title: Red yeast rice

text: The lees left over from wine production, known as "hóngzāo" (), can be used as flavoring, imparting a subtle but pleasant taste to food. The lees are particularly commonly used in Fujian cuisine, where they are used for dishes like Fujian red wine chicken, a celebratory dish associated with birthdays and Chinese New Year.


title: Red yeast rice

text: Red yeast rice ("angkak" in Filipino) is also used widely in the Philippines to traditionally color and preserve certain dishes like fermented shrimp ("bagoong alamang"), "burong isda" (fermented rice and fish), and "balao-balao" (fermented rice and shrimp).


title: Red yeast rice

text: In addition to its culinary use, red yeast rice is also used in Chinese herbology and traditional Chinese medicine. Medicinal use of red yeast rice is described in the Chinese pharmacopoeia "Ben Cao Gang Mu" compiled by Li Shizhen ca. 1590. Recommendations were to take it internally to invigorate the body, aid in digestion, and revitalize the blood. One reference provided the Li Shizgen health claims as a quotation "...the effect of promoting the circulation of blood and releasing stasis, invigorating the spleen and eliminating [in]digestion."


title: Red yeast rice

text: In the late 1970s, researchers in the United States and Japan were isolating lovastatin from "Aspergillus" and monacolins from "Monascus", respectively, the latter being the same fungus used to make red yeast rice when cultured under carefully controlled conditions. Chemical analysis soon showed that lovastatin and monacolin K are identical chemical compounds. The two isolations, documentations and patent applications occurred months apart. Lovastatin became the patented, prescription drug Mevacor. Red yeast rice went on to become a non-prescription dietary supplement in the United States and other countries.


title: Red yeast rice

text: Lovastatin and other prescription statin drugs inhibit cholesterol synthesis by blocking action of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. As a consequence, circulating total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol are lowered by 24–49% depending on the statin and dose. Different strains of "Monascus" fungus will produce different amounts of monacolins. The 'Went' strain of "Monascus purpureus" (purpureus = dark red in Latin), when properly fermented and processed, will yield a dried red yeast rice powder that is approximately 0.4% monacolins, of which roughly half will be monacolin K (chemically identical to lovastatin).


title: Red yeast rice

text: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) position is that red yeast rice products that contain monacolin K are identical to a prescription drug and, thus, subject to regulation as a drug. In 1998, the FDA initiated action to ban a product (Cholestin) containing red yeast rice extract. The U.S. District Court in Utah ruled in favor of allowing the product to be sold without restriction. This decision was reversed on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 2001. In 2007, the FDA sent Warning Letters to two dietary supplement companies. One was making a monacolin content claim about its RYR product and the other was not, but the FDA noted that both products contained monacolins. Both products were withdrawn. In a press release the FDA "...is warning consumers to not buy or eat red yeast rice products... may contain an unauthorized drug that could be harmful to health." The rationale for "harmful to health" was that consumers might not understand that the dangers of monacolin-containing red yeast rice are the same as those of prescription statin drugs.


title: Red yeast rice

text: A products analysis report from 2010 tested 12 products commercially available in the U.S. and reported that per 600 mg capsule, total monacolins content ranged from 0.31 to 11.15 mg. A 2017 study tested 28 brands of red yeast rice supplements purchased from U.S. retailers, stating "the quantity of monacolin K varied from none to prescription strength". Many of these avoid FDA regulation by not having any appreciable monacolin content. Their labels and websites say no more than "fermented according to traditional Asian methods" or "similar to that used in culinary applications". The labeling on these products often says nothing about cholesterol lowering. If products do not contain lovastatin, do not claim to contain lovastatin, and do not make a claim to lower cholesterol, they are not subject to FDA action. Two reviews confirm that the monacolin content of red yeast rice dietary supplements can vary over a wide range, with some containing negligible monacolins.


title: Red yeast rice

text: The amount typically used in clinical trials is 1200–2400 mg/day of red yeast rice containing approximately 10 mg total monacolins, of which half are monacolin K. A meta-analysis reported LDL-cholesterol lowered by 1.02 mmol/L (39.4 mg/dL) compared to placebo. The incidence of reported adverse effects ranged from 0% to 5% and was not different from controls. A second meta-analysis incorporating more recent clinical trials also reported significant lowering of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol.


title: Red yeast rice

text: Within the first review, the largest and longest duration trial was conducted in China. Close to 5,000 post-heart attack patients were enrolled for an average of 4.5 years to receive either a placebo or a RYR product named Xuezhikang (血脂康). The test product was an ethanol extract of red yeast rice, with a monacolin K content of 11.6 mg/day. Key results: in the treated group, risk of subsequent heart attacks was reduced by 45%, cardio deaths by 31%, and all-cause deaths by 33%. These heart attack and cardiovascular death outcomes appear to be better than what has been reported for prescription statin drugs. A 2008 review pointed out that the cardioprotective effects of statins in Japanese populations occur at lower doses than are needed in Western populations, and theorized that the low amount of monacolins found in the Xuezhikang product might have been more effectively athero-protective than expected in the Chinese population for the same reason.


title: Red yeast rice

text: The safety of red yeast rice products has not been established. Some commercial supplements have been found to contain high levels of the toxin citrinin. As commercial products will have highly variable amounts of monacolins, and rarely declare this content on the label, defining risk is difficult. Ingredient suppliers have also been suspected of "spiking" red yeast rice preparations with purified lovastatin. As evidence, one published analysis reported several commercial products as being almost entirely monacolin K – which would occur if the drug lovastatin was illegally added – rather than the expected composition of many monacolin compounds.


title: Red yeast rice

text: There are reports in the literature of muscle myopathy and liver damage resulting from red yeast rice usage. From a review: "The potential safety signals of myopathies and liver injury raise the hypothesis that the safety profile of RYR is similar to that of statins. Continuous monitoring of dietary supplements should be promoted to finally characterize their risk profile, thus supporting regulatory bodies for appropriate actions." The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food concluded that when red yeast rice preparations contained monacolins, the Panel was unable to identify an intake that it could consider as safe. The reason given was case study reports of severe adverse reactions to products containing monacolins at amounts as low as 3 mg/day. Red yeast rice is not recommended during pregnancy or breast-feeding.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a means of transportation. Variants of cross-country skiing are adapted to a range of terrain which spans unimproved, sometimes mountainous terrain to groomed courses that are specifically designed for the sport.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Modern cross-country skiing is similar to the original form of skiing, from which all skiing disciplines evolved, including alpine skiing, ski jumping and Telemark skiing. Skiers propel themselves either by striding forward (classic style) or side-to-side in a skating motion (skate skiing), aided by arms pushing on ski poles against the snow. It is practised in regions with snow-covered landscapes, including Europe, Canada, Russia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Competitive cross-country skiing is one of the Nordic skiing sports. Cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship are the two components of biathlon. Ski orienteering is a form of cross-country skiing, which includes map navigation along snow trails and tracks.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: The word ski comes from the Old Norse word which means stick of wood. Skiing started as a technique for traveling cross-country over snow on skis, starting almost five millennia ago with beginnings in Scandinavia. It may have been practised as early as 600 BCE in Daxing'anling, in what is now China. Early historical evidence includes Procopius's (around CE 550) description of Sami people as "skrithiphinoi" translated as "ski running samis". Birkely argues that the Sami people have practiced skiing for more than 6000 years, evidenced by the very old Sami word "čuoigat" for skiing. Egil Skallagrimsson's 950 CE saga describes King Haakon the Good's practice of sending his tax collectors out on skis. The Gulating law (1274) stated that "No moose shall be disturbed by skiers on private land." Cross-country skiing evolved from a utilitarian means of transportation to being a worldwide recreational activity and sport, which branched out into other forms of skiing starting in the mid-1800s.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Early skiers used one long pole or spear in addition to the skis. The first depiction of a skier with two ski poles dates to 1741. Traditional skis, used for snow travel in Norway and elsewhere into the 1800s, often comprised one short ski with a natural fur traction surface, the "andor", and one long for gliding, the "langski"—one being up to longer than the other—allowing skiers to propel themselves with a scooter motion. This combination has a long history among the Sami people. Skis up to 280 cm have been produced in Finland, and the longest recorded ski in Norway is 373 cm.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Ski warfare, the use of ski-equipped troops in war, is first recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in the 13th century. These troops were reportedly able to cover distances comparable to that of light cavalry. The garrison in Trondheim used skis at least from 1675, and the Danish-Norwegian army included specialized skiing battalions from 1747—details of military ski exercises from 1767 are on record. Skis were used in military exercises in 1747. In 1799 French traveller Jacques de la Tocnaye recorded his visit to Norway in his travel diary: Norwegian immigrants used skis ("Norwegian snowshoes") in the US midwest from around 1836. Norwegian immigrant "Snowshoe Thompson" transported mail by skiing across the Sierra Nevada between California and Nevada from 1856. In 1888 Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his team crossed the Greenland icecap on skis. Norwegian workers on the Buenos Aires - Valparaiso railway line introduced skiing in South America around 1890. In 1910 Roald Amundsen used skis on his South Pole Expedition. In 1902 the Norwegian consul in Kobe imported ski equipment and introduced skiing to the Japanese, motivated by the death of Japanese soldiers during a snow storm. Starting in 1919, Vladimir Lenin helped popularize the activity in the Soviet Union.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided in four classes: shooting at a target while skiing at "top speed", downhill racing among trees, downhill racing on large slopes without falling, and "long racing" on "flat ground". An early record of a public ski competition occurred in Tromsø, 1843. In Norwegian, refers to "competitive skiing where the goal is to complete a specific distance in groomed tracks in the shortest possible time". In Norway, "ski touring competitions" () are long-distance cross-country competitions open to the public, competition is usually within age intervals.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: A new technique, skate skiing, was experimented with early in the 20th Century, but was not widely adopted until the 1980s. Johan Grøttumsbråten used the skating technique at the 1931 World Championship in Oberhof, one of the earliest recorded use of skating in competitive cross-country skiing. This technique was later used in ski orienteering in the 1960s on roads and other firm surfaces. It became widespread during the 1980s after the success of Bill Koch (United States) in 1982 Cross-country Skiing Championships drew more attention to the skating style. Norwegian skier Ove Aunli started using the technique in 1984, when he found it to be much faster than classic style. Finnish skier, Pauli Siitonen, developed a one-sided variant of the style in the 1970s, leaving one ski in the track while skating to the side with the other one during endurance events; this became known as the "marathon skate".


