A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers and ratchets. A well-known type portrays a person whose mouth forms the jaws of the nutcracker, though many of these are meant for decoration. Nuts were opened using a hammer and anvil made of stone; some nuts such as walnuts can be opened by hand, by holding the nut in the palm of the hand and applying pressure with the other palm or thumb, or using another nut. Manufacturers produce modern functional nutcrackers somewhat resembling pliers, but with the pivot point at the end beyond the nut, rather than in the middle; these are used for cracking the shells of crab and lobster to make the meat inside available for eating. Hinged lever nutcrackers called a "pair of nutcrackers", may date back to Ancient Greece. By the 14th century in Europe, nutcrackers were documented in England, including in the Canterbury Tales, in France; the lever design may derive from blacksmiths' pincers. Materials included metals such as silver, cast-iron and bronze, wood including boxwood those from France and Italy.

More porcelain was used. Many of the wooden carved nutcrackers were in the form of animals. During the Victorian era and nuts were presented at dinner and ornate and silver-plated nutcrackers were produced to accompany them on the dinner table. Nuts have long been a popular choice for desserts throughout Europe; the nutcrackers were placed on dining tables to serve as a fun and entertaining center of conversation while diners awaited their final course. At one time, nutcrackers were made of metals such as brass, it was not until the 1800s in Germany that the popularity of wooden ones began to spread; the late 19th century saw two shifts in nutcracker production: the rise in figurative and decorative designs from the Alps where they were sold as souvenirs, a switch to industrial manufacture, including availability in mail-order catalogues, rather than artisan production. After the 1960s, the availability of pre-shelled nuts led to a decline in ownership of nutcrackers and a fall in the tradition of nuts being put in children's Christmas stockings.

In the 17th century, screw nutcrackers were introduced that applied more gradual pressure to the shell, some like a vise. The spring-jointed nutcracker was patented by Henry Quackenbush in 1913. A ratchet design, similar to a car jack, that increases pressure on the shell to avoid damaging the kernel inside is used by the Crackerjack, patented in 1947 by Cuthbert Leslie Rimes of Morley and exhibited at the Festival of Britain. Unshelled nuts are still popular in China, where a key device is inserted into the crack in walnuts and macadamias and twisted to open the shell. Nutcrackers in the form of wood carvings of a soldier, king, or other profession have existed since at least the 15th century. Figurative nutcrackers are a good luck symbol in Germany, a folktale recounts that a puppet-maker won a nutcracking challenge by creating a doll with a mouth for a lever to crack the nuts; these nutcrackers portray a person with a large mouth which the operator opens by lifting a lever in the back of the figurine.

One could insert a nut in the big-toothed mouth, press down and thereby crack the nut. Modern nutcrackers in this style serve for decoration at Christmas time, a season of which they have long been a traditional symbol; the ballet The Nutcracker derives its name from this festive holiday decoration. The carving of nutcrackers— as well as of religious figures and of cribs— developed as a cottage industry in forested rural areas of Germany; the most famous nutcracker carvings come from Sonneberg in Thuringia and as part of the industry of wooden toymaking in the Ore Mountains. Wood-carving provided the only income for the people living there. Today the travel industry supplements their income by bringing visitors to the remote areas. Carvings by famous names like Junghanel, Klaus Mertens, Olaf Kolbe, Christian Ulbricht and the Steinbach nutcrackers have become collectors' items. Decorative nutcrackers became popular in the United States after the Second World War, following the first US production of The Nutcracker ballet in 1940 and the exposure of US soldiers to the dolls during the war.

In the United States, few of the decorative nutcrackers are now functional, though expensive working designs are still available. Many of the woodworkers in Germany were in Erzgebirge, in the Soviet zone after the end of the war, they mass-produced poorly-made designs for the US market. With the increase in pre-shelled nuts, the need for functionality was lessened. After the 1980s, Chinese and Taiwanese imports that copied the traditional German designs took over; the recreated "Bavarian village" of Leavenworth, features a nutcracker museum. Many other materials serve to make decorated nutcrackers, such as porcelain and brass; the United States Postal Service issued four stamps in October 2008 with custom-made nutcrackers made by Richmond, Virginia artist Glenn Crider. Some artists, among them the multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield, have used the sound nutcrackers make in music. Many animals shell nuts to eat them, including using tools; the Capuchin monkey is a fine example. Parrots use their beaks in much the same way smaller birds crack seeds.

