The Stranger Character Analysis - 1634 Words

The Stranger by Albert Camus follows the story of a man named Meursault, who received notice that his mother had passed away. Meursault was not emotionally connected to his mother, and his reaction is not what the reader would expect, as he did not seem to care at all. Therefore, the day after attending his mother’s funeral, Meursault goes to the beach and meets up with his girlfriend, Marie. After the beach, Meursault and Marie go to a movie and spend the night together. When he returns home from work the next day, Meursault runs into his neighbor, Raymond, who beats his mistress. Later in the story, Meursault, Marie, and Raymond go to a beach house, which is owned by Raymond’s friend, Masson. At the beach, Masson, Raymond, and Meursault†¦show more content†¦Unlike round characters, flat characters do not change, but flat characters can be used to develop round characters. Marie, Meursault’s girlfriend, is extremely emotionally attached to Meursault, and this is a weakness. Marie is dependent on Meursault as her source of happiness, even though Meursault does not show that he really cares about Marie. When asked if he loved her, he replied â€Å"it didn’t mean anything and that [he] probably didn’t love her† (41). Most people would despise being in a relationship in which they’re unloved by their partner. However, Marie stays with Meursault, even if he does not actually love her. Marie staying in a relationship where she is not even loved, is the result of her being emotionally attached to someone who does not feel the same way about her. However, Marie’s neediness also allows her to be extremely loyal. Loyalty is normally a strength, but Marie takes it to another level and makes her loyalty a weakness. Marie visited Meursault in prison and assures him†[he will] get out [of prison] and [they will] get mar ried† (75). Even though Meursault murders someone, goes to jail and is sentenced to death, Marie stays with him almost all the way to the end of Meursault’s life. Most people would not be comfortable getting married to a murderer. However, Marie still wanted to get married to Meursault becauseShow MoreRelatedThe Stranger Character Analysis738 Words   |  3 PagesThe Stranger: Representation of the Setting In Camus’s novel, The Stranger, Camus uses the elements of setting to shows that human’s action and emotion are influenced by the physical world. For example, the sun at Manan’s funeral that makes Meursault hard to see and think. The heat that forces him to murder. And the light in the courtroom that makes him tire. The weather and the surroundings in the novel controls Meursault’s emotions, making him angry, sleepy or happy. By the uses of setting, andRead MoreCharacter Analysis of Meusault in The Stranger637 Words   |  3 PagesThe main character in The Stranger, Meursault is mentally not attached to the world. He is unable to decipher good or bad in his actions. The passing of his mother has no effect on him or a girl’s continuous proposal whom he is very attracted too, also, he murders a man for no apparent reason and does not see anything wrong in doing so. Meursault is seen as a careless monster too society. At the beginning of this story Meursault is told his mother has passed away. After hearing the news, MeursaultRead MoreTitle and Character Analysis of The Stranger by Albert Camus784 Words   |  3 PagesThe Stranger: Character and Title Analysis In Albert Camus’, The Stranger, the characters in the novel are individually unique in ways that bring out the positive and negative aspects of each other. When examining their traits you get the deeper meaning of things and what they stand for. The major characters in this novel are Meursault, Raymond Sintes, and Marie Cardona. Meursault shows no emotion through everything that goes on in his life such as a death. Raymond Sintes is a rude person and onlyRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Meursault In The Novel The Stranger752 Words   |  4 Pages Albert Camus in his novel, The Stranger, shows a genuinely interesting character, Meursault. In the beginning Meursault is depicted to appear as unethical and cruel, through him not showing no grief at his mother’s funeral. However, Camus, throughout the story builds up a considerably more engaging character that portrays more human-like emotions. At the end, Meursault character changes because he leaves off with a sympathetic feel towards him and is left off with thoughtful reflections and revelationsRead MoreThings Fall Apart, And The Heart Of Darkness1518 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The following essay will contain a critical analysis of two passages from Things Fall Apart, and the Heart of Darkness. I will compare and contrast the narrative structure, the language used and the themes explored. Through this critical analysis, we can gain a better understanding of the two extracts, each one helping to illuminate the other. The passages I will be analysing are: Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, Page 124 Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, Page 116-117 Narrative StructureRead MoreThe Individual Versus His Environment in The Stranger and Grendel1674 Words   |  7 Pages The Individual Versus His Environment in The Stranger and Grendel Due to the multifaceted nature of literature, analysis thereof is prone to generalization. One of the most grievous generalizations oft encountered involves failing to distinguish between a character and the novel it inhabits. Take John Gardener’s Grendel and Albert Camus’s The Stranger, for instance. It’s far too easy, when analyzing for dominant ideologies, to slap them both with the label of existentialism and be done withRead MoreAnalysis Of Mary Shelley s Frankenstein1411 Words   |  6 Pagesstructures of the celebrated authors around her time period. She did this by empowering her main character, Victor Frankenstein, with the enlightenment values of individualism and self exploration; only in a very pessimistic and gloomy way. Through careful analysis of quotes from Mary Shelley s frankenstein from a psychoanalytic view we can reveal some of mary Shelley s true motives in how she designed her characters. Psychology is all about finding motives. It’s all about finding out why people thinkRead More The Stranger Essay1301 Words   |  6 PagesWhile reading The Stranger I noticed that traits that Albert Camus character depicts in the book are closely related to the theories of Sigmund Freud on moral human behavior. Albert Camus portrays his character of Meursault as a numb, emotionless person that seems to mindlessly play out his role in society, acting in a manner that he sees as the way he’s supposed to act, always living in the moment with his instincts driving him, and if the right circumstance presents itself the primal deep seededRead MoreCrime and Punishment vs. The Stranger1438 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout the novels Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky and The Stranger by Albert Camus, sun, heat, and light play a significant role in the development and understanding of the novel and the characters in it. Upon the initial reading of The Stranger, the rea der may have a general acknowledgment of a relationship between the novel’s protagonist, Mersault, and the sun and heat, either proceeding or following one of the novels significant events. What is harder to understand on the first readRead MoreGender Roles In Alfred Hitchcocks Rear Window And Strangers On A Train1232 Words   |  5 Pageslives for quite sometime. Women are often portrayed as sexual objects, or delicate individuals; a body with no brain or strength. These traits are easily found within many novels and movies- old and new. In Alfred Hitchcock’s films, Rear Window and Strangers on a Train, Hitchcock begins his films representing women with the same characteristics as stated above. They are very stylish, attractive and presented as second-class individuals to males. But after examining these two films, Hitchcock does something

A Competitive Business Environment, Corporate Social...

In a competitive business environment, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is fundamental for an organization (Minor and Morgan, 2011). The coverage of CSR keeps on redefining, evolving and improving. Nowadays, World Business Council For Sustainable Development (N.A.) defines CSR as ‘the integration of business operation and values whereby the interests of the stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, community, and environment are reflected in the company’s policies and actions’. According to Archie Carroll (1991,cited in D’Amato, Henderson and Florence, 2009), there are four different types of CSR: philanthropic, economic, legal and environment (Taylor, 1984). In the essay, it proves that CSR is not a practice that only†¦show more content†¦Minor and Morgan (2011) state that maintaining a good reputation is crucial for an international organization. It can help the organization to beat the rivals and gain market share. The reason behind it is well illustrated by Weaver et al. (1999,cited in Brule, 2008) and Griffin and Weber (2006, cited in Brule, 2008). They claim that CSR is a window dressing activity, which involves little in core decision-making. It concerns at later stages of the external communication process where reputation is best managed and created. There is no doubt that investing in CSR strategy to help the society and the environment can leave a good impression in the mind of the customer. And time passed, accumulative amount of customers can experience the enthusiastic of the business. As a result, a business can build a pleasant prestige among the society. Therefore, most of the business treats CSR strategy as a strategy to accomplish risks (Minor and Morgan, 2011). While the business has met a disastrous mistakes or problems, the reputation and operation of the business will be affected hugely. Nonetheless, investing in CSR strategies to build a good image among the society can help the com pany to narrow down the loss. The example of the BP Oil Company can clearly illustrate the effectiveness of CSR strategies against the happening of the accidents (Minor and Morgan, 2011). BP Oil Company had encountered a serious oil leakage accident in Mexico Bay, which damaged the reputation of it

Accessing the Online Student Edition of the Glencoe IPC Textbook Free Essays

Accessing the Online Student Edition of the Glencoe IPC Textbook Go to www. glencoe. com Select Texas from the pull-down â€Å"state† box Click student/parent Select â€Å"science† from the pull-down menu Click enter Select Texas Science Select the first book: Introduction to Texas Integrated Physics and Chemistry The following URL should appear in the address bar http://www. We will write a custom essay sample on Accessing the Online Student Edition of the Glencoe IPC Textbook or any similar topic only for you Order Now glencoe. com/sites/texas/student/science/index. html Put your cursor over the â€Å"Online Student Edition† and you will get a roll-over menu: Sample Full Version Select â€Å"Full Version† and type in the following: Select â€Å"Contents in Brief† Select â€Å"Table of Contents† At this point you will be able to navigate throughout the book. The other features can be accessed in a similar manner. Accessing the Online Student Edition of the Glencoe IPC Textbook Go to www. glencoe. com Select Texas from the pull-down â€Å"state† box Click student/parent Select â€Å"science† from the pull-down menu Click enter Select Texas Science Select the first book: Introduction to Texas Integrated Physics and Chemistry The following URL should appear in the address bar http://www. glencoe. com/sites/texas/student/science/index. html Put your cursor over the â€Å"Online Student Edition† and you will get a roll-over menu: Sample Full Version Select â€Å"Full Version† and type in the following: TXIPC 9UKASp73hu Select â€Å"Contents in Brief† Select â€Å"Table of Contents† At this point you will be able to navigate throughout the book. The other features can be accessed in a similar manner. How to cite Accessing the Online Student Edition of the Glencoe IPC Textbook, Essays

