The impact of Climatic Change on the Decline of Black French Truffle

Introduction1.2 BackgroundTruffles grow under a very sensitive environment; they naturally occur in the Mediterranean region of Europe. This has been a mysterious crop grown under a veil of secrecy for years in this region of Europe (Ruffles Estate, 2013). This crop is regarded as a delicacy and has sustained its appeal to food lovers all around the world. Truffle are actually a unique edible mushroom that grows underground also regarded as a fungus and is considered a delicacy complimenting the best foods worldwide. Its aroma as well as flavour is commonly described as unique (Ruffles Estate, 2013). The most preferred quality in truffle market is the black French truffle also known as Tuber melanosporum is one of the most expensive varieties in the market and occurs naturally in parts of France also geographical referred to as the Mediterranean basin (Jolly, 2012). However, the Tuber melanosporum is becoming scarcer, and there is a common idea that this scarcity is due to global ch ange of the climate (Jolly, 2012). This has led to a sharp price increase of this rare commodity, but most of all is the concern of the gradual decline in its availability. Europe, and more so, the Mediterranean basin has seen a steady decline of this rare species over the last 40 years (FAIR, 2000). This decline has been both in quantity, as well as quality, however this paper will examine the former.1.3 Project Aims and ObjectivesThis project’s principle aim is to collect and analyse data using both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the increasing decline in the production of black truffles from France also referred to as Perigord truffle and Tuber melanosporum. In this regard, the project will adopt cause-effect deductions, hypothesis testing, and observations to develop understanding this decline in truffle production and in particular whether it affects the natural occurring or cultivated truffles. A secondary aim of this project considers the reasons for the decline of production of the black French truffle. This project, through careful analysis of related research acknowledges the fact that there is a general decline in natural occurring truffle and that this decline is associated with various factors. The study seeks to identify the main reason for the decline in production and harvesting of black French truffles. The study also aims at providing recommendations to address the decline in truffle production. This study will be documented accurately in order to provide subsequent researchers with all the information necessary to further the development in this field of study. Literature Review In consideration of Truffles biological and ecological growth and development Smith and Read (1997), assert that root symbionts are most significant in checking the ecosystem function in most temperate forests of the world, and this includes the rare ectomycorrhizal fungi. Their main function is the provision of the much needed trace minerals to the truffles as well as protection from drought, disease causing agents and pests (Garbaye, 2000; Govindarajulu et al., 2005). Smith and Read (1997) further add that truffles reciprocate provision of food and protection from disease with provision of carbon to the micro-organisms. The ecology in these temperate regions is complexly interconnected, the mushrooms that are produced by the micro-organisms and are significant sources of food for the animal populations in the forests (Carey et al., 2000). However, according to FAIR (2000), the black truffles production in Europe has dramatically declined over the last half century, this is both in quality as well as quantity. Furthermore, efforts have been made to increase the vegetation that promote truffle growth, but the decline has persisted. This trend had been identified earlier by Cherfas (1991), and in his research, he claimed that the decline had begun over 100 years ago in the natural habitat, in the temperate forests. The cause of this decline in the growth and development of black truffles has been the subject of inquiries and research. There is still little explanation for these long term decline in both natural and cultivated truffle.Research is needed to help understand this decline, the real difficulty lay in understanding the underground microbial since experimental environments fail to match the necessary real world conditions (Macdonald et al., 2005). As a matter of fact Lamon et al (2009) agree that there is sca rcity of much needed extended observations of quantitative data generated from natural the natural setting. Chevalier et al. ( 2001), assert that both Tuber melanosporum and Tuber magnatum are the most valuable species in the market. These varieties are also the endangered species at the brink of extinction. Hall et al. (2001), in their findings explain that geographically, Tuber melanosporum naturally occurs in France, Italy, Bulgaria and certain areas in Europe. Martin, F. et al (2010), specifically examines the decline in the production of Tuber melanosporum, however, he also adds that they naturally occur in the Mediterranean habitat. Sourzat (2002), in the french publication, explains that T. melanosporum’s fruits best in its natural setting characterized by rocks, forests that are open that are generally warm with mild winter seasons, as well, as regular precipitation in the summers. In addition, best production is expected on the slopes where the produce receives protection from excessive cold and dry wind. According to Hall et al. (2001), research reveals that truffier es grown in rainy areas with lower temperatures and have not yielded any truffles. In fact, truffles of the T. melanosporum species grew best in climatic regions with between 600-1500 mm average precipitations, average temperatures of 18-21 degree Celsius in the summer and the winter, an average of 1-8 degree Celsius (Zambonelli & Di Munno, 1992). It seems areas that continuously have frozen ground in the cold seasons are not suited for the growth of T. melanosporum because the fruits spoil when frozen. Fontana and Bonfante (1971) in their publication introduce the idea of growing truffle fungi in an artificial environment. They explain that this idea was to supplement the deficit of the produce collected in the natural habitat. This method was developed back in the 1970s indication that the decline of truffle had already been the cause of concern in the market. By the turn of the millennium, truffle grown in orchards accounted for half of the truffle produced around the world (Hall et al., 2003). It also important to note that a majority of these orchards are developed within truffles natural geographic areas. Having highlighted the required natural habitats for the truffles, and in reference to their decline, there are several suggestions based on various research on this decline. Cherfas (1991) traces back the history of this decline by asserting that the number of mushroom species gathered in every foray dropped from 72 to 38 between 1912 and 1982 in the Netherlands. In the same publication, it is revealed that chanterelles in central European market in mid 1970s were found to have reduced in size 50 times than those in 1950s. Hall et al.(2003) in their publication reveal that, by the 20th Century, T. melanosporum in the French market had dropped to 2000 tons annually and a further decline was witnessed by the turn of the 21st Century by 150 tons. It is true that the truffle harvesting in France has been an affair by a small number of people who mainly collected them from their natural setting. As seen in the previous paragraph, there is an increase in production of truffles in orchar ds as a supplement to the dwindling natural supply. In a later publication Hall et al., (2007), affirm that the decline in natural truffle harvest has persisted and is at an all time low of between 12 to 150 tonnes per year from the 1000 to 2000 tonnes in the 1990s. The steady decline in the production of truffle has led to the rise in price per unit over the last decade with an increase in demand (Lee, 2008). The decline of French Truffle has been a point of concern in the scientific research circles with some as Hall et al. (2003) in their study, pointing at water and air pollution, in addition to other factors including, the dynamism in forest structure and the lack of knowledge in traditional gathering as a result of world wars. Similar findings have been published in a report by Amaranthus (2007) citing destruction of truffle natural habitat, urban development, among the reasons for the decline. Such factors are most likely to continue reducing the production figures and specifically those in their natural settings (Amaranthus, 2007; Hall et al., 2007). Garvey and Cooper (2004), in their report further allude that this decline in natural habitat has resulted in the production of truffles on cultivated farms where the trees or truffieres are inoculated. However, these remedies cannot beat the native oak and hazel vegetation as the major producer of the French black truffles in France. In the recent years, the decline in truffle has been experienced in many regions of the world and especially the fast declining French black truffle or the Tuber melanosporum. However, it appears that most researchers are turning to climate as the main culprit. Buntgen et al.(2012) in their study on drought induced truffle decline explains the effect of climate on the production of truffle. They claim in their research that the effect of climate can either be directly or through the truffles symbiotic host vegetation. This literature review delves much into this article because of its relevance to the topic. Buntgen et al. (2012), provide in depth review on the yearly inventory of regional collection of truffle from Spain consisting of Aragon, France mainly a Perigord or Tuber melanosporum, and Italy a combination of Piedmont and Umbria. In this analysis, they indicate that the change in truffle production between 1970 and 2006 was similar between the species from Spain and France that is Aragon and Perigord respectively. Their analysis also found a lack of similarities in changes of production between Perigord and Piedmont–Umbria from France and Italy respectively. This observation from the regional-scale coherency is consistent with Sourzat (2002) observation that western mediterranean basin is the home of truffle fruiting. In addition, the harvests of Aragon and Perigord have revealed significant correlation, this the authors relate to the similarity in summer precipitation, whereas lack of correlations was found between Piedmont and Umbria production and precipitation (Buntgen et al., 2012). The difference in levels of sensitivity here is understandable because the Piedmont and Umbria experience double summer precipitation than Spanish Aragon with Perigord ranging in between (Zambonelli & Di Munno, 1992). The average of the three, truffle production outcomes, their regional mean correlated both positively and negatively at higher significant lev el of 99.9 percent with between June and August rainfall totals as well as maxima temperatures. The authors, Buntgen et al.(2012), posits in their analysis that both the natural and the cultivated truffles in the Mediterranean are seasonal and are subjected to the season between November and February a claim supported by Mello et al., (2006). In addition, this is dependent on the summer condition with rainy and cold weather instrumental in the fruit body development as supported by Gallot, (1999) in his publication more than a decade prior to Buntgen et al., (2012). Buntgen et al. (2012) postulate that given the relationship between fungi and host vegetation, there is bound to be competition for moisture due to the amount of rainfall in this season and this correlate significantly at 99.9 percent level with the yield. Fischer and Schar, (2010) present a suite of a dozen climatic models leading to rise in mean temperatures and decrease in rainfall totals for the Mediterranean region until the end of the 21st Century. This is indicative of the increased summer evapotranspiratio n. It is interesting to note that the simulated southwest European climatic conditions representing the last ten years are consistent to the drop in the production of truffle harvest (Buntgen et al., 2012). Nonetheless, Buntgen et al. (2012), state that it is unclear whether the truffle will reach tipping points as a result of the projected shift in climate, this is regard to their physiological and biogeochemical fruit body development. In their assumption, the expected or projected summer dryness will result in a sustained decline, in truffle yield, while the regions north of Alpine arc are most likely to provide suitable habitat for the truffle due to their calcareousness. Based on their observations, Buntgen et al.