Behaviour of Studied Plant Species in Terms of Heating Mitigation and Evapotranspiration

5 Discussion5.1 Weather ConditionssUpwind conditions during the season and the six measuring runs played a cardinal function for the procedure of this survey. As mentioned antecedently in respects to the survey of thermic imagination and specific conditions conditions were a requirement. The optimum conditions conditions for transporting out these measurings included clear sky, no air current and high values of PAR. These conditions slightly restricted the measurings as they were hard to be obtained for many yearss during the months from May until July. The measurement period was characterized by many yearss of cloud screen, rainfall and low temperatures and merely a few yearss of clear sky and high temperatures every bit good as high PAR values. The most restrictive factor was the cloud screen, as there were yearss with high temperature and besides there was cloud screen. However, there were yearss with clear sky and no air current but the PAR values were excessively low ( below 120 0 ?mol s-1m-2) , so that measurings could non be performed. Besides, it is of import to observe that the conditions conditions differed for each of the measuring dates as it was impossible to hold the exact same conditions every clip. Maes and Steppe ( 2012 ) had highlighted the limitation of conditions conditions in thermic imagination and the confining factor of cloud screen. However the consequences of the six successful measuring day of the months led to observations and decisions about the thermic behavior of the five studied works species.5.2 Behaviour of Studied Plant Species in Footings of Heating Mitigation and EvapotranspirationThe current survey have shown that all of the tried workss species had an effectual chilling potency by comparing to the bare dirt. Planted trays had ever lower surface temperatures than the control trays. This was besides supported by the statistical analysis which indicated important differences between mesocosms and control trays. Several surveies stated that one of the benefits of green roof workss is to maintain the temperature low ( Nagase and Dunnett, 2010 ; Teemusk and Mander, 2009 ) . Specifically, the four of the five species,Koeleria glauca, Lotus corniculatus,Dianthus carthusianorumandPhedimus floriferumhave been shown to hold lower temperatures than the controls trays for the full period of when the measurings were conducted. However, in the last two day of the months sing the measurings, theThymus serpyllumhad showed higher temperatures than the controls trays because the mini bush had died antecedently. While all workss of the monocultures had died many single species were able to last in combination with other species. However,Thymus serpyllumis considered a common green roof species ( Teemusk and Mander, 2009 ) . Besides, Jones ( 2002 ) had indicated thatThymusspecies frequently did non last. The ground for the bad public presentation ofThymusis still non clear. Although heat and drouth emphasis are known to hold a negative impact on the species, it is besides believed that works infections could be another cause for its bad public presentation. Sing the evapotranspiration, all the mesocosm systems showed to hold higher values than the control trays. System 5 (Phedimus floriferum )showed to hold the lowest evapotranspiration of the 15 mesocosms due to the facultative CAM metamorphosis of the species. The last two yearss System 4 showed the lowest evapotranspiration values sinceThymus serpyllumin the monocultures where they had wholly died off. Several surveies have been conducted to compare between green roof works species in monocultures and combinations in order to transport out and understand in which of the two is the most good. The surveies concluded that works mixtures were more effectual and good in footings of heating extenuation, evapotranspiration and H2O gaining control than monocultures and recommended for extended green roofs ( Lundholmet al. ,2010 ; Nagase and Dunnett, 2012, 2010 ) . This survey had concluded that System 7 a combination ofPhedimus floriferum( succulent ) andLotus corniculatus( leguminous plant ) was more effectual and good along with System 10 which is a combination ofPhedimus floriferum( succulent ) ,Koeleria glauca( grass ) andDianthus carthusianorum( herb)and can be considered as the best of the 15 systems in footings of extenuating warming effects. These systems showed significantly lower temperatures during most of the measurings. Systems 6( Phedimus floriferum + Koeleria glauca )and 14 (Phedimus floriferum + Koeleria glauca +Lotus corniculatus )had so followed with satisfactory consequences. These consequences are in general conformity with other surveies which showed that grass and herb or mixtures of these species are really suited to green roofs. Although they are less drought tolerant than succulent they are more effectual in footings of evapotranspiration and H2O keeping capacity ( Van Mechelenet Al., 2014 ) . Besides, the bulk of green roofs in North America and Europe are combinations of Sedum species or combinations of Sedum and grasses ( Wolf and Lundholm, 2008 ) . Lundholmet al. ,( 2010 ) had stated that the best combination for green roof is succulents, grasses and tall forbs. Since thei experiment this works mixture optimized most of the maps which were measured. Koeleria glaucacan maintain the H2O balance stable alternatively of intensive transpiration. Besides, its foliages are sclerenchymatous and about lush at the same time ( Kalapos T.,1989 ) . Furthermore, many herbaceous species are characterized by adaptative steps and could confront drouth ( Dvorak and Volder, 2010 ) . Some adaptative steps for Sedum species and stress-tolerant grasses and herbaceous are CAM photosynthetic tracts, H2O storage variety meats, succulent foliages which characterized the Sedum species, drought-avoidance ( bulbs and ruderals ) and woody growing. These and other morphological and anatomical characteristics could cut down the heat addition and H2O loss ( Wolf and Lundholm, 2008 ) . Grasss and forbs are characterized by low root H2O electrical capacity and/or drouth turning away which allow them to last in green roof systems ( Wolf and Lundholm, 2008 ) . It is besides deserving observing the importance in respects to the monocultures ofKoeleria glaucaandLotus corniculatusholding shown really good warming extenuation and chilling effects consequences. Besides combinations which included these species proofed to be really suitable. These species are both characterized by holding high evapotranspiration values andLotus corniculatusbesides being good of making high works screen due to strong vegetive growing. In respects to the Sedum speciesPhedimus floriferum,it is confirmed that it is really good for green roofs. Although it was frequently hotter than the other species likely due to its CAM metamorphosis it had a positive consequence on the other species.Phedimus floriferumwas presented with combinations which showed the best heat emphasis extenuation and kept the temperatures at low degrees during the measurement period. Several surveies investigatedSedumspecies as they are the most normally used for extended green roofs. Most of the surveies concluded thatSedumspecies can be characterized as ideal species and the best option for green roofs because of their facultative CAM metamorphosis, stress- tolerance and ability to re-sprout ( Butler and Orians, 2011 ; Farrellet al. ,2013 ; Nagase and Dunnett, 2012 ; Van Mechelenet al. ,2014 ) . Since none of the deep-rootedPhedimuspersons died in the survey, it must besides be noted that the high continuity of the species is another positive fac et.5.3 Plant Cover and Temperature of Studied Plant SpeciesIn current survey that have been examined in respects to the dealingss between the works screen and average temperatures of the mesocosms, there was the premise that the works screen would had influenced the temperatures. It was concluded that temperatures were so slightly influenced by the works screen, the higher the works cover the lower were the temperatures. This had so led to the decision that the species which are characterized by distributing via vegetive growing such asPhedimus floriferumandLotus corniculatusare advantageous for green roofs. A high screen and leaf wonts of workss can besides be good.5.4 Restrictions of the StudyAs antecedently stated the chief problem/limitation during measurings was the clip consequence on tray temperatures. In order to cut down the job of different heating throughout the twenty-four hours, measurings were carried out at midday when the radiation and the temperatures usually reach a tableland. Besides, dry and wet â€Å" unreal foliages † were used and exposed to the same environmental conditions ( air temperature, radiation, wind velocity ) as the trays in order to avoid theoretical appraisals of baselines. It was observed that the temporal temperature gradient decreased when the measurings were carried out at midday. By this, the clip consequence was partially solved but it still existed. Furthermore, for most of the measuring day of the months at that place was a good convergence between the temperatures of unreal foliages measured by the usage of thermocouples and the IR-camera. Thus the emissivity needed non to be adapted. As mentioned antecedently, the thermic imagination was performed within two hours and this period of clip could hold resulted in big differences in ambient temperature or the consecutive warming of the trays. One solution was to cut down this clip period but due to the high figure of trays it was about impossible to execute the thermic imagination in a shorter clip length. Maes and Steppe ( 2012 ) had besides indicated this restriction in thermic imaging so they alternatively highlighted the clip devouring process of thermic imagination. Another solution to execute thermic imagination of all trays in one spell is the usage of aircraft but this method leads to a instead harsh declaration of images ( Leuzingeret al. ,2010 ) . It is besides of import to observe that the clip consequence had complicated the finding of the important differences between the systems, due to the high criterion divergences. However, the consequences of this survey clearly indicated important differences between the systems and the control trays. Besides, it can be concluded that systems equipped with species such asKoeleria glaucaandLotus corniculatusshowed satisfactory consequences and could be characterized as being appropriate works species. The restriction as stated above in respects to the clip consequence besides led to the determination to maintain the emissivity to a default value of 1 since the survey was concerned in temperature differences between the systems and non in the absolute temperatures of the objects ( works leaves, dirt substrate, pebbles and lava ) . However, as mentioned in subdivision 3.3.1 during March and April 2014 ( before the measurings started ) several efforts were made in order to define/calculate the emissivity of the studied works species but because of the complexness the efforts were kept to a lower limit. It is deserving observing that most surveies on works temperatures set emissivity to a default value and that there are merely little differences between dirt and works emissivities ( Leuzinger and Korner, 2007 ; Maes and Steppe, 2012 ) . It would besides be interesting to analyze day-to-day rhythms of leaf temperatures particularly inPhedimussince it is a facultative CAM species. Unfortunately another restriction of this survey which wasn’t conducted was that this survey didn’t examine the day-to-day behavior in footings of the temperature and transpiration of the workss. If the restriction had been conducted the behavior ofPhedimuswould hold besides been researched in order to detect its transpiration.5.5 Inventions of the StudyDespite the restrictions mentioned above that had non been conducted the current survey is the first in which a high figure of replicated green roof mesocosms were researched. Every system had eight replicates and the control trays were seven. This high figure of replicates is sufficient for stand foring temperature measurings, which had ne'er been studied on green roof works species. The measurings were carried out from May until July in 2014. This long measuring period allowed more observations about the studied works species and their thermic behavior over clip in different conditions conditions and state of affairss. The usage of IR-thermometry can be considered as another invention since this method is new and it started to be used in recent old ages. However, this could be seen as a hazard since there are no fixed protocols available for IR-thermometry on workss. As antecedently mentioned, the usage of thermic imagination and infrared cameras enables the observation of thermic conditions of the objects in item. The technique of infrared thermometry has started to be normally used because of its truth. Infrared cameras are now being used more and more by works scientists because the costs of the equipment has been diminishing. Another of import factor is the usage of image analysis to derive mean, lower limit and maximal temperatures of selected objects and it has besides brought in a new method in respects to research. The corresponding package of the camera, IRBIS ®, has been a really helpful tool in order to research the temperatures of the studied workss. As a farther affair in respects to the statistical analysis that was performed in order to place important differences between the mesocosm systems, and controls and besides between the different types described as advanced because so many statistical trials were carried out for each day of the month of measurings in order to compare the systems.6 DecisionIn the last decennaries, the effects of planetary heating have become progressively seeable. One technique used to extenuate urban heat is the building of â€Å" green roofs † , a method that is progressively used in many states. Green roof workss have the capableness to change the microclimate outside and inside of edifices. A new method to look into the temperature and accordingly the chilling potency of workss is infrared thermometry. Thermal imaging utilizing infrared cameras enables the observation of thermic conditions of the objects in item. Topographic point measurings of foliage temperatures utilizing thermocouples a re inferior to IR-thermometry but the latter attack has restrictions, excessively. The survey was carried out to look into the effectivity of five commonly used green roof works species:Koeleria glauca( a grass ) ,Lotus corniculatus( a leguminous plant ), Dianthus carthusianorum( a herb ) ,Thymus serpyllum (a low turning bush ) andPhedimus floriferum( a succulent ) . The undermentioned three hypotheses were tested: – The workss have an effectual chilling potency as compared to the bare dirt. – TheSedumspecies,Phedimus floriferum,could hold a positive consequence on the other species and could cut down heat emphasis. – Plant mixtures of different species are more effectual than monocultures. The overall aims of this survey was to i ) Compare the deep-rooted trays with control trays ( au naturel dirt ) in order to look into the chilling potency of workss. two ) Examine the effectivity ofPhedimus floriferumin footings of evapotranspiration, heat consequence extenuation and possible positive consequence on the other species. three ) Compare the works mixtures with monocultures to place important differences. The consequences in general supported the first hypothesis. It had particularly supported the speciesKoeleria glaucaandLotus corniculatusand some of the mixtures with these species holding shown to hold significantly lower surface temperatures than the controls trays and some of the deep-rooted mesocosms for the whole measuring period. The consequences in respects to the 2nd hypothesis was besides supported.ThePhedimus floriferumso had a positive consequence on the other species as the combinations with the species kept the temperatures at lower degrees during the measurement period. SincePhedimusis a extremely drought stress-tolerant and relentless species, it had a positive consequence on the ecological services of green roofs. The consequences besides lead to the credence of the 3rd hypothesis that works mixtures are more effectual than monocultures since the best systems in footings of extenuating the heat effects were works mixtures. However, the survey besides faced some restrictions such as the clip consequence on tray temperatures and the proper accommodation of emissivity values. Several efforts were made and several methods were applied in order to turn to those limitations. Harmonizing to the literature, old surveies had faced the same restrictions. In order to cut down the clip effects during measurement runs of a high figure of replicates, high scaffolds should be used from which all objects can be monitored in one spell. However, due to the big field of position the low declaration of images would hold been a job. Taking exposure of all the objects at the same clip had its advantages in that many images could be taken over clip, e.g. to analyze day-to-day temperature rhythms of works surfaces. This could be characterized as an mentality which should be investigated farther by similar experiments in the hereafter, in order to see whether it helps the survey to minimise or extinguish similar restrictions and limitations and besides to lend to this current research.

