The French Revolution By Charles Dickens - 1499 Words

The French Revolution began in 1789 and ended in the late 1790s with the ascent of Napoleon Bonaparte. The King of France, Louis XVI was overthrown in a popular rebellion but France, was stricken by financial problems for over a century along with Great Britain. Charles Dickens showed comparison with the French Revolution in The Tale of Two Cities. This can be seen through the start of the French Revolution, life during the Revolution, how Louis XVI affected France, and crime and punishment throughout the novel along with the actual events in history during the time era. One way that Dickens describes the French Revolution in his novel is through the narrator, describing the attack of the Bastille where Lucie Manette’s father was kept. The people of Paris rose in fierce revolt and attacked the Bastille, a great fortress prison. For example, he described it as, â€Å"Deep ditches, double drawbridge, massive stone walls, eight great towers, cannon, muskets, fire and smoke† (Dickens, 2004, p.213). Carlyle began his account of the storming of the prison by admitting that the event â€Å"perhaps transcends the talent of morals† to describe. As the attack keeps on going, things begin to be destroyed. â€Å"The angry peasants flew upon the castles and manor-houses of their lords, plundered and burned them, and often slew without mercy every living creature they found there.† They had put ribbons of red, white, and blue for the tricolor of the Revolution. The mob seized arms wherever they couldShow MoreRelatedThe French Revolution By Charles Dickens1704 Words   |  7 PagesThe French Revolution was a period of anarchy that lasted for ten years in the late 1700s. Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities sixty years after the revolt, but he included many accurate historical facts in his work. Though this time was dominated by violence and danger, the revolutionaries also made many positive sacrifices. Dickens weaves a common thread through his novel by showing the connection of love and sacrifice. The concept that love has the power to make someone sacrifice what isRead MoreCharles Dickens s The French Revolution1586 Words   |  7 Pagescharacters in history. France, prior to Marie’s reign, was in poor conditions from the debt caused by the American Revolution, cold harsh winters, and famine, all of which greatly affected the French, particularly the overtaxed and mistreated lower class. Already bitter about their life, the introduction of Marie into their lives helped catalyze the already forming French Revolution. Marie Antoinette, best known for her role as the queen of France during 1789, expresses her frivolous but determinedRead MoreCharles Dickens - Pro or Anti French Revolution Essay779 Words   |  4 PagesCharles Dickens - Pro or Anti French Revolution? The tale of two cities written by Charles Dickens is at the time period of the French revolution. But it is not understood if Charles likes the French revolution or if he’s against it? Charles Dickens sees the poverty in all the peasants, he sees that peasants are becoming solemn and deadly the people are. Charles sees that the rich treat the poor like garbage. The French revolution made France more disorganized then before. Charles agreesRead MoreInterpreting the French Revolution Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens825 Words   |  3 PagesIn the novel A Tale of Two Cities, the author Charles Dickens explains to us, the readers, how he interpreted the French Revolution including his thoughts and concerns for the time period. This period is referring to the 18th century when the uprisings began. In this violence, groups of people were brought together to stir up havoc among the cities. Charles uses the common parallels of the two cities to bring them together as one. By using his paradoxes just as he started the story, he brings twoRead MoreDuring the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens948 Words   |  4 Pageswritten by Charles Dickens. The tale takes place in London and Paris. Main characters Dr. Manette, Lucie Manette, Charles Darnay, Sydney Carton, and the Defarges are chronicled before the French Revolution and when the revolution begins throughout France. The author Charles Dickens explores the economic disparity between rich and poor within in the two cities and topics during enlightenment such as revolution in political thinking. In addition to establishing the time period Charles Dickens exploresRead MoreViolent Attributes of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dicken620 Words   |  2 Pagesdying; during the French Revolution these were common themes. These violent attributes of the Revolution pushed the inherent goodness in people to a breaking point and at times resulted in their poor ch oices and uncharacteristic deeds. In A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens shows foils between the rich and the poor, explaining the lengths people will go to undermine the stress of the Revolution. In A Tale of Two Cities, the Monseigneur symbolizes a very rich and powerful man. Dickens portrays thisRead MoreA Tale Of Two Cities And The French Revolution1006 Words   |  5 PagesFrance. Charles Dickens thought that if things did not change, then a violent revolution in England, similar to the French Revolution, was possible or in the future. In â€Å"A Tale of Two Cities†, Charles Dickens symbolizes the discord that the English and the French faced as he tears apart the two systems of their society. Charles Dickens, a brilliant author back in the 1850’s, wrote â€Å"A Tale of Two Cities† in order to describe the similarities between the forces that led to the revolution and theRead MoreA Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens1420 Words   |  6 PagesThe era surrounding the French Revolution was a horrifically bloody and violent period of history – the best of times and the worst of times. The violence enacted by the citizens of French on their fellow countrymen set a gruesome scene in the cities and country sides of France. Charles Dickens uses a palate of storm, wine, and blood imagery in A Tale of Two Cities to paint exactly how tremendously brutal this period of time was. Dickens use of storm imagery throughout his novel illustrates to theRead MoreTale Of Two Cities Analysis704 Words   |  3 PagesCharles Dickens, a brilliant author back in the 1850’s, wrote â€Å"A Tale of Two Cities† in order to describe the similarities between the forces that led to the revolution and the oppression and unrest occurring in England. The French revolution impacts history because the time period in which it takes place is before and during the French revolution. The French revolution signifies the essence of a rapid change, nevertheless, this change tore France right at the heart, where all the government wasRead MoreAnalysis Of Charles Dickens A Tale Of Two Cities986 Words   |  4 PagesWith revolution brewing in the air, various authors took writing as a way to express their opinions. One such author, Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities as his way of expressing his interest and concerns. Charles Dickens, the second of eight children, was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsmouth, England. His father, John Dickens worked as a naval clerk, and dreamed of striking it rich. However, in 1823, his father found himself forced into Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison, where the rest of his

Economic Impact of the Midwest Drought of 2012 - 1268 Words

Introduction Droughts have devastating effects all around. Most profoundly on the economy of the affected area; disrupting any balance in the supply and demand for food commodities, while pushing the cost of production up. This will translate to the market being largely imbalanced and will impact on the supply chain. Wisconsin is a large farming state, during the 2012 drought; farming practices were largely hampered causing a decline in the production of food. Consequently, farmers faced huge losses since their investment was not marched by the output. Considering this fact, the economy of Wisconsins farming majority saw them running on a deficit. Law of reciprocity shows that if a component in the supply chain faces a deficit then other components will be forced to compensate for the loss and so the deficit will merely change hands. Understanding the different agricultural sectors practice in Wisconsin is crucial in understanding how the drought affected the ebonies of scale. Farming practiced can be broadly placed under two categories; Livestock farming and Crop farming. The relationship between the two levels of farming, can affect one sector in terms of productivity. To illustrate this, the production of short corn dropped by 17%, this translates to 90 million bushels. Short corn is fed on milk producing livestock such as cows and so the overall implication is that milk production would be lower than the previous years (Boyes and Micheal 45). Meat prices will rise inShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Climate Change On Southeast Florida1615 Words   |  7 Pagesthe global climate system have been warming since the 1950s and many of those changes over decades to millennia have never before been seen or recorded. The climate change is causing irreversible impacts on our global environment, such as sea levels to rise, more frequent and more severe floods and droughts, including numerous others. It turns out that the ocean is storing the majority of the energy in the climate system, which is equivalent to more than 90% of the increase of energy from 1971 toRead MoreWhat Are Droughts? Droughts1645 Words   |  7 PagesWhat are droughts? Drought results from an inadequacy of precipitation from factually typical (long haul normal) amounts that, when stretched out over a season or particularly over a longer timeframe, is insufficient to meet the requests of human activities. All types of drought originate from an insufficiency of precipitation that result in water deficiencies for some activity, (for example, crop generation) or for some group, (for example, farmers). Generally, droughts are delegated as eitherRead MoreClimate Changes And Climate Change1081 Words   |  5 Pagesweather events have occurred; these include: hurricanes, floods and droughts. These extreme events have negative impacts on different aspects of the environment. The following statements buttress the importance of changing climate on the environment. 1) â€Å"Weather is not just an environmental issue; it is a major economic factor. At least $1 trillion of our economy is weather sensitive†- William Daky, Former US Commerce Secretary 2) â€Å"In 2012 alone, $100 billion was lost due to weather†¦Ã¢â‚¬ -Weather Risk ManagementRead MoreA Comparison of Life in Four Contrasting Countries: The USA, the UK, China and Bangladesh1652 Words   |  7 PagesGulf of Mexico coasts); tornadoes (in the Midwest and Southeast); mud slides; forest fires; and flooding. The UK very rarely experiences natural disasters, apart from occasional flooding, whilst Bangladesh commonly experiences more extreme flooding, and China can experience earthquakes. Drought in USA The 2012-2013 drought in the USA began from a heatwave, along with a winter that brought little snowfall and strong summer heat. The effects of the drought, which continued throughout the whole of 2013Read MoreThe Dust Bowl Of The Great West1172 Words   |  5 PagesImagine having a terrible cough that leaves your throat irritated and raw to the point where you are coughing up blood. Imagine the disappointment of realizing a possible rain cloud is really a wall of dust rushing your way. For people living in the Midwest during the 1930s this was not the conjuring of imagination but a reality. â€Å"Decade long natural catastrophe of biblical proportions†¦ when plagues of grasshoppers and swarms of rabbits descended on parched fields,† (Burns, â€Å"The Dust Bowl†). What seemedRead MoreUnited States Agricultural Stakeholder Views And Actions Towards Climate Change8229 Words   |  33 Pagesstakeholder views and actions towards climate change science and impacts is critical to for the developpment of effective strategies for farming, extension outreach, academic research, and policymaking. A sStakeholders isare any citizen or group potentially affected by or having a vested interest (a stake) in an issue, program, action or decision leading to an action (Decker, Krueger, Baer, Knuth Richmond, 1996). As Bartels, Furman, and Diehl (2012) note, any process to engage farmer stakeholders farmerRead MoreLiterature Review On Climate Change2734 Words   |  11 Pagesinclude effects on ecosystems, particularly aquatic systems such as lakes, streams, wetlands, and estuaries (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, Palutikof, June 2008). Extensive studies have been done and are in the process of being carried out to understand the impact of climate change on water resource. The pioneer in this field of study has been the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). IPCC has produced a series of reports expressing their concern about climate change on all sectors of the EnvironmentRead MoreHow Climate Change Is Happening?1573 Words   |  7 Pagesclimate change. State governments are actively creating programs to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and carbon while the federal government has leaned towards a â€Å"do little† approach against this controversial issue (Engel). This role reversal impacts the development of new approaches to protect environments from climate change. Local and state climate change initiatives range in a diverse set of government programs. A list of these diverse government programs would include not only programs designedRead MoreKeystone Xl Approval Act Will Bring Positive And Negative Effects1651 Words   |  7 Pagespipeline project is a proof of the desire to reduce dependency towards Middle East countries and focusing on the supply from Canada. The Keystone XL pipeline will benefit the country because of its economic prospective. According to TransCanada Corporation’s website, based on Draft Supplement Impact Statement (conducted by the U.S Department of State), this project will contribute to the long-term energy security, supporting numerous jobs prospective, and providing billions of private investmentRead MoreThe Production And Consumption Trends Of Milk2035 Words   |  9 Pages INTRODUCTION More than six billion people worldwide consume milk and the majority of these people live in developing countries (Faye, 2012). Milk is consumed every day, whether by drinking a glass of milk or through the consumption of processed foods made with dairy products. The per capita consumption of milk is higher in developed countries, but the gap with many developing countries is narrowing. The production and consumption trends of milk will be closely examined and give insight as to why

