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Home World CEO of Crew Clothing CEO Resigns CEO of Crew Clothing CEO Resigns By Karen Roe [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons Crew, a British lifestyle clothing brand, has been sold by Livingbridge, its founder and private equity firm to Exquisite Apparel. However, Crew will be advancing under a new image, as the chief executive who was brought in by Livingbridge in order to develop the brand, Louise Barnes, has resigned following the sale. Barnes attempted to lead a management buyout. However, it was outbid by Exquisite. Livingbridge credited Barnes "and her management team" in a statement with "successfully sharpening the brand positioning, updating the product range, and overhauling the retail and e-commerce channels." The company refused to comment on the departure of Barnes. However, a spokesperson stated: "Crew is a high-quality asset, and there were several attractive offers made for the business." In a statement, Bevan Duncan stated: "We have really enjoyed working with Crew and look forward to seeing the next stage in its growth story. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Louise Barnes and her team for their dedication to Crew and the work she has led in reinvigorating and strengthening the brand." In 2006, Livingbridge invested in Crew. The company's annual revenues are now almost £60m. Last year, the brand generated earnings before deductions amounting to £2.7m, and in October, like-for-like sales grew seven percent. Crew was established in 1993 by Alastair Parker-Swift near a windsurfing school in Salcombe, Devon. It currently has over 80 stores. Parker-Swift will proceed to work with the business under its new ownership. Not much is known regarding the mysterious Exquisite Apparel, which has little online presence. According to Retail Week, a trade publication, the company is fronted by Michael Shina, and it produces branded clothing including Tommy Hilfiger under licence for Walmart. Exquisite Apparel Livingbridge Louise Barnes Previous articleNikkei: Apple is Planning to Launch a 6.3-inch iPhone Next articleDomino's: Young People Base Their Ideas of Leadership on The Devil Wears Prada and The Apprentice End Brexit squabbles and pin down transitional offer, IoD advises ministers The Guardian - August 4, 2017 A number of UK banks stop offering Qatar riyals as diplomatic crisis installs Volkswagen to Cut Size of Dealer Network, Launch Online Sales Merck Shares Plunged as it Reports 3rd Quarter Loss Gregory Dy - October 27, 2017 Honda Employees Calls To Keep Swindon Factory Gregory Dy - March 1, 2019 Domino's Proposes for Leadership Training to be Included to National Curriculum Amid Concerns of...

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Premium Choice has been included in the 2019 edition of The Parliamentary Review, published in April 2019. The Parliamentary review is a series of independent publications that features leading business executives demonstrating their expertise in their industry. The publication is sent to over 500,000 leading business executives, policy makes and other relevant individuals, with the aim of raising standards by highlighting best practice. In this edition, Richard Dornan, Managing Director for Underwriting and Business Development of Premium Choice shares his expertise and knowledge in the insurance industry. Richard tells the Parliamentary Review about Premium Choice's specialist approach for providing motor insurance to their clients. Founded in 1999, Premium Choice is a leading insurance broker based in Wolverhampton. The company has sold over 1 million insurance policies and employs around 200 people, many of whom are insurance experts. Over the past 20 years, Premium Choice's customer-focused approach has helped clients get competitive prices on their insurance premiums. The company has a niche approach to motor insurance and can insure almost anything from a standard vehicle to a military tank. The company has come a long way in 20 years. Before the internet, Premium Choice would acquire new business through the Yellow Pages and magazines. Now, the company embraces the latest market-leading technology to attract new clients, which also reduces the risk of fraud. Richard explains how Premium Choice is evolving in a competitive industry. "We are always working on new and evolving product lines to widen our footprint across the industry and provide more solutions to more customers. These are challenging times in the insurance industry, with uncertainty over Brexit and changes To GDPR and the FCA's Insurance Distribution Directive. "Uncertainty is the real challenge we face, and this isn't limited to domestic legislation, Brexit may well affect the cost of parts and cars if entry tariffs are imposed. Insurance policies will need to be revised if drivers are no longer allowed to freely travel between EU countries as they currently do. Premium Choice will continue to grow with innovation at the heart of the process. The company plans to increase its presence in the non-standard market, continue to look for diversification and is committed to keeping premiums competitive. "We will do everything we can to keep premiums competitive. We believe that passing external costs like increases in in insurance tax or car prices onto customers isn't good for business, and we will do everything we can to avoid that. Read the full article from The Parliamentary Review.

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This restricts the amount of bitcoins that are truly circulating in the exchanges. Moreover, new bitcoins will continue to be issued for decades to come. Thus, even the most diligent buyer could not purchase all existing bitcoins. This scenario is not to imply that markets will not be vulnerable to price exploitation, yet there is certainly no requirement for big amounts of cash to transfer market prices up or down. The smallest events on the planet economy can affect the cost of Bitcoin, This can make Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrency volatile. If you are in search for 1 Xem To BTC, look no further than Bitcoin. Entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency movement may be wise to investigate possibilities for making massive ammonts of money with various types of online marketing.There could be a rich reward for anyone daring enough to endure the cryptocurrency markets.Bitcoin design provides an instructive example of how one might make a lot of money in the cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin is an extraordinary intellectual and technical accomplishment, and it has created an avalanche of editorial coverage and venture capital investment opportunities. But not many people understand that and miss out on very lucrative business models made available as a result of growing use of blockchain technology. It should be difficult to get more little gains (~ 10%) throughout the day. Study how to read these Candlestick charts! And I discovered these two rules to be true: having small gains is more profitable than trying to fight up to the summit. Most day traders follow Candlestick, so it's better to examine publications than wait for order confirmation when you believe the price is going down. Second, there is more volatility and reward in currencies that have not made it to the profitability of sites like Coinwarz. You may run a search on the web. First learn, then models, indicators and most importantly practice looking at old charts and pick out trends. Anytime you learn to keep a trading diary screenshots and your comment/forecast. Precisely what is the best way to get confident with charts IMHO. Oh certainly, and don't fool yourself into thinking that you acquire the uptrend will never drop! Always will go down! Viewers incremental benefits are more reliable and profitable (most times) It was in the year 2008 when the first cryptocurrency was created. This was the digital money referred to as Bitcoin. There are distinct from common money we know. This is because they are not commanded by any country or government. They don't go through any third party. It was a tremendous breakthrough in the means of exchange. Additionally, it brought enormous remedies to the problems of identity theft online. Transactions go through several celebrations as a means of creating trust, but nowadays it's possible to create trust through development of a complicated code by a single party.

Wednesday 01 May 2019 9:00 am Sirius Minerals shares drop as it raises $425m for North Yorkshire mine By: August Graham Sirius Minerals today revealed it has exceeded its $400m (£306m) fundraising target, but its shares were priced at the lower end of expectations. The London-listed company, which is raising cash to build a fertiliser mine in North Yorkshire, raised $425m from a new share issue. Read more: JP Morgan backs Sirius Minerals $3.8bn financing package for Yorkshire mine The company said it had won agreements from investors to buy around 1.62m shares, but at 15p per share, the book-build comes in at the lower end of its 15p to 18p target range. Now existing shareholders will also be offered a change to buy one share at the same price for every 22 they own. Shares fell 8.8 per cent to 15.88p this morning. The project will be the first new deep mine in the UK for 40 years when it is completed in 2021, and it is expected to support more than 1,000 jobs. "I am pleased that we have had such a positive response to the launch of our stage two financing solution which is key to unlocking the vast and long-term potential of our project," chief executive Chris Fraser said. "The order books were oversubscribed, providing scope for a modest increase in the funds raised, further strengthening our financial position as we turn our attention towards securing the next phase of our stage two financing requirements." Yesterday the firm announced that JP Morgan was backing the financing package, which is expected to total around $3.8bn. The bank is set to provide a $2.5bn revolving credit facility. The cost of building Sirius' potash mine, which is expected to hold enough reserves for a century of extraction, was revised up by $600m last year to $3.6bn. Read more: Sirius Minerals set to unveil £2.5bn equity and debt package Fraser added: "I want to take this opportunity to thank the entire Sirius team and our partners who remain fully supportive and committed to the success of this project." Sirius Minerals Sirius Minerals shares suspended ahead of Anglo takeover Sirius stock surges after Anglo American takeover approved Anglo takeover becomes Sirius' last hope as alternative falls through Anglo takeover is Sirius' last hope as alternative falls through Anglo American makes £405m bid for Sirius Minerals Sirius Minerals seeks $600m in investment for flagship project Hundreds of jobs in peril as Sirius Minerals project under review Sirius problems: Yorkshire mine shares plunge Sirius Minerals shares plummet 25 per cent as it suspends £411m bond sale for Yorkshire mine Sirius Minerals suspends $500m Yorkshire mine financing bond sale Sirius Minerals on course to finish fundraising in September

Parents often want to restructure their family corporation through an estate freeze, to minimize the impact of corporate taxes in the event of death and for creditor proofing. If this is not done properly, the gifted shares will not be excluded from a child's family property accounting in the event of a failed marriage or common-law relationship. In general, an estate freeze puts a limit on the growth in the value of the parent's shares, and transfers expected future growth to the next generation (i.e. their children). This strategy can provide the existing shareholder(s) (typically the parents) with income tax savings and estate planning flexibility. In some circumstances, to accomplish the estate-freeze, a nominal value of issued common shares in the corporation owned by a parent are gifted to a son or daughter, and then the balance of the shares are exchanged for fixed-value preference shares, owned by the parent(s), having a redemption value equal to the fair market value of those shares at the time of the estate freeze. The 2010 Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in McNamee v. McNamee is a very important decision because it may restrict the ability of parents to gift all or part of a family corporation so as to exclude the gift under a family property accounting. It has been appealed, but as of yet the Ontario Court of Appeal has not rendered a decision. The McNamee case is relevant in Manitoba because property division, pursuant to The Family Property Act, does not apply to any asset acquired by a spouse or common-law partner by way of gift or trust benefit from a third person, unless it can be shown that the gift or benefit was conferred with the intention of benefiting both spouses or common-law partners. Shares "gifted" to a son or daughter as part of an estate freeze would typically be excluded from his/her property accounting. However, documentation that appears to evidence an intention by a parent to make a gift of shares may on careful examination by a court be found not to meet the legal definition of a gift. In McNamee, the husband's father, on the advice of his accountant and corporate lawyer, executed a corporate restructuring and estate freeze. The husband and his brother received common shares, which had no value at that time, and the father took back preferred shares which had a value equal to the business as of the date of the estate freeze. However, there were two unusual aspects to the McNamee estate freeze. The father's preference shares were voting shares, so that he could maintain absolute control, and the quantum of the dividend that he could pay himself was not limited. Approximately four years later, after the son separated from his wife, it was determined that the husband had little knowledge about the corporate restructuring that had taken place, even though he had signed some documents. He did not know about the Declaration of Gift until after the separation. After the separation the wife took the position that her husband's shares, which were by then worth more than $400,000.00, were not a gift from his father, but transferred pursuant to a contract that he would continue to work and receive potential growth in the company and provide benefits to the father. She argued that the necessary elements of a gift from father to son were not present, and therefore the value of the husband's shares should be included in the family property accounting. Delivery by the donor to the donee completed. After a careful review of the evidence, and even in the face of a declaration of gift, the judge found that the shares had not been gifted to the son, and therefore the value of the shares at the date of separation was included in the family property accounting. The outcome of the McNamee case could have serious implications for those who have received shares as a result of an estate freeze. While this case had some unique aspects, it will open the door to family law lawyers examining all of the circumstances that gave rise to the gift. It may be that whenever there is an estate freeze to children who remain involved with the company, the receipt of shares is not a true gift, but a payment for past and future services. We look forward to the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision.

