Definition of Habeas Corpus

Definition: Habeas Corpus, literally in Latin you have the body is a term that represents an important right granted to individuals in America. Basically, a writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate requiring that a prisoner be brought before the court to determine whether the government has the right to continue detaining them. The individual being held or their representative can petition the court for such a writ.According to Article One of the Constitution, the right to a writ of habeas corpus can only be suspended when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety. Habeas corpus was suspended during the Civil War and Reconstruction, in parts of South Carolina during the fight against the Ku Klux Klan, and during the War on Terror.

My Personal Statement - 716 Words

Through my whole life I have always desired to go to college. I observed the hardships that members of my family endured by choosing not to go to college and lacked the proper skills needed for a sufficient job. I never want that for me, and one day when I have a family of my own I want to be able to do my share in providing for them properly. While both of my parents have taken post secondary classes, neither have obtained a college degree, and they have always pushed me to pursue my dreams in getting into a school of my choice. I have always loved my science classes and have dreamed of majoring in a science field. When I was younger, my great-grandmother died with Alzheimers, and I was so devastated that I told my mother I was going to grow up and cure Alzheimers. I never wanted another soul to feel what I was feeling at that moment. I want to work with medicine in labs and try to uncover new findings that will change lives. My first choice for college is to go the University of No rth Carolina at Pembroke; it fits my requirements and is not too far from home. I want to get my bachelors in medical technology and getting a side job in a lab; when I have a small income, I am going for my masters. I am very driven so accomplishing these goals should not be a problem unless I have financial parameters that constricts my abilities. By the time I graduate, I will have taken almost all of the Advanced Placement classes my school offers and a few extra collegeShow MoreRelatedPersonal Statement : My Vision Statement869 Words   |  4 Pagesvision statement that reflects your vision of your future, but also serves as a roadmap of your future. A vision statement is something we all have it’s one thing we really never notice. Just as I noticed mine. As everyone has a different vision statement my vision statement was really unique and made me realize a lot. To begin, a few information on my vision statement in my personal life starts off with important person which is my high school principal who really motivated me to continue my educationRead MorePersonal Statement : My Mission Statement1781 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Paper A personal mission statement is a philosophy or creed that one plans to follow in daily life. It is usually designed with positivity, purpose, and with personal goals for every aspect of life such as career, finances, etc. It also focuses on personality traits that one would like to possess and the accomplishments that one wants to achieve, both short-term and long term. It also houses the individuality of the person writing it. Every person writing a personal mission statement is will produceRead MoreMy Personal Statement On Personal Values1730 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction My personal values act as a basis for determining right and wrong in my daily life. My life, my parents, my husband and my children have all played valuable roles in the development of my core values. The following is an ever changing personal ethics creed, that I plan on using to help guide me in my endeavors. My Basic Beliefs I grew up after the age of eight in a divorced home. In the late eighties it was still an oddity to be a child of Divorce. This is where my strongest beliefsRead MoreMy Personal Statement : My Goals1488 Words   |  6 PagesMy personal mission is to constantly strive to be the best overall person that I can be within my personal and professional life. My goals are to inspire and help others and myself around me to achieve greatness and balance that will to maximize our potential that will transcend the boundaries of our dreams. In addition to my mission statement, my core life values are the foundation of my mission statement, which allows me to uphold my promises and standards. These promises and standards will affordRead MoreMy Personal Statement : My Goals864 Words   |  4 PagesMy personal mission is to constantly strive to be the best overall person that I can be within my personal and professional life. My goals are to inspire and help others and myself around me to achieve greatness and balance that will to maximize our potential that will transcend the boundaries of our dreams. In addition to my mission statement, my core life values are the foundation of my mission statement, which allows me to uphold my promises and standards. These promises and standards will affordRead MoreMy Reflection On My Personal Statement991 Words   |  4 Pages My personal mission statement is as follows: To be a positive and influential person in society while still being myself at all times. Core Values: The Power of Positivity: I one thing I pride myself on is being one of the most positive people out there. 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Bowlbys Attachment Theory Free Essays

Introduction For the purpose of this assignment I will begin with a discussion of John Bowl by’s theory of attachment, this is one of the most used theories in children’s social work today. I will then discuss the origins of attachment theory, with giving an overview of what attachment theory consists of. In addition I will critically analyse this theory by incorporating other theorist’s views. We will write a custom essay sample on Bowlbys Attachment Theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now Further I will give a brief account of how Mary Ainsworth researched attachment and her outcomes and classifications, which strengthened and widened the theory. Finally I will discuss how this theory is used within social work settings, together with influencing policy initiatives . A brief overview is given regarding the ethical approach used together with its relevance to anti discriminatory practise. Bowlby initially began his career as a child psychiatrist, which later led him to undertake training at the British Psychoanalytic Institute. These early experiences contributed positively in Bowlby’s research, which then led to the origins of attachment theory. This was his first empirical study to be undertaken. He examined cases of maladjusted children in a school. Bowlby then linked the children who were committing petty crime, also suffered with affectionless emotions. He then noted that all of these children had a history of separation and maternal deprivation Bowlby then proceeded to expand his research, influenced by Konrad Lorenz’s (1935) paper on imprinting. In which Lorenz researched behaviour of baby geese, where he stated is a phrase sensitive learning which is implied within a â€Å"_critical period† (Lorenz 1935). _Bowlby’s research was then one compromising concepts from ethologic, cybernetics and psychoanalysis methods. Thus making him believe that, humans are also born with tendencies to naturally promote attachment. The main concepts which Bowlby mainly focused on was; monotropy a tendency to attach to one particular care giver usually the mother. In addition he stated â€Å"_the propensity to make strong emotional bonds to one particular individual is a basic component of human nature† (Bowlby 1988). _He also goes on to state attachment â€Å"aids in survival†. Bowlby had distinguished four categories that consisted in attachment. The proximity Maintenance: Desire to be near the people we are attached to. Safe Haven: Returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of fear or threat Secure Base: The attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment. Separation Distress: Anxiety that occurs in the absence of the attachment figure. Ambivalent Attachment: _Where the child usually become very distressed when parents leave. This type is un common, normally a result of poor maternal availability. _ After Ainsworth’s research, (Main, Solomon 1986) added a fourth attachment style from their own research Conclusion How to cite Bowlbys Attachment Theory, Papers

