Putting the Service †Profit Chain to Work

PUTTING THE SERVICE – PROFIT CHAIN TO WORK Group – 5 Introduction: Factors that drives profitability Investment in people Leadership Vision – Patina of spirituality, importance of mundane Profitability Technology supporting frontline workers Successful service companies: Banc One, Intuit, Southwest Airlines, Service Master, USAA, Taco Bell, and MCI Compensation linked to performance Recruiting and training practices The Service – Profit Chain †¢ Establishes relationships between profitability, customer loyalty, and employee satisfaction, loyalty and productivity †¢ Measure and management techniquesSupport services and policies Employee loyalty, satisfaction, productivity Value and service Customer satisfaction Customer loyalty Profit and growth The Links in the Service-Profit Chain †¢The service profit chain is also defined by a special leadership †¢Examples: Herbert Kelleher – Southwest (Patina of spirituality), William Pollard – ServiceMaster (Teacher-learner managers, servant’s heart), John McCoy- Banc One (Uncommon Partnership, system of support) Customer Loyalty that drives Profitability and Growth 5% increase in customer loyalty can produce profit increases from 25% to 85% †¢ Quality of market share in terms of customer loyalty as important as quantity of share in the market †¢ Example: Banc One †¢ Measures of Customer retention †¢ No. of services used by each customer – depth of relationship †¢ Level of customer satisfaction †¢ XEROX Customer satisfaction Drives Customer Loyalty †¢ Polled 480,000 customers per year †¢ Five point scale – satisfaction(product and service) †¢ Relationships between the scores – actual loyalty differed greatly between 5s and 4s apostles †¢ Terrorists – unhappy customersValue drives Customer Satisfaction †¢ Value – related to the total costs (price and other costs incurr ed) †¢ Example: †¢ Progressive – insurance company – Quick processing and payment to claims – Little policy holder effort – CAT (catastrophe) team Employee Productivity Drives Value †¢ Southwest Airlines †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ 7th largest US domestic carrier 86% of employees unionized (total 14,000) Employees can perform several jobs Schedules, routes and company practices to enable speedy boarding and deplaning (15 min. 40% more pilot (70hr/month) and aircraft utilization Fare charges 60-70% lower Customer perceptions of value are very high without additional facilities 14,000 employees – marketing research unit Employee loyalty drives productivity †¢ Study of automobile dealer’s sales personnel †¢ More employee turn over more loss Employee Satisfaction drives Loyalty †¢ Propriety study of a property and casualty insurance company †¢ Southwest – highest reten tion (95%) †¢ USAA – Insurance and financial services providerInternal Quality drives Employee Satisfaction †¢ Working environment †¢ USAA – telephone sales and service representatives †¢ Information system †¢ Training †¢ ServiceMaster †¢ Attitudes of people toward one another †¢ Cleaning and maintenance †¢ Importance to mundane Leadership Underlies the Chain’s Success †¢ Corporate culture centered on service †¢ Willingness and ability to listen †¢ Examples Relating Links in the chain for management Action †¢ Few have links in meaningful way †¢ Examples Property and casualty insurance company †¢ MCI †¢ Taco Bell  » Employee participation  » Periodic round table meetings, interviews Service – Profit Chain Audit †¢ PROFIT AND GROWTH †¢ How do we define loyal customers? †¢ Do measurements of customer profitability include profits from referrals? †¢ What pr oportion of business development expenditures and incentives directed to the retention of existing customers?†¢ Why do customers defect? Service – Profit Chain Audit †¢ CUSTOMER SATISFACTION †¢ Are customer satisfaction data gathered in an objective, consistent, and periodic fashion? Where are the listening posts for obtaining customer feedback in your organization? †¢ How is information concerning customer satisfaction used to solve customer problems? Service – Profit Chain Audit †¢ EXTERNAL SERVICE VALUE †¢ how do you measure service value? †¢ How is information concerning customers’ perceptions of value shared with those responsible for designing a product or service? †¢ To what extent are measures taken of differences between customers’ perceptions of quality delivered and their expectations before delivery? Do our organization’s efforts to improve external service quality emphasize effective recovery fro m service errors in addition to providing a service right the first time?Service – Profit Chain Audit †¢ Employee productivity †¢ How do you measure employee productivity? to what extent do measures of productivity identify changes in the quality as well as the quantity of service produced per unit of input? †¢ Employee loyalty †¢ How do you create employee loyalty? †¢ Employee Satisfaction Is employee satisfaction measured in ways that can be linked to similar measures of customer satisfaction with sufficient frequency and consistency to establish trends for management use? †¢ Are employee selection criteria and methods geared to what customers as well as managers believe are important? †¢ To what extent measures of customer satisfaction, loyalty or the quality and quantity of service output used in recognizing and rewarding? Service – Profit Chain Audit†¢ INTERNAL SERVICE QUALITY Do employees know who their customers are? †¢ Employee satisfaction with technological and personal support? †¢ LEADERSHIP – To what extent – – – – – Energetic, creative vs stately, conservative? Participatory, caring vs removed, elistist? Listening, coaching and teaching? Motivating by mission vs motivating by fear? Leading by means personal values vs institutionalized policies? Time spent developing and maintaining culture? †¢ RELATING MEASURES †¢ what are the most important relationships in company’s service profit chain? .

Does Malcolm X deserve the honor of an American Stamp?

Introduction – Before the electronic means of communication reached the hands of everyone equipped enough to access and use such technology for correspondence and even until now that electronic mail or email is as common as the early morning coffee for everyone, the US postal office holds a significant role as an institution in the American way of life. Among the most important aspects of the postal service is the existence of postal stamp and how it has become more than an ornament in the envelope of domestic and international mails that Americans send to friends, relatives and business contacts. It has managed to find a niche outside its utilitarian purposes as it metamorphosed into a collectible item as well as an instrument that helped illustrate the shifting social policies in place inside the United States as time went by, particularly with its role in helping make the country a place wherein equal social rights is in place and improving and that institutions that recognize notable icons and personalities does not consider ethnicity and racial background. Whites, as well as African Americans, are all featured in the different issues of US postal stamps. But is everyone who have earned a status as a social personality have a sufficient enough reason to claim a seat in the list of other icons who are featured in the US stamps or is there a defining line that separates America’s exercise of a system free from racial discrimination from the nomination of every individual who might be a personal favorite but not entirely iconic in the progress of the American way of life as it is today? There are those who will agree that a person such as Malcolm X – born Malcolm Little – achieved a sufficient degree of social importance that earned him the right to have his name and face featured in the US postal stamps, while there are those who may think otherwise. To ascertain the validity of the claims that would stem from those who supports this proposition as well as from those who disagrees with the idea of creating Malcolm X stamps, it is important to put forward first who Malcolm X is and what characteristics and accomplishments he has that made him qualified to be included in the list of African Americans who graced the different issues of the US postal stamp. Who is Malcolm X? – Malcolm X was an Omaha-Nebraska native. Malcolm was the son of Earl and Louise and their fourth child as a couple (since Malcolm X's father also had children prior to his marriage with Louise). Malcolm X's young life was characterized by violence, seeing their house burned by white men and seeing his father physically assault her mother, while her mother was just as abusive towards him physically, which he thought was because of his color (Harvey, p3). Historians claim that the turning point of Malcolm X’s life that led him towards his newfound responsibility towards social and civil rights is during his important transition from being a non-believer to becoming a faithful. He was hardly a religious man during his earlier life, and that is putting it nicely since Malcolm X actually confessed to having ‘very little respect for most people who represented religion’ (Harvey, p5). But when Malcolm X converted to Islam, he adopted the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz and he became more active in not just religious preaching but as well as political sermons that advocated human and equal rights and consistently encouraged fellow African Americans to not be intimidated by actions of hate from white people. Sadly, religion, the institution that empowered him, is also rumored to be the one responsible for his death also, mainly because of Malcolm X’s leaning too much towards radicalism and his actions and words that nurture the atmosphere of civil disobedience and activism. Malcolm X in the American Stamp: Does he deserve the ‘Post’? – A United States Postal Service article stressed about its strong commitment in the effort to honor African Americans who made positive and significant contributions to the way of life in the country, even commenting about how the series featuring African American icons are amongst the popular US stamps in circulation. One of the areas wherein civil rights, equality and the absence of racism manages to display its self is in the selection of the icons and personalities that have adorned and will be featured in the postal stamps used in the United States for US mail. Civil and equal rights proponents will be glad to know that the US stamps accommodate notable African American icons – as a matter of fact, there are already some popular and iconic African American personalities that have made their way towards immortality via their presence in US stamps, and these personalities include Malcolm X as well as contemporary and fellow civil rights advocate Martin Luther King Jr., Booker T. Washington ( who is the first African American that was featured in a US postal stamp), Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman (the first African American woman who appeared in the U.S. postal stamp), Jackie Robinson, Scott Joplin and most recently, Thurgood Marshall. One of the noticeable characteristics among the African Americans who were selected to be featured in the postal stamps aside from Malcolm X is that they are not inclined to senseless and overt acts of violence and the outright disregard for laws and rules. King was contrasted with Malcolm X during their time because he was generally a pacifist, and Washington was known for using education as his main thrust to empower his fellow African American. As for Marshall, he was a civil rights advocate like Malcolm X during his time, but Marshall did not break or went around the law to have his way – he affected social change through the dispensing of morally correct and unbiased justice through the halls of the Supreme Court Justice. He assimilated himself with the system and made positive contribution towards his advocacy not by the distortion of the system but by helping create a just society bereft of crime. Thurgood was an icon because he believed that ultimately, the never ending social struggle is free from the color of one's skin and ethnicity, like the pursuit of fair and consistent justice by all. This particular characteristic – the ability to win an advocacy without the use of violation and without sowing more seeds of hatred among people of different races, the removal of violence as a means to achieve the victory of an advocacy, to effect social change in a positive manner – is an important characteristic and a significant consideration that the US post office makes every time they select a new icon from the civil rights movement group the act of immortalizing a person via a postal stamp design is a way of supporting everything that the person stands for and represent, and no modern day social institution will deify a person who is synonymous to violence, social disorder and criminal acts. Yes, it is true that not everyone can be saints, but if persons like Mother Theresa and Mahatma Gandhi can live a life without the use of violence, then why should the US postal service consider the criteria of moral soundness be overly high in their selection of the next new face in the US postal stamp? Yes, there are those who achieved their goals by the use of violence and force, like generals who won important wars and ruthless rulers who helped civilized nations and societies – but for those that can be achieved without violence, why would the best man (or woman) in that category be that which utilized violence and showed disregard and disrespect for the law? What message would it send to the public – whose taxes are making sure that federal offices like the US Postal Services operate so that they serve the best interest of the majority, and not the petty qualms of the few whose idolatry towards Malcolm X failed to comprehend the fact that Malcolm X and his acts of violence made him no better than the person and the institution he fought during his lifetime and aimed at changing. Conclusion – Malcolm X was an inspiration to many, mainly because he represents the rebel that every one wanted to become even just for once in their lives, against one act or experience that created the feeling of indignation. And while there are those who staunchly believes that he was instrumental in how the civil rights movement shaped in America during the late 1950’s and before he died halfway the following decade, the position of this paper in this particular issue is that Malcolm X’s violent and law-breaking past have placed him many points below in ranking along with other civil rights advocates – living or dead – in the US history who deserves to be honored with his/her own version of the US postal stamp. Reference: Haley, A. (1995). Autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine Books, N.Y.

