My Reason Why I Want to Go to OCC free essay sample

I crave for changed this year. I wanted to tried new things and be different. My life before I found Jesus this year was dark. I saw no hope, I cried every day, and I pretend. But not anymore because I finally know what God has done for me and what he plans to for me. The reasons why I want to go to Ozark Christian College is my desire to grow, the Lupus, and to help others. My first reason for wanting to be apart of Ozark is because I want to keep continuing to grow closer to God and Jesus. I want to be able to walk father in my following of Christ. I started my faith walk five months ago, the spring of last year I almost tried to commit suicide because everything was falling apart. My health, social life, and home life was horrible. When I started my senior year I wanted change. We will write a custom essay sample on My Reason Why I Want to Go to OCC or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I was tired of living in my illnesse’s shadow, I was tired of being afraid and, not being confident. So this year I decide to be apart of all of the activities that junior ROTC had to offered. I joined drill team and rifle team. Being in those teams I made friends who are really confident in their faith. I really wanted that. I started going to their church. Which I’m so glad that accepted their offered because I know a lot more about God and Jesus then I do now. I feel like since I started my walk, I’m so more confident. I haven’t been to that dark place once this year. And when I do feel like I’m slipping back I’ll talk to my friends, I’ll bible study, and I’ll pray My second reason for wanting to go to Ozark is because knowing first hand what it’s like living with a chronic illness. Since I found God and Jesus I want tell people not to give up. I want to help people find their light again. I want to tell them that,â€Å"There’s a guy that loves you for who you are, even if made unforgettable mistakes. He will accept you and take away the pain. His name is Jesus and all you need to do is ask forgiveness, pray, and believe.† Living with Lupus, I always had to depend on people to help me and I want to help this time! I hope that when I tell people about my struggles with Lupus and how I have faith now. They will see that there is hope in this world because of man that created them and another man that died for them. My last reason why I want to go to Ozark is because I’m very interested in the deaf ministry program. My six year old brother has non-verbal autism. He has really difficult time speaking and expressing his feelings. I read online that teaching autistic kids sign language help them communicate and know words. Ever since I teach him simple words like â€Å"eat†,â€Å"drink†, and â€Å"I love you† he has spoke a lot better.I want to be apart of deaf ministry so I can help people with all kinds disabilities and help them start their walk with God. Because I have Lupus and my own disabilities, I think I would be more better helping people with disabilities because I know how it feels. I want to go to OCC for my desire to grow more closer, my illness, and to help people. My future for after OCC is to either be a special education teacher or be a sign language interpreter. I don’t know what I want to do yet, but I know three things for sure: I want to help people, I want to show the love of Jesus to people, and God had a plan for me no matter what and I believe in that.

Apartheid in South Africa 3 Essay Example

Apartheid in South Africa 3 Essay Example Apartheid in South Africa 3 Essay Apartheid in South Africa 3 Essay Apartheid in South Africa How would you feel if when you came to school, you had to sit in a specific area based on, let’s say the colour of your hair. This would mean that who you associate with would be based on these characteristic. My topic is very vast as it is spanned over 46 years so today I’m going to touch on the side that follows the way the blacks were forced to live and how they were seen as lesser human beings. To put it simply it was due to a long history of settler rule as well as Dutch and British colonialism. The essential thinking behind apartheid was that although South Africa was a unitary nation, it was comprised of four racial groups. This sparked internal resistance to which the government responded with detention without trial and torture. Whites in their own eyes were seen as sophisticated and therefore entitled to rule South Africa. So to begin at the beginning, during the lead up to the 1948 elections the national party began to campaign their ideas on Apartheid and began to pass legislation on their laws shortly after to coming onto power. Classifying individuals began by segregating everyone into black, white coloured or Indian. Those in the coloured group included those of Bantu and European descent. Officials would perform tests to determine which group someone belonged to and often members of the same family ended up in different groups. The East Asian population was the hardest to classify because the just didn’t seem to fit into any group. The descendants of the chinese who came to Johannesburg in the late 19th century were classified as Indian and hence, non-white. In contrast, immigrants of Japan and South Korea were considered honorary whites and were given the title â€Å"worthy oriental gentlemen† and given the same privileges as whites. In South Africa under apartheid, the blacks were stripped of their citizenships and became one one 10 homelands. The natives were discriminated against and legislation stated where and how they should live, work, educate and mingle. In 1949 mixed marriages were prohibited between racial groups. Then in 1953 the separate amenities act was passed which ultimately created separate ospitals, beaches, buses, schools and universities. Signs outlined things clearly with wording such as â€Å"whites only† which applied to nearly everything, even park benches. The government then tightened existing laws forcing South Africans to carry identity cards stipulating their racial group, which prevented the migration of blacks into white South Africa. Blacks were prohibited from living in or visiting white to wns without a permit. The Travelling without a pass meant that a person was subject to arrest. Blacks were not allowed to buy liquor, only a specific type of beer. In 1952 a program of action was launched. By defying laws, a black organisation aimed for mass arrests which the government would be unable to cope with. At one stage Nelson Mandela lead a crowd of 50 men down the streets of a white town. After that, across the country black people disregarded racial laws by doing things such as walking through white only entries. By the end of the campaign the government had made 8,000 arrests and was forced to relax its apartheid laws but eventually came back stronger than ever. The suppression of communism act arose and Mandela was one of 20 tried under the law and received 9 month imprisonment and 2 years suspended sentence. A large amount of white South Africans supported the apartheid laws but it is important to remember that between the 1970’s and 1980’s around 20% of voters were opposed. Violence persisted right through to the 1994 elections People had to cast two votes, one for a national government and another for a provincial government. As part of the new government structure each province was given a degree of political power. This meant that not all decisions were made by the National Government. The government of national unity was established and the cabinet was made up of 12 ANC reps, 6 from the national party and 3 from another. Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected president. Since then the 27th of April is celebrated as a public holiday known as freedom day. www. un. org/av/photo/subjects/apartheid. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Apartheid www-cs-students. stanford. edu/~cale/cs201/apartheid. hist. html

Multicultural Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Multicultural Education - Essay Example The question is not whether or not the educational system will offer a multicultural education; the question is how will the multicultural program be constructed. While culture in a classroom can be a daunting subject that is tempered by legalities, prejudice, and cultural sensitivities it can also be an opportunity for educators to expand the purpose of education. Multicultural education can be implemented in any classroom that cares to reach out and give consideration to the diversity of the student population. Technology can help educators reach across cultural lines and involve all the students in the exploration of the global community. The Internet in the classroom gives the students an opportunity to meet and explore different cultures around the world. In a diverse classroom, students can meet and begin to understand the cultural identity and heritage of the student sitting next to them. Schwartz, Lin, and Holmes state that technology "allows people to meet new cultures in bite-sized pieces that target specific opportunities for reflection" (295). Understanding another culture reduces ethnocentric fear and begins to focus on similarities, rather than differences. Technology is the central hub that educators can use to prompt the discussion of culture in the classroom. While technology can be used to bring culture into the classroom, culture can be used to explore subjects as diverse as science and ec

Andy Warhol Life Facts Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Andy Warhol Life Facts - Research Paper Example The paper "Andy Warhol Life Facts" analyzes the life and art of Andy Warhol. Warhol studied elementary at Holmes Elementary School and later on took free art classes at Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. He attended high school at Schenley High School after which in 1945, he studied pictorial design at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. In 1949, he graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts. He then moved to New York and started a career as a commercial artist. It was also during this time that he dropped the â€Å"a† in Warhola and became Andy Warhol. After a year in New York, Warhol was hired as commercial artist for various famous brands such as Columbia Records, Glamour magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, NBC, Tiffany & Co. and Vogue. His style as a commercial artist includes the use of his original blotted line technique and rubber stamps. He became one of the most popular commercial artists in the 1950s, winning several awards. It was in 1961 that Warhol introduced the concept of â€Å"pop art†. These were paintings that were focused on mass-produced commercial goods. One of his most popular works is the painting of the Campbell soup cans which he exhibited in 1962. Some of his other famous pop paintings are the Coca-cola bottles, vacuum cleaners and hamburgers. Warhol expressed his reason for painting these products, â€Å"I wanted to paint nothing. I was looking for something that was the essence of nothing, and that was it†. Warhol also painted portraits of famous celebrities with vibrant and dazzling colors.

Decision Making Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Decision Making Case Study - Essay Example Decisions that may affect these groups of people will affect the entire business leading to poor performance occasioned by the employees, the customers and the suppliers. It is therefore a very vital role to control the effects that each decision made in a company has on these sets of people and ensure that they are considered well in all decisions to avoid causing them reactions that would affect their engagement in the business. In quest to simplify decision making in any organizational setting, a number of business models have come to life to aid the decision-making arms of the organization in evaluating the decisions as a way of ensuring the decisions affect the company positively. These models may not necessarily provide a positive approach but base on the application to result into positive results for the company. Considering the assignment at hand, the company is faced with a dilemma related to take over aspects of a company’s management with a family business aiming at engaging their daughter Joan into the business. The experience that Joan has is not sufficient to run all activities in the company and is therefore faced by a number of challenges in relation to making the decisions in the business. The major decision she has to make is with regard to her father who is viewed as an extrovert that has good management skills though considered difficult by many employees on lower cadres but considered a good manger by his senior colleagues. The assignment aims at applying the PrOACT model in helping Joan make the decision with regard to her father’s position in the company. The PrOACT model provides a well-designed systematic approach to the decisions in a company. The decision model as developed by John S. Hammond, Keeney and Raiffa has worked to provide guidance to the different management positions as a guide to decision making as per their book smart choices. The PrOACT model is developed on

