Nameplate disambiguation.

Before the release of the global Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan in 2008, General Motors made use of the name "Cruze" between 2001 and 2008 in Japan. Announced as the Chevrolet YGM1 concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1999, the original Cruze was derived from the subcompact Suzuki Ignis five-door hatchback (known as the Suzuki Swift in Japan). Despite the Chevrolet branding, the YGM1, like the production car, was the work of GM's Australian arm, Holden. Along with the styling, Holden executed most of the engineering work and were responsible for

First generation (J300; 2008).

In 2008, GM introduced the Cruze compact car, carrying the "J300" internal designation. This J300 iteration serves as a replacement for the Chevrolet Cobalt, Daewoo Lacetti and Holden Astra—all unrelated cars. GM phased out production of the Cobalt and its badge engineered counterpart, the Pontiac G5 in 2010, just prior to the manufacturing of the Chevrolet Cruze was to commence. The first renderings of the Cruze were revealed by GM at a press conference on July 15, 2008, with the first official images released on August 21, 2008.  Cruze production sites include Gunsan, Jeonbuk, South Korea; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Shenyang, China; and Halol, India; Hanoi, Vietnam since April 2010 in complete knock-down (CKD) form, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan from May 2010; Rayong, Thailand after December 2010, and São Caetano do Sul, Brazil from 2011. Holden's localized hatchback version of the Cruze built at the Elizabeth, South Australia factory from late 2011 joined the Cruze sedan manufactured there since March 2011. GM in the United States has upgraded the existing plant in Lordstown, Ohio to manufacture the Cruze, investing more than. At the ceremony of the start of production of Cruze at Ohio, Mark Reuss, the president of GM's North American operations said, "This is everything for us". It is described as GM's most significant new vehicle introduction into North America since the Chapter 11 reorganization in 2009, and is GM's latest attempt to build a small size car that North American consumers would "buy because they like it – not simply because it is cheap".  Underpinned by the front-wheel drive GM Delta II platform, GM has confirmed the Cruze development program occurred under a global design and engineering team. GM Daewoo in South Korea played a leading role in the design and engineering of the Cruze, along with GM's German-based Opel division. This development program spanned over 27 months at a cost of US$4 billion. A total of 221 prototypes were tested in Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.  According to GM, the Cruze's body structure is 65 percent high-strength steel. MacPherson struts are utilized in the front suspension with a solid torsion beam axle for the rear, avoiding the cost and complexity needed for a modern multi-link independent rear suspension used by some more expensive rivals.  According to GM's global product development chief Mark Reuss, the North America version Cruze is modified from the global platform as it requires reinforcements to the engine compartment because it offers a bigger engine than in other markets and uses torsion beam suspension.  Hydraulically-assisted (electric for North American market) rack and pinion steering gives for a turning circle. Braking-wise, ventilated front, and solid rear disc brakes are employed, both using piston steel calipers. To counteract noise, vibration, and harshness, engineers have designed the Cruze with an isolated four-point engine mount and implemented sound damping material in areas including the front-of-dashboard panel, luggage compartment, decklid internals, doors, carpet and headlining. Further noise suppression through the use of a triple-layer sealing system in the doors has also been employed.  A five-door Cruze hatchback was unveiled as a concept car at the 2010 Paris Motor Show on October 1, 2010. Cruze hatchback sales began in Europe in mid-2011. Holden in Australia were responsible for the design and development of the hatchback body variant.  GM unveiled the Chevrolet Cruze station wagon in February 2012 at the Geneva Motor Show. Load space ranges from about up to the window line in the rear, to nearly up to the roof top with the rear seats folded down.

Second generation (2014).

Chinese version (2014–2016, D2SC).

The new model was first announced for the Chinese market on the 2014 Beijing Auto Show and went on sale in August 2014. Based on the same platform as the Cruze J300, the Cruze J400 CN was essentially a reskinned old model, and only sold for 2 years before the release of the international Cruze J400. The four-door sedan has a fastback-like sloping roofline and a low drag coefficient of 0.28 comes with a choice of a turbocharged direct injection engine with a power

International version (2016–present, D2LC/D2LC-K).

The second-generation Cruze began sales in North America in early 2016, delayed a year by engineering changes. The Cruze has a new external design with a new split grille front and a fastback-like sloping roofline from the Chinese version of the fastback. This second generation Cruze has a slightly longer length and wheelbase than the one designed for the Chinese market, with different styling cues. It is also powered by the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing and torque.  The 2016 Cruze comes equipped with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto Capability features. However, only one of their phone brands at any one time can be used.  In January 2016, Chevrolet unveiled the five-door hatchback version of the North American Cruze at the North American International Auto Show. It went on sale in late 2016 as a 2017 model.  Trim levels continue to be L, LS, LT (now combined into one trim level, as opposed to the previous

Australia.

Before launching the Chevrolet Cruze as the Holden Astra in Australia, Holden engineers performed 100,000 kilometres of suspension and steering testing at the Lang Lang Proving Ground south east of Melbourne, Australia, tuning for Australian roads. A firmer more compliant ride and more responsive steering tune is the result.

2019 facelift.

For 2019, the Cruze received a mid-cycle facelift, which made its debut in April 2018, along with restyled versions of the 2019 Camaro, Spark and Malibu. Changes for the Cruze for 2019 include the addition of

Discontinuation.

Production of the D2LC-K Cruze ended in South Korea in July 2018, and in the US and Mexico in March 2019. The Lordstown assembly plant was closed and sold to Lordstown Motors, while Ramos Arizpe Assembly will build the Chevrolet Blazer instead. Production of the Cruze will continue in Argentina and China.  Assembly of the Chevrolet Cruze Sedan at Lordstown Assembly in Lordstown, Ohio concluded on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, when the last car rolled off of the assembly line. Assembly plant workers at the plant wrote inspiring messages on the

Motorsport.

The Chevrolet Cruze first entered the World Touring Car Championship in 2009 with a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine, taking six wins in its debut season. The car has proved successful since its entry, with Yvan Muller winning the championship in 2010 and again in 2011 using the new 1.6-litre turbocharged engine. Chevrolet placed first, second and third in 2011, with Muller finishing ahead of teammates Rob Huff and Alain Menu. Chevrolet finished 1–2–3 again in 2012, this time, Huff becoming champion ahead of Menu and Muller.  The Cruze also entered the British Touring Car Championship for 2010 and 2011. Jason Plato won the championship for Chevrolet in 2010 and finished 3rd in 2011. The BTCC Cruze used the 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine found in the original variant of the WTCC Cruze.  The Cruze won the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship in 2011, being run by NIKA Racing under the banner of 'Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden' with Rickard Rydell driving. Rydell and teammate Michel Nykjær finished second and third in 2012.  Chevrolet pulled their sponsorship at the end of 2011 from the BTCC to support the Chevrolet team in the World Touring Car Championship for 2012. Chevrolet then announced they would not enter a works team for the 2013 WTCC season. For 2013 RML, the original builders of the Cruzes, continued to compete without the support of Chevrolet. Cars were also entered by Bamboo Engineering, NIKA Racing and Tuenti Racing Team. Despite no funding from the manufacturer, the Cruze remained the car to beat, even against works teams from Honda and Lada. Muller won his fourth WTCC title, his third in a Cruze and James Nash won the Yokohama Drivers' Trophy for independent entries, ahead of fellow Cruze drivers Alex MacDowall and Michel

Sales.

By April 2016, cumulative sales of cars of the Cruze name exceeded 4 million worldwide.

The Chevrolet Cruze is a compact car that has been made by the Chevrolet division of General Motors since 2008. The nameplate has been used previously in Japan, for a version of a subcompact hatchback car produced under a joint venture with Suzuki from 2001 to 2007, and was based on the Suzuki Ignis.

La Chevrolet Cruze est une automobile de tourisme du segment C (compacte) que le fabricant américain General Motors a présenté au Mondial de l'automobile de Paris en 2008. Elle est mise en vente en Corée du Sud sous le label Daewoo Lacetti Premiere et sur les autres marchés à partir du deuxième trimestre 2009 sous les marques Chevrolet et Holden. Elle vient remplacer la Chevrolet Cobalt tout comme la Chevrolet Optra, déjà présente sur le marché américain et coréen depuis plusieurs années.


Overview.

The song was confirmed by frontman Till Lindemann and guitarist Richard Kruspe to be a reference to their unhappy childhood relationships with their own mothers. The lyrics tell the story of a child not born from a womb but in an experiment, thus having no true father or mother. The lyrics describe his plan to kill both the mother "who never gave birth to him" and then himself. However, he fails to kill himself, instead ending up mutilated and no better off than before. The child begs and prays for strength, but his dead mother does not answer. The narrative of the song is similar to Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", in that the character takes revenge for his misfortunes on his "parent" but ends up no different than before the "parent" died.

Music video.

The video for Mutter follows the story of the song, in which Lindemann portrays a monstrous character who kills his mother and then dumps her body in a river before ending up locked in an underground cage. Lindemann has a bald head and is clad in rags for this role, but also portrays a well-dressed character with long hair who is seen rowing a boat in a swamp.

Live performances.

The song debuted in its demo form during an April 2000 concert exclusively for members of the official fan club. The only difference between the demo version and the final release was that the demo version was less orchestrated. During the "Mutter" tour, it was played at every concert and played in select concerts in the Pledge of Allegiances tour in North America. The song then disappeared from Rammstein concerts until 2011, and has been a staple of their live shows since.

Track listing.

The 2-track (card sleeve) edition included "Mutter (Radio Edit)" and "5/4".  It was originally planned to include a Remix by Arnaud Rebotini (Mutter Zend Avesta Mix) in the tracklist.  The promo single does not include track 5/4.

"Mutter" (German for "mother") is a song by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein, released as the fourth single from the album of the same name. The single release includes "5/4", a song that is instrumental except for a Speak & Spell dialogue sample that was played as the intro for live shows since 2000, but wasn't released until 2002.

