Realization from the film Muriel’s Wedding

Muriel’s wedding is a tragic-comedy film written and directed by P.J Hogan. This Australian film conveys various aspects related with change.   The main concepts of change seen from this movie are change in perspective and in attitude within the persona, ensuing from the understanding of whom you are and how to get there. Muriel's wedding reveals these concepts through Muriel's discovery of herself, and realizing that real life still continue to possess different trials that needs be overcome in order to achieve real growth. Muriel Heslop, a hopeless romantic, overweight girl who lives in Porpoise Spit, Australia, with her parents and four siblings. Muriel lives her life in the fantasy world of Abba song and dreaming about getting married. She thinks that getting married is the best way for her to find the perfect happiness. Muriel's character is not that positive. She has a low self-esteem and she looks herself as useless being. She lies, she steals and even tries to change her own identity, but in the end, she realized that all the things she had done would not give her the happiness her looking for. Muriel life in Porpoise Spit is miserable. Her relationship to her family is quite undesirable. Bill Heslop, Muriel’s father, is a corrupt politician who is completely despicable man. He always tries to impress people with his connection and still manage to find his time to degrade his family. His slogan â€Å"You Can't Stop Progress† but he manages to stop the progress of everyone in his family, by labeling them as useless and embarrassment, except for Muriel. On the other side, Betty, Muriel’ mother, a painstakingly frightened woman who is treated by her children l and husband like a slave. Like Muriel, her mother was also arrested for stealing. Betty looked to be very lonely and unattached to reality herself because she gets all the blame from Muriel’s father for Muriel stealing their money. Betty died, a speculated suicide, after Muriel’s father wants to have a divorce to live with someone he is having an affair. Both Muriel and her mother appeared to have a lot in common as far as the ability to separate their selves from reality. Another major character in the film was Rhoda, an old friend of Muriel from school that she meets on the trip. They both to get along with each other, then, Muriel realized that now she has more confident in herself and found someone who can call her a real friend. Rhoda has her own problem, she has a cancer and confined on a wheelchair and having her own crisis identity. Although Muriel and Rhoda are always having fun, still Muriel is unhappy because she really thinks that getting married will give her the prefect happiness. So, with the help of Rhoda, Muriel change her identity by changing her name to Mariel. Then, eventually, she got married to an Olympic swimmer who only needs to have an Australian passport. Muriel think that she got the best option because she thinks that she’s hitting a bird in one stone, living in her fantasy of being a bride and wife and at the same time getting money to pay her father back. This perception of Muriel is like a â€Å"falsification of view†; that being a wife is all that she needs because her parents will also be happy, and at the same time, she can live her friend. But when Muriel’s mother died, she came into realization that everything she’ve done really doesn’t give her the happiness she is looking for. She also realized that she never loved her husband at all. She wants to stop lying. She don’t want to â€Å"Mariel† anymore which she created when she was in Sydney. She ended up finding again her happiness in Sydney by helping her friend, Rhoda. She too helped her father realize the mistakes he had made with them. All these she did through discovering her identity (happiness). She no longer needed to be â€Å"Mariel†, Muriel found herself, Muriel. She was always there inside herself not knowing she was inside because she was just too busy looking inside of her fantasy world. Reference: Ebert, Roger.Muriel’s Wedding.March,1995. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950317/REVIEWS/503170304/1023   

A Book Report on Irene Hunt’s

Irene Hunt’s No Promises in the Wind (1975) is a story about the plight of fifteen-year-old Josh and his brother Joey, set in the desperate state of the U.S. during the Great Depression of the ‘30s.The two boys hailed from Chicago, born from a middle class family. The Stock market crashed signaling the start of the Depression (Great Depression, 2005). This has been â€Å"particularly severe in Chicago because of the city's reliance on manufacturing, the hardest hit sector nationally† (Deutsch, 2005).   More than half of the workforce lost their jobs (Deutsch, 2005), including their father, Stephan. When this happened their father changed from someone who is kindhearted into a bitter, angry man.Those times were ridden with problems and he takes his anger out on his oldest son Josh. But rather, it could be supposed that he is angrier with himself for being helpless in their situation, what with the pressures of providing for his family.Desperate times necessitate that kids those days mature early, and even though Josh is a mere boy, he leaves his family with his best friend Howie with dreams of being musicians, his little brother Joey tagging along.The brothers experience a devastating blow when Howie got run over by a train. When they continued to venture forth, they realize how hard to make it out in the real world. They were cold and hungry, at times even resorting to begging for food.They meet a lot of interesting and endearing people along the way and saw how people from different parts of the country, such as Louisiana and Nebraska, were being affected by the Depression. Such people like Lonnie, a generous trucker who tries to help them whenever he can despite tough times, and Emily, a beautiful and attractive a circus clown.Hunt paints a harrowing portrait of that period and how desperate times change people, emotionally and psychologically. She shows that when the going gets tough, man’s instincts for survival take over, even at the sake of common goodness and humanity. On the other side of the coin, it is also a testament that kindness still endures.The story is largely character driven, and the author makes good use of her skill in portraying emotions, especially how the Depression changed people. With deft descriptions and stirring language, she conjures a moving image of a desperate America, and what people do in order to survive. Some parts could seem too unrealistic, such as Josh’s illogical ambitions and the brothers’ seemingly continuous luck, but in the end it is successful in providing us a glimpse of the general populace’s real state of living during that period.ReferencesDeutsch, T. (2005).   Great Depression. In The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved November 22, 2005, from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/542.htmlGreat Depression. (2005). In Wikipedia. Retrieved November 23, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_DepressionHunt, I. (1 975). No Promises in the Wind.   Chicago: Follet Publishing.  

Personnel and organization conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personnel and organization conflict - Essay Example Performance standards typically emphasize individual performance, but they can also be used to measure group performance. The employees of a company must be notified in written about the performance standards that the workers must comply with. Appraisal programs include the performance standards in order to measure the performance of employees. Some of the measures that are estimated by performance standards include the quality, quantity, cost effectiveness and timeliness of the work performed. Performance standards are needed to control the labor output of the employees. For instance, if an employee is given a performance standard that specifies he must produce at least 25 units per shift, the employee will comply with that amount due to the existence of the performance standard. Monitoring performance standards of a job is a good way to measure the effectiveness of the worker. The use of performance standards can also enhance the ability of the manager to determine operating inefficiencies that need corrective actions to be fixed. Five types of performance measures that managers should consider are efficiency, quality, error rate, revenue, and compliance (Ofm.gov, 2009). Inefficient employees that commit errors must be tracked in order to remedy the situation. A way for management to reduce errors and to improve the quality of the work performed by the workers is through training and development. The use of performance measures helps managers identify weaknesses in the operations of a company. It is important to keep the employees motivated and with high morale to help them achieve a high level of performance. Performance measures enable managers to establish specific criteria for the workers to follow. The use of performance standards provides employees with duties and responsibilities to comply with (Indiana.edu, 2005). The use of written performance measures enables companies to comply with governmental regulations

Writing assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Writing assignment - Essay Example With the many possible sources of ocean pollution, there exist myriad of adverse effects with prevention calling for collaborative efforts among governments, international community and individuals. The first form of ocean pollution is oil pollution. As noted by WWF, 12% of ocean oil pollution emanates from oil spills with 36% attributed to runoffs from cities and industries. The oil from down the drain contributes to ocean oil pollution the greatest, emitting 363 million gallons of oil per year according to Gradwohl. Other sources include natural seeps, offshore drilling, routine maintenance and big spills. Although oil-covered sea animals would be covered from cold by the oil as documented by Miller and Spoolman, they face adverse health effects including reproductive complications and liver diseases due to swallowing of oil which threatens their survival (267). This form of pollution kills ocean life including mangroves and coral reefs with intertidal zones noted to be the most sensitive. Thus, cleanups have been embraced by various governments to curb the problem. As NASA documents, the 1983 United Nations treaty, MARPOL (MARine POLlution) brings together the international community to reduce operational and accidental oil spillages. Individually, people should be encouraged to avoid dumping oil and oil-based waste into oceans. Secondly, there are toxic materials dumped into oceans. Slowly degrading chemicals and metals settle on the floor of the ocean, accumulating and becoming hazardous to organisms living at the bottom of the ocean. Eventually, such toxins could enter the food web, contaminating sea animals that are a source of human food. Beard cites mercury, dioxin and radioactive substances released from industries, agricultural practice, gardening and household activities among others as some of the toxins (280). Gradwohl further notes that almost 1,000 new toxins get added to the ocean every year. Digging out

VA Team members Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

VA Team members - Assignment Example The customers will most likely continue to do business with the company. 2.) To validate any experimental strategy so that given the time and resources it yields and an analytical result that is understandable, accurate, and defensible is important to SME analysts because if this is not done properly those in the companies who work in another department will lack understanding of what the new strategy is going to be, in testing out the experimental strategy that SME analyst is attempting to implement new strategies throughout the company, and whenever a company is experimenting with new strategies. It is best to test them out before implementing them. 3.) Constructing the site is important to an SME analyst because if the site is poorly constructed customers will not be able to use the site properly. Not only will customers be unable to use the site properly, but other members of the VA team will not be able to use it properly. If the site is used on properly, it is ineffective, and inadequate. 4.) Conducting an analysis of the information given by the VA team is important to an SME analyst the cause conducting an analysis of the information helps to implement new strategies, and the effectiveness of the strategies being experimenting throughout the company.

Dissection of a Protein Transporter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dissection of a Protein Transporter - Essay Example This will shed light on understanding target pathways and how these target pathways contribute to the overall translocation of proteins across the ER membrane. This also helps in identifying novel components for particular specific pathways and components common for all pathways. Mitochondrial proteins tend to be nuclear encoded and these proteins must be translocated to the compartments within the mitochondria (Copley, 1997; Berg 2002). The final localisation is determined with interaction of nascent polypeptides with inner and outer membrane translocation complexes. Protein synthesis tends to occur in cytosols and in mitochondria, chloroplasts and the location of proteins and crossing of proteins across plasma membrane could be studied using the concept of protein translocation. This essay is based on the discussion of protein translocation and the mechanism involved in such translocation including the reasons why proteins seem to cross membranes and whether it is done as chains or after folding. The translocation of proteins was first experimentally discovered by Blobel in 1970 and he discovered that proteins tend to have signal sequence or a short amino acid sequence and this functions as a code address for the target organelle. mRNA translates into protein with the help of a ribosome and this process of translation takes place within the cytosol (Agarraberes and Dice, 2001, Berg, 2002). When synthesized proteins belong to specific organelles they can be transported through cotranslational translocation or posttranslational translocation. In the cotranslational translocation, the N terminal signal sequence is recognised by a signal recognition particle or SRP at the time when the protein is being synthesized on the ribosome (Agarraberes and Dice, 2001; Berg, 2002). The ribosome protein complex is transferred to the SRP receptor on the endoplasmic reticulum and the nascent protein is inserted in the translocation complex and passes

Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hamlet - Essay Example Hamlet is very upset because of his father’s sudden death and his mother’s marriage with Claudius and this soliloquy is representative of the fact. Hamlet has used a number of metaphors, similes, references to mythology and expressive speech in his first soliloquy. This paper will analyze Hamlet’s first soliloquy in terms of his spoken words and his expressions. Hamlet’s starts with analyzing the worth of human life in this world and also thinks about suicide as he says, â€Å"O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God!† (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 131-134) These lines indicate that human existence is nothing more than a drop of dew and one day will come when every human being has to die and his body will be a part of the sand. Hamlet here says that death is inevitable and will come to everyone. He also talks about suicide and the restri ction towards committing suicide. Here Hamlet considers his deep wish to commit suicide because of the calamities in which, he is trapped but he is restricted because of his religious obligations. For Hamlet, everything of this world is without any benefit as he says, â€Å"How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world!† (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 135-136) For Hamlet, there is no attraction left in this world for him. He is so sad and dejected that the world as a whole appears useless to him. He compares the world with an â€Å"unweeded garden† and says that the world enables every â€Å"gross† and â€Å"rank† things to grow, which are all corrupted and rotten. After expressing about the world, Hamlet at once comes towards the reason of his remorsefulness as he states that his father who was an excellent king and a loving husband died less than two months ago. Hamlet compares his father to the mythological character of Hyperion , who is a Greek god. After appreciating his father and showing his excessive love for his father, Hamlet exclaims remorse on his mother’s hasty marriage with his uncle Claudius and regards his mother as unfaithful to his father as he says, â€Å"-- Frailty, thy name is woman!† (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 148) By thinking about his mother as a frail creature, he considers that all the women of this world are frail and prone to do wrong. He feels disappointed at his mother’s marriage with Claudius as he thinks that his mother has proved dishonesty by marrying Claudius soon after her husband’s death. He thinks that his mother has shed false tears over his death father’s corpse. Hamlet is tormented on his mother’s action and says, â€Å"Like Niobe, all tears: -- why she, even she -- O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn'd longer† (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 151-153) He thinks that his mother has not mourned as was require d of her. Again, Hamlet has compared his mother to a mythological character of Niobe. He regards his mother’s tears over his father death as â€Å"unrighteous tears†. He regards Claudius as not equivalent to his father and regards him quite downgraded as he says, â€Å"My father's brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Act 1, Scene 2, Line 154-155) Hamlet here gives his father a very high position and considers Claudius as a creature that should be hated. In the same soliloquy, Hamlet uses the example of â€Å"Hyperion† for his father and â€Å"

Recommendation Letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Recommendation Letter - Essay Example In addition, from his diligent work, Jores proved to be an exceptional student with exemplary grades. Since Clinique Du Gros Chien Hospital serves Duala, the economical capital of Cameroon, Jores has remained pivotal in providing incredible services to our clients, a factor that for the last one year has increased the number of our clients and revenue significantly. He can work both independently as well as team player to achieve excellence in the desired outcome of the hospital. Jores has demonstrated a progressive interest in national environmental affairs and international development through our environmental education initiative. Jores utilized the opportunities that environmental program provided to display her good leadership skills when he successfully organized and implemented environmental group projects within Duala and its environs. Apart from Jores’ degree in MD from France, I understand that he intends to pursue masters in the same line any time from 2015. I would like to add that he has written excellent reports with the experience and exposure that he acquired from our hospital and beyond. I am, therefore, faithful that Jores Kenmoe possesses brilliant abilities, both, as a student and a professional, and I believe he would remain a great asset to any organization. For more details about Jores Kenmoe, contact me on +237

Organic vs Non-Organic Essay Example for Free

Organic vs Non-Organic Essay What should I eat? That is the question on millions of American minds in the recent years. For years we have fallen for hype, forgoing one food type in favor of another, only to hear months or years later were doing it all wrong. More recently, the nations attention has turned to organic foods in our quest to eat healthy, get slim and live a long and active life. Pesticides, websites and newspapers warn, are leading to an unhealthy America. The use of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, otherwise known as DDT, is brought up time and time again. Prior to 1973, the use of DDT was widespread and our main weapon against the war on pests. We now know the use of DDT led to massive effects on wildlife and humans (DDT- a Brief History, 2012). Who’s to say one of the many other pesticides and insecticides we spray today won’t take a similar turn down the road, articles ask? While it’s true any pesticide we use in traditional farming can lead to health problems in humans if consistently exposed, safeguards are put in place and testing is standardized by the United States government to prevent illness and death from the foods we eat. The same cannot be said about organic produce and meat. Organic foods do not have to withstand the same amount of rigorous testing as non-organic and what testing does take place is not even standardized (Tenser, 2013). This can lead to an increased threat of health problems for those who thought they were making the healthier choice. Studies have shown there is no real significant advantage, health wise, in choosing organic over non-organic and that label, and the higher price that accompanies, might not actually be worth it. Proponents of organic foods say they are free from pesticides and hormones used by companies to produce larger animals faster, thus leading to increased profits. Several of the pesticides used today have come under scrutiny of regulatory agencies. More of the vitamins and complex micro nutrients our bodies need to survive are retained when synthetic pesticides are not used. Using natural and biological pest control, organic foods are safer and a healthier alternative to commercialized fruits and vegetables. In actuality, it’s all a myth. There is no organic product on the market today that is free of synthetic pesticides. Over the years, the soil has retained some of the pesticide runoff, which keeps all foods today from being completely free of chemicals (Hom, 1992). The increase in manure usage that accompanies the shunning of synthetic fertilizers leads to an increased risk of E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks (Griswald, 2013, p. 1). This is because manure consists of a greater amount of bacteria and its use runs the risk of cross contamination. The rise in organic farming has led to many of the food borne illnesses that plagued much of the 2000s. The use of hormones is grossly overstated; commercial chicken is not injected with hormones, contrary to what organic food suppliers want you to believe. The use of hormones does nothing to help the chicken become larger or grow faster. Hormone use would simply be a waste of money since no profit is gained from it (Poultry Housing Tips, 2012). In regards to the argument fruits and vegetables grown organically have more of the vitamins and nutrients retained in them, this is true, however a person focused on a well-rounded and healthy diet has no fear of missing certain nutrients their body needs. Not to mention, often times a scrubbing of soap and water cleans off all pesticide residue from any fruits and vegetables you are going to enjoy. If you can afford them, buy them, recommends New York University professor Marion Nestle, PhD (Zelman, n. d. ). Spending a few dollars more for that organic chicken will save mountains of hospital bills down the road, organic food marketers say. Consumers of organic foods spend on average $4000 more a year, convinced the extra expenditure is well worth it in the long run. Also, by spending more, youre told you’re helping save the environment; by not using synthetic pesticides the soil and streams cannot be contaminated. It is true a lean toward more organic farming leads to a more stable growing environment and an increase of local food production (Berger, 2013, p. 1). Still, organic foods are often trucked across state lines to groceries throughout the country. What the use of natural agents saves environmentally is canceled out by the exhaust spewed into the atmosphere and the fossil fuels used during the journey. The cost of organic foods is just not worth the payout. There have been many studies showing there is no real health benefit to eating organic foods (Watson, 2008). Fruits such as bananas and oranges and vegetables such as peas are not eaten whole; they require peeling which means they require less pesticide, meaning the higher price tag on the organic bananas just aren’t worth it. And as the price of organics rises, organics are seen as a status symbol, an â€Å"elitist stratification. † Organic food marketers capitalize on the class divide, marketing organics as a way to lead the beautiful, healthy life of the wealthy. They stress organics are healthier, better, worth the cost (Sprague, 2013, p 1). This is just simply not the case. A well rounded diet is all anyone needs to stay healthy and lead an active life. With this in mind, the higher price tag is just not worth the hype. It has been shown time and time again that organic foods do not have a greater health benefit compared to commercial foods. The label doesnt justify breaking the bank. A well rounded diet is just as beneficial to a healthy society, with or without the use of synthetic pesticides. Organic foods are not the guiding light they claim to be. There is one tried and true method to end most health concerns. Eat a varied diet. Getting all the vitamins and nutrition you need is up to you, not up to a label. References Berger, A. (2013). Organic foods are a healthier alternative. In Points of view reference center (p. 2). Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. proxy. devry. edu/pov/ detail? sid=9b34ea84-d9c3-4c4a-8cf5- 2fe5b8ae172f%40sessionmgr112vid=1hid=113bda ta=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db=pwhAN=43286303 DDT- A brief history and status. (2012, May 9). Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www. epa. gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/ddt-brief-history-status. htm Griswald, A. (2013). Organic food: Overview. In Points of view reference center (p. 1). Retrieved from http://web. ebscohost. com. proxy. devry. edu/pov/ detail? sid=e32326f0-2d1a-4489-9176-71e40074d5be%40sessionmgr113vid=1hid=113bda ta=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db=pwhAN=43286302 Hom, L. (1992). About organic produce. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www. ocf. berkeley. edu/~lhom/organictext. html Poultry housing tips. (2012, April). Retrieved May 25, 2013, from The University of Georgia website: http://www. poultryventilation. com/sites/default/files/ tips/2012/vol24n4. pdf Sprague, N. (2013). Organic food is unnecessary and the current food.

