Gilberte Van Erpe allegedly urged thousands of Chileans to become producers of a fermented goop used in luxury creams A French woman has gone on trial for allegedly conning thousands of Chileans into buying a kit to make “magic cheese” they could sell to French cosmetics companies for use in luxury beauty products allegedly told her victims the prized ingredient was used in creams favoured by celebrities such as Michael Jackson but the goop is actually worthless and the scam became one of the biggest pyramid schemes ever seen in South America The “case of the magic cheese”, as it is known in France, began in 2005 when the businesswoman dubbed “Madame Gil” began holding conferences around Chile urging people to become home producers of the fermented product For €369 ($413) they could buy a kit containing filters and a special powder produced a sort of cheese they were told was highly sought after by the cosmetics industry and people were paid for their first batches of exported “magic cheese” convincing them to reinvest their earnings The success of the business initiative spread rapidly and a Chilean investigation showed some 5,500 people were ensnared Many people mortgaged their houses or became heavily indebted to invest in the pyramid scheme The “magic cheese” never left the country and was later found rotting in a Chilean warehouse The scam collapsed in July 2006 and Van Erpe was arrested in the southern French city of Nice in 2008 Chilean authorities are pursuing her in France where she is standing trial for two days alongside three alleged accomplices Metrics details An Author Correction to this article was published on 20 December 2021 This article has been updated Urban streams receive increasing loads of organic micropollutants from treated wastewaters A comprehensive understanding of the in-stream fate of micropollutants is thus of high interest for water quality management Bedforms induce pumping effects considerably contributing to whole stream hyporheic exchange and are hotspots of biogeochemical turnover processes little is known about the transformation of micropollutants in such structures we set up recirculating flumes to examine the transformation of a set of micropollutants along single flowpaths in two triangular bedforms We sampled porewater from four locations in the bedforms over 78 days and analysed the resulting concentration curves using the results of a hydrodynamic model in combination with a reactive transport model accounting for advection The four porewater sampling locations were positioned on individual flowpaths with median solute travel times ranging from 11.5 to 43.3 h as shown in a hydrodynamic model previously Highest stability was estimated for hydrochlorothiazide on all flowpaths Lowest detectable half-lives were estimated for sotalol (0.7 h) and sitagliptin (0.2 h) along the shortest flowpath ibuprofen and naproxen displayed lower half-lives at shorter flowpaths in the first bedform the behavior of many compounds in the second bedform deviated from expectations where particularly transformation products Flowpath-specific behavior as observed for metformin or flume-specific behavior as observed for metoprolol acid was attributed to potential small-scale or flume-scale heterogeneity of microbial community compositions The results of the study indicate that the shallow hyporheic flow field and the small-scale heterogeneity of the microbial community are major controlling factors for the transformation of relevant micropollutants in river sediments hyporheic zones have been studied as hotspots for turnover and removal of nutrients fine particulate matter and more recently also emerging contaminants They found formation of four transformation products (TPs) exclusively in the sediment (carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide the identification of micropollutant transformation processes caused by shallow hyporheic exchange in bedforms is important to understand and eventually predict reach-scale attenuation of micropollutants and formation of TPs The present study focuses on the transformation of micropollutants in the hyporheic zone of two specific flumes on a centimeter-scale The flumes were set up as replicates and are here referred to as Flume 1 and Flume 2 Both contained triangular bedforms equipped with PW samplers Supported by hydrodynamic and reactive transport models the study aims to investigate the behavior and fate of a set of organic micropollutants and related TPs along specific shallow hyporheic flowpaths in two of the bedforms of each flume the objectives were to identify (1) the effect of specific flowpath characteristics on degradation of parent compounds and (2) the conditions favoring formation of TPs which describes the overall experimental setup for the investigation of the fate of micropollutants in the SW PW dissolved oxygen profiles of Bedform 1 and 2 of Flume 2 were recorded at day 1 using oxygen needle sensors (Unisense A/S Denmark) attached to an aluminum pole (0.5 cm diameter) which was height-adjusted using a manual micromanipulator The copy numbers of 16S rRNA genes per gram of dry sediment for Flume 1 (day 0: 1.29*106; day 21: 0.00; day 56: 2.62*107) and Flume 2 (day 0: 2.17*106; day 21: 3.25*106; day 56: 1.33*107) indicated that the flumes had developed a bacterial community of similar biomass after pre-incubation The naught value of copy numbers in Flume 1 at day 21 was regarded an instrumental outlier due to the high values at days 0 and 56 simulations identified the trajectories of water particles and provided an estimate of the probability distribution of flowpath lengths and travel times expected to be sampled at the four sampling locations The results of the model were used to illustrate and compare the trajectories of the different flowpaths in the bedforms estimated distributions of both flowpath lengths and resulting advective PW velocities were subsequently used as prior probability density functions during parameter inference in the reactive transport model the one-dimensional advection–dispersion transport equation was used to simulate the reactive transport along the four Flowpaths a and d in Flume 1 for all parent compounds displaying more than 5% of samples above LOQ Median DT50 values exceeding the thresholds were set to “inf” as they represent degradation that was not measurable with the present methods Due to the solute transport time within the bedform the first 14 days of the experiment were most interesting for the present study which is why this time period will be the focus