Wesfarmers Human Resource Planning

Question: Discuss about the Wesfarmersfor Human Resource Planning. Answer: Introduction All types of functionalities and operational activities within a business organization are based on a number of factors such as capital, raw material, labor etc. And from this human resource has to be considered as the backbone of the business corporation. So the management and proper planning of workforce is of very much significance (Blakely and Leigh, 2013). The below presented report has been analyzed Wesfarmers which is a multinational brand name in the sector of retail, chemicals, fertilizers, coal mining and industrial and safety products. The following report has been focused on the planning and managing the workforce of the mentioned business organization. Factors Affecting the Supply of Labor in the Organization Supply is the backbone of any of the operational activity in a corporation and labor is the one of the most significant factor which have many impacts on the functionalities in a firm. So the supply of same should be in an appropriate manner and flow. The below mentioned are some of the factors which can affect the supply of labor in Wesfarmers: Globalization: Due to globalization most of the companies have invested in diverse regions and countries and which impacts the demand and supply of labor (Barton and Court, 2012). The company invests in the developed nations as there is large availability of labor in these nations. Economy: There are chances of loss of jobs during hard economic times which mean less disposable income to the workforce. Most of the firms experience less production and which results in reduction in the supply of the labor. As per the current analysis Wesfarmers is a well established company and so the firm is experiencing a situation of oversupply of labor (Vandenbroek. 2016) As Wesfarmers is a retail industry there is diversity in the categories of labor force in the organization. For instance, the retail stores will have sales executives, store in charges, customer representatives etc. The mining sections will have a team of technical staff and expert executives who are skilled and have knowledge of the products. EMPLOYMENT BY INDUSTRY STASTICS Change in employed 15-Feb 15-May 15-Aug 15-Nov 16-Feb Feb-15 to Feb-16 Mining 227.1 225 226 227.8 230.1 1.3 Retail Trade 1,223.40 1,227.40 1,246.20 1,270.20 1,291.70 5.6 Public Administration and Safety 735.6 735.7 736.4 738.8 741.9 0.9 (Source: Parliament of Australia, 2016, Employment by industry statistics: a quick guide.) Factors Effecting Demand of Labor in the Organization The below mentioned are the current factors which are having an impact on the demand of labor in Wesfarmers: The price of the products: An increase in the price of the products will tend the organizations to hire more labor The price of the output directly have an effect on the labor as it has an influence on the value of the marginal product of the labor. An increase in the price of the product will give a hike to the demand of the labor and which will make the labor curve shift upward. Technology: Technologies make a decrease in the demand of the labor as the machines are capable of performing working functions of a couple of workforce at a time (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). So for Wesfarmers installation of an automated machine will bring a reduction in the count of the workforce in the organization. Government Initiatives which Affect Demand and Labor Supply There are a number of initiatives taken by the governing bodies which causes many impacts on the demand and supply of labor in Wesfarmers and the industry and these initiatives have proven beneficial for the companies as these will allow the industry to hire potential workforce. Direct taxation reforms: The Australian governing bodies have focused in the reduction of the income tax and tax allowances for the group of lower paid employees (De Anca and Vega, 2016). And which will bring an increase in the post tax rewards and will acts as a plus point for the lower paid category. Investments in training and education for labor: To cope-up with the changing market trends the governing bodies has made investments of significant amounts for boosting up the workforce and increase the switching of occupations of the labor force For instance the private investors from USA and New Zealand will be investing an approx. amount of $252 million in the business sensitive sectors (100positivepolicies.org. 2017). Staff Diversity meets Current Organizational Requirements The policy of staff diversity is applicable and possible in large organizations such as Wesfarmers. The business corporation encourages this policy so as to make recruitment of diverse employees from different culture and regions so that they can work together, share their views, thoughts and aid the business corporation in the attainment of the organizational goals. As per the recent studies it has been observed that the people from different backgrounds have diverse dreams, thoughts and beliefs which will aid the organization in developing a strong organizational culture (Barton and Court, 2012). Sometimes diversity in workforce can also lead to some issues and problems for the management, as there will be poor communication between the employees from different regions. And this will impact the organizational culture adversely. However, businesses that embrace staff diversity have a positive and ethical culture motivating staff to do well and take right decisions often. As the abov e stated organization operates business activities in varied sectors, so there is diversity on a large scale in the variables such as ethnicity, skills age an abilities which is a plus point for the entity. These diverse variables has benefited the company on various grounds such as due to ethnic diversity in the workforce the issues of the consumers who are from different regions and speak different languages has solved and the firm has also developed more cultural awareness. The Current Organizational Strategies and Workforce Plans Wesfarmers is a well established brand name and also one of the best business corporation which is in recruiting the workforce across the globe. The company not only is into providing the jobs to the employees but also help in building an employees career. Workforce planning is a crucial and significant task for every business entity and the same is with Wesfarmers as well. For instance, as the warriors get ready before the wars the workforce planning prepares the employees for the competitive wars, the business organizations also have a need to prepare their employees to meet the set market standards and fulfill and satisfy the requirements of the ultimate customers. At Wesfarmers, current organizational strategy is effectively aligned with workforce plans (Bowen and Sosa, 2014). The management team of the business organization motivates the employees by making use of different activities such as rewards and incentive schemes, setting targets and giving them feedback so that they ca n effectively help the company to meet their targets Staff Turnover and Strategies for Addressing the Issues Wesfarmers is one of the multinational brand names of the industry which not only provides exceptional customer service but also provides huge employment benefits. The company provides employment to approximately one in 60 working Australians and one of 17 working Australians under 20 years of age (Sustainability.Wesfarmers. 2016). Also the company provides $8.4 billion dollars i.e. they provide salary to about 61 percent of Australian population. Some of the strategies employed by Wesfarmers to ensure low staff turnover include employees at the business organization go under extensive training about the procedures and the different processes before they begin working (Heizer and Barry, 2013). With this the employees will be well aware about the products and the processes and they will not face any of the issues regarding the same, and also they will be able to answer any of the queries of the customers. According to a recently carried out research by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) f ound Australia ranked last in a list of 11 developed countries in case of staff leaving within 1 year at 23%. An estimate has been made that 1 in 4 new employees leaves their job before their first 12 months is up (theretailsolution. 2016). The expenses for this turnover in Australia have been estimated at $3.8 billion in lost productivity and $385 million in avoidable recruitment costs. Strategies for Finding Skilled Labors from External Sources The below mentioned are the strategies which can be implemented by Wesfarmers in the organizational structure so as to find skilled and potential labor: Even after being a multinational brand Wesfarmers also faces the issue of finding potential and skillful labor. Wesfarmers conducts frequent recruitment drives where the company screens its candidates through different stages. So in such cases the company organize extensive training sessions to make the existing employees more capable and well-versed with all the concept of production and retailing (Clampitt, 2012). Wesfarmers encourages staff diversity and ensures to hire employees from different culture to get the best talent into the company. Moreover the company can also carry out some types of exams so as to sort and choose the best potential employees for the organization. Contingency Options The concept is concerned with an un-expected event or situation which will have many impacts on the financial health, professional image and market share and consumer base of the business corporation (Wisegeek. 2017). Here the contingency plan will work as the back-up plan or plan b which will help the organization in facing the extreme situations such as the loss of a large number of retiring personnel in a short period of time, health epidemic, remote location where replacement workers are hard to attract, etc. The organization needs to develop some contingency options to tackle with the above mentioned situations (Bamberger, Biron and Meshoulam, 2014). The following are some of the contingency options which can be used by the Wesfarmers: In case loss to the company by retiring of large number of personnel the corporation can provide the training sessions to the employees on the managerial skills so that they will be able to get shifted on the retired employees. For the situation of health epidemic the company should always be ready with the sense of medical awareness and maintenance of proper hygiene in the workplace. The company need to organize medical campaigns at regular period of time an also provide medical incentives and medical facilities within the office premises. Also the firm can implement health and safety policies and laws within the organization so as to maintain the health and safety standards. Organizational Strategies and Changes Required for the modification of the Employees Retaining the employees has become a very crucial task for each and every organization and same if for Wesfarmers. In order to retain workforce, it is very much significant for the business entity to offer them enhanced career development opportunities. By organizing and providing them with the frequent training and education programs the company will be making the employees aware about the products and the processes, the changing market trends, weaknesses and strengths effectively of the corporation (Campbell and Reyes-Picknell, 2015). It will eventually help them get enhanced skills and competencies. The company has a need to divert their focus on the staff diversity. The company also needs to develop some sought of staffing changes such as the firm needs to modify the recruitment and selection process, they should make use of contemporary methods while selecting an recruiting the individuals. Organizations Workforce needs for One to Two years in the Future As the modern era has speeding up towards modernization and technological up-gradations, in one or two years, the employees of Wesfarmers will have a need to be updated and upgraded with the with latest marketing trends, modern mechanisms, tools and contemporary methods of working of the sector. Secondly, there will be a need of better reward systems so as to encourage and motivate and also to retain the employees for a longer period and this will also encourage workforce to openly share their ideas and innovation. The company also has a need to build strong and better ethics and working culture for their future development of the business organization. As these above needs of the workforce will be fulfilled they will be motivated which will enable them to work with a greater level of enthusiasm and dedication will also be more. Which in turn will ten them to provide a better quality and also there will be an enhancement in the productivity level. As a result the corporation will be able to meet the organizational goals. Organizations Current Workforce Capacity to meet Predicted Demands Wesfarmers as being a global brand has business in a number of nations and regions and it is growing with a great speed. And as the expansions are increasing the company has a need of huge workforce to handle the business in different locations. The business organization claims to provide its employees not just a job but a rising chance bring a boost to his/her career. The company provides a high range of job satisfaction for employees since it also provides various health benefits and other incentives. Since the company is in an expansion stage it requires a huge workforce to meet predicted demands for goods and services. The organization is in a need of skilled and potential staff individuals, for instance store in charge, sales executives and customer representatives for the outlets, technical experts and demonstrators etc. Strategies to Address Gaps or Over-Supply of Future Required Staff Although Wesfarmers is a multination retail and manufacturing brand and has a demand of huge workforce, but oversupply of labor can create some issues and problems for the business organization in the future.. It is the duty of the HR department to hire a well skilled and potential workforce on the demand of the company. The HR department of the organization will have to monitor and encourage staff diversity; need to carry out extensive screening tests, training assessments and work assessments frequently so as to sort out the labor that is not up-to the mark. Due to modernization the company has made changes and also brought development in the operating activities. Some updated systems and machines have been installed in the organization and which has made the company to make reduction in the count of the staff. Options for Communicating Strategies to Staff members Affected by Change At any business organization the communication strategies are considered as to be the primary function offering a structure and effective communication plan so as to develop and maintain strong bonds and positive relationships with clients, stakeholders and employees. The marketing and the public relations department are involved and are responsible for building the communication strategies and the approach followed is highly systematic. The business organization have a belief that communication is not just a management function but a way to engage those who need to change their ways of interacting with each other either internally or externally. Wesfarmers can make use of the visual strategies which consists of the webpages and pictorial demonstrations; this will aid the organization in developing awareness and making understand the employees about the organizational structure of the company. And also the written strategies can be made in use such as e-mails; fax and chats which are less time consuming and less expensive. Recommendations to management The below mentioned are the recommendations to the management of Wesfarmers: From the above mentioned points it has been observed that there is a huge need of staff, the company should focus on hiring staff from diverse cultures. The company should organize recruitment campaigns in different localities and regions so as to hire diverse staff. Wesfarmers should involve the employees in extensive training sessions and helping them develop their personalities as per market demand. So that they will be well-versed with different procedures and processes. Wesfarmers must formulate effective communication strategies in order to communicate important information about the company in a diverse network of employees well. Conclusion From the above carried out analysis it has been concluded that the planning and managing the workforce is a very crucial and significant task. Wesfarmers is a multinational and retail brand and need to carry out number of activities for hiring an appropriate supply of workforce within the business organization. References Blakely, E.J. and Leigh, N.G., 2013.Planning local economic development. Sage. Barton, D. and Court, D., 2012. Making advanced analytics work for you.Harvard business review,90(10), pp.78-83. Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers. De Anca, C. and Vega, A.V., 2016.Managing diversity in the global organization: Creating new Business values. Springer. Barton, D. and Court, D., 2012. Making advanced analytics work for you.Harvard business review,90(10), pp.78-83. Bowen, W.G. and Sosa, J.A., 2014.Prospects for faculty in the arts and sciences: A study of factors affecting demand and supply, 1987 to 2012. Princeton University Press. Heizer, R. and Barry, R., 2013.Operation Management, Sustainability and Supply Chain management(Vol. 11). Pearson, UK. Clampitt, P.G., 2012.Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness: Problems| Strategies| Solutions. Sage Publications. Dodge, A. ed., 2015.Public relations: Strategies and tactics. New York, NY: Pearson. Bamberger, P.A., Biron, M. and Meshoulam, I., 2014.Human resource strategy: Formulation, implementation, and impact. Routledge. Campbell, J.D. and Reyes-Picknell, J.V., 2015.Uptime: Strategies for excellence in maintenance management. CRC Press. Sustainability.Wesfarmers, 2016, Sustainability at Wesfarmers, Assessed on 12th March 2017, https://sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au/. Vandenbroek, P, 2016, Employment by industry statistics: a guide, Assessed on 4th April 2017, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/Quick_Guides/EmployIndustry. 100positivepolicies.org, 2017, Positive Policy, Generating through Trade and Investment, Assessed on 4th April 2017, https://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/generating_jobs_through_trade_and_investment. Theretailsolution, 2016, Staff turnover in the first 12 months in Australia is costing $3.8, Assessed on 4th April 2017, https://theretailsolution.com.au/staff-turnover-in-the-first-12-months-in-australia-is-costing-3-8-billion/. Wisegeek, 2017, What is a contingency plan? Assessed on 4th April 2017, https://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-contingency-plan.htm.

