Fat Substitute Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fat Substitute - Essay Example The U.S. Food and Drug Administration affirms the safety of using fat-substitutes, however, the warning on fat-modified food by P & G stating "Olestra may cause abdominal cramping and loose stools† raises health concerns over the use of such foods (Glausiusz, 2001). Keeping the obesity statistics in view, fat modified foods are less likely to impact human’s health than does the fattening food itself. Obesity is being identified as a cause of millions of deaths around the globe. Fat-modified food, on the other hand, is not considered to have any known side-effects causing major health issues. The abdominal cramps and upsets are found to be miscalculated and wrongly hypothesized when study of University of North Carolina was conducted over a span of 3200 samples. Akoh, on the other hand, produced low-fat diets that dissolve the fatty acid chains and are said to decrease cholesterol levels significantly. Hence, the different fat substitutes are functioning in various different ways that are not harming health of individuals but rather providing ways to improve their well-being and dietary inconsistencies. The claim on the viability and negative outcomes of fat-modified foods seem to be vague. None of the studies provide a significant and visible deterioration of health. However, in the short run, much of the research conducted shows positive impact on human health, reduced cholesterol levels and maintenance of people’s food cravings with the tastes that they ever admired. Hence, fat-modified food provides a substitute to the unhealthy and high-fat diets causing physical, mental, medical, emotional and social disruptions in the wider

Oliver Ellsworth Essay Example for Free

Oliver Ellsworth Essay I, Oliver Ellsworth representative of Connecticut, propose that the basis of representation in the legislative branch remain by state as under the Articles of Confederation. I support the system of government that maintains the principle of local rule and I understand central government as the body that will strengthen the rights of property and the harmony of the republic, therefore I claim â€Å"we† are partly national and partly federal. Under this I shall introduce the resolution with my ally Roger Sherman along with William S. Johnson, The Great Compromise, breaking the deadlock between the large and small states over representative, allowing United States senators to be elected by state legislature. I do agree with Randolph’s notion of a three-fold division, but move to strike the phrase, â€Å"national government† into â€Å"government of the United States. I also advise that the House of Representatives be chosen or elected every year as Roger Sherman will also come to agree with. Favoring the three-fifths compromise on the enumeration of slaves, I do although; oppose the abolition of the foreign slave trade. Slaveholders from Maryland and Virginia can afford to oppose the slave trade, because slaves multiply accordingly fast in Virginia and Maryland, it is cheaper to raise then import them, whilst in the sickly rice swamps [of South Carolina and Georgia] foreign supplies are necessary. Ending the slave trade can also benefit slave-owners in the Chesapeake region, since the demand for slaves in other parts of the South will increase the price of slaves once the external supply is cut off. Then, shall I concur that in order for individual rights to be protected â€Å"we† must help shape America with an independent judiciary and as system of federalism. -Oliver Ellsworth, Connecticut Representative.

British Telecom Essay -- GCSE Business Management Studies Essays

British Telecom My aim in this investigation is to discuss whether or not British Telecom has successfully grown and developed since its Privatisation to compete on a world scale. In addition to this has it any long-term strategies for future growth and development of products. According to the 1996 Budget Red Book, more than 50 major businesses have been privatised since 1979 and the state owned sector of industry has been reduced be two-thirds. British Telecom was privatised in 1984, with no major restructuring. This meant that a public monopoly was transferred directly into private hands, this natural monopoly benefited from having economies of scale. Of course this move had it's advantages but there were also disadvantages. These were mainly among the staff who now had much less of an 'easy time' in work. Not only this but as a result of privatisation the company obviously became cost effective and jobs were lost in order to reduce costs. 'Privatisation is seen as a way of reasserting consumer sovereignty, raising standards of provision, of increasing efficiency and of reducing costs.' There are many reasons to why the Government chose a course of denationalisation. State monopolies create inefficiency, are poor in innovation and restrict consumer choice; instead of the consumer being sovereign, power has been transferred to the state and its bureaucracies. Before privatisation all nationalised companies had to have their expenditure passed by the Treasury, because of this they found it difficult to raise money. During these years almost 250,000 people who wanted a new phone line couldn't get them and BT didn't know what to charge the people who did have them. Privatisation gave companies t... ...nge' from Mercury and have seen their share price rise from an initial 130p back in 1984 to an incredible 1351p now. BT, while being a natural monopoly in Britain realise that their position is being challenged. Although their share of the land-line market has still nearly been all encompassing they have seen that the market as a whole decrease as almost half of the UK population have gone out and bought mobile phones. In answer to this threat BT have taken up a strong position in the mobile phone market themselves, competing alongside the big guns such as Orange and Vodafone. Through several acquisitions they have established themselves as a leading company with 7 million UK customers and very sound plans for the future, which they see as being a unification of the latest mobile phone technology along with the immense power the Internet has to offer.

A Man without Ambition is Like a Woman without Beauty

All the process of human development is led by the man, to my mind. Maybe I would be blamed by some kind of feminists, but I’m totally convinced of this statement. The most of great explores, inventions, technologies were created by men. As a consequence , I can agree with the expression of Frank Harris, that â€Å"a man without ambition is like a woman without beauty†.Considering the man as the leading power of history, I can confess that they couldn’t go forward without ambition. Only good sense of ambition can make a man to be an outstanding person.To reach the top of development and flourishing of society, we should carefully divide the roles of   the man and the woman. Of course it doesn’t mean that everybody must be similar. Jjust I think it will be better if a man remains a man and a woman remains a woman. I’m persuaded of the statement that a man is to have ambitions.For example, being young he should try to choose some goal of his life an d improve himself to reach it as soon as possible. The main role in succeeding belongs to his healthy ambition.If a man is ambitious enough, nothing will stop him. A woman, in her turn, must be the well-spring of a men’s inspiration. That’s why she should be beautiful, thoughtful, smart and kind. If it is such an order in our life, men will win the world.Applying to the history, we can remember the love-story of Napoleon and his wife Josephine. Napoleon became a legend because of his great ambition. He was so determined, so strong person that stayed in memory forever.Josephine was unusual person, too. She was not only a really beautiful woman, but she was wise and clever enough to share all Napoleon’s ideas and aims. I think it was also her triumphs which her husband had come to. It’s obvious, that his astonishing ambitions were inspired by Josephine too.To have an ambition means that one has a sense of self-reliance, strong desire to succeed, to do his b est and to get his dream, to make something remarkable.What will happen to a man without ambition? To my point of view, he won’t succeed in his life at all. Such a man will just join a big number of average people and at least disappear without leaving anything special. Unfortunately, there are a lot of such men. They never strive for any goal, because of the leak of ambition.Summarizing the whole ideas, I can say that a man should bring his ambition up. This feature of character is a particularly the men’s one.   A man without ambition can’t be admired and respected, can’t become a special person and can’t move the world’s history forward.All the greatest men of the centuries were ambitious persons. So if a man wants to be one of them, he should choose the most complicated way and follow it without hesitating.   

Multinational companies Essay

To a lesser extent, multinational corporation such as Wal-Mart are harmful to the global economy. Multinational corporation is a corporation or company that is registered in more than one country or that has operations in two or more countries. Global economy generally refers to the economy, which is based on economies of all of the world’s countries’ national economies. Also, global economy can be seen as the economy of global society and national economics. Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. Wal-Mart is an example of globalization due to the fact that Wal-Mart is present in multiple countries and it unites foreign countries with jobs. Sam Walton founder of Wal-Mart was born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Mr. Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962 at the age of 44 in Rogers, Arkansas. Sam Walton died in 1992. Mr. Walton left many objects and knowledge behind; one thing was this quote â€Å"If we work together, we’ll lower the cost of living for everyone, we’ll give the world an opportunity to see what it’s like to save and have a better life. † In short this meant Wal-Mart was going to build better customer service for its shoppers and they were going to improve the communities that it was present in. The real question is, did Wal-Mart actually do what they said they would do? Wal-Mart may have contributed thousands of jobs. They have even claimed that they supported the communities, and of course kept prices low so you could save. However to a lesser extent multinational corporation such as Wal-Mart is harmful to the global economy because Wal-Mart creates contaminations and destroys many communities. Wal-Marts main goal is to try to make as much money as possible. For example the company has been caught cutting corners. Also they have been irrational to their employees. Multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart are irrational to the employees because many managers or corporate staffs are racist or sexist to their employees. Wal-Mart does not have the appropriate benefits that an employee needs. They also have immoral pay with horrible hours to go with it. Wal-Mart has been racist to their employees, by insulting them verbally with stereotypical traits that fall from their heritage. For example they have used racial wording to black people. They have also been sexist to woman by putting them down and not giving them the proper rewards they so desperately work for. A example of this is a woman denied a mangers position because she was a woman. The employees’ benefits are immoral. Most employees have to seek government funding to support their families. Most employees get there minimum wage of there province or territory which is not so bad, however the manager gives the full time and part time employees hardly any hours, to try to keep the store’s budget low. Multinational corporations such, as Wal-Mart, destroy part of the environment and community that they are present in. The Wal-Mart franchise causes small businesses to shut down. Their own parking lots are not safe and the stores pollute public rivers and streams. With their low prices and low operating cost small business cannot compete with those prices. Because of this those businesses cannot make money and fall apart. They have sold their store at a lower price then intended because when a Wal-Mart shows up relaters know buildings will become vacant and almost un able to sell unless at a lower price. Wal-Mart stores pollute rivers and streams by leveeing out pesticides in their parking lots. From that action when weather changings it can cause the harmful chemicals to drip of the product and find it way in to a cities drinking water. In the stores they have cameras to catch what ever is going on, however outside they due not. From this poor choice many crimes have been committed out side the stores own doors such as rape and murder. Also they don’t have someone monitoring the cameras so if something happens, another person would have to help or report it. Multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart cut corners. Wal-Mart has many sweatshops around the world with inhuman working conditions. Those employees have absolutely no benefits and Wal-Mart use child labor. In the factories, they are mostly located in third world areas, the factories have no air conditioning, unreasonable hours of work with less then a dollar a day for pay. Also in some factories you are almost forced to live with your coworkers in a tiny room with hardly anything to save on money. The pay is even worse for kids because to Wal-Mart they are more expendable. To a lesser extent Multinational Corporation such as Wal-Mart is harmful to the global economy. Due to the fact that Wal-Mart is racist and sexist to their employees, it does not have the appropriate benefits for their employees. They pollute rivers and streams and destroy small business in a community. Wal-Mart supports child labor and sweatshops. To conclude this position paper multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart are harmful to the global economy because they their true colors of who they are and that all they want to do at the end of the day is make money.

