Ester Hydrolysis

The Equilibrium Constant of an Ester Hydrolysis Reaction Abstract: The results from this experiment show four different Kc equilibrium constants of: . 1522 for bottle two, . 1853 for bottle three, . 2094 for bottle four, and . 2678 for bottle five. The average Kc value came out to be . 2037 for all four bottles. Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to determine the equilibrium concentrations of an organic acid, an alcohol, an ester, and water in four bottles with varying measurements of each compound in of the four solutions.Once the concentrations are determined, one is then to discover the Kc, equilibrium constant, of those solutions by dividing the concentrations of alcohol and acid by the concentrations of ester and water. Methods/Procedure: First begin by mixing up and standardizing a 500mL solution of NaOH to titrate. For each of the six bottles, measure the directed amounts of ester, water, alcohol, and HCl. The bottles of different solutions will be left to come to equilibrium for two weeks.Once the NaOH is standardized, the solutions in the bottles have come to equilibrium, and a molarity is calculated, use the molarity of NaOH to discover how many mols were used to neutralize the solutions in each bottle. Once all of the calculations are complete, use an ICE chart to discover the mols of ester, water, acid, and alcohol at equilibrium to then calculate the Kc for each bottle. After a Kc has been calculated for all bottles, the last step is to determine an average Kc for all of the solutions. Calculations/Results: Grams of KHP needed: 7mol x 35ml x 1molKHP x 204gKHP1000ml x 1 x 1molNaOH x 1molKHP=5. 00gKHP Grams of NaOH: .7molNaOH x . 500L x 1mol 1L x 1 x 40g~14gNaOH Mass of dish: 1. 80g Mass of bottle 1: 17. 1145g Mass of HCl 1: 4. 8778g Mass of NaOH 14. 0g Mass of bottle 1A: 17. 3521g Mass of HCl 1A: 5. 2319g Mass of dish: 2. 0097g Mass of dish and KHP: 6. 0548g Mass of KHP: 5. 0378g mL of NaOH used to neutralize KHP: 1. 36. 90mL 2. 30. 80mL 3. 36. 40m L g of KHP: 1. 5. 0378g 2. 4. 2074g 3. 4. 9722g Molarity of NaOH: .6690M| 6689M| Avg M: . 6688M NaOH| 5. 0378gKHP x 1molKHP x 1molNaOH x 1 x 1000mL1 x 204. 2g x 1molKHP x 36. 90mL x 1L=. 6686M mL of NaOH used: 1A: 6. 20mL – 24. 90mL = 18. 70mL| 1: 17. 00mL| 2: 60. 54mL| 3: 58. 60mL| 4: 45. 55mL| 5: 40. 75mL| Ethanol: Water:Ethyl Acetate: Density: . 7893g/mL Density: . 9982g/mLDensity: . 9003g/mL Molar Mass: 46. 07g/molMolar Mass: 18. 02g/molMolar Mass: 88. 11g/mol mL of solutions in each bottle: Bottle #| 3M HCl (mL)| H2O (mL)| Ester (mL)| Alcohol (mL)| 1| 5. 00| 5. 00| 0| 0| 1A| 5. 00| 5. 00| 0| 0| 2| 5. 00| 0| 5. 00| 0| 3| 5. 00| 1. 00| 4. 00| 0| 4| 5. 0| 3. 00| 2. 20| 0| 5| 5. 00| 2. 00| 2. 00| 1. 00| Bottles 1 and 1A M HCl: 17. 00mLNaOH x . 6688molNaOH x 1 molHCl x 11 x 1000ml x 1molNaOH x . 005LHCl=2. 27MHCL x . 005L= . 01137molHCl .01251 molHCl Average mol HCl of bottles 1 and 1A: (. 01251mol + . 01137mol)/2 = . 01194molHCl Mol NaOH for bottles 2-5: .6688MNaOH x 1L x 60 . 54mLNaOH1L x 1000mL x 1= . 04049molNaOH .03919molNaOH .03046molNaOH .02725molNaOH Density of HCl: 5. 2319gHCl x 11 x 5. 00mL=1. 046g/mLHCl Grams of HCl and H2O: 1. 046gHCl x 5. 00mLH2O1mL=5. 230gHCl+H20 Grams of HCl: .01194molHCl x 36. 54gHCl1 mol HCl= . 4352gHClGrams of HCl and H2O – Grams of HCl: 5. 230gHCl+H2O – . 4352gHCl = 4. 794gH2O from 5. 00mL of HCl in bottles 1-5 Grams of H2O made + grams H2O given for bottles 2-5: 4. 794gH2O + 0. 00mLH2O x . 9982gH2O/mL = 4. 794gH2O 5. 792gH2O 7. 789gH2O 6. 790gH2O Grams to mols of H2O for bottles 2-5: 4. 794gH2O x 1molH2O1 x 18. 02gH2O= . 2661molH2O .3214molH2O .4322molH2O .3768molH2O Mols of ester for bottles 2-5: 5. 00mLester x . 9003gester x 1mol ester1 x 1mL x 88. 11gester= . 05109mols ester .4087mols ester .02248mols ester .02044mols ester Mols of acid for bottles 2-5: 60. 54mLNaOH x 1L x . 688molNaOH x 1molacid1 x 1000mL x 1L x 1molNaOH x 1= . 04049molacid .03919molacid .03046molacid .02725molacid Total mols of acid – mols HCl for bottles 2-5: .04049mol total acid – . 01194mol HCl = . 02855mol organic acid . 02725mol organic acid . 01852mol organic acid .01531mol organic acid Mols of alcohol for bottle 5: 1. 00mLalcohol x . 7893galcohol x 1 mol alcohol1 x 1mL x 46. 07galcohol= . 01713mol alcohol Ice Charts for bottles 2-5: ESTER (mol)| WATER (mol)| ACID (mol)| ALCOHOL (mol)| I: . 05109| . 2661| 0| 0| C: -. 2855| -. 02855| -. 02855| -. 02855| E: . 02254| . 2376| . 02855| . 02855| ESTER (mol)| WATER (mol)| ACID (mol)| ALCOHOL (mol)| I: . 04087| . 3214| 0| 0| C: -. 02725| -. 02725| -. 02725| -. 02725| E: . 01362| . 2942| . 02725| . 02725| ESTER (mol)| WATER (mol)| ACID (mol)| ALCOHOL (mol)| I: . 02248| . 4322| 0| 0| C: -. 01852| -. 01852| -. 01852| -. 01852| E: . 00396| . 4137| . 01852| . 01852| ESTER (mol)| WATER (mol)| ACID (mol)| ALCOHOL (mol)| I: . 02044| . 3768| 0| . 01713| C:-. 01531| -. 01531| -. 01531| . 01531| E: . 00513| . 3615| . 01531| . 03244| Kc for bottles 2-5: Kc=. 0 2855[. 02855]. 0254[. 376]= . 1522 .1853 .2094 .2678 Avg Kc: .1522 + . 1853 +. 2094 + . 2678 = . 8147 .8147/4 = . 2037 Discussion: A known error in this experiment with this data is the mass of hydrochloric acid measured for bottle 1. The mass was below 5 grams (4. 8778g) which threw the calculations off. To compensate for the poor data, an average of the two masses of hydrochloric acid was taken, and then the number of moles was found to get a better approximation of what the number of moles should be. Another possible error in this experiment was not having adequate time for the solutions to equilibrium completely.If the solutions had not fully reached equilibrium the equilibrium constant would be off for whichever solutions, if not all, that had not come to equilibrium. The Kc values were all approximately one tenth off of each other. In theory, the Kc values should all be the same which indicates that there is a high probability that the solutions had not fully reached equilibri um. In conclusion, the results would have been closer and more exact had the solutions had more time to come to equilibrium as well as if the mass of hydrochloric acid was closer to where it should have been.

What Do You See as Some of the Crucial Roles of Informal Language in Contemporary Australia?

Informal language has a variety of functions in Australian society. What do you see as some of the crucial roles of informal language in contemporary Australia? Informal language has a variety of functions in Australian society. The main function of informal language has to do with Australia’s culture. Slang and informal language gives a sense of belonging, pride, mateship, informality and laid-backness, which is an accurate description of a typical Australian. In Australian society slang is a common feature of spoken and written conversation. The expletive bloody is very common in Australian language. Bloody is quite typical of Australian language that it can be used as a hyphen in many various words and phrases, for example â€Å"fan-bloody-tastic†. The suffix on the end of bloody is another feature worth noting as it does emphasise the Australian accent. Bloody has now become an important indicator of Australianness and of cultural values such as friendliness, informality, laid-backness, and mateship (Kate Burridge, Gift of the Gob, ABC Books 2012). The word mate, which is another way of saying friend, is typical Australian slang and it is mainly used in an informal context. The word mate suggests openness, at least to a relationship of equals (Richard Castles, The Big Issue 4-17 November 2008). The openness created from using the word mate is a positive face feature possibly leading to build rapport. There are right and wrong times to use slang and with the word mate for example, calling a woman mate runs the risk of offence, as it's an ambiguous word and in a formal situation like a job interview, using the word mate especially referring to if it is your boss, is not something that is acceptable depending on the relationship with the person.

