Death of A Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Death of A Marriage - Essay Example In my lifÐ µ, and spÐ µcifically in my marriagÐ µ, I havÐ µ undÐ µrgonÐ µ Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µncÐ µs which support thÐ µ points of both of thÐ µsÐ µ authors. I havÐ µ liÐ µd to protÐ µct my partnÐ µr’s fÐ µÃ µlings, and wÐ µ havÐ µ liÐ µd to oursÐ µlvÐ µs togÐ µthÐ µr as a tÐ µam, whilÐ µ thinking that wÐ µ wÐ µrÐ µ bÐ µing moral. As Еricsson notÐ µs, wÐ µ all liÐ µ. It is nÐ µarly impossiblÐ µ to gÐ µt through lifÐ µ without strÐ µtching thÐ µ truth; it is oftÐ µn in our sÐ µlf intÐ µrÐ µst to do so, and wÐ µ Ð µxcusÐ µ thÐ µ bÐ µhavior if it gÐ µts us ahÐ µad. â€Å"WÐ µ liÐ µ. WÐ µ all do. WÐ µ Ð µxaggÐ µratÐ µ, wÐ µ minimizÐ µ, wÐ µ avoid confrontation, wÐ µ sparÐ µ pÐ µoplÐ µ's fÐ µÃ µlings, wÐ µ convÐ µniÐ µntly forgÐ µt, wÐ µ kÐ µÃ µp sÐ µcrÐ µts, wÐ µ justify lying to thÐ µ big-guy institutions. LikÐ µ most pÐ µoplÐ µ, I indulgÐ µ in small falsÐ µhoods† (Еricsson, 2011). In my m arriagÐ µ, my spousÐ µ and I both rÐ µalizÐ µ this, and wÐ µ also rÐ µalizÐ µ it about Ð µach othÐ µr. WhÐ µn wÐ µ fight, wÐ µ may call Ð µach othÐ µr liars, but on a basic lÐ µvÐ µl, wÐ µ both know that lying is somÐ µthing wÐ µ also do togÐ µthÐ µr. Еricsson dÐ µscribÐ µs this act of lying togÐ µthÐ µr in social groups, in hÐ µr Ð µssay as groupthink.

Persuasive Speech Essay Example for Free

Persuasive Speech Essay Mr. Byrne Persuasive Speech Imagine that you trained all your life for that special moment of playing in your first NHL game. At the beginning of your first shift in the game suddenly another player’s stick comes up and strikes you in the eye. This incident ends your career. This could have been prevented if you wore a visor. I think visors should be mandatory in the NHL in order to improve a player’s safety. Statistics have proven players who wear visors in the NHL play less aggressive. There are many incidents involving sticks and pucks going into player’s faces. A recent incident occurred between Philadelphia’s Chris Pronger and Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski. Furthermore, two years ago a former NHL player Brad May, Gave a speech supporting the use of visors. Visors have been proven to improve a player’s play and helped players become less aggressive. From the 2010-2011 to the 2011-2012 there has been a 10% increase in the amount of players wearing a visor. Players in the NHL are starting to realize how important visors are. Rutgers University did a survey to find out if players played less aggressive when wearing a visor. This survey was conducted after the 2000-2001 season and the University’s theory was correct. According to the study done the average amount of penalty minutes that a player wearing a visor had were 30 penalty minutes while players not wearing a visor had 50 penalty minutes. Wearing visors help prevent horrible face injuries. On October 24th, 2011 the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing the Philadelphia Flyers in a regular season game. Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski and Philadelphia’s Chris Pronger were involved in a frightening incident. During the first period, Mikhail Grabovski was waiting for his teammate to pass him the puck, He took a shot on net, but the goaltender stopped it. What Mikhail didn’t realize is that on his follow through he nailed Chris Pronger on the corner of his eye. Chris Pronger skated off the ice screaming in pain. Bob Mackenzie, a broadcaster from TSN said that Chris Pronger would of have been free of injury if he had worn wore a visor. Players themselves are speaking ut in support of visors being mandatory. In 2009, Brad May, a former NHL player of the Detroit Red Wings gave a speech in favor of players wearing visors.

Declaration of Independence :: essays papers

Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence is perhaps the most masterfully written document of Western civilization. This essay seeks to illuminate that artistry by probing the discourse microscopically at the level of the sentence, phrase, word, and syllable. By approaching the Declaration in this way, we can shed light both on its literary qualities and on its rhetorical power as a work designed to convince the American colonies they were justified in seeking to establish them as an independent nation. The introduction consists of the first paragraph a single, lengthy, periodic sentence: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Taken out of context, this sentence is general it could be used as the introduction to a declaration by anyone. Seen within its original context, however, it is a model of refinement, and suggestion that worked on several levels of meaning and allusion. This orients readers toward a favorable view of America and prepares them for the rest of the Declaration. It dignifies the Revolution as a challenge of principle. The introduction identifies the purpose of the Declaration as simply to ^declare^ to announce publicly in explicit terms the ^causes^ impelling America to leave the British Empire. Rather than presenting one side in a public controversy on which good and decent people could differ, the Declaration claims to do no more than a natural philosopher would do in reporting the causes of any physical event. The issue, it implies, is not one of interpretation, but one of observation. The most important word in the introduction is ^necessary.^ To say an act was necessary implied that it was impelled by fate or determined by the operation of foolproof natural laws. The Revolution was not merely preferable, defensible, or justifiable. It was as inescapable, as inevitable, and as unavoidable within the course of human events as the motions of the tides or the changing of the seasons within the course of natural events. The Revolution, with connotations of necessity, was particularly important because, according to the law of nations, recourse to war was lawful only when it became ^necessary.^ The notion of necessity was important that, in addition to appearing in the introduction of the Declaration, it was invoked twice more at crucial junctures in the rest of the text.

Coming to Age in Eudora Welty’s The Little Store :: Eudora Welty The Little Store

Coming to Age in Eudora Welty’s The Little Store Eudora Welty is one of the leading American writers of the twentieth century. In her work â€Å"The Little Store,† Welty recollects from her memories of growing up. She humbly admitted that she lived a â€Å"sheltered life† growing up in the South as a woman. From this perspective, Eudora writes her short story as a means to tell her passage into adulthood. Growing up in the capital of Mississippi, Eudora lives only a few blocks from the capitol. She remembers from many different trips to the Little Store various moments of her childhood and compiles them into one trip. She encourages the reader by bringing realism to the work through the use of sensory writing. During each leg of her travel, some object creates a tangent in her mind of other memories. Although the story begins from a child’s perspective, there are hints of maturity arriving. The maturity provides â€Å"facts of life and death† (Welty 82) to Eudora. Eudora is very talented with the use of sensory imagery. She describes her mother and household in terms of foods that have strong tastes, such as blackberries and lemons, which have distinctive aromas. When Eudora arrives at the store later in the work, she is overwhelmed by her grandiose surroundings. She knows she can have whatever she would like, from sodas, to fireworks, to sweets galore. She is enticed to the point where the readers become involved by thinking of what it is they would choose themselves. She uses senses to pull the reader into her story and it makes the story more realistic. However, in the end, this is a fact of life for Eudora: she cannot always have everything she wants. She must choose wisely or face the consequences. After pulling the reader into the story, Eudora makes an attempt to relate to her audience. She would â€Å"bet that nickel that would be left over that all over the country †¦ the neighborhood grocery played a similar part in growing up† (79). Coming to Age in Eudora Welty’s The Little Store :: Eudora Welty The Little Store Coming to Age in Eudora Welty’s The Little Store Eudora Welty is one of the leading American writers of the twentieth century. In her work â€Å"The Little Store,† Welty recollects from her memories of growing up. She humbly admitted that she lived a â€Å"sheltered life† growing up in the South as a woman. From this perspective, Eudora writes her short story as a means to tell her passage into adulthood. Growing up in the capital of Mississippi, Eudora lives only a few blocks from the capitol. She remembers from many different trips to the Little Store various moments of her childhood and compiles them into one trip. She encourages the reader by bringing realism to the work through the use of sensory writing. During each leg of her travel, some object creates a tangent in her mind of other memories. Although the story begins from a child’s perspective, there are hints of maturity arriving. The maturity provides â€Å"facts of life and death† (Welty 82) to Eudora. Eudora is very talented with the use of sensory imagery. She describes her mother and household in terms of foods that have strong tastes, such as blackberries and lemons, which have distinctive aromas. When Eudora arrives at the store later in the work, she is overwhelmed by her grandiose surroundings. She knows she can have whatever she would like, from sodas, to fireworks, to sweets galore. She is enticed to the point where the readers become involved by thinking of what it is they would choose themselves. She uses senses to pull the reader into her story and it makes the story more realistic. However, in the end, this is a fact of life for Eudora: she cannot always have everything she wants. She must choose wisely or face the consequences. After pulling the reader into the story, Eudora makes an attempt to relate to her audience. She would â€Å"bet that nickel that would be left over that all over the country †¦ the neighborhood grocery played a similar part in growing up† (79).

