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Group Managing Director (EMEA)

Job ID: 8409

Date posted
18th November 2019
South East
United Kingdom
£120,000 to £150,000

£Substantial Salary Plus Exec Benefits + Car Choice /Allowance

The Managing Director takes full responsibility to lead the growth and development of the UK subsidiary business as a stand-alone entity.  The MD will manage the day-to day activities to grow and drive the business by expanding into various markets using creative strategies for success with an entrepreneurial spirit.  The MD will analyse and take advantage of the market to deliver quality service and build strong customer relationships.

Reports to:  CEO
Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

  • Oversee all front-end operations in the UK including: Estimating; Drafting; Customer Service; Order Entry; Project Management; Technical Support; IT.
    Develop the culture within the UK & EMEA operation – Leading, Coaching and mentoring the staff.
    Plan, Direct and Manage – Lean manufacturing, Quality, Inventory, Purchasing, Scheduling and Distribution operations.
  • Responsible for Budgets, Marketing, Management of staff, Accounting to Head Office, Day to-day running of the company.
    P/L profitability of minimum 8-10%+ (EBITDA) on adjusted sales.
    Responsible for project sales through specifications with Architects, Interior Designers, and M&E Consultants and Contractors.
  • Direct sales growth into both the Dealer and Specification Markets. (UK / EMEA)
    Appoint / Rebuild existing dealer/distribution base.
    Add new Dealers with limited distribution and limited conflicting dealer specifications.
    Manage Architectural Sales and Marketing efforts in the Building Community.
    Establish Dealer Training and Development Programs and Specifier Training Programs.
    Promote business to the Real Estate/Developer Community.
  • Establish and create Energy Conserving Credentials.
    Establish and provide Green Programs.
    Establish a Marketing and Business Growth Plan within (90 to 120 days) of appointment.
    Learn, teach, and promote Company’s contribution to BREAM Energy Conservation Program.
    Meet and exceed Company’s Matrices requirements.

Education, Experience, Requirements:

MBA preferably or Degree educated / relevant qualification OR strong technical experience due to years spent within the industry.
5+ years of experience at the management level in a Manufacturing environment. (Preferably Lighting sector)
Strong technical background/experience in Project Management, Estimating, Design, Commissioning, Customer Service, Trouble Shooting, Quality Control.
Experience in commercial construction and building services specification sales.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Other:

  • Knowledgeable about Building Lighting, Lighting Control, Day lighting, BMS, HVAC, Engineering Facades, etc.
    Strong contractual acumen: Tender Proposals; Account Negotiation; Financial Customer Interaction.
    Key Personal attributes: Driven, Self-Motivated, High Energy, Tenacity and someone striving for a challenge in a ‘hands on’ environment.

Sound like you? Apply today - Interviewing NOW !

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Apply for this job today OR TALK TO US +44 (0)1252 759007


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Ten of my favourite ‘Man Sings, Woman Dances’ songs

Sometime back, I was watching Dil Hi Toh Hai, and for the first time, actually paid attention to the scenario and picturization of the classic Laaga chunari mein daag. Raj Kapoor, in disguise, plays a classical singer who prides himself on singing such complex tunes that no accompanying dancer can match him. That sparked off a memory: the situation in Madhuban mein Radhika naache re is similar—it’s a faceoff between a singer (a man) and a dancer (a woman).

And that led to memories of other songs, all with a similar setting: a man singing, a woman dancing. A good enough theme for a post, I thought—especially as I could think of some superb songs that would fit right in. I only had to set down some rules for myself, and these (besides my usual one of including only songs from pre-70s films that I’ve seen) would be that in each of these songs, the man shouldn’t dance, and the woman shouldn’t sing.

Also, the man must be physically present in the picturization of the song (which is why the popular Tu hai mera prem devtaa doesn’t feature in this list, even though I like it).

Man sings, woman dances

Continue reading

Ten of my favourite Ravi songs

This was not what I’d planned as my next post. But I learnt this morning that Ravi – the man who composed some wonderful tunes from the 50s and 60s – is no more. He passed away yesterday, the 7th of March, just four days after his 86th birthday. Ravi (born Ravi Shankar Sharma) also had a teeny-weeny link with my family. Like my uncle, he too sang part of the chorus for Vande Mataram!

More importantly, though, Ravi made a name for himself as a composer of songs that ranged from dreamily romantic to peppy, madcap to devotional (Ravi himself learnt how to sing by listening to his father sing bhajans when Ravi was a child).

Continue reading

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HGVC Trump International Hotel Las Vegas

2650 South Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV United States
Reservations: 702-765-8300

Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Trump International Hotel Las Vegas is just a few feet away from the exciting Vegas nightlife. Enjoy 5 star dining and unforgetable city views from the golden glass 64-story tower building.
From studio to 2-bedroom suites, all units feature lavish accommodations, whirlpool tubs and complimentary internet access. Studios have kitchenettes, while the suites offer fully-equipped kitchens.

Resort Features

  • Bar
  • BBQ Area
  • Car Rental
  • Casino
  • Children's Pool
  • Drug Store
  • Elevator
  • Golf
  • Grocery Store
  • Handicap Accessible Units
  • Health Club
  • Hiking
  • Horseback Riding
  • Internet Access
  • Laundry Room
  • Live Entertainment
  • Maid Service
  • Medical Facilities
  • Movie Theater
  • Outdoor Pool
  • Restaurant
  • Shopping Area
  • Spa Services
  • Swimming
  • Video Rental
  • Whirlpool/Hot Tub
Nothing to display


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Category:Proposed coal plants in the Middle East and North Africa

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text:
Morning shows the day

Published: April 21, 2016 22:15:50 | Updated: October 24, 2017 05:33:12

A very important report on irregularities in the construction work at our Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant published in a local English daily on April 17 deserves national awareness. As reported it appears that 'rot' has already started in this crucial and highly dangerous (in terms of radiation leakages) atomic power plant project work at Rooppur. According to the report, the beginning of the game of 'passing the buck on' has started. The civil construction work till date is below par. The reporter noted that the direction of opening the valve wheel for supply of critical fire fighting water is wrong as per local, British and US standards.
This is a huge mistake for people and fire fighters of Bangladesh. Although the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) has asked the Russian executing authority "Atomstroyexport" to correct it, nothing has happened as yet. It was not reported, if they have acknowledged receipt of the complaint from BAEC.
Under the contract with the Russians, only companies approved by Atomstroyexport will be allowed to work in this project as reported by the Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Science & Technology. This writer feels that in our national interest, follow-up of the activities around this critically dangerous construction site should be maintained by newspapers. We must have experienced supervisors from UK, Europe, US or Japan appointed by us at this critical site. I am afraid, this could be the beginning of another future disaster that may be worse than Chernobyl Atomic Power plant disaster.

Engr. S. A. Mansoor, Dhaka.

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Strategy on non-farm activities

Abdul Bayes | Published: December 21, 2015 22:03:58 | Updated: November 01, 2017 08:37:32

Although agriculture still remains the dominant source of rural livelihoods, its relative role in generating income has been falling over time. This is reflected by a slide in the share of the sector in GDP (gross domestic product). The trend is not surprising either as, with economic development, resources tend to move out of agriculture to other sectors. The recent most household level survey data show that non-agricultural income contributes roughly 70 per cent of the rural household income. A recent study of the World Bank (WB) report sheds some light on this particular issue.
Although agriculture still remains important in terms of employment generation, non-farm employment generation will continue to warrant strategies to promote more robust development of the rural non-farm economy. According to the WB report, and as per the 2010 labour force survey, rural non-farm employment in Bangladesh is almost 50 per cent more than all of urban employment put together. Rural non-farm employment is growing faster than urban employment, and three-quarters of rural households have at least some form of non-farm income. Clearly, a high priority to facilitate more rapid economic transformation is to implement strategies for improving the enabling environment for creating better and more productive jobs in the rural non-farm sector.
The WB report suggests a strategy to promote robust development of the rural non-farm economy that should pay attention to the country's secondary cities - loosely called 'growth centres'. Needless to mention, aside from agriculture, rural non-farm sector is driven by connectivity and proximity to urban areas. The need for strategy and policy to focus previously neglected secondary cities is highlighted by an interesting combination of facts. More jobs are located near the mega cities of Dhaka and Chittagong, but the growth has been in informal and seemingly vulnerable jobs, while, surprisingly, the shares of all other (more productive) types of jobs have fallen. Well-connected cities have had positive growth in jobs of better quality (especially businesses). Poorly connected cites have shown no dynamism when it comes to creating employment, drawing attention to the need for infrastructure development.
An emerging concern is that rural non-farm activities do not seem to be growing in scope or sophistication over time. Many rural non-farm activities are still linked to agriculture, consistent with the process of transformation-processing, trading, food preparation, and so on. But the problem is these are not being upgraded. "This stagnation in types and quality of non-farm activities is puzzling, because such activities, especially rural non-farm enterprises, are associated with higher returns. At the same time, the rate of return to rural non-farm enterprises is not associated with urban proximity. It may be that because most rural non-farm enterprises still produce traditional and low-quality products. These cannot compete with cheaper and better quality mass-produced goods. A number of binding constraints bedevil rural non-farm enterprises.  The most important is the lack of credit, although access to and lack of appropriate infrastructure are also important.
"Given that a rapidly growing share of rural non-farm enterprises focuses on trading, especially in agricultural produce, the World Bank report finds markets to be functioning very well. Marketing margins are quite small and reasonable with transport costs as the major source of traders' variable costs. More importantly, the survey found very little evidence of the much-talked-about cartelisation of markets by a few powerful traders fleecing farmers, or other forms of uncompetitive behaviour. Another finding that demystifies another widely-held view is that the physical post-harvest losses are very low (under 5.0 per cent)-much lower than the 30-40 per cent generally quoted".
The WB report further notes that the liberalised markets of Bangladesh also appear to serve both producers and consumers very well. Comparable data on high-value commodities surveyed for this report are limited, but for rice, a recent study comparing Bangladesh, China, and India finds that the share of farm-gate price of rice in the final retail prices is higher in Bangladesh than in either of the other two countries.
Despite modest improvement in market integration as it happened over the years in Bangladesh, the WB report is of the view that improvement in market infrastructure and finance are vital to enable Bangladesh to move to the next level of more modernised and even more efficient supply chains. But that is apparently hardly to come by through the past level of reforms and infrastructural development. Arguably, further investment is needed in roads, electricity infrastructure, and upgrading market facilities. Traders, especially those operating in markets for high-value products, require substantial working capital and better access to finance.
Finally, the WB report provides an insight into the trade-off between availability of rice (staple food) and non-rice crops. In fact, almost the same observations were drawn from repeat household surveys in Bangladesh. Projections indicate that the future supply of rice relative to demand is unlikely to be a major concern, but that the supply of other food groups needs to grow significantly faster than in the past. This has raised important questions for the policy-makers on the strategic priorities for public investments and policy focus.
The prospects for agricultural growth, food security, and nutrition are closely linked. Fortunately, the trade-off appears to be less of an issue now than in the past when self-sufficiency in rice was the overarching imperative. The scope for improving rice yields is substantial especially if farmers succeed in closing the yield gaps for aman and aus crops. With a continued focus on agricultural research to push the production frontier forward and to build agriculture's resilience to climate and biophysical stress, there is a significant potential to release land for much-needed crop diversification.
The writer is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.