Mutter ("mère" en allemand) est un single de Rammstein sorti en 2001 avant la sortie de l'album du même nom. Cette chanson présente un enfant qui n'a jamais connu sa mère et ignore tout de l'existence. L'on peut penser à une métaphore de l'avortement. Le texte se termine sur les envies matricides et suicidaires du narrateur.


Report.

Background.

Jenson Button led the World Championship entering the Belgian race weekend despite not scoring a podium since early June. He had an 18-point lead over Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello. Mark Webber was 21⁄2 points behind Barrichello in third and was 41⁄2 points ahead of Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel. The respective recoveries of Ferrari and McLaren ensured that the last two World Champions, Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton, had scored podiums in the two races leading up to Belgium. Brawn GP led Red Bull Racing by 271⁄2 points in the Constructors' Championship. The next team, Ferrari, were 521⁄2 points behind Red Bull and 80 points behind Brawn. Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen, who had previously won the event three times, was the only former winner entered in the race.

Practice and Qualifying.

Rain affected the first practice session of the weekend. Only 10 cars got dry lap times in while the rest of the field posting lap times in the wet. Jarno Trulli posted the fastest lap followed by Button. Fernando Alonso was third followed by the two Toro Rossos. Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella posted the fastest time off the wet runners followed by Nico Rosberg. Neither Vettel nor Hamilton posted lap times. The second session stayed dry throughout with Hamilton topping the session. Timo Glock was second and Räikkönen third, the top three cars were separated by less than 0.7s. Fisichella kept his pace for Force India as he came sixth. This was one of the closest sessions in the history of Formula One with 18 of the 20 cars coming within less than a second from the leader. Only Rosberg and Luca Badoer were more than a second away from Hamilton's time. Both Brawns struggled coming only 17th and 18th. This session may have seen another indication that BMW Sauber have greatly improved their car after Nick Heidfeld topped the session. Another Toyota came second with Trulli and Force India's Adrian Sutil came third. Hamilton took 9th place with Button rounding off the top ten. Red Bull's problems with the Renault engine continued as Webber's engine had a major problem. This gave Red Bull-Renault their third engine failure in a week.  The first session would see five cars drop out and decide the final five grid positions. Badoer qualified 20th for the second race in a row, after crashing at the end of the session and bringing out the yellow flag, causing many drivers to slow down. Fisichella topped the session with Trulli finishing just behind him. The other four drivers to be knocked out at the end of the session were Renault's Romain Grosjean (P19), Williams's Kazuki Nakajima (P18) and the two Toro Rossos of Jaime Alguersuari (P17) and Sébastien Buemi (P16). The second session would again see another five cars drop out to decide grid positions 11–15. The session was topped by the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, while BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica was second with Red Bull's Vettel coming third. Also significant in the second part of qualifying was the elimination of Brawn's Jenson Button who could only manage P14. The two McLarens of Heikki Kovalainen (P15) and Lewis Hamilton (P12) were also knocked out along with the second Renault of Alonso (P13) and Force India's Adrian Sutil (P11).  The final session would see the remaining 10 grid positions be decided. Williams's new aero package was not working as they would like as Rosberg qualified P10. The two Red Bulls of Webber (P9) and Vettel (P8) seemed to struggle in conditions favouring their cars. Glock took P7 with Räikkönen, driving the only KERS car in the top 10, coming in sixth. The two BMW Saubers' new updates seemed to be lifting the whole team as Kubica (P5) and Heidfeld (P3) achieved their best qualifying positions of the season. The only Brawn in the final session, that of Rubens Barrichello, took P4. One of the biggest surprises on an already unpredictable track, Force India took their very first pole position. It was Fisichella's first pole position since the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix. Trulli took second place.

Race.

As the race started everyone seemed to make a good start apart from Rubens Barrichello, who almost stalled his car, causing him to drop to the back of the field. At Les Combes, at the top of the hill, a crash caused the safety car to come out. Romain Grosjean ran into the back of Jenson Button who in turn spun 180° and collided with Grosjean for a second time, causing them to both retire. Lewis Hamilton backed off after seeing the incidents ahead of him, which caused Jaime Alguersuari to run into him; both crashed into the barrier and retired. The safety car came in on lap 5 with Fisichella still leading and Räikkönen right behind him. Räikkönen closed up to the Force India driver through the Eau Rouge corner and passed him on the way into Les Combes. The main bulk of the first round of stops came in around lap 14. Mark Webber was released in front of Nick Heidfeld and was handed a drive through penalty, severely affecting his race. After the first stop Fisichella closed to within one second of Räikkönen. Jarno Trulli retired from the race on lap 22; after starting on the front row he had dropped to the back of the field, having pitted after a first lap collision. Fernando Alonso retired on lap 27 with a suspected wheel problem after a first corner collision with Adrian Sutil. Räikkönen and Fisichella pitted for the second time on the same lap and it was the Finn who emerged in front and kept his lead. Vettel recorded the fastest lap of the race with a late push to try to catch the leaders but it was to no avail as Räikkönen took the chequered flag for the first time this season with Fisichella scoring Force India's first-ever points with a second-place finish. Vettel finished third, followed by the two BMW Saubers and Heikki Kovalainen finishing sixth. After dropping to the back of the field at the start, Rubens Barrichello came in seventh with Nico Rosberg picking up the final point in eighth, finishing his seven race points streak. Barrichello's car was smoking from the back for the last few laps and the car caught fire in parc fermé. Webber finished ninth for the second race in a row and scored no points.

Post-race.

With Button failing to score, his championship lead became smaller for the second race in a row as his teammate Barrichello closed the gap by two points. Vettel's third place moved him ahead of his teammate Webber. Raikkonen's win further extended Ferrari's lead in the constructors' championship over McLaren, but his teammate Luca Badoer was again under scrutiny after finishing last for the second time: reports came out of the paddock that second place man Fisichella would replace him at Ferrari for the Italian Grand Prix. On 31 August Force India team principal Vijay Mallya reported that Fisichella would not be driving for Ferrari at Monza. However, on 3 September Fisichella was released from his contract at Force India and joined Ferrari until the end of the season. Force India announced on 7 September that Vitantonio Liuzzi, the team's test driver, would replace Fisichella for the remaining five races of the season.  On 4 September, Renault were summoned to a meeting by Formula One's governing body, the FIA with the allegations of race fixing during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Renault faced the possibility of expulsion from the championship as McLaren were in the Formula One season. During the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting later that month, Renault admitted that Nelson Piquet Jr. had deliberately crashed under the instructions of Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and chief engineer Pat Symonds, in the hope of helping Alonso win. The Renault team were handed a disqualification from F1, which was suspended for two years pending any further rule infringements. Briatore was banned from all FIA-sanctioned events for life, while Symonds was banned for five years.

Classification.

Qualifying.

"Cars that used KERS are marked with "‡""

Race.

The 2009 Belgian Grand Prix (formally the LXV ING Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 August 2009 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps near the town of Spa, Belgium. It was the 12th race of the 2009 Formula One season. The race was contested over 44 laps, with an overall race distance of 308.2 km (191.5 mi). The race was won by 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen of Ferrari after starting from sixth on the grid. Giancarlo Fisichella of Force India came second after starting from the team's first and only pole position. Sebastian Vettel came third after starting from eighth on the grid.

Le Grand Prix de Belgique 2009, disputé sur le circuit de Spa-Francorchamps le 30 aout 2009, est la du championnat du monde de Formule 1 courue depuis 1950 et la douzième manche du championnat 2009.


History.

The base has been subject to much political controversy, because of American nuclear weapons allegedly being stored in the facility by the United States Air Force (USAF), but never recognized officially by the Belgian government. Under the NATO nuclear sharing arrangement, these nuclear bombs would require an actual dual key system, which would imply the simultaneous authorizations of Belgium and the United States, before any action is taken. Should that be the case, Kleine Brogel Air Base would be the only location in Belgium with nuclear weapons. According to the press, Eastern European Member States of NATO resisted the withdrawal of the shared nuclear bombs in Europe, fearing that it would show a weakening of the American commitment to defend the European Union against Russian aggression.  None of the five NATO member states, whose air forces allegedly might share in its premises nuclear bombs with the USAF (these are Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey), have ever provided an official confirmation of its existence. However, former Italian President Francesco Cossiga declared that the Aeronautica Militare hosted or shared American nuclear bombs, just as other NATO member states do. In an interview he talked about French weapons. In the same way, on 10 June 2013, former Dutch prime minister Ruud Lubbers confirmed the existence of 22 shared nuclear bombs at Volkel Air Base.  Kleine Brogel Air Base is also the home of the United States Air Force's 701st Munitions Support Squadron which allegedly is the unit in charge of looking after the shared nuclear bombs.  AFN Benelux broadcast from Kleine Brogel Air Base in the 106.2 MHz in FM.

Kleine Brogel Air Base is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located east of Kleine-Brogel, in the municipality Peer, Belgium. It is home to the Belgian 10th Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons, which are capable, among other capabilities, of delivering B61 nuclear bombs.

La Base aérienne de Kleine-Brogel (souvent surnommé « KB ») est une base de la Force aérienne belge. Elle est située près du quartier de Kleine-Brogel de la ville belge de Peer située en Région flamande dans la Province de Limbourg.


Life of Saint Alena.

The traditional account of Saint Alena's life, dating to the twelfth century, states that she was born in Dilbeek, just outside Brussels, Belgium, to pagan parents, the nobleman Levold and his wife, Hildegaart. Alena chose to be baptized without the knowledge of her parents. As a Christian, she had to attend Mass secretly.  When her father discovered that she was worshipping as a Christian, he came to the conclusion that Christians had bewitched her into conversion. He sent guards to bring her home; she resisted, and during the fighting she lost one arm. She subsequently died in prison due to her injuries.  Various (unspecified) miracles were claimed at the burial site of Alena's body, and one of Levold's subjects, Duke Omundus, had his sight restored by invoking Alena's prayers.  An angel appeared and took the severed arm to the chapel where she worshipped. Alena's parents were shocked, but the miracles, and the witness given by her determined faith, led them to examine Christianity, and they themselves were converted.