title: Cross-country skiing

text: The word "ski" comes from the Old Norse word which means "cleft wood", "stick of wood" or "ski". Norwegian language does not use a verb-form equivalent in idiomatic speech, unlike English "to ski". In modern Norwegian, a variety of terms refer to cross-country skiing, including:


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Fridtjov Nansen, describes the crossing of Greenland as , literally "On skis across Greenland", while the English edition of the report was titled, "The first crossing of Greenland". Nansen referred to the activity of traversing snow on skis as (he used the term also in the English translation), which may be translated as "ski running". Nansen used , regarding all forms of skiing, but noted that ski jumping is purely a competitive sport and not for amateurs. He further noted that in some competitions the skier "is also required to show his skill in turning his ski to one side or the other within given marks" at full speed on a steep hill. Nansen regarded these forms (i.e., jumping and slalom) as "special arts", and believed that the most important branch of skiing was travel "in an ordinary way across the country". In Germany, Nansen's Greenland report was published as (literally "On snowshoes through Greenland"). The German term, , was supplanted by the borrowed Norwegian word, , in the late 19th century. The Norwegian encyclopedia of sports also uses the term, , (literally "ski running") for all forms of skiing. Around 1900 the word was used in German in the same sense as .


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Recreational cross-country skiing includes ski touring and groomed-trail skiing, typically at resorts or in parklands. It is an accessible form of recreation for persons with vision and mobility impairments. A related form of recreation is dog skijoring—a winter sport where a cross-country skier is assisted by one or more dogs.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Ski touring takes place off-piste and outside of ski resorts. Tours may extend over multiple days. Typically, skis, bindings, and boots allow for free movement of the heel to enable a walking pace, as with Nordic disciplines and unlike Alpine skiing. Ski touring's subgenre ski mountaineering involves independently navigating and route finding through potential avalanche terrain and often requires familiarity with meteorology along with skiing skills. Ski touring can be faster and easier than summer hiking in some terrain, allowing for traverses and ascents that would be harder in the summer. Skis can also be used to access backcountry alpine climbing routes when snow is off the technical route, but still covers the hiking trail. In some countries, organizations maintain a network of huts for use by cross-country skiers in wintertime. For example, the Norwegian Trekking Association maintains over 400 huts stretching across thousands of kilometres of trails which hikers can use in the summer and skiers in the winter.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Groomed trail skiing occurs at facilities such as Nordmarka (Oslo), Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort and Gatineau Park in Quebec, where trails are laid out and groomed for both classic and skate-skiing. Such grooming and track setting (for classic technique) requires specialized equipment and techniques that adapt to the condition of the snow. Trail preparation employs snow machines which tow snow-compaction, texturing and track-setting devices. Groomers must adapt such equipment to the condition of the snow—crystal structure, temperature, degree of compaction, moisture content, etc. Depending on the initial condition of the snow, grooming may achieve an increase in density for new-fallen snow or a decrease in density for icy or compacted snow. Cross-country ski facilities may incorporate a course design that meets homologation standards for such organizations as the International Olympic Committee, the International Ski Federation, or national standards. Standards address course distances, degree of difficulty with maximums in elevation difference and steepness—both up and downhill, plus other factors.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Some facilities have night-time lighting on select trails—called "lysløype" (light trails) in Norwegian and "elljusspår" (electric-light trails) in Swedish. The first "lysløype" opened in 1946 in Nordmarka and at Byåsen (Trondheim).


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Cross-country ski competition encompasses a variety of formats for races over courses of varying lengths according to rules sanctioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS) and by national organizations, such as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and Cross Country Ski Canada. It also encompasses cross-country ski marathon events, sanctioned by the Worldloppet Ski Federation, cross-country ski orienteering events, sanctioned by the International Orienteering Federation, and Paralympic cross-country skiing, sanctioned by the International Paralympic Committee.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. From 1924 to 1939, the World Championships were held every year, including the Winter Olympic Games. After World War II, the World Championships were held every four years from 1950 to 1982. Since 1985, the World Championships have been held in odd-numbered years. Notable cross-country ski competitions include the Winter Olympics, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and the FIS World Cup events (including the Holmenkollen).


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Cross-country ski marathons—races with distances greater than 40 kilometers—have two cup series, the Ski Classics, which started in 2011, and the Worldloppet. Skiers race in classic or free-style (skating) events, depending on the rules of the race. Notable ski marathons, include the "Vasaloppet" in Sweden, "Birkebeineren" in Norway, the Engadin Skimarathon in Switzerland, the American Birkebeiner, the Tour of Anchorage in Anchorage, Alaska, and the Boreal Loppet, held in Forestville, Quebec, Canada.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Depending on the shooting performance, extra distance or time is added to the contestant's total running distance/time. For each shooting round, the biathlete must hit five targets; the skier receives a penalty for each missed target, which varies according to the competition rules.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Ski orienteering is a form of cross-country skiing competition that requires navigation in a landscape, making optimal route choices at racing speeds. Standard orienteering maps are used, but with special green overprinting of trails and tracks to indicate their navigability in snow; other symbols indicate whether any roads are snow-covered or clear. Standard skate-skiing equipment is used, along with a map holder attached to the chest. It is one of the four orienteering disciplines recognized by the International Orienteering Federation. Upper body strength is especially important because of frequent double poling along narrow snow trails.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Paralympic cross-country ski competition is an adaptation of cross-country skiing for athletes with disabilities. Paralympic cross-country skiing includes standing events, sitting events (for wheelchair users), and events for visually impaired athletes under the rules of the International Paralympic Committee. These are divided into several categories for people who are missing limbs, have amputations, are blind, or have any other physical disability, to continue their sport.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Cross-country skiing has two basic propulsion techniques, which apply to different surfaces: classic (undisturbed snow and tracked snow) and skate skiing (firm, smooth snow surfaces). The classic technique relies on a wax or texture on the ski bottom under the foot for traction on the snow to allow the skier to slide the other ski forward in virgin or tracked snow. With the skate skiing technique a skier slides on alternating skis on a firm snow surface at an angle from each other in a manner similar to ice skating. Both techniques employ poles with baskets that allow the arms to participate in the propulsion. Specialized equipment is adapted to each technique and each type of terrain. A variety of turns are used, when descending.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Poles contribute to forward propulsion, either simultaneously (usual for the skate technique) or in alternating sequence (common for the classical technique as the "diagonal stride"). Double poling is also used with the classical technique when higher speed can be achieved on flats and slight downhills than is available in the diagonal stride, which is favored to achieve higher power going uphill.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: The classic style is often used on prepared trails (pistes) that have pairs of parallel grooves (tracks) cut into the snow. It is also the most usual technique where no tracks have been prepared. With this technique, each ski is pushed forward from the other stationary ski in a striding and gliding motion, alternating foot to foot. With the "diagonal stride" variant the poles are planted alternately on the opposite side of the forward-striding foot; with the "kick-double-pole" variant the poles are planted simultaneously with every other stride. At times, especially with gentle descents, double poling is the sole means of propulsion. On uphill terrain, techniques include the "side step" for steep slopes, moving the skis perpendicular to the fall line, the "herringbone" for moderate slopes, where the skier takes alternating steps with the skis splayed outwards, and, for gentle slopes, the skier uses the diagonal technique with shorter strides and greater arm force on the poles.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: With skate skiing, the skier provides propulsion on a smooth, firm snow surface by pushing alternating skis away from one another at an angle, in a manner similar to ice skating. Skate-skiing usually involves a coordinated use of poles and the upper body to add impetus, sometimes with a double pole plant each time the ski is extended on a temporarily "dominant" side ("V1") or with a double pole plant each time the ski is extended on either side ("V2"). Skiers climb hills with these techniques by widening the angle of the "V" and by making more frequent, shorter strides and more forceful use of poles. A variant of the technique is the "marathon skate" or "Siitonen step", where the skier leaves one ski in the track while skating outwards to the side with the other ski.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Turns, used while descending or for braking, include the snowplough (or "wedge turn"), the stem christie (or "wedge christie"), parallel turn, and the Telemark turn. The step turn is used for maintaining speed during descents or out of track on flats.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Skis used in cross-country are lighter and narrower than those used in alpine skiing. Ski bottoms are designed to provide a gliding surface and, for classic skis, a traction zone under foot. The base of the gliding surface is a plastic material that is designed both to minimize friction and, in many cases, to accept waxes. Glide wax may be used on the tails and tips of classic skis and across the length of skate skis.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Each type of ski is sized and designed differently. Length affects maneuverability; camber affects pressure on the snow beneath the feet of the skier; side-cut affects the ease of turning; width affects forward friction; overall area on the snow affects bearing capacity; and tip geometry affects the ability to penetrate new snow or to stay in a track. Each of the following ski types has a different combination of these attributes:


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Glide waxes enhance the speed of the gliding surface, and are applied by ironing them onto the ski and then polishing the ski bottom. Three classes of glide wax are available, depending on the level of desired performance with higher performance coming at higher cost. Hydrocarbon glide waxes, based on paraffin are common for recreational use. Race waxes comprise a combination of fluorinated hydrocarbon waxes and fluorocarbon overlays. Fluorocarbons decrease surface tension and surface area of the water between the ski and the snow, increasing speed and glide of the ski under specific conditions. Either combined with the wax or applied after in a spray, powder, or block form, fluorocarbons significantly improve the glide of the ski. Since the 2021-2022 race season, fluorinated products are banned in FIS sanctioned competitions.