HR Practices of HSBC Bank-Free-Samples for Students Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the HR Practices and Employee Engagement levels of HSBC bank. Answer: Introduction The most important assets of an organisation are its people or the workforce(Ardichvil, 2015). Goal achievement of an organisation is dependent on the skill and effectiveness of the workforce(Bal, et al., 2013). As the workforce is an important feature of the organisation it is very important to enhance their performance. Employee engagement is a tool through which workforce performance can be enhanced (Albrecht, et al., 2015).The aim of this study is to understand the employee engagement and other HR practices for Hong Kong and Shanghai (HSBC) PLC. In addition to assessing the HR practices and employee engagement at HSBC this study will also recommend certain initiatives to HSBC which will enable it to enhance its employee engagement. Organisational Overview HSBC is a British multinational financial and banking company with a large scale operation around the globe(HSBC, 2017). It is present in 70 countries around the world and is a reputed brand name. It has more than 3 Lakh employees worldwide and has a multidivisional structure(HSBC, 2016) It has branches in all major cities of Australia. HSBC was set by HSBC holding corporation in 1863 and it set up its first branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In 1991 the bank was reincorporate in its present form. The bank is listed on London and Hong Kong stock exchange(Kynaston, 2015). Profits of HSBC were US$18 Billion in 2015 (HSBC, 2016). The vision of the company is to become the best in retail banking and wealth management and it aims to become the best through well trained and focused workforce(HSBC, 2017). In view of HSBCs top management, employee orientation is the key to success in financial services delivery. HR Strategy of HSBC Financial sector is dependent on customer trust and long lasting relationship. HSBC hopes to manage this through effectiveness of workforce(Kynaston, 2015). HSBC delivers service experience; therefore, it is aware of the importance that people hold in service delivery. HSBC has an HR strategy to create a skilled and trained workforce who can deliver the financial service in an effective and efficient manner (HSBC, 2017). Therefore, the firm is open to different ideas from its workforce. The firm has a drive for training and development of the workforce and focuses on skill endowment(Gakovic Yardley, 2007). For the purpose of recruitment, the firm hires from business schools, recruitment advertising and various other recruitment means (HSBC, 2017). The firm has strict recruitment policies in place so that it gets skilled and motivated workforce. Another strategy is to promote good performance so that the firm can get the best results(HSBC, 2017). Therefore, HSBC uses various strategi es to get the best and committed workforce, HR Practices at HSBC HSBC provides financial services(HSBC, 2017). Therefore, it emphasises on workforce training so that the financial services can be delivered as per customer demand(Kynaston, 2015). To manage its staff, HSBC has a well-designed human resource department which manages employee recruitment, selection, performance appraisal training and motivation(HSBC, 2016). Recruitment and selection drive is done with a viewpoint of hiring the most capable people so that customers can be properly satisfied by the service delivery. HSBC encourages its employees to generate new ideas so that they feel like a part of the organisation and are motivated to contribute to it(Boon Kalshoven, 2014). Financial sector in which HSBC exists is highly dynamic and subject to changes. Fluctuations in business activities can change the sales outflow drastically(HSBC, 2016). HSBC provides transferability skills, change management, risk management, analytical skills, decision making skills, and financial products training to its employees to manage sales in the period of business fluctuations(Kynaston, 2015). It focuses on employee motivation to generate sustained objective achievement by the organisational workforce. HSBC also has in place various motivational measures like performance linked rewards and bonuses so that, employees stay motivated to give their best(HSBC, 2016). Employees are given constructive feedback for improvement based on the performance appraisal. They are also motivated to enhance their learning so that they perform better in the next period (HSBC, 2016). Therefore, HSBC is focused on employee learning and believes that employees create the final output for the customer; therefore, they should be skilled and well-endowed in knowledge. Employee engagement at HSBC Employee engagement is an approach to human resource management which aims at making the employee enthusiastic about his work(Bridger, 2014). It aims at creating happy employees so that they get fully absorbed in their work. Happiness about work makes the employees more engaged in their work(Boon Kalshoven, 2014). Employee engagement enhances the trust of the employee in the organisation and improves the commitment level of the employees (Boon Kalshoven, 2014). Trust, commitment, integrity and two way communication between organisation and the employee is the main ingredient of employee engagement(Boon Kalshoven, 2014). Commitment level of employees is enhanced through training on a continuous basis. At HSBC employees are encouraged to work in teams so that they are able to work in a cooperative and happy atmosphere(HSBC, 2014). Employees are also encouraged to indulge in dialogue and discussion to generated new ideas. The policy of promotion, transfer and increment is transparent and is based on performance appraisal(HSBC, 2014). This enhances the trust of the employee in the organisation. Employees are encouraged to give their views and participate in strategic decisions. This makes them feel involved in the organisation(Byrne, 2014). Therefore, HR policies of HSBC inspire trust and commitment. HSBCs HR policy focuses on following driving factors or elements of employee engagement Involvement- Involvement means making the employees feel that they are a part of the organisation. Involvement can lead to happy employees and can increase commitment level of employees(Macey, 2011). HSBC increases employee involvement by involving them in strategic decision making process and encouraging then to generate ideas(HSBC, 2017). HSBC believes that employee engagement enhances employee creativity and hence it is a part of the core values of HSBC. Trust and respect- Trust and respect for each other and all stakeholders leads to improvement of work atmosphere (Shuck, et al., 2013). At HSBC employees are encouraged to talk with respect and work in cooperation with each other(Kynaston, 2015). Additionally, the policies of promotion and transfer are based on performance which inculcates trust(Gakovic Yardley, 2007). Trust also encourages the employees to become more committed and in turn more engaged in the organisation. Empowerment- Empowerment is the process of giving key strategic roles to employees and making them responsible for certain work areas(Employee benefits , 2013). This can make employees happy and involved because they will feel that organisation trusts them with key issues. This increases employee engagement and makes the employees more committed(Byrne, 2014). HSBC gives key roles to its managers including both authority and responsibility. Therefore, the firms improves involvement and commitment levels through empowerment Hence, through an enhancement of commitment level and involvement employee engagement is enhanced in organisations like HSBC Recommendations and Plan for Initiatives to be taken to Improve Employee Engagement at HSBC HSBC makes its employees engaged in the organisation and improves commitment levels through transparency in policies and training (HSBC, 2016). The firm can further improve the employee engagement by undertaking the following activities. Initiatives to be taken to Improve Employee Engagement at HSBC Initiative Rationale of Choice Proposed Action with Reason Expected Impact Encouraging employees to work in a variety of roles to make them fully aware of various organisational functions This will increase sense of belongingness They will feel organisation cares for them as the organisation wants to give them multifaceted roles Will improve involvement and employee engagement Capability assessment of each employee which will help in assessment of role suitability Based on capabilities periodic role shuffling to be done Feedback to be generated regarding happiness and involvement of employees in each role so that employees can further improve Improvement in work confidence of employees Improvement in involvement, trust and commitment levels. Keeping value based team contests like rewards for employees showing most enthusiasm, commitment or creativity Improvement in values will improve the work culture Healthy work culture will make the employees more engaged Setting up of monthly contest and explaining the requirements to teams members so that contests can be organised properly Rewarding winning member This will bring drive and energy in the team to win and show commitment levels Will motivate employees to give their best and be more engaged Declaring names of employees why have shown best performance and celebrating company achievements with employees This will increase employee happiness and sense of belongingness Monthly choosing best employee based on performance so that the activity can be made time bound Organising events to celebrate company achievements Employees will feel happy, inculcate sense of loyalty to the firm and will become more committed. Table1 Source: Made by Author (2017) Adapted from(Maylett Warner, 2014) Through these initiatives HSBC can further improve employee engagement in the organisation. Conclusion Employee engagement is the process of making the employees feels involved and committed to their work. The aim of employee engagement is that employees should not just feel that they work for an organisation but they should also feel they belong to it. Through employee engagement firms like HSBC try to make employees more committed by enhancing their enthusiasm and happiness levels. References Albrecht, S. et al., (2015) Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp. 7-35. Ardichvil, A. A., (2015) Human Resource Development. London: Routledge. Bal, P., Kooij, D. De Jong, S., (2013) How do developmental and accommodative HRM enhance employee engagement and commitment? The role of psychological contract and SOC strategies. Journal of Management Studies, 50(4), pp. 545-572. Boon, C. Kalshoven, K., (2014) How High?Commitment HRM Relates to Engagement and Commitment: The Moderating Role of Task Proficiency. Human Resource Management, 53(1), pp. 403-420. Bridger, E., (2014) Employee Engagement. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Byrne, Z. S., (2014) Understanding Employee Engagement: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Routledge. Employee benefits , (2013) HSBC implements new all employee benefits strategy. Employee Benefits Magezine, 29 July. Gakovic, A. Yardley, K., (2007) Global Talent Management at HSBC. Organization Development Journal;, 25(2), pp. 201-205. HSBC, (2014) Employee Handbook. [Online] Available at: https://www.jobs.hsbc.co.uk/SIP_STORAGE/files/1/181.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2014]. HSBC, (2016) Annual Report and Accounts 2016. [Online] Available at: www.hsbc.com/.../hsbc.../hsbc.../2016/annual.../hsbc.../170221-annual-report-and-accou.. [Accessed 25 April 2016]. HSBC, (2017) About Us. [Online] Available at: www.hsbc.com/our-approach/our-values [Accessed 8 August 2017]. HSBC, (2017) career development. [Online] Available at: https://www.hsbc.com.au [Accessed 1st July 2014]. Kynaston, D., (2015) The Lion Wakes: A Modern History of HSBC. Stockingford: Profile Books. Macey, W. H., (2011) Employee Engagement: Tools for Analysis, Practice, and Competitive Advantage. NBew Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Maylett, T. Warner, P., (2014) MAGIC: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Employee Engagement. Austin: Greenleaf Book Group. Shuck, B., Ghosh, R., Zigarmi, D. Nimon, K., (2013) The jingle jangle of employee engagement: Further exploration of the emerging construct and implications for workplace learning and performance. Human Resource Development Review, 12(1), pp. 11-35.

