Lifespan Human Development Essay

Lifespan, simply defined, is the utmost period of time that a living being can survive. Lifespan can also be applied to a material or object. For a human, the period between his birth and death is a process that is identified as the lifespan development. According to Rebecca Heron (2010), lifespan development encompasses all of the developments or changes that occur from birth throughout life. Others termed lifespan development as a series of events that took place in a person’s life that made him more knowledgeable or wise. Others call it journey. Everyone has their own stories to tell. No matter how sad or colorful one’s story is, it is still something that we can call journey. Let me start mine by letting you know something about me. I am a Latin-American (Cuban) male. I was raised in Newark, NJ and I am in my late thirties now. When I got married last 2004, I moved down to south Jersey. People say that I am a good listener and that I give a good piece of advise. Like every other teenagers, I can say that I gained experiences from my teenage years. Thanks for my best friend Denniz; she was always there especially during my rough times in relationships. She was my shoulder to cry on when I needed one. D. Boyd and H. Bee (2009) tell that there is a Learning Theory that can be applied in a person’s life. According to this theory, one’s development results from an accumulation of experiences. I agree to this concept because I can say that people goes through a lot of experiences in life. Love is a great experience. I can still remember being in love and being out of love but still moved on. With a friend like Denniz, who says life can be so tough? We used to hang out most o the time as I can remember but then she has to move to California during our late teens. We continue to talk over the phone, share each others’ stories until fate has to take her away. A terrible car accident took the life out of my friend and until now, there is never a day that I do not think of her. I know that whatever I am right now, she is a part of it. Living on the darkest point of my life, somehow, I manage to move on. In fact, I acknowledge the need for higher education that is why I pursue studying. I can say that despite the hardships I had, I also gained success. I manage to buy a home, getting married, being asked to speak at my GED graduation on TV, and simply being there to help my parents when they needed me most. I also value simple things like my dog licking my face, the warmth smile of wife, and sometimes, being very child like. I got hurt a lot of times. First, when my best friend died. Then, when I found out that my aunt died in a cold hospital room instead of spending her time with her family. I also got hurt when I was laid-off from my job of 14 years which made me feel that I failed my wife. Because of this, I make sure that I do not disappoint someone, especially my loved ones. I developed the hatred for failure. However, I believe that life is a form of trial and error. Whenever my actions did not produce the outcome that I wanted, I re-think and plan again. Until I am very sure that I will be successful. Intelligence and sensitivity are imparted to me by my parents. There are times that I am emotional rather than logical. But with a bundle of experiences that I have in my life, I learned to balance both of them when I wanted to be successful in the things I do or the decisions I made. I can say that I am in the middle of my journey now. I believe that there are more experiences for me to face and I am ready for it. I had become a better person because of the experiences in my life because it taught me how to be tough and move forward. Twenty or thirty years from now, I want to see myself obtaining a degree in nursing. It feels good that your parents and wife are proud of you. They had been there when I started this task and I want them to be there when I am successful. Of course, I also want to have children of my own where I can be a proud parent someday. I want to teach them what my parents taught me and am able to know that I and my wife have influenced them in a fine way. Now, I can say that my goal as of the moment is to change the relationship between me and my two older brothers. We did not develop expressing our feelings towards each other on our younger years even though we spend a lot of time together. As I age, I feel the need to open up more with them because our relationship as siblings becomes deeper. I’d also like to see my friend Denniz someday. I like to tell her what I went through and how she had become part of it. I’d like to tell her that she is never forgotten and that she is the best friend I ever had. I’d also like to see my aunt. I wanted to say sorry for not being there when she needed us. I’d tell her that we cared for her and ask for her forgiveness. Trials come at times when you do not expect it but with a strong bond with family and friends, it is easy to overcome. With all the influences I have in this journey of mine, I owe most of it to my family. From the hobby of watching movies, to being charismatic and even being open-minded about things, I got it from my family and some from my friends. They are most important to me. That is why disappointing them is the least that I want to do. I’d rather use my ability to make them laugh and see smiles on their faces rather than inflict pain on their hearts. References Bee, Helen and Boyd, Denise. (2009). Lifespan Development. Prentice Hall. Heron, Rebecca (2010). Definition of Lifespan Development, retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www. ehow. com/facts_6066997_definition-lifespan-development. html

An Analysis Of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones Environmental Sciences Essay

Throughout the nineteenth century, H2O resources became limited and the demand on H2O increasing with the over big population, so the universe started looking for new beginnings of H2O and take attention of useless H2O. Groundwater considered as an of import clean H2O beginning although there are polluted and contaminated, but the most of import and toxic dross is nitrate, which can do serious hazards on human wellness. Nitrate concentration have been increasing rapidly in groundwater due to mixture of its beginnings, for illustration: agricultural use where intensifier of fertilisers is used, waste stuff, discharging of chemical waste H2O of several industrial workss on the state countries as shown in figure below ( Reddy and Linm, May 1999 ) such as ; production of fertilisers, explosives, and polyurethane. Figure ( 1 ) : Nitrate Resources.[ 1 ] The largest sum of the nitrate comes from the fertilisers mills, where the mean usage of the fertiliser use in the universe increases yearly ; this makes nitrate H2O pollution, which considered as one of the most serious environmental jobs in developed states. ( OECD, 2005 ) GENERAL IDEA OF NITRATE VULNERABLE ZONES: The countries which has the chance of nitrate pollution, is brought in head by United Kingdom in 1996 to set the maximal content of nitrate in imbibing H2O to be 50 mg/l. It is brought by to forestall H2O resources from the exposure to nitrate pollution as of agricultural beginnings and it were applied in approximately 8 % of the English land to command the sum of the fertilisers required by the husbandmans. ( Barclay and White, 2009 ) In December 2000, the United Kingdom had failed to propose none usage values European tribunal of justness to protect all H2O resources non merely the imbibing H2O. After that, the authorities in England discussed with husbandmans to finish the nitrates instruction execution which was at beginning of 2002. On June 27th the authorities decided to present excess nitrate vulnerable zones in the state. In 2009, some of ordinances came into position and called NITRATE POLLUTION PREVENTION REGULATIONS 2008, which puts into pattern the nitrates direction in England. Today, the nitrate vulnerable zones are applied in 62 % of England countries. ( Defra, environment bureau, April 2009 ) Figure ( 2 ) : The English country using the NVZs in 2010[ 2 ] The environment bureau is the 1 responsible for gauging and taking down notes the husbandmans jobs by fixing unexpected visits to the farms. There are nine Guidance cusps related to the husbandmans when they are using the nitrate vulnerable zones and they are: Summary of the counsel for husbandmans in nitrate vulnerable zones. Implementing the regulations capacity, timing and enforcement. Reference information criterion values, fertiliser trying protocol and glossary. Storage of organic fertilisers. The stock fertiliser and farm bound. Planing N usage. The harvest nitrogen demand bound. Field application of organic fertilisers. Field application of manufactured N fertilisers. There are many procedures applied and used by the husbandmans in the nitrate vulnerable zones need to be evaluated and controlled by jurisprudence enforcements introduced by the environmental bureau of England, some of these will be discussed subsequently in this study. 2.1 Storage OF ORGANIC Fertilizers: The Torahs or regulations which control the procedure of storage of the organic fertilisers and which the husbandman should follow them in the nitrate vulnerable zones are: The maximal capacity of pigsaa‚Â ¬a„? slurry and domestic fowl storage is 6 months. The maximal capacity of other stock such as cowss slurry storage is 5 months. The storage must be in particular topographic points like stock houses or covered edifices, with exclusion to hive away them temporarily in the field site and guarantee there is no liquid draining during the storage periods. Reconstructing fertiliser storage installations must obey the building criterions set by the control of pollution. New, well enlarged or well reconstructed manure storage installations must follow with the building criterions set down in The Control of Pollution. ( Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil Regulations 1991 ) 2.2 THE STOCK FERTILIZER AND FARM LIMIT: The husbandmans can non travel beyond a maximal storage of 170 kg/ha of entire produced by stock in each twelvemonth averaged by over the country where the European committee has approved an understanding which will let qualified husbandmans those who have with more than 80 % of the farm country as green lands to hive away at a higher sum of 250 kilograms of entire merchandise. The husbandmans must enter information related to this stuff to demo it to the authorities, some of these informations are: The Numberss and types of stock per twenty-four hours during the twelvemonth, every bit good as disbursement or keeping. The sum of N which produced by the stock per twenty-four hours over the twelvemonth must non transcend the standard values including the exported sum of stock to another farms. 2.3 THE HARVEST NITROGEN REQUIREMENT LIMIT: The husbandman must vouch that the content of the N in the crop fertiliser do non transcend the maximal criterion value which specified by the regulations and cusps of nitrate vulnerable zones. 2.4 FIELD APPLICATION OF ORGANIC Fertilizers: All husbandmans at the nitrate vulnerable zones must do certain about the content of the nitrate before using the organic fertilisers, and do n't hold to utilize them if they exceeded the acceptable bounds. The manufacturers of the organic fertilisers must use the fertilisers during the fixed periods within a certain conditions. At the terminal of the closed period, the maximal applying sum is about 50 M3s / hour angle of slurry and 8 tones of domestic fowl. 2.5 THE ORGANIC FERTILIZERS AND FIELD LIMITS: For a twelvemonth, 12 months, the husbandmans must non transcend the degree of N which is 250 kg/ha by utilizing organic fertilisers including stock fertilisers. There must be at least three hebdomads between each single application. 2.6 CLOSED Spread PERIODS FOR MANUFACTURED FERTILIZER: The maker and the client of the organic N fertiliser must non use the production during the specific period of the twelvemonth, but can allow either the specified crops or obtain advice for the other crops from the authorities. 2.7 KEEPING NITROGEN OUT OF SURFACE WATERS: By the beginning of every twelvemonth, there are some demands from the husbandman in the nitrate vulnerable zones, and they are: Transporting out a hazard appraisal in instance of utilizing either organic manure or one of its applications. Producing a hazard map to place suited field locations for fertiliser applications. Where applicable, the map must besides demo sites suited for impermanent field tonss of solid fertilisers. When the husbandmans start the field operations, there are some necessities which are listed below: They should non utilize fertilisers contains N or organic fertilisers when the dirt is H2O logged, flooded, or snow covered, or has been frozen for more than 12 hours in the past 24 hours. They ca n't use organic fertilisers within 10 metres of surface H2O, except on land managed for engendering birds and under certain other limitations. Organic fertilisers must be put within 50 metres of a spring, good or borehole. The manufactured N fertiliser must be used within 2 metres of surface H2O. The husbandmans must do a field review to impose the hazard of skip through to come up H2O before distributing manufactured nitrogen fertiliser or organic fertiliser. If there is any possibility of leaking some of manufactured nitrogen fertiliser or organic fertiliser to the surface H2O, so the husbandmans must halt utilizing the fertilisers and delay while the job is solved and the husbandman must be responsible. The acceptable angle of the land where the fertilisers are used must non transcend or within 12 grade as a maximal value. The ability to utilize and the sanctioned sum of fertiliser depends on: Land drain. Land H2O screen. The nature and type of the dirts and the fertilisers. The husbandmans must enter all informations related to the old regulations in order to look into the records by the environment bureau and guarantee that they apply the nitrate vulnerable zones regulations and set of ordinances. 3. SCOTLAND AS A CASE STUDY: 3.1 CONCERNING EASTERN SCOTLAND: Eastern Scotland considered as one of the largest agribusiness countries in the United Kingdom, and it started using nitrate vulnerable zones instruments and regulations from this twelvemonth. The husbandmans in eastern Scotland are considered as a instance survey in this study to better the storage of slurry in those countries. Where on the other manus Scotland contains tonss of agribusiness countries, so it can be applied and evaluated by the nitrate vulnerable zones regulations on it. The husbandmans in Scotland are carrying up and utilizing the organic slurry for the agribusiness purposes, but this slurry is full of organics and N which may change over to guess nitrate as the undermentioned chemical equation: N2 + 6 H2O 2 NO3 + 6 H2 Then, this nitrate will foul a immense sum of resistance and surface H2O, the simplest solution of this job is using nitrate vulnerable zones on Scotland. 3.2 THE CONDITION OF SCOTLAND: There are many features and belongingss of Scotlandaa‚Â ¬a„?s dirts, and every bit recognized as organic dirts which has the ability to hive away big sum of C contents comparing with other agribusiness zones in UK. The surface of Scotland dirts indicates that it is sensitive to pollution or in peculiar nitrate pollution. Figure ( 3 ) : The types of the Soils in Scotland.[ 3 ] Depending in the maps above, one can observe that the land of the Scotland can be divided in to four basic types: Podzols dirt, which describes a presence of organic that is suited for the forest agribusiness with ash Grey and rich with silica content and have light Greies colour. AA . Brown colored dirts, reasonably contains a thin bed of organic bed, included of mineral medium and good construction with the stone pulverization dirts. Gleys dirts, the dirt consist of many metallic ions like Ag which have the graded blue colourss in comparing to the normal organic content, it responsible for surface H2O production. Organic peat dirts, it contains larger than 60 % of organic content with high surface bed which gives it high ability to agriculture even the sourness is so high ( & lt ; 5 PH ) . 3.3 Evaluation: From the information above, it can be noted that the dirts of Scotland in peculiar the agribusiness countries do non necessitate larger sum of natural or manufactured nitrogen fertilisers, so the authorities and the environmental bureau should do surveies about the needed sum of these fertilisers to procure the maximal sum of use to protect the surface and belowground H2O from the nitrate pollution jeopardy. The function of the nitrate vulnerable zones instrument is to command and oversee the storage procedure for these countries particularly that Scotland is well-known with stock where the Fieldss will be affected by the overall nitrate contents. Problem Impact Recommendation STOCK Storage Leaking to come up country. Using particular storage topographic points. Exploitation Fertilizers Reacted with the surface H2O. Restriction and unchanging the use for particular instances. APPLYING THE RULES The husbandman may non use the regulations. Making difficult regulations to command the countries related to nitrate vulnerable zones. KNOWLEDGE OF THE RULES Some husbandmans do non cognize plenty about regulations. Commercial advertizement. Table ( 1 ) : some of the proposal for existent job. 4. Decision: The nitrate vulnerable zones is a pattern introduced by the environmental bureau of United Kingdom to cut down the H2O nitrate pollution of the agribusiness country in the land, and this pattern is related to the husbandmans who live in the zones where high content of nitrate is caused by the procedure of storage and utilizing the manufactured or natural N fertilisers. From the rating and perusal of Scotland, one can observe that the nature of the dirt needs using nitrate vulnerable zones on those countries to get the better of the job of nitrate. Recommendations: The thought of nitrate vulnerable zones is really of import particularly for the countries causesaa‚Â ¬a„? H2O pollution of nitrate, but it should be international pattern all over the universe, in add-on to do difficult regulations on people who try to change with this pattern. In add-on, this topic is interested by every individual in the universe so the international organisation should assist the hapless husbandman to use nitrate vulnerable zones.

