Drosophila Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drosophila - Essay Example Mutant flies, with fault in any of numerous thousand genes are presented, and the entire genome has lately been sequenced. The drosophila egg is about mm long. It takes about one day after fertilisation for the embryo to grow and emerge into a worm-like larva. The larva eats and develops constantly, moulting one day, two days, and four days after hatching (first, second and third instars). After two days as a third instar larva, it moults one more time to form a motionless pupa. Over the next four days, the body is totally altered to give the adult winged form, which then hatches from the pupal case and is prolific within about 12 hours. Drosophila is so admired; it would be nearly unfeasible to list the number of effects that are being done with it. Initially, it was mainly used in genetics, for example to learn that genes were associated to proteins and to learn the rules of genetic legacy. More lately, it is used mainly in developmental biology, stare to see how a multifaceted organism arises from a comparatively simple fertilised egg. Embryonic development is where most of the concentration is determined, but there is also a great deal of attention in how a variety of adult formation develop in the pupa, mainly purposeful on the development of the complex eye, but also on the wings, legs and other organs. Mutation analysis Mutation analysis is a pre-eminent investigation too in modern biology. In broad, new mutations are produced and monitor to recognize genes that influence a biological trait of attention. The goal is to recognize the fundamental genes domineering trait manifestation and the role of these genes in the progression. Mutations in D. melanogaster have recognized genes that can raise longevity. In all cases, identical DNA (P elements) was used to encourage the mutations. When a P constituent moves and reinserts itself in another place in the genome it can cause a mutation. As disparate to transgenic over expression, all of the mutations illustrated reduce the expression of, or completely inactivate, precise genes. The first D. melanogaster longevity-extension mutation was in the Methuselah (mth) gene (Lin et al. 1998). The mth alteration results in incomplete loss of function of the gene and widen longevity by 35 percent. The mth gene generates a protein, most probably a G protein--coupled receptor, that fit in to a family of proteins related with a range of functions in higher organisms together with endocrinology, neurology, and reaction to external incentive. The recognized G protein product of the mth gene is not analogous to any of the G proteins of known function in other organisms, and thus the precise function of the mth gene is not compulsory by comparison with other organisms. There is evidence that the mth gene plays a role in regulation of neuromuscular neurotransmitter function (Song et al. 2001). Again, neuromuscular function might be particularly significant for aging and longevity. The mt/i mutation resulted in improved stress resistance (Lin et al. 1998), and the mutant flies were roughly one-third larger than controls. Mutant flies were significantly more resistant to malnourishment,

Analysis of Walmart leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of Walmart leadership - Research Paper Example Further, he convinces them to change their perceptions, and expectations in the process of achieving a common goal. According to Bass, the transformational leadership is made up of several elements such as; focusing on vital priorities, promoting harmony and unity, motivating followers/workers to focus on a common organization goal, and being consistent in decision making. Thus, transformational leadership moves the subject/follower beyond their immediate self interests via inspiration, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation. Also, transactional leadership tends to refer to the mutual relationship between the follower and the leader to exchange ideas so as to meet their self interests (Bass, 1985; Yammarino et al., 1993). Transformational leadership tends to produce greater positive effects than other leadership styles. The leaders at Walmart utilize this leadership style while running the organization. The transformational theory is made up of four critical elements; inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence and individualized consideration. Transformational leadership often leads to excellent performance that tends to go beyond the expected outcomes. Lowe et al. (1996) in his analysis of more than 39 studies done to evaluate transformational theory and leadership found out that leaders who exhibited transformational characteristics proved to be more effective leaders than those who did not. Further he stated that these findings were applicable to both higher and lower level leaders as well as to mangers/leaders working in private and public settings. Tracey and Hinkin (1994, 1996) sought to analyze the nature and formation of transformational leadership in the hospitality industry. Their findings indicated that organizational success in the hospitality business industry required leaders who were able to utilize their vision and recognize the relevant environmental changes and how to manage them

Pork Unhealthy And Unsanitary For The Human Body Biology Essay

Pork Unhealthy And Unsanitary For The Human Body Biology Essay The consumption of pig meat has been characterized by a lot of controversy since time memorial. At the outset, different groups of people from different backgrounds have detested the use of pork as food for varied reasons including religious practices, health as well as sanitary concerns. Some people however continue to enjoy pork as a delicious meat with high nutritional value amid such controversies. It is noteworthy that despite its deliciousness, pork presents more harm than good to our general health hence unsuitable to consume. First and foremost, pork is always associated with a variety of biological diseases and worms. According to Russell (2006, 150) three out of six food-borne diseases in the US are caused by pork consumption. For instance, trichina worm is commonly found in pork and usually attack the muscles of the human heart upon consumption of affected pork. The worms have in the past proven fatal to the human health before the current attempts to identify pork with su ch worms had been initiated. Moreover, pork contains high levels of cholesterol and lipids which are harmful to the human health in many ways. Such accumulation of levels of lipids and cholesterol in the human body are associated with heart diseases such as heart attack and high blood pressure and should therefore be avoided at all cost. Besides, many consumers of pork diet have gained excessive weight and became obese in many countries given the fact that pork contains a lot of hormones, cholesterol as well as antibodies. Such individuals are prone to the diseases of the heart including heart thrombosis. On the religious grounds, pork is highly detested by the Muslim religious teachings and is cited as harmful to human health in many ways hence need to be avoided (Winzeler, 2008, 75). Finally, pig is naturally a dirty animal irrespective of how and where it is reared. It plays in filthy environments and eats dirty stuff including its excreta hence generally unhygienic. Pork-based diet has proven both harmful and unhygienic to the human body hence should be avoided at all cost. First and foremost, pigs are animals that are unhygienic by nature even when reared in clean environments. They trot in mud and other dirty and filthy environments in addition to eating unclean foods including rotting carcasses, dead insects, worms, excreta including their own, as well as garbage. As a result, pork-based diet may present harm to the human upon consumption especially when such pork is not well prepared. High sanitary standards should be upheld when handling and preparing such diets to avoid diseases that may be associated with such filth. Besides, pork is associated with a variety of worms and diseases that pose danger to the human health. Such dangers were not established in the twentieth century due to lack of technological tools to do so. Pigs nature to scavenge and feed on any kind of food predisposes them to a lot of illnesses compared to other animals. Illnesses such as influenza are transmitted to humans through consumption of affected pork (Nollet and Boylston, 170). This illness is mostly harbored in the animals lungs and may be transmitted to humans when the latter consumes such infected pork in foods such as sausage. Individuals who eat pork sausage are therefore susceptible to the aforementioned illness during its epidemics. Furthermore, when raw pork is undercooked or eaten raw then trichinosis is likely to occur. This is food poisoning through parasitic infestation of the pork. Trichina worm attacks pigs and settle in the animals lungs and is therefore likely to be transmitted to humans upon consumption of raw or poorly cooked pork. Such illnesses are prominent in countries like US and Canada where one out of six people has trichinosis from eating trichina worms and that the case fatality rate stands at 0.3% (Mead et al, 2010, ). Unfortunately enough, the symptoms of such illnesses are not noticeable during meat inspection and that many people are not informed of the symptoms. Additionally, pigs are cited to be the main carriers of tapeworm usually referred to as taenia solium. These worms are harbored by the animal in its flesh and may be transmitted to humans upon consumption of such pork. The worms therefore inhabit the human intestines initially but may spread to other vital and delicate organs the reby posing dangers to human health. For instance, the worm may cause loss of memory if it invades the brain. It may also cause heart attack as well as blindness if it invades heart and the eye respectively. Managing the effects of tapeworm may prove problematic at some stages because it is incurable at later stages. Pork consumption has been associated to the spread of salmonellosis in humans. Salmonella spp. has harmful effects on the health of humans upon its infestation in the body of the latter through consumption of affected pork. In Netherlands for instance, it is estimated that 15% (5-25%) of all cases of salmonellosis are associated with the consumption of pork. Good manufacturing practices are proposed as the remedy to the disease control. Pig meat is also known for its high fat and cholesterol content which are associated with a variety of harmful effects. To begin with, consumption of pork may lead to cases of obesity and gallstones given the high content of cholesterol as well as saturated fat. Cases of above average number of individuals suffering from obesity are prominent in countries where the consumption of pork is high. These countries include Germany and US among other wealthy nations. The high content of cholesterol and lipids in the pork diet is also associated with the excessive weight gained by the individuals consuming such diets. Such individuals are always prone to physical deformations as well as suffering other disorders affecting the joints such as arthritis. Their body weight is basically excessive to be supported by the joints hence the onset of aforementioned medical conditions. Moreover, the accumulation of fats and cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels expose the affected individuals to dis eases of the heart diseases. Such accumulation of fat reduces the area within the vessels designated for blood flow thereby forcing the blood to flow at high pressures. Consequently, the heart is overworked and heart related diseases such as heart attack and high blood pressure is inevitable. It is also worthy to note that pig meat contains a large quantity of growth hormones, antibodies as well as other compounds. Unlike other animals and human beings, pigs are known to produce higher levels of antibodies and growth hormones due to their unique biological structure. These hormones pass to the animals muscles and other tissues due to normal biological processes in the body. They therefore become threats to the human health when consumed in the pork. For instance, some growth hormones have been cited to promote inflammation of the human body when consumed (Nollet and Boylston, 170). Besides, pork is poised to contain excessive amounts of compounds such as imidazole as well as histamine which are also responsible for body irritation and inflammations. Other compounds such as sulphur are also contained in the pig meat. This compound usually found in the mesenchymal mucus of the animal and often associated with body swellings. Moreover, the deposits of such mucus on the carti lages and tendons may result into diseases including rheumatism as well as arthritis. Generally, the significant quantities of hormones, antibodies, lipids as well as cholesterol in the pig meat are poised to have serious threat to human health. The pigs poisonous nature is reflected in a variety of scenario. At the outset, pigs bodies are composed of toxins in addition to other diseases. Their fat and meat absorbs toxins through normal biological process. However, they are not in a position to get rid of the toxins easily out of their body. Biologically speaking, pigs neither sweat nor perspire unlike other mammals hence unable to eliminate toxins from their bodies (Nollet and Boylston, 170). It is through the process of perspiration and sweating that such poisonous substances are removed. Moreover, the poisonous nature of the aforementioned animal is affirmed by the inability of poisons such as strychnine to kill the animal. Besides, the animal is hardly killed by other poisons such as the snake venom. The pig meat is therefore cited as containing high percentage of toxins that can be harmful to the health of human beings upon consumption. Consumption of pig meat is also prohibited by the teachings of Islam religion. According to the religion, Allah has only forbidden people of carrion, pork as well as blood and what has been consecrated to other than Him (Winzeler, 2008, 75). However, the holy book of Quran provides that anyone forced to consume pork without his desire or going to excess in it has committed no crime before the Allah. Allah is ever-forgiving, most merciful (Quran, 2: 173). The holy book of Quran has also elaborated in not less than four instances, why Allah prohibits the consumption of pork. These provisions are contained in different places in the Quran including 6:145, 16:115, and 5:3 among other verses. Quran revealed such warnings on the possible harm of consuming pork as well as the other aforementioned food products almost fourteen centuries ago. However, people still eat pork despite the religious teachings, the physiological incompatibility of the food product with human body as well as harm ca used by consumption of pork. Pork is also forbidden in some books in the bible even though Christians are unaware of the teachings. For instance, the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy prohibit the consumption of pork by human beings (Winzeler, 2008, 75). The bible says: And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet does not chew the cud, it is unclean unto you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass. Leviticus 11:7, 8; Deuteronomy 14:8. Individuals are sometimes motivated by their stomach and not scripture to claim that Christ abolished the rule prohibiting the consumption of pork. On the other hand, pig meat has beneficial aspects despite the world clamor to avoid consumption of the food product. It is currently the most consumed meat product in the world with less consumption rate in Muslim as well as Jewish strongholds (Nollet and Boylston, 170). First and foremost, pig meat is believed to contain a high degree of nutritional value. Pork is cited as containing high quality protein as well as low in natural salt content. Moreover, pork contains other vital nutrients required by the body including vitamins and minerals such as Zinc, Iron, phosphorus as well as selenium. The aforementioned nutrients present in the pork makes the meat product suitable for human health and wellbeing as well as being necessary for the healthy growth and development of the children. It is noteworthy that pig meat has varying fat contents in different body parts. The leanest parts contain more unsaturated than saturated fats. The pig meat producers are currently in a position to pro duce pork that is leaner due to the advancement in technology which makes it possible for the combination of genetics and other production techniques. Such pork contains small quantities of the heart protective n3 fatty acids that are required by the body. Currently, pig meat is produced in a manner that yields both fewer calories and less fat content. It is estimated that pigs yield pork loin with slightly above fifty two percent fewer calories as well as about seventy six percent less fat content. The advances in technology have also eliminated fears of various diseases such as trichinosis as the trichina worm can now be killed at temperatures of 137 degrees F. This is achievable through proper cooking of the meat product at recommended temperatures of one hundred and thirty six degrees F. Pigs may be seen as dirty animals due to the fact they trot and lie on mud as well as feed on dirty foodstuffs such as insects, garbage and rotten flesh. However, it is important to note that as mentioned above, pigs lack sweat glands and can not therefore sweat or perspire. Consequently, they lie on such wet grounds or on water to cool their body off. Besides, individuals should not cite religion as a reason for not consuming pork because irrespective of the religion, meat products just like pork are poisonous when poorly cooked or undercooked. Generally, pork is unclean for the human body and therefore should not be consumed. To begin with, pig meat is associated with a lot of illnesses emanating from the filthy environment and the dirty foodstuffs that the animal feeds on. Pigs also harbor such parasitic worms as taenia solium which may cause serious problems to human especially if they invade delicate organs such as brain and heart upon gaining entry into the body through consumption of pork. Other illnesses originate from the effects of consuming the animals flesh such as obesity and heart thrombosis which precipitated by the high cholesterol and saturated fat levels in pork. In a nutshell, pigs bodies contain a lot of poison, underlying diseases as well as worms. Pigs are also detested on religious grounds where both the Islam and Christian laws prohibit the consumption of pork on the basis of unhygienic nature of the animal and its meat for human consumption (Winzeler, 2008, 75). According to White (1998, 14) pig meat still remains the cause of intense human suffering in the world. Conclusion Despite its deliciousness as well as high nutritional value, pork continues to be detested by many people. The consumption of pig meat has raised hygiene as well as health concerns among those using the food product. Firstly, pig is associated with filth as it plays, sleeps and eats on mud and garbage thereby predisposing the animal to infections from worms compared to other animals. Illnesses such as Influenza emanate from such environments and are easily transmitted to human beings upon consumption of affected pork. Besides, pork is characterized by high cholesterol as well as fat content which are associated with several diseases and disorders in the human body. For instance, high saturated fat content and cholesterol levels are responsible for the onset of heart-related diseases including heart attack and high blood pressure. The fats coalesce on the inner walls of blood vessels thereby restricting blood flow hence high blood pressure results. This subjects the heart to strenuous work thereby predisposing it to heart attack. Pork is also detested on grounds of religious laws. Both the Christian and Islam teachings are against the consumption of pork for its unclean nature (Winzeler, 2008, 75). This is stipulated in Quran 2: 173 as well as in the bible in the books of Leviticus 11: 7, 8 and Deuteronomy 14: 8. However, pork still remains the most consumed meat product in the world given its delicious nature as well as high nutritional value. Pork has several vitamins and high quality proteins. Work cited: Mead, Paul et al .Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States. EID journal. Atlanta: Centers for disease Control and Prevention. 2010. Print. Retrieved on 18th Nov, 2010 at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol5no5/mead.htm Nollet, Leo Boylston, Terri. Handbook of meat, poultry and seafood quality. London: Wiley-Blackwell. 2007. Print. Russel, Rex. What the Bible Says About Healthy Living: Three Biblical Principles that Will Change Your Diet and Improve Your Health. Gospel Light. 2006. Print. White, Hellen. Disease and Its Causes. Washington: Health Research Books. 1998. Print. Winzeler, Robert. Anthropology and religion: what we know, think, and question. California: Rowman Altamira. 2008. Print.