Veneration of Saint Alena.

The Bishop of Cambrai gave permission for Abbot Godeschalk of Affligem Abbey to enshrine Alena's remains in the Priory of Forest, then a dependency of Affligem, as the relics of a saint on Pentecost Sunday, 19 May 1193. This was effectively a canonisation.  The chapel with Alena's relics became a popular place of pilgrimage. Her shrine became incorporated into the parish church of Forest as a chapel which held her cenotaph and relics. By around 1600, her jawbone and upper arm were preserved in the parish church, each in its own jewel-studded reliquary dating from the 15th century. The rest of the bones, with the exception of the collarbones, were preserved in the abbey church in a Baroque reliquary (1644) commissioned by Françoise de Bette, abbess 1637–1666. When the abbey was suppressed in 1796 the last abbess, Juana Francisca de Rueda de Conteras (1785–1818), removed this reliquary to a monastery near Würzburg. It was returned to Forest only in 1812. The collarbones are still kept in a reliquary in the church of St Ambrosius in Dilbeek.  Saint Alena is depicted in art as a princess with one arm torn off. She might also be portrayed healing a blind man, or with an angel helping her.  She is venerated in Brussels, and is invoked for eye troubles and toothache.  Her feast day is given as 17 June by the Polish Breviary but other Polish-language sources also recognise 16 June, 28 July and 16 December; with 16 June and 16 December often being kept as the name day in Poland. Her feast is cited as 19 June in Italy, and 24 June by English-language sources. It is kept locally on 16 June in the Brabant region of Belgium. The Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of North America commemorates her on 18 June. She does not appear in the index of the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology.

Saint Alena (also written Alène or Alina) is a Christian saint who, if historical, was martyred around the year 640. She is sometimes referred to as Alena of Forest, or Alena of Brussels, having died in Forest, Belgium which is now one of the nineteen municipalities of Brussels.

Sainte Aline de Dilbeek (ou Alène, Alena, Halene), née au VIIe siècle et morte (assassinée) vers 640, est une jeune fille du Brabant qui souffrit persécution et mort pour son attachement à la foi chrétienne. Elle est commémorée localement le 16 juin (dans le Brabant), le 20 octobre dans le reste de l'Église latine et le 19 juin en Orient.


Matrix ping pong.

Matrix Ping Pong is the name of a popular movie clip from the show showing performers mixing moves in the style of "The Matrix" with Ping Pong, using kurokos—stagehands in kabuki theatre—to hold the props up, facilitating humorous and otherwise impossible movements. Most of the elements in the performance are set against black, rendering the stagehands invisible at first. In fact, the scene appears to be a normal game of ping pong at first sight, until the incredible feats are performed. This performance, led by team captain Hideki Kajiwara (), won the competition on March 31, 2003. The movie clip became an internet meme for a while.

International broadcast.

The show is also aired internationally in some countries. Hong Kong airs this programme under the name of "全民創意爭霸賽" on the with Cantonese dubbing. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore on the other hand airs it under the name of "Masquerade". The Indonesian and Singaporean broadcasts under this title are aired dubbed, on RCTI in Indonesian and MediaCorp okto in English respectively, whereas the Malaysian broadcast on TV3 is aired with Malay subtitles. Southeast Asia also airs it as "Masquerade (year)" on Sony Gem TV aired every Christmas Day.  In the Philippines, the version of the show airs on GMA Network as part of "Bilib Ka Ba Nights" block of the network under the name of "Masquerade" and hosted by Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola, it ran from August 20, 2008 to March 11, 2009.

In other popular culture.

The show was featured in the music video for the 2004 single "Flamboyant" by British pop-duo Pet Shop Boys. Directed by Nico Beyer, the music video follows one of the real participants of the show that eventually goes on to win the competition with their recreation of billiards.

Kasou Taishou (; Kinchan and Katori Shingo's All Japan Costume Grand Prix) is a semi-annual show on NTV in which various amateur groups (or solo artists) perform short skits, which are rated by a panel of judges. Especially in recent years, many of the skits have revolved around clever methods of "faking" cinematic special effects on a live stage. The show is hosted by Kinichi Hagimoto and Shingo Katori. Worldwide, the most famous of these skits, and among the most successful at "fake special effects" was a skit which is widely known as "Matrix ping pong".

, abréviation de est une émission semestrielle diffusée sur NTV durant laquelle divers groupes amateurs (ou des artistes en solo) exécutent de courtes saynètes, qui sont ensuite notées par un jury. Beaucoup de ces saynètes reposent sur la simulation ingénieuse d’effets spéciaux cinématographiques sur scène, surtout ces dernières années ; la plus célèbre d’entre elles, qui est aussi la plus réussie en ce qui concerne les effets spéciaux simulés précités, est largement connue sous le nom (anglais) « "Matrix ping pong" » (soit « Ping-pong Matrix » en français).


Early years.

Mackrell was a printer by trade.

Rugby football.

Mackrell began playing rugby union for the City Newton club. He represented Auckland between 1901 and 1905 and earned North Island selection in 1905. His last first class rugby union match in New Zealand was for Auckland against the All Blacks in 1905 as they prepared for a short tour of Australia.  Mackrell was then selected to be part of The Original All Blacks 1905 tour of Great Britain and France but injury hampered his tour and he played in only one test match, against France in Paris on New Years Day, 1906. On his return he was replaced in the Auckland side by Charlie Dunning.

Rugby league.

Mackrell, along with Newton team mates Harold Rowe and William Trevarthan, was selected for the professional All Blacks in their 1907-1908 tour of Great Britain and Australia. As a result, he received a life ban from the New Zealand Rugby Union. He played in two test matches on the tour, including the first ever rugby league test match against Wales on New Years Day, 1908. He played in the first ever trans-Tasman test which was the debut match of the Australia national rugby league team.  When he returned to New Zealand, Mackrell was involved in establishing the Newton rugby league club. He also played in the first ever provincial game of rugby league in New Zealand, helping Auckland defeat Wellington 16-14 on 24 August 1908.  In 1911 Mackrell again played for New Zealand in an exhibition match against Auckland. Mackrell received a kick to the head in a 1912 match which forced his retirement and may have also led to his early death.  Mackrell died in Auckland on 15 July 1917 as a result of a paralytic seizure, five days before his 36th birthday.

William "Bill" Henry Clifton Mackrell was a New Zealand rugby footballer who represented New Zealand in both rugby union and rugby league. He was part of the 1905 The Original All Blacks tour and the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.

<dfn>William Henry Clifton Mackrell</dfn> dit <dfn>Bill Mackrell</dfn>, né le à Milton et mort le à Auckland, est un joueur de rugby à XV qui a joué avec l'équipe de Nouvelle-Zélande. Il évolue au poste de talonneur.


History.

Sint-Truiden Air Base was a pre-World War II Belgian Air Force military airfield. It was captured during the Battle of Belgium by the invading German Wehrmacht in May 1940. It turned to civilian status in the early 21st century.

German use during World War II.

During the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany, the facility was called "St. Trond" and became a major Luftwaffe air base during the Battle of France. Within a few days of its capture by German forces, the Luftwaffe moved in Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 (SKG 77), a Junkers Ju 87B Stuka dive bomber unit; Zerstörergeschwader 26 (ZG 26), a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter (Zerstörer - German for "Destroyer") unit, and two Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter units Jagdgeschwader 3 (JG 3) and also JG 27.  All of these units took part in the Blitzkrieg against French forces and the British Expeditionary Force during the Battle of France in late May and June. All also moved forward to French bases by the end of June.  With the combat on the Continent ended, Brustem became a Luftwaffe bomber base, with Kampfgeschwader 3 (KG 3) flying Dornier Do 17 light bombers from the airfield. arrived at the end of June 1940 and took part in the Battle of Britain during the summer, then later, switching to night bombing of English targets, remaining until March 1941.  Increasing numbers of night bombing raids on Germany by the Royal Air Force in 1941 caused the Luftwaffe to start transitioning from a purely offensive force, to performing night air defense. Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NJG 1) arrived at Brustem in May 1941, and until March 1944 flew first Messerschmitt Bf 110s, then after March 1942, Radar-equipped Dornier Do 217 night interceptors against the RAF bombers. In August 1944, Jagdgeschwader 2 (JG 2) began flying Focke-Wulf Fw 190A day interceptors, remaining until September when the Luftwaffe was forcefully removed from the base by advancing Allied ground forces.  Sint-Truiden Air Base was a frequent target of USAAF Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The medium bombers would attack in coordinated raids, usually in the mid-to-late afternoon, with Eighth Air Force heavy bombers returning from attacking their targets in Germany. The attack was timed to have the maximum effect possible to keep the Luftwaffe interceptors pinned down on the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also, the P-47 Thunderbolts of Ninth Air Force would be dispatched to perform fighter sweeps over Brustem after the Marauder raids, then meet up with the heavy bombers and provide fighter escort back to England. As the P-51 Mustang groups of Eighth Air Force began accompanying the heavy bombers all the way to their German targets by mid-1944, it was routine for them to also attack Brustem on their return to England with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield.

Allied use.

The airfield was seized from the Germans by Allied ground forces on 15 September 1944. Once in American hands, combat engineers of the IX Engineer Command 834th Engineer Aviation Battalion repaired the damaged airfield and applied numerous patches to the two concrete runways and taxiways of the field. It was declared operationally ready for combat units on 18 September, only a few days after its capture from German forces, being designated as Advanced Landing Ground A-92 or "Saint Trond Airfield".  Although operationally usable, Brustem was a wrecked base from the numerous Allied air attacks since late 1942 and what was blown up by the Germans as they withdrew. The Americans made do with what could be repaired, with the 832nd Engineer Aviation Battalion moving in what equipment was necessary to conduct combat operations.  Under Allied control, the American Ninth Air Force used the base for several units from 7 September 1944 until closing it in July 1945. RAF units also operated from the base, known by the British as ALG "B-62". Known Ninth Air Force units assigned were:  After combat ended in May 1945, Brustem was used as a relief distribution base, with the Allies flying in food, clothing and other needs, and using the base to distribute these supplies in Belgium and other occupied areas in the region. The airfield was returned to Belgian control in September 1945.