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UK Based Intergrated Electronic Marketing

Data Management

Services / Data Management

Data is the key to the success or failure of any marketing campaign and this is increasingly important when dealing with online marketing material.

MailAgent are fully aware of the needs of their clients and their clients requirements to have the flexibility to personalise e-mail campaigns, capture additional data and report on campaign activity.

The MailAgent team work constantly with their customers to assist in the manipulation of data and the bringing together of data from different systems and sources as well as the ongoing refinement of internal processes enabling ongoing consistency and compliance. For many of our clients this results in the integration of the MailAgent System with existing internal systems.

MailAgent will ensure that the core initial data that the client works with is in line with their long term objectives and MailAgent will ensure that their clients remain fully compliant with Data Protection rules.

MailAgent Ltd
John Dickinson Enterprise Centre
London Road Herts. HP3 9QU
Tel: 0333 577 0153
Fax: 01442 242 484

Copyright © 1993-2019 MailAgent Ltd.


text:
She Wrote a Book Once

Kate Flora: As many of you have read, if you’ve followed this blog for a while, my late 5_4mother, A. Carman Clark, published her first mystery, The Maine Mulch Murderfeaturing 60-something freelance editor and gardener Amy Creighton, when she was 83. She and I used to joke that unlike Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter, we published in the reverse order, with mom following in my footsteps.

Writing Maine Mulch resulted, in part, from her complaints to the librarian at the Vose Library in Union that the mysteries she found on the shelf were either too violent for her taste or the characters had lives too opulent or different for a rural Maine farm woman to relate to. The librarian is said to have replied, “If you don’t like what the Vose Library has to offer, why don’t you go home and write one.” And so my mother did.

Although the majority of her writing was articles and essays about country living, as a columnist and home and garden editor for the Camden Herald, she loved reading mysteries and enjoy writing one. Inspired by her publication, she started writing a second Amy Creighton mystery, The Corpse in the Compost. She used to say that she didn’t want her obituary to read: She wrote a book once. At the time of her death, she left a draft manuscript along with my notes, notes from good friend Marilyn Hornidge, and notes from a editor she’d hired to give her advice. The notebook with all that material sat on my shelf for years.

Kate Flora - Maine Mulch Murder- Cover1aTwo summer ago, in the space between my own books, and nudged by Ann and Paula at the Mainely Murders bookstore, who had created a following for Maine MulchI sat down with the manuscript and started editing. As I’ve blogged about before, there were a lot of questions I wanted to ask my mother. As she was unavailable, I had to wing it. I’ll never know whether I made the right choices. But we were close, and I could usually find her “voice” in making changes or amendments to the book.

Last summer, when I went to type the changes into her old file, I discovered I could no longer open it. The result was the slow process of retyping the entire book, and I am far from the world’s best typist. At last, the changes were done. I gave the book to some beta readers, made more changes, and decide that readers who like Amy Creighton’s gardens, cooking, and deep curiosity about people might enjoy some of mom’s old newspaper columns. I found a few that nicely matched the events–and food–in the story, and added them at the end of the book. I then hired a cover designer, the wonderful Dave Fymbo, and a formatter, the patient Jason Anderson, for the ebook and physical book versions.

My target for publication was June, but that kept getting nudged aside by my own books, and by a lovely vacation barge trip on the Canal du Midi. Now, at the end of July, I am happy to say that this memorial act for a wonderful mother and writer is complete, and The Corpse in the Compost is available in print and as an ebook.

This entry was posted in Kate's Posts and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

16 Responses to She Wrote a Book Once

  1. Vida A-J says:

    How absolutely fabulous! I look forward to reading it!

    • Kate Flora says:

      Thanks, Vida. She was an incredible woman, and making the time to do this seemed like a valuable memorial act. As one of my cousins said, you can hear her voice so clearly.

  2. What a lovely story! How wonderful that your mom published at 83 and that you brought her work to the world.

    • Anonymous says:

      Over the years, I have told her story to many writers who feel it is “too late” to realize their dream of writing. She’s quite an inspiration.

  3. Sheryl King says:

    I am looking forward to reading this!

  4. I am reading “The Corpse in the Compost,” and you did a fabulous job. I was friends with your mother for many years, and her voice comes through loud and clear. And beautifully. I am so enjoying this book. I will share this post. I plan to write a short review of it on my blog. And, I have a copy to give to a friend for her birthday. Well done, Kate.

  5. Anonymous says:

    You are very kind, Laurie. So glad you’re enjoying the book.

  6. Lois says:

    What a wonderful gift and remembrance for your mother.

  7. Clea Simon says:

    What a lovely way or remembering her – and a gift to her readers.

  8. sallycootie says:

    What a wonderful story. And now two new books for me to read.

  9. Pingback: She Wrote a Book Once — Maine Crime Writers – Three Rivers Novelties

  10. bethc2015 says:

    Thanks for all your hard work in getting this ediited and published.

  11. This is a great story and wonderful legacy! congrats

    • Paula Keeney says:

      And we couldn’t be happier here at Mainely Murders Bookstore now that we have The Corpse in the Compost on display along with The Maine Mulch Murder. We’ve been telling customers for a long while that “one of these days” we’d have a sequel. Thanks for making it happen, Kate.
      Paula and Ann
      Mainely Murders Bookstore, Kennebunk

  12. Pingback: The Corpse in the Compost | Notes From the Hinterland

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text:
MAKAUT,WB Projects

Home   Academics    Projects

Centre of Excellence in Environmental Technology and Management, Home page

Project Report on Study of Quantum Dot Cellular Automata for designing circuits and implementing them for high speed and low power fault tolerant computing

Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP)

Name Designation Title of the Project Approved on
Dr. Atri Bhowmik Finance Officer, MAKAUT, WB Social-Cost-Benefit Analysis of Privatisation of Engineering & Management Education in West Bengal 16.06.2016
Dr. Madhumita Das Sarkar Faculty, Microelectronics & VLSI Technologies Fabrication of High Density Capacitor using Porous Silicon & High-K Material 16.06.2016
Prof. Sreeparna Banerjee H.O.D of Industrial Engineering and Management Dept. Shape Analysis of Cyclone Cloud Intensity Patterns 16.06.2016
Dr. Koushik Majumder Faculty, Dept. of Information Technology Quality of Service Optimisation in Heterogeneous Network 16.06.2016
Dr. Debashis De H.O.D. of Dept. of CSE & IT Sensor Mobile Cloud Computing: Algorithm, Architecture & Applications 16.06.2016
Prof. Subrata Kumar Dey & Poulami Majumder Pro Vice Chancellor, MAKAUT, WB Study of some Gene Polymorphism and Promoter Methylation in Chronic and Aggressive Periodontitis 08.07.2016
Dr. Jaya Bandyopadhya & Dr. Debashis De H.O.D. of Dept. of Biotechnology Investigation of the physico-chemical properties of Carbon Based nanomaterials and its biological implications with a special relevance for designing a sensor 08.07.2016
Dr. Santanu Phadikar Faculty, Dept. of CSE & IT Agricultural Disease Prediction to Increase Productivity 16.06.2016
Dr. Raja Banerjee H.O.D. of dept. of Bioinformatics Design of anion-binding receptor based on 'CaNN' motif 08.07.2016

Last Updated: 01-11-2019 17:02


text:
Make Stuff.

