Tuesday, November 26, 2019

How to Purchase and Prepare Trees for Planting

How to Purchase and Prepare Trees for Planting Nurseries provide nearly 1.5 billion trees for planting in the United States each year. This represents over six trees annually propagated for every U.S. citizen. The United States Forest Service reports that nearly 3 million acres are forested with those billion and a half baby seedlings. For those that are interested, here are answers to questions on Tree Planting Statistics for the United States. I now want to break down planting trees in manageable bits for you. I will provide answers to the following questions with links for further information: Â   Why and Where Should You Plant Trees?When Do You Plant a Tree?How Do You Plant a Tree?Where Do You Get Trees to Plant? Why Plant a Tree? Planting a tree can have tremendous influences on communities. Tree planting improves our environment. Planting a tree can add to our incomes and decrease energy costs. To plant a tree can enhance our quality of life and improve our health. I cant think of many things that touch us so completely as does planting a tree. My point is, we need trees to be planted! Art Plotnik, in his book The Urban Tree Book, indicates eight reasons to plant trees . Trees reduce sound, produce oxygen, store carbon, clean the air, gives shade and cools, reduces wind and erosion and increases property values. This book, a big seller, attests to the fact that people also enjoy studying and identifying trees. Identifying trees is a hobby that millions of Americans practice. There are plenty to ID with over 700 tree species growing in North America alone. My most popular destination sites at About Forestry deal with identifying and naming trees. People cant seem to learn enough. First, take this simple quiz and find out how much you really know about tree planting! Where Should You Plant a Tree? Use common sense when planting a tree. If the planted tree is expected to grow tall or expand widely, give it the room it needs for future growth. Understanding species moisture, light and soil needs is extremely important. Plant according to the nursery instructions. A USDA tree and plant hardiness zone map is one good guide in helping you determine a tree’s ability to withstand an average minimum temperature. I refer to plant hardiness zones a lot when reviewing individual trees: See: USDA Tree Hardiness Zone Maps by Region More on Where You Should Plant a Tree Wildland tree planting (the most practical method of tree planting for reforestation) is done during dormant winter months, most often after December 15th but before March 31st. You may need to do it a little earlier or a little later in warmer or colder climates. Your nursery can help you decide. Always observe the ten commandments after seedlings are delivered. Although you do not plant most wildland trees during the summer you should make sure you have ordered your trees for the season by early summer. Many people who wait until fall to find available trees just might not find any seedlings. Always order your seedlings as early as you can. Planting urban trees is a little different. Horticultural planting has evolved into an all year operation because of the extra protection of a root ball with each tree. Any season is OK for planting balled or burlaped trees. More on When You Should Plant a Tree For simplicity, I want to divide planting into two categories - horticultural and wildland planting . Horticultural tree planting is geared toward urban situations where landscaping is of primary concern. Generally speaking, because these trees contain an intact root ball, they can be planted in any season. Where these higher valued saplings and trees are planted to enhance property, more effort should be spent on each individual tree. Kim Powell, Extension Horticultural Specialist, explores the types of trees available for transplanting and gives tips on purchasing, planting, and maintaining tree transplants . Here is a how to on planting balled in burlap saplings: Planting Balled Saplings Also, you would be well advised to take my Tree Wellness Quiz before planting the saplings. Dont worry about your score. The object here is to find out what you know and to give you some help with the things you dont know. Wildland planting, the preferred method for reforestation, is done over a much broader area. Even though this type of planting is cheaper on a per tree basis, it can be very expensive in total and should be done correctly. A plan can make your planting effort more effective. Reforestation using bare-root seedlings is done by government, industry, and private individuals. The plantings are most often made using coniferous species. Hardwood wildland planting is also a viable practice, but hardwood regeneration techniques also include sprouting and dormant seeds. Many times these non-planting techniques are the preferred methods of regeneration. Also, federal and state cost-share programs have historically supported funding pine, spruce, and fir planting over hardwood planting. Here is a how to on planting bare-root seedlings: Planting Bare-root Seedlings Coniferous planting techniques are similar for most species. I have included planting guides for the western United