of the discussion likely further limiting the oxygen supply from the SW to the sediment and C) and Bedform 2 (Sampler D) of Flumes 1 and 2 aggregated over the PW sampling days 0 Bacterial community composition at the phylum level in relative abundance values (%) in Flumes 1 and 2 sampled at days 0 Samples were taken from the flat sediment area in the flumes which is an indicator for the number of species was relatively balanced over time and between Flume 1 (day 0: 2667; day 21: 2412; day 56: 3609) and Flume 2 (day 0: 2824; day 21: 2107; day 56: 3616) The evenness indicated the distribution of sequences per species increased over time and was slightly higher in Flume 1 (day 0: 0.082; day 21: 0.153; day 56: 0.235) than in Flume 2 (day 0: 0.085; day 21: 0.115; day 56: 0.233) A similar trend was observed for the Shannon diversity index calculated by a combination of richness and evenness in Flume 1 (day 0: 5.39; day 21: 5.91; day 56: 6.74) and Flume 2 (day 0: 5.48; day 21: 5.49; day 56: 6.69) microbiome analyses suggested that microbial communities were similar in both flumes The concept of mesocosm experiments implies that experimental conditions are closer to natural conditions than batch experiments conditions are more controlled than in in-situ studies it is also inherent to mesocosm studies that they differ from natural situations in some aspects one major feature deviating from natural conditions is the recirculation the same parcel of water continuously flows over and through the same sediment in the flumes the flume water is gradually depleted in micropollutant and nutrient concentrations In-situ the mixture of river and effluent water continuously supplies the sediment with similarly high concentrations the concentrations decrease along the course of the river To some degree the spatial decrease in rivers is simulated in flumes by the temporal decrease of micropollutants and nutrients during the experiment Despite of all these deviations of the microbial community in the flumes compared to the stream flume experiments are the only systematic approach to study in parallel different influencing factors in a less complex system than a natural river are generally valid when the differing conditions are considered the differences in hydrodynamic boundary conditions are of limited relevance for the breakthrough curves in the bedforms and degradation of parent compounds the first 14 days after injection proved to be most relevant the hydrodynamic conditions governing the hyporheic flow plausibly remained close to setup conditions also potentially caused by the differing flow fields conditions on Flowpath d might have been more reductive than a solutes were likely exposed to a decreasing redox potential Biogeochemical conditions of Flumes 1 and 2 were similar the behaviour of all groups of parent compounds and related TPs are discussed metformin and sitagliptin are addressed due to special degradation or retardation characteristics observed The interpretation that the high redox sensitivity of the compound and the diverse redox environment in the bedforms are responsible for this effect is confirmed by the findings of the present study to the best of our knowledge there is no previous study that described formation-dissipation curves of 2,4-chlorobenzoic acid in saturated sediments DT50s were considerably lower than in the SW (4.3 and 4.4 days) confirming that degradation of metformin primarily takes place in the hyporheic zone as previously suggested which is often taken in combination with metformin showed degradation similar to sotalol following the trend expected for redox-sensitive compounds concentrations in the PW were even lower than for sotalol hardly displaying breakthrough curves which indicates that the bacterial community in the flumes of the present study does not resist guanylurea formation but rather promotes rapid degradation inhibiting detection within the sampling interval of the experiment This occurs under all conditions of all flowpaths of the study It indicates that most compounds were primarily degraded in the hyporheic zone and highlights its importance for stream water quality DT50s measured in the sediment of River Erpe in-situ are mostly slightly lower than in the flume sediments which was expected considering the 1:10 dilution of the original sediment in the flumes and the low organic carbon content Many of the compounds investigated in the present study showed degradation trends following decreasing redox potential and increasing travel times along Flowpaths a which were at the same time the most reactive compounds degraded on Flowpath d similarly to Flowpath b as expected for redox-sensitive compounds The rest of the group degraded considerably less on Flowpath d than expected The reactions of other compounds were more complex showed highest degradation on the most reductive Flowpath c Particularly intriguing was the behavior of the TPs While no parent compounds showed highest degradation on Flowpath d carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide and 2/4-chlorobenzoic acid showed higher net-formation on d than on any other flowpath despite their strong similarity in most boundary conditions had a considerably different potential for compound transformation This phenomenon cannot just be explained as a strong outlier of a single flowpath as concentration curves in Samplers D of both flumes were mostly very similar and closer to each other than to concentrations in Sampler B of the same flume The differences between bedforms were often higher than the differences between the two flumes One likely explanation of the general peculiarity of behavior on Flowpath d is a potential general deviation of the microbial community composition between Bedforms 1 and 2 induced by slightly differing hydrodynamic characteristics and flow fields due to their different positions in the flumes The boundary conditions in both flumes were generally very similar and most concentration curves of the same samplers in different flumes displayed substantially high similarity between flumes Only three compounds deviated from this observation Metoprolol acid showed concurrent curves between bedforms but especially low net-formation in Flume 2 potentially attributable to higher presence of cyanobacteria in that flume sediment while displaying behavior very similar to each other degradation of the parent compounds on Flowpath b was particularly high contrasting the formation dynamics of the common TP valsartan acid which behaved similarly in both Flumes it is plausible