Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Framework Of The Arrow Debreu Model Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3605 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? The Arrow-Debreu Model, also referred to as the Arrow-Debreu-McKenzie model is often used as a general reference for other microeconomic models. It was named after Kenneth Arrow, Gerard Debreu and Lionel W. McKenzie. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Framework Of The Arrow Debreu Model Finance Essay" essay for you Create order When compared to prior models, the Arrow-Debreu Model radically generalized the notion of a commodity, differentiating them by time and place of delivery. Hence, for instance, rice in India in July and rice in Bangladesh in September are regarded as different commodities. The Arrow-Debreu Model usually applies to economies with complete markets, in which there exists a market for every time period and forward prices for all commodity at all times and in all places. The Arrow-Debreu Model states that aggregate supplies will equal aggregate demand for every commodity in the economy, should the following assumptions be made: Convexity is the measure of the curvature in the relationship between price and interest. It is often used as a risk management tool to help measure and manage the amount of market risk to which a portfolio may be exposed to. The relationship between the price and the yield is generally inversely correlated, meaning that when the price of the product is hig h, it yields lower interest rates. Perfect Competition In economic theory, perfect competition is achieved when there are no participants large enough to have the market power to set the price of a homogeneous product; this is as defined by Roberts, J. (1987). We understand that every participant in the market is a price taker and there are no partial influences on the price of the product, the price is determined solely on the demand and supply of the product. This demand and supply is determined by the forces of the market. Although there are very few perfectly competitive markets, if any, out there, some buyers and sellers in some auction type markets satisfy the concept. Demand Independence This means that the demand for the product is independent of any conditional factors in the market. For instance, the demand is not conditional to the supply of another product or even any seasonal changes. The Arrow-Debreu Model is a central model in the General Equilibrium Th eory. This theory studies the supply and demand fundamentals in an economy, with the objective of proving that all prices are at equilibrium. Developed by economist Leon Walras, this theory studies a theoretical economic system in which all consumers are utility maximizers and firms are perfectly competitive. The model further goes on to prove that such a stable, unique equilibrium can exist under these conditions. (https://www.economyprofessor.com/economictheories/general-equilibrium-theory.php) Mainly, the ADM is built on two distinct assumptions: Equilibrium of competitive nature is possible on the condition that everyone in the economy should have at least some amount of every kind of available goods in their holdings. Secondly, there is a huge amount of labour resources available in the market that can be utilized for producing the required commodities and services. In the field of financial economics, Arrow Debreu represents a certain kind of securities product. The Arro w-Debreu security is a distinguished concept that is very helpful for understanding the analysis of the derivatives. By using this particular model, one can easily understand the activities like pricing and hedging that are also related to the derivative analysis. On the other hand, the Arrow-Debreu Model is also used in areas like financial engineering and many more. Although the theory was criticized by various eminent economists, but the truth is that the Arrow-Debreu Model is very important for the derivative industry and helps the industry to grow at a rapid pace. At present, Basis Instrument Contracts, a kind of derivative contract, is becoming very popular. This concept is tractable enough and is providing the Black Scholes analysis a new dimension. At the same time, the Basis Instrument Contracts is also applying the analysis of Black Scholes in different markets. Basis Instrument Contracts is playing a major role in popularizing the Arrow-Debreu security. FRAMEWORK OF THE ARROW-DEBREU MODEL In order to understand fully the mathematical structure of the Arrow-Debreu Model, we explore in more details the Arrow-Debreu securities and the Basic Instrument Contract in order to understand how the model applies in reality. Arrow-Debreu Securities Arrow-Debreu securities are assets that payoff in a specific state of nature at a certain time (LeBaron, 2005). They are useful building blocks to think about other assets even though they do not exist in reality. In order to understand these securities, we look into the following example: Let us assume that S is the set of all states that the world can be in tomorrow. Hence, for each s in S, there is a corresponding Arrow-Debreu security that pays off 1 if s happens, or otherwise 0 is paid. For instance, if s could be; Sunny tomorrow and No rain and S1 is at $4 and S2 at $5 and then if s happens then you will receive $4. Although this is not practical for a large number of securities, it is possible to apply this to a limited number. Suppose Adam wants to receive: State 1- $6, State 2- $8 and in State 3- $25. All Adam needs to do is buy 6 Arrow-Debreu securities for state 1, 8 for state 3 and 25 for state 3. With Arrow-Debreu securities we can replicate this stock to buil d a portfolio. Furthermore, with arbitrage principles we know that the price of any two things paying the same amount in every state should be the same (LeBaron, 2005). This would lead the price of the stock to be the same as the price of the Arrow-Debreu. Basic Instrument Contract (BICs) The basic instrument contract is an important contract when analysing financial derivatives. It is a form of representative derivative contract that helps the derivatives to be replicated in a static manner (https://finance.mapsofworld.com/finance-theory/concepts/basis-instrument-contract.html). This can be done in a market where there are many periods of trading. In order to make the definition more comprehensible, we need to first stress on the characteristics of BICs (https://knol.google.com/k/introduction-to-basis-instruments-contracts-bics-for-mathematics-finance-and#Defining_BICs): A BIC involves and identifies two parties; one or more buyers (named B) and one or more sellers (named A) The definition of each contract comprises of three dates; firstly, the contract agreement date- the date at which the binding rights and obligations are agreed upon. Secondly, the premium payment date [t (i)] the date at which B complies with his part of the agreement by paying seller A an amount of units (known as premium of contract). Thirdly, the contract expiry date- the payout payment date [t(j)] at which the seller A pays the buyer an amount in units of basis currency The agreements on the hedging BICs would have been contracted before the lapse of liquidity; this would ensure that there is no risk that the position cannot dynamically hedge. Furthermore, a BICs market would help structurally mitigate market volatility in market and reduce transaction costs because hedging activity is substantially reduced to the settlement of agreements contracted beforehand. Hence we can see here that BICs generally uphold the concept of the Arrow-Debreu model with a greater degree of realism. Trading BICs will allow agents to be involved with the Arrow-Debreu model. This is because both of them are involved with only two possible outcomes, you either receive money or you dont and also both of them do not allow for riskless arbitrage modelling. SHORTCOMINGS OF THE MODEL It has become rather passà © to criticize the Arrow-Debreu model on empirical grounds, i.e. by showing how the results are not robust under certain small relaxations of idealized assumptions. At every turn, the ADM assumes some unrealistic assumption in order to realize the logical structure of the model. Non-Convexities Radner (1968) extended the Arrow-Debreu model to include agents with differing information about the economy. He found that when information to the environment, the Arrow-Debreu contingent claims equilibrium can achieve an optimum. This is relative to a given structure of information. However, as Radner points out, if the agent receives information about the trading behaviour of other market participants, than externalities arise. These externalities often distort preferences or may proceed to diminish the optimality of the competitive equilibrium. It is particularly important to note that the set-up cost of gathering information (may be independent of the scale of production) can introduce non-convexity into the production possibility set. As we know that non-convexities violate the basic assumption of Arrow-Debreu model. Uncertainty about Market Prices Another issue arising from the Arrow-Debreu model is the concern of whether ex ante optimally or ex post optimality was the appropriate measure of efficiency. When regarding practicality, Arrows optimum is a normative dead end. Given Arrows claim on optimal distribution and supposing the occurrence of some event, Guth (2007) asked whether in the even to f the distribution of real goods resulting from the given distribution of contingent claims is a Pareto optimal distribution of real goods. Starr (1973) claims that for the pure exchange economy, the Arrow-Debreu equilibrium will be ex Post Pareto optimal. A Pareto optimal outcome is such that no-one can be better without making someone else worse off (https://moneyterms.co.uk/pareto-optimal/). This is only possible if all the market participants assign the same probability value to the given state (s) occurring. In this context, Starr refers to this property as universally similar beliefs. Hence, this means that the uncertainty and information about the environment and the behaviour of other market participants, proves that the Arrow- Debreu model has some shortcomings as one of its main assumptions is that the price is certain. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE IMPLICATIONS This paper attempts to explore the theoretical framework of the Arrow-Debreu model. The model imposes the limitations of (1) assuming that locational choices are made in the context of a capitalist economy and (2) excluding governmental or more generally, collective action. Within the framework of the model, it has been procured that general equilibrium among market participants and factors can exists, when the implications are put into practice. The Arrow-Debreu model is one that is based on a set of assumptions that is rather difficult to find in todays world. Formulated into a purely mathematical form, the Arrow-Debreu model can be easily modifies into spatial models with proper definitions of the commodities based on the commoditys location or time of delivery. Furthermore, when commodities are specified to be conditional on various states of the world, the model can be easily incorporated with expectations and uncertainties. This model has been subject to criticism that many of the assumptions it makes does not fit in the real economy. However it is important to note that the criticism is not unique to the Arrow-Debreu model but rather it applies to all general equilibrium models. There are many ways of improving the already proven flaw of the Arrow Debreu Model. One such way is provided by Radner. Radner (1985) in his work explains that the deficiency of Arrow-Debreu theory as inadequate treatment of money, the stock market, and active markets at every date can be improved for better results. In order to correct these deficiencies, he explains that for future extensions of the Arrow-Debreu model should include; Uncertainty about future prices as well as uncertainties about the environment A method for producers to compare net revenues at different dats and across states of the world Consumers facing a sequence of budget constraints over time, rather than the single present net worth budget constraint of the Arrow-Debreu model. Specu lation in future markets by storage, hedging, etc. Agents attempt to forecast future prices based on information about the environment and other market participants behaviour up until that point in time. Through these changes, we will be able to see a more real-life implication of the ADM, thus giving us more insight to the model. The model is one that, although correct from where it stands, is not able to be emulated to fit the practices of the real economy as of today. The assumptions, on which the Arrow-Debreu model is based, are very rare to find, for instance, a perfectly competitive market is rather impractical in todays reality. Hence, we are in need for more economists to work on the Arrow-Debreu model to modify it to suit reality as it is today. Risk Neutral Valuation/Pricing In finance we can estimate a real options value by using either Risk neutral valuation approach or Binomial/decision trees. Risk Neutral Valuation is a straight forward and essential in option pricing theory. The principle states that we can with complete impunity assume the world is risk neutral when pricing option (Hull, 2006). The resulting prices are correct not just in a risk neutral world, but in other worlds as well. For example: let us illustrate that risk neutral valuation gives the same answer as no arbitrage arguments. Suppose the stock price is currently $30 and will move either up to $32 or down to $28 at the end of 3 months. The option considered is a European call option with a strike price of $31 and an expiration date in 3 months. The risk-free interest rate is 12% per annum. Let us define p as the probability of an upward movement in the stock price in a risk-neutral world. We can argue that the expected return on the stock in a risk neutral world must be the r isk free rate of 12%. This means that p must satisfy 32p+ 28(1-p) = 30e0.12*3/12 or 4p= 30e0.12*3/12- 28. That is, p must be 0.6523. At the end of the 3 months, the call option has a 0.6523 probability of being worth 1 and a 0.3477 probability of being worth zero. Its expected value is therefore 0.6523*1 + 0.3477*0= 0.6523. In a risk neutral world this should be discounted at the risk free rate. The value of the option today is therefore 0.6523e-0.12*3/12 or $0.633. This is the same as the value obtained earlier, demonstrating that no arbitrage arguments and risk neutral valuation give the same answer. If we put it in a two step tree diagram: 34.2 32 30 29.8 28 26.2 It should be emphasized that p is the probability of an up movement in a risk neutral world. In general this is not the same as the probability of an up movement in the real world. In our example p= 0.6523. When the probability of an up movement is 0.6523, the expected return on both the stock and th e option is the risk free rate of 12%. Suppose that, in the real world, the expected return on the stock is 16% and p* is the probability of an up movement. It follows that 32p*+ 28(1-p*) = 30e0.16*3/12 so that p* = 0.7041. The expected payoff from the option in the real world is then given by p* x 1 + (1-p*) x 0. This is 0.7041. Unfortunately it is not easy to know the correct discount rate to apply to the expected payoff in the real world. A position in a call option is riskier than a position in the stock. As a result the discount rate to be applied to the payoff from a call option is greater than 16%. Without knowing the options value, we do not know how much greater than 16% it should be. Using risk neutral valuation is convenient because we know that in a risk neutral world the expected return on all assets (and therefore the discount rate to use for all expected payoffs) is the risk free rate. Besides having a connection with the binomial model, risk neutral valuation also arises from one key property of the Black Scholes Merton differential equation. This property is that the equation does not involve any variables that are affected by the risk preferences of investors. The variables that do appear in the equation are the current stock price, time, stock price volatility and the risk free rate of interest. All are independent of risk preferences. The Black Scholes Merton differential equation would not be independent of risk preferences if it involved the expected return,  µ, on the stock. This is because the value of  µ does depend on risk preferences. The higher the level of risk aversion by investor, the higher  µ will be for any given stock. It is fortunate that  µ happens to drop out in the derivation of the differential equation. Because the Black Scholes Merton differential equation is independent of risk preferences, an in In some case there is an existing model for a financial option that corresponds to the real option in question. Sometimes, however there is not such a model and financial engineering techniques must be used. Many financial engineering methods are very complex and are more suitable to be explained in an advanced finance course. On the other hand, Risk Neutral valuation is one of the methods which are reasonably easy to implement with simulation analysis. It is also similar to the certainty equivalent method in that a risky variable is replaced with one that can be discounted at the risk free rate. For example: Cordova Software, which produced antivirus software, is considering a project with uncertain future cash flows. Discounting these cash flows at a 14% cost of capital gives a present value of $51.08 million. The cost of the project is $50 million, so it has an expected NPV of $1.08 million. Given the uncertain market demand for the software, the resulting NPV could be much higher or much lower. However Cordova has certain software licenses that allow it to defer the project for a year. If it waits, it will learn more about the demand for the software and will implement the project only if the value of those future cash flows is greater than the cost of $50 million. If in case, the present value of the projects future cash flow is $44.80 million, excluding the $50 million cost of implementing the project. We expect this value to grow at a rate of 14%, which is the cost of capital for this type of project. However we know that the rate of growth is very uncertain and could either be much higher or lower than 14%. Lets assume that the variance of the growth rate is 20%. Given a starting value ($44.80), a growth rate (14%) and a variance of the growth rate (20%), option pricing techniques assume that the resulting value at a future date comes from a lognormal distribution. Because we know the distribution of future values, we could use simulation to repeatedly draw a random variable from that lognormal distribution. For example, suppose w e simulate a future value at Year 1 for the project and it is $75 million. Since this is above $50 million cost, we would implement the project in this random draw of the simulation. The payoff is $25 million, and we could find the present value of the payoff if we knew the appropriate discount rate. We could then draw a new random variable and simulate a new value at Year 1. Suppose the new value is $44 million. In this draw of the simulation, we would not implement the project, and the payoff is $0. We could repeat this process many thousands of times and then take the average of all the resulting present values, which is our estimate of the value of the option to implement the project in one year. Unfortunately we do not know the appropriate discount rate. Therefore, we turn to risk neutral valuation. Instead of assuming that the projects value grows at the risk free rate of 6%. Growing at 6% rate instead of a 14% rate would reduce the resulting project value at Year 1, the time we must exercise the option. For example, suppose our first simulation run produces a $55 project value, based on the $44.8 starting value, a 20% variance of the growth rate, and a 6% growth rate instead of the true 14% growth rate. The payoff is only $5 ($55-$50). However, we now discount the $5 payoff at the risk free rate to find its present value. Note that this procedure is analogous to the certainty equivalent approach in which we reduce the value of the risky future cash flow but then discount at the risk free rate. We can repeat the simulation many times, finding the present value of the payoff when discounted at the risk free rate. The average present value of all the outcomes from the simulation is the estimate of the simulation is the estimate of the real options value. We used the risk neutral approach to simulate the value was $7.19 million. With 200,000 simulations, the average value was $6.97 million. Besides using the simulation analysis method, we can also use th e probabilistic methods in estimates real options value. However, the main difficulty in intuitively grasping the risk neutral valuation concept arises from the fact that the probabilistic methods and tools used were not primarily developed from a financial pricing perspective (Cox, 1985). This results in the use of two different languages, one from economics and the other from mathematics, which can easily be confusing. From the economists view, risk-neutral probabilities are state prices compounded with the risk free rate. One can always use this translation in order to make economic sense when using the tools from probability theory. It should be mentioned that the risk neutral probability concept is only useful for arbitrage-free pricing. An arbitrage-free price is not necessarily a fair price, or the correct price; it is only a market consistent price. Moreover there are two general conclusions, first, if a market participant was buying (selling) a redundant asset above (below) its arbitrage-free price, then we can say that there would be a more efficient way for this market participant to express his view, namely via the replication strategy; secondly, if a market participant was buying (selling) the underlying asset of a redundant security, where the redundant security trades below (above) its arbitrage-free price, then there would be a more efficient way for this market participant to express his view, again via the replication strategy.

