Category: News

Sometimes women know when they have a boyfriend or husband who is extremely protective, and sometimes they don’t recognize the signs.  It’s easy to mistake relationship habits like constant phonecalls, gifts, and effusive language as “love” instead of attempts to be controlling.

The best relationships have a balance of independent decisions and listening to input from your partner.  You shouldn’t always do exactly what your boyfriend wants you to do.  He should trust you to make decisions that are best for you and the relationship without putting pressure on you to do what he wants.

Controlling boyfriends usually have deep underlying insecurities, which they subconsciously solve by pairing with a partner who they can control.  They feel powerful and falsely confident when they know that their girlfriend is doing exactly what they want them to do.  They feel good knowing that they “own” someone and the relationship can quickly sour if the girlfriend attempts to express any independence.

It’s important to be aware of the signs that you are in a controlling relationship because it is a serious relationship that can quickly get out of hand.  Here are important boyfriend behaviors to look for:

• Constant phonecalls and text messages
• Unnecessary and expensive gifts
• Checks your phone and reads your email
• Questioning you about your whereabouts
• Not allowing you to see certain people or go certain places
• Not trusting your decision-making abilities
• Encouraging activities that involve just the two of you
• Encouraging you to cut off relationships with other people
• Not allowing you to express your opinions/emotions
• Anger when questioned about his motives

If you notice that your boyfriend is engaging in these behaviors and you feel uncomfortable with the situation, then it is extremely important that you address it as soon as possible.  If he gets into a habit of thinking that he can control your life and tell you how to act, then it will be extremely difficult for him to change and for the relationship to transform into a healthy one.

It’s extremely important to remember that you are a person outside of your relationship.  You have needs and wants, and you also make mistakes sometimes. You don’t need your boyfriend to make decisions for you or decide who you are.  You need to decide for yourself.  Regardless of how much he loves, he is not there to control your life.  He is there to be a healthy and supportive part of your life while you move forward with independent goals and values.

Post from: Blisstree

My Boyfriend is Protective & Controlling

Filed under: Coupe, Technology, Videos, Nissan, Toys/Games

Just when we thought we were going to wait until the end of March to get our hands on Gran Turismo 5, our friends at Joystiq tell us that Polyphony Digital will release a demo version of hotly anticipated racing game on December 17. The demo will be available on the Playstation Network for download both in Europe and North America, giving long-patient fans a taste of what the full game will be like when it finally arrives in stores.

And as cool as it is that the demo arrives within two weeks time, even cooler is the fact that gamers will be given the opportunity to compete for some nifty prizes. All you have to do is post your best time trial by January 24, 2010. The best time from the U.S. and Canada wins a trip to the Indianapolis 500. A sweet prize, no doubt, but it doesn’t come close to the top Euro prize. The best driver from select European countries gets to enter the GT Academy. After completing training the lucky skilled gamer will race in the European GT4 Cup in a non-virtual race-spec Nissan 370Z. How amazing is that?

It would be even better if GT5 actually shipped on December 17, but it looks like we won’t be racing one of the world’s best driving simulators until March at the earliest. Hit the jump to view a slick video that contains more information about the GT Academy.

[Source: Joystiq]

Continue reading Gran Turismo 5 demo coming to PSN on Dec 17, GT Academy returns [w/VIDEO]

Gran Turismo 5 demo coming to PSN on Dec 17, GT Academy returns [w/VIDEO] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

KNOXVILLE — Dr. Robert “Buddy” Moore, associate dean for research and graduate programs for the College of Veterinary Medicine, has been named executive director of the University of Tennessee Space Institute, UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek announced today.

Moore will begin serving on Jan. 1, 2010. Dr. Stephen Corda, who has been serving in the role as interim associate vice president and chief operating officer since July, will return to his faculty and research post at the institute.

“Dr. Moore is a very well respected and proven administrator who will lead the institute’s research and instructional mission with an eye for building new partnerships and graduate enrollment. He is a proven leader who can help implement strategies to enhance interdisciplinary projects and take advantage of opportunities,” said Cheek. “His experience with the university and several key research centers provides a broad framework for enhanced collaboration with UT, as well as other universities and public and private partners.”