Ceylon Tea Services Plc Marketing Essay

Ceylon Tea Services Plc Marketing Essay Introduction Ceylon Tea Services PLC which is a subsidiary of MJF group, is engaged in the manufacture, export and marketing of tea bags and packets under the brand name Dilmah. The company exports its products to the UK, the US, Canada,Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The company primarily operates in Sri Lanka, where it isheadquartered in Peliyagoda which is 7.5 km from Colombo. Merrill J. Fernando the founder of Dilmah set out in the 1950s to offer tea drinkers the finest tea on earth. Whilst doing so, he desired to make a genuinely ethical brand. It took nearly four decades for Merrill to fulfill his mission, but in 1988 he launched his family tea – Dilmah – the first producer owned tea brand in the world, handpicked, perfected and packed at source and shipped within days to tea drinkers around the world. Key Milestones Table 1 – Company milestone Year Key Milestone 1930 Merrill J Fernando, Founder of Dilmah is born in Pallansena, a tiny village in S outh Western Ceylon 1950 Merrill begins his journey in tea, as a trainee Tea Taster in London 1981 The incorporation of Ceylon Tea Services, the company which markets Dilmah tea 1988 Launch of Dilmah Tea in Sydney Australia 2000 Dilmah launches in Sri Lanka 2001 Dilmah launches in United Kingdom 2005 Medinge honors Dilmah as a Top Brand with a Conscience 2006 Dilmah acquires ISO 22000 : 2005 status 2007 Dilmah receives accolades at the Best Corporate Citizen Awards 2009 Dilmah Conservation unveils first Elephant Information Centre in Sri Lanka Source: Dilmah website Dilmah operates both in B2B and B2C markets by producing tea, tea bags and packets. Its product range varies from different flavored tea as depicted in Table 2. Products and features Table 2 – Product Categories Product Categories Product Names Dilmah Tea Premium Singal Origin Tea The Original Gourmet Teas Exotic Fun Tea Other Products Asian Spice Tea Ceylon Green Tea Watte Single Estate Tea Green Tea Fruit Infusi ons Trax Pack Box Pack Almond Toffee Creamity Wafer Rolls Korento Cookies Fruit Cookies Good Choice Cookies Chocopie Cheese Ball Cracker Fruit Drop Candie Wafer Sticks Darling Jelly Source: Marketing Memo June 2010 Salient features of Dilmah tea brand includes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Safe to use & consume à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Non-toxic à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Rich in aroma and taste à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ No side effects à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Free from artificial ingredients à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Secure Packaging Company Performance The company recorded revenues of Rs. 4,957.1 million (US$43.2 million) in the fiscal year ended March 2010. Its net profit was Rs.1,203.5 million (US$10.5 million) which is 25% in fiscal year 2010. Ceylon Tea Services PLC has a issued share capital of Rs.200 million (US$ 2M). Year over year, Ceylon Tea Services PLC has been able to grow their bottom line from 487.1M to 1.2B primarily through revenue growth (4.4B to 4.9B). For while the costs associated with cost of goods, SGA and income tax a ll increased as a percentage of sales, the growth in top line revenues contributed enough to still see net income improve. Figure 1 – Company Performance Source : Ceylon Teas PLC Audited Accounts Industry and Market As Dilmah operates in over 95 countries, competing in a global market place they fight for market share with both global and local players in each country. Therefore, the market share differs based on the country in which the organization cater. The MJF Group which is the parent company of Ceylon Teas PLC, caters to over 95 countries which include Australia, New Zealand, CIS, Eastern Europe -Poland, Baltics.

Training for older worker Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Training for older worker - Essay Example Reed et. al. (2005) begin with explaining the importance of older workers which is expected to increase as time goes by and note that calling older workers slow or inflexible is a stereotype. However, older workers may face issues of self-efficacy and believe themselves to be unable to perform certain technology related tasks simple because they are old. Thus, their age related confidence levels may be more responsible for create barriers to their training rather than any direct impact which they age or their advanced years have on their performance. The researchers hypothesize that age is negatively related to computer skill acquisition and that age is negatively related to computer self-efficacy (CSE). The third hypothesis given by the researchers is that CSE will mediate the influence of age on the acquisition of computer skills. To test their hypotheses, the researchers used 109 volunteers from a Midwestern community. These subjects were predominantly female and the median age of the group was 51 years old. The subjects took a survey to report on their computer skills, their attitude towards technology and their ability to handle change. The self reported results were compared to their monitored and measured performance on completing a set of tasks with spreadsheet and word processing software. The results showed that CSE effectively mediate the relationship between age and both the objective and subjective measures of the acquisition of computer skills.

Crime Scene Investigators in Law Enforcement Research Paper

Crime Scene Investigators in Law Enforcement - Research Paper Example Crime Scene Investigator The scene where the crime occurred is an imperative aspect in the entire process of investigation. The site contains the core evidence which enables law enforces piece together the evidence amassed from other locations. The evidence gathered from the scene may at times require processing. These investigators undertake various tasks which include classifying and analyzing the evidence. Therefore, the crime scene investigator may require an assortment of skills and knowledge to undertake their tasks. These investigators should have relevant qualifications in the scientific field such as forensics. The knowledge and skill impacted in such a programme will be vital for these investigators. CSI teams should be the first to arrive at the scene. This will ensure that the evidence gathered is apposite. Additionally, there may be people intentionally or unintentionally attempting to distort the scene to frustrate the investigations. These investigators should show urg ency in their arrival at the crime scene. Some crimes entail interviewing the persons that were around the scene when incidence happened. Therefore, the investigator should have appropriate skills that will enable them gather the right information in relation to the crime. Additionally, there should have the capacity to discern the flawed and correct evidence. The investigators should consequently connect the events that occurred in a chronological manner. Crime scene investigators are an imperative constituent of the disciplined forces (Dutelle, 2011). Importance of a CSI team This team makes a crucial contribution in resolving crime since it amasses the initial evidence. The initial evidence forms the basis on which the investigator can follow up the case. It provides the investigator with vital hints on what avenue to pursue in order to resolve the crime. The initial evidence shows when and how the crime happened. Consequently, the team vested with the authority of gathering such evidence contributes considerably to resolution of the crime. With the massive advancements in technology, criminals are utilizing sophisticated methods that leave minimal traces. Consequently, it is vital that there is a CSI team which has the knack to retrieve evidence in sophisticated crimes. The ordinary law enforcer may lack the ability to see some minor details which would provide subsequent investigators with clues on what measures to undertake. The CSI team also processes evidence. The processing of evidence may include DNA analysis and matching of fingerprints. Such evidence is extremely vital in homicides and thefts. However, the effectiveness depends on the legal framework provided and the police force procedures. Some of these laws may create bureaucratic procedures that limit the efficacy of CSI teams. The evidence provided by these teams forms the basis of prosecution and enables lawmakers to charge an offender with charge based on the evidence available. CSI team arr ives at the crime scene earlier on and assists other investigators in stitching together the events that occurred leading to the crime. Most CSI team acts as the custodian of the evidence amassed. Some CSI members specialize in photographic analysis which assists in facial recognition of criminal or victims. Owing to their understanding of the events which transpired, then members of CSI teams are present at court trials. Therefore, CSI teams do not only partake in investigations, but

Business Plan Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Plan - Case Study Example The owner of the park with (state no of years) years of experience in buying and selling mobile homes has absolute knowledge of the local market conditions. The park in the best of its condition will serve the housing needs for many citizens. Market analysis: The Park situated half a mile from the lake is a prime occupancy place. The lead time for occupancy is a maximum of two months. The place is mostly rented by couples 80% of whom are young and 20% retired. Tenkiller has 70.8 % of the population over 15 years that are under the now married category according to Onboard Informatics 2008. In addition the park is situated in geography with extremely high floating population. The North Eastern state university has 6500 students in its campus and about 400,000 annually visit the Illinois River and 2,000,000 annually visit Lake Tenkiller.The current rent rates for mobile homes range from $325 to $475 this includes single and double wides. Placement: The Park is situated within half a mile from the lake making proximity to the lake and water sports viable and this will be a unique selling point for the park. In addition to this Lake Tenkiller being a major tourist attraction and place for camping will keep the homes at a 90% occupancy. The promotional act Product: The Park after renovation and new homes with a children's play area and storage units will definitely prove money's worth for tenants and prospects. Promotion: The promotional activity for the mobile park will take place in all the leading camping sites and water sport areas where tourist flood in addition to electronic and mailing channels. The park will also be advertised in the North eastern State University and in the neighbouring towns. Below is a business plan for a Mobile Home Park in the state of Oklahoma. The proposal states the viability of the business in alliance with the financials which includes the start up accounts and the projected Profit and loss statements for the first 3 years. Start up expenses Legal $300 Stationery Brochures Consultants Insurance $200 Rent Research and Development Expensed Equipment Other Total Start up expenses $500 Start up assets Cash Required $6,000 Other current assets $0 long term assets $91,000 Total assets $97,000 Total requirements $97,500 Start up Funding Start up expenses to fund $500 Start up assets to fund $97,000 Total Funding required $97,500 Assets Non cash assets from start up $91,000 Cash requirements from start up $6,000 Additional cash raised 0 Cash balance on starting date $6,000 Total assets $97,000 Liabilities and capital Liablities Current borrowing 0 Long term liabilities $87,000 Accounts payable 0 Other current liabilities 0 Total liabilities $87,000 Capital Planned investment $10,000 Other 0 Additional Investment required $87,000 Total planned investment $97,000 loss at start up $6,500 Total capital $90,500 Total capital and liabilities $97,000 Total funding $97,500 Proforma Profit and Loss Pro Forma Profit and Loss FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 Sales $28,080 $32,160 $36,240 Direct Cost

Business - Return on Equity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business - Return on Equity - Essay Example The duty of corporate management is to effectively manage these three components so investors are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they can indeed get good Return on Equity should they invest in the organization. In the same vein, investors can also foresee the ability of the management to do a proper job as regards their investment purposes. The calculation of return on Equity is based on one year’s worth of earnings which is then divided by the shareholder equity for that particular year. These earnings are usually obtained from the financial statements of the company or from the Statement of Earnings which are computed on the end year basis (Graham and Dodd 90). It must be remembered that ROE is one of the most critical factors that determine the viability of an organization with regard to investment purposes. Investors are normally very keen in the figure as it clearly indicates the progress of the company as a function of capital investment. In its basic assessment, Return on Equity simply reveals how much a company earned and how this profit relates to the shareholders equity in the company. A higher ROE is therefore suitable for a company on the basis of investment as it will attract more investors. In the same vein, a low ROE is an indication that the shareholders equity is not sufficiently compensated as a consequence of the low profits earned. Any investor in the present age is certainly inundated with myriad information which they are expected to analyze and make proper decisions on whether to invest or not. That creates much of the trouble considering that investment is a very critical decision to make and not all investors are well versed in accounting issues. It therefore creates the need to present information in a manner that even the laymen in accounting can effectively comprehend. Such is the importance of ROE which eliminates the trouble of wading through loads of information in the analysis of a company (Swanson and Marshall 56- 8). In most cases, people merely look at the plain earnings of a company which do not in any way reveal any sign of success. Return on equity on the other hand, clearly encompasses the previous earnings retained from the other years which serve to inform the investors of how effective the reinvestment process is. The management’s fiscal adeptness is clearly seen in the ROE analysis as compared to other measures like annual earnings per share. In an increasingly competitive and risky financial environment, each and every investor seeks to realize the highest return without taking chances with risks. It is critical to realize that the investment decisions are made on the basis of a company’s returns. Thus, a company with a ROE of 10% in the present year may not necessarily attain the same level of profitability in the next year. However, if the history of the company reveals such a trend, an investor may as well conclude that the future years will reflect the past and ca n then make the decision to invest or not. A major challenge that underlies the usage of ROE is its sensitivity to leverage. It increases with greater amounts of leverage if proceeds from debt refinancing are reinvested into the business at a rate greater than the borrowing rate. The ROE can also overstate the economic value of the business is the situations of depreciation and in projects with longer lifespan. The investment decision of any firm is normally a function of many factors the most