Herbrandss Theorem :: essays research papers

Herbrand’s Theorem Automated theorem proving has two goals: (1) to prove theorems and (2) to do it automatically. Fully automated theorem provers for first-order logic have been developed, starting in the 1960’s, but as theorems get more complicated, the time that theorem provers spend tends to grow exponentially. As a result, no really interesting theorems of mathematics can be proved this way- the human life span is not long enough. Therefore a major problem is to prove interesting theorems and the solution is to give the theorem provers heuristics, rules of thumb for knowledge and wisdom. Some heuristics are fairly general, for example, in a proof that is about t break into several cases do as much as possible that will be of broad applicability before the division into cases occurs. But many heuristics are area-specific; for instance, heuristics appropriate for plane geometry will probably not be appropriate for group theory. The development of good heuristics is a major area of research and requires much experience and insight. Brief History In 1930 Kurt Godel and Jaques Herbrand proved the first version of what is now the completeness of predicate calculus. Godel and Herbrand both demonstrated that the proof machinery of the predicate calculus can provide a formal proof for every logically true proposition, while also giving a constructive method for finding the proof, given the proposition. In 1936 Alonzo Church and Alain Turing independently discovered a fundamental negative property of the predicate calculus. â€Å"Until then, there had been an intense search for a positive solution to what was called the decision problem – which was to create an algorithm for the predicate calculus which would correctly determine, for any formal sentence B and any set A of formal sentences, whether or not B is a logical consequence of A. Church and Turing found that despite the existence of the proof procedure, which correctly recognizes (by constructing the proof of B from A) all cases where B is in fact a logical consequence of A, there is not and cannot be an algorithm which can similarly correctly recognize all cases in which B is not a logical consequence of A. "It means that it is pointless to try to program a computer to answer 'yes' or 'no' correctly to every question of the form 'is this a logically true sentence ?'" Church and Turing proved that it was impossible to find a general decision to verify the inconsistency of a formula.