Moore joined the UT Knoxville faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of microbiology. He later served as the head of the department of microbiology, helping to grow individual and collaborative research programs. In 2001, he was named associate dean for research and graduate studies for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Along with overseeing the college’s research and graduate programs, he directs the Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases & Human Health. He also directs the Comparative and Experimental Medicine (CEM) Graduate Program, a joint program of the college and the UT Health Science Center’s Graduate School of Medicine. The CEM program has seen a dramatic increase in faculty participation, student enrollment and assistantships as well as support for shared projects about human and animal health.

Moore has a bachelor’s and a master’s from Clemson University and a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the UT faculty, he served as a staff fellow at the National Institutes of Health. Throughout his career, he has published significant research and has been an associate editor of the Journal of Immunology and editor of Infection and Immunity.

The UT Space Institute, located in Middle Tennessee, is a graduate education and research institution that was established in 1964 to focus on research in engineering, physics, mathematics and aviation systems. Nearly 1,500 graduate degrees — including more than 180 doctorates — have been awarded through the institute in partnership with UT Knoxville’s College of Engineering.

At the recommendation of UT Interim President Jan Simek at its annual meeting last June, the UT Board of Trustees approved a new organizational structure that placed reporting responsibilities for the institute with the Knoxville chancellor.

—

C O N T A C T :

Karen Collins (865-974-5186, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Alumnus Joe Crafton, president of CROSSMARK, a leading provider of services to the consumer goods industry, has provided a gift to the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in recognition of the impact UT has had on his family.

His gift supports technology in the college’s new James A. Haslam II Business Building and shopper marketing efforts in the college’s Department of Marketing and Logistics. To commemorate his generosity, the college has named the Crafton Family Terrace in the Haslam Business Building in his family’s honor.

“It is especially meaningful to have the terrace named after my family,” said Crafton, a 1984 graduate of the College of Business Administration. “From the Crafton Family Terrace, there is a clear view of the alma mater colleges of my wife, Wendy, who graduated in 1984 with a humanities degree; father Joe Sr., who graduated in 1950 as an engineer and lived in the stadium dorm; mother, Patti, who was a Torchbearer, graduating in 1955 in education; my brother Nick, a graduate in engineering, and another brother Hugh, a business graduate. Not to mention the numerous extended family members who graduated from UT. The Crafton Family Terrace also provides an ideal view of where my wife and I first met — Neyland Stadium — and her beloved Smoky Mountains in the distance.”

By giving to the college, Crafton hopes to perpetuate its tradition of excellence in consumer goods sales and marketing education and encourage future students to pursue careers in the industry. His gift is part of UT’s Campaign for Tennessee $1 billion fundraising effort.

This gift was very personal for Crafton on several other levels.

“Before Haslam was built, business classes were held in the Glocker Business Administration Building. It was in Glocker where I developed my passion for marketing and supply chain management that led to my career in consumer goods marketing. Glocker, however, was technologically challenged to provide students with a state-of-the-art learning environment. I wanted to ensure that future generations kept pace with global advancements,” he said.

Crafton also sees shopper marketing as a way to differentiate college graduates in the workplace.

“The consumer goods industry is investing incremental time and dollars in reaching the consumer when he or she is in a shopping mode. As a founding member of UT’s Shopper Marketing Forum, my planned gift will go toward advancing superior student education in areas having greatest demand,” he said.

Richard “Dick” Reizenstein, emeritus associate marketing professor, was instrumental in reconnecting Crafton with the college.

“Dick was an associate dean of the college when I was a student. He re-involved me in the college through his Executive-in-Residence (EIR) program. On one of my EIR visits to meet with students, I saw the plans for Haslam and realized the exceptional leverage the building provided the college. I’m glad to be associated with it,” Crafton said.

The Campaign for Tennessee — the most ambitious effort in the university’s 214-year history — places UT among the ranks of the nation’s largest public and private institutions that have sought this level of private support.

The campaign, which launched its silent phase in 2005, will secure private gifts that, in turn, will contribute substantially to the distinct, but linked, campuses in the UT system. Funds raised through the campaign will directly support the objectives of UT’s strategic plan. Among those objectives are improved student access and success, research and economic development, outreach and globalization.