Tag: nathan haas Tour Down Under 2018 – Stage 2 Preview; Unley -> Stirling Stage 1 Recap The race got off to a flyer with the usual sprint finish into Lyndoch. However, it wasn't either of the two pre-stage favourites who took out the day but instead Andre Greipel delivered the win for Lotto. That result now means the German has won his opening UCI race of the year for the past three seasons on the trot. A pretty impressive record that! Ewan managed to hold on for second, while a fast finishing Sagan took third. Will they all be up there competing at the end of stage 2? Let's have a look at what is in store for them. The riders will leave Unley from a different side than normal, facing the climb of Tea Tree Gully within the opening 15km. @LaFlammeRouge From there, the road rises and falls throughout the Adelaide hills as the riders head towards Mylor which marks the second sprint point of the day but more importantly, the start of the final circuits around Stirling. As you can see, the course rolls a lot in the opening 11,5km, but it is just ever so slightly downhill on average in terms of gradient. Interestingly, the whole circuit apparently has 489m of elevation gain according to Strava/Veloviewer, but I'm definitely taking that with a pinch of salt; 400m seems more accurate than closer to 500m. The key part of the day though is the 7.6km drag to the line that comes in the final third of the circuit. At an average of 2.4% for the duration, in theory it shouldn't be too difficult for pro cyclists. However, this all depends on how aggressively certain teams approach the day. If it is a benign day then we could easily see some of the sprinters who were in the mix on Stage 1 up there again, if not, then it will be one for the puncheurs. The final few hundred metres to the line are almost on a false flat, with a little kick up to the finish. Tackling the rise 4 times could certainly sap the legs of the fast men and puncheurs, especially if we get difficult conditions. Speaking of which… It looks set to be an even hotter day for the riders than on the opening stage with it feeling like 34ºC come the end of the stage. Source: Accuweather There will be a breeze in the air to hopefully help cool them down but I don't think it will be of much help! They will be pleased to know that there will be a tailwind as they head through the Adelaide Hills towards Stirling. However, it does mean they will face the headwind on their run in to the line while on the circuit. Timing of your effort will be crucial! Can the sprinters hang on? A quick history of sterling Stirling finishes While the finish was not used in 2017, it has been used the majority of the editions prior to that but I'm only going to focus on 2011-2016 as a guide because that is when it became "World Tour". 2011 – Matthews took the win in his neo-pro year, beating Greipel and Goss. Only a group of 24 finished on the same time as the winner but there were 59 in total within 13 seconds. Some splits in the final few hundred metres then. There was also a crash near the end of the stage that saw some riders caught behind. ~60 rider sprint. 2012 – Will Clarke wins solo, with Matthews beating Gerrans for second place; with the likes of Valverde, EBH, Freire and GVA all making up the top 10. 65 riders came home on the same time behind the solo winner. 2013 – An aggressively raced day that saw Slagter take an exceptional win; opening up his sprint from 300m and blowing everyone off his wheel. Goss and Gilbert rounded out the podium with only 27 riders finishing in the front group. 2014 – The biggest group that Stirling has seen, with roughly 100 riders arriving together, it was Ulissi who took the win ahead of Gerrans and Evans. 2015 – Lobato put on a puncheurs masterclass to take the day, beating Impey and his own team-mate Gorka Izagirre to the line. I miss early 2015 Lobato. Anyway, only 48 were there to witness him win, less than half from the previous year. 2016 – A wonderful win from McCarthy as he just pipped Ulissi to the win, with Dennis coming home third. It might have been a slightly different result as the likes of Gerrans and Haas crashed out, who knows though. I certainly didn't care as I had rather aptly came in from a night out in Stirling (Scotland) to watch him win at 100/1. Good times! So what can we take from all of this? It really depends on how aggressively the day is raced as to how big a bunch makes it. There is a chance if the bunch is on a go slow day that we could see ~100 guys arrive together. However, I think we'll see an aggressive day and a whittling down of the peloton that will mainly be driven by Katusha and Bora. Both of those teams have riders capable of winning this stage (Haas/Restrepo & McCarthy/Sagan), but also taking valuable bonus seconds in their quest to win Ochre come the end of the week. The intent was there on Stage 1 when going for the intermediates and I see it being no different for stage 2. I think some of the sprinters might make it, but them being able to compete is another thing. Only Sagan out of the main guys has a good chance. In fact, this stage is Sagan's for the taking, but it all depends on if he has to work for McCarthy or not. Possible Contenders There are the obvious guys such as Sagan, McCarthy, Haas etc. but given that I have already waffled on for a good bit and there will be plenty of others who will cover the key guys well, I'm just going to go straight to three outsiders who I think might stand a chance. Maybe… Patrick Bevin. It will either be him or Gerrans that will be sprinting for BMC but I certainly would give the Kiwi a shot at it. He's known much more as a time trial rider however he does pack a fast punch; he came from nowhere to finish second in the opening road stage of the Tour de Suisse last year. Furthermore, he finished 11th yesterday and in an interview with CyclingNews, Porte said that his team-mates will be racing to take bonus seconds away from his rivals. He's one to keep an eye on! Alexander Edmondson. The newly crowned Aussie RR Champion is another who's sprinting prowess caught my eye at the Tour de Suisse last year where he picked up two 4th places. It was his 4th place on stage 2 that was more impressive though as a breakaway duo won the stage honours ahead, he beat the likes of Swift, Felline and Ulissi in the uphill drag to the line; only being bested by Colbrelli. I have my doubts about Ewan making it in this stage, so Mitchelton might just turn to him. Or Impey. Jasha Sütterlin. A name that I know one reader will like, the German is one of the two chosen "sprinters" here for Movistar with the other being Barbero. In stage 1 he was close to being in or around the top 10 but collided with the FDJ rider who eventually crashed and that cost him any chance of going for some kind of result. On Movistar's website they said the pair will both try again on stage 2. Given the speed he showed in the PCC, I think he could be another to keep an eye on. Could the Spanish team manage another two riders on the podium in 2018? We'll most likely see Sagan romp home to victory, but where is the fun in going with that? So being two previews deep into the season I'm already reverting back to type; Alexander Edmondson to win. Clearly in great shape now as he gears towards the Commonwealth Games, Mitchelton Scott will capitalise on the others marking each other, with Impey delivering the national champion into the perfect position for him to power home. Happy to take some small 0.5pt EW punts on the riders I've listed above (all prices with Bet365) Edmondson @ 300/1 Bevin @ 125/1 Sutterlin @ 250/1 Thanks as always for reading! Who do you think will win today/tonight/tomorrow? Could we see an outsider take glory or will it be the usual suspects? Anyway, By mytwospokesworthin Tour Down Under, Uncategorized January 16, 2018 1,452 WordsLeave a comment Tour Down Under 2018 – GC Preview So with the women's race now finished, it is time for the men to take centre stage over the coming week with the riders battling it out to take home Ochre. A race that has been dominated by the Australians in recent years, with the last 4 GC titles going to the home riders; expect to see some fast racing coupled with sweltering temperatures. It might not have the best race route in the grand scheme of the cycling season but given its position as the season opener, I think most of us will take it! After finally getting his hands on the GC win last year the King of Willunga (a.k.a Richie Porte) is back here to defend his crown along with a strong BMC team. In fact, the last 3 winners of the race are all riding for that outfit this year, which is very ominous for the rest of the field. However, they won't have it all their own way and there are certainly some other riders out there who could challenge their dominance. First, let's have a quick look at what is in store for the riders over the six days of action. I won't bore you here though, as I'll have plenty of time over the coming week to drain you with an in-depth route analysis of each stage. This will simply be more of an overview! There are three stages that are most likely to have the biggest impact on GC, although that could change if the wind blows strongly on some of the more exposed days. We saw the women's peloton battered by cross winds through the Barossa Valley. Stage 2 is the first important day with the traditional finish in Stirling. @LaFlammeRouge16 A rolling circuit that will see the peloton whittled down, some of the stronger sprinters will be happy to see that the organisers have reduced the number of laps that they will complete. Back in 2016 when Jay McCarthy won this stage, the riders had to contest with 6 laps, but this time it will just be 4. In theory, this should make it easier and see the stage switch from a puncheurs finish to more of a strong sprinters day. However, this of course all depends on how aggressively the teams race. If the fast men of the peloton are eliminated from the group then it is a great chance for the likes of Haas and McCarthy to pick up some valuable bonus seconds in their fight for GC. Stage 4 will see the peloton tackle a new finish here at the Tour Down Under, featuring a climb that is well-known by the local Aussies. Norton Summit is not a new climb for the Tour though, with it being used right at the start of Stage 4 in 2016. It took the riders roughly 11'30 to complete the climb that day but I imagine that time will be faster this year round given it's position on the course. Once over the "summit" the riders will have 7.5km left but instead of a drop straight down, they'll instead face a kilometre or so of false flat before an uncategorised ramp up Woods Hill Road. Could this be a launchpad for a late attack? With only 3.5km of shallow descending all the way to the line, it certainly could be. Stage 5 will once again play host to the summit finish of Willunga Hill. If the GC is still close at this stage, then it will all come down to the final ascent of Willunga. Porte has owned this climb for the past four years and he'll hope to make it five in a row this time. Will it be enough for the overall title though? From a tactics point of view, it is much easier to ride a defensive race on Willunga than attacking one, as it is a difficult climb to make massive gains on. Although lil' Richie might have something to say about that… GC Contenders Given the recent form of the Australians at this race, they've won 6 out of the last 7 years, then it is really hard to back against them on their own turf. Porte comes into the race as the bookmakers favourite and rightly so given his performances on Willunga the past few years. If everything is kept together on stages 2 & 4, with his opponents not gaining any bonus seconds, the race is his to lose. However, this is the least suited route to Porte for a while and I think he'll desperately miss the Paracombe finish that we had last year. He might well win on Willunga again, but I don't think it will be by as big a margin as he has done in previous years. McCarthy will be waiting in the wings, hoping to capitalise on the new stage and sprint for some bonus seconds on days 2 and 4, feasibly giving himself a 20 second buffer going into Willunga. He's a rider that I have grown fond over and one that I had backed when he took out the stage in Stirling in 2016. At the Aussie Nationals recently, he looked incredibly strong, sprinting away from the chase group in the closing few hundred metres. His trajectory in this race has been on the up as well, with a 4th in 2016 and a 3rd last year. Will he go one or two steps higher this time around? Haas is a rider similar to McCarthy and he too will be looking to nab some bonus seconds on stages 2 & 4. With a winter move to Katusha, the former Dimension Data rider comes here in some good form with a 5th place finish in both the road race and time trial at the Aussie Champs. An attacking rider, he will no doubt give it a go on Stage 4 in an attempt to get clear. However, I sometimes think that he is too attacking; using up a lot of his resources before it is necessary. Will that be his downfall again? Can a non-Aussie win? Some might suggest Sagan has a chance, especially after his strong showing in today's criterium. However, he will be here for training more than anything, possibly getting involved in a few sprints but nothing more than that. Ulissi is a very solid finisher and will no doubt again be in or around the top 5 but I can't see him having enough form early in the year to take the win. Yet, he is the type of rider who could well prove me wrong! His team-mate Rui Costa might be another to watch, he was flying at the start of last year. Bernal arrives here as Team Sky's best chance on paper, the young rider is truly exceptional. His form will be unkown but as we've seen with Henao in the past, Colombians seem to go well here. I wouldn't be surprised to see him go with the best on Willunga, but his lack of a sprint might let him down for the overall. I'll go for none of the above to win though. Instead, I'll suggest that Rohan Dennis will take home another Tour Down Under title. The current Aussie TT champion blitzed away his opposition recently, putting over a minute into a very lean Luke Durbridge and almost two minutes into team-mate Porte, regaining his title with ease. He DNF'd the road race, but I think he was using that race as training more than anything else. Almost have way through his "4-year GC plan", this should be the year where he takes another step forward in that quest. He certainly looks very fit going by some of the pictures I've seen floating around social media over the past week. There has also been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between himself and Porte as to who the leader of BMC will be for the week, both downplaying their own chances and talking up their team-mate. First race mind-games! With the introduction of the interesting finish on stage 4 this year I think it is very beneficial for a team to have two possible winners in their squad and I'm sure BMC will use that to their advantage. Norton Summit looks ideal for the powerhouse and Dennis certainly has the TT engine to attack and hold a gap, especially with Porte and possibly Gerrans behind marking out any efforts to close him down. Being in Ochre going into Willunga means BMC will be able to ride a defensive race, and who wouldn't want the King of Willunga himself to act as a super-domsetique for you that day?! Porte should be able to keep things together and Dennis won't lose enough time to be toppled, with Porte even nabbing the bonus seconds away from his competitors on the line. First race of the season so it would be rude not to have a flutter on the GC market. I tweeted it out a few days ago but… 1pt EW Dennis @ 20/1 with Coral/Ladbrokes. Thanks as always for reading and any feedback is greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoyed my first men's preview of the season. I'll be back with daily stage previews of the Tour Down Under starting from tomorrow. Anyway, Amstel Gold Race 2017 Preview The Ardennes classic that isn't in the Ardennes! Amstel Gold Race returns once again this year as the opener for our Ardennes classic week, with the 52nd edition of the race. The cobbled classics in the north of France and Belgium are finished with the attention now turning to the rolling hills of the Ardennes and Limburg regions. We're in the latter on Sunday for Amstel! Last year saw a late attack over the top of the Cauberg from Gasparotto and Valgren. They managed to just hold on to the line, with the Italian taking an emotional victory, dedicating the win to team-mate Demoitié. Behind, it was Colbrelli who won the bunch sprint for third place. If I'm honest, the reason I prefer the Cobbled Classics over the Ardennes is because the cobbled races are much more attacking (they've been even more attacking this year) whereas the likes of Amstel come down to a sprint up the final climb. However, that might change this year due to two reasons; teams seem more keen to attack from far out, and the fact the final ascent of the Cauberg has been taking out. At 261km in length and with 35 ascents in total, it's not for the faint-hearted! @LasterketaBurua Although they go over a lot of climbs in the first three-quarters of the route, I expect those climbs to more sap the legs than anything else and for the race to really heat up when we're into the last 50km of the day. The fast passage of 4 climbs in succession; Kruisberg; Eyserbosweg; Fromberg; and Keutenberg between the 220km and 235km will be a launch point for some "early" attacks in my opinion. We've seen this in the past with the likes of Nibali surging away at this point to put the hurt on the riders behind. Considering the way that the one-day races (aside from MSR) have gone this year so far, it is probably advised for most teams if they stay attentive and try to get at least one rider up the road at this point. Preferably it should be at least a second or third favourite in the team and one they would be relatively confident in winning the race so they have to do no effort whatsoever behind. I say "early" as it would be early for this race considering its history but there would only be roughly 30km to the finish from that point. We've had winning moves go from further out this Spring so far! The almost 10km of flat between the Keutenberg and the Cauberg will be important in the race. Good co-operation ahead could see that group build a large gap if a lot of the favourites teams are represented and there is an unwillingness to chase behind. Likewise, the opposite scenario has an equal chance of playing out. The Cauberg still could play a significant part in the race as it could be another launchpad for attacks. Once over the top, there's only about 18km left in the race and not long until the penultimate climb; the Geulhemmerberg. Not an overly difficult climb, it does have some steepish ramps but it's position at the end of the race is the main challenge. We then end with the Bemelerberg. Again it's not an overly difficult climb, but depending on the racing before hand, we could see some small gaps here. There are then roughly 5km or so of flat before the sprint to the line, or will it… How will the race pan out? I expect an attacking race, although that might be wishful thinking more than anything else. With the change of finish, the puncheurs can't sit and wait because if they do, it's game over as the "sprinters" we have here should be able to cope with the last two climbs easily. Therefore, I expect attacks to come on the section of 4 climbs I highlighted above (at around 40km left), but I would not be surprised to see something relatively dangerous go even earlier than that. It all then depends on who