that some are also sensitive to small-scale differences between bedforms or even along single flowpaths An interpretation why TPs and parent compounds react very differently is that parent compounds can be transformed by a cascade of reactions and thus potentially by a more diverse set of species while for formation and potential degradation of TPs more specialised species are responsible potentially occurring in high small-scale heterogeneity in the sediments The behavior of the beta-blockers and metoprolol acid as well as the behavior of the sartans in the flume sediments show that compounds of structural similarity are likely susceptible to similar microbial community compositions The influence of microbial diversity and community composition on the fate of micropollutants is still understudied The results of the present study show that for the fate of many relevant compounds and particularly for formation of transformation products heterogeneity of sediment microbial diversity on a centimeter-scale is likely a major controlling factor even outweighing the influence of redox zonation High similarities between the flumes indicate furthermore that the hydrodynamic flow field in the sediment has a strong influence on the microbial community the flow field and the community composition in combination are potentially the most relevant drivers for formation of transformation products in the hyporheic zone The relation of hyporheic flow fields and microbial community composition and activity as well as the subsequent impact on transformation of micropollutants needs further research Our study demonstrates that flume experiments are useful tools to systematically examine these interactions A Correction to this paper has been published: 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Technol. 54, 14380–14392. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04393 (2020) Download references The work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641939 and additionally from the Research Training Group ‘Urban Water Interfaces (UWI)’ (GRK 2032/1) funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) We thank the Birmingham University for providing the Environmental Change Outdoor Laboratory Facilities We also thank all members of the HypoTrain project as well as Horst Jaeger for their help and contributions Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics Julius Kühn Institute – Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants Plant Analysis and Stored Product Protection Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés (LEHNA) designed the experiment with significant supervision from S.K. conducted the micropollutant measurements; A.J conducted the microbiological measurements wrote the manuscript with significant contributions from M.P. The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91519-2 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Microbiology newsletter — what matters in microbiology research Be one of the first to try our new activity feed Who is cyclocross World Cup champion Kevin Pauwels Dan Seaton talks with one of Belgium's most inscrutable 'cross stars It looked like maybe the kind of fall that could knock you out of a race but not the kind where you stay down so long a barrel-chested 23-year-old with a shock of nearly-white blonde hair lay dying a ruptured aorta filling his chest with blood some would say his heart had already stopped before the fall his family would forever wonder why help had been so slow to arrive Why the police who supervised the course had failed to come to Pauwels’ aid site of the star-crossed early-season race where Pauwels fell had not taken to the public address system to seek a doctor from the thousands of fans who lined the track or his team’s doctors had failed to recognize the warning signs that something was ailing the young cyclist would face an even more impossible question the reigning under-23 world cyclocross champion Did he himself ever harbor any doubts about continuing to race without the brother who had been his role model and his idol Did he ever doubt that he should keep going The Hollywood version of the Kevin Pauwels story would end back in the mud of Erpe-Mere racing in the first-ever Belgian championship race on that very course Pauwels would pull away from the field in the final lap He would climb the final hill to the finish emotion long repressed finally breaking through The music would swell and Kevin would ride to a long-elusive prize and red tri-color jersey of Belgium’s elite national cyclocross champion and there is no redeeming so terrible a loss The real Pauwels finishes a disappointing fifth his role limited to set-up man for his triumphant Sunweb-Napoleon Games teammate Klaas Vantornout Pauwels will settle for the World Cup title — the second of his career — and an outside shot at the world championship He will be the man he has always been: affable Pauwels will not shed a tear about any of this he foretells most of the real story in his mobile home a week before it all happens getting ready for a relatively small race in Leuven He is preparing his lunch while he talks to me spreading thin slices of plain white bread with even thinner layers of creamed honey and Sirop de Liège fruit-based spread that tastes a little like apple butter He wears the slightly bemused smile he nearly always wears joking that he might be the only Belgian cyclocrosser who doesn’t load up on spaghetti ahead of a race The radio plays quietly in the background as we talk an upside-down interview in which Pauwels listens far more than he talks himself and as we talk it occurs to me that Pauwels has come a long way since emerging as on of the main protagonists of the 2011-12 cyclocross season the GVA Trofee — one of Belgium’s two major cyclocross series now called the Bpost Bank Trofee — and earned a bronze medal at the world championships in Koksijde his second trip to the worlds podium as an elite But the Pauwels of 2011 still seemed more boy than man his voice quavering in every post-race interview and he is more confident in every respect: in his demeanor and — most importantly — in the flair with which he races his bike there is no longer any trepidation in his voice The boyishness of a few years ago has melted away and the lines on his face and thinning of his hair lend him instead a touch of ruggedness remain his least favorite thing that success as a cyclist has earned him Kevin is talking about his 2014-15 season — not his best he says — and I am thinking about how much he has changed