International Auditing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Auditing - Assignment Example Ananda (2004) argues that, environmental auditing involves assessing whether the company is functioning in accordance with the requirements of environmental legislation. In addition, the audit intends to attain an independent external appraisal whether the management has formed proficient environmental policy and offered for satisfactory environmental approach. Environmental audits results to recommendations on how companies should reduce detrimental impacts to the environment in a cost-benefit and efficient approach, and how in the long term the company can save finances by via environmental friendly technology (Ananda 2004). According to Ananda (2004), social audit is the process of evaluating a company’s code of conduct, operating procedures and other factors to determine its effects on the society. Social audit is a formal assessment of a companys activities in social responsibility. It evaluates factors such as an organizations record of charitable giving, energy use, volunteer activity and work environment-transparency (Ananda 2004). Additionally, it assesses, worker pay and benefits to appraise what kind of environmental and social impact a company is having in its locations of operation. Social audits are not obligatory since companies can prefer whether to execute them and whether to make public the results or only use them internally only (Donald 2004). According to Anthony & Michael (2003), historically, public, corporate documentation of financial statements goes back to the 1850s. At that period, reporting on environmental and social matters was not so included in the corporate financial reports. The management included only financial accounting on their presentations on the financial statement information. The corporate entities focused on their economic activities only in their approaches to accounting. Such activities affected the economy through

Targets of Anti-metastatic Drug Development Essay

Targets of Anti-metastatic Drug Development - Essay Example Therefore, in this literature review, the paper describes some of the candidate targets for the anti-metastatic drugs development and the progress that has been made, so far, in developing effective drugs. It is clear that driving oncogenic mutations are necessary for metastasis. A number of the oncogenic mutations so far identified affect cell fate regulation, genomic maintenance and cell survival (Glinsky and Raz, 2010, p. 1788). . These initiating and resultant progression events may also turn out indispensable for metastases establishment at a secondary site. Patient analysis has shown that agents targeting oncogenic mutations or amplifications, such as mutant BRAF in melanoma, amplified HER2 in breast-cancer, have demonstrated substantial effects controlling metastatic disease (Platt and Raz, 1992, P. 438),. Nonetheless, metastasis disease treatment might be sophisticated by the differential demonstration, activity or a combination of oncogenes in metastases during metastatic recurrence (McGarty and Block, 2006, p. 151). For instance, HER2 expression is high in estrogen receptor (ER)+HER2- of luminal breast cancer cells via tumour necrosis factor fantasticfamily member 11-RABKL signalling in the microenvironment of bones. The effectiveness of targeted therapies concerning metastatic environments is presently limited through the drug resistance that often happens in metastatic relapse. Resistance of this nature is always because of the coming up of de novo mutations. Furthermore, the adaptive ability of oncogenic signalling networks for overcoming monotherapy attract new drug targets as well as strategies for inhibiting feedback-regulated pathways. Therefore, constant efforts to maximize target therapies for such oncogenic drivers and to defeat drug resistance will be essential for treat ing metastatic disease. It has been found that tumour cells augment their intrinsic mobility through adopting cellular programs that

Compare and contrast Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 15

Compare and contrast - Essay Example These policies try to block expansion of the Soviet Power and expose falsities of it and to induce a retraction of Kremlins control and foster seeds of destruction in the Soviet System. These policies give power to US where it has military strength. Containment policy maintains strong military power that guarantees the national security and conduct of the policy of containment.2 The link suggests that the policies of containment is not implemented properly It has made the country to be in diplomatic impasse with the Soviet Union. The US states that they have the capabilities in economic and military fields and the political and psychological fields. The citizens of US believe that with the principle of freedom, importance of the individual and tolerance and are more vital than the ideology of the Soviet dynamism.3 It analyzes that the American democracy has a degree of unity where the society is cohesive than the Soviet system that is created through force, favor and fear. This means that chances of revolution are less than in the Soviet system. This creates potential for force in international relations where the tolerance for a world outlook has enormous influence. The second link The Charge in the Soviet Union (Kennan) to the Secretary of State talk about that how the Cold War disrupted the global affairs and divided the 20th-century history.4 It states that Soviet Socialist Realism is disconnected from dominant narratives and discredited by Soviet systems. It is deemed to have represented the cultural context at the place of time. It therefore functioned as a state apparatus that responded to political and historical realities that guide military and economic initiatives in the Soviet Union. Kennan’s long-term article written in 1946 gave an incisive annalistic of the Soviet outlooks where it gave the convictions of the Soviet Union ideology of its policy. The Soviet Socialist Realism related first, with

Stirling sports Essay Example for Free

Stirling sports Essay Stirling Sports opened their first Store on Dominion Road in Auckland in 1964. The first Stirling Sports franchises were awarded in 1983 after Stirling Sports had invested almost 20 years in developing the best sports retail stores in New Zealand. Stirling Sports Dunedin’s mission statements asserts, ‘The Dunedin community speaks positively about their Stirling Sport experience’. Their logo is ‘We love our sport’, an apt summary of the passion held by management and staff for their products, service and the specialist knowledge they provide. Stirling Sports is the one of the New Zealand leading retailers of sporting goods. Stirling Sports has a huge range of sports clothing and mens and womens shoes, supporter gear and more. In 2004, Russell and Sue became aware of an opportunity to purchase the Stirling Sports Dunedin area franchise and made the decision to buy within a week. Since they originated from the Otago region, this was an opportunity ‘to come home’. After some negotiation they successfully acquired the franchise and began to determine how best to manage the two operations. After some deliberation, the  decision was made that Sue would move to Dunedin and manage that store, while Russell continued to manage the Kapiti store. Russell and Sue decided to buy the franchise with the existing staff at the Dunedin store. The store had to become profitable, so changes needed to be made. However, the change in structure and process did not suit everyone and staff left. Previously, the store had been managed from Auckland, so some having the manager on-site was very different from the previous management style. Stirling Sports adopts marketing strategies based on the seasonal nature of  various sports, student population migration during semester and holiday periods, public holidays and festive seasons Christmas is one of the biggest financial periods with equipment, clothing and shoes being in demand for Christmas gifts. In-store specials, glossy flyers, and newspaper and radio advertising are all useful means of marketing their products to all of their customer segments. The March/April period is the second-largest cash-flow period with the beginning of winter sports, such as rugby, soccer, netball, volleyball and basketball, traditionally boosting sales. September/October is also a peak period, with the focus particularly on fitness and getting ‘back into shape’ after the ravages of winter lifestyle choices. Sports such as cricket, tennis and softball also begin which may require the purchase of new equipment, uniforms and speciality footwear. Many sports are now played all year round, which is beneficial in maintaining an acceptable level of monthly sales in addition to seasonal cash-flow peaks. RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://STIRLINGSPORTS. CO. NZ Rebel Sport is a well known brand name throughout New Zealand and Australia.Until 2006, Rebel had no big-box sports competitor, prompting the use of the well-known slogan No ones got more sports gear. However, Lane Walker Rudkin, owners of sports franchise Stirling Sports, have announced plans to launch several large format stores across the country, beginning with a store in Christchurch, which opened in mid-2006. This followed the collapse of a deal between Briscoe Group and LWR a year earlier, which would have seen Briscoe buyout the Stirling franchise. Since Stirlings big box launch, Rebel has dropped their original slogan, which has been replaced with Lets Play, backed by a new marketing campaign which targets a wider audience from the traditional club-orientated team sport audience. The company is also continuing their aggressive expansion programme, launching several smaller-format stores such as Napier and Taupo to allow branches to reach further into provincial areas. Briscoe Group. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Briscoe_Group The latest retail customer satisfaction report for New Zealand from research organisation Roy Morgan Research reveals that Rebel Sport has emerged as the sports store with the highest percentage of satisfied customers. Rebel came in at at 82. 0 percent for the 12 months to December 2009 (up 4. 4 percent points from the 12 months to December ‘08). Stirling Sports was third with 77. 5 percent (down 2. 9 percent from the same period). â€Å"The category as a whole has performed below the average for all non-food stores. It seems all sports stores need to close the gap in improving their levels of satisfaction. † Sports Link. Sporting Goods Outdoor Retailing. (May 17, 2010). Retrieved from http://www. mysportslink. net/rebel-sport-leads-the-way-cms-837.