Informative speech on sleep Essay

I. Attention Gainer: â€Å"Even though we burn more calories when we stay awake, losing sleep is not a good way to lose weight. The light sleepers ended up eating far more than those who get nine hours of sleep.† According to author Tara Parker-Pope of The New York Times published on March 18, 2013. II. Thematic Statement: Most people don’t think about the long term effects of not getting enough sleep you need to function properly. But if we all were to go to bed at a reasonable time, then not only will it improve your physical health it will also improve your mental health. III. Preview: I am going to begin by talking about how much sleep do we need according to our age? Then what goes on with our brains during sleep and lastly I will explain the implications of lack of sleep. Body: I. Main Point #1 (How much sleep do we need according to our age) A. According to The National Sleep Foundation last updated March 22nd, 2014 â€Å" Studies confirm that on average adults need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep to complete all stages of sleep.† Also after further research newborns 1 month to 2 months old need 14 to 18 hours, Infants 3 to 11 months old need 13 to 16 hours, toddlers and children need about 11 hours, and teens need 9 to 10 hours. These variations of sleep time is because of growth and repairs the brain and the body need. Neither can be obtained if you’re always up. B. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website last updated January 13, 2014 states that â€Å"50-70 million U.S Citizens have been recorded to have sleep deprivation (or lack of sleep) caused by various reasons.† Various reasons meaning that the lack of sleep could be anything from a medical problem to self-infliction of sleep deprivation. Internal Summary #1: Now that we are aware of the amount of sleep we need, let’s now discuss about our brain activity during sleep. II. Main Point #2 (What goes on with our brains during sleep) A. According to The National Institute of Neurological disorders and stroke last updated April 28th, 2014 â€Å"During sleep, we usually pass through five phases of sleep: stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and  REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.† The article also states that 50 percent of our sleep is during stage 2, 20 percent in REM sleep, and the other 30 percent in the remaining stages. B. Stage 1 of sleep is also known as light sleep where we drift in and out of sleep. This stage is where we can be woken up the easiest. Stage 2 is where our brain activity and eye movement start to slow down and stop. Stage 3 brain waves start to begin with slow and fast movements. Stage 4 also known as deep sleep is the toughest stage to wake someone up. It is the stage where there is no eye movement or muscle activity and if you were to awaken during this stage. The results would be the feeling of grogginess or disorientation. The last stage REM sleep aka Rapid Eye Movement is the dream stage of sleep. Where we fantasize about our life and day occurrences. Internal summary #2: We have discussed what goes on with our brains during sleep, let’s finish with the implications lack of sleep has on our society. III. Main Point #3 (Implications) A. Sleep is a very important factor in our everyday lives in fact according to The National Association of Science last updated April 14, 2014 â€Å"Sleep deprivation can cause severe cases of anxiety and can also lead to insomnia.† B. Without sleep our brains cannot not work to the best of its abilities. Scientists can’t discover new things, students will continue to fall asleep in class, and people that work 9 to 5 jobs could and will go mentally insane. Conclusions: I. Summary Statements: We are now familiar with the amount of sleep we need depending on ages, what our brain activity is like during sleep, and how sleep impacts us all as a society. II. Concluding Remarks: Since I researched this topic very thoroughly I can now help people who refuse to sleep for decent hours realize what they are doing to themselves. WORK CITED National Sleep Foundation â€Å"how does sleep deprivation affect us† Web 27 June 2014 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention â€Å"Sleep deprivation† Web 27 June 2014 National Association of Science â€Å"Negative implications of sleep deprivation† Web 27 June 2014 The New York Times â€Å"Lost Sleep Can Lead to Weight Gain† Tara Parker-Pope published on March 18, 2013. Web 27 June 2014. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Web 27 June 2014

DBQ 1988 essays

DBQ 1988 essays The United States government did not detonate the two nuclear devices on Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the intention of bringing an end to the war with Japan, but instead to intimidate the Soviet Union. The defeat of Japan proved that the United States bombed the country to show how strong the Americans are regarding nuclear energy versus the Soviets. Also, the undeniable truth that relations with the Soviet Union started to deter, showed that the United States wanted to frighten the U.S.S.R. by bombing Japan. Finally, competition for the post-World War II division of Europe proved that the U.S. wanted to scare the Soviet Union. Dropping the atomic bomb constituted a major factor in decision of Japan to accept the terms laid out at the Potsdam agreement. Their casualties in defending the hopeless island of Okinawa equaled to one-hundred-ten-thousand and the naval blockade that the allies had enforced brought trade down to almost nothing (Document A). Destruction quickly emerged in Japan. The allies ignored this for the reason that dropping the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would intimidate U.S.S.R. If the Americans truly considered saving more lives and bringing a quick end to the war in Japan, they would have simply waited them out without the major loss of life seen at both of the devastated Japanese cities. At the Yalta conference, Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Josef Stalin for Soviet support in the war with Japan (Document D). In return for the support against Japan, Roosevelt agreed to terms that helped create more tension between the two countries because it gave U.S.S.R. too much power in world affairs. At the time, Roosevelt did not have confidence that the United States could win the war easily without help from Stalin. He assumed that he had to invade Japan (Document C). After Roosevelt died, Truman took office. As situations developed and progress on the atomic bomb continued to in...

Car Stereo Modification Essays - Music Technology, Sound Recording

Car Stereo Modification Essays - Music Technology, Sound Recording Car Stereo Modification Car Stereo Modification I had modified my car stereo system the first day I got my new car. Whats the reason made me want to modified my car stereo system so badly? I always love to enjoy music especially when theres nothing to do in the car. Music seems more important to me. Excellent quality of car stereo system satisfied my enjoyment of music. Ive conducted a survey to 20 Purdue University students. The survey included open question and short answer questions. The survey is easy to answer and really come out with some good information answers. I had understand about peoples attitude towards cars had modified car stereo and how they want to get their car modified if they got chance to modified their car. Ive also had a interview with a professional car stereo installer Mr. Liao by E-mail. E-mailing interview makes me organized the interview answers easier and make another set of interview questions to gain more information on car stereo modification. From interview with Mr. Liao, the opinion on car stereo modification could be taught by a professional car stereo installer. Ive also had a research on car stereo modification magazines, Car Stereo Pro and Sound Lab magazines. Ive understand how to get the best system done and how each part of the system would work the best from the periodically article. To getting a modified car stereo system is not for show off but its for personal enjoyment. Anyone have the rights to have a good time cruising in their ride. Car stereo modification may be affordable for most people who just want to upgrade their car stereo system to full fill their enjoyment, but it would cost huge amount of money to get the top of the line car stereo modification done. Peoples opinion towards one who had a modified car stereo system and turn up loud is annoying and childish. Most people who had a modified car stereo system usually enjoys hip-hop music or techno music which required more bass and louder speaker to makes the song sounds better. Aftermarket car stereo s ystem also requires professional custom installation depends on the model of the vehicle. I love to have a nice aftermarket car stereo system in my car. It is always a good time in the car when you have a nice car stereo system. Car stereo modification is one of my hobby thats why I would like to learned more about it. From the periodically article research, survey of car stereo modification and interview with professional car stereo installer. The information of car stereo modification is very useful and detailed. The research on the periodically article of the aftermarket car stereo is helping to gain the basic information of aftermarket car stereo. It explains the detail of each different part of the system. This telling people that theres not only speakers and receivers for car stereo theres also have subwoofer for extra bass and amplifier for extra power supply. This gives the background information of what is aftermarket car stereo and how does it work to make the difference to the stock car stereo system. Conducted a survey is always the best way to get the opinion from people. The survey of twenty Purdue students on campus gives us the idea of whats peoples think towards modified car stereo system. Although, theres not that much survee owns a car but they provide us the information of how they going to modify their car if they actually can make a modification of their car stereo system and whats their thoughts towards people own a stereo system. In general, everyone enjoys music and wish to have a better system. From the result of the survey, if one truly enjoys listening to music he should get the system upgraded. People thinks one who bumping their system loud is just want to catch peoples eyes. It is not that much big of a deal to blame on them they are only few of them. I really had a good time from conducted a interview with Mr. Liao. Mr. Liao is a experienced expert in car stereo modification field. In the car stereo modification market, experience is

From Argonaut to Internaut

From Argonaut to Internaut From Argonaut to Internaut From Argonaut to Internaut By Maeve Maddox The combining form -naut gives English several words that convey a type of traveler. The Greek word for sailor was ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ±Ã Ãâ€žÃŽ ·Ãâ€š (nautes). Classical Latin mesonauta referred to a sailor â€Å"intermediate in rank between a rower and a steersman.† Classical Latin Argonauta referred to the sailors who traveled with Jason in the Argo (his ship). The earliest â€Å"naut word† in English is the noun Argonaut (1596): one of the legendary heroes who accompanied Jason in the Argo in his quest of the Golden Fleece. Because of their quest for gold, the US â€Å"forty-niners† (gold-seekers who went to California in 1849) were also referred to as argonauts. Here, with the date of their earliest citation in the OED, are some other â€Å"naut words† in English: aeronaut (1784) A person who makes balloon ascents or flies in a balloon, a balloonist. aquanaut (1881) An underwater ‘explorer’ or swimmer. astronaut (1928) A person who travels in space; especially a person who is (or has been) a crewmember on board a spacecraft or on a space mission. cosmonaut (1959) A traveler in outer space; an astronaut (especially a Russian space traveler). cybernaut (1965) A robot (1973) A computer user (1990) A person who interacts with a virtual reality environment using computer technology internaut (1992) A user of the Internet, especially a skilled or habitual one. Note: Internaut first shows on the Ngram Viewer in 1991 and leaps upward from there. In French, the word internaute is the equivalent of â€Å"internet user.† According to Wikipedia, English internaut â€Å"refers to operators or technically highly capable users of the Internet,† but internaut as a one-word option for â€Å"internet user† has its appeal. oceanaut (1962) Another word for aquanaut. If you are wondering why juggernaut is not in the list of â€Å"naut words,† here’s your answer. The naut in juggernaut is not the combining form that means sailor or traveler. It’s an accident of spelling. In Hindu religion, Jaggernaut is a title of Krishna. The title derives from Hindi Jagannath, â€Å"Lord of the world.† In an annual ceremony, a representation of this incarnation is carried in procession by an enormous vehicle. The ritual is especially associated with the town of Puri in India. According to legend, devotees there once allowed themselves to be crushed under the wheels of the cart in sacrifice. The word juggernaut is used figuratively to mean, â€Å"anything that demands blind devotion or merciless sacrifice and â€Å"a massive inexorable force or object that advances irresistibly and crushes whatever is in its path.† For example, Donald  Trump  is a  political juggernaut  with a carnival barkers draw.- Dallas News Game of Thrones: Can HBO’s Juggernaut Maintain Its Momentum?- The Fiscal Times. In the following examples, the word unstoppable is redundant: The big unstoppable juggernaut proved the inspiration for so many players- Independent (Ireland) At first glance the Argonaut High girls  basketball  team looks like an  unstoppable juggernaut.  Auburn Journal Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business Emails"Have" vs "Having" in Certain ExpressionsThe "Pied" in The Pied Piper

Analyisis of Yell Group PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Analyisis of Yell Group PLC - Essay Example range of media like printed directories, local and national newspapers, and online directories and also provides business and residential information on phone. The main areas of operation of the group are United Kingdom and United States of America. (Company Overview, Worldscope) In the year 2006, the company posted a total sales figure of â‚ ¤1621.30 million. The operating income was â‚ ¤449.30 million, and the net income was â‚ ¤212.30 million. The total assets of the company in 2006 amounted to â‚ ¤3592.60 million as against the total liabilities of â‚ ¤2486.80million. The EBITDA is â‚ ¤493.90million. The key fundamentals of the company the company are given as under: The sales of the company increased from 670.51 million pounds in 2002 to 1285.30 million pounds in 2005. From 2002 to 2003 there was a 66.14% increase in sales. This increase in sales stabilized to 6.54% in 2004 and then increased to 8.29% in 2005. From 2002 to 2005 the cost of goods sold increased from 226.10 million pounds to 470.70 million pounds. The first year saw an increase of about 72.05%. This increase also stabilized to 11.39% in 2004 and 8.63% in 2005. The cost of goods sold from 2002 to 2500 decreased consistently, while the rate of increase in sales dipped to 6.54% from a high of 66.14% in 2003. The gross income and the operating income have also increased consistently from 2003 onwards. The increases were the highest from 2002 to 2003, and all the increases were over 50% in all the above measures. At the same time, the company has been trying to reduce its general, admin, selling expenses and other expenses. These expenses were again very high from 2002 to 2003, but ha ve steadily decreased since then. The earnings before interest and taxes increased by 59.46% in 2003 and decreased at the rate of 49.30% in 2004. It again showed a phenomenal increase of 161.15% in 2005. This trend of decrease and then increase was a result of an increase in the pretax extraordinary charge at the data 64.12%

Setting Up and Using a Facebook Account Assignment

Setting Up and Using a Facebook Account - Assignment Example Setting up and using a Facebook account is easily enhanced by the simple available online tools such as electronic mail address and password. These mark the beginning point for establishing a basic account that can later be updated with additional designs and tools. Once registered to use this online social utility through creating a user profile, one can add friends with whom to network. Additionally, one can post information, videos or photos to update their statuses and this is open for viewing by friends. One can also join interest groups created by workmates, friends, and businesses or by institutions of learning. This online social utility enables exchanging of messages and sharing of ideas. Hence the following steps should be the guidelines in setting up and using a Facebook account. Have an email address which can be with the Google Mail (Gmail), Yahoo, Hotmail and many more. This makes use of both alphabetical letters and numerical numbers or just letters only. The email add ress can be individual or is based on an organization or institution with a central managing point.

