Biography.

Tsgabu grew up near the city of Mek'ele, Tigray at an altitude of 2400 metres. He comes from a sporting family, with a father and a brother who competed in local bike races in Ethiopia. As an amateur rider he received training at the African UCI Continental Center in Potchefstroom, South Africa and the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.

2010 season.

In November 2010 Tsgabu came sixth at the African Continental Cycling Championships individual time trial in Kigali, Rwanda. He then stayed in Kigali to race the Tour of Rwanda which began five days later. He finished fifth overall.

2011 season.

Tsgabu began his season in January 2011 at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, which he finished in 13th place overall. In February he finished 21st in the Tour of South Africa. In April he came 51st in La Côte Picarde in France and 16th at the Ster ZLM Toer in the Netherlands. He then travelled to Quebec in June to race the Coupe des nations Ville Saguenay which he finished in 18th place overall. In July Tsgabu returned to France for more stage racing. He finished 31st in the Tour Alsace, 42nd in the Mi-Août Bretonne, and 19th in the Tour de l'Avenir. Tsgabu ended the season in Denmark in September representing Ethiopia at the 2011 UCI Road World Championships by participating in the men's under-23 road race which he abandoned.

2012 season.

Tsgabu began the 2012 season in April with a 71st place at the Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften. He raced two races in the Netherlands and then headed back to Africa for La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, which he finished in 11th place. He also came fourth in the young rider classification, 19 seconds behind winner Nikita Stalnov of the. In May Tsgabu finished 19th in the Flèche du Sud, coming fifth in the young rider classification. He was 43rd in the Tour de Gironde.  Following the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports, which he did not finish but was won by his future teammate Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Tsgabu joined the South African UCI Continental team for the remainder of their 2012 season. In August Tsgabu entered the 2012 Volta a Portugal. He was 17th in the prologue, but finished 82nd overall and 25th in the young rider classification. Tsgabu raced the Kernen Omloop Echt-Susteren as a warm-up for the 2012 UCI Road World Championships in Valkenburg, Netherlands where he was the only Ethiopian competitor. He finished 25th in the men's under-23 time trial and 87th in the men's under-23 road race. Tsgabu ended his season in November by winning silver at the African Continental Championships individual time trial and gold in the men's under-23 individual time trial in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He finished 38th in the road race.  In October 2012 it was announced that Tsgabu's contract had been extended for the 2013 season, and he became the first Ethiopian professional cyclist when MTN-Qhubeka became a UCI Professional Continental team.

2013 season.

Tsgabu's second season at saw the team rise to the second highest level in cycling, becoming the first ever African UCI Professional Continental team. Tsgabu began the 2013 season in January at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, finishing fifth overall and third in the young rider classification as well as coming second in the team classification. He narrowly missed out of a stage victory on the final day, crossing the finishing line in Libreville two seconds behind stage winner Gert Dockx of.  In February Tsgabu participated in the 2013 Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia finishing ninth overall, 2' 58" behind winner Julián Arredondo. MTN-Qhubeka won the team classification by nine minutes before the second placed.  In March 2013 Tsgabu became the first Ethiopian ever to win an international cycling event when he won the fifth stage of the Tour de Taiwan in Taoyuan County ten seconds ahead of Mohammad Saufi Mat Senan. The stage victory propelled him to second place overall, a position he managed to keep for the remaining stages. It also netted him 10 mountain points, which helped him to fourth position overall in the mountains classification.  At the 2013 Giro del Trentino in April Tsgabu finished 21st in the youth classification and 94th overall. In May he finished 73rd in the 2013 Tour of Norway. In July Tsgabu won both the national road race championship and the national time trial championship of Ethiopia in Bahir Dar for the first time. He headed to the United States of America in August, to race the Tour of Elk Grove and the 2013 Tour of Utah. He finished 42nd overall in the first and 27th overall in the second of the two stage races, as well as third in the young rider classification in Utah (15' 32" behind youth classification winner Lachlan Morton). After this he flew to Norway to ride the Tour des Fjords, but was forced to abandon after the fourth stage. Towards the end of August Tsgabu entered four single day races in Italy, receiving modest results in two races and abandoning the two others. At the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda in September Tsgabu was 24th overall and seventh in the young rider classification.  Tsgabu was the sole representative of Ethiopia at the 2013 UCI Road World Championships in Tuscany. He participated in the men's under-23 time trial, which he finished in 50th place, as well as the men's under-23 road race which he was forced to abandon. Tsgabu was in the last group to cross the finish line in the 2013 Milano–Torino. He made his UCI World Tour debut at the 2013 Il Lombardia, but did not finish the race. Tsgabu ended his season in Europe with three one-day races in Italy during October, abandoning two of them and finishing 78th in the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli. He then rounded off his season in December at the African Continental Championships, where he finished seventh in the time trial and 28th in the road race.

2014 season.

The 2014 season was Tsgabu's third season with and began in February at the 2014 Tour de Langkawi. He aimed for a podium finish but could not repeat the success he had the previous year, and finished 52nd overall. However, did manage to win the team classification for a second consecutive year. Tsgabu did little racing during the spring, and abandoned the Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie, the Tour de Picardie, and the 2014 Tour of Norway. At the end of May he participated in the Tour des Fjords, finishing 70th overall and coming in second in the mountains classification only seven points behind winner Amets Txurruka of.  At the Tour de Korea in June he finished 10th overall. Tsgabu abandoned on the second stage of the Route du Sud, and came 58th in the Giro dell'Appennino. At the end of June he won both the road race and the individual time trial at the Ethiopian 2014 national road cycling championships for a second time. In August Tsgabu finished 51st in the 2014 Vuelta a Burgos and 56th at the Tour du Limousin. He was 11th in the young rider classification in Limousin, 11 seconds behind Otto Vergaerde of who came in 10th. Tsgabu finished 65th in the final edition of the Châteauroux Classic. At the Memorial Marco Pantani Tsgabu was part of the initial five man breakaway. They gained four minutes on the peloton but were caught, and he didn't finish the race. Of the six other Italian one day races Tsgabu entered in September and October he only finished the final one, ending his time at MTN-Qhubeka with a second-to-last place in the Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli.

2015 season.

Tsgabu left at the end of 2014 and joined the highest level of professional cycling at the Italian UCI ProTeam, becoming the first Ethiopian to ride for them. Joining Lampre meant he would be guaranteed to race at UCI World Tour races during the 2015 season. Tsgabu began the season in January as the team's candidate for the general classification at the 2015 Tour Down Under. He finished 11th overall and fifth in the young rider classification.  In February Tsgabu competed at the African Continental Championships in Wartburg, South Africa. He finished third in the team time trial, and two days later won the individual time trial. Tsgabu was the first Ethiopian to ever win an African Continental Championship. In the road race three days later Tsgabu finished fifth, 2' 35" behind winner and former team mate Louis Meintjes of. Tsgabu rode the 2015 Tirreno–Adriatico in March. He finished 51st overall, and came eighth in the young rider classification only 16 seconds behind Peter Sagan of. He started the 2015 Giro d'Italia in San Lorenzo al Mare, becoming the first Ethiopian rider to compete in a Grand Tour. For the third time in his career, he won the Ethiopian national championship in both road and time trial events. He was named in the start list for the 2015 Vuelta a España.

2016 season.

In July 2016 Tsgabu participated in the Tour de France for the team.

Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Tigrinya and ; born 25 August 1991) is an Ethiopian professional road cyclist from Tigray, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam. He is a two time national road race champion, two time national time trial champion, and one time African time trial champion. Tsgabu became the first Ethiopian professional cyclist when he joined in 2012. In 2013 Tsgabu became the first Ethiopian to win an international cycling event when he won the fifth stage of the Tour de Taiwan. He made his UCI World Tour debut at the 2013 Giro di Lombardia.

Tsgabu Gebremaryan Grmay, né le à Mekele, est un coureur cycliste éthiopien, membre de l'équipe Mitchelton-Scott. En 2015, il devient le premier Éthiopien à participer à un grand tour et à le terminer.


Staff.

Wyatt Family.

Rich and Renee have 2 younger children who are not involved in the show due to their age.

Reception.

"The New York Times" reviewed the show in the wake of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting, examining the American fascination with firearms. They described the show as combining the "haggling of "Pawn Stars", the over-the-top customizing of "American Chopper" and a healthy dose of cleavage in a peppy package that resembles a hundred other small-business-based reality shows, except that the business in this case is the sale of deadly weapons". The reviewer notes that although some may be uncomfortable with the easy availability of guns in America, the audience of over 1 million viewers does not seem to have any such qualms.

Ratings.

The season 2 premiere (April 26, 2012) drew strong ratings, up 50% on the season 1 premiere.

Cancellation and controversy.