when his mechanic and friend of 20 years saying he too has seen a change since Kevin first became popular a few years ago “Sometimes people stop him and say hello when we’re out,” Risbourg explains Kevin seems well-adapted to his place near the top of Belgian cyclocross And while he eats and relaxes before the race and his expectations for a season that has been something of a resurgence after a down year That Belgian championship race so loaded with symmetry and gravity to me It is not the kind of race that favors him The track will be a hard track and it will be a muddy race has hindered his power and his running in the heaviest mud in past couple of years and he points to the Cauberg Cyclocross course where he has twice finished second to Lars van der Haar he singles out the World Cup race in Tabor “The difference between me and the rest was so big there,” he says and it was in that season people started looking with another view at me.” perhaps his most important shot — perhaps his last best chance to wear the world champion’s rainbow stripes — at that Tabor course this weekend might even be easier to win than the Belgian championship But he doesn’t yet know that the two young riders who have dominated cyclocross all season That decision is still a couple of weeks away Pauwels’ concise assessment of his season so far seems prescient “It’s harder to win now than it was a few years ago,” he says Any time you write about somebody the first question you ask yourself is but it is the singular question that determines the fate of your story you come to know the men and women you cover week after week You want your readers to know that the reigning world champions are the two most likely riders in the sport to crack self-deprecating jokes during a press conference That Katerina Nash will always ask how you’re doing before you can ever land a question no matter where along the roller coaster arc of his career he was always answering questions with the same impenetrable half-smile I must have asked myself 20 times in the span of this little lunchtime interview and asked Pauwels nearly as many times himself says something that snaps the answer into focus so obviously comfortable with himself and everything around him on the bike and so much the opposite as soon as he walks away from it How can two people so different inhabit the same body “I think he’s the same person on the bike or without,” says Risbourg “He has the same mentality next to the bike But on the bike he has the possibility to show it It’s harder for him to express himself without it.” It’s what he loves — the best part of his day is the time spent on the bike — and it’s what he lives to do Pauwels lives with his parents in Kalmthout His father was a successful racer himself in the 1970s though he never came close to the kind of success Kevin has enjoyed Though he clearly owes something to his father’s interest in cyclocross Pauwels says he was not much of an inspiration as a racer was a much bigger inspiration early in his career But he acknowledges parental support as the bedrock of his success I’m at home so I don’t have to do a lot,” he explains In-season he spends most of his time training or recovering from training He cites “Breaking Bad” as a favorite He weighs and charts every piece of hardware that gets installed on one of them He is fastidious about his position on the bike as well “I think all the best riders are maniacs about their bikes,” says Risbourg “Kevin worries about the weight of the bike He’s the one who sets the height of the saddle and the shifters and handlebars could be interested in reading a story whose central theme is “Who is Kevin Pauwels?” even as he recalls his race at the Louisville world championships fondly He appreciated the exuberant support of the fans there “But they were cheering for everybody,” he adds modestly what the fans think of him matters little to Pauwels; he appreciates their support but he rides for himself “I don’t really care [what people think about me],” he says She is so omnipresent at Kevin’s races that most Flemish cycling fans know her by the same name he does but I see her every weekend at the races,” says Pauwels a description belied by his obvious desire for victory on the bike — and by the sweetness he reserves for his grandmother When Kevin Pauwels was a boy he watched his brother Tim racing to a podium at the Belgian nationals as a junior and posting respectable results in a handful of big Belgian races “It’s probably because of him that I started racing,” says Pauwels now following it up with an under-23 championship And even as Kevin amassed so much success of his own say people who raced with and wrote about the pair before Tim’s death He was a source of confidence and reassurance helping Kevin navigate the uncomfortable waters of the spotlight but published reports from 2004 say Kevin never spoke about it Whatever it was that Kevin went through back then The Kevin Pauwels of 2014 is more forthcoming and he says now that he does think of his brother sometimes though he says he does not turn to that thought for inspiration Tim’s absence now is like a long-ago healed wound albeit one that still aches from time to time He is unlike anybody else to compete at such a high level in the sport as if his reticence cannot be explained without a label though whether he is or isn’t was a question nobody was willing to address on the record But the bigger question is whether it would matter if he were Pauwels has met nearly ever expectation and exceeded it on his way to becoming one of the most successful cyclocross riders of the present era he will tell you he is one thing: a cyclocrosser So let’s allow his achievements to speak for themselves He is the among the only men to go head-to-head with Wout Van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel and emerge victorious at any point this season He is the only still-active racer to earn two World Cup overall titles in the 2010s he might just be the new cyclocross world champion Laurens Sweeck (Corendon-KwadrO Cycling) secure the under-23 national title at the Belgian Cyclo-cross Championships held in Erpe-Mere He took a commanding victory by more than a minute ahead of his nearest competitors Team Hoboken (Kon.) V.Z.W.0:09:5020Jens Teirlinck (Bel) Van Assche-Alpha Motorhomes Cycling Team0:10:4221Yves Coolen (Bel) De Kastelse Durvers V.Z.W.0:11:0722Brecht Vandenheede (Bel) WC De Molenspurters Meulebeke0:11:4523Lawrence Tibackx (Bel) DNCS/PRO 2012 Cycling TeamRow 22 - Cell 2 24Nick Van De Kerckhove (Bel) Mez Team