A Brief History of Chinese Opera

A Brief History of Chinese Opera Since the time of the Tang Dynastys Emperor Xuanzong from 712 to 755- who created the first national opera troupe called the Pear Garden- Chinese opera has been one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country, but it actually started nearly a millennium before in the Yellow River Valley during the Qin Dynasty.   Now, more than a millennium after Xuanzongs death, it is enjoyed by political leaders and commoners alike in many fascinating and innovative ways, and Chinese opera performers are still referred to as Disciples of the Pear Garden, continuing to perform an astonishing 368 different forms of Chinese opera. Early Development Many of the features that characterize modern Chinese opera developed in northern China, particularly in the Shanxi and Gansu Provinces, including the use of certain set characters like Sheng (the man), Dan (the woman), Hua (the painted face) and Chou (the clown). In Yuan Dynasty times- from 1279 to 1368- opera performers began to use the vernacular language of the common people rather than Classical Chinese. During the Ming Dynasty- from 1368 to 1644- and the Qing Dynasty- from 1644 to 1911- the northern traditional singing and drama style from Shanxi was combined with melodies from a southern form of Chinese opera called Kunqu. This form was created in the Wu region, along the Yangtze River. Kunqu Opera revolves around the Kunshan melody, created in the coastal city of Kunshan. Many of the most famous operas that are still performed today are from the Kunqu repertoire, including The Peony Pavilion, The Peach Blossom Fan, and adaptations of the older Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West. However, the stories have been rendered into various local dialects, including Mandarin for audiences in Beijing and other northern cities. The acting and singing techniques, as well as costumes and makeup conventions, also owe much to the northern Qinqiang or Shanxi tradition. Hundred Flowers Campaign This rich operatic heritage was almost lost during Chinas dark days in the mid-twentieth century. The Communist regime of the Peoples Republic of China- from 1949 to present- initially encouraged the production and performance of operas old and new. During the Hundred Flowers Campaign in 1956 and 57- in which the authorities under Mao encouraged intellectualism, the arts and even criticism of the government- Chinese opera blossomed anew. However, the Hundred Flowers Campaign may have been a trap. Beginning in July of 1957, the intellectuals and artists who had put themselves forward during Hundred Flowers period were purged. By December of that same year, a stunning 300,000 people had been  labeled  rightists and were subjected to punishments from informal criticism to internment in labor camps or even execution. This was a preview of the horrors of the Cultural Revolution of 1966 through 1976, which would imperil the very existence of Chinese opera and other traditional arts. Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution was the regimes attempt to destroy old ways of thinking by outlawing such traditions as fortune telling, paper-making, traditional Chinese dress and the study of classic literature and arts. An attack on one Beijing opera piece and its composer signaled the start of the Cultural Revolution. In 1960, Maos government had commissioned Professor Wu Han to write an opera about Hai Rui, a minister of the Ming Dynasty who was fired for criticizing the Emperor to his face. Audiences saw the play as a critique of the Emperor- and thus Mao- rather than of Hai Rui representing disgraced Minister of Defense Peng Dehuai. In reaction, Mao performed an about-face in 1965, publishing harsh criticism of the opera and of composer Wu Han, who was eventually fired. This was the opening salvo of the Cultural Revolution. For the next decade, opera troupes were disbanded, other composers and scriptwriters were purged and performances were banned. Until the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976, only eight model operas were allowed. These model operas were personally vetted by Madame Jiang Qing and were entirely politically innocuous. In essence, Chinese opera was dead. Modern Chinese Opera After 1976, Beijing opera and the other forms were revived, and once more placed within the national repertoire. Older performers who had survived the purges were allowed to pass on their knowledge to new students again. Traditional operas have been freely performed since 1976, though some newer works have been censored and new composers criticized as the political winds have shifted over the intervening decades. Chinese opera makeup is particularly fascinating and rich in meaning. A character with mostly red makeup or a red mask is brave and loyal. Black symbolizes boldness and impartiality. Yellow denotes ambition, while pink stands for sophistication and cool-headedness. Characters with primarily blue faces are fierce and far-seeing, while green faces show wild and impulsive behaviors. Those with white faces are treacherous and cunning- the villains of the show. Finally, an actor with only a small section of makeup in the center of the face, connecting the eyes and nose, is a clown. This is called xiaohualian, or the little  painted  face. Today, more than thirty forms of Chinese opera continue to be performed regularly throughout the country. Some of the most prominent of which are the Peking opera of Beijing, Huju opera of Shanghai, the Qinqiang of Shanxi, and Cantonese opera.   Beijing (Peking) Opera The dramatic art form known as Beijing opera- or Peking opera- has been a staple of Chinese entertainment for more than two centuries. It was founded in  1790 when the Four Great Anhui Troupes went to Beijing to perform for the Imperial Court. Some 40 years later, well-known opera troupes from Hubei joined the Anhui performers, melding their regional styles. Both the Hubei and Anhui opera troupes used two primary melodies adapted from the Shanxi musical tradition: Xipi and Erhuang. From this amalgam of local styles, the new Peking or Beijing opera developed. Today, Beijing Opera is considered  Chinas  national art form. Beijing Opera is famous for convoluted plots, vivid makeup, beautiful costumes and sets and the unique vocal style used by performers. Many of the 1,000 plots- perhaps not surprisingly- revolve around political and military strife, rather than romance. The basic stories are often hundreds or even thousands of years old involving historic and even supernatural beings.   Many fans of Beijing Opera are worried about the fate of this art form. The traditional plays make reference to many facts of pre-Cultural Revolution  life and history that are unfamiliar to young people. Furthermore, many of the stylized movements have particular meanings that can be lost on uninitiated audiences. Most troubling of all, operas must now compete with films, TV shows, computer games, and the internet for attention. The Chinese government is using grants and contests to encourage young artists to participate in Beijing Opera. Shanghai (Huju) Opera Shanghai opera (Huju) originated at about the same time as Beijing opera, around 200 years ago. However, the Shanghai version of opera is based on local folk-songs of the Huangpu River region rather than deriving from Anhui and Shanxi.  Huju  is performed in the Shanghainese dialect of Wu Chinese, which is not mutually intelligible with  Mandarin. In other words, a person from Beijing would not understand the lyrics of a  Huju  piece. Due to the relatively recent nature of the stories and songs that make up  Huju, the costumes and makeup are comparatively simple and modern. Shanghai opera performers wear costumes that resemble the street clothing of ordinary people from the pre-communist era. Their makeup is not much more elaborate than that worn by western stage actors, in stark contrast to the heavy and significant grease-paint used in the other Chinese Opera forms. Huju  had its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of the stories and songs of the Shanghai region show a definite western influence. This is not surprising, given that the major European powers maintained trading concessions and consular offices in the thriving port city, prior to World War II. Like many of the other regional opera styles,  Huju  is in danger of disappearing forever. Few young actors take up the art form since there is much greater fame and fortune to be had in movies, TV, or even Beijing Opera. Unlike Beijing Opera, which is now considered a national art form, Shanghai Opera is performed in a local dialect and thus does not translate well to other provinces. Nevertheless, the city of Shanghai has millions of residents, with tens of millions more in the near vicinity. If a concerted effort is made to introduce younger audiences to this interesting art form,  Huju  may survive to delight theater-goers for centuries to come. Shanxi Opera (Qinqiang) Most forms of Chinese opera owe their singing and acting styles, some of their melodies, and their plot-lines to the musically fertile Shanxi province, with its thousand-year-old Qinqiang  or  Luantan  folk melodies. This ancient form of art first appeared in the  Yellow River  Valley during the  Qin Dynasty  from B.C. 221 to 206 and was popularized at the Imperial Court at modern-day  Xian during the  Tang Era, which spanned from 618 to 907 A.D. The repertoire and symbolic movements continued to develop in Shanxi Province throughout the  Yuan Era  (1271-1368) and the Ming Era (1368-1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Shanxi Opera was introduced to the court at Beijing. The Imperial audiences so enjoyed Shanxi singing that the form was incorporated into Beijing Opera, which is now a national artistic style. At one time, the repertoire of Qinqiang included over 10,000 operas; today, only about 4,700 of them are remembered. The  arias  in Qinqiang Opera are divided into two types:  huan  yin, or joyous tune, and  ku  yin, or sorrowful tune. Plots in Shanxi Opera often deal with fighting oppression, wars against the northern barbarians, and issues of loyalty. Some Shanxi Opera productions include special effects such as fire-breathing or acrobatic twirling, in addition to the standard operatic acting and singing. Cantonese Opera Cantonese Opera, based in southern China and overseas ethnic Chinese communities, is a very formalized operatic form that emphasizes gymnastic and martial arts skills. This form of Chinese Opera predominates in Guangdong,  Hong Kong, Macau,  Singapore,  Malaysia, and in Chinese-influenced areas in western countries. Cantonese Opera was first performed during the reign of the Ming Dynasty Jiajing Emperor from 152 to 1567. Originally based on the older forms of Chinese Opera, Cantonese Opera began to add local folk melodies, Cantonese instrumentation, and eventually even Western popular tunes. In addition to traditional Chinese instruments such as the  pipa,  erhu, and percussion, modern Cantonese Opera productions may include such Western instruments as the violin, cello, or even saxophone. Two different types of plays make up the Cantonese Opera repertoire- Mo, meaning martial arts, and  Mun, or intellectual- wherein the melodies are entirely secondary to the lyrics.  Mo performances are fast-paced, involving stories of warfare,  bravery  and betrayal. The actors often carry weapons as props, and the elaborate costumes may be as heavy as actual armor. Mun, on the other hand, tends to be a slower, more polite art form. The actors use their vocal tones, facial expressions, and long flowing water sleeves to express complex emotions. Most of the Mun stories are romances, morality tales, ghost stories, or famous Chinese classic tales or myths. One notable feature of Cantonese Opera is the makeup. It is among the most elaborate makeup systems in all of Chinese Opera, with different shades of color and shapes, particularly on the forehead, indicating the mental state, trustworthiness, and physical health of the characters. For example, sickly characters have a thin red line drawn between the eyebrows, while comic or clownish characters have a large white spot  on  the bridge of the nose. Some Cantonese Operas also involve actors in open face makeup, which is so intricate and complicated that it resembles a painted mask more than a living face. Today, Hong Kong is at the center of efforts to keep Cantonese Opera alive and thriving. The Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts offers two-year degrees in Cantonese Opera performance, and the Arts Development Council sponsors opera classes for the citys children. Through such concerted effort, this unique and intricate form of Chinese Opera may continue to find an audience for decades to come.

