Properties of Solutions Essay

A solution is a mixture of materials, one of which is usually a fluid. A fluid is a material that flows, such as a liquid or a gas. The fluid of a solution is usually the solvent. The material other than the solvent is the solute. We say that we dissolve the solute into the solvent. Some solutions are so common to us that we give them a unique name. A solution of water and sugar is called syrup. A solution of sodium chloride (common table salt) in water is called brine. A sterilized specific concentration (0.15 molar) of sodium chloride in water is called saline. A solution of carbon dioxide in water is called seltzer, and a solution of ammonia gas in water is called ammonia water. A solution is said to be dilute if there is less of the solute. The process of adding more solvent to a solution or removing some of the solute is called diluting. A solution is said to be concentrated if it has more solute. The process of adding more solute or removing some of the solvent is called concentrating. The concentration of a solution is some measurement of how much solute there is in the solution. It might initially offend your sensibilities to consider a solution in which the solvent is a gas or a solid. The molecules of a gas do not have much interaction among them, and so do not participate to a large extent in the dissolving process. Solids are difficult to consider as solvents because there is a lack of motion of the particles of a solid relative to each other. There are, however, some good reasons to view some mixtures of these types as solutions. The molecules of a gas do knock against each other, and the motion of a gas can assist in vaporizing material from a liquid or solid state. The fan in a ‘frost free’ home freezer moves air around inside the freezer to sublimate any exposed ice directly into water vapor, a process clearly akin to dissolving. Solid metals can absorb hydrogen gas in a mixing process in which the metal clearly provides the structure. True solutions with liquid solvents have the following properties: PROPERTIES OF SOLUTIONS 1.The particles of solute are the size of individual small molecules or individual small ions. One nanometer is about the maximum diameter for a solute particle. 2.The mixture does not separate on standing. In a gravity environment the solution will not come apart due to any difference in density of the materials in the solution. 3.The mixture does not separate  by common fiber filter. The entire solution will pass through the filter. 4.Once it is completely mixed, the mixture is homogeneous. If you take a sample of the solution from any point in the solution, the proportions of the materials will be the same. 5.The mixture appears clear rather than cloudy. It may have some color to it, but it seems to be transparent otherwise. The mixture shows no Tyndall effect. Light is not scattered by the solution. If you shine a light into the solution, the pathway of the light through the solution is not revealed to an observer out of the pathway. 6.The solute is completely dissolved into the solvent up to a point characteristic of the solvent, solute, and temperature. At a saturation point the solvent no longer can dissolve any more of the solute. If there is a saturation point, the point is distinct and characteristic of the type of materials and temperature of the solution. 7.The solution of an ionic material into water will result in an electrolyte solution. The ions of solute will separate in water to permit the solution to carry an electric current. 8.The solution shows an increase in osmotic pressure between it and a reference solution as the amount of solute is increased. 9.The solution shows an increase in boiling point as the amount of solute is increased. 10.The solution shows a decrease in melting point as the amount of solute is increased. 11.A solution of a solid non-volatile solute in a liquid solvent shows a decrease in vapor pressure above the solution as the amount of solute is increased. These last four of the properties of solutions collectively are called colligative properties. These characteristics are all dependent only on the number of particles of solute rather than the type of particle or the mass of material in solution. OTHER TYPES OF MIXTURE Take a spoonful of dirt and vigorously mix it with a glass of water. As soon as you stop mixing, a portion of the dirt drops to the bottom. Any material that is suspended by the fluid motion alone is only in temporary suspension. A portion of the dirt makes a true solution in the water with all of the properties of the above table, but there are some particles, having a diameter roughly between 1 nm and 500 nm, that are suspended in a more lasting fashion. A suspended mixture of particles of this type is called a colloid, or colloidal suspension, or colloidal dispersion. For colloids or  temporary suspensions the phrase dispersed material or the word dispersants describes the material in suspension, analogous to the solute of a solution. The phrase dispersing medium is used for the material of similar function to a solvent in solutions. As with true solutions, it is a bit of a stretch to consider solids as a dispersing medium or gases as forming a large enough particle to be a coll oid, but most texts list some such. A sol is a liquid or solid with a solid dispersed through it, such as milk or gelatin. Foams are liquids or solids with a gas dispersed into them. Emulsions are liquids or solids with liquids dispersed through them, such as butter or gold-tinted glass. Aerosols are colloids with a gas as the dispersing medium and either a solid or liquid dispersant. Fine dust or smoke in the air are good examples of colloidal solid in a gas. Fog and mist are exampes of colloidal liquid in a gas. Liquid dispersion media with solid or liquid dispersants are the most often considered. Homogenized whole milk is a good example of a liquid dispersed into a liquid. The cream does not break down into molecular sized materials to spread through the milk, but collects in small micelles of oily material and proteins with the more ionic or hydrophilic portions on the outside of the globule and the more fatty, or oily, or non-polar, or hydrophobic portions inside the ball-shaped little particle. Blood carries liquid lipids (fats) in small bundles called lipoproteins with specific proteins making a small package with the fat. Proteins are in a size range to be considered in colloidal suspension in water. Broth or the independent proteins of blood or the casein (an unattached protein) in milk are colloidal. There are many proteins in the cellular fluids of living things that are in colloidal suspension. Colloidal dispersants in water stay in suspension by having a layer of charge on the outside of the particle that is attractive to one end of water molecules. The common charge of the particles and the water solvation layer keep the particles dispersed. A Cottrel precipitator collects the smoke particles from air by a high voltage charge and collection device. Boiling an egg will denature and coagulate the protein in it. Proteins can be fractionally ‘salted out’ of blood by adding specific amounts of sodium chloride to make the proteins coagulate. The salt adds ions to the liquid that interfere with the dispersion of the colloidal particles. Colloids with liquid as a dispersing agent have the following properties: PROPERTIES OF COLLOIDS 1.The particles of dispersant are the between about 500 nm to 1 nm in diameter. 2.The mixture does not separate on standing in a standard gravity condition. (One ‘g.’) 3.The mixture does not separate by common fiber filter, but might be filterable by materials with a smaller mesh. 4.The mixture is not necessarily completely homogeneous, but usually close to being so. 5.The mixture may appear cloudy or almost totally transparent, but if you shine a light beam through it, the pathway of the light is visible from any angle. This scattering of light is called the Tyndall effect 6.There usually is not a definite, sharp saturation point at which no more dispersant can be taken by the dispersing agent. 7.The dispersant can be coagulated, or separated by clumping the dispersant particles with heat or an increase in the concentration of ionic particles in solution into the mixture. 8.There is usually only small effect of any of the colligative properties due to the dispersant. CONCENTRATION The concentration of a solution is an indication of how much solute there is dissolved into the solvent. There are a number of ways to express concentration of a solution. By far the most used and the most useful of the units of concentration is molarity. You might see ‘6 M HCl’ on a reagent bottle. The ‘M’ is the symbol for molar. One molar is one mol of solute per liter of solution. The reagent bottle has six mols of HCl per liter of acid solution. Since the unit ‘molar’ rarely appears in the math of chemistry other than as a concentration, to do the unit analysis correctly, you will have to insert concentrations into the math as ‘mols per liter’ and change answers of ‘mols per liter’ into molar. Molality is concentration in mols of solute per kilogram of solvent. Mol fraction is the number of mols of solute per number of mols of solution. Weight-weight percent (really mass percent) is the number of grams of solute pe r grams of solution expressed in the form of a percent. Mass-volume concentration is the number of grams of solute per milliliter of solution. There are other older units of concentration, such as BaumÃÆ'ƒÂ ©, that are still in use, mainly in industrial chemicals. Normality is the number of mols of effective material per liter. In acid-base titrations, the hydroxide ion of bases and the hydrogen (hydronium) ion of acids is the effective material. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)  has two ionizable hydrogens per formla of acid, or one mol of acid has two mols of ionizable hydrogen. 0.6 M H2SO4 is the same concentration as 1.2 N H2SO4. We say that sulfuric acid is diprotic because it has two protons (hydrogen ions) per formula available. Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is monoprotic, phosphoric acid (H3PO4) is triprotic, and acids with two or more ionizable hydrogens are called polyprotic. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is monobasic, calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) is dibasic, and aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3) is tribasic. Where ‘X’ is the number of available hydrogen ions or hydroxide ions in an acid or base, N, the normality, is equal to the molarity, M, times X. The normality system can be used for redox reactions, but the effective material is now available electrons or absorption sites for electrons. Consider the following reaction, #43 in the redox section. In a sulfuric acid solution potassium permanganate will titrate with oxalic acid to produce manganese II sulfate, carbon dioxide, water, and potassium sulfate in solution.

