Case Analysis of Deere and Company Essay

Deere & Company, founded in 1837, is a word leading manufacturer, distributor, and financier of equipment for agriculture, construction, forestry, and commercial and consumer applications, today does business in more than 160 countries, manufactures products in 10 countries and employs more than 34,000 people worldwide. Deere & Company or also known as John Deere has been the free world’s largest producer of agricultural equipment since 1963, and is a leading producer of construction and forestry equipment. The company markets North America’s broadest line of lawn and grounds care equipment, and is a major producer of diesel engines and parts. Since 1837, John Deere has seen a great many changes in its business, its products, and its services. Change always comes with opportunity. And Deere has always been ready and willing to embrace it. Yet, through it all, John Deere is still dedicated to those who are linked to the land – farmers and ranchers, landowners, builders. And Deere has never outgrown, nor forgotten, its founder’s original core values: integrity, quality, commitment and innovation. Those values determine the way they work, the quality they offer, and the unsurpassed treatment you get as a customer, investor, and employee. Deere’s objective has consistently been to be the low-cost producer in the markets it serves. However, it seeks to do so while maintaining an image of quality and customer focus. Its company values are quality, innovation, integrity, and commitment. Because of the company close ties to the agricultural industry, corporate performance in both sales and profits was highly variable over the last several decades due to cycles of low process and oversupplies of many agricultural products. During that period, the company made various adjustments in its product mix and manufacturing processes to enable it to better compete and survive in the global environment. PROBLEMS OF THE STUDY The fundamental challenge was to continue to improve their financial performance with an increased focus on growth without sacrificing profitability. Although improving profitability was hard to implement, the approach was well understood – lower cost, reduce assets or increase asset utilization, increase sales, and improve price realization by reducing discounts and similar price cutting programs. AREAS OF CONSIDERATION Capabilities and capacities that may be beyond the current skill set of Deere & Company, a more intimate knowledge of potential new customers which may not be the focal point of the current sales/marketing organization. ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION To achieve exceptional operating performance, disciplined growth and do it through high performance aligned team work. Operational performance has been improving through the classic approaches of cost reductions, improved asset utilization and margin enhancing/ value pricing, and metrics and reward systems that enable the organization to reach new levels. Generate more profits. They can also generate new sales because they do not compete with Deere current products (and in many cases are add-ons to current products), and can serve to attract new customers. CONCLUTIONS Deere & Company can maintain its focus on delivering quality products that customers valued. Financial performance was cyclical and Deere typically earned a competitive return on capital. RECOMMENDATIONS Accelerated Innovation Process must implement at Deere to evaluate new product/service initiatives more systematically and quickly. Improving the performance and/or lowering the cost of current product/service offerings to current customers. Maintain high quality products that provide reliable and consistent services/experiences for their customers.

Hunger in America

****** Willingham M. Handran English 112 Hunger in America We live in a nation where a large percentage of its inhabitants suffer from economic hardship and are left with no other option but to pick and choose between certain necessities over other fundamental needs due to a lack of financial resources. Many of these people are forced into having to choose between taking their life-saving medications or being able to eat for that day, while others simply have no choice at all.These people simply have no other choice but go hungry despite the copious amounts of food produced in this nation. Some of the primary factors responsible for this heartbreaking predicament stem from a lack of consistent public awareness outside of the quick fix Band-Aid approach during Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday food drives and other short-term feeding campaigns coupled with an inadequate job market for both the unemployed and the underemployed which causes poverty.Insufficient and inconsistent charita ble donations to assist those in need are also contributing factors along with the physical and financial barriers which prevent general access to food to a large population of children, the elderly and the disabled. Another high profile reason for this wide spread problem is due to the direct relationship between the increase in the cost of fuel and how it affects the price of food. Hunger is an equal opportunity destructive force which gives no preference to sex, age, race, religion or educational background.Food insecurities in the United States alone affect an outrageous percentage of citizens in the world’s most affluent nation, afflicting millions of Americans on a daily basis. Hunger in America is neither widely acknowledged nor highly publicized due to the fact that the United States is the world’s wealthiest nation. In light of the facts as stated by our government’s Department of Agriculture and in the minds of all hungry persons in this country, Ameri ca should be recognized as being the world’s most wasteful and irresponsible nation on earth.The United States disposes of billions of pounds of high-quality edible food every single year. Hunger in America is an egregious and inexplicable indictment against our society, and it has created an environment of extreme hardship and suffering that is completely inexcusable in a land where hunger should not even exist and where something more must be done to alleviate hunger in our great nation. Our Citizen’s Health and Sustenance We live in the world’s wealthiest and most plentiful country, yet almost 15 percent of U. S. amilies, about 49 million Americans, including 16. 2 million children struggle to acquire sustenance (Bread for the World). About 15 percent of the American population find themselves struggling at varying degrees from day to day in order to provide food for themselves and their families. Why, in the midst of plenty, are people forced to go without b asic necessities? Tens of millions of Americans are directly affected by this silent plague known as the American hunger crisis which is directly proportional to the level of poverty existing in the United States.As a matter of fact, â€Å"The nation’s official poverty rate in 2010 was 15. 1 percent, up from 14. 3 percent in 2009†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2010). These proximate percentages between hunger and poverty blatantly illustrate the relationship between the two. Without poverty, hunger doesn’t exist. In the discussion of poverty and hunger, inevitabilities such as food, healthcare, basic and adequate shelter, utilities and transportation expenses are severely limited and some of these necessities are either cut back drastically, or they are simply inaccessible.One might have enough money to feed their family, but not have the ability to pay for their children’s health expenses or clothing. â€Å"The numbe r of people without health insurance coverage rose from 49. 0 million in 2009 to 49. 9 million in 2010†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2010). The vast number of people without health insurance is simply another statistic where the figures are obviously too much of a similarity to be justified as mere coincidence.Without their health, how can any American citizen be expected to obtain, much less maintain an adequate paying job and continue to be able to provide sustenance for themselves and their families? Regarding jobs, for a significant number of Americans, the U. S. labor market is not very efficient and doesn’t work as a reliable way to create a steady career to provide for their families (Bread for the World). The job market in the United States has continued to remain stagnant with an unemployment rate that has surpassed eight percent since February 2009, and it has been projected that the very same percentage is oing to exist i n our country until 2014 (Understanding and Responding to Persistently High Unemployment). When the unemployment rate is coupled with the rate of underemployment, those who are employed only part-time but possessing the skills necessary for full-time employment, the percentage of food insecure individuals more than doubled. People that are having a hard time finding full-time work, and those who are willing and able to work, but who have been discouraged from searching so long has risen to 17. percent in the month of September 2010 (Record Underemployment Devastates American Workers). Far too many people are in desperate need of both food and full-time employment. Hunger in America – Hidden in Plain Sight Not only is it extremely disconcerting and an indictment against the government at both the federal and state levels, but it’s also a direct reflection of American society in general that the issue of hunger in America has not been given the recognition or public awar eness that is warranted for such a national and catastrophic epidemic.While there are organizations and individuals that continue to bring this concern into the light of the public eye, it is still neither adequate nor consistent enough to bring a broad awareness to our current hunger plight in this country. Members of Bread for the World continue to write letters to members of Congress to emphasize the severity of this situation hoping that those with the political power and clout will actually do something (Bread for the World). Many American children are at risk because they have not been recognized as being the victims of this national disaster which is American hunger (Lichter et al, 97).While there is promising news on the war against hunger, there are many more battles to be won. The House of Representatives recently passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act which was signed into law on December 13, 2010 by President Barrack Obama (Advocacy). This legislation authorized the fu nding and set the policy for the United States Department of Agriculture’s primary child nutrition programs (Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act). This is definitely a step in the right direction but much more must be done.For example, becoming an advocate for individuals suffering from food insecurity is critical to fighting hunger because it offers many ways to become active not only in important public policy issues of the day, but also within our communities (Advocacy). More focused and stringent efforts from the public and private sectors are necessary to keep this critical issue in the arena of public awareness since a large majority of the American population is completely unaware of the reality that almost 50 million of their neighbors, friends, family and coworkers suffer daily from this silent epidemic.Single Mothers and Others Among the several millions of people that do suffer from food insecurity in America, there are certain groups of people from distressed backgrounds that tend to deal with much more pressure than others when it comes to hunger and poverty. Fathers all over our nation are deserting their partners and children. In merely three decades, the percent of children living without their fathers increased from 17 percent to 36 percent, more than doubling the number ( Popenoe, 33). As disturbing as it may seem, the percentage that exists today continues to grow.Young developing children and their struggling mothers that strive to endure the difficulties of life without a father in the home or with an estranged father who doesn’t pay child support has resulted in huge numbers of women and children to be left in great need of financial aid. In fact, single mother families are the group of citizens that are most at risk. Their numbers are rapidly growing, and they are becoming the poorest segment of the population in the country (Dodson, 109). Many of the worst tragedies in situations like these are the children that go to bed without enough to eat at night.Millions of children are left to sit in hunger and are helpless because their guardians cannot provide an adequate amount of food for their nourishment. In fact, one in five children or 20 percent suffered from hunger in the year 2000. That was ten million children. Even worse, three million of those children underwent an even more stomach wrenching hunger predicament where they had no other choice but to eat even less and were forced to skip meals due to a lack of food (Food First). A major contributing factor that has had a direct negative impact on these families is the seemingly ever increasing cost of fuel or access to energy.Whenever the price of oil and gas increases, every aspect of our economy is affected. The worst of which is the increase in the cost of food. Beginning with the farmers who require fuel to operate their tractors and other farm equipment along with oil-based pesticides and other chemicals needed for large crop production, this is jus t the beginning (Heinberg ). As manufacturers require energy to produce food for public consumption, they must increase their costs of production to cover the extra energy expense.The large semi-trucks that deliver those food products have to pay more for fuel, and the grocery store is forced to increase their prices in order to remain in business (Gas Prices Start to Affect Food Prices). While single mother families are at the top of the food insecure pyramid, another group of individuals is suffering just as much. These people are our senior citizens and the disabled who must survive on fixed incomes, the majority of whom depend solely on the federal government through social security payments they receive along with certain entitlement programs if they qualify (Sepulvado).Furthermore, the fact that the United States of America disposes of over 100 billion pounds of editable food annually is an ignominious slap in the face to the masses of hungry American citizens (Hunger In Ameri ca). Hunger in America – Conclusion Alleviating hunger in America may be a disheartening and seemingly overwhelming task, but there is an untold and extremely underpublicized confidence among many public and private organizations and individuals that it is possible with persistence and dedication. The facts are clear. Approximately 50 million American citizens suffer from a lack of food.In our politically correct society, the phrase ‘food insecure’ was adopted as a more palatable euphemism to avoid and hide the harsh reality that the wealthiest nation on earth is filled with millions of desperately hungry people, over 16 million of whom are children. Lack of consistent public awareness, inadequate government funding and insufficient charitable contributions, the unemployment and underemployment rates and the increasing costs of fuel are all contributing factors that continue to feed the national disgrace of American hunger.There are quotes from famous individuals concerning hunger that seem fitting to include and conclude this research. â€Å"Most of our citizenry believes that hunger only affects people who are lazy or people who are just looking for a handout, people who don’t want to work, but, sadly, that is not true. Over one-third of our hungry people are innocent children who are members of households that simply cannot provide enough food or proper nutrition. And to think of the elderly suffering from malnutrition is just too hard for most of us. UnlikeThird World nations, in our country the problem is not having too little – it is about not caring enough! Write your elected representatives and promote support for the hungry. â€Å"-Erin Brokovich. Another quote from the most iconic civil rights leader in the United States said this: â€Å"Why should there be hunger and deprivation in any land, in any city, at any table, when man has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic nec essities of life? There is no deficit in human resources. The deficit is in human will. â€Å"-Martin Luther King, Jr.The 32nd President of the United States said this about hunger: â€Å"But while they prate of economic laws, men and women are starving. We must lay hold of the fact that economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings. †-Franklin D. Roosevelt. This final quote comes from a woman who many would claim was the most selfless individual in our lifetime: â€Å"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. -Mother Teresa. Hunger in America is an incomprehensible condemnation against our nation. This social injustice directly inflicts extreme hardship upon millions of Americans and causes unnecessary and completely avoidable suffering simply because we as individuals and federal and state agencies are poor stewards of the food resources which we have in an abundant supply; yet we deliberately dispose of billions of pounds of good edible food which is more than enough to alleviate hunger in the most prosperous and the most powerful country on earth.Works Cited â€Å"Advocacy. † Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Bread for the World: Have Faith. End Hunger. â€Å"U. S. Hunger†Ã¢â‚¬  Homepage. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. . Dodson, Lisa. â€Å"Chapter 5. † Lost Fathers. By Cynthia R. . Daniels. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print. Food First. â€Å"Ch. 1. † Poverty: Opposing Viewpoints. â€Å"Hunger Is a Serious Problem for America’s Poor† San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2004. 19-21. Print. â€Å"Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. † Web. 18 Apr. 2012. . Heinberg, Richard. â€Å"Article. Soaring Oil and Food Prices Threaten Affordable Food Supply. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Hunger In America. † Hunger in America Diminished by Gardeners and AmpleHarvest. org. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. â€Å"Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States: 2010. † Census Bureau Homepage. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. . Lichter, Daniel T. , Vincent J. Roscigno, and Dennis J. Condron. â€Å"Chapter 7. † Challenges for Rural America in the Twenty-first Century. Ed. David L. Brown, Louis E. Swanson, and Alan W. Barton. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 2003. 97-98.Print. Popenoe, David. â€Å"Chapter 2. † Lost Fathers. By Cynthia R. . Daniels. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print. â€Å"Record Underemployment Devastates American Workers. † GOP. gov. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. . Sepulvado, John. â€Å"Rising Food Prices Could Drive up Rates of Hunger. † CNN. Cable News Network, 16 Mar. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Understanding and Responding to Persistently High Unemployment. † CBO. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. . Vivek, S. â€Å"Chapter 8. † Global Obligations for the Right to Foo d. By George Kent. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print.

