Monday, September 30, 2019
Australian Aboriginal Culture Essay
Introduction Aboriginals or indigenous Australians are the native people of Australia. Aboriginals were nomadic people who came to Australia about 40,000 – 60,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Religion is a great part of Aboriginal culture. The essay answers these questions: What do Aboriginals belief? What is a Kinship system? What is Dreaming and Dreamtime? What rituals does Aboriginals have? Religion The Aborigines have a complex belief in creation, spirits and culture that gives a definite distinctiveness from any other religion in the world. Thousands of years ago, Australian Aboriginal people were living in accordance with their dreamtime beliefs- today, a majority of the Aboriginal community profess allegiance to Christianity, and only 3% still adhere to traditional beliefs. These beliefs have provided the Aboriginal people with guidance and perspective on all aspects of life. There were many variants to these beliefs and practises throughout the many Aboriginal tribal areas, but all Aboriginal people have developed an intimate relationship between themselves and their environment. They see themselves as spiritually bound to the natural world. The Dreamtime The Dreamtime specifically refers to the period of time when the creators made the territory of a tribe and all it contained. It was a period when patterns of living were established and laws were laid down for human beings to follow. The Dreamtime is linked with many aspects of Aboriginal practise, including rituals, storytelling and Aboriginal lore. Artwork Traditional Aboriginal art was inspired by religious ceremonies or rituals. Modern Aboriginal art is a vital part of the world’s oldest continuous cultural tradition. It is also one of the most brilliant and exciting areas of modern art. It is based on animals or patterns. All the designs, painted or drawn, have a story behind them. Many of the Dreamtime stories are told using artwork because there were so many different aboriginal languages in every region that the people couldn’t understand people from the other tribes. Language Groups There are about 150 existing language groups this day, the number of the groups has been decreasing rapidly after the Europeans came to Australia. In Aboriginal culture the language isn’t only a form of communication, it is used to mark territory. It is possible that people from tribe only fifty kilometres away cannot understand the other tribes language at all. Aboriginal Language groups (http://www. ewb. org. au/images/uploads/2010challenge/Language%20Map. jpg) Elders Certain senior male members of traditional language groups may become Elders. Elders are initiated men who are selected to be ritual leaders upon the basis of their personal qualities such as bravery and compassion and their knowledge of the Law. Elders provide leadership in matters affecting the group, including dispute resolution, educating the young and advising on marriage partners. In traditional Aboriginal society the advice of the Elders is usually unquestioned. Elders assume responsibility for sacred objects, spiritual matters and the performance of ritual. The Elders are vested with custodianship of the Law. Their duty is to honour and maintain the Law, and pass it down to the next generation. Elder(http://www. digital-photo. com.au/gallery/d/4113-1/Aboriginal-Elder-Cedric-Playing-Sticks-IMG_4397. jpg) Kinship System In traditional Aboriginal society inter-personal relationships are governed by a Complex system of rules, known as the classificatory system of kinship. The kinship system is based upon an expanded concept of family, and a concomitant extension of family rights and obligations. The kinship system enables each person in a language group to ascertain precisely where he or she stands in relation to every other person in that group and to Persons outside that group. By providing a mental map of social relationships, each person knows precisely how to behave in relation to every other person. Adulthood When children approach puberty they are required to undergo ritual initiation processes. When a girl reaches her puberty she will be initiated into womanhood, which means she has to start doing the same things than the other women in the camp. She can become a food gatherer, sexual partner or she can start taking care of the young children or the elders. When a girl reaches her womanhood she will go through ritual acts what are body-painting, ornamentation and body-cleansing. When boy approaches puberty he is physically removed from his family to life for an extended period away from the group. The people in the group are forbidden to say the boys name during this period of time. The boy is taught the rights and duties of a adult male. The boy will also learn the secrets of the sacred laws. Before becoming man, the boy’s worthiness and courage will be tested. These tests include piercing the body or circumcision and sleep deprivation. After these rituals the person can get married. Marriage. In traditional Aboriginal society marriages are very important. Marriage can be decided when the bride is very young or sometimes even unborn. Usually man is in his thirties when he gets married. Women can be many years younger than the man, but may have been married before and widowed because the earlier husband has died. Death and after life The aboriginal people took a great amount of care to ensure that a deceased spirit could find its’ way to the sky or a ‘spirit-place’, by sitting by the person’s grave and mourning. After death, the relatives took a number of precautions against the deceased person’s spirit returning to their camp. This involved them in taking a zigzag course to the burial ground to trick the deceased spirit about the direction back to their camp. After a death, some tribes beat their bodies with sticks or clubs, or cut themselves with shells or stone knives to cause bleeding. In these instances, the period of sorrow or mourning was considered to be at an end when their wounds were healed. After the mourning period was completed, it was disrespectful to say the dead person’s name in some time, the time depended how the person had died. The people also believed that a person’s spirit could visit living people to harm or warn them of danger. This usually resulted in an inquiry about the death of a person who was considered to have died too early or in unusual way. Funeral Totems (http://nursing322fall09. files. wordpress. com/2009/11/funeral-totems. jpg) References: http://www. indigenousaustralia. info http://fi. wikipedia. org/wiki/Aboriginaali http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Indigenous_Australians.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Catholic Church In Ireland Essay
The role of Catholic Church in the development of the education system in the nineteenth century Ireland.            The Catholic Church in Ireland was known as Romans Catholic Churches. The church was headed by a pope. In Ireland the Catholic Church was organised in dioceses and parishes, which was headed by the archbishops, bishops and priests. The catholic church of Ireland had various religious orders among which were fathers of the Holy Ghost, Vincentians Capuchins, and Augustinians among others and all of their either participated in offering missions or teaching. In Ireland, there were priests’ societies and they were in various countries, with missionary society of St. Columbia being located in country math, and St. Patrick’s missionary sociated situated in country Wicklow.[1] In Ireland there was the freedom of religion, and this was after the redrafting of the Ireland constitution in 1937 and it was then when the special position which was kept aside specifically for religion was abolished. During this period, there were many churches in Ireland, and thus by considering catholic church, it does not mean that this was the only church. Other churches in Ireland included the Presbyterian, Eastern Orthodox, and Salvation Army among others. Ireland is one of the places with oldest history of churches and Christianity in general. Ireland had the first missionary from France in year 431 and he was known as palladius, because the Irish believed in Christ, the pope saw it necessary to send this missionary to the Ireland in order to continue spreading the gospel. The achievement of palladius was termed by some people as a failure but due to his ability to come up with some churches in laigin, others see that the palladius visit was a success because he was able to start his mission. EDUCATION IN IRELAND In Ireland, religion as well as the practices associated with religion are considered very important and are adhered to the dot. Ireland having the various Christian groups, the majority of the Irish population are known to be Catholics from Rome.[2] The Irish people are united and respect everyone’s religion. This is a very good consideration that promotes education, and lack of the respect can cause a lot of negative impact in the education system. In Ireland, and apart from Christians, there are also Bahais Islamic, Hindus, Buddhists, and people who had the Jewish faith, but all these people lived together as a society united by the respect they had for each other’s religion. This contributed a lot to the provision of education to the Irish people.[3]            The Irish people liked being education, and traditionally the adored and honoured education. Despite their differences in terms of religion, they ensured that their children had access to education while still in his or her early childhood. This was enforced by all people and to facilitate education to all children, this was indicated in their constitution. To further enhance this, many education institutions provided free education to the Irish children in various education levels. The Irish education was divided into levels and to facilitate graduation from one level to another, the children were expected to have passed in their previous level. These levels started from the primary level, which admitted young children of about six years and then the secondary level which came as a result of passing the primary level. The third level was the level of higher education where the education attained in the first two levels was furthered, courses and technical training was offered in this level as well as the degrees and post graduate levels of education.  Ireland thus was among the countries which are recognised to have participated fully in education and with a high number of students enrolling and completing their education to even the higher education level. This has made their graduates to be recognised internationally with many countries and companies employing the graduates in their organisations and companies. This shows that the country produces high qualified and competent graduates. Catholic Church in the development of the education system in the nineteenth century. Catholic Church was of great implication in the development of education system in Ireland in the nineteenth century. Bearing in mind that in Ireland education is compulsory the Catholic Church played a big role in ensuring that this education was compulsory to al children despite their family’s financial status. The catholic churches came up with mass education system in Ireland. This was as a result of the contribution of the catholic missionaries in the valuing of the mass education. [4]They knew with this, many children could have access to the education with an equal provision of this education to all children considering nothing else, but just the need for the education to all.            The Catholics constructed schools which were headed by Catholics leaders and teachers. Among these schools were the elementary schools where the head inspector was a catholic dean and local inspector a priest. The school also have committee and teachers who were Catholics. These types of schools never mixed students in terms of sexes and the children thus could be easily protected. The normal schools were headed by priest as the president and teachers had to be Catholics. These schools were involved with teaching and training teachers. These schools were very important in the development of the Irish education because they enhance qualified teachers available to educate the small children and the youths in their other schools.            