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Product Details
Extra Small: 102mm x 153mm
Small: 297mm x 210mm
Medium: 483mm x 329mm
Large: 615mm x 432mm
Extra large: 840mm x 610mm
Small Canvas: Shortest edge 297mm
Images are printed in their original proportions, within a white border, on a Photo paper, Art paper or Matt Fine Art paper. Please note that a copyright line is included beneath the image and the dimensions listed above are for the paper size only.
The Photo paper has a semi-gloss finish, ideally suited to reproductions of photographs, while the Art and Matt Fine Art paper have a matt textured surface that works particularly well for reproductions of drawings, etchings and some paintings.
If selecting a frame for Photo paper small or medium, please note that the frame is black, made from solid sustainable wood in the UK, and the dimensions are:
Small: Depth 23mm / Height 332mm / Width 245mm
Medium: Depth 23mm / Height 517mm / Width 362mm


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Our converter has stopped stocking log rolls of this product and no inventory now remains. Please see JVCC J90 for an alternative low gloss duct tape.
Polyken 500 Low-Gloss Duct Tape is a matte-finish, polyethylene-coated cloth tape that's coated with a rubber adhesive. The matte finish provides less reflectivity and a low sheen, making it perfect as AV cord tape in the photography, film, theater, live entertainment and convention industries. This low-gloss cord tape offers high tack, so it'll adhere well to a wide variety of surfaces, but is still designed for clean, residue-free removal in temporary applications. This is a low-visibility black cable tape that offers relatively high adhesion (70 ounces per inch) at a great price point. Polyken 500 tape is made with low VOCs, so it contributes towards satisfying LEED EQ Credit 4.1. FindTape.com supplies a huge selection of specialty duct tape for an enormous assortment of applications and uses.
Please note that tape rolls are NOT guaranteed to be splice-free. Tape rolls are typically cut to standard tape industry metric-cut sizes - or approx 5% narrower than the nominal size (i.e. 24mm per 1-inch of nominal width ordered).
The following downloads are available for this product:
Cargo Pit Tape (Flame Retardant Duct)
Fluorescent / Neon Duct Tape
Prints & Designer Duct Tape
Specialty Duct Tape (Hazard, Low Gloss, Camo, Etc)
Standard Silver & Colored Duct Tape
Wide Width Duct Tape Patch
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subset: commoncrawl


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Not The Givenchy Antigona Replica Bag Of Your Dreams!Categories:Other Brands
I noticed that when it comes to popular replica handbags like the Givenchy Antigona replica bag, people are more likely to stumble upon disappointing websites.
Replica sites want to sell, of course, so they'll lure their customers with low prices and popular designs. But just like this Luxurycheapbagsuk.com review shows, things are not always what they seem…or what we hope them to be!
A friend of mine bought the Givenchy Antigona knockoff from one of these replica sites but the good part was that she was able to return it. Experiences like this can ruin all replica bags for us and that's why you choose the site carefully:
"Hi Eva!
I don't know if you've ever heard of this site before since I didn't see a Luxurycheapbagsuk.com review on your blog and that's why I wanted to share my story.
I purchased a Givenchy Antigona replica from them since I found it to be quite affordable and I liked that there are photos and description for each bag. But the whole experience has left a rather bad taste in my. They offer credit card among the payment methods they list on their site but I found out upon Checkout that Mastercard payments are actually not supported, so I was foolish enough to go with Western Union instead
The bag arrived 9 days after I made the payment (weekend included) and even though I don't pretend to be an expert, it's really bad! It doesn't hold its shape at all because the leather is really thin and the logo pad is way too flat! Also, the hardware felt really cheap and I'm sure the color would fade off after just a few wears.
I contacted them through email, gave my order number and explained that the reason why I want to exchange it is because it doesn't look like in their photos! But their exchange policy doesn't support this reason, just defective or damaged replica bags!
The customer service was extremely disappointing because they answered very slowly but in the end I was able to return the bag, even though I had to pay all the shipping fees. I sent you some photos for you and your readers, I think you'll understand better
I do not want to use them ever again and I already warned my friends too!
But I still want this Givenchy Antigona replica bag, can you please help me find a good one Eva?"
Thank you for sending this Luxurycheapbagsuk.com review, it's been a while since I've seen one of their bags! You made the right decision to return this Givenchy replica bag, it was really ugly!
The logo tab was indeed too flat, the interior leather tab was not even straight, the protective leather tabs on the bottom were not even, the handle tabs look really bad and the overall shape doesn't do any justice to the real Antigona we all love! Ugh, why do replica Givenchy bags like this even exist?
Has any of you girls found the perfect Givenchy Antigona replica bag? Let's help our friend find the bag of her dreams!
Tags: bag replica Givenchy Antigona
comnum(0) tbcount(0) tbcount(506)
I Really Love Kylie Jenner's Givenchy AntigonaCategories:Other Brands
I know, I know–so many of you don't want to hear anything else about the Kardashians. But I'm not here to gossip about them, I'm here to share a bag I spotted on Kylie Jenner'sInstagram page that I fell in love with, and I just now found it available for sale online.
The Givenchy Antigona is seasons old by now, but the style continues to be a favorite for plenty of fashion lovers, including yours truly. A couple months ago, I bought myself a pale pink Antigona and I still adore the bag; it's so girly, which is not always my style, but I kind of love having something different than my norm. I reviewed the bag and found quite a few areas that I think could be fixed, but because I love the look of the bag so much, I find myself checking out retailers' newest arrivals to see the latest versions of the bag.
A couple weeks go, the youngest Kardashian-Jenner, Kylie, posted a picture on Instagram of an Antigona riding shotgun in her car. I immediately fell in love with the color combination.
The main color of this Antigona is tan, but the gussets are black and the shoulder strap and trim details are orange. This trifecta of colors is edgy and stylish; different from so many of the Antigonas I've seen and incredibly different from my super-girly version. I don't love it just because it's Kylie Jenner's bag (although let's just be honest and admit she has an amazing handbag collection), but I can thank Kylie for posting it and leading me to hunt it down.


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Administrative Core (NS090405)
Specific Aims and Tasks
- Coordinate scientific goals, priorities, and ongoing interactions between cores and scientific projects.
- Assure compliance with regulatory approvals and safety protocols.
- Assess and review the quality and efficiency of the cores and projects.
- Monitor overall budget and annual reallocation as agreed by the executive and steering committees.
- Oversee monthly progress reviews.
- Organize annual expert workshops on special topics in SUDEP research.
- Organize, review and award annual pilot and feasibility RFAs.
- Co-sponsor research opportunities for young investigators in basic and clinical SUDEP research.
- Liaise with other NIH initiatives and advocacy support groups in SUDEP, SIDS, SADS, and SUDY.
Principal Investigators
Core Administrators
Holly Robinson
Administration of CSR basic research project activities
Anita Zaremba
Administration of CSR clinical project activities
Publication Links
- Ryvlin P, Nashef L, Lhatoo SD, Bateman LM et al. Incidence and mechanisms of cardiorespiratory arrests
in epilepsy monitoring units (MORTEMUS): a retrospective study. PMID 24012372.
- Bozorgi A, Chung S, Kaffashi F, Loparo KA, Sahoo SS, Zhang GQ, Kaiboriboon K, Lhatoo SD (2013).
Significant peri-ictal hypotension: Expanding the spectrum of seizure induced autonomic dysregulatory
phenomena with polygraphy. PMID 23758665.
- Lhatoo SD, Faulkner HJ, Dembny K, Trippick K, Johnson C, Bird JM (2010). An electroclinical case-control
study of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy. PMID 20882604.
- Lhatoo SD, Johnson AL, Goodridge DM, MacDonald BK, Sander JW, Shorvon SD (2001). Mortality in
epilepsy in the first 11 to 14 years after diagnosis: Multivariate analysis of a long-term, prospective,
population-based cohort. PMID 11261508.