Postwar/current use.

Sint-Truiden Air Base took many years to rebuild after the war, however in 1946, military operations resumed from the base. A new jet runway (06/24) was laid down and the support area was completely rebuilt, although the wartime runways were resurfaced and remained in use for non-jet aircraft.  From 1971 on, several training squadrons were based at Sint-Truiden. Initially, 7th Squadron and 9th Squadron operated the CM170 Fouga Magister, while 11th Squadron operated the Lockheed T-33. With the arrival of the Dassault Alpha-Jet in 1980, 7th Squadron and 11th Squadron started training their students on this aircraft. 33rd Squadron was created to continue operating the CM170 Fouga Magister.  In 1996, the base was closed as an operational airfield, and all training squadrons moved to Beauvechain Air Base.  Nowadays private investors are rebranding the airfield into a regional airport, named Limburg Regional Airport (LRA). There will be construction of an airport hotel, new control tower and lots other facilities, the works started in 2012. Not all these projects have materialised as of 2019.

Formerly known as Sint-Truiden Air Base or Brustem Air Base) () () the aerodrome was deactivated as a Belgian Air Component base in 1996. It is located south of Sint-Truiden (Limburg), approximately east of Brussels.

La base aérienne de Brustem est une ancienne base de la Force aérienne belge située dans le quartier de Brustem de la ville de Saint-Trond dans la Province de Limbourg.


Early career.

Fairweather Low was born in Ystrad Mynach, Wales. He first found fame as a founding member of the pop group Amen Corner in the late 1960s. They had four successive Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including the #1 single "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" in 1969. The overnight success and Fairweather Low's teen idol looks, as music journalist William Ruhlmann noted at Allmusic; "... put his attractive face on the bedroom walls of teenage girls all over Britain".  The band split in two in 1970, with Fairweather Low leading Dennis Byron (drums), Blue Weaver (organ), Clive Taylor (bass) and Neil Jones (guitar) into a new band, Fair Weather. The band scored a UK Singles Chart No. 6 hit with "Natural Sinner" in July 1970, although the outfit's albums, "Beginning From An End" and "Let Your Mind Roll On", failed to chart. After twelve months Fairweather Low left to pursue a solo career, releasing four albums up to 1980 on A&M and Warner Bros. These spawned further single chart success with "Reggae Tune" (1974), and "Wide Eyed and Legless", a No. 6 Christmas time hit in 1975. Welsh group Budgie covered "I Ain't No Mountain" off Fairweather Low's 1974 album "Spider Jiving" on their 1975 release "Bandolier".  In the late 1970s and 1980s he worked for numerous artists as a session musician, performing as a backing vocalist and guitarist on albums by Roy Wood, Leo Sayer, Albion Band, Gerry Rafferty, Helen Watson, and Richard and Linda Thompson.

1978–99.

In 1978, Fairweather Low sang backing vocals on the album "Who Are You", from The Who, specifically on the tracks "New Song", "Had Enough", "Guitar and Pen", "Love is Coming Down", and "Who Are You". On the Who's 1982 album "It's Hard", he played rhythm guitar on the song "It's Your Turn". Fairweather Low later appeared on Townshend's 1993 album "Psychoderelict" and the accompanying concert tour.  In 1995, Fairweather Low played rhythm guitar on Joe Satriani's self-titled CD, along with Nathan East on bass and Manu Katché on drums. One reviewer commented that "this backup band of extremely gifted backup musicians sincerely adds a diverse range of textures and colors, bringing out a much-needed live feel to an otherwise bland album of blues-oriented jazz-rock."  Fairweather Low has worked with Roger Waters since Waters' "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" tour of America in 1985. He contributed to two of Waters' albums – "Radio KAOS" in 1987 and "Amused to Death" in 1992. He played guitar and bass on Roger Waters' all-star performance of "The Wall – Live in Berlin" 21 July 1990, on the 1999–2002 "In the Flesh" world tour and was playing on Waters' "Dark Side of the Moon Live" world tour in 2006 and 2007, but was not able to perform with him in 2008. His role was picked up by session guitarist Chester Kamen.  In 1992, he began working on projects alongside Eric Clapton. Fairweather Low had earlier appeared in Clapton's band in the 1983 ARMS concerts for Ronnie Lane and, while he has continued to do session work for various people, including Dave Edmunds, Fairweather Low has spent most of his time since the early 1990s as a sideman in Clapton's backing band, as well as session work; notably Clapton's "Unplugged" concerts, as well as on "From The Cradle".  In the same year, he was present on tours with the 1999 Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris collaboration. In December 1991, he played guitar on George Harrison's "Live in Japan", along with the rest of Clapton's band, and in 2002, he played several of the lead guitar parts for the Harrison tribute "Concert for George", on some songs playing Harrison's famous Fender Stratocaster "Rocky" and Harrison's gold Fender Electric XII. In 2004 he appeared in the Stratpack concert, celebrating 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster.

Work since 2000.

From 1998 to 2002, he played in Roger Waters' In the Flesh tour. In 2001, Fairweather Low accompanied Eric Clapton on his world tour and is featured on the 2002 album "One More Car, One More Rider", which also features accompaniment by Billy Preston, Steve Gadd, Nathan East and David Sancious.  In 2002, Fairweather Low featured on "From Clarksdale To Heaven – Remembering John Lee Hooker" with, amongst others, Jeff Beck, Gary Brooker, Jack Bruce and Peter Green.  By 2005, he toured extensively with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. Some of the concerts were recorded for UK television, as part of their "50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll" tribute. In April 2005 he played in the Gary Brooker Ensemble's charity concert at Guildford Cathedral, Surrey, in aid of the Tsunami Appeal.  In 2006, Fairweather Low toured with Roger Waters once more, this time for the latter's The Dark Side of the Moon tour, and with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. In the same year Fairweather Low toured with Chris Barber and the Big Chris Barber Band reprising many of his earlier hits, including "Gin House Blues" and "Worried Man Blues". Some of these performances form part of Barber's latest CD, "Can't Stop Now", featuring new arrangements by Barber's staff-arranger and trombonist, Bob Hunt.  Also in 2006 Fairweather Low released "Sweet Soulful Music", his first solo album in twenty-six years. The song "Hymn for My Soul" became the title track of Joe Cocker's 2007 album. Cocker's tour of 2007/08 bore the same title. In 2007, he continued touring with Roger Waters' Dark Side of the Moon Tour. Later that year he was on the road with his own "Sweet Soulful Music" tour, performing at venues such as the Stables in Wavendon, The Ferry in Glasgow and the Library Theatre, Darwen, Lancashire.  In May 2008, Fairweather Low & the Lowriders started a UK tour, the Lowriders being Paul Beavis, Dave Bronze and Richard Dunn. In 2009, he joined Eric Clapton's band for a series of 11 concerts held at the London's Royal Albert Hall. He became part of Clapton's touring band with drummer Steve Gadd and keyboardist Tim Carmon throughout May 2009. In 2011, Fairweather Low joined Clapton for another series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. He also performs with Edie Brickell, Steve Gadd, and bassist (and fellow Welshman) Pino Palladino as The Gaddabouts; their eponymous album was released in early 2011, and their second album, "Look Out Now!", was released in 2012.  Also in 2011, Fairweather Low made a guest appearance on Kate Bush's album "50 Words For Snow", singing on the chorus of the album's only single, "Wild Man".  In 2013, he opened Eric Clapton's shows with his band the Lowriders on Clapton's European tour and, later that year, Fairweather Low & the Lowriders released the album, "Zone-O-Tone". In April 2013, he appeared at the Eric Clapton Guitar Festival Crossroads in New York and featured on two tracks of the DVD of the concert. On 13–14 November, he was also part of Eric Clapton's band on the occasion of Clapton's two concerts during the "Baloises Sessions" in Basel, Switzerland, where he was featured singing "Gin House Blues". In November 2015, Fairweather Low made a guest appearance on Kevin Brown's album "Grit".

Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter, producer and vocalist. He was a founder member and lead singer of 1960s British pop band Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings. The National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales have audio interview with Andrew Fairweather Low.

Andrew Fairweather-Low, né le à Cardiff, est un guitariste gallois, auteur-compositeur et interprète. Il est l'un des membres fondateurs du groupe pop britannique Amen Corner et ces dernières années, il accompagne en tournées Roger Waters, Eric Clapton et Bill Wyman.


Distribution.

"Berberis koreana" is endemic to Korea. It has been recently used as an ornamental tree in the United States. The genus "Berberis" however, ranges widely in Temperate zones of North America and Eurasia. The species is reportedly naturalized in a few locations in the US State of Vermont.

Habitat and ecology.

"Berberis koreana" is a deciduous shrub that is considered hardy which means it can tolerate temperatures as low as. The species can also tolerate a range of soil types; it can be in a well-drained or moist soil. "B. koreana" can be placed in full sun or part shade but does not prefer to be in full shade.

Morphology.

Individuals of this species are deciduous shrubs with berries that are purple to red in color. The leaf margins are dentate and have inflorescences in racemes on reddish branchlets. The leaves are simple, alternating, are either elliptical or oval shape and are dark to medium-green in color. They show pinnate venation with smooth edges that are in length.

Flowers and fruit.

The flowers of "Berberis koreana" are approximately in length, appear in clusters, and are yellow in color when they bloom in the spring. "B. koreana" has egg-shaped, red to purple berries in the fall and winter months. The flower has six yellow sepals, six stamens and six petals that can be yellow to dark orange-red. "B. koreana" has 1-10 seeds that are tan to red-brown or black.

Uses.

Food.

"Berberis" berries are edible but sour and are used only in jams and jellies. However eating high quantities of "B. koreana" berries can result in adverse side effects. See Intoxication section.

Medicinal purposes.

