Skopelos (, ) is a Greek island in the western Aegean Sea. Skopelos is one of several islands which comprise the Northern Sporades island group, which lies east of the Pelion peninsula on the mainland and north of the island of Euboea. It is part of the Thessaly region. Skopelos is also the name of the main port and the municipal center of the island. The other communities of the island are Glossa and Neo Klima (Elios). The geography of Skopelos includes two mountains over ; Delphi () in the center of the island, and Palouki () in the southeast. With an area of  Skopelos is slightly larger than Mykonos () and Santorini (). The nearest inhabited islands are Skiathos to the west and Alonnisos to the east.

History
According to the legend, Skopelos was founded by Staphylos (Greek for grape), one of the sons of the god Dionysos and the princess Ariadne of Crete. Historically, in the Late Bronze Age the island, then known as Peparethos or Peparethus (), was colonised by Cretans, who introduced viticulture to the island.

Perhaps because of the legend of its founding by the son of the god of wine, the island was known throughout the ancient Greek cities of the Mediterranean Sea for its wine. The play Philoctetes (first performed at the Festival of Dionysus in 409 BC) by Sophocles includes a wine merchant lost on his way to "Peparethos, rich in grapes and wine".

Pliny the Elder, in his book Natural History writes:

The physician Apollodorus, in the work in which he wrote recommending King Ptolemy what wines in particular to drink—for in his time the wines of Italy were not generally known—has spoken in high terms of that of Naspercene in Pontus, next to which he places the Oretic, and then the Aeneatian, the Leucadian, the Ambraciotic, and the Peparethian, to which last he gives the preference over all the rest, though he states that it enjoyed an inferior reputation, from the fact of its not being considered fit for drinking until it had been kept six years.

In 1936 excavations in the area of Staphylos/Velanio uncovered a royal tomb of the era of Mycenaean Greece. The island was briefly under the control of the city-state Chalcis, Euboea since at least the 8th century BC.

In turn the island would come under the political influence or direct domination of:

 Athens
 the Kingdom of Macedon (338–146 BC)
 The Roman Republic (146–27 BC)
 The Roman Empire (27 BC – 395 AD)
 The Byzantine Empire (395–1204)
 The Latin Empire of Constantinople (c. 1204–1277)
 The Byzantine Empire (1277–?)
 The Ottoman Empire (?–1403)
 The Byzantine Empire (1403–1456)
 The Republic of Venice; known as Scopelo (1456–1538)
 The Ottoman Empire (1538 until the Greek War of Independence)

Albanians also settled on the island, thereafter assimilating into the Greek population.

Skopelos became part of the First Hellenic Republic under the London Protocol confirming its sovereignty (3 February 1830). During World War II, Skopelos fell under Axis occupation. At first it was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy (June 1941 – September 1943) and then by Nazi Germany (September 1943 – October 1944). Skopelos and the rest of Greece returned to democratic-style government in 1944.

Geography

Skopelos has the shape of a saxophone, with the "neck" pointing northwest, and the "bell" lying on the east. There are not many bays and natural harbors, and cliffs steeply fall into the sea in the greatest part of the coast. Mountains dominate the western  and eastern parts of the island. There are several plains; in Staphylos, Ditropon, and Panormos. The main port of Skopelos can sometimes be closed due to northerly gales. The smaller bays of Staphylos, Agnondas on the south coast and Panormos on the west offer better protection. The municipality has an area of .

Communities
The main port and municipal center of the island (Skopelos or Chora) is situated in the bay on the northern coast. It is noted for its architectural heritage. On the census of 2011, it had 3,090 inhabitants.

The second largest settlement is Glossa village, situated on the northwestern tip of the island, just above Loutraki harbour, with an elevation ranging from . It is  from Skopelos town. It is a tranquil village with traditional houses, with 993 residents.

Neo Klima or "Elios" is a purpose-built village constructed after the great 1965 earthquake to resettle the displaced residents of the severely damaged village of (Old) Klima. It is situated by the coast on the west side of the island. The village had 463 inhabitants in the 2001 census.

Other settlements include Stafylos, Agnondas, Panormos, Ananias, Klima, Atheato, Loutraki, Kalogiros, and Myloi.

Economy

The economy of Skopelos is now fully dependent on the tourism industry, which supports construction and other development related industries. Though tourism is greatest during the summer months, Skopelos is also a year-round retirement destination for Northern Europeans. Some residents expected an increase in tourism due to the filming of  Mamma Mia! on the island in September 2007.

Agriculture, once a staple of the local economy, is in decline.
Plum and almond orchards exist but are less extensive than in the past. Wine production from local grapes is minimal ever since the phylloxera blight of the 1940s destroyed the vineyards. Though there is local small scale wine production using local grapes, most wine produced on the island is for home use and much is pressed from grapes imported from Thessaly. Herding of domestic goats and domestic sheep continues and a local feta type cheese (katiki) is produced from these stocks. Beekeeping and honey production have increased in recent years. Skopelos supports a small fishing fleet which fishes local waters.

The island once had a vital wooden shipbuilding industry and contributed many ships to the War of Greek Independence (1821–1831). Shipbuilding began to decline after the introduction of steamships. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1911) stated "Almost every householder in both islands (Skopelos and Skiathos) is the owner, joint owner or skipper of a sailing ship." Today the art of building ships and boats in the traditional style is virtually nonexistent and is seen only in the repairing of small wooden vessels. Skopelos cannot support its population with locally produced food and goods. Most of what is used and consumed must be imported by ship from the mainland. Prices for food and consumer goods reflect the added expense of transportation. Therefore purchases of food and drink run 10 percent higher in Skopelos than on the mainland. Most building materials, including sand, must also be imported. Gasoline or petrol costs are, at minimum, 15 percent higher than on the mainland.

Skopelos is a matrilineal society. Wealth is passed on via the female line. By custom, the parents of each Skopelitan bride provide the new couple with at least a house and some property. The house and property remain in the bride's name.  This custom is particularly insular as in most other parts of Greece, especially on the mainland and Crete, wealth is patrilineal.

Local food production
Olives and olive oil: Olive oil plays a role in the Skopelos diet, being the basis of all recipes of traditional cuisine. The most prevalent olive is the "Pelion" variety, larger and rounder than the "Kalamata". For eating the olives are cured both in the unripened and the ripened stages.
Feta: A semi-soft, crumbly, well-salted white cheese made from goat milk. Used in Skopelos cheese pie and other vegetable pies, added to salads and served with meals.
Cheese Pie: Not by definition a real pie, but a tiropita, a deep fried spiral of cheese stuffed phyllo dough. The pie is generally about  in diameter and  high.
Honey: Honey in Skopelos is mainly pine honey from conifer trees and flower-honey from the nectar of fruit trees and wild flowers.
Prunes: Oven or sun dried Blue or Red Plums.

Environment

Skopelos is one of the greenest islands in the Aegean Sea. The island has a wide range of flowers, trees and shrubs. The local vegetation is chiefly made up of forests of Aleppo pines (Pinus halepensis), Kermes oaks (Quercus coccifera), a small forest of Holm oaks (Quercus ilex), Oleo-Ceratonion maquis, fruit trees, and olive groves. The pine forests on Skopelos have replaced oak species that predominated in the past; this is due to a preference for pine trees, since their timber is widely used for ship construction.

Ecology
As "The Green and Blue Island", Skopelos lags behind urban Greece in rubbish recycling and sewage treatment. Currently there is a rubbish recycling program in Skopelos. Solid and hazardous waste is deposited in a landfill or dumped unofficially on untended public or private land. Periodically families of Romani people come to Skopelos to collect scrap metal from areas around the island where trash has been illegally dumped. The scrap metal is removed from the island by lorry and sold on the mainland. Beer and bulk wine bottles are recycled by the distributors. There is a deposit collected for each bottle at time of purchase which is redeemed upon return.