Report On Aspects of Employment Covered by Law Essay

Britain has a deficit crisis, from which the only escape route, is economic growth. Growth needs to be encouraged in every way possible.   I’m now working in Health and Social Care, it’s my first job here in the UK.I find that here in Great Britain has loads of legislation designed to ensure that discrimination on certain grounds is unlawful, and also protect workers like me. This report will cover pieces of aspects of employment covered by legislation relevant to this area, outlining why legislation relating to employment exists and the list of sources of information and advice about employment responsibilities and rights: The Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 consolidates the previous nine pieces of equality legislation based on protected characteristics to create, for the first time in Great Britain, unified equality legislation. The nine protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Among other things, the Act simplifies or clarifies the definitions of direct discrimination (including association and perception), indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation and extends positive equality duties to public authorities which must have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between different groups. The definition of disability under the law has changed such that a person who ahs a â€Å"physical or mental impairment that has long-term adverse effect on their ability don’t have to show that their impa irment affects a particular capacity. The definition of gender reassignment has also been change-stating that this apply to â€Å" a person who is proposing to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone process to change their sex†. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 The Sexual Discrimination Act of 1975 was introduced to protect individuals from discrimination on the grounds of gender. Sexual Discrimination can take many forms. It is essential to understand that sexual discrimination is judged to be unwanted attention by the victim of the behaviour, not the perpetrator. Discrimination was set out in two forms: Direct Discrimination- simply stated that one person is treated less favourably than another based on gender. Indirect Discrimination –on the other is quit complex, this takes place if a requirement or condition is imposed, which has nothing to with gender but in practices. The Sex Discrimination Act also made it unlawful; to discriminate on the ground of marital status. Equal Pay Act 1970/1975 It simply states that Men and Women should receive equal pay for work of equal value. Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Right Act 1998 was introduced by Parliament and came into force in October 200. There are different article in this Act. Theses include: Article 2- everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law. Article 3- no one shall be subjected to degrading treatment. Article 5- everyone has the right to liberty and security of a person. Article 8-eeryone has the right to respect for his private and family life and his correspondence. Article 9- everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Article 12- men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and found a family. Article 14- the enjoyment of these rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground. Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Establishes the rights of all people arrested by the police. Detainees have the right to legal advice and right to notify person who is likely interested in their welfaire. Civil Partnership Act 2004 This establishes the right of same sex couples to enter into a civil partnership. This is not marriage but is a relationship of equivalent seriousness and commitment. Health and Safety Health and safety is important to every work that we do. The legislation of health and safety is generally covered by statutory regulations. These legislations are: Health and Safety at Work Act 19 74 Employers have a duty to ensure the health and safety at work for all employees, provide and maintain equipment and system in safe condition and provide information, training and supervision relating to health and safety at work. Managers have the duty to maintain a safe working environment for all staff, ensuring that staffs follow policies, procedures and instructions. Give well information about hazard and safe working to new members of staff and also to report or record any accidents. Employees have duty to follow rules and regulation at work, ensure that they use materials in recommended procedures and not misuses anything provided for health ,safety and welfare. Food Safety Act 1990 This applies wherever food is supplied other than within a family situation. This Act is a wide ranging piece of legislation which strengthened and updated existing laws relevant to food and safety. Holidays Annual leave entitlements should be agreed when an employee starts work, details of holidays and holiday pay should be found in the employee’s written statement or contract of employment. Most workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year (this is known as statutory entitlement). Part time worker are entitled to the same amount of holiday (pro rota) as full time colleagues. Employers can set the times when workers can take their leave – for example a Christmas shut down. If employment ends workers have the right to be paid for any leave due but not taken. There is no legal right to paid public holidays Equal pay Employers must give men and women equal treatment in the terms and conditions of their employment contract if they are employed to do: ‘like work’ – work that is the same or broadly similar  work rated as equivalent under a job evaluation study Work found to be of equal value in terms of effort, skill or decision making. Employees are also entitled to know how their pay is made up. For example, if there is a bonus system, everyone should know how to earn bonuses and how they are calculated. National Minimum Wage Most workers in the UK over school leaving age are entitled to be paid at least the NMW. The NMW rates are reviewed each year by the Low Pay commission. Most workers will be entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW). Normally the NMW rate changes in October each year. There are no exemptions according to the size of business. HM Revenue & Customs can take employers to court for not paying the NMW. II. Outlining why legislation relating to employment exist: Legislation relating to employment exists to stop exploitation of workers by their employers mainly to protect the rights of their employee’s and to make sure that they have everything they need such as: * Minimum wage * Safety standards * Holiday entitlement * Maternity leave * Redundancy payments * Discrimination laws * Maximum working hours * Age requirement All employees need to have all good things that protect them from unscrupulous bosses. III. Sources of information and advice about employment and rights: * Contract- All employees have an employment contract with their employer. A contract is an agreement that sets out an employee’s: employment conditions rights responsibilities duties These are called the ‘terms’ of the contract. * Handbook- An employee handbook, sometimes also known as an employee manual or staff handbook, is a book given to employees by an employer. Usually, the employee handbook contains information about company policies and procedures. * Policy documents – is a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by the Board of or senior governance body within an organization whereas procedures or protocols would be developed and adopted by senior executive officers. * Terms and conditions -Terms and conditions of employment are the elements of a contract which help to define the relation between an employer  and an employee * Job description – A broad, general, and written statement of a specific job, based on the findings of a job analysis. It generally includes duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope, and working conditions of a job along with the job’s title, and the name or designation of the person to whom the employee reports. Job description usually forms the basis of job specification.

Sustainable Management Futures (indivdual assignement ) Assignment

Sustainable Management Futures (indivdual assignement ) - Assignment Example EADS and BAE made all of their assets to move to the newly established company. At present, EADS holds 80 percent shares of Airbus, whereas BAE holds 20 percent shares of the company. a supervisory council has been established to look into the operation of airbus. This committee is actually a shareholder committee and consists of seven members only. In this committee five members come from EADS, while the remaining two come from BAE. The committee is responsible for approving budget of Airbus (Airbus, 2010). This shareholder committee also helps in making and implementing investment strategies of the firm. Later on Airbus significant effort has been made to reorganize the company to build several centers of excellence with an aim to earn profit. Each of these centers is authorized with the power of making their own manufacturing and buying policies relating to the production of different parts of aircrafts. They are allowed to make subcontract in order to reduce costs. This kind of o perational set up has been chosen by this aircraft company as for this industry, this policy seems to be the most effective way of building and maintaining profitability. Presently, airbus has four subsidiaries which are authorized to take their own operational decisions. These subsidiaries are airbus of North America, Airbus of China, Airbus Japan and Airbus Transport International. It is a very profitable company and presently it offers its supports more than 3000 aircrafts with 250 operators. Airbus has a mission of providing those aircrafts that are best suited to the current needs of the market along with supporting all these manufactured aircrafts with services of the highest quality. It holds the vision of listening to their customers’ needs and responding accordingly. This paper will make an attempt of examining sustainable management of airbus which operates on a multinational ground. First of all a rigorous analysis of the political, economic, social and technologic al aspects associated with the company will be conducted. Then focus will be placed on environmental aspects that the company should take under consideration. The paper will also discuss the major drivers that have forced the company to take into consideration various environmental aspects while forming its operational policies. This paper will also discuss sustainable management strategies of Airbus along with considering the benchmark requirements. Finally it will analyze the impacts of these policies. PEST analysis and analysis of Environmental Factors associated with Airbus operation: The essential items to deal with the global strategy (based on the PESTEL analysis): Political analysis: Airbus has always been the source of economic activities such as jobs, technology development, ancillary companies and spin offs. Therefore EU has provided Airbus its assistance throughout. Since Airbus is a European consortium of French, German, Spanish and UK companies, therefore EU has served it full-fledged since it a support through tax breaks, financing, loan guarantees and research and development support. In 2001, in one of the reports from European Association Of Aerospace Industries, it is seen that there have been at least 4,35,000 jobs in the aerospace sector of Europe, with 1.2 million jobs being supported directly or indirectly by the industry. There has been a friction in the relationship between US and