Extracurricular Activities in School Essay

An ideal school gives to students the scope and the spirit of healthy competition — to excel at all levels. Class work and the home work given by teachers have their academic importance; in this also one who excels wins the praise and appreciation from the teachers. But academic distinctions alone do not fulfill all the purpose for which the school exists. A school is the workshop of life-building in which the raw material is the nascent young pupils. The Principal, the teachers are molders of this raw material into the ideal mold. For this process, many more activities, other than vroom ones are needed to fulfill the purpose. A young pupil might have the potential and the natural Lent to excel in games and sports and he needs to go to play field and the sports ground for the purpose. There can be students whose natural bent of mind is towards creative art and the art room is his field where he needs to be given the chance to exhibit his potential. Even little children of the nursery or the primary classes can draw such lines and make such figures which may amaze an on-looker and may be led to exclaim —’What an idea, how could he imagine this?’ One cannot and does not know how much talent in what direction lies in a child’s brain. This can only come out when he or she is given that opportunity. The school has to provide such chances and explore out the pearls from the sea-depths of the young mind. Art competitions of different level of students are activities that need to be arranged and the excellence in that to be rewarded and encouraged. There are boys and girls who have a knack of oration. They have in them an amount of self-confidence that they can face spectators and audience. Elocution contests and debates offer them the chance to exhibit this latent talent of theirs. Such inter-class or inter-school competitions should regularly be held which would further them to become good debaters — who knows, they may one day become parliamentarians and what they have gained during their school days may place them in good stead in that field. Cultural shows; dramatics performances, mono- acting’s are events which schools generally hold and it so necessary for schools to hold them. That is also at of total education. Taking part in such events gives children a sense of self-confidence and embellishes their accomplishments which they possess or can even develop. Anything, any activity which helps in the development of the total personality of young boy or girl is a part of  education and competitions, the effort to excel from others, is an incentive which must be provided to a young mind. Such an opportunity is offered to them only through such cultural and extra-curricular activities Opening up of personality; developing the latent talents- promotion of the intellectual effort and an opportunity of healthy competition — all these are factors which an educational institution should always encourage — only when it does this, it fulfills its role in the total education of the young.

Providing Feedback to the Community-based Care Transitions Program Research Paper

Providing Feedback to the Community-based Care Transitions Program - Research Paper Example The CCTP is connected with the Partnership for Patients, whose focus is on improving patient experience and reducing the costs of hospital readmissions by 20 percent (Partnership, 2014). Those included in the partnership are the Hospital Engagement Networks there are 26 states, regional and national hospital system organizations that help identify solutions for protecting against hospital-acquired conditions; the Community-based Care Transition Program (CCTP) which seeks to incorporate social service providers, pharmacies, primary care practices, nursing homes and home health agencies to provide patients with care; and the Patient and Family Engagement (PFE) system which connects relationships between patients, their families and the health care system, so that outside care can continue, rather than returning to the hospital (Partnership, 2014). The New York Methodist Hospital provides a coordinator who assists each patient during the first 30 days to assist patient needs, decipher discharge paperwork and care instructions, oversees follow-up medical appointments for the patient, along with prescription fillings, and will also connect the patient with community services, such as Meals on Wheels (NYM, 2014). As this whole process is still relatively new, it is a work in progress, particularly as the ACA moves into gear in this past year. Obviously, hospitals want to reduce costs, but it should never be at the expense of the public’s health, particularly when concerning older people. As of January 2013, New York State’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) showed reduction rates for Medicare patients in re-admissions within the first 30 days of implementing the program (PR, 2013). Those rates were compared to those from an intervention pilot program during 2009 to 2010, as part of the CMS 9th Scope of Work (SOW) Care Transitions initiative, covering 14 communities nationwide.  Ã‚  

Water Transport Laboratory Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Water Transport Laboratory - Lab Report Example With water being carried from the root, the plant has a consistency of water so it does not die out. Variations in xylem conduit diameter can change the effectiveness of the conducting system. Even a small increase in diameter has exponential effects on hydraulic conductivity. In this experiment, it was determined how the location of where a plant grows affects the diameter of the sample. If the hypothesis does not prove to be correct, then it is expected the data to show no change in diameters, or dry land samples having a greater diameter length than wet land samples. In order to do this experiment efficiently, a method must be understood. To locate the Red Maple trees used in this lab, the lab group trekked the area near the Soccer fields for a stream with flows through the woods up towards the Hillside Dorms. From there the group collected samples from the wet and dry locations. The samples were taken from trees that were 5-8 feet off the ground. The group will collect a total of 12 different stems replicated from the wet area and 12 stem replicates from an area near the hills that reside in a dryer climate (See Fig.1). Then test statistics will be used, such as the average xylem diameter, and the results will be compared between both environmental types. In order to obtain the xylem diameters, the group needs to prepare microscope slides of a cross section of the stem. After observing the xylem, measure the xylem conduits per stem (5-10 stems from different plants). Measure 2-3 xylem conduits per sample and average for one data point. When measuring the conduits, the largest diameter and the diameter perpendicular to the line will be averaged. To obtain the hydraulic conductivity, is simple. Collect branches that will be measured and wrap in wet paper towel. Submerge the branch under water, cut a 2-4 cm segment of the stem 9with at least 2 cm pruned end of the branch) Measure step length (l).

Response Paper #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Response Paper #3 - Essay Example The short story ‘Recitatif’ by Toni Morrison brings out the racial relations in America even after the country became free and slavery was system was destroyed. The story essentially focuses on the friendship between two girls of opposite races meeting as children. They meet at St. Bonny’s and are roommates. They are similar in many ways. The most ambiguous part is the identification of their race, which is not clearly mentioned for any of them. Initially it seems that Twyla is white and Roberta is black but later in the middle of the story it seems the opposite and then again the vision somewhat changes towards the end of the story. However after careful examination of the details one would say that Roberta is black. The most important part here is the racial difference. The difference is so severe that it is carried over to the children in schools. Towards the end of the story one finds the mothers (racially opposite groups) fighting for their rights. The story outlines the typical life style of an Afro-American girl who drops in and out of school and could not read. She (Roberta) is taken to drugs and wears large earrings, curls and has an appointment to meet Jimi Hendrix, a black singer. However when she meets Twyla after several years, she behaves coldly towards her. Later she explains it was because of the racial social structure –â€Å"Twyla, you know how it was in those days: black-white. You know how everything was† (Morrison, 255). The inner bonding between the two girls is quite strong and prominent but the social structure prevents them from free expression of the affection they share. They make it up in the end and Roberta, who accused Twyla of kicking a black woman Maggie (who perhaps was not black at all), clarifies her mistake to Twyla and explains that she need not carry the guilt anymore. The friendship

Nursing Image Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nursing Image - Essay Example Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802-1887) made a significant contribution to the state of mental health in the United States during the period starting late 19th Century. She is remembered for pioneering mental assylums in the United States. Dorothea Dix is regarded as a â€Å"voice for the mad†. Her contribution to the improvement of the lives of the mentally ill people in the United States cannot be compared to that of any other person in the history of nursing. Mental health is an important aspect of nursing, thus all mentally-ill patients deserve good nursing and care, just as other patients. According to Parry (2006), evidence shows that Dorothea might have been a victim of neglect from her parents, thus this might have influenced her to advocate for the well-being of mentally ill people in society, who were equally neglected at most times.In the year 1841, Dorothea Dix volunteered her time and knowledge to the East Cambridge jail, where she held one hour of devotion with female inm ates in that jail. While on this mission, Dorothea Dix realized that those inmates that were mentally-ill were living in poor conditions. For instance, these were chained in filthy and cold cells. Dorothea therefore, after making this observation, was committed to ensuring that the mentally-ill inmates lived in good conditions, and not the one she had witnessed. Most inmates have no power over their health, as while in prison, they cannot control the circumstances surrounding their health, such as the quality of the cells, among other aspects.

