Arpanet Essays (629 words) - Wide Area Networks, ARPANET

Arpanet The USSR launches Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite. In the late 1960s the U.S. military was desperately afraid of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. The United States formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Department of Defense to establish a bombproof network to connect military bases. ARPANETs physical network was established in 1969 to enable universities and research organizations to exchange information freely. The first two nodes that formed the ARPANET were UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute, shortly after the University of Utah was added to ARPANET. The Network Control Protocol (NCP) was initially used as the ARPANET protocol, beginning in 1970. By 1971, a total of 23 hosts at 15 locations were connected to the ARPANET. The following year, the first international connections occurred, linking the University College of London (UK) and the Royal Radar Establishment (Norway) to the ARPANET. The way ARPANET was set up is so that if one of the network links became disrupted by enemy attack, the traffic on it could automatically be rerouted to other links. Fortunately, the Net rarely has come under enemy attack. In the 1970s, ARPA also sponsored further research into the applications of packet switching technologies. This included extending packet switching to ships at sea and ground mobile units and the use of radio for packet switching. Ethernet was created during the course of research into the use of radio for packet switching, and it was found that coaxial cable could support the movement of data at extremely fast rates of speed. The development of Ethernet was crucial to the growth of local area computer networks. The success of ARPANET made it difficult to manage, particularly with the large and growing number of university sites on it. So it was broken into two parts. The two parts consisted of MILNET, which had the military sites, and the new, smaller ARPANET, which had the nonmilitary sites. On January 1,1983, every machine connected to ARPANET had to use TCP/IP. TCP/IP became the core Internet protocol and replaced NCP (old ARPANET language) completely. Thanks to TCP/IP MILNET and ARPANET remained connected through a technical scheme called IP (Internet Protocol); which enables traffic to be routed from one network to another as necessary. All the networks connected to the Internet speak IP, so they all can exchange messages. Although there were only two networks at that time, IP was designed to allow for tens of thousands of networks. An unusual fact about the IP design is that every computer on an IP network is just as capable as any other, so any machine can communicate with any other machine. In 1985 the National Science Foundation began announcing plans for its new T1 lines, which would be finished by 1988. Soon after the completion of the T1 backbone, traffic increased so quickly that plans immediately began on upgrading the network again. The same year the concept of the T3, a 45 Mbps was introduced to the public. While the T3 lines were being constructed, the Department of Defense disbanded the ARPANET and the T1 and later T3 backbone replaced ARPANET. The original 50Kbs lines of ARPANET were taken out of service. In 1990 ARPANET was replaced by the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), the same company that founded the t1 and t3, to connect its supercomputers to regional networks. In my opinion I think the government did an excellent job in developing the Internet. Essentially, the ARPANET can be viewed as the embryo from which the Internet grew. The government fostered and encouraged the growth of private Internet corporations. Today the Internet spans across all 7 continents and connects the whole world with some clicks of a mouse and typing at the keyboard. Technology

À Peu Près - French Expression

Peu Prà ¨s - French Expression The French expression peu prà ¨s (pronounced  [ ah peu preh])indicates that whatever phrase it precedes or follows is a rough guess or estimate. It literally means at little near and is used to mean  about, around, approximately, pretty much or more or less. When used with numbers and amounts, peu prà ¨s is synonymous with environ and plus ou moins. It has a normal  register.   Examples and Usage Jai peu prà ¨s 10â‚ ¬ / Jai 10â‚ ¬, peu prà ¨s.I have about 10â‚ ¬. Il pà ¨se peu prà ¨s 20 kilos / Il pà ¨se 20 kilos, peu prà ¨s.It weighs about 20 kilos. Tu as peu prà ¨s son à ¢ge / Tu as son à ¢ge, peu prà ¨s.Youre about the same age as he is. peu prà ¨s is used with adjectives, nouns, pronouns, and clauses to describe something or someone as approximately, more or less ___. Here, peu prà ¨s is synonymous with presque and plus ou moins. Les rà ©sultats sont peu prà ¨s normaux.The results are fairly / more or less normal. Je suis peu prà ¨s certain.Im fairly / almost certain. Ils sont peu prà ¨s les mà ªmes.Theyre about / almost the same. Cest peu prà ¨s tout.Thats about / pretty much all. Je vois peu prà ¨s ce quil veut dire. I kind of / pretty much / more or less see what he means. The invariable compound noun -peu-prà ¨s refers to a vague approximation. For example: rester dans l-peu-prà ¨sto be very vague, to stick to vague approximations à ©viter les -peu-prà ¨sto avoid approximations Theres also  an   peu  prà ¨s  gesture   and an   informal synonym, au  pif.