Article critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Article critique - Essay Example The data collection and data analysis methods were appropriate for the research and information was also obtained easily from the target groups. I would carry out the same research making use of suitable references from books, educational journals and information from online resources (Wray.et.al, 1999). This would make results more credible and reliable. The article is addressing a critical issue in health care such as health planning and the problems facing veterans in rural areas. The design for the research study was appropriate. The method of data collection was favorable to all participants and the method of analysis t-test was appropriate to obtain good results (Wray.et.al, 1999). The research took into consideration other methods that would help in the attainment of credible results. To achieve a better research paper, researchers should improve their abstract and give a summary of all what they have done in the course of study. They should also provide a credible literature review that is supported with evidence from earlier researchers in the same field. The research should also provide recommendations that should be implemented to ensure better health care (Wray.et.al, 1999). Further, the research should provide room for future research studies and include references. The figures and tables referred to in the table should be shown to make the paper more appealing to readers and make it easier to understand. The article does not have adequate reliable references. In the article various studies were conducted by various researchers but only their names appear but the writer did not indicate the years when these studies were carried out and published (Wray.et.al, 1999). The research problem is in line with the objectives. It also relates well with purpose of the stud y which was to assess the health status of veterans receiving VA treatment and those receiving treatment from mobile clinics (Wray.et.al, 1999). Data

Public Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Public Health - Essay Example surroundings and circumstances determine the health of people. Some of the factors used in the determination of health include genetic factors, educational level, income level and relationship with families and friends. The main determinants of health include social and economic environment, physical environment and the individual’s behaviors and characters. The increase in the income earning may increase the living standards; however, in some case people may fail to control their eating habits and end up acquiring diseases such as diabetes among others. The great gap between the gap between poor and rich increases the differences in health conditions. On the other hand, low education levels also contribute to the development of disease in the community. For instance, the lowly educated people may not be able to understand which kind of food to take at a given time. It becomes very difficult to create a harmonized healthy condition in the entire society because of the variatio n in the social factors (Kindig, 2015). In addition, people have different views and opinion regarding various health factors in the society. For example, some people may support abortion while other opposes the act and considers it an evil act. Such differences influence the efforts made to improve the population health.

Caribbean Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Caribbean Literature - Essay Example These woman writers were born in the late 1940s and 1950s and they produced their first major works in the 1980s. "The term 'Caribbean women writers' describes an extremely diverse collection of women: women of numerous racial and ethnic groups who reside in many nations and write in at least four European languages and many Caribbean Creoles." (Rody, 117) Significantly, the most acclaimed woman writer of the region, Jean Rhys, is a white woman identified with English modernism who lived in the wake of Caribbean women's renaissance in the 1980s. Jamaica Kincaid, Michelle Cliff, and Maryse Conde are some of the prominent figures during the Caribbean women's renaissance in the 1980s. Therefore, a profound analysis of the Caribbean literature of 1980s, one recognizes a key stage of development in women's writing. In the critical work 'The Invisible Woman in West Indian Literature', Ramabai Espinet investigates the 'invisibility' of East Indian woman in Caribbean literature and one gets the notion that women arbiters are marginalized by virtue of their ethnicity a

Performance Evaluations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Performance Evaluations - Research Paper Example Center of discussion in this paper is performance evaluation as one of the crucial factors in enhancing the performance of an employee and in stimulating growth in the organization. However, the organizations that do not have a proper performance appraisal system may face difficulties in retaining and sustaining their workforce. It harms the organization as well as the well-being of the employees. Performance evaluation can be described as the process of providing feedback to the employees regarding the job efficiency as well as career guidance. It can be considered as a fair and balanced examination of the performance of an employee. Performance evaluation tends to structure the relationship with the employees of the organization thus providing legal protection to the companies. The morale and also the performance of the employees tend to improve with the help of the performance evaluation. It is because of good evaluation system the poor performers in the organizations can be ident ified and therefore various suggestions can be provided in order to improve the performance. One of the significant problems faced by the employees in the organizations is related to the performance evaluation. The workplace faces with myriad workplace problems with the employees in relation to time, money and loss of productivity. This tends to increase the overall cost to the organization. Therefore, it is significant for the organizations to prevent such problems from occurring from the very beginning. It is the performance evaluation of the staffs that assists in dealing with the complex problems related to the employees. By instilling good employee evaluation system in the organization and if used constantly with all the employees most of the problems can be prevented from cropping up in the near future. Despite the best efforts of the organizations, difficulties with the employees are bound to occur. It is during such circumstances, performance evaluation has a role to play to identify and thus deal with the complex problems. It also brings discipline at the workplace to a great extent (Delpo & Guerin, 2009). One of the challenges that the supervisors at the organizations face is the performance related problems. The supervisors who are into the profession for a longer period of time have mentioned that the performance evaluation is one of the toughest and most complex issues. However, it is worthy of mentioning that identification of the performances of the employees at the organizations is one of the main responsibilities of the supervisors. Failure to identify the poor performances at the organizations may have a negative impact upon the overall organization thus leading to lower productivity and morale of the staffs. The supervisors at the organizations need to be tactful at handling the poor performances of the employees in the organization by means of performance evaluation system. A few of the preventive measures can be taken in order to prevent s uch issues from happening. It is significant for the supervisors to communicate the set performance standards and what is expected from the employees clearly. If the employees are unaware of the expectations of the employers from them, they might not be motivated to work as per the expectations. It is not required to produce as written document

Workplace Violence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Workplace Violence - Assignment Example Therefore, workplace violence remains a grave threat to employees and the larger community. This paper argues that victims of workplace violence experience perceived fear and psychological distress or mental problems immediately after the unpleasant incident. These negative outcomes of workplace violence cause dysfunctions in an organization. Hence it is important to implement effective prevention policies against workplace violence. Perceived Fear and the Psychological Effect of Workplace Violence Numerous studies have reported the effect of workplace violence on the victims’ psychological or emotional wellbeing, as well as on their self-perception. Some examples of the psychological impacts of violence in the workplace are lowered self-worth, distress, vulnerability, anger, fear, depression, denial, humiliation, and guilt. Several researchers have identified post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an outcome of violence in the workplace among those victimized. Several of th e warning signs of PTSD are damaged concentration, weakened memory, recurrent nightmares, disturbance, isolation, bad temper, physiological stimulation, and anxiety (Cavanaugh et al., 2012). Victims of workplace violence immediately feel physical and psychological numbing, distress, denial, and suspicion. Immediately after the unpleasant incident, the victims go through three kinds of effects (Browne-Miller, 2012): (1) withdrawal effects such as truancy, social isolation; reliving effects such as nightmares, recollections; and (3) other effects such as excessive shock, anger, fear, and irritability. Horizontal violence is one of the forms of workplace violence that brings about negative psychological effects on victims. And horizontal violence is most prevalent in health care settings. Increasing rates of continuous horizontal violence or harassment and bullying have been reported to negatively affect the physical and psychological wellbeing of nurses, employee retention, and job sa tisfaction as well as indirect impacts on patient care quality and possibility of negative health outcomes. Horizontal violence harms the individual’s self-esteem and eventually becomes damaging to the nurses’ career, as violent behavior develops from colleagues who are supposed to be providing support, assistance, and guidance (Becher & Visovsky, 2012). Continuous horizontal violence among nurses is a major problem. In enhancing and broadening the field of research to intervention and prevention level, theoretical perspectives from sociology, psychology, and biology are explained alongside the theoretical explanation of the frequency of horizontal violence against nurses. Several studies discovered that employees are more likely to be victimized by people outside their organizations or by members of the civic sector than by colleagues, even though there are discrepancies. Nevertheless, in spite of the evidently lower prevalence of co-worker violence existing findings indicate that its psychological effects are more damaging and serious than those of public hostility (Mueller & Tschan, 2011). In the study of Kelloway and LeBlanc (2002 as cited in Mueller & Tschan, 2011), public hostility determined perceived fear and possibility of future victimization but was not related to emotional dedication, physiological health, and psychological wellbeing. In contrast, co-worker violence did not determine perceived fear or possibility of future victimization but was strongly related to reduced employee retention, weakened dedication, and poor health. The explanation for this pattern of findings needs additional study to resolve but there are several available possible explanations. First is that public hostility or client-initiated workplace violenc

Risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Risk management - Essay Example This created a bubble in the housing finance sector and mortgage properties. Investment banks and other financial institutions started to lend money to the mass of people as well as corporate houses for purchase of land or other business purposes. The land and housing properties were kept as mortgage serving as underlying securities for those loans. These loans were granted to the borrowers without looking at repayment feasibility of the loans or without carrying out adequate evaluation of the credit parameters. The credit parameters like income of the borrower, assets available to service the loan, existing liabilities, etc. were ignored by the financial institutions in the mortgage loans. This led to the inflation of the bubble in the housing sector which developed earlier. The bubble finally burst as the borrowers were unable to repay the loans and the defaulters in the mortgage loan market started to become heavy. This led to the devaluation of the mortgages which served as under lying securities. ... w of information to the market led to the erosion of investors’ confidence that reflected in the plunge of share prices of the company (Allen, 1999, p.24). Huge wealth of the investors was eroded in short time thereby causing a situation of liquidity crisis. Several companies like Lehmann Brothers, Bear Stearns, Meryl Lynch, etc. were affected due to fall in the valuation of the companies and inability to return the investment of the shareholders. The liquidity crisis created shortage of monetary supply in the economy which tightened the credit conditions in the economy. This created a global credit crisis which was fuelled by the implementation of revised regulatory standards, enforcement of strict credit parameters and revised policies of the companies to counter the global financial crisis. Role of financial engineering: derivative products were a risk management device Derivatives products are financial instruments that derive its value from the underlying assets such as s tock, interest rates, currencies, commodities, etc. Derivative products involve two parties entering into a contract for payment of a certain amount on a certain date under the agreed terms and conditions. The derivative products may be of two types, namely â€Å"lock† and â€Å"option† derivatives. The lock derivatives enforce the parties entering into the contract to fulfil the payment obligations of the derivative product as per terms and conditions. The â€Å"option’ derivative provides the right to the buyer to enter into the contract but the buyer is not obligated to enter into the contract in â€Å"option† derivatives. The derivative products are used to hedge financial risks and also to speculate financial gains in the time of adverse financial situations. The derivative products were used a

Growing Up Essay Example for Free

Growing Up Essay This short story looks at children and two of Carys ovels were directly concerned with childhood. Themes Children and growing up is the central theme of this story, as it is with several of the other stories in the Anthology. However, the central character is an adult and so it links well with Flight, where the story follows the emotions of a grandfather trying to accept his granddaughters forthcoming marriage. Your Shoes also has a central narrator, although that story is written in the first person. This short story is certainly concerned with relationships between the generations. Children as a destructive orce appear in Growing Up, in the came way that the boy in Chemistry has an urge to damage his mothers boyfriend. Superman and Paula Browns new Snowsuit also examines the theme of the destructive power of children. Adults struggling to understand the behaviour of children are a central issue in Growing Up, as they also are in Superman and Paula Browns New Snowsuit. Notes The first paragraph establishes the central character, a businessman Robert Quick. He is named, unlike the anonymous central characters of several of these stories. He is described as a conventional businessman, in a dark suit and hat. Significantly, he sheds some of his formal clothes as he goes into the garden, perhaps representing that the rules and values he will encounter there are far from civilised. Ls. 7 19 The garden is described as a Wilderness. It has been neglected because Mr and Mrs. Quick are too busy to tend it. It has suggestions of other gardens, perhaps the Garden of Eden, or Paradise. Perhaps also there is a suggestion that Mr and Mrs. Quick are too busy to other civilising their daughters, Just as they have ignored their garden? Could the story symbolise the wild, untamed nature of the children who run wild in it? l. 23 a suggestion of the frontier, primeval forests.. Cary hints that there may be the possibility of fear and menace in the garden. It is not a place of easy comfort, as Mr. Quick thinks. L 27 the children have previously enjoyed a close relationship with their father and have made a fuss of him when he returns home. However, this contrasts with the way they ignore him this time. Is the reason they snub him because he is a man? Quick recognises that they will be women soon in lines 42 to 49; later on in the story they are wellbehaved for their mother and he feels rejected. Cary is specific about their names and ages; Jenny is twelve and Kate thirteen. They are both deep in their own worlds and Quick doesnt mind that they pay hardly any attention to his arrival. He thinks it represents their honest attitude to him. Perhaps he is too easy going with the children. Do they need to show him a bit more respect? Ls. 58-81 the two girls