Company Profile of Sony Essay

Company Profile Sony is synonymous with consumer electronics. It’s especially big in TVs and game consoles like PlayStation3. Officially named Sony Kabushiki Kaisha, the company designs, develops, manufactures, and sells a host of electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for consumer, professional, and industrial markets. Professional products include semiconductors and components. A top global media conglomerate, Sony boasts additional assets in the areas of music (Sony Music Entertainment), film (Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Digital Production), DVDs (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment), and TV (Sony Pictures Television). Sony also has several financial services businesses and an advertising agency in Japan. History Sony found its beginning in the wake of World War II. In 1946, Masaru Ibuka started an electronics shop in a bomb-damaged department store building in Tokyo. The company had $530 in capital and a total of eight employees. The next year, he was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan’s first tape recorder, called the Type-G. In 1958 the company name was changed to Sony. In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled in the United States and heard about Bell Labs’ invention of the transistor. He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company, for use in communications. Ibuka’s company made the first commercially successful transistor radios.According to Schiffer, Sony’s TR-63 radio â€Å"cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics.† By the mid-1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5 million units by the end of 1968. Origin of name When Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was looking for a Romanized name to use to market them, they strongly considered using their initials, TTK. The primary reason they did not is that the railway company Tokyo Kyuko was known as TKK. The company occasionally used the acronym â€Å"Totsuko† in Japan, but during his visit to the United States, Morita discovered that Americans had trouble pronouncing that name. Another early name that was tried out for a while was â€Å"Tokyo Teletech† until Akio Morita discovered that there was an American company already using Teletech as a brand name. The name â€Å"Sony† was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin word â€Å"Sonus†, which is the root of sonic and sound, and the other was â€Å"Sonny†, a familiar term used in 1950s America to call a boy. The first Sony-branded product, the TR-55 transistor radio, appeared in 1955 but the company name did not change to Sony until January 1958. At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters to spell its name instead of writing it in kanji. The move was not without opposition: TTK’s principal bank at the time, Mitsui, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank’s chairman gave their approval Vision To create exciting new digital entertainment experiences for consumers by bringing together cutting-edge products with latest generation content and services. Mission As a mission and goal, Sony is dedicated to providing innovative products and multimedia services that challenge the way consumers experience digital entertainment. As a digital entertainment service provider Sony wants create  new worlds via their products to give consumers new experiences that can stimulate their senses. For their computer entertainment sector their mission and goal is to find the most talented developers to produce caliber products that continually raise the standards. The firm wants to create family products that change the way they experience home entertainment such as television, gaming, and movies. To change the way families enjoy home entertainment Sony’s PlayStation 3 integrates all aspects of home entertainment. The gaming console is a versatile machine where consumers can play video games, watch movies through the Blu-ray player and stream movies and shows through Netflix. The PlayStation 3 has changed the way individuals enjoy digital entertainme nt. Boosting Sony’s Electronics Business A key focus for Sony is to strengthen its all-important electronics business and maintain market leadership in high profile areas such as televisions, digital imaging, home video equipment and portable audio. To achieve this, Sony is pursuing three corporate initiatives: The Customer Viewpoint Initiative emphasizes the importance to staff of viewing Sony, its products and services from a customer perspective. The Technology Nr. 1 Initiative focuses on reinforcing Sony’s cutting-edge technologies in the areas targeted for maximum investment of resources, including televisions, home video equipment, digital imaging equipment and Walkman ®. The ‘Genba’ Initiative aims at strengthening frontline operations (‘genba’ in Japanese) such as design locations, manufacturing facilities and sales offices. Formats and technologies Sony has historically been notable for creating its own in-house standards for new recording and storage technologies, instead of adopting those of  other manufacturers and standards bodies. Sony (either alone or with partners) has introduced several of the most popular recording formats, including the floppy disk, Compact Disc, and Blu-ray Disc. Sony delivers thrilling digital entertainment experiences by capitalising on the synergy between its electronics business, content creation capabilities and movie, music, mobile and computer games interests. As a world leader in high definition, Sony already offers an exciting range of broadcast and consumer HD products, as well as content assets that are driving the industry towards HD digitization. Sony is the only company that can deliver complete, end-to-end solutions for today’s HD World. We provide the tools for our customers to create, edit, store, share and enjoy High Definition content. Sony Pictures and Sony Computer Entertainment create movies and games that maximise the full power and potential of HD while independent film makers and programme producers are encouraged to realize their unique creative vision in full Sony HD. Business units Sony offers a number of products in a variety of product lines around the world. Sony has developed a music playing robot called Rolly, dog-shaped robots called AIBO and a humanoid robot called QRIO. As of 1 April 2012, Sony is organized into the following business segments: Imaging Products & Solutions (IP&S), Game, Mobile Products & Communications (MP&C), Home Entertainment & Sound (HE&S), Devices, Pictures, Music, Financial Services and All Other. The network and medical businesses are included in the All Other. Sony Corporation Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group. It primarily conducts strategic business planning of the group, research and development (R&D), planning, designing and marketing for electronics products. Its subsidiaries such as Sony EMCS Corporation (6  plants in Japan), Sony Semiconductor Corporation (7 plants in Japan) and its subsidiaries outside Japan (Brazil, China, England, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Ireland and United States) are responsible for manufacturing as well as product engineering (Sony EMCS is also responsible for customer service operations). In 2012, Sony rolled most of its consumer content services (including video, music, and gaming) into the Sony Entertainment Network. Medical-related business Sony Mobile Communications AB (formerly Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB) is a multinational mobile phone manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corporation. In 2001, Sony entered into a joint venture with Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, forming Sony Ericsson. Initial sales were rocky, and the company posted losses in 2001 and 2002. However, SMC reached a profit in 2003. Sony Ericsson distinguished itself with multimedia-capable mobile phones, which included features such as cameras. These were unusual for the time. Despite their innovations, SMC faced intense competition from Apple’s iPhone, released in 2007. From 2008 to 2010, amid a global recession, SMC slashed its workforce by several thousand. Sony acquired Ericsson’s share of the venture in 2012 for over US$1 billion. In 2009, SMC was the fourth-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world (after Nokia, Samsung and LG). By 2010, its market share had fallen to sixth place. Sony Mobile Communications now focuses exclusively on the smartphone market. Sony Computer Entertainment Sony Computer Entertainment is best known for producing the popular line of PlayStation consoles. The line grew out of a failed partnership with Nintendo. Originally, Nintendo requested for Sony to develop an add-on for its console that would play Compact Discs. In 1991 Sony announced the add-on, as well as a dedicated console known as the â€Å"Play Station†. However, a disagreement over software licensing for the console caused the  partnership to fall through. Sony then continued the project independently. Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. (SPE) is the television and film production/distribution unit of Sony. With 12.5% box office market share in 2011, the company was ranked 3rd among movie studios. Its group sales in 2010 were US$7.2 billion. The company has produced many notable movie franchises, including Spider-Man, The Karate Kid, and Men in Black. It has also produced popular television game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Sony entered the television and film production market when it acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment in 1989 for $3.4 billion. Columbia lives on in the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of SPE which in turn owns TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures. SPE’s television division is known as Sony Pictures Television. For the first several years of its existence, Sony Pictures Entertainment performed poorly, leading many to suspect the company would sell off the division. Sony Pictures Entertainment encountered controversy in the e arly 2000s. In July 2000, a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation created a fictitious film critic, David Manning, who gave consistently good reviews for releases from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures that generally received poor reviews amongst real critics. Sony later pulled the ads, suspended Manning’s creator and his supervisor and paid fines to the state of Connecticut and to fans who saw the reviewed films in the US. In 2006 Sony started using ARccOS Protection on some of their film DVDs, but later issued a recall. Environmental record In November 2011, Sony was ranked 9th (jointly with Panasonic) in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics. This chart grades major electronics companies on their environmental work. The company scored 3.6/10, incurring a penalty point for comments it has made in opposition to energy efficiency standards in California. It also risks a further penalty point in future editions for being a member of trade associations that have commented against energy efficiency standards.Together with Philips, Sony receives the highest score for energy policy advocacy after calling on the  EU to adopt an unconditional 30% reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. Meanwhile, it receives full marks for the efficiency of its products. In 2007, Sony ranked 14th on the Greenpeace guide. Sony fell from its earlier 11th place ranking due to Greenpeace’s claims that Sony had double standards in their waste policies.[ Since 1976, Sony has had an Environmental Conference. Sony’s policies address their effects on global warming, the environment, and resources. They are taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that they put out as well as regulating the products they get from their suppliers in a process that they call â€Å"green procurement†. Sony has said that they have signed on to have about 75 percent of their Sony Building running on geothermal power. The â€Å"Sony Take Back Recycling Program† allow consumers to recycle the electronics products that they buy from Sony by taking them to eCycle (Recycling) drop-off points around the U.S. The company has also developed a biobattery that runs on sugars and carbohydrates that works similarly to the way living creatures work. This is the most powerful small biobattery to date.

Movie “The Patriot” with Mel Gibson

In this movie, Benjamin Martin, played by Mel Gibson, was a retired British officer and a widower raising seven of his children in his farm.   He held his principles steadfastly, which focused almost on his family and his interest in making rocking chairs which he never perfected.   Thus, he did not want to join the war against the British.   On the other hand, Gabriel, the eldest, was full of idealism and joined the American forces fighting the British in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin, who knew from first‑hand experience the horrifying carnage that war would present, discouraged his son from participating but Gabriel was determined to fight.   Times passed, many towns fell to the British including their hometown.Gabriel returned home after two years, stumbling wounded into the family home. That night, a battle between the British and patriots happened. They helped the wounded from both sides. The Green Dragoons arrived and killed all the wounded Colonial soldiers. T he leader, Col. William Tavington, shot his son, Thomas, who was trying to free his brother Gabriel which was being captured.This brought an enraged Benjamin to free his son Gabriel, with the help of his two younger sons.   He left the rest of the children in the care of their aunt Charlotte, the sister of his deceased wife.   The three of them killed the British troops holding Gabriel by ambushing them.   While their brother was freed, his sons saw their father brutally killing men.   He was called The Ghost by the British army because of his techniques and skills in ambushing.   However, the Green Dragoons were still determined to go after   Benjamin’s loved-ones that it led them to burn the house of his sister-in law, but eventually they escaped with the help of Benjamin.He was then driven to lead the Colonial Militia, planning for strategies and getting involved in the actual fight to win over the seemingly formidable British Army.   One of these strategies was to capture a supply line of General Cornwallis, ransacking all the food and comforts, including two Great Dane dogs of the general. He even tamed the dogs by taking care of them, making these dogs shift loyalties. This made Cornwallis angry. Cornwallis made a plan to trap the men of The Ghost and eventually succeeded. The British captured 18 of his men.Benjamin then concocted a plan of deceiving General Cornwallis, making him believe that he also captured 18 officers, including a colonel who called him a cheeky fellow. He freed his men successfully with this strategy.   In war, deception is one of the strategies to win over the enemies and this was shown in this part of the movie.While at war under his father’s command, Gabriel married a lady from a town.   However, someone led the Green Dragoons to the town where Gabriel’s wife lived and they eventually killed all the townsmen by burning them inside a church.This brought Gabriel to avenge the death of his wife , but he was also killed in the process and his father was greatly saddened of this and swore to kill the leader of the Green Dragoons.When an all-out battle commenced against the Redcoats, the strategy was to put the Colonial Militia under the command of Benjamin in front to show the high morale of   the army to the enemy, but actually the main army of Colonial Militia was in the rear.So, when the Colonial Militia was called to retreat, the Redcoats were surprised by the main army of the Colonials and thus were defeated.   Eventually, Benjamin was given the opportunity to kill his nemesis, Tavington, who killed his two sons, hurting himself in the process.   In the end, Cornwallis and the British army were pushed to their last base.   Cornwallis was forced to surrender because the French army arrived, putting him into the shame of defeat.Benjamin never perfected the art of making rocking chairs but this showed his dogged determination to finish a task no matter how many tim es he failed.   That same intensity of avenging the death of his loved-ones was shown in the battlefield, making him a hero, a real patriot.Producers, Dean Devlin, Mark Gordon and Gary Levinsohn;   Director, Roland Emmerich.   Ã‚  The Patriot. Released in 2000 by Columbia Pictures,   164 mins., Technicolor 35mm widescreen 1.85:1, digital 5.1 sound, DVD released Oct. 24, 2000.Google, James Hitchcock from Tunbridge Wells, EnglandGoogle, Meghan aka KRAMMIT THE FROG