Electrons The Building Blocks Of Science Environmental Sciences Essay

Electrons have been the cardinal component to many mystifiers in life ; if it were non for several doctors and their parts to the finds of different belongingss of the negatron, the scientific disciplines ( chemical science, biological science, and natural philosophies ) would non be the same. The earliest recorded experience with electricity ( apart from buoy uping ) was with the ancient Greeks who noticed that gold attracted little objects when rubbed with pelt. The history of negatrons has been a compile of little finds made by many doctors, yet the most noteworthy finds were made by Benjamin Franklin, Eugen Goldstein, J.J. Thompson, Neils Bohr, Gilbert Lewis, Wolfgang Pauli, and Thomas Young. Benjamin Franklin work with electricity led him to coin footings and suggest several theories affecting batteries, music directors, capacitors, charges, and discharges. He came up with the thought of â€Å" positive † and â€Å" negative † electricity holding â€Å" plus † and â€Å" subtraction † charges. He falsely thought electric flow was from positive to negative ; now we know the opposite is true. Yet, the thought of positive and negative charges builds the foundations of circuits. Through Franklin, we learn that charge flows from the high electromotive force terminus of the power supply through carry oning wires to the resistances, where the energy of the charges is used to make work, or is dissipated as heat. The charge so flows back to the low electromotive force terminus of the power supply by more wires. Charges besides emit an electric field, utilizing a voltmeter to find the strength and way of these Fieldss by mapping the electric potency of the field. From the possible field, the electric field can be determined. The electric field lines can be found by get downing at the positive electrode and following a way to the negative electrode so that the electric field lines ever cross the possible field lines at right angles. Cathode rays played a major portion of the find of subatomic atoms and their behaviour. In 1876, Eugen GoldsteinA discovered that discharge tubings with a pierced cathode besides emit a freshness at the cathode terminal, which was subsequently recognized as negatrons traveling from the negatively-charged cathode toward the positively-chargedA anode. He besides concluded that there was another beam that travels in the opposite way. They are composed of positive ions whose individuality depends on the residuary gas inside the tubing, which subsequently became portion of the footing forA mass spectroscopy. With the cathode beam, he besides discovered magnetic Fieldss exert a â€Å" crabwise † force on traveling charged atoms. That is, if a charged atom travels through a magnetic field, the field will exercise a force directed at right angles to the atom ‘s gesture. Charged atoms can be made to go in a circle by puting up a magnetic field. In 1896, J.J. Thomson and his colleaguesA performed experiments bespeaking that cathode beams truly were atoms, alternatively of moving ridges, atoms or molecules that many believed before. Thomson made a reasonably accurate estimation of both the chargeA eA and the massA m, happening that cathode beam atoms had around a one thousandth of the mass of hydrogen.A The e/m device in his lab generates a seeable beam of negatrons and directs the beam through a unvarying magnetic field. When high-velocity negatrons strike the atoms in the gas, the atoms give off a green colored visible radiation. This makes the beam seeable. Most negatrons in the beam do n't clash with any atoms, since the gas is really thin. But those that do demo the way the negatrons are taking. Electric currents create magnetic Fieldss. At the centre of the spirals, the B-field is approximately unvarying and directed analogues with the land. This causes the negatrons to turn. The radius of the circle will depend on the strength of the magnetic field B, the velocity of the atom V, and the atom ‘s mass. The strength of the B-field depends on the current in the spirals. By mensurating the radius of the beam ‘s round way, he found the mass of the negatron. A unit of ammunition glass vacuity tubing with a glowing round beam inside The edifice block of chemical science and bonding was explored as Niels Bohr explained a simplified version of the atom, now named Bohr Atom. It is non right, but it provides a utile manner to visualise spectra and their creative activity. A â€Å" cloud † of negatrons in â€Å" orbits † surrounds the highly bantam karyon. Atoms are characterized by a karyon: the cardinal, bantam, monolithic portion. Its charge is impersonal or none. The karyon is made up of positively charged protons and impersonal neutrons. Electron: the negatively charged atom that orbits the karyon of an atom.Photon: the smallest possible sum of E & A ; M energy of a peculiar wavelength. An atom consists of a little, heavy karyon surrounded by negatrons.He hypothesized that negatrons were in quantal energy provinces. In the atom the negatrons are normally in the â€Å" land province † , n = 1. This is the lowest energy province of the atom. If an negatron is excited ( such as by an electric c urrent in a neon tubing ) it will absorb a specific photon and move to a higher energy orbits or â€Å" aroused provinces † .Because energy in an atom is â€Å" quantal † , the negatron can merely travel to specific energy provinces ; most energy provinces are out. Each set of orbits for every component and compound is different from every other set. When an negatron in an component in a low-pressure gas province absorbs a photon of visible radiation it becomes excited, and it moves to a higher electronic energy province. Then it will spontaneously fall back to the lowest energy province possible, breathing the exact same wavelength photon it absorbed. Because merely distinct energy provinces are allowed, merely a few photons will excite the negatrons. Disintegrating back to the lowest energy province produces merely a few photons. Three homocentric circles about a karyon, with an negatron traveling from the 2nd to the first circle and let go ofing a photon This is an emanation spectrum. Since the wavelength is precise, the exact energies of the orbits are known from: Tocopherol = hc/l. After its excited the negatron will drop to a lower energy province by breathing a photon of precisely the same wavelength it absorbed. When it does that we can see the photon as a specific coloured line in the spectrum. EMISSION SPECTRA is the easiest spectra to analyze in the lab, but it is seldom found in stars. Some interstellar clouds and active galaxies have emanation spectra. EVERY ELEMENT AND EVERY MOLECULE HAS A DIFFERENT SPECTRA! The spectra from an unknown sample can be used to find all the elements and molecules within the sample. When there are many elements, near together, the energy degrees of the person atoms are spread out into energy sets. This consequences in a uninterrupted spectrum. Yet, Bohr ‘s theoretical account failed to account for the comparative strengths of the spectral lines and it was unsuccessful in explicating the s pectra of more complex atoms. In 1924, Austrian physicistA Wolfgang PauliA observed that no more one negatron can busy the same quantum energy province. Therefore, the Pauli exclusion rule provinces that no two negatrons in an atom may busy the same energy province. Each negatron has an single â€Å" orbit † . These orbits are ruled by quantum mechanics. Chemical bonds between atoms were explained byA Gilbert Newton Lewis, who in 1916 proposed that aA covalent bondA between two atoms is maintained by a brace of negatrons shared between them.A Adhering between elements As with all atoms, negatrons can move as waves.It is impossible to detect both belongingss at the same clip in the same moving ridge. Einstein ‘s photoelectric experiment besides proved this dichotomy. Thomas Young ‘s dual slit experiment shows this wave-particle dichotomy, besides turn outing that visible radiation was a moving ridge. This experiment had profound deductions, finding most of 19th century natural philosophies and ensuing in several efforts to detect the quintessence, or the medium of light extension. Though the experiment is most noteworthy with visible radiation, the fact is that this kind of experiment can be performed with any type of moving ridge, such as H2O. Inactive Fieldss = imaging ( MRI, etc ) The history of negatrons has been a huge series of different doctors happening little spots of information about this unknown atom. If it were non for these finds of the belongingss of the negatron, we would non cognize how electric Fieldss work, the utilizations of a cathode beam, how elements bonded, the capablenesss of energy that come from atoms, and practical applications such as imaging. It would be good to research more on negatrons and be portion of the find as other doctors have done. Plants Cited Page Anderson, David L.A The Discovery of the Electron. New York: Arno, 1981. Buchwald, Jed Z. , and Andrew Warwick.A Histories of the Electron: the Birth of Microphysics. Cambridge, Mass. : Massachusetts institute of technology, 2001. Davis, Edward Arthur. , and Isobel J. Falconer.A J.J. Thomson and the Discovery of the Electron. London: Taylor & A ; Francis, 1997. McQuarrie, Donald A. , and John D. Simon.A Physical Chemistry: a Molecular Approach. Sausalito, Calif. : University Science, 1997. Parker, Barry R.A Albert Einstein ‘s Vision: Remarkable Discoveries That Shaped Modern Science. Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus, 2004. Tipler, Paul Allen, and Gene Mosca.A Physics for Scientists and Engineers. 6th erectile dysfunction. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman, 2008. Weinberg, Steven.A The Discovery of Subatomic Particles. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2003.

Chain Gear Limited. Objectives, Mission, Products Essay

Chain & Gear Limited is a new company that will provide high quality bicycle accessories. Chain & Gear Limited is scheduled to start operations on January, 2014. The company will provide four types of accessories that include saddle bags, Led Bicycle, Air pump light and iPhone bike mount. These products will help improve the performance and safety of bicycles Chain & Gear Limited will target small and medium sized companies, wholesalers, retailers and within the Northern part of Michigan including Detroit and surrounding areas as well as Southern Ontario. Our products will be positioned as high-end accessories. Currently there are no other companies selling these accessories in the Northern part of Michigan. The potential market for company’s product is promising. Currently there are over two million bicycles owners in Michigan. We are seeking  £ 1 million to be used in the production, packaging, marketing and overhead as well as for short term capital needs. The company plan on achieving direct sales of  £100,000 in the target market in the first year of operation. The company plan to market their products aggressively in order to realize high profits. However, the company has ceased selling ‘2i’ bike helmet. Objectives Sales of  £1,000,000 in June 2014 and  £1.5 million by December, 2014 Gross margin higher than 75% Mission                  Chain & Gear Limited offers reliable, high-quality products. The company must maintain financial balance, charging affordable prices to their customers. Company Summary                  Chain & Gear Limited is a new company that will be providing unique accessories such as saddle bag, iPhone bike mount, LED Bicycle Air Pump Lights and coffee cup holder. As a company grows it will focus improving its product to keep abreast with technology. It will also form alliances with other companies (Petrie, 2008: p12).  The total start-up expense which includes legal costs, stationery, logo design and related expenses comes to  £1 million.  £800,000 will be raised through your bank and the remaining  £200,000 will come from personal savings. Start-up assets that are required include  £50,000 in short-term assets like office furniture and  £150,000 in initial cash will be used to handle the first few months of operations since the sales and accounts receivables plays through the cash flow.. The firm’s offices are located on lower side of Ann Arbour, Michigan. Products                  Chain & Gear Limited offers high quality new products that will change the structure of bicycles and also improve iPhone bike mount: The iPhone Bike Mount for iPhone allows one to attach an iPhone to a handlebar of the bicycle such that one can use GPS or an appropriate app to track one’s position, speed or distance travelled while one is still riding. The iPhone Bike Mount is a weather proof case that has a welded touch-sensitive membrane that lets your iPhone be completely protected from effects of the weather and still be fully functional. The inside of the iPhone Bike mount case is lined with silicones that assist in shock resistance. The iPhone Bike Mount pivots so that you can use the iPhone in a portrait or in a landscape mode. It has a membrane protected openings for front and rear camera lenses that lets one take video or pictures while still riding. It also have a recess in a silicone liner that accepts charge cables which is suitable for stems and handlebars with a diameter of 36 mm (1.6†) or smaller.It has a case dimensions of 13.2 Ãâ€" 8 Ãâ€" 3 cm (5.8 Ãâ€" 3.2 Ãâ€" 0.7†), case weight of 90 g (3.0 oz.) and a bracket height of 1 cm (0.4†) (Weston,2011: p.27). Saddle bags                  Saddle bags carry tire inflation kits, tools, spare tubes, , keys, and the like. Saddle bags offer easy mounting, convenient access and an out-of-the-way position underneath your saddle. Saddle bags are sleek and small. They are ideal multiplicity of cycling styles such as a weekend warrior, hard-core commuter, touring expert, both on-road and off-road. They have features such as Rear Zipper Closure, Inner polyester pocket on the side, Safety light attachment, post attachment, Inner mesh pocket on lid, Stiffener along top and bottom of bag, Reflective elements on lid, three Adjustable side Velcro straps for saddle bags attachments and one Velcro rear strap for the seat. They are available in black and blue colour, Small, Medium and Large. Their measurement is (H x W x D): (S) 4.75†³ x 2†³ x 2.75†³, (M) 5.5†³ x 2†³ x 3†³, (L) 6†³ x 2.75†³ x 3.5†³, weight: (S) 1.05 oz., (M) 1.2 oz., (L) 1.4 oz. And fabrics: S70DL Polyamide siliconized / 210D Diamond Rip stop PU coated Polyamide (Weston, 2011: p.23). LED Bicycle Air Pump Lights                  LED Bicycle Air Pump Light installs air tap easily on the tire and flashes vibrant colours when one wheel around. It has an assortment of, Yellow, Red, Blue and Green, giving one’s roadside style a funky and bright edge. LED Bicycle Air Pump Lights functions by enhancing visibility and alertness of oncoming traffic that they are sharing the road (Petrie, 2008: p.26). Cup holders                  Cup holder enables the cyclist to snap onto handlebar. It is constructed out of two rings and a steel spring without screws and glue. Rings are of different sizes such that cyclists can flip a cup holder over depending on the size of the drink. It comes with little storage cube which fits inside the spring. Our cup holder hold two rings together in order to keep it neat and tidy when it is not being used. Cup holders are available in black, red, and white and green (Weston, 2011: p.36). Competition Comparison                  The competition comes in various forms. Most of our competitor is retailers. Our competitive advantage is that we can buy our products in bulk. This lowers cost such that we can afford to sell at low prices. We can afford to approach other companies and form alliances like amazon.com. The second competitor is Bicycle World. They are already established with good distribution channels. The advantage we enjoy over them is that Chain & Gear Limited sells to wholesalers, retailers and to the company will start with general corporate brochures to help establishing the positioning. This brochure will be part of start-up expenses. Chain & Gear Limited will at first be positioned as a company that offers cheap products. Our main strategy is to build strong loyalty from customers. We will promote our products as the most technologically advanced on the Pricing                  We will price our products in line with the other leading products. A pricing chart is shown below. To support these prices, i carried out a research to determine prices offered by other players. Research involved interviews and conversation. Product Unit Price iPhone bike mount:  £22 Saddle bags  £24 Cup holder  £10 LED Bicycle Air Pump Lights  £40 Promotion                  We will begin promoting our products through the following several avenues. These include Direct mail campaign, campaign for print advertising, Email web promotional campaigns. Company website will be developed to supplemental to these efforts.A direct mail campaign will start immediately with special time-limited pricing discounts for those who place order within one week after the date trading started. Distribution Product will initially be sold through direct sales force and on the company website. Our sales strategy that we employ is directed towards equipping the sales force with a lot of information to help them understand both the product and the market.Cloud computing accounting software is accounting software hosted on a remote server. It provides accounting and finance capabilities to firms in a fashion similar to a Software as a Service business model. Data sent to â€Å"the cloud,† is processed and returned to a user. All the application functions are performed on off-site and not on the user’s desktop.In cloud computing, users can remotely access software applications through the Internet or other networks through cloud application service provider. Cloud computing accounting software frees a business from having to incur the cost, install and maintain software on personal computers. It also permits employees working in a remote or branch office to access the same data and the same version of the software. In most cases, application providers charge based on usage as compared to site license fees that are associated with traditional accounting software deployments. Accounting data backup and disaster recovery is more often than not a part of one’s cloud computing accounting software account (Arias, 2011: p.35). Types of Cloud computingXero                  Xero gives features that are needed in a cloud accounting software. It connects to one’s bank and pulls in transactions on daily basis hence reduce manual data entry. It also does invoicing. They have the developer friendly API which allows third party developers to integrate apps into Xero One of the. It also has capabilities of bank reconciliation. Xero are plain smart. It will automatically match the transactions that are downloaded from one’s bank to transactions he or she created in Xero to help lessen the reconciliation process (Arias, 2011: p.36). It is generally considered as one of top accounting apps in Apple App Store. They target the mobile entrepreneur who is enabled to use their iPad for accounting purpose. Wave is a cloud accounting system that is for free. Wave connects with one’s bank such that one can categorize his or her transactions. It’s a fairly simple system to use. The learning curve is quite low. One can snap pictures of receipts and are uploaded into the receipts tab in Wave. Wave will then attempt to categorize and extract the key data needed.For a start up company Xero is recommended. This is because it can be downloaded easily using a smartphone. It also reported to learns on the go such that it attempt to predict your future transactions based on the past transactions (Arias, 2011: p.45). The management team for Chain & Gear Limited is a diverse group that has strong skills in marketing and sales, finance and operations. Our primary criteria for hiring these executive positions are based on extraordinary past achievement. Mr Chan brings 25 years of marketing and executive management expertise. Immediately prior to Chain & Gear Limited Mr Chan was CEO of ABC Corporation. He successfully reorganized the company, streamlining operations and improving profitability. He has held different management positions Mr Ricky has MBA from the San Jose State University. Jane Doeseski will join Chain & Gear Limited after ten years at EFG Software, Inc. She served recently as Senior Marketing Director and holds an MBA degree from Harvard University. Jon Smyth will join Chain & Gear Limited as Vice President of Finance. He worked. He worked in CDE Widgets, for 12 years, holding many executive finance management positions. Mr Smyth has a strong financial background and experience at both start-up and large corporations. He graduated from Berkley University with a degree in Accounting. The Financial PlanFinancial Needs Summary                  Investment funding needed for the capital expenses and operating expenses that are for the first year of operation. Computer/Electronic Equipment  £90,000 Office Furniture  £16,000 Marketing Materials/Promotions  £215,000 Office Lease for one year  £60,000 Utilities  £12,000 Inventory/Packaging Setup  £35,000 Salaries/benefits  £780,000 TOTAL Financing Needed: =SUM(ABOVE)  £1,208,000.00 Revenue Model                  Chain & Gear Limited revenue will be raised through product upgrades, sales, and annual renewals of the support contracts. Future ways for revenue include product training workshops and a bi-monthly magazine. In the first three months, financial statement is based on projections for sales for the first Phase. The second Phase will start in March of 2014; phase three in June of 2016 while the fourth phase will begin in September of 2014. The second assumption is that sales projected for year one are  £1.2 million. Commissions on sales are figured on 75% of total sales (Assuming that 30% of the sold units will come from the sales in the website as well as other direct response sales). Commission rate is 12%. Financial Statements are in the Appendices of the business plan. References Arias, T. (2011). The cloud computing applications handbook: everything you need to know about cloud computing applications. S.l.: Emereo Pty Limited. Petrie, K. (2008). Bicycles. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub.. Pinson, L. (2005). Anatomy of a business plan: a step-by-step guide to building a business and securing your company’s future (6th ed.). Chicago, IL: Dearborn Trade Pub.. Velte, A. T., Velte, T. J., & Elsenpeter, R. C. (2010). Cloud computing a practical approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. Weston, O. (2010). Bicycle accessories and repair supplies: bicycles, motorcycle accessories, motor accessories ([Nachdr. der Ausg.] Montreal ; Toronto ; Weston ; Winnipeg ; Vancouver, Canada Cycle and Motor Company Limited, 2010. ed.). Bremen: Europ. Hochsch.-Verl.. Young, P. (2008). Business plan. Chandni Chowk, Delhi: Global Media. Source document