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To tłumaczenie jest niekompletne. Pomóż przetłumaczyć ten artykuł z języka angielskiego.
Mozilla is bringing its core values — openness, freedom, user choice — to the world of app publishing.
Using standard Web technologies, languages and tools the Firefox Marketplace enables you to publish free and paid Open Web Apps. These apps can be packaged, running within Firefox, or hosted on your own web server. Published apps are available to users of Firefox on desktops, Android devices and Firefox OS phones wherever they are in the world. Users discover your apps easily in Firefox Marketplace using the featured apps section, app categories and powerful search. User's are then able to install free apps instantly, or buy paid apps with the growing support for credit card payments and operator billing.
Preparing for success
- Whether you're creating apps for pleasure or profit, you'll want people to discover, use and enjoy them. This section explains how to spread the word and build communities of satisfied users.
Publication options
- Packaged or Hosted, that is the question. Find out about delivering your app content and the options for making your apps available on Android devices and desktops, in addition to Firefox OS.
- Creating a store
- You don't have to use the Firefox Marketplace to distribute apps. Find out how to create a store for your apps, or apps from other developers.
- If creating apps is your business, this section guides you through the options Open Web Apps and Firefox Marketplace offer for generating revenue. Detailed information on implementing in-app payments is included.
Publishing apps
- Unleash your apps on the waiting world. Find out how to get your apps on Firefox Marketplace, including the processes for submitting your apps, the review process, updating your apps, monitoring their performance and reviewing user feedback.
Tools for app development
- Firefox Marke tplace Libraries and APIs
- Get an overview and find links to the libraries and APIs available to add features to your Marketplace apps.
- Firefox OS App Manager
- Your primary tool to test, deploy and debug Open Web Apps from your desktop copy of Firefox OS.
- App developer tools
- Find a complete list of the tools you can use to make Open Web App development efficient and fun.
Join the Marketplace community
- IRC: #marketplace (learn more)


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Live from Cisco Live! Las Vegas: Service Provider Cloud and Data Center
Today Cisco Live! in North America kicks off in Las Vegas with about 14,000 attendees. This will be the first of a number of worldwide Cisco Live! events this year with others planned in Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Australia. All around the world, Cisco Live! has evolved to become an event where Cisco experts can interact with us and each other, learn technical skills, and stay up-to-date with what's relevant in the industry. This year's tag line, "Learn. Connect. Collaborate Together", applies well to the Cloud market as we bring forward a smarter, stronger, and faster methodology for service delivery. Together.
If you're going to be here in Las Vegas this week for Cisco Live!, here are some sessions I suggest you check out:
- Exhibit Floor: Open all week, I hope you will swing by the World of Solutions. The World of Solutions has demonstrations from a number of innovative cloud partners. As an example, you can see our Service Provider Cloud pod with a demo showing our work with BMC on the Integrated Cloud Delivery Platform and my team will be glad to talk to you about where you stand today, opportunities for us to work together on, and answer any other questions.
- Movie Theater at our Partner Pavilion: We have great videos to share with you, including a 3D movie called "Journey to the New Services Universe" and great videos from SAVVIS, NaviSite, Qwest, CSC, BT Global Services, and Terremark to name a few. While over at the theater, please check out what some of our other partners including PAETEC, SunGard, NEC, and Dimension Data are there to talk about regarding the Cloud and their specialties in improving your business.
- Enabling the Service Provider Cloud Evolution (Wednesday, Noon-1:30 PM PST): A registration-required lunch event where Cisco invites you to join a distinguished panel of experts (including Jeff Spagnola, VP Sales – Cisco Cloud and Managed Services, Alex Rigaldo, Chief Operations – Orange Business Sytems Cloud Computing, Jesper Andersen, Senior VP – Cisco Network Management Technology Group, Dave Lively, Director – Cisco Systems Development for Cloud/DC, Sidney Morgan, Cisco Distinguished IT Engineer, Vikrant Karvir, VP, Cisco Global Cloud/DC Virtualization Services, and myself) to discuss the latest advances in Cisco's Service Provider Cloud Architecture. Cisco's approach to cloud opportunities includes helping to build out the data centers powering the cloud, as well as applying capabilities in the network to enable intelligent connectivity within and beyond the data center. Please use session identification GENSP-4743 to register for the event.
- The Network's Role in Cloud (Tuesday, 8-9:30 AM PST): A brand new session directed at the Service Provider crowd led by Pat Adamiak, Sr. Director, Cisco Service Provider Data Center/Cloud Marketing, on the pivotal role that the network plays for Service Providers in the creation and delivery of differentiated services. The session will cover innovations within the network that enable cloud services, discussing core features, instrumentation, and intelligent automation services to leverage the full capabilities of the SP network and capture the cloud opportunity. This session is listed under BRKSPG-1701 in the event agenda.
If you aren't able to make it in-person to Cisco Live! Las Vegas, please join us online virtually and share in the fun.
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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The Subway restaurant chain has been named, in a report by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), as the only restaurant chain in the country to meet the organization's standards for children's meals.
"One out of every three American children is overweight or obese, but it's as if the chain restaurant industry didn't get the memo," says CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan. "Most chains seem stuck in a time warp, serving up the same old meals based on chicken nuggets, burgers, macaroni and cheese, fries, and soda."
According to information released by CSPI, "… Subway is one chain that has gotten the memo," noting that all eight of Subway Fresh Fit for Kids' meal combinations meet their nutrition criteria. CSPI also acknowledges that the Subway brand does not offer sugary drinks as an option with its kids' meals, instead providing low-fat milk or bottled water along with apple slices with all of its kid-sized submarine sandwiches.
"Our goal has always been to provide the most nutritious, balanced kids' meals in the industry and we are proud to be recognized by CSPI for achieving that goal," says Lanette Kovachi, corporate dietician for the Subway brand. "As a mom and a dietician I know that it's not easy to get kids to eat things that taste great and include essential nutrients. Our menu can make both parent and child happy."
In the report, the group says that fried chicken fingers, burgers, french fries, and sugary sodas continue to dominate kids' meals, with 97 percent of the nearly 3,500 meal possibilities not meeting CSPI's nutrition criteria. CSPI further concluded that nearly all of the meal possibilities offered to children at America's top chain restaurants are of poor nutritional quality.
To meet CSPI's nutrition criteria, kids' meals must not exceed 430 calories, more than 35 percent of calories from fat, or more than 10 percent of calories from saturated plus trans-fat. Meals that meet CSPI's criteria cannot have more than 35 percent added sugars by weight or more than 770 milligrams of sodium. The criteria also requires meals to contain at least a half serving of fruit or vegetables, including a whole grain rich item, or including specified levels of vitamins or fiber.
CSPI last reviewed the nutritional quality of kids' meals at chain restaurants in 2008.
The five times weekly e-newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest industry news and additions to this website.