Analysis of Japans Economic Structure

Analysis of Japans Economic Structure The Japanese economic structure has always been perceived to be both stable and reliable. Despite periods of difficulty, the rules and regulation surrounding the Japanese banking industry have always attempted to deal with any potential problems and to manage them both on an international and national level. However, there is an argument that the stringent nature of the regulation in itself has caused some problems for the sector, with many banks finding themselves in distressed positions having followed the approaches advocated by the central Ministry of Finance. Prior to the difficulties faced in the 1980s, which will be discussed in greater detail later, the Japanese banks largely followed the guidance of the Ministry and felt safe in the knowledge that there was a safety net in place should they fall into financial difficulties. Japanese banking, as a whole, was not particularly profitable and instead operated a cautious, yet extremely stable service. Despite this approach, the Japanese banking sector hit a substantial crisis in the 1980s, shocking not only those within the Japanese banking system, but also those involved in banking arond the globe. By studying the events that caused this period of difficulty and looking more specifically at the activities of one banking group, in particular, it is hoped that lessons can be drawn from the scenario that will prevent similar events happening again. Background to Japanese Banking The bursting of the bubble in the 1980s did not just come from nowhere; in fact, when the banking system within Japan is studied, for many decades before the bubble burst, it is clear to see that the foundations for this difficult time had been laid some considerable time in advance of the events themselves. Post war Japan took a very segmented and internal approach to banking. Very few transactions were conducted internationally, with almost all financing products being offered to Japanese corporations. This worked in the main due to the mentality of the Japanese people; they were keen savers, therefore, the banks in Japan had a steady flow of funds available to offer financing to Japanese corporations. As a general rule, city banks offered financing to larger corporations, whereas regional banks offered financing to smaller and more local businesses. In fact, international trading was so low down on the agenda that the government used the Bank of Tokyo in the 1950s and 1960s to deal with the foreign exchange needs of the country and to act as the main foreign representative. Banks within Japan worked together, with the long term credit banks offering completely different services to the commercial banks. The banks were very customer orientated, offering financing at incredibly cheap rates to stimulate the economy, often at the expense of the banks’ profitability. All elements of the banking sector were managed closely by the Ministry of Finance which was largely responsible for all rate setting and banking relationships. Mergers between banks rarely happened and when they did they were often unsuccessful due to the segregated nature of the different banks, thus making it difficult for companies to merge successfully in terms of culture, administration and ethos. Stability and low costs were the cornerstones of the Japanese banking sector and in this context Japan slowly became recognised on the international capital market radar due to the low cost of borrowing and the large amount of funds available. For example, when RJR Nabisco was taken over with a financing package of $25 billion, Japanese banks were central to providing the necessary funds. Increasing global involvement led to six out of the ten top banks in the world based on asset size being Japanese, in the early 1990s. Bursting of the Bubble Despite what seemed to be an extremely solid and stable banking system, the Japanese banking system suffered a terrible shock in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in a widespread financial crisis[1]. Prior to the 1980s, the banking system in Japan was relatively insular with little international exposure. As the Japanese banks began to deal more and more with other countries, they became increasingly attracted to different financial innovations and instruments, many of which were higher risk than previously undertaken. Not only did the influx of international finance encourage new innovations, but it also led to the Ministry of Finance having to loosen its grip on the regulation of the Japanese banking sector. Deregulation became necessary so that foreign banks were able to enter the Japanese market. There was a large amount of pressure placed on the Japanese government to ensure that deregulation took place, as it had a substantial trade surplus with other countries (i.e. it was exporting more goods than it was importing, meaning that it relied on good relations with these countries to maintain its trade position). The European banking system was also undergoing radical change and, as such, there was a growing need for other countries such as Japan to offer EU institutions equal treatment. The combination of these factors led to the Ministry of Finance finally accepting that both domestic and international banks had to undergo a period of deregulation[2]. A combination of a loose financial policy and deregulation led to the increase in the supply of money and the decrease in the interest rate. Cheap lending rates and greater availability of credit led to many individuals and institutions taking speculative positions and making much riskier investment than had previously been undertaken. Japan also found that property became a major issue, during the economic downturn. As Japan is a particularly mountainous country, land is at a premium and has always maintained a reasonably high value. For this reason, land was often used as collateral on debts and as a seemingly solid investment. Land and equity prices continued to escalate; however, in 1989, the Japanese government decided to try and control these spiralling prices by raising interest rates[3]. These increases in the interest rates led to a massive financial crisis with huge falls in the stock market and many of the previously entered into debts turning bad. Many banks began to flounder and a series of governmental bail-outs and mergers took place as the country struggled to regain control over the economy. Credit became difficult to obtain which, in turn, brought capital investment to an abrupt halt, further slowing down the economic performance of the country[4]. Zaitech Financing One of the main innovations in terms of investing opportunities that entered the Japanese banking arena, during the 1980s period of deregulation, was that of the Zaitech. Quite simply a Zaitech is a form of financial engineering which allows the banking institution to invest its surplus funds for a return. At the safest end of the scale, the Zaitech involves taking any corporate excesses and investing them in bank deposits. At the other end of the scale, a Zaitech could involve borrowing in the Eurobond market and using the finance to conduct speculative investments in bonds or property. It is this latter approach that many of the Japanese banks took during the period immediately after deregulation. The combination of low interest rates and high values of land encouraged the banks to borrow at the low interest rate and invest in property, bringing in a healthy return. Furthermore, many Japanese companies recognised that they could easily raise funds by issuing convertible bonds to the public. Between the years of 1984 and 1989, it was estimated that Japanese corporations issued a total of $720 million in securities, of which it was thought that around 80% were equities[5]. Japan also had the principle that corporations were not required to state how they invested liquid assets. This made it difficult for analysts to make sensible judgments in relation to the risks that a certain company was undertaking in the form of financial investments. This led to greater speculations and difficulties and caused the stock market values to plummet further still when interest rates were increased and the value of property began to slide. Background to the Sakura and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Case All of the turmoil above led to the eventual merger of Sakura with Sumitomo, in April 2002. Sakura bank really suffered, during the early 1990s, largely due to increasing costs, rising interests rates and falling profit margins. Its risk asset ratios, as required by the international body BASEL, were also substantially lower than is considered desirable and it continued to find it difficult to meet the capital adequacy rules. As much of the difficulty was perceived to be down to higher costs, Sakura set about reducing its costs by integrating staff function and information system technology, where possible. Although this had a positive impact on the company, ultimately the main problem came from the increasing number of bad debts that the company had in its portfolio. The Ministry of Finance had traditionally been unwilling to allow banks to write off bad debt as this would not have given a positive view of the banking sector. Companies such as Sakura were not concerned about this as they simply followed the guidance of the Ministry of Finance, safe in the knowledge that it was protected by the government. However, as the financial climate worsened, there was growing concern that these bad debts would have to be written off. This took time, and during the early 1990s, the bad debt simply mounted as institutions (Sakura included) were reluctant to admit to the failings within their debt profile[6]. Sakura’s segment in the banking sector was very much focussed on the retail banking end of things, with high numbers of mortgages being given to domestic lenders. As property prices fell and interest rates rose, this factor also led to a substantial increase in the amount of loans that were defaulted on and yet more bad debt was accumulated[7]. Worse still, Sakura was competing largely against the Japanese Post Office with its retail banking offerings; the Post Office had the advantage of being hugely subsidised, of having certain tax relief advantages and not having to seek approval to make changes such as opening branches. These advantages have made it particularly difficult for Sakura to offer customers competitive options. Recognising the difficulties facing the banks, the Japanese government offered a substantial bail-out to several banks, Sakura included, which helped to raise the amount of capital available to these banks which, although it was successful, did little to assist the economy, as a whole, as banks were still reluctant to lend any funds to consumers, causing yet