Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Things You Should Know About Ielts Essay Samples 2015

Things You Should Know About Ielts Essay Samples 2015 Introducing Ielts Essay Samples 2015 Now you know the structures you should take a look at our task two sample answers to observe how they've been used in practice. You have to answer the questions you're asked. In case you have any questions, I would like to know below. Every test-taker dreams of becoming inside info on the latest test questions. Additionally, there are daily practice activities on our FB page. For example, Skype and Facebook make it feasible that people interact in ways which were never before possible. Students often utilize search engines to answer a question and just copy the text from a site, instead of thinking about the question. All About Ielts Essay Samples 2015 These IELTS sample essays are categorised in a manner that makes it simple for you to observe how certain essay question types ask that you offer certain responses to be sure the question is completely answered. Several websites claim to provide this calendar year's IELTS essay questions. If you search the internet for IELTS essay questions from using this calendar year, you are going to receive a lot of results. The writing test is marked employing a 9-band scale, like the rest of the regions of the test. This practice isn't only prohibited in schools and universities but in addition stunts a student's intellectual improvement. Other individuals think education will not operate. Other people feel they should only be permitted to study subjects that'll be helpful in the future, like those related to science and technology. Technology has altered the way we work. There are several smart scientists who don't have the funds to acquire important info to finish their research. You don't have to incorporate any data within this paragraph, just tell the examiner what is going on in general terms. Among the biggest mistakes you can create in task 1 is including all of the info you see. To sum up, among the prin cipal issues with over-use of technology in education is plagiarism, which can be solved via the use of plagiarism detection program. The Fundamentals of Ielts Essay Samples 2015 Revealed In conclusion, there are lots of advantages to working from home. When employees work away from their homes, the price of running the company comes down. Firstly, folks will need to work really hard and put much effort in their jobs should they need to be prosperous. Usually you have to take the IELTS test if you're applying for employment or to study in a college or university in an English-speaking country or if you're migrating to such nation. There are several ecofriendly technological alternatives to what society utilizes today that are not as damaging for nature. It is suggested to look for the one which has an excellent reputation and offers high-quality papers at economical prices. The free movement of products across national borders has for ages been a controversial matter. Eve n though within this situation free knowledge is beneficial, it's not true in all situations. To summarize, it's obvious that computers are now part of our normal life. CONCLUSION In conclusion, distributing information totally free of charge can help in some specific facets but can also be damaging to society. By contrast, I think the saying that fortune has an important part to play is merely a fallacy. Examine the benefits and disadvantages and provide your own opinion. Employing a computer each and every day can have more negative than positive impacts on children. It's an exam meant for non-native English speakers. The dawn of the web and networking solutions has made it feasible that people work from their house instead of their offices. A prime case of this is the sum of on-line university courses available to students, covering a plethora of subjects, that up until recently were unavailable to the majority of learners. The End of Ielts Essay Samples 2015 Additiona l some people are lucky to be given great talents which others don't have. Also, certain sorts of information in the incorrect hands can be devastating for society. Some people today say this is a good trend, while some argue that it's leading to negative consequences. They believe that the best way to reduce the crime is educating people in prison so they can get a job after leaving prison. The cost of an essay depends upon the total amount of effort the writer has to exert. The sentences which you put in each individual paragraph will be contingent on what kind of question you become. Our sample essay has a very simple but decent introduction in which it demonstrates that the examinee has knowledge of the subject and clearly states the writer's position to establish the remainder of the essay. A well-structured essay has a very good introduction, body paragraphs that are simple to follow and connect together, and a great conclusion. Some believe that individuals want to li ve simpler lives to address environmental difficulties. Aged people can require care. In the end, educational films may be informative, but there would not be a chance for young individuals to interact and ask questions. If people live longer they get a chance to meet their wishes and obligations. Since most individuals spend a significant part of their adult life on the job, job satisfaction is a significant element of individual wellbeing. As nearly all adults spend the majority of their time on the job, being content with your career is an important portion of an individual's health and happiness. When it is dynamic we might have to compare different occasions and comment on the general trends over the period of time. A more severe issue is that the high price of a university education will signify that lots of families are reluctant to have more than 1 child, exacerbating the falling birthrates in some specific nations. The Upside to Ielts Essay Samples 2015 You also ne ed to demonstrate your capacity to compose a clear, well-structured argument. There are many kinds of structures that could get you a high score. In the second job, candidates are assessed on their capacity to create a crystal clear and logical argument on a particular topic. Secondly, someone is not as likely to achieve his targets if he fails to have determination. From a personal standpoint, computers can help young individuals to learn more regarding the world. On the flip side, I am of the opinion that there continue to be solutions to keep criminal justice. The important thing is finding the most critical data and not speaking about anything else.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Immanuel Kant An Persuasive Mastermind Of The...

IMMANUEL KANT Historical Context Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), was a German philosopher who today is viewed as the most persuasive mastermind of the Enlightenment time and one of the best Western thinkers of all times. His works, particularly those on epistemology (which is the study of what differentiates belief from opinion), feel and morals impacted later philosophers, including contemporary ones. Other than setting up himself as one of the well-known Western scholars, Kant additionally made a vital commitment to science and is viewed as a standout amongst the most critical figures in the advancement of cutting edge science notwithstanding the way that he was most powerful on logic of science and information that science produces. His principle commitment to the climb cutting edge science was its freedom from philosophy. Immanuel Kant was destined to Johann Georg Cant and his significant other Anna Regina Cant as fourth of nine children. His (fatherly) granddad was from Scotland where the surname Cant is still generally regular in the north. Immanuel chose to change his surname from Cant into Kant with the end goal for it to meet the German spelling and pronunciation improves. Kant grew up affected by Pietism, a Protestant gathering that was extremely well known in the northern part of Germany during the mid eighteenth century. At 8 years old, he enlisted into a Latin Pietist school with a mean to study religious philosophy when more established. Be that as it may, he soon