Political and Economic Risk for Brasil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Political and Economic Risk for Brasil - Essay Example In regards to economic changes they are considered extremely risky, as stated in MarketWatch.com "Brazil has been a rollercoaster for investors lately. President Luis Inacio da Silva's government is embroiled in a corruption scandal, with accusations of accepting bribes in exchange for legislative support" (Kollmeyer 2). Luiz Incio Lula da Silva was elected to the position of President in 2002. After being elected Lula changed many of his initial plans regarding retirement, tributary and labor. These changes did not go over smoothly with some members of his cabinet and caused further tension. The President believes one the main problems citizens in Brazil face is hunger and has devised a plan to disperse money to underprivileged citizens. Although this act was positive many citizens believed that this was not the most important issue that Lula could have spent money on. One of the most publicized scandals in Brazil occurred when Brazilian Labor Party member Roberto Jefferson admitted he gave bribes to promote the presidential campaign (Wikipedia). According to the BBC news, "based on a survey of 78 firms conducted in 2003, found that just over half had been asked for bribes by officials responsible for tax collection." The survey also found that more than two-thirds of the firms admitted spending up to 3% of their annual revenues on bribing officialdom, the rest spent more than that. This problem is partially because the Brazilian bureaucracy has always encouraged a flexible guideline to the rules (Plummer). Although the president's ratings did falter for a bit, they are now up again and he is projected to be able to win the upcoming election. According to the Political Risk Yearbook Lula has taken great steps to enforce social growth but at the same time will be hurt as he tries to maintain policies for foreign investment. PRY also feels that Lula has intentionally stalled some major problems like debt and that will come full circle when elections come around as other candidates will be able to highlight these weaknesses. With stalling these economic issues, it makes foreign traders weary to invest and will cause growth rates to be lower than expected. Although the trade surplus was healthy in the past years the import prices have risen and therefore caused a deflation in the export growth. This will cause a deficit over the year and by 2009 the deficit is expected to reach 3.3 billion dollars (Political Risk Yearbook 4). In addition to the many problems the president will face come election time, there is an inflation problem that is still prevalent in Brazil. In 2003 Brazil had a 13 percent inflation rate which is the fourth highest in South America (Political Risk Yearbook 8). In reaction to Lula's actions people have reacted and lashed out against their President. When the President promised to settle families on non-productive land and didn't follow through workers began to "squat" or refuse to leave the land and work to produce goods for their country. Although many of the "squatters" were non- violent they made a stand that affected the

Application Exercise 2 (A-2) Due 7.17.13 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Application Exercise 2 (A-2) Due 7.17.13 - Essay Example Other techniques such as interview initiate presentation of particular situations only. However, this article gives us an overview on how various experience are registered by the focus group forms of data collection as far as nursing research is concerned. In the article, five distinctive reflections meetings were carried out to avail sexuality behaviors in nursing care practices. The issue of sexuality behavior in nursing care however, becomes a central focus as far as research methodology in this article is concerned. A focus group form of data collection was introduced in this research through cluster techniques, which involved grouping of seven Federal University of Santa Maria students in the nursing graduation course. Focus group in this article has been described as a motivation and justification form of data collection technique, commonly used by various student organizations through group meetings, giving out a synthesis of each one and final evaluation. The article shows that the researcher needs proper investigative method of data collection that could analyze sexuality behavior, as a cultural component. Contrary to the research, anthropology was the main reference and hence, a focus group form of data collection was considered as the most effective method. Focus group of data technique has been used frequently and considered as the appropriate method for qualitative research. The purpose of this method was however, to draw out different points of views about that specific theme. In addition, the purpose was to make people understand different worldviews as well as understand in depth a behavior of a determined group (Ressel, Gualda, & Gonzales, 2002). The article however, concludes by giving out final comments as well as reflections as far as focus group of data collection is concerned. The focus group forms of data collection proved to be the proper method in identification of the knowledge and the perceptions about

Small and Medium Enterprises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Small and Medium Enterprises - Essay Example The economic downturn brought about financial difficulties in SMEs and at the same time, lenders could not guarantee access to additional funds. Some of the SMEs were forced to shut due to financial difficulties and bankruptcy. The level of investments in SMEs also declined due to lack of funds for investments (Stokes and Wilson, 2010). One of the factors that limited the ability of SMEs to access credit during the recession was the tight credit controls. The government efforts to control the level of money supply lead to high interest rates. Banks had to raise their lending rates and tighten their credit policies to comply with government regulations. Consequently, the SMEs that could not meet these new credit terms could not access funds from banks to finance their operations. SMEs were more vulnerable to the negative effects of the recession of business operations compared to large firms. This is because SMEs lack resource and market manpower to withstand sudden environmental chan ges. The changes in the global economic environment brought about by the 2008 recession had severe effects on SMEs especially on the young and new business (Stokes and Wilson, 2010). The 2008 recession forced organisations to lay off many employees to survive. The level of production reduced and layoffs were used as a way of reducing the cost of production. SMEs were not spared from this move and they too had to lay off a significant number of their employees. This means that they would later incur additional labour costs of recruiting and training new employees after the economic recovery. The performance of SMEs in terms of output production and revenues was severely affected during the recession. The effects on performance were more severe in high risk SMEs relative to low risk SMEs. High risk organisations tend to have high debt to assets ratios. These organisations were forced to take drastic measures of laying off their employees and reducing the dividends paid to shareholders (Stokes and Wilson, 2010; Richard 2011). The profitability of SMEs reduced during the recession and the level of competition increased as well. The demand for products was low and thus, firms intensified their marketing activities to attract customers. However, the effectiveness of the marketing strategies was limited by the reducing purchasing power of the consumers during the recession. The SMEs across Europe faced excessive regulations administration, lack of skilled human resources and high costs of productions (Richard 2011). Question 2: Reasons why small firms dominate some market structures There are many theories that explain why small firms dominate certain market structure. The technical efficiency theory argues that the existence of small firms in a certain market will depend on economies of scale. Industries with large economies of scale compared to the market size tend to have many small firms and a few large firms that control the market. However, the number of small firms in such markets may increase if the concentration ratios and the economies of decline. The size of a market or its geographical distance has an effect on its composition. A large geographical distance will results in high transportation costs for large firms. Such a market will also have diseconomies of scale. Consequently, there will be more small firms than large firms in the market.  