Communication competency Essay

1. As you study Henry’s problem, think about what you would advise Henry to do. I would advise Henry to assess the reasons why the supervisors are requesting transfers to other stores. Although Henry does offer his supervisors a pay incentive plan that provides financial rewards to employees who cut cost and increases sales, he does not take the time to communicate with his employees to find out if they have the tools that they need to perform their jobs effectively. Henry should meet with his supervisors once he discovers where he missed the mark. He will then be better prepared to improve his communication methods with his staff of supervisors. Once he makes this necessary change this could mean a world of difference in regaining the trust of his supervisors as this will display to them that he is listening and recognizes that there is in fact a problem and that he intends to right his wrong. 2. What does Henry need to know about communication competency? Henry needs a basic understanding of communication competency, at the minimum. This would be the least amount required for someone in his position. It would be preferable that a manager have an extensive amount of experience in communication competency, but at the minimum, Henry should be able to effectively communicate with his peers and subordinates, including the two managers. In this scenario, Henry has not taken any proactive stand at any time to actually communicate with the managers under his supervision. 3. Discuss the relationship between communication and motivation. There is a strong relationship between communication and motivation. In order for employees and managers to both become and stay motivated, communication is essential. When there is an active dialogue between managers and subordinates, it provides motivation because the employees/managers are aware of exactly what is expected of them, and the lines of communication are open. Employees that know that the lines of communication are open are more likely to make use of the communication process by discussing grievances and other issues with their supervisor. 4. Directly reference the theories of motivation you have learned about in this unit. The rewards theory is predominantly used in this scenario. Henry is using a pay incentive program to reward the supervisors for cutting expenses and/or for increasing sales. By doing so, he is rewarding based on the actions of the supervisors and their ability to accomplish the goals that lead to greater pay through the pay incentive program. According to the Rewards Theory, the actions of the supervisors will continue as long as they are receiving pay incentives which act as a reward for their actions. If Henry ends the pay incentive program, the supervisors will have less motivation to reduce expenses and increase sales, which will likely lead to a decrease in supervisor performance in these areas. The Social Information Process Theory is also predominant in this scenario. This theory is based upon the premise that people’s needs and attitudes are determined by the information available to them at any given time. This can be applied in regards to Henry and the supervisors, each from their own standpoint. Henry has a lack of information as to why the supervisors are requesting transfers. Although it can be reasonably assumed that they are requesting transfers due to a complete lack of communication from Henry, he is unaware of the specific reasons. The supervisors are not receiving information from Henry. His contact with his subordinates is very limited, or so it appears so based on the details of the case. This has created a condition where the lack of feedback and information given by Henry to the supervisors has created attitudes in the supervisors based on the lack of communication, which is a detrimental aspect of the relationship between Henry and the supervisors. 5. Relate the case to the following ten work-related items Be specific about the participants of the case and the work-related items. 1. Sensitivity to personal problems Henry is under the impression that because he is busy and works hard that his complete lack of communication skills should be acceptable. He believes that the managers should be thankful for how hard he works for them, and to benefit them by what he believes to be always considering their best interests. 2. Interesting work Henry believes that because he has given the supervisors a viable means to stay engaged in their work, that they should find the work interesting. This is not directly stated by Henry but is reflected in the intonation of his comments when he reacts to the news that the supervisors have asked for transfers. 3. Salary Henry has added to the pay structure by implementing a pay incentive program for the supervisors. Henry believes that ideally the program should provide enough of an incentive for the supervisors to work hard, and to accomplish the goals of increasing sales and/or decreasing expenses. The managers likely feel that the pay initiative is an added benefit, but still completely lack any real form of communication with Henry. 4. Job security It is apparent that the supervisors enjoy having job security, or they would have terminated their employment instead of requesting transfers. Henry likely has job security as well, but not enough information is given concerning Henry’s position to make an accurate determination or analysis of his position from a job security standpoint. 5. Loyalty of company to employees Although it is evident that Henry believes he is being loyal to the supervisors, there is a complete lack of communication, and the degree of loyalty that the two supervisors believe is taking place would be much less than Henry’s opinion. It also appears that Henry has loyalty to the employer, which is indicated by his comment about working hard for the benefit of the managers. The managers also show loyalty to the company, because they request a transfer and do not terminate their employment. 6. Tactful and constructive criticism Based on the information provided, Henry has not given the supervisors any constructive criticism. The pay incentive program does not constitute any form of tactful or constructive criticism because it is being used as a sole motivator with no feedback or communication. Because there is a lack of constructive criticism between Henry and the supervisors, Henry appears withdrawn and non-communicative with his subordinates. 7. Appreciation for work Henry is under the impression that the supervisors don’t appreciate how hard he works. The supervisors have no indication if they are appreciated, because Henry has been completely non-communicative. The main reason that the supervisors want to be transferred is so that they can receive constructive criticism and feedback regarding their work, which they can then use to increase their knowledge, skills, and abilities for their given positions. 8. A sense of belonging Because Henry has mostly isolated himself from the supervisors, there is likely a predominant feeling on behalf of the supervisors that they don’t belong. Henry has made no substantial effort to include the supervisors in any constructive manner. Henry feels he belongs to the company, which is indicated through his dedication and hard work, but he has isolated himself causing his subordinates to likely feel as if they don’t belong as a viable part of the company. 9. Good working conditions Henry has not advocated good working conditions by his behavior. If the working conditions were solid, the managers would have never requested a transfer to a different location. In order to improve the working conditions, Henry needs to completely restructure his communication methods. 10. Opportunities for advancement There is no indication that any employee, manager, or supervisor can advance from their current positions. Henry would be the main factor in communicating possibilities for advancement to his staff, and there has been a clear lack of communication. This also is hazardous to employee motivation and employee morale.