(2012), are inclined to the idea that climatic change and more so reduced summer precipitation and increased temperatures are the cause for truffle yields in the Mediterranean basin the natural habitat of T. melanosporum. Mello et al. (2006), in their analysis claim that the reduction in future summer rainfall coupled with summer aridity will result in drought resistant strain of T. melanosporum within its natural setting or distribution range. Samils, et al, (2008) in their research predict that the expected drop in truffle harvest in the Mediterranean region, will have a significant impact not only on the local tourism, but the agriculture as well as the global prices of this valuable commodity. This is most likely to increase the value of other varieties with artificial metabolism and not specific to the requirements of their ecological niche as the T. melanosporum (Mello et al., 2006;Gallot, 1999). This might see an increase in T. aestivum cultivation in areas where traditionally T. melanosporum was predominant as well as an increase in demand of truffle from non-traditional T. melanosporum producing regions outside Europe (Buntgen et al., 2012). Splivallo et al. (2012), in their analysis of the Burgundy truffle, suggest that the change in climatic conditions that were said to have begun a century ago has no impact on the current burgundy truffle distribution. However, they concur with Buntgen et al.(2012) on the impact of climatic change on species with narrower ranges such as the French black truffle, Perigord or Tuber melanosporum, and Italy a combination of Piedmont and Umbria. They support this by claiming that if the climate fails to restrict the distribution of these two species, then even a slight temperature increase in northern Europe as predicted by Buntgen et al. (2012) might result in its northern expansion. They confirm what Chevalier et al.(2001) had outlined that rainfall, soil composition are also factors that contribute to the decline in the production of Perigord. Splivallo et al. (2012), concur with Buntgen et al.(2012) assertion that other options will be needed to avert the looming shortage of this truf fle species, success cultivation lies in orchard farming as a change from the current empirical practices. They claim that cultivation of truffle in a bid to mitigate the effects of climate change which is a major cause of the decline should be based on scientific evidence. Therefore, the rise in temperature, in its self, will not be sufficient for the shift of truffle production in the northern European region (Splivallo et al., 2012). Methodology and Procedure3.1 Research DesignThis study will adopt a mixed methods research design. This process entails collecting and analysing data using both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the research problem comprehensively. When both qualitative and quantitative methods are combined in research, they supplement each other allowing a comprehensive analysis of the research problem (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). According to Charles & Mertler (2002), quantitative methods deal with numerical data using cause-effect deductions, hypothesis testing, and observations to develop an understanding of the research issue. On the other hand, qualitative methods require the researcher to develop a complete picture of the research issues by conducting an in-depth analysis of words, as well as, compiled reports by the study participants. In this approach, the researcher adopts a constructivist approach to have a complete understanding of the problem centred on different conte xtual aspects (Charles & Mertler, 2002). In the mixed research methods, the uses pragmatic philosophy by affirming that truth is what works. Therefore, mixed methods integrate both text and numerical data to give a clear overview of the research problem. In this regard, this study will use surveys and interviews since they are the most popular data collection research tools (Creswell, 2002). In the first step of data collection, a web-based survey will be used, and data analysed using discriminant function. The qualitative method will involve semi-structured interviews to collect textual data from people to regarding the decline of Truffles.3.2 Research SampleThe target population sample will be about 1,200 environmentalists and hoteliers in France regarding the decline of truffles. These individuals are people who have been working in the hotel and environmental sectors in France. For the first quantitative stage of the research, a convenience sample will be chosen comprising indi viduals studying truffles decline, locals, and environmentalists, as well as, hoteliers. For the qualitative phase of the research, a smaller sample will be used to understand the main issue regarding the decline of French truffle (Creswell, 2002, p. 194). This is to ensure the selected participants will give appropriate answers to the research questions. Besides, for the qualitative part of the research, participants will be notified of their selection for voluntary follow-up individual interviews. Given the use of mixed methods research in the study, selection of participants for the qualitative part will rely on the outcomes of the quantitative stage. The use of this approach will ensure the researcher gets a multidimensional outlook of the research problem. For this research, the participants will be chosen centred on the statistically significant difference outcomes of the discriminant function analysis.3.3 Data CollectionFor the quantitative phase of the research, a cross-sec tional survey will be used; this implies that statistics will be gathered at one point in time (McMillan, 2000). The survey used for this research will be of different formats including multiple choices, yes/no questions, self-evaluation items, and open-ended questions. The questionnaire will comprise twenty four questions divided equally into six sections. The first section will contain questions regarding truffles and the participant’s understanding of truffles measured on a 7-point Likert scale. The second part will evaluate the participants’ awareness regarding the decline of truffles using a 7-point scale. The third part will provide information regarding the factors participants believe to cause a decline in truffles. The current issues regarding management of truffles will constitute the fourth part while the fifth segment will provide data answering how ecological factors influence truffles survival. Demographic questions will be in the sixth part of the survey regarding data about the participants’ age, residency, gender, and employment among others. Besides, the final question in the survey will be open-ended asking for additional information about truffles decline in France. The survey will be web-based accessible through a URL address given to the participants. For the qualitative method, in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews will be used to collect data. Half of the research sample will be interviewed regarding the research question. Historical texts will be further used to validate the data collected from the interviews. The interviews will include twenty open-ended questions pilot-tested before the interviews. The interviews questions will be formulated based on the results from the quantitative method. During the interview, the participants will be debriefed to obtain reliable information for the interview questions though, they will be issued with the questions prior to the interviews. The interviews will be tape recorded with the participants’ consent and a copy of the transcript emailed to them after the interview. The respondents will also be allowed to review their answers for the interview transcripts to ascertain their correctness.3.4 Data AnalysisPrior to the statistical analysis of the survey results, the data will be screened on both univariate and multivariate levels. This will help the research detect any multicollinearity in the collected data. Any data that shows a high probability in another category will be excluded during the analysis since they may give a poor model fit (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2000). The research’s data screening will entail descriptive statistics for the variables, linearity and homoscedasticity, normality, multivariate outliers, multicollinearity and singularity. The descriptive statistics will be tabulated, and a frequency’s analysis conducted to determine the validity of the survey questions. The discriminant function analysis will be used to determine the proportion by which the variables differ, and classify the functions into predictable groups. The results will then be reported in the form of discussion. Nonetheless, all the statistical analyses will be conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS) version 11.0. In most qualitative research, data collection and analysis progress concurrently. For the qualitative analysis, data collected from the interviews will be coded and analysed for premises using the Qualitative Software and Research (QSR) N6 for qualitative data analysis. Furthermore, a visual data display will be used to identify the relationship in the data collected from the interviews. Data analysis for this phase of the research will involve creating a comprehensive description of the results; the researcher situates the cases in its context to make the case descriptions, and premises related to particular activities in the study’s outcomes (Creswell & Maitta, 2002). The researcher will construe the meaning of the results and describe them in the discussion section of the research proposal. Bibliography Amaranthus, M., 2007. Independent Truffle Expert’s Report in Product Disclosure Statement for the Oak Valley Truffle Project. Oak Valley Project. Buntgen, U. et al., 2012. Drought-induced decline in Mediterranean truffle harvest. Nature Climate Change, 2, pp.827-29. Carey, A.B., Colgan, W., Trappe, J.M. & Molina, R., 2000. Effects of forest management on truffle abundance and squirrel diets. Northwest Science , 76, pp.148–57. Charles, C.M. & Mertler, C.A., 2002. Introduction to educational research. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Cherfas, J., 1991. Disappearing mushrooms: Another mass extinction?. Science, pp.254: 1448. Chevalier, G., Gregori, G., Frochot, H. & Zambonelli, A., 2001. The cultivation of the Burgundy truffle. In Proc Second Intl Conf on Edible Mycorrhizal Mushrooms. Christchurch: Crop & Food Research Limited. pp.1-12. Creswell, J.W., 2002. Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative approaches to research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Pearson Education. Creswell, J.W. & Maitta, R., 2002. Qualitative research. In N. Salkind, ed. Handbook of research design and social measurement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. pp.143-84. FAIR, 2000. Improvement of the organoleptic quality of European truffles (EUROTRUFFE). Cooperative Research Measures. Fischer, E.M. & Schar, C., 2010. Nature. Geoscience, 3, pp.398–403. Fontana, A. & Bonfante, P., 1971. Mycorrhizal synthesis between Tuber brumale Vitt.and Pinus nigra Arnold. Allionia, 17, pp.15-18. Gallot, G., 1999. La truffe. INRA. Garbaye, J., 2000. The role of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in the resistance of forests to water stress. Outlook on Agriculture , 29, pp.63-69. Garvey, D. & Cooper, P., 2004. Increasing the productivity of truffieres in Tasmania. RIRDC. Govindarajulu, M. et al., 2005. Nitrogen transfer in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis. Nature , 435, pp.819-23. Hall, I.R., Brown, G.T. & Zamboneli, A., 2007. Taming the Truffle. The History Lore and Science of the Ulimate Mashroom. Timber Press. Hall, I., Byars, J. & Brown, G., 2001. The Black Truffle: Its History, Uses and Cultivation. Christchurch: New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Limited. Hall, I., Yun, W. & Amicucci, A., 2003. Cultivation of edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. Trends in Biotechnology, 21, pp.433–438. Jolly, D., 2012. $1,200 a Pound, Truffles Suffer in the Heat. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/business/global/is-climate-change-shrinking-the-luxury-truffle-crop.html?_r=0 [Accessed 2 December 2013]. Lamon, L. et al, 2009. Environmental Science Technology, 43, pp.5818–5824. Lee, B., 2008. Taking Stock of the Australian Truffle Industry. Barton: Canprint. Macdonald, R.W., Harner, T. & Fyfe, 2005. Macdonald, R. W., Harner, T. & Fyfe, J. Sci. Total Environ. J. Sci. Total Environ., 342, pp.5–86. Martin, F. et al, 2010. Tuber melanosporum. Nature , 464, pp.1033–38. McMillan, J.H., 2000. Educational research: Fundamentals for the consumer. 3rd ed. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman. Mello, A., Murat, C. & Bonfante, P., 2006. FEMS Microbiol.. Lett, 260, pp.1–8. Ruffles Estate, 2013. An Internationally Recognised Gourmet Experience. [Online] Ruffles Estate Available at: HYPERLINK â€Å"http://canberratruffles.com.au/† http://canberratruffles.com.au/ [Accessed 2 December 2013]. Samils, et al, 2008. Econ. Bot., 62, pp.331–40. Smith, S. & Read, D.J., 1997. Mycorrhizal Symbiosis. London: Academic Press. Sourzat, P., 2002. Guide pratique de trufficulture. Station d’experimentation sur la truffe. Le Montat: Lycee professionnel agricole et viticole de Cahors. Splivallo, R. et al., 2012. Is climate change altering the geographic distribution of truffles. Front Ecol Environ, 10, pp.461–62. Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S., 2000. Using multivariate statistics. New York: Allyn & Bacon. Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C., 2003. Handbook on mixed methods in the behavioral and social sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Zambonelli, A. & Di Munno, R., 1992. Indagine sulla possibilita di diffusione dei rimboschimenti con specie tartufigene: aspetti tecnico-colturali ed economici. Ministero dell’Agricoltura e delle Foreste.