The Hundred Schools of Thought (Ancient Chinese Philosophies) Research Paper

The Hundred Schools of Thought (Ancient Chinese Philosophies) - Research Paper Example The phenomenon has remained in the history books of the Chinese nation and given the title â€Å"Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought†. The ideas and thoughts refined and discussed in this period have since then intensely influenced the social consciousness and the lifestyles of the people up to the modern days not just in China but the whole of East Asia . The intellectual part of the society during this time was characteristic of itinerant scholars who were employed by several state rulers most of the time as advisers of the war, government and diplomacy methods. This memorable period in history ended with the coming of the Qin Dynasty together with purge of dissent that flowed after. The major philosophies and characters/tenets of this era include Legalism, Confucianism, Maoism, Taoism, logicians and the school of Ying-yang. The philosophies and characters are believed to have had great impacts in influencing the lifestyles, culture and the social atmosphere in Chines e history. Confucianism Confucianism or â€Å"School of scholars’ was the philosophical body that most people believe had the most lasting impacts on the life of Chinese people. The legacy of this line of thought has been written on the Confucian Classics that was later made the traditional society foundation. The Confucianism took place between 551-479 BC, the period being referred to as the Kongzi of the master king2. The philosophy was named after the main founder called Confucius. Confucianism reflects back to the Zhou dynasty early days in order to come up with a political-social order that is ideal. Confucius believed that an effective government system should play a big role in necessitating each individuals prescribed relationships. He insisted that the government system should be in such a way that it ensures the ruler is given his role of ruling and the subject remains a subject. To him, for a king to rule properly, he had to be virtuous. According to Confucianism, social stratifications and the government functions were life facts that had to be sustained by the use of ethical values. To Confucius, his ideal human being went by the title ‘junzi’, meaning a superior person or a gentleman. Mencius or Mengzi (371-289) BC come up with philosophical teaching formulated directly to respond to Confucius work. The impact of the combined Confucius work who served as an interpreter and codifier of an ethical behavior based on relationship system and the emergence of Mencius, who came out as being a developer and synthesizer of Confucianism thoughts, provided the Chinese society with a framework that was comprehensive by which every life aspect was virtually ordered. Many accretions came out of Confucian thoughts immediately and after many years coming from within or without his school. The interpretations that were adapted and made use in the contemporary society gave room for Confucianism flexibility, allowing the essential system of beh avior that had been modeled from ancient literature to constitute its philosophical core3. Completely different from Mencius work with reference to the nature of human beings was Xunzi interpretation that took place between c. 300-237 BC. This was another follower of Confucian. Xunzi argued that man cannot be innately good; he believed that goodness

Employee relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Employee relations - Essay Example However, Third World countries are not able to implement this law effectively and child labor is heavily prevalent in such countries. The United Kingdom has set a proper regulatory system for employee-employer relations and aims to ensure that both sides receive their fair share. It is alleged at times that employees receive a greater amount of leniency and have more say than the employer has in the maintenance of this relationship. However, employees in the UK also have issues regarding the minimum wage, pension plans, and health benefits included in their pay (Lewis, pg. 114-184, 2003). Mainly, developed countries such as the UK, Australia, USA, and Canada have regulatory systems, which aim to moderate the relationship between employees and employers. Laws govern the contracts upheld by both parties and the clauses are testable by law. Hence, if one party fails to acknowledge or fulfill a clause mentioned in the contract, that party is liable to punishment by law. However, not all countries have a regulatory system. Most Third World Countries have neither a minimum wage nor an obligation to provide employees with any other benefits. Discrimination and unnecessary redundancy is strongly prevalent in such countries. No system exists to assist labor properly in standing up for their rights. Cheap labor is readily available in less developed countries and developed countries often end up exploiting this situation. Since their own countries have a strong system-regulating employee and employer relationship, they avail cheaper labor without any hassles in less developed countries (Lewis, pg 189, 2009). However, the international system and regulatory power for employee-employer relations details issues such as age requirements for work, health benefit plans, job security, minimum wage, and retirement plans. There are several agencies working to aim to secure such benefits for employees all over the world (Hollingshead, pg 24-32, 2010). Trade unions and worker assoc iations also do not have full acknowledgement and recognition under the laws of many countries. Hence, workers are unable to negotiate terms and conditions with their companies on a large scale or engage in â€Å"collective bargaining†. Mainly, in Third World countries, the blue-collared workers or labor classes lack education and awareness of their rights. These people also lack opportunities and hence are exploited by their employers by being offered low wages and practically no-benefits (Rose, pg 156-230, 2004). White-collar workers or skilled labor is more informed regarding international law; hence, usually such workers do engage in proper contracts and receive competitive salaries, according to their qualifications. They also receive benefits, health insurance, and retirement plans. Most Third World countries also implement international law upon their own government employees. Government employees enjoy proper employee benefits and adequate pays with pay raises wheneve r adequate. They get the treatment according to international standards of employee-employer relations (Lewis, pg 89-105, 2003). However, only one side of the story should not be accounted for as employees also have an obligation to fulfill their duties during the period of employment. International law states that employees may receive termination if they fail to perform all their duties. Hence, it is mandatory for employees to avoid over emphasizing their powers. In

Transport-Homeostasis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 1

Transport-Homeostasis - Assignment Example 1.2 The heart is a critical muscle within the body whose location is between the lungs and whose chief purpose is pumping of blood throughout the entire body. This role is executed with the assistance of Pulmonary Circulation and Systematic Circulation which are tasked with blood circulation. The heart consists of 4 chambers; 2 upper atria as well as 2 lower ventricles. Both the left and right sides of the heart operate together. Blood enters into the right side of the heart via 2 big veins; the superior and inferior vena cava, which empties deoxygenated blood from various parts of the body inside the right atrium. The pulmonary vein on the left side then pours oxygenated blood from the lungs and into the left atrium. The atrial contraction occurs when blood flows from the right atrium and into the right ventricle via the tricuspid valve that is usually open. The tricuspid valve normally shuts whenever the ventricles become full, a role that holds blood from backward flow into the at ria as the ventricles squeeze/contract. On the left side, blood flows from the left atrium and into the left ventricle via the open mitral valve. Whenever the ventricles fill, there is shutting of mitral valve which stops blood from backward flow and into the atria as the ventricles contract (squeeze).Ventricular contraction comprises of carbon dioxide and oxygen travelling to and from small numerous air sacs in the lungs via the capillaries walls and into the blood. On the right side, blood comes out of heart via the pulmonic valve and into the pulmonary artery and finally finds its way to the lungs. On the left side, blood comes out of the heart via the aortic valve, and into the aorta and finally to the body. Normally this pattern is normally repeated, resulting in the continuous flow of the blood to the heart, then lungs and onto the entire body (Storad, 2006). 1.3 The circulatory system comprises of the blood vessels, the

Employee relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Employee relations - Essay Example However, Third World countries are not able to implement this law effectively and child labor is heavily prevalent in such countries. The United Kingdom has set a proper regulatory system for employee-employer relations and aims to ensure that both sides receive their fair share. It is alleged at times that employees receive a greater amount of leniency and have more say than the employer has in the maintenance of this relationship. However, employees in the UK also have issues regarding the minimum wage, pension plans, and health benefits included in their pay (Lewis, pg. 114-184, 2003). Mainly, developed countries such as the UK, Australia, USA, and Canada have regulatory systems, which aim to moderate the relationship between employees and employers. Laws govern the contracts upheld by both parties and the clauses are testable by law. Hence, if one party fails to acknowledge or fulfill a clause mentioned in the contract, that party is liable to punishment by law. However, not all countries have a regulatory system. Most Third World Countries have neither a minimum wage nor an obligation to provide employees with any other benefits. Discrimination and unnecessary redundancy is strongly prevalent in such countries. No system exists to assist labor properly in standing up for their rights. Cheap labor is readily available in less developed countries and developed countries often end up exploiting this situation. Since their own countries have a strong system-regulating employee and employer relationship, they avail cheaper labor without any hassles in less developed countries (Lewis, pg 189, 2009). However, the international system and regulatory power for employee-employer relations details issues such as age requirements for work, health benefit plans, job security, minimum wage, and retirement plans. There are several agencies working to aim to secure such benefits for employees all over the world (Hollingshead, pg 24-32, 2010). Trade unions and worker assoc iations also do not have full acknowledgement and recognition under the laws of many countries. Hence, workers are unable to negotiate terms and conditions with their companies on a large scale or engage in â€Å"collective bargaining†. Mainly, in Third World countries, the blue-collared workers or labor classes lack education and awareness of their rights. These people also lack opportunities and hence are exploited by their employers by being offered low wages and practically no-benefits (Rose, pg 156-230, 2004). White-collar workers or skilled labor is more informed regarding international law; hence, usually such workers do engage in proper contracts and receive competitive salaries, according to their qualifications. They also receive benefits, health insurance, and retirement plans. Most Third World countries also implement international law upon their own government employees. Government employees enjoy proper employee benefits and adequate pays with pay raises wheneve r adequate. They get the treatment according to international standards of employee-employer relations (Lewis, pg 89-105, 2003). However, only one side of the story should not be accounted for as employees also have an obligation to fulfill their duties during the period of employment. International law states that employees may receive termination if they fail to perform all their duties. Hence, it is mandatory for employees to avoid over emphasizing their powers. In

