Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species extending into Central America, as well as the northern and southern Andes; the common name alder evolved from the Old English word alor, which in turn is derived from Proto-Germanic root aliso. The generic name Alnus is the equivalent Latin name. Both the Latin and the Germanic words derive from the Proto-Indo-European root el-, meaning "red" or "brown", a root for the English words elk and another tree: elm, a tree distantly related to the alders. With a few exceptions, alders are deciduous, the leaves are alternate and serrated; the flowers are catkins with elongate male catkins on the same plant as shorter female catkins before leaves appear. These trees differ from the birches in that the female catkins are woody and do not disintegrate at maturity, opening to release the seeds in a similar manner to many conifer cones.
The largest species are red alder on the west coast of North America, black alder, native to most of Europe and introduced elsewhere, both reaching over 30 m. By contrast, the widespread Alnus alnobetula is more than a 5-m-tall shrub. Alders are found near streams and wetlands. Sometimes where the prevalence of alders is prominent these are called alder carrs. In the Pacific Northwest of North America, the white alder unlike other northwest alders, has an affinity for warm, dry climates, where it grows along watercourses, such as along the lower Columbia River east of the Cascades and the Snake River, including Hells Canyon. Alder leaves and sometimes catkins are used as food by numerous butterflies and moths. A. glutinosa and A. viridis are classed as environmental weeds in New Zealand. Alder leaves and the roots are important to the ecosystem because they enrich the soil with nitrogen and other nutrients. Alder is noted for its important symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni, an actinomycete, nitrogen-fixing bacterium.
This bacterium is found in root nodules, which may be as large as a human fist, with many small lobes, light brown in colour. The bacterium makes it available to the tree. Alder, in turn, provides the bacterium with sugars; as a result of this mutually beneficial relationship, alder improves the fertility of the soil where it grows, as a pioneer species, it helps provide additional nitrogen for the successional species which follow. Because of its abundance, red alder delivers large amounts of nitrogen to enrich forest soils. Red alder stands have been found to supply between 120 and 290 pounds of nitrogen per acre annually to the soil. From Alaska to Oregon, Alnus viridis subsp. Sinuata, characteristically pioneer fresh, gravelly sites at the foot of retreating glaciers. Studies show that Sitka alder, a more shrubby variety of alder, adds nitrogen to the soil at an average of 55 pounds per acre per year, helping convert the sterile glacial terrain to soil capable of supporting a conifer forest.
Alders are common among the first species to colonize disturbed areas from floods, fires, etc. Alder groves themselves serve as natural firebreaks since these broad-leaved trees are much less flammable than conifers, their foliage and leaf litter does not carry a fire well, their thin bark is sufficiently resistant to protect them from light surface fires. In addition, the light weight of alder seeds allows for easy dispersal by the wind. Although it outgrows coastal Douglas-fir for the first 25 years, it is shade intolerant and lives more than 100 years. Red alder is the Pacific Northwest's largest alder and the most plentiful and commercially important broad-leaved tree in the coastal Northwest. Groves of red alder 10 to 20 inches in diameter intermingle with young Douglas-fir forests west of the Cascades, attaining a maximum height of 100 to 110 feet in about sixty years and lose vigor as heart rot sets in. Alders help create conditions favorable for giant conifers that replace them. Alder root nodules.
The catkins of some alder species have a degree of edibility, may be rich in protein. Reported to have a bitter and unpleasant taste, they are more useful for survival purposes; the wood of certain alder species is used to smoke various food items such as coffee and other seafood. Most of the pilings that form the foundation of Venice were made from alder trees. Alder bark contains the anti-inflammatory salicin, metabolized into salicylic acid in the body; some Native American cultures use red alder bark to treat poison oak, insect bites, skin irritations. Blackfeet Indians have traditionally used an infusion made from the bark of red alder to treat lymphatic disorders and tuberculosis. Recent clinical studies have verified that red alder contains betulin and lupeol, compounds shown to be effective against a variety of tumors; the inner bark of the alder, as well as red osier dogwood, or chokecherry, is used by some Indigenous peoples of the Americas in smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, to improve the taste of the bearberry leaf.