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Skis designed for classic technique, both in track and in virgin snow, rely on a traction zone, called the "grip zone" or "kick zone", underfoot. This comes either from a) "texture", such as "fish scales" or mohair skins, designed to slide forward but not backwards, that is built into the grip zone of waxless skis, or from applied devices, e.g. climbing skins, or b) from "grip waxes". Grip waxes are classified according to their hardness: harder waxes are for colder and newer snow. An incorrect choice of grip wax for the snow conditions encountered may cause ski slippage (wax too hard for the conditions) or snow sticking to the grip zone (wax too soft for the conditions). Grip waxes generate grip by interacting with snow crystals, which vary with temperature, age and compaction. Hard grip waxes don't work well for snow which has metamorphosed to having coarse grains, whether icy or wet. In these conditions, skiers opt for a stickier substance, called "klister".


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Ski boots are attached to the ski only at the toe, leaving the heel free. Depending on application, boots may be lightweight (performance skiing) or heavier and more supportive (back-country skiing).


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Bindings connect the boot to the ski. There are three primary groups of binding systems used in cross-country skiing (in descending order of importance):


title: Cross-country skiing

text: Ski poles are used for balance and propulsion. Modern cross-country ski poles are made from aluminium, fibreglass-reinforced plastic, or carbon fibre, depending on weight, cost and performance parameters. Formerly they were made of wood or bamboo. They feature a foot (called a basket) near the end of the shaft that provides a pushing platform, as it makes contact with the snow. Baskets vary in size, according to the expected softness/firmness of the snow. Racing poles feature smaller, lighter baskets than recreational poles. Poles designed for skating are longer than those designed for classic skiing. Traditional skiing in the 1800s used a single pole for both cross-country and downhill. The single pole was longer and stronger than the poles that are used in pairs. In competitive cross-country poles in pairs were introduced around 1900.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene. He recorded a series of albums as a solo artist and over the years worked with Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, Bridget St John, John Cale, Elton John, Robert Wyatt, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Nico and Ollie Halsall, among others. After living for many years in Deià, Mallorca, he returned to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s before moving to the south of France. His last album, "The Unfairground", was released in 2007. The British rock journalist Nick Kent wrote: "Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett were the two most important people in British pop music. Everything that came after came from them."


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Ayers was born in Herne Bay, Kent, the son of BBC producer Rowan Ayers. Following his parents' divorce and his mother's subsequent marriage to a British civil servant, Ayers spent most of his childhood in Malaya. The tropical atmosphere and unpressured lifestyle had an impact, and one of the frustrating and endearing aspects of Ayers' career is that every time he seemed on the point of success, he would take off for some sunny spot where good wine and food were easily found.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Ayers returned to England at the age of twelve. In his early college years he took up with the burgeoning musicians' scene in the Canterbury area. He was quickly drafted into the Wilde Flowers, a band that featured Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper, as well as future members of Caravan. Ayers stated in interviews that the primary reason he was asked to join was that he probably had the longest hair. However, this prompted him to start writing songs and singing.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: The Wilde Flowers evolved into Caravan after Ayers and Wyatt left and eventually joined keyboardist Mike Ratledge and guitarist Daevid Allen to form Soft Machine. Ayers switched to bass (and later both guitar and bass following Allen's departure from that group) and shared vocals with the drummer Robert Wyatt. The group's sound contrasted between Ayers' baritone and Wyatt's tenor singing, plus a mix of rock and jazz. The band often shared stages (particularly at the UFO Club) with Pink Floyd. They released their debut single 'Love Makes Sweet Music'/'Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin' in February 1967, making it one of the first recordings from the new British psychedelic movement. Their debut album, "The Soft Machine," was recorded in the US for ABC/Probe and released in 1968. It is considered a classic of the genre.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: After an extensive tour of the United States opening for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, a weary Ayers sold his white Fender Jazz Bass to Noel Redding and retreated to the beaches of Ibiza in Spain with Daevid Allen to recuperate. While there, Ayers went on a songwriting binge that resulted in the songs that would make up his first album, "Joy of a Toy". The album was one of the first released on the new Harvest label, alongside Pink Floyd's "Ummagumma". "Joy of a Toy" established Ayers as a unique talent with music that varied from the circus march of the title cut, to the pastoral "Girl on a Swing", and the ominous "Oleh Oleh Bandu Bandong", based on a Malay folksong. Ayers' colleagues from Soft Machine backed him on one track, "Song for Insane Times", and on some cuts with Rob Tait, sometime Gong drummer.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: One product of the sessions was the single, "Religious Experience (Singing a Song in the Morning)", early recordings of which featured Syd Barrett on guitar and backing vocals. The lead guitar that appears on the final mix was often thought to have been played by Barrett, even appearing on various Barrett bootlegs, but Ayers said that he played the solo, emulating Barrett's style. However, the 2004 CD reissue of "Joy of a Toy" includes a mix of this song featuring Barrett's guitar as a bonus track.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Ayers was to all intents and purposes a member of Gong in 1971 when the band first toured the UK. He also played an instrumental role in Steve Hillage appearing in Gong in 1972, while Steve was touring France as a member of Ayers's band.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: A second album, "Shooting at the Moon", soon followed. For this, Ayers assembled a band that he called "The Whole World", including a young Mike Oldfield on bass and occasionally lead guitar, avant-garde composer David Bedford on keyboards and improvising saxophonist, Lol Coxhill. Again Ayers came up with a batch of engaging songs interspersed with avant-garde instrumentals and a heavy dose of whimsy.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: "The Whole World" was reportedly an erratic band live, and Ayers was not cut out for life on the road touring. The band broke up after a short tour, with no hard feelings, as most of the musicians guested on Ayers' next album, "Whatevershebringswesing", which is regarded as one of his best, featuring the mellifluous eight-minute title track that would become Ayers' signature sound for the '70s.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: "Bananamour" was the fourth studio album by Kevin Ayers and it featured some of his most accessible recordings, including "Shouting in a Bucket Blues" and his whimsical tribute to Syd Barrett, "Oh! Wot A Dream". After "Whatevershebringswesing", Ayers assembled a new band anchored by drummer Eddie Sparrow and bassist Archie Legget and employed a more direct lyricism. The centrepiece of the album is "Decadence", a portrait of Nico.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: 1974 was a watershed year for Ayers. In addition to releasing his most compelling music in this year, he helped provide other artists with access to a wider stage, most notably Lady June (June Campbell Cramer). The recording, titled "Lady June's Linguistic Leprosy", made in a front room of Cramer's home in Vale Court, Maida Vale, brought Lady June's spoken word poetry together with the music and voice of Ayers, and also had contributions by Brian Eno and Pip Pyle. It was originally released on Ayers' own Banana Productions label (via Virgin/Caroline).


title: Kevin Ayers

text: "The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories" marked Ayers' move to the more commercial Island record label and is considered by many to be the most cohesive example of Ayersian philosophy. The production was expensive, with Ayers quoting the recording costs in a 1974 NME interview as exceeding £32,000 (a vast figure at the time). On this LP Mike Oldfield returned to the fold and guitarist Ollie Halsall from progressive rock band Patto began a twenty-year partnership with Ayers.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: On 1 June 1974, Ayers headlined a heavily publicised concert at the Rainbow Theatre, London, accompanied by John Cale, Nico, Brian Eno and Mike Oldfield. The performance was released by Island Records just 27 days later on a live LP entitled "June 1, 1974". Tensions were somewhat fraught at the event since the night before John Cale had caught Ayers sleeping with his wife, prompting him to write the bile-soaked paean "Guts" that appeared on his 1975 album "Slow Dazzle".


title: Kevin Ayers

text: In 1976, Ayers returned to his original label Harvest and released "Yes We Have No Mañanas (So Get Your Mañanas Today)". The album was a more commercial affair. and secured Ayers a new American contract with ABC Records. The LP featured contributions from B.J. Cole and Zoot Money. That same year Harvest released a collection entitled "Odd Ditties", that assembled a colourful group of songs that Ayers had consigned to single B-Sides or left unreleased.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: The late 1970s and 1980s saw Ayers as a self-imposed exile in warmer climes (Spain), a fugitive from changing musical fashions, and a hostage to chemical addictions. "Rainbow Takeaway" was released in 1978 and "That's What You Get Babe" in 1980. 1983's "Diamond Jack and the Queen of Pain", Ayers' 10th solo album, was perhaps a low-point for Ayers. He was quoted in a 1992 BBC Radio 1 interview as saying he had "virtually no recollection of making those records", and that living in Deià was "a very bad move on my part. The social scene was very intense, a meat market of expatriates all flaunting themselves and on display. My career was going downhill". Ayers released two more solo albums, 1984's "Deià...Vu" and 1986's "As Close As You Think" to little attention. The road back was marked with 1988's prophetically titled "Falling Up", which received his first positive press notices in years. In 1987 he also recorded a vocal track for Mike Oldfield's single, "Flying Start". The lyrics of this song contains many references to Ayers' life.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Despite the positive reception "Falling Up" received, Ayers by this point had almost completely withdrawn from any public stage. An acoustic album "Still Life with Guitar" recorded with Fairground Attraction surfaced in France on the FNAC label and was subsequently released throughout Europe. After a European Tour in April/May 1992 his musical partner Ollie Halsall suddenly died of a drugs related heart attack. Some collaborations with Ayers fanatics Ultramarine and a couple of concert tours of the U.K./ Europe during 1995 and a resulting live album, 'Turn the lights down',[Market Square,Records, 1999] with Liverpool's Wizards of Twiddly completed his output in the 1990s.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: In 1993, Ayers toured America twice, usually performing solo with occasional guests, including Daevid Allen, who was also touring America at the same time. Aside from a few New York shows in 1980 with Ollie Halsall, these tours were Ayers' first live performances in America since 1968. In 1998 and 2000 he returned for two California mini-tours, performing in Los Angeles and San Francisco and backed by local musicians. The 2000 concerts had Ayers double-billed with Gong. Longtime friend John Altman joined the Los Angeles band in 2000.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: BBC DJ John Peel wrote in his autobiography that "Kevin Ayers' talent is so acute you could perform major eye surgery with it."