Impact of FDI on European Economic Development

Impact of FDI on European Economic Development INTRODUCTION The functioning of a market economy under the conditions required by efficiency demands important financial resources, whose allocation must be directed to those areas which in their turn can generate value added and resume the active process of creating added value. If for a company the investment are realised mainly from classical sources, respectively the depreciation fund, profit or issuance of new shares, but with the risk of the dispersion of the proprietary right on business, to which we can add the financing of bank loans, a fairly expensive solution for a company in search of activity diversification. Based on these considerations, the need to review the role and function of investment funds and FDI in the economy, in the reorientation and begining of the investment process is one of utmost importance. Considering the last events that marked the world economy, from which the foreign investment funds, be they even FDI, to which we can add the stock innovation were among the main determinants of the process of translating the investment flows. Though investment funds in the conventional, manifesting as traditional investors, with a pronounced classical character, buying or selling financial instruments, stocks, bonds or other financial instruments or developing new production capacities, in their action they determine a significant impact on the economic activity outlining some features of the economic environment within which they occur. For countries like Romania, for example, or Serbia, this process is actual, but difficult to achieve because it needed more than financial resources. From this point of view Inadequate progress in second-generation reforms provides explanation in variation of FDI inflows. A number of empirical studies focusing on transition economies have corroborated this finding. Garibaldi et al. (2002) have shown, that the quality of institutions explains the variation in FDI flows to transition economies. [1, p.11] The sustenable economic development requires the existence of a set of tools and specific mechanisms through which the financial resources necessary to achieve this goal must be mobilized but especially they must contribute to an efficient redistribution of financial resources in the process of social breeding. The only one able to achieve this requirements are the investments, which succeed through mobilizing the available capital to restart the complex process of production of plusvalue. Directing the financial resources, in the economic policy, to those economic objectives able to develop in their turn a growth of the rate of employment of labor requires a new governance in terms of investments, whose key source should be profit, fund depreciation or GDP, at the economic level. As known, sometimes financial resources available to the national economy are not sufficient to promote massive actions, attracting new finance being required, in addition to foreign capital markets. These completion investments, although they are not quite common in many of the emerging countries, they use them. On the other hand we are witnessing independent investment flows, directed either to initiating new production capacity or upgrading existing ones, promoted by global financial players that make up the foreign investment flows. As it is stated in one of the european documents The fact that the market has failed in the financial sector does not mean that it does not work at all, but points out the need to avoid, namely to correct the wrong market developments, through legislative measures and of targeted surveillance. Therefore, the new policy must be built on the foundation of a market economy, which stimulates and rewards their initiatives and risk taking. [10, pct.3.4]. So the financial resources attracted through foreign investments should be targeted at those areas that present a high reproductive capacity, either by the recognized degree of generating profits or by the significant beneficial efects that they have on the workforce. FDI should ensure a high degree of efficiency, both for the investor who chooses to invest and must be rewarded by high rates of profit, and for the country within which is achieved by increasing the resources mobilized through tax mechanisms, the state budget, and the remune ration for labor involved in achieving the resulting business. Literature review The analysis of the role of FDI in the economy was made in a number of important studies. From these we mention (Serbu, 2006) which claims that promoting FDI is not always in favor of countries that receive these flows, analyzed at least in terms of qualification of employment and not contribute to economic growth, so the role of FDI is questioned. On the other hand ÃÆ'–ZTÃÆ'Å“RK, Ilhan (2007) argues the opposite, namely that the role of FDI in economic growth is major and decisive, which is achieved through multiple channels such as gross capital formation, technology transfer and effects on human capital. In another study[6], Ben Ferretti (2004) explores the relationship between FDI and productivity growth and concludes, after making a brief analysis of the theoretical models, in terms of game-theoretical models, that this is determined by the spatiality and the intensity of FDI flows on economy and economic agents in particular [4]. The same ideas has Damjan Joze et al l (2003) which explores the role of accumulation of FDI and R D on technology transfer and their effect on economies in transition [3] or Hunya, Gabor (2002) which analyzes economic restructuring phenomena from FDI perspectives on manufacturing industry.[5] The analysis Market Integration from Foreign Direct Investment intensity perspective Foreign direct investments consist of significant vectors in achieving economic and social objectives, in the context of diversification of society needs in satisfying the goals promoted at the macroeconomic level. The need for financial resources is an ever growing from year to year and the financial resources attracted from the foreign capital market is a solution to achieve these goals. From this perspective each states ability to attract these resources depends to a very high measure on the degree of integration of national markets in the total investment flows but also on the degree of atraction of each state. In this context the analysis of foreign direct investment in the community economy is of special importance. Referring to GDP make these data to show a high relevance through removing the national economies dimension outlined by each state. These data are presented in the table below. As seen from the data presented above, there is a syncopated evolution of investment flows, both in integrated economies in the economic space, but also for those who want integration (Croatia and Turkey) and especially the most developed economies (USA and Japan). At the EU level we can see an increase in the intensity of FDI during 2004-2007, from 0.9 in 2004 to 3.8 in 2007, meaning an increase of 4.2 times. This growth rate was a syncopated one which means that the european economy has been trained in the massive wave of investment and capital flows with relatively high degree of risk, which resulted that since 2008 this indicator decreased by 1.7 times compared to last year. In the case of member countries we can see a different evolution. If in the case of the last two countries that joined the EU in 2007 we may find a slight improvement, as is the case of Romania, this indicator increased from 3% to 3.5%, a low level compared to 2006 when this indicator recorded 4.8% when the interest of foreign investors was much higher than the economy, or maybe they were just strengthening their investment positions by purchasing generators of economic value added or Bulgaria, which after membership is growing at 12.6% in 2006 to 15.2% in 2007, the next year it registers a 10.3 drop. This situation can result from the inability to pay on which is encumbered the whole bulgarian economy. For the european countries which were old members, this indicator presents a high volatility. After register significant levels of 6.7% as in the case of Germany in 2000 it reaches in 2008 at a value of only 2.4%. Such is the case of France which in 2000 recorded 8.2% and eight years later only 5.2%. These developments are mainly due to the shaken european economic environment, where the investors are orienting and reorienting the capitals according to high profit rates than to business stability. For Serbia, a non-EU country assets owned by foreign entities in Serbia are growing in nominal values. But if we look at share of foreign owned assets in total financial institutions, we may observe that there has been a decrease of 0.2% from 84.3% to 84.1%, despite the entry of 13 new fully foreign owned institutions during the analyzed period. This confirms that financial institutions owned by domestic entities are operating even better than the foreign owned ones. Since we know that before the restructuring of the financial sector in Serbia most banks and insurance companies have operated with significant loss, we may conclude that that remaining domestic owned institution have significantly changed their business culture.[8] Regarding the U.S., the evolution of this indicator for 2000-2006, reflects the difficult moments that this countrys economy has passed. If in 2005 this indicator recorded the lowest level of the period analysed, of only 0.3% (more than up to 5 times compared to 2001), one year later to grow by 500%, due to the trust granted in the economic development through FDI. For the Japanese economy the evolution of this indicator is ranging at around 0.4-0.5%, which means the sustainability of investments supported through these instruments, especially the economy of this country design was based more on capital exports to third countries than absorption of this type of capital in its economy. But 2007 brings a doubling of the level of this indicator actually marking the shift towards exporting the capital investment to emerging economies, in particular. In one of the UNCTAD documents it is shown that The ISD explosion in some developing economies in transition reflects the growing competitiveness of many firms in these economies. The evolution of ISD in some countries was partialy feed by the income from exports of manufactured goods and natural resources, which have increased the financial strength necessary to engage in investment from abroad. Perhaps most important is that the firms in these economies have been increasingly affected by global competition. They came to understand how important it is the entering on international markets and connect to global production systems and knowledge networks. Therefore, their view of the business was internationalized and ambitions and their concerns are more regional or global. .[9]. Over time many countries have became sources of financing through FDI as a solution generating of resources or partners to enhance or start some income-generating activities. The stock of FDI is an important element in the analysis of investment flows in the european economy against the background of increased interdependencies among these economies. In the table nr.2 is presented the FDI stock in some european countries but also for the two biggest economies of the world USA, respectively Japan. If we consider the definition of FDI stocks in the acceptance of UNCTAD these are presented at book value or historical cost, reflecting prices at the time when the investment was made. For a large number of economies, FDI stocks are estimated by either cumulating FDI flows over a period of time or adding flows to an FDI stock that has been obtained for a particular year from national official sources or the IMF data series on assets and liabilities of direct investment [8] From this perspective we can see an increase in direct investment stocks both at EU-27 level over the period 2004-2008, from 15.2% share in GDP from 19.4% share in GDP in 2008. This situation of growth can be observed in the case of Japan but with values much more reduced. If in 2000 in the case of Japan these represented only 1.1% in GDP, seven years later this share was 2.9% in GDP, an increase double to the reference year. This can not be saidin the case of the U.S., where direct investment stocks have a fluctuant evolution. Against this background is noted that The convergence of corporate governance models, combined with ICT development, with an increasing activism manifested by the institutional investors and their reference measure regarding the profitability, all these put the large companies in a position to maximize with any price the profitability (dividends and capital gains) of shares held by them. Considerations on the ability to generate future cash flows as well as the nature of partnership highlighted by the european social model were left on the second level. [11] In most developed economies of the EU-27, namely Germany, France and UK we see during the long analysed period significant growth which means that investments made in this period were so well-consolidated that they increased their value through engaging in activities with value added to high. In the case of the last two states that joined EU in 2007 the situation is quite different. If for Bulgaria since 2007 we saw some increase from 92.9% share in GDP to 96.5% in GDP in 2008, to Romania it means a return to pre-integration values (2006) respectively 35 , 3% share in GDP. Analyzing the situation of direct investment stocks we observe, analysing economy as a whole, with few exceptions, an increase of this indicators value. The causes may be diverse but reflect the economic situation conducive to the development for the period analyzed. In this context the situation intra-EU direct investment reported by EU member states provide an integrative picture on the amplitude of this phenomenon. Each economy is closely linked, interdependencies manifesting deeply both at macroeocnomic level but especially at the micro level, where FDI contributes to strengthening the business relations and the transfer of knowledge and technology. The level of investments made in each national economy and the member states within the EU economic space reflects the importance of this type and level of investment for mobilizing financial resources for economic exploitation. In Serbia FDI in the previous decade has reached US$ 17 billion, which was sufficient to boost the economic activity. Highest investments were in the financial sector, accounting to over US$ 5 billion. This sector which was characterized by low capitalization and weak profitability in the past has due to foreign capital become sector with very high growth rate. The influence of foreign capital to Serbian financial sector was twofold.[8] Evolution is presented in Table 3 Intra-EU direct investment reported by EU Member States, Financial account, Direct investment, in there porting economy for the period 2001-2008. Investment flows that occurred outside the community space have reflected the strength of economic ties with other states that benefit from this transfer of resources. Knowing that they represent over 10% in the company capital or voting rights we see the interes in promoting and acquiring production capacity with significant economic impact. If in the period 2005-2007 we saw a growth of FDI flows within the community space, the year 2008 brings a reduction in these flows, below those of 2002. The investment relations generated by FDI at community level enhance the process of interdependence of community economies, especially that for the old member states like Germany, France, UK, the flows registered massive drops, especially as they represented exporters of financial resources for the transition and emerging economies. In terms of FDI flows, at least for Romania, as an example of an economy new entrant in the community economic space, in the year 2008, according to BNR data there were 9.496 billion euros, mostly oriented towards economic objectives that have been designed for the privatization process as well as for the initiation of new economic objectives like car production capacity at Pitesti or mobile phones in Cluj-Napoca. So in this context, Net participations of the direct foreign investors to the social capita l of foreign direct investment enterprises in Romania amounting to 4.873 billion euros (51.3% of the net flow of ISD). These resulted from the reducing of the participations worth 5.265 billion euros with a net loss, amounting to 392 million euros. The net loss resulted from the decrease in net profit of foreign direct investment enterprises in 2008, worth 6.412 billion euros, with 2.696 billion euros in dividends distributed in 2008 and with foreign direct investment enterprises losses in 2008 amounting to 4.108 billion euros. [12] Opening economies and accepting a high degree of penetration of FDI flows made possible the development of economic sectors, which until yesterday were doomed to decay due to the rising need for capital. Revitalization of these sectors able to generate profits at the expense of FDI has contributed to diversification but generating added value and growth and diversification of portfolio risk. At the end, we may say that quality of operations of Serbian financial institutions is growing, that assets values are rapidly increasing, and that all companies, regardless weather it is domestic or foreign owned are equally profitable. It is certain that this sector is ready to become core of Serbian economy, and a boost for increased FDI in the second stage of transition.[] Regarding the other component, namely The net credit received by firms with foreign direct investment from the foreign direct investors included in the group, amounting to 4.623 billion euros, representing 48.7% of net flow of ISD.[12] This situation defines the degree of atractability for foreign investors that the economy shows, especially because of some factors that accentuate their competitivity degree like very cheap labor force and highly qualified but also the strategic position that this economy has in the community space. The following table gives an overview of direct investment flows as% of GDP, made by the member states of EU. In this context we can see that the community space was an important source of investment for emergent countries in particular. They have targeted primarily the purchase of economic objectives or develop new ones. FDI is an instrument to achieve economic potential. In this context, according to numerous research carried out, it is considered that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¾A very large number of foreign firms combined with relatively business friendly environment may explain uniqueness of Romania in terms of the existence of very significant knowledge spillovers to domestic firms, as an econometric study of CEEC-8 (excluding Latvia and Lithuania) has shown. Finally yet importantly, the share of FDI in total capital formation together with the length of a period offers some insights as to their relative weight in the economy. The average share of FDI in Gross Domestic Investment of around 20% in the 1997-01 period suggests a significant presence of foreign firms. With around one-fifth of domestic investment carried out by foreign firms, the associated influx of management skills and technology has already had a beneficial effect on the entire economy. [1, p.15] Conclusions As we have seen FDI is an essential component in the economic development, thus creating a proper environment to achieve this point is an object of profound significance for each economy separately. FDI directs the necessary financial funds to those areas that can generate high VAB, implicitly identifying those economic areas with high potential. We must accept however that the promotion of FDI absorption brings some risks, the investor can always choose to leave the country, giving away his investment. The analysis made at the level of the community space, reveals the fact that FDI represented fundamental economic levers to promote economic growth, especially for those countries that joined the EU in the second wave. Massive transformations that have taken place in the community economy had an impact on the flows of FDI. Through FDI, capital was aimed at those companies able to carry on business profit activities, often engaging with themselves a technological transfer contributing to sustenable development as a whole.