The Use of Capital Budgeting Models in Utility Estimation Essay

The Use of Capital Budgeting Models in Utility Estimation - Essay Example Three key terms are incorporated into the preceding description of alternative choice problems: cost, revenue, and investment. If the applicability of Hunter et al.'s (1988) critique to capital budgeting models of utility is to be fully evaluated, the reader must understand how finance managers and accountants use these terms. Cost refers to the number of resources used for any purpose (Anthony & Reece, 1983). Costs incurred in an accounting period are either assets or expenses. An asset is defined as a cost that yields benefits to the organization beyond the current accounting period (usually 12 months). For example, a machine that is expected to have a useful life of 10 years is classified as an asset because it is expected to produce outputs (such as machined parts) that benefit the organization by bringing in revenue over a long period of time (in this case 10 years). An expense is defined as a cost that yields benefits to the organization only within the current accounting perio d. For example, the cost of electricity for the machine for one month is classified as an expense because the resulting benefits accrue only over the short term. Revenue refers to the inflow of funds that results from the sale of goods and services to the firm's customers. An investment is the acquisition of an asset resulting in a future stream of expected cash inflows (i.e., revenues). For the example of the machine purchase given earlier, parts produced with the machine would be sold to customers, and the resulting stream of revenues would be received over the 10-year life of the machine.

Abortion and Infanticide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Abortion and Infanticide - Essay Example Potentiality principle described by the writer explains about the importance of possession of some property which makes some one eligible to have a serious right to life. For any organism to have this right the property should be there on continuous basis instead of that property is gained during the course of life. The author explains this issue of possession of some property to a further step by discussing the continuous ability of an organism having that property. He takes adult human as a model who has got that property but the human fetus still has not attained that level to be provided with that property so the fetus does not have the right to life based on the potentiality principle. This differentiation he makes by dividing the ability at two levels: physiological and psychological. He states that the physiological properties are same at the fetal level if compared across the species but this property based on physiological characteristics does not allow some organism to enjo y the right life. Once some one reaches a level to attain the psychological characteristics sufficient enough to be recognized as possessing that property with serious right to life. In fact, he tries to defend the idea that the serious right to life is not granted right at the beginning of some organism’s life at the zygote level, for example, in humans but there is some cut off point after which an organism belonging to some species may become eligible to serious right to life.

Operatins Management - Cruise Inc. - Case Study

Operatins Management - Cruise Inc. - - Case Study Example NCL generates revenue from every section of the cruise in each and every tour from the company. Every section of the cruise is productive for the firm either through direct or indirect way of generating revenue. This productivity of the firm can be measured from the earning from each activities carried out on the cruise by analyzing the travel partner performances, analyzing cost of sale for the firm and also analyzing the trend of the ticket booking. Analyzing these sections of the firm gives a better understanding of the financial condition of the company. The EBITDA of NCL improved a lot from $6.6 million to $37.4 million in the fourth quarter and a huge increment of over the year from $228.1 million to $324.1 million in the year 2009 (NCL, 2011). Since EBITDA don’t include interest expenses, income taxes and amortization it can also be a good addition if the additional elements are calculated for more accurate productivity measurement. Question 2: Describe the service pack age offered by NCL to its customers. Visit the â€Å"Life Onboard† section of several cruise line websites and the insight provided by the film, â€Å"Cruise Inc† to gain a better understanding of service packages offered by cruise lines. ... The resort vacation experience of the customer on the cruise is the major attraction for the customers. The cabin rates of NCL Pearl ranges from $35 to $2000 per day for each person on the cruise depicts the strategy from the company how they implemented the competitive advantage to grab the market from low to high market segment. The seven specialty restaurants provide foods for every need of the customers with variety of food habits and taste. The company provides over 100 plus activities and services like casino, spa, and art gallery, medical center, laundry and bar to entertain and meet the demand of each and every customer on the cruise (NCL-a, 2011). Question 3: What are NCL’s competitive priorities and why do you believe they follow these priorities? Describe what should be in the service package so that it aligns with the company’s emphasized competitive priorities. The unique services provided by the company to the customers with wide range of services packages are target towards every customer on the cruise. The quality services induce the customers to get familiar with their services and avail a lifetime experience for the entertainment provided by the company. This diversified service provided by the company for every need of the customers and for every customer on the cruise is the major advantage for NCL to attract wide customer base. The competitive price of the cruise and the best buy technique to offer customers guaranteed low price for travelling on the cruise provides a great advantage for the company to attract customers to avail their services (NCL-b, 2011). The club of the company with travel agents for excursion and recommendation of the company for several

Reflective Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Reflective Paper - Essay Example bility to establish and maintain harmonious relationships with diverse people and groups, especially with those different from themselves is a quality most effective leaders have. He is the glue that fuses the group together with diplomacy and commonality of goals. He possesses high emotional intelligence, maturity and understanding of people coming from various backgrounds. I believe that having a sensible and stable moral and ethical base should be the foundation of an organization. Michael Fullan, a leading advocate in the study of leadership claims that a leader should have moral purpose. This moral purpose pushes him to act with the intention of making a positive difference in the lives of the people around him and in society in general (Fullan, 2004). â€Å"Moral purpose infuses an organization with passion and purpose since workers become eager to know the enabling purpose of their work† (Fullan, 2004, p. 26). A manager needs the capacity to keep his focus on the real purpose of the organization. He has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He works together with others on thinking of ways and means to reach their goals and not focus on the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. His positive influence gains him the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organization (Leithwood & Riehl,2003). Although the manager is imbued with great knowledge and skills, he is aware that he still needs help from others. He is humble enough to admit when he does not really know instead of putting up a faà §ade of being all-knowing. He is always open to learning something new, and not haughty enough to claim that he is already â€Å"made†.† Being human and fallible is one trait that all people share, and what better quality to relate to

Leadership and its views in football Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and its views in football - Essay Example Starting from the developing a team, training, developing strategies, executing those in the field all depends on the manager. Thus, success or failure of the team also considered as the responsibility of the manager. According to the report of Barnes (2013), in the EPL (English premier league), the role of the manager is very important. Being considered as the toughest and most competitive football league of the world, team managers play an important role in the success or failure of the team. Signing new footballer, coaching them, developing team strategies-all depends on the manager. In his review, he cited the example of Paolo Di Canio-manager of the Sunderland football club. According to the report of British media, his enthusiasm was the key behind the success of the Sunderland football club, as they were able to retain their position in the premier league after a horrible start. In his report he pointed out the fact that it is not necessary that only the change in managers bri ngs about the good result. It is nothing to do with the change but it is a trend of event which may happen no matter whether club has change the manager or not. In his word, changing manager may give good result for a game or two, in short for a shorter period of time, but that does not means it will give continuous good result. According to his view, â€Å"it s a misleading statistic because not changing the manager would have had the same result†. He cited the example of Aston Villa in the EPL, where they also have facing the threat of relegation like Sunderland, but they did not change their manager. The result of the first 5 games of Sunderland after changing manager and Aston Villa without changing the manager was same: 2 wins, 1... The essay goes though 5 different phases of an employmet cycles. These are recruitment/selection, induction, managing the performance, controlling different level of performance and workforce planning/role or job analysis-job redesign. Being a manger one has to look up to all these parameters and control the performance of his or her team members. At the end, manager has to carry the responsibility of both success or failure of the team as he or she is the leader of the group. (p.4). Being the leader of the group or the team, managers have the responsibility of both success and failures. In any organization or any sports managers have a key role to play.b Thus, success or failure of the team also considered as the responsibility of the manager. Then, we see the issues in the essay. There are several causes and consequences associated with the dismissal of the manager. All across the globe, the performance of any team is the only parameter by which any manager’s work is being r eviewed. Same is applicable for any organization also. Being the manager of the group or at the top of the organization performance is the only parameter. In conclusion, we get more information on the football manager's profession. According to the review of Markham (2012), in the game of football managers used to get sacked or fired due to 3 main reasons. These are: 1) Poor on-field performance. 2) Breakdown in relations with club directors/owners and 3) Increasing pressure from the supporters and media for delivering better result.

Why did Byzantine culture favour cult images of supernatural origin Essay

Why did Byzantine culture favour cult images of supernatural origin - Essay Example ons that are taken as indisputable truth, indestructible under influence of any circumstances, so-called postulates – definitions, which are taken into account without a logical explanation. Nowadays, people worship God and his Image on the icons. It is believed that the icon is the conductor of the Holy Spirit to Earth. People usually explain icon`s miracles with their supernatural origin. It was believed their appearance and mistique was sanctioned by heaven1. In Byzantium two main branches of mysticism were distributed as well as in relation with iconography. One of them was represented in a contemplative way, being philosophically speculative and characterized by reflection -the desire to reach the deity by systematic abstract logical thinking activity. For this type of mystics it seemed particularly important to create a classification of the states and actions, to chart the bad thoughts, to dismember the steps, which make one closer to the deity. In the other direction o f mystics, which kept on morality and practice, logical thought was obscured with tactile-specific representation on the subject of the approximation of the human with the God: the mystic is trying to develop himself to a stage when he would be able to see the divine`s light, to hear the God`s voice. However, in fact in both cases, the act of salvation is not so much a result of the actions of the clergy, but as an individual feat, accessible to everyone and the holy image  mosaics decorating the church`s walls were the beginning of the Byzantine visual art. What was it said for? Thanks to miracles associated with icons - "through the interaction of social concepts - such as envy, limited goof and the source of illness"2, people began to treat them with trembling. Vestiges of antiquity - demons, angels and divinities - significantly influenced the perception of the world of further generations3. It should be noted, that before the era of iconoclasm, Byzantium was known â€Å"for its relics,

How does a biotic-energy company (from Germany) to entry Thailand's Research Paper