The most importnt issues or problems in Humn Resources in the United Essay

The most importnt issues or problems in Humn Resources in the United rb Emirtes t the present time - Essay Example ccording to n estimte by the l-Iktissd Wl-ml (1997) mgzine, no less thn 95 per cent of the new jobs in the 1995-2000 period were in the privte sector. There re four interrelted resons for the privte sector's resistnce to Emirtistion. The first fctor is lbour cost. The influx of chep foreign lbour during the pst three decdes led to the development of lbour-intensive privte sector, whose continued profitbility hinges on being given free hnd in the utilistion of foreign workers. lthough, since the mid-1990s, United rb Emirtes hs incresed the cost of the ltter by introducing compulsory helth cre for foreign workers, locl workers still re very much more expensive to hire (Fshoyin, 2000). It hs further been lleged tht locls will demnd bout six times the slry skilled foreign worker would be prepred to ccept nd 'will not work s hrd' (Fshoyin, 2000). Foreign workers from developing countries ccept reltively low slries becuse they cn still ern more thn they could ern in their home countries. Furthermore, the mjority of foreign workers re young mle bchelors nd therefore do not hve fmily to support. For locl workers, however, the high cost of living in United rb Emirtes mkes the level of wges offered by the privte sector in cpble of providing n cceptble living stndrd for locl workers (tiyyh, 2003). Second, socil nd culturl perceptions towrds... In United rb Emirtes, the type of work, sector of employment nd socil interctions t work determine the socil sttus of the worker nd his fmily (Mellhi, 2000). Hence, workers plce gret del of importnce on the effect of their work on their socil recognition. For instnce, most of the jobs in the privte sector re mnul jobs which rb Emirtes society holds in low esteem. Even before the influx of foreign workers, these jobs were llocted to people with low socil sttus nd socil interctions with them were severely restricted. tiyyh (2003) reported tht in rb Emirtes: For youngsters leving school the brriers ginst desirble creer pths re lmost mythicl. They will not ccept jobs s slesmen becuse this does not befit their socil sttus; they will not tke workshop jobs where there is thret of physicl dnger. Low slries re n insultthe rb Emirtesyouth hs too much pride to swllow.The third fctor is discipline nd control. Reserch on the mngement of foreign workers in United rb Emirtes supports the view tht foreign workers re esier to control nd more disciplined thn locl workers (tiyyh, 2003). This could be result of the fct tht work permits in United rb Emirtes re often vlid for one yer nd foreign workers do not qulify for permnent residency or nturlistion, regrdless of the length of their sty, therefore employers hve few obligtions towrds foreign workers who cn be lid off nd sent home t short notice. In ddition, foreign workers hold work permits for specific occuption with specific employer nd therefore they cnnot move freely between employers or sponsor wit hout the consent of their employer or sponsor-Kfeel. Hence, lbour turnover nd job-hopping mong foreign workers do not exist. Tble 1: Comprison between HRM prctices for United rb Emirtes HR nd

Hydrogen Gas Lab Essay Example for Free

Hydrogen Gas Lab Essay * For the mass, an uncertainty of0.01g was used, as the uncertainty was stated on the weighing machine. * For the volume, an uncertainty of0.05mL was used, as it was half the smallest increment on the graduated cylinder. * For the temperature, an uncertainty of0.5 was used, as it was half the smallest increment on the thermometer. Sample Calculation Converting mL to L Data Processing: Magnesium+HCl Reaction -Finding the molar volume at STP of hydrogen gas when HCl is reacted with magnesium. Finding Pressure of (Pressure of H2O at 21=0.02763) Finding Volume of at STP 0.002 Sample Calculation Finding Uncertainty for Finding moles of Moles of Finding Molar Volume of at STP. Zinc+HCl Reaction Experimentally calculating molar mass of zinc using the ideal gas laws. Finding Pressure of (Pressure of H2O at 21=0.02763) Finding Moles of Determining Molar Mass of Zn Conclusion: In conclusion it was found that the molar volume of hydrogen gas that was produced when hydrochloric acid reacted with magnesium was 19L/mol3. Ideally it should be 22.4L/mol according to the ideal gas laws. There is a percent difference of 15% between the two values. But if uncertainties are considered the percent difference is reduced to 2%. This is an acceptable value because the actual value of 22.4L/mol is an approximation in ideal conditions according to the ideal gas laws. The ideal gas laws dont take into consideration the attractive forces between atoms, or the volume of the atoms. And most likely if those factors were considered then the percent difference would be 0%. For the second part of the experiment it was experimentally found using the ideal gas laws that the molar mass of zinc is 124 g/mol. When compared with the actual value of 65g/mol, there is a percent difference of 90%. And even if uncertainties are considered, the percent difference is only reduced to 64%. This is too big; therefore the data is rendered unreliable. There were quite a few weaknesses and limitations in this lab. First of all the volume of H2O mixed in with the H2 gas was not considered. Had it been considered, then the volume found at STP would have been lower, and it would give a more accurate measurement to what the experimental value is. Another weakness in this lab was the fact that the molar mass of zinc was twice as big as its accepted value. The most likely reason for this is that when the zinc reacted, it is likely that some of the hydrogen gas was not in the beaker, but the hydrogen gas escaped into the air. That is why when the formula n=PV/RT was used, the volume in the numerator was half as big as it should be, which in turn caused the calculated molar mass to double. So it can be assumed that approximately half the hydrogen gas escaped into the air. Another weakness was the fact that the apparatus was left over night, and so if there was a microscopic hole or crack, then the chances of the hydrogen escaping is very high. This would be true because, and since hydrogen has the lowest molar mass of all the elements, it would have a very high velocity, and so it is possible that the hydrogen gas was able to escape through a microscopic hole at a fast rate because it has such a high velocity. Not only that, but since it was left overnight, it would have had more time to escape the beaker. There are a number of ways that this lab could be improved. First of all, a new graduated cylinder should be used to ensure that there are no cracks or holes through which the hydrogen gas can escape. Along with that the apparatus should not be left out overnight, but instead the reaction should be speeded up by heating up the apparatus, and then taking the measurements of the volume of gas every 1 minute. This in turn would decrease the amount of energy lost to the environment, and it would end up giving more accurate results. Next time, the volume of should also be considered. A percentage value can be used, since we know the pressure that gives, that pressure can be converted into a percent, and multiplies by the total volume, and then inversed. This in turn will in turn give the volume of .This will hold true because V=nRT/P, so pressure and volume are inversely proportional, and since nRT is a constant V and P have to change accordingly.