There are no established medical uses for barberry. However, roots of other "Berberis" species were used by American Indians and settlers to help with upset stomachs, hemorrhages, tuberculosis, and eye trouble. It has also been said, but not proved, that "Berberis koreana" can be used as an antibacterial agent. Recent studies found that compounds synthesized from the trunk of "B. koreana" showed cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines and inhibited the growth of a skin melanoma.

Intoxication.

Several species of "Berberis" contain alkaloids such as berberine, canadine, columbamine, corypalmine, jatrorrhizine, and palmatine. These alkaloids are all very similar in chemical structure, but they vary in the effects they have on humans. Protoberberine relaxes smooth muscle and causes a decrease in overall blood pressure. Berberine, at high dosages, has been known to cause seizures and inhibit enzymes. "Berberis" can have adverse side effects such as severe digestive tract irritation that includes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The side effects are not life-threatening and can be treated.

Berberis koreana, the Korean barberry, is deciduous shrub that can grow up to in height. The species is endemic to Korea. It is widely planted as an ornamental tree in North America, South America and Europe.

Le berbéris de Corée, ("Berberis koreana"), est un arbuste épineux du genre "Berberis", endémique de Corée (poussant principalement dans le nord de la péninsule).


Origins of the diocese.

The original diocese was the church equivalent of the "Civitas Tungrorum", the capital of which was Tongeren, northwest of Liège, and its borders were probably approximately the same.  The bishopric of Tongeren originally formed part of the dioceses of Trier and Cologne. After the first half of the fourth century, the bishopric of Tongeren received autonomous organization. In late antiquity, the centre of administration and religion in the area moved first to Maastricht, and then to Liège.  The boundaries were formed, to the North, by the diocese of Utrecht; to the East, Cologne; to the South, the dioceses of Trier and Reims; to the West, that of Cambrai. Thus the diocese of Tongeren extended from France, in the neighbourhood of Chimay, to Stavelot, Aachen, Gladbach, and Venlo, and from the banks of the Semois as far as Ekeren, near Antwerp, to the middle of the Isle of Tholen and beyond Moerdijk, so that it included both Romance and Germanic populations. The boundaries remained virtually unchanged until 1559.  Legend has it that the first bishop of Tongeren was Saint Maternus. This may refer to the legendary founder of the Archbishopric of Cologne, Maternus I, or Saint Maternus (Maternus II), who was also bishop of Cologne. Saint Servatius was the first confirmed bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht-Liège, who was referred to in documents as bishop of the Tungri. He died around 384 and was buried outside the Roman castrum in Maastricht. One of his successors, probably in the 6th century, moved the see of the bishopric to Maastricht. The conversion of the Franks continued under Falco (around 500 AD) and continued under Saint Domitian, Saint Monulphus and Saint Gondulphus (6th/7th centuries). Monulphus built a church over the grave of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, which later became the Basilica of Saint Servatius. During the whole of the seventh century the bishops had to struggle against paganism and opposition. St Amandus (647–650) and St Remaclus (650–660) even abandoned the episcopal see in discouragement. Both built several monasteries. St Theodard (660–669) died a martyr.  St Lambert (669–700) completed the conversion of the pagans in the Ardennes region. He was murdered at Liège around 705. Lambert was regarded as a martyr for his defence of church property against the avarice of the neighbouring lords. His successor, St Hubert, transferred the body of St Lambert to Liège, which was then a small settlement, a vicus, named "Vicus Leudicus". On his grave Hubert built a chapel (St. Lambert's Cathedral) which became the nucleus of the city, and near which the permanent residence of the bishops was established.  Agilbert (768–784) and Gerbald (785–810) were both appointed by Charlemagne. Hartgar built the first episcopal palace. Bishop Franco, who defeated the Normans, is celebrated by the Irish poet Sedulius Scottus. Stephen (908–920), Richaire (920–945), Hugh (945–947), Farabert (947–958) and Rathier were promoted from the cloister school. To Stephen, a writer and composer, the Catholic Church is indebted for the feast and the Office of the Blessed Trinity. Ratherius absorbed all the learning of his time. Heraclius, who occupied the see in 959, built four new parish churches, a monastery, and two collegiate churches, he inaugurated in his diocese an era of great artistic activity known as Mosan art.  All these bishops, until the end of the Middle Ages, continued to call themselves bishops of the church of Tongeren, or sometimes bishops of Tongeren-Maastricht or Tongeren-Liège, Tongeren in this case referring to the old civitas of Tongeren, rather than the town.

Modern History.

The original dioceses of the region underwent some adaptations under Habsburg influence in 1559, and then survived further until suppression under the Revolution, and confirmed in 1801 by a Concordat co-signed by Napoléon Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. The new diocese, erected 10 April 1802, included the two of Ourte and Meuse-Inférieure, with certain parishes of the des Forêts. In 1818, it lost a certain number of cantons, ceded to Prussia.  After the establishment of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands the two provinces of this diocese were renamed as Liège and Limburg. On 6 May 1838, Mgr Van Bommel divided the Province of Liège into two deaneries. In 1839, the diocese lost those parishes (including Maastricht) which were situated in Dutch Limburg, which was no longer part of Belgium; this territory was attached to the Diocese of Roermund. In 1967, the Dutch-speaking parishes of the diocese (including Tongeren) formed the newly erected Diocese of Hasselt, corresponding to Belgian Limburg. From that point, the present territory of the diocese has coincided with the Province of Liège. The present Diocese of Liège, suffragan to the Archdiocese of Mechlin–Brussels, consists of 525 parishes with 543 priests and has a population of 1,023,506 (), the majority (Walloons) speaking French; the minority, German in the German-speaking Community of Belgium.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Liège () is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in Belgium. The diocese was erected in the 4th century, and has a long and complicated history. Currently the diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. Its modern version covers the same territory as the Belgian province of Liège, but it was historically much larger.

Le diocèse de Liège (en latin : "Dioecesis Leodiensis") est (comme successeur du diocèse de Tongres) le diocèse le plus ancien de Belgique. L'évêque actuel est Jean-Pierre Delville. C'est une circonscription ecclésiastique qui était suffragant de l'archidiocèse de Cologne. Le diocèse couvrait, de la fin du à 1559, les trois quarts de la Wallonie actuelle, la province de Limbourg belge, une partie de la province du Brabant flamand et des Pays-Bas. Cette structure était directement héritée de l'organisation administrative de l'Empire romain durant l'Antiquité tardive puisque le diocèse est fondé sur la base de la cellule administrative et religieuse nommée Civitas Tungrorum et que l'archevêché fut fondé sur les bases de la Germanie inférieure. On attribue la fondation de ce diocèse à saint Servais qui vécut au. Le siège de ce diocèse était Tongres mais il fut de fait assez rapidement déplacé vers Maastricht avant d'être fixé à Liège au sur les lieux de l'assassinat de saint Lambert. D'autres villes servirent de siège épiscopal temporaire en fonction des nécessités Huy, Dinant, Givet, Mouzon. Le diocèse de Liège est le berceau de la langue wallonne et de l'art mosan.


History.

The original design of memory mapped files came from the TOPS-20 operating system. codice_5 and associated systems calls were designed as part of the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) version of Unix. Their API was already described in the 4.2BSD System Manual, even though it was neither implemented in that release, nor in 4.3BSD. Sun Microsystems had implemented this very API, though, in their SunOS operating system. The BSD developers at U.C. Berkeley requested Sun to donate its implementation, but these talks never led to any transfer of code; 4.3BSD-Reno was shipped instead with an implementation based on the virtual memory system of Mach.

File-backed and anonymous.

"File-backed mapping" maps an area of the process's virtual memory to files; i.e. reading those areas of memory causes the file to be read. It is the default mapping type.  "Anonymous mapping" maps an area of the process's virtual memory not backed by any file. The contents are initialized to zero. In this respect an anonymous mapping is similar to codice_7, and is used in some codice_8 implementations for certain allocations. However, anonymous mappings are not part of the POSIX standard, though implemented by almost all operating systems by the codice_9 and codice_10 flags.

Memory visibility.

If the mapping is "shared" (the codice_11 flag is set), then it is preserved across a fork(2) system call. This means that writes to a mapped area in one process are immediately visible in all related (parent, child or sibling) processes. If the mapping is "shared" and backed by a file (not codice_9) the underlying file media is only guaranteed to be written after it is msync(2)'ed.  If the mapping is "private" (the codice_13 flag is set), the changes will neither be seen by other processes nor written to the file.  A process reading from or writing to the underlying file will not always see the same data as a process that has mapped the file, since the segment of the file is copied into RAM and periodically flushed to disk. Synchronization can be forced with the codice_14 system call.  mmap(2)ing files can significantly reduce memory overhead for applications accessing the same file; they can share the memory area the file encompasses, instead of loading the file for each application that wants access to it. This means that mmap(2) is sometimes used for Interprocess Communication (IPC). On modern operating systems, mmap(2) is typically preferred to the System V IPC Shared Memory facility.  The main difference between System V shared memory (shmem) and memory mapped I/O (mmap) is that SystemV shared memory is persistent: unless explicitly removed by a process, it is kept in memory and remains available until the system is shut down. mmap'd memory is not persistent between application executions (unless it is backed by a file).

Example of usage under the C programming language.

/* Does not work on OS X, as you can't mmap over /dev/zero */ int main(void)  sample output:

In computing, codice_1 is a POSIX-compliant Unix system call that maps files or devices into memory. It is a method of memory-mapped file I/O. It implements demand paging, because file contents are not read from disk directly and initially do not use physical RAM at all. The actual reads from disk are performed in a "lazy" manner, after a specific location is accessed. After the memory is no longer needed, it is important to codice_2 the pointers to it. Protection information can be managed using codice_3, and special treatment can be enforced using codice_4.

mmap (« "" ») est un appel système UNIX (norme POSIX). Il établit une projection en mémoire des fichiers ou périphériques.


History.