Monday, December 9, 2019

Impact Assessment And Project Of Appraisal - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Impact Assessment And Project Of Appraisal. Answer: Standard Chartered and Amex The standard charter bank was founded through the merger of dual different banks, india chartered bank, Australia and China and the South Africa British standard bank. The bank operates in 68 countries placing focus in Middle East, and Asia Africa. The standard chartered bank is made up of the regional segment and global segment that is supported by the business function. The company has four segments for client se. The business and organized banking and private banking that are globally run with the client in the segment reinforced by the oversight gloabal relationship managers. The retail and salable banking that is regionally run with the product and strategy segment on a global oversight. The customers are assisted by the relationship managers in the country with particular local market knowledge. The company plays a vital role in ensuring they promote the social and economic growth in the market. The organization expresses this through its sustainability priorities which compris e of contributing to the economic growth that is sustainable, being a company that is responsible and community investment. The priorities explain how the company operates ("Our business - Standard Chartered Bank", 2015). Standard charted core business is the support market sustainable growth through banking. The organization provides loans and advances to the various people across the institutional, retail banking and commercial. The company provides support to the significant segment of the economy that is driving the growth that is sustainable from micro financing to infrastructure financing. America express is an organization that provides financial service and travel amenities universally, tracing its origins to the business express in new york that was established by Henry Wells. The company has gradually grown from the safe transport to the travel checks and money orders. Consequently growing its travel service operations which comprise of the credit card services. The Amex main business is the delivery of the credit card and charge, travel associated amenities to both wholesale and customers and to corporates globally. The organization comprises of four main business segments. The US card amenities, this department offers the card products, comprising of small business charge cards and individual, revolving the credit card and sponsored co-branded cards to small business and the retail consumers. The card professional the organization core business ("Company American Express | Cleverism.com", 2016).The organization earns from subscriptions that are annually and inter est fees charged to the credit and overdraft. International Card Services, Amex offers card services to retail consumers and small business in some markets around the globe("Company American Express | Cleverism.com", 2016). The organization provides a marketing service arm that offers market analysis and operation platforms and services in consultation for a business that is smaller (Gale, 2013).Global Commercial services, the organization offers payment and management expenses and the travel related services to corporations that are medium-sized and large. This department provides services cards that are corporate, B2B solution payments and services related to business travels. Global Network and merchant services, this department operate networks that are globally paid that settle transaction. It offers merchants with multichannel marketing programs and financing products, and reporting and analytical data. Comparison of Standard Chartered and Amex American express New York social responsibility methodology is a natural extension of the brand that is outstanding to gain trust, service, and security. The company aims to create value for its consumers. Despite the value state, social, environmental or economic. The organization commitment extends from creating products that are innovative to card membership protection privacy and data security of consumer information. From the promotion of small business growth to diverse leaders development. From the meeting of the energy and carbon targets to building a company that is culture oriented and cementing the communities that they operate in. The organization service ethos aspires a culture that is of high performing employees, customers who are engaged, stakeholders who are satisfied and other responsible business partnership. The organization action helps it to contribute to the sustainability of the communities they operate in an environment that is favorable for conducting busine ss. The corporate social responsibility report released in 2016 highlighted the organization efforts to create environmental, social and economic value for its stakeholders. Also the organization focuses to a commitment to an operation that is ethically and responsibly accepted. The report describes the way the organization committed to service shapes the daily work and approach. The commitment extends from the product innovation creation to protection of the member's card data security. From the meeting of the organization energy and carbon targets to creation of an organizational culture that is very strong and diverse. The American express has recognized its responsibility to the environmental protection. The organization has made its progress to energy conservation, waste reduction, and natural resources sustainability promotion. The organization strives to achieve this goal by setting up a five years carbon footprint reduction goal. The organization has also made a commitment to ensure that they make their operations greener. This has been achieved through solar panels installations on the organization rooftops to reduce the intensity of the carbon of the electricity used. The organization has taken place in the community giving through the establishment of programs that offer grants, food and help the needy people (Grieco, 2013). Standard chartered bank work with local communities to offer training on health and education. The organization largest program seeing is believing has provided funds to tackle blindness that can be avoidable. The organization has looked forward to empowering young women and girls through training in sports and life skills. The organization aims at building the financial capability f the youth and micro and small entrepreneurs in the market. The organization looks forward to exploring the innovation of digitizing financial education to further the organization programs. The community programs are an important part of the organization sustainability aspirations. The standard chartered foundation is the charitable organization of the standard chartered bank in Malaysia. The arm was established with an objective of identifying and channeling financial aid to those in the community. The program is based on three different pillars which comprise of the youth, health, and education. The pr ogram aim at reducing the autism disorder. The disorder is an overwhelming to parent; the programs seek to help the parent through support provision and creation of awareness among the citizen. Difference Standard Chartered and Amex The sustainability report of the two financial organizations has placed an emphasis on the environmental social and corporate governance criteria. The two organizations have placed a major focus on the sustainability issues that are similar, the corporate governance and ethic practices, product quality and safety, community practice, human rights, environmental protection and workplace practices (Gibson, 2006). The structure of reporting, the standard chartered bank has grouped its data into three categories, environment, people, and contribution to sustainable growth, on the contrary, the American express new york has categorized its data into five, the people, the communities ,the environment that organization operates in, companies services ethos, companys customers and partners. Quality of social responsibility according to Zadek 1997 criteria. (Zadek et al,1997) principle of quality of reporting were categorized into eight quality in social accounting. The criteria seek to find the extent to which the two companies reports conform to the best practices and its contribution. The issues under study comprise of. The management policies and systems: Disclosure, comparability; both companies have enabled the organization performance to be compared as assessment basis. Inclusivity: both organization the social and ethical accounting and auditing has reflected the accounts and view of all the principal stakeholders, the organization has accommodated the objectives and values diversity. Completeness; in both companies, no area of the organization activities has been excluded deliberately from the assessment task. Evolution: in both organizations, the social footprint of the company at one time has to vary. External verification: the organization has placed emphasis on the strengthen of the legitimacy and accountability. The improv ement that is considered continuous in nature: In both organizations the quality of the report aimed at assessing the progress rather than merely retrospective performance. These principles identify the level of the organization examination to the procedures of the social accounting. American express and standards chartered bank provides a report on their social responsibility. The study reveals that both companies are working towards some level of the accountability procedure that is socially acceptable and transparent (Koto, 2011). Both companies have adopted the most widely used reporting framework for sustainability the global reporting initiative (Manetti,2011). The two companies have adopted the framework of GRI for reports compilation. It is very hard for companies to present their sustainability data exactly the same way because of the different reporting tool and context and information that they use. According to (Crane Matten 2010,p,219), there is an issue with the global reporting framework. The GRI has been critically criticized for its concern to the establishment of procedures for voluntarily reporting, rather than having an explicit aim to promote mandatory reporting(Crane Matten 2010,p,219).Every company has its freedom determine its data based on rules of the organization selection, there is penalty imposed at all. Standard Chartered and Amex core values Standard Chartered Bank is committed to meeting the sustainability challenges across the markets, the organization aspires to achieve its main core values which comprise of, responsive, courageous, creative, international firm and trustworthy. The organization values provide a framework on which to do the employees assessment and the ability to communicate the organizational culture to a broader range of the stakeholders, customers, and prospective employees. The organistaion culture provides a source of competitive advantage for the organization ("Culture and values - Standard Chartered Bank", 2013). American express values reflect who the organization is. The core value of the organization comprises of, customer commitment, quality products, and services, upholding the highest integrity of the organization action, teamwork, respect people, good citizenship, strong will to win. The organization staff put a lot of efforts to ensuring that America express is the most respected world service brand ("Our Company", 2015). It is evident that both companies values have been the basis of the organization involved in the social responsibility accountability. The organization focuses on the component thats in their favor while conducting business. Group discussion In the group discussion held, there was a keen interest in the organization risk management. From the research conducted, it was clear that the Amex place a lot of emphasis on the risk management and governance structure, alongside the business practices. The organization makes use of its enterprise risk management program to identify, monitor and manage risk. The program defines the organization risk appetite, capabilities and culture. In regards to the standard chartered bank, we discussed the organization aspiration to build three sustainable priorities with measurable targets to demonstrate how the organization achieves sustainability across the business. Conclusion Social responsibility accounting on the performance of both organizations is a significant approach for the company to manage its impact on the sustainable development. There are many challenges on the sustainable development and is accepted globally that the organization has the ability to exert changes that are positive. Reporting leads to sustainable growth that is improved .This is because it paves way for the organization to measure; improve their performance on particular issues. It is clear that organization operating globally engage in important social responsibility activities while still being part of noncompliance activities. Never the less the social responsibility has been deep rooted in the standard charted bank than in the American express New York. References Crane, A., Palazzo, G., Spence, L. J., Matten, D. (2014). Contesting the value of creating shared value.California management review,56(2), 130-153. Company American Express | Cleverism.com. (2016). Cleverism. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://www.cleverism.com/company/american-express/ Culture and values - Standard Chartered Bank. (2013). Sc.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://www.sc.com/en/sustainability/our-approach/culture-and-values.html Gale, T. (2013). American Express Company facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about American Express Company. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/american-express Gibson, R. B. (2006). Sustainability assessment: basic components of a practical approach.Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal,24(3), 170-182. Grieco, J. (2013). American Express Corporate Social Responsibility. American Express. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://production.wordpress.uconn.edu/businesssmf/wp-content/uploads/sites/818/2014/09/AXP-Social-Responsibility.pdf Herbling, D. (2016). Corporate News. Business Daily paper dated 17th April 2016 Jamali, D., Safieddine, A. M., Rabbath, M. (2008). Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility synergies and interrelationships.Corporate Governance: An International Review,16(5), 443-459. Koto, W. (2011). The Values Of Your Company: Priceless. Business Insider. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://www.businessinsider.com/the-values-of-your-company-priceless-2011-8?IR=T Morimoto, R., Ash, J., Hope, C. (2005). Corporate social responsibility audit: From theory to practice.Journal of Business ethics,62(4), 315-325. Manetti, G. (2011). The quality of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting: empirical evidence and critical points.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,18(2), 110-122. Our business - Standard Chartered Bank. (2015). Sc.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://www.sc.com/en/about-us/who-we-are/our-business.html Our Company. (2015). About.americanexpress.com. Retrieved 3 January 2018, from https://about.americanexpress.com/oc/whoweare/ Singh, R. K., Murty, H. R., Gupta, S. K., Dikshit, A. K. (2009). An overview of sustainability assessment methodologies.Ecological indicators,9(2), 189-212. Welford, R. (2005). Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe and Asia. Zadek et al (1997) Social, and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting: How to do it (in Crane et al, 2013) Vogel, D. (2007).The market for virtue: The potential and limits of corporate social responsibility. Brookings Institution Press.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