marijuana and brain damage essays

marijuana and brain damage essays Though marijuana is illegal, it is the most widely used illicit drug in most developed societies today; over fifty percent of people will use it at some point in their lifetime (Hubbard, Franco, Onaivi 1999). Its peak usage occurred in the 1960s, but is still at a high today. To many peoples dislike, cannabis actually has legitimate medical purposes. Many anti-drug messages provide people with exaggerated claims concerning the undesirable affects of the drug. Moreover, its recent legalization in ten states, for medicinal purposes, has emphasized the need to understand and know the long-term effects on the central nervous system. Pope and Yurgelun-Todd(1996) conducted a blind comparison among college students of regular marijuana users versus infrequent users. Their goal was to determine whether frequent marijuana use can be associated with residual neuropsychological effects. Their findings suggested that although marijuana use may produce some effect in memory functions, that the more significant effects are in the attention-executive system. While the recall memory functions stay reasonably unaltered. Also reported by them is a show of impairments in mental flexibility, abstraction and in some aspects of learning, in frequent users more then less frequent users. Most of the cognitive damage is not big when compared to normal cognitive variability in normal individuals. These impairments would not cause a heavy smoker to stand out from the crowd. This does not mean that they dont have some sort of significance; theoretically speaking, they could still have detrimental effects on a students academic performance. Even though alcohol is legal and marijuana is illegal, Wayne Hall and Nadia Solowij(1998) have found that long-term heavy use of marijuana does not cause the harsh impairment of memory, attention, and cognitive function that can be found in chronic abuse of alcohol. But, the lon...

Free Essays on Brave New World Review

Group Project: Cold War Literature - Fiction Many novels throughout the 1950’s sought to show the ills of communism. A reoccuring trend in these books is that they show the world from an apocolyptic stand point; possibley to show the negative outcomes from a war on Communism. After the apocalypse the world was run by a stringent set of rules that mirrored communism. These novels also tried to let the public escape to a sci-fi world where the fear of the Russians did not exist. Animal Farm by George Orwell Animal Farm written by George Orwell is a true spoof on Soviet Communism. It demonstrates how Communism, originally designed to aid the working class, can work against them. The book has anti-communist undertones without being blatant about it. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm take the place of their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are filled with enthusiams with togetherness. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn: All animals are equal. No animal shall drink alcohol No animal shall wear clothes No animal shall sleep in a bed No animal shall kill a fellow four-footed creature Those that go upon four legs or wings are friends The two-legged are the enemy Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power.... Free Essays on Brave New World Review Free Essays on Brave New World Review Group Project: Cold War Literature - Fiction Many novels throughout the 1950’s sought to show the ills of communism. A reoccuring trend in these books is that they show the world from an apocolyptic stand point; possibley to show the negative outcomes from a war on Communism. After the apocalypse the world was run by a stringent set of rules that mirrored communism. These novels also tried to let the public escape to a sci-fi world where the fear of the Russians did not exist. Animal Farm by George Orwell Animal Farm written by George Orwell is a true spoof on Soviet Communism. It demonstrates how Communism, originally designed to aid the working class, can work against them. The book has anti-communist undertones without being blatant about it. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm take the place of their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are filled with enthusiams with togetherness. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. The animals' Seven Commandment credo is painted in big white letters on the barn: All animals are equal. No animal shall drink alcohol No animal shall wear clothes No animal shall sleep in a bed No animal shall kill a fellow four-footed creature Those that go upon four legs or wings are friends The two-legged are the enemy Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power....