The keel of "Allure of the Seas" was laid on 2 December 2008 at the STX Europe Turku shipyard, Finland, during a ceremony involving Royal Caribbean and STX representatives. She was launched on 20 November 2009, with further outfitting taking place while afloat in the shipyard. "Allure of the Seas" was declared complete and formally delivered to Royal Caribbean on 28 October 2010. She left the Turku shipyard on 29 October 2010 at 05:45 UTC, heading directly to her home port of Port Everglades, near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The ship is equipped with telescoping funnels to pass under bridges such as the Storebælt Bridge, which she passed on 30 October 2010. While media has reported that there was only of clearance, the truth is that at the mean water level it was closer to and the much-advertised squat effect, whereby vessels traveling at speed in a shallow channel will be drawn deeper into the water, did not have significant effect on the draft of the vessel.  On 11 November 2010 at approximately 14:30 UTC, "Allure of the Seas" arrived at her home port of Port Everglades, Florida. She was greeted by thousands of spectators waiting on the shore.  The ship was formally named by her godmother, the fictional character Princess Fiona, in a ceremony on 28 November 2010.  In February 2014, "Allure of the Seas" entered dry dock at Grand Bahama island for seven days to replace a damaged gearbox in one of her Azipods. As the dry dock facility was not large enough to fully accommodate an "Oasis"-class ship, a unique solution had to be devised to allow the replacement, known as "Project Atlantis". During her time in dry dock, the crew used the downtime to make numerous repairs and refurbishments to the guest facilities, including the installation of new carpets.  "Allure of the Seas" sailed year-round in the Caribbean region out of Port Everglades from its homeporting in 2010 through 2014. She changed port to Barcelona and sailed the Mediterranean between May and October 2015, becoming the largest cruise ship and the first "Oasis"-class ship to spend a full season in that region. Afterward, she returned to Port Everglades.  "Allure of the Seas" changed its home port in November 2018 to the Port of Miami, where Royal Caribbean constructed a new cruise terminal. She was joined by the fourth "Oasis"-class vessel, "Symphony of the Seas", and both sail year-round from the port offering seven-night Western and Eastern Caribbean cruises.  In March 2019, "Allure of the Seas" was named second for "Best Cruises Overall" in the 2019 Cruise Critic Cruisers' Choice Awards.  In early May 2019, the itinerary for some of the ship's sailings had to be adjusted due to a technical issue with one of the ship's propulsion pods, causing it to have to sail at a reduced speed.  "Allure of the Seas" is expected to be refitted in early 2020 which will include the addition of approximately 50 more passenger cabins.

Technical details.

The classified length of "Allure of the Seas" is the same as that of her sister,, though she is reported to be longer than "Oasis of the Seas". According to the shipyard, this is not intentional and such small differences in length may occur simply due to the temperature of the steel in a ship as big as this. The gross tonnage of "Allure of the Seas" is 225,282 and her displacement is equal to that of "Oasis of the Seas", which is estimated to be around 100,000 metric tons, slightly less than that of an American. Her steel hull alone weighs roughly 54,000 tons.  The ship features a two-deck dance hall, a theatre with 1,380 seats, an ice skating rink, 7 distinct "neighborhoods", and 25 dining options, including a Starbucks coffee shop at sea. Many of the ship's interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.  Before beginning service from Port Everglades, "Allure of the Seas" was fitted with an 80 kW solar array by BAM Energy Group which powers the shopping district. The system cost and covers an area of. It uses Uni-Solar BIPV laminates designed to withstand foot traffic and marine conditions.

Allure of the Seas is an owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International., the "Oasis" class ships were the largest passenger vessels ever in service, and "Allure" is longer than her sister ship "Oasis of the Seas", though both were built to the same specifications. Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard, Turku, Finland, in February 2008. She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister. The keel of "Allure of the Seas" was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.

L’ est un navire de croisière, le plus grand paquebot du monde jusqu'en 2016. Il appartient à la Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.


South African Police Service Special Task Force

History.

In 1967, about 2,000 members of the South African Police were deployed to guard the northern border of Rhodesia (modern day Zimbabwe) to assist Rhodesian security forces in maintaining law and order in the country as guerrilla attacks became more frequent during the Rhodesian Bush War. These police members proved to be ill-equipped and ineffective at dealing with guerrilla warfare and terrorism. As a result of these events the Security Branch of the Police began to envision a special police unit to deal with high-risk situations such as hostage situations. Captain J.J. de Swardt of the Security Branch of the Police as well as Sergeant Roelf de Plooy (a counter insurgency (COIN) instructor), both veterans of the deployments in Rhodesia against Zimbabwe African National Union rebels, began a grass roots attempt to form a group of police representatives with a shared vision of formalising a police-based special forces unit. They began to train candidate police officers in survival and bush skills to execute high-risk COIN operations and drastically reduce friendly fatalities.  The members of this ragtag group were required to join the South African Police shooting club in order to acquire R1 battle rifles. Camouflage uniforms were also unofficially acquired. Because this group, who had taken on the name of 'Bliksems', was an unofficial group within the Police Force, the normal training facilities were not accessible. A vacant area near the Baviaanspoort Correctional Services that could be used for live-fire handgun and rifle training, and which also had an urban environment with rural terrain, was eventually found by Col. van der Merwe. Capt. J.J. de Swardt then proceeded to hire instructors from Hunter Group of the South African Defence Force (SADF) such as martial arts specialist, Joe Grant Grierson. Training was based around weapons handling, rural patrol formations and tactics, ambushes and skirmishes and was based on military protocol. Rock climbing, rope access, rescue work, skydiving and parachute training also occurred later on. Other instructors of the team were Bill du Toit (an ex-special forces soldier) who specialised in terror tactics, Mr K. Lucy who was an expert in rope work and abseiling, Mr T. Segala who had an extensive knowledge of booby traps and Improvised explosive devices, Gary Magnusson and Hannes Smit who were experienced civilian skydivers and Major Jakkals de Jager who was a paratrooper in the SADF.  In 1973 during the South African Games, the Israeli government stated that it would send their team but only on the sole condition that their security would be guaranteed. Gen. Mike Geldenhuys, who was the head of the South African Police Security Branch at the time, arranged for Capt. de Swardt and his 'Bliksems' to provide security for the foreign team. For this, the South African Police received much praise and attention from the international press as well as a commendation from the South African Secretary for Foreign Affairs which solidified the idea of a police special forces unit. On 28 April 1975, however, a hostage siege occurred at the Israeli embassy and the Police (lacking an official counter terrorist force) could not resolve the situation. This became known as the Fox Street Siege. In 1975 the counter insurgency conflict in South-West Africa (now named Namibia) also broke out and police and military manpower was now stretched between two COIN campaigns. The South African Police was forced to withdraw from the South-West African border as well as from Rhodesia and earned the Battle Honour Rhodesia.  In 1975 the Bureau of State Security supported the creation of the unit and on 6 June 1975, Brigadier Vic Verster wrote an official recommendation from the South African Police Security Branch to the Commissioner of the South African Police and proposed the structure, command and control plans for the Special Task Force. Then finally on 1 February 1976 Lt. Gen. Mike Geldenhuys officially authorised the creation of the Special Task Force. Col. Dries Verwey was appointed as the first commanding officer (CO) of the Special Task Force and Capt. J.J. de Swardt and the core group of the 'Bliksems' were transferred to the Special Task Force as instructors. During the first phase of selection the unit received 113 applications, yet only 38 were accepted including 4 reserve members including one medic.  After Gen. Mike Geldenhuys was appointed as the Commissioner of the South African Police in 1978, he transferred command and control of the Special Task Force from the Security Branch of the SAP over to Counter Insurgency (COIN) under the command of Major General Vic Verster. The divisional commander was Colonel Bert Wandrag with operational command under Major JJ de Swardt.

Functions.

Source:

Equipment.

The Special Task Force uses a wide variety of arms and assorted equipment: Pistols  Sub-Machine Guns  Assault rifles  Sniper rifles  Shotguns  Machine guns  Grenade launcher  Grenades Other equipment  Vehicles  Aircraft

Major operations.