I am in awe of children. Not just because they’re amazing, funny, adorable and (mostly) sweet and kind and wonderful…

But because they are creative geniuses.

They create with reckless abandon: Free. Unattached. No rules. No expectations.

They aren’t worried about whether or not it looks ‘right’ or if anyone will ‘get it,’ appreciate it, love it or hate it.

They just do it because it’s fun. That’s all. It’s just fun.

I want to create like that.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have a wonderful idea and it looks beautiful and sparkly and perfect as it sits safely inside my head, and then when I try to bring it out, it looks…well…different. Sometimes it loses all of its luster and charm. Sometimes it’s been slaughtered to oblivion by my own lofty expectations. Sometimes it comes out okay, but looks nothing like it did in my imagination. And sometimes it surprises me and comes out even better.

It can be frustrating, but it can also be enchanting, mysterious, and the closest thing to magic that I’ve ever seen.

I wouldn’t consider myself a naturally creative person. I know creative people. I was raised with naturally creative people, and no, I am not one of them. However, that does not mean that I don’t also possess the possibility of creativity…I just have to work a little harder at coaxing it out. So my point is, everybody has the possibility of creativity. Everyone. Including you. The key is to nurture it, honor it, and practice pulling it out of your head and into the world.

What do you like to do? What do you admire that someone else is doing? What do you wish you could do if you had an unlimited source of time and money?

The fact that the desire is there—whether it speaks to you softly or yells out loud—the fact that it is there at all means that it lives in you; breathes in you; loves in you, and has chosen to be expressed through you.

You’ve just got to open yourself up to receive it, and then release it out into the world.

And yes, there will be fear. You may be too terrified to even approach the possibility of bringing your ideas into the world. But let me tell you something:

It doesn’t matter if you can’t do it well.
It doesn’t matter if it’s been done before.
It doesn’t matter if you’re too old, too young, too big, too small, too busy or too scared…

Do it anyway.
You know why?
Because the joy is in doing it.
The joy is in the process of creating.

Create like a kid;
Make it messy.
Make it bold.
Make it unusual.

Make something that makes everyone who thought they knew you; think twice about how well they really know you.

Who knows what will manifest once you begin? Maybe it will be great. Maybe it will suck. Or maybe it will be better than anything you had ever imagined.

It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you create because you love to create—you were born to create. And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Follow your passion and honor what pleases you, because when you do, you’ll unleash your potential and ideas will flow like an open faucet.

Make up.
Make out.
Make love.
Make a baby.
Make something.

Do it badly or do it beautifully.
For only you or everyone else.
Make it big or make it small.

Most importantly, make it fun.

Why you’re a creative genius and a little lesson on dancing

Have you ever visited the same place numerous times, and yet each time you return, you discover something new—something that has always been there, but you’d never noticed before?

Have you ever discovered something completely new and unexpected about someone you’ve known forever?

What about yourself? Have you ever discovered a new desire, a hidden talent or something completely unexpected?

When you begin to listen; really listen to yourself, you’ll discover that you aren’t what you think you are. You are never stuck, you are never dull, and you are certainly never out of options.

In fact, you are a creative genius.

When you start to listen to and observe your ever-changing inner landscape, you’ll discover that you are always taking part in the creative expression that is currently manifesting as your life. You are in a constant state of transition as new cells replace old cells; fresh ideas flush out tired ones; and old habits and behaviors fade away to create space for something new. And when you tune into the continuous flow of your endless creative energy, you’ll start to sync up and learn to dance with it.

When you’re tuned in with yourself and the energy around you, you’ll open space for freedom, ease, and a deeply rooted feeling that you’re right where you need to be. Now, just to be clear, ease isn’t the same thing as easy. Sometimes being in alignment with yourself and the Universe means being stretched, challenged, and placed in difficult situations. So, being in alignment doesn’t always make things ‘easy’. Instead, it gives you a sense that in spite of the challenges and the difficult situations, you’re completely supported, and you can find ease in knowing that this is a part of your life that makes you stronger, or better prepared, or gives you the lessons you need in order to serve in the way you’re meant to serve. The feeling of ease comes when you trust that whatever is happening in your life is bigger than you, and if you stay connected to the way you feel and guide yourself by embodying the way you want to feel, that you’ll come out of any situation stronger, wiser, connected, and ready to offer what you know.

So what happens when you don’t feel in tune with yourself, and rather than dancing in alignment with the Universe, you feel like it’s stepping on your toes?

Well, first of all, if you recognize that something’s a little ‘off’, you’re already making your way back. The most important part of tuning into yourself is recognizing that things aren’t syncing up.

In order to feel the way you want to feel, you’ve got to practice feeling that way.

You want to feel happy? Practice.

You want to feel grateful? Practice.

You want to feel Abundant? Beautiful? Creative?

Practice. Practice. Practice.

Here’s how:

Use your mind to get things rolling. Imagine something that would generate the feelings that you want to feel. But don’t stop there. Keep working with your imagination until the feeling starts to rise up in your body—this is where the magic happens. Feelings send out some serious energetic wavelengths—way more powerful than your thoughts—and those wavelengths attract the experiences into your life that confirm that those feelings are real. So after a while, drop the thoughts and just focus on the feeling—where do you feel it in your body? Is your heart full with love? Is your throat tight with emotion? Is your belly fluttering with excitement? Sit with the feeling for a while and just be present with it. Observe that it is a part of you, and that you are experiencing what you desire, right now.

If the feeling fades when you snap back to reality, just know that your desired feeling is there any time you need it. The more you practice, the easier it will be to conjure up, until you won’t have to conjure up anything anymore because it will become your present reality.

Because here’s the thing: what you want to feel is in line with what the Universe wants you to feel. So when you move toward your desired feelings, you’re moving into alignment with something much bigger than you—something that supports you and wants you to find freedom and ease….and because dancing is fun.

This post originally appeared on my first blog, on March 20, 2015.


text:
This project is an introductory one, introducing hardware designers and hobbyists to development with CloudX.

CloudX PIC microcontroller board - Led blinking...

CloudX development board (M633) is one of the popular PIC based microcontroller development board designed by ByteHub Embedded a Nigerian company, it comes with over 500 library functions which makes it very easy for beginners to start with embedded systems.

In this tutorial we will see how to write our first “Hello World” program which is to blink an LED using the popular CloudX M633 (PIC16F877A chip) development board. So let's get started.

Led blinking circuit diagram...

The CloudX v1.80 development board comes with an on-board LED connected to P1 so that hobbyist can easily test their first digital output project without any breadboard. The SoftCard serves as hardware programmer that allows users to load their Hex file from computer to the controller board using the CloudX loader software. The positive terminal (Anode +) of the LED is connected to the P1 of the microcontroller through a resistor 220Ω and the negative terminal (Cathode -) of the LED is connected to ground (GND).

In our code, we will turn ON Pin 1 for one second and turn OFF for another one second, the program will keep repeating the loop forever (until the power is on).

You need to download and install CloudX IDE for this, download link is provided below:

        #include <CloudX\M633.h>

setup() {
  //Setup here

  loop() {
    //Program here
    pin1 = HIGH;
    pin1 = LOW;

In the first section of this program (the setup part), we initialized the pin P1 as output pin, which implies that it can be used for driving LEDs, Transistors, Relays or Buzzers etc. In the second section we are making an infinite loop using loop() and making the pin HIGH and LOW with a delay of 1000 milliseconds. So in effect the connected LED will glow for 1 second and it will turn off for 1 second alternatively.

CloudX IDE

CloudX IDE...

let’s compile our project. To do this, click on the ‘Build’ button icon. Information about the build process will appear in the ‘Messages’ section. If project is successfully built, then compiler generates files like COFF, Hex, and LST etc., inside the same folder where your project is saved. In case you get ‘Build Failed’ in the messages section then you can scroll up and read the error messages so as to get hints for possible errors. Hints for errors are always in red in color.

Flashing Our Program

CloudX code loader...

After successfully building your project, you can load the hex file (the machine code) into the microcontroller board.

Click on the ‘Load’ icon to open the ‘CloudX Loader’. It automatically detects the COM port of the CloudX Board if connected to your computer. You can manually select the COM port from the ‘Selected COM Port’ drop down menu.

Click on the Browse button to select the hex file and then click the Upload button to load the code into the controller. You can see that the LED starts blinking immediately after uploading the code.

Final Hardware

CloudX PIC microcontroller board - led blinking


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Black PLA Filament – 1.75 mm

Black PLA Filament – 1.75 mm

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  • Description
  • Additional information
  • Reviews (2)

MakeShaper’s Black PLA filament for 3D printers allow you to make anything. Our PLA (Polylactic Acid) is made in the USA and features the following qualities essential to any maker:

  • FDA-approved polymers and colorants
  • UV-stable
  • Laser-gauged tolerances
  • Small batch production
  • Vacuum-sealed with desiccant in moisture barrier bag
  • Contaminant-free
  • Consistent color

PLA Settings

  • Optimal Print Temp: 190°-215° C
  • Bed Temperature: 40°-60° C
  • Print Speed: 25-100mm/sec
  • Pantone Black C
Spool Sizes10 Kilograms5 Kilograms2.25 Kilograms1 Kilogram650 Grams220 Grams
Hub Diameter (mm)-53.9853.9852.7152.7153.90
Spool Diameter (mm)406.4304.80298.45203.20212152.40
Spool Thickness (mm)390.53184.15117.4873.154035.44

Additional information

650 Grams, 1 Kilogram, 2.25 Kilograms, 5 Kilograms

2 reviews for Black PLA Filament – 1.75 mm

  1. 4 out of 5

    Kristin Browning-Mezel

    High quality, consistent performance filament. Running it on Makerbot 2’s with no issues. Biggest challenge with the x-large roll is preventing it from unspooling when the roll is new. This led to several instances of a tangled mess and worst case breakage during prints. You’ll likely need a jig or fixture to keep this from happening on the x-large roll. This would have been good to know prior to purchase, hence this review.