The Advantages Of Online Banner Advertising

The Advantages Of Online Banner Advertising INTRODUCTION E-commerce which is also known as electronic commerce, it is online commerce verses actual-world commerce. E-commerce contains retail shopping, investment, banking, stocks and bonds trading, sales, real estate dealings, airline reservation, movie payments. It is almost everything you can visualise in the real world. Even personal services such as hair salons can advantage from e-commerce by providing a website for the sale of connected wellbeing and attractiveness goods, usually accessible to local customers wholly. While e-commerce once required a luxurious interface and individual security certificate, this is no longer the situation. Virtual storefronts are offered by a diversity of hosting services and great Internet occurrences such as eBay and Yahoo, which offer turnkey solutions to sellers with slight or no online knowledge. Tools for running effective e-commerce websites are made into the hosting servers, removing the need for the individual trade to reform the wheel. These tools include advantages like inventory and sales logs, and the ability to accept a diversity of expense choices including secure credit card transactions. The rising popularity of e-commerce is clear considering the time and bother involved in running from store to store, penetrating for an item in the world. It not only takes valuable time and energy, but petrol. With todays busy cities and high gas charges, shopping online every time the mood strikes even in the middle of the night, it has indisputable and unassailable benefits. Not only is it suitable to shop at a countless of sellers from the comfort of your computer chair but its also a snap to find the best deal by allowing sites such as PriceGrabber examine through hundreds of vendors for you. As a result, global world businesses often cannot compete with their e-commerce complements, though one does have to watch for exaggerated shipping payments that might disprove savings. Type of Online Advertising Banner Advertising The first kind of advertising ever done on the net was banner advertising. A banner can highlight a companys product/service/offer and by clicking on it the user will be taken to that companys website, where the company can create a suitable landing page to provide their further information. Banners spaces usually were sold by banner views, impressions, but it is sometimes sold by click-thru, where the company pays only when the user clicks on the banner. To post a banner advertisement, the company can do either or all of the following: a) Banner exchange where another website displays the companys advertisement in exchange of the company displaying for them b) Pay publisher sites to post the companys banner c) Pay a banner network to post the banner advertisement on a number of publisher sites Advantages of Online Banner Advertising Get more website traffic and sales With banner advertisement, companies can put their message in front of future customers. It also drives clicks to their website and sales from interested audiences. Advertise new products Banner advertisements can help companies to advertise their new products because banner advertisements give them the freedom to say what they want not only with text but also photos and animation. Build brand Companys brand name is one of companys most important assets. By building trust with their customers, customers are more likely to purchase from them, not just once, but repeatedly. Banner advertisements allow them to get their website name and even their logo in front of their audience. Find new customers With search engine advertising, people have to know to look for the companies product or name. But with banner ads, companies can put their message right in front of the people. Introduce themselves to new customers to win new business. Easy and cost-effective Banner advertising has been put within reach of small businesses by new services. Online tools now let companies make free banner advertisements and buy online advertising space quickly and easily. Disadvantages of Online Banner Advertising Cost considerations Banner advertisements can be rather expensive for small businesses as it may cost several thousand dollars per month to put an advertisement on a site with a high level of traffic. Creating effective banners Even if a banner is well-placed, it will not attract the interest of surfers or generate traffic for the companies website unless it is well-designed. Suggestion for Improvement Size Some banner advertisement is too small to be noticed while some is too big causes the banner to look very disturbing. The size should be around medium size. Graphic Insert some graphic in the banner such as animation or cartoon characters might attract the viewers even more. Facebook Advertising Facebook Advertising has grown-up in popularity and formed quite a stir when it was head introduced. Ever since the arrival of aiming advertising more exactly towards demographics such as age, sex, education and so on. And having tighter limitations on advertising quality, Facebook advertising has been a feasible traffic builder and advertising choice for minor and huge size commerce. Advantages To reach target customers, connect with more than 500 million potential customers (100 million mobile users) cannot be overlooked. There are more Google searches that are being done, the customer reach for Facebook advertising is massive and needs to be utilized. Because of its ability to divide and segment customer information, Facebook has the ability to offer increased targeting for their advertisers. If you would like to only target women, ages 20-30 with a university education that live in California, then you can do that. Likewise when someone changes status such as single, engaged or married they move into new markets, making them more attractive to target. With the ability to target locally very exact, corporations and services that are looking for local or regional clients can gain benefits from the Facebook advertising system. It is to find a successful with Local Clients. Disadvantages People are using Facebook to talk with their friends and socialize and rarely are thinking about buying something when they log into their Facebook account. This creates issues when firms are focusing on click through rate (>2.5-5%) conversion rates. One thing that Facebook has continued to try and crack down on is advertising campaigns that make their way into the system that are inappropriate and off putting to users of the system. Free give ways, rewards programs and comedy sites have continued to flood the system, giving the advertising less relevance when the consumer is viewing them. Suggestion for Improvement Graphic Insert more graphic in the facebook advertisements such as animation or cartoon characters might attract the viewers even more. There are plenty of advertisers that complain about how long it takes to get Facebook advertising approved. So, two options are immediately obvious. Automate it. Hire more interns. Reaching Facebook Users Through PPC Advertisements hansdorsch Conclusion Online advertising means doing advertising activities through internet network not only at local places but also worldwide. Online advertising is very effective as nowadays many people have access to internet. They can see the advertisement when they were surfing the internet. Meanwhile, normal advertising means doing advertising through media such as television, radio, newspaper, brochures and others. Television and radio advertising can be both effective and not effective. These two advertising can be effective as many people likes to watch television and listen to the radio. These two advertising can be not effective because the advertisement that are broadcast may not be the advertisement that viewer or listener wish to know. Therefore online advertising is better than normal advertising and the best online advertising method is Facebook advertising. This is because nowadays, Facebook is a social network that connects to people around the world. Facebook had become very famous not only for teenagers and children but also adults. Some people may spend up to 12 hours a day just for Facebook. So by using Facebook advertising, Facebook users may be able to see the advertisements and click on it if they were interested.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

For some of you graduates, this will be the last ceremony you might ever sit through. Most of us, though, and I regret that I am in this group, will sit through many more ceremonies -- ceremonies longer and more tedious that this or anything else you can imagine. If you think this is bad, try a college graduation. Think, that is, attend a wedding. And, if just for a moment you think that that is bad, just be thankful you have never attended or will attend a Bar Mitzvah. The only ceremony I think anybody would truly enjoy attending is a funeral. But, only if you are lucky enough, or unlucky enough, to be the guest of honor, because, really, that will be the only time you will be able to be honored at a ceremony and not have to make chit chat with a bunch of strangers afterwards. I hate chit chat. Mindless talk, with really no subject to talk about. People love to chit chat after ceremonies, especially after graduations. Be prepared fellow students. Be prepared. Look around at the people in the stands. They are eyeing you, picking you out. They are going to find you, and they are going to chit chat. I think it is these costumes we are wearing. Something about us all dressing alike that makes people tend to think we're all the same person. They look at one of us in cap and gown, and figure they might as well talk to us like we're all the same relative they came to see. Note to guests: Just because you are Uncle Lenny, does not make you my Uncle Lenny. My Uncle Lenny could not attend tonight. He is the guest of honor at a funeral. Well now I am a minute or so into my speech and all I have done is rant and I have said anything of importance, so let me do that, now. Usually people like to choose a quote to use in speeches like the... ... from there my sultry suburbanite. I know what some of you are thinking right now, though. You right there, you are saying, "Hey guy, while I'm over here thinking about how purty I am and how not-so-purty my neighbor is, my neighbor is thinking the same thing about me. It don't work. Your hypothesis is unfeasible." Well, let me tell you this right now, and it is just between me and you. You are the real good-looking one. Let that beastly person next to you think whatever they want, both me and you know who is hot, and who is not. You will all find this helpful in your lives. Just remember that cardinal rule. When two people are next to each other, one of them has to be better looking than the other, and it might as well be you. Unless, of course you're sitting next to me you infectious flap-mouthed scut, you. Thank you all, for your sweetly faked attention.

The Scarlet Letter Essay examples -- essays research papers

Hester Prynne: The Ultimate Feminist Heroine   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s American classic The Scarlet Letter the main character Hester Prynne is portrayed as the preeminent feminist heroine through the portraiture of her crime and punishment. In this novel, a Puritanical society in New England condemns Hester Prynne to wear a highly embossed depiction of the letter â€Å"A† on her breast as punishment for an act of adultery. How Hester handles the consequences of her castigation is what brings about the heroic feministic qualities of the main character. Three aspects that corroborate Hester Prynne’s qualities are: 1. Admitting her sin openly to fellow man and God, 2. Putting up with the taunting and social exile of her punishment, and 3. Aspiring above her torment to give love to her daughter Pearl and Pearl’s father, Reverend Dimmesdale.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hester Prynne openly admits her sin to fellow man and God. From the first few pages of the book, we are confronted with the fact that Hester has mothered a child without being legally betrothed in marriage. When the townspeople notice that Hester has broken one of God’s laws, she is forced to stand in the middle of the town square upon a scaffold for a period of three hours, all for the purpose of public humiliation. Since adultery is one of the highest crimes that a mortal can commit in a Puritanical society, a tribunal quickly forms to decide that fate of the young malefactor. All the while, it could have been possible for Hester to abandon the baby to save herself from public torment and possibly the penalty of death. Nonetheless, Hester faces up to the reality of her acts and takes direct responsibility for them. To go even further, she does not even reveal the father of her illegitimate child for fear that he may suffer a fate worse than her own, which would most certainly be death. At the end of the period of time that she had to serve upon the scaffold, a crowd decides her punishment which was to wear the depiction of â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† on her breast.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hester Prynne must put up with the taunting and social exile of her punishment from the second after she was condemned. The townspeople would consider her as an untouchable heathen who only only aired negative, evil energy. Children would be afraid of both Hester and Pearl as they c... ... At the beginning of the novel when Hester is standing on the scaffolding, she does not reveal the secret that Dimmesdale desperately wants her to keep; the secret of his wrongful fathering of Pearl. Hester puts herself through much more stress than she needs to by not revealing this secret over a seven long years, but her love for Dimmesdale is the only strong evidence that keeps her from revealing it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has been thoroughly justified that in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as the ultimate feminist heroine through the delineation of her crime and punishment. How Hester handles the consequences of her chastisement is what brings about the heroic feministic qualities of Hester as the main character. The viewpoints that corroborate Hester Prynne’s qualities are: 1. Admitting her sin openly to fellow man and God, 2. Putting up with the taunting and extreme social exile of her punishment, and 3. Aspiring above her torment to give love, care and support to her daughter Pearl and Pearl’s illegitimate father, Reverend Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne is the absolute epitome of a feminist heroine in all of American literature.