Jealousy in the Open Window by Saki Essay Example

Jealousy in the Open Window by Saki Essay Example Jealousy in the Open Window by Saki Paper Jealousy in the Open Window by Saki Paper â€Å"The Open Window† is the story of a deception did on an unsuspecting, and constitutionally nervous man, by a young lady whose motivations for lying remain unclear. That is Vera, the center of the case in this story. A â€Å"very self-possessed young lady of fifteen,† Described as a girl who has bad manner to other people. She doesn’t have parents and lives with her aunt and her uncle in a country beyond the luxurious city life. Starting from her childhood, she is an attention-starved individual who seeks love and recognition from her parents. Her loneliness is filled by her aunt warm love and attention. It’s suspected that her abandonment and subsequent loneliness influenced her character, but never do I imagine just how much it fractured her. She grows as a girl who likes making up her words, like doing deception to another. The beginning of Vera’s deception starts with Mr. Nuttel coming. He is suffering from an undisclosed nervous illness, has been encouraged to seek refuge in the country. Vera, who starved for attention and love, was too afraid of Mr Nuttel for stealing her aunt attention and care, her only one love she has. I conclude that this kind of deception comes as a reaction to her jealousy. B. JEALOUSY IN PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEW Furthermore, I come up with jealousy as the center of the case in this analysis. Jealousy what I concern about is jealousy especially in the children. Here, Vera’s jealousy is interesting topic to be analyzed more. The jealousy in this case comes as a reaction of Mr. Nuttel’s coming. Jealousy is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, such as a relationship, friendship, or love. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, sadness, and disgust. It is not to be confused with envy. It’s described clearly that what Vera did by making up the story about the Open Window is a kind of thing that shows jealousy to Mr. Nuttel. One of the theorist said: Jealousy is defined as a protective reaction to a perceived threat to a valued relationship, arising from a situation in which the partners involvement with an activity and/or another person is contrary to the jealous persons definition of their relationship. (Bevan, 2004, page 195) Vera’s jealousy stimulates her to do the bad things to Mr. Nuttel. She is trying to arrange a fiction story about her aunt family in order to make Mr. Nuttel goes away from her house. Vera told a huge lie about how Mrs. Sappleton’s family had been missing for three years. It is this story, the death of some relatives who went hunting long ago, causes Mr. Nuttel’s breakdown. She tells Nuttel that the window is left open as a sign of her aunt’s hope that the dead hunters will one day come home and provides a detailed description of the men, their behavior and clothes. Out through that window, three years ago to a day, her husband and her two young brothers went off for their days shooting. They never came back. In crossing the moor to their favorite snipe-shooting ground they were all three engulfed in a treacherous piece of bog. It had been that dreadful wet summer, you know, and places that were safe in other years gave way suddenly without warning. Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it. Here the childs voice lost its self-possessed note and became falteringly human. Poor aunt always thinks that they will come back someday, they and the little brown spaniel that was lost with them, and walk in at that window just as they used to do. That is why the window is kept open every evening till it is quite dusk. Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing Bertie, why do you bound? as he always did to tease her, because she said it got on her nerves. Do you know, sometimes on still, quiet evenings like this, I almost get a creepy feeling that they will all walk in through that window The quotation for this analysis is all about Vera’s saying to Mr. Nuttel. All she said is only a lie. A lie that was created as a reaction of jealousy. From the author’s point of view, he refers to Vera as â€Å"self-possessed,† which literally means that she has self-control and poise. In the context of this story, it is clear that this is the quality that allows her to lie so well. Vera’s self-possession allows her to maintain a cool head and calm belief while relating that most strange of tales. This kind of deception Vera made is the further action she made as the reaction of her jealousy. In her manipulation of the adults, Vera demonstrates a view that â€Å"children have no power worth the name except their lies and retreats into fantasy. From the source I’ve read (Wikipedia. org), the experience of jealousy involves: fear of loss, suspicion or anger about betrayal, low self-esteem and sadness over loss, uncertainty and loneliness, fear of losing an important person to an attractive other, distrust. Based on the explanation, what Vera did is indicated that she is suffering jealousy. She is fear of loss, low self-esteem and sadness over loss, uncertainty and loneliness, and fear of losing an important person that is her aunt’s attention. The effect of jealousy itself isn’t really good in the process of forming Vera’s character. She becomes an unkind girl who likes making up her words. Furthermore, jealousy in children and teenagers like Vera’s suffer has been observed more often in those with low self-esteem and can cause aggressive reactions. These aggressive reactions often created a bad action from them. One such study suggested that developing intimate friends can be followed by emotional insecurity and loneliness in some children when those intimate friends interact with others. Jealousy linked to aggression and low self-esteem. All what I mentioned above shows clearly that Vera is suffering jealousy. C. CONCLUSION Jealousy is defined as a protective reaction to a perceived threat to a valued relationship. It is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, such as a relationship, friendship, or love. Jealousy often consists of a combination of emotions such as anger, sadness, and disgust. losing Furthermore, jealousy in children and teenagers like Vera’s suffer has been observed more often in those with low self-esteem and can cause aggressive reactions. These aggressive reactions often created a bad action from them. The way to overcome this kind of problem is by let them to honestly express their feelings about one another. Dont downplay a childs feelings, or try talking them out of feeling the way they say they feel. Children feel their parents understand those best when their feelings are acknowledged. Source: Rena Korb, for Short Stories for Students, Gale Research, 1997. Thomas March, for Short Stories for Students, Gale Research, 1997. The open window (criticism): information from Answers. com The Wikipedia. org

The Youth Support Act 2012 (Fictitious) sets out newly agreed services Essay

The Youth Support Act 2012 (Fictitious) sets out newly agreed services that Local Councils in Wales are obliged to provide for y - Essay Example As part of its statutory obligations to provide support for young people, the Bangor City Council has agreed to fully and part fund qualifying young people to attend Tree Tops. Due to some hostile policies of the City Council, some students cannot enjoy the provisions of The Youth Support Act 2012. This paper will analyze the different grounds for bringing a claim with reference to each of the relevant parties. The paper will pay particular attention to points for both appellant and respondent. Claims for Pricilla The Bangor City Council has recently decided that it will only fund a complete academic year’s attendance at the youth club. As a result of this policy, the Council refuses individuals to enjoy the benefits of the fully or part funding scheme before the age of five and if they turn fifteen within the academic year. On the ground of this funding policy, the Council refused to include Pricilla who is 14 years and 2 months old in this funding scheme. The Council argues that Pricilla can obtain only 10 months’ attendance at the youth club before she turns fifteen and hence she is not eligible for enjoying this particular funding scheme. Here, Pricilla can claim that the Tree Tops club provides recreational activities for young people aged between 11 and 16 and therefore she cannot attend the program if she is refused funding for the scheme on this age basis. Pointing to this, she can argue that the Council should raise the age limit to 16 so as to assist maximum young people to take part in the Tree Tops. Furthermore, Pricilla may demand part funding scheme because she is yet to attain the age of 15. In other words, she can obtain attendance for 10 months before she turns fifteen in the current academic year and therefore she must receive a proportionate funding. However, these arguments may not be valid or justifiable in the eyes of law. It is important to note that The Youth Support Act 2012 defines a young person â€Å"as someone between the ages of five and fourteen years old†1. According to this definition, Pricilla is not eligible to obtain the protection of this Act because she is currently 14 years and 2 months old. More precisely, she is not a beneficiary of the Youth Support Act 2012. The Bangor City Council policy framework clearly states that it will refuse to allow anyone onto the fully or part funded scheme if the candidates turn fifteen within the academic year. Hence, it cannot be claimed that the Council violated Pricilla’s rights provided by this Act. In an ethical perspective, Pricilla should be allowed to enjoy the protection of this Act and not be refused funding for the scheme on the ground of age eligibility cut-offs. If she is disqualified by the Council based on age criterion, she may not be possible to attend Tree Tops in her life because this club will not admit candidates aged over 16. Claims for Amreen and Nabeel Amreen, a 14 year old girl qualified for the full funding scheme was told by the Tree Tops that she would not be permitted to wear her religious headscarf owing to concerns over her personal safety during game activities. Although Amreen agreed to remove her headscarf, her brother Nabeel is outraged by the decision of the Tree Tops. In this case, Nabeel can argue that the Tree Tops had refused his sister’s fundamental rights by asking her to remove the religious headscar

