The Similarities Between Beethoven And Rachmaninoff

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German musician known as one of the few who had a strong influence on classical music. For many, Beethoven is considered the predominant musical composer who formed the bridge between the classical and romantic era. This gave way to romantic composers such as Sergei Rachmaninoff, who is considered one of Russia s finest pianist and romantic composers. Some people may argue that the musical talents of Beethoven cannot be compared to other composers, however, when you compare his personal life with Rachmaninoff; it seems that tragedy had an influence on both their lives. Even though Beethoven and Rachmaninoff lived during different centuries and they came from different countries, they both shared the same passion for creating beautiful music despite the hardships in life. Although some of the differences between Beethoven and Rachmaninoff are evident, the similarities are pronounced. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn Germany on December 16, 1770 and he d ied on March 26, 1827 at the young age of 56 from pneumonia complicated by cirrhosis of the liver and dropsy. In the book The Gift of Music Great Composers and Their Influence by Jane Smith and Betty Carlson, Beethoven was described as a â€Å"short, stout man with a very red-faced, small piercing eyes, and bushy eyebrows† (56). On the contrary, Rachmaninoff was described as a tall man who didn t fit quite fit in. He measured at 6 6 and his giant hands could strike 13 on the keyboard.

Aa Meetings Essay 2 Free Essays

Reaction Paper SAB 110-02 I first attended AA meetings as a requirement while I was in outpatient treatment in 2002. So when I learned that I had to go for a class assignment, I thought I would be comfortable attending a meeting. I was going with the intent on just sitting in the back and listening. We will write a custom essay sample on Aa Meetings Essay 2 or any similar topic only for you Order Now The meetings that I had gone to in the past were held at the treatment center where I was seeking help. For this assignment, I went to a group meeting at a prominent church in south Charlotte. Once inside I was greeted with lots of hugs and handshakes, this is when my plan changed. I was asked if this was my first time attending a meeting with every other introduction. All of the feelings of being nervous I had years ago from going to my first meeting, started coming back on me. This was a large group of middle age men and women, with little or no diversity within the group. The meeting began with the reading of the 12 steps, the 12 traditions followed by the Serenity Prayer. After the readings, one thing that surprised me was how the large group divided up into three different groups. One group for women, an open group for beginners, and a closed meeting for men, I stayed in the closed meeting. The topic of discussion on this night was on recovery and service. While I was listening to people talk about how long they had been in recovery, and how attending meetings several times a week for many years had kept them sober. Others spoke about how they do service work. One gentleman talked about being in recovery and that he felt they were only able to remain sober because they became active in service and helping others. I got involved in the discussion and stated that this was my first time in a meeting in nine years. I felt like the next few people to speak was a direct response to what I had said, it made me feel uncomfortable. I was active in service and unity during my first few years in recovery, but I personally believe that a person should not have to be in recovery for the rest of their life once they become sober. AA works very well for some people, and a lot of people either find it ineffective, or they turned off by it. I respect the opinions and perceptions of those that do. Recovery is not something that you can force on someone. What works one individual made not do the same for someone else. The next meeting I attended was a NA meeting. This was the first time that I had been to a meeting, but I was not nervous attending a meeting. The meeting was held at a different church, but in the same area of the AA meeting. I was quite surprised when I went inside. There was a wide range of diversity in this meeting, as it relates to age, socioeconomic background, profession, educational level, and gender. One thing that was caught my attention was the number of high school age people who were there. The meeting began much like the AA meeting did with the reading of the steps, traditions and the serenity prayer. This was an open discussion meeting. There were two teenagers who were there together, who talked about using the day before. One of them mentioned that they were jealous of their friends at school. The reason she gave was that how her friends could use drugs and maintain self control, but she was the one to lose it. There were a few things in this NA meeting that I learned. First was, when discussing your drug usage or your drug of choice you don`t mention the name of the drug. It was also stated to keep the conversations about narcotics and not alcohol, which surprised me, being that this was my first NA a meeting, I have talked and listened to addicts and recovering addicts many times before but sitting in on a meeting touched me differently. I felt more comfortable attending the AA meeting, mainly because I had been to some in the past. Also the NA meeting did not seem to be as organized as the AA meeting. People would get up and walk out to smoke while someone was talking. Another distraction that took away from the meeting were people talking about other topics other than addiction. Overall the meeting was informative and the people were very nice and like a close knit family. I choose to attend an Al-non meeting, and I enjoyed this experience the best. I did not know what to expect going in, but was put at ease from the kindness shown by the people. This was an opening meeting and open discussion. This group was made up of mostly middle age upper class females, with one couple. They started the meeting with some group business and announcements, after that I thought I was in a AA meeting, The topic was on the holidays and how to cope. When people talked about being in recovery, they were speaking about themselves. I did join in on the discussion and stayed a few minutes after the meeting to ask some questions about the group. I could see myself going back to Al-non for support if I had issues with or was affected by a friend or family member drinking. I got some very good insight and information from all three meeting, but the Al-non seemed to be the one that was the most sincere. Unlike at other meetings for addicts themselves, the 12 steps in this meeting did not seem to take top priority, but rather the group help seemed most important to Al-non. They closed the meeting with the Lord prayer and invited me to come back. How to cite Aa Meetings Essay 2, Essays

Deceit Then and Now Chaucers, The Canterbury Tales, ridicule some common human frailties Essay Example For Students

Deceit Then and Now Chaucers, The Canterbury Tales, ridicule some common human frailties Essay Chaucers, The Canterbury Tales, ridicule some common human frailties. Some of the frailties exposed satirize the church. Two characters whose weaknesses do such are The Pardoner and The Wife of Bath who are manipulative, selfish, and deceitful à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" all characteristics despised by the church. The Pardoner is manipulative in many ways. One is that he can make people believe nearly anything he says. He can get them to believe things will happen, no matter how preposterous they seem. By speaking in Latin, and by using fancy language, he is able to convince people many things, such as if they wear a certain mitten, their grain will multiply. The Pardoner will say whatever he has to in order to make his fortune. The Wife of Bath is selfish. Everything she does is in one way or another for her own good. Three of her husbands were good and two of them were bad. The only reason the good ones are good is because they were old and rich. She wanted a husband who would be her slave. Everything that went wrong, she blamed on her husbands, even if it was her own fault. Both The Pardoner and The Wife of Bath are deceitful in their ways. The Pardoner manages to convince people into believing almost anything he says. The Wife of Bath is basically able to seduce men and get them to marry her. The manipulative actions of The Pardoner and the selfish actions of The Wife of Bath are all deceiving to the church. The deceitful actions of both The Pardoner and The Wife of Bath were against the church. By creating these characters, and showing how people can be manipulative, selfish, and deceitful, Chaucer can reveal what kind of people existed in his time, as well as today.

Second Generation Immigrant

Introduction The socio-political and economic plights of the immigrants have been a subject of social research for a long time; the immigrants are considered the â€Å"lowest† cadre in the social stratum in the United States. Their living conditions reveal an unprecedented poverty.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Second Generation Immigrant specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper seeks to explore the plight of second generation immigrants as compared to the first generation, and to highlight some of the factors that are contributing to the difference in the social well being between the first generation immigrants and the second generation immigrants, in other words, between parents and their children, who seem to be enjoying a relatively â€Å"higher† position in the society. Such a tendency has been attributed to several factors. According to the US Census Bureau Data (2009), it was realised t hat the second generation immigrants enjoy more privileges in terms of education and health. They earn more and are better educated as compared to their foreign-born counterparts, which highlights the fact that life conditions have increased from the first to the second order of immigrants. Immigration policy American Immigration Policy, which sets laws and guidelines used for regulatory purposes, in my opinion, is the strongest factor explaining the socio-economic difference of the second generation immigrants. The level of achievement of the second generation immigrants can be attributed to the immigration policies. The American immigration policy stresses out the fact that anyone who is born on the American territory automatically becomes a citizen of the US; the US citizenship comes with numerous other benefits from the government as opposed to non citizens. This scenario would obviously work for the benefit of the child since he would be entitled to a lot of privileges as oppos ed to the parents who are not original citizens of the US. Social research shows that the Latino second class citizens have the highest enrolment rates in colleges and high school, which affirms the fact that the set policies play a key role. In the acquisition of their citizenship, the Latinos have continued to excel in their undertaking. According to statistics, it is projected that by 2017, there would have been plenty of multiracial Latinos in every key government position as compared to their present occupation of government positions. Cultural assimilation A conflict of cultures is predominant in the lives of the second generation population. The rate at which they adapt and stabilize themselves within the two different cultures attributes immensely to their relatively high level of success. Those who are able to freely blend and adapt to both cultures are more settled and are considered to be more successful as compared to those who take a lot of time to balance between the t wo cultures. Most second generation children are multilingual.Advertising Looking for essay on cultural studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nonetheless, they are subjected to humongous racism and segregation in the society as well, which means that these children become much more sensitive to various social phenomena; this sensitivity leads to an increased self motivation and awareness amongst the second generation, which in turn inflames their desire to achieve success against all odds confronting them. Conclusion The paper has exclusively explored some of the core reasons for a relatively high success of the second generation immigrants in comparison with their parents; it has established why the two mentioned factors have led to high achievement rates in the second generation immigrants and the social issues defining their achievements. This essay on Second Generation Immigrant was written and submitted by user Coleman U. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