Effects Of Barapukuria Coal Mining On Environment Environmental Sciences Essay

Effects Of Barapukuria Coal Mining On Environment Environmental Sciences Essay The over increasing gap between supply of and energy is problem for many countries around the world. Governments are forced to examine different sources of energy in an attempt to create secure energy supply. The results of these examinations cover a large range of energy sources, not only traditional ones such as oil and gas, also nuclear-power and renewable resources. In addition governments are looking at increasing energy efficiency Because of the pressing need; there has also been a strategic shift in some countries back to using traditional fossil fuels. This has become more prevalent and widespread in developing countries where coal is the most dominant of traditional options used. There are two key reasons for this choice: first, there is abundant supply of coal; it is one of the cheapest ways to create electricity (Jaccard, 2005). The resurgence coal as an energy source may come as a shock to some because of environmental impacts it has had in the past .However, some countries that have remained dependent on coal for energy, such as the United States, have mitigated the environmental impacts with new technologies stringent regulation. The economic development of the country requires different types of fuels and energy. Because of deforestation, supply of traditional fuels are decreasing and becoming expensive day by day. Significant portion of export earning is being used for import of petroleum products and coal (Hamilton 2005). The key to creating reliable sources of energy is diversification. Since there are significant reserves of coal located in the northwest region of the country, and a belief within industry that further exploration may lead to the discovery of additional coal fields, this is a source of energy to consider. However turning to coal brings important concerns of policy makers, particularly about how to balance coal development with environmental concerns. The total national reserves of coal in 5 coal fields are estimated about 2.9 billion metric tons. Recovery rate of coal from reserves depends on the availability of technology and method of mining. Modern mining technology can ensure up to 85% recovery of coal from different reserves (Hamilton, 2005). Coal is a very important but dirty fossil fuel. Coal mining has severe environmental, ecological, human-health consequences. If not done properly, coal mining has potential to damage landscape, soils, surface water, groundwater, air during all phases of exploration and use. Coal mining has some unavoidable negative impacts on humans and the environment. In its review of the mining industry of Bangladesh, the U.S. Geological Survey states that the country has small reserves of coal, natural gas, and petroleum. In May 2011, the countrys overall coal production was around 3,000 tons a day, from the lone operational state-owned Barapukuria coal mine in Dinajpur. There are five coal field discovered such as Khalashpeer, Rangpur (1995) coal field depth at 257-483 meter which is about 12 Km2 in area and proven reserve coal is 143 (GSB), 685 (Hosaf) in million tones. Phulbari, Dinajpur (1997) coal field which is about30 Km2 in area and depth at 150-240 meter and reserve coal is 572 million t ones. Jamal gong, Jaipurhat (1965) coal field which is about 16 Km2 in area and depth at 900-1000 meter and proven reserve coal is about 1050 million tones .Dighirpar, Dinajpur (1995) coal field is at 327 meter depth and area not yet to known and reserve coal is about 200 (partly evaluated) million tones. The major findings were as under about Barapukuria, Dinajpur Coal Field Reserve of coal 390 Million tones, Depth of coal is 118-509 meter, Nos. of coal layer is 6, Average thickness of coal seam is 36 m, Composition of coal: ash 12.4%, Sulphur 0.53%, Moisture 10%, Rank of coal is Bituminous (high volatile), Calorific value of coal is 25.68 MJ/KG (11040 BTU/lb), Yearly Production is 1 million tones, Coal extraction method is Multi-Slice Long wall, During development of Barapukuria Coal Mine as well as load testing /trial run , coal as obtained from the mine, on the chemical analysis, confirmed composition of coal, Rank of coal and Calorific value of coal as predicted (Petrobangla, G ovt. Bangladesh, 2005). The state-owned company, Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, which is commonly known as Petrobangla, is involved in oil and gas exploration, production, and distribution. It is also involved in the exploration for and production of such minerals as coal, granite, and limestone for the manufacture of cement. Nearly half the Bangladeshi population is food insecure, and nearly one quarter severely food insecure. Local food production should be strengthened, not sacrificed for industrial projects, said the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter. The land under threat is located in Bangladeshs most fertile agricultural region where production of staple crops such as rice and wheat allows subsistence farmers to feed their families, and supports the entire countrys food needs. In addition to the destruction of agricultural land, waterways supporting over 1,000 fisheries and nearly 50,000 fruit trees may be destroyed. The water table may be lowered by 15-25 met ers over the life span of the mine. Access to safe drinking water for some 220,000 people is at stake, stated Catarina de Albuquerque, the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. The mine would cause noise and dust pollution through dynamite explosion. Coal dust will pollute the air. Water will be polluted from washing the coal, risking pollution of surrounding water bodies. Bangladesh has networks of hundreds of small rivers, meaning that water pollution in one area can spread over a large area (Petrobangla, Govt. Bangladesh, 2005). To prevent the mine from flooding, huge pumps would run 24 hours a day for the 30 years of the mining project, pumping up to 800 million liters of water a day out of the mine. Groundwater in an area covering about 500 square kilometers would be lowered. Wells would no longer provide enough water for farmers. Asia Energys solution is to distribute the water pumped out to farmers. Once the mining is finished, Asia Energy plans to create a huge lake, providing fresh water, fisheries and recreation, according to the company. But after 30 years of digging, the water will be toxic. As the civilization has advanced tremendously over the last century, the alternative source of power generation came in effect like nuclear power, which certainly replaced coal in the west. Assessing the coalmine and its versatile impact over the industrial revolution time, the researcher, end of the 20th century revealed that there is huge risk of health, potential air pollution, noticeable change in landscape, political and social problem, overall sustainability of the environment could get seriously affected by coal mine operation. Therefore, it is obvious that an assessment of the local environment should go prior and along the project of Barapukuria before any unexpected consequence over whelms this project. Energy is vital element of our daily lives, no matter where one lives (Petrobangla, Govt. Bangladesh, 2005). Regionally, the Barapukuria coal basin is located in the Dinajpur Shield of Bangladesh and is surrounded by the Himalayan Fore deep to the north, the Shillong Shield/Platform to the east, and the Indian Peninsular Shield to the west. The geologic and structural conditions of the basin were illustrated in details by Islam and Hayashi (Khan, 1991; Khan and Chouhan, 1996; Alam et al., 2003; Islam and Hayashi, 2008a; Islam et al., 2009). Structurally, the Barapukuria basin is a long, narrow, and shallow Permo Carboniferous rift basin. The basin trends approximately north-south for over 5 km, ranges from 2 to 3 km wide, and is over 550 m deep. Below a prominent unconformity, covered by an unstructured Pleistocene through Tertiary classic sequence, steeply dipping normal faults bound tilted half graven fault blocks. The northern, western, and southern boundaries of the basin are also truncated by several small-scale normal boundary faults. The faults and igneous dyke decrease the cohesion and friction angle and reduce the shear strength through fault plane and filling materials. The overall structures of the Barapukuria Basin imply a tectonically active highly disturbed zone (Wardell Armstrong, 1991; Bakr et al., 1996; Islam, 2005; Islam and Hayashi, 2008a; Islam et al., 2009). The Barapukuria half-graven basin is assumed to be related to its tectonic origin. The basin area is very close (about 200 km) to the convergence boundary of the Indian and Eurasian plates. As a consequence, the far field tectonic stress field is highly significant to the structure of this basin. A 5 km long Eastern Boundary Fault of the Barapukuria basin is the best structural evidence for recent tectonic activity. However, the basin geometry and its stress field are directly related to the tectonic displacement gradient. Usually, the Barapukuria type intracrationic half graben basin in a convergent regime is developed due to local crustal weakening, where archeology strongly affects the dynamics of basin formation (Buck, 1991; Cloetingh et al., 1995). In a gross sense, for the Barapukuria type half graben basin, displacement is greatest at the center of the fault and decreases to zero at the fault tips. The displacement of an initially horizontal surface that intersects the fault is greatest at the fault itself and decreases with distance away from the fault . This produces footwall uplift and hanging wall subsidence, the later which creates the sedimentary basin (Gibson et al., 1989; Contreras et al., 1997). It is apparent that the basin geometry is affect-ted by fault propagation and displacement is accumulated on the boundary fault. About 200 m vertical displacement occurred with 73oC dipping. Along the basin the fault length is about 5 km. The fault length: vertical displacement ratio is about 25:1. About 60 m horizontal displacement indicates recent tectonic activity and the basin is developed due to 60 m horizontal displacement of the boundary fault towards the east (Islam et al., 2009). The objectives of the research were: To know the chemical properties of the of the coal, coal water and nearby agriculture field and To know that whether these chemical parameters are polluting the environment of the area or not. Chapter 2 Review