States created by Colorado State Forest Service and for the southern United Sates created by South Carolina Forestry Commission . These sources give you a good overview on how to deliver, handle, store, and transplant seedlings. You must use proper care with a big emphasis on the correct temperature range and moisture level. Again, always observe the ten commandments. More on How You Should Plant a Tree By now you have either decided to plant some trees, or have chucked the whole idea. If you are not too discouraged, let me help you get in touch with a nursery that can provide you with trees and suggest companies that can supply you with equipment necessary to the task of tree planting. First off, you can purchase trees over the Internet. I have a short list of reliable companies where you can buy a seedling or sapling online. Check out my seedling supplier source page An excellent forest nursery directory providing most tree species and covering the entire United States is maintained by the U.S. Forest Service. Also, you can find tree nurseries at most state forestry departments. You also may need some special planting tools. There are on-line specialty supply companies that provide equipment for natural resource managers. These forestry supply companies have a variety of planting equipment as well as other forestry equipment. So, the Tree is in the Ground... Things are pretty much out of your hands after the trees are planted. You have to leave things to Mother Nature. My experience has been that even when considering a freeze, insects, or fire, moisture is the most critical element in seedling survival for the first year or two. Trees and Drought is a short feature explaining the effect of the lack of moisture on trees, especially seedlings and saplings. Actually, most well-established trees will tolerate drought quite well, although much depends on the species and whether they are growing on an appropriate site.

Friday, November 22, 2019

Find out Why a Goldfish Turns White If Left in the Dark

Find out Why a Goldfish Turns White If Left in the Dark The short answer to this question is probably not white, though the color will become much paler. Goldfish Can Change Colors Goldfish and many other animals change color in response to light levels. Pigment production in response to light is something were all familiar with  since this is the basis for a suntan. Fish have cells called chromatophores that produce the pigments that give coloration or reflect light. The color of a fish is determined in part by which pigments are in the cells (there are several colors), how many pigment molecules there are, and whether the pigment is clustered inside the cell or is distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Why Do They Change Color? If your goldfish is kept in the dark at night, you may notice it appears a little paler when you turn on the lights in the morning. Goldfish kept indoors without full-spectrum lighting are also less-brightly colored than fish exposed to natural sunlight or artificial lighting that includes ultraviolet light (UVA and UVB). If you keep your fish in the dark all the time, the chromatophores wont produce more pigment, so the fishs color will start to fade as the chromatophores that already have color naturally die, while the new cells arent stimulated to produce pigment. However, your goldfish wont become white if you keep it in the dark because fish also get some of their coloration from the foods they eat. Shrimp, spirulina, and fish meal naturally contain pigments called carotenoids. Also, many fish foods contain canthaxanthin, a pigment added for the purpose of enhancing fish color.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Outsourcing Supply Chain Support and its Effectiveness and Implication Dissertation

Outsourcing Supply Chain Support and its Effectiveness and Implication in R&D Environment in Singapore - Dissertation Example and Objectives 1.3 Research Methods 1.4Significance of Research 1.5 Dissertation Outline 1.6 Conclusions Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Information Sharing and Outsourcing 2.3 The importance of Information sharing in Outsourcing 2.4 The risk factors of Information sharing 2.5 How much information can be shared? 2.6 How to ensure effective information-sharing 2.7 Conclusion Chapter 3: Research Methodology 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Research Approach 3.3 Research Methods 3.4 Research Design 3.4.1 Sample 3.4.2 Method of Data Collection: Interview 3.4.3 Research Instrument 3.4.4 Method of Data Analysis 3.5 Research Validity and Reliability 3.6 Ethical Considerations 3.7 Conclusions Chapter 4: Findings 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Part A: Findings from i3lab 4.2.1 Challenges of Managing the Supply Chain for Support Products for i3lab 4.2.3 Performance Assessment of Outsourcing Partners 4.2.4 Outsourcing Partner Selection Criteria (size, capabilities, and geographical locations) 4.2.5 Outsourcing Partner Trust 4.2.6 Protocol for Sharing Information with Outsourcing Vendors 4.2.7 Channels of Communications Employed 4.2.8 Decisions Regarding Information Sharing 4.2.9 Managing Integrity of Shared Information 4.2.10 Importance of Information sharing and