further economical difficulties[8]. The Merger Despite the difficult times, Sakura did have some positive movements during the 1990s. One of its most successful ventures was the 50% involvement in the consortium Japan Net Bank which successfully opened an internet and ATM based banking offering. Sakura realised that it needed to form a strategic alliance with another bank, if it was to be able to compete with the other mega-bank structures that were being developed across Japan. It also needed to ensure that it had sufficient capital strength within the market. Discussions were entered into with several large banks and in April 2001 (a whole year ahead of schedule), an agreement was reached between Sakura and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group[9]. This merger was interesting for several reasons. Firstly, the two companies did largely different things; Sakura was a commercial bank and Sumitomo was a money centre bank. Although Sumitomo was highly regarded amongst its peers, all money centre banks were generally underperforming. Prior to the merger, Sumitomo had established itself (through a joint venture with Daiwa Securities) as a bank that would substantially increase its offerings in relation to investment banking. In contrast to this, Sakura had particular power in relation to retail banking, particularly with the new area of internet banking that it had recently entered into. Unlike other mergers, the one between Sakura and Sumitomo was done through traditional avenues with Sumitomo effectively taking over Sakura and renaming as Sumitomo Mitsui. In doing so, the merged company was then managed by a unified board of 30 directors. Operations were largely merged, which resulted in a large amount of cost saving and economies of scale were enjoyed across the whole company. In completing the merger, the newly formed Sumitomo Mitsui became the third largest bank in the world. The merger was not all plain sailing and many staff left the company, some voluntarily and some through redundancy. There were also cultural clashes as two rival firms merged and had to accept external interference in their work, which had traditionally been kept very segmented[10]. Over time, the merger has allowed the bank to become much more stable and to meet the Basel requirements, partly through diversification and partly through cost saving. Current Financial Crisis The situation facing Japanese banks in the 1990s is not entirely different from that currently facing the US, the UK and much of the rest of the world. The similarities are stark; the US, in particular, has been mounting up bad debts, backed on overpriced property in exactly the same way as Japan did in the 1980s and early 1990s. Despite the seemingly similar issues that have led to the crisis in the US, as happened in Japan, there have been some differences which may allow the countries affected by the widespread credit crunch to avoid such a prolonged period of recession as the one that was experienced in Japan[11]. There are several reasons for this belief. Firstly, the US government reacted much more quickly and decisively when the emerging problems were first identified. In Japan, the Ministry of Finance attempted to maintain an approach of perceived stability for some time after a crisis became evident, allowing banks to store up bad debt for a considerable period of time. Also, other countries (and in particular the US) have much higher consumer spending, traditionally. One of the main reasons that the Japanese economy took so long to recover was due to the reluctance of individuals to spend any money that they had; this is not likely to be such a large factor in the current crisis. However; the health of the Japanese economy prior to its crisis should not be ignored. When Japan entered the period of decline in the 1980s, it was in a much more robust economic position than those countries being affected by the current credit crunch. It had a trade surplus, no borrowing and cash reserves. The US, on the other hand, had debts of around 190% of the gross domestic product when it entered the credit crunch period. Japanese individuals were also keen savers and could, therefore, reduce their saving ratio to mitigate the impact of the recession. This approach is not as readily available in the US and UK. Conclusions There are stark lessons to be learned from the situation that Japan faced in the 1980s and 1990s. Whilst, on the face of it, the parallels drawn between the current financial crisis and that faced by Japan are worryingly similar, it should be noted that a large part of Japan’s problem came from a reluctance to accept that there ever was a problem. With quick reactions from the government and strategic mergers, such as the one discussed above, the lessons learned from the Japanese crisis can truly be put to good use. Bibliography Allen, Roy E., Financial Crises and Recession in the Global Economy, Edward Elgar, 2000. Amyx, Jennifer Ann, Japans Financial Crisis: Institutional Rigidity and Reluctant Change, Princeton University Press, 2004. Ardrey, William J. IV, Pecotich, Anthony J., Ungar, Esta, Structure, commitment and strategic action for Asian transitional nations’ financial systems in crisis, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 19, 1, 2001. Arestis, Philip, Baddeley, Michelle, Mccombie, John, What Global Economic Crisis? Palgrave, 2001. Brewer, Iii Elijah, Genay, Hesna, Kaufman, George G., Banking Relationships during Financial Distress: The Evidence from Japan, Economic Perspectives, 27, 2003. Browne, Lynn Elaine, Does Japan Offer Any Lessons for the United States, New England Economic Review, 2001. Fiedler, Robert, Brown, Karl, Moloney, James, Liquidity risk: what lessons can be learnt from the crisis in Japan’s banking system? Balance Sheet, 10, 1, 2002. Friedland, John H., The Law and Structure of the International Financial System: Regulation in the United States, EEC, and Japan, Quorum Books, 1994. Hall, Maximilian J.B., Supervisory reform in Japan, Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 7, 3, 1999. Hall, Maximilian J.B., The sub-prime crisis, the credit squeeze and Northern Rock: the lessons to be learned, Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 16. 1, 2008 Herbig, Paul A., Palumbo, Fred, A Brief Examination of the Japanese Innovative Process, Marketing Intelligence Planning, 12, 1, 1994. Hickson, Charles R., Turner, John D., Banking instability in South East Asia: causes and cures, European Business Review, 99, 3, 1999. Howe, Christopher, China and Japan: History, Trends, and Prospects, Oxford University Press, 1996. Ichimura, Shinichi, Economic Growth, Savings and Housing Finance in Japan, Journal of Economic Studies, 8, 3, 1981. Kang, Myung-Koo, Japans Financial Crisis: Institutional Rigidity and Reluctant Change, Pacific Affairs, 79, 2006. Kashyap, Anil K., Sorting out Japans Financial Crisis, Economic Perspectives, 26, 2002. Katada, Saori N., Banking on Stability: Japan and the Cross-Pacific Dynamics of International Financial Crisis Management, University of Michigan Press, 2001. Kelly, Dominic, Japan and the Reconstruction of East Asia Book, Palgrave, 2002. Khoury, Sarkis J., The Deregulation of the World Financial Markets: Myths, Realities, and Impact, Quorum Books, 1990. Lindgren, Carl-Johan, Financial Sector Crisis and Restructuring: Lessons from Asia, International Monetary Fund, 1999. Liou, Kuotsai Tom, Managing Economic Development in Asia: From Economic Miracle to Financial Crisis, Praeger, 2002. Llewellyn, David T., Lessons from recent banking crises, Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 6, 3, 1998. Mera, KÃ…Â ichi, Renaud, Bertrand, Asias Financial Crisis and the Role of Real Estate,  M.E. Sharpe, 2000. Mikitani, RyÃ…Â ichi, Posen, Adam Simon, Japans Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to U.S. Experience, Peterson Institute, 2000. Miller, Marcus, Luangaram, Pongsak, Financial Crisis in East Asia: Bank Runs, Asset Bubbles and Antidotes, National Institute Economic Review, 1998. Nakajima, Chizu, Japan: Recent Failures in the Japanese Banking Sector, Journal of Financial Crime, 3, 1995. Picard, Robert R., Groth, John C., Japan’s journey to the future, Management Decision, 39, 4, 2001. Rugina, Anghel N., A country and/or international organisation faced with a big disequilibrium: The case of the crisis in Southeast Asian area during 1997-1999, International Journal of Social Economics, 28, 1/2, 2001. Schroeck, Gerhard., Risk Management and Value Creation in Financial Institutions  By Gerhard, John Wiley and Sons, 2002. Sawabe, Norio, Accounting for the public interest: a Japanese perspective, Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, 18, 5, 2005. Sharma, Shalendra D., The Asian Financial Crisis: Crisis, Reform, and Recovery, Manchester University Press, 2003. The International Financial Crisis, Challenge, 42, 1999. Valentine, Tom., Ford, Guy., Readings in Financial Institution Management: Modern Techniques for a Global Industry, Allen Unwin, 1999. Wolfson, Martin H., Financial Crises: Understanding the Postwar U.S. Experience, M.E. Sharpe, 1994. Wolgast, Michael, MAs in the financial industry: A matter of concern for bank supervisors? Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 9, 3, 2001. Yamazaki, Shozo, A Japanese Way for 2000 Beyond the Bubble Crash, Pacific Accounting Review, 11, 1/2, 1999. Footnotes [1] Khoury, Sarkis J., The Deregulation of the World Financial Markets: Myths, Realities, and Impact, Quorum Books, 1990. [2] Allen, Roy E., Financial Crises and Recession in the Global Economy, Edward Elgar, 2000. [3] Miller, Marcus, Luangaram, Pongsak, Financial Crisis in East Asia: Bank Runs, Asset Bubbles and Antidotes, National Institute Economic Review, 1998. [4] Nakajima, Chizu, Japan: Recent Failures in the Japanese Banking Sector, Journal of Financial Crime, 3, 1995. [5] Amyx, Jennifer Ann, Japans Financial Crisis: Institutional Rigidity and Reluctant Change, Princeton University Press, 2004. [6] Hall, Maximilian J.B., Supervisory reform in Japan, Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance, 7, 3, 1999. [7] Mera, KÃ…Â ichi, Renaud, Bertrand, Asias Financial Crisis and the Role of Real Estate,  M.E. Sharpe, 2000. [8] Valentine, Tom., Ford, Guy., Readings in Financial Institution Management: Modern Techniques for a Global Industry, Allen Unwin, 1999. [9] Ardrey, William J. IV, Pecotich, Anthony J., Ungar, Esta, Structure, commitment and strategic action for Asian transitional nations’ financial systems in crisis, International Journal of Bank Marketing, 19, 1, 2001. [10] Kang, Myung-Koo, Japans Financial Crisis: Institutional Rigidity and Reluctant Change, Pacific Affairs, 79, 2006. [11] Mikitani, RyÃ…Â ichi, Posen, Adam Simon, Japans Financial Crisis and Its Parallels to U.S. Experience, Peterson Institute, 2000.