The Strategic Management of Economy Hotel in China Essay - 1

The Strategic Management of Economy Hotel in China - Essay Example Homes Inn Hotels and China Lodging Group, and surveying 50 employees of each hotel hotels. The findings of this study reveals that economic hotels, though, might have a very limited business scope, but strategically they are required to align their objectives with the operational capacities. By doing this, economic hotels can ensure efficient utilization of the resources which would reflect in increased profitability of the business. Acknowledgement Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgement 3 Table of Contents 4 List of Tables and Figures 10 Chapter 1: Introduction 11 1.1 Background 11 1.2 Problem Statement 12 1.3 Research Aim 13 1.4 Research Objectives 13 1.5 Research Questions 13 1.6 Significance of the Research 14 1.7 Scope of the Study 14 1.8 Structure of the Report 14 Chapter 2: Literature Review 16 2.1 Introduction 16 2.2 Hospitality industry in Asia 17 2.3 Economy hotels – Characteristics 19 2.4 Hotel industry in China – overview 21 2.5The role of Chinese gove rnment in the development of China’s hospitality industry 23 2.6Strategies of hotels in China 25 2.6.1 The role of hospitality industry environment 25 2.6.2 Factors influencing the form of strategies of Chinese hotels 26 2.6.3 Challenges related to the strategies of hotels in China 29 2.6.4 Strategies of Chinese hotels vs. ... 41 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Presentation and analysis of research methods 42 3.2.1 Research Strategy 42 3.2.2 Research Philosophy 43 3.2.3 Data collection 44 3.2.4 Research Sampling 46 3.2.5 Data analysis 47 3.2.6 Ethical considerations 50 3.2.7 Limitations of Research 50 Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion 52 4.1 Introduction 52 4.2 Demographic Findings: Home Inns 52 4.3 Survey Questionnaire Findings: Homes Inn 55 4.3.1 Role of External Factors 55 4.3.2 Role of Internal Factors 56 4.3.3.Ability to Cater Organizational Mission 56 4.3.4 Achieving Objectives 56 4.3.5 Strategy Consultation 56 4.3.6 Compliance 57 4.3.7 Feedback 57 4.3.8 Training and Development 57 4.3.9 Daily Briefings 58 4.3.10 Project Reports 58 4.4 Descriptive Statistics: Homes Inn 58 4.5 Interview Analysis: Homes Inn 61 4.5.1 Influence of External Factors on Strategic Management 61 4.5.2 Influence of Internal Factors on Strategic Management 61 4.5.3 Homes Inn’s Mission 62 4.5.4 Homes Inn’s Objectives 62 4 .5.5 Strategy Development Process 63 4.5.6 Policy Structure and its Stakeholders 63 4.5.7 Training and Development Programs Offered to the Employees 64 4.5.8 Homes Inn’s Organizational Structure 64 4.5.9 Budgeting and Costing of Strategy Development and Implication 64 4.5.10 Implementation of Strategic Plan 65 4.5.11 Performance Evaluation Systems 65 4.5.12 Issue Identification Mechanism 66 4.5.13 Feedback Mechanism 66 4.6 Demographic Finding: China Lodging Group 66 4.7 Survey Questionnaire Findings: China Lodging Group 69 4.7.1 Role of External Factors 69 4.7.2 Role of External Factors 70 4.7.3 Ability to Cater Organizational Mission 70 4.7.4 Achieving Objectives 70 4.7.5 Strategy Consultation 71 4.7.6 Compliance 71 4.7.7 Feedback 71 4.7.8 Training and Development 72 4.7.9 Daily Briefings 72

The Sacred Pipe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Sacred Pipe - Essay Example The sentimental value of some possessions may range from something as simple as a letter, a pen or even jewelry which is a family heirloom. These things may seem ordinary and mundane to others but it is what it represents that makes all the difference. The same consideration, at a different level of intensity, makes for the meaning that the sacred pipe holds. Another aspect of a sacred pipe is how it serves as a communication device that communes man not only to his nature but also to his ancestors. This is not an entirely alien concept as there are other religions that believe in the influence of people who have already passed as guardians present in daily life. The pipe is a means to communicate with ancestors who can be a source of hope for these people. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows how it feels to want to be able to talk to them again and maybe to ask them for guidance during the most trying times. Winter represents a difficult time and it symbolizes hardships and despair. The knowledge that a sacred pipe could connect two worlds is nothing short of faith. The mother should sacrifice everything for her children and must develop in herself and in her children a great love for Wakan-Tanka, for in time these children will become holy people and leaders of the nation and will have the power to make others wakan. At first we keep only the souls of a few of our great leaders, but later we kept the souls of almost all good people (Brown 11) This quote affirms that the Native Americans place the responsibility to mothers to be able to rear her children properly and to sacrifice her own desires and needs for their benefit. Regardless of this passage, I believe that a mother’s love is absolute and that even without any order or reminder remains the same notwithstanding what culture one belongs to. The same mother’s love is seen and manifests in a loving home in a way that a person’s success and virtue is most likely to be attributed to one’s mother and the patience with which he was brought up to. It is by this same n otion that I suppose that my own character was shaped. My mother served as a role model and the primary person who has molded me from birth. Mothers would want nothing more than for their children to grow up to be good people. The respect you show to your parents is a good indication of a person’s upbringing. The same amount of respect is invaluable in the traits that make for a great leader. The concept of wakan provides for the perpetuation of memories of people who have imparted an indelible memory to the community. They are better than historical figures such as presidents for they remain in spirit with the people. They are not the only subject of stories and anecdotes studied for memory but they are infinite beings that transcend time and lifetimes. This commune with a concept as intangible as the soul substantiates why being a holy wakan is something to achieve for. â€Å"The leader of the rite then says: ‘This is the fire that will help the generations to come i f they use it in a sacred manner".

SMP And MPP Databases Analysis

SMP And MPP Databases Analysis It has by now become a compulsion to implement Data Warehouses and Decision Support systems in almost all the major organizations. Almost every form of organization is investing heavily in building Warehouses across the multiple functions they implement. Data Warehouses, with their large volumes of integrated, consistent and conformed data, provide the competitive edge by enabling business establishments to analyze past and current trends, monitor current patterns and shortcomings and make informed future decisions. The size of the average Data Warehouse is growing exponentially with each year with organizations looking increasingly to gather every bit of information possible into the warehouse. Modern day ETL tools provide excellent support to integrate from varying and disparate sources like Mainframes, Relational databases, XML files, unstructured documents like PDFs, emails and web pages. It is not just the size of the Data Warehouse that is increasing, but also the utility and the functionality that is expected out of it, that is seeing a multi fold increase. A large number of advanced and high performance Business Intelligence applications Reporting, Dashboards, Scorecards, Data Mining and Predictive modeling are now executed over the Data Warehouse and these applications execute highly complex queries accessing large volumes of data. These requirements the ever growing size of the Data Warehouse and the increasing complexity of the queries executed against it has necessitated the need to look for alternate architectures and implementations of relational databases that can scale up effectively to support efficient querying across large volumes of data with shorter response time and consequently raised the debate of going MPP (Massively Parallel Processing) enabled databases over SMP (Symmetrical multi processors) structured data bases. II. SMP (Symmetrical multiprocessor) Symmetrical multiprocessor systems are single systems containing multiple processors (2 64, or even higher) in which a common pool of memory and disk I/O resources are shared equally. These systems are controlled by a centralized operating system. Sharing of system resources by the processors enables them to be managed more effectively. Very high speed interconnections are deployed across the SMP systems to allow effective interconnection and equal sharing of memory and resources. Apart from high bandwidth, low communication latency is another important property that SMP systems should possess to demonstrate high levels of scalability. This is necessitated by often employed operations in data warehouse such as index lookups and joins that involve communication of small data packets. If the amount of data present in each message is less, then the importance of low latencies is paramount. In SMP , multiple cpus share the same memory, board, I/O and operating system. Each and every CPU acts independently. When one CPU handles a database lookup, other CPUs can perform database updation and perform other tasks. As a result, the device will be able to handle the highly complex networking tasks of todays world in a very easy way. Thus SMP systems too involve a degree of parallelism in that multiple processors can be used to perform mutually exclusive operations in parallel. SMP are relatively cheaper when compared to MPP databases. The cost of upgrading is also lesser because as we scale the number of processors, only an additional processor board needs to be added. Processing power can thus easily and seamlessly be increased by adding extra processors. However SMP have the limitation that they can only scale so far. As all cpus on the same board share a single memory bus, there is a chance of bottlenecks to occur. This bottleneck impacts performance and slows down processing. Instead of placing too many number of CPUs on the same SMP board, designers of high-end network elements can distribute applications across a networked cluster of SMP boards. Each board has its own memory array, I/O and operating system. However this approach begins to complicate the up gradation. Network -specific codes has to be added by network managers to applications. Also as drivers are tightly bound to kernel, moving them involve creation of a new kernel image for each board. III. MPP (Massively parallel processor) Massively parallel systems are composed of many nodes. Each node is a separate computer having a minimum of one cpu and also has its own memory which is local to it. There is a connection also for connecting all the nodes. These type of systems have separate ALUs that runs in parallel fashion. Various standards like MPI are used by nodes for communication. Message passing mechanism is used by nodes for communication. Each node in a massively parallel processor system is accessed with the help of an interconnect technique. The technique supports transfer of data which is at the rate of 13 to 38 MB/sec. Every node in the system contains CPU, disk subsystems and memory. These nodes are self sufficient nodes. The system can be considered as a shared nothing system. Shared nothing indicates that the nodes have their own memory, OS and I/O subsystems, nothing is shared. These systems are designed to have good scalability. Also these systems allow the addition of any number of processors to the system. In cases where partitioning of problems are possible, MPP systems exhibit good performance. In that case there will be no communication among nodes and all the nodes work in parallel fashion. But this partitioning occurs only in rare situations and therefore the performance that MPP systems promises to exhibit is reduced. Such partitioning occurs in the case of ad-hoc queries that are typical to datawarehouses. Also the high scalability that MPP systems offer is limited by data skew or when communication between nodes in the system is highly needed. Single node failure reduces not only the power required for processing but also makes the data located at that node inaccessible. In industries, single-processor nodes which are termed as thin are augmented with multiprocessor nodes which are termed as fat with the help of many processors in SMP configuration. In such cases, the MPP nodes will have many number of processors and less number of nodes. The architecture of MPP includes a group of independent nodes which are of shared-nothing type. Each node has cpu, local disks and memory. Message based interconnect connects all these together. IV. DEPLOYING DATA WAREHOUSE Now that we have discussed in brief the inherent differences between an SMP and an MPP, the below section details the considerations that have to be taken into account while deploying a Data Warehouse. The main consideration when deploying data warehouses are that they should be able to extract meaningful and un-obvious, information from large amounts of data . They can use techniques such as relational intra-query parallelization, on-line analytical processing (OLAP), data mining, and multidimensional databases for the extraction. To perform these analyses, systems that are powerful require access to many times the amount of data that is stored in any one of a companys operational systems. Organizations deploy data warehouses by transferring data periodically from on-line transaction processing (OLTP) databases into data warehouses. These are implemented at fixed schedules via ETL routines that execute at pre-defined intervals in a day. The ETL routines could also execute weekly/monthly and quarterly for sources that provide information at that frequency. Since the databases used in data warehouses are different from the operational OLTP source systems, the ETL from the source systems to the Data warehouse can be a resource-intensive operation involving data extraction, data cleansing and conforming of the data. The amount of storage needed is staggering as well with the entire operations of the company integrated within the Data warehouse sales, orders, operations, finance etc . As the usefulness of this data is not predictable in the beginning, all of the companys data is usually stored in a data warehouse . Data warehouses pose a constant challenge of rapid deployment of application. In the case of OLTP systems the workload is predictable and can be managed with careful tuning. While in the case of data warehouses, they constantly changes whenever new applications are created. Because of their constantly-changing nature, all data warehouses require custom configuration. Factors to consider when deploying data warehouse 1) Complexity of Query: Query complexity ranges from canned queries that are simple to data mining using techniques in artificial intelligence. Canned queries make use of optimized, pre-compiled SQL which may be used in answering questions which are simple and are repeated frequently. Complex data analysis is done using ad-hoc queries which are written in SQL. Also those queries that support operations in data mining are very much complicated . Such queries are not written in SQL and they are difficult to optimize also. Intensive methods like neural nets, genetic programs etc are used by these queries. 2) Workload in Database: Workloads of decision support systems varies from interactive operation to batch operation. Data visualization packages uses access to data warehouse that are interactive. Such packages extract data trends with the help of executing pre-compiled queries. 3) System Architecture: DSS makes use of the technology, parallel processing. Parallel computing architectures range varies in the extent to which memory is hierarchical. Memory is accessed uniformly by symmetric multiprocessors with the help of high-speed buses or crossbar switching technologies. These technologies support point-to point interconnection between processors. Groups of SMP systems are used by clustered approaches. These are linked with interconnection mechanisms which are of slower speed. MPP systems use nodes containing local memory that are accessed through a local high-speed bus. Communication among nodes are carried out through message-based interconnects which are of lower speed. VI. NEED FOR SCALABLE DATA WAREHOUSES The size of a Data warehouse grows rapidly in size and the growth cannot easily be accurately anticipated. Data warehouse implementations often start small and grow as the volume of data and the demands increase. Data warehouses are often deployed with a few processors in the beginning, and can support many times the initial processing capability. Properties When more number of processors are added to an SMP, or nodes are added to an MPP, it is important that system should scale. Ideally, a Data Warehouse system should exhibit two properties to show good levels of scalability speed-up and scale-up. 1) Speed-up: It is the property demonstrated, in which if a job needs one time unit to complete with one processor then it will need 1/N of the time to complete with N processors. For example, consider a job that needs five hours to complete with one processor , it needs only one hour to complete with five processors. Then we say that the system scales well. 2) Scale-up: It is another important property. Consider a system with excellent scale-up. It provides the same level of performance even if the data warehouse size increases through the addition of processors or nodes. For example, when the database size is one terabyte , a batch job that takes five hours to run will take the same time of five hours when the size is two terabytes. In order to maintain scalability, the data should be re re-partitioned across the nodes. This is a time consuming and risky process as databases are terabyte-sized . This step is not required on an SMP. Database administrators valuate scalability by checking whether the systems behavior is predictable when workload intensity increases. If the systems behavior is predictable even when the workload grows, then the system scales well. VIII. CONCLUSIONS Both SMP and MPP server databases can be used for Data warehouse implementations. There are different situations where each can be utilized. The general trade-off point on choosing between the two depends on several factors: 1.) Volume of data expected to be stored in the database. 2.) Expected number of concurrent users. 3.) Complexity of queries to be executed number of joins, aggregations etc to be used. 4.) Average volume of data accessed by each query. 5.) Anticipated growth volumes. When the number of concurrent users is less, and when the volumes are low, SMP are preferred. In fact SMP are preferred for more OLTP like environments. In contrast when the volumes are large, and the number of queries executed is large and involves complex query processing MPP server databases are preferred. These databases on account of their parallel processing capabilities can be utilized to execute complex queries more efficiently and hence offer a natural choice for typical Data warehouse implementations.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Essay -- Philosophy Religion