Effect of Labour Turnover on Organisational Productivity Essay Example

Effect of Labour Turnover on Organisational Productivity Essay Example Effect of Labour Turnover on Organisational Productivity Essay Effect of Labour Turnover on Organisational Productivity Essay EFFECT OF LABOUR TURNOVER ON ORGANISATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY 1 INTRODUCTION The practice of human resource management (HRM) is concerned with all aspects of how people are employed and managed in an organisation (Armstrong, 2009). The strategic business function organ of the organisation sees to the inflow and outflow of employees in the organisaiton. The HRM function of directing the organisation system to ensure that human talents are used effectively to accomplish desired goals is very crucial, thereby not left ignored. Organisations zealous about growth would always intend to develop their respective current human capital and other potentials. But in this world of frequent upgrade and innovations in the business environment and the technological ways of doing things, organisations would commit themselves towards bringing their workforce to the task requiring intellectual and manual growth and development. The idea behind this would be to intensify the additional productivity generated by extra employee hired. All these put together would amount to organisations being cost conscious in making sure that employees with high human capital do not leave their organisations. But in order to be realistic, organizations cannot be everything to all people. No matter how great your company is, it is likely that some of your employees will eventually move on to other opportunities. That may be costing you a lot and affecting your well enjoyed stabilized organization productivity. Labour or worker or employee or staff turnover has it is often referred to, is the number of permanent employees leaving the company within the reported period versus the number of actual Active Permanent employees on the last day of the previous reported period (physical headcount). According to Business Dictionary (2011), the ratio of the number of employees that leave a company through attrition, dismissal, or resignation during a period to the number of employees on payroll during the same period makes up what is referred to as Labour Turnover. An employee leaving the organization either voluntarily or involuntarily is certain to have positive or negative effects on the organization. This as well would reflect on the productivity of the organization concerned. In other words, high turnover can be harmful to a companys productivity if skilled workers are often leaving and the worker population contains a high percentage of novice workers (Open Forum, 2011). This is especially the case if those leaving are either key to its success and continuity or do so because they think you have treated them unfairly, which could result in tribunal claims (Business Link, 2011). This means maintaining the satisfactory level of productivity might be threatened. Therefore curbing turnover to its optimal level for the organization is a major challenge. However, the research on the consequences of labour turnover is inconclusive, and provides little guidance on how much turnover, if any, is optimal (Siebert, 2006). It hereby leaves us wondering what optimal number is needed for the organization’s best productivity. As turnover even poses to be a major and widely studied organizational behavior phenomenon, it fosters why researchers are becoming interested in it more. It is a phenomenon that not just affects a company, occupation or industry, but an issue tackled by organizations all around the world. This is because at one employee’s voluntary or involuntary time they would have to leave the organization. (Abelson 1987; Campion 1991). 1. 2 STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM Labour turnover as noticed, if not looked into, could eat deep into the profitability and threaten the sustainability of any organization. As a global challenge as well mandatory confrontation of the technological and environmental diversities which organizations have to face, many brows are raised on its persistence. The Nigerian insurance sector has not been left out as labour turnover has been disrupting their services and relatively their organization productivity. The Human Resource Managers and the executives of these organizations have always been on their toes to proffer solutions to labour turnover. The consciousness of hiring, monetary and time cost recorded when highly frequent labour turnover occurs; thereby affecting productivity which makes this a problem that begs for answer. Organizations lose not just financially, or in productivity when they have an employee with huge human capital permanently departing from their organization. This could have been due to avoidable or unavoidable reasons. The technological and business demands of electronic dealings have also affected ways in which operations are carried out in the Nigerian insurance industry. Some new fresh ideas have been witnessed with the opportunities for new transfers and promotions, but those still have to be compared to the contributions or reductions which are now available. This study would look into how the effects of the voluntary or involuntary labour turnover have impacted on the productivity level of the organization observed. As well to what extent, the organizations need to plan in anticipating an optimal level of labour human capital that can yield the needed productivity in the Nigerian insurance sector which is becoming labour shortages. 1. 3 LITERATURE REVIEW Employee turnover has benefits and costs for organizational performance (Ableson Baysinger, 1984). But a study is not just being carried out to have the positive sides analysed. The human resource management literature has traditionally viewed labour turnover in a negative light. Human capital theories of labour turnover point to loss of firm-specific human and social capital (Dess and Shaw 2001). This negative view is supported by the results of several empirical studies. For example, Huselid (1995) finds high labour turnover negatively linked to labour productivity in his sample of 968 U. S. firms. Also Baron, Hannan and Burton (2001) find turnover to be â€Å"disruptive† in their study of hi-tech start-ups in California in the early 1990s. Many studies have concentrated on quits specifically, and have found a negative impact of quits on firm performance, as in Batt (2002) for U. S. call centres, McElroy, Morrow and Rude (2001) for branches of a U. S. financial company, etc. But some have since been reporting the optimistic side of the coin. Job matching theory (Jovanovic, 1979) predicts that workers less suitable for the organisation would result into leaving it earlier; hence, there is room for labour turnover to improve performance (productivity) by clearing the workforce of poor worker-job matches. In the same vain, McEvoy and Cascio’s (1987) meta-analysis of twenty-four reported correlations between performance and turnover concluded that ‘good performers are †¦ less likely to leave †¦ than are poor performers’, which supports the main prediction of job matching theory (p. 758). Williams and Livingstone’s (1994) further meta-study of turnover supported McEvoy and Cascio (1987) and proved an even stronger negative relationship between worker individual performance and voluntary turnover when pay is contingent on the organisation’s productivity. Ilmakunnas, Maliranta and Vainiomaki (2005) report a positive impact of turnover on total factor productivity growth in Finnish manufacturing. However, the Nigerian insurance sector may be faced with such ups and downs as regards to impact of labour turnover on organisation productivity. But relatively unlike most of the research on the topic, Bingley and Westergaard-Nielsen (2004) look at hires and quits simultaneously in their study of personnel policies and profit in a panel of 7,118 Danish organisations over 1992-95. In contrast to the popular result, they conclude that quits increase profit and hires reduce it. They argue, consistently with job matching theory that the least productive workers are more likely to leave. The finding on hires is interpreted in terms of turnover costs, since hires incur recruitment and training costs. Thus, reconciliation of job matching and human capital theories of labour turnover is assisted by distinguishing between quits and hires a path we will follow. Those were observed by W. Stanley Siebert, Nikolay Zubanov, Arnaud Chevalier, Tarja Viitanen (2006). The case of a firm in the Nigerian insurance sector on the impact of labour turnover on productivity may take along the practice of the HRM. Guthrie (2001) found a dichotomy in the impact of turnover on productivity depending on the type of human resource management (HRM) system in the organisation. Glebbeek and Bax (2004) using data from offices of a temporary employment agency in the Netherlands over 1995-98 indeed find an inverted U-shape relationship between worker turnover and productivity. The same relationship between labour turnover and productivity is reported in a study of 2,435 workplaces in Australia over 1995-97, by Harris, Tang and Tseng (2002). However, Shaw, Gupta and Delery (2005: 61) report the opposite result for U. S. and Canadian concrete plants and U. S. transportation companies, where they conclude that the relationship between voluntary turnover and workforce performance is ‘negative but becomes attenuated as turnover increases’. This particular study, however, would look into ups and downs earlier known to rock an organisation’s productivity if it has employee turnover. Particularly, an organisation in the Nigerian insurance industry being studied if the earlier affirmations can be upheld or restructured to show our society’s diversified business environment. 1. 4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this study is to achieve the following: i. To affirm the relationship between labour turnover and organization productivity. ii. To investigate the impact of business diversities requirement like technology amounting to organization productivity on labour turnover. iii. To investigate how organisations can reduce unfavourable labour turnover on productivity. iv. To examine labour turnover impact on MBLA 1. 5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following are the research questions developed for the course of this study. They are: i. Does Nigerian insurance sector witness labour turnover? ii. Is labour turnover a challenge to organization? iii. Is organization productivity disrupted when organization labour turnover takes place? iv. Does an organization have any positive productivity advantage when labour turnover occurs? v. Are there measures of curbing labour turnover when organization sees it could halt productivity? 1. 6 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES The hypotheses to be used in validating this study project are stated as follows: H0: There is no significant relationship between the labour turnover and organization productivity of MBLA. H0: There is a significant relationship between labour turnover and organization productivity of MBLA. H0: There is no impact on labour turnover and organization productivity of MBLA H0 : There is an impact of labour turnover on organization productivity of MBLA. . 7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The significance of this study is tailored towards the evaluation, analysis and addition to the current existing body of knowledge. It would assist the human resource managers in capturing adverse labour turnover effect which could halt their organization’s effectiveness and efficiency. Knowing the costly effect of an unchecked labour turnover on the organization productivity, t his study would help HR managers on other logical steps to militate against employee turnover. The recommendations can be used in helping organizations not just in the Nigerian insurance sector but as well other sectors of the economy. By using this study different organization can reduce the rate of employee turnover and increase their productivity and profitability. 1. 8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1. 8. 2 Population of the Study Due to the uneasy access to the entire population of this study, a sample would be drawn up. According to Levin and Rubin, (2002), a population is the whole collection of all elements that a research is studying and from which generalization will be drawn from. The study would make use of a branch of MBLA and a generalisation would be utilized. However the organisation has about 500 staff with about 15 of them taking charge of the executive functions of the company. Also the administrative functions are run by over 60 of their staff. Besides, the other population are either their marketers or ther junior workers. 1. 8. 3 Sampling and Sampling Techniques With application of a stratified sampling, the employees of the organisation would be unbiasedly picked. This would be enforced among both the senior and junior employees of the organisation. All these effort is to have a reasonable conclusion from which generalisation would be ascertained. 1. 8. 4 Strategy for the Collection of Data The primary data generation would be through dissemination of quesstionaires and some other additional interview briefs. The other earlier publications would be added to have a concrete information. These would be used in getting the necessary source of data in generating findings on the impact of labour turnover on organisation productivity in the Nigerian insurance sector. 1. 8. 5 Data Presentation The new advancement in statistical analysis, SPSS, would be utilized in presenting the data generated. The mean, median, mode, frequency and percentiles would be explored for a clearer data presentation 1. 8. 6 Test of the Conjuctural Statement With the use correlation, regression and t-test, the hypotheses of the study would be put to test. 1. 9 SYNOPSIS The outline of this five-study would wear the face of having the first chapter introducing the topic and its subject matter of labour turnover and its corresponding effect on organisation productivity. Also, the second chapter of the study would contain the prior knowledge and study done on this topic. From this some theories and standings of previous scholars would be incorporated into this particular present topic. Besides that, the third chapter would have the methodology to apply in carrying out this study. The instruments and sources of data that would be applied at MBLA in assuring that the right information are gathered within the confinement of the ethical stands, in other to have a good research work in the study. However, the fourth study would look at the data presented and analysed in the format that is generally acceptable. This would enhance the genuineness of this study. Also, the fifth chapter would see to the conclusion and recommendation of the project. This is where the findings and results of the study would be concluded and any recommendation suitable for MBLA and other organisations of its kind would be issued for their discretional adoption. REFERENCES businesslink. gov. uk/bdotg/action/detail? itemId=1074411249=RESOURCES penforum. com/idea-hub/topics/money/article/the-high-cost-of-employee-turnover-scott-allen Batt, R. 2002. Managing customer services: Human resource practices, quit rates, and sales growth. Academy of Management Journal, 45: 587–597. Batt, R. , Colvin, A. J. S. , Keefe, J. 2002. Employee voice, human resource practices, and quit rates: Evidence from the telecommunications industry. Industrial and Labour Relations Review, 55: 573–594. Becker, B. , Huselid, M. 2006. Strategic human resource management: Where do we go from here? Journal of Management, 32: 898–925. GHAURI, P. GRONHAUG, K. (2002),†Research Methods in Business Studies: a practical guide, London, Prentice Hall† GREEN, F. , FELSTEAD, A. , MAYHEW, K. PACK, A. (2000),†The impact of training on labour mobility: individual and firm-level evidence from Britain† British Journal of Industrial Relations, 38, 26 1-275. James K. Harter, Frank L. Schmidt, Theodore L. Hayes (2002),† Business-Unit- Level Relationship between Employee Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Business Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis†, Vol. 7, No. 2, 268–279 Judge, T. A. , Thoresen, C. J. , Bono, J. E. , Patton, G. K. (2001),† The job satisfaction–job performance relationship: A qualitative and quantitative review†, Psychological Bulletin, 127,376–407. K. Morrell, J. Loan-Clarke and A. Wilkinson (2001), â€Å"Unweaving Leaving: The Use of Models in the Management of Employee Turnover†, Business School Research Series, Loughborough University. M. Armstrong (2006), Human Resource Management, Kogan Page, United Kingdom

