Product Launch at Credit Master

Abstract The purpose of this research paper is to give an analysis of the internal situation at Credit Master that makes it possible to launch the new product called fast credit. This is a service offered by the company that enables customers and lenders to view credit information over the internet. It protects customers against fraudsters who have increased in the UK.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Product Launch at Credit Master specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Credit Master have been using this product for quite some time but it had not followed the marketing procedures involved in launching new products into the market. This paper gives the procedure to be followed when launching new products so that it gets to the targeted customers. This is done by designing a launching plan which has to be included in the budget because it consumes a significant amount of money. After fast credit has been launched, the co mpany has to modify its marketing strategies or adopt new ones in order to monitor and control the new product. This ensures that its new product (fast credit) get to the right customers and guarantees the company success in the rapidly changing global market. These strategies are effective promotion and marketing mix. Introduction Starting up a new product is taking a risk; however if the decision is well thought there are numerous benefits that come with investing in business venture. Before one is set to start a new venture there are short and long terms parameters that he should consider to ensure that there will be continuity in the product. The future is unpredictable and so even the smallest details about something should be interpolated before starting up. It will be appreciated that a company with properly shaped psychological contracts embraces a system that allows employees to air their views to the higher leadership. Conducting an internal analysis helps a company to und erstand its marketing position and the opportunities than can be utilized to enhance its performance. This paper gives a brief background of Credit Master Company, looks at the procedure followed in designing a launch plan and gives the SWOT analysis as well as some of the marketing strategies that should be adopted to ensure continuity of the new product. Background Credit Master is a global agency company that provides financial, marketing, and statistical information to customers and businesses. Its core business operation is to partner with other companies such as banks and credit card companies in the provision of financial information.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As we all know, lending money is a risky business but the information provided by Credit Master helps financial institution in making informed decisions. The work of this firm is to enable lending institut ions such as banks to share information related to their customer’s credit accounts. The lender uses this information in making decision on whether or not a customer is eligible for a loan. This is done by looking at the amount of credit held by a customer and how it is being managed. Credit Master charges a fee to the lenders every time its record is searched. However, the customer has to give his consent before his credit report information is searched and for such information to be stored by Credit Master. Customers too have a right to view their credit information but they can only do so after paying a legal charge of  £2. Credit Master Market covers student loans, personal loans, hire purchase agreements, mortgages, credit cards, among others. For a long time, the firm’s customers have being relying on the post in applying and receiving their credit information. However, recently, the company has been using a new product called credit fast which has enabled it t o target new markets. Customers can now apply and receive their statutory report online after passing the authentication process. With credit fast, customers are able to understand the perception held by prospective lenders regarding their credit information and are therefore in a position to determine whether their request will be granted. This new products also protects members against identity fraud which has become a problem in UK. Literature Review Product launch plan After product development and having done a thorough scrutiny of the target market, the next step is to develop a product launch plan. This plan will concentrate on the necessary phases that will help boost production, build up marketing strategies, come up programs for sales people training, and grounding of how to set up or sustain the product. A well prepared product launch plan results in faster and more effective marketing and coordination of activities (Lodato, 2008: 10). Having a product launch plan is very crucial for the success of every business. The following procedure has to be followed in launching new products.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Product Launch at Credit Master specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Understanding the Target Market and market segmentation Under review of the product launch process; there are certain things that should be put into consideration such as identification of needed activities, system requirement, and organizational responsibilities. A clear understanding of the target market is necessary in any product launch plan. This is because products launched on markets where most of the audience are not interested results in terrible failures. One has to have a thorough understanding of his audience. Understanding of the target market is known as market segmentation. The target market should be broken down into small segments to make advertising easy. One of the benefits of market se gmentation is that. Companies are able to target specific populations that would have not been reached if mass marketing was adopted. With this kind of marketing, companies are able to have a closer contact with their potential customers and they are able to understand their tastes, interests, and their economic positions which helps them in determining patterns of consumption and the marketing strategies to be adopted. With market segmentation, the process of marketing becomes simple because marketers are able to concentrate their marketing strategies on specific groups of people with similar characteristics. They are also able to monitor the process of products in the specific markets with the expectation of better results. Process Improvement After reviewing the product launch process, the next step is to develop a process improvement. This involves making improvement on the marketing strategies, organization responsibilities, and design of the product. In order to achieve an eff ective improvement process, the best way to go about this is to market and pre-sell the product (as Credit Masters has already done) in the targeted markets before the actual date of launching. Different methods of advertising may be used to drive the message home.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The aim of this pre-selling is to help the product developers get some feedback from the audience of which they can be able to make the necessary adjustments before launching the product (Lodato, 2008: 15). Integrate Organization Once the process has been reviewed and necessary improvements done, the next step is to redesign the organization integration. This integration is done among the product launch team members who are responsible for its development. Responsibilities are distributed among the team members and necessary changes made which then helps to facilitate the launch activities. Trainings are offered to the team members in order to equip them with the necessary skills required in this job. After carrying out the necessary analysis for the product launch, the product launch team is left with the responsibility of designing the plan. The plan should include method of advertisement to be adopted, projected budget among others. The plan should be cost effective and cost shou ld be kept as low as possible. After successfully launching the product, the team should monitor closely its progress, get feedback from the users and decide when to raise or lower the charges (Ebbena Johnson, 2006:851). Branding Global marketing strategies call for development of strategies that build upon the brand image and customers loyalty. This includes developing positioning strategies as compared to competitors worldwide. Branding and positioning strategies must fit the product and the company across multiple countries. Organizations are formed to achieve certain goals. Credit master is built to grow shareholder value by delivering quality products at low costs. The product that achieves this is the credit fast. The brand image of this product is strong and can market for it self. One advantage of branding is that, the company is able to build a strong reputation and earn trust from its valued customers. Branding can also be considered as a form of marketing that lasts for long even after the advertising campaign is over. With proper branding, credit master will be able to create a sharp focus on the sale of credit fast. It is able to develop marketing activities that will attract the intended customers. A strong brand helps in designing a good structure and development plan that ensures success of the business’s products. Analysis SWOT Analysis Before the product is launched, there is need to carry out a SWOT analysis for the company in the target markets. Locally (in UK), the company has strength in that it is already established and has a good reputation. This makes it easy for the launching of the new product in the market. The financial sector is already developed and thus the company may face stiff competition from the rival industries against its product. It may become even harder to convince clients about the effectiveness of fast credit because they are used to other products. Despite the threat of competition there is still an opportu nity that UK being a developed country the company has opportunities for expansion and growth. The following table gives a summary of the company’s SWOT analysis Strengths High quality brand within the industry International operations with large customer base Prompt delivery of services to customers Low debt liability and strong financial base Well coordinated management team Weaknesses Weak functional performance Vulnerability to economic slowdown Difficulty in accessing credit market Ineffective cost structure management Fluctuating profit margins Opportunities Expansion to other foreign nations/market More asset acquisitions due to high level of privatization Initiatives for transformations Product diversification Recruitment of highly experienced personnel Threats Economic slowdown due to credit crunch Increase in government taxes Entry of new players in the market Expansion of competitors Political instability inflations Marketing Strategies Promotio n as an Effective Marketing Communication Promotion which is also known as channel of distributions is one of the four main elements of effective marketing. Every organization uses promotion as a way of making a product or service accessible for consumption by the consumer. Promotion can be through the media, such as use of TV, radio, magazines, newspaper, internet where one (the advertiser) pays a certain fee to the advertising agent. A promotion plan is aimed at increasing sales, launching new products, positioning an organization, or creation of good corporate image. Promotion is a form of communication that helps a company to analyze its competitor environment in classifying and identifying its market position in terms of competition. In the course of market promotion a company is able to establish its business performance in the market and discover new strategies that can work effectively (Yeshin, 1998:127). A company is able to know where it stands in the market. It can either be a market leader, market challenger or a small market holder. If a company realizes that it is a market leader, it will employ strategies that assist in maintaining that position in the market. For market challengers, they will employ more advanced marketing information strategies as they fight to lead the market or occupy some of the market share occupied by the smaller markets holders (Masterman Wood, 2006: 58). And for the companies holding small market share, it will act as a challenge and they will try other strategies in order to increase their share in the market. Marketing Mix An effective marketing mix ensures that goods are available to the target customer, when they need them, at an affordable price. The first point is to collect adequate market data and analyze the same. The company uses business intelligence tools to collect a wide range of data essential for its operations (Slowman Sutcliffe, 2004:4). The data is interpolated in terms of age, sex, region, educatio n, income, and lifestyle. This assists the company in knowing the products that it will develop if it has to remain competitive. Its research centers offer great assistance in ensuring that all is set in terms of data available for decision making. A customer is the backbone of a company; the main decision that a marketing manager should make is determining his company’s market segment. One of the ways to enter in the target market is marketing mix (Earl, 1996:50). The 4Ps represent Price, product/service, promotion, and place. An effective marketing ensures that goods are available to the target customer, when they need them and they are affordable. Price Competitive international pricing strategy (Hooley Saunders, 1993:20) Price-wars- Price-ranges (Customers select services the price range that suit them). Limit pricing strategies Promotion Cross-advertising advantage (vertical integration) Service promotion through corporate image (efficient products) Products / serv ices Diversified range products. Inter-linked products for customer use delivering the content that customer’s desire Place Open market operations Effective distribution channels through advanced technology (Mintzberg, et al. 2003:43) Accessible locations Space Matrix The space matrix is an instrument used to determine whether aggressive, defensive, competitive or conservative techniques are appropriate for the company. In this case, SPACE matrix is used to determine the appropriate strategy that Credit Master should adopt for its growth and development of the new product (Anon. â€Å"Space matrix strategic management method† 2010). It helps the company to favorably compete with other companies within the industry. The following table shows the space matrix for Credit Master. Source: http://www.maxi-pedia.com/SPACE%20matrix%20model%20strategic%20management%20method From the above analysis, it is clear that the company has to adopt an aggressive strategy in order to beat its competitors. An aggressive strategy in this case would be increased promotion of its products both in the local market and internationally. This owes to the fact that the company lags much behind its competitors. By adopting the aggressive strategy, the company will be seeking to catch up and probably outweigh its major competitors. Furthermore, the strategy is very appropriate in terms of attracting more clients. With the large number of operators in the industry and the potential entrance of new players, aggressive strategy is most appropriate in grabbing customers and even establishing loyal clients (Anctil, 2008:40). Advantages and disadvantages of using primary and secondary research One advantage of using primary research is that, one gets the opportunity to meet with the correspondents and gets information directly from them. One gets up to date information that can be relied on in designing proper marketing strategies. It also gives in-depth information as compar ed to secondary research. On the other hand, primary research is associated with some disadvantages. One of them is that, it is an expensive process that requires prior planning. The other disadvantage is that, it consumes a lot of time that would otherwise be used for other activities. Secondary research is the use of recorded information to write a report. This type of research has numerous advantages. Some of them include; it is cheaper than primary research, it does not consume a lot of time, requires less effort, and can be done at any time from any location so long as there are materials to be referred. The disadvantages of this kind of research include; it does not give up to date information, and at times it is difficult the find the exact information relating to the issue at hand. Business expansion When a business is planning to expand its operation, it can either use internal or external sources of information. Internal sources include using the strengths and the weakness that the business has in order to determine strong points that it can specialize in. It can also conduct an internal research from the employees and other stake holders, for instant shareholders on their view towards the company’s products. This helps in determining the strategies to use when it decides to expand the business so as to attract a large number of customers. External information comes from customers, supplies, contractors, and the society at large. This kind of information can be collected by designing questionnaires that are filled by specific people chosen at random. Recommendations Since the Masters Credit Company is growing fast and at the same time facing challenges, it is important that certain recommendations be proposed. The recommendations should be adopted with the sole reason of advancing the company’s global operations. To achieve this, the following recommendations are important; Restructure marketing techniques: the company is facing stiff i nternational competition and is likely to lose out in case it remains with the same old marketing strategies; the company should consider drawing new market communication strategies that will reposition its products in the market. In addition, the company should re-brand its products through careful and skillful innovation in order to attract new customers. To ensure that the operations of the company are successful, it is important that the company defines its operation principles of internal control. Moreover, the company should also establish ways of monitoring and evaluating the internal controls. The company should establish proper criteria according to which the process of risk management will be taking place. The criteria should be in such a way that potential risks are identified early enough and appropriate actions taken promptly. Financial strength is one of the most important core businesses of the company. To ensure that the company’s financial resource are well m anaged and utilized, it is recommended that the company gives a clear description on how the internal audit should function to avoid any form of Fraud or misappropriation of financial resource It will also be important for the company to enhance the flow of information from the top level to bottom level. The flow of information on crucial and sensitive matters should be effective and efficient. This should utilize the most current communication technology. The strengths and weaknesses of the company should be evaluated on a periodic basis in order to identify potential challenges that can affect the normal operations of the company. It is important to note that new challenges arise and can contribute to the company’s already existing weaknesses. Again, the company is likely to gain more strength in areas which, if well utilized, can help enhance the competitive advantage of the company. A definite period should therefore be set to be used in monitoring and evaluating the inte rnal weaknesses and strengths of the company. Conclusion By launching fast credit, Credit Master is assured of increased sales volume since a big number of potential customers will learn about the company’s products. This is done through the adoption of new strategies such as marketing mix and promotion. With good promotion a company or business is able to determine its market share. With this, the company will be able to know which tactics to employ in order to increase the market share as well as ensure customer satisfaction. Negative feedback concerning the product will help the company to identify areas in which to work on in order to improve the quality of its products. All this is aimed at ensuring good returns for the company in form of profits. Reference List Anctil, E. 2008. Marketing and Advertising the Intangible. ASHE Higher Education Report, 34(2), 31-47. Anon. 2010. Space Matrix Strategic Management Method Web. Earl, P. 1996. Management, Marketing and the Compet itive Process. Williston: American International Distribution Corporation. Ebbena, J., Johnson, A. 2006, â€Å"Bootstrapping in small firms: An empirical analysis of change over time†, Journal of Business Venturing, Volume 21, Issue 6, November 2006, Pages 851-865. Hooley, J., Saunders, J. 1993. Competitive Strategy: the Key to Marketing Strategy. New York, Prentice Hall. Lodato, M. W. 2008. Management of New Product Launches and other Marketing Projects. New York, AuthorHouse. Masterman, G., Wood E. H. 2006. Innovative Marketing Communications: Strategies for the Events Industry. London, Butterworth-Heinemann. Mintzberg, L. et al. 2003. The Strategy Process: Concepts, Contexts, Cases. London, Pearson Education (UK). Slowman, J., Sutcliffe, M. 2004. Economics for Business, 3rd Edition, Financial Times Prentice Hall, pp. 84-94. Yeshin, T. 1998. Integrated Marketing Communications: The Holistic Approach. London, Butterworth-Heinemann. This essay on Product Launch at Credit Master was written and submitted by user Tomas Robinson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Rabbit Hill