Low-Power Folded Tree Architecture for DSP Applications

Low-Power Folded Tree Architecture for DSP Applications Low-Power Folded Tree Architecture for DSP applications Abstract— Wireless communication exhibits the highest energy consumption in wireless sensor network (WSN) nodes. Due to their limited energy supply from batteries, the low power design have become inevitable part of today’s wireless devices. Power has become a burning issue in VLSI design. In modern integrated circuits, the power consumed by clocking gradually takes a dominant part. Reducing the power consumption not only enhance battery life but also avoid overheating problem. By employing a more appropriate Processing Element (PE), the power consumption is significantly reduced. In this paper the novel method for low power design is achieved by using Folded Tree Architecture (FTA) and high speed adder design for on-the-node data processing in wireless sensor networks using Parallel Prefix Operations (PPO) and data locality in hardware. Besides power reduction the objective of minimizing area and delay is also considered. Index Terms— Folded Tree Architecture (FTA), Parallel Prefix Operation (PPO), Processing Element (PE), Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). INTRODUCTION Power optimization is always one of the most important design objectives in modern nanometer integrated circuit design. Especially for wireless sensor networks (WSNs), power optimization have become inevitable part in today VLSI design. Power optimization not only can enhance battery life but also reduce the overheating problem. Self-configuring wireless sensor networks can be invaluable in many civil and military applications for collecting, processing, and disseminating wide ranges of complex environmental data. Because of this, they have attracted considerable research attention in last years. Sensor nodes are battery driven and hence operate on an extremely frugal energy budget. Further, they must have a lifetime on the order of months to years. Since battery replacement is not an option for networks with thousands of physically embedded nodes. In some cases, these networks may be required to operate solely on energy scavenged from the environment through seismic, photovoltaic or thermal conversion. This transforms energy consumption into the most important factor that determines sensor node lifetime. The another important application in wireless sensor networks is event tracking, which has widespread use in applications such as security surveillance and wildlife habitat monitoring. Tracking involves a significant amount of collaboration between individual sensors to perform complex signal processing algorithms such as kalman filtering, Bayesian data fusion and coherent beamforming. This applications will require more energy for their processing. In general Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) can operate in four distinct mode of operation: Transmit, Receive, Idle and Sleep. An important observation in the case of most radios is that operating in Idle mode results in significantly high power consumption, almost equal to the power consumed in the Receive mode. The data-driven nature of WSN applications requires a specific low power data processing approach. By employing more appropriate Processing Element (PE), the power consumption in all the four mode of operation will be reduced significantly. In present VLSI technology, reducing power consumption is an important issue. Especially for WSN, due to their limited battery lifetime the low power VLSI design is become inevitable for wireless commmunication. The goal of this paper is to design an low-energy Folded Tree and Multi-Bit Flip-Flop Merging technique for WSN nodes. II. RELATED WORKS In paper [2], the author proposed low-energy data processing architecture for WSN nodes using folded tree method. This paper identifies that many WSN applications employ algorithms which can be solved by using parallel prefix-sums. Therefore, an alternative architecture is proposed to calculated them energy-efficiently. It consists of several parallel Processing Elements (PEs) structured as a folded tree. The folded tree method with parallel prefix operations reduces the number of processing element and memory bottleneck. Due to clock distribution for more flip-flops, it consumes more clock power and also parallel prefix operations has high delay. In paper [3], a novel method is proposed for low clock power consumption in WSN nodes. A previously derived clock energy model is briefly reviewed while a comprehensive framework for the estimation of system wide (chip level) and clock sub-system power as function of technology scaling is presented. This framework is used to study and quantify the impact that various intensifying concerns associated with scaling will have on clock energy and their relative impact on the overall system energy. This technology scaling method reduces power clock power consumption (both static and dynamic), but due to large number of processing element- area, inverter chain, Power-Delay Product is increased. III. PROPOSED SCHEME Folded Tree Architecture with Parallel Prefix Operation is used to reduce the total number of Processing Elements (PEs) in the VLSI design. By reducing the number of processing elements, the total area is reduced. Area is proportional to power, so power consumption is also reduced. During processing and transmission of signals, the WSN nodes will consume more power. Especially for clock distribution nearly 70% power will be consumed. In order to optimize the power during clock distribution, multi-bit flip-flop merging technique is used. A. Folded Tree Architecture A straightforward binary tree implementation of Blelloch’s approach costs a significant amount of area as n inputs require p = n − 1 PEs. To reduce area and power, pipelining can be traded for throughput. With a classic binary tree, as soon as a layer of PEs finishes processing, the results are passed on and new calculations can already recommence independently [8]. Fig 1. Binary tree equivalent to folded tree The idea presented here is to fold the tree back onto itself to maximally reuse the PEs. In doing so, p becomes proportional to n/2 and the area is cut in half. Area is proportional to power, so power is also cut in half. Note that also the interconnect is reduced. This folded tree topology is depicted in Fig. 1, which is functionally equivalent to the binary tree on the left. By using the Folded Tree architecture power consumption, area and wirelength is reduced considerably. Folded Tree Architecture (FTA) for on-the-node data processing in wireless sensor networks, using parallel preà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ x operations and data locality in hardware reduces both area and power consumption. TABLE I LEAKAGE POWER AND DYNAMIC ENERGY FOR ONE PE UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS FTA is designed to reuse the PE nodes to reduces half of the total area. It limiting the data set by preprocessing with parallel preà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ x operations. The combination of data à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow and control à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ow elements to introduce a local distributed memory, which removes the memory bottleneck while retaining sufà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cient à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡exibility. Several processing element consumes more power, so by using FTA the PE can be reused and power is reduced. Fig 2. Folding Architecture In folding architecture, we can reuse the PEs with the help of counter and FSM. Iteration count in the counter contains the total number of times the specified PE going to be reused. The FSM enables and reset the iteration count based on the instructions. B. Parallel prefix adder. Adders are also very important component in digital systems because of their extensive use in other basic digital operations such as subtraction, multiplication and division. Hence, improving performance of the digital adder would greatly advance the execution of binary operations inside a circuit compromised of such blocks. The performance of a digital circuit block is gauged by analyzing its power dissipation, layout area and its operating speed. The main idea behind parallel prefix addition is an attempt to generate all incoming carries in parallel and avoid waiting until the correct carry propagates from the stage of the adder where it has been generated.Parallel prefix adders are constructed out of fundamental carry operators denoted by  ¢ as follows (G, P)  ¢ (G, P) = (G+G ·P, P ·P) where P and P indicate the propagations, G and G indicate the generations. The fundamental carry operator is represented as Figure Fig 3. Carry operator   Ã‚   A parallel prefix adder can be represented as a parallel prefix graph consisting of carry operator nodes. The parallel prefix Ladner Fischer adder structure has minimum logic depth, but has large fan-out requirement up to n/2. Ladner Fischer adder has less number of delay compared to other parallel prefix adders. Power Delay Product should be less inorder to achieve high throughput and speed. Fig 4. Ladner Fischer Parallel Prefix Adder The Ladner Fischer adder construct a circuit that computes the prefix sums in the circuit, each node performs an addition of two numbers. With their construction, one can choose a tradeoff between the circuit depth and the number of nodes. V CONCLUSION This paper presented the Folded Tree Architecture and Multi-Bit Flip-Flop Merging technique for WSN applications. The design describes many data processing algorithms for WSN applications along with parallel prefix operations and clock distribution networks. Power is saved using flip flop merging technique by providing single clock signal to mergeable flip flops with the help of combinational lookup table. Thus this technique can be effectively used for clock distribution in integrated circuits requiring low power consumption in clock distribution network and low skew clocks. Area is reduced using folded tree architecture by reusing processing element. Ladner Fischer parallel prefix adder reduces the delay constraints and achieve high throughput. The proposed architecture significantly reduces both power and area in WSN nodes, can save up to half of the power in total sensor node. REFERENCES V. Raghunathan, C. Schurgers, S. Park, and M. B. Srivastava, â€Å"Energy-aware wireless microsensor networks,† IEEE Signal Process.Mag., vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 40–50, Mar. 2002. C. Walravens and W. Dehaene, â€Å"Design of a low-energy data processing architecture for wsn nodes,† in Proc. Design, Automat. Test Eur. Conf. Exhibit., Mar. 2012, pp. 570–573. D. Duarte, V. Narayanan, and M. J. Irwin, â€Å"Impact of technology scaling in the clock power,† in Proc. IEEE VLSI Comput. Soc. Annu. Symp.,Pittsburgh, PA, Apr. 2002, pp. 52–57. H. Kawagachi and T. Sakurai, â€Å"A reduced clock-swing flip-flop (RCSFF)for 63% clock power reduction,† in VLSI Circuits Dig. Tech. Papers Symp., Jun. 1997, pp. 97–98. Y. Cheon, P.-H. Ho, A. B. Kahng, S. Reda, and Q. Wang, â€Å"Power- aware placement,† in Proc. Design Autom. Conf., Jun. 2005, pp. 795–800. Y.-T. Chang, C.-C. Hsu, P.-H. Lin, Y.-W. Tsai, and S.-F. Chen, â€Å"Post-placement power optimization with multi-bit flip-flops,† in Proc.IEEE/ACM Comput.-Aided Design Int. Conf., San Jose, CA, Nov. 2010,pp. 218–223. P. Sanders and J. Traff, â€Å"Parallel prefix (scan) algorithms for MPI,† in proc, Recent ADV. Parallel Virtual Mach Message Pass, Interf., 2006, pp.49-57. G. Blelloch, â€Å"Scans as primitive parallel operations,† IEEE Trans. Comput.,Vol.38, no 11, pp. 1526-1538, Nov. 1989. D. B. Hoang, N. Kamyabpour â€Å"An Energy Driven Architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks† International Conference on parallel and Distributed computing Applications and technologies., Dec 2012. Nazhandali, M. Minuth, and T. Austin, â€Å"SensBench:Toward an accurate evaluation of sensor network processors,†in Proc. IEEE Workload Characterizat. Symp., Oct. 2005. M. Hempstead, D. Brooks, and G. Wei,† An accelerator-based wireless sensor network processor in 130 nm cmos,† J, Emerg. Select. Topics Circuits Syst., vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 193-202, 2011. B. A. Warneke and K. S. J. Pister, â€Å"An ultra-low energy micro- controller for smart dust wireless sensor networks,† in Proc. IEEE Int.Solid-state circuits conf. Dig. Tech. Papers. Feb. 2004, pp. 316-317. M. Hempstead, M. Welsh, and D.Brooks,†Tinybench: The case for a standardized benchmark suite for TinyOS based wireless sensor network devices,† in Proc. IEEE 29th Local comout. Netw, conf., Nov.2004, pp. 585-586. O. Girard. (2010). â€Å"OpenMSP430 processor core, available at opencores.org,† [online]. Available: http://opencores.org/project, openmsp430. H. Stone, â€Å"Parallel processing with the perfect shuffle,† IEEE Trans. Comput., vol. 100, no.2, pp. 153-161, Feb. 1971. M. Hempstead, J. M. Lyons, D. Brooks, and G-Y. Wei,† Survey of hardware systems for wireless sensor networks,† J. Low Power Electron., vol.4, no. 1, pp. 11-29, 2008. C.C. Yu. Design of low-power double edge-triggered flip-flop circuit. In IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications, pp. 2054-2057, 2007. M. Donno, A. Ivaldi, L. Benini, and E. Macii. Clock tree power optimization based on RTL clock-gating. In Design Automation Conference, pp. 622-627, 2003.

J. R. R. Tolkien :: essays research papers

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, creator of a world. When someone who knows Tolkien is asked about his works, one thought comes to mind, Middle Earth. This was the playground in his mind that such vivid descriptions of fantasylands came from. It is the base of his most well known stories, where dreams are just the norm. J.R.R. may owe much of his success to his diverse beginnings. On April 16, 1891, Mabel Suffield and Arthur Reuel Tolkien were married in Bloemfontein, South Africa. They soon gave birth to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on January 3, 1892, who was christened later that month. In April of 1895 Mabel took J.R.R. and his younger brother to Birmingham England. Arthur, their father, was supposed to follow them in a few months, however never does, as he dies shortly before his trip. This causes a struggling early life for John, moving constantly. At age 7 he took the entrance exam for King Edwards School, failed, but gained acceptance a year later and move closer to the school. The Tolkiens move several more times, and end up near the Grammar School of St. Philips, where John’s mother enrolls him to save money. J.R.R. won a scholarship, however, and returned to King Edwards to continue his studies. On September 14, 1904, Mabel Tolkien, John’s mother, dies after a diabetic coma. After the death of his mother, the guardianship of his brother and him was taken over by Father Francis Xavier Morgan, a priest of the Birmingham Oratory. In 1908, J.R.R. started his first term at Oxford, and in 1915 he was awarded First Honours degree in English Language and Literature. The following year, March 22, 1916, John Tolkien married Edith Bratt. Between the years of 1917 and 1929, the couple had four children together, John, Michael, Christopher, and Priscilla. Tolkien’s children had a great impact on his writings. One of the best instances of this is in his book Roverandom. In 1925, while on vacation with his family on the Yorkshire coast, four-year-old Michael Tolkien lost his favorite toy, a little lead dog he was reluctant to put down even to play on the beach. To console and distract him J. R. R. improvised a story, the story of Rover, a real dog magically transformed into a toy. After many fantastic adventures in search of the wizard who wronged him, at last he wins back his doggy life.

Eugene Ionescos rhinoceros: True Means Resides In Action Not Words :: essays research papers

Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros": True Means Resides in Action not Words I awoke sweating. Breathing heavily, I glanced over at my clock and read the time. 4:00 AM. I wasn't sure if this was reality or not so I ran my palm over my scalp. No bump. A sigh of relief came over me. "Phew," I said, "it was only a dream." This is a dream I have had often throughout the past couple of years. Each time, the bump in my dream gets bigger and bigger and each time I wake up I'm more and more frightened that the dream was real. "I will not be a rhinoceros," I tell myself over and over. "I will not." These words I tell myself are nearly meaningless though. They are words and nothing more. Futile attempts to ease the pain of my "rhinocerotic" life. The only way to really not become a rhinoceros is by making the existential decision not to do so. A main theme in Eugene Ionesco's, Rhinoceros, is that true meaning resides in action rather than in mere words. A resistance to taking action then results in one's becoming a rhinoceros. Jean illustrates this in the beginning of Act 2, scene 2, when we see Jean and Berenger bickering. Berenger feels that Jean isn't looking or feeling well and threatens to get him a doctor. Jean resists by saying, "You're not going to get the doctor because I don't want the doctor. I can look after myself." (pp. 62) This refusal comes from his arrogant view of himself as a "Master of [his] own thoughts," (pp. 61) and "[Having] will-power!" (pp. 7) By seeing the doctor, Jean would have put himself in the position of taking responsibility for his actions and seeing that he wasn't always the "master of his own thoughts" and that his will-power was actually quite weak. It would be admitting the meaninglessness in his futile attempts to remain a human. He didn't want to see that he, in fact, was becoming a rhinoceros. Had Jean agreed to see a doctor, he may have been saved. By seeing the doctor, Jean would have come to terms with his becoming a rhinoceros. After coming to terms with his current state, he could then change his subsequent state to one of taking action to be an individual. Berenger, however, illustrates the power in making an existential decision. The trumpeting call of the rhinoceros was a persuasive one, but Berenger was able to resist it through his commitment and determination. In the beginning of Act 3, Berenger and Dudard are speaking after Berenger was awakened

The Unspoken Dangers of Tanning Beds Essays -- Expository Essays Resea

The Unspoken Dangers of Tanning Beds Tanning beds are devices that emit ultraviolet radiation (UV rays) in order to darken one’s skin complexion. It is believed that approximately 28 million Americans are tanning indoors, in some 25,000 tanning salons nationwide (http://www.fda.gov/ cdrh/consumer/tanning.html ). The rising popularity of tanning beds came about a few decades ago when the media and society started emphasizing that bronzed skin was â€Å"in.† A variety of people use tanning beds, both men and women, and for a variety of reasons; some use them as a weekly (or even daily) routine, others use them seasonally (when it’s hard to get a tan in the winter) and then of course there are the â€Å"event† tanners who go before a big event like a prom, wedding or spring break cruise. Media and what it implies about today’s culture has a massive pull factor on what American people buy. Also, the effects of peer pressure cause people to tan in tanning beds; if the majority of your peers are doing it, then you don’t want to be the only pale kid on the block, despite the consequ...