Joyce Carol Oates`s Short Story Essay

The story ‘Where are you going, where have you been? ’ is a story about a girl about fifteen years of age and having behavioral problem originated from her poor relationship with her mother. She is described in the story as stubborn, rebellious, self-centered, and vane. The story is a tale of insecure woman and romantic but a skilled flirt; and she is drawn in a situation where she could not handle. Connie’s relation with her family and the way she thinks of them shows they were not close. Connie seemed to lament the way her mother would treat her and her older sister June to the point that she â€Å"wished her mother was dead and she herself was dead and it was all over. † She lamented to her friends, â€Å"She makes me want to be thrown up some times. † Connie at fifteen still has childish behavior perhaps typical for young woman like her, showing little concern with house works as her mind was all filled with trashy day dreams. Connie’s behavior though seemed to be very selfish as she cares only of her looks and her own happiness as if she was her own world. She is less interested in family relationship as she would rather go with her friends than going with her family, or prefer to just listen to music. Her behavior is quite a little less to be described as a spoiled brat. She seemed to lack positive traits particularly family values. There might have some reasons for these. First, her mother seemed to show favoritism as she is often compared to her older sister. Her ways and action are viewed as un-acceptable without considering that she is only fifteen and surely needs guidance. Her mother can only appreciate the simple or maybe almost naive orientation of her older sister June. Second, her father does not care of them, as when he comes home, he only cares for the supper, newspaper and his bed. There seems to have no legitimate authority except her mother’s voice always scolding her which to her, â€Å"she had a high breathless, amused, voice that made everything she said a little forced. † The way Connie thinks of her self shows that she was not positively motivated to have a more meaningful outlook in life which at her age, she suppose to have already. Her mind is full of fantasies about someone she meets and the imagination that comes along with it. Her relations with her family have not helped or motivated her toward having a more mature attitude and outlook in life. John Updike`s Emphasis on Marriage relates to larger American issues. In other words, do you think the marriages he portrays result from certain social conditions typical of the U. S.? The novel â€Å"Separating† was about a couple who had lived together for quite long years, a couple with four young children who seemed to be aware of how their parent’s relation ships are going on over some years of the married life. Richard and Joan had been married for quite long years already as they have four young children who were all in school and seemed to have capability of understanding the situation which their family faces. The novel did not mention exactly why Richard and Joan’s marriage come to that point that it was not working well for each other any more except that â€Å"they felt they no longer love each other. † Richard seemed to just short of saying that all those years of living together under one roof was just pretensions which was merely for the sake of the children. But now the situation has grown worse that requires him to make decision to put an end with all these pretentious relation ships. Certainly, Richards wants to be happy. He might have thought it, he deserve happiness and this is now just the right time to reveal the situation to their children. So he announced that bad news while all the kids were gathered at the table for the post welcome celebration of his daughter Judith’s arrival from England. As he revealed his decision, his children seemed to be prepared to hear the bad news as they have not shown hysterical or any strong reaction. Richard must have thought that they understood the situation that everything will come this way which separating would just be the best option. That their dad will leave them to find his happiness in the comforts of another woman which he has already found. Richard feels comforted by the mild reactions of his children as if they had accepted it that the family which they found warm embrace, comforts when they are hurts or having problems, love, care, safety, affection, and shared laughter that only intact family can provide, now stand to break up. But behind the mild reaction and seemingly prepared feelings, as Richard bent to kiss his son good bye, â€Å"turned and with wet chicks embraced him and gave him a kiss, on the lips, passionate as woman, and in his father’s ear as he moaned one word, the crucial intelligent word â€Å"why†? John Updike has powerfully related his novel to larger American social issues affecting the society by emphasizing the consequence of divorce among children and their family that cares for them. Updike also strongly demonstrated the emotional struggles, and the pains the children suffer when their parents come to a point of making a decision of separating. Updike was also able to point out that children are innocent of their parents’ problems and they are victims because their parents instead of cultivating their relationship opted to find their happiness in the comforts of another. Work Cited Updike, John. â€Å"Separating† American Since Mid-Century Updike, John. â€Å"Where are You Going, Where Have You Been? † American since Mid-Century

Analyzing the Flesh and the Spirit by Anne Bradstreet

Analyzing the Flesh and the Spirit by Anne Bradstreet Five Literary Criticisms Throughout history, there have been many religious faiths and practices that aim the same goal in different ways. One of them was Puritanism and the Puritan believed that the best way to gain admission to heaven was to focus on how sinful they were. Anne Bradstreet was the first Puritan figure in American Literature and in her poem titled The Flesh and the Spirit, she discussed Puritan practices. This essay will analyses the poem with 5 literary criticisms, including Marxist Criticism, Feminist Criticism, New Criticism, Reader-response Criticism, and Psychoanalytic Criticism. Starting with the Marxist Criticism, we need to look at the era’s economic conditions first. Anne Bradstreet lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the colony was highly dependent on the import of staples from England. The Puritan dislike of ostentation led the colony to also regulate expenditures on what it perceived as luxury items. Items of personal adornment were f rowned upon. In the poem, we see two characters discussing what kind of life people should have. The sister named Flesh tries to explain to her sister named Spirit that the World has everything that could keep them happy and content. Flesh’s this kind of approach to the earthly goods is totally against Puritan believes. As the colony Bradstreet lived in already frowned upon luxury items, the sister Spirit says, †My Crown not Diamonds, Pearls, and gold, / But such as Angels’ heads infold.† Here, she means that she doesn’t have a materialist personality. The poet, Bradstreet, reflects her colony’s world-view for the economic matters in those lines. When we try to analyze this poem using the Feminist Criticism, we simply need to ask some questions regarding to poet’s sex, education, and then look at the characters. The poet was a woman. And when we read her biography, we see that she didn’t attend any school but was educated by hi s father. This informs us that she lived in a male-dominant society because girls didn’t attend school even if her father was a steward. The characters in the poem are also girls and they discuss religious matters. Here, the author breaks the male-dominant society and makes her female characters question the religious matters, especially the Puritanism. When the subject is religion, one shouldn’t even question the most unimportant thing. But the sister Flesh questions it and all she says is totally against the Puritanism seen in the poet’s colony. Since the poet herself is a woman, we can assume that a woman discusses a religious practice in a male-dominant society. Analyzing a poem with New Criticism requires a person not to take background information of the poet, poet’s other works or the story in the poem into consideration. When we read what Spirit says about earthly goods and how she criticizes what Flesh claims that people need to enjoy them, we can understand that this poem reflects the Puritan beliefs. Words used in the poem belong to the English spoken at least 350 years ago. Metaphors were also used in the poem. The character Flesh is a metaphor for earthly items, such as diamonds, pearls, and gold. The poem is not also in a stanza form. It looks like a wall of text. This means that the poet didn’t want to separate what is wanted to mean. It means that the poem is all about the same thing. Rhymes used in the poem also makes it sound better and that way it attracts readers’ attention. When I try to analyze this poem as a reader with the Reader-response Criticism, I can directly say that this poem is about Puritanism; therefore, religion. Since Spirit seems to be more dominant in the poem, the poet’s environment is a Puritan society. I’d say this poem is not different than other religious poems because they all aim one goal: Heaven. It is the way they discuss what to do in order to go to Heav en. Flesh seems to be a sinner character whom readers should avoid. I don’t know whether it’s okay to blame a character to praise a religion or religious practice, but this kind of behavior would make me more uninterested in that religion or practice. As the verses say, †No Candle there, nor yet Torch light, / For there shall be no darksome night.† they just sound to be impressive sentences that attract people to that religion – no different than that of all religions have. To analyze this poem with the Psychoanalytic Criticism, we need to analyze the characters’ thoughts, their fears, and what they do to suppress their fears.   When we look at what Spirit says in the poem, we can understand that her core issue is fear of God; thus, she adopted the Puritan beliefs in order to go to Heaven. On the other hand, Flesh is just opposite of Spirit. She displays everything that is against fear of God. This can also be interpreted to be an avoidanc e as her defense mechanism, since she tries to avoid any religious thoughts and want to enjoy all earthly pleasures. To sum up, this essay tried to analyze the poem titled The Flesh and the Spirit by Anne Bradstreet with 5 literary criticisms. With the Marxist Criticism, we looked at the era’s economic conditions and tried to reflect Bradstreet’s colony’s world-view for the economic matters in her poem’s verses. Using the Feminist Criticism, we tried to explain how Bradstreet broke the man-dominated society and used her female characters to discuss religious matters. With New Criticism, we tried to show figures of speech and what the poem’s form means. Reader-response Criticism was used to explain what the author of this paper understood from the poem. And finally, with the Psychoanalytic Criticism, we tried to identify characters’ core issues and their defense mechanisms.