Water resources
The sources of the municipal water supply are various spring-fed tanks located around the island. The three island communities supply water within a limited but expanding part of their jurisdictions. Homes outside the municipal water system use wells or cisterns to collect rain water. There are plans to construct an artificial lake in the area of Panormos to supply water to farmers. Private water wells supply some agricultural needs and water from these wells can be transported by lorry to outlying areas to refill cisterns or swimming pools. The municipal water is good quality. As most natural source water in limestone environments, the water has a high calcium content.

Alternative energy
Over the past 30 years residents have begun to use solar collectors for hot water. With about 2,400 hours of sunlight per year, Skopelos has the potential to increase its solar energy use and to develop alternative sources for energy which make use of a frequent and steady northerly wind. Major construction and mass tourism development projects for hotels and tourist housing have not yet embraced the concept of alternative resources. Most recently built projects rely on electricity generated on the mainland, even for hot water.

Wildlife

Birds
Skopelos has a variety of fauna – including about 60 bird species including migrants. There are several birds of prey, most common being the Eleonora's falcon, the Eurasian scops owl and the common buzzard. Also to be seen are kestrels, eagles, and vultures, and very obvious throughout the island is the hooded crow. Occasionally grey herons and common kingfishers and, more commonly, the great cormorant, the herring gull and the yellow-legged gull are seen along the coast. In March 2007 the Municipal Authorities cleaned a wetland habitat near the town beach at the outlet to the sea of Skopelos' only permanently flowing stream. The area had been home to frogs and the birds that fed on them.

Mammals
The Northern Sporades are one of the prime breeding areas of the Mediterranean monk seal, an endangered species. The main threat to the seal population is human activities. Often deliberately killed or accidentally caught in fishing equipment, its food sources are declining also. In addition, marine pollution and uncontrolled tourism are causing the destruction of the seal's natural habitat. The establishment in 1992 of the National Marine Park of Alonnissos-Northern Sporades was an effort to protect this species by restricting human encroachment on seal breeding areas. Wild land mammals include stone martens, brown rats and house mice, the southern white-breasted hedgehog, bats and, though declining in numbers, European hares. A mating pair of fallow deer have been privately reintroduced to the island. A population of feral cats exists in and around areas of human habitation.

Reptiles
The island is home to a variety of reptiles. The Balkan pond turtle can be found near fresh water along with the Greek marsh frog, though this habitat is slowly disappearing due to development. The Erhard's wall lizard is seen regularly in daylight in warm weather and the Mediterranean house gecko at night. A larger lizard is the Balkan green lizard. Several species of snakes can be observed: the Montpellier snake, the leopard snake, the Caspian whipsnake, the four-lined snake, the grass snake, and the nose-horned viper.

Amphibians
In or near fresh water there is sometimes found the Balkan frog and the European tree frog. Near or away from water there are common toads.

Domesticated animals
The island has its own acknowledged breed of goat, named after it. The Skopelos goat is one breed in the southern multicoloured group. It is a relative of the wild goat of the island of Gioura. The main occurrences of this species are in Skopelos, Alonissos and Skiathos. Sheep herds on the island belong to a distinctive group called the "Skopelos Sheep" breed.

Architectural heritage

The town of Skopelos was honoured as a Traditional Settlement of Outstanding Beauty (19/10/1978 Presidential Decree 594,13-11/78, signed by President of Greece Konstantinos Tsatsos). This is the Greek equivalent of a site of Outstanding Architectural Inheritance. The building code for new construction and renovation within the village reflects some restrictions due to the Traditional Settlement decree. Some restrictions stipulate that no new buildings shall be more than two stories, there must be a sloped ceramic or stone roof in the traditional style, and doors, windows and balconies be made of wood.

Churches
The island has more than 360 churches and chapels. Most are closed through the year except for the feast day of to whom or whatever the church has been dedicated, and the majority have been privately built. The oldest existing ecclesiastical structure is the basilica of Agios Athanasios, built in the 11th century and located in the Kastro area. All except one of the churches on the island observe the Greek Orthodox faith. The remaining church hosts a small enclave of Jehovah's Witnesses. Christianity was formalized in Skopelos by the appointment of the Bishop Riginos in the 4th century. Under the Reign of the Emperor Julian the Apostate, Riginos was martyred in 362 AD. The saint's feast day is February 25 — a holiday on the island.

Transport
Car ownership in Greece increased by 121 between 1990 and 2004.  Skopelos reflects this trend and the local authorities are hard pressed to deal with the increased traffic and parking issues. Along with the resident population of cars, the burden of tourist and summer resident vehicles and the availability of rental cars and motorbikes has created problems for which solutions have not yet been found. The construction of a large asphalt parking area along the waterfront in the late 1990s has done little to address the parking problems facing the town of Skopelos. During the summer the population of the island increases from about 5,000 to between 15,000 and 20,000 (est. 1993).<ref>'Ibid.</ref>

Skopelos has one main road which links the three main villages by coach several times daily.

In the mid-1980s the mayor's council voted to apply to the Ministry of the Interior for the construction of an airport. The application was denied. There is a heliport in case of medical emergencies.

The island is served by commuter hydrofoils and ferryboats from the ports of Volos, Magnesia and Agios Konstantinos, Phthiotis on mainland Greece, which also allows connections to and from Alonissos and Skiathos. In summer there is a ferry to and from  Kymi in Euboea.

Province
The province of Skopelos () was one of the provinces of the Magnesia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current regional unit Sporades, and included the islands Skopelos, Skiathos, Alonnisos. It was abolished in 2006.

Beaches

The length of the coastline of Skopelos is . Due to the island's mountainous terrain most of the coast is inaccessible. The following are beaches accessible by road or trail: Staphylos, Velanio (official nudism beach since 2011), Agnondas, Limnonari, Panormos, Adrines, Milia, Kastani, Elios, Hovolo, Armenopetra, Kalives, Glyfoneri, Glysteri, Perivoliou, Keramoto, and Chondrogiorgos.

Notable Skopelitans
Diocles of Peparethus - (late 4th-early 3rd century BC) was a historian from Peparethos.
Fani Palli-Petralia - Former Minister of Employment and Social Security 2007–2009. former Minister of Tourism 2006-2007
 Nikolaides family : Nikolakis Hatzistamatis, the founder of the Nikolaides family was born in the island of Skiathos around 1770. He moved to Skopelos where he served as one of the island's highest officials. Nikolakis Hatzistamatis is mentioned by the Greek author Alexandros Papadiamantis in the novel "Hatzopoulo". His only son Jannios (1800–1885), changed the family name to Nikolaides. Jannios also served in high offices. Descendants of the above are the present donators of the Folklore Museum of Skopelos.
Cat Cora (Katerina Karagiozi) - a Greek-American professional chef best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on the Food Network television show Iron Chef America.
 Ivan Rebroff, the German singer, owned a villa on the island and became an honorary citizen.
 Gordon Haskell, English singer-songwriter used to live on the island. His father Harry Hionides was a Greek American.

In cinema
Skopelos and its neighbour Skiathos were the filming locations of the 2008 film Mamma Mia!''. The wedding procession was filmed at the Agios Ioannis Chapel near Glossa.

Books
Held, Marc (1994). "Skopelos - the Landscapes and Vernacular Architecture of an Aegean Island"
Parsons, Heather (2004). "Skopelos Trails - A Nature and Walking Guide to Skopelos"

References

External links
How to get to Skopelos
The Hellenic Ornithological Society

Municipalities of Thessaly
Provinces of Greece
Landforms of the Sporades
Islands of Thessaly
Stato da Màr
Populated places in the Sporades

Skopelos


Arabinoxylan is a hemicellulose found in both the primary and secondary cell walls of plants, including woods and cereal grains, consisting of copolymers of two pentose sugars: arabinose and xylose.