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In the run-up to the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq, Sir Richard Dearlove, then the head of Great Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, wrote that in Washington, "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" of regime change in Iraq. Today, many observers believe they are witnessing a replay of this approach as the Obama administration seeks to justify war with Syria.
McClatchy Washington Bureau, for instance, declared that the "administration's public case for attacking Syria is riddled with inconsistencies and hinges mainly on circumstantial evidence" — evidence that the administration has been notably reluctant to share with the public or foreign governments.
According to an unclassified summary of an intelligence assessment released by the White House, U.S. intelligence "collected streams of human, signals and geospatial intelligence" showing the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad preparing to deploy chemical weapons in its ongoing civil war three days before it allegedly did so on August 21.
"That claim," observed McClatchy, "raises two questions: Why didn't the U.S. warn rebels about the impending attack and save hundreds of lives? And why did the administration keep mum about the suspicious activity when on at least one previous occasion U.S. officials have raised an international fuss when they observed similar actions?"
The simplest explanation is that the administration doesn't believe its own spin. Unlike many in the press who have uncritically repeated White House claims, administration officials know full well that the evidence of a chemical attack by the Assad regime is dubious at best.
"A careful examination of [the administration's] claims reveals a series of convolutedly worded characterizations of the intelligence that don't really mean what they appear to say at first glance," wrote Truthout's Gareth Porter.
"The document displays multiple indications that the integrity of the assessment process was seriously compromised by using language that distorted the intelligence in ways that would justify an attack on Syria."
For starters, the summary says, "We intercepted communications involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive who confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime on August 21 and was concerned with the U.N. inspectors obtaining evidence."
Porter, however, found that U.S. intelligence did not intercept the communications but merely received a purported intercept from Israeli intelligence, which he said "raises a major question about the integrity of the entire document. The Israelis have an interest in promoting a U.S. attack on Syria, and the authenticity of the alleged intercept cannot be assumed."
Furthermore, although the summary says that the official "confirmed" the regime's use of chemical weapons, The Cable reported (based on a leaked version of the intercept) that "an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike," suggesting that the attack was not ordered by the Syrian government, if indeed it was carried out by Syrian forces at all.
In addition, the summary implies that the official wanted to prevent UN inspectors from finding evidence of a nerve gas strike, but the assertion that he was "concerned with the U.N. inspectors obtaining evidence" could just as well mean that he wanted inspectors to obtain all the available evidence because it would exonerate his government. This is a highly likely scenario given that after the alleged nerve gas attack the Assad regime almost immediately agreed to allow UN inspectors, some of whom were already in Damascus at the government's request, to have what Porter calls "unimpeded access" to the location of the claimed attack.
As it happens, the Obama administration, not the Assad regime, has been the government opposed to UN inspections. U.S. officials have dismissed the regime's willingness to allow inspections as a political tactic and claimed that inspections taking place several days after the attack would be meaningless — an assertion McClatchy exposed as patently false, noting that traces of sarin and mustard gas had been detected in Iraq in 1992, four years after they were deployed.
The U.S. government, meanwhile, has relied on evidence "smuggled out of Syria by opposition activists," penned Porter. The reliability of such evidence, of course, is highly suspect since the chain of custody is unknown and the suppliers have a strong motive for trying to pin chemical attacks on the Syrian government.
"Syrian chemical weapons personnel were operating in the Damascus suburb of 'Adra from Sunday, August 18 until early in the morning on Wednesday, August 21 near an area that the regime uses to mix chemical weapons, including sarin," reads the intelligence summary. "On August 21, a Syrian regime element prepared for a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus area, including through the utilization of gas masks."
Again one must parse these words carefully. "Despite the use of the term 'operating,' the US intelligence had no information about the actual activities of the individual or individuals being tracked through geospatial and signals intelligence," Porter wrote. In fact, he pointed out, at the time the information was obtained, officials said it was viewed as "nothing out of the ordinary." Moreover, the supposed preparation for a chemical weapons attack with gas masks could just as easily indicate that the regime was expecting to be attacked rather than to launch an attack. The intelligence summary is deliberately ambiguous on these matters, allowing the administration to imply that the regime was preparing to mount a nerve gas offensive without actually saying so.
The peculiar phrasing of other parts of the summary indicates that intelligence analysts are not at all confident that nerve gas was even deployed on August 21, much less that it was used by the Assad regime, Porter argued. A former senior U.S. intelligence official told him that "the choice of wording actually means the intelligence analysts 'do not know' if nerve gas was used."
What's more, the summary's implication that online videos of supposed victims prove that a nerve gas attack occurred is simply untrue, according to Porter: "Most of the alleged victims being shown in the videos posted online do not show symptoms associated with exposure to nerve agents." Furthermore, those treating them, while not wearing protective clothing, did not exhibit any symptoms; and, wrote Porter, "the number of those treated who survived far outnumbered the dead, contrary to what would be expected in a nerve gas attack."
There is also the matter of the number of alleged victims. The summary flatly states that the United States has "determined that 1,429 people … including at least 426 children" were killed in the attack but gives no explanation as to how the government arrived at these numbers and does not offer a range of estimates from different sources, as is the usual practice.
In short, practically everything the administration has said — or, in large measure, cleverly implied — regarding the supposed chemical weapons attack cannot withstand scrutiny. But the same is true of White House pronouncements on a host of other matters, including Obama's last major foreign offensive and its aftermath, so why would anyone expect the administration to have a sudden fit of honesty while trying to stampede Americans into a war that the vast majority of them opposes?
Obama's Case for Syrian Nerve Gas Attack Doesn't Hold UpWritten by Michael Tennant
- font size decrease font size increase font size
In the run-up to the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq, Sir Richard Dearlove, then the head of Great Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, wrote that in Washington, "the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" of regime change in Iraq. Today, many observers believe they are witnessing a replay of this approach as the Obama administration seeks to justify war with Syria.