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Project management - Essay Example External groups, Individuals, Clients, Contractors, Funding Partners, Consultants, Employees and Work Force, and other government / regulatory organizations can be identified as stakeholders in a project, (Bourne, 2010). Further, categorizing the stakeholders according to the degree or level of impact they can put on a project activity or can get impacted by it. This knowledge of stakeholders assists in evaluating how the various interests of stakeholders should be addressed and managed in an efficient manner. 1.1. Role of Stakeholder Management The role of stakeholder management is to create utility for the project manager in order to get acquainted with all the participants / stakeholders of the project and their respective interests, create an equilibrium between the inputs / contribution and the incentive given by and to the stakeholder, set up an unbiased basis for effectively managing individual stakeholder requirements, decide the participation level of each stakeholder during the planning and execution part of the project, promoting stakeholder interests in the project through effective communication strategy and offering rewards to shareholders. Stakeholder analysis can be carried out at the commencement of the project or at regular intervals during the execution to track the changes in the attitudes of project stakeholders as the project advances, (Patrick, 2008). 1.2 Significance The significance of Stakeholder management lies in the need to make clear the consequences of predicted modifications, potential risks, and opportunities that face the project. Stakeholder management is also vital since it helps to identify the risks and planning for strategies to reduce the effects of risks on the project, (Deming, 1982). 1.3 Stakeholder Categories Stakeholders can be easily classified into four different categories depending upon their potential to collaborate or threaten the project execution or results. 1. Supportive stakeholders are those who do not wis h to threaten the project proceedings and desire to support the project goals and objectives. These types of supportive stakeholders may include the suppliers, funding organizations, company management and consultants. 2. Marginal Stakeholders are those who are neither extremely menacing nor helpful, even though they possess a large stake in the project and can affect the decisions, but are not in general concerned. These may consist of environmentalist groups, and media. 3. Non Supportive Stakeholders are those that have an elevated potential to influence the project in a threatening manner but are short on the potential for cooperation and are the most worrying source of concern for the project manager. These may include the labor unions, governmental organizations, and at times the media. 4. The  mixed stakeholders possess an equal potential to assist or threaten the project and usually consist of clients, end users of the project, (Rowley, 1997). 1.4 Efficient management of St akeholder management Lastly, in order to effectively manage stakeholders within a project environment, it is

RESEARCH METHODS FOR MANAGERS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

RESEARCH METHODS FOR MANAGERS - Assignment Example The ability to form teams virtually that will operate across the limitations of time, distance and organizational boundaries have proven to be the successful for the organizations. These teams use electronic collaboration technologies and other techniques to lower facility and travelling costs, reduce project schedules and improve decision making communication and time. Since companies are more focused on foreign markets for expanding their base of customer, they are also looking at lowering costs or exacting effectiveness by tapping the foreign labor pool. For this purpose, outsourcing and off- shoring have become very prevalent. The result is that firms are able to achieve substantial cost saving and decrease their time to market when building software solutions, offering services, manufacturing products since additional risks are managed effectively (Gruhn, Volker, Schope & Lothar, 2002, P. 254). Today the management desires to establish international presence by exacting operatin g efficiencies and reducing costs of distributed teams created by mergers, acquisitions, technical specialization and downsizing. Organizations that do not use virtual teams effectively have difficulty in competing in the global, competitive and rapidly changing markets. Those organizations that will succeed in finding ways of working across boundaries like systems, technologies, people and procedure. Literature Review Managing virtual teams can be more complex than managing traditional teams, however. First, virtual teams primarily communicate and collaborate by using technology such as e-mail, groupware, etc. Virtual teams exclusively depend on software and technology tools to collaborate and communication, whereas the teams that are traditional can always abandon technology and software tools in favor of face-to-face communication and collaboration. Secondly, boundaries were crossed by virtual teams in relation to organization, distance, and time. This raises the need of attentio n towards the issues of collaboration and communication

Critically evaluate theories of nationalism and its relationship with Essay - 1

Critically evaluate theories of nationalism and its relationship with racism - Essay Example Around Europe, the Napoleonic armies who not only idealized it but also provoked nationalist reactions through their conquests spread the idea of the legitimacy of the nation as opposed to kingdom. Despite the restoration of traditional monarchs after napoleon’s defeat, the seeds of idea had already been sowed all over Europe and the next 50 years it precipitated outbreaks of violence in support for popular nationalism. There are two main theories that explain nationalism the perennialists who argue that nations, natural or otherwise owe their existence to the fact that humans have always lived in societies posit the first. The â€Å"natural† part is inspired by the fact that many nationalist legitimize their nations as natural by virtue of the fact that they have been in existence for centuries. The position of perennialists is that nationalism can be traced to cultural characteristics and the nature of the human landscape with throughout their particular histories; th is takes to consideration every factor including those that are purely symbolic or even mythical. This argument was based on the existence of a number of large ethnic communities especially during the dark and middle ages that used the term nation to describe themselves. In this paper, the relationship between nationalism and racism will be examined with focus on the perennialist and modernist theories of nationalism; as well as the economic impacts and perception of two concepts on word nations. Racial consideration of nationalism was applied to ancient communities and civilizations such as the Egyptians Chinese, Indians and many others, under the perennial perception on nationalism the terms nation and race were interchangeable. Even later nations such as the British, German, and American were seen as races; this implied that the social political community was inherently tied up to a biological exclusiveness that was believed to transcend individuals in the different races. This p erception was and still is conducive ground for the justification or racism and other forms of xenophobia such as Aryan supremacy; communities, especially financially powerful ones used the notion to discriminate others. Racism is loosely defined as the doctrine that assumes some races are superior to others in term of physical intellectual or moral and other aspects justifying right to dominate other â€Å"lesser† races and treat them in an undignified and unequal manner (Smith 1983). For instance, in Europe during the Elizabethan age, individuals of Jewish origin were openly discriminated even by the law; Jews were not allowed to engage in the convectional business activity. From such legal restrictions, popular stereotypes such as those of Jewish â€Å"shylocks† emerged, not because they were naturally predisposed to such activity but because they were compelled by legal restriction to practice usury. This is despite the fact that many Jews were born and grew up in Europe amongst the French and Italians, for instance, by modern consideration such people would have been considered European nationals. However, the assumption them was that one would always remain of the nation, in this case race, which they were born despite cultural and geopolitical translocation. Centuries later when such notions had been discounted by most of the

Peer review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Peer review - Essay Example Furthermore, the number of sources referred to is adequate, proof that a good level of research was conducted. The references contain all the necessary elements which means that the information provided can be easily traced to their sources. The paper is well formatted but not without a few lapses. The abstract for example is centered while it should have been left aligned. Yet another point of weakness is the lack of a title after the abstract. In any case, the body of the text should always begin on a new page, different from the abstract. As earlier stated, the language used is widely correct but a few minor errors occur. Grammatical errors mainly occur in cases where the sentences are longer than usual. In this sense, the writer can improve by focusing on breaking the long sentences into shorter ones. Each student in the course will have the opportunity to review another studentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s research paper. Review partners will be assigned based on students working on the various genocides. The peer review must be submitted through VSpace to me and bring in one copy for the paper writer on the day of the poster

Law Enforcement Versus Police Interrogations Essay

Law Enforcement Versus Police Interrogations - Essay Example 2006).Terrorism is thus a form of deviant behavior. Since behavior is the hallmark here, old members of terrorist groups may work relentlessly on the psyches of new members, getting them optimally motivated and reinforced for desired behaviors. The old members also ensure that the new members are properly indoctrinated in the "crux" of the job, that is, deciding to participate in an attack even when the terrorist must die in order for the attack to be successful. Terrorism appeals to some people so much that they seek to affiliate and identify with terrorist groups and to adopt the major features of terrorist culture. Law Enforcement agencies see terrorism as a threat to national security and unity of the nation. in contrast, police interrogations see terrorism as aggression towards individuals and a threat to social order and obedience (Horgan, 2005). An important aspect of terrorists' socialization processes is the belief that the gains of dying while destroying their targets are inestimable for them after death. In socializing their subjects into believing this, terrorist leaders may easily capitalize on the already mature suicidal and aggressive tendencies in their subjects. With their orientation toward their leaders, after whom they also model themselves, terrorists will not find it difficult to believe this kind of "fantasy." This is probably why there are many terrorists ready to volunteer to undertake suicide attacks. Although this aspect of their beliefs has a religious undertone, terrorist leaders often use it to galvanize their subjects into action (Reich et al 1998). Law Enforcement agencies take into account the social learning theory which makes an important distinction between different types of aggression. Cultures and social groups have various norms regarding the appropriate use of aggression in inter-group conflict and hostility. From a psychological perspective, a key question is how effective the U.S. approach is likely to be in preventing terrorism (Horgan, 2005). The central thesis is that the approach is inherently limited because it fails to address the causes of terrorism, which, left unattended, are likely to boost anti-U.S. sentiments and produce new generations of terrorists. It suggests that a peace-building focus is needed to complement the current approach and to construct a comprehensive, psychologically informed strategy of terrorism prevention. The enemy imagery is one of the fundamental psychological mechanisms that motivates terrorism and lifts moral restraints against committing horrific acts of violence (Bonger et al. 2 006). In contrast to law enforcement agencies, police accepts and follows social injustice theory. Social injustice takes many different forms and consists of a mixture of objective and subjective elements. Objectively, it includes human rights violations, direct victimization, political and social oppression, and structural violence through preventable failure to meet basic human needs as a result of conditions such as poverty (Horgan, 2005). Although these objective and subjective elements are completely interwoven, the analysis below emphasizes the subjective since views of political conflict and terrorism

Buildings on the roman forum or the imperial forum Research Paper

Buildings on the roman forum or the imperial forum - Research Paper Example It is positioned between Capitoline and palatine hills (Watkin 1). The coliseum was initially referred to as the Flavian Amphitheatre. It portends an egg-shaped shape and is situated in the middle of the metropolis of Rome and east of the Roman forum. It is the most gigantic building ever constructed in the history of Rome in additionally to being one of the most aesthetic and remarkable works in Roman engineering and architecture history. It was christened after the emperor administrating in the first century. Its construction was conducted between 73 and 75 AD and was completed in 79 AD (DuTemple 88). It is oval in shape and can house approximately 80000 spectators or audience. It occupies a total area of 6 acres and has 76 grand entrances. It is 50 meters high and 189 meters long. It is 156 meters wide and has an outer circumference of 545 meters. The center arena is approximately 287 feet long and 180 feet in width with a covering of 15 cm of sand. The arena walls are 15 feet high and the vaults are erected to span the 80 radial walls to support to the stairways and the spectators’ seats. It has 36 trapdoors and a series of subterranean tunnels that underlie 32 animal pens. 8 meters beneath the structure, the drainage pipes are constructed. Inside foundations were erected 4 meters under while the outer ones were erected 13 meters beneath the ground level (Beard and Hopkins 21). Travertine Limestone was employed in the erection of the main pillars, external walls and the entire ground of the coliseum. Tuff, a consolidated and porous stone obtained from vulcanicity was utilized in the crafting of the radial walls and pillars used to support the entire structure. Roman cement, which was an instrumental binding addition in the concrete mixture, was utilized in the creation of the pillars and walls. Tiles covered the floor and cement on vaults. It served as an arena to host entertainment for the ancient Romans as a gift. It was meant to be an eye