of Literature Global Coal Management policy continued to wait for approval from the Government for its Barapukuria coal projects plan of development. The projects environmental impact and feasibility studies had been completed, and mining operations could be done by open pit method. After coal preparation, the final product would be coking coal and thermal coal for both export and domestic use. The bituminous coal resource of 572 million metric tons was large enough for the mine to last more than 30 years at a mining rate of 15 Mt/yr. There are major environmental issues in the mining of coal that include land disturbance, water pollution, and impacts on air quality (World Coal Institute, 2007). There are number of environmental issues linked to both underground and surface mining and they concerns mostly the impacts on water and air quality. First acid mine drainage (AMD). It is caused by the oxidation of pyretic sulphur due to exposure of pyrite (FeS2) to air and water, it can cause acidity (or a decrease in the pH of water) and subsequent elevated concentrations of metals that are associated with sulphide mineralogy (Management Brent, 2005). AMD causes contamination if it gets into the water system. A second environmental concern related to mining is the leaching of metals into the water in the area. AMD and leaching of metals result in fish dying and negatively impact the plant life in the water .A third concern is the emissions of particulates from the mining process that degrade air quality. The primary causes of these particulates are dust due to the movement of vehicles used at all stages of the mining process. A fourth concerns is methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas released from the coal seams. Technology has been developed that captures and uses methane for heating or electricity generations (The Coal Authority, 2007). As of 1994, the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) requires that Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) be completed (Rajaram et al., 2005). These EIA consist of a two-stage clearance. First, a site clearance, followed by an environmental clearance. The complete process includes the following components: screening; scoping and consideration of alternatives; base line data collection ;impact prediction; assessment of alternatives; outlining of mitigation measures and an environmental impact statement; public hearings; environmental management plan; decision making; and monitoring (MoEF, 2001). In addition to conducting an EIA prior to operations, environmental statements must be submitted on an annual basis. Guidelines for reclamation activities are supplied under the EIA process, and reclamation is expected to proceed concurrently with mining operations. Although the planning of mine closure and reclamation is recognized as important, and thus should be incorporated into the mining plan, in India this is still at the embryonic stage (Rajaram et aI., 2005). The permission of the surface landowner must be sought prior to leasing of the subsurface minerals. There are two main options to obtain this consent: through written consent from the surface owner or a bond posted by the mine operator to cover any damages that might occur to the surface of the land (Hamilton, 2005). Evaluation of possible environmental impacts for Barapukuria thermal power plant and coal mine: In this study, an attempt was taken to conduct environmental impact assessment of Barapukuria thermal power and coal mining project through environmental, socio-economical and meteorological study. The analysis showed that, the Mn concentration was found in the satisfactory range. The pH was found slightly alkaline and surface water was bacteria contaminated. SO4 concentration was in the range of WHO standard. Calculated Sox loading was almost same of monitored emission. Corresponding estimated concentration of Sox was in acceptable range, which may not bring any matter of concern. In the study, an attempt was also made to evaluate the health impacts of SPM (suspended particulate matter) emitted from the combustion of coal in the power plant. The socio economic condition was also considered a dominating factor, for the EIA along with the chemical parameters since increased employment for t he project (Alam et al., 2011). Analysis of orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress of the Gondwana Barapukuria coal basin, NW Bangladesh: By means of finite element modeling: This paper uses two-dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM) numerical modeling to analyze the orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress of the Barapukuria coal basin in Bangladesh. An elastic plane stress model incorporating elastic rock physical properties for the coal basin area was used consisting of 2916 elements with a network of 1540 nodes (Md.Rafiqul Islam, 2009).The stress field at any point of the model is assumed to comprise gravitational and tectonic components. The tectonic component is assumed to act entirely in the horizontal plane in the far-field and at the model eastern boundary. Modeling results are presented in terms of four parameters, i.e. orientation of maximum horizontal tensional stress, displacement vector, strain distribution, and maximum shear stress contour line within the model. Results show th at the orientation of the maximum horizontal tensional stress axis is almost N45oE, which coincides with the regional stress field as studied by Gown et al. (1992). Coal mining impact on land use/land cover in jainta hills district of Meghalay, India using remote sensing and GIS technique: K. Sarma and S.P.S. Kushwaha conducted their study was undertaken to analyze the process of human-induced landscape transformation in the coal mined affected areas of Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, northeast India by interpreting temporal remote sensing data using geographic information system. The study revealed that most of the areas were dominated by grassland/non- forest in all the time sequence period of the study. Impact of surface coal mining on three Ohio watersheds ground water chemistry: Bonta et al. (1992) conducted a study to determine the effects of surface mining and reclamation on ground-water chemistry in three saturated zones in each of three small East Central Ohio water-sheds. The extensive disturbances of mining and reclamation: i) caused more changes in constituents concentration in the upper zone than the lower zone. Most of which were statistically significant increases, ii) affected ground-water chemistry in lower zones those that were not physically disturbed, iii) tented to increases the frequency of exceedance of regulated constituents in all saturated zones and (4) affected the chemistry of surface base flow water at the watershed outlets. Several constituents were still changing at the end of the project within all sites and zones (Anhaeusser and Maske, 1986). Mine-water chemistry: the good, the bad and the ugly: The mine discharged water and wastes for several times. They collected huge amount of water samples from different mine discharge and worked on them. They found that the discharged water could be useful sometimes but most of the times the nature is ugly (Banks, 1997). Trace elements emission factors from coal combustion: A research on increase in the mobilization of trace elements in the environment especially in the atmosphere. An accurate knowledge of factors related to the mobilization, particularly the enrichment mechanism of trace elements in the emitted particulate, is of fundamental significance for environmental impact assessment studies. In this work an analytical method is presented to calculate the trace element emission factors taking into account the enrichment of trace element (Cernuschi, 1987). Trace metals from coal-fired power plants: Derivation of an average data base for assessment studies of the situation in the European communities. The potential impact on different part of the ecosystem and man from the release of trace element from the coal fired power plants, they use twenty nine coal samples for their research, using the derived main values as well as taking into account of coal to be burnet in power plant of EC. The average trace element mobilization was predicted for fifteen elements for the year 1990, the global release so estimated range from 66.5 to 19,420 metric tons from Hg Zn, respectively (Sabbioni, 1983). Criteria for determining when a body of surface water constitutes a hazard to mining: Kendorsky et al. discussed that there are various criteria for determining the quality of surface water body. They worked hard in determining the water constituents that are exposed in mining activities (coal mining). The surface drainage (acid mine drainage, heavy metal contamination etc.) causes several environmental impact (Molinda, 1999). Various research work carried out on hydrogen ion concentration and nutrient status in soil: Soil pH varied widely from one soil series to another. Soil pH ranged from 4.32 to 7.64 in 0 15 cm depth and the soil pH ranged from 4.55 to 7.81 in 15 30 cm at Sonatala series (Huq, 2005). In dry season the soil pH of coastal areas of Bangladesh were recorded between 6.25 to 8.34 and in the wet season the soil pH of coastal areas were recorded between 5.74 to 7.96 respectively (Alam, 2004) The soil pH of Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 5.54 to 5.90 and the pH of Jaonia series were ranged from 4.82 to 6.09 under AEZ-6. Both of the series were in acidic in nature (Alam, 2005). The pH of the old Brahmaputra Floodplain soil ranged from 6.02 to 7.10 and that of Madhupur tract from 6.99 to 7.02 under different cropping patterns and tillage (Hossain et al., 2003).The optimum soil pH for crop production was considered to be between 6.5 to 7.0 (Tisdale et al., 1999). The pH of the soil class high land and medium high land under soil series Amnura was 4.2 to 5.7 and 4.7 to 6.3 respectively in upland which was acidic than wet land (SRDI, 1999). The soil pH of the high, medium high and medium low under Sathi upazila ranged from 7.4 to 7.9, 7.3 to 7.6 and 5.0 to 7.8 respectively (SRDI, 1992). The organic carbon content of soil at Sonatala series ranged from .58% to 1.08% in 0 to 15cm depth the organic carbon content of soil at the same series ranged from 0.58% to 0.89% in 15 to 30cm (Huq (2005). The organic matter content of soil of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 1.26% to 2.42% and the organic matter content in the Jaonia series were ranged