St. Johns University Graduate School Application Letter

St. Johns University Graduate School Application Letter Free Online Research Papers St. Johns University Graduate School Application Letter I am certain that a Masters Degree in finance from St. Johns University will propel me to the heights I am certain I can achieve. As the son of two successful professionals, early on I was placed on the path of success; for a time I was uncertain of where I wanted to go and how I wanted to get there. However after successfully graduating from St. Johns University with an extremely high GPA just shy of a 4.0 with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and acquiring a job within St. Johns Universitys IT department I have found myself. I am confident in both place within the world and where I want to go in it and certain MBA will help me get there. Long ago I lacked not only direction but intellectual purpose, a skill I could use as a foundation, to graft my other knowledge onto and around. In middle school I discovered computers, and in them a subject I was naturally gifted in and driven to master. There I began to push the boundaries of my knowledge via exploration and was initially exposed to programming; a subject I ironically initially disdained but grew to love. Though I discovered computers in middle school, my interests grew and blossomed in High School. I attended the Maret School a prestigious private school in Washington, DC. It was there that I began working with networks, Mac computers, and my future passion, the World Wide Web. I was fortunate not only because my high school career coincided with the birth of the Internet but also that academic environment empowered its students and allowed a select few of us to produce the schools Web Site. After Maret I attended Vassar College. Vassar was to be the corne rstone of my adult scholastic career. It was at Vassar College I realized programming to be the next evolutionary step in my passion; however I also realized Vassar was not the best choice for me. Between Vassar and St. John’s I took a year off. After deciding to leave Vassar I was adrift and traveled to Croatia where I worked with a political NGOs. I served as a computer technician and web developer for several Croatian political parties and grassroots organizations. The distance allowed me gain perspective on where I was at that moment and where I needed to go, though I did not yet have all the answers I knew I was ready to begin asking the proper questions. When I returned to the States I began to realize I had been pushed through school my entire life by my parents and family to get a college education. Though confident they were correct I wanted to continue on the path to getting a degree under my own power and would discover my own reasons and passion for getting a college education. In accomplishing this, my professional career started earlier than most, and in fact before my undergraduate career concluded. I wanted a preview of the professional world to see where I would and would not be in the world I chose to never return to school. I had various jobs, some professional many not. However the highlight of the interlude was getting a job at the Council of Better Business Bureau as webmaster. Though by the age of 19 I had a successful job in my desired field I decided to return to school. Knowing that the success I attained was only a fraction of what I could if I returned to school and that the self-contentment I had would eventually run dry unable to progress without a college degree I decided to return to school as I always knew I would. When I returned to academia I applied the knowledge from Vassar using the discipline gained from my year long sabbatical. But where Vassar was the cornerstone, St. Johns University became the realization of my scholastic experience. Unfortunately amidst my scholarly pursuits the Internet bubble burst leaving me without employment. Desperate for work I begrudgingly went to the student employment office certain they would have no work suited for me. However I was shocked when I was told that an opening had just been posted asking for m my exact skill set. Shortly thereafter I had an interview with unforeseen consequences when I met with the then Director of Instructional Technology at the eStudio. To no ones surprise but my own I was an impressive figure professionally. I had been creating and experimenting with web technologies since the birth of the Internet, 8 years of hardware repair and supported by this was a rigorous background in computer science from Vassar reinforced b y St. John’s. She explained that the department was set up to expose faculty to new technologies and assit them in the deployment and creation of technological tools. I accepted the job and led development in groundbreaking web applications. As time progressed my job at the eStudio became an intrinsic part of my college experience to the point that when I eventually reached my goal of attaining a college degree in Computer Science, I was asked to stay on full time. And now after successfully completing my undergraduate I now look to other challenges and opportunities. I would like to attend the Tobin Graduate program for the same reason I retuned to college, because I know I can do more with it. It is my intent to attain success by expanding my skill set to include business. I believe a deep understanding of business concepts coupled with a like understanding of technology will propel me to the top in this digital age. The combination will allow me to pursue to pursue the CIO track within the corporate world. There I can serve as a nexus between the daily business operations and the technology needed to sustain and maximize these operations. I have also always exceded at the exp;aininh the mudteries of tech to non-tech audiences. Research Papers on St. John's University Graduate School Application LetterStandardized TestingTrailblazing by Eric AndersonHip-Hop is ArtPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyGenetic EngineeringEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XComparison: Letter from Birmingham and CritoResearch Process Part OneAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into Asia

HMS Dreadnought - The 1906 Battleship that Changed Everything

HMS Dreadnought - The 1906 Battleship that Changed Everything In the early years of the 20th century, naval visionaries such as Admiral Sir John Jackie Fisher of the Royal Navy and Vittorio Cuniberti of the Regia Marnia began advocating for the design of all-big-gun battleships. Such a vessel would only feature the largest guns, at this point in time 12, and would largely dispense with the ships secondary armament. Writing for Janes Fighting Ships in 1903, Cuniberti argued that the ideal battleship would possess twelve 12-inch guns in six turrets, armor 12 thick, displace 17,000 tons, and be capable of 24 knots. He foresaw this colossus of the seas as being capable of destroying any existing foe though recognized that the construction of such vessels could only be afforded by the worlds leading navies. A New Approach A year after Cunibertis article, Fisher convened an informal group to begin assessing these types of designs. The all-big gun approach was validated during Admiral Heihachiro Togos victory at the Battle of Tsushima (1905) in which the main guns of Japanese battleships inflicted the bulk of the damage on the Russian Baltic Fleet. British observers aboard Japanese ships reported this to Fisher, now First Sea Lord, with the further observation that the Imperial Japanese Navys 12 guns were particularly effective. Receiving this data, Fisher immediately pressed ahead with an all-big-gun design. The lessons learned at Tsushima were also embraced by the United States which began work on an all-big-gun class (the South Carolina-class) and the Japanese who commenced building the battleship Satsuma. While planning and construction for the South Carolina-class and Satsuma began prior to British efforts, they soon fell behind for a variety of reason. In addition to the increased firepower of an all-big-gun ship, the elimination of the secondary battery made adjusting fire during battle easier as it allowed spotters to know which type of gun was making the splashes near an enemy vessel. The removal of the secondary battery also made the new type more efficient to operate as fewer types of shells were needed. Moving Forward This reduction in cost greatly aided Fisher in securing Parliamentary approval for his new ship. Working with his Committee on Designs, Fisher developed his all-big-gun ship which was dubbed HMS Dreadnought. Centered on a main armament of 12 guns and a minimum top speed of 21 knots, the committee evaluated a variety of different designs and layouts. The group also served to deflect criticism away from Fisher and the Admiralty.    Propulsion Including the latest technology, Dreadnoughts power plant utilized steam turbines, recently developed by Charles A. Parsons, in lieu of the standard triple-expansion steam engines. Mounting two paired sets of Parsons direct-drive turbines powered by eighteen Babcock Wilcox water-tube boilers, Dreadnought was driven by four three-bladed propellers. The use of the Parsons turbines greatly increased the speed of the vessel and allowed it to outrun any existing battleship. The vessel was also fitted with a series of longitudinal bulkheads to protect the magazines and shell rooms from underwater explosions. Armor To protect Dreadnought the designers elected to use Krupp cemented armor which was produced at William Beardmores mill in Dalmuir, Scotland. The main armor belt measured 11 thick at the waterline and tapered to 7 at its lower edge. This was supported by an 8 belt that ran from the waterline up to the main deck. Protection for the turrets included 11 of Krupp cemented armor on the faces and sides while the roofs were covered with 3 of Krupp non-cemented armor.   The conning tower utilized a similar arrangement to the turrets. Armament For its main armament, Dreadnought mounted ten 12 guns in five twin turrets. Three of these were mounted along the centerline, one forward and two aft, with the other two in wing positions on either side of the bridge. As a result, Dreadnought could only bring eight of its ten guns to bear on a single target. In laying out the turrets, the committee rejected superfiring (one turret firing over another) arrangements due to concerns that the muzzle blast of the upper turret would cause issues with the open sighting hoods of the one below. Dreadnoughts ten 45-calibre BL 12-inch Mark X guns were capable of firing two rounds per minute at a maximum range of around 20,435 yards. The vessels shell rooms possessed space to store 80 rounds per gun. Supplementing the 12 guns were 27 12-pdr guns intended for close defense against torpedo boats and destroyers. For fire control, the ship incorporated some of the first instruments for electronically transmitting range, deflection, and order directly to the turrets. HMS Dreadnought - Overview Nation: Great BritainType: BattleshipShipyard: HM Dockyard, PortsmouthLaid Down: October 2, 1905Launched: February 10, 1906Commissioned: December 2, 1906Fate: Broken up in 1923 Specifications: Displacement: 18,410  tonsLength: 527 ft.Beam: 82 ft.Draft: 26 ft.Propulsion: 18 Babcock Wilcox 3-drum water-tube boilers w/ Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbinesSpeed: 21 knotsComplement: 695-773 men Armament: Guns 10 x BL 12 in. L/45 Mk.X guns mounted in 5 twin B Mk.VIII turrets27 Ãâ€" 12-pdr 18 cwt L/50 Mk.I guns, single mountings P Mk.IV5 Ãâ€" 18 in. submerged torpedo tubes Construction Anticipating approval of the design, Fisher began stockpiling steel for Dreadnought at the Royal Dockyard in Portsmouth and ordered that many parts be prefabricated. Laid down on October 2, 1905, work on Dreadnought proceeded at a frenetic pace with the vessel being launched by King Edward VII on February 10, 1906, after only four months on the ways. Deemed complete on October 3, 1906, Fisher claimed that the ship had been built in a year and a day. In actuality, it took an additional two months to finish the ship and Dreadnought was not commissioned until December 2. Regardless, the speed of the ships construction startled the world as much as its military capabilities. Early Service Sailing for the Mediterranean and Caribbean in January 1907, with Captain Sir Reginald Bacon in command, Dreadnought performed admirably during its trials and testing. Closely watched by the worlds navies, Dreadnought inspired a revolution in battleship design and future all-big-gun ships were henceforth referred to as dreadnoughts. Designated flagship of the Home Fleet, minor problems with Dreadnought were detected such as the location of the fire control platforms and the arrangement of the armor. These were corrected in the follow-on classes of dreadnoughts. World War I Dreadnought was soon eclipsed by the Orion-class battleships which featured 13.5 guns and began entering service in 1912. Due to their greater firepower, these new ships were dubbed super-dreadnoughts. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Dreadnought was serving as flagship of the Fourth Battle Squadron based at Scapa Flow. In this capacity, it saw its only action of the conflict when it rammed and sank U-29 on March 18, 1915. Refitted in early 1916, Dreadnought shifted south and became part of the Third Battle Squadron at Sheerness. Ironically, due to this transfer, it did not participate in the 1916 Battle of Jutland, which saw the largest confrontation of battleships whose design had been inspired by Dreadnought. Returning to the Fourth Battle Squadron in March 1918, Dreadnought was paid off in July and placed in reserve at Rosyth the following February. Remaining in reserve, Dreadnought was later sold and scrapped at Inverkeithing in 1923. Impact While Dreadnoughts career was largely uneventful, the ship initiated one of the largest arms races in history which ultimately culminated with World War I. Though Fisher had intended to use Dreadnought to demonstrate British naval power, the revolutionary nature of its design immediately reduced Britains 25-ship superiority in battleships to 1. Following the design parameters set forth by Dreadnought, both Britain and Germany embarked on battleship building programs of unprecedented size and scope, with each seeking to build larger, more powerfully armed ships. As a result, Dreadnought and its early sisters were soon out-classed as the Royal Navy and Kaiserliche Marine quickly expanded their ranks with increasingly modern warships. The battleships inspired by Dreadnought served as the backbone of the worlds navies until the rise of the aircraft carrier during World War II.