Voltammetric Methods for Trace Analysis of Chromium Essay Example for Free

Voltammetric Methods for Trace Analysis of Chromium Essay Voltammetric methods of analysis, which have been used since the invention of polarography in 1922, witnessed a serious decline in use and was even threatened with extinction with the development of Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) in the mid-1960s (Bond, 1980, pp. 2-3). The remarkable detection limits of AAS, coupled with its ability to determine almost all the metallic elements, was beyond the reach of classical polarography, which had come to be regarded as a very unattractive technique due to its clumsy instrumentation. However, there has been a resurgence of interest in the electroanalytical techniques during the past years, mainly as a result of the appearance of vastly improved, commercially available instrumentation which has taken full advantage of the electronic revolution. In parallel with the instrumental developments, there have also been accompanying advances in the theoretical aspects of electroanalytical techniques with the development of, for example, ax, pulse and stripping techniques. As a consequence, voltammetry is now established as an extremely versatile, sensitive, rapid and inexpensive analytical technique which has found applications in most areas of analytical chemistry. The fundamental principles of polarography are described by Bond (1980), though he recounts developments in polarographic techniques that have led to the renaissance and widespread adoption of voltammetry. Over the last 15-20 years, there has been a revolution in the existing data regarding the distributions and chemical behavior of trace elements in natural waters. This revolution has been brought about by the realisation that any analytical methodology has to account for the risks of contamination as well as analyte losses involved during the sampling and sample handling steps. Thus clean techniques have been developed and adopted for the collection, preservation, storage and analysis of water samples for trace analysis. This, coupled with the advent of extremely sensitive techniques, has resulted in concentrations of trace elements in seawater being shown to be factors of 10 to 1000 times lower than those previously accepted (Donat, et al. , 1995, p. 247). This in turn has led to a demand for more accurate data to be generated at lower concentrations. The focus of this paper is to discuss voltammetric methods for the analysis of one of the biogeochemically important trace metals in natural water: chromium. Voltammetric Methods AAS (especially Electrothermal AAS) techniques are generally regarded as the ultimate methods of detection for ultra-trace analysis because of the detection limits attainable by these techniques. However, in the form of Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV), voltammetry offers a technique that, in specific cases, can rival these techniques with respect to detection limits, reproducibility and ease of operation. The extreme sensitivity of ASV is due to the analyte preconcentration step inherent to the technique, whereas the spectrometric techniques rely on a prior analyte preconcentration step. Another advantage that ASV offers is that it can speciate the analyte species on the basis of their lability in the natural medium (Florence, 1986) The high sensitivity of ASV allows for the determination of metal speciation in natural waters without the necessity of external pre-concentration. ASV involves two steps: deposition step, which is an internal pre-concentration, during which a negative potential is applied at the mercury drop (i. e. the working electrode) and the metal ion is reduced to the metal which dissolves in the mercury drop forming an amalgam, followed by the stripping step, during which a positive-going potential scan causes re-oxidation of the metal in the amalgam. Thus, the amalgamated metals are stripped out of the mercury electrode and give rise to anodic peak currents, whose heights are proportional to the ASV-labile (i. e. ASV-measurable) metal species (Willard et al. , 1988, p. 719). The applicability of ASV is contingent on the metal to be determined being soluble in mercury to form an amalgam. This requirement severely limits its widespread application in environmental analysis and ASV has remained more or less confined to the determination of Cu, Pb, Cd and Zn. In this respect, the applicability of ASV is very restrictive, in contrast to the capability of AAS or ICP techniques, which are readily applicable for the determination of most of the elements in the Periodic Table (Willard et al. , 1988). In parallel with ASV, Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry (CSV) techniques have also been used for trace element analysis. Until relatively recently, this technique was viewed as the mirror image of ASV (Wang, 1985). In classical CSV, the analyte species is electrolytically preconcentrated as an insoluble Hg species on the electrode by the imposition of a relatively positive, constant potential during the deposition stage. The applied potential results in the formation of Hg22+ ions on the electrode surface. Analyte species capable of forming insoluble Hg compounds react with the Hg22+ to form an insoluble film on the surface of the electrode. During the stripping stage, a negative potential scan is applied on the electrode, resulting in the reduction of this insoluble compound to Hg0 and the original analyte ion. The faradaic current resulting from this reduction forms the analytical signal. In this preconcentration mode, CSV is applicable to the analysis of mainly anionic species and has been used for the analysis of halides, cyanide, sulphide and a variety of organic compounds (Wang, 1985). The applicability of CSV has now been extended to the determination of metallic species following considerable research into a new, non-electrolytic method of preconcentration during the last decade. This preconcentration method is based on the observation that many organic compounds exhibit surface active properties that are manifested by their adsorption from solution onto the surface of a solid phase. Adsorption has been regarded as an undesirable adverse effect in polarography for a long time but enhancements in polarographic waves had been observed and attributed to adsorption since the early days of polarography (Bond, 1980). Pihlar et al. (1981) were the first to exploit adsorption of the dimethylglyoxime complex of Ni on the Hg electrode for the preconcentration of Ni before its stripping. Since then, procedures for the determination of a large number of trace elements have been developed and applied to environmental samples. Wang (1989) provides excellent review on the development, potentials and applications of CSV, which contains a detailed treatment of the fundamental principles of CSV, the mechanisms of complex adsorption and of the stripping step. The principle behind the new method is very simple: under optimized solution conditions, the analyte (generally metal ions) reacts with an added ligand to form a complex which is adsorbed on the surface electrode during the preconcentration stage. This complex is then reduced during the stripping stage, which consists of the application of a negative potential scan on the electrode. During the stripping stage, the reduction process producing the peak current may be due to the reduction of the metal ion, the reduction of the ligand or the simultaneous reduction of both the ligand and the metal ion. The selectivity of the method is determined by the judicious choice of the complex-forming ligand and, since the reaction between the ligand and the analyte is usually dependent on the oxidation state of the analyte species, speciation analysis is generally achieved (Wang, 1985). A comprehensive review of ligands used in, and metals determinable by CSV is given by (Paneli, 1993). It can be conceived that with the choice of a proper ligand, any metallic species should be amenable to CSV determination, opening up the whole Periodic Table to this extremely sensitive, selective and inexpensive analytical technique. The reduction of the ligand can be used for the determination of metals which are reduced at very negative potentials. It is no wonder therefore that so much activity has been channeled towards the search for new ligands for CSV of trace metals in environmental samples. Almost two decades after the technique was first used for the determination of nickel, there is some continuing debate as to the name of the technique. Since the adsorption phenomenon is utilized for preconcentration of the analyte species, the technique has also been referred to as Adsorptive Stripping Voltammetry, (AdSV), as well as Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry (AdCSV), whereas many workers simply refer to it as CSV based on the direction of the current flow during the reduction. Following a discussion on the pros and cons of the different names used for the technique, Fogg (1994) reached the conclusion that the term cathodic stripping voltammetry with adsorptive accumulation would be more informative. However, he acknowledged that the term cathodic stripping will continue to be used. In contrast to the analytical methods, electrochemical methods for trace metal analysis are very fast and require relatively simple and inexpensive instrumentation. If the complexing ligand is chosen such that the reaction occurs selectively between the ligand and the analyte in a given oxidation state, speciation is achievable without lengthy separation steps and the preconcentration inherent to the technique precludes the need for a potentially contaminating preconcentration step (Wang, 1985). The whole analytical procedure can generally be carried out within the confines of a clean bench, which is a major asset in trace analysis. The fact that the material adsorbed on the mercury electrode is readily accessible for instantaneous reduction during the stripping stage leads to the flow of a large current, which is the analytical signal. Hence high sensitivities, i. e. , extremely low detection limits, can be achieved. In CSV, detection limits in the sub-Â µg/L level are routinely achieved using preconcentration times of 1-3 min (Wang, 1985). All these assets make CSV potentially the most appropriate technique for environmental, and, specifically, natural water analysis. Voltammetric Analytical Methods for Chromium Chromium occurs principally in nature as the extremely stable mineral chromite, FeO. Cr2O3. In most soils and bedrocks, it is similarly immobilized in the trivalent state; however, the environmental concentrations of chromium are significantly in excess of the natural mobilization of the element by weathering processes. This is because chromium and its compounds have widespread industrial applications, resulting in large quantities of the element being discharged in the environment (Bowen, 1979). The chromium concentrations encountered in natural waters are very low; concentrations vary from 0. 1 to 0. 3 Â µg/L in seawater and from 0.3 to 6 Â µg/L in unpolluted surface waters (Bowen, 1979). The study of the chemical speciation of chromium in natural waters has been a topic of great interest for 40 years. The speciation studies have almost exclusively focused on the distribution of chromium between Cr(III) and Cr(VI) (Fukai, 1967, p. 901). Polarographic methods for the analysis of chromium have long been established but the detection limits do not permit their application to natural waters. However, it was during the polarographic study of Cr in supporting medium containing EDTA and nitrate ions that an important observation was made by Tanaka and Ito (1966). These authors found that the Cr polarographic waves were unusually high in this medium and attributed it to the catalytic re-oxidation of an intermediate Cr(II)-EDTA complex by nitrate ions. Golimowski et al. (1985) were the first to recognize the role of adsorption in the polarographic determination of Cr in the presence of DTPA as supporting electrolyte. They showed that the Cr-DTPA is adsorbed on Hg whereas Cr-EDTA is not, hence the notion that DTPA is more suitable than EDTA for the polarographic determination of Cr. Golimowski et al. (1985) exploited the adsorption of the Cr-DTPA complex for the preconcentration of the analyte at a Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode and thus published the first CSV method for chromium. DTPA was used as the complexing ligand and the catalytic effect of nitrate ions was used for enhancement of the reduction currents. In what would be the first application of a voltammetric technique for the determination of chromium at levels prevalent in natural waters, they reported a detection limit of 20 Â µg/L for a 2-min deposition time. The superiority of this analytical method vis-a-vis the non-electrochemical methods was unquestionable. The CSV method provided not only the required detection limit, but it did so without the need for any separate sample pretreatment steps (Golimowski et al. , 1985). However, Golimowski et al. (1985) failed to consider that the sensitivity of Cr(III) was less than that of Cr(VI), although this observation had already been made by Zarebski in 1977. These authors also failed to observe that the response of Cr(III) was transient (see below). According to Golimowski et al. (1985) therefore, the method was applicable for the determination of total chromium and they claimed success in its application for the determination of chromium in river, lake, sea and rain water. Given the view of Golimowski et al. (1985) regarding the applicability of the DTPA method for the determination to Cr(III), Torrance and Gatford (1987) made a very thorough study of the CSV of the Cr-DTPA complex and confirmed that the responses of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) were indeed different. They found that the Cr(VI):Cr(III) response ratio was 14:1 at 0. 1 Â µg/L and 1. 2:1 at 1 Â µg/L of Cr respectively. These authors also found that with both Cr(III) and Cr(VI) there was a kinetic effect that produced a decrease in peak current with time; this decrease was more severe for Cr(III), with a decrease of 15% in the first 5 min after the addition of DTPA. Therefore it was concluded that Cr(III) and Cr(VI) cannot be determined in a solution unless all Cr(III) is oxidized to Cr(VI). They achieved this by heating the sample solutions with bromine water and attained detection limits of 0. 023 Â µg/L Cr as Cr(VI) (Torrance and Gatford, 1987). Scholz et al. (1990) also confirmed that the DTPA method works reliably only for Cr(VI) and proposed that, for the speciation of chromium, total chromium be determined as Cr(VI) after prior conversion of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) by uv-irradiation. Cr(VI) only was determined after a prior step in which the Cr(III) was removed from solution by coprecipitation with AI(OH)3. Cr(III) could then be obtained by difference. The use of DTPA as the complexing ligand in the determination of chromium was further studied by Boussemart et al. (1992), who devised and optimized a method for the speciation of chromium in natural water. These authors observed that the sensitivity for Cr(III) was about 70% of the Cr(VI) sensitivity. They also found that the response for Cr(III) was transient, disappearing completely in about 30 min. They therefore devised a method whereby the CSV peak current was recorded under optimized conditions immediately after the addition of DTPA to the voltammetric cell. The peak current at this time would be equivalent to the response due to Cr(III) and Cr(VI). Then, after 30 min (when the Cr(III) was believed not to be responding), they carried out a determination of Cr(VI) by a Cr(VI) standards addition. The concentration of Cr(III) was estimated from the initial response of Cr(III) plus Cr(VI). Thus, they reported a detection limit of 0. 1 nM (ca. 5 ng/L) for a 2-min deposition time. Although they used this method for the speciation of Cr in natural water, it is deficient in that the Cr(III) can only be estimated (Boussemart et al. , 1992). Apparently, these authors failed to consider the findings of Torrance and Gatford (1987) regarding the differing ratios of Cr(VI):Cr(III) responses at different concentrations as well as the rapidly decreasing response of Cr(III). The rate of decrease of the Cr(III) response is such that by the time the solution is purged and the first voltammetric run completed, there already is a substantial loss in signal. If, as is normal practice, voltammetric runs are carried out in triplicate and, as proposed, a deposition time of 2 min is chosen, it would be impossible to quantify the initial response due to the Cr(III). However, this method is very useful because it enables total Cr(VI) to be determined without any sample pretreatment step. Probably having realized the deficiencies of the above method, Boussemart and van den Berg (1994) later published another method for the determination of Cr(III) in natural water. In this case, the Cr(III) was preconcentrated by adsorption on silica. The adsorbed Cr(III) was later released by converting it to Cr(VI) by uv-irradiation and this Cr(VI) was determined by CSV, with DTPA as the complexing ligand. Conclusion From the discussion above it can be seen that analytical methods with the required sensitivity for the speciation determination of chromium in natural water can be based on electrochemical techniques with better attainable detection. Additionally, the electrochemical techniques generally involve less sample pretreatment and are faster and cheaper to perform. For these reasons, electroanalytical methods are preferable for the determination of chromium. Of the stripping techniques discussed, the method based on DTP A seems best suited to the determination of Cr(VI) in natural water, because Cr(III) does not respond. However, the difficulty faced in determining Cr(III) is a major drawback. Considering the methods described above, the complete speciation of chromium would need the complete oxidation of Cr(III) to Cr(VI) or the physical separation of the Cr(III) species as done in the methods by Boussemart and van den Berg (1994), or Scholz et al. (1990). These pretreatment steps are lengthy and are potentially likely to introduce analyte losses as well as contamination in the analytical method. The incorporation of sample pretreatment steps seems to be contrary to the spirit of electroanalytical techniques where excellent sensitivity coupled with simplicity and minimal sample handling is lauded as the great asset of the technique. The complete speciation of chromium could in principle be achieved without any need for sample pretreatment by the use of two different complexing ligands, for example, DTPA for Cr(VI) only and then cupferron or 2,2-bipyridine for total chromium (Cr(III) plus Cr(VI)). The difference between total chromium and Cr(VI) would then be equivalent to Cr(III). However, adoption of such a speciation scheme has apparently not yet been investigated, probably because it would entail undesirable additional time and costs (costs and purification of additional chemicals etc. ) in the overall process. References Bond, A. M. (1980). Modern Polarographic Methods in Analytical Chemistry. New York: Marcel Dekker. Boussemart, M. , van den Berg, C. M. G. , Ghaddaf, M. (1992). The determination of the chromium speciation in sea water using catalytic cathodic stripping voltammetry. Anal. Chim. Acta, 262, 103–115. Boussemart, M., van den Berg, C. (1994). Preconcentration of chromium (III) from seawater by adsorption on silica. and voltammetric determination. Analyst, 119, 1349-1353. Bowen, H. J. M. (1979). Environmental Chemistry of the Elements. Academic Press. Donat, J. R. , Bruland, K. W. (1995). Trace Elements in the Oceans, in Salbu, B. and Steinnes, E. (Eds. ), Trace Elements in Natural Waters. CRC Press. Fogg, A. G. (1994). Adsorptive stripping voltammetry or cathodic stripping voltammetry? Methods of accumulation and determination in stripping voltammetry. Anal. Proc. , 31, 313-317.