—

C O N T A C T :

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, [email protected])

Video game critics aren’t among Tony Hawk’s favorite people right now. The pro skateboarder recently struck back at critics who slammed Robomodo’s Tony Hawk: Ride, saying that they just weren’t ready to give the game a fair

Last week, well-known privacy activist, Chris Soghoian, got a lot of attention for revealing some data on how often Sprint was sharing GPS data with the government. However, perhaps an even more interesting part of his detailed writeup about various service providers and how they provide data to the government, was his attempt to uncover how much various service providers charge the government. This was interesting, in that it showed how giving the government private data could be a bit of a profit center for some firms. Soghoian uncovered some price lists, but Yahoo and Verizon refused to reveal their price lists, claiming that doing so would “shock” or “confuse” customers. That was odd, since other firms did reveal their price lists, and the results weren’t all that shocking or confusing.



Of course, it didn’t take long for someone to leak Yahoo’s spying price list (or, more accurately, its “compliance guide for law enforcement,” which also includes some pricing info) to Cryptome.org. Other, similar documents were also posted to Cryptome from other service providers, but the only one who freaked out appears to be Yahoo. Robert Ring alerts us that Yahoo sent a DMCA takedown request to Cryptome over the document. Cryptome appears to have just posted the takedown request along with its ongoing email discussion with Yahoo’s lawyers, while leaving the original document in place.

Of course, by now, you can rest assured that Yahoo’s document has been copied in all sorts of places, just by nature of Yahoo’s attempt to hide it. It makes you wonder why the company even bothered in the first place.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

This lovely chart, courtesy of EconomPic, showcases how different types of assets have done since the beginning of the financial crisis, or in this case, June of 2007. Credit and equities are showing upward trends since March of 2009, but take a close look at REITs.

The winner: treasuries.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Dubai World To Sell Overseas Assets, Retain Private Equity Arm
• Banks In "Utter Chaos" Dealing WIth Off-Balance Sheet Assets (WFC, PNC)
• Bill Gross: Assets Are $15 Trillion Overvalued And Fed Will Keep Rates At 0% Forever To Keep The Fantasy Alive

The Kraft company recently held a competition inviting the public to name its new Vegemite cream cheese spinoff. The name that won, and made it to shelves, was “iSnack 2.0.” Really. It took one day of public cacophony to encourage Kraft to change the name to “Cheesybite,” but we hear you can still find jars of iSnack 2.0 if you’re inclined. Why do we bring this up? Because sometimes we wonder what insights marketers are using to make product roll-out decisions.

And what’s that got to do with the Chevy Volt? The Chevy Volt’s new theme song, Chevy Volt and Me. In this case, we know what the thought process was. Said the Volt’s director of global marketing,

Our goal is to craft that education [about the Volt] in a manner that is family friendly (as it should be because we are America’s original mass /heart brand), entertaining and simple to understand for a rather sophisticated product.

A Volt song helps us to achieve those objectives. ‘Chevy Volt and Me’ explains what Volt is all about as a better EV in simple friendly terms.

All right then. So it ain’t Eye of the Tiger or Diesel Power, but it is catchy. Fast-paced, too, so you better pay attention because there’s a lot in it. Follow the jump to watch a video of the Volt’s gestation, made by the folks at the GM Volt site and set to the new tune. We dare you to listen to it once and not find yourself humming for the rest of the day, “It’s so simple like a dimple plug it in and see.”

[Source: GM-Volt.com]

Continue reading Chevy Volt: The Song

Chevy Volt: The Song originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

 

Net cash inflow into the SPDR Gold Shares Exchange Traded Fund (Ticker: GLD), hit $1.15 billion during November according to data compiled by National Stock Exchange. This was 4.2x  the $272 million inflow during October, but still below September's mammoth $2 billion inflow.

