Effect of Growth on Mung Bean Solution

Effect of Salt Solution on Mung Bean Growth Hypothesis: If the Mung Beans are watered with a higher salt solution, then less Mung Beans will sprout. John Murrell 9-18-12 Magnet Biology Introduction This experiment was done to test the effect of salt solution on mung bean growth. Generally when you grow mung beans you soak them in water for eight to twelve hours and then put them in a separate container to sprout. Since this experiment was not monitored every hour, and had limited resources, we could not soak the mung beans for that period of time.There are multiple ways to grow mung beans but since the experiment was to test the effect of different salt solutions, one particular way was chosen. Methods 1. Gather two paper towels and two petri dishes, no safety goggles or gloves will be required for this experiment. 2. Place a petri dish on a paper towel and trace the bottom of it so a circle is drawn. Do this twice on each paper towel so there are four separate circles drawn. 3. Sepa rate the top and bottom of each petri dish so they can each be used separately, creating four dishes. 4. Label the petri dishes: Distilled, . 5 solution, . 50 solution, and . 75 solution 5. Cut out the circles that were traced on the paper towel sheets. 6. Place one paper towel circle in the bottom of each dish. 7. Now take a graduated cylinder and place 20 mL of distilled water in it. 8. Pour the 20 mL of water on top of one of the paper towels in the dish so it can soak up the water. 9. Repeat step seven with a . 25, . 50, and . 75 salt solution. Be sure to put each one in a separate petri dish with a paper towel circle in it. 10. Place 20 mung beans in each petri dish; be sure to check that the mung beans are paced apart from each other. 11. Place the petri dishes on a counter and leave them there for five days. 12. Take measurements each day and record results. Results Table 1: Amount of Beans Sprouted Amount of Beans Sprouted| Day 1| Day 2| Day 3| Day 4| Day 5| Distilled Water| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| .25 Salinity| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| .50 Salinity| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| .75 Salinity| 0| 0| 0| 0| 0| Figure 1: Conclusion Based on the results of this experiment, salt solution does not affect the growth of mung beans. However, there were several mistakes made in this experiment that would need to be corrected next time.One of them was taking the lid off of the petri dish and using it as a separate container. Doing this made the water and solution evaporate faster, and when it did evaporate it was just put out into the environment. If there was a top to the petri dish the water would have stayed in the dish and recondensed after evaporation. An alternative to this would have been keeping just two petri dishes with the top and testing one salt solution against distilled water, or plastic wrap could have been put over each of the four separate dishes.Another mistake made was placing the dishes by a window. This allowed the sun to reach the dishes, which also caused the water and sol ution to evaporate faster. If this experiment is conducted again the petri dishes would be placed on a counter that is not by a window. The third and final major mistake made was placing twenty mung beans in each petri dish. This did not provide the space the mung beans needed to grow, and caused them to each have less water since they had to compete for it. This experiment neither proved nor disproved the hypothesis made.If this experiment is conducted in the future, with all the corrections established, the original hypothesis generated would still be used. This hypothesis would also be based solely on background information discovered about mung bean growth, since there was no data created from this experiment. References * http://www. ggfagro. com/books/UsefulDocs/sample%20manuscript_8-11. pdf * http://www. abc. net. au/science/surfingscientist/pdf/lesson_plan12. pdf * http://simple-green-frugal-co-op. blogspot. com/2010/01/grow-your-own-mung-bean-sprouts. html