PESTEL analysis of the global coffee industry

PESTEL analysis of the global coffee industry Corporate strategy is the way a company or organization creates values through the configuration and co-ordination of its multi-market activities (Collis, 1997). Coffee is the most widespread drink in the world with approximately half-a-trillion cups consumed every year. There are two fundamental types of coffee: espresso and regular, or non-espresso. Espresso is the variety of coffee available in cafà ©s and restaurants, whilst regular coffee is generally meant for the home. Nearly 70% of the worlds coffee is produced by the Americas of which Brazil contributes 30% to the global production. The coffee industry of the world employs nearly 25 million people while approximately 5 million people work in the coffee industry in Brazil. Brazil has in excess of 3 billion coffee plants. The three major kinds of commercially produced coffee bean are Arabica, Robusta in addition to Liberia. Brazilian Coffee production figures rose by more than 12 million (60kg) bags to an amazing 46 million during 2008 making the country streets ahead of the other two top world coffee producers of Vietnam (19.5 million bags) and Colombia (13 1 million bags). PORTERS FIVE FORCES : Threat of substitution: Other beverages apart from coffee the substitutes are tea, soda, fruit juice, water, beer and other alcoholic drinks, other quickà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ grab foods apart from pastries, muffins, doughnuts, etc. Lowerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ end or less luxurious coffee places. Places that offer people a place to hang out, chat, relax or even work include tea houses, fast food places, iceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cream parlors, sideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ walk cafes, and bars and pubs. Accordingly when there are so many substitutes available, the threat is high and seems to be increasing by day to day. Threat of new entrants: Some of the more current and ongoing threats of new entrants include fast food chains such as McDonalds, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts. The entry barrier for the coffee industry is relatively moderate. Any large and wellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ funded company where capital is not a problem could be potential entrants, since they have a strong brand image over the industry. Rivalry: There are many big players in the Brazil retail coffee market and with large no of small scale coffee shops big players have to fight out with small shops across different regions in US. With most of the customers taking coffee to home and provides convenience which is the major factor for them. There is an intense competition among the players to build up their customer base. Bargaining power of suppliers: There is more bargaining power for suppliers since the advancement in technological innovations such as automated coffee machines, latte and espresso machines, etc has made them to bargain over the industry. These changes, has made the supplier power high. Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers do not have the power to bargain in the market, considering Starbucks. The sheer scale of Starbucks business reduces the bargaining power of any single group of buyers. McDonalds who claim to offer premium roast coffee of reasonable quality at a lower price, so buyers need not bargain their needs. PESTEL Political/Legal: High standards relating particularly to coffee producing methods are becoming more important in the industry and may gain political prominence. There is increasing pressure for businesses to trade ethically, that is, socially, environmentally, and economically responsible. This is reflected in the coffee industry by an increased demand and rising market value for sustainable coffees such as certified coffee and fair trade coffee, which guarantees a fair price to producers. The fair trade market which is now worth  £100 million, is growing with developments such as Tescos launch of their own Fair trade range. Fair trade is also a means by which the coffee shop industry can differentiate their products and gain a socially responsible reputation; Starbucks customers now have the option to buy fair trade coffee. Oxfam have claimed there is a niche in the coffee shop market and have responded by launching their own brand of Fair trade coffee Progresso which is sold on already established premises such as bookstores. Economical: The impact of coffee on Brazilian economy was much stronger. The greater difficulty of coffee production and trade established important sectorial linkeages within the Brazilian economy. Coffee was the foundation of the economy, accounting for 63% of the countrys exports. Brazilian economy went through periods of growth but also difficulties and increasing trends towards coffee overproduction. The economic performances and development prospects of many developing countries are largely dependent on commodity issues. (Photius.com, 2004) Social: The coffee market must adapt to a change in consumer attitudes or else it may be threatened by health and lifestyle issues. In 2003 the hot drinks market declined by an estimated 2.3%. Consumers, especially young people, are becoming more health conscious which makes coffee a less attractive choice; the increasing number of alternatives available such as health and energy drinks are becoming competitors in the coffee industry. Research carried out by Mintel shows that there is an increased diversification of tea, with a trend towards premium and herbal teas. The coffee industry are responded to this change in attitude by provision of de-caf drinks, options such as soy milk, and alternative drinks such as freshly squeezed fruit juices, chai lattes and herbal teas. Technological: Consumers are less inclined to buy coffees and teas in supermarkets due to the wide variety of coffees that are available in coffee shops today. Hi-tech equipment and premium ingredients are now easily accessible and are used to make a variety of hot and cold beverages that are sold in coffee shops; from cappucinos to the ice blended coffees. As a result consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about the ranges of specialised fresh coffees and premium teas that are available, and their tastes are changing to accompany them. Environmental: The environmental impact is almost always positive and it is important that coffee production and processing should be taken into account for environmental needs to make sure optimal physical sustainability. Even more necessary is that the economic environment should be such as to encourage stability and reasonable living standards for the populations involved with coffee and to make sure the sufficient care should be given to make sure the maintenance of the quality. (Change the environment.) http://www.ico.org/sustainable_coffee.asp STRUCTURAL DRIVERS OF CHANGE: Product Innovation: Product innovation is a driving force that has allowed the coffee industry to grow. Coffee drinks were developed as an anytime coffee drink. Such drinks are Espressos, Cappuccinos, Frappaccinos, Lattes, and Mochas. Whether a consumer likes it hot or cold is no difference now; iced coffee is for those that do not feel like a hot cup. Black, White, Irish, Turkish and Americano are also other types of coffee to choose from. Flavored coffee is a pillar innovation to this product category allowing different consumers taste buds to run wild. Chocolate covered coffee beans are another innovation to the coffee industry. This industry growth has also allowed companies the opportunity to promote to different consumer markets. Young and old purchasers, people that like hot or cold coffee, and those that like a coffee drink in the morning or evening are all targeted now that the product lines have broadened the scope of the industry. Product innovation has helped consumers differentiation issues, along with allowing them to drink it anytime of day they need an extra tasty boost of energy. Pricing: Prices of coffee are relatively inelastic, with consumers becoming more aware of the quality of their coffee, where it is derived from, and the atmosphere in the branded coffee shops. As a result consumers will regard a high priced quality branded product as good value; more than two-thirds (70%) of coffee drinkers will pay more for a good cup of coffee. This was evident when Coffee Nation increased sales by moving from a cheap instant coffee to an espresso coffee with improved packaging. Consumers life style: Consumers lifestyle is the other driving force that ties in with the customer base and usage. Society is changing, with the new generations being a huge influence. Parents, a huge factor in the lifestyle, attitudes, and opinions of their children, drink coffee and are, thus, promoting coffee to the offspring. These young persons are looking for caffeine to keep them going through their increasingly busy days. At age 13, who knew that coffee was needed to add to their ever-so hyper lives? Coffee is established as a drink older people consume. Young people are always aspiring to be older than they are, so coffee is marketed in a different way to the younger generations as specialty coffee and gourmet beverages. Establishing loyalty early while coffee drinkers are young will ensure a prospective future for this industry. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_41/b3954201.htm Industry life cycle model: Introduction stage: In the introduction stage the profit will be low and the cost will be very much expensive. The market growth starts with the introduction stage with low competition and high prices and the demand will be comparatively low. Growth stage: Profits start with the growth in the sales. Varieties of coffee with added flavors being focused during growth stage to get the brand image, value and growing market share. Maturity stage: During maturity stage the profit of the industry increases and the demand also increases. Competition will be very high and customer satisfaction will increase. Saturation takes place due to brand value. Decline stage: It is very difficult to survive in the market if the industry wont be innovative and introduce new products. By analyzing the life cycle model we can implicate that the coffee industry should come up with new innovative product. The coffee industry lies between the maturity stage and decline stage. Coffee has some advantages in health regards which decreases the diabetes and makes brain alert. Coffee consumers due to raising health concerns they can go for alternatives such as green tea which is good for health more than coffee. Therefore I conclude coffee industry will lies between the maturity and decline stage and it may decline if there is any serious health issues occurs around the world. Scenarios Substitute product: Energy drinks may all together substitute the coffee in future. The countries like china and India being the worlds largest producers of tea. They can come up with new innovative products and it will be created in the retail industry. Considering the health concerns people may prefer green tea than coffee. The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea from ancient times. Today scientific research in Asia and in West is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. There is also a research representing that drinking green tea reduces high cholesterol, cancer, impaired immune function. http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm Climate change: Climate change is just one of numerous factors that may affect global coffee production. The international coffee organization considers it one of the most important ones. Temperature and rainfall conditions are the two main drivers when its come to yield, i.e. production. As temperature increases coffee ripens more quickly leading to a fall in inherent quality. According to Brazil Rising temperatures suggest coffee production will become viable in areas formerly considered too prone to frosts. Meteorological agencies report temperatures consistently above the historical average since the 1990s. However, too high temperatures will reduce the overall acreage with climatic potential for coffee production. www.thecoffeeguide.org Demand for quality: Since the industry has already passed the maturity stage the players were try to increase the quality by analyzing their brewing systems, and by trying to bring different flavours in the coffee. Following the recommendations of the committee, the international coffee council adopted resolution in February 2002 to implement the coffee quality program. The CQP is designed to improve the balance supply and demand of coffee by stimulating demand through the provision of the better overall standard of quality to the market. http://www.ico.org/improving_quality.asp

Invasion of Normandy Essay -- WWII World War 2 American History

Invasion of Normandy Invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day or Operation Overlord, was a cross channel attack planned by the allies that took place over the English channel. Not only was D-Day the largest amphibious assault the world had seen, it was a critical point in World War II. (Locke, Alain, ed. Pg 203) The Invasion of Normandy is when the allies decided that they must take an offense and invade Germany on their home land if Hitler was to be stopped. The allies put all of their power together, for failure was not an option. If the invasion was to fail it was quite likely that the United States would have to postpone their fight against Germany and turn their full attention to the war in the Pacific, leaving the fate of Europe to Britain and the Soviet Union. Chances are that by the time the United states returned to fight Germany, Hitler would have overrun the continent since all of Britain's resources had been drained, leaving the majority of the fighting to the Soviet Union. Towards the end of November 1943, President Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met in Tehran for the first meeting about how to invade Germany. Roosevelt and the prime minister had already agreed that it would be best to launch a cross-channel attack, code named Overlord. President Roosevelt was in full favor of launching operation Overlord as soon as the weather permitted. With Stalin's agreement to join in, operation Overlord was set for May 1944, depending on the weather. (Anderson, Jervis. Pg 86) American General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named supreme commander for the allies in Europe. British General, Sir Frederick Morgan, established a combined American-British headquarters known as COSSAC, for Chief of Staff to the Supreme... ..., Steve Pg 53)eyes focused somewhere else while the main part of the war took place on five beaches. With the exception of Omaha beach, the rest were reasonably easy compared to past battles. Work Cited Anderson, Jervis. World War II. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1982. Bloom, Harold, ed. Conflicts during World War II. New York: Pantheon, 1993. Huggins, Nathan. World War II in picture. London: Oxford University Press, 1989. Lewis, David Levering, ed. D-Day. New York: Penguin 1994. Locke, Alain, ed. The Longest Day. New York: Atheneum, 1992. Studio Museum, The. Music, the once great art. New York: Abrams, 1987 Watson, Steve. Nothing Less then Victory. New York: Pantheon, 1995 Candaela, Kerry. The Voices of D-Day. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997. Daniel, Mips. Weapons of World War II. New York: Pantheon, 1995

Why Western History Matters :: essays research papers

Critical Analysis for â€Å"Why Western History Matters† by Donald Kagan   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Why Western History Matters† is an essay adapted from a speech Donald Kagan delivered to the National Association of Scholars, and was reprinted in the December 28, 1994, issue of the Wall Street Journal. Throughout Kagan’s essay, he describes the essential need for the college course, Western History. He does so by examining older cultures and explaining why they were quintessential to the past and to our future development as a society. I strongly concur with Kagan’s standpoint of the necessity of history, and the realization of how exactly our flourishing society came about. History is a key constituent in determining who we are; for to determine who we are one must first know from whence they came. In the words of George Santayana, â€Å"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it†. Donald Kagan argues for the requisiteness of Western History by describing older cultures, and then explaining how these older cultures became a key influence in what our society has become today. He examines the ancient Greek, Christian, and English culture influences that helped form our country. Throughout his essay, his depth of historical research is quite evident. He uses historical research of past cultures to imply the necessity of knowing where we, as Americans, came from. This approach helps establish the author’s credibility, and makes his presentation more plausible. The first ancient civilization that Kagan highlights is the Greek. He writes of their republic city-states, and pioneering of a â€Å"political life come to be shared by a relatively large portion of people†. He uses the Greek culture as an influence of science and reason. â€Å"The Greeks exposed everything they perceived—natural, human and divine—to the searching examination of reason.† Finally he describes the Greek quest for virtue and morality. He uses these examples to show how similar our culture is to the Greek. Second, Kagan explains of the Christian influence on our society. With the controversial idea of Christianity, â€Å"Philosophy led to the powerful divisive quarrels about the nature of God and other theological questions†. The influence of Christianity established itself within great writers of American history, who helped shape our country. Such as John Locke, who influenced our country’s foundation with the idea of God given â€Å"natural rights†, life, liberty and property. All of which define our personal freedom today. Finally, he discusses the influence of the English Revolution.

Human Resource Development Simulation Essay

Being a training director is not an easy job because, aside from dealing with different personalities who will under you for training, a training director has to make sure that such trainings will also benefit the company as a whole. In a situation wherein the CEO of the company is looking for tangible evidences that construe the organization’s training programs effectiveness, it is only but right to show him/her profound evidences of your efforts as the training officer. Before presenting to the CEO proofs of the effective implementation of the training programs and that such spending has not really gone to waste, I would like to utilize survey forms and evaluation of the performance appraisal of the employees who have gone to the training. The question now lies – why use survey and performance rating of employees who have gone training as gauge for a measurable return on investment (ROI)? SURVEYS – I find surveys as an effective tool for measuring the ROI because this will determine the familiarity of the products and services of the company among the populace. Even though people have not yet bought the company’s products nor avail its services, it is a nice thing already that the consumers know the existence of the company. Surveys will be implemented through scientific sampling of respondents in the community who will answer questionnaires that bear questions about the services and products of the company. If the results turn-out will reflect that majority of the respondents know the products and services of the company, then it means that the training programs, in a way, has contributed the company’s run. PERFORMANCE RATING OF THE TRAINEESAFTER THE TRAINING – A good performance training is the best evidence that the training is, indeed, very effective. A well-trained employee will contribute in the company’s ROI because aside that he/she will be a utility in the company, his/her knowledge can expand more; hence, he/she might project new ideas that can further enhance the functionality of the company.