Fake US Soldiers Robbing Women Online

Fake US Soldiers Robbing Women Online The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) warns that women in the U.S. and around the world are being scammed by persons pretending to be U.S. soldiers deployed in war zones. CID warns that these fake soldiers promises of love and devotion only  Ã¢â‚¬Å"end up breaking hearts and bank accounts.† According to CID, the pretend heroes sink so low as to be using the names, ranks and even pictures of actual U.S. soldiers - some killed in action to target women 30 to 55 years old on social media and dating web sites. We cannot stress enough that people need to stop sending money to persons they meet on the internet and claim to be in the U.S. military, said Chris Grey, Army CIDs spokesman in a press release. It is heartbreaking to hear these stories over and again of people who have sent thousands of dollars to someone they have never met and sometimes have never even spoken to on the phone. According to Grey, the scams typically employ clever, romantically worded requests for money to help the fake â€Å"deployed soldier† buy special laptop computers, international telephones, military leave applications, and transportation fees needed to keep the budding â€Å"relationship† going. Weve even seen instances where the perpetrators are asking the victims for money to purchase leave papers from the Army, help pay for medical expenses from combat wounds received, or help pay for their flight home so they can leave the war zone, said Grey. Victims who get worried and ask to actually talk to the fake soldiers are typically told the Army does not allow them to make phone calls or that they need money to help keep the Army internet running. Another common thread, according to Grey is for the soldier to claim to be a widower raising a child or children on their own. These perpetrators, often from other countries, most notably from West African countries are good at what they do and quite familiar with American culture, but the claims about the Army and its regulations are ridiculous, said Grey. Report Them All forms of financial fraud, which is exactly what these fake, love for money soldiers are trying to pull, can now be reported through the StopFraud.gov website Military Leave is Always Earned, Never Bought No branch of the U.S. military charges service members money for permission to take leave. Leave is earned, not purchased. As the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command recommends: Never Send Money - Be extremely suspicious if you are asked for money for transportation costs, communication fees or marriage processing and medical fees. In addition, be very suspicious if the person you are corresponding with wants you to mail anything to an African country. Where to Turn Them In If you suspect or know you have been victimized by a fake soldier scammer, you can report the incident to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Out of a concern for the safety and privacy of their servicemembers, all branches of the U.S. military have removed their web-based, online personnel locator services. Scams Targeting Veterans, Military Personnel, and Retirees In another despicable outgrowth of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the IRS warns of email phishing scams targeting veterans, current military personnel, and retirees receiving VA disability benefits. The emails falsely claim that individuals currently receiving disability compensation from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) may be eligible to obtain additional funds from the IRS. The emails come from a bogus outfit calling itself Defense Finance and Accounting Services, and while the email address ends with a â€Å".mil† domain, it is not a legitimate government military email address. The email promises the victims that by sending copies of their VA award letters, income tax returns, 1099-Rs, Retiree Account Statements, and DD-214s to a colonel at an address in Florida, they can receive additional money from the IRS. Of course, as the IRS points out, they cannot and will not. In fact, by giving the non-existent â€Å"colonel† the personal financial information shown on the requested documents, the victims could face financial disaster. To avoid falling victim to this or similar scams, the IRS reminders taxpayers to watch out for the following: Fictitious claims for refunds or rebates based on false statements of entitlement to tax creditsEmails from unfamiliar senders asking for personal informationInternet solicitation that direct individuals to toll-free numbers and then solicit Social Security numbers or other personal information The IRS never contacts taxpayers by email. The IRS initiates most contacts with taxpayers through regular mail delivered by the United States Postal Service.