A Sorrowful Woman by Gayle Godwin

â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman† by Gayle Godwin Once upon a time there was a wife and mother one too many times One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child a tender golden three. The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again. She told the husband these thoughts. He was attuned to her; he understood such things. He said he understood. What would she like him to do? â€Å"If you could put the boy to bed and read him the story about the monkey who ate too many bananas, I would be grateful. † â€Å"Of course,† he said. Why, that's a pleasure. † And he sent her off to bed. The next night it happened again. Putting the warm dishes away in the cupboard, she turned and saw the child's grey eyes approving her movements. In the next room was the man, his chin sunk in the open collar of his favorite wool shirt. He was dozing after her good supper. The shirt was the grey of the child's trusting gaze. She began yelping without tears, retching in between. The man woke in alarm and carried her in his arms to bed. The boy followed them up the stairs, saying, â€Å"It's all right, Mommy,† but this made her scream. Mommy is sick,† the father said, â€Å"go and wait for me in your room. †    The husband undressed her, abandoning her only long enough to root beneath the eiderdown for her flannel gown. She stood naked except for her bra, which hung by one strap down the side of her body; she had not the impetus to shrug it of. She looked down at the right nipple, shriveled with chill, and thought, How absurd, a vertical bra. â€Å"If only there were instant sleep,† she said, hiccupping, and the husband bundled her into the gown and went out and came back with a sleeping draught guaranteed swift.She was to drink a little glass of cognac followed by a big glass of dark liquid and afterwards there was just time to say Thank you and could you get him a clea n pair of pajamas out of the laundry, it came back today. The next day was Sunday and the husband brought her breakfast in bed and let her sleep until it grew dark again. He took the child for a walk, and when they returned, red-cheeked and boisterous, the father made supper. She heard them laughing in the kitchen. He brought her up a tray of buttered toast, celery sticks and black bean soup. â€Å"I am the luckiest woman,† she said, crying real tears. Nonsense,† he said. â€Å"You need a rest from us,† and went to prepare the sleeping draught, and the child's pajamas, select the story for the night. She got up on Monday and moved about the house till noon. The boy, delighted to have her back, pretended he was a vicious tiger and followed her from room to room, growling and scratching. Whenever she came close, he would growl and scratch at her. One of his sharp little claws ripped her flesh, just above the wrist, and together they paused to watch a thin red line materialize on the inside of her pale arm and spill over in little beads. Go away,† she said. She got herself upstairs and locked the door. She called the husband's office and said. â€Å"I've locked myself away from him. I'm afraid. † The husband told her in his richest voice to lie down, take it easy and he was already on the phone to call one of the babysitters they often employed. Shortly after, she heard the girl let herself in, heard the girl coaxing the frightened child to come and play. And now the sleeping draught was a nightly thing, she did not have to ask. He went down to the kitchen to mix it, he set it nightly beside her bed.The little glass and the big one, amber and deep rich brown, the flannel gown and the eiderdown. After supper several nights later, she hit the child. She had known she was going to do it when the father would see. â€Å"I'm sorry† she said, collapsing on the floor. The weeping child had run to hide. â€Å"What has happened to me. I'm not myself anymore. † The man picked her tenderly from the floor and looked at her with much concern. â€Å"Would it help if we got, you know, a girl in? We could fix the room downstairs. I want you to feel freer,† he said, understanding these things. We have the money for a girl. I want you to think about it. †Ã‚   The man put out the word and found the perfect girl. She was young, dynamic and not pretty. â€Å"Don't bother with the room. I'll fix it up myself. † Laughing, she employed her thousand energies. She painted the room white, fed the child lunch, read edifying books, raced the boy to the mailbox, hung her own watercolors on the fresh-painted walls, made spinach souffle, cleaned a spot from the mother's coat, made them all laugh, danced in stocking feet to music in the white room after reading the child to sleep.She knitted dresses for herself and played chess with the husband. She washed and set the mother's soft ash-blonde hair and gave her neck rubs, offered to. The girl brought the child in twice a day, once in the later afternoon when he would tell of his day, all of it tumbling out quickly because there was not much time, and before he went to bed. Often now, the man took his wife to dinner. He made a courtship ceremony of it, inviting her beforehand so she could get used to the idea. They dressed and were beautiful together again and went out into the frosty night.Over candlelight he would say, â€Å"l think you are better, you know. † â€Å"Perhaps I am,† she would murmur. â€Å"You look. . . like a cloistered queen,† he said once, his voice breaking curiously. One afternoon the girl brought the child into the bedroom. â€Å"We've been out playing in the park. He found something he wants to give you, a surprise. † The little boy approached her, smiling mysteriously. He placed his cupped hands in hers and left a live dry thing that spat brown juice in her palm and leapt away. She sc reamed and wrung her hands to be rid of the brown juice. â€Å"Oh, it was only a grasshopper. said the girl. Nimbly she crept to the edge of a curtain, did a quick knee bend and reclaimed the creature, led the boy competently from the room. â€Å"The girl upsets me,† said the woman to her husband. He sat frowning on the side of the bed he had not entered for so long. â€Å"I'm sorry, but there it is. † The husband stroked his creased brow and said he was sorry too. He really did not know what they would do without that treasure of a girl. â€Å"Why don't you stay here with me in bed,† the woman said. Next morning she fired the girl who cried and said, â€Å"l loved the little boy, what will become of him now?But the mother turned away her face and the girl took down the watercolors from the walls, sheathed the records she had danced to and went away. â€Å"I don't know what we'll do. It's all my fault. I know I'm such a burden, I know that. †    †Å"Let me think. I'll think of something. † (Still understanding these things. )    â€Å"I know you will. You always do,† she said. With great care he rearranged his life. He got up hours early, did the shopping, cooked the breakfast, took the boy to nursery school. â€Å"We will manage,† he said, â€Å"until you're better, however long that is. He did his work, collected the boy from the school, came home and made the supper, washed the dishes, got the child to bed. He managed everything. One evening, just as she was on the verge of swallowing her draught, there was a timid knock on her door. The little boy came in wearing his pajamas. â€Å"Daddy has fallen asleep on my bed and I can't get in. There's not room. †    Very sedately she left her bed and went to the child's room. Things were much changed. Books were rearranged, toys. He'd done some new drawings. She came as a visitor to her son's room, wakened the father and helped him to bed. Ah, he sh ouldn't have bothered you,† said the man, leaning on his wife. â€Å"I've told him not to. † He dropped into his own bed and fell asleep with a moan. Meticulously she undressed him. She folded and hung his clothes. She covered his body with the bedclothes. She clicked off the light that shone in his face. The next day she moved her things into the girl's white room. She put her hairbrush on the dresser; she put a note pad and pen beside the bed. She stocked the little room with cigarettes, books, bread and cheese. She didn't need much. At first the husband was dismayed. But he was receptive to her needs.He understood these things. â€Å"Perhaps the best thing is for you to follow it through. † he said. â€Å"I want to be big enough to contain whatever you must do. †    The woman now spent her winter afternoons in the big bedroom. She made a fire in the hearth and put on slacks and an old sweater she had loved at school, and sat in the big chair and stare d out the window at snow-ridden branches, or went away into long novels about other people moving through other winters. All day long she stayed in the white room. She was a young queen, a virgin in a tower; she was the previous inhabitant, the girl with all the energies.She tried these personalities on like costumes, then discarded them. The room had a new view of streets she'd never seen that way before. The sun hit the room in late afternoon and she took to brushing her hair in the sun. One day she decided to write a poem. â€Å"Perhaps a sonnet. † She took up her pen and pad and began working from words that had lately lain in her mind. She had choices for the sonnet, ABAB or ABBA for a start. She pondered these possibilities until she tottered into a larger choice: she did not have to write a sonnet.Her poem could be six, eight, ten, thirteen lines, it could be any number of lines, and it did not even have to rhyme. She put down the pen on top of the pad. In the evenings , very briefly she saw the two of them. They knocked on her door, a big knock and a little, and she would call Come in, and the husband would smile though he looked a bit tired, yet somehow this tiredness suited him. He would put her sleeping draught on the bedside table and say, â€Å"The boy and I have done all right today,† and the child would kiss her. One night she tasted for the first time the power of his baby spit. I don't think I can see him anymore,† she whispered sadly to the man. And the husband turned away but recovered admirably and said, â€Å"Of course, I see. †    So the husband came alone. â€Å"I have explained to the boy,† he said. â€Å"And we are doing fine. We are managing. † He squeezed his wife's pale arm and put the two glasses on her table. After he had gone, she sat looking at the arm. â€Å"I'm afraid it's come to that,† she said. â€Å"Just push the notes under the door; I'll read them. And don't forget to lea ve the draught outside. †    The man sat for a long time with his head in his hands. Then he rose and went away from her.She heard him in the kitchen where he mixed the draught in batches now to last a week at a time, storing it in a corner of the cupboard. She heard him come back, leave the big glass and the little one outside on the door. Outside her window the snow was melting from the branches, there were more people on the streets. She brushed her hair a lot and seldom read anymore. She sat in her window and brushed her hair for hours, and saw a boy fall off his new bicycle again and again, a dog chasing a squirrel, an old woman peek slyly over her shoulder and then extract a parcel from a garbage can.In the evening she read the notes they slipped under her door. The child could not write, so he drew and sometimes painted his. The notes were painstaking at first; the man and boy offering the final strength of their day to her. But sometimes, when they seemed to have had a bad day there were only hurried scrawls. One night, when the husband's note had been extremely short, loving but short, and there had been nothing from the boy, she stole out of her room as she often did to get more supplies, but crept upstairs instead and stood outside their doors, listening to the regular breathing of the man and boy asleep.She hurried back to her room and drank the draught. She woke earlier now. It was spring, there were birds. She listened for sounds of the man and the boy eating breakfast; she listened for the roar of the motor when they drove away. One beautiful noon, she went out to look at her kitchen in the daylight. Things were changed. He had bought some new dish towels. Had the old ones worn out? The canisters seemed closer to the sink. She inspected the cupboard and saw new things among the old. She got out flour, baking powder, salt, milk (he ought a different brand of butter), and baked a loaf of bread and left it cooling on the table. The force of the two joyful notes slipped under her door that evening pressed her into the corner of the little room; she had hardly space to breathe. As soon as possible, she drank the draught. Now the days were too short. She was always busy. She woke with the first bird. Worked till the sun set. No time for hair brushing. Her fingers raced the hours. Finally, in the nick of time, it was finished one late afternoon. Her veins pumped and her forehead sparkled.She went to the cupboard, took what was hers, closed herself into the little white room and brushed her hair for awhile. The man and boy came home and found five loaves of warm bread, a roast stuffed turkey, a glazed ham, three pies of different fillings, eight molds of the boy's favorite custard, two weeks supply of fresh-laundered sheets and shirts and towels, two hand-knitted sweaters (both of the same grey color), a sheath of marvelous watercolor beasts accompanied by mad and fanciful stories nobody could ever make up again, and a tab let full of love sonnets addressed to the man.The house smelled redolently of renewal and spring. The man ran to the little room, could not contain himself to knock, flung back the door. â€Å"Look, Mommy is sleeping,† said the boy. â€Å"She's tired from doing all our things again. † He dawdled in a stream of the last sun for that day and watched his father roll tenderly back her eyelids, lay his ear softly to her breast, test the delicate bones of her wrist. The father put down his face into her fresh-washed hair. â€Å"Can we eat the turkey for supper? † the boy asked.