The Catholic Church saw the great need of religious education to both children and youth who live in the community[5]. They believed that children who get the religious education are at a better position in their society since the education guides the maturing child mind in a way which a child can know what is expected from him or her, in relating with other people in the society, and in the moral understanding. The catholic schools for children ensure that the children are taught and learn on how to have devotion and how to work. This is enhanced by creating time for devotions and time for communal work, thus ensuring that all children participates in these work and learning on how to do various works, in various situations and within a limited time. This helps the children to be able to have devotions in their future lives and also to fit in the society which requires industrious or rather hard and actively working individuals. The school’s equipped children with the knowledge and understanding inculcating obedience to parents and people in authority. This helped the children to understand the roles of the authority and what is expected from them by the parents and the people in authority. This enhanced respect to all people in the society in which the children lived. Children grew up being honest to all people in the society and intelligently. From this we can see that the catholic churches contributed a lot in the education during the nineteenth century since their schools were foundations which not only provided education which was compulsory, to all children, but also had the best for the children, facilitating easy relationship among the children, and also with other people in the society.            The catholic churches had various teaching orders. They could use school, or even arrange for camps. All these were targeting at providing religious education and other form of education of children and youths. The catholic churches provided training for the youth concerning the religion principles. These principles gave the youth the best in regard to the religion. This helped the youth to have clear vision on what they are expected do in the society, and also training them to how to be morally upright. Ireland just like any other society had moral values and there was the standard which every Irish was expected to live in. The Catholic Church thus took the initiative to prepare the youths with these expectations, and this helped the youth to cope with life. The catholic churches gave this to the youth, by holding youth seminars, and youth discussions where many youths, were assembled and the catholic teachers and other catholic individuals were used to teach the youths.[6] This had great impact in the society, because the youth could learn a lot from these training on top of their classroom. The education which these catholic churches gave to children and youths also inhibited differentism, and Ireland being a large country with many people and of different religion, these children and youths could use the knowledge acquired from this training take each other in the society in a similar manner, and this helped a lot in maintaining unity and peace among the people.            The catholic churches had a different way of contributing to the education of their country’s people. With this I mean the catholic churches ensured that education was free to all children by paying taxes. The tax income was used to manage and maintain the needs and requirements of the free education. This was because many children were getting their education in public schools as compared to the catholic schools, and with this high number of the children thus promoting the children’s education.            For the catholic schools, the catholic churches gave volunteer was as part of their contribution to their schools. By doing this, the financial requirements of the catholic schools were minimised and the money which they saved from the minimised use of finances was used to help the public schools. The volunteer work in their church schools was given to specifically approved schools, and these schools had a better chance of enrolling more students thus ensuring education to all children.            The catholic churches ensured that the books which were used by the catholic teachers to educate children were selected by the priest and also ensured that the books have what was good and right for the children. This was done to ensure that the children engaged in reading books which could enable them to develop good morals, and achieve the best knowledge. The catholic churches, volunteers were also willing to provide their personnel, materials and time for the sake of education of the children.[7] The manager of the catholic churches and catholic schools created a chance for interschool activities, whereby the pupils in the catholic schools could interact with pupils from protestant schools and other public schools. This played a big role in enhancing the pupils’ relationships and doing of field work in a joint manner. The pupils could be able to learn new ideas and get extra knowledge as a result of combining the new ideas with the ones they already had. From this joint fieldwork, the pupils were able to pick some challenges from other schools, and at the same time being in a state of learning their strength and weaknesses, which would help them in analysing and rectifying where they had the wrong move or ideas. This learning as a result of joint fieldwork was based on the pupils of both catholic schools and any other participating schools, thus from the wide range of participating schools, children got extra education. Catholic schools were looked upon by the society. The catholic churches were involved with practicing degree of control in civil society. The churches ensure that they practices what was up to their region and this is what they tried to put in the pupils minds. The catholic churches were one of the agents who participated in introduction of new integrated education, as they considered the involvement of children from different backgrounds in terms of religion to have impact on the learning of the pupils.            Later during the nineteenth century a philosophy requiring man to have equal supremacy with state was invented. This never discouraged the Catholic Church in its attempt to provide education to all children. Due to the development in industries, it happened that various machines were to be used in the industries.[8] To operate these machines, the operators were required to have training in all the machine operating procedures. This was based in the states’ side and this means the Catholic Church experienced challenges as quite large of the students had to shift in order to achieve this. The Catholic Church was the primary agent in provision of education and with this, the church aimed at providing the best not considering other factors. Many were times when the Catholic Church went short of funds to finance the education. This was usually a challenge but the Catholic Church never gave up, but rather went ahead to volunteering and offering whatever they could get. This was usually a challenge because other public schools used to get some funds from the government, unlike the Catholic Church, but they kept moving on in providing education despite all this.            The Catholic Church teachers operated in teaching children in seasons. This was because during winters, the pupils were not usually in sessions.[9] The Catholic Church teachers ensured they provided education, by moving from one place to another either within one parish, or across many of them, and sometimes even from place to place, searching for pupils to teach once they got enough number of pupils to teach, they taught as long as their strength, willingness and time was being utilised in a way to benefit a pupil.            Many of the pupils came from poor backgrounds and despite the lack of money and buildings to use as a place to call a school, the Catholic Church teachers ensured they went along teaching pupils and making Ireland to have more educated people as when comparing to the bordering countries.[10]When the churches gave free catholic schools, and mostly in urban areas the pupils and teachers used the churches as the venue for their education and the teachers got salary from funds generated from parochial, and this ensured that they taught pupils without being harassed by the government.            Later a national education system was introduced after a debate in parliament. This ensured that pupil from poor backgrounds. This education focused on providing separating religious education and enhancing literacy and morals. This wanted to abolish the favours related to religions and all Christians without considering their denomination were considered when making the application to the schools. However some funds were required for maintenance of school the teaching staff’s salary and in order to buy books.            The mode of teaching was different from the teaching done in the catholic churches, because for this national education system, a week was divided in order to facilitate the teaching of literacy and moral and this was done in the five days of a week, and the other two days the religion education was taught. This ensured separate teaching of both the religion education and the moral and literacy education they later considered to offer religion advices every day after the normal moral and literacy classes.            Several churches objected this form of education. The first to refuse were the Presbyterians who opted to have their children having their education based on their denomination. This brought some disputes and later it was passed that there was a freedom for the religious education to be taught on regular bases just like the moral and literacy education. For the children of the parents who felt their children needed it, and the freedom of parents who felt their children do not required the religious instructions to be picking their children before the instructions starts. The Catholic Church then joined in refusing and argued that their children needed religious education in equal proportions to moral and literacy education. The Catholics were not up to the claims which authorised established church to have the power to manage the schools, and the fact that bible scriptures were not to be included in the times when general instructions were being taught to children.            The Catholic Church continued to give trial to its mode of education despite the fact that providing the building for the children being education was limited and the government who were against the idea. The financial status of the Irish people also kept giving the Catholic Church challenges since it was always poor to support their children’s education. The Catholics objected the national education system because the commissioners ensured that they benefited from the states funds without really caring about the many places with the fund deficiency and which can be helped by providing these funds. The Catholics felt very bad because of this. However they had nothing better to do than objecting from the public side because even the ratio of the Catholics representing them was very low, and due to this, they always have not voice in the commission. The ration contrasted with the actual ration of the catholic in the total population, because Catholics were the majority in entire Ireland population.            The Catholics held their point that they needed their schools having the religious instructions available for their children. This was because some of the scriptures which appeared in text books used by the children and teachers in class were neither valid, nor recognised by the Catholics and their authorities and these books had a lot of the Ireland culture and tradition as the only reference.[11] The Catholics objected this arguing that a good education system need to provide knowledge and intelligence to a pupil, as well as giving the instruction concerning religion which enhanced moral development of children and better relationship of the children and other people in the society.            According to the proposal of the new education system, there was to be a school of teachers where training of the teachers who would teach the pupils was to be done. The proposal indicated that the institution would be the only recognised training institution, a teacher from any other training institution would be considered not qualified and not having competency in teaching, hence not allowed to teach in Ireland. This acted as a provocation to the Catholics who objected furiously and they were denied the request to have a catholic appointed to on behalf of the catholic teachers’ religious training. This resulted to very few Catholics enrolling in the training school, and the managers of the Catholic schools decided not to accept some few places which were being given to their teachers in the training college.            Most of the managers in the schools were not quality but the proposal insisted on training teachers specifically at the proposed training school, and most of the trainers of the trainees were not professionals, and they targeted on training about philosophy and theology since majority of them were priests. In Ireland the primary schools have higher population as compared to secondary schools and universities. Just as there are many issues left un sorted in primary education same case applies to secondary schools which have fewer population and thus less schools. Comparing the Catholic Church influence, there was a chance for Trinity College and two universities to be found, and this shows how the education system under the Catholic Church was more organised and with a focus compared to the National education system.