Life of Pi: Use of a Unreliable Narrator Essay

â€Å"An unreliable narrator can draw you into his or her worldview and perhaps even make you take sides before a writer reveals a broader perspective, one that he/she has missed or omitted. Even if a story is written so you doubt the narrator from the beginning, an unreliable narrator is still the one taking you through the story, so you hang on to their words. Perhaps a certain dialogue or an event will uncover details the narrator does not realize and expose that as an unreliable narrator, their word can no longer be trusted†. (Jada Bradley). In the book Life of Pi, Pi reveals himself as an unreliable narrator. Although Pi defines himself as an unpredictable narrator through the final events in the story, Pi gives hints of false information throughout the book. As a reader, you hang on to his words because he is the one taking you through the account of his epic journey. Pi in the final scene of the story after his journey across the Pacific, tells the Japanese Oceanic Authorities contradicting stories. â€Å"Pi: So, you didn`t like my story? Mr.Okamoto: No, we liked it very much. Didn’t we , Atsuro? We will remember it for a long, long time. Mr.Chiba: We will. [Silence] Mr.Okamoto: But for the purposes of our investigation, we would like to know what really happened. Pi: What really happened? Mr. Okamoto: Yes. Pi: So you want another story? Mr. Okamoto: Uhh†¦no. We would like to know what really happened.† Pi leads you to believe that he is only making up the second account to satisfy the two men`s disbelief in his first story. However, if you reexamine the book you find that the second report could actually be a true account. Now you see that there are two valid stories, and the reader must choose which story is accurate based on their own conclusions about Pi. Throughout Pi`s journey there are doubtful events that hint at his unreliability as an narrator. These incidents can influence your choice on which story you find factual, like sketchy witnesses in a crime investigation. For instance, during his voyage, Pi encounters another blind castaway who jumps on Pi`s boat to kill him but, is killed by Richard Parker. This event is extremely unrealistic, for the possibility of two blind castaways encountering each other in the world`s largest ocean is simply far-fetched. You may sense some disbelief in this occurrence yet, you still trust his word. For Pi hasn`t yet given the reader a reason to disbelieve him as the narrator. Pi`s story from the boat sinking and the loss of his family, to his terrible journey across the Pacific Ocean is a horrible tragedy. You mourn for him and his horrible situation and through this sorrow you don`t realize that he could be making this all up. Usually when you read stories you want the main character to have a happy ending. However, in Life of Pi, when you discover you can no longer trust Pi`s account, you lose your remorse for him and his predicament. Crossen states this plainly in her Wall Street Journal article on unreliable narrators, â€Å"Unfortunately, to point out that a book has an unreliable narrator is to spoil the thrill of losing your innocence.† Cheering for the main character becomes vile when you have lost trust in their word. Pi`s first account of a boy and a Bengal tiger surviving a journey across the Pacific Ocean is fantastic tale but somewhat believable. However, by the end of the novel our perception of Pi as the storyteller has been tainted. Our perspective of anyone`s account of their lives depends on our own experiences and knowledge. As David Fromkin states in The Way of the World, †Life is a story that each of us tells to his or her self; and it therefore is a tale told by an unreliable narrator.†

Ikea Essay

Ltd. is a furniture operations company that offers â€Å"quick assembly† furniture with 15% lower price than its competitors. IKEA’s success brought imitators, such as Sears. In order to analyze IKEA’s competitive position in the Canadian Furniture Industry as well as Sears competitive threat, a model of competitive rivalry was used. IKEA and Sears both compete against each other in multiple markets across Canada, they both have market commonality and resource similarity. The Sears catalogue has almost the same format of an IKEA catalogue, and they both offer knock-down, self-assembled line products which allows the customers to create particular designs. In addition, the price for Elements’ products in Sears seemed almost identical to IKEA prices. They both go closely to the supplier in marketing, research, design and development, production standards and production planning. Some of the suppliers of the Elements line for Sears were from Sweden, which is the same as IKEA, but it didn’t show that they had any suppliers in common. It’s evidently that both of the market commonality and resource similarity are very high between those two companies. The market commonality and resource similarity can influence the drivers of competitive behaviour. The awareness of IKEA to recognize the degree of imitation by Sears is very high. High awareness enables IKEA to understand the consequences of Sears’ actions and responses. IKEA has a high motivation to respond Sears’s imitation. In order to protect IKEA’s position in the furniture market, IKEA has a philosophy to dealing with the copyright. IKEA would like to make a new model to replace the stole one rather than bring a lawsuit. Furthermore, IKEA has the ability to attack or respond to Sears’ actions. Since they both hold the similar resources, the ability to attack and respond is similar. IKEA should consider all important issues before taking action or respond to Sears. First-mover incentives, organizational size, and quality are the three factors that IKEA may take action to its competitors. As a first mover, IKEA’s business approach was fundamentally different from the traditional Canadian retailers. IKEA focus on â€Å"quick assembly† furniture and allow the customers assembled at home. Due to this reason, its price is 15% below the lowest prices for traditional furniture. The size of IKEA Canada is relatively small than Sears. The smaller size enables IKEA to launch competitive actions to defend their market position. The quality of IKEA’s product can be guaranteed. As one of the competitive strategy, IKEA had nearly 100 production engineers to assist suppliers in every way to low costs, introduce new technology, and design. The company has a philosophy to â€Å"create a better everyday life for the majority of people. † In order to defend its market position, IKEA may response Sears’ imitation in the following ways. IKEA may implement some strategic action, such as new innovation, to replace the stolen model from Sears. IKEA may lower its price, always by 10 to 15 percent on a particular item, than Sears. If IKEA can’t do it, IKEA may just drop the item and select some other one, to compete against Sears. Sears is one of Canada’s largest merchandising operations, and offering a wide range of medium price and quality goods. IKEA can predict that Sears with relatively lower market dependence are less likely to respond strongly to attacks threatening their market position.

Comparison and Contrast

Long Distance Relationship Relationship is built when a man and a woman want to make a commitment between them and hope to make their relationship last forever. Everything will bee done in order to make their relationship keep going until marriage. On the other side, there is a kind of relationship between people who live separately far away but they keep having relationship between them in the name of love, trust, and faith. That kind of relationship we call it long distance relationship. Not all of LDR (Long Distance Relationship) couple can make it through until marriage.They have bigger problems than couple who don't live far away and can meet each other easily. The problems are the distance where they live are far away, they need to spend more money to keep commonicating each other, and the worst is they can cheat each other. They will meet those problems which can cause them to break up. The first problem in LDR is actually the distance. They live far away and they can not meet each other everyday. When those couple live separately far away they will suffer for some things like loneliness, miss each other, and they can not share the same thing and time together.How a man can cheer his woman up when they live far away? This kind of thing will effect to their feeling in relationship. The only way to keep contact each other just by phone or texting message. When they see a couple who always spend time together in weekend the LDR couple will feel sad because how can they have a relationship but it is hard to meet each other. Those kind of thing will cause them to fight and they need to more understand each other about this kind of relationship.Then second problem is they need to spend more money than an usual couple. When the distance come as the problem they need to spend more money to meet their couple who live far away. They have to take transportion for example by plane for those couple who live different country. They need more money to buy tickets, the expensive phone bills, and internet. In order to make them keep contact each other they need to send messages everyday or when they are missing each other they will have a phone night call to hear their couple voice.Meanwhile, for those couple who using internet they can use skype, twitter, or facebook. They use skype in order to see each other face instead of go to their place who live far away. Besides money, it really need to spend more time to communicate each other and it might distract their activities such as work, school, or house things. When their lost of time to communicate each other by phone or internet it will raise the couriousity for them because LDR couple will have more bad feelings and couriousity because they never meet each other.The last thing and even the worst thing is they can cheat each other without think about their couple feeling who live far away. Not all of people can survive from this kind of relationship. They need to meet the person who they love, s pend time together, and share the same thing which the like. Therefore, they want to have an usual relationship who can make them always bee together with their couple. The man or woman who can not get rid of this kind of feeling will cheat behind their couple.

Kite Runner Friendship Analysis Essay

In Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling novel The Kite Runner, two boys, Hassan and Amir, have a friendship that is not as typical as most children’s. Although they do carve into a tree that they are the â€Å"sultans of Kabul†, their friendship is weak and one sided. These boys grew up in Kabul, and although their childhood friendship may have seemed like something out of a book, complete with pomegranate trees and story telling, it was dark and emotionally wearing. A main reason for this was because of the one subtle difference between these boys, omitting the differences in character. Hassan is a Hazara and Amir is a Pashtun. For this reason the Afghan society has classified Hassan as a lower human being and he, along with his father, is in servitude towards Amir and his family. Amir’s lack of self-confidence throughout the novel hinders his ability to have a true friendship with Hassan. Eventually Amir tries to break away from the power of the jealousy and guilt that Hassan has brought into his life. An underlying cause of the problems Amir has with his friendship pertaining to Hassan is that he is jealous of Hassan. This jealousy causes him to test Hassan, and to take advantage of Hassan’s unwavering loyalty. This is just to prove that Hassan is lower than he is. Amir confirms this by humiliating Hassan to himself, by taking advantage of Hassan’s illiteracy to amuse himself, such as when he convinces Hassan that imbecile meant smart and intelligent. Amir is not accomplishing anything by teasing Hassan except that he is establishing that he is smarter. Amir feels that he has to prove himself because he lacks acceptance from his father, so he teases Hassan in order to become acceptable to his father. Amir once again has to prove to himself that he has the ultimate superiority by testing Hassan when he tells him to eat dirt. Hassan says that he would, which is all Amir needs to expand his ego and confirm that he is still above Hassan. Furthermore, Amir is also jealous because his father, whom he longs for his approval, seems to favor Hassan. Hassan is athletic and Baba,Amir’s father, has said that he associates himself with Hassan over Amir. Amir’s jealousy arose from his avid pursuit and evident failure to achieve his father’s illusive approval. Because of the lack of approval from his father, Amir finds it necessary to tear down Hassan in order to build himself up. The friendship exemplified in The Kite Runner is very weak because Amir thinks of Hassan as his servant, which explains why he is constantly testing him and does not stand up for him as a true friend would do. Hazaras are not accepted in the Afghan society that Hassan and Amir grew up in, but Amir does not refute the biased and racist culture set out in front of him. Instead, he embraces it. Even at the susceptible age of twelve, Amir is well aware of the principles of right and wrong and he chooses to do wrong. He chooses to do wrong because he feels he will escape from the struggles Hassan has brought upon him. Hassan gets harassed by his peers, an example of this is when Assef, the local bully, bullies him by saying, â€Å"Afghanistan is the land of the Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood†¦.. How can you talk to him, play with him, let him touch you? â€Å". When Hassan is harassed, Amir does nothing. Instead, he almost blurts out that Hassan is nothing but a servant when in fact he spends all of his free time playing like true friends play. Amir wants to be accepted by his peers, peers such as Assef, Wali, and Kamal. He wants to be accepted with such a passion that he chooses to disregard his friend in order to gain approval from these boys. Amir ends up sacrificing his morals for popularity. Another example of how Amir is a coward and only wants to be accepted by his peers and his father is when he turns his back on Hassan when Hassan is raped. Hassan gets raped by Assef while trying to complete the task of kite running for Amir. Amir witnesses this horrible act and does nothing to stop it. He does not step in to help his friend because he believes that Hassan is sacrificing himself for him. This is a completely selfish thought on Amir’s part because no one should have to bear another persons burden, even if one person is another person’s servant. The choice made by Amir to sacrifice his morals and rationalize his decisions forever haunts him and makes it harder to escape the power of his own guilt. Amir is clearly an emotionally unstable person, but his resentment towards Hassan is deepened because of his own guilt. Amir feels extreme guilt after he watches his friend get raped in an alley. After witnessing this he feels that he can no longer be in the same room as Hassan. â€Å"I’d hear Hassan shuffling around the kitchen in the morning, hear the clinking of silverware, the whistle of the teapot. I’d wait to hear the door shut and only then I would walk down to eat† is an example of how he tries to avoid him. This shows that Amir cannot face his guilt. he knows that he has done something wrong but refuses to confront it and redeem himself and his friendship with Hassan. Amir realizes that he has done a grave dishonor to Hassan. He believed that he was a â€Å"monster† that caused Hassan so much trouble. Amir comes to terms with the fact that he is a selfish, immature person, yet instead of accepting that fact and trying to get Hassan’s forgiveness, he once again betrays his friendship. Because Hassan is a reflection of Amir’s guilt, Amir believes in an elementary manner that if he rids himself of what to him is the symbol of his guilt, he will also be freed of the guilt. This is why he frames Hassan of thievery. This plan to accuse Hassan of thievery ultimately backfires and causes Amir even more personal anguish. Hassan then left and even though Amir felt his absence would free him from the guilt and jealousy, he ends up even more full of guilt. Amir thinks of Hassan as less worthy human being even though he is jealous of him, this mix of jealousy and resentment leads to a guilt that Amir handles unethically. Amir treats Hassan much like a dog. He believes that he can treat him as roughly as possible, but the animal will be forever loyal. Amir does not believe that he needs to defend Hassan, since Hassan is ultimately there to sacrifice himself for Amir. Amir is jealous of Hassan because of Hassan’s approval earned by Baba, and this causes Amir to search for other ways to expand his ego. Amir resents Hassan because of the guilt that Amir has caused himself. The choices made by Amir and Hassan defined who they were and who they would become. Amir allows his original thoughts about Hassan, thoughts of loyalty and true friendship, to be tainted because he is weak. Although Amir and Hassan carved their names into a tree, Amir’s character hinders their ability to be best friends and their bond is a far cry from even an equal friendship. While trying to escape the grasps of jealousy and guilt, Amir ultimately falls deeper in the hole he dug himself.