Thoughts On Earth Essays (528 words) - Cadillactica,

Thoughts on Earth: This world has no place for genius. Artistry, love, beauty, creativity is warped and mangled like raw steel into financial gain and social profiteering. What happened to the traveling gypsies, the gleemen and the circus? A generation of lost souls is found in this mess of suits and ties and pumps marching head on like lemmings over the cliff to an end that is all too predictable. Education, Job, Marriage, Children, Retirement in Florida, and Death in a Mahogany Coffin 6 Feet Under with the Other Poor Souls trapped there with you. No, no, no. No sir, thats not me. Me and Jimire going up somewhere else, somewhere that the fairy tales come true and dreams are waking memories. Nah, I dont want a utopia, thats an illusion, man. I want magic. The third-star-on-the-right-andstraight-on-until-morning *censored* that your mother packed into your head at night to shut you up and make you sleep. You didnt know it then but its only when you do sleep that you ever find this place. A few pockets of leftover magic from a time past and present in a parallel future all hidden in deep glorious caves of wonder guarded by flaming red swords and fake walls and Mr. SandMans sleepy, dusty, night beams. Creativity is just memories of a time, a place, a generation that wasnt lost in the briar patch of reality, a muck of modernity that we find ourselves in now. I guess Im just waiting for that next life to take me back, pull me free of this tar pit hell hole where a smile is a sneer and a friend is a foe. I pity those who dont realize the beauty of a soul smile, a child in her own world. In the sand box: they are they only ones who know how to get back to that place, but no one believes them. Even I have trouble now. I get glimpses into the life I want to lead because its right but a craving deep inside tells me that theres more and Im just not looking hard enough, taping the wrong vein; startling myself awake from the wrong dream. I want to break out. I feel like Im just sitting out on life, just watching the silly people go by, on their silly missions. But I cant tell if Im just being lazy and waiting for something to happen or if Im dreaming a nightmare-ish existence in a Hell called Earth and when I do finally wake up again Ill be back where I belong. Click you heels three times, Dorothy and say, Theres no place like home, cause theres no place like home, cause theres no place like home. Ill meet you there, I guess, cause Im not sure what time my trains coming in. And maybe, just maybe my place is real; but maybe its one thats just a little bit higher than your own.

Ranking of Tunisian Scientists according to their efficient productivity

Ranking of Tunisian Scientists according to their efficient productivity Ranking of Tunisian Scientists according to their efficient productivityHoucemeddine Turkia, Manel Turkiba B.Sc. Student, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisiab Ph.D., D.Pharm and AsP. Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Monastir, Monastir, TunisiaIntroduction:Ranking Scientists had been a huge purpose in order to guess who is the best in a country.1 However, in several important fields like Economic Sciences and even in general context, the Ranking of Potential Scientist is limited to developed countries like France, Germany, United States and Netherlands2. For example, the Rankings of Van Ours is made in particular for Dutch Economists3 4. So, there are no national rankings for scientists in developing countries and even in some developed countries3 and that affected a lot the ranking of developing countries in international classifications5. In fact, the ranking of Tunisia in IDEAS ranking had been 101st in 2012 and had worsened to be 118th in 20145 6 and t he ranking of Tunisia in SCImago Ranking had been 86th in 20145 according to its number of citations5.Ranking de paà ­ses en el portal SCImago Journal & ...In contrast, the number of publications of Tunisia in Scimago Ranking is quite the same as the one of some developed European countries like Cyprus and Austria5. So, a ranking for Potential Scientists in Tunisia is required in order to better the standings of Tunisia. Therefore, how such rankings would be done? And who is the best scientist in Tunisia? What is the state of Scientific Research in Tunisia? And which procedures should be taken in order to solve the matter of making Rankings for Scientific Researchers and Scholars in Tunisia?Methodology:The lifelong potential of a scientist could be measured only by the precise study of the Efficient Productivity of the same working scientist and according to Harzing 2013 Paper and Hirsch 2005...

Understanding Atomic Radius Trends The 2 Key Principles

Understanding Atomic Radius Trends The 2 Key Principles SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Need information on atomic radius trends? What's the trend for atomic radius? In this guide, we’ll clearly explain atomic radius trends and how they work. We’ll also discuss exceptions to the trends and how you can use this information as part of a broader understanding of chemistry. Before we dive into atomic radius trends, let’s review some basic terms. An atom is a basic unit of a chemical element, such as hydrogen, helium, potassium, etc. A radius is the distance between the center of an object and its outer edge. An atomic radius is one-half the distance between the nuclei of two atoms. Atomic radii are measured in picometers (one picometer is equal to one trillionth of a meter). Hydrogen (H) has the smallest average atomic radius at about 25 pm, while caesium (Cs) has the largest average radius at about 260 pm. What Are the Atomic Radius Trends? What Causes Them? There are two main atomic radius trends. One atomic radius trend occurs as you move left to right across the periodic table (moving within a period), and the other trend occurs when you move from the top of the periodic table down (moving within a group). Below is a periodic table with arrows showing how atomic radii change to help you understand and visualize each atomic radius trend. At the end of this section is a chart with the estimated empirical atomic radius for each element. Atomic Radius Trend 1: Atomic Radii Decrease From Left to Right Across a Period The first atomic radius periodic trend is that atomic size decreases as you move left to right across a period. Within a period of elements, each new electron is added to the same shell. When an electron is added, a new proton is also added to the nucleus, which gives the nucleus a stronger positive charge and a greater nuclear attraction. This means that, as more protons are added, the nucleus gets a stronger positive charge which then attracts the electrons more strongly and pulls them closer to the atom’s nucleus. The electrons being pulled closer to the nucleus makes the atom’s radius smaller. Comparing carbon (C) with an atomic number of 6 and fluorine (F) with an atomic number of 9, we can tell that, based on atomic radius trends, a carbon atom will have a larger radius than a fluorine atom since the three additional protons the fluorine has will pull its electrons closer to the nucleus and shrink the fluorine's radius. And this is true; carbon has an average atomic radius of about 70 pm while fluorine’s is about 50 pm. Atomic Radius Trend 2: Atomic Radii Increase as You Move Down a Group The second atomic radius periodic trend is that atomic radii increase as you move downwards in a group in the periodic table. For each group you move down, the atom gets an additional electron shell. Each new shell is further away from the nucleus of the atom, which increases the atomic radius. While you may think the valence electrons (those in the outermost shell) would be attracted to the nucleus, electron shielding prevents that from happening. Electron shielding refers to a decreased attraction between outer electrons and the nucleus of an atom whenever the atom has more than one electron shell. So, because of electron shielding, the valence electrons don’t get particularly close to the center of the atom, and because they can’t get that close, the atom has a larger radius. As an example, potassium (K) has a larger average atomic radius (220 pm)than sodium (Na) does (180 pm). The potassium atom has an extra electron shell compared to the sodium atom, which means its valence electrons are further from the nucleus, giving potassium a larger atomic radius. Empirical Atomic Radii Atomic Number Symbol Element Name Empirical Atomic Radius (pm) 1 H Hydrogen 25 2 He Helium No data 3 Li Lithium 145 4 Be Beryllium 105 5 B Boron 85 6 C Carbon 70 7 N Nitrogen 65 8 O Oxygen 60 9 F Fluorine 50 10 Ne Neon No data 11 Na Sodium 180 12 Mg Magnesium 150 13 Al Aluminum 125 14 Si Silicon 110 15 P Phosphorus 100 16 S Sulfur 100 17 Cl Chlorine 100 18 Ar Argon No data 19 K Potassium 220 20 Ca Calcium 180 21 Sc Scandium 160 22 Ti Titanium 140 23 V Vanadium 135 24 Cr Chromium 140 25 Mn Manganese 140 26 Fe Iron 140 27 Co Cobalt 135 28 Ni Nickel 135 29 Cu Copper 135 30 Zn Zinc 135 31 Ga Gallium 130 32 Ge Germanium 125 33 As Arsenic 115 34 Se Selenium 115 35 Br Bromine 115 36 Kr Krypton No data 37 Rb Rubidium 235 38 Sr Strontium 200 39 Y Yttrium 180 40 Zr Zirconium 155 41 Nb Niobium 145 42 Mo Molybdenum 145 43 Tc Technetium 135 44 Ru Ruthenium 130 45 Rh Rhodium 135 46 Pd Palladium 140 47 Ag Silver 160 48 Cd Cadmium 155 49 In Indium 155 50 Sn Tin 145 51 Sb Antimony 145 52 Te Tellurium 140 53 I Iodine 140 54 Xe Xenon No data 55 Cs Caesium 260 56 Ba Barium 215 57 La Lanthanum 195 58 Ce Cerium 185 59 Pr Praseodymium 185 60 Nd Neodymium 185 61 Pm Promethium 185 62 Sm Samarium 185 63 Eu Europium 185 64 Gd Gadolinium 180 65 Tb Terbium 175 66 Dy Dysprosium 175 67 Ho Holmium 175 68 Er Erbium 175 69 Tm Thulium 175 70 Yb Ytterbium 175 71 Lu Lutetium 175 72 Hf Hafnium 155 73 Ta Tantalum 145 74 W Tungsten 135 75 Re Rhenium 135 76 Os Osmium 130 77 Ir Iridium 135 78 Pt Platinum 135 79 Au Gold 135 80 Hg Mercury 150 81 Tl Thallium 190 82 Pb Lead 180 83 Bi Bismuth 160 84 Po Polonium 190 85 At Astatine No data 86 Rn Radon No data 87 Fr Francium No data 88 Ra Radium 215 89 Ac Actinium 195 90 Th Thorium 180 91 Pa Protactinium 180 92 U Uranium 175 93 Np Neptunium 175 94 Pu Plutonium 175 95 Am Americium 175 96 Cm Curium No data 97 Bk Berkelium No data 98 Cf Californium No data 99 Es Einsteinium No data 100 Fm Fermium No data 101 Md Mendelevium No data 102 No Nobelium No data 103 Lr Lawrencium No data 104 Rf Rutherfordium No data 105 Db Dubnium No data 106 Sg Seaborgium No data 107 Bh Bohrium No data 108 Hs Hassium No data 109 Mt Meitnerium No data 110 Ds Darmstadtium No data 111 Rg Roentgenium No data 112 Cn Copernicium No data 113 Nh Nihonium No data 114 Fl Flerovium No data 115 Mc Moscovium No data 116 Lv Livermorium No data 117 Ts Tennessine No data 118 Og Oganesson No data Source: Webelements 3 Exceptions to the Atomic Radius Trends The two atomic radius trends we discussed above are true for the majority of the periodic table of elements. However, there are a few exceptions to these trends. One exception is the noble gases. The six noble gases, in group 18 of the periodic table, are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn). The noble gases are an exception because they bond differently than other atoms, and noble gas atoms don't get as close to each other when they bond. Because atomic radius is half the distance between the nuclei of two atoms, how close those atoms are to each other affects atomic radius. Each of the noble gases has their outermost electron shell completely filled, which means multiple noble gas atoms are held together by Van der Waals forces rather than through bonds. Van der Waals forces aren't as strong as covalent bonds, so two atoms connected by Van der Waals forces don't get as close to each other as two atoms connected by a covalent bond. This means the radii of the noble gases would be overestimated if we attempted to find their empirical radii, so none of the noble gases have an empirical radius and thus don't follow the atomic radius trends. Below is a very simplified diagram of four atoms, all about the same size. The top two atoms are connected by a covalent bond, which causes some overlap between the atoms. The bottom two atoms are noble gas atoms, and they are connected by Van der Waals forces that don't allow the atoms to get as close together. The red arrows represent the distance between the nuclei. Half of this distance is equal to atomic radius. As you can see, even though all four atoms are about the same size, the noble gas radius is much larger than the radius of the other atoms. Comparing the two radii would make the noble gas atoms look bigger, even though they're not. Including noble gas radii would give people an inaccurate idea of how big noble gas atoms are. Because noble gas atoms bond differently, their radii can't be compared to the radii of other atoms, so they don't follow atomic radius trends. Other exceptions include the lanthanide series and actinide series at the bottom of the periodic table. These groups of elements differ from much of the rest of the periodic table and don’t follow many trends the other elements do. Neither series has a clear atomic radius trend. How Can You Use This Information? While you probably won’t need to know the atomic radius of various elements in your day-to-day life, this information can still be helpful if you’re studying chemistry or another related field. Once you understand each key atomic radius period trend, it makes it easier to understand other information about the elements. For example, you can remember that noble gases are an exception to the atomic radius trends because they have a full outer electron shell. These outer electron shells also make the noble gases inert and stable. That stability can be handy. For example, balloons are typically filled with helium, not hydrogen, because helium is much more stable and therefore less flammable and safer to use. You can also use atomic radii to estimate how reactive different elements will be. Atoms with smaller radii are more reactive than atoms with larger radii. The halogens (in group 17) have the smallest average radii in the periodic table. Fluorine has the smallest atomic radius of the halogens (which makes sense based on the trends), and that makes it highly reactive. Just adding fluorine to water will produce flames as the fluorine turns into a gas. Summary: Periodic Trends Atomic Radius There are two main atomic radius trends. The first atomic radius periodic trend is that atomic radii increase as you move downwards in a group. This is due to electron shielding. When an additional shell is added, those new electrons are farther from the atom’s nucleus, which increases atomic radius. The second atomic radius periodic trend is that atomic size decreases moving left to right across a period because the atom’s stronger positive charge due to having more protons attracts the electrons more strongly and pulls them closer to the nucleus, reducing the size of the atom. There are a few exceptions to these trends, noticeably the noble gases which don’t form bonds the way most other atoms do, and the lanthanide and actinide series. You can use this information to better understand the periodic table, how atoms bond, and why certain elements are more reactive than others.