On December 17, 2012, Discovery announced the cancellation of the series. Discovery said the decision had been made earlier, it was only announced in December. A spokesperson said "Discovery Channel chose not to renew the series and has no plans to air repeats of the show." The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is thought to have played a part in the decision.  Additionally, in March 2013 Gunsmoke Guns was served a search warrant for the premises by the Internal Revenue Service as "part of an ongoing financial investigation" that had been underway for several years according to an agency spokesperson. This took place shortly after a reported February 27 burglary where twelve handguns and three rifles were stolen by thieves who broke in through the roof of the shop.  There was also speculation in the press that the IRS investigation was the result of Gunsmoke operator Rich Wyatt's remarks regarding pending Colorado legislation regarding gun purchase and ownership.  In the last episode of season one, a man identified later as Wylie Newton attempted to sell an antique Colt pistol that had been stolen from a museum in New Mexico. A fan of the show that was familiar with the robbery recognized the gun and alerted authorities.  On March 10, 2017 a federal jury convicted Rich Wyatt on ten felony counts related to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion. The jury found that Wyatt had failed to report 1.1 million dollars to the IRS. Furthermore it was revealed Wyatt had negotiated a deal with Discovery Channel when in fact he never did have federal firearms license, though instead used a straw license through Triggers, a gun store in Castle Rock. Wyatt was sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison.

Music.

The opening theme music is “Tallahassee” performed by Swamp Cabbage.

American Guns was a reality television series that aired on the Discovery Channel. The series centers on the blended family where patriarch Rich Wyatt, his wife Renee, and his step-children run Gunsmoke Guns, located in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. They specialize in gun manufacture, trade, customization, and instruction.

American Guns est une série de téléréalité diffusée sur Discovery Channel. La série est centrée sur la famille de Rich Wyatt, sa femme et ses beaux enfants travaillant à Gunsmoke Guns, à Wheat Ridge,Colorado. Ils sont spécialisés dans la création d'armes, la vente, la customisation et l'instruction. La musique du thème d'ouverture est "Tallahassee" de Swamp Cabbage.


Existing delivery system problems.

The increasing worldwide demand for rapid, low-latency and high-volume communication of information to homes and businesses has made economical information distribution and delivery increasingly important. As demand has escalated, particularly fueled by the widespread adoption of the Internet, the need for economical high-speed access by end-users located at millions of locations has ballooned as well.  As requirements have changed, the existing systems and networks that were initially pressed into service for this purpose have proven to be inadequate. To date, although a number of approaches have been tried, no single clear solution to the 'last mile problem' has emerged.  As expressed by Shannon's equation for channel information capacity, the omnipresence of noise in information systems sets a minimum signal-to-noise ratio (shortened as S/N) requirement in a channel, even when adequate spectral bandwidth is available. Since the integral of the rate of information transfer with respect to time is information quantity, this requirement leads to a corresponding minimum energy per bit. The problem of sending any given amount of information across a channel can therefore be viewed in terms of sending sufficient Information-Carrying Energy (ICE). For this reason the concept of an ICE 'pipe' or 'conduit' is relevant and useful for examining existing systems.  The distribution of information to a great number of widely separated end-users can be compared to the distribution of many other resources. Some familiar analogies are:  All of these have in common conduits that carry a relatively small amount of a resource a short distance to a very large number of physically separated endpoints. Also common are conduits supporting more voluminous flow, which combine and carry many individual portions over much greater distances. The shorter, lower-volume conduits, which individually serve only one or a small fraction of the endpoints, may have far greater combined length than the larger capacity ones. These common attributes are shown to the right.

Costs and efficiency.

The high-capacity conduits in these systems tend to also have in common the ability to efficiently transfer the resource over a long distance. Only a small fraction of the resource being transferred is wasted, lost, or misdirected. The same cannot necessarily be said of lower-capacity conduits.  One reason has to do with the efficiency of scale. Conduits that are located closer to the endpoint, or end-user, do not individually have as many users supporting them. Even though they are smaller, each has the overhead of an "installation" obtaining and maintaining a suitable path over which the resource can flow. The funding and resources supporting these smaller conduits tend to come from the immediate locale.  This can have the advantage of a "small-government model". That is, the management and resources for these conduits is provided by local entities and therefore can be optimized to achieve the best solutions in the immediate environment and also to make best use of local resources. However, the lower operating efficiencies and relatively greater installation expenses, compared with the transfer capacities, can cause these smaller conduits, as a whole, to be the most expensive and difficult part of the complete distribution system.  These characteristics have been displayed in the birth, growth, and funding of the Internet. The earliest inter-computer communication tended to be accomplished with direct wireline connections between individual computers. These grew into clusters of small local area networks (LAN). The TCP/IP suite of protocols was born out of the need to connect several of these LANs together, particularly as related to common projects among the United States Department of Defense, industry and some academic institutions.  ARPANET came into being to further these interests. In addition to providing a way for multiple computers and users to share a common inter-LAN connection, the TCP/IP protocols provided a standardized way for dissimilar computers and operating systems to exchange information over this inter-network. The funding and support for the connections among LANs could be spread over one or even several LANs.  As each new LAN, or subnet, was added, the new subnet's constituents enjoyed access to the greater network. At the same time the new subnet enabled access to any network or networks with which it was already networked. Thus the growth became a mutually inclusive or "win-win" event.

Economies of scale.

In general, economy of scale makes an increase in capacity of a conduit less expensive as the capacity is increased. There is an overhead associated with the creation of any conduit. This overhead is not repeated as capacity is increased within the potential of the technology being utilized.  As the Internet has grown in size, by some estimates doubling in the number of users every eighteen months, economy of scale has resulted in increasingly large information conduits providing the longest distance and highest capacity backbone connections. In recent years, the capacity of fiber-optic communication, aided by a supporting industry, has resulted in an expansion of raw capacity, so much so that in the United States a large amount of installed fiber infrastructure is not being used because it is currently excess capacity "dark fiber".  This excess backbone capacity exists in spite of the trend of increasing per-user data rates and overall quantity of data. Initially, only the inter-LAN connections were high speed. End-users used existing telephone lines and modems, which were capable of data rates of only a few hundred bit/s. Now almost all end users enjoy access at 100 or more times those early rates.

Economical information transfer.

Before considering the characteristics of existing last-mile information delivery mechanisms, it is important to further examine what makes information conduits effective. As the Shannon-Hartley theorem shows, it is the combination of bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio which determines the maximum information rate of a channel. The product of the average information rate and time yields total information transfer. In the presence of noise, this corresponds to some amount of transferred information-carrying energy (ICE). Therefore, the economics of information transfer may be viewed in terms of the economics of the transfer of ICE.  Effective last-mile conduits must:  In addition to these factors, a good solution to the last-mile problem must provide each user:

Existing last mile delivery systems.

Wired systems (including optical fiber).

Wired systems provide guided conduits for Information-Carrying Energy (ICE). They all have some degree of shielding, which limits their susceptibility to external noise sources. These transmission lines have losses which are proportional to length. Without the addition of periodic amplification, there is some maximum length beyond which all of these systems fail to deliver an adequate S/N ratio to support information flow. Dielectric optical fiber systems support heavier flow at higher cost.

Local area networks (LAN).

Traditional wired local area networking systems require copper coaxial cable or a twisted pair to be run between or among two or more of the nodes in the network. Common systems operate at 100 Mbit/s, and newer ones also support 1000 Mbit/s or more. While length may be limited by collision detection and avoidance requirements, signal loss and reflections over these lines also define a maximum distance. The decrease in information capacity made available to an individual user is roughly proportional to the number of users sharing a LAN.

Telephone.

In the late 20th century, improvements in the use of existing copper telephone lines increased their capabilities if maximum line length is controlled. With support for higher transmission bandwidth and improved modulation, these digital subscriber line schemes have increased capability 20-50 times as compared to the previous voiceband systems. These methods are not based on altering the fundamental physical properties and limitations of the medium, which, apart from the introduction of twisted pairs, are no different today than when the first telephone exchange was opened in 1877 by the Bell Telephone Company.  The history and long life of copper-based communications infrastructure is both a testament to the ability to derive new value from simple concepts through technological innovation – and a warning that copper communications infrastructure is beginning to offer diminishing returns for continued investment. However one of the largest costs associated with maintaining an ageing copper infrastructure is that of truck roll - sending engineers to physically test, repair, replace and provide new copper connections, and this cost is particularly prevalent in providing rural broadband service over copper. New technologies such as G.Fast and VDSL2 offer viable high speed solutions to rural broadband provision over existing copper. In light of this many companies have developed automated cross connects (cabinet based automated distribution frames) to eliminate the uncertainty and cost associated with maintaining broadband services over existing copper, these systems usually incorporate some form of automated switching and some include test functionality allowing an ISP representative to complete operations previously requiring a site visit (truck roll) from the central office via a web interface. In many countries the last mile link which connects landline business telephone customers to the local telephone exchange is often an ISDN30 which can carry 30 simultaneous telephone calls.