Barbara Allan a Typical Ballad Essay

To this day, ballads are still enjoyed by some individual although, many generations ago they were at the very heart of amusement. They were passed on orally, centring interesting subjects such as tragic love. Typically, ballads are fairly simple, they do no tend to focus on characterization, they have a rapid dialogue, they are usually in the form of quatrains, and rhyming in abcb. The poem â€Å"Bonny Barbara Allan† is a typical ballad since it follows the norm by applying four major elements; it is written in quatrains, has an abcb rhyming scheme pattern, rapid dialogues, and a lack of characterization. Throughout the poem, some words’ importance are emphasized by stresses such as in this stanza â€Å"slowly, slowly raise she up† gives us the impression that even as we read, it becomes slower and slower. Furthermore, we can identify easily the tragic love present which is again another typical element of ballads. We can notice this element especially in these two particular quatrain: â€Å"O it’s I’m sick, and very, very sick, And ’tis a’ for Barbara Allan:† â€Å"O the better for me ye’s never be, Tho you heart’s blood were a spilling. (Line 13-16) â€Å"O dinna ye mind, you man,† said she, â€Å"When ye was in the tavern a drinking, That ye made the healths gae round and round, And slighted Barbara Allan?† (Line 17-20) In her stubbornness, Barbara Allan refuses to forgive Sir John Graeme for not  toasting to her health even knowing he was ill. She left him to die without complete peace, she held this grudge against him until he passed away. Despite the grudge she held, her love was genuine and consequently chose to die for John. The action of dying for him is not written word for word although, we are not left guessing her fate, the use of symbolism in particular the â€Å"bed† suggest a funeral. All the elements needed for it to be a typical ballad are present. The format of the stanzas, the rhyming scheme, the attention paid to characterization, and the speed of the dialogues all correspond to the norm.

‘Management At Work Essay

1. According to a major economics consulting firm, Fiat’s â€Å"South American operations are the jewel in the Italian company’s global operations.†* Fiat has plants in Brazil and Argentina, and Brazil is its biggest market, well ahead of its home-country market. In 2011, with the Chrysler venture taking up more and more of the firm’s attention—and as European sales suffered a steep decline rumors began to circulate that Marchionne might move Fiat headquarters from Italy to the United States. Discuss Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler as part of a strategy to transform itself from an international business into a multinational or global business. 2. What benefts does Fiat hope to gain from its arrange- ment with Chrysler? What potential drawbacks does it face? Judging from your analysis of benefts and draw- backs, explain why the Fiat–Chrysler arrangement might best characterized as a strategic alliance? In what sense is it best characterized as a direct investment? 3. What challenges in the U.S. cultural environment do you expect Fiat to face as it uses its Chrysler connec- tion to compete in the American car market? What management challenges will Marchionne face in the areas of planning and decision making, organizing, and leading? 1. Fiat has established it self as quality product. Bringing their reputation and business skill will attract American consumers. Having their attention and possibly blending the product they can conquer the America market for cars as well as Italy, Europe and other country markets. Being based in the US they can now claim Fiat as a US product and use all the tax cuts. Making it more affordable, now it has exotic looks without the exotic prices! If manufacturing is domestic with the Fiat cars as well as Chrysler I think it will be good for the US economy, providing more jobs on a middle class level. 2. The tax breaks as a US company for Fiat will be very beneficial as far as marketing/advertisement but a major draw back will be the high cost in labor as opposed to the labor cost in countries such as Mexico. Fiat will also have a situation of dealing with new labor laws. American labor laws are more stringent than other companies. This is also power tolerance country. Employees are not as submissive as those of other countries. Americans are considered lazy. Fiat bringing their CEO (Marchionne) to America to directly handle the merger will make the transition a lot soother for the company. When first appointed to Fiat CEO he laid off 10% of white collard employees and 20,000 labor employees, restructuring with fresh new talent, he will follow do the same plan with Chrysler. But bringing in his own people proven to be valuable. 3.This merger can be characterized as a direct investment because Fiat is take a chance a moving there location to the US. Fiat is dealing with this merger on a first hand basis. They are not operating business threw a third party. Americans are use to large cars. The idea of driving a smaller car, to a lot of Americans will socially awkward. They may need to find a social common ground with the American people make their car appear attractive as well as economical. As I said previously management American are considered lazy. Management may have difficulties with the competency of the American employees. They may have to find new way of encouragement to employees. Research: Fiat and Chrysler Fiat is now waiting for court verdict from the Delaware court before purchasing the remaining 41.5%. Fiat has a difference in value with VEBA ( U.S. healthcare trust) of the $2 billion. VEBA values the remaining 41.5% at $4 billion. Fiat wants to purchase the remaining 41.5%, merger the 2 companies then list them on the New York Stock Exchange by 2014. That will make them the 7th largest car manufactures in the world. Verdict is expected to continue until the end of July, 90 days from the last hearing on April 25. Until then Chrysler is at a stand still while Fiat must continue to sell car to buy the remainder of Chrysler. Source: Fiat awaits court verdict ahead of Chrysler merger http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/30/us-fiat-chrysler-elkann-idUSBRE94T0GA20130530