Concerns Regarding Integrity 4.3 PART B: Findings from the Interviews of Outsourcing Partners 4.3.1 Challenges and Problems faced during Supplying Components to Buyers 4.3.2 Channels of Communication Employed Between Outsourcing Partners and Buyers 4.3.3 Information Sharing with Buyers 4.3.4 Adequacy of Information Shared from the Buyer 4.3.5 Buyer Information Security 4.3.6 Suggestions for Buyer Information Security 4.3.7 Differences in Procurement Practices in China and Singapore 4.4 Summary Chapter 5: Discussion and... This paper tells that in the past decades, there has been experienced an acute shortage of supply chain support services, especially for Research and Development (R&D operations), There are multiple reasons for these shortages and these include outsourcing to foreign countries like China and India where cost advantages can be obtained, inflationary pressures on the costs of operations. Indices like the manufacturing unit labour costs have shown an increase of 15% while unit business costs have increase by 7.8% over 2010. In addition, there is also a shift towards knowledge based economy as opposed to manufacturing and engineering, which has led to the government focusing on other sectors. There is a lowering of demand in the ultra-precision engineering segment in Singapore. A recent survey by the Ministry of Trade and Industries (MIT) has revealed that there is a decline of 5.9% in the manufacturing sector in the second quarter of 2011. The Precision Engineering sector comprising of precision modules and components has shown a 10% decrease in 2011 from the year 2007. The above factors have made it lucrative for organizations in the in the ultra-precision engineering R&D activities to follow the path of outsourcing. However, while outsourcing leads to cost cuttings, it may also lead to a loss of control over standardization and problems of product quality. There is therefore a need to share information with the outsourcing partners. The current dissertation is aimed at evaluating how the ultra-precision engineering R&D need to manage their sensitive information while sharing knowledge and practices with their outsourcing partners.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Reflection - Essay Example However, even in the stories these masters have produced, the question of how or whether we can establish our identities as human individuals is answered with our experiences and our personal approaches to solving problems. Identical twins such as the characters that appear in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors create an immediate sense that there is no way we can become individuals as they are duplicates of each other. In this play, the characters are even all given the same names, increasing the confusion of the action of the play and revealing the degree to which we are easily confused with our double. Part of the reason they struggled so much is that their personalities were also very closely matched - both Antipholus characters being hotheads and both Dromios being rather sarcastic. However, it is their experiences that distinguish them as being different as the Ephesian set are already aware of their wives. The doppelganger effect is somewhat subdued in Stevenson's story of The Str ange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde because the Hyde character reflects all of the evil that was once a part of Dr. Jekyll leaving the Dr. Jekyll personality to express all the good.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

The Iran Iraq War Essay Example for Free

The Iran Iraq War Essay World History: Mr. Ricky Waldon| Iran – Iraq War | Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) The Iran-Iraq War permanently altered the course of Iraqi history. It strained Iraqi political and social life, and led to severe economic dislocations. Viewed from a historical perspective, the outbreak of hostilities in 1980 was, in part, just another phase of the ancient Persian-Arab conflict that had been fueled by twentieth-century border disputes. Many observers, however, believe that Saddam Husseins decision to invade Iran was a personal miscalculation based on ambition and a sense of vulnerability. Saddam Hussein, despite having made significant strides in forging an Iraqi nation-state, feared that Irans new revolutionary leadership would threaten Iraqs delicate SunniShia balance and would exploit Iraqs geostrategic vulnerabilitiesIraqs minimal access to the Persian Gulf, for example. In this respect, Saddam Husseins decision to invade Iran has historical precedent; the ancient rulers of Mesopotamia, fearing internal strife and foreign conquest, also engaged in frequent battles with the peoples of the highlands. The Iran-Iraq War was multifaceted and included religious schisms, border disputes, and political differences. Conflicts contributing to the outbreak of hostilities ranged from centuries-old Sunni-versus-Shia and Arab-versus-Persian religious and ethnic disputes, to a personal animosity between Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini. Above all, Iraq launched the war in an effort to consolidate its rising power in the Arab world and to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state. Phebe Marr, a noted