Told by the blurb that we have here "one of the most unique and exciting books in the history of American letters," one bridles both at the grammar of the claim and at its routine excess. The grammar stays irreparable. But I have a hunch that the assertion itself is valid. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values, by Robert M. Pirsig (Morrow), is as willfully awkward as its title. It is densely put together. It lurches, with a deliberate shift of its grave ballast, between fiction and philosophic discourse, between a private memoir and the formulaic impersonality of an engineering or trade journal. As it stands, it is a very long book, but report has it, and fault lines indicate, that a much longer text lies behind it. One hears of an eight- hundred-thousand-word draft and feels perversely deprived of it by the mere sanity and worldliness of the publisher. Zen and the Art is awkward both to live with and to write about. It lodges in the mind as few recent nov els have, deepening its grip, compelling the landscape into unexpected planes of order and menace. The narrative thread is deceptively trite. Father and son are on a motorcycle holiday, traveling from Minneapolis toward the Dakotas, then across the mountains, turning south to Santa Rosa and the Bay. Asphalt, motels, hairpins in the knife-cold of the Rockies, fog and desert, the waters dividing, then the vineyards and the tawny flanks of the sea. Mr. Pirsig is not the first ever to burst: Kerouac has been here before him, and Humbert Humbert, a clutch of novels, films, stories, television serials of loners on the move, lapping the silent miles, toasted or drenched under the big skies, motelling from one neon oasis to the next, and glidin... ... exception. The cracker-barrel voice grinds on, sententious and flat. But the book is inspired, original enough to impel us across gray patches. And as the mountains gentle toward the sea with father and child locked in a ghostly grip-the narrative tact, the perfect economy of effect, defy criticism. A detailed technical treatise on the tools, on the routines, on the metaphysics of a specialized skill; the legend of a great hunt after identity, after the salvation of mind and soul out of obsession, the hunter being hunted; a fiction repeatedly interrupted by, and meshed with, a lengthy meditation on the ironic and tragic singularities of American man- the analogies with Moby Dick are patent. Robert Pirsig invites the prodigious comparison. It is at many points, including, even, the almost complete absence of women, suitable. What more can one say?

Life Define Leadership Essay

What is the leadership? I often ask myself. Leadership is a very abstract concepts, some people don’t have a way to go to real life define leadership, even if he is now running a large company even leadership a country. Because of its category is too big. Through a few weeks of classroom study, I gradually with the own leadership definition, began to try to explore what is leadership. Before work experience, also have to lead a team, but have no real system to learn what the leadership is. Below the article I will explain the leadership in my heart. Leadership is a process of getting things done through people, in the textbook, we begin to contact the Leadership of the theory of knowledge, also in class, through a few small games, such as Marshmallow tower, practice Leadership. The textbook says the three types of leadership, democratic, authoritarian, laissez faire, I think, real leadership is difficult to directly will these separate, and they will fusion these types. In different times and different situation, displays the different style, this is the true leaders. If simple to put a person’s leadership types are classified it is very one-sided. We can only say they are more inclined to what kind. For example, I will talk about my personal experience. When I was a universities’ student in China, I opened an e-commerce company, it called Universities’ cell phone union of China and seven people went into business together for the company, they were students too, I was in them as leader. At first, everyone has great enthusiasm, is with a passion of the cavity work, also rely on my personal charm, because we were both have no money, no experience. Many companies have to work things, such as do website, hair handbill, wait a tired of live. But the work is not ideal, the company does not have profit, after period of time, they began to lose patience, lose passion. They all wanted to give up. Someone suggested, just gave it up, and then strive on useless. And this time, as a team leader, you must stand up, with authoritarian way hold on, in the spirit up motivate them, use the positive spirit to inspire them. Let them think we are a team and never give up. To hold on, we will be successful. This is a very often in the startup problem, if the team leader without certain perseverance and decision making, it is difficult to spend the difficulty. Fortunately, we pass the difficulties, the website has begun to have customers, and someone is looking for us to buy cell phones, gradually have profit. But problems also began, the team started seven of the site’s planning the divergence web site is primarily sell mobile phone, but on the web site are beginning to target customers later, they want to sell other things on the site, and cell phone extraneous matter. This time is to do or do all fine. It is hard to the choice. This time, I had a meeting, and let people talk of the company, through the very democratic way to listen to their views, summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each, weigh the advantages and disadvantages and website decided to continue to sell mobile phone, the industry bigger, which is conducive to the next development. Through three years of operation, we market distribution in 20 provinces, under the small team have 300 university student, have the same administrative headquarters, we formed a good few department, the finance department, the Marketing Department, human resources department, technology department, administration department. Form a comparison of the regulation of the company. I can say, the company exercise great leadership skills. Also in the actual experience accumulated a lot of experience for leadership. Leadership means responsibility. It’s adventure and often fun, but it always means responsibility. The leader is the guy the others look to get the job done How to use the leadership knowledge . There are many leadership case analysis, or Project, and emphasizes the grasp of the business world now, after the study of the leadership course, we can easily see clear a enterprise under the surface of the actual operation of the means, the enterprise strategy, culture, capital, etc. Of course these to personal future career will not have a direct function, but it is an indispensable exercise. The future of my leadership From the leadership class let me from thinking came out, let me know a completely different world, let me made clear the idea of starting my own business. I believe the leadership value, also hope to have more students, no matter whether have the class and have joined the innovative team . let us together to do some different things, and not waste their own intelligence and one cavity warm blood. You are not a finished leader. No one ever is, not even a president or prime minister. But you are an explorer of the human mind because now you are going to try to learn how to get things done through people. This is one of the keys to leadership. So I will change my style and try different kinds of leadership style in the classroom. Constantly to experience feel, this is advantageous to the development of future better. I have enjoyed this class that can let me know some different things. The teacher has many ways to help the student know some leadership knowledge like the small games. And you are very easy to master this theory, also easy to define. You can use knowledge be applied to real life. Thank you for the teacher.