CATV.

Community antenna television systems, also known as cable television, have been expanded to provide bidirectional communication over existing physical cables. However, they are by nature shared systems and the spectrum available for reverse information flow and achievable S/N are limited. As was done for initial unidirectional TV communication, cable loss is mitigated through the use of periodic amplifiers within the system. These factors set an upper limit on per-user information capacity, particularly when many users share a common section of cable or access network.

Optical fiber.

Fiber offers high information capacity and after the turn of the 21st century became the deployed medium of choice ("Fiber to the "x"") given its scalability in the face of the increasing bandwidth requirements of modern applications.  In 2004, according to Richard Lynch, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the telecom giant Verizon, the company saw the world moving toward vastly higher bandwidth applications as consumers loved everything broadband had to offer and eagerly devoured as much as they could get, including two-way, user-generated content. Copper and coaxial networks would not – in fact, could not – satisfy these demands, which precipitated Verizon's aggressive move into fiber-to-the-home via FiOS.  Fiber is a future-proof technology that meets the needs of today's users, but unlike other copper-based and wireless last-mile mediums, also has the capacity for years to come, by upgrading the end-point optics and electronics without changing the fiber infrastructure. The fiber itself is installed on existing pole or conduit infrastructure and most of the cost is in labor, providing good regional economic stimulus in the deployment phase and providing a critical foundation for future regional commerce.  Fixed copper lines have been subject to theft due to the value of copper, but optical fibers make unattractive targets. Optical fibers cannot be converted into anything else, whereas copper can be recycled without loss.

Wireless delivery systems.

Mobile CDN coined the term the'mobile mile' to categorize the last mile connection when a wireless system is used to reach the customer. In contrast to wired delivery systems, wireless systems use unguided waves to transmit ICE. They all tend to be unshielded and have a greater degree of susceptibility to unwanted signal and noise sources.  Because these waves are not guided but diverge, in free space these systems are attenuated following an inverse-square law, inversely proportional to distance squared. Losses thus increase more slowly with increasing length than for wired systems, whose loss increases exponentially. In a free space environment, beyond a given length, the losses in a wireless system are lower than those in a wired system.  In practice, the presence of atmosphere, and especially obstructions caused by terrain, buildings and foliage can greatly increase the loss above the free space value. Reflection, refraction and diffraction of waves can also alter their transmission characteristics and require specialized systems to accommodate the accompanying distortions.  Wireless systems have an advantage over wired systems in last mile applications in not requiring lines to be installed. However, they also have a disadvantage in that their unguided nature makes them more susceptible to unwanted noise and signals. Spectral reuse can therefore be limited.

Lightwaves and free-space optics.

Visible and infrared light waves are much shorter than radio frequency waves. Their use to transmit data is referred to as free-space optical communication. Being short, light waves can be focused or collimated with a small lens/antenna, and to a much higher degree than radio waves. Thus, a receiving device can recover a greater portion of the transmitted signal.  Also, because of the high frequency, a high data transfer rate may be available. However, in practical last mile environments, obstructions and de-steering of these beams, and absorption by elements of the atmosphere including fog and rain, particularly over longer paths, can greatly restrict their use for last-mile wireless communications. Longer (redder) waves suffer less obstruction but may carry lower data rates. See RONJA.

Radio waves.

Radio frequencies (RF), from low frequencies through the microwave region, have wavelengths much longer than visible light. Although this means that it is not possible to focus the beams nearly as tightly as for light, it also means that the aperture or "capture area" of even the simplest, omnidirectional antenna is significantly larger than that of a lens in any feasible optical system. This characteristic results in greatly increased attenuation or "path loss" for systems that are not highly directional.  Actually, the term path loss is something of a misnomer because no energy is lost on a free-space path. Rather, it is merely not received by the receiving antenna. The apparent reduction in transmission, as frequency is increased, is an artifact of the change in the aperture of a given type of antenna.  Relative to the last-mile problem, these longer wavelengths have an advantage over light waves when omnidirectional or sectored transmissions are considered. The larger aperture of radio antennas results in much greater signal levels for a given path length and therefore higher information capacity. On the other hand, the lower carrier frequencies are not able to support the high information bandwidths, which are required by Shannon's equation when the practical limits of S/N have been reached.  For the above reasons, wireless radio systems are optimal for lower-information-capacity broadcast communications delivered over longer paths. For high-information capacity, highly-directive point-to-point over short ranges, wireless light-wave systems are the most useful.

One-way (broadcast) radio and television communications.

Historically, most high-information-capacity broadcast has used lower frequencies, generally no higher than the UHF television region, with television itself being a prime example. Terrestrial television has generally been limited to the region above 50 MHz where sufficient information bandwidth is available, and below 1,000 MHz, due to problems associated with increased path loss, as mentioned above.

Two-way wireless communications.

Two-way communication systems have primarily been limited to lower-information-capacity applications, such as audio, facsimile, or radioteletype. For the most part, higher-capacity systems, such as two-way video communications or terrestrial microwave telephone and data trunks, have been limited and confined to UHF or microwave and to point-point paths.  Higher capacity systems such as third-generation cellular telephone systems require a large infrastructure of more closely spaced cell sites in order to maintain communications within typical environments, where path losses are much greater than in free space and which also require omnidirectional access by the users.

Satellite communications.

For information delivery to end users, satellite systems, by nature, have relatively long path lengths, even for low earth-orbiting satellites. They are also very expensive to deploy and therefore each satellite must serve many users. Additionally, the very long paths of geostationary satellites cause information latency that makes many real-time applications unfeasible.  As a solution to the last-mile problem, satellite systems have application and sharing limitations. The ICE which they transmit must be spread over a relatively large geographical area. This causes the received signal to be relatively small, unless very large or directional terrestrial antennas are used. A parallel problem exists when a satellite is receiving.  In that case, the satellite system must have a very great information capacity in order to accommodate a multitude of sharing users and each user must have large antenna, with attendant directivity and pointing requirements, in order to obtain even modest information-rate transfer. These requirements render high-information-capacity, bi-directional information systems uneconomical. This is one reason why the Iridium satellite system was not more successful.

Broadcast versus point-to-point.

For terrestrial and satellite systems, economical, high-capacity, last-mile communications requires point-to-point transmission systems. Except for extremely small geographic areas, broadcast systems are only able to deliver high S/N ratios at low frequencies where there is not sufficient spectrum to support the large information capacity needed by a large number of users. Although complete "flooding" of a region can be accomplished, such systems have the fundamental characteristic that most of the radiated ICE never reaches a user and is wasted.  As information requirements increase, broadcast wireless mesh systems (also sometimes referred to as microcells or nano-cells) which are small enough to provide adequate information distribution to and from a relatively small number of local users require a prohibitively large number of broadcast locations or points of presence along with a large amount of excess capacity to make up for the wasted energy.

Intermediate system.

Recently a new type of information transport midway between wired and wireless systems has been discovered. Called E-Line, it uses a single central conductor but no outer conductor or shield. The energy is transported in a plane wave which, unlike radio does not diverge, whereas like radio it has no outer guiding structure.  This system exhibits a combination of the attributes of wired and wireless systems and can support high information capacity utilizing existing power lines over a broad range of frequencies from RF through microwave.

Line aggregation.

Aggregation is a method of bonding multiple lines to achieve a faster, more reliable connection. Some companies believe that ADSL aggregation (or "bonding") is the solution to the UK's last mile problem.

The last mile or last kilometer is a phrase widely used in the telecommunications, cable television and internet industries to refer to the final leg of the telecommunications networks that deliver telecommunication services to retail end-users (customers). More specifically, the "last mile" describes the portion of the telecommunications network chain that physically reaches the end-user's premises. Examples are the copper wire subscriber lines connecting landline telephones to the local telephone exchange; coaxial cable service drops carrying cable television signals from utility poles to subscribers' homes, and cell towers linking local cell phones to the cellular network. The word "mile" is used metaphorically; the length of the last mile link may be more or less than a mile. Because the last mile of a network to the user is conversely the first mile from the user's premises to the outside world when the user is sending data, the term first mile is also alternatively used.

Le dernier kilomètre est une expression désignant l'ensemble des agents, opérations et équipements associés et mis en œuvre dans les derniers segments de la chaine de distribution finale des biens ou services.


Early life.

Nuttall was born in Blackburn, Lancashire. She was educated at Bury Grammar School for Girls and trained at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. She performed with the National Youth Music Theatre, notably playing the lead role of Princess Ismene in "Aurelius" at the Tyne Opera House, Newcastle and the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh in August 1997.

Career.

