Singapore
Singapore the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south and Peninsular Malaysia to the north. Singapore's territory consists of one main island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its total size by 23%; the country is known for its transition from a developing to a developed one in a single generation under the leadership of its founder Lee Kuan Yew. In 1819, Sir Stamford Raffles founded colonial Singapore as a trading post of the British East India Company. After the company's collapse in 1858, the islands were ceded to the British Raj as a crown colony. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, it gained independence from the British Empire in 1963 by joining Malaysia along with other former British territories, but separated two years over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign nation in 1965.
After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global hub for education, finance, human capital, logistics, technology, tourism and transport; the city ranks in numerous international rankings, has been recognised as the most "technology-ready" nation, top International-meetings city, city with "best investment potential", world's smartest city, world's safest country, second-most competitive country, third least-corrupt country, third-largest foreign exchange market, third-largest financial centre, third-largest oil refining and trading centre, fifth-most innovative country, the second-busiest container port. The Economist has ranked Singapore as the most expensive city to live in, since 2013, it is identified as a tax haven. Singapore is the only country in Asia with an AAA sovereign rating from all major rating agencies, one of 11 worldwide. Globally, the Port of Singapore and Changi Airport have held the titles of leading "Maritime Capital" and "Best Airport" for consecutive years, while Singapore Airlines is the 2018 "World's Best Airline".
Singapore ranks 9th on the UN Human Development Index with the 3rd highest GDP per capita. It is placed in key social indicators: education, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety and housing. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied. According to the Democracy Index, the country is described as a "flawed democracy"; the city-state is home to 5.6 million residents, 39% of whom are foreign nationals, including permanent residents. There are four official languages: English, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil, its cultural diversity is reflected in major festivals. Pew Research has found. Multiracialism has been enshrined in its constitution since independence, continues to shape national policies in education, politics, among others. Singapore is a unitary parliamentary republic with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government; the People's Action Party has won every election since self-government began in 1959. As one of the five founding members of ASEAN, Singapore is the host of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat and Pacific Economic Cooperation Council Secretariat, as well as many international conferences and events.
It is a member of the East Asia Summit, Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth of Nations. The English name of Singapore is an anglicisation of the native Malay name for the country, in turn derived from Sanskrit, hence the customary reference to the nation as the Lion City, its inclusion in many of the nation's symbols. However, it is unlikely that lions lived on the island. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name and scholars do not believe that the origin of the name is established; the central island has been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE "island at the end" in Malay. Singapore is referred to as the Garden City for its tree-lined streets and greening efforts since independence, the Little Red Dot for how the island-nation is depicted on many maps of the world and Asia, as a red dot. Singapore is referred to as the "Switzerland of Asia" in 2017 due to its neutrality on international and regional issues; the Greco-Roman astronomer Ptolemy identified a place called Sabana in the general area in the second century, the earliest written record of Singapore occurs in a Chinese account from the third century, describing the island of Pu Luo Chung.
This was itself a transliteration from the Malay name "Pulau Ujong", or "island at the end". The Nagarakretagama, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, referred to a settlement on the island called Tumasik. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama. Although the historicity
Carpet court
A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The International Tennis Federation defines carpet courts as a "textile surface of woven or non-woven nylon, or a polymeric or rubber material supplied in rolls or sheets" and as a removable surface, it is one of the fastest court types second only to grass courts. The use of carpet courts in Association of Tennis Professionals competitions ended in 2009 to reduce injuries; as of 2019, only one Women's Tennis Association tournament in Quebec City is played on carpet. There are two types of carpet court; the most common outdoor version consists of artificial turf infilled with sand. This type of carpet court became popular in the 1980s in British and Asian tennis clubs for recreational play as they were easier and cheaper to maintain than grass courts; the other type used predominantly for indoor tennis is a textile surface of nylon or rubber matting laid out on a concrete base. These have been used in venues which are not used for tennis or other sports, such as the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Playing on carpet courts, players approach it as they would a grass court due to both being fast surfaces. In years past, professional tournaments used carpet courts; the WCT Finals, U. S. Pro Indoor, Antwerp Open, Kremlin Cup, Paris Masters and Zagreb Indoors tournaments were all once played on carpet. In 2009, the ATP decided to end the use of carpet courts in top-tier professional men's tournaments as part of a drive to standardise competitions to hard courts as well as to prevent injuries to players. A number of players including Mario Ančić and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga criticised the move stating that professional tennis needed carpet courts for players to develop their ability for playing on fast courts and that having four surfaces created variety for spectators; the developmental ATP Challenger Tour still has several carpet-court events. As of 2019, the WTA has only one remaining carpet court event, the International-level Tournoi de Québec
TeamBath
TeamBath is the brand name for the family of sports and leisure-related activities at the University of Bath. The University has a range of facilities clustered under one roof and providing a training and event environment for multiple sports. TeamBath maintains several sports complexes on and around the University of Bath, Claverton Down site: Sports Training Village Founders Complex The Sulis club outdoor pitches Bobsleigh and Skeleton push-start track Beach volleyball courts Outdoor acrylic and artificial clay tennis courts and eight indoor courts A 50 meter swimming pool with underwater video A physiotherapy and sport science centre An indoor jumps and throws area as well as indoor sprint track and outdoor athletics oval A multi-purpose sports hall and 2000 seat arena A gym and specific performance sport gym Bath's sports facilities were centred on what is now known as the Founder's Hall, which includes: a multi-purpose sports hall four squash courts a 25-metre indoor swimming pool and outdoor pitches.