The Evolution Of The Microprocessor Persuasive Essay Example For Students

The Evolution Of The Microprocessor Persuasive Essay Word Count: 2326Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. The Microprocessor has been around since 1971 years, but in the last few years it has changed the American calculators to video games and computers (Givone 1). Many microprocessors have been manufactured for all sorts of products; some have succeeded and some have not. This paper will discuss the evolution and history of the most prominent 16 and 32 bit microprocessors in the microcomputer and how they are similar to and different from each other. We will write a custom essay on The Evolution Of The Microprocessor Persuasive specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Because microprocessors are a subject that most people cannot relate to and do not know much about, this paragraph will introduce some of the terms that will be in-volved in the subsequent paragraphs. Throughout the paper the 16-bit and 32-bit mi-croprocessors are compared and contrasted. The number 16 in the 16-bit microproces-sor refers how many registers there are or how much storage is available for the mi-croprocessor (Aumiaux, 3). The microprocessor has a memory address such as A16, and at this address the specific commands to the microprocessor are stored in the memory of the computer (Aumiaux, 3). So with the 16-bit microprocessor there are 576 places to store data. With the 32-bit microprocessor there are twice as many places to store data making the microprocessor faster. Another common term which is mentioned frequently in the paper is the oscil-lator or the time at which the processors clock ticks. The oscillator is the pace maker for the microprocessor which tells what f requency the microprocessor can proc-ess information, this value is measured in Mega-hertz or MHz. A nanosecond is a measurement of time in a processor, or a billionth of a second. This is used to measure the time it takes for the computer to execute an instructions, other wise knows as a cy-cle. There are many different types of companies of which all have their own family of processors. Since the individual processors in the families were developed over a fairly long period of time, it is hard to distinguish which processors were introduced in order. This paper will mention the families of processors in no particular order. The first microprocessor that will be discussed is the family of microprocessors called the 9900 series manufactured by Texas Instruments during the mid-70s and was developed from the architecture of the 900 minicomputer series (Titus, 178). There were five dif-ferent actual microprocessors that were designed in this family, they were the TMS9900, TMS9980A, TMS9981, TMS9985, and the TMS9940. The TMS9900 was the first of these microprocessors so the next four of the microprocessors where simply variations of the TMS9900 (Titus, 178). The 9900 series microprocessors runs with 64K memory and besides the fact that the 9900 is a 16-bit microprocessor, only 15 of the address memory circuits are in use (Titus, 179). The 16th address is used for the computer to distinguish between word and data functions (Titus, 179. The 9900 series microprocessors runs from 300 nanoseconds to 500 ns from 2MHz to 3.3MHz and even some variations of the original microprocessor where made to go up to 4MHz (Avtar, 115). The next microprocessor that will be discussed is the LSI-11 which was pro-duced from the structural plans of the PDP-11 minicomputer family. There are three microprocessors in the LSI-11 family they are the LSI-11, LSI-11/2, and the much im-proved over the others is the LSI-11/32 (Titus, 131). The big difference between the LSI-11 family of microprocessors and other similar microprocessors of its kind is they have the instruction codes of a microcomputer but since the LSI-11 microprocessor originated from the PDP-11 family it is a multi-microprocessor (Avtar, 207). The fact that the LSI-11 microprocessor is a multi-microprocessor means that many other mi-croprocessors are used in conjunction with the LSI-11 to function properly (Avtar, 207). The LSI-11 microprocessor has a direct processing speed of 16-bit word and 7-bit data, however the improved LSI-11/22 can directly process 64-bit data (Titus, 131). The average time that the LSI-11 and LSI-11/2 process at are 380 nanoseconds, wh ile the LSI-11/23 is clocked at 300 nanoseconds (Titus, 132). There are some great strengths that lie in the LSI-11 family, some of which are the efficient way at which the microprocessor processes and the ability to run minicomputer software which leads to great hardware support (Avtar, 179). Although there are many strengths to the LSI-11 family there are a couple of weaknesses, they have limited memory and the slow-ness of speed at which the LSI-11 processes at (Avtar, 179). .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d , .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .postImageUrl , .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d , .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:hover , .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:visited , .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:active { border:0!important; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:active , .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7ca9e2474c2e4e2647675009efd7686d:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Gsm: Network Architecture EssayThe next major microprocessors in the microcomputing industry were the Z8001 and Z8002, however when the microprocessor entered into the market the term Z8000 was used to mean either or both of the microprocessors (Titus, 73). So when describing the features of both the Z8001 and the Z8002, they will be referred to as the Z8000. The microprocessor was designed by the Zilog Corporation and put out on the market in 1979 (Titus, 73). The Z8000 are a lot like the many other previous micro-processors except for the obvious fact that it is faster and better, but are similar be-cause they depend on their registers to function properly (Titus, 73). T he Z8000 was improved by using 21 16-bit registers, 14 of them are used for general purposes opera-tions (Titus, 73). The difference with the Z8001 and the Z8002 is the Z8002 can only address 65K bytes of memory, which is fascinating compared to the microprocessors earlier in time but is greatly inferior to the Z8001 which can address 8M bytes (8000K) of memory (Titus, 73). The addressing memory between the two otherwise very simi-lar microprocessors is drastically different were as other functions of the microproces-sors seem to be quite the same. An example of this is the cycle time. The cycle time is 250 nanoseconds and the average number of cycles that occur per instruction are be-tween 10 and 14 for both microprocessors (Avtar, 25). The next microprocessor that will be discussed is the 8086. This microproces-sor is the best in my opinion, out of all the 16-bit microprocessors. Not only because the speeds of processing are tremendous, but because it simply paved the way to the 3 2-bit microprocessors using various techniques that will be discussed later. The 8086 was the second Intel microprocessor (being preceded by the 8080) (Avtar, 19). The 8086 was introduced in early 1978 by Intel (Avtar, 19). Like so many of the other processors the 8086 is register oriented with fourteen 16-bit registers, eight of which are used for general processing purposes (Avtar, 19). The 8086 can directly address 1MB (1,048,576 bytes) which is used only in accessing Read Only Memory. The ba-sic clock frequency for the 8086 is between 4MHz and 8MHz depending on the type of 8086 microprocessor that is used (Avtar, 20). Up until this point in the paper there have been common reoccurring phrase such as a microprocessor containing 14 16-bit registers. At this time in the evolution of microprocessors come the 32-bit register, which obviously has double the capacity to hold information for the microprocessor. Because of this simple increase of the register capacity we have a whole different type of microprocessor. Although the 16-bit and 32-bit microprocessors are quite different (meaning they have more compo-nents and such), the 32-bit microprocessors will be described in the same terms as the 16-bit microprocessors were. The remainder of the paper will discuss the 32-bit microprocessor series. The external data bus is a term that will be referred to in the remainder of the paper is. The data bus is basically what brings data from the memory to the processor and from the processor to the memory (Givone, 123). The data bus is similar to the registers located on the microprocessor but are a little bit sl ower to access (Givone, 123). The first 32-bit microprocessor in the microprocessor industry that will be dis-cussed is the series 32000 family and was originally built for main-frame computers. In the 32000 family all of the different microprocessors have the same 32-bit internal structure; but may have external bus values such as 8, 16, or 32 bits (Mitchell, 225). In the 32000 family the microprocessors use only 24 of the potential 32 bit addressing space, giving the microprocessor a 16 Mbyte address space (Mitchell, 225). The 32-bit registers are set up so there are six 32-bit dedicated registers and then in combina-tion there are two 16-bit dedicated registers (Mitchell, 231). Each dedicated register has its own type of specific information that it holds for processing (Mitchell, 232). The microprocessors oscillator (which now comes from an external source) runs at 2.5 MHz, but due to a divide-by-four prescaler the clock frequency runs at 10MHz. There have been many new ideas pu t into practice to improve the 32000 series micro-processor generally and thus making it run faster and more efficient. .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 , .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .postImageUrl , .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 , .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:hover , .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:visited , .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:active { border:0!important; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:active , .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99 .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u7c10f6d17124aa55c47c091621ddac99:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The For A Family History Project EssayThe next family of microprocessor which was fabricated for the microcomputer is the MC68020 32-bit microprocessor which is based on the MC68000 family. The other microprocessors that are included in this family are the MC68000, MC68008, MC68010 and the MC68012 (Avtar, 302). Before going into the types of components that this microprocessor contains, it should first be know that the making of the MC68020 has been the product of 60 man-years of designing including the manufac-turing of the High-density Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor giving the mi-croprocessor high speed and low resistance and heat loss (Avtar, 302). Because of a ll the work that was put into the MC68020 and its other related microprocessors, it is an extremely complex microprocessor. The MC68020 operates in two modes, these are the user mode(for application programs) or the supervisor mode (the operating system and other special functions) (Mitchell, 155). The user and supervisor modes all have there own specific registers to operate their functions. The user programming has 17 32-bit address registers, and an 8-bit register (Mitchell, 155). Then the supervisor pro-gramming has three 32-bit, an 8-bit and two 3-bit registers for small miscellaneous functions (Mitchell, 155). All of these registers within the two modes are split up into different groups which would hold different information as usual, but this set up of registers gives the microprocessors a 20 32-bit information storing capacity. The next family of microprocessor is Intels 80386 and 80486 families. The 80386 and 80486 were mostly over all better then the other microprocessors being made by the different companies in the industry at this time, simply because Intel is now the leading microprocessor producer in todays market. The 80386 was a product that evolved from Intels very first microprocessor, the 8-bit 8080 (Mitchell, 85). Then next came the earlier mentioned 16-bit 8086. The reason why Intel did so well in the market for microprocessors was because every microprocessor that they made was compatible with the previous and future (Mitchell, 85). This means that if a piece of software worked on the 8080 then it worked on the future microprocessors and vice-a-versa. Not only did Intel look forward but they looked back. The main difference between the 80386 and the other 32-bit microprocessors is the added feature of a bar-rel shifter (Mitchell, 88). The barrel shifter allowed information to switch places mul-tiple times in the registers within a single cycle (Mitchell, 88). The microprocessor contains 8 general purpose 32-bit registers, but with the ba rrel shifter that is increased to the equivalent of a 64-bit microprocessor. For the most common 20MHz 80386 microprocessor the run time for each cycle is 59 nanoseconds, but for a 33MHz mi-croprocessor the cycle time is reduced to 49 nanoseconds. The next 32-bit microprocessor in market are ATTs WE32100 and 32200 (Mitchell, 5). These microprocessors also needed six peripheral chips in order to run, these are termed: Memory Management Units, floating point arithmetic, Maths Accel-eration Units, Direct Memory Access Control, and Dynamic Rand Access Memory Control (Mitchell, 5). These microprocessors apart from the microprocessors all work an important part of processing the data that comes through the microprocessor. The difference from this microprocessor and the others is because the WE32200 address information over the 32-bit range with the help of a disk to work as a slow form of memory (Mitchell, 9). The WE32200 microprocessor runs at a frequency of 24MHz (Mitchell, 9). The 16-bit and 32-bit microprocessors are a mere page in the great book of processor history. There will be many new and extremely different processors in the near future. A tremendous amount of time and money have been put into the making and improving of the microprocessor. The improving and investment of billions of dollars are continually going toward the cause of elaborating the microprocessors. The evolution of the microprocessor will continue to evolve for the better until the time when a much faster and more efficient electronic device is invented. This is turn will create a whole new and powerful generation of computers. Hopefully this paper has given the reader some insight into the world of microprocessor and how much work has been put into the manufacturing of the microprocessor over the years. BibliographyMitchel, H.J. 32-bit Microprocessors. Boston: CRC Press. 1986,1991Titus, Christopher A. 16-Bit Microprocessors. Indiana: Howard W. Sams Co., Inc. 1981Aumiaux, M. Microprocessor Systems. New York: John Wiley Sons. 1982Givone, Donald D.; Rosser, Robert P. Microprocessors/Microcomputers. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. 1980Avtar, Singh. 16-Bit and 32-Bit Microprocessors: Architecture, Software, and Interfacing Techniques: New Jersey. Englewood Cliffs. 1991

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Glycosidic Bond Definition and Examples