Complaint letter

Complaint letter I wish to present complaints that your business has presented to Yoga Center which have continually worked to strain our relationship as business neighbors. Your employees have always been leaving the garbage carts outside our Day-care premises making it a huge distraction to our clients as well. This is against the accepted code of behavior since the carts should be kept at the appropriate storage areas at all times. We have also noted with concern that your businesses have been dumping wastes and other inappropriate items close to our premises. This is an eyesore to our business and has adversely affected the business. This illegal dumping has made us land into problems with the local authorities as dumping is against the local regulations (Joshi, 2006). Recently Yoga Center was even required to pay a hefty fine. Another complaint which we wish to raise is the noted unfair competition which you have subjected to our business. The billboards which have been erected around our business have largely confused our clients and made the business to not pick-up fast as anticipated. The storage and parking of vehicles has also been a case of distress. Noise has been on increase in the recent past. This being a yoga centre we require total silence in order for the people to effectively reflect and offer adequate care to babies. The increased noise levels work as a distraction and the clients do not achieve the necessary results. This has made our clients not to be satisfied with the results and they have left the yoga classes thus making us to lose profits. Kindly consider these complaints for mutual relations between us, thanks. References Joshi, G. (2006). Writing Skills for Technical Purposes. New York, U.S.A: Gyan Publishing House

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare Essay -- Papers

Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare The opening scenes of the play are called the EXPOSITION, where the dramatist introduces the most significant characters and themes, so that they can be developed and set up the plot. Describe the means by which Shakespeare had done this in the first act, and judge how successful (or not) he has been. The opening scenes of "Measure for Measure", introduce the most significant characters in the play and also tend to establish the relationships between each of them. The plot and the key themes are introduced giving the reader an idea of what is going to unfold in the following acts. Shakespeare has used the opening scene of the play to introduce one of the key characters. In this first scene, set in Vienna, the Duke announces to his advisor, Escalus, that he is to leave the country for reasons, which are un-disclosed to anyone. He decides to leave Angelo, a trusted friend, standing in his place. This would in effect give Angelo "absolute power" over the nation, giving him the decision to dictate who would live or die. "In our remove be thou at full ourself; Mortality and mercy in Vienna" ============================== Duke Vincento Act I Sc I Angelo is highly respected and held in high regard by both the Duke and Escalus, this is evident by the way the two both talk of him, to each other and to Angelo, himself: "If any in Vienna be of worth To undergo such ample grace and honour, It is Lord Angelo" Escalus Act I Sc I Angelo appears to be a genuine person, there appear to be no hidden sides to him, "What You See Is What You Get". Angelo appear... ... Overall, I do feel that Shakespeare has been successful in creating good first impressions and introductions of the more significant characters, Angelo, Lucio and Isabella. All though Isabella is not in this opening act much, her character ids set up for those later acts, where she will play a bigger, more significant part. Shakespeare's introduction of the themes is also done well. The first appears to be the introduction of power, where the Duke leaves and Angelo is named as the stand in. The theme of corruption is also brought across well, using the comic characters, the prostitute, Mistress Overdone and the pimp, Pompey. As an opening act to a play, I feel that all the characters and the main themes are introduced well, which helps the reader to understand the play because they are introduced from the beginning.