Term paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Term paper - Essay Example Most of the Hong Kong made films are often criticized for plagiarizing or copying the films of other cinemas such as Hollywood (Pang 74). In the case of the Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee was being accused of â€Å"having no style as style† because the film was generally patterned from the Japanese cinema style (Pang 74). Instead of using the typical Chinese kung fu style, Lee incorporated what he has learned from his â€Å"Jeet Kune Do† training (Zhuo and Cheuk 44; Eleftheriotis and Needham 111) with the use of the Japanese martial arts (Pang 74). In the process of integrating different kung fu style, Lee somehow managed to come up with his own kung fu style. Specifically in the movie Fist of Fury, Bruce Lee played the role of Chen Zhen. As compared to Jackie Chan’s kung fu style, Lee’s kung fu style was more serious as always. This is mainly because the kind of films that Bruce Lee makes are mostly action ones (Mennel 90; You Tube b). Bruce Lee is known for his fast reflex when doing his kung fu movements. This can be seen in the film when he tried to fight on behalf of his co-workers who were engaged in the fight with the top management’s security personnel (You Tube b 45:31). During the actual production, Bruce Lee encountered some communication problem with some of the extra. Back then, Lee had to find somebody to translate his instructions (Black Belt 26). This is probably true because Bruce Lee has been working with people with different cultural background. When doing martial arts film, it is difficult on the part of the actor to control his movements without literally hurting the extra when filming a stunt. To create a more realistic action film, the actors should pay attention to the timing of their actions. Instead of hurting himself from doing kung fu acts, Bruce Lee was the one who is causing more physical injuries and fracture to those extras. For instance, when Bruce Lee had to kick the extra during the set, he had a hard time controlling the force

To be Determined Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

To be Determined - Essay Example He is essentially good, but he, or his ancestors, have broken a moral law – a law of the gods or the state. In the play we see him struggling to avoid the consequences of his transgression but we know that his eventual defeat is inevitable that he cannot avoid the punishment that will come as a consequence of what he has done. Dante’s Inferno and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have their own protagonists and tragic heroes. Some tragedies like the problem plays of Dante and Homer may not end in death but there is a sense of sadness or melancholy or perhaps of futility in the fact that life for the tragic character must go on. If the hero does not die, but those whom he loves or values are destroyed, we still find ourselves with the same kind of emotion which his death would give us. Although literature, Homer’s and Dante’s, leaves us with a sense of loss and tragedy because the hero has shown us how noble and good he is and yet has been destroyed or defeated, we feel a certain kind of satisfaction because he has demonstrated the value of human nature and has shown us how noble and great man can be. We feel proud of such a man as a tragic hero and we feel humbled by the thought that we may not be able to be as heroic as he was. Dante’s Divina Comedia (Divine Comedy) ns become a best seller. Why is this? It may be because most thinking people today are profoundly disturbed by the erosion of values in our mechanistic civilization, and are floundering around in search of the eternal verities of beauty and truth as a stabilizing force in their lives. Dante â€Å"has framed all the parts of his enormous perception within a total relationship of values and within a total dramatization of reality†. (Mazzotta, 128) By the power of his personal genius and by the power of his metaphoric language we can translate his particular

Creating False Memories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Creating False Memories - Essay Example These memories belong to the first year of a person’s life in which memories are not properly stored. False memories are usually formed as a result of some sort of pressure. False memories can be easily planted if the event is corroborated by another person. A person can even accept a wrong which he has not done if someone claims he has seen the person doing it. False memories are formed when our mind mixes the reality with the information received from others. The subject is still undergoing research and there is little cure for false memories as it is very difficult to differentiate between reality and illusion. (F.Lotus, 1997). In my view, awareness should be created about the creation of false memories to prevent any exploitation. The idea of creating false memories should only be used positively for investigative studies about the functioning of the human mind. Works Cited F.Lotus, E. (1997, September). Creating False memories. Scientific American .

Classroom Management and Student Discipline Research Paper - 2

Classroom Management and Student Discipline - Research Paper Example In this essay, I endeavor to engage in reflection particularly in classroom management and student discipline. Towards this end, I will be discussing various dimensions in classroom management and discipline in the context of my own personal experience. To fully engage in reflective practice, I will draw from relevant literature to assess my own practice. In assessing my practice, I will introduce two types of overarching skills: hard skills and soft skills from where specific strategies belong. I will then highlight areas of weaknesses and strengths. In conclusion, I will offer recommendations for my own practice that hopefully, will aid in both my personal and professional growth. In evaluating and reflecting upon my practice of classroom management and student discipline, I find it helpful to distinguish between two types of practices. First, I will refer to as technical strategies or hard skills. The second category I shall label as relationship strategies or soft skills. In the world of work, hard skills often refer to technical skills or procedures often involving machinery and computer protocols. In the classroom, technical strategies are those that involve planning, structuring and organizing systems and procedures to maintain an effective classroom environment. Soft skills on the other hand are the people skills that are employed to build on relationships. In the classroom, certain relationships are important and must be established to reduce disruptions and misbehaviour. Planning would be the key factor in Arrend’s (2009) preventative classroom management strategies. To be able to plan effectively though, it is highly important to know and understand the background of the students, which I usually invest in during the first term of the school year. I have found that this preparation facilitates not only making effective lesson planning

The LInux Operating System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The LInux Operating System - Research Paper Example Thus, one can download the software and edit and make changes as per one’s requirements. This adds to the flexibility and adaptability of the operating system to user requirements. Linux is often called a derivative of UNIX, the other operating system that is character based and one that is widely used in research laboratories around the world. Linux operates in many flavors and some of the popular distributions of Linux are Fedora Core, Debian and SuSE Linux. According to many software sites, â€Å"Although there are a large number of Linux implementations, you will find a lot of similarities in the different distributions, if only because every Linux machine is a box with building blocks that you may put together following your own needs and views. Installing the system is only the beginning of a long term relationship† (Linuxtopia, 2008). Thus, one can install Linux and build on top of it or use it in any way possible according to one’s needs. Linux is an operating system, a software program that controls your computer. Linux traces its evolution to a mainframe operating system called Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service). UNIX was developed by two Bell Labs software engineers who during their spare time used to play a game called Space Travel. Sometimes they used to find themselves without the operating system by which they could play their favorite game. Thus, the two software engineers, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie developed the game to play on an otherwise unused PDP-7 computer. This was the origin of UNIX that was a precursor to Linux. Once the UNIX operating system began to be widely used and freely available, AT&T decided to license it and this led to its claiming a huge license fee for UNIX and it secured the intellectual property rights for UNIX. Once UNIX was no longer a freeware, a MIT scientist called Richard Stallman began what is known as the GNU (Or Not Unix) operating system and started to make it available under the

The Leader Affects the Outcome of an Ethical Situation Essay

The Leader Affects the Outcome of an Ethical Situation - Essay Example The health provider and any other concerned person must respect any decision by the patient. The case of Eduardo Rosas Cruz, a 25-year-old tuberculosis patient, is an example of a patient that refused treatment, according to the principle of autonomy. The man who is from the northern California disappeared immediately he was diagnosed with tuberculosis (Fauria, 2014). He was arrested and taken to a medical center and kept under guard. The leader who is the health care provider influences the outcome by ordering the patient to remain in a hotel room under isolation. The patient violated the orders and escaped leading the health providers worried about the security of the uninfected. As a nurse leader, I would create a quarantine room in the hospital for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and offer quality services for those quarantined. The action will help the patient to feel comfortable and recover fast. I would also ensure that any other patient diagnosed with a similar disea se undergoes thorough counseling in the psychiatry department. American Nurses Association,. (2015). Short Definition s of Ethical Principles and Theories Familiar Words. What do they man. Retrieved 25 May 2015, from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/Resources/Ethics-Definitions.pdf Fauria, K. (2014). Arrest Warrant Issued For Santa Barbara TB Patient. The Washington Times. 26 May 2015, from

Marketing plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing plan - Research Paper Example The UK has one of the most stable political environments. The political leaders have ensured that politics does not affect the performance of the business in the market as this aspect would lead to loss of job opportunities for the locals. This can be ascertained by the latest election which was concluded days ago. Despite heightened political activities in the country, business operations were running normally (Paley, 2007). In addition, political steered clear of any issues that might destabilize the business environment. As a result, the country provides a serene environment for Americana. The UK population has an adventurous culture. Therefore, they like to taste other people’s culture. In addition, they appreciate other people ways of doing things and diet. However, they like to be associated with products and services that are produced locally. This aspect will be significant because Halal will meet the interests of the target market. In addition, this will create an opportunity for the local population to taste Muslim delicacies. This will attract more non-Muslim customers towards the product, some of which will end up becoming loyal to the products (Malhotra & Sciglimpaglia, 2009). UK has a stable economy. Although the country was affected by the financial crisis in 2008, it has been able to recover slowly. Initially, people were more reserved with their spending. However, this has changed over the years. People are now spending on their food of choice. The pound remains strong and stable. In addition, the interest rates in the country remain low in comparison with the neighboring countries. Therefore, in case the business will decide to expand its operations in other European countries using UK as its main base, it will be able to enjoy favorable exchange rates (Shankar & Carpenter 2012). This will be significant in enabling the business to penetrate and segment other markets. The largest market

