Security Analysis and Portfolio Management Research Paper

Security Analysis and Portfolio Management - Research Paper Example The current global financial crisis makes one industry performs better than the other. For the purpose of this report, the selected industry is food industry, because it is the largest industry in the United States. And its importance could never be underestimated. Hence, this industry would be analyzed using the factors highlighted below: 1. Industry life cycle: Azevedo et al (2004) explained clearly that US Food industry has a very long life cycle in the sense that since it began centuries ago, it has flourished from year to year. Food industry, as a matter of fact, is as old as human beings. 2. Past Sales: The past sales volume of the food industry in the United States is in the excess of 900 billion dollars a year (Nestle, 2003). And that volume increases every year with the introduction of new kinds of foods. The presence of convenience stores aids quick and easy sales of food in the United States. Convenience Stores like Wal-Mart and Costco have billions of dollars as their turnovers from food sales. 3. Permanence of industry: There is no doubt that as long as there are people on this earth to consume foods, food industry won’t go out of operation: it would collapse. And the development of new forms of food makes the industry to be constantly appealing to the customers. And since the pricing system in food industry is quite flexible, the industry could conveniently serve many classes of people in the society. What this statement means is that both the poor and the rich could afford to buy a corn, for instance, even though the quality of the corns they bought are different, because of different prices. Enactment of business laws: By making laws that could make the business activities in the sector of food industry, the US government provides a comfortable atmosphere for the industry to grow successfully. Farm subsidy: The United States is still one of the developed nations that offer some encouraging subsidies for farm products. Since

History of Bareilly Essay Example for Free

History of Bareilly Essay The region has, also, acted as a mint for a major part of its history. From archaeological point of view the district of Bareilly is very rich. The extensive remains of Ahichhatra, the Capital town of Northern Panchala have been discovered near Ramnagar village of Aonla Tehsil in the district. It was during the first excavations at Ahichhatra (1940–44) that the painted grey ware, associated with the advent of the Aryans in Ganga Yamuna Valley, was recognised for the first time in the earliest levels of the site. Nearly five thousand coins belonging to periods earlier than that of Guptas have been yielded from Ahichhatra. It has also been one of the richest sites in India from the point of view of the total yield of terracotta. Some of the masterpieces of Indian terracotta art are from Ahichhatra. In fact the classification made of the terracotta human figurines from Ahichhatra on grounds of style and to some extent stratigraphy became a model for determining the stratigraphy of subsequent excavations at other sites in the Ganga Valley. On the basis of the existing material, the archaeology of the region helps us to get an idea of the cultural sequence from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC up to the 11th c. AD. Some ancient mounds in the district have also been discovered by the Deptt. of Ancient History and culture, Rohilkhand University, at Tihar-Khera (Fatehganj West), Pachaumi, Rahtuia, Kadarganj and Sainthal. [2]

God. Creator or Poet? :: Religion Religious God Essays

God. Creator or Poet? The Latin word â€Å"poet† means â€Å"creator†. Humans, realizing they are different from animals in the world, have been trying to rationalize things and themselves to the world ever since. Poets and writers used to come up with these far off imaginative ways of how to answer questions of life almost to explain it in a philosophical way. Who were the first humans? How did they come to be? What made the sun and the moon and the stars? Why the animals were made the way they were? What caused night and day, the seasons, the cycle of life itself? Why were some people greedy and some unselfish, some ugly and some handsome, some dull and some clever? As people pondered these questions and many more, they created stories that helped explain the world to their primitive minds. Storytellers told these tales again and again around the fires of the early tribes, by the hearth of humble cottages, before the great fire in the king's hall; they told them as they sat in the grass huts of the jungle, the Hogans of the Navajo, and the igloos of the Eskimo. Their children told them, and their children's children, until the stories were smooth and polished. And so people created their myths and their folktales, their legends and epics; the literature of the fireside, the poetry of the people, and the memory of humankind. They spoke what made them understand the unknown. However scholars choose to look at them, folktales and myths are literature derived from human imagination to explain the human condition. Literature today continues to express our concern about human strengths, weaknesses, and the individual's relationships to the world and to other people. This thought came up by Euhemerus in 300 B.C. He began the theory that once one war hero became respected and dies, people pass on their name while embellishing their heroic story. Soon, people forgot the fact that this hero was even human. Now, the hero was a God; an immortal God. The vast body of traditional literature was shaped verbally by generation after generation, simply because oral language was then the only language. (Even today, writing is far from universal. Of 2796 languages in the world, all have an oral form, but only about 153 have a written form.

Gender Roles in Latin American Societies Essay example -- Female Male

Gender Roles in Latin American Societies The idea that a woman’s job is to be a wife and mother is old-fashioned, but not completely out of style. Though these roles require a great deal of talent, resilience, patience, love, and strength, to name a few, they are often underestimated or depicted as simple. Especially in modern times, many women in the United States who stay home to raise a family are viewed as anti-feminists, whereas women in Latin America are not criticized for similar actions. In recent decades, more Latin American women have started to break the mold, daring to be both sexy, and successful in the workforce, while remaining pillars of domestic life. Latin American society places a great deal of importance on the family as a support network; it is not uncommon for several generations to reside in the same house. This emphasis is called familismo, and the mother in the family is usually the most important figure. She â€Å"is seen as the primary nurturer and caregiver in the family†¦[and] plays a critical role in preservation of the family as a unit, as well as in...

Apple Inc. Case 2010

1. What, historically, have been Apple’s competitive advantages? Apple has had various competitive advantages since its origin until the present. Firstly, Apple’s innovation has always been its hallmark. Beginning with the first â€Å"Apple I† till the â€Å"iPad 2†, Apple products have change the development of the market many times, specially during the last decade, with the first iPod’s lunch. Although Apple’s single technologies have not been walkthroughs created by the company itself, it has developed the characteristics of these technologies and combined them in a way that had never been done before.One of Apple’s main ways to innovate is through the ease of use of its products, another of its big competitive advantages. Apple’s products are popularly considered as very intuitive and, although MP3 players already existed in 2001 or multi-touch surfaces in 2007, products like the iPod and iPhone allow the use of these techn ologies and devices in a very practical way with an almost vertical learning curve. Besides this ease-to-use, Apple has â€Å"plug & play† oriented designs: devices ready to be used with a series of peripherals without requiring prior knowledge.This has led Mac computers to be â€Å"digital hubs† of the new digital devices. Moreover, Apple has always had a proprietary design. Apple has never licensed any of its products or designs (except during Spindler’s management). This means that it has always had a wide control over its value chain, from the designs from scratch of their computers, till the software and its marketing or sales. It has a widely vertical integrated business and nowadays, it is even beginning to design its own microchips. This has led to a very unique differentiation that can be hardly found in competitors’ products.That is why one of Apple’s most typical characteristics are its products’ elegant and state-of-the-art indus trial designs and superior software (OS). All components of its products are perfectly integrated and work altogether better than separated. Apple’s design process consists of a series of activities that can be hardly copied. Finally, it is very important to highlight Apple’s brand image and the whole culture created around it. As Jobs says, Apple products are intended to be a â€Å"cultural force†.Apple delivers through its products complete solutions and experiences, different to the use of any other company’s products. Its devices are considered as iconic within their correspondent markets and the company is seen as a leader of the â€Å"digital age†. Apple has always had a solid base of loyal customers and its brand is presently one of the best known in the world. Furthermore, Steve Jobs CEO is considered as an innovation guru and has been named CEO of the decade, boosting Apple’s popularity even higher, if possible. 2. Analyze the perso nal computer industry.Are the dynamics favorable or problematic for Apple? The personal computer industry is a highly concentrated market. The four top PC vendors (Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo) control the 55% of worldwide shipments. It is a competition intense sector given the low switching costs of the industry. Growth has been driven by a decrease of prices and expansion of capabilities, with consequently higher sales volumes, but with a relatively smaller growth in revenues. PC components are going through a standardization process and PC makers are cutting expenditures in R&D.Due to the aforementioned low switching costs and the low differentiation among vendors, the threat of substitute products is very high in the industry. However, despite the low product differentiation, vendors have built strong brands and the investments required to enter the sector are very high, for what the entrance of new competitors with similar volume and brand awareness as the present top vendors is q uite unlikely. The only open way for competitors seems to be the â€Å"white-box† market (with around 30% of sales in 2009), but these machines cover only the desktop market.Regarding the clients’ power, they have a wide range of very similar products in design, capabilities and price to choose from, for what the switching costs are very low, as mentioned. PC vendors’ customers are therefore in a strong position to push them in the desired direction. On the other hand, PC makers have also high bargaining power in their relationships with their suppliers, as PC components are widely available at very competitive prices (excluding microprocessors and operating systems).As for Apple, the sector’s dynamics involve both favorable and problematic characteristics. The still hegemonic â€Å"wintel† systems make Apple’s products a strong and very differentiated alternative. Moreover, home consumers are the biggest segment in the industry, a group tha t values design, mobility and connectivity, some features in which Apple is a leader. On the other hand, the company may have an overall minor base of potential clients willing to acquire the knowledge to operate its devices.Despite the fall in prices and increase in capabilities that the market requests, something that could seem problematic to any player in the sector, Apple is still able to charge premium prices through design and â€Å"user experience† differentiation, without requiring to push its devices capabilities over the average. All of this means that Apple can make big profits in its premium niche market, but that overall penetration might be a setback. Nevertheless, Apple is still reliant on its components’ suppliers, who â€Å"force† Apple to purchase major volumes in order to reach competitive costs.