Thomas Nagel's Moral Luck Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thomas Nagel's Moral Luck - Assignment Example This makes a person’s action and judgement as the key elements of life. According to Nagel, good will represents an inner feeling exhibited by the people in their daily interaction systems (Nagel 1). Without the good will, the wished-for end of anyone is prone to be unsuccessful. Presumably, the good will enhances a wider-range of friendly relationships and the achieving of the end drives in life. The bad will, on the other hand, becomes a bit complicated in the determination of the people’s peaceful co-existence and their destinies (Nagel 1). The bad will is normally inclined towards evil deeds. The evil deeds do not have a place in most societies. This, therefore, makes bad deeds be grouped under sanctions, which are punishable by the societal laws. The bad wills are against the norms of several social groups. People whose mindsets revolve around the bad will judgements and actions, in most cases, are normally viewed as the social misfits (Nagel 2). This, according to Nagel, is because the bad will paves way for a poor moral responsibility, which does not bring morally acceptable resolutions to many in the long-run (Nagel 1). Nagel further argues that moral judgement and actions are the key elements where the most problems normally emanate from (Nagel 3). A problem experienced at an individual level normally affects behaviours positively. At the societal level, the problem experienced by one person will form a stable pattern thus affecting the completely social organization. Nagel believes that judgement differs from the evaluation of something good or bad morally (Nagel 3). The functional and dysfunctional elements of a moral judgement greatly differ. This is because what is morally upright or functional for one person may be morally unstable or dysfunctional for another, in the determination of their luck. Control measures, which include both the positive and the negative sanctions, should be used for the conformity and compliance in the moral judgement of the individuals. This is because the moral judgement revolves around ignorance and the involuntary movements both in the external and the internal behavioural aspects exhibited by the individuals. Not every action or moral judgement should rely on the goodwill or the bad will moral behaviours in order to find the social or behavioural changes solutions in the end luck. Moral judgement, according to Kant, has got the external influences either positively or negatively thus making the environment a key determinant of the individuals bad will or good will moral judgments (Nagel 3). The moral luck is not paradoxical. This is justified by Nagel in his book. This behavioural aspect can be compared to the theory of knowledge in philosophy. In the theory of knowledge, there are various natural occurrences emerging just like the moral luck in people’s behaviour hence making them hard and challenging to understand (Nagel 6). Our beliefs, therefore, become the basis upon w hich these factors emerging from an individual’s behaviour can be understood. This, on the other hand, is because of the lack of the external social control mechanisms and the impracticality of encompassing these emerging issues without being at the mercy of others who are on the leading and influences our already questionable knowledge on the moral luck, judgments, actions and goodwill and bad will. The ways in which the natural objects subjects individuals to moral luck include through the constitutive luck, which emanates from the personality. The other classification of luck includes one’s situations. The different situations and problems the individuals undergo calls for the different measures in their moral luck determination (Nagel 6)). Lastly, there are effects and causes of action and

The War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The War - Essay Example Prior to Pearl Harbor, Americans were sharply divided as to whether the U.S. should ally with Britain against Germany following the defeat of France. The U.S. immediately began fighting on both European and Pacific fronts fully supported by the American public. Though the Pacific Fleet was crippled by the Pearl Harbor attack, its submarines, aircraft carriers and, somewhat incredibly, the fuel storage tanks, were not damaged. America responded by winning the Battle of Midway then ‘island hopping’ toward Japan. The war in the Pacific theater culminated in the dropping of two atomic bombs in 1945 on cities in Japan affecting surrender (Goldstein & Dillon, 1981). In preparation for possible Japanese aggression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had relocated much of the U.S. Fleet to Pearl Harbor in mid 1940. The Japanese had been fighting a war with China since 1937 to gain desperately needed oil and other materials. What became the countries of the Western alliance stopped trade with the Japanese in July 1941which made the Japanese situation more desperate. Japan felt it had little choice but to capture the mineral and oil-rich regions of the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia and the East Indies so as to sustain itself. War was the inevitable outcome of these actions (â€Å"Pearl Harbor Raid†, 2000). Frank Beatty, at that time a U.S. Navy Secretary aid, wrote after the war, â€Å"I can say that prior to December 7, it was evident even to me that we were pushing Japan into a corner. The conditions we imposed upon Japan to get out of China, for example were so severe that we knew that nation could not accept. We did not want her to accept th em.† According to a 1944 account of British Minister of Production Oliver Lyttelton, â€Å"Japan was provoked into attacking America at Pearl Harbor. It is a travesty of history to say that America was forced into war† (Perloff, 1986). The Japanese Navy announced internally its detailed

Individual Project Unit 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Project Unit 4 - Essay Example This creates a situation where a silent partner begins exerting their pressure on the company leadership (in this case a friend or family member) which can jeopardize future relations or future lending opportunities. Oftentimes, as well, because friendship and family relationships are usually quite informal, the receiver of the start-up funds will neglect to put any formal agreement into contract form. When this occurs, if conflict arises about the progress of the business, disappointment and mutual anger can occur, which could often cause internal conflict which is apparent to the customers, diminishing profitability when sales decline. Having identified the risk of relationship funding, it is important to identify other sources of financing in order to prevent damaging long-term camaraderie with the acquaintance lender. As such, the business had identified one possible option as a term loan, which is provided by a banking institution. Term loans involve a specific amount of money, usually loaned at a term of five to 10 years, based on projections of future profitability (Longenecker et al). Though this is probably one of the most stable methods of borrowing money, there are potential risks to the receiver of the funds. For instance, a business that takes out a term loan must have a competent method of forecasting cash inflows and matching future periods of revenue to meet the loans repayment terms. A business which does not plan accordingly will experience a cash flow crisis, potentially harming the future operating potential of the business. Another type of financing option is asset-based lending, which involves receiving a line of credit (usually from a bank) which is based on asset value (GE Capital, 1999). For instance, assume that the company maintains regular payment in accounts receivable or maintains inventory which, when resold, can be liquidated for

Week 1 DB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 1 DB - Essay Example In the research process, all parts of the cycle are co-dependant, and if one step is omitted the research will loose its scientific value. One of the most important tasks for any researcher, therefore, is to think through the value of his intended research before too much preliminary work is done. The research process can be identified as ‘helix’ because every stage of investigation brings new information and questions about the problem. Such information is often necessary to pave the way for designing other research or to make decisions of some sort. It is possible to say that there are many variables â€Å"out there† in the real world that can be investigated. Obviously, one research cannot investigate them all. For this reason, researchers choose certain variables to investigate because they have a suspicion that they are somehow related, and that if they can discover the nature of this relationship, they will be able to make more sense out of the world in whic h they live. This process is endless and spiral. 2.Two concepts that are used in judging the value of an instrument are reliability and validity. Reliability can be defined as the consistency of the information obtained. If researchers used a yardstick to measure a desk three times and obtained different readings each time, they would conclude that the information was unreliable. In contrast to reliability, validity refers to the extent to which an instrument gives researchers the information they want. In this case, inadequate measures and tools would give misleading information and data. Validity is the most important idea to consider when preparing or selecting an instrument for use. More than anything else, a researcher wants the information obtained with an instrument to serve his or her purposes. Validity has been defined to include the appropriateness, meaningfulness, and usefulness of the specific inferences a researcher makes on the basis of the data he or she collects.

Fetal Heart Rate and Defects Essay Example for Free

Fetal Heart Rate and Defects Essay Electronic fetal heart monitoring is commonly used for tracking how well the baby is doing within the contracting uterus and for detecting signs of fetal distress. External fetal heart monitoring is performed by attaching external transducers to the mothers abdomen with elastic straps. The transducers use Doppler ultrasound to detect fetal heart motion, and the information is sent to the fetal heart monitor which calculates and records the fetal heart rate on a continuous strip of paper. More modern fetal heart monitors have incorporated microprocessors and mathematical procedures to improve the fetal heart rate signal and the accuracy of the recording. An echocardiography can be used before birth to accurately identify many heart defects. The mother can be treated with medications that may restore normal heart rhythm in the fetus if the test shows that a fetus’s heart is beating too fast or too slow (Emitting Waves, R.C., n.d.). The fetal heart starts as a tube which folds and fuses in a complex structure that results in a muscular pump with four chambers and four valves. It is not surprising that small errors in development can lead to a wide variety of structural abnormalities in the 4 chambers, the 4 heart valves, the veins and great arteries. During fetal monitoring, a nurse will evaluate the strip for continuity and adequacy for interpretation, identify the baseline fetal heart rate and presence of variability, determine whether there are accelerations or decelerations from the baseline, identify patterns of uterine contraction, and correlate accelerations and decelerations with the uterine contractions. This will allow the nurse to determine whether the fetal heart rate recording is reassuring, non-reassuring, or ominous (Childrens Heart Federation, n.d). Fetal Heart Rate and Defects The normal fetal heart rate is between 110 to 180 beats per minutes (BPM), but can vary. Fluctuations of the fetal heart rate (usually associated with fetal movement) during different periods of the day are common and often rise above 160, going as high as 180 to 190 and are considered normal. Listening to a normally beating heart using a fetal ultrasound Doppler as early as 8 weeks can offer reassurance and cut down on a lot of stress and help assure that the developing fetus is healthy. While miscarriage occurs in only about 15 percent of apparently normal pregnancies, it only occurs in about 1 percent of pregnancies where a normal heartbeat has been seen or heard (Medscape, n.d). Recent studies conclude that changes in pregnant womens heart rate and blood pressure due to chronic stress and anxiety can have an effect on the fetal heart rate. The study did not report any negative effects on fetal health but confirmed that emotional based changes in a womans cardiovascular activity c an have real-time effects† on a fetus. A previous study has shown that stress during pregnancy can cause an increase in the risk of low-birth weight and premature birth. More importantly, increased evidence suggests that pregnancy stress can actually affect the babys behavior and functioning later in life (NT: Detection Rate CHD, n.d.). The ability for expectant mothers to listen to the fetal heart rate with a fetal Doppler offers a safe method of early fetal bonding which was previously only available at prenatal appointments with a medical professional. With its approval for in home by the FDA expecting parents have increasingly been opting to rent or purchase fetal Dopplers to help relieve some of the stress associated with the unknowns of early and late pregnancy. Fetal Doppler rentals are currently available through many online retailers at very affordable rates. Fetal heart rate monitoring is the process of checking the condition of a baby during labor and delivery by monitoring his or her heart rate with special equipment. Electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) was first introduced at Yale University in 1958. Since then, continuous EFM has been widely used in the detection of fetal compromise and the assessment of the influence of the intrauterine environment on fetal welfare (Evans and Niswander, 2000). There are two methods of fetal heart monitoring in labor. External fetal monitoring is done through the skin and is not meant to be invasive. Sensitive electrodes (connected to monitors) are placed on your abdomen over conducting jelly. The electrodes can sense the fetal heart rate (FHR) and the presence and duration of uterine contractions. Usually, the results of this test are continuous and are printed out, or they appear on a computer screen. Internal fetal monitoring involves placing a electrode directly on the fetal scalp through the cervix. The health care provider may use this method of monitoring your baby if external monitoring is not working well, or the information is inconclusive. Both types of tests are performed to evaluate fetal heart rate and variability between beats, especially in relation to uterine contractions. The tests also indicate the frequency and strength of uterine contractions (Belmont, 1998). Fortunately, fetal heart monitoring tests can detect numerous abnormal situations or conditions during pregnancy, such as reduced blood flow to the developing baby (cord compression), block of electrical signals within the heart muscle, causing an altered heart beat (fetal heart block), incorrect positioning of the baby (fetal malposition), too little oxygen supply to the developing baby, suggest the presence of infection, too little oxygen exchange between the uterus and the placenta, fetal distress, placenta abruption, and severe anemia in the developing baby. Most common heart defects, such as holes between the chambers (atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect) and even more complex conditions such as transposition of the great arteries and tetralogy of Fallot, can be successfully managed after birth (Belmont, 1998). Many of the aforementioned situations detected during a fetal heart monitoring could mean that the baby has a congenital heart defect. There are many types of congenital heart defects which is why it is so important that the fetal heart monitoring be done before and during labor. A fetal heart defect means that the baby will be born with a problem in the hearts structure. Learning of the childs congenital heart defect can help to understand his or her condition and what you can expect in the coming months and years. Some congenital heart defects are simple and dont need treatment. Other congenital heart defects in children are more complex and may require several surgeries performed over a period of several years. Heart-related complications can be temporary or may affect the child long-term (Emitting Waves, R.C, n.d.). One examples of a congenital heart defect is pulmonary atresia, which is when no pulmonary valve exists, so blood cant flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery and on to the lungs. The right ventricle acts as a blind pouch that may stay small and not well developed. The tricuspid valve is often poorly developed, too. An opening in the atrial septum lets blood exit the right atrium, so venous (bluish) blood mixes with the oxygen-rich (red) blood in the left atrium. The left ventricle pumps this mixture of blood into the aorta and out to the body. Pulmonary atresia occurs in about one out of every 10,000 live births (Pulmonary Atresia, n.d.). Another type of congenital heart defect is congenital heart block, when detected at or before birth in a structurally normal heart, is strongly associated with autoantibodies reactive with certain proteins. In this defect, the hearts electrical signal doesnt pass from the hearts own natural pacemaker in the atrium to the lower chambers. When this occurs, an independent pacemaker in the lower chambers takes over. The ventricles can contract and pump blood, but at a slower rate than the atrial pacemaker. Complete heart block is most often caused in adults by heart disease or as a side effect of drug toxicity. Heart blocks can be present at birth (Belmont, 1998). Continuous lumbar epidural anesthesia is commonly used for analgesic treatment during labor and delivery; It is still a matter of controversy whether epidural anesthesia has direct or indirect side effects on the fetus. It has been reported that local anesthetics can cause changes in the fetal heart rate patterns in the sense of direct myocardial side effects (Evans and Niswander, 2000). It is apparent that there are marked cardiovascular changes that occur in the fetus with a congenital heart defect compared with the normal healthy fetus. Without the use of fetal heart monitoring tests, we would be unable to determine if the fetus has a congenital heart defect which could drastically delay treatment of the condition. Treatment varies widely with the type of disease, the effect that pregnancy has on the disease, and the effect that the disease has on pregnancy. If it is the fetus that has a problem, serial ultrasounds may be performed. Fetal heart rate monitoring may be necessary, or amniocentesis may be required. In addition, it may be essential to give the mother medications to act on the baby (Belmont, 1998). Summary A fetal heart defect is an abnormality in any part of the heart that is present in an unborn child. Approximately 35,000 infants are born with heart defects each year in the United States. An echocardiography can be used before birth to accurately identify many heart defects. The mother can be treated with medications that may restore normal heart rhythm in the fetus if the test shows that a fetus’s heart is beating too fast or too slow. In most cases, scientists do not know what makes a baby’s heart develop abnormally, but genetic and environmental factors appear to play roles.

