Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Causal Argument Does Violence In The Media Affect Children Free Essays

Violence is found all around us in the media. Parents are becoming worried about what their children are exposed to. There has been an ongoing debate as to whether violence in the media can affect children to imitate acts of violence. We will write a custom essay sample on Causal Argument: Does Violence In The Media Affect Children or any similar topic only for you Order Now After much research I have found there is a link between watching violence, and committing acts of violence. Children who are exposed to excessive amounts of violence on television, in video games, and through song lyrics, than children who are not, are much more likely to commit acts of violence later in their lives. Many wonder if watching violence on television can influence individuals to act violently, and many studies have found a link between viewing violence on TV and committing acts of violence later in life. For example, University of Michigan psychologists Leonard Eron and Rowell Huesmann conducted a study spanning decades where they watched over 800 preschoolers, and followed them until adulthood to see how television violence affected them. The study concluded that children who watched excessive amounts of television tended to be more aggressive towards other children. Eron and Huesman checked back with the preschoolers eleven and twenty two years ago, and found that the aggressive preschools became even more aggressive as they got older with more acts of domestic violence, and more traffic tickets than their peers. Many experts also believe that when children view violence on television they try to imitate what they see. For instance, there was an incident when a five year old, while watching the cartoon Beavis and Butthead saw the characters bsession with fire, and decided to light his house on fire, which killed his little sister (Children, Media and Violence). Not only are children exposed to violence on television, violence is also found in video games. With the recent advancements in technology, video games are looking more and more realistic every day. With the introduction of better video games systems, and graphics, video games are becoming increasingly popular with children and teenagers. Some might argue that video games cannot influence young people, because they are aware that the games are fantasy, but studies conducted by the Surgeon General and a National Institute of Mental Health concluded that the more realistic something looks, the more likely it will be learned. This simply means that the more realistic something looks, the more influential it will be to the individual viewing it. (American Academy of Pediatrics Online). The National Institute of Mental Health also claims that children up to age eight cannot distinguish between real life and fantasy, so when they play these games they believe that committing acts of violence is an effective form of problem solving. The National Coalition on Television Violence found that in Mortal Kombat, one of the best selling video games of all time, your object is not just to kill your opponent, but to master your skills at doing so (Children Youth and Family Consortium Electronic Clearinghouse). This kind of play has to affect children. People are most impressionistic when they are young, and they learn by their actions. They win the game for killing everyone. This teaches makes them more tolerant of violence, and more likely to commit violent crimes later in life. Music is another form of media, which influences children and teenagers. In 1995, Entertainment Monitor reported that only 10 out of the top 40 popular CD s on sale during the holiday season were free of profanity, or lyrics dealing with drugs, violence, and sex. Rap superstar, Eminem s CD titled, The Marshall Mathers LP as already sold more than 4. 1 million albums, and is currently at the top of the music charts (Billboard. com) has already stirred up tons of controversy with its lyrics. The Marshall Mathers LP has songs titled Criminal, Drug Ballad, and Kill You. According to Eminem s success, this is what people enjoy listening to. They do not seem bothered by the language or subjects. Not only are the lyrics explicitly violent, but they do influence the children who listen to it. Rap music is not the only genre of music containing violent lyrics. There was an incident where a teenager shot his parents, and claimed that listing to music by gothic artist Marilyn Manson drove him to such extremes. Marilyn Manson has created a whole new trend among young people. They call their look gothic and wear black clothing. Sometimes they paint their faces white, and wear dog collars, much like their idol Manson. If there is someone to blame for all this violence in our media, it would be the entertainment industry; however, they argue that they are giving the public what they want. This is not a true statement according to Michael Medved, who has written books where he analyzed media violence. Medved analyzed all films that were released between 1980 and 1992 and found that family films earned more than twice as much on average as violent films. This data is surprising considering that violent films made up over sixty percent of the films released. So, is the public really getting what they want The entertainment industry also claims that television does not harm children, because they can distinguish between what is real and what is fake. Once again, they are wrong. Many preschoolers while watching Sesame Street cannot tell whether the Muppets are real or fake. They do not comprehend that Big Bird is really a man dressed up in a costume (American Academy of Pediatrics). In conclusion, violence in the media does not seem to be going away. It is all around our children; on television, in video games, and in music. Until the entertainment industry decides to limit the amount of violence we are exposed to, it will always be a problem. Then again, without the media who knows where we would be today. We might live in a much safer society. How to cite Causal Argument: Does Violence In The Media Affect Children, Essay examples