E-Commerce In Latin America Essay -- Consumer Markets Business Essays

E-Commerce In Latin America Where Is It Now, Where Is It Going, Who Is Taking It There? In recent years, the media has made much of the growing consumer markets in Latin America. North Americans have to come to understand that much of the health of the U.S. economy is tied to the economic well-being of Latin countries such as Brazil and Mexico. Yet even with our awareness of the market size of our neighbors and awareness of our increasing interdependence, most North Americans consider the emerging Latin American markets to be underdeveloped, backwards, comprised of technologically unprepared people. How accurate is this conception, and specifically, what is the status of the Latin American market for e-commerce? In order to understand any market for the first time, one must answer several basic questions: How large is the market? How fast is it growing? What are the buying patterns in the market? How might they change? When will the market â€Å"take off?† What is blocking or helping market growth? Who is already in the marketplace? Who is likely to enter? This paper outlines the answers to these initial questions, and makes the case that North Americans need to pay attention to emerging Latin ecommerce markets- whether as advertisers, consumers, or trendwatchers. Market Size and Growth Rate As recently as August 1999, the Boston Consulting Group stated that on-line retailing in Latin America will reach $77 million in 1999. This figure represents web sales earned by Latin American based e-tailers. The same report states that an additional $90 million in revenues will be earned by U.S.-based online merchants this year. This results in a total of $167 million in domestic and international ecommerce r... ...n America, I will continue to follow these related trends with increased interest. [1] Emarketer, August 2, 1999, www.emarketer.com/estats/080299_beg.html. [2] Emarketer, June 28, 1999, Is Latin American eCommerce Ready to Take Off?, www.emarketer.com/estats/062899_latam.html. [3] Ibid. [4] eMarketer, Latin American Retail Ecommerce to Reach $160 Million, August 2, 1999, www.emarketer.com/estats/080299_beg.html. [5] Ibid. [6] eMarketer, March 22, 1999, Latin America Gets Fired Up for EC, www.emarketer.com/estats/032299_latin.html. [7] Emarketer, â€Å"Telephone Costs Holding Back Access In Latin America,† September 28, 1998, www.emarketer.com. [8] Ibid. [9] Emarketer, â€Å"UOL,† October 1999, www.emarketer.com. [10] Ibid. [11] â€Å"Building the First Web Brand in Latin America,† From metasearch using keyword â€Å"StarMedia.† [12] Ibid. E-Commerce In Latin America Essay -- Consumer Markets Business Essays E-Commerce In Latin America Where Is It Now, Where Is It Going, Who Is Taking It There? In recent years, the media has made much of the growing consumer markets in Latin America. North Americans have to come to understand that much of the health of the U.S. economy is tied to the economic well-being of Latin countries such as Brazil and Mexico. Yet even with our awareness of the market size of our neighbors and awareness of our increasing interdependence, most North Americans consider the emerging Latin American markets to be underdeveloped, backwards, comprised of technologically unprepared people. How accurate is this conception, and specifically, what is the status of the Latin American market for e-commerce? In order to understand any market for the first time, one must answer several basic questions: How large is the market? How fast is it growing? What are the buying patterns in the market? How might they change? When will the market â€Å"take off?† What is blocking or helping market growth? Who is already in the marketplace? Who is likely to enter? This paper outlines the answers to these initial questions, and makes the case that North Americans need to pay attention to emerging Latin ecommerce markets- whether as advertisers, consumers, or trendwatchers. Market Size and Growth Rate As recently as August 1999, the Boston Consulting Group stated that on-line retailing in Latin America will reach $77 million in 1999. This figure represents web sales earned by Latin American based e-tailers. The same report states that an additional $90 million in revenues will be earned by U.S.-based online merchants this year. This results in a total of $167 million in domestic and international ecommerce r... ...n America, I will continue to follow these related trends with increased interest. [1] Emarketer, August 2, 1999, www.emarketer.com/estats/080299_beg.html. [2] Emarketer, June 28, 1999, Is Latin American eCommerce Ready to Take Off?, www.emarketer.com/estats/062899_latam.html. [3] Ibid. [4] eMarketer, Latin American Retail Ecommerce to Reach $160 Million, August 2, 1999, www.emarketer.com/estats/080299_beg.html. [5] Ibid. [6] eMarketer, March 22, 1999, Latin America Gets Fired Up for EC, www.emarketer.com/estats/032299_latin.html. [7] Emarketer, â€Å"Telephone Costs Holding Back Access In Latin America,† September 28, 1998, www.emarketer.com. [8] Ibid. [9] Emarketer, â€Å"UOL,† October 1999, www.emarketer.com. [10] Ibid. [11] â€Å"Building the First Web Brand in Latin America,† From metasearch using keyword â€Å"StarMedia.† [12] Ibid.

Comparing Tone in To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time and To His Coy Mistress :: Robert Herrick Andrew Marvell Literature Essays

Comparing Tone in To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time and To His Coy Mistress â€Å"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time† by Rober Herrick and Andrew Marvell’s â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† have many similarities and differences. The tone of the speakers, the audience each poem is directed to, and the theme make up some of the literary elements that help fit this description. The tone of â€Å"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time† and â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† are different. In Herrick’s poem, his tone is relaxed. For instance when he writes, â€Å"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, /Old times is still a-flying,† his word choice has a very relaxed and casual tone. His attitude reflects the relaxed tone in his poem. In Marvell’s poem, his tone is serious. Marvell’s purpose is to persuade his mistress to have sex with him. He tries to lure her in when saying, â€Å"Had we but World enough, and Time.† He starts out very seriously, in attempt to convince his mistress. The relaxed tone of â€Å"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time† and serious tone of â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† point out the difference in the way the writers feel about their characters. Both poems are directed to two different audiences. In â€Å"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time† Herrick is speaking to all virgins. He never addresses anybody personally. In â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† Marvell is addressing his mistress personally. He wrote the poem for his mistress to convince her to become intimate with him. The difference makes a change because now Herrick’s poem affects the reader (depending on if she is female) since it refers to all virgins. However, Marvell’s poem does not since he is referring to one particular individual. The them of â€Å"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time† and â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† is carpe diem. The carpe diem them states, â€Å"life is brief, so let us seize the day.† In â€Å"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time† Herrick simply states: Then be not coy, but use your time, And, while ye may, go marry; For, having lost but once your prime, You may forever tarry. Herrick is telling all of the your virgins to go out and have sex in their prime because if they do not, they will regret not having sex when they had the chance to.

Endurance of the Human Spirit

Endurance Of The Human Spirit The Iliad and the movie Precious, based on the novel Push by Saphire, both share a common theme where the main characters depict an uncommon endurance of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Although in The Iliad, war is horrible and bloody, the spirit of Achilles is never broken by this adversity because, like Precious, who suffers physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of her parents, their human spirit is the driving force behind their desire to overcome their challenges. As a result, the endurance of their human spirit is strengthened and they emerge victorious.These two characters reflect the uncommon strength of the human spirit because when their body is defeated, or their mind is loaded with emotion, this drive within them pushes their limits. A character analysis of Achilles and Precious is farfetched because they are two very distinct characters in two very different worlds. According to Greek Mythology Achilles' character existe d long before the biblical Jesus Christ. This means he lived more than 3000 years ago, whereas Precious, is a an illiterate, obese 16-year-old girl with two children who lives in the New York City ghetto of Harlem.However, these two distinct characters have commonality when we look beyond their physical being and look within their souls. Here, Achilles and Precious possess an unyielding human spirit that serves as an engine that keeps them moving forward in the face of impossibility. From a superficial analysis, Achilles and Precious are both warriors in their own ways. It is obvious that Achilles is a warrior because he is one who fights in the armies of Kings and battles enemies for gain. He is no ordinary fighter, but a fearless and skilled one who is recruited for his physical strength and success.Agamemnon enlists him to fight for his army when he goes to war with the Trojans because he is aware of his exceptional skill. Therefore, in his own eyes and in the eyes of others, Ach illes is a warrior. This characterization is not as obvious when we analyze Precious. Precious is a warrior even though she does not know it and others do not regard her as one. She became a warrior because she was born into a family of physical and sexual abuse. At the age of 3, her father started to sexually abuse her and her mother's constant humiliation only served to degrade her.However, it was due to this unfortunate circumstance the she developed into a warrior. Precious is battling her drug addicted, alcoholic, and emotionally unstable mother. In the movie there is a scene where she is at the top of the stairs in her home, with her mother below tossing a pan at her while telling her that she is â€Å"stupid bitch (Precious). † In this case, her parents are the enemies she has to defeat to survive. This can destroy you unless you have a strong will. Each has a reason to develop a drive to prevail.It is this strong desire to overcome in the face of physical impossibilit ies that sets them apart from ordinary people. Achilles and Precious have an inner human spirit that drives them to overcome the obstacles in their lives. Achilles continually strives to be a great fighter because he wants to be remembered after one-thousand years. This is partially his motivation and he demonstrates this when he utters, â€Å"You talk of food. I have no taste for food – what I really crave is the slaughter of blood and the choking groans of men. † (Homer 495).Here, after a successful battle, Agamemnon is commanding that a feast be prepared for the soldiers. Achilles strongly rejects his gift and says that there is no time for eating when he has rage for fighting in his heart. Achilles has only one thing on his mind and that is to fight because his drive is his desire to be recognize. This does not completely characterize Achilles because towards the end of the movie, when he kills Hector, and Priam is begging Achilles for his body, he says, â€Å"No more, old man, don't tempt my wrath, not now! Don't stir my raging heart still more.Or under my own roof I may not spare your life, old man †¦ suppliant that you are †¦. † (Homer 606). It is obvious that Achilles has many characteristics. Here, he is fearless, selfish, and at the same time compassionate. Unlike Achilles, whose human spirit was driven by selfish reasons to be grand and recognized, Precious was motivated by a desire to be remembered. Initially, Precious is an insecure, weak and helpless person. Her father rapes her and cannot depend on anyone to defend her. This incestuous relationship is a heavy weight for her to carry.However, she does eventually gather the strength and stands up for herself. This is very evident when she states, â€Å"The other day I cried. But you know what? Fuck that day. That's why God, or whoever, makes other days. â€Å"(Precious). Here, we have a powerful statement by Precious who has endured so much emotional and physical a buse. By the time she makes this statement, she has given birth to two children by her own father and has endured enormous mental abused by her mother. Her mother states, â€Å"Don't nobody want you, don't nobody need you. (Precious). This type of abuse can cause anyone to commit suicide. It is a crippling experience for most people, but Precious build up the strength to defeat the abuse and believes there is another day. Even though she has given up on the notion of God, she still believes in herself. This is Precious' reflection that her human spirit will survive anything. It may appear that Achilles and Precious do not have anything in common because almost everything about these characters is different, but as their characters develop, we learn otherwise.First, we have one character who physically survives and the other one dies. However, each one is a warrior in their own way and in their own world. As warriors they must choose between fighting or giving up. What makes both of these characters extraordinary is their inner will to fight challenges that appear insurmountable. Achilles is recognized as a great warrior, but his spirit develops even stronger than his own physical body due to his experience in the battlefield.Precious also develops into a warrior as she fights the sexual and physical abuses of her parents. She demonstrates that she is a strong person because she ends up being a survivor and not a victim of her parent's abuse. Both of these characters demonstrate that the human spirit does not surrender and will overcome just about anything in life. Works Cited Precious. Dir. Lee Daniels. Perf. Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey. 2009. Film. Troy. Dir. Wolfgang Petersen. Perf. Brad Pitt, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom. 2004. Film.