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Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering
versão On-line ISSN 2309-8775
versão impressa ISSN 1021-2019
J. S. Afr. Inst. Civ. Eng. vol.54 no.2 Midrand Jan. 2012
The effects of placement conditions on the quality of concrete in large-diameter bored piles
G C Fanourakis; P W Day; G R H Grieve
In South Africa, concrete in large-diameter bored piles is generally placed by discharging a high-flow concrete mix directly from the truck mixer and allowing the concrete to fall freely to the base of the pile hole. While certain site practices have been used by piling contractors for years, many engineers are not convinced of their acceptability.
In order to assess the effects of free-fall concrete placement, a series of tests were undertaken in which the properties of concrete placed in this manner were compared with the properties of conventionally placed concrete. The tests included an assessment of the effect of water and spoil in the pile hole at the time of casting, as well as poor placement techniques.
The results of this investigation indicate that casting of concrete in 50 mm and 400 mm of water in the bottom of the pile hole significantly reduced the compressive strength by approximately 50% and 80%, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of spoil at the bottom of the pile hole was dependent on the amount of water present.
Finally, a separate investigation, at a bridge site, indicated the free-fall placement technique to be at least as effective as the tremie technique.
Keywords: piles, concrete, quality control, site practices.
Large-diameter (750 mm - 2 000 mm) bored (augered) piles are ideally suited to the stable residual soil profiles and deep water table conditions frequently encountered in the inland regions of South Africa. In many areas of the country, open holes can be augered without the need for temporary casing. The holes can safely be cleaned by hand and inspected in situ prior to the insertion of the reinforcing cage and placement of concrete. Typically, piles are cast by discharging high-flow concrete directly from the chute of the truck mixer using the deflector flap at the end of the chute to direct the concrete down the centre of the reinforcing cage in a continuous stream.
Most piling specifications and construction drawings clearly specify the class of concrete and the nature of the founding material for cast in situ bored piles. However, in most instances, little or no attention has been paid to site practices which can have a significant effect on the integrity of the pile. These include the method of concrete placement, the amount of water in the pile hole at the time of casting and the cleanliness of the pile socket. In an investigation by Alexander (1983), the unacceptable quality of pile concrete was attributed to the presence of excessive amounts of water at the bottom of the hole at the time of pouring the concrete.
In August 1991, the Research and Development Advisory Committee (RDAC) of the South African Roads Board commissioned a study of quality control during concrete placement in bored piles, with the intention of formulating rational guidelines for use by contractors and site supervision staff.
The main objectives of the programme were to investigate:
■ whether the free-fall or slow-pour placement methods result in a loss of strength or in segregation,
■ the extent to which the presence of water in the pile hole affects the strength of the concrete, and
■ what happens to any spoil remaining in the bottom of the pile hole during concrete placement and how this affects the integrity of the pile shaft.
A total of 20 trial "piles" were cast with varying amounts of water and/or spoil. Concrete cores from these piles were tested to determine their compressive strength, actual density and aggregate-binder ratios. In addition, the percentage excess voids was visually assessed. The effect of spoil on the contact at the end of the pile was also visually assessed.
This paper describes the procedures used during the tests and summarises the results obtained. Further details are given in the RDAC (1995) Report.
The effectiveness of the free-fall placement method, relative to the tremie method, was further assessed by comparing cores taken from piles of a particular bridge cast by either of these two placement techniques.
In order to ascertain the current practice within the piling industry, a survey was conducted amongst four of the larger piling contractors on the Witwatersrand.
The contractors were unanimous that, where possible, large-diameter auger holes should be hand-cleaned as a matter of course. The purpose of hand-cleaning is to remove all loose material, as this may settle. Furthermore, the concrete should not be cast into more than 100 mm depth of standing water at the bottom of the pile hole. The minimum hole diameter which can be cleaned by hand was given as 750 mm, although hand-cleaning of a 600 mm diameter hole is possible in exceptional circumstances. Most contractors would recommend a reduction in the allowable end-bearing stresses for small diameter piles which are cleaned using a cleaning bucket and cannot be inspected in situ.
The amount of spoil that contractors would allow at the bottom of an end-bearing bored pile hole at the time of casting varied from nothing (if the hole was hand-cleaned) to 150 mm if the hole could not be cleaned. In the latter case the remaining material would be compacted by means of a tamper on the Kelly bar (the drill stem attached to the auger flight).
With regard to the method of concrete placement, contractors deemed it acceptable to cast the concrete by free-fall either straight from the chute of the truck mixer or using a short centralising tube. Only in the case of raking piles would the fall be limited, by means of trunking (pouring the concrete through a tube inserted within the reinforcing cage), to near the top of the concrete. None of the piling contractors would tremie concrete into a dry hole in order to prevent segregation. The upper few metres of the shaft would normally be vibrated on completion of the pour.
Most of the contractors interviewed felt that the requirements imposed by site supervision staff for the use of trunking or tremie tubes in dry vertical pile holes, and insistence on vibration of the concrete over the full length of the pile shaft, were unnecessarily stringent.
On the basis of the above survey, it would appear that the piling contractors were generally in full agreement with one another on the requirements for concrete placement. The differences in requirements from site to site appear therefore to be largely due to the opinions of site supervision staff. The fact that these findings were not based on measured results warranted this investigation.
South African Codes
Most codes of practice for structural concrete lay down strict requirements for the general placing of concrete. Many of these requirements are aimed at preventing segregation and ensuring adequate compaction of the concrete. SANS 1200 G (1982) requires that concrete shall not be allowed to fall freely through a height of more than 3 m, unless otherwise approved and that compaction of the concrete is carried out by mechanical vibration. These requirements frequently find their way into piling specifications where completely different practices prevail.
SANS 1200 F (1983) (Piling) specifies a concrete slump of between 75 mm and 175 mm for various conditions, depending on the method of placement, spacing of reinforcement and diameter of the pile hole. The code recommends that internal vibrators should not be used, that concrete should be placed in the dry or by means of a tremie, that concrete should be placed in such a way that segregation does not occur, and advocates the use of a chute extending far enough into the hole to ensure that the concrete drops vertically when leaving the chute. In the case of raking piles, the chute is required to extend to the leading edge of the newly placed concrete.
Read together, these clauses from SANS 1200 F (1983) imply that the free-fall placement of concrete is permitted in vertical pile holes provided that the concrete is permitted to fall unobstructed down the centre of the pile.
ACI Manual of Concrete Practice: Concrete Piles
The 1973 version of the ACI Manual permits the placement of pile concrete at a continuous and rapid rate from the top of the hole, but only through a funnel hopper having a discharge opening smaller than the smallest pile section. Furthermore, the pile hole is to be free of all foreign matter, including "appreciable quantities of water". Vibration of concrete is recommended for reinforced piles.
Of all the manuals and specifications, the 1973 ACI Manual accords closest with common practice in the South African piling industry. The only significant difference is the recommendation that the concrete in reinforced piles be compacted by means of vibration.
In a later edition of this document (ACI 2000), and subsequent revisions, these clauses have been moved and re-titled. Unfortunately the clauses relating to methods of placement have been omitted in the 2000 and later versions of the ACI document.
Construction of piles
During the field work phase of the programme, which was carried out on 11 and 12 July 1991, 20 trial "piles" were cast using free-fall placement of concrete with various amounts of water and/or spoil at the bottom of the pile hole, as schematically indicated in Figure 1. The "piles" consisted of 200-litre steel drums placed at the bottom of a 6 m deep, 1.5 m diameter auger hole. The drums had a diameter of 560 mm and a depth of 870 mm. A 50 mm thick concrete blinding layer was cast at the bottom of each drum, to provide a solid base onto which the "pile" concrete could be cast. Before lowering the drums into the hole, measured amounts of water and/or spoil were placed into the drums to simulate inadequate cleaning of the pile.
Two types of spoil were used, one slightly cohesive and the other granular. The first was a silty andesite taken from the spoil of other pile holes being drilled on the site. This material classified as ML according to the Unified Soil Classification System, i.e. a silt of low plasticity. The second material was a crusher dust, which classified as SW/SM, i.e. a well-graded silty sand.
Concrete was discharged into the drums through a 500 mm diameter light-weight steel casing inserted about 100 mm into the top of each drum in turn, as shown in Figure 1. The hole was large enough to accommodate four drums at its bottom, and these were filled in turn. On completion of the pour, the drums were lifted from the hole and left to cure on the surface.
During casting, the concrete was directed down the centre of the casing using the deflector flap at the end of the chute of the truck mixer. The main stream of concrete reached the bottom of the "pile" without impinging on the sides of the casing. The casing simulated the side walls of an in situ pile hole. The rate of pour was rapid and the drop height was 6.8 m to the bottom of the "pile".
In the penultimate test, holes were cut through the steel casing and reinforcing bars were inserted horizontally across the casing to act as barriers to the free fall of the concrete and to encourage segregation. The concrete was discharged at the same rate as was used for the other tests.
In the final test, the concrete was poured slowly, falling from the chute of the truck mixer as individual blobs (the flow was not rapid and continuous). The rate of discharge was not quantified.
Mix design
The mix proportions of the concrete, which was supplied by a ready-mix company, are indicated in Table 1.
The tests made use of four batches of the concrete delivered to site by separate truck mixers over the two-day period. Control samples of concrete were taken from each truck by casting concrete into drums on the surface and compacting the concrete by mechanical vibration.
Sampling, testing and visual inspection
Approximately two weeks after casting of the "piles", the drums were turned over and 100 mm diameter, 300 mm long core samples were drilled (vertically) through the bottom of each drum. After visual inspection and photography, the cores were submitted to an accredited commercial laboratory for testing.
Compressive strength tests were carried out on all core specimens at an age of 37 or 38 days after casting. In addition, the actual density (water-soaked density of the uncapped core) was determined and the percentage of excess voids was assessed visually. These tests were carried out in accordance with the recommendations contained in CSTR (1987).
The aggregate-binder ratios were determined on nine samples of concrete cast through various depths of water and on one of the control samples using the soluble silica test method, as detailed in BS 1881: Part 124: 1988.
After the concrete cores had been taken, the bottom of the drums containing spoil were cut away to observe the extent to which the spoil at the bottom of the "pile hole" had been displaced by the falling concrete. The thickness of the remaining spoil was measured at 100 mm intervals around the perimeter of the "pile". After removal of the layer of blinding concrete, the area of intimate contact between the "pile" concrete and the bottom of the hole (i.e. the area over which the spoil had been completely displaced) was estimated.
Table 2 summarises the conditions under which the various "piles" were concreted, and the laboratory test results.
This section of the paper discusses each of the research objectives (listed earlier) in turn.
Segregation due to free-fall placement
Figure 2 shows cores drilled through the bottom of the "piles" cast through various depths of water in the "pile hole" at the commencement of the pour. The sample reference numbers are indicated on these cores (left to right: 5B, 4B, 2B, 1B, 3B, 7T and 7B).
In this figure, the bottom of the "pile" is facing away from the reader. The contact between the 50 mm blinding concrete cast in the drums and the "pile" concrete is visible in some of the cores.
In all these cores, there was an even distribution of coarse aggregate, despite the higher void content of the concrete for greater water depths. A similar, even distribution of aggregate was observed in Test R1 which simulated the effect of allowing concrete to impinge on the reinforcing cage during free fall into 100 mm of water. The only case where segregation was evident was where the concrete was poured slowly into 100 mm of water as shown in Figure 3.
In Figure 3 the bottom of the core is to the left of the picture. The disc of blinding concrete has separated from the "pile" concrete. The "pile" concrete shows classical signs of segregation, with unbonded aggregate at the toe of the "pile" and decreasing aggregate content with the accumulation of fines and laitance towards the top of the pour.
From these observations it was concluded that, despite the variance in slumps (50 mm to 200 mm), the pouring of concrete at the normal (rapid) rate resulted in sufficient turbulence (and mixing) at the bottom of the hole to prevent segregation of the concrete mix, even where the fall of the concrete was interrupted by impact with the reinforcing steel. This confirms the findings of separate studies carried out by STS Consultants (1994) and
Turner (1979), where the free fall heights were 18 m and 15 m respectively. However, where the concrete was poured slowly, this turbulence was absent and no re-mixing occurred at the bottom of the hole. These discharging practices may be compared to opening a tap and discharging water into a half-full basin of water. If the stream of water is continuous, the waters mix. If the water flow is drop by drop, little mixing occurs.
Where water was present, the fine aggregate and cement paste were removed by the upward percolation of water through the concrete, leaving un-bonded coarse aggregate at the bottom of the hole.
Effect of water in "pile hole"
The effect of the depth of water in the "pile hole" prior to commencement of concreting on the strength of the concrete is shown in Figure 4. An exponential curve was fitted to the data.
Figure 4 clearly demonstrates that the free fall of concrete in dry holes did not affect the strength of concrete. However, free-fall casting of concrete into water adversely affected concrete strength. As little as 100 mm of water in the bottom of the "pile hole" resulted in an approximately 50% decrease in the strength of the concrete. For water depths in excess of 200 mm, the concrete strength was reduced by approximately 80%. Further increases in the amount of water in the bottom of the "pile hole" appear to have little effect. This was probably caused by the concrete not being able to absorb the excess water which was carried upwards during pouring of the concrete.
The samples containing crusher dust "spoil" generally achieved higher strengths at particular water depths. This was probably the result of the crusher dust mixing with the concrete and any water present, on impact, as the concrete was poured, hence reducing the formation of voids. However, this was not the case in the samples containing silt "spoil".
With reference to Table 2, tests were performed on cores taken from both the top and bottom of drums 10 and 11. It is interesting to note that the strength of the top and bottom cores from drum 11 differed only by 0.5 MPa. However, in the case of drum 10, the strength of the bottom core exceeded that of the top core by 8 MPa. The latter result was generally expected due to bleeding of the concrete. With the methodology employed, it was not possible to investigate the persistence of this effect up the length of the "pile" shaft or to assess any increase in bleed of the concrete with the increase in the amount of water in the hole.
The inclusion of reinforcing bars as obstructions in the casing appeared to have no effect on the concrete strength, whilst the slow pouring resulted in a slight reduction in strength.
No trend was identified when comparing the results deriving from each of the control samples. The declining trend shown in Figure 4 was not improved when normalising the compressive strength by expressing it as a percentage of the compressive strength of the relevant control sample.
Figure 5 indicates the effect of water on the actual density of concrete in the cores. It is evident from this figure that the actual density of the concrete was, on the whole, adversely affected by the depth of water in the "pile hole".
As is evident from Figure 5, 200 mm of water in the "pile hole" reduced the concrete actual density by approximately 90 kg/m3. Increasing the amount of water to 400 mm had an insignificant additional effect. It is interesting to note that the relatively wide range of densities for water depths of 0 and 50 mm are not reflected in the compressive strength results shown in Figure 4. Furthermore, the results of tests on samples C1, W3 and R2 are "outliers" as they fall out of the band of one standard deviation (s = 80) either side of a linear regression line. There is no apparent reason for these "outliers". The exclusion of the "outlier" samples resulted in an increase in the linear correlation coefficient, r2 (from 0.369 to 0.701). This correlation was not improved by normalising the actual density by expressing it as a percentage of the density of the relevant control sample.
The relationship between actual density and compressive strength of concrete yielded a poor correlation coefficient (r2 = 0.2).
Figure 6 indicates that the percentage excess voids increases with depth of water. The control samples were excluded from this relationship as they were vibrated. An exponential curve was fitted to the data.
Referring to Figure 6, for water depths of less than 100 mm, the excess voids were typically less than 2% and are thought to be due to the entrapment of air. However, as the depth of water increased, the excess voids increased to between 10% and 15%. The reason for this trend is that the water at the bottom of the "pile hole", due to its relatively low density, rose into the concrete (during pouring), displacing the mortar and creating voids. Hence, the greater the volume of water in the "pile hole", the greater the volume of excess voids in the concrete.
In contrast to Figures 4 and 5, however, no plateauing was evident with water depths in excess of 200 mm. The increase in voids with increasing water depth is clearly visible in the photograph in Figure 2 where, for water depths of 200 mm and 400 mm in particular, the matrix to the coarse aggregate appears to have been eroded during the drilling operation, giving visual confirmation of the low strength of the paste.
No correlation was found to exist between the percentage excess voids and actual density.
Figure 7 shows the correlation between the depth of water in the "pile hole" and the aggregate-binder ratio. For water depths of less than 100 mm, the average aggregate-binder ratio was of the order of 10. However, this increased to as much as 17 where the concrete was placed through 400 mm of water. This trend is attributable to the upward displacement of mortar, from amongst the coarse aggregates in the lower section of the "pile hole", caused by the upward movement of water through the concrete during pouring. Hence, the more water present, the more mortar displaced.
Displacement of spoil
As shown in Table 2, the bottom of "pile holes" for tests S1 to S6 contained 50 mm of spoil. By cutting away the bottom of these drums, the percentage of contact between the "pile" concrete and the blinding was estimated and the distribution of spoil was observed.
Table 3 shows the percentage of the area of the base of the "pile" which was in intimate contact with the bottom of the "pile hole", that is the area over which the spoil had been displaced. Higher percentage contacts are more favourable from a founding point of view.
In the case of both the silty spoil material and the crusher dust, casting of concrete onto 50 mm of dry spoil resulted in total separation between the "pile" concrete and the base of the "pile hole". However, the contact area increased to between 40% and 60% in the tests where 50 mm or 100 mm of water was added to the base of the "pile hole" together with the spoil.
Figure 8 shows the contact between the blinding concrete at the base of the drum (representing the in situ founding material) and the "pile" concrete for "piles" cast onto a 50 mm layer of crusher dust at the bottom of the "pile hole". The dry crusher dust (0 mm water - left core sample) was trapped between the "pile" concrete and the bottom of the "pile hole", resulting in a total lack of contact of the "pile" with the founding material. With 50 mm of water in the "pile hole", the crusher dust over the middle of the hole was displaced by the falling concrete and this material was assimilated into the "pile" concrete as a result of the remixing of the concrete as it falls to the bottom of the hole. With 100 mm of water in the hole, the contact over the central portion of the "pile" was visually tight. However, the strength of the "pile" concrete had reduced to 77% of that of the control sample (40.5 MPa to 31 MPa) and the bearing area was reduced by about 50% due to trapping of crusher dust around the perimeter of the "pile" base.
A number of questions typically arise when the free-fall method of placement is proposed by a contractor, questions which may not adequately be answered by the findings in the early research described above. For example, the engineer might enquire whether the use of tremie techniques might not produce better results. Similarly there might be concerns as to whether the relatively good compaction observed in the cores taken from the free-fall trials would extend right to the interface with the side of the pile excavation.
In an attempt to answer such questions, access was obtained to cores taken from the construction of the widening of Garsfontein Bridge, which was part of the widening of the
N1 between Atterbury and Rigel Avenue off-ramps in Pretoria. On this project some of the piles were placed in wet conditions, and in such cases use was made of tremie tubes. The majority of the pile holes were, however, dry and these were placed using free-fall placement.
In all cases, three 76 mm diameter pipes were cast into the concrete for each pile, for subsequent integrity testing. These pipes were tied to the inside of the reinforcement cage and thus were situated about 70 mm from the interface between the pile and the soil. These pipes were sealed at the base with a steel plate to prevent intrusion of concrete. Subsequent to the successful integrity testing with ultrasonic techniques, cores were drilled through the base of one of these pipes per pile, through the concrete below the bottom of the cage and into the end-bearing in situ material as an additional integrity check. Typically these cores were taken about 7 m below ground level. Figure 9 shows details of the integrity testing arrangement of these piles.
Visual inspection was done of a random selection of a number of such lengths of core, both from free-fall-placed, as well as tremie-placed concrete piles. Generally the degree of compaction as assessed from the visible void content for the free-fall placing was at least equal to that of the tremie-placed concrete, although the concrete with the poorest compaction was generally from piles cast using tremie placing. Figure 10 illustrates that the free-fall concrete was as well compacted as the tremie-placed concrete.
On the basis of the above experimental data, the following conclusions were reached:
■ No segregation of the concrete (in the sense of an accumulation of aggregate at the base of the pour) was observed when the concrete was discharged from the truck mixer at a rapid rate, even when the concrete was permitted to impinge on the reinforcing "cage". Clear signs of segregation were evident when the concrete was poured slowly into 100 mm of water. It appears that the rapid discharge of concrete results in "remixing" of the concrete in the bottom of the "pile hole".
■ Free-fall placement of concrete into dry "pile holes" had no apparent effect on the compressive strength of the concrete compared to that of the four control samples.
■ Casting of concrete through 50 mm of water at the bottom of the "pile hole" reduced the compressive strength by an average of approximately 15%.
■ Casting of concrete through 100 mm and 400 mm of water in the bottom of the "pile hole" significantly reduced the compressive strength of the concrete by approximately 50% and 80% respectively.
■ In addition to having an adverse effect on the strength of the concrete, casting of concrete into more than 100 mm of water was detrimental to the actual density of the concrete, the percentage excess voids and the aggregate-binder ratio.
■ As little as 50 mm of dry spoil at the bottom of the "pile hole" negated all direct contact between the "pile" concrete on the underlying founding stratum. Wet spoil was more readily displaced by the concrete, but still resulted in significant reductions in base bearing area mainly around the perimeter of the "pile" base.
■ Interruption of the free fall of the concrete by a moderate amount of reinforcement appeared to have a negligible effect on the quality of the concrete, provided the rate of pour was reasonable.
■ The observations of the relative compaction of concrete taken from piles placed using free fall versus those placed using tremie techniques, demonstrated that free-fall placing over a range of depths was an acceptable, if not preferable, technique. On the strength of this limited research, which included concrete mixes of different slumps and compressive strengths, it was concluded that the current practice of free-fall placement of concrete in clean, dry pile holes has no detrimental effect on the quality of the concrete. It is, however, recommended that such techniques should not be used when the depth of water at the bottom of the pile hole exceeds 75 mm.
The research was carried out under the auspices of the then Research and Development Advisory Committee of the South African
Roads Board. The fieldwork was sponsored by specialist geotechnical contractors Esor. Both sponsorships are gratefully acknowledged.
ACI 1973. Manual of concrete practice: concrete piles. ACI Committee 543, Detroit, US: American Concrete Institute. [ Links ]
ACI 2000. Design, manufacture and installation of concrete piles. ACI Committee 543, Farmington Hills, US: American Concrete Institute. [ Links ]
Alexander, M D 1983. Report on condition of pile concrete in selected piles of silo No 2 at Jupiter Bulk Cement Handling Site. Prepared for Ground Engineering and Piling Limited. [ Links ]
BS 1881: Part 124: 1988. Testing concrete. Methods for analysis of hardened concrete. London: British Standards Institution. [ Links ]
CSTR 1987. Concrete core testing for strength. Concrete Society Technical Report No 11, including Addendum, London: Concrete Society. [ Links ]
RDAC 1995. Quality control of concrete placement in bored piles. South African Roads Board Research and Advisory Committee, Report No 91/453, Compiled by Jones and Wagener, Rivonia (Report No. G1/93/1932). SANS 1200 F:1983. Standardized specification for civil engineering construction. Section F: Piling. Pretoria: South African Bureau of Standards. [ Links ]
SANS 1200 G:1982. Standardized specification for civil engineering construction. Section G: Concrete (structural). Pretoria: South African Bureau of Standards. [ Links ]
STS Consultants 1994. The effects of free fall on concrete in drilled shafts. Report to the Federal Highway Administration, Chicago: STS Consultants. [ Links ]
Turner, C D 1979. Unconfined free fall of concrete. Journal of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), Dec. 1979, pp 975-976. [ Links ]
Contact details:
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University of Johannesburg
PO Box 17011,
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PROF GEORGE FANOURAKIS is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering Technology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He received the degrees MSc (Eng) from the University of the Witwatersrand anc DTech (Eng) from the University of Johannesburg. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Member ofthe Institution of Civil Engineers (UK), and a Fellow of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE). His primary teaching and research interest areas are concrete technology and geotechnical engineering. Prof Fanourakis heads the Materials, Geotechnica and Transportation Engineering Research Group at the university. He is a member of the South African Bureau of Standards Geotechnical Standards Committee (SABS SC 59P). In 2006 he received the SAICE award for best paper published in the Journal ofthe South African Institution of Civil Engneering.
PETER DAY is Chairman of Jones &Wagener Consulting Engineers where he has worked as a geotechnical engineer for the past 33 years. One of his delights in life is finding meaningfu solutions to practical problems. He is an Honorary Fellow of SAICE (South African Institution of Civil Engineering) and has served as chairman ofthe Institution's Geotechnica Division. He also served as Vice-President for Africa of the ISSMGE (Internationa Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering). Currently he is chairman of the South African Bureau of Standards Technical Committee 98 (SABS TC98) for Structural and Geotechnical Design Standards.
DR GRAHAM GRIEVE graduated with a degree ir civil engineering from the University of Cape Town in 1970. After working in the Netherlands for one year, and at the Coastal Research Unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in Stellenbosch, he served as resident engineer on a road and bridge contract in the Limpopo Province before joining JS Bergman and Partners in Pretoria in 1978 where he was responsible for materials testing and designing of road projects. He received an M.Ing degree in civil engineering from the University of Pretoria in 1984, while he was Director of Laboratory Services at the Portland Cement Institute (PCI). In 1990 he became Executive Director of the PCI (which in 1996 was renamed to the Concrete & Cement Institute (C&CI)), and retired as Managing Director of the C&CI in 2008. Dr Grieve was awarded a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1991 for his work on the practical use of fly-ash, which entitled him to full membership of the Institute of Concrete Technologists in the United Kingdom.