and what teams have made the split. As we saw in Brabantse on Wednesday, Direct Energie were very keen to chase to help Coquard but Sunweb were very disappointing in support of Matthews. The latter have a much stronger team here in support of the Aussie but they aren't the type of riders you would rely on to chase down attacks all day. The race is delicately poised between being a great afternoon of attacking cycling, or a snoozefest that's controlled for a reduced bunch sprint. But if there is one race this week that has a chance of being won by what I would call a proper outsider, it is Amstel. There are obvious candidates for the win such as sprinters Matthews/Coquard/Colbrelli and Ardenne's specialists like Gilbert/Valverde/Kwiatkowski, but as I think there is a chance we might get a relative shock of a winner and I'm nearly at 900 words already, I'm going to just name a shortlist of riders to keep an eye on in varying circumstances. So apologies if you were wanting an exhaustive list! Lilian Calmejane. Aside from Van Avermaet, the Frenchman is arguably the form rider of the year; picking up 6 wins so far this season if you include his three GC wins. Most of his successes have come on rolling terrain and Amstel is the perfect platform for him to continue his outstanding season. Admittedly, this is a step up compared to the races he has been winning, but with a GT stage win already to his name, he must be confident! For him to win, he'll need to be one of the riders involved in a far out attack and with a lot of teams represented, they stay away. He's got an OK sprint compared to some other climbers, but more than likely he'll have to come to the line solo. Allez Lilian! Nathan Haas. The Aussie had a great start to the year, finishing a very impressive 4th in the Tour Down Under and coming home 10th on the Green Mountain stage in Oman. Since then he's struggled with allergies, particularly in Catalunya where he had to withdraw but his return to racing in Brabantse was promising. In fact, he looked good and was attentive at the front of the peloton in the final lap. The race on Wednesday will hopefully have opened the legs up and he'll be an even greater fighting force come Sunday. I'm sure he'll just be hoping for a bit more luck… Alexey Lutsenko. The Astana rider won the U23 World's on this course back in 2012 after catching everyone by surprise and opening up his sprint early. Funnily enough though, it's the change of course this year that gives him another chance of victory. The removal of the Cauberg helps the Kazakh as the professional peloton ride the climb more aggressively in Amstel than they did in that U23 2012 Worlds. With a solid sprint he has a chance of being up there in a reduced bunch gallop, but it's his attacking nature that gives him the best chance of taking victory; whether that be from a breakaway or making a move in the final 3km as everyone hesitates behind. With his third in Dwars this season he's highlighted his abilities as a rider and that big win is just around the corner for him I think. Jens Keukeleire. A talented rider for a while who seemed to be hampered by bad luck or just underperformed when called upon. However, that changed in the second half of last season when he first of all won a stage in Slovenia but then followed it up with a very impressive sprint victory in the Vuelta. This year he's been a bit off again so far, but it looked as if he was back to his best in when second in Gent Wevelgem. This change of course in theory should suit him and it will be interesting to see what role he takes in the Orica team along with Albasini/Gerrans/Impey. Definitely not a favourite, but he has a slim outside chance! I'm still torn between this race being great or extremely dull. Obviously I hope if it's the former! The route change really throws a cat amongst the pigeons in terms of predictions and you'll struggle to find anyone predicting the race with confidence. Nonetheless, I'll go for an exciting race and a win for a rider who's been chasing that big win for a while, and his first part of the season has been aimed at this event. Nathan Haas to win! Definitely not a race to get heavily involved with; Haas 0.5pt EW @50/1 with various (take the 4 places at Coral if you can) Keukeleire 0.25pt EW @200/1 with Bet365 (take 150/1) I tweeted out the Calmejane and Lutsenko picks midweek but they've since shortened. Calemjane 0.25pt EW @250/1 (take 100s available but no less) Lutsenko 0.25pt EW @200/1 (take 125s available but no less) Thanks for reading and always any feedback is greatly appreciated. Who do you think will win? Will it be an open race or a dull one where everything stays together until the end? I'll have my women's Amstel preview out tomorrow so return for that! Anyway, By mytwospokesworthin one day classics, Uncategorized April 14, 2017 1,573 Words2 Comments Volta Catalunya Stage 4 Preview; Llívia -> Igualada If I'm being honest, I didn't catch much of today's stage. Only the last 600m in fact, I was too busy watching Dwars! From what I saw, it seemed a fairly benign day and we got a sprint to the finish line between the two pre-stage favourites. It was Valverde who came out on top over Martin, exacting some revenge for Movistar who felt hard done by with the reversal of the commissaire's decision this morning! Yates came home in third to pick up some bonus seconds, with the blog pick of Bardet coming 4th. Van Garderen holds a 41 second lead on the GC over team-mate Sanchez, but there are a whole host of riders queuing up behind the BMC duo if they were to falter. Will we see any GC changes tomorrow? Let's have a look at the route. A weird route that starts with almost 100km of very shallow descending! Source: @LasterketaBurua There is a sprint point on top of a small hill after only 6.2km so I expect the GC teams to keep the bunch together for that. It looks ideal for the likes of Valverde to nab a few bonus seconds. We then have the long, gradual descent before the next main obstacle of the day; the cat 3 Alt del Pubill. Only 2.9km long and averaging 6%, it's not overly difficult and I imagine the peloton will roll over it. The course then rolls for the next 70km before we reach the main challenge of the day; the Cat 2 Turó del Puig. At 5.3km and only averaging 5.4% the GC riders won't be troubled here, but due to its proximity to the finish line it should be tackled at a fair pace. This should see the end of the sprinters chances for the day. Apologies for the poor quality image below, the road book doesn't offer much to play with! They'll then descend all the way until 2km to go where we have a fairly technical finale. Two 90-degree turns and a roundabout feature in the last kilometre. It's a typical Spanish end to the day and will no doubt be suitably manic! That is of course if we end up with some type of sprint. How will the stage pan out? With the peloton very much spread out on GC already there is a good chance we could get a breakaway stay away tomorrow. The position of the last climb will make it too hard for Bouhanni and Greipel to make it over with the peloton but it's not hard enough to cause some GC gaps. We could quite well see the type of sprint I thought we might get on Stage 1, where there's a peloton of around 50 guys who come to the finish together. Valverde might fancy his chances of winning the sprint and taking some more bonus seconds along with it. However, that will mean another day of work for Movistar when they don't have to and I'm sure they'd rather save their efforts for the brutal finish on Stage 5. So I'll go for a break, and give it a 70/30 chance that it makes it. Breakaway Contenders There are many, many riders who will be given plenty of freedom tomorrow so it's just a case of me once again trying to give some (hopefully) well-reasoned logic behind my picks and of course a bit of luck for them to make it. It's not helped when there's a bout of illness going around the peloton just now and we're none the wiser as to who is actually fighting fit. Oh well, here goes nothing! The Aussie is here building form for his next goals in the season (Amstel) and what better way to do that then out in the break?! He admitted that he was suffering on the first day but sounded hopefully that it blew the cobwebs away. Tomorrow's stage looks ideally suited to his characteristics, with the climbs not being too difficult. Packing a fast sprint, you wouldn't want to bring him to the line. Petr Vakoc. Like Haas, the Czech rider is here building form for his classics campaign. An 8th place finish on stage 1 where the run in to the line didn't really suit him highlights to me that he's going fairly well at the moment. A proper brute of a rider, the Cat-2 at the end of tomorrow's stage will be on his limit but if the right riders are up the road, he certainly has a chance. Jordi Simon. One of only 4 Funvic riders left in the race, the Catalan native will have pressure from his team to perform here. Not only that, but I'm sure he will want to perform too as tomorrow's stage passes his hometown. An explosive climber, he isn't the most well-known rider in the peloton and doesn't have too many results to his name. A third place at nationals last year was his best finish, but hey, stranger things have happened! Damien Howson. The Orica man took a much deserved GC win in the Herald Sun Tour earlier in the season. A great reward for being a super domestique for Chaves last year! On his return to European racing he finished a respectable 19th in Industrio, helping Yates to victory. Far enough down not to be a GC threat, he would be one of the favourites if he made the break due to his climbing and TT prowess. Break wins and I'll go for Quick Step to continue that feel good factor within their team and Petr Vakoc to take the win! He'll use his explosive kick to attack away from his breakaway companions on the steady gradients of the final climb and not be seen again until they cross the finish line! Crapshoot of a stage and not one I want to get massively involved with; 0.25pt WIN on all the selections. Vakoc @ 28/1 with B365 Haas @ 33/1 with B365 Simon @ 200/1 with B365 Howson @ Not quoted, so I'll go with… Clement @ 300/1 with Bet365 (similar build to Howson, decent climber but strong TTer). Thanks again for reading! How do you think tomorrow will play out? Will we see a break make it, or will it come down to a reduced bunch kick, or even a late attack? Anyway, By mytwospokesworthin Uncategorized, volta ciclista a catalunya March 22, 2017 March 22, 2017 1,067 WordsLeave a comment Cadel Evan's Great Ocean Road Race 2017 Preview Now in its third year, the Cadel Evan's Great Ocean Road Race (herein CEGORR) has produced exciting racing over the first two editions. The inaugural race saw Gianni Meersman take a very reduced bunch sprint win after the peloton was decimated due to crosswinds out on the course, while last year's race saw Pete Kennaugh win solo after attacking on a climb with roughly 12km to go and holding off the bunch. There seems to be no set pattern as to how this race can be won and it's this unpredictability that makes it a great watch! The course remains unchanged and will feature one large loop (113km) around the south Geelong area, followed by 3 laps of a circuit closer to the city itself. The first 50km of the race are almost pan-flat, easing the riders into the day. We'll see the usual 4/5 man break get away here and quickly build up a good gap as the main contenders team's behind control the race. The latter part of the loop does get hillier and depending on how strong the wind is we may get some splits here. However, if the wind isn't playing ball then it will be over to the circuits around Geelong to thin the peloton out. The main challenge on the circuit is the Challambra Crescent climb (link here) which averages 10% for 1km. The climb actually has a few sections where it pitches above 20%. It's a real leg breaker, but expect the peloton to cover it in under 3 minutes during the race! From there, we have a fast descent before another couple of short ramps up Queen's Park and Hyland Street. The latter comes at roughly 6km from the end of the race and is 600m long, averaging 5%. However, the final 200m of the climb is closer to 14% and this is the last proper springboard for the puncheurs to make a difference before the shallow descent and flat run to the finish. Weather wise, it looks as if the riders will get perfect conditions out there on Sunday; clear, sunny skies and not too hot at around 26 degrees Celsius. There is some discrepancy between various sites as to whether or not the wind will have any part to play in the day. Everywhere seems to agree that it will be a SE wind, just how strong varies! I guess we'll have to see on Sunday how strong it actually it is, but nonetheless, it is coming from the correct direction to cause some problems. As mentioned before, the first two editions of the race have produced different outcomes; a reduced bunch sprint and a solo winner. The first edition saw the wind cause chaos, whereas last year it was the circuit around Geelong that caused most of the issues. However, both races have had around 30 riders finish less than a minute behind the winner. What does that tell us? That it will be a hard race either way and we should be in for some good, aggressive racing! There are your obvious riders here who should make the finale in almost any situation. I'm thinking along the lines of Haas, McCarthy and Gerrans. These type of riders can handle the climbs and have a very strong sprint on them, but also are attacking enough to try to slip away from a small group. McCarthy has never raced here before, but Gerrans was 5th last year and Haas has been 3rd and 6th. I'll be very surprised if all 3 aren't in the top 10 come Sunday. Saying that, they will need a tough race to ensure that they will be fighting out for the win because there are other riders who are faster than them at the end of the day. Which leads us on to the sprinters… With the main obstacle of the course being a 3-minute climb, then the strong sprinters can make it to the finish with the peloton. We saw that last year with the likes of Howard, Bonifazio and Ligthart finishing 2nd->4th. Steele von Hoff even came home 11th and he's not a great climbing sprinter. Of course, Meersman won the race back in 2015 too! Therefore, I think the likes of Edward Theuns, Danny Van Poppel, and possibly even Sam Bennett could feature at the pointy end of the race. They will need team-mates left to control the peloton in the closing kilometres but with strong squads supporting them then this could well be the case. Anyway, that's enough of the guys who occupy the top 6 in the betting market. On to what you're all here for; losing (value?) outsiders! Travis McCabe. The American is a strong sprinter who's capable of making it over some sizeable climbs too. His 3rd place on a rolling stage at the Tour de San Luis last year is testament to that. After only turning pro in 2014, he's this year taking the step up to ProConti level with United Health Care after spending the past few years on the US Continental circuit. With Greg Henderson as the team's road captain, he'll have a wealth of experience to rely on, but can he hold his nerve? I imagine he'd prefer it to be a tougher race to get rid of the proper fast men like Bennett etc but not overly tough. A fine balance is required! If so, he'll fancy his chances against Gerrans and co in a straight out sprint. Cameron Bayly. The IsoWhey rider will be here taking part with the national team so expect an attacking race from them. They have some strong youngsters but I would think that Bayly and Meyer will be the protected riders. Finishing 4th in the Road Nationals, Bayly certainly has the climbing legs to compete at this race. He also has a very quick burst of pace but it is his strong engine that would benefit him the most if he managed to get a gap. I was very impressed with him at the criteriums at the start of the year and if he's kept his form then he is definitely one to watch. Can he pull off a solo win á la Kennaugh? Jhonatan Restrepo. Off the back of a 10th place finish on GC at the Tour Down Under, the young Colombian will be in a buoyant mood. Clearly on good form, he is another good climber with a fast kick. He'll need a bit of luck to go his way and a selective race but in professional cycling stranger things have happened. Haas is favourite to win and I would love that to happen for my season-long fantasy team, but I think he won't win because of that very reason. (That he's favourite, not because he's in my team. Well…maybe that too!) I do think we will get a selective race whether that be through the climbing on the circuit, by the winds out on the road, or both! This will reduce the peloton to around 20 riders or so heading into the final lap. With only a few team-mates for the "big" riders it leaves the opportunity open for one of those team-mates or a "lesser" rider to attack as the bigger riders mark each other behind. Step in Cameron Bayly! As I've already used a picture of him above, here's one of my dog instead: Bailey. The Aussie has the desired characteristics and attributes to fit the bill perfectly; solid climber, big engine and relatively unknown. Even if a small group of 5 riders manages to escape then he certainly has the speed to finish it off! So what do we reckon then, a Bayly DNF?! Or will he take the biscuit 😜 0.25pt EW Restrepo @ 66/1 with various (would take 50s) 0.25pt EW McCabe @ 100/1 with Ladbrokes (would take 66s) 0.25pt EW Bayly @ 200/1 with Betfair/Paddy power (would take 100s) Thanks again for reading! How do you think this race will unfold? Does an outsider actually have a chance for once? As usual, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Anyway, By mytwospokesworthin Uncategorized January 27, 2017 January 28, 2017 1,368 WordsLeave a comment Tour Down Under Stage 5 Preview; McLaren Vale -> Willunga Hill Jack Bauer almost made it all the way but was caught within the final 5km and we did end up with a bunch gallop to the line after all. Like GroundHog Day, it was once again Ewan who took out a great sprint victory, beating Sagan and Van Poppel to the line. Is he unbeatable on current form? Pretty much yeah, but we'll have to wait until Sunday to find out as tomorrow is the classic TDU GC finish up Willunga Hill. Link to the Strava stage profile There's not really much to talk about the route for this stage. The laps around McLaren Vale are very straightforward, so like every year, this day comes down to the double passage of Willunga Hill. A fairly steady climb, it averages 7.6% for the 2.9km with it's steepest sections coming in the first half and it "flattening out" in the final kilometre. On the first ascent we normally see some thinning out of the peloton and are maybe left with 30-40 riders or so coming into the final run up Willunga. The past few years has seen the leading GC teams control the climb until roughly 1km left where we normally see a full-out sprint from Porte all the way to the top. He did the same thing in 2016 too… Both attacks are made at 1.2km to go and amazingly he fully drops Dennis/Henao at the exact same S-bend. More of the same this year?! With the commanding lead he has, Porte will be able to ride a more defensive race here than he's used to. But will he want to? The King of Willunga could potentially make it three in a row here and with the way he soared up Paracombe on Stage 2 I wouldn't put it past him. He's not really giving any hints as to how he'll race it, suggesting he can ride conservatively but if the option is there to go for the win he will. Hmmm. You never know, he might be happy to let a break take the win and bonus seconds, but that's very unlikely! Or at