Management Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management Strategy - Essay Example This advancement in technology was based on advanced physics principle than simple electro mechanic as the new equipment relied more on microprocessor-based controls than on electromechanical relays and switches. Following the fact that Lincoln has enjoyed the monotony of owning the laser technology for a long time, the company could use this kind of technology to make productions and sales at the expense of other new companies, hence staying ahead of competition. This gave Lincoln their success that any other company did not have as the bars were highly raised for others to pursue. 2. Lincoln electrical, in its endeavors to pursue laser technologies, had no alternative than to master the laser technology/it had to allow some of the equipment to go extremely custom made so as to be able to perform extremely fine tolerances. To be able to a chieve such equipment, Lincoln electrical would have to part with too much money as this equipment was costing considerably too expensive than was any such equipment in the same industry. Therefore, Lincoln electrical had no choice than to master the laser technology and develop a line of products built on it. The implication of this would mean that, Lincoln must have enough expertise in both human resource and resources allocation so as to be able to master the laser technology in its full application. This would mean that, this company would have to look for both the required funds and resources to be able to facilitate this kind of new technology upgrade which would enable them to raise their annual sales as required. The company was then faced with a tough financial conditions as its required financial outlays were unattainable. This was because the firm had to do a thorough research and development in the line of five products, a process that would cost between 5-15 million dollars.

Support an Issue Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Support an Issue - Assignment Example Moreover, I will also demonstrate how technology eases learning processes in the classrooms. There is need for technology to be integrated the K-12 education system to facilitate a higher order capacity of thinking such as both critical and independent thoughts and the improved level of motivation in learning. This paper summarizes the intensive contribution of technology in the sector of education amongst schools in the United States of America. Introduction Over the last two decades, the education sector has experienced quick advancements in technology. Looking back 30 years ago, application of computers in the classroom was not a common phenomenon let alone in homes. A student harboring a thought of using common text editors like word processor was the weirdest thing ever in recent times. Today, students have been in cooperated into the digital world making the education system to be interesting and informative (Goldin, & Katz, 2008). According to sources, digital world is the con temporary world whereby people employ technology in day to day activities to achieve set objectives. In banking industry for instance, computer program application has been employed to facilitate transactions, processing of cheques and general management of braches through the distributed system platform. Consequently, learning institutions have realized that technology contributes highly on academic success and it also eases delivery of academic knowledge to students. Technology is beneficial in schools since it serves the need of disabled learners, remote areas and also facilitates e-learning curriculum (Goldin, & Katz, 2008). Computers have stimulated activities In learning by assisting the students to develop high thinking capacity. Historically, technological deployment has been linked correlated between inventions and communication with the advancement in the K-12 system of education. E -learning at all level of education is rated among the latest technological advancement in contemporary world with benefit both teachers and learners. Recent applications in the education system a growing populace of learners through the internet have posed to be quite a challenge to teachers because they have to adapt to the ever changing technology. Computers have an in cooperated unique ability to enable class multimedia presentation and also enhance instructor-student communication through online instruction format. Scholars show optimism that the rapid advancement in technology will enhance quality education delivery in years to come ((Goldin, & Katz, 2008).). Positive effect on academic excellence Academic success is traditionally measured in terms of achieving good grades among students in learning institutions. Since the bill of â€Å"No child left behind† enactment in The United States of America, teachers have a moral obligation of ensuring that student from all walks of lives excel in their academic work. Technology plays a fundamental role in enabling s uccess and facilitating learning. According to researchers conducted recently, computer simulation and Instructional Leaning systems (ILS) facilitate issuing of instruction by educators to students (Goldin, & Katz, 2008). A recent by Stamford IT research center reported that learners whose educators employ technology attain higher grades as compared to those

Constitution and Bill of Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Constitution and Bill of Rights - Essay Example What may be less obvious is that this same system of governance was also put in place so that the people were given the power to rule themselves in a distinctly indirect manner. Representative government based on elected officials have their place in the American system of government both as a rejection of the status quo of the patently unfair system of monarchical rule based on primogeniture and as a rejection of direct involvement of the majority of the citizenry. In essence, America’s form of democratic principles carries within it the promise of a rejection of the potential for a mad king such as George III to attain power simply through birthright as well as the admittance that the bulk of the electorate are equally unprepared for the grave responsibilities of directly controlling the business of running the country. In addition, the framers of the Constitution also quite deliberately place obstacles in the path of minority opinion always mandating rule (McKay 52). By creating a system of checks and balances involving endowing the three branches of government with their own specific powers and lack thereof, the government of the United States po ssesses both the advantage of not putting too much power in the hands of a single individual, but it also has the effect of often grinding down the process of instituting change to a near-halt. Article I of the United Constitution provides for the basic design of the legislative branch of the US Government, the Congress. The Constitution clearly delineates in no vague terms that the Congress has the power to spend and tax so as to â€Å"provide for the common defense and general welfare† of the country. In addition, Article I of the Constitution also endow the Congress the power to born money, regulate commerce with foreign nations and amongst states, as well as the sole power to declare war and support the

Comparative genomics using myosin heavy chain gene of 3 related Essay

Comparative genomics using myosin heavy chain gene of 3 related species human,rat,rabbit and 3 unrelated human,fish,chicken just 3000 word introduction only - Essay Example The encoding of genes that isoforms Myosin Heavy Chains have been developed according to their transcriptional orientations and linear order within the set kb of 350 in human, rat, and rabbit. From the maps it is noted that transcriptional orientation, relative intragenic distances, and order of the genes are conserved between the species. Unlike other gene families that are clustered, the order does not portray the temporal patterns of those genes. Conversely, the gene organization, conservation from the divergence of the genes shows that the organization of the genes can be important for their function and regulation. Myosin Heavy Chains converts chemical energy from the hydrolysis of ATP to form a mechanical force that moves the motile processes like cytokines, cellular locomotion, and vesicular transport in eukaryotic cells. Myosin Heavy Chains are subdivided into class comprising of 9 to 11 classes. The conventional Myosin Heavy Chains include the sarcomere Myosin Heavy Chains that associates itself to form a function enzymatically and filaments in promoting contraction in striated muscles. Muscle myosin consists of double Myosin Heavy Chains and two associated dissimilar myosin light chains pairs. The seven Myosin Heavy Chains isoforms that dominate the mammalian skeletal muscles are 2 developmental isoforms, Myosin Heavy Chains embryonic and Myosin Heavy Chains perinatal; 3 adult skeletal muscles, Myosin Heavy Chains-Ha, Myosin Heavy Chains-IIb, Myosin Heavy Chains-IIx/d, and Myosin Heavy Chains-ß/slow which is outlined in the cardiac muscles. The Myosin Heavy Chains isoforms are regulate d differently in response to diverting stimuli that include mechanical, physiological, hormonal, and other signals. The activity of ATPase conferred by the Myosin Heavy Chains in a muscle correlated the contraction speed, thus Myosin Heavy Chains are the