analyst of Iraqi affairs, stated that the war was more immediately the result of poor political judgement and miscalculation on the part of Saddam Hussein, and the decision to invade, taken at a moment of Iranian weakness, was Saddams. Iraq claimed territories inhabited by Arabs (the Southwestern oil-producing province of Iran called Khouzestan), as well as Iraqs right over Shatt el-Arab (Arvandroud). Iraq and Iran had engaged in border clashes for many years and had revived the dormant Shatt al Arab waterway dispute in 1979. Iraq claimed the 200-kilometer channel up to the Iranian shore as its territory, while Iran insisted that the thalwega line running down the middle of the waterwaynegotiated last in 1975, was the official border. The Iraqis, especially the Baath leadership, regarded the 1975 treaty as merely a truce, not a definitive settlement. The Iraqis also perceived revolutionary Irans Islamic agenda as threatening to their pan-Arabism. Khomeini, bitter over his expulsion from Iraq in 1977 after fifteen years in An Najaf, vowed to avenge Shia victims of Baathist repression. Baghdad became more confident, however, as it watched the once invincible Imperial Iranian Army disintegrate, as most of its highest ranking officers were executed. In Khuzestan (Arabistan to the Iraqis), Iraqi intelligence officers incited riots over labor disputes, and in the Kurdish region, a new rebellion caused the Khomeini government severe troubles. As the Baathists planned their military campaign, they had every reason to be confident. Not only did the Iranians lack cohesive leadership, but the Iranian armed forces, according to Iraqi intelligence estimates, also lacked spare parts for their American-made equipment. Baghdad, on the other hand, possessed fully equipped and trained forces. Morale was running high. Against Irans armed forces, including the Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guard) troops, led by religious mullahs with little or no military experience, the Iraqis could muster twelve complete mechanized divisions, equipped with the latest Soviet materiel. With the Iraqi military buildup in the late 1970s, Saddam Hussein had assembled an army of 190,000 men, augmented by 2,200 tanks and 450 aircraft. In addition, the area across the Shatt al Arab posed no major obstacles, particularly for an army equipped with Soviet river-crossing equipment. Iraqi commanders correctly assumed that crossing sites on the Khardeh and Karun rivers were lightly defended against their mechanized armor divisions; moreover, Iraqi intelligence sources reported that Iranian forces in Khuzestan, which had formerly included two divisions distributed among Ahvaz, Dezful, and Abadan, now consisted of only a number of ill-equipped battalion-sized formations. Tehran was further disadvantaged because the area was controlled by the Regional 1st Corps headquartered at Bakhtaran (formerly Kermanshah), whereas operational control was directed from the capital. In the year following the shahs overthrow, only a handful of company-sized tank units had been operative, and the rest of the armored equipment had been poorly maintained. For Iraqi planners, the only uncertainty was the fighting ability of the Iranian air force, equipped with some of the most sophisticated American-made aircraft. Despite the execution of key air force commanders and pilots, the Iranian air force had displayed its might during local riots and demonstrations. The air force was also active in the wake of the failed United States attempt to rescue American hostages in April 1980. This show of force had impressed Iraqi decision makers to such an extent that they decided to launch a massive preemptive air strike on Iranian air bases in an effort similar to the one that Israel employed during the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Iraqi Offensives, 1980-82 Despite the Iraqi governments concern, the eruption of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran did not immediately destroy the Iraqi-Iranian rapprochement that had prevailed since the 1975 Algiers Agreement. As a sign of Iraqs desire to maintain good relations with the new government in Tehran, President Bakr sent a personal message to Khomeini offering his best wishes for the friendly Iranian people on the occasion of the establishment of the Islamic Republic. In addition, as late as the end of August 1979, Iraqi authorities extended an invitation to Mehdi Bazargan, the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to visit Iraq with the aim of improving bilateral relations. The fall of the moderate Bazargan government in late 1979, however, and the rise of Islamic militants preaching an expansionist foreign policy soured Iraqi-Iranian relations. The principal events that touched off the rapid deterioration in relations occurred during the spring of 1980. In April the Iranian-supported Ad Dawah attempted to assassinate Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz. Shortly after the failed grenade attack on Tariq Aziz, Ad Dawah was suspected of attempting to assassinate another Iraqi leader, Minister of Culture and Information Latif Nayyif Jasim. In response, the Iraqis immediately rounded up members and supporters of Ad Dawah and deported to Iran