The Most Popular Argumentative Essay Topics of 2017 The List

The Most Popular Argumentative Essay Topics of 2017 The List Top-50 topics you would love to work on PLUS useful tips on writing a flawless argumentative essay. As you may already know, an argumentative essay is a writing genre where the student establishes a position on a given or chosen topic and then uses evidence to persuade the audience to see things from his/her point of view. To write a great argumentative essay, the student first has to investigate several sides of the argument, which allows making an educated stance. Then, one has to collect evidence, including facts, statistics, and claims from experts in the topic’s field. Generally, the primary objective of writing an argumentative essay is to learn how to convince people to change their mind about things which many of them are pretty sure about. What Substitutes a Good Argumentative Essay Topic? When you are asked to choose a good topic for your argument, start with something you are familiar with. Even if you hire a professional writer to help you with this assignment, speaking about something you know will be a much better sounding presentation of your arguments. Choosing an emotional topic is also a good idea. Appealing to the readers’ emotions connects them to the side of the writer and draws them in. One of the best ways to change anyone’s mind is with an emotional investment. Pick Your Favorite Topic or Get Your Essay Done For You We offer a great list of topics for writing your argumentative essay. Did you also know you can get your essay written for a small fee? We employ hundreds of professional writers who specialize in essay, dissertation and research writing. They have written hundreds of academic papers for students worldwide. Therefore, we know how to write a perfect custom-written argumentative essay that will meet your requirements and help get you the grade you want. Contact us now to request professional essay writing help! If you want to write the paper on your own, take a look at the full list of argumentative essay topics along with the samples below: Middle/High School-Level Argumentative Essay Topics   Should teenagers be required to get their parents’ permission to obtain contraceptives?   Should the number of passengers be limited in cars driven by minors?   Should high school education be mandatory? College-Level Argumentative Essay Topics When is military force justified? Should parents hold responsibility for the crimes of their children? Should academic achievement be a primary consideration for college admission? Argumentative Topics to Avoid Is our political process fair? Do athletes make too much money? Can science go too far? Funny Argumentative Essay Topics Should you believe every word in an infomercial? Should funny cat videos be allowed on YouTube? What is the worst song in the world? Classic Argumentative Essay Topics Computer games harm individuals Sex education is the only way to eliminate many issues, including teenage pregnancy Are abortions legal? Arguments on Bioethics Is the use of animals for research purposes justified? Cloning should be banned Arguments on Issues in the IT Area Some of Google services raise privacy and security concerns for people Download sites violate copyright rules Should YouTube comments be regulated? The Internet has been overly commercialized. Agree or disagree?   Argumentative Topics for Legal Discussions Is gun control an effective method of reducing crime? Is the death penalty justified?   Do you believe euthanasia (assisted suicide) is right?   The book â€Å"Twelve Angry Men† represents democracy with its flaws Should same-sex marriages be made legal? Torture is never justified Smoking in public places should be banned Society is becoming over-regulated Legalization of marijuana in some states is wrong Production and sale of cigarettes should be made illegal Argumentative Topics on Social Concerns Cross-cultural marriages contribute to racial tolerance Single-parent children behaviour is different than that of children with both parents Women are less engaged in criminal activity than men Young people are predisposed to negative influence because they are more rebellious by nature Violence in the media destroys children Sexual content on TV harms teenagers Homeschooling is an ideal way to obtain a quality education Ecological Issues Forests are the lungs of the Earth. Should rainforests destruction be prohibited? Should countries drill for oil in protected areas to reduce gas prices? Global warming is a myth   To what extent are electric cars a solution to global pollution? Society and the Media Media influences the female perception of the body image. Agree or disagree. Violent video games directly correlate to violence in schools. Agree or disagree. Other Topics Should cities preserve old buildings? Diets don’t help to lose weight Financial rewards are the only way to gain employee`s loyalty Life-long learning is no longer required for career success Correspondence Theory of Truth appears to be plausible and defendable Dokdo islands are Korean property and should not be claimed by Japan Ghost hunting is pure fiction Now, once you have chosen a good topic from the list, try to lay down your thoughts on your screen or paper. Here are some tips on how to do it properly: Adhering to the above structure of an argumentative essay will keep your creative process together: The first paragraph offers a brief review of the topic, explains its importance, and shares the essay’s clear and concise thesis statement. After the introduction come the body paragraphs, in which the writer develops his/her arguments and supports them with valid and reliable evidence. The support should be anecdotal, logical, statistical, or factual, depending on the essay’s topic. Following the argument paragraphs, the writer shares the opposing views. Ending the paragraph is the conclusion. This paragraph is quite important since it leaves the reader with the most immediate impression. The writer should synthesize the information shared in the body of the essay, as they restate the topic’s importance, review main points, as well as review the thesis. No new information should be shared in the conclusion. Here is another cool tip to make your arguments sound stronger: use connection words! How To Use Connection Words While Writing an Argumentative Essay? Transition or connection words and phrases hold your essay together. They provide flow as they connect thoughts and ideas. Function Connection Word Addition additionally; also; and; as a matter of fact; as well as; equally; equally important; furthermore; identically; in addition; in the first place; like; likewise; not only†¦but also; not to mention; similarly; together with; too Contrast above all; after all; albeit; although; although this may be true; as much as; be that it may; besides; but; conversely; despite; different from; even so/though; however; in contrast; in reality; in spite of; nevertheless; nonetheless; notwithstanding; of course†¦, but; on the contrary; on the other hand; or; otherwise; rather; Cause or Purpose as; as/so long as; because of; due to; for fear that; for the purpose of; given that; granted (that); if†¦then; in case; in view of; in order to; in the event that; in the hope that; lest; only/even if; owing to; provided that; seeing/being that; since; so as to; so that; unless; when; whenever; while; with this in mind Examples or Support another key point; as an illustration; by all means; chiefly; especially; for example; for instance; for this reason; in fact; in other words; notably; specifically; surprisingly; to point out; truly Consequence or Result accordingly; as a result; because the; consequently; due to; for; for this reason; hence; in effect; in that case; since; so that; therefore; with the result that Conclusion / Summary / Restatement after all; all things considered; as a result; as can be seen; as shown above; consequently; for the most part; generally speaking; given these points; in conclusion; in fact; to summarize; How Is This Information Going to Help Me Write My Essay? Writing a good argumentative essay develops your argumentative thinking. It is a useful skill that you will need in your life not only to survive among your peers today but also to have a successful future in general. Most of the businesses and partnerships prosper through argument. Getting the right arguments will help you prove your point and win. The intellect rules the modern world. Those who stay focused on becoming stronger in chosen profession win. It requires no distraction on things of little importance. To succeed, you need to stay focused on what you feel is right for you and what you are willing to devote your life to. And it should take up most of your time. Seriously. The more research you can do to get better at your future profession, the better. Our professional ghostwriting company has been writing papers for students since 2005. You are welcome to use our essay writing service as a helpful tool for your career success strategy. Here is a fun fact: Most of the world-known geniuses are college drop-outs. They were too focused on what mattered to them most and couldn’t get their homework done on time. However, it is a bad example to follow. No matter if you run a successful business, have a busy job, need to visit your family or have an emergency – failing your module is a horrible possibility. That is why our writers are here to help you 24/7. If Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates knew about our service, we bet they could have gotten their degree on time and without problems.

Enlish Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enlish Literature - Essay Example son narrative by a character named Jack but his role is limited because he just percepts what had happened in Dummy’s life without going for deeper analysis. So, Dummy’s possessiveness with his stools, his grief over fish’s death and finally murder of his wife and the resultant suicide were all presented in the form of narration by young Jack without any analysis of the characters’ mindset. Even the killing of his wife was handled without indepth analysis. â€Å"Did in his wife with a hammer and drowned himself† (Craver). Based on the average number of words per sentence in the first three paragraphs of this story, the construction of the sentences, and the vocabulary used, one can easily assume that the intellectual level of the narrator is on the lower side. That is, Jack being a boy, his spoken words or narration was less matured and borders mostly on continuous narration, without scope for analysis. So, because of this continuous narration without any assessment, the intellectual level of the narration is directly consistent with Jacks apparent inability to analyze and explain the events which he describes in the

Tom Bradley Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tom Bradley - Research Paper Example At some point the family went on public assistance. His parents divorced and Tom’s mother was working hard to raise five children by herself. Bradley entered Polytechnic High School, because he was a very good athlete. This school was mostly white. However, he became the first black president of the Poly Boy’s League. He also became a record-breaking track team captain and a star in the quarter-mile and long jump. Winning the athletic championship gave Tom admission to UCLA. While there, he had many jobs, one of which was as a photographer for comedian Jimmy Durante. During his junior year in college, Bradley took an exam to join the Los Angeles Police Department. His grade was excellent and entered the department academy in 1940. He served as Police Officer in Los Angeles for 21 years. When he first started working in the police department, there were only 100 black people among 4,000 officers. Blacks could never work with a white officer. They could only serve a black community or work traffic downtown. By the time Bradley retired in 1961, he reached the rank of Lieutenant. That was the highest position black officer could achieve at that time. Because of the racism, Bradley could not advance in this carrier any more. So instead, he attended Southwestern Law School and became an attorney. He took interest in politics when he still was a police officer. In 1963, he got elected to the Los Angeles City Council. He became one of three African American men elected that year. That was the first time black people were in the City Council. On the council, he was closely overseeing the Police Department and working to overcome racial strives. In the mid 1950s - 1960s, there was a strong race discrimination. There were restaurants and shops that would not serve black people; they would be refused to enter hotels etc. In 1961, this conservatism led to the election of Sam Yorty as Mayor of Los Angeles. Then the society climate started to change. There was a wave of riots and large-scale unrests throughout the country. The nation needed a change. To mention some events of 1968: a number of anti-Vietnam war demonstrations increased; within months of each other Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the candidate for President Robert Kennedy were assassinated; over 20,000 students in five East LA schools walked out as a sign of protest against racial inequality. At this time Tom Bradley decided to run for mayoral elections. African Americans were a minority of the population, so for Bradley to win he would have to create a multi-racial coalition. There were many candidates for mayor position to start with; however, the final race entered only Bradley and Yorty. After long and less then honorable electoral campaign the voters elected Yorty for his next term. Bradley took his time to prepare for the next elections, four years later, which he won and became first African American mayor of Los Angeles. He made a history by that. It attracted n ational and international attention. His success came as a result of continuous building of his extraordinary trans-racial coalition, and proved that it is possible for black voters and white voters to unite. His election also set a stage to other similar campaigns nationwide. There are many changes Mayor Tom Bradley brought to the city. His first term started during an energy crisis. To help his city he came up with curtailment program, and it was so successful that it was implemented in

Corporate covernance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Corporate covernance - Essay Example Whs intrsts thy srv th ffct thy hv n wlth crtin nd risktking nd th frms f ccuntbility thy mbdy r vitl t th functining f th cnmic nd pliticl systm. Crprt gvrnnc mchnisms r criticl fctr in issus rnging frm th lvl f businss invstmnt t mplymnt nd cmmunity stbility nd th distributin f th fruits f cnmic grwth. Dspit this prvsiv rl in structuring bth cnmic prfrmnc nd civil scity qustins f crprt gvrnnc rmin pliticl sidshw flickring n t th public stg nly in rspns t vry prticulr (thugh imprtnt) vnts such s ppulr cncrn vr lvls f xcutiv rmunrtin r th bcklsh ginst th cnsquncs f unchckd mngmnt filur r finncil imprprity. Indd it is ths fctrs tht hv spurrd th rcnt rrivl f crprt gvrnnc n th UK's pliticl mp. (Wring 2005:65-78) Discussin Th Cdbury Cmmitt ws crtd in 1991 in rspns t th Mxwll scndl nd th cllps f Plly Pck nd thr prminnt businsss. Th Grnbury Cmmitt mrgd in 1995 s rctin t th pliticl furr surrunding xcutiv rmunrtin prticulrly in th rcntly privtisd utilitis. Th Hmpl Cmmitt in its rprt publishd in 1998 st ut t rviw nd updt th cds prducd by ths rlir bdis. 4 cnslidtin f th wrk f ll thr cmmitts nw pprs s th Cmbind Cd. 3ll f th rprts f ths cmmitts hv shrd similr st f ssumptins but bth th ntur f crprt gvrnnc nd th mns thrugh which it shuld b rfrmd.