Belgium SnellegemRow 23 - Cell 2 25Elias Van Hecke (Bel) Lares - Doltcini Cycling TeamRow 24 - Cell 2 26Niels Buysen (Bel) W.A.C Team Hoboken (Kon.) V.Z.W.Row 25 - Cell 2 27Senne De Meyer (Bel) K Edegem Bicycle Club - BMX RRow 26 - Cell 2 28Robin Alderweireld (Bel) Cycling Team Houtland-WestkustRow 27 - Cell 2 29Kyle De Proost (Bel) Kon V.Z.W.Row 28 - Cell 2 30Yelle Leaerts (Bel) WSC Hand In Hand BaalRow 29 - Cell 2 31Dario Tielen (Bel)Row 30 - Cell 2 32Jorn Verbraken (Bel) DNCS/PRO 2012 Cycling TeamRow 31 - Cell 2 33Jens Couckuyt (Bel) Trust MTB Team VZWRow 32 - Cell 2 34Aaron Vandermeirsch (Bel) Asfra Racing TeamRow 33 - Cell 2 35Thomas Van De Velde (Bel) Isorex Cycling TeamRow 34 - Cell 2 36Stijn Hofman (Bel) Team 185Row 35 - Cell 2 37Dario Kloeck (Bel) Cycling Team 99 V.Z.W SchriekRow 36 - Cell 2 38Glenn Maes (Bel) Asfra Racing TeamRow 37 - Cell 2 39Mathias Moenaert (Bel) Cycling Team Houtland-WestkustRow 38 - Cell 2 40Laurens De Jonghe (Bel) Isorex Cycling TeamRow 39 - Cell 2   Bakery La Lorraine is looking to hire 100 new employees in East Flanders this year Most of the new staff will be employed at the frozen bakery plant in Erpe-Mere that is being completely renovated La Lorraine is also looking for 300 additional staff for its foreign branches By 2028 the bakery wants to increase its turnover in the rest of Europe "Our business is growing at a rate of 10 percent every year," a bakery spokesperson explains The bakery has its headquarters in Ninove (East Flanders) and supplies fresh and frozen bakery products to supermarkets across Belgium "Staff numbers continue to  increase as the business grows We are recruiting a total of 400 additional employees this year "We are looking for both commercial and technical profiles This is because we are going to significantly expand the frozen bakery at our site in Erpe-Mere is also being completely renovated turning it into the most modern site in the group Today 450 people already work at Erpe-Mere Numbers will eventually rise to 800." The La Lorraine Bakery Group has some 5,000 employees and delivers in more than 35 countries 9 countries have their own bakery production "We are making the biggest investments in Romania and the Czech Republic There we are looking for about 300 additional people." La Lorraine products are also popular abroad are doing well in the Middle East and Turkey." Turkey and the Middle East by more than 50 percent by 2028 Our site in Poland recently started operating entirely on green electricity attention is being paid to the origin of the wheat "That is our most important raw material We invest in farmers and cooperatives that are looking for ways to emit less CO₂ for example by using fewer or different fertilizers or by using conventional farming techniques." Belgium-based MCC consistently demonstrates focus on quality Herndon, Va., 20 February, 2024 – ST Engineering iDirect, a global leader in satellite communications, has won the prestigious Factory of the Future award four consecutive times for its Manufacturing Competence Center (MCC) innovative and sustainable manufacturing technologies and processes This award is an affirmation of ST Engineering iDirect’s commitment and its leading position as a trailblazer in European manufacturing ST Engineering iDirect’s MCC has come to represent the pinnacle of best-in-class future proof and sustainable manufacturing The MCC received the Factory of the Future Award in 2015 “To receive this award four times in a row is a great source of pride for the entire MCC team We work incredibly hard to deliver products of the highest standard Our customers place great trust in us and it’s that trust that drives us to constantly improve using innovative approaches and technologies We relish the challenging designs that our customers bring to us and therefore it’s important that we can deliver on every one of those We need a facility that can move as fast as the technology and that’s why we have created a future-proof environment at the cutting edge where innovation can thrive,” said Tom Hamelinckx the Factory of the Future award recognizes enterprising companies across Europe that consistently push the boundaries of innovation and continue to raise the bar the Factory of the Future judges look for achievements that individual companies have made in terms of technology ST Engineering iDirect’s MCC fulfilled all seven areas of transformation required to qualify for the 2024 award including: advanced manufacturing technologies smart manufacturing; and human-centred organization Responses were rated and audited by experts in these fields Transformation across these seven domains serves as a catalyst for companies in the areas of skills and talent development Factories of the Future are integral for the European manufacturing sector and ensure that production in Europe can continue in a competitive way It is also essential that European governmental programs are assured of an in-continent supply chain that can be relied upon and can swiftly adapt to changing market demands For media enquiries, please contact news@stengg.com 12 November 2024 – ST Engineering iDirect a global leader in satellite communications announced that its Manufacturing Competence Center (MCC) has been selected by Exail a leading high-tech industrial champion specializing in cutting-edge robotics to deliver the electronics for the underwater drones of the joint Mine Counter Measure Program (MCM) of the Belgian and Dutch navies.  Recognized for its experience in building custom electronics for different high-tech industries such as government and defence including for the European Space Agency (ESA) ST Engineering iDirect continues to set standards in advanced manufacturing The replacement Mine Counter Measure program (rMCM) was awarded to Belgium Naval & Robotics a Naval Group-Exail consortium initiated to provide Belgium and Dutch navies with new mine warfare capabilities based on a unique stand-off approach “We are delighted that Exail has chosen us to manufacture the electronics for its underwater drones bound for use by the Belgium-Dutch Naval groups,” said Danny De Smet Sales and Marketing at ST Engineering iDirect’s Manufacturing Competence Center “This partnership recognizes MCC as a leading manufacturer of electronic high-reliability assemblies and we look forward to showcasing the immense capabilities of our state-of-the-art facilities to build critical solutions for the EU government and defence markets.”  “ST Engineering iDirect’s MCC facilities and its team’s unrivalled knowledge Working with them to deliver our electronic boards will enable us to bring our innovation to life,” said Steven Luys “By collaborating with another Belgian-based enterprise not only are we working to enable more autonomy in the EU supply chain but we are also illustrating the talent we have to offer in such critical and demanding markets here in Belgium and across Europe.” ST Engineering iDirect’s MCC located in Erpe-Mere is well-known for its excellence in delivering electronic high-reliability assembly Its capabilities were awarded the esteemed Factory of the Future title four consecutive times since 2015 Factories of the Future invest in digitisation Indo Defence – Jakarta – 11-14 June DSEI – London – 9-12 September PARTNER – Belgrade – 23-26 September Seafuture – La Spezia – 29 Sept.-2 October ADEX – Seoul – 29 October-2 November Dubai Air Show – Dubai – 17-21 November Milipol Paris – Paris – 18-21 Novenber Expodefensa – Bogotá – 1-3 December Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" We asked five brewing pros about their most beloved Belgian beers—any style “Saison d’Erpe-Mere is a beautifully eccentric expression of saison It is loaded with spicy phenolic character and citrusy fruit character Subscribe today to access all of the premium brewing content available (including this article) our subscribers call it "the perfect beer magazine" and "worth every penny." Your subscription is protected by a 100% money back guarantee Van Loy and Michiels complete the podium after a muddy race Belgian champion Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) triumphed at Superprestige Diegem(Image credit: Photopress.be)Sanne Cant secures a sixth Belgium cyclo-cross title(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)Podium l-r: Ellen Van Loy Thirteenth win for Cant in Hasselt Cant victorious in Vlaamse Druivencross Cant continues winning streak at Scheldecross Ferrand-Prévot hints at rivalry with Vos 24 year-old Cant fended off a strong challenge from outsider Ellen Van Loy (Young Telenet-Fidea) Githa Michiels (Versluys PRO) worked her way to a muddy bronze medal It was difficult to choose between riding or running," Cant told Sporza "I'm glad that I can head to Spain now to prepare for the World Cup final in Hoogerheide and the world championships." leading the UCI World Cup classification and her win in Erpe-Mere is the 18th victory of her season The women faced three laps on a muddy clay course in Erpe-Mere where recent rain showers made the mud somewhat less sticky Whilst the organizers took out a long running section the women still needed twelve minutes to complete a lap Despite crashing on a slippery steep descent Van Loy managed to gain ten seconds on Cant I was riding my own pace which was my plan straight from the start But just before the finish she was much stronger than me in the mud," Cant admitted The two women were using different race tactics Van Loy used a big gear to power through the mud Cant was running more and using a small gear when on her bike In the end Cant's tactics proved to be the most successful Halfway through the race Cant came back up to Van Loy during the technical sections and she charged into the lead Cant had a five seconds lead over Van Loy at the start of the last lap That gap grew up to twenty seconds but still Cant nearly lost it all I was glad to get to the pits because I was quite worried," Cant revealed At the finish Cant had time to wipe off the mud off her Enertherm-BKCP jersey search for a medallion and point to the sky when crossing the line Van Loy concluded a strong race by taking the silver medal Githa Michiels and Loes Sels (Young Telenet-Fidea) battled for the bronze medal After a mechanical Sels was overtaken by Michiels who used the momentum to keep going through the mud Cindy Bauwens (Morgan Blue) was a surprising name in fifth place ahead of Jolien Verschueren (Young Telenet-Fidea) who struggled a lot on the muddy course The ad-free version is ready for purchase on iOS mobile app today we couldn't find that page";var n=e.querySelector("h2");return n&&n.remove(),{staticContent:e,title:t}},d=function(e){var t=document.createElement("button");return t.innerText=e,t.classList.add("error-page-button"),t},f=function(e){var t=document.createElement("div");t.id="recirculation-404",t.classList.add("brand-hint-bg");var n="\n \n \n \n \n \n '.concat(e,' Tick here if you would like us to send you the author’s response One of the country’s busiest motorways the E40 between Brussels and Ghent will be closed to traffic at Erpe-Mere on Saturday night The closure this weekend and next weekend is to enable the Flemish Highways and Traffic Agency to demolish two old bridges that cross the motorway From 9pm on Saturday evening diversions will be in place between the Aalst and Erpe-Mere junctions of the E40 in East Flanders The motorwaywill remain closed to traffic all night and isn’t due to reopen until midday tomorrow (Sunday) The closure and resulting diversions are expected to result in delays Long distance traffic might prefer to take the E17  via Antwerp and academicians has called on the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to stop the autopsies on the children who died after supposedly receiving the Dengvaxia dengue vaccine According to a report on GMA News' "Balitanghali," the experts said that none of the 14 autopsies the PAO has done so far shows that the deaths to have been related to the Dengvaxia vaccine "None of the deaths of the 14 children autopsied were proven to be due to Dengvaxia the deaths of 13 of them were totally unrelated to the vaccine," the statement was quoted as saying the autopsies would only subject the children's families to "torture." "[I]t now appears that only 1 case might be causally associated with the vaccine That is the one with dengue and with antibodies to dengue it has yet to be determined if the vaccine had anything to do with the death," it read "It makes no sense for any more families to be subjected to the torture of having a loved one exhumed and cut up only to find out that no useful information was derived from the cruel act," it added PAO Forensic Division Chief Erwin Erpe said the autopsies were conducted at the request of the families PAO Chief Persida Acosta also said her office will only listen to higher government bodies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) Sanofi Pasteur—the pharmaceutical company behind the Dengvaxia vaccine—last year advised against prescribing its product to those who have not been affected by dengue in the past, saying it may raise the risk