Human Resource Planning Workforce Analysis

Question: Discuss about theHuman Resource Planning for Workforce Analysis. Answer: Introduction Human resource planning is the formulation of ways that can make it possible for an organization to achieve its set goals while optimizing the use of assets at the same time (Mathis Jackson, 2010). The primary goal of human resource planning is to strike a balance between the available jobs and available human resources to eliminate shortage or excess of the workforce. A good human resource plan would ensure that an organization achieves its set targets (Rothwell Kazanas, 2003). Workforce Analysis Sunnyside hospital offers acute care services. The hospital has employed highly skilled professionals to provide medical services to the patients. Despite the quality of services available to the patients, it is interesting that they dont pay for the services. The following are some of the professionals who ensure that the hospital can undertake its mandate in the community: Unit Clerk- the Clerk is the receptionist at the hospital. She also offers clerical support and information to the nursing units are various hospitals Executives: These are senior managers who carry out supervisory work at the hospital. The Sunnyside hospital projects that they would recruit four executives between 2014 and 2019. The executives direct other junior nursing managers. There is also a section of the staff who are enclosed in a room and are I charge sterilization of surgical equipment. Licensed nurses: These are nurses who are more educated than the ordinary nurses. There is no vacancy in this position at the moment. However, it is projected that the hospital management would recruit 250 licensed nurses between the year 2014 and 2019. Physiotherapists: These are specialized people who are responsible for the rehabilitation of physical injuries among patients. The hospital has ten permanent vacancies of physiotherapists. The recruitment projection for the position between 2014 and 2019 is 20. Pharmacist: This is an individual who assigns medicines to patients. The pharmacist also administers drugs and other vaccines to patients. Finally, these specialists are in charge of the running of the hospital pharmacy. The hospital has a permanent vacancy of 8 pharmacists. It is projected that10 pharmacists would be recruited between 2014 and 2019. Registered care aide: This is a less trained professional who offers some services in hospitals. This group of people is trained in less than one year and offer services such as changing of patients bed linens, feeding of the [patients and taking care of the patients on daily occasions. Registered Nurse: This is a degree graduate nurse who has been trained in the handling of more complex duties within the hospital setting. These nurses always record for further studies, after which they specialize in emergency, pediatrics, operation room and ICU. There is an inadequate number of nurses at the hospital. At the moment, there are 100 vacancies. It is also projected that Sunnyside hospital would recruit 1300 registered nurses between the year 2014 and 2019. Nursing Manager: This is someone who had trained as a nurse and has administered nursing services over a long period. The nursing manager is in charge of the nursing unit and all the wards within the hospital set-up. There are two vacancies for the position at the hospital. To mitigate the concern, it is projected that the hospital would recruit an average of 80 nursing managers between 2014 and 2019. Student nurse: this is an undergraduate student in a clinical course. These students report to hospitals where they are assigned to offer nursing services. The hospitals surgeons and physicians are paid their salaries by the ministry of health of Ontario for the services that they provide to patients at Sunnyside Hospital. The hospital itself pays the rest of the medical staff their salaries. All the employees of the hospital are members of a union except the nursing managers, the nursing students, and the executive members Completion and Discussion of the Final Exam Projection Template The final exam completion template is organized in a Microsoft Excel. The template has columns that show human resource supply and those that show human resource demand. On the side of human resource supply, there are projected retirements which require payroll file and then the use of retirement calculator. There is also projected turnover. The column requires for termination of the database and multiplication of the 2013 turnover by five years. There is also a column of projected net leaves where payroll database is filtered. We also have the column of projected new recruits. This column used the command Recr Proj and Curr Vacancies. The command prompts a transfer of files to the column C. On the other side of human resource demand, there is a column of current vacancies and that of projected growth. The column of current vacancies also uses the command of Recr Proj and Curr Vacancies to transfer files to the column B. The column of projected growth, on the other hand, uses growth plans to interpret numbers so that they can fit into the column in the job order. The final exam template is then capable of producing the net gains as well as the net losses. Recommendations It is necessary for a hospital to make projections which are attainable. There are some occupations at Sunnyside hospital where there are no vacancies at all. However, the allocated recruitment projections for the positions are in excess. The hospital management must factor in the availability of financial resources during the recruitment processes. Recruitment of excess human resource would mean that the hospital would cut on some essential budgets to pay salaries. Issues of excessive or inadequate human resource should be avoided at all cost. References Armstrong, M. (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Bhattacharyya, D. K. (2009). Human Resource Planning. Excel Books India,. Deb, T. (2006). Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management. Atlantic Publishers Dist,. Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H. (2010). Human Resource Management. Cengage Learning,. Price, K. (2013). Bottom Line Results from Strategic Human Resource Planning. Springer Science Business Media. Reddy, M. S. (2005). Human Resource Planning. Discovery Publishing House,. Rothwell, W. J., Kazanas, H. C. (2003). Planning and Managing Human Resources: Strategic Planning for Human Resources Managemen. Human Resource Development,. Turner, P. (2012). HR Forecasting and Planning. CIPD Publishing,.