Financial report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Financial report - Essay Example The company generates more than $100 billion a year out of its profits (Fallowfleld 10 ). McDonald’s is able to reach out all our clients/customers all the time. The bulk of our company’s communication focuses on the products and sales. The company often varies and communicates frequently with our customers based on the type of calls and messages they write. Instead of using promotions and advertisements, they opted to use newsletters and soft-sell messages send directly to clients. This was McDonald’s business strategy to increase its sales of food and franchise around the globe. This was during the battle for supremacy and competition for survival. Because of this, McDonald’s stock price increased during this period as indicated in the chart below. The success of McDonald was largely because of the supportive and well-guided staff as well as committed in producing better results for the company in the right manner such as executing and operating and implementing innovative technologies and utilizing opportunities available (Grez et al., 9). The table below indicates the strong platform in the financial market that the company has ranking them as the best in the US and the World. McDonald is considered as a member of Franchise major companies in the world. Among them are Starbucks and Pizza Hut as well as KFC. The ideal reasons why they are called Franchise majors are that they control more than 26% of world fast food franchise. The chart below indicates the percentage of the Franchise Majors (Yuece 12). The two biggest competitors are Starbucks and Pizza Hut. As indicated from the table below, McDonald has not been left behind line of the key competitors. The company is always doing well as compared to its industry average in contrast to other essential ratios. The company has a high market capitalization than its industry

Squatters Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Squatters - Essay Example squats, work is done in the process of cleaning the rooms, dusting the building, cooking for others and generally, doing something for the benefit of both parties. A job involves an undertaking that one does for creating some income. A job accompanied by a financial ratification that always presented as payment or a salary. For example, some people in the squats had a job of collecting the fifty-cent entrance fee for music. The money they received used for general upkeep while at the squats (PenÃŒÆ'alver and Katyal 37). An ideology behind some people’s decision to participate in a squat bases on one’s goal in life. Some people prefer having the life that they have less work pressure. Work where one has a feeling of self-satisfaction. Squat life has an environment where an individual is free from stress and where one can do something for others and in return feel appreciated. Such setting gives a person the opportunity to contribute positively to the community of the squat people by helping others. Therefore, such characteristics, as identified with squat life, may attract some people to live or participate in a squat. The idea of work feature into life in a squat by the sense that most work here regarded as community service. As from the talk, people spend the whole day doing what they want to do. Work and life in a squat are liberating. Work in squats rather taken as social undertakings that involve the effort to make things better for others. People in such an environment mind a lot about others, as there is a sense of collective responsibility. People come together from different background and end creates a family that they identify with in such squats. They, therefore, seek means of survival collectively as one (PenÃŒÆ'alver and Katyal 40). The squatting experience is fascinating in the sense that people seem to be what they are less expected. First, the life in squats is full of communism. The squatters treat each other as brothers. They listen to music

Logistics and Project Planning Essay Example for Free

Logistics and Project Planning Essay The mission of elc was to provide consumers with access to the Internet at the lowest cost. Despite the excellent support and recognition from the public, elc was experiencing adversity of keeping their business profitable after the Internet Investment bubble burst. The original concept of owning many of the large stand-alone cafes with 250-500 PC terminals at each cafe was not working well. elc undertook a dramatic restructuring of the company by downsizing the cafes. Many of the large, original stand-alone elc stores will be run by franchisees. These franchised stores will become smaller stores which have 20 to 30 PCs terminals at each cafe and with no staff required except for regular maintenance. Less involvement with store operations allows elc to concentrate on activities of their core competence and outsource all the non-core activities. Their core competence was to continue building their ‘easy’ brand and applying the yield management model to the Internet cafe business. Their business goal was to open 4 new franchises per week over the next 3 years. In order to achieve the goal of growing their franchised Internet cafes business, an efficient, flexible and cost-effective logistics system is what they need for the provision of equipment to the franchisee. Since logistics is one of the non-core activities that is perceived as a bottleneck for scalability, the present logistics system of elc will be reviewed and findings of whether to outsource the logistics system will be presented to the management team. Background of easyGroup Stelios Haji-loannou, the founder of easyGroup, is the renowned Greek entrepreneur who utilized his family money to launch a serial of ventures. His first venture, Stelmar Tankers was found in 1992. The company very soon went into the public sector and was listed on New York Stock Exchange. In 1995, he found easyJet. easyJet was a no-frills, low cost airline company and later grew to become the largest no-frill airline in Europe and was listed on the London stock exchange in 2000. Building on the success of easyJet and to extend the ‘easy’ brand further, he formed the holding company easyGroup in 1998. easyInternetcafe was his first venture under the umbrella of the easyGroup. Other companies in the group included easyJet, easyCar, easyCinema, easy. com, easyMoney and easyValue, easyBus, easyPizza, easyCruise, and easyDorm. Low price and no-frill is the key elements of the ‘easy’ brand. Yield Management Model Stelios is an enthusiast of Yield Management Model and he applies the model to his business. According to Wikipedia, yield management is the process of understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue or profits from a fixed, perishable resource (such as airline seats or hotel room reservations). Stelios believes that lowering the price will increase the demands of the customers significantly. By locating all the large internet cafes in high traffic areas, elc aimed to capture the maximum revenue by providing internet services with a variety of price points at different points in time (peak hours or off peak hours). The price for Internet access varies based on demand, raising the price in dollar per hour in mid-afternoon, when stores are nearly full. That gives bargain hunters an incentive to visit in the non-peak hours, when price is dropping. The model is well suited for business with high fixed cost and perishable supply. The large numbers of computer equipments inside the Internet cafes are capital intensive for elc. The empty seats inside the cafe in a certain time period cannot generate any revenue and thus can be said to have perished. elc uses one of their capital proprietary products, CVM, to monitor how seats are occupied and react accordingly, for example by adjusting the price to offer discounts when it appears that large amount of seats are remaining empty. However, this model is not working for elc as it does for airline and hotel industries. The customers’ willingness to pay for using the internet access at theses internet cafe is impulsive and their demands are not easy to predict. The yield management model works well for airlines and hotels mainly because their customers usually plan ahead of time on their journey. Therefore, airlines and hotels are more likely to predict their customer demands and adjust the prices accordingly. They still have time to attract customers by offering last minute deals. But for internet cafes, customers do not make reservation for their usage of Internet in advance. Customer demands are thus very hard to predict. Even though the CVM can adjust the pricing based on the vacancy of the cafe, it is difficult to attract enough customers in a short period of time to fill up the empty usage of the internet access. Since Internet was still a new technology at that time, Internet access was not yet considered to be an essential product. Customers were likely to learn when to visit the cafes so that they can pay less compared to other time period.

Kafkas Metamorphosis Essay -- Metamorphosis essays

Kafka's Metamorphosis "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect" (Kafka 1757). This opening is famous not only for its startling content but also for its calm, matter-of-fact style which then sets the tone for the rest of the story. Along with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and Dante's Inferno, Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" has one of the most-memorized and most attention-catching opening lines. Gregor Samsa feels that he has been treated as a lowly insect and comes to feel that he is one; the story makes the leap from "I feel like an insect" to "I am an insect." Whatever the causes for Gregor feeling this way, these causes have led to his isolation and alienation (the feeling of being a stranger and an alien, even in those places where one should feel at home). Gregor has undergone an ultimate alienation: he is alienated from both his psychological and physical self. Once Gregor's metamorphosis (change) has been accomplished, the story moves inevitably to his death. In many ways, the protagonist (main character) of "The Metamorphosis" and his dilemmas are... ..., his company). We feel a chill to see the authoritarian control over Gregor and how it works itself out in the story. And those of us who know the history of Germany and Czechoslovakia are chilled to see how the events of the story find a parallel in the Nazi politics and the Holocaust that came soon after Kafka's death. Work Cited Kafka, Franz. "The Metamorphosis." Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Maynard Mack et al. 2 vols. Exp. ed. New York: Norton, 1995. Vol. 2. 1757-1791.

Nature of God Essay

Maqamat-e Toyur (The Conference of the Birds) is a book of poems by Attar and is widely appreciated for it narrates the hurdles and levels that one may go through to understand the true nature of God. The tale begins with a group of birds who long and wish to meet the great Simurgh, who is a mythical creature residing far away. The birds then find hoopoe, a leader, and start their journey with his guidance. Their journey inhibits the crossing of seven valleys in order to reach the valley of Simurgh; Aban (Flash), Ishq (Love), Marifat (Gnosis), Istighnah (Detachment), Tawheed (Unity of God), Hayrat (Bewilderment) and, finally, Fuqur and Fana (Selflessness and Oblivion in God). Finally, a group of 30 birds reach the valley of Simurgh, only to see each others reflection in a lake. It is then they realize that the wisdom they seek is not in the mythical creature, but has been in them all along, â€Å"Si-Murgh† meaning 30 birds in Persian. The concept of God existing within is the basic theory of Sufism and Islam; it has also been mentioned in the Holy Quran. The seven valleys even signify the levels that each human seeking the truth must go through. These stages are not only for Sufis but for every Muslim, who wishes to find spiritual enlightenment. Attar has written tremendous texts for Sufism, explaining the depths of Islam with his poems and short stories and providing an insight through his stories. It is said that Attar had a tremendous impact on Rumi and he respected Attar a lot. Rumi is quoted as saying, â€Å"Attar roamed the seven cities of love — We are still just in one alley† (All About Religion). Jamal Ad-Din Al Rumi, has been the most well known Sufi poet and author around the world. Although he was a man with extensive knowledge about Islam, and all his theories and texts are based upon Islamic teachings, his work has been credited by people from various religions. Rumi was born in 1207, in the contemporary Afghanistan. Duing the era in which he was born, there was extensive violence caused by political and social causes. After which the 13th century came into being and brought the threats of crusades by the Mongols, Rumi and his family travelled to the west to find refuge. During his journey, he passed by Iran, Damascus and even performed pilgrimage at Mecca. While in Nishapur, Rumi met Attar and was deeply moved by Attar’s wisdom about Sufism. After that Rumi finally settled in Karaman and started preaching at the local mosque and teaching at the madressah. â€Å"This is where he met Shams-e-Tabrizi, an unorthodox eccentric scholar, who inspired Rumi by his intense spiritual presence. After this meeting, Rumi quit his academic workings and start writing Sufi poetry. All Rumi’s poems have the search of the truth and union with God as the common ground, and love is the most mentioned word in his poems. Rumi’s words do not just provide a great insight for a person but also carry several meanings at once† (Janghda, 157). A series of six books by the name of Masnavi-I Ma’navi (Rhyming Couplets of Profound Spiritual Meaning) which include 424 stories, is one of the most well known texts of Rumi. These stories narrate the struggle of man in search of truth and ultimate wisdom leading to God. As Rumi believed that ultimately every human on this earth seeks out to a higher purpose, to search for something that exists among the material of this world, a higher purpose that can lift the human soul to higher ground. Masnavi-I Ma’navi is referred to as â€Å"the roots of the roots of the roots of the (Islamic) Religion† by Rumi (Arbery, 89). It has also been translated in many languages and is widely accepted as prime Sufi literature. Masnavi-I Ma’navi’s stories such as, â€Å"Why the Saints take refuge in mountains and caves† and â€Å"The Prophet’s vision of Gabriel in his real form† described the essence of Islam and describe the depths of religion. Sufis have written tremendous books in the forms of poems, stories and travelogues. All these contributions have enabled people to better understand Islam in the light of mysticism. These literatures have allowed people to look into the teachings of Islam and understand them on a superior level. As Islam is a religion of peace and love, Sufism and its literature has promoted the religion of love throughout the world. The words of Rumi, Attar and many others have spread Islam through literature, because of these men of peace, Islam kept on spreading across the world without any exceptions of cultural differences. â€Å"It is said that Rumi’s funeral went on for 40 day, in which Muslims, Jews, Christians and Hindus all came to pay their tribute. As he did not promote hatred for people who did not follow his religion or disagreed with him, but according to the teachings of Islam, Rumi preached tolerance and unity of all human kind† (Janghda, 163). Nowadays that Islam has been given a bad name by the fundamentalists across the world, as they have reformed and used religion for their own agenda. The words of Sufis still echo and call for peace and love amongst all religions and races through their literature. A man seeking for wisdom and the truth will always find it in the message of Sufis, a young girl shall always find peace in a short tale of the mystic Sufi and a scholar will always question his logic when reading the swirling verses of Sufis. Arbery, Arthur J.. Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam. London: Dover Publications, 2002. A. A. Janghda. â€Å"Sufism. † Hiba 10. 54 (2001): 144-163. All About Religion. 03 Jun. 2009. Religion FAQ’s At All About Religion. 14 Feb 2009 http://www.allaboutreligion.org/sufism.htm