In 1992 a 50-metre indoor swimming pool, outdoor athletics track, an indoor tennis hall and an outdoor rifle and pistol range were constructed. The Sports Training Village and the English Institute of Sport for South West England, a lottery-funded extension opened in two phases in 2003 and 2004, it added the following facilities: a multi-purpose sport halls eight indoor tennis courts indoor athletics facilities a large fitness suite a judo/karate/jitsu dojo and suites supporting sports science and sports medicine needs astroturf and natural football pitches rugby grounds Team Bath F. C. University of Bath Team Bath TeamBath facilities TeamBath website University of Bath
Asphalt concrete
Asphalt concrete is a composite material used to surface roads, parking lots, airports, as well as the core of embankment dams. It consists of mineral aggregate bound together with asphalt, laid in layers, compacted; the process was refined and enhanced by Belgian inventor and U. S. immigrant Edward de Smedt. The terms asphalt concrete, bituminous asphalt concrete, bituminous mixture are used only in engineering and construction documents, which define concrete as any composite material composed of mineral aggregate adhered with a binder; the abbreviation, AC, is sometimes used for asphalt concrete but can denote asphalt content or asphalt cement, referring to the liquid asphalt portion of the composite material. Mixing of asphalt and aggregate is accomplished in one of several ways: Hot-mix asphalt concrete This is produced by heating the asphalt binder to decrease its viscosity, drying the aggregate to remove moisture from it prior to mixing. Mixing is performed with the aggregate at about 300 °F for virgin asphalt and 330 °F for polymer modified asphalt, the asphalt cement at 200 °F.
Paving and compaction must be performed. In many countries paving is restricted to summer months because in winter the compacted base will cool the asphalt too much before it is able to be packed to the required density. HMA is the form of asphalt concrete most used on high traffic pavements such as those on major highways and airfields, it is used as an environmental liner for landfills and fish hatchery ponds. Warm-mix asphalt concrete This is produced by adding either zeolites, asphalt emulsions, or sometimes water to the asphalt binder prior to mixing; this allows lower mixing and laying temperatures and results in lower consumption of fossil fuels, thus releasing less carbon dioxide and vapors. Not only are working conditions improved, but the lower laying-temperature leads to more rapid availability of the surface for use, important for construction sites with critical time schedules; the usage of these additives in hot mixed asphalt may afford easier compaction and allow cold weather paving or longer hauls.
Use of warm mix is expanding. A survey of US asphalt producers found that nearly 25% of asphalt produced in 2012 was warm mix, a 416% increase since 2009. Cold-mix asphalt concrete This is produced by emulsifying the asphalt in water with soap prior to mixing with the aggregate. While in its emulsified state, the asphalt is less viscous and the mixture is easy to work and compact; the emulsion will break after enough water evaporates and the cold mix will, take on the properties of an HMA pavement. Cold mix is used as a patching material and on lesser trafficked service roads. Cut-back asphalt concrete Is a form of cold mix asphalt produced by dissolving the binder in kerosene or another lighter fraction of petroleum prior to mixing with the aggregate. While in its dissolved state, the asphalt is less viscous and the mix is easy to work and compact. After the mix is laid down the lighter fraction evaporates; because of concerns with pollution from the volatile organic compounds in the lighter fraction, cut-back asphalt has been replaced by asphalt emulsion.