A Brief Overview of Taiwans National History

A Brief Overview of Taiwan's National History Located 100 miles off the coast of China, Taiwan has had a complicated history and relationship with China. Early History For thousands of years, Taiwan had been home to nine plains tribes. The island has attracted explorers for centuries that have come to mine sulfur, gold, and other natural resources. Han Chinese began crossing the Taiwan Strait during the 15th century. Then, the Spanish invaded Taiwan in 1626 and, with the help of the Ketagalan (one of the plains tribes), discovered sulfur, a main ingredient in gunpowder, in Yangmingshan, a mountain range that overlooks Taipei. After the Spanish and Dutch were forced out of Taiwan, Mainland Chinese returned in 1697 to mine sulfur after a huge fire in China destroyed 300 tons of sulfur. Prospectors looking for gold started arriving in the late Qing Dynasty after railroad workers found gold while washing their lunch boxes in the Keelung River, 45 minutes northeast of Taipei. During this age of maritime discovery, legends claimed there was a treasure island full of gold. Explorers headed to Formosa in search of gold. A rumor in 1636 that gold dust was found in today’s Pingtung in southern Taiwan led to the arrival of the Dutch in 1624. Unsuccessful at finding gold, the Dutch attacked the Spanish who were searching for gold in Keelung on Taiwan’s northeastern coast, but they still didn’t find anything. When gold was later discovered in Jinguashi, a hamlet on Taiwan’s east coast, it was a few hundred meters from where the Dutch had searched in vain. Entering the Modern Era After the Manchus  overthrew the Ming Dynasty on the Chinese mainland, the rebel Ming loyalist Koxinga retreated to Taiwan in 1662 and drove out the Dutch, establishing ethnic Chinese control over the island. Koxinga’s forces were defeated by the Manchu Qing Dynasty’s forces in 1683 and parts of Taiwan began to come under the control of the Qing empire. During this time, many aborigines retreated to the mountains where many remain to this day. During the Sino-French War (1884-1885), Chinese forces routed French troops in battles in northeastern Taiwan. In 1885, the Qing empire designated Taiwan as China’s 22nd province. The Japanese, who had had their eye on Taiwan since the late 16th century, succeeded in gaining control of the island after China was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). When China lost the war with Japan in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan as a colony and the Japanese occupied Taiwan from 1895 to 1945. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Japan relinquished control of Taiwan and the government of the Republic of China (ROC), led by Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), re-established Chinese control over the island. After the Chinese Communists defeated ROC government forces in the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949), the KMT-led ROC regime retreated to Taiwan and established the island as a base of operations to fight back to the Chinese mainland. The new People’s Republic of China (PRC) government on the mainland, led by Mao Zedong, began preparations to â€Å"liberate† Taiwan by military force. This began a period of Taiwan’s de facto political independence from the Chinese mainland which continues today. The Cold War Period When the Korean War broke out in 1950, the United States, seeking to prevent the further spread of communism in Asia, sent the Seventh Fleet to patrol the Taiwan Strait and deter Communist China from invading Taiwan. US military intervention forced Mao’s government to delay its plan to invade Taiwan. At the same time, with US backing, the ROC regime on Taiwan continued to hold China’s seat in the United Nations. Aid from the US and a successful land reform program helped the ROC government solidify its control over the island and modernize the economy. However, under the pretext of ongoing civil war, Chiang Kai-shek continued to suspend the ROC constitution and Taiwan remained under martial law. Chiang’s government began allowing local elections in the 1950s, but the central government remained under authoritarian one-party rule by the KMT. Chiang promised to fight back and recover the mainland and built up troops on islands off the Chinese coast still under ROC control. In 1954, an attack by Chinese Communist forces on those islands led the US to sign a Mutual Defense Treaty with Chiang’s government. When a second military crisis over the ROC-held offshore islands in 1958 led the US to the brink of war with Communist China, Washington forced Chiang Kai-shek to officially abandon his policy of fighting back to the mainland. Chiang remained committed to recovering the mainland through an anti-communist propaganda war based on Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People (ä ¸â€°Ã¦ °â€˜Ã¤ ¸ »Ã§ ¾ ©). After Chiang Kai-shek’s death in 1975, his son Chiang Ching-kuo led Taiwan through a period of political, diplomatic and economic transition and rapid economic growth. In 1972, the ROC lost its seat in the United Nations to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In 1979, the United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing and ended it military alliance with the ROC on Taiwan. That same year, the US Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which commits the U.S. to help Taiwan defend itself from attack by the PRC. Meanwhile, on the Chinese mainland, the Communist Party regime in Beijing began a period of â€Å"reform and opening† after Deng Xiao-ping took power in 1978. Beijing changed its Taiwan policy from armed â€Å"liberation† to â€Å"peaceful unification† under the â€Å"one country, two systems† framework. At the same time, the PRC refused to renounce the possible use of force against Taiwan. Despite Deng’s political reforms, Chiang Ching-kuo continued a policy of â€Å"no contact, no negotiation, no compromise† toward the Communist Party regime in Beijing. The younger Chiang’s strategy for recovering the mainland focused on making Taiwan into a â€Å"model province† that would demonstrate the shortcomings of the communist system in mainland China. Through government investment in high-tech, export-oriented industries, Taiwan experienced an â€Å"economic miracle† and its economy became one of Asia’s ‘four little dragons.’ In 1987, shortly before his death, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law in Taiwan, ending the 40-year suspension of the ROC constitution and allowing political liberalization to begin. In the same year, Chiang also allowed people in Taiwan to visit relatives on the mainland for the first time since the end of the Chinese Civil War. Democratization and the Unification-Independence Question Under Lee Teng-hui, the ROC’s first Taiwan-born president, Taiwan experienced a transition to democracy and a Taiwanese identity distinct from China emerged among the island’s people. Through a series of constitutional reforms, the ROC government went through a process of ‘Taiwanization.’ While officially continuing to claim sovereignty over all of China, the ROC recognized PRC control over the mainland and declared that the ROC government currently represents only the people of  Taiwan  and the ROC-controlled offshore islands of Penghu, Jinmen, and Mazu. The ban on opposition parties was lifted, allowing the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to compete with the KMT in local and national elections. Internationally, the ROC recognized the PRC while campaigning for the ROC to regain its seat in the United Nations and other international organizations. In the 1990s, the ROC government maintained an official commitment to Taiwan’s eventual unification with the mainland but declared that in the current stage the PRC and ROC were independent sovereign states. The Taipei government also made democratization in mainland China a condition for future unification talks. The number of people in Taiwan who viewed themselves as â€Å"Taiwanese† rather than â€Å"Chinese† rose dramatically during the 1990s and a growing minority advocated eventual independence for the island. In 1996, Taiwan witnessed its first direct presidential election, won by incumbent president Lee Teng-hui of the KMT. Prior to the election, the PRC launched missiles into the Taiwan Strait as a warning that it would use force to prevent Taiwan’s independence from China. In response, the US sent two aircraft carriers to the area to signal its commitment to defend Taiwan from a PRC attack. In 2000, Taiwan’s government experienced its first party turnover when the candidate of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP),  Chen Shui-bian, won the presidential election. During the eight years of Chen’s administration, relations between Taiwan and China were very tense. Chen adopted policies that emphasized Taiwan’s de facto political independence from China, including unsuccessful campaigns to replace the 1947 ROC constitution with a new constitution and to apply for membership in the United Nations under the name Taiwan. The Communist Party regime in Beijing worried that Chen was moving Taiwan toward legal independence from China and in 2005 passed the Anti-Secession Law authorizing the use of force against Taiwan to prevent its legal separation from the mainland. Tensions across the Taiwan Strait and slow economic growth helped the KMT return to power in the 2008 presidential election, won by  Ma Ying-jeou. Ma promised to improve relations with Beijing and promote cross-Strait economic exchange while maintaining the political status. On the basis of the so-called â€Å"92 consensus,† Ma’s government held historic rounds of economic negotiations with the mainland which opened direct postal, communication and navigation links across the Taiwan Strait, established the  ECFA framework  for a cross-Strait free trade area, and opened Taiwan to tourism from mainland China. Despite this thawing in relations between Taipei and Beijing and increased economic integration across the Taiwan Strait, there has been little sign in Taiwan of increased support for political unification with the mainland. While the independence movement has lost some momentum, the vast majority of Taiwan’s citizens support a continuation of the status quo of de facto independence from China.

The Cost of the Modern Olympics Far Outweighs the Benefits Research Paper

The Cost of the Modern Olympics Far Outweighs the Benefits - Research Paper Example The perceived benefit of the Olympic Games is a major reason why more countries are investing into the bidding process to become the next country to host the event (Malfas, 2004). Another reason for increased financial investment into Olympic Games is increased commercialization of sports as a whole (Malfas, 2004). However, countries miscalculate and overestimate the expected benefits of hosting such events and join the bidding process in the hope of achieving long-term benefits (Baarclay, 2009). Rosenblum (2009) notes that those who receive the benefits are construction companies, local politicians and IOC, while the people facing costs are local residents, TV Networks and local economy representatives (Rosenblum, 2009). Rosenblum (2009) also notes that the representation of figures given by IOC is inaccurate and shows underestimated figures of cost. The costs that a country bears during this event are immense. The host country may perceive that they would get a huge amount of reven ue; by building infrastructure and due to tourists visiting the country economy will get better. But in reality this is not the case. It is a temporary solution to the lavish costs that are spent on the projects within the context of the Olympic Games. Olympic Games require construction of stadiums, roads and infrastructure, which may not have been needed should there be no Olympic Games taking place in the host country (McHugh, 2006). Instead, such costs and labour could have been used up on public projects. By giving up on public projects and taking up work to create stadiums just for hosting a two weeks’ event creates an opportunity cost that is not accounted when calculating the overall cost of the project. The Olympic book indicated that the estimated cost of athletic venues for Vancouver Olympics was $366 million, such lavish cost for a limited utility. The primary reason for a country to host such a mega-event is to show the world its prestige and power and if it is an emerging country than the major reason is to display its ability to host such an event and gain limelight (Zarnowski, 1992). It is agreed that the infrastructure of a country gets better, more tourists visit the country and it is a colourful spectacle but what about the problems the local public communities face and the delay in public projects? The costs that a country actually bears when hosting an Olympic event are the event costs and infrastructure costs. The benefits that may be counted are the infrastructure benefits and tourism demand in the secondary market (McHugh, 2006). Event costs are bidding, administrative, security, translation, promotion, opening and closing ceremony costs, as well as insurance costs (Billings & Holladay, 2012). Infrastructure costs are costs of housing, venues and supporting transit (McHugh, 2006). McHugh (2006) in his model took into consideration all the event benefits and the direct event costs associated with deriving of those benefits for Vanc ouver Winter Olympics. The cost-benefit analysis pointed to a negative benefit of $101 million showing that the cost of the project far outweighed the benefits associated with the project. Owen (2005) notes that the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta provided a small boost to the economy and that too was short lived. It has not been seen

Weather & Climate data for Hawaii Research Paper

Weather & Climate data for Hawaii - Research Paper Example The State of Hawaii has a very intriguing climate and weather patterns that make it unique besides the negative effects that it encounters, especially occasional storm episodes.The storms normally hit the islands where they yield to immense life loss and property destruction. The state has two distinct seasons that characterize its weather pattern commonly known as Kau (summer) from May to October and Ho'oilo (winter) from November to April. Its location is at the south Tropic of Cancer, which implies that it experiences intense sun that result in sunburns. An exposure of 20 minutes is enough for serious sunburn that may be severe especially when it recurs. This is evident especially in the warmest month of August and September which temperatures may rise probably to 890F, for instance, in Honolulu. However, heat in this state ranges with altitude where heading towards the Mt. Waialeale, the effects are rarely experienced, which is similar to rainfall pattern. Besides having two dist inct weather seasons, Hawaii’s day climate trend is unpredictable, hence localized, where two regions can have diverse weather patterns at the same instant. Hawaii climate normally varies divergently across its islands. Therefore, they do experience varying solar radiations at assorted times throughout the year. All other aspects that comprise its climate pattern normally rely on solar radiation, especially the duration exposure. This, besides altering weather aspects like rainfall, may also have adverse impacts like sunburns that are evident mostly in the months of August and September (Villinger 86). Mainly, this is when temperatures are high, specifically at 890F. Hawaiian daily prediction states that it experiences high temperatures mainly in the afternoon characterized by low humidity. This is evident in Fig.1 where, according to the graph, high humidity is in the morning periods, but in the afternoon, it tends to reduce. So, solar radiation normally heats the earth†™s surface plus the air, making the air become dry, hence eliminating high quantity of humidity (Pao-Shin, Chen Ying, and Schroeder 4889). In addition, the ocean trade winds also contribute to increasing humidity of the Hawaiian climate. Alternatively, Hawaii, compared to other states, has high humidity, especially when it experiences intense trade winds. For instance, tourists or people from hotter states, when they alight at the airport, experience chilling on their skins,