from 1.68% to 2.52% under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). In the dry season the organic matter content of the coastal area of Bangladesh was recorded at the ranged between 0.29 to 1.08% and in the wet season the organic matter content in the same areas were ranged from 0.34 to 1.27% respectively (Alam, 2004). Organic matter values of the old Brahmaputra floodplain ranged from 0.64 to 1.77% and that of Madhupur tract from 0.21 to 1.69% under different cropping patterns and tillages (Hossain et al., 2003).The organic matter content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 1.31%, 1.89% and 2.59% respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The organic matter content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 2.45%, 1.24% and 2.31% respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The organic matter content in varied from 0.58 to 2.13% of BAU Agriculture farm and also found that the organic matter contents were relatively higher at the surface layer but decreased at soil depth (Mondol, 1998).The organic matter content varied from 0.79 to 2.35% in ten selected soil series of Bangladesh and also observed that the organic matter contents relatively higher at the surface but decreased at soil depth (Fakir, 1998).Present organic Carbon of some non- irrigated soils of Madhupur upazila ranged from 0.5 to 0.85% (Zaman and Nuruzzaman, 1995). The available P content ranged from 9.8 to 12.75ppm at 0-15cm in depth in Sonatala series and the same series the available P content ranged from 5.75 to 9.24ppm at the depth of 15 to 30cm (Huq, 2005). The available P content of the Taras series under AEZ- 5 ranged from 5.04 to 24.9 mg/kg and the available P content of the Jaonia series under AEZ- 6 ranged from 6.48 to 8.58 mg/kg (Alam, 2005). Available P values of the old Brahmaputra floodplain soil varied from 7.0 to 20.0 Â µgg-1 under different cropping patterns and tillages (Hossain et al., 2003). The available P content ranged from 6.7 to 10.4 mg/kg in Barkol series, 8.0 to 11.9 ppm in khadimnagar series, 9.6 to 13.2 ppm in Subalong series, 13.9 to 16.2 ppm in Tejgaon series, 16.2 to 17 ppm in Belabl series, 10.1 to 17.4 ppm in Sonatala series and 11.9 to 17 ppm in Silmondi series (Ahamed, 2002). The available P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Mymensingh Sadar upazila values from 32 Â µgg-1, 410 Â µgg-1 and 1150 Â µgg-1 respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The available P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 7.33, 7.20 and 60 Â µgg-1 respectively (SRDI, 2001a). Available P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 6, 5 and 8 Â µgg-1 respectively (SRDI, 2001a). The available P content of the non-irrigated surface sub surface soil of Ghatail and Kalihati upazila were 4 to 4.2 ppm and 2 to 26 ppm respectively (Razzaque et al., 1998) The P content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Shahzadpur upazila values from 7 Â µgg-1, 9 Â µgg-1 and 6 Â µgg-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 1997). Available P contents in Soan River valley soils of lower Shiwaliks of Himachal Pradesh were 2.0 to 29.0 mg Kg-1 (Kumar et al., 1995). The P content of high land, medium high and medium low land under Sathi upazila values from 34Â µgg-1, 34 Â µgg-1 and 17 Â µgg-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 1992). The Exchangeable Potassium content ranged from 0.09 to 0.93me/l00gm soil at 0-15 cm depth in the Sonatala series and the same series the Exchangeable Potassium content ranged from 0.08 to 0.71me/l00gm soil at the depth of 15-30 cm (Huq, 2005). The Exchangeable K of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 0.14to 0.27cmol/kg soil and the Exchangeable K of Jaonia series were ranged 0.33to 0.50cmol/kg soil under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). In dry season, the potassium concentration of coastal area of Bangladesh were recorded at the ranged between 0.20 to 1.17me/l00g soil and in wet season the potassium concentration of the same areas were recorded at the ranged between 0.08 to 0.83me/ l00g soil respectively (Alam, 2004). The available K content of the Brahmaputra flood plain soil varied from 0.10 to 0.27meq 100-1 soil and that of Madhupur Tract soil from 0.10 to 0.21meq 100-1 soil under different cropping patterns tillages and depth (Hossain et al., 2003). The K content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 0.27meq l00g-1 soil, 0.30meq l00g-1 soil, and 0.34meq l00 g-1 soil, respectively ( SRDI, 200la). The K content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 0.21meq l00 g-1 soil, 0.13meq l00g-1 soil, and 0.16meq 100 g-1soil, respectively (SRDI, 200Ib).The K content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 0.16meq l00g-1 soil, 0.19meq l00 g-1 soil, and 0.13meq l00g-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 200Ic). The exchangeable K of old alluvial soils of some basin was 0.04 to 0.87meq l00g-1 soil (Singh et al., 2000). The series with high clay content required higher level of exchangeable K than a sandy soil to reach the same concentration of soil solution (Ray chaudhuri and Sanayl, 1999). An experiment on some soil properties and found that the water soluble K positively and significantly correlated with exchangeable K (Yadav et al., 1999). The available S content of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 16.8 to 17.8 mg/kg and the available S content of Jaonia series were ranged from 12.8 to 19.8 mg/kg under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). The available S ranged from 4.20 to 33.9 ppm at 0-15 cm depth in the Sonatala series and the same series the available S content ranged from 1.30 to 30.70 ppm at the depth of 15-30 cm (Huq, 2005). The available Sulphur (S) of soil decrease with increasing the depth of soils. The available S of the Old Brahmaputra Floodplain soil varied from 4.00 to 20.00 Â µgg-1 (Hossain et al., 2003). A laboratory experiment conducted on selected ten soil I series and reported that the available S of Barkol, Khadimnagar, Subalong, Tejgaon and Belabo series ranged from 12.11 tol3.39 ppm, 11.55 to 13.85 ppm, 13.00 to 15.76 ppm (Ahamed, 2002).The S content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Mymensingh upazila values from 16Â µgg-1, 16 Â µgg-1and 13 Â µgg-1 soil, respectively (SRDI, 200Ic). The S status of the non-irrigated surface and sub-surface soils of Ghatail and Kalihati upazila were 2.5 to 47.5 and 2.0 to 30.00 mg/kg, respectively (Razzaque et al., 1998). The S content of high land, medium high land and medium low land under Shahzadpur upazila values from 13Â µgg-1, 23 Â µgg-1 and 7 Â µgg-1 soil respectively (SRDI, 1992). The Exchangeable Ca2+ content ranged from 5.74 to 8.23me/l00gm soil at 0-15 cm depth in the Sonatala series and the same series the Exchangeable Ca2+ content ranged from 4.13 to 6.16 me/l00gm soil at the depth of 15-30 cm (Huq, 2005). The Exchangeable Ca content of the Taras series under AEZ-5 ranged from 5.50 to 14.7cmol/kg soil and the Exchangeable Ca content of Jaonia series were ranged 12.7 to 14.0cmol/kg soil respectively under AEZ-6 (Alam, 2005). The exchangeable Ca content of higher land, medium high land and medium low land under Singra upazila values from 10.20meq l00g1, 15.21meq l00gl and 19.41meq 100g! soil, respectively (SRDI, 200la). The exchangeable Ca content of higher land, medium high land and medium low land under Madhupur upazila values from 0.8meq l00/g, 1.3meq l00/g and 1.3meq l00/g soil, respectively(SRDI, 2001b). The Ca content in non-irrigated surface and sub-surface soil of Ghatail and Kalihati upazila were 1.34 to 6.66meq l00/g and 1.9 to 5.62meq l00/g soil, respectively (Razzaque et al., 1998). Available calcium (Ca) content in some non-irrigated soils of Madhupur ranged from 0.37 to 3.73meq l00/g soil and the mean value was 2.52meq l00/g soil (Zaman and Nuruzzaman, 1995). The cation such as Ca2+ and Mg2+ at the concentrations of 0.68 to 1.98meq l00/g and 0.62 to 3.45meq l00/g soil, respectively (Matin and Anwar, 1994). Exchangeable Mg content in the non irrigated surface and sub surface soils of Ghatail and Kalihati Thana were 0.53-1.35 and 0.5-1.16emol/kg respectively. Portch and Islam (1984) reported that 21% soils of Bangladesh contain Mg below critical level and 25% below optimum level (Razzaque, 1995). Sewage sludge containing domestic wastes can have significant amount of Zn and Cu. The accumulation of Zn was found to affect microbial pollution in soils (McGrath et al., 1995). The range of available Zn content in some non-irrigated soils of Madhupur was 1.05-3.57 Â µgg-1and the mean value was 1.94Â µgg-1 (Zaman and Nuruzzaman, 1995). The Fe status of some soils of Rajasthan (Udaipur district) was 1.32-20.5 ppm (Mehra, 1994). An observed that 8% soils of Bangladesh contain Fe below optimum level (Porch and Islam, 1984). A general and specific investigation conducted across China soil and crop heavy metal contamination. He investigated Cd level in soil in contaminated areas throughout 15 provinces of the country. The results indicated that levels of Ch, Hg and Pb in soils were greater than the governmental standards. Cadmium ranged from 0.45 to 1.04 g/kg on average in the four cities and was as high as 145 mg/kg in soil (Wang et al., 2001). An experiment conducted on the status of separate components of natural ecosystems in the impact zone of the Nizhnekamsk industrial complex in the Tatar Republic, Russia. It was found that the contents of heavy metals in soils and plants of the impact zone were low. However, negative effect of heavy metals on the growth of lichens was observed. Changes in the degree of moistening of the study the Nizhnekamsk industrial complex have resulted in the transformation of the plant cover structure (Changes in species composition of the grass dwarf shrub later, appearance of hygrophytes, increasing role of mesohydrophytes in the phytocenosis, and the decay of trees) and in changes of population characteristics of common red backed vole (Morozkin et al., 2001). The total and available Pb concentrations of road dusts at city areas varied from 57.7 to 212 mg/kg and 0.030 to 2.03 mg/kg but from rural areas 6.2-1.7 mg/kg and 0.02-0.06 mg/kg, respectively. Usually, low Pb was observed from rural areas (Sattar and Blume, 1999). An studied on 30 soil samples from different parent materials in Bangladesh to determine the usual range of the quantities of trace elements and reported that DTPA extractable copper and iron ranged from1.0 to 14.2 mg/kg and 7 to 296 mg/k

