A minibus, minicoach, or commuter is a passenger carrying motor vehicle, designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a seating capacity of between 30 seats. Larger minibuses may be called midibuses. Minibuses are front-engined step-entrance vehicles, although low floor minibuses do exist. Minibuses are used for a variety of reasons. In a public transport role, they can be used as fixed route transit buses, airport buses, flexible demand responsive transport vehicles, share taxis or large taxicabs. Accessible minibuses can be used for paratransit type services, by local authorities, transit operators, hospitals or charities. Private uses of minibuses can include charter buses, tour buses. Schools, sports clubs, community groups and charities may use minibuses for private transport. Individual owners may use reduced seating minibuses as cheap recreational vehicles.

By size, microbuses are minibuses smaller than 8 metres long. Midibuses are minibuses smaller than full-size buses. There are many different types and configurations of minibuses, due to historical and local differences, usage. Minibus designs can be classified in three main groups, with a general increase in seating capacity with each type: Van conversions. Simple, optional extras Body builds Purpose built The most basic source of minibuses is the van conversion, where the minibus is derived by modifying the existing van design. Conversions may be produced by the van manufacturer, sold as part of their standard model line-up, or be produced by specialist conversion companies, who source a suitably prepared base model from the van manufacturer for final completion as a minibus. Van conversions involve adding windows to the bodywork, seating to the cargo area. Van conversion minibuses outwardly look the same shape as the parent van, the driver and front passenger cabin remains unchanged, retaining the driver and passenger doors.

Access to the former cargo area for passengers is through the standard van side sliding door, or the rear doors. These may be fitted with step equipment to make boarding easier. Optional extras to van converted minibuses can include the addition of a rollsign for transit work, and/or a full-height walk-in door, for passenger access to the former cargo area. For public transport use, this door may be an automatic concertina type. For other uses, this may be a simple plug style coach door. Depending on the relevant legislation, conversions may involve wheelchair lifts and tachograph equipment. A van conversion with a passenger area in the front and a storage area in the back, behind a fixed bulkhead, is called a splitter bus. Examples of vans used for these conversion minibuses are: Ford Transit Hyundai Starex LDV Maxus Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Renault Master Toyota Hiace Volkswagen Crafter. ° Mitsubishi L300 Versa Van Another method of building a minibus is for a second stage manufacturer to build a specific body for fitting to a semi-completed van or light truck chassis.

These allow a higher seating capacity than a simple van conversion. The second stage manufacturer is a bus manufacturer. In a body-on-chassis minibus, a cabin body is installed on a van or light truck chassis encompassing the drivers area; these designs may retain some outward signs such as the hood and grill. Other designs are visually a complete bus design, it is the chassis underneath, from the van design; the body-on-chassis approach gives the advantage of higher seating capacity, or more room for passenger comfort, through a larger cabin area. There is the advantage of being able to have the drivers seat positioned in a small cubicle, next to the main passenger entrance, allowing the driver to collect fares in a transit bus role. Examples of body built minibuses are: Busette Optare CityPacer Plaxton Beaver Examples of vehicles used for this type of minibuses are: Ford Transit Freight Rover Isuzu Elf locally built as the NQR bus A next generation approach to the van-derived or cutaway chassis approach, is for manufacturers to produce an integral design, where the whole vehicle is purposely designed and built for use as a minibus.

This is done by an integral bus manufacturer, although large automotive groups produce their own models. These designs are available in long high capacity versions, may attract different designations, such as midibus, or light bus. Examples of purpose built minibuses are: Hino Liesse Isuzu Journey MCW Metrorider Nissan Diesel RN Nissan Civilian Mitsubishi Fuso Rosa Toyota Coaster Karsan J9 Premier Karsan J10 Hyundai County Daewoo Lestar Renault Dodge S56 Following the development of low-floor technology, some low-floor purpose built minibuses have been created; some offer a low floor access through a centre door. Some short versions of low floor midibuses are sometimes called minibuses. Orion International "Orion II" Mitsubishi Fuso Aero Midi ME Optare Solo Optare Alero Karsan JEST! Hino Poncho Nissan Diesel RN Bluebird Tucana Bluebird Auriga Mercedes-Benz Sprinter There are many different form of public transpo