Altogether, a net $13.6 billion has flowed into GLD this year so far. GLD had the second largest inflows of any ETF during November. Clearly sentiment was roaring for gold last month.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• US Mint Suspends One Ounce Gold Coin Sales Due To Shortage!
• Barrick Gold: Here's Why We Eliminated Our Gold Hedges, Just As The Marked Started To Peak (ABX)
• Gold Tanks Again, While The Nikkei Charges Higher

Starting a new link listing series around interesting posts/content related to RIA Services. Hope you find these useful, and if you’d like to share something please send them along…
[Full post continued here…]

Among the questions I get from MDA readers are those that ask about timely diet trends – you know, the latest regimens highlighted in the media or promoted by high profile stars and athletes. Some are bookstore blockbuster plans like The Zone, while others are the latest celebrity diet du jour. As my wife and – well, everyone who knows me – can tell you, I’m always up for talking, debating, deconstructing, and fully dissecting any version or concept of diet under the sun. (Thankfully, my wife at least finds it endearing after all these years.) But it’s a treat when a diet trend comes up I can actually find common ground with. Take this question from reader Jim.

Dear Mark,

I saw something this week about a “feast or famine” diet. From what I get, people alternate eating a small amount and eating as much as they want. I’m still kind of a newbie and wondered what you thought of it. Thanks! Love the PB!

The feast or famine diet (also called alternate day fasting) isn’t really a new idea (even discounting Grok’s experience), but it got recent press after the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published results of a small study this fall. Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago designed an alternate day regimen that restricted food on “famine” days to 25% of estimated energy needs. Sixteen obese participants went through a 10-week program: a 2-week control period, 4-week alternating day 25%/”controlled intake” period, and 4-week alternating day 25%/”self-selected intake” (albeit with diet counseling) period. The results? (Can you guess, IFers?) Subjects lost weight consistently in both 4 week periods and showed improvement in key blood markers (total cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides and systolic blood pressure).

A few years ago a neuroscientist named Mark Mattson published study results supporting the same famine-feast regimen. In commentary for The Lancet, he questioned the conventional wisdom that supported “grazing” for calories throughout the day, citing humans’ evolutionary development within an intermittent fasting existence. Mattson, a central researcher in calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, has produced research demonstrating the benefits of both practices, benefits which include enhanced memory, reduction in neurological oxidative stress (with associated risk of neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s), neuron resilience, and an improved regulation of glucose and insulin levels.

As an intermittent fasting routine, the feast-famine diet promises to upregulate metabolic systems while decreasing the overall caloric intake and oxidative stress associated with food intake and digestion. In the Primal Blueprint model, I highly recommend it. As Mattson and other researchers have noted, our systems evolved to expect periods of scarcity. We weren’t designed for the constant eating (and associated physiological stress), couched as healthy “grazing,” that we’re told to practice today. Dr. William Davis of the Heart Scan Blog, a blogroll friend of mine, did a great sequence a few weeks ago on grazing, fasting and postprandial patterns. As he emphasizes, the postprandial (aka “after eating”) period is the most damaging for artery plaque buildup. In our society, we’re encouraged to be starting the next meal before the previous one has even been fully absorbed. Our systems rarely, if ever, have the chance to return to zero. Fasting allows for that resetting.

The common criticisms of the feast or famine routine (or any form of fasting) revolve around images of all-out gorging. Apparently, too many experts believe that anyone who fasts for even 24 hours will be found in a gluttonous mountain of pizza boxes and Snickers wrappers at the end of restriction time. There are people who might go this route, but I’ll bet you a nickel they won’t continue the alternating day routine. The practice takes a certain amount of discipline, yes. But it also takes energy. Gorging yourself on the worst foods will leave you so sluggish and miserable the next day that you’ll likely drop the program. That said, if you return to a diet (say, the PB) that keeps your glucose and insulin pretty steady, you’ll feel the best benefits of the fasting routine (lightness, focus, energy) instead of the carb hangover.

Finally, I want to stress that if you’re interested in the benefits of a feast-famine routine, you don’t need to commit to an alternating day diet. Nearly any form or degree of intermittent fasting provides benefit. Do what feels manageable in the beginning. Skip breakfast one day. Reduce your calories by half for a day. Every IFer I know (myself included) developed – and advanced – their routines over time and manage it with ease now.

As always, thanks for your questions and comments, and keep ‘em coming!