Sustainable Urban Development In India Environmental Sciences Essay

Sustainable Urban Development In India Environmental Sciences Essay India is the worlds largest democracy and second most populous country and is emerging as a major power. Since 1991, India has seen a far-reaching, rapid and successful transformation of its economic order, making the country one of the most dynamic in the world. This process was driven by high levels of productivity in services and manufacturing. According to the commonly used development indicators, India is progressing at a rapid pace, second only to China. The incidence rate of poverty has declined. However, India is still tackling huge social, economic and environmental problems. With rapid expansion of urban population around the world there is an increasing awareness about minimizing the environmental costs of urbanization. Concerns are raised at environmental damages and depletion of nonrenewable resources and rising levels of pollution in urban areas. In recent times urban centres have become places of urban environmental degradation and wasteful use of resources, which is proving to be costly to generations present and future. Sustainable urban development is achieving a fine balance between growth, development of the urban areas and protection of the environment with an eye to equity in employment, shelter, basic services, social infrastructure and transportation in the urban areas. Brundtland Commission (1983) describes sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The UN Conference on Environment and Development (also known as Earth Summit) held at Rio-de Janeiro in 1992 adopted an action plan, popularly known as Agenda 21. The agenda 21 promised to reduce poverty, provide clean water and health care, and protect the natural resources for sustainable development. The Millennium Declaration by the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2000 reaffirmed its commitment to the right to development, peace, security and gender equality, for overall sustainable development. Countries were expected to take efforts in the fight against poverty, illiteracy, hunger, lack of education, gender inequality, infant and maternal mortality, disease and environmental degradation. Millennium Development Goals have urged for ensuring environmental sustainability and reduction of the percentage of the population under extreme poverty. Thus all the initiatives taken so far on environment and development have stressed on economically viable development, socially equitable development and protection of the environment .Attaining sustainable development requires addressing social and environmental equity in development in ways that are socially, economically and politically acceptable. STATUS OF URBANISATION IN INDIA India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world today. Economic growth rate of 5.5 per cent per annum during 1981-2001, accelerated to 7.7 per cent per annum during 2001-02 and further to 8-9 per cent per annum GDP growth in 2010-11Economic development also leads to rapid urbanization .As an economy grows, its towns and urban centres expand in size and volume and the contribution of the urban sector to the national economy increases. The contribution of urban sector to Indias GDP has increased from 29% in 1950-51 to 47% in 1980-81. The urban sector presently contributes about 62%-63% of the GDP and this is expected to increase to 75% by 2021 . According to census of India, the urban population in the country as on 1st March 2001, was 286 million. This constituted 27.8% of the total population of 1028 millions. The rapid pace of urbanization has resulted in explosive growth of urban centres, This phenomenon has led to tremendous pressure on civic infrastructure systems, water supply, sewerage and drainage, uncollected solid waste, parks and open spaces, transport, etc. It has also led to deterioration in the quality of city environments. In several urban centres, the problems of traffic congestion, pollution, poverty, inadequate housing, crime, and social unrest are assuming alarming proportions. As per Census of India 2001 has grown upto 23.5 per cent of the total urban population and projections for 2011 indicate that this percentage is likely to go up to 30 per cent .In some urban centres, the proportion is 40-50 per cent. The proliferation of slums in metropolitan urban centres has become so extensive that as of 2001, 54 per cent of the total population of Mumbai lives in slums. Slums generally lack basic infrastructure, housing, social amenities and this has implications on health and productivity of the people living in such areas. This also has serious implications for future generation of people residing in such areas.In some urban centres, the proportion is 40-50 per cent. The proliferation of slums in metropolitan urban centres has become so extensive that as of 2001, 54 per cent of the total population of Mumbai lives in slums. Slums generally lack basic infrastructure, housing, social amenities and this has implications on health and productivity of the people liv ing in such areas. This also has serious implications for future generation of people residing in such areas. The trends of urbanization in India in the recent decades indicate the following key features: The degree of urbanization in India is one of the lowest in the world. With about 27.8% of the total population living in the urban areas, India is less urbanized compared to many countries of Asia, viz., China (32%), Indonesia (37%), Japan (78%), South Korea (83%), and Pakistan (35%). There is a continued concentration of the urban population in large urban centres and existing city agglomerations (Class I urban centres with population over one lakh) account for 68.9% of the urban population and this proportion has been growing. The growth of rural settlements which are acquiring urban characteristic is very slow and there is reluctance on the part of the States to notify the rural settlements as a town. There are large variations in the spatial patterns of urbanization across the States and urban centres. The pattern of population concentration in large urban centres reflects spatial polarization of the employment opportunities. Urban India is thus undergoing a transition in terms of physical form, demographic profile and socio-economic diversity. The important role of urban centres in national economic process and their global linkages demand more attention for their development, Urban centres are expected to perform efficiently in keeping with emerging demands for employment, commerce, trade, industry and other services. Urban centres have to attract investments for improving their efficiencies by way of upto date infrastructure, improved governance and affordable housing/ living with modern amenities. The urban centres of India need to be prepared for playing their new role of hosting rapid growth and providing services for an inclusive society. Not only do urban centres need much more by way of basic infrastructure but systems have to be put in place so that A socio-economic environment can be created, Affordable and Effective delivery of public services for all Affordable housing for the poor. This would require more public financial resources and more public goods, bringing the delivery of services to standard norms for all, greater willingness on the part of citizens and businesses to pay taxes and user charges for services, and a process of complementary urban-rural development. It is a challenge for policymakers, planners, intellectuals, officials, administrators and city manager and leaders to re-engineer urban planning especially settlements for better living conditions and better quality of life of all the citizens, especially the urban poor INSTITUTIONAL SET UP India is a federal polity with division of powers between centre and states. In the Federal structure of the Indian polity, the matters pertaining to the housing and urban development have been assigned by the Constitution of India to the State Governments. The Constitutions (74th Amendment) Act have further delegated many of these functions to the urban local bodies. State Legislatures also authorize the Union Parliament to legislate. Government of India plays a pivotal role and exercises influence to shape the policies and programmes of the country as a whole. The National Policy issues are decided by the Government of India which also allocates resources to the State Governments through various Centrally Sponsored schemes, provides finances through national financial institutions and supports various external assistance programmes for housing and urban development in the country as a whole. Policies and programme contents are decided at the time of formulation of Five Year Plans. The indirect effect of the fiscal, economic and industrial location decisions of the Government of India exercise a dominant influence on the pattern of urbanisation and real estate investment in the country. The Ministry of Urban Employment Poverty Alleviation is the apex authority of Government of India at the national level to formulate policies, sponsor and support programme, coordinate the activities of various Central Ministries, State Governments and other nodal authorities and monitor the The Ministry was constituted on 13th May, 1952 when it was known as the Ministry of Works, Housing Supply. Subsequently it was renamed as Ministry of Works Housing when a separate Ministry of Supplies came up. The name of the Ministry was changed to Ministry of Urban Development in September, 1985 in recognition of the importance of urban issues. With the creation of a separate Department of Urban Employment Poverty Alleviation on 8th March, 1995, the Ministry came to be known as the Ministry of Urban Affairs Employment. The Ministry had