Effect of Vegetation on Slope Stability

Effect of Vegetation on Slope Stability 5.1 Introduction Incorporating the vegetation effect in slope stability has been used for many years in geotechnical engineering. The vegetation effect on slope stability usually ignored in conventional slope analysis and it is considered as a minor effects. Although the vegetation effect on slopes qualitatively appreciated after the pioneer quantitative research. The vegetation cover is recognized in urban environment and it is generally utilized along transportation corridors such as highways and railway, river channels, canals, mine waste slopes and artificially made sloping ground. There are some remedial techniques for soil stabilizations in civil engineering practice such as geosynthetic reinforcement or soil nailing are often used at slopes at great expense, but now many parts of the world considered sustainable alternative methods such as using the vegetation cover or soil bioengineering in civil engineering applications. This method reduces the cost and local labour force and it is environmental friendly method. The vegetation cover, the roots draw out moisture from soil slopes through evapo-transpitation leads to shrinking and swelling in soil. After prolonged wet and dry period, it is possible to foam cracks at dry period due to reduction of moisture content from vegetation covers. 5.2 Influence of vegetation The vegetation effect influence on soil slopes, generally classified into two types, they are mechanical and hydrological effects. The hydrological effect is responsible for soil moisture content, increasing the evapo-transpiration and resulting increasing the soil matric suction. Water is removed from the soil region in several ways, either evaporation from the ground surface or by evapo transpiration from vegetation cover. The process produces upward flux of the water out of the soil. The mechanical effects from the vegetation root responsible for physical interaction with soil structure 5.2.1 Hydrological effects The influence of vegetation cover in soil moisture content in different ways. The rain water evaporates back to atmosphere ultimately reduce the amount of water infiltrate into the soil slope. The vegetation roots extract moisture from the soil and this effects leads to reducing the soil moisture content. The reduction in moisture content in soil, it will help to increase the matrix in unsaturated soil or decrease the pore water pressure condition in saturated soil. Both of this action ultimately improves the soil stability. The vegetations moisture reduction ability is well recognized. The root reinforcement is most important factor, it is generally considered in vegetation effects on slope analysis, thought the recent studies shows the importance of hydrological effects on slopes by Simon Collision (2002). They studied the pore water pressure and matric suction in soil over for one cycle of wet and dry cycle under different vegetation covers. This result shows the significant effec ts of vegetation hydrological effects are soil structure. 5.2.2 Mechanical effects The vegetations root matrix system with high tensile strength can increase the soil confining stress. The soils root reinforcement is described with roots tensile test and adhesional properties. The additional shear strength of soil is given by the plant root bound together with the soil mass by providing additional apparent cohesion of the soil. The slope contain large trees need to consider the weight of the tree. The additional surcharge to the slope may give from larger trees. This surcharge increases the confining stress and down slope force. The surcharge from larger trees could be beneficial or adverse condition depending of the location on soil slope. If the trees located slope toe, the slope stability will be improved due to additional vertical load. On the other hand, if the trees located at upper surface of the slope, hence overall stability reduced due to vertical down slope force Furthermore, the wind loading to larger trees increasing the driving force acting on the slope. In the wind load is sufficiently large it may create the destabilizing moment on the soil slope from larger trees. Larger trees roots penetrate deeper strata and act as stabilizing piles. The effects of surcharge, wind loading and anchoring usually considered only larger trees. 5.3 Vegetation effects on soil slope numerical study In this parametric study, the effect of vegetation on the stability of slope has been investigated using the SLOPE/W software tool. In this study only consider the parameter root cohesion known as apparent root cohesion (CR). This coefficient incorporated with Mohr-Coulomb equation. 5.3.1 Model geometry 20 m 10 m 20 m 10 m 20 m Figure 5. 1 Slope geometry à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ §Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  20 kN/m3 c = 15 kPa à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  20 °In this parametric study 10 m height 2:1 homogenous slope (26.57 °) is used to investigate the vegetation effect on stability analysis, as shown in Figure 5.1. The soil properties are as follows: 5.3.2 Vegetation covers arrangement for the numerical model Case Slope geometry Description 01 No vegetation cover 02 1 m height vegetation cover-entire ground surface cohesion 1 kPa to 5 kPa 03 2 m height vegetation cover-entire ground surface cohesion 1 kPa to 5 kPa 04 3 m height vegetation cover-entire ground surface cohesion 1 kPa to 5 kPa 05 vegetation cover only at the slope surface 06 vegetation cover only at the slope surface and upper surface Figure 5. 2 Vegetation covers arrangement for the numerical model 5.3.3 The root cohesion values from previous researchers Source Vegetation, soil type and location Root cohesion c v (kN/m2) Grass and Shrubs Wuà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ (1984) Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum cymbifolium), Alaska, USA 3.5 7.0 Barker in Hewlett Boulder clay fill (dam embankment) under grass in concrete block reinforced 3.0 5.0 et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1987) cellular spillways, Jackhouse Reservoir, UK Buchanan Savigny * (1990) Understorey vegetation (Alnus, Tsuga, Carex, Polystichum), glacial till soils, Washington, USA 1.6 2.1 Gray  § (1995) Reed fiber (Phragmites communis) in uniform sands, laboratory 40.7 Tobias à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1995) Alopecurus geniculatus, forage meadow, Zurich, Switzerland 9.0 Tobiasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1995) Agrostis stolonifera, forage meadow, Zurich, Switzerland 4.8 5.2 Tobiasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1995) Mixed pioneer grasses (Festuca pratensis, Festuca rubra, Poa pratensis), alpine, Reschenpass, Switzerland 13.4 Tobiasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1995) Poa pratensis (monoculture), Switzerland 7.5 Tobiasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1995) Mixed grasses (Lolium multiflorum, Agrostis stolonifera, Poa annua), forage meadow, Zurich, Switzerland -0.6 2.9 Cazzuffi et al.  § (2006) Elygrass (Elytrigia elongata), Eragrass (Eragrostis curvala), Pangrass (Panicum virgatum), Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides), clayey-sandy soil of Plio-Pleistocene age, Altomonto, S. Italy 10.0, 2.0, 4.0, 15.0 Norrisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (2005b) Mixed grasses on London Clay embankment, M25, England ~10.0 van Beek et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   Natural understory vegetation (Ulex parviflorus, Crataegus monogyna, 0.5 6.3 (2005) Brachypodium var.) on hill slopes, Almudaina, Spain van Beek et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (2005) Vetiveria zizanoides, terraced hill slope, Almudaina, Spain 7.5 Deciduous and Coniferous trees Endo Tsuruta à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1969) OLoughlin Ziemer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1982) Riestenberg Sovonick-Dunford * (1983) Schmidt et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ (2001) Swanston* (1970) OLoughlin* (1974) Ziemer Swanston à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ § (1977) Burroughs Thomas* (1977) Wu et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ (1979) Ziemer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1981) Waldron Dakessian*(1981) Gray Megahanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ (1981) OLoughlin et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1982) Waldron et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1983) Wu à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ (1984) Abe Iwamoto à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (1986) Buchanan Savigny * (1990) Gray  § (1995) Schmidt et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ (2001) van Beak et al. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   (2005) Silt loam soils under alder (Alnus), nursery, Japan Beech (Fagus sp.), forest-soil, New Zealand Bouldery, silty clay colluvium under sugar maple (Acer saccharum) forest, Ohio, USA Industrial deciduous forest, colluvial soil (sandy loam), Oregon, USA Mountain till soils under hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) and spruce (Picea sitchensis), Alaska, USA Mountain till soils under conifers (Pseudotsuga menziesii), British Columbia, Canada Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), Alaska, USA Mountain and hill soils under coastal Douglas-fir and Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), West Oregon and Idaho, USA Mountain till soils under cedar (Thuja plicata), hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) and spruce (Picea sitchensis), Alaska, USA Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), coastal sands, California, USA Yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) seedlings grown in small containers of clay loam. Sandy loam soils under Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), Idaho,USA Shallow stony loam till soils under mixed evergreen forests, New Zealand Yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa) (54 months), laboratory Hemlock (Tsuga sp.), Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) and yellow cedar (Thuja occidentalis), Alaska, USA Cryptomeria japonica (sugi) on loamy sand (Kanto loam), Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan Hemlock (Tsuga sp.), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga), cedar (Thuja), glacial till soils, Washington, USA Pinus contorta on coastal sand Natural coniferous forest, colluvial soil (sandy loam), Oregon Pinus halepensis, hill slopes, Almudaina, Spain 2.0 12.0 6.6 5.7 6.8 23.2 3.4 4.4 1.0 3.0 3.5 6.0 3.0 17.5 5.9 3.0 21.0 5.0 ~ 10.3 3.3 3.7 6.4 5.6 12.6 1.0 5.0 2.5 3.0 2.3 25.6 94.3 -0.4 18.2 * Back analysis and root density information. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   In situ direct shear tests. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¡ Root density information and vertical root model equations. Laboratory shear tests. Table 5. 1 Values of Cv for grasses, shrubs and trees as determined by field, laboratory tests, and mathematical models In this parametric study apparent root cohesion (CR) was varied over the following range: 1 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ CR à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 5 kPa ; CR à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‹â€  {1 kPa, 2 kPa, 3 kPa , 4 kPa , 5 kPa } Three vegetation root depth zones (hR) were used namely: hR à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‹â€  {1 m, 2 m, 3 m} A C BThe soil slope assumed as homogeneous slope. The case 1 soil slope (no vegetation cover on it) compared with the soil slope with vegetation cover on it. Figure 5. 3 Slope failure plane through slope region 5.3.4 Vegetation layer entire surface The case 2 condition applied the vegetation cover entire surface, the vegetation depth (hR) were 1 m and root cohesion were 1 kPa to 5 kPa. The same root cohesion applied to the case 3 and case 4 conditions. C (kPa) CR (kPa) hR (kPa) FOS Case 1 15 0 0 1.568 Case 2 15 1 1 1.571 15 2 1 1.575 15 3 1 1.579 15 4 1 1.582 15 5 1 1.586 Case 3 15 1 2 1.575 15 2 2 1.583 15 3 2 1.591 15 4 2 1.599 15 5 2 1.605 Case 4 15 1 3 1.580 15 2 3 1.593 15 3 3 1.605 15 4 3 1.618 15 5 3 1.630 Table 5. 2 Slope Analysis results for Case 1, Case 2, Case 3 and Case 4. Vegetation cover plays a significant role in slope stability analysis. The root cohesion experiments from various researchers over the past three decades results are shown in Table 5.1. In this research only consider the grass and shrubs root reinforcement. The apparent root cohesion range is 1 kPa to 5 kPa. If we consider the bigger trees in slopes need to consider its weight for slope stability calculations. The Table 5.2 shows the factor of safety analysis results for different root cohesion for different depths. Figure 5. 4 Different root cohesion (CR ) values for factor of safety for different root depths The analysis carried out with the software tool SLOPE/W. The graph shows the influence of vegetation cover i.e. root cohesion (CR) and its root depth (hR). The soil slope without any vegetation cover (CR = 0 kPa), the factor of safety is 1.570. This result shows the vegetation cover applied entire surface. The factor of safety linearly increase when increase with the root cohesion and root depth. The root cohesion and root depth has linear relationship with slopes factor of safety. 5.3.4 Vegetation layer only at slope surface and upper surface C (kPa) CR (kPa) hR (kPa) FOS FOS Case 6 Case 5 15 1 1 1.571 1.569 15 2 1 1.575 1.572 15 3 1 1.579 1.574 15 4 1 1.582 1.576 15 5 1 1.586 1.578 15 1 2 1.575 1.572 15 2 2 1.583 1.577 15 3 2 1.591 1.581 15 4 2 1.598 1.586 15 5 2 1.605 1.591 Table 5. 3 Slope Analysis results for Case 6 and case 5 The vegetation layer only considered at slope surface and upper surface, analysis carried out with SLOPE/W tool. The case 6 analysis results same as the case 2 and case 3. The results not affect with toe vegetation (section C at Figure 5.3) because failure plane only at section A and B section at Figure 5.3. So only influence with slope vegetation layer and upper surface vegetation layer in this slope analysis. The vegetation layer only at slope surface analysis results (case 6) compared with vegetation only at slope condition (case 5) shows lesser factor of safety values. The slopes upper surface vegetation has considerable influence in slope stability. 5.3.4 Vegetation layer only at toe C (kPa) CR (kPa) hR (kPa) FOS Vegetation layer only at toe 15 1 1 1.568 15 2 1 1.568 15 3 1 1.568 15 4 1 1.568 15 5 1 1.568 15 1 2 1.568 15 2 2 1.568 15 3 2 1.568 15 4 2 1.568 15 5 2 1.568 Table 5. 4 Slope Analysis results for Vegetation layer only at toe The SLOPE/W analysis shows (Table 5.5) for vegetation at toe Figure 5.1 section C. All the results for different depths and different root cohesion values are the same. The failure plane of this analysis only at section A B. So there is no influence with the toe vegetation. If the failure plane goes to section only toe vegetation influence in slope stabilization. 5.3.5 Slope failure plane through toe C B A Figure 5. 5 Slope failure plane through toe CR (kPa) Vegetation at toe hR (kPa) FOS 1 1 1.619 2 1 1.624 3 1 1.628 4 1 1.632 5 1 1.636 1 2 1.621 2 2 1.626 3 2 1.632 4 2 1.637 5 2 1.642 Table 5. 5 Slope Analysis results for failure plane through toe region, Vegetation layer only at toe This slope analysis failure surface was set through slope toe using entry and exit method. The Figure 5.5 shows clearly the failure plane, the failure region cover the entire region (A, B C). The vegetation layer applied at toe region for this analysis. The FOS increase with the increasing root cohesion and root depth, but there is no changes observed from the previous analysis, which is the failure plane only at section B C Figure 5.1. So the vegetation layer influent with the slope failure surface.