Monday, December 23, 2019

Essay about The Violence of Christopher Marlowes The Jew...

The Violence of Christopher Marlowes The Jew of Malta Christopher Marlowes The Jew of Malta is a violent, bloody, destructive play that literally jars the senses. Part of this is due to the modern readers background: we see the characters through modern eyes, with distinct views of low class and high class. It would be easy, as such, to discount The Jew of Malta as only appealing to the base interests of its time, and it would be only slightly less easy to protest that it has meaning beyond any crude first glance, and that the extreme acts presented are merely metaphors for deeper social commentary. Steane writes: There is a general feeling that this is a play of distinctive character, and an†¦show more content†¦As a true black-hat villain (almost mentally complete with greasy mustache and cape, tying poor Abigail to the railroad tracks of his house-cum-abbey), Barabas has no superior, only flunkies and enemies. And, like a true villain, he casts off the first patsy, Abigail, at the traditional moment, when shes about to betray him, for the second, Ithamore, who, also following tradition, after aiding him, turns traitor. Of course, the fact that Ithamore double-crosses Barabas is not surprising. Even though the story leads you to believe that Barabas will get his comeuppance, the main proof of Ithamores inferiority is in his introduction: he brags openly about how evil he is, violating the first rule of the truly wicked (much like the first rule of cool), that if you have to prove it, its not true (II.iii.204-214). While Barabas has already proved his evil and can t herefore talk of his crimes, the unknown Ithamore has to convince the audience of his lowliness by listing his crimes, and so he is doomed to fall prey to Bellamiras lusty wiles before becoming just another notch on Barabas belt of vengeance. Barabas continues making alliances, being betrayed, and exacting revenge on his betrayers, proving true the axiom the enemy of my enemy is myShow MoreRelatedElizabethan Era11072 Words   |  45 Pagesits language with a literary charm. |Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) | |His LIFE -- His WORKS | | | While Lyly was creating an artistic tradition in realms of comedy, an even more impressive service was rendered to tragedy by another writer of greater poetic genius. Born only two months before Shakespeare, and dying before he had completed his thirtieth year, Christopher Marlowe (1564-93), the first English tragicRead Moreâ€Å"the Spirit of Renaissance and Elizabethan Era†5448 Words   |  22 Pagesdemonstrated an increased interest in understanding English Christian beliefs, such as the allegorical representation of the Tudor Dynasty in The Faerie Queen and the retelling of mankind’s fall from paradise in Paradise Lost; playwrights, such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, composed theatrical representations of the English take on life, death, and history. Nearing the end of the Tudor Dynasty, philosophers like Sir Thomas More and Sir Francis Bacon published their own ideas about humanity