The terms and criteria for receiving a Newbery Award are well defined. Each year the Medal is awarded to what is considered the author of â€Å"the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for Children published in the United States during the preceding year.† (ALSC, ) â€Å"A. Committee members are asked to consider the following: Interpretation of theme or concept, Presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization, Development of plot, Delineation of characters, Delineation of setting, Appropriateness of style. B. Committee members must consider excellence of presentation for a child audience.† (ALSC) Rabbit Hill met these standards in 1945, and has since stood the test of time, remaining to this day a favorite of children. It’s steady readership has kept it in print along with six other of Robert Lawson’s books, and this combined with the fact that he is the only author to win both the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, assure his place as a significant contributor to twentieth century children’s literature. (Cech) The premise of the book surrounds a community of animals that live on Rabbit Hill. The farmhouse has been empty for a while and the previous tenants were slovenly and derelict. Times have been hard of late for the animals, and provisions scarce. Mr. Lawson introduces the reader to the animal characters one by one as news of â€Å" New Folk Coming†, to live in the farmhouse passes from one to another. The animal’s personalities are based somewhat on man’s conception of each species’ general characteristics and are further fleshed out by lively dialogue. Thus, the reader is able to see the regality and aloofness, in Red Buck’s stately nature and Phewie’s low-class, comic relief in the following exchange. â€Å"â€Å"You do have such low tastes, Phewie,† said the Buck. â€Å"er-by the way, the breeze seems to have shifted-would you mind? There, that’s fine, thanks, as I w... Free Essays on Rabbit Hill Free Essays on Rabbit Hill The terms and criteria for receiving a Newbery Award are well defined. Each year the Medal is awarded to what is considered the author of â€Å"the most distinguished contribution to American Literature for Children published in the United States during the preceding year.† (ALSC, ) â€Å"A. Committee members are asked to consider the following: Interpretation of theme or concept, Presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization, Development of plot, Delineation of characters, Delineation of setting, Appropriateness of style. B. Committee members must consider excellence of presentation for a child audience.† (ALSC) Rabbit Hill met these standards in 1945, and has since stood the test of time, remaining to this day a favorite of children. It’s steady readership has kept it in print along with six other of Robert Lawson’s books, and this combined with the fact that he is the only author to win both the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, assure his place as a significant contributor to twentieth century children’s literature. (Cech) The premise of the book surrounds a community of animals that live on Rabbit Hill. The farmhouse has been empty for a while and the previous tenants were slovenly and derelict. Times have been hard of late for the animals, and provisions scarce. Mr. Lawson introduces the reader to the animal characters one by one as news of â€Å" New Folk Coming†, to live in the farmhouse passes from one to another. The animal’s personalities are based somewhat on man’s conception of each species’ general characteristics and are further fleshed out by lively dialogue. Thus, the reader is able to see the regality and aloofness, in Red Buck’s stately nature and Phewie’s low-class, comic relief in the following exchange. â€Å"â€Å"You do have such low tastes, Phewie,† said the Buck. â€Å"er-by the way, the breeze seems to have shifted-would you mind? There, that’s fine, thanks, as I w...

Marketing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Marketing Assignment - Essay Example In the recent past, the countries especially that of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have come up as the major real-estate hubs of the world. There were many reasons for such development. The locations of the middle-eastern countries proved to be very vital for such development as they could be reached from Europe, Africa and Asia with in few hours of flight. The government of these nations was also very supportive to the real estate projects as they became source of foreign exchange for the economies. But with the economic recession and liquidity crunch taking toll over the world economy, the housing bubble of the middle-east got the beating. As more of the global companies of repute and leading multinational companies bankrupted and laid off their employees, the industry of real estate in the near east region which was basically redundant for the global citizens faced the severe music. Since the end of last decade the boom of real estate has been evident in the cities of Middle East like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The huge boom in the real estate market was primarily because of the increasing life style of the citizens of the world. Having an apartment in the posh location of the above mentioned cities has been like of a status symbol. The various amendments of regulations by the governments of Middle Eastern nations also supported the cause. Compared with the demand of having apartment for residence or office space, the supply always fell short. Therefore, the prices went on increasing. Numerous projects are coming up with large number of units mostly as the satellite townships near the big cities. It was estimated by the reputed market research agency, Colliers International that in 2007 more than 14,000 villas and 18,000 apartments were under construction only near to the mega city of Abu Dhabi. The market research report forecasted the figure to reach appro ximately around 205,000 by 2015. According to the international agency, projects like

Breakfest at tiffanys Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Breakfest at tiffanys - Essay Example Yet, Joe tries to hide it and mostly is determined to show less of the emotions he feels for another. The narrator even described him as a man who is not easy to get along with; but interestingly, he showed that he cared for Holly like he had not cared for any other although he did not deliberately do so. For a man who is often exposed to the unkind and indifferent parts of the community, it is understood how hard it must be for Joe to demonstrate how he truly feels for anybody. Mag Wildwood. The character Mag, on the other hand, is an example of a complicated woman. She drifts from displaying a certain trait to another so easily. From being a friend to whom Holly agreed to be a roommate to judging Holly of going to bed with her then-fiancà ©, Mag is an unreliable woman as she refused to help her â€Å"friend† Holly from being arrested after she was held â€Å"involved† of a crime a certain Sally Tomato was engaged to. Rusty Trawler. The man Holly was always with in the story except from the narrator, Rusty Trawler, is an example of a fearful man who has allowed the pressures of society get hold of him and the way he lives his life. He almost had everything: money and power. However, he had not been true to himself and his being gay. He used women, Holly included; and pretended that he was a true man. After all the time Holly spent with him, Rusty married for the fourth time and did it with Mag; leaving Holly alone. From being untrue to himself, he also turned out to be selfish. Jose Yberra-Jaeger. The presence of Jose in the life of Holly presents to the readers an instance when a person meets someone he or she would find the things that he or she was â€Å"looking for† but ends up disappointed. Although Jose seemed to be a person who really cared for Holly, bringing along a doctor when she became devastated of her brother’s death and allowing her to pretend like his