Friday, May 1, 2020

Kuwait Oil Fields Reconstruction Projects Construction Essay Example For Students

Kuwait Oil Fields Reconstruction Projects Construction Essay During the Gulf war, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq and by the terminal of it about all of oil production installations of Kuwait had suffered extended harm and had become defunct. Even after their Liberation in Feb, 1991 a big figure of oil Wellss were on fire. To reconstruct the state s major beginning of income of the state a undertaking was taken to retrace these oil Fieldss. This was the Kuwait oilfields Reconstruction undertaking. Bechtel International was the undertaking direction house given the contract to pull off this Reconstruction undertaking by the Kuwait Oil Company. Work of planning of the undertaking had started in November 1990 within three months of the start of the Iraqi Invasion, in the offices of Bechtel in London. Planning and forming activities were being done in the offices in London, Houston, San Francisco, Dubai and Riyadh even when the war was still on. Since the war was still on, there was small cognition of the entire extent of the harm to the oilfields and how much work was to be done. However those amendss that were identified boulder clay so were taken into consideration and front-end planning and procurance for the same had been started. During the terminal of the war, the withdrawing Iraqi military personnels had set the oilfields on fire. Therefore to go on with the undertaking first it was necessary to convey these fires under control. The forces of Bechtel arrived in Kuwait 4 yearss after a complete expanse of the City was done by the allied military personnels. The chief nonsubjective so of these forces was to form and pull off the firefighting attempts. This was names project Al- Awada ( Arabic for return ) . The vivid scenes shown by the newspaper, magazine, and telecasting studies came alive for Bechtel undertaking forces. The yearss were dark with fume from the fires barricading the Sun, oil droplets filled the air, clean H2O and healthful systems were non working, power workss were down, transit was minimum as tyres were a cherished trade good, and nutrient was really scarce. Initial adjustment was in refurbished ship quarters and in some vandalized flat composites without H2O and electricity, no more than a foam mattress on the floor, and a long hiking up a darkened stairway. In add-on to these jobs, dumbbell traps, land and H2O mines, undischarged shells and projectiles, and other munition had littered the state. The temperatures in summer systematically were above 50 IÂ ¦ C in shadiness ( rarely below 37 IÂ ¦ C at dark ) , exposing the people in the field to temperatures of 55-58 IÂ ¦ C in many locations, and hotter nearer to the fires. Merely supplying imbibing H2O was a major project. John Oakland, senior frailty president of Bechtel Corporation, who served as the director of undertakings in Kuwait, remarked, This run, which was good covered by the international intelligence media, was one of the most complex technology and building attempts in history. However, the undermentioned assignment, which was the Reconstruction of the Kuwait oil Fieldss, was an even bigger and more ambitious undertaking. The undertaking of the Reconstruction of the oil Fieldss, which was named Al-Tameer ( Arabic for rebuild ) , will be discussed in this study. Outline1 Status of the Facilities2 Undertaking Al-Tameer3 Figure: Al Tameer Organization4 Execution Phase5 Detail Engineering6 Procurement7 Material Management8 Warehousing Management9 Contract Management10 Construction Management11 Drumhead12 Key Milestones13 Operation Phase14 Accomplishments Status of the Facilities The province of the two million barrels per twenty-four hours oil export industry in Kuwait after the completion of the fire-fighting attempt was as follows: 647 Wellss had burned in entire, 751 Wellss were damaged. Twenty-six oil assemblage, separation, and production centres were damaged or wholly destroyed. One Marine export installation and its related individual point moorage was wholly destroyed, and the 2nd Marine export installation was partly damaged and out of committee. The equivalent of 10 million barrels of petroleum oil storage tankage had been destroyed. The Shuaiba refinery was wholly destroyed. A petroleum unit in the Mina Al Ahrnadi Refinery was wholly destroyed. The remainder of the refinery was partly damaged and the refinery was out of committee. The Mina Abdullah Refinery was partly damaged and the units were non operable. All communicating towers and webs were destroyed. Most of the working population had either fled or were in concealment. Undertaking Al-Tameer After the successful completion of the fire-fighting attempt, KOC invited