Sunday, December 15, 2019

Pricing Strategies Free Essays

Penetration Pricing Price set to ‘penetrate the market’ ‘Low’ price to secure high volumes Typical in mass market products – chocolate bars, food stuffs, household goods, etc. Suitable for products with long anticipated life cycles May be useful if launching into a new market Market Skimming High price, Low volumes Skim the profit from the market Suitable for products that have short life cycles or which will face competition at some point in the future (e.g. We will write a custom essay sample on Pricing Strategies or any similar topic only for you Order Now after a patent runs out) Examples include: Playstation, jewellery, digital technology, new DVDs, etc. Value Pricing Price set in accordance with customer perceptions about the value of the product/service Examples include status products/exclusive products Loss Leader Goods/services deliberately sold below cost to encourage sales elsewhere Typical in supermarkets, e.g. at Christmas, selling bottles of gin at  £3 in the hope that people will be attracted to the store and buy other things Purchases of other items more than covers ‘loss’ on item sold e.g. ‘Free’ mobile phone when taking on contract package Psychological Pricing Used to play on consumer perceptions Classic example –  £9.99 instead of  £10.99! Links with value pricing – high value goods priced according to what consumers THINK should be the price Going Rate (Price Leadership) In case of price leader, rivals have difficulty in competing on price – too high and they lose market share, too low and the price leader would match price and force smaller rival out of market May follow pricing leads of rivals especially where those rivals have a clear dominance of market share Where competition is limited, ‘going rate’ pricing may be applicable – banks, petrol, supermarkets, electrical goods – find very similar prices in all outlets Tender Pricing Many contracts awarded on a tender basis Firm (or firms) submit their price for carrying out the work Purchaser then chooses which represents best value Mostly done in secret Price Discrimination Charging a different price for the same good/service in different markets Requires each market to be impenetrable Requires different price elasticity of demand in each market Destroyer/Predatory Pricing Deliberate price cutting or offer of ‘free gifts/products’ to force rivals (normally smaller and weaker) out of business or prevent new entrants Anti-competitive and illegal if it can be proved Absorption/Full Cost Pricing Full Cost Pricing – attempting to set price to cover both fixed and variable costs Absorption Cost Pricing – Price set to ‘absorb’ some of the fixed costs of production Marginal Cost Pricing Marginal cost – the cost of producing ONE extra or ONE fewer item of production MC pricing – allows flexibility Particularly relevant in transport where fixed costs may be relatively high Allows variable pricing structure – e.g. on a flight from London to New York – providing the cost of the extra passenger is covered, the price could be  varied a good deal to attract customers and fill the aircraft Contribution Pricing Contribution = Selling Price – Variable (direct costs) Prices set to ensure coverage of variable costs and a ‘contribution’ to the fixed costs Similar in principle to marginal cost pricing Break-even analysis might be useful in such circumstances Target Pricing Setting price to ‘target’ a specified profit level Estimates of the cost and potential revenue at different prices, and thus the break-even have to be made, to determine the mark-up Mark-up = Profit/Cost x 100 Cost-Plus Pricing Calculation of the average cost (AC) plus a mark up AC = Total Cost/Output Influence of Elasticity Any pricing decision must be mindful of the impact of price elasticity The degree of price elasticity impacts on the level of sales and hence revenue Elasticity focuses on proportionate (percentage) changes PED = % Change in Quantity demanded/% Change in Price Price Inelastic: % change in Q % change in P e.g. a 5% increase in price would be met by a fall in sales of something less than 5% Revenue would rise A 7% reduction in price would lead to a rise in sales of something less than 7% Revenue would fall Price Elastic: % change in quantity demanded % change in price e.g. A 4% rise in price would lead to sales falling by something more than 4% Revenue would fall A 9% fall in price would lead to a rise in sales of something more than 9% Revenue would rise How to cite Pricing Strategies, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Wto Summary Essay Example For Students

Wto Summary Essay The courage and dedication that was displayed by the protestors in the video was what I took to heart. It was something else to see a group of people come together to protest something that they believed so strongly despite being pepper sprayed, shot at with rubber bullets, and thrown into jail†¦..But why would anyone go to these lengths to protest against an organization?The World Trade Organization was created in Jan. 1 1995 and has 140 member countries. According to their official website www.wto.org the organizations main purpose is to, â€Å"help trade flow as freely as possible-so long as there are no undesirable side-effects. This partly means removing obstacles.† However the organization isn’t a democratic organization. Instead the WTO rules are written by and for corporations with inside access to the negotiations. Citizen input by consumer, environmental, human rights and labor organizations is consistently ignored as WTO meetings are held in secret. Acco rding to the video, out of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations and only 49 are countries. As a result it is no wonder why so many came to protest this secret meeting held in Seattle, WA. According to the video many protestors argued that the WTO and its motto of free world trade is stomping over labor and human rights in countries throughout the world as the use of cheap labor and child labor are continually ignored by the WTO. The magazine Global Exchange states that the WTO is blocking human rights abuses since they have ruled that, â€Å"1) It is illegal for a government to ban a product base on the way it is produced and 2) Governments cannot take into account the behavior of companies that do business with vicious dictatorships such as Burma.†The protestors in the video also felt that the WTO was destroying the environment. Evidence of this, dates back to 1993 when according to the Global Exchange , â€Å"The very first WTO panel ruled that a regulation of the US Clean Air Act, which required both domestic and foreign producers alike to produce cleaner gasoline, was illegal. Recently, the WTO declared illegal a provision of the Endangered Species Act tha t requires shrimp in the US to be caught with an inexpensive device that allows endangered sea turtles to escape, and the WTO is currently negotiating an agreement that would eliminate tariffs on wood products, which would increase the demand for timber and escalate deforestation. As a result I believe that these corporations should not be allowed to continue to get away with such actions. The people in Seattle honored their legal right to assemble. The actions taken by the city of Seattle against these protestors were too extreme and I’m still unclear for what reason they took such extreme measures against the protestors. These were peaceful protests and the city freaked out over a few broken windows at corporations such as Starbucks and Nike. In my point of view the steps taken by the city of Seattle was way over the line and its disgusts me that peaceful protestors were thrown into jail for demonstrating a legal right in the constitution. Social Issues

Friday, November 29, 2019

An Overview of the Sunbelt in the U.S.

An Overview of the Sunbelt in the U.S. The Sun Belt is the region in the United States that stretches across the Southern and Southwestern portions of the country from Florida to California. The Sunbelt typically includes the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California. Major U.S. cities placed within the Sun Belt according to every definition include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, and Phoenix. However, some extend the definition of Sun Belt as far north as the cities Denver, Raleigh-Durham, Memphis, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco. Throughout U.S. history, especially after World War II, the Sun Belt saw abundant population growth in these cities as well as many others and has been an important area socially, politically, and economically. History of Sun Belt Growth The term Sun Belt is said to have been coined in 1969 by writer and political analyst Kevin Phillips in his book The Emerging Republican Majority to describe the area of the U.S. that encompassed the region from Florida to California and included industries like oil, military, and aerospace but also many retirement communities. Following Phillips introduction of the term, it became widely used in the 1970s and beyond. Although the term Sun Belt was not used until 1969, growth had been occurring in the southern U.S. since World War II. This is because, at the time, many military manufacturing jobs were moving from the Northeast U.S. (the region known as the Rust Belt) to the South and the West. Growth in the South and West then further continued after the war and later grew substantially near the U.S./Mexico border in the late 1960s when Mexican and other Latin American immigrants began to move north. In the 1970s, Sun Belt became the official term to describe the area and growth continued even further as the U.S. South and West became more important economically than the Northeast. Part of the regions growth was a direct result of increasing agriculture and the earlier green revolution which introduced new farming technologies. In addition, because of the prevalence of agriculture and related jobs in the region, immigration in the area continued to grow as immigrants from neighboring Mexico and other areas were looking for jobs in the U.S. On top of immigration from areas outside the U.S., the Sun Belts population also grew via migration from other parts of the U.S. in the 1970s. This was due to the invention of affordable and effective air conditioning. It additionally involved the movement of retirees from Northern states to the South, especially Florida and Arizona. Air conditioning played an especially significant role in the growth of many Southern cities like those in Arizona where temperatures can sometimes exceed 100 F (37 C). For example, the average temperature in July in Phoenix, Arizona is 90 F (32 C), while it is just over 70 F (21 C) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Milder winters in the Sun Belt also made the region attractive to retirees as much of it is relatively comfortable year-round and it allows them to escape cold winters. In Minneapolis, the average temperature in January is just over 10 F (-12 C) while in Phoenix it is 55 F (12 C). Additionally, new types of businesses and industries like aerospace, defense and military, and oil moved from the North to the Sun Belt as the region was cheaper and there were fewer labor unions. This further added to the Sun Belts growth and importance economically. Oil, for example, helped Texas grow economically, while military installations drew people, defense industries, and aerospace firms to the desert Southwest and California, and favorable weather led to increased tourism in places like Southern California, Las Vegas, and Florida. By 1990, Sun Belt cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, and San Antonio were among the ten largest in the U.S. In addition, because of the Sun Belts relatively high proportion of immigrants in its population, its overall birth rate was higher than the rest of the U.S. Despite this growth, however, the Sun Belt did experience its share of problems in the 1980s and 1990s. For example, the regions economic prosperity has been uneven and at one point 23 out of the 25 largest metropolitan regions with the lowest per capita incomes in the U.S. were in the Sun Belt. In addition, the rapid growth in places like Los Angeles caused various environmental problems, one of the most significant of which was and still is air pollution. The Sun Belt Today Today, growth in the Sun Belt has slowed, but its larger cities still remain as some of the largest and fastest-growing in the U.S. Nevada, for example, is among the nations fastest-growing states due to its high immigration. Between 1990 and 2008, the states population increased by a whopping 216% (from 1,201,833 in 1990 to 2,600,167 in 2008). Also seeing dramatic growth, Arizona saw a population increase of 177% and Utah grew by 159% between 1990 and 2008. The San Francisco Bay Area in California with the major cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose still also remains a growing area, while growth in outlying areas like Nevada has decreased significantly due to nationwide economic problems. With this decrease in growth and outmigration, housing prices in cities like Las Vegas have plummeted in recent years. Despite recent economic problems, the U.S. South and West (the areas that comprise the Sun Belt) still remain the fastest growing regions in the country. Between 2000 and 2008, the number one fastest growing area, the West, saw a population change of 12.1% while the second, the South, saw a change of 11.5%, making the Sun Belt still, as it has been since the 1960s, one of the most important growth regions in the U.S.