Accounting Information System Liquidation of Companies

Question: Discuss about the Accounting Information System for Liquidation of Companies. Answer: Introduction This study is based on the subject of accounting. During this particular study, the discussion is done on the liquidation of the Australian companies like, ABC Learning, HIH Insurance and One-Tel. The study evaluates the reasons behind the liquidations of the companies and at the same time, the study also discusses on the ethics and the governance of the financial stress of the three companies. Along with this, the study also evaluates whether the liabilities were the major factors that influenced the liquidation of these companies or not. At the end of the study, the conclusion is derived by considering the overall findings of the study. Discussion on the liquidation of the companies in Australia In recent past, many companies in Australia have faced corporate collapse and ABC Learning is one of them. ABC Learning was of the largest child care centers in Australia, which was operating in the market of Australia since 1988. However, due to several wrong steps the company collapsed in the year of 2010 (Crikey 2016). Logan, Sumsion and Press (2015) believed that the liquidation or corporate collapse of ABC Learning took place because of weak financial planning of the organization. In support of this, Jokovich (2016) stated that before the collapse took place, the organization started to acquire several child care centers, without taking proper strategy to run the acquired child care centers. The financial performance of the organization was much good at that time and the share price of ABC Learning was in increasing trend (Crikey 2016). The management of the organization decided to apply the tricks of leveraging the reliable stream of income that are used by Macquarie Bank. Howe ver, the organization did not diversify its assets base and did not take care of the increasing credit costs. On the other side, Ahmadi et al. (2015) mentioned that one of the main factors that influenced the corporate collapse of ABC Learning was the high subsidies provided by the government of the country. As per the reports, the government of the country provided the amount of subsidies, which was more than 40% of the total revenue of the company (Crikey 2016). At the same time, the government of the country did not played active role in controlling the activities of the child care center like, ABC Learning. The government of the country did not investigate on the business activities of the company, when the company was earning huge profit in the market (Crikey 2016). Due to the above-mentioned reasons, the financial position of ABC Learning started to fall down and gradually, the organization moved towards liquidation. However, if the liquidation of ABC Learning is analyzed on the basis of ethics and governance, then it can be said that the operation of ABC Learning was not as per the business ethics. AML et al. (2015) stated that the organization (ABC Learning) was enjoying maximum portion of government subsidies, which was not en ethical business activity. Betta (2016) added that at the time, when most of the child care centers in Australia were facing trouble in surviving in the market, ABC Learning was earning more than $40 million before paying the tax and interests. On the other side, if the evaluation on the governance, it can be identified that governance of the company was not up to the mark (Damiani, Bourne and Foo 2015). The wrong strategies took by the company indicates that the corporate governance of the company had weak long term vision (Adams 2016). Therefore, it can be understood that the financial stress of ABC Learning was influenced by the unethical practice and wrong corporate governance. Corporate collapse or liquidation of HIH Insurance was another big business failure in Australia. The company was one of the larger insurance companies in the country. The liquidation of HIH Insurance happened in the year of 2001 (Damiani, Bourne and Foo 2015). Before, the liquidation took place the company was the most reliable business organization in Australia. The company had huge customer base and the company was involve in several acquisitions. However, due to some wrong business decisions, the financial position of the company became very weak. The company faced a loss of more than $5 billion (Aph.gov.au 2016). Miglani, Ahmed and Henry (2015) stated that the main reason behind the liquidation of HIH Insurance was the aggressive business expansion strategy taken by the management of HIH. Until 2001, the business of the company covered maximum insurance business segments, nationally as well as internationally. Betta (2016) argued that HIH Insurance acquired few troubled organiza tions at much high price. For example, HIH acquired FAI against $300 million but the actual worth of FAI was only $100 million. Adams (2016) mentioned that at the time of acquiring FAI, both the acquiring and acquired companies were commercially insolvent; however, from outside, the financial position of HIH was strong. According to Miglani, Ahmed and Henry (2015), HIH Insurance had insufficient capital to meet its liabilities. At the same time, the company offered its products at a very low price (Damiani, Bourne and Foo 2015). The corporate governance of the company was so weak that it could not take proper strategy to manage its risk (Aph.gov.au 2016). Moreover, just before the corporate collapse, when the company needed extra capital, it took the decision to bought reinsurance. Apart from these, the company also misstated its financial reports and conducted several financial frauds that influenced the liquidation (Aph.gov.au 2016). Therefore, from the ethical point of view, the business activities done by HIH Insurance was not up to the mark. The misstatement of financial reports and the corporate frauds were the most unethical business practices done by the company (Damiani, Bourne and Foo 2015). On the other side, the corporate governance team of the company was not that much strong to run a business appropriately. The corporate governance team of the company included inadequate number of non-executive director (Adams 2016). At the same time, the CEO of the company believed in dominating business strategy. The risk management measurements taken by the company was inappropriate. The management of the company set the investment committee for managing the investment risk but the strategies taken by the committee were weakly formed (Ahmadi et al. 2015). Apart from ABC Learning and HIH Insurance, there was another company One.Tel, which failed to sustain in the market because of wrong business strategies (BBC News 2016). One.Tel was one of the largest telecommunication companies in Australia. This company faced liquidation in the year 2001 (BBC News 2016). Miglani, Ahmed and Henry (2015) stated that the company collapsed due to the huge debt burden. Ndzi (2016) noted that just before the liquidation took place, the total debt amount of the company was A$600 million. Jokovich (2016) mentioned that the corporate collapse or liquidation of One.Tel was caused by four factors - inadequate pricing policy, wrong strategies, unbridled growth and inappropriate expectations. The rapid growth strategy taken by the management of One.Tel caused two major business issues One.Tel came into direct competition with Optus, which was the largest organization in telecommunication sector in Australia and the other issue was the customers of One.Tel wer e attracted towards the low-priced offers given by Optus (BBC News 2016). Logan, Sumsion and Press (2015) mentioned that in order to compete with Optus, the management of One.Tel took the low pricing policy which affected the financial position of the company to the high extent. The inadequate business strategies taken by the company contributed a large portion in the liquidation of One.Tel. For example, in 1999, the company made a corporate agreement with Lucent Technologies in order to build a national network in Australia (BBC News 2016). The agreement cost A$1.15 billion. However, after few days, disputes took place between One.Tel and Lucent Technologies and the Lucent Technologies decided to build the national network in Europe against US$20 billion to provide the service of One.Tel to the European customers (BBC News 2016). However, in 2000, One.Tel faced the major loss of A$291 million and it was announced by Merchant bank that the company (One.Tel) is having shortage of liquid cash. The reserve of the company failed to A$35 million and the cash balance of the company was only A$25 million (BBC News 2016). In the analysis of the liquidation of One.Tel from ethical and governance point of views, it can be identified that the business activities of the company was unethical as it mislead the investors by not disclosing the liquid position on public (Damiani, Bourne and Foo 2015). At the same time, the cash position of the company was also much weak, which was again not unfolded by the company. On the other side, the corporate governance of One.Tel was also not standard. The corporate governance rules and regulations of the company were inadequate to solve the problems of it (Miglani, Ahmed and Henry 2015). The strategy of rapid business growth was one of the largest mistakes done by the company, which caused huge debt to the company. Therefore, in the above discussion and evaluation of the liquidation cases of three major companies in Australia, it has been identified that the liabilities were the major factors that contributed to the liquidation of the three companies. In case of ABC Learning, the company had inadequate assets base (Ndzi 2016). On the other side, the HIH Insurance had insufficient capital to meet its future liabilities and One.Tel had shortage of case balance to meet the liabilities. Therefore, in these three cases, the companies had huge debt burden but insufficient assets, capital and liquid cash balance to meet the liabilities (Adams 2016). Hence, it is proved that the huge liabilities influenced the corporate collapse or liquidation of the companies. Conclusion In this study, it has been identified that inadequate financial position of the three companies One.Tel, ABC Learning and HIH Insurance pushed the companies in liquidation. The analysis of the study has identified that the aggressive business strategies took by the companies created major problems for running their businesses. In the corporate collapse cases of these three companies, it has been identified that the companies were operating their businesses by conducting unethical practices of business. The study has identified that the company like ABC Learning misstated the financial reports and One.Tel did not disclose the weak liquid cash position. At the same time, the corporate governance policies of the companies were also not appropriate. It was true that he companies achieved high success in the beginning but that success was not the actual success of the companies. Reference list Adams, M.A., 2016. Contemporary case studies in corporate governance failures.Governance Directions,68(6), p.335. Ahmadi, S., Forouzideh, N., Alizadeh, S. and Papageorgiou, E., 2015. Learning fuzzy cognitive maps using imperialist competitive algorithm.Neural Computing and Applications,26(6), pp.1333-1354. AML, A.M.L., Laundering, A.M., Act, C.T.F., due Secteur, C.O. and Competition, A., 2015. ABC analysis, 270 Accounting fraud, 14, 42 Active compliance approach, coherence, 52 basis, 31.benefits,108, p.109t. Aph.gov.au. 2016. Home Parliament of Australia. [online] Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/ [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016]. BBC News. 2016. Home - BBC News. [online] Available at: https://news.bbc.co.uk/ [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016]. Betta, M., 2016. Three Case Studies: Australian HIH, American Enron, and Global Lehman Brothers. InEthicmentality-Ethics in Capitalist Economy, Business, and Society(pp. 79-97). Springer Netherlands. Crikey. 2016. Crikey - On politics, media, business, the environment and life. [online] Available at: https://www.crikey.com.au [Accessed 7 Sep. 2016]. Damiani, C., Bourne, N. and Foo, M., 2015. The HIH claims support scheme.Economic Round-up, (1), p.37. Jokovich, E., 2016. Vale, John Kaye.Rattler (Sydney), (118), p.11. Logan, H., Sumsion, J. and Press, F., 2015. The Council of Australian Government Reforms [20072013]: a critical juncture in Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy?.International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy,9(1), pp.1-16. Miglani, S., Ahmed, K. and Henry, D., 2015. Voluntary corporate governance structure and financial distress: Evidence from Australia.Journal of Contemporary Accounting Economics,11(1), pp.18-30. Ndzi, E., 2016. Executive Remuneration:(What) Can UK Learn from Cameroon.

The Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft Essays - AOL,

The Anti-Trust Case Against Microsoft Since 1990, a battle has raged in United States courts between the United States government and the Microsoft Corporation out of Redmond, Washington, headed by Bill Gates. What is at stake is money. The federal government maintains that Microsoft's monopolistic practices are harmful to United States citizens, creating higher prices and potentially downgrading software quality, and should therefore be stopped, while Microsoft and its supporters claim that they are not breaking any laws, and are just doing good business. Microsoft's antitrust problems began for them in the early months of 1990(Check 1), when the Federal Trade Commission began investigating them for possible violations of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts,(Maldoom 1) which are designed to stop the formation of monopolies. The investigation continued on for the next three years without resolve, until Novell, maker of DR-DOS, a competitor of Microsoft's MS-DOS, filed a complaint with the Competition Directorate of the European Commission in June of 1993. (Maldoom 1) Doing this stalled the investigations even more, until finally in August of 1993, (Check 1)the Federal Trade Commission decided to hand the case over to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice moved quickly, with Anne K. Bingaman, head of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, leading the way.(Check 1) The case was finally ended on July 15, 1994, with Microsoft signing a consent settlement.(Check 1) The settlement focused on Microsoft's selling practices with computer manufacturers. Up until now, Microsoft would sell MS-DOS and Microsoft's other operating systems to original equipment manufacturers (OEM's) at a 60% discount if that OEM agreed to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every single computer that they sold (Check 2) regardless if it had a Microsoft operating system installed on it or not. After the settlement, Microsoft would be forced to sell their operating systems according to the number of computers shipped with a Microsoft operating system installed, and not for computers that ran other operating systems. (Check 2) Another practice that the Justice Department accused Microsoft of was that Microsoft would specify a minimum number of minimum number of operating systems that the retailer had to buy, thus eliminating any chance for another operating system vendor to get their system installed until the retailer had installed all of the Microsoft operating systems that it had installed.(Maldoom 2) In addition to specifying a minimum number of operating systems that a vendor had to buy, Microsoft also would sign contracts with the vendors for long periods of time such as two or three years. In order for a new operating system to gain popularity, it would have to do so quickly, in order to show potential buyers that it was worth something. With Microsoft signing long term contracts, they eliminated the chance for a new operating system to gain the popularity needed, quickly.(Maldoom 2) Probably the second most controversial issue, besides the per processor agreement, was Microsoft's practice of tying. Tying was a practice in which Microsoft would use their leverage in one market area, such as graphical user interfaces, to gain leverage in another market, such as operating systems, where they may have competition.(Maldoom 2) In the preceding example, Microsoft would use their graphical user interface, Windows, to sell their operating system, DOS, by offering discounts to manufacturers that purchased both MS-DOS and Windows, and threatening to not sell Windows to companies who did not also purchase DOS. In the end, Microsoft decided to suck it up and sign the settlement agreement. In signing the agreement, Microsoft did not actually have to admit to any of the alleged charges, but were able to escape any type of formal punishment such as fines and the like. The settlement that Microsoft agreed to prohibits it, for the next six and a half years from: * Charging for its operating system on the basis of computer shipped rather than on copies of MS-DOS shipped; * Imposing minimum quantity commitments on manufacturers; * Signing contracts for greater than one year; * Tying the sale of MS_DOS to the sale of other Microsoft products;(Maldoom 1) Although these penalties look to put an end to all of Microsoft's evil practices, some people think that they are not harsh enough and that Microsoft should have been split up to put a stop to any chance of them forming a true monopoly of the operating system market and of the entire software market. On one side of the issue, there are the people who feel that Microsoft should be left alone, at least for the time being. I am one of these

Albery Bandura essays

Albery Bandura essays 1. Who: Albert Bandura was a man that received various awards for his many accomplishments. He is known around the world for many things. He was born in 1925 and attended two universities. The two universities that he attended were British Columbia and the University of Iowa. He there received his bachelors degree and his Ph.D. While attending Iowa, Bandura met Virgina Varns. Virgina was an instructor in the nursing school at Iowa. They later had married and they eventually had two beautiful daughters. After Bandura graduated he took a postdoctoral position at the Wichita guidance center in Kansas. Then in 1953 he then started teaching at Stanford. While he was there he collaborated with his first graduate student and published his first book, Adolescent Aggression. Bandura has received many awards and contributions. He was president of the APA in 1973 and received several awards for scientific contributions. 2. What: Albert Bandura explained many different theories. One theory he focused his study on was Behaviorism. Behaviorism had strong emphasis on experimental methods. It also focused on different variables that we are able to observe measure and manipulate. In an experimental method the first step to be taken is to manipulate the variable and then measure the effect it had on another. This boils down to a theory of personality that says ones environment causes ones behavior. Another theory Bandura focused on was the observational learning or modeling theory. This is sometimes called social learning theory. This theory had four steps. These steps included; 1. Attention If you are going to learn anything you have to be paying attention. 2. Retention You must be able to retain any information you have paid attention to. 3. Reproduction You have to be able to translate the images and descriptions into actual behavior. 4. Motivation You have to get motivated to imit ...