Biodegradable Plastics Contribution To Global Methane Production Environmental Sciences Essay

Industry of biodegradable Plastics is a freshly emerged sector, which originated to plan degradable plastics by common biological beings such as, bacteriums, algae and Fungi. Invention of bioplastics specifically resulted to suppress the monopoly of petrochemical plastics in the market since ; petrochemical plastics have become a onerous issue due to economic emphasis, environmental impacts and resource deficit caused by use of non-renewable crude oil oil. Since biodegradable plastics are designed to degrade in the biological environments, the most common and executable method of terminal of life scenario is landfills. Objective of the present survey is to gauge maximal extra methane coevals via biodegradable plastics under landfill anaerobiotic conditions. Literature was reviewed on presently available types of biodegradable plastics, single polymers comprised, production capacity ( twelvemonth 2007 ) and methane production informations from single polymers. Empirical information fo r methane coevals were based on the published experimental literature on single polymers under research lab simulated landfill conditions utilizing thermophilic anaerobiotic sludge digestion. Methane coevals in organic molecules was theoretically calculated based on derived presently available chemical equations, presuming standard temperature and force per unit area conditions. Global methane part by biodegradable plastics was calculated merely utilizing theoretical values since no sufficient informations were available at experimental conditions. Study demonstrates 0.011 % of planetary part of methane by biodegradable plastics if full production capacity in twelvemonth 2007 is assumed to be landfilled and wholly biodegraded. 1.52 % of methane is contributed to planetary emanations, if 90 % of petrochemical plastics are substituted by biodegradable plastics, which the per centum of petrochemical plastics could be technically substituted harmonizing to the studies of PROBIP ( 2009 ) . In comparing of theoretical and experimental informations, experimental information was in the scope of 55.9- 68.84 % upon theoretical informations. The estimated values demonstrate a low degree of methane emanation compared with other anthropogenetic methane beginnings, showing a negligible impact to planetary methane emanation and/or planetary heating by biodegradable plastics. Introduction Plastics are man-made, typically long concatenation polymeric molecules. Substitution of natural stuffs by plastics came about to the scenario back in 1907 after innovation of man-made polymer â€Å" Bakelite † from phenol and methanal ( Thompson et al. , 2009 ) . Improvement of the synthesis methods and techniques have ameliorated the quality of plastics with more stable and lasting belongingss ( Shah et al. , 2008 ) . Today plastics have become an indispensable portion of the worlds ‘ life peculiarly due to their extended usage in packaging, cosmetics, chemicals, and detergents. Plastics we use today are synthesized stuffs extracted from rough oil, coal and natural gas ( Seymour, 1989 ) which is termed as Petroleum based plastics. Property of high doggedness ( really slow biodegradation rate ) of plastics have created being immune to environmental degradability which mounted social consciousness and concerns of proper disposal and direction ( Albertsson et al. , 1987 ) . Wide assortment of plastics are manufactured including polypropene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polythene, polyurethane and rayonss with estimated planetary production of about 140million dozenss per twelvemonth ( Shimao 2001 ) . Therefore inordinate utilizations of plastics have exerted a immense force per unit area globally in footings of salvaging of confined petroleum oil, waste disposal and direction, and environmental diversion. To get the better of the jobs related to petroleum based plastics attending of scientists have devoted their attending that lead to advance research activities to give rise to alternate stuffs, intended to degrade through biological procedures ( Shah et al. , 2008, Lenz and Marchessault, 2004, Amass et al. , 2001 ) . A new type of thermoplastic polyester was foremost produced by Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd- London in 1982, which was considered to be wholly biodegradable ( Anderson and Dawes, 1990 ) . The invented merchandise is known as biodegradable plastic since, it ‘s degraded by environmentally available micro-organisms. Term Bioplastic ( BP ) is perplexingly used today to construe bio-based and bio-degradable stuffs. However the survey will chiefly see on the Biodegradable plastics ( BDP ) , which is intended to utilize as a promising solution for the crude oil based plastics. Harmonizing to ASTM definition of BP, BP is a degradable plastic in which the debasement con sequences from the action of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteriums, Fungis, and algae ( Narayan, 1999 ) . Many different types of BPs have been successfully produced and have invaded the market during past few old ages. BPs are synthesized utilizing works extracted polymers or usage of growing of micro-organisms. Tailoring the belongingss of works extracted polymers via chemical alteration of the chief polymer by hydrolysable or oxidisable groups and utilizing polymer blends ( Amass et al. , 1998 ) have amended BP to utilize in a wide scope of applications contained with novel and good features. The primary end expected over innovation of BPs was the environmental concerns including waste direction, decrease of nursery gas release, and salvaging of non-renewable energy ( petroleum oil and gas ) . Apart from that secondarily, economic facets and new proficient chances came into scenario ( PROBIP, 2009 ) . Today BPs are popular compounds used in packaging stuffs, wetting agents, as biomedical stuffs ( eg: lesion dressings, drug bringing, Surgical implants ) , and agricultural compounds ( eg: command the fertiliser and pesticide release ) . BPs used as packaging stuffs has led to first-class direction scheme chiefly to forestall environmental accretion ( Amass et al. , 1998 ) . Merely 0.3 % ( 0.36 million metric dozenss ) of the world-wide production of conventional plastics has replaced by biodegradable plastics by the twelvemonth of 2007. In twelvemonth 2007 universe plastic coevals was reported as 205 million dozenss ( Gervet and Nordell. , 2007 ) . However 90 % of the conventional plastics are estimated the per centum is capable of technically substituted by BPs. There is an rush in coevals of bio based plastics globally that resulted in an estimated planetary growing of 38 % from 2003 to 2007 ( PROBIP, 2009 ) . Initially when BPs were come ining to the market ( 1990 ) no standard processs were existed to look into the biodegradability of the plastics. To forestall misconceptions with biodegradability of BPs, criterions have been developed by standard organisations to place the actual biodrgradability of BPs in trade good ( Mohee et al. , 2007 ) . At the terminal of the service life BPs wind up in landfills, anaerobiotic intervention workss or composting installations. Based on the degradable belongingss and the belongingss of the material terminal of life, the options vary. Landfill disposed BPs will finally undergo anaerobiotic biodegradation where, the stuffs are disintegrated to methane, C dioxide, H sulfide, ammonium hydroxide, H and H2O as a consequence of series of microbic metabolic interactions ( ATSDR, 2010 ) . Methane gas is a well-known and of import by merchandise which public attending has paid as a planetary heating gas and besides as an economically feasible biofuel. The surv ey is a preliminary effort to look into the degrees of extra methane gas released if terminal of life option is chosen to be a landfill utilizing normally available types of BPs globally, with different biodegradability degrees.Back landTypes of BPs Literature studies legion types of BPs in the market today, such as amylum plastics, Poly glycolic acid ( PGA ) , Poly lactic acid ( PLS ) , poly lactic acid-co-glycolic acid, poly 3- hydroxybutanoate ( P3HB ) , Poly 3- hydroxyl valerate ( PHV ) , Polyethylene succinate ( PES ) , Poly butylenes succinate, Poly propiolactone ( PPL ) , starch blends, etc ( Figure 1 ) ( Shah et al. , 2008, PROBIP, 2009 ) , derived from renewable resources such as amylum, works based oils, or cellulose ( Beta analytic, 2010 ) . The survey covers 5 major groups of BDPs presently available in the market with inside informations on different makers engaged in fabricating procedure ( Table 1 ) . Except these chief groups mentioned, chitin ( polyose ) , protein ( collagen, casein ) , and amino acid based BDPs are manufactured in undistinguished degrees, which are non covered in this survey. Main group of polymer contributes the planetary BP production is Cellulose plastics, which the production capacity is ab out 4000Mt per annum. To be considered as a bioplastic, it should be certified lawfully through criterions, EN 13432 or EN 14995 in Europe, ASTM D-6400, ASTM D6868, ASTM D6954, ASTM D7081 in United States, DIN V4900 in Germany or ISO 17088 in other states ( Beta analytic, 2010, ASTM, 2010 ) . As mentioned earlier all BPs are non biodegradable and the biodegradability is based basically on the molecular construction of the compound. ASTM D-6400 requires 60-90 % decomposition of BPs within 180 yearss in natural environment in order to be considered as a biodegradable plastic. ASTM has demonstrated both aerophilic and anaerobiotic criterion methods to place ( severally in composting environments and anaerobiotic digestion procedures ) the extent of biodegradability of BDPs ( Narayan, 1999 ) . Decomposition Degradation and possible degradability of a peculiar BDP varies depending on the environment exists: anaerobic or aerobic ( Ishigaki et al. , 2004 ) . Based on the debasement belongings