Cultural Controversy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cultural Controversy - Essay Example The long and short-term effects it has on girls mental, physical and reproductive health renders the term circumcision inapplicable. Furthermore, the process is considered an abuse of human and more so children rights since it is often performed on young girls (World Health Organization). While the proponents insist, the term Female Genital is meant to dehumanize it, the truth is; the term describes it and any objective description of the torturers process is enough to dehumanize it. It is most prevalent in sub Saharan Africa especially among the Somali culture and several others, North, East and horn of Africa communities especially Somalia and Ethiopia (Reymond, et al n.d). In the United Kingdom, girls fall also victim to this senseless ritual, during the summer holiday, which is the longest for schoolchildren. Many girls of African descent, as young as five are sent off to Somalia and elsewhere they are put through this scaring process (Foreign and Commonwealth Office). The tools used are often not sterile, and the resulting wounds can result in fatalities especially when it is done in Africa by illiterate old women trying to uphold â€Å"culture.† It also poses a significant risk of complication during childbirth; this is evidenced by the fact that infant mortality rates are often notably higher in countries that are known to practice FGM. Besides, the removal of the clitoris ensures they can never hope to enjoy sex in posterity. Ultimately, FGM is an extremely painful and inhuman procedure that no girl should have ever to undergo and in most countries, even in Africa it has been outlawed and is only done in

Domestic violence Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Domestic violence - Research Paper Example ic violence shelter has established several programs that can ensure the safety of domestic violence victims and provide the relevant support in an effort to eliminate domestic violence in the community. This paper will provide the details of all the processes and activities carried out by the program. The main objective of establishing a local, domestic violence shelter was to provide both short-term and long-term accommodation to domestic violence victims. Volunteers working in the shelter receive children, women, as well as men who have suffered domestic violence and can no longer live in their homes. Notably, women and children form the majority of domestic violence victims. Therefore, the local, domestic violence shelter receives children and women exposed to extreme domestic violence and present them with a safe place to live before situations return to normal. In some cases, the program organizes for long-term accommodation, especially for victims whose lives are at a risk. At the shelter, all the victims receive the relevant counseling from psychological experts. Domestic violence causes high levels of trauma in the victims. It can affect the normal development of children (Cook-Craig, Lane, & Siebold, 2010). Therefore, children who are exposed to domestic violence in the community can receive the relevant counseling and support in an effort to minimize long-term effects of domestic violence. In order to address issues related to domestic violence effectively, the volunteers indulge in a risk assessment process.The process sought to establish members of the community who are prone to domestic violence as well as establishing the potential causes of domestic violence in the community. All the volunteers recognize that it is impossible to address domestic violence effectively if the root causes of the problem are not identified (Cook-Craig, Lane, & Siebold, 2010). After identifying the social and community conditions that contribute to the increasing

High School and Public School Enrollment Essay Example for Free

High School and Public School Enrollment Essay In the essay â€Å"Still Separate, Still Unequal,† the author Jonathan Kozol criticizes the educational system practiced in the urban areas of the United States and where he writes about his beliefs that minorities are being placed in poor conditions while the Caucasian majority is obtaining funding for the schools that the majority of them attend. He supports his personal viewpoints, with statistics which he himself gathered from different schools around the U.S. Kozol starts out his essay with logic to prove that the school systems of today are separate and unequal by using demographics from public schools from the larger cities in the country; for example, â€Å"In Chicago, by the academic year 2002-2003, 87% of public school enrollment was black or Hispanic; less than 10% of children in the schools were white. In Washington D.C., 94 % of children were black or Hispanic; less than 5% were white (220).† He emphasizes on these statistics to prove his point that schools are still segregated. Later in the essay the author then mentions in his essay that the word â€Å"diversity†, â€Å"cease to have real meaning; or, rather, they mean the opposite of what they say(223).† Kozol mentions that when he â€Å"visited in the fall of 2004 in Kansas City, Missouri, for example, a document distributed to visitors reports that the school’s curriculum ‘addresses the needs of children from diverse backgrounds.’† He goes on explaining that when he went â€Å"from class to class, [he] did not encounter any children who were white or Asian—or Hispanic (223).† He then makes the reader connect emotionally by writing comments that high school students and third graders from segregated neighborhoods and public schools made about their different situations in their school. For example, he quotes a letter that an eight-year-old girl wrote to him saying, â€Å"We do not have the things you have. You have Clean things. We do not have. You have a clean bathroom. We do not have that. You have Parks and we do not have Parks. You have all the thing and we do not have all the thing. Can you help us (224)?† Kozol then presents facts about how physicians were removed from elementary schools. The author continues presenting conversations with people that he met. Jonathan Kozol’s essay shows how the school system today is in fact still divided and unequal according to somebody’s skin color or race even though the course of ‘Brown vs. Board of Education’ allegedly resolved this. Prev Page

Hanta Pulmonary Syndrome :: essays research papers

Hanta Pulmonary Syndrome   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Hanta Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) is a disease that has emerged in North America only recently. Its source is a virus carried by rodents, particularly the deer mouse, and transmitted by direct contact with their droppings. Symptoms appear within the one to six weeks of initial exposure, and initially include muscle aches, fever, and other flu-like symptoms. After a while, the victim may experience shortness of breath and coughing resulting from decreased circulation in the lungs and a lowered white blood cell count coupled with opportunistic infections. At this stage if they are not brought to a hospital soon they stand the risk of dying within the next twenty-four hours.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This disease, although not new, has experienced a large re-emergence in the southwestern United States and Mexico due to the arid climates in those areas. Cases have been spread all over the western U.S. with even a few in the east, but nearly half of the cases to date have been in the Four Corners area. In a dry area, the disease’s incubation is somewhat longer, making the chances of contracting it somewhat higher. In places such as woodpiles and sheds where there is little air circulation to move off the virus, it can linger for a sizeable duration of time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The best method of fighting the hanta virus is prevention. By controlling the rodent population and preventing them from entering houses and sheds, the risk of infection can be lowered. Furthermore, educating those in high-risk areas of the signs of the disease and what to do about them significantly lowers the likelihood of death. The virus cannot spread from human to human even during its peak state, but since exposed persons may not show symptoms for some weeks the likelihood of other people becoming infected by the same source is considerable. For this reason it is important that those living in areas where it is or may be present know how to avoid contracting it. This includes allowing sheds and other closed areas to ventilate well before entering them, checking for signs of rodent infestations, and minimizing factors that attract rodents.