An Insight into Academic Writing Essay Example for Free

An Insight into Academic Writing Essay Authors Gerald Graff and Cathy Berkenstein claim in their book, They Say, I Say, that academic writing is not about â€Å"playing it safe and piling up truths and bits of knowledge,† like many people assume. Rather, it is about the dynamic interaction between other people’s points of view and the author’s response to those perspectives. In chapter one of Graff and Berkenstein’s book they emphasize the necessity of balance when implementing certain writing â€Å"moves,† specifically, when introducing a counter-view, summarizing other’s arguments, and when quoting someone else’s words. Graff and Berkenstein contend that by opening an argument with an explanation of what the thesis is responding tointroducing a counter-viewgives the main point clarity and relevance. They encourage stating the opposing view or assumption initially so that it will define and explain what the thesis is addressing. But, they also caution the writer not to bloat their introduction with extraneous information for fear of losing the audience’s focus and engagement. What Graff and Berkenstein suggest, then, is that â€Å"as soon as possible you state your own position and the one it’s responding to together, and that you think of the two as a unit. † Basically, they insist that the best way to give a â€Å"genuine response to other’s views† during academic writing is to have a balance between introducing what â€Å"They Say† (the opposing point of view) and what â€Å"I Say† (the writer’s response). If being in a constant dialogue with others’ positions is essential to arguing persuasively, as Graff and Berkenstein claim, â€Å"then summarizing others’ arguments is central to [the writer’s] arsenal of basic moves. † All too often during a summary, writers will provide their own opinions on an article’s topic rather than revealing what the article is actually stating. On the opposite extreme, there are the writers who â€Å"do nothing but summarize,† which dilutes their own views in an ocean of someone else’s ideas. Graff and Berkenstein remind us that a â€Å"good summary requires balancing what the original author is saying with the writer’s own focus. † In other words, an exceptional summary contains the perspective of the original author, while emphasizing the points the responding author wants to address. One of the best ways to initiate an effective argument is not only to summarize what they say, but to quote their exact words. According to Graff and Berkenstein, â€Å"Quoting someone else’s words gives a tremendous amount of credibility to your summary and helps ensure that it is fair and accurate. † By quoting someone else’s exact statement it serves as a proof of evidence that you are not just fabricating another’s claim, but that you are disclosing their true ideas. Like introducing a counter-view and summarizing, quoting requires that you find an ideal balance between the quantity of quotes and content of commentary. A common issue with quoting is when the author assumes the quote speaks for itself. As Graff and Berkenstein, quotes are like literary orphans that have been taken from their original context, â€Å"they need to be integrated into their new textual surroundings. † In simpler terms, a quote needs to be introduced, interpreted, and then connected to the central idea. I found chapter one of Graff and Berkenstein’s book, â€Å"They Say,† to be extremely interesting and useful. The way they tied all their information to a central idea, while explaining how to do just that fascinated me. I felt like their writing had a constant flow from introduction of a move, to implementing balance, to common problems, how to fix those problems, and then to exercises that would reinforce their primary concepts. Their style and content kept me engaged and focused. Also, I learned a handful of writing tactics, like introducing a counter-view, summarizing, and inserting quotes, that I was not one-hundred percent sure on how to do prior to the reading. Overall, I found the chapter to be engaging, informative, and beneficial to me and my writing style.

Soundtracks In The Movie Industry Film Studies Essay

Soundtracks In The Movie Industry Film Studies Essay What are the major conventions and functions of the classical soundtrack, and how have these been challenged by filmmakers and composers working outside of this tradition? Soundtrack in the movie industry terminology is a contraction of the term sound track. This is an audio recording which is created or used in the film production industry or in post production. The dialogue, the music and the sound effects in a film have their own separate tracks i.e. the soundtrack, dialogue track and the music track. This mixed together are called the composite track. It is what is heard in the film. When a film is dubbed into another language, a dubbing track is created. This is also known as an ME (music and effects) track. It contains all the sound elements without dialogue. It is later supplied by a foreign distributor in the native language of the territory. This contraction soundtrack came into the public consciousness with the coming of the soundtrack albums in the early 1950s. The movie companies first saw it as a promotional gimmick for new films. The film is a visual medium and yet also like many of the other contemporary media it happens to be audio visual. It employs sound as an integral element of the sensual experience. The image predominance stems partly from the history of films. This was so until the mid 1920s, three decades after the motion pictures were invented that the technology became developed so as to produce films with recorded soundtracks. Film with recorded sound became standard so quickly after the first largely successful film was featured with soundtrack in 1927. We will analyze the traditional use of sound. What is the purpose and the effect of sound that is added to the image pictures? We will also analyze other alternative practices that exist and how they are used in conjunction with the common approaches to sound. It is not surprising that sound has been used to reinforce the classical cinema mode. This has shaped the techniques that are dominant in cinematography and editing. Sound will often increase the sense of presence and the immediate need. To be able to achieve this sound and the image must be closely related. They work together to achieve a meaning or an effect. Images and soundtracks in the film are two components that are distinct and are usually produced in part separately from one another. Due to the fact that there has been technological growth in sound capabilities audio recording and playback have really expanded. There has therefore been a tendency of rely more on postproduction of sound work as there has been increased technological advancements in audio recording and playback. There has been therefore great necessity to create an impression that the sounds that are heard are natural and are produced by the actions and the environments that are shown by the film. To achieve t his sound effect, it will serve to increasingly enhance the intensity of the sensual effects and also promote that sense of verisimilitude. Below are some of the ways through which the sound serves these two main functions. The main sounds that make a soundtrack are three. There is the human voice, sound effects and music. Music and the sound effects are the two most applied in the production of the heightened sensory experience. In the mainstream cinema, the sound effects are designed so as to reinforce the narrative realism. They may appear to be natural but in the real sense, along with the other sound elements, they are crafted with care so as to focus attention on some particular aspects of the image or the action and also to influence the response of the viewers to them. We can therefore conclude that sound effects do support a sense of realism. The dense and accentuated sound emphasis are associated with the key actions or the settings and do not necessarily provide the natural production of the sound one would hear in such a situation. In accordance to the prevailing sound film conventions, music does not follow the prescriptions of realism in similar ways. There are conventions which have background music that do not in any ways relate to the theme of the story. We in fact always expect musical score that goes hand in hand with film as a non digetic element. The academy awards do include categories for best score. If we do employ a number of the conventions and the conventions the moviegoers have planned to respond to this in a certain way. Claudia Gorbman is cited in his seminal work (Gorbman, seminal work- unheard melodies) explaining how the background music, or rather the score serves as the signifier of emotion in the cinema. A good example of this is the melodrama. A 19th century genre is an original, as suggested by the name à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"melo-dramaà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚  is a play that includes music as the essential element. The orchestra would be in place to accompany the play; the drama action would be interlaced with melodies that would function almost in the same way as the emotional punctuation. Any time the dramatic action would lead to a moment of sadness, the orchestra would be brought in the break in the dialogue and underscore the effects of emotion with a melody that is appropriate. When for example the drama gets to a climatic highpoint, a melody that is dramatic would come so as to help ratchet the suspense in the place. The melodramatic importance of accompanying music is now a standard technique both in the melodramatic films and for all the genres in the classical cinema. While the crucial function may as well be to guide and also enhance the emotional responses, the scores of music will as well contribute to that sense of continuity. This is central to classical cinema. This score will indeed help to smoothen over the necessary breaks and the gaps that are in the films continuity such as including the cuts from one scene unto the next, or even a jump in story over a given period of time. Music may be used to fill in the gaps that exist; it may repeat the musical intents to inculcate into the viewer the significance and/or the connection existing between the various events. In any of the instances, when music actually serves its purpose it does not intend to draw attention back to itself. As Much as classical style of editing of this continuity system tries to make the breaks and the gaps not to be seen, the score of music of the classical narratives of the cinema attempts to remain inaudible. In the instances when music functions according to these guidelines, it is following the tradition of continuity. CW serves to distinguish between the two traditions of film sound. This tradition of continuity will adhere to the principle of classical cinema, as we have realized in the topics highlighted previously, they are dominant in every area of film: an example, as the image presence is the dominating tradition in cinematography, or the temporal and the spatial continuity as primary objectives of the editing responsibility. Sound montage on the other hand will serve to free up sound from the subservient responsibility as company to the image narrative and allows it to stand in for right of itself. Instead of merging the soundtrack to narrative flow of images, the montage approach will divide the sound and let it to speak in separation, this provides distance to the story on the film, this will offer among many other things, the opportunity for a thought that is reflective or a critical analysis on the film events. We will go through the formal details of the sound, it is important to indicate how the montage techniques will work in concert with the common culture of continuity to yield a meaning or provide emphasis without altering the basic principle of the classical cinema. The topic of sound grants an opportunity to work with some concepts that are basic of the film form. Looking at some of these cases, the concepts can actually apply to the other film elements not related to sound. These terms which are discussed here are vital for utilization in the individual sequence analyses for week two films. This term synchronous sound refers to the parts of the soundtrack that do correspond in direct proportion and spontaneously to that which is happening on the screen. One of the most common examples of this is the normal dialogue. We do see the speaker moving their lips and the thing that is being said is usually heard at the same instance at the other end of the soundtrack. This will apply also to other sources of sound as well. The door will slam and we will hear the sound, the cannon will be fired and we eventually hear the blast. Speaking strictly, voices will perhaps be synchronous sounds although we may not see the lips moving. Giving an example, soldiers in a movie of war may be shouting and also screaming at the same time as they attack the position of the enemy. We actually do see the scene from a distant position; we do understand how to connect voices to the charging of the soldiers although we do not actually see the movement of their lips. For an example, a movie concerni ng journalists, we will hear the sound of the finger movement typing on the keyboard and the film will at the same time show a scene of the reporter and topic of coverage. These are good examples of asynchronous sounds. A point out is that some analysts will prefer the differentiation of the onscreen appearance and effects and at the same time the off-screen effects. Both sides of the set is fine, however the latter suggests the way synchronous is to be used in a specific sense when we are referring to the film sound. An example, in a conversation situation, the camera may be maintained on the face of first speaker although they may have already finished their speech and the present speaker is responding in an off-screen position. The man on the camera may choose to maintain the camera on the first speaker so as to show the reaction (could be the emotional reaction) to the response that is given. Though the words of the other speaker will be heard as they are uttered in narration or speech, they will come from off the screen and will technically be in consideration asynchronous of sound. Rather than to rehash the explanation, we will refer to the instance of sound, Apocalypse Now and then let you distinguish as to whether these sounds are synchronous or asynchronous and also an example of the parallelism. Opening sequence we see Willard lying in bed and from his subjective point of view see a shot of the ceiling fan above him, while we hear the chop-chop-chop sound of helicopter blades on the soundtrack. Is this synchronous or asynchronous sound and is it an instance of parallelism or counterpoint? [You will find the answer in the larger discussion of this sequence in the essay on Apocalypse Now. One of the other important distinctions which have wide use in the film analysis is that between diegetic and the non diegetic. Diegesis usually refers to the world of the films story. For example, when Annie sings a song at a nightclub, as she does twice in Annie Hall, the songs are diegetic sound. In Do the Right Thing there are several examples of diegetic music, coming directly from the radio station or from one of the various radios or boom boxes found in the film. At times, it is even hard to distinguish when the music is diegetic and when not. But a good example of when it is nondeigetic is the opening credits sequence, where Rosie Perez dances in changing settings, costumes, and lighting to Public Enemys Fight the Power. The song is actually heard many (one)times throughout this movie, most often diegetically, however in the opening scene, it is strictly non diegetic. Looking the other hand, I think we can assume that the Doors song The End in the opening sequence of Apocalyp se Now is diegetic.