Coach Carter Way Essay

The American Educational institution is stereotypical in a sense that’s it’s built around the American Dream concept. The American educational institution set that platform for the future. Students go to grammar school, junior high, and high school in aspiration to go on to higher education. In the movie coach carter, the struggle, is what’s built character in the players to become elite, therefore, pressing the stereotype that knowledge is power In this situation, Cruz a player says –‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. You’re playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously g ive other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. â€Å"This central quote of the film packs a powerful emotional punch. Clients will often focus on a fear of failure before realizing that it is success that is more frightening. Success entails making sacrifices, and trading the comfort of mediocrity with the intensity of glory. â€Å"It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us† because in the dark we can hide and remain anonymous. When we start to shine, we open ourselves up to the world and to possible criticism. Shining brightly also means obtaining greater amounts of responsibility The film Coach Carter was very captivating. To others it may seem a little clichà © like another â€Å"Piece of the Action† with Sidney Portiere or â€Å"Lean on Me† with Morgan Freeman. Both films are American stereotypical educational institutions in their own rights. However, Coach Carter intersects where they are parallel, by not just giving the students tough love, but giving the players more than hopes of being great athletes. The Coach, Ken Carter gives these players affirmations and inspirations so that they may go on to become great men. In the film Coach Ken emphasizes academics, leadership and gained the respect of his players. The American educational institution is stereotypical in a sense that it is built around the concept of the â€Å"American dream†. This concept sets the platform for the future. You go to grammar school, junior high and on to high school all in aspiration to go onto higher education. Also to think that with higher education there is greater opportunity. â€Å"Well, let me tell you what I see. I see a system that’s designed for you to fail. Now I know you all like stats so let me give you some. Richmond High only graduates fifty percent of its students. And of those that do graduate only six percent go to college; which tells me when I walk down these halls and I look in your classrooms, maybe only one student is going to go to college. Well damn, Coach Carter, If I ain’t going to college, where am I going to go? Well that’s a great question. And the answer for young, African American men in here is this: probably, to prison. In this county, thirty three percent of black males between eighteen and twenty four get arrested. So look at the guy on your left, now look at the guy on your right. One of you is going to get arrested.† (Coach Ken Carter, Coach Carter Film, 2005) In this Film Coach Ken Carter emphasizes on the dire need for academia. Throughout the movie he belts out the many statistics that the Richmond basketball players are up against. He rules with an iron fist. He also acknowledges that many of the players are not performing well in their current classes and forces their parents to get active, and forces the players to improve their grades. He helps them make this change by enforcing s contract, study time and discipline. In Coach Carter acknowledging that these players need a strong academic support system he pushed them harder so that they may have that option for higher education. â€Å"You said we’re a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph.† (Jason Lyle, Coach Carter Film, 2005) In the film Coach Carter, the struggle, is what built character in the players to become elite. Coach Carter showed leadership by his motivation to inspire these young men. His leadership came from his passion to teach and coach. This film was a direct reflection of his integrity and leadership. In this docudrama Coach Carter did not fill these young men with a false hope. He served a purpose in letting these young know that they could break the statistics and the institutionalized stereotypes placed upon their education based upon numbers. He laid the foundation for the expectation of an American dream. In the film Coach Carter, Coach Carter gains the respect of the players by being driven and unwavering. He allowed them to find themselves, he valued them and he taught the players self worth. He did not just talk a good talk he walked the walk. He was a true example of practice what you preach. He lived every single work he spoke to the players and they respected that. â€Å"I came to coach basketball players, and you became students. I came to teach boys, and you became men.† (Coach Ken Carter, Coach Carter Film, 2005) His goal was to gain the respect of these young men while teaching them that it is more the life than the four corners of their block and what was going on in their life at the present. He did not just gain the respect of just the players he gained the respect of his colleagues and the parents. In conclusion Coach Ken carter defied the odds of the stereotypical American institutional education system for young men of color in an impoverished area such as Richmond California. He emphasized on academia which heightened the expectation of his players. He gained the respect of his players by being a man if his word, showing great restraint and growing the distance to be the role model that they needed. He is indeed a leader because he pushed the envelope and exposed them to thought patterns I’m not sure they could have ever conceived on their own. Coach Ken CARTER broke the mold.

Blockbuster Organizational Failure Research Paper

Blockbuster Organizational Failure - Research Paper Example At the same time, it also created numerous challenges in the market place regarding competitiveness, innovativeness as well as sustainability, which has greatly influenced company sustainability in many sectors. Focused on a similar notion, this paper will entail critical analyzes regarding the failure of Blockbuster LLC, which was formerly recognized as Blockbuster Inc. Overview of Blockbuster Organization Blockbuster is a global retail chain, which offers a vivid array of video games, home movie and rental services for DVDs and VCDs at reasonable price to its discriminating global customers. Besides, the organization is also dedicated to provide its customers with adequate product choices and unique purchasing experiences. Currently, Blockbuster is operating with more than 2,500 retail stores spread worldwide. Being an American MNC, the company owns its maximum number of retail stores in the US, apart from Europe, Asia and Australia. The primary objectives of the company over the y ears have been to provide a world class entertainment experience to the consumers with a vivid assortment of movie and game genres, serving to around 90 million people all around the world (Blockbuster, 2013). Irrespective of its success since its establishment, with the increasing pressure of competition in the global platform, the company had to witness a decline in its revenue structure. It was in the year 2010 that the organization filed for bankruptcy and was consequently acquired by Dish Network (Almeida, 2011). Analysis of the Organizational Failure Factors In order to analyze the reasons behind the failure of Blockbuster, the following subject areas will be taken into consideration, which shall be helpful to obtain an in-depth understanding of the role played by various external and internal business environment factors to secure the sustainability of a company in the long-run. Competitive Advantage According to Michael E. Porter (2008) competitive advantage is a strategy of gaining benefit over competitors by offering customers high value through reasonable price, good product quality, product variety, innovativeness as along with other value added services (Porter, 2008). In the current phenomenon, competitive advantages are not only necessary to assist a company in obtaining larger market share, greater profit and brand value, but it is also necessary to assure long-term leadership position of the company, in the modern era. However, when studying the incident of Blockbuster’s failure, it can be observed that the most significant aspect of competitive advantage is to guarantee the sustenance of a company, apart from the aforementioned benefits. It is in this context that apparently, due to its business model limitations, Blockbuster was in a competitively disadvantageous position. The industry context can be accounted as responsible in this regard, to a large extent. The current market structure of the entertainment industry tends to be highl y volatile, where both the suppliers and the customers possess high degree of bargaining power, majorly due to the availability of close substitutes. Additionally, with frequent occurrences of forward and backward acquisition and mergers, Blockbuster also had to witness the threat of new entrants. Hence, given the limitations of the business model followed by the organization in terms of ill fit with external environmental changes, rigidness to adapt innovative ideas and cost as well as time intensive characteristic, the organization failed to preserve its