Structure
Arabinoxylan chains contain a large number of 1,4-linked xylose units. Their backbones are composed of β-D-xylopyranosyl units substituted with single α-L-arabinofuranosyl units. Many xylose units are substituted with 2, 3 or 2,3-linked arabinose residues.

Functions
Arabinoxylans chiefly serve a structural role in the plant cells. They are also the reservoirs of large amounts of ferulic acid and other phenolic acids which are covalently linked to them. Phenolic acids may also be involved in defense including protection against fungal pathogens.

Arabinoxylans are one of the main components of soluble and insoluble dietary fibers which are shown to exert various health benefits. In addition, arabinoxylans, owing to their bound phenolic acids, are shown to have antioxidant activity. Their ion exchange capacity and viscosity are also partly responsible for their beneficial metabolic effects.

References

Polysaccharides
Copolymers

Arabinoxylan


Victor Pierre Horta (; Victor, Baron Horta after 1932; 6 January 1861 – 8 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer, and one of the founders of the Art Nouveau movement. He was a fervent admirer of the French architectural theorist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and his Hôtel Tassel in Brussels (1892–93), often considered the first Art Nouveau house, is based on the work of Viollet-le-Duc. The curving stylized vegetal forms that Horta used in turn influenced many others, including the French architect Hector Guimard, who used it in the first Art Nouveau apartment building he designed in Paris and in the entrances he designed for the Paris Metro. He is also considered a precursor of modern architecture for his open floor plans and his innovative use of iron, steel and glass.

Horta's later work moved away from Art Nouveau, and became more geometric and formal, with classical touches, such as columns. He made a highly original use of steel frames and skylights to bring light into the structures, open floor plans, and finely-designed decorative details. His later major works included the Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis (1895–1899), Brussels' Centre for Fine Arts (1923–1929) and Brussels Central Station (1913–1952). In 1932, King Albert I conferred on Horta the title of Baron for his services to the field of architecture.

After Art Nouveau lost favor, many of Horta's buildings were abandoned, or even destroyed, though his work has since been rehabilitated. Four of the buildings he designed in Brussels were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000: the Hôtel Tassel, the Hôtel Solvay, the Hôtel van Eetvelde and the Horta House (currently the Horta Museum).

Life and early work
Victor Horta was born in Ghent, Belgium, on 6 January 1861. His father was a master shoemaker, who, as Horta recalled, considered craftsmanship a high form of art. The young Horta began by studying music at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent. He was expelled for misbehavior and went instead to study at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. At the Ghent Conservatory, an aula is named after him today. When he was seventeen, he moved to Paris and found work with the architect and designer Jules Debuysson.

Horta's father died in 1880, and Horta returned to Belgium. He moved to Brussels and married his first wife, with whom he later fathered two daughters. He began to study architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. He became friends with Paul Hankar, another early pioneer of Art Nouveau architecture. Horta did well in his studies and was taken on as an assistant by his professor Alphonse Balat, the architect to King Leopold II. Horta worked with Balat on the construction of the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken in northern Brussels, Horta's first work to utilise glass and iron. In 1884, Horta won the first Prix Godecharle to be awarded for architecture for a proposed new building for the Belgian Parliament. On his graduation from the Royal Academy, he was awarded the Grand Prize in architecture.

In the years that followed, Horta joined the Central Society of Belgian Architecture, designed and completed three houses in a traditional style, and took part in several competitions. In 1892, he was named head of the Department of Graphic Design for Architecture at the Free University of Brussels, and promoted to professor in 1893. At this time, through lectures and exhibitions organised by the artists' group Les XX, Horta became familiar with the British Arts and Crafts Movement, the developments in book design, and especially textiles and wallpaper, which influenced his later work.

In 1893, Horta built a town house, the Autrique House for his friend Eugène Autrique. The interior had a traditional floor plan, due to a limited budget, but the facade previewed some of the elements he developed into the full Art Nouveau style, including iron columns, and ceramic floral designs. In 1894, Horta was elected President of the Central Society of Belgian Architecture, although he resigned the following year following a dispute caused when he was awarded the commission for a kindergarten on the / in the Marolles/Marollen district of Brussels, without a public competition.

Throughout his life, Horta was greatly influenced by the French architectural theorist Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, whose ideas he completely identified with. In 1925, he wrote: {{Blockquote|Since 1840, the theories of Viollet-le-Duc are a sharp, precise and constructive analysis of each element in architecture, bringing the whole of architecture to its absolute origin – a construction out of which any form of art can emerge.}}

The Town Houses and the beginning of Art Nouveau

Hôtel Tassel (1892–1893)
The major breakthrough for Horta came in 1892, when he was commissioned to design a home for the scientist and professor Émile Tassel. The Hôtel Tassel was completed in 1893. The stone facade, designed to harmonize with the neighboring buildings, was fairly traditional, but the interior was strikingly new. Horta used the technologies of glass and iron, which he had practiced on the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, to create an interior filled with light and space. The house was built around an open central stairway. The decoration of the interior featured curling lines, modeled after vines and flowers, which were repeated in the ironwork railings of the stairway, in the tiles of the floor, in the glass of the doors and skylights, and painted on the walls. The building is widely recognized as the first appearance of Art Nouveau in architecture.Space Time and Architecture, Sigfreid Giedion, 1941 In 2000, it was designated, along with three other town houses designed soon afterwards, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In designating these sites, UNESCO explained: "The stylistic revolution represented by these works is characterised by their open plan, the diffusion of light, and the brilliant joining of the curved lines of decoration with the structure of the building."

Hôtel Solvay (1898–1900)
The Hôtel Solvay, on the Avenue Louise/Louizalaan in Brussels, was constructed for Armand Solvay, the son of the chemist and industrialist Ernest Solvay. Horta had a virtually unlimited budget, and used the most exotic materials in unusual combinations, such as marble, bronze and rare tropical woods in the stairway decoration. The stairway walls were decorated by the pointillist painter Théo van Rysselberghe. Horta designed every detail including the bronze doorbell and the house number, to match the overall style.

Hôtel Van Eetvelde (1898–1900)
The Hôtel van Eetvelde is considered one of Horta's most accomplished and innovative buildings, because of highly original Winter Garden interior and the imaginative details throughout. The open floor plan of the Hôtel Van Eetvelde was particularly original, and offered an abundance of light, both horizontally and vertically, and a great sensation of space. A central court went up the height of the building, bringing light from the skylight above. On the main floor, the oval-shaped salons were open to the courtyard, and also received light from large bay windows. It was possible to look from one side of the building to other from any of the salons on the main floor.

Horta House and Studio (1898–1901)
The Horta House and Studio, now the Horta Museum, was Horta's residence and office, and was certainly more modest than the other houses, but it had its own original features and equally fine craftsmanship and mastery of details. He made unusual combinations of materials, such as wood, iron and marble in the staircase decoration.

The novel element in Horta's houses and then his larger buildings was his search for maximum transparency and light, something often difficult to achieve with the narrow building sites in Brussels. He achieved this by use of large windows, skylights, mirrors, and especially by his open floor plans, which brought in light from all sides and from above.

Hôtel Aubecq (1899–1902)
The Hôtel Aubecq in Brussels was one of his late houses, made for the industrialist Octave Aubecq. As with his other houses, it featured a skylight over the central staircase, filling the house with light. Its peculiarity was the octagonal shape of the rooms, and the three facades with windows, designed to give maximum light. The owner originally wished to keep his original family furniture, but because of the odd shape of the rooms, Horta was commissioned to create new furniture.