Cross-Cultural Issues in International Business.The Audi organization Essay

Cross-Cultural Issues in International Business.The Audi organization - Essay Example Finally, the paper will propose a solution that details the management style, structure and reporting methods that will provide a solution to the issues identified. The Establishing organization will have to work routinely with the new culture and background of the established company in China. Usually this relationship works well since the differences in culture are enriching and interesting. However, things may go wrong in some cases for reasons that may not be understood by the organization’s management. This is the reason why mastery of cultural differences is important, in order to work more effectively with people, and avoid misunderstandings (Ray, 2010). The Seven Dimensions of Culture is very essential in enhancing the mastery of cultural differences when effectively applied. The model was identified by Trompenaars Fons and Hampden Charles, management consultants, who published it in their book, "Riding the Waves of Culture." The founders found out that majority of peo ple coming from different cultures do not just randomly differ from each other; but they are different in very unpredictable and even specific ways. This is due to the fact that every culture has its own way of thinking, its own beliefs and values. Different cultures also place different preferences on different varying factors. Trompenaars Fons and Hampden Charles concluded that wherever these preferences fall is what makes the differences in culture compared to one another as described on each of the seven dimensions of culture. These cultural dimensions include: universalism versus particularism, specific versus diffuse, individualism versus communitarianism, neutral versus emotional, sequential time versus synchronous time, achievement versus ascription, and internal direction versus outer direction (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). The organization in Europe that wishes to establish an organization in the Far East can use this model to understand and master people from this region , who practice a totally different culture. This will enable the Audi Car Company to avoid misunderstandings with the people and enjoy a good working relationship. This is very significant when the company will be doing business with different people around the region who have different cultural background. Hence, it will ease the management of the diverse groups of people from different cultures. The Seven Dimensions of Culture will also help the management of the organization to understand that there is no particular culture that is worse or better than the other; this is because of the assertion of the model, that people coming from different cultural backgrounds are not necessarily different, but simply make differing choices. In contrary, the Seven Dimensions of Culture does not explain how the management can measure the preferences of people on the seven dimensions (Hampden and Trompenaars, 2000). Therefore, it will be in the best interest of the establishing company to simply use the Seven Dimensions of Culture as a general guide when dealing with the people coming from different cultural backgrounds. The model will enable the organization to explore the strategies that can be used among people fitting the highlighted characteristics of each of the dimensions as described below: The seven dimensions of culture The first cultural dimension is universalism and particularism; according to the model, universalism is characterized by people who place much emphasis on rules, obligations, laws, and values. These people attempt

Strategic Analysis and Choice Invastigation Essay

Strategic Analysis and Choice Invastigation - Essay Example This is done through strategic management in order to contemplate its resources and exploit its opportunities. An example of organization facing these challenges is the coca-cola company, which is a multinational company. This paper will give an analysis of its strategic choices as the company strives to compete with others to win the majority of the customers. Coca-cola Company is one of the most successful companies that need to lay down some fundamental strategies in order to promote its growth and sustainability. It is the leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverage in the world. The company believes that consumers are the life of their business. It operates in more than two hundred countries with four hundred brands. These brands include water, juice drinks, coffees, teas, sports drinks, energy drinks, diet beverage and many others. They connect to future consumer by providing high quality products. Their employees are skilled and the materials they use are of high quality. The Company can collaborate with other bottling organizations to venture into many countries with maximizing value through affordable price and volume approach. In order to develop its marketing strategies, the company has integrated its operations into a single unit. This has been done through management approaches that enable the company to realize the business objectives and promote quality customer relationship. The marketing strategies are essential to fulfill the vision in the future and to fulfill the need for a complete drink taste in all the countries. They have successfully communicated to the market status for the required development of the company in many countries since the company has produced excellent operating revenues as it continue to outpace the cola soft-drinks. Its top management has promoted increase in sales and market shares with strong business presentation (Daniel, Wassell, & Gilligan 1999, 46-8). The new marketing platform 'Real' coca- cola will help in enhancing the image of the brand, especially among teens and adults worldwide through reinforcing a genuine connection to the customers and partnership of other sectors. The enhanced brand will provide better market opportunities for their products and hence the company will create enthusiasm for their business partners and retailers. They have also customized flavors and packaging styles with the brand maintaining the premium price comparative to the competitive brands. Good marketing strategies and planning are essential for the company's development so that the company gives its best to their business in its totality. Quality management would ensure that the company is well-positioned hence meet the customers' needs and continue to experience strong growth through new goods and stretched distribution. Coca- cola may highlight their operating sector to work with other partners like bottling partners in order to accomplish the price strategies that would reinforce their financial results, provide customers with choices that would satisfy their needs and deliver value for the consumers. The coca- cola company can integrate the possible required steps for the development of effective strategies that is responsive to the needs of the customers worldwide. Their perfect structure reflects the way

John Lewis and Marks and Spencer Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

John Lewis and Marks and Spencer - Case Study Example One of the policies was that items can be refunded back to customers as long as they had receipts even if the products had been purchased a long time ago. The Company recorded a profit of slightly over half a billion pounds in the year 2006. M& S also boasts of having a large employee base-it has close to seventy one thousand staff members under its wing. John Lewis was a company is also another retail chain of stores that is slightly smaller than the former mentioned Company. John Lewis (JL) has one hundred and twelve super markets and twenty six stores under its name. There are sixty eight thousand employees working for the Company. JL is well known for the way it shares profits and partners Legislations have been passed that regulate developments which take up green areas; this has limited expansion of M& S stores. The European Commission is working on laws that are related to how M& S closed stores in France especially the way it handled its employees. (www.euractiv.com) lastly, the government requires adherence to high standards in the food industry; M&S has to comply with those standards in its food section. M&S has changed its supply management from Chain management to inventory management. Storey et al (2003) ascertain that this is the reason why M&S is thriving in the retail sector. The company has to face stiff competition from other retailers who also have international markets; it has to incorporate knowledge management and outsourcing to stay ahead. M&S also faces renewed competition from new retailers following the introduction of the European Union. Legal M&S has to perform internal controls and assessments in compliance with the Turnbull report (2007). Also, the company has to follow government regulations that affect corporate governance. Social According to Mellahi et al (2002), the company faces resistance from staff members who may not want to comply with changes in the organisation. M&S also has to make a lot of changes in relation to factors affecting consumer behaviour. Some of these factors are health consciousness causing increased preference for organic foods, rejection of sweatshop labour and products that are safe, preference for products that can be micro waved. Technological The company has to consider internet shopping. It has come up with new products in line with technological advancements like laser scanning. Technology has brought a shift in the retail market to a diffuse international market. Environmental According to the annual report (2007), M&S has adopted Eco plan A, which affects the way the company manages its waste. The company has engaged in campaigns that promote animal welfare. Lastly, the company has introduced use of bags that can be recycled. John Lewis Political A modification has been introduced by the EU Aerosol Dispensers Directive that limits filling to 90%; JL has to comply. The company's name has been tarnished after it sold Unite- a Union. This showed that it does not reward loyal members of staff. Economic The company is facing competition from international markets; it also has to deal with the challenge of credit markets. In light of these factors, the company has decreased its operating costs and may get profits in the future. JL has a strong position in the organic market

What is the use of the study of Intelligence in international Essay

What is the use of the study of Intelligence in international relations - Essay Example He points out that American and British intelligence efforts tended to focus upon Asian intelligence primarily as they related to Soviet targets, as a result, the rush to improve intelligence efforts in Asia after 1950 did not yield immediate results, while human intelligence operations, especially in China, North Korea and Soviet Asia were particularly dangerous. Additionally, the shock of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in particular played a role in driving home the extent of vulnerability of Western societies and the need for reliable intelligence on imminent terrorist threats3. The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center wreaked an unprecedented level of destruction and the attention of the world was drawn sharply to the dangers posed by the terrorist threat. According to Jessica Sterne, terrorism is not the kind of enemy that can be combated on an all out open combat basis4. She defines terrorism as â€Å"a kind of virus, which spreads as a result of risk factors at various levels: global, interstate, national and personal."5 Increasing globalization has seen Internet use widening to encompass a new sphere of activities facilitated through the electronic medium.6 Information and communication technology (ICT) is used by unscrupulous individuals to distort or modify information or to spread terrorist propaganda in a manner that is likely to disrupt the normal functioning of a Government/country and create terror and panic through the weapon of threat. Such cyber crimes involve combat with an unseen enemy, anonymous in the e-maze of the Internet, who is at an unspecific geographic location that cannot be determined and may not be organized in the traditional hierarchical framework which law enforcement agencies are familiar with, so that the focus of the attack becomes indeterminate. It’s now possible to achieve individually, using