thousands of Shias of Iranian origin. In the summer of 1980, Saddam Hussein ordered the executions of presumed Ad Dawah leader Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqr as Sadr and his sister. In September 1980, border skirmishes erupted in the central sector near Qasr-e Shirin, with an exchange of artillery fire by both sides. A few weeks later, Saddam Hussein officially abrogated the 1975 treaty between Iraq and Iran and announced that the Shatt al Arab was returning to Iraqi sovereignty. Iran rejected this action and hostilities escalated as the two sides exchanged bombing raids deep into each others territory, beginning what was to be a protracted and extremely costly war. Baghdad originally planned a quick victory over Tehran. Saddam expected the invasion of the in the Arabic-speaking, oil-rich area of Khuzistan to result in an Arab uprising against Khomeinis fundamentalist Islamic regime. This revolt did not materialize, however, and the Arab minority remained loyal to Tehran. On September 22, 1980, formations of Iraqi MiG-23s and MiG21s attacked Irans air bases at Mehrabad and Doshen-Tappen (both near Tehran), as well as Tabriz, Bakhtaran, Ahvaz, Dezful, Urmia (sometimes cited as Urumiyeh), Hamadan, Sanandaj, and Abadan. Their aim was to destroy the Iranian air force on the grounda lesson learned from the Arab-Israeli June 1967 War. They succeeded in destroying runways and fuel and ammunition depots, but much of Irans aircraft inventory was left intact. Iranian defenses were caught by surprise, but the Iraqi raids failed because Iranian jets were protected in specially strengthened hangars and because bombs designed to destroy runways did not totally incapacitate Irans very large airfields. Within hours, Iranian F-4 Phantoms took off from the same bases, successfully attacked strategically important targets close to major Iraqi cities, and returned home with very few losses. Simultaneously, six Iraqi army divisions entered Iran on three fronts in an initially successful surprise attack, where they drove as far as eight kilometers inland and occupied 1,000 square kilometers of Iranian territory. As a diversionary move on the northern front, an Iraqi mechanized mountain infantry division overwhelmed the border garrison at Qasr-e Shirin, a border town in Bakhtaran (formerly known as Kermanshahan) Province, and occupied territory thirty kilometers eastward to the base of the Zagros Mountains. This area was strategically significant because the main Baghdad-Tehran highway traversed it. On the central front, Iraqi forces captured Mehran, on the western plain of the Zagros Mountains in Ilam Province, and pushed eastward to the mountain base. Mehran occupied an important position on the major north-south road, close to the border on the Iranian side. The main thrust of the attack was in the south, where five armored and mechanized divisions invaded Khuzestan on two axes, one crossing over the Shatt al Arab near Basra, which led to the siege and eventual occupation of Khorramshahr, and the second heading for Susangerd, which had Ahvaz, the major military base in Khuzestan, as its objective. Iraqi armored units easily crossed the Shatt al Arab waterway and entered the Iranian province of Khuzestan. Dehloran and several other towns were targeted and were rapidly occupied to prevent reinforcement from Bakhtaran and from Tehran. By mid-October, a full division advanced through Khuzestan headed for Khorramshahr and Abadan and the strategic oil fields nearby. Other divisions headed toward Ahvaz, the provincial capital and site of an air base. Supported by heavy artillery fire, the troops made a rapid and significant advancealmost eighty kilometers in the first few days. In the battle for Dezful in Khuzestan, where a major air base is located, the local Iranian army commander requested air support in order to avoid a defeat. President Bani Sadr, therefore, authorized the release from jail of many pilots, some of whom were suspected of still being loyal to the shah. With the increased use of the Iranian air force, the Iraqi progress was somewhat curtailed. The last major Iraqi territorial gain took place in early November 1980. On November 3, Iraqi forces reached Abadan but were repulsed by a Pasdaran unit. Even though they surrounded Abadan on three sides and occupied a portion of the city, the Iraqis could not overcome the stiff resistance; sections of the city still under Iranian control were resupplied by boat at night. On November 10, Iraq captured Khorramshahr after a bloody house-to-house fight. The price of this victory was high for both sides, approximately 6,000 casualties for Iraq and even more for Iran. Iraqs blitz-like assaults against scattered and demoralized Iranian forces led many observers to think that Baghdad would win the war within a matter of weeks. Indeed, Iraqi troops did capture the Shatt al Arab and did seize a forty-eight-kilometer- wide strip of Iranian territory. Iran may have prevented a quick Iraqi victory by a rapid mobilization of volunteers and deployment of loyal Pasdaran forces to the front. Besides enlisting the Iranian pilots, the new revolutionary regime also recalled veterans of the old imperial army, although many experienced officers, most of whom had