[12] To conclude, the Catholic Church contributed a lot in the education development in Ireland in the nineteenth century and it’s good to credit the Catholics effort and devotion for the Irish people education. The catholic teachers and other Catholics individuals who committed themselves in generous provision of education to all children not considering their financial background. It’s through the hard struggle of the Catholic Church that the education of Irish people became a success.       References Bruce F., Biever, Religion Culture Values, Ayer United State 1976. Christ, L, Sherry, E, American Catholism, Appleton-century-croft, London, 1961. Coolahan, J, Irish Education History and Structure. Institute of Public Administration United State, 1981. Hansard, C, Parliamentary debates, T.C Hansard, Great Britain, 1824. Herbermann G, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Encyclopaedia Press, United State, 1913. Lowe,R,History of education,Routledge,United States,2000. Maguire, F, Nineteenth-century Catholic Education, Library Ireland, 1868, Retrieved on 15 March 2008,http://www.libraryireland.com/Maguire/XXVI-1.php. MCDowell, B, Ireland church in 1869-1969, Routlege, United States, 1975. Murphy D, History of Irish Emigrant and Missionary Education, Four Courts Press, Ireland, 2000. Thomas A, Catholic Church and Secondary School Curriculum in Ireland. Peter Land, New York, 1999 vol 5 William B, History of Western Education. Black, United State, 1947 Wiseman, N, Dubling review, Burns and Oates, London, 1961 [1] Thomas A, Catholic Church and Secondary School Curriculum in Ireland. Peter Land, New York, 1999 vol 5 [2] Lowe, R, History of education, Routledge, United States, 2000. [3] William B, History of Western Education. Black, United State, 1947. [4] Murphy D, History of Irish Emigrant and Missionary Education, Four Courts Press, Ireland, 2000. [5] Maguire, F, Nineteenth-century Catholic Education, Library Ireland, 1868, Retrieved on 15 March 2008,http://www.libraryireland.com/Maguire/XXVI-1.php [6] McDowell, B, Ireland church in 1869-1969, Routlege, United States, 1975 [7]Herbermann G, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Encyclopaedia Press, United State, 1913 [8] Hansard, C, Parliamentary debates, T.C Hansard, Great Britain, 1824. [9] Coolahan, J, Irish Education History and Structure. Institute of Public Administration United State, 1981. [10] Christ, L, Sherry, E, American Catholism, Appleton-century-croft, London, 1961 [11] Wiseman, N, Dubling review, Burns and Oates, London, 1961 [12] Bruce F., Biever, Religion Culture Values, Ayer United State 1976. Â
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Consider the claims that Baudelaire makes and the points of argument Assignment
Consider the claims that Baudelaire makes and the points of argument that he makes - Assignment Example Instead, it posits the popular sense of being a mirror of the physical, visible world. However, at the same time to a fine artist, the photograph would depict a sensational piece of artwork depending to the title that it is given. If the title in totally sums up all the elements of the photograph without exaggeration or assumption, then it would much the fine art that Baudelaire talks about. The photograph does not show the element of surprise that would also symbolize a sense of beauty that comes with it. The photograph seems more or less dry, lacks taste and a sense of humor or wonder (85). This is due to lack of beauty that goes hand in hand with wonder and enthusiasm of scrutiny at the image as an image of mental reflection by the artist and the art lovers. As such the photograph is a qualification of the fact that photography cannot be allowed to deputize arts activities as it will altogether corrupt the good work of art. Photographs in many instances serve as a reminder of the many memories that the photographer would prefer to keep. The consideration of photography as an important part of the art does not reflect wholly on what fine art ought to be. Photographs in terms of artwork do not depict the amount of creativity of the photographer as much as painting would (86). This is because in photography, in most cases there is no a predetermined kind of thoughts and imagery that runs in ones mind as is mostly seen in the art of painting. As time goes by the scene of art has been corrupted as more and more elements are being considered as a piece of art so long as it is beautiful to the eye of the public. As a result, "art is losing in self-respect, is prostrating itself before external reality," (88) while the artists have become more inclined to works that are not driven by dream but what is appealing to the physical eye. The creativity of an
Friday, September 27, 2019
The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest Research Paper
The devestating effects of logging in the rainforest - Research Paper Example Furthermore, according to the statistics, â€Å"more than 80 percent of the world’s ancient forests†(Tscharntke, 2007) have been destroyed due to the logging. This paper is a brief attempt to explore various dimensions devastating effects of logging in rainforests on various stakeholders. Discussion â€Å"Rainforests once covered more than 14 percent†(Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) of the total land on this planet; however, â€Å"today every second, the world is losing one and half acre of rainforests†(Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005) and thus, it is left with less than 6 percent of rainforests. Research indicates that if this process continues then we are likely to run out of rainforests in the coming three decades (Tscharntke, 2007). Currently, almost a quarter of the western dugs are derived from rainforest ingredients. Furthermore, interesting is the fact that scientists believe that they have only checked less than a percent of the total species of rainforests, which means that with deforestation of rainforests, the world is losing the cure of many diseases (Bermingham, Dick & Moritz, 2005). Logging is most common in the developing and underdeveloped countries of the world where there are large reserves of rainforest. Quite understandably, considering the income levels of these countries, money becomes an urgent, unavoidable, and imperative need. On an average, a hectare of trees in rainforest can earn the loggers more than 40000 US dollars, which is nearly equal to a fortune for them. To make matters worst, most of the governments in these countries are also involved in these practices since they have no other way to earn foreign exchange. However, these governments fail to realize that the logs that they sell to countries like America and other European countries, they later spend more than half of the foreign exchange or export earnings to buy important wood products as pulp, paper and others from these very countries (L aurance & Peres, 2006). It is important to note that timber industry claims to be following â€Å"safe†logging practices, which include selective logging and full forest harvesting. Interestingly, both of them are not at all safe. Selective logging may refer to the process of choosing specific mature trees to harvest. Once the harvesting process is complete, a sapling is planted so that a new tree can grow. However, this never results in favorable results. In most rainforests, average size of trees is very high which blocks sunlight and nutrients for other small trees (Jepma, 1995). Furthermore, research indicates that removing one tree from a bunch of trees in a rainforest may result in the death of 17 more trees. This is true because trees develop a system of interdependence with each other especially in rainforests (Tscharntke et al., 2009). Full forest harvesting which refers to the process of harvesting the entire trees with its branches and leaves is an even dangerous method of logging. The nutrients taken from the soil are usually in the leaves and branches of the trees and taking them away leaves the forest with lesser chances to grow again. Furthermore, with direct exposure of sunlight in the gaps and empty spaces dries the soil and the soil loses precious nitrogen (Tscharntke, 2007). In the absence of rainforest trees, the balance of carbon dioxide is being disturbed since there
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Why you personally want to be a chemical engineer Essay - 1
Why you personally want to be a chemical engineer - Essay Example These are some of the reasons why I want to be associated with this field of engineering because it allows me a great deal of opportunity to learn new and novel aspects, and thus get acquainted with the explosives and chemicals which are included within this field of education. By becoming a chemical engineer, I have a host of options up my sleeves. I can explore the sub-field of biochemical engineering, metallurgy, plastics engineering or even fuel cell. This is an exciting prospect for me and I would always like to be a part of this valuable field which is making waves throughout the world for all the right reasons. Since chemical engineers discern the basis of developing fruitful and economically feasible ways of making use of materials and energy, their work becomes even more satisfying at the end of the day. I would employ chemistry and engineering to foresee a positive change from the raw materials into useable products, which will shape up the world
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Strategic Planning Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Strategic Planning - Article Example Gilbert (2012, p.10) asserts that Chesapeake wants to cut on its costs. I choose Gilbert’s article, because Chesapeake’s top management faces a decision making task that will determine its future progress. Chesapeake’s drilling costs account for approximately 50 percent of the whole costs. This presents the company management with a huddle since cutting on the drilling costs would lead to a reduction in the output. In its move to reduce costs, Chesapeake plans to increase its drilling funding through selling some of its assets. Approximately, the company will acquire 4 billion US dollars by selling some of its pipelines (Gilbert, 2012, p.10). The south eastern stockholder criticized Chesapeake Company for increasing costs and suggested that the company should cut on its capital costs. Chesapeake has also suggested it intends to change its management with highly competent personnel (Gilbert, 2012, p. 10). In my own opinion, Chesapeake’s management has failed to secure an efficient allocation of organizational resources, which has resulted to a lack of unified direction. The management needs to come up with an effective strategy that will not only consider cutting the costs but also increase or maintain its productivity. Peter and Donnelly (2006) assert that a well drafted strategy leads the management in its actions and decisions (p. 36). In addition, it renders an incorporated approach for the company and assists in conforming to the challenges posed by the environment
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Archimedes Principle Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Archimedes Principle - Lab Report Example Below are tabulated results indicating numerous physical properties of different materials determined through a typical Archimedes Principle experiment. Admittedly, both weight and density are physical properties of matter. Density is calculated by finding the ratio of a material’s mass to that of the material’s volume. Contrarily, weight is the mass of a material in a particular gravitational field. In the calculations, weight was obtained when mass was multiplied by 9.98; the earth’s acceleration due to gravity. In this context, I believe that weight is a variable property which changes with a corresponding change in the external force of gravitational acceleration. However, density is a rather static variable in matter. Density is derived from the unchanging parameters of mass and volume. On the other hand, weight is derived from the unchanging parameter of mass and the changing parameter of gravitational acceleration (Smith 28). Therefore, the experiment’s computations indicate that density describes a material more accurately than weight. When an object is suspended in air, gravity is the only major force acting on that object. However, an object immersed in water is acted upon by two major forces; gravity, and buoyant force. Gravity pulls an immersed object down while buoyant force pushes the immersed object upwards. Consequently, a portion of the object’s actual weight is neutralized by the upward force of buoyancy, thus causing an immersed object to weigh less (Smith 31). Technically, an object does not lose the same amount of weight when immersed in a liquid other than water. First, water and other liquids have different densities. Buoyancy of objects is determined by the ration of an object’s density to that of the reference liquid. Since buoyant forces determine the weight of an immersed object, then the magnitude of buoyant forces acting on a water-immersed object are not necessarily equal to the