Nuttall is credited as the youngest actress to ever understudy and play the lead role of Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera" (at age 17) (National tour), has sung at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Old Trafford and won an edition of "Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes" as Sarah Brightman.  Shortly before leaving "Emmerdale", Nuttall appeared in "Notes from New York" at the Trafalgar Studios opposite Jon Lee and Julie Atherton. In 2005, she released her début album as a Classical vocalist "Best Days" on EMI Classics and filmed music videos for her tracks "Best Days", "No Greater Gift" and a version of "Scarborough Fair", which was heavily requested on Classic FM TV. "Best Days" peaked at number four in the UK classical chart and was nominated for album of the year at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards.  In the same year, Nuttall took part in the Reality TV programme "Celebrity Shark Bait", which also featured Richard E Grant and Ruby Wax, and appeared in "Celebrate Oliver", a musical special for BBC1.  In the Autumn of 2005, Nuttall toured the UK extensively as Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" to critical acclaim. She shared the role with Lisa O'Hare on the National Tour due to other commitments with her first album. The tour started on 5 October 2005 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester and ended on 12 August 2006 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. In October 2006 she made her West End début as Sister Sarah Brown in "Guys and Dolls" at the Piccadilly Theatre.  In January 2007, Nuttall performed on BBC Radio 2's "Friday Night is Music Night" with an 80-piece live orchestra and in May 2007, she joined the cast of the stage revival of "Boeing-Boeing" at the Comedy Theatre opposite Patricia Hodge, Mark Rylance and Roger Allam. On 2 October 2007, Nuttall replaced Kim Medcalf in the London production of "Cabaret" at the Lyric Theatre, transferring directly from her role in "Boeing-Boeing". In April 2008, Nuttall's initial six-month contract was extended until the production's closure on 21 June. Nuttall appeared in "Hotel Babylon" in 2009 as Melanie Hughes, the new hotel receptionist.  In June and July 2010, Nuttall played one of the lead roles in the revival of the hit musical "The Hired Man" at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Later that year she returned to the Octagon Theatre, Bolton to play Stella Kowalski in the Tennessee Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire. She shared the role of the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of "Spamalot", which began on 18 October 2010 at the Edinburgh Playhouse. From September 2011, Nuttall began appearing in series two of "Downton Abbey", appearing as the new maid, Ethel.  In December 2011 she appeared in "Noises Off" at London's Old Vic until March 2012. On 14 July 2011, Nuttall was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts by the University of Bolton. On 8 June 2013 Nuttall starred in the Saturday Drama on BBC Radio 4. Entitled The Weather Girl she played the lead role of Abigail, a prisoner whose mental state is assessed by a clinical psychologist.  In 2019, Nuttall lent her voice to "Olga" in HISTORY's podcast Letters of Love in WW2 - a series based on the real-life letters of a couple separated by the Second World War.

Personal life.

Nuttall dated fellow "Emmerdale" cast member Ben Freeman for four years. She married long-term boyfriend, the actor Andrew Buchan, on 8 September 2012. Their first child was born in 2015.

Amy Abigail Nuttall (born 7 June 1982) is an English actress and singer known for playing Chloe Atkinson in the ITV soap opera "Emmerdale" from 2000 until 2005, and housemaid Ethel Parks in ITV period drama "Downton Abbey".

Amy Abigail Nuttall (née le à Bolton près de Manchester dans le Lancashire) est une actrice et chanteuse anglaise. Ses principaux rôles ont été dans le cadre des séries télévisées britanniques "Emmerdale" et "Downton Abbey".


Early life.

Aplin grew up in Chippenham in Wiltshire. She is the eldest of three children. Aplin's parents bought her her first guitar when she was 11 years old. She is a fan of the singer-songwriters Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, as well as the rock band The National. Aplin went on to study music at Bath College, participating in the college's in-house label, BA1 Records.

Music career.

Career beginnings (2011–2012).

Aplin's first release was the five-track "Acoustic EP", which she self-released under her own label, Never Fade Records, on 13 September 2010. Her second release, another extended play titled "Never Fade", was released on 9 May 2011. In this EP, she expanded her sound, showcasing a more folk rock sound and playing all the instruments herself. In April 2011, Aplin was invited to perform for "BBC Introducing" at Maida Vale Studios, where she played three tracks from "Never Fade" and a cover of the Coldplay song "Fix You," which was the most-viewed video on the BBC Introducing YouTube channel. Aplin released her third EP, "Home", on 12 February 2012, again under Never Fade Records. She described "Home" as "the most honest thing I've ever written and recorded."

"English Rain" and "Light Up the Dark" (2012–2016).

On 29 February 2012, Aplin announced that she had signed a deal with Parlophone Records. Her first major label single titled "Please Don't Say You Love Me" was released on 10 February 2013. Later that year, Aplin was confirmed as the soundtrack to the John Lewis 2012 Christmas television advertisement, covering Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Power of Love". The song went on to top the UK Singles Chart in December 2012. On 13 May 2013, Aplin released her debut album, "English Rain". Following its release, "English Rain" charted at number two on both the UK and Scottish album charts, selling over 35,000 copies. It also reached the top ten in Australia, number 11 in Ireland, and number 39 in New Zealand.  In 2013, Aplin's record label, Never Fade Records, signed Welsh folk-jazz singer Hannah Grace, who had previously supported Aplin on tour, and indie folk artist Saint Raymond to deals. Never Fade Records' first release since Aplin's own extended play "Home" in February 2012 was Saint Raymond's extended play "Escapade" on 22 April 2013. Saint Raymond has since departed Never Fade Records.  In May 2015, Aplin announced her second studio album, "Light Up the Dark." The album announcement also featured the release of the title track's music video. The video for the second single from "Light Up the Dark," "Sweet Nothing," was released on 6 August 2015. The album itself was released on 18 September 2015. In September of the same year, it was reported that she had signed a modelling deal with Select modelling agency.  In 2016, Aplin gained popularity in Brazil when her song "Home" was used in the popular soap opera Totalmente Demais. Aplin visited Brazil in May to make a cameo appearance in the final episode of the soap. Following her appearance and a live performance on Domingão do Faustão "Home" reached number 1 on the Brazilian iTunes chart, marking Aplin's fourth number 1 single worldwide. On 26 June, Aplin played on Glastonbury Festival at the Acoustic stage and then at BBC Introducing stage.

Extended plays and "Dear Happy" (2016–present).

On 9 November 2016, Aplin released "Miss You", the first single from the extended play of the same name. The song has been described as a departure from her previously guitar-driven sound on "Light Up the Dark," and the production as being much less 'bare bones' than her previous efforts.  In February 2017, Aplin parted ways with Parlophone Records to focus on releasing material via her own independent record label, Never Fade Records. She said of the decision, "I really enjoy getting involved with everything—from my image to my artwork. It's been quite nice to be in control." Aplin released a single titled "Waking Up Slow" on 9 August 2017. She then released her next EP, "Avalon", on 6 October. "Waking Up Slow" was lauded as one of the best pop songs of 2017 by Popjustice.  Aplin announced the first single from her third album, "My Mistake", on 20 November 2018; it was released on 28 November, with Aplin describing it as her "most honest and raw song to date". Aplin collaborated with Hannah Grace on a Christmas extended play titled "December", which was released on 4 December 2018. On 27 March 2019, Aplin released the second single titled "Nothing Really Matters" from her third album, followed by another single titled "Losing Me", which features English singer JP Cooper, on 14 August. The album, titled "Dear Happy", was released on 17 January 2020.

Gabrielle Ann Aplin (born 10 October 1992) is an English singer-songwriter. After amassing a following for her acoustic music covers on YouTube, Aplin signed a recording deal with Parlophone in February 2012. She rose to prominence the following November when she was selected to record the soundtrack for a John Lewis television commercial with a cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Power of Love", which went on to top the UK Singles Chart.

Gabrielle Aplin est une chanteuse et musicienne britannique, née le à Bath. Aplin créé son micro-label et se fait connaître en postant des vidéos sur internet. En 2012, elle signe sur le label Parlophone et chante dans un spot publicitaire de la chaîne britannique de grands magasins. Sa reprise de "The Power of Love" se classe du UK Singles Chart, le classement des ventes de singles au Royaume-Uni. Son premier album, "English Rain", est édité en mai 2013 et atteint la place du classement des ventes d'albums.


Early and personal life.

Gibson was born in Nunthorpe, North Yorkshire, and attended Nunthorpe School and Yarm School. He is a nephew of Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson.

Club career.

Middlesbrough.