Problem in the United States

Smuggling has been a problem in the United States for many years. The continuous breaching of our borders may one day allow the smuggling of something that could cause massive destruction and death to our country. It is easy to see how the smuggling of something as innocuous as a specific flower or bush can be a problem when it infiltrates the native environment and kills off many different species. But smuggling is not limited to this. There is also the continuous smuggling of drugs and people into this country that causes many problems. Although many people who are smuggled into the United States do so to work or to be with their family, there is a large percentage of them that are forced into prostitution or some other form of slavery. This paper will look at these specific cases of smuggling and determine what, if anything can be done about it. Smuggling is done for many reasons. Generally when something is smuggled, it is smuggled over an international border and it is smuggled for many reasons; either to avoid paying taxes, because the item is illegal, or, in the case of people, because they are not supposed to be there. As an example of this, it is estimated that millions of dollars worth of cigarettes are smuggled every year. These cigarettes are not necessarily smuggled into the United States from another country, but from other states, in which the taxes are low. A carton of cigarettes may be as cheap as $20 in a state like Virginia, and in states like New York, where the cigarette taxes are very high, making the total cost of a carton $75 can lead to a profit for the smuggler of about $40 per carton. The smuggling of cigarettes from one state to another is fairly simple. There are not any customs officials to pass through, and if the smuggler gets pulled over, it is very unlikely that the police officer would search his or her trunk, where the cartons may be. But getting over international borders is usually more difficult, and the smugglers have evolved certain strategies for not getting caught. One way smugglers pass over the border is with the use of small, private planes. The smuggler can fly into the country undetected, allowing whatever he is smuggling into the country. They are also small boats smugglers can use to get themselves from a specific country to the United States. These boats are known as â€Å"go-fast† boats and can be used to smuggle anything from drugs to people. And one way to smuggle that we are seeing more and more are the use of tunnels. A smuggler may hire someone to dig tunnels underground, allowing nearly anything to be passed from one country to the next without having to go through customs. More daring smugglers, however, will hide whatever it is that they are smuggling and attempt to get through customs this way. They may hide it on their bodies or under their clothes, inside themselves, in their cars, or in the bodies of animals that may be traveling with them. Like the more clandestine ways, this way of smuggling is rampant, as evidenced by the massive amount of smugglers caught each year while trying to go through customs. Smuggling has consequences for everyone. Of course, the smugglers, assuming they do not get caught, make out better than anyone. Usually the practice of smuggling is very lucrative. The profits from illegal drugs and cigarettes and the trafficking of humans provide smugglers with billions of dollars every year. As long as the profit margin is high, there will always be people illegally smuggling. The â€Å"war on drugs† must be concerned with the smuggling problem. But the question of how to win the war on drugs is an interesting one. If by winning the drug war it is meant the eradication of all drugs, then the United States has surely lost. There are still people, usually those directly involved with the drug war, that still think we should keep fighting the war as we always have been. But there has been now over a trillion dollars spent on the war on drugs and drugs today are more potent and making larger profits than ever. The people benefiting most from the war on drugs are the smugglers and the drug dealers themselves. The fact remains that all throughout human history, intoxicants have been used in one degree or another, so why would we think people today are any different? By this definition of the war on drugs the United States, on all counts, has lost. There is another way to win the war on drugs and that is to turn it into a war on smugglers and drug dealers. People are going to always be looking for ways to alter their consciousness. Everyone does it; whether you work out, or take heroin, the point is to feel better. Drugs are not going away. Drugs like marijuana and meth, which can be produced by anyone, will always be with us. By regulating drugs, and making the tax on them universal, the drug dealers and the smugglers would be put out of business. We cannot change how people feel, or what they want to do. All we can do is deter them from doing it. So the question becomes, what is the best way to deter them? We could threaten them with jail, but this obviously does not work, as nearly 80 percent of people in jail are there in some way for drugs. So we could decriminalize and regulate the drugs, putting gangs, dealers and smugglers out of business and using the profits from the sale of the drugs to educate people about their effects. This form of deterrence would be more much more humane and effective than how the war has been fought thus far.

Post-occupancy evaluating of low income housing in the Kingdom of Dissertation

Post-occupancy evaluating of low income housing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example 13 Pictures(3) Showsthe region of Ha’il, with the pleased of the project. 13 Pictures(4) Site plan of the Al-Ghazalah project 13 Pictures(5) Site plan of the Al-Ghazalah project 15 Pictures(6) Ground floor plan 15 Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Low Income Housing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Chapter 1 Introduction Housing demand is one of the most important issues and challenges that face developing and developed countries (Al-klyfh, 2009). These countries have tried to solve their housing demands with different policies. Some policies and proposals have met the needs of different levels of society. One of these economic classes is called the low income group that encompass some Saudi Arabian people with low annual income. To address the issue on housing income, the government tried to establish residential complexes, an introductory concept and still under trial. This paper will focus on low income housing post occupancy evaluation as the main issue. The housing policy will b e assessed using the post-occupancy evaluation method (POE). However, before investigating the Saudi Arabian policy, it is important to investigate the different international policies for low income housing. 1.1. International policies for low income housing Many institutions, international agencies and local communities around the world have for many years now addressed poverty, increase standards of living,as well as provide adequate shelter for the poor (United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, 1987).These UN programs were allocated in 155 countries and have established national centres that work directly with various local government agencies (Tiesdell, 2004). Important processes that have been followed are: a. Secure possession of the land. b. Provide public facilities and services. c. Finance low-cost housing d. Provision of construction materials. e. Community participation. f. Cooperation with the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (Tiesdell, 2004) . A review of socio-economic policies indicates that there is a growing interest in the issue of housing for the poor by civil society organizations and governments of many countries. A limited review on Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom low cost housing will be included due to time constraints. 1.1.1. Affordable Housing in the UK Housing policies in Britain has local planning authorities mandate developers of housing projects to provide a certain percentage of affordable housing for low income groups (Tiesdell, 2004). The two aims are as follows: a. Social: sustain a mixed community in terms of income and social level and reduce illegal settlements that lack basic services b. Economic: shoulder part of the burden of financing in order to allow beneficiaries provided with lower prices than the market price or rent housing (social security) at less than the prevailing costs. UK housing, however, did not meet stated objectives, such as acceptance from high-income and middle classes due to preference

Portfolio Management, Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Portfolio Management, - Research Paper Example The limitations of the study are listed. Economic liberalization and globalization have brought about a new and competitive environment for the common and small investors who are willing to participate in the equity of the corporate sector in our country. Understanding the firm's investment decisions under imperfect market conditions is one of the central issues of the financial economics. Studying firm's investment in such environment can provide insight into the dynamics of its growth as a function of internal and external financial sources. Fazzari et al. (1988) argue that in the presence of financing constraints the firm's investment vary not only with the availability of the profitable investment projects, but also with the internal funds. Consequently, the severity of the financing constraints is proposed to be measured by the magnitude of the cash flow sensitivity of investment. The memo was found at moneycontrol.com. The memo talks about the investment option of a venture capitalist. It provides details of investments in various countries for a period of seven years and advises the manager in taking up an investment decision. The colours in the chart are used appropriately and the chart is easy to read. In the chart, real numbers have been used and in the Y axis instead of real numbers some legend might have been given to represent millions. The lines are used very effectively and the he line in the chart indicates the support level of the investments that the company can afford. I liked the chart and it provides a lot of information and is very effective. 2. Graphic Memo Introduction This memo describes how I spend an average day. First, I list all activities and schedule them. The entire activity is an application of planning. Then after arriving at the activities, a table is prepared showing the minutes of each activity. Finally a chart is drawn illustrating the percentage of time spent. Body The various activities that I perform in an average day includes Travel/Driving, Grooming, Studying, Class Attendance, Leisure Time, Work, Meals, Sleep, Etc. More detailed list is shown in the table. Then time is spent in each activity is calculated after organizing and scheduling the activities in a sequence. Then these activities are put in a table. Finally a pie chart is drawn to display hours. Table 1. List of Activities Activity Start Time End Time Minutes Grooming 7.00 A.M 8.00 A.M 60 Breakfast 8.00 A.M 8.15 A.M 15 Travel/Driving 8.15 A.M 9.00 A.M 45 Studying 9.00 A.M 10.00 A.M 60 Class Attendance 10.00 A.M 1.00 P.M 180 Meals 1.00 P.M 1.30 P.M 30 Leisure Time 1.30 P.M 2.00 P.M 30 Travel/Driving 2.00 P.M 3.00 P.M 60 Work 3.00 P.M 7.00 P.M 240 Travel/Driving 7.00 P.M 8.00 P.M 60 Dinner 8.00 P.M 8.30

Bussiness interrogation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Bussiness interrogation - Essay Example An analysis of the foundation of motivation has been regarded as the first step towards the creation of successful organizations. Conversely, Allen and Gilmore (2006, pp.35), indicate that, Herzberg theory indicates that, Herzberg motivation theories of motivation are obliging to a proper understanding of the organization’s functions. In his work, Miner (2007, pp.84) argues that, the attributes that contribute to motivation and demotivation cannot be alienated from an understanding of the work place motivation. Motivation, which emanates from motivators, can be described as an intrinsic process that comes from within the individual. On the other hand, demotivators are extrinsic; that surround the individuals in the work place. Among the demotivators stated included, pay that was regarded as a short term motivator. After a while, employees were seen to be as demotivated as they were at the initiation of the time at the work place. This essay shall focus on the Coca Cola Company and the implication of Herzberg’s theory of motivation. Since the commencement of the company, its success story has always had its background on the motivation of employees in the organization. Through motivating employees, the company has managed to enjoy constant and consistent teamwork form its workers. In return, the employees have never compromised on the quality of products produced by the company. Herzberg’s theory, according to Sapru (2000, pp.76), revolves around two major factors that are inclusive of hygiene factors and the motivators. Hygiene factors are likely to cause dissatisfaction in the workplace if not put under scrutiny. Among the hygiene factors include, aspects like job security, safe working conditions, proper organizational policies as well as, quality of supervision along other factors. Sapru (2000, pp.76) argues that hygiene factors do not necessarily cause demotivation in the workplace, but if they are not incorporated in the work

Final Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Final - Term Paper Example international market regions of Europe, it had to bear varied types of challenges and issues such as barriers in international trade, mitigation as well as investment (Beall, 2010). But due to the support of municipal government, all such international barriers reduced significantly that amplified its position and brand image in the entire globe among other rival players such as General Motors, Toyota etc. As a result of which the total sale and profitability of the organization enhanced that proved effective for the government of the Europe among other neighboring nations. The economic condition of the country enhanced as well as the rate o unemployment and poverty reduced to a significant extent (Ford.com, 2014). Other than this, at the time of expansion in the new market region of Europe, the organization of Ford Motors had to analyze the taste and preferences of the customers so as to improve its prosperity and portfolio in the market (Bradley, 2012). Moreover, due to the active participation of municipal government, the policy related issues such as tariff barriers, subsides to local firms etc reduced significantly that amplified its reputation and market share in the markets of Europe among others (Ford, 2014). The organization of Ford Motors had to bear varied types of political challenges such as tariff rates, trade restrictions due to political instability in the nation of Europe. As a result of which, the brand image and competitiveness of the organization of Ford Motors attained a serious set-back (Kazmi, 2010). Economic factors: inflation is one of the important causes that hindered the total sale and prosperity of the organization of Ford Motors within the region of Europe as compared to many others. As a result, the organization had failed to enhance its profit margin and demand of the products that hindered its portfolio and prosperity in the market among others. Social factors: as the preferences of the customers are changing at a rapid pace so