Glycosidic Bond Definition and Examples A glycosidic bond is a covalent bond that joins a carbohydrate to another functional group or molecule. A substance containing a glycosidic bond is termed a glycoside. Glycosides may be categorized according to elements involved in the chemical bond. Glycosidic Bond Example An N-glycosidic bond connects the adenine and ribose in the molecule adenosine. The bond is drawn as a vertical line between the carbohydrate and the adenine. O-, N-, S-, and C-glycosidic Bonds Glycosidic bonds are labeled according to the identity of the atom on the second carbohydrate or the functional group. The bond formed between the hemiacetal or hemiketal on the first carbohydrate and the hydroxyl group on the second molecule is an O-glycosidic bond. There are also N-, S-, and C-glycosidic bonds. Covalent bonds between the hemiacetal or hemiketal to  -SR form thioglycosides. If the bond is to SeR, then selenoglycosides form. Bonds to -NR1R2 are N-glycosides. Bonds to -CR1R2R3 are termed C-glycosides. The term aglycone refers to any compound ROH from which a carbohydrate residue has been removed, while the carbohydrate residue may be referred to as the glycone. These terms are most commonly applied to naturally occurring glycosides. ÃŽ ±-  and  ÃŽ ²-glycosidic Bonds The orientation of the bond may be noted, too.  ÃŽ ±-  and  ÃŽ ²-glycosidic bonds are based on the  stereocenter furthest from saccharide C1.  An ÃŽ ±-glycosidic bond occurs when both carbons share the same stereochemistry. Î’-glycosidic bond forms when the two carbons have different stereochemistry.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

A Biography of the Venerable Bede

A Biography of the Venerable Bede The Venerable Bede was a British monk whose works in theology, history, chronology, poetry, and biography have led him to be accepted at the greatest scholar of the early medieval era. Born in March of 672 and having died on May 25, 735 in Jarrow, Northumbria, UK, Bede is most famous for producing the Historia ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History), a source essential for our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons and the Christianisation of Britain in the era before William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest, earning him the title of the Father of English history. Childhood Little is known of Bedes childhood, other than he was born in March of 672 to parents living on land belonging to the newly founded Monastery of St. Peter, based in Wearmouth, to which Bede was given by relatives for a monastic education when he was seven. Initially, in the care of Abbot Benedict, Bedes teaching was taken over by Ceolfrith, with whom Bede moved to the monasterys new twin-house at Jarrow in 681. The Life of Ceolfrith suggests that here only the young Bede and Ceolfrith survived a plague which devastated the settlement. However, in the aftermath of the plague the new house regrew and continued. Both houses were in the kingdom of Northumbria. Adult Life Bede spent the rest of his life as a monk at Jarrow, first being taught and then teaching to the daily rhythms of monastic rule: for Bede, a mixture of prayer and study. He was ordained as a Deacon aged 19 – at a time when Deacons were supposed to be 25 or over – and a priest aged 30. Indeed, historians believe Bede left Jarrow only twice in his relatively long life, to visit Lindisfarne and York. While his letters contain hints of other visits, there isnt any real evidence, and he certainly never traveled far. Works Monasteries were nodes of scholarship in early medieval Europe, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that Bede, an intelligent, pious and educated man, used his learning, life of study and house library to produce a large body of writing. What was unusual was the sheer breadth, depth, and quality of the fifty plus works he produced, covering scientific and chronological matters, history and biography and, perhaps as expected, scriptural commentary. As befitted the greatest scholar of his era, Bede had the chance to become Prior of Jarrow, and perhaps more, but turned the jobs down as they would interfere with his study. The Theologian: Bedes biblical commentaries – in which he interpreted the bible mainly as an allegory, applied criticism and tried to solve discrepancies – were extremely popular in the early medieval period, being copied and spread – along with Bedes reputation – widely across the monasteries of Europe. This dissemination was helped by the school of Archbishop Egbert of York, one of Bedes pupils, and later by a student of this school, Alcuin, who became head of Charlemagnes palace school and played a key role in the Carolingian Renaissance. Bede took the Latin and Greek of the early church manuscripts and turned them into something the secular elites of the Anglo-Saxon world could deal with, helping them accept the faith and spread the church. The Chronologist Bedes two chronological works - De temporibus (On Times) and De temporum ratione (On the Reckoning of Time) were concerned with establishing the dates of Easter. Along with his histories, these still affect our style of dating: when equating the number of the year with the year of Jesus Christs life, Bede invented the use of A.D., The Year Of Our Lord. In stark contrast to dark age cliches, Bede also knew the world was round, the moon affected tides and appreciated observational science. The Historian In 731/2 Bede completed the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, the Ecclesiastical History of the English People. An account of Britain between the landings of Julius Caesar in 55/54 BC and St. Augustine in 597 AD, its the key source on the Christianisation of Britain, a mixture of sophisticated historiography and religious messages containing details simply not found elsewhere. As such, it now overshadows his other historical, indeed all his other, works and is one of the key documents in the entire field of British history. Its also lovely to read. Death and Reputation Bede died in 735 and was buried at Jarrow before being re-interred inside Durham Cathedral (at the time of this writing the Bedes World museum in Jarrow have a cast of his cranium on display.) He was already renowned among his peers, being described by a Bishop Boniface as having shone forth as a lantern in the world by his scriptural commentary, but is now regarded as the greatest and most multi-talented scholar of the early medieval era, perhaps of the entire medieval era. Bede was sainted in 1899, thus giving him the posthumous title of Saint Bede the Venerable. Bede was declared venerable by the church in 836, and the word is given on his tomb in Durham Cathedral: Hic sunt in fossa bedae venerabilis ossa (Here are buried the bones of the Venerable Bede.) Bede on Bede The Historia ecclesiastica finishes with a short account of Bede about himself and a list of his many works (and is actually the key source about his life that we, much later historians, have to work with): Thus much of the Ecclesiastical History of Britain, and more especially of the English nation, as far as I could learn either from the writings of the ancients, or the tradition of our ancestors, or of my own knowledge, has, with the help of God, been digested by me, Bede, the servant of God, and priest of the monastery of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, which is at Wearmouth and Jarrow; who being born in the territory of that same monastery, was given, at seven years of age, to be educated by the most reverend Abbot Benedict, and afterwards by Ceolfrid; and spending all the remaining time of my life in that monastery, I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture, and amidst the observance of regular discipline, and the daily care of singing in the church, I always took delight in learning, teaching, and writing. In the nineteenth year of my age, I received deacons orders; in the thirtieth, those of the priesthood, both of them by the ministry of the most reverend Bishop J ohn, and by the order of the Abbot Ceolfrid. From which time, till the fifty-ninth year of my age, I have made it my business, for the use of me and mine, to compile out of the works of the venerable Fathers, and to interpret and explain according to their meaning... Source Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Penguin Classics, D. H. Farmer  (Editor, Introduction), Ronald Latham (Editor), et al., Paperback, Revised edition, Penguin Classics, May 1, 1991.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Case Study Analysis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Analysis - Case Study Example As far as business-to-business dealings are concerned, the available e-marketplace for Raffles is hospitalitybex.com that is directed at the hospitality and service industry, which was developed together with a number of strategic partners with the aim of offering a solution to making the procurement process efficient. It also enables the organizations that are in the hospitality and service industry cut costs in the supply chain by getting rid of any inefficiency (Turban, King & Lang, 2009). In its e-marketplaces, Raffles takes advantage of the fundamental qualities of the luxurious Raffles Hotel products to engage with the audience that is available online while having a defined and clearly constructed navigation system that has developed a corporate portal. Founded on the strategies that are specific to individual hotels, the audience that is targeted and the product mix, the navigation of the website reflects a hierarchical structure. Each of the sections stands for an order of authority that assists in laying out the organization of the web site while moving the users of these websites with ease in the direction of a set of services that include the reservation process. Raffles has also come up with electronic catalogues as well as having e-procurement that utilizes reverse auctions as mechanisms that assist it in being successful. Raffles can continue taking advantage of the increased market efficiencies by making sure that it expedites and enhances the functions that it is associated with while making sure that is greatly reduces the costs that are linked to reducing the associated costs. Raffles can further improve the search engines; e-auction and payment gateways that it deals with so that it can further enhance the success of its e-marketplace. The business models that are utilized by Raffles and associated with supply chains include

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Nature of Investment in Information Infrastructure Essay

The Nature of Investment in Information Infrastructure - Essay Example However, the degree of success in implementing and investing in IT depends on how the fit between the Technology side and the business side of the overall strategy of the organization. However, this alignment of the IT with the business strategy can be accomplished through the use various IT strategic alignment models. This case analysis will use the Scott Morton Alignment model which is considered as more simple yet powerful model by allowing the use of IT as a strategic driver of change. The use of this model will allow us to view the Metalco from the perspective of strategy, structure, management processes, technology and roles and skills and how they fit into the overall strategy of the organization. The proposed SAP Project will cost Metalco around $23.500 millions with tangible savings in labor cost of 10 million dollars over the period of 5 years with increasing margins to the tune of $ 5 million over the period of 5 years. However, the major benefit of this proposed project wills easy manageability of the operational activities of the traditional systems at the Metalco is more directed at generating the reports rather than managing the operational activities. Metalco is one of the largest enterprises in Australia having a very rich and old history. Established in 1933, Metalco is engaged in the production of low value-added mineral products. The main activities of the organization are discovery, development, production as well as processing minerals including petroleum. Metalco has an asset of AUD 6.00 Billion whereas the revenue figures achieved in 1995 was well over. A complete description of the corporate history, as well as the corporate structure, can be found in exhibit A. Metalco has largely remained a very conservatively operated company with little or no focus on aligning the various independent information.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Mayan Astronomy Essay Example for Free