Ethics & Morality in the Health Professions Essay

Ethics & Morality in the Health Professions - Essay Example Such situations are termed as â€Å"ethical dilemmas†. The ethical principles guide the doctor or any health professional in moving forward in his act of decision-making in a more virtuous manner which is best in the interest of the patient. Moreover, the code of ethics is also designed to describe restriction of the health professionals which are applicable at a certain point of their medical practice. The main objective of every physician should be providing their patients with the best of medical help and cause no harm to their health. One significant ethical issue is the freedom of choice that is given to the patients which is termed as autonomy. The autonomy literally means self-governance which is explained as the right of the patients to choose what is best for them after they have been clarified about the harms and benefits related to any medical procedure. The term informed consent elaborates this notion. It describes the act of deciding for oneself after acknowledgin g all the relevant information. However, there are certain conditions where the person might not act in this manner. These cases include the lack of adequate understanding and education of the person or if the information is concealed from that person. Although the right of autonomy is recognized widely and every measure is taken to provide this privilege to the patient but in some conditions the intervention of the health professional

Health economics Charles e phelps,, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health economics Charles e phelps,, - Essay Example A risk premium is the average expected loss. Ua represents the utility function of an averse person showing the level of satisfaction at income level Ia. X is the risk premium. The graph above represents the levels of satisfaction of two individuals with different levels of income. Io is the expected value. From the graph, Ia is less than Io meaning that the averse person receive a low income and consequently has a utility level that is lower than the expected utility. In the expected benefit calculation, where â€Å"m† is the medical treatment, Pm is its price, f is the probability that an event will occur and C is the co-payment rate, why does it matter that M depends on C? This is because co-payment helps in the reduction of medical care consumption costs. Without copayment, an individual may not be able to access and afford medical treatment. Copayment is also important when it comes to covers relating to medical services since it helps an individual to prevent unwanted expenses. Therefore, when calculating an individual’s expected benefit, all expenses and benefits incurred or gained on medical services have to be considered. Copayment has to be considered since it covers an individual’s medical expenses and that is why M depends on C during calculation of expected benefit. This is the trend of individuals with risky lifestyles or jobs to acquire life insurance. It can make the insurance company face screening and signaling problems. Insurance is always more likely bought by individuals who are prone to higher risks than those with low risks. Insurance firms try to reduce the adverse selection problems of having those who insure big risk buying their product. They do this through adjusting prices and measuring risk. Consequently, life insurance firms need medical documents and will not give policies to individuals who have long term illness.

NOGO Railroad Case Analysys Form Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

NOGO Railroad Case Analysys Form - Essay Example Dave is wary of Allen’s intentions and is torn between making the required changes and not making those changes. However, the situation is not new to NOGO Railways as it has struggled with the same issues (highlighted later) since its inception. It is only that Dave has now been promoted to such a position where he must address the problems encountered. 2. Problem NOGO Railways faces a myriad of problems which can best be separated as surface-level problems and deeper or micro problems. At the macro level, the company faces an outdated and ill designed system of organizational policies and practices, thereby reflecting a poor HR system. This is the backbone of all other problems such as high debt and resistance to change. Owing to faulty (and biased) recruitment practices, productivity has been low and unnecessary positions have been created for the sake of compensating family and relatives. One such example is that of Fireman’s position whose only task was to take char ge of the engine in the event of assistance required by the engineer (Brown). The major problems facing Dave (and the company) are that employee expenses have been on a rise and that there was friction amongst NOGO’s employees with respect to change management. Next, it is important to analyze the micro level issues that NOGO is faced with. One of these is featherbedding which is defined as the practice of restricting output of work so as to create more jobs and reduce the chances of unemployment. Another problem pertained to the absence of a formal, structured recruitment process that objectively selected candidates with the right ‘fit’ for the job. These faulty hiring procedures gave way to favoritism. This meant that employees whom Dave worked with were related to each other in some way as spouses, children, brothers or cousins. This practice tends to create a disconnected workforce with ties based on their relations and not work. 3. Causes The presence of a u nionized workforce meant that the union acted as a resistance to any changes implemented by the management. This was clearly causing resistance to change which was one of the macro-level problems confronting NOGO. The union terms were guaranteeing complacency and minimizing worker efficiency owing to a contract that workers would get pay for 40 hours of work even if there was no availability of such work (Brown). These contract terms (as settled by the unions) meant that NOGO was covering the living expenses of their away-from-home, overtime employees as well as duplication of tasks such that clerks would have no task to carry out in the presence of telegraph operators. Furthermore, the union as well as improperly crafted contracts provided workers unnecessary cushion of refusing to do a task just because it wasn’t part of their job description. This was directly contributing to the high employee expenses which, again, was one of the major problems facing NOGO. Furthermore, t he lack of HR planning and strategy was at the backbone of a host of problems encountered by the company. For one thing, the lack of HR planning led to overstaffing leading to greater number of employees being hired than was necessary. This bred â€Å"featherbedding†. The employee contract was not designed appropriately with conditions such as prohibition of women clerks to work directly with train and radio communication personnel reducing the