Challenges facing managers today Research Paper

Challenges facing managers today - Research Paper Example And within this transformation in environment, managers have to change to become a change mentor, an employee advocate or sponsor, and a strategic partner within their organizations. In order to be successful, management is required to be a business driven activity with a comprehensive understanding of the big picture of the organization and have the capacity to affect significant policies and decisions. Generally, the focus of today’s manager should be on strategic technological planning, talents development, and personnel retention. Managers should also be succession planners, coaches, mentors, and counselors to help motivate workers and their loyalty (Daniel & Radenbaugh, 2001). This paper will look at the challenges facing managers today. The paper will take a position and support it using information from relevant research. It is evident that today’s managers are faced with a number of challenges. The following include some of the most apparent challenges. A lack o f resources in an organization can cause grave predicaments for a manager. A lack of resources may make the organization face cutbacks on significant things. This requires the manager to be economically minded and creative when this type of circumstance occurs. It is essential that a manager learns to make the most of what is available and check accessible resources to ensure they are not misused. Managers should also device ways of lessening costs on things which are of nominal significance so that there will be resources for necessary materials. Lack of resources may also have a negative impact on the training of employees (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman & Willett, 2000). During training, organizations should have budgeted finances for travelling, accommodation, among other needs. If the managers cannot raise the finances to facilitate this, the workers will not have the means of gaining competitive skills, negatively affecting the performance of the organization. Another challenge fa cing the managers of today is their recognition towards input to business access and realization of the objectives of the organization. Some organizations do not see the significance of appointing managers when they have heads of different departments. Technological advancement is another challenge that managers have to deal with. Today, technological advancements are on the rise more than in the early period. Modern technology has to be utilized if an organization wants to provide goods and services which are cost effective, relevant, and congruent with the needs of the society. Therefore, managers face the significant challenge of raising the initial cost of acquiring, running, and maintaining modern technology. This is also made worse by the brief existence of a large number of technological inventions which imply that managers have to reinvest in contemporary technology often in order to protract their relevance (Hollen, Van, Frans & Volberda, 2013). This graph illustrates the i dea that technological progress is both a continuous opportunity and a continuous danger to the organization. Trade unions are another challenge facing the managers. Trade unions can be extremely cruel when it comes to negotiation and they may urge the workers to engage in striking activities. This has a negative impact

Marketting Analysis of Usitrip Travel Company Essay

Marketting Analysis of Usitrip Travel Company - Essay Example a procuratorate official website to verify), has been always get the federal business bureau (BBB) certification for grade A highest reputation ratings. 1) Tourism is a growing industry (4% annually). The United States tourism market is large and the U.S. visa is one year multiple entry visa, as long as the period of validity of the visa, tourists can visit the United States for many times, it also makes the United States tourism demand to be strong. The companys target customers are high-income earners (min. $75,000 for a single person), health-conscious individuals interested in popular overseas tour. These are lawyers, bankers, executives, doctors and business owners. The major purchasers are located in urban areas within major China cities. There is fast development in the business sector and expanding interest. Additionally, more specialty markets are developing. At first, it will be hard to rival experienced suppliers, particularly the business pioneers. However, target market is an exploitable niche, and our service is differentiated. Target market individuals will have comparative activity premiums, more disposable income and less effect on cost. We will provide luxurious service with prestige value. Our prices will be out of reach for the majority of overseas travelers. Administration will be valued based upon luxury contender costs and the quality included of our advertising. Suppliers that offer offering luxury services like our own do as such at costs like not ours. We are intensely evaluated in the luxury market. Since we engage luxury and hence a littler business, volume will be restricted. Notwithstanding, we will have the capacity to accrue a higher profit margin. Abroad visit has been working for a while now. The treks have been generally welcomed, and advertising is presently critical to its proceeded with achievement and future benefit. The fundamental business need is hard adventure trips for the affluent customer. This target market

Military history of Canada during World War II Essay - 13

Military history of Canada during World War II - Essay Example Britain, too, came to respect the new military competence of the Canadians, especially since the Canadian forces excelled themselves on the battlefield at the end of the war. Granatstein believes that the cost of the war, both economically and in terms of Canadian lives lost, was severe, but that the war brought a much more significant benefit of allowing Canada escape British domination and take its rightful place as the nation free to make its own military and political choices. Closer collaboration with America was, in Granatstein’s view, a useful by-product of this process. I choose this book focuses on the left in Canadian politics and explains how the sudden need for increased production in Canadian factories led to a new focus on industrial relations. Furthermore, the unions helped to increase production of military goods, including aircraft, and some, notably in the aircraft industry achieved major gains for their workers. In general, Morton states, the government did not turn its pro-union statements into action and in fact in the early 1940s when inflation threatened to damage the growing economy, price and wage controls were imposed. This strategy worked, bringing price stability and full employment. This, in turn, gave workers more bargaining power and the unions achieved greater benefits for them. The Atlantic Charter of 1941 with its aims to achieve â€Å"freedom from want†, â€Å"social security† and â€Å"fair labor standards†, was a direct result of Canadian-British wartime co-operation and had a long-term effect far be yond the immediate wartime situation. Morton describes the strikes of the immediate post-war years as a â€Å"testing of strength† between unions and managers and a demonstration that systems and processes laid down in the war years were an effective framework for the future. This book takes a look at Canada from the cultural point of view.  Ã‚  