title: Kevin Ayers

text: In the late 1990s, Ayers was living the life of a recluse in the South of France. At the Sculpture Centre he met American artist Timothy Shepard, who had been invited to use studio space there, and the two became friends. Ayers started to show up at Shepard's house with a guitar, and by 2005 passed some new recordings on to Shepard, most taped on a cassette recorder at his kitchen table. The songs were by turns "poignant, insightful and honest", and Shepard, "deeply moved" by what he heard, encouraged Ayers to record them properly for a possible new album.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Signing with London's LO-MAX Records, Shepard found equal enthusiasm for the demos and after making some tentative enquiries, discovered a hotbed of interest for Ayers's work amongst the current generation of musicians. New York's Ladybug Transistor set up rehearsals for a possible recording organised by band leader Gary Olson, and Kevin and Shepard flew out to New York. When the rehearsals gelled, the entourage, which had now swelled to include horn and string players, flew out to Tucson, Arizona where the first sessions were recorded in a dusty hangar known as Wavelab Studios.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: With the tapes from the first sessions, Shepard set about getting Ayers to complete the album in the UK, where by now word had spread, and a host of musicians started gravitating to the studio. Shepard recounted meeting Teenage Fanclub at a Go-Betweens party and hearing their passion for Ayers' music, and wrote a letter to singer, guitarist Norman Blake. Mojo magazine reported that, within a couple of weeks, Ayers was in a Glasgow studio with Teenage Fanclub and a host of their like-minded colleagues, who had all assembled to work with their hero. Bill Wells from the Bill Wells Trio rubbed shoulders with Euros Childs from Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Francis Reader from the Trash Can Sinatras.


title: Kevin Ayers

text: Friends and peers from the past also visited the sessions. Robert Wyatt provided his eerie Wyattron in the poignant "Cold Shoulder", Phil Manzanera contributed to the brooding "Brainstorm", Hugh Hopper from Soft Machine played bass on the title track and Bridget St John, a British folk singer beloved of John Peel, duetted with Ayers on "Baby Come Home", the first time they had sung together since 1970 on "Shooting at the Moon". "The Unfairground" was released to critical acclaim in September 2007.


title: Vanity Fair (2018 TV series)

text: Vanity Fair is a 2018 historical drama miniseries based on the 1848 novel of the same name by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was produced by Mammoth Screen and distributed by ITV and Amazon Studios.


title: Vanity Fair (2018 TV series)

text: The series stars Olivia Cooke as Becky Sharp, Tom Bateman as Captain Rawdon Crawley, Claudia Jessie as Amelia Sedley, and Michael Palin as the author William Makepeace Thackeray.


title: Vanity Fair (2018 TV series)

text: A cottage on Chevening House Estate, Sevenoaks in Kent featured as Rawdon Crawley's cottage. Squerryes Court, Sevenoaks, was used for the interiors of Miss Pinkerton's school. A scene on the promenade, featuring soldiers and horses, was shot outside the Royal Hotel in Deal, Kent. Further filming took place at Chatham Historic Dockyard, where various London street scenes were shot outside the Ropery, an embarkation to France was shot on Anchor Wharf, and the interior of the Commissioner's House was also used.


title: Vanity Fair (2018 TV series)

text: The series was met with a positive response from critics for its sets and Olivia Cooke's performance. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 88% with an average rating of 7.08 out of 10 based on 33 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Olivia Cooke's brilliant portrayal of the feisty and scheming Becky Sharp in "Vanity Fair" makes this adaptation of Thackeray's classic novel more relatable for a 21st century audience." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Vanity Fair (2018 TV series)

text: Following the conclusion of the series and on writing about the series's significantly low viewing figures in comparison to the BBC One "ratings juggernaut" "Bodyguard", Ben Dowell of the "Radio Times" praised Cooke's performance, writing that "of all the TV Beckys down the ages – Joyce Redman, Susan Hampshire, Eve Matheson, Natasha Little, not to mention Reese Witherspoon in the 2004 film – Cooke is definitely one of the best we’ve ever had." "Newsday"'s Verne Gay was more critical of the show, calling it both "faithful and faithless" to the book and concluded that the series "can occasionally feel like a homework assignment." Matthew Gilbert, writing for "The Boston Globe", was more positive, stating that "If you’re a fan of these adaptations...I think you’ll find something pleasing in this “Vanity Fair” — not heroes and heroines stirring about waiting for their happy endings, of course, but something far more scandalous and universal."


title: SQL Server Management Studio

text: Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is a software application developed by Microsoft that is used for configuring, managing, and administering all components within Microsoft SQL Server. First launched with Microsoft SQL Server 2005, it is the successor to the Enterprise Manager in SQL 2000 or before. The tool includes both script editors and graphical tools which work with objects and features of the server.


title: SQL Server Management Studio

text: A central feature of SSMS is the Object Explorer, which allows the user to browse, select, and act upon any of the objects within the server. It also shipped a separate Express edition that could be freely downloaded, however recent versions of SSMS are fully capable of connecting to and manage any SQL Server Express instance. Microsoft also incorporated backwards compatibility for older versions of SQL Server thus allowing a newer version of SSMS to connect to older versions of SQL Server instances. It also comes with Microsoft SQL Server Express 2012, or users can download it separately.


title: SQL Server Management Studio

text: Starting from version 11, the application was based on the Visual Studio 2010 shell, using WPF for the user interface. Versions 18 and after are based on the Visual Studio 2017 Isolated Shell.


title: SQL Server Management Studio

text: In June 2015, Microsoft announced their intention to release future versions of SSMS independently of SQL Server database engine releases.


title: Comparison of antivirus software

text: This article compares notable antivirus products and services. It is rather than a deep analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each.


title: Comparison of antivirus software

text: The term "on-demand scan" refers to the possibility of performing a manual scan (by the user) on the entire computer/device, while "on-access scan" refers to the ability of a product to automatically scan every file at its creation or subsequent modification.


title: Comparison of antivirus software

text: The term "Email Security" refers to the protection of emails from viruses and malware, while "AntiSpam" refers to the protection from spam, scam and phishing attacks.


title: Comparison of antivirus software

text: The term "Web protection" usually includes protection from: infected and malicious URLs, phishing websites, online identity (privacy) protection and online banking protection. Many antivirus products use "third-party antivirus engine". This means that the antivirus engine is made by another producer; however, the malware signature and/or other parts of the product may (or may not) be done from the owner of the product itself.


title: Comparison of antivirus software

text: This list excludes Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8 as they do not support running protection programs.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Mahadevi Varma (26 March 1907 – 11 September 1987) was an Indian Hindi-language poet, essayist, sketch story writer and an eminent personality of Hindi literature. She is considered one of the four major pillars of the "Chhayawadi" era in Hindi literature. She has been also addressed as the Modern Meera. Poet Nirala had once called her "Saraswati in the vast temple of Hindi Literature". Varma had witnessed India both before and after independence. She was one of those poets who worked for the wider society of India. Not only her poetry but also her social upliftment work and welfare development among women were also depicted deeply in her writings. These largely influenced not only the readers but also the critics especially through her novel "Deepshikha".