buy custom Difference between T-1 and ISDN Technologies essay

buy custom Difference between T-1 and ISDN Technologies essay T-1 and ISDN are service lines, which support telecommunication equipments and phone systems that, provide voice and data services (Shepler, 2003). T-1 differs greatly from ISDN, in terms of circuit configuration. ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is divided into two levels, in which, voice and data can be sent and received in a single fiber-optic cable. These levels are BRI and PRI (Shepler, 2003). BRI (Basic Rate Interface) is the most common level, whose data or voice transmission speeds are low. It therefore supports residential and small businesses data and voice needs. On the other hand, PRI (Primary Rate Interface) transmits data and voice at very high speeds. It is usually carried in T-1 trunk lines whereby, it divides T-1 digital signal into 24 different channels. PRI is suitable for large businesses and large institutions, which have large data and voice requirements (Shepler, 2003). T-1 service, which is actually more of hardware than a service, is used to support PRI service in ISDN (Shepler, 2003). This support involves helping PRI to deliver data and voice services to different locations. A single T-1 line consists of 24 channels. The channels can be used separately: each with its own purpose, or in combination. For instance, all the 24 channels can be used to deliver individual telephone threads, bandwidth for data networks, or internet connection to a given location. Alternatively, the 24 channels may be split into two groups, either to deliver data or voice, in any combination. When used to deliver bandwidth data networks, each T-1 thread is capable of transmitting data at a speed of 64 Kilobytes per second. This means that, a T-1 line, which is fully dedicated to data delivery, is capable of transmitting data at a speed of 1.54 Megabytes per second (Shepler, 2003). Buy custom Difference between T-1 and ISDN Technologies essay

The Cahaba River essays

The Cahaba River essays For thousands of years, the Cahaba River, with the other rivers and streams of Alabama, has moved unceasingly to the sea. And just beneath the normally peaceful waters exist perhaps the greatest collection of plant and animal life in North America. Overstatement? Hardly. While Alabama is the 29th largest state, it ranks fourth in the number of plant and animal species. Fully eight percent of all the freshwater flowing through the continental United States flows through this state. Only Florida can rival Alabama in the number of species per square mile. Alabamas waterways host 38 percent of all the freshwater fill-breathing snails, 52 percent of all turtle species and 60 percent of all the freshwater mussel species. Since 1991, three new fish species previously undescribed by science have been found in the Mobile River basin. The Cahaba River has more fish species per mile, 131, than any river its size in North America, including 18 species that exist only in the Mobile River drainage area. To put this in perspective, the Cahaba has more native species of fish than the entire state of California. The Cahaba River basin supports 69 rare and imperiled species, including 10 fish and mussel species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. In 1992, botanist Jim Allison discovered eight new species of plants in the limestone bluffs of Bibb county overlooking the Cahaba that were previously unknown to science. His discovery rivals the great expeditions to the heart of Africa or up the Amazon River in the 19th Century. Perhaps the best known of the Cahabas endangered inhabitants is the Cahaba Lily, also known as the Shoals Lily. The Cahaba Lily is unusual in that it grows literally in the middle of the river, wedging its bulbs between cracks in the rocks that comprise the riverbed. Each spring, in May and June, the Lillies rise above the flowing current in an explosion of white and green. ...

How Starfish See With Eyespots

How Starfish See With Eyespots Starfish, which are more scientifically known as sea stars,  dont have any visible body parts that look like eyes. So how do they see? While it may not look like starfish have eyes, they do, although theyre not like our eyes. A starfish has eyespots that cannot see much in the way of details but can detect light and dark. These eyespots are at the tip of each of the starfishs arms. That means that a 5-armed starfish has five eyespots, and a 40-armed starfish has 40! How to See a Starfishs Eyespots A starfishs eyespots lie underneath its skin, but you can see them. If you get a chance to gently hold a starfish, often it will tilt the end of its arms upward. Look at the very tip, and you might see a black  or red dot. Thats the eyespot. Cartoons that portray starfish with a face with eyes in the center of their body are therefore inaccurate. A starfish is actually looking at you with its arms, not from the center of its body. Its just easier for cartoonists to portray them that way. Structure of the Sea Star Eye The eye of a sea star is very small. On a blue star, they are only about half a millimeter wide. They have a groove on the underside of each arm that has the tube feet that stars use to move. The eye is made of a couple hundred light-collecting units and is located at the end of one of the tube feet on each arm. It is a compound eye like that of an insect, but it doesnt have a lens to focus the light. This reduces its ability to see anything but light, dark, and large structures such as the coral reef it needs to live on. What Sea Stars Can See Sea stars cant detect color. They dont have the color-detecting cones that human eyes do, so they are colorblind and see only light and dark. They also cant see fast-moving objects as their eyes work slowly. If something swims by them fast, they simply wont detect it. They cant see any details because they have so few light-detecting cells. Experiments have shown they can detect large structures, and even that was a surprise for scientists, who for a long time thought they could only see light and dark. Each eye of the sea star has a large field of vision. If all of their eyes werent blocked, they could see for 360 degrees around themselves. They could probably limit their field of vision using their other tube feet on each arm as blinders. Sea stars likely see just enough to be able to get to where they want to be, on a rock or coral reef where they can feed.

Description for the map Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Description for the map - Essay Example Inner Mongolia has only a small number of rivers such as the Yellow river and other seasonal rivers. The region is endowed with many lakes comprising Hulun, Nur and Dalai Nur among others. Mongolian terrain represents the Alps and continuing plateaus that have a very high amount of relief. Starting from the Gobi Desert located in the southern part of Mongolia, the region has a treeless plain that is covered with grass and has three mountain ranges. The desert is a home to rare animals such as the black tail antelope, brown bear and Havtgai, wild Bactrian camel. Tavan Bogd Uul represents the highest point in Inner Mongolia (4374 meters) and the lowest region (560 meters) lies to the eastern Mongolian plain. Since one can go through the map and find various features found within Inner Mongolia attests to the fact that the map helps in solving problems. People such as travellers and tourists can use it to locate different features that may be of interest to them. Consequently, such features, in my view, contribute greatly in shaping the Inner Mongolia story. As mentioned earlier, travellers and tourists are critical users of the Inner Mongolia Map. These people will, in particular, use the map in identifying the various physical features found in Inner Mongolia. The Inner Mongolia map will, for instance, be important in helping the tourists to locate the splendid pasture scenery in Mongolia, the Xiritala Grassland Scenic area, and the Hinggan Ling Mountains among others. Moreover, the map will also help historians in understanding the history of Inner Mongolia. They can use the map to locate features such as the tomb of Genghis and the monastery. The use of variations in colour in showing the different elevations in the Mongolian region is quite distinctive. Through the variations in colour, one gets the sense of the different physical features in the area. In addition, the use of delineation lines gives an idea of the land’s shape. This adds on or

Choose best topic for that Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Choose best topic for that - Essay Example To analyze our results, the supplier that has more positives than negatives will be the supplier that we will choose to supply our athletic shoes. From all of the options available, we found that Supplier 3 is the best option for us in terms of price and quality. Our company is introducing a new product to the market and thus need to figure out how to procure and then sell these products at a significant enough profit margin. We used four different criteria on which to base our decision to buy the shoes from a supplier. Price is the number one factor followed by quality. These factors will all be calculated using different methods of comparison. Price will be calculated from the quotes from each of the suppliers. Durability will be tested in our laboratories. Appearance will be derived from surveys that are given out to focus groups. Lastly, convenience will be judged based on the transportation costs involved with shipping the shoes from our supplier to our warehouse. We made our criteria for price that each pair of shoes would cost $100 or less. Suppliers 1 and 3 both filled this criterion; however, supplier 2 and 4 cost more than this figure. In terms of waterproof durability, we decided to judge whether each pair of shoes was waterproof or not. Supplier 1 and 4 provided athletic shoes that were not waterproof; supplier 2 and 3 did have shoes that were waterproof. For appearance, we made use of specific focus groups that could give us feedback about the stylistic feel of each of the shoes. Supplier 1, 2, and 4 each had shoes that looked fashionable and were comfortable to wear. However, Supplier 3 did not have stylish athletic shoes at all. Finally, for convenience, we decided to judge how far each supplier was located away from our warehouse. Ideally, a supplier should be located less than 100 miles away. Supplier 2 and 4 were both closer than this distance. On the other hand, supplier 1 and 3 were greater than this

Organizational strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Organizational strategy - Essay Example The assessment herein discusses three strategic aspects of GE with application of the academic valuation models. The areas discussed include: Core competencies and capabilities assessment Real options to improve business performance assessment Strategic Options Available For GE Each section will be developed including critical analysis of GE with respect to the assessment tools followed by conclusion. CORE COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT Assessment f business on road of success with competitive advantage from 1980s to 1990s has moved in from capability to empower business layers to developing, exploiting and strengthening core competency of business. De Saa?-Pe?rez and Garca-Falco?n, (2002) established that only resources and capabilities transformed into core competency can develop business competitive advantage (De Wit, & Meyer, 2004). Hence, in line with importance stated for core competency, the section develops assessment for the core competency of General Electric. CORE COMPETENCY Selzni ck (1957) first introduced the concept of core competency as competence with distinction for depicting corporate advantage in various activities (Barney, & Hesterly, 2008). The strategic perspective of core competency was put forward by Hamal and Prahalad (1990). ... xpertise with newer areas in a manner more interestingly than routine framework (Cravens, and Piercy, 2008) TESTS FOR CORE COMPETENCY Firms to retain their competitive advantage must possess distinctive competency that provides business separate positions as against competitors. The simplest test for competency to be core as well as distinctive one is core competency does not finish like physical assets (Grant, 2009). Instead core competencies increase their strength to bind the businesses together. Hamal and Prahalad (1990) core competence as competencies that must following three tests: Core competency must provide business capability to reach wide variety of markets. Competency must pass the litmus test to add value to the perceived benefits by customer through product. Organization to rely on the competency as core competency must enable business to retain their distinctive position in a way that cannot be imitated by competitors (Hamel, 1991; Prahalad, & Hamel, 1994). Resource b ased view also provide a litmus test for strategic capabilities to be regarded as core competency. Barney’s (1991)Â  VRIN model is also taken test for competency of an organization to be regarded as core competency (Gamble, and Thompson, 2010). VRIN model, an acronym, states that core competency must be Valuable, Rare, In-imitable, Non- Substitutability to benefit firm with competitive advantage over competitors (Fleischer, & Benoussan, 2003). GENERAL ELECTRIC’S CORE COMPETENCY General Electric (GE) under Jeff Immelt to position GE for stronger growth planned to reposition business with resources transferred to areas that have stronger growth prospects from business that have already undergone heavy juice extraction. To strengthen value based system, Jeff Immet defined Growth Platforms.