An Analysis Of Dantes Inferno English Literature Essay

An Analysis Of Dantes Inferno English Literature Essay Dantes Inferno represents a microcosm of society; that is, laymen, clergy, lovers, wagers of war, politicians, and scholars are all collected into one place and punished for their worst and most human attributes. Hell, despite its otherworldly appearance and brutal, ugly nature, is somewhat humanized by the fact that those who are punished come from every country (Dante 3.123) and every walk of life, regardless of age, race, sex, or creed. While Dante Alighieri did not invent the idea of Hell as a place of punishment for the wayward and sinful souls in the afterlife, he did create the most powerful and enduring (Raffa 1) imagining of a concept which has received significant attention in biblical, classical, and medieval works. Dantes Divine Comedy was written sometime between 1308 and 1321 and is considered the supreme work of Italian literature (Norwich 27). It is an epic poem divided into three separate sections: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, respec tively. The personal element of the journey through Hell in Dantes Inferno literally explores the descent of one man into sin; through the use of poetic justice, both contemporary and historical figures, and mythological figures, Dante crafts an immediate and enthralling work dealing with the nature of sin and its place in society. The concept of poetic justice is famously explored in Inferno, where it is put to dramatic effect devising appropriate torments for each particular sin (Raffa 3). From Limbo to Treachery, Dante catalogues and documents the punishment of sinners both infamous and beloved, famous and unknown. In every case, the punishment fits the crime in a twisted and malignant fashion after all, the poem does discuss the realm of Satan, the Christian embodiment of evil. The nine circles of Hell described in Inferno are as follows: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice and Prodigality, Wrath and Sullenness, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. These nine circles are based off of the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins, with some additions such as Limbo created by Dante. The poem begins with Dante lost in a dark wood, assailed by three beasts he cannot evade, and unable to move straight along (Dante 1.18) the road to salvation, represented by a mountain. A lion, a leopard, and a she-wolf symbolizing pride, envy, and avarice, respectively block Dantes path to the top of the mountain, forcing him to descend into the depths of Hell with Virgil. The entire journey documented in the Divine Comedy is an allegory for mans fall into sin before achieving redemption (represented by Purgatorio) and eventually salvation (represented by Paradiso). Before Dante even enters the gates of Hell, he is introduced to his guide for the first two realms of the afterlife, Inferno and Paradiso. For this role, Dante chose Virgil (70-19 BCE), who lived under the rule of Julius Caesar and later Augustus during Romes transition from a republic into an empire, and is most famous for the Aeneid. Two episodes in Virgils work were of particular interest to Dante. Book IV tells the tale of Aeneas and Dido, the queen of Carthage, who kills herself when Aeneas abandons her to continue his journey and [found] a new civilization in Italy (Raffa 8). Book VI recounts Aeneas journey into Hades to meet the shade of his father and learn of future events in his journey. Many elements in the Aeneid are present in heavily modified form in Dantes Inferno. Many of Dantes mythological elements are based on Book VI of Virgils Aeneid, which recounts Aeneas visit to the underworld. Virgil imbued his version of the underworld with a fluid, dreamlike atmosphere (5), while Dante instead strives for greater realism, providing sharply drawn and tangible figures. After passing through the gateway to hell, marked ominously with the words ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE (Dante 3.9), Dante and Virgil witness a realm of miserable people who lived without disgrace and without praise (3.17-35) on the periphery of the Inferno. In this realm, the two poets encounter the souls of those who lived such undistinguished and cowardly lives that they have been cast out by Heaven and refused entry by Hell. These souls are forced to race after a banner which never comes to a stop, and are stung repeatedly by flies and wasps, their blood and tears nourishing the sickening worms (3.69) at their feet. The punishment for these cowardly souls is clear; just as in life they refused to be decisive and act, they now are barred from both eternal paradise and eternal damnation, and chase down a waving banner which they will never be able to reach. Next, Dante and Virgil meet Charon, Hells boatman. In the Aeneid, Charon is the pilot of the vessel that transports shades of the dead across the waters into the underworld. In both works, he is an irritable old man with hair white with years (3.83) who objects to taking a living man (Aeneas, Dante) into the realm of the dead. In each case, the protagonists guide (the Sybil, Virgil) provides Charon the proper credentials, and their journey continues. In Limbo, the guiltless damned, noble non-Christian souls, and those who lived before the time of Christianity are punished. The idea of a place for souls who did not sin; and yet lacked baptism (4.34-35) existed in Christian theology prior to Dante, but his vision is more generous than most. Dante includes unbaptized babies, as well as notable non-Christian adults in his version of Limbo, which bears a resemblance to the Asphodel Meadows, a section of the Greek underworld where indifferent and ordinary souls were sent to live after death. Dante suggests that those in Limbo are being punished for their ignorance of God by being forced to spend the afterlife in a deficient form of Heaven; while certainly not as hellish as the other circles, Limbo is by no means a paradise. Dante encounters the classical poets Homer (eighth or ninth century BCE), Horace (65-8 BCE), Ovid (43 BCE -17 CE), and Lucan (39-65 CE), who welcome back their comrade Virgil and honour Dante and one of their own (Dante 4.79-102). Philosophers Socrates and Aristotle also make appearances in Limbo as the shades of men renowned for their outstanding intellectual achievements. Socrates (born ca. 470 BCE in Athens) was a legendary teacher known for the rigorous method of questioning that characterizes the dialogues of Plato (ca. 428-ca. 347 BCE), who also appears. In addition, one notable non-Christian soul finds himself in Limbo, separated from the rest: Saladin, the distinguished military leader and Egyptian sultan who fought against the crusading armies of Europe yet was admired even by his enemies for his chivalry and magnanimity. Dantes implication is that all virtuous non-Christians find themselves in Limbo. The Lustful are punished in the second circle by being blown about by a hellish hurricane, which never rests wheeling and pounding (5.31-33). Lust, for many of the inhabitants of this circle, led to the sin of adultery and in the cases of Dido, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, and others a violent death. The violent winds are symbolic of lust, and represent the power it holds in affairs of blind passion and physical love. Lust contains the shades of many famous lovers: Semiramis, Dido, Paris, Achilles, and Tristan, among others. Semiramis was a powerful Assyrian queen alleged to ave been so perverse that she even made incest a legal practice (Raffa 27); Dido, queen of Carthage and widow of Sychaeus, committed suicide after her lover Aeneas abandoned her (Virgil IV); Paris later died during the Trojan war; Achilles was the most formidable (Raffa 27) Greek hero in the war against the Trojans, who was killed by Paris (according to medieval accounts); finally, Tristan was the nephew of king Mark of Cornwall who fell in love in Iseult (Marks fiancee) and was killed by Marks poisoned arrow. Minos, the one who judges and assigns (Dante 5.6) the souls during their descent into Hell, is an amalgam of figures from classical sources, completed with several personal touches from Dante. He is a combination of two figures of the same name, one the grandfather of the other, both rulers of Crete. The elder Minos was admired for his wisdom and the laws of his kingdom. The second Minos imposed a harsh penalty on the Athenians (who had killed his son Androgeos), demanding an annual tribute of fourteen youths (seven boys and seven girls), who were sacrificed to the Minotaur, which appears later in Inferno. Minos long tail which he wraps around himself, that marks the sinners level (Dante 5.11-12) is Dantes invention. Gluttony is punished in the third circle. The souls of the damned lie in a vile, grimy slush brought about by cold, unending, heavy, and accursed rain (6.7-8). These former gluttons lie sightless and heedless of their neighbours, symbolizing their cold, selfish, and empty pursuit of hedonism and empty sensuality. The slush, representative of overindulgence and sensuality, serves to cut one off from both the outside world and from Gods deliverance. Gluttonous individuals of note include a Florentine contemporary of Dantes, identified as Ciacco ( pig in Italian). Ciacco speaks to Dante regarding the political conflict in the city of Florence between two rival parties, the White and Black Guelphs, and predicts the defeat of the White Guelphs, Dantes party. This event did indeed occur, and would lead to Dantes own exile in 1302. As the poem is set in the year 1300, before Dantes exile, he uses the events of his own life to illustrate the unique ability of shades in Inferno to predict the future, a theme which is returned to later in the poem. Cerberus, guardian of Gluttony, is similar to the beast of Greek mythology. In the Aeneid, Virgil describes Cerberus the three-headed dog which guards the entrance to the classical underworld as loud, huge, and terrifying. Dantes Cerberus displays similar canine qualities: his three throats produce a deafening bark, and he eagerly devours the fistful of dirt Virgil throws into his mouths like a dog intent on its meal. Cerberus bloodred (6.16) eyes, greasy, black (6.16) beard, and large gut link him to the gluttonous spirits whom he tears, flays, and rends (6.18) with his clawed hands. The Avaricious and the Prodigal are punished together in the fourth circle. Avarice, or greed, is one of the inequities that most incurs Dantes scorn and wrath (Raffa 37). Prodigality is defined as the opposite of Avarice; that is, the trait of excessive spending. Both groups are forced to eternally joust with one another, using cumbersome stone weights as weapons. They call out to each other: Why do you hoard? Why do you squander? (Dante 7.30). Here Dante describes the punishment of both extremes, criticizing excessive desire for and against the possession of material goods using the classical principle of moderation. In the fifth circle, the Wrathful and the Sullen are punished. The wrathful fight each other eternally on the surface of the river Styx, which runs darker than deep purple (7.103), while the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water. Dante describes how the Wrathful combat one another: [They] struck each other not with hands alone, but with their heads and chests and with their feet, and tore each other piecemeal with their teeth (7.112-114). The wrathful are damned to eternally struggle and fight without direction or purpose, while the sullen have withdrawn into a black sulkiness from which they can find joy in neither God nor life. In the fifth circle, Filippo Argenti, a prominent Florentine and a Black Guelph, calls to Dante. A hotheaded character (Raffa 40), little is known regarding Filippo except what transpires in Inferno. He quarrels with Dante, lays his hands upon the boat the poets travel on, and is eventually torn apart by his wrathful cohorts. The two men were political opponents, but Dantes behaviour towards Filippo indicates a more personal grievance. Perhaps he had humiliated Dante in life, or had taken some part of Dantes property after his exile from the city. Phlegyas is the solitary boatman (Dante 8.17) who transports Dante and Virgil in his boat across the Styx, the circle of the wrathful and sullen. He was known in Greek mythology for his impetuous behaviour; in a fit of rage, Phlegyas set fire to the temple of Apollo because the god had raped his daughter Apollo promptly slew him in response. Phlegyas appears in Virgils underworld as an admonition against showing contempt for the gods (Virgil 6.618-620), a role which he reprises in Inferno. Between the fifth and sixth circles lie the walls of Dis, the fortressed city of Lower Hell (Raffa 39). The fallen angels who guard the gates of Dis refuse entry to the two poets, requiring the arrival of a messenger from Heaven to open the gate for them. Dante designates all of Lower Hell circles six through nine, where the most serious of sins are punished as the walled city of Dis, with its grave citizens, its great battalions (Dante 8.69). The first five circles, which exist outside of Dis, are collectively known as Upper Hell, as they are where the lesser sins are punished. With the appearance of the three infernal (9.38) Furies, who threaten to call on Medusa, Virgils credibility and Dantes survival appear to be at risk. Furies were often invoked in Virgils classical world to exact revenge on behalf of offended mortal and gods. Medusas hair was turned into snakes by an angry Minerva after Medusa made love with Neptune in the goddesss temple, and became too horrifying to look at without being turned to stone. Dante describes Medusa as the Queen of never-ending lamentation (9.44). The Furies names evil thought (Allecto), evil words (Tisiphone), and evil deeds (Magaera) (9.45-48) describe the three manifestations of sin, which can turn people to stone by making them obstinate cultivators of earthly things (Raffa 41). Heretics are punished inside the walls of Dis, in a spreading plain of lamentation and atrocious pain (Dante 9.110-111) resembling a cemetery. The sixth circle contains souls trapped and