Bechtel to show its program for the Reconstruction of the oil Fieldss production and exporting installations damaged during the war, get downing work by November 1990. KOC s end was to be able to bring forth 2 million bpd of oil by September 1992. Planing and Organizing Phase The planning and forming attempt for the Al-Tameer undertaking started with the Bechtel squad that was already on-site as portion of the Al-Awada undertaking fire-fighting attempt. An organisation wholly different from the Al-Awada undertaking was required to scope, estimation, program, execute, and bend over operational installations to KOC. This organisation had to be self-sufficing and be able to to the full back up and serve a monolithic work force of more than 16,000 people. The chief organisation was divided into five chief maps. One was to back up KOC s future five-year budget planning with designation, scoping, and be aftering future undertakings. This was named KOC Major Projects Group. The other four groups consisted of: director Al-Tameer undertakings, responsible for all planning and undertaking direction, every bit good as technology and procurance director coordination, responsible for scheduling, cost control, gauging, undertaking coverage, public and community dealingss, and other relevant maps director services, responsible for supplying all the needed support services for the undertaking squad including explosive and ordnance destruction group director operation, responsible for field executing of all the defined work. A harm appraisal and scoping squad consisting of applied scientists, contrivers, and calculators walked every pes of the oil Fieldss production and exporting installations fixing a range of work, cost estimation, a program and agenda of work for each installation. The planning was based on a dorsum to look scheduling specifying the day of the months and production ends foremost, working backward to see when the boring attempt and installations Reconstruction work had to get down to run into this end. This attack besides determined the needed work force and helped with direct hire and subcontracting programs. The overall program defined the sequence of the work and prioritized the resources to do certain installations with least harm were first precedence for completion. The maestro agenda was developed based on nine subproject organisation work dislocation constructions ( WBS ) Genius of Andy Warhol EssayConstruction attempts were divided between direct hire building and subcontracted work. The entire range of work was divided into nine building countries, each managed by a field overseer. Each overseer was responsible for both direct hire executing every bit good as field disposal of the subcontractor s range of work within his country. Construction overseers were supported by the cardinal building group that was the functional group back uping a undertaking matrix squad. Prioritization of resources and building equipment was one of the major maps of the cardinal building squad. Field building squads were comprised of transnational forces ( from 36 states ) with wholly different civilizations, linguistic communications, and public presentation capablenesss. Catering and other cultural demands had to be addressed to guarantee each group could execute its map satisfactorily. Each undertaking had to be seamster made to accommodate the squad available. It was of import that planning of the work force and resources take into consideration handiness of the right chief and support group to be able to pass on and execute work with each squad. Drumhead Approximately 1,000,000 hours in the regional offices and 4,000,000 hours in Kuwait were spent for undertaking management/engineering/construction direction during the first two stages of this undertaking. Field labour hours were 50,000,000. These undertaking man-hours were spent within the undermentioned undertaking agenda mileposts: start of be aftering November 1990 start execution in Kuwait March 199 1 undertaking completion June 1993. The beginnings of the undertaking forces were assorted. A sum of 16,000 workers from 36 states on five continents were involved in this monolithic attempt. The states that participated in the supply of work force to this Reconstruction included Kuwait, the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, Australia, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain, Yugoslavia, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Afghanistan, the Philippines, India, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Pakistan, Trinidad, and Sierra Leone. Key Milestones Some of the more noteworthy mileposts in the plan were: The last fire was extinguished and the well was capped on November 6, 199 1, eight months after the reaching of the first