Prison law and penology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Prison law and penology - Essay Example This may lead them to focus more on controlling the inmate population rather than working on their rehabilitation. As previously stated, inmates tend to gather and form groups according to their race (black, Hispanic, Caucasian, etc.) or a race-related reasons (groups such as the neo-Nazis, K.K.K, etc.) and as a result, riots often break due to racial grounds. The real motives behind gangs formation and activity are actually power and wealth, things which they can achieve in various ways, often related to violence and disorder (Summers, 2006). The gangs are becoming increasingly stronger and more dominant ("Violent Gangs", n.d) and are also wise to draft to their ranks some prison guards and others that assist them in exchange for money, favours and more. 1 Therefore, prison authorities and representatives must always be attentive and prepared to thwart gangs attempts to gain more power and hurt others along the way. This undoubtedly shifts the focus of prison authorities from the desire to rehabilitate prisoners to the need to control and monitor them so that they dont cause more trouble and eruption of violence and havoc. Also, there are inmates which obviously overwhelming and something which they cannot escape or resist. These people have no place, power or control in the outside world and are therefore making extreme efforts to make their permanent home, the prison, their own kingdom and domain. This leads them to try and take control over it by forceful means and using violence and terrorizing others. They even develop ways to carry out their deeds using technological innovations and creative ways. For instance, it is claimed that a group of prisoners used a 400-year-old binary code system in order to smuggle notes, using guards as deliverers and smugglers of them (Summers, 2006). This shows the innovation and adaptability of gangs. They are no longer plain and simple, nor do they work in primitive ways. Now, when a

Method of Data Analysis Essay Example for Free

Method of Data Analysis Essay The researcher made use of SPSS version 15. 0 to be able to compute for the statistics required. For the degree of importance and actual performance of Body Shop, the descriptive statistics of means, standard deviations, and frequency distributions were generated. The Pearson product moment correlation coeffiecients were likewise computed; the bigger is the magnitude of the r-value, the stronger is the relationship between two variables. The sign denotes the direction of the relationship – that is, whether they are directly or inversely proportional (Salkind 2000). 3. 1 Conclusion. The present study purposively selected 150 respondents for its telephone interviews. Secondary data were the basis for the literature review and the design of the questionnaire. The latter was both face and content validated. 5 respondents were used to pilot test the instrument to ensure clarity of questions. SPSS 15. 0 was used for the statistical computations. ? Chapter 4 Results and Discussion 4. 1 Introduction This chapter presents the statistical results gathered from the survey questionnaires, and a substantive discussion of these results, culling from the literature in Chapter 2. 4. 2 Results Table 2. Gender: Frequency and Percentage Breakdown. The table shows that all of the respondents were female, accounting for 100% of the sample. Table 3. Age: Frequency and Percentage Breakdown. When asked about their age, majority of the respondets (42. 7%) answered that they were between 21-25 years old. This is followed by the 26-30 years old category (36. 0%); 31-35 years old at 10. 7%; then by 20 years old and 35-40 years old both at 5. 3% Table 4. Have You Purchased a Body Shop Product in the Past 12 Months? All of the respondents likewise expressed that they have purchased at least one Body Shop product over the past 12 months. Table 5. Means and Standard Deviations: Importance of Factors which Affect Cosmetic Product Choice. When asked to rate the importance of the factors that affect their choice of cosmetic products, the items were rated as follows, in descending order: the degree to which the product is environment-friendly (X= 4. 52, sd=. 59); the customer service of the store personnel (X=4. 32, sd=. 65); the sales promotions used for the product (X=4. 31, sd=.65); the values espoused by the company who sells the product (X=4. 16, sd=. 67); Having a globally renowned brand name (X= 4. 16, sd=. 59); trendiness or fashion sense represented by the product (X= 4. 11, sd=. 64); recommendations or positive feedback I garner from my friends, family and acquaintances (X=4. 05, sd=. 68); competitive price of the product (X= 4. 05, sd=. 61); the degree to which the product espouses â€Å"natural† rather than artificial (X=4. 00, sd=. 66); quality of the products (X=3. 88, sd=. 71); the convenience of going to the store location (X=3. 84, sd=.59); the variety of product offerings in the store (X= 3. 59, sd=. 59); Attractiveness of the packaging (X=3. 21, sd=. 52); information on the product’s label (X=3. 17, sd=. 80); and media advertisements of the product (X=2. 73, sd=. 86). Table 6. Means and Standard Deviations: Actual Performance of Factors which Affect Cosmetic Product Choice. On the other hand, when the respondents were asked to rate the actual performance of Body Shop through the same factors, the following are the results in descending order: the degree to which the product is environment-friendly (X=4.57, sd=. 49); The customer service of the store personnel (X=4. 48, sd=. 60); the degree to which the product espouses â€Å"natural† rather than artificial (X=4. 37, sd=. 58); the values espoused by the company who sells the product (X=4. 37, sd=. 67); having a globally renowned brand name (X=4. 20, sd=. 69); quality of the products (X=4. 14, sd=. 74); recommendations or positive feedback I garner from my friends, family and acquaintances (X=4. 11, sd=. 78); the sales promotions used for the product (X=4. 05, sd=. 75); the convenience of going to the store location (X=3. 94, sd=.60); Trendiness or fashion sense represented by the product (X=3. 90, sd=. 72); the variety of product offerings in the store (X=3. 79, sd=. 52); competitive price of the product (X=3. 63, sd=. 70); attractiveness of the packaging (X=3. 58, sd=. 49); information on the product’s label (X=3. 36, sd=. 66); and media advertisements of the product (X=2. 73, sd=. 85). Table 7. 1 Paired Means and Standard Deviations of Factors. Table 7. 2. T-test Results of Pairwise Comparisons of Importance and Actual Performance. The following pairwise comparisons are significant at the . 01 level: Quality of the products (t=-5. 92, p=. 00), the customer service of the store personnel (t=-3. 85, p=. 00); the variety of product offerings in the store (t=-6. 23, p=. 00); the convenience of going to the store location (t=-4. 07, p=. 00); attractiveness of the packaging (t=-7. 69, p=. 00); the degree to which the product espouses â€Å"natural† rather than artificial (t=-6. 12, p=. 00); the values espoused by the company who sells the product (X=4. 37, sd=. 00). In all these items, Body Shop has exceeded the degree of importance attached by the respondent on the factor. In contrast, the following factors are those in which Body Shop did not quite meet client expectations based on the degree of importance they have assigned to each: competitive price of the product (t=8. 66, p=. 00); trendiness or fashion sense represented by the product (t=3. 73, p=. 00); and the sales promotions used for the product (t=3. 98, p=. 00). There are no significant differences on the following items: brand (t=-. 816, p=. 416); the degree to which the product is environment friendly (1. 465, p=. 145); and positive feedback garnered from significant others (t=-1.070, p=. 287). These suggest that Body Shop has met expectations of the respondents based on the degree of importance they have attached to each factor. Table 8. Correlations among Patronage of Environmental Friendly Products, Social Responsibility of a Company, Patronage of Products and Companies that Care for the Environment, and Overall Satisfaction on Body Shop. The correlation results show that patronage of Body Shop products because of their being environment friendly is significantly correlated with their being a socially responsible company (r=. 397, p=.00). This means that patronage of Body Shop products increases as well with positive perceptions of their company as being socially responsible. Moreover, such patronage is also positively and significantly correlated with their expressed support for companies that espouse care for the environment (r=. 533, p=. 00). None of the statements were significantly related to overall satisfaction of Body Shop products, which suggests that there are other determinants of satisfaction apart from espousing environment friendliness and corporate social responsibility.