Mayan Astronomy Essay Who were the Mayans? The Mayans were part of the Mesoamerican civilization and they lived around 2,000 BCE and lasted through to the time when the Spanish explorers arrived. From 250 CE – 900 CE was when they reached the peak of their development. They are well known for a fully developed written language, numerical system, mathematics, art, architecture and astronomy. Where did the Maya civilization thrive? They inhabited parts of Central America such as Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and also in areas of Mexico. What were the Mayans views on astronomy? When they viewed and studied the heavens the Mayans mainly focused on Venus and the Sun. They had a calendar, which predicted both solstices and equinoxes and is infamous for ending at December 21st, 2012. The calendar was also very precise and could anticipate eclipses and the revolution of Venus give or take a day for every 6,000 years. The reason for this accuracy was that astronomical observations made by priests were passed down by generations. Venus: No civilization knew more about Venus than the Mayans. Venus was thought to be the companion of the Sun because it is one of the brightest objects on the night sky and because it is always near the Sun before sunrise and after sunset. The time it took for Venus and Earth to line up in their position correlated to the Sun was 584 days. The Mayans also timed their wars based on where Venus and Jupiter were at the time. Sun: But they obviously gave some considerance to the Sun. They not only noted down equinoxes and solstices but Zenial passages as well. They also had a god who symbolized the Sun during a Zenial passage called the Diving God. And the Ecliptic, the path the Sun follows in the sky, was depicted by a double-headed serpent. Also, to signal the changing of season, a ball game was played that re-enacted the Sun’s orbit around the Earth. Earth: The Earth was believed to be flat with four corners. At each corner was a jaguar called a bacab. They were all different colors. The Northern jaguar was White, East-Red, West-Black, and South-Yellow. At the center was green that stood for Earth. Each bacab held up the sky. The Mayans furthermore divided the universe into thirteen layers with a god for each one. Milky Way: It was called World Tree by the Mayans. The star clouds in the Milky Way were believed to be the tree of life from where all life originated. And in the World Tree was a monster called the Kawak Monster which took form of a giant head. On the monster’s head was a sacrificial bowl that had a flint blade to exemplify sacrifice and a Kimi glyph symbolizing death. At the top of the World Tree is a bird named Itzam Ye, or the Principal Bird deity. During winter the part of the Milky Way that dominated the sky was the White Boned Serpent. The Mayans spiritually thought of the Milky Way as a road on which souls travelled to reach the Underworld. So, ultimately, the Mayans were a very advanced and intelligent civilization and were super precise in their calendar and predictions.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Introduction to Ethics Essay -- essays research papers

Ethics â€Å"What are we like, and what should we do?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As humans we are faced with many decisions in life, which in and of itself, distinguishes us from the animal kingdom. I’m sure other animals make decisions, but as humans we take into account our values and morals. In choosing which path to take with some of life’s decisions, ethics, are often at the center; heavily influencing our choices between what is right and what is wrong. Which are usually defined by society, as to what is acceptable and what is not. As time goes on, society evolves, so do the right and wrongs, our values and morals, and ethics. In philosophy, there were three ethical theories by Aristotle, Kant, and Bentham & Mill and they were the â€Å"Golden Mean†, â€Å"Categorical Imperative†, and â€Å"Greatest Good for the Greatest Number† respectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle believed the one goal everyone strived for was â€Å"happiness† for one’s ownself. If you were a happy person, that would eventually lead to being a good person. He also believed that all living things had certain capacities, and that if one lives up to their full capacities, they will have lived well and had a fortunate life. He went on to state that the perfection of reason leads to the development of two desirable â€Å"virtues†, Moral and Intellectual. Moral virtues dealt with emotions. A person must keep these in balance, to go in either extreme of too much and too little, would be called â€Å"the excess† and â€Å"the defect†, respectively. The balance would be the â€Å"mean†. For example, courage is the mean between rashness (excess) and cowardice (defect). The golden mean is further analyzed in NICOMACHEAN ETHICS. The RHETORIC, is where Aristotle sums up the three categories in an analogical description of life with the Youthful Man (excess), the Elderly Man (defect), and the Man in His Prime (golden mean).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Intellectual virtues dealt with foresight and wisdom. Aristotle stated the attainment of these virtues could only be done by a select few. For one to be highly intellectual, is to be practically divine, next to the gods. With that being said, it discouraged a lot of people of that era. That’s when his theory was challenged and questioned. What about the artists or craftsmen? Are they denied happiness, because they haven’t attained intellectual perfection? Is in... ...ame-sex marriages and so on. It seems we’re in a shift of paradigms with the myriad of societal changes and acceptances. Is the solidarity of the human race degrading or evolving. Will today’s ethics, be the same tomorrow or in the future? Will they evolve? It seems the chaotic world we live in, the right and wrong seem to favor those in power, or at least be influenced by those people. It also seems, we lower our standards to suit the masses. For example, the carrying of back packs in uniform, before it was prohibited for a Sailor to throw a bag over their shoulder. Only if it was a seabag and only if both straps were on the shoulders. That standard has been altered, to allow plain black back packs to be carried with both straps over the shoulders. There are too many people carrying the backpacks with one strap on the shoulder, presenting a relaxed unprofessional appearance. Is the same happening to society with what is right and wrong? Are we lowering our standard s? References: THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY 5TH EDITION, S.MORRIS ENGEL ARISTOTLE ON THE MEAN, G.ZINIEWICZ KANT, DUTY, AND RESPECT, P.STRATTON-LAKE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ROUTLEDGE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY VOL. 7, C.L. TEN Introduction to Ethics Essay -- essays research papers Ethics â€Å"What are we like, and what should we do?†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As humans we are faced with many decisions in life, which in and of itself, distinguishes us from the animal kingdom. I’m sure other animals make decisions, but as humans we take into account our values and morals. In choosing which path to take with some of life’s decisions, ethics, are often at the center; heavily influencing our choices between what is right and what is wrong. Which are usually defined by society, as to what is acceptable and what is not. As time goes on, society evolves, so do the right and wrongs, our values and morals, and ethics. In philosophy, there were three ethical theories by Aristotle, Kant, and Bentham & Mill and they were the â€Å"Golden Mean†, â€Å"Categorical Imperative†, and â€Å"Greatest Good for the Greatest Number† respectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle believed the one goal everyone strived for was â€Å"happiness† for one’s ownself. If you were a happy person, that would eventually lead to being a good person. He also believed that all living things had certain capacities, and that if one lives up to their full capacities, they will have lived well and had a fortunate life. He went on to state that the perfection of reason leads to the development of two desirable â€Å"virtues†, Moral and Intellectual. Moral virtues dealt with emotions. A person must keep these in balance, to go in either extreme of too much and too little, would be called â€Å"the excess† and â€Å"the defect†, respectively. The balance would be the â€Å"mean†. For example, courage is the mean between rashness (excess) and cowardice (defect). The golden mean is further analyzed in NICOMACHEAN ETHICS. The RHETORIC, is where Aristotle sums up the three categories in an analogical description of life with the Youthful Man (excess), the Elderly Man (defect), and the Man in His Prime (golden mean).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Intellectual virtues dealt with foresight and wisdom. Aristotle stated the attainment of these virtues could only be done by a select few. For one to be highly intellectual, is to be practically divine, next to the gods. With that being said, it discouraged a lot of people of that era. That’s when his theory was challenged and questioned. What about the artists or craftsmen? Are they denied happiness, because they haven’t attained intellectual perfection? Is in... ...ame-sex marriages and so on. It seems we’re in a shift of paradigms with the myriad of societal changes and acceptances. Is the solidarity of the human race degrading or evolving. Will today’s ethics, be the same tomorrow or in the future? Will they evolve? It seems the chaotic world we live in, the right and wrong seem to favor those in power, or at least be influenced by those people. It also seems, we lower our standards to suit the masses. For example, the carrying of back packs in uniform, before it was prohibited for a Sailor to throw a bag over their shoulder. Only if it was a seabag and only if both straps were on the shoulders. That standard has been altered, to allow plain black back packs to be carried with both straps over the shoulders. There are too many people carrying the backpacks with one strap on the shoulder, presenting a relaxed unprofessional appearance. Is the same happening to society with what is right and wrong? Are we lowering our standard s? References: THE STUDY OF PHILOSOPHY 5TH EDITION, S.MORRIS ENGEL ARISTOTLE ON THE MEAN, G.ZINIEWICZ KANT, DUTY, AND RESPECT, P.STRATTON-LAKE THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ROUTLEDGE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY VOL. 7, C.L. TEN