By 1948, Art Nouveau was out of style, the house was sold to a new owner, who wished to demolish it. A movement began to preserve the house, but in the end only the facade and the furnishings were saved by the City of Brussels. The facade was disassembled and put into storage, and many proposals were made for its reconstruction, but none were carried out. Some of the furnishings are now on display at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Maison du Peuple (1895–1899)
While Horta was building luxurious town houses for the wealthy, he also applied his ideas to more functional buildings. From 1895 to 1899, he designed and built the Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis ("House of the People"), the headquarters for the Belgian Workers' Party (POB/BWP). This was a large structure including offices, meeting rooms, a café and a conference and concert hall seating over 2,000 people. It was a purely functional building, constructed of steel columns with curtain walls. Unlike his houses, there was virtually no decoration. The only recognizable Art Nouveau feature was a slight curving of the steel pillars supporting the roof. As with his houses, the building was designed to make a maximum use of light, with large skylights over the main meeting room. It was demolished in 1965, despite an international petition of protest by over 700 architects. The materials of the building were saved for possible reconstruction, but were eventually scattered around Brussels. Some parts were used for the construction of the Brussels Metro system.

Beginning in about 1900, Horta's buildings gradually became more simplified in form, but always made with great attention to functionality and to craftsmanship. Beginning in 1903, he constructed the Grand Bazar Anspach, a large department store, with his characteristic use of large windows, open floors, and wrought iron decoration. In 1907, Horta designed the Museum for Fine Arts in Tournai, although it did not open until 1928 due to the war.

Magasins Waucquez (1905)
The Magasins Waucquez (now the Belgian Comic Strip Center) was originally a department store specializing in textiles. In its design, Horta used all his skill with steel and glass to create dramatic open spaces and to give them an abundance of light from above. The steel and glass skylight is combined with decorative touches, such as neoclassical columns. After Waucquez's death in 1920, the building began to languish away, and in 1970, the firm closed its doors. Jean Delhaye, a former aid of Horta, saved the building from demolition, and by 16 October 1975, because of its connection to Horta, it was declared a protected historical site. Now a museum of a particular Belgian speciality, the comic strip, it also has a room devoted to Horta.

Brugmann University Hospital (1906)
In 1906, Horta accepted the commission for the new Brugmann University Hospital (now the Victor Horta Site of the Brugmann University Hospital). Developed to take into account the views of the clinicians and hospital managers, Horta's design separated the functions of the hospital into a number of low-rise pavilions spread over the  park based campus, and work began in 1911. Although used during World War I, the official opening was delayed until 1923. Its unusual design and layout attracted great interest from the European medical community, and his buildings continue in use to this day.

The First World War – travel to the United States
In February 1915, as World War I was underway and Belgium was occupied, Horta moved to London and attended the Town Planning Conference on the Reconstruction of Belgium, organised by the International Garden Cities and Town Planning Association. Unable to return to Belgium, at the end of 1915, he traveled to the United States, where he gave a series of lectures at American universities, including Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Smith College, Wellesley College and Yale. In 1917, he was named Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lecturer and Professor of Architecture at George Washington University.

Later Projects – debut of modernism (1919–1939)
On Horta's return to Brussels in January 1919, he sold his home and workshop on the /, and also became a full member of the Belgian Royal Academy. The post-war austerity meant that Art Nouveau was no longer affordable or fashionable. From this point on, Horta, who had gradually been simplifying his style over the previous decade, no longer used organic forms, and instead based his designs on the geometrical. He continued to use rational floor plans, and to apply the latest developments in building technology and building services engineering. The Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, a multi-purpose cultural centre designed in a more geometric style similar to Art Deco.

Centre for Fine Arts (1923–1929)
Horta developed the plans for the Centre for Fine Arts beginning in 1919, with construction starting in 1923. It was completed in 1929. It was originally intended to be built of stone, but Horta made a new plan of reinforced concrete with a steel frame. He had intended the concrete to be left exposed in the interior, but the final appearance did not meet his expectations, and he had it covered. The concert hall itself is in an unusual ovoid, or egg shape, and is accompanied by art galleries, meeting rooms, and other functional rooms. The building is placed on a complex hillside site, and occupies eight levels, much of it underground. It also had to be designed to avoid blocking the view from the Royal Palace, on the hill just above it.

In 1927, Horta became the Director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, a post he held for four years until 1931. In recognition of his work, Horta was awarded the title of Baron by King Albert I in 1932.

Brussels Central Station (1913–1952)
In 1910, Horta began working on drawings on his most ambitious and longest running project: Brussels Central Station. He was formally commissioned as the architect in 1913, but work did not actually begin until after World War II, in 1952. It was originally planned that the station would just part of a much larger redevelopment project, which Horta had conceived in the 1920s, but this was never realized.

The start of construction was seriously delayed due to the lengthy process of purchasing and demolishing over thousand buildings along the route of the new railway between Brussels' main stations, and then because of World War I. Construction finally began in 1937 as part of the plans to boost the economy during the Great Depression, before being delayed again by the outbreak of World War II. Horta was still working on the station when he died in 1947. The station was finally completed, to his plans, by his colleagues led by Maxime Brunfaut. It opened on 4 October 1952.La rénovation de la gare de Bruxelles-Central – Passion-Trains

Furniture
Horta typically designed not only the building, but also the furniture, to match his particular style. His furniture became as well known as his houses; a displays of his furniture were shown at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris, and the 1902 Turin Exposition of Modern Decorative Arts. It was typically hand-made, and the furniture for each house was different. In many cases the furniture lasted longer than the house. Its drawback was that, since it matched the house, it could not be changed to any other style, without disrupting the harmony of the room.

Later work and personal life
Horta and his first wife divorced in 1906. He married his second wife, Julia Carlsson, in 1908.

In 1925, he was an architect of honor for the Belgian Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, the exposition which gave its name to Art Deco. In the same year, he became director of the Fine Arts section of the Belgian Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1937, he completed the design of his final work, Brussels Central Station. In 1939, he began editing his memoirs. He died on 8 September 1947 and was interred in Ixelles Cemetery in Brussels.

Heritage
Art Nouveau fell out of fashion in the 20th century and many of Horta's buildings were abandoned, or even destroyed, most notably the Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis, demolished in 1965, as mentioned above. However, several of Horta's buildings are still standing in Brussels up to this day and some are available to tour. Most notable are the Magasins Waucquez, formerly a department store, now the Belgian Comic Strip Center and four of his private houses (hôtels), which were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 under the title "Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)":
 Hôtel Tassel, designed and built for Prof. Émile Tassel in 1892–93
 Hôtel Solvay, designed and built 1895–1900
 Hôtel van Eetvelde, designed and built 1895–1898
 House and Studio Horta, designed in 1898, now the Horta Museum, dedicated to his work

Honors
 1919
 Officer of the Order of the Crown.
 Member of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
 1920: Officer of the Order of Leopold
 1925: Director of the Classe des Beaux-Arts of the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium
 1932: Created Baron Horta by Royal Decree and given a coat of arms

Horta was commemorated on the Belgian 2000 franc banknote issued from 1994 until the introduction of the euro.

On 6 January 2015, Google Doodle commemorated his 154th birthday.