M-Pesa innovation products of Safari

M-Pesa innovation products of Safari CHAPETER 1 BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM M-Pesa is one of the ingenious innovation products of Safari- com Kenya, it is a mobile money transfer that enables Safari-com subscribers to send and receive money to anyone of the mobile network. It was developed by Vodafone, which holds a 35% share in Safari-com. The M stands for mobile. Pesa is Swahili for money. Since its introduction in March of 2007, the M-PESA money transfer system has seen its popularity with the un-banked population surge, making the application a great success all over the country. For example, between March 2007 and September 2008, M-pesa person to person transfers hit the Sh54 billion mark with December alone last year accounting for an additional Sh14 billion. To call M-PESA a success would be an understatement. Today you can use your phone to pay for cab rides and electricity, to get money out of ATMs without owning an ATM card or even having a traditional bank account. This has caused jitters in the banking industry. It is worthy noting here that most of the Kenya’s live in local remote areas and do not have access to banking services. The M-PESA service does not require users to have bank accounts. All they need to do is register at an authorized M-PESA agent by providing their Safari-com mobile number and their identification card. Once registered, the user can buy digital funds at any M-Pesa agent and send that electronic cash to any other mobile phone user in Kenya by SMS. Recipients can either redeem this for conventional cash at M-Pesa agent outlets or buy Safari-com airtime for themselves and other subscribers. An M-Pesa-enabled mobile phone can also function as an electronic wallet, holding up to â‚ ¬500 (50,000 Kenyan shillings). The service has lowered transaction costs for users in terms of money, time and risk. An urban dweller that used to send money to his nuclear family, other relatives or anyone else using the post office, bus services or friends traveling home can now remit funds quickly and safely for a small fee. The recipient can then obtain cash using an M-pesa agent of choice. The service is being used to make payments for lower value goods and services, thus increasing the velocity of business. You can haggle with a hawker on the street and make an electronic payment for whatever you buy. Instead of traveling upcountry to pay school fees or cater for unforeseen expenses, parents can now agree with friends or teachers to make payments on their behalf after getting the money transferred electronically to them. People who were too poor to open a bank account can now have a transaction account at their disposal. Only about 2 million Kenyans have bank accounts out of a population of around 36 million. Therefore, the potential to broaden access to financial services is massive. Though the product has is clearly gained prominence among the low income earners, high income earners Small and medium organizations it has not gone down well with the major Banking key players who are opposing it. 90% of Kenyans do not have an account in a regular bank. Across Africa, only 20% of families have formal bank accounts, according to a World Bank survey. In Tanzania the percentage is as low as 5%, and in Liberia 15%. But the proliferation of mobile telephone services around the continent has opened a new way to extend financial service 1.1 Research questions What are the financial needs that M-Pesa meets as an agent of money transfer? Is the M-Pesa product reliable and accessible in meeting the financial needs in Kenya? 1.2 Research Objectives 1. To find out the effects/ contributions of M-Pesa as a product of Safari com to society 2. Find out the impacts of M-Pesa in the banking sector in Kenya 3. To find out who are the main population segments targeted by M-Pesa product in Kenya 4. To find out the methodologies used by Safari com as an M-Pesa provider to satisfy customers needs RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH Known as M-pesa, or mobile money, the service is expected to revolutionize banking in a country where more than 80% of people are excluded from the formal financial sector. Apart from transferring cash; a service much in demand among urban Kenyans supporting relatives in rural areas, customers of the Safaricom network will be able to keep up to 50,000 shillings ( £370) in a virtual account on their handsets. Mobile phone growth in Kenya, as in most of Africa, has been remarkable, even among the rural poor. In June 1999 Kenya had 15,000 mobile subscribers. Today it has nearly 8 million out of a population of 35 million. In time, M-pesa will allow people to borrow and repay money, and make purchases. Companies will be able to pay salaries directly into workers phones; something that has already attracted the interest of larger employers, such as the tea companies, whose workers often have to be paid in cash as they do not have bank accounts. The M-pesa project is being watched closely by mobile operators around the world as a way of targeting the multibillion pound international cash transfer industry long dominated by companies such as Western Union and Money gram. According to the World Bank, remittances sent from nearly 200 million migrant workers to developing countries totalled  £102bn in the year 2007. The GSM Association, which represents more than 700 mobile operators worldwide, believes this could quadruple by 2012 if transfers by SMS become the norm. Vodafone has entered a partnership with Citigroup that would soon allow Kenyans in the UK to send money home via text message. The charge for sending  £50 is expected to be about  £3, less than a third of what some traditional services charge. SME’s in Kenya are making use of M-pesa. This is mainly because the service has been found to be liquid, flexible, acceptable, safe and reliable. M-pesa has also had an impact on microfinance institutions since members send virtual funds to their group leader, and the group leaders give the funds to the microfinance organization. Users can send between 100 Kenyan shillings ($1.5) and 35,000 shillings ($530) via a text message to a desired recipient; even someone using a different mobile network. The recipient then can obtain the cash from a Safaricom agent by entering a secret code and showing personal identification. M-pesa gives people too much access (24/7) to their cash which could undermine saving culture. Analysis shows that the M-PESA-based cash transfers are secure, enable a quick emergency response, are cost-effective and empower communities. Cash transfers give households access to a wider range of commodities. The injection of cash also strengthened the local economy. The role of information technology in empowering the poor the ability of mobile phones to send SMS expands the range of cheap communication available to the poor. Isolated communities now know how to receive remittances by using M-PESA. Communities also see advantages in using their mobile phones to develop early warning and security alarm systems to prevent cattle-rustling. Women also see income-generating opportunities by offering informal payphone services to other members of the community. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW The increasing speed of transactions has been a critical part of the innovation process. At the cutting edge of money technology, corporate America is moving beyond batch processing and air couriers, to networks for integrated accounting and payments processing systems. The definition of an instantaneous money transfernot by check, but by ATM or direct computer connectionis moving inexorably toward real time, on a par with exchanges of currency, but without the need to be physically face-to-face. And the closer technology brings us to real-time remote payments, the closer we are to genuine 24-hour banking and trading, and a worldwide set of assets that might be used for wealth storage, at least for those who are willing to accept some currency risk. Firstly, it is the young, male, urban migrants who are driving the uptake of services – customer adoption. Being early adopters of technology, these migrants are usually better educated and earn higher incomes than those in the vil lage. Because these migrants are the senders, they can choose the channel for money transfer. They then influence recipients in the rural area—who are usually female, less educated and poorer—to also use M-pesa. M-pesa has been successful because it relies on traditional practices and structures and modernizes these features. It is indeed a model based on indigenous payment practices, extended mobile phone networks and a large distribution network. With this service, Kenyans can open up a digital account on the cell phone, send and receive money, pay bills like electricity and obtain credit. Users can also withdraw money from ATMs The distribution network is based on agents who were already present in markets. Agents receive basic training from M-pesa. Only three months after the launch of M-pesa, the service had 400 agents, compared to 450 bank branches and 600 ATMs in Kenya. By mid 2009 M-pesa had 3400 agents. Safaricom’s M-pesa service in Kenya was one of 10 private sector initiatives in 2008 to be recognized by the World Business and Development Award as making a significant contribution to the UN Millennium Development Goals. M-pesa has also been recognized by several other awards, including: Stockholm Challenge 2008 – Winner, Economic Development category ( M-pesa) Kenyan Banking Awards 2007 and 2008 – Special Award for Product Innovation (M-pesa) Global Mobile Awards 2008 – Nominated, Best use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development (M-pesa) Global Mobile Awards 2008 – Winner, Best Broadcast Commercial (M-pesa ‘Send Money Home’ TVC) AfricaCom Awards 2008 – Changing Lives award and Best Solution for Rural Services award MSK Warrior Awards 2008 – Best Innovation. Kenya’s independent Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD), which aims to support the development of inclusive financial markets in Kenya, carried out a survey of M-pesa use in 2008. The survey aimed at establishlishing the opportunities and challenges presented by the service and how it could be introduced in other countries. The survey of 3,000 randomly selected households across Kenya, 300 randomly selected M-pesa agents and 50 M-pesa Head offices found almost 40% of households use M-pesa, with 63% sending regular financial support. Of those surveyed: 90% believe their money is safe with M-pesa 81% find M-pesa very easy to use and a further 15% say it is quite easy to use 84% say losing M-pesa would have a large negative effect. Compared with alternatives, those surveyed find M-pesa is: Quicker (98%) More convenient (96%) Safer (98%) Cheaper (96%) Concern Worldwide pioneered the use of M-pesa for bulk cash transfers during the post-election emergency in early 2008 in the Kerio Valley, one of the remotest parts of Kenya. During the violence, cattle rustlers attacked communities in the Kerio Valley, looting their livestock and displacing them. Concern’s initial response was to provide food aid, but carrying and distributing food proved very costly and insecure. Cash transfers were seen as a way of overcoming the challenges posed by the terrain and the security situation. Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY The study will be based in Nakuru a town which is surrounded by a network of small village towns, also comprising of low and middle income earners The study proposes to use both secondary data and primary data to achieve its objectives. The secondary data will be obtained from Safari-com website on issues of corporate and social responsibility, monthly newsletters and annual reports. The research will prefer qualitative as it is considered as the most appropriate on account of it being amenable to use of innovative techniques in exploring relatively unexplored research areas (kamoche, 2001; Yin 1994). The researcher will also use mixture of research methods and these are; semi structured questionnaires, surveys and oral interviews to collect data. Quota sampling will also be used to collect data regarding population segments targeted by M-Pesa product. 3.1 Data analysis and methods The data will be summarized and classified in terms of variable objectives of the study in order to enhanced further analysis and processing. The responses to the various items will be coded then keyed in a matrix for this purpose. The data will be entered, edited and cleansed to ensure correct entry of the response. Descriptive (frequencies, means, standard deviations and graphical illustrations) will be used for the analysis to help in establishing the findings on the objectives of the study 3.2 Information Validity and Reliability The questionnaire will be pre-tested with Safari com to authentic reliability. The pre- testing study/pilot study will be done, 100 km from Nakuru away from the study area and will be done to avoid any possible influence on trial respondents before the actual survey 4 REFLECTIONS Due to the size of general population in Kenya, time within which the research should be completed and the cost that would be involved if all the country were studied, the study will cover a cross section of Nakuru residents who will be represent the rest of the country. This study therefore proposes to use cross sectional survey because it is cheap to do and the results from the sample can be inferred to the larger population The M-Pesa product has been in the market for a barely two years and therefore there isn’t much literature about it however the results from this research will guide future research in this area 4.1 Ethical issues The first step was to seek permission from management by writing a letter to Safari-com management. This was important get authorization. Since various people including Safari- com employees, general public and other stakeholders will be interviewed it is important to seek permission from these people before interviewing or giving them questionnaires. Before commencement had the researcher will seek permission from management by writing while assuring them that the copy of research would be provided and none will be published outside without their permission. Under no circumstances would personal details to be divulged according to the data protection Act. It will be responsibility of the researcher to assure participants that it will be their sole decision to comment or give opinion. Another important issue is time and therefore it is upon the researcher to find time for interviews not to disrupt any organizations business. REFERENCES Alice t. Liu Michael K. Mithika- the credit bureau and m banking research study- USAID, April2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/business: Mobile phone lifeline for worlds poor, 27/02/07 http://www.cato.org/pubs/books/money15.html http://globaltechforum.eiu.com/index, Kenya: Safaricom aims for the big game 02/08/2007. http://www.gurdian.co.uk/: Kenya sets world Kenya sets world first with money transfers by mobile, 20/03/2007 http://www.safaricom.co.ke, Annual results presentation, 21/05/2009 http://www.the times100.co.uk/ case study: Kenyans to use mobile phones to pay utility bills

A Womans Awakening :: essays research papers

The novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin tells the story of a woman who is married and has an awaking of her true feelings. The situation is very complex and Edna cannot handle the complexity of it. In the end she commits suicide. The novel The Awakening by Edna is described as a woman who is strong and able to persue her dreams. The novel also shows how people should live their lives for themselves instead of other people. Chopin uses characterization and symbolism to develop the meaning of the novel The Awakening. Ethan From is seen as a tragic person. He dreams of escaping his farm and living a life outside of Starkfield. Ethan was forced to leave college to care for his aging and ailing parents. He married Zeena because he feared loneliness and felt he owed her something for her help with his parents. Ethans character is described in the beginning of the novel as a man in his fifties, disabled, silent, and a farmer. Physically Ehtan is tall and bent-looking. His circumstances have made him weak. Ethan is a man of bad luck who is in his current situation due to circumstances and not by choice.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Edith Wharton portrays the land in Starkfield as harsh, the people are hard and unfriendly, and poverty as a mean way of life.She uses the landscape to reflect the personality of the characters. Her choice of winter is a symbol of the barrenness of the characters' lives. They are cold and isolated, like the temperature outside. The situations and conflicts are represented by Frome's stony landscape, the old apple trees, and the graveyard. In conclusion, Kate Chopin uses characterization and symbolism to develop the meaning of the novel The Awakening.