Monday, September 23, 2019
The MP3 Player Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
The MP3 Player Industry - Essay Example Second, the industry has been dominated by Apple because the company garners from 65 to 80 percent of the market share. Third, technological leadership appears to be a major determinant of who leads in the industry. Marino pointed out that â€Å"MP3 player manufacturers were continuously working to develop players that were physically smaller, with larger storage capacity, a longer batter life, and a simpler user interface†(p. 2). Fourth, electronic devices have been converging. As pointed out by Marino, â€Å" combinations of cameras, MP3s, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and even cell phones were becoming abundantly popular†(p. 3). This means that even the MP3 player industry can disappear with the emergence of a product the combines the cellular phone, MP3 player, camera and personal digital assistants. In view of this, it can be asserted that the basic competition in the MP3 player industry is a fast, seamless, efficient and excellent transformation of each MP 3 player firm into a firm producing a product that integrates the features of a camera, cellular phone, MP3 player, personal digital assistant and other electronic equipment into a single device. For instance, one device that has been integrated recently into such a device is the GPS locator or the device that identifies one’s exact location on earth in terms of latitude and longitude. Varian (2010, p. 523) defines a dominant strategy as the â€Å"one optimal choice of strategy for each player no matter what the other player does.†Varian (2010, p. 523) elaborated that â€Å"if there is a dominant strategy for each player in some game, then we would predict that it would be the equilibrium outcome of the game.†Varian (2010, p. 536) said â€Å"a dominant strategy equilibrium is a set of choices for which each player’s choices are optimal regardless of what the other players choose.†Similar with the Varian (2010) definition, a popular definition of dominant strategy is by Michael Shor. According to Shor (2006a), â€Å"A strategy is dominant if, regardless of what any players do, the strategy earns a larger payoff than any other. Hence, a strategy is dominant if it always better than any other strategy, for any profile of other players actions. Depending on whether â€Å"better†is defined with weak or strict inequalities, the strategy is termed strictly dominant or weakly dominant. If one strategy is dominant, then all others are dominated.†In general, the dominant strategy can be a Nash equilibrium. According to Shor (2006b), Nash equilibrium â€Å"is a set of strategies, one for each player, such that no player has incentive to unilaterally change her action.†Among several possible dominant strategies, a Nash equilibrium is one possible dominant strategy in the MP3 Player industry. 2. 5 Forces of the music player industry and which one is the strongest? The idea of five forces shaping the industry cam e from Porter (1985). According to Porter (1985, p. 5), the five forces any industry are rivalry among firms, bargaining power of buyers, threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers and threat of substitute products or services. Like in any other industry, the same five forces are shaping the MP3 player industry although Hunger and Wheelen (2011) has identified a sixth which consists of the other stakeholders. According to Hunger and Wheelen (2011), these other stakeholders include governments, local communities and groups that can influence
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Middle Range Nursing Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Middle Range Nursing Theory - Essay Example Patients that have terminal illness may feel distress or pain in any or all of these domains and that the desire for comfort should be evaluated and attended to on all areas, instead of simply focusing on the long-standing practice of managing physical pain. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Kolcaba’s comfort theory, particularly its history, principles, and concepts, and application to specific nursing practice. A Brief Description of Kolcaba’s Comfort Theory At the advent of the twentieth century, the concept of ‘comfort’ was applied in a broad way, and it was greatly appreciated in nursing. Furthermore, the capability to give comfort demonstrated the personality and skill of nurses. During this period, nurses thought that giving comfort was their sole responsibility. Comfort was mainly essential because therapeutic medical procedures were still absent (Kolcaba, 2003). Improving the comfort of patients was viewed as a proactive nursing objective tha t also was encouraging, and, in almost all instances, should involve progress from an earlier condition. Comfort arose from environmental, emotional, physical, and psychological interventions, but directives for special comfort procedures were under the doctor’s discretion. ... The value of family comfort started to surface during this period and families were regarded valid beneficiaries of comfort therapies. Nurses encouraged self-care in patients if at all possible. Comfort became the top priority of nurses only when their patients have terminal illness. Moreover, where nursing contexts were less affected by technology, like long-term care and nursing homes, comfort was more essential as a purpose of nursing (Fawcett & DeSanto-Madeya, 2012). Smith and Liehr (2008) argued that such pattern had wide-ranging repercussions for nursing in the twenty-first century, because of an increasingly aging population. More and more elders desire comfort in the remaining days of their lives. Frances Kolcaba describes comfort in nursing as â€Å"the satisfaction (actively, passively, or co-operatively) of the basic human needs for ‘relief’-- a condition wherein a patient’s special needs were met--, ‘ease’-- a condition of total peace and serenity-- or ‘transcendence’-- a condition wherein an individual overcomes pain and difficulties-- arising from health care situations that are stressful†(McEwen & Wills, 2007, 256). Kolcaba’s comfort theory takes place within a context made up of ‘three states of being’ and ‘four contexts’ wherein comfort for the ill can exist in (McEwen & Wills, 2007, 256). The three interconnected states of being wherein a patient is supported are relief, ease, and transcendence. The environmental, social, psychospiritual, and physical are the four contexts wherein comfort for patients takes place. The psychospiritual domain is where life’s purpose and meaning reside (McEwen & Wills, 2007, 256). Comfort theory is rooted in the idea that all human beings respond in a
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Selling a product Essay Example for Free
Selling a product Essay The slogan is all part of the brand package for the meddeteranian cruise advert, and it combines with the images created with the use of the swan and Helen of Troy: Discoveries of a Lifetime; the elegent tone and formal vocabulary used combine with the images of the swan and Helen; there is dignity in the seriousness in the vocabulary, but it also insites a sense of adventure and excitement which would make a potential buyer keen to go on a cruise and see the amazing discoveries; it also conveys the uniqueness of the experiences you will have on a Swan Hellenic cruise. It makes the expereinces you will have on a Swan Hellenic cruise seem special, as well as unique, and makes it seem as if that if you turn down the chance to go on a cruise, you will never have the chance again. Once again, however, the Scottish Highlands advert lacks a concrete slogan. Because it doesnt promote any perticular company, and only a product (the Highlands themselves), there is no company slogan to use; really, it has more of a tag; the visitscotland web address; the advert is used to draw people in with its imagery before directing the reader to a resource for more information, rather than selling a product directly to the reader. The most striking contrast between the two adverts is the use of text and tone. The cruise advert uses a personal tone in the style of a postcard (together with a font which looks as if it is handwritten) to give the advert the style ofa one on one conversation between the reader and a friend; the personal style makes the dvert seem as if it has been purposefuly created for the reader and thus makes it seem more relevent to them. The description of the area is also personal rather than it shines like a beacon in the sun, which would be used ina formal desprition, the phrase it shone like a beacon in the sun is used to give the text the feeling of it being a persons despription, enhancing the personal feel. The text is of a relevent size to make it seem legitimately handwritten (and is spaced to achieve the same effect), but it is hugh up enough on the pafge for the glorious, sprawling and idyllic medeterranian scene to be seen in full. The use of we in the opening paragraph affirms the audience the product is aimed at; couples or groups, and also suggestes a shared experience, which the whole party enjoyed; the use of the phrase never knew existed not only enforces the uniqueness of the cruises but also suggest that you will learn and be entralled in the process by going on the cruise. The text reffering to the monks being hoisted up in a basket gives the text even more of a personal feel because it comes accros as a private joke; the final use of humour does what the phrase about the monks does and also makes the reader laugh, hopng to usethe humour to help them remember the advert. The body of text underneath the picture is used to push the cruises themselves. Within the first sentence, you have all the positives of a Swan Hellenic cruise laid out for you with a rheotorical question on the end to make you think about them all; the text also speaks directly to the target audience (couples or groups who want to get away from modern life) with the promise of places off the beaten track and also promises once again that you will learn whilst on the cruise. Having considered the rheotoricalquestion, the reader is confronted with still more of the cruises virtues Havinggiven the reader all the virtues of a cruise with Swan Hellenic in the firsttwo sentances, the text then details how to obtain them all in a plethora of ways, all guaranteed to be easy, quick, effective and hair-tearing free; the use of the phrase friendly team are waiting to assist you conjures up an office full of happy people who will wait for a time convinient to you to assist you in choosing a perfect holiday; another virtue, and only in the third sentence. Where as the Swan Helenic advert uses an extensive amount of text, the Scottish Highlands advert uses short, snappy and witty (slightly sarcastic) phrases to give it a chic, modern air. The text stands out because of its position on the page and the sentences lead sraight on into each other. The other body of text is small and secreted away so as not to detract from the all-important picture; the phrase make your own entertainment makes use of innuendo and gives a certain allure to coming to the coming to the Scottish Highlands; the useof aquestion directly followed by an answer (Want to come? Go online.) points a reader where to go without giving him or her time to think; its almost s if he or she as nochoice. Those last two sentences are also short and snappy, as is the tag visitscotland.com, which is is easy to remember andstresses that you shoud visit Scotland; the use of an incomplete andshort address rather than a longwinded one also keeps up the modern theme (by missing off the http:// and www. sections of the website address and using something catchy like visitscotland.com and not something like uktourism.co.uk/scotland/highlands/visit_scotland.html the shot and snappy nature of the text is kept going and it is also a stylish ddress.). In conclusion, this study has shown how two adverts selling he same product (holidays) and aimed at a simmilar demographic (high-earning Times readers) can be vastly different. Whilst the Swan Hellenic advert relies on showcasing and using a built up image of the Medetteranian and the reputation of PO cruises the Scottish Highlands advert tries relentlessly to dispelpreconceptions about the Scottish Highlands through the use of modern colours, the internet, short, snappy phrases and a modern sense of humour. In my opinion, the Swan Hellenic is more successful becauseit has a built up image to rely on and fall back on and so the product is easier to sell throgh visual showcasing and the use of language techniques (,etaphor in like a beacon in the sun rheotorical questions), and the conotations of the swan and Helen of Troy to sell its product.