Project Management Module Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project Management Module Coursework - Essay Example The cost information that would be necessary would be in terms of the length of the project, the total costs of the project, the efforts of the staff that is Person: Days Ratio. The cost information could be obtained from the use of the standards and measurements sections. We can ensure that costs are in line with the estimates by making frequent comparisons with the actual costs with the estimates. The aspects of standard costing could also be established with respects to costs, recoveries and efficiency studies. Question 1C: The choice for selection of project manager is being considered, In this connection, it is necessary to appoint a person with IT background, since it is nowadays, a crucial aspect of project management, and IT is very much necessary for application in industry situations. Moreover, it is also seen that effective business solutions, especially in the areas of Project Management, is inextricably linked with IT, Question 1D: The Baseline metrics could be seen in terms of Development productivity, unit costs and lapsed time/unit. .In terms of development productivity, it measures one unit of effort could result in how many products. The unit costs could measure the amount of cost needed to produce one unit of product. The lapsed time per unit would be in terms of the time taken to produce one unit. Question 2: A: The activity on arrow is a simple and easily understandable diagram which is also amenable to corrections. Even a non-technical person could follow these diagrams and understand the path of the network. It is also seen that the major achievements are easily marked and even in cases where there are multiple relationships between processes, the AoA diagrammatic representation is easier to understand. Question 2 B: A dummy activity is one which is representative of a dependency but which has no time allotment, that means it could be carried simultaneously with another activity and therefore has 0 duration. The

Hinduism and Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hinduism and Judaism - Essay Example There are interesting similarities and differences in their foundational teachings that show some of the elements that unite people, and some of the ways in which cultural context informs religious development. Hinduism traces its roots back to approximately 2500 B.C. It was not a religion that began with one particular historical event, but was rather a gradual development of beliefs by peoples in the Indus Valley (Zaehner, pg. 15). Its sacred literature has two categories: sruti and smriti. The sruti were heard, or divinely revealed, and include the Vedas (the most ancient Hindu scriptures), the Upanishads, the Brahmanas, and the Aranyakas. The Vedas contain the creation account, regulations for sacrifices, and prayers. According to Hindu tradition, these texts were secretly taught by a prophet to a disciple (David S. Noss, 55). The smriti are texts that were remembered or passed down orally. The difference is that these were written by humans rather than by the gods. The smriti consist of the epics, the Sutras and the Puranas. The epics are long poems about events in the lives of heroic warriors. The Sutras relate to such ideas as dharma, yoga, and Vedanta. The most significant of these was the Laws of Manu, or the Manusmriti, which concerned proper law and conduct for Hindus. The Puranas are mythological writings, containing the stories of the gods and goddesses (Knott, pg. 24-25). The Indus Valley civilization cohered around two cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. Between 2500 and 2000 B.C., the nomadic Indo-Aryans began to migrate into this area, just as the Indus Valley peoples began to disappear. The Vedas were the scriptures of the Indo-Aryans and are most commonly acknowledged as the basis for Hinduism, and they are also said to be Hinduism's supreme authority (Morgan, pg. 32). The Vedic conception of rita, or cosmic order, later served as the basis for the ideas of dharma and karma. The gods served as guardians of this idea of rita and had to be propitiated regularly by sacrifice. (Morgan, pg. 33). And so with the idea of sacrifice came a collection of regulations and technicalities for the sacrifice process (Kinsley, pg. 92). During this time, the priesthood came to assume a good amount of power in society. Such new doctrines as the four stages of life, the idea of transmigration, and the origins of the caste system (Morgan, pg. 48). While in its foundat ional stages, Hinduism had claimed that the soul could die, either on Earth or even in heaven, but this change had the soul being reborn in an endless cycle, seeking release, or moksha from this unending existence. Despite the fact that Judaism started far from Hinduism, there are many striking similarities to complement the differences between the two faiths. According to such sources as the Tanakh and the Talmud, the Jewish faith is based on a covenant between God and Abraham, established approximately in 2000 B.C., and renewed between God and Moses around 1200 B.C. Unlike Hinduism, Judaism is monotheistic (Huns Kung, pg. 88). Like Hinduism, Judaism relies on its texts and traditions to provide its central authority. Like the Vedas, the Torah underwent a brief period of

Project Management Module Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Project Management Module Coursework - Essay Example The cost information that would be necessary would be in terms of the length of the project, the total costs of the project, the efforts of the staff that is Person: Days Ratio. The cost information could be obtained from the use of the standards and measurements sections. We can ensure that costs are in line with the estimates by making frequent comparisons with the actual costs with the estimates. The aspects of standard costing could also be established with respects to costs, recoveries and efficiency studies. Question 1C: The choice for selection of project manager is being considered, In this connection, it is necessary to appoint a person with IT background, since it is nowadays, a crucial aspect of project management, and IT is very much necessary for application in industry situations. Moreover, it is also seen that effective business solutions, especially in the areas of Project Management, is inextricably linked with IT, Question 1D: The Baseline metrics could be seen in terms of Development productivity, unit costs and lapsed time/unit. .In terms of development productivity, it measures one unit of effort could result in how many products. The unit costs could measure the amount of cost needed to produce one unit of product. The lapsed time per unit would be in terms of the time taken to produce one unit. Question 2: A: The activity on arrow is a simple and easily understandable diagram which is also amenable to corrections. Even a non-technical person could follow these diagrams and understand the path of the network. It is also seen that the major achievements are easily marked and even in cases where there are multiple relationships between processes, the AoA diagrammatic representation is easier to understand. Question 2 B: A dummy activity is one which is representative of a dependency but which has no time allotment, that means it could be carried simultaneously with another activity and therefore has 0 duration. The

Reflective account of your own strengths and weaknesses of academic Essay

Reflective account of your own strengths and weaknesses of academic literacy competence for undertaking this course - Essay Example Yet another area where I am confident about my performance is my computer knowledge. In fact, I possess good keyboard skills. I am good in using analysis and presentation tools for various purposes that will immensely help me in my employability skills. In addition, I have the ability to learn various computer operations, and hence, computer literacy will be a positive point in my employability. However, the area where I lag behind is the ability to comprehend what I read. I think this happens because of my poor reading habit and skills. I think this lack of ability is going to have an adverse impact on my researches if not solved. Probably as a result of this, I find it difficult to do academic writing. My research skills are rather weak because firstly, I find it difficult to gather information, and secondly, I find it difficult to synthesise the information I collect. As a result, even if I collect a lot of information, my research ends up fruitless. There are certain areas related to research that I will have to improve if I want to improve my research. The very first thing is locating useful information, because â€Å"research strategies are as friendly as a puppy, as informative as a friend’s diary, and as helpful as a personal valet† (Badke , 2004, p. 176). I need to work a lot in improving my ability to reach useful information. It will have to be followed by learning how to organise what I have collected. As I possess poor study skills, what I do is to end up with a mixture of information from various sources that are not arranged appropriately. Another point that requires improvement is my ability to evaluate the information I collect. It often happens that I fail to collect relevant information and collect irrelevant ones. However, the most important problem I need to solve is my interpretation of the collected information. Probably due to my poor reading skills, my interpretation is often biased or