Bechtel squad on-site. The first postwar oil was pumped from two of the original assemblage centres on May 26, 199 1. By December 1991, more than 400,000 barrels of oil per twenty-four hours were being produced from the rehabilitated installations. By April 1993, more than 11,000,000 barrels of weather-beaten petroleum had been reclaimed from oil cavities and lakes, and processed through the field intervention centres and the refinery. By the terminal of June 1993, 18 of the original centres were back in operation, with all the production ends achieved as scheduled. Operation Phase Accomplishments The work was conducted in 55 locations that included Fieldss in the North of Kuwait on the boundary line with Iraq, West and South of Kuwait on the boundary lines with Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and in the refineries and lading installations along the seashore and offshore. Five hundred square stat mis of land were swept and cleared of undischarged munition. More than 23,000 pieces of explosive devices were destroyed by explosive munition disposal squads. Although all work countries were swept, the hazard from undetectable munition was of all time present and some human deaths did occur. More than 26,000 purchase orders and 300 major building contracts and 650 equipment rental understandings were awarded during Phases I and I1 of the undertaking. ( A more normal undertaking performed over the same clip frame may hold 4,000 to 6,000 purchase orders. ) A complete communicating system dedicated to the oil industry was installed that included 23 orbiter telephone systems, 4,500 telephones, and 2,000 portable wirelesss. A twenty-four-hour wellness attention and safety plan was established that included two chopper medical evacuation squads, a forty-bed infirmary, a dental clinic, and a squad of about 100 professional medical forces on responsibility at seven medical Stationss. More than 5,800 pieces of field runing equipment runing from the larger bulldozers, Cranes, trucks, front-end stevedores, and heavy industrial equipment to ambulances, pickup trucks, autos, coachs, and other support vehicles were shipped to the occupation sites. These pieces of equipment were purchased from 12 different states. A sum of 742 aircraft and sea-going vass were deployed to transport more than 520,000 dozenss of equipment and stuff to Kuwait in support of this undertaking. Six full-service dining halls with providing support staff provided about 3,500,000 repasts for the workers during the fire-fighting run and 10,000,000 repasts during the Reconstruction stage. Menus were established to provide to the different cultural backgrounds. Commissariats and lodging for 12,000 manual and 2,000 non-manual Bechtel employees were provided. All of the members of project direction and their support squads, over 200 design and technology forces and about 200 procurance, disposal and subcontracts direction squads, were resident in Kuwait. Construction of a figure of lasting offices, workshops, warehouses, care stores, and lodging composites for KOC was completed at the same clip. Fire-fighting attempts originally involved the four major international squads of Boots A ; Coots, Red Adair, Safety Boss, and Wild Well Control. They were subsequently joined by an extra 23 squads from Kuwait, Iran, China, Hungary, Great Britain, France, Canada, Romania, and Russia. Four hundred kilometres of H2O and oil grapevines were installed during fire-fighting attempts. Water lines and pumping Stationss could present 25,000,000 gallons a twenty-four hours to fire sites. Each of 360 lagunas was excavated, lined, and filled with 1,000,000 gallons of H2O for usage in fire-fighting. Boring tablets and entree roads were constructed for 700 new and work over Wellss. Three-thousand kilometres of new flow lines were constructed. One-thousand kilometres of new and refurbished grapevines were installed. Fifteen petroleum assemblage centres, including a wholly new and modularized early production installation, were assessed, designed, and constructed. Three gas supporter Stationss were constructed Restoration and Reconstruction of the Marine burden terminuss, offshore terminuss, and SPM were completed. Construction of more than 10,000,000 barrels of new rough oil storage tankage was managed. Restoration of operating expense and belowground electrical power transmittal and distribution system and cathodic protection system within the oil Fieldss was completed. Construction A ; fix and operation of H2O systems ( fresh, brackish, and salt H2O ) were completed. Construction and operation of oil recovery systems and installations that collected and treated more than 25,000,000 barrels of weather-beaten petroleum were completed.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