Mastic asphalt concrete, or sheet asphalt This is produced by heating hard grade blown bitumen in a green cooker until it has become a viscous liquid after which the aggregate mix is added. The bitumen aggregate mixture is cooked for around 6–8 hours and once it is ready, the mastic asphalt mixer is transported to the work site where experienced layers empty the mixer and either machine or hand lay the mastic asphalt contents on to the road. Mastic asphalt concrete is laid to a thickness of around 3⁄4–1 3⁄16 inches for footpath and road applications and around 3⁄8 of an inch for flooring or roof applications. High-modulus asphalt concrete, sometimes referred to by the French-language acronym EMÉ This uses a hard bituminous, sometimes modified, in proportions close to 6% on the weight of the aggregates, a proportion of mineral powder high, between 8–10%, to create an asphalt concrete layer with a high modulus of elasticity, of the order of 13000 MPa being possible to reduce the thickness of the base layer up to 25% depending of the temperature in relation to conventional bitumen, as well as high fatigue strengths.
High-modulus asphalt layers are used both in reinforcement operations and in the construction of new reinforcements for medium and heavy traffic. In base layers, they tend to exhibit a greater capacity of absorbing tensions and, in general, better fatigue resistance. In addition to the asphalt and aggregate, such as polymers, antistripping agents may be added to improve the properties of the final product. Asphalt concrete pavements—especially those at airfields—are sometimes called tarmac for historical reasons, although they do not contain tar and are not constructed using the macadam process. A variety of specialty asphalt concrete mixtures have been developed to meet specific needs, such as stone-matrix asphalt, designed to ensure a strong wearing surface, or porous asphalt pavements, which are permeable and allow water to drain through the pavement for controlling stormwater. Different types of asphalt concrete have different performance characteristics in terms of
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each. Each player uses a tennis racket, strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court; the object of the game is to maneuver the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player, unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is played at all levels of society and at all ages; the sport can be played by anyone. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis, it had close connections both to various field games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis. During most of the 19th century, in fact, the term tennis referred to real tennis, not lawn tennis; the rules of modern tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s.
A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye. Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is a popular worldwide spectator sport; the four Grand Slam tournaments are popular: the Australian Open played on hard courts, the French Open played on red clay courts, Wimbledon played on grass courts, the US Open played on hard courts. Historians believe that the game's ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France, where a ball was struck with the palm of the hand. Louis X of France was a keen player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis, became notable as the first person to construct indoor tennis courts in the modern style. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, enclosed courts made in Paris "around the end of the 13th century". In due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe.
In June 1316 at Vincennes, Val-de-Marne and following a exhausting game, Louis drank a large quantity of cooled wine and subsequently died of either pneumonia or pleurisy, although there was suspicion of poisoning. Because of the contemporary accounts of his death, Louis X is history's first tennis player known by name. Another of the early enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France, who had a court set up at the Louvre Palace, it wasn't until the 16th century that rackets came into use, the game began to be called "tennis", from the French term tenez, which can be translated as "hold!", "receive!" or "take!", an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was only played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, now known as real tennis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. Further, the patenting of the first lawn mower in 1830, in Britain, is believed to have been the catalyst, for the preparation of modern-style grass courts, sporting ovals, playing fields, greens, etc.
This in turn led to the codification of modern rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls and others. Between 1859 and 1865 Harry Gem, a solicitor and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of racquets and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club on Avenue Road, Leamington Spa; this is. After Leamington, the second club to take up the game of lawn tennis appears to have been the Edgbaston Archery and Croquet Society in Birmingham. In Tennis: A Cultural History, Heiner Gillmeister reveals that on December 8, 1874, British army officer Walter Clopton Wingfield wrote to Harry Gem, commenting that he had been experimenting with his version of lawn tennis “for a year and a half”. In December 1873, Wingfield designed and patented a game which he called sphairistikè, was soon known as "sticky" – for the amusement of guests at a garden party on his friend's estate of Nantclwyd Hall, in Llanelidan, Wales.