The 2014 Coupe de la Ligue Final was the 20th final of France's football league cup competition, the Coupe de la Ligue, a competition for the 42 teams that the Ligue de Football Professionnel manages. The final took place on 19 April 2014 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis and was contested between Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain. PSG won 2–1 and became the first club to win the competition four times, ahead of Bordeaux and Marseille; the winner of the final should have been guaranteed a UEFA Europa League place for the 2014–15 season, but PSG had qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League via its league position. Lyon appeared in its fifth final of the Coupe de la Ligue; the Rhône-Alpes-based club won its only league cup title in 2001 defeating Monaco 2–1 after extra time. In Lyon's three other finals appearances, the club finished runner-up in 1996, 2007 and 2012 to Metz and Marseille respectively. In their four previous finals, Paris Saint-Germain had won three: the inaugural final in 1995 against Bastia, in 1998 against Bordeaux in a penalty shootout, a 2-1 win over Lens in 2008.

Their one defeat in a final had been in 2000. PSG manager Laurent Blanc had won the 2009 final with Bordeaux; the two teams met in the league six days before the final, Lyon winning 1–0 at home through Jordan Ferri to inflict only PSG's second league defeat of the season and prevent them from winning the title on that day. However, Lyon manager Rémi Garde, said "The two matches shouldn't be compared. We were at home and on Saturday we're away from home. We're closer to Paris than Lyon, they are two competitions with different ingredients. I'm not worried. We'll start from scratch."PSG were disadvantaged by the loss through injury of Ligue 1 top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimović, injured in their Champions League victory over Chelsea on 2 April. As a result, Edinson Cavani moved to centre-forward. First-choice goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu was rested with Nicolas Douchez starting instead. A BBC preview to the match said, "Champions League heartbreak, losing your best player through injury and being beaten by tonight's opponents in your last game.

It's fair enough to say Paris St-Germain's build-up to the French League Cup final hasn't been ideal." The Coupe de la Ligue final has been played every year at the Stade de France since 1998, following the stadium's completion. The stadium has a capacity of 81,338 spectators. Both clubs will receive the same quota of tickets, which are distributed to season ticket holders and through each club's ticket sales at a date. Ticketing information was released on 12 February 2014; as a Ligue 1 club involved in a European campaign, Lyon entered in the Round of 16 on 18 December 2013 and defeated Reims 3–2 at home, with all goals in the second half, Lyon's through Bafétimbi Gomis, Alexandre Lacazette and Yoann Gourcuff. In the quarter-finals on 15 January 2014, again at home, they beat Marseille 2–1 through Gourcuff and Gomis. Lyon's semi-final was at home against Ligue 2 club Troyes on 5 February, they won 2–1 after Lacazette and Gomis scored in the first half hour of play. Due to the same circumstances, PSG entered the tournament at the same stage on the same day, played holders Saint-Étienne at home in their first match.

Edinson Cavani put the home team ahead in the first half. Cavani scored the winner within the last five minutes of extra time. In the quarter-finals on 14 January, PSG travelled to the Stade Chaban-Delmas to play against Bordeaux. Javier Pastore scored the first goal at the end of the first half, with André Biyogo Poko equalising soon after play resumed. With two goals in the last five minutes of the match, Adrien Rabiot and Blaise Matuidi put PSG into the semi-finals. At the Stade de la Beaujoire, PSG gained the lead early on through Zlatan Ibrahimović, the last ten minutes saw Olivier Veigneau equalise and Ibrahimović score the winner. After 178 seconds of play, Edinson Cavani opened the scoring for PSG by tapping in a cross from left-back Maxwell which beat Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes. Cavani gained advantage by playing in a preferred centre-forward position due to the injury to Zlatan Ibrahimović, soon after scoring forced a save by a volley. PSG defender Alex had a goal ruled out for offside, Cavani converted a penalty won when Lopes fouled Lucas.