By 1978 The Thirty-year War That Had Been Fought Between Egypt And Isr

By 1978 the thirty-year war that had been fought between Egypt and Israel had come to a point where there was a chance for peace. The area that had been at the center of the turmoil was the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip. The problem was that both countries believed that they had the rights to this land: Israel, biblically and Egypt, politically. So an invitation by President Jimmy Carter to President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel was extended. The invitation was for a meeting in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland at the presidential retreat, Camp David. The meeting was so that the framework of a peace agreement, known as the Camp David Accord, could be laid out between Sadat and Begin, with Carter as the mediator. Both Sadat and Begin had their reputations and their countries futures on the line, not to mention the future of the Middle East. All of the countries neighboring Egypt and Israel would be affected by an Egyptian/Israeli agreement of any kind and maybe encouraged to come to an agreement of some sort for that region. A lot of problems had to be overcome for this summit to be a success. One of them was that the hatred and suspicions between President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin ran very deep. Another problem was that the outside pressures were too strong to permit an easy and early resolve for issues that had a long and ancient history (Mideast 26). The last problem was the hope that President Carter could put out of his mind the psychological profiles done by the CIA on both Begin and Sadat, which could have adversely affected his ability to mediate the proceedings. The long-standing hatred between Sadat and Begin was not one of a personal nature. It had more to do with the political differences of their two countries. Israel has held that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were theirs because of the establishment of the State of Israel, out of what was Palestine in 1948 and by right of heredity. This was the land that God had told Moses was the Jewish Promised Land. The Egyptians, on the other hand, claimed that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were theirs. They based their claim on the fact that there were Egyptian citizens living in these areas at the time, the State of Israel was established, so therefore it must be Egyptian land. In advance of the summit, the President received in-depth psychological profiles of both Sadat and Begin from the CIA (Blitzer 48). The American delegates thought that if the Egyptian and Israeli leaders were to budge it would be necessary to understand them and the way they thought (Blitzer 48). It was also decided that the Camp David meetings would be completely unstructured, without even an agenda to get them started, (Three 227) the hope was that this would be more conducive to the free exchange of thoughts and ideas. As the summit convened, Rosalynn Carter (President Carters wife) recognized that the three men had one thing in common, that is, their deep religious convictions (Blitzer 48). She suggested that the summit begin with some sort of prayer. So on September 6, 1978, as the summit was starting, the three leaders issued a prayer for peace to the world, saying: Conscious of the grave issues which face us, we place our trust in the God of our fathers, from whom we seek wisd om and guidance (Mideast 29). With this the Camp David summit started. In the beginning, both Sadat and Begin seemed willing to have sit-down face to face talks about the issues that were in front of them, evident by the fact the two men had come this far. But it soon became obvious that a three way sit down approach between President Carter and the two leaders was going to be counter productive. Within the first ten days of the summit, Sadat and Begin sat down together on only two days for a total of seven hours (Mideast 26). This was due in large part to some sticky points the two leaders could not see eye to eye