Proposal for a Business Research Project Exploring the Impact of Coursework

Proposal for a Business Research Project Exploring the Impact of Passion of Employees in the Banking Sector to their performance - Coursework Example In undertaking the research, a group of banks from the same financial institution will be randomly selected as our sample for the research. A survey will be designed with the financial institutions senior management, other staffs and customers as the sample space. We will choose a sample size of 300 randomly selected respondents for the research. Data will be collected using two methods. Hand delivered questionnaires for employees and oral interviews for customers. Since our data include description data, coding will be done to the data. Then the collected data will be entered, analyzed, and interpreted to reach a conclusion. A report will be written at the end of the research to show the outcome of the research in simpler terms. Objectives 1. To identify the efforts of employers in this sector to build passion in their employees and what motivates them to do so. 2. To determine whether the passion of an employee is influenced by his level, experience and gender and whether it is nat urally acquired or built by motivation and working conditions. 3. To determine how other employees feel working with their fellows who are passionate about what they do. 4. To find out how their clients feel when served by a passionate employee and to determine the criteria they use to judge whether an employee is passionate or not. Literature Review According to Cameron and Spreitzer (2011), passion has been studied for a long time in various contexts, like philosophy, theology, political science, psychology, and sociology. They also show that most of the writings in this field argue that passion is an intense emotion that interacts with cognition and motivates an individual’s behavior. Moreover, they argue that passion makes people to be heavily involved and... According to Cameron and Spreitzer, passion has been studied for a long time in various contexts, like philosophy, theology, political science, psychology, and sociology. They also show that most of the writings in this field argue that passion is an intense emotion that interacts with cognition and motivates an individual’s behavior. Moreover, they argue that passion makes people to be heavily involved and invested in the activities they undertake. Linley and Harrington identify passion as the desires, thoughts, plans and behavior which persist over time. They also say that passion can lead to increased performance regardless of costs, external obstacles or moral objections. These scholars also reveal that the difference between passion and enjoyment is that passion is deeper and lasts for a longer time. Moreover, they indicate that in a team passion can play quite important role in motivating others and can help people to adhere to their goals despite the challenges of achie ving them. Passion for work helps employees to sustain the energy necessary for organizational excellence and enables managers to motivate and inspire other employees. This shows that passion in employees can actually make an organization to excel. Linley and Harrington show that people cannot raise passion, so the best thing to do is to identify the thing you are passionate about and pursue it in your life.

Assigment 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Assigment 3 - Assignment Example They both got up from a sitting position whenever they felt like it. The children also displayed fine motor skills by playing with the props and toys; they would use the toy as a tool to smack the other toy. The toddlers also showed interest in the strange sounds they heard. If someone with a slightly strange voice spoke they paused for a second to recognize the source. One of the toddlers did show slight imbalance while walking, but the caretaker said that it was normal. Every child wobbles once in a while. The children showed cognitive development when they were playing with the toys. They also understood what the caregiver wanted them to do. The speaker would show them the toy whenever they seem to cry. They would immediately get interested in the toy or a game the speaker would play with them. Both the toddlers showed attention skills. Whenever the speaker would talk to them, they would listen and respond/react. The toddlers seemed interested in toys and props and engaged with the setup persistently until they started feeling lonely and wanted to go back to the caregiver. The children showed signs of their awareness about shapes and sizes. One baby tried to fit the small toy in the larger one, but the shapes were too different from each other, so they didn’t fit. But the child showed that he knew that smaller would go inside the bigger. The children also demonstrated curiosity and the ability to initiate. Any new toy would interest them. They would leave the old toys and would go discover a new one. It is difficult to write a comprehensive report about the cognitive development of the toddlers from a brief observation. However, during this short demonstration, they showed excellent eye-hand coordination, physical activity, sense of size and shape (with the toys), and chasing each other. Both the toddlers showed emotional connection with the speaker. They responded and obeyed many times during the demonstration. They would cower when a

Proposal for a Business Research Project Exploring the Impact of Coursework

Proposal for a Business Research Project Exploring the Impact of Passion of Employees in the Banking Sector to their performance - Coursework Example In undertaking the research, a group of banks from the same financial institution will be randomly selected as our sample for the research. A survey will be designed with the financial institutions senior management, other staffs and customers as the sample space. We will choose a sample size of 300 randomly selected respondents for the research. Data will be collected using two methods. Hand delivered questionnaires for employees and oral interviews for customers. Since our data include description data, coding will be done to the data. Then the collected data will be entered, analyzed, and interpreted to reach a conclusion. A report will be written at the end of the research to show the outcome of the research in simpler terms. Objectives 1. To identify the efforts of employers in this sector to build passion in their employees and what motivates them to do so. 2. To determine whether the passion of an employee is influenced by his level, experience and gender and whether it is nat urally acquired or built by motivation and working conditions. 3. To determine how other employees feel working with their fellows who are passionate about what they do. 4. To find out how their clients feel when served by a passionate employee and to determine the criteria they use to judge whether an employee is passionate or not. Literature Review According to Cameron and Spreitzer (2011), passion has been studied for a long time in various contexts, like philosophy, theology, political science, psychology, and sociology. They also show that most of the writings in this field argue that passion is an intense emotion that interacts with cognition and motivates an individual’s behavior. Moreover, they argue that passion makes people to be heavily involved and... According to Cameron and Spreitzer, passion has been studied for a long time in various contexts, like philosophy, theology, political science, psychology, and sociology. They also show that most of the writings in this field argue that passion is an intense emotion that interacts with cognition and motivates an individual’s behavior. Moreover, they argue that passion makes people to be heavily involved and invested in the activities they undertake. Linley and Harrington identify passion as the desires, thoughts, plans and behavior which persist over time. They also say that passion can lead to increased performance regardless of costs, external obstacles or moral objections. These scholars also reveal that the difference between passion and enjoyment is that passion is deeper and lasts for a longer time. Moreover, they indicate that in a team passion can play quite important role in motivating others and can help people to adhere to their goals despite the challenges of achie ving them. Passion for work helps employees to sustain the energy necessary for organizational excellence and enables managers to motivate and inspire other employees. This shows that passion in employees can actually make an organization to excel. Linley and Harrington show that people cannot raise passion, so the best thing to do is to identify the thing you are passionate about and pursue it in your life.

Fine chemical production Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Fine chemical production - Essay Example Chemically, citral consists of a mixture of a pair of aldehydes (terpenoids) having similar molecular formula but different structures. The two compounds are considered to be double bond isomers with the E-isomer being referred to as citral â€Å"a† or geranial while Z-isomer is known as citral â€Å"b† or neral. Although citral naturally occurs in compounds such as lemon grass and can be isolated from these citral containing oils, it is only available in sizable quantities. For effective synthetic manufacture of citral on a large scale basis for industrial purposes, it is increasingly becoming important to have a synthetic method of fine production from simple, inexpensive but readily available commercial chemicals such as isoprene and bata-pinene among others. Citral is widely used in the manufacture of perfumes, lotions, creams, shampoos and flavourings. In addition, the chemical compound is also an important basis for synthesizing a variety of popular fragrance compounds such as geraniol, eugenal, ionones and citronellol as well as in making carotinoids used for both vitamin A and E. Being one of the most important acyclic monoterpenes due to its numerous industrial applications, citral has many synthetic routes some of which are currently being used in commercial production of the chemical. This paper presents a fine chemical production of Citral including its chemistry, synthetic route selection, thermodynamics, kinetics and wastes issues. The current selected synthetic route for the production of citral involves the use of isobutene and formaldehyde as the primary feeding stocks with nitric acid as the preferred choice of catalysts. Using this method, citral can effectively be produced by from the reaction between isobutene and formaldehyde molecules under high temperatures and pressure and using a catalyst. The resultant chemical is then subjected to numerous special