two Departments: Department of Urban Development Department of Urban Employment Poverty Alleviation. The two Departments were again merged on 9th April, 1 999 and in consequence thereto, the name has also been restored to The Ministry of Urban Development. The Ministry has again been bifurcated into two ministries viz : (i) Ministry of Urban Development; and (ii) Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation. The Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for formulating policies, supporting programs, monitoring programs and coordinate the activities of various Central Ministries, State Governments and other nodal authorities in so far as the relate to urban development concerning all the issues in the country. programmes concerning all the issues of urban employment, poverty  and housing in the country. HOUSING Housing, besides being a very basic requirement, holds the key to accelerate the pace of development. Investments in housing like any other industry have a multiplier effect on income and employment. It is estimated that overall employment generation in the economy due to additional investment in the housing/construction is eight times the direct employment1. The construction sector provides employment to 16% of the work force .Housing also has a direct impact on steel and cement industry, which accounts for considerable contributions to the national economy. Housing also contributes substantially to the services sector of the economy, which leads to generation of employment. Other significant aspect of housing development is its potential to generate employment for a wide section of population with varying degrees of skills and education. Housing Shortage and fund Requirement Urbanisation factors are coupled with housing shortage and insecure housing conditions, inadequate infrastructure transportation leading to a diminished quality of urban life in urban centers in majority of developing countries. In India ,according to the report of the Technical Group on estimation of housing shortage constituted in the context of formulation of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan, housing shortage is estimated to be around 24.71 million. As per Planning Commission earlier estimates for the 10th Plan beginning in 2002, the urban housing backlog was 8.8 million dwelling units and the total requirement was 22.44 million dwelling units. The overall housing shortage thus during the plan period (2007-2012) including the backlog was estimated as 26.53 million. About 99% of such households are from EWS and low income groups (LIG). For estimating the investment requirements for the Eleventh Plan, the Working Group on Urban Housing made different assumptions on unit cost of construc tion of houses in million plus urban centres and other urban areas. The total investment requirement for meeting the housing requirement would be of the order of Rs 361318.10 crore consisting of Rs 147195 crore required for mitigating housing shortage at the beginning of the Eleventh Plan and Rs 214123.10 crore for new additions to be made during the Eleventh Plan period This includes pucca ,upgradation of semi-pucca, and kutcha housing units and investments in housing by individuals and corporates. POLICY INITIATIVES The National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy provide the basic framework for achieving the objective of shelter for all. The policy was evolved in 1998 with the long-term goal of eradicating houselessness, improving the housing conditions of the inadequately housed, and providing a minimum level of basic services and amenities to all. It was formulated to address the issues of sustainable development, infrastructure development, and for strong PPPs for shelter delivery with the objective of creating surpluses in housing stock and facilitating construction of two million dwelling units each year in pursuance of the National Agenda for Governance. However, the housing sector has witnessed several changes since then. The 1998 National Housing Policy has been replaced by a National Habitat and Housing Policy, 2007 with land and the development of civic amenities to make land habitable as its two critical elements. In order to improve the quality of life in urban areas, it is of critical significance that the housing stock is improved through urban renewal, in situ slum improvement, and development of new housing stock in existing urban centres as well as new townships. However, despite many policy measures and initiatives, the coverage of urban poor with these intended benefits has not been achieved to the desired extent. Expanding equitable access The 11th Five Year Plan adopts inclusive growth as the theme for planning. An inclusive city requires all marginalized sections of urban society to function affectively in their social, economic, political and cultural domains and also needs to preserve its cultural identity absorbing dynamic population growth. It is important to integrate urban poor, women, destitutes, widows and children and old-age people in the city life and fabric. Developing inclusive urban centres of Slum-free Urban India is the challenge. In order to improve upon the living conditions in slums, the Government of India had launched The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).JNNURM is the largest initiative ever launched by the Government of India to address the problems of infrastructure and basic services to the poor in urban centres and towns in a holistic manner. The Mission is being implemented over a period of 7 years (2005-2012) with Central Assistance to States to the tune of Rs.50,000 crores. The objective of the Mission was to give focused attention to integrate development of infrastructure services, establishment of linkages between asset-creation and asset-management through reforms, ensuring adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services, planned development of identified urban centres including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors leading to dispersed urbanization, provision of basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at afforda ble prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the Govt. for education, health and social security. Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) provides a new paradigm for inclusive city building inclusive urban communities based on holistic approach. It envisages reform-driven, fast-track and planned development of urban centres, with focus on efficiency in urban infrastructure/ service delivery mechanism, community participation and accountability of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) towards citizens.The Mission covered both components from core infrastructure as well as last mile services to the urban poor, ensuring convergence with the sectors of human development as well. The two sub-missions for 63 identified urban centres are: Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) The Ministry of Urban Development is dealing urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme in Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). The Ministry of Housing Urban Poverty Alleviation is dealing with BSUP IHSDP especially the slum dwellers. JNNURM contemplates that urban centres develop planned urban perspective frameworks for a period of 20-25 years (with 5-yearly updates) indicating policies, programmes and strategies of meeting fund requirements. This perspective plan is to be followed by preparation of Development Plans integrating land use with services, urban transport and environment management for every five-year plan period. Access to land and legal security of tenure are strategic prerequisites for the provision of adequate shelter for all and for the development of sustainable human settlements affecting both urban and rural areas. The major challenges facing is the scarcity of land for planning of housing for slum redevelopment projects for urban poor. This has been accentuated due to high cost of prime land where the slum dwellers reside. The present policy of the Central Government lays stress on an enabling approach. While recognizing the existence of different national laws and/or systems of land tenure, governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, are striving to remove obstacles that may hamper equitable access to land and ensure that equal rights of women and men related to land and property are protected under the law. The Jawahar Lal Nehru Mission and Rajiv Awas Yojana gives an institutional framework by focusing on 7 point charter and creating tenurial rights for slum household especially women as joint ownership. This has been further strengthened in the Rajiv Awas Yojana wherein each state has been requested to create legislative and enabling environment for slum free India. JNNURM with its focus on important aspects like urban reforms, pro-poor infrastructure investments, inclusive urban planning, integrated management of urban infrastructure, slum rehabilitation including affordable housing and tenure security is a very positive step towards achieving the goal of inclusive and sustainable urban centers. However, challenges facing urban local bodies needs to be seen in the emerging scenarios of urbanization, inclusion and financial challenges. Sustainable urban development in INDIA therefore requires holistic and integrated planning with optimum use of resources within a good governance FRAMEWORK for creating sustainable human environment. This requires paradigm shift in the existing institutions and the institutional framework for implementation. The decision making needs to be decentralized and resources financial and manpower needs to be devolved to the urban local bodies i.e. urban centres (urban local bodies) with replicable, scalable, flexible institutional format.