Out of the Furnace is a 2013 American action thriller film directed by Scott Cooper, from a screenplay written by Cooper and Brad Ingelsby. Produced by Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film stars Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Zoe Saldana, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Sam Shepard; the film is about Pennsylvania steel mill worker Russell Baze, his Iraq war veteran brother Rodney who cannot adjust to civilian life. Rodney makes money fighting bareknuckle for bar owner and small-time criminal John Petty, who runs illegal gambling operations, but becomes so indebted due to gambling losses that he begs Petty for a big money fight. After Petty reluctantly arranges this with a ruthless backwoods criminal gang, Rodney disappears and his brother tries to find out what has happened; the film received a limited release in Los Angeles and New York City on December 4, 2013, followed by a wide theatrical release on December 6. The film earned $15.7 million against its $22 million budget and it received mixed reviews.
After getting off work at a North Braddock, Pennsylvania steel mill, Russell Baze sees his brother, Rodney, at a horse racing simulcast, where Rodney had just bet on a losing horse. Rodney reveals he is betting with money lent by John Petty, who owns a bar and runs several illegal games. Russell visits Petty, pays off some of Rodney's debt, promises to pay Petty the rest with his next paycheck if Rodney has not yet paid it off. Driving home intoxicated, Russell hits a car, he is incarcerated for vehicular manslaughter. While in prison, he is informed that his ailing father has died and his girlfriend Lena has left him for the small town police chief, Wesley Barnes. Upon his release from prison, Russell resumes his job; the same day, Rodney participates in an illegal bare-knuckle prizefight. Rodney was supposed to take a "dive" to repay some of the debt but becomes enraged at his opponent and defeats him; the next morning, Russell finds Rodney's bloodied knuckle tapes in the trash and confronts him about it.
Russell wants him to work in the mill, but Rodney, a four-tour Iraq war veteran, is too mentally scarred for a regular job. Rodney tells Petty that these "nickel and dime" fights will never earn him enough to repay Petty. Rodney insists that Petty organizes a more lucrative fight. Petty reluctantly arranges one with Harlan DeGroat, a sociopathic drug dealer from rural New Jersey to whom Petty is in debt. Meanwhile Russell wants his girlfriend back. Russell unsuccessfully feigns contentment to Lena, saying she will be a great mom: both know that her pregnancy makes their getting back together impossible. Rodney is told; when DeGroat seeks assurances Rodney will lose, Petty promises. Rodney knocks out his opponent, but after Petty pleads with him, he helps his opponent up, takes a dive, lets the man pummel his face into a bloody mess. After the fight, DeGroat asks for the rest of his loan, but Petty reminds him they had agreed that this fight made them and DeGroat drops the subject. While driving back home, however, DeGroat and his men ambush Rodney.
DeGroat first shoots and kills Petty has Rodney dragged into the woods and kills him, too. Unknown to anyone, Petty's cell phone had fallen out of his pocket onto the car seat, accidentally connecting to his bartender Dan's voicemail and recording DeGroat murdering Petty; that night, Russell finds a letter from Rodney, stating that this will be his last fight and that he wants to work with Russell at the mill. Wesley informs Russell about Rodney's disappearance, Russell and his uncle, set off to find him. In DeGroat's town and Red are stopped by a Bergen County deputy sheriff, who informs them that DeGroat's men would kill them if they knew why the two were in town, and, as a favor to Chief Barnes, he will escort them to the state line rather than searching and arresting them for illegally carrying concealed weapons. Upon returning to the mill, Wesley confirms Rodney's death. Russell goes to Petty's office, finds a phone number for DeGroat, calls him without identifying himself, enticing him to come to collect Petty's debt.
At the bar, Russell confronts him. DeGroat escapes to a nearby shutdown mill. Russell follows DeGroat to a field outside the mill as he hobbles off and shoots him in the back. Russell informs DeGroat. Wesley pleads for Russell to put down his gun, but Russell proceeds to aim his hunting rifle and shoots DeGroat in the head; the film cuts to Russell sitting at home at the dining table – Wesley having arranged matters so that Russell avoided prison. Christian Bale as Russell Baze Woody Harrelson as Harlan DeGroat Casey Affleck as Rodney Baze, Jr. Forest Whitaker as Wesley Barnes Willem Dafoe as John Petty Tom Bower as Dan Dugan Zoë Saldana as Lena Taylor Sam Shepard as Gerald "Red" Baze The film was produced by Relativity Media, Appian Way Productions, Red Granite Pictures, Scott Free Productions, with Jeff Waxman, Tucker Tooley, Brooklyn Weaver, Riza Aziz, Joey McFarland, Joe Gatta, Danny Dimbort, Christian Mercuri serving as executive producers. Director Scott Cooper read an article about Braddock, Pennsylvania, a declining steel industry town outside of Pittsburgh, the efforts to revitalize it, led by mayor John Fetterman.