least the other teams will chase the break down to fight out for the win if BMC don't play ball. With the 20″ gap over his nearest rivals, Porte could just mark Chaves/Izagirre/McCarthy out of the race. Therefore, I think there is a good chance he might give a bit of leeway to those who are further behind, i.e. 30 seconds plus. Henao was very unlucky on stage 2 with a double puncture and did remarkably well to still get up for 12th on the stage. So he clearly has very good form at the moment. Second here last year to Porte he definitely has a good chance to go one better this year! Woods was third here last year and like Henao currently sits 33″ behind Porte on GC. I can imagine there will be a lot of people who fancy his chances but he wasn't overly impressive on Paracombe in my opinion. Especially in comparison to his explosive nature that he showed last year at this race. So it's a no from me, but I am willing to be surprised and proven wrong (again)! Ulissi sprinted to 4th on this finish in 2016 and came home in the main group on Stage 2 so clearly has some decent form. Probably not a rider who will win solo, he could win a 2 or 3 man sprint of lesser riders. Haas seems to be riding better than ever here but this climb is on his limit so he'll have to pull a remarkable performance out the bag to podium. As we have him for GC I'm quite happy to just leave him be for this stage. There are a lot of other riders who could potentially pull off an early attack that goes unmarked and stays away to the end but I won't name the entire top 20 on GC. Nobody's got time for that! So a usual here are a couple of outsiders to keep an eye on during the coverage. If Izagirre is struggling look to another Movistar rider, Jesus Herrada, as their man for the day. A very solid climber with a good sprint he will need to catch the others napping as he probably won't be able to ride the likes of Chaves/Porte etc off of his wheel. Nonetheless he does have the class to finish a race off as was shown at the Dauphiné last year. One outside Aussie who I do like for this kind of surprise, un-marked attack is Nathan Earle. Finishing 11th on Paracombe was a great result and he certainly is flying right now. A rider who may not be as respected in terms of his climbing ability by the rest of the peloton, he is a danger if he gets an easy 15 seconds. I do expect the Uni-SA team to go a bit berserk this stage! I'll go for a Sergio Henao win. He was terribly unlucky on stage 2 and will want to justify his good form with victory! Coming back from a double puncture to finish in the main bunch is no mean feat and being 33 seconds down on Porte will only be to his advantage. If he gets a 5 second gap he'll win. Vamos! Or Porte decides to go for the win and creams everyone… 2.3pts WIN Sergio Henao @9/2 with Boylesports (would take 4/1) 0.1pt WIN Jesus Herrada @80/1 with Betfair (would take 66s) 0.1pt WIN Nathan Earle @150/1 with various bookmakers Plus this "fun" H2H treble with Bet365. 0.5pt Thanks again for reading! Who do you think will win up Willunga? Will Richie still be the King? As usual any feedback is greatly appreciated! Anyway, Those are My Two Spokes Worth By mytwospokesworthin Tour Down Under, Uncategorized January 20, 2017 991 WordsLeave a comment The curtain raiser for this year's cycling calendar will once again be the Tour Down Under, a race which I've grown fond over the past few years. I'm not sure if that's because we've been starved of action over the winter break or if it is becoming one of the more exciting races of the season. Probably a mixture of both, if not slightly more the former! Nonetheless, the organisers have made a few tweaks to the normal parcours and we have what is arguably the toughest TdU route in history. So let's have a look at what's in store for the riders over the coming week. Stage 1 sees the riders tackle 145km from Unley to Lyndoch. Three laps around a large finishing circuit with a few hills could create a surprise. However, with the gradients being so small on these climbs and only 1,600m of elevation gain, then this should be one for the sprinters. With a very simple-run in, this should be a fast finish to the opening road stage! Stage 2 is the Queen stage of this years TDU in terms of climbing metres, seeing the riders return to the finish in Paracombe that Rohan Dennis won back in 2015. The laps around Stirling will certainly sap the legs before the tough finale. Unlike 2015, the riders approach the climb differently and the road actually heads upwards for around 10kms, with the main section before the climb to Paracombe itself coming in at 3.9km averaging 4%. Could this make all the difference? I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but expect some fireworks! Stage 3 sees the peloton head south from Adelaide towards Victor Harbor. Potential cross-winds and a committed team could see a GC shake up. A tired peloton could be put under stress on the closing circuit's climbs (1.7km at 2.5% and 1.3km at 3.7%) but it should end in some type of bunch sprint. Stage 4 is an up and down day and actually has the second largest amount of elevation gain at the TdU. Nonetheless it should be a sprint at the end of the stage, but it could be the only breakaway day we get if no one wants to work behind. Interestingly, the finish kicks up at around 2.1% average for the final kilometre. Stage 5 and the traditional stage finish up Willunga Hill. Nothing else to say really, this stage is all about that 6-7 minute effort at the end. Stage 6 once again sees the race close with a 90km criterium around Adelaide I can't wait for the couple of sheer walls that the riders face 😉. Also, this is just one lap as I have neither the time nor patience to repeat the route 20 times! We might see some GC riders go for time bonuses if the race is that close but this stage is all about the sprinters as you'd expect. Who'll close the race with a win? So overall it is a tougher race than previous years but it's still very much in the balance between the proper climbers and the puncheurs. Willunga is tough, but ultimately it is only a 7 minute effort and the same goes for Paracombe. There are no 30 minute climbs here on which the really light guys can make a massive difference, this race will once again come down to seconds and I expect the top 10 to be separated by no more than a minute. Who's going to be in contention for the title then? Richie Porte (a.k.a The King of Willunga) is the favourite and rightly so. He's untouchable on that climb when in good form and he will find the extra climbing before Paracombe to his liking. The problem with Richie is that he doesn't have the ability to pick up bonus seconds elsewhere and that the steeper gradients of Paracombe aren't his cup of tea. Nonetheless, if he is in form then he should win on Willunga and possibly podium up to Paracombe which should be enough to win the race. However, we don't know where his form is at due to him skipping Nationals. If he really wants to challenge at the Tour de France, is it not too early to be at 90% here? Hmmm, it could go either way with him! Supporting him will be Rohan Dennis who is capable of taking up the leadership role if Porte isn't at the top-level. Orica come in with two leaders; Esteban Chaves and Simon Gerrans. This will be the Colombian's first time racing in Australia and he'll be competing at the Herald Sun Tour later in the month. This route would be ideal for him if he was in top form but I get the feeling that this could be more of a PR stunt from him and the team. Instead, it will be Gerrans who will lead the main charge for Orica as he looks to pick up his 5th Overall victory here. This will be the last chance to do so as he finally appears to be dwindling as a rider going by his form last year. I'm not convinced he can manage it but he's sure to leave everything on the road! Plus it is January and we are in Australia so you never know! Sky also come into the race with a two-pronged attack of Geraint Thomas and Sergio Henao. The latter was 3rd overall here last year and I'd expect him to be their main rider again, although Thomas may stretch is legs at some point. Henao is the main challenger to Porte in my opinion. The other rider in the above photo is also a contender for this race, Michael Woods. After coming to the sport late, he took a breakthrough 3rd place on Willunga last year. If he's improved from then he can certainly contend once again this year, plus he's been putting in some impressive rides on Strava. Will that translate to results? I'm not so sure as he still seems to be lacking the tactical awareness needed for bike racing, but hey, if he can ride everyone off his wheel then he doesn't need to! I can't see Sagan doing anything GC wise here, instead his teammate McCarthy looked very strong and more importantly lean at the Bay Crits and Road Nats and certainly could contend. Aside from these guys, it is a fairly open field and I do think there is a chance that an outsider could sneak onto the podium so in MyTwoSpokesWorth tradition I'll highlight 3 to watch out for. (There is a slight bias as 2 of them are in my Fantasy Team for this season. This may be a recurring theme and I can only apologise 😜) Another who was testing his legs at the Bay Crits and took 3rd place at the Road Nats. He seems really fired up for this and it's his main goal early on in the year before taking a break and going to the Giro. A bit of a stop start season in 2016, his performances in Canada looked a return to form and he seems to have continued that over the Australian summer. Not the best natural climber in the field, he'll need a bit of luck to go his way but I wouldn't write him off! His fast kick could be crucial to pick up bonus seconds. Petr Vakoc is the second of my fantasy riders and there's good reason for that; he's an incredible talent! After an OK TdU last year, his opening to the European season was amazing. Having been out in Australia since before New Year he seems fired up to lead Etixx at the first race of the season. A proper brute of a rider, his strength should see him be able to match some of the lighter climbers and with a Tour de France now in his legs he should be even better this year. I'm intrigued more than anything to see what he can do. My final rider is one had a solid year and I was very impressed with on several occasions but his results didn't quite show it; Jan Bakelants. Top 20 in the Vuelta followed some good showings in the Tour he just didn't take any big wins. Like Vakoc, he was very strong at the start of the European cycling calendar and I'm hoping that will translate to something here! A toss-up between Porte and Henao for the win I think and it's quite tough to call. Porte could well be peaking for the Tour but will want to make a statement here and Henao hasn't raced since the Olympics so both of their form really is unknown. I'll go for the King of Willunga himself to take the win, with Haas rounding out the podium! I just hope the racing is exciting and unpredictable as it could potentially be! Although saying that, easy stages make my job easier. 😏 I distanced myself from GC betting towards the end of last year and it's something I'll probably be doing this year too. Nonetheless, I think there is a bit of value in small stake punts on my 3 outsiders. 0.1pt EW Vakoc @80/1 with various bookmakers (would go to 66/1) 0.1pt EW Haas @ 66/1 with Bet365 (would go to 50/1) 0.1pt EW Bakelants @ 80/1 with Bet365 (would go to 66/1). Thanks everyone for reading, it's good to be back! Any shares/RTs would be much appreciated as usual and any feedback via Twitter is always more than welcome. Who do you think will win? Does an outsider have a chance of sneaking onto the podium? I shall be doing daily previews of the stages, aside from the People's Choice Crit as I have no time for that! Anyway, Vuelta Stage 12 Preview: Los Corrales de Buelna -> Bilbao For once the break didn't make it and we got back-to-back GC stage winners. This time round it was Froome who pipped Quintana in a sprint to the line. The Brit always goes well after a rest-day as I highlighted in yesterday's preview! The gaps were not big to the rest of the GC contenders but if it wasn't a two-horse race before today, it definitely is now, and boy do we have a race on our hands! GC action should be put on pause tomorrow and we're set for a really interesting stage. An up and down day with a flat finish. An un-categorised climb to start the day will be a bit of rude awakening for some. If it's anything like today's stage then the break may not go until the Cat-1 climb. Not the toughest cat-1 climb, it probably is given that categorisation due to it's length. The average gradient of 6% should be manageable for the riders, unless of course the pace is still on and the break hasn't formed. If it does form here, it will be awfully strong. The stage though is defined by the double ascension of the Cat-2; Alto El Vivero. The road book is back to it's best today, with no graphic for the final climb. The directions and diagrams are also a bit vague, but I'm sure I have the right approach… After a few days off, the Strava profile makes a return. View it here. Profile of the final 20km. The final climb itself is 4.2km long at 8.4% average gradient. Like a lot of the climbs in this area, it is very irregular. The toughest section comes almost right at the start, with a kilometre (0.3 -> 1.3km) averaging 11.8%. There are a couple of false flats along the way for the riders to recompose themselves and push hard again. The same finale was used in the opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in 2015: That day saw Michael Matthews take a reduced bunch sprint finish. How will tomorrow's stage pan out? The stage itself is a nightmare to predict, with a few options that are very feasible. We could well see the morning break stick and fight out for stage glory as there is a reasonable amount of climbing and the sprint teams won't be confident of their riders making it over. Saying that, it's not impossible for a team to control the race and go for a sprint (as we saw in 2015). Felline, Sbaragli, Van der Sande, Valverde & Gilbert will all probably fancy their chances in that situation. However, it is a lot more difficult to control the finale of a grand tour and if the break is brought back, we could well see a late attack stick. See, it's not easy! The sprinters above that I've mentioned are the only ones I can really see make it over the final climb. Out of them, I'd probably say that Felline has the fastest flat sprint after a tough day, so he should be the guy to look out for in that situation. As for late attackers, Luis Leon Sanchez would be the perfect candidate. He looks incredibly strong just now and has the TT engine to hold off the bunch. So could Tobias Ludvigsson who's climbing better than ever and should make it over the climb if we're getting set for a reduced sprint. Breakaway Candidates There's a template of rider who I'm going with here. Someone who can climb, but also packs a decent sprint! JJ Rojas. The Movistar road captain may be told to get in the breakaway to defend their lead in the Team classification. Sky (who looked strong today) and Cannondale (who will have at least two men in the move) are both less than 10 minutes behind. The Spanish team do love to win that competition, so will start defending it soon. It could start tomorrow. Rojas has turned himself in to a jack of all trades and should be able to cope with the final climb. He has a good turn of speed and would probably be the favourite if a small group of escapees came to the line together. Pello Bilbao. The Caja rider, like a lot of them, is local to the area. He's been a bit lost in this race so far, having a few crashes etc. However, he does seem to be slowly re-finding himself and building some form. A guy who on his day can climb with the best, he really should have won the GC in Turkey this year but had to withdraw due to illness. This type of profile suits him very well. I've already highlighted him for a stage earlier in this Vuelta but he didn't make the move that day. The climb will be on his limit but considering his performance on stage 4, then he has a chance of being in contact with the lead riders as they summit. Like Rojas, he has a very solid sprint after a tough days racing. You don't want to be leading him out in the finale! I'm unsure how the stage will go, but I lean towards a breakaway. That of course all depends if there are a few of the "sprint" teams who co-operate and bring the break back. Nonetheless, I'll stick my neck out on the line and say that the break will win. I think you know where I'm going with this one. Especially considering my fondness with suggesting riders for whimsical reasons… Bilbao to win in Bilbao. Simple and poetic. I can't pass up a rider who has the same surname as the finish town and is from the region! Small punts on the three breakaway guys 0.3pt Bilbao at 40/1 (Various) 0.1pt Haas at 100/1 (Various) 0.1pt Rojas at 200/1 (Bet365 & BF) After today's successful H2H I'm hoping to find one for tomorrow, but nothing has caught my eye/I've not done enough research. If I do find something, I'll update it on my Twitter! Hope you enjoyed the read, apologies for it being shorter than normal! How do you think the stage will play out? As usual, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Anyway, By mytwospokesworthin Uncategorized, Vuelta a Espana August 31, 2016 1,067 WordsLeave a comment

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In a recent report by Gold.org , the study stated that the community may not have any regulatory control over the gold mining company, but if a company contributes to the welfare of the environment and its people .How Money and Banking Work On a Gold Standard | PHILOSOPHICAL . A true gold standard is a gold standard built on fractional-reserve free banking. The government defines the value of the currency in terms of precious metals, and then leaves banks in the private sector to do as they please–to issue whatever quantity of banknotes they want to issue, and to pay the price in bankruptcy if they behave in ways .The gold standard: what can the industry learn from gold . The Council says that in 2013, the gold industry made an economic contribution totalling over $171bn to the top 15 gold mining economies. 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Raymond James analyst Laura Chico initiated Dova Pharmaceuticals with an Outperform and $44 price target. Chico's physician survey indicates suggest a need for novel treatments like Dova's Droptelet and said investor expectations are modest, providing a favorable setup for shares. As previously reported, Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges upgraded Dova Pharmaceuticals to Outperform from Market Perform after Shionogi announced results from its phase III trial investigating thrombopoietin receptor agonist lusutrombopag for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic liver disease undergoing an invasive procedure. The analyst notes that lusutrombopag is from the same class of drugs as Dova's avatrombopag, but is less effective ex-Japan, and believes Dova's avatrombopag has advantage. Porges also raised his price target on Dova's shares to $32 from $24. Jefferies analyst Eun Yang raised her price target for Dova Pharmaceuticals to $33 after avatrombopag received FDA priority review with an action date of May 21, 2018. The analyst sees a higher probability for regulatory success of 95% and potential approval three months earlier than previously thought. She keeps a Buy rating on Dova. Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Matthew Kaplan started Dova Pharmaceuticals with a Buy rating and $65 price target.