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: She developed a soft vocabulary in the Hindi poetry of , which before her was considered possible only in Braj bhasha. For this, she chose the soft words of Sanskrit and Bangla and adapted to Hindi. She was well-versed in music. The beauty of her songs lies in the tone that captures the euphemistic style of sharp expressions. She started her career with teaching. She was the Principal of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth. She was married, but she chose to live an ascetic life. She was also a skilled painter and creative translator. She had the distinction of receiving all the important awards in Hindi literature. As the most popular female litterateur of the last century, she remained revered throughout her life. The year 2007 was celebrated as her birth centenary. Later, Google also celebrated the day through its Google Doodle.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Varma was born on 26 March 1907 in a Hindu [Brahmin ]] family of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Her father Govind Prasad Varma was a professor in a college in Bhagalpur. Her mother's name was Hem Rani Devi. Her mother was a religious, passionate and vegetarian woman with a keen interest in music. Her mother would recite for many hours of Ramayana, Gita and "Vinay patrika". On the contrary, her father was a scholar, music lover, atheist, a hunting enthusiast and a cheerful person. Sumitranandan Pant and Suryakant Tripathi "Nirala" were close friends of Mahadevi Varma. It is said that for 40 years Varma kept tying Rakhis to Nirala.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Varma was originally admitted to a Convent school, but upon protests and an unwilling attitude, she took admission in Crosthwaite Girls College at Allahabad. According to Varma, she learned the strength of unity while staying in the hostel at Crosthwaite. Here students of different religions lived together. Varma started to write poems secretly; but upon discovery of her hidden stash of poems by her roommate and senior Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (known in the school for writing poems), her hidden talent was exposed.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: She and Subhadra also used to send poems to publications such as weekly magazines and managed to get some of their poems published. Both the budding poets also attended poetry seminars, where they met eminent Hindi poets, and read out their poems to the audience. This partnership continued till Subhrada graduated from Crosthwaite.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: In her childhood biography "Mere Bachpan Ke Din" (My Childhood Days), Varma has written that she was very fortunate to be born into a liberal family at a time when a girl child was considered a burden upon the family. Her grandfather reportedly had the ambition of making her a scholar; although he insisted that she comply with tradition and marry at the age of nine. Her mother was fluent both in Sanskrit and Hindi, and was a very religious pious lady. Mahadevi credits her mother for inspiring her to write poems, and to take an interest in literature.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Following her graduation in 1929, Mahadevi absolutely refused to go and live with her husband Swarup Narain Varma because they were incompatible. She found his hunting and meat-eating offensive.Since she had been married as a child, she was to go and live with her husband only after completing her education, as was the custom, but when she finished her BA, she absolutely refused to live with him. Her remorseful father offered to convert along with her if she wanted to divorce and remarry (as Hindus could not legally divorce at the time) but she refused, saying she wanted to remain single. She even unsuccessfully tried to convince her husband to remarry. Later, she was reported to have considered becoming a Buddhist nun but eventually chose not to, although she studied Buddhist Pali and Prakrit texts as part of her master's degree.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: "Nihar" (IPA : Nīhār) was her debut collection of poems. In 1930, "Nihar", in 1932, "Rashmi", in 1933, "Neerja" were composed by her. In 1935, her collection of poems called "Sandhyageet" was published. In 1939, four poetic collections were published with their artworks under the title "Yama". Apart from these, she had written 18 novels and short stories in which "Mera Parivar" (My Family), "Smriti ki Rekhaye" (Lines of Memory), "Patha ke Sathi" (Path's Companions), "Srinkhala ke Kariye" (Series of Links) and "Atit ke Chalachrit" (Past Movies) are prominent. She is also considered the pioneer of feminism in India.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Varma's career had always been revolved around writing, editing and teaching. She contributed significantly to the development of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth in Allahabad . This kind of responsibility was a considered a revolutionary step in the field of women's education during that time. She also had been its Principal. In 1923, she took over the women's leading magazine "" . In the year 1955, Varma established the Literary Parliament in Allahabad and with the help of Ilachandra Joshi, and took up the editorship of its publication. She laid the foundation of women's poets' conferences in India. Mahadevi was greatly influenced by Buddhism. Under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, she took up a public service and worked in Jhansi alongside Indian freedom struggle. In 1937, Mahadevi Varma built a house in a village called "Umagarh", Ramgarh, Uttarakhand, 25 km from Nainital. She named it Meera Temple. She started working for the village people and for their education till she stayed there. She did a lot of work especially for women's education and their economic self-sufficiency. Today, this bungalow is known as Mahadevi Sahitya Museum. In the series of attempts, she was able to raise the courage and determination for the liberation and development of women. The way she has condemned social stereotypes made her to be known as a woman liberationist. She had also been called a social reformer due to the development work and public service towards women and their education. Throughout her creations, there are no visions of pain or anguish anywhere, but the indomitable creative fury reflected in the society's indomitable desire for change and an innate attachment towards development.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: In "Hindu Stree Ka Patnitva" (The Wifehood of Hindu Women) marriage is compared to slavery. Not being affiliated to any political or financial authority, she writes, women are assigned to lives of being wives and mothers. Her feminism is often overshadowed by her poetic persona. Through poems like "Cha", she explored themes and ideas of female sexuality, while her short stories such as "Bibia", discusses the subject of experiences of women physical and mental abuse.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: She spent most of her life in Allahabad (Prayagraj) of Uttar Pradesh. She died in Allahabad on 11 September 1987.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Several other poetic collections of Mahadevi Varma are also published, in which selected songs from the above compositions have been compiled.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: A section of critics are those who believe that the poetry of Mahadevi is very personal. Her agony, anguish, compassion, is artificial.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Moral critics like Ramchandra Shukla have put a question mark on the truth of her anguish and feelings. He quotes On the other hand Hazari Prasad Dwivedi consider her poetry to be a collective criterion. Poetic works like "Deep" from (Nihar), "Madhur Madhur Mere Deepak Jal" from (Neerja) and "Mome Sa Tan Gal Hai", concludes that these poems not only explain Mahadevi's self-centerness but also to be considered a representative form of general posture and texture of her poems. Satyaprakash Mishra says about her philosophy of metaphysics related to cinematography -


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Prabhakar Shrotriya believe that those who consider her a poetess of anguish and despair do not know how much fire there is in that suffering which exposes the truth of life. He says It is true that Varma's poetic world comes under the shadow of Chhayavaad (shadowism), but to see her poetry completely unconnected to her era, one would be doing injustice to her. Mahadevi was also a conscious writer. During the Bengal famine in 1973, she had published a poetry collection and also wrote a poem called ""Banga Bhu Shanth Vandana"" related to Bengal. Similarly, in response to the invasion of China, she had edited a collection of poems called "Himalaya".


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Beside these, in 1979, the famous Indian filmmaker Mrinal Sen produced a Bengali film on her memoir "Woh Chini Bhai" titled Neel Akasher Neechey. On 14 September 1991, the Postal Department of the Government of India, issued a doubles stamp of 2 along with Jaishankar Prasad, in her honor.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: The emergence of Mahadevi Varma in literature happened at a time when the shape of was being refined. She introduced Braj bhasha softness to Hindi poetry. She gave us a repository of songs with a heartfelt acceptance to Indian philosophy. In this way, she did an important work in the three fields of language, literature and philosophy which later influenced an entire generation. She created a unique rhythm and simplicity in the composition and language of her songs, as well as natural use of symbols and images that draw a picture in the mind of the reader. Her contribution to the prosperity of Chhayavadi poetry is very important. While Jaishankar Prasad gave naturalization to the Chhayavadi poetry, Suryakant Tripathi "Nirala" embodied the liberation in it and Sumitranandan Pant brought the art of delicateness, but Varma embodied life to the Chhayavadi poetry. The most prominent feature of her poetry is emotionalism and intensity of feeling. Such lively and tangible manifestation of the subtlest subtle expressions of the heart makes 'Varma' among the best Chhayavadi poets. She is remembered with respect for her speeches in Hindi. Her speeches were full of compassion for the common man and firm of truth. At 3rd World Hindi Conference, 1983, Delhi, she was the chief guest of the closing ceremony.


title: Mahadevi Varma

text: Apart from the original creations, she was also a creative translator with works like in her translation ' "Saptaparna" ' (1980). With the help of her cultural consciousness, she has presented 39 selected important pieces of Hindi poetry in her work by establishing the identity of Vedas, Ramayana, Theragatha and the works of Ashwaghosh, Kalidas, Bhavabhuti and Jayadeva. At the beginning, in the 61-page ' "Apna Baat" ', she has given a thorough research in relation to this invaluable heritage of Indian wisdom and literature, which enriches the overall thinking and fine writing of Hindi, not just limited female writing.


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Silva de Souza (born 11 June 1984), known as Vágner Love, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Sport Recife. He is a forward who has been described by "World Soccer Magazine" as possessing "mobility, flair, awareness and powerful shooting".


title: Vágner Love

text: The second name Love was given to Vágner while playing for Palmeiras as he was known for his playboy lifestyle.


title: Vágner Love

text: Over two spells, Vágner Love scored 117 goals across 241 official games in eight seasons at CSKA Moscow. He won 14 honours in the Russian capital, scoring in their win in the 2005 UEFA Cup Final to become the youngest player to score in a UEFA Cup final.


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Love scored four goals in 20 games for the Brazil national team, winning the Copa América in 2004 and 2007.


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Love started his career with Palmeiras. In the 2003 season, he helped them to return to the Série A, the nation's top-flight division.


title: Vágner Love

text: In the summer of 2004, Vágner Love was bought by Russian Premier League club CSKA Moscow. For over a year after his arrival, rumours kept appearing that he did not want to stay in Moscow, and a transfer to Corinthians in particular was hinted at numerous times. These rumours, however, eventually subsided, and he mentioned a number of times that he was fully committed to his contract and is looking forward to completing its full tenure.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 18 May 2005, at the age of , Vágner Love scored the final goal in CSKA's 3–1 victory over Sporting CP in the 2005 UEFA Cup Final at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon, making him the youngest player to score in a UEFA Cup final. In addition to winning the UEFA Cup, he has gone on to win the Russian Premier League title and Russian Cup in both 2005 and 2008, as well as the Russian Super Cup in 2006.


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Love became the top scorer in the 2008 season (the first top scorer from outside the former Soviet Union) and the top scorer of the 2008–09 UEFA Cup, the latter with 11 goals in 8 games.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 28 August 2009, following a run of poor form for CSKA, Vágner Love was signed by his former club Palmeiras on a one-year loan deal until 31 July 2010. CSKA press spokesman Sergei Aksenov claimed that Vágner Love left Russia due to "urgent family problems demand(ing) his presence at home in Brazil".


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Love had a respectable return of 5 goals in 12 games for Palmeiras, but his loan spell was ended prematurely: After publicly stating his concern over his safety at Palmeiras due to off-field altercations with fans, as well as his desire to play for his childhood team Flamengo, the deal was ended early on 14 January 2010.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 15 January 2010, the day after his loan was terminated with Palmeiras, Vágner Love officially signed a loan deal with reigning Brazilian champions Flamengo, through till July 2010. He made his Flamengo debut against Bangu in the Campeonato Carioca on 23 January 2010, scoring two goals.