Research and argument Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

And argument - Research Paper Example This harassment of the LGBT community extends to higher learning institutions like universities and colleges. Students belonging to this community face verbal and physical violence from fellow students thus making their academic environment horrible (Andreatta 197). The society sees this community as immoral and their security becomes an issue. LLC, living learning community, intends to support this community by introducing housing that recognizes unity among the LGBT members. It aims at bringing together this community and helps them achieve recognition from the society. It also aims at providing them with a safer environment where they can interact, share, and understand their surroundings better. LLC believes that the housing issue will succeed. They hope to make housing arrangements where students of the same identity will stay together regardless of their gender. This will only be successful if students put their efforts in implementing the idea. This housing idea has led to man y arguments for and against the emerging model of LGBT housing on U.S. campuses. There are groups supporting the idea but others who are against it. LGBT housing is a good idea because it recognizes the LGBT community. The housing idea will bring together the LGBT community and promote their self-esteem. The community members have low self-esteem because the society seems not to accept them thus humiliating them and their feelings. When they are staying together, they are able to share some challenges they face and work on the solutions to that. Sharing of their experiences in campus and the society will strengthen their togetherness and behavior. They will be able to fight for their rights in the campus and spread the same spirit to other members in the society. LGBT community is real and it is growing at a high rate in US and in the world. If the members do not raise their voices and fight for

China Economic Growth Since 1949 Research Paper

China Economic Growth Since 1949 - Research Paper Example In 2010 Republic’s per capital GDP was $7, 544. The coastal areas of china are being the major part of its economic importance rather than hinterlands which are under developed. After the founding of Republic of China in 1949, the first three decades carried out under planned economic targets. Whereas the last three decades, mainly the result of the radical reform of its economic system. While watching through lens, China’s economy is facing major challenges. For every country being powerful, It should have improved technologies, far better resources, war technology, competent laborer, a small amount corruption and crime. This stuff isn't only with china but additionally through India that has enormous natural assets, many experts, and India being the largest consumer of arms and ammunition among all of the developing countries, but even then the fact India lagging behind and why china is at front of each developing country? How come china a much more powerful economy? Here are a few within the basic causes of china being the fastest growing economy (Carsten, 2003). Economic strategy within the first 30 years following the founding of PRC in 1949, the Chinese government completed quite organized economy; goals and proportion for a number of spheres of economic progression were established through the "planning committees" from the state. Industrial facilities produced goods based on state plans, and farmers planned and planted crops also based on state plans. Commercial sectors replenished and sold their stocks based on state plans, and also the qualities, quantities and costs of the goods fixed by organizing departments. This technique added towards the stable, planned growth and development of China's economy, it organized the introduction of the economy and sapped its vitality. During last 30 years when private possession of companies rarely existed once these reforms began, private firms currently take into account about 60% of overall product ion. As ownership, is just one aspect of the financial system? China’s financial system has transformed significantly in different ways too. Decision-making about consumption and production has typically been decentralized to individual households and firms, respectively; financial incentives, markets, competition, and internationalization need to a substantial extent replaced command, management processes, monopoly, and autarky. In most cases, China’s reform period is a marked contemporary instance of the traditional lesson that unleashing individual effort has a tendency to strengthen economic development . The question â€Å"why china is growing so fast?† is easy to answer while looking critically at the state control of all productive assets. In 1978, Chinese government embarked on a great program of economic reform.  In an effort to awaken a dormant economic giant, this motivated the formation of rural enterprises, private businesses, liberalized overseas trade and investment, peaceful state management over a few prices, invested in industrial production and the education of its labor force. By nearly all accounts, the tactic has worked spectacularly. During pre-1978 China saw annual development of 6%, while in post-1978 China spotted actual median development of more than 9 % annually. In a number of peak years, the economy increased a lot more than 13 %. Per capita income has nearly quadrupled within the last many years, and some analysts are even predicting how the Chinese economy is going to be higher than those of America in two decades. Such growth rate can compare very favorably to the particular "Asian tigers" Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan Province of China, which likes a group, had a typical rate of growth of 7-8 % during the last many year

Homeopathic remedies (argumentative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Homeopathic remedies (argumentative - Essay Example The second principle is that the natural property of homeopathic remedies is maintained and retained even after the repeated dilution and sucussion beyond the Avogadros number. The fundamental theory of Homeopathic remedies is that the micro doses of these materials are used to stimulate the natural protective and healing mechanism of the body resultantly aiding as a remedial system. The interesting part of homeopathy is that this alternative medical branch utilizes diluted doses of such materials which are assumed to cause similar symptoms as that of the actual disease. The basic theory involved is that imparting such foreign materials would cause and prompt the body to formulate a defensive mechanism which ultimately would help the remedy of the actual disease. This possibilities branch of such a remedial system was first explored by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician in the year 1796 (Jonas, Kaptchuk & Linde 2003, 393-399). The continued dilution of the naturally extracted mater ials is achieved by serial shaking and the dilution is expected to continue till a stage where least of the original ingredient remains. The remedial outcome is assumed to increase with the continued dilution. The general strategy followed by the homeopaths in determining the remedial measure is through the assessment of the disease symptoms with reference to a calibrated index of symptoms (Rite Care, 2009). Along with this, the physical and psychological state of the patients is taken into account while recommending the remedial measure (Rite Care, 2009). In the present scenario of clinical research, homeopathy is increasing growing in importance. A lot number of researches are seriously undertaken so as scientifically to confirm the benefits of homeopathy as an effective remedial branch of medicine. This should be read together with the fact

If Technology Has Revolutionized the Way We Work Using Two Concepts Essay - 1

If Technology Has Revolutionized the Way We Work Using Two Concepts Which Are Information Systems and Information Technology - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that information systems and information technology have significantly changed people’s personal lives as well as how people work. The business world has revolutionized almost beyond people’s recognition within the past decades. Technology, both in terms of information systems and information technology has changed the face of the workplace and also increased the pace with which people work. Information systems can be defined as the totality of the tools, procedures, and techniques that are used by businesses to process data. At the turn of the century, Frederick Taylor introduced the concept of scientific management as an aspect of the successful business organization. His thoughts and works, popularly referred to as Taylorism, have guided managers towards success in organizations by using technologies, for instance, Henry Ford in the Automobile market. Information science has led to transformations in many industries where wor k is accomplished through small and more focused enterprise networks. Today, organizations use information systems in their operations to enhance competitiveness and enable business growth and success. Different organizations have different information systems because of varying information needs, but implement them to achieve the competitive advantage by ensuring that they achieve continuous improvement. Information technology can be defined as the use of telecommunication tools to retrieve, create, distribute and store information. Information technology has significantly changed how people work. Information technology in terms of computer-aided design, spreadsheets, relational database technologies and word processing software have all provided ease in terms of conducting different works by increasing efficiency, effectiveness and also the time is taken to do a particular job. The internet has been of particular difference in work environments.

Homeopathic remedies (argumentative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Homeopathic remedies (argumentative - Essay Example The second principle is that the natural property of homeopathic remedies is maintained and retained even after the repeated dilution and sucussion beyond the Avogadros number. The fundamental theory of Homeopathic remedies is that the micro doses of these materials are used to stimulate the natural protective and healing mechanism of the body resultantly aiding as a remedial system. The interesting part of homeopathy is that this alternative medical branch utilizes diluted doses of such materials which are assumed to cause similar symptoms as that of the actual disease. The basic theory involved is that imparting such foreign materials would cause and prompt the body to formulate a defensive mechanism which ultimately would help the remedy of the actual disease. This possibilities branch of such a remedial system was first explored by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician in the year 1796 (Jonas, Kaptchuk & Linde 2003, 393-399). The continued dilution of the naturally extracted mater ials is achieved by serial shaking and the dilution is expected to continue till a stage where least of the original ingredient remains. The remedial outcome is assumed to increase with the continued dilution. The general strategy followed by the homeopaths in determining the remedial measure is through the assessment of the disease symptoms with reference to a calibrated index of symptoms (Rite Care, 2009). Along with this, the physical and psychological state of the patients is taken into account while recommending the remedial measure (Rite Care, 2009). In the present scenario of clinical research, homeopathy is increasing growing in importance. A lot number of researches are seriously undertaken so as scientifically to confirm the benefits of homeopathy as an effective remedial branch of medicine. This should be read together with the fact

Hyperthyroid and Hypothyroid Disease Essay Example for Free

Hyperthyroid and Hypothyroid Disease Essay Hyperthyroid and Hypothyroid Disease Mischief just seems to follow wherever Dennis appears, but it is the product of good intentions, misdirected helpfulness, good-hearted generosity, and, possibly, an overactive thyroid The Merchant of Dennis the Menace.Hank Ketchum Additionally when comparing Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism, it is useful to consider the symptoms, treatment, and life with the disease. The hidden truth about thyroid disease and what every person should know, how it affects not only the body, but also the affects that these diseases have on mental stability and memory is astounding. What everyone doesn’t know, but should know about these two diseases. Knowing more about the symptoms of thyroid disease is useful knowledge for any one person that has a family member with the disease or has concerns for them. Also thyroid disease can be hereditary, if a family member has the disease it is likely that another member in the family has it or will get it. Uncontrollable weight gain is of the most common symptoms, and most talked about for hypothyroid disease. What they don’t say is that losing the weight is next to impossible, and when the weight gain will stop. As one of the thyroid glands functions is to release hormones in the system to regulate the metabolism, if the metabolism isn’t regulated weight gain is inevitable, amongst this symptom are the uncommon symptoms of intolerance to cold, memory loss, dry skin, and hair loss, with hypothyroid disease the thyroid is no longer producing enough of this hormone for a healthy thyroid gland, compared to hyperthyroid the thyroid gland is over producing hormones, and this leads to uncontrollable weight loss even with a high caloric diet, weight loss will continue. The uncommon symptoms are depression, intolerance to heat, and again hair loss, however with both hypothyroid and hyperthyroid once treated these symptoms will start to lessen under a physician’s care. The treatment for hypothyroidism, depending on the severity of the disease, what form of hypothyroidism is diagnosed will be the deciding factor in how the disease is treated, for most the treatment is a Synthroid medication, how much medication is taken daily will depend on the TSH levels in the blood system, in order to find out what the TSH level is generally a blood test will revile the level, at the same time it will be recommended to continue having regular blood test ran as these levels can change frequently along with the amount of medication, having regular blood work done, along with regular visits to the treating physician will help with maintaining a healthy thyroid gland. However the treatment for hyperthyroid disease is completely different, still blood work will be needed to determine the over activity of the thyroids hormone release, since hyperthyroidism can be cured, furthermore this treatment will depend on the age of the person, their general health, and the condi tion of the thyroid gland. The most common treatment is an anti-hormone medication until the thyroid gland is functioning at normal hormones levels, in the same way treatment will be decided by the attending physician. Living with thyroid disease has its challenges, but is manageable as long as the individual follows the medical advice that has been given to them by their attending physician, although it is recommended to seek out a specialist in this area. Hypothyroid disease will require blood work maintence that should happen at a minimum of every six months to ensure the TSH levels are staying within the required levels, adjustments to the medication may be necessary until the right level is maintained for a minimum of six months or as recommended by the physician. During this time one will be overwhelmingly fatigued, but will get better as time goes on, and the treatment has been successful, there will be days when the body is full of energy on the other hand there will be days that more sleep is required than usual, getting out of bed will be a chore, bones and joints will be constantly sore and painful to the touch, nevertheless it is a manageable disease even though the treatment is time consuming, still it just will take perseverance and patience to make everything fall into place, also changing the daily diet, adding in super foods that can help with the thyroid function, such as eating more fresh fruits, grains, vegetables an d lean proteins in addition to changing regular cooking oil to coconut oil for all cooking that requires cooking oil. Coconut oil is better for thyroid  function, is doesn’t make food taste like coconuts, food won’t have that oil taste, is better for you, and will help elevate the thyroid in a more natural way. Cutting out white foods, such as sugar, white flour, dairy, and caffeine will also help with repairing the function of the thyroid gland. This will be a lifelong change for any individual that develops hypothyroidism since it cannot be reversed. The symptoms can change constantly; any change in the thyroid hormone will create changes in the symptoms for the better or worse, even though cutting out white foods and changing the diet, adding in super foods, medication cannot be skipped as it can have a negative effect on the system. Although living with hyperthyroidism in comparison is completely different, but changes will need to be made in the same way, such as learning to relax, take things in stride, at the same time look into taking up a meditation class, yoga class or get regular massages. Regular exercise is also recommended as doing any one of these daily regimens will help with the healing process of this disease. When the individual follows the treatment plan recommended and maintains a healthy balanced diet, hyperthyroid disease is reversible, and the thyroid will once again be thriving and healthy unlike hypothyroidism which cannot be reversed. Life is manageable with hypothyroid disease or hyperthyroid disease, once you have a clear understanding of the treatment, symptoms and how to live a healthy life with either of these chronic diseases. There is not enough getting done in the research industry to find the key to what is the cause of thyroid disease, and how we can create more viable medications to enhance the patient’s livelihood.