In this case, the pivot point stands at the jaw. Black Walnut Crackers

Green building results in structures that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout their lifecycle – from siting to design, operation, maintenance and demolition. A 2009 report by the U. S. General Services Administration evaluated 12 sustainably designed GSA buildings, found they cost less to operate and have excellent energy performance. In addition, occupants were more satisfied with the overall building than those in typical commercial buildings. Wood products from responsible sources are a good choice for most green building projects – both new construction and renovations. Wood grows using energy from the sun, is renewable and recyclable, it uses far less energy to produce than concrete or steel. Wood can mitigate climate change because wood products continue to store carbon absorbed by the tree during its growing cycle, because substituting wood for fossil fuel-intensive materials such as steel and concrete result in ‘avoided’ greenhouse gas emissions. Wood’s natural beauty and warmth have been shown to generate improved productivity and performance in schools and better patient outcomes in hospitals.

A life cycle assessment can help avoid a narrow outlook on environmental and economic concerns by assessing each and every impact associated with all the stages of a process from cradle-to-grave. A comprehensive review of scientific literature from Europe, North America and Australia pertaining to life cycle assessment of wood products concluded, among other things, that: Fossil fuel consumption, the potential contributions to the greenhouse effect and the quantities of solid waste tend to be minor for wood products compared to competing products. Wood products that have been installed and are used in an appropriate way tend to have a favourable environmental profile compared to functionally equivalent products out of other materials. A study by the Canadian Wood Council compared the life cycle impacts of three 2,400-square-foot homes designed in wood and concrete over the first 20 years of their lifespans. Relative to the wood design, the steel and concrete designs released more air pollution, produced more solid wastes, used more resources, required more energy, emitted more greenhouse gases and discharged more water pollution.

When the complete life cycle is considered, including use and disposal, the great majority of the studies indicate that wood products have lower greenhouse gas emissions. In the few cases where wood products cause greater greenhouse gas emissions than their non-wood counterparts, the cause was inappropriate post-use disposal. Tools are available that enable architects to judge the relative environmental merits of building materials, they include the ATHENA Impact Estimator for Buildings, capable of modeling 95% of the building stock in North America, the ATHENA® EcoCalculator for Assemblies provides instant life cycle assessment results for common assemblies based on detailed assessments conducted using the Estimator. The EcoCalculator is available free from the non-profit Athena Sustainable Materials Institute in order to encourage greater use of LCA by design and building professionals; as trees grow, they store it in biomass. When trees decompose or burn, much of the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, some of the carbon remains in the forest debris and soils.

When a tree is cut and the wood is used for products such as structural lumber or furniture, the carbon is stored for decades or longer. A typical 2,400-square-foot home in North America contains 29 metric tonnes of carbon, or the equivalent of offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions produced by driving a passenger car over five years When wood replaces a fossil fuel for energy or a construction material with a greater greenhouse gas footprint, this lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Studies show that wood products are associated with far less greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than other major building materials. Substituting a cubic metre of blocks or brick with wood results in a significant saving of 0.75 to one tone of carbon dioxide. Increasing the use of wood products in construction and for other long-lived uses, plus the use of wood byproducts and wood waste as biomass replacement for fossil fuels, can contribute to atmospheric greenhouse gas stabilization; the sustainable management of forests for the production of wood products is a feasible and beneficial part of an overall strategy to mitigate climate change.

Securing the Future, a United Kingdom government strategy for sustainable development, stated: “Forestry practices can make a significant contribution by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through increasing the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere by the national forest estate, by burning wood for fuel, by using wood as a substitute for energy-intensive materials such as concrete and steel.” FPInnovations, a Canadian non-profit research organization, conducted a literature review of 66 scientific peer-reviewed articles regarding the net impact on atmospheric greenhouse gases due to wood product use within a life cycle perspective. It showed several ways wood product substitution affects greenhouse gas balances, including: Less fossil fuel consumption in manufacturing. A

Matheus Aiás Barrozo Rodrigues known as Matheus, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Spanish club CD Mirandés on loan from English club Watford as a forward. Born in Palmares Paulista, São Paulo, Matheus agreed to a deal with Udinese in January 2014 from Ponte Preta's under-17 squad, he was assigned to Granada CF, joining their reserve team in November but only being registered the following January due his short age. Matheus made his senior debut on 15 March 2015, playing the last 12 minutes in a 0–1 Segunda División B away loss against Arroyo CP, his first goal came on 4 October, as he scored the opener in a 1–1 home draw against Mérida AD. On 27 April 2017, Matheus joined fellow third division side Lorca FC on loan for two months, as a replacement to injured Chumbi. After achieving promotion, he moved to CF Fuenlabrada in a temporary deal on 7 July. On 30 January 2018, Matheus moved to Valencia CF Mestalla, still on loan. On 22 August, now owned by Watford, he agreed to a one-year loan deal with fellow third division CD Mirandés, achieving promotion at the end of the campaign.