Friday, September 20, 2019
Authentication of Palmyrah Palm Jaggery
Authentication of Palmyrah Palm Jaggery A Preliminary Study and Principal Component Analysis for the Authentication of Palmyrah Palm Jaggery Using NIR Spectroscopy Selvaratnam Balaranjan, Kugamoorthy Velauthamurty, Ganeshalingam Sashikesh Abstract. Palmyrah jaggery is used as a popular traditional sweetener in Jaffna peninsula, Sri Lanka. It is a nutrient rich crude sugar which is also used in the traditional medicine. The authenticity of the product in markets is questionable since there is no analytical methods exist to detect adulterations. In this study, NIR spectroscopy with principal component analysis is used for the authentication of jaggery and identification of the adulterant. Jaggery was produced in laboratory as pure and adulterated with sugar and rice bran at different concentrations. Aqueous solutions of these samples were prepared and used to obtain NIR spectra. Principal component analysis of the spectra was found useful in identifying the adulterations and for the authentication of jaggery. Key words: Palmyrah, jiggery, adulterations, sweetener, NIR spectroscopy. Introduction Palmyrah palm Borassus flabellifer is a celestial tree which is abundant in the northern part of Sri Lanka. Other than northern Sri Lanka, it is widespread in the arid tropics of South America, East Africa, India and South-East Asia. Palmyrah palms are economically useful: leaves are used for thatching, mats, hats, etc.., stalks are used to make fence, black timber used in constructions, young plants, fruits, jelly like seeds are consumed as foods. A sugary liquid oozed from the inflorescence of palmyrah pam, called sap, can be obtained from the young inflorescence of either male or female ones. The sap is a sweet clear watery liquid and contains sugars, vitamins and minerals. Also fresh sap is a good source of vitamin B complex[1]. The sap can be consumed directly. Further, there are several products can be made by processing the sap: jaggery, treacle, sugar candy, toddy, vinegar, arrack and wine. Jaggery Jaggery is a main product made out of sap in Sri Lanka. jaggery is much more nutritious than crude cane sugar, containing 1.04 % protein, 0.19 % fat, 76.86 % sucrose, 1.66 % glucose, 3.15 % total minerals, 0.861 % calcium, 0.052 % phosphorus; Also 11.01 mg iron per 100 g and 0.767 mg of copper per 100 g. It contains vitamins as well: analysis on jaggery from has shown the presence of vitamins such as riboflavin, 402 mg/100 g, vitamin B12, 15 mg/100 g, vitamin C, Thiamine and nicotinic acid[1]. jaggery is used as a popular traditional sweetener in northern Sri Lanka and India. Furthermore, jaggery posses medicinal properties: it is used in indigenous medicine [2], also it is reported that jaggery posses antitoxic and anti-carcinogenic properties as well[3]. Traditionally palmyrah jaggery has high demand among the occupants of northern Sri Lanka. This can be attributed to the use of jaggery as a traditional sweetener and it use in indigenous medicine. jaggery is expensive relative to c ommercial white crystalline sugar: as of writing, 1 Kg of jaggery costs around 600 LKR which is roughly six times that of commercial white crystalline sugar. Due to its relative high price and popularity, Jaggery is often adulterated with cheap adulterants such as cane or beet sugar, rice bran, corn flour, etc. A study by ITI reveals that the ratio between reducing sugar is to non-reducing sugars can be used as a measure to identify the adulterations in the kithul jaggery[4]. However there are no reported works on the authentication of palmyrah jaggery. Food Adulterations Adulteration is the practice of adding low-value substances to a relatively high value food in order to increase the financial return. It is often unlikely for consumers and food processors to detect the adulterations without special chemical or physical analysis. But it is a fraudulent practice. There are several cases of adulterations: sugars in honey [5], proteins in yogurt [6], etc. Adulteration has several consequences such as decrease in the demand, unwanted health effects, unfair competition and so on. The adulterants are often have same chemical composition for example, honey is rich in sugars such as sucrose glucose and fructose and is adulterated with high fructose corn syrups[7], jaggery syrup, sugar solutions etc., extra-virgin oil with different edible oils[8], olive oil with soya oil, sunflower oil, corn oil walnut oil and hazelnut oil[9], yogurt with vegetable protein powder, edible gelatin, and even industrial gelatin[6] etc. Since the chemical composition is similar, the detection of adulteration is difficult. Nevertheless, there are several methods exists to detect and characterize the adulterations. These detection processes have different approaches for the authentication process: determining the ratio between some chemical compositions for authentic samples and compare the ratio for the test samples with the assumption that the ratios are constant for a particular type of food, search for specific markers present in the adulterants. Highly-sophisticated analytical tec hniques such as GC-MS, HPLC, GC, IR-MS, NMR and DNA based techniques are used in the authentication process. Although these methods provide desirable solution to the problem, they are usually time consuming, require dedicated laboratories equipped with costly instruments and require highly-skilled personnel to do the analysis. However, in contrast to those methods, infrared spectroscopy, specifically mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic methods used to address this problem because of its desirable characteristics such as minimal or no sample preparation, short analysis time, does not require chemical reagent purchase or disposal, relatively cost effective and easy deployment once initial method is developed. NIR Spectroscopy NIR Spectroscopy operates in 750-2500 nm (12500 – 4000 cm-1) region of electromagnetic spectrum. This is a vibrational spectroscopic technique, shares the same fundamental principle as that of Mid-IR (4000 – 200 cm-1). However, opposed to fundamental vibrations which arise in the MIR, NIR give rise to overtones and combinations of fundamental vibrations, also the NIR absorption bands overlap with each other. This renders the NIR spectrum more complex than the IR spectrum and hence the chemical information from NIR spectra is poorly resolved. In NIR asymmetric vibrations takes place such as C-H, N-H and O-H this makes NIR spectroscopy useful in the studies of products of biological origin. Chemometrics To resolve useful information from NIR spectra, it is necessary to utilize multivariate statistical analysis. The use of multivariate statistical techniques in the analytical chemistry is termed as chemometrics. Chemometric techniques can be used for qualitative and quantitative studies. These techniques analyze the correlations between variables, since absorptions in NIR wavelengths are correlated with each other chemometrics is exploited in NIR analysis. Principal Component Analysis Principle Component Analysis (PCA) is a chemometric technique which can be used to reduce the number of variables when the systems (samples) are characterized by several variables (absorption at different wavelengths). This is a variable reduction technique and analyzes correlation between variables, reduce the noise and combine the variables into artificial variables called Principle Components (PCs) which explains the most variation among the samples. PCA can be used to study the characteristics of different samples and different groups of samples by analyzing the absorptions at certain wavelength regions which accounts for the similarity/dissimilarity among the samples. Materials and Methods Sap was collected around 09 30 a.m. in weekdays from a sap based production facility in Chavakacheri and Jaffna. After brought to laboratory, the sap was de-limed and neutralized by the addition of concentrated phosphoric acid. Then de-limed the sap was used to prepare jaggery as pure and adulterated forms as in Table 1. Table 1 Composition of jaggery samples produced for the analysis. No Adulterant Amount of adulterant per 500 ml of sap (g) Percentage (w/v) No of Samples 1 None 00.0 0.0 5 2 Sugar 02.5 0.5 3 3 Sugar 05.0 1.0 4 4 Sugar 07.5 1.5 4 5 Sugar 10.0 2.0 2 6 Sugar 12.5 2.5 3 7 Rice Bran 02.5 0.5 3 8 Rice Bran 05.0 1.0 2 Sample Preparation Jaggery was dried in an oven at 102  °C for two hours to remove moisture. Then 5.00 g of sample was added into 20 ml of distilled water and the mixture was stirred at 1000 rpm for five minutes using magnetic stirrer. Then the above solutions were used to obtain the NIR spectra. NIR Spectrum The spectra were obtained at room temperature in Jasco V-570 UV/VIS/NIR spectrometer in the range of 750 to 1300 nm in transmittance mode. Each of the spectra is an average of three individual spectrums. The obtained spectra were exported as ASCII files using the Spectra Manager v 1.5 (Jasco Inc) and imported into Unscrambler X (version 10.1, Camo ASA, Oslo, Norway) for PCA analysis. PCA analysis All the spectra were baseline corrected prior to analysis. The PCA analysis was done for the mean-centered data using Non-linear Iterative Partial Least Squares algorithm with equal weight for all variables, full cross validation was done. Results and Discussion NIR Spectrum Fig. 1. NIR Transmission Spectra of Samples: Solid line – pure, dashed line – samples adulterated with sugar and dotted line – samples adulterated with rice bran. The NIR spectra of eight samples are shown in Fig. 1. Changes in the absorption intensities are visible in the wavelength ranges 900-1000 nm and 1100-1200 nm. N-H 2nd overtone, O-H 2nd overtone and C-H 3rd overtones occur in the 900-1000 nm region. C-H 2nd overtones and O-H combinations occur in the 1100-1200 nm regions. PCA Analysis Fig. 2. PC-1 versus PC-2 for Baseline Corrected Spectra Fig. 3. PC-1 versus PC-2 Scores for Savitzky-Golay 1st Derivative Spectra Fig. 4. PC-1 versus PC-3 Scores for Savitzky-Golay 1st Derivative Spectra In the PCA analysis of baseline corrected spectrum, Fig. 1, PC-1 accounts for 99 % of variation and PC-2 accounts for 1 %. Here only PC-1 is the optimum component. For the PCA analysis of Savitzky-Golay 1st derivative spectra, three PCs were extracted with PC-1, PC-2 and PC-3 accounting 95 %, 2 % and 1 % of variations respectively. Further, score plot of PC-1 versus PC-3 (Fig. 2) separates the three types better than the PC-1 versus PC-2 score plot (Fig. 3). Based on the PCA analysis of samples, three different groups of samples can be identified: I-pure, II-samples adulterated with sugar and III-samples adulterated with rice bran. In the score plot of PC-1 versus PC-2 of baseline corrected spectra, samples which were adulterated with rice bran can easily distinguished from the pure and those adulterated with sugar. PC-1 versus PC-3 plot of the Savitzky-Golay 1st derivative spectra also gives good clustering between the three groups. Conclusion From this initial study we can conclude that PCA analysis of NIR spectral data is useful in the authentication of palmyrah jaggery, also the type of adulterant can be determined.. References [1]. Notes on distribution, propagation, and products of Borassus Palms (Arecaceae). Morton, JuliaF. 3, s.l.: Springer-Verlag, 1988, Economic Botany, Vol. 42, pp. 420-441. ISSN: 0013-0001. [2]. Energetic and economics of traditional gur preparation: a case study in Ganjam district of Orissa, India . Pattnayak, P.K. and Misra, M.K. 1, 2004, Biomass and Bioenergy , Vol. 26, pp. 79-88. ISSN: 0961-9534 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(03)00061-8. [3]. The role of dietary whole sugar-jaggery in prevention of respiratory toxicity of air toxics and in lung cancer. Sahu, A.P. and Paul, B.N. 3, 1998, Toxicology Letters, Vol. 95, pp. 154-154. DOI: doi:10.1016/S0378-4274(98)80615-2. [4]. SUSTAINABLE UTILIZATION OF KITHUL (FISHTAIL PALM) IN SRI LANKA. A. Fernando, D. Rajapaksa and Samarasinghe, K.P.G.U . 2008, Sustainable Utilization of Tropical Plant Biomass, pp. 59-62. [5]. Initial Study of Honey Adulteration by Sugar Solutions Using Midinfrared (MIR) Spectroscopy and Chemometrics. Kelly, J. F. Daniel, Downey, Gerard and Fouratier, Vanessa. 1, 2004, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 52, pp. 33-39. PMID: 14709010. DOI: 10.1021/jf034985q. [6]. The Feasibility of Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and Chemometrics for Untargeted Detection of Protein Adulteration in Yogurt: Removing Unwanted Variations in Pure Yogurt. Lu Xu, Si-Min Yan, Chen-Bo Cai Zhen-Ji Wang and Yu, Xiao-Ping. 2013, Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry, pp. Article ID 201873, 9 pages. [7]. Detection of adulteration of commercial honey samples by the 13C/12C isotopic ratio . Padovan, G.J, et al. 4, 2003, Food Chemistry , Vol. 82, pp. 633-636. ISSN: 0308-8146 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0308-8146(02)00504-6. [8]. Detection of adulteration of extra-virgin olive oil by chemometric analysis of mid-infrared spectral data . Gurdeniz, Gozde and Ozen, Banu. 2, 2009, Food Chemistry , Vol. 116, pp. 519-525. ISSN: 0308-8146 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.02.068. [9]. The detection and quantification of adulteration in olive oil by near-infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics. Christy, Alfred A, et al. 6, s.l.: Tokyo: The Society,[1985-, 2004, Analytical Sciences, Vol. 20, pp. 935-940. [10]. Recent Developments in Food Characterization and Adulteration Detection:à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ° Technique-Oriented Perspectives. Cordella, Christophe, et al. 7, 2002, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 50, pp. 1751-1764. PMID: 11902909. DOI: 10.1021/jf011096z. [11]. K.Theivendirarajah, Prof. Palmyrah Palm A Monograph. 2008.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Digital Divide in the US and Around the World Essay -- Technology Tech