Gibson joined Middlesbrough's Academy from Marton at the age of 12. He was a member of the Middlesbrough team that won the Nike Cup in 2008 and signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 July 2010. He made his first-team debut as a substitute on 25 April 2011 against Coventry City, coming on in the 41st minute for the injured Andrew Davies, with Middlesbrough going on to win the game 2–1. He finished the 2010–11 season with one appearance for Middlesbrough, and having captained the reserve team to The Football Combination East Division title.  Gibson signed a three-month loan deal with League Two club Plymouth Argyle on 2 August 2011. After making 13 appearances in this time, Gibson and both clubs involved agreed on 1 November 2011 to extend the loan deal until 29 January 2012. However, the loan was cut short after Middlesbrough recalled him on 30 November 2011. He signed for Conference Premier club York City on loan until the end of 2011–12 on 9 February 2012. After a promising start Gibson was sent off in the 1–0 away victory to Cambridge United. However, after missing the next four games through suspension he won the 2012 FA Trophy Final with York at Wembley Stadium on 12 May, in which the team beat Newport County 2–0. Eight days later he played in the 2–1 victory over Luton Town in the 2012 Conference Premier play-off Final at Wembley on 20 May 2012, seeing the club return to the Football League after an eight-year absence with promotion to League Two. Gibson completed his loan at York with 11 appearances.  On 14 August 2012, Gibson joined League One club Tranmere Rovers on a one-month loan. The month was extended until January 2013 the following month, but in December 2012 was ruled out of action with an abductor problem, thus ending the duration of his first loan spell at Rovers. He signed a new four-year contract with Middlesbrough on 18 December 2012. On 13 March 2013, Gibson returned on loan to Rovers, until the end of the season.  The 2013–14 season saw Gibson become more involved in the first team squad for Middlesbrough; the team did not perform well, and manager Tony Mowbray was sacked in October 2013. Aitor Karanka replaced him, and they finished twelfth. The following season saw the club finish fourth, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. They reached the final at Wembley Stadium, having won 5–1 on aggregate against Brentford, but were defeated 2–0 by Norwich City. In the 2015–16 season, Gibson helped Middlesbrough secure promotion to the Premier League, having finished as runners-up, behind champions Burnley, in the Championship.  Gibson still remained as a crucial part of Middlesbrough's squad in their 2016–17 Premier League campaign, though they did not record positive results; they dropped into relegation zone in March 2017, with Karanka being sacked later that month. Their relegation back down to the Championship was confirmed in May 2017, after a 3–0 defeat to champions Chelsea, with the club having only been in the English top flight for one season.

Burnley.

Gibson signed for Premier League club Burnley on 5 August 2018 on a four-year contract for a joint club-record fee of £15 million. He made his first appearance for the Clarets on 16 August, a Europa League third qualifying round second leg affair, which saw Burnley victorious over Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir, in a 1–0 success, where Gibson also received a yellow card. Gibson then appeared in their next European fixture the following week, a 3–1 defeat to Greek club Olympiacos, in which he was sent off for a second bookable offence. He made his Premier League debut for the club on 26 December 2018, in which he scored Burnley's only goal of the match, which was a sorrow 5–1 defeat to Everton.

International career.

Gibson has competed for the England under-17s, the under-18s, the under-20s and the under-21s. He was part of the under-17 teams that won the 2009 Nordic Cup, where he scored in the final against Scotland, and the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.  Gibson made his debut for England under-21s in the first leg of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification play-offs against Croatia on the back of an impressive campaign for Middlesbrough. His performances made him a key member of the under-21 set up and he formed an effective partnership with John Stones. Gibson scored his first goal for the under-21s in England's final friendly before the European Championships against Belarus. He went on to play 90 minutes in all of England's three group stage matches in the tournament although could not stop their disappointing early departure.  Gibson received his first call-up to the English national team on 24 March 2017, replacing the injured Chris Smalling for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Lithuania.

Style of play.

Gibson plays at centre back or left back.

Honours.

York City  Middlesbrough

Benjamin James Gibson (born 15 January 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Burnley.

Benjamin "Ben" James Gibson, né le à, est un footballeur anglais qui évolue au poste de défenseur au Burnley FC.


Président du gouvernement de la Slovaquie

History.

The office of Prime Minister of Slovakia was established in 1969 by the Constitutional Act on the Czechoslovak Federation. A similar office had existed from 1918 when various officials were presiding over executive bodies governing the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia or the Slovak State respectively. Since 1993, when the independent Slovak Republic was established, there have been six persons to hold the office. Since 2020, the Prime Minister of Slovakia has been Igor Matovič.

Powers and role.

Since Slovakia is a parliamentary republic the Prime Minister is accountable to the National Council. The Slovak Constitution provides that upon the accession to the office each Prime Minister must gain and thereafter maintain the confidence of the Parliament. As soon as the Prime Minister loses the confidence, the President is obliged to dismiss him and designate a new Prime Minister or entrust the dismissed Prime Minister to act as a caretaker with limited powers.  The Prime Minister is the most powerful office in state, since he commands and presides over the Government. Although it is not the Prime Minister but the President who appoints Ministers in Cabinet, the President appoints Ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Designated Prime Minister of Slovakia.

Designated Prime Minister of Slovakia () is an unofficial title for a person who has been entrusted by the President of the Slovak Republic with forming a new government and replacing the outgoing Prime Minister. This title, as well as the authorization of the president to entrust the designated PM, is not set by an act but is a legal or, more precisely, constitutional tradition. According to this tradition, the President designates a person who has support of the majority of deputies in the National Council.

List of Prime Ministers of Slovakia.

First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–1938).

Minister plenipotentiary for administration of Slovakia  Land President of Slovakia

Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–1939).

Prime Ministers of the Autonomy Government of Slovakia

First Slovak Republic (1939–1945).

Prime Ministers of the First Slovak Republic

Third Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1948).

Chairman of the Board of Commissioners

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948–1989).

"1 January 1969 – 5 March 1990: called "Slovak Socialist Republic" within Czechoslovakia."  Chairman of the Board of Commissioners  Chairman of the Slovak National Council  Prime Ministers of the Slovak Socialist Republic

Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1990–1992).

"6 March 1990 – 31 December 1992: called "Slovak Republic" within Czechoslovakia."  Prime Ministers of the Slovak Republic

Slovak Republic (1993–present).

"From 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia."

The Chairman of the Government of the Slovak Republic (), also known as the Prime Minister of Slovakia (), is the head of the government of the Slovak Republic. On paper, the officeholder is the third highest constitutional official in Slovakia after the President of the Republic (appointer) and Speaker of the National Council; in practice, the appointee is the country's leading political figure.

Le président du gouvernement () est le chef du gouvernement de la République slovaque depuis le. Il est couramment appelé en français.


Club career.

Early career.

Born in Baldoyle, Dublin, Brady attended Pobalscoil Neasáin and was part of their under-16 All-Ireland Championship winning team. He was spotted by Manchester United scouts while playing for St. Kevin's Boys, and joined the club's academy shortly after his 16th birthday in January 2008. He made his first appearance for Manchester United in an under-18s match against Liverpool on 19 January 2008. His reserve team debut came just two months later, in a 3–1 win over Newcastle United.  In July 2008, Brady signed on as an academy scholar, and cemented his place in the under-18s throughout the following two seasons, as well as playing for the reserves. In the 2010–11 season, Brady graduated to the reserve team on a permanent basis. He was named as an unused substitute for the first team's League Cup Fourth Round win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 26 October 2010. He made his only appearance for Manchester United on 26 September 2012, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute for Alexander Büttner in a 2–1 victory over Newcastle United in the third round of the League Cup.

Hull City.

On 19 July 2011, Manchester United loaned Brady to Championship club Hull City until 31 December. He made his debut in the first match of the season on 5 August 2011 at the KC Stadium in a 1–0 defeat to Blackpool. Three weeks later, he scored his first competitive goal for the "Tigers" in a 1–0 win against Reading at the KC Stadium. The loan was extended until the end of the 2011–12 season on 5 January 2012. On 21 January, Brady scored in a 1–0 win against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.  On 5 November 2012, Manchester United loaned Brady to Hull until 2 January 2013. He came off the bench the following day against Wolverhampton Wanderers as a replacement for Liam Rosenior. Brady scored his first goal since returning to Hull on 8 December 2012 against Watford; he scored with a 25-yard free kick that went in off the crossbar, making it 2–0 to Hull.  On 8 January 2013, Brady was signed by Hull on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee.  Brady scored a first-half penalty in Hull's opening home Premier League match on 24 August 2013, giving them a 1–0 win against Norwich City. He went on to score two more goals in the Premier League the following month. He then underwent two separate groin operations which made him miss most of the rest of the season.  Brady scored three goals during the 2014–15 campaign including two goals in the second leg of the Europa League play-off round tie against Belgian Pro League side K.S.C. Lokeren on 28 August. Hull won 2–1 on the night but lost the tie on the away goals rule. There was to be more disappointment for Brady as Hull were relegated after finishing the season in 18th position, three points behind Aston Villa.

Norwich City.