Current coal burning policy in U.S.A Essay Example for Free

Current coal burning policy in U.S.A Essay Coal is the largest power producer in America. Recently, the International Energy Agency said that until the year 2030, it will remain to be the worlds largest source of power. However, we have to face the consequences of using coal, because of all fuels; it produces the most carbon dioxide, the number one cause of global warming. Research has shown that American coal burning power plants produce up to two billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. (Nao Nakanishi, 2008) Coal is produced from fossil fuels, which come from plants that decayed millions of years ago. When these fossils are burnt, carbon, nitrous oxide, methane and fluorocarbons are emitted. Carbon combines with oxygen when it is released to the atmosphere, to form carbon dioxide. In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, together with the other gases like nitrous oxide, methane and fluorocarbons form the green house gases. Carbon dioxide forms 76% of the total green house gases. These gases hang in the atmosphere, such that when the sun’s rays hit the earth and reflect back, some are unable to pass through the green house gases. These rays remain in the atmosphere and cause the earth to be 33 degrees Celsius warmer than it should be. The change in the climate causes global warming. The effects of global warming are evident today; increase in diseases like malaria, drought, increased floods to mention just a few. (Hopwood N. etal, 2008) Questions like why coal has to be used as the major electricity producer world wide have been asked many times. The most common answer to this question is that it is found in abundance and is a reliable source of electricity. In addition, it is quite affordable and above all cheapest to produce. However, its demand has become more than its supply so the manufacturers will have too continue manufacturing more of the product. Besides the facts that it has become the back bone of Americas economy, in that if the coal industry failed, there would be a power shortage in the other industries. This explains that economic factors have resulted to coal being a cause for global warming. The diagram below shows the consumption of coal, and the predictions for the future years. (Fueling the future, 2000) It is very sad to know that the American courts have denied the common citizen his right to file for charges against the polluters. This decision has been based on the fact that the common citizen is not harmed by the core emissions to the extent that the harm caused provides sufficient ground for them to file charges. This incident happened a few years ago ion Alabama, where core mines are found. Such an incident is enough proof that even the authorities are now involved in the corruption that comes with core mining. The politicians have not also been left out in the contribution of coal as a cause of global warming. The Bush’s government was a big supporter of coal production. Obama’s government too has not done much to support the use of an alternate source of energy that is not so hazardous. Even after the historic spill of the coal ash in Tennessee, the coal industry has continued to receive support from the members of the Obama government, who have said that they intend to maintain coal as the major source of energy all over America. The government can come up with other ways of producing electricity like the wind power, the hydro electric power or the solar energy. (Power Stephen etal, 2009). Coal mining imposes threats to human life, at both the external and the internal level. At the internal level, coal affects the health of the workers at the mine fields. They breathe the gas when they are mining, and this can lead to serious problems like diseases such as black chest, which is caused by accumulation of the gases on the chest of the miners. The external effects of global warming due to the coal pollution can be seen in the increased environmental degradation. For example, the open pit method of mining the coal leads to land degradation. There are also the deformities that are seen in children born by mothers who were exposed to the gases found in coal. For example, there is mercury, which may cause the children born to be deformed, or may cause them death. The Tennessee coal ash spill, which occurred late, last year shows the ignorance being displayed by the coal manufacturers. More than fifteen homes were destroyed, while the ones that were nearby were exposed to very hazardous conditions. Studies by scientists showed that the ashes contained heavy metals like lead, arenic among others; which could cause neurological problems and diseases like cancer. The ash spill made brought back a debate that had died a few years ago, whether the government should declare the ash from coal as a toxic and hazardous substance. Officials from the coal mining company said that the ash was ’clean coal’. However, environmentalist are warning that there is nothing as clean coal, which is true because if the ash was clean, then they would not be storing it in the first place, but would be releasing it to the atmosphere. (Shaila Dewan, 12/25/2008). The history of coal The first ever coal to be mined in America was in 1748, and it weighed 50 tons, but today, more than one billion tonnes are produced every year. In 1762, people whom settled in the Wyoming Valley discovered the deposits of coal. By then, Pennsylvania was a flat, moist but hot plain and was mostly covered in swamps. It was estimated that 16 billion tons of coal lied beneath the service, and an estimated 7. 5 billion tons of the coal could be mined. In 1768, the coal was first mined, and the mine was located near Pittston. Between 1776 and 1780, the coal that was discovered at the Wilkes- Berre area was mined. It was then used as an industrial product in 1788, to heat the metals that were used to make iron nails. After the first mining and use of coal in the industries, other uses were also discovered. From then, coal became a major boost to the industrial revolution, and it continues to be used in the industries up to date. A total of 38 states have coal deposits and each has been mined one time or another. Coal mining is one of the reasons for the development of these states since the early 1800s. The uses of coal have improved as the years pass. At first, coal was used for the manufacture of the gas lights. In the 1950s, illuminating gas that was commonly used in Britain was also made from coal. In general, coal was in the past used for the steam engines, as a domestic heat provide and as a fuel for rail roads. Efforts to stop global warming by coal There are environmentalists such as Al Gore, have tried to come up with solutions to reduce global warming by coal. There are such as the use of alternative sources of energy like the solar and the wind power, which do not contribute to global warming. They have argued that the energy sources would be important in the conservation of the environment and the effect of global warming would definitely decrease. There is also the on going research on how the coal gases can be cleaned before they are released to the atmosphere to reduce the level of pollution that they cause. President Obama has supported this move, saying that since he supports the use of coal as the major source of electricity for all of America, then clean coal, free from any toxins would be a good idea to reduce global warming. Review of the research This research has been done through the use of secondary sources. The sources are reliable, some of them on statistical data. However, more research needs to be done on the use of coal as the major source of electricity in America. There, is a need to join the environmentalists in the campaign against the use of coal, and to come up with other methods that are friendlier to the environment. We all have a role to play in the reducing the effects of global warming. Works cited 1) Beacon Theater, January 15, 2004, Al Gore Speaks on Global Warming and the Environment, New York, retrieved on 1/27/2009 from: http://civic. moveon. org/gore3//speech. html 2) Dewan Shaila, 12/25/2008, Tennessee coal ash spill revives issue of its hazards: Herald tribune Retrieved on 1/27/2009 from http://www. iht. com/articles/2008/12/25/america/25sludge. php? page=1 3) District 1 Coal Mine Safety and Health History of Anthracite Coal Mining: United States department of labor, retrieved on 1/27/2009 from http://www. msha. gov/district/dist_01/history/history. htm 4) Fueling the future: American gas foundation, 2000, retrieved on 1/27/2009 from: http://www. fuelingthefuture. org/contents/Graphs. asp 5) History of core use: fossil oils. org 14/19/2004, retrieved on 1/27/2009 from http://www. bydesign. com/fossilfuels/links/index. html 6) Hopwood Nick, Cohen Jordan, (2008), Green house gases and society, retrieved on 1/27/2009 from http://www. umich. edu/~gs265/society/greenhouse. htm 7) John Stuart Richards, 2002, Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region, New York, Arcadia Publishing, 2002 8) Kutcha David, 2003, Pennsylvania coal mine history, retrieved on 1/27/1009 from http://www. tccweb. org/penncoal. htm 9) Nakanishi Nao, 11/14/2008. Coal to remain worlds top power source: Energy plan USA, Research and comment, retrieved on 1/27/2009 from: http://www. reuters. com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE4AD3CQ20081114? sp=true