My Hobby Essay Example for Free

My Hobby Essay Vegetable gardening as my favorite hobby Deepa George WGU February 20, 2013 Vegetable gardening as my favorite hobby Hobby is an entertaining activity which provides pleasure and recreation. It is a way of escaping from the stress and the monotony of one’s daily round of duties. Therefore, hobby is essential for the proper enjoyment of life. My favorite hobby is vegetable gardening because it provides me sense of pride, peace, and relaxation, promote healthy life style and save money on groceries. You should start gardening as your hobby because it provides you relaxation, keeps you physically healthy, and save money on grocery bills. First of all, a vegetable garden is an easy and effective way to provide a sense of pride and relaxation. I am fortunate to have a spacious backyard for the gardening. I have vegetables and crops such as peas, lettuce, greens, cabbages, root crops, squash, beans, corn, melons, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, and herbs in my garden in different seasons. Research shows that gardening promotes mental health by relieving stress and promoting a sense of accomplishment. Spending some time in the garden ease stress, keep you limber and improve your mood. Vegetable gardening is a wonderful pastime the whole family can enjoy. Allowing children to be involved in the gardening help them to develop an understanding of nature, sense of responsibility, and pride. Kids are more likely to taste vegetables they grow themselves. My five year old son is proud about our vegetable garden. He helps us with watering the plants, caring for the crop and harvesting the produce. He was extremely reluctant to eat fruits and vegetables buying from the market, but now he does not want to miss anything coming from our garden. When your daughter Sara was in my house, she enjoyed peeking under leaves in search of ripe fruits and vegetables. Hence, I am sure that she will be so happy to have her own garden. Growing your own food, build a sense of pride and satisfaction. Watching a seed sprout in front of your eyes to become food on your plate is gratifying. The commitment for garden rewards you with a feeling that you have brought something to life. It is truly exciting to go to your backyard and get a juicy, ripened tomato for a salad. Now the weather is turning warm and favorable for planting. You should make a vegetable garden with your favorite vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers and jalapeno peppers. The stores like Lowes, Home depot, and local seed stores have varieties of seeds with planting instructions. I will help you with picking out plants, preparing raised beds and containers, and fertilization of plants. I would like you to enjoy the sense of pride, accomplishment and relaxation by gardening which brings you close to nature. Secondly, planting vegetable gardening keeps you and your family healthy. It provides fresh fruits and vegetables right at your fingertips. Everybody is seriously concerned about the safety of the food available in the market. When you grow your own food carefully and organically, you do not have to worry about the contamination of the vegetables. When they grow in your backyard, you are not able to resist them, and their vitamin content will be at the highest level as you eat them straight from the garden. Thus, gardening is a simple and an easy way to promote good eating habits. Furthermore, gardening is a good outdoor exercise. Planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting require a lot of physical activity. Tending vegetable garden burns calories and uses muscles. Studies have shown that one can burn 200 to 500 calories per hour by working in the vegetable garden. The activities in the garden will give you sufficient physical exercise to keep you physically healthy and mentally alert. Finally, you will save money on groceries when you begin to stock your kitchen with fresh produce from backyard. It will help you to save money on gas you use to get to the store. To save money, you should plant smart and grow the food you like to eat. Make sure you grow a lot of vegetables that you use regularly. Since you like the salad, you should plant plenty of salad greens to save money. You can preserve the produce and enjoy the goodness of fruits and vegetables long after the harvest is over. There are four common ways to preserve foods: canning, freezing, drying, and pickling. Last year, I preserved beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrot and sweet corn and used for the rest of the year. You can share the extra vegetables with your friends, or sell in the fresh vegetable market. Every year I donate extra vegetables to a food pantry, and it helped me to take the tax deduction for non-cash distributions. You can save the seeds from the best produces, and use for next year. Gardening is an investment that offers a good return. For example, I have spent two dollar for one packet of green bean seeds. Once I cover the cost of soil, fertilizers, and water, I got a return of around seventy five dollars. I suggest you to start gardening as your hobby that produces positive economic return. Conclusively, vegetable gardening provides relaxation by getting a person outside and exposing to natural air. Planning a garden and caring for the garden help the person to stay healthy and save money. For all these reasons, I encourage you to choose vegetable gardening as your hobby.