Pain Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Pain Management - Term Paper Example It is not acceptable for patients to be left to experience pain without proper management from medical staff in a health facility (Hall-Lord & Larsson, 2006). It is also unacceptable for nurses to lack knowledge and skills to help patients manage their painful situations. It is a professional duty for nurses to be accountable to patients with regard to pain management. There have been calls in the nursing field to include pain management as a compulsory component of pre-nursing training programs so as to ensure all nurses are fully equipped with necessary skills that will enable them to manage their patient’s painful situations. This, if implemented will result in patients receiving high standards of pain assessment and management. It will also help reduce instances of unnecessary suffering from patients. Pain assessment is the first step in pain management and treatment. The main objectives of a successful pain assessment process should be aimed at reducing the pain that the patient is experiencing, increasing the patient’s comfort, improving the patient’s physical, physiological and psychological function as well as ensuring the patient is satisfied with the pain management process. It is not easy to measure and assess pain. Nurses have to be aware of various factors that can influence how the patient feels and how he or she expresses pain. Pain assessment and measurement involves a lot of issues that have to be approached with a lot of attention. Pain assessment involves the following steps.... There have been calls in the nursing field to include pain management as a compulsory component of pre-nursing training programs so as to ensure all nurses are fully equipped with necessary skills that will enable them manage their patient’s painful situations. This, if implemented will result in patients receiving high standards of pain assessment and management. It will also help reduce instances of unnecessary suffering from patients (Hall-Lord & Larsson, 2006) Pain assessment is the first step in pain management and treatment. The main objectives of a successful pain assessment process should be aimed at reducing the pain that the patient is experiencing, increasing the patient’s comfort, improving the patient’s physical, physiological and psychological function as well as ensuring the patient is satisfied with the pain management process. It is not easy to measure and asses pain (Hall-Lord & Larsson, 2006). Nurses have to be aware of various factors that can influence how the patient feels and how he or she expresses pain. Pain assessment and measurement involves a lot of issues that have to be approached with a lot of attention. Pain assessment involves the following steps; Overall appraisal of all the factors that could influence the patient’s expression of pain Comprehensively describing pain and the effect it has on body functions of the patients Determining the barriers that may affect the nurse’s ability to asses and manage the patient’s pain, such factors include; The nurse’s lack of adequate knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed in order to effectively manage pain Poor documentation of the patient’s pain, its assessment, management as well as pain re-evaluation The age of the patient,