How does a biotic-energy company (from Germany) to entry Thailand's market - Research Paper Example Major objective of the study is to provide a research paper in order to explain how a German Biotic-Energy company can enter in the Thailand market. The research will focus on the cultural differences in two countries. Finally, the study will recommend the organization how to develop and practice the business strategies in Thai market to achieve a sustainable growth. German Biotic-Energy Company Culture Analysis Germany is one of the developed European countries. Economically it is the third largest country in the world. German Biotic-Energy Company is trying to enter in the Thai market. Therefore, it is important to conduct a culture analysis of the organization in terms of value, language, decision making custom and religion. Decision making of the German organization is slow and detailed process. The organization tries to engage all the internal stakeholders in the decision making process. The organization does not draw significant conclusions based on the unstructured and spontan eous results. The management of the organization gives respect to all of its stakeholders during the decision making process. The organizational business culture is well defined. The company follows strictly observed organizational hierarchy. The organization follows typical German business culture. The employees never integrate personal aspects in their workplace. German Biotic-Energy Company follows a professional organizational structure. In work place the employees try to give value and respect to their sub-ordinates. German people are strongly individualistic. The employees within the Biotic-Energy Company follow through thought process. German is the official language. Therefore, according to their culture and value, they try to share their views and thoughts in German language. German people always respect people of every religion in business or organization. Almost 30% of total population is Christian. Rest of the population follows other religion. German people are very con servative. German Biotic-Energy Company tries to provide value people of all religions and gender. It is important for the organization to analyze the Thai Business culture before entering into the Thai market. Several Cultural aspects in International Business Language, religion, values and decision making custom are the major cultural aspects that can influence or affect an international business. It is true that, the Western countries are diversifying their business in the Asian countries in order to access resources such as labor, land and capital in low cost. These are huge motivating factors for the organizations. But, several cultural differences between two countries can affect the business performance of the German firm in the Thai market. Religion Religious view of majority of the Germans is Christianity. On the other hand, majority of the Thai people believes in Buddhism. Therefore, different religion background can create huge challenge for the business. It is known to a ll that, religion is a sensitive intangible matter of human beings2. Religion can integrate or separate a group of people. More than 90% of total population practices Buddhism. The Thai people believe in peace and honesty. These people are strong believer of their religion. They follow each and every aspect of their religion in both personal and professional life. According to their religion, simplicity and free of desire will bring Nirvana or

Toyota Motor Corporation Essay Example for Free

Toyota Motor Corporation Essay In a business organization, the organization is composed of systems that concentrate on overall efficiency. A systems approach is essential whenever something is being designed, redesigned, implemented, improved, or otherwise changed. It is important to take into account the impact on all parts of the system. Consider owning and operating an automobile. It has many parts and systems that can malfunction; some of these are critical. The automobile would not function or would be dangerous to operate without them. The Toyota Company seemed to have missed the importance of the impact on all parts a system as they came under scrutiny with the largest recall of vehicles in the United States in 2009-2010. These recalls were triggered by a car collision in August 2009 that took the lives of four people. This assignment will look at what barriers caused the systems to fail within the Toyota Company that subsequently changed the attitudes of their consumers and their trust towards Toyota. Toyota Motor Corporation The Toyota Motor Corporation was established in 1933 as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works under the direction of Kiichiro Toyoda. In 1934, the company produced its first Type A engine at the encouragement of the Japanese government, and two years later the company produced its first passenger car, the Toyota AA and in 1937 was established as an independent company. In 1957 Toyota established its first sales, marketing, and distribution subsidiary in the U.S., called Toyota Motor Sales Inc. In 1982, Toyota Motor Corporation formed a joint venture with General Motors, called New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. and began production in the U.S. in 1988 establishing new brands for this market. In 2009, Toyota employed more than 8,900 people and supervised 14 regional offices throughout the 50 states. Toyota produced 5.2 million cars in 58 production sites in 2000, and by 2009 they had the capacity to produce 10 million cars and had added 17 production sites. Toyota had added the capacity of a Chrysler-sized company. (Greto et al., 2010). In January 2010, Toyota suspended sales of eight recalled vehicle models to fix accelerator pedals with mechanical problems that could cause them to become stuck. In December 2012, Toyota announced an agreement worth more than $1,000 million to settle a lawsuit involving unintended acceleration in some of its vehicles (Slobe, 2010) Existing Processes According to Greto et al.(2010) the Toyota company incorporated a philosophy known as the Toyota Way. This set of principles was to bring about approaches that called for continuous improvement, which encouraged teamwork, respect, and value for people. The Toyota Way was to encourage employees to strive for perfection. Another key process to mention is the Toyota Production System (TPS). It was designed to remove all unnecessary waste from the production and manufacturing process. More than just waste avoidance, it aimed to eliminate any excess interruption, misalignment, unnecessary work, or redundancies in the production process that add no value to customers. Specifically, TPS addressed seven kinds of waste: overproduction, operator motion, waiting, conveyance, self-processing, inventory, and correction (rework and scrap). Through TPS, Toyota had been able to significantly reduce lead-time and production costs (p 4). Importance to Toyota These processes both posed of great importance to the Toyota Company because when you value and respect your employees and external constituents it brings about a level of trust and cohesiveness in the work place and your company gains loyalty from the customers. When everyone is operating as a team, any challenges that exist are met with courage and this creates a level of motivation within the company to bring about improvement. In regards to the having a production system that will bring to the forefront at the onset any issues, it eliminates wasted time, production costs, and manpower. It builds a foundation to where employees are reliable where they embrace the philosophy of quality at the start. It also creates a learning environment where leaders who carefully understand the philosophy, will teach it to others. This grows the company and builds it up for success. Scope: Breadth of its reach The scope of its reach can be throughout the global market. Not only within the automobile industry but because Toyota diversified into several nonautomotive businesses, it can also affect industries in aerospace, higher education, robotics, finance, and agricultural biotechnology (Greto et al., 2010). Parties involved: customers as well as internal and external suppliers. When there is a breakdown in these processes, it impacts the employees and all external stakeholders. For example, when a breakdown occurred in the lines of communication between the Japan and U.S. offices, in responding to the issues with the faulty accelerators, not only was customers affected, stockholders were affected. When the reputation of a company is tarnished, it affects the stockholders and they stand to lose money they invested in the company. Supply vendors are also affected when these processes breakdown because they lose business as well. Competitors can also be positively affected by this. They gain the customers who choose to no longer do business with Toyota. Priority: the timeliness or urgency. Timeliness is important to any business as this attributes to the quality of service a company provides customers, to employee concerns, matters concerning supply vendors and stock holders to name a few. Toyota did not readily address the concerns of their customers initially until it became more in the public eye. This takes away from the value of the company and it certainly affected customer loyalty and satisfaction to say the least. The company stock value went down and it suffered millions of dollars in lost. Timeliness is certainly a priority for any business. Overall impact or benefits of improvement to Toyota The overall impact for Toyota led to someone dying while driving a faulty vehicle therefore all the millions of dollars they were fined still does not make up for the loss of a person’s life. This goes down in Toyota’s history book as it cost them their reputation. The benefit is that can take place is to push management to take a look at their overall company operations and break down the areas that need improvements; identify additional defects and restructure their operational systems. If changes are to occur, Toyota has the opportunity to make changes, manufacture more innovative vehicles, and create initiatives that involves the communities they do business with as a way to build trust and their reputation. Cost to Toyota if the process is not improved The cost to Toyota if these processes are not improved could mean failure with a loss of market. The business can go bankrupt; offices close down, excessive inventory, stock price decreases, and employee layoffs that add to the unemployment rate.

Billy Queen Essay Example for Free

Billy Queen Essay â€Å"Under and Alone† by Billy Queen is an interesting and illustrative book that tries to provide an in-depth analysis of an undercover life. The underlying theme of this book is to illustrate the difficulties of the personnel of law enforcement agencies and how they put their life in dangers for the betterment of the society. The ultimate purpose of this book to realize people of the sacrifices that law-enforcement make to keep them secure. Bill queen narrates the moral, social and ethical dilemmas and other related pathos of an undercover agent. He further points out how an undercover agent had to change his identity to achieve his goals and this identity change sometime changes the psychological patterns and habitual formations of the agent and he starts thinking to resemble himself with outlaw personalities and phenomenon. Billy Queen is one such agent who after military service in Veitnam joins the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. He serves in various undercover positions in his career that spans over sixteen years but his entry into the South Californian chapter of the famous American gang Mongols (he calls them as â€Å"a tight-knit collective of crazies, unpredictable and unrepentant badasses) is the most prominent and dangerous part of his life. Mongols is a larger group with twenty chapters all across America with a headcount of 350 indulged in various activities such as murders, drug and arms trafficking, stealing motorcycles etc. in several states. The book does not look into the activities of the Mongol gang only but also provides an insight into the motives of such activities. Billy Queen discloses the fact that the motives for the formation of the gang was not looting and plundering but it was formed by the veterans of WWII who after the end of war was hankering after a life of adventures that could inflate a war lifestyle. Another important aspect of the book is that it presents the psychological conflict in the personality of undercover agents as they have to indulge in activities that they abhor and fight against in their real life. Billy Queen suffers from the same ambivalent personality as he has to perform evil act to win the confidence of the gang. Manifestation of this wickedness and fulfilling the demands of the gang blurs his own identity and changes his thinking and he starts considering himself as Billy St. John. Hew describes that he participated in gang activities life purchasing and selling narcotics, doing arms trafficking etc. but avoided such activities like rape, murder and dope taking at all costs. These activities form the main plot of the story but the most intense and interesting episodes of the story are related to Billy’s effort to thwart the pernicious activities. Billy’s style is intense as his humanity was at stake. The crux of the matter is that he never sacrificed duty at the altar of any hurdles, even his humanity. The duration of Billy’s activities as a undercover agent (almost 28 months) is an important factor that make us realizes the height of Billy’s contribution as he was totally cut off from all the social ties i. e. family, friends, colleagues etc. But he provides another facet of the story that the grave criminal activities, they (members of Mongol) use to share a genuine camaraderie and during his prolonged undercover, he use to enjoy the love and carte of gangsters. He says in this regard that â€Å"I had no doubt these guys genuinely loved Billy St. John and would have laid down their lives for him. But they wouldnt hesitate to murder Billy Queen. † But he succeeds in escaping from this tough life and with an accomplished mission as finally he triumphs in collecting evidence that dispatched eighteen Mongols to federal prison.