enclosed in fiery tombs for failing to believe in God and the afterlife. Since they did not believe in Hell, the Heretics are punished by being sealed away from it in the most unpleasant possible way inside a flaming sepulchre. Among the tombstones of the sixth circle, Dante encounters more Italian contemporaries. A pair of Epicurian Florentines are disocvered sharing a tomb: Farinata degli Uberti, a Ghibelline; and Cavalcante de Cavalcanti, a fellow Guelph and the father of Guido Cavalcanti, Dantes fellow poet and closest friend. Farinata is an imposing figure, rising out of his inflamed sepulchre from the waist up and seeming to have great contempt for Hell (10.31-36). As the leader of the Ghibellines, Farinata was an enemy to the Guelphs, the party of Dantes ancestors. Farinata declares that his colleagues would have annihilated Florence (10.92), had he not interceded forcefully, an act which has earned him Dantes respect. Cavalcante was an enemy to the Ghibellines, like Dante, and married his son Guido to Farinatas daughter in order to foster peace between the two parties. Dantes best friend, Guido Cavalcanti, was a poet who held the philosophical belief that love is a dark force which leads only to mis ery and death. Therefore, Cavalcantes appearance in Hell might be more a matter of guilt by association to his sons worldview than any kind of reflection on himself. The Minotaur is the guardian and mythological symbol for the seventh circle, Violence. At the sight of Dante and Virgil, the minotaur reacts like one whom fury devastates within (12.15), and his frenzied bucking allows the travellers to proceed unharmed. The Minotaur is a physical manifestation of violence in Inferno: almost every part of the Minotaurs story, from its creation to its demise, contains some form of violence (Raffa 55). The sinners in the seventh circle are divided into three groups: the violent against people and property, the violent against themselves, and the violent against God and nature (Dante 11.28-33). The first group comprised of assassins and murderers, among others are immersed in Phlegethon, a bloodred, boiling (12.101) river of blood and fire, up to a level commensurate with their sins (12.73-75). Because they committed such acts of bloodshed and destruction in their lives, they are punished by being immersed in a river of that which they have spilt. The second group the suicides are transformed into knotted, gnarled (13.5) thorny bushes and trees, which are fed upon by Harpies. These souls have given away their physical bodies through suicide, and are forced to maintain treelike forms. These suffering trees cannot speak until Dante accidentally injures one and causes it to bleed. Dante uses the soul-trees as a metaphor for the state of mind which leads to self-harm and suicide. Finall y, the third group blasphemers and sodomites reside in a desert of sand, fire and brimstone falling from the sky. The blasphemers lie down upon the sand, the usurers recline, and the sodomites wander seemingly aimlessly in huddling groups, all while being burned by distended flakes of fire (14.28-29). This symbolizes how those who act violently against God and that which God has provided are perpetually unable to find peace and comfort in their lives. Among those immersed in Phlegethon is Alexander the Great, submerged up to his eyebrows in blood. He suffers for his reputation as a cruel, bloodthirsty man who inflicted great harm upon the world and its peoples. In the forest of suicides, Dante hears the tale of Pier delle Vigne, who killed himself after falling out of favour with Emperor Frederick II (Dante 13.64-69). Dante encounters his mentor, Brunetto Latini, among the sodomites. Surprised and touched by this encounter, Dante shows Brunetto great respect and admiration, thus refuting suggestions that the poet Dante placed only his enemies in Hell (15.43-45). The Centaurs are men from the waist up with the lower bodies of horses (Raffa 55) who guard the river Phlegethon. Thousands of centaurs patrol the bank of the river, using bows and arrows to keep damned souls submerged. In classical mythology, Centaurs are best known for their uncouth, violent behaviour. Chiron, leader of the Centaurs, enjoyed a favourable reputation as the sage tutor of both Hercules and Achilles. Pholus and Nessus the Centaurs assigned to escort Dante and Virgil have fully earned their negative reputations, however: Pholus who Virgil describes as full of rage (Dante 12.72) had been killed when a fight broke out during a wedding after he and his fellow centaurs attempted to carry off the bride and several other girls, and Nessus was killed by Hercules with a poison arrow for attempting to rape the heros wife, Deinira, after Hercules entrusted him with carrying her across a river (12.67-69). The penultimate circle as well as the most detailed is Fraud, which Dante describes as a place in Hell made all of stone the colour of crude iron (18.1-2). This circle is divided up into ten smaller pockets: panderers and seducers, flatterers, simonists, sorcerers, barrators, hypocrites, thieves, fraudulent advisers and evil councillors, sowers of discord, and falsifiers. Panderers (pimps) and seducers march eternally in opposite directions, lashed cruelly (18.36) by demons. Just as they used passion and seduction to bend others to their will, they are now themselves driven by hellish demons. Flatterers exploited other people using language, therefore, they are plunged in excrement (18.113), representing the false words they produced. Simonists payed for positions of power within the Catholic Church, and are placed upside-down into holes in the floor, with both soles [of their feet] on fire (9.25). The holes into which their heads are planted resemble baptismal fonts, used in several religious rituals a constant reminder of the corrupt nature of their former positions in the church. Sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets have had their heads twisted toward their haunches (20.13) so that they can not see what is ahead of them. This symbolizes the twisted nature of magic in general specifically, it refers to the use of forbidden means to see into the future. Dante felt particularly unforgiving towards politicians after his exile from Florence, thus, corrupt politicians (barrators) are immersed in a stew of sticky pitch (21.8). Their punishment represents the sticky fingers, corrupt deals, and dark secrets inherent in positions of political power. The hypocrites listlessly walk with lagging steps, in circles, with features tired and defeated (23.59-60), wearing leaden cloaks, representing the falsity behind the appearance of their actions. This falsity literally weighs these souls down and renders any sort of progress impossible. The thieves are pursued and at tacked by lizards and snakes, their bites causing them to undergo various transformations (24-25). Just as they stole in life, their very human identity becomes subject to theft in Hell. Fraudulent advisers and evil councillors are encased within individual pyres. These individuals did not give false advice out of ignorance; rather, Dante refers to rhetoric [used] by talented people for insidious ends (Raffa 99). In life, they caused those whom they advised to do ill without dirtying their own hands now they are punished alone in their fires. The sowers of discord are hacked apart, their bodies dividing as in life they caused division among others. Their wounds are quickly healed, only to have themselves hacked apart again (Dante 28.139-142). Dante considers falsifiers (alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers, and impersonators) a disease upon society, and their corrupting influence is reflected in their diseased bodies and minds (Raffa 99) in the tenth pouch. In the eighth circle, Dante meets a number of notably fraudulent individuals. Venedico Caccianemico, who sold his own sister to the Marchese dEste, is recognized among the pimps in the first pouch, despite his attempts to avoid detection (Dante 18.40-60). In the fifth ditch, the thief Vanni Fucci is burnt to ashes before being reincarnated; Agnel blends together with a reptilian Cianfa; and Buoso exchanges forms with Francesco. Vanni Fucci was a black Guelph from Pistoia, a town not far from rival Florence; Dante says he knew Vanni as a man of blood and anger (Dante 24.129). Agnel is thought to be Agnello Dei Brunelleschi, a man who joined the white Guelphs Dante s party but then switched to the black faction when they came to power. Both he and Cianfa are renowned for their thievery. Buoso stole while serving in public office, then arranged for Francesco de Cavalcanti to take over and steal on his behalf. In the eighth pit, Ulysses and Diomedes are condemned for the deception of the Trojan Horse, luring Achilles into the war effort, and stealing a statue of Athena from Troy (26.58-63). Dante encounters the schismatic prophet Muhammad; the poet views Islam as an off-shoot from Christianity, and similarly condemns Ali, Muhammads son-in-law, for the schism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims (28.22-33). The Malebranche ( Evil claws in Italian) are the devils of the fifth pocket of circle eight who bring to Hell the shades of corrupt political officials and employees. They are agile, smart, and fierce (Raffa 77), they are armed with long hooks, which they use to keep the shades under the surface of the black pitch (Dante 21.55-57). It is likely that the names Dante coined for individual demons ( Bad Dog, Sneering Dragon, Curly Beard, etc.) are based on actual family names of civic leaders in Florence and the surrounding towns. The Giants physically connect circles eight and nine: standing on the floor of circle nine, they tower over the inner ledge of circle eight with the upper halve of their immense bodies. They are archetypal examples of defiant rebels: Nimrod, who attempted to build the Tower of Babel before it was knocked down by God and his people were scattered; Ephialtes, who fought against Jove and the other Olympian gods; and Antaeus, whose relationship with the titans who stormed Mt. Olympus damned him, despite the fact that he was born after his brothers had waged war against the gods. Nimrod has been punished by being forced to speak an incomprehensible language; that is, his language is as strange to others as theirs is to him. Ephialtes, like the rest of the titans who challenged the gods, is immobilized with heavy chains. Antaeus is not given any exceptional punishment, for he is only guilty by association. It is Antaeus who assists Virgil and Dante by lowering them down to the ninth circle , after being enticed by Virgil with the prospect of eternal fame upon Dantes return to the world (31.115-129). The final circle is Treachery, a frozen lake at the centre of Hell, which is divided into four Rounds: Ca?na, Antenora, Ptolomaea, and Judecca. In Ca?na, traitors to their kindred are immersed in ice up to their faces. In Antenora, traitors to political entities are located similarly in the ice. In Ptolomaea, traitors to their guests are punished, lying on their backs in the ice, with only their faces uncovered. In Judecca, the traitors to their lords and benefactors are completely encapsulated in ice, distorted in pain. In the first round of Treachery, Dante encounters Mordred, who attacked his uncle King Arthur and was pierced mortally by Arthurs lance (Dante 32.61-62). In the second round, Count Ugolino pauses from his ceaseless assault upon the head of his rival, Archbishop Ruggieri, to tell Dante how Ruggieri imprisoned and killed him with his children. This story, the longest single episode related by a damned soul in Inferno, serves as Dantes final dramatic representation of mankinds capacity for evil and cruelty. Fra Alberigo, who had his brother killed at a banquet, explains a key conceit of Dantes Inferno: sometimes, a soul falls into Hell before they have actually died. Their earthly bodies are possessed by demons, so what appears to be a walking, living man is actually beyond the point of repentance (33.134-147). Finally, Lucifer the emperor of the despondent kingdom (34.28) lies at the centre of the Inferno. As ugly as he once was beautiful (34.34-36), Lucifer is a wretched contrast with his limited autonomy and mobility. Lucifers three faces (black, yellow, and red) parody the doctrine of the Holy Trinity: three persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) in one divine nature the Divine Power, Highest Wisdom, and Primal Love which also created the gates of Hell, and, by extension, the entire realm of eternal damnation. His flapping wings generate the wind that keeps lake at the centre of Hell frozen, while his three mouths chew on the shade-bodies of the three archtraitors Judas, Brutus, and Cassius the gore mixing with tears gushing out of his three sets of eyes (34.53-57). Dantes Inferno heralded a revolution in Christian theology through its innovative use of poetic justice, historical and contemporary figures, and classical mythology. By combining these disparate elements into a single, cohesive poem, Dante effectively changed the way the Western world imagined the afterlife and Hell in particular. By focusing on the details of the scenes and the identities of those whom the fictional Dante converses with, Inferno illustrates a horrifyingly real and immediate vision of Hell, one which has persisted at least in some part to this day. By focusing on the personal journey of one man through the afterlife, the focus of the narrative is shifted onto the reader, who can easily identify with Dante as the first-person narrator. While the circumstances surrounding the creation of the Divine Comedy Dantes exile from Florence, his fall from political grace, and his eventual death soon after the completion of his magnum opus are rather tragic, they all contribute to Dantes work in a way which colours the text and gives it a personality and passion which is still felt to this day. For seven hundred years, Inferno has elicited strong responses from its readers from fascination to revulsion and everything in between (Raffa 5). Regardless as to the readership, the response to Inferno has been, and will continue to be, anything but apathetic.