Transcript of Spoken Interaction with a Critical Commentary Essay

Transcript of Spoken Interaction with a Critical Commentary - Essay Example It helps researchers to determine a child’s sound abilities. Most natural discourse involves an adult and a child. The linguistic feature of the transcript below is phonology awareness, which involves analysis of sound patterns to come up with meanings. Many children learn to produce sounds, but cannot relate the sounds to the meanings of words. Other children are able to merge sounds to formulate words. The informant is a three-year-old girl. The dialogue took place on a farm in the countryside. The adult and the child were having a conversation about what they saw as in the farm. The adult is a distant relative of the child. They talked about the animals, plants and fruits, which they saw. Children listen to various sounds to learn their languages. They learn to differentiate various sounds, and to divide the speech into meaningful units to enable them to come up with words and sentences. Children also have to learn to extract a word from a speech sequence, and to understand the meaning of the word. They also learn to distinguish different sounds to understand the meanings of words with the same sounds. Some children may learn the meaning of words, but are unable to produce the correct sounds in their speech. Phonological awareness is the capability to concentrate on the elements of sound in speech. It also involves manipulation of sound elements such as syllables and phonemes. The awareness may include matching, fusion and study of spoken words. Child phonology describes the phenomena in children’s language. The descriptions of these aspects and developmental patterns are not sufficient to come up with a proposition of attainment of phonology. There are two dim ensions of phonological awareness; the first deals with the magnitude of the sound unit, while the second looks into the nature of manipulation of sound units. The second dimension also involves a child’

Technical and communication failures that caused disasters Assignment

Technical and communication failures that caused disasters - Assignment Example The technical failure that caused the disaster was the release of methyl isocyanate (MIC) which was due to water that leaked into one of the storage tanks of Union Carbide pesticide factory (Long, 2008). The problem was aggravated by another technical failure when the main warning siren did not go off for another two hours. Apparently, the tank alarms have not functioned for almost four years already. Other technical problems were revealed upon investigation. These include failure to address safety violations, backup system were either not functioning or inexistent, plant was equipped with only one backup system, which was not the norm, over capacity of the tank which held the MIC, water sprays were ineffective and the pipes and valves have not been repaired or replaced (Long, 2008). The technical failure that caused this disaster was the flawed Soviet reactor design which was operated by plant operators who were not properly trained. According to the World Nuclear Association, there was over pressure which was caused by the interaction of very hot fuel with the cooling water (2011). They went on further to say that the over pressure then resulted in the partial detachment of the cover plate of the reactor. The fuel channels were then ruptured and the control rods jammed (World Nuclear Association, 2011). At least 5% of the radioactive reactor core was released through steam and fires, into the atmosphere and downwind (World Nuclear Association, 2011). The reason for the earthquake is due to the abrupt slipping of the crystal rocks comprising the Pacific and North American Plates by as much as 2 meters (7 ft) along their common boundary-the San Andreas fault system (Nakata & Meyer, 2009). There was technical failure in terms of the construction of the buildings. Most of them were extensively damaged because it was built with unreinforced masonry and they were erected on flood plain sediments

Problem Statement Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Problem Statement - Assignment Example Rewards technique improves performance of teachers through extrinsic and intrinsic aspects. Extrinsic rewards are given to individuals; for instance, bonuses, trophies, and compliments. Intrinsic rewards involve internal satisfaction; for instance, sense of accomplishment. Education instructors are also motivated through participation in the decision making process of elementary schools and other education institutions. Proper work-life balance is also instrumental in improving academic performance standards of teachers. Personal and family time should be adequately balanced with work efforts, so as to realize minimal conflict. Work-life programs involve; flextime, workplace wellness, telecommuting, and family support (Skemp, 2007). Elementary schools entail education institutions where children aged between five and eleven years, pursue education. In United States the elementary schools starts form grade kindergarten up to the second grade (K-2). At this education level, learning comprises both physical aspects and academic aspects. The elementary education sector in America experiences challenges like underperformance. This is due to inadequate efforts of education instructors at the level of education. Public education institutions are particularly affected by the underperformance issue. The key underperformance issues entails; low self confidence among the teaching staffs, low success expectations, inadequate interest in education matters at elementary level, achievement anxiety, and fear or fear which results in low work confidence. This specific research question illustrates focus and also the design of the research study. The question enables easy identification of the variables of the study; the dependent and the independent variables. The specific research question also identifies the national sector that will be covered during the study. According to the question, the main subject under discussion is the performance of elementary

Research Activities Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Activities - Research Paper Example The journey through highly successful advertising practices and the obvious benefits attached of Aspirin, specifically Bayer Aspirin is one of note. Bayer AG according to the Bayer AG website was originally founded as, â€Å"The general partnership "Friedr. Bayer et comp." was founded on August 1, 1863 in Barmen - now a district of the city of Wuppertal - by dye salesman Friedrich Bayer (1825-1880) and master dyer Johann Friedrich Weskott (1821-1876). The object of the company was the manufacture and sale of synthetic dyestuffs.† (â€Å"Bayer AG† 1) Originally medicines were not something that this company desired to promote and it did quite well in the promotion of its synthetic dyes. Growing from three original employees to over 300 by the time it became a joint stock company. This rapid growth was almost directly attributable to the success and ability of its founders in marketing and advanced approaches to products. â€Å"Sterling Drug benefited from World War I. B ecause supplies of drugs from Germany were cut off by the Allied blockade, they set up the Winthrop Company to manufacture the active ingredients. After the war, Sterling acquired the American Bayer Company. They established a separate subsidiary, the Bayer Company, to market Bayer Aspirin† (â€Å"Sterling Drug, Inc.† 1). ... â€Å"Bayer AG transformed into a management holding company and the related hive-down of business operations into legally independent companies, the number of employees dropped from 36,010 at the beginning of 2003 to 590 on December 31, 2003.† (â€Å"Bayer AG (BAYRY)† 4). This reorganization reduced the direct workforce and enhanced the ability of the parent holding corporation to better separate assets as well as increase overall profitability. Aspirin was the result of massive efforts towards research within the original Bayer organization and in 1899 Aspirin ® was developed by Felix Hoffman and quickly became known as the drug of the century. According to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lemelson program, Hoffman’s â€Å"miracle drug† was the result of solid research and hard work. On August 10, 1897, he succeeded with this endeavor: By combining acetylating salicylic acid with acetic acid, he created acetylsalicylic acid, or ASA, with the right characteristics for consumer use. The substance had the ability to relieve fever, pain and inflammation, all without upsetting the patient's stomach (â€Å"Aspirin† 1) Prior efforts had made this a difficult drug for people to use as it had irritated the stomach severely. Now it was able to be used regularly and did not cause the irritation to the stomach that had occurred before. The advertising behind this wonder drug also showed the desire of the manufacturers to promote it as in 1917 patents regarding the manufacture of this drug expired. In July 1916 a journal titled, The Pharmaceutical Era included the following information regarding the advertising campaign being conducted by The Bayer Company, Inc. This journal stated that, â€Å"The Bayer Company, Inc., which for some months past has

Shakespeare's Othello Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Shakespeare's Othello - Essay Example Desdemona’s father’s assumption that she will marry a handsome man of his choice proves wring. He never imagined that his daughter is an individual of independent opinions. She tells Brabantio how she loves Othello and gives perfect logic for her action. Desdemona is proud of her beauty and believes that she can influence men easily, and this is an indication that she is not a mature woman. Lovers who are easily won over are also easily lost and as such that type of love is not true love but infatuation. Even though Desdemona is an attractive young woman, she is stubborn when it comes to her own interest and she will cross any loyalty to go by her inclinations. Her talk with her father is intelligently presented, she is respectful to him, she feels obliged to him on many counts, but makes it clear that her loyalties have changed with the time. She understands the reason for her father’s wrath and yet her decision to leave him is final. Reason is enemy number one of love and love will ambush reason at the most unexpected time. When Desdemona’s father was thinking that his daughter is absolutely loyal to him, she had perfected her alternative plans tactfully but boldly. She had fallen for Othello and would not like to lose time in cementing the relationship. In this context she devises a plan in pursuit of love which would not have occurred in a woman’s mind belonging to the 21st century. Desdemona pleads with Othello to find a friend to woo her by telling the stories related to his valor. This means that she was encouraging Othello to court her directly. Iago blows hot and cold into the relationships of her father and Othello. His intentions are not sincere and he wears the mask of a well-wisher and counselor of Desdemona. Just for loving Othello, Desdemona cannot be condemned. In the conventional societal norms of the

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Research - Essay Example The question has been studied by people such as Carl Rogers, Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. These men put together theoretical models that were intended to demonstrate how our personalities might develop within the often conflicting and always interacting elements of our internal and external structure. Among these models, though, Carl Jung developed a relatively uncomplicated approach on which many of the personality theories today have been based. Originally building his research off of the ideas of Sigmund Freud, who was his mentor for a while, Jung proposed that the personality was comprised of the interaction among four essential factors that related to the way in which a person gathers information and then how that person processes the information gathered. â€Å"Carl Jungs psychological theory fundamentally underpins most of the popular and highly regarded personality systems today† (Chapman, 2010), but it has not gone untouched. Following in his footsteps as well as they could, Katherine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers developed his ideas further to create a strong personality test that types people into one of 16 possible personalities (Carroll, 2009). The test found at 41 Questions did not provide the kind of four letter results I expected after doing research on personality theory and personality testing, but I was surprised at the accuracy of the results. What Jung discovered in his research was that people basically have two functions in their lives. First, they have to take in information from around them through their five senses – hearing, sight, taste, touch and smell. Next, they have to make decisions about these things and what they mean. After he identified these functions, Jung then determined that there are two ways in which we might approach each of these functions. While taking in information, we rely to varying degrees on