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November 06, 2007
LOS ANGELES - New research proves that a dose of hands-on health care training can transform parents' abilities to care for common childhood ailments at home - and save Medicaid millions of dollars annually.
Tracking 9,240 Head Start families enrolled in a health literacy program - and impacting nearly 20,000 children in 35 states - researchers found that visits to a hospital ER or clinic dropped by 58 percent and 42 percent, respectively, as parents opted to treat their children's fevers, colds and earaches at home. This added up to a potential annual savings to Medicaid of $554 per family in direct costs associated with such visits, or about $5.1 million annually, according to the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute for Head Start, which conducted the study.
Moreover, parents' being better informed about handling their children's health needs translated to a 42 percent drop in the average number of days lost at work (from 6.7 to 3.8) and 29 percent drop in days children lost at school (from 13.3 to 9.5). Parents also reported feeling more confident in making health care decisions and in sharing knowledge with others in their families and communities.
Underwritten by Johnson & Johnson, the program carried a one-time cost of $60 per family on average, including pre-visits, hands-on training sessions and post-training follow up. Using $320 as the average cost for a visit to a hospital emergency room and $80 for a clinic visit, researchers at UCLA Anderson School of Management, which houses the Institute, estimated that savings could reach many millions per year if training were provided for the nearly one million families served by Head Start, many of whom depend on Medicaid. The Institute's 10-year goal is to serve 400,000 Head Start families, reaching approximately half the Head Start agencies in the United States.
"Head Start parents want to be the first line of defense in their children's health care, and our research leaves no doubt that they can be, once they have the tools to make the best choices," said Ariella Herman, Ph.D., Research Director of the Health Care Institute at UCLA Anderson School of Management and author of the study, which builds on the findings of the Institute's groundbreaking pilot study that was published in 2004.
What to Do at 99.5 Degrees?
Parents were surveyed about their family's health care habits three months prior to the training and six months afterward.
At the outset, 60 percent said that they did not have a health book at home to reference when a child fell ill. As part of the study, each Head Start family was given a low-literacy medical guide, What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick, by Gloria Mayer, R.N., and Ann Kuklierus, R.N., which offers clear information on more than 50 common childhood illnesses. The Health Care Institute training is adapted to various languages and cultural needs of the participating families.
Prior to the training, parents said they were "very confident" about caring for their sick children - yet, in reality 69 percent reported taking a child to a doctor or clinic at the first sign of illness. Almost 45 percent said they would take their child to a clinic or emergency room for a cough rather than provide care at home, with 43 percent doing so for a mild temperature of 99.5 degrees.
Post training, researchers found a marked improvement in parents' self confidence, with only 32 percent indicating that they would still go first to a doctor or clinic. More significantly, the number of parents using the medical guide as a first source of help jumped from five percent to 48 percent, indicating a better understanding and higher comfort level in dealing with common childhood illnesses.
"The Health Care Institute has provided a creative and practical solution for parents, giving them access to essential information and the confidence to address their children's basic health care needs," said Sharon D'Agostino, Vice President, Corporate Contributions and Community Relations for Johnson & Johnson. "The program has also helped these parents set a powerful example for others in the community, and is playing a role in raising the quality of health care in the communities where it has been implemented."
Program Success Attracts More Support
Earlier this year, the State of New Mexico adopted the Health Care Institute's training program with support from Pfizer and will begin implementation this month with 5,000 Head Start families. Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire has also signed on and is currently planning a pilot implementation for an estimated 6,800 Head Start and Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) families.
"Clearly, the health care training model can be easily replicated in many more states and by countless other community-based groups, extending the ripple effect far beyond Head Start families and significantly increasing the benefits to our health care system exponentially," Dr. Herman said.
Inspired by Head Start Directors
The Health Care Institute is an outgrowth of the UCLA-Johnson & Johnson Head Start Fellows Program, comprised of Head Start agency directors who have gone through management training at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Founded in 1991, 1050 Head Start directors have participated in the Fellows program to date, under the leadership of Senior Associate Dean Alfred E. Osborne, Jr., Faculty Director of the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.
According to Dr. Osborne, the Head Start Fellows recognized that if parents could become better informed about fundamental health issues, it could lead directly to healthier outcomes for their children. "The leadership of Head Start directors has enabled the Health Care Institute to produce these benefits for families across the country and, ultimately, for Medicaid," noted Dr. Osborne. "Their discipline, integrity, operational abilities and single-minded focus have enriched the lives of countless children in the U.S. - and now, helped them be healthier."
More Information on the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute
- Visit the website
- Get a backgrounder
- View data charts (PDF)
- Download B-roll (MP4)
- Watch B-roll as streaming video (Windows Media)
About the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute
The UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute was inspired by Head Start Directors who were graduates of the Head Start-Johnson & Johnson Management Fellows Program, an annual training program held at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Founded in 1991, it is the only executive management program of its kind. In 2000, a survey of Head Start-Johnson & Johnson Fellows from around the U.S. revealed a shared concern: parents simply lacked the time and basic health care knowledge to become better informed about their children's health. The Fellows, all Head Start Directors themselves, believed that better informed parents could lead directly to healthier outcomes for their children.
Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets. The more than 250 Johnson & Johnson operating companies employ approximately 120,000 men and women in 57 countries and sell products throughout the world.
About UCLA Anderson School of Management
UCLA Anderson School of Management, established in 1935, is regarded among the very best business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty are ranked #1 in "Intellectual Capital" by BusinessWeek and are renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides management education to more than 1,600 students enrolled in MBA, Executive MBA, Fully-Employed MBA and doctoral programs, and to more than 2,000 professional managers through executive education programs. Combining highly selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a world-wide network of 35,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders.