A chance for a first-half hat-trick was denied when Cavani missed a one-on-one from eight yards out, in the first ten minutes of the second half, Alexandre Lacazette scored for Lyon by running from the halfway line and shooting from 20 yards. Despite dominating possession, Lyon had few subsequent chances to equalise. Official website

OMAC is a DC Comics superhero. He was introduced in OMAC #1. Michael Costner, a seventeen-year-old petty thief, spent his entire life in Gotham City. While still at the orphanotrophy, Michael was infected with the OMAC nanovirus through a contaminated flu-vaccine shot. However, Brother Eye never activated him during the Infinite Crisis events, having lost contact with him as Michael began a life off the grid. Instead, in prevision of a victory by the metahumans, Brother Eye kept Michael as a "sleeper agent", the last unit to be activated only in times of dire need. Brother Eye's downfall, at the hands of Sasha Bordeaux, signaled that moment. Brother Eye, now spliced between a NORAD hard drive containing the bulk of his core programming and a backup satellite orbiting the Earth, activated Michael, incidentally saving him from a round-up; the Michael-OMAC reveals himself to be problematic from the first moments of being online. While other OMACs had no personality, nor qualms about being used as killing machines, the Michael-OMAC rebelled against his programming upon being ordered to kill a female policewoman, an associate and love interest of Michael.

It was hypothesized that Michael, with his personality submerged by the OMAC programming relived moral imperatives and "school yard rules" from Michael's subconscious, such as "never hitting the girls". Despite the obvious inconsistencies in his programming, Brother Eye, having no other choices, still trusted Michael to steal the hard drive from NORAD and upload it, along with part of the nanovirus source code, into the backup satellite, restarting the OMAC project at full capacity. Along the way, he was forced to battle Firestorm and Cyborg, once again pulling his punches to avoid hurting Firehawk. Resenting Brother Eye for forcing him to kill and for stealing his personality, Michael flies to outer space, taking enough control of his OMAC form to jettison the Nomac drive and the damaged Brother Eye. Enraged, Brother Eye casts him on Earth. While on the run, Michael met a kind showgirl, Vienna Barstow, who took an obvious interest in the young, dashing castoff, helping him escape the consequences of one of his many thefts.

Luckily, when Brother Eye casts Michael on Earth, Vienna is traveling with her sleazy manager, Pete Rollins, her fellow showgirls to their new job, mistaking Michael for the victim of an ultralight aircraft accident, rushes to give him first aid. That night, Vienna discovers Michael stealing from her and attempting to escape. Hoping to scare him out of his plan, she fakes a call to Las Vegas sheriffs, denouncing the earlier theft; when a truck runs her over, Michael is forced to use his OMAC powers to save her, incidentally revealing his ability to connect with technology. He admits to have always known. Vienna begins to believe he is a metahuman, out of gratitude, she keeps helping him. Forced by Pete to kill Michael, thereby avoiding "unnecessary" questioning for aiding a fugitive, Vienna convinces Michael to fake his death, promising to return to him later. Meanwhile, Brother Eye rebuilds itself out of space debris, it contemplates a connection between the independence shown by his addiction to heroin.

Brother Eye slips into a dormant state until a motley crew of travelling drug addicts pick up Michael and, believing him in the throes of withdrawal, decide to give him a free fix. The crew's car crashes into Pete's bus. Pete was hoping to escape the rage of his bosses who are angry at him because, being late to the next show of Vienna's équipe because of Michael, they suffered a huge monetary loss. Brother Eye is forced to activate Michael. From the catastrophic crash emerge only four survivors: Vienna, Pete, a grievously wounded showgirl, OMAC. OMAC mercy-kills Vienna's friend, being able to see the extent of her internal bleeding, kills Pete to prevent him from killing Vienna, brings Vienna to safety and reveals his identity as Michael Costner. Able to balance his new form, Michael shows an increased control over his body, becoming able to access several OMAC powers in his human form for Vienna's benefit. At first skeptical and angry at Michael for OMAC's early doings, Vienna softens up falling in love with him.