Mechanisms of Adsorption of Aormatic Nitrogen Compounds

Mechanisms of Adsorption of Aormatic Nitrogen Compounds MECHANISMS OF ADSORPTION OF AORMATIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS AND AROMATIC COMPOUNDS ON METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS (MOFs) by JUN DAI Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) constitute a class of novel porous materials which have attracted significant interest due to their application in separation, storage, catalyst and sensing. Large surface area and porous cavity make MOFs excellent absorbents with huge uptake capacity. In this paper, we studied adsorption mechanisms of adsorption of indole and naphthalene on Basolite F300, Basolite A100 and MIL-100 (Fe) by two complementary spectroscopic methods. Fluorescence spectroscopy and near-UV/Visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy study demonstrate that naphthalene is quantum confined within the mesoporous cavity in F300. On the other hand, indole is weakly electronically bound to Fe (III) CUS in F300 and forms adsorption complex with F300. Direct spectroscopic proof of adsorption complex is provided by near-UV/Visible spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy. Quenching of ligand-based fluorescence of A100 by indole is suggested and we propose adsorption of indole and napht halene onto A100 via Ï€-Ï€ interaction, spectroscopic proof is provided by fluorescence spectroscopy.   Table of Contents Title Abstract Acknowledgements and Dedication Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) 1.2 Clean Fossil Fuels 1.3 Nitrogen Aromatic Compounds in Fossil fuels 1.4 Aromatic Compounds in Fossil Fuels 1.5 Methods of Denitrogenation 1.5.1 Microbial Denitrogenation 1.5.2 Hydrodenigrogenation (HDN) 1.5.3 Adsorptive Denitrogenation (ADN) 1.6 Activation of Open Metal Sites of Metal-Organic Frameworks 1.7 Adsorption of Aromatic Compounds and Aromatic N-heterocyclic Compounds on mesoporous MOFs with CUS: MIL-100 (Fe) and F300 1.8 Adsorption of Aromatic Compounds and Aromatic N-heterocyclic compounds on microporous MOFs without CUS: MIL-53 and A100 1.9 Research Objective 2 Experimental 2.1 Metal Organic Frameworks 2.2 Solvents, Aromatic compounds and N-containing compounds 2.3 Activation and Hydration of Metal-organic frameworks 2.4 Fluorescence Spectroscopy 2.5 Near UV-Vis Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (near UV-Vis DRS) 2.6 Model Fuels 2.7 Solid Mixture of Aromatic and Aromatic N-hetrocyclic compounds with MOFs 2.8 Stoichiometric adsorption complex of F300 and naphthalene in eicosane matrix 2.9 Kinetic adsorption of liquid indole on Basolite F300 (FeBTC) in liquid phase 2.10 Stoichiometric adsorption complexes of indole/naphthalene with MOFs 2.11 UV radiation 3 Results 3.1 Spectroscopic Studies of adsorption of naphthalene and indole on mesoporous F300 and MIL-100 (Fe) with CUS 3.1.1 Solid Mixtures of MOFs and organic aromatic compounds 3.1.2 Fluorescence spectrum of pure naphthalene List of Figures Figure 1: Structure of MIL-100 (Fe) (see as S1 in supplementary) Figure 2: Structure of MIL-53 (Al) (see as S2 in supplementary) Figure 3: Common nitrogen compounds existing in fossil fuels Figure 4: Pathways for the transformation of quinoline Figure 5: Fluorescence spectrum of (A) 0.08 M liquid solution of naphthalene (NAP) in n-heptane, ÃŽ »exc = 280 nm, bandwidth: Exc. Slit 5 nm/Emi. Slit 5nm. (B) 0.08 M liquid solution of NAP in n-heptane with multi-Gaussian curve fitting Figure 6: Fluorescence spectrum of (A) pure naphthalene (NAP) ÃŽ »exc = 280 nm, bandwidth: Exc. Slit 5 nm/Emi. Slit 5nm (B) pure NAP with multi-Gaussian curve fitting List of Tables Table 1: MOFs used in this research and structure information Table 2: Physical property of common nitrogen aromatic compounds existing in fossil fuels 1 Introduction 1.1 Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) Porous materials are well studied and widely used in science and engineering industry. Recently, a novel kind of porous material ‘Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)’ has emerged as potential competitor. MOFs are crystalline hybrid inorganic-organic porous solid formed by chemical metal-linker bounding1. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) constitute a class of novel porous materials which have attracted significant interest due to their application in separation, storage, catalyst and sensing. The use of MOF as stationary phase in high resolution GC separation of aromatic hydrocarbons has also gained significant attention2. In comparison with adsorption on the MOFs in gas phase which has been well studied and understood, adsorption on the MOFs in liquid phase is much less known. MOFs have extremely large surface area and porous cavity, which make them excellent adsorbents with huge uptake capacity. As a class of coordination compound repeated by metal or metal clusters as SBUs (second building units) and organic linkers, the cavity ranged between that of Zeolite and mesoporous silica3. Regarding the structures, variety of MOFs can display either 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional structures depend on different organic linkers. It is also indicated by J. R. Karra and K. S. Walton that the relation between pore size and guest molecule size plays an essential role in the adsorption4. The MOFs being investigated in this research are mesoporous and microporous MOFs. For mesoporous MOFs the pore size can vary from 2 nm to 50 nm, while for microporous MOFs the pore size is less than 2nm. Pore size can be a key in adsorption on MOFs due to micropore filling mechanism2, which suggests adsorption capacity depends on molecular cross-sectional area rather than minimum diameter. MOFs are structurally stable under ambient environment. It is reported by many authors that MOFs remain stable under increased temperature and under oxygen. In this research, our investigation mos tly focuses on several common MOFS, and their commercial names are Basolite C300, Basolite F300, Basolite A100 and MIL-100 (Fe) (MIL=Materials of Institute Lavoisier). All Basolite C300, Basolite F300 and Basolite A100 are bought commercially, and MIL-100 (Fe) is made with the collaboration of Dr. Jing Li from Rutgers – New Brunswick. Table 1 shows the basic physical information of the MOFs used in this research. Table 1: MOFs used in this research and structure information MOFs/formula Surface area/m2g-1 Pore dimension/Ã… Pore dimension Ref. BET Basolite F300 1300~1600 21.7 3D Sigma-Aldrich,5 Basolite A100 1100~1500 7.37.7 1D Sigma-Aldrich, MIL-100 (Fe) 2200 25, 29 3D 5 MIL-100 family MIL-100(M) (M=Cr, Fe, Al) refers to a family of mesoporous Metal-Organic Frameworks built up from metal clusters and benzene-1, 3, 5-tricarboxylic (BTC) linkers. These MOFs possess large surface area and have recently attracted tremendous attention for applications in adsorption and separation due to the coordinated unsaturated sites (CUS) which can provide chance for Lewis acid-base interaction between guest molecules and metal ions or metal clusters. In Metal-organic frameworks, metal sites (SBUs) are coordinated with organic linkers. Open metal sites (CUS) may be available on these SBUs. CUS are very important in gas storage, separation, sensing, catalysts, and even biological systems6. Considerable amount of research on the adsorption of small molecules have been done recently. Evidence has shown open metal sites have essential influence on adsorption property in MOFs. It is reported that open Cu2+ metal sites in HKUST-1 contribute significantly to the high acetylene storage capa city7. Moreover, MOFs with CUS such as HKUST-1 are used in chromatography separation due to its specific feature to distinguish strongly and weakly electron donating analytes8. In additional, MIL-100 (Fe3+, Cr3+, Al3+) has been shown to have strong preference to adsorb N-heterocyclic compounds (Lewis base) in mixtures910. Hence, open metal sites can be potential Lewis acid sites, the possible interactions between guest molecules and open metal sites will be examined and discussed in this paper. In our research, MIL-100 (Fe) will be used to investigate the adsorption mechanisms between guest molecules such as indole or naphthalene and sorbent MOFs. Besides MIL-100, there is a commercially made MOF named Basolite F300, which has a similar chemical composition. Both Basolite F300 and MIL-100 (Fe) are built up by Iron and BTC linkers. However, due to the poor crystallinity, the actual structure of F300 is still not known at this time. Difference in iron content and carbon content in F300 and MIL-100 (Fe) is shown by D. Amarajothi and his co-workers5. The iron mass content in F300 and MIL-100 (Fe) are respectively 25% and 21%. The carbon mass content in F300 and MIL-100 (Fe) are respectively 32% and 29%. Pore dimension in F300 and MIL-100 (Fe) are respectively 21.7 Ã… and 25/29 Ã…. Structure of MIL-100 (Fe) is shown below: Figure 1: Structure of MIL-100 (Fe) (see as S1 in supplementary) MIL-53 family There are many types of MOFs that undergo hydrolysis, while there are other MOFs that remain stable within water. Water stable MOFs start to showing potential applications in drug delivery and imaging11. Many MOFs containing Al as metal sites and amino acids as organic linkers are stable in aqueous solution, and it is also possible to synthesize them in aqueous environment12. MIL-53(M) (M= metal as Al13, Cr14, Fe15, In16, Sc17) is a common family of microporous MOFs and has excellent water stability. Figure 2: Structure of MIL-53 (Al) (see as S2 in supplementary) The one dimensional pore structure of MIL-53(Al) is built by chains of corner-sharing octahedra aluminum clusters AlO4(OH)2 and anion form of benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid (BDC) as organic linkers connecting infinite numbers of metal clusters. MIL-53 (Al) has rhombic channels which have dimension of 7.3 x 7.7 Ã…. A huge Langmuir surface area of 1600 m2/g makes MIL-53 (Al) an efficient adsorbent. MIL-53 (Al) has extraordinary thermal stability up to 773 K. It is believed that the structure of MIL-53 (Al) undergoes a reversible structural change during process of adsorbing/desorbing water molecules, and is described as ‘breathing’13. The so-called ‘breathing’ process interchanges between large-pore (lp) form (Al(OH)[O2C-C6H4-CO2]) and narrow-pore (np) form (Al(OH)[O2C-C6H4-CO2]H2O) 13. The lp form has a dimension of 8.5 x 8.5 Ã… and is obtained when activated upon high temperature and under high vacuum, which takes away excess free BDC acids, oxygen and water trapped in the cavity during synthesis. The lp form is capable of adsorbing water molecules in vapor at room temperature, as a result, the MIL-53 (Al) shifts to its’ np form. As shown in the formula, the np form contains one trapped water molecule every unit or cavity. Hydrogen bonds are found to form between carboxylic groups on the linkers and adsorbed water molecules. Due to this ‘breathing’ feature, applications on selective adsorption of various compounds in gas phase have already gained interest and being reported14. The np form of hydrated MIL-53 (Cr) is able to selectively adsorb CO2 in presence of CH4 in gas phase. Upon adsorption of CO2 but not CH4, MIL-53 (Cr) returns to its lp form with an increased cavity volume of 1522.5 Ã…3 from np volume of 1012.8 Ã…3. In our research, we used Basolite A100 MOF from the BASF, which is commercially available and is equivalent to MIL-53 (Al). Similarly, A100 is build up with AlO4(OH)2 octahedral clusters connecting by BDC linkers, and gives a surface area of 1084 m2/g and pore volume of 0.51 cm3/g as determined by N2 physical-adsorption at 77 K. Additionally, XRD pattern of A100 is proved to resemble that of MIL-53 (Al)18. G. Blanco-Brieva and his co-workers have studied adsorptive removal of aromatic sulfur compounds from model liquid fuels on thermally activated A10019. 1.2 Clean Fossil Fuels Combustion of sulfur and nitrogen containing compounds in fossil fuels will bring adverse effect to public health, environment and economy. It is widely recognized that nitrogen compounds are normally carcinogenic and mutagenic. Separation of heterocyclic compounds from petro-chemical feedstock has become an urgent application leading to clean liquid fossil fuels. Fossil fuel is a primary source of energy on the earth, the intensive use of fossil fuels has raised environmental concerns. Beginning in 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began an ambitious program aiming to reduce the sulfur content of diesel fuels. As of July 11, 2010, the EPA required that the concentration of sulfur content in diesel fuels not exceed 15 ppm20. For certain ultra-clean gasoline, diesel fuels and jet fuels, sulfur level needs to be lower than 1 ppm21. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of diesel fuel has become an essential research interest, while the presence of nitrogen compounds in middle-distil late oil inhibits the ultra-deep hydrodesulfurization22232425. In HDS, sulfur compounds are hydrogenated to hydrocarbons and H2S over catalyst such as Zeolites9. However, the nitrogen aromatic compounds in crude oil are found to compete for the active sites on these catalysts to inhibit a deep HDS26,27. This gives rise to the necessity for denitrogenation in fossil fuels. Moreover, the combustion of nitrogen compounds in petroleum leads to the formation of NOx oxides, which is a group of highly reactive and persistent species and contributes directly to acid rain and greenhouse effect. The life time of NOx oxides in atmosphere is 120 years before being removed or destroyed through chemical reactions. The impact of 1 pound of NO ­x on warming the atmosphere is over 300 times that of 1 pound of carbon dioxide. EPA first set standards for NO2 in 1971, setting both a primary standard (to protect health) and a secondary standard (to protect the public welfare) at 0.053 parts per million (53 ppb), averaged annually28. Also the presence of nitrogen aromatic compounds in fossil fuels can lead to poisoning of refining catalyst, which will eventually cause a decrease in yield. Thus, denitrogenation is necessary for deep desulfurization and has drawn significant interest around the world due to the increasingly rigid regulations and fuel specifications in many countries. 1.3 Nitrogen Aromatic Compounds in Fossil fuels Fossil fuels are naturally-formed fuel that contains significant level of heterocyclic aromatic contaminants. There are some representative sulfur aromatic compounds such as benzothiophene (BT) and dibenzothiophene (DBT), representative nitrogen aromatic compounds such as indole and quinoline. Nitrogen aromatic compounds content in crude oil averages around 0.3%. Although the concentration of nitrogen compounds in crude oil is relatively low, the concentration turns out to be higher throughout the petroleum distillation process. Common nitrogen aromatic compounds in fossil fuels are shown in Figure 1.129 and physical properties of nitrogen aromatic compounds investigated in this research is shown in Table 2. Nitrogen aromatic compounds in fossil fuels fall into two classes. One is non-basic nitrogen compounds including indole and pyrrole due to the fact that the extra pair of electrons on N is contributed to the Ï€ electron cloud and is not available for interaction with acids. While the other class is basic nitrogen compounds such as pyridine, quinoline and their derivatives, in which the lone pair of electrons on N is available as an electron donor. Indole is one of the most common nitrogen compounds in fossil fuels, and it has been broadly studied. And we choose indole in our research due to the fact that indole is a weakly basic N-containing compound, which means it has a potential of selective adsorption against aromatic compounds and desorption is possible and reasonably convenient. Figure 3: Common nitrogen compounds existing in fossil fuels Table 2: Physical property of common nitrogen aromatic compounds existing in fossil fuels Compounds Formula Melting Point, ÃÅ'Ã…  C Density, g/cm3 Dipole moment, D Acidity,pKa Maximum diameter, ÃÅ'Ã…  A Indole C8H7N 52~54 1.17 2.11 16.2 6.9 Quinoline C9H7N -15 1.093 0 4.85 7.2 Isoquinoline C9H7N 26~28 1.099 0 5.14 7.2 1.4 Aromatic Compounds in Fossil Fuels Fossil fuels contain significant amount of hydrocarbons, most of them are aromatic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this research we choose naphthalene as representative aromatic compounds, and in order to investigate the adsorption mechanism we use fluorescence spectroscopy and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to investigate electronic interactions upon adsorption onto MOFs. Naphthalene is the most simple and common aromatic compounds in PAHs. And naphthalene is commonly produced in petroleum refining and is then separated from the petroleum. Purification and separation of these aromatic rings is of interest in chemical industry. Naphthalene has a molecular length of 7.2 Ã… (largest diameter determined by ChemDraw 3D) and is non-polar. 1.5 Methods of Denitrogenation Microbial Denitrogenation Microbial process is an alternative pathway for denitrogenation. Microorganisms are known to consume natural organic compounds and convert them into carbons and energy, and they are capable of metabolizing certain molecules including nitrogen compounds from fossil fuels. The degradation of quinoline is well-characterized, and the transformation pathways are elucidated by M. Benedik et al29 (shown in Figure 1. 5). The degradation of isoquinoline is less understood but 1-oxo-1,2-dihydroisoquinoline is suggested as initial oxygenated product30. According to the finding of Claus, G, indole is readily degraded via catechol or transformed directly into tryptophan30, while carbazole is relatively more difficult to be degraded. One possible degradation pathway31 beginning with angular dioxygenation has been proposed by Ouchiyama, N., which finally enters TCA cycle after conversion to catechol or tryptophan32. Mechanisms for the degradation of other nitrogen compounds such as pyridine, quinol ine, acridine and their derivatives are reviewed in detail by J. Kaiser33. Recent research in microbial denitrogenation has revealed a promising future for application in selective removal of nitrogen- and sulfur-containing petroleum. However, as a major mechanism for the removal and metabolism of organic compounds from the environment, its’ characterization of the enzymes involving in the pathways is still under research29. And it has not been widely applied to the industry yet. Figure 4: Pathways for the transformation of quinoline Hydrodenigrogenation (HDN) Hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) is usually used to remove nitrogen compounds in fossil fuels during the refinery process, and Co-Mo catalyst is normally involved in the process. However, the HDS process is accomplished by reacting with hydrogen at high temperature and high pressure. It is energy-intensive, hazardous and costly. Thus, significant amount of researches have been done on HDN in order to reach a goal of being economic and environmentally friendly. Adsorptive Denitrogenation (ADN) Another promising way to selectively remove the nitrogen compounds in fossil fuels is adsorption on a porous material, Activated carbon34353637, Zeolites38, HCL-loaded silica-aluminas39, ion-exchange resins40, meso-silicas41,42, Ti-HMSs43, microporous carbon44, activated aluminas45, Ni-based adsorbents45, and NiMOs46 have been used for ADN. While recently the use of MOF adsorbents has gained significant interest in adsorption and separation of aromatic and heterocyclic compounds in liquid phase due to its’ high capacity, high selectivity, economic importance and most importantly energy saving 47. Moreover, MOFs can even be recycled and effectively reduce the cost. Adsorptive separation via â€Å"adsorptive denitrogenation (AND)† is preferred over industrial catalytic HDN10. Specifically, selective adsorption of N-heterocyclic compounds48 in presence of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in liquid phase49 is of interest, which is investigated in this research. 1.6 Activation of Open Metal Sites of Metal-Organic Frameworks Available CUS in MOFs is essential for the adsorption of Lewis basic compounds. Thus, to fully utilize the open metal sites in MOFs, activation is needed to evacuate the water molecules which are relatively weakly coordinated on these metals. Because MOFs are strongly adsorptive molecules, humidity can be crucial to the availability of open metal sites in MOFs. Specific treatment is necessary at certain temperature under vacuum in order to activate open metal sites. And protection of the sample against humidity is critical during experiments. Interestingly, it is discovered by K. Schlichte and his colleagues that upon activation the color of HKUST-1 would change from light cyan to dark navy50. This is confirmed by E. Borfecchia and his working group using UV-Vis, a red shift at LMCT edge and appearance of a shoulder in d-d band at around 600 nm in UV-Vis spectrum is observed and explained by the removal of water51. In addition to the activation of MOFs, partial reduction of MIL-100 (Fe) has been reported by H. Leclerc and his group52. Certain metal sites in MOF can be reduced, for example, Fe3+ in MIL-100 (Fe) can be reduced to Fe2+. According to their analysis of oxidation states via IR, outgassing at 423 K for 12 hour will give rise to a greater proportion of Fe2+ sites while minority of Fe3+ sites is reduced. However, outgassing at 523 K will result in that most Fe3+ sites are reduced. Fe3+ sites are more Lewis acidic sites than Fe2+, it is easier for Fe3+ to form coordination bond with nitrogen aromatics, which are good Lewis base. 1.7 Adsorption of Aromatic Compounds and Aromatic N-heterocyclic Compounds on mesoporous MOFs with CUS: MIL-100 (Fe) and F300 Although adsorption of small organic molecules on MOFs both in liquid phase and in vapor, such as toluene, benzene, xylene isomers2, etc., has been well studied in the recent years, to our knowledge the adsorption of fuse-ring aromatic hydrocarbons on MIL-100 in liquid phase has not been reported. M. Maes and his co-workers have reported adsorption of indole from heptane/toluene mixture solution on MIL-100 family9. Thus, mechanism of adsorption of aromatic compounds versus aromatic N-heterocyclic compounds on F300 has not been studied. According to many studies, the formation of complexes in liquid adsorption is usually assumed, but there is a lack of direct spectroscopic evidence. Adsorption of small aromatic ring compounds (benzene and p-xylene molecules) on MIL-101 has been published by K. Yang, et al2. Pore-size filling mechanism is discovered and discussed in this paper, indicating that pore-size and different substrate relates with molecular selectivity of organic compounds. Ho wever, the mechanism is still not understood. Fluorescence spectroscopy is a straightforward method for studying the adsorption mechanism between guest molecules and MOFs. Yet there are rarely papers studying characterization of adsorption of aromatic compounds in liquid or solid system by fluorescence spectroscopy. It is assumed based on fluorescence spectra that Lewis acid-base interaction promotes the adsorption of pyrene on Al2O3 from model fuel using octane as solvent53. While the fluorescence spectra was collected using a model sorbent aluminum chloride in methanol instead of actual Al2O3 in model fuel, spectroscopic characterization of adsorption complexes formed by MOFs and aromatic compounds or aromatic N-heterocyclic compounds by the fluorescence spectroscopy is still unknown to our knowledge. Another useful characterization method is near-UV/visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), which is excellent at detecting the variation or shift in electronic states on adsorption complexes forming by metal sites and guest molecules. The DRS was used to identify the interactions between aromatic amines and MOFs54 but it has not been used to explore the interactions between metal sites of MOFs and guest molecules as aromatic compounds or aromatic N-heterocyclic compounds. Thus, we aim to investigate the adsorption of large aromatic compounds on MOFs using two spectroscopic methods as fluorescence spectroscopy and near-UV/visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. 1.8 Adsorption of Aromatic Compounds and Aromatic N-heterocyclic compounds on microporous MOFs without CUS: MIL-53 and A100 M. Maes and his colleagues have studied the adsorption of indole and methyl-substituted indole present in model fuel (heptane/toluene at either 80 vol. %/20 vol. % or 20 vol. %/80 vol. % combination) at initial concentration of 0.15 M on thermally activated MIL-53 (Al)9. The amount of absorbed indole intensively dropped in model fuel with toluene, which indicates a possible competitive adsorption. While no data of adsorption capacity for indole and substituted indole on MIL-53 (Al) in n-alkane solvent was reported, not enough experimental evidence or computational evidence can be used to prove the mechanism of competitive adsorption. Similarly, adsorption of indole, pyridine, pyrrole and quinolone on thermally activated MIL-53 (Al) has been studied in another paper. In this paper n-octane was used as solvent, however, no data for adsorption capacity of indole on MIL-53 (Al) has been reported55. Ï€-Ï€ interactions is suggested to be the major force that introduce the adsorption of indole or quinolone onto activated MIL-53 (Al), but no experimental evidence was given55. At the present time, no direct spectroscopic characterization of chemical bonds between aromatic or hetero-aromatic adsorbate and MIL-53 has yet been reported. Furthermore, adsorption of naphthalene on MOFs has not been reported to our knowledge. To investigate the adsorption mechanisms through fluorescence spectroscopy, it is essential to know the origin of the fluorescence from MOF itselft. It was discussed in a review paper by M. Allendorf, C. Bauer, R. Bhakta et al.56, that there are five modes for generating fluorescence in MOFs: linker-based, framework metal ions (charge transfer between linker and metal), adsorb

