact, a complicated process to learn, much less to apply. We talked with the engineers at RaceWorks in Huntersville, NC, and were able to do a full range of tests on our USAR Pro Cup race car. In doing that, we learned how the process works and how it could benefit your team.
What teams must understand, and what was explained to me by the lead engineer at RaceWorks, Joe Berardi, is that the rig is a tool that can help a race team learn more about the way its race car works. It's through equipment like the rig and data acquisition that we can better understand the systems in our race car and the dynamics at work for each race track we'll run. Throughout the following discussion, Joe's explanations and comments will be shown within the quotation marks.
The seven-post rig is just that, seven hydraulic posts, three that are attached to the chassis and four that rest under the four tires. There are two motions introduced to the race car. In one set of motions, the rig simulates chassis movement and especially the tire loads that represent the forces encountered during a baseline lap. These inputs are the result of recording the three axis forces (lateral, vertical, and longitudinal forces) acting on the car as well as the movement of the shocks.
The other motion is a more high frequency motion introduced to the tires to simulate bumps and other deviations in the actual track surface. This helps us understand how the shock and springs interact and improvements made here help maintain contact patch mating with the track surface for more consistent grip.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of our CT USARacing project car at the Concord Speedway and use modern tools, including data acquisition systems and the vehicle dynamic rig to improve upon its performance. For this effort, we conducted a track test before and after a seven-post rig test session to compare and evaluate vehicle handling and performance gains.
The first stage consisted of instrumenting the car with a Pi Research data acquisition system before conducting the initial track test at Concord Speedway. The main purpose for the session was to acquire the needed information from the data and the driver about track characteristics and vehicle performance. Several setup changes were then performed in order to improve the vehicle lap times and driver comfort and to develop a baseline suspension setup that was both neutral in handling and balanced dynamically.
We actually needed to make some last minute rearend alignment changes that were interfering with the handling. Once we sorted all of that out, we could then properly evaluate the setup and make appropriate setup changes and shock adjustments. What we ended up with was a car that produced very even tire temperatures and that had good bite off the corners.
What we didn't have for this test was a carburetor that was adjusted correctly. This hurt our exit performance when trying to accelerate. We concluded that once we came back we would see a couple of tenths better lap times with a motor that would quickly accelerate.
We also were there alone most of the time and the track had been washed clean from a heavy rain days before. The last laps of the test were done on 70-plus-lap tires and a "green" track. All of that must be taken into account later on when we come back for our post seven-post evaluation which will be the practice day for the race. Newer tires, a better track surface, and an improved motor should give us 3-4 tenths better lap times.
The vehicle was then placed on the seven-post rig where changes in springs, bars, wedge, and shocks were evaluated and analyzed as to their effectiveness. At the conclusion of the time spent on the seven-post rig the race car setup was changed to try to improve and increase grip, reduce body motions, and enhance balance and driveability. Based on the fact that we had done a dynamic evaluation prior to our test and refined it at the track, it would be interesting to see how this came out.
The race car was then taken back to the track for the Friday practice prior to the Saturday race. Its performance was again evaluated and then compared to the baseline achieved on the first track test. What we saw was what we expected. Friday's test was somewhat tainted due to hot track conditions that made the track slick.
Track Test
Joe tells us, "A track test was conducted at Concord Speedway on March 30, 2009. During this test, a Pi Research data acquisition system was utilized to obtain data from the vehicle which would give an accurate representation of both the motions of the sprung mass due to lateral acceleration, track banking, and so on; and the vertical accelerations of the unsprung mass to represent the surface of the track. Concord Speedway is a half-mile oval track located in Concord, NC. Its bumpy and 'dog leg'-shaped back stretch make it unique among other tracks on the USAR schedule.
"During the test, it was evident on the data, the car had a tendency to be tight mid-corner and snap loose on corner exit. The most challenging section of the track was through the 'dog leg' segment starting just at the exit of Turn 2 and carrying into the entry of Turn 3. It's evident from track data that the driver had to constantly correct the steering wheel and frequently be 'on' and 'off' the throttle through that section. Figure 1 shows the track data obtained from the steering, throttle, and brake versus the position on the track.
"Figure 2 is an alternative view of throttle and brake application. The darker the line color the more the throttle and brake are being applied. The throttle trace is on the left-hand map in green, while the brake is on the right-hand map in red. The two different lines around the maps represent two different laps, the outermost lap is a 17.06 while the innermost is a 17.74. It can be clearly appreciated where the driver had difficulty getting back to the throttle off of Turn 4 during the slower lap by the lighter throttle trace. On the braking trace, it's noticeable that the brakes are applied at a consistent point on the track but that for the slower lap the driver didn't need to brake as hard getting into Turn 3."
Post TestDrive File Generation Joe continues to tell us, "By placing sensors on the vehicle in key locations, data can be collected which record the exact body and wheel motions of the vehicle. These motions are then converted into a drive file which can be used as an input to the seven-post rig. This file will replicate all of the vehicle motions experienced at the track. Acceleration, braking, aerodynamics, and banking loads are all accounted for in the drive file."
"Placing the car on the rig with the exact same setup it had at the track is important for the accuracy of the drive file. This methodology allows replaying lap after lap consistently in the controlled environment of the rig where external factors, such as weather, driver error, or engine problems, don't interfere. Once the drive file is created, changes can be made to the vehicle setup and the new response can be measured. This powerful tool allows teams to "dial in" a setup for a particular track without the expense of continuous track testing.