Get Free Health Tips, Recipes and Workouts Delivered to Your Inbox

Related posts:

1. Dear Mark: Don’t Call it a “Diet”
2. Dear Mark: Depression Diet?
3. Dear Mark: Post-Workout Fasting

Enter your best Primal Blueprint recipes for your chance to win prizes and be featured in the Reader-Created Cookbook

The new theme: Primal Soups!

We’ve received some delicious Primal breakfast recipes from readers:

Almond Banana Pancakes

No Oat Oatmeal… It’s Noatmeal!

Omelet Muffins

Frittata Aleta

All of these recipes will be featured in the Reader-Created Primal Blueprint Cookbook and the entrants have a chance to win an über cool Primal prize package.

If you’d like to participate in this contest send in your own favorite Primal recipes that relate to the current theme – Primal Soups. Click here for all the details.

Get Free Health Tips, Recipes and Workouts Delivered to Your Inbox

Related posts:

1. Announcement: New Recipe Theme for the Cookbook Contest
2. Contest Video: Bodyweight Basics
3. Contest Video: Primal Blueprint Bodyweight Exercises

High precision measuring voltage transformers
Low-cost series
Frequency range 50…400Hz
Multi output voltage level on the same item, from 2,5V to 10V
Short circuit proof up to the max permissible input voltage (500V)
Max ambient temperature 80°C
EN61558-1 and EN61558-2-6 safety requirement compliant
Encapsulation in epoxy resin
5000V dielectric strength between primary and secondary windings
 
We can also provide custom products that fit perfectly with the techno-economic needs of each customer
 
Contact us for more information.

Official inauguration on 28 April 2009

The new welding and production building was inaugurated with an opening ceremony on 28 April at the parent plant in Steinach. More than 200 guests were invited to the occasion.

Opening ceremony

The inauguration ceremony for the new welding and production building took place on 28 April. Pastor Buhl from Steinach blessed the building in the name of the Lord. The Mayor of Steinach, Frank Edelmann, greeted those present in German, English and French. Sound artist Mario Blattner, who was also the supervising engineer in charge of the building, expressed his sentiments with a demonstration of Asian tone scales and a gong; the arrangement was based on the positions of the planets.

Guests included the company founder, Mrs Gertrud Maier, the directors of the Haslach Sparkasse bank, and the PASCHAL Advisory Board. PASCHAL partners from Bahrain, Dubai, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, India and the Ukraine were also present.

Barbara R. Vetter: “This building was constructed to provide our employees from the welding shop with healthier working conditions and, for rationalisation reasons, to integrate four different locations in a single one. This will save us considerable time and money and also provides space for future production facilities. In a changing environment, we cannot afford to stand still; instead, we must advance and make ourselves fit for the future. Only in that way can we give the company the opportunity to survive in a competitive world.”

The building

The building itself measures 20 x 40 metres. The load-bearing columns have deep foundations so they can support not only the roof and walls, but also the heavy-duty travelling cranes.

The building took nine months to be build and an investment of some 1 million euros. It can accommodate up to 20 workplaces.

Many tasks, including the precision welding required for modern formwork systems such as the LOGO.3 or special formwork, can now be carried out efficiently at the plant.

PASCHAL provides robust ATHLET formwork system for flood control

How to better protect Danube-abutting communities against floods? Most importantly, by controlling the most powerful tributaries. The seemingly modest and unimposing river Breg, which converges with the river Brigach at Donaueschingen to form the Danube, comprises a 183 square kilometre catchment area of the Black Forest Nature Preserve, and is therefore particularly susceptible to flooding. An ideal location for the flood control basin was found at the city limits to the west of Wolterdingen. A 110 metre wide, 460 metre long, and up to 18 metre high earth-fill dam is being constructed straight across the narrow Bregtal valley, which will be able to hold 4.7 million cubic metres of water along a length of four kilometres, and on an area of 70 hectares. Flood water flow will therefore be greatly reduced, and the flood level for all communities up to Riedlingen, which lies 130km downstream, decreased.