Teaching Philosophy Via the Internet Essay -- Technology Education Lea

I defend the practical value of teaching undergraduate philosophy courses in the Internet. Three important objectives of philosophical education can be achieved as effectively by electronic means as in the classroom. First, information about the philosophical tradition can be conveyed by hypertext documents on the World-Wide Web. Second, philosophical dialogue can be conducted through participation in an electronic forum. Third, close supervision of student writing can be achieved by means of e-mail submission of written assignments. In each case, I argue that the electronic method offers significant advantages to student learning. Many of the colleagues who discover that I have begun offering philosophy courses over the Internet express a similar set of reservations. Although they often grant that this must be an interesting project and sometimes admit that it may turn out to be worthwhile, they are uniformly skeptical about the prospect for its success. Accustomed as we have become to face-to-face interaction between instructor and student in the classroom, we find it difficult to imagine teaching philosophy in any other way. Thus, the introduction of alternative methods is often greeted with a suspicion that "this may be true in theory but does not apply to practice." With respect to use of the Internet to teach philosophy, this paper will allay that suspicion. In what follows, I identify three important objectives of philosophical education and show how each of them can be achieved while relying exclusively upon electronic communication. Indeed, in each case I argue that appropriate use of Internet resources provides clear advantages over the methods employed in a traditional classroom. Teaching philosophy on the Intern... ...ted is well-spent, since it results in important educational benefits for the students who participate. In addition, teaching on the Internet can make philosophy instruction available to many people who might otherwise lack an opportunity to acquire it. Those with impaired mobility, vision, or hearing can take advantage of electronically-mediated accommodations in order to participate in the educational process alongside those who do not face similar obstacles. Those whose geographical location or employment schedule prevents easy access to a traditional college classroom can join in a well-designed on-line course whenever it is convenient and wherever they are. In keeping with the theme of this Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, teaching philosophy on the Internet will significantly contribute to the achievement of our goal of philosophy educating humanity.

Poly Canyon Essay -- Descriptive Nature Essays Observation

It is a sunless morning shrouded in mist. The clouds look ominous with the threat of rain. It is quiet, for no creatures are awake yet, not even the hikers. The air is crisp and smells fresh after a night covered in the ocean fog. A Eucalyptus grove stands at the trail entrance with a deliciously pungent greeting that carries through the air. Along the trail as the foliage gets thicker, it is evident that Mother Nature knows the autumn season has arrived. Leaves have begun to turn the fall colors and drop to the trail floor. Even the poison oak has participated in autumn and looks colorful and festive. Golden Eucalyptus leaves litter the trail like sparkling, perfume-infused flecks of gold. The effect is magical. It is the perfect atmosphere to begin our ascent of Poly Mountain. Turning off the beaten path, we made our way single file and marching like army troops, up the steep trail leading to a sloping canyon filled with wonders. There, upon the bluff, stood a pair of deer staring blankly at us as we snapped furiously with our cameras to hold this moment forever. Just as soon as the deer had appeared through the mist, they vanished. As the trail weaved higher and further away from civilization, birds, squirrels and deer emerged from their warm nests, burrows and dens. Bird songs fluttered through the air and more deer scampered down the trail heading to isolated meadows to fill their bellies with the delicious vegetation that Poly Canyon has to offer. Poly Canyon, located directly behind Poly Mountain, is filled with flora. Some is abundant like the Yucca Plant and poison oak. There are also some less abundant species that cover the hills. The Coastal Live Oak trees are gentle gi... ...e. It was the perfect moment; serene and natural. Nobody wanted to leave. After being in such a high state, going back down the mountain into the real world was deflating. As we descended down to the â€Å"Poly P† and to the campus below, reminders of civilization became more evident. Plastic bottles littered the trail. Pillow cases from the â€Å"P† were strewn all through the Yucca. Corroded barbed wire lined the gate back to the real world. We came across a water tank embedded in the hill, surrounded by fences and warning signs. Patches of Star Thistle littered the path and grabbed at our feet. The asphalt of the parking lot was ugly and covered the ground like a blanket of death for all the plant life on the hills. This â€Å"welcome† back to civilization made us yearn to climb back up the stairs to our heavenly view and escape civilization once again. Poly Canyon Essay -- Descriptive Nature Essays Observation It is a sunless morning shrouded in mist. The clouds look ominous with the threat of rain. It is quiet, for no creatures are awake yet, not even the hikers. The air is crisp and smells fresh after a night covered in the ocean fog. A Eucalyptus grove stands at the trail entrance with a deliciously pungent greeting that carries through the air. Along the trail as the foliage gets thicker, it is evident that Mother Nature knows the autumn season has arrived. Leaves have begun to turn the fall colors and drop to the trail floor. Even the poison oak has participated in autumn and looks colorful and festive. Golden Eucalyptus leaves litter the trail like sparkling, perfume-infused flecks of gold. The effect is magical. It is the perfect atmosphere to begin our ascent of Poly Mountain. Turning off the beaten path, we made our way single file and marching like army troops, up the steep trail leading to a sloping canyon filled with wonders. There, upon the bluff, stood a pair of deer staring blankly at us as we snapped furiously with our cameras to hold this moment forever. Just as soon as the deer had appeared through the mist, they vanished. As the trail weaved higher and further away from civilization, birds, squirrels and deer emerged from their warm nests, burrows and dens. Bird songs fluttered through the air and more deer scampered down the trail heading to isolated meadows to fill their bellies with the delicious vegetation that Poly Canyon has to offer. Poly Canyon, located directly behind Poly Mountain, is filled with flora. Some is abundant like the Yucca Plant and poison oak. There are also some less abundant species that cover the hills. The Coastal Live Oak trees are gentle gi... ...e. It was the perfect moment; serene and natural. Nobody wanted to leave. After being in such a high state, going back down the mountain into the real world was deflating. As we descended down to the â€Å"Poly P† and to the campus below, reminders of civilization became more evident. Plastic bottles littered the trail. Pillow cases from the â€Å"P† were strewn all through the Yucca. Corroded barbed wire lined the gate back to the real world. We came across a water tank embedded in the hill, surrounded by fences and warning signs. Patches of Star Thistle littered the path and grabbed at our feet. The asphalt of the parking lot was ugly and covered the ground like a blanket of death for all the plant life on the hills. This â€Å"welcome† back to civilization made us yearn to climb back up the stairs to our heavenly view and escape civilization once again.

Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughter House Five :: Biography Biographies Essays

Kurt Vonnegut and Slaughter House Five Kurt Vonnegut is one of the favorite dark humorists of the past century. Combining humor and poignancy, he has become one of the most respected authors of his generation. For twenty years, Kurt Vonnegut worked on writing his most famous novel ever: Slaughter House Five. The novelist was called "A laughing prophet of doom" by the New York Times, and his novel "a cause for celebration" by the Chicago Sun-Times. However, Vonnegut himself thought it was a failure. He said that, just as Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt when she looked back, so his book is nothing but a pillar of salt. Kurt Vonnegut tied in personal beliefs, characters, and settings from his life into the novel Slaughter House Five. Kurt Vonnegut grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. He alluded to Indiana in his writings frequently and considered himself a Midwesterner. There were three traumatic experiences Vonnegut talked about in this novel that happened to him as he was growing up. One was when his father took him to the pool when he was young and taught him to swim by the "drown if you don't" method. Another time, he and his family went out to see the Grand Canyon. As he was looking over the edge his mother touched him and he wet his pants. The third experience he mentioned was when his family was touring a cave, he was very scared and then the tour guide asked everyone to turn off all their lights and it was pitch black except for two glowing red dots from his dad (Modern Critical Interpretations 4). These experiences showed through Vonnegut's novel as his alienation from others throughout the book (Novels For Students 464). Kurt Vonnegut's personal beliefs in life, we also in Slaughter House Five. Vonnegut believes that only heart believes in freewill but it is non-existent. In his novel he writes about a group of aliens called tralfamadorians who come and take Billy to their world and put him in a zoo (Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 75). While Billy is with them, they teach him this also, and they are obviously the far superior race. Another belief that Vonnegut has, is that war is horrible, he says "war is not an enterprise of glory and heroism, but an uncontrolled catastrophe for all involved" (Novels For Students 265).