On 22 July 2019, Matheus' loan was renewed for a further season. He made his professional debut on 17 August, starting in a 2–2 away draw against Rayo Vallecano for the Segunda División championship; as of match played 5 February 2020. Matheus Aiás at BDFutbol Matheus Aiás at Soccerway

WNWZ is a radio station broadcasting an urban adult contemporary format, licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The station is simulcast on FM translator W285FO, licensed to Grand Rapids, the HD2 subchannel of Hot adult contemporary sister station WLHT-FM 95.7. The station first began broadcasting under the WGRD call sign in 1948; as AM 1410 was a daytime-only station, the WGRD calls stood for Grand Rapids Daytime. The station adopted the Top 40 music format in 1959 and was a top-rated station in the Grand Rapids market during the late 1950s and early 1960s, though the station had lost ground to WLAV 1340 and WZZM-FM 95.7 by the end of the decade. WGRD made a number of formatic adjustments in the mid-1960s in response to its falling ratings, shifting to an adult contemporary format in 1964 and to a Top 40/oldies mix the following year before tweaking back to Top 40 in 1967. WGRD reclaimed its market dominance after it added an FM signal at 97.9 MHz in 1971, though AM 1410 was relegated to being a simulcast of the FM signal mornings and afternoons.

For part of that time middays were "shadowcast." Same format, different dj. In 1981, WGRD dropped its simulcast of the FM station and switched to a "Big Band" Music of Your Life format as WXQT. In 1984, WXQT flipped to oldies as "GREAT GOLD 14-K", which stood for "14 Karat Gold", focusing on pop oldies from 1958-1972. Under the direction of PD Allen Jackson, "The NEW 14-K" featured Jack Stack mornings, Rich Kennedy middays, Larry Olek afternoons and Pugs Stella evenings; the station earned a respectable 2.4 share 12+ in the Summer 1984 Arbitron. In 1986, the local lineup was dropped in favor of the ABC/Satellite Music Network "Pure Gold" satellite format. Ratings crashed to a 0.9 share in the summer of 1986 Arbitron, under the new call sign WKTH. In 1988, the station adopted Satellite Music Network's Z-Rock format; the station reverted to the WGRD calls in 1991. In 1996, WGRD switched to ABC Radio's syndicated "Real Country" format; the station continued to be a non-factor in the ratings. In September 1998, 1410 changed its calls to WNWZ and adopted a simulcast of CNN Headline News, replaced by News/Talk in October 2001.

A Spanish pop hits format was adopted on January 1, 2003, was somewhat successful in the ratings given its poor signal ranking as Grand Rapids' third most popular AM station. WNWZ was the first radio station to cater to the Spanish-speaking community in Grand Rapids 24 hours a day. In August 2010, a reunion of more than 60 former WGRD staff members was held in Grand Rapids, which included market legend Bruce Grant, the original program director from 1948, dozens of other personalities from the AM 1410/97.9 history. On November 14, 2011, the station changed its format to comedy calling itself "Funny 1410". On August 3, 2013, WNWZ flipped to Urban Adult Contemporary, branded as "The Touch"; the station became the West Michigan home of the Steve Harvey Morning Show and remains as such today. Outside of the morning show, the station aired Westwood One's "The Touch" full-time. On June 10, 2016, WNWZ began simulcasting on FM translator W231DD, rebranded as "Magic 94.1." The station dropped the "Touch" feed for locally originated programming.