Consider the product level models of New Product Development Essay

Consider the product level models of New Product Development - Essay Example These factors make the approach to new product development a critical one (Ribbens, 2000, p. 1). The process thus requires management support; it must also benefit from the experience of new product development teams composed of people from all affected activities; it has to follow distinct phases with extremely well defined activities in order to enhance understanding, greater accuracy and reduce risks and failures that are eminent in new product development. Key elements in new product development The process of new product development takes into consideration seven distinct elements, stages or phases. The first element is idea generation. This is the most critical aspect of all the elements in new product development because without idea generation it is difficult to come up with new products. Here ideas are gathered which present possible product options. Many companies conduct idea generation as a continuous process with contributions from within the organization and outside the organization. A number of methods are used and these may include focus group discussions with consumers, comments suggestions and feedback from customers and research from secondary sources. Creative problem solving technique such as brainstorming is used in this case that enables creative minds to come up with new ideas about an existing problem or a gap in the market. In the brainstorming session, first individuals are told about the problem as a creative challenge. This is important in order to come up with ideas that are viable for a new product. After this, people are given a time limit to think and come up with ideas. When the session begins, the people voice out their ideas and the facilitator lists them down with no criticism made. The best ideas are selected by the facilitator and which all group members agree with. The ideas are then evaluated on a scoring criteria and the idea with the highest score becomes the solution to the problem. Another model, the creative problem solving process model advanced by Osborn-Parnes can also be used here if a feasibility analysis has been carried out to identify problems upon which ideas are generated and solutions sought (Blythe, 2006, p. 50). The model is composed of six stages that can be compressed into three with distinct activities at each of these stages. They include: exploring the challenge which involves identifying the goal, gathering relevant data and clarifying the problem at hand; generating ideas involves coming up with options to solve the problem; and preparing for action which involves solution finding and preparing a plan for action. The process is lauded for its involvement of convergent and divergent thinking that can be used at each of these three stages. The second element is screening and this involves the careful and critical evaluations of the options presented by the new product development team to isolate the best idea or attractive options. This could be done in rounds depending on th e number of ideas and may also involve a number of techniques. As the ideas are being evaluated, other considerations are also made in terms of potential sales, the costs of production, profitability, competition. Only the accepted ideas

International Business Entry Case Study Essay Example for Free

International Business Entry Case Study Essay High turnover. Small companies tend to have a small structure, then job opportunities are few, which force employees to change job. Poor customer service. Distributors mostly only care about selling off a product, then they direct customers with Microsoft. The main problem is that Microsoft Customer service is focused on developed countries, where the needs and tools are greatly different. In some cases the technical service is non-existent, heavily hurting the image of the company, not the distributor. Poor input for further developing products. If all the deployment and input is being done and received by a distributor, then it is most likely that the information will never reach Microsofts engineering department. Without that knowledge products will stall for that particular market in a short period of time, inflicting loses in the long run for the company. 2. Are there countries where Microsoft’s strategy might not work? Why? Small countries with an unique language possibly are the toughest. Microsoft strategy mean that while local partners are relied to market the products, Microsoft is still in charge of the code and language. In that regard Microsoft is very vulnerable to small IT companies that develop solutions for their language. With small partners, it is easy for local developers to attract those distribution channels for their own product, therefore using Microsofts resources and know-how to make profit out of other products, making Microsoft lose money. 3. What other kinds of businesses might find Microsoft’s strategy to be effective? Please explain. Car manufacturers. They basically operate the same scheme with distributors. When a cars manufacturer enter a new country most times they give the concession to sell the cars to a local person or company. Almost entirely those distributors operate in a very small area. The manufacturer covers Marketing and promotion, while the distributor has to develop their sales only in their area. 4. How might Microsoft need to change its strategy once it has established a strong position in a foreign market? They need to deploy a strong services net. They need to be in constant contact with customers in order to assure that they meet their current and future needs. They need to deploy training facilities for their products in order to have a strong pool of expertise from where enterprises can nurture in order to keep fidelity with the products. They need to partner with high profile local companies to develop solutions in order to gain traction in the country. 5. Describe how host governments might react to Microsofts entry strategy? Governments usually react in a good way. The way Microsoft do business benefit host countries a lot, since it creates a lot of jobs for the locals. Nonetheless there might be some countries who could think that Microsoft is a danger for their local IT industry. In those cases their strategy also soften their position a lot, since the entry in indirect. Reference Glusing, J. (2006, June 1). The third world goes high-tech: The dirt road to the information superhighway. Spiegel. Retrieved from http://www. spiegel. de/international/spiegel/the-third-world-goes-high-tech-the-dirt-road-to-the-information-superhighway-a-419034. html

The Solar System And The Earth Essay Example for Free

The Solar System And The Earth Essay THE SOLAR CYCLE AND ITS EFFECT ON THE EARTH The motion of the sun can trigger earthquakes. The solar flares also have the capability of altering the length of the day. There exists a correlation between solar activities and weather. There is a correlate between various geophysical phenomena, volcanic eruption, earthquake, solar activities and the length of the day. DYNAMICS OF A PHOTON     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã¢â‚¬Å"Photons are often described as wavelets because a single photon covers only a very small amount of space† (www.play-hookey.com) .A photon of light is produced when light from a source (sun, etc) of an appropriate frequency (threshold frequency) impinges on the atom or metal surface, a phenomenon referred to as the photoelectric effect. The light impinging on the metal surface could be UV or infrared rays of appropriate frequency.   The number of emitted electron varies from one atom to the other due to the difference in the characteristics intensity of light. The more the intensity of the light, the more the number of emitted electron or photon of light. Another reason for the difference in the amount of photon of atoms in the periodic chart is due to the difference in the mass.The heavier the atom, the more the no emitted electron.In the same vein the energy of the emitted electron depends on the frequency of the impinging light rays. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES OF THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM   Infrared rays and radio waves carry less energy per photon than visible light. They have low frequency and high wavelength. On the contrary, UV rays, x ray and gamma rays have high frequency and low wavelength. All travel at the same speed as light. The difference lies in the difference in the wavelength .X rays have found their use in medicine as they penetrate human body. Radio waves have weak penetrating power. Visible light can pass through transparent objects e.g. glass.   USE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM TO DETERMINE COMPOSITION AND MOTION OF STAR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Today it’s been possible to determine the chemical composition of the stars. The valuable tool to do this is via spectroscopy (i.e. the study of a thing using spectra) .Astrophysics and spectroscopy are closely related. â€Å"Astrophysics is the aspect of astronomy that deals with the physical properties of stars, galaxies and other astronomical objects† (Astrophysics on astronomical.org) .Sunlight can be separated into its various colors via a prism. Dark lines in the spectrum indicate areas with little or no light. On the earth similar line could be seen with hot gases spectra. These patterns correspond to specific element. The chemical elements in the sun which is mainly hydrogen are also found on planet earth. The vast similarities in the absorption line of sun and the stars lead to the conclusion that the stars composed majorly of helium and hydrogen with traces of other elements. So many information is revealed by the absorption line pattern of stars. A large domain of stellar spectra contains absorption lines . The star must be made up of an outer part which is less dense, cooler and atmospheric and also the inside must be hot and denser and produces a continuous spectrum. The temperature of the earth is inversely proportional to the distance from the earth’s centre. Stars lack molten interior as opposed to what is observed in other planets. The denser part is also gaseous because of the high temperature. From EM spectrum it appears to us as if the stars (and sun, planet and moon) rotates around us. On a daily basis, it arises in the east and set in the west. This is the diurnal motion.                   Works Cited: Ken, Bigelow.†Characteristics of a Photon.†(1996, 2000-2007) Retrieved from www.play-hookey.com on Sept. 27, 2008. Scientia Astrophysical Organization.†Astrophysics and Astronomy.† Retrieved from: www.Astrophysical.org on Sept 27, 2008.