According to R. D. C. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, "Sports historians all agree that deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis." According to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield "popularized this game enormously. He produced a boxed set which included a net, rackets, balls for playing the game – and most you had his rules, he was terrific at marketing and he sent his game all over the world. He had good connections with the clergy, the law profession, the aristocracy and he sent thousands of sets out in the first year or so, in 1874." The world's oldest annual tennis tournament took place at Leamington Lawn Tennis Club in Birmingham in 1874. This was three years before the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club would hold its first championships at Wimbledon, in 1877; the first Championships culminated a significant debate on. In the U. S. in 1874 Mary Ewing Outerbridge, a young socialite, returned from Bermuda with a sphairistikè set. She became fascin
Pile (textile)
Pile is the raised surface or nap of a fabric, consisting of upright loops or strands of yarn. Examples of pile textiles are carpets, velvet and Turkish towels; the word is derived from Latin pilus for "hair" The surface and the yarn in these fabrics are called "pile". In particular "pile length" or "pile depth" refer to the length of the yarn strands. Pile length affects and is affected by knot density: "The greater the knot density, the thinner the weft and warp yarns and the more weakly are they twisted. A carpet with a lesser knot density is better adapted to bold, geometric designs and can utilize a long pile for softer, more reflective surface that appeals to the sense of touch." Loop Uncut Cut Knotted Tufted Woven Cord Twist Carpet pile Pile weave Pile knit Polar fleece
Concrete
Concrete Portland cement concrete, is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time—most a lime-based cement binder, such as Portland cement, but sometimes with other hydraulic cements, such as a calcium aluminate cement. It is distinguished from other, non-cementitious types of concrete all binding some form of aggregate together, including asphalt concrete with a bitumen binder, used for road surfaces, polymer concretes that use polymers as a binder; when aggregate is mixed together with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms a fluid slurry, poured and molded into shape. The cement reacts chemically with the water and other ingredients to form a hard matrix that binds the materials together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses. Additives are included in the mixture to improve the physical properties of the wet mix or the finished material. Most concrete is poured with reinforcing materials embedded to provide tensile strength, yielding reinforced concrete.
Famous concrete structures include the Panama Canal and the Roman Pantheon. The earliest large-scale users of concrete technology were the ancient Romans, concrete was used in the Roman Empire; the Colosseum in Rome was built of concrete, the concrete dome of the Pantheon is the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Today, large concrete structures are made with reinforced concrete. After the Roman Empire collapsed, use of concrete became rare until the technology was redeveloped in the mid-18th century. Worldwide, concrete has overtaken steel in tonnage of material used; the word concrete comes from the Latin word "concretus", the perfect passive participle of "concrescere", from "con-" and "crescere". Small-scale production of concrete-like materials was pioneered by the Nabatean traders who occupied and controlled a series of oases and developed a small empire in the regions of southern Syria and northern Jordan from the 4th century BC, they discovered the advantages of hydraulic lime, with some self-cementing properties, by 700 BC.
They built kilns to supply mortar for the construction of rubble-wall houses, concrete floors, underground waterproof cisterns. They kept the cisterns secret; some of these structures survive to this day. In the Ancient Egyptian and Roman eras, builders discovered that adding volcanic ash to the mix allowed it to set underwater. German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found concrete floors, which were made of lime and pebbles, in the royal palace of Tiryns, which dates to 1400–1200 BC. Lime mortars were used in Greece and Cyprus in 800 BC; the Assyrian Jerwan Aqueduct made use of waterproof concrete. Concrete was used for construction in many ancient structures; the Romans used concrete extensively from 300 BC to a span of more than seven hundred years. During the Roman Empire, Roman concrete was made from quicklime, pozzolana and an aggregate of pumice, its widespread use in many Roman structures, a key event in the history of architecture termed the Roman Architectural Revolution, freed Roman construction from the restrictions of stone and brick materials.
It enabled revolutionary new designs in terms of both structural dimension. Concrete, as the Romans knew it, was a revolutionary material. Laid in the shape of arches and domes, it hardened into a rigid mass, free from many of the internal thrusts and strains that troubled the builders of similar structures in stone or brick. Modern tests show that opus caementicium had as much compressive strength as modern Portland-cement concrete. However, due to the absence of reinforcement, its tensile strength was far lower than modern reinforced concrete, its mode of application was different: Modern structural concrete differs from Roman concrete in two important details. First, its mix consistency is fluid and homogeneous, allowing it to be poured into forms rather than requiring hand-layering together with the placement of aggregate, which, in Roman practice consisted of rubble. Second, integral reinforcing steel gives modern concrete assemblies great strength in tension, whereas Roman concrete could depend only upon the strength of the concrete bonding to resist tension.
The long-term durability of Roman concrete structures has been found to be due to its use of pyroclastic rock and ash, whereby crystallization of strätlingite and the coalescence of calcium–aluminum-silicate–hydrate cementing binder helped give the concrete a greater degree of fracture resistance in seismically active environments. Roman concrete is more resistant to erosion by seawater than modern concrete; the widespread use of concrete in many Roman structures ensured that many survive to the present day. The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are just one example. Many Roman aqueducts and bridges, such as the magnificent Pont du Gard in southern France, have masonry cladding on a concrete core, as does the dome of the Pantheon. After the Roman Empire, the use of burned lime and pozzolana was reduced until the technique was all but forgotten between 500 and the 14th century. From the 14th century to the mid-18th century, the use of cement returned; the Canal du Midi was built using concrete in 1670.
The greatest step forward in the modern use