Information and Communications Technology Essay Example for Free

Information and Communications Technology Essay Executive Summary In the advance world of Information and Communications Technology, a lot of Information Systems has been developed to alleviate manual processes. These Information Systems comes in different projects. A good project depends on so many varying factors. The most important factor is having a very good Project Manager who is tasked to meet his members in order to plan the steps to be done in software development. He should be able to establish an open communication to his members so that ideas are free-flowing. The Project Manager is responsible for dividing the team, each with different task to do – that is to follow the systematic way in software project development- Project Life Cycle. Following the Project Life Cycle is another factor that can affect project success. If a member in a team does not possess a good working relationship and can hardly work in a group, chances are – the project is a total chaos. The members of the development team should share their knowledge and expertise in order to accomplish the best possible output and to deliver the project on the estimated data. A project also needs the attention of the owner. If the top management does not give 100% support to the project development team or does not support the computerization of many business processes, the company will not be able to accomplish its objectives. However, problems in software development can hardly be avoided. Problems occur anytime within the development of the project. The Project Manager as well as the members should anticipate problems and should be able to provide quick solutions so that the delivery of the project cannot be delayed. Project Development Introduction When a lot of work has been assigned, it is very tempting to stay late to get everything done before the next day. But according to a research, this is not a good practice because workers who have this kind of attitude are 61% more likely to suffer work-related injuries. (Reader’s Digest March 1996, 132) The above-mentioned attitude of an employee is of great help to the company because it just shows that they are dedicated to their job. In this way, projects assigned to these employees can easily be complied and can be submitted even before the deadline. Large companies should have these types of employees in order to deliver projects on time most especially in the field of Information Technology where all transactions happen in just a click. Because of the fast-paced advancement in the field of Information and Communications Technology, most; if not all; organizations nowadays want an Information System that can help them in their day-to-day business operations. This Information System is built to alleviate the burden that manual procedures bring. This also makes the organization be abreast with the latest technology and not be left behind by their competitors. In selecting a company that can answer the needs of big organization in terms of developing good software, the company needs to look for developmental organizations which can deliver projects on time and be able to complete the requirements being specified. Software Life Cycle Activities In order for companies to deliver projects on time, the software development group has to follow the Software Life Cycle. A project intended for large organizations should be broken down into smaller chunks to give enough attention to each of the smaller modules. In this way, the members of the group can focus on each phase and deal with problems, which arise while the realizing of each phase takes place, more systematically. The Software Life Cycle divides a large-scope project into the following six phases: Analysis and specification of the task (Savitch 1993, 115) Design of the software (Savitch 1993, 115) Implementation (coding) (Savitch 1993, 115) Testing (Savitch 1993, 115) Maintenance and evolution of the system (Savitch 1993, 115) Obsolescence (Savitch 1993, 115) The CHAOS study divided the project into three (3) types: Project Success – the project is completed successfully incorporating all the specified features, Project Challenged – the project is completed but with less features and delivered late and Project Impaired- the project is cancelled during the development cycle. The group conducted a survey and they found out that there are factors affecting each of the three types of project. Taking into consideration the Project Success category, it was found out that User Involvement has the highest percentage in terms of accomplishing the project.   User involvement got 15.9% among all other factors. While the factor that really deterred a project success is Hardworking Staff. (Standish,1995) Based on the facts presented, one of the major factors why an organization/project succeeds is due to hardworking staffs. If only a certain company hires employees who can work under pressure and requires less supervision, surely the management can deliver to its customers the desired project even before the deadline. Project Challenged Factors are Lack of User Input (12.8%), Incomplete Requirements Specifications (12.3%), Changing Requirements Specifications (11.8%), Lack of Executive Support  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (7.5%), Technology Incompetence (7.0%), Lack of Resources (6.4%), Unrealistic Expectations (5.9%), Unclear Objectives (5.3%), Unrealistic Time Frames (4.3%), New Technology (3.7%)   and Other factors (23.0%). (Standish,1995) The data above shows that the major factor that contests a project is lack of user input. User involvement greatly helps a project’s success since users are the direct beneficiaries of the project. They can also contribute to the features that will be incorporated into the system. Developing a user-friendly application may be one criteria of a project success. A user-friendly application is needed so that the company need not conduct a month or two training just to teach the users on how to navigate through the system. A project can be anything an organization wants to accomplish to deliver to its customers. It should have definite goals and objectives. A good Project Management involves a proper organization, management, planning, supervising and controlling to bring out a successful project. One major challenges of a good project management is the accomplishment of its goals and objectives while adhering to the project’s scope, time and budget. Objectives of the project must be specific, measurable, realistic, and relevant to the environment and is time bounded. (Free Management Library, 1997-2008) The figure shows the procedures to be best followed by the management in developing a successful project. Figure 1.0: Project Life Cycle (Foote Crum, 2000) In addition, the following are the key aspects of a Project Life Cycle: Setting goals and estimating costs (Foote Crum, 2000) Before starting any project, a clear specification of the goals and objectives should be set so that the management has a clear guide as where the project is going. Costs should also be estimated for the management to prepare enough funds in the development of the project. The functional requirements study (Foote Crum, 2000) Functional requirements should be clearly specified so that the management can focus on these requirements and can research ways and means on how to meet these. But before finalizing the requirements of the project, the management has to conduct a feasibility on what are to be included and what are not and on what are best needed by the their clients. The creation of a prototype (Foote Crum, 2000) A prototype or an archetype should be first developed to see if the project is feasible or not. Prototypes serve as a sample output when the system will be completed. Presenting this one will give the management an idea of how the system will work and what benefits can it give to them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order for an organization to accomplish and deliver projects on time, they have to have a good set of workers who are willing to be trained to further enhance learning. Moreover, the following are the steps to a successful project: Scope out a detailed plan (Alexandrou, 2006) Watch out for bad RFPs bid (Alexandrou, 2006) Plan ahead (Alexandrou, 2006) Find the bottleneck (Alexandrou, 2006) Do not cut corners on testing (Alexandrou, 2006) Develop a backup system (Alexandrou, 2006) Prepare other contingency plans (Alexandrou, 2006) Train, train, train and train some more (Alexandrou, 2006) Be honest (Alexandrou, 2006) Triage fixes (Alexandrou, 2006) Additionally, other suggested steps that a company may carry to deliver good IT projects to its clients are listed below: Discover (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Dreams (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Desire (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Decision (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Destination (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Direction (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Daily action (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Discipline (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Determination (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Delight (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008) Destiny (JamesDeanWaryk, 1999-2008)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The above-mentioned steps can best be applied to an organization which has a good project manager that possesses the needed knowledge to perform all tasks and responsibilities assigned to him. A good leadership skill is also needed to inspire and garner respect from its team members and also from the top management. An outstanding project manager always conveys ideas in an articulate manner that resounds with the targeted audience and therefore should have a good communication skill. (Wu, 2005) On the other hand, there are also factors that greatly affects why a project fails. These IT projects fail because when the management does not able to deliver the project on time, it is over budget and the system does not work as required. The following are the reasons why an IT Project fails: (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) Lack of user involvement (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) A very important factor since the Information System is mainly built for users/customers. So, this Information System should be able to satisfy what users want and need. Long or unrealistic time scales (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) If the group assigned to develop the Information System specifies unrealistic deadlines surely the system is a failure. Before setting deadlines, the group must consider the features incorporated in the system. Poor or no requirements (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) Specifying the system’s requirements is an important aspect in project development but if the management fails to do so, the project is of no good. Scope creep (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) The scope and limitation of the project should be clearly defined. No change control system (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) There should be proper control over the system. Poor testing (Coley Consulting, 2001-2007) This happens when testing measures are not clearly established.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, projects fail due to stakeholder conflicts. Stakeholder conflicts can take part in many different roles in project failure. Frequently, stakeholders have personal reasons/conflicts for not being able to work as a team.   Ã‚  (Rosenfield, No year)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Furthermore, the following are various reasons why projects are not delivered on the schedule specified: Lack of senior management commitment (Wilson, 1998) When the top management does not give its 100% support to the project being developed, the project will not meet the deadline and eventually fails. Lack of user involvement (Wilson, 1998) As mentioned above, users should be involved in the development of the project because they should be the ones whom the management asked for the specifications the project should have. Lack of user requirements specifications (Wilson, 1998) User requirements specifications should be done during the planning stage to carefully analyze the features that are to be included in the system. Poor project planning (Wilson, 1998) Planning is the most critical step in software project development life cycle. The success of the project depends on the effort, skill and care applied in the planning stage. (Blair, No year) Project team problems (Wilson, 1998) Problems among members of the development team greatly affect their performance. This can lead to not being able to meet the requirements of the project, thus, not beating the deadline. To avoid these, the team leader must be able to control and supervise his members so that conflicts will not be experienced among themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In today’s modern world, to deliver projects on time and making it sure that these projects meet the customers’ requirements and features, the management must hire workers who are good team players. A person who cannot work in a team will not be able accomplish any tasks given as a group. Good camaraderie should be as well fostered among team members so that a healthy environment is established and everybody can work freely. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Any organization, may it big or small, always aim for success in their field. With the aid of the current trends in Information Technology, so many applications can now be applied. One of these is the utilization of an Information System. The development of an Information System should follow the systematic way so that a very good outcome results.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Project Life Cycle has indeed plays a very important role in the development of an Information System. The different steps in the cycle, if being carried out properly, results to a project delivered even before the delivery date schedule. The success of any project also lies in the knowledge and expertise of the team leader in the software development team. The team leader, having possessed all the expertise in the field of software development and very good managerial skills, can really motivate his members to work hard for the success of the project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project delivered by the software development team is the Information System being utilized by large-scale organizations. This Information System has helped all transactions in various aspects of the organization in so many different ways. Information System, if being delivered on time, brings a lot of positive results to the management side. This can boost up the company’s morale, thus, making the company more competitive in the world market.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Project Management is a very crucial task of a manager. Thus, having been equipped with the knowledge and expertise, the company can gain competitive advantage in the business field. Bibliography No Author. Reader’s Digest March 1996. Toil Smarter, Not Longer: 132. Savitch, Walter J. 1993. Turbo Pascal. Redwood City, CA: The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company Inc. The Standish Group. 1995. The Standish Group Report: CHAOS. http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:ueLBNWtVA7MJ:www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/NCP08083B.pdf+chaos+standish+group+1995hl=tlct=clnkcd=2gl=ph (Accessed 23March2008). Free Management Library. 1997-2008. http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/project/project.htm (Accessed 24March2008) Foote, Kenneth E., Crum, Shannon L. 2000. Project Planning and Life Cycle. http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/lifecycle/lifecycl_f.html (Accessed 24March2008) Alexandrou, Marios. 2006. Information Technology Blog: 10 Steps to a Successful Project. http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/blog/?p=162 (Accessed 24March2008) JamesDeanWaryk. 1999-2008. How to 12 Steps to a Successful Project, Company or Life. http://www.ehow.com/how_2062188_steps-successful-project-company-life.html (Accessed 24March2008) Wu, Jonathan. 2005. Characteristics of an Outstanding Business Intelligence Project Manager. http://www.dmreview.com/issues/20050501/1026063-1.html (Accessed 24March2008) Coley Consulting. 2001-2007. Project Failure-The six key reasons why projects fail. http://www.coleyconsulting.co.uk/failure.htm (Accessed 24March2008) Rosenfield, Eric. No year. Why do projects fail? http://www.adaptivepartners.com/projfailb.htm (Accessed 24March2008) Wilson, Sheila. 1998. Failed IT Projects. http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~meinkej/inss690/wilson.htm (Accessed 24March2008) Blair, Gerard M. No year. Project Planning. http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art8.html?http://oldeee.see.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art8.html (Accessed 24March2008)

