Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the coconut, the fruit of the coconut palm. Coconut oil is extracted from copra, making it an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries, it yields de-fatted coconut cake after oil extraction, used as feed for livestock. Copra has traditionally been grated and ground boiled in water to extract coconut oil, it was used by Pacific island cultures and became a valuable commercial product for merchants in the South Seas and South Asia in the 1860s. This 19th-century copra trading inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's 1893 novella The Beach of Falesá, based on his experiences in Samoa. Nowadays, the process of coconut oil extraction is performed by crushing copra to produce coconut oil. Once the oil is extracted, the remaining coconut cake is 18–25% protein but contains so much dietary fiber it cannot be eaten in large quantities by humans. Instead, it is fed to ruminants; the production of copra – removing the shell, breaking it up, drying – is done where the coconut palms grow.

Copra can be made by sun drying, or kiln drying. Hybrid solar drying systems can be used to for a continuous drying process. In a hybrid solar drying system, solar energy is utilized during daylight and energy from burning biomass is used when sunlight is not sufficient or during night. Sun drying requires sufficient sunlight. Halved nuts are drained of water, left with the meat facing the sky. After two days the meat can be removed from the shell with ease, the drying process is complete after three to five more days. Sun drying is combined with kiln drying, eight hours of exposure to sunlight means the time spent in a kiln can be reduced by a day and the hot air the shells are exposed to in the kiln is more able to remove the remaining moisture; this process can be reversed drying the copra in the kiln and finishing the process with sunlight. Starting with sun drying requires careful inspection to avoid contamination with mold while starting with kiln-drying can harden the meat and prevent it from drying out in the sun.

In India, small but whole coconuts can be dried over the course of eight months to a year, the meat inside removed and sold as a whole ball. Meat prepared in this fashion is sweet, oily and is cream-coloured instead of being white. Coconut meat can be dried using direct heat and smoke from a fire, using simple racks to suspend the coconut over the fire; the smoke residue can help preserve the half-dried meat but the process overall suffers from unpredictable results and the risk of fires. While there are some large plantations with integrated operations, copra remains a smallholder crop. In former years copra was collected by traders going from island to island and port to port in the Pacific Ocean but South Pacific production is now much diminished, with the exception of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Copra production begins on coconut plantations. Coconut trees are spaced 9 m apart, allowing a density of 100–160 coconut trees per hectare. A standard tree bears around 50–80 nuts a year, average earnings in Vanuatu were US$0.20 per kg —so a farmer could earn US$120 to US$320 yearly for each planted hectare.

Copra has since more than doubled in price, was quoted at US$540 per ton in the Philippines on a CIF Rotterdam basis by the Financial Times on 9 November 2012. In 2017 the value of global exports of copra was $145-146 Million; the largest exporter was Papua New Guinea with 35% of the global total, followed by Indonesia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The largest importer of copra is the Philippines, which imports $93.4 Million or 64% of the global total. A large number of small farmers and tree owners produce copra, a vital part of their income. Copra is susceptible to the growth of molds and their production of aflatoxins if not dried properly. Aflatoxins can be toxic, are among the most potent known natural carcinogens affecting the liver. Aflatoxins in copra cake, fed to animals, can be passed on in milk or meat, leading to human illnesses. In the Philippines, copra is collected as dried "cups". At the shipping point the copra is sampled by driving a small metal tube into the bag at several points, thus perforating the cups and collecting small amounts of copra within the tubes.

Those samples are measured for aflatoxin contamination. If within standards the bag is shipped; this method leaves the risk that many cups are missed by the random sampling—and contaminated copra might be missed. Because so many small producers are involved, it is impractical to monitor all the farms and drying sites; the Philippines government continues to work on developing methods for the testing and minimization of aflatoxins. Copra meal is used as fodder for cattle, its high oil and protein levels are fattening for stock. The protein in copra meal has been heat treated and provides a source of high-quality protein for cattle and deer, because it does not break down in the rumen. Coconut oil can be extracted using either mechanical solvents. Mechanically expelled copra meal is of higher feeding value, because it contains 8–12% oil, whereas the solvent-extracted copra meal contains only 2–4% oil. Premium quality c