How the Catholic Church Survived Two Thousand :: Essays Papers

How the Catholic Church Survived Two Thousand Introduction On theDay of Pardon in the Year of Jubilee, 2000 years after the birth of JesusChrist, Pope John Paul II and several other high members of the Catholic Churchperformed a prayer of forgiveness and confession, apologizing for all thewrongdoings of the Church. The Pope said later that they had been preparing todo this for several years, but had chosen the year 2000 Further, the Popeactually apologizing for the wrongdoings of the Church poses several questions:â€Å"Why did the Pope need to apologize: what ills did the Church, itsofficials and it followers commit that required the Pope to publicly clear hisconscience by apologizing for them? Further, to what extent did the Churchembody both human and divine e! lements in the past, and to what extent does ittoday?† To understand the Catholic Church today it is essential tounderstand the society it was born into and how the culture and politics of thepast 2000 years have shaped the Church and the Bible itself. After oneacknowledges the behavior and dogma that dominated the papacy in theChurch’s history (including the papal infallibility clause stating thatthe Pope being God’s voice on earth, can do no wrong), one can see howrevolutionary these speeches really were. TheEarly Church Effectivelyunderstanding the Catholic Church today requires one to unders! tand how theculture and politics of the Roman Empire shaped the structure of the Church andthe Bible itself. Jesus lived in what is modern day Palestine, which was partof the Roman Empire. Judaism and Hellenistic Greek traditions were the dominantreligions of the day. Several sects of Jews existed but although they agreed onthe basic tenets of Judaism —there is only one God, God’s peopleought to follow certain guidelines and God would fulfill his promise—they spent most of their time bickering over how to serve God. Theearly Church faced several struggles such as maintaining the purity ofChristianity, defining the structure of the Church and surviving the constantattacks on Christians by the Roman Empire. One of the Church’s firststruggles! was to define itself vis-à  -vis the Jewish tradition and theRoman World. Both Paul and the Book of Acts reveal questions and issues theearly Church wrestled with. For example: â€Å"Should Christianity be its ownreligion or a new sect of Judaism?† â€Å"Which books should be includedin the Bible and which were the works of heretics?†