Workforce Obsolescence

Workforce Obsolescence The loss of critical skills, i.e., the disappearance of non-replaceable workforce, is a problem faced by many product sectors tasked with supporting critical systems. This problem is common for organizations that must manage the DMSMS-type obsolescence problems for hardware, software and materials discussed in the other chapters of this book. For some products, the loss of worker skills and experience can be mitigated by simply adjusting hiring rates and instituting training of younger workers, however, in other sectors experience can be very difficult to replace. This chapter focuses on the loss of critical skills that are either non-replaceable or take prohibitively long times to reconstitute. 13.1 Defining Workforce Obsolescence Mismatches between the skills possessed by the workforce and the skills needed by employers create a number of issues that complicate the long-term manufacturing and sustainment of systems. These mismatches have been classified into the following three general categories: skills obsolescence, skill shortage, and critical skills loss. Skills obsolescence (also referred to as human capital obsolescence) describes situations in which workers lack the skills needed to either become employed or remain employed, (De Grip and Van Loo, 2002). This often includes the segment of the workforce that have skills, but those skills are obsolete requiring retraining of the worker. Where obsolete skills refer to skills that are no longer needed. Skill shortage describes situations where there are insufficient available skill competences to fill the needs of an organization, e.g., (Green et al., 1998). Skills shortage articulates the need to identify, train and retain the workforce to fill current and expected future skill needs. Skills shortage has many causes including the speed of technology advancement, e.g., (Duan et al., 2002), training and education gaps (Skinner et al., 2004), and can also be the result of an organizations inability or failure to protect its core skill competencies over long periods of time or during economic downturns (Melymuka, 2002). Critical skills loss is relevant to this book and is the focus of this chapter. Critical skills loss refers to the loss of skills that either cannot be replaced or require a prohibitively long time to reconstitute, (Sandborn and Prabhakar, 2015). In this case reconstitution of the skills may require many years if possible at all. Critical skills loss is a special case of organizational forgetting, i.e., the loss of knowledge gained through learning-by-doing. Organizational forgetting can be caused by labor turnover, periods of inactivity, and/or failure of an organization to institutionalize tacit knowledge (Brsanko et al., 2010). Critical skills loss is a permanent and involuntary form of organizational forgetting that may be unrecoverable. Critical skills loss (in the context of legacy system support) is the result of long-term (20+ years) of workforce attrition where highly-skilled workers retire without a sufficient number of younger workers to learn their skills and take their p lace.[1] Critical skills loss is not necessarily the result of poor planning or lack of foresight (and although activity is light, it is not nonexistent); rather it is an inevitable outcome of the organizations dependence on a highly-specialized highly-critical skill set for which there is small, but non-zero, demand, (Sandborn and Prabhakar, 2015). It should be stressed that critical skills loss is a long-term phenomenon it occurs gradually over 20+ years, i.e., over the span of several generations of management coupled with mergers, acquisitions, and product line changes, critical skills often diffuse and eventually disappear. In the context of this book, the salient issue that defines workforce obsolescence for legacy mission-, infrastructure-, and safety-critical systems is critical skills loss. 13.2 How Critical Skills Loss Impacts Systems and Where it Comes From Critical skills loss is rarely a problem in high-volume low-skill manufacturing applications, e.g., assembly-line workers. For these applications, an appropriate workforce nearly always exists or can be readily constructed through training programs. However, managing human skills obsolescence is becoming a significant problem for organizations tasked with supporting legacy systems. These support organizations need to be able to understand, forecast and manage a highly-specialized workforce with potentially irreplaceable skill sets. The system support and management challenges created by the loss of critical human skills have been reported in many industry sectors including: healthcare (Waldman, 2004), nuclear power (Nuclear Workforce Planning, 2008), aerospace (Testimony of Elliot Pulham, 2002), and other enterprises(Leibold and Voelpel, 2002). In the IT industry, the shortage of mainframe application programmers experienced in legacy applications is very problematic, (Goodridge and McGee, 2002) and (Hilson, 2001); in this case the necessary skills are no longer being taught because demand has dropped and younger workers interests are elsewhere. The loss of critical skills is most troublesome for organizations that must provide long-term support for legacy systems. For example, for defense systems, the loss of critical skills is potentially devastating: Even a 1-year delay in funding for CVN-76 [aircraft carrier] will result in the loss of critical skills which will take up to 5 years to reconstitute through ne w hires and training. A longer delay could cause a permanent loss in the skills necessary to maintain our carrier force. (Congressional Record, 1994). The causes of critical skills loss include: education and training declines (e.g., universities no longer educate engineers in the programming languages that are used in many legacy systems, (Shead, 2013); younger workers may perceive that certain occupations are in decline, e.g., nuclear power (Nuclear Workforce Planning, 2008) and are therefore discouraged from entering them; similarly younger workers may perceive certain occupations as not cutting-edge and therefore not enter them (Ahrens et al., 1995) (Adolph, 1996); younger workers may leave jobs supporting legacy systems to pursue other positions that appear to be more lucrative and exciting (Figure 13-2 in Section 13.3.3 shows an exit age distribution for a legacy control system); the shrinkage of feeder occupations, e.g., historically the U.S. Navy has provided highly-skilled workers to the nuclear power industry (Nuclear Workforce Planning, 2008); older workers protecting their jobs by not passing knowledge along to younger workers, e.g., (AndolÃ…Â ¡ek, 2011); and fundamental differences between young and old workers regarding job perceptions (i.e., social and cultural influences) (Goodridge and McGee, 2002). 13.3 Quantifying the Impact of Critical Skills Loss Critical skills loss impacts the sustainment of mission-, infrastructure- and safety-critical systems. As the human capital that possesses the skills to support a system shrinks, the time that the system is down (non-operational) when the system requires support will increase. Downtime increases lead to increased business interrupt time, which results in a loss of revenue for manufacturing systems. Increases in downtime in the transportation, defense and service industries decreases system availability, which can lead to a loss of revenue, safety compromises, property damage, and loss of life (e.g., emergency vehicle unavailability). In this section, we briefly review the applicability of some existing models to quantifying the impact of critical skills loss and then describe one modeling approach that estimates the financial impact of the problem. 13.3.1 Existing Approaches Nearly all of the existing modeling and quantitative treatments address the problem of skills obsolescence, which is a different problem than the critical skills loss problem addressed in this chapter. Most skills obsolescence treatments assume that workers skills become outdated or are otherwise no longer useful, possibly as a result of automation and other advances in technology. These works focus on the mitigation of skill decay in a workforce over time. The only existing work applicable to critical skills loss focuses on knowledge preservation, i.e., the capture of non-replenishable knowledge, (Joe and Yoong, 2004) (Hailey and Hailey). Some applicable work has also been done on retirement wave planning (Friel, 2002); however, this work focuses on head count rather than skill content. The modeling performed by Bohlander and Snell (2010) addresses a situation that is similar to critical skills loss, however, worker attrition and the costs associated the unavailability of the workers is not considered. In Bordoloi (1999), a model for different skill level workers that enter and exit a company is developed; the model takes into account the rate at which the company gains and loses workers. However, the model in(Bordoloi, 1999) does not estimate workers experience as a function of time and therefore does not determine the impact of critical skills loss on supporting systems. In the planning model developed by Huang et al.(2009) the goal is the determination of an ideal hiring rate using differing worker skill levels. While this model uses workforce simulation and determines the ideal hiring rate, the model does not take into account the costs incurred by the unavailability of workers. The basis for most workforce planning models is the physical sum of people employed, (Holt, 2011). However, the model developed by Holt, however, does not consider the aging of individual workers over time. There are models that have some applicability to critical skills loss in the maintenance workforce planning literature, e.g., (Koochaki et al., 2013) (Martorell et al., 2010) (Ait-Kaki, et al. 2011) and (Ahire et al., 2000). These models focus on optimizing maintenance scheduling and resource allocation. Maintenance policies have the goal of maximizing plant or process line availability while concurrently minimizing cost through the timely presence (and appropriate skill set) of maintenance workers. Koochaki et al., 2013) points out that maintenance workers are usually highly skilled and therefore difficult to recruit and that the efficient and effective use of a scarce maintenance workforce is very important. The model in (Koochaki et al., 2013) addresses the impact of limited ma intenance workers (i.e., maintenance resource constraints) on the grouping of maintenance activities while comparing age-based replacement and condition-based maintenance (CBM). In (Ahire et al., 2000), the makespan (which is the total length of the schedule) is minimized for a groups of preventive maintenance tasks constrained by workforce availability. Other papers treat the influence of CBM on maintenance scheduling and workforce planning, for examples see (Koochaki et al., 2013) and the references contained therein. In general these references focus on the determination of the optimum size maintenance workforce. 13.3.2 Modeling Human Skills Loss A detailed model for the loss of non-replinishable maintenance resources has been developed in (Sandborn and Prabhakar, 2015) and (Sandborn and Williams, 2016). The technical development of the model is briefly summarized here, see (Sandborn and Prabhakar, 2015) and (Sandborn and Williams, 2016) for more detail. The model uses historical workforce data to forecast the size and experience of the workforce pool as a function of time. The workforce experience pool is then used to determine the cost of supporting (sustaining) a system as a function of time. The model was created to address the questions: what will todays skills pool look like in the future? and what impact will the future skills pool have on the organizations ability to continue to support the system? A key assumption in this model is that sufficient experience exists today to adequately support the system, and we wish to forecast the future workforce skills pools experience relative to todays skills pool. The model has four primary inputs: a current age distribution (fC), a hiring age distribution (fH), an exit age distribution (fL) and the hiring rate (H). Assuming a stationary analysis, the distribution of exit ages (fL) and the distribution of hiring ages (fH) and are constant. This does not mean that the same number of people are hired each year, but rather that the hired peoples ages are always distributed equivalently. The same assumption is made for fL. The distribution of current ages (fC) is used as an initial condition. To assess workforce pool size and experience over time, we must project the experience of the workers in the pool into the future. This projection starts with the initial conditions in the pool and accounts for age related loss and subsequent hiring. The level of experience within the skills pool changes over time and can be determined from: 1) the new hires added to the skills pool; 2) the attrition (loss) rate of skilled workers; and 3) the varying skill levels of the workers in the pool and how