This list of bridges in Hamburg has no claim to be complete, but rather just give an overview of their history and scope. For this article, the bridges are listed by Hamburg's three major rivers and the crossed body of water; the Elbe is by far the largest of the three. Unlike Alster and Bille, the Elbe is within the North Sea's tidal influence, Elbe bridges differ from the ones on Alster and Bille. All three rivers are fed by a number of smaller rivers and feature a number of branches or sidearms. Hamburg has the most bridges of any city in Europe. Besides the Hanseatic city's mercantile and maritime history, the many rivers and bridges constitute to Hamburg's association as the "Venice of the North". A 2004 report by the Department for Roads and Waterways states a total number of 2,496 bridges in Hamburg, many more than cities like Venice, Amsterdam or Saint Petersburg. Given the city's waterborne geography and the port's heavy duty requirements, bridges in Hamburg cover a great variety of architectural styles and innovative structural systems.

Function-wise the total number of bridges break down to 1,172 road bridges, 987 railroad bridges and 470 footbridges. 383 bridges are under management of the Hamburg Port Authority. The most notable bridges in Hamburg include the historic inner-city bridges passing the Lower Alster, the bridges across Speicherstadt canals, the grand bridges spanning the Elbe's Norderelbe and Süderelbe anabranches, most known as Elbbrücken. For centuries, the only bridges in Hamburg were across the Lower Alster and its canals in the Altstadt. Repeated redirecting of the Alster canals resulted in new bridges to go with them. Most of the pre-17th century bridges were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1842. Most of today's bridges in the inner city date from the 1840s reconstruction, during which over two dozen Renaissance Revival stone arch bridges were erected under building director Johann Hermann Maack. Maack's bridges tied into a general urban redevelopment of the inner city, seen in a number of European cities of the mid 19th century, still characterizes many of the Neustadt's canals.

Most of the bridges across the Upper Alster and adjoining canals were first built in conjunction with the area's extensive residential developments from the 1860s onwards. Some of them were replaced during the 1920s, with Fritz Schumacher in particular establishing a brick-arch-prototype for many bridges. Bridges across the Alster in Hamburg. A great number of the city's Alster bridges are located in the residential districts along the Upper Alster and its tributaries and accompanying side canals. For bridges from the Außenalster downstream, see section for Lower Alster bridges; the Alster is joined by the Tarpenbek at Eppendorfer Mühlenteich on its right side. Again on the right ride, the Isebekkanal joins the Alster's water shortly before reaching the Außenalster. Bridges across the Lower Alster. For bridges across Binnenhafen, see section for Oberhafen and Binnenhafen bridges. For bridges across Zollkanal, see section for Oberhafen and Binnenhafen bridges. Bridges across Osterbek and Osterbekkanal Bramfelder Brücke U3 Osterbekkanal Hochbahn Viaduct Hufnerstraßenbrücke Käthnerortbrücke Schleidenbrücke Großheidesteg Heinz-Gärtner-Brücke Mühlenkampbrücke Langenzugbrücke For bridges from the Außenalster downstream, see section for Lower Alster bridges.

Bridges across Hofwegkanal and Uhlenhorster Kanal Grillparzerbrücke Fährbrücke Hofwegbrücke Herbert-Weichmann-Brücke Feenteichbrücke For bridges from the Außenalster downstream, see section for Lower Alster bridges. Bridges across Wandse, Eilbek and Mundsburger Kanal For bridges from the Außenalster downstream, see section for Lower Alster bridges. Bridges across the Bille in Hamburg. For bridges across Oberhafen, see section for Oberhafen and Binnenhafen bridges. Bridges across Hammerbrook and Rothenburgsort canals Up until the 19th century, the Unterelbe had no fixed crossing. Travel time between Hamburg and Harburg took over two hours, included two ferry trips across the Norder- and Süderelbe and a weary trip across the dikes of Wilhelmsburg. During Napoleon's brief annexion of Hamburg, a 4 kilometers long pile bridge was built across the islands of Wilhelmsburg, however it required cable ferries across the Elbe's two anabranches. In 1817 the poorly maintained structure was washed away. By the 1840s, with industrialization growing and trade through the Port of Hamburg skyrocketing, the need for a fixed crossing became apparent.