Introduction to Synchronization

Introduction to Synchronization Synchronization is a mechanism which helps to use shared memory resources in an operating system. In the current world, most of the computers are multi-tasking computers. So these computers can do more than one process at the same time. And the networking technology is has become one of the most modern and developed technologies in the current worlds. So both these computer and network technologies work together in order to achieve common goals. While working together these technologies have to share resources such as memory at the same time. While sharing memory, there can be many problems. To avoid these problems synchronization mechanisms were implemented. Concurrency As it is mentioned above, operating systems share memory in order to achieve common goals. The data can be shared among two processes in one operating system or two operating systems over a network. However there are sometimes that the shared data can be accessed by only one process at a time. As a real life example, shared bathroom can be taken. A shared bathroom can be used by many people but it can be used by only one person at the time. If someone is using the bathroom, others have to wait until that person to come out. Then the one of the waited people can use the bathroom. Another real life example for this is shared streets or junctions. In shared streets, people can use only one direction at one time. If the shared street is used by any direction, people from other direction have to wait till others to stop using the shared street. Otherwise there can be clashes and a lot of problems. Like these, when the operating systems use shared memory, sometimes only one process can acc ess the data at one time. So this is called concurrency. There must be some mechanisms to avoid this concurrency. In the above given two real life examples, the shared bathroom can use a lock in its door to make sure that only one person is using the bathroom at one time. In the shared streets, traffic lights can be used to make sure that only one direction is using the street and avoid the clashes. Like this, locking and synchronizations are the mechanisms that can be used to avoid concurrency in operating systems. Properties of systems with concurrency There are some properties of the systems with concurrency. Those properties are, multiple actors, shared resources and rules for accessing the resources. In the above given two real life examples, the multiple actors are people and vehicles while the shared resources become bathroom and street. The rules for accessing these shared resources are one person at one time for the bathroom and one direction for one time for the shared streets. When talking about these three properties in relating to the operating systems, it can be explained like this. Here, the multiple actors are processes within the operating system or threads in processes. Shared memory, global variables and shared devices can be taken as the examples for the shared resources property while locking and semaphores techniques become the rules for accessing the shared resources in operating systems. These are the three properties of the systems with concurrency and it helps to understand what the concurrency is. Situations with no risk of concurrency In the current computer technology, there are some situations that there is no risk of concurrency but the shared resources are accessed by more than one processes or threads at the same time. Those situations are as follows, No shared memory or communication :- Here, the processes or threads do not have shared memory or communication. So those processes or threads work only with its private memory. Shared memory with read-only access :- Here, the shared memory can be accessed by one or more processes or threads at the same time. But in this situation, the shared memory is only available for processes or threads to read-only. So the shared memory cannot be modified in this situation. Copy-on-Write (COW) :- Here, the shared memory is accessed by one or more processes or threads at the same time and each process or thread has a separate copy of the shared memory. So each process is accessing its own copy of the shared memory and there is no risk of concurrency. Situation with risk of concurrency As well as the situations with no risk of concurrency, there are some situations with risk of concurrency in the current operating systems. Those situations can be explained as follows, Using of shared memory without any synchronization :- Here, if the shared memory is accessed by more than one processes or threads at the same time without and synchronization (without having any separate copy for each process or threads), there is a risk of concurrency. Any modification to the shared memory :- If the shared memory is accessed by more than one processes or threads, and at least one of the processes or threads makes any changes to the shared memory, then there is a risk of concurrency. These are the situations with risk of concurrency. If one of these happens, then there is a risk of concurrency in the system. If a concurrency is happened, then there may be a lot of problems in the system. And the risk of happening the concurrency is known as race condition. Race condition Under this topic, the race conditions is discussed by using an example. Here, an example of a bank account is taken to discuss the race condition. In this example, there are two peoples and a bank account. Execution of the code of this example as follows, account.balance =  £200; int withdraw (account, amount =  £50){ balance = account.balance; balance -= amount; int deposit (account, amount= £100){ balance = account.balance; balance += amount; account.balance = balance; return balance; } account.balance = balance; return balance; } For this example, the two persons are named as person1 and person2. The code executed by the person1 is coloured with blue colour while the code executed by the person2 is coloured with red colour. This is a sketch of the programme but not coded with any programming language. In the very first line, the balance of the account is set to  £200. The rest of the code is explained as follows, Line 1 :- person1 starts executing the code and calls the withdraw() by giving the account and  £50 of amount as the parameters. Line 2 :- person1 reads the balance from the account class and assigns the value of balance variable in account class to his balance variable in his withdraw(). Line 3 :- person1 modifies the value of the balance variable in his withdraw() by subtracting the value of amount. So the value of the balance variable in his withdraw() becomes  £150. Line 4 :- In this line, the person2 starts executing the code by calling his deposit() by parsing account and  £100 of amount as the parameters. Line 5 :- Here, person2 reads the value of the balance variable in account class and assigns it to the balance variable in his deposit(). Here, still the value of balance variable in account class is  £200 as the person1 has not updated the balance in account class. Line 6 :- Person2 modifies the value of the balance variable by adding the value of amount variable to it. So the value of balance variable in deposit() becomes  £300. Line 7 :- person1 updates the value of the balance variable in the account class as  £150. Line 8 :- person 1 returns the value of the balance variable in withdraw() Line 9 :- person2 updates the value of the balance variable in the account class as  £300 Line 10 :- person2 returns the value of the balance variable in his deposit() After executing this code 2 peoples complete their transactions by leaving the final value of the balance variable in account class as  £300 while the real value of the balance variable in account class has to be  £250. So there is clear error in the final output of the process and this is called as the race condition. Manage concurrency Manage Synchronization means, use synchronization mechanism programs to write rues for control concurrency situations. One of these rules are as follows: Atomicity Atomicity allows one threat to access data to manipulate at a single situation. In another way, will allows no other threats to change data while one is running. This will either will lock the threat is in progress of manipulating the record or let other records to be waiting while one record access record. The other rule is conditional synchronization In this explain threats will be in a particular order to access the record. When threats arrives to access record rule will check the order and add to the queue and let wait until the turn of the threat to access the records. All above access methods will be easy to implement when can identify which is the critical part of the process should allow to access at a time. i.e. When Person A accessing account balance person B not allows to access balance at the same time. If extract further as bellow. 1.int withdraw (account, amount) { 2.int balance = account.balance; 3.balance -= amount; 4.account.balance = balance; 5.return balance; 6.} Line 1: will initialize threat and pass external parameter values into the threat withdraw as account and amount in this situation. Line 2: will declare balance variable locally to retrieve stored account balance from the database for threat to process and pass account balance in the account table account.balance. Line 3: will manipulate balance variable value (in this situation, we will deduct since it is withdrawal) from the amount has been pass form external parameter. -= notation for the deduction. Line 4: will update database with new balance value after withdrawal amount deducted from original balance. balance which is a local variable holding the new balance transfer to the account.balance and update record with new balance value. Line 5: will return new balance value to the screen if necessary Line 6: will terminate the process of withdraw by } There will be no concurrent when two threat access lines 1, 5 and 6. But if any threat try to access lines 2, 3 and 4 will be given incorrect information for one of the threats. Therefore from line 2 to 4 is very critical to let access only for one threat at any given time of the process as explain bellow. int withdraw (account, amount) { int balance = account.balance; balance -= amount;Critical Section account.balance = balance; return balance; } This identified sections will call as a critical section in another word, no other threats will allows to access while one threat is using at any given time because data will be manipulate when access line 2, 3 and 4. Critical section Critical section is set of codes access shared resources and there are several ways of developing critical section such as: Locks, Semaphores, Monitors and Messages. In this report will describe locks and semaphores how behave and how priority will work. Locks in synchronization First method of synchronization is locks. Locking is a very primitive system been used. Lock will lock the threat in the critical section while it is processing the record. Mainly lock has two stats Held and Not Held. At the Held state, one threat is in the critical section and at the Not Held state no threats in the critical section and can prioritised threats to have access. Also locks having two operations Acquire and Release. Which threat will request the lock to be held to access critical section and once threat previously use critical section release the lock acquired thread will get a chance and change the state as held. When threat finish it process in the critical section must release the lock to use by the other threats which are waiting in the queue. Figure The above figure has explain how acquire and release will behave at the critical section access, i.e. threats A, B and C request access permission to critical section at the same time by Acquire operation and threat A will grant access with the lock Held state enable. Once threat complete the process will call release operation to change the lock state to Not Held and lock will change state to Held with threat B and so on will be proceed to complete different threat request at the critical section. By using previous example take a look where to use Acquire and Release operations threat. int withdraw (account, amount) { acquire (lock); // Request lock to held to access critical section int balance = account.balance; balance -= amount;Critical Section account.balance = balance; release (lock); // Release lock after complete critical section access return balance; } With further explanation considering previous withdraw and deposit situation Figure 2. Overcome concurrency situation had occurred while both people access same account balance to manipulate the amount. Figure When implement locks use Boolean variable to check is lock held TRUE or FALSE? Acquire operation will keep other threats in the waiting state while lock held values is TRUE. If lock held VALUE is false, will change to TRUE with requested threat. When the threat completed process in critical section will call release operation and change lock held value as FALSE to make lock available for other threats will show in below construct. First create a global Boolean type variable held values TRUE or FALSE to check is lock holding by a threat or not and by default lock will not hold by any threat and value will be FALSE. structure lock { bool held; // initial value FALSE } Construct acquire by requesting a lock to be held and if lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  held value TRUE request threat will wait in the queue for lock to be released. If lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  held is FALSE and by acquire change value of lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  held to TRUE and take the control of the critical section access. void acquire (lock) { while (lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   held) ; // Hold other threats in the wait queue lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   held = TRUE; // Once get the lock, change lock value to TRUE } Construct release operation simply will change the start of lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚  held value to false and allows other threat to access critical section for the next process. void release (lock) { lock à ¯Ã†â€™Ã‚   held = FALSE; // When complete process in the critical section, change lock value to FALSE } Semaphores in synchronization This is the second method of synchronization. This method is a very basic and powerful mechanism but difficult Implementation method and use blocking threats to access critical section instead of locking threats while using critical section. Semaphores has two operations and they are: wait (semaphore) or P() First of all as soon as threat request access permission P() or wait (semaphore) will decrease the counter values which is 1 by default. Then check is counter value become 0 or signal (semaphore) or V() Once a threat complete process in the critical section will call V() or signal (semaphore) and will increase counter value by 1. i.e. if a P() had decrease counter value 0 while it was in critical section and no other threats can access, but second threat has decreased to -1 while requesting permission to access critical section and waited. Also since second threat is still waiting to get permission it goes to sleep mode, hence V() will wake up threat in a sleep to start it process in critical section explains in Figure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Figure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Figure Readers/Writers synchronization This is another powerful method of synchronization. In this method, the data is accessed by two different ways. Those two ways are, readers and writers. Here, the readers only read files and writers update file contents or data. There are four (4) rules while using the readers/writers synchronization methods and they are as follows, If any reader(s) read the file and no writer is pending, the next reader can read the file without waiting. Writers have to wait till the reader(s) finish reading file. After readers finish reading, writer(s) will can start writing. If any writer is writing to the file, acquiring readers have to wait till writer finish writing. If one writer is writing to the file and if both readers and writers are waiting, at this situation priority will be given for writers who are waiting. Therefore readers will wait till all writers to compete writing and then readers will start reading. So readers can read most updated file. Future trends of synchronization In the current situation, locks and semaphores are widely used in order to prevent the concurrency. So it is very important to deal with the codes in critical section as otherwise there will be a lot of problems with the reliability of information systems. However using of systems with the locks are not time efficiency. So in the current situation of the computer technology, there is a trend of implementing lock free systems. According to the previous example of shared street, the shared street has to be controlled by using traffic lights. So on the shared streets, only one direction is allowed at one time. So the other directions are blocked at the same time. But there is a technique that does not need of using any traffic lights on the shared street. Here, fly over technique can be used and avoid blocking the directions. So all the directions on the shared street can be used at once without having any problem. But here, this technique may has some more waiting time as the length of the street can be increased while using fly over technique. Like in this example, lock free systems can be implemented in information systems. Semaphore method can be taken as an example for lock free system. But here as well, the processes have to wait sometimes as in the give example of fly over technique on shared streets. The weakness of this method is that lock free and wait free features cannot be implemented in the same information system. So only one of these methods (lock free or wait free) can be implemented in information system.