List of works

 1885: Three houses, Twaalfkameren 49, 51, and 53, in Ghent (design)
 1889: Temple of Human Passions, Parc du Cinquantenaire/Jubelpark, in the City of Brussels (protected monument since 1976)
 1890: Maison Matyn, Rue de Bordeaux/Bordeauxstraat 50, in Saint-Gilles
 1890: Renovations and interior decoration of the residence of the patron of the arts Henri Van Cutsem, Avenue des Arts/Kunstlaan 16, in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (today the Charlier Museum)
 1892–1893: Hôtel Tassel, Rue Paul-Emile Janson/Paul-Emile Jansonstraat 6, in the City of Brussels
 1893: Maison Autrique, Chaussée de Haecht/Haachtsesteenweg 266, in Schaerbeek
 1894: Hôtel Winssinger, Rue de l'Hôtel de la Monnaie/Munthofstraat 66, in Saint-Gilles
 1894: Hôtel Frison, Rue Lebeau/Lebeaustraat 37, in the City of Brussels
 1894: Studio for the sculptor Godefroid Devreese, Rue des Ailes/Vleugelstraat 71, in Schaerbeek (modified)
 1894: Hôtel Solvay, Avenue Louise/Louizalaan 224, in the City of Brussels
 1895: Interior decoration of the house of the painter Anna Boch, Boulevard de la Toison d'Or/Guldenvlieslaan 78, in Saint-Gilles (demolished)
 1895–1898: Hôtel van Eetvelde, Avenue Palmerston/Palmerstonlaan 2/6, in the City of Brussels
 1896–1898: Maison du Peuple/Volkshuis, Place Emile Vandervelde/Emile Vanderveldeplein, in the City of Brussels (demolished in 1965)
 1897–1899: Kindergarten, Rue Sainte-Ghislaine/Sint-Gisleinstraat 40, in the City of Brussels
 1898–1900: House and Studio Horta, Rue Américaine/Amerikaansestraat 23–25, in Saint-Gilles (today the Horta Museum)
 1899: Maison Frison (Les Épinglettes), Avenue Circulaire/Ringlaan 70, in Uccle
 1899: Hôtel Aubecq, Avenue Louise/Louizalaan 520, in the City of Brussels (demolished in 1950)
 1899–1903: Villa Carpentier (Les Platanes), Doorniksesteenweg 9–11, in Ronse
 1900: Extension of the Maison Furnémont, Rue Gatti de Gamond/Gatti de Gamondstraat 149, in Uccle
 1900: À L'Innovation department store, Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat 111, in the City of Brussels (destroyed by fire in 1967)
 1901: House and Studio for the sculptor Fernant Dubois, Avenue Brugmann/Brugmannlaan 80, in Forest
 1901: House and Studio for the sculptor Pieter-Jan Braecke, Rue de l'Abdication/Troonafstandstraat 51, in the City of Brussels
 1902: Hôtel Max Hallet, Avenue Louise/Louizalaan 346, in the City of Brussels
 1903: Funeral monument for the composer Johannes Brahms in the Vienna Central Cemetery (in collaboration with the Austrian sculptor Ilse Twardowski-Conrat)
 1903: Magasins Waucquez department store, Rue du Sable/Zandstraat 20, in the City of Brussels (today the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art
 1903: House for the art critic Sander Pierron, Rue de l'Aqueduc/Waterleidingsstraat 157, in Ixelles
 1903: Grand Bazar Anspach department store, Rue de l'Evêque/Bisschopsstraat 66, in the City of Brussels (demolished)
 1903: Maison Emile Vinck, Rue de Washington/Washingtonstraat 85, in Ixelles (converted in 1927 by the architect A. Blomme)
 1903: À L'Innovation department store, Chausée d'Ixelles/Elsenesteenweg 39–51, in Ixelles (converted)
 1904: Gym for the boarding school Les Peupliers, in Vilvoorde
 1905: Villa Fernand Dubois, Rue Maredret, in Sosoye
 1906: Brugmann Hospital, Place Arthur Van Gehuchten/Arthur Van Gehuchtenplein, in Jette (first design; opened in 1923)
 1907: Magasins Hicklet, Rue Neuve/Nieuwstraat 20, in the City of Brussels (converted)
 1909: Wolfers Jewellers Shop, Rue d'Arenberg/Arenbergstraat 11–13, in the City of Brussels
 1910: House for the Dr. Terwagne, Van Rijkswijcklaan 62, in Antwerp
 1911: 'Magasins Absalon department store, Rue Saint-Christophe/Sint-Kristoffelstraat 41, in the City of Brussels
 1911: Maison Wiener, Avenue de l'Astronomie/Sterrekundelaan, in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (demolished)
 1912: Brussels Central Station (first designs; completed by Maxime Brunfaut and inaugurated in 1952)
 1920: Centre for Fine Arts, Rue Ravenstein/Ravensteinstraat, in the City of Brussels (first design; opened in 1928)
 1925: Belgian pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes of Paris in 1925
 1928: Museum of Fine Arts''', in Tournai

Gallery

See also
 Art Nouveau in Brussels
 History of Brussels
 Belgium in "the long nineteenth century"

References

Notes

Bibliography

 Bogaert C., Lanclus K. & Verbeeck M. met medewerking van Linters A. 1979: Inventaris van het cultuurbezit in België, Architectuur, Stad Gent, Bouwen door de eeuwen heen in Vlaanderen 4NB Z-W, Brussel – Gent

External links

 UNESCO Word Heritage List entry
 Victor Horta
 Horta Museum
 Cupola's Art Nouveau Architecture Gallery One at www.cupola.com
 art-nouveau-around-the-world.org Victor Horta
 Victor Horta on BALaT - Belgian Art Links and Tools (KIK-IRPA, Brussels)

1861 births
1947 deaths
Architects from Ghent
Barons of Belgium
Art Nouveau architects
Flemish designers
Burials at Ixelles Cemetery
Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium
Victor Horta buildings
Flemish architects
Officers of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts alumni
Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Ghent) alumni
Academic staff of the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts

Victor Horta


The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is the statutory organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK. Established as a non-departmental public body in 2003, the SIA reports to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

The two duties of the SIA are to regulate the compulsory licensing of individuals who undertake designated activities within the private security industry and to manage a voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme, which measures private security service suppliers against independently established assessment criteria.

SIA licensing

One of the main duties of the SIA is the compulsory licensing of individuals working in specific sectors of the private security industry. Whether or not an individual requires a licence is determined by: "the role that is performed" and "the activity that is undertaken". These are described fully in Section 3 and Schedule 2 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (as amended). It is a criminal offence to engage in licensable conduct without a licence: if found guilty, the maximum penalty is six months imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine

Licensable activities (sectors)
The activities defined as licensable by the Act are:
 Cash and Valuables in Transit (CVIT)
 Close Protection (CP)
 Door Supervision (DS)
 Public Space Surveillance (CCTV)
 Security Guarding (SG)
 Vehicle Immobilisation (VI)
 Key Holding (KH)

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 (as amended) allows for SIA licensing of private investigation activities, security consultants and precognition agents but the SIA does not license these activities. On 1 October 2012 the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 made it an offence to undertake vehicle immobilisation in England and Wales without lawful authority. The SIA cancelled most of the vehicle immobiliser licences held by individuals in England and Wales. Exceptions were made for those individuals wishing to undertake vehicle immobilisation activities in Northern Ireland (where vehicle immobilisation is still legal) or key holding and non-front line security roles in the United Kingdom (which any SIA licence allows). On 31 July 2013 the Home Secretary announced that the SIA will be regulating private investigators. No deadline was given, although the announcement stated that "The regulation of private investigators will be introduced as quickly as possible and the new regime will begin next year [2014]".

Two Types of SIA licence
There are two types of SIA licence:
 A front line licence is required if undertaking licensable activity, other than key holding activities (this also covers undertaking non-front line activity). A front line licence is in the form of a credit card-sized plastic card that must be worn, subject to the licence conditions.
 A non-front line licence is required for those who manage, supervise and/or employ individuals who engage in licensable activity, as long as front line activity is not carried out – this includes directors or partners. A non-front line licence is issued in the form of a letter that also covers key holding activities.