Monday, November 25, 2019

buy custom IT Governance essay

buy custom IT Governance essay How does the description of IT governance mechanisms in Public Sector organizations in Australia differ from those presented by Weill and Ross (2004)? IT governance mechanisms in Public Sector organizations in Australia describes the importance of the principles, as well as, lessons of good corporate governance being replicated in the individual IT governance mechanisms laid down for the institution (Ali and Green, 2007). These mechanisms encourage a set of behavior, which encourages behavior that goes hand in hand with the companys mission, values, strategy, and norms (Ali and Green, 2007). On the other hand, Weill and Ross determine that, managers should focus in designing, implementing, and communicating the IT governance processes (Weill Ross, 2005). Furthermore, IT governance incorporates five important decision domains: infrastructure, investment decisions, prioritization, IT principles, infrastructure and business application needs (Weill Ross, 2005). IT governance mechanisms in Public Sector organizations in Australia, cautions the implementation of the above mechanisms; the nature of organizations is essential in showing how effective mechanisms are (Ali and Green, 2007). However, Weill and Ross explain six archetypal approaches applied in IT governance: IT monarchy, business monarchy, feudal, federal, duopoly, and anarchy (Weill Ross, 2005). The two recommend guidance in effective IT governance design. One needs to identify the companys needs for autonomy and synergy, establish the role played by organization structure, pick the desirable IT-related behaviors, and then design IT governance on a single page (Weill Ross, 2005). How does the description of IT governance mechanisms in Public Sector organizations in Australia differ from the claims of the case study material from the COBIT site: Solo Cup Uses COBIT to Develop IT Policies? IT governance mechanisms in Public Sector organizations in Australia describes the importance of the principles, as well as, lessons of good corporate governance being replicated in the individual IT governance mechanisms laid down for the institution (Ali and Green, 2007). These mechanisms encourage a set of behavior, which encourages behavior that goes hand in hand with the companys mission, values, strategy, and norms (Ali and Green, 2007). On the other hand, COBIT stipulates an effective set of guidelines that make sure IT policies show enough coverage of common control objectives. These guidelines also identify control gaps. The control elements have the correct content, depth, as well as breadth that would ensure compliance with the control objective put down by COBIT. IT governance mechanisms in Public Sector organizations in Australia, cautions the implementation of the above mechanisms; the nature of organizations is essential in showing how effective mechanisms are. In its part, the COBIT framework narrowed the process of coming up with a comprehensive set of the policies. Without COBIT, time and energy would have been wasted. Buy custom IT Governance essay

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Changing Dialect of Singapore Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Changing Dialect of Singapore - Essay Example Tan has made it a point to continue to work with the original language of Singapore to keep the memory of the past alive and to embrace the past through the use of speaking. Tan has made an effort with the younger generations to continue to speak in the main language of Malay. â€Å"If we lose our culture through language, then what do we have left? I believe it is important to continue to remember what we speak, where we are from and what the ancient history is of this land,† says Tan. To him, the idea of keeping the language alive is also a part of keeping the memories and heritage and of his world as a part of the everyday lifestyle. For Tan’s children and grand children, understanding the language isn’t one that they rebel against and often find that the extra dialect helps them to stay ahead in their own thinking. â€Å"Even though we learn English in school, we like having the Malay dialect as a part of our upbringing. It makes us feel unique and like we a re truly from Singapore,† says Tan’s grandchild. This attitude is one that many who are able to speak in two dialects carry with them as they progress forward with the understanding of different dialects. The languages of Singapore have undergone changes through every generation, even though they are kept alive through stories such as Tan. English is now recognized as the main language of the land, specifically because of the colonialization that took place in the 1820s by James Cook. However, there is also an influence of Mandarin, Chinese and Indian dialects, all which have come from the several who have migrated to Singapore through time. This is combined with the main dialect of Malay which is spoken by those who are considered as native to the land. The mixture of languages has led to the four main dialects of English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil becoming the main dialects of the island. It is not only the recognition of the four main dialects that influences the dive rsity of Singapore. While it is a small island, the influx of immigration into the land and the philosophies, such as what Tan has, continue to alter the dialects which are spoken in various regions. For instance, the recognition of Mandarin Chinese as a dialect is only one of several ethnic ways of speaking that are in the region. When visiting Singapore, you will note that Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Cantonese are also spoken among households. No more than 10 -20% speak these languages and most is recognized in the home; however, the strong traditions keep the dialects such as these strong and alive (Chan, 2009). The alterations of dialect have also led to a creation of mixtures of each of the languages. A combination of English and Malay, for instance, is commonly heard among locals when they are working to converse among others who know more English. This is a common practice of those in the region, specifically with older generations who have not been educated with t he formal applications of English in the nation. The split of languages is known to have occurred specifically with waves of immigration which occurred from the 1800s. The beginning of the Malays and the structure of Singapore as a country was one which was noted as the dominant culture through this time. Ancient beliefs were kept during this time as well as patterns for economic trade and village life. While there were some fluctuations in Arabic and immigrants from other lands, most adapted to the Malay traditions and way of living. It was from the 1800s –

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Leadership and entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Leadership and entrepreneurship - Essay Example Most of the basic organizational problems such as distorted structural design, poor morale of managers and employees, communication gaps, resistance to change, inefficient controls, iniquitous salary structure, scarcity of resources, incompatibility with external environment and so on are attributed to poor leadership. Entrepreneurship on the hand, which is derived from the French word â€Å"entrprende†, as defined by the famous economist Adam Smith as, â€Å"the economic agents who transform demand into supply for profits†. One of the definitions of the term, includes, the founding of an enterprise which apparently includes all those associated with it such as the decision makers, the stakeholders and the initiators of business or a business idea. In conclusion, entrepreneurs are leaders who develop and grow enterprises. (Stephen Robins, 2004) Bill Gates or McDonald could well be considered as entrepreneurs due to their sheer vision and dedication of converting a business idea into a profitable and economically viable business option. The size of the business rarely affects the leadership qualities. For example, a leader of a national or international enterprise / organization, commands wide – spread influence over a large number of people while the influence of the leader of a small work group in an organization is relatively limited in scope. However this does not affect the fact that they leaders in their own right and fulfill all the duties and responsibilities of an entrepreneur. In a formal organizational setting, a leader enjoys a position of command and exercise power over their subordinates in order to get the work done and achieve the entrepreneurial goals laid down by the organization. The larger the group the greater the difficulties in exercising control over their subordinates. In such a situation, the leadership roles are often distributed among the subordinates, chosen