those skill levels (experience) increase as workers remain in the pool. The net frequency of people in the pool of age a during year i relative to year 0 is given by, (13-1) where, i is the number of years from the start of the analysis, a is age, and Hi is the fraction of new hires per year (fraction of the pool size at the start of the analysis period i = 0). The first term in the brackets in Equation 13-1 is the current workforce pool size (relative to year 0), the second term in the brackets in Equation 13-1 is the number of new hires (relative to year 0), and the multiplier accounts for the retention rate. Note, Equation 13-1 assumes that the hiring rate, Hi is the same for all ages, a. The initial condition for the model is that the fraction of people of age a relative to year 0 in year 0 is given by,. The cumulative net frequency of people in the skills pool, NNET, in year i is determined by summing Ni(a) over all the ages (y = youngest to r = retirement), (13-2) Calculating the size of the workforce pool (head count) over time is necessary but not sufficient to capture an organizations future ability to support a system because workers have different levels of experience. Because of the varying experience, not all workers provide an equivalent level of value to the support of the system. In this model, experience is defined as the length of time that a worker has spent in a particular position. The cumulative experience in the workforce pool in year i, Ei, is calculated using, (13-3) where, RE and IE map age to the experience measured in years (RE and IE are determined using a parametric model from actual data). Note, while experience has the units of time, Ei, which is used in this model, represents the cumulative experience relative to the initial condition. The time to perform maintenance in year i is found from the cumulative experience using, (13-4) where, is the time to perform a maintenance activity with a skills pool having E0 experience at i = 0. In Equation 13-4 the time required to perform maintenance increases as experience decreases due to the following factors: 1) less-experienced workers require more time to perform maintenance (learning curve effects), and/or 2) if the pool of workers capable of performing the required maintenance task shrinks, appropriate workers may not be available at every site and may have to travel from a different location, which takes time. The most significant impact of the loss of critical human skills for legacy systems is the ability to perform system support (corrective maintenance) in a timely manner. Corrective maintenance costs consist of: spare parts, labor, downtime, overhead, consumables/handling, and equipment/facilities. When a corrective maintenance event occurs, the cost of performing the required maintenance action is, (13-5) where is the fraction of the maintenance events of severity level j that result in a business interrupt, is the cost of replacement parts (if replacement parts are needed) in year i,is the cost of labor (per unit time) in year i (with appropriate overhead applied), and is the cost of business interrupt (per unit time) in year i. , and are assumed to be discounted using an appropriate discount rate. 13.3.3 Example System Support Case Study A detailed case study was previously published in (Sandborn and Prabhakar, 2015) and (Sandborn and Williams, 2016). In this section we only provide a few highlights from that case study. The case study considered the support of a legacy control system for a chemical product manufacturing company (the system was originally developed and deployed in the 1970s) and has over 2000 instances (plants) installed and currently operating and supported worldwide. In this case, because the process line availability is very important, unscheduled downtime cannot be tolerated. The model overviewed in Section 13.3.2 requires three distribution inputs: the current age distribution (fC), the distribution of hiring age (fH) and the distribution of exit age (fL). Two of these distribution inputs are readily available from organizations field data: the hiring age (fH) and a current age distribution (fC), Figure 13-1. The current age distribution (in Figure 13-1b) has a mode of 55 years, which is very close to the early retirement age in the organization, thereby demonstrating the issue that this chapter is focused on. The exit age distribution (fL) shown in Figure 13-2 for this case study was synthesized using the distributions for fH(a) and fC(a) in Figure 13-1 along with the assumption of a stationary process. Figure 13-2 is a bathtub curve. It indicates that workers either exit early or exit late (but few exit between ages 45 and 60. The younger workers exit because they are changing jobs within the company. The company modeled in this case study, has had difficulty retaining young workers (engineers) to support the legacy system. The younger engineers have a tendency to relocate to other job opportunities within the company that they perceive as having better long-term career prospects. Above age 60 the workers are retiring. Figure 13-2 supports the critical skills loss observation made in Section 13.2 that younger workers leave legacy system support jobs (presumably for other positions). The number of workers (pool size) is shown in Figures 13-1 and 13-2, but the experience contained within the pool is not reflected in these distributions. To get from pool size to the workforce pool experience, the mapping from age to applicable experience is needed. The parameters for the mapping function in Equation 13-3 were generated from the years of experience (on the control system) and the years of service to the company. The net pool size (number of workers) over time as a fraction of the pool size in 2010, NNET, is shown in Figure 13-3a. Figure 13-3b shows the experience relative to 2010, and Figure 13-3c shows the average age of the workers in the pool. The results in Figure 13-3 assume no hiring, H = 0. Figures 13-3a and 13-3b indicate that although a 10% drop in head count occurs in the first 6 years, the experience remains approximately constant (existing workers are gaining enough on-the-job experience to offset the drop in head count). After 2016, the experience drops as the oldest and most experienced workers leave and are not being sufficiently replenished. Assuming that the lost skills are replenishable (they are not for the real company treated in this case study), we can estimate what the future hiring rate, Hi, would have to be to preserve the initial level of experience, E0, in the skills pool. Equation 13-1 is used to determine the annual hiring rate, Hi, that is required to replenish the cumulative experience lost as a result of attrition and retirement. Figure 13-4 shows results for hiring rate, Hi, relative to the initial pool size P0as a function of the number of years from the start of the analysis. Figure 13-4 shows that no hiring is required in the first five years (we are not allowing hiring to drop below 0, a hiring rate below 0 would reflect a layoff situation). A hiring rate of over 6% is required starting in 2017 for 9 years and then settles to 2-5% for all the years thereafter. When H is greater than zero in (4), the hiring rate is applied to the entire hiring age distribution, fH. The required hiring rate solved for in Figure 13-4 accounts for both the time required for new workers to learn the skills necessary to support the system and the exit age distribution in Figure 13-1. Figure 13-5 shows the annual cost of supporting the legacy control system through year 2040 (all 2000+ instances of the system are costed here). The cost modeling is performed using a stochastic discrete-event simulator that samples time-to-failure distributions for the components of the control system to obtain maintenance events (determining the maintenance event dates and the components that need replacement). Subsystem-specific (and severity category specific[2]) failure distributions are sampled to obtain failure dates for the system. At each maintenance event, maintenance resources are drawn and a cost is estimated using Equation 13-5. Most of the maintenance events do not result in business interrupt time because they only impact one of the two parallel control systems and = 0, however, a small fraction (the most severe events) result in dual control system failures where > 0. The risk of dual failures and the resulting business interrupt is captured by the differing severit y categories. The specific data associated with the system count, the subsystem/severity category reliabilities, and the cost of business interrupt time is proprietary to the customer and therefore not included here. For this case study, was determined to be 0.54, meaning that when the number of people in the pool drops below 54% of the number that are in the pool initially (in 2010), the extra maintenance time penalty (modeled by (15)) is applied. Figure 13-5 shows two support cost results. The results demonstrate that there is minimal effect of skills loss prior to 2030. In year 2028 existing lifetime buys of spares parts (hardware) start to run out resulting in the cost step between 2028 and 2030. We obtain the lower curve in Figure 13-5 when there is no skills loss, Ei/E0 = 1 for all i in Equation 13-4. In this case there is still an annual cost increase caused by part obsolescence that is mitigated via lifetime buys of parts (these buys commit significant capital to the pre-purchase of spare parts and long-term holding costs). The higher cost curve in Figure 13-5 is the case where no replenishment of lost skills is possible (H = 0), this is close to reality for the company considered in this case study. 13.4 Discussion Workforce planning means ensuring that you have the right number of people, with the right skills sets, in the right jobs, at the right time. This chapter presents a model that enables workforce planning in cases where the workforce is non-replenishable. The model developed estimates both the number of skilled employees (workforce pool size) and the cumulative experience in the workforce pool. This information is used to determine the resources available to maintain a system as a function of time. Cumulative experience dictates the time (and the resultant cost) required for workers to perform the maintenance activities necessary to support the system. Because of the prohibitively large cost of legacy system replacement, these systems are rarely replaced unless a catastrophic failure occurs or their support costs become impractical. The model can potentially be used by companies to support the development of business cases for system replacement, see (Sandborn and Prabhakar, 2015). Numerous important assumptions were made in the development of the model. In the solution presented here, we assume that years on the job is the only way workers can gain experience. We have not accounted for methods that could be used to accelerate the rate at which workers become more experienced, e.g., capturing older workers knowledge in knowledge bases [29,30] could accelerate experience. We have performed a discrete-time analysis because the input data that was available to us only exists annually. A continuous-time solution could also be developed, but one must be careful to match the model to the form of the input data. There are several indirect consequences of the loss of critical skills that we have not addressed, and which would be challenging to quantify in terms of cost. The workers that are maintaining systems (particularly engineers) are likely to be performing other beneficial tasks in addition to corrective maintenance. Besides corrective maintenance, they may also perform: preventative maintenance, projects intended to upgrade the reliability and/or performance of the system, and knowledge transfer activities. As workforce resources decrease, it is reasonable to assume that all tasks, except corrective maintenance, would decrease. Even if sufficient resources remain available for corrective maintenance tasks, an inability to perform the other tasks that the engineers might do results in a loss of: maintenance efficiency improvements, system reliability improvements that could decrease future maintenance requirements, and system performance. Further, if the job satisfaction amongst the eng ineers that are forced to only perform maintenance decreases then their retention may be negatively impacted. There are other factors that may modify the case study presented herein. These factors include location (culture certainly impacts the likelihood that highly-skilled workers remain in system support jobs), gender, the product sector, etc. These effects could be analyzed with the presented in this chapter model if sufficient data existed. [1] For many types of legacy systems, 5 or more years of on-the-job experience may be required to become competent. [2] The level of maintenance required (which dictates the maintenance resources required) and the degree of business interrupt associated with the maintenance event are governed by the severity categories. See From (Sandborn and Williams, 2016) for details.