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Love performed very well playing for Flamengo, scoring 23 goals in 26 matches. His successful strike partnership with Adriano was dubbed by fans as "Império do Amor", or "The Love Empire", in reference to Adriano's nickname "The Emperor" and Vágner Love's artistic surname. The presence of midfielder Dejan Petković in Flamengo's squad made supporters start the year with high expectations—it was widely believed that the Serbian's passing and free-kick abilities, coupled with Adriano's and Vagner's prolific scoring, would produce a top team.


title: Vágner Love

text: However, with Adriano struggling to keep an athlete's body mass index, and Petković's legs growing old (he was already 37 then), the team failed to advance past the quarter-finals in the 2010 Copa Libertadores. Shortly after, Adriano revealed he wanted to try playing in Italy again, and Flamengo could not convince CSKA to extend Vágner Love's loan, thus dismantling the once-promising "Love Empire".


title: Vágner Love

text: After a change of presidency, on 12 January 2013, Flamengo did not pay his pendencies of rights with CSKA, and Vágner Love had to leave the club, returning to Russia after a one-year absence. On 16 January, he was "re-presented" in Moscow and signed a three-year contract extension. He continued his goal scoring record with CSKA on his return to the club, and propelled the club to the Premier League title in 2013 after a goalless draw with Kuban Krasnodar on 18 May, the club's first league title since 2006.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 24 July 2013, Vágner Love transferred to Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng in a reported €12 million transfer.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 8 February 2015, Vágner Love rescinded his contract with Shandong Luneng and signed with Corinthians in Brazil. He went on to become the top scorer of the club during the national championship as Corinthians went on to win the Série A that year.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 13 January 2016, Ligue 1 club Monaco announced the signing of Vágner Love on an 18-month deal for a €1 million transfer fee. On 20 March, he opened the scoring in an eventual 2–0 win against Paris Saint-Germain, the Parisian club's first home defeat since May 2014.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 30 August 2016, Turkish Süper Lig club Alanyaspor reached an agreement with Monaco for the transfer of Love. On 31 August 2016, he was officially presented after passed the medical. Having failed to score in his first seven appearances for the club, Love scored 23 goals in 20 matches that followed to earn the Golden Boot award.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 26 January 2018, Turkish Süper Lig club Beşiktaş reached an agreement with Alanyaspor for the transfer of Love.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 25 January 2019, Love returned to Corinthians on a deal until the end of 2020 after rescinding his contract with Beşiktaş. He rescinded his contract in June 2020.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 8 July 2020, Kazakhstan Premier League club FC Kairat announced the signing of Vágner Love on a six-month contract, with the option to extend it.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 3 November 2020, Love scored Kairat's first goal, in a 3–1 win over Ordabasy, to clinch their first Kazakhstan Premier League title since 2004. On 5 November 2020, Kairat extended their contract with Vágner Love until the end of the 2021 season.


title: Vágner Love

text: On 20 January 2022, Love signed an agreement to join Midtjylland on a free transfer, with a contract lasting until the end of the 2021/22 season. On 22 May 2022 Midtjylland confirmed, that Love was one out of seven players, which contracts had came to an end, and therefore would leave the club.


title: Vágner Love

text: Vágner Love earned his first call up for the Brazil national football team for the 2004 Copa América, in a squad without the main stars to give them rest after the end of the 2003–04 season. He made his debut as a substitute in the 4–1 win against Costa Rica, which was his single appearance as Brazil went on to win the competition.


title: Vágner Love

text: He did not make the final 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Following the tournament, Vágner Love was named in new manager Dunga's first squad for the national team and scored his first goal for the "Seleção" in the same year, against Wales.


title: Vágner Love

text: The following year, he was included in Brazil's squad for the 2007 Copa América. On 7 July 2007, he scored the final goal in a 6–1 win against Chile in the quarter-finals of the competition. He played his last match for the national team in that year, against Uruguay. Over the course of his international career, he amassed 20 caps and scored 4 goals.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Zahra Clare Baker (November 16, 1999 – September 24, 2010) was a schoolgirl in Hickory, NC, who was reported missing on October 9, 2010. Only 10 years old at the time of her death, her dismembered remains were found in November 2010. Because of the crime's gruesome nature and the series of events leading up to her death, Zahra's murder received worldwide media coverage.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: In September 2011, the victim's stepmother, Elisa Baker, pleaded guilty to murdering Zahra, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. In 2013, she was given an additional 10 years for drug-related charges. While Baker told investigators that Zahra's father Adam Baker was involved in the crime, he was not charged, and the District Attorney has said that the state had no evidence linking anyone but Elisa Baker to the murder.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Zahra Baker was born on November 16, 1999, to Emily Dietrich and Adam Baker, who both lived in Wagga Wagga. Dietrich, who had postpartum depression after Zahra's birth, gave up custody to Adam. Adam took Zahra and moved with his parents to Giru, Queensland, in 2004 to work for a sugar mill. Zahra, who was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2005, later suffered a bout of lung cancer as well. As a result, she had the lower part of one leg amputated and had to wear hearing aids.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Adam Baker reportedly met Elisa Fairchild (originally from western North Carolina) online on an IMVU website. Elisa Fairchild visited Adam Baker in Queensland and they were soon married. Elisa had been previously married six times and was still married at the time she married Adam Baker. Zahra's cancer went into remission in 2008, shortly before she moved to the United States from Australia with her father and new stepmother.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: After moving to North Carolina, the Bakers settled in Hickory where Zahra attended public school until she was removed to start homeschooling. It is not known, though, if she was ever actually homeschooled. It is suspected Zahra was taken out of public school because reports of child abuse were made to the school, implicating Elisa. Many neighbors of Zahra's claimed that Elisa was physically and mentally abusive, and neglected the child. Two teachers visited Zahra's home, after Zahra came to school with a black eye in a public school in Hudson while she was in the fourth grade.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Child Protective Services from both Caldwell and Catawba counties visited the various residences of Zahra multiple times before Zahra died. The Bakers had moved a few times in both those counties before settling in Hickory.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Reports of Elisa's abusive behavior were investigated by the Department of Social Services in regards to her own biological children dating as far back as 1999. She has a daughter from a previous boyfriend, and a son and a daughter from a previous marriage.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa made a 911 call at 5:30AM on October 9, 2010 to report a fire in the back of the family residence in Hickory. The police arrived to find a ransom note and the smell of gasoline coming from Adam's company truck, a Chevrolet Tahoe.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: In a second 911 phone call made to report Zahra missing at 2PM the same day, Adam Baker explained that during a fire in their backyard a $1 million ransom note was found on his company truck the night before, addressed to Adam's boss and landlord, Mark Coffey. Adam explained that they called 911 earlier that day about the fire and implied that whoever started the fire, may have done so to distract the family in order to take Zahra. Adam explained the purported kidnapper mistakenly confused Zahra for Mark Coffey's daughter. Coffey's daughter was unharmed and with her family, Adam stated. Adam said the last time he saw his daughter was at 2:30AM. Apparently, Adam Baker left for work early in the morning and did not return until after Zahra went to sleep.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa failed a polygraph test she had taken early in the investigation. She was asked if she had hurt Zahra, if she knew of anyone who had harmed Zahra, and if she knew who wrote the ransom note.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: On October 10, 2010, search and rescue dogs were sent to search the Bakers' house and cars. The dogs gave positive alerts to the scent of human remains on both of the Bakers' cars, the Chevrolet Tahoe and a sedan. The police took swabs of what they thought might be blood from the car. Elisa Baker was also arrested for various crimes unrelated to the death of Zahra, including communicating threats, writing bad checks, larceny, and driving with a revoked license. Baker, who was jailed, was next charged with obstruction of justice after admitting that she wrote the ransom note, which led the police astray.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: In late October 2010, a Catawba County judge raised Elisa's bond from $40,000 to $65,000 at a bond hearing, believing that Elisa was a flight risk. Amber Fairchild, Elisa's daughter, testified at the hearing and said her mother told her she was thinking of leaving North Carolina the day before she was arrested. Amber Fairchild also said her mother was involved in an online relationship with a man from England who had sent her thousands of dollars. The prosecutor said, in response to the accused's lawyers attempts to lower her bond, that she had failed to show up at other court dates for other charges which included traffic violations and communicating threats.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa Baker's aunt, Bonzetta Winkler, told reporters that, according to Elisa, Zahra died after being sick for two weeks, and Elisa and Adam dismembered her and hid the remains. Elisa's aunt said, "She'd been sick two weeks before she died; when they found her, I guess they didn't know what to do. They just went wild." However, Elisa reportedly said Adam dismembered Zahra Baker alone after she died, and they both hid her remains. Elisa also told police that Zahra died on September 24 but was not reported missing until October 9.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Allegedly, crime memorabilia dealer and owner of Serial Killers Ink Eric Gein, used an assumed name to write to Elisa in jail. She twice wrote back to him, sharing some information. According to a letter written to Eric Gein, Elisa admitted, "We really didn't kill her, but what he did after the fact is kinda horrifying... (It) makes me scared of him."