of a peculiar BDP, terminal of life option should be chosen, whether it is to be disposed in a landfill or composting installation. Different types of dirt micro-organisms ( bacteriums and Fungis ) are responsible for the biodegradation of different types of BPs specifically ( Shah et al. , 2008 ) . Rate and procedure of biodegradation of BPs rely on the Soil belongingss, nature of the pretreatment, features of the polymer such as tactual sensation, mobility, molecular weight, functional groups present, additives, handiness and optimum growing of specific micro-organisms ( Artham and Doble, 2008, Glass and Swift, 1989, Gu et al. , 2000 ) . Initially biodegradation starts with decomposition of the polymer via physical and biological forces. Some fungous hyphae are able to perforate the polymer construc tion and cause clefts and swelling of the stuff ( Griffin, 1980 ) . Heating, chilling, stop deading melt, wetting and drying like physical forces besides contribute the mechanical debasement procedure ( Kamal and Huang, 1992 ) . By and large high molecular weighted polymers have a lesser possible to biodegrade than the low molecular weighted compounds. Broadly extracellular and intracellular microbic enzymes are responsible for biodegradation procedure, and so converted into oligomers, dimers and monomers which can be easy penetrable into bacterial cells. Therefore utilizes for bacterial energy production let go ofing CO2, CH4, and H2O ( Hamilton et al. , 1995, Gu et al. , 200 ) . Present survey will be given accent landfills, as the terminal of life clip option. Less information is available on the biodegradation of BDP in landfill anaerobiotic conditions than aerophilic composting. Thence more probes have to be implemented and few have been reported ( Yagi et al. , 2009 ) . In a l andfill high per centum is readily degraded by anaerobiotic communities in anoxic conditions. As a consequence of series of physical, chemical, cubic decimeter and biological reactions that take topographic point in a landfill, landfill gas is produced, with changing composings based on the type of waste contained ( Barlaz et al. , 1990 ) . Anaerobic debasement of C, Hydrogen and Oxygen incorporating substance is given by the Buswell equation as follows ( Yagi et al. , 2009 ) . CnHaOb + ( n- a/4 – b/2 ) H2O ( n/2 + a/8 – b/4 ) CH4 + ( n/2 – a/8 + b/4 ) CO2 ( A ) Anaerobic decomposition of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen incorporating substance is given as follows ( Behera et al. , 2010 ) . CaHbOcNd + ( ( 4a-b-2c+3d ) /4 ) H2O ( ( 4a+b-2c-3d ) /8 ) CH4 + ( ( 4a-b+2c+3d ) /8 ) CO2 + vitamin D NH3 ( B ) CO2 and CH4 are the chief gaseous substances released during anaerobiotic debasement of any compound. Methane produced in landfills is recovered as an energy beginning where provides an economic advantage. However if non recovered, methane would readily come in to the ambiance, which is listed as one of the major subscriber to planetary heating. Methane is an effectual heat pin downing agent in the ambiance and over 20 times more powerful than CO2 ( USEPA, 2010 a ) . Surveies have reported on methane outputs obtained via anaerobiotic biodegradation for few polymers ( Cellulose ester, Polycaprolactone and Poly lactic acid ) and most are yet to be studied.Methane as a potent planetary heating gasGlobal heating is understood as the chief causing of planetary clime alteration. Global heating is caused due to increase of green house gases in the ambiance such as Carbon dioxide, methane, Nitrous oxide, and H2O vapour ( US composting council, 2009 ) . Methane is considered as a green house gas with high heat pin downing capacity which lasts about 9- 15 old ages in the ambiance. Global warming possible ( GWP ) of green house gases are represented in relation to a mention gas, CO2, where GWP is considered as 1. Global warming potency of methane gas is 21 which infers, 21 times more effectual heat pin downing agent than CO2. Methane is emitted to the ambiance chiefly from anthropogenetic and natural beginnings. 50 % of methane in the ambiance is attributed to anthropogenetic beginnings such as fossil fuel burning, biomass combustion, rice cultivation, carnal farming, and waste direction. Contribution of anthropogenetic methane to planetary green house gas emanation was 282.6 million dozenss in the twelvemonth 2000 ( 22.9 % ) as declared by USEPA ( 2006 ) . Natural beginnings of methane emanations include emanations from wetlands, permafrost, white ants, oceans wild fires and fresh H2O organic structures. Degrees of methane emitted from each part or state depends on facto rs, such as climatic conditions, industrial and agricultural lands, energy type used and godforsaken direction processs. Largest methane emanation homo related beginnings in USA are landfills, carnal farming, and manure direction where the 2nd highest of the list goes to landfills. In the facet of planetary methane production, landfills attributed the 3rd highest beginning of emanation and globally methane part by landfills was over 12 % for twelvemonth 2000 ( USEPA, 2010 B ) . Organic compounds in a landfill, upon decomposition release methane as mentioned above and recent appraisal suggests that 72 % of MSW watercourse contained with organic substances: paper, nutrient garbages, yard dust, textiles/ leather, and wood. Percentages of each MSW constituent landfilled was severally, 34 % , 12 % , 13 % , 7 % , and 6 % ( US composting council. , 2009 ) . Thus methane coevals from each MSW constituent may be assumed being in the same order as above from each MSW constituent, since methan e production is relative to the C sum in an organic substance. Thus paper is the chief methane gas subscriber to the ambiance from a landfill while others play a minor function. BDPs is fresh emerging organic compound set in the landfills and besides a new planetary beginning of methane breathing from a landfill.Gas Generation theoretical accountLandfill gas appraisal is utile for landfill operators, regulators, energy users and energy recovery undertaking proprietors to look into how gas is produced and recovered in a peculiar clip period. USEPA has generated a Landfill methane gas appraisal theoretical account to imitate the gas production in landfills utilizing first order decay curve, which is written as, M ( T ) = M0 vitamin E -kt. Where M ( T ) is the mass of a batch waste staying at any clip, M0 is the initial mass of waste, K is the decay rate ( clip -1 ) and T is the clip since decay was begun. Gas production is straight correlated to mass doomed, which is termed as L0 ( M3 of methane per metric ton of waste ) . Entire Volume of gas ( G0 ) that can be produced by the debasement of mass of weight ( M0 ) is, calculated utilizing the equation, G0 = L0 M0. BDP is a freshly emerging landfill constituent which contributes the planetary methane coevals. The survey will supply an appraisal of extra methane produced upon this new reaching.MethodsStudy was based on appraisal of extra methane gas sum produced from landfills with subsequent outgrowth of BDPs to the market. Literature was reviewed related to trade name names, measure, polymer types incorporated and biodegradability ( particularly in footings of methane production ) of BDPs normally found in the planetary market ( Table1 and Table 2 ) . Manufacturer and measure informations obtained were associated with the twelvemonth 2007. This survey has considered merely biobased and non biobased BDPs and not degradable bio based or non biobased plastics have non been used for analysis as they are incapable of degrade in a landfill and release methane. Study was carried out in 4 stairss. Measure 1: Methane production per twenty-four hours was calculated utilizing published experimental informations on methane gas production in fake landfill conditions presuming entire manufactured BDPs were being landfilled ( Table 2 ) . Biodegradability of a peculiar BDP is likely to change based on the per centums of single polymers contained in the blend. Although production capacity was available in regard to a peculiar trade name name, no production informations was available for single polymers individually. Since a peculiar manufacturer industries different types of BDP stuffs related to fabric, agribusiness, biomedical points and packaging, per centums of single polymers used for blends vary mostly from each other even within the same trade name name. Therefore it ‘s hard to nail a distinguishable per centum for each polymer in a peculiar BDP being manufactured. Further information on per centums of each polymer are neither readily available from the makers ‘ web sites nor descriptive surveies have done sing per centums. Therefore trade name names with multiple polymer types were assumed to be every bit distributed, therefore manufactured capacity from each polymer was obtained by averaging the manufactured capacity of the peculiar trade name name. Most published literature was based on the biodegradability of single polymer types instead than the biodegradability of a peculiar trade name name except for Mater Bi amylum BDP ( Mohee et al. , 2007 ) . Measure 2: Methane production per twenty-four hours was calculated utilizing theoretical stoichiometric methane production informations presuming entire biodegradation of the compound and entire manufactured BDPs ( 2007 ) were being landfilled. Trade names with multiple Numberss of polymers, per centums of single polymers are assumed every bit distributed as mentioned in step1 ( Table 3 ) . Methane gas sum released is theoretically calculated utilizing the chemical equations ( A ) and ( B ) . Maximum biogas ( CO2, CH4 and NH3 ) sum produced by debasement of 1 kgs ton of Poly lactic acid ( ( C2H4O2 ) N ) was calculated to be 7.5 ten 10 5 M3 ( ( 106/60 ) x 22.4x 2 ) at standard temperature and force per unit area. CH4: CO2 ratio for poly lactic acid is 1:1. Theoretical maximal volume of CH4 produced calculated harmonizing to the combined gas jurisprudence was reported to be 3.73 ten 10 5m3, presuming entire biodegradation of the compound. Table 3 displays the maximal theoretical methan e volume produced at standard temperature and force per unit area for C, H, O and N related polymers intended to discourse in this survey. Measure 3: Maximal methane production was calculated sing the sum of BDPs being landfilled per twelvemonth when 90 % ( the possible sum that can be technically substituted by BPs from petrochemical plastics in usage today ) of petrochemical plastics were substituted over BPs. All BDPs produced are assumed to be readily ( during a period of twelvemonth ) biodegradable in this scenario. Measure 4: Contribution of landfilled BDPs to planetary methane emanation was calculated utilizing the entire methane emanation informations obtained from measure 3 and step 4.