been trained in the United States, had been purged. Furthermore, the Pasdaran and Basij (what Khomeini called the Army of Twenty Million or Peoples Militia) recruited at least 100,000 volunteers. Approximately 200,000 soldiers were sent to the front by the end of November 1980. They were ideologically committed troops (some members even carried their own shrouds to the front in the expectation of martyrdom) that fought bravely despite inadequate armor support. For example, on November 7 commando units played a significant role, with the navy and air force, in an assault on Iraqi oil export terminals at Mina al Bakr and Al Faw. Iran hoped to diminish Iraqs financial resources by reducing its oil revenues. Iran also attacked the northern pipeline in the early days of the war and persuaded Syria to close the Iraqi pipeline that crossed its territory. Irans resistance at the outset of the Iraqi invasion was unexpectedly strong, but it was neither well organized nor equally successful on all fronts. Iraq easily advanced in the northern and central sections and crushed the Pasdarans scattered resistance there. Iraqi troops, however, faced untiring resistance in Khuzestan. President Saddam Hussein of Iraq may have thought that the approximately 3 million Arabs of Khuzestan would join the Iraqis against Tehran. Instead, many allied with Irans regular and irregular armed forces and fought in the battles at Dezful, Khorramshahr, and Abadan. Soon after capturing Khorramshahr, the Iraqi troops lost their initiative and began to dig in along their line of advance. Tehran rejected a settlement offer and held the line against the militarily superior Iraqiforce. It refused to accept defeat, and slowly began a series of counteroffensives in January 1981. Both the volunteers and the regular armed forces were eager to fight, the latter seeing an opportunity to regain prestige lost because of their association with the shahs regime. Irans first major counterattack failed, however, for political and military reasons. President Bani Sadr was engaged in a power struggle with key religious figures and eager to gain political support among the armed forces by direct involvement in military operations. Lacking military expertise, he initiated a premature attack by three regular armored regiments without the assistance of the Pasdaran units. He also failed to take into account that the ground near Susangerd, muddied by the preceding rainy season, would make resupply difficult. As a result of his tactical decision making, the Iranian forces were surrounded on three sides. In a long exchange of fire, many Iranian armored vehicles were destroyed or had to be abandoned because they were either stuck in the mud or needed minor repairs. Fortunately for Iran, however, the Iraqi forces failed to follow up with another attack. Iran stopped Iraqi forces on the Karun River and, with limited military stocks, unveiled its human wave assaults, which used thousands of Basij (Popular Mobilization Army or Peoples Army) volunteers.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

The Coward Revealed in Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman :: Death Salesman essays

The Coward Revealed in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, the main character, Willy Loman, is a struggling salesman. Willy Loman is a complex character who confuses illusion with reality. In a way, Willy has two personalities in this play. The one we see in the present action is a tired man in his sixties. The other Willy is the one we see in flashbacks. He is young and confident. In Act Two, Scene Fourteen, Willy’s son Biff tells him that he loves him. Willy can tell that Biff is not just saying this out of pity because Biff is sobbing. In a flashback, Willy speaks to his dead brother Ben. Ben keeps saying "Time, William, Time", reminding him that suicide is closing in. Ben also tells Willy that he should come to the jungle. In this scene, the jungle represents opportunities for success. The reason that Ben tells Willy to come to the jungle, is that when in the jungle, Willy can get the diamonds. The diamonds represent the insurance money that the family will get from Willy’s accident. Therefore, Ben is saying that the only way Willy can get twenty thousand dollars in insurance money is to kill himself, or symbolically Ben is saying that the only way to get the diamonds is to enter the jungle. Willy also talks to Ben how great Biff would do with all of that money. Willy thinks one more time about Biff and how he was a great football player. This shows that Willy still thinks of Biff as a football hero, which is one of the reasons Willy thinks Biff is so magnificent. As Willy is finishing up his thoughts, his wife, Linda, is calling him to come up to bed. After this happens, the sound of a speeding car is heard driving off into the night. In the same scene, Willy’s wife Linda has come to make a peace with their two sons, Biff and Happy. Linda also suspects that Willy may kill himself. She made a big mistake by leaving the disturbed Willy alone. The rubber tubing that Linda found on the heater foreshadows Willy’s suicide. Linda doesn’t want Willy to kill himself, but believes that she cannot interfere with his business. I believe that Willy’s suicide was an escape from shame. He couldn’t keep living his life as a lie.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Port Expander Research Paper