of severe dengue for them in the long run. The Department of Health said that at least 830,000 public school students were given the vaccine in Central Luzon and Cebu under the government's dengue vaccination program {{gallery.imageDetails.images.0.description}} Gilberte Van Erpe, 74, was given a six-year prison sentence -- three years suspended -- and a 250,000-euro ($270,000) fine for her scam in which she told victims the product they could make at home was a prized ingredient used in creams favoured by celebrities such as Michael Jackson. But the goop was worthless and the scam became one of the biggest pyramid schemes ever seen in South America. The "case of the magic cheese", as it is known in France, began in 2005 when the businesswoman dubbed "Madame Gil" held conferences around Chile urging people to become home producers of the fermented product. Her company, Fermex Chile, had some 20 branches around Chile. For 369 euros, investors could buy a kit containing filters and a special powder which when mixed with milk and fermented, produced a small cheese pat they were told was highly sought after by the cosmetics industry. Fermex promised that companies like French cosmetics giant L'Oreal would snap up the cheese for use in whitening creams and other products. That is, after they were sold to a company in Congo-Brazzaville which would sell them on to France. Victims were told they could double their initial investment in four months. To entice the first victims, the kits were given away for free, and people were paid for their first batches of exported "magic cheese", convincing them to reinvest their earnings. The success of the business initiative spread rapidly and a Chilean investigation showed some 5,500 people were ensnared. Many families mortgaged their houses or became heavily indebted to invest in the pyramid scheme, which raked in 14.5 million euros for the alleged scammers. Like most pyramid schemes the scam relied on rapid growth, with initial investors telling their friends, neighbours and family about its profitability and getting them to join. Victims were spurred to sign up friends and family with the promise of gifts and reward money. One person received a cheque of 100 million pesos (140,000 euros, $155,000) for their recruitment skills that turned out to be fake, investigations showed. As for the "magic cheese", it never even left the country and a Chilean journalist later found tonnes of it rotting in a warehouse. The scam collapsed in July 2006 and Van Erpe was arrested in the French Riviera city of Nice in 2008, but it was not possible to extradite her. Chilean authorities thus pursued her in France where she was tried alongside three alleged accomplices, two of whom received jail time and stiff fines while the third was let off. Van Erpe had allegedly used the same scheme to trick thousands of Peruvians a few years earlier. Innovation and educationLuxembourg opens new drone school to boost safetyEducation ministry has launched a civilian drone school, where pilots can hone their skills and share ideas EnergyEU set to propose banning Russian gas imports by end of 2027The EU purchased a total of €23 billion in Russian energy in 2024, exceeding its military assistance to Ukraine last year SOS DétresseMore and more calls to Luxembourg mental health hotlineMore calls with suicidal thoughts “particularly worrying”, says SOS Détresse Public holiday 10 things to do on the 9 May Europe Day holidayVisit Robert Schuman’s house, head to the Mult-Culti festival in Bertrange or take a guided tour of the Europa Experience In OctoberThree-day celebration to mark Guillaume’s ascension to the throne Ministry of State releases more details on ceremony and public programme in October People movesSimmons & Simmons appoints new Luxembourg country head Thierry Somma took office on 1 May, succeeding Louis-Maël Cogis Hidden infrastructure PremiumWhat happened to Luxembourg’s WW2 and Cold War bunkers?The geopolitical climate has many countries searching for underground safety solutions War Israel vows to step up Gaza fighting ahead of Trump’s Gulf tripSignificant escalation not expected until after Trump’s trip Advertiser contentTreat yourself to a stress-free holidayDreaming of a worry-free trip What if the secret to a smooth getaway was simply good preparation and the right protection Advertiser contentReal estate: Why should you take advantage of the start of 2025 to begin your real estate project?The main things we remember about the housing sector over the past 12 months are the rise in interest rates and the fall in property prices Advertiser contentProperty: I've decided to invest!The various forms of government support for investment Advertiser contentThe Luxembourg Times BusinessRun is happening again on 18th September!On Thursday 18th September with the starting gun of the 11th Luxembourg Times BusinessRun fired at the Coque at 7 pm Share this with instagramShare this with facebookShare this with linkedinSections Bermudian cyclist Dominique Mayho competed in the Erpe-Mere Bambrugge 100-120K Open Loop Road Race in Belgium where he finished 9th out of 87 riders in the Elite Field Mayho stopped the clock in a time of 2:37.35 finishing eighteen seconds behind the winner Niels Lievens from Belgium Category: All, Sports Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed A British gym is trying to add human interest to otherwise dreary workouts by replacing traditional dumbbell weights with human ones The Gymbox chain gym in central London says fitness enthusiasts can now swap their usual lumps of metal for human beings in a range of shapes and sizes According to the gym's owner Richard Hilton "Creating a mental image or intention of what you want to happen or feel is proven to improve physical and psychological performance," he said in a statement "The human weight lifting apparatus .. is the ultimate embodiment of visualisation theory The human weights range from the Dainty Dwarf 32-year-old Arti Shah up to the Super Human weight of 37-year-old - and 155kg - Matt Barnard France is investigating what it says is a scam mounted by a French woman who sold thousands of Chilean kits to make "magic cheese" for French beauty products who was arrested and placed under investigation in France last year is suspected of setting up a vast pyramid scheme telling buyers the fermented mass produced by the kits could be sold to cosmetics companies in France will fly to Chile to register the lawsuits of thousands of people who claim they were victimised Claiming that the fermented substance