The use of Microwave Remote Sensing

The use of Microwave Remote Sensing INTRODUCTION Microwave remote sensing at wavelengths ranging from 1 cm to 1 m has gained a lot of importance over the plast decade for a wide range of scientific applications with the availability of active radar imaging systems. Its potential in spatial applications use has been scientifically established in various sectors like forestry, agriculture, land use and land cover, geology and hydrology. A variety of applications have been carried out world over using microwave data like discrimination of crop types, crop condition monitoring, soil moisture retrieval, delineation of forest openings, estimation of forest above ground biomass, forest mapping; forest structure and fire scar mapping, geological mapping, monitoring wetlands and snow cover, sea ice identification, coastal windfield measurement, wave slope measurement, ship detection , shoreline detection, substrate mapping, slick detection and general vegetation mapping (Kasischke et al., 1997). There is an emerging interest on microwave remote sensing is, as microwave sensors it can image a surface with very fine resolution of a few meters to coarse resolution of a few kilometers. They provides imagery to a given resolution independently of altitude, limited only by the transmitter power available. Fundamental parameters like polarization and look angle can be varied to optimize the system for a specific application. SAR imaging is independent of solar illumination as the system provides its own source of illumination. It can operate independently of weather conditions if sufficiently long wavelengths are chosen. It operates in a band of electromagnetic spectrum different from the bands used by visible and infrared (IR) imageries. Microwave applications in Forestry Applications of microwave remote sensing in forestry ha ve also been reported during the recent past. Recent reviews on the application of radar in forestry show that SAR systems have a good capability in discriminating various types of (tropical) forest cover using multi-temporal and multi-frequency SAR data (Vander Sanden, 1997; Varekamp, 2001; Quinones, 2002; Sgrenzaroli, 2004). These studies showed that the biomass dependence of radar backscatter varies as a function of radar wavelength, polarization and incidence angle. Also recent studies have demonstrated that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can be used to estimate above-ground standing biomass. To date, these studies have relied on extensive ground-truth measurements to construct relationships between biomass and SAR backscatter (Steininger, 1996; Rignot et al., 1997). Many studies demonstrated the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing to retrieve biophysical characteristics from forest targets (Richards, 1990). Although radar backscatter from forest is influenced by their structural properties (Imhoff, 1995), earlier studies derived useful relationships between backscattering coefficients and the above-ground biomass (Baker et., 1994; Le Toan et al., 1992; Dobson et el., 1992; Imhoff; 1995). These relationships may provide a method of monitoring forest ecosystems which play such a vital role in carbon storage and NPP. Microwave remote sensing has the advantage of all weather capability coverage overcoming the persistent problem of cloud cover in satellite images like in optical data. Optical remote sensing is being used very successfully in various applications related to earth resources studies and monitoring of the environment. However, optical remote sensing is not suitable for all atmospheric conditions. It cannot penetrate through clouds and haze. In many areas of the world, the frequent cloud conditions often restrain the acquisition of high-quality remotely sensed data by optical sensors. Thus, radar data has become the only feasible way of acquiring remotely sensed data within a given time framework because the radar systems can collect Earth feature data irrespective of weather or light conditions. Due to this unique feature of radar data compared with optical sensor data, the radar data have been used extensively in many fields, including forest-cover identification and mapping, discrimi nation of forest compartments and forest types, estimation of forest stand parameters and monitoring of forests. In areas where vegetation cover is dense, it visually covers the underlying formation and it is very difficult to detect structural limiting the use of optical sensors. Radar however, is sensitive enough to topographic variation that it is able to discern the structural expression reflected in the tree top canopy, and therefore the structure may be clearly defined on the radar imagery. Based on this background, the current thesis work has been carried out to explore the potential of microwave data in addressing core areas of tropical forestry viz., vegetation classification , a bove ground biomass estimation etc., and to provide the users/researchers a meaningful data base of SAR applications in tropical forestry, specifically over the India region. Research questions: Which SAR wavelength/frequency band is appropriate for vegetation classification in tropical forests? To what extent above ground biomass can be measured in tropical forests? Which frequency band and polarization are suitable for above ground biomass estimation? Is there any enhancement in vegetation classification with polarimetric / interferometric data than stand alone amplitude data? Research hypothesis: Based on this background,the previous studies and earlier mentioned Rresearch questions, we understand that the backscatter increases with the increase in above ground biomass and depends on wavelength bands, polarizations used and on the study area, topographic variations and species composition. So, the present study attempts to derive the application potential of airborne and space borne SAR data in the quantification of the forest resources in tropical regions like India, both as a complementary and supplementary role to optical datasets. Different techniques such as Regression analysis, multi-sensor fusion, texture measures and interferometric coherence characterize different biomass ranges of the test sites and classification of major land cover classes. This study would facilitate scope for future research in tropical regions to explore the potentials of SAR data in land cover classification and above ground biomass estimation using the polarimetric and interferometric techniq ues. OBJECTIVES: Based on this background, the present study aims at the following objectives: Vegetation type classification using polarimetric and interferometric SAR data. Forest above-ground biomass estimation using multi-frequency SAR data and ground inventoried data. Vegetation classification is necessary to understand the diversity of species in a given area which gives above ground biomass with measured parameters. Hence, vegetation classification enhances the estimation of the above ground biomass. Forest biomass is a key parameter in understanding the carbon cycle and determining rates of carbon storage, both of which are large uncertainties for forest ecosystems. Accurate knowledge of biophysical parameters of the ecosystems is essential to develop an understanding of the ecosystem and their interactions, to provide input models of ecosystem and global processes, to test these models and to monitor changes in ecosystem dynamics and processes over time. Thus, it is a useful measure for assessing changes in forest structure, comparing structural and functional attributes of forest ecosystems across a wide range of environmental conditions. Knowing the spatial distribution of forest biomass is important as the knowledge of biomass is required for calculating the sources and sinks of carbon that result from converting a forest to cleared land and vice versa, to know the spatial distribution of biomass which enables measurement of change through time. Field sampling is the most followed conventional method for vegetation type classification. The identification of different species in field yields good results in the estimation of the above ground biomass. It is very time consuming, expensive and very complicated. With the use of multiple sensors, varied data collection and interpretation techniques, remote sensing is a versatile tool that can provide data about the surface of the earth to suit any need (Reene et al, 2001). Remote sensing approach for vegetation classification is cost effective and also time effective. Though the identification of the tree species is possible only from the aerial imagery, major forest types can be identified from the airborne and the spaceborne remote sensing data. Visual image interpretation provides a feasible means of vegetation classification in forests. The image characteristics of shape, size, pattern, shadow, tone and texture are used by interpreters in tree species identification. Phenological correlations are useful in tree species identification. Changes in the appearance of trees in different seasons of the year some times enable discrimination of species that are indistinguishable on single dates. The use of multi-temporal remote sensing data enabl es the mapping of the different forest types. SAR has shown its potential for classifying and monitoring geophysical parameters both locally and globally. Excellent works were carried out on the classification using several approaches such as polarimetric data decomposition (Lee et al., 1998), knowledge based approaches considering the theoretical backscatter modeling and experimental observations ( Ramson and Sun , 1994) ; Backscatter model-related inversion approaches ( Kurvonen et al., 1999), neural networks and data fusion approaches ( Chen et al., 1996). Dong et al. (2001) have shown that the classification accuracy of 95% for the vegetation classes could be achieved through the segmentation and classification of the SAR data using Gaussian Markov Random Field Model (GMRF). Many methods have been employed for classification of polarimetric SAR data, based on the maximum likelihood (ML) (Lee et al. 1994), artificial neural network (NN) (Chen et al. 1996, Ito and Omatu, 1998), support vector machines (SVMs) (Fukuda et al. 2002), fuzzy method (Chen et al. 2003, Du and Lee 1996), or other approaches (Kong et al. 1988, Lee and Hoppel 1992, van Zyl and Burnette 1992, Cloude and Pottier 1997, Lee et al. 1999, Alberqa 2004) Among these methods, the ML classifier (Lee et al. 1994) can be employed for obtaining accurate classification results, but it is based on the assumption of the complex Wishart distribution of the covariance matrix. Assessing the total aboveground biomass of forests (biomass density when expressed as dry weight per unit area at a particular time) is a useful way of quantifying the amount of resource available for all traditional uses. It either gives the quantity of total biomass directly or the quantity by each component (e.g., leaves, branches, and bole) because their biomass tends to vary systematically with the total biomass. However, biomass of each component varies with total biomass by forest type, such as natural or planted forests and closed or open forests. For example, leaves contribute about 3-5% and merchantable bole is about 60% of the total aboveground biomass of closed forests. Many researchers have developed various methods based on field inventory and remote sensing approaches for the estimation of above ground biomass (Kira and Ogawa, 1971). Traditionally, field-measured approach is considered as the most accurate source for above-ground biomass estimation. It has been converted to volume, or biomass, using allometric equations that are based on standard field measurements (tree height and diameter at breast height). Different approaches, based on field measurement (Brown et al. 1989, Brown and Iverson 1992, Schroeder et al.. 1997, Houghton et al., 2001, Brown, 2002); remote sensing (Tiwari 1994, Roy and Ravan 1996, Tomppo et al., 2002, Foody et al., 2003, Santos et al., 2003, Zheng et al., 2004, Lu, 2005); and GIS (Brown and Gaston 1995) have been applied for AGB estimation. Traditional techniques based on field measurement are the most accurate ways for collecting biomass data. A sufficient number of field measurements is a prerequisite for developing AGB estimation models and for evaluating the AGB estimation results. However, these approaches are often time consuming, labour intensive, and difficult to implement, especially in remote areas and are generally limited to 10-year intervals. Also, they cannot provide the spatial distribution of biomass in large areas. For the above reasons, the perspectives of using remote sensing techniques to estimate forest biomass have gained interest. Remote sensing data available at different scales, from local to global, and from various sources, optical to microwave are expected to provide information that could be related indirectly, and in different manners, to biomass information. The possibility that aboveground forest biomass might be determined from space is a promising alternative to ground-based methods (Hese et al., 2005). The advantages of remotely sensed data, such as in repetivity of data collection, synoptic view, digital format that allows fast processing of large quantities of data, and the high correlations between spectral bands and vegetation parameters, make it the primary source for large area AGB estimation, especially in areas of difficult access. Therefore, remote sensing-based AGB estimation has increasingly attracted scientific interest. In general, AGB can be estimated using remotely sensed data with different approaches, such as multiple regression analysis, K nearest-neighbour, and neural network (Roy and Ravan 1996, Nelson et al. 2000a, Steininger 2000, Foody et al. 2003, Zheng et al. 2004), and indirectly estimated from canopy parameters, such as crown diameter, which are first derived from remotely sensed data using multiple regression analysis or different canopy reflectance models (Wu and Strahler 1994, Woodcock et al. 1997, Phua and Saito 2003, Popescu et al. 2003). Spectral signatures or vegetation indices are often used for AGB estimation in optical remote sensing. Many vegetation indices have been developed and applied to biophysical parameter studies (Anderson and Hanson 1992, Anderson et al. 1993, Eastwood et al. 1997, Lu et al. 2004, Mutanga and Skidmore 2004). Vegetation indices have been recommended to remove variability caused by canopy geometry, soil background, sun view angles, and atmospheric conditions when measuring biophysical properties (Elvidge and Chen 1995, Blackburn and Steele 1999). Radar remote sensing has potential to provide information on above ground biomass. The information content of SAR data in terms of the retrieval of biomass parameters will be assessed based on an understanding of the underlying scattering mechanisms, which in turn are derived from observations and modeling results. For this purpose, an analysis of data acquired by multiple frequency, incidence and polarisation systems and by interferometric systems is carried out. It has been proved that the sensitivity to biomass parameters differ strongly at different frequencies, polarisations and incidence angles. In general, long wavelength SAR backscatter (P and L band) is more sensitive to forest biomass than shorter wavelength C-band backscatter and the relationships saturate at certain biomass levels ( Imhoff 1995b). The strength of the relationships and the saturation levels are dependent on the type of forest being analysed (Ferrazoli et al. 1997). The saturation levels for the estimation of above ground biomass depend on the wavelengths (i.e. different bands, such as C, L, P), polarization (such as HV and VV), and the characteristics of vegetation stand structure and ground conditions. C-band can measure forestry biomass up to app. 50 tons/ha, L-band can measure up to 100 tons/ha and P-band can measure up to 200 tons/ha (Floyd et al., 1998). The combination of multiple channels and polarizations provides greater advantage for estimating total biomass (Harry Stern, 1998). RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY: The present study is the part of Radar Imaging satellite Joint Experiment Programme (RISAT-JEP) for forestry applications undertaken by Forestry and Ecology Division of National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), as a pilot campaign with specific objectives of above ground biomass estimation and vegetation type classification using airborne DLR (German Aerospace Center) carrying ESAR (Experimental Synthetic Aperture Radar) data for Rajpipla (Gujarat) study site and space borne ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite) carrying Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data for three test sites viz., Rajpipla (Gujarat), Dandeli (Karnataka) and Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), India. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The specific objectives of the present study are above ground biomass estimation and vegetation type classification using airborne DLR (German Aerospace Center) carrying ESAR (Experimental Synthetic Aperture Radar) data for Rajpipla (Gujarat) study site and space borne ENVISAT (Environmental Satellite) carrying Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data; ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) carrying Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) for three test sites viz., Rajpipla (Gujarat), Dandeli (Karnataka) and Bilaspur (Chattisgarh), India. Different techniques such as Regression analysis, multi-sensor fusion, texture measures and interferometric coherence were used to characterize different biomass ranges of the test sites and to classify the major land cover classes using spaceborne C-band ENVISAT-ASAR data and L-band ALOS- PALSAR data. Polarimetric signatures, polarimetric decompositions, multi-sensor fusion techniques etc. were used for the classification of different vegetation types in the Rajpipla study area using the airborne DLR-ESAR data. The study has its uniqueness and gains importance in the application potential of SAR interferometry over tropical regions like India, both in terms of an alternate/substitute to optical data sets due to persisting cloud cover and to the lack of availability of any earlier scientific work over the study region. This study is useful for the applications of to be launched Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) in 2010. The study has amply demonstrated the application potential of airborne and space borne SAR data in the quantification of the forest resources in tropical regions like India, both as a complementary and supplementary role to optical datasets. The study would facilitate future research in tropical regions to explore the potentials of SAR data in land cover classification and above ground biomass estimation using the polarimetric and interferometric techniques. LITERATURE SURVEY: During the last decade, many potential applications of SAR in different frequency bands have been studied for forestry applications using data acquired by both airborne and space-borne systems. Various techniques like Polarimetry, Interferometry and Polarimetric-Interferometry enhanced the use of SAR data in forestry applications. The backscatter from vegetation is used to infer information about amplitude data for forest cover mapping and estimation of above ground biomass in regenerating forests. Use of SAR polarimetric data delineated vegetation classes within the forest and also enhanced the capability in estimating the above ground biomass. The use of repeat pass interferometric data enables to calculate the forest stand height and also used for the land cover classification. The emerging Pol-InSAR technique is used to derive the three dimensional forest structures. Forest cover maps were prepared for the boreal, temperate and tropical forests using SAR data. Forest was separated from non-forest regions using multi-temporal C-band ERS SAR data on the test sites of United Kingdom, Poland and Finland (Quegan et al., 2000). The study applied a threshold value to separate forest from other classes. Tropical rainforest of Borneo was mapped from SIR-B data of different incidence angles (Ford and Casey, 1988). Different vegetation covers along with wetlands and clear-cut areas were distinguished. Forest cover mapping was done with JERS-1 SAR data on the coastal regions of Gabon (Simard et al., 2000). The study used decision tree method utilizing both radar amplitude and texture information. Forest cover map was prepared for Southern Chittagong using JERS-1 SAR data (Rahman and Sumantyo, 2007) and the study separated forest, degraded forest, shrubs, coastal plantations, agriculture, shrimp-farms, urban and water. Although radar backscatter from forest is influenced by their structural properties (Imhoff, 1995a), many studies have demonstrated useful relationships between backscattering coefficients and the areal density of above-ground biomass within particular types of forest (Baker et., 1994; Le Toan et al., 1992; Dobson et al., 1992; Imhof et al; 1995b). Many airborne and spaceborne SAR systems have been used to carry out a large amount of experiments for investigating the forest ecosystems. The airborne systems, such as the NASA/JPL AIRSAR, DLR-ESAR, etc., operating at P, L and C band, has been flown over many forest sites (Zebker et al., 1991; Le Toan et al, 1992; Beaudoin et al., 1994; Rignot et al.; 1994; Skriver et al., 1994; Ranson et al., 1996). The experiments of the Canadian CV-580, as well as the European airborne system, mainly operating at C and X band also have been carried out in North America and Europe (Drieman et al., 1989; Hoekman, 1990). Spaceborne SAR is being used from regional to global monitoring in a periodic basis. The spaceborne systems, such as the Seasat SAR, SIR-B, SIR-C/X-SAR and ERS-1, ERS-2, ENVISAT-ASAR, RADARSAT etc., were used for investigations of boreal, temperature and sub-tropical forestry test sites (Ford et al., 1988; Dobson et al., 1992; Ranson et al., 1995; Stofan et al., 1995; Rignotet al., 1995). These experiments and studies have shown that radar is sensitive to forest structural parameters such as diameter at breast height (dbh) and tree mean height including above-ground biomass (Dobson et al., 1992; Pulliainen et al., 1994; Skriver et al., 1994; Ferrazzoli et al., 1995; Ranson et al., 1996). Earlier studies has shown the potential of radar data in estimating AGB (Hussin et al. 1991, Ranson and Sun 1994, Dobson et al. 1995, Rignot et al. 1995, Saatchi and Moghaddam 1995, Foody et al. 1997, Harrell et al. 1997, Ranson et al. 1997, Luckman et al. 1997, 1998, Pairman et al. 1999, Imhoff et al. 2000, Kuplich et al. 2000, Castel et al. 2002, Sun et al. 2002, Santos et al. 2003, Treuhaft et al. 2004). Kasischke et al. (1997) reviewed radar data for ecological applications, including AGB estimation. Lucas et al. (2004) and Kasischke et al. (2004) reviewed SAR data for AGB estimation in tropical forests and temperate and boreal forests, respectively. Different wavelength radar data have their own characteristics in relating to forest stand parameters. Backscatter in P and L bands is highly correlated with major forest parameters, such as tree age, tree height, DBH, basal area, and AGB (Leckie 1998). In particular, SAR L-band data have proven to be valuable for AGB estimation (Sad er 1987, Luckman et al. 1997, Kurvonen et al. 1999, Sun et al. 2002). However, low or negligible correlations were found between SAR C-Band backscatter and AGB (Le Toan et al. 1992). Beaudoin et al. (1994) found that the HH return was related to both trunk and crown biomass, and the VV and HV returns were linked to crown biomass. Harrell et al. (1997) evaluated four techniques for AGB estimation in pine stands using SIR C- and L-Band multi-polarization radar data and found that the L-Band HH polarization data were the critical elements in AGB estimation. Kuplich et al. (2000) used L-band JERS-1/SAR data for AGB estimation of regenerating forests and concluded that these data had the potential to estimate AGB for young, regenerating forests. Sun et al. (2002) found that multi-polarization L-Band SAR data were useful for AGB estimation of forest stands in mountainous areas. Castel et al. (2002) identified the significant relationships between the backscatter coefficient of JERS- 1/SAR data and the stand biomass of a pine plantation. The study observed the improvement in AGB estimation results for young stands, compared to estimation for old stands. Santos et al. (2002) used JERS-1 SAR data to analyse the relationships between backscatter signals and biomass of forest and savanna formations. This study concluded that forest structural-physiognomic characteristics and the radars volume scattering, double bounce scattering are two important factors affecting these relationships. The saturation levels of backscattering co-efficient with respect to AGB depend on the wavelengths (i.e. different Bands, such as C, L, P), polarization (such as HV and VV), and the characteristics of vegetation stand structure and ground conditions. Luckman et al. (1997) found that the longer-wavelength (L-Band) SAR image was more suitable to discriminate different levels of forest biomass up to a certain threshold, indicating that it is suitable for estimating biomass of regenerating forests in tropical regions. Austin et al. (2003) indicated that forest biomass estimation using radar data may be feasible when landscape characteristics are taken into account. The radar backscattering coefficient is correlated with forest biomass and stem volume (Le Toan et al. 1992, Israelsson et al. 1994, Kasischke et al. 1994, Dobson et al. 1995). The sensitivity of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to forest stem volume increases significantly as the radar wavelength increases (Israelsson et al. 1997). The imaging process makes SAR suitable for mapping parameters related to forest biomass, like stem volume (Baker et al, 1999; Fransson et al, 1999; Hyyppa et al, 1997; Israelsson et al., 1997; Kurvonen et al, 1999; Pulliainen et al, 1996), total growing stock (Balzter et al, 2000; Schmullius et al, 1997), LAI (Imhoff et al, 1997), or above ground net primary productivity (Bergen et al, 1998). Le Toan et al., (1992) used multi-polarisation L- and P-band airborne radar data, and found that the dynamic range of the radar backscatter corresponded highly with forest growth stages and is maximum at P-band HV polarization. The analysis of P-band data indicated a good correlation between the radar backscatter intensity and the main forest parameters including trunk biomass, height, age, diameter at breast height (dbh), and basal area. Dobson et al., (1992) showed an increasing range of backscatter with changing biomass from C to P-band, as well as higher biomass levels at which backscatter relationships to biomass saturate. Hoekman, (1990) found poor relationships between X- and C-band backscatter and volume and other stand parameters. The spaceborne systems, such as the Seasat SAR, SIR-B, SIR-C/X-SAR and ERS-1, ERS-2, JERS, ENVISAT-ASAR and recently ALOS-PALSAR etc. were used for investigations of boreal, temperature and sub-tropical forestry test sites (Ford et al., 1988; Dobson et al., 1992; Ranson et al., 1995; Stofan et al., 1995; Rignot et al., 1995). These experiments and studies have shown that radar is sensitive to forest structural parameters including above-ground biomass (Dobson et al., 1992; Pulliainen et al., 1994; Skriver et al., 1994; Ferrazzoli et al., 1995; Ranson et al., 1996). Kasischke et al., (1997) reviewed radar data for ecological applications, including AGB estimation. It is being reported in literature that the radar backscatter in the P and L bands is highly correlated with major forest parameters, such as tree age, tree height, DBH, basal area, and AGB. In particular, SAR L-Band data have proven to be valuable for AGB estimation (Sader, 1987; Luckman et al., 1997; Kurvonen et al., 1999; Sun et al., 2002). Kuplich et al., (2000) used JERS-SAR data for AGB estimation of regenerating forests and concluded that these data had the potential to estimate AGB for young, regenerating forests. Luckman et al., (1997) found that the longer-wavelength (L-Band) SAR image was more suitable to discriminate different levels L-Band backscatter shows no sensitivity to increased biomass density after a certain threshold, such as 100 tons ha-1, indicating that it is suitable for estimating biomass of regenerating forests in tropical regions. The radar backscattering coefficient is correlated with forest biomass and stem volume (Le Toan et al. 1992; Israelsson et al., 1994; Kasischke et al., 1994, Dobson et al., 1995). The sensitivity of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to forest stem volume increases significantly as the radar wavelength increases (Israelsson et al., 1997). The imaging process makes SAR suitable for mapping parameters related to forest biomass, like stem volume (Baker et al., 1999; Israelsson et al., 1997; Pulliainen et al., 1996), total growing stock (Balzter et al., 2000; Schmullius et al., 1997), LAI (Imhoff et al., 1997), or above ground net primary productivity (Bergen et al., 1998). The dependency of backscatter on above ground biomass was observed and related to the penetration of the radiation into the canopy and interaction with the trunk, where most of the volume, therefore, biomass of the vegetation is concentrated (Sader 1987, Le Toan et al. 1992, Dobson et al. 1992). HV polarization in longer wavelengths (L or P band) is the most sensitive to above ground biomass (Sader 1987, Le Toan et al. 1992, Ranson et al. 1997a) because it originates mainly from canopy volume scattering (Wang et al. 1995), trunk scattering (Le Toan et al. 1992) and is less affected by the ground surface (Ranson and Sun 1994). As forest backscatter in different wavelengths and polarizations originate from separate layers of a canopy, the use of multiple channels or multi-step approaches (e.g., Dobson et al. 1995) could be used to estimate total above-ground biomass (Kasischke et al. 1997). Sun and Ranson (1994) estimated biomass in mixed conifer temperate forest upto 250 Mg/ha. Band ratios (HH/HV and VV/VH) were also used for the above ground biomass estimation. However, Dobson et al. (1995) considered these band ratios too simplistic (as the corresponding backscatter will be much higher for the few tall trees than for the many short ones), although effective in estimating biomass at higher ranges. In spite of this, a combination of bands and polarizations in a multi-step approach made possible the mapping of biomass in a mixed temperate forest upto 250 Mg/ha (Dobson et al. 1995). Establishing a strong link between backscatter and forest variables is an important part of the successful estimation of forest biomass from backscatter. Models are often used to explain the relationship between forest variables, scattering mechanisms and SAR configuration parameters (Richards 1990, Kasischke and Christensen 1990). Another approach is the use of statistical analysis, where forest variables are related to SAR backscatter by regression models (Sader 1987, Le Toan et al. 1992, Rauste et al. 1994). The combination of the two approaches, in most cases to assess the results of the predicted biomass or backscatter via regression (Ranson and Sun 1994, Ferrazzoli et al. 1997, Franson and Israelson 1999). Statistical procedures such as stepwise regression analysis were also used to determine the best set of bands and pola