On 29 July 2015, Brady joined newly promoted side Norwich City on a three-year deal, for a reported fee of £7 million. He netted his first league goal in a Norwich City shirt on 26 September 2015, opening the scoring in a 2–2 draw against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground. On 1 March 2016, Brady lost two teeth in a clash of heads with teammate Gary O'Neil in a Premier League match against Chelsea. Norwich ended the season in 19th place which meant back-to-back relegations for Brady.  Brady opened his 2016–17 goalscoring account on 1 October 2016 with a stunning 25-yard strike in the 2–1 away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He doubled his goal tally for the season on 5 November, opening the scoring in a 3–2 home defeat to Leeds United. On 31 December, Brady was sent off in the 0–0 draw at Brentford in a controversial decision with manager Alex Neil saying: "Robbie clearly isn't going in to injure the lad and both of them are sliding at impact, but we're not getting the rub of the green right now and that's just another example." Norwich appealed the red card shown to Brady but it was rejected, meaning the Irishman would miss the next three matches. He returned to the side for a 1–0 defeat by Southampton in the FA Cup on 18 January 2017 and scored a penalty in the following league match, a 3–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 28 January, he made his final appearance for Norwich in a 2–0 win over Birmingham City, registering an assist for a Timm Klose goal just before half-time.

Burnley.

On 31 January 2017, the final day of the January transfer window in England, Brady completed a move to Premier League club Burnley in a club record deal reportedly worth £13 million, meaning he would link up with his longtime friend Jeff Hendrick and international teammate Stephen Ward. He signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with the option of another year. Four days later, he made his Burnley debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 away defeat to Watford. Eight days after that, on 12 February, he scored his first Burnley goal, a 20-yard free kick, on his full debut for the club in a 1–1 home draw against league leaders Chelsea. In the following match on 25 February, Brady provided an assist for Michael Keane's equalising goal in the 1–1 draw away to Hull City, his former club.

International career.

Youth.

In September 2010, Brady made his under-21 debut in the Cornaredo Stadium in Lugano. On 9 August 2011, Brady scored two goals in a 2–1 win for Republic of Ireland U21s in a friendly match against Austria U21s. He also scored in the 2013 European Championship qualifiers against Hungary and Liechtenstein.  On 26 February 2012, Brady was named 2011 Under-21 International Player of the Year for his terrific performances throughout the year. In September 2012, he became the record goalscorer at Irish under-21 level with his seventh goal for his country.

Senior.

On 8 September 2012, Brady received his first senior international call-up for a friendly against Oman. He scored and set up two more goals in a 4–1 victory over the Arab opponents. On 18 November 2014, he scored his first brace for Ireland against the United States. On 29 March 2015, Brady started at left-back in Ireland's Euro 2016 qualifier against Poland at the Aviva Stadium in a match that finished 1–1. On 13 November 2015, Brady scored in the 82nd minute of the crucial Euro 2016 play-off first leg match against Bosnia and Herzegovina to earn a 1–1 draw. Three days later, he assisted one of Jonathan Walters' two goals to earn Ireland a 2–0 victory and qualification to UEFA Euro 2016.  On 22 June 2016, Brady scored a crucial header against Italy in the 85th minute of Ireland's last Euro 2016 group stage match resulting in a 1–0 victory, which enabled Ireland to progress to the knockout stage of the competition as one of the best-performing third-placed teams. He also scored a penalty in Ireland's 2–1 defeat to the host nation, France, as "The Boys in Green" exited the tournament in the Round of 16 stage.  On 28 March 2017, Brady captained Ireland for the first time in a 1–0 defeat friendly international defeat against Iceland at the Aviva Stadium.

Personal life.

Brady is in a relationship with choreographer Kerrie Harris, who runs a dance school Dublin. They have one child together, a daughter named Halle. His younger brother, Gareth, has played internationally for Ireland at under-17 level. His other brother, Liam, also appeared for Ireland at under-18 level.

Honours.

Individual

Robert Brady (born 14 January 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger and a left-back for club Burnley and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Robert « Robbie » Brady, né le à Dublin, est un footballeur international irlandais qui évolue au poste de milieu de terrain au Burnley FC.


Life and career.

He is a graduate of Yale University as well as an alumnus of Pingry School. He started working as an assistant for screenwriter Daniel Petrie, Jr. in the '90s along with Scott Moore, who would become his longtime writing partner.  The first script Lucas and Moore ever wrote together was "Flypaper", although the movie didn't get made until 2011. In addition, they both worked on providing uncredited rewrites on "Wedding Crashers", "27 Dresses", "Chicken Little", "Monster-in-Law", and "Mr. Woodcock".  In 2005 and 2007, they were hired to write the screenplays for the family comedies "Rebound" and "Full of It". They also participated on the screenplay for the holiday comedy "Four Christmases" in 2008. The following year, they wrote the successful romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past". However, their breakthrough success came with "The Hangover", which became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy in the United States at the time. The movie spawned two sequels but did not include involvement by Lucas and Moore. Due to the success of "The Hangover", the duo penned another R-rated comedy: the 2011 film, "The Change-Up."  In 2013, Lucas and Moore made their co-directorial debuts with the comedy film, "21 & Over". In October 2012, they sold to ABC a pilot for a new comedy show named "Mixology", which follows five guys and five girls "trying to find love at a trendy Manhattan bar," all over the course of a single night. The show was picked up to series on May 2013 and premiered on ABC on February 26, 2014, but was cancelled after only one season.

Jonathan Lucas (born October 29, 1975) is an American film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his collaborative work with Scott Moore, which includes "The Hangover", "21 & Over" and "Bad Moms".

Jon Lucas, né le à Summit (New Jersey), est un scénariste américain. Il a été révélé au grand public grâce au film "Very Bad Trip".


Ligne La Chaux-de-Fonds – Les Ponts-de-Martel

Route.

The railway was built by the Ponts–Sagne–Chaux-de-Fonds Railway (French legal name: "Chemin de fer Régional La Chaux-de-Fonds - Les Ponts-de-Martel", PSC) as a metre-gauge line and is just over 16 kilometres long. It has one track and train crossings are now only possible in La Sagne. Since 28 November 1893, it has connected in La Chaux-de-Fonds at a common station with the also metre-gauge Saignelégier–La Chaux-de-Fonds railway (SC), which since 1 January 1944 has been part of the Chemins de fer du Jura (CJ). The line leaves La Chaux-de-Fonds station (at 994 metres above sea level) on a steep gradient of 4.0 percent and reaches its high point of 1120 metres after passing through a tunnel in Reymond. From there, the line initially descends at 3.1 percent into the high valley. At the foot of a spur that it has just crossed, the line runs in an almost straight line to La Sagne and from there with a descent of only 1.6 percent to Les Ponts-de-Martel, including a short climb of 1.0 percent. There is a local depot in Les Ponts-de-Martel formed of several sidings. In May 1915, the Saignelégier–La Chaux-de-Fonds Railway opened a transporter wagon yard in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The same transporter wagon system was also shared by the "Chemins de fer des Montagnes Neuchâteloises" from 1966, which began the transport of standard-gauge railway wagons on the line to Les Ponts-de-Martel. However, the CMN phased out all freight traffic. The transporter wagon yard was also used by the CJ for several years but it no longer exists.

Connecting lines.

The standard-gauge station in La Chaux-de-Fonds was opened on 2 July 1857 and was the temporary terminus of the line to Le Locle, which was opened by the "Compagnie Jura industriel" (JI). The continuation to Convers was opened by the same company on 27 November 1859 and provided a connection to Neuchâtel until mid-1860, while the line to Biel/Bienne was opened by the Jura bernois (JB) in mid-1874. On 17 December 1888, the Jura–Bern–Luzern (JBL) company opened the direct line from Biel to La Chaux-de-Fonds through the Crosettes tunnel and the Renan–Le Convers connection was closed in 1895.

The La Chaux-de-Fonds–Les Ponts-de-Martel railway is a metre-gauge railway in the Swiss Jura. It is operated by the Transports Régionaux Neuchâtelois (Neuchâtel Regional Transport, TRN) and has connected the municipalities of Les Ponts-de-Martel and La Sagne in the "Vallée des Ponts" (also called the "Vallée de la Sagne") with La Chaux-de-Fonds since 26 July 1889.

La ligne de La Chaux-de-Fonds aux Ponts-de-Martel est une des lignes ferroviaires qui composent les Transports publics neuchâtelois (TransN). Cette ligne est à voie métrique (écartement entre les rails de un mètre).


Forêts sèches décidues de la vallée de la Narmadâ

Setting.