The Ethical Dilemmas Associated to Black Friday Directed at Wal-Mart Case Study

The Ethical Dilemmas Associated to Black Friday Directed at Wal-Mart - Case Study Example Every community and town where Wal-Mart is started has absorbed many workers consequently creating employment opportunities (Shaffer, 2007). Wal-mart has regulated the prices of its products by ensuring the customers purchase goods at low and fair prices, which will influence them to come back and shop at Wal-mart. Basis of Ethical Conflict By offering low prices to customers than the other retail shops, this has made customers not to shop from other retail shops apart from Wal-mart. It because of this that numerous retail shops have collapsed financially and closed down (Shaffer, 2007). Wal-mart has employed many people, which is a convenient way of creating employment, but they pay their employees poorly. Employees at Wal-mart receive salary below the standards of any USA citizens. Many workers are paid peanuts that they even have difficulties in sustaining and meeting all their basic needs. Half of the employees at Wal-mart have not enrolled in the health benefit plans, and many o f them depend on the health benefit plan of their parents. This has resulted to the oppression of the other citizens since they have to pay large sums of taxes in order to compensate for wal-mart workers. This is because many of Wal-mart workers are not able to pay for the health benefit plans. ... The company has hired many public relations experts to polish the allegations made by many activists and politicians. It has also hired many FBI and CIA retired officials to monitor the workers who are against the company. A reasonable sum of money, which has been used to polish the company’s name, can be used to increase the salary of the workers and enroll them in health benefit plans. Countless improvements have taken place at an instance while there are economic problems to the American economy. The lowering of prices is something that has been used to by many competitors, and this does not hinder them from selling their goods normally. This is the main reason that Wal-mart has come up with new strategies of offering large amounts of discounts to people who purchase heavily at their retail shop. It is because of this reason that Wal-mart should stop afflicting their employees but increase their salaries as well as enroll them in future health care plans. What Impacts Did L egal Pressures Have On The Situation? Many legal pressures do not find Wal-mart to be oppressing the employees because Wal-mart gives the government a substantial amount of revenues. On the other hand, the legal channels find Wal-mart to be assistive since they have created numerous employment opportunities globally (Shaffer, 2007). The other issues that the government find Wal-mart to be assistive, is how they have reduced their prices drastically to ensure that their goods are affordable to the average paid employees. The legal channels suggest that there is no way Wal-mart is oppressing its employees, yet it is offering low prices to its citizens for them to afford their products. Now and then, citizens praise Wal-mart because most of the goods they need

Self Esteem Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Self Esteem - Literature review Example Moreover, social acceptance besides interpersonal correlation has vita effects on self esteem (Nunley, 1996 p. 90). Friendship impacts on self esteem from puberty up to when a person develops into an adult (Cause, Mason, Gonzales, Hiraga, and Liu, 1998 p. 54). Evidently, singing together at the Bristol integrate will make these persons to develop some friendship and relationship thus boosting their personal self esteem. Furthermore, assistance and support given to people also helps in improving the self esteem of children and the adolescents in the society. Extra areas that also promote self esteem of any person are the school transition besides social success. Actually, when a person graduates from one level of education to another, they realize their position in the society thus improving their self esteem as described by Feldman and Elliot. Some of these social successes in the adolescents may comprise having self confidence in their physical appearance, their intelligence in clas s, besides social belonging (Fennel, 2011 p. 56). However, the children who don’t recognize such confidence in them will hate themselves, thus, low self esteem. Singing as a group in enhanced the interpersonal relationship among the individuals in Bristol Integrate. The possibility of the individuals to relate to one another very in the group leads to high social esteem. Conversely, the inability to interrelate will result in very low self esteem among the singers.

The Meaning, Mechanism, And Evidence Of Bergman’s Rule Essay Example for Free

The Meaning, Mechanism, And Evidence Of Bergman’s Rule Essay The publication of Charles Darwin’s â€Å"Origin of Species† was the turning point for nascent evolution theorists. Basically, he stated that organisms evolved into genotype or specie that breeds progenies which possess attributes of fitness, survivability, and adaptation to their environment over that of another of a related specie. This results to new generations becoming better adapted to their environment and more likely to survive than those that are less adapted, and this difference is not due to chance (Rittner and MacCabe, 2004, p. 241). Christian Bergmann, A contemporary of Darwin published a paper which embodied his Bergmanns rule that correlates latitude with body mass in animals. Broadly it asserts that within a species the body mass increases with latitude and colder climate and decreases with warmer climate. The difference in size makes this a better adaptive strategy in the climatic environs these species are found. The Mechanism of Determining Bergman’s Rule Christopher Ruff of the John Hopkins University has conducted studies on variation of humans in to climate. To make it simple, Ruff views the human body as a cylinder, the diameter of which represents the width of the body, or, more specifically, the width of the pelvis; the length of the cylinder represents trunk length. The link between anatomy and climate relates to thermoregulation, or the balance between heat produced and the ability to dissipate it. This relationship translates to the ratio of the surface area to the volume of the cylinder, or body mass. In hot climates, a high ratio that is, a large surface area relative to body mass, or a slim, long trunk a facilitates heat loss. In cold climates, a low ratio that is, a small surface area relative to body mass, a bulky, short trunk allows heat retention. Differences in body breadth among human populations largely explain differences in body mass, the basis of Bergmann’s rule (Lewin, 2005, p. 69). Ruff’s scientific studies could be summed as follows: on the relationship between body breadth and latitude, Ruff concluded that people living at high latitudes have broad bodies, as measured by the bi-iliac (pelvic) breadth; those residing at low latitudes have narrow bodies; on the relationship between the ratio of surface area to body mass and latitude people living at high latitudes have a low ratio as a consequence of Bergmann’s rule; and an increase in the length of the trunk has no effect on the ratio of surface area to body mass.

Mechanisms of Autoimmunity in Animal Models and Humans

Mechanisms of Autoimmunity in Animal Models and Humans Norzawani Binti Buang Genetic and cellular mechanisms of autoimmunity in animal models and humans