Research Paper Helicobacter Pylori

Helicobacter pylori| Previously named Campylobacter pyloridis, is a Gram-negative, microaerophilic bacterium found in the stomach. | | Microbiology (B1325) Research Paper| Detailed Introduction Helicobacter pylori are a species of epsilon proteobacteria which colonizes the harsh environment of the human stomach. Its name refers to both its spiral shape (Helicobacter) and the area of the lower stomach which it habitually colonizes: the gateway (pylorus) between the stomach and small intestine (Meyers, 2007).This bacterium is thought to be present within up to 50% of the human population and has been linked to the development of a number of different medical conditions (Chalmers et al. 2004). This report will provide information about the discovery of H. pylori as well as its morphological characteristics, taxonomic information, biochemical/metabolic characteristics, chemotherapeutic methods of control/treatment/eradication, immunological responses, pathological information, and epidem iology information. Morphological Characteristics Helicobacter pylori are a spiral-shaped, Gram-negative rod approximately 0. x 3. 0 micrometers in size. It is catalase-positive organism which has 4-6 sheathed flagella attached to one pole which allow for motility. It lives in the human stomach and duodenum. H. pylori possess five major outer membrane protein (OMP) families. The largest family includes known and putative adhesions. The other four families include porins, iron transporters, flagellum-associated proteins and proteins of unknown function. Like other typical Gram-negative bacteria, the outer membrane of H. pylori consists of phospholipids and lipopolysaccharide (LPS).The O antigen of LPS may be fucosylated and mimic Lewis blood group antigens found on the gastric epithelium. The outer membrane also contains cholesterol glucosides, which are found in few other bacteria. H. pylori has four to six lophotrichous flagella; all gastric and enterohepatic Helicobacter species a re highly motile due to flagella. The characteristic sheathed flagella filaments of Helicobacter are composed of two copolymerized flagellants, FlaA and FlaB. [1](From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Taxonomic Information Helicobacter pylori are a gram-negative, spiral-shaped organism associated with gastrointestinal disease in humans.It has a worldwide prevalence, with approximately 50% of the world's population infected. Before the first isolation and documentation of this organism from the human stomach in 1982, it was assumed that the human stomach was a sterile environment because of the high levels of acid, which would exclude it as an ecologic niche for any organism. This bacterium is the human-adapted Helicobacter primarily found in the gastric mucosa and areas of gastric metaplasia in the duodenum and occasionally in Meckel's diverticulum and the rectum. It has been cultured rarely from feces, blood, and saliva.It can be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in den tal plaque and feces. In the latter instances, the viability of the bacteria is in question. H. pylori also have been found in nonhuman primates and cats. H. pylori detection in animals is not common and could be due to human contact with animals. To date, no environmental reservoir has been shown. [2](http://www. gastro. theclinics. com/article/S0889-8553(05)70135-7/abstract) Biochemical/Metabolic Characteristics The genus Helicobacter was created in 1989 with H. pylori as the type species. Since then the genus has expanded to include about 18 species.Some species were reclassified from Campylobacter, but most were newly discovered microorganisms from gastric or intestinal sites in mammalian host animals. The essential property of almost all helicobacter is the presence of sheathed flagella. Most species possess strong ureolytic ability, particularly those associated with gastric mucosa, and exhibit considerable diversity in cell morphology with respect to cell length, number and l ocation of flagella, and presence of periplasmic fibrils. H. pylori have a global distribution and infect human gastric mucosa exclusively but there is some evidence for infection in cats.Genomes of isolates from different individuals are unusual in their diversity in gene order and sequences within individual genes. ‘H. heilmannii1 is another gastric spiral shaped organism less frequently infecting humans but commonly found in cat and dog gastric tissue. H. felis is important in the mouse model of infection. A range of conventional phenotypic tests as well as some new PCR based assays are available for identifying isolates of Helicobacter from clinical specimens. [11]( http://bmb. oxfordjournals. org/content/54/1/17. full. pdf) Chemotherapeutic Methods of Control, Treatment, and EradicationTreatment If you are found to have Helicobacter pylori infection, you may wish to have antibiotic treatment of some kind. Treatment of Helicobacter pylori is usually simple ; straight forwa rd. However, occasional patients need repeated endoscopies, biopsies, breath tests and several courses of treatment with different antibiotic combinations. After treatment of H. pylori, it is necessary to repeat one of these tests to see if the germ has been killed or eradicated for good. Only breath tests or endoscopy with biopsy can be used to prove that the bacterium has been eradicated.The blood tests *(serology) is not suitable to monitor H. pylori eradication because antibodies to H. pylori may remain positive for months or even years after successfully killing the H. pylori. [3] (http://www. helico. com/? q=TreatmentForHelicobacterPylori) Eradication Prolonging the treatment period is a possible strategy for improving H. pylori eradication rates. Several studies have been published that tested this approach, including this paper by Calvet et al. These authors studied the value of extending PPI-based triple therapy from 7 to 10 days and found no additional benefit for patients with peptic ulcers.There was, however, a significant benefit for nonulcer dyspepsia patients (an increase from 66% to 77% in the intention-to-treat analysis and from 73% to 91% in the per-protocol analysis). The authors concluded that the treatment period should be extended from 7 to 10 days for patients with nonulcer dyspepsia. As most eradication therapy, however, is given to patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia, it is not unreasonable to argue that longer therapy should be given to all subjects. Distinguishing between patients with ulcer and nonulcer dyspepsia is therefore rather academic and impractical.The most obvious one is that existing PPI-based triple therapy regimens are not perfect. In the community at large, up to 30% of patients might fail this therapy. If clinicians prescribe triple therapy it should therefore be prescribed for longer than 7 days. This runs the risk of decreased patient compliance, more side effects and a greater cost, but ultimately it boils down to local and national guidelines, which vary from one country to another. Alternatively, clinicians might consider some of the newer eradication approaches, such as use of fluoroquinolone-based therapy or sequential treatment.The latter comprises quadruple therapy over a 10-day period, starting with a PPI plus amoxicillin (1,000 mg twice daily) for the first 5 days, followed by PPI plus clarithromycin (500 mg twice daily) and tinidazole (500 mg twice daily) for another 5 days. Intention-to-treat analysis eradication rates of 97%, 92%, and 94% have been reported in children, adults and elderly patients, respectively. Ultimately, clinicians should still strive towards a much simpler eradication strategy, but this will require investment in novel antibiotic discovery or a better understanding of the pathogenesis of H. ylori. Either way, there is much to be gained from continued interest in this little organism. [4](http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/525100_2) Immunological Responses Lifelong Helicobacter pylori infection and its associated gastric inflammation underlie peptic ulceration and gastric carcinogenesis. The immune and inflammatory responses to H. pylori are doubly responsible: gastric inflammation is the main mediator of pathology, and the immune and inflammatory response is ineffective, allowing lifelong bacterial persistence.However, despite inducing gastric inflammation, most infections do not cause disease, and bacterial, host and environmental factors determine individual disease risk. Although H. pylori avoid many innate immune receptors, specific virulence factors (including those encoded on the cag pathogenicity island) stimulate innate immunity to increase gastric inflammation and increase disease risk. An acquired T helper 1 response up regulates local immune effectors. The extent to which environmental factors (including parasite infection), host factors and H. ylori itself influence T-helper differentiation and regulatory T-cell response s remains controversial. Finally, effective vaccines have still not been developed: a better understanding of the immune response to H. pylori may help. [5](http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/17382275) Pathological Information Until the discovery of Helicobacter in 1982, ulcers were thought to be caused by stress. Now it is known that ulcers, in addition to gastritis, are caused by a bacterial infection of H. pylori. Though relatively easy to treat with antibiotics, H. ylori can be a risk factor for gastric cancer if it becomes a long-term infection [6] (Stated by D. J. Kelly, 2004. The University of Sheffield). The body's natural defenses cannot combat H. pylori because white and killer T cells cannot easily get through the stomach lining. The defense cells eventually die, spilling their superoxide radicals on stomach lining cells, on which H. pylori can feed[6] (Stated by Helicobacter Foundation, 2004). Epidemiology Information The frequency of H pylori infection in the United States may be linked to race. White persons account for 29% of cases, and Hispanic persons account for 60% of cases.Internationally, H pylori are a ubiquitous organism. At least 50% of all people are infected, but an exact determination is not available, mostly because exact data are not available from developing countries. H pylori may be detected in approximately 90% of individuals with peptic ulcer disease; however, less than 15% of infected persons may have this disease. The mortality rate related to H pylori infection is not precisely known, but it seems to be minimal (i. e. , approximately 2-4% of all infected people). Mortality is due to the complications of the infection, uch as gastric ulcer perforation or MALTomas of the GI tract. Otherwise, the morbidity of H pylori infection can be very high. [7](http://emedicine. medscape. com/article/176938-overview#a0199) The pathogenetic role of H pylori may differ depending on geography and race. White persons are infected with H p ylori less frequently than persons of other racial groups. The prevalence rate is approximately 20% in white persons, 54% in African American persons, and 60% in Hispanic persons. No sex predilection is known; however, females have a higher incidence of reinfection (5-8%) than males.H pylori infection may be acquired at any age. According to some epidemiologic studies, this infection is acquired most frequently during childhood. Children and females have a higher incidence of reinfection (5-8%) than adult males. [7](http://emedicine. medscape. com/article/176938-overview#a0199) Cultural Characteristics Approximately two-thirds of the world’s population is infected with H. pylori. In the United States, H. pylori are more prevalent among older adults, African Americans, Hispanics, and lower socioeconomic groups. It is not known how H. ylori are transmitted or why some patients become symptomatic while others do not. The bacteria are most likely spread from person to person thro ugh fecal-oral or oral-oral routes. Possible environmental reservoirs include contaminated water sources. Iatrogenic spread through contaminated endoscopes has been documented but can be prevented by proper cleaning of equipment. [8](Centers for disease and control prevention) Case Study 1 Title: Correlation of Helicobacter pylori and gastric carcinoma. Authors: Khanna, AK, Seth, P, Nath, G, Dixit, V K, Kumar, M Issue Date: 26-Jan-2002Citation: Khanna AK, Seth P, Nath G, Dixit VK, Kumar M. Correlation of Helicobacter pylori and gastric carcinoma. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine. 2002 Jan-Mar; 48(1): 27-8 Language: Eng. Type: Journal Article Abstract: BACKGROUND: Difference of opinion about the prevalence of H. pylori association with gastric cancer exists in the literature. AIMS: To study the correlation of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) to gastric carcinoma. METHODS: 50 proved cases of gastric cancer were studied by rapid urease test, culture, histopathology and ELISA test for H. pylori IgG.RESULTS: 68% of cases of gastric cancer were found to be positive for H. pylori infection as compared to 74% of healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence rate of H. pylori infection in our patients of gastric cancer was lower than in the control population though statistically not significant, suggesting that H. pylori may not be responsible for gastric carcinogenesis in this population. Source URI: http://www. jpgmonline. com URI: http://imsear. hellis. org/handle/123456789/116058 MeSH: * Adult * Case-Control Studies * Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay * Female Helicobacter Infections –complications * Helicobacter pylori –isolation & purification * Humans * Male * Middle Aged * Prevalence [9](http://imsear. hellis. org/handle/123456789/116058Stomach Neoplasms –microbiology) Case Study 2 Title: Helicobacter pylori in dental plaque of children and their family members. Authors: Gill, H H, Shankaran, K, Desai, H G Issue Date: 1-Sep-1994 Citation: G ill HH, Shankaran K, Desai HG. Helicobacter pylori in dental plaque of children and their family members. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India. 1994 Sep; 42(9): 719, 721 Language: Eng.Type: Journal Article Abstract: A prospective study was undertaken to determine the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the dental plaque of children and their family members. 22 children (age range: 2-12 years; males: 16) admitted to the pediatric ward for various disorders and 17 healthy family members (age range: 7-40 years; males: 9) of 13 of these children were screened for presence of Helicobacter pylori in the dental plaque by the rapid urease test. H. pylori were detected in dental plaque of 82% (18/22) children and 88% (15/17) of family members.In 85% (28/33) of the positive cases the rapid urease test was positive within 1 hour. Our observations indicate that Helicobacter pylori are present in the dental plaque of majority of children and their family members. Source URI: http://w ww. japi. org URI: http://imsear. hellis. org/handle/123456789/95238 MeSH: * Child * Child, Preschool * Dental Plaque –microbiology * Family Health * Female * Helicobacter pylori –isolation & purification * Humans * Male * Prospective Studies Appears in Collections: Journal of the Association of Physicians of India [10](http://imsear. ellis. org/handle/123456789/95238) Conclusion The author covered morphological characteristics, taxonomic information, biochemical/metabolic characteristics, chemotherapeutic methods of control/treatment/eradication, immunological responses, pathological information, and epidemiology in this paper. The overwhelming conclusion is that it is critical to survival of the human race that hygiene and education will be the best possible steps to overcome an increasing body of bacteria in our world. References 1. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2. http://www. gastro. theclinics. om/article/S0889-8553(05)70135-7/abstract) 3. http://www. heli co. com/? q=TreatmentForHelicobacterPylori 4. http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/525100_2 5. http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/17382275 6. Stated by D. J. Kelly, 2004. The University of Sheffield 7. http://emedicine. medscape. com/article/176938-overview#a0199 8. Centers for disease and control prevention 9. http://imsear. hellis. org/handle/123456789/116058Stomach Neoplasms –microbiology 10. http://imsear. hellis. org/handle/123456789/95238 11. http://bmb. oxfordjournals. org/content/54/1/17. full. pdf