The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests cover an area of of the lower Narmada River Valley and the surrounding uplands of the Vindhya Range to the north and the western end of the Satpura Range to the south. The Narmada Valley is an east-west flat-bottomed valley, or graben, that separates the two plateaus. The Vindhya Range separates the valley from the Malwa plateau and Bundelkhand upland to the north. The Satpura Range reaches a height of 1,300m and encloses the valley on the south separating it from the Deccan plateau. The ecoregion includes the western portion of the Satpuras, and also extends to the southeast along the eastern flank of the Western Ghats' range. The uplands of this ecoregion are the northern limits of the Indian peninsula.  Rainfall in the ecoregion is highly seasonal; a seven- to eight-month dry season is followed by the June-to-September southwest monsoon, which brings 1,200-1,500 mm of rainfall in an average year. Many trees lose their leaves during the long dry season to conserve moisture.  The ecoregion lies between moister forests to the northeast, southeast, and southwest, which receive greater rainfall from the southeast monsoon, and the drier forests and scrublands of the Deccan to the south and Malwa and Gujarat to the west and northwest. The lowland Upper Gangetic Plains moist deciduous forests lie to the northeast, on the alluvial plain of the Ganges River and its tributaries below the eastern Vindhyas and the Bundelkhand upland. The Chota-Nagpur dry deciduous forests lie on the Chota Nagpur plateau to the east. The Eastern highlands moist deciduous forests, which receive more annual moisture from the Bay of Bengal, lie to the southeast. To the southwest, along the spine of the Western Ghats range, lie the wetter North Western Ghats moist deciduous forests, which receive more moisture from the southwest monsoon winds off the Arabian Sea.  To the south, the Deccan Plateau of Maharashtra lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, and is home to the Central Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests of Vidarbha and the drier Deccan thorn scrub forests of Kandesh. The Kathiarbar-Gir dry deciduous forests cover most of Malwa to the northwest and the lowlands of Gujarat to the west.

Flora.

The natural vegetation of the region is a three-tiered forest adapted to the monsoon and dry season climate. The forests typically have an upper canopy at 15–25 meters, a 10-15 meter understory of smaller trees and large shrubs, and a 3-4 meter undergrowth. Teak "(Tectona grandis)" is the dominant canopy tree, in association with coromandel ebony "(Diospyros melanoxylon)," dhaora "(Anogeissus latifolia"), "Lagerstroemia parviflora", "Terminalia tomentosa", "Lannea coromandelica", "Hardwickia binata," and "Boswellia serrata".  Riparian areas along the regions rivers and streams, which receive year-round water, are home to moist evergreen forests, whose dominant tree species are "Terminalia arjuna, Syzygium cumini, Syzygium heyneanum, Salix tetrasperma, Homonoia riparia," and "Vitex negundo."

Fauna.

The ecoregion is home to 76 species of mammals, none of which are endemic, although several of which, including the Bengal tiger "(Panthera tigris tigris)", along with gaur "(Bos gaurus)", packs of dhole or Asiatic wild dog "(Cuon alpinus)", sloth bear "(Melursus ursinus)", chousingha "(Tetracerus quadricornis)", and blackbuck "(Antilope cervicapra)", are threatened.  The ecoregion is home to 276 bird species, none of which are endemic. Large threatened birds include the lesser florican "(Eupodotis indica)" and Indian bustard "(Ardeotis nigriceps)".

Conservation.

This area is densely populated and only about 30% of the ecoregion is covered in relatively intact vegetation, but this does include some large blocks of habitat in the amarkantak, Vindhya and Satpura ranges which are important for the preservation of the tiger.

Protected areas.

As of 1997, about 5% of the ecoregion (7,500 km2) lies within protected areas, the largest of which are Melghat Tiger Reserve and Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary while others include Bandhavgarh, Panna, and Sanjay national parks. Plans to dam the Narmada River will impact on the wildlife of the ecoregion.

The Narmada Valley dry deciduous forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion of central India. The ecoregion lies mostly in Madhya Pradesh state, but extends into portions of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh states.

Les forêts sèches décidues de la vallée de la Narmadâ forment une écorégion terrestre définie par le Fonds mondial pour la nature (WWF), qui appartient au biome des forêts de feuillus sèches tropicales et subtropicales de l'écozone indomalaise. Elle comprend les formations végétales de la vallée de la rivière Narmadâ et du versant des monts Vindhya, ainsi que la partie occidentale de la chaîne de Satpura, situés dans les états de Madhya Pradesh et Maharashtra au centre de l'Inde.


Discovery.

CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was discovered by the Canada-France Brown Dwarfs Survey, a near-infrared sky survey, and confirmed by WISE data. Philippe Delorme, of the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France and his team, including researchers at Université de Montréal in Canada, detected CFBDSIR2149's infrared signature using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, then examined the body's properties with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Distance.

If this object is actually a rogue planet (which has not been decisively demonstrated), then it is among the closest that has ever been spotted. If the object belongs to the ABDMG then its distance is estimated to be 40±4 parsecs (130±13 light-years) from Earth; other possible estimates range from 25 to 50 parsecs. The closest confirmed rogue planet is PSO J318.5-22.

Age.

In the discovery paper, CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was claimed to possibly be a kinematic member of the AB Doradus moving group (ABDMG). The ABDMG appears to be similar in age to the Pleiades, which has a lithium-depletion boundary age of Myr. If CFBDSIR2149 is indeed associated with the ABDMG, then it is similarly young. However, with Delorme's team now rejecting that hypothesis, estimates are either under 500 million years as a rogue planet with mass between 2 and 13 Jupiter masses, or else a two- to three-billion-year-old brown dwarf with mass between 2 and 40 Jupiter masses. The object shows signs of low gravity (brighter K band in the near-infrared), which could be attributable to youth.

Atmosphere.

Spectroscopy observations have found light absorption by gaseous methane and water in the object's atmosphere.

CFBDSIR 2149-0403 (full designation CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9) is a free-floating planetary-mass object or possibly a high-metallicity, low-mass brown dwarf in the constellation Aquarius. Originally, it was thought to be part of the AB Doradus moving group (ABDMG) as indicated by its position and proper motion, but the same team that discovered the object and conjectured its membership in the group has now rejected that hypothesis due to newer measurements. Without that membership, the age and mass of the object cannot be constrained. There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that CFBDSIR 2149-0403 formed as a planet and was subsequently ejected.

CFBDSIR 2149-0403 (désignation complète CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9) est un corps céleste 4 à 15 fois plus massif que Jupiter et présentant une température superficielle entre. Il s'agirait d'une planète errante, d'un objet libre de masse planétaire du fait qu'elle n'orbite pas autour d'une étoile, ou d'une sous-naine brune. Selon sa position ainsi que son mouvement propre, elle ferait partie (avec une probabilité de 87 %) du groupe mouvant de AB Doradus. Sa distance par rapport à la Terre serait d'environ 130±13 années-lumière et son âge est estimé entre 20 et 200 millions d'années.


Description.

The upperside of the wings is dark, iridescent purple in males. Females are grayish brown, sometimes having iridescent purple on the basal area of the wings. The underside of the wings is bright, lime green in both sexes. Both wings have a bright silvery-white postmedian band. The silver band on the hindwing juts out towards the margin and turns back in, forming a V shape. Beyond this band, there is a dark brownish-red patch with a variable amount of silvery-white frosting. The frosting extends across the entire edge of the hindwing. The hindwings have one pair of tails. The wingspan ranges from 2.2 to 3.2 cm.

Similar species.

The amethyst hairstreak ("Chlorostrymon maesites") is the only similar species in the silver-banded hairstreak's range.  The amethyst hairstreak is smaller. The upperside of the male is dark, vivid, purplish blue. The upperside of the female is bright blue with dark forewing apexes. The underside of the forewing lacks the silver band. The hindwing has a silver band but it does not stretch across the entire wing. The hindwings have two pairs of tails.  Another related butterfly species to "Chlorostrymon simaethis" found in North America is "Callophrys xami", which is commonly referred to as the xami hairstreak or green hairstreak. Aesthetically, "C. simaethis" differs significantly from "C. xami" in regards to the postmedian white line running across the butterfly wings as the silver-banded species has a much broader silver-white postmedian line on the underside of the hindwing.

Habitat.

The silver-banded hairstreak is found in habitats such as subtropical woodlands, deserts, and hammock edges. It is found in these habitats only if its host plants are nearby.

Flight period.

The silver-banded hairstreak is seen from May to December in southern Florida and from June to December in southern Texas. It is seen from March to June and again from October to mid-November in southern Arizona. It will occasionally stray to southern California in October.  These butterflies are usually a very pretty light green with a white streak along the top of the wing. Some say this butterfly is a blue to a light brown.

Life cycle.

The female lays her eggs singly on the young fruits of the host plant. The eggs are shiny green. The caterpillar lives inside the seed pod of the host plant and feeds on the unripe seeds. The caterpillar is yellowish green to a brownish color. It has dark, wavy dorsal and subdorsal lines. There is a dark greenish middorsal stripe edged on each side with red ovals. The head is tan. The caterpillar will turn red just before pupating. The chrysalis is tan to grayish brown with a gray middorsal stripe. It is covered in black and brown spots. It is attached to a surface by a silk pad and girdle. The silver-banded hairstreak has two or three broods per year.