Centre piece and core of the dam is the hydraulics building with a length of 100 metres, which was – by order of the regional council in Freiburg – constructed in 2007/2008 entirely out of in-situ-concrete by Emil Steidle GmbH & Co KG (Sigmaringen). Its cross section is square and U shaped, whereby the outside walls are 1.75 metres at their base, and 0.80 metres at the top; the insides of the walls are perpendicular, while the outside is slanted inwards at a ratio of 1:20. There are an additional two walls with a thickness of 1.5 metres on the inside in flow direction. These support the powerful lock mechanisms.

At the outflow, the bottom slab slants radially by a couple of metres towards the so called Lake Kolk, while simultaneously broadening to a width of 35 metres into a ‘T’ shape. The overall height of the construction is 19.0 metres. The retaining wall is designed to withstand a water level of up to 16.9 metres. The building is topped with ceilings with a thickness between 0.75 and 0.96 metres.
For the casting pit and diversion flumes, 20,000m³ of earth had to be moved, 7,900m³ of which was topsoil excavation.

The entire pit was then surrounded with subterraneous curtains to a depth of five metres, which were filled with bentonite. This step ensures a drastic reduction of river and ground water influx.
Future plans for the dam also include a by-pass road for Wolterdingen, which means that no additional costly bridge construction will be required.

Steplessly adjustable and also clamps the compensation elements at the same time

Steinach (Baden): The PASCHAL-plant G. Maier GmbH, service provider and manufacturer in the field of concrete systems formwork, presents a new development: The MULTI CLAMP. It was developed for all LOGO-formwork systems.

The standard connection panel
… for the LOGO system is the PASCHAL-taper clamp. The clamp weighs just 1.6 kg and is sturdy and easy to handle. The mechanism can be opened or closed with just one strike of the hammer and is used to clamp two formwork elements firmly together.
Compensation elements important
To adapt the formwork to the exact construction dimensions, all that is needed are the variously sized formwork elements, and if necessary narrow and very narrow fitting and compensation elements.
Wherever a compensation element is placed between two formwork elements, it needs a connection piece that holds these three parts together.
New
The new MULTI CLAMP holds the compensation elements tightly in position between the formwork elements that are up to 12 centimetres wide. It creates tension that is transferred to the jaws thereby clamping the formwork elements tightly to the compensation element. This secure fit means perfect tightness is achieved.
The MULTI CLAMP weighs 5.3 kg and is easy to handle on the building site.
Good to know:
Not for PASCHAL, but for many other formwork systems, residual dimensional compensation is required on site. The inaccuracy of the formwork here means extra time, material and costs for the customer although he actually ordered extensive formwork. The compensation work usually comprises the thickness of a plank, however sometimes it can be up to 20 cm – an improvised, often time-consuming task requiring lots of hands because the material, which can usually only be used once, needs to be disposed of afterwards.

In contrast, PASCHAL offers system-integrated formwork solutions. The narrowest formwork elements only measure 20 centimetres, and there are compensation elements in widths of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 centimetres in PVC and in widths of 5, 6 and 10 centimetres in steel. These are placed between the formwork elements. Therefore the new PASCHAL-MULTI CLAMP is an important accessory that it is hard to imagine doing without on the building site.
When will the Multi clamp be available?
Production began at the beginning of March – the market launch has therefore just started.

PACTware live training: breaking down the the barriers of proprietary configuration tools

After last years success, the 2009 PACTware Roadshow again was present in german centers of process automation. It offered a unique opportunity to draw together customers of different industries to share ideas and best practices that will help improve their business performance. Participants were trained in the fundamentals of this new and advanced configuration tool for field devices and network components.

They learnt how PACTware and the related FDT/DTM technology provide access to device intelligence and how PACTware brings increased openness in field device configuration management. In three workshops being repeated twice in parallel, the attendees were trained how Pactware and the DTMs increased the customer’s benefits during commissioning, operation and maintenance of a plant.

There was an impressive interest at the stopovers in Hamburg, Halle, Frankfurt and Marl with customers accross that region and several company representatives. The keen interest made this Pactware roadshow one of the most successful ever.

PACTware is an advanced configuration tool based on FDT technology, managing field devices and standardizing the data exchange communication interface between field devices and systems. Established as an open system, PACTware is vendor independent and allows any device to be accessed through any proto-col. PACTware as an FDT frame application is indeed a truly open system that allows integration of expert applications from different field device vendors.