Response to short story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Response to short story - Essay Example Clearly, it is blind approval of the lottery that has made the lottery part and parcel of the villagers’ lives and perpetuates annual murders in the form of ritual performances in the small town. People are often intrinsically resistant to change and have become so submissive to their traditions that they fear a relapse into primordial times upon the stoppage of the lottery. The lottery has transformed the villagers into inhumane creatures that they find it normal to kill so as to satisfy the demands of tradition. Sadly, none of the villagers can give a substantial reason for holding the lottery and having to kill someone whenever they are called upon. This clearly exposes the unconscious self that is driven by the power of tradition rather than the reasoning mind. Suppose the killers would take even a minute to challenge their action perhaps no more deaths in the lottery would be experienced, but no one seems to dare questioning the tradition. To them it seems like their reason for living. Jacksons impugns the villagers’ reverence for this odd tradition by arguing that the villagers are even oblivious of the origin of the ritual that they hold so

Determination Of The Relative Composition Of a Mixture Solution Essay Example for Free

Determination Of The Relative Composition Of a Mixture Solution Essay To determine the relative composition of a mixture solution containing sodium ethane-1, 2-dioate and ethane-1, 2-dioic acid. INTRODUCTION Potassium permanganate KMn is a strong oxidizing agent which reacts with reducing agent ethanedioate ion to give and C + 2 Mn+ 16 2+8+10 Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) reacts with acid to give water . the reaction is shown with the following equation + To investigate the relative composition of the mixture solution, it has to be titrated with NaOH first with phenolphthalein as indicator and then with acidify KMn as Mn react with both compound. KMnhas to be acidified first, otherwise brown ppt of Mn is formed instead of 2 H2O + MnO4- + 3 e- à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Mn+ 4 In addition to that, the reaction solution has to be warmed to about 70 as the reaction rate is very slow. MATERIALS AND APPARATUS beaker measuring cylinder. Safety spectacles beaker conical flask pipette ,25 burette ,50, and stand wash bottle white file electrical heater sulphuric acid Potassium permanganate KMn solution Mixture solution PROCEDURE 1. 25.00of the mixture solution was transferred into a 250conical flask using a pipette rinsed by distilled water and the mixture solution 2. The burette rinsed by distilled water and NaOH is filled with NaOH 3. Titrate the mixture solution with 0.1M NaOH solotuion using phenolphthalein as indicactor 4. Until the solution turns pink, result is recorded in table 1 5. About 25.00of 1M sulphuric acid (using measuring cylinder) is added to the conical flask . 6. The mixture is then heated by electrical heater to at least 70. 7. The heated mixture is then titrated with 0.02M Potassium permanganate KMn until a permanent pink colour is observed 8. Record the result in Table2 RESULT Table 1 Titration result of mixture solution against NaOH Trial 1 2 3 Final burette reading 15.4 27.3 39.0 12.8 Initial burette Reading 3.1 15.4 27.3 1.0 Volume of NaOH Added 12.3 11.9 11.7 11.8 Mean Volume of NaOH added ( 11.7+11.8+11.9) /3 =11.8 Table 2 Titration result of mixture solution against KMn Trial 1 2 3 Final burette reading 35.0 26.4 45.5 40.6 Initial burette Reading 16.3 7.1 26.4 21.4 Volume of NaOH Added 18.7 19.3 19.1 19.2 Mean Volume of NaOH added ( 19.3+19.1+19.2) /3 =19.2 CALCUALTION Equation involved in the reaction between NaOH and mixture solution: + +Na(aq) Mole ratio of NaOH:=2:1 = =11.8/10000.1/2 =5.9xmol Molarity of = 5.9X/(25/1000) =2.36 x M + 2 Mn+ 16 2+8+10 Mole ratio of : Mn=5:2 = =519.2/10000.02/2 =9.610^-4 mol Mole of sodium ethane-1,2-dioate = 9.6x-5.91 l = 3.7 x mol Molarity of sodium ethane-1,2-dioate in mixture = 3.7 x/(25/1000) =1.48xM DISCUSSIONS CHOICE OF INDICATORS Phenolphthalein is used as indicator in the reaction between Sodium hydroxide and ethane-1, 2-dioic acid because the reaction involves a weak acid titrated against a strong alkali. REASON FOR HEATING THE MIXTURE SOLUTION The rate reaction between and Mn is very slow as there is repulsion between anion. REASON FOR HEATING MIXTURE SOLUTION IN THE CONICAL FLASK INSTEAD OF MN IN THE BURETTE Aqueous solution of Potassium permanganate KMn is unstable and can easily be decomposed. The decomposition is accelerated by heat. If it is put in the conical flask and heated, it will easily oxidize water to oxygen and the amount of KMn is therefore decreased. 4Mn 4Mn +3 In addition, if hot Potassium permanganate solution is added to the burette, it may cause expansion of burette, causing inaccurate measurement. END POINT The end-point is not very permanent because if the Mn ion is in large excess, the following reaction occur: 2 Mn+3+ 2 +4 DECOPOSITION OF POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE Potassium permanganate is easily decomposed and the decomposition is speed up by light, heat, acids, base, reducing agent in air such as hydrogen sulphide gas, , , and even by the end-product Therefore, it should be stored in brown bottle and should be standardized before use. ABSORPTION OF WATER BY SODIUM HYDROXIDE sodium hydroxide absorb water from air. The volume of solution increase, and hence cause a decrease in concentration, causing inaccurate calculation CONCLUSION The concentration of sodium ethane-1,2-dioate is 1.48xM while ethane-1, 2-dioic acids is 2.36 x M