Host plants.

Host plants of the silver-banded hairstreak:

Chlorostrymon simaethis, the silver-banded hairstreak, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is also known as St. Christopher's hairstreak and the Key lime hairstreak.

La Thécla verte ou Thécla de la liane persil ("Chlorostrymon simaethis") est une espèce de lépidoptères (papillons) de la famille des Lycaenidae, sous-famille des Theclinae et du genre "Chlorostrymon".


Biography.

André Dekeijser lived in Port-Francqui (Ilebo/Congo), from 1926 to 1929, before moving to Belgium.  He quickly developed his artistic talent and studied graphic arts at the Academie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. After the Second World War, he worked for several years in the ceramics workshop of Alexandre Geufanstein before heading off in search of his (deceased) father's legacy in the Congo in 1952. There, he worked at the Geographical Institute of the Belgian Congo (I.G.C.B.). During this period, he created his first sculptures which were exhibited in Kinshasa in 1957. The influence of African art was already apparent in his work.  André Dekeijser started a family and returned to Belgium for 2 years where he worked as the cartographer of the provincial domain of Mirwart. Soon after he left with his wife and two children for an adventure in São Paulo, Brazil.  Upon his return 3 years later he decided to dedicate himself to sculpture. He joined his friend André Eijberg before establishing a workshop of his own where he returned to terracotta and patinas and began experimenting with new materials like blocks of Ytong (aerated concrete), whose low price allowed him to create oversized pieces. He also worked with wood and stone and began casting work in bronze, polishing some parts and creating patinas on others.

Work.

Having manipulated terracotta, wood, stone and Y'tong, André Dekeijser focused on copper and bronze. The polishing and application of patinas on bronze pieces increased their relief and rendered them tactile. His first monumental pieces were created in copper. He cut, soldered and applied patinas to red copper creating larger formats whose intertwining shapes evoke the notion of the couple. In order to ascertain pieces could withstand enlargement, small clay or wax models were submitted to a test of a series of figurines diminishing in size.  Having constructed several homes in the Congo and Brazil with his own hands, André Dekeijser created the project and built the model of a sculpture-home that was never completed despite the genuine interest of several architects. He also used his artistic talent to illustrate a textbook for students on the practice and techniques of Osteopathy. For his own pleasure he drew several comic strips with no intention of publishing. He also created bronze and silver jewelry using the lost-wax casting process.

Styles and influences.

Having lived far from modern civilization, in the large tropical forests of Central Africa and the immense high plateaus of southern Brazil, it's no wonder that his art is neither weak or timid, but rather massive, imposing yet understated, made to be enlarged. The forms are robust but gracious lacking aggressiveness despite sharp edges; influenced by African art. André Dekeijser admired the work of Constant Permeke, before turning to abstract art wherein he was profoundly inspired by Henry Moore. The empty spaces in his abstract work are as important as the relief.  In the early 1980s his study of forms took on a more sensual aspect. The duality of the sexes is present in this period. The duality of couples in shapes that interpenetrate, that embrace without touching that are nothing without the other is perhaps the subject most fully developed by the artist. Other themes explored include the mechanics of objects that make up a puzzle whereby the fun lies in studying the empty spaces and surfaces of each piece by taking them apart and trying to put them back in the correct order. These pieces require the spectator to touch and play with the objects in addition to looking at them. During this mechanical period, André Dekeijser created numerous drawings for astonishing machines that inevitably solicited the question : " what could they possibly be used for? »

André Dekeijser (Brussel 1 August 1924 – 9 December 2013) was a Belgian contemporary sculptor known for his abstract and monumental work primarily in copper and bronze.

André Dekeijser, né à Bruxelles le 1er août 1924, mort le (89 ans), est un sculpteur contemporain belge, abstrait et monumental, qui a principalement utilisé le bronze et le cuivre.


Plot.

Ava (Mandy Moore) and Charlie (Kellan Lutz) are newlyweds that have been inspired by the 30-year marriage of Ava's parents, Bradley (James Brolin) and Betty (Jane Seymour) when Ava decides to throw them a surprise anniversary party. But when Betty finds out about an affair Bradley had 25 years ago, she refuses to live with him, which then forces Ava into moving her father into her house, without consulting Charlie. She promises her new husband that it will only be for a short while. Being a marriage counselor, Ava tries and starts to obsess over fixing her parents' marriage so much that it starts to affect her relationship with Charlie. Their marriage starts to deteriorate when they stop having sex and becomes worse when their friend Gerber and new Polish wife, Kasia, whom he had met the night before, show up and he tells Ava about Charlie's first marriage 10 years ago, that she never knew about. When she hears about it, she becomes upset and Charlie tries to explain that it was a long time ago and he was under the influence of alcohol when it happened.  When Ava decides to send her parents to another therapist, the therapist suggests doing a rock climbing exercise to help build trust. One partner climbs while the other holds the rope for support. During the exercise, Ava's parents get into an argument and her father leaves the rope, leaving Betty suspended in air calling for help. Ava leaves her own rope to help her mother, leaving Charlie suspended without any support, which results in him falling and injuring his back and neck. When Ava tries to apologize, Charlie warns her that her distracted behavior is causing an increasing gulf between them.  Ava is still planning the anniversary party in secret when her mother tells her she's leaving on a trip to Asia in 10 days for 6 months. Ava comes up with a plan to bring her parents together and enlists Charlie's help to take her father out for a guys night. When Charlie and Bradley meet up with Gerber at a bar, the trio winds up at a strip club and spend the night becoming incredibly intoxicated. When they get home to find Ava with her mother, Bradley tells Betty that she can leave because he's going to marry a hot, young girl from Europe, something he had heard Gerber say. Ava scolds Charlie for his behavior and ruining her plan which then leads to him complaining about their sex life.  When Ava's sister Shelby (Jessica Szohr) takes Betty speed dating, Bradley is back at home with Ava when he takes a few sleeping pills and falls asleep. Ava flushes the rest of the pills down the toilet and calls 9-1-1 to make it look like a suicide. During that time, Betty has the realization that no man could ever replace Bradley and even more so when she finds out that he's in the hospital. Charlie asks Ava about the number of pills Bradley had taken, and she admits that she had created the whole incident in an attempt to bring her parents together. Charlie yells at Ava for her manipulative behavior, and storms out of the hospital. When Ava gets home that night, she discovers that Charlie has left, leaving a note saying that he's at Gerber's. The next day, Ava goes to Charlie's office to apologize, and asks him to come back home. He replies that “he can't answer that right now”. She invites him to her parents' 30th anniversary party, which is now back on, but he declines, saying that he isn't in the mood for celebrating. Upon hearing this, Ava becomes enraged and accuses Charlie of having an affair with his secretary, Adriana. He denies that there is an affair, questions her motives for marrying him, suggesting that perhaps she had only done so to boost her career and lend credibility to her marriage counseling business. Ava is stunned, and leaves.  The next day, Gerber kicks Charlie out because Kasia's family comes to visit. When Charlie hears Gerber talk to his wife in Polish, and asks him about it, Gerber says that if you love someone and want to live a successful married life, you have to accept and respect their family as well. Charlie goes to find Ava who is at her parent's party. They meet after Ava has the realization that it's her own fault for the way their marriage is and wanted to apologize. Charlie redoes his marriage vows and Ava responds, "I do." Charlie suggests going back to the party, but Ava suggests they consummate their marriage instead.

Reception.

The film was panned by film critics. On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes it has a 0% approval rating, based on 19 reviews with a weighted average score of 1.57/10. On Metacritic, it scored 13 out of 100, an "overwhelming dislike" based on ten critics. "The Los Angeles Times" called it "an emotional wreck of major proportions". "Slant Magazine" said it was "wooden and shallow". "The Hollywood Reporter" called it "a flat romantic comedy" [...] "that would have seemed insipid even in 1953". They added that Moore came across as a "high school student" and that "Lutz's dyed blond hair does nothing to encourage taking him seriously." "The Village Voice" said it was full of "half-hearted melodramatics and schmaltzy bromides". "The New York Times" said Lutz looks like a "Ken-doll husband," suggesting "more success in bench-pressing than grape-crushing." They added the film felt like "punishment for a crime you can’t remember committing".

Love, Wedding, Marriage is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Dermot Mulroney and starring Mandy Moore, Kellan Lutz, James Brolin, Jane Seymour and Christopher Lloyd. It was released on June 3, 2011.

Amour, Mariage et Petits Tracas (") est un film américain indépendant réalisé par Dermot Mulroney. Étant un échec au box-office américain, il fut diffusé directement à la télévision sous-forme de téléfilm le sur M6, en France.