The PACTware Consortium is an international non-profit association comprised of the world’s leading companies in field and network instrumentation. The roadshow event was prepared by some key companies of the PACTware Consortium: Bopp & Reuther, CodeWrights, ICS, ifak system, Invensys, KROHNE, Pep-perl+Fuchs, Samson, Trebing & Himstedt, Turck und VEGA. As part of the roadshow event, the organizing companies presented their DTM based instruments and Pactware on table tops.

In several workshops, a live-operation multi-vendor demo wall featured numerous application examples, showing first-hand how commis-sioning, operation and maintenance can be considerably facilitated and speeded up using only one single tool for all communication and field devices via HART, PROFIBUS and Foundation Fieldbus protocol. Several discussions made clear that PACTware is assessed as being on the right track breaking down the the barriers of proprietary configuration tools and delivering the true value of devices.

About KROHNE: Established in 1921, KROHNE is a family-owned business employing more than 2,500 people around the world with representatives on all continents. The company headquarters are based in Duisburg, Germany. KROHNE is a market leader in the development,and manufacture of innovative measurement technology and prides itself on exceeding customer expectiations in terms of quality, performance capability, service and design.

Neuchatel, Switzerland, September 2009

POSIC introduces a highly miniaturized incremental inductive encoder kit IT3401 for linear applications. The sensor-head measures only 11 x 11 mm with a thickness of 0.9 mm and has A quad B and Index output signals. The linear scale is a 0.6 mm thick and 7.5 mm wide PCB-strip that comes in different lengths. The resolution ranges from 0.3 µm at a speed of 0.2 m/s to 150 µm at 50 m/s.

Typical applications are in the mechatronics and motion-control domains as position feedback device for magnetic actuators like brushed and brushless motors, voice coil actuators, solenoids, linear drives and more. Markets served include industrial, robotics, medical, instrumentation, laboratory automation, office equipment.

Evaluation kits containing 2 cabled sensors, a linear scale of 200 mm length and an interface board are available from stock.

PASCHAL delivers formwork for one of the most famous construction sites in the world

Dubai (Emirate of Dubai, United Arabic Emirates, UAE): Seven years of construction, 200 million cubic metres of sand moved, seven million tons of rock, an extension of the coastline by 100 kilometres, … »Palm Jumeirah« is located in the Persian Gulf, and, as the name so aptly explains, is shaped like a palm tree, with trunk, fronds, and a border. It is a world-first in terms of a man-made island of such colossal dimension to be used for residential purposes. For many years, this project has been among the most spectacular, and with its ten-digit building costs, also among the most expensive construction sites in the world. It made the news in practically all the media around the world. The official inauguration took place at the end of 2008.

PASCHAL at the Gulf
PASCHAL-Werk G. Maier GmbH, with its main factory located in Steinach (Baden) has been working successfully on the Persian Gulf for many years. In 1997, the company founded a subsidiary, PASCHAL Concrete Forms Co. W.L.L. Bahrain in the kingdom’s capital Manama.
Then, in October 2004, a joint venture between this subsidiary and a company in the region formed PASCHAL Emirates LLC Dubai. The two companies are located less than 500 kilometres apart.

The Site
PASCHAL Emirates received an order from Al Shafar General Contracting Co to provide formwork material for the construction of a large, one mile (1.6km) long complex, consisting of ten-storey buildings featuring luxury apartments, while the complex’s lobby was to house a variety of shops. The projected duration was set at 30 months. The entire project was to cost 1 billion dirhams (approx. 200 million euros).
Foundations, walls, lift shafts, and the load-bearing rectangular pillars were produced with RASTER universal formwork, which proved to be the ideal choice for the task. The buildings themselves were then constructed as skeleton structures. That means that on top of the foundations (see site image), one or more cellar or basement floors with interior and exterior concrete walls were erected. A robust interior core of the building would be the site for the electric systems (lifts, electric and water supply) as well as the stairwell. The inner core is surrounded by concrete pillars, and some few load bearing walls to carry the weight of the ceilings. All other interior and exterior walls are built with bricks.