Ancient Egypt: Old, Middle, And New Kingdom :: History Egypt Essays

Outline I. Thesis: Ancient Egyptians were the basis for many western traditions. Their influences are notable in art, architecture, and religion. II. The Old Kingdom A. Zoser, the first pharaoh.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. built the famed Step Pyramid   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. brought unity to Egypt B. Religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. creation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. gods C. Art D. Downfall of the Old Kingdom III. The Middle Kingdom A. Pyramids B. Middle Kingdom religion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Myth of Osiris   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. Similarties between the myth of Osiris and Christian beliefs C. Middle Kingdom art D. Downfall of the Middle Kingdom IV. The New Kingdom A. Valley of the Kings B. Shift in religion 1. Aton   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2. Akhenaton C. New art form, naturalistic D. Downfall of the New Kingdom V. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ancient Egyptians are considered among many to be the civilization upon which much of the western world's views and attitudes are based. Everything from religion, to architecture, to art has been handed down, generation by generation, to us in the present day. Although many of the ancient Egyptians' traditions have been modified or altered, the majority of their core principles remains constant. Yet, despite the ancient Egyptians' conservative nature, there were some changes within the infrastructure of their society. Throughout the ages known as the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom, there has been alterations to their religion, art, and architecture. Internal forces, as well as outside influences, have molded ancient Egyptian civilization. This paper will attempt to determine these forces which changed the Egyptians. Modifications of Egyptian life were subtle, but noticeable and significant nonetheless. Art, architecture, and religion will be the focus of this paper. Let us begin at the beginning, with the Old Kingdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Old Kingdom began in the year 2700 B.C. and ended 2200 B.C. The pharaohs, or kings, of this time include the third through the sixth dynasty, beginning with Djoser and ending with Pepi II. Djoser, who ruled from 2700 B.C. to 2650 B.C., changed his name to the more commonly known Zoser. It was Zoser who made the famed Step Pyramid, the first pyramid to be constructed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pyramids were erected for the pharaoh in the belief that it would serve as a stairway to the heavens, and allow the divine pharaoh to reach the Milky Way, or the Nile river in the sky. The pharaoh's afterlife was extremely dependent on a proper burial, as were the afterlives of those who served him; therefore, it was imperative that the pyramids be erected. These pyramids could not have been built through coercion or slavery, for such an architectural feat could only have been accomplished by a labor force of 70,000, and there is no possible way for a small group of rulers to force the people to labor day in and

Atomic Bomb Essay -- essays research papers

On the morning of August 6, 1945, the first Atomic Bomb in history was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Soon after, on August 14, 1945, the Japanese abruptly surrendered, abandoning their ancient customs regarding honor in war. The fact that only two bombs were able to bring an entire country to its knees is a true testament to the awesome power they held. There is nothing in modern warfare that can compete with the devastating effects of nuclear weapons.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the beginning of World War II, the Japanese were a major threat to the Asian World. On December 7, 1941, when they decided to attack Pearl Harbor (a US naval base in Hawaii), it was evident that their intentions were not limited to Asia. The United States entered World War II as a result of this attack. The war continued for six long years, and involved most of the major World Powers. During this time, there were many battles between the United States and Japan, including one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, which took place at Okinawa. If allowed to expand, Japan posed a serious threat to the allies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the war, one of the most brilliant scientists in history, Albert Einstein, hypothesized that if the true power of the atom were released in a weapon, the results would be devastating. This was soon confirmed by a large portion of the scientific community. Whoever possessed such a weapon would be in complete power. Many government officials felt that such a weapon could put an end to the war. For this reason, in 1942, the United States decided to pursue the atomic bomb. Later that year, Franklin D. Roosevelt began the Manhattan Project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Manhattan Project was a massive engineering enterprise aimed at the ultimate goal of creating an atomic bomb. At one time it employed over 129,000 workers. The United States was the only nation in the world with the capacity to work on such a high level. Though it cost approximately $2 billion dollars, many officials who knew about the Top Secret project felt it was well worth it- if the Atomic Bomb proved useful. Another major expense of the United States government was the development of the B-29, a bomber plane specifically designed for dropping Atomic Bombs. The estimated cost of this project is ... ...ioned on the ends of long-range rockets, expanding the range of the weapon. Radioactive materials essential to the construction of a Nuclear Weapon are now more readily available to small countries and terrorists. This poses the threat of Nuclear Warfare, which could ultimately end in the extinction of humanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nuclear Weapons cannot be â€Å"uninvented†, so therefore we must learn to live with the possible threat of Nuclear War. The first Atomic Bombs were used to end a war, however that was in the days when the only nation in possession of them was the United States. Today, if a Nuclear War broke out, the defensive nation would most likely return fire, which could result in a global incident. It is unlikely that all of the world’s Nuclear Weapons will ever be destroyed, since the possession of them provides protection from a Nuclear Strike by another country. They are a mediating factor in times of war. Due to human nature, all we can do is hope that they are never used, and that the destruction and bloodshed brought about by the first Atomic Bomb taught us a lesson. It is even possible that this kind of power was never intended for mankind to discover.

Travelling Around the World Essay -- Literary Analysis, Jules Verne

In the nineteenth century, it seemed impossible to circumnavigate the world in only eighty days. That, however, was exactly what Phileas Fogg did in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. This novel follows the journey of the eccentric Englishman, Phileas Fogg, after he bet he could race around the world in eighty days. Accompanied by his faithful servant, Passepartout, and a scheming detective, Fix, he encountered many challenges he had to overcome in order to return in time to win the bet. In Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne demonstrated how increased industrialization made a profound impact in travel, technology, and business. In addition, Verne shows how industrialization contributed to an increase of nationalism and European imperialism. Industrialization was an important movement of the nineteenth century. Industrialization was the process of turning an agricultural society into an industrialized one, based on the manufacturing of goods and services. This meant new technological innovation and economical development. Industrialization was important because it led to the development of new technologies and inventions that vastly improved life, such as the steam engine. It also helped to grow businesses by letting them expand their networks and reach consumers in more distant areas. Industrialization also made an impact on Fogg’s journey. Phileas Fogg’s journey was made possible by the growing industrialization of the time. One example of industrialization was the extensive use of trains in the novel. During the nineteenth century, nations all over the world built rail lines. For example, when Phileas Fogg reached India, the change from old forms of transportation to new industrialized ... ...rned with learning of the natives’ cultures. Like many European governments, he only cares that his country has obtained the land, but does not care about the people in it. Ultimately, imperialism had an extended reach throughout the world in the nineteenth century. In Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne demonstrated how increased industrialization made a profound impact in travel, technology, and business. In addition, Verne shows how industrialization contributed to an increase of nationalism and European imperialism. Verne’s novel shows how industrialization, nationalism, and imperialism affected individuals. It also demonstrates how these themes interacted with each other, and how they influenced each other. Ultimately, Around the World in Eighty Days exhibits the important movements in the nineteenth century and their significance in history.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics †F-16 Modular Mission Computer Application Software

About the Company: Although they are a global security and information technology company, the majority of Lockheed Martin’s business comes from U. S Department of Defense and Federal Agencies. In fact, they are the largest provider of IT services, systems integration, and training to the U. S Government. The remaining portion of Lockheed Martin’s business is comprised of international government and some commercial sales of products, services and platforms. Lockheed Martin’s operating units are organized into broad business areas – Aeronautics: $11. billion in 2008 sales includes tactical aircraft, airlift, and aeronautical research and development lines of business. Electronic Systems: $11. 6 billion in 2008 sales includes missiles and fire control, naval systems, platform integration, simulation and training and energy programs lines of business. Information Systems & Global Services: $11. 6 billion in 2008 sales includes C4I (stands for â€Å"Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence†), federal services, government and commercial IT solutions. Space Systems: $8 billion in 2008 sales includes space launch, commercial satellites, government satellites, and strategic missiles lines of business. Something about the F-16 – The Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as a lightweight, daytime fighter, it evolved into a successful multirole aircraft. Over 4400 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976 and it currently serves in the air forces of 25 nations. About the Software: The Aeronautics division of LM’s, based in Fort Worth, Texas has used the OMG’s MDA to develop Application Software for the F-16 Modular Mission Computer. This software is cross-platform compatible and has highly increased productivity and quality. Just as the highly demanding environment of avionics software development and the MMC (Modular Mission Computer) itself. What is the MMC? The Modular Mission Computer is a cost-effective MLU (Mid – Life Update) for the F-16, which combines advanced computing capabilities for both weapons and avionics in a single high performance system. Developed by Raytheon (Lockheed Martin’s F-16 team), it replaces three computers with one superior system, reducing weight by 55%, volume by 42% and power by 32%. What is OMG’s MDA? OMG (Object Management Group) – since 1989 – is a non – profit computer industry consortium. Their board of directors represents most of the organizations that shape, enterprise and internet computing today. Their membership includes hundreds of organizations, most of them representing virtually every large organization in the computer industry and many smaller ones. MDA (Model Driven Architecture) is a modeling standard, which along with UML (Unified Modeling Language), enable powerful visual design, execution and maintenance of software and other processes, including IT Systems Modeling and Business Process Management. When and why was this software developed? The MMC upgrade was a part of the MLU process of the F-16. When plans of replacing the F-16 (in operation since 1979) with its successor in 1999 stalled, they decided to modernize the aircraft, which became the MLU (Mid –Life Update). Part of this modernization process was developing software with cross – platform compatibility. The goal should be to provide cross-platform compatibility of Application Software despite any Implementation, or platform specific, changes: that is, changes to the Hardware Platform, the Software Execution Platform, or the Application Software Interface {draw:frame} The development Process – The F-16 MMC team originally used traditional CASE tools with an OO modeling notation to specify the software before manually coding it in Ada (Language extended from Pascal). When they migrated their development to Kennedy Carter’s iUML tool, they gained the ability to use a UML action language which made their UML models executable. They could then test their UML models to verify their intended behavior before hand-coding the implementation. More recently they have used Kennedy Carter’s iCCG product to specify, in eXecutable UML, an Ada code generator which can automatically generate 100% of the Ada implementation. By this means they guarantee that their UML models are entirely platform independent and portable across any future platform. {draw:frame} eXecutable UML Modeling: Overview xUML models are a complete representation of the problem space (not a top-level or preliminary design) Modeling is performed using a Unified Modeling Language (UML) representation Modeling makes use of a precise Action Specification Language (ASL) and is therefore executable (providing early validation of the models) Each xUML model is a Platform Independent Model (PIM), that is, completely implementation-independent (i. e. independent of the hardware platform, the software execution platform, and the application software interface) _Design Tagging: _Overview Whereas xUML modeling is platform- independent, Design Tagging is platform-specific (i. e. pecific to a particular Application Software Interface) Platform-specific design decisions (only those needed to support code generation) are made during Design Tagging, and are represented with design tag values that are applied to the xUML models The most standard implementation is always assumed by the code generator, such that only exceptions must be tagged Design Tagging is overlaid on (not embedded in) the xUML models, such that it may be included or excluded Desi gn Tagging: Specifying the PIM to PSM Mapping {draw:frame} Automatic Code Generation: Overview Automatic code generation is simply an extension of the code generation technique used for simulation of the eXecutable UML models on the development platform, this extension being for the target (embedded) platform The code generator is developed within the same environment as the application software using the same eXecutable MDA strategy {text:list-item} Nearly all implementation-specific design tasks (all but the design decisions represented by design tag values) are performed by the code generator, not the software developers Advantages of the eXecutable MDA Approach Increased Quality The majority of software developers are isolated from implementation details, allowing them to focus on a thorough analysis of the application space Maintenance of the application source code is eliminated, while maintenance of the xUML models is ensured Defect injection (and the resulting rework) is reduced by automating the software phase in which most defects are injected {text:list-item} Increased Productivity Rework is reduced Early validation through simulation reduces rework {text:list-item} Higher quality implementation (due to automation) reduces rework Software development span time is reduced by automating the implementation phase Application Software development schedule is reduced by at least 20% The code generator, not each software developer, performs the majority of implementation-specific design tasks 40-60% of physical source code Cross-Platform Compatibility One Application Software xUML Model database may be reused (as is) on any platform for which a mapping is defined (i. e. a code generator is developed) xUML models are compatible with any hardware platform, any Software Execution Platform, and any Application Software Interface xUML models are compatible with any implementation language References: Dr P. J. Wright, Lockheed Martin Success Story: 2002, http://www. omg. org/mda Lauren E. Clark, Power point presentation, F-16 Modular Mission Computer Application Software: 2001, Lockheed Martin Corporation. Lisa Hsu, Paper – F-16 Modular Mission Comput er (MMC), 2006, Raytheon Company