    • Admin

      Thank you for your feedback! We understand the frustration with filament unspooling from the roll and we attempt to mitigate this by shipping it with stretch wrap. Now that we know this is a problem we will be actively working on a solution.

  2. 5 out of 5

    Michael Czeiszperger

    This is my goto filament for everyday use. The quality is incredible for the money, and it works perfectly every time.

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Country is in safe hands, PM Modi a decisive leader: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Nov 23 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the country is in safe hands, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a decisive leader, who doesn't hesitate to take decisions.

"Have faith that the country is safe. Our Prime Minister is of firm conviction ... decisive who doesn't hesitate to take decisions. It is certainly a matter of pride for our countrymen...India's respect has grown in the international community," said Singh.

"When the people see their economic interest, they might be looking at the US but now they see it in India too," the Defence Minister added while addressing an event here.

Recalling an incident from his tenure as the Education Minister of the state, Singh said: "We don't do politics just for forming the government but for the society and country."

Later during an interaction with the people, the Defence Minister termed India as the world's most attractive destination from the investment point of view.

Commenting on the NRC process, Singh said: "When I was the Home Minister, the NRC work began. Though it has been completed, there is the information of deficiencies."

"Now our government is thinking that NRC should be implemented in the entire country so that we get to know who is 'Swadeshi' and who is 'Videshi," he said. (ANI)


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Monkey Business

Tonight, while preparing dinner, Gracen came into the kitchen and asked for apple treats (dried apple pear slices from our backyard tree) as a snack. Dinner was still a ways off, so I agreed and she retrieved the large ziploc bag of them from the cupboard.  Now normally, I would take a few out and put them in a bowl for her, but since I was elbow deep in raw chicken (ew – the one thing I detest about cooking), I let her walk out with the entire bag.  The house was quiet afterwards, and presumably my Little Miss had gone back to reading, this time while enjoying some dried fruit.  I continued about my dinner making and a few more minutes later, Grae came into the kitchen, opened the garbage can, and placed the empty large ziploc bag inside and announced, “All done!”  I was about to applaud her for remembering to put her garbage away, and then it hit me… It was a big bag filled with a massive amount of dried apples. There was no way  she had polished them off in one sitting.  So where were they then?  Upon asking, she broke out into a fit of giggles and shouted “Clum!” (come).  I followed her to her bedroom to find this…

IMG 7954IMG 7951Doesn’t she look concerned about the mess she’s made?! Ya, right. After a little chat about dumping food all over the floors, we agreed that we needed to get a bag so that she could pick them all up.

IMG 7957IMG 7958IMG 7960

IMG 7961I left her in her room, with her bag and apple-covered carpet sneaking peeks {and photos} from the doorway every now and then.  And you know what? The little monkey picked every single last apple up without any help or reminding.

Problem solved, I went back to my cooking and she went back to her playing…

Until I went to talk to her a few minutes later and couldn’t find her, that is.  As a last resort, I opened our bedroom door, and guess who I found…

IMG 7963The little monkey back at it!  She had opened our bedroom door (this is new – up until now, she just respected the fact that a door was closed and continued about her merry way), closed it behind her, climbed up onto our bed, and made herself comfy with Papa’s iPad.  Goodness gracious!

Not to mention the fact that our day started out with her creating this smashing outfit for herself (pajama shirt, tights, sparkly shoes, and a swim hat at the time) and  her announcing that she was ready to go for a bike ride.

Oh, and I can’t forget the fact that the day’s been littered with “buzz off’s”, a choice phrase that sounds strangely like her Grandma Charlotte, due to a fly being in the house.

Oh, the monkey business!

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Archive | Uncategorized

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Social Skills

Developing Strong Social Skills in Children (603) 625-5835 Manchester, NH 03103 371 South Willow Street – 2nd floor Manchester Karate Studio While parents and teachers to provide a good environment for kids to grow in, some kids need extra attention in developing their social skills. Socials skills are important as they allow children to understand good relationships and maintain cordial […]

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Date: 17th February 2017 at 4:49pm
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As Manchester United get set to take on Blackburn Rovers in an FA Cup 5th round tie, we`ve delved into the record and form books to bring you a raft of fascinating facts.

? The last time the two clubs met in the FA Cup was back in the 1984 / 1985 season. On that occasion Manchester United won 2-0, in the fifth round stage, whilst also going on to win the FA Cup that season.

? The last time Blackburn Rovers beat Manchester United in the FA Cup was at the 6th round stage back in the 1927 / 1928 season, that season Blackburn Rovers went on to lift the famous trophy.

? On the last six occasions Manchester United have visited Ewood Park they`ve not lost winning 3 and drawing 3.

? Approaching this fixture, Blackburn Rovers are on a poor run of form, the last 4 fixtures have produced 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses.

? Blackburn have won the FA Cup 5 times in their history.

? On Blackburn`s books is Wes Brown, the defender played for Manchester United in 3 FA Cup Finals, winning 1 and losing 2. The win came in 2004 and the losses in 2005 and 2007.

? United are on a good run of form, winning 4 of their last 5 games in all competitions.

? On the road, the last 9 fixtures have seen United win 6, draw 2 and lose just 1

? In the two previous rounds Manchester United have won 4-0, beating the Championship teams Reading and Wigan by that score.

? The last time Manchester United lost an FA Cup away fixture against opposition from a lower division was way back in the 1983 / 1984 season when they were beaten by a Bournemouth side managed by Harry Redknapp.


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How My Former Colorist Always Made My Experience in His Chair Uncomfortable

Among the perks of getting your hair done are endless pours of champagne, plenty of time to check your email and an essentially free therapy session.

Unfortunately for me, I had a colorist who made my experience in his chair the furthest thing from enjoyable. What’s even stranger about the whole thing is that we were good friends! you’d think I’d be thrilled to see him at his workplace. But instead, this is in fact where his true colors came through. He’s one of the most jealous, judgmental, negative people I think I’ve ever been friends with, and needless to stay, our relationship (personally and professionally) came to a halt as time went on.

He had recently underwent some major lifestyle changes when things got really bad. The changes he made were actually incredibly beneficial, and everyone commended his efforts to better himself. I get that when you make changes in your life, you may not want to continue in all the same friendships or situations, but he really took things to the next level. Instead of continuing to focus on bettering himself, he was so concerned with everyone around him, and for no reason.

Aside from the fact that he insisted on coloring my hair his way only (that’s a whole other story that I’ll be writing about in the future), he would always ask the same dumb questions as soon as I sat in his chair. First he’d ask how my “husband” is doing—a sarcastic nod to my best guy friend who he always despised for a reason none of us could ever pinpoint except jealousy. Then he’d sarcastically ask if I went out partying over the weekend. If I suggested I did something social that called for a 21+ ID, he’d berate me for my habits. Then he’d ask if I’d hung out with this couple he introduced who he used to be friends with. I always felt nervous saying yes out of fear for his judgey response, which was usually along the lines of something like, “They stopped talking to me because I don’t like to go out anymore, and they party too much.” I would smile and nod, thinking, “No, they stopped talking to you because you’re a hater.”

He gave me discounts because we were friends, and once I insisted that I didn’t want him coloring my hair the shade he swore by, he sarcastically told me to get it done by his former employee, following it up with: “But if you ever come back to me, don’t expect a discount.” Whoa. So, yeah, that kind of made everything easier on me anyway. I told him that I would, in fact, go to this other person, and I’ve been going to her ever since. Once that transition happened, we had lunch once for his birthday (four years ago) and literally haven’t spoken since. The whole thing has definitely made me appreciate my current hairstylists and my experiences in their chair!

Speaking of that colorist, HERE‘s the best color (or cut) for you, based on your zodiac sign!

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☎ • 09-6366-291
Flax wrapped Sympathy Bouquet

Flax wrapped Sympathy Bouquet

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White or pastel flowers wrapped in a flax mat suitable for sympathy. Stunning and elegant.

Please note that for fresh cut flowers, pictures are a guide. Exact content varies based on what is in season and available to us. Please advise in Special Instructions at checkout if you require anything specific.
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FESTIVAL(1)                 General Commands Manual                FESTIVAL(1)

       festival_client - client access to festiva; text-to-speech server mode

       festival_client [options] [file0] [file1] ...

       Allows sending commands and/or test to a festival test-to-speech
       server.  Festival may be started in server mode using the option

       festival-clinet allows waveforms ot be generated faster as not time is
       required for start up.  See the festival manual for more details on
       recommended use.