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Allah creates all things together with their destinies. Everything created by Allah, human beings, animals, plants and other objects, all has its own destiny. Every human being is born together with a destiny chosen for him by Allah and adorned with thousands or even millions of details. He lives that destiny at every moment of his life, with every breath he takes. And when the time comes to die, Allah, our Almighty Creator, takes that person's soul at the moment and in the place determined in his destiny. The destinies of sincere Muslims who fear Allah and make obtaining His approval their aim in life are always created together with a great deal of beauty. Everything is beautiful for a Muslim. In the same way that blessings are beautiful, so the difficulties, troubles, sicknesses and temporary sufferings of this world that Allah creates as part of the test, and the pressure and threats from unbelievers described by Allah in the Qur'an, are all blessings that turn into beauty for believers. Everything that may appear to be difficult and troublesome when looked at from a superficial perspective far removed from the moral values of the Qur'an turns into infinite beauty in this world and also in the Hereafter, where our real lives are lived, for Muslims possessed of faith and fortitude. Muslims always enjoy a positive state of mind that comes from the awareness and joy of knowing they are living out their destinies. They look at everything that Allah confronts them with in this world as containing wisdom and a means of obtaining Allah's approval in the Hereafter. Nothing can cause a Muslim any sorrow or unhappiness.
An honest person who knows that Allah dislikes such a state of mind in believers constantly lives with the joy bestowed by the existence of Allah, His infinite greatness and His creation of all things in the most perfect form. Omniscient and Eternal Allah, Who is mighty enough to create all things, also creates in the most perfect form in the Hereafter, and this is one of the happiest tidings for Muslims in this world. The excitement that comes from love of Allah, the fervor of living by the moral values of the religion and knowing that one is constantly drawing closer to the Hereafter, the one destination at the end of the very brief life of this world keep Muslims always optimistic, alive, active and strong in mind. Someone who lives in such a state of mind is always hopeful of Allah and always positive. It is in his destiny to be always smiling and to look on everything positively and with the perspective that Allah demands of us in the Qur'an. People around him feel the warmth of the moral values of the religion and the superior moral values of the Qur'an through his facial expression, words and behavior. He is always inclined to speak the finest words and encourages Muslims and looks for the best in everything. A Muslim reveals all the beauty created in his destiny in the details of his life.
Deniers are also created with a destiny. Allah creates everything with His omniscience and infinite wisdom. The life of a believer who adopts his own earthly desires as his purpose in life rather than the approval of Allah is devoid of all beauty and all the blessings that Allah bestows on Muslims. Deniers are deprived of the greatest blessings that Allah bestows on man, such as faith, an untroubled conscience, peace, love and fear of Allah and fervor for the Hereafter. The physical blessings that Allah bestows on such people as He wishes as part of the test, such as health and wealth, will turn into eternal suffering in the Hereafter for unbelievers. Deniers can enjoy none of the blessings that Muslims are given in this world, and can never attain happiness, which Allah reveals He will bestow on believers alone. Characteristics created in Muslims' destiny, such as enjoying beauty, loving for the sake of Allah, altruism, loyalty, cleanliness, inner peace, foregoing one's own rights and always behaving in a moral way do not have the same effect on a denier's heart. They do not look for beauty in that way. Human characteristics are of no interest to them. They lack the sensitivity possessed by Muslims. In terms of sensitivity of spirit and other aspects of behavior, they literally exhibit the kind of moral values that more resemble those of animals.
Allah has created animals with all these features because that is how He wants them to be in their destiny. They all act and behave as determined in their destiny. Their physical appearances and reactions are those created with great wisdom by Allah. In the same way, someone who is irritable, proud, unable to control himself, who mocks others, who is unaware that Allah creates events and who imagines he has some independent power of his own – surely Allah is beyond that – displays such behavior because that is how Allah has created him in destiny.
Human beings are entities with the attribute of being able to control their souls and train their worldly desires. They think deeply and perceive all details. They delight in beauty, and their souls are inclined toward beauty and cleanliness. But animals are devoid of these superior features that Allah has inspired in the human soul alone. Since that is how they are created, that is how they live. Allah describes the situation of people devoid of human characteristics as follows in the Qur'an:
"Have you seen him who has taken his whims and desires to be his god? Will you then be his guardian?" (Surat al-Furqan, 43)
"Do you suppose that most of them hear or understand? They are just like cattle. Indeed they are even more astray!" (Surat al-Furqan, 44)
As Allah reveals in His verses, deniers are like animals, or even more unaware. In the same way that Allah creates animals in the form they display in their destiny, deniers exhibit similar features in their destiny, and are distinguished from Muslims in a most evident manner.