1. What is a Port Expander: A port expander is a device that allows one port on a computer system to connect to multiple devices. There are two basic forms of port expanders: internal and external. An internal expander has a connection inside the computer, typically on the motherboard, and the only part the user sees is the expansion plate containing multiple ports. An external device plugs into the existing port and then has multiple places to connect. When not part of a computer system, these devices are commonly known as splitters.2. Types of Port ExpandersUSB Port Expander FireWire Port Expander Ethernet Port Expander VGA Port Expander SCSI Port Expander Serial Port Expander Video Port Expander Audio Port Expander DVI Port Expander DB-25 Port Expander SATA Port Expander3. Are they generic,or can work on multiple computersThere are no specific types of ports for different computers in todays technology. All the computers from PC to Mac have all the same ports on them. Port Expande rs will work for just about any PC.4. Advantages and DisadvantagesAdvantages of using port expanders are that you get more ports to use. If you ever run out of VGA ports, usb, SCSI ,or even Ethernet ports. You can always buy a port expander for it whether it be internal or external. Also In Some cases port expanders are cheaper than getting an equal number of â€Å"real† ports. Disadvantages are a lot of them are external and they can get in the way of you working. Also could use more power and if your power source isn't good enough it could cause problems when you add more devices it consumes more power. The power source Milli amperage is limited theres only so many extra ports you can use. And if you over load the power source the computer wont turn on. Until you unplug them. And I read that it can possibly destroy the power supply but rarely.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Implementation of Lean Logistics in Harley Davidson

Lean Logistics, simply put, can be described as a way to recognize and eliminate wasteful activities from the supply chain in order to increase product flow and speed. In order to achieve Leaner Logistics; organizations need to implement leaner thinking. Lean production involves eliminating waste and using less labors, materials, time and space. That's why it is save production. This in turn reduces costs. Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the only major U. S. -based motorcycle manufacturer, is known for setting the world standard when it comes to the design and manufacture of heavyweight motorcycles. The company chose UPS Supply Chain Solutions to help set world standards with its logistics processes. Before going lean, the company operated in a cluster of factories that could have been mistaken for an industrial park from the mid-20th century. The lack of automation and other new techniques kept it far behind in terms of operating productivity. But since adding lean to its operations, manufacturing that once comprised 41 buildings has been condensed into one well lit plant that employs more robots than laborers. The company has shaved the number of hourly workers to about 1,000 from more than twice that only three years ago, with more than 100 of these employees on contracts that allow them to come and go as is needed by Harley. Using historic data from the suppliers, the analysts calculated optimal shipping frequencies for each of the suppliers, enabling the company to reduce the rate of regular inbound shipments to three times a week, while also giving the manufacturing plant faster access to larger stocks of parts. UPS Supply Chain Solutions is gradually optimizing the entire Harley-Davidson inbound transportation network, by calculating optimal ship frequencies for all the suppliers and identifying cross-docking opportunities at the other manufacturing facilities. As a result, Harley-Davidson Motor Company is gaining efficiencies throughout its manufacturing operations, while reducing its transportation costs. The comprehensive solution also added value to Harley-Davidson’s shipments of parts and accessories to dealerships. In the previous system, Harley-Davidson shipped parts and accessories to its distribution center in Wisconsin where parts were stocked, picked and packed to fill orders. The orders were delivered by less-than-truckload to dealerships around the country. Leveraging its delivery network, UPS will begin shipping orders of less than 1,000 pounds directly to the Harley-Davidson dealerships. Orders of more than 1,000 pounds will be delivered to a UPS Supply Chain Solutions cross-docking facility in Wisconsin where they will be loaded onto pallets the same day and shipped by less-than-truckload. As a result, Harley-Davidson expects to further reduce its transportation costs and speed up average delivery times of parts and accessories to its dealerships. JIT inventory is the driving force of Harley's quality-improvement program. JIT works on a demand-pull basis and seeks to eliminate all waste and activities which do not add value to the product. Suppliers of Harley had to