Accounts Receivable and Blades

1. Assuming that banks in Thailand issue a time draft on behalf of Sports Equipment Inc. and Major Leagues Inc. , would Blades receive payment for its roller blades before it delivers them? Do the banks issuing the time drafts guarantee payment on behalf of the Thai retailers if they default on the payment? ANSWER: No, Blades would not receive payment before it delivers roller blades to Sports Equipment Inc. and Major Leagues Inc. if banks in Thailand issue a time draft on the retailers’ behalf. The usual time of payment under a time draft is the maturity of the draft, and Blades relies on the retailers to pay the drafts at maturity.No, the banks issuing the time drafts do not guarantee payment on behalf of the Thai retailers if they default on the payment. The draft merely represents Blades’ formal demand for payment from the buyer and affords Blades’ less protection than a letter of credit, since the banks are not obligated to honor payments on the buyerâ€℠¢s behalf. 2. What payment method should Blades suggest to Sports Gear Inc.? Substantiate your answer. ANSWER: Blades should suggest to Sports Gear Inc. that its bank issue a letter of credit on its behalf.In a letter of credit, the bank is substituting its credit for that of the buyers, and Blades would be assured of receiving payment from the issuing bank as long as it presents the necessary documents in accordance with the L/C. The issuing bank is then obligated to honor drawings under the L/C. On the other hand, Sports Gear Inc. does not have to pay for the goods until shipment has been made and documents are presented in good order. 3. What organization could Blades contact in order to insure its sales to the Thai retailers? What type of insurance do these organizations provide?ANSWER: Blades could contact the Export-Import Bank of the U. S. (Ex im bank), which provides insurance protection against the risk of nonpayment by foreign buyers. Under such insurance coverage, Ex im b ank will reimburse Blades between 90 and 100 percent of the insured amount, depending on the type of policy and buyers. 4. How could Blades use accounts receivable financing or factoring, considering that it does not currently have accounts receivable in Thailand? If Blades uses a Thai bank to obtain this financing, how do you think the fact that Blades does not have receivables in Thailand would affect the terms of the financing?ANSWER: Blades could use accounts receivable financing and factoring using its accounts receivable in the U. S. Using accounts receivable financing, Blades could obtain a loan from a bank that would be secured by an assignment of the accounts receivables. Using factoring, Blades could sell the U. S. accounts receivable to a factor. Either approach is probably available to Blades if it decides to use a U. S. bank. However, it could also attempt to conduct accounts receivable financing of factoring of its U. S. receivables using a bank in Thailand.Thai banks may consider the assignment of foreign receivables less attractive than the assignment of domestic receivables and may require high interest rates (accounts receivable financing) or discount the receivables heavily (factoring). 5. Assuming that Blades is unable to locate a Thai bank that is willing to issue an L/C on Blades behalf, can you think of a way Blades could utilize its bank in the U. S. to effectively obtain an L/C from a Thai bank? ANSWER: Blades could inquire whether its U. S. bank has a correspondent bank in Thailand. In that case, the Thai bank may be willing to accept a letter of credit issued by Blades’ U.S. bank on Blades’ behalf. 6. What organizations could Blades contact to obtain working capital financing? If Blades is unable to obtain working capital financing from these organizations, what are its other options to finance its working capital needs in Thailand? ANSWER: There are several organizations Blades could contact to obtain working capital f inancing. For example, the Ex im bank’s Working Capital Guarantee Program encourages commercial banks to extend short-term financing by providing a comprehensive guarantee that covers 100 percent of the loan’s rincipal and interest. Furthermore, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will provide medium- to long-term financing to U. S. investors undertaking an overseas venture. If Blades is unable to obtain working capital financing from these organizations, it could ask its bank for a short-term loan that finances the working capital cycle that begins with the purchase of inventory and continues with the sale of the goods, creation of an account receivable, and conversion to cash.

Buddhist Ethnography

The Buddhist Experience Buddhism is a religion that focuses more on the individual and the actions of that individual, which was prevalent to me when I made my way into Portland and set foot in a Buddhist temple. The man I met within the walls of this temple was far from my stereotypical thoughts of Buddhist monks. The man I met looked like your plain old, average Joe, American man. Before I delve into the depths of my visit to this inspiring place, I need to sum up the Buddhist religion and why I chose to study this particular group of people.First, Buddhism. Buddhism is a religion based off of the idea that there is a path that one can take to achieve enlightenment, instead of believing in a god or multiple gods. Buddhism began with a man named Siddhartha. Siddhartha, the son of a king and heir to the throne, was forbidden to leave the castle walls within which he was confined. His Father, the king, made him stay within the walls at all time so as not to see the suffering that was happening in the outside world. His father even hid all aging and sickness from his son.One day, Siddhartha told his personal bodyguard that he wanted to venture beyond the walls of the castle. The servant had no choice but to obey what Siddhartha had told him. The two set out and on their journey, they came across an old man in the street who was very close to dying. Siddhartha asked the bodyguard what was wrong with the man and the bodyguard had no choice but to tell Siddhartha the truth. They repeated this feat of leaving the castle walls on 3 more occasions, seeing a sickly woman on the side of the road one day, a dead body on the side of the road the next, and a renunciator on the fourth and final day.Each time the bodyguard was asked what was wrong with the person they saw, and each time, he was forced to tell Siddhartha the truth. These four people became known as the four sights, and eventually lead to Buddhism’s main teachings: life is suffering but there is a way ou t of the suffering. The way out of the suffering of life is through the Noble Eight Fold Path. The Noble Eight Fold Path teaches the way to act within the living world and what you can do to further your way along the path of Enlightenment.The Eight folds are: Right understanding, Right thought, Right speech, Right action, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, and Right concentration. This is the way that everyone should live if they want to achieve enlightenment along the Buddhist path. This is not the only thing that Siddhartha taught though. Like every single religion since the beginning of time, there is a list of rules. Christianity has the 10 Commandments, Islam has the Five Pillars of Islam, and Buddhism has the Religious Reformations of Buddha. Unlike most religions, Buddhism strays from the focus on an all mighty deity or deities.Buddhism preaches five different logics that deviate from the norm when it comes to religious ideals: first, Strive after enlightenme nt with due diligence. This means you must put a lot of effort into the job of enlightenment if you wish to achieve it. Second, there will be no metaphysical theorizing. This is the one that seems to throw a wrench into the ideals of every religion before it, there is no God and if you even think that there is a God, you are disgracing the Buddhist way of life. Buddhism is a way of life, it is not a religion with a holy God. Third, there is no tradition, no ritual.The teachings themselves are supposed to lead you, but if you do not know yourself, there is no way that you can know Buddhism and have the ability to follow the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment, once you find yourself and know yourself, then you can accept or reject the teachings of the Buddha. Fourth, is that you will find salvation through your efforts. If you are a diligent Buddhist and you work at the Eightfold Path to achieve enlightenment, you will be rewarded; you just need to have patience. Finally, there are no supernatural miracles, no water into wine, no parting of the Red Sea, just what goes on down here on plain old earth.In fact, at one point, the Buddha says â€Å"Those who attempt to work miracles are not my disciples†. This tells you just how serious the Buddha is about his focus on the natural and this-worldly things. Now that the basics have been laid out, time for why I chose to study Buddhism. Buddhism has been in my life for as long as I can remember, if only minimally. My father subscribed to a Buddhism magazine called Tricycle, more of an Americanized look at Buddhism. Moreover, the teachings of Buddhism and its focus on the here and now, how you treat people around you, and how you act towards people, have always been appealing to me.This opportunity fell into my lap and I was more than happy to take the chance to learn about something I had always known too little about. When I approached the temple, I immediately got a feel for an organized group of people simp ly by the way they approached the trimming of the trees and plants. Everything seemed to have a purpose and seemed to play off each other. The trees, with circles of branches only, seemed to perfectly accent the red, almost poinsettia looking flowers behind them leading up the staircase into a very plain, unexpressive building.Once I gained entrance into the temple itself, it was a different site than I expected. Beyond a Plexiglas barrier, was a very church-like worship area with decorations on a slightly elevated plateau. Gold smattered in with vivid colors greeted my eyes as I stepped through the door into the temple’s worship area. There was a statue of the Buddha in the middle, made out of gold, with a halo surrounding his head. On the left, slightly behind the level of the Buddha, was a cloth with the picture of 7 men that our Reverend Gregory G Gibbs would refer to as the authors of the Chinese Buddhist Cannon which is about 100,000 pages long.There was two thirds of a copy of the Cannon itself on the far sides of the raised area. In front was a large circular bowl with a top on it that we were informed was used for incense which is one of the three offerings that people were allowed to leave for Buddha. Incense is one of the ancient ways, and would be burned while the reverend would teach to the disciples. The other two gifts were flowers, which were meant to signify impermanence, and candles, meant to signify wisdom.The man we were lead by was a middle aged looking white male, far from the short, bald, Asian monk dressed in flowing orange robes I had expected to meet. He taught us all about the temple and how it had been around for more than 105 years. He was a very cordial man who loved to hear the sound of his own voice, unfortunately. The man lead us through the basement, seeing holy murals that had been created for the centennial celebration a few years prior. He was very obviously a pious man who had sought to follow the path of the Buddha into enlightenment.