\section{Introduction} \label{sec:intro} Deep learning has gained great success in computer vision and natural language processing, but conventional deep learning paradigms mostly follow a centralised learning manner where data from different sources are collected to create a central database for model learning. With an increasing awareness of data privacy, decentralised deep learning~\cite{mcmahan2017communication,wu2021decentralised} is more desirable. To this end, federated learning~\cite{mcmahan2017communication,li2020fedbn} has been recently introduced to optimise local models (clients) with non-shared local data while learning a global generalised central model (server) by transferring knowledge across the clients and the server. This enables to protect data privacy and reduce transmission cost as local data are only used for training local models and only model parameters are transmitted across the clients and server. There have been a variety of federated learning paradigms for computer vision applications, such as image classification~\cite{chen2021bridging}, person reidentification~\cite{sun2021decentralised} and object detection~\cite{liu2020fedvision}. However, existing federated learning paradigms~\cite{mcmahan2017communication,li2020fedbn,wu2021decentralised,chen2021bridging} mostly focus on encoding holistic high-level knowledge into models for communication across the clients and the server. Since high-level knowledge is closely related to objects of interest, this may pose a threat to data privacy. In contrast, mid-level semantic knowledge (such as attribute) is usually generic containing semantically meaningful properties for visual recognition~\cite{lampert2013attribute} , so it is not sensitive to objects of interests. Besides, since the number of attributes are finite in compositional learning~\cite{yuille2011towards} but the number of classes can be infinite, mid-level knowledge is also supposed to be more scalable. Therefore, learning mid-level semantic knowledge transfer for federated learning is important and is desirable for protecting privacy and improving model scalability. On the other hand, zero-shot learning (ZSL) is a well-established paradigm for learning mid-level knowledge. It aims to learn mid-level semantic mapping between image features and text labels (typically attributes) using seen object categories and then transfer knowledge for recognising unseen object categories with the help of the composition of shared attributes between seen and unseen categories. However, existing ZSL methods~\cite{pourpanah2020review,chen2021knowledge,chen2021free} mostly consider centralised learning scenarios which require to share training data from different label spaces to a central data collection. \begin{figure*}[t] \centering \includegraphics[width=0.85\textwidth]{./image/fzsl.pdf} \caption{An overview of federated zero-shot learning with mid-level semantic knowledge transfer. % % (1) Local model training process. (2) Local clients upload model parameters to the server and server constructs a global model by aggregating local model parameters. (3) Local models are reinitialised with central server model. % The Semantic Knowledge Augmentation (SKA) employs external knowledge to further improve the model's discriminative ability.} \label{fig:local_client} \end{figure*} In this work, we formulate a new Federated Zero-Shot Learning (FZSL) paradigm, which aims to learn mid-level semantic knowledge in federated learning for zero-shot learning in a decentralised learning manner. An overview of FZSL is depicted in Fig.~\ref{fig:overview}. Specifically, we consider there are multiple local clients where each client has an independent non-overlapping class label space whilst all clients share a common mid-level attribute space. Then, we optimise local models (clients) with non-shared local data and learn a central generalised model (server) by transferring knowledges (model parameters) between the clients and the server. With this paradigm, FZSL unifies federated learning and zero-shot learning for learning mid-level semantic knowledge in a decentralised learning manner with data privacy protection. It cumulatively optimises a generic mid-level attribute space from non-sharable distributed local data of different object categories. Instead of aggregating holistic models like traditional federated learning~\cite{mcmahan2017communication} or separating domain-specific classifiers like recent decentralized learning~\cite{wu2021collaborative,wu2021decentralised}, we only aggregate generators across the clients and the server while discriminators are retained locally. This facilitates to learn more generalised knowledge and reduce the number of model parameters for communicating. Furthermore, to improve model discriminative ability, we employ a vision-language foundation model (e.g., CLIP~\cite{radford2021learning}) to explore semantic knowledge augmentation to enrich the mid-level semantic space in FZSL. With the help of a pre-trained richer knowledge space, this semantic knowledge augmentation allows to learn a more generic knowledge to encode sample diversity as well as improve model scalability. Our \textbf{contributions} are: We introduce a new Federated Zero-Shot Learning paradigm to transfer mid-level knowledge from independent non-overlapping class label spaces for federated learning. With the formulated baseline model, we propose to explore semantic knowledge augmentation from external knowledge to learn a richer mid-level semantic space in FZSL. We conduct extensive experiments on five zero-shot learning benchmark datasets and demonstrate that our approach is capable of learning a generalised federated learning model with mid-level semantic knowledge transfer. \section{Related Work} \paragraph{Federated Learning.} Federated learning~\cite{mcmahan2017communication,li2020fedbn,li2020federated} is a recently introduced model learning paradigm aiming to learn a central model (server) with the collaboration of multiple local models (clients) under data privacy protection. It has been explored in many computer vision tasks, such as medical image segmentation~\cite{liu2021feddg}, person reidentification~\cite{wu2021decentralised}, object detection~\cite{liu2020fedvision}, etc. Conventional federated learning approaches, e.g., FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication}, learn a sharable central model by aggregating holistic model parameters among different local models. To disentangle generic and specific knowledge, recent approaches~\cite{wu2021collaborative,zhang2021fedzkt,wu2021fedcg,sun2021decentralised} propose to optimise generic feature extractors or generators by decoupling discriminators or domain-specific classifiers, but are still learning holistic class-level knowledge. Different from existing works, we propose to learn mid-level semantic knowledge (i.e., attributes) for federated zero-shot learning. Although there have been several seemingly similar federated zero-shot learning studies~\cite{gudur2021zero,hao2021towards,zhang2021fedzkt}, none of these methods are aimed at bridging the gap between seen and unseen classes by learning mid-level semantic knowledge. ZSDG~\cite{hao2021towards} generates existing categories by gathering statistics through the server. FedZKT~\cite{zhang2021fedzkt} and ~\cite{gudur2021zero} are based on zero-shot knowledge distillation~\cite{nayak2019zero} with the purpose of transferring knowledge between clients and server with no extracted prior information. Unlike them, our FZSL is learning from multiple independent \emph{non-overlapping} class label spaces, while ZSDG~\cite{hao2021towards} and~\cite{gudur2021zero} are studying sharing knowledge with a sharing class space. Furthermore, our FZSL is generalisable and shows stable generalisability on \emph{unseen} classes, while FedZKT and ZSDG are only tested on existing classes. More importantly, all of these methods are based on class-level knowledge while our FZSL learns to transfer mid-level semantic knowledge. Besides, we propose semantic knowledge augmentation from external knowledge to improve model discriminative ability for FZSL. \paragraph{Zero Shot Learning.} Zero shot learning (ZSL) aims to recognise unseen object categories leveraging seen categories for learning consistent semantic information to bridge seen and unseen categories. Current ZSL methods can broadly be divided into embedding based methods~\cite{fu2015transductive} and generative based methods~\cite{xian2018feature}. Embedding based methods transfer from a visual space to a semantic space and classify unseen categories based on semantic similarity without any training data. In contrast, generative based methods learn a projection from a semantic space to a visual space, which enables to turn the zero shot learning task to a pseudo feature supervised learning task, alleviating overfitting~\cite{xian2018feature}. Existing ZSL methods are following a centralised learning manner, while our work proposes a new federated zero-shot learning paradigm to transfer mid-level knowledge across different non-overlapping class label spaces with data privacy protection. \paragraph{Foundation Models.} Foundation models refer to models trained with a vast quantity of data and can be further used for various downstream tasks, such as BERT~\cite{devlin2018bert}, RoBERTa~\cite{liu2019roberta}, CLIP~\cite{radford2021learning}, etc. These models are usually learned by self-learning using unlabelled data and are able to predict underlying properties such as attributes, so they are scalable and potentially more useful than models trained on a limited label space~\cite{bommasani2021opportunities}. In this work, we employ a vision-language foundation model (e.g., CLIP~\cite{radford2021learning}) to explore semantic knowledge augmentation enriching the mid-level semantic space in FZSL. \section{Methodology} \subsection{Problem Definition} In this work, we study Federated Zero-Shot Learning (FZSL), where each client contains an independent non-overlapping class label space with non-shared local data while a central model is aggregated for deployment. Suppose there are $N$ local clients, where the $i$-th client contains a training set $\mathcal{S}_{i} = \left\{\bm{x}, y\right\}$, here $y \in \mathcal{Y}_{i}$ includes $N_{i}$ classes. Since each client contains non-overlapping class space, i.e., $\{\mathcal{Y}_{i}\cap \mathcal{Y}_{j}{=}\emptyset, \forall i,j\}$, $\mathcal{Y}_{1} \cup\mathcal{Y}_{2} \cup \ldots \cup \mathcal{Y}_{N}=\mathcal{Y}_{s}$. Meanwhile, each class can be described by an attribute vector $\bm{a}=\left\{a_1,a_2\ldots a_m\right\}$ and these $m$ attributes are consistent among classes in all clients, i.e. the mid-level attribute space is shared across clients. The goal of federated zero shot learning task is to construct a classifier $F:\mathcal{X}\rightarrow \mathcal{Y}$ for $\mathcal{Y}_{u} \subset \mathcal{Y}$, where $\mathcal{Y}_{u}$ is the unseen set and $\{\mathcal{Y}_{i}\cap\mathcal{Y}_{u}=\emptyset, \forall i,j\}$. \subsection{FZSL by Mid-Level Semantic Knowledge Transfer} \label{cha:fzsl_baseline} \subsubsection{A Baseline Model.} To learn mid-level semantic knowledge transfer for federated learning, we formulate a baseline model which unifies federated learning and zero-shot learning in a decentralised learning paradigm. Since generative based zero-shot learning is capable of generating pseudo image features according to a consistent and generic mid-level attribute space, in this work, we employ a representative f-CLSWGAN~\cite{xian2018feature} as the backbone (in practice, our approach is compatible to various ZSL backbones, such as VAEGAN~\cite{xian2019f} and FREE~\cite{chen2021free}). As for federated learning, we use the commonly used FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication}. As shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:local_client}, the learning process of the baseline model consists of three iterative steps, namely local model learning, central model aggregation and local model reinitialisation with central model. In each local client, with the non-shared local data $\mathcal{S}_{i}{=}\left\{\bm{x}, y\right\}$, the model learning process follows f-CLSWGAN~\cite{xian2018feature}. A generator $G(\bm{z}, \bm{a}_g)$ learns to generate a CNN feature \bm{$\hat{x}$} in the input feature space $\mathcal{X}$ from random noise $\bm{z}$ and a ground truth condition $\bm{a}_g$, where each value in $\bm{a}_g$ corresponds with one specific attribute, e.g. stripes. While a discriminator $D(\bm{x}, \bm{a}_g)$ takes a pair of input features $\bm{x}$ and a ground truth condition $\bm{a}_g$ as input and a real value as output. Thus, the training objective of each local client model is defined as: \begin{equation} \label{eq:baseline_local_model} \min _{G} \max _{D} \mathcal{L}_{W G A N}+\beta \mathcal{L}_{C L S}, \end{equation} where $\beta$ is a hyper-parameter weight on the classifier. After optimising each local client model for $E$ local epochs, the local model parameters \bm{$w_{i}$} are transmitted to a central server to aggregate a global model. Following FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication}, the aggregating process is formulated as: \begin{equation} \label{eq:baseline_agg} \bm{w}_{t}=\frac{1}{N \cdot S} \sum_{i \in N_{S}} \bm{w}_{i,t}, \end{equation} where $N$ denotes the number of local clients and $t$ denotes the $t$-th global model iterative update round. $S$ denotes the randomly selected clients fraction for each round ($S\in[0.0,1.0]$) and $N_S$ is the set of selected clients. Note that the central server only aggregates local model parameters without accessing local data so as to protect local data privacy. Then, each local model is reinitialised with the central model as follows: \begin{equation} \label{eq:baseline_reinit} \bm{w}_{i,t+1} = \bm{w}_{t}. \end{equation} This is an iterative learning process (Eqs.(\ref{eq:baseline_local_model})-(\ref{eq:baseline_reinit})) until $T$ global model update round. Since the attribute space is consistent among local clients, the learned global generator encodes mid-level semantic knowledge. Finally, based on the attributes from unseen classes, the learned generator from the global server is used to generate $M$ pseudo image features for each unseen classes $\mathcal{Y}_{un}$. A softmax classifier is then trained under the supervision from pseudo features and tested for image classification on unseen classes. \subsubsection{Improved Baseline With Selective Module Aggregation.} Although aggregating holistic model parameters following FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication} is simple, it is inefficient for FZSL because the generic mid-level semantic knowledge is mainly encoded in the generator while the discriminator may contain knowledge specific to classes in each client. Inspired by recent approaches~\cite{wu2021collaborative,zhang2021fedzkt} in federated learning, we improve the baseline by decoupling the discriminator from the central model aggregation process, i.e., only aggregating the generator in the central server. This not only reduces the cost for transmitting model parameters but also facilitates to learn more generalisable mid-level knowledge. Thus, the central aggregation in Eq.~(\ref{eq:baseline_agg}) and the local client reinitialisation in Eq.