Michael uses his powers to make Vienna as comfortable as he can. They share a moment of intimacy, unknowing that Brother Eye dormant since the incident with Pete, is still watching over them, planning to turn Vienna into a new, more obedient OMAC unit through the exchange of bodily fluids with Michael. Brother Eye puts his plan into fruition by hampering Michael's activities with a wave of hallucinations and shutting down Vienna's body during a raid by the local police, arresting both of them as squatters. Michael manages to free himself, but too scared to fight Brother Eye, he keeps feigning a catatonic state while Brother Eye rebuilds Vienna's now comatose body to peak health. Elsewhere, Batman sends Superman to search for Brother Eye. Superman is held in a kryptonite-laced chamber, he manages to contact Michael, transmitting him Brother Eye's plans about Vienna and the world: to kill all of Earth's metahumans to avenge its defeat. Moreover, Vienna is now pregnant with Michael's son. Hoping to stop Michael from garnering enough courage to make a stand, Brother Eye awakens Vienna, now an OMAC, sends

Pacific Appeal was an African-American newspaper based in San Francisco and published from April 1862 to June 1880. Pacific Appeal was co-founded by Philip Alexander Bell, an African-American civil rights and antislavery activist who had established Weekly Advocate and worked for William Lloyd Garrison's Liberator, Peter Anderson, a San Francisco civil rights activist and delegate at the California Colored Citizens Convention, it was the successor to The Mirror of the Times, another San Francisco-based African-American newspaper, established in 1855, with the change of name occurring along with a change of proprietor from Judge Mifflin W. Gibbs to William H. Carter, its contemporaries at the time included the Anglo-African, it was regarded as the official organ of African-Americans on the Pacific slope. The paper’s motto was “He who would be free, himself must strike the blow.” It began publishing in April 1862. Bell and Anderson would split, with Bell accusing Anderson of becoming less antislavery and more accommodationist.

The coverage of antislavery and civil rights issues in the first few years has been covered by historians and chroniclers of black abolitionism of the era, including in The Afro-American Press and Its Editors. The inaugural 1862 volume contained eight antislavery poems, including four poems by San Francisco poet James Madison Bell, writing under the initials JMB. Pacific Appeal published a number of letters by Emperor Norton, self-proclaimed Emperor of the United States, including his proposals for what would become the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Transbay Tube. List of African-American newspapers in California

The Society of Professional Economists is a British network of professional economists. Its members are drawn from all areas of the discipline including financial and professional services, journalism, consultancy, business schools and universities. Membership is open to anyone who has a degree with substantial economic content and/or works in an area of economic endeavour or investigation; the Society of Professional Economists organises networking events, professional development and education as well as a high-profile conferences and an annual dinner. It provides a monthly newsletter with updates on these events, links to events organised by other professional bodies, new members and economic news; the Society reviews books and provides a forum for members to advertise job opportunities and their own events. The Society exists to help all those, its activities aim to demonstrate the use of economic analysis as a tool to support business decision-making and to enhance the standing of the professional economist working outside academia.

It provides a forum for its members to discuss and debate economic issues and helps them keep in touch with practical and theoretical developments within the discipline. The Society welcomes younger members to engage through its social networks on Facebook and LinkedIn and has membership packages aimed at those who are embarking on a career in the profession; the Society offers affiliate membership to individuals who are interested in economics but not practicing. Monthly meetings are the core of the SPE’s activities, run from September to July at lunchtime or in the evening. Distinguished speakers from the UK and abroad and from both the private and public sectors address a wide range of topical issues with time for questions and discussion. Evening meetings are followed by drinks and the opportunity to network with other SPE members from a wide range of organisations. Post-fiscal event briefings are held with HM Treasury following Autumn Statements, they offer SPE members the opportunity to discuss the macroeconomic aspects of what has been announced, UK fiscal policy more generally.