Gender Inequality Essay

Gender can be defined as the socially constructed roles and duties society constructs, assigns and expects of males and females on the basis of their biological and physical characteristics. Gender is learnt, not permanent and differs from one community to another. Gender roles and responsibilities are found in all spheres of society be it economic, social, political or religious. Gender roles are affected by age, social class, ability, ethnicity and race. The gender roles help society to determine men and women access to rights, resources and opportunities. Gender in this perspective is not just a concept, but about perceptions and understanding concerning the affiliation between males and females in society and how gender influences their attitudes, behavior and responsibilities. Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment of men and women that are against the legal and constitutional requirement such as the human rights provisions as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Hum an Rights of 1948 & The Convention on the Eradication of all forms of discrimination against females (1979). Most countries have, however, fallen short of entitling human rights and freedoms to everyone in society regardless of their sex (Michael 12). Gender inequality varies from developed countries to developing countries. Also considering that the world is comprised of different tribes and races that have distinct values and beliefs, gender inequality will vary with the same intensity. Such inequalities include the professional obstacles that women encounter in their workplaces. It is evident that women’s lack of leadership positions because such roles are considered to be meant for men. Those who are mothers may be penalized or discriminated for taking time off to attend to their children. The controversial issue concerning gender inequality is the need to acknowledge the unequal power relations between men and women in society and to work for greater gender equality and the advancement of women. It does not only mean the identification of specific areas that are important for women’s advancements, but also attempts to introduce a dimension of gender in all activities. It also means there is recognition of how important it is to work with both men and women to change the existing gender relations. According to the United States Census data, there is a gender wage gap in which women earn 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man. The gap is a matter of concern that has prompted  President Obama to announce the Paycheck fairness Act on Equal Pay Day. However, according to the one of the lead economist the statistics behind the gender wage gap are flawed. The flawed statistics have acted hindrance and distracter to the legislator and concerned public from finding the solutions that would solve the real problem-the gender jobs gap. The Census data that give the 77 cents on dollar comparison is based on aggregate earning of men and women thus ignoring job choice, education, experience, industry, and other factors that contribute to a person’s wage. If a comparison is made between men and women with the same background such as education and experience, same employer, among other the gender gap disappears. The reasons why the gender job gap exists is the due to low number of female occupying high executive levels and director positions. Men also are earning higher than women despite being in the same senio r-level jobs. The choice of work is a major that determine potential earnings. Men tend to take relatively high-paying jobs in engineering and IT, while women take low-paying jobs like education and human resources. The gender gap persists because men and women choose to pursue different careers (Autor et al, 2008). The gender job gap can be closed, if women are encouraged to pursue high-paying career in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. Legislation should be formulated to bridge the gap in men and women career choice. An enabling environment should create in the workplace where women can be empowered and helped to rise to top executive positions. Comparing the job to job is not tenable solution in addressing the gender wage gap; more need to be done to bring women earning close to that of men (Juhn et al, 2014). Gender inequality also involves feticide and infanticide. For instance, in India and China, a male child is more appreciated than a female child. Parents have to find out the sex of the baby they are carrying so as to decide whether to terminate the pregnancy or kill the child after its birth (Kristoff, 69). One of my family members in China, my cousin who has a bias th at boys better than girls. I was very angry that he convinced his wife went to abortion because his wife pregnant with a girl when I knew he did that. He explained that China has the birth control policy and he just want to a boy to continue his family name. In the legal area at China, it wasn’t involve in crime for what he did. However, in the ethical area, he deprive his wife’s thought and the  baby who didn’t has chance come to the world. I think he against the humanity and nature. There are also a number of organizations in society that play key roles in the construction of gender. These organizations need to be gender sensitive so as to ensure they continue in the positive construction of gender equality. Such organizations include the family, the most imperative socializing proxy, school, media and religion. Several theoretical perspectives exist that tend to explain the origin of gender inequalities. Radical feminists argue that the gender inequalities arise from the biological differences among individuals that produce a form of social organization that equip men and women with the different roles they play in society. For example, women are handicapped by their biology in terms of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding that makes them dependent on men. This dependence creates an une qual power relationships and power psychology. They also argue that, in every society, a high value is placed on culture rather than nature. Through culture, supernatural forces can be sought in order to achieve success, hence it is considered a means by which humanity governs and regulates nature. Women are seen closer to nature than men because of their social roles as mothers and reproduction (Hekman 52). Men, on the other hand, participate in activities such as warfare, politics that involve culture. This makes them better to women. From a Marxist perspective, gender inequality arose during the earlier stages of development when there was ownership of private property. Men gained control over the women and property hence the patriarchal system of family where property was passed down through the male’s line. Marxists thought this would change with the capitalist system but women still continue to be disadvantaged compared to men. On the contrary, liberal feminists approached gender inequality in a more elaborate way. They argued that nobody benefits from the existing gender inequalities since both men and women are harmed by inequalities. While women do not get opportunities to develop their talents and become successful and skilled members, men are also denied the o pportunity of having a close relationship with their children. Gender inequality is caused by the general credence that males are superior to females; because of this idea, women have spent some significant amount of years suffering under their counterparts. Males also tend to be more emphatic and absolute because of their natal hormones or intuitive  intellect. Sexual discrimination is also another major cause of gender inequality where women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than real human beings with standards and morals. Other general contributing factors of gender inequality include unequal power relations, assumptions about male and female behavior, insufficient laws against gender inequality, cultural, traditional and religious practices. I became aware of this problem through the campaigns that the government and other Non-Governmental Organizations have held. Their efforts are directed towards ensuring that gender inequality is minimized all over the world. Awareness is being created among women where they get to be educated on their rights and freedoms (Hurst, 96). The women are being empowered through sponsoring women projects as a way of generating income that makes them less dependable on women. The media is al so playing a vital role on the sensitization of ways of minimizing gender inequality in the societies. Higher education in universities and colleges also promotes women support and all levels of society. The government is doing everything in its power to increase the productivity of women by initiating income generating projects. However, they do not take into account that women are already overburdened with work, they do not control family budgets and many of them have difficulties of freedom and movement. It is evident that the informal sector has limited employment opportunities and these projects will not be taken with the seriousness it deserves despite having the ability to empower the women. It is also easy to mobilize individuals or groups for a specific goal such as a political action or assisting members who are in need. In this case curbing, the menace of gender inequality in the society will be of great help. This is because it has charged most nations more harm than good. Most people have depicted that certain duties and tasks are to be performed by certain persons making gender imbalance. Heavy duties are usually dedicated to men while the simple ones are left to the females creating a huge difference in genders. Until all these issues are addressed there is no way that the nation and the globe will ever achieve gender balance. Work cited Michael G. Peletz, Gender, Sexuality and Body Politics in Modern Asia. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian studies, 2011. Kristoff, Nicholas D. (August 23, 2009). â€Å"The Women’s Crusade.† New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2011. Burstein, Paul. â€Å"Equal Employment Opportunity: Labor Market Discrimination and Public Policy.† Edison, NJ: Aldine Transaction, 1994. Hekman, David R.; Aquino, Karl; Owens, Brad P.; Mitchell, Terence R.; (2009) An Examination of How Racial and Gender Biases Influence Customer Satisfaction. Autor, D. H., Katz, L. F., & Kearney, M. S. (2013). Trends in US wage inequality: Revising the revisionists. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(2), 300-323. Juhn, C., Ujhelyi, G., & Villegas-Sanchez, C. (2014). Men, women, and machines: how trade impacts gender inequality. Journal of Development Economics, 106, 179-193.