At the time, the German states were a loose confederation of sovereign states, with the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg only controlling the northern Elbe shore, while the town of Harburg and the southern Elbe shore were part of the Kingdom of Hanover. Both sides built their railway lines: Hamburg–Bergedorf railway in 1842, and

Great Barr Hall is an 18th-century mansion situated at Pheasey, Walsall, on the border with Great Barr, West Midlands, England. It is a Grade II * listed building, it is, however, in a poor state of repair and is on the Buildings at Risk Register. In the mid-17th century, Richard Scott acquired the house standing on the site and known as Nether House. In about 1777, Joseph Scott replaced the old house with a two-storey, nine-bay mansion in the Strawberry Hill Gothic Revival style; the house was much altered and extended about 1840 and in 1863, an adjacent chapel was erected to a design of architect George Gilbert Scott, a friend – but not a relation – of Sir Francis Scott. Two of the extant lodge houses are believed to be by George Gilbert Scott. Outside the chapel are the burial plots of several of Lady Bateman Scott's pets, inscribed with poems she wrote for them. Financial problems led the Scott Family, to lease out the hall from about 1788 to Samuel Galton, for some years the Hall became a venue for meetings of the Lunar Society.

It is said to be the'favourite place of meeting' of this illustrious body. In 1999, stone memorials to the Lunar Society, the "Moonstones", were erected at the nearby Asda supermarket. In 1791, Sir Francis Scott, 3rd Baronet, inherited the manor of Great Barr from his maternal uncle Thomas Hoo and was able to return to live in the house on the expiry of the lease, he died in 1863. His widow Mildred lived on in the Hall until her death in 1909. In 1911, the estate was purchased by a local hospital board and, in 1918, became St Margaret's Mental Hospital. Many detached hospital buildings were erected near the hall, in the 1980s the grounds became a nature reserve, managed by the Staffordshire Nature Conservation Trust but the hall itself was abandoned in 1978 and, despite its 1971 Grade II* listing, was left to decay; the hospital began to close in phases from the late 1980s. The male department closed during 1992 but the female department closed in March 1997; the final residents, those with high dependency, left a newer part of the site in 2004.

This included a special school, The Queslett School, which closed in December 1988. Many years passed during which discussions and negotiations for the protection of the hall came to nothing. In 2006, Bovis Homes purchased the 40 hectare estate and obtained planning permission for the redevelopment of the site; as of 2011, Nether Hall Park a new residential housing development, occupying a substantial part of the estate, is in course of completion. In May 2011 the hall, still in ruins, was put up for sale for £2.2 million, by the Manor Building Preservation Trust, allowed to purchase it nine years earlier for £900,000. The trust had failed to bring it back into a safe state, it failed to sell, so was offered for sale by auction on 6 February 2012, by Van Weenan Estate Agents of London, with a guide price of £1,250,000. The highest bid was £1,140,000, so it again remained unsold. In May 2012, it was sold to a consortium of ten local residents, they have commissioned Lapworth Architects to consult with the public and investigate potential new uses for the hall.

The hall is on English Heritage's "Buildings at Risk Register". The Hall gatehouses. Three survive: Avenue Lodge, on Chapel Lane Handsworth Lodge, where Handsworth Drive meets Queslett Road Walsall Lodge, on Birmingham Road. A stream, the Holbook, leaves it at the southern end, runs, via Perry Reservoir, to the River Tame near the Zig Zag Bridge at Perry Barr. From there, its waters flow, to the Humber Estuary and the North Sea. Photos of the derelict Great Barr Hall and St Margaret's Hospital Great Barr Hall Action Committee the Scotts of Great Barr Great Barr Hall put up for sale Historic England. "Details from listed building database". National Heritage List for England. Heritage at Risk Register: Great+Barr+Hall grid reference SP056947