Free Essays on Research

1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 General Discussion â€Å"The development of the motor vehicle industry in Australia had been the result of government intervention and directives rather than entrepreneurial skills applied in a free market† (www.ibisworld.com.au). The industry was characterised by a large amount of assistance such as the protectionist policies which began in 1902, five years after the first car was built. There were high tariff levels of 57.5 percent as well as import quotas of 20 percent (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦). The federal government decided that it wanted a complete car manufactured in Australia so in 1944, this challenge was taken up by General Motors, Holden Limited. Twenty years after, the government made an announcement about the Australian made vehicle (www.ibisworld.com.au). In 1985, there was another policy adopted by the Australian car industry. It was known as the Button Plan and the main objective of the plan was to reduce the number of manufacturers from five to three and to expose the industry to more competition by phasing down import tariffs (www.ibisworld.com.au). In 1996, there was a reduction of tariffs to 25.0 percent (www.ibisworld.com.au). In 1976, there were two new manufacturers in the motor vehicle industry of Australia. They were AMI Toyota and Nissan. Due to their entry into the market, production costs increased. In 1984 and 1985, the production sector recorded profits on the domestic Profitability on Passenger motor vehicle (PMV). However, in 1986, there were significant losses and downfall in the domestic market for PMVs (www.ibisworld.com.au). Ford and Mitsubishi recorded profits, while Holden and AMI Toyota had a big loss. The motor vehicle sector itself made a loss of $224 million in 1990 (www.ibisworld.com.au). Although sales declined in 1986 and 1987, investment expenditure continued to increase till 1988 when the level of investment fell due to the completion of the... Free Essays on Research Free Essays on Research 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 General Discussion â€Å"The development of the motor vehicle industry in Australia had been the result of government intervention and directives rather than entrepreneurial skills applied in a free market† (www.ibisworld.com.au). The industry was characterised by a large amount of assistance such as the protectionist policies which began in 1902, five years after the first car was built. There were high tariff levels of 57.5 percent as well as import quotas of 20 percent (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦). The federal government decided that it wanted a complete car manufactured in Australia so in 1944, this challenge was taken up by General Motors, Holden Limited. Twenty years after, the government made an announcement about the Australian made vehicle (www.ibisworld.com.au). In 1985, there was another policy adopted by the Australian car industry. It was known as the Button Plan and the main objective of the plan was to reduce the number of manufacturers from five to three and to expose the industry to more competition by phasing down import tariffs (www.ibisworld.com.au). In 1996, there was a reduction of tariffs to 25.0 percent (www.ibisworld.com.au). In 1976, there were two new manufacturers in the motor vehicle industry of Australia. They were AMI Toyota and Nissan. Due to their entry into the market, production costs increased. In 1984 and 1985, the production sector recorded profits on the domestic Profitability on Passenger motor vehicle (PMV). However, in 1986, there were significant losses and downfall in the domestic market for PMVs (www.ibisworld.com.au). Ford and Mitsubishi recorded profits, while Holden and AMI Toyota had a big loss. The motor vehicle sector itself made a loss of $224 million in 1990 (www.ibisworld.com.au). Although sales declined in 1986 and 1987, investment expenditure continued to increase till 1988 when the level of investment fell due to the completion of the...

8th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas

8th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas 8th grade science fair projects tend to involve the scientific method and designing an experiment and not making models or explaining processes. Youll be expected to present data in the form of tables and graphs. Typed reports and posters are the norm (sorry, no handwritten text). You should do the project yourself, rather than enlist heavy-duty help from a parent or older student. Its appropriate to cite references for any information that isnt common knowledge or that draws on the work of others. 8th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas What paper airplane design flies the farthest? stays aloft the longest?What effect does soap in water have on plants? Is the effect the same at very low soap concentrations as compared with high concentrations?How much plant food is too much?Are dogs (cats/fish/etc.) colorblind? If so, is the lack of color perception compensated by better light/dark vision?What soils best support structures, such as buildings?What types of words do babies learn to speak first?Does air temperature affect how long soap bubbles last? Does relative humidity?Are goldfish water chemicals really necessary or are they an unneeded expense?Can you graft a tomato plant onto a potato plant?Do plants react to the presence of other plants? music? different colored light?What materials glow under black light? Can you use the UV light to find invisible, possibly smelly, stains in your carpet or elsewhere in your house?Will chilling an onion before cutting it keep you from crying?Does catnip repel cockroaches better than DEET? What ratio of vinegar to baking soda produces the best chemical volcano eruption?What type of plastic wrap prevents evaporation the best?What plastic wrap prevents oxidation the best?What percentage of an orange is water?Are night insects attracted to lamps because of heat or light?Can you make Jello using fresh pineapples instead of canned pineapples?Do white candles burn at a different rate than colored candles?Does the presence of detergent in water affect plant growth?Can a saturated solution of sodium chloride still dissolve Epsom salts?Does magnetism affect the growth of plants?How does the shape of an ice cube affect how quickly it melts?Do different brands of popcorn leave different amounts of unpopped kernels?How accurately do egg producers measure eggs?How do differences in surfaces affect the adhesion of tape?If you shake up different kinds or brands of soft drinks (e.g., carbonated), will they all spew the same amount?Are all potato chips equally greasy?Do the same types of mold grow on all types of bread? Does light affect the rate at which foods spoil?Can you use a household water filter to remove flavor or color from other liquids?Does the power of a microwave affect how well it makes popcorn?Do all brands of diapers absorb the same amount of liquid? Does it matter what the liquid is (water as opposed to juice or... um.. urine)?Do all dishwashing detergents produce the same amount of bubbles? Clean the same number of dishes?Is the nutritional content of different brands of a vegetable (e.g., canned peas) the same?How permanent are permanent markers? What solvents (e.g., water, alcohol, vinegar, detergent solution) will remove the ink? Do different brands/types of markers produce the same results?Is laundry detergent as effective if you use less than the recommended amount? More?Do all hairsprays hold equally well? Equally long? Does type of hair affect the results?What effect do additives have on the crystals? You could add food coloring, flavorings, or other impurities.What steps c an you take to maximize crystal size? You can affect vibration, humidity, temperature, rate of evaporation, purity of your growth medium, and time allowed for crystal growth. How do different factors affect seed germination? Factors that you could test include the intensity, duration, or type of light, the temperature, the amount of water, the presence/absence of certain chemicals, or the presence/absence of soil. You can look at the percentage of seeds that germinate or the rate at which seeds germinate.Is a seed affected by its size? Do different size seeds have different germination rates or percentages? Does seed size affect the growth rate or final size of a plant?How does cold storage affect the germination of seeds? Factors you can control include the type of seeds, length of storage, temperature of storage, and other variables, such as light and humidity.What conditions affect the ripening of fruit? Look at ethylene and enclosing a fruit in a sealed bag, temperature, light, or nearness to other pieces or fruit.How are different soils affected by erosion? You can make your own wind or water and evaluate the effects on soil. If you have access to a very cold freezer, you can look at the effects of freeze and thaw cycles. How does the pH of soil relate to the pH of the water around the soil? You can make your own pH paper, test the pH of the soil, add water, then test the pH of the water. Are the two values the same? If not, is there a relationship between them?How close does a plant have to be to a pesticide for it to work? What factors influence the effectiveness of a pesticide (rain? light? wind?)? How much can you dilute a pesticide while retaining its effectiveness? How effective are natural pest deterrents? More Science Fair Project Ideas

Verview of the Bhopal, India disaster Research Paper - 1

Verview of the Bhopal, India disaster - Research Paper Example In December 1984, water with 42 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas entered into tank 610. This resulted into an exothermic reaction that raised the temperature to over and above 200 degrees. The rise in pressure caused the tank to release 30 metric tones of MIC into the ambiance in less than 60 minutes. The northwesterly wind blew the gas over Bhopal (Hanna, Morehouse, & Sarangi, 2005). The gravity of the situation had magnifying factors such as poor safety systems; some of which were off to save on money; the flare tire disconnected; the vent gas scrubber was out of caustic soda; the pressure valve was not working; mandatory refrigeration of MIC was incorrect. Union Carbide ignored recommendations given to them by an American team that had performed inspections on the plant in the year 1961. This inspection revealed 61 potential hazards, none of which Union carbide corrected (Born, 1996). The disaster hit catastrophic levels owing to the burgeoning of casual settlements around the plant. Further, there lacked disaster preparedness actions induced by the appropriate authorities (Hanna, Morehouse, & Sarangi, 2005). Inquiry into the incident further revealed that the plant used unapproved technologies in its productions. The morale of the employees of the firm was low, and attempts to cut down expenses led to poor environment. Most of the qualified work force left the company for better jobs leaving under qualified staff at the plant (Born, 1996). This coupled with lacked of skilled operators led to the occurrence of the Bhopal gas tragedy. Following this nasty incident, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) tried so hard to shift liability to it subsidiary, Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL). The UCC claimed that UCIL was autonomous in its operations and as such were culpable (Fernando, 2009). They also tried to blame the incident on disgruntled employees and Sikh extremists whom they

Historical Events Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Historical Events - Research Paper Example The development and expansion story of education has just remained to be one of the expanding accesses with various differences arising at every dawn of collegiate growth in each new era. Higher educational institutions were largely supported by the educational philanthropists whenever reflected back in the 12th century during the time of medieval universities development (Riesman, 2001). The higher education system is perceived to have mainly originated in the United States whereby its development has been influenced by a series of events. The federal government became directly linked to the higher education during the time of the civil war. During this period, the southern congressmen who had a tendency of opposing the legislature were missing in the action. Most of the proposals and objectives were created under the Morril Act of 1862 that was in pursuit of the educational motion gearing programs. Among the programs proved to subdue the higher educational programs included: mechanical, agricultural, and military sciences encompassing the liberal arts. The state decided to attach some new programs like agricultural and engineering to historic colleges. This was aimed at boosting the political strength and expansion of the university definition scope and the curricula between 1887 and 1914. This Act of Morril was termed as the land grant-act due to the collective su pport gain exert on colleges to enhance development. The second Morril Act of 1890 considered to be the latest stimulated the expansion power of the federal engagement in the education development. This led to the funding of projects that related to land-grant campuses (Razzell, 2006). Basing on the Morril Act with the federal legislation furry, African –Americans were faced with great attention through the receivership of mixed results due to differences experienced in treatment. This act provided the policy of strictly funding the African-American