Recent annual conferences have featured Ben Broadbent, Sir Charles Bean, Robert Chote, Gavyn Davies, Dame DeAnne Julius, Professor Diane Coyle, Evan Davies, Stephanie Flanders, Professor Philip Lane and Sir Dave Ramsden. SPE annual dinners attract high-profile international guest speakers. Past speakers have included Dr Mark Carney, Sir John Vickers, Sir Gus O’Donnell, Sir Howard Davies, Jean-Claude Trichet, Mario Draghi, William C Dudley, Prof Axel Weber, Christian Noyer and Dr James Bullard; the guest speaker for 2019 was George Osborne. Masterclasses on current issues and new developments contribute to continuing professional development. Members use these events to refresh or update their knowledge, provide further opportunities to get to know other members and build networks; the SPE runs a Continuous Professional Development Programme and a series of masterclasses presented by leading lights in their field. The SPE has an active jobs board. A large number of employers and recruiters advertise job opportunities for economists through the Society.

This prize is awarded annually by the Society to the author of the year's best piece of writing on an issue of importance to professional economists. The Society produces a monthly newsletter, book reviews, a regular salary survey and reports and webcasts from its events; the Society of Professional Economists was established as The Business Economists Group in 1953. When Sir Campbell Fraser of the Economist Intelligence Unit, with the aid of three of his own colleagues as well as John Dixon of Dunlop and Clive Dalton of Esso, set up a meeting with a view to establishing a small group of economists working in business.. The group wanted to discuss professional challenges in responding to the UK’s poor post-war economic recovery; the first Business Economists Group meeting took place in 1953, in the St Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster, London. The attendance list shows there were thirty-three attendees: thirteen from industry, seven from consultancies and market research organisations, three from financial sectors, one from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research.

The remaining six were from government organisations. The aim of this first meeting was to: Discuss the divergence between the real world challenges and economic theory. Keep up-to-date with developments in economic theory. Exchange views and analyse government policies and current affairs. Develop a ‘group’ that could facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences and so mitigate professional isolation. Provide professional standards for business economists and promote the interests of the ‘groups’ members; the Society’s aims today remain unchanged but reflect the reality of economics as it is now practiced professionally and the needs of economists to network and engage in lively debate across many platforms in order to keep on top of the rapid developments in the subject area. The Society of Professional Economists is a membership organisation, its members are drawn from all areas of economics, including financial and professional services, journalism, consultancy, business schools and universities.

Membership is open to anyone who has a degree with substantial economic content and/or works in an area of economic endeavour or investigation. It has four types of members: Full members, student or early career members, affiliate members and corporate members. Notable members include: Vicky Pryce DeAnne Julius Lord Burns Richard O'Brien Bridget

Dr. Charlotte S. Huck was an American author, university professor, children's literature expert; the Charlotte Huck Children's Literature Festival at the University of Redlands is named in her honor. Named in her honor, in 1996 the University of Ohio established the first endowed professorship in children's literature in the United States. In 2014, the National Council of Teachers of English named an award after Huck, the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award. Huck earned her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University, she taught in elementary schools in the Midwest before earning her master's degree and doctorate via Ohio State University. She joined Ohio State's faculty in 1955. In this capacity, she endeavored over the course of 33 years to develop an academic program in children's literature; this included creating an annual children's literature festival at the university. During this time, she was awarded the Landau Award for Distinguished Service in teaching the subject. In the course of her career, Huck served on the Caldecott Honor and Newbery Honor American Library Association committees.

Additionally, she established a reading program at the A. K. Smiley Public Library and an annual children's literature festival at the University of Redlands, named in her honor in 2000. Children's Literature in the Classroom Children's Literature in the Elementary School Princess Furball Secret Places Toads and Diamonds A Creepy Countdown The Black Bull of Norroway: A Scottish Tale Charlotte Huck's Children’s Literature: A Brief Guide by Barbara Kiefer and Cynthia Tyson Huck received numerous honors throughout her career, including: Ohio State University's Distinguished Teaching Award Landau Award for Distinguished Service in Teaching Children's Literature NCTE Distinguished Service Award The International Reading Association's Arbuthnot Award Reading Hall of Fame inductee University of Redlands Town & Gown "A Woman's Place Is Everywhere" Award Huck died of melanoma in 2005