Tronox Limited is an American worldwide chemical company involved in the titanium products industry with 7,000 employees. Following its acquisition of the mineral sands business belonging to South Africa's Exxaro Resources, Tronox is the largest integrated seller and marketer of titanium dioxide pigment, which provides brightness to applications such as coatings and paper. Tronox sells titanium ore – the main feedstock of titanium dioxide - and zircon directly to customers. Tronox is the third-largest titanium feedstock producer, with 10% of global titanium ore production; the company has an electrolytic and speciality chemicals business that services the paper and battery industries. A part of the Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation and based in Oklahoma City since it was spun off from its parent in 2005, the company announced in June 2012 that it was moving its headquarters to Stamford, Connecticut; the company was spun off in part to offload its parent company Kerr-McGee's legacy of generations of environmental dumping of toxic waste across 22 states.

According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, kept its valuable oil and gas assets." Tronox did not reveal the massive hidden liabilities to investors, after they became known, Tronox dropped to a penny stock in 2009. In response, shareholders sued Anadarko Petroleum for keeping the scope of the environmental disaster a secret. In addition the US Federal Government sued Anadarko to pay for the cleanup, in April 2014 settled on the largest environmental contamination settlement in American history, over $5 billion; the company went public in 2005, when Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee, which had owned the company issued shares via an initial public offering on November 21, 2005. It became an independent company in March 2006. In the first quarter of 2006, Tronox replaced Meade Instruments on the S&P SmallCap 600 index, when Kerr-McGee distributed the rest of its stock in Tronox under its former NYSE symbol TRX.

B, a class B security. TRX. B started regular-way trading on March 31, 2006. In 2008, the company's stock price declined and both classes of stock became penny stocks. In September 2008, the company's stock moved from the NYSE to OTC. On 14 January 2009, Tronox filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it specified. In 2009, shareholders of Tronox sued Anadarko Petroleum for having misled investors about the large environmental and other debts Tronox would inherit from its parent corporation; the environmental pollution included polluting Lake Mead in Nevada with rocket fuel, leaving behind radioactive waste piles throughout the territory of the Navajo Nation and dumping carcinogenic creosote in communities throughout the East and South at its wood-treating facilities. In 2009, the Huntsman Corporation announced it would buy certain of Tronox's assets, such as its factories. In late 2009, Tronox terminated this deal. Tronox emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 14, 2011. Tom Casey became CEO in October 2011.

On June 15, 2012, Tronox announced that it had completed the acquisition of Exxaro Mineral Sands and combined both entities under Tronox Limited, an Australian holding company. Describing the benefits of the combination, Tronox Limited CEO Tom Casey said, "We now have the ability to sell into a lucrative titanium feedstock market while assuring our titanium dioxide customers that we have the supply to deliver quality products at reasonable prices."In April 2014, the federal government reached a $5 billion settlement with Anadarko in the largest environmental contamination case in American history. According to one report, "Kerr-McGee, rather than pay for the environmental mess it created, decided to shift the liabilities between 2002 and 2006 into Tronox. Kerr-McGee, kept its valuable oil and gas assets." The cost to clean up the mess inherited by Tronox from Kerr-McGee was estimated by the courts to be over $5 billion. There are contaminated sites in the Navajo Nation. "Among the dozens of locations targeted for cleanup under the settlement is a former chemical manufacturing site in Nevada that has led to contamination in Lake Mead, abandoned uranium mines in and around the Navajo Nation, a Superfund site in Gloucester, N.

J. polluted by thorium."On 10 April 2019, Tronox acquired the Saudi Arabian titanium dioxide pigment manufacturer Cristal Global. Global headquartersStamford, Connecticut:Mineral sands operationsNamakwa Sands, South Africa KwaZulu-Natal Sands, South Africa Cooljarloo, Western Australia Chandala Processing Plant, Western AustraliaPigment productionsHamilton, Mississippi Botlek, Netherlands Bunbury, Australia Kwinana, Australia Stallingborough, United KingdomElectrolyic operationsHenderson, Nevada Kerr-McGee spun off its chemical business circa 2005-6 after demands were made by corporate raider and major Kerr-McGee shareholder Carl Icahn. Among other things, Tronox inherited several radioactive waste sites from Kerr-McGee; these include the Rare Earths Facility. They are, still undergoing cleanup, it inherited the Henderson, Nevada "BMI" site. This site had supplied Magnesium and other chemicals beginning around World War II, it leaked perchlorate into the water table, which subsequently contaminated Lake Mead and the Colorado River, which supply water to millions of people.