Revenue-Recognition Problems in the Communications Equipment Industry Essay

1) In late 2000, Lucent announced that revenues would be adjusted downwards by $679m as a result of revenue recognition problems. Yet the firm’s market capitalization plummeted by $24.7bn. Why do you think the market reacted so negatively to Lucent’s announcements of the problems? The large drop in market capitalization is probably due to several factors. Historically, Lucent had successfully met analysts’ projections for 15 consecutive quarters before announcing, in January 2000, a major shortfall in profits relative to previous expectations. In June, the quarterly balance sheet reported an operating loss of $301m (for the first time since 1998) while warning of weaker profits in Q4. In addition, the revenue recognition issues announced by the new CEO appointed in October were surely perceived as an indication that Lucent’s management was managing revenues and therefore a possible cause of a future fall in revenues. This led investors to modify their earnings expectations in light of the revenue-recognition problems faced by the firm. Since a company’s share price reflects forecasts of future cash flows, and Lucent’s Q3 and Q4 revenues were substantially written-down, investors would rationally expect future earnings to be affected as well. In an efficient market environment, the $24.7bn in lost market capitalization would equal the discounted value of these expected cash flows. However, it is also likely that the repeated missed expectations caused an overreaction by investors, as the company was forced to revise its revenues downward two times over the span of two quarters. This probably raised fears in the market of more widespread problems with the firm’s accounting practices. It should also be kept in mind that the Internet bubble had just burst and a technology related company announcing an operating loss and lower revenues could easily cause a panic selloff among investors, as typically happens when a speculative bubble bursts. 2) What are the specific revenue recognition problems faced by Lucent? On December 22, 2000, Lucent announced a $679m downward adjustment in revenues  of their fourth-quarter financial statement from September 2000. There were four different reasons for the adjustment. First of all, Lucent stated $125m of recorded sales that did not meet the company’s revenuerecognition rules. These revenues were included in the financial statement due to â€Å"misleading documentation and incomplete communications between a sales team and the financial organization†. Additionally, Lucent sold $452m worth of equipment to system integrators and distributors and recorded them as revenues. In fact, the products were not passed on to the customers, because of their weakened financial condition, and Lucent had already verbally agreed to take back the equipment. Therefore, the sales could not be accounted as revenues. Thirdly, sales teams had verbally offered credits to customers worth $74m and booked them as revenue in order to boost the fourth-quarter numbers. As the credits were meant for use at a later date without an actual sale of equipment taking place, these could not be accounted as revenues in the fourth-quarter. Finally, sold equipment worth $28m had not been completely shipped, leaving the service incomplete. Since this violated the first revenue recognition criteria â€Å"The firm has performed all the services or conveyed the asset to the buyer†, recognition of these revenues is not in line with regulation. 3) What financial statement adjustments will Lucent have to make to correct the revenue recognition problems announced in late 2000? In our treatment of the accounting figures we found it necessary to make assumptions relating to tax rates and COGS, as the information is not given directly. In deciding which tax rate to use for the adjustments we have two obvious alternatives; either assume a corporate tax rate of 35%, or calculate the average tax rate based on the presented financial statement. However, due to certain revenues and expenses being non-taxable we have opted to discard the average tax rate as a suitable estimate, and assumed a corporate tax rate of 35%. In relation to the Cost of Goods Sold, Lucent faces the problem that some of  their goods are tangible (communications equipment) while some are intangible (software licenses, services etc.). We are aware of the fact that Lucent’s intangible assets are subject to different costs as its tangible assets, and therefore have to be restated differently. However, we do not know the costs of neither intangible nor tangible assets due to a lack of information and thus assume a representative cost mix that is proportional to total revenues. Hence, we use the average COGS (69% of revenues in Q4, 2000) when we calculate the restatements. In the balance sheet, we treat the physical goods as â€Å"inventory†, and intangible goods as â€Å"other current assets†. When readjusting the income statement and balance sheets we need to reduce the revenues by a total of $679mn, with a corresponding reduction in accounts receivable. The cost of goods sold is reduced by $470mn, as per our assumption above relating to the average cost of goods sold. On the balance sheet this is reflected in the increase of inventories for tangible sales, and other current assets for intangible sales. This leads to a reduction of pretax income of $209mn, and subsequently a reduction in income taxes of $73mn. In the balance sheet this is represented by a reduction in the deferred tax liability (current liabilities in Lucent’s balance sheet), and finally a reduction in stockholders retained equity by $136mn. 4) How would you judge whether a firm is likely to face revenue recognition problems? Revenue-recognition problems in Lucent’s case emerge from mismanagement of the financial statements by all parties involved in compiling them. For instance, the initial $125 million adjustment was due to miscommunication between the sales team and the financial organization. The lack of a proper internal reporting organization or of efficient external auditors therefore is a sign of increased risk of revenue misrepresentation. It is also important to mention that the events described in the case occurred before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was enacted. This means that, at the time, financial statements did not require a seal of approval from top management in order to be published. The fact that these reports were approved and published suggests awareness and involvement of the board of administrators in the revenue-recognition problems. Making CEOs accountable  for the financial statements was an important step toward prevention of unwanted accounting practices. From a broader perspective, companies are constantly subject to the need of reaching – and beating – the market’s profitability expectations. Missing these targets may result in a steep share price fall, especially considering the â€Å"herd mentality† that is prevalent during market bubbles. Investors will typically overreact at the first sign of negative news from a company, triggering sharp sell offs in stock, as was the case with Lucent, during the height of the dotcom bubble. Further revenue misrepresentation drivers we can deduce from Lucent’s case are: firstly, firms providing financing solutions to customers may fall into the temptation of using these tools in order to boost their quarterly revenues by granting credits to clients. In fact, computing Lucent’s Account Receivables / Turnover ratio, it is observable that average collection days increase substantially from 1998 (85 days) to 2000 (119 days). This means that Lucent was selling products extending financing rather than collecting cash. Secondly, when companies rely on a distribution network rather than on direct sale it is easier for them to engineer revenue-boosting activities (e.g. provide distributors with more than what can be sold and take back the equipment later on). Thirdly, relying on big clients accounting for a large percentage of revenues increases may enhance corporate relationships, thus facilitating non-transparent verbal agreements or offbalance-sheet operations (e.g. financing, discounts). In addition, any changes in accounting practices and assumptions accounted for in the income statement should be investigated closer as a possible case of accounting fraud, as in the case of Lucent. In the 1st quarter of fiscal 1999 $1.3bn is booked as a â€Å"cumulative effect of accounting change†. This is enough to say that a revenue recognition problem exists, but certainly warrants further investigation. Finally, incentives of a more general nature to accounting malpractice include regular evaluation of company credit quality by rating agencies, and distorted compensation incentives for management. The former occur at regular intervals, providing incentives for management to â€Å"polish† a firm’s balance sheet prior to evaluations by the agencies, while the latter usually  involves stock options. Since employees are only allowed to sell their options at certain dates, they have an incentive to push the company’s share price up through accounting manipulation, prior to executing their options. 5) Assess whether any of Lucent’s competitors are likely to face revenue recognition problems in the coming quarters. Cisco Systems’ multichannel approach to sales and marketing includes a direct sales force to distributors, value-added resellers and system integrators. This could allow them to boost their revenues by selling excessive amounts to distributors close to the end of a quarter and taking the equipment back afterwards. On the other hand, Cisco does not rely on a single client, but has a diversified client base. In addition, the financing that Cisco provides is clearly reported on the balance sheet as noncurrent long-term lease receivables, which clearly differs to Lucent’s approach concerning verbal agreements about credits to clients. Unlike Cisco, Juniper Networks mainly relies on one large customer, WorldCom, who generated 18% of their revenues in 2000. Thus, they were highly dependent on that client and had most likely build up a close relationship with them, both concerning equipment sales and credit granting. This increases the risk of false revenue recognition due to either channel stuffing or the sale of equipment (meant to be taken back if not sold) close to the end of the quarter. Nortel is mainly a service provider, in fact 82% of its revenues are made up by services. This could be a red flag for revenue-recognition issues as services may have no clear delivery date and thus allow revenue management. In addition, Nortel granted credit to its customers of $5.6bn, of which only $1.5bn had been used. This could mean that Nortel is trying to attract customers by aggressively offering financing. On the other hand, Nortel does not depend on any single client. We did not find any significant pattern in insiders’ dispositions of their stock options to indicate fraudulent activity, neither for Lucent or any of their competitors. We also closely examined the two key ratios â€Å"Account Receivables Turnover† and â€Å"Cash Flow Return† for Lucent and its competitors (Juniper Networks has been excluded due to data absence). As can be seen in  the following graph all cash flow returns recently started to decline, which could raise concerns with regards to their revenue recognition policy. In Cisco’s and Nortel’s case one can see that this change is due to a parallel decline in cash flow from operations as well as an increase in sales. However, this movement by itself is not a red flag and could be due to other factors, which calls for a more detailed investigation. We can see that the suspicious decrease in cash flow return is mainly due to a substantial increase in sales and can also be seen in a substantial increase in accounts receivables. Hence, we looked at â€Å"accounts receivable turnover† or more precisely â€Å"days sales outstanding† and found that the average level over the course of the previous three years stays approximately the same while showing a negative trend for Cisco and even constantly decreased slightly for Nortel. This is a very good sign and means that these two still manage to collect their receivables in a timely manner although sales increase rapidly. Cash Flow Returns should therefore stabilize again in the ne ar future. Lucent’s Account receivables turnover on the other hand, as already elaborated in the previous question, steeply increases. This may indicate Lucent was selling products by extending financing to customers rather than collecting cash since we cannot apply the same argumentation as for Cisco and Nortel in Lucent’s case.