Why Women Speak Differently Than Men

Why Women Speak Differently Than Men INTRODUCTION This theoretical seminar paper will elaborate on the significant differences of language or speaking behaviour concerning gender. The different ways men and women use language has been of interest in the study of discourse in awhile. Current studies have revealed that women use more words related to psychological and social processes, whereas men refer more to object properties and impersonal topics. (Newman (2008) p. 211) However, do women really speak differently than men or is language possibly even sexist? Ann Weatherall, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, assumed that language issues concerning gender are political issues. Furthermore, she thinks that a womans social position is not only reflected by language, but it could challenge it. In addition, she says that certain knowledge about the relationship between language and gender is significant, due to information about strategies for engendering social change for the better. (Weatherall (2002) p. 2) The overall aim of this paper is to draw a conclusion on a de facto incidence of concrete language or speaking differences in meaning/ message, words and phrases between men and women. Where are the differences concerning politeness? Is there a womens language and why do men mostly dominate conversations, if women are better at talking than men? In which way do language skills develop during the childhood? All these questions will be answered in this theoretical analysis. Summing up, this analysis identifies when, where, and how do men and women communicate differently, including why these differences exist. The following research provides a reflection on how men and women communicate in various contexts and domains. ANALYSIS Theoretical Concepts Generally speaking, gender differences in terms of language contain political, professional and personal implications. Other guiding principles are biological or social differences, which need to be taken into consideration. The following analysis points out both sex similarities and sex differences with respect to communicative behaviour. In some domains mens normal speech is similar to womens talking behaviour and in cases they differ completely. In progress, it should be anticipated that both sexes budge in manifold cultural and social environments and thus avail themselves of alternative meanings by sharing universal terms and expressions. Those subtle distinctions often cause misunderstandings and even confusion regarding verbal and non-verbal messages. (Canary, 1998, p. ix-xi) Language differences between men and women can be found in vocabulary innovation, pronunciation, communication style and grammar. According to Ann Weatherall, a scientist of psychology, the nineteenth-century contained an awareness of a relationship between language and womens social status due to womens movement and the publications of this time. (Weatherall, 2002, pp. 2) Language Development during Infancy Even in infancy at the age of nine to fifteen years, the development of language diverse grids can be observed. In their article Sex differences in neural processing of language among children of 2008 by Douglas D. Burman, Tali Bitan and James R. Booth, the scientists research on the sex differences with regard to cerebral activities. They suggest that girls rely on a supramodal language network, whereas boys process visual and auditory words differently. Furthermore the scientists claim that females are generally better among language performance than males, even when they are only two or three years old. They say that boys start talking later, acquire vocabulary slower and show less spontaneous language than girls. (Burman (2008) pp. 1349) For their research study, they used a statistical model that generalized across task, stimulus modality, and age while accounting for variability in performance accuracy. Their findings revealed the following significant attributes: Girls exhibit a greater activation of language areas. In frontal and temporal regions the activation was bilaterally weaker among boys, as right-hemisphere activation was stronger among girls, reducing sensitivity with a higher threshold created the appearance of a laterality difference similar to that reported by others. The left fusiform and superior temporal gyri showed similar sex differences during non-linguistic sensory tasks, yet activation of the fusiform (as well as the left inferior frontal gyrus) was correlated with performance accuracy only during linguistic judgments. Correlation of the left fusiform activation with standardized reading scores further demonstrated its relevance to sex differences in language function. Finally, differences in brain behaviour correlations collapsed across language judgments or stimulus modality demonstrated that girls and boys rely on different brain areas for accurate language performance. (Burman (2008) p. 1357) Although both boys and girls showed bilateral activation, increasing our statistical threshold (thereby lowering sensitivity) resulted in marked sex differences in laterality, with frontal and temporal lobe activation appearing in the right-hemisphere of girls, where their activation was stronger than boys. (Burman (2008) p. 1358) As Jennifer Coates research found, girls acquire linguistic skills at a faster rate than boys. Moreover, they acquire patterns, which differentiate them from boys. The differences, initially thought to result from innate biological differences, are actually developments of distinctions in the linguistic environment of girls and boys. In the socialization process, language plays an important role for a child. [C]ildren are socialized into culturally approved sex roles largely through language. The process of learning to be male or female in our society means, in other words, to learn sex-appropriate language. There are four methods of acquiring socialization through language: The first approach would be through explicit comment on certain aspects of linguistic behaviour, for instance, through swearing, taboo words, verbosity or politeness. Secondly, adults provide different linguistic models for children to identify with. A third way would be that adults talk differently to children d epending on the sex of the child. Experiences say that adults tend to interrupt girls and lisp more when speaking to little girls. The fourth way says that adults have different preconditions of male and female children. Girls are expected to be more verbally able than male infants. The locus of linguistic change can be child language. Linguistic change in progress will be revealed, when we compare the variety of language acquired by children with the variety used by adults of the same ethnic groups or social classes. During infancy and adolescence the individual learns linguistic behaviour appropriate to its sex and becomes part of his or her identity. (Coates, 1986, pp. 133, 134) iii. Major Differences According to Canary and Dindia, the term gender concerns social, symbolic construction that expresses the meaning a society confers on biological sex. Furthermore, they claim gender is related to cultures within any society given. Those two researchers found various communication-related differences including that male infancy and adolescent interacting contains a lot of interruption, self-displays, challenges, strong assertion or direct judgement than female childhood and adolescent communication. Their observations showed that females rely more on verbal communication than men, comprising personal disclosures. Women exhibit this behaviour to maintain and to build intimacy with friends or potential partners. On the other hand, men put confidence in shared activities or doing complaisance for others to build, sustain and express intimacy with friends and potential partners. Additionally, the scientists claim that men only talk about relationships, if there emerged a serious tension or problem requiring attention, whereas women conciliate when talking about relationships. In general, men react less sensitive to and perceptive of others nonverbal cues than women. Moreover, females tend to be more involved in taking care for others than men do. Resulting from these facts comes the idea that both sexes follow expressive and instrumental goals, although one sex may stress one objective more than the other. In other words, males and females misunderstand each other in terms of requesting, questioning, listening or offering assistance. Contrary to sex differences, gender distinctions are cultivated, but not compulsive. (Canary, 1998, p. 20) Speaking mannerism is also shaped by group experiences such as football, hunting, ballet, cheerleading, being father or mother, president or even a hobo. Other social ideologies can be personal appearances or professional options, which underly and reflect social, economic and political power, the income and economic security, which is provided by women and men. Those indications constitute the major distinctions in male and female communication behaviour. As gender theory is seen as a social construction rooted in hierarchy, which means that power is more useful than gender in defining general differentiation. Power imbalance gives information about varieties between various groups of unequal standing, containing parents and children, slaves and masters, prisoners and guards or workplace related hierarchies. (Canary, 1998, p. 21) All in all, owing to Canarys and Dindias evidences, differences between man and women depend on social structures and practices that create and normalize disparate power and correspondingly disparate opportunities, experiences and socially approved identities and activities for the sexes. In their point of view, there was a misinterpretation of personal qualities of human beings by justifying the unequal treatment of individual persons. With the help of Tavris work on academic and popular instances and endemic differences between males and females, the researchers state that mens and womens daily behaviour is adjusted to their roles they play, the ideologies they belief in and the work they do. Thus, their human qualities can be encourages by transforming roles, ideologies and work in both sexes. A further perception in terms of social prescriptions is the fact that women are naturally better than men at taking care of others and of the range of things necessary for all of us to exist. So, we can say in the first place, the existing differences result from culture without being unalterable or essential. (Canary, 1998, pp. 34-36) When looking at conversational interaction, we observe many differences and even a polarized depiction of men and women. The differences imply thoughts, feelings, responds, reactions, love, needs and appreciation. The so-called socialization of women and men develops contrasting communication styles. From this follows that men tend to be direct and assertive, on the other hand, women have a penchant to be polite, expressive and to assume an interpersonal orientation. It needs to be added that those differences reside within the individual. A persons gender does not define its entity, but one should pay attention to what someone does in interaction with others. Male or female talking behaviour depends on the situational context and for that reason no person can be allocated masculine or feminine in significant contexts. [The] construction of polarized conception of men and women in interaction helps to sustain current realities and keep inequalities in place. (Canary, 1998, p. 77) As we learned, the comparison of talking behaviour between men and women reveals consistent gender differences in language use. For women the English language served as way to discuss people and their actions, as well as communicating internal processes to others, including doubts. Additionally, women express thoughts, emotions, senses, negations and verbs in present and past tense more often than men. For men language serves rather as a repository of labels for external events, objects and processes. Along with technical linguistic features such as numbers, articles, prepositions and long words were discussion of occupation, money, sports and even swear words. One phenomenon of both sexes is the indistinguishability in their references to sexuality, anger, time, the use of first-person plural, the number of words and question marks and the insertion of qualifiers in the form of exclusion words (e.g., but, although). The main difference of men was that their speech was characterized by more negative emotion and more references to the past relative to their writing. Natural language tends to be more informal and less constrained, perhaps because spoken language is more natural than writing. Especially girls use function words like pronouns at much higher rates in conversations. Unlike women, men talk about concrete objects, which require nouns and articles, when having a conversation about any topic. Summing up, the general message by Newman, Groom, Handelman and Pennebaker concerns gender differences that are larger on tasks and place fewer constraints on language use. Despite this, both sexes use language in reliably and systematically different ways. Writing about a traumatic experience is very different from writing a class exam, but men and women wrote differently across both contexts. This mirrors the substantial intraindividual consistency in language use reported in earlier work. Thus, gender differences in written and spoken language appear to be reliable and subtle. Their analysis has identified differences at four major levels of research- words, phrases, sentences, and overall messages. Primarily presented word differences possess the most direct correspondence to previous literature. However, many phrase-level, sentence-level, and message-level features are associated with particular word choices. (Newman, 2008, pp. 229,230) iv. Word Differences Discoveries found that women used more intensive adverbs and affect words regarding emotional references, not being always restricted to positive emotions. Successful replications for mens speaking behaviour contained a substantial increased use of numbers, articles, long words, and swearing. Women are more likely to refer both to positive feelings and to negative emotions than men, especially, sadness and anxiety. The finding of a male advantage in anger words is not replicated. The most striking discovery is that unlike men, women are the more prolific users of first-person singular pronouns (i.e., I, me, and my). (Newman, 2008, pp. 230, 231) v. Phrase Differences The category of polite forms (e.g., Would you mind if, Should I get the door?) confirms a small but reliable tendency to be appearing more often in womens texts. Women were more likely to hedge than men. However, women were no more likely to use words from the tentative category (e.g., maybe, perhaps). The use of phrases, such as I guess, indicate the findings that women use more polite forms, and are reluctant to force their views on other people. (Newman, 2008, p. 231) vi. Sentences Differences In terms of words used, men consume more airtime. The data of Newman data found no evidence of any differences in overall word count. Women ask more questions and insert more tag questions into their sentence. (Newman, 2008, p. 231) vii. Differences in message It concerns what is implicit in language rather than what is contained in languages manifest features. Even so, it is informative to consider the types of topics that males and females use their words to talk about. There is strong evidence that women seem to have more of a rapport style, discussing social topics and expressing internal thoughts and feelings more often, whereas men report more often, describing the quantity and location of objects. The absence of a difference in first-person plural may indicate that the word we is not a simple marker of a communal, interdependent mindset rather than indicating doubts about whether women really are rapport oriented. (Newman (2008) pp. 232-233) In the sociolinguistic research of sex differentiation, scientists found that sex differences in language often cut across social class variation. It seems that women from the middle class apply proportionally more standard forms, accorded to overt prestige by society. However, men from the working class apply proportionally more non-standard forms, which are closer to the vernacular. (Coates, 1986, pp. 77, 78) If we have a look at sex differences in communicative competence, it can be observed that men and women pursue different interactive modes. Exempli gartia, in mixed-sex conversations, men tend to interrupt women, which induces silence in the female mind. This strategy used by men is meant to control certain topics of conversation. In return, women have the conspicuous mannerism of minimal responses to indicate support for the person, who is talking. As a general rule, men tend to talk more, use more often swearwords or imperative forms to get things done, while women have a disposition to ask more questions. In terms of politeness, it is the women that avails herself of genteel linguistic forms. Such amassments of linguistic features are often called mens or womens style. Such conspicuous facts in speech are typical for people, who range within a low status society. Such linguistic clusters can be seen as powerful signs of mutual support and solidarity, when women talk to women. Thos e tokens can also be denoted as ideal form of co-operative discourse or co-counselling. Consequently, mens style could be describes as competitive and assertive by dominating mixed-sex interaction, whereas the womens style can be interpreted as co-operative and supportive. Looking at the speech community in respect of participation, it can be assumed that both males and females stick to a certain set of norms for conversational interaction. Needless to say, these norms are differently referring to women or men. What we can exclude is the assumption that these shared norms are grammatical or phonological, but men and women constitute distinct speech communities. (Coates, 1986, p. 117) Contexts are significantly different according to the same-sex or to mixed-sex conversations. The gender hierarchy becomes irrelevant, if all the talking participants are the same sex. In mixed-race conversation, one can observe dominance and oppression. When women interact with other women, they feel equal, but when speaking to men, they are dominated. (Coates, 1986, p. 161) IV. CONCLUSION Taking everything into consideration, interpreting the gender differences is clearly an expansive matter. Further investigation in the future could give some more indications of detailed explanation of the ways in which social roles and relationships between men and women contribute to differences in language use. As we learned during the analysis atop, the study of language caters an unambiguously social perspective on the study of gender differences. Understanding the main differences in communication style between human beings is obviously dependent on the maintenance of gender stereotypes. Communication differences concerning gender reflect a complex combination of social goals, situational demands, and socialization. The overall aim of this paper was to provide a clear outline of the differences in mens and womens language, and maybe offers a starting point for future research into the nature and origin of gender differences. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrates significant differences in the way that humans use language with respect to what they say and how they choose to say it. (Newman (2008) p. 233) Furthermore, the study found that girls have significantly greater activation in linguistic areas of the brain. The pattern of activation differences and the relationship of activation with performance accuracy and reading skill suggest that these differences underlie childhood sex differences in language performance. Furthermore, the results indicate that accurate performance among boys and girls depends on different brain regions, perhaps reflecting different approaches to linguistic processing despite extensive overlap in activated regions. Girls make language judgments based on linguistic content by accessing a common language network regardless of the sensory input, whereas boys rely on a modality-specific network. Although such differences reflect early differences in processing language, evidence does not currently suggest that differences in brain-behaviour correlations persist into adulthood. Instead, such differences may disappear as the development of sensory processing in boys catches up to girls, so that by adulthood language processing in both sexes relies on the efficiency of the brains linguistic network. This possibility warrants further study. Nonetheless, by characterizing the nature of sex differences in processing language during a period in which reading acquisition occurs, our findings represent an important step toward identifying the developmental basis for sex differences in language performance. (Burman (2008) pp. 1359, 1360) Summing up, this theoretical seminar paper tried to uncover sex and gender differences and has demonstrated that not only in our society exist male and female differences in language. Linguistic sex differences have socially undesirable consequences. Mens and womens differing understanding in conversational interaction can sometimes lead to miscommunication. [This] miscommunication between adult speakers in mixed conversations assumes that women and men talk differently and have different rules for conversation, because they belong to different subcultures. The path of using language concerning girls is a contributory factor to their disadvantaged position. Differences in girls and boys language are directly related to girls oppression, when looking at the differences in the gender roles and identities of women and men and the hierarchical nature of gender relations and the dominance of men. Language is one of the means by which individuals locate themselves in social space. Completi ng, speech can be seen as an act of identity, because while speaking the individuals defines him- or herself as male or female. (Coates, 1986, pp. 160, 161) It is hoped that this paper could help to understand the way males and females use language and their linguistic relationship a little better.