Anthropogenic Polycyclic Aromatic

Anthropogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Source Apportionment of Anthropogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) by Molecular and Isotopic Characterization A dissertation submitted as part of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Abstract Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important, ubiquitous environmental pollutants known for their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. They are released into the atmosphere, soil (which bears about 90% of the environmental PAH burden in the UK) and water by natural and anthropogenic processes. Today, anthropogenic combustion of fossil fuel is, by far, the most important source of PAH input into the environment. The importance of PAHs as environmental pollutants with a multiplicity of sources has resulted in considerable interest in source apportionment techniques. This study therefore investigated the PAH profiles in road dust samples around a high temperature carbonization plant (Barnsley, South Yorkshire) and used the combination of molecular methods and gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (d13C GC-IRMS) to identify their origin. Quantification of the sixteen U.S EPA priority PAHs extracted from the dust samples ranged from 2.65 to 90.82g/g. The PAH profiles were dominated by phenanthrene for 2-3 ring PAHs and by fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene and benzo(b+k)flouranthene for PAHs with ring size ≠¥ 4. The fluoranthene to pyrene (Fl/(FL+P)) )) concentration ratio ranged from 0.51 to 0.55, while the indenol(1,2,3-cd)pyrene to benzo(ghi)perylene (IcdP/(IcdP+ BghiPer)) ratio ranged from 0.37 to 0.55; suggesting contributions from diesel combustion, most likely from heavy duty trucks. The ability of compound-specific stable isotope measurement, using d13C GC-IRMS, to source apportion environmental PAHs where significant input from coal is expected has been demonstrated. The PAH d13C isotope ratio values ranged from -25.5 to -29.7%o. Overall, the d13C isotope ratio, in conjunction with PAH molecular distribution/ratio, strongly suggest that PAHs in the study area have inputs from both high temperature coal carbonisation and transport fuels (mainly diesel combustion). Chapter One 1.0 Introduction Industrialization, centered on energy use, has been the driving force for many of the greatest advances in the 20th century and is central to our way of life in the modern world today. Energy improvements and the discovery of fossil fuel (coal and petroleum) have hastened industrialization and breakthroughs in areas such as travel, communication, agriculture and healthcare, in many parts of the world. Despite these achievements, industrialization has brought along with it global problems of environmental pollution and challenges. These include exploitation of natural resources, oil spillages, global warming due to rising emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases, disposal of wastes (industrial and domestic) and inorganic and organic emissions which ultimately affect air, water and land quality. The release of organics/organic effluents such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mainly from the use of fossil fuels; into the environment have particularly gained attention in recent times due to their toxicity and persistence. 1.1 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants that are of great public concern due to their toxicity, carcinogenicity and/or mutagenicity (Fabbri et al., 2003; Sharma et al., 2007). They are continuously introduced into the environment by both natural processes, such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires; and anthropogenic sources which include various industrial processes such as coke production in the iron and steel industry, catalytic cracking in the petroleum industry, coal gasification, heating and power generation, open burning of vegetation and internal combustion engines used for various means of transportation (Suess, 1976; Morasch et al., 2007). Immense PAHs contaminations of the environment typically originate from anthropogenic sources. A natural balance existing between the production and natural degradation of PAH historically kept the background concentration of PAH in the environment low and fixed (Smith and Harrison, 1996). The ever-increasing industrial development and use of fossil fuels in many parts of the world released PAHs into the environment resulting in their universal occurrence in air, water, soil and sediments. This increase in the production rate of anthropogenic PAHs has disrupted the natural balance of PAHs in the environment, while their rate of decomposition remains more or less constant (Suess, 1976; Fetzer, 1988). PAHs are found in great abundance in fossil fuel materials such as shale oil, coal liquids, petroleum, asphalt and many other hydrocarbon based materials (Fetzer, 1988). Incomplete combustion of these fossil fuel materials produces fly ash, chimney soot and engine-derived air particulates which have higher levels of PAHs than the original materials (Chadwick et al., 1987; Fetzer, 1988). Generally, PAHs give rise to significant impact to the areas close to the nearest point sources (Ohkuchi et al., 1999). There are very high concentrations of atmospheric PAH in the urban environment which is accounted for by the various industrial processes earlier identified, increasing vehicular traffic and the scarce dispersion of the atmospheric pollutants. These PAHs are emitted to the atmosphere either in the gaseous phase or on very small particles, 70-90% of which are in the respirable range (et al., 1987). The risk associated with the human exposure to atmospheric PAH is therefore highest in the cities because of these factors and the density of population (Sharma et al., 2007). In view of the carcinogenic potential of many PAH compounds, their contribution to the mutagenic activity of ambient aerosols and range of sources of emission, their concentration in the environment is considered alarming and efforts should be made to reduce or even eliminate them wherever possible. To achieve this, a better understanding of their fate and associative transformation pathways in the environment is necessary and this has resulted in considerable interest in PAHs source apportionment. 1.2 Source Apportionment Most organic pollutants can be released into the environment from various sources. Hydrocarbon pollutants are particularly widespread in the environment due to the multiplicity of their sources such as synthesis by living organisms (biogenic origin), degradation of organic matter (diagenic origin), incomplete combustion of organic matter and natural and anthropogenic fossil fuel combustibles (petrogenic origin) (Mazeas et al., 2002). Due to the multiplicity of the sources of organic pollutants, source apportionment techniques are invaluable in the determination of the contributions of various pollution sources of a pollutant in the environment. Source apportionment generally refers to the quantitative assignment of a combination of distinct sources of a particular group of compounds put into a system (OMalley et al., 1994). Differences in emission profile, among emission sources, have been sufficiently used to develop fingerprints that can be identified and quantified at a particular site (Dallarosa et al., 2005). As mentioned earlier, most of the environmental PAHs have anthropogenic origins. Contributions from coal combustion and use of petroleum in internal combustion engines for transportation have increased over the years and have generated a lot of concern. It is therefore important to be able to distinguish different sources that contribute to PAH pollution of a particular environment using reliable source apportionment techniques. This project work is therefore aimed at contributing to the knowledge of reliable, unambiguous novel PAH source apportionment techniques by: (i) Identifying and quantifying contemporary PAHs fluxes in the environment around a coking works using molecular methods (ii) Demonstrating the ability of compound specific stable isotope measurement to source apportion environmental PAHs where significant input from coal is expected Chapter Two 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 General overview of the properties of PAHs Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds are a class of complex organic chemicals made up of carbon and hydrogen with a fused ring structure containing at least 2 benzene rings (Ravindra et al., 2008). They may also contain additional fused rings that are not six-sided (Figure 1). Pyrosynthesis and pyrolysis are two main mechanisms that can explain the formation of PAH from saturated hydrocarbons under oxygen-deficient conditions. Low molecular weight hydrocarbons like ethane form PAHs by pyrosynthesis (Figure 2). At a temperature greater than 5000C, carbon-hydrogen and carbon-carbon bond are broken to form free radicals which combine to form acetylene. Acetylene condenses further to form aromatic ring structures which are resistant to degradation (Figure 2). The ease with which hydrocarbons may form PAH structure varies in the order aromatics > cycloolefins > olefins > Paraffins (Ravindra et al., 2008). The higher molecular weight alkanes in fuel form PAH by pyrolysis: the cracking of organic compounds. The discovery of the fluorescence of a number of known carcinogenic tars and mineral oils in 1930 led to the investigation of the carcinogenic properties of PAHs. This spanned from the discovery that benz(a)anthracene and other compounds in its group possessed a similar fluorescence (Chadwick et al., 1987). Initial investigation for PAH carcinogenicity using dibenz(a,h)anthracene later resulted in the isolation of a powerful carcinogenic substance from coal tar: benzo(a)pyrene (Chadwick et al., 1987). Since the discovery of benzo(a)pyrene, various works have been done to identify other carcinogenic PAHs. Sixteen (16) parental PAHs have been designated by the US environmental protection agency (US EPA) as priority pollutants and most of the studies have focused on these (Figure 1 and Table 1). Seven (7) of these (Table 2) have been identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as animal carcinogens and have been studied by the EPA as potential human carcinogens (EPA report, 1998). PAH can undergo metabolic transformation into mutagenic, carcinogenic and teratogenic agents in aquatic and terrestrial organisms. These metabolites, such as dihydrodiol epoxides, bind to, and disrupt, DNA and RNA, which is the basis for tumor formation (Wild and Jones, 1995). Although PAHs are renowned for their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties, not all of them are environmentally or biologically significant. Studies have been carried out on monitoring the levels of some of the important PAH in various parts of the world and the results of a number of these are summarized in Table 2. The carcinogenicity and/or mutagenicity of PAH, which require metabolic conversion and activation, is structurally dependent: while certain isomers can be very active, other similar ones are not (Fetzer, 1988). An example, as shown by Fetzer (1988), is found in the five PAHs with molecular weight of 288 and containing 4 rings. Chrysene, benz[a]anthracene and benzo[c]phenanthrene are mutagenic but the remaining two, napthacene and triphenylene are not. As molecular weight increases, the carcinogenic level of PAHs also increases and acute toxicity decreases (Ravindra et al., 2008). The p electron fused benzene rings in PAHs account for most of their physical properties and chemical stability (Lee et al., 1981). The 2-ring and 3-ring PAHs compounds, which are more volatile and water soluble, but less lipophilic than their higher molecular weight relatives, generally exist primarily in the gas phase in the atmosphere and will tend to be deposited to the surfaces via dry gaseous and/or wet deposition (Ravindra et al., 2008). On the other hand, the less volatile 5-6 ring PAHs tend to be deposited on surfaces bound to particles in wet and dry deposition; while compounds of intermediate vapor pressure will have a temperature-dependent gas/particle partitioning of PAHs leading to both wet and dry deposition in gaseous and particle-bound form (Mannino and Orecchio, 2008). PAHs have a tendency to sorb on hydrophobic surfaces and this tendency increases with the number of aromatic rings (Morasch et al., 2007). Thus, PAHs are primarily found/present in the environment in soils and sediments, rather than water and air. Their high hydrophobic tendency and high lipophilic properties make them easily bio-accumulated to such an extent that can threaten the safety of food chains for both man and animals (Sun et al., 2003). Compounds Chemical formula Molecular weight Melting point, oC Boiling point,oC Particle/gas phase distribution Napthalene C10H8 128.19 80.5 218 Acenaphthylene C12H8 152.21 Gas phase Acenaphthene C12H10 154.21 96.2 279 Gas phase Fluorene C13H10 166.22 116 -117 295 Gas phase Phenanthrene C14H10 178.24 100 101 340 Particle phase Anthracene C14H10 178.24 216.5 217.2 339.9 Particle phase Fluoranthene C16H10 202.26 110.6 111.0 393 Particle phase Pyrene C16H10 202.66 152.2 152.9 360 Particle phase Benz(a)anthracene* C18H12 228.30 159.5 160.5 435 Particle phase Chrysene* C18H12 228.30 250 254 448 Particle phase Benzo(b)fluoranthene* C20H12 252.32 Particle phase Benzo(K)fluoranthene* C20H12 252.32 215.5 216 Particle phase Benzo(a)pyrene* C20H12 252.32 176.5 -177.5 311 Particle phase Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene* C20H12 276.34 Particle phase Dibenz(a,h)anthracene* C22H14 278.34 205 Particle phase Benzo(ghi)perylene C20H12 276.34 273 Particle phase *PAHs identified animal carcinogens and as potential human carcinogens Table 1: Physical properties of 16 priority PAHs on US EPA listing (Adapted from EPA REPORT, 1998, Ravindra et al., 2008) S/N Total PAHs Mean (ngm-3) Cities 1 à ¥ 15 PAHs 56 Columbia (USA) 2 à ¥ 15 PAHs 412 Austria 3 B (a) P 4.99-9.56a Delhi 4 à ¥ 12 PAHs 93 Denver (USA) 5 à ¥ 8 PAHs 150-1800a Delhi 6 à ¥ 15 PAHs 166 London 7 à ¥ 15 PAHs 59 Cardiff 8 à ¥ 11 PAHs 90-195 (I)a, 20-70 (R)a Ahmedabad 9 à ¥ 12 PAHs 22.9-190.96a Kolkata 10 à ¥ 12 PAHs 20-95a, 125-190a Mumbai, Nagpur 11 à ¥ 13 PAHs 90.37 57.04 Coimbatore 12 à ¥ 11 PAHs 310 (60-910)a Mexico city 13 à ¥ 15 PAHs 8.94-62.5a Camo Grande city 14 à ¥ 16 PAHs 13-1865a Chicago I= industrial site, R = residential site, a Range Table 2: A summary of mean concentrations (ng/m3) of total PAHs in various cities of the world (Sharma et al., 2007) 2.2 Anthropogenic sources of PAHS The high concentration of PAHs in the environment, as shown in Table 2, suggests the extent of anthropogenic contribution (Sharma et al., 2007). It is, however, difficult to estimate the amount of anthropogenic PAHS on the yearly input of the various sources on a global basis. An approximate quantification has been made, based on the annual consumption of fossil fuel, that while the global annual release of PAHs to the atmosphere is of an order of 105 tonnes, including 103 tonnes of benzo(a)pyrene; the annual input of crude and processed oil containing 1-3% PAHs to the oceans of the world is 1.1106 tonnes (Ivwurie, 2004). The main anthropogenic sources of carcinogenic PAHs are emissions from fossil fuel combustion in industrial and power plants, automobile emissions, biomass burning, agricultural burning and natural gas utilization. Fossil fuel utilization is the major cause of anthropogenic PAH occurrence in the environment. Hence, emphasis is placed on these sources below. 2.2.1 PAHs from Coal Combustion and Conversion Processes Coal, an organic rock formed from the accumulation and burial of partially decomposed vegetation in previous geologic ages through a series of physical, biological and biochemical changes; is a major fossil fuel for heating and power generation. The predominant organic components in coal have resulted from the formation and condensation of polynuclear carboxylic and heterocyclic ring compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulphur (United Nations, 1973). Due to its chemical composition (heterogeneous macro-molecular matrix, including hydrocarbons and hetero-atomic moieties) various coal conversion and utilizations are significant contributors of PAHs to the environment. Coal combustion emissions 47 PAH compounds resulting from coal combustion residing in fly ash, grate ash or the stack emissions were identified in the work of Junk and Ford (1980, cited in Chadwick et al., 1987). However, these PAH emissions are a function of the efficiency of the coal combustion plant. On the whole, large, efficient coal-burning, electricity-generating plants, with high combustion temperatures, emit relatively low total amounts of PAH and contribute very little to PAH emissions when operated properly (Chadwick et al., 1987). PAH emission factors for coal-fired plants were put at 32ugkg-1 and 41ugkg-1 coal by Ramdahl et al. (1983) and Masclet et al. (1987) respectively. 70% of the total PAH emission flux from power plants is made up of 3-4 ring PAHs and their alkylated counterparts (Wild and Jones, 1995). 5-6 ring PAHs and their heteroatom-containing derivatives are emitted from coke ovens during coal carbonisation (Kirton et al., 1991) Coal carbonization emissions Coal carbonization, the pyrolytic decomposition of coal in the absence of oxygen, can be classified according to the temperature to which the coal is heated, as shown in Table 3. This process yields char or coke, tar and oven or coal gas as the major products. Coke is by far the most important product in terms of yield and revenue. However, leakages from coke ovens are sources of release of high levels of PAHs and other organics to the environment. Emissions from coke ovens range from volatile monoaromatics (alkyl benzenes) to 5-6 ring PAHs together with their substituted heteroatom derivatives such as O-PAHs, NPAHs and S-PAHs (Lao et al., 1975; Kirton et al., 1991). Anderson et al. (1983) determine