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa reportedly told her attorney Lisa Dubs that Zahra's prosthetic leg was left in a dumpster that she and Adam had disposed of at Fox Ridge Apartments in Hickory. Dubs informed police of the possible evidence. A prosthetic leg was found in late October off a road in Caldwell County a few miles from a former residence of Elisa's. The Hickory police department were able to match the serial number of the prosthetic leg from Zahra's medical records they obtained from Australia, in order to confirm that it was definitely Zahra's leg.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: In November 2010, Elisa Baker started leading police to different areas in Catawba and Caldwell counties to find Zahra's scattered remains. Numerous bones of Zahra were found, but Zahra's head was not found until some years later. Elisa allegedly told police she had thrown Zahra's mattress in a dumpster, and police confirmed the mattress fitting the description was found in a landfill.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa Baker led the police to another dumpster behind a grocery store in Hudson where she and Adam dumped a car cover and bed cover, which was used to hide and transport Zahra.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa also told police they would find Zahra's body parts in the drain trap of the bathtub and that plastic gloves that she used would be found in her bathroom.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: A review of Elisa Baker's now-defunct MySpace page revealed she called herself "GothicFairy6668". Her page portrayed skulls and bones as Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie was played. She listed "Never, neverland" as her hometown, Queensland, Australia, as her state and country and wrote that she was a college graduate and a proud parent. The page had photos of Zahra on it and in one photo, Zahra was wearing all black and the title read "The Dark Child!!!lol". Her "mood" on the page was listed as "crazy" on the last day she signed in, October 8, 2010, one day before Zahra was reported missing.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Reportedly Elisa Baker was married seven times. At times she was married to two or three men concurrently, having failed to divorce before remarrying. Prior to marrying Adam Baker, Elisa had married three men within three years. In January 2011, it was reported that Elisa Baker was charged with bigamy after it was confirmed that she was still married to Aaron Young when she wed Adam Baker. Elisa had introduced Aaron Young to Adam as her brother.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa kept in frequent contact with Aaron Young, and they both visited an IMVU.com website on September 22, two days before the day Elisa later claimed Zahra died. The IMVU website featured "chainsaw massacre role-playing". Police investigated the claim of a woman who used the same social networking site as the Bakers that she had had a conversation with one or both of the Bakers about "doing a murder with chainsaws."


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Accusations against two men related to Elisa Baker's previous husband, Aaron Young, alleged that Zahra was raped and may have been hit on the head, causing her death. The two cousins, James Young and Timothy "Sammy" Young, were both investigated by the police for the allegations. Both men passed polygraph tests and were not charged. Sammy Young was alleged to have had a sexual relationship with Elisa and the two had taken illicit drugs together.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Since no cause of death could be determined, Zahra's death was ruled an "undetermined violent homicide". Elisa Baker allegedly claimed told to police that both she and Adam Baker had disposed of Zahra's remains, but according to cell phone towers, only Elisa, not Adam, was in the area where Zahra's remains were found. Investigators believe Elisa Baker killed and dismembered Zahra on September 24, 2010 and disposed of her remains the following day. Elisa Baker was indicted by a grand jury, for second degree murder with aggravating circumstances, on February 22, 2011 in Catawba County. The five aggravating circumstances were cited as:


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa would have a been charged with first degree murder had she not led law enforcement to Zahra's remains. Adam Baker has denied any involvement in Zahra's death and police found no credible evidence to suggest that he had any involvement in her death. Elisa Baker's bond was increased by $200,000 due to the murder charge, making the total bond $307,700.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: In April 2011, Adam Baker was charged with identity theft and obtaining property under false pretenses. It was claimed that Adam Baker had used the identity of a man named James Starbuck and his Social Security number to get power connected to his apartment. James Starbuck is the husband of Elisa's daughter, Brittany Starbuck. Adam Baker was previously charged with passing worthless checks, communicating threats, assault with a deadly weapon and failure to return property.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: With these new charges, Adam was ordered not to leave North Carolina without notifying the district attorney's office. He also was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device on his ankle and was ordered to meet with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement once a week. He had been hoping to return to Australia.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Elisa Baker was also charged with identity theft and obtaining property under false pretenses in February 2011. It was reported that Elisa had used her daughter, Brittany Starbuck's personal information to obtain telephone and utility service at one of the family residences in Caldwell County in March 2010. She pleaded not guilty to the four counts of identity theft in May 2011.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: In May 2011, Elisa Baker was indicted with seven drug counts for the time period of May 2006 through October 2010. Elisa, who had used different addresses in both Catawba and Caldwell counties, had distributed Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Alprazolam, all prescription drugs for pain and anxiety. She was charged with possessing, distributing and conspiring to distribute prescription drugs. These new federal drug charges combined with the previous unrelated charges brings the total to over twenty. On June 2, 2011, Elisa pleaded not guilty to all seven federal drug charges. She is facing up to 20 years in prison for each drug charge.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: On March 4, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Voorhees sentenced Elisa Baker to serve 120 months in prison for conspiracy with intent to distribute prescription drugs.


title: Murder of Zahra Baker

text: Due to the publicity surrounding this case, Elisa Baker's attorney Scott Reilly requested a change of venue for the trial, which was scheduled to occur in Catawba County. On August 1, 2011, a change of venue for the trial was agreed upon by Superior Court Judge Timothy Kincaid. Judge Kincaid said the location of the trial would be decided on September 12, 2011.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Jack Catterall (born 1 July 1993) is an English professional boxer who held the British light-welterweight title in 2017 and challenged for the undisputed light-welterweight title in February 2022.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Jack Catterall was born on 1 July 1993 in Chorley, Lancashire. One of nine children in the household, Catterall took part in judo and wrestling before finding his way into boxing at the age of 10. Before getting into boxing full time, he took a college course in public services and worked a job laying tarmac to fund his gym sessions.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Catterall boxed out of Chorley ABC from the age of 10 and compiled an amateur record of 48–18, during a career in which he won a CYP (Clubs for Young People) National title and placed second in the ABAE Junior Championships.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Catterall made his professional debut against Carl Allen on 22 September 2012 at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, winning by points decision (PTS) over four rounds. He fought once more in 2012, defeating Johnny Greaves via first-round technical knockout (TKO).


title: Jack Catterall

text: He started 2013 with a fourth-round TKO win over Carl Allen in March, and secured another three wins that year; Mark McKray via PTS in April; a second-round knockout (KO) over Tom Price in June; and Renald Garrido via PTS in November.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Following his first fight of 2014 – a fifth-round TKO victory over Aleksas Vaseris in March – it was announced that Catterall had signed a two-year contract with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions. His first fight with the company was an eight-round points decision victory over Krzysztof Szot in May. Up next was a fight with undefeated prospect Nathan Brough (11–0) on 26 July at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester. Both fighters had success in round one – Brough with the jab and Catterall with a few clean shots to the head. The second-round saw much of the same, until Catterall landed a vicious counter left hook to the chin of Brough which left the Liverpudlian needing medical attention in the ring, scoring a TKO win with 58 seconds left in the round to capture the Central Area light-welterweight title. His final fight of 2014 came on 25 October at the Echo Arena, Liverpool, against Tom Stalker, friend of Catterall's previous opponent, Nathan Brough. Stalker, a 2012 Olympian and also unbeaten with a record of 9–0, had pulled out of a British light-welterweight title eliminator against Chris Jenkins in favour of facing Catterall. Catterall dropped Stalker in the first and second rounds. With 12 seconds remaining in the eighth-round, referee Mark Lyons waved off the fight after a left hook from Catterall sent Stalker stumbling on unsteady legs, giving Catterall the TKO win and the WBO European light-welterweight title.


title: Jack Catterall

text: On 6 March 2015, Catterall fought Cesar David Inalef (18–5–1) for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental light-welterweight title at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. After a controlled performance, in which Catterall had Inalef down in the second-round from a body shot and knocked the Argentines mouthpiece out on three occasions, Catterall scored a fifth-round TKO with 1 minute and 3 seconds remaining. He successfully defended his WBO regional title three times in 2015; a sixth-round TKO over Gabriel Calfin in September; a ten-round UD over Jarkko Putkonen in October; and a third-round TKO over Noe Nunez in December to finish the year.


title: Jack Catterall

text: He had three decision wins in 2016; a defence against Joe Hughes in a British light-welterweight final eliminator in May; Lukasz Janik in an eight-round non-title bout in August; and another defence against Diego Gonzalo Luque in December.


title: Jack Catterall

text: He began 2017 with a third-round TKO win over Martin Gethin in April, in what would be Gethin's final professional bout, before going on to challenge British light-welterweight champion Tyrone Nurse (35–2–2) on 21 October, at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. Catterall won by UD with the scorecards reading 118–111, 116–113 and 115–114, to capture the British light-welterweight title. Shortly after winning the title, Catterall vacated in favour of continuing down the WBO title route.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Starting out 2018 with a first-round KO over Kevin McCauley in a non-title bout in March 2018, Catterall went on to successfully defend his WBO Inter-Continental title a further three times that year; scoring a first-round TKO over Christopher Sebire in May; a ten-round unanimous decision over undefeated Tyrone McKenna in June; and ending with a twelve-round UD over Ohara Davies in October.


title: Jack Catterall

text: In January 2019, it was announced that Catterall had been installed as the mandatory challenger to WBO light-welterweight champion Maurice Hooker. While waiting for a fight with Hooker, Catterall took a stay-busy fight in April, defeating Oscar Amador via third-round KO. In August, the WBO announced they had sanctioned a unification fight between Hooker and WBC champion José Ramírez, with the winner set to face Catterall as the mandatory challenger within 120 days of the bout. In the meantime, Catterall took another stay-busy fight, defeating Timo Schwarzkopf via UD in November.


title: Jack Catterall

text: After Ramírez defeated Hooker in July 2020 to become a unified champion, the WBO ordered Ramírez to face Catterall. Around the same time, the WBC also ordered Ramírez to face their mandatory challenger, Viktor Postol. Ramírez faced Postol in August 2020, with the agreement that Catterall face the winner. Less than 48 hours after Ramírez emerged victorious, the WBO once again ordered Ramírez to face Catterall. Catterall opted to take a step-aside deal in order to allow Ramírez to face WBA (Super), IBF, and "The Ring" champion, Josh Taylor, again with the agreement that the winner face Catterall next. Taylor defeated Ramírez in May 2021, unifying all four major world titles to set up an undisputed championship fight with Catterall.