Beer Game Analysis Essay

* Introduction: The beer game is a simulation first developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management in the 1960s. This game was made in other to experiment how real organisations functions, where the consequences of every decisions play out as clearly as possible in the game as they would in a real organisation (Senge, 1990). Narayanan Arunachalam (2006) described the game as a popular classroom exercise for business schools conceived at MIT with the primary purpose of demonstrating industrial dynamics. The beer game is a â€Å"laboratory replica† of a real organisational setting, helps to highlight the possible disabilities and their causes of an organisation. The beer game however in this case was created to fail and highlight possible problems which an organisation may face in its supply chain which is the bullwhip effect. The game includes four players which include the retailer, the wholesaler, the distributor and the factory which is in an upli nk setting. After playing the game, below we will be giving a detailed report of the events that took place at the course of the game. * Data analysis: The objective of the beer game is to minimize the total cost for everyone in the supply chain by maintaining low stocks and managing to deliver all orders (http://supplychain.mit.edu/games/beer-game, 2011). However, the game was created to fail and below is a summary of events that took place during the game. Figure 1: Inventory/Backorder of the supply chain During the course of playing the game, we followed the zero strategy which stated that â€Å"place zero orders upstream when your individual inventory is higher than demand†. This rule was largely what shaped the game and influenced the results in terms of inventory and backorders. The retailer had a considerable good start in the game with a good record in inventories of 12 units till week 5 when demand rose from customers and this caused the inventory rate to fall. In week 6, due to no shipments and the bullwhip effect, the retailer started having back orders from the customers. Although the demand stayed the same from week 6, the retailer continued to experience  backorders till week 21 when the wholesaler sent a lot of supplies at once; this made the inventories to rise to a peak of 113 units in week 24. The wholesaler started with an inventory of 12 units which remained the same in week 2. However, due to incoming shipments from the distributor and a lack of demand from the retailer, the inventory rose to 16 units in week three and 20 units in week 4 and remained the same till week 6. Due to an increase in demand from the retailer and a lack of shipments from the distributor, the inventories fell to 6 units and in week 7 and at week 8, the wholesaler was having back orders. Backorders keep reoccurring and fluctuating until week 21 when it rose to 16 units of inventory and reached a peak of 136 units in week 25. The distributor during the game had the same inventory rate for the first two weeks. The distributor maintained similar inventory rates till week 9 when the distributor started recording backorders this was due to the inability of the distributor to meet the orders of the wholesaler. The distributor continued to experience fluctuations in backorders until week 25 when it got a lot of supplies from the factory the inventories at the end of this week was at 40. The factory had started the game with an inventory of 12 units which remained the same till week 10. This was largely due to a lack of huge demands from the distributor. The factory however started experiencing backorders at week11. Backorder rates kept fluctuating during the weeks due to the inability of the factory to meet the needs of the factory on time. At week 25, the factory got a huge sum of supplies from the brewery which made its inventory to reach a peak of units. The high rate of back orders was caused by long lead times, the bullwhip effect and the effects of the zero strategy. This made backorders to be on the rise for all the supply chain operators. Increase in demand also played a great role in causing the high number of backorders which in turn made the total cost to rise at a higher pace th an it should. Figure 2: Order chart Above is a chart showing the order levels of the Retailer, wholesaler, distributor, factory and customer. At the course of the game, due to the zero strategy, all supply chain operators had to make zero orders from week one to week 4, because demand was less than the inventory. The customer  demand remained the same at 4 units until week 5. In week 5, demand from the retailer’s order rate had increased from zero to 16 while demand rose to 8 units compared to previous weeks. The orders of the wholesaler, distributor and factory remained zero in this week because they had high inventories. The decrease in inventories of the retailer resulted in the increase in order rates which was caused by a decrease in shipment which is a bullwhip effect. By week 11, all the supply chain operators had increased their order rate because their inventory levels were down. And back orders followed alongside changes in order changes which are all caused by the bullwhip effect. In week 21, the bullwhip effect were decreased which resulted to increased inventories and the zero rule coming in. * Issues that you encountered using the zero strategy: * Increase in Backorders: The biggest challenge we faced during the beer game was the challenge of constantly increasing backorders which can be seen in figure1. The retailer had a peak backorder rate of 49, the wholesaler 90, the distributor 85 and the factory 72 backorders. Backorder means a distribution term that refers to the status of items on a purchase order in the event that some or the entire inventory required to fulfill the order is insufficient to satisfy demand leading to a waiting period for the organisation to meet this demand (Donovan, 2010). After using the zero strategy for a few weeks, we found the backorder like a chain reaction star from retailer up to the factory. * Zero inventory and Safety stock: We know that in the real business, zero inventories and stock means that the company’s ability of resisting the risk of backorders and shortage of supply is reduced. But this is the case in the beer game where we went on with zero inventory and safety stock for weeks. This showed that the company was incompetent in meeting its own standards. * High rise of cost: Cost control is very important for a company, high cost operation is unacceptable. During the beer game, due to the high cost of back orders, we were running on an outrageous cost per week. This was either due to enormous  inventory or massive backorders. The cost of the backorders $1.00 and inventory cost $0.60. After we finish this game, we found that the cost of each supply chain operator was high and a total cost of $2, 862. At the initial stage, the increase in cost was little and similar when back orders rose, the cost became tremendous. * Delay in shipment (Long lead time): During the game, it took two weeks for the retailer to get supplies from the wholesaler and twice as long if the wholesaler has not enough resources for the retailer. That means that it took two weeks to receive from the wholesaler, when the wholesaler is out of stock, it takes four weeks, and when the distributor is out of stock it takes six weeks for the distributor to get stock from the factory and finally, when the factory is out of stock, it takes seven weeks for the retailer to receive supplies. This shipment delay makes it difficult to meet customer demands and causes high cost due to backorders. * Lack of communication: During the beer game there was no communication of any sort between the supply chain operators and this led to so many misjudgements. The lack of communication led to the bullwhip effect which cost us a lot by resulting in back orders, and high costs. * Challenges encountered in beer game: * Bullwhip Effect: The â€Å"bullwhip† effect was coined in by Proctor and Gamble (P&G) when the company experienced extensive demand amplification for their diaper products (Lee et .al, 1997). The bullwhip effect is a phenomenon in the supply chain whereby unpredictable elements introduced by human behaviour in the lower part of the chain becomes more pronounced the higher up the chain they move (Baugher, 2012). By synchronizing the supply chain the bullwhip effect can be eliminated. The bullwhip effect describes how inaccurate information, and a disconnection between production and real-time supply chain information result in loss of revenue bad customer service, high inventory levels and unrealised profits (Agarwal, 2009). With reference to figure 1 above, we can observe that the bullwhip effect did occur during the beer game  simulation. An example of such a situation is in week 5 when the consumer demand increased from 4 units to 8 units. The retailer then made an order of 16 units upstream in week 5, when the wholesaler got the figures the wholesaler then made an order of 20 units in week 7. This continued with the distributor, who ordered 25 units upstream in week 9, the reaction of the factory was similar with an order of 26 units in week 11. This shows a spike in demand upstream as illustrated in figure 3. The major cause of the bullwhip effect was the increase in consumer demand in week 5 and 6. Which later came to a normal state in week 7 at 8 units as illustrated in figure 2? The individual demand forecasts from the supply chain operators also caused the bullwhip effect. Lack of communication is also very common when the supply chain operators may not provide sufficient or accurate information up the supply chain on the subject of current market conditions causing improper levels of inventory (Coyle et.al, 2003). This was the case during the beer game which can be seen that with time, the demand was interpreted differently as it went upstream. This the entire supply chain faced backorders due to the bullwhip effect from week 6 onwards even though the demand remained the same from week 8 onwards. The implications of the bullwhip effect includes excess inventories which was the case at the closing weeks of the game, problems with quality, increased raw materials costs, overtime expenses, increased inventory costs, increased backorder costs and increased shipping costs (Bowersox, D.J, 2007). * Long lead time: Lead time delay occurs when the time it takes to obtain, make and deliver the finished goods to a customer takes longer than the time the customer is prepared to wait for it to reach them (Fawcett et.al, 1992). During the beer game, it takes 2weeks for the wholesaler to get information from the retailer and vice versa. It takes the distributor two weeks to get information from the wholesaler and it takes two weeks for the wholesaler to get information from the distributor. It also takes two weeks for the factory to get information from the distributor and two weeks for the distributor to get supplies from the factory. It takes the brewery one week to get information from the factory and one week for the factory to get information from the brewery. So like it was experienced in the beer game,  when all the supply chain operators are dried out, doing the math, it takes seven weeks for supplies to go from the brewery down to the consumer, and six weeks for information to go from the retailer to the factory. The longer the lead time, it creates negative impact on the firm as it reduces the customer’s responsiveness and reactions (Stock, J.R and Lambert, D.S, 2001). * Zero strategy: The zero strategy which is a rule for playing the game clearly states that we as the operators place zero orders uplink if demand is less than inventory. This went along way to cause a lot of delays in shipments because of long lead times. This is because when the inventory of the retailer as seen in figure 1 becomes less than demand, it took 5 weeks for the factory to have such an effect. This made the lead time even longer and caused the bullwhip effect as well as enormous back orders. * Neglect orders to reduce inventory: During the course of the game, we had to neglect backorders in order to reduce inventory and save costs. This can be seen in figure 3 below where the retailer did not dramatically increase demand to meet back orders but did this on a gradual basis in order to reduce inventory and holding cost. However when the supplies finally came, the effects were just as bad with inventory rates skyrocketing overnight. Figure 3: Inventory and Demand of retailer * Ways to improve the zero strategy: * Improve communication: By improving communication levels among the supply chain operators will help to solve the problem of assumptions, inappropriate decisions and reduce the bullwhip effect. In both actual supply chains and supply chain simulation, we can cut supply chain fluctuations by 80% by cutting order-to-delivery time by half (Simchi et.al, 2003). Improvement in communication will help to improve the efficiency of the system by eliminating assumptions and stimulating a synchronized supply chain which will help in getting all the partners to operate in a way that is mutually supportive, corporative and transparent (Gà ©rard P. Cacho et al.) * Point of Sale (POS) system: Point of Sale system is a means or can be referred to as a system which is meant to deal with the sales of goods. Point of sale system is software that works with hardware in order to inspect and monitor sales in order to give accurate demand and sales information (http://www.gofrugal.com/pos/ point-of-sale.html?gclid=CPyHobrW-q4CFQ8b6wodkDXwwg,2004). By implementing this system, the company can be able to get accurate demand which will help the company in eliminating sudden demand spikes like seen in the beer game. An example of a company which uses such a system is Wal-Mart and the system works well for the company helping to monitor all sales and demand, reduce the risk of inventory shrinkage, manage special demands, maintain control, improve efficiency and help the company make timely and accurate reports (http://www.carolinabarcode. com/run-my-store-a-36.html, 2012). * Just in time inventory system: Just in time (JIT) also known as just in time inventory system manages the inventory and lessens the costs of inventory control and the cost of maintaining the inventory of a business. This helps the company to reduce a substantial amount of its inventories, reduce ordering and save warehousing costs (Bowersox, D.J, 2007). A real life example of a company using the Just in time inventory system is Dell computer corporation which uses the just –in –time system so that an order for a customized personal computer that comes in over the internet at 9am can be delivered by truck to the customer by 9pm. This system allows dell to save costs and with this, the company under prices its products compared to its rivals by about 10% to 15% (McWilliams, 1997)(Source: Gray McWilliams, â€Å"Whirlwind on the web, â€Å"Business Week, April 7, 1997.). This system would lead to more efficiency of the bear game eliminating backorders and keeping just enough stock for the company to produce when needed. This strategy will by many supply chain operators such as the distributor and the wholesaler leaving just the factory and the retailer making products available quickly and almost eliminating the bullwhip effect. * Push and Pull Boundary: The push boundary process is a forecast and execution driven in anticipation for demand, while the pull process is demand driven and is initiated in response to real demand (Chopra and Meindl, 2001). The present trend around the world is a swing from a push system to a pull system this is because the pull system helps in reducing inventory levels. Push and pull boundary occurs when the demand intersects expectation of future demand. Pull systems are based on real demands and production and manufacturing of goods done in relationship with the demands of the consumers (Bowersox, D.J, 2007). Figure 3: Push/pull boundary in Dell’s supply chain The above diagram shows the push and pull boundary of Dell’s supply chain. The company combines both push and pulls boundary systems in running its operations. The company by-passes a lot of areas in the supply chain by manufacturing and selling directly to its customers. The process starts with consumer ordering and then the manufacturing cycle which are known as pull boundary systems. The inventory of the company will be stocked up following the demand of customers in order for the product to be made. All the processes included in the procurement of a product is implemented by Dell and this is regarded as a push approach primarily because it reacts to future demands effectively making products available in time and keeping low inventories. This system will be of great help to the beer game helping in making raw materials readily available for production and keeping inventories and costs low. * Eliminate gaming in shortage situations: During the beer game, the gaming shortage situation was experienced when there was a shortage in raw materials and inventories for the manufacturing of these products. When shortages occur, instead of allocating products based on orders, it is allocated in a proportion to past sales record. This will make customers have no need to exaggerate their demands because it will cause them negative results. General motors’ has used this method for a long time in the allocation of its supply. This will help to make the beer game have more reliable demand data. * Continuous system (fixed –order-quantity): In the beer game, order time is the same which is once a week. This makes it easier for the retailers to make quick orders for products required. However, the quantity of the product differs and it would be easier if the demand rate was fixed with adjustments made to make the order rate cater for inventory, buffer stock and demand. This will go a long way in making things easier and decreasing the bullwhip effect which can be seen to be predominant in the game. * Adopt the Vendor Managed Inventory Strategy: The vendor managed inventory strategy is a strategy which manages the quantity of goods produced by a manufacturer allowing the manufacturer to decide the quantity to keep and how much to ship to the retailer. This is a strategic move for manufacturers in order for them to be able to increase profitability by eliminating stock while improving on sales and overall performance. * Avoid multiple demand forecast updates: As can be noted in the beer game, the bullwhip effect causes the demand forecast to be multiplied as it goes uplink. Instead, making same orders from downstream been the retailer to the supplier to be the same will make things much easier eliminating high inventories and the bullwhip effect. * Reasons for Changes made to the Zero Strategy: The zero strategy is considered as a bad strategy due to its failure during the simulation test. While we obeyed the zero rule of the zero strategy while playing the game, we noticed that the game started to fail with a dramatic fall in inventory rate, lack of buffer stock, increase in backorders and a rise in the total operations cost. This led to the total failure of the game because the zero strategy did not allow us to meet the needs of consumers because of too many uplinks in the supply chain and long lead time. The bullwhip effect also posed a great disadvantage to the strategy because it contributed greatly to the failure of the game. * Impact on the outcome of the game: * Decrease in cost as a result of little inventories and no backorders. * Elimination of some supply chain operators which will reduce lead time and results in quick flow of information and supplies. * Decrease or eliminate the bullwhip effect. * Decrease lead times and make delivery quicker. * Have safety stock for risky situations. * Conclusion: Having conducted the above analysis on the zero strategy, it is important that I stress that the bullwhip effect can take a high toll on a company with reference to the game. The game however was a tremendous failure with poor results which includes increase in backorder rates, lack of inventories, rise in cost and long lead time. These issues can however be overcome by using the POS system, just in time inventory system (JIT), improve communication among supply chain operators and the push and pull boundary system. With example of success from companies that have tried these systems and its success in the beer game, I think these changes will go a long way in making the beer game simulation a success.