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Global Economic Cost Essay

Acme Motors- is currently one of the primary US automobile producers in Mexico, aiming to become one of the world’s largest automobile producers in the international market. Aside from the said goal, Acme is also striving to provide their customers with more and better vehicles not to mention the eagerness of the management of Acme to experience high profitability and greater market share. In order to fulfil the said goals, one possible avenue would be to have a comparative advantage over their competitors through investing to developing countries which could supply the company with needed resources. Currently, the company has a manufacturing plant in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas in Mexico that produces the â€Å"Quattro engine†- known for its lightness and high efficiency performance (Associatedcontent. com, 2007). Acme Motors uses one process to develop cars instead of having each engineering center operate under different process. The reason why Acme established the manufacturing plant of automobile engine in Mexico would be for them to utilize the cheap cost of labor of the said country not to mention the lax policies of the Mexican government in terms of workers’ security. With the cheap labourers available in the economy of Mexico, Acme was able to minimize their operational cost, thus, improving their profitability or the level of potential production that they could execute. At the end of the day, Acme will have a comparative advantage over their competitors in the domestic and international market since they could either lower down the prices of their automobiles to attract more customers or offer incentives to loyal customers as well as further expand the operation of the business with the aid of the capital that the management saved from the cheap costs of labor in Mexico. In this regard, the operation of Acme in Mexico has been of great help for the company to enjoy impressive growth for the past years of its operation in the market. Globalization made a great avenue for multinational firms to acquire comparative advantage that later on benefits their consumers and stakeholders in a general sense (The Globalization Website, 2001) But the big question would be; did the company consider the welfare of their workers in Mexico in terms of salary and working hours? How about the benefits of the workers, did they receive any benefits from the management? These are the questions that are currently being thrown over the management of Acme. Are they true? Let us find out. Acme belongs to the so-called Maquiladora which means Mexican industrial plants that assembled imported components into finished products for export. Maquiladora has been known for abusing their workers through paying a very low wage on the latter not to mention the long hours that they have to work which is equivalent to 14 hours a day (Bacon, 2000). This kind of practice already abuses the human rights of their workers as well as violates the Mexican labor law for not allowing workers to establish unions. With the said above issue, Acme has a different case for, even if they are one of the Maquiladora, they value the relationship of the management and their workers. Acme do not allow the workers to work 14 hours a day just like any other ordinary members of Maquiladora do to their employees in order to give way for those who are working student and/or to give ample rest for their workers. Moreover, Acme pays their workers right based on what is dictated by the law as well as based on the company policy which is also being implemented to other branches of Acme around the globe. At this point, the management of Acme ensures to every constituents of the company that they put premium on the welfare of their workers and employees for they believe that the latter is not a tool of the company in reaching their goal, rather, a partner in every step of the way to achieve the goals and objectives of the management. With regards to the formation of labor union, based from what I have observed from the given situation, it would be beneficial on the part of the management to allow our workers there in Mexico to establish a labor union in order to put back their morale and productivity. If the management will not consider this alternative, then, there is a great possibility that the productivity of the entire production area will significantly down. Furthermore, there is no room for the management to get afraid of the formation of the said labor union since we are all confident that we abide on any government policies of our host country as well as we put value on our relationship with our workers. By the time the productivity of our workers improves, the adverse effect of the policy of the Mexican government regarding the purchasing of the majority of our raw materials should come from Mexican suppliers on our profitability level will be neutralized. With the aid of NAFTA, multinational companies like Acme could now select the location of their production area based on the influence of various business factors. This only tells us that NAFTA made it easier for us to find strategic locations for productions that would give the company competitive advantage over our competitors as well as to meet the market demand of our target market. In the short run, operational cost of the company will surpass the revenue level since the company has to invest on fixed asset in order to establish a manufacturing plant in Mexico. But in the long run, this investment of Acme in Mexico will surely give them an avenue to increase their sales, profitability and market share. With the few months of hands on observation regarding the degrading performance of our workers, I have realized that it would be detrimental on the part of the company to ignore the voices of the workers and deprive them of expressing what they feel regarding the current policies that the management implements. Meeting halfway would be the best solution to boost again the morale of the workers as well as their productivity. It would also be beneficial for the company to give them the intended wage rate to inspire them to work hard and have the feeling of being part with the progress of the company. Through this, workers and the management itself will surely have a harmonious working relationship that later on contributes to the attainment of goals and objectives of the company. At this point, let me stress out that at the end of the day, the safest and effective way of having a profitable, efficient and effective business operation would be to hear the voices of workers and consider their welfare so as to give them the message that the management treasures their workers. References Associatedcontent. com (2007). Acme Automotives: The Objectives and Interest. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/507171/acme_automotives_the_objectives_interests. html Bacon, D. (2000). The Story of a Maquiladora Worker. Retrieved January 20, 2004, from http://detagreens. tripod. com/maquiladora. htm The Globalization Website (2001). Globalization Debates. Retrieved January 7, 2004, from http://www. sociology. emory. edu/globalization/debates. html#cultural

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Ethics and Placebo Trials Essay

Placebo trials are experimental trials that involve the administration of a substance that does not really have any effect on the individual’s system. This means that it is a neutral trial that will have neither positive nor negative effects on the physiology of the person it is administered on. Whatever positive benefits may be derived out of placebo trials are merely therapeutic and may arise from the potency of the power of suggestion. These trials are most often used in randomized control trials in investigating the effectiveness of a specific treatment. (Miller and Brody, 3) However, with the rise of the use of such trials, there have been many more questions raised. Are these placebo control trials indeed necessary? What ethical issues are raised with the implementation of placebo trials? The debates regarding the ethicality of placebo trials in investigative research continue to rage across the scientific community. The discussion has become so complex that the sides taken regarding the matter have evolved to more than just â€Å"yes† or â€Å"no† to the question of placebo ethicality. There have been numerous aspects of placebo trials that have undergone the scrutiny of those directly involved with fields utilizing these trials. The main aim of this paper is to understand the obligations of medical practitioners who are employing placebo trials in their own scientific investigations of the effectiveness of various treatments. What ethical standards should these individuals, physicians and the like, take into consideration when conducting investigative researches with placebo trials? Glass and Waring The main problem with a physician’s utilization of placebo trials for investigative purposes is the fact that they are part of the profession that involves the assurance of optimal health for their patients. Some of the researchers and critics exploring the ethical holds on medical practitioners with regards to placebo trials have looked at it from a legal standpoint. Glass and Waring (582) indicate that they have foundâ€Å"no legal precedent allowing physicians to ‘opt out’ of their professional obligations because they are researchers in addition to being physicians†. It is emphasized that the physician must do all in his power in order to insure that the client receives all possible modes of treatment that would maintain or enhance his or her health. As a researcher, the physician is viewed as a fiduciary, a person delegated with power that will be used for the benefit of another person and who is held legally against the highest standards of conduct. The physician-researcher as a fiduciary, then, has a moral ascendancy over his or her patient-subject. (Glass and Waring, 578) This means that a placebo trial that would involve having the physician-researcher observe the null effect on the health of a patient-subject and at the same time have knowledge of the betterment of the health status of patient-subjects in the other experimental trials. (Glass and Waring 579) Thus physician’s are now ethically compromised and even legally liable for their utilization and continuation of the placebo trial. Knowing that there is a treatment that could improve the health of those in the placebo arm of the experiment but not applying that treatment on the participants in that arm indicates their sacrifice of the health of those participants for the scientific progress afforded by research data. The ethical responsibility of the physician-reseracher, therefore, is in the fact that clinical studies of treatment effectivity make use of participants who have been diagnosed with the specific medical condition hoped to be treated by the experiment’s procedure. Hawkins Hawkins (484) states that the true problem faced by physician-researchers is a moral one. The moral norms and societal dictates placed upon those in the medical profession involve the fact that they need to be able to give a sick person all the possible chances of being treated. However, Hawkins (484) points out that this moral responsibility is limited. She states clearly â€Å"researchers do not owe effective treatment to everyone around them. † (473) The obligations of a physician to his or her patient are enclosed within a given framework, that of the physician-patient relationship. In order for such a relationship to be established, the physician must come into agreement with the client that he or she will indeed act as one half of that relationship. The same agreement must be made on the part of the client. Although this agreement may not be explicit, it is nevertheless positively acknowledged by both parties. (Hawkins, 476) There is, according to Hawkins, no ethical dilemma in a physician-researcher’s use of placebo trials. Just because these researchers have had medical training and have taken a medical oath does not mean that they are always in the role of a physician. These are individuals that have many other different roles as fathers, mothers, non-practicing physicians, friends and the like. The role they take as a researcher, therefore, does not mean a continuation of their role as a physician. (Hawkins, 479) The obligations of an individual in the role of a researcher is separate from his or her role as a physician thus their obligation in placebo trials involves simple assurance that the participant will not be harmed by the procedure that will take place. Miller and Brody Some critics of placebo control trials state a weakness in therapeutic obligation of physician researchers as the main grounds of contestation of the ethical foundations of the said trials. Miller and Brody (8) state that even when based on the principles of clinical equipoise, an ethical basis of assigning participants in different experimental arms which involves disagreement among experts as to the effectiveness of either arm, therapeutic obligation is still a weak attack against the ethics of placebo trials. The individuals who knowingly participate in experiments with placebo arms are not exploited as long as no harm befalls them. Also, they are aware that they enter the experimental set-up as participants in a research and not as patients of the researchers who happen to also be physicians. (Miller and Brody, 5) Miller and Brody thus state that â€Å"placebo trials are not unethical just because they withhold proven effective treatment†. (6) It is thus seen that the responsibility and obligation of the researcher with regards to the ethicality of placebos is not in their therapeutic obligations as physicians. However, this does not mean that placebo trials are completely ethical. This also does not mean that researchers are devoid of ethical obligations to their participants assigned to placebo arms of the investigative experiments. The ethical obligation of the researcher in placebo trials is the same as that of researcher in any clinical trials. This involves the proper acquisition of informed consent from the participants. Also, researchers must be able to assure the fact that participants will not be exploited or put in harmful situations. Miller and Brody also insist that researchers must first establish that the investigation has scientific merit and that scientific merit is increased with the implementation of the placebo trial. (8) Analysis and Argument All three articles assessed above have merit and, at the same time, also have faults. Glass and Waring (582) stating that no legal precedents were found that indicated physicians were no longer tied to their professional obligations is faulty. In much the same way that a lawyer does not have to give counsel to every jaywalker he or she sees, the physician likewise does not have professional obligation over individual’s whose relationship to him is simply that which exists between researchers and participants. I also disagree with Hawkins’ statement that morality is what binds the physician thus the use of placebo trials is not unethical. What is ethics but a concept in the realm of morality? Yes, there are standards and regulations with regards to ethical conduct. However, as a whole, ethics is based on morality thus a moral problem is, in fact, an ethical problem. The middle ground taken by Miller and Brody also seems to be misled. A placebo trial is not equivalent to other clinical trials. It involves factors that are not present in other trials, such as the exposure of the participants to neutral treatment. In other clinical trials, there is still exposure to some form of treatment thus there is an effort to aid the participant. I believe, however, that physician-researcher’s obligations to the patient-participant, is limited solely to the relationship of researcher and participant. The role taken by the individual is not that of a physician but that of a researcher. The participants are also aware that they enter into the experiment not as patients but as participants. Although they are not given the chance to undergo possibly effective treatment, it is not the moral obligation of the researcher to insure that they do. Even if, for example, a person persists to smoke, I am not morally or ethically obligated to make sure that he or she stop. Placebo trials are valid research designs and should not be stopped simply because of a feeling that it is unfair to those who, in the first place, willingly submitted themselves to the experiment’s conditions. Works Cited Glass, Kathleen G. , and Waring, Duff. â€Å"The Physician/Investigator’s Obligation to Patients Participating in Research: The Case of Placebo Controlled Trials. † The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 33 (2005): 575-585 Hawkins, Jennifer S. â€Å"Justice and Placebo Controls. † Social Theory and Practice 32 (2006): 467- 496. Miller, Franklin G. , and Brody, Howard. â€Å"What Makes Placebo-controlled Trials Unethical? † The American Journal of Bioethics 2(2002): 3-9

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Edible Candle - Fire Science Demonstration

Edible Candle - Fire Science Demonstration For this science magic trick, you light a candle, blow out the flame and then eat the candle. Its safe, fun and even nutritious. Edible Candle Materials This project requires a few simple ingredients from the home: bananapecan nutcandle stick or candle holder with wax drippingsmatch or lighter Set Up The Trick Cut a banana so that it resembles a small candle. You want a candle that you can eat in one or two bites.Set your banana-candle on a candle stick or holder. If the candle stick has white wax drippings, this will add realism to the trick.Cut the pecan into a wick shape and set it into the top of the banana.When you are ready to do the trick, light the pecan, just like an ordinary candle wick. Blow out the flame and eat the candle. How It Works Pecans, as well as other nuts, are high in oils. The nut can be lit like a candle wick and will burn for several minutes. You could even use nuts on a cake as birthday candles!