Le Coq Sportif

Governance of le coq In 2005, a Swiss Holding buys the brand Le Coq Sportif. Indeed the results of the brands were well below the desired expectations. With the partnership of Sir Robert Louis Dreyfus, a great Swiss businessman who was leader of the group including Adidas, Le Coq sportif sees the opportunity for a fresh start with this strategic alliance for the future. Airesis immediately set up a plan to revive the brand that demonstrates the strong interest of the group to give new life to this legendary French brand.Here is a chart explaining the governance of the brand Le Coq Sportif since it creation (1882) until the takeover by the Swiss holding Airesis. Few words about Airesis: Historic part: HPI Holding AG is a name that marked the industrial history of western Switzerland since 1920, date of creation of the company. Hermes Precisa International (formerly Plants Paillard) has built its success on the production of typewriters Hermes known internationally. Since 1981, the hol ding company HPI has been used as an investment vehicle for investments in new technologies that have suffered damage in the industry with full force in early 2000.Currently, there are eight entries all together in the sub-holding A2I SA. In 2004, reducing the part value of its shares cleaned up the company. A capital increase of the arrival of four participants (the Boards & More group, the group Fidexpert, group and society Ouat Hazard Properties SA). These arrivals have been extraordinary for the group which has restored and a new life HPI Holding AG, which has since become Airesis. The majority shareholders (Sirs: Robert Louis-Dreyfus, Yves Marchand and Marc-Henri Beausire) then set up the new company strategy: active management of its investments in private equity and residential property.Today the group owns brands such as: * Le Coq Sportif * Fanatic * Ion * North Kite boarding * North Sails Windsurf Here we are going to explain few words about each brand, because most of them are unknown. Fanatic: In 1999, leaving his first kite a board, Fanatic has to believe in this new trend. With its history in windsurfing, the company was able Fanatic showcase its expertise to make its entry into the sport in the making. Ion: In spring 2005, Boards & More brand launches Ion.The technical skills of the mark are highlighted in the wet suits, neoprene accessories, harnesses, a range of clothes and carrying bags, all items used in sports on the water. North Kite boarding: Kite boarding world leader. North Kite boarding has entered the market in 2001 and became leader. This brand has a very good technical level recognized. North Sails Windsurf: The company specializes North Sails sailboat U. S. and world number 1 in this sector. Boards & More has acquired the exclusive license for the sail of surfboards since 1981.Its strategic axis is oriented technique and style. Since late 2005, Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former owner of Addidas and Yves Marchand, who was the boss of the three stripes for France, have gained a foothold in the business and have made some good seeds to make: 10 million euros through the Swiss investment fund Airesis. And some big marketers have been poached in market heavyweights such as Reebok, Nike, Puma and Quicksilver†¦ For example, the arrival of Antoine Sathicq, former CEO of Adidas, which was transferred to the head as general manager of Le Coq Sportif.After joining Adidas in 1997 as director of sales, this former Procter & Gamble, aged 44, joined a new team of Le Coq Sportif establishment since its acquisition by Airesis. A team already marked by the culture of this Adidas Swiss investment funds: Airesis is held by Robert Louis-Dreyfus, former CEO of Adidas France, Marc-Henri Beausire and Yves Marchand, former CEO of three stripes. The latter assumed the presidency of Le Coq Sportif, replacing Olivier Jacques, former majority shareholder. Antoine Sathicq therefore had the task of launching again the Coq Sportif.Porterâ⠂¬â„¢s Five Forces: Sportswear Industry Internal Rivalry – Fierce Competition Adidas,Reebok, Nike – Mature Industry – Mostly Non-Price competition – Differentiation strategy Threat of New entrants – Capital Intensive – Strong Brand Following Economies of scale – High R & D Costs – Industry in consolidation phase Supplier Power – Raw Materials are abundantly available – Cheap resources commodity items – Cheap labor on the East World. Buyer Power – Everything depends on Customer Preferences – Price sensitivity issues – Growing power of retail chainsSubstitutes * Other types of products from other brands * New brands that make the sport more ready to wear high-end (15 Serge Blanco, Eden Park †¦ ) * Entertainment brand to substitute to sport activities (Reading, video games†¦) Internal Rivalry – Fierce Competition Adidas,Reebok, Nike – Mature Industry – Mostly Non-Price competition – Differentiation strategy Threat of New entrants – Capital Intensive – Strong Brand Following Economies of scale – High R & D Costs – Industry in consolidation phase Supplier Power – Raw Materials are abundantly available Cheap resources commodity items – Cheap labor on the East World. Buyer Power – Everything depends on Customer Preferences – Price sensitivity issues – Growing power of retail chains Substitutes * Other types of products from other brands * New brands that make the sport more ready to wear high-end (15 Serge Blanco, Eden Park †¦ ) * Entertainment brand to substitute to sport activities (Reading, video games†¦) Explanation: 1. Internal Rivalry * Fierce competition: In effect in the sportswear industry, there are many competitors.Two leaders have the most important share value on the market (Nike and Adidas). The competitors are smaller than the two big groups, whic h have much money to invest in marketing investment, and can develop easily than the smaller. * Mature industry: In this market, it’s difficult to innovate much more than today. The innovation exists for sure but it comes from details. It’s really hard to find for the company the perfect innovation. However companies works hard and try to find the best innovation possible to increase their share value. Mostly non-price competition: In this market, the price war doesn’t exist. In effect the competition between companies comes from the marketing, brand image and innovation (sometimes) but not on the price. All the brand are close and cannot compete on the price. * Differentiation strategy: A differentiation strategy will pursue a unique position among your competitors. The aim of the strategy is for the business to become unique in the minds of its customers. For this reason, a small business needs to create a product offering that is somehow unique.Uniqueness can be achieved through different factors like design or brand image, technology, customer service or other attractive features. 2. Threat of new entrants * Capital intensive and strong brand: It is as very capital-intensive industry. Even though it would not be difficult for a new company to obtain the raw materials and the labor needed to produce shoes, there is almost no chance for them to gain popularity in such a mature industry with some of the strongest brand names in the world. Brand loyalty is extremely strong and it would be very hard for a new entrant to â€Å"steal† loyal customers from the already existent players. Economies of scales: Economies of scale play a huge role as well and the bigger players have an advantage of producing the products at a lower price than compared with newer entrants. As the output is bigger and the fixed costs of factories, machinery, marketing and R&D will be decreased per unit. Both marketing and R&D constitute high costs and since new entrants will not be able to take advantage of the economies of scale they will be less competitive. * High R&D costs: It means that it’s necessary to invest in R&D if they want to compete against others brands.It’s a survival question in this market. * Industry in consolidation phase: The industry itself is in a consolidation phase and only the big ones will survive. The large companies are strategically and constantly acquiring smaller companies. Some of the most popular acquisitions include Reebok by Adidas, Converse by Nike. Small companies are bought before they become a threat to the bigger ones and before they have a chance to gain market share. In other words, it is impossible to grow in this industry because someone will take over your company. . Substitutes * Other types of product from other brands: Each company has the same product (shoes, tee-shirts, socks†¦). If the customer is not satisfied with one product, it’s easy for him to go in anothe r brand and acquire something close to the first purchase. That’s why each company has to be aware of what it sells and what is the customer’s reaction. * New brand with different strategies: As said in the PORTER’s analysis, today there is some sport brand which are producing apparels but higher than the best known.For example the brand Quinze of Serge Blanco, famous in the rugby world is producing clothes which are expensive than Nike for example but not with the same quality. This kind of brand products with another savoir-faire and the price are not the same but the customer can be attracting to try it. * Entertainment brand: To have fun today and doing something else than working, the customer has plenty of substitution products. The customer can read and there are many brands, which allow reading. Video games are product to entertain people (Sony, Nintendo†¦) . Supplier power * Raw materials and cheap resources: Typically apparels and shoes are manufa ctured using major raw materials cotton, rubber, and foam. All of these materials are commodity goods. In other words, the suppliers do not have the power to bargain the price of their product, since there are numerous suppliers. Hence the supplier power is low. However, there has been some standardization of production in the industry due to growing concerns of labor practices of the suppliers and manufacturers.These practices have been damaging the image of some companies including Nike. Therefore, the big companies prefer to work only with approved manufacturers and suppliers that are known to follow these labor standards. Both Adidas and Nike have created a system to ensure that all the high quality of the product, the working conditions, and the distribution are at high standards. Therefore, suppliers are trying to establish themselves as reliable because once they gain Nike as a customer they know that they will request enormous volumes. However, to reach this level, the suppl ier needs to make investments in their facilities to improve working conditions and many suppliers cannot afford to do so. * Cheap labor: Many people works for â€Å"nothing† in the eastern countries, in Asia to be precise. Competition against the labor cost is impossible and many company delocalize the production abroad to reduce costs. 5. Buyer power: * Everything depends on customer’s preferences: The customer has the choice to buy product in retailing store with general brand or he could go to the special store, branding store as Nike store or Adidas store to get a product.It’s a question of desire and where the customer lives too. * Price sensitivity issue: In the general retailer store, prices are lower than official store. That’s why some customer prefers to go in retailer store and purchase product for lower price and maybe get more compare to the official store. * Growing retailer store: More and more retailer store open and sell apparels and sho es from all sportswear brand. The customer has a lot of choice today and can choose whatever he wants and with his own criteria.

Free Essays on Rational Databases

INTRODUCTION I DSS (Decision Support System) Software What is DSS Software? Decision Support System Software (DSS Software) is an interactive computer-based system intended to help managers make their decisions. It is an application software that provides several ways to support decision making and modelling information in such way to be better arranged for user. Why DSS Software was built? DSS Software was built because of the explosion of e-commerce activity, and people face more complex problem in making decision, especially business decisions, which have high risk of assets. What can DSS Software do? DSS Software can support several management decision-making and decision type at all level. These include the three levels of management activity (Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Decision Making) and three types of decision structures (Structured, Semi structured, and Unstructured). How is DSS Software useful? DSS Software helps people to retrieve, summarize and analyse decision relevant data. It helps us represent information in the form of trees, diagrams and tables, which make the user, understand the decisions better and choose the best decision from the available options of decisions. What are the two major categories of DSS Software? There are actually two major categories of DSS Enterprise-Wide DSS and Desk-top DSS. Enterprise-Wide DSS are linked to large, data warehouse and serve many users in a company, while Desk-top DSS are small system that is in a PC. What are the advantages of using the two major types of DSS Software? Enterprise-Wide DSS Why people use Enterprise-Wide DSS is because users (manager usually) can find out almost anything about their company matter in moments rather than using some data warehouse like OLAP type system. Enterprise-Wide DSS can cover from simple system to complex data intensive and analytically of information system. The most sophisticated Enterprise-Wide DSS is EIS (Executive Informa... Free Essays on Rational Databases Free Essays on Rational Databases INTRODUCTION I DSS (Decision Support System) Software What is DSS Software? Decision Support System Software (DSS Software) is an interactive computer-based system intended to help managers make their decisions. It is an application software that provides several ways to support decision making and modelling information in such way to be better arranged for user. Why DSS Software was built? DSS Software was built because of the explosion of e-commerce activity, and people face more complex problem in making decision, especially business decisions, which have high risk of assets. What can DSS Software do? DSS Software can support several management decision-making and decision type at all level. These include the three levels of management activity (Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Decision Making) and three types of decision structures (Structured, Semi structured, and Unstructured). How is DSS Software useful? DSS Software helps people to retrieve, summarize and analyse decision relevant data. It helps us represent information in the form of trees, diagrams and tables, which make the user, understand the decisions better and choose the best decision from the available options of decisions. What are the two major categories of DSS Software? There are actually two major categories of DSS Enterprise-Wide DSS and Desk-top DSS. Enterprise-Wide DSS are linked to large, data warehouse and serve many users in a company, while Desk-top DSS are small system that is in a PC. What are the advantages of using the two major types of DSS Software? Enterprise-Wide DSS Why people use Enterprise-Wide DSS is because users (manager usually) can find out almost anything about their company matter in moments rather than using some data warehouse like OLAP type system. Enterprise-Wide DSS can cover from simple system to complex data intensive and analytically of information system. The most sophisticated Enterprise-Wide DSS is EIS (Executive Informa...