History Of Black Males In American Society Essay -- African-American R

History Of Black Males In American Society The black community have always been suppressed and oppressed by the dominant and powerful white members of society. The historical social order of Americans meant that traditionally positions of power have been held by a very exclusive group of people; members of this group are stereotypically middle class, middle aged, white males with nuclear families. This Caucasian dominance is well documented throughout history and is epitomized by the slavery of African, and Caribbean Negroes in America by white settlers and pilgrims, which continued for many hundreds of years. This has led to much resentment from the black community towards white people, as it is still very difficult for someone of an ethnic minority heritage to gain a position of any real authority or significance within the USA. Things have undoubtedly improved in America but a balance of equality has still not been achieved, evidenced today by Barack Obama becoming the first Black man to achieve election into the USAsenate (the highest form of government in the American administration apart from the cabinet). Whilst this demonstrates that society is becoming more equality based in the US, it also shows that out of 255 senate seats, a black person holds only one of them. This illustrates that American society favours those of white origin, as they do not trust black people in positions of power or importance. The situation with regards to racism has changed dramatically over the past fifty years; this is largely down to the work of black activists such as Dr Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Another individual who had a ... ...ssing over $225 million each, while the motion picture biography of Malcolm X, one of the most important cultural icons for black people, and one of the most influential figures in the change of racial tolerance and ultimately, world society grossed just $48 million. American society is still intolerant of black people and in film, more often then not, cast the African-Americans in the role of the minstrel. This has been noted by black people and have now taken to playing up to the role by creating spoof films such as the 'Scary Movie' trilogy which grossed over $500 million in total. This shows that whilst society in America has not changed much, except that white people pretend to be less prejudiced, black people have decided to take control and use their own societal positions to take advantage of white America.

New Age Voting :: Voting Government Essays

New Age Voting The government of the United States of America is founded upon the Constitution, written by our forefathers to create a working democracy incapable of transforming into a monarchy. Basic human rights were established, and power, although little, was given to each individual. The power given to the people can also be referred to as a voice, and in the election system we use, we call this voice a vote. This country fought for and gained its independence from injustices placed upon our ancestors’ lives. Our leaders made sure that these injustices would not occur again, and that by speaking out, by voting, the people could be appeased in the best way possible. Why is it that so many young adults between the ages of 18 and 29, those who apparently have so much to complain about, aren’t using their voices? As a whole, only about half of the population eligible to vote does so. In the election of our forty-third president, fifty one percent of those eligible voted. The young adult age group, 18-29, makes up the smallest part of that group. Seventeen percent of eligible voters between this age group voted (Lewis). In the latest presidential election, 30 million 18-30 year olds did not vote (Anthony, Skaags). Only a small percentage of voters came out of this age group-the smallest; however, it is not uncommon to see members of the group participating in protests or other complaint oriented activities with the intent of making change. Change is able to come easier than most people think. We have a say in everything we do. That â€Å"say† does not always come from our lips; it comes from the ballot. This is important because the government plays an integral role in everything we do. It may not seem like it, and directly, it really isn’t that important to the little everyday things we do, but indirectly, we encounter it all the time. That extra weekend spending money: tax returns. The helpful financial boost that allowed you to open your own small business: government loans. The money needed for important schooling or research: grants. The government also gives back to us by attempting to improve the economy, creating more jobs for the unemployed, and creating programs for general interest.

An Intellectual and Emotional Response to Oedipus the King :: Oedipus the King Oedipus Rex

An Intellectual and Emotional Response to Oedipus the King    While reading the play Oedipus the King, my response to the work became more and more clear as the play continued. When I finished the play, my reaction to the work and to two particular characters was startling and very different from my response while I was still reading. My initial response was to the text, and it was mostly an intellectual one. I felt cheated by the play because the challenge of solving the mystery of the plot was spoiled for me by the obvious clues laid out in the work. My second response was not as intellectual; instead, it came more from a feeling that the play evoked in me. I felt a strong disappointment in the drastic actions that Oedipus and Jocasta took at the end of the play. My two different responses to Oedipus the King, one intellectual and one not, now seem to feed off and to amplify each other as if they were one collective response. The play's plot, in a nutshell, develops like this. After solving the riddle of the Sphynx, who had kept Thebes under a curse of some kind, Oedipus is invited to become king of the city. He marries Jocasta, the widow of the previous king, and they have two children. When the play begins, Thebes is again under some sort of curse, and Oedipus tries to find out its cause so that he can rescue the city. He is told that the cause of the curse is that the murderer of the previous king is still in the city and has gone unpunished. In the process of searching for the murderer, Oedipus discovers that it is he, himself, who is responsible and that he is actually the son of Jocasta and her previous husband. Horrified by his sins of incest and murder, Oedipus claws out his eyes. Jocasta commits suicide because she is so disgraced. My disappointment in the lack of mystery in the plot of the play was evoked by the continual clues appearing throughout the play. For example, in Oedipus's first speech to the people of Thebes, he condemns the murderer of the previous king, stating that "he will suffer no unbearable punishment, nothing worse than exile" (261-62). This is the first of a multitude of clues about the outcome of the play.