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONDatas on methane coevals ( Table 2, step 1 ) was obtained from published experiments on anaerobiotic decomposition of single polymer compounds, imitating landfill, thermophilic conditions by utilizing anaerobiotic sludge as the medium in controlled research lab conditions. However, since different writers have used different conditions with different types of sludges and diversed microbic communities, ( affects diverseness of microbic communities ) ( Abou-Zeid et al. , 2004 ) would impact the dependability of the survey in using the values for comparing, due to debut of many prejudices. It was non possible to gauge planetary methane production based on published experimental informations since sufficient informations were non available to cover a sensible figure of polymers attended this s urvey. However, appraisal for planetary methane production from BDPs was able to obtained by utilizing theoretical computation to near the aims as showed in measure 2, Table 3 ( see appendix for computations ) . If assumed the full manufactured BDPs in twelvemonth 2007 were landfilled and entire landfilled is wholly biodegraded, the methane sum produced was calculated to be 8.31 ten 10 8m3. Global part resulted was 0.011 % in this scenario ( see appendix ) . MSW watercourse is declared to be composed of 205 million dozenss of petrochemical plastics in twelvemonth 2003 ( Garnet and Nordell, 2007 ) . The sum of BDPs that could perchance replace to petrochemical plastics was calculated to be 184.5 million dozenss. Assuming equal proportions of different BDPs tabulated in Table 2 are being landfilled, the sum of methane released is calculated to be 1.06 ten 1011m3 / twelvemonth. 90 % permutation scenario is an appraisal undertaken to understand whether methane released causes important part to planetary anthropogenetic methane gas emanation, in its maximal degree of BDP industry. The scenario is responsible for 1.38 % of planetary methane part. This was 116 % of entire landfill methane coevals based on the twelvemonth 2006 sum methane emanation ( USEPA, 2006 ) , which is higher than the entire current landfill methane coevals. The values were obtained on the footing of 2007 BDP industry informations nevertheless expected entire plastic production will besides be raised seemingly at the clip of 90 % permutation petrochemical plastics upon BDPs. Entire BP production capacity amounted to be in twelvemonth 2020 is 1.5-4.4 million dozenss ( PROBIP 2009 ) . In comparing of the methane outputs ( m3/kt ) from theoretical stoichiometric computations and research lab measurings ( Table 4 ) , extremely vary. It is obvious that, experimental methane production in laboratory conditions is lower than the theoretical information. Percentage of experimental methane emanation was in the scope of 55.9-68.84 % of the theoretical values, when compared the methane emanation degrees of available experimental informations ( PCL and PCL ) . Methane sums will be farther diminished if methane emanation is calculated sing the experimental information. Efficiency of biodegradation procedure occur in a landfill governs the rate and sum of methane generated into the ambiance. Numerous factors such as size of waste atom, composing of waste, pH, temperature, design of the landfill, foods and as the most of import factor wet control the methane emanation in a landfil ( Micales and Skog, 1996, Augenstein and Pacey, 1991 ) . Rathje and Murphy ( 1992 ) have demonstr ated mummification of garbage under degrees where, a landfill does non have optimal degree of wet hindering debasement or methane release ( Barlaz et al. , 1987 ) . Bogner and Spokas ( 1993 ) have shown that C transition value of 25-40 % for even readily degradable stuffs in a landfill and Aragno ( 1988 ) reported 35-40 % organic affair debasement to Carbon dioxide and methane under ideal laboratory conditions. However in the present survey Methane coevals resulted was higher than the published literature, showing higher methane emanations from BDPs than other beginnings such as wood, paper, etc. Therefore under existent landfill conditions released methane sums is lesser than the controlled research lab obtained values as confirms by published informations and informations from the present survey. Further debasement procedure in a landfill takes topographic point over decennaries of periods and even after 20-30 old ages of period big measures of non-degraded parts have been observe d even for readily degradable stuffs ( Micales and Skog, 1996 ) . Therefore methane outputs per twelvemonth should be more lessen than the quoted values in the survey. Efficient and effectual usage of landfill methane as a good fuel or enrgt beginning would farther relieve the methane release into the ambiance in landfills ( Gregg, 2010 ) .SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSThe survey estimates maximal extra planetary theoretical methane resulted from decomposition of BDPs which is a fresh methane beginning emerged from landfills. Result suggest that the planetary part of BDPs to methane coevals is relatively less compared with other anthropogenetic beginnings. However in comparing of the methane emanation from BDPs, with other landfill constituents, BDPs are likely to lend a considerable sum of methane, which demonstrated the highest sum of methane emanation other landfill constituents. Experimental information groundss an overestimate of the theoretical estimations. Study has come across with many premises in each word picture scenario, which weakens the appraisal. However survey provides an appraisal of the extra methane gas released globally due to BDP landfilling, where no surveies or appraisals have done so far in a maximal possible logical and scientific manner using available informations. Further surveies on single polymer debasement are indispensable in order to beef up and verify the consequences obtained for sound actual appraisals.MentionsATSDR ( Agency for Toxic substances & A ; Disease Registry ) . 2010. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/landfill/html/ch2.html. Accessed July 2010. Albertsson, A. C. , Andersson, S. O. , Karlsson, S. 1987. The mechanism of biodegradation of polythene. Polym Degrad Stab 18,73-87. Amass, W. , Amass, A. , Tighe, B. 1998. A reappraisal of biodegradable polymers: Used, Current Developments in the synthesis and word picture of biodegradable polyesters, blends of biodegradable polymers and Recent progresss in biodegradation surveies. Polymer international. 47, 89-144. Anderson. A. J. , Dawes, E. A. 1990. Happening, metamorphosis, metabolic function and industrial utilizations of bacterial polyhydroxyalkaonates. Microbiol Rev. 54:4, 450-472. Aragno, M. 1988. The landfill ecosystem: a microbiologists look inside a â€Å" black box † . In the Landfill. Lecture notes in Earth Sciences # 20, erectile dysfunction. P. Baccini. Springer Verlag. New York. 15-38. In: Micales, J. A. , Skog, K. E. 1996. The decomposition of Foresy merchandises in landfills. International Biodeterioration & A ; Biodegradation 39. 2-3. 145-158 Artham, T. , Doble, M. Biodegradation of Aliphatic and Aromatic Polycarbonates. Macromol Biosci 2008 ; 8 ( 1 ) :14-24. ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital library. 2010. ASTM international. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.astm.org/DIGITAL_LIBRARY/TOPICS/PAGES/section08_stds.htmHYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.astm.org/DIGITAL_LIBRARY/TOPICS/PAGES/section08_stds.htm Accessed October 2010 † Accessed October 2010. Augestein, D. , Pacey, J. 1991. Landfill methane theoretical accounts, Proceedings from the Technical Sessionss of SWANA ‘s 29th Annual International Solid waste expounding, SWANA, Silver Spring, MD. 87-111. In: Micales, J. A. , Skog, K. E. 1996. The decomposition of Foresy merchandises in landfills. International Biodeterioration & A ; Biodegradation 39. 2-3. 145-158. Barlaz, M. A. , Ham, R. K. , Schaefer, D. M. 1990. Methane production from Municipal garbage: A reappraisal of sweetening techniques and microbic kineticss. Environmental Science and Technology. 19, 6. 557-584. Barlaz, M. A. , Milke, M. W. , Ham, R. K. 1987. Gas production parametric quantities in healthful landfill simulators. Waste manag. And Res. 5, 27-39. Bertoldi. M. , Sequi, P. , Lemmes, B. 1996. The Science of composting. 1st edition, Glasgow. Chapman & A ; Hall. Beta analytic Corporation. 2010. & lt ; hypertext transfer protocol: //www.betalabservices.com/biobased.html. Accessed october 2010 & gt ; . Bogner, J. , Spokas, K. 1993. Landfill CH4: rates, destinies and function in planetary C rhythm. Atmosphere. 25. 369-386. Gervet, B. , Nordell, B. 2007. The usage of rough oil in plastic devising contributes to planetary heating. Renewable energy research group, Division of Architecture and Infrastructure, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden. Glass, J. E. , Swift, G. 1989. Agricultural and Synthetic Polymers, Biodegradation and Utilization, ACS Symposium Series, 433. Washington DC: American Chemical Society. 