       -q      Load no default setup files

       --libdir <string>
               Set library directory pathname

       -b      Run in batch mode (no interaction)

       --batch Run in batch mode (no interaction)

       --tts   Synthesize text in files as speech no files means read from
               stdin (implies no interaction by default)

       -i      Run in interactive mode (default)

               Run in interactive mode (default)

       --pipe  Run in pipe mode, reading commands from stdin, but no prompt or
               return values are printed (default if stdin not a tty)

       --language <string>
               Run in named language, default is english, spanish and welsh
               are available

               Run in server mode waiting for clients of server_port (1314)

               <ifile> Used in #! scripts, runs in batch mode on file and
               passes all other args to Scheme

       --heap <int> {500000}
               Set size of Lisp heap, should not normally need to be changed
               from its default

       -v      Display version number and exit

               Display version number and exit

       This still isn't as general as it should be.  It seems to require lots
       of special little options which suggests the general options aren't

       Alan W Black and Paul Taylor
       (C) Centre for Speech Technology Research
       University of Edinburgh
       80 South Bridge
       Edinburgh EH1 1HN

                                 1st Aug 1997                      FESTIVAL(1)


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high school

Employment Pipeline Gets a Boost – NHCTE

Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act - One of the biggest challenges facing employers today is how to connect with today’s students to create a working employment pipeline.…
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Matt Jiggins / Flickr

How To Enable Wi-Fi Calling in Google Voice

In terms of connectivity, Wi-Fi calling is the holy grail when it comes to staying connected abroad. It’s also part of the reason that make WhatsApp so great.

However, if you’ve been tethered to a Google Voice number for whatever reason—such as the need to keep a U.S. number for business purposes—this newest addition should be a godsend for that hashtag digital nomad life.

Last week, Google announced that they’re officially opening it up to beta, allowing users interested to sign up for the new feature. For those interested in making cheaper international calls, it’s another cost-effective alternative while roaming. (For instance, it is far cheaper to use T-Mobile’s free data roaming than it is to use its flat-rate international calling price.)

Interested users can sign up through a Google Form. In short, it took us five days from signing up to getting off the list. Once approved, users will have to make the changes in their Google Voice settings via the mobile app to enable the feature.

So far, it is only works on Android and the Web, and the call quality is noticeably a bit different, but it does work well. Google promises iOS support will come soon.

Since it is not yet an official feature or completely perfected yet, here’s a list of current bugs:

Known Issues

  • Obihai devices won’t work if you enable calling over Wi-Fi (e.g. Incoming calls won’t ring your Obihai phone if you turn on calling over Wi-Fi and mobile data)
  • You won’t be able to use incoming call options (call recording & call transfer) when you enable calling over Wi-Fi and mobile data
  • On your computer, Wi-Fi calling only work with Chrome. Support for Firefox, Safari and Edge coming soon
  • Android bluetooth support:
    • You won’t be able to use the buttons on your bluetooth device to answer calls or hang up
    • Unable to use earpiece mode when a bluetooth device is paired
    • Depending on your Android version, your calls might drop if you try to switch between Bluetooth and speakerphone
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owns the city

Maqbool Mirza

who owns the city…

People never thought of making cities and they never thought of building cities as of history…. they were quite just looking for shelters… cities are not of people … and people are not of cities…. with their unknowing birth place they just kept on coming and going ,,, thinking themselves as custodians of universe and […]

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Williams’ Smart Open House in Lebanon County Confounds Antis

Anti-drillers are so predictable. When they’re denied a public forum where they can squeal and moan and put on a “look at me” show, they get all testy. Which is why the way Williams conducts their public open houses is so utterly brilliant. Instead of hosting the typical “3 people on the stage addressing the crowd” followed by an open microphone where anti-drilling zombies get up to read their talking points, Williams sends about 75 representatives to a local school or fire house, rolls out miles of maps, and talks one-on-one with residents–to address specific questions and concerns. That’s the way they did it last night at the Annville-Cleona High School (Lebanon County, PA) with the Atlantic Sunrise Expansion project. And sure enough, anti-drillers from the so-called “Lebanon Pipeline Awareness” complained they couldn’t show off their drama skills at the meeting last night…

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At Marcia Mediation we believe that separation doesn't end with divorce - it's all part of a longer journey towards happiness which is why we provide ongoing post-divorce care to support you along this new path.

The nature of after-divorce care can be quite different from the divorce mediation sessions you may have attended during your separation. But the principles remain the same. Accredited and experienced family mediators helping you to make the important decisions about the future of your family, the happiness of your children if you have any, and the responsibilities you share with your ex-partner.

What is after divorce care?

After-divorce care is exactly as the name suggests. We offer ongoing support services, mediation and general guidance for individuals who have separated from a married partner or a civil partner.

This support is available regardless of your former circumstances and our post-divorce care clients include:

  • Same-sex and mixed-sex couples.
  • Parents and childless couples.
  • Unconventional households.

We are not here to judge the circumstances of your former relationship, your separation or your current lifestyle; we are here to provide you with the support you need to move forward.

How does it work?

We provide the post-divorce support you need to keep a positive outlook on life after you separate from your spouse or civil partner.

That can take a variety of different forms, for example:

Financial Planning

Separating can put a strain on family finances and on individual lifestyles after divorce. We can refer you to an independent financial advisor (IFA) who can help you to manage your finances more comfortably as an individual.

This can help with day to day spending, but also with bigger financial decisions, such as how to divide a shared pension pot with your ex-partner and how to invest for your own future to boost your income in later life.

You’ll need somewhere to live after your divorce, and with the help of a mortgage advisor you may be able to become a homeowner in your own right, rather than having to move into rented accommodation.

Mortgage approval can be more difficult as an individual than part of a dual income couple, and you might not have clear proof of your individual income for the last few years of your relationship, so professional guidance can make a big difference to getting a new place of your own.

Children respond differently to their parents’ separation. Mediation helps to engage them in the divorce process itself, but the future can still seem uncertain so it can be helpful for young people to know mediators are still there to help.

We can help with emerging issues like after-divorce child custody disputes or any changes that are needed to the previously agreed conditions, such as where the child lives or how much time they spend with each parent.

If appropriate, we can also refer you to experienced, professional childcare practitioners who can provide specialist services as required to help you move forwards positively.

Divorce mediation always aims to make separation a less stressful process, but adapting to the upheaval can still be challenging and deeply upsetting. Counselling can help you to deal with any negative emotions and find your optimism again.

Many individuals see a counsellor following their divorce or civil partnership dissolution – it can be a valuable stepping stone in your journey and help to put you back in touch with your enthusiasm and excitement for what lies ahead.

Meeting People

One of the biggest and most unexpected impacts of separation on some people is how it affects your friendship group, especially if most of your friends are other couples or people you have only known during your relationship with your spouse or civil partner.

If separation causes these friendships to become more difficult or leaves you outside of that friendship circle, we can help you to find new interests and new people who share them, or to meet people in your area who are going through similar experiences.

Life Coaching

Finally, life coaching can help you to build your confidence, identify and focus on your goals, and get your life moving forwards in a specific direction.

At Marcia Mediation we have close connections with Smart Works, an organisation that helps women to re-enter the workplace if you have been out of work for a considerable length of time, by providing practical advice on everything from writing a CV to what to wear.

We can help men too – so whatever your gender and whatever the lasting impact of your relationship and separation, we are here to provide you with the support you need to set clear goals for your future and move on from your dissolution or divorce with dignity.

Why choose Marcia Mediation?

We are incredibly proud of our post-divorce care services and aim to offer significantly more than you will find available from other family mediators.

From a single after-divorce mediation session to help you take the first steps along your new path as an individual, to multiple mediator meetings and related services that help you throughout your new journey, we are here for you.

We believe that separation – whether by divorce, civil partnership dissolution or from an unmarried partner – should not leave anyone feeling isolated and alone, when there are professionals waiting to help you and new friends waiting to meet you.

If anything, separation is the ideal opportunity to identify what you want from the next phase of your life, and to go get it without being held back by the strain of a failing relationship or an unsupportive partner.

But everyone can benefit from a second opinion and some independent advice at times, and that’s what we aim to provide from the biggest issues like after-divorce child custody and re-entering the world of work, to the ‘small stuff’ like evening classes and interest groups.

Our caring and experienced team welcomes all enquiries, so whatever part of your new life you feel uncertain about, Marcia Mediation are here to help provide you with some added confidence for the future.

Meet Marcia

A pioneer for mediation since commencing legal practice as a family solicitor some seventeen years ago, Marcia has worked exclusively as an independent mediator since 2004, focussing initially on family mediation, and latterly on work place mediation.

Marcia’s accreditations include Family Mediation and she is a qualified child consultant practitioner. Her associations include the Professional Mediators Association and Resolution.

Get in touch for an initial consultation

If you have any questions, call us on 0161 425 3940 or fill out this form

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Category: Periodization

Monitoring training load: Quo vadis? #3

The first two posts dealt with inexpensive and more expensive methods. I will now discuss the use of psychometric tools to get another dimension of monitoring training loads. I have not discussed the use of GPS or similar technologies, but will cover this in the next post.

I really want to present some info on various tools currently used and discuss pros and cons of them.