Marraige

Arranged marriage is happen a lot over seas in the western area, not so much in the United States. There is an article that is called â€Å"I’m Happy with an Arranged Marriage† by Gitangeli Sapra. In this article she discusses her view of arranged marriages. Ms. Gitangeli approves of arranged marriage, it is stated that people who get married for â€Å"love† has a 40% rate of divorce. She also states that arranged marriages have a lower rate of divorce for the fact that the couples do not want to start a wrath between their families. Is arranged marriage right or wrong?Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I disagree with arranged marriage; I believe that families should not have the right to set up their children with who they think best suits their child. I believe marriage is about two people who love, support and respect each other. I personally would not prefer my parents to set me up with someone who they think is a good match for me, because I have di fferent standards then they do and I have a different idea of who the type of person I would like to spend my time with. Parents want to see their children with successful spouses and who they think are a good person.If parents were to choose who they want their child to marry then they will be too involved in the couple’s relationship, so if the relationship is not working out the couple would be too scared to get a divorce because of what their family might do. A lot of countries make arranged marriage mandatory, and some people really do agree with it it are apart of some cultures, but others do not. Fatma Uncon was a twenty year old female who was forced into an arranged marriage, which she did not want. Since she was forced she decided to commit suicide by shooting herself

Carbohydrates Lab Report Essay

Introduction Carbohydrates are essential in foods as an energy source (starch is the main source of human calories), a flavouring (simple sugars are usually sweet) and as a functional ingredient (sucrose allows ice cream to be soft in the freezer; xanthan gum thickens a low-fat salad dressing). Carbohydrates are a type of macronutrient found in many foods and beverages. Most carbohydrates are naturally occurring in plant-based foods, such as grains. Food manufacturers also add carbohydrates to processed foods in the form of starch or added sugar. As with all our approaches to food ingredients/constituents we will first examine the structure of carbohydrates and then try to elucidate how their structures allow them to function as they do. As their name suggests, carbohydrates basically made up from sugar and water, i.e. Cx(H2O)y, although this ratio is often not strictly true and occasionally other atoms may be present. The carbons are arranges in a chain (most often 5-6 atoms) functionalized with alcohol groups. The terminal carbon either carries either an aldehyde or a ketone functional group. Carbohydrates are classified based on size of base carbon  chain, number of sugar units, location of C=O and stereochemistry. Classifications of carbohydrate are monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharide is the smallest possible sugar unit. Examples include glucose, galactose or fructose. When we talk about blood sugar we are referring to glucose in the blood; glucose is a major source of energy for a cell. In human nutrition, galactose can be found most readily in milk and dairy products, while fructose is found mostly in vegetables and fruit. When monosaccharides merge together in linked groups they are known as polysaccharides. Disaccharide is two monosaccharide molecules bonded together. Polysaccharides are polymers. A simple compound is a monomer, while a complex compound is a polymer which is made of two or more monomers. Disaccharides are polysaccharides – â€Å"poly†¦Ã¢â‚¬  specifies any number higher than one, while â€Å"di†¦Ã¢â‚¬  specifies exactly two. Examples of disaccharides include lactose, maltose, and sucrose. If you bond one glucose molecule with a fructose molecule you get a sucrose molecule. Sucrose is found in table sugar, and is often formed as a result of photosynthesis (sunlight absorbed by chlorophyll reacting with other compounds in plants). If you bond one glucose molecule with a galactose molecule you get lactose, which is commonly found in milk. Starch, glycogen, dextran and cellulose are polysaccharides. Polysaccharides differ not only in the natural of their component monosaccharides but also in the length of their chains and in the amount of chain branching that occurs. Polysaccharides function as storage materials, structural components, or protective substances. Thus, starch ( which exists in two forms: amylose and amylopectin ), glycogen and other storage polysaccharides, as readily metabolizable food, provide energy reserves for cells. Chitin and cellulose provide strong support for the skeletons of arthropods and green plants, respectively. In this experiment those activity that had been carried out means to determine the carbohydrate class of an unknown by carrying out a series of chemical reactions with the unknown and known compounds in each class of carbohydrate such as the Molisch test (general CHO), Barfoed’s test (monosaccharides), Fehling’s test (reducing sugars), Benedict’s test (reducing sugars) and Iodine test (amylose). ACTIVITY 3.1, MOLISCH TEST: A GENERAL TEST FOR CARBOHYDRATES OBJECTIVE: To test the carbohydrate solution MATERIALS: 1 % of carbohydrate solutions( lactose, glucose, starch, sucrose, cellulose, fructose, apple and cabbage ), distilled water(as control tube), concentrated sulphuric acid, Molisch reagent. APPARATUS: Test tubes, test tube holder, dropper, 5ml pipette, glass rod, test tube rack, fume cupboard CAUTION: Molish reagent contains concentrated sulfuric acid , which is toxic and corrosive. It can cause severe burns. Prevent eye, skin clothing, and combustible material contact. Avoid ingesting the substance.If you spill any reagent or acid, immediately notify your laboratory instructor. NOTE: Do not place your thumb over the open end of a test tube when mixing its contents. Your laboratory instructor will suggest ways in which you can safely and thoroughly mix the contents of a test tube. PROCEDURES: 1. 2 ml of each of the 1% carbohydrate solutions that have been prepared is added into one set of labelled test tubes. 2. 2 drops of Molisch reagent are added to each test tube and is mixed well with a clean glass stirring rod. 3. The test tube is inclined. Then 3ml of concentrated sulphuric acid is added slowly and carefully down the side of the tube to form a layer below the sugar solution.( This step is performed inside the fume cupboard ). 4. The resulting solution did not been shook or mixed. 5. The change of the solution is observed and recorded. ( A purple ring at the interface is indicative of a carbohydrate ). 6. The test solutions containing Molisch reagent is discarded into the container provided by laboratory instructor. RESULT: DISCUSSION: Carbohydrates undergo dehydration reactions (loss of water) in the presence of concentrated sulfuric acid. Pentoses and hexoses form five member oxygen  containing rings on dehydration. The five member ring, known as furfural, further reacts with Molisch reagent to form colored compounds. Pentoses are then dehydrated to furfural, while hexoses are dehydrated to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. Either of these aldehydes, if present, will condense with two molecules of naphthol to form a purple-colored product. A positive reaction is indicated by appearance of a purple ring at the interface between the acid and test layers. Monosaccharides give a rapid positive test. Glucose and fructose are monosaccharide. Disaccharides and polysaccharides react more slowly than monosaccharide. Sucrose and lactose are disaccharide which also gave purple color ring. Starch and cellulose gave slightly purple color because they are polysaccharides. Distilled water gave negative test because it is not carbohydrate. A large apple has around 28-31 grams of carbohydrate. Apple and cabbage contain carbohydrate so that they gave purple ring in this test. CONCLUSION: Glucose, lactose, fructose, sucrose, starch and cellulose all are carbohydrates which give positive test for Molisch test. A sample of distilled water is prepared and tested as the controlling sample. ACTIVITY 3.2, BARFOED’S TEST:A GENERAL TEST TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN MONOSACCHARIDE AND DISACCHARIDES OBJECTIVE: To distinguish the given carbohydrate solutions as monosaccharides or disaccharides. MATERIALS: 1 % of carbohydrate solutions( lactose, glucose, starch, sucrose, cellulose, fructose), distilled water (as control tube), Barfoed’s reagent APPARATUS: Test tubes, test tube holder, 5 ml pipette, pipette filler, stop watch, water bath CAUTION : Barfoed’s reagent is corrosive and an irritant. If you spill any of the solution on yourself or on the bench, immediately notify your laboratory instructor. PROCEDURES 1. 5 ml of each of the carbohydrate solutions is added into one set of the  labelled test tubes. 2. 5 ml of Barfoed’s reagent is added to each test.  3. The contents of each tube are shook well. All the tubes are placed in an actively boiling water bath at the same time. 4. After the water starts boiling again, the solutions is heated for 3.5 min. ( Timing is important since a false positive test can be obtained for monosaccharides with disaccharide, if the disaccharides are heated for more than 3.5 min thereby breaking down ( hydrolyzing ) to monosaccharides ). 5. During this period, the tubes are observed closely and any change of clarity of the solutions is noted. ( A positive test for monosaccharides is the appearance of a red precipitate of Cu?O within 1 or 2 minutes, if no precipitate forms it indicates the presence of a disaccharide). RESULT: 1% CARBOHYDRATE SOLUTION FORMATION OF RED PRECIPITATE Fructose Yes Glucose Yes Cellulose No Lactose No Sucrose No Starch No Distilled water(as control tube) No DISCUSSION: Barfoed’s test distinguishes monosaccharides from disaccharides. Positive test for monosaccharides is the appearance of red precipitate (Cu2O) within 1-2 minutes. If no precipitate formed, indicates the presence of disaccharide. The red precipitate come from the reaction between the  reduction of copper (II) acetate to copper(I) oxide (Cu2O). RCHO + 2Cu2+ + 2H2O > RCOOH + Cu2Ov + 4H+ The aldehyde group of the monosaccharide which normally forms a cyclic hemiacetal is oxidized to the carboxylate. Glucose and fructose which are monosaccharides show positive result in this test. Reducing disaccharides undergo the same reaction, but do so at a slower rate. So, the timing to heat the sample is set to 3.5 minutes. However, the samples are heated no more than 3.5 minutes to prevent the disaccharide breaking down to monosaccharide. Lactose, sucrose, cellulose, starch and distilled water showed negative result in this test. CONCLUSION: Only monosaccharide will give an immediate red precipitate in Barfoed’s test that is glucose and fructose the other remaining solutions which are cellulose, lactose, sucrose, starch and distilled water do not show any changes. ACTIVITY 3.3 FEHLING TEST: FOR REDUCING OBJECTIVE: To distinguish the reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars MATERIALS: 1% of carbohydrate solutions ( glucose, fructose, cellulose, lactose, sucrose, starch ), distilled water(as control tube), Fehling solution A ( 69.28 grams copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate dissolved in 1 litre of distilled water), Fehling solution B ( 346 grams Rochelle salt ( potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate) and 120 grams sodium hydroxide in 1 litre of distilled water) APPARATUS: 5 ml pipette, test tubes, test tube holder, test tube rack, pipette filler, stop watch PROCEDURES: 1. 5 ml of carbohydrate solutions is added into one set of test tubes. 2. By using different glass pipettes, 5 ml of Fehling A and 5 ml of Fehling B are added into each test tubes. 3. The solution is heated in a boiling water bath for 5-10 minutes. 4. Red brick precipitate is formed for positive results. 5. Changes in test tubes are recorded. RESULT: Samples Result Lactose Positive-red brick precipitate Glucose Positive-red brick precipitate Fructose Positive-red brick precipitate Starch Negative-no changes Distilled water Negative-no changes Cellulose Negative-no changes Sucrose Negative-no changes DISCUSSION: Fehling’s solution is used to test for the presence of a reducing sugar. Fehling’s solution was based on the aldehyde or ketone groups in the sugar structures. A sugar is classified as a reducing sugar only if it has an open-chain form with an aldehyde group or a free hemiacetal group. the presence of aldehydes but not ketones is detected by reduction of the deep blue solution of copper(II) to a red precipitate of insoluble copper oxide. Fructose, glucose and lactose show positive result in this test. All monosaccharides are reducing sugars. Many disaccharides, like lactose, also have a reducing form, as one of the two units may have an open-chain form with an aldehyde group. However, sucrose, in which the anomeric carbons of the two units are linked together, are non-reducing disaccharides since neither of the rings is capable of opening. Polysaccharides (sugars with multiple chemical rings) are non-reducing sugars. Polysaccharides have closed structures, which use free atoms to bond together their multiple rings, and take a much longer time to be broken down. So, starch and cellulose which are polysaccharides have negative result in Fehling’s test. Distilled water is not reducing sugar also shows negative result. CONCLUSION: Fehling test is the common test which is used to determine the presence of reducing sugar. Fructose, lactose and glucose are reducing sugars which give brick red precipitate after the solutions are heated. ACTIVITY 3.4 BENEDICT’S TEST: FOR REDUCING OBJECTIVE: To test for reducing sugars MATERIALS: 1% of carbohydrate solutions ( glucose, fructose, cellulose, lactose, sucrose, starch ), 3M hydrochloric acid (HCl), Benedict’s reagent, distilled water APPARATUS: Test tubes, test tube holder, test tube rack, 5 ml pipette, pipette filler, dropper, stop watch, water bath PROCEDURES 1. 