25 January 1980: On 25 January 1980 three MK Cadres – Stephen Mafoko, Humphrey Makhubo and Wilfred Madela – were allegedly on their way to carry out a planned MK sabotage mission on petrol depots at Watloo near Mamelodi. En route, ‘the Trio’ realised they were being tailed by the police. In an attempt to escape, they took refuge in a branch of Volkskas Bank in Silverton, Pretoria. They held 25 civilians in the bank hostage, making a number of demands, including a meeting with State President Vorster, the release of Nelson Mandela and a man called Mange, as well as R100 000 in cash and an aircraft to fly them to Maputo.  After a series of negotiations, which included the police handing over food to the cadres and hostages, in the ensuing release operation, Special Task Force members killed all three cadres. Two civilians, Valerie Anderson and Anna de Klerk, were killed and many others were wounded in the shootout.  25–30 January 1981: Laingsburg flood disaster. The Special Task Force lead the search and rescue operations. Forty-seven bodies were recovered in five days. The Special Task Force also rendered disaster relief assistance to the local population.  30 July 1988: Hostage situation, Goedemoed Prison. Using sharpened objects, 22 prisoners attacked the prison warders at Goedemoed Prison in the southern Free State. One of the warders failed to escape and was taken hostage in a cell. The hostage was stabbed twice in the neck while one of the warders was trying to negotiate with the prisoners. The SAPS Special Task Force was called in to assist in the matter. Nine members of the Special Task Force were flown to Goedemoed Prison. The Special Task Force freed the hostage with the assistance of the negotiator (warder) and the Reaction Unit of Bloemfontein. The two prisoners who held the warder hostage, were wounded, one of them fatally.  14 September 1988: The Bus Capture at Lesotho. The Pope visited Maseru on the above date. Four members of the Lesotho Freedom Alliance hijacked a bus transporting 74 passengers at the British Embassy. The SAPS Special Task Force was called in to assist in the matter. When negotiations failed, the terrorists began shooting at the bystanders in the British Consulate. They then attempted to use the bus to ram through the embassy gates. The Special Task Force stormed the bus, killing three terrorists and capturing one. They disarmed an improvised booby trap (explosive device). 17 hostages who were injured by hostile gunfire were stabilised by Special Task Force medics.  13 December 1989: Body recovery at Selby Mine, Johannesburg. Two members of the Special Task Force assisted the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit in recovering a corpse from the Selby mineshaft, Johannesburg. The corpse was found at a depth of 141 meters. Obstructions, bad construction and the threat of toxic gases created additional hazards. Two members of the Special Task Force were individually lowered into the shaft, but were forced to return to the surface owing to respiratory difficulties. One member was given oxygen apparatus and lowered down the shaft again. After securing the corpse to a rope, he was hoisted to the surface. Both members were awarded the South African Police Cross for Bravery for their unselfish deed.  11 January 1993: Hostage situation in Walmer, Port Elizabeth. An ex-defence force member took a woman hostage and held her at gunpoint. As negotiations failed, the Special Task Force entered the building and incapacitated the captor with 2 shots. The hostage was not hurt.  4 July 1993: Hijacked Fokker F-28 at Jan Smuts International Airport. A Fokker F-28 airliner of Royal Swazi Airlines with 21 passengers on board was hijacked and diverted to Jan Smuts Airport, near Johannesburg. The SAPS Special Task Force was summoned to the scene and 22 members were dispatched to the airport to contain the situation and release the hostages. After being informed by the psychologist on the scene that the hijacker was emotionally unstable and irrational and a threat to the hostages, the Special Task Force was given the command to recapture the aircraft and to release the hostages. The hijacker was wounded in the head during the storming of the aircraft. A hostage was wounded in the shoulder and the pilot in the leg. No casualties were sustained by members of the Special Task Force.  10 July 1994: Arrest of Weapon Smugglers at Nduma. Weapons are regularly smuggled from Mozambique to South Africa via the Kruger National Park which borders on Mozambique. The Organized Crime Unit and Firearm Tracing Unit requested the Special Task Force to be of assistance by way of observation duties of specified areas which had been identified by informers as areas which the smugglers readily use. Ten members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the Nduma area in the Kruger National Park where they established observation posts. The operation was successful and three (3) Mozambicans were traced and arrested. The members seized 30 AK-47 rifles and three SAM-7 ground-to-air missiles.  27 October 1994: Hostage Situation and Attempted Suicide at Telkom Offices, Pretoria. A man armed with a firearm and was upset about the non-payment of his salary, entered the Telkom Distribution offices where he worked and took a number of people hostage. The hostage negotiators and 21 members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the scene. After prolonged negotiations, all the hostages were released but the man refused to surrender and threatened to take his own life. The Special Task Force were still in position and ready to take action while the negotiations with the man continued. While the negotiations were taking place, the man decided, without warning, to move to another office. The man was overwhelmed in the passage after his attention had been drawn by a stun grenade and he was disarmed. Neither the man or the people who disarmed him were injured in the incident.  15 June 1994: Rescue Operation SALU Building, Pretoria. 28 members of the Special Task Force raced to the city center to assist with a rescue operation. A building with a number of floors was on fire and personnel working in the building above the floors which were on fire, were trapped. Members of the Special Task Force, SAPS Air Wing and SA Air Force using helicopters rescued people from the top of the building. Other members used roping equipment to evacuate the trapped people to safety. Only a small number of people were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation.  1 March 1995: Hostage Situation Bella Vista, Johannesburg. A man took his fiancee and her little daughter hostage after a family dispute. The hostage negotiators and six members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the scene. During negotiations, the man continually held a knife against the throat of his fiancee and also sodomised her in the presence of her daughter. The child was also ill-treated by the man while his fiancee had to watch. A tactical release of the hostages was the only way out. One member of the Special Task Force was employed as a sniper and during the tactical release of the hostages, the man was fatally wounded. A firearm was found in the room where the man had held the woman and child hostage.  27 November 1995: Kidnapping and Hostage Situation, Vereeniging. The Intelligence Service and CID of Secunda and Vereeniging requested the assistance of the Special Task Force in an operation to locate the whereabouts of a man who had been kidnapped and was being held hostage. Information at hand was that the man had been kidnapped by 3 men and was being held hostage in a Daleside, Vereenigng house. Nine members of the Special Task Force were made available for the operation and the kidnapped man was released uninjured during a tactical release. All three men were arrested without a single shot being fired. Five firearms which had been used by the hostage takers were seized.  6 August 1995: Hostage Situation Hollywood Café, Sunnyside. A man fleeing from the SAPS on 6 August 1995, took a woman hostage in the Hollywood Café, Esselen Street, Sunnyside. The Special Task Force was summoned to the scene by Radio Control, after which the hostage taker was arrested and the hostage tactically released. The man was found guilty of armed robbery, kidnapping, pointing of a firearm and possession of an unlicensed firearm.  24 to 25 February 1995: Hostage Situation, St Albans Prison – Port Elizabeth. Twenty-two members of the Special Task Force were summoned to St Albans Prison, Port Elizabeth where approximately 105 prisoners had taken a prison warder hostage. During the night of 24–25 February 1995, after prolonged negotiations the prison warder was released after a tactical release lasting 20 seconds. One hostage taker was fatally wounded. One injured and the other prisoners were arrested. The hostage was released without injuries. Two firearms and a M26 hand grenade were seized after the operation.  12 August 1996: Hostage Situation 34 Baccus Street, Irene. On 12 August 1996 a man took a year old baby hostage at 34 Baccus Street, Irene. The Special Task Force deployed 21 members to the scene. During negotiations, snipers were deployed in the vicinity. The snipers observed that the man held the baby in front of him with a knife to its throat all the time. The hostage taker only moved a curtain occasionally to see what was going on outside, but never let go of the baby. Negotiations which had lasted a long time did not succeed and it was decided on a tactical release of the baby by members of the Special Task Force. During the tactical release, both snipers fired simultaneously, fatally wounding the hostage taker. The baby was safely released without any injuries.  22 May 1997: Hostage Situation Nando's, Johannesburg. Three robbers trying to rob Nando's on the corner of Cromhout and Kimberley Streets, Johannesburg were cornered by members of the SAPS Johannesburg after being alerted by members of the public. The robbers took the employees of Nando's hostage. A gun-battle between the robbers and the SAPS took place during which two members of the SAPS were wounded. 19 members of the Special Task Force were deployed. During the release of the hostages, the three robbers were wounded and arrested. No members of the public were injured. 25 June 2006: The Jeppestown Massacre, Jeppestown, central Johannesburg. After a robbery, 23 robbers were followed by a police helicopter to a safe house. Four SAPS members were murdered and eight robbers were killed in the siege before the remaining 15 gang members surrendered. Members of the Special Task Force were deployed to assist the SAPS in ending the siege.  15 December 2009: Special Task Force snipers ended a 20-hour-long hostage situation at a farm outside Petrusburg in the Free State when two armed attackers took a farmer hostage when he and his son-in-law confronted them, after they had robbed another farmer. Thereafter the attackers hijacked the farmers' vehicle. His son-in-law managed to escape by diving out of the moving vehicle. Police chased after the vehicle at about 14:00, but the hijackers refused to hand themselves over and negotiations were carried out by the police hostage negotiator at about 16:00. The Special Task Force arrived on the scene between 17:00 and 18:00. At about 7:00 Special Task Force snipers shot and killed both attackers. The hostage only had minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.  10 August – 20 September 2012: Marikana Miners Strike, Rustenburg. Members of the Special Task Force were deployed to the Lonmin owned mine in the Marikana area after two police officials, two security guards and four miners were murdered by striking miners between 12 and 14 August. On 16 August, after storming police forces with traditional weapons and small arms, 34 miners were shot dead by SAPS members and another 78 miners were injured. This became known as the Marikana Massacre.  24 November 2012: Protea Coin cash compound, Robertsville, western Johannesburg. At around 17:00, the Special Task Force confronted a group of 20 heavily armed cash-in-transit robbers in a foiled robbery. After the robbers were cornered and opened fire on the members of the Task Force, they returned fire killing seven and wounding nine of the robbers. None of the Task Force members were injured in the shootout.  In December 2013: The Special Task Force was deployed to provide additional security when about 91 heads of state and leaders attended the state memorial service of Nelson Mandela and his funeral after he died on 5 December 2013.  10 December 2016: Eight suspected ATM bombers were killed in a shoot-out when Special Task Force officers intercepted them as they were travelling to Howick. No Special Task Force members were injured.

Recruitment and training.

Prospective members have to be at least 21 years old and must have served at least two years in the South African Police Service. The volunteer must also show certain traits such as:  Applicants for a career in the Special Task Force must be:  All Task Force applicants are volunteers and have to comply with stringent physical requirements before being admitted to the basic training and selection course. The basic training course is twenty-six weeks long and includes weapons, rural and urban combat as well as basic parachute training courses. Compulsory advanced courses include special skills such as diving, VIP protection, explosives and medical training. The initial training period is nine months, but completing all the requisite advanced courses to become a full-fledged Special Task Force operational member may last up to three years.  Highlighting the stringent selection process during the Special Task Force Training Course in 2005 a total of 453 applications were received. When pre-selection was done, only 108 of the 453 candidates measured up to pre-selection requirements. Of the 108 who made it through pre-selection, only 42 completed the Preparation and Condition (PREPCON) phase, and only 20 candidates managed to complete the Vasbyt phase. The recruits who didn't pass the PREPCON phase admitted that their failure to do so was due to insufficient preparation for the course because they had thought that STF’s standards have been lowered. Members of the unit have visited foreign units of a similar role on several occasions, to ensure that the structure and procedures of the unit is in line with international training courses, and to keep up with changes in training and other specialized fields.  According to the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), the recipients of the "National Diploma: South African Special Forces Operations" qualification (Qualification ID: 48879) will be able to:  Although membership of the Special Task Force is open to both male and female SAPS members, female operatives undergo a separate selection course.

Current.