Five Perils That Challenged Christopher Columbus

Five Perils That Challenged Christopher Columbus Free Online Research Papers America was discovered by an Italian explorer known as Christopher Columbus. Columbus was a navigator, colonizer, and explorer. His expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean were funded by the Spanish Crown. Columbus reached the Americas on his fourth voyage in 1502. Although his trip was successful, there were many troubles he faced along the way. Wind resistance, spoiled food, money problems, disease, and wasted time at sea were only a few of the perils faced by Christopher Columbus. Sailboats were common and widely used during Columbus’ time period. There were no gasoline powered boats. Most sailboats relied on the wind, and at times this could cause a problem. Columbus solely relied on sailing with the wind. Most of the time, Columbus and his men would have to sail against the wind using a technique called beating. Doing this technique would mean that there might be some days without food. Navigation and estimation were two important food determining factors for Columbus on his voyages. The menu for most Spanish seamen consisted of water, vinegar, wine, olive oil, molasses, cheese, honey, raisins, rice, garlic, almonds, sea biscuits, chickpeas, lentils, and beans. Most of the food was stored in wooden casks. The problem with this type of storage is leakage. If dry goods were contaminated with water, they would be ruined. A shortage of food would leave many of the crewmen hungry, and it would also be a waste of money for Columbus. Columbus had little money. He pushed for funding from many kingdoms. On May 1, 1486, Queen Isabella rejected his idea, but granted him an annual annuity of 12000 maravedis to keep him on his campaign. Later on, Columbus made a contract with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This contract gave him the rank of Admiral of the Sea, and it entitled him to 10 percent of all profits gained. They did not expect Columbus to return from is voyage. Traveling many long months on the sea, many people had fallen sick. When Columbus and his crew arrived at America, they spread many diseases that the Native Americans were not immune to. This outbreak caused many deaths. Columbus also traded different foods with the Native Americans that may have caused them to become sick. Columbus’ crew also picked up many new diseases as well. During most of Columbus’ voyage, he did not know where he was going. Columbus’ crew was both anxious and impatient. They pushed to move on. Many days were lost from changing waters and poor directions. Columbus was unaware of where he had arrived on 1502. He thought he had found the Indies, but instead he found America. Christopher Columbus overcame many obstacles at sea. Wind resistance kept Columbus from traveling quickly. Today, ships are made more aerodynamic and they do not rely on the wind. Spoiled food was also a problem. Today, the refrigerator is used for storing food for extensive periods of time. Columbus’ crew and many Native Americans died from many unknown diseases. Diseases are treated by many vaccines discovered through medical science. Columbus also did not have an absolute navigational source, he only used his sense of direction and a map to guide him. Today’s sailors rely solely on navigation and communication technologies. Christopher Columbus was a great explorer. Sailing is a much easier task today, thanks to technological advances. Research Papers on Five Perils That Challenged Christopher ColumbusThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationThe Spring and AutumnGenetic EngineeringAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 Europe19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanLifes What IfsQuebec and CanadaMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesBringing Democracy to Africa