Transgenic Plants and Their Applications

Transgenic Plants and Their Applications Aim of study Rice is one of the main staple foods in this world. It is particular interesting that studies be done on enhancing the rice production. There are biotic and abiotic factors that can reduce the production of rice but the aim for this study is to examine further into genes that can enhance rice tolerance towards drought as drought one of the main factors that decreases the annual production of rice in the world. In addition, genes conferring tolerance to transgenic rice will also lead to other positive phenotype effect such as salt tolerance (Hu et al., 2006), disease tolerance (Chen and Guo, 2008) and many more. The research of transgenic plants is still in its infant stage as technology progress to further extend. As this transgenic research is still new, there is a lot problem surrounding this new research and it is particularly important for one to know every aspect in transgenic rice. Aspect such as benefits and setbacks should be provided so that the aspects can be reviewed and to find a balance point. Balance point is where the benefit will overweight the setbacks. Furthermore, review would be more wholesome and informative and the information provided will lead to invoking thought of scientists that are interested to study further in the transgenic field. Rice Production According to Food and Argriculture Association (FAO) of United Nation, rice is the second largest produced cereal in the world. Around 350 million tons of rice was produced in the early 1990s and by the end of the century it had reached 410 million tons. Asia countries are the major rice producer in the world (90%) with China and India producing one-third of global population supply (ref?). Currently, rice is grown and harvested on every continent except Antarctica, where conditions are not suitable for rice growth. Other major rice producer includes India, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philipine, and Bangladesh. Currently, more than 550 million tons of rice is produced annually around the globe. Few thousands of new strains of rice are produced till today. That includes those grown in the wild and those which are cultivated as a crop. Globally, more than 3 billion people from Asia and other countries depend on rice (Oryza sativa) as their staple food, and by 2025 at least 60% more rice must be produced to meet the demands of the growing human population (Yarasi et al., 2008). Currently, rice yield around the world are just barely enough to support the people that depend on rice as food (Karaba et al., 2007). This problem has become worrying because food shortage related to rice may escalate out of control and sends billions into starvation. Factors affecting rice production This shortage may be caused by biotic and abiotic factor (Capell et al., 2004). Plants had to face periodic or unpredictable biotic and abiotic stresses, such as salt, drought, cold, pests, and disease. The most significant abiotic stresses faced by plant are high salt environment and drought. These stresses inhibit crop growth and development and usually result in plant death. As crops fail, the production of food will decrease accordingly. Biotic Interference Production of rice is negatively impacted by numerous biotic factors includes insect infestation and microorganism invasion. An approximate 52% of the global production of rice is lost annually owing to the damage caused by biotic factors, of which around 21% is attributed to the attack of insect pests (Brookes and Barfoot, 2003). Insects belonging to plant hopper (Delphacidae) and leaf hopper (Cicadellidae) are hard to control and monitor. So, a lot of rice yield are lost due to insect infestation. Insects not only cause direct losses to the agricultural produce but also act as vectors for various plant pathogens that causes disease (Dahal et al., 1997; Foissac et al., 2000)The most known pests of rice are viz, brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens, BPH), green leafhopper (Nephotettix virescens, GLH) and whitebacked planthopper (Sogatella furcifera, WBPH) are known to cause severe damage. They have a hugh appetite for plant sap, and in large numbers, they can suck the sap of plants to the point where plants will lose important nutrient in sap and die. They also act as vectors for major viral diseases (Yarasi et al., 2008). Abiotic Interference Plants are non motile organism and needs to find suitable environment to continue on growing. Sometimes the environmental conditions are not suitable for them. So the challenge is the plants had to adapt to its environment by some biological mechanisms that are able to help plants to flourish in stressful environment. They manage to do so by series of event. First sensing a stress, and then signaling the stress through a series of components, leading to activation of a large number of stress-related genes and synthesis of a variety of functional proteins. This includes transcription factors, enzymes, molecular chaperones, ion channels, and transporters (Zhou et al., 2009). Functional proteins helps the plant can change in their physiological and metabolic reaction according to the stress endured. This ensure the plant continue to triumph in stressful abiotic environment (Bray, 1997). Counter Measures There are numerous physical ways to counter these problems. For example, pesticides can be use for the prevention of insect infestation. However, this counter measures are not without any negative consequences. Chemical control of insect pests is an effective method but not efficient. Pesticides cause a lot more today and the usage depends mainly on the weather conditions. Uncontrolled usage of chemical pesticides will not only build up resistance in insect pests but also affect other beneficial organisms such as pollinators, nutrient cyclers and natural pest-controlling predators (Yarasi et al., 2008). They can pollute the environment and as well as depleting other natural minerals of soil. As to solve drought problems on plants growth, government had tried counter measure such as cloud seeding. Cloud seeding Cloud seeding works by the use of airplanes to spray expensive chemicals such as silver salt into the sky in hope for rain. Cloud seeding is not preferred method to reduce the effect of drought on food production because the silver salt used are very expensive and success percentage of seeding clouds are very low. Now scientists are looking forward in finding the best solution to increase the production of rice. The most interesting and the most widely studied is the t ransgenic method. Transgenic Approach Transgenic comes from the word trans-gene, which means introduction of foreign gene that is consider beneficial to the wild type species. Any foreign genes that are considered a help to confer stability of rice to environmental stress are being studied. Genetic enhancement of rice through conventional methods is often constrained by narrow gene pools. So, transgenic technology can be used as better alternative approach for hybridization of wild species genes with foreign gene to produce a better rice species in term of survivability in nature (Yarasi et al., 2008). With current advancement in biotechnology, we can look forward to produce transgenic rice that can have higher survival chance from biotic and abiotic interference. Beneficial Transgenic Effect In Rice Through transgenic method, rice will be more resistant to diseases and insects when foreign genes are introduced into the wild type rice gene to express certain proteins that repel insects (Yarasi et al., 2008). For example, is the introduction of Tobacco OPBP1 gene into rice may improve the disease resistance of rice (Chen and Guo, 2008) and the introduction of Allium sativum leaf lectin gene into rice to repel sap-sucking insect (Yarasi et al., 2008). Besides that, rice will become more likely to survive abiotic catastrophe such as drought and high salinity condition as introduction of new genes confers the ability of rice to mediate metabolic ways to react to these stresses. For example, insertion of Arabidopsis HARDY (HRD) gene in rice improves water use efficiency, the ratio of biomass produced to the water used, by improving photosynthetic assimilation and reducing transpiration (Karaba et al., 2007). There is also the insertion of Triticum aestivum salt tolerance-related gene (TaSTRG) derived from salt-tolerant wheat mutant RH8706-49 enhances salt and drought tolerance of rice (Zhou et al., 2009). Other than that, transgenic process can be used to insert a bacterial chlorocatechol dioxygenase gene into rice so that rice plants are able to degrade pesticides (chlorinated compounds) to less harmful form. Several herbicides and pesticides containing chlorinated compounds have been used and have spread in the environment. They will destroy the delicate balance of nature by many ways. If left unattended, the environment will have some non reversible consequences. Therefore, bio-remediation of these chemical compounds will be a powerful technique to degrade chlorinated pollutants in soil. Transgenic rice plants that express foreign genes encoding enzymes to degrade chlorinated chemical compounds would enable farmers to remove these harmful chemical compounds from soil and water surrounding the fields (Alexander, 1981). By applying transgenic research, rice pla nt can be further enhanced to be able to survive stresses and as well to help remediate the environment. Indirectly, the rice production will also increase so that food crisis will not happen. The Super Green Rice Project Currently, scientific community are on the verge to produce transgenic rice called Super Green Rice which possesses numerous beneficial properties such as resistances to multiple insects and diseases, high nutrient efficiency, and drought resistance (Zhang, 2009). So this new kind of hybrid rice are hoped to reduce the consumption of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and water. Super Green Rice also needs to have high yield quality regardless of multiple stress environments (Zhang, 2009). For this production of Super Green rice to realized, they are undergoing enormous efforts to focus on identifying allthe hereditarymaterialin a single species and discovering genes for resistance to diseases and insects, nitrogen and potassium use efficiency, drought resistance, grain quality, and yield. The steps adopted include screening of germplasm collections and mutant libraries, gene discovery and identification, microarray analysis of differentially regulated genes under stressed conditions, and functional test of candidate genes by transgenic test (Zhang, 2009). Genes that are considered beneficial to the production of rice are now been isolated and are gradually incorporated into wild type rice gene. It is anticipated that such strategies and efforts would eventually lead to the development of Green Super Rice (Zhang, 2007). Problem of transgenic plant in food Transgenic research seems to have a bright and brilliant prospect ahead to help solve the world food crisis problems, but, the introduction of foreign genes into wild type rice does not come without any major public concern (Yarasi et al., 2008). In all new scientific projects worldwide, there will be problems because of the technologies and knowledge is yet to be fully explored. There are some worries that the lack of transgenic effect on food crop may have negative consequences. For example, effect of the transferred foreign toxic gene such as the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insect-resistance gene to other species other than rice (Yarasi et al., 2008). This induces the rice to produces endotoxin to repel insect from eating the crops. This Bt gene inserted into food crop can help to reduce insect destruction and increase the food yield, but, there are concerns that the inserted gene into food crops will have adverse effect on the nutrient quality of crops produced (Yarasi et al., 20 08). The gene may induce the plant to undergo different metabolic process and produces toxic substances as by-product. Although with the insertion of Bt gene into rice will increase its yield, but