In 2004 it was reported that the SAPS Special Task Force may have lost nearly 60 percent (130 operators) of its active members (230 operators) to private companies recruiting security personnel to work in Iraq and other conflict countries due to the demand for their skills.  As of 2004, with the implementation of affirmative action policy and a special course for females, the Special Task Force welcomed their first female operators in its ranks.  In 2010 top officers of the unit were sent to the United States to brush up on their crisis response skills.

The Special Task Force (STF) is the elite police tactical unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS). The Special Task Force handles high risk operations that fall beyond the scope of classic policing which require specialised skills.

La (S.T.F.) est une unité sud africaine de contre-terrorisme et de libération d'otages, créée en 1976. Elle dépend de la Police sud-africaine (, S.A.P.S.).


Taxonomy and phylogeny.

This species belongs to the family Megachilidae and the order Hymenoptera, which consists of organisms such as ants, bees and wasps, and the superfamily Apoidea, which is more specific to bees and wasps.

Description and identification.

"Anthidium manicatum" is originally an Old World bee. It has a wingspan of approximately, with a body length of about for females, and for males. The males are substantially larger than females.  "A. manicatum" are black and covered with yellow-grey hairs. Their faces and abdomen are covered in yellow spots. Male "A. manicatum" have a black head and thorax, coated with short yellowish brown hairs. The cheeks below the antennae, a small spot behind each eye, a bilobate spot on the clypeus, and the mandibles (except the apex) are yellow. The wings are dusky in color. The abdomen is black with grey hairs, with a band of brown hairs at each segment's apex as well as along their lateral margins. This feature distinguishes male "A. manicatum" from New World "Anthidium" species. There is a yellow spot on each side of the segments except the 7th. A second pair of spots is often seen on the disks of the 4th and 5th segments. There is a spine on each side of the 6th and 7th segments at the apex, the 7th having a third thin spine in the middle. The legs exhibit variegation of yellow and are covered with grey hairs. Female "A. manicatum" are smaller in size than the males, but have a similar color pattern. The abdominal spots are smaller and the apex is rounded. Female legs are almost completely black, with very small yellow spots. The anterior sides of the tarsal segments of each leg of female "A. manicatum" have fine, soft and small white-colored hairs. This pilosity occurs in most species of "Anthidium" in the Western Palearctic region.  Male "A. manicatum" resemble "A. maculosum" in appearance. The two species have similar spiniform pygidia, as well as largely rounded sixth sterna (although that of "A. manicatum" is more so).

Distribution and habitat.

"Anthidium manicatum" is found in parts of Europe, Asia, North Africa, and North America. It has also recently been documented in the Canary Islands, and South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. As of 2006, this species is also now established in New Zealand.  This insect was accidentally introduced into the United States from Europe sometime prior to 1963, when it was discovered in New York State. It has since spread from the northeastern U.S. and southeastern Canada across the United States to California, where it was first collected in 2007. This species' tendency to occupy ready-made nesting sites, usually movable objects, allows it to spread to new locations easily.  In Europe, this species is normally found in gardens, fields, and meadows in the southern part of Wales and England, but is localized in other places within the United Kingdom, where they can be seen from May to September. "A. manicatum" is the only species of the genus "Anthidium" that can be found in England.

Nesting.

Being a member of the Anthidiini tribe of megachilid bees, "A. manicatum" engages in highly elaborate nesting behavior. These bees construct their nests in preexisting cavities, using the trichomes of wooly plants. Female "A. manicatum" use their mandibles, which are sharply toothed, to remove trichomes from the stems and leaves of various plants. They then roll up the trichomes into a ball and bring them to a preexisting cavity. Inside the cavity, the bees fashion the trichome ball into cells, where they deposit an egg as well as a provisioning mass consisting of nectar and pollen. The female creates several cells in a cavity. Once finished, she seals the entrance to the cavity with a terminal plug, which consists of inorganic and organic materials that she brings to the nest.  Females collect "down" from such plants as lamb's ears ("Stachys byzantina"). They scrape the hairs from the leaves and carry them back to their nests bundled beneath their bodies. There it is used as a lining for their nest cavities.  Females tend to build their nests at high locations. This may be in order to minimize the nest's exposure to parasites and predators. This may also be to avoid nest usurpation by other female "A. manicatum".

Materials.

Besides trichomes, other materials used by female "A. manicatum" for building brood cells include mud, stones, resin, and leaves. Some of the plant materials that are collected are hydrophobic, a feature that may serve an anti-microbial function for the nest. Females smear a plant substrate, plant extrafloral trichome secretions, on brood cells. The primary material used to build the cells are plant hairs, or "wool" (hence the name "wool carder bee"), that is collected from the stems and leaves of plants. Females largely use the hairs of "Lamiaceae", especially those of the genus "Betonica" or "Stachys". Additionally, females use specialized hair-like structures on the exterior of their tarsi to absorb the secretions of the plant hairs to apply onto the brood cells. These secretions are obtained from different species, such as "Anthirrinum", "Crepis", and "Pelargonium".

Behavior.

Mating behavior.

The mating system of "A. manicatum" is unlike those of most other bees. Females exhibit polyandry and continuously mate throughout their reproductive life. The interval of time between copulations amongst different males can be as short as 35 seconds in length. Males exhibit resource defense polygyny. "A. manicatum" display extreme polyandry, which is linked to male territoriality and resource defence of flowering plants. Males claim patches of floral plants, aggressively ward off conspecific males, bees, and other resource competitors, and mate with the females who forage in their territories. Copulations occur repeatedly and regularly in both sexes. Males that are unable to defend their own territory (usually because of their relatively small size) utilize an alternative ‘sneaking’ tactic. These unfit males receive fewer copulation opportunities than females.  Such mating and territorial behaviour in bees has also been observed in "Anthidiellum notatum", "Anthidiellum perplexum", and "Anthidium banningense". However, males of the genus "Anthidiellum" chase away intruders rather than physically attacking them, so their aggressive behaviour differs significantly.

Resource defence and aggression.

The territorial mating behaviour of male "A. manicatum" occurs when foraging resources are amassed, allowing for monopolization and defence of territories by individual males. Resource defence, as exhibited by male "A. manicatum", has been thought to benefit females by reducing foraging competition for pollen and nectar. The rate a female visits a territory is highly correlated with the number of flowers in that area. If females forage in sites that are being defended by males and the cost of additional matings is low for female members, then male resource defence and female polyandry may co-evolve.  Male "A. manicatum" display highly aggressive behaviour. Males are highly aggressive towards each other as well as other visitors to the flowers in its territory. In the process of obtaining and defending flowering plant territories, males will regularly patrol their territory and attack conspecific males and heterospecific pollinators. This typically consists of brief aggressive "tackles" but they will sometimes lethally injure the pollinators as a result of their aggressiveness. The territorial behaviour of males develops after a period of flight without any localisation in search of a suitable flower patch. They will also defend conspecific females, although they do harass them by holding them immobile and repeatedly attempting to mate.

Late male sperm precedence.

Studies show that there appears to be no selection pressure on male "A. manicatum" to be the first to copulate, and hence no (or very little) selection pressure to emerge before females. This is due to the females' polyandrous behaviour, and can also be attributed to a phenomenon called "'Late' male sperm precedence".  Patterns of sperm use by the females determine the benefits of resource defence for males. If the female uses only the sperm from her first copulation in a breeding season, then selection will not favor the ‘sit-and-wait’ strategy of resource defence for the males over strategies that are pre-emptive, such as patrolling nest sites. However, if delayed mating can still ensure a high probability of procreating, then the resource defence strategy will be favoured.  ‘Late male sperm precedence’, or LMSP, is an experimental situation in which two males mate in sequence with a female and the second male will hold paternity of over 50% of the female's offspring. Although females do have a spermatheca for long-term sperm storage, more recent mates tend to father the brood she produces. This phenomenon might be caused by a variety of mechanisms, including sperm digestion or removal by the female, removal by the next male, or stratification of sperm from different males in the sperm storage organ of the female (i.e. the last sperm in is the first to come out). Studies have shown that "A. manicatum" males that copulate late in a sequence have a greater than average chance of paternity of the female's eggs. Late male sperm precedence may have fostered the evolution of resource defence in "A. manicatum" males.

Diet and foraging behavior.

"Anthidium manicatum" consumes the pollen from flowers of varying families. They are thus considered to be generalists. They visit garden flowers and weeds preferring blue flowers that have long throats with Old World origins. Both males and females can maintain a precise static hover near flowers similar to flies in the family Syrphidae.

Sexual dimorphism.

Unlike most other species of Hymenoptera, male "A. manicatum" are larger than females in size, displays male-biased sexual dimorphism. The selection for larger size in males may have resulted due to their aggressive territorial behavior and subsequent differential mating success. Although it does not tear other males apart, the abdominal armature of a male "A. manicatum" may have been developed due to territorial aggression, rather than for mating purposes. Male size has been found to correlate with mating success. Smaller males will implement alternative mating tactics if they cannot defeat larger males for territory.  The mating behavior of male "A. manicatum" can be determined by relative body size to other conspecific males. Territory owners are larger in size than wanderers, and copulate with females more frequently as well. The number of copulations a male territory owner can achieve varies based on the size of the territory – males with larger territories generally achieve more copulations than those with smaller territories. This difference may be due to the energy expenditure of smaller bees to defend their territory from larger males, the inability of small males to mate on their territory, or female choice of larger males (regardless of territory size). Hence the number of copulations a male obtains is positively correlated with territory quality as well as male size.

Anthidium manicatum, commonly called the European wool carder bee, is a species of bee in the family Megachilidae, the leaf-cutter bees or mason bees.

Anthidium manicatum est une espèce d'hyménoptères de la famille des Megachilidae. Comme d'autres espèces de son genre, on l'appelle abeille cotonnière à cause de son comportement : gratter les poils des feuilles comme celles de la Molène Bouillon-blanc ou de l'Épiaire laineuse qu'elle met en boule et qu'elle transporte sous son corps pour en revêtir son nid. Hors d'Europe, elle est considérée comme espèce invasive.