Profile of Mood States (POMS)

The Profile of Mood States (POMS) is a psychological rating scale used to assess transient, distinct mood states. The original scale, developed by McNair et al, has 65 items describing feelings people have.  There is a brief version,  comprising 11 of the original POMS items, developed by Cella et al, in 1987.  However, this version (Brief POMS) provides only one score for overall psychological distress.  There is yet another version called the short form of the Profile of Mood States (POMS-SF) developed by Shacham in 1983.  The short form version contains 37 items, selected from the original POMS.  It retains the six subscale information provided by POMS. The POM–Bipolar is the newest addition to the POMS. It measures moods and feelings primarily in clinical rather than nonclinical settings. It can help to determine an individual’s psychiatric status for therapy, or be used to compare mood profiles associated with various personality disorders. In nonclinical settings, the POMS–Bipolar can assess mood changes produced by techniques such as psychotherapy or meditation.

Here it is possible to download a POMS scale.

This scale has been used in a variety of populations with more than 2000 studies being performed using it. However there is a paucity of data on athletes and its links to other measures of overtraining and overreaching.

The POMS assessments are self-report inventories in which respondents rate a series of mood states (such as "Untroubled" or "Sorry for things done") based on how well each item describes the respondent’s mood during one of three time frames (i.e., during the past week, including today; right now; other). Normative data are based on the "during the past week, including today" time frame. The POMS Standard form contains 65 items and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The respondent rates each item on a 5-point scale ranging from “Not at all” to “Extremely”. The POMS Brief form, which is ideal for use with patients for whom ordinary tasks can be difficult and time-consuming, uses the same scale as the POMS Standard form, but contains only 30 items. It takes only 5 minutes to complete. Both the POMS Standard and POMS

Brief assessments measure six identified mood factors:

• Tension-Anxiety
• Depression-Dejection
• Anger-Hostility
• Vigor-Activity
• Fatigue-Inertia
• Confusion-Bewilderment

The POMS-Bi form contains 72 items and uses a 4-point scale. It takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Responses for the POMS-Bi range from “Much unlike this” to “Much like this”. Unlike the other POMS assessments, the POMS-Bi measures both positive and negative affects. For each of the six bipolar scales, one pole represents the positive aspects of the dimension while the other pole refers to the negative aspects:

• Composed-Anxious
• Agreeable-Hostile
• Elated-Depressed
• Confident-Unsure
• Energetic-Tired
• Clearheaded-Confused

Since 1971, numerous research studies have provided evidence for the predictive and construct validity of the POMS Standard and POMS Brief assessments. Alpha coefficient and other studies have found the POMS Standard and POMS Brief to exhibit a highly satisfactory level of internal consistency, while product moment correlations indicate a reasonable level of test-retest reliability. Factor analytic replications provide evidence of the factorial validity of the 6 mood factors, and an examination of the individual items defining each mood state supporting the content validity of the factor scores. Studies have also supported the bipolar nature of moods measured by the POMS-Bi assessment, and reliability studies have shown that POMS-Bi items demonstrate sufficient internal consistency.

One of the first encouraging studies by O’Connor et al. (1989) examined POMS scores and resting salivary cortisol levels in 14 female college swimmers during progressive increases and decreases in training volume, and were compared to the same measures in eight active college women who served as controls. Training volume increased from 2,000 yards/day in September (baseline) to a peak of 12,000 yards/day in January (overtraining), followed by a reduction in training (taper) to 4,500 yards/day by February. The swimmers experienced significant alterations in tension, depression, anger, vigor, fatigue and global mood across the training season compared to the controls. Salivary cortisol was significantly greater in the swimmers compared to the controls during baseline and overtraining, but was not different between the groups following the taper. Salivary cortisol was significantly correlated with depressed mood during overtraining (r = .50) but not at baseline or taper. Global mood, depression, and salivary cortisol were significantly higher during the overtraining phase in those swimmers classified as stale, compared to those swimmers who did not exhibit large performance decrements.

This was one of the initial studies suggesting a link between increasing training workloads, POMS scores and cortisol responses advocating the possibility of using this psychometric tool to understand how athletes were coping with training loads.

Urhausen et al. (1998) found that the parameters of mood state at rest as well as the subjective rating of perceived exertion during exercise were significantly impaired during overtraining in a follow up study with endurance athletes.

Filaire et al. (2001) used POMS together with endocrine markers to study soccer players and found that in such group decreased testosterone to cortisol ratio does not automatically lead to a decrease in team performance or a state of team overtraining. However, they suggested that combined psychological and physiological changes during high-intensity training are primarily of interest when monitoring training stress in relation to performance.

It seems therefore clear that POMS has the potential to be used to assess how athletes cope with training loads and POMS score can potentially have a link with hormonal  imbalances.

REST Q Questionnaire

The Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes [RESTQ-Sport] is a questionnaire reported to identify the extent to which athletes are physically or mentally stressed and their current perception of recovery (Kellmann & Kallus, 2000 and Kellmann & Kallus 2001). It has been used by many individuals and organizations throughout the world and can therefore be reasonably estimated to have been used on at least several thousand high-performance athletes as a diagnostic tool to detect under-recovery states and to plan recovery practices. The predecessor of this psychometric tool was a General Recovery-Stress Questionnaire (Kallus, 1995) formulated on the idea that people will respond differently to physiological and psychological demands depending on how well-rested they are when faced with these demands.

The RESTQ-Sport was constructed based on the notion that an athlete well recovered may perform better than one who is under-recovered. However, theoretical and practical concerns governed the methods used to determine the 19 subscales of the RESTQ-Sport (Kellmann & Kallus, 2000 and Kellmann & Kallus, 2001) used an a priori method of identifying each of the subscales, combining to form several scales that reflect various aspects of stress and recovery. The RESTQ-Sport was developed through research in the area of stress for the General Scale, and the Sport Scale was comprised of items observed to coincide with stress or recovery states in athletes (Kellmann & Kallus, 2001).

The test consists of 7 stress scales, and 5 recovery scales.

The scales are:

General stress
Emotional stress
Social stress
Lack of energy
Physical complaints
Social recovery
Physical recovery
General well-being
Sleep quality
Disturbed breaks
Burnout/emotional exhaustion
Fitness/being in shape
Burnout/personal accomplishment

If you are interested in knowing more about this test and have a software to score the results, I strongly suggest you buy Dr. Kellmann’s and Kallus’ book at Human Kinetics. The book also contains a software to score the questionnaire and provide you with a graph.

The graph normally looks like this one presented by James Marshall in his blog:

Figure 1

However, you can develop your own spreadsheet to score it and graph it as I did.

Many studies have shown how valid and reliable this test is. However one of the most interesting ones was published by Jurimae et al. (2004). They studied the effects of increasing training loads in competitive rowers and found significant relationships between training volume and Fatigue scores (r=0.49), Somatic Complaints (r=0.50} and Sleep Quality (r=-0.58) at the end of heavy training. In addition, significant relationships were also observed between cortisol and Fatigue scores (r=0.48) at the end of heavy training as well as between changes in cortisol and changes in Fatigue (r=0.57) and Social Stress (r=0.51).

It should be pointed out that this test cannot be performed every day as it asks the athlete about how often the respondent participated in various activities during the preceding three days/nights. A Likert-type scale is used with values ranging from 0 (never) to 6 (always) to rank the frequency of activities/experiences of the preceding 3 days/nights.

BORG scale and perception of effort

The concept of perceived exertion was introduced half a century ago and an operational definition presented with methods to measure different aspects of perceived effort, strain and fatigue. One very common method is the RPE-Scale for "Ratings of Perceived Exertion" ("the Borg Scale") officially known now as the "Borg RPE Scale®".

As Professor Borg explains: “Stevens’ "Ratio (R) scaling methods for determinations of S-R-functions have been improved in order not only to obtain relative functions but also direct ("absolute") levels of intensity. This was done by placing verbal anchors, from simple category (C) scales (rank order scales) such as "very weak", "moderate", "strong" etc at the best possible position on a ratio scale, a "CR-scale", covering the total subjective dynamic range, so that a congruence in meaning was obtained between the numbers and the anchors”.

If you are really interested in this you should read Dr. Elisabet Borg’s thesis here where she presents the innovative approach to develop the "Borg CR100 Scale®" (also called the "centiMax Scale"). I had the pleasure to listen to her lecture last year in Italy and I was impressed by the quality of work she has done to follow up her father’s intuitions on the original rate of perceived exertion.

You can read more about Dr. Elisabet Borg here and about Professor Gunnar Borg here.

Recommendations to use a "Borg Scale" is given by many professional societies, e.g. American Heart Association, American Thoracic Society, American College of Sports Medicine, British Association for Cardiac Rehabilitation

These scales can be obtained from the firm: "Borg Perception", Gunnar Borg, Rädisvägen 124, 165 73 Hässelby, Sweden. Phone 46-8-271426.

Other alternatives

There are various tools out there these days such as the following ones:

  • Life Stress (LESCA)
  • State trait anxiety inventory (STAI)
  • Athletic coping skills inventory (ACSI)

however I have no experience in using them…maybe some of you readers know more and what to write comments about any of them?

Enough info now for psychometric tools…next post will cover aspects connected to strength, power and speed.

Monitoring training load in Team Sports: Quo vadis? #1

It is the beginning of the season for many team sports and it is the typical time when sports scientists start to struggle with manipulating the training load and making sure the players can survive a long season producing great performances.