9-64. Gregg, J. S. 2010. national and regional coevals of municipal residue biomass and the future possible enemy waste-to-energy execution. Biomass and Bioenergy. 34. 379-388. Griffin, G. J. L. 1980. Man-made polymers and the life environment. Pure Appl Chem. 52. 399-407. In: Shah, A. A. , Hasan, F. , Hameed, A. , Ahmed, S. 2007. Biological debasement of plastics: A comprehensive reappraisal. Biotechnology Advances. 26, 246-265. Gu, J. D. , Ford, T. E. , Mitton, D. B. , Mitchell, R. Microbial debasement and impairment of polymeric stuffs. 2000. In: Revie W, editor. The Uhlig Corrosion Handbook. 2nd Edition. New York: Wiley.. 439-60. In: Shah, A. A. , Hasan, F. , Hameed, A. , Ahmed, S. 2007. Biological debasement of plastics: A comprehensive reappraisal. Biotechnology Advances. 26, 246-265. Hamilton, J. D, Reinert, K. H, Hogan, J. V, 1995. Lord WV. Polymers as solid waste in municipal landfills. J Air Waste Manage Assoc. 43. 247-51. Ishigaki, T. , Sugano, W. , Nakanishi, A. , Tateda, M. , Ike, M. , Fujita, M. 2003. The degradability of biodegradable plastics in aerophilic and anaerobiotic waste landfill theoretical account reactors. Chemosphere. 54. 225-233. Kamal, M. R. , Huang, B. Natural and unreal weathering of polymers. In: HamidSH, Ami MB, Maadhan AG, editors. Handbook of Polymer Degradation. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker ; 1992. p. 127-68. Lenz, R. W. , Marchessault, R. H. 2004. Bacterial Polyesters: Biosynthesis, biodegradable plastics and biotechnology. American Chemical society. 6:1. Micales, J. A. , Skog, K. E. 1996. The decomposition of Foresy merchandises in landfills. International Biodeterioration & A ; Biodegradation 39. 2-3. 145-158. Mohee, R. , Unmar, G. D. , Mudhoo, A. , Khadoo, P. 2007. Biodegradability of biodegradable/degradable plastic stuffs under aerophilic and anerobic conditions. Waste Management. 28, 1624-1629. Narayan, R. 1999. ASTM criterions aid define and turn a new biodegradable plastics industry. ASTM standardisation News. 36-42. PROBIP ( Product overview and market projection of emerging bio-based plastics ) . 2009. Europen polysaccharide Network of excellence and European Bioplastics. Rathje, W. , Murphy, C. 1992. Rubbish: The archaeology of refuse, new York: Harper Collins.250. Seymour, R. B. Polymer scientific discipline before & A ; after 1899: noteworthy developments during the life-time of Maurtis Dekker. J Macromol Sci Chem 1989 ; 26:1023-32. Shah, A. A. , Hasan, F. , Hameed, A. , Ahmed, S. 2007. Biological debasement of plastics: A comprehensive reappraisal. Biotechnology Advances. 26, 246-265. Shimao, M. 2001. Biodegradation of plastics. Curr Opinion Biotechnol 12,242-247. Behera, S. K. , park. , J. , Kim, K. , Park, H. 2010 Methane production from waste leachate in laboratory-scale fake landfill. Waste direction. 30. 1502-1508. Thomas, N. , Clarke, J. , McLauchlin, A. , Patrick, S. 2010. Measuring the environmental Impacts of oxo-degradable plastics across their life rhythm. Loughborough University. Thompson, R.C. , Swan, A. H. , Moore, C. J. , Saal, F. S. 2009. Our Fictile Age. Phil. Trans. Soc. 364, 1973-1976. United States Composting Council. 2009. USCC Position statement: Keeping organics out of landfills. USEPA ( United States Environmental protection Agency ) . 2010a. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.epa.gov/climatechange/glossaary.html # GWP. Accessed October 2010. USEPA ( United States Environmental protection Agency ) . 2010b. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.epa.gov/methane/ . Accessed October 2010. USEPA ( United States Environmental protection Agency ) . 2008. Municipal Solid wastrel coevals, Recycling and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures. USEPA ( United States Environmental protection Agency ) . 2006. Global Extenuation of Non-CO2 Green house gases. Office of Atmospheric plans, Washington, DC. EPA 430-R-06-005. Yagi, H. , Ninomiya, F. , Funabashi, M. , Kunioka, M. 2009. Anaerobic biodegradation trials of polylactic acid and polycaprolactones utilizing new rating system for methane agitation in anaerobiotic sludge. Polymer Degradation and Stability. 94. 1397- 1404.List of TablesTable 1 Manufacturers and sums of BDP manufactured in twelvemonth 2007 Table 2 Literature published on methane production, biodegradability of polymers incorporated to BDPs and calculated methane production degrees Table 3 Maximum theoretical methane sums released during anaerobiotic biodegrdation of major polymer types in standard temperature and force per unit area Table 4 Comparison of theoretical and experimental methane emanation degreesList of FiguresFigure 1 Molecular constructions of polymers involved in the production of common BDPsTable 1 Manufacturers and sums of BDP manufactured in twelvemonth 2007.ManufacturerState of productionTrade NamePolymer typePolymer NameWorldwide production ( kt.p.a. ) in 2007BiodegradabilityA Cellulose Plastics ( with regerated cellulose and cellulose esters )AAAA2046A1 Lenzing GLO Lenzing viscose Lenzing modal Tencel Viscose modal and encel fibres Cellulose ester ( CA ) Cellulose acetate propionate ( CAP ) Cellulose ethanoate butyrate ( CAB 590 Fully biodegradable 2 Birla India, Thailand, Indonesia Birla Cellulose Viscose modal and encel fibres Cellulose acetate Cellulose ethanoate propionate Cellulose ethanoate butyrate 500 Fully biodegradable 3 Formosa Chemicals & A ; Fibre Taiwan Sodium Viscose Staple fibers Cellulose xanthate 140 Fully biodegradable 4 Kelheim Germany Danufil, Galaxy, Viloft Viscose Staple fibers Cellulose ester Cellulose ethanoate propionate Cellulose ethanoate butyrate 72 Fully biodegradable 5 Celanese United states Sodium CA flakes, tows and fibril Cellulose ester ( Cellulose ethanoate ) 250 Sodium 6 Eastman United states Sodium CA tows and fibril, CAB, CAP Cellulose ester Cellulose ethanoate propionate Cellulose ethanoate butyrate 200 Sodium 7 Rhodia Acetow Germany Sodium CA tows Cellulose ester ( Cellulose ethanoate ) 130 Sodium 8 Daicel Japan Sodium CA tows Cellulose ester ( Cellulose ethanoate ) 90 SodiumAOtherAA74ManufacturerState of productionTrade NamePolymer typePolymer NameWorldwide production ( kt.p.a. ) in 2007BiodegradabilityBacillus Polylactic Acid ( PLA ) polymers 151A9 PURAC Taiwan PURACAPolylactic acid ( PLA ) 75 Fully biodegradable 10 Nature Works United states IngeoAPolylactic Acid 70 Fully biodegradableAOther 6AC Starch blends 153A11 Novamont Italy Mater Bi Starch blends Starch/ Polycaprolactone ( PCL ) * 40 Fully biodegradable 12 Rodenburg Newzealand Solanyl Fermented amylumA40 Fully biodegradable 13 Biotec Danmark Bioplast amylum blendsA20 Fully biodegradableAOther 53ACalciferol Polyhydroxy alkanoates 2A14 Tianan Canada Enmat PHBV, PHBV and Ecoflex ( petrochemical polymer ) poly ( 3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate ) ( PHBV ) 2 Fully biodegradable Tocopherol Polyurethane from Biobased polyol 12.3A15 Dow United states Renuva Polyurethane 8.8 Fully biodegradableAOther 3.5AManufacturerState of productionTrade NamePolymer typePolymer NameWorldwide production ( kt.p.a. ) in 2007BiodegradabilityAF Other biodegradable polymers 140A16 DuPont Japan Biomax PBST/PET copolymer Poly ( butylene succinate terephthalate ) Poly ( ethylene terephthalate ) ( PET ) 90 Sodium 17 Novamont Japan EatBio Polytetramethylene adipate- co- terephthalate ( PTMAT ) 15 Fully biodegradable 18 BASF Danmark Ecoflex Poly butylene adipate-co-butylene terephthalate ( PBAT ) 14 Fully biodegradableAOther 21AData Beginning: ( PROBIP, 2009 ) , NA-Data Not Available * Data beginning: Bertoldi et al. , 1996.Table 2 Literature published on methane production, biodegradability of polymers incorporated to BDPs and calculated methane production degrees..PolymerInitial mass ( g )Methane volume ( L )Dayss of incubationMethane production ( % )BiodegradaBility ( % )Methane volume ( m3/ karat ) / L0*Global polymer production ( kt/annum ) M0Volume of methane gas ( G0 ) ( m3/day ) **MentionsPolylactic acid 10 2.57 22 53.8 91 257,000 151 3.9 x 107 Yagi et al. , 2009 Mater Bi ( Starch Blend ) 1.96 0.245 32 99.11 26.9 24,500 40 9.8 x 106 Mohee et al. , 2007 Polycaprolactone 10 6.59 22 65.8 92 659,000 20 1.3 ten 10 7 Yagi et al. , 2009 * Calculated methane volume ( m3/kton ) based on published informations. ** Calculated methane sums harmonizing to the USEPA gas appraisal theoretical account.Table 3 Maximum theoretical methane sums released during anaerobiotic biodegrdation of major polymer types in standard temperature and force per unit area conditions.Major polymer typePolymerProduction capacity ( kt/annum )Theoretical methane production ( m3/kt )Theoretical methane production ( m3/yr )Cellulose based Cellulose ethanoate 668.76 6.2 ten 10 5 4.1 ten 10 8 Cellulose ethanoate butyrate 448.76 4.0 ten 10 5 1.8 ten 10 8 Starch blends ( Mater Bi ) Starch 20 4.1 ten 10 5 8.3 ten 10 7 Polycaprolactone 20 7.36 ten 10 5 1.5 ten 10 7 Poly lactic acid Poly lactic acid 151 3.73 ten 10 5 5.6 ten 10 7 Polyhydroxy alkaonates poly ( 3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate ) 20 1.1 ten 10 6 2.2 ten 10 7 Polyurethane based polyol Polyurethane 8.8 5.5 ten 10 5 1.3 ten 10 4 Other Polyethylene terephthalate 45 6.5 ten 10 5 2.9 ten 10 7 Polytetramethylene adipate -co- terephthalate 15 1.47 x10 6 2.2 ten 10 7 Polybutylene adipate -co-butylene terephthalate 14 7.0 ten 10 5 9.8 x10 6 Entire theoretical Methane production due to C, H, O polymers in twelvemonth 2007 if assumed all manufactured polymers being landfilled 1411.32 7.0 ten 10 7 8.31 ten 10 8 Theoretical sum methane coevals per twelvemonth is estimated to be 8.4 x10 8m3 based on twelvemonth 2007 manufactured BDP capacity.Table 4 Comparison of theoretical and experimental methane emanation degrees.PolymerExperimental Methane volume ( m3/ karat )Theoretical methane sum ( m3/ karat )% experimental emanation in relation to theoretical emanationPolylactic acid 257,000 373,333.33 68.84 Polycaprolactone 659,000 1,178,947.37 55.9Figure 1 Molecular constructions of polymers involved in the production of common BDPs