~(\ref{eq:baseline_reinit}) are reformulated as: \begin{equation} \label{eq:opt_agg} \bm{w}_{G,t}=\frac{1}{N \cdot S} \sum_{i \in N_{S}} \bm{w}_{G_{i},t}, \end{equation} \begin{equation} \label{eq:opt_reinit} \bm{w}_{G_{i},t+1} = \bm{w}_{G,t},~~~ \bm{w}_{D_{i},t+1} = \bm{w}_{D_{i},t}, \end{equation} where $ \bm{w}_{G,t}$ and $ \bm{w}_{D,t}$ denote model parameters for a generator and a discriminator, respectively. \subsection{Semantic Knowledge Augmentation for FZSL} Although the formulated baseline with selective module aggregation is able to transfer mid-level generic knowledge in a decentralized learning manner, it still suffers from sparse attribute and ambiguous attribute separability for limited data diversity in each client. To resolve this problem, we propose to explore a vision-language foundation model (CLIP~\cite{radford2021learning} in this work) to explore semantic knowledge augmentation (SKA) to enrich the mid-level semantic space in FZSL. Since a foundation model like CLIP contains word embedding knowledge that can supply information regarding hierarchical relationships among classes, it can help FZSL to learn richer external knowledge with the sharable common attribute space. In this work, we introduce class-level semantic knowledge augmentation, which greatly facilitates the generated feature diversification in both training and testing stages. Empirically, we observe that directly concatenating a noise-enhanced CLIP text embedding and an attribute vector is an effective way, which do not require extra learnable parameters and can alleviate overfitting on seen classes. In our semantic knowledge augmentation, as shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:local_client}, we simply combine a default prompt `a photo of a' with class names and use this sentence as the input to a CLIP text encoder~\cite{radford2021learning}. We then further add the gaussian noise $ \bm{z}_c\sim N(0,\gamma)$ to the output text embedding $ \bm{a}_c$ so as to enrich the semantic space and to better align with the instance-wise diversified visual space, where each class-level semantic can always correspond to different samples with various poses and appearances in visual space. The semantic augmented attribute is the concatenation between noise-enhanced text embedding and ground truth manual annotation attribute labels $ \bm{a}_g$. This semantic augmentation process can be formulated as follows: \begin{equation} \label{eq:SKA} \bm{a}_{SKA} = [\bm{a}_c \oplus \bm{z}_c,\bm{a}_g ], \end{equation} where $\oplus$ is the element-wise summation. During FZSL model training, the CLIP text embedding of seen class name is utilised as external knowledge to construct semantic knowledge augmented attribute $\bm{a}_{SKA}$ and further generate image features in each local client. The discriminator condition keeps \bm{$a_g$} to distinguish between the real distribution and the pseudo distribution. Most importantly, in the testing stage, instead of generating pseudo image features based on the same attribute $\bm{a}_g$ for each class as in conventional ZSL~\cite{xian2018feature,xian2019f,chen2021free}, the SKA module supplies diversified attribute $\bm{a}_{SKA}$ for each class. The gaussian noise $\bm{z}_c$ in $\bm{a}_{SKA}$ can help explore the rich information in CLIP text encoder so to enrich the attribute space. Overall, our semantic knowledge augmentation can increase inter-class separability as well as supply diversified attribute space by only using the text information of the class name. \begin{table*}[t] \centering \begin{tabular}{l | l | c c c c c } \hline & Method & \textbf{AWA2} & \textbf{AWA1} & \textbf{aPY} & \textbf{CUB} & \textbf{SUN} \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{$Centralised$} &CLSWGAN~~\cite{xian2018feature} & $ 67.4$ & $66.6 $ &$37.7 $ & $56.8$ & $60.3 $ \\ &VAEGAN~~\cite{xian2019f} & $ 60.0 $ & $53.8 $ &$ 17.8 $ & $ 46.4$ & $ 58.2 $ \\ &FREE~~\cite{chen2021free} & $ 67.7 $ & $68.9 $ &$ 42.2 $ & $60.9 $ & $61.3 $ \\ \hline \multirow{11}{*}{$Decentralised$} &CLSWGAN+FedProx~~\cite{li2020federated} & $ 61.3 $ & $ 58.4 $ & $ 34.0$ & $ 53.1 $ & $59.3 $ \\ &CLSWGAN+MOON~~\cite{li2021model} & $ 61.0$ & $ 58.6$ & $ 33.2 $ & $55.1 $ & $59.5 $ \\ \cdashline{2-7} &FL-VAEGAN & $48.9 $ & $44.0 $ & $16.4 $ & $43.6 $ & $56.2 $ \\ &FL-VAEGAN+SMA & \underline{$50.4$} & \underline{$44.6 $} & $\textbf{25.9} $ & \underline{$46.0 $} & \underline{$59.4 $} \\ &FL-VAEGAN+SMA+SKA & $\textbf{60.1} $ & $\textbf{58.2} $ & \underline{$ 19.6$} & $\textbf{52.6} $ & $\textbf{61.2} $ \\ \cdashline{2-7} &FL-FREE & $60.9$ & $59.8 $& $ 25.9$ & $ 54.5$ & $56.4 $\\ &FL-FREE+SMA & \underline{$61.4$} & \underline{$61.1$} & \underline{$27.4$} & \underline{$55.4$} & \underline{$57.0$} \\ &FL-FREE+SMA+SKA & $\textbf{ 68.4} $ & $\textbf{68.4} $ & $\textbf{32.0} $ & $\textbf{60.7} $ & $\textbf{60.5} $ \\ \cdashline{2-7} &FL-CLSWGAN & $61.6$ & $58.5$ & $ 33.8$ & $53.8$& $ 59.5$ \\ &FL-CLSWGAN+SMA & \underline{$62.8$} & \underline{$61.7$} & \underline{$ 38.4$ } & \underline{$55.5$} & \underline{$ 59.4$}\\ &FL-CLSWGAN+SMA+SKA & $\textbf{69.0}$& $ \textbf{70.6}$ & $\textbf{47.1}$ & $\textbf{59.4} $ & $ \textbf{66.5}$\\ \hline \end{tabular} \caption{Comparing our approach with other methods on AWA2, AWA1, aPY, CUB and SUN for federated zero-shot learning. Top-1 accuracy is reported on all experiments. SMA denotes selective module selection while SKA denotes semantic knowledge augmentation. \textbf{Bold} and \underline{underline} represent the best and the second best performance in each baseline. } \label{table:FZSL} \end{table*} \section{Experiments} \paragraph{Datasets.} To evaluate the effectiveness of our approach, we conduct extensive experiments on five zero-shot benchmark datasets, including three coarse-grained datasets: (Animals with Attributes (AWA1)~\cite{lampert2013attribute}, Animals with Attributes 2 (AWA2)~\cite{xian2018zero} and Attribute Pascal and Yahoo (aPY)~\cite{farhadi2009describing}); and two fine-grained datasets (Caltech-UCSD-Birds 200-2011 (CUB)~\cite{wah2011caltech} and SUN Attribute(SUN)~\cite{patterson2012sun}). AWA1 is a coarse-grained dataset with 30475 images, 50 classes and 85 attributes, while AWA2 shares the same number of classes and attributes as AWA1 but with 37322 images in total. The aPY dataset is a relatively small coarse-grained dataset with 15339 images, 32 classes and 64 attributes. CUB contains 11788 images from 200 different types of birds annotated with 312 attributes, while SUN contains 14340 images from 717 scenes annotated with 102 attributes. We use the zero-shot splits proposed by~\cite{xian2018zero} for AWA1, AWA2, aPY, CUB and SUN ensuring that none of training classes are present in ImageNet~\cite{russakovsky2015imagenet}. All these five datasets are composed of seen classes set and unseen classes set. In decentralised learning experiments, we evenly split the seen classes set randomly to four clients. Note, both seen classes and unseen classes share the same attribute space in each dataset. \paragraph{Evaluation Metrics.} In FZSL, the goal is to learn a generalisable server model which can assign unseen class label $\mathcal{Y}_{u}$ to test images. Following commonly used zero-shot learning evaluation protocol~\cite{xian2018zero}, the accuracy of each unseen class is calculated independently before divided by the total unseen class number, i.e., calculating the average per-class top-1 accuracy of the unseen classes. \paragraph{Implementation Details.} In our approach, we employed a frozen ResNet-101~\cite{he2016deep} pretrained on ImageNet~\cite{russakovsky2015imagenet} as the feature extractor and constructed our baseline model with a generator and a discriminator for each client respectively following the representative generative zero-shot learning work~\cite{xian2018feature}. Further, we employed a frozen pretrained CLIP~\cite{radford2021learning} text encoder, a ViT-Base/16 transformer, to supply class-name-based text embedding for each client. All clients share the same model structure while the server aggregates local model parameters to construct a global model. For the improved baseline with selective module aggregation (SMA), only the generator from local client are aggregated. As for further improved with semantic knowledge augmentation (SKA), both the generator and text-enhanced module are aggregated to the server. Each client contains local non-overlapping classes from the seen classes set and the aggregated server model is tested on the unseen classes set. By default, we set the number of local clients $N$=4 and randomly client select fraction $S$=1. Generated feature number $M$ and classifier weight $\beta$ follows the original ZSL work~\cite{xian2018feature}. We empirically set batch size to 64, maximum global iterations rounds $T$=100, maximum local epochs $E$=1. For each local client, we used Adam optimizer with a learning rate of $1e{-}3$ for CUB, $2e{-}4$ for SUN and $1e{-}5$ for the others. Noise augmentation $\gamma$ is set to 0.1 empirically. Our models were implemented with Python(3.6) and PyTorch(1.7), and trained on NVIDIA A100 GPUs. \subsection{Federated Zero-Shot Learning Analysis} There are no existing works discussing mid-level semantic knowledge transfer in federated learning, so besides our baseline model (CLSWGAN~\cite{xian2018feature} with FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication}) donated as FL-CLSWGAN, we also implemented a traditional ZSL method VAEGAN~\cite{xian2019f} and a recent ZSL method FREE~\cite{chen2021free} with FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication} denoted as FL-VAEGAN and FL-FREE respectively for comparison. Further, the proposed SMA and SKA are implemented on three baselines respectively, where the generality and compatibility of SMA and SKA can be demonstrated. Note, when implementing SMA to FREE, feature refinement module will also be aggregated to the server which will be used during testing. All compared methods are inductive where only attribute information of unseen classes are used for training the classifier and unseen images are not used during training. From Table~\ref{table:FZSL}, we can see that: (1) Compared with the centralised baselines, the formulated decentralised baselines (FL-CLSWGAN, FL-VAEGAN, FL-FREE) yield compelling performance, which shows the effectiveness of the proposed paradigm for learning globally generalised model whilst protecting local data privacy; (2) With selective module selection (SMA), overall the performance of the baselines are improved (3.4\% in FL-VAEGAN, 1\% in FL-FREE and 2.1 \% in FL-CLSWGAN on average), which verifies that learning a generic generator and decoupling the discriminator from central aggregation can facilitate mid-level semantic knowledge transfer in FZSL; (3) With semantic knowledge augmentation (SKA), our approach significantly improves the baselines by 8.5\% in FL-VAEGAN, 6.5\% in FL-FREE and 9.1\% in FL-CLSWGAN on average, which validates the effectiveness and generality of SKA in FZSL; (4) Comparing with other federated learning approaches, such as FedProx~\cite{li2020federated} and MOON~\cite{li2021model}, our approaches achieve significantly better performance, showing the importance of learning mid-level semantic knowledge for FZSL. In the following context, the decentralised baseline donates CLSWGAN~\cite{xian2018feature} with FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication} since it achieves overall the best performance on our experiments. \begin{table*}[t] \begin{center} \begin{tabular}{c|c|c|c|c|c|c} \hline \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\multirow{1}{*}{Settings}} & \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\multirow{1}{*}{Methods}} & AWA2 & AWA1 & aPY & CUB & SUN \\ \hline\hline \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\multirow{5}{*}{\tabincell{c}{Local Training}}} &Client 1 & 49.0 & 47.8 & 23.2 & 42.4 & 50.6 \\ &Client 2 & 37.1 & 38.7 & 22.8 & 40.5 & 52.1 \\ &Client 3 & 40.2 & 41.1 & 34.3 & 40.2 & 49.8\\ &Client 4 & 53.0 & 51.9 & 26.3 & 40.2 & 50.4\\ \cline{2-7} & Average & 44.8 & 44.9 & 26.7 & 35.5 & 50.7\\ \hline \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{\tabincell{c}{Decentralised}}} & Baseline & {61.6 }& {58.5 }&{33.8} & {53.8 }& {59.5 }\\ & Baseline+SMA+SKA & 69.0 & 70.6 & 47.1 & 59.4 & 66.5 \\ \hline Centralised & Baseline (Joint) & 67.4 & 66.6 & 37.7 & 56.8 & 60.3\\ \hline \end{tabular} \end{center} \caption{Comparing local training (individual clients) and decentralised learning (baseline and baseline+SMA+SKA). Top-1 accuracy in percentage on unseen classes. Baseline donates CLSWGAN~\cite{xian2018feature} with FedAvg~\cite{mcmahan2017communication} } \label{table:local_decentralised} \end{table*} \subsection{Local Training vs. Decentralised Learning} To verify the effectiveness of the formulated federated zero-shot learning paradigm, we separately train four individual local models~\cite{xian2018feature} with local client data and compare with decentralised learning models. Note that the performance are tested on the same unseen classes for all compared methods. As shown in Table \ref{table:local_decentralised}, the decentralised baseline model significantly outperforms all individual client models and their average. This shows that the federated collaboration between the localised clients and the central server model facilitates to optimise a generalisable model in FZSL. Furthermore, baseline+SMA+SKA even surpasses the performance of the centralised joint-training baseline, which further verifies the effectiveness of our improved baseline for FZSL. \begin{table}[t] \begin{center} \small \begin{tabular}{c|c|c|c|c|c|c} \hline GT & CLIP & AWA2 & AWA1 & aPY &CUB & SUN \\ \hline\hline \hline \ding{51} &\ding{55} & 62.8 & 61.7 & 38.4 & 55.5 &59.4\\ \ding{55}&\ding{51}& 70.1 & 72.4 & 48.2 & 42.2 & 54.4 \\ \ding{51}&\ding{51}& 69.0 & 70.6 & 47.1 & 59.4 & 66.5 \\ \hline \end{tabular} \end{center} \caption{Baseline+SMA with different attribute variations. GT means dataset supplied annotated attributes. SKA means our proposed semantic augmentation with a CLIP text encoder.} \label{table:ska} % \end{table} \begin{table}[t] \begin{center} \small \begin{tabular}{c|c|c|c|c|c|c} \hline (CL)SKA & ALSKA & AWA2 & AWA1 & aPY &CUB & SUN \\ \hline \hline \ding{55} &\ding{55} & 62.8 & 61.7 & 38.4 & 55.5 & 59.4\\ \ding{51} &\ding{55} & 69.0 & 70.6 & 47.1 & 59.4 & 66.5 \\ \ding{55}&\ding{51}& 62.8 & 64.4 & 44.8 & 54.4 & 61.6 \\ \ding{51}&\ding{51}& 69.3 & 70.7 & 46.2 & 59.0 & 65.6 \\ \hline \end{tabular} \end{center} \caption{Baseline+SMA with different semantic augmentation variations. CLSKA means class-level semantic augmentation. ALSKA means attribute-level semantic augmentation.} \label{table:alsa} % \end{table} \begin{figure}[t] \centering \includegraphics[width=0.5\textwidth]{./image/tsne.pdf} \caption{tSNE of unseen classes on AWA2 for baseline+SMA (left) and baseline+SMA+SKA (right). The same colour implies the same class. Circle and cross means the generated distribution and real unseen distribution, respectively. The number in the caption means increase or decrease percentage for each class after implementing SKA. The classifier trained on generated pseudo distribution is tested on the unseen real distribution. } \label{fig:tsne} \end{figure} \subsection{Effect of Semantic Knowledge Augmentation} As shown in Table~\ref{table:FZSL}, the performance of the baseline model can be significantly improved with semantic knowledge augmentation. To show the impact of semantic knowledge augmentation on FZSL, we further analyse the results both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitatively, we report experimental results in Table~\ref{table:ska} for the baseline+SMA with and without SKA. It can be observed from Table~\ref{table:ska} that CLIP text embedding alone can supply discriminative information in three coarse datasets (AWA1, AWA2 and aPY) but lack discriminative ability in the other two fine-grained datasets. The combination of the ground truth annotation and CLIP text embedding, which is our SKA setting, works the best on average. Qualitatively, the tSNE visualisations of AWA2 unseen classes for baseline+SMA before and after implementing the semantic knowledge augmentation are shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:tsne}. It can be seen that with SKA, the generated distribution has a larger inter-class distance as shown in the red box. This larger inter-class distance significantly improves coarse-grained classification accuracy, which is consistent with the conclusion of FREE~\cite{chen2021free}. \begin{table}[t] \begin{center} \small \begin{tabular}{c|c|c|c|c|c|c } \hline \multicolumn{2}{c|}{Text Encoder} & AWA2 & AWA1 & aPY & CUB & SUN \\ \hline\hline \multicolumn{2}{c|}{\ding{55}} &62.8 & 61.7& 38.4& 55.5 & 59.4\\ \hline \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{\tabincell{c}{LM}}} &BERT & 63.4 & 63.8 & 41.1 & 54.6 & 60.9 \\ &RoBERTa & 65.4 & 64.6 & 41.6 & 54.7 & 61.0 \\ \hline \multicolumn{1}{c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{\tabincell{c}{VLP}}} &DeFILIP & 74.1 & 75.5 & 49.4 & 58.2 & 64.2 \\ &CLIP & 69.0 & 70.6 & 47.1 & 59.0 & 65.6 \\ \hline \end{tabular} \end{center} \caption{In comparison with Baseline+SMA, evaluation with the text embedding of two Language Models (LM) and two Vision-Language Pretrained models (VLP) are reported.} \label{table:exp_textEmb} % \end{table} \begin{figure*}[t] \centering \subfigure[Client number]{ \includegraphics[width=0.19\linewidth]{./image/Number.pdf} \label{fig:client_num} } \subfigure[Client fraction]{ \includegraphics[width=0.19\linewidth]{./image/fraction.pdf} \label{fig:client_frac} } \subfigure[Client local step]{ \includegraphics[width=0.19\linewidth]{./image/Local.pdf} \label{fig:local_step} } \caption{Ablation study on (a) client number, (b) client fraction, (c) local steps} \end{figure*} \subsection{Variation of Semantic Knowledge Augmentation } We do variations on the SKA in two directions: (1) In a more concrete attribute level and (2) text embedding from other text encoders. \paragraph{Attribute-Level Semantic Knowledge Augmentation.} To further show whether an attribute text will bring more discriminative information to FZSL, we employ the attribute-level semantic augmentation (ALSKA) and compare with the proposed class-level semantic augmentation ((CL)SKA). we reconstruct the input sentence of a CLIP text encoder with a superclass name and a random selected activated attribute from a target class. For example, for class `beach', the input sentence can be constructed as `a photo of a swimming scene.', where `scene' is a superclass name and `swimming' is a random selected positive attribute for class `beach'. Further, we combine ALSKA and (CL)SKA by constructing the input sentence of CLIP text encoder as `a photo of a \{attribute\} \{class name\}.'where \{attribute\} is one of the activated attributes in \{class name\}. As shown in Table~\ref{table:alsa}, we can see that: (1) Both class-level semantic augmentation (SKA) and the attribute-level semantic augmentation can supply discriminative information, which proves the effectiveness of our structure learning from text based external knowledge; (2) Comparing with (CL)SKA, the ALSKA is still limited in the CLIP text encoder. How to explore the fine-grained information from foundation model needs to be further explored and we leave this for the future work. \paragraph{Semantic Knowledge Augmentation with Other Text Encoder.