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2015 Murano at 2014 New York International Auto Show
May 16 2014, 401 Dixie Nissan
- All-new third generation of Nissan's popular Murano crossover symbolizes Nissan's design-led product and brand renaissance
- Murano styling delivers bold "refined intensity" exterior and "social lounge" interior, arrives in
- Nissan showrooms in late 2014
- Smart Rearview Mirror shows new, clear technology; installed on all-new Rogue
- Complete lineup of 2014 Nissan cars, trucks and EVs on display April 18th through 27th at Jacob Javits Center
NEW YORK - Nissan's all-new 2015 Nissan Murano made its world auto show debut today at the New York International Auto Show. The halo vehicle for Nissan's expanding range of bold crossovers and SUVs, the dramatic new Murano embodies Nissan's new design direction - including its V-motion front end, LED boomerang lights and the unique "floating" roof. Murano's breakthrough exterior design carries into the interior, which offers an engaging social lounge feel through features such as the refined lower-height instrument panel, wide center console, advanced NASA-inspired Zero Gravity front and outboard rear seating, and the airy atmosphere created by the large windows and oversized Power Panoramic Moonroof.
The 2015 Nissan Murano was revealed at a press conference led by Nissan Chief Planning Officer and Executive Vice President Andy Palmer and Nissan North America, Inc. Chairman, Management Committee and Executive Vice President José Muñoz.
"In the past three years, Nissan has completely transformed its product portfolio, grown global volume by more than one million units, strengthened the brand to being the fastest-growing automaker on the Interbrand Top 100, resulting in the shake-up of entire auto industry segments," said Palmer. "Murano helped create a new segment, and the latest version, debuting today, redefines that segment."
Added Muñoz: "We have ambitious growth targets for the Nissan brand, and these goals are supported by increasing consumer demand for our newest products. In the last 12 months Nissan brand sales were up nearly 15 per cent in the U.S. due to positive customer response to new vehicles like Versa Note, Pathfinder and Rogue. Now with the new Murano coming this fall, we expect this momentum to continue as we're poised to set even better numbers for 2014, including increased market share."
In addition, Nissan demonstrated its new, highly innovative Smart Rearview Mirror that utilizes advanced camera technology to enhance the driver's view behind a vehicle. For its first U.S. showing in New York it is installed in the all-new 2014 Rogue at the Nissan display. Housed within a structure of a traditional rearview mirror, the Smart Rearview Mirror allows the driver to switch between a traditional rearview mirror and an LCD monitor, depending on the driver's preference. The camera projects a clear image - a wider and clearer view than a standard mirror - onto the monitor for a better view, as well as a more comfortable driving experience.
"Smart Rearview Mirror will give our customers the best possible view no matter how tall the passengers in the back seat or how bad the road conditions," said Palmer. "This mirror technology reinforces Nissan's commitment to improving the everyday driving experience with advanced systems and technology, such as Electric Vehicles, connected and autonomous driving cars."