The Impact of the Dust Bowl on the Environment

The Impact of the Dust Bowl on the Environment Many accidents and natural disasters have done serious environmental damage to the United States. Some of the most famous events include the  1989  Exxon Valdez  oil spill, the 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee, and the Love Canal toxic dump disaster that came to light in the 1970s. But none of these events, despite their tragic consequences, come close to being the worst environmental disaster in the United States. The worst was the 1930s Dust Bowl- created by the drought, erosion, and dust storms, or black blizzards, of the so-called Dirty Thirties. It was the worst and most prolonged environmental disaster in American history. The dust storms started at about the same time that the Great Depression really began to grip the country, and continued to sweep across the Southern Plains- western Kansas, eastern Colorado and New Mexico, and the panhandle regions of Texas and Oklahoma- until the late 1930s. In some areas, the storms didnt relent until 1940. Decades later, the land is still not completely restored.  Once thriving farms are still abandoned, and new dangers are again putting the Great Plains environment in serious jeopardy. Causes and Effects In the summer of 1931, the rain stopped coming and a drought that would last for most of the decade descended on the region. Crops withered and died. Farmers who had plowed under the native prairie grass that held the soil in place saw tons of topsoil, which had taken thousands of years to accumulate, rise into the air and blow away in minutes. On the Southern Plains, the sky turned lethal. Livestock went blind and suffocated, their stomachs full of fine sand. Farmers, unable to see through the blowing sand, tied themselves to guide ropes to make the walk from their houses to their barns. Families wore respiratory masks handed out by Red Cross workers, cleaned their homes each morning with shovels as well as brooms, and draped wet sheets over doors and windows to help filter out the dust. Still, children and adults inhaled sand, coughed up dirt, and died of a new epidemic called dust pneumonia. Frequency and Severity of Storms The weather got worse long before it got better. In 1932, the weather bureau reported 14 dust storms. In 1933, the number of dust storms climbed to 38, nearly three times as many as the year before. At its worst, the Dust Bowl covered about 100 million acres in the Southern Plains, an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania. Dust storms also swept across the northern prairies of the United States and Canada, but the damage there couldnt compare to the devastation farther south. Some of the worst storms blanketed the nation with dust from the Great Plains. A storm in May 1934 deposited 12 million tons of dust in Chicago and dropped layers of fine brown dust on the streets and parks of New York and Washington, D.C. Even ships at sea, 300 miles off the Atlantic coast, were left coated with dust. Black Sunday The worst dust storm of all hit on April 14, 1935- Black Sunday. Tim Egan, a New York Times reporter and best-selling author who wrote a book about the Dust Bowl called The Worst Hard Time, described that day as one of Biblical horror: The storm carried twice as much dirt as was dug out of the earth to create the Panama Canal. The canal took seven years to dig; the storm lasted a single afternoon. More than 300,000 tons of Great Plains topsoil was airborne that day. Disaster Gives Way to Hope More than a quarter million people fled the Dust Bowl during the 1930s- environmental refugees who no longer had the reason or courage to stay. Three times that number remained on the land and continued to battle the dust and to search the sky for signs of rain. In 1936, the people got their  first glimmer of hope. Hugh Bennett, an agricultural expert, persuaded Congress to finance a federal program to pay farmers to use new farming techniques that would conserve topsoil and gradually restore the land. By 1937, the Soil Conservation Service had been established, and by the following year, soil loss had been reduced by 65 percent. Nevertheless, the drought continued until the autumn of 1939, when rains finally returned to the parched and damaged prairie. In his epilogue to The Worst Hard Time, Egan writes: The high plains never fully recovered from the Dust Bowl. The land came through the 1930s deeply scarred and forever changed, but in places, it healed. . . After more than sixty-five years, some of the land is still sterile and drifting. But in the heart of the old Dust Bowl now are three national grasslands run by the Forest Service. The land is green in the spring and burns in the summer, as it did in the past, and antelope come through and graze, wandering among replanted buffalo grass and the old footings of farmsteads long abandoned. Looking Ahead: Present and Future Dangers In the 21st century, there are new dangers facing the Southern Plains. Agribusiness is draining the Ogallala Aquifer- the United States largest source of groundwater, which stretches from South Dakota to Texas and supplies about 30 percent of the nations irrigation water. Agribusiness is pumping water from the aquifer eight times faster than rain and other natural forces can refill it. Between 2013 and 2015, the aquifer lost 10.7 million acre-feet of storage. At that rate, the aquifer will be completely dry within a century. Ironically, the Ogallala Aquifer is not being depleted to feed American families or to support the kind of small farmers who hung on through the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years. Instead, the agricultural subsidies that began as part of the New Deal to help farm families stay on the land are now being given to corporate farms that are growing crops to be sold overseas. In 2003, U.S. cotton growers received $3 billion in federal subsidies to grow fiber that would ultimately be shipped to China and made into cheap clothing to be sold in American stores. If the water runs out, there wont be any for the cotton or the inexpensive clothing, and the Great Plains will be the site of yet another environmental disaster.

Nonplussed

Nonplussed Nonplussed Nonplussed By Maeve Maddox The Latin phrase non plus, â€Å"not more, no further,† entered English as a noun with the following meaning: A state in which no more can be said or done; inability to proceed in speech or action; a state of perplexity or puzzlement; a standstill. As a verb, to nonplus means, â€Å"to bring to a nonplus or standstill; to perplex, confound.† In modern speech, the verb is most commonly seen in the participle form nonplussed. Until about the 1960s, nonplussed was used with only one meaning: Brought to a nonplus or standstill; at a nonplus; perplexed, confounded. Since the 1960s, nonplussed has taken on another meaning for some English speakers: Not disconcerted; unperturbed, unfazed. The OED mentions this second meaning in its entry for nonplussed, labeling it â€Å"chiefly American.† The recognized authority for American usage, however, does not list this second meaning of nonplussed. It doesn’t even have an entry for nonplussed. The verb nonplus is defined this way: â€Å"to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do; reduce to a state of total incapacity to act or decide.† Merriam-Webster gives three examples: this turn of events nonplusses me nonplussed by the disclosure for a moment the girl was nonplussed The reversal of meaning from perturbed to unperturbed has arisen from the mistaken idea that the non- in nonplussed is a prefix, like the non- in nontoxic. Some speakers seem to think that nonplussed is formed by adding non- to the hypothetical root plussed. US speakers do use nonplussed with the original meaning: May 16, 2015   When invited to come here I was flattered, but  a bit nonplussed.- Charles Gibson, US journalist, 2015. Many consumers nonplussed, confused with latest tech, survey finds- Automotive News, (published in Michigan), 2015. However, most of the recent examples of nonplussed that I have found in US sources use it in the sense of unfazed, unimpressed, or unmoved. For example: Uber Driver Nonplussed After Giving Jeb Bush Ride in San Francisco- NBC News. (According to the article, the driver was unimpressed.) â€Å"I’m in first place by a lot, it seems, according to all the polls,† Trump says, in his New York accent, with his usual facial expression: a sort of perpetually nonplussed duckface, like he is continually being impressed with himself anew.- Atlantic Monthly, 2015. Nonplussed, Colbert has kept up his usual antics.- CBS News, 2015. Unlike self-antonyms like dust and sanction, whose meanings are usually clear from context, nonplussed is a source of ambiguity. The phrases â€Å"dusting the furniture† and â€Å"dusting the crops† require no additional qualification; the different meanings are immediately apparent. A statement like â€Å"the defendant was nonplussed,† however, means one thing to one English speaker and the opposite to another. Take, for example, this statement in the clinical study of a disturbed teenager: He appeared nonplussed when  the issue of the family cat was raised.- Francis D. Kelly, The Assessment of Object Relations Phenomena in Adolescents, Routledge, 2014. The boy was in treatment because, among other disturbing behavior, he had killed the family cat. When I read the sentence, I understood it to mean that the mention of the cat caused the boy to exhibit signs of confusion. On second thought, I realized that the author may have intended nonplussed to mean unmoved. Authors of serious works cannot afford to use nonplussed without providing context clues to indicate which meaning is intended. The following examples provide such clues: In an interview  with the CBS news magazine â€Å"60 Minutes,† Steve Schmidt described Palin as â€Å"very calm - nonplussed† after McCain met with her at his Arizona ranch just before putting her on the Republican ticket.  (nonplussed=unperturbed) Vance  appeared nonplussed  and genuinely surprised that such large political questions had been raised by the memorandum. (nonplussed=agitated) ODonnell appeared to be nonplussed by the wording of the first amendment, repeatedly returning to the subject and sounding incredulous after her Democratic opponent Chris Coons attempted to explain it to her. (nonplussed=confused) Because nonplussed no longer conveys the same meaning to all readers, writers must be thoughtful in its use. Accompanying the word with context clues is one option. Choosing a different word entirely is another. Some options for the meaning originally conveyed by nonplussed: perplexed, confounded, disconcerted, upset, agitated. Some options for the reversed meaning of nonplussed: not disconcerted, unperturbed, unfazed. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'tsFive Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"How Do You Pronounce "Often"?

Commercial law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Commercial law - Essay Example Once the terms of an agency agreement have been made, it is important to draft a written contract that any of the parties involved can request, which would state the duration of the contract among other things. An agency agreement usually contains the fixed term of the contract, exists for an indefinite term that is terminable and lastly a fixed term that can be extended if agreed by both parties1. In relation to Rosie and Simon’s case, the parties did have a written contract or agency agreement that did not state the terms of their contract in detail. The implication of this is that it might be difficult for Simon to prove that Rosie went against the terms of the contract that they had agreed upon through the written agency agreement. Additionally, Rosie is in breach of the contract they agreed upon with Simon because she did not give Simon the 10% commission that they had agreed on when he sold a piece of work for her. In order for Simon to be safe, he would have made sure that he drafted a contract that captured much detail on how he was to make money out of the contract. For this reason, Rosie could be entitled to not pay Simon. On the contrary, the Commercial Agents regulation requires that either of the parties wishing to terminate an agreement entered for an indefinite period issue adequate notice to the other party, which Rosie did not comply. The regulation requires that a person provides notice of termination depending on the period they have been in the contract. For example, if they have been in the contract for a year, they should issue a one months’ notice, two years attracts a two months’ notice and so on. Therefore, Simon has grounds to seek compensation for the breaching of the contract that he had entered into with Rosie based on not being issued with proper notice. The regulation requires that a principal act dutifully to the agent and in good faith to which she did not

Preliminary investigation report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Preliminary investigation report - Essay Example The company's target markets include local clients as well clients from foreign countries. The company's mission is to be able to offer innovative, web-based software products for land and water resource managers requiring efficient information access for operational, tactical and strategic planning. In more specific terms, the company's long-term objectives include t he following points. Within 5 years, the company's hope to earn $10 million in gross revenues, have an annual profit of 30% after tax, increase forest industry market share by 15% annually in BC and Western US, penetrate one new vertical market per year, be able to maintain the growth rate of in the vertical market by adding one project or client on an annual basis, and break into the international market by snagging a minimum of international projects per year in Asia. Several concerns and opportunities were mentioned. The first is to establish the company as a household name when it comes to land management software. The company also hopes to establish itself as a big brand name in providing consultancy services, training, and customization in the said field. In order to establish itself as a market leader in the local scen... In order to establish itself as a market leader in the local scene, one should have a lot of customers. To rake in more sales, the company should be visible to potential clients locally as well as abroad. With this end in mind, the company is keen on putting up their own website. This will serve not only as a information center to current and potential clients but will bring in more sales what with the ease of availing products online and within the comforts of one's home. The company, being global in scale has recently felt that the market is too large to maintain strong relationships with all potential buyers. The company has been used to utilizing direct mail to attract new clients. However, this method does not ensure that the brochures and advertisement material are reaching the decision makers of the target companies. The current advertisement setup uses mail-outs to special groups which have been selected based on predefined criteria. These are sent out every 2-3 months. Instead of doing this, focus on the key persons for such companies, send them emails and find out how they will be able to use the software, and if possible, set up presentation meetings over lunch or dinner. This way, with a clear void to fill, the goal is more focused and a strategy to present the product in the best way possible to the potential customer can be formulated. Also, contingency plans can be setup in case the client rejects the first approach. Moreover, if the correspondences would prove that the prospect is a dead end, it should send the signal that it's time to move on to other prospects, thus saving time. To determine the contents for a website, the researcher should be familiar with the operations of the company. Before the interview sessions, the