Damning Guilt in Shakespeares Macbeth :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Damning Guilt in Macbeth    Both main characters in the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth meet unfortunate ends, with this due in part at least to the huge burden of guilt which they must carry through most of the drama.    In Fools of Time: Studies in Shakespearean Tragedy, Northrop Frye sees a relationship between Macbeth's guilt and his hallucinations:    The future moment is the moment of guilt, and it imposes on one, until it is reached, the intolerable strain of remaining innocent. [. . .] We notice that anyone who is forced to brood on the past and expect the future lives in a world where that which is not present is present, in other words in a world of hallucination. Macbeth's capacity for seeing things that may or may not be there is almost limitless, and the appearance of the mousetrap play to Claudius, though more easily explained, has the same dramatic point as the appearance of Banquo's ghost. (90)    Fanny Kemble in "Lady Macbeth" asserts that Lady Macbeth was unconscious of her guilt, which nevertheless killed her:    Lady Macbeth, even in her sleep, has no qualms of conscience; her remorse takes none of the tenderer forms akin to repentance, nor the weaker ones allied to fear, from the pursuit of which the tortured soul, seeking where to hide itself, not seldom escapes into the boundless wilderness of madness. A very able article, published some years ago in the National Review, on the character of Lady Macbeth, insists much upon an opinion that she died of remorse, as some palliation of her crimes, and mitigation of our detestation of them. That she died of wickedness would be, I think, a juster verdict. Remorse is consciousness of guilt . . . and that I think Lady Macbeth never had; though the unrecognized pressure of her great guilt killed her. (116-17)    In "Memoranda: Remarks on the Character of Lady Macbeth," Sarah Siddons mentions the guilt and ambition of Lady Macbeth and their effect:    [Re "I have given suck" (1.7.54ff.)] Even here, horrific as she is, she shews herself made by ambition, but not by nature, a perfectly savage creature. The very use of such a tender allusion in the midst of her dreadful language, persuades one unequivocally that she has really felt the maternal yearnings of a mother towards her babe, and that she considered this action the most enormous that ever required the strength of human nerves for its perpetration.