Drug Addiction and Drug De-Addiction

Drug Addiction and Drug De-Addiction Free Online Research Papers This study was carried out among the 30 patients at Navjyoti Drug De-Addiction Centre, Delhi. India. In the context of the results and interpretations, the conclusions may be drawn as under: Among the subjects studied, all of them were resident of urban areas. There were equal numbers of married and unmarried patients, while one was divorced. It was seen that almost all of the patients had a very happy childhood and only few of them had experienced parental loss and poverty before the age of 15 years. Interesting thing is that every patient wanted to get rid of his habit and nearly each one of them felt bad about their addiction. Few of them had been arrested by the police in the past for their drug influenced and violent behavior. Among the drugs addicted to, Alcohol was the most addictive; nearly 50% patients were addicted to Alcohol. Proxivon (Pain killer capsule) and Smack had claimed second rank while others that had a few takers were Bhang (CANNABIS), Ganja, Corex (Cough Syrup), Forvin and Aphim. Few patients took more than one drug with observed combination like Alcohol with Smack, Ganja and Aphim; Smack, alcohol and bhang; Smack and Aphim; Alcohol with Corex and with ganja. Mental Stress and work load were the reasons for the addiction in some subjects. Major causes of addiction were bad company and most of the addicts had taken to drugs â€Å"Just for fun†. Medical treatment and spare time and boredom were other few. Another important observation was the influence of family members to encourage addiction. Fathers and brothers were found guilty in almost 50% cases; some claimed even uncle to be their patron. Majority of the patients studied had been from nuclear family. The addicts were mainly from lower middle class family with private job with their father either in own business or with no father. Some patients were from the upper middle class families with either their own business or self employment. Some also came from families with government job and they themselves were working at such posts. Only a few patients were students and a couple of them were unemployed. Majority of the patients were adults between the ages of 20 and 40 years. Few were teenagers while some were from the age group above 40. All the subjects were educated with at least12th class and Graduate certificates while some had even Post-graduate qualification. : Santosh Raut. AIBHAS Amity University Block- C, 3rd Floor, Sector-125, Noida, UP India – 201303 Research Papers on Drug Addiction and Drug De-AddictionThe Fifth HorsemanThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesStandardized TestingMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic Engineering19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito

review of liar liar essays

review of liar liar essays Watching Liar, Liar was effective in showing how todays society lacks honesty. From changing around the facts to just blatantly lying, it showed how much lying is a prt of everyday life. In this movie, Fletcher Reede, played by Jim Carrey, uses lying to win his court cases. What makes him a good lawyer, makes him a bad father as Fletcher finds himself lying to everyone, even his own son Max. Almost every day, Fletcher would promise Max he would pick him up or come over. On Max birthday, Fletcher promised Max he would be at the party. Instead of going to his sons party, he was taking care of business back at his office. Of course, this eventually made such a negative impact on Max that he used his birthday wish to wish that for one day, his dad couldnt tell a lie. The wish actually came true and Fletcher was forced to tell the truth in all that he did. After finally realizing what had happened, he got used to telling the truth and he eventually used the truth to win a big case. During his shenanigans as a lawyer, he had finally realized that when he had twisted the truth and told Virginia Cole, his client, that she was the victim, he was wrong and jeopardized her childrens life with their father. Fletcher finally realized that Virginias ex-husband was a good father, he told the judge that just because he won the case doesnt mean it was right. The judge held Fletcher in contempt and he went to jail. His secretary bailed him out and he rushed to find Audrey and Max who had left for a plane to Boston. He was told that the plane was leaving and he hi-jacked a motorized staircase and he a ttempted to pull-over the plane to stop Audrey and Max from moving. By the time he got the plane to stop, Fletcher struck a barrier and was flying through the air. His son, Max, had come to see Fletcher and Fletcher expressed how he felt. Fletcher real...

Human Capital development Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Human Capital development - Coursework Example nerating new sources of wealth in technology including knowledge-intensive sectors, increasing job creation, giving a lead role to the private sector in the economic development process, inculcating a high performance organisational and societal culture with excellence and expanding the regional and global market for the Malaysian services and products. Thrust two is to enhance the capacity from innovation and knowledge and to nurture first class mentality. The second thrust is comprised of improving the access to and quality of the education system at all levels by making national schools the school of choice, by providing tertiary institutions of international standing, by nurturing top quality research and development and innovation and scientific capability, by empowering youth and women, and by fostering a society with strong social and economic values. Thrust three is to address persistent socio-economic inequalities productively and constructively by eradicating poverty, dimin ishing regional disparity, reducing income disparity, reducing employment disparity, reducing wealth and asset disparity, upgrading competitive Bu miputera entrepreneurs, bridging the digital divide and reviewing the performance of past programmes for effectiveness. The fourth thrust is to enhance the standard and sustainability of quality of life by fulfilling housing needs along with improving urban services, enhancing health care services, upgrading the transportation system, introducing sustainability and sufficiency of energy supply, developing the water delivery system, promoting environmental preservation and protection and sustainable resource management, upgrading the role of arts, culture and heritage in society and developing sporting excellence along with a healthier lifestyle. Thrust five is to strengthen the institutional capacity by promoting good governance, promoting development through international cooperation and upgrading the public service delivery system. The

The Transition Process in Hospital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Transition Process in Hospital - Essay Example Another main strategy is assisting the patients in managing and preventing their health decline. The nurse should assure the patient of extended home follow-ups to the appropriate time. The care given should be consistent and continuous in order to gain confidence from an individual. As a result, proper guidance is facilitated by the nurses in charge (Silvestri, 2010). In addition, nurses should ensure that the medical records are reconciled and well managed. All information regarding the patient’s health progress while at the hospital should be put into durable and easily accessed records. The administration of medication should be conducted at the indicated time and in the right doses. Therefore, the nurse facilitates the availability of medicine at home to avoid situations where improper treatment occurs. Importantly, points of accountability should be established where care is well offered to the patient. Nurses should use professional care and case management coordination for a fulfilling transitional process that effective. The importance of this process cannot be overlooked as it is key to full recovery. Therefore, prioritizing the steps is a vital factor as they all create a safe and clean transition. Many hospitals use the evidence-based model for efficient patient delivery (Silvestri, 2010).

Towards a Democratic Bill of Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Towards a Democratic Bill of Rights - Essay Example According to the essay "Towards a Democratic Bill of Rights" findings dialogue model adopts means of human rights protection, but, it also avoids forms of rights based on the judicial review. This is because; it involves the implementation of a bill of rights which can only be applied by courts. In addition Parliament’s legislative power is also preserved. Alternatively, there is an effective way in the implementation of the bill of rights by applying a democratic model called, Democratic bill of rights (Barry, 2011, p. 78). This model is dependent on political review and democratic processes in the protection and protection of the human rights. Statutory bill of the Democratic bill of rights is developed and recognized through a democratic process. This is to warrants protection of the views of Australian people. The bill of rights will be non-judicial. Relevant to the article to democracy and liberalism, the Australian constitution, federalism or the legislature In Australia , the constitution and the legislature play significant roles in the protection and promotion of the human rights. These human rights are found in the constitution, the common laws and the legislature of Australia. The constitutions offer little support in the protection and promotion of human rights. The parliamentary democracy that exists in Australia is under control by the constitution (Karvelas, 2012). Implementation of the bill of rights through dialogue model hinders democracy, because, courts are responsible for the application of the bill of rights.

Modernization of NTUC income Essay Example for Free

Modernization of NTUC income Essay The problems that NTUC Income faced were that insurance processes were very tedious and paper-based. In Year 2002, their HP 3000 mainframe that hosted the core insurance applications as well as the accounting and management information systems still frequently broke down. Not only that, the HP 3000 backup system allowed restoration to only up to the previous day’s backup data. With experiencing a total of three major hardware failures, it resulted in a total of six days of complete downtime. The COBOL programs developed in the early 1980s also broke down multiple times, halted the systems and caused temporary interruptions. The IT team found that developing new products in COBOL to be quite cumbersome and time taken to launch new products ranged from a few weeks to months. Transaction processing for policy underwriting was still a batch process and information was not available to agents and advisors in real time. The problems that NTUC Income was resolved by the new digital system was that all applications resided on two or more servers, each connected by two or more communication lines, all of which were â€Å"load balanced.† A real time hot backup disaster recovery centre was also implemented where the machines were always running and fully operational. Under the new system, all documents were scanned and stored on â€Å"trusted† storage devices, secured, reliable digital vaults that enabled strict compliance with stringent statutory requirements. Q2:What types of information systems and business processes were used by NTUC Income before migrating to the fully digital system? Before migrating to the new digital system, the entire insurance process was operating manually. All filled up forms by the customers will be submitted by the agent through courier services to the Office Services Department and the collection schedule could delay up to two to three days. Office Services would then log documents, sort, and send to departments for underwriting while proposals were allocated to underwriting staff randomly. For storage, all original documents were packed and sent to warehouses where over two to three days, seven staff would log and store the documents. Whenever a document needed to be retrieved, it would take about two days to locate and ship it by courier and refilling would take another two days. The use of the HP 3000 mainframe was not reliable due to the frequent breakdown, decreasing productivity of the staff and wasted a lot of manpower hours. The COBOL program also encountered technical failures like not having up-to-date information which led to a loss of opportunities of cross product sales. Q3:Describe the information systems and IT infrastructure at NTUC Income after migrating to the fully digital system? After migrating to the fully digital system in June 2003 when Income switch to the Java based eBao LifeSystem from eBao Technology, The software comprised three subsystems which is Policy Administration, sales Management and Supplementary Resources. It has everything they are looking for, a customer-cendric design, seamless integration imaging and barcode technology, a product definition module that supports new products, new channels and changes in business processes. By May 2003, all customization, data migration of Income’s individual and group life insurance businesses and training were implemented and completed. New system was immediately operational on high-availability platform with multiple servers and communication lines. Further to it, its business continuity and disaster-recovery plans were revamped with a real-time hot backup disaster-recovery centre implemented as well. Data was transmitted immediately on the fly from the primary datacentre to the backup machines’ data storage so in the event of the datacentre site becoming unavailable, the operations could be switched quickly to the disaster-recovery site without the need to rely on restoration of previous day data. Lastly, they moved from a manual paper recording system to a totally paperless environment for easy access. Q4:What benefits did NTUC Income reap from the new system? NTUC Income reaped from the new system that the robust architecture had minimized downtime occurrence with all application resided on two or more servers and communication lines. With paperless environment, all documents were scanned and stored in digital vaults and as a result, about 500 office staff and 3,400 insurance advisors could access the system anytime, anywhere and staff members who would telecommute enjoy faster access to information. Because of the straight through processing workflow capabilities and flexibility, there is a 50 percent savings on both the time and cost needed to process policies. Time needed to design and launch new products was cut and reduced from weeks to just days using the table-driven rule based product-definition module. It has also allows Income’s to support agents, brokers and customers to do online services easily. Q5:Moving forward, how could NTUC Income leverage on social networks to acquire service and retain their customers?