The purpose of doing this is to analyze the disease history

Like all little children whenever I saw my weak mother suffering from ill health I had dreams of being a doctor. But adulthood brought some self realization and I knew that this was not the chosen profession for me. I was scared of blood and the sight of it brought nausea and giddiness in me. Dreams of taking a knife or an injection died a natural death.As I had an aptitude for numbers and was confident of my logical thinking, I opted for Mathematics and statistics as my undergraduate major and computer science as minor. For the past five years I have been studying mathematics and statistics in University I have been involved in some projects related to the medical field.In these projects, I used SPSS, MiniTab, SAS to generate meaningful statistical information including the comparison of means and proportions and investigation of relationships between variables using regression. Currently I am involved in a project focusing on historical census records. The purpose of doing this is to analyze the disease history of the family that would enable doctors to adopt preventive measures for future generations.The summer of 2007, when I met a girl from the CH&E department in the course of my work in a Diabetes program reinforced the idea that I should pursue this MSc CH&E program and base my future career on this. That was the first reason for my choice of this program and Dalhousie University.The MSc Program in Community Health and Epidemiology would enhance my knowledge, analytical skills and formal evaluative methods with application to disease prevention, health promotion and assessment of community health service and system needs. After successful completion of this program I would have honed my skills in a broad range of community health and epidemiology research studies, intervention programs and policy development efforts.Faculty members in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology in Dalhousie have backgrounds in a number of disciplines and have con tributed tremendously to Health Research and Health Promotion.The associate professors who are the fulltime faculty here have a reputation that has added to my reasons for the choice of this school. One of my desires is to be under the expert guidance of Associate Professor Judith Guernsey. Her Ph.D. Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, her research interests and activities where there is a heavy focus on the health of rural communities have particularly appealed to me because I feel that this is an indication of true social awareness.My interests are in the areas of addiction and health of women and when I read thatThe research interests of Associate professor Susan Kirkland include Women's Health, Aging, Health Services and Osteoporosis I consider this as a great opportunity to interact with her, and I have heard a lot about her lectures. I look forward to gaining admission in this school and be benefited by her lectures on Advanced Epidemiology. I have also read about th e research activities of George Kephart and I would be fortunate to be exposed to professional caliber of such superior kind.I also look forward to taking the course on Biostatistics which would be handled by Associate Professor Gordon Flowerdew. I would like to further enhance my training in Mathematics and statistics because I have been doing well in these subjects and am confident of rising up to the standards of all these seasoned expertsModern population-based health management is complex, requiring a multiple set of medical, political, technological, mathematical skills of which epidemiological practice and analysis is a core component that is unified with management science to provide efficient and effective health care and health guidance to a population.This task requires the forward looking ability of modern risk management approaches that transform health risk factors, incidence, prevalence and mortality statistics (derived from epidemiological analysis) into management m etrics that not only guide how a health system responds to current population health issues, but also how a health system can be managed to better respond to future potential population health issues.My diligent work in this educational program where I intend to make full use of the opportunity given by the course curriculum would enable me to pursue a longstanding career in the field of community health.The field of epidemiology would allow me to contribute to the medical profession, in a way that would suit my temperament too, because this is in the medical field, but without going through the tough first hands on experience of a doctor or a nurse.My interest and grounding in statistics would come in handy because the program enables the student to critically appraise, evaluate and design community health and epidemiological research studies and programs through the use of appropriate research methodologies and sources of information.After successful completion of this program I w ould be competent enough to effectively communicate my knowledge to the public and other health professionals and this would help my career objectiveMy short term is to get into CH&E program, then get the master’s degree; long term plan is to work as a researcher and analyst in the medical field area. I would also try to become a health protection practitioner, working in different settings and combating outbreaks of disease.

An experiment to measure the amount of oxygen bubbles given off in different strengths of sodium hydrogen carbonate Essay Example

An experiment to measure the amount of oxygen bubbles given off in different strengths of sodium hydrogen carbonate Essay Example An experiment to measure the amount of oxygen bubbles given off in different strengths of sodium hydrogen carbonate Essay An experiment to measure the amount of oxygen bubbles given off in different strengths of sodium hydrogen carbonate Essay Equipment list* Lamp* Beaker* Boiling tube* Pond weed* Ruler* scissors* Water* Measuring cylinder* Different strengths of NaHCO3* Paper clip* Stop clockPlanIn the experiment I will get a piece of pond weed and cut it to 5cm I will then make sure that the hole is clear and the leaves from that end have been removed so that oxygen bubbles will be able to escape and not get trapped. Once I have done this I will attach a paper clip to the other end to keep the piece of weed in water or the solution. I will then get a beaker and put 200ml of water and into it. After this I would place the boiling tube with 40ml of water and the pond weed into it and turn on the lamp that will be put 20cm away from the beaker and leave for 3minutes so that the weed can get used to the water.Once these 3 minutes are over I will be taking readings on how many bubbles come out of the weed every 30 seconds and I will be taking ten readings. After I have took all these reading I will do the same again. But inst ead of the piece of pond weed being in water in will now be in 0.25% NaHCO3 and I will do the same leave it for 3 minutes so that the weed can get used to the solution and then I will start taking readings. I will take ten readings one every 30 seconds this will take me up to 5 minutes. After this I will do the same for 0.5%, 0.75% and 1.0% of NaHCO3 during all these experiments I will be using the same piece of pond weed.DiagramPredictionI predict that the more concentration of NaHCO3 I use then the faster the rate of oxygen bubbles that will be given off.Fair TestingIn the experiment I want it to be a fair test so that I can get accurate results so I will be using a measuring cylinder so that I will get the same amount of solution each time. I will be using the same amount of pond weed, as the experiments will run over a number of lessons. I will also want it to be the same temperature so that that will not be able to cause any differences. I will also want the same light intensit y that is why I will be using a ruler to measure the 20cm gapping each time. I will also be leaving it for the same amount of time so that it will all be fair.ResultsA table to show the results from our experimentExperiment one0sec30 sec60 sec90 sec120 sec150 secwater0000110.25%0011220.5%033671011341700.75%0231014170.1%01325293339180 sec210 sec240 sec270 sec300 secAveragewater1133310.25%3345520.5%2032382743073401700.75%1825273343171.0%465156616838Experiment two0sec30 sec60 sec90 sec120 sec150 secwater0234890.25%0681213160.5%002041671080.75%0951802873955031.0%013456180 sec210 sec240 sec270 sec300 secAveragewater111415151590.25%2025313643190.5%2252843403894461750.75%60270781993210405051.0%991112127ConclusionI have come to the conclusion that the higher the concentration of NaHCO3 I use then the faster the rate of oxygen bubbles that will be given off. This is what I said in my prediction.This pattern does not happen when I have had to change my piece of pond weed as the practical ran over a couple of lessons.Looking at my results they back up my prediction as the graph shows the more concentration I use the more oxygen bubbles given off and I am right saying that when I start the experiment in a new lesson the number of bubbles that are given off is less.EvaluationLooking back my method and my results they are pretty accurate. My results are good and I would be happy to use my results to say that the higher the amount of NaHCO3 I use then the faster the rate of oxygen bubbles that will be given off. I can also come to a clear conclusion that when I have had to start with a new piece of pond weed the number of oxygen bubbles has dropped. In my method I could write about why I think that there will be any anomalous results if any.To see if this works in dark we could cut out the lamp so we could do the experiment in dark but it would have to be the same density of darkness otherwise it wouldnt be a fair test.