was all the rage in Paris as an ingredient for expensive moisturisers and shampoos Ms Van Erpe charged clients some €300 for the kits the product never made it to French cosmetics labs and most investors lost their money Le Parisien newspaper said Ms Van Erpe made about €30 million from her activities A German teenager caught shoplifting tried to dupe police by lying about where he lived - but ended up in even more trouble when the address he gave turned out to be the home of an investigating officer admitted he had lied when the officer explained that the address belonged to him "It was complete coincidence," said a police spokesman "The thief gave that address because he'd once lived in the house The policeman was the guy who moved in afterwards." Police in Russia detained 25 people yesterday who had been planning to stage a protest to demand the removal of a mausoleum containing the embalmed body of Vladimir Lenin from Moscow's Red Square which lies next to the Kremlin at the heart of the Russian capital ahead of the planned protest on the 85th anniversary of the death of Lenin The group intended to dress up as mummies and demonstrate outside the mausoleum with a coffin made out of paper Reports described the group as Orthodox monarchists who want Lenin buried as an ordinary person Lenin's mausoleum stands just outside the Kremlin's walls and is still a major tourist attraction for both foreigners and visiting Russians nearly 20 years after the end of communism Lenin was the head of the Bolshevik party that seized power in 1917 and established the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1991 Hong Kong authorities have arrested 14 people including mortuary workers and funeral agents in a corruption scam in the handling corpses at public hospitals mortuary staff are suspected of accepting monthly bribes from funeral parlours in exchange for preferential treatment in handling the funerals "The mortuary staff had allowed the funeral agents to collect bodies outside the operating hours of the mortuary," the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) said in a statement It isn't the first time mortuary workers have courted controversy in Hong Kong of late Negligence by staff at a public hospital mortuary led to the dumping of an infant's corpse in a garbage landfill last month Despite an extensive search by authorities after a public outcry please register for free or log in to your account Building Information Highway for the Community April 2, 2018 by Philippines — Former President Fidel V who just celebrated his 90th birthday last month spent part of the Holy Week by visiting fellow veterans confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City on Saturday After playing a round of golf at the VMC golf course Ramos went straight to the veterans’ ward where retired soldiers are confined His visit was unannounced to fellow veterans like retired Rear Admiral Brillantes Ochoco were nonetheless happy and privileged to be visited by the former President Ramos acceded to be photographed through selfie with the veterans their families and other people at the hospital He also gave them encouraging words of advice to prop up their condition towards full recovery Ramos had apparently in his mind the passage in the Bible that says: “I was sick and you visited me” (Matthew 25:36) Ramos was accompanied by Defense Undersecretary Ernesto G administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) Gerry Kagaoan and former Interior and Local Government Secretary Raffy Alunan Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana also visited veterans during the blessing of the new hospital ward Ramos fought in Korea during the Korean War not as a combatant but as a warrior for peace conducting civic action works Ramos was the chief of the Philippine Constabulary and was concurrent vice chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces Filed Under: Newslights Tagged With: , May 4, 2025 By May 3, 2025 By May 2, 2025 By May 2, 2025 By More Top Stories Post March 12, 2025 By October 30, 2024 By May 30, 2024 By More Opinion Post April 23, 2025 By 235 Comments More Environment Post More Governance Post April 22, 2025 By April 20, 2025 By April 20, 2025 By April 19, 2025 By More Bisaya Kini Post April 27, 2025 By April 14, 2025 By March 27, 2025 By More Post Newsline Philippine website welcomes healthy discussion but comments posted by our readers does not reflect the views and opinion of Newsline Philippines Newsline Philippines reserves the right to delete or modify comments posted here without notice Posts that are inappropriate and does not follow community standard will automatically be deleted 21-year-old Lenty Frans from Sint-Lenaarts (Antwerp) has been crowned Miss Belgium 2016 The winner was announced at the end of an evening show in Plopsaland De Panne (West Flanders) Lenty Frans takes over from another Antwerp miss which is usually feared most by the candidates 30 finalists were competing for the highest honour The winner would be labelled "Belgium's most beautiful woman" for the whole of the coming year Lenty Frans is a medicine student and loves dancing She was also popular in the group of finalists 18-year-old Stephanie Geldof from Erpe-Mere (East Flanders) came second with Bo Praet from Laarne (East Flanders) taking third place the gala evening also included 6 other awards while Stephanie Geldof clinched the title of Miss Sport Emily Vanhoutte (21) from Ostend can call herself Miss Social Media while Camille Vanhiesbecq (21) of Péronne-les-Binches is the new Miss Talent Stephanie Beerens-De Loor (24) of Zottegem contributed to a good cause - Villa Rozerood a nursing home for young children battling a serious illness Sarah Devos (21) of Zedelgem made the best impression on the catwalk and became Miss Model Fleming Bo Praet was extremely nervous when it was her turn to answer a couple of questions about Belgium She knew which 3 sea ports Belgium boasts (Zeebrugge Asked (in French) what the capital of Flanders is she said Paul Magnette (who is actually the Mayor of Charleroi and the Walloon PM but this is the capital of the Walloon Region French-speaking Manon Dawir was asked which animal the Walloon flag is showing (in Dutch) She first answered "Namur" but set her mistake straight when she was the question in French: a cock Winner Lenty Frans was asked in which coastal resort Leopold I - the first king of the Belgians - first set foot She said "Ostend" but it had to be "De Panne" She did know the exact surface of Belgium: 30,528 square kilometres