On October 24, 2016, WNWZ rebranded as "Magic 104.9" as translator W231DD moved from 94.1 FM to 104.9 FM as W285FO and raised power from 88 watts to 250 watts. Michiguide.com - WNWZ History {http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/120963/wnwz-gets-the-touch Query the FCC's AM station database for WNWZ Radio-Locator Information on WNWZ Query Nielsen Audio's AM station database for WNWZQuery the FCC's FM station database for W285FO Radio-Locator information on W285FO

Mary Fulkerson is a dance teacher and choreographer, born in the United States, who developed an approach to expressive human movement called'Anatomical Release Technique' in the US and UK, which has influenced the practice of dance movement therapy, as seen in the clinical work of Bonnie Meekums, postmodern dance, as exemplified by the choreography of Kevin Finnan, the application of guided meditation and guided imagery, as seen in the psychotherapeutic work of Paul Newham. Mary Fulkerson's primary contribution to dance, dance therapy, guided meditation derives from the way she taught dancers and non-dancers how to use their own mental imagery to motivate expressive movement, which she developed upon the principles and practices previous established by Mabel Todd, Barbara Clark, Lulu Sweigard, Joan Skinner, evolving her main teachings at Dartington College of Arts between 1973 and 1985; these teachers developed an approach to rehabilitative physical education and improvised dance that had in common the facilitation of healthy and expressive movement through volitional use of imagination, which involved visualizing the structure and motion of the body, allowing this kinaesthetic imagery to inform the way they moved.

The term'ideokinesis' denotes use of such imagery to rehabilitate and precipitate human movement, which Sweigard borrowed from the American piano teacher Bonpensière, who used imagery in his music teaching, invented the word by combining two words derivivative of Greek:'ideo' for idea or thought, and'kinesis' for movement. Fulkerson initiated two developments in the work established by her predecessors. Firstly, she extended the type of imagery used by her students and dancers in both choreographed and improvised dance beyond the anatomical and kinesthetic; this enabled her students and dancers to physicalize and embody a range of images, including entities and characters. Secondly, she prepared her dancers and students for practice and performance using a technique comparable to guided meditation, guided imagery, creative visualization, verbally suggesting images as the members of her ensemble or class lay still, becoming aware of their body prior to initiating movement; as a consequence, Fulkerson's approach to dance education has been described as a form of movement meditation

Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, video production and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after shooting or recording individual program segments. Traditional post-production has been replaced by video editing software that operates on a non-linear editing system. Post-production is many different processes grouped under one name; these include: Video editing the picture of a television program using an edit decision list Writing and editing the soundtrack. Adding visual special effects - computer-generated imagery and digital copy from which release prints will be made. Sound design, sound effects, ADR, music, culminating in a process known as sound re-recording or mixing with professional audio equipment. Transfer of color motion picture film to video or DPX with a telecine and color grading in a color suite; the post-production phase of creating a film takes longer than the actual shooting of the film and can take several months to complete because it includes the complete editing, color correction, the addition of music and sound.

The process of editing a movie is seen as the second directing because through post-production it is possible to change the intention of the movie. Furthermore, through the use of color grading tools and the addition of music and sound, the atmosphere of the movie can be influenced. For instance, a blue-tinted movie is associated with a cold atmosphere and the choice of music and sound increases the effect of the shown scenes to the audience. Post-production was named a "dying industry" by Phil Izzo of the Wall Street Journal; the once exclusive service offered by high-end post-production facilities have been eroded away by video editing software that operates on a non-linear editing system. As such, traditional post-production services are being surpassed by digital, leading to sales of over $6 billion annually. In television, the phases of post-production include: editing, video editing, sound editing and visual effects insertions and the start of the airing process. Professional post-producers apply a certain range of image editing operations to the raw image format provided by a photographer or an image-bank.

There is a range of proprietary and free and open-source software, running on a range of operating systems available to do this work. The first of post-production requires loading the raw images into the post-production software. If there is more than one image, they belong to a set, ideally post-producers try to equalize the images before loading them. After that, if necessary, the next step would be to cut the objects in the images with the Pen Tool for a perfect and clean cut; the next stage would be cleaning the image using tools such as the healing tool, clone tool, patch tool. The next stages depend on. If it's a photo-montage, the post-producers would start assembling the different images into the final document, start to integrate the images with the background. In advertising, it requires assembling several images together in a photo-composition. Types of work done: Advertising that requires one background and one or more models. Product-photography that requires several images of the same object with different lights, assembled together, to control light and unwanted reflections, or to assemble parts that would be difficult to get in one shot, such as a beer glass for a beer advertising.

Fashion photography that requires a heavy post-production for editorial or advertising. Techniques used in music post-production include comping and pitch correction, adding effects; this process is referred to as mixing and can involve equalization and adjusting the levels of each individual track to provide an optimal sound experience. Contrary to the name, post-production may occur at any point during the recording and production process