Programming games in C# using SDL.NET

Programming games in C# using SDL.NET One of the problems with open source is that projects sometimes seem to fall by the wayside or take confusing turns. Take SDL.NET. Ignoring the website for sale, a search on the web reveals cs-sdl.sourceforge.net a project that seems to have stopped in November 2010. We dont think it has stopped but just looks like it has. If you dont know C#, you will first need to learn how to program in C#. Looking elsewhere, we came across the Tao framework linked on the Mono website which seems to cover the same area and adding support for sound etc. But looking on sourceforge (again!), it has been superseded by OpenTK but the focus there is OpenGL. However, it also includes OpenAL so installing the two (cs-sdl and OpenTK) seemed to be the way forward. Part of the OpenTk install failed; the NS (shader) because we dont have VS 2008 installed! However, the rest of it was ok. We created a C# Console project and started playing with SDL.NET. The online documentation can be found here. Looking back, we can see that the OpenTK framework wasnt needed as such, that SDL.NET installed everything but that wasnt clear at the time. It still uses the Tao Framework even though development of that has been superseded by OpenTK. Its a little confusing and we hope the SDL.NET team will bring out an OpenTk compatible version in the future. What Exactly is SDL.NET? Its not, as we thought, just a thin wrapper round SDL, but adds considerable extra functionality. There are a number of classes provided to provide the following: TimersProvides Sprites, including animation and TextProvides surfaces for 2D and OpenGlProvides support for Movie loading and playingProvides support for AudioProvides Bezier, polygon (and textures), square, circle, line, pie drawingProvides particle support with emitters and sprites and manipulators.Provides interfacing with Windows forms through a shared PictureBox with surface. Preparations There are several things you have to do to get it set up. Here they are: Locate the two SDL.NET dlls (SdlDotNet.dll and Tao.Sdl.dll) as well as the OpenTK dlls, and add them to the project references. After installation, the dlls are located in Program Files\SdlDotNet\bin (on a 32 bit Windows and Program Files (x86)\SdlDotNet\bin on 64 bit Windows. Right click on the References section in Solution Explorer then click Add Reference and select the Browse tab. That opens an Explorer dialog and after locating the dlls select then and click ok. SDL.NET uses the SDL set of dlls and installs them under the lib folder. Dont delete them! One last thing, click on the View\Properties so it opens up the Property pages and on the first tab (Application) Change Output type from Console Application to Windows Application. If you dont do this when the program first runs and opens up the SDL main Window it will open up a console Window as well. Were now ready to start and Ive created a short application below. This blits randomly sized and located rectangles and circles on the Window surface at 1,700 drawn per second at a frame rate of 50 frames per second. That 1,700 comes from setting the number drawn per frame to 17 and displaying the frames per second in the Window caption using Video.WindowCaption. Each frame it draws 17 filled circles and rectangles, 17 x 2 x 50 1,700. This figure depends on the video card, CPU etc. Its an impressive speed. // By David Bolton, http://cplus.about.comusing System;using System.Drawing;using SdlDotNet.Graphics;using SdlDotNet.Core;using SdlDotNet.Graphics.Primitives;public class ex1{private const int wwidth 1024;private const int wheight 768;private static Surface Screen;private static Random r new Random() ;public static void Main(string[] args){Screen Video.SetVideoMode( wwidth, wheight, 32, false, false, false, true) ;Events.TargetFps 50;Events.Quit (QuitEventHandler) ;Events.Tick (TickEventHandler) ;Events.Run() ;}private static void QuitEventHandler(object sender, QuitEventArgs args){Events.QuitApplication() ;}private static void TickEventHandler(object sender, TickEventArgs args){for (var i 0; i 17; i){var rect new Rectangle(new Point(r.Next(wwidth- 100),r.Next(wheight-100)),new Size(10 r.Next(wwidth - 90), 10 r.Next(wheight - 90))) ;var Col Color.FromArgb(r.Next(255),r.Next (255),r.Next(255)) ;var CircCol Color.FromArgb(r.Next(255), r.Next (255), r.Next(255)) ;short rad ius (short)(10 r.Next(wheight - 90)) ;var Circ new Circle(new Point(r.Next(wwidth- 100),r.Next(wheight-100)),radius) ;Screen.Fill(rect,Col) ;Circ.Draw(Screen, CircCol, false, true) ;Screen.Update() ;Video.WindowCaption Events.Fps.ToString() ;}}} Object Oriented Development SDL.NET is very Object Oriented and there are two predefined objects that are used in every SDL.NET application. Video provides methods to set the video mode, create video surfaces, hide and show the mouse cursor, and interact with OpenGL. Not that well be doing OpenGL for a while. The Events class contains events which can be attached to to read user input and other miscellaneous occurrences. Here the Video object is used to set the size and resolution of the game Window (full screen is an option). The parameters for SetVideoMode let you change these and 13 overloads provide plenty of variety. Theres a .chm file (Windows html help format) in the doc folder documenting all the classes and members. The Events object has a Quit events handler that lets you add close down logic and you should call Events.QuitApplication() to make it respond to the user closing the application. The Events.Tick is possibly the most important event handler. It calls the specified event handler each frame. This is the model for all SDL.NET development. You can set your desired frame rate and my reducing the loop to 5 and changing the Targetfps to 150 we got it running at 164 frames per second. TargetFps is a ballpark figure; it puts in delays to get you near that figure but the Events.Fps is what is delivered. Surfaces Like the original non Windowed version of SDL, the SDL.NET uses surfaces for rendering to the screen. A surface can be constructed from a graphics file. There are a large number of properties and methods that make it possible to read or write pixels as well as draw the graphics primitives, blit other surfaces, even dump a surface to a disk file for taking screenshots. SDLNET provides just about everything to let you create games. Well be looking at the various features over the next few tutorials then move onto creating games with it.