Can Orton and Ravenhilll be described as radical queers Essay

Can Orton and Ravenhilll be described as radical queers - Essay Example Still, there was a contention that Orton somehow managed to contribute to the movement for gay rights.4 Mark Ravenhill who was openly gay and forthright about being HIV positive weaved together plays that waged an assault on social structures and arguably advocated for social change for the oppressed including gays.5 This essay argues that both Ravenhill and Orton are properly characterized as radical gays. In order to demonstrate queer radicalism on the part of Orton and Ravenhill, this essay conducts an analysis of some of their plays that substantiate this claim. This essay is therefore divided into two parts. The first part of this essay analyses some of Orton’s plays as a means of demonstrating that he can be properly characterized as a radical queer. The second part of this essay also analysed some of Ravenhill’s plays as a means of demonstrating that Ravenhill was also a radical queer. Nakayama argues that Orton’s plays were self-conscious creations of an alternative to the standard heterosexual society and in particular the â€Å"bourgeois norm of the nuclear family† as opposed to a â€Å"neurotic repetition of it†.6 Regardless there are two perspectives relative to whether or not Orton was indeed a queer radical. One perspective argues that Orton given the times in which Orton wrote, his plays indicate that he was â€Å"an advance guard of† the sexual revolution and a â€Å"sort of fifth columnist among sexual conservatives†.7 That some of Orton’s plays such as What the Butler Saw focused so sharply on clandestine sexuality that it was obvious that Orton was content to â€Å"remain in the closet without directly confronting the sexual powers that were†.8 The criticisms of What the Butler Saw arise out of what Orton failed to do rather than what he actually did in the play. Butler was written in 1967 before theatre censorship had come to an end. However, since

The Production Of Gorillaz Album Plastic Beach Music Essay

The Production Of Gorillaz Album Plastic Beach Music Essay Creators of Gorillaz, musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, began working on a new Gorillaz project in November 2007 called Carousel,[1] which evolved into Plastic Beach, the groups third studio album.[2] In the November 2007 issue of Q, when asked what his top priority for 2008 was, Damon Albarn replied Well, Im doing the next Gorillaz thing, but it wont be called Gorillaz.[1] In the February 2008 Gorillaz-Unofficial interview, Jamie Hewlett elaborated on this, saying I think the idea behind it is that its like how The Who presented their movies Tommy and Quadrophenia and so on. Those were presented as by The Who even though none of the members of the band were in the movies. I dont think anyone from The Who was in Quadrophenia. But its the same people working on it, thats the principle.[3] In a July 2008 interview with The Observer he also said, Gorillaz now to us is not like four animated characters any more its more like an organisation of people doing new projects. [ ] Thats my ideal model Gorillaz is a group of people who gave you this, and now want to give you new stuff.[4] In the Observer interview, Hewlett said that there is a new project which Damon and I are working on now, called Carousel, which is even bigger and more difficult than Monkey, and it isnt going to fit anywhere and no ones going to like it, ha ha ha! Weve started work Ive done a lot of visuals and Damons done a lot of music but we havent figured out how theyre going to fit together. I cant say much about it yet but its sort of like a film, but not with one narrative story. Theres many stories, told around a bigger story, set to music, and done in live action, animation, all different styles, well originally it was a film but now we think its a film and its a stage thing as well and look, its basically us doing what the fuck we want without worrying about whether its for a record company or a film company or whatever. So Im not sure how itll pan out, or even if it will happen. But Damons written around 70 songs for it, and Ive got great plans for the visuals, but right now, at this mo ment, its still just a really good idea.[4] Carousel was to be about the mystical aspects of Britain.[2] [edit] Concept Damon Albarn got the idea for Plastic Beach while on a beach next to his house: I was just looking for all the plastic within the sand, he said.[2] On 17 September 2008, Albarn and Jamie Hewlett announced that they would be doing another Gorillaz album in an interview with CBC News.[5] Hewlett said that from their work on Monkey, we just learned more about what we do, musically and artistically. Thats a great place to come at when we come to another Gorillaz album. It doesnt have to be animation and music.[6] Hewlett also expressed annoyance at having to draw the band members again: Im so fucking bored of drawing those characters. But then we had a moment where we had a new angle on it Im gonna adapt them.[5] In a later interview Hewlett said: theyll be the same characters, but a little bit older and told in a different way.[7] Albarn said in September 2008 that he wanted to work with an incredibly eclectic, surprising cast of people.[8] As with previous Gorillaz albums, Plastic Beach features a number of collaborations with other musicians and music groups. The album features Snoop Dogg, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Kano, Bashy, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, Gruff Rhys, De La Soul, Little Dragon, Mark E. Smith, Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Yukimi Nagano, sinfonia ViVA and The Syrian National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.[9] [edit] Recording Albarn began recording material for a new Gorillaz album around June 2008.[10] He travelled to Beirut in March 2009 to record with the National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music.[11] The following month, he recorded with Derby-based orchestra sinfonia ViVa.[11] Grime rappers Kano and Bashy, who feature on White Flag, both had the flu during recording. Kano said We werent feeling great, the music was out of our comfort zone, it could have been a complete disaster.[11] Bobby Womack knew nothing about Gorillaz and was initially unsure about the collaboration, however, his daughter liked Gorillaz and convinced him to do it.[12] Womack was told to sing whatever was on his mind during the recording of Stylo. I was in there for an hour going crazy about love and politics, getting it off my chest, said Womack.[11] After an hour of recording, Womack, a diabetic, started to pass out. He was sat down and given a banana, before waking up minutes later.[11] Sweepstakes, the first song Mos Def r ecorded with Gorillaz,[13] was done in one take.[11] Mos Def described the song as one of the greatest things as an MC that Ive ever done.[13] Mick Jones and Paul Simonon completed their portion of the title track Plastic Beach in a day.[11] Several musicians who collaborated on songs for the album did not end up having all or any of their songs appear on the final album; some guests announced to have collaborated with the band do not feature on the album. British garage rock band The Horrors were invited to play on the album after Albarn heard their 2009 album Primary Colours.[14] They recorded a track with Albarn,[15] but no songs with the band appear on the final album. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Posdnuos of De La Soul said that the group had provided vocals on two songs for the album, Electric Shock and Sloped Tropics.[16] De La Soul only features on one song on the album, titled Superfast Jellyfish. Gruff Rhys recorded two songs Superfast Jellyfish and Leviathan. The latter, described by Rhys as more of a night-time song, a three oclock in the morning, speeding down the autobahn evading West German police-type track, does not feature on the album.[11] Mos Def said that he collaborated with Albarn on three songs;[13] however, Def only appears on two songs on the album. Albarn had previously announced that musician Barry Gibb would feature on the album but Gibb did not turn up to any recording sessions.[2] Animated Gorillaz bassist Murdoc said the band had collaborated with actress Una Stubbs,[10] however, she too does not appear on any of the albums tracks. [edit] Music Albarn said in an interview, Im making this one the most pop record Ive ever made in many ways, but with all my experience to try and at least present something that has got depth.[2] He added, I suppose what Ive done with this Gorillaz record is Ive tried to connect pop sensibility with trying to make people understand the essential melancholy of buying a ready made meal in loads of plastic packaging. People who watch X Factor might have some emotional connection to these things, this detritus that accompanies what seems to be the most important thing in peoples eyes, the celebrity voyeurism.[2] The first time Albarn went to Mali, he was taken to a landfill where he saw people taking every little bit, a little bit of fabric to the fabric regenerators, or the metal and the cans to the ironsmiths and the aluminium recyclers, and it goes on and by the time you get to the road, theyre selling stuff.[2] When Albarn went to a landfill outside of London to record the sound of seagulls for the album, he noticed a juxtaposition between the way the two countries dealt with rubbish.[2] Theyve got more snakes like adders, grass snakes, slow worms, toads, frogs, newts, all kinds of rodents, all kinds of squirrels, a massive amount of squirrels, a massive amount of foxes, and obviously, seagulls. [] This is part of the new ecology. And for the first time I saw the world in a new way. Ive always felt, Im trying to get across on this new record, the idea that plastic, we see it as being against nature but its come out of nature. We didnt create plastic, nature created plastic. And just seei ng the snakes like living in the warmth of decomposing plastic bags. They like it. It was a strange kind of optimism that I felt but trying to get that into pop music is a challenge, anyway. But important.[2] Albarn says the album maintains a lot of the melancholy from Carousel.[2] He worked hard on making his lyrics and melodies clear on the album.[2] Loads of orchestral stuff was recorded but only a fraction made it onto the final album.[2] [edit] Release and promotion On a black background is red uppercase text in a thick wavy font. The top line says Gorillaz, the second line says Plastic and the third line says Beach. The Plastic Beach logo used in promotional videos. A new picture of the band was published on 9 December 2009 on the cover of the UK edition of Wired magazine. On 14 January 2009, Albarn made an appearance as a guest DJ on BBC Radio 1, premiering demos of three new Gorillaz songs Electric Shock, Broken and Stylo.[17]. Stylo went to be heavily edited in its final version, while Broken remained mostly unchanged. Electric Shock did not make the album, though samples of the song were used in Rhinestone Eyes, as well as the intro orchestral separated into bonus track Three Hearts, Seven Seas, Twelve Moons. On 20 January 2010, the official Gorillaz website was heavily revamped to fit the Plastic Beach theme. Over a period of time, a numerous amount of short clips were posted on the site, mainly showing various shots of a large Plastic Beach model backed by segments of new Gorillaz music. Out of the 13 short clips, only 2 of the clips had audio that would eventually end up on the album. The tracks were White Flag and Pirates Progress (an extended version of the Orchestral Intro found on the album). Also on the website was a countdown timer, which on 23 February 2010 counted down to zero. After a significant delay, a new full Kong studios-esque interactive Plastic Beach Beachsite was uploaded onto the website, opening certain sections of Plastic Beach to be visited by guests. On 21 January 2010, Gorillaz member Murdoc took over NME Radio and Yahoo! Radio. He played a 45 minute set of songs while providing exposition on the story of Gorillaz. A total of four broadcasts were uploaded online, leading to the release of the album. All four are now available on the official Gorillaz website. Short animated idents have been released for fictional band members Murdoc, 2D, Russel, and the Noodle cyborg. The first depicts Murdoc fleeing from an unknown, rifle-wielding assailant, and the second depicts 2Ds abduction and transportation to Plastic Beach by a masked figure. The third features a snippet of the song Three Hearts, Seven Seas, Twelve Moons playing in the background. The track can be found as a bonus track along with Pirates Progress on the iTunes Deluxe edition. Russels ident has him stomping off of the edge of a pier and diving into the ocean, presumably headed to Plastic Beach for reasons unknown. The fourth feature a zoom in on the cyborg, its face plate open. A fifth ident has been released, showing a luxury cruise sail being bombarded by torpedoes coming from planes flying above it. A crew member rushes over to cabin 13 to warn a passenger, who is revealed to be Noodle (wearing the Oni Mask), that the cruise is under attack by pirates and he was told to escort her to the lifeboats. Noodle then grabs her briefcase and opens it, revealing a gun, and passes the crew member while heading out, presumably to face the pirates. Noodles ident acts as a trailer to the On Melancholy Hill music video, which was released on June 15. On 26 February 2010, a minimix of the album was made available on the official website to download for free.[18] The minimix is an eight-minute composition of songs from the album, a number of which had not been previously released. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach, Rhinestone Eyes and White Flag were premiered on the Australian radio station Triple J on 28 February 2010, in respective order, at one hour intervals. On 1 March 2010, NPR debuted the entire album via streaming.[19] Later on in the day, the album also become available for streaming at Guardian.co.uk.[20] [edit] Singles The album has produced two singles as of August 2010. * Stylo was the first single from the album, released digitally on 26 January 2010. * On Melancholy Hill became the second single from the album which replaced Superfast Jellyfish and was released exclusively on iTunes on June 15th.