"In order to make the car more consistent lap after lap, the focus of the test was to create a more stable platform out of the vehicle under transient conditions. Using the drive file created to replicate the track, overall grip and body motions were measured throughout the whole lap as well as an isolated area through the dog leg. This allows focusing attention on the most difficult part of the track compared with the complete lap and evaluating the different effects of the changes made on the dog leg versus the whole track.
"Body roll and pitch were considerable issues when the vehicle first came off the track and onto the rig. Through a number of setup changes on the rig, the body motions were reduced significantly by the end of the test. Figure 3 presents the body roll and pitch from the first run to the last run on the seven-post rig."
Editors Note:
It may be debated as to the effectiveness of the goal to reduce body roll in the pursuit of performance on a short track. Some argue that the improvement in aero efficiency necessitates this goal. Others argue that the methods needed to achieve this goal, i.e. very stiff antiroll bars, stiff rear springs, and so on, cause the setup to be very hard to maintain and in many cases not very consistent. We will leave that decision to the individual team.
"The first run is in red while the last run is in green. The overall roll is significantly less as seen in the graph (Figure 5) while the nose stays down better through both corners in the pitch graph. This optimization also includes the evaluation of tire grip by evaluating the variation of the contact patch load. The more this signal varies, the lesser grip the vehicle will experience on track.
"In order to evaluate the compromise between grip and body control, RaceWorks Inc. presents the information with a graphical approach as well as in a spreadsheet that highlights the optimum setup. As it can be appreciated in Table 1, the best grip and body control numbers can be easily spotted. The green cells represent the lower values and hence, the best configuration, while the red cells represent the worst result. These results are evaluated alongside the graphical results so that all parameters are considered before assuming the best setup. Compromises are often unavoidable."
Frequency Sine Sweep Results
"Frequency sine sweep tests allow the analysis and characterization of the suspension system of a vehicle. This is a standard test on seven-post rig facilities and consists of exciting the vehicle with a sinusoidal motion with all wheel actuators moving in phase. This input signal starts at a low frequency (i.e., 0.5 Hz) and ends at a higher frequency value (i.e., 25 Hz) while maintaining the maximum stroke velocity constant.
"By analyzing the vehicle's reaction to the sine sweep, it's possible to find out where each corner of the car was stable and where it became unstable. The way this is accomplished is by analyzing the input versus the output of each corner of the vehicle. A graphical representation of this comparison for the left front wheel output vs. the left front input can be seen in Figure 4."
"The red trace in the graph is the setup straight from the track test while the green line shows the final setup at the end of the seven-post test. The large variation in the red line shows that the grip is inconsistent throughout the frequency range, thus the vehicle will be inconsistent to drive. The green line was from the last run of the seven-post test where it was possible to create a much more consistent response.
"It's critical to optimize the shock and spring together as a package. The shocks on the car were adjustable. Great gains were made by adjusting the rebound settings but a complete rebuild would have been necessary to achieve optimal grip and body control. Luckily, a good selection of springs was available to find the best match for each shock on the car. The graph in Figure 5 shows how the new combination (green) gave much more consistent behavior throughout the operating range at all four corners of the vehicle.
Roll Stiffness
"A roll stiffness test was performed to calculate the roll stiffness on the front and rear axles. Units are in ft-lbs per degree of roll. It's important to note that the final roll stiffness distribution was very close to the baseline but with an overall stiffer setup. This indicates a similar weight transfer but with an overall more stable platform. Had more springs been available, a closer match would have been possible.
Race Performance
"Performance during the race weekend reflected the significant improvements achieved on the rig. The car attitude was noticeably improved as was the stability and consistency. The driver was able to run consistent, quick lap times and changes made to the vehicle during practice were effective."
What we weren't able to do was compare the first test setup against the seven-post rig setup on the same day under the same conditions. Differences that influenced the second test, which was a practice day for the race the next day and was run with the improved carburetor setting, were newer rubber than the fastest runs at the first test, and a track that was hotter and slicker in the second test. All of these caused the comparison not to be apples to apples.
The ideal scenario would've been for us to conduct the second test with both setups to properly evaluate the differences. Then, we may have taken positives from both, applied them to the car, and then run a third setup against the other two hopefully showing improvements. Comparing the performance between the two sessions related to lap times, we see little difference.
The three quickest laps run in the pre-seven-post rig test were 17.07, 17.09, and 17.11. Almost all of the remaining faster laps were in the 17.1s. When the team went back to the track on fresher tires, the fastest three lap times were 17.12, 17.13, and 17.16 with most of the other significant laps in the 17.2s, 17.3s, and 17.4s. The team did a mock qualifying run on stickers at the end of practice with the first lap showing 17.07 and the second lap at 16.84. This run was made later in the afternoon and we assume the track had cooled.
Subsequent runs on those same tires yielded three fastest laps of 17.11, 17.15, and 17.16 and a comment from the driver that the car was "tight/loose center." I believe in an overall analysis that the high mid-afternoon track temperatures caused the car to be loose and the team then made changes to compensate to tighten the car. Those changes tended to make the car too tight when the track cooled in the late afternoon.
The tests, the review of the recorded data, and the time spent on the seven-post rig were very beneficial in teaching us how the various components on the race car worked together. That information combined with careful evaluation at the racetrack are all tools that can provide insight into how to improve your overall package. Remember that we are after not only fast lap times, but overall consistency and speed over long periods. Those are what truly win races.


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