BRAND MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

BRAND MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH - Essay Example This allows the company to cater to demands of all type customers. In this essay an attempt will be made to highlight the strengths and weaknesses on the brand of Toyota. The assessment of brand will be done with respect to the concepts of value, image and position of the brand. In the end recommendations will also be made on how brand can improve its performance. Strengths of Toyota Value of a brand can be explained as the net trade off received by the customer from all benefits and costs delivered by the product (Snoj, Korda, &, Mumel, 2004). In simpler words brand value is the utility (benefits minus costs) that a consumer derives from a product. Brand image can be defined as perceptions people have about a certain brand name (Rotfeld, H. 2008). The first thing that comes to peoples mind when seeing a brand is called the image of a brand. Positioning of a brand is the place of a brand in the market with respect to other products. Four components of brand positioning include brandà ¢â‚¬â„¢s overall reputation, product performance, customer portfolio, and networks (Knox, S. 2007). It usually is related to the target market of the brand. The value of Toyota brand is very high among the customers all over the world and this is evident from the sales of the company. The company is known for producing cars that provide comfort, and are at the same time affordable. The company has product line of Camry and Lexus that are aimed at higher target markets. The brand value of Toyota is high because it provides more benefits in less cost, thereby increasing the utility of the consumers. This is one of the most significant strengths of the brand. It can provide high quality of comfort, at a relatively lower cost. This is the reason why the brand is famous in both the developing and the developed world. Almost all consumers like to have luxury but most of them cannot afford Mercedes or Ferrari. They are cost effective and for them Toyota is the answer. It has toughness, and at the same time it does not burden the pockets of the consumer. Recently the company brand value has decreased due to massive recalls of vehicles (Kageyama, Y. 2011), but before that the company enjoyed a leading position in the automobile sector all over the world. This is because of the way Toyota caters to the demand of everyone. This loss in reputation is great but still chances are that Toyota will come out of this crisis. Still it is the world’s second largest automobile company according to the brand value (Cato, J. 2010). The global presence of the company also aids in its brand value because the brand is exposed to many people all over the world. Toyota innovates according to its customer demands and Toyota Hybrid is one of the examples in this regard. The recent focus of people on environment was accounted by the brand and a new product was introduced called Hybrid that was environmental friendly. In a line Toyota delivers to clientele according to their demand an d this is the reason of its high brand value. Brand image of Toyota has been positive for many years and only recently it was affected by the recall. Consumers regard the brand of Toyota not for luxury or style, but for reliability and predictability (Swanekamp, K. 2010). Toyota is a brand that is known for its affordable and tough cars. Affordability is also closely attached to the brand image of Toyota. The worldwide sales of Toyota would have been impossible if the company would not

The Impact Of Economic Globalization And The Rise Of The MNCs On The Essay

The Impact Of Economic Globalization And The Rise Of The MNCs On The Developing World - Essay Example This report stresses that the phenomenon of globalization not only includes rise of global trade, internationalism of economic markets, development of advanced information and communication technologies, increased number of MNCs, increased mobility of people, capital, goods, ideas, and data but also pollution, infections, and diseases. On a precise note, the United Nations has defined economic globalization as the process that facilitates the increasing independence of global economies in consequence of the expanding scale of cross-border trade of services and commodities, rapid and wide spread of advanced technologies, and increased flow of international capital. The rapid advancement of science and technologies and the growing marketization are the two primary triggering forces for economic globalization. This paper makes a conclusion that the increased number of migrants is fuelling economic and social burden on destination countries but it is providing a growing source of foreign exchange for the origin countries. The temporary migration of low-skilled workers has offered positive effects for less developed countries, especially in terms of brain circulation, skills upgrading, and remittances. Remittance plays a crucial role as a source of comparably stable foreign funding. It is reported that remittances to developing states went well above $166 billion in 2005. Many less industrialized countries, like Bangladesh, Lesotho, Cambodia, Nepal, Yemen, and Sudan have become heavily dependent on remittances as a major source of foreign exchange.