Acquiring Personal Freedom Essay -- Narrative Memoir Essays

Acquiring Personal Freedom On a cold January day, a performance broke all barriers. The crowd erupted as the curtains opened to reveal the silhouette of a rock legend. The music initiated moves that seemed to defy explanation. Long, sensuous legs captured the audience as they moved with lightning speed while voluptuous red lips seemed to pour lyrics like a fountain. Some people were in shock about who was performing, while some mystified by how the artist seemed to control the stage. The singer was creating questions with every gyration during the unstoppable performance. No one, including me, could believe what was happening on stage. How someone’s attitude can change over a small amount of time. When I entered high school, I was very self-conscience about what I did and how I acted. This mental approach really dampened my creative side and it kept me from doing a lot of things I find fun now. By the middle of my sophomore year, I was ready to do something that would stir things up a bit and get the big wheels turning. Winterfest was only a week away and I, along with the rest of the school, was ready for a little break from the monotonous everyday routine. There was a competition scheduled for Thursday which was between different â€Å"air guitar† performances. I had been to a concert earlier in the year and saw Tina Turner perform one of her most famous songs, â€Å"Proud Mary.† To my mind, the idea of dressing like Tina Turner and performing on stage was absurd. I thought about it for a few days and decided that this could be something that might break the self-conscience chains holding my spirit down. I knew it would be hard and some people might think it a little overboard, but there was only one way to fin... ...ual attire rather than the leather mini-skirt. A glint in my eye seemed to light the way out of the dim-lit bathroom. Today, when confronted with a challenge, I just look back at this experience to help me through it. After I performed in front of the school in a skirt and high heels, some things seem minuscule. By overpowering my self-conscience feelings, I am now able to do things without caring how people might view me. I have noticed that my newly gained social confidence helps me through everything from interviews to relationships. On a cold January day, a performance broke all barriers blocking me from my goals. I did something I had never done and discovered that what others thought would not control my life any longer. On that day, my spirit escaped the bounding chains and set my big wheels in motion with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