Team Analysis

Analysis of Team A Learning teams give individuals an opportunity to work together to achieve a goal or assignment. Our learning team members completed the charter to become familiar with individual strengths, areas they would like to improve and skills they can offer to the team while completing assigned tasks. The expectations we have to be successful are stated in the charter, along with methods to manage conflict if it occurs. Evaluating the team member’s self-assessments along with their contribution to the team charter will provide a basis to improve the performance of Learning Team A. Team Charter Becoming familiar with team members is the primary method to know the best way to manage the performance of a team. Completing the team charter provided the foundation for team members to express their thoughts and processes of an effective team. As a learning team we established some ground rules: necessity of a team leader, checking in with team frequently, expressing problems early on. Overall, the expectations appear to be similar among all team members: encouraging communication with team members, sharing equal responsibility for the assignments, requesting and accepting assistance when needed from other team members in order to complete an assignment on time. When these expectations are not met it could result in conflict. When conflict occurs, professionalism and a direct approach will work best to manage the situation; we agree this will allow the team members to resolve the matter and continue with assignment. Self-assessments We shared our results from the self assessments on trust, listening and personality types. The assessment on trust demonstrated how most of us have trust issues, except Michael appears to be more trusting of others, within the group. This indicates the need for us to ensure we communicate to our fellow team members our intentions and follow through, in order to build trust among each other to maintain adequate performance. Listening skills were also an assessment we performed individually; most of us were surprised to see we were not as good listeners as we thought. The scores were in the mid 40s, indicating we will need to make a concerted effort to listen to team members when communicating. Although, we are communicating in a virtual forum, it is still important for us to be aware of our weaknesses as listeners so when communicating online we avoid potential setbacks in our team performance from miscommunication. As for the Jungian personality type assessment, all the team members felt that it closely depicted them. Being aware of individual attributes or strengths will help to enhance the team’s performance by knowing what they can contribute. Larry is observant, cool, unpretentious and highly motivated. Although, we have not delegated a leader yet, I would choose him to lead our team. His personality will compliment the other personalities within the team and therefore facilitate the work that needs to be done. Michelle and Richard were assessed as problem solvers and highly conceptual, I see them as the team members that can address the problems that might delay completion of an assignment. Possibly, Michelle and Richard can ensure the assignment is broken down or develop a method to complete. Michael appears to have the personality that is out-going and a visionary. These skills compliment those of Michelle and Richard by providing innovative ideas, for instance, preparing presentations. My personality assessment represents a realistic and logical manner in which I deal with situations. This will provide the team some assurance I will keep team members informed of the assignments and progress of our team. Overall, I think we have a balanced group of personalities to ensure optimal performance as a team. Conclusion Learning team A will work together to complete assignments; the team charter defines the methods we will use to improve performance. Relying on the strengths and skills of the team members will improve the efficiency of the team. As a team, we are individuals with different personalities, strengths and weaknesses;

Introduction to Philosophy Essay

Abstract â€Å"It is very tempting for people not to think, to remain submerged in reality rather than aware of it, to be carried along by the current of events rather than creating their destiny through thoughtful, independent choices† (Chaffee, 2013). In this paper, the importance of philosophy is discussed in practical terms. Why is it important? What purpose does it serve and what reasons do people have for pursuing an education in it? How can this affect my life? The major branches of philosophy, which are Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Political & Social, Aesthetics and  Logic, are also discussed along with the contributing questions specific to each branch and what each branch focuses on. Philosophical Areas 3 Philosophical Areas of Inquiry, Personal Relations and Application As stated by Cicero (n. d. ), â€Å"Rightly defined, philosophy is simply the love of wisdom. † â€Å"The actual word philosophy is Greek in origin, and it is the composite of two Greek roots: philein, a Greek word for ‘love,’ and sophia, the Greek word for ‘wisdom. ’ Taken together, they mean ‘the love or pursuit of wisdom’† (Chaffee, 2013). There are so many reasons one would  want to study philosophy, and considering that we are all different, our reasons vary. â€Å"Philosophy means liberation from the two dimensions of routine, soaring above the well known, seeing it in new perspectives, arousing wonder and the wish to fly† (Walter Kaufmann, n. d. ). Studying philosophy is a life-changing experience. It is impossible to â€Å"unlearn† something once you have discovered it, so upon your mind being awakened, it cannot go back to sleep. This grants you the gift of having a new, more complete perspective of the world around you and of life in general. People are naturally inquisitive creatures. This is one of our biggest assets, as well as our biggest downfalls. Philosophy teaches you to think critically about important issues. This is something that takes time, effort and practice. Thinking critically isn’t necessarily easy, but the benefits are plentiful. The purpose of philosophy is to ask questions that â€Å"penetrate the surface of life to confront the deeper currents lying beneath† (Chaffee, 2013, p. 4). Due to there being so many different categories of philosophical questions to be answered and studied, there are several  branches of philosophy with questions specific to them and certain methodologies used in search of answers. These branches are Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Political & Social, Aesthetics and Logic. Metaphysics Metaphysics is â€Å"the study of the ultimate characteristics of reality or existence† (Chaffee, 2013, p. 31). Bertrand Russell defines metaphysical philosophy as such, â€Å"Metaphysics, or the Philosophical Areas 4 attempt to conceive the world as a whole by means of thought, has been developed from the first by the union and conflict of two very different impulses, the one urging men towards mysticism,  the other urging them toward science. † Some of the major questions asked in this area of inquiry are, â€Å"What is the nature of reality? †, â€Å"What is the nature of self? †, â€Å"How are the mind and body related to each other? †, â€Å"Do we have personal freedom or are our choices limited? †, â€Å"What are the arguments for and against the existence of God? †, â€Å"Is there life after death? † and â€Å"Does life have meaning? † The methodology used in Metaphysics has expanded so much over the years since Aristotle. One method used for answering questions such as these â€Å"emphasizes the continuity of metaphysics with science. On this conception, metaphysics is primarily or exclusively concerned with developing generalizations from our best-confirmed scientific theories† (â€Å"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy†, 2014). Because of the difficulty answering some of these questions, some believe Metaphysics to be â€Å"impossible. † There is no current way to label a metaphysical statement either true or false, and therefore â€Å"impossible to find out what they are† (â€Å"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy†, 2014). Citations Chaffee, J. (2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2014). Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/metaphysics/ Epistemology Epistemology is the study of knowledge. This identifies and develops criteria, as well as methodologies, for what we know and why we know it (Chaffee, 2013, p. 31). Some questions asked regarded epistemology are, â€Å"What is truth? †, â€Å"Can we ever really know anything? †, â€Å"What Philosophical Areas 5 are the sources of knowledge? †, â€Å"What is the relation between truth and knowledge? † and â€Å"How can you increase your wisdom? † This, â€Å"Defined narrowly†¦is the study of knowledge and justified belief,† according to the â€Å"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2014) or SEP. Now, this being said, there are sources of knowledge and justification in epistemology. These sources include perception, introspection, memory, reason and testimony. The limits to this branch of philosophy are skepticism, closure, relevant alternatives, denial, and moorean, contextualist & ambiguity responses (â€Å"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy†, 2014). Citations Chaffee, J. (2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4thed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2014). Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/metaphysics/ Ethics Ethics is the study of moral values and principles. Questions regarding ethics are things such as, â€Å"How should we treat other people? †, â€Å"Is there a ‘good life’ for humans? †, â€Å"What is the relation between moral values and religion? † and â€Å"How do we decide on the moral rightness of social issues? † (Chaffee, 2013, p. 31). Everyday ethical concerns in life can include any topic  from capital punishment, euthanasia, lying, human rights, abortion, animal testing, cloning, slavery and pornography, among several others. The purpose of having and studying ethics is a way for people to ensure that the decisions made are following a preset ethical code or guideline. â€Å"Creating yourself to be a wise and knowledgeable person entails developing an enlightened moral compass that will guide your decisions. People typically rely on what they ‘feel’ is right Philosophical Areas 6 when faced with challenging moral dilemmas. The but we ‘feel’ is an unreliable moral guide†(Chaffee, 2013, p. 35). Citations Chaffee, J. (2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Political & Social Political and social philosophy is â€Å"the study of social values and political forms of government† (Chaffee, 2013, p. 31). â€Å"What is the nature of justice? † and â€Å"What is the most enlightened government? † are common points of inquiry from a political and social standpoint in philosophy. Political and social philosophy basically takes a look at the various methods people should govern themselves. According to philosopher, Baron D’Holbach, â€Å"Politics must conform to the essence and aims of society, not to the passions of rulers. † This means analyzing the values that the society should be based on, keeping in mind individual rights and justice. Citations Chaffee, J. (2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Aesthetics Aesthetics studies beauty, taste and art. Two very distinct questions that are specific to this branch are as follows: â€Å"What is the nature of beauty? † and â€Å"What is art? † â€Å"It analyzes efforts to establish standards for beauty in all of its various manifestations. And it explores the nature and purpose of art in human affairs† (Chaffee, 2013, p. 37). Have you ever heard of the saying, â€Å"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder†? Well, this is the branch of philosophy that examines how to identify principles of beauty. Other questions related to this asked in aesthetics are â€Å"Are there Philosophical Areas 7 universal standards of beauty, or are they relative to cultural and individual taste? † and â€Å"Is there one core concept of beauty or many different concepts? † Citations Chaffee, J. (2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Logic Logic is the branch of philosophy that â€Å"seeks to establish the rules of correct reasoning, clear understanding and valid arguments† (Chaffee, 2013, p. 31). â€Å"What are the logical principles of correct reasoning? † and â€Å"How do people use incorrect reasoning to reach false conclusions? † are questions associated with this branch. In this branch of philosophy, critical thinking is one of the most important skills needed. Citations Chaffee, J.(2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Thought Development: Philosophy & Culture Religion, philosophy and culture are said to be the three pillars or elements of human reality. How does this tie into thought development? What is the relationship between philosophy and culture? â€Å"†¦compared to the feet with which Man journeys towards his destiny, philosophy could represent the eyes that scrutinize that journey, and culture, the earth on which Man is walking during his concrete pilgrimage†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Panikkar, 2000). Depending on one’s approach to examining this matter, it may be difficult to separate religion from philosophy. For example, with an intercultural approach, it would not be possible, for religion and philosophy would both be dependent upon the culture. The reason that the two are inseparable sometimes is, according to Philosophical Areas 8 Panikkar (2000), â€Å"Philosophy is but the conscious and critical accompaniment of Man’s journeying towards his destiny. This journeying is called religion in many cultures. † Citations Panikkar, R. (2000). Religion, Philosophy & Culture. Retrieved from http://them.polylog. org/1/fpr-en. htm Personal Attachment to Inquiry Philosophical Areas 9 Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that sticks out to me the most and resonates closest to my innermost self. The runner up is metaphysics, because I do find myself questioning and wondering on the meaning of life and things of that nature. However, I have decided a long time ago that the meaning of life is specific to the person. Whatever it is that drives you, motivates you and keeps you pushing forward, that is your meaning; your â€Å"why†. Epistemology fascinates me because of its questions regarding knowledge and truth. Just because we know something, does that make it truth? In the Taoist religion, the journey you embark on is to enlightenment. The purpose of Taoism is to find truth and to see the whole picture, the entire picture, for what it is. Not many make it to such a spiritual level such as that, but that is the reason for working so diligently internally. I have always admired Buddhist and Taoist for these reasons. As far as cultural influence on my decisions goes, I would have to admit that the American culture does not have as much to offer (that I am seeking, at least) as other cultures do. I am proud of my heritage, but my culture is a different story. I feel like I’m searching for something, yet cannot pinpoint what that something is. Hopefully by the end of this course I will have a better outlook and idea of what that thing is. References Chaffee, J. (2013). The Philosopher’s Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas (4th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2014). Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/metaphysics/ Panikkar, R. (2000). Religion, Philosophy & Culture. Retrieved from http://them. polylog. org/1/fpr-en. htm.   