} FZSL can gain benefit from a large scale pretrained text encoder. We naturally interested in whether other language models or visual language pretrained models can bring similar benefits. We therefore compare two large scale language models BERT~\cite{devlin2018bert} and RoBERTa~\cite{liu2019roberta}; and the text encoder of a vision-language pretrained model DeFILIP~\cite{cui2022democratizing}. BERT and RoBERTa are bidirectional encoder trained on 16GB and 161GB text corpora respectively. DeFILIP is a variation of CLIP~\cite{radford2021learning} which aims to explore fine-grained information in a more data efficient method. All of three methods will calculate the embedding of the whole input sentence, where we fed in the same sentence as our SKA. As shown in Table \ref{table:exp_textEmb}, we can see that: (1) Both LM and VLP text encoder can bring benefits (except LM model on CUB) comparing with baseline, which can demonstrate the effectiveness and generality of the proposed SKA structure. (2) FZSL with VLP achieves better results compare to LM. The reason is mainly that these models are pretrained on image set and are prone to achieve the alignment between visual and semantic distribution. (3) DeFILIP, a fine-grained variation of CLIP, achieves the best result among different text encoders. Interestingly, we find that DeFILIP with attribute-level SKA can achieve 59.8\% and 65.6\% on CUB and SUN respectively (cf. 58.2\% and 64.2\% on CUB and SUN with class-level SKA), which implies that the fine-grained information from DeFILIP can be further explored with an appropriate mining method. \subsection{Further Analysis and Discussion} \paragraph{Client Number $K$.} Fig.~\ref{fig:client_num} compares central server aggregation with different numbers of local clients, where $K$= 1,2 and 4 represent seen classes of the dataset is randomly split to 1,2 and 4 clients on average respectively. We can see that the FZSL performance decreases when implementing to increase number of clients, which implies greater difficulty with larger number of clients with less data variety. \paragraph{Client Fraction $S$.} Fig.~\ref{fig:client_frac} compares FZSL with different client fraction. We can see that a smaller number of fraction is inferior to collaboration with larger fraction of clients, which demonstrates that collaboration among multi-clients can further contribute to the generalisation ability of the server model. \paragraph{Client Local Step $E$.} Fig.~\ref{fig:local_step} compares FZSL with different client local steps $E$ which influences the communication efficiency. Overall, the performance on different datasets shows relatively stable trends whilst on SUN, the performance decreases when $E$ increases due to the accumulation of biases in local client. \section{Conclusion} In this work, we introduced a new Federated Zero-Shot Learning paradigm to explore mid-level semantic knowledge transfer for federated learning. We formulate a baseline model based on conventional zero-shot learning and federated learning, and then further improve the baseline model with selective module aggregation and semantic knowledge augmentation. Extensive experiments on five zero-shot learning benchmark datasets examine the effectiveness of our approach.

Across The Leagues Ben Martin, Wednesday, July 6th, 2011. Comments offContact the author Swan veteran racks up 250 games Luke Riches, centre, played his 250th game with Alvie at the weekend. He is pictured with his daughter Lulu and son Alfie. ALVIE midfielders Liam McGuane and Danny Allan were just out of prams when team-mate Luke Riches made his senior debut. Riches, 34, stands out these days in Alvie's predominantly young list, and reaching the 250-game milestone at the weekend is something few of his team-mates have done. After playing his first senior game for Camperdown in 1995, where he played in junior and reserve premierships, Riches moved to Warrion to work on his uncle Tim McCarthy's dairy farm. "My uncle Tim McCarthy was a born-and-bred Alvie man, I'd moved to Shepparton to study ag science and he got me over the holidays to come down and milk the cows," Riches said. "I've been doing that ever since and got involved with Alvie footy club around then – that was in 1997," he said. Riches played in Alvie's breakthrough premiership three years later after two consecutive failed attempts, defeating Lorne 13.6 (84) to 10.17 (77) under John Henry. Riches has played a consistent role in the Swans' midfield ever since, taking out club best and fairest awards in 2002 and '04 as well as captaining the side for four years. "The grand final – that was great, that and my two club best and fairests were pretty big highlights for me," he said. Riches has played alongside some of the best players in Colac district football including Paul Cass, Luke McLennan, Michael "Spike" Parker and Michael "Dallas" O'Brien, but rated former Swan and 2010 Jack Mahoney medallist Andrew Kelly as the best onballer he'd seen in Colac district football. These days it's rare for a footballer to play 250 games at one club, and it's a milestone the veteran holds in high regard. "I'd hoped I'd make it that far, I guess I've been pretty lucky with injury up until four or five years ago when I had to have a knee reconstruction," Riches said. "Alvie's a good family club, I went there because of my uncle and I've got a young family of my own now with kids Lulu and Alfie. The club's pretty supportive," he said. Key Bomber to miss rest of the season Bomber Brad Gore will miss the rest of Irrewarra-Beeac's campaign after breaking his leg. by Aidan Fawkes A BROKEN leg and a premature end to season 2011 weren't what Brad Gore had in mind for a 21st birthday present. The hard-nosed Irrewarra-Beeac midfielder will miss the rest of the Bombers' campaign after breaking his left leg against Western Eagles. The horrific incident came hours before he celebrated his 21st birthday at Colac pool room Straight Shooters. But Gore still managed to make his own party, despite it being a lower-key affair than he initially hoped. "It was a good night. I was able to hop around a bit and have a dance," he said. "I had to lay off the beers, I had a few painkillers. I had a pretty good night." Gore had received a handball out of a pack in the second quarter at Irrewarra Recreation Reserve when his stellar season came to a crashing halt. "As I was going to kick on my right foot, the Western Eagles player tried to smother me and rolled through my left leg," Gore said. "The pain wasn't too bad. I thought I'd just done ligaments. When he came through I heard a fair few loud cracks," he said. "My first thought was it was my 21st that night and I was a bit worried I wasn't going to attend that." Gore said X-rays at Colac Area Health about an hour after the incident revealed he had broken the leg. His first major football injury will have him sidelined for at least six weeks, but more likely eight to 10 weeks with physiotherapy. "I don't think I'll be playing football again this year, which is a bit shattering," Gore said. The injury is a major blow to Irrewarra-Beeac's premiership aspirations. The 20-year-old – he turns 21 on Friday – has been one of the Bombers' best taking on more responsibility with Dan Casey, David Dunne and Luke Vickers out of last year's premiership team. Gore said the departures had paved the way for the likes of Luke Hillman and Josh Armstrong to play senior football. He said a premiership in 2011 would be the most special of a possible Bombers' four-peat. "If we were to make the grand final, it'd be a sweet one to win because we're more of the underdogs this year," he said. "I wouldn't write us off yet, so to speak. We've got as good a chance as anyone else." Is Ash McLachlan the unluckiest teenage footballer? Western Eagle Ash McLachlan was in good spirits this week despite suffering his second major knee injury. WESTERN Eagles ruckman Ash McLachlan could be one of the unluckiest teenagers in Colac district football. At just 17 years old, the young Eagle has suffered his second major knee injury in his side's loss to Irrewarra-Beeac at Irrewarra Recreation Reserve. McLachlan received a knock to his left knee in the first quarter and was unable to return to the field. "It was in a marking contest, I must have copped a knock to the outside of the knee as I came down," he said. "I was in a fair bit of pain, I hobbled off to the bench where I had it strapped with a bit of deep heat. "I was doing some sprints hoping to come back on but as I was doing some bounds it made a cracking noise and collapsed under me." Saturday's injury came more than two years since McLachlan ruptured ligaments in his right knee requiring a full knee reconstruction which kept him sidelined for the entire season 2009. He recovered to return for the first round of 2010, and built up enough strength to play his first game of senior football as well as a host of games alongside his father and Eagles veteran Tony McLachlan. But Ash said his latest injury was not as severe as his first. "This time it has recovered a lot quicker and I'm walking on it a bit sooner, which is promising," he said. He will visit a physio on Friday with the best-case scenario a contusion to the knee which would keep him sidelined for just two weeks. The worst-case scenario would involve an arthroscopy to clean out damaged meniscus cartilage, requiring a recovery period of up to six weeks. McLachlan, a Trinity College Year 12 student, said the injury was "definitely" disappointing at a time when the Eagles were enjoying a boost of confidence sparked from their win against Apollo Bay two weeks ago. The win was also the final senior clash for McLachlan's father Tony. "It was an awesome feeling to get the win," Ash said. "We're all improving and we're starting to bond together, so it's a pity I'm going to miss a few weeks," he said. Buchanan brothers battle in Queensland YOUNGER brother Micah has taken the honours against AFL player Amon in a "Battle of the Buchanans" played out almost 2000 kilometres from home. The Colac football exports are plying their trades in the North East Australian Football League – Micah for Aspley and Amon for Brisbane Lions' reserves. They came face to face on the field for the first time this season on Saturday, with Aspley taking the honours 21.11 (137) to 13.11 (89) at its Graham Road headquarters. Micah booted three goals, all in the first half as Aspley raced to a 40-point lead, while Amon was among the better players for the losers and kicked a goal. The two played on each other for the first quarter, with Amon attempting to shut down his dangerous brother. The Buchanans' father Tom and mother Ann ventured north for the match and Mr Buchanan said the match was a good spectacle. "It was pretty exciting. I've watched a lot of footy over the years but I enjoyed the game," he said. "It was a special occasion for Aspley, it was their gala dinner. They hadn't won four games in a row since they started the league. "They knew it'd be a long haul because it's a pretty strong comp." Mr Buchanan said Micah would be close to leading the best and fairest award for the NEAFL's northern conference – for Queensland and Northern Territory teams. He said Amon, a former Sydney premiership player, was "a bit frustrated" not playing in the Lions' seniors in the AFL, with blooding young footballers a priority. "He's working hard in the twos. The week before he had 47 touches and 26 clearances and still didn't get a berth," he said. "He's got to keep his head down and bum up and work hard." Micah and another Colac export, James Linton, are studying naturopathy in Brisbane and playing football for Aspley. The youngest Buchanan brother, Callum, is working as a barista and was solid in Aspley's reserves' massive win against Labrador. Another former Colac Tiger, Marcus Crook plays in the NEAFL's eastern conference, for Canberra-based club Ainslie. Bay shooter receives all clear by Lachlan Cowlishaw DOCTORS have given Apollo Bay goaler Jodie Bertrand the all clear after she sustained a sickening head injury against Simpson. Bertrand travelled to Geelong yesterday to receive news that scans had cleared her of head fractures. The Hawks star was contesting a lobbed pass early in the fourth quarter of Saturday's clash when she tripped and fell backwards, putting her in hospital. "I was just going back for the ball and landed on my bottom and flicked the head back – I hit the ground pretty hard," Bertrand said. "It was pretty painful and I felt the back of my head and felt a dint there," she said. "The ambulance took me to the Apollo Bay hospital and the doctor there had a bit of a feel of my head and said it was quite soft and there was some bruising and swelling. "He thought it was a good idea to go to Geelong and get the scans done and make sure there were no fractures." Bertrand has netted 242 goals for the Hawks this season and sits second in competition goal scoring. She said she would take time off work to rest and recover and expected to miss Saturday's clash against Forrest. Shoulder injury denies Bomber a Victorian berth A SHOULDER injury will keep Irrewarra-Beeac coach Khan Beckett from representing the Victorian Country Football League on Saturday. Beckett was one of three Colac district footballers, along with South Colac assistant coach Clay Brewer and spearhead Ben Cox, who attended the final training session at Albert Park to select a VCFL Two squad to take on the Victorian Amateur Football League. Selectors picked ruckman Brewer, who has played in the team the past two years, as an emergency. But coach John Cossar said selectors did not want to risk Beckett's shoulder for the one-off match. "Khan was ruled out because of the injury which was extremely unfortunate, he would have made the team but we didn't want him to further injure himself in the match," he said. "Clay will be our emergency, which was just a team balance thing." Beckett and Brewer both represented the team at the 2010 Australian Country Football Championships, which are every second year. But Cossar said that just "three or four" players from last year's list had made the squad this season. "The side is comparable to previous years, we just wanted to have a look at a few more players," he said. "It's important we have a win this weekend, but we're keeping our eye on the bigger picture and having a look at a few more players before the championships come around again next year." The good news for South Colac is that Brewer and Cox will be available for selection in Saturday's top-of-the-table clash with Birregurra. Roos coach Stephen Hammond, who is an assistant coach with the VCFL One squad, will miss the clash. Former Alvie gun dominating for Maldon FORMER Alvie superboot Christian Kelly is continuing to do what he does best – kick goals. The Maldon full forward, playing in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League, booted 16 of them in the Bombers' 211-point demolition of Royal Park at the weekend. The tally was the equal-highest across country Victoria. Maldon won 35.22 (232) to 3.3 (21) at Bill Woodfull Recreation Reserve, its home ground. Kelly leads the league goal kicking with 70 goals at an average of seven a game. But the Maldon coaching staff are harsh markers – he has only been in the Bombers' best three times from 10 matches. Maldon is the defending MCDFL premier and shares top spot with Lexton, with both sides having nine wins and a loss. Navarre is a game further back. Falcons back on winners' list GEELONG Falcons are rejoicing after a convincing win against the Northern Knights. The Falcons defeated the Knights 19.12 (126) to 12.10 (82) in the under-18 TAC Cup at Preston City Oval in Melbourne's north. The win came after a disappointing loss last weekend and suggests the Falcons' season is back on track. Colac's Ryan Monaghan, Camperdown's Fraser Lucas and Colac's Meyrick Buchanan all displayed impressive performances. Monaghan racked up 23 disposals, Buchanan collected 36 and kicked two goals while Lucas had 26 touches. The Falcons were up by five points at quarter time, kicking four goals to three in a closely contested first quarter. They then clicked into gear, kicking seven goals to one in the second term. This was a defining period in the match, given the teams were evenly matched in the second half. This win advances the Falcons into fourth spot and provides an injection of confidence going into this weekend's game against in-form Calder Cannons at Skilled Stadium. Colac boundary umpire Kris Marshall will make his TAC Cup umpiring debut at the clash. Victoria Country set for rivalry clash Vic Country is preparing for a highly-anticipated clash with interstate rival Vic Metro today, and two Colac district footballers will be on the team. The teams meet at Etihad Stadium for the first time in NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, with Metro yet to suffer defeat. Vic Country, featuring Camperdown's Sam Gordon and Cobden's Jackson Merrett, is coming off a confidence-boosting win against Western Australia on Friday. Vic Country dominated WA in the second, third and fourth quarters clocking a final score of 12.13 (85) to 5.6 (36). Gordon and Merrett played their part in the victory with a total of 17 disposals and five marks between them. Vic Country could claim top spot on the ladder in Division One with a win today. Tags: Football, Netball