Option For Prosperity :: essays papers

Option For Prosperity In an advanced information age economy, lifetime earning prospects depend on the quality of education more than ever before. Americans are free to make decisions about their health, college education and welfare. We can choose what to eat, how to exercise, whom to marry and which candidate deserves our vote. All of these choices shape us into the people we are today. The growing trend in home schooled children demonstrates that parents are utilizing their freedom of choice in order to help improve their child’s education. â€Å"It is hard to ignore indictment of the nation’s academically underachieving, morally irresolute, disorderly, and often scary public schools† (Anderson). Home schooling is a necessary option because it is more flexible than public schools, it tailors learning to the needs of the children, and it provides a stable environment for a well-rounded education. Today’s public schools are engulfed so much in a specified curriculum, instructors are there to inform other than teach. Home schooling gives families more flexibility with teaching their children. â€Å"Most home schooling students spend their time at libraries, museums, factories, nursing homes, churches, community colleges, a parks department, or elsewhere† (Lines). These varieties of opportunities for students to experience positively broaden their adolescent minds. Familiarities with knowledgeable occurrences outside of the classroom help shape children’s understanding of the world. Those people who are against the at home learning process feel that it deprives the children of interactions necessary for learning. However, with the freedom from a nine-hour school day, kids have the possibility to venture and actually experience the books instead of just reading them. For example, â€Å"John was able to go to Africa with his grandfather for two weeks and we did not worry about him missing school—southern Africa was his school† (Sale). Most home schooled students do not have the opportunity to go to Africa but, there are always possibilities opposed to spending much of one’s youth inside brick buildings. Other benefits of being schooled at home are that the learning process can be tailored to fit the students’ needs. Under the strict curriculum in which public schools provide, the government determines the pace that students have to learn. It is a known fact that there are not two children alike so how is it possible to teach them all the same way.

History of Alberta :: essays research papers

Date Entered into Confederation: Alberta became a province of Canada in 1905. They joined into Confederation because of many reason. One of the big factors was because of the fur trading. Canada was in big demand of fur, therefore having Alberta join would add to their business. Another reason was because of Manifest Destiny, the construction of an inter-colonial railway between Canada and the Maritimes was necessary since all goods were being transported on American lines. The Grand Trunk Railway needed increased traffic on its line to avoid bankruptcy. Also, transcontinental railway uniting the Atlantic to the Pacific would have to be built to open up the West and to prevent a possible takeover by the United States. Railway construction however was extremely expensive. The only way to ensure its construction would be for all the colonies to unite and to contribute to its construction. All of these causes for Alberta and the other provinces to join Canada was to prevent America from taking over the continent. The Provincial Flower: The Wild Rose is the provincial flower of Alberta. It grows almost everywhere during the summer in the province. It brightens Alberta with its soft pink petals and is sometimes grows in gardens. The Provincial Flag: Although first used in 1967, it was proclaimed into force June 1, 1968, following an act of the Legislature. The flag shows the Alberta Coat of Arms on a dark blue background. The flag is twice as long as it is wide. The shield is positioned in the center of the flag. On the top of the shield is a red St. George's Cross on a white background. Underneath there are white snow capped mountains. Behind the mountains there is a dark blue background, with rolling green hills in front. Below the mountains is a wheat field full of yellow grain. On the flag the blue represents the sky and gold or deep yellow for the prairies. Two other symbols of Alberta: Bird - Great Horned Owl It was adopted on May 3, 1977, following a province-wide children's vote. The Great Horned Owl, resides in Alberta throughout the year and was selected to symbolize the growing concern of diminishing wildlife, not only in Alberta, but throughout the world. Tree - Lodgepole Pine It was adopted on May 30, 1984, a result of the efforts of the Junior Forest Warden Association of Alberta. The Lodgepole Pine, played a significant role in Alberta's early history, providing railway ties for the railroad which linked the province to eastern Canada.

A Growing Epidemic of Alcohol Problems

Previous studies have shown that the combination of biological markers and CAGE questionnaires is an efficient tool in determining alcohol abuse.Among the laboratory tests used to determine biological markers of alcohol abuse, it has been found that the most sensitive marker is the level of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) (Viitala, 1998; Yersin et al., 1995). CDT is a protein which is found out to be a sensitive marker of disease of the liver caused by excessive alcohol intake.Among the commonly used biological markers are detection of the level of ethanol and acetate, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) and glycosylated hemoglobin (Hb A1c) (Hoeksema & Bock, 1993). The CAGE questionnaire was made by Dr. John Ewing to identify alcoholics. It is consist of four questions scored as 0 or 1 and alcoholism is considered to be significant if the individual in question scores two or greater.In a certain study conducted to compare the sensitivity and speci fity of CAGE questionnaire, plasma levels of ethanol and acetate, mean corpuscular volume, gamma glutamyl transferase and glycosylated hemoglobin, it was found that the it is through the use of CAGE questionnaire that the alcoholic patients are most accurately distinguished against nonalcoholic and patients with non-alcoholic hepatic disease with 90%sensititvity and 99% specificity (Girela, Villanueva, Hernandez-Cueto, & Luna, 1994).Socio-demographic factors are also commonly included in studies conducted to ascertain alcoholic problems for it has been shown in some studies that it is related to alcoholic abuse.Age, sex, educational attainment and economic status are among the factors commonly observed. In a study conducted by Bataille (2003) to identify heavy drinkers in a large population, he included the use of socio-demographic factors as one way of identification.Results of his study show that there is no significant difference in age, sex, arterial hypertension but educational level and smoking habits proves to have significant differences in the population observed. Those with lower educational background and frequent smoking habits relates to greater alcohol consumption (Bataille et al., 2003).Although there have been lots of studies that used biological markers, CAGE questionnaires and evaluation of socio-demographic factors but there is a lack of substantial findings that elucidate the interrelationships of these indicators in identifying alcohol problems. Thus, there is need to conduct a study regarding this matterIII. Conceptual FrameworkA.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nominal Definition/Meaning of ConceptsAccording to Viitala (1998) â€Å"alcohol abuse refers to heavy drinking that results into health consequences, social problem or both and patients of this kind suffer from mental or physical complications brought on by alcohol even though the criteria for alcoholism may not have been fulfilled while alcoholism is the most severe problem related to alcohol consu mption and it is a disease where severe dependence and increased tolerance has been developed.†According to Peterson (2004), â€Å"a biological marker or biomarker is a compound or series of compounds that can be used to measure the progress of a disease or the effects of treatment.† Among the currently used biomarkers for detecting alcohol intake are serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) which are all liver enzymes.N-acetyl-ÃŽ ²-hexosaminidase (beta-Hex) which indicates break down of carbohydrates in liver cells and other cells of the body is also used as a biomarker.Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) which is a measure of red blood cell volume is also used as a biomarker (Peterson, 2004). In this study the biomarker that will be used is CDT. CDT is a form of glycoprotein transferrin which carries iron in the bloodstream but without carbohydrate sialic acid. Norma lly different forms of transferrin are available in the body but the one that is most abundant among heavy drinkers of alcohol is CDT.