How to Pick Essay Topics

How to Pick Essay Topics Read how to choose essay topics that will best match your assignment and interests. How to Pick Proper Essay Topics for College Ok, so you’ve been given an essay writing assignment and were given the freedom of picking the essay topic on your own. At first, the idea of being able to choose any topic you want seemed attractive, but then you got lost in the options, right? This is a common situation. As a rule, it’s happening due to the fact that topic selection process gives you so many options that you can easily get lost in them without a proper approach. This article, therefore, will provide a basic breakdown of a topic selection process. It will not review cases when you have been already given a topic  but will focus solely on situations when you need to pick one. It would be logical to assume that you already know what subject is the essay needs to be written in – if you receive an essay writing assignment in your Literature class, your essay will focus on Literature; a Philosophy class, in turn, will require a paper about some philosopher and so on. Step One: Determine Your Essay Type Before starting to write or even selecting an essay topic, you need to consider what kind of paper you want to have at the end of the writing process. Speaking of essays, there is a whole range of essay subtypes, e.g. argumentative, persuasive, informal etc. Each of the essay subtypes requires a special approach. This article is about various essay types, you might want to check it out while preparing for essay writing: Essay Types Different types of essays may impose different requirements on the essay writing process as well as essay topics selection. For example, an argumentative essay will require that you select a rather controversial topic; otherwise, the reader will find the essay not so interesting to read. A comparative essay, in turn, requires that your essay topics introduce  two items that are going to be compared: pieces of literature, art, schools of thought etc. We have put together a short list of best  argumentative essay topics and compare and contrast essay topics, hope you find some of them useful. Step Two: Brainstorm You won’t go far in writing your essay without actually brainstorming for essay ideas that can be written about. Brainstorming for the possible essay topics can be turned into a quite simple and straightforward process. Before beginning to search for essay ideas, ask yourself a few simple questions within a chosen subject: Within the given subject, what aspects do I like most? (e.g. While selecting topics for a Philosophy paper I feel most attracted to Hegel’s school of thought). Why do you find this topic interesting? (e.g. Because I consider the four concepts of Hegelian Dialectics one of the greatest ideas in Philosophy) Do you have access to literature on the chosen essay topics? (e.g. There’s plenty of information on Hegel’s Dialectics at our local library; there is even more available online). Step Three: What Is Interesting for You? The bottom line is – when selecting a topic for your essay think about those topics that are of most interest to you. This approach ensures that you will have chosen essay topics that inspire you and give you the energy and enthusiasm to work on your paper and complete it successfully. Another point to consider is the availability of information on the topic – if the information is readily available, writing a quality essay would be piece of cake; if it’s not – you might want to look for a different topic. Interesting essay topics require conducting research, analyzing and summarizing the information got during the research. We hope you find these tips for writing topics useful. If, however, you are still struggling to pick an essay topic to write on, our writing professionals are ready to assist you  in accomplishing this task. One of the convenient options we offer our customers is a  free live support. Our support agents will help you in selecting the essay topics. If needed, they can ask our professional writers to come up with essay topics list. You will then have to simply pick one of the offered topics, place your order and wait until the paper is delivered to you. Please feel free to contact our support team at support@ anytime or visit our order page to place your order.

Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Writing Assignment - Essay Example It can be argued to be an art.as the book continues to be of relevance in the recent school years, the study of this work by Marzano continues to assist in the professional development of teachers to achieve both effectiveness and efficiency in classrooms. The writer of the book points out major actions of creating significant experiences and further places the part of a teacher in the overall process of creating a critical input experience. In the second chapter, the author talks over six actions that this paper finds major in the process of creating effective critical input experiences. This chapter is seen to focus more on actively processing information during a well-structured input experience. In the process of finding which among the six discussed is the most significant, it is noted that Marzano stresses on the following steps; first is an overview, then, the students are divided into groups and the information is portioned in a way that requires students to describe, discuss and predict. The students ask related questions, record information in various forms and reflect on learning. The teacher’s duty is also discussed in this section, the author describes it as a continuous challenge of the student self using the method that the question one states in the book. The critical part is to avail to students the chance to participate in their learning process. Students are challenged to go the extra mile in t heir thought to find out the answers. As a development from the second chapter, the third chapter points out the need new skills. The author emphasizes that opportunities should be given to deepening the understanding of new information. In an effort to achieve knowledge deepening, such activities that results in repeated contact and exposure is proposed. In line with these activities, schema development, development of procedural knowledge, declarative knowledge and homework are the areas discussed in the book.

Muharraq City (Bahrain) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Muharraq City (Bahrain) - Essay Example In the resent years, there has been changing need for globalization that has led to dramatic change in social, economic, political and architectural structures as well within the Middle East countries (Frifelt, 2001, p.13). Bahrain along with its cities has not been left out in the drastic changes that are shaping architectural workmanship of the region. These changes have been greatly influenced by; migration of foreigners from different regions who come along with new ideas and new architectural designs, discovery of oil in Middle East which has completely changed the economical statues of the region, expatriate of Europeans who also brought with them their habits and their social way of life that in away affected their way of building houses as well. This paper looks at existing literature reviews and researches at the changing trends in architectural work in the Middle East region especially in Muharraq as a city within Bahrain islands (Al-Fadhel, 1999, pp. 55-60). Literature Rev iew During the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, traditional architecture has greatly dominated Muharraq city. These traditional architectures were characterized by their responsiveness to the social and physical aspects within the social context. The traditional architectural houses were built in a courtyard style that mostly considered the climate and metaphoric religious connections (Belgrave, 1973, p.89). The rooms within traditional architecture houses were built to be multi-functional and their roofs were also used to connect the rooms in upper first floor. The materials used in traditional architecture were mainly local materials with a few combinations with imported ones mostly from Mesopotamia, Iran, East Africa and India (Al-Fadhel, 1999, pp. 55-60). In the tradition architecture, houses were built in a communal manner such a way that houses were absorbed in the big mass. This was to emphasis the social belief of solidarity and loyalty within a community and at the same time emphasis ones social statues within the society (Vinitha, 2003, np). Those deemed to have higher social statues within society like rulers, their houses were built separate from the big mass and the difference could be noted in building materials, architectural elements and the architectural designs that included bigger spacing of everything. The construction methods in architectural work were also simple in terms of elevations among other construction methods in traditional architecture (Al-Muraikhi, 1991, pp.12-18). The traditional architecture started to change its outlook in the beginning of 20th century. During this period there were many changes in social, economic and political landscape of Muharraq city. There was a total increase in population from 70000 to 90000 in 1941 and to 110000 in 1950 in regard to Bahrain as a whole. This large population growth led to change in architectural designs since all people needed accommodation as well as social build ings that could accommodate a much larger number of people than existing ones. This rapid growth in population was mainly attributed to migration of people from neighbouring nations and continents such as India among others (Vinitha, 2003, np). Another major change to Bahrain economy, social, political and architectural landscape was experienced after discovery of oil in 1931. The discovered oil was a resource that brought with it high revenue that had an economic impact in the region as well as a social impact to its people. As much as the government increased its economic statues, individuals within the society also gained higher statues hence the desire for more modernized houses that were in relation to their rising social statues wi

Transition to High School Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Transition to High School - Research Proposal Example According to the initial study that has been conducted, which was the collection of secondary data for the initial literature review, the author has gained an overall knowledge of the different aspects that pose challenges to students as well as teachers and parents when teenagers transition from primary to high school. And this knowledge has the author to design the framework for the study and the give the reader an overview of what can be expected throughout the entirerity of the research study. . In this document the author has given a brief description of the methods that will be used to carry out the main research study, the objectives of the research study, the structure of the dissertation, the timetable for the entire research study as well as the resources that will be needed to carry out the research study and finally the limitations of the research study. THE DIFFICULTIES FACED BY STUDENTS WHEN TRANSITIONING TO HIGH SCHOOL IN THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, THEIR EXPECTATIONS AND SUBSEQUENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND THE SIGNIFICANT ROLE THAT CAN BE FULFILLED BY PARENTS AND TEACHERS ALIKE TO HELP MITIGATE THE DIFFICULTIES AND HELP EASE AND SMOOTHEN THE TRANSITION Introduction This is a research proposal that the author is completing in part fulfillment of her degree requirement. The area that the author would like to study is the difficulties faced by students when they transition into high school. Therefore in this research proposal the author will give an overview of the research objectives, the research topic, the resources needed for the research study, a brief literature review, the methodology for the research study, the limitations of the study, the timeline needed for the study and finally the structure of the dissertation when the entire research study is completed. In this document the author also gives the reader a basic knowledge of the manner in which the primary data will be gathered and the different sources that will be used to gather the primary data as well as a justification for the methods that will be used. Research Objectives Here the author will give a brief overview of the objectives of the research study that she will evaluate for completion at the end of the research. Gain an in-depth understanding of difficulties faced by students transitioning into high school in the British Virgin Islands To gain an understanding of the root causes of the difficulties faced by students when transitioning to the high school from the point of view of teachers and parents To understand how to make the transition from primary school to high school a smooth and easy transition. To gain an

Press Kit Format - How to Make a Proper Press Kit for Events Essay Example for Free

Press Kit Format How to Make a Proper Press Kit for Events Essay The materials that make up a press kit are usually assembled in a standard two-pocket folder. Choose folders that have slots for your business cards, and in a color that complements your companys printed literature. Press kit materials typically used include the following information pieces: Insert, on the right side of the folder, from front to back: †¢ Business Card Place a copy of the contact persons business card in the slot inside the folder, usually on the right inside flap. †¢ Press Release Announce your big news! A press release contains information in printed form, is written like a newspaper story and is issued to media representatives and reporters. †¢ Article Reprints Samples of past press coverage your company or the person in the news release has received can help sell the newsworthiness of your story. †¢ Copies of Speeches or Presentations given in association with your company or business can also make an impression. Insert, on the left side of the folder, from front to back: †¢ Photographs typically a 5x7 black and white glossy photo of your product or a person mentioned in your press release †¢ Company Profile and Fact Sheets A concise summary of your companys history, initiatives and goals, including a description of your products and services. If you are introducing a new product or service, include a separate fact sheet highlighting its features and benefits. †¢ Testimonials and Case Studies Positive statements or success stories about your business and its products and services from satisfied customers and clients can illustrate your companys significance. †¢ Biographies Profiles of yourself and key employees provide details about the people behind the business. †¢ Statistical Data Charts, graphs and line art can help illustrate your story. Some companies include a comparison chart of their products and services compared to their closest competitors. †¢ Brochures, Catalogues, Newsletters or other Business Literatur e Smaller brochures may be placed in front of other materials.