Cubism Review

Benjamin T. Shirrell Painting 1 April 2010 The most interesting statement I found in my exploration of Cubism was from historian John Golding: Cubism was perhaps the most important and certainly the most complete and radical artistic revolution since the Renaissance. New forms of society, changing patronage, varying geographic conditions, all these things have gone to produce over the past five hundred years a succession of different schools, different styles, different pictorial idioms. But none of these has so altered the principles, so shaken the foundations of Western painting, as did Cubism. _ This statement put emphasis on the Cubist period, a time, which was of vast importance and developing style. Seeing the works and taking the time to understand them are two contributors that make these artists more significant. Picasso created a work in 1907, known as one of the century’s most important Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Important in the sense that it moved other influential artists, but also because of deeper meaning in style and message. Although Picasso didn’t create his fully developed Cubist paintings in 1907, his work of that year instigated the cubist revolution. A brand-new approach representing space and the construction of form that was later a defying Cubists’ most important qualities. An important concept I learned understanding cubism understood the difference in experimental artists and conceptual artists. Experimental artists develop their contributions gradually and have a maturing style while conceptual artists put a more random thought provoked effort. Picasso’s initial goal was to describe knowledge of objects rather than their appearance. Before Demoiselles d’ Avignon, came a number of preparatory sketches. I was able to find a gallery of some sketches online, the most fascinating in my opinion. I noticed sketches from hard lines up to incorporation of color and later incorporation of instruments. I was greatly influenced by these sketches in my most recent works.

My Country India Essay

India, officially the Republic of India (Bharat Ganrajya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country with over 1. 2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China,Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilization and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region’s diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. The Indian economy is the world’s tenth-largest by nominal GDP and third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the fastest-growing major economies; it is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, corruption, malnutrition, inadequate public healthcare, and terrorism. A nuclear weapons stateand a regional power, it has the third-largest standing army in the world and ranks seventh in military expenditure among nations. India is a federal constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system consisting of 28 states and 7 union territories. India is a pluralistic, multilingual, andmulti-ethnic society. It is also home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. India comprises the bulk of the Indian subcontinent and lies atop the minor Indian tectonic plate, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Australian Plate. India’s defining geological processes commenced 75 million years ago when the Indian subcontinent, then part of the southern supercontinent tGondwana, began a north-eastward drift across the then-unformed Indian Ocean that lasted fifty million years. The subcontinent’s subsequent collision with, and subduction under, the Eurasian Plate bore aloft the planet’s highest mountains, the Himalayas. They abut India in the north and thenorth-east. In the former seabed immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vast trough that has gradually filled with river-borne sediment; it now forms the Indo-Gangetic Plain. To the west lies the Thar Desert, which is cut off by the Aravalli Range. The original Indian plate survives as peninsular India, which is the oldest and geologically most stable part of India; it extends as far north as the Satpura and Vindhya ranges in central India. These parallel chains run from the Arabian Sea coast in Gujarat in the west to the coal-rich Chota Nagpur Plateau in Jharkhand in the east. To the south, the remaining peninsular landmass, the Deccan Plateau, is flanked on the west and east by coastal ranges known as the Western and Eastern Ghats;[114] the plateau contains the nation’s oldest rock formations, some of them over one billion years old. Constituted in such fashion, India lies to the north of the equator between 6 ° 44†² and 35 ° 30†² north latitude and 68 ° 7†² and 97 ° 25†² east longitude. The Kedar Range of the Greater Himalayas rises behind Kedarnath Temple, which is one of the twelve jyotirlinga shrines. India’s coastline measures 7,517 kilometres (4,700 mi) in length; of this distance, 5,423 kilometres (3,400 mi) belong to peninsular India and 2,094 kilometres (1,300 mi) to the Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep island chains. According to the Indian naval hydrographic charts, the mainland coastline consists of the following: 43% sandy beaches; 11% rocky shores, including cliffs; and 46% mudflats or marshy shores. Major Himalayan-origin rivers that substantially flow through India include the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, both of which drain into the Bay of Bengal. Important tributaries of the Ganges include the Yamuna and the Kosi; the latter’s extremely low gradient often leads to severe floods and course changes. Major peninsular rivers, whose steeper gradients prevent their waters from flooding, include the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Kaveri, and the Krishna, which also drain into the Bay of Bengal; and the Narmada and the Tapti, which drain into the Arabian Sea. Coastal features include the marshy Rann of Kutch of western India and the alluvial Sundarbans delta of eastern India; the latter is shared with Bangladesh. India has two archipelagos: the Lakshadweep, coral atolls off India’s south-western coast; and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a volcanic chain in the Andaman Sea. The Indian climate is strongly influenced by the Himalayas and the Thar Desert, both of which drive the economically and culturally pivotal summer and wintermonsoons. The Himalayas prevent cold Central Asian katabatic winds from blowing in, keeping the bulk of the Indian subcontinent warmer than most locations at similar latitudes. The Thar Desert plays a crucial role in attracting the moisture-laden south-west summer monsoon winds that, between June and October, provide the majority of India’s rainfall. Four major climatic groupings predominate in India: tropical wet, tropical dry, subtropical humid, and montane. Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years. During the Vedic period (c. 700–500 BCE), the foundations of Hindu philosophy, mythology, and literature were laid, and many beliefs and practices which still exist today, such as dharma, karma, yoga, and mok? ha, were established. India is notable for its religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity, and Jainism among the nation’s major religions. The predominant religion, Hinduism, has been shaped by various historical schools of thought, incl uding those of the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, the Bhakti movement, and by Buddhist philosophy. Much of Indian architecture, including the Taj Mahal, other works of Mughal architecture, and South Indian architecture, blends ancient local traditions with imported styles. Vernacular architecture is also highly regional in it flavours. Vastu shastra, literally â€Å"science of construction† or â€Å"architecture† and ascribed to Mamuni Mayan, explores how the laws of nature affect human dwellings; it employs precise geometry and directional alignments to reflect perceived cosmic constructs. As applied in Hindu emple architecture, it is influenced by the Shilpa Shastras, a series of foundational texts whose basic mythological form is the Vastu-Purusha mandala, a square that embodied the â€Å"absolute†. The Taj Mahal, built inAgra between 1631 and 1648 by orders of Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, has been described in the UNESCO World Heritage List as â€Å"the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the worldà ¢â‚¬â„¢s heritage. † Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, developed by the British in the late 19th century, drew on Indo-Islamic architecture.