Monday, November 18, 2019

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Research Paper

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - Research Paper Example Salinger paid a great attention to the factors of personality formation. The novel â€Å"The Catcher in the Rye† is considered to be Bible for many generations. Nowadays this work can seem even to be naive but at the previous century it was sensation which caused a great wave of different emotions and was officially censored. Very often reading a book the readers try to guess the content from the very beginning judging from the title. Some authors give the mysterious titles to their works in order do some kind of riddle. Into the title of his novel Salinger placed the whole philosophy, symbolism which was an integral part of the novel. This gives an excellent opportunity to the reader to interpret the novel in their own manner and discourse. The main point of this novel is that everyone can see themselves in this work. The features of the main character are sincere and impress with their honest depicting. Though it should be mentioned that this novel is not about a lazy young man who is so simple and easy from the first sight but the author calls the reader o look deep inside the complicated mechanism if Holden’s soul. The character is opening step by step, every page of the novel helps to understand the character. Salinger wants to tell everything about his hero. The psychological portrait of Salinger’s hero is contradictory and complex. The behavior of Holden often makes an impression of a painful start. He is not just shy, touchy, and sometimes not polite, like almost everyone is prone to introspection, teenager of so-called introverted type. As it is evident from the confessions of the hero of the novel, and from the details Holden is childish for his age â€Å"unwillingness to resemble the adults in Holden's first emotionally more than consciously, feeling ahead of his mind and he's ready to be finished in one fell swoop with their offenders among which not everyone deserve a severe sentence†. However, on the other hand the youn g minimalism of Holden Caulfield is understandable thirst for justice and transparency in human relations. The fact that most depresses Holden and what he judges is quite "grown-up" is the feeling of hopelessness, impending doom of all his attempts to arrange his life in this world. Peering into the future, he sees nothing, except the gray routine that has become the lot of the vast majority of his countrymen. Salinger's hero fails to interest Sally enough, however, who does not really believe in life in the hut by the stream (Slawenski, 2011). Formulaic Hollywood movies with the triumph of virtue and indispensable quirks in the final scenes cause attack of revulsion in Holden’s mind. Holden lives in the cruel soulless world, which like a machine tends either to break their victim, or reshape them into their own image. Holden is endowed with "absolute moral hearing" - he immediately discerns hypocrisy, and his hypersensitivity is a special kind of radar that catches it, and t hen quietly passes by other history of American literature. This is his youthful impatience and attracts the readers' hearts. Not surprisingly, Holden eagerly looking for at least some outlet craves human warmth, involvement and understanding. So the question arises, what he wants, as he thinks in about the future, the question is even more important because we know very well

Saturday, November 16, 2019

A Look at Gender Difference in Social Interaction

A Look at Gender Difference in Social Interaction Ethnography: A Look at Gender Difference in Social Interaction An ethnographic approach was chosen for this study because it has the potential to provide a descriptive, interpretive, evaluative and authentic vision of society (Hammersley Atkinson, 1995). The observation was done by myself. I went to the Marketplace Mall in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on March 4th. I stayed from one o’clock to three o’clock in the afternoon. I sat on a bench close to the food court, and observed people who were age 18 and up. I observed the ways in which males and females were different when it came to social interaction. Literature Review The article â€Å"Gender and relationships: Influences on agentic and communal behaviors† talked about agency and communion. According to the article, agency is the striving for mastery or power, and communion is the striving for intimacy and connectedness (Suh, 2004). According to measures of masculine and feminine sex roles, men make decisions easily, don’t give up easily, and are competitive, outspoken, and outgoing. Females like kids, and are warm, emotional, considerate, tactful, gentle, and helpful. Gender differences appear primarily in group or social contexts. Stereotypic beliefs are that women are communal and men are agentic (Suh, 2004). Women do domestic work more than men, have fewer hours in paid employment, and are said to have occupations of lower status. Men are more agentic with male friends, than women are with female friends. Women are more communal with female friends, than men are with male friends (Suh, 2004). This relates to my observation in the way my hypothesis was formed. I used stereotypes, and labels that men and women already have, as a knowledge base for what I might observe. The article, â€Å"Putting Gender into Context: An Interactive Model of Gender-Related Behavior,† stated that the enactment of gender takes place within social interaction (Deaux, 1987). This enactment takes place due to self-verification and self-presentation. They are naturally interwoven together. Because people monitor behavior internally and externally, they are concerned with self-presentation and self-verification simultaneously (Deaux, 1987). When I was doing my observation, I did notice people monitoring their behavior, or their child’s behavior. I focused more on who each person was interacting with, instead of how they were interacting. In Deborah Tannen’s article, â€Å"You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation,† she made a good point about the history of women and talking. In history, women were punished for talking too much. In Colonial America, they were held underwater, or even gagged. Women were believed to talk too much; however, studies find that men talk more in meetings, groups, and classrooms (Tannen, 1991). Men feel good with public speaking, while women feel good with speaking in private. Women’s language of conversation is a way to establish connections, negotiating, and maintain relationships. Men talk as a means to preserve independence, negotiate and maintain status. â€Å"Home is where there is the silent man and talkative woman† (Tannen, 1991). That’s the distinction between public and private speaking. My observation contradicted this article. More women were interacting and communicating than men. However, I was interested in the historica l aspect of the stereotypes we have today, and this gave a little hint as to what kinds of things happened to women, who spoke out of turn back in the colonial time period. An interesting topic that arose from my observation was the use of mobile phones. In â€Å"Community and social interaction in the wireless city: Wi-Fi use in public and semi-public spaces,† Hampton talked about how a few studies have addressed how wireless internet use in public spaces influences social life. Recent years have seen growth in availability of wireless internet access in public places (Hampton, 2008). Mobile phones make community instantly accessible, and social ties are reachable anywhere at any time. Hampton made the point that mobile phones create a private sphere of interaction in public spaces. When people engage with mobile phones, they create a private cocoon that reduces the likelihood of public encounters (Hampton, 2008). To get a picture of what this means, while I was observing, a middle aged male was sitting at a table alone, but he was talking on his phone to someone. One could tell he was absorbed in the conversation because he did not take notice of any one that walked by him, and he stayed sitting there for about 45 minutes after I had sat down and started my observation. Hypothesis The hypothesis I formed before the observation at the mall was, â€Å"Middle aged females will be more social with the same gender, than older or young females. Young males will be more social with the opposite gender, than middle aged or older males.† I created this hypothesis on the basis of past experiences when shopping with my mother, and my friends. There always seemed to be more females of middle age than any other age group. At the mall, there would always seem to be many more young males than any age group. I also used basic stereotypes that everyone hears growing up. Such stereotypes include, â€Å"women are supposed to be submissive and do as they are told,† and, â€Å"men are always in charge.† I do not personally believe in these; however, I did use them as a basis for my hypothesis. Methodology Over spring break I went home to Davie County, North Carolina. It is a rural town with a small shopping mall. Not many people actually go to the mall, because Walmart is just down the street. I chose to go to the Market Place Mall, instead of Walmart, and sit at the food court. I got there at one in the afternoon, on Tuesday, March 4th. Not a lot of people were there. I sat down on a bench beside the food court, and I took notes on my phone, so I would not draw attention to myself. I figured I would have attention if I had a notebook in front of me. I watched everyone that walked by me, because no one was sitting in the food court. When the people would walk by, I would record their age range, gender, and whether they were alone or with someone, and what gender those someone’s were. I would also record if they were interacting together. I stayed for two hours just sitting there on the bench, collecting data. When I finished at the shopping mall, I went home and wrote down ever ything I had on my notes in my phone. Then i drew up a spreadsheet in excel, and put in all of the information I collected. It helped me organize, and get precise calculations. Field Notes Summary In total, I observed 152 people over the two hour time period. There were 50 males and 102 females. 68 were middle aged adults. Out if the 68, 24 were men. 15 of the men were alone, 4 were with the same gender and 5 were with females. Also, out of the 68 middle aged adults, 44 were women. 13 of them were alone, 26 were with the same gender, and 5 were with males. Out of the 152 people I observed, 40 were older adults. 14 were men. 9 of them were alone, 2 were with the same gender, and 3 were with females. 26 out of the 40 were women. 16 of the older women were alone, 6 were with the same gender, and 4 were with males. Out of the 152 people, 42 were young adults. 13 were men. 5 of them were alone, 3 were with the same gender, and 5 were with females. There were 29 young women. 7 of them were alone, 16 were with the same gender, and 6 were with males. I also observed two teenagers there. They were the only teenagers I noticed being there. A little less than half of the people I observed were alone. To be exact, 65, out of the 152 people, were alone. Phone use was not a wide spread action I saw people doing, if they were alone. I only saw 8, out of the 65 people, on their phones. When it comes to social interaction, over half of the people observed were partaking in some sort of communication with each other. 87, out of the 152 people, were interacting. I saw 50 females talking with each other, and I saw 9 males talking with each other. There were 28 people partaking in interaction with the opposite gender. That includes two sets, of a male and female, holding hands. Conclusion on Hypothesis Restating my hypothesis, middle aged females will be more social with the same gender than older females, and young males will be social with the opposite gender than middle aged or older males. My hypothesis was completely right. The first part of my hypothesis was that middle aged females were more social with the same gender then older females were. The data I collected about the 152 people I observed showed that 59% of middle aged females were social with the same gender, while only 23% of older females were social with the same gender. The second part of my hypothesis was that young males were more social with the opposite gender than any other age group of males. The data I collected for the 152 people I observed showed that 38% of young males were social with the opposite gender, while only 20% of middle aged males were social with the opposite gender, and 21% of older males were social with the opposite gender. What I found most interesting was the difference between men and women’s social interaction, in general. Judith Hall published an observational study on nonverbal gender differences and discussed the cultural reasons as to those differences. In her study, she noted women as smiling and laughing more, as well as having a better understanding of others’ nonverbal cues. She believed that women were encouraged to be more emotionally expressive in their language, thus better developed in nonverbal communication. Men, on the other hand, were taught to be less expressive, to suppress their emotions, and thus be less nonverbally active in communication and more sporadic in their use of nonverbal cues. This builds on what I found in my observation. There were more women that I observed, but in total, there were more men who were alone. Actually, over half the men I observed, 29 out of 50, were alone, while 36 of the 102 females, I observed, were alone. That’s only 35 % co mpared to the 56% of men. What I Learned What I learned focused on men and women. With women, I learned that they interact more with females, than males, at the mall. I also learned that more middle age women go to the Market Place Mall than any other age group, according to my observation. With men, I learned that they interact more with females, then males, at the mall. I also learned that most men come alone to the mall, according to my observation. References Deaux, K., Major, B. (January 01, 1987). Putting gender into context: An interactive model of gender-related behavior. Psychological Review, 94, 3, 369-389 Hammersley, M. Atkinson, P. (1995). Ethnography: principles in practice. 2nd Ed. London: Routledge. Hampton, K., Gupta, N. (November, 13, 2008). Community and social interaction in the wireless city: Wi-Fi use in public and semi-public spaces. New Media Society, 10, 6, 831-850 Igarashi, T., Takai, J., Yoshida, T. (January 01, 2005). Gender differences in social network development via mobile phone text messages: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22, 5, 691-713. Knapp, M., Hall, J., Horgan, T. (2013). Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction (8 ed.). Cengage Learning. Suh, E. J., Moskowitz, D. S., Fournier, M. A., Zuroff, D. C. (2004). Gender and relationships: Influences on agentic and communal behaviors. Personal Relationships, 11(1), 41-60 Tannen, D. (1991). You just dont understand: Women and men in conversation (p. 113). London: Virago.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