American Beauty :: Film Movies American Beauty Essays

American Beauty American Beauty tells the story of one man's search for happiness. The film introduces the audience to Lester Burnham, an ordinary- looking married man and father in his forties. Lester is in a loveless marriage. Lester's wife, Carolyn, is so wrapped-up in her real estate career that Lester often claims that Carolyn doesn't even acknowledge him. Furthermore, Lester's daughter, Jane, is completely distant, often claiming how "pathetic" she thinks her father is. Moreover, Lester has dedicated fourteen years to his occupation, and suddenly, he is in danger of losing his job due to downsizing. All of these factors dramatically effect Lester and culminate into feelings of desperation and vulnerability for him. Lester is therefore in search of an escape and a rebirth. He is seeking the slightest possibility of happiness. Throughout the story Lester is consistently reminiscing on his past; wishing he could have it back. In the beginning portions of the story, Lester, as the narrator, state s that "it is never too late to regain your past." The catalyst to this frame of thought is Jane's friend, Angela. Lester feels excited by the thought that a teen-age girl thinks he is "hot." Lester overhears Angela state that she would have sex with him if Lester would start working-out and build-up his body. This drives Lester to change himself completely. Lester, in desperate search of happiness , finds an escape in Angela. Much like a hormone-driven teenage boy, Lester thinks that if he can "score" with a "bombshell" like Angela, then he will be reborn. Lester's mission for happiness and escape is further perpetuated by his eighteen year old neighbor, Ricky. In Ricky, Lester sees his model for rebirth. Lester calls Ricky his "hero" and is in awe of Ricky's confidence. Lester, then begins a transformation back to his stereotypical understanding of what a teenager is. Lester begins to work-out, smoke pot, and drink beer. Much like a teen, he rebels against responsibility by quitti ng his job and; therefore, bypassing his duties as a provider to his daughter and wife. Furthermore, Lester spontaneously, trades in his Mercedes automobile for a 1970's cherry-red Trans Am sports car. In addition, Lester pursues a job with the least amount of responsibility. He finds that job in a fast food restaurant. All of these actions are deemed necessary to Lester because this is the way to escape and thus achieving happiness.

Introduction to Nanotechnology

1. 0INTRODUCTION The objective of this study is to research and discover the development, characterization, and function of nanotechnologies in the globe in the present and future. In this study, we will defined the basis of nanotechnologies in wide spectrum such as the advantages, disadvantages, background, history, future investigation, society, ethic, environment and many more. Furthermore, our group would also like to emphasize on the significant cause and effect of nanotechnologies toward the advancement of human civilization in the recent time and toward the future.In addition, create awareness and wide perspective view toward engaging main issues such as moral ethical in our society. 2. 0BACKGROUND Nanotechnologies have been use in wide field medical, astronomy, environment, industrial and many more. From the way we communicate, to the methods used to diagnose and treat our illnesses, to the speed with which our computers process data, this new technology promises to enhance o ur lives in almost limitless ways. Therefore we would like to discuss some of the main issue and further permeate in the breakthrough of nanotechnology. What is a nanotechnology? In the scale of Nano in the prefix of nomenclature is extremely small, which you cannot see through your naked eyes. Microscope will be needed in order to observe object more clearly. Nanotechnology currently is being used to improve existing products and processes, for an example, by strengthening the material used in golf clubs and bicycle frames, creating stain and water repellant clothing and producing wear-resistant paints and coatings. One developing area in nanotechnology is that of self-assembly, whereby materials will be able to grow themselves.One of my theories that I would like to discuss is about the space innovation. Such innovations will not only increase productivity, but also will create new materials in a process known as â€Å"dynamic self-assembly. † The universe is so big that it blows up our mind to try to image how big it is. Human can somehow find a way to explore the universe by the advancement of nanotechnologies. For an example to shoot a robot to a star then it will eventually manufacturing itself and produce much bigger colonies. After a rapid production in certain stages complete civilization.They will often shoot more of them self to other star and repeating process again and again. In the longer term, however, nanotechnology is likely to result in completely revolutionary toward the society. Promising uses of nano scale particles may include the cleanup of heavily polluted sites, which we will have to consider as well. Nanotechnology is more effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases, lighting that is twice as energy efficient as what is currently available, cleaner manufacturing techniques and much smaller and more powerful computers.Research indicates that nanotechnology even may help create an alternative fuel to power our automobiles. In the sum of all our research and study I would appropriately consider nanotechnologies of in fact the greatest tool toward humanity next stages of revolution. †¢What is the history of nanotechnology? The term â€Å"nanotechnology† was coined in 1974 by Norio Taniguchi (1912-1999) at the University of Tokyo. It includes a number of technologies that deal with the miniaturization of existing technology down to the scale of a nanometer (one-billionth of a meter) in size, about the size of molecules and atoms.Potential effects of nanotechnology include microcomputers capable of storing trillion of bytes of information in the size of a sugar cube; portable fluids containing nanobots that are programmed to destroy cancer cells; and airborne nanobots that are programmed to rebuild the thinning ozone layer and many more. Scientist today have claimed that nanotechnology was in fact humanity greatest advantages as well as humanity greatest treat if without appropria te and further observe in its major consequences in life and either we will be consume by our own failure toward the disaster that it can cause to us. Facts about nanotechnologies? As we all know our body consist billion of cell and it is systematically and orderly organized that congregate it specific function. Inside our cell it comprises of billion of atom which consists of major element such as carbon, oxygen and hydrogen that appropriately linked together will itself and form specific function and feature. The advancement of nanotechnologies can systematically combine fuse billion compound, atom and element to distinctively form a new cell which about our concern is against the law of nature and moral ethic.This is due to the fact that we can create a life into the world is forbidden and prohibited in many societies around the world. In some fact I would like to discuss, about the discovery about science. Scientist today has claim that we no longer live in one universe but mill ions of verse which coexist in the ocean of verses and there’s may be have some planetary civilization that we wouldn’t might known.There are many extraordinary and fascinating fact about science including bend through light forming an invisible matter; dimensional world that coexist; in certain fact which claimed that the world we’re living is like a matrix which we are just like a hologram that wouldn’t exist at all and in fact there are mysterious forces keep pulling us for what we believing; small teleport machine which can teleport in atom size particle and maybe a human in few decade to come. There is many potential and credibility toward the advancement of nanotechnologies development.In some fact that I would like to consider is about human enhancement. Nanotechnologies in human enhancement have use to improve human ability such as physical and mental. In some fact that this method have been use in some development country toward the future born g eneration to trigger the potential of human ability which exited beyond try fold. We will further penetrate and discuss more deeply toward this issue in my relevant discussion. Would human enhancement technologies hinder moral development?Many believe that â€Å"soul-making† is impossible without struggle (Hick, 1966), and achievements ring hollow without sacrifice or effort (President’s Council on Bioethics, 2003); so if technology makes life and competitions easier, then we may lose opportunities to feed and grow our moral character. Nanotechnology was in fact use toward some method to enhance human ability. Nowadays humanity can create powerful drug which enhance human performance. We can discover in the sport area which drug have been used such as steroid to increase athletic performance.Beyond the future we might been able to create indeed more powerful drug which provide human massive of strength. Beyond the future, we might be able to prolog our life for 10 year , 100years or maybe 1000 years. As we know that brain is the primary source which control our aging as certain hormone are secreted. The method behind this is nanotechnology is so small that it can flow through our vein and it can be transfer to the human brain to alter our brain chemical processes which control our aging. †¢What is the futurist predict about the future in nanotechnologies?In the future, as technology becomes more integrated with our bodies, we can expect neural implants of the kind we mentioned above that effectively puts computer chips into our brains or allows devices to be plugged directly into our heads, giving us always on access to information as well as unprecedented information processing powers. New and future virtual reality programs are able to much better simulate activities, for instance, to train law enforcement officers and soldiers in dangerous situations so that they can respond better to similar events in the real world.The advancement of nan otechnologies have enhance human beyond it limitation. One of the main concerns causes the earth to be populated. Also in one of the possibilities is the exploitation and abuse toward this technology. People such as a villain, criminal and hacker will approximately use this for the purpose such as to manipulate people. Other than that what I want to discuses is one of the greatest treat toward the society.One of the biggest concerns toward our society is to have greater awareness about this matter or else humanity which living peacefully today can be destroyed by our own creation. 3. 0CONCLUSION As is the case with most emerging areas of risk, nanotechnology challenges us with many unknowns. These challenges are further complicated by the fact that few risk related prediction have been made scientifically confirmed. If they are not currently exploring its potential, they are likely to do so in the very near future.Because insurers play such a critical part in enabling new and benefi cial technologies, it is crucial in development in many sectors such as manufacturers, the government, scientists and regulatory agencies to identify and quantify nanotechnology's risks. Public response to this new technology, as well as the politician, elitist, and scientist response will afford upon how much accurate information is available. Therefore we as a responsible person must unite and aware toward this greatest issue which effect globally, in order to construct better future for generation to come.