Digital Divide in the US and Around the World Since the launch of the Internet as a global communication network and the boom in communication technologies, our world has been overwhelmed by a new phenomenon – digital divide. It has gradually turned into a major, constantly growing world issue, threatening to further increase the gap between advanced and developing countries. Yet, is digital divide really an unprecedented occurrence or a natural and unavoidable trend? â€Å"Divide†is certainly a word whose meaning could be traced back to the mere dawn of human history. It goes even deeper – to human nature itself: to sex and racial differentiation, to unequal physical and mental powers, to different location and social status. During the nineteenth century, though, theory of communism tried to defy the principles of naturally existing divide. However, Marx’s utopia, which contradicted basic economic principles – of scarcity and unbounded need – was unachievable. Indeed, through the failure of the communistic experiment, which became so flagrant after the fall of the Iron Curtain, history promoted the inevitability of divide as a symbol of individual uniqueness. As to â€Å"digital†, it is just one of the many attributes of â€Å"divide†that has assumed a global meaning. Therefore, although social and economic differences will undoubtedly continue to harass society in the 21st century, the bridging of the digital gap between those in the lead and those who lag behind should be a major issue for modern civilization. What is â€Å"digital divide†, however? We measure it in terms of penetration of communication services, Internet connectivity, and technological development, but what could possibly be... ...e. Journal of Housing and Community Development v. 58, no2 (Mar./Apr. 2001): 14-15, 17, 45 IMF staff. Globalization: Threat or Opportunity? IMF and World Bank staffs. 100 Percent Debt Cancellation? A response from the IMF and the World Bank. (July, 2001): 1-6 Irving, Larry. Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide. Kathimerini – Greece’s International English Language Newspaper; September 18, 2001 < http://www.ekathimerini.com/news/content.asp?id=100100 > Poster, Mark. What’s the Matter with the Internet. Wilson, Dwight. The World’s Poor need the Internet. (July 19,2001)
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Blaise Pascal :: essays research papers fc
The French mathematician, theologian, physicist and man-of-letters, Blaise Pascal is a mathematician who has a reputation that rests more on what he might have done rather than what he might have actually done. Pascal has devoted a considerable amount of his life towards the devotion of religious exercise. Blaise Pascal was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne. Which is now known as Clermont-Ferrand, on June 19, 1623. And he died in Paris on Aug. 19, 1662. Pascal was the son of the president of the Court of Exchequer. After Pascal's mother died in 1630 his father who also had a scientific reputation moved to Paris in 1631 to pursue his own scientific studies, and also to continue his children’s education. Pascal had displayed an exceptional amount of academic ability therefore he was kept at home to ensure his academic stability. Pascal had a natural desire for the science of constructing figures and determining the proportions between their different parts. He soon discovered that the sum of the angles of a triangle is equal to two right angles. By the age of fourteen he was admitted to the weekly meetings of Roberval, Mersenne, Mydorge, and other French geometricians; from which, ultimately, the French Academy sprung. At sixteen Pascal wrote an essay on conic sections. Blaise Pascal with Pierre de Fermat, they invented the calculus of probabilities, which laid foundation for Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz's calculus. In 1647 Pascal invented calculating machine, which made him one of the fathers of the Computer Age. Later he developed the barometer, the hydraulic press, and the syringe. In 1653 he had to administer his father's estate. Pascal's other important scientific contributions include the derivation of Pascal's law or principle, which states that fluids transmit pressures equally in all directions, and his investigations in the geometry of infinitesimals. Around this time he invented the arithmetical triangle, and in conjunction with Fermat created the calculus of probabilities. Pascal died at the age of 39 in intense pain after a malignant growth in his stomach spread to the brain. His most famous work is the Pensees (Thoughts); a set of deeply personal meditations in somewhat fragmented form on human suffering and faith in God. "Pascal's wager" expresses the conviction that belief in God is rational: if God does not exist, one stands to lose nothing by believing in him anyway, while if he does exist, one stands to lose everything by not believing.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Brand Name Versus Generics Essay -- Health, FDA
The Food and Drug Administration’s approval process initiates with preclinical development that demonstrates that the product is reasonably safe for use in humans and that it shows â€Å"pharmacological activity†that warrants further clinical research. (FDA, 2010) Rodents, swine, and canines are commonly used to validate safety and effectiveness in laboratory studies due to their similar anatomy to that of humans. (Sivaramakrishan, 2010) The next step in the process is the submission of an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to the FDA for several reasons. (FDA, 2010) Present federal law mandates that a drug be part of an endorsed marketing application ahead of transportation and distribution to clinical research sites across state lines. (FDA, 2010) Manufacturers are also required to halt clinical studies for thirty consecutive days for the FDA to review the application and make assurances that there are no unnecessary risks. (FDA, 2010) There are three differe nt types of INDs; which are investigator, emergency and treatment. (FDA, 2010) An investigator IND is often â€Å"submitted†by a clinician that both commences and performs clinical studies on an unendorsed drug or an approved drug for a new purpose or different circumstances. (FDA, 2010) An emergency investigational new drug application is for the purpose of clinical using an experimental drug in an urgent situation, such as cancer, that does not allow time for thorough FDA review. (FDA, 2010) The third type is a treatment investigational drug application; its purpose is for the submission of experimental drugs that have potential in previous clinical assessment for severe life –threatening situations. (FDA, 2010) An investigational new drug application is required to con... ...DA, branded drugs and their pharmaceutical equivalents have met thorough criterion for identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency which includes commercial production. (FDA, nd) Current Good Marketing Practice (CGMP) regulations dictate minimal requirements for facility methods and controls used in the manufacture, processing, and packaging of the drug product. (FDA, 2011) The purpose of these regulations is to ensure safety, maintain the integrity of the ingredients at the claimed strength, and preserve honesty with regards to labeling. (FDA, 2011 & Siedman, 2000) Regulations were initially ratified in 1963 continually revised due to accidents, injuries, fatalities, and technological advancements. (Siedman, 2000) Verification of compliance is down by unannounced inspections of facilities, sample analyses, and examination of preceding history. (FDA, 2011)
Monday, September 16, 2019
I am Filipino Essay
Every race around the world has different culture and beliefs and in that difference sometimes they even fight because of that contrast. One of the races known around the world is the Filipino. The Filipino people (Filipino: Mamamayang Pilipino) or Filipinos are an ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. According to the 2010 Census, there were 92,337,852 in the Philippines and about 10-12 million living outside the Philippines. There are around 180 languages spoken in the Philippines, most of them belonging to the Austronesian language family, with Tagalog and Cebuano having the greatest number of native speakers. The official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and English and most Filipinos are bilingual or trilingual. The Philippines was a Spanish colony for over 300 years, leaving what can now be called Filipino culture and people semi-Hispanicized. Under Spanish rule, most of the Filipino populace embraced Roman Catholicism, yet revolted many times to its hierarchy. Due to a colonial program, almost all inhabitants adopted Spanish surnames from the Catalogo alfabetico de apellidos published in 1849 by the Spanish colonial government. As neither past governments nor the modern National Statistics Office account for the racial background of an individual, the exact percentage of Filipinos with Spanish ancestry is unknown. What is being a Pinoy all about–aside from pointing with our lips and having an action star for our President? It’s our character. Filipinos are carry many qualities which set them apart as people. One of that characteristic is the strong belief of the Supreme Being or also known as Faith of God. Filipino may have different religions in different sectors of our country, but what is consistent is that we have one strong form of faith in the Supreme Being. Supreme being also known as God/Diyos for Christians or in Islamic as Allah, sometimes called as Bathala, Kabunian, Ginoo, and others. We Filipino are also known as respectful because of the great respect for our elders. Other countries call their elders by their name but here in Philippnes we used Kuya, Ate, Lola, Lolo, Tito, Tita, Mama, Papa and more. From the â€Å"mano†to saying â€Å"po†and â€Å"opo†to our elders, these words that are part of our language show how we respect people. In our culture we always respect and follow what our parents and adults advise us to do. Not talking back, and trusting the adults around us has always been a part of who we are. One of the examples of the respect is following the beliefs by our elderly. Traditional Pilipino values have clearly influenced beliefs and practices pertaining to child rearing, medical care, disability, and death and dying. Each of these areas is detailed in the following sections with respect to more traditional views. Formal studies of Pilipino child-rearing beliefs and practices have shown considerable consistency in their findings (Church, 1986). Moreover, the specific socialization patterns and training for desirable childhood traits and behaviors (particularly during infancy/toddlerhood and early childhood) are highly consistent with other Asian cultural groups. However, Pilipino child-rearing beliefs and practices are reinforced within a traditional family structure and 1 extended family system with characteristic similarities and differences relative to other Asian cultures. Filipinos are also having close family ties. We enjoy having and knowing family members are around us. From cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, some family’s share their homes celebrate holidays and lends a hand to a relative in times of need. The complete centrality of family life and the importance of family loyalty, obligation, and interdependence are previously described. These values are supported by a family structure and kinship ties that reflect the multicultural Pilipino heritage. Having withstood Hispanic Catholic influence, the ancient Malay tradition of equality between men and women translates into a bilateral extended kinship system. Both the mother’s and father’s lineages are of equal importance. Thus, for example, names may be inherited through the male line or both the father’s and mother’s family name; it is not unusual for the mother’s maiden name to be given as a child’s middle name. Inheritance patterns further call for equal division between daughters and sons (Aquino, 1981; UPAC, 1980). The Filipinos are a helpful people. They live the members of their family, their relatives, neighbors, friends and even strangers. If the family is poor, the members help one another and the elders sacrifice for the education of the younger ones. The bayanihan spirit makes it possible for the people to build houses, move houses, plant crops, harvest crops, build roads and other things with little expense. The people of the community help one another in doing this. Bayanihan is also an occasion for fun because it brings the people of the community together. It means getting together or helping one another in a common project or work. Many hands make light work is the idea behind the bayanihan. When we have people visit our homes, we always welcome them with smiles, conversations, and foods. This is one of the most popular qualities of Filipinos. Foreigners who have gone to the Philippines find themselves falling in love for their hospitality. It’s a different kind of values which already existed thousands of years ago. Examples of hospitality that they show not only to foreign but also to their fellow citizens. This is observed when one person has nothing and they tend to share what they have to them. When one visits a friend’s house, they greet them with a very warm welcome. They let their visitor sit down and prepare them a meal or a snack plus drinks for them. They may not want you leave the house with an empty stomach. They make sure you had a great time visiting them. They offer their guest room to their visitors if they’re going to spend the night with them. Meals offered are very special, if not, they make a way to prepare great tasting food that their visitor wanted to eat. Majority of our livelihood in the Philippines is based on agriculture. It takes a lot of back-breaking work to plant the fields. Them it takes patience to care, water and to harvest. We Filipinos are hardworking people to the fact that they are willing to work several time to almost whole day just to feed their families. That’s how Filipinos are. One example of a hardworking person is a farmer, they earn so little but still they tend to work very hard for few bucks. Filipinos always find ways to earn for a living like putting. 