the rice produced are not suitable for human consumption. This may cause the crops produced not fit to be consumed. Transgenic Plant and Environment Concerns Through the introduction of transgenic plant in our environment, scientist began to think about the consequences that might occur. There is concern about the consequences of transgene escape to wild type relatives. Transgenic plants have genes that are different from the wild type gene but both transgenic and non-transgenic plants are still able to communicate and transfer genes (Lu and Yang, 2009). Communicate in this term means the ability to interbreed with each other. So, the transgene can flow to the wild type species. There are three pathways for gene flow to occur which is pollen-mediated, seed-mediated and vegetative propagule-mediated gene flow (Lu and Yang, 2009). Transgenes can escape from a genetically modified (GM) crop to its wild relative species via pollen-mediated gene flow. There are many factors that can affect the pollen-mediated gene flow such as wind, animal, water current and other factors. Moreover, types of vectors for pollination and environmental conditions , such as the strength, and direction of wind, temperature, light intensity, and air humidity, will also influence pollen-mediated greatly (Lu and Yang, 2009). It is natural to have pollen-mediated gene flow because it helps in plant evolution. However, the movement of transgenes from genetically modified plant to wild type species may have adverse effect. This is because wild or weedy plants that acquire transgenes will continue to evolve, subject to natural and artificial selection in the agricultural ecosystem and beyond, posing potential ecological consequences (Lu and Yang, 2009). Once transgenes have moved into populations of wild or weedy species, it is nearly impossible to remove them from the environments if the transgenes can persist and spread in the populations. Different consequences will arise if the wild type relatives acquire transgene from genetically modified plant relative. If the transgene is able to confer favorable traits such as pest resistance, drought tolera nce, and enhanced growth ability, the transgene followed by gene flow would persist to and quickly spread in the populations of wild relatives through introgression. Then individual plants which contain the transgene are out surviving the individuals without the transgene in natural selection. This will indirectly increase the invasiveness of transgenic plant and sooner or later, the habitat will be filled with transgenic species rather than the wild type species (Lu and Yang, 2009). On the other side, if the transgene reduces the survivability of wild relatives, the frequencies of individuals that contain the disadvantageous transgene will decrease gradually. This process will cause the extinction of local populations by the so-called swarm effect (Ellstrand and Elam, 1993). Therefore, transgenes escape via pollen-mediated gene flow from a GM crop to populations of wild relatives and its ecological impacts have been a major concern. Another concern over transgene escape from GM ric e to its wild relatives is for the consequences of genetic diversity. The presence of transgenes in the germplasm of wild rice relatives may represent a form of pollution. It is theoretically possible that strong selection for fitness enhancing transgenes could generate selective sweeps, in which portions of the crop genome that are linked to these transgenes displace corresponding portions of wild genomes (Lu and Yang, 2009). This can be particular dangerous as the transgenic plant displaces its wild type relatives, the gene pool will be less diverse. So, if there is a new disease caused by new type of bacteria or viruses, and coincidently the transgenic plants lack of gene to fight off the disease, the whole population of the plant species are endangered of being wipe out and becomes extinct. Besides that, with the reduction of gene variety, there will be surely affect the plants natural evolution. As gene pool decreases, the evolution of transgenic plant in the future will not be as vary and diverse as the plants of wild type gene. The newly introduced transgenic rice may alter the soil composition and its microbes community due to its different physiological need compared to its native species. These might render the soil useless and unsuitable for other plants to grow in. Transgenic plant and health concerns Majority of people are starting to get worried about the consequences of the transgenic genomes transferred into the native species and other major complication caused. Those complications include health concerns where foreign genes are transferred into the rice gene may cause health complication. Some scientists have argued that protein products are not the only potential source of toxicity in transgenic plants (Connor and Jacobs, 1999). An experiment had been conducted when researchers fed rats either wild-type, wild-type containing lectin or transgenic potatoes expressing the lectin protein. Lectins are of commercial interest because of their pesticidal properties. The result shows that only the transgenic potato-fed group experienced physiological changes such as intestinal damage and they concluded that the genetic transformation process itself caused the observed complications. By getting the result from the rats, we can subsequently predict the analogous effect of unsuitable t ransgene on human health. Humans health is in great danger if they consume such transgenic crop. Other than that, people around the world are more alerted to the food safety of GM food that introduces allergens into the food supply. The allergenicity of the GM food is determined by the allergenicity of the substance. This means that gene products that are not allergenic normally will not become allergenic when expressed in a transgenic plant. For example, plant ferritin has no allergy cases reported, so, transgenic iron-enriched rice that contains the plant ferritin gene (Goto et al., 1999) poses no allergenicity risk. On the other side, if the gene product is a known allergen, then it will also be an allergen in a transgenic plant. As an example, when a Brazil nut albumin was expressed in soybean to boost methionine content, it resulted in nut-allergic individual reacted to the transgenic soybean(Nordlee et al., 1996). Therefore, people with an allergy to Brazil nuts would now also be allergic to those GM soybeans, even though they were not allergic to native soybean before. Ho wever, allergenicity of food is much more complicated when the allergenicity of a transgenic protein is unknown. For example, if a substance is not tested for allergenicity before, then the question may be asked if people started to consume food with the unknown substance, will they develop food allergy. There are more than 200 food allergens have been identified and sequenced (Gendel, 1998), but there is no definite sequence of protein are determined to be the source of allergenicity. Most known food allergens are stable to digestion (Ashwood et al., 1996). Therefore, proteins digestion stability test in the digestive process environment is one way to identify potential allergens. It is unlikely to reach immune cells to cause a hypersensitivity response if a protein is degraded in the stomach and small intestines. Stable proteins should be examined further. These experiments can be coupled with a comparison of sequence similarity to known allergens. Novel proteins with a significan t sequence similarity can be tested for reactivity with serum from subjects who are allergic to the homologous allergen. Although these tests may not be comprehensive in identifying potential allergenicity, the limited variety of source foods suggests that the vast majority of transgene proteins will be safe for consumption (Lehrer et al., 1996). More than 90% of the people who have food allergies are allergic to one or more of either cows milk, wheat, nuts, legumes, eggs or seafood. Transgenic plant and effect on non target species Transgenic crops that express insecticidal transgenes to control agricultural pests may also affect non-target organisms (Hilbeck et al., 1998; Losey et al., 1999; Saxena et al., 1999). Studies using corn transformed with a Bt-insecticidal transgene have non-target effects. For example, Lacewings (Chrystoperla carnea), an insect predator, suffered from higher death rates by feeding on corn destructive insect, European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) reared on Bt corn. The result shows lower and more significant less death rate using corn borers raised on non-Bt-transformed plants (Hilbeck et al., 1998). However, this was a laboratory study. It would seem a low probability for lacewings to be exposed to European corn borers that have ingested Bt toxin in the field. In another study, Monarch butterfly larvae (Danaus plexippus) that consumed milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) leaves dusted with Bt-containing corn pollen had decreased feeding, growth and survival rates, compared to larvae that consumed leaves with non-transgenic corn pollen (Losey et al., 1999). This result may indicate that the usefulness of some genes to deter some destructive insect may have some adverse and unwanted consequences of other species within the food chain. This indirectly will cause some species to be greatly in danger by this newly introduced transgenic plant. If the problem persisted, some species affect maybe extinct and then it will generate cascade of negative effec t on the fragile natural food chain. Transgenic plant and resistance issue There is also the issue of insect developing resistance to the transgenic plant and thus render the transgenic plants useless. For example, the diamondback moth, an important pest to Brassica crops worldwide, was the first documented pest to develop resistance to Bt toxins applied as microbial formulations in open-field populations (Tabashnik, 1994). Until now, there is no dominantly inherited Bt resistance genes have been documented. Using this information, various resistance management strategies have been proposed to delay the resistance building by insect, with plantation of a high expressing transgenic plant coupled with a non-transgenic plant (Shelton et al., 2000). The non-transgenic plant allows Bt-susceptible pests to survive on the field population and mate with Bt-resistant individuals. The goal of this strategy is to keep the recessive Bt resistance genes at low levels in the target populations and thus limit the rate at which the entire population will acquire Bt resista nce. The effectiveness of this strategy depends on the population size (Shelton et al., 2000). Transgenic plant and ethical issue Besides that, there are also some ethical issues where transgenic rice contains foreign genes that cannot be consumed. For example, the vegetarian will think twice before consuming the transgenic rice containing animal genes inside the transgenic rice. There is a strong sense of consumerism where consumers want to know what is in their food. Transgenic plant and its economic issue Economically, there are also a few setbacks regarding the production cost and the research cost for the transgenic rice. It is true that the transgenic rice will give us more yields but there are some worries that the money needed for the production and research of transgenic rice may overcome the benefit. As commercial crops are the main applicator for transgenic research, it may be hindered to progress in poor nation. So indirectly, the transgenic rice project might be not economically feasible. However, there is still no exact amount that can be taken into account but there is a bright prospect that the benefit of higher yield will overcome the cost needed. Transgenic rice is something to look forward to in the future because it may put a stop to the world food crisis. By mastering transgenic technology, there is a hope where the perfect rice plants can be produced greatly without much interference abiotically or biotically. It also have good prospect for better future study of alteration of rice nutritional value to suit the ever more demanding human population.