The genesis of elements

The genesis of elements Introduction The periodic table is continually enriched with new elements synthesised by nuclear reactions in laboratories, but only 90 of all the elements occur naturally. Those are found between atomic numbers 1 to 92, which is from 1H to 92U, excluding the elements technetium (43Tc) and promethium (61Pm). The latter two are made artificially, even though technetium has been recently discovered in stars. All the elements are made from two fundamental building blocks, the protons and the neutrons, given the term nucleons. These are packed together into nuclei, with each element containing a different ratio of protons and neutrons in its nucleus. The nucleons can only be produced or annihilated at very high energies, and this occurred at the beginning of the universe. What happened the first moments of the creation of the universe and how were the elements synthesised? are the questions around which this report is circulated. Using astrophysics to discuss the universe creation is beyond the purpose of this report, and therefore most of the physical equations are excluded. All the terms are explained in simple scientific terms. The areas discussed are how the universe began and how the elements were formed in this universe creation timeline, including any relevant nuclear reaction equations and theories that lead to the creation of the chemical elements as we know them at present. [1, 2] The Big Bang and the origin of the chemical elements The most widely accepted theory in cosmology is currently the Big Bang Theory, which was based on Einsteins General Theory of Relativity (E=mc2). According to this, the universe was once concentrated in a small primeval nucleus of extremely high temperature and infinite density. For some reason, that hot, dense state began to expand homogeneously and cool down at an incredibly fast rate. This sudden expansion into space, distributing radiation and matter everywhere uniformly, gave rise to the birth of the universe and it is known with the misleading title Big Bang (even though it was not an explosion but an expansion). The reason that caused this sudden expansion is not known yet, and scientists are still trying to give an answer to this big cosmology question with many research projects taking place in this field for the past few decades. It is beyond modern science to define what happened before the Big Bang since time and space came into being at that moment. According to this theory the universe is about 15 billion years old. But which are the evidence that this Big Bang actually occurred? [1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9] Universes expansion In 1929, Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is expanding and that the galaxies that make up the universe are moving away from our galaxy with velocities proportional to their distance from us. Hubbles law describes this expansion, stating that the farther a galaxy is from us, the greater its radial velocity of recession. Hubbles equations as follows [9]: v (radial velocity) = H (Hubble constant) x d (distance) In simple terms this means that the most distant galaxy is moving away from us at the fastest rate and the nearest at the slowest. This, however, does not mean we are at the centre of the universe, since every observer in the universe sees all objects moving away from them with velocity proportional to the distance. So although the universe is expanding, it looks the same from every single galaxy. Hubbles conclusions resulted from observing the velocities via the redshift, which is the Doppler Effect applied to light waves. Each galaxy has a set of emissions and absorptions seen in their spectra and their characteristic frequencies are known. The characteristic lines from galaxies spectra turn out to move towards the red end of the spectrum, which means the galaxies are receding from us. This effect is known as the redshift. If the galaxies were moving towards us the light waves would be crowded and the frequency would be raised. Since the blue light is of high frequency, a shift towards the blue side of the spectrum would be obtained, giving a blueshift. But this does not occur, and the galaxies are all redshifted. The proportional relationship between speed and distance indicates that in the past all the matter must have been concentrated at a point of extraordinary high density, from which it expanded to its present form. Hubbles discovery provides one of the evidence for the Big Bang Theory. [6, 9, 11] Cosmic Background Radiation In 1965, Penzias and Wilson were investigating the radio noise found at wavelengths between a few millimetres and a few centimetres, by means of a special low-noise radioantenna. Once all the known sources of noise were identified, a remaining signal of radiation was left as an annoying excess noise. This signal was coming from all directions and the noise did not change in intensity with the direction of the antenna in the sky or the time of day and season. This radiation was identified to be Cosmic Background Radiation. The radiation that Penzias and Wilson discovered was seen as the dying remnants of the Big Bang, and was probably formed due to photon production from matter-antimatter annihilation. Once the photon background was produced, it cooled with the expansion of the universe leaving behind this background radiation. This radiation contains more energy than the rest of the universe (stars and galaxies). In the universes early life, when it was very hot, radiation could not travel very far without being absorbed and emitted by some particles. This constant exchange of energy maintained a state of thermal equilibrium and therefore a thermal spectrum can now be obtained. In 1989, Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite was launched which took measurements from above the earths atmosphere, obtaining more accurate results for this radiation than Penzias and Wilson. The shape of the spectrum of thermal radiation that was observed at the temperature of 2.73K was very similar to that of a blackbodys spectrum at the same temperature. The cosmic microwave spectrum shows that this radiation was generated in equilibrium conditions since it has a thermal shape. The radiation is also known as the 3K radiation or the Cosmic (comes from all directions) Blackbody (because of its spectral shape) Microwave (since its spectrum peaks at cm to mm wavelengths) Radiation CBM. In 2001 the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) was launched by NASA, designed to determine the geometry, content and evolution of the universe and to make fundamental measurements of cosmology. WMAP successfully produced a full-sky map of the temperature anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation, and it still continues to collect data from space. The results from the different measurements of the cosmic background radiation taken through years are shown in the figure following. Furthermore, the measured uniformity of the radiation confirmed some assumptions about some of the universes properties: its homogeneity (it looks the same at each point) and its isotropy (it looks the same in all directions). To summarise, two evidences supporting the Big Bang Theory have already been discussed: The Big Bang Theory explains Hubbles observation that the universe is expanding, since it must have started its expansion from a hot and dense state in its early life. It accounts for the existence of the cosmic background radiation observed by Penzias and Wilson, and confirms the assumptions that the universe is homogeneous and isotropic. The third evidence for the theory is that it accounts for the origin and the abundances of the light elements that exist in the universe. [6, 7, 9, 12, 14] The timeline of the Big Bang Before the Big Bang the universe was compressed into a hot and dense nucleus. When the Big Bang occurred, the universe began to decompress rapidly. The modern science has not yet defined what happened earlier than Plancks time which is at 10-43s after the Big Bang. At that time the four forces of nature were unified in a single super force (also referred to as Wald), being equally powerful. The four forces are divided in the next two categories: Forces between particles (operate over large distance): Electromagnetic Gravity Forces in subatomic domain (operate over very short distances): Strong nuclear force (it holds the nuclei of atoms together) Weak nuclear force (it crops up in radioactive decay and helps fission) The forces strength is as follows: Strong > Electromagnetic > Weak > Gravity In the primeval fireball formed after the Big Bang, the photons energy was so high that they can collide to form particles (creation of matter from light and formation of matter and antimatter in pairs. This is seen from the Einsteins equation, E=mc2, which doesnt say that this relationship is irreversible. So matter can become energy or energy can become matter! [5, 9, 10] Some important terms, which are mentioned on the above timeline, are very briefly explained below [9, 10]: Quarks are the elementary particles that make up the protons, neutrons etc. A proton is made out of three quarks: 2 up and 1 down quark. Neutron is made out of 2 downs and 1 up. The antimatter has the same properties as the regular matter except that it has the opposite electrical charge. Inflation is the early phase of the exponential growth of the universe. Baryons are particles made out of 3 quarks. Out of those particles only protons and neutrons are stable; therefore the baryonic matter in the universe is considered to be made mostly out of them. The electrons are often included in the term baryons even though they are not made out of three quarks. The universe has neutral charge, i.e. 1 electron for every proton. Radiation: what we see in the universe comes from electromagnetic radiation. The light is made up from individual particles, the photons, ?. These protons spread at the speed of light, and (mostly the high energy ones) can interact with baryons and electrons; for example they ionise an atom by taking off an electron. Neutrinos are extremely weak interacting, massless particles produced in radioactive decay The particles that were present in this cosmic nucleosynthesis are given in the following table: In general, the universe is made out of the following [10]: Baryons (p, n, e) Radiation (photons) Neutrinos Dark Matter and Energy Nuclear Processes taking place during the element formation The light elements of the periodic table were produced during the beginning of the life of universe, whereas the heavier elements were produced later by thermonuclear reactions that power the stars. The early universe could be viewed as a type of thermonuclear reactor. However, the abundances of the light elements produced soon after the Big Bang, have changed at present due to the nuclear processes in stars and other subsequent events in the interstellar medium. Some of the reactions taking place during the life of the universe until now are shown on the following table. Element Abundances The abundance of the elements is the third evidence supporting the Hot Big Bang theory as seen earlier. These abundances are obtained from detailed spectroscopic analysis of samples taken from earth, meteorites, comets, moon, planets etc. The chemical element abundances can be recorded in three different ways [16]: Mass fraction: the mass of a constituent of a mixture over the total mass of all the constituents in the mixture à   w = a / (a+b+c+) Volume fraction: the volume of a constituent of a mixture over the sum of the volumes of all constituents before mixing. For gases, the volume fraction is similar to the mole fraction à   ? Mole fraction: the number of moles of a constituent over the total amount of all constituents in the mixture à   x The graph has some certain features and trends which are seen below [1, 2]: There is an approximately exponential decrease from H until A~100 (atomic mass number) or Z~42 (atomic number). Then, gradual decrease is observed. For higher A, the rarity of synthesis increases showing that the stellar evolution (which builds the heavier elements) is not very common. A peak is seen between Z=23-28, i.e. for elements V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni. At the maximum of the peak lies iron, and it is seen that Fe is 103 times more abundant than expected compared to its neighbouring elements. The e-process (equilibrium). Iron lies on the maximum energy that can be released in stellar nucleosynthesis with the element burning processes. After this, the elements form mostly by neutron capture. The elements D, Li, Be, B are rare compared to their neighbouring H, He, C, N which are highly abundant. Their production is insufficient. Also they are consumed at very high temperatures in the stellar interiors. These elements are mostly made by stellar spallation. Light nuclei up to Z~21 having their A divisible by 4 are more abundant than their neighbours. This was observed by G. Oddo in 1914. These elements are alpha particle nuclei (e.g. O16, Ne20Ca40, Ti48). It is seen that the He-burning and alpha-process are more efficient than the H-burning and s-process in these regions. Double peaks can be seen at A = 80, 130, 196 (peaks due to neutron capture with r process) with A = 90, 138, 208 (due to neutron capture with the s process) Magic numbers at N = 50, 82, 126 for progenitors and stable nuclei Atoms with even atomic mass number, A, are more abundant that those with odd A, therefore the alternate peaks (up and down) are seen in the graph. Heavy atoms tend to be neutron rich. Proton rich heavy nuclei are rare This is because the proton- rich nuclei are produced in the p- process which is rare compared to the r- and s- processes. The r and s peaks seen in the following smoothed curve correspond to the elements formed by the slow and