I will try to analyse the current trends in the literature and provide some comments and some possible advice on how to put in place a meaningful and practical monitoring system to be able to inform the coaching process.

It is widely recognised that appropriate periodisation of training is fundamental for
optimal performance in sport. Until recently, it has been very difficult to quantify the
training loads (TLs) in team sports players due to the difficulty in measuring the various types of stress encountered during training and competition. Wearable sensors and well established psychometric tools as well as easy access to field-based biochemistry nowadays allow the collection of various data to be able to quantify and understand the training load as well as track the progression of the players’ performances. This can provide the basis for a critical assessment of the training process and feedback to the players and coaching staff of the progression.

Few comments before discussing the methods for data collection.

Training monitoring is becoming a standard operating procedure for many strength and conditioning coaches and sports scientists which is a good thing. However there are certain aspects that needs to be taken into consideration in order to understand the limitations of some training monitoring approaches as well as the potential of such methods to impact practice.

The latter is the most important aspect to be taken into consideration. Training monitoring becomes a useful thing to do ONLY if guides practice and informs the coaching process. Otherwise it becomes just a data collection exercise. I have seen many S&C coaches use a variety of tools and tests and despite the fact they have some nice continuous data it is clear that such data did not affect practice as training programmes continued in the same way despite the information available on training load and some effects.

So, first rule: training monitoring is a great way to understand how much work your athletes are doing and how they cope with it. Great thing to do only if it helps you in changing and evaluating your training plans.

The other aspect to consider is the limitations of what you measure, when you measure it and how many time  you measure it. All this information helps in understanding what the information tells you and what parameter of your training programme you should change according to the results observed.

Training monitoring needs two main parameters to be measured:

1) The amount of training your athlete is performing (the INPUT)

2) How the athlete is coping with the amount of training (the OUTPUT)

The INPUT can be measured in various ways and should contain some information on how much work the athlete has performed (such weights lifted in each session, distance covered in training and also the perception of how hard the session has been). The list can be more extensive, but frankly your ability to collect more and better data is limited by the equipment you have access to. Heart rate monitors, GPS and accelerometers, power meters in the gym are all available nowadays and allow a lot of measurements to be collected in team sports to help you gain more info on the intensity and the amount of training performed. I have presented few technologies in this blog and aim to do more in the future, so plenty of solutions for you to try.

However, not many people have access to technology (in particular the expensive software and hardware kits for more complex multisensor data collection). So, let’s discuss some simple training quantification methods and their applications.

This will require the use of spreadsheets to facilitate the calculations and the data collection as well as provide you the possibility to create reports and graphs. If you don’t have access to Microsoft ® Excel don’t worry! You can in fact download open office for free from here and have access to a free suite which allows you to have spreadsheets, graphs and presentations at no cost!

The Session RPE method

The session-RPE method of monitoring TL in team players requires each athlete to
provide a Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) for each exercise session along with a measure of training time (as suggested by Foster et al., 2001).

To calculate a measure of session intensity, athletes are asked within 30-minutes of finishing their workout a simple question like “How was your workout?” A single number representing the magnitude of TL for each session is then calculated by the multiplication of training intensity (RPE from Table 1) by the training session duration (mins).

Table 1. The modified RPE scale proposed by Foster et al. 2001

Very, Very easy

Somewhat Hard

Very Hard

Training Load = Session RPE x duration (mins)

For example, to calculate the TL for a training session 60-minutes in duration with the
athletes RPE being 5, the following calculation would be made:

TL = 5 x 60 = 300 AU (arbitrary units)

With a simple spreadsheet it is is therefore possible to track the training load of a team very easily just by recording the duration of training and making sure that each player at the end of each session provides you with the perceived exertion for that session.

Here is an example of what a score of a typical training period could look like:

The Black dotted line represents the average Session RPE for the team and each colour represents one of the players. In this way, it is possible to track how the overall training load is progressing and how each individual compares to the team.

The data can also be useful to track down the team’s session RPE and understand if overall the training load is going in the direction planned.

Further simple calculations of training ‘monotony’ and ‘strain’ can also be made from
session-RPE variables.

Training monotony is a simple measure day to day variability in training that has been suggested to be related to the onset of overtraining when monotonous training is combined with high training loads (see Foster, 1998).

Training monotony is calculated from the average daily TL divided by the standard deviation of the daily TL calculated over a week.

MONOTONY= DAILY TL/SD of TL over a week

Training strain can also be calculated as follows:

TRAINING STRAIN = weekly TL x monotony

The table below provides a simple example of a weekly training load in a semi-professional handball team with all the variables calculated.

Recent work conducted using RPE from 20 soccer players during 67 small sided-games soccer training sessions (Coutts, Rampinini, Castagna, Marcora, & Impellizzeri, 2007a) has shown that  the combination of blood lactate and HR measures during small-sided games were better related to RPE than HR or blood lactate measures alone. This work suggested that RPE is a valid method of estimating global training intensity in soccer. There isn’t such evidence in other sports, however nothing stops practitioners to try and see if it helps with their coaching process.

This is the first article of a series aimed at discussing the issue of monitoring training. I aim to present practical solutions to be able to start quantifying and understanding adaptations in team sports athletes.

Enough for now, time to get your spreadsheets sorted and start calculating what your players are doing so you are ready to apply the techniques presented in the next article!

Training team sports athletes: Periodization and planning strategies. Part 1

I decided to write this article after reviewing an old set of slides of a presentation I gave to the English FA few years ago entitled: “Preparing for performance: League vs. tournament”. I have been reading/listening to few individuals talking and writing books about training in team sports and I would like to add my views on this issue. There are many strength and conditioning coaches and/or fitness specialists working with team sports in Europe (in particular Football [or soccer as our American colleagues like to define this sport]) who claim some miraculous training paradigms and/or describe amazing effects of their training regimes. It is absolutely a great sales pitch, however the reality most of the times is not as depicted. Just looking very simply at the competition schedule of an elite European Football Club we can understand that these athletes have very little time to train, hence, very little possibilities to get faster and stronger.

So, what I will write about in this brief article is:

•Planning issues

•How to establish realistic goals

•Establish Training Priorities

•Individualise training

•Acute vs. Chronic effects of Strength & Conditioning sessions

•Monitoring training effects is the only way to reduce mistakes

Let’s address the first one: Planning training in an elite football team [playing the European season]

Many people still like to read Eastern European literature on periodization and/or American books on this topic. All of the above publications describe a pedagogical process build on observations conducted on athletes competing in individual sports and mostly in endurance-type of sports where understanding training loading and tapering is of absolute importance. We could argue on the scientific merit of such observations and on the fact that maybe most of the athletes under observations were using all sorts of illegal “help”, but this is not the aim of this article so, will not discuss it here.

What we can argue is that all of the above publications tend to divide the planning of training in relatively long phases (Anatomical adaptation phase [few weeks], Pre competition/hypertrophy phase [few more weeks} and the list goes on). In reality, if we look at the official schedules of elite football teams in Europe, we realise that such process cannot be really applied to footballers. Professional teams in fact tend to start training few weeks after ending the previous season, and start competing very early with limited amounts of time to actually train the players hard enough to produce meaningful adaptations. I am not saying that footballers don’t work hard and/or don’t improve. What I am trying to say is that the workload is not big enough to produce massive changes in performance be it endurance capacity and/or strength and power abilities.

But, let’s look at some real information and add some material for discussion.

Here is the training and activities schedule of FC Barcelona as reported by their website in 2006:

1st Training session: 17th of July

July 2006

Denmark –> 28 Jul Pre-season friendly AGF – FC Barcelona (11 days after 1st training session-)

August 2006

Mexico 04 Aug Pre-season friendly Tigres – FC Barcelona

Mexico 07 Aug Pre-season friendly Chivas-FC Barcelona

USA 10 Aug Pre-season friendly Club America – FC Barcelona

USA 13 Aug Pre-season friendly New York Red Bulls – FC Barcelona

Spain 17 Aug Spanish Supercup Espanol – FC Barcelona

Spain 21 Aug Spanish Supercup FC Barcelona- Espanol

Spain 23 Aug Gamper Tropy FC Barcelona- Bayern Munich

Spain 25 Aug European Supercup FC Barcelona – Seville

So, if we look at this schedule, take into consideration travelling times and recover from travel and competitions, from the 17th of July to the 25th of August 2006, possibly the footballers of FC Barcelona performed approximately 20 training sessions.

If they were to lift weights to get stronger/more powerful/faster, and had a frequency of 3 sessions per week with some recovery in between (at least 1 day) as it normally occurs, they would have performed somewhere around 6 strength training sessions. Now, if the first session is used for testing and establishing 1RM and some progression of load occurs, probably…they are lucky if they could perform 4 serious strength sessions. So, where does periodization fits here?

There is no time for Anatomical Adaptations (as defined by some periodization gurus) and no time for hypertrophy…How much can athletes gain from such an hectic schedule of training, competing and travelling before the season actually start? (even if arguably Spanish Supercup is the first trophy to win).

This is not an isolated example, the readers just need to browse websites of big clubs to see their schedule and do the math. Let’s look at national teams now…again from the website (official information).

Italy won the World Cup with the following preparation schedule:

22 May 1st Training session (players are just at the end of a long season)

31st May Switzerland vs Italy (friendly in Switzerland)

2nd June Italy vs Ukraine (friendly game in Italy)

12th June Italy Vs Ghana (1st game of World CUP)

Assuming they trained twice a day each day:

20 days: ~38 sessions: 9 strength sessions?