In-house guarding
The Private Security Industry Act 2001 does not require manned guards employed in-house to be licensed unless their activities are in relation to licensed premises. The SIA was charged by Parliament to investigate the implications of extending the legislation to cover in-house manned guards once licensing of the private security industry had been in force for three to four years. To meet this obligation the SIA consulted widely through a range of mechanisms. Its assessment of the evidence took into account that regulation should only be targeted where action was needed; that regulation should only intervene where there is a clear case for public protection, and any proposal for further regulation should be proportionate and follow a risk-based approach. Its conclusion is that there is no clearly defined or substantiated risk to public protection to be addressed and that it is unable to make a case which would justify extending its remit to include the licensing of in-house guards.

Licence-linked qualifications
Individuals applying for a front line SIA licence must prove that they are properly qualified to do their job. If they don't hold one of the SIA-endorsed qualifications then their licence application will be refused. The licence-linked qualifications are intended for individuals entering the private security industry. Their purpose is to ensure that the individual is capable of performing their duties in a manner that will not cause harm to themselves or any member of the public. The qualifications are meant to address the core areas of the role; they are not intended to cover all of the training that an operative could possibly have.

The SIA does not run training courses or award qualifications and does not approve or vet training providers. The SIA specifies the knowledge and skills that a licence holder needs to know and be able to do and these specifications form the basis of the qualifications linked to SIA licensing. The SIA has endorsed certain awarding bodies to offer these qualifications and approve training providers.

In January 2008, Panorama carried out an undercover investigation into the training that candidates were undertaking to obtain their SIA licences. This revealed that mobile phone use and open talking in exams was common practice during the training course and examination that the reporter took. Training malpractice such as this is a matter for the various UK Qualification Regulatory Authorities. Training malpractice can be defined as any deliberate activity, neglect, default or other practice that compromises the integrity of the assessment process and / or the validity of certificates.

Confirmed cases of training malpractice may result in:
 the relevant awarding body or bodies removing the training centre's approval
 the SIA revoking the licences of those licence holders who benefited from the malpractice.

Approved Contractor Scheme

One of the main duties of the SIA is to manage the Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS), a voluntary quality assurance scheme that measures private security suppliers against independently assessed operational and performance standards. Organisations that meet these standards are awarded 'Approved Contractor' status. At the end of March 2012, the total number of approved contractors was 729.

The ACS is based upon widely recognised business improvement models: ISO9001 and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. The Scheme also references the British Standard codes of practice applicable to the private security industry and conformance to the relevant codes is built into the ACS requirements.

Companies applying to the scheme are assessed against 89 individual indicators of achievement. The SIA does not normally assess contractors directly, though it may do so in exceptional circumstances. The usual practice is for assessment by one of the SIA's appointed assessing bodies. As of August 2010, these UKAS-accredited assessing bodies are: BSI; Chamber Certification Assessment Services Ltd; NSI (prop. Insight Certification Ltd); ISOQAR; SSAIB.

SIA approval is only available for the activities of an organisation that are regulated under the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Approval is sector-specific, so a company offering two different kinds of private security services may be approved in one but not the other. To maintain approval an approved contractor must re-register every year and renew approval every three years. This process means that approved contractors are independently assessed on an annual basis.

ACS scoring
The ACS scoring system was not designed to be a differentiation tool. However, it can assist when gauging overall quality, provided that its limitations are understood. It is important that the score is looked at alongside other differentiators (such as the contractor's reputation in the marketplace or the quality of its tender response) and not in isolation.
 Contractors with a score of 56 or higher would be in the top half of performance for approved contractors
 Contractors with a score of 130 or higher would be in the top 5%

Falsely claiming approval
Claiming to be an approved contractor when this is not the case is an offence under section 16 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. A section 16 offence includes use of the Approved Contractor Scheme accreditation mark or the use of language that may suggest approval or endorsement, such as "SIA registered" or "SIA member". The penalties for committing an offence under Section 16 are:
 Upon summary conviction at a Magistrate's Court, Sheriff Court or District Court, a fine of up to £5,000.
 Upon conviction on indictment at Crown Court, High Court of Justiciary or Sheriff and jury trial, an unlimited fine.

Criticisms

In July 2016 the SIA shut down its contact centre. This was done partly to reduce the SIA's running costs and partly because of the SIA's plans for private security businesses to take a more active role in supporting the licensing of employees. This decision generated criticism from people unhappy at what they saw as poor customer service.

In 2017 it was widely reported that people going through the licence renewal process were experiencing significant delays.

The future of the SIA

On 14 October 2010 the UK Government's Cabinet Office made an announcement on the future of many public bodies. Its intention for the SIA was stated as: "Security Industry Authority – No Longer an NDPB – Phased transition to new regulatory regime." The exact nature of this new regulatory regime is yet to be determined. In the meantime the existing regulatory regime remains in place and existing laws will continue to be enforced.

In March 2011 the SIA was removed from Schedule 1 of the Public Bodies Bill (subsequently, the Public Bodies Act 2011).

On 20 November 2012 the Home Office published a consultation document entitled 'Consultation on a Future Regulatory Regime for the Private Security Industry'. The document proposes a regime in which individuals will continue to be licensed but the primary focus of the regulator will shift to a system of business regulation. The future status of the SIA is not considered.

On 11 January 2016 it was announced that a consultation into the future of the SIA was being conducted. The closing date for submissions is 18 February 2016. Organisations and individuals could submit opinions and experiences.

It was announced on the 8th February 2022, in the document called Security Industry Authority Framework Agreement 1 Security Industry Authority (SIA) Framework Document that section 1.2 The SIA has been classified by the Cabinet Office as an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body of the Home Office.  Framework document

References

Security organizations
Home Office (United Kingdom)
Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government
2003 establishments in the United Kingdom
Government agencies established in 2003
Private security industry

Security Industry Authority


{{Infobox television
| image                = NFL Network Special Logo.png
| caption              = The current NFL Network logo for its exclusive package of games as of the 2022 season.
| alt_name             = {{ubl|Saturday Night Football (2006–2008)|Thursday Night Special (2016)|Thursday Night Football: Saturday Edition (2014–2015)|NFL Network Special (2016–2022)}}
| genre                = NFL football telecasts
| creator              =
| director             =
| presenter            = List of NFL Network Exclusive Game Series broadcasters
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme            = NFL GameDay theme
| endtheme             = Same as open
| composer             =
| country              = United States
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 5
| num_episodes         = 4 per season
| list_episodes        =
| executive_producer   =
| producer             =
| location             = Various NFL stadiums
| camera               = Multi-camera
| runtime              = 180 minutes or until game ends (inc. adverts)
| company              =
| network              = NFL Network
| first_aired          =
| last_aired           = present
| related              =
| image_size           =
}}NFL Network Exclusive Game Series (formerly called NFL Network Special) is the branding currently used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games aired by NFL Network. Prior to the 2022 NFL season, the NFL Network Special branding was only used on Thursday Night Football (TNF) games not played on Thursdays (from 2022 on it is used for all games); as of 2022, this arrangement has included at least one NFL London Game played in a Sunday morning (U.S. time) window, and one or more late-season games on Saturdays.

After having briefly used Saturday Night Football to brand the games (alongside the overall blanket title Run to the Playoffs), from 2008 through 2016 the games were branded as "special editions" of Thursday Night Football or a variant thereof (such as Thursday Night Special), and later NFL Network Special. The branding NFL Christmas Special has also been used for Christmas Day games in the TNF package, some of which having fallen into this segment of the package).

In the 2022 season, Thursday Night Football moved exclusively to Amazon Prime Video. NFL Network will still carry a package of exclusive games, consisting mainly of international games and late-season Saturday games, with the Thursday Night Football-centric branding having been dropped and replaced by individual brands for each game (such as Saturday Showdown for the late-season tripleheader).