Plant Pigments and Photosynthesis

Plant Pigments and Photosynthesis Analysis 1. The solubility and the intermolecular bonds formed between the solute and the solvent are involved in the separation of pigments as it moves through a filter paper. 2. The Rf values would be different if a different solvent was used because the solvent would have different characteristics which affects the capillary action (because the Rf value is distance pigment migrated (mm) / distance solvent front migrated (mm), the capillary action would have a large impact on the Rf value), attraction of solvent molecules to one another, and each pigment will not be equally soluble to the original solvent. 3. The reaction center of photosynthesis contains chlorophyll a. Other chlorophyll a molecules, chlorophyll b, carotenes and xanthophylls capture light energy and transfer it to the chlorophyll a located in the reaction center. Carotenoids also protect the photosynthesis system from damaging ultraviolet rays. Part B Purpose Condition of Chloroplast vs. Rate of Photosynthesis: The purpose of this lab is to observe and measure the effect of boiled and unboiled chloroplast on the rate of photosynthesis of a chloroplast suspension made from spinach leaves. Presence of Light vs. Rate of Photosynthesis: The purpose of this lab is to observe and measure the effect of the presence of light on the rate of photosynthesis of a chloroplast suspension made from spinach leaves. Variables Condition of Chloroplast vs. Rate of Photosynthesis  · Independent Variable: Condition of chloroplast  · Dependent Variable: Rate of Photosynthesis; this will be measured by determining the percent transmittance of each chloroplast suspension.  · Controlled Variables: Amount of DPIP (mL), Temperature ( °C), and Amount of Phosphate Buffer (mL) Presence of Light vs. Rate of Photosynthesis  · Independent Variable: Presence of Light  · Dependent Variable: Rate of Photosynthesis; his will be measured by determining the percent transmittance of each chloroplast suspension.  · Controlled Variables: Amount of DPIP (mL), Temperature ( °C), and Amount of Phosphate Buffer (mL) Hypothesis If the condition of the chloroplast in the suspension was unboiled, and there was light present, then there will be photosynthesis occurring in the cuvette. Photosynthesis the process by which the chloroplast within the leaf cells of green plants use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. In order for photosynthesis to occur, the chloroplast needs to be functioning, and light needs to be present to excite electrons for NADP to bind with. Because unboiled chloroplast and light are both present in cuvette 3, photosynthesis occurred rapidly. But if boiled chloroplast and light were present, photosynthesis would not occur. Boiling the chloroplast would rupture and destroy the chloroplast, therefore ceasing the process of photosynthesis. If unboiled chloroplast was in the cuvette, but light was absent, photosynthesis would not occur. Light is important in the process of photosynthesis. Light striking photosystem II is the cause of the excited electrons that bind to th e NADP, but in this experiment, the compound, DPIP, will be used as a substitute to determine percent transmittance. Therefore, without properly functioning chloroplast and light present, photosynthesis in the cuvette will not occur. Procedure First set up an incubation area that includes a light and a heat sink. Use a 100 mL beaker or flask filled with water to be placed between the light source and the cuvettes. Then, because you need to keep the chloroplast suspension cool, fill a bucket three quarters full with ice. Prepare the cuvettes by wiping all sides clean. Remember to handle them by touching the sides with the ridges. All solutions should be free of bubbles. Place cuvette position with the clear side facing the light source in the colorimeter. Label the caps of the cuvettes with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Then make a foil container and a cap for cuvette 2 and make sure it can be easily removed so you it can be placed into the colorimeter for percent transmittance readings. This will keep the light out of cuvette 2 because it is a control. Remember to replace the foil between readings. Label the provided pipettes â€Å"B† for boiled chloroplast and â€Å"U† for unboiled chloroplast. Obtain the boile d and unboiled chloroplasts. Fill the bulb of each pipette to about one-third its total size. Invert the pipettes and place them in your ice bath. Be sure to keep both chloroplasts on ice at all times. When you are dispensing the chloroplasts into the cuvette, gently shake the pipette to resuspend the chloroplasts. To cuvette 1 add 1 mL of phosphate buffer, 2.5 mL of distilled water, and 3 drops of unboiled chloroplasts; cuvette 2 add 1 mL of phosphate buffer, 1.5 mL of distilled water, 1 mL of DPIP, and 3 drops of unboiled chloroplasts; cuvette 3 add 1 mL of phosphate buffer, 1.5 mL of distilled water, 1 mL of DPIP, and 3 drops of unboiled chloroplasts; cuvette 4 add 1 mL of phosphate buffer, 1.5 mL of distilled water, 1 mL of DPIP, and 3 drops of boiled chloroplasts; cuvette 5 add 1 mL of phosphate buffer, 1.5 mL + 3 drops of distilled water, and 1 mL of DPIP. Link the computer to the colorimeter, and prepare Logger Pro. Add three drops of unboiled chloroplasts to the water and ph osphate buffer as indicated in the table. Cap the cuvette, place it into the colorimeter and use it to calibrate the colorimeter. Finally, add three drops of unboiled chloroplasts to cuvette 2, immediately start your stopwatch, and record the time and transmittance in the data table. Return the cuvette to its foil container and place it behind the heat sink. Add three drops of unboiled chloroplasts to cuvette 3, immediately record the transmittance and time. Add three drops of boiled chloroplast to cuvette 4, and record the time and transmittance. Check and record the transmittance of cuvette 5, which is the control. Record time and transmittance. Remember to check the transmittance of each cuvette at five-minute intervals from when the chloroplasts were added up to 15 minutes. Conclusion Functioning chloroplasts and the availability of light are two important factors for the rate of photosynthesis. Light is needed to excite the electrons from the water molecule. Then the excited electron binds with NADP, or in this case, DPIP. When the DPIP accepts the electron, the compound begins to degrade. A greater concentration of DPIP is easily seen inside a cuvette because of the dark blue dye associated with the DPIP. As DPIP degrades, the color of the chloroplast solution begins to get lighter. A solution without DPIP would be clear. Percent transmittance would be greater if more light passes through the solution in the colorimeter. If a cuvette had functioning chloroplasts and was exposed to light, the DPIP would be breaking down at a faster rate in the controlled time, which would mean there are less DPIP compounds in the cuvette, resulting in a lighter colored suspension; the amount of DPIP is directly related to the shade of the solution. The percent transmittance is de termined from the shade of the suspension; the lighter the solution, the smaller the amount of DPIP remaining. Therefore, the decrease of DPIP in the given time would indicate that photosynthesis is indeed occurring in the cuvette. Our hypothesis is supported by the data because we hypothesized that fully functioning chloroplast with the presence of light would result in the occurrence of photosynthesis. In this experiment, we tested and observed the effect of the condition of chloroplast and the presence of light on the rate of photosynthesis. In cuvette 2, we added unboiled chloroplast and did not allow light to penetrate the cuvette. So we used aluminum foil to block out the light from the light source behind the heat sink. At 0 minutes, the light transmittance was at 17.5%. But 10 minutes later the percent transmittance was at 19.9%. The data indicates that where was a small amount of DPIP reduced. When we removed the cuvettes foil shell to measure transmittance, light was introduced to the suspension. This indicates that the very little photosynthesis that occurred was the result of the light that excited electrons for DPIP to accept during the seconds between the removing and the replacing of the aluminum cuvette castings. In cuvette 3, there was unboiled chloroplast and light introduced to the mixture of distilled water, phosphate buffer, and DPIP. As you can see from the provided data table and graph, at 0 minutes, the transmittance was 18.09%. But 10 minutes later, the percent transmittance rose to 96.26%. Light struck the functioning chloroplast, excited electrons, and caused DPIP to break down as it accepted the electrons. This is evidence of photosynthesis occurring at a very fast rate inside cuvette 3. But 15 minutes later, the transmittance of cuvette 3 was to 96.83%. This shows that the rate of photosynthesis slows down, but this was the cause of the scarce amount of DPIP. The rate of photosynthesis was so fast that it used up almost all of the available DPIP in 10-15 minutes. In cuvette 4, there was boiled chloroplast in the suspension, and light was present. At the initial time, 0 minutes, percent transmittance was at 24.32%. 10 minutes later, the solution had a 28.47% tr ansmittance. There is a slight increase in transmittance, but exposure to light can cause DPIP to break down. If photosynthesis had occurred, it would have occurred at a much faster rate. The data would be similar to cuvette 3s data, but because of the slight increase of transmittance, photosynthesis did not occur. This proves out hypothesis that for photosynthesis to occur, light and functional chloroplast must be present. When the chloroplast was boiled, this destroyed the chloroplast. Therefore, without functioning chloroplast, photosynthesis will not occur. Cuvette 5 was the control; chloroplast was not added to the solution. At 0 minutes cuvette 5 had a transmittance of 25.22%. 10 minutes later cuvette 5s transmittance was 22.60%. This decrease is due to experimental error. Without light, functional chloroplast would be no use. In order for photosynthesis to occur, light must be present to excite the electrons. Because of the absence of light, DPIP will not degrade due to accepting excited electrons, for instance, cuvette 2s data. Without fully functional chloroplast, there will not be any electrons in photosystem II to excite, and the DPIP will not degrade because there arent any excited electrons to bond to, for example, cuvette 4. This data proves that for photosynthesis to occur, fully functional chloroplast and light must be present. Analysis The DPIP will be used to substitute the NADP electron acceptor. When light strikes the chloroplasts, the electrons are boosted to a higher energy level, which will reduce the DPIP, turning it from blue to colorless. The DPIP replaces the NADP molecule. Electrons used to reduce DPIP are obtained when a water molecule is split. The colorimeter in this experiment measures the amount of light received at the sensor across from the light source in the colorimeter. If the chloroplast suspension, which is placed in between the light sensor and the light source, is darker in color, then we can imply that the DPIP in the solution has not yet broken down, which confirms that photosynthesis is not occurring. Darkness inhibits the reduction of DPIP; because the light waves are not exciting the electrons in the chloroplast, the DPIP is not breaking down. Therefore, the DPIP remains in great numbers in the chloroplast suspension. The more DPIP, the darker the solution. Boiling chloroplasts does not affect the reduction of DPIP. When the chloroplast is boiled, it is nonfunctional. Because the chloroplast is nonfunctional, the photosystem II is unable to receive the light and excite the electron. Because the electrons are not excited, the DPIP is not reduced. Chloroplasts that were incubated in the light are able to harness the energy from the light to excite electrons that is then accepted by DPIP. This causes a reduction of DPIP, which makes the originally blue chloroplast suspension to lighten in color. The lighter the solution, the greater the percent transmittance, because more light can pass through the solution in the colorimeter. Chloroplasts that were kept in the dark do not receive light and cannot excite electrons. The DPIP compounds are not broken down, which results in a darker blue suspension. When this is placed into the colorimeter to measure percent transmittance, less light will be able to travel through the suspension due to the dark-blue color of the suspension. Cuvette 1: was used to calibrate the colorimeter. This cuvette did not contain DPIP, which would resemble 100% transmittance because of the lack of dye in the solution. Cuvette 2: contained unboiled chloroplast and was kept in the dark. This was used to confirm that both functional chloroplast and light are needed for photosynthesis to occur because the combination of unboiled chloroplast and the absence of light did not produce a significance increase in percent transmittance. Cuvette 3: contained functional chloroplast and was placed in the light. The significant increase of percent transmittance proves that both functional chloroplast and significant light are necessary for photosynthesis to occur. Cuvette 4: contained boiled chloroplast and was placed in the light. The function of this cuvette was to prove that functional chloroplast and light are needed for photosynthesis to occur, but the small increase in percent transmittance may have been the result due to the light breaking down DPIP. Cuvette 5: did not contain any chloroplast or light. This cuvette was used as a control. It would be used as the â€Å"baseline† when analyzing data because it can reveal any effects that is experienced by the cuvette that did not result from the presence of chloroplast or light.