Options for implementing a leadership change Essay

Gene One is a biotech company that has seen steady growth since entering the biotech industry in 1996. It was founded by the late Don Ruiz and four other directors. During the last eight years, Gene One has grown to become a $400 million dollar company. Gene One wants to continue this growth, and has decided to gain additional growth and funds by issuing an Initial Public Offering (IPO). This is in order to remain competitive in the market, since it needs more capital for new development, advertisement, and marketing if it is to remain successful.   In order for the IPO to be successful, Gene One needs a solid foundation to build upon. Gene One can take an in-depth look at key concepts such as effective teamwork through cooperation, trust, and cohesiveness, sources of conflict in organizations, knowledge management, elements of organizational structure, and assess the influence of organizational structure on power and politics (Scenario, 2006). Gene One is a growing company with many opportunities for further growth in the future. With this change, Gene One needs to revaluate all areas of the company and find solutions to problems within the organization. The company has many opportunities for changes, which will enable them to reach the goals needed. The key project is to find the best solution that will enable Gene One to reach their goals, and become better than its competitors. It will need to review the solutions that they have come up with, and the additional alternative solutions that have not even been reviewed (Holmstrom, 1994). Team analysis After the death of Don Ruiz, there is a big leadership gap left in the management of Gene One. The team is therefore incomplete without him, which is undesirable for effective management. Team building is both challenging and rewarding. Effective teams achieve results far beyond what individuals could accomplish on their own. However, team building is much more than putting a group of people together and hoping for the best. Teambuilding is an art that overcomes differences in style, personality, and other potential areas of conflict, but even when a team functions in total harmony, it may not achieve its goals (Brickley, 1987). As Don’s siblings, we have found ourselves having to take part in leadership at Gene One. Each family member was assigned one member of the remaining four members of the executive. In order to assess the remaining team’s likelihood of success, I gathered information about one team member and did an analysis on it. During my analysis, I found my subject to have the following desirable attributes: –  He can take charge, is assertive and can take control of a situation. – He is   outgoing, people-oriented and extroverted – He is concerned with accuracy, details and exactness – He is competitive, has   a great   desire to win and is aggressive – He is   easy going and casual, and   takes things as they come – He likes identifying and analyzing problems – He is concerned with timely results and is quick to take action – He is good team player who works well with others – he is concerned with standards and high quality work Attributes not well represented Despite all the good attributes, I found my subject with a few negative attributes. They include: – he has a negative attitude regarding people and outcomes – He is highly emotional and easily loses his temper – He gets impatient with the subordinate staff Recommendation With a few changes to the leadership structure of Gene One, I recommend my subject for a further role in management of Gene One. His attributes are impressive and can steer the company to great heights. However, he should help take the company through a transition to usher in a structure that separates ownership from management. Leadership style Gene One needs to develop a leadership style that involves the leader including one or more employees in the decision making process.   However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness; rather it is a sign of strength that your employees will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information, and your employees have other parts. Note that a leader is not expected to know everything-this is why you employ knowledgeable and skillful employees. Using this style is of mutual benefit it allows them to become part of the team and allows you to make better decisions (Tannenbaum & Schmidt, 1958). Leadership structure The leadership structure at Gene One should change such that the titles of CEO and chairman of the board are separate entities. This will help separate management from leadership.   This is the best leadership structure for large corporations or others hoping to enter that league. Most large corporations are not managed by their owners or shareholders. Instead, they are managed by a leader-CEO or President- and a team of officers. The CEO or president is usually a professional trained in a particular field with the necessary experience. The CEO is accountable to the stockholders through their elected representative, the board of directors. Gene One should not have a dual CEO where the CEO functions simultaneously as the chair of the board. A non-dual CEO would be the best option for Gene One. Research has shown that CEO duality threatens Board independence, and can erode the essential oversight responsibilities of the Board (Daily and Dalton, 1994). Negative leadership should be avoided at all costs. Negative leaders act domineering and superior with people. They believe the only way to get things done is through penalties, such as loss of job, days off without pay, reprimand employees in front of others, etc. They believe their authority is increased by frightening everyone into higher lever of productivity. Yet what always happens when this approach is used wrongly is that morale falls; which of course leads to lower productivity.

The Soundtrack to my life

Music is a love of mine; I can say that I cannot really go through a day without listening to some music. Through Primary school I rarely listened to any music. The most my musical genre would step to would be that of steps, blue and s-club 7, some of the cheesiest pop music you will ever here. These days the main music I like is that of Rock, my music taste ranges that from pop bands like McFly to heavy metal such as Slipknot. So I would say I have a diverse music range. I can't really stand hip hop or rap, some can be alright, but most is the same repeated beat with someone talking on top of it. I only really started getting really into music at the end of Year 7, as this is when I got my first MP3 player. Most of the music I really like reminds me of memories in the summer as this is my favourite time of year, meaning most happy memories that are related with music are in the summer. One of the main songs that every time I hear, really reminds me of the past is, Good Charlotte's chronicles of life and death. This song is up their with my favourite songs of all time as it delivers a real poignant message and the lyrics really mean something, while in today's music, the lyrics are poorly written to get a one hit wonder. As I hear this song and as soon as it starts with the opening lyrics, ‘You come in cold, you're covered in blood'. I am always taking back to the summer of 2005 as this song played a huge part in my life that summer. Good Charlotte's Album ‘The Chronicles of Life and Death' came out in October 2004, but I didn't get it to the time just before I went away, so this album really was a part of my holiday. I will always remember around May 2005 I first heard good charlotte's ‘Chronicles of Life and Death' single on the radio. The moment I first heard this song, my ears were transported to music heaven and I was obsessed with this song then and I still love it now. The memory that I can really visualize when I hear this song is lying down in the long grass, with the sun blazing down, but not too strong so it is uncomfortable and listening to my MP3. A song that I not necessarily can relate to, but a song that when I hear it just makes my day brighter is Bowling for Soups – High School Never Ends. I believe that this song really describes my present as I only really got into the song a few months back. If you listen to any of Bowling for Soups music I can safely say you will be amazed at how happy you can feel just from a piece of music, where the cheesy lyrics and the pop power chords will really make your day better. Even if you are feeling so down and you listen to bowling for soup, you will be brought back up and your spirits will be lifted. Not many memories really come to mind when I listen to Bowling for Soups – High School Never Ends. The main memory I have of listening to this song is the long coach journey to Austria when we went on our skiing trip. I had my I pod and because Bowling for Soup's album was the newest thing I had put on it I listened to it on many times as we travelled down. On the coach I will always remember how it was around 3:00 AM in the morning, but I couldn't sleep because I felt so dirty and smelly from being on the coach for around twelve hours so I just picked up my I pod, and watched the music video of High School Never Ends. I even when I felt very dirty, smelly and tired, Bowling for Soup managed to bring me out of my misery and put me in the world of happiness that they bring. The song ‘The New Transmission' by Lost Prophets, is one song that when I listen to really reminds me of the times I have been to Wales. The main reason for this is that Lost Prophets are a welsh band, but I only really started liking them last year when I went too Wales with a friend of mine. The main thing I enjoy about this piece of music is the main riff that holds the song together on guitar. I enjoy this riff as its simple but sound great and I think that lost prophets use it very well in that song. Also at the start of the song the first three lines are: Take, take, take all my time, all my company Take everything from me Fake, fake, fake all these things that you say to me Nothing that I want to believe These lyrics just make me feel warm inside, but not because of the way they are spoken it is the way they are said by Ian Watkins (Lead Singer). I think that the words are really catchy and will be stuck in your head all day making you sing them over and over again. When I hear this song it brings me back to the summer of 2006 in which I spent nearly four weeks in Wales. The main memory I have of this song is the warm sun striking down on out backs, the beautiful sea sparkling in the sunlight like a glittering diamond as me and my friend were skating along the promenade while listening to are MP3 players. I had sort of gone of skateboarding and didn't really enjoy it (mainly because I was very good at it!), but this one time I really enjoyed it as we sped along really fast and it seemed that we had to put almost no effort to move along because the walkway way was very smooth. This song makes me feel happy when I hear it as it reminds me of the summer in 2006 which I enjoyed very much. A song that I think sums up my future is Teenagers' by ‘My Chemical Romance'. I believe this is because this song really gives me an image of what my future years of being a teenager are going to be like. The chorus is: They said all teenagers scare The living shit out of me They could care less As long as someone'll bleed So darken your clothes Or strike a violent pose Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me When I listen to this song I get the image of how mainly mine, and lots others, teenager years are going to be like. As this song makes you think of teenagers and what they do, so it gives me a vision of the future. Also the fantastic blues riff used all throughout the song really makes this song very catchy. The main image I get when I listen to this song is teenagers basically getting told off and trying to be put under control. I get this from the opening verse: They're gonna clean up your looks With all the lies in the books To make a citizen out of you Because they sleep with a gun And keep an eye on your son So they can watch all the things you do This describes teenagers being kept under control, by saying that they keeping an eye on teenagers. But when you get to the chorus it shows that the teenagers rebel, we know this from the line: So darken your clothes Or strike a violent pose This is how the present is for most teenagers and how it will continue into the future, with adults trying to keep teenagers under control, but with them always rebelling and striking back at adults. This song is very easy to listen to and I believe that what makes it so easy to listen to is that the words are pronounced very clearly, and the song paints many pictures in your head as you listen to it. Music is my life and I have a lot of songs that I believe describe my life, so it has been hard picking and describing only these ones. I prefer rock when it comes to music, but will expand to other genres. I can't get though a day without listening to one piece of music; this makes music one of the main things in my life and is very important to me. Music reminds me of happy times, such as the summer, and because of this I love listening to music and it gives me many songs that I can put into the soundtrack to my life.