Ben Franklin :: essays research papers

Throughout history icons emerge in each era that define that time, men who define the thinking, technology, culture, religion, and every other aspect of that time period. From the time of ancient Greece which possessed such prodigies as Socrates, and Aristotle men who were not only brilliant philosophers but also historians, mathematicians, and astronomers. To the Revolutionary period of America, which held such courageous enlightened men such as Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin. Men who greatly helped shape America’s independence. A man who stands out among these names is â€Å" The First American†, Benjamin Franklin who goes beyond being simply an icon of America’s conquest for freedom, but is truly an American hero. Benjamin Franklin’s heroism exists in his numerous achievements in politics, his scientific inventions, and his accomplishment of truly being â€Å"The First American†. Franklin’s contributions to the world of inventions, and science prove his ideal heroism. Some of Franklin’s contributions include his improvements on Franklin’s stove, he invented the Pennsylvania fireplace, which retained and dispersed heat evenly in a room. Franklin shaped perhaps the first idea of electricity; he also helped improved city’s pavements, street lighting, sanitations, fire companies, and police. These are a small amount of Franklin’s more material accomplishments, but they are also some of his strongest. Franklin is considered an American hero because although he was a politician, he felt the need to go above and beyond his regular duties. Franklin strived for perfection and had a strong to desire to help his fellow man. Whether it was improving the quality of his community by looking at such common aspects like city pavement, or street lights, or by making a large technological breakthrough and creating something like the musical a rmonica. Although Ben Franklin’s heroism was never symbolized in any battle, it was largely seen with his constant attempts in the world of science and innovation. Benjamin Franklin used an expressed his high level of intelligence for others to learn and prosper from him. Although Franklin’s use and discoveries in science and innovation are well-rounded accomplishments, he is most credited for his actions in political office. Benjamin Franklin’s ethical right mind helped shape our nation today. Franklin believed that America had to separate itself from its control under Great Britain. Perhaps Franklin’s most heroic act is the work he contributed to help make America the free nation it is today.