Angola - 10/28/2014 Five minutes: the length of a protest in Angola Anti-government protestors who gathered on Oct. 3, 2014 in Luanda were shut down by police after five minutes, probably because someone passed information about their planned meeting to the police. (Photo posted to Facebook by Central Angola 7311) Angolan law stipulates that anyone who organises a protest must inform the authorities, who are supposed to "provide protection" for the demonstrators. But when activists do this, authorities use the information to arrest them as soon as they arrive at the designated spot. To circumnavigate the situation, a group of young people have been organising "flash mob" protests to gain a least a few minutes of activism before being shut down. The small group of activists — non-partisan and committed to fighting for freedom of expression in Angola — text each other a time and place. On the specified day, they gather — often in front of one of the ministries in Luanda, the capital - and then citizen journalists arrive, armed with cameras. They have to move fast, as they will only have a few minutes before police or soldiers arrive. This scene has been repeated seven or eight times over the past three months. The longest protest, held in September in front of the education ministry, lasted 25 minutes. The most recent, held on October 3, only lasted 5 minutes. This video, which includes a timer, shows how the protestors were arrested within 15 minutes of launching their protest on August 4, 2014. It was filmed and edited by members of Angolan collective Central Angola 7311. Police often use tear gas, water cannons and dogs on those participating in the anti-government protests, which began in 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring. Non-violent protestors are routinely beat up by police and plain clothes thugs and at least three have been killed under suspicious circumstances. Most protestors have been arrested multiple times and are sometimes held for days on end. But for the activists, each brief protest and each photo posted to Facebook works to "erode the machine" of the Angolan state, which has been run by for the past 35 years by President José Eduardo dos Santos and his party, the MPLA [Editor's note: Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola]. While the Angolan media rarely covers the arrests of protestors, this screengrab from Portuguese television SIC NOTICIAS shows the news headline that the Angolan police arrested 12 protestors at the protest held on October 3, 2014. (photo from Central Angola 7311) 'You can't do anything without police being there in a few minutes.' Luaty Beirão is a rapper as well as an activist, human rights monitor and member of collective Central Angola 7311, a group that shares information uncensored by the regime through its network of citizen journalists. The numbers refer to March 7, 2011, the date of the first organised, non-partisan protest held in Angola for 35 years. In 1977, the state massacred a large group of dissidents. Beirão has participated in three of the recent "flash mob protests." We arrange the spontaneous protests amongst ourselves — but it's hard knowing who to trust even in a small group of people. We might text 20 people, but the 21st is a police informant. Here, you never know. In Luanda, we live in a quasi-police state. If the President goes out, heavily armed police are everywhere. There are always at least two police cars parked on Independence Square. You can't do anything without police being there in a few minutes. In the five or ten minutes before the police come, our reporters are fast enough to flood the internet with pictures ,but there are still not many people who face up to the police apparatus. Most witnesses stay in the periphery to see what happens to the first group, usually made up of the same ten or fifteen people — you can count those brave souls on your fingers and toes. The protests are often very small and only a handfull of people attend, like this protest on October 3. (Photo from Central Angola 7311.) 'Sometimes we laugh at ourselves and what we call progress' Recently, however, the crowd has started shouting when the police try to take us away. This shows tiny steps toward real change. Sometimes we laugh at ourselves and what we call progress: three years after we began to protest, we are still only about 10 people doing flash mobs and maybe 100 people see what we are doing and stand around going "Yay, yay!" But there are more and more spontaneous protests and people are encouraged by the results. Two months ago, a Luanda neighbourhood broke into protest after a power cut. And guess what? The energy company turned power back on. Post by Central Angola. At 2:50, local people began to chant "Não violência!" or "No violence" as police arrested protestors. At 5:57, a woman is pushed to the ground by police. This protest was held on September 5, 2014. (Video from the Facebook page of Central Angola 7311.) 'The government has killed protestors in the past but I don't think they'll do it again.' The police are also becoming more wary of us. When I was arrested in March, the commander of a local station refused to take us because we had filed complaints about our treatment the last time. I also don't think the government will kill protestors again. They didn't expect consequences when they killed Cassule and Kamulingue because they were just two young ghetto kids [Editor's note: The two activists were tortured and murdered after trying to organise a protest in May 2012]. But we took their names, photos and stories to human rights groups. Now, what the government fears most are international arrest warrants. One boy, Elias Batama, went missing after a larger protest on October 11, 2014. When we threatened to take to the streets, the police conceded and told us he was in a certain prison. The charges against him were false, but we raised the money for his bail. This flyer was shared online after a protestor named Elias Batama disappeared on October 11, 2014 after police arrested him. He was located days later and eventually freed from prison. 'The government sent a threat letter to my grandmother last Christmas in a pretty teddy bear bag' Of course, we are still scared, but we don't allow fear to drive our decisions. The government sent a threat letter to my grandmother last Christmas. It was wrapped in a pretty teddy bear bag and said it was from a local women's group: "We, the mothers of Sambizanga, will burn your house down if your grandson continues to protest" and seemed to say that they were worried that I would "mislead" their children. But it was obviously from the government. I published the letter instead of letting it frighten me. It's ridiculous. You can laugh. We prefer to laugh in order not to cry. This is not a serious county. No institution can be taken seriously. But our struggle for freedom of expression is serious. 'If every Angolan comes out to demonstrate, the government won't kill everyone.' vice-présidente de l'association de l'association des Droits de l'Homme Justice, Paix et Justice See profile Lucia Da Silviera is the executive director of Luanda-based human rights group Associacao Justica Paz e Democracia (AJPD). Angolans do believe in the right to protest, but they don't participate because they are afraid. They remember May 27, 1977 [Editor's note: A breakaway faction of the ruling MPLA party, led by Nito Alves, led an uprising. Most were brutally killed.] Angolan citizens need to wake up. If every Angolan comes out to demonstrate, the government won't kill everyone. We are trying to build court cases to take to the African Commission and the UN. We have also been lobbying different embassies. Some people are using social media to spread the word on human rights violations. It's helping Angolans to get connected, to understand the situation in the country. It's a process, but we're making the government uncomfortable. Post written with FRANCE 24 journalist Brenna Daldorph (@brennad87) This scuffle occurred during the protest on October 3, 2014.

A new version of an app allows meeting attendees to name and shame groups that don't show diversity in their panels. Also: a comprehensive look at the health of the internet. Are you tired of seeing all-male panels? Gina Glantz, a longtime Democratic strategist and founder of GenderAvenger, certainly is. "Avenger's mission has been to help amplify the voices of people who witness an all-male event and want [to] draw attention to—and hopefully convince the organization to correct—the imbalance," writes Kristen Bellstrom in a recent piece for Fortune. To help with this, the nonprofit has created an app called GA Tally, which allows users to measure the gender and ethnic breakdown of a panel and account for how long each person talks. "The app turns the information into a simple graphic that can be shared (along with any appropriate hashtag) on social media," writes Bellstrom. GenderAvenger also gives a "GA Stamp of Approval" to panels or groups that they believe are getting it right. Is the internet healthy? That's the central question being answered in a new report from Mozilla. "Working with researchers, digital rights activists, Mozilla fellows and our community, we tell a collaborative story of how the internet is––and isn't––healthy from a human perspective," states the report's introduction. The report delves into issues, including who controls the internet, how open it is, safety, and web literacy. Taking a look at the safety section, you'll find insights and analysis on ransomware, passwords, unwarranted surveillance, and the vulnerability of the internet of things. Are you looking for more millennials to join your board? Know Your Own Bone shares compelling reasons for why you should. Believe it or not, there's a museum out there devoted to the selfie. BizBash says there is a lot event pros can learn from it when it comes to creating photo ops at your next meeting. Sometimes the devil really is in the details. Engaging Volunteers reveals how a change in one organization's nametags made volunteers happier.

Equity Residential paid its President and CEO David Neithercut $9 million last year, a 41 percent jump from 2012, as the company granted him a big batch of stock to reward him for leading its acquisition of the Archstone apartment portfolio. The Chicago-based apartment landlord gave Mr. Neithercut $2 million in stock in 2013 for "his exceptional leadership" of the Archstone transaction, according to a proxy statement filed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Through the acquisition, Equity Residential took over about 23,000 apartments around the country. "Under Mr. Neithercut's stewardship, the company significantly and positively transformed its asset portfolio and long-term market position with the Archstone acquisition," Equity Residential said in its proxy. In 2013, Mr. Neithercut, now 58, received a $900,000 salary; $5.4 million stock award, including the $2 million grant connected to the Archstone deal; $1.1 million in options, and non-equity incentive pay of $1.5 million, the proxy said. While the $9 million total represented a 41 percent increase from 2012, it was less than the $11.3 million he made in 2012. Equity Residential, who chairman is billionaire financier Sam Zell, is the nation's largest public apartment landlord, with about 110,000 units at the end of 2013. A spokesman for the real estate investment trust did not respond to a request for comment. Comparing apartments owned at least a year, Equity Residential's revenue rose 4.5 percent in 2013, and its net operating income rose 5 percent. Including dividends, the company's shares returned a negative 5.3 percent last year, versus a 6.0 percent decline for the Bloomberg REIT Apartment Index. Equity Residential shares have returned 11.8 percent so far in 2014, vs. 13.2 percent for the index.

AUTOMATIC TARGET RECOGNITION SYSTEMS PROACTIVE EMERGING THREAT DETECTION (PREVENT) MACHINE LEARNING IN THE FACTORY MACHINE LEARNING FOR PATTERNS OF LIFE RAYTHEON PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE (RPM) STRATEGIES FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING MACHINE LEARNING CLASSIFICATION OF HANDWRITING LEADERS CORNER EYE ON TECHNOLOGY Stephanie Yung, mechanical engineer, hosts a table of aspiring engineers. She was one of eight Raytheon engineers who offered advice to more than 100 young women from the Los Angeles Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. FROM ONE ROBOT-MAKER TO ANOTHER WOMEN ENGINEERS MENTOR 100 NEXT-GEN ROBOT-MAKERS AT FIRST® COMPETITION Hundreds of students packed a Pomona, California, fairplex; makers of robots that would do battle at the Los Angeles Regional FIRST® Robotics Competition. The atmosphere in the arena, themed to recall the 8-bit video games of the 1980s, was electric as teams made last-minute modifications. The competition brought together high school students from across Southern California to compete head-to-head with robots they designed and built over a six-week period. Raucous cheers bounced off the walls as each team's robot hit the arena floor. Operators, armed with controllers designed by their teammates, deftly moved their robots along the arena floor, picking up bright yellow boxes and depositing them into bins for points. After six weeks of design and testing, the robots hit the competition floor. Teams competed in 2.5 minute rounds, where their robots picked up and moved " power cubes" to earn points. During a break in the competition's action, 100 of the young women behind the robots met with eight Raytheon women engineers at a speed-mentoring event in the conference center next door. Their mission? Share important lessons about making it in a field where women are often underrepresented. "I am most looking forward to learning about confidence," said one of the students before the speed-mentoring event. "I know women are held to a different standard to do things a certain way. I think that talking about it helps relieve the stress of wanting to be perfect in a society where no one is perfect." The engineers encouraged the young women to own their chair as future leaders in science, technology, engineering and math — the subjects known as STEM. "You need to play to your strengths. As you go through high school and college and then get into the workplace you're going to have an opportunity to find what your strengths are," advised Angela Juranek, a Raytheon Space Systems program manager. "My strengths are motivating and inspiring teams to get the job done, and that's how I ended up becoming a program manager." As the young women rotated from table to table, the conversations covered a wide variety of subjects, from choosing a college to tips on navigating a career. Many of the attendees were interested in hearing the engineers tell their own career stories. STEM advocate Angela Juranek shares college and career advice with future women engineers at the speed-mentoring event. "'Higher education will open doors of opportunity,'" said April Sanders, a Raytheon systems engineer, when asked about her story. "These are words that I heard repeatedly as a child of a single mother and high school dropout." In an ongoing effort to narrow the gender gap and increase diversity in the workplace, Raytheon sponsors FIRST Robotics teams from across the country. Employee volunteers spend thousands of hours coaching robotics team members and providing mentorship to students looking to make their mark in science, technology, engineering and math. After the speed-mentoring event, the next generation of robot-makers charged back to the arena floor, ready to take on the challenges at the competition — and beyond. Juranek and her fellow engineers hope that the advice they offered will inspire the young women to join their ranks in STEM careers. "I support STEM programs with the hope that I will be able to help young women see the potential in themselves," said Juranek. "The new generation of women engineers approach problems differently than my generation did — I want them to be part of my future teams, sit at the table with other engineers and design incredible things." Copyright © 2019, Raytheon Company.