Thursday, March 5, 2020

US in the Middle East

US in the Middle East Introduction Being the world’s leading superpower, it is quite likely that the United States will use every tactic to establish its presence in many places across the world. It is thus no wonder that they are involved in various peace and humanitarian initiatives globally.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on US in the Middle East specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This notwithstanding, the interest of the United States in the Middle East is questionable. Although the world has been made to believe that the involvement of the US in Middle East was purely for security reasons, there is a very high possibility that it was for the United States’ economic interests. This paper presents various arguments pointing to the fact that the United States’ presence in the Middle East was for their own economic benefits. Why the US was in the Middle East for their Economic Interests As has already been menti oned, there is a price to being a superpower. One strategy used by most leading nations is to ensure that they can stay ahead of the rest. Owing to the fact that a close association between America’s competitors and those in the Middle East could be a threat to its operations, it is quite obvious that the United States would want to be in control of most activities in the Middle East as well as in other states that export gas and oil. This led to United States entering the Middle East region as a friend with good intentions. The United States is also known for its prowess in manufacturing weapons. To ensure a steady market and great profits for weapon manufacturers, it is clear that the United States had to be heavily involved in the militarizing the Middle East region (Day, 2000). Apparently, most weapons imported into the Middle East region come from the United States. As a result, the US weapon industry continues to grow and weapon manufacturers keep on enjoying hefty prof its from their involvement in the oil and gas business.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the process, the economy of the United States also grew and jobs were created for the American citizens (Sullivan, 2009). This explains why the United States has on several occasions been opposed to the determination by the Middle East states in coming up with their own weapons of mass destruction. Most of the world’s oil reserves are found in the Middle East (Habibi Woertz, 2009). Given that the oil reserves in other regions may soon be depleted, the intention of the United States has been to maintain a steady supply of gas and oil by establishing a strong presence in the Middle East (Snider, 2011). Consequently, the security of the Middle East region remains a matter of national importance to the US and other interested nations (Ewane, 2010). Major atte mpts have thus been made by the United States to create and keep close alliances with oil monarchies of the Middle East. Apparently, the US also benefits from providing transport services for gas and oil products within the region (Fund, 2006). A number of oil firms in the United States have also benefited through involvement in partnerships with major oil companies in the Middle East (Dobson Marsh, 2007). However, while the United States has worked so hard to create strong ties with allies in the Middle East, efforts have also been made to frustrate their opponents (Marc, 2011). In the recent past, the supremacy of the United States in the region has been threatened by countries such as China and India whose consumption of oil and gas products has been increasing over the years as a result of growth in their economies (Habibi Woertz, 2009). The growing interest by China and India is partly responsible for the loss of business to American firms that previously almost faced no comp etition or resistance from other nations. The presence of the United States in the Middle East is also meant to keep a tight control on the activities of Islamic groups involved in activities that threaten stability in various places across the world (Hassassian, 1997).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on US in the Middle East specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is alleged that over the years, insecurities experienced in various parts of the world including the United States are spearheaded by radical Islamic groups operating mainly from within the Middle East region (Legrenzi Momani, 2013). Considering that this can stifle economic growth in the United States, part of the reason for the involvement of the US in the region is to frustrate the activities of such groups and render them useless (Baxter Akbarzadeh, 2008). Conclusion The involvement of the United States in the Middle East has been criticized by ma ny, including those whose very existence may be threatened by the activities within the region. There are also concerns that the United States is assuming a role reserved for the United Nations Security Council. Although it is the sole responsibility of the UN Security Council to authorize any form of military interventions, the United States went ahead to make a unilateral decision to do so. Considering the views presented in this paper, it is clear that the United States was in the Middle East for its own economic reasons. This is contrary to the wide spread belief that the United States moved into the region to help restore peace and stability in order to create a healthy and secure environment. References Baxter, K. Akbarzadeh, S. (2008). US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: The Roots of Anti-Americanism. New York, NY: Routledge. Day, A. (2000). US Foreign Relations with the Middle East and North Africa: A Bibliography: Supplement 1998. Reference Reviews, 14(2), 12 – 13 .Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Dobson, A. P. Marsh, S. (2007). US Foreign Policy since 1945. New York, NY: Taylor Francis. Ewane, F. E. (2010). United States’ Involvement in the Middle East Peace Process. Munich, Germany: GRIN Verlag. Fund, M. (2006). World Economic Outlook 2006. Washington, DC: Intemational Monetary Fund. Habibi, N. Woertz, E. (2009). US-Arab Economic Relations and the Obama Administration. Middle East Brief, 34. Hassassian, M. (1997). U.S. National Interests in the Middle East. Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture, 4(3), 1. Legrenzi, M., Momani, B. (2013). Shifting Geo-Economic Power of the Gulf: Oil Finance and Institutions. Burlington VT: Ashgate Publishing. Marc, L. (2011). The Big Think behind the Arab Spring. Foreign Policy, 190, 46 – 47. Snider, E. A. (2011). The Arab Spring: U.S. Democracy Promotion in Egypt. Middle East Policy, 18 (3), 49 – 62. Sullivan, P. (2009). President Barak Hussein Obama and the Middle East: The Peace Process, Iran, Iraq and Reasonable Expectations. Jordan Journal of International Affairs, 2(4), 9 – 36.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Physical properties of transparent optical polymers Dissertation