The Advantages And Disadvantage Of Bribery Economics Essay

The Advantages And Disadvantage Of Bribery Economics Essay The enterprises or merchantmen have different views on bribery under different circumstances; sometimes the different nations with different background have completely different ideas. In some places, peoples attitude is slightly loose to bribery, while in other places, such as in the United States, people look down on this act in public, but they do not clean themselves. In spite of the publics tolerance for bribery, there are not a national people will agree that powerful people can hurt the publics interests (Joseph A. McKinney, 2008). Corruption and the Global Economy, said that both the developed and developing countries, whether the so-called democratic countries, or dictatorships, corruption almost exists everywhere. In order to obtain some profits, such as the market access, policy benefits and scarce resources, whether multinational or local companies adopt all means to improve the relationship with the government and the government officials, which affirmed the existence of a large number of illegal acts (Mathias Nell, 2009)? Former Indonesian President Suharto, former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan and Roh Tae-woo, former President Abacha of Nigeria, former President Ferdinand Marcos of Philippines, former Mexican President Salinas had stepped down because of corruption and bribery, in these famous events, there are many multinational presences. In this essay, it will firstly discuss the advantages of bribery by an actual example. Further, it will introduce the disadvantages of bribery with making out an unfeigned instance. Finally, it will summarize that the bribery plays a role in the international business. The advantages of bribery A few years ago, the survey that the World Bank on the 3600 foreign trade companies in the earth showed that there are 40 percent of companies did business through bribery in 69 countries. It is estimated that the corruption fund account for 10 to 20 percent of the total amount of the global business, some companies bribe money reached 100 million dollars (Carl Pacini, 2002). However, in fact, there are not many cases of transnational bribery which have been exposed, while there are few of punishment. China has become the most potential and the fastest growing emerging market in the world, particularly in the past decade, the import and export trade and the direct investment from the multinational companies were rapidly develop. To quickly open the Chinese market and make huge profits, the multinational companies not only exhibit their fund advantage, technical superiority and management advantages, but also show their bargaining power that convincing the relevant Chinese authorities and enterprises, even including adopting the bribery. All business books relevant to do business in China would warn the occidental the importance of the relations, which often means paying bribe for the government officials and the leaders of state-owned enterprises. There is no one doubts the existence of bribery, while there is almost not a multinational company admit encountering such a thing, all public interviewed west managers have denied that they had been extorted or bribed. Procter Gamble which is one of the best developing multinational companies has set up in China over 20 years. Currently, P G with its multi-brand advantages has occupied 60% of Chinese commodity market. Any other company can hardly achieve such success, the secret of success is the strong capital, strong research team of P G, but almost no one can guarantee that there is no the suspects of bribery. The Chinese dental treatment group certification message was printed on the shell of Procter Gambles Crest brand toothpaste, which has convinced Chinese consumers, so this brand toothpaste was in popular. However, But in 2007, the Ministry of Health publicly said the investigation of Chinese dental treatment group certification and economic problems, P G was quickly drawn into the whirlpool because of its close relations. P G has been reported that it donated 10 million Yuan to Chinese dental treatment group, while it also allowed enterprises and institutions related to public interest in donation or sponsorship between the names of the financial transactions to be concerned. Although P G quickly responded, said the money was donated to the Chinese Foundation of dental prevention and treatment for promoting oral health, which has nothing with the certification of Crest toothpaste. However, this approach immediately attracted greater challenge. It is understood that Dental Prevention and Treatment Foundation and Dental Treatment Group even to be a pair of twins, the Foundation is established based on Dental Treatment Group, and in turn, the Foundation support the public activities of Dental Treatment Group with its received funds. From this, there is nothing between donations and certification according to P G, which is purely sophistry. Procter Gamble donated 10 million Yuan to Dental Treatment Group or its brother agencies, which can not have any relation with the long-term. If the two sides had not volunteered admit the information, and without documents and other evidence to prove a causal relationship between them, then the law can do nothing. On the other hand, if we can prove that P Gs contributions related to the dental certification, then the Dental Treatment Group and Procter Gamble have a commercial bribery and should take legal responsibility. Obviously, no one will take the initiative to admit commercial br ibery. Although P G had some implications in this matter, but this did not affect their normal interests, on the contrary, it greatly increased its advertising effect to increase its sale. The Dental Treatment Group certificated Crest toothpastes efficacy, which recognized the prevention and treatment of their products. Procter Gamble obtained profits is far more than 10 million Yuan from the event. The disadvantage of bribery Since the reform and opening up, Chinas real estate industry has been rapid develop, so the demand for steel continues to rise, while the raw material iron and steel iron ore is the competed objects by Chinese steel mills. China is the largest iron ore importer in the world, but China has been in a passive position in the price negotiations of iron ore, because Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Brazils CVRD monopolized 70% of the global iron ore. With the growing demand and intending to seek more ways of importing, China has started to increase its iron ore imports from other countries (Christopher Baughn, 2010). Although the amount of the small countrys imports are increasing, the Australian ore and Brazilian ore are still the main sources of Chinese iron ore. Thus, the ceaseless contest has been started between China and the three mines. The case of Rio Tinto spy is a typical example in July 2009. According to the media reports, the computers in Shanghai office of Rio Tinto was taken away by the related departments has dozens of steel enterprises information which have a long agreement contract with Rio Tinto. The information is concerning the enterprises detailed stock plans, raw materials inventory, production schedules and other data, including large steel enterprises monthly steel production and sales. There are no more than 10 people know about all the details of Chinese steel production process. Mining companies can master these secrets; it may be pay bribe for the specific operators of the relevant enterprises. The insiders said the emotional communication between the mining companies and the steel companies is very close, in addition to the normal business commission; a number of mining companies would be necessary paying bribery for the relevant personnel. March 29, 2010, at the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Peoples Court worked out the first instance verdict on the Rio Tinto case, which identified Stern Hu, Yong Wang, Mingqiang Ge and Caikui committed non-national staff of accepting bribes and violating commercial secrets crimes, were sentenced to their term imprisonment ranging from fourteen years to seven years. Although the end of this bribery case, it left people many reflection. Many people give away the national interests for some petty profits, while Rio Tinto is not a separate company in the case; it represents the interests of the three mines. Rio Tinto case not only damaged the friendship and mutual trust between China and Australia, and mutual trust, but only involved in Chinas commercial secrets. Transparency International There is not the Global anti-corruption or bribery legislation yet, but the regional legislation is playing an increasing role. Since 1993, a named Transparency International international organization determined through the international and countries cooperation to encourage the Government formulate and implement effective laws and policies to hold out corruption. Transparency International carried out a large number of activities, a very important activity is investigating the businessman, the political analysts and the public around the world to determine the perception of various countries degree of corruption from the respondents. The corruption perceptions index is the international access targets for evaluating the degree of a countrys corruption (Table 1). Table 1: Corruption perceptions Index 2009 (from http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table) Country CPI 2009 Country CPI 2009 New Zealand(1) 9.4 United stated (19) 7.5 Denmark (2) 9.3 China (79) 3.6 Singapore (3) 9.2 India (84) 3.4 Sweden (4) 9.2 Russia (146) 2.2 Switzerland (5) 9 Iraq (176) 1.5 Australia (8) 8.7 Afghanistan (179) 1.3 Japan (17) 7.7 Somalia (180) 1.1 From the table, it is concluded that the Nordic countries possess of the highest ethical standards, the Asias Singapore is known as a model for the worlds anti-corruption, the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also has a strong anti-corruption efforts, while Asia, Africa and some Latin American countries most affected by corruption (Carl Pacini, 2002). The companies of United Stated would be prohibited by the state law if they pay bribe in foreign. Back in 1997, the United States promulgated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, took the lead in working out disciplinal provisions about multinational companies paying bribe for the host countries government officials (Margot Cleveland, 2009). Despite the subsequent time, few cases of punishment of transnational corporations, the American multinational companies also considered harming the interests of U.S. companies in foreign countries, affecting U.S. companies competitive abroad. U.S. Commerce Secretary said that the American companies lost 64 billion dollars business within a year, because of anti-bribery and anti-corruption. The American enterprise which has been still pay bribes has been marked decreased. However, many multinational companies are still trying bribery, because the contract is too attractive. At now, the member countries of the Economic Cooperation and Development Organization and the Organization of American States are the most effective anti-corruption countries; it can not have bribery activities when people opened offices in those countries or making the global marketing business. Government officials in these countries have higher moral standards. In Asian and African countries, bribery is much more common. General estimates, the multinational companies gave the government officials kickbacks account for 15% of the total income when the global companies operated in Asia. Although bribery is illegal, each company had to work to pay bribe. Conclusion In conclusion, this essay clearly discussed the advantages and disadvantages of bribery from clear from the positive and negative sides. In fact, we all know the advantages and disadvantages of bribery, if paying bribe is successful, then the person or group will get their hoped interests; if paying bribe is fail, the briber and bribe will be punished by the related law. Although, there are the stringent laws in this regard in every country, many people go to pay bribe and corrupt at risk and at all costs in the driven of interests. Multinational bribery is not a national issue, this is a global issue. There should be some organizations such as Transparency International in each region or country, together with the local government to develop and implement effective laws and policies to put down corruption. International and the countries bosom should strengthen cooperation in order to effectively keep within limits corruption. Multinational bribery is not an isolated phenomenon, onl y when the powder large-scale is away from the economy, the legal system is more robust and the social atmosphere is better, it will be got the basic reverse, it also requires the joint efforts of all mankind.

Alzheimers Disease Health Promotion Case Study :: Alzheimers Disease Essays

Introduction This section will discuss the impact of Alzheimer's disease on racial, cultural, and gender variables, with the focus being on the various approaches to care of the disease. Developmental stages and tasks will be discussed for both the client and the caregiver. Gender and Culture Alzheimer's disease and related dementias affect all races, ethnicities and cultures equally. (Anonymous, 1998) Of people over 65 an estimated 6-10% will be affected by some form of dementia. (Hendrie, 1998) It is only in gender where we see slightly more women than men who are affected by this destructive illness. (Lautenschlager et al., 1996) The only controllable risk factor that is known at this point is cigarette smoking. In a large study in Germany smoking cigarettes doubled the risk of dementia in the older population. (Ott et al., 1998) Alzheimer's disease patients can survive for 3-20 or more years. It is not the AD that kills the patient, rather it is diseases of aging and/or inactivity, with pneumonia being the leading cause at 70%. This is followed by heart disease, stroke, and cancer. (Thomas, Starr, & Whalley, 1997) Cultural Differences Race, culture, religion and ethnicity all play a part in how we care for our elderly. Each family makes decisions based on background, experience, expectations, knowledge base, and economics. Most people would like to be able to care for their aging parent or spouse with as little disruption to lifestyle as possible. Alzheimer's Disease, however, is a full time commitment, not just eight hours a day, but "24/7", as the current idiom implies, the patient needs continuous care. Sleep habits are disturbed, wandering is common, medications must be carefully controlled, safety is always important. Home care soon becomes frustrating and exhausting if left to one or two caregivers. When the primary caregiver has his/her own medical needs to see to, is also aged, or is the parent of young children as well, the burden can become overwhelming. In-home care is a possibility as is placement in a live-in facility, but both are expensive alternatives. In California ethnic minorities make up a large part of our population. In the book Culture and Nursing Care: A Pocket Guide, there are characteristics of these groups and generalizations are made about how they care for their elderly. (Lipson, 1996) The following table highlights some of these groups that are represented in the Bay Area. American Indian Status of "elder" begins in middle age.