Case Study Of River Severn At Caersws Environmental Sciences Essay

Case Study Of River Severn At Caersws Environmental Sciences Essay River is freshwater providing natural resources for food, recreation, energy, transportation, irrigation and drinking. However, the quality and quantity of river water have been limited due to climate change and other pollutions from sewage and food waste or farm effluent in the whole world. Moreover, other river issues which results from hydraulic principles of river have occurred frequently since the ancient civilizations in many countries, such as erosion and floods. This can not only cause destruction of life including fauna, flora and human, but also damage property like roads and bridges especially in urban areas and destroy farmlands in rural areas. Therefore, various types of techniques and practical schemes have been discovered and utilized in managing and restoring river in order to create sustainable (complex) ecosystems and protect human health and other vegetations. Take the United Kingdom for example, the largest river-River Severn, which is approximately 354 kilometres length from source that locate in the Plynlimon Mountains in West Wales to the sea (Witts, 2011), flows through several countries such as Shropshire and also has a large number of tributary rivers, which can be illustrated in Figure 1. BBC News (2011) states that it has various types of pollution and needs major restoration to comply with new European Union Legislation. However, the attractiveness of river restoration in recent years is normally following the damage of the point source of water pollution. Thus, diffuse pollution of the proposal river will be focused in the upper stretch of River Severn at Caersws and the related restoration will be introduced in the following sections. The main objective of this project is to critical analyze the potential pollution or issues of a stretch of River Severn at Caersws and to discuss the effects of restoration on local ecosystems and economy. Moreover, the several types of restoration schemes and techniques will be analysed including stream bank stabilization, enhancing riparian buffers by adding trees and natural grasses and other additional techniques. In additional, the changed hydraulics will also be explained and analyzed before restoration and afterward in this paper. Figure 1. Map of River Severn image map of the river Severn (Source: Mandy Barrow, 2011a) 2. Description of River Severn at Caersws 2.1 Site Description of the River Caersws is a small village in the upper valley of the River Severn, which can be illustrated in Figure 2 and Figure 3 (National Grid Reference SO 033 917). At Caersws the River Severn has a catchment area of 375 km2 and bankfull discharge is approximately 70 m3/sec (Williams and Rhodes, 1982). The main rock type of the proposal area is resistant rock and the bed is formed in coarse alluvial deposits (gravel and cobbles) having a mean grain size of 40mm (Haslam 1978; Williams and Rhodes, 1982). According to measurement in Figure 3, the average width of the proposal stretch of river below Caersws is around 20 metres and the length is approximately 4.2 kilometres. The aimed stretch of the river is surrounded by a large scale of farmland and green land with some trees. Figure 2. Map of the Location of River Severn at Caersws image: map (Source: Mandy Barrow, 2011b) Figure 3. The Google Map of the River Meander near the Victorian Workhouse in Caersws make-Meanders-near victorian workhouse in Caersus-google map.jpg Note: Red star shows the location of Caersws; Blue lines are boundaries of restoration; Red arrow line is the direction of the flow (Source: Google Map, 2011) 2.2 Why Restore River? It also can be seen that many meanders have been formed around Caersws as the river is flowing across low land where the water flows slower than other areas and the main erosion tends to be horizontal (sideways) which is different from the vertical erosion in mountains. As a consequence, the river has cut through a loop and an ox-bow lake has been formed in a long time period, which shows in Figure 4. As can be seen in the figure, a large number of sands are formed and the old river bed has charged, which results in the loss of local ecosystems and vegetations. For example, the uprooted trees and branches and sediments have been eroded by the force of water especially when the river is fall. To some extent, it will affect biodiversity of species, blockage of river which also related to floods and water turbidity. Furthermore, fertilizer, feaces of sheep and other chemicals from farming can be washed out into river, which can affect water quality whether in local area or downstream. On the other hand, there are some instability problems of channelization in the stretch of river as showed in Diagram 1, which results in expensive maintenance for controlling sediment and erosion in a long term. As for the principles of river management, natural development of river is more sustainable rather than control; thus, a less expensive and sustainable scheme with monitoring programme can be accepted for river restoration to achieve effective transport sediment and avoid erosion if the net value of aggradations or degradation of the river will reach nearly zero (Soar and Thorne, 2001). To sum up, it is better to restore the river bank and manage surrounding areas in sustainable methods in order to avoid potential issues of river and enhance the biodiversity of local ecosystems. Figure 4. An Example of Ox-bow Lake image: casersws (Source: Mandy Barrow, 2011c) Diagram 1. The Current Description of the River Severn at Caersws tu-1.jpg (Source: Hand Drawing by Chai, 2011) 2.3 Analysis of formation of Ox-bow Lake and Hydraulics of the River As hydraulic theory states that energy may be constant along the streamline for an ideal fluid (i.e. viscous of frictional effects are insignificant), which means the large number of energy can be created when the water dash on the river bank as the velocity of flow is zero (Chadwick, Morfett and Borthwick, 2004). Thus, hydraulic action can break down the rocks, remove and drag rocks from the bed and banks of the river by the force of the running water, especially in the extreme rainfall period because of unstable flows of great water force. Moreover, in this large stream the plants become more wispy and are confined to the sides. Based on these theories, Ox-bow Lake has been formed as the speed of river flows is faster on the outside of meander causing erosion and is slower on the inside of the meander resulting in deposition (Diagram 2). The part of the meander has been cut off and changed to Ox-bow Lake, such as point A in Diagram 1. Although other areas of the river are not forme d Ox-bow Lake at moment, they have eroded and deposited of the sites, which means the change of river channel and potential pollutions may be found in the future. This is also a reason why we need to restore the river bank and improve local ecosystem as well. Diagram 2. The Formation of Ox-bow Lake and Erosion of Meander draw1.jpgdraw2.jpgdraw3.jpg http://www.geographyhigh.connectfree.co.uk/s3riversgeoghigh26g.gif (Source: Mandy Barrow, 2011d; Geograph High, 2011) 3. Critical Analysis of River Restoration Downs (2001) mentioned that river restoration is an important activity of river management in Europe to enhance aquatic and riparian habitat, improve water quality and quantity, and facilitate human use. The River Severn at Caersws, which is a good case in point, needs to be restored because of erosion and deposition of the site. The main objective of restoration engineer includes: i) Dredging sediment in the river bank and improving the aesthetic quality of stream; ii) Protecting the bank-lines from erosion; iii) Maintaining the current level of river bank and flow regime; iv) Enhancing diversity of vegetation and sustainable of local ecosystem. The variety of schemes and techniques can be used in different point of the river in Diagram 2 to minimize aggradation or degradation and mitigate tendency of the meandering river, including regular meander path of similar meander bends, rock vortex weirs at meander crossings, riprap (stone) around bendways, and various vegetation around river bank. In the following section, the detailed planning of restoration will be explained (Diagram 3 4) and the impacts of river restoration on economy, local ecosystem and visual aspect will also be analysed. 3.1 The Restoration Plan and Hydraulic Analysis It is not necessary to change the main shape and structure of the river; however, it is possible to restore the river bank at the similar conditions in different parts such as meander bends and width. According to Diagram 1, the area A, B, and C should be focused on in the restoration as the major erosion and deposition are occurring in these areas. During the first stage, the general mechanical dredging can be used to remove damaged trees and other blockages in the river and remove hard rock and rocky materials from deposition sites to erosion sites in A, B, and C to create similar river width as possible as we can. The flow picture shows the potential mechanics used during dredging process in the development. Diagram 3. The Plan of River Restoration in A, B, and C Diagram 3.jpg (Source: Hand Drawing by Chai, 2011) Diagram 4. The Plan of River Restoration in D and E Diagram 4.jpg (Source: Hand Drawing by Chai, 2011) Secondary, a large number of soil that is suitable for grass and othe vegetation growth should be filled in the derdged site achieving the same level of surrounding fields. Then, the derdged rock should be binded together with large size of rock using meshes, which are like Gabions and placed and filled on the sites of cut banks as rock-lined embankments showed in Figure 5. Before restoration a large number of warer force washed out soil and sand from the river bank and then form the steep slop with ÃŽÂ ± (Diagram 5). However, the slop with ÃŽÂ ² (Diagram 5) will become more gently after resotration, which result in that the force of running water can be mitigated and reject bank erosion and lateral shift of planform of the river. Additionallly, Chadwick, Morfett and Borthwick (2004) stated that spiral vortex around the outside of the bend causes an asymmetrical flow pattern which tends to erode material from the region near the outside of the bend and deposit it near the insid e (Figure 6). Thus, stone riffles (vortex weirs) will be placed at meander crossings in the river to maintain the grade and to decrease meander wavelength showed in Figure 6. Consequently, both Rip-rap and weirs may not only change the wavelength of flow and the bed slop, but also maintain the stability of channel cross sections. To some extent, the landform and flow regime of the river may not be changed in a long term peroid after restoration, such as 50 years later. Figure 5. The Rip Rap of the River Restoration imagesCANNFEL4.jpgimagesCAL178I3.jpg (Source:Google Picture, 2011) Diagram 5. The Bed Slop Before and After Restoration à ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾7.jpgà ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾5.jpg (Source: Hand Drawing by Chai, 2011) Figure 6. Current Pattern of the River Figure.jpg (Source: Chadwick, Morfett and Borthwick, 2004 Page 529) Moreover, willow spiling and faggots should be ultilised to control erosion in D and E and also to stabilise wide and shallow point bars as they are generally suitable for light erosion and may not withstand stronger forces (Environment Agency, 2010). However, the hyrdaulic will also be changed after restoration and the principle of the hydraulic change is similar to the change of that from strech A to C. According to Figure 7, the wood stick can break up the water force and wave prior to scouring of the river bank and damage the force of backwater. Faggots are normaally installed underwater to limite degradation and spiling can be applied on steep and vertical banks (Figure 7); in addition, the materials of both techniques can be sourced locally or imported to site. Take some practices in the UK for example, willow faggots and spiling have bee successfully applied sperately in the River Cam and River Skerne. Figure 7. Schematic Diagram of a Bank Protected Using Willow Faggots and Spiling http://evidence.environment-agency.gov.uk/FCERM/Libraries/SC060065_Images/4d3dc743-0a76-474b-880f-a372e4daebb4_8.sflb.ashxhttp://evidence.environment-agency.gov.uk/FCERM/Libraries/SC060065_Images/4d3dc743-0a76-474b-880f-a372e4daebb4_9.sflb.ashx (Source: Environment Agency, 2010). Furthermore, coir fibre products (Aquatic Planting), which support the growth and development of plants that physically secure the bank or shoreline (Ponds UK, 2011a), have been provided in some tree-lined areas to stabilise eroding banks. It means that the rolls can sperate and break the water force directly to the river bank in order to protect trees and further problems of the river such as blockage. Because the river is located in the low farm land and resistant rock area, verious rooted plants and other species can be established whether formed as rolls or not, including water-lilies, Canadian waterweed and water starwort, potamogeton natans, mosses, sparganium erectum, and Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum agg (Haslam and Wolseley, 1981; Haslam, 1978; Readers Digest, 1985). The coir fibre rolls are 3 metres long and normally six plants per metre (18 plants per roll) (Ponds UK, 2011a), which is illustrated in Figure 8. At the last, fences which was damaged by water force might be rep laced arround the river bank in order to keep animals (sources of pollution) far away from water body. Figure 8. The Photo of Coir Fibre Rolls http://www.pondsuk.com/wp-content/uploads/coir-rolls-and-nicospan.jpg (Source: Ponds UK, 2011a) In conclusion, verious types of techniques have been ultilised for river restoration to control erosion and deposition and improve biodiversity, such as derdging, rip-rap, vortex weirs, willow spiling and faggots, coir fibre rolls and fencing. Dredging which is the first stage of the restoration, can maintain the similar width of river bank in most parts in order to keep velocity of river flow. Rip-rap and vortex weirs can change the slop of the river bed, the length of the water waves and stability of channel cross sections to reject bank erosion and lateral shift of planform. Other options are sustaianble methods not only to cove large areas of erosion quickly but also to install aquatic vegetation where none currently exists. As a result, the hydraulics of the river after restoration will be changed and also become more stable and sutiable for renatural river. 3.2 Economy Analysis of Project IEPA (1998) stated that mechanical dredging is less expensive than hydraulic dredging in small project and usually cost from  £5 to  £20 per cubic yard including disposal. In the project, dredging is mainly utilized to move rock from the site to other site and it is hard to calculate the actual volume of dredging because of missing data; thus, the potential total cost of dredging cannot be assumed. Although there is no available cost of transporting rock from other regions, the cost effective and cheapest rock will be accepted. Ponds UK (2011b) mention that gabions (Rip-rap) are economic and well established tools for the construction of river walls revetments for river restoration project. As can be seen in Diagram 4, about 680 metres willow spiling will be placed in the river bank. It may cost  £115 per metre which is cheaper than other complex and mixed spiling (River Restoration Centre, 2011a). According to calculation, the total cost of spiling is around  £78,200. Moreover, 600 metres faggots, which are formed from local materials, will be installed in D (Diagram 4). Therfore, it is not easy to calculate the particular cost during restoration; on the other hand, the cost might be cheaper than spiling and also can be limited and saved in the operation phase. The cost of coir fibre rolls is approximately  £130 per metre (River Restoration Centre, 2011b), and 720 metres of rolls will be planted in the tree-lined bank. Thus, the total cost of the rolls is  £93,600 which is more expensive than other methods. In summary, coir fibre rolls, willow spiling and derdging are more expensive in all techniques, but the cost Rip-rap and willow faggots is sitting in the middle level and others such as fences and weirs are the cost effective options for restoration project. 3.3 The Impacts of Restoration on Local Ecosystem It is truely that every development or restraotion of river has negative and possitive impacts on environmental and social aspects whether in short or long terms. Restoration may take place in the sourrounding fields and can disturbance some normal activivties of animals and farmers, which may give occurison to pulic attention especially focused on the adverse impacts such as using private land during planning and construction processes. Therefore, the feedback of local farmers and related organizations should be collected before designing river restroation. During re-construction phase, mechancial derdging can cause adverse impacts on aquatic ecosystem as potential toxic chemicals and other contamination may be released from the bottom sediments into water body. Furthermore, it also increase water turbidity in short time period; to some extent, the change of water turbidity can affect aquatic species metabolism and interfere with spawning and water quality for ultilization especiall y in downstream regions (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). Although restroation has some adverse impacts on aquatic ecosystem and water turbidity, it is not means that restoration has no possitive impacts on local environment and water body. On one hand, restoration of the River Severn in Caersws aims to control erosion and deposition to recreate more sustainable, stable and natural river in a long term. On the other hand, it also has some benefits for local ecosystem; for example, willow spiling and faggots and coir fiber rolls can bring biological, ecological and engineering concepts together by using natural materials and growing vegetation to stabilise the river structure and flow regime and maintain natural ecosystem in the site. Moreover, a number of native wetland plants used in these techniques can make a varied physcial adaptated conditions for invertebrates, fish and wildlife in the river. It means the biodiversity of local vegetation and habitats will increase after restoration and water quality will also be improved as potential chemical pollution from frams and erosion ot the river bank can be controlled, which results in safety ultilisation of water for fauna, flora, and human. In a word, river restoration may control erosion and deposition and improve the hydraulics of river and water quality and also create a susatianble and natural river with great visual view in long terms (Diagram 3 4). 4. Conclusion The clean-up of the River Severn at Caersws illustrated why and how the river restored as natural source of water and how affect local ecosystem in the site. The more likely cause of restoration is the river erosion and deposition with continuous wavelength and water force, which will affect water turbidity and pollution in the local site and downstream. Moreover, the goals of restoration projects are often ecological in nature combined with analysis of hydrology and geomorphology of the channel. The variety types of techniques have been introduced during restoration processes, such as mechanical dredging, Rip-rap, vortex weirs, willow spiling and faggots, coir fibre rolls and fences. In a short term, restoration of the River Severn has some negative impacts on local aquatic ecosystem and water quality; for example, dredging can bring potential toxic condition and turbid water for aquatic species. However, the restoration is a sustainable activity of river management in Caersws to en hance aquatic and riparian habitat, improve water quality and hydraulics of flow regime, and control erosion and deposition of the river bank especially in long term periods. The width of river bank, wavelength, water force of damaging river bed and other flow regime will be changed after restoration programme. In conclusion, the restoration of River Severn in Caersws within suggested techniques is an effective method to redevelop the river become stable and natural in terms of social, economic and environmental aspects.