As with all league games carried by a cable network or streaming provider, each game is syndicated to a local broadcast station (or two stations in some cases) in the markets of the two teams, per NFL broadcast rules.

Background
Prior to 2017
NFL Network debuted Thursday Night Football on November 23, 2006, with the Kansas City Chiefs handing the visiting Denver Broncos a 19–10 Thanksgiving defeat. As part of this package, three games aired on Saturday nights, which were accordingly branded as Saturday Night Football (not to be confused with ESPN/ABC's college football telecasts of the same name, which ESPN holds a trademark in relation to), with the package as a whole being promoted as the Run to the Playoffs. This format carried over to the 2007 season. Saturday games can only occur in the final weeks of the season, as the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, requires blackouts of professional football games—held on Friday evenings or Saturdays from mid-September through mid-December—on television stations within  of the venue of a college or high school football game.

Starting in 2008, NFL Network eliminated all but one of the Saturday night games and started their Thursday night package three weeks earlier. In the following season, all references to Saturday Night Football were dropped, with the entire package now being branded as Thursday Night Football, and non-Thursday games being referred to as a "special edition" of Thursday Night Football.Beginning in 2014, the Thursday Night Football package was sub-licensed to one or more of the NFL's broadcast partners, who produced all games on behalf of NFL Network, and could simulcast selected games in the package on broadcast television. These, by extension, included the non-Thursday games of the package, which were in turn produced by CBS (with some later produced by NBC beginning in 2016). These games are intended to satisfy NFL Network's carriage agreements, which require that a quota of exclusive games be broadcast by the channel each season, while still allowing some of the games to be simulcast on network television as well.

In 2014, CBS used the branding Thursday Night Football: Saturday Edition for these games—a branding scheme that was especially considered a misnomer when used for a game aired on a Saturday afternoon. By 2016, the games had begun to carry the on-air branding Thursday Night Special (albeit with some fleeting references to Thursday Night Football or TNF still present in on-air graphics), with Christmas Day games assigned to the Thursday Night Football package accordingly using the branding NFL Christmas Special.

2017–2021
By the 2017 season, the branding NFL Network Special was adopted for non-Thursday TNF games exclusive to NFL Network. The games continued to have similar productions to games aired under the Thursday Night Football title, but with their on-air graphics only containing NFL Network branding (rather than being co-branded with the logos of both NFL Network and the host broadcaster).

Beginning in 2018, most NFL Network Special games became Fox productions as part of its new rights to Thursday Night Football. An exception was an NFL London Game on October 10, 2021, which was instead produced by CBS.

 2022–present
Amazon Prime Video holds rights to Thursday Night Football beginning in the 2022 NFL season. There will still be a package of exclusive games on NFL Network, generally consisting of international games airing at 9:30 a.m. ET, and late-season Saturday games.  NFL Network now markets the broadcasts as its "exclusive game series", branding the late-season Saturday games with distinct titles such as Saturday Showdown (Week 15 tripleheader), and the Holiday Classic (Christmas Eve primetime game, Week 16). Production of the games was taken back in-house, and a new graphics package by Two Fresh Creative replaced the Thursday Night Football-centric branding used prior.

In Week 16 of 2023, NFL Network added a Sunday night game on Christmas Eve in lieu of usual broadcaster NBC (which is airing a afternoon game that Saturday), due to the latter producing a Peacock-exclusive Saturday primetime game on December 23.

Coverage
Results

Announcers
Play-by-play
Greg Gumbel (2017, 2021)
Mike Tirico (2017–2019)
Rich Eisen (2018–2019, 2022)
Curt Menefee (2018)
Kevin Burkhardt (2019, 2021)
Adam Amin (2020)
Joe Davis (2020–2021)
Kevin Kugler (2022)
Noah Eagle (2022)

Color
Trent Green (2017)
Kurt Warner (2017–2022)
Michael Irvin (2018–2019, 2022)
Steve Mariucci (2018–2019, 2022)
Nate Burleson (2018–2019, 2022)
Joe Thomas (2019)
Charles Davis (2019)
Mark Schlereth (2020)
Adam Archuleta (2021)
Greg Olsen (2021)
Mark Sanchez (2022)

Reporters
Jamie Erdahl (2017, 2022)
Heather Cox (2017)
Melissa Stark (2018–2021)
Peter Schrager (2018–2019, 2021–2022)
Pam Oliver (2019, 2021)
Lindsay Czarniak (2020, 2022)
A.J. Ross (2021)
Steve Wyche (2021–2022)
Laura Okmin (2022)
Stacey Dales (2022)
Sara Walsh (2022)
Tom Pelissero (2022)
Allison Williams (2022)

See also
 NFL on Fox NFL on CBS NFL on NBC NBC Sunday Night Football Monday Night Football MLB Network Showcase NHL Network Showcase''

References

External links

2017 American television series debuts
2010s American television series
2020s American television series
CBS Sports
NFL on NBC
NFL Network original programming
Simulcasts

NFL Network Exclusive Game Series


Given a Hilbert space with a tensor product structure a product numerical range is defined as a numerical range with respect to the subset of product vectors. In some situations, especially in the context of quantum mechanics product numerical range is known as local numerical range

Introduction

Let  be an operator acting on an -dimensional Hilbert space . Let  denote its numerical range, i.e. the set of all  such that there exists a normalized state , , which satisfies .

An analogous notion can be defined for operators acting on a composite Hilbert space with a tensor product structure. Consider first a bi–partite Hilbert space,  of a composite dimension .

Let  be an operator acting on the composite Hilbert space. We define the product numerical range  of , with respect to the tensor product structure of , as  where  and  are normalized.

Product numerical radius

Let  be a tensor product Hilbert space. We define the product numerical radius  of , with respect to this tensor product structure, as

Notation

The notion of numerical range of a given operator, also called "field of values", has been extensively studied during the last few decades and its usefulness in quantum theory has been emphasized. Several generalizations of numerical range are known. In particular, Marcus introduced the notion of '''decomposable numerical range''', the properties of which are a subject of considerable interest.

The product numerical range can be considered as a particular case of the decomposable numerical range defined for operators acting on a tensor product Hilbert space. This notion may also be considered as a numerical range relative to the proper subgroup  of the full unitary group .

General case

It is not difficult to establish the basic properties of the product numerical range which are independent of the partition of the Hilbert space and of the structure of the operator. We list them below leaving some simple items without a proof.

Basic properties

Topological facts concerning product numerical range for general operators.

 Product numerical range forms a connected set in the complex plane. This is true because product numerical range is a continuous image of a connected set.
 Product numerical range is subadditive. For all
 For all  and
 For all  and
 For all   for unitary  and .
 Let  and
 If one of them is normal then the numerical range of their tensor product coincides with the convex hull of the product numerical range,
 If  is positive semidefinite for some , then
 Let  and .
 For all , we have  and

Convexity
The product numerical range does not need to be convex. Consider the following simple example. Let

Matrix  defined above is matrix with eigenvalues . It is easy to see that  and , but . Actually, by direct computation we have

Product numerical range of matrix  is presented below.

Product numerical range forms a nonempty set for a general operator. In particular it contains the barycenter of the spectrum.

Barycenter
Product numerical range of  includes the barycenter of the spectrum,

Product numerical radius is a vector norm on matrices, but it is not a matrix norm. Product numerical radius is invariant with respect to local unitaries, which have the tensor product structure.