L. Chinense Growth Conditions and Artificial Pollination

L. Chinense Growth Conditions and Artificial Pollination INTRODUCTION The genus Liriodendron is a distinctive and valuable hardwood that has great ecological and economic values. It grows fast and the wood is light and soft, so it is cultivated in many temperate mountains of the world for wood production [1-4] and it’s recommended for waste landfill remediation [5]. Its a flowering plant with beautiful leaves and hence used for urban landscaping as it provides shading as well. Besides, the tree genus Liriodendron is valued as materials source for honey production, chemical extracts [6-8], biomass and biofuels [9, 10]. The genus Liriodendron survived from the last Ice Age and was distributed in large geographical ranges of North American and East Asian respectively. Currently it comprises only two morphologically similar species, Liriodendron tulipifera L. and Liriodendron chinense (Hemsl.) Sarg. [11]. However L. chinense (Liriodendron chinense (Hemsl.) Sarg.) has been regarded as a rare and endangered plant because it occurs in small, isolated and thinly scattered populations [12]. L. chinense was listed in the IUCN Red List of Endangered Plants in China [13], and has currently been classified as a lower risk or near-threatened species (http://www.iucnredlist.org/). In the process of L. chinense sexual reproduction, the low seed setting percentage is a marked trait. After years of statistics, the setting percentage of L. chinense is not more than 10% in natural state, and it is hard to find the seedling in natural environment [14]. In the last two decades, many researchers have conducted studies, such as examining the relative contribution of the pollen fertility and transfer, availability of resources, flower or seed predation and genetics, to find out why L. chinense only produce few seeds [15-18]. Unfortunately, there has been no consistent conclusion. Pollination, as a key event in reproductive process of plants, especially in rare or endangered plant species like L. chinense that have low seed production, is probably one of the weak links in the reproductive cycle. Any barrier occurring between pollen and stigma interaction will lead to low seed production, however, few studies have focused on the pollination in L. chinense. Zhou and Fan ex amined the pollen quality, pollen germination and growth on stigma using fluorochroma method. The results indicated that in vivo the pollen grains can load on about 64% pistils of the gynoecium, but the rate of pollen tube passing the style is low, only 24% [19]. In addition to few pollen tubes passing the style, the pollen tubes may grow twined or in no direction, suggesting that only a smaller percent of the pollen tubes penetrates the micropyle and enter into ovule [20, 21]. These results show that the interaction between pollen and stigma occurs in different phases after pollen grains loading on stigma, and there are different barriers distributed in stigma surface, style and ovule during pollen tube growth. In self-compatible plants, the pollen-stigma interaction comprises six stages between pollen and pistil: pollen capture and adhesion, pollen hydration, pollen germination, penetration, growth of pollen tube through the stigma and style, pollen tube enter into the ovule and discharge the sperm cells [22]. After the pollen-stigma interaction, the nuclei of two gametes fuse to form the zygote. However, in self-incompatible plants, no matter the barriers occurs in which stage of interaction, there is no formation of a viable zygote. Previous studies in L. chinense showed that many pollen grains germinated on pistils of the gynoecium but few pollen tubes could penetrate the pistil style, and most of the pollen tube couldn’t pass through micropyle and enter into ovule. This phenomenon suggests that there might be other factors affecting pollen-stigma interaction in L. chinense. To verify this hypothesis, we conducted a systematic morphological and proteomic analysis on the pistil of L. chinense during pollination. The result provides new insights in the mechanism underlying sexual reproduction in L. chinense. MATERIALS AND METHODS L. chinense growth conditions and artificial pollination The L. chinense plants was grown in Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. During the flowering season, which extends from late April to May, the branches with flower buds which were about to open were cut from the tree and cultivated with half-strength Hoagland’s nutrient solution in greenhouse under 14 h light (400-800ÃŽ ¼molm-2s-1) at 26 ±2oC and 10 h darkness at 20 ±2 oC [23]. The relative humidity was maintained at 60-70% [19]. The flower buds with an opening on top and a probability of opening the following day were chosen and the androecium was emasculated at night before pollination. Artificial pollination was done the next afternoon as follow: Mature pollen grains were harvested from open flowers and then were smeared on the pistils without androecium using a soft brush. This artificially pollinated pistil was cut from the flower 30 minutes after pollination and stored in liquid nitrogen. Similarly, the pistil after 1 h pollination was harvested, sto red in liquid nitrogen. The harvested un-pollinated pistil was stored in liquid nitrogen. All three of these samples were named as S2, S3, and S1 respectively and stored in -80 oC freezer. All three treatments (S1, S2, and S3) were repeated five times respectively. Paraffin section Anthers and pistils were fixed in FAA solution containing 5% glacial acetic acid, 5% formaldehyde, 70% ethanol at room temperature for 24 h. After dehydration and infiltration, the samples were embedded in paraffin and cut into 10- µm-thick sections by Rotary Microtome Leica RM2265 (Germany). Then the sections were sealed by neutral balsam and photographed by Olympus-BX51 (Japan). Gel-based proteomics in L. chinense Protein extraction and 2-DE Proteins of pistils were extracted as previously described [24]. Briefly, 0.25-0.3 g of pistils were ground in 2 ml pre-cooled homogenization buffer which contains 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH7.5), 250 mM sucrose, 10mM EGTA, 1% Triton X-100, 1 mM PMSF, and 1 mM DTT. The homogenate was shifted into a centrifugal tube and centrifuged at 12000Ãâ€"g for 30 min at 4 oC. The supernatant was collected in new centrifugal tube and mixed with 3 volumes cold acetone. The tube was kept at -20 oC at least 2 h, and then centrifuged at 12000Ãâ€"g for 30 min at 4 oC, and the precipitate was collected and washed with cold acetone three times. After centrifugation, the pellet was vacuum-dried. The immobilized pH gradient strips (17 cm, pH 4-7 linear, Bio-Rad, USA) were loaded with 350 ÃŽ ¼l sample buffer containing 800 ÃŽ ¼g sample proteins at room temperature in tray for 16 h. Isoelectric focusing was performed with the PROTEAN IEF system (Bio-Rad, USA) for a total 80000 V-hr. Then the strips were equilibrat ed in equilibration buffer I (6 M urea, 2% SDS, 0.375 M Tris-HCl pH 8.8, 20% glycerol, and 130 mM dithiothreitol) for 15 min and equilibration buffer II (6 M urea, 2% SDS, 0.375 M Tris-HCl pH 8.8, 20% glycerol, and 135 mM iodoacetamide) for 15 min sequentially. After equilibration, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was carried out with 12% acrylamide gels. The 2-DE gels were stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) R-250. Image analysis of 2-DE gels The 2-DE gels were scanned at 600 DPI resolutions with an EPSON PERFECTIONTM V700 PHOTO scanner (Epson (china) Co., Ltd.). The images were analyzed with PDQuestTM 2-DE Analysis Software (Version 8.0, Bio-Rad, USA). Spot volumes were normalized by total spot volumes per gel to avoid experimental variations among 2-DE gels. Comparisons and statistical analysis were performed using the calculated average values of each biological replicate among the three different treatments. The protein spots with more than a two fold change among treatments and that passed a Student’s t-test (P Protein identification by MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS The significant differentially expressed spots were excised from the gel manually, and washed with double distilled water twice for 20 min, then distained with 100 ÃŽ ¼l of 50 mM NH4HCO3 in 50% v/v acetonitrile (ACN) for 1 h until the gel is mostly colorless at room temperature. The liquid was removed and 50 ÃŽ ¼l ACN was added to dehydrate the gel. After drying the gel, 25 mM NH4HCO3 containing 10 pmol trypsin (Promega, Madison, WI, USA) was added to the tube and kept at 4 oC for 1 h, and then it was kept at 37 oC overnight. The proteins were then digested according to the method described before [25]. The peptides were extracted and collected using three kinds of solution (0.1% TFA/99.9% acetonitrile, 0.1% TFA/99.9% H2O, 0.1% TFA/50% acetonitrile/49.9% H2O) from gel spot. The peptide solution was concentrated to 10 ÃŽ ¼l, and then desalted by ZipTip C18â„ ¢ pipette tips (Millipore, Bedford, MA, USA). After trypsin digestion, the protein peptides were dried by SpeedVac. Then pept ides were dissolved in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid, and then 1 ÃŽ ¼l of the sample solution was loaded on Anchor Chip Standard (Bruker Daltonics Inc, Germany). After the Anchor Chip drying, the matrix solution (20 g/L HCCA, TA 95%) was loaded on point corresponding to the location of the sample to a target spot. Through ultrafleXtreme (Bruker Daltonics Inc, Germany) Operation, the PMF data was obtained. The instrument parameters for MS acquisition were list as follows: laser intensity was 20%-26%, reflector detector voltage was 2438 V. Protein identification using MS/MS raw data was performed with flexAnalysis software (Bruker Daltonics Inc, Germany) coupled with Mascot Server software (version 2.4.01) based on the NCBI protein database and SwissPort database of green plants. The searching parameters were set as follows: peptide masses were assumed to be monoisotopic, 100 ppm was used as mass accuracy, a maximum of one missing cleavage site, and modifications which included Carbamidom ethy and Oxidation were considered. (The timestamp of NCBI protein database is 2011/11/09, there were 949,856 sequences of Green Plants and 5,512,397,590 redundant total sequences in NCBI database; the timestamp of SwissPort 57.15, there were 28,783 sequences of Green Plants and 515,203 sequences non-redundant total sequences in SwissPort). The proteins which scores greater than 42 (NCBI) or 26 (SwissPort) (P Gel-free proteomics in L. chinense Protein extraction The protein samples for iTRAQ were recovered in lysis buffer (30 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, and 4% [w/v] CHAPS) by phenol extraction and methanol/ammonium acetate precipitation as described previously [26]. The protein pellets were resuspended in buffer (7 M urea, 2 M thiourea, 4 % CHAPS and 10 mM DTT) in a minimal volume and protein was quantified using BCA protein assay kit (Pierce, USA). Digestion and iTRAQ labeling About 100 ÃŽ ¼g proteins of each sample per tube were prepared. Then it was reduced by adding DTT to a final concentration of 12 mM and incubated for 1 h at 37 oC. Subsequently, iodoacetamide was added to a final concentration of 50 mM, and the mixture was incubated for 1 h at room temperature in the dark. Then the mixture was transferred to centrifugal units (VN01H02, Sartorius, Germany) and centrifuged at 12,000Ãâ€"g for 20 min, and then the filtrate was discarded. Subsequently, 8 mM urea solution was added into the centrifugal units and centrifuged, repeated this step twice. After that, 100 ÃŽ ¼l dilute buffer (50 mM triethylammonium bicarbonate) was added into the centrifugal units and centrifuged. Then 50 ÃŽ ¼l dilute buffer containing 2 ÃŽ ¼g modified trypsin (Promega) was added into the centrifugal units at 37 oC overnight. The resulting peptides were then labeled with iTRAQ reagents (AB Sciex, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For each time point (i.e ., S1, S2, and S3), each sample was iTRAQ labeled 3 times except S3. (i.e., 113-, 116-, 119-iTRAQ tags for S1 3 replicates. 114-, 117-, 121-iTRAQ tags for S2 3 replicates. 115-, 118- iTRAQ tags for S3 2 replicates.) MS/MS Analysis Then the mixture of labeled peptides was concentrated and acidified to a total volume of 2 mL. Labeled peptides were desalted with C18-solid phase extraction and dissolved in strong cation exchange (SCX) solvent A (25% (v/v) acetonitrile, 10 mM ammonium formate, and 0.1% (v/v) formic acid (pH 2.8). The peptides were fractionated using an Agilent HPLC system 1260 with a polysulfoethylA column (2.1 Ãâ€" 100 mm, 5  µm, 300 Ã…; PolyLC, Columbia, MD, USA). Peptides were eluted with a linear gradient of 0–20% solvent B (25% (v/v) acetonitrile and 500 mM ammonium formate (pH 6.8) over 50 min followed by ramping up to 100% solvent B in 5 min. The absorbance at 280 nm was monitored, and a total of 37 fractions were collected. The fractions were combined into 12 final fractions and lyophilized. A quadrupole time-of-flight (LTQ Orbitrap XL) MS system (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany) was applied as described previously [27]. It interfaced with an Eksigentnano-LC AS2 syste m (Eksigent Technologies, LLC, Dublin, CA) using high energy collision dissociation (HCD). Each fraction was loaded onto an Agilent Zorbax 300SB-C18 trap column (0.3 mm id Ãâ€" 5 mm length, 5  µm particle size) with a flow rate of 5  µl/min for 10 min. Reversed-phase C18chromatographic separation of peptides was carried out on a pre-packed BetaBasic C18PicoFrit column (75  µm id Ãâ€" 10 cm length, New Objective, Woburn, MA) at 300 nl/min using the following gradient: 5% B for 1 min as an equilibration status; 60% B for 99 min as a gradient; 90% B for 5 min as a washing status; 5% B for 10 min as an equilibration status (solvent A: 0.1% formic acid in 97% water, 3% ACN; solvent B: 0.1% formic acid in 97% ACN, 3% water). Database Search and Quantification The MS/MS data were processed by a thorough search considering biological modification and amino acid substitution against non-redundant NCBI green plants 20131014.fasta (1,544,439 contigs) under the Sequest ®algorithm of Proteome Discoverer.1.4 software (Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.). Protein function analysis by blast2go software (http://www.blast2go.com/b2ghome) was conducted according to the early literature [28-31]. The search results were passed through additional filters before exporting the data. For protein identification, the filters were set as follows: significance threshold Phttp://mascot-pc/mascot/help/quant_config_help.html); S2/S1 or S3/S1 ratios >2 and