Clinical Manifestation of HIV Infection Essay

There are lots of diseases that are transmittable and dangerous to human lives but until today the HIV still leading the most dangerous human life taker. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) destroys the immune system’s helper T cells, the loss of which causes AIDS. The person infected called as HIV positive that shows by test for antibodies to HIV in the bloodstream to be infected with HIV. But how you will know a person if she/he is infected. What are the manifestations you can observe? How can this be applied scientifically based knowledge to nursing practice? What knowledge do you get in reading all these articles?  Ã‚   In the next paragraph the answers to the question are discuss step-by-step. Clinical Manifestation The incubation period of a few weeks after exposure to HIV, most infected individuals present with an acute flue-like illness. The clinical symptoms of HIV infection were first descried in 1985 as an illness resembling infectious mononucleosis. The most common symptoms are fever, maculopopular rash, oral ulcers, lymphaenopathy, arthralgia, pharyngitis, malaise, weight loss, aseptic meningitis and myalgia. In one study, fever (80%) and malaise (68%) had the highest sensitivity for clinical diagnosis of HIV infection, whereas loss of weight (86%) and oral ulcers (85%) had the highest specificity. In the study, the symptoms of fever and rash followed by oral ulcers and pharyngitis had the highest positive pr5edictivevalue for diagnosis of HIV infection. In another study, fever, rash myalgia, arthritis and night sweats were the best predictors for HIV infection.   The symptom phase of HIV infection lasts between 7-10 days, and rarely longer than 14 days. The nonspecific nature of the symptoms posses a great challenge to the clinician and underlines the importance of a detailed history of exposure. (Altfeld & Walker). Another manifestation is Erythema elevatum diutinum (EED) is a chronic and rare dermatosis that is considered to be a variant of leucotoclastic vaculitis. The clinical manifestations are papules, plaques or nodules, which vary in coloration from reddish to purple, light brown and sometimes yellowish. The lesion’s are persistent and symmetrically distributed on extensors surfaces, particularly in the joints of the extremities. Such patients may presents arthralgia. The itchiness and pains, with rare systemic involvement were also observed (Medical Journal 2005). Immune thrombocytopenic purpura may be the sole clinical manifestation of HIV infection. Results of the treatment of 6 patients spontaneous bleeding due to severe thrombocytopenia are presented.   In all patients immune thrombocytopenic purpura was the only clinical manifestation of HIV infection. Four of them were intravenous narcotic addicts, and the other two patients did not belong to high-risk groups (Elizovic, Jevtovic &Rolovic 1989). Peripheral Facial paralysis as a manifestation of HIV Infection, Two patients had typical Bell’s palsy while one had a facialdiplegia. CD4 cell counts were above 100 cells/mm3 in all cases. A review of literature confirmed that peripheral facial nerve palsy could occur at any stage of HIV infection and in various clinical contexts. It is suggested that adult patients presenting with peripheral facial paralysis should be counseled, and screened for HIV (Annals AF Med: 2002 1(1) 1:28-30).

Gold Coast And the Slums essays

Gold Coast And the Slums essays Chicago is a city full of diversity. A place where one block is worth millions while the next one over would be considered a ghetto. This is a phenomenon that feels true in almost all parts of the city. I t could not have been any more evident in the part of the North side I explored. Beginning in the famous Gold Coast area of Chicago is always a sight. It is amazing to know how expensive these places all are and yet how cramped together it all seems. It is run of the mill to find housing in this area averaging in the millions, yet it makes one think. Why spend so much money on little space? Is it really comfortable to be right on top of each other like that? I reside in Rogers Park, a neighborhood with a reputation for being densely populated. Apartment and condominium buildings line most of the streets in my part of East Rogers Park. Oddly enough it still feels like I have more space in between buildings then people in the Gold Coast. Gold Coast buildings feel as if they were built incredibly close to one another. The buildings do look very nice, but very old. Many of them look like converted mansions and some even have plaques on them. These plaques show landmark status and other fun facts. The civilians walking the area were overwhelming Caucasian. I cannot recall seeing any minorities on the streets. Lots of white people jogging and/or walking their dogs. Families at the park playing was also very evident. The cars that lined the streets for the most part seemed expensive. There were many BMWs, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Lincolns, and Cadillacs. I can only assume the domestic automobiles belonged to the older residents while the imports one would expect to be owned by baby boomers and younger. Overall it is a nice area that has many positives. It feels very safe and private. A good place for the wealthy to hide away. Not too far away from the Gold Coast in the Sandburg Village area. Th...