2 up a small business from their home wherein they sell foods or other items for the convenient of their neighbors as well. . During the times we don’t have means to accomplish something, we find ingenious ways f using what we have to solve our problems that’s why we are also known as resourceful and creative. And because we’ve been through a lot of trials in our history, Filipinos have learned not to be depress. Rather, we find jokes and have fun even during our difficulty. An Asiawide (minus Japan) consumer survey has found that Filipinos and Thais are the happiest in the region while people of Hongkong worry about their jobs, the economy and their waistlines. The survey was conducted before the outbreak of SARS in China and elsewhere. The survey report, made by the advertising group TBWA Hongkong, was based on focus groups and five major surveys over three years in seven Asian locations. There were more that 15,000 respondents with a bias towards those aged 25 to 35 who were thought to lead the culture in Asia. The report, titled â€Å"marketing Premium Brands in Asia†, said Hong Kong people scored minus 27 on the researchers’ happiness index, compared to minus six in Taiwan, minus two on the mainland, plus six in Singapore, 10 in Malaysia , 11 in Thailand and 12 in the Philippines. The index compared the number of people who classified themselves as â€Å"very happy or â€Å"happy†against those who said they were â€Å"unhappy†or â€Å"very unhappy†. Those who said they were â€Å"okay†were excluded. Filipinos were not only the happiest among those surveyed, but were also the least body-conscious. Only 18 percent regarded themselves as overweight compared with 47 percent of Hongkongers saying they were â€Å"too fat†or â€Å"a bit fat†. We also don’t like to waste anything since we don’t have a lot. We are careful of what we have, knowing that it will serve as for a long period time which also make us Filipinos thrifty and frugal. The Filipinos held their womenfolk in high regard. The women where highly respected. When walking together, men walked behind them. They were accorded equal rights to men by their customary laws, like they could own and inherit properties. They could also engage in trade and industry. The alone enjoyed the privilege of giving names to their children. When there was no male successor to become chief of barangay, a woman could become one. Filipinos are the sweetest and loving people in the world. I don’t know why, I’m not saying this because Im a Filipino but dude, you’ve got to know them well. Men are so sweet and romantic when it comes to love, they will send you flowers, bring you to a very romantic place, they text you sweet quotes and often tell you how special you are to them. Filipino women are also romantic and very caring, that makes foreigners want to marry a kind like them. Women tend to prepare dinner before their husband comes home. They are so loving that they value the relationship which make them so faithful to their husband. And they will love you for the fullest.
Concrete
The crack widths predicted by the different codes have been calculated for a range of varying parameters: Varying tension reinforcement stress (Figure 9) Varying cover (Figure 10) Varying bar spacing with constant reinforcement area and stress. (Figure 1 1) Varying bar spacing with constant reinforcement area and maximum stress to AS 3600. Figure 12) BBS 5400 results have been plotted using a Ms / MGM ratio of 0. 1 and 1. All results have used long term values where available. Larger versions of these graphs may be found on the Powering presentation associated with this paper. The following observations can be made from the graph results: The BBS 5400 results using the two different load ratios gave substantially different results, with the higher ratio giving increased crack widths. The BBS 8110 results were either approximately centrally placed between the two BBS 5400 results, or close to the lower values.The Recoded 2 results were usually reasonably close to the mean of the other results. The CUBE-Flip-1990 results were consistently the lowest for high steel stresses and high concrete cover values. Results with varying spacing were close to Recoded 2 results. The IAC 318 results were consistently the highest, being close to and slightly higher than the upper bound BBS 5400 values. All crack widths increased approximately linearly with increasing steel stress Crack widths increased with increasing cover, with Recoded 2 reaching a constant value at 70 mm cover, and the CUBE-PIP code at 35 mm cover.The other codes continued to increase more than linearly up to 100 mm cover. All codes predicted increasing crack width with increasing bar spacing and constant reinforcement area steel stress. Figure 9: Varying tension reinforcement stress Figure 10: Varying cover Figure 11: Varying bar spacing with constant reinforcement area and stress Figure 12: Varying bar spacing with constant reinforcement area and maximum stress to AS 3600.When the steel stress was adjusted to the maximum allowable under AS 3600 (I. E. Reduced for increasing bar spacing and increasing bar diameter) the predicted crack widths were reasonably uniform in the spacing range 50 to 200 mm, then tended to reduce with greater spacing. DEFLECTION The main differences in approach to the calculation of deflections are summarized low: Australian and American codes are based on the Brannon equation, using a uniform average effective stiffness value.Australian codes allow for loss of tension stiffening through a reduction of the cracking moment related to the free concrete shrinkage. Allowance for shrinkage curvature in the Australian codes is simplified and will underestimate curvature in symmetrically reinforced sections. British codes allow only a low tension value for cracked sections, which is further reduced for long term deflections European codes adopt an intermediate approach for cracked sections, tit an allowance for loss of tension stiffening.British and European code prov isions for shrinkage curvature are essentially the same Effective stiffness, calculated according to AS 3600, Recoded 2, BBS 5400, and BBS 8110, and with no tension stiffening, is plotted against bending moment for the same concrete section used in the crack width analysis. Figure 13 shows results with no shrinkage, and Figure 14 with a shrinkage of 300 Microscopic. RESEARCH ABOUT THE METHODS USED IN DIFFERENCE CONCRETE STANDARDS AS 3600 limits the maximum reinforcement stress under serviceability loads to a axiom value dependent on either the bar diameter or the bar spacing, whichever gives the greater stress.AS 5100 has the same limits, with an additional requirement to check for lower limits under permanent loads for elements in exposure classifications 82, C or U. Recoded 2 limits stresses in essentially the same way, except that the limits are presented as maximum bar spacing or diameter for a specified stress, rather than vice versa. The Recoded 2 limits are related to 3 diffe rent values of nominal crack width, 0. 2 mm, 0. 3 mm or 0. 4 mm, under pseudo-static loading. The applicable crack Edith depends on the exposure classification and type of member.Code Provisions for Crack Width Limits As well as stress limits, Recoded 2 has detailed provisions for the calculation of design crack widths, which are summarized below: The basic formula for crack width: crack spacing x (mean steel strain – mean concrete strain) makes no allowance for variation in crack width between the level of the reinforcement and the surface of the concrete, however the crack spacing is mainly related to the cover depth, and the crack width is directly proportional to crack spacing, so the depth of cover has a significant effect on crack widths.The expression for Seems – ECMA limits the effect of tension stiffening to 40% of the steel strain. For long term effects the tension stiffening coefficient is reduced by 1/3, from 0. 6 to 0. 4. The British concrete design codes specify a design crack width at the surface of the concrete as follows: The basic approach is similar to Recoded 2, except that the crack width is projected from the reinforcement level to the concrete surface. The main differences between BBS 5400 and BBS 8110 are: BBS 5400 includes a factor to reduce the effect of tension stiffening, depending on the ratio of live load moment to dead load moment (Ms / MGM).The effect of this is to reduce tension stiffening effects to zero for a load ratio of 1 or greater. The tension stiffening coefficients are differently formulated. The IAC requirements are based on stress limits derived from the Surgery-Lutz equation: The IAC 318 equation makes no allowance for tension stiffening, and predicts crack width at the upper bound of those studied in this paper. Results are usually similar to those from the BBS 5400 equation using a Ms / MGM ratio of 1 .AS 3600, AS 5100, and IAC 318 AS 3600 and AS 5100 provisions for â€Å"simplified†calculati on of deflections are identical other than a typographical error in AS 5100), and are both based on the â€Å"Brannon†equation, which is also used in IAC 318. The equation in IAC 318 is differently formulated, but will give identical results for the same cracking moment and section stiffness values. The AS 3600 version of the equation is shown below: left is calculated for the maximum moment section, and applied along the full length of the member being analyses.The calculation of the cracking moment in the Australian codes (but not IAC 318) includes an allowance for the shrinkage induced tensile stress in the unchecked section, which contributes to loss of tension stiffening: AS 3600 and AS 5100 provide a factor KC , applied to the calculated deflection, to account for the additional deflection due creep and shrinkage: KC = [2- 1. 2(ASS / East)] Note that for a symmetrically reinforced section KC reduces to the minimum value of 0. , being the effect of creep deflection alon e. 6. 4. 2 OBSESS,BBS 8110 Deflections in BBS 5400 and BBS 8110 are calculated from integration of section curvatures. The cracking moment and curvature of cracked sections allows for a short term concrete tensile stress of 1 Amp, reducing to 0. 5 Amp in the long term. Shrinkage curvatures in BBS 8110 are determined from the free shrinkage strain, and the first moment of area of the reinforcement about the cracked or unchecked section, as appropriate.BBS 5400 uses a similar approach, but tabulates factors based on the compression and tension reinforcement ratios. 6. 4. 3 Recoded 2 and CUBE-PIP 1990 (MAC 90) The European codes also provide for calculation of deflections by integration of section curvatures, but provide a different expression for the stiffness of cracked sections: Shrinkage curvatures are assessed using a similar method to that given in BBS 8110:
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Review on Past Tense Affixes