Exiting bankruptcy in February 2011, Trono

The 2016 United States Senate election in North Carolina was held November 8, 2016 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of North Carolina, concurrently with the 2016 U. S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Primary elections were held March 15. Incumbent Republican Senator Richard Burr won re-election to a third term in office against Democratic former State Representative Deborah K. Ross and Libertarian Sean Haugh. There had been speculation that Burr might retire, but he said in September 2014 that he was "planning" on running and reaffirmed this in January 2015. If Burr had retired, the seat was expected to draw significant interest, with potential Republican candidates including U. S. Representatives George Holding, Mark Meadows, Robert Pittenger, Labor Commissioner Cherie K. Berry, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, State Senator Philip E. Berger, former Ambassador to Denmark James P. Cain.

Greg Brannon, Tea Party activist and candidate for the U. S. Senate in 2014 Richard Burr, incumbent U. S. Senator Larry Holmquist and Tea Party activist Paul Wright, former Superior Court Judge, candidate for Governor in 2012 and nominee for NC-04 in 2014 Mark Meadows, U. S. Representative Kevin Griffin, businessman Ernest Reeves, retired U. S. Army captain, candidate for the U. S. Senate in 2014 and candidate for Mayor of Greenville in 2015 Chris Rey, Mayor of Spring Lake Deborah K. Ross, former state representative Dan Blue, Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate and candidate for the U. S. Senate in 2002 Roy Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General Janet Cowell, North Carolina State Treasurer Cal Cunningham, former state senator and candidate for the U. S. Senate in 2010 Joel Ford, state senator Anthony Foxx, United States Secretary of Transportation and former Mayor of Charlotte Kay Hagan, former U. S. Senator Duane Hall, state representative Larry Hall, Minority Leader of the North Carolina House of Representatives Jeff Jackson, state senator Allen Joines, Mayor of Winston-Salem Grier Martin, state representative Nancy McFarlane, Independent Mayor of Raleigh Mike McIntyre, former U.

S. Representative Charles Meeker, former Mayor of Raleigh Brad Miller, former U. S. Representative Thomas W. Ross, outgoing President of the University of North Carolina system Heath Shuler, former U. S. Representative Josh Stein, State Senator Allen Thomas, Mayor of Greenville Beth Wood, State Auditor Sean Haugh, pizza delivery man and nominee for the U. S. Senate in 2002 and 2014 Richard Burr, incumbent U. S. Senator Deborah K. Ross, former state representative Sean Haugh, pizza delivery man and nominee for the U. S. Senate in 2002 and 2014 United States Senate elections, 2016 Official campaign websites Richard Burr for Senate Deborah Ross for Senate Sean Haugh for Senate

The Oregon Riptide was the name chosen for an American Basketball Association franchise, to be based in Portland, Oregon. In May, 2006, founding team owner, Jeremy "J" Brice, of Salem, had gained ABA approval, opened a front office in downtown Portland, announced its staff. A May 27 free agent camp was held to recruit an initial roster of players. Brice arranged with Warner Pacific College for arena facilities for a summer youth basketball camp to be sponsored by the team, for the competitive season to have begun in November, 2006, he had contracted with the Jupiter Hotel to house visiting team members. Plans for the youth camp were cancelled in July, 2006, following an article revealing that Brice, a Nevada native who had served as a high school and youth league coach, was a registered sex offender in both California and Oregon; as a result, he could not have unsupervised contact with girls except for his daughter. Warner Pacific, a Christian college affiliated with the conservative Church of God, withdrew availability of their facilities.

Brice sold the franchise to Christopher Sears less than a week telling a reporter for the Tribune, "I am no longer associated with the Riptide due to the negativity and black cloud over my name." The league approved the transfer, Joe Newman, ABA CEO, stated that the team would still play in the 2006 season. When the ABA season started in November 2006, the Oregon Riptide was not on the schedule. American Basketball Association official website