References
 Z. Puchała, P. Gawron, J.A. Miszczak, Ł. Skowronek, M.-. Choi, K. Życzkowski, "Product numerical range in a space with tensor product structure", Linear Algebra Appl., 434 (2011) 327–342.  .
 P. Gawron, Z. Puchała, J. A. Miszczak, Ł. Skowronek, K. Życzkowski, "Restricted numerical range: a versatile tool in the theory of quantum information", J. Math. Phys. 51, 102204 (2010).  .

Quantum mechanics
Operator theory

Product numerical range


Endeavour College of Natural Health is a private education institution located in multiple campuses across Australia, specialising in alternative medicine.

History
Endeavour College of Natural Health was established in 1975, originally under the name Australian College of Natural Medicine. This remains the legal entity. The College is a 'dual sector' private education provider, meaning it offers higher education and vocational education and training (VET) courses.

In higher education, Endeavour offers Bachelor of Health Science degrees in a range of complementary medicine modalities such as Naturopathy, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, and also offers a conventional Bachelor of Health Science degree in Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine. The College also offers a higher education Diploma of Health Science for those looking to learn more about the complementary medicine fields prior to stepping into a degree.

VET courses in various alternative modalities are also provided by the College, ranging from the certificate level to diplomas.

Endeavour operates several Australian campuses in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.

In 2015, the college was sold by its parent company Vocation to Study Group International for AUS$75 million. In 2018, Study Group International sold off its most valuable asset, Endeavour, to Allegro Funds at a staggering loss in order to repay significant government debts. Allegro Funds operating as Education Bidco remains the private equity owner.

References

External links
 Endeavour College of Natural Health website

Educational institutions established in 1975

Endeavour College of Natural Health


The Taronga Conservation Society is a Government of New South Wales agency responsible for Taronga Zoo Sydney and the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in New South Wales, Australia. The board is a part of the Australian Regional Association of Zoological Parks. It sponsors a number of research centers, such as the Australian Marine Mammal Research Centre. The agency's role was outlined in the Zoological Parks Board Act 1973 and Amendment Act 1992 and fall within the jurisdiction of the Minister for the Environment.

References

Zoological societies
Government agencies of New South Wales
Zoos in New South Wales

Taronga Conservation Society


Westlife is an Irish boy band who formed in 1998. Its members once were Shane Filan, Kian Egan, Nicky Bryne, and Mark Feehily. Then Bryan McFadden left the band on March 9, 2004 to give more of his time to his family life with the British TV personality and former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona, although he has subsequently separated from her and changed the spelling of his first name back to 'Brian'.

Westlife did not manage success in America, although their debut single, "Swear It Again" was a minor hit on mainstream radio and MTV. Its video made MTV's Total Request Live briefly, and it managed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2000, going up to No. 20 on the chart. Their debut American album was also released in 2000, but flopped. Beyond Europe and the US, Westlife's fan base is truly global, including Canada, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Like most other boy bands, Westlife was primarily marketed to teenagers, besides girls there were approximately 20% of Westlife fans are male. They also had a large following among gay men, and performed numerous times at gay venues in the UK.

It was announced in October 2011 that Westlife would split in 2012. They had their last concert in Dublin, Ireland in 2012. Tickets for it sold out in 5 minutes.

Members
 Shane Filan
 Nicky Byrne
 Mark Feehily
 Kian Egan

Past members
 Brian McFadden

Success
The band has been very successful since it was started and is popular in both Ireland and United Kingdom, with hits like:

 "Swear It Again" (1999)
 "If I Let You Go" (1999)
 "Flying Without Wings" featuring BoA (appeared on the Pokémon 2000 soundtrack) (1999)
 "I Have A Dream"/"Seasons In The Sun" (covers of ABBA and Terry Jacks respectively) (1999)
 "Fool Again" (2000)
 "Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)" (with Mariah Carey) (cover of Phil Collins) (2000)
 "My Love" (2000)
 "Uptown Girl" (cover of Billy Joel) (2001)
 "Queen Of My Heart" (2001)
 "World of Our Own" (2002)
 "Unbreakable" (2002)
 "Mandy" (cover of Barry Manilow) (2003)
 "You Raise Me Up" (2005)
 "The Rose" (2006)

Not every single of theirs has gone to No. 1 in the UK:

 "What Makes a Man" (2000) #2
 "Bop Bop Baby" (2002) #5
 "Hey Whatever" (2003) #4
 "Obvious" (2004) #3
 "Home" (2007) #3
 "Us Against The World" (2008) #8
 "What About Now" (2004) #2
 "Safe" (2010) #10

The band have also won ITV's Record of the Year competition on a record four occasions, with "Flying Without Wings", "My Love", "Mandy" and "You Raise Me Up".

Discography
 1999 "Westlife" #2 UK, #129 US
 2000 "Coast to Coast" #1 UK
 2001 "World of Our Own" #1 UK
 2002 "Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits - Vol. 1" #1 UK
 2003 "Turnaround" #1 UK
 2004 "Allow Us To Be Frank" #3 UK
 2005 "Face to Face" #1 UK
 2006 "The Love Album" #1 UK
 2007 "Back Home" #1 UK
 2009 "Where We Are" #2 UK
 2010 "Gravity" #3 UK
 2011 "Greatest Hits" #4 UK

1990s Irish music groups
2000s Irish music groups
2010s Irish music groups
Boy bands
Irish pop music groups
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups established in 1998
Musical quartets
Musical quintets

Westlife


Old South Arabian (or Ṣayhadic or Yemenite) is a group of four closely related extinct languages. They were spoken in the far southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. They were written in the Ancient South Arabian script.

There were several Old South Arabian languages (e.g. Awsānian), of which very little evidence has survived, however. A pair of possible surviving Sayhadic languages is attested in the Razihi language and Faifi language spoken in far north-west of Yemen. Although these varieties of speech have both Arabic and Sayhadic features. It is hard to classify them as either Arabic dialects with a Sayhadic substratum, or Sayhadic languages that have been restructured under pressure of Arabic.

Languages of Asia

Old South Arabian


On 6 February 2019, 37-year-old Caroline Mwatha Ochieng', a Kenyan human rights activist and founder of the Dandora Community Center (which investigates and documents cases of police killings in Dandora), went missing. Her body was found in Nairobi's City mortuary on 12 February where it had been registered under a different name. Police reports established that she had died on 7 February. A post-mortem examination determined that she died due to exsanguination. The bleeding was caused by a rupture at the rear of her uterus, reportedly as the result of an unsafe abortion. The remains of a male fetus were still in the womb, minus a hand.

Death
Her father and husband told reporters that they did not believe police reports, since they were unaware that she had been pregnant. Patrick Gathara of The Washington Post noted skepticism was warranted, since police had been involved with covering up the murders of human rights defenders in the past. A second, independent autopsy confirmed the cause of death. Amnesty International Kenya stated: "If Mwatha was not killed by State execution, she was killed by a system that allows crude abortion clinics to exist for its failure to provide safe abortion services."

Aftermath of death
Memorial services were held on 21 February at Uhuru Park's Freedom Corner. They were attended by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, politician Martha Karua and Nairobi Women Representative Esther Passaris. A Requiem Mass was refused by the Catholic Church because of its opposition to abortion. The funeral was on 23 February in Asembo Bay, Siaya County near her family's home. She is survived by her two children and a husband.

Eight people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the abortion, which is illegal in Kenya unless the mother's life is at risk. The clinic where the procedure was performed was not licensed to operate.

See also
List of solved missing person cases

References

2010s crimes in Nairobi
2010s missing person cases
2019 in Kenya
Abortion-rights movement
Criminal justice ethics
Deaths by person in Africa
Deaths from bleeding
Deaths in Kenya
February 2019 crimes in Africa
Formerly missing people
Human rights abuses in Kenya
Missing person cases in Africa
Violence against women in Kenya

Death of Caroline Mwatha