McLean vs Arkansas Essay -- Creationism Creation Science

Science is a word that carries with it many meanings - knowledge, truth, a process of examination. But when it comes to setting a clear definition of the term, difficulties arise. Certainly physics is science, and theology isn't. But many disciplines are less intuitively dichotomized, such as the fields of psychology, history, ethics, and many others. Are these sciences? And while it may at first seem like a rather irrelevant issue only for lexicographers and philosophers, in fact the distinction between what is science and what is not is of great importance to society - for in the formation of the public school curriculum, the distinction between science, which must be taught, and religion, which must not be, is essential to keeping education both factual, up-to-date, and constitutional. The 1982 court case McLean vs. Arkansas put in the public spotlight just how important drawing the distinction is. In what has become a landmark case in the creation/evolution legal debate, the Arkansas legislature passed without debate a bill mandating that the state redraw its science education standards so to include in the state's public high school curricula the body of ideas known as "creationism" - the notion that Earth and its inhabitant life forms were formed in the same forms as they are seen today - alongside evolution - the mainstream view of biologists holding that life developed and diversified gradually over millions of successive generations. The concept of creationism has a strong religious history and very deep religious overtones, and the constitutionality of teaching the subject in a public school immediately was questioned. Called to preside over the resulting legal case was U.S. District Judge William Overton. Thu... ...of testability is unclear and the incorporation of unobserved elements is not unique to creationism, so this in and of itself is not a reason to exclude it from a curriculum - and as previously mentioned Darwin considered the two models of creation and evolution on equal scientific grounds in his arguments. Instead, creationism fails on account of the evidence against it. So in the end, while Overton's attempt to determine essential characteristics of science does not stand up to philosophical scrutiny, his decision was correct: creationism is not part of modern science, and does not belong in the modern classroom. Works Cited Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. W. W. Norton and Co.: New York, 1996. Kleppner, Daniel and Robert Kolenkow. An Introduction to Mechanics. McGraw-Hill, Inc: Boston, 1973. McLean v. Arkansas, US District Court. 1982.

Intermountain Healthcare Essay

Continuous improvement in quality and productivity processes is essential for any business that wants to be profitable but more so for Health care organizations due to the constant changing nature of their practice. The philosophy of continuous improvement is captured in the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle proposed by W. Edwards Deming (Fitzsimmons et. Al. , 2013). The three principles that form the foundation for Deming’s teaching are Customer satisfaction, Management by Facts, and Respect for people. Health care delivery must focus on satisfying patients’ needs and this principle must be incorporated into the mind of every employee of a healthcare organization. Scientific thinking (collecting and statistically analyzing data) must also be merged with administrative analysis before decisions are made by the quality improvement teams. For quality improvement to be established in an organization, there must be mutual respect amongst employees where everybody’s ideas on improving processes are solicited. By implementing these principles, the idea of â€Å"higher quality could lead to lower cost,† can be manifested. How well is Intermountain Health Care performing? From the case study, intermountain Health care is performing very well. As of 2001, the intermountain healthcare (IHC) Health plan was the largest in Utah which covered about 460,000 individuals and a market share of 40%. The closest competitor being Blue Cross and Blue Shield, covered 425,000 individuals. IHC started with fifteen hospitals in 1975 and after 27 years grew it to 22 hospitals, 25 health centers and over 70 outpatient’s clinics all across Utah and Southeastern Idaho. IHC is a vertically integrated Health care organization that has won many top awards in the industry. In 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, Intermountain Healthcare was ranked No. 1 (among nearly 600 evaluated) integrated healthcare systems in the U. S. by Modern Healthcare magazine and the Verispan research firm. The rankings measured efficiency, communication cost and quality of care. As of 2013, Intermountain Healthcare is internationally recognized, has a nonprofit system of 22 hospitals, a Medical Group with more than 185 physician clinics, and an affiliated health insurance company, SelectHealth. It currently has 33,000 employees serving patients and plan members in Utah and Southeastern Idaho. Below is a list of other awards that IHC has received as a system: Hospitals & Health Networks recognized Intermountain Healthcare as one of â€Å"Health Care’s Most Wired 2013† in the nation. This was the fourteenth year Intermountain has been listed. Forbes magazine named Intermountain Healthcare to its list of â€Å"21 Most Admired Companies Making IT a Competitive Advantage† in 2013. American College of Medical Quality gave the â€Å"Institutional Quality Leadership Award† to Intermountain Healthcare, the sole recipient of this award in 2013, for Intermountain longstanding commitment to clinical quality programs and innovations in healthcare delivery. The Gallup Organization again presented Intermountain Healthcare with its Great Workplace Award for 2013 Intermountain Healthcare ranked No. 3 overall in the U. S. and No. 1 in the western U. S. on the 2012 list of the nation’s Top 100 Integrated Health Systems compiled by IMS Health and Modern Healthcare magazine. National Research Corporation presented a 2012/2013 Consumer Choice Award to Intermountain Healthcare for its hospitals, clinics, and business units’ having been selected by locally served consumers as having the best quality and image. What is Intermountain’s approach to the management of health care delivery? Intermountain uses Clinical integration as its approach to healthcare delivery. This involves both an organizational restructuring as well as the use of different set of tools (mainly technological tools). With this approach of healthcare delivery, both the administrative and medical staff (physicians, nurses and pharmacist) collaborate to implement the perfect system of gathering, storing, and making accessible medical data on each patient. Analyzing this data gathered enables the medical team to create protocols or use decision support tools that focus on improving medical intervention for each patient as well as removing inefficiencies from their service process. Its core aim was to establish quality and extend full management accountability to IHC’s Clinical Function. IHC health services was divided into four areas: Clinical conditions, clinical support services, service quality and administrative support processes. IHC also uses Deming’s PDCA Cycle and Lean Service to ensure continuous quality improvement. Why does Intermountain do it this way? Intermountain tries to continually improve its Quality improvement process by adopting the PDCA cycle. They plan by selecting â€Å"clinical problems† for Hospital based procedures. These processes are documented and data collected. By the top managers brainstorming, they are able to reach the root causes of the problems. The â€Å"Do† in the PDCA cycle is used to implement solutions or processes to solve the Clinical problems on a Trail basis. (The implementation process is monitored and documented). The Check in the PDCA cycle is used to review and evaluate the outcomes of implementing the solution. The Act in the PDCA cycle helps the company to reflect and act on the learning experience. The changes in the processes that were successful are standardized and communicated to the employees. IHC also uses a Biannual advanced Training program in Health care Delivery Improvement (ATP) to come out with best practice protocols. Here, they use the lean dimension ‘empowering those who do the work in continuous improvement’ or ‘human development’ which is a very important part of the lean process. Since the ideas are generated by the employees themselves, there is a lot of motivation to implement it. Why don’t all heath care delivery organizations do this? The implementation of information technology systems like Health evaluation through Logical processing system (HELP) and Electronic medical (EMR) are very expensive. The cost of training the staff and maintenance of these systems can be very expensive. Some health care delivery organizations also see the clinical integration system as a loss of traditional physician autonomy, prestige, power and income. Some health care organizations also enjoy having inefficiencies in their systems so that they can exploit unsuspecting patients. We go to the hospital now and are requested to do all kinds of unnecessary lab tests, just to increase our medical bills. Conclusion Intermountain has adopted the strategy of improving continuously by adopting the PDCA cycle and it seems to be working for them since they are the largest Healthcare providers in Utah and Southeastern Idaho. Its clinical integration approach to delivering care has resulted in the company winning numerous awards. The incorporation of information technology plays a crucial role in the quality improvement of their services. The incorporation of Deming’s idea that â€Å"Higher quality could lead to lower cost,† has given the IHC Health plan a competitive edge over other insurers in Utah. References Fitzsimmons, J. A. , Fitzsimmons, M. J. , & Bordoloi, S. K. (2014). Service Management Operations, Strategy, Information Technology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Intermountain_Healthcare http://intermountainhealthcare. org/about/overview/awards/Pages/home. aspx http://www. beckershospitalreview. com/strategic-planning/back-to-basics-understanding-the-5-performance-dimensions-of-lean-in-healthcare. html Bohmer, R. M. J. , Edmondson, A. C. , & Feldman, L. R. (2013). Intermountain Health Care. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publication Roger, R. (2008). Commentary: Intermountain Healthcare. High Performing Healthcare Systems: Delivering Quality by Design. 179-184. Retrieved from http://www. longwoods. com/content/20147