Environmental Factors Essay

There are many environmental factors that affect the global and domestic marketing strategies of organizations. What is necessary is an assessment of the company’s attempts at positioning its product to meet the needs of an undisclosed market. Environmental factors always affect the domestic and international marketing performance of companies in many environments. What environmental factors do is that they shape and set targets on the entry and operational decisions of Coca Cola Limited. Established in 1886, Coca Cola owns four of the world’s top five nonalcoholic beverages, operates in over two hundred countries and serves over one point five billion consumers locally and international. The environmental factors that Coca Cola has to battle with include the level of competition, cultural attributes, consumer characteristics, political and legal concerns. These factors have an impact on both the potential local and international marketing functions of the company. One factor affecting the marketing decisions of Coca Cola is competition among alcoholic beverages. These competitive factors include pricing, advertising, production innovation and brand and trademark development and protection. Of interest to us is the fact that one of Coca Cola’s major competitors is PepsiCo. The marketing decisions of the company have to be guided strategically because it impacts on the actual sales levels of the firm. Coca Cola continues to maintain a cutting edge in the industry because it continues to uphold its hallmarked values of refresh the world, inspiring moments of optimism and creating value through making a difference. Cultural also has a part to play in the marketing decisions of Coca Cola. Of later, governments across the world have been placing pressure on beverage companies to regulate alcohol content because they affect consumer’s thinking. While Coca Cola does not have to fight up with this cultural implication, it may have to attend to means of re-establishing consumer loyalty. For example, Marketing Coca-Cola in China has been a long and trying road. Firstly opening bottling plants in Shanghai and Tianjin in 1927 and then a third plant opened in Qingdao in 1930, Coca had a fight gaining a solid marketing lead. After a 30-year absence from the country, The Coca-Cola Company re-entered China in 1979, following the re-establishment of relations between China and the United States. Coca-Cola was the first American consumer product to return to China and is doing very well today. Another environmental factor affecting Coca Cola’s development of effective marketing tools and campaigns across the world is legal requirements for entry and set up. All multinational companies are forced to abide by laws requiring high tax entries although maximum profits are to be repatriated. It is Coca Cola’s policy to comply to consumer protection laws, occupational, health and safety acts, and local statues and regulations concerning advertising, transportation, distribution and food and safety laws. Additionally, Coca Cola’s principle challenge was is water resource management which in some countries is bound by legalities. In 2004, the company was forced to take a major step in reducing the potential impact of climatic damage via the use of coolers and vending machines. So that dealing with legal implications enabled Coca Cola to adapt a marketing strategy that considers its social responsibility. The end result of that was Coca Cola, partnering with the United Nations Environment Programme and Greenpeace International as a means of finding natural refrigerants. Explain how technology impacts the organizations marketing decisions. Coca Cola decisions have been affected by the impact of technology. In an interview done by a researcher, he commented that â€Å"as industry leaders it is Coca Cola’s responsibility to invest in the research and development necessary to develop economically viable and commercially available refrigeration solutions to take us toward an HFC-free, climate-friendly future. We hope that other companies will join our commitment to sustainable refrigeration. By working together, we can continue to reduce the impact of commercial equipment on the environment. † It is obvious that Inorder for Coca Cola to remain a leader in the beverage industry there was the need to re-examine its products and production processes; its packaging, design, equipment and quality assurance. Coca Cola attempts to strike a balance between the use of modern and traditional technologies depending on the marketing initiative and project location. Interestingly, with the launch of eKOfreshment, Coca Cola used more than ten different technological options to improve its environmental performance, regulatory compliance and overall price and operational costs. The end result of using technology as a point of reference for marketing is the winning of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Protection Award for their joint efforts in promoting the development of environmentally friendly commercial refrigeration technology through the creation of the refrigerants naturally coalition. So that as Coca Cola evolves with technology its marketing habits and values change to accommodate consumer characteristics and behaviours. Of great importance to Coca Cola is their social responsibility and ethical considerations of which its management has found to be a contributing factor to the development of a strong marketing campaign globally. In analyzing its importance, we must consider the company’s priority; its marketplace, workplace, environment and community. To us, this is a key side; Coca Cola has opted to have social responsibility as a sub heading to their website. In the marketplace, they take pride in quality, marketing more than 450 brands and over 2,800 beverage products, just still living up to giving our consumers a choice of still or sparking beverages that refresh, hydrate, energize or nourish. Our ethical value is that each of those products must be of the highest quality and must meet consumers’ changing tastes, needs and expectations. In each of the more than 200 countries where we operate, Coca Cola is an active member of the business community, working hand in hand with local individuals, merchants and governments to improve the health and prosperity of the local economy and environment. We know that the continued health and sustainable growth of our business depends on the long-term health of the communities that surround it. After all, we need healthy consumers, communities, environments and economies for our business to thrive. So we encourage human right laws in the workplace as our business ultimately depends on the combined talents, skills, knowledge, experience and passion make Coca Cola who it is. Wherever Coca Cola operates, it seeks to get involved in the work of communities, governmental organizations and NGOs to create and support projects most relevant to them. Marketing is a critical step in the success or failure of a company. For Coca Cola, an international company operating in years of integrity and business sense, today they have stood to repeat the rewards of their actions. Together with many other partners, this company continues to forge it way to be a continued leader in the beverage industry. Reference Blythe, Jim. (2004). Canada. Financial Times – Prentice Hall.

Affects of the cycle of poverty on children in Victorian England Research Paper

Affects of the cycle of poverty on children in Victorian England - Research Paper Example In the play viewers come across the topic of confrontation between working class and bourgeoisie. In order to understand the depth of these processes it is necessary to resort to Marxist criticism. Thus, Marxist approach is based on the idea that it is necessary to equate different social classes, or in other words – to empower lower class. Working class is considered to be on the bottom of the society, while the authorities are referred to as those who control all the aspects of social life. Marxist criticism refuses from such a position. According to its principles, the control over economic, financial, and cultural life should first and foremost belong to working class. Viewers may observe characters of the play attempting to rebel against social realities. Thus, social inequality is one of the most acute and challenging issues of the Victorian era. Toby Ragg, Todd’s apprentice, and Sweeney Todd himself may be seen as representatives of the lower class, while Judge Turnip represents the ruling class. It is possible to see that lower class is morally opposed to the higher class. Thus, Judge Turnip represents evil. It is difficult to say that Toby represents goodness, though partially he does. This is just an innocent child who becomes a victim of circumstances. Toby is too weak to resist the flow of life. His biography may illustrate this. This is an orphan, hired by Mrs. Lovett  after his previous employer was murdered by Todd. Very soon the boy becomes deeply attached to Mrs. Lovett – he accepts her as his surrogate mother. Todd’s business is flourishing, which means that Toby is not hungry and has a roof over his head. A lot of children of the Victorian era could be envious with him. However, his life changes soon. Todd and Mrs. Lovett start hunting for him as he discovers their secret. Toby is shocked and astonished with atrocities Todd has

H.W Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

H.W - Essay Example In addition, the Chief Elected Official shall chair and over-see the planning committee in charge of making plans associated with emergency hazard management. The director shall be responsible for making arrangements to coordinate the Municipal’s Emergency Response Plan for Hazardous materials as well as necessary hazardous emergency services with the Hazardous management Committee, the Local Hazardous Management Team i.e. Fire Department, Local Police et cetera. He/she shall hold annual meetings with the Emergency Hazardous Response Team in an annual basis in order to facilitate determination of challenges faced by the team, thus formulating effective solutions for the identified challenges. In addition the Emergency Management Director shall facilitate the establishment of a mass notification channel in the case that an unexpected Hazardous incident occurs. On the other hand, he/she shall coordinate emergency preparedness sessions for refresher training for the Emergency Response Team as well as the Municipal Employees as required by the department. The Management Director shall also oversee or coordinate frequent exercises geared towards testing the efficacy of emergency management plans, equipment and making necessary improvements. Moreover, the Management Director shall be responsible for conducting an annual hazard threat as well as vulnerability assessments in order to facilitate emergency funding procurement and other aspects of budgeting. In collaboration with other Emergency Response Team members, the Emergency Director shall conduct public awareness programs and educations in order to prepare the locals for emergency cases. In the case that there is state, local or even federal meetings organized by the government to discuss issues ascribed to response towards emergency hazards and public safety, the Emergency Management Director shall attend to facilitate

Psychological and Physiological Benefits of Physical Exercise Essay

Psychological and Physiological Benefits of Physical Exercise - Essay Example Physical activity is mainly undertaken to attain and sustain a healthy body weight. Its benefits incorporate a healthy mind, mood and improved general health of an individual. According to Gledhill (2007), the physiological and psychological significance of exercise are relevant to the current society. This is because sedentary lifestyles affect the health of the public leading to increased costs. Moreover, lifestyle diseases that can be prevented such as diabetes, coronary heart diseases and cancers have become frequent. This has amplified the mortality rates. The collective effects of inactive lifestyles, physical inactivity and excessive calorific intake significantly contribute to compromised health state. Furthermore, these trends lead to increased pervasiveness of obesity in developed nations. According to Gledhill (2007 p. 57), scientific evidence indicates that lack of physical exercise is a major risk factor that contributes to mortality rates, age related complications and compromised mental performance. Consequently, physical exercise has both psychological and physiological benefits that improve the overall health of a person (Gledhill 2007). Psychological benefits of exercise The psychological aspects of physical exercise are clear in the affiliation between the body’s physical movements and a person’s mental and emotional health. The biological fitness of a person influences their behaviour and mood. Consequently, an undisputed link exists between physical exercise and the psychological well-being. Psychologically, exercise triggers the release of vital hormones that promote the mental and emotional processes. Gledhill (2007) affirms that physical fitness stimulates the nerves; thus, enhancing glandular secretion. This helps to increase vivacity, speed, aesthetic appeal and physical agility. During exercise, critical endorphin hormones are released in the body (Fox, Biddle, & Boutcher 2002). These natural hormones make one feel energ ised and optimistic. Moreover, the endorphins block pain creating euphoric feelings in the brain cells. This is necessary for people coping with emotional or physical pain. Endorphins are mainly produced during stressful times; furthermore, they compliment the adrenaline hormones. Therefore, exercises are effective means of maintaining high spirits and motivation because it is a natural anti-depressant (Gledhill 2007). In addition to aiding mental recreation, physical exercise reduces anxiety by boosting a person’s mood (Buckworth & Dishman 2002). It promotes a general wellbeing in all the psychological functioning of an individual. For this reason, therapists employ it as a remedial treatment of anxiety neuroses, depression and mental illnesses (Buckworth & Dishman 2002). Therefore, maintenance of overall fitness is a vital component of promoting self-esteem and self-efficacy among individuals. This is because through exercise, moods are contained; thus, enabling a person to attain their goals efficiently (Fox, Biddle, & Boutcher 2002). Another psychological benefit is the promotion of IQ levels and cognitive alertness in individuals. Regular exercise improves short-term memory that improves fluid intelligence. This process boosts verbal reasoning and mental constructs that are vital in psychological health. Besides, exercise leads to the regeneration of new cells in the brain by facilitating

Movie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Movie - Essay Example An example of this taken from the movie is when the wife Mrs. Smith is at a neighbors party and is holding a baby. The husband then reacts a certain way. The wife is performing an action that normally would not be performed and this persuades the husband to act in a certain way. Compliance resisting is the refusal of a target of influence message to comply with requests. This is shown many times throughout the movie. One significant example is when Mrs. Smith discusses redecorating and the purchase of new curtains. The wife intends to act as a normal wife does. Acting like a normal wife is the wife’s goal to try and persuade the husband into thinking the wife is someone she is not. This backfires as the target (Mr. Smith) reacts in a way that is not expected. Hurtful messages are messages that create feelings of pain and emotional upset. Hurtful messages do not begin in the movie until the couple finds out that they are similar to one another. A specific example of this is whe n the two are advised to kill one another. After they both realize that they are instructed to kill one another they begin producing hurtful messages. The hurtful messages are described when Mrs. Smith is driving in the car and talking to her husband on the phone. They both are relaying hurtful messages to one another.