The study was conducted to analyse the plural inflections of English language among Malay students. Generally, the duration of exposure towards English language in classroom setting would be approximately 11 years among Malaysian students. Although English language has been given much respect and attention, there are still learners being underachievers and not proficient in the language at the end of their secondary school level. Due to this, the researcher claims that there are still students who fail to understand the most basic rules of English language structure, such as plurality. . 1 Hypothesis As cited by the researcher, Fries (1945), Lado (1957) and Van Els (1984) agree that different grammatical structure between languages is a possible factor of students’ incompetency in the targeted language. Thus, the hypothesis of this study is, Malay students find it difficult to understand and use English language plural inflections because there are no plural inflections in the Malay language. 1. 2 Aims of the Study There are three aims mentioned to be achieved throughout this study: 1. To identify and explain students’ error regarding plural inflection 2. To identify the differences & similarities of plural inflections between Malay & English language. 3. To measure and determine whether the differences of plural inflections formation between Malay and English language contribute to the errors in students’ writing. 2. 0 Methodology 2. 1 Sampling In this study, a total of 40 semester one students were selected as the sample of the study. They were 20 lower proficiency students and 20 higher proficiency students of a local semi?private higher learning institution in Malaysia. The students’ level of proficiency was pre?determined by an English Placement Test which is a compulsory assessment of the institution. Students who passed the English Placement Test are categorized as higher proficiency while those who failed are categorized as lower proficiency students. 2. 2 Instruments/ Tools In order to achieve the aims of this study, the researcher implemented 3 assessment tools to collect the data which are 1) Cloze-tests, 2) Essays, and 3) Fill in the blank. 2. 3 Procedures The first approach used by the researcher was Cloze-test. The researcher used two sets of Cloze?test to gather a more genuine data regarding plural inflection. There were ten questions in each Cloze?test and students have to answer to a total of twenty Cloze?test questions. Each Cloze?test questions consisted of various morphological & syntactical structures. However, once the Cloze?test was collected, analysis was made only on plural inflections. The second approach implemented by the researcher was Essay. Only six essays were taken to be analyzed. These essays were chosen based on students’ proficiency levels. Three essays representing the low proficiency and three essays from higher proficiency students. All essays were about the same topic which is ‘Is television a bad influence? ’ and they had been marked earlier. Instead of focusing on all grammatical errors, analysis was made only on plural inflections. The third approach applied by the researcher is Fill in the blank. There are ten questions consisting of ten singular nouns. Students were to convert these singular words into their plural forms. The data gathered from these three approaches were then analyzed and turned into percentage as the findings. . 0 Finding The findings will be explained in a reference to the few excerpts taken from the article. 3. 1 Cloze-tests Excerpt 1: Errors on plural inflection in Cloze?test 1 Based on the chart in the Excerpt 1 above, it is found that 3 or 15% of the higher proficiency students committed errors in Question 1. Surprisingly, all of the lower proficiency students answered Quest ion 1 correctly. Majority of the students of the higher and lower proficiency answered the question incorrectly for Question 4. As for Question 6, 11 or 28% of students from each proficiency level respectively answered B. beachs instead of the correct answer C. beaches. For the final question in Cloze-test 1, only 6 out of 20 or 30% of higher proficiency students answered Question 9 wrongly. On the other hand, 14 out of 20 or 70% of lower proficiency students mistakenly answered Question 9. Most of the students who gave the wrong answer circled B. childs and D. childrens whereas the correct answer should be C. children. Excerpt 2: Errors on plural inflections in Cloze?test 2 It is observed that there were more students from lower proficiency level committed error for Question 3 and 5. However, for Question 7, it is noteworthy that there were more students from higher proficiency category committed error. 3. 2 Essays Excerpt 3: Frequent errors made by students in essays Based on Excerpt 3 above, the words in bold are the errors made by students in their essay. From it, it is found that students included the suffix –s in the words? childrens, peoples and womans. However, for words like actress and dress, the students overlooked the suffix –s. . 3 Fill in the blanks Excerpt 4: Errors on plural inflections in Fill in the blank task There are 10 words that the respondents need answer in this Fill in the blank task. It is found that the higher proficiency students perform better in this task compared to the Cloze?test as they only answer Question 2, 6 and 9 incorrectly. In contrast, the lower proficiency students got the wrong answers for all questions, except for question number 8. It is identified that majority of students from both proficiency levels over-generalize the use of suffix –s in all words. . 0 Discussion Unlike the Malay language, the plural formation of words in the English language is much more complicated because there are many spelling rules. Malaysian students are exposed to the idea that the suffix –s is needed to indicate plurality. There are a lot of complicated and confusing spelling rules to indicate plurality in English language. From the Cloze?tests and Fill in the blank tasks, the students were clearly aware of the usage of plurality. The only drawback they faced was the over?generalization of the suffix ?s for all words. The students from either higher or lower proficiency level are confounded with the complex plural inflections because the formation of plural words is easier in the Malay language. It can be seen in Excerpt 5 as illustrated by the researcher below. Excerpt 5: Rules for formation of plural forms in Malay language In the Malay language, the common method to show plurality is by reduplication. Plurality is called ‘kata ganda’ which simply means ‘duplicate’. Plural inflections exist in three common suffixes? /?s/, /?es/ and /?ies/ for English language. However, in the Malay language, things are much simpler as students are needed to just reduplicate the words in order to make it plural. Excerpt 6: Comparison between English and Malay language plural forms In English language, students have no option rather than to know that the suffix /?es/ must be added to words that end with /?f/. If students spell it as shelfs, it would be wrong. The Malay language is easier compared to the English language since students have option to either duplicate the word ‘rak’ using the symbol (?) or to insert cardinal or ordinal words before the word ‘rak’ in order to show plurality. If cardinal or ordinal words are used, the word ‘rak’ will remain no changes at all, for instance some shelves = beberapa rak. To be safe, most students will apply the use of reduplication. Despite all the differences in the formation of plurality between both languages, there are similarities identified by the researcher. In both languages, plurality is indicated by cardinal like all (semua), some (sebahagian/beberapa) as shown in Excerpt 7. Excerpt 7 The second similarity is both languages have quantitative nouns that indicate numbers as shown in Excerpt 8. Excerpt 8 5. 0 Study’s Conclusion This study has found that there are differences and similarities regarding the formation of plural forms between Malay and English language. In responding to the aim of this study, it is believed that the differences of plural inflections formation between those languages contribute to the errors in students’ writing. Based on the data collected, it is found that the respondents understand the when and why should we use the plural form. The errors occurred not because the respondents failed to grasp the idea of plurality, but they are confused with the complicated rules of plural inflections in the English language. . 0 Commentary 6. 1 A meaningful study In general, the study itself is a very good research. It touches on a very specific area which is plural inflection. Generally, Malaysian children were introduced to this language as early as four or five years old, at their pre?school level. This teaching and learning process gradually continues from pre?school to primary and secondary school. The duration of exposure towards English language in classroom setting would be approximately 11 years. Although English language has been given much respect and attention, there are still learners being underachievers and not proficient in the language at the end of their secondary school level as claimed by the researcher. Contrastive analysis is an inductive investigative approach based on the distinctive elements in a language. In this study, the researcher focused on the analysis of morphemes which carries grammatical meaning which is plural inflection. Some researchers believed that when similarities and differences between L1 and L2 were identified, pedagogy could be more effective. This statement is developed from the master mind of contrastive analysis, Lado (1957) where he states â€Å"those elements that are similar to the learners’ native language will be simple for him, but those that are different will be difficult. †Hence, this study is significant since the aspect of plurality is being analyzed in terms of both languages. Lado’s statement supports this paper’s hypothesis that Malay students find it difficult to understand and use English language plural inflections because there are no plural inflections in the Malay language. Hashimah, Norsimah, Kesumawati (2008) in their study of grammatical structures agree that different construction of plural forms in Malay and English language contributes to the difficulty of acquiring the language. 6. 2 Methodology Moreover, other strength in this study is the reliability and validity of instruments. The use of Cloze-test is a very good approach. The researcher included various structures; however, once the Cloze?test is collected, analysis is made only on plural inflections. It is predicted that she does not wish for her respondents to be aware that this was a test on plural form. This is a brilliant idea to avoid students giving more attention to certain questions. As the result, the findings would be questionable. 6. 3 Findings It is observed from the findings of Cloze-test 1 and Cloze-test 2, there are two noticeable interesting findings. 1) Cloze-test 1: 3 or 15% of the higher proficiency students committed errors in Question 1 while surprisingly; all of the lower proficiency students answered Question 1 correctly. 2) Cloze-test 2: For Question 7, it is noteworthy that there were more students from higher proficiency category committed error. Based on these two interesting findings, we can generalize that, there are actually more students from higher level of proficiency that committed errors in forming plural inflections for certain words. Clearly here we can see that, even though those who are among higher level of proficiency and expected to know more about the English language structures and rules, yet still committed more errors. This denies the assumption that only those who are among lower level of proficiency will have more tendencies to commit error in forming plural inflections due to lack of knowledge of L2 structures and rules. Thus, I am in favour of what the researcher has claimed, â€Å"The errors occurred not because the respondents failed to grasp the idea of plurality, but they are confused with the complicated rules of plural inflections in the English language†. 6. 3 Pedagogical Implications This study is significant for it creates awareness to the readers on the importance of knowing the differences between two language structures. It has an impact to the teaching and learning environment as it serves as a guideline for educators. Now, the educators will have the opportunity to acknowledge the areas that students are weak in. With the results from this study, educators are able to prepare better lesson plans to cater the students’ difficulties. Teachers can provide better explanation for grammatical structure like the plural inflection in classroom by considering comparing rules of both languages. 6. 4 Limitations and Recommendations This study was done on a small scale of samples, there were only 40 students from semester one in an institution only. As for future study, it is suggested to other researcher to consider of incorporating more samples to measure the students’ authentic understanding on the usage of plural inflections. It is also recommended that in the future study, emphasis should also be given to other aspects of plurality such as the loan words (e. g. stimulus stimuli) rather than just focusing on the inflections /?s/, /?es/ and /?ies/. 7. 0 Conclusion In conclusion, despite of few limitations of study, it is true to say that this study is a good research. It gives more contributions especially for ESL learners in general, Malay students in specific. Also, the result of study can be benefit by the ESL teachers. As for future study, it is important in making sure that the research caters all the possibilities and limitations of this study.
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