Watches Western Civilization Essays

Watches Western Civilization Essays Watches Western Civilization Essay Watches Western Civilization Essay History of Clocks As long as 4000 years ago, the Babylonian priests of Mesopotamia began a careful and systematic study of the movements and patterns of the sun, moon, stars, and seasons. They folded all of their accumulated knowledge into a calendar, which very much resembles the one that we use today. The Babylonians established a system of timekeeping based on twelve months, seven days per week, and twenty four hour long days. In fact, the only thing that is different between the ancient calendar and the one we use today is that the Babylonians assigned thirty days to each month. When they realized that was about five days too few, they added a thirteenth month to the calendar every six years. The Romans modified this to have months of varying lengths within a twelve-month framework, and from then on, we have universally used the same standard divisions to track time. From then on gifted minded individuals searched for a mechanism to use for accurate timekeeping, which led us to the origins of the clock. By 1500, most villages across Europe consisted of a large clock tower, as well as watchman who would call out the time periodically through out the day. At the time larger perpetual clocks tended to be fairly inaccurate, but there was an interest among the mechanically inclined to come up with newer and smaller versions for accurate personal use. It was around this time that a locksmith from Nuremberg, Germany named Peter Henlein invented the first pocket watch. Unlike a large clock which was driven by weights, Henleins small portable clocks were powered by a coiled mainspring used in conjunction with a ratchet system. The incredible thing is that the mechanism used in the very first watch is not all that different from the way in which many watches are run today. From the earliest days of mankind, people have been interested in time. Dating well before written history, humans were believed to have used the movement of the sun and the moon to tell time. The original timepiece was the sundial, but as civilization grew more complicated, so did their need to have accurate way to keep track of the hours and minutes of the day. This is the fascinating history and modern life of a brilliant invention that most of us take for granted: THE WATCH! I LOVE WATCHES!! Watches improved with the Nuremberg eggs as the first watches were known to be large oval esigns, they were worn on a belt or neck chain. They had no crystal covering the face, and only the hour hand. The early watches were far from accurate timekeepers: there was really no point in having a minute hand, let alone a second hand. They were entirely handmade, primarily of iron components assembled with pins and rivets. Within 50 years, the iron works were replaced with brass fittings. It was also around this time that the Swiss watch industry was born. In 1525 a Swiss mechanic living Prague named Jacob Zech invented a component that revolutionized matchmaking. It was called the fuse, and it was an element which solved as normous problem with early watches: as they would wind down the movement of the hour hand also slowed down. The Fusee, which was perfected by another Swiss man named Gruet, equalized the inner mechanism of the watch and thereby dramatically improved the timekeeping ability of the piece. Watches before the fusse more functional. Toa point that is: it was not until early 1700s that watches became precise enough to warrant including a minute hand. In the 1600s, watches really took off in popularity. It might not occur to a modern reader that only a select few had watches in the 17th Century, they were prohibitively expensive and were nly owned by the nobility. Wearing a watch was a status symbol, a sign of wealth and importance. The most interesting thing about that fact is that even today a high end watch is every bit a status sign as it was in the 17th Century. Royals and their watches, in the 1600s watches were considered toys for the nobility. Each watch was entirely hand made with a large price tag to match. The aristocracy treated their watches as any other decorative accessory in their Jewelry box, an adornment to enhance their outfits, not a functional necessity. Because the watch was viewed as ewelry, watch makers came up with increasingly beautiful designs to entice their wealthy clients to want them. They were designed to be wearable works of art and tied in with the other fashion of the day. Watches were created to resemble tiny insects, flowers, musical instruments and animals. Mary Queen of Scots was even known to have had one in the shape of a skull in her Jewelry collection. fledging watch making industry was largely based in England, France, and The Switzerland. Each nation had its own unique style when it came to creating timepieces. English watches tended to be heavy, sturdy and reliable. Swiss watches were renowned for their accuracy Just as they are today. In France, the emphasis was on creating exquisitely beautiful cases, something which they did exceedingly well. French watches were handmade in interesting sculptural forms, hand painted with remarkable tiny scenes, and decorated with the finest available materials, such as enamel. Tortoiseshells and precious gems. Being a Swiss watchmaker in Geneva was a highly respectable position in society. Precision and well executed technique were highly prized by the Swiss, and the men who made the watches had these qualities in abundance. It was a Swiss man named Nicholas Facio who invented a technique that is still the gold standard in watch making today: the use of rubies and sapphires inside the watch workings. The precious gems were not placed inside the watches to make them more valuable, but rather to reduce the friction of the internal mechanisms. Holes could be drilled in the tiny gems and bearings placed into the centers to reduce friction. The ingenious idea reduced the wear and tear on the watches and made them more accurate timekeepers. Nearly four hundred years later, Geneva is still the world capital of top quality watches. As time passed and new technologies were adopted in the leading countries of , the Swiss , the French and eventually also the Americans adapted new technologies that made their watches lighter, thinner, and quicker to produce, the English stubbornly stuck with their tried and true techniques, which led to the eventual demise of the English watch industry. Water clocks are sometimes still used today, and can be examined in places such as ancient castles and museums. The Salisbury Cathedral Clock built in 1386, is considered to be the worlds oldest surviving mechanical clock that strikes the hours. Between 1280 and 1320, there is an increase in the number of references to clocks and horologes in church records, and this probably indicates that a new type of clock mechanism had been devised. Existing clock mechanisms that used water power controlled by some form of oscillating mechanism, probably derived from existing bell-ringing or alarm devices. This controlled release of power the escapement- marks the beginning of the true mechanical clock. Besides the Chinese astronomical clock, in Europe there were the clocks constructed by Richard of Wallingford in St Albans and by Giovanni de Dondi in Padua from 1348 to 1364. They no longer exist, but detailed descriptions of their design and construction survive, and modern reproductions have been made. They illustrate how quickly the theory of the mechanical clock had been translated into practical constructions, and also that one of the many impulses to their development had been the desire of astronomers to investigate celestial phenomena. Wallingfords clock had a large astrolabe-type dial, showing the sun, the moons age, phase, and node, a star map, and possibly the planets. In addition, it had a wheel of fortune and an indicator of the state of the tide t London Bridge. Bells rang every hour, the number of strokes indicating the time. Dondis clock was a seven-sided construction, 1 meter high, with dials showing the time of day, including minutes, the motions of all the known planets, an automatic calendar of fixed and movable feasts, and an eclipse prediction hand rotating once every 18 years. It is not known how accurate or reliable these clocks would have been. They were probably adjusted manually every day to compensate for errors caused by wear and imprecise manufacture. The measurement of time all starts with the number 12! Youll notice that 60 and 24 share a factor of 12 (the greatest common multiple, if you want to dig all the way to elementary school math). 12 is a generally useful number, a good size for things. Its not too few, and not too many to wrap your head around. Its got 3 divisors (two 2s and a 3, which lets you break things into small units in several different ways) compared to 10, which only has 2 and 5. So early peoples often broke things into 12s, which gave it an almost magical air (12 zodiac signs, 12 people in a Jury, 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles). We get 12 months out of the 12 zodiac signs. That made 12 a nice number to divide the day into, so you can have half-days, quarter-days, and thirds-of-a-day Just by counting hours (and easy to compute on a sundial). The Egyptians did that as early as 1500 BC. The Greeks added another 12 to count the hours of the night. (Who needed to count hours at night? You are supposed to be asleep, since its dark out! ) That gives us 24 hours. 60 minutes to the hour comes from the same sort of thinking, but was actually originally different. 360 is a good number for examining a circle: each of the angles of an equilateral triangle is 60 degrees, and 6 of those make up a circle. Equilateral triangles are very easy to draw precisely using primitive equipment. There are 60 degrees in the each corner of an equilateral triangle because 60 starts with that same 12 and adds another factor of 5, which lets you divide 60 up into lots and lots of useful things. So Greek astronomers subdivided the whole world into 360 degrees, the first division of that into 60 parts was called the first minute and the next division of each of second Just like we do today in measuring degrees, minutes, and seconds on a map. The application of those to time came along later.

Market Development and the Importance of Economic Development to Essay

Market Development and the Importance of Economic Development to Marketers - Essay Example An Outline of the Stages of Market Development Which a Country Passes In The Process Of Developing Its Market of a Product or Service An outline of the stages of market development that each developing country passes through include; an invention of an apt idea, selecting of the appropriate ideas to apply, building up a preferred idea and verifying its viability, evaluation of the business, Beta testing and market testing, scientific execution, commercialization and new product value (Levitt, 2006, 25). An Explanation of the Stages of the Market Development Which a Country Can Go Through Invention of Suitable Idea Invention of suitable is the first stage in setting up or developing new markets. Organizations have adopted for stage process when operating in the small market. This is made possible because undivided attention is a lad on the customer’s need. A developing country has to monitor the types of ideas it initiates into its daily operation through monitoring and studyin g of consumer needs. Good inventions of ideas lead to quick achievements of the objectives of a firm or an organization. Suitable ideas will determine the marketing policies applied by nations in building new markets (Levitt, 2006, 59). Selection of the Appropriate Ideas to Apply This is the step in which potential ideas are separated from bad ideas. Not all initiatives are inimical; as a result, screening of ideas is done to lead to a positive growth of the organization. A developing nation has its processes passed through appropriate screening and promising ideas put in place for the country to grow positively. The ideas selected should follow the principle of AIDA (Awareness, Interest, Desire and Actions). The principle helps an entity to discern what it requires from a targeted market (Levitt, 2006, 71). Building and Verifying the Viability of a Preferred Idea This is the stage where the best results are taken for implementation into other products that can compete globally to t he other markets, and the proposed are tested. Developing nations passes through this stage since all the process and procedures that they apply in their operation are verified for viability. Evaluation of the Business Evaluation of the business involves a thorough evaluation of the souk like the market size in a particular environment. Evaluation of advertising strategy is a core aspect in the expansion of stable market for a country. Most countries have espoused business evaluation in their system to lessen the process they take in market expansion. Evaluation of the business helps the author clarify some useful notions that may be a hindrance in developing a new market. Beta testing and souk testing This refers to the development of model around a product to make it unique from other products. The profits ad losses accrued are used to resolve the feasibility of the merchandise. Beta testing and market testing are both processes that a country might pass through in an attempt to e xpand its market. Scientific Execution This involves implementation of new resources to improve the operations of resources within an organization. Countries wishing to expand their existing market are bound to bring in new equipments and knowledge required to lead to the growth of the market. Commercialization Commercialization involves the advertising of new products in the market. The product in most instances is unique to the market. Comme