5 ml of Benedict’s reagent and 2 ml of carbohydrate are added to a test tube and each tube is shook thoroughly. 2. All the tubes are placed in a boiling water bath at the same time. The solutions are heated for 5-6 min. 3. Any changes in color, in the transparencies and in the formation and color of any precipitate are observed and recorded. 4. Later, 4 drops of 3M HCl are added to 5 ml of 1 % sucrose solution and is heated in the boiling water bath for 5 min. 5. 1 % starch solution is treated in the same way but the heating period was extended to 25-30 min. 6. 1-2 ml of each of solution is applied with Benedict’s test in the same manner as before. 7. The results are compared with those obtained without acid treatment. RESULT: Sugar solution Result of colour of the solution Starch Light blue Lactose Brick red precipitate are formed Fructose Brick red precipitate are formed Sucrose Light blue Cellulose Light blue + white precipitate Glucose Brick red precipitate are formed Distilled water Light blue Sucrose + HCI Brick red precipitate are formed Starch + HCI Light DISCUSSION: The Benedict’s test is used to detect the presence of reducing sugars (sugars with a free aldehyde or ketone group) such as glucose, fructose and lactose. All monosaccharides are reducing sugars; they all have a free reactive carbonyl group. Some disaccharides have exposed carbonyl groups and are also reducing sugars. Lactose which is disaccharides also called reducing sugar as it has the exposed carbonyl groups. Other disaccharides such as sucrose and starch are non-reducing sugars and will not react with Benedict’s solution. Benedict’s reagent is a mild oxidant with CuSO4, Cu (II) sulfate, as one of the reagents. In the presence of a reducing sugar, the blue solution of Cu (II) or Cu+2, is changed to a brick red/brown precipitate of Copper (I) or Cu+1 oxide,Cu2O. If there a small or large amount of the reducing sugar present, the color would range from green to brick red respectively. RCHO + 2Cu2+ + 4OH- > RCOOH + Cu2O + 2H2O Sucrose indirectly produces a posit ive result with Benedict’s reagent if heated with dilute hydrochloric acid prior to the test, although after this treatment it is no longer sucrose. The addition of  HCl hydrolysed the non-reducing sugar, as it split it up into its component monomers. The monomers are reducing sugars which gave the positive result on the second reducing sugar test. The acidic conditions and heat break the glycosidic bond in sucrose through hydrolysis. The products of sucrose decomposition are glucose and fructose, both of which can be detected by Benedict’s reagent, as described above. This same goes for starch. But since starch has larger component compare to sucrose so it took a longer time to hydrolyse. That the purpose of heat it in longer time compare to sucrose. Without the addition of acid to sucrose solution, starch solution, the test given is negative. The solutions remain clear blue after the addition of Benedict’s reagent and heating. Tap water is used only to show the example of negative result of Benedict’s test. Thus it will not show any changes compare to the carbohydrates. CONCLUSION: Benedict’s test is the common test which is used to determine the existence of reducing sugar. Fructose, lactose, and glucose are reducing sugars which give positive test. Starch and sucrose are non reducing sugars which give positive results after adding hydrochloric acid. ACTIVITY 3.6, IODINE TEST: FOR POLYSACCHARIDES OBJECTIVE: To test for polysaccharides MATERIALS: 0.01M iodine, 0.12M KI , 1% carbohydrate solutions (cellulose and starch) , distilled water APPARATUS: Test tubes, test tube rack , dropper. PROCEDURE: 1. Few drop of 0.01M iodine in 0.12M KI added to 1% starch and cellulose solutions. 2. Any changes to the colour are observed. RESULT: 1% CARBOHYDRATE SOLUTION COLOUR OBSERVED Starch Vivid blue Cellulose Yellowish brown DISCUSSION: Starch gives positive result in Iodine test as the color of solution change from yellow to dark blue. The immediate formation of a vivid blue color indicates amylose. Vivid blue coloration forms due to the polyiodide complex formed. Cellulose is derived from D-glucose units, which condensed through beta(1->4)-glycosidic bond. This give cellulose to be a straight polymer therefore, it can’t coil around iodine to produce blue colour as starch does. Only starch gives the color of vivid blue, this is because it contains amylase. The iodine molecules slip inside of the amylase coil. The amylose, or straight chain portion of starch, forms helices where iodine molecules assemble, forming a dark blue color. CONCLUSION: The Iodine test is used to test for the presence of starch. Starch is a type of polysaccharide carbohydrate which is made up of amylose and amylopectin. It is one of the main sources of carbohydrate and present naturally in plant. Amylose in starch form dark blue complex with iodine. ACTIVITY 2.2 SOLUBILITY AND DIGESTIBILITY TEST SOLUBILITY TEST OBJECTIVE: To test the solubility in hot water and digestion by amylase. MATERIALS: 5g of starch, 5g of cellulose, distilled water APPARATUS: Test tubes, test tube holder, glass rod, test tube rack, fume cupboard, 2 centrifuge tubes, analytical balance, cylinder, graduated pipette, pipette filler, 2 evaporator dishes. PROCEDURE: 1 5 g of starch is measured and put into a centrifuge tube;  2 40 ml of distilled of water is measured and poured into the same centrifuge  tube; 3 Step 1 to 2 is repeated by replacing the starch with cellulose; 4 Both of the tubes are heated: the tube containing starch is heated for about 2-3 minutes whereas the tube containing cellulose is heated for about 10 minutes; 5 After heating, both of the content of the tubes are allowed to cool down slightly; 6 The tubes are put into a centrifuge with 3500 rpm for 10 minutes; 7 Empty weight for both of the evaporator dishes is measured; 8 5 mL of the supernatant from both of the tubes is pipetted and poured into two separate evaporator dishes; 9 The evaporator dishes are left in the oven overnight 10 The weight of the evaporator dishes is measured again. 11 The solubility results are recorded and tabulated. RESULT: Solubility (%) = Weight of dried supernatant (g) Weight of the dried carbohydrates (g) For starch, solubility (%) = 0.0093g 50.0023g = 0.01860 % For cellulose, solubility (%) = 0.0010g 50.0027g = 0.002000 % Carbohydrates Weight of dry carbohydrates (gram) Weight of dried supernatant (gram) Solubility (%) Starch 50.0023g 24.8768g- 24.8675g= 0.0093g 0.01860 Cellulose 50.0027g 21.2150g- 21.2140g= 0.0010g 0.002000 DISCUSSION: In this activity, the solubility is defined as the percentage ratio of the weight of dried supernatant to the weight of the dry starch. Solubility can be interpreted as the amount of the dissolved compound that is present in the test solution. From the calculations done, we can see that starch, with a percentage of solubility at 0.01860 %, whereas cellulose have 0.002000 %. Starch and cellulose are two very similar polymers. In fact, they are both made from the same monomer, glucose, and have the same glucose-based repeat units. Since the sugar molecules contain the hydroxyl group or –OH, Thus it can form hydrogen bonds with water molecules, which makes it soluble in water, but only to a limited extent. However, the glucose units in starch are connected by alpha linkages while the glucose units in cellulose are connected by beta linkages. In starch, all the glucose repeat units are oriented in the same direction. But in cellulose, each succesive glucose unit is rotated 180 degrees around the axis of the polymer backbone chain, relative to the last repeat unit. Although cellulose contains hydroxyl groups too, but most of them are hydrogen-bonded to each other when the microfibrils stack together, which accounts for the strength of cellulose fibers. There’s less free hydroxyl groups that can hydrogen bond with water molecules, other than those hydroxyl groups that’s present at the end of each cellulose chain, which causes the cellulose to be less soluble in water when compared to starch. CONCLUSION: Although both starch and cellulose are complex carbohydrates, which have large molecular weight size, significantly reducing their affinity for water, but the hydroxyl groups that exist in the monomers itself actually contributes to their insignificant solubility. However, the solubility will increase when these complex carbohydrates are broken down into its monomers where the hydroxyl groups can form hydrogen bonds with other water molecules easily due to the reduced molecular weight and size that affects the affinity for water. DIGESTIBILITY TEST OBJECTIVE: To determine the digestibility of complex carbohydrates MATERIALS: Starch powder, cellulose powder, enzyme amylase, benedict’s solution, distilled water APPARATUS: 2 centrifuge tubes, measuring cylinder, analytical balance, pipette fillers, graduated pipettes, 2 droppers, 5 test tubes. PROCEDURE: 1 5 g of starch is measured and put into a centrifuge tube;  2 40 ml of distilled of water is measured and poured into the same centrifuge tube; 3 Step 1 to 2 is repeated by replacing the starch with cellulose; 4 Both of the tubes are heated: the tube containing starch is heated for about 2-3 minutes whereas the tube containing cellulose is heated for about 10 minutes; 5 After heating, both of the tubes are allowed to cool down slightly; 6 5 mL of starch is pipetted into a test tube;  7 Step 6 is repeated using a different test tube but a drop of amylase is dropped into it; 8 5 mL of cellulose is pipetted into a test tube; 9  Step 8 is repeated using a different test tube but a drop of amylase is dropped into it; 10 5 mL of distilled water is pipetted into the last test tube, and a drop of amylase is dropped into it; 11 20 drops of benedict’s solution is dropped into five of the test tubes; 12 Any changes occurred is recorded and tabulated. Result Samples Colours of the solutions Benedict’ s test 5 g of starch blue Negative 5 g of starch with amylase Brick red precipitate is formed Positive 5 g of cellulose blue Negative 5 g of cellulose with amylase blue Negative Distilled water with amylase Blue Negative DISCUSSION: Amylase is one of the many members of a class of enzyme, hydrolases, that catalyze the hydrolysis of starch into smaller carbohydrate molecules such as maltose (a molecule composed of two glucose molecules). Two categories of amylases, denoted alpha and beta, differ in the way they attack the bonds of the starch molecules. Alpha-amylase is widespread among living organisms. In the digestive systems of humans and many other mammals, an alpha-amylase called ptyalin is produced by the salivary glands, whereas pancreatic amylase is secreted by the pancreas into the small intestine. In the experiment, the test tube that contains only distilled water served as a control for this experiment. As for the test tubes that contain starch and cellulose without the amylase, they give a negative result for Benedict’s test, because for starch and cellulose, since both of them are complex carbohydrates, thus they have very few carbonyl groups which contribute to the compound’s reducing properties. Starch is a non-reducing sugar which shows negative result in the Benedict’s test. As for the test tube that contains starch and cellulose with the addition of a drop of enzyme, amylase, the test tube with starch gives a positive result, but not the test tube with cellulose. As we all know, enzyme amylase can only catalyzes the breakdown of starch into simpler sugars, but not cellulose. Cellulose only digested by cellulase enzyme. It is impossible for human digestive enzymes to break the glycosidic bond. Therefore, only the test tube containing starch treated with amylase gives a positive result for the Benedict’s test. CONCLUSION: Enzyme is a highly specific catalyst which can only converts a specific set of reactants into specific products. Amylase only hydrolyze the starch but not cellulose. From here, we can say that the human digestive system would not be able to digest the cellulose, because our digestive system only contains amylase, and not cellulose. Therefore in the perspective of a  human, we can conclude that the digestibility of starch is higher than cellulose, provided that the enzyme amylase is present.