Inserted-Plate Coated of Methanol Steam Reformer

Inserted-Plate Coated of Methanol Steam Reformer High Efficiency Inserted-Plate Coated of Methanol Steam Reformer: PEM Fuel Cell Applications Methanol can be easily stored and transported and converted to H2 using a reforming reactor that makes it an excellent hydrogen and energy source for fuel cell applicationsEasily storage, transporting and converting to H2 by a reforming reactor using makes it an excellent energy source for PEMFC applications [1-3] During the last decades, there has been a growing interest on developing technologies taking advantage of clean energy sources. The reduction of atmospheric pollution and, namely, the emission of greenhouse gases have become imperative and, among the new technologies for mitigating these emissions, fuel cells have the ability to efficiently convert chemical into electrical energy. In particular, PEMFCs are zero-pollutants emission systems because they transform the chemical energy of the electrochemical reaction within hydrogen and oxygen into clean electrical powerTodays, for environmental issues, growing interest on developing technologies including clean energy sources has been focused. Pollution issue and, especially, the emission of greenhouse gases have become crucial and, the new technology for elimination of these emission, can be achieved by PEMFC. [4, 5] Meanwhile, compared to other feedstocks, methanol exploitation shows various advantages as a hydrogen carrier for fuel cell applications and, namely, it can be produced from renewable sources[9], and the reforming reaction occurs at relatively low temperatures, ca. 240–260 1CAmong these, methanol exploitation leads various advantages as a hydrogen carrier and, especially, reforming reaction applying at relatively low temperature (240-260 C) [6] , compared to the methane reforming, normally performed at 800–1000 1C, compared to the methane reforming, normally carry out at 800-1000 C[7] . Methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction has been seen as a very attractive and promising process for hydrogen production and, according to the scientific literature on the argument, it can be described by the following chemical reactions:Attractive and promising of the methanol steam reforming process cause especial insight to this reaction which according to the scientific references, occurs by the following chemical reactions: Where reactions 1, 2 and 3 represent MSR reaction, water gas shift reaction and methanol decomposition reaction, respectively.Reaction (1), represents MSR reaction, reaction (2) represents water gas shift reaction and reaction (3) represents the methanol decomposition reaction The reactor design has direct impact on the reaction conversion, but owing to higher technical complexity and manufacturing costs of other designs, the reformers and MRs are normally tubular. However, recent efforts in the area of micro-processing made possible and easier to manufacture other reactor designs and namely well-structured à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡at micro-reactors. A micro-reactor is defined as a device that contains micro structured features, with a sub-millimeter dimension, in which chemical reactions are performed in a continuous manner They present advantages compared to conventional ones such as higher surface-to-volume ratio, smaller mean distance of the specific à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uid volume to the reactor walls, better heat and matter transfer properties and à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow patterns that fit with the reaction needs. Furthermore, à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡at reformers are suitable for stack integration with fuel cells. Packed-bed micro-reactors require well-define catalyst particles, wi th regular shape and much smaller than the internal dimensions of the micro-channels, which is a problem for most of commercial catalysts.The reactor design, directly impress reaction conversion but owning to higher complexity and fabrication costs should be considered. Common normally MRs are in tubular shape. However, recent researches show easier to manufacture and possibility of other designs and namely well-structured flat micro-reactors. A reactor containing micro structure features and sub-millimeter dimension through performing in a continues manner representing advantages such as higher surface to volume ratio, smaller mean distance of the specific fluid volume to the reactor walls, improving heat and mass transfer make appropriate situation of stack integration with fuel cells. [8]. Many studies have been developed to explore the advantages of micro/mini-reactors to produce hydrogen through MSR The design of a reactor targets the maximization of the conversion and selectivity at the lowest costs and its performance is inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uenced by the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow pattern, velocity profile, pressure drop and heat transfer, so all these aspects must be consideredTo fabricate an effective micro-reactor having maximum conversion and selectivity at a low cost is impressed by the flow pattern, velocity profile, pressure drop and heat transfer, therefore all these approaches should be considered[9]. For conducting MSR reaction, most of the used reactor designs are rectilinear channels, pin-hole, coil-based and radial (Fig. 2).Coil-based reactor designs allow high conversions, but impose a significant pressure drop penalty, which may be a limitation for compact applications Categorization of the design consist rectilinear channels, pin-hole, coil-based and radial (Fi g. 2). Among these, Coil based leads high conversion and pressure drop preventing compact applications[9]. In the other hand, the rectilinear channel designs exhibit a small-pressure drop, but the conversion is low due to uneven mass distribution and is affected by the Reynolds number while, the first exhibit a small pressure drop, uneven mass distribution cause lower conversion which impressed by Reynolds number[9]. Yet, by adjusting the channels width [69] or by imposing a pressure drop at the channels entrance even distributions on rectilinear channel designs can be obtained, improving the methanol conversion[10]. Conventional packed-bed reactor has disadvantages, such as hot spots, delays in start-up, and mass and heat transfer limitations. For micro-scale reactor, the pressure drop is somewhat higher due to space constraints of channels being blocked with catalysts. A micro-pump used in portable applications may not be capable of overcoming a high pressure drop. On the other hand, microchannel reactor offers advantages, such as fast heating and cooling, large surface-area-to volume ratios, and less energy input The packed-bed reactors as a classic system, have disadvantages, such as hot spot, slow start-up, and heat and mass transfer limitations. Micro-structure scale of this group utilizing a micro pump is necessary, due to high pressure and channel blockage [10]. Some research has shown that wall-coated reactor performs better than packed bed reactor for SRM reaction various researches has proofed better performance of the wall-coated than packed bed reactor for SRM reaction[11, 12]. Experimental Catalyst preparation Firstly, 200 ml deionized water was heated to 80ËÅ ¡C and then metal nitrates of Cu, Zn and Fe (to prepare CuZnFe) were dissolved into the water until get the 0.2M solution. This solution was added to the heated water (80ËÅ ¡C) over stirrer under 350 rpm. To control and adjust pH around 7, the precipitation agent of 0.5M Na2CO3 was used. The obtained precipitates were aged at 60 ËÅ ¡C for 2 h under vigorous stirring. Afterward, the solids were filtered and washed with warm deionized water for several times and dried at 110 ËÅ ¡C for 12 h. then, the dried powder was calcined in a furnace at 350 ËÅ ¡C for 4h. Catalyst slurry preparation PVA (87-90% hydrolyzed, average mol wt 30,000-70,000,SIGMA-ALDRICH) was added to deionized water first, and stirred at 70 C until totally dissolved, then cooled at room temperature. As-synthesized, high-performance CuZnFe catalyst (10 wt.% catalyst) was added into the PVA solution (0.5 wt.%, 1 wt.%, 2 wt.% PVA) as-prepared. The catalyst slurry was kept in the ultrasonic bath for 1 h. Catalyst coating by electrophoretic deposition on stainless steel plates To prepare a regular, controlled catalytic layer, a well-stable suspensions of the catalyst powder are necessary which depend on the particle size, solvent characteristics and additional agents. To do this, the powder were milled to get a uniformity of particle size distribution below 40 micron, at least. Isopropanol was selected as solvent due to lower conductivity limiting solvent transportation than of the aqueous ones. Moreover, presence of aqueous base cause water electrolysis following poor coverage of catalyst. Electrophoretic deposition was performed at constant voltage (140 V) using a power supply unit (SPS-900NP-Navasanpardaz). The stainless steel (AISI-304) palates (7.04 cm2) were used as electrodes in the EPD bath. To cover both sides of the plate, a system including three electrodes was selected which, were mounted at a distance of 15 mm in a cell with a total volume of 120 ml. slurry of 72 g/L of catalyst in isopropanol and 1 g/L of PEI as binder was prepared through 15 min strongly stirring and then, 15 min signification in an ultrasonic bath (1200M-Soltec). The time of 4 min as coating time was fixed for all samples. After coating, the plates were dried in room temperature and then calcination at 350 C for 2 h. Method and materials According to the procedure in fig. 1, a series of CuZnFe slurries and samples were prepared. The synthesized powder was milled at 250 rpm for 10 min (due to initial fine powder structure short milling time was chosen) by a milling apparatus. It make a stable behavior of the slurry