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Finding Experts Who Want to Help With Your Writing Project

Finding Experts Who Want to Help With Your Writing Project Finding Experts Who Want to Help With Your Writing Project Finding Experts Who Want to Help With Your Writing Project By Michael Youve probably read those acknowledgements at the back of a book: Special thanks to Nobel Prize winner Niels Ryberg Finsen for the many hours of medical advice and strong coffee he shared with me, without which this book would not be possible. And youve wondered what it takes to get a world-famous expert of your own, one who could answer the nagging technical questions that come up in your writing project. Now, unless youre working on a book for a major publisher, you probably wont get a Nobel laureate on your team, but knowledgeable experts can be found almost everywhere, at your local college or across the world through email. The good news is that experts are usually glad to help for free. They love finding someone who cares about their subject and they hate having their specialty misrepresented. The wife of one history professor joked that even if the university wasnt paying him, he would go door to door asking, Hi! Have you heard about World War I? Approaching an expert First, figure out what you dont know. As you write, add tags to your text such as [research] so you can search for them later using Control-F or Command-F on your computer. Make a list, in advance, of the most important questions you want answered. When you email an expert, show them that you didnt pick them at random. Show them you know who they are and what they do, that youve read something theyve written. Tell them a little about your writing project. The more reputable and stable it sounds, the more likely the expert will agree to help you. If you already have a book deal, thats good. If youre asking them to do your homework for school, thats not good. Limit your email to one or two brief, narrow, and focused questions. Include your contact information, especially if youre asking for a telephone or face-to-face interview. Give them lots of lead time; dont rush them. Ask for their help weeks or months before you need to submit your manuscript. If they dont reply to your email, stop there. Dont bug them again. You can find another expert. When you talk to an expert, be prepared; dont waste their time with fuzzy questions. Im reminded of a mock interviewer who asked Paul McCartney, Remember when you were with the Beatles? Yes, he did. Keep it open-ended: Is there anything else you want to tell me? An off-hand comment might give you a new story idea that transforms your old one. Ask about what you can ask for. If they answer one question, are they willing to answer more? To meet with you for lunch? To read over your manuscript and make suggestions? It all depends on their availability and interest which depends partly on your professionalism and courtesy. Seek viewpoints that disagree with you. For most writers, the most vivid parts are the points they support and the characters they like. That means your villains may be one-sided. Compensate for your weaknesses by learning about things you would ordinarily ignore. When I was writing a novel that included extremists, I read one of the key books written by their founder. Finding an expert Use your network. Ask people you know, Who do you know that knows about this subject? Reference librarians (often found at libraries) can help you find the answer to any question a sort of non-electronic Google, but without spam or fake news. If your local library doesnt have reference librarians, the U.S. Library of Congress does and you dont need to be a U.S. Congressman to ask them questions. Many colleges and universities have faculty experts lists that are searchable by topic. Many are especially skilled or specially trained as communicators, but all are eager to share their expertise. StackExchange.com is a family of websites where users can ask all sorts of questions and the most helpful questions and answers are voted up. The National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) website has its own Reference Desk in their forums, about which they say, What actually does relate to the price of cheese in China? How many cats can you fit in a coffin? Why does the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune? You have a research question. Someone in here has an answer. Sign up (you were planning on writing a novel someday, werent you?), log into the website and you can ask away. NaNoWriMo officially starts in November but the forum is open year-round. Showing your gratitude When youve finished your draft, send your expert the chapter or the article they helped you write. They may have more comments and corrections to offer. You can use all the help they can give. When deciding how to thank your expert collaborator, think about how much time and effort they spent, and how vital their contribution was to you. If you literally couldnt have done it without them, and youre making money from their contributions, you may want to offer them some of the money as payment or a tip. Like all of us, your expert has something they want to accomplish by working with you, so think about how you can assist them in accomplishing it. Do they enjoy helping others (you)? Let them know, in several ways, how much you appreciate it. Do they want to correct a misunderstanding, and give your readers an accurate view of their field? Make every effort to get their message across, without compromising your story. You might disagree with their perspective, but at least present it fairly. Do they want the prestige of working with a published author? Use their name prominently in your acknowledgements and publicity. They may want copies to give out. If they have worked with you extensively, they might deserve a co-authoring credit. Write a thank you note. You know, with pen and ink. Maybe on a note card. Send them an autographed copy of your story or article when its published. Bring or send an appropriate gift. If you ask to meet with them, buy them lunch. If youre a fiction writer, name a character or place after them. They will be tickled. Of course, mention them in the acknowledgments of your book. Everybody likes to be recognized. Unless theyre a spy and want to remain undercover. Writing can be a solitary occupation, and you may never have considered that someone important could be interested in working with you. But Joe Moore, a bestselling author of thrillers with Lynn Sholes, says, The most remarkable thing we’ve discovered is that expert advice is easy to get. Almost everyone we’ve approached has been eager to provide fictionalized theories and futuristic details that help make our often outlandish premises ring within the realm of possibility. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comparative Forms of Adjectives7 Tips for Writing a Film ReviewIs "Number" Singular or Plural?

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Why can we only see one side of the moon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why can we only see one side of the moon - Essay Example Similarly, the moon’s gravitational force affects oceans causing low and high tides, while the earth, which is bigger than the moon, causes low and high gravitational pull on it. Additionally, as the moon rotates around the earth in its orbit, the earth exerts a torque on the rotating system of the moon. This causes the moon’s speed along its own axis to slow down, eventually revealing only one side of the moon as it completes its rotation (Pandian). The moon is also viewed as though facing only one side of it on earth through a concept known as libration, which occurs because of the spherical nature of the moon. Libration is the irregular motion of the moon in its orbit computed longitudinally and latitudinally from a fixed geographical location on the moon’s surface (Coffey). The earth affects the moon through its elliptical orbit, a process called longitudinal libration. This implies that when the moon is nearer the earth in its orbit, the earth’s gravitational pull is stronger. This makes the moon move faster on its axis, but since the moon’s rotational speed is constant, it causes a lag or a pull effect (Coffey). This pull effect on the moon’s surface causes the earth to view an extra portion of the moon’s surface up to 59% of it. When the moon orbit is farther away from the earth, the earth’s gravitational force on it is weak, causing it to slow down, even though its rotational speed remains the same. This makes the moon â€Å"spin† away from the earth and, as a result, it becomes only 41% visible (Miles). In addition, we view one side of the moon surface because of latitudinal libration caused because the moon’s orbit is tilted 5 degrees towards the ecliptic. Therefore, during the moon’s rotations around the earth, half of it is on the higher side while the rest of the revolution is on the lower side. This causes an extra part of the moon to be

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Marketing Plan for a Brand in Trouble Assignment

Marketing Plan for a Brand in Trouble - Assignment Example FW Woolworth's UK subsidiary (Woolworths Ltd.) and B&Q were bought two years later by Paternoster, who are now known as Kingfisher PLC and are still B&Q's parent company. Since being bought out by Kingfisher, employees of B&Q have enjoyed a 20% discount on all products. Mid 1990's saw B&Q open a new format of store known as the B&Q Depot. This was a forerunner of a new class of store known as the B&Q Warehouse. Beckton, Enfield and Romford were amongst the first of the new Warehouse class stores to open (United Kingdom: Case Study: B&Q Direct, 2003). In the late 1990s, B&Q became active in the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. It co-operated in 1995 with parent company Kingfisher PLC to open its first overseas subsidiary in Taiwan, and in 1996 the first overseas large home improvement center in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. In 1998, it acquired NOMI, Poland's leading chain of DIY stores. Later that year, B&Q merged with France's Castorama. In 1999 B&Q opened a store in Shanghai, China and acquired the British hardware mail-order company, Screwfix. By the year 2000, B&Q had fifty of its larger Warehouse stores. This had doubled by 2003. B&Q's Direct's online transactional website, www.DIY.com, was launched in January 2001. By March 2003, it had become one of the largest stores in B&Q and its continued rapid growth will soon make it the biggest store in the group. The site sells a range of 14,000 products and is already the number one store for many heavy and bulky items and many other smaller product ranges (United Kingdom: Case Study: B&Q Direct, 2003). As well as generating considerable revenues of its own, DIY.com is part of a wider, multi-channel retail strategy that includes call centres and catalogues. All channels feed each other. For instance, 10% of those that shop in-store have researched their purchases online. A critical component in the overall success of DIY.com and the B&Q Direct call centres is their ability to process credit and debit cards efficiently and to restrict the level of card fraud. In September 2002, B&Q Direct appointed DataCash, a leading UK-based provider of outsourced payment processing and fraud prevention solutions, to handle the credit and debit card processing for both DIY.com and all its call centres (U.K. Retail Sales Plunge Most in at Least 10 Years: Update3, 2006). Before DataCash was appointed, B&Q had used a software solution provided by a US-based company to handle its card processing. B&Q had two key issues with this solution, one technical and one business, which led them to look for a new supplier (United Kingdom: Case Study: B&Q Direct, 2003). Based on the discussion, "MarketVVizard's Market Thoughts" (2005), European economies U.K. retail sales plunge most in 10 Years. Shares of companies including Plc and Kingfisher Plc declined in London after the British Retail Consortium said sales in stores open at least a year dropped 4.7 percent from a year ago, the biggest decline since comparable figures began in 1995. Domestic demand is clearly slowing a lot quicker than was anticipated even a month ago,'' said Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank AG in London. After an unprecedented run of strength it's time for consumers to stop, regroup, and think about getting their finances back in order.'' British factory production