Calpurnia Character Analysis

Calpurnia enters into the story very early on in To Kill a Mockingbird, and is an integral part in the story. She works for the Finch family as their cook and mother figure. We get a very clear picture of Calpurnia in Chapter One. â€Å"She was all angles and bones. † This suggests the maybe she doesn’t have much money to buy food or that she is older. It also shows that she is older because â€Å"She had been with us ever since Jem was born, and I had felt her tyrannical presence for as long as I could remember. She doesn’t take any nonsense from the fact that â€Å"Our battles were epic and one-sided. † That Calpurnia had been with the Finches since Jem’s birth suggests that she is part of the family. Atticus trusts her to take care of the children when he is gone. â€Å"But there came a day when Atticus told us he’d wear us out if we made any noise in the yard and commissioned Calpurnia to serve in his absence if she heard a sound out of us. † He trusts her to discipline the children â€Å"Her hand was as wide as bed slat and twice as hard. When Scout questions Walter’s eating habits at the table in Chapter Three, Calpurnia is the one to discipline her. She says â€Å"‘That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear? ’† Atticus trusts her to take care of the children properly. Calpurnia is like a surrogate mother to the children. For example, when Scout refuses to gargle after chewing the Double-Mint gum, Jem threatens her with â€Å"you don’t ’n’ I’ll tell Calpurnia on you! † As gruff as may come off, she really does love the children. When Scout starts going to school, Calpurnia softens up. ‘â€Å"I missed you today. ’† She sets the boundaries for the children. â€Å"Our summertime boundaries (within calling distance of Calpurnia) were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose’s house and the Radley place three doors to the south. † Calpurnia really treats the children as if they were her own. Calpurnia is more educated than most African-American people in Maycomb. She taught Scout to write. â€Å"She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top a tablet, then copying out a chapter of Bible beneath. If Scout copied it up to her standards, she was rewarded. That she did this shows she knew more than most black people would know in Maycomb and it is yet another example of her mothering Scout. Calpurnia speaks as well as any other white person in Maycomb, except when she is mad. As shown when she disciplines Scout for the dinner incident with Walter. â€Å"She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic. When in tranquility, her grammar was as good as anybody’s in Maycomb. Atticus said Calpurnia had more education than colored folks† Calpurnia tries to show Scout and Jem that there is no difference between white and African-American people. â€Å"For Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people. † Calpurnia speaks like any other person in Maycomb to show the children she is equal to the white people in town. She has manners that are as good as anyone else in town. When Scout questions Walter’s eating habits, Calpurnia shows good manners in telling Scout to allow Walter carry on and be polite.

Bridge Collapse in Minnesota

The collapse of bridge I-35W in Minnesota during the rush hour of August 1put tremendous pressure on the reliability and safety of our bridges nationwide. Countless investigations and precautionary measures were done to make all bridges pass standard procedures and render it safe for both the vehicles and passengers. At the same time it gave dent to our structural designers ability to come up with a truly sound structure and bridge design. In this research paper we will try to dwell into the process involving bridge design, the different design loads, proper bridge repair and the type of bridge design used by engineers on the I-35W.After the collapse, we shall also try to decipher the expert opinion on the real cause and give credence to their theory on the failure of the gusset plate. We will also discuss the implication of the collapse of the bridge to the engineering profession, particularly if the failure was caused by defective design theories. And lastly after all is said and d one, I will try to give my assessment on the matter based on the materials culled from the different websites of the Internet. The Design Process The design of a structure (buildings or bridges) follows a tedious and complex process.Bridges for example needs extra meticulous observation because it carries moving loads and design flaws could only be accurately gauged if the sequence is subjected to a computer generated simulated stress diagrams. In this way structural designers can pinpoint the areas within the structure that is most likely to suffer fracture in extreme cases of bridge overload (BridgeArt). In the case of Bridge I-35W in Minneapolis, the designer may have been correct in all his assumptions as guided by the Design Manual of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).From the dead load to the perceived moving loads, to the snow load and impact loads and also the necessary factor of safety were all incorporated in his design observation. Proof of the matter is the said bridge continued to thrive since its erection in 1967 and only collapsed four decades later. What may have caused the collapse of the bridge? Serious design errors could not be faulted because it should have failed at the onset – when the bridge was first used by the commuting public. Certainly the culprit could be poor maintenance procedures or bridge repairs.The Bridge Repair Data gathered from MN-DOT reveals that the bridge underwent major deck paving in 1970 and 1990. This twin repairs has already added tremendous dead load to the structure. Prior to the collapse of the bridge another paving was underway and materials were stockpiled on the deck plus the various equipment doing the repair job (Obi-Akpere). The recent resurfacing of the bridge placed an additional deadweight to the structure, roughly about 300 tons and may have triggered the demise of bridge I-35W (Obi-Akpere).The Bridge Design Design Engineers from the University of Minnesota in its report, foun d the bridge to be a non-redundant structure – meaning that all structural components act together and if one member fails the entire structure would collapse. Besides, the arched structure rests on only four pylons and failure of one especially during tremors would be catastrophic (Week III). The bridge I-35W is a typical three span continuous deck truss with a jargon of steel members and with the roadway on top.To protect the bridge from lateral movement because of extreme temperature changes (expansion and contraction), bridge bearings were used to allow the structure free movement (Week III). The Investigation From the wreckage of the collapsed bridge, investigators found several fractured gusset plates. Calculations were made on the stress capacity of the gusset plates and were found to be way deficient and the loads applied on the bridge were over their design limit. But no design imperfections were observed on the structural members (Samuel).This goes to show that fail ure of the structure emanates from too thin gusset plates, which could have been a construction error rather than a design flaw. Common sense dictates that a gusset plate should not be lesser in cross sectional area to a particular member served. In this case if proper construction procedure could have been followed, then structural failure should have been evident in the structural members (Roy). Or structure failure could be manifested in the welded joints or on the construction rivets and bolts.But such is not the case, then blame should be shouldered by the contractor for possibly undertaking stringent cost cutting measures or on his failure to notify the design engineer of the undersized gusset plates. And the MN-DOT field engineers likewise for its failure to spot the defective components installed in the structure (Gilbert). Also inspections were made by MN-DOT personnel on the bridge, but sad to say that they were unable to spot the defective gusset plates.Any ocular inspect ion would be useless unless field engineers would dutifully check each structural member by using calipers, particularly the thickness of the structural members. All the data are feed to their computer design software and only then can they be certain about their structural assessment (ArtiFactor). Implication to Engineering The collapse of bridge I-35W is a slap to the engineering profession, because it will tend to show that structural designers failed to provide safety nets to our structures not only on bridges but also buildings.It will put into question and scrutiny the methods and theories put forth by icons of the industry. For over 100 years our structural designers have practiced the profession based on the tenets of the formulas perfected by pioneers of the profession and a miscue like the collapse of the bridge will render all of these to naught. This will have a global effect, because everybody will now put to test the safety of our structures. With a disaster of this ma gnitude, people will now question the relevance of our structural design principles.Have we really made an accurate engineering theory and formula that could be fundamentally applied to bridge design? Or do we need to further hone our skills in order to come up with a design principle that will truly address such structural deficiencies? Engineers will now be irrelevant because what they have studied and practiced through the centuries will be rendered useless. It will be back to square one since all structures will now be deemed unfit for human habitation.What will now become of the human population – probably live in tents and simple lean-to structures? Development will be in a stand still as everybody will be wary of building structures, much more live in it. But initial finding from investigators is a breath of fresh air to structural designers. They only found errors in judgment in the use of materials and components not on the structural design. This will prove beyond d oubt that they have practiced sound design principles and that resulting structures are safer than ever. ConclusionIn the ensuing investigation, it is my opinion that what caused the collapse of bridge I-35W is not the design flaws (although evident) but the haphazard repair on the bridge made by personnel of the MN-DOT. Take note that resurfacing was made on the bridge for three occasions, one in 1970, 1990, and the one prior to the collapse of the bridge. Each time the bridge was resurfaced, almost 15,000 cubic feet of material was poured over it. This is only for the longest span of 458 feet and a width of 113 feet or roughly 8 road lanes, the one span directly over the river.This alone constitutes over 2,500 tons added to the original design load, and since this is done three times, the additional deadweight is tremendous. At the time of the incident equipment and materials were stockpiled making the structure grossly overloaded, no wonder the bridge collapsed (Week III). By the way repairs have been made on the bridge, it was actually an accident waiting to happen. It was never the fault of the structural designer, not even the contractor for he knew his responsibilities.But had they followed the steel design manual on gusset plate design, the structure could have survived the additional deadweight imposed on it. References American Institute of Steel Construction, Inc. 1967. Manual of Steel Construction. sixth ed. American Institute of Steel Construction: United States. Artifactor. â€Å"I-35W Bridge over Mississippi River collapsed! † Science Buzz. 2 August 2007. Science Museum of Minnesota. 4 February 2008. .BridgeArt. 2007. Long Tail Group. 4 February 2008. < http://www. bridgeart. net/software_database/>. Gilbert, Steve. â€Å"Design Flaw caused MN bridge collapse. † Sweetness and Light. 15 January 2008. 4 February 2008. < http://sweetness-light. com/archive/design-flaw-caused-mn-bridge-collapse>. Obi-Akpere. â€Å"The Critical Factor Why Minneapolis Bridge Collapsed. † NowPublic. 16 January 2008. 3 February 2008. < http://www. nowpublic. com/environment/critical-factor-why-minneapolis-bridge-collapsed>. Roy, Jennifer.â€Å"Design Flaw Identified in Minnesota Bridge Collapse. † Design News. 15 January 2008. 4 February 2008. < http://www. designnews. com/article/CA6522883. html>. Samuel, Peter. â€Å"MN/I-35W bridge collapsed because several gusset plates were grossly undersized – engineering error the cause. † TollRoadsnews. 15 January 2008. 3 February 2008. < http://www. tollroadsnews. com/node/3346>. Weeks III, John A. â€Å"Old I-35W Bridge. † John Weeks Homepage. 2005. 3 February 2008. < http://www. visi. com/~jweeks/bridges/pages/ms16. html>.