rapid neutron capture processes. Some elements require the neutron capture to be slow enough so that intervening beta decays can occur. However, some other elements need neutron capture to happen very fast to be able to form through some short-lived nuclei. [18] Big Bang Nucleosynthesis The Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) occurred a few brief moments after the beginning of the universe, way before the stars existed. The light element formation happened via nuclear fusion reactions (a process by which smaller nuclei are joined into larger ones), which raged throughout the universe. It is also known as Cosmic or Primordial Nucleosynthesis. For nuclear reactions to occur, some conditions should be present, which were both satisfied in the early universe: The temperature and density should be high enough, so that the kinetic energy of nucleons can overcome the coulomb barrier The particles must come close enough for the attractive nature of the strong nuclear force to overcome the repulsion of the electromagnetic force between the positive charges of the particles (protons). As seen earlier, the universe was born by expansion from a hot, dense state in which its constituents were elementary particles. Atomic nuclei, except from the proton, began to form through nuclear fusion reactions, which could not take place until the temperature was low enough for them to occur. When the universe was about 1 second old, protons became available for fusion, and a proton and neutron can be combined to form a deuteron. However, the deuteron was destroyed by photodissociation (break up of a nucleus by high energy gamma rays) before the more stable helium was formed. At this stage fusion could not proceed further until the universe was cooled further. At about 100s after the Big Bang, the temperature had fallen to 109K and fewer deuterons were destroyed, allowing 4He to form, along with all the isotopes of hydrogen and helium below 4. No considerable amounts of elements above nucleus 4 were formed since there are no stable nuclei of atomic number 5 and 8. However, traces of 7Li and 7Be were formed. At 1000s, the temperature had fallen too low for particles to have enough energy to overcome the coulomb barrier. Therefore, the fusion reactions stopped occurring and the abundances of the elements were frozen. Most matter existed as rarefied gas for a few hundred million years until it was slowly drawn towards a star, where more reactions could take place, due to higher temperatures. The only nucleus formed in a considerable amount was 4He, with some traces of lighter nuclei. Most of the material continued to be 1H. Light element formation Deuteron formation through fusion of a proton with a neutron gives out a photon of high energy (gamma ray). Most of the energy is carried away with this gamma ray, allowing the proton and neutron to bind. Otherwise, they would bounce off each other. The reversible reaction is also true, so a gamma ray can destroy the deuteron. n + p à   d + ÃŽ ³ When there is not anymore sufficient energy and collisions to form many deuterons, they start combining to form helium nuclei: d + d à   4He + ÃŽ ³ However, some two step processes can occur between the proton, neutrons and deuterons to form the helium and hydrogen isotopes, 3He and 3H, as a between step. These two step processes are: p + d à   3He + ÃŽ ³ n + 3He à   4He + ÃŽ ³ and n + d à   3H + ÃŽ ³ p + 3H à   4He + ÃŽ ³ These processes can happen in the forward or backward way, until they reach equilibrium. Neutron decay In the early universe, the temperature was high enough for free protons and neutron to exist in thermal equilibrium at high energies. The free neutrons would travel long distances before colliding with other baryons, having a great chance of decaying into protons. n + ve ßà   p + e- + 0.8MeV (ve is e- neutrino)[ref.2] When the thermal energy drops below 0.8MeV it is hard for backward reaction to occur and therefore more neutrons decay into protons, setting the ratio of n:p to 1:5. However, as soon as the energy falls more (about 0.1MeV) the neutrons manage to form nuclei and become stable, with the ratio now being n:p to 1:7 due to further reduction of the number of neutrons by decay that occurred in the time that it took for the energy to fall. As seen, the only elements produced in significant abundance are 1H and 4He. 4He is formed since it is the most stable of the light elements and 1H is present since there are not enough neutrons to react with the protons (1:7 ratio of neutrons to protons) and a large amount of protons are left over. In universes primordial composition 4He is found to be about 25% (mass fraction). Since 4He is four times heavier than 1H, it implies that there is one helium nucleus for every twelve hydrogen ones. Other elements abundances are (compared to 1H abundance): D =10-4, 3He = 10-5, 7Li = 10-10 [ref.2] The mole fraction of the elements is H 88.6% and 4He 11.3%. Since H and He account for 99.9% of the atoms in the universe, it is concluded that nucleosynthesis of heavier elements has not yet gone very far. [ref.4] At present, the observed abundances of the elements are successfully reproduced by the Big Bang Theory (providing an evidence for the theory). However, the present composition of the universe is slightly altered from its primeval composition, because of the nuclear reactions occurring in stars. Stellar Nucleosynthesis Stellar nucleosynthesis is the fusion process that powers the stars, forming heavier elements out of the lighter ones. The main reactions taking place during this process are summarised in the table below, and then discussed more broadly. Hydrogen burning Hydrogen burning is the fusion of four hydrogen atoms to form a helium one. This happens through two different routes: [ref.6] Proton-proton chain. This is the primary energy producing process in most stars, especially in low mass stars like our Sun, and is as follows) p + p à   d + e+ + ve p + d à   3He + ÃŽ ³ 3He + 3He à   4He + p + p The fusion of two protons to form a deuteron (the nucleus of a deuterium atom with 1p 1n) 3He is an isotope of helium with 2 p and 1 n 4He is the most common isotope of helium, having 2p and 2n. In the 1st step takes a very long time to occur (5109 years), since it involves the weak nuclear force and there is a very small cross section. This is the reason for the long life of stars. The 2nd step involves the electromagnetic interaction and occurs in about 1 second, whereas the 3rd step involves the strong nuclear force, taking about 3105 years. CNO cycle. It is another method for burning of hydrogen, using carbon, nitrogen and oxygen as catalysts. These get consumed so as to help the process occur, but are afterwards reformed. p + 12C à   13N + ÃŽ ³ 13N à  13C + e+ + ve p + 13C à   14N + ÃŽ ³ p + 14N à   15O + ÃŽ ³ 15O à   15N + e+ + ve p + 15N à   12C + 4He Nitrogen nucleus decays Oxygen nucleus decays Helium Burning (triple-alpha reaction) Hydrogen burning releases 90% of the total energy available from fusion. The rest is coming half from the helium burning and the other half from other nucleus burnings up to 56Ni or 56Fe. However, since 5Li and 8Be are unstable, fusion after He can continue only at high density. During the triple-alpha process three 4He nuclei fuse to form 12C. Then, helium and carbon react so as to form oxygen. Some reactions are: 4He + 4He ßà   8Be An almost 100% reversible process since 8Be is highly unstable. 4He + 8Be ßà   12C* An excited state of 12C is formed and almost all decays back to He and Be. 12C* à   12C + e+ + e- However, about 0.2% decays into a stable carbon nucleus. When the 8Be barrier has been passed and the triple-alpha process forms carbon, the following also can occur: 4He + 12C à   16O + ÃŽ ³ 4He + 16O à   20Ne + ÃŽ ³ Carbon Burning The carbon burning follows when the star has run out of helium fuel. This can give three different products. 12C + 12C à   20Ne + 4He 23Mg + n 23Na + p Oxygen burning etc. Oxygen burning: 16O + 16O à   28Si + 4He Neon Burning: 4He + 20Ne à   24Mg + ÃŽ ³ A 28Si can dissociate into 7 4He and react in silicon burning. Silicon Burning: 28Si + 74He à   56Ni (which can then ?-decay to 56Fe during or after a type II supernova) From the above reactions protons, neutrons and alpha particles are released, which are then available for additional captures so as to form further isotopes of the elements. The mass barriers in the element formation In 1939 Bethe observed that no elements heavier than helium can be built up to any appreciable extent, since there are no stable elements of mass 5 nucleus. No reasonable ways of formation of elements could be given, since none of them would work: The addition of a neutron or a proton onto helium can not occur to form a mass 5 nucleus (unstable) The direct formation of 8Be out of two 4He is not possible due to the fact that 8Be is very unstable, with negative binding energy The formation of 12C out of three helium nuclei would not work either. However, at sufficiently high temperature and density 4He can bind to form 8Be and therefore the mass 4 barrier can be passed. This beryllium formed, even though very unstable and at low quantities in the star interiors, it is enough to form 12C when another helium nucleus is added to it (Salpeter, 1952). Once the unstable mass 5 and 8 barriers are overcome, more elements can be formed. Beyond the Iron Peak Explosive Nucleosynthesis The normal nuclear fusion reactions occurring in the star interiors can only form elements up to iron, 56Fe. They do not produce any elements beyond the iron peak since this would require energy rather than yielding energy. Beyond the iron peak, elements can be formed mainly by neutron captures. After 83Bi, no more stable isotopes can be formed. Neutrons are produced by some of the processes seen earlier, and one of the most favoured one is: 13C + 4He à   16O + n In stars, mass loss processes, where a return back to the interstellar medium material occurs which is however altered from when it formed the star, are very common. These can be mild and form planetary nebulas, or can be violent and catastrophic explosions, known as novae and supernovae. During the latter processes, heavy elements are form rapidly before or after the explosion with neutron captures. The two main types of neutron capture synthesising the heavy elements have been briefly discussed earlier (see p.13) and they are the following: S-process (Slow neutron capture) R-process (Rapid neutron capture) An unstable species has to decay before capturing another neutron, and therefore the s-process produces the less neutron rich compounds, since the process is slow enough, it allows beta decay by electron emission and the isotopes are stable before a lot of neutrons have been added. However, during the r-process the neutrons are added rapidly and the nuclei do not have enough time to decay, allowing more neutrons to be added until they can not accept any more. This process forms the more neutron rich elements. Other processes The proton rich isotopes of the heavy elements are formed by the p-process, i.e. proton captures. The elements 2H, 3He, 6Li, 7Li, 9Be, 10B and 11B, as well as some less neutron rich isotopes are not produced in significant amounts form the Big Bang and are less abundant than their neighbours. They are mostly formed during spallation reactions (fragmentation), during which more abundant elements (like C, N and O) are broken up in reactions between cosmic rays and the interstellar gas. The cosmic rays consist of small subatomic particles (mainly p and He nuclei) which travel through our atmosphere from space at the speed of light. They are created in supernovae and some star interactions. The particles in the cosmic rays are accelerated by the galaxys magnetic field and fly towards every direction. During their journey around the galaxy, the heavier particles of the cosmic rays collide with the atoms in the interstellar matter (mostly 1H and 4He), causing fragmentation, producing those lighter elements. Nova Some stars in the galaxy for binary systems, in which there are two stars revolving around each other. If their masses are different the bigger star will evolve faster and at some point their atmospheres combine, causing instabilities to form, resulting to an outburst of energy and matter as an explosion. This increases the luminosity of the stars and a nova is seen. During this procedure, heavy elements are synthesised. Supernova A supernova is a catastrophic stellar explosion during which so much energy is released that all the billions of stars can be outshined by it. It occurs when an evolving star runs out of nuclear fuel, and the core is so unstable that it collapses rapidly (in less than a second!). Just before or during this explosion, thousands of nuclear reactions (neutron captures) occur in a very short time, and form heavy elements. The remains of the supernova spread out into space and can be used in the formation of new stars or can be captured by other evolving stars. Conclusion In this report some of the well known up to date discoveries of cosmology were discussed. However, the universe is so infinite and mysterious that many questions about its creation and the element formation remain unanswered and plenty of areas are still in dark. NASA is currently the largest organisation performing investigation evolving around important cosmological questions, with its program Beyond Einstein. The satellites COBE and WMPA try to find an answer to what powered the Big Bang, whereas other missions wish to discover what the mysterious dark energy causing the expansion of the universe is. Fascinating findings about our universe and the genesis of elements are awaiting to be brought to light in the years to come. References (in order of appearance in text) Greenwood, N. N. and Earnshaw, A., 1997. 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