Buddhists’ religious beliefs with regard to health and healthcare

Buddhism is considered as both a philosophy and a religion involving a number of practices, beliefs and traditions based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly referred to as Buddha – â€Å"the awakened one†. Buddha, who lived in the northeastern part of India in the 6th and the 4th centuries BCE, taught about dukkha (helping the sentient beings escape suffering), achievement of nirvana as well as about escaping what Buddhists believe, is the cycle of suffering and rebirth. The religion has got two branches – the Theravada and the Mahayana (Coward & Rattanakun, 1999).While these two branches enjoy a widespread following across Asian countries, Buddhism has grown tremendously over the centuries and can now be found in every part of the world. Considered one of the world largest religions, the current estimates by different sources put the followers of Buddha at about 1. 5 to 1. 6 billion people. The understanding of ill health by westerners and Buddhists is similar but the latter group lays more emphasis on having a balance interaction between the body and the mind and also between life and the environment as the source of good health.According to Buddhists, when this balance is upset, illness would arise. In correcting such imbalances, the Buddhists’ practices stress the need for a spiritual strength couple with an overriding sense of purpose in life which is based on a compassionate service for others (Coward & Rattanakun, 1999). According to Buddhists, this does not only make it possible for a person to create value even when faced with the severest of adversities like sickness or disease but enables one to learn from the experience for his or her personal growth.Since Buddhists believe in rebirth, human birth is considered as the start of a highly precious opportunity. To them, it is a unique occurrence since it presents an opportunity for the full development of human mind as well as realization of the compassion. With regard to conception, Buddhists believe that a child is conceived when consciousness merges with an already fertilized egg. It is then therefore that life begins. It is for this that Buddhists permit birth control methods that prevent conception but prohibit abortion. Death in Buddhism is an important occurrence and is viewed as a transition to the next life.A lot of spiritual energy is devoted to death and there are practices that must be observed to provide peace for the dying people. According to the Buddhists, death occurs in stages which involve disintegration of life’s physical elements into various subtle elements which culminates into the disappearance of the consciousness from the body (Coward & Rattanakun, 1999). Because when a person dies peacefully he or she would have high chances of a better rebirth, Buddhists strive to composed and calm the mind of the dying person through prayers and some special texts.Buddhism is a religion full of rituals that are geared tow ards promoting health. The Theravada Buddhists are known to burn the bodies of the dead. Because the body of the Buddha was cremated, this group of Buddhists practices this ritual in every part of the world. When a person is dying, monks are invited to comfort him or her. Prayers and verses are said to them to prepare them for their peaceful death. The bodies are then burn upon death (Coward & Rattanakun, 1999). A major conflict between Buddhism religious beliefs and the popular medical culture is on the bioethical decision making.While Buddhists uphold life and consider it sacred and therefore everyone should continue to live as much as possible, they do not believed that this should be promoted at all cost (Coward & Rattanakun, 1999). For example, Buddhists have little regard for the life support machines which they consider useless when the mind is no longer conscious. Being conscious and feeling less pain are the two basic factors that determine when a person should die accordin g to Buddhists. Once the conditions are extreme, Buddhists believed that it would be appropriate to die and therefore a natural and peaceful death would be much in order.In conclusion, it is clear that the views on health by Buddhists and the modern medicine are quite incompatible. However, they can be used to complement each other. An understating of the Buddhists’ perspective on health and healthcare may serve to widen the scope of the modern medicine through adoption of the rich philosophies of Buddhists on health and life. References Coward, H. G. & Rattanakun, P. eds (1999). A cross-cultural dialogue on health care ethics, Wilfrid Laurier University Press: Toronto.

Memory Process Paper Essay

I remember playing the game Trivial Pursuit and in order to win this game it came down to me acquiring to answer one question. I racked my brain truly hard trying to remember this particular answer. The question inquired about a particular mountain I by no means heard of or could remember learning about. This paper will describe the beliefs of functioning recollection, short-range recollection, long-standing recollection, the part of encrypting, in addition to the simplicity of recovery in the recollection progress. I participated on an online remembrance test, Speed Match and Memory Matrix, to assess my short-term memory. The test consisted of memory accuracy and visual recollection. Concepts of Functioning Memory, Short, and Long-Span Memory Long-span memory and short-span memory have two diverse stages of storage (Cowan, 2001). There is a system of capacity and duration in the short-span memory. In short-span recall data can be detained for a few seconds, before the long-term memory has received it. Long-term memory data can be received, when processing data in short-term memory immediately. The memories system works to retain reminiscences, in an extended period of time, and even forever would be considered a long-period of memory. Long-span recollection is collected of more than a few diverse modules: semantic recollection, procedural recollection, episodic recollection, and declarative recollection. Declarative recollection is reminiscence of accurate data. For example, important dates such as anniversary and birthday, names of individuals, and faces of people would be considered declarative memory. Procedural recollection is remembrance for habits and expertise. For example, bike riding or learning to toss a football would be considered a procedural recollection. Semantic recollection is retention for universal understanding and details about the world, in addition to  reminiscence for the guidelines of judgment that are used to assume other realities. For example, reading a chapter in an educational course textbook is considered to be semantic memory. Episodic recollection is recollection for occasions that transpire in a specific place, context, or time. Speed Match and Memory Matrix Results I took an online memory test from the Lumosity Internet site that invented memory measuring tests called speed match and memory matrix. These tests are apparently a clinically premeditated measure of intellectual performance that practices and unidentified exclusive procedure to interpret game results into some suggestion of cognitive meaning (Lumosity, 2013). The speed match and memory matrix tests are also considered to be used as â€Å"Assessment,† which give scores grounded on performance, but provides without question no clarification of those scores. Speed Match consists of use to think faster than normal rate, having faster response time, moving up the speed of his or her cognitive processing, and exercising his or her working memory. My score in speed match was 210, which meant average accuracy in speed memory. The objective was to recollect the symbols, but to reply rapidly. It was not a particularly amusing game to play, but then again a round is reasonably short, so I did not have much time to invest trying to progress on my previous scores. Simultaneously, it is not really clear to me if playing this game could actually â€Å"speed up my cognitive processes.† There were an abundant amount of impulse-based twitch games. For example, this game had side-scrolling intergalactic shooters that were used to take over the arcade section, which were more stimulating and had more replay assessment than Speed Match. These games were just as capable of assisting in faster thinking and having quicker response times. Memory Matrix consists of the use in learning individuals’ names for the first time, retention the name of somebody you have met, and exercising your working recollection. My result in the memory matrix game was 935, which meant above average in recalling facts. The Lumosity Internet site dwelled more on the importance of face-name remembrance, which ultimately came off, a little gimmicky, compared to my above review on speed match. Nevertheless, while the emphasis on human faces in Memory Matrix was slightly more than an appealing catch, the process behind the game ensures  the facts of having an established tool for improving working recollection. Studies have revealed that partaking in reasonable physical activity momentarily can lift flanker test response time. Role of Encrypting and Retrieval in the Recollection Method Once material has been encoded and put away in recollection, it must be recovered in order to be put in use. Remembrance recovery is significant in virtually every phase of daily living, from recalling where your car is parked to new skills of learning. At hand are numerous aspects that can impact how reminiscences are recovered from long-span recollection. With the aim of fully comprehending this method, it is significant to discuss more about precisely what is retrieval in addition to the various features that can influence how reminiscences are recovered. Remembrance recollection comprises of the memory being reconstructed, frequently making use of rational structures, partial recollections, descriptions or hints. For example, writing a response on an college exam regularly comprises memorizing tads on data, then after restructuring or encrypting the continuing data founded on these limited reminiscences. Reminiscence retrieval includes recognizing figures after coming in contact with it again. Reminiscence retrieval includes reeducating oneself with information that was formerly learned. This frequently makes it stress-free to recollect and retrieve data in the upcoming future in addition to improving the strong point of reminiscences. Despite the fact it may be exasperating or very stressful, research has revealed that these involvements are enormously shared, characteristically arising at least twice each week for most young individuals and three to five times per week for older adults (Cowan, 2001). In several circumstances, individuals can even recollect specifics such as the main letter that a sentence begins with (LaBar & Cabeza, 2006). Assess Variables Connected with Encrypting Data and Ease of Recovery The three main independent variables in my experiment with memory matrix and speed test were free recall, cued recall, and recognition (Cowan, 2001). My dependent variable from these tests consists of the number of words I correctly remembered. My memory test ran having a within-subjects design, which entailed of three diverse lists of 22 items, each charted by a diverse type of memory test. I formed a relationship between the target words and their respective cues. Then, when the cues were presented to me in the test phase, I relied on these associations to aid me in recalling the target words. Conclusion There are different phases of memory realization, from perception to sensory memory, to short-span memory, and long-span memory. Memory is the capability to encrypt or encode, collect and recollect information. The three main practices intricate in the human memory are storage, encoding, and reminiscence (retrieval). Furthermore, the practice of memory association is considered to be one or the other part of the encoding or encrypting process or the storage procedure, which is understood as a detached process. References Speed Match and Memory Matrix. (2013). Lumosity. Retrieved from: http://www.lumosity.com/app/v4/dashboard Cowan, N. (2001). â€Å"The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity†. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24: 97–185. LaBar K.S., & Cabeza R. (2006). â€Å"Cognitive neuroscience of emotional memory†. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7: 54–64. Carver L.J. & Bauer P.J. (2001). â€Å"The dawning of a past: The emergence of long-term explicit memory in infancy†. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 130: 726–745.