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About this site | Who is Steve? | Svengalie | Greenlaning | Geocaching | The Old Man Mask | Gallery | Memorial Events | Comments/BlogMemories
Other stuff: Why? | Support | Goodbye Steve
Who is Steve?
A many faceted man. A truly devoted Dad, loving partner to Nicole. A wonderful son and brother and a very crazy uncle!
A work mate, friend and colleague. An online friend to many worldwide through his vlogging, videos, youtube and geocaching.
Steve was born on a very windy day in March 1981
As a mum you remember that day vividly and I can still feel his little warm downy head pressed into my neck. A feeling that brought comfort to me in those dark days after his death.
Named Steven Jonathan Love but as he grew he preferred to be called Steve or Ste (even occasionally to close friends as a joke, 'St'!). Later following the success of his YouTube Channel he became known worldwide as Svengalie and Sven.
He grew up in Nottinghamshire and worked locally for a time before work took him to Brighton, Sussex in the 2000's. He became a very successful businessman, providing his family with a wonderful lifestyle and truly beautiful homes which he saw as the pinnacle of his success. He was very proud to have provided for his family in this way.
He had two children from his marriage and he adored them. He was a big kid himself and would spend many hours with them doing the things kids liked, building go-karts, bike riding and playing silly games. He would set treasure hunts that took them off around the park looking for clues.
We fondly remember the time he was playing hide and seek and hid on one of our bedroom windowsills, imagine a 6' 6" giant perched on a 8" ledge between window and curtain and you get the idea! He took some finding, well who would think to look there?!
Sadly his marriage ended in 2010, but he found love again in the shape of beautiful Nicole, a perfect match as they were both over 6' tall - at last he could look someone in the eye!
Sadly in February 2012 divorce proceedings got too much for him and he took his own life.
He put so much into his 30 years, more than many do in a full lifetime.
He loved, lived and laughed. We hope you will do the same in his memory.
"Uncle Steven" no kid could wish for a better Uncle, crazy games and laughter all the way. Hold on to the ears though - what a height
This picture means so much to us, it was her last ever Christmas hug with her Daddy.
It broke his heart not to be able to be with them each day.
Boys together!
Family fun, but he didn't manage to beat his Dad down the slide!
You Tube
See Steve's videos and exploits on his You Tube Channel.
Geocache Spoilers
Geocaching was one of Steve's hobbies, he formed this Channel to promote it to everyone. Like he says "Not really spoilers"www.youtube.com/geocachespoilers
Facebook Tribute Page
Messages from those who loved him from around the world
RIP Svengalie
Copyright © Svengalie.co.uk


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Since Mike wrote this post on Oct. 9 2006, I've been to the lounge multiple times. It's one of the best-kept parent-friendly secrets in the Bay Area. Has anyone else seen something like this? -Peter
I'm leaving my house. I'm taking the kid. And we're going to live in the Westfield San Francisco Centre. In the "Family Lounge," to be precise.
Courtesy Mike Adamick
I just need to find the right way to tell my wife. Discreetly.
When I first heard about the family lounge, I envisioned a few large bathroom stalls with those ubiquitous Koala Kare changing stations tacked to the walls.
I had no idea.
Tucked into a corner behind the centre's food court, the lounge offers over-sized teddy bears, rocking horses (rocking sheep, actually), recliners, couches and even a large-screen plasma TV tuned into the ABC Family Channel. Non-stop "Gilmore Girls" reruns … what more does anyone need?
Along a wall, a half dozen changing stations include sunken tables so the little ones don't roll off the counter. There are bottle warmers, wipe warmers, mobiles, microwaves and bins of free pacifiers and rattles. Books and games are scattered throughout the room. And in the back, three "nursing stations" offer a quiet setting, and curtains, for moms.
As far as changing rooms go, it's the best I've ever seen. Aside from not actually including wipes in the wipe warmer machines, no amenity was overlooked. Cleaning crews came by every so often to haul away used diapers and to hand out rattles. Granted, it was an odd mix of services, but it was prompt and friendly. I half-expected Jo "Super Nanny" Frost to pop out of the closet to offer emergency parenting advice for harried shoppers.
On a recent visit, a woman sighed into the chair beside me and fed her son. "Isn't this place amazing?" she asked.
I wanted to tell her to back off, to get her grubby mitts off my new pad. I wanted to tell her she was sitting where I planned to install the refrigerator. Or maybe the wet bar. Either way, I wanted to tell her she had to go because this place was mine — all mine. It was THAT comfortable.
Courtesy Mike Adamick
Then I wandered over to the new Bloomingdale's and discovered yet another family lounge. Only this one had video game kiosks.
And then it hit me. I could live here.
I'm usually not one for mega-malls. Living in San Francisco, I've come to appreciate walkable neighborhoods and a certain sense of uniqueness that gives a city character. But after just a few minutes in the lounges, I began to wonder if I had it all wrong. I began to wonder if Mega McMalls couldn't also offer character and uniqueness.
And what's more unique than a man and his daughter living in a public changing room, watching endless loops of "Gilmore Girls" reruns and telling holiday shoppers to stay the hell away from the wet bar?
Are there any other family lounges out there or is this a new trend?


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Last Ridge
|Episode Description
|Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:00 PM
On a freezing winter night in February 1945, the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division accomplished the impossible: they scaled a 2,000-foot cliff in northern Italy to knock the seemingly invincible Germans from their impenetrable perch. THE LAST RIDGE recounts the remarkable story of the legendary 10th Mountain Division, whose extraordinary efforts turned the tide for the Allied forces in Italy, revolutionized winter mountain warfare abroad, transformed winter sports and inspired an entire generation of soldiers. G
|More Last Ridge on PLUS (MT)
Thursday, May 30, 2019 - 12:00 PM


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Ok - fair warning - Non-physicist asking dumb-assed questions here again. I've been reading a lot of Einstein, Feynmann, Ferris etc. I'm just loving this stuff.
But I suddenly found myself looking at the 4-D sphere concept of our expanding universe, as well as the distortion of spacetime caused by objects with mass and so on, and suddenly thought - this 4th spacial dimension (that we cannot comprehend) through which our universe is expanding - is this actually the dimension of time?
Is the time dilation experienced closer to bodies with mass not a literal curving of the skin of our 4-D sphere in toward its center? So at that point in spacetime the radius is increasing more slowly compared to the radius further from the mass?
I'm afraid my brain just keeps failing when I try to incorporate other concepts from GR into this view - such as time dilation with increasing speed. However the shortening of length of an object in the direction of travel kind of makes sense there as well but only if there was a similar unilateral distortion near bodies of mass.
And then I got to thinking about black holes and their extreme curvature - are they literally stopping universal expansion at their point of singularity such that deltaR=0 and therefore time stops? Or do they even stretch right back to R=0?
Ok, enough of my sillyness - can someone put this into perspective for me?


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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Kreativ Blogger Award
JoLyn of The Mount Timpanogos Graveyard Rabbit has graciously awarded this blog with the Kreativ Blogger Award, and it is now my turn to pass the award on to seven bloggers whose posts I enjoy reading:
1. Professor Dru of Find Your Folks
2. Judith Shubert of Genealogy Traces
3. Andrea Christman of Family Tales
4. Ginger Smith of Genealogy by Ginger's Blog
5. Janet Iles of Janet the Researcher
6. Cindy of Everything's Relative
7. They That Go Down to the Sea
Be sure to visit all these blogs!
Here are the procedures connected with the KreativBlogger Award:
1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those sites on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.
The genea-blogging community is a wonderful group, both in talent and generosity.
Posted by Greta Koehl at 3:28 AM
Labels: blogging
5 comments:
Greta Thanks so much! You are very kind!ReplyDelete
Hi Greta, wow, this is really great, thank you so much! I'm off to find some interesting blogs...now to pick just seven???? Oh my! that might be hard :)ReplyDelete
I love the award! Thank you for thinking of me. You're very generous. I'm like Ginger - this will be difficult to pick just seven.ReplyDelete
Aw, guys, I was happy to - reading your blogs gives me lots of pleasure and I learn a lot. Genea-bloggers are the best!ReplyDelete
Thanks Greta! I feel honored! I feel like I get so many great ideas from your blog and other genea-bloggers that it is nice to hear that my blog is enjoyed in the same way!ReplyDelete
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