Aspects of Physics in the Grove leisure Centre Essays

Aspects of Physics in the Grove leisure Centre Essays Aspects of Physics in the Grove leisure Centre Essay Aspects of Physics in the Grove leisure Centre Essay The purpose is for the doors to open automatically when anyone is a certain distance from the door. The distance should be right for when they are walking up to the door so it has enough time to open when the person is close enough to go through it. The automatic door is needed for disabled access as it is a legal requirement. The grove has had them since the year 2000 because legal reasons state that all public places have to have access for disabled people. It makes it a lot easier for school parties, so the teacher doesnt have to hold the door so they can make sure the children at the front of the queue are looked after and not left unattended. Some people who are medically referred to the leisure centre by their doctors might be very weak and wouldnt be able to open a door, so an automatic door overcomes this problem. Another helpful thing is that the doors will not be left open in winter time, and therefore will not let heat out, which in turn will save money as the building will not need excess heating because heat is being lost. Pool Lighting The lights are not located directly above the swimming pool, the main reason for this is that it would be extremely hard to fix and change them; another reason is that if the lights were directly above the pool then condensation would cause the lights to break. This helps to spot any foreign object in the pool, as if there was a dark pool they not be spotted and if there was someone under water drowning it would make it harder for the lifeguard to spot them the less light there is. Also simply to help people to see when they are swimming on the surface or underwater as the more light there is it makes it clearer to see. The above diagram shows a light beam coming from lights set in the floor travelling upwards and reflecting at a 90à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ angle to another reflecting surface, and then it does another reflection at 90à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ down to the pool. The above diagram shows a light ray reflecting and how it does it, this is what the ray does in the pool lighting system. How the automatic door system works The doors work by using a passive infrared detector (P.I.R) They call it passive as it only receives infrared waves of a certain frequency and it doesnt emit any. Infrared rays are rays that are emitted by any object which is warmer than 0 K, but so the door isnt opened for animals the passive infra-red detector is tuned to detect the frequency of infrared ray that humans emit and filter out any others, also if it didnt then on a sunny day the doors would be open all of the time. The infrared radiation goes through a window which is located on the housing of the P.I.R. The window is made so that it allows infrared rays to pass through but then doesnt allow visible light through. Infrared rays go through a window in the housing of the detector, the window is made of a material which doesnt let visible light through but does let infrared through. When the passive infrared detector detects many infrared rays the fresnel lens focuses the beam on to a crystal which is usually a semi-conductor, then the electromagnetic radiation sets up a voltage which then causes a current to flow through a relay circuit, then operating a motor which is attached to the doors, then they open. The sensor is capable of reading a wide range of radiation so a filter is put over it so it limits incoming radiation to between 8 and 14mm which is the most sensitive to human body radiation. Pressure pads may be used along with the P.I.R., this is because if there is a very low change in infrared, e.g. if someone was to walk slowly up to the doors, then the doors might not open or might open and then close before the person has walked through them. To stop this from happening pressure pads are put down just before the door, so when someone steps on it this also causes the circuit to operate and for the doors to open, so there is always one device that will pick the person up. This is also good for safety, if there was just a P.I.R. and there was a fire, the smoke would block the infrared getting to the sensor, so the doors wouldnt open, but with pressure pads the doors would still be able to open. The doors operate in relation to change in infrared, or to pressure being exerted on the pressure pad. This is the circuit in which the P.I.R. and pressure mat work on: Power Source P.I.R. M P.M P.I.R. = Passive Infrared Detector P.M = Pressure Mat Logic Gates The circuit has an OR logic gate in it, this is where either of the two devices will make the doors open. INPUT OUTPUT P.I.R. P.M. Automatic Doors 0 0 Doesnt Open 0 1 Open 1 0 Open 1 1 Open This table shows that when one of the devices, P.I.R. or P.M. is activated that the automatic doors open. On the left half of the table a 1 represents the device being activated and the 0 represents it not being activated. So either one on its own, or both being activated will result in the doors opening. Photons In the crystal there are electrons, and photons are absorbed by the electrons, this is what gives the electrons the energy to move about, and therefore this is what sets up the voltage, and makes the current flow. Every single photon travels at the speed of light. The frequency of the radiation determines the amount of energy each photon has, the rule is the lower the frequency the lower the amount of energy the photon has, which also means, the higher the frequency the higher the amount of energy. How to work how much energy each photon has: I need to work out the frequency first: FREQUENCY = SPEED OF LIGHT / WAVELENGTH f = V / ? f = f = Now I can work out the energy: ENERGY (J) = Plancks constant (6.63 x 10?-34 Js) * FREQUENCY (Hz) E = h * f E = * E = Lenses The lens which is used is a FRESNEL LENS, it has been changed from a Plano convex, this is because it reduces the absorption by the lens. The Fresnel lens is a lens that is able to reduce the amount of material required compared to a normal Plano convex lens, it does this by breaking the lens into a set of concentric annular parts, and these are called Fresnel zones. 1 Fresnel lens 2 Plano Convex In the picture on the right you can see a Fresnel lens (1). You can see that in each of the Fresnel zones the, the overall width of the lens is lowered. This means that the original lens has been changed to a lens with the same curve but with discontinuities between it. This means that the overall thickness of the lens is greatly reduced, and therefore the weight and volume of the lens is also greatly decreased, but this is at the expense of reducing the imaging quality of the lens. I can work out the power that the lens has, for this I need the focal length. 0.65 = 0.01651m POWER = 1 / FOCAL LENGTH (m) POWER = 1 / 0.01651m POWER = 60.57 D Limitations If there is a power cut and the automatic door is a dual system with a pressure mat and detector, the pressure mat wouldnt work. If there is something wrong with the pressure mat then it involves digging it up which can cause hassle as is in the door way and will mean digging up concrete which will take time and be expensive. If there is a fire, smoke would cover the infrared detector and therefore the infrared rays that the person is giving off wouldnt be detected so the door wouldnt open and the person wouldnt be able to get out, and may die. That is only if it isnt a dual system without a pressure mat. Because the sensor is focused on the space leading up to the door it may be that if someone stands in the door way then the door will shut on them as there is no change in infrared radiation. When the P.I.R.s are used in security systems there are also flaws, which include a false alarm being raised if anything that isnt a human is detected, and therefore would set the alarm off when it is not needed. Other uses P.I.R. sensors can be used in many things, one of the main things is in security systems, as they are used to detect movement just as they are in the automatic doors, but instead of operating a system to let someone in when they are detected they are used to turn a light on when someone moves near it, or to set off an alarm or notify the police. P.I.R. systems have also been used in space; they have been used in a system which measures how much infrared radiation the sun and other planets are emitting. They are also used in toilets, for things like hand dryers, where a hand is placed underneath and then the infrared rays are detected and so the dryer starts to work, the same system is also used for taps in some places. Future Developments In the future the PIR sensor is hoped to be able to recognise individual people as everyone has a different infrared signature. These could be used in situations such as in a bank where only staff with a infrared frequency that has been registered are allowed into the back room with access to certain information, or in hospitals, only the correct staff will be let into the drugs cupboard. This could also work in football where any hooligans which have been banned from attending certain matches at certain grounds will have there infrared frequency registered with the system so the doors will not open for them. Also in development is a system for when people cross the road, as drivers sometimes ignore pedestrian signs and pedestrians walk across the road without pressing the button. The system is that a P.I.R. will detect a person walking towards the road and will set off a warning such as a light or flashing sign for the driver to see, therefore making them aware of the fact that ther e is a pedestrian crossing the road which will enable them slow down or stop.

U.S. and international business operations and environments Essay

U.S. and international business operations and environments - Essay Example Cultural diversity identifies one of the differences. The American domestic culture is largely homogeneous and identifies uniform behaviors and practices in business negotiations and agreements. This is however contrary to the international environment that has diversified cultures and requires extensive knowledge of the cultures for successful business initiatives. Failure to understand the different cultures disadvantages operations in the international environment as opposed to experiences United States’ domestic set up. Business operations in the Unites States majorly uses the U.S. Dollar for transactions while operations in the international environment encounters many currencies, requires currency conversion and is susceptible to losses due to variations in currency values. Business operations and environment in the United States are also subject to a homogeneous legal environment under the federal laws and variations within state laws are not very significant while oper ations and environments in international set ups are regulated by different legal systems. Similarly, moral obligations, as derived from cultures, are homogeneous in the domestic business environment but diversified in international set up. Business operations in the United States are also majorly conducted in English while the international set up involves a multilingual approach that sometimes requires translators (Dlabay, Scott and Scott, 2010). Business operations and environments in the United States are therefore different from those in the international set up with culture, currency, legal environment, language, and ethics as the major bases for the

Scholarship Application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Scholarship Application - Essay Example I feel that I have enough knowledge and passion to show that I have a craze about going ahead in the field of criminal justice. To maintain my interest, I keep myself updated with current research in this field. I keep on reading related journals, books and magazines, and attend related seminars held in my vicinity. I have always come up fresh, innovative and unique ideas. I have learnt basic computer knowledge and softwares so as to equip myself with the latest technology that may help me in excelling in this field. Currently, I am working for the national archives record administration. My goal is to work with the FBI in future. To back it up, I feel it important to state here that I have got suitable leadership qualities that are best suited for this field, such as being able to manage and supervise teams, and to work according to ethical standards. All of this makes me, in my perspective, a suitable candidate for the scholarship. Kindly consider my application. Thanking you in