Physical properties of transparent optical polymers - Dissertation Example substituted ethylenic) copolymer (Weber, 2003). Structural units of most of these polymers are given in the figure 5.2. Fig. 5.2: Structural units of common optical polymers (Martienssen and Warlimont, 2006). Because of the variations in structure, the properties such as refractive index, thermal stability, etc. vary among the different polymers (Losch et al., 1992). The properties of certain optical polymers (PC, PMMA, and ADC in comparison to glass are shown in figure 5.3. Fig. 5.3: Comparison of physical properties of glass and optical polymeric plastics – PC, PMMA and ADC (Optical Polymers International, 2010). This chapter describes and compares the physical properties of common optical polymers. The following physical properties will be discussed further: 1. ... The scattering loss of these materials is low and their refractive indices are controllable (Jones, 1997). This allows their fabrication into waveguide structures. 5.2.1. Comparison of Refractive Index The refractive index of most transparent polymeric materials is around 1.5. As these are carbon based, their refractive indices and dispersion are very different from crystals and glasses (Weber, 2003). Polyetherimide (PEI) has a refractive index higher than most other optical polymers. Other polymers with high refractive indices include polyarylsulfone, polyarylate, PC, and PS. PMMA has a refractive index of 1.491. The refractive indices of some common polymers are shown in table 5.1. The refractive index of ADC is 1.50, which compares well with that of glass. Polymer Refractive index PEI 1.658 Polyarylsulfone 1.651 Polyarylate 1.61 PS 1.590 PC 1.586 SAN 1.579 CR-39 1.504 PMMA 1.491 TPX 1.466 Table 5.1: Refractive indices of common polymeric materials. The refractive index of a polyme r is influenced by the polarizability, free volume and the difference between the maximum absorption wavelength and optical wavelength of the material (Ma et al., 2002). The higher the density and the polarizability of the material, the higher will be its refractive index. Various other polymeric materials have been used in optical focusing mechanisms. These include polyimides (PI), fluoropolymers (FP) such as Tedlar ® PVF, Tefzel ® ETFE, and Teflon ® FEP, and hydrocarbon polymers (HCP) like polyvinylbutyral (PVB). Among the fluoropolymers, the lowest index of refraction is that of Teflon FEP, which is completely fluorinated (French et al., 2011). It is observed that as the amount of

Monday, February 3, 2020

An audit of coded data Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

An audit of coded data - Assignment Example This report details the results of an audit of coder A data based on a set of reference data containing the correct inputs as present in Coder B data. This is to determine the accuracy of coding data, with the audit being in line with the prescriptions of the ACBA, or the Australian Coding Benchmark Audit. The basic method consists of analyzing coder A data for variances with the reference data as provided in coder B. Coder B data is correct, against which the accuracy of coder A data is vetted against. This is the fundamental method. The use of 40 records for the audit is in line with the ACBA prescription for audit sample size to be able to make a good assessment of the quality of the coding. The present research has identified that the ACBA audit process, in theory, is a convenient, practical and effective process for identifying coding error sources, not only from the coder side, but also from the wider system side, and in so doing allow for a more comprehensive view of the sourc es of and potential mitigations for the correction of coder and process/system mistakes in the coding process. ACBA in other words also shores up the reliability of coded data, by tracing coding mistakes in a comprehensive and systematic fashion. ACBA also makes it easier to understand that the coding process and coding mistakes that follow from certain coding processes can be as much a source of coding error as human error.