and homogenous final layer deposited. Results and Discussion After the coating procedure, the changing structure of the CuZnFe catalyst, the operating parameters and micro-channel characterization affect the efficiency of hydrogen in the output. In this study, explored a number of vital parameters characterization, including channeling arrangement and shape, coating methods and the efficiency of hydrogen production. Micro-Channeling Theory Design and micro-channel arrangement optimization cause select an appropriate structure limited by performance efficiency, constant cost like startup, Fabrication, and variable costs (Catalyst stability, coated layer quality, appropriate life time). Regardless of the constant costs, overall state and changing catalytic plates while the plates have been channelized, replacement and re-channelizing, coating procedure should be more difficult. Although, chein et. Al. [13] adopt three types reformer including the microchannel, the plain channel and the inserted catalyst layer while utilizing channeling over cover plate is different. All proposed structure of a square microchannel have been shown below†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. In this research, flexibility and replacing of an aged micro-reformer has been emphasized, an appropriate configuration with the minimum of fabrication cost through a recoverable coating procedure, minimum catalyst consuming and high efficiency has been adopted. A treated stainless steel as active layer was coated by the high efficiency CuZnFe catalyst which coated in an electrophoretic bath under a high controlling ability condition. The EPD producer will be discussed elsewhere, in detail. According to the optimum condition of a constant parameters, type of micro-channels, length and stability have been investigated. Reactor design The reactors were designed as flat-plate composed of stainless steel 304 plates. The microstructures were introduced by CNC technology. The both cover plate were machined to cover the active catalytic layer and increasing area to volume concept. The active layers were coated by home-made synthesized high efficiency steam reforming catalyst. Subsequently, the housing sealed by graphite gasket and bolts. The size and number of channels are summarized in table 1. Table 1.  Summary of the dimensions of the reactor: the channel dimensions are only provided for the reformate side of the plates Parallel channel Zig-zag channel Length(mm) Wide(mm) Depth(mm) Length(mm) Wide(mm) Depth(mm) The test plates and reformer design details are shown in fig. 1. On the top side of the cover plate, as shown in fig. 1(a), microchannel were patterned zig-zag path to reduce pressure drop along the path, holding high activity of the catalyst through the contact time increasing.(ref) the feed methanol-water mixture is sent to the vaporizer section including an inert alumina granule packed developing the heat transfer, and then, collected in an triangle manifold in the reformer inlet to obtain a more uniformly distributed flow. The design of the reformer channel (as shown in fig) leads splitting-jointing in an alternatively manner. In order to identify the reactant flow pattern effect on the reforming performance, the reformer channels shown in fig.1 were investigated. Catalyst coating The results of coating procedure, have been shown in fig 2. For all the plates, the same catalyst loading of 25mg was coated. Experimental setup A schematic diagram of the experimental setup is shown in fig. 3. The main components of the system are reactants, micro-reformer and products. To provide the heat of the reaction an electrical furnace was used controlled by a TIC. The feedstock system including methanol-water in liquid phase was sent by a syringe pump (model nnn) in a designed feed composition and determined S/C= 1.3 in all the tests. The reformed gas stream was then sent to a cold trap to eliminate the unreacted liquid phase. In continues, the rest of the gases was conducted to a gas chromatography equipped via two columns of carboxen and hysep Q (model shimadzu GC-8A). Based on the achieved fractions and compositions, the methanol conversion, CO selectivity, hydrogen yield and stability of the active layer cab be achieved. A K-type thermocouple connected at the end of the holes which designed to measure temperature of determined spots along the axis, default of the measurement is based on the central point of the reformer for all the tests. Results and Discussion 50 mm parallel microchannel Fig. 4 and fig. 5 display the performance of the microchannels according to the length. The investigation was performed under different temperature and micro channel types. It can be observed that the methanol conversion rates with various lengths is no different although the magnitude of this depends on the micro channel arrangement and for the direct parallel channels is more obvious. In the experiments, the effect of reaction temperature could overcome length and full conversion of methanol was achieved, finally. For the zig zag type, by variation in length in a range of 20 to 50 mm, no difference was observed. The arrangement cause more efficiency in reduction of surface to volume ratio. Actually the need of a sufficient contact time of the reactants on the catalytic active sites is necessary for a satisfying conversion. In the zag-zag type the contact time will increased and the at least of the sufficient length of full conversion is about 25mm. other lengths below those was not possible due to the limitation of the mass flow controller. On the other hand, being endothermic of MSR, the least requirement heat of reaction can be supplied by increasing of the contact time on the cover plate which is contacted to the heating source, consequently following the micro channel length. About the CO content, however, due to being full conversion in considered lengths, there is no significant different among the cases. Higher conversion can cause producing some more CO in the outlet. On the other hand, sufficient existing catalyst affect the CO production due to being active rWGS in lower loading of the catalyst. (ref). Zig-Zag microchannel Felani et al. [ ] proposed that a novel channel arrangement with a certain sizing could guarantee better flow distribution, higher contact time being accessible of reaction and heating, and lower pressure drop than those of conventional ones. The proposed model can increase the methanol conversion. Fig. 6 shows the illustration of the micro-reactor with such zig-zag microchannel. The performances of parallel microchannels and that of zig-zag microchannels are compared by the present experiment. The micro-reactor in this study is different from that of chein et al. [13]. In chein’s paper, the reactor only has simple inserted plate without channelizing. It is noticed that in this experiment novel catalyst of CuZnFe has been used and the goal of this experiment is not the comparison of the cases. Advantages of easily replacing, lower costs of recoating and flexibility managing of the fuel processor. Fig. 7 shows the variation of the methanol conversion with the temperatures. It c an be found that with the increase of the temperature, the methanol conversion decrease. The conversion in zig-zag microchannels were higher than those in parallel microchannels. When the temperature is high, methanol conversion in zig-zag microchannels could be 20% higher than that in parallel microchannels. As mentioned before, zig-zag microchannels induce potential of providing more contact time to react under the help of catalysts, thereby enhancing the methanol conversion. Conclusions In this paper, the experiment of methanol steam reforming were performed in a micro-reformer coated with novel CuZnFe catalyst. The following conclusion can be achieved. 1. The impacts of reaction temperature, gas hourly space velocity, H2O-to-CH3OH molar ratio and catalyst stability were also investigated in this stainless micro-reformer. Condition selection of optimum operation can be achieved by these useful guidance. 2. Micro-reactor with two types microchannel arrangement, including zig-zag path and parallel microchannels, different lengths of 15, 30 and 60 mm were evaluated. It is found that methanol conversion in microchannels with zig-zag path are much higher than that of parallel path. In addition, since zig-zag path cause more contact time of the reactants on active sites of catalyst, there is no different of methanol conversion with length variation, while in the parallel path, it was obvious that higher length leads to more methanol conversion. References [1] D.R. Palo, R.A. Dagle, J.D. Holladay, Chemical Reviews 107 (2007) 3992-4021. [2] L. F Brown, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 26 (2001) 381-397. [3] C. Liao, P.A. Erickson, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 33 (2008) 1652-1660. [4] J.-H. Wee, Renewable and sustainable energy reviews 11 (2007) 1720-1738. [5] S. Bose, T. Kuila, T.X.H. Nguyen, N.H. Kim, K.-t. Lau, J.H. Lee, Progress in Polymer Science 36 (2011) 813-843. [6] R.Y. Chein, Y.C. Chen, Y.S. Lin, J. Chung, International Journal of Energy Research 36 (2012) 466-476. [7] A. Basile, A. Iulianelli, T. Longo, S. Liguori, M. De Falco, Membrane Reactors for Hydrogen Production Processes, Springer, 2011, pp. 21-55. [8] V. Hessel, S. Hardt, H. Là ¶we, Chemical micro process engineering: fundamentals, modelling and reactions, John Wiley Sons, 2006. [9] H. An, A. Li, A.P. Sasmito, J.C. Kurnia, S.V. Jangam, A.S. Mujumdar, Chemical Engineering Science 75 (2012) 85-95. [10] X. Ouyang, L. Bednarova, R. Besser, P. Ho, AIChE journal 51 (2005) 1758-1772. [11] A. Karim, J. Bravo, D. Gorm, T. Conant, A. Datye, Catalysis today 110 (2005) 86-91. [12] J. Bravo, A. Karim, T. Conant, G.P. Lopez, A. Datye, Chemical Engineering Journal 101 (2004) 113-121. [13] R.-Y. Chein, Y.-C. Chen, Y.-S. Lin, J. Chung, International Journal of Thermal Sciences 50 (2011) 1253-1262.