A Vogadro :: essays research papers fc

A vogadro was born on June 9, 1776 in Turin, Italy. He began his career in 1796 by obtaining a doctorate in law and practicing as a lawyer for three years after. In 1800, he began to take private lessons in mathematics and physics and decided to make the natural sciences his profession. He was appointed as a demonstrator at the Academy of Turin in1806 and the Professor of Natural Philosophy at the College of Vercelli in 1809, and in 1820, he was appointed the professor of mathematical physics. He was a physics professor but he also experimented in chemistry using mathematics to base most of his findings. Avogadro is well known for his hypothesis known as Avogadro's Law. His law states that at a given temperature, equal volumes of gas contain the same number of molecules equal to about 6.0221367 x 10 to the 23rd power.A Mole of a substance is the quantity of the substance that weights the same as its molecular mass. One mole of any substance is Equal to Avogadro's number. Therefore Avogadro's law can be stated in terms of moles, namely that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain the same number of moles. Thanks to Avogadro and his number, scientists can measure out equal number of molecules by weighing out an equal number of moles. For gases this can be done by using 22.4 liters at STP(1 atmosphere and 223 Kelvin, 0 deg. Celsius). Avogadro's number is most reliably determined by X-ray diffraction of crystals. For many years' people thought the number was equal to about 6.022045 x 10 to the 23rd power, However, in 1986 the number was redefined as about 6.0221367 x 10 to the 23rd power.Albert Einstein's third research paper was concerned with the nature of molecules. We all know that if we drop a lump of sugar into water it diffuses through the water, making it somewhat more sticky. Thinking of water as a structureless fluid and the sugar molecules as small hard spheres, Einstein was able to find not only the size of the sugar molecules but also a value for Avogadro's number. Avogadro proposed his hypothesis in 1811. At that time there was no data at all on the number of particles in a mole. Measurements were made by Robert Brown in 1827 that gave an approximate value for Avogadro's number by observations of brownian motion.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Position of Women in Mordern India Essay

The position of women has changed a lot in modern times. Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards equality in recent decades however; we still live in a society in which the worth of women is measured in their physical appearance and not their intellectual contribution or talents. It is not an unknown secret that many women are paid considerably less than men for doing the same type of work. What effect does this obvious gap between men and women have on our nation’s female population? The effect of this is the unconscious perpetuation of the understanding that women are inferior to men in our society. This also stands in direct contradiction to the claim that we are all created equal. This gap between men and women can be seen in countless social arenas, such as, the workplace, the average household, educational institutions and even in our nation’s government. In the society, the role of women is getting bigger. Women are doing man’s work and sometimes women do it better. It may be because women are more patient and more intelligent. The concept of earlier days was that only man can work, because society thought that cleaning the house and taking care of the children were the only things women were able to do. This has changed a lot because now both, men and women, are working and taking care of home. Sometimes it is the woman who gets the money to survive and man is the one who takes cares of the children, and while it was embarrassing for men in the past, now it is normal. We have seen a woman P.M. in our country – one of the most powerful and undoubtedly the most efficient P.M.s we ever had – Mrs. Indira Gandhi. We also see a woman President – Mrs. Pratibha Patel. So a woman has the capability to hold the highest post of the country as well. Be it in politics (Jayalalitha, Mamta Banerjee, Mayawati – love them, hate them, but you cannot ignore them), sports, cinema or literary field, we see women dominating the scene side-by-side with men MAYANK SHARMA

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Plastic Architecture - Building The Biodome

Plastic Architecture - Building The Biodome By definition a biodome is a large controlled internal environment in which plants and animals from much warmer or colder regions than the region of the biodome can be kept in the natural conditions of their own sustainable eco-systems. One example of a biodome would be the Eden Project in the United Kingdom which includes the largest biodome greenhouse in the world. There are three biodomes at the Eden Project: one with a tropical climate, one with a mediterranean, and one that is a local temperate biodome. Large biodomes are architectural wonders, while the designs have much in common and take from the geodesic domes patented by Buckminister Fuller in 1954, there have been more recent innovations in building materials that have made the enormous light-friendly roofs in biodomes and other architectural projects possible. The Eden Projects biodomes are constructed with tubular steel frames with hexagonal external cladding panels made from the thermoplastic ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) replacing the use of glass, too heavy a material to use. According to Interface Magazine,ETFE foil is essentially a plastic polymer related to Teflon and is created by taking the polymer resin and extruding it into a thin film. It is largely used as a replacement for glazing due to its high light transmission properties. Transparent windows are created either by inflating two or more layers of foil to form cushions or tensioning into a single skin membrane. Plastic Architecture Lehnert, an avid yachtsman and three-time winner of the Admirals Cup, was researching ETFE for use as a possible material for sails. For that purpose, ETFE was not successful, however Lehnert continued to research the material and developed ETFE-based building materials suitable for roof and cladding solutions. These cladding systems, based on plastic cushions filled with air, have since pushed the boundaries of architecture and allowed the creation of highly innovative structures such as the Eden Project or the Beijing National Aquatics Center in China. Vector Foiltec According to Vector Foiltecs history, Chemically, ETFE is constructed by substituting a fluorine atom in PTFE (Teflon) with an ethylene monomer. This retains some of PTFEs qualities such as its non-stick self cleaning properties, as in non-stick pans, whilst increasing its strength, and in particular, its resistance to tearing. Vector Foiltec invented drop bar welding, and used ETFE to construct a small cable structure, originally made from FEP, which had failed due to the low tear resistance of the material. ETFE provided the perfect substitute, and the Texlon ® cladding system was born. Vector Foiltecs first project was for a zoo. The zoo looked into the possibility to implement a new concept whereby visitors would pass through the zoos in small confined pathways while the animals would be, according to Stefan Lehnert, almost living in broad areasâ€Å"†¦almost in freedom.† The zoo, the Burger ´s Zoo in Arnheim, hence also looked for transparent roofs, which were to cover a large area and at the same time would allow the passage of UV rays. The Burger ´s zoo project eventually became the very first project of the firm in 1982. Stefan Lehnert has been nominated for a 2012 European Inventor Award for his work with ETFE. He has also been called the inventor of the biodome.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

5 Tips for Fixing Not Only . . . But Also Errors

5 Tips for Fixing Not Only . . . But Also Errors 5 Tips for Fixing â€Å"Not Only . . . But Also† Errors 5 Tips for Fixing â€Å"Not Only . . . But Also† Errors By Mark Nichol Few constructions cause as much consternation for editors as that in which a contrast is represented with the phrase â€Å"not only, . . but.† The solution to garbled syntax in such constructions is simple but bears repeating, so multiple sample sentences follow. But before we go any further, note not only that a comma following â€Å"not only† is unnecessary but also that also (or too or as well) is essential after but. At its most basic, the erroneous sentence structure you will see played out in several variations here is â€Å"(Subject) (this) (verb) and (that).† The correct sequence is â€Å"(Subject) (verb) (this) and (that).† 1. â€Å"I not only knew where this person was shopping and how much he or she was spending, but the exact time of each transaction.† For such a sentence to exhibit proper parallel structure, the verb following the subject must precede â€Å"not only† so that it applies to both parallel phrases, or the verb must be repeated. In the latter case, the sentence would read, â€Å"I not only knew where this person was shopping and how much he or she was spending; I also knew the exact time of each transaction.† This solution is correct but cumbersome. (I was tempted to write â€Å"not only correct but also cumbersome,† but one is favorable and the other unfavorable, so introducing parallel structure seems inappropriate.) For clarity and simplicity, try this: â€Å"I knew not only where this person was shopping and how much he or she was spending but also the exact time of each transaction.† (Note also the insertion of also.) 2. â€Å"When the United Kingdom went through its mad cow mess, it had to bury not just the dead animals that had gotten sick, but had to change its butchering methods.† That’s a clumsy (and erroneous) attempt to provide the verb twice. It’s far more elegant to compose the sentence so that a single had is strong enough: â€Å"When the United Kingdom went through its mad cow mess, it had to not only bury the dead animals that had gotten sick but also change its butchering methods.† 3. â€Å"Their drinking may not only reflect difficulties in sleeping and calming down, but the fact that their parents provided a chaotic and inconsistent home environment.† This sentence almost sounds right, but may, the verb that precedes â€Å"not only,† is an auxiliary, or helper, verb; it’s playing second banana to reflect, which must also precede â€Å"not only†: â€Å"Their drinking may reflect not only difficulties in sleeping and calming down but also the fact that their parents provided a chaotic and inconsistent home environment.† 4. â€Å"Extended-stay lodging may not only fulfill a practical purpose but an emotional one.† The error is most easily seen in sentences such as this one, in which the â€Å"but (also)† phrase is brief and noisily clatters to the floor, unsupported by the sentence structure: â€Å"Extended-stay lodging may fulfill not only a practical purpose but also an emotional one.† 5. â€Å"They understood that the devastation was not solely about the lack of water, but about the way the land had been used.† This sentence, in which solely stands in for only, places the â€Å"not only† element correctly, but, again, the comma is extraneous, and an inserted also is not: â€Å"They understood that the devastation was not solely about the lack of water but also about the way the land had been used.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Structure A Story: The Eight-Point ArcConfusing "Passed" with "Past"1,462 Basic Plot Types