Christian Rhetoric in The History of Mary Prince and Second Class Citiz

Christian Rhetoric in Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince, and Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen It is true, perhaps, that women are the subset of humanity whose rights had been the longest stripped of them, and who had been abused the worst and for the longest time. Even today, many people believe that women still do not have the equality that ought to be afforded them. Since women first started making steps to approach that ideal equality, they have used various means, including literature, to further their cause. Both Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince, as well as Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen, use language of Christian rhetoric to simultaneously cast their characters and themselves as sinners and the redeemed and righteous as well as portraying the journey of redemption between one and the other. This subconscious wording engenders fellowship in their readers, who can relate to the story of the redeemed, and who exist in an overwhelmingly moral and Christian society. The use of Christian rhetoric as a means to instill empathy in the reader is first and foremost evident in the specific language of the texts. The word choice of the author subtly highlights Christian ideals with direct relevance to the author and character herself. For example, Prince recalls a time after the white slave owners pulled down the slaves’ prayer shed, saying, â€Å"A flood came down soon after and washed away many houses, filled the place with sand and overflowed the ponds: and I do think that this was for their wickedness; for the Buckra men there were very wicked† (Prince 19). Prince’s use of the word wickedness here implies some sort of tie to Christianity. There is a vast array of words that could fit in the place of â€Å"wic... ...to view the writer’s work as in concert with Christian ideals and ideology, therefore establishing, in the mind of the reader, a thorough connection between the writer and their cause, and what the reader perceives, most likely, as moral and good. This holds true especially in Mary Prince’s The History of Mary Prince, as well as Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen, both of who use Christian rhetoric in a subconscious, literal, and in the case of Prince, plot-oriented manner. This causes their respective audiences to see them and their causes, through their characters, as righteous, therefore successfully fulfilling the purpose of using such language. Works Cited Emecheta, Buchi. Second-class Citizen. New York: G. Braziller, 1975. Print. Prince, Mary. The History of Mary Prince: a West Indian Slave Narrative. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 2004. Print.

Colonialism and Imperialism in Heart of Darkness and A Passage to India

It is best to analyze the works, Heart of Darkness and A Passage to India, applying the historical and cultural conditions of the society in which they were produced. The relations between groups and classes of people that imperialism sets up, and that these two works explore, starkly reveals the contradictions within capitalism in a way that a similar piece of fiction set within one culture and dealing with characters from that culture alone cannot. Prior to the analysis however, I would like to give a brief, pertinent explanation of the Marxist approach to the analysis of literature and of the terms I will be using. After years of study and research, Karl Marx published the first volume of his monumental Das Kapital in 1867. In it Marx presents his theory of the materialist conception of history in which the economic base of a society gives rise to and interacts in a dialectical way with the societal superstructure of culture, law, religion and art. Among other things, Das Kapital traces the historical development of industrial capitalism as arising out of feudalism, predicts capitalism's further evolution, and sets forth theories of class structure and class struggle. It also critiques the methods by which industrial capitalism organizes the means of production so that capital and labor are separated and held by distinct and antagonistic groups within the society. This separation overwhelmingly benefits the holders of capital, politically and economically, to the corresponding detriment of those who sell their labor. Though this is by no means an adequate summary of Marx' ideas and contribution s, my aim is to provide this simple theoretical framework within which to focus on more particular elements of Marxist theory. Fo... ...ieve that imperial rule, if inevitable in the short run, was an inglorious enterprise that deformed both those who ruled and those who submitted" (153). I believe that Joseph Conrad and E. M. Forster were two such artists and that the two works in question reflected their growing awareness of imperialism as an "inglorious enterprise" whether this was consciously expressed by the author(s) or not. This study will also attempt to tease out the ways in which each work both supports and subverts the imperial mission and its ideology and I will also speculate to a certain extent as to how these contradictions in the works reflected contradictions in the society in which they were written. Works Cited: Conrad, James. Heart of Darkness and Other Tales. Great Britain, BPC paperbacks ltd. 1990. Forster, E.M. A Passage to India. Neew York: Harcourt Brace, 1984.

Fast Fit Case Study

1. FastFit Case Study FastFit Sporting Goods is a successful New England regional supplier of sporting goods to the high end consumer market. They sell an exclusive selection of equipment and apparel to men and women who exercise and pursue outdoor activities on a regular basis. They operate five (5) upscale retail stores in the New England market that offer a high level of customer attention, with a headquarters (HQ) is in Burlington, Massachusetts, and a single warehouse, distribution, and eCommerce fulfillment center in Haverhill, Massachusetts.Most of their products are purchased from two suppliers, Winter Gear Distributers outside of Providence, Rhode Island, and Boston Fitness Supplies in Marlboro, Massachusetts. FastFit has expanded successfully in the New England area over the past five years. However to expand nationally as a major retailer, they need to improve the scalability of their operations (stores and warehouses). A key part of their strategy is to leverage informati on systems to automate and improve operations, to strengthen management controls, and to enable significant growth while maintaining the â€Å"high touch† customer experience.A diagram of their complete non-Web based operations follows. See figure 1. [pic] Figure 1: A Schematic diagram of FastFit Sporting Goods Operations The Initial Set of Case Study Questions The simple system diagram below may be used to answer the following questions. The questions should be answered using your common sense and knowledge of retail processes because we have all bought things at a store. Be specific about the items of information, where they are captured, stored and used.How the information flows or is moved within FastFit may be shown by the student adding labeled arrows added to the diagram below. See figure 2. Figure 2: Starting Point for a System Diagram of FastFit Business Information Flows A General Question 1. Mark the main flows of goods and money in the diagram (above). Use single headed arrows and employ a key or table of descriptive elements to explain your answer. Customer Questions (focus on the customer and FastFit process flows, i. e. the front end of the diagram) 2. ) List the specific items of information that are usually gathered at the POS (Point of Sale terminal or cash register) and recorded when a customer checks out (excluding obtaining the identity of the customer which is covered in Q3)? b) What are three important uses of this information at the store by the store manager and by headquarters management – a total of six uses? 3. a) What are some ways to obtain the identity of the customer at the POS and to associate this â€Å"identity† with more detailed information about the customer? b) What business actions could FastFit then take based upon this additional information? . Assume HQ is responsible for replenishing inventory at the stores. a) What information is needed and how is it used to decide what to send to each store? b) Where does the information come from? c) Why didn’t we have each store decide what to order from the warehouse? Supplier Questions (focus on the FastFit and Supplier process flows, i. e. the back end of the diagram) 5. a) Draw a system diagram that shows the key information and product flows between FastFit (HQ and Warehouse) and a supplier, including the steps for ordering and invoicing and label each flow descriptively.This diagram will have three circles. b) Compare your drawing with the diagram showing the flows between the customer and the store and explain why the former is more complicated. 6. Assume that FastFit headquarters receives and pays invoices from suppliers. a) How do they decide whether to pay and how much to pay? b) From where do they get the information to make this decision? eCommerce Set of Case Study Questions 7. Describe three geographic locations from which customers can submit orders and any information technology components customers would need (on their end) to accomplish this ordering activity. Location |Information Technology Component | |Home |Server | | |Desktop | | |Laptop | | |Routers | | |Web Server Application | |Road / Anywhere |Smart Phones | | |Web | |Work |Laptops | |School |Routers | | |Web Server Application | 8. a) Describe the information technology components FastFit needs to interact with customers on the web. [Hint: Locate a detailed explanation of e-commerce system platforms in the course textbook and/or web search. ] b) At what geographic location within FastFit would you place these information technology components and why? a) |IT components | |Application providers for the purchase and sale of goods |Software applications | | |Web software | | |Security software | | |Database | |Technology infrastructure providers that enables e-commerce |Routers | | |Storages | | |Servers (web and commerce) | | |Data centers | | |Hardware | | |Networks | from MD PowerPoint session 20 9. FastF it is planning to invest significantly in its e-commerce platform to increase online ordering. Describe three technology features/capabilities that should be included in the platform and provide business justifications for each feature. |Technology feature/capability |Description |Business Justification | |Browser |Program that a user uses to interact with web|Users have access to the Business from | | |servers on the internet |anywhere.Increase costumer contact with | | | |store. | | | |Improve operations by making store more | | | |accessible to customer. | |Web Server |Program that communicates with many browsers |Allows for multiple users to interact with | | |at the same time using http, by processing |the web page at the same instant. | |and responding to their requests |Increase number of transactions being | | | |processed at the same time | |Commerce Server |Computer that provides a business with |Allows transactions to be completed through | | |web-based programs that disp lay products, |the web. | | |support online ordering, implements a |Enables consumers to receive information | | |shopping cart, record and process payments, |about products.Automates inventory | | |and interface with inventory-management |management | | |applications | | *from MD PowerPoint session 20 10. a) What does the Haverhill order fulfillment center do? b) Describe the information needed at the warehouse to provide fulfillment services. c) Describe the information created or changed/updated during the course of an e-commerce business transaction. a) i. Warehousing ii. Order processing iii. Finding the item ordered iv. Packing order v. Shipping it to the right address b) Fulfillment Service |Information Needed | |Warehousing |Inventory information | | |Warehouse capacity | | |Warehouse organization | | |Suppliers information | |Order Processing |Order Information | | |Item ordered and amount ordered | | |Inventory information (items and quantity) | | |Consumer Informat ion | |Finding the item ordered |Warehouse structure information | | |Item ordered code | |Packing order |Order Information | | |Ending inventory Information | |Shipping order to right address/store |Consumer Information | | |Delivery/Shipping Information | *Vendorseek. com c) i. Costumer Address for delivery ii. Order payment confirmation iii. Consumer Confirmation of order iv. Consumer email contact v. Consumer confirmation of delivery date