After visiting, Cooper was inspired to use the borough as the backdrop for a film. Cooper developed the story from The Low Dweller, a spec script written by Brad Ingelsby that had actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Ri
A neighbourhood police centre is a mid-sized police station in Singapore, introduced in 1997 to replace the Singapore Police Force's Neighbourhood Police Post system. Based on the concepts of community policing and modelled after the kōban system in Japan, it allows for police officers on the ground to perform more duties investigative work, in the hands of division-based officers; the neighbourhood police centre is a result of a review of the Neighbourhood Police Post system initiated in 1996. While the NPP has helped to reduce crime rates since its introduction in 1983, perceived positively by the general public, it was limited in its ability to offer greater convenience to the community due to their limited size and scope of duties in individual posts; the high number of NPPs entailed extensive resources spread over many installations, putting pressure on limited resources available to the police in terms of manpower. The limited scope of the NPP system was seen as being less optimal in maximising the operational capabilities of individual police officers, affecting its abilities to retain talent.
Pooling the NPPs into larger entities known as NPCs was thus proposed as a solution, although it was not meant to replace NPPs. About two thirds of NPPs were planned to be retained so as to maintain convenience to the general public, although many will no longer operate round the clock. An intercom system was introduced to overcome this should public assistance be needed when the NPP is closed. With a larger pool of officers and resources, each NPC was able to provide more services in one location with the aim of reducing the time needed to close each case; each NPC Officer was expected to handle not only front-line duties, but basic investigation work and administrative duties. NPCs would directly liaise with the community for joint programmes and operations within their jurisdiction; this was helped by having some NPCs sharing the same building with other community agencies, such as Community Centres. In 1997, plans were drawn up the roll out the NPC system across the country over four phases.
The Pilot Phase was introduced in Clementi Police Division in October 1997, with the building of three NPCs. The first NPC, Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Centre, was opened at a temporary site opposite Queenstown MRT station on 1 October 1997, opened by Mr Wong Kan Seng, Minister for Home Affairs, on 20 December 1997; the first phase was planned to be implemented in February 1999 to cover the West Region with six NPCs, the second phase by October 1999 covering the East and North-East Regions with 12 NPCs, the third phase in the Central Region with 11 NPCs by July 2000. There would thus be 32 NPCs, the number of NPPs would be reduced from 91 in 1997 to 66 by 2000. During the implementation of the plan, several refinements were made, including an abandonment of the planned replacement of the Land Divisions with Regional Commands, a review of the organisational setup within the NPCs; the roll-out faced a discernible level of public discontent, many of whom were still unaware of the NPC system despite extensive publicity efforts by the police.
The primary concern was over the closure of NPPs within their neighbourhoods, the reduced operation hours of retained NPPs. Nonetheless, all 35 NPCs were opened, although some were delayed due to slower urban development in some areas than expected; the 33rd NPC, Marina Bay Neighbourhood Police Centre had been opened in 2010. Two more Neighbourhood Police Centres had been opened in Punggol and Woodlands West. Initial roll-out plans for the NPCs entailed the creation of six Regional Commands, which are to replace the existing seven Land Divisions; the Regional Commands of East, North East, West, were aligned to the URA's planning regions, with the exception of the Central Region which will be served by two Commands, namely Central East and Central West. This plan was, however and the Land Division system retained, although one of them, Geylang Police Division, was closed and absorbed into Ang Mo Kio and Bedok divisions in December 2000. New NPCs were thus organised within the existing Land Divisional structure, with only minor adjustments to division borders.
As a result, some Divisions are much larger than others in terms of number of NPCs under their command, with Ang Mo Kio Police Division having nine NPCs while Central Police Division has three. NPCs differ from NPPs, in that the former have boundaries broadly aligned with that of their respective Development Guide Plans drawn up by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, as opposed to the, based on electoral divisions. NPC boundaries are permanent, while NPP boundaries may change each election should there be a review of electoral boundaries. Planning areas with higher demographies may have two NPCs, namely in Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, Jurong West and Yishun, while smaller planning areas may be combined and served by a single NPC, such as in the Central Area; each NPC is headed with the assistance of an Operations Officer. The pool of officers in the NPC, known as neighbourhood police centre officers are grouped into four Teams, each headed by a Team Leader and assisted by a Deputy Team Leader; the CO and OO are Senior police officer positions, while the TLs may be either Senior Officers or Police Officers of the rank of Station Inspector and above.
The DTL may be any officer of the rank of Staff Sergeant and above. Your Guide to the Neighbourhood Police Centre Public Affairs Department, Singapore Police Force