title: Jack Catterall

text: In August, ESPN reported that Catterall and Taylor had agreed terms to meet on 18 December at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow. It was announced by Taylor on 21 October that he had suffered an injury, and thus the fight would be postponed to 26 February 2022. Taylor won the bout by split decision with the judges’ scorecards reading 114-111, 113-112 for Taylor and 113-112 for Catterall. The bout is widely regarded by fans and pundits to have been a robbery as many saw Jack Catterall winning the fight.


title: Jack Catterall

text: Judge Ian John-Lewis who scored the bout 114-111 faced punishment from the British Boxing Board of Control for how widely he scored the fight for Josh Taylor. The BBBofC said in a statement, “The Stewards of the board decided to downgrade [Lewis] from an A Star Class to an A Star Official.”


title: Electrical conduit

text: An electrical conduit is a tube used to protect and route electrical wiring in a building or structure. Electrical conduit may be made of metal, plastic, fiber, or fired clay. Most conduit is rigid, but flexible conduit is used for some purposes.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Conduit is generally installed by electricians at the site of installation of electrical equipment. Its use, form, and installation details are often specified by wiring regulations, such as the US National Electrical Code (NEC) and other building codes.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Some early electric lighting installations made use of existing gas pipe serving gas light fixtures which had been converted to electric lamps. Since this technique provided very good mechanical protection for interior wiring, it was extended to all types of interior wiring and by the early 20th century purpose-built couplings and fittings were manufactured for electrical use.


title: Electrical conduit

text: However, most electrical codes now prohibit the routing of electrical conductors through gas piping, due to concerns about damage to electrical insulation from the rough interiors of pipes and fittings commonly used for gas.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Electrical conduit provides very good protection to enclosed conductors from impact, moisture, and chemical vapors. Varying numbers, sizes, and types of conductors can be pulled into a conduit, which simplifies design and construction compared to multiple runs of cables or the expense of customized composite cable. Wiring systems in buildings may be subject to frequent alterations. Frequent wiring changes are made simpler and safer through the use of electrical conduit, as existing conductors can be withdrawn and new conductors installed, with little disruption along the path of the conduit.


title: Electrical conduit

text: A conduit system can be made waterproof or submersible. Metal conduit can be used to shield sensitive circuits from electromagnetic interference, and also can prevent emission of such interference from enclosed power cables. Non-metallic conduits resist corrosion and are light-weight, reducing installation labor cost.


title: Electrical conduit

text: When installed with proper sealing fittings, a conduit will not permit the flow of flammable gases and vapors, which provides protection from fire and explosion hazard in areas handling volatile substances.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Some types of conduit are approved for direct encasement in concrete. This is commonly used in commercial buildings to allow electrical and communication outlets to be installed in the middle of large open areas. For example, retail display cases and open-office areas use floor-mounted conduit boxes to connect power and communications cables.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Both metal and plastic conduit can be bent at the job site to allow a neat installation without excessive numbers of manufactured fittings. This is particularly advantageous when following irregular or curved building profiles. Special tube bending equipment is used to bend the conduit without kinking or denting it.


title: Electrical conduit

text: The cost of conduit installation is higher than other wiring methods due to the cost of materials and labor. In applications such as residential construction, the high degree of physical damage protection may not be required, so the expense of conduit is not warranted. Conductors installed within conduit cannot dissipate heat as readily as those installed in open wiring, so the current capacity of each conductor must be reduced (derated) if many are installed in one conduit. It is impractical, and prohibited by wiring regulations, to have more than 360 degrees of total bends in a run of conduit, so special outlet fittings must be provided to allow conductors to be installed without damage in such runs.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Some types of metal conduit may also serve as a useful bonding conductor for grounding (earthing), but wiring regulations may also dictate workmanship standards or supplemental means of grounding for certain types. While metal conduit may sometimes be used as a grounding conductor, the circuit length is limited. For example, a long run of conduit as grounding conductor may have too high an electrical resistance, and not allow proper operation of overcurrent devices on a fault.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Conduit systems are classified by the wall thickness, mechanical stiffness, and material used to make the tubing. Materials may be chosen for mechanical protection, corrosion resistance, and overall cost of the installation (labor plus material cost). Wiring regulations for electrical equipment in hazardous areas may require particular types of conduit to be used to provide an approved installation.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Rigid metal conduit (RMC) is a thick-walled threaded tubing, usually made of coated steel, stainless steel or aluminum.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Galvanized rigid conduit (GRC) is galvanized steel tubing, with a tubing wall that is thick enough to allow it to be threaded. Its common applications are in commercial and industrial construction. It is designed to protect wire and connectors.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Intermediate metal conduit (IMC) is a steel tubing heavier than EMT but lighter than RMC. It may be threaded.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Electrical metallic tubing (EMT), sometimes called thin-wall, is commonly used instead of galvanized rigid conduit (GRC), as it is less costly and lighter than GRC. EMT itself is not threaded, but can be used with threaded fittings that clamp to it. Lengths of conduit are connected to each other and to equipment with clamp-type fittings. Like GRC, EMT is more common in commercial and industrial buildings than in residential applications. EMT is generally made of coated steel, though it may be aluminum.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Aluminum conduit, similar to galvanized steel conduit, is a rigid tube, generally used in commercial and industrial applications where a higher resistance to corrosion is needed. Such locations would include food processing plants, where large amounts of water and cleaning chemicals would make galvanized conduit unsuitable. Aluminum cannot be directly embedded in concrete, since the metal reacts with the alkalis in cement. The conduit may be coated to prevent corrosion by incidental contact with concrete. Aluminum conduit is generally lower cost than steel in addition to having a lower labor cost to install, since a length of aluminum conduit will have about one-third the weight of an equally-sized rigid steel conduit.


title: Electrical conduit

text: PVC conduit has long been considered the lightest in weight compared to steel conduit materials, and usually lower in cost than other forms of conduit. In North American electrical practice, it is available in three different wall thicknesses, with the thin-wall variety only suitable for embedded use in concrete, and heavier grades suitable for direct burial and exposed work. Most of the various fittings made for metal conduit are also available in PVC form. The plastic material resists moisture and many corrosive substances, but since the tubing is non-conductive an extra bonding (grounding) conductor must be pulled into each conduit. PVC conduit may be heated and bent in the field, by using special heating tools designed for the purpose.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Joints to fittings are made with slip-on solvent-welded connections, which set up rapidly after assembly and attain full strength in about one day. Since slip-fit sections do not need to be rotated during assembly, the special union fittings used with threaded conduit (such as Ericson) are not required. Since PVC conduit has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than other types, it must be mounted to allow for expansion and contraction of each run. Care should be taken when installing PVC underground in multiple or parallel run configurations due to mutual heating effect of densely packed cables, because the conduit will deform when heated.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Reinforced thermosetting resin conduit (RTRC) or fiberglass conduit is light in weight compared to metallic conduits, which contributes to lower labor costs. It is sometimes referred to as FRE which stands for "fiberglass reinforced epoxy", however this term is a legally registered trademark of FRE Composites. It may also provide lower material cost. RTRC conduit can be used in a variety of indoor and outdoor applications. Fiberglass conduit is available in multiple wall thicknesses to suit various applications and has a support distance very similar to steel. High temperature, low smoke, no flame, classified area (Class I Division 2), and zero halogen versions are also manufactured for specialty applications such as subway tunnels and stations and in the US can meet NFPA 130 requirements. Like other non-metallic conduits, a bonding conductor may be required for grounding. Joints are epoxy-glued, which requires some installation labor and time for joints to set. RTRC conduit may not be bent in the field and appropriate fittings must be used to change directions, nor is RTRC conduit approved to support luminaires.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Electrical nonmetallic tubing (ENT) is a thin-walled corrugated tubing that is moisture-resistant and flame retardant. It is pliable such that it can be bent by hand, and is often flexible although the fittings are not. It is not threaded due to its corrugated shape, although some fittings might be.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Flexible conduits are used to connect to motors or other devices where isolation from vibration is useful, or where an excessive number of fittings would be needed to use rigid connections. Electrical codes may restrict the length of a run of some types of flexible conduit.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Flexible metallic conduit (FMC, informally called "greenfield" or "flex") is made by the helical coiling of a self-interlocked ribbed strip of aluminum or steel, forming a hollow tube through which wires can be pulled. FMC is used primarily in dry areas where it would be impractical to install EMT or other non-flexible conduit, yet where metallic strength to protect conductors is still required. The flexible tubing does not maintain any permanent bend, and can flex freely.


title: Electrical conduit

text: FMC may be used as an equipment grounding conductor if specific provisions are met regarding the trade size and length of FMC used, depending on the amperage of the circuits contained in the conduit. In general, an equipment grounding conductor must be pulled through the FMC with an ampacity suitable to carry the fault current likely imposed on the largest circuit contained within the FMC.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Liquidtight flexible metal conduit (LFMC) is a metallic flexible conduit covered by a waterproof plastic coating. The interior is similar to FMC.


title: Electrical conduit

text: Flexible metallic tubing (FMT; North America) is not the same as flexible metallic conduit (FMC) which is described in US National Electrical Code (NEC) Article 348. FMT is a raceway, but not a conduit and is described in a separate NEC Article 360. It only comes in 1/2" & 3/4" trade sizes, whereas FMC is sized 1/2" ~ 4" trade sizes. NEC 360.2 describes it as: "A raceway that is circular in cross section, flexible, metallic and liquidtight without a nonmetallic jacket."


title: Electrical conduit

text: Liquidtight flexible nonmetallic conduit (LFNC) refers to several types of flame-resistant non-metallic tubing. Interior surfaces may be smooth or corrugated. There may be integral reinforcement within the conduit wall. It is also known as FNMC.