Monday, November 4, 2019

Wittgenstein's Approach and Domestic Model of Learning Language Coursework

Wittgenstein's Approach and Domestic Model of Learning Language Acquisition Theories - Coursework Example I use the description and explanation of Wittgenstein’s Approach theory and the Domestic Model of learning language acquisition theory to speculate whether my lesson was successful or not.This paper represents a rationale of the lesson on healthy and unhealthy food groups as an aspect of language acquisition. The main objective of a lesson rationale is to provide a logical basis for discussion as well as explaining the lesson worthiness to the students. Various lesson rationales vary in terms of how the students find them convincing. According to O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith (2011), students find lesson rationales that connect the lesson with their future goals and strivings to be more satisfying and convincing. In this lesson rationale, I compare and contrast two major language acquisition theories used to inform a lesson. In this lesson rationale, I also explain the influence the observation of my mentor teachers may have on my lesson and speculates the success of my less on plan based on the mentioned major language acquisition theories.One major language acquisition theory is Wittgenstein’s approach theory. This theory explains various issues pertaining to language acquisition. One of such issues is that language as skills are paramount as a starting point for learning languages (Erneling, 1993). According to Erneling (1993), the theory also explains that language heard and conceptualized is limited and that language is learned and used in a communicative context. This makes this theory a very important theory in trying to understand how a language is acquired. One of the aspects of this theory that makes it a very important language acquisition theory is that it can be used to explain the acquisition of the first language as well as the acquisition of the second, third and fourth languages.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Creating Conditions for Learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Creating Conditions for Learning - Essay Example I discuss my views on these areas by using personal experiences to assess whether they are integral to maintaining the lesson’s momentum, which in turn translates into academic achievement. I believe that learning can only occur when all parties (students and instructors) are able to create an interactive conducive environment. Earlier on, I learned that instructors bear the responsibility of creating such an environment. For example, simply preparing a lesson plan by the book, does not guarantee to learn, as more than one factor might dissuade students from learning. Disruptive behaviors from students rank high on the list of learning detractors. Therefore, instructors must always be wary of students prone to behavioral problems, in order to mitigate them before such behaviors hinder the learning process. At the core of the different problem-solving approaches I use, is the intent to equip the students with behavioral skills, which will assist them in mitigating disruptive be haviors. In my opinion, helping students avoid disruptive behaviors is not merely enough to maintain lesson momentum. More often than not, I have come to the realization that instructors are to blame for losing the lesson’s momentum. The text clearly states that instructional activities comprise of both strategies and formats. The former refers to the different ways of grouping students whereas the latter refers to the different methods used by instructors to engage their students (6.04). Therefore, instructors with personal inadequacies, which hinder them from executing either of the instructional activities risk affecting students’ engagement and in turn their academic achievement. I agree that instructors might stand to benefit from comparing themselves against the areas listed in the module’s text if they hope to improve their instructional strategies.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Heliotrope Medical Devices (HMD) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Heliotrope Medical Devices (HMD) - Case Study Example In addition, the Mobile robot permits application of an insertion method that enables outpatient cardiac surgery. The models in these experiment used suction to sustain pretension of the heart while the locomotion was aided by a wire-driven actuation. Also a digitized fiber scope presents visual feedbacks to the general practitioner, who gearshift the heartlander through joystick interface in various samples to determine the control process. The original model exhibited progressive prehension , locomotion and turning on bare chest, thumping pig hearts having excess pericardiums .This work exhibits a control process for producing the heartlander component which requires special attention during production. Abstract Table of contents Background information †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..4 Objective †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.4 Literature review †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.6 Robot Assisted cardiac Surgery †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..6 Methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 System requirements †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 Design implementation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.9 Testing †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 Findings and discussion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.12 Conclusion and recommendation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 Reference †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..15 Appendix 1: Calculation to test one finding Appendix 2: Calculation to test two finding BACKGROUND INFORMATION Cardiac surgery is an intervention on the heart or other significant vessels carried out by cardiac surgeons, in most cases it is performed to treat issues related ischemic heart disease. In the recent past, application of minimally invasive methods has turn out to be the main objective in cardiothoracic surgery since there a need to do away with morbidity related to sternotomy. Sternotomy refers to the bisecting of the sternum in order to expose the ribcage which gives the surgeon easy access to the heart and it majorly obviated by use of endoscopic minimally invasive surgery(Tendick et al 2003). This practice employs minute cameras and tools placed at distal ends of rigid shafts placed through miniature incisions between the ribs (figure 1). By use of endoscopic tools, the surgeon is in a position to convey the equipments to the operative site instead of exposing the patient to render the operative site to the tools. These mainly reduce movement in surgical process since the major pain and disability witnessed by the patient is as result of accessibility rather than the process itself. Figure 1 Nevertheless, the initial handheld endoscopic equipments had various setbacks that limited the implementation of minimally invasive methods for most surgical procedures. These drawbacks included: decrease in dexterity,

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Kalpana Chawla Essay Example for Free

Kalpana Chawla Essay Teachers Day BY vtnay2085 Speech given on the Teachers Day. Ghiyasuddin School, Wednesday 13th September 2006 Madam Aishath Adam, Senior Assistant Principal, Supervisors, members of the staff, Teachers and Dear Students. Assalaam Alaikum and Good afternoon. Today, we are here to celebrate great teachers and great teaching. As a fellow teacher, I find awkward to speak about teachers or for teachers. But, first, let me convey to all the teachers, my personal greetings and best wishes on the teachers day. Dear Teachers: Though a fellow teacher, I want to say I am proud of you. I am proud of your edication to the profession and for the personal sacrifices you make to teach our children. I am delighted of your devotion to train their questing minds, and for your inspiration of their hopeful hearts. I am proud that you take this responsibility seriously †that you see it as sacred trust. We celebrate teachers day, because we value you. I want to remind you that all the parents, students and the wider community deeply appreciate your commitment to teaching and to the children. There is no substitute for education. Firstly, because its the most precious gift we can give our children. Secondly, because its the most critical investment in our future. And thirdly, because its the most effective strategy which will enable us to survive and to thrive in a changing world. Dear Students: I became a teacher because of some of the happy experiences I had in school. There were teachers who touched my soul; who helped me realize my own potential. I decided to become a teacher because I want to help change someones life. Sometimes, it is hard. We have our own families, financial life and life problems that challenge us, like everyone else. Sometimes we are exhausted by our workload nd responsibilities. This is why teachers need encouragement and support. So that in turn, we can devote ourselves to our students. Dear staff and students; On Teachers Day every year, we remember our teachers, we remember our childrens teachers. We recognize these very dedicated people. People who give of themselves and take a personal interest in their students. Teachers who have touched our liv es, moulded us into what we are today, and are helping to shape tomorrows people, tomorrows students. Just as a country is as good as its people, so its citizens are only as good as their teachers. Therefore a great deal depends on you, teachers, and I salute you, all of you, those here today, and those absent, for your passion, dedication, commitment and contributions. I wish to all the teachers a successful career in teaching   a career in which you find happiness, health, friendship and love. Happy Teachers Day and thank you. Kalpana Chawla By Vaishakhi Status Deceased Born July 1, 1961 Karnal, Haryana, India Died February 1, 2003 (aged 42) Over Texas Previous occupation Research Scientist Time in space 31d 14h 54m selection 1994 NASA Group Mission insignia Sts-87-patch. ng STS-107 Flight Insignia. svg Kalpana Chawla , was an Indian-American scientist and a NASA astronaut. She was one of seven crewmembers killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Early life Kalpana Chawla was born in a Punjabi Hindu family at Karnal, Haryana, India. [l] She was born in Model Town Karnal. Kalpana in Hindi means imagination. Her interest in flying was inspired by J. R. D. Tata, a pionee ring Indian pilot and industrialist. [2][3]. Kalpana has two sisters (Sunita ; Deepa) and a brother (Sanjay). Being the youngest, the family members gave her the nickname Montu. She met and married Jean- Pierre Harrison, a flying instructor and aviation writer, in 1983 and became a naturalized United States citizen in 1990. [4] [edit] Education Chawla completed her earlier schooling at Tagore Public School, Karnal. She earned her B. E. degree in aeronautical engineering at Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh in 1982. She moved to the United States in 1982 and obtained a M. S. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington (1984). Chawla went on to earn a second M. S. degree in 1986 and a Ph. D. degree in aerospace engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Later that year she began working for NASA Ames Research Center as vice president of Overset Methods, Inc. where she did CFD research on WSTOL. [2] Chawla held a Certificated Flight Instructor rating for airplanes, gliders and Commercial Pilot licenses for single and multiengine airplanes, seaplanes and gliders. She held an FCC issued Technician Class Amateur Radio license with the call sign KD5ESl. [edit] NASA career Chawla Joined the NASA astronaut corps in March 1995 and was selected for her first flight in 1998. that flew the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian-born oman and the second person of Indian origin to fly in space, following cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma who flew in 1984 in a Soviet spacecraft. On her first mission Chawla travelled over 10. 4 million miles