Blaming External Pressure for the Tragic Decline of Tess in Tess of the

Blaming External Pressure for the Tragic Decline of Tess in Tess of the D'Urbervilles From the beginning of the novel 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy, it is clear that the main character, Tess, is not going to have an easy life. She is deliberately targeted by cruel "Immortals" as their sadistic plaything. This is symbolized during the club dance, where Tess is "one of the white company" but is the only one to have a bright "red ribbon" in her hair. The mark of blood is on her from the start. Whilst Tess is going to market she accidentally kills the family's horse. Her own guilt for this accidental death is the first stage in a long series of incidents leading to Tess's tragic death at the end of the novel. Social and environmental pressures rank high on the list of causes of Tess's tragedy. In the late 19th century there were many changes taking place in rural England. The advances achieved as a result of the Industrial Revolution meant that even in the countryside farming was becoming mechanized and there were fewer manual labour jobs for the simple peasant people to do. This meant many people had to leave their town where they had spent most of their lives to go and find work. So, for example, the Durbeyfields' departing from Marlott after the death of "Sir John", was only part of a greater rural upheaval. Tess's search for work to make up for the loss of her family's horse led her to the sinister and blatantly predatory Alec d'Urberville who she initially thought was a relative. The sexual double standards typical of late Victorian society were also clear at this point. Females who sinned paid a much higher social price for their mistakes. But Tess did not want to sin - she was pres... ... reach Stonehenge it is obvious that Tess's life of never ending pain and suffering will soon be over. Stonehenge is significant as it was a place for sacrifices in pagan times. The cruel "Immortals" have at last brought Tess to the place of sacrifice - they will soon end their sadistic "sport". I conclude that Hardy wrote this book to show that "individuals have no control over their lives, but are at the mercy of impersonal and inexorable forces", as stated in the resource notes to the Cambridge edition of the novel. From the beginning Tess's destiny was mapped out. She was born to suffer and eventually die. Tess was in the end a victim of the circumstances of late Victorian rural society, with all its cruel discrimination against erring females, but even more so of cruel supernatural forces who had marked her out as their victim from the beginning.

Handspring INC Evaluation and Control :: essays research papers

Solution EVALUATION AND CONTROL Evaluation of the sales staff should be done in order to improve their performance. Targets should be set at the beginning of every month and the actual performance in relation to the targets should be compared to get the real difference between the targeted performance and the real performance. A similar, target setting and evaluation of the sales performance will not only evaluate the performance of the employees but will also control them effectively. Remember, the yearly increments and promotions will to an extent depend on the performance of the sales personnel. This will help the company meet its sales objectives. Evaluation of the research & development staff is necessary to make Handspring products technically superior to that of competitors. For instance if the objective of the personnel is to develop products that are compatible with the operating system of Microsoft, then they have to be given objectives relating to the technical development of the product, the time deadline they have and the cost constraints. The R&D staff would be given a priori evaluation. That means that before the work starts on the project, the values attached to the various stages of the work would be decided. For example, if the work were to be completed on time, it would be given a rating of 5 and if the work were 80% complete the rating would be 4 and so on. This a priori contract would not only impose a control on the work but would help Handspring achieve its strategic objectives. For example, if the strategic objective of Handspring were to reduce the cost of Treo, then this project would be given to a projec t team with a fixed time period and a set of objectives. Setting up of objectives and entering into an a priori contract with them so that their performance can objectively be evaluated can do evaluation of the top managers also. For, example one of the vice- presidents can be entrusted with the task of setting up alliances with other top companies so that Treo is purchases as a tie up product. The vice-president will be given a target of forging say 6 alliances having a sale value of $XXM. Apart from this other criteria for his evaluation can be set up and each given a weight. At the end of the evaluation period the actual performance of the vice-president will be compared to the targeted performance and a composite score calculated for him. Handspring INC Evaluation and Control :: essays research papers Solution EVALUATION AND CONTROL Evaluation of the sales staff should be done in order to improve their performance. Targets should be set at the beginning of every month and the actual performance in relation to the targets should be compared to get the real difference between the targeted performance and the real performance. A similar, target setting and evaluation of the sales performance will not only evaluate the performance of the employees but will also control them effectively. Remember, the yearly increments and promotions will to an extent depend on the performance of the sales personnel. This will help the company meet its sales objectives. Evaluation of the research & development staff is necessary to make Handspring products technically superior to that of competitors. For instance if the objective of the personnel is to develop products that are compatible with the operating system of Microsoft, then they have to be given objectives relating to the technical development of the product, the time deadline they have and the cost constraints. The R&D staff would be given a priori evaluation. That means that before the work starts on the project, the values attached to the various stages of the work would be decided. For example, if the work were to be completed on time, it would be given a rating of 5 and if the work were 80% complete the rating would be 4 and so on. This a priori contract would not only impose a control on the work but would help Handspring achieve its strategic objectives. For example, if the strategic objective of Handspring were to reduce the cost of Treo, then this project would be given to a projec t team with a fixed time period and a set of objectives. Setting up of objectives and entering into an a priori contract with them so that their performance can objectively be evaluated can do evaluation of the top managers also. For, example one of the vice- presidents can be entrusted with the task of setting up alliances with other top companies so that Treo is purchases as a tie up product. The vice-president will be given a target of forging say 6 alliances having a sale value of $XXM. Apart from this other criteria for his evaluation can be set up and each given a weight. At the end of the evaluation period the actual performance of the vice-president will be compared to the targeted performance and a composite score calculated for him.