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Democracy in the Final Quarter of the 20th Century in Latin America Essay

Democracy in the Final Quarter of the 20th Century in Latin America - Essay Example The Latin American region also meant that the struggle was intense and largely supported by the US in an attempt to buttress its hegemony in the region (Bethell, 2009). The seventies saw the emergence of leftist ideas in Latin American nations. The political-military elite of these nations saw the rise of leftist ideas as a threat to the already established systems of governance. In order to protect their nations from leftist ideology, the ruling elite turned to more authoritarian forms of government such as military dictatorships. The example of Chile, Argentina, Venezuela and many other Latin American countries supports this idea. These regimes often employed brute tactics to weed out the leftist factions and to avoid an armed struggle against the central governments. Harrowing tales of murder, political assassinations, rape, plundering, confiscation of property and the like are rampant in Latin America at the time. Chile’s dictator Auguste’ Pinochet, for example, is famous for the blatant elimination of his political opponents without any trials. The struggle in Nicaragua that put the Sandinista regime in charge was marked with bloo d and violence to fortify the seat of power. These actions on the part of these regimes infused a spirit of freedom from oppression in the masses in these nations (Skidmore & Smith, 2005). It is, therefore, no surprise that there were myriad leftist armed struggles in Latin America that were calling for regime change by the final quarter of the twentieth century. The entanglement of these military regimes in armed struggles also meant that the economy had to pay a heavy price. In certain other cases such as Argentina, the economy turned to shambles due to nepotism, mismanagement and usurpation of public resources (Stein & Hunt, 2007). It was common practice for military regimes to take onto armed adventures in order to divert public attention from the state of the economy. For example, the Argentinean military regime was made famous by its  myopic decision to invade the Falklands that exposed the Argentinean military’s weakness against a formidable British military.  

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Cancer Stem Cells: Properties, Concepts and Models

Cancer Stem Cells: Properties, Concepts and Models Tumours are made up of a heterogeneous population of cells which are distinct in terms of their differentiation competencies, proliferative capabilities as well as functional properties. [A] The mechanisms responsible for such heterogeneity are the subject of research, and two models have been put forth in order to explain the phenomenon – Cancer stem cells (CSCs) and clonal evolution. [A] Cancer stem cells are a subset of the total population of cells in a tumour that have the ability to undergo self-renewal, as well as to differentiate into the different types of cells that comprise the tumour. [A] These CSCs are said to be responsible for tumorigenesis as well as for driving tumour growth. [U] Evidence supporting the existence of cancer stem cells Differences in clonogenicity among cancer cells were first documented in cases of leukaemia and multiple myeloma. It was found that 0.01 – 1% of the cells were capable of extensive proliferation, and able to establish colonies when grown in vitro (Park, C. H., Bergsagel, D. E. McCulloch, E. A. Mouse myeloma tumor stem cells: a primary cell culture assay. J. Natl Cancer Inst. 46, 411–422 (1971). Two possible explanations existed for this – either leukemic cells had a low overall capacity for proliferation, or only a definite subset of these cells were clonogenic. In 1994, John Dick and his group of researchers carried out a landmark study where CSCs were isolated from a mouse model that had been transplanted with human AML cells. [Z15] This was the first conclusive evidence for the existence of a subset of the leukaemia cells that were highly clonogenic, in comparison to the remaining cancer cells. It was later observed that a similar condition exists in the case of solid tumours, where only a small subset of the total cell population is tumorigenic. [G] Origins of cancer stem cells Several contradictory theories exist regarding the cellular origins of cancer stem cells. Some state that these cells are derived from normal stem cells that have acquired oncogenic mutations [G], others refute this with the claim that cancer stem cells can arise from a committed progenitor cell that has acquired the properties of a stem-cell during its cancerous transformation [Z1], while yet others suggest that these cells could arise as a result of a fusion event between a stem cell and a tumour cell. [N] The idea that cancers could arise from normal stem cells is highly plausible because not only do they continuously undergo divisions, but they are also long lived, allowing them to accumulate multiple mutations, as is required for a cancerous transformation. [B] Apart from the accumulation of mutations, the interaction of a cell with its local microenvironment also influences the tumorigenic process. Mouse leukaemia models have been able to provide evidence that given suitable niche conditions, a progenitor cell is capable of de-differentiating to form a CSC. [V] However, since most progenitor and mature cells have a relatively short life-span, it seems unlikely that will be able to acquire the oncogenic mutations required to render them tumorigenic. [I] Despite these explanations, the exact origin of most tumours and cancer stem cells remains unknown, and can only be speculated based on experimental findings. [A] Additionally, irrespective of the origin, the identification and isolation of CSCs in a tumour indicates that there exists a functional hierarchy exists within the tumour tissue. [L] Properties of cancer stem cells These cells can undergo symmetric as well as asymmetric divisions, which results in the expansion of the cancer stem cell population itself, as well as an increase in the number of differentiated cells that constitute the bulk of the tumour. [Z1] THE CANCER STEM CELL MODEL As previously mentioned, two models have been put forth to explain the heterogeneity of a tumour cell population. The first model is the CSC model, also known as the hierarchical model, which states that within a tumour, there exist different classes of cells and that the CSCs represent a biologically distinct subpopulation of cells that are capable of propagating the tumour. [C] It suggests that the characteristics of the cells within the tumour are intrinsically determined and therefore only certain cells possess the ability to undergo extensive proliferation to initiate tumour formation, these cells are called the CSCs; while the remaining cells are incapable of tumorigenisis. According to the CSC model, although most cancers arise from a group of cells that are genetically monoclonal in nature, the high level of tumour heterogeneity is a result of the interaction between cells that are in different states of differentiation after have initiated from a common precursor. [Z12] Evidence supporting this hypothesis emerges from the observation that though tumours may initially respond well to chemotherapy, there is often a case of relapse; which could occur due to the CSCs that persist post-treatment and are then able to re-initiate tumour formation. [Z13] There are, however, limitations to the CSC model; the first being that all studies that support it have only addressed the potential of the cells to proliferate and give rise to tumours, but not the actual fate. [D] Since the conditions applied to test the tumorigenic potential of these cells may vary considerably from the conditions experienced by the cells in vivo, we do not know which of these cells actually contribute to the establishment and growth of the primary tumour. It is also noteworthy that it has been found that if the population of cancer cells acquires an immense number of mutations and aberrations, then almost all of them begin to show stem-like properties. [C] In such a case, the CSC model becomes irrelevant. On the other hand, the stochastic model states that cells in a tumour are biologically equivalent, and that each cell has the ability to act as a CSC, given the right circumstances. A combination of intrinsic and extrinsic influences is said to determine the proliferative capacity and the ultimate fate of a cell. [C] Behaviour of a cell is therefore not pre-determined by intrinsic characters alone and tumour initiating cells cannot be enriched. It is however likely for both these paradigms to be observed in vivo, in different cancers. Some cancers may follow the CSC model, while others may not. Based on transplantation studies in mice, it has been found that only in a fraction of cases, does AML follow the CSC model while in others there is no evidence for the existence of a highly tumorigenic sub-population of cells that continue to display CSC activity upon serial propagation. [F] Therefore, although CSCs may be responsible for driving the growth of a majority of tumours and cancers, there are studies which indicate that certain malignancies may be sustained primarily by the bulk of the tumour cells. [F] IDENTIFICATION AND ISOLATION OF CANCER STEM CELLS Cancer stem cell assays Purification and enrichment techniques CSC markers CSCs in various cancers HETEROGENEITY IN CANCER STEM CELL POPULATIONS Based on the study of the CSC model, the question arises as to whether similar hierarchical subpopulations of tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic are observed in patients suffering from the same type of cancer; and whether these tumorigenic CSCs can be isolated based on conserved cell- surface markers. However it has been found that there are often phenotypic differences in CSCs even within the same cancer sub-type. [E] For example, though it has been found that the CD44+/CD24- population of breast cancer cells are generally tumorigenic, this is not universally the case and in certain cases, it has been found that cells of diverse phenotypes are able to act as CSCs. (Al-Hajj, M., Wicha, M.S., Benito-Hernandez, A., Morrison, S.J., and Clarke, M.F. (2003). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 3983–3988.) Similarly, in gliomas CD133 expression is not always associated with CSCs, and in certain instances CD133- cells have also been found to be tumorigenic. (Beier, D. et al. CD133+ and CD133– glioblastoma derived cancer stem cells show differential growth characteristics and molecular profiles. Cancer Res. 67, 4010–4015 (2007). Apart from the phenotype, the frequency of CSCs in a solid tumour or population of cancer cells is also variable. In melanomas, CSCs constitute anything between 1.6 to 20% of the total cells, while in the case of colorectal carcinomas, they represent between 1.8 to 24.5% of the cells. [A] Additionally, in general, the percentage of CSCs in solid tumours has been found to be significantly higher than the percentage of leukemic stem cells. [Z15] This heterogeneity has implications on the prognosis of the disease as well as the outcomes of various therapeutic interventions. It is envisioned that with the identification of more refined markers and improved methods for determination of CSC frequency, we may eventually be able to correlate the percentage of CSCs with the tumour grade and the outcome. [A]