Preparing the World Cup with players coming from a long season in 20 days…how much training can you actually do and how much improvements can you see? Should the focus be on maintaining performance and be able to repeat it over the competition (World Cup in this case)?

What I am trying to demonstrate here is that there are far too many individuals lecturing around the World and working with football teams that talk a lot about periodization, but actually they have no data and/or meaningful information to share to support what they are saying. Most of all, due to the duration of the preparation phase and the intensity and characteristics of training regimes they impose, it is virtually impossible (in my view) for them to make massive improvements in any area of performance. Unless of course footballers are so de-conditioned that they can improve easily (which is also something I am lead to believe sometimes). I would also like to point out that I am generalising here, of course there are some great sports scientists out there working with professional teams that do a great job, but there are far too many selling hot air.

Training planning is about establishing realistic goals

Before starting planning a training programme for team sports it is important to answer the following questions:

– How much time do I have?

– How many training sessions can I perform with the players?

– What should be the focus?

•Improve aerobic capacity?

•Improve strength?

•Improve speed/acceleration?

•Improve flexibility?

•Prevent Injuries?

In few words, what can I achieve with the amount of time and sessions I have available?

Here are two typical examples from a club and a national team:

Let’s look at the typical weekly distribution of workloads of two professional team sport teams I worked with in the past. I indicate as S&C sessions only sessions in which the workload is purely aimed at improving performance capacity with limited technical and tactical aspects. Everything indicated with “practice” has a strong technical and tactical requirement. Each training session lasted 2hours.

The above example is typical of weeks in the competitive season. As you can see, 16% and 22% of total training time was devoted to improving physiological aspects of performance, with most of the time spent performing technical and tactical drills. What does this mean?

If a team looks “not in shape”,as some journalists like to point out sometimes, it is either because they are tired (density of competitions and travels) or because the intensity of the technical and tactical practice is not high enough to represent a training stimulus. So, while most of the time the Strength and Conditioning Coach is seen as the culprit, the coaching staff is most probably to blame as they handle and plan more than 80% of the training process. So, the role of a sport scientist working with such teams should be to guide and advice the coaching staff on how to make sure the training load is always appropriate in each technical and tactical session.

What can we conclude by looking at typical weekly practices and plans of elite football teams?

  • Let’s not kid ourselves…it is impossible to improve aerobic capacity with 1h of “fitness specific” training per week!
  • The QUALITY of football specific practice needs to be improved in order to improve players’ fitness
  • Most of the S&C time needs to be dedicated to improve strength/speed/acceleration
  • Extra “training” time needs to be directed to injury prevention activities (pre-hab, proprioception, recovery activities etc.)
  • Individualised training programmes are necessary
  • Monitor training sessions is very important
  • Monitor how individuals adapt is crucial

Monitoring training and avoiding mistakes

It is at this point clear that monitoring training sessions is a necessary step to understand how effective the training process is and how the players are adapting/responding to the various stimuli.

What do we need to look for then when we want to implement some assessment strategies ?

  1. – Determine the effectiveness of football specific training drills
  2. – Gain information to be able to individualise the training program
  3. – Gain information to monitor an athlete’s progress
  4. – Gain information in case of injuries

Why do we need to monitor training in particular?

To make sure the loading is appropriate for what we are trying to accomplish.

What sort of testing and/or markers could be of use?

Physiological and Behavioural markers

 Biochemical Markers

Hormonal and Immunological markers

What’s the cost/effectiveness?

… Part 2 coming soon…


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WATCH AND WAIT: a blood cancer website for MGUS, SMM, etc.

I have a VERY important and exciting announcement to make today:

We finally have a NEW website dealing with the issue of watching and waiting for blood cancers. It discusses issues that are very near and dear to us, particularly “cancer-protective nutrition” and “supplements with CLINICAL evidence.” YAY!

“Watch and wait” doesn’t mean we have to sit back, do nothing, and just wait for the inevitable to happen. No way. There is a lot we can do, as I think I have shown in all these years…The worst thing is to feel helpless, but–as we can read on the homepage of this website–there is absolutely no need for that…

Here is the link:

If you go to “About Us,” you will find that one of the four founders of this great project is Dr. Terry Golombick (j’adore!!!). Incidentally, I owe a big-time apology to her, since I should have written this post a couple of months ago, more or less. But a lot has been going on in my life, and it’s only now that I feel that I can return to blogging on a more regular basis. Still, I apologize, Dr. Golombick!!!

Last but not least, I’d like to thank Dr. Golombick for having included my blog in the section devoted to curcumin.

Such an honor!!!


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Faith · Uncategorized

Christmas Bibles

My husband and I are not much into giving each other gifts at Christmas time.  During the Christmas season we concentrate more on our children and grandchildren, and that is a big enough chore in and of itself to find appropriate gifts for each of them.

We never feel left out-our children gift us with way too many lovely gifts.  I do not need gifts from him to feel much loved, and the same with him. We try to be loving and giving all through the year to each other.   I do get bothered when useless, frivolous, unneeded gifts are given. I would rather that the gift giver saved the money.  I do not need a gift to feel a persons love, and I hope that others feel my love for them without the giving of gifts.

But this year we each got a gift…It really wasn’t a gift from me, as he purchased them both, and surprised me with the gift.  But we used them as our Christmas gifts to each other!

Our Christmas gifts to each other this year were new Bibles.  These are New Living Translations, from Tyndale House Publishers.

I am loving my new Bible!

Happy is the man who possess a Bible!

Happier still is he who reads it!

Happiest of all is he who reads it and obeys it!

J.C. Ryle

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Yuri Alexandrov (Set Designer)

Yuri Isaakovich Alexandrov graduated from the Leningrad State Conservatoire as a pianist in 1974 (class of Professor Umanskaya) and from the faculty of musical stage direction in 1977 (class of senior lecturer M. Slutskaya). His degree production was Donizetti‘s Don Pasquale at the Byelorussian State Academic Bolshoi Theatre.

From 1978 to the present day Yuri Alexandrov has worked as a stage director at the Mariinsky Theatre. His work is natural and varied, and for him there is no strict, canonical understanding of "opera"; he boldly adapts, analyses and experiments with classical opera texts. Moreover, his art is marked by a unique aesthetic, original thoughts, paradox and the unexpected. Following the thought process in his productions is both intriguing and complex, filled as it is with allegory and metaphysical ideas. The metaphor is one of the Maestro‘s main devices, exposing and embodying the internal, deeply spiritual, philosophical and poetic world of the director.

Productions he has staged at the Mariinsky Theatre have always proved significant events in St Petersburg‘s cultural life, among them Donizetti‘s Il campanello di notte and Don Pasquale, Gluck‘s The Queen of May, Banevich‘s The Story of Kai and Gerda, Mozart‘s Don Giovanni, Stravinsky‘s Mavra, Mozart‘s Le nozze di Figaro, Tchaikovsky‘s Mazepa, Prokofiev‘s Semyon Kotko (awarded Russia‘s highest theatre prize, the Golden Mask, in 1999 in the categories "Best opera production", "Best opera director", "Best opera designer" and "Best opera conductor") and Verdi‘s Aida, Don Carlo and Otello.

One of Russia‘s greatest musical theatre directors, Yuri Alexandrov has won a reputation as an innovator in opera. In 1987 he founded the Chamber Music Theatre. Initially conceived as a creative "laboratory", with time it developed into the professional St. Petersburg Chamber Opera Company, famed not only throughout Russia but abroad too.

An exceptional, truly gifted director and master of his art, Yuri Alexandrov is adept at discovering new talent. Today, student soloists of the St. Petersburg Chamber Opera Company perform at the world‘s leading opera houses, Vladimir Galuzin being just one such glittering example.

Yuri Alexandrov has staged over two hundred productions at opera houses throughout Russia and abroad, among them Offenbach‘s Les Contes d‘Hoffmann (Minsk), Verdi‘s Rigoletto and Aida, Borodin‘s Prince Igor, Mozart‘s Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Verdi‘s Il trovatore (Cheboksary), Cilea‘s Adrienne Lecouvreur (Chisinau), Prokofiev‘s Maddalena, Donizetti‘s L‘elisir d‘amore (Samara), Verdi‘s La traviata, Tchaikovsky‘s Eugene Onegin (Kazakhstan), Donizetti‘s L‘elisir d‘amore (Riga), Musorgsky‘s Khovanshchina (Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre), Mozart‘s Don Giovanni (Vilnius), Borodin‘s Prince Igor, Tchaikovsky‘s Eugene Onegin (Turkey), Tchaikovsky‘s Cherevichki and Eugene Onegin, Mozart‘s Don Giovanni (Italy) and Tchaikovsky‘s The Queen of Spades (USA).

One recent premiere directed by Maestro Alexandrov which set the opera world ablaze was Puccini‘s Turandot, which he staged in June 2003 at the Arena di Verona (Italy). It was an unprecedented event: for the first time ever the theatre had invited a Russian director to stage one of the classic Italian operas. Yuri Alexandrov and Valery Gergiev, another great maestro, will come together in August 2005 at the Arena for a production of the opera Boris Godunov on the world‘s largest stage.

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