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Discourse Analysis Of Different Activities English Language Essay

Discourse Analysis Of Different Activities English Language Essay Discourse analysis incorporates a number of different activities, and merging them all together is too ambitious. However, the natural nature of discourse analysis seems to be agreed upon by the scholars involved in the field. Stubbs (1983) summarizes the realm of discourse analysis like this: The term Discourse Analysis is very ambiguous. I will use it to refer mainly to mean the linguistic analysis of naturally occurring connoted spoken and written discourse. Roughly speaking, it refers to attempts to study the organization of language above the sentence or above the clause, and therefore to study larger linguistic units, such as conversational exchanges or written texts. (Stubbs, 1983: 1) Discourse analysts seem to be interested in analyzing any kind of spoken and written discourse, and there are various distinct analytic patterns that can be applied to both types of discourse. This paper attempts to emphasize on some discourse analytic patterns applied by researchers in the field of learner written discourse analysis. Learner discourse is an invaluable resource that can be used, exploited, and analyzed by interested researchers in an attempt to clarify, classify, and describe the way learners use the language. Learner written discourse and texts often offer a rich resource for a learners language development. They can be used for diagnosis and evaluation, language awareness raising, and classroom use. In fact, theres a good case for learners texts being the best resources for a focus on language and they are closer to the developmental stage that other learners are going through (their interlanguage).When learners see their own used as classroom learning material, th ey become more motivated and as Scott Thornbury (2005) mentions: serves to break down the distinction between language learner and language user. In describing learner language, learner discourse can be dealt with via four major approaches identified by Ellis (1994: 44) including the study of learners errors. The focus of this paper is to try to study learners errors on some semantic and syntactic areas of discourse analysis naming grammatical and lexical cohesions, coherence (theme and rheme), ellipsis, reference, collocation, and nominalization. While focusing mainly on analyzing written texts for posterior classroom application, all the samples discussed seek to relate analysis of specific written texts to social and cultural contexts in which such texts are written and read. In our examples, we tend to demonstrate the approach of analyzing learners written assignments dealing with the issue of using and learning Arabic by foreigners in the United Arab Emirate to investigate the particular discourse methods used in the similar texts. In an attempt to relate discourse analysis with corpus linguistics, the researcher later su ggests that the use of concordancing in the teach ­ing and designing of written discourse in language classrooms is encouraging and worthwhile and presents samples of exploited concordances to highlight collocations. It des ­cri ­bes a possible way of having students approach discourse analysis tasks in an inductive and learner-centered manner. In this paper, there is an emphasis on the relationship between the linguistic features of the written texts and the UAE society in which they are produced. Written Discourse Written discourse incorporates communication by exploitation of textual material. It can be outlined in numerous modes. McCarthy defines, discourse analysis as the study of the relationship between language and the context in which it is used (McCarthy 1991:5). Written discourse does not have to deal with people speaking all simultaneously or even with spontaneous interruptions. McCarthy (1991:6) states that in written discourse the writer normally has time to prepare the text. He also mentions that in written discourse, the sentences are usually well formed in a way that the utterances of natural spontaneous talk are not. Learner Discourse Merely testing learners on their aptitude to write, or complete, isolated sentences is clearly inadequate if their overall ability to communicate at the level of discourse is a goal. However, even when whole texts are exploited for assessment or diagnosis, there is an affinity for many teachers not to be able to observe beyond their surface grammar errors, or to appreciate their strengths irrespective of their weaknesses. To guarantee a more efficient, more extensive, and more reasonable judgment, more comprehensive criteria for assessing texts are needed. Ellis (1994: 44) identified four major approaches in describing learner language: the study of learners errors the study of developmental patterns the study of variability the study of pragmatic features In our attempt to analyze learners text, the researcher tries to bear in mind the above-mentioned considerations. Patterns of Text Analysis Written texts can be analyzed using various patterns and methods. However, in our paper we tend to analyze texts dealing with the following aspects: Grammatical cohesion including reference (cataphoric, anaphoric, exaphoric, and endophoric cohesive devices), ellipsis, substitution, nominalization, and conjuncts; Lexical cohesion including reiteration, superordinate, repetition, and collocation. We now try to shed some light on the application of each of the abovementioned aspects. Cohesion Cohesion is the way a text is held together and has meaning (Holland and Lewis 2001:53), and the way unrelated structural elements are linked together, through the dependence of one on the other for its interpretation (Halliday and Hasan 1976:27 in Holland and Lewis 2001:55). Cohesive links can work within the text, endophorically, or outside the text, exophorically (Holland and Lewis 2001:53). Within the text they may be anaphoric when they refer to something that has already been mentioned, or cataphoric when they look to something that is yet to be mentioned (Holland and Lewis 2001:53). Halliday and Hasan propose grammatical cohesion and lexical cohesion, each with their own sub classifications, as the two categories of cohesion (1976 in Holland and Lewis 2001:55). Written texts can be analyzed by detecting the grammatical connections between individual clauses and sentences of the text known in linguistics as grammatical cohesion. Grammatical cohesion is what meshes the text toge ther. Renkema defines cohesion as the phenomenon of connectedness of sentences or utterances in discourse (Renkema, 2004). Cohesion in text conveys meaning to the reader. Grammatical Cohesion Cohesion in a text, as mentioned earlier, can be established in two ways; grammatical and lexical cohesion. We shall begin by looking at grammatical cohesion. Halliday and Hasan are pioneers in the study of grammatical cohesion. They mention that there are cohesive relationships between the sentences in a text and these relationships create texture. Texture distinguishes a text from something, which is not a text. McCarthy (1991:34) defines grammatical cohesion as the surface marking of semantic links between clasuses and sentenses in written discourse, and between utterances and turns in speech. Halliday and Hasan consider grammatical cohesion through reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunctions. Reference is further subdivided into the categories of personal, such as pronouns (e.g. he, she, it, him, they, etc.), demonstratives (this, that, these, those), the article the, and items like such a (Halliday and Hasan 1976: 37-9) and comparatives (Holland and Lewis 2001:57-8). All three forms of referential cohesion can work either endophorically or exophorically (Holland and Lewis 2001:57-8). Substitution, usually working anaphorically, replaces a reference with a dummy object, while ellipses are of a similar nature, except the missing reference is replaced by nothing (Holland and Lewis 2001:58). Ellipsis is when expected elements of the text are omitted because they have already been mentioned formerly in the text or that they are spontaneously inferred. The last category of cohesion is conjunctions which operate through grammatical relationships between clauses or propos itions, and are subdivided into the categories of additive, adversative, causal, and temporal (Halliday and Hasan 1976 in Holland and Lewis 2001:60). Lexical Cohesion Halliday and Hasan consider lexical cohesion through reiteration and collocation (Angermeyer 2002:365). Reiteration could include the re-mentioning of an item using the original noun phrase, a synonym, a near-synonym, a superordinate expression, or a general word (Halliday and Hasan 1976 in Holland and Lewis 2001:63). Following such reiterations we can possibly create a lexical chain in a text. With regards to collocation, Halliday and Hasan note that it is a problematical category of lexical cohesion, (1976 in Angermeyer 2002:365), and Hasan later rejects collocation as a lexically cohesive category (1984 in Angermeyer 2002:365). Similarly, Hoey considers the various forms of repetition as the key aspect of lexical cohesion (1991 in Angermeyer 2002:365). Corpus Analysis Corpus means a body, and corpus analysis thus refers to the analysis of a body of language data. A corpus can be small (for example one newspaper article or letter) or large (several million words of naturally occurring spoken or written language). Linguistically speaking, corpus is any collection of natural language examples. It is a collection written and/or spoken examples of the usage of a language, employed in linguistic analysis. Presently, corpus analysis employs computer applications, called concordancers, in the analytic procedure. The computer applications designed for this type of analysis include concordance programs that can, for instance, recognize specific words selected by the researcher and demonstrate how frequently these words are used in discourse. Analyses of large corpora of spoken and written English have revealed the frequency and co-occurrence of many different lexical and grammatical items. This co-occurrence is called collocation. These analyses have been c apable of illustrating enormously facts about language that could hardly be inferred intuitively. For the purpose of this paper we tend to rely mostly on two major corpora naming the Collins WordbanksOnline English corpus sampler which is composed of 56 million words of contemporary written and spoken text as well as Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English which is a structured collection of language data of English as a Lingua Franca.