implement JIT into their production process in order to compliment Harley's system. Previously, Harley utilized a complex, computerized inventory system, Material Requirements Planning, which was based on maintaining high levels of stock, to offset any manufacturing problems, so the assembly line would not be halted. This system was inefficient because it did not address the manufacturing process problems. This is a typical problem with many traditional firms, where planning becomes the focus. Since the focus for traditional firms is planning rather than control, the result is to try and improve planning for next time. Firms then end up not executing these plans but rather planning and re-planning. With the lean approach the focus is on control. Procedures are kept simple, visual and made as routine as possible. With JIT, as each problem is exposed, you are forced to identify its cause, fix it, and move on to the next problem that is revealed. Although JIT system had top management support, without full employee participation in the planning and implementation, Harley's JIT would not have been effective. Harley Davidson’s success with the implementation of JIT had a lot to do with the fact that when JIT was put into practice, process problems could no longer be hidden by costly inventory that helped to meet ship dates. The inefficiencies in the processes were quickly identified and solved.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Final Reflection for Multicultural Literature †Essay

Final Reflection for Multicultural Literature – Essay Free Online Research Papers After taking RLL 528: Multicultural Literature I believe that I have taken a different perspective on the concept of multicultural literature. I have learned many things that socked me during the past few months causing myself to focus on different discriminatory pieces of literature that have been published. Next, while reading the standpoints that researchers and thinkers have taken I have formed my own opinions about the quality of multicultural literature. Finally, RLL 528 has changed me into becoming a more culturally fulfilled educator. When I entered the RLL 528: Multicultural Literature Grades K-12 class I was overwhelmed in terms of not exactly knowing how to choose quality multicultural literature. Our class was looking at different books in order to examine the overall quality of the text, and I was in all honesty confused. I think that I never knew authors could publish cultured books that would be prejudiced in one form or another. However, now I know that I was naà ¯ve in believing that all writers are using accurate information to produce multicultural books. At the same time many authors are not doing proper research to give validity to what they are writing. Once I realized that different authors were providing the audience with invalid information. I began doing my own research to determine if the books I was choosing were quality pieces. I started this process by reading the reviews that were provided by www.amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and newspapers or websites that were tailored to a culture group such as the Jerusalem Post. Then I also used the book, MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS by Mingshui Cai to further validate the conclusions I formed. The information I found using all of these sources shocked me. I never noticed that the evaluation of multicultural literature is such an in depth process. In the beginning of the semester we were given an article called, â€Å"ISSUES IN SELECTING MULTICULTURAL CHILDREN’S LITERATURE† by Junko Yokota. The article really set light on literary experiences students are facing in education. Since there are so many different issues students are facing educators must be careful in selecting multicultural literature for children. Yokota (1993) states that the definition for multicultural children’s literature is literature that represents any distinct cultural group though accurate portrayal and rich detail. The author also discusses the fact that teachers need to be culturally aware of mainstreaming going on in literature. Every teacher should include books that represent cultures other than mainstream cultures in their classroom, on booklists, and in the curriculum according to Junko Yokota. After reading these statements I realized that I needed to enhance my classroom library to provide more than just mainstreamed multicultural literary pieces. I was also able to have a concrete definition of multicultural literature that I could use to choose worthy books for my students. Another concept that Junko Yokota discussed was the insider verse outsider perspectives originally provided by Bishop and Harris in 1992. Yokota further describes each of these views in her article (Yokota, 1993). She states that, â€Å"an insider perspective is one that portrays a cultural group from the point of view of one who is a member of the group. An outside perspective is the portrayal of a cultural group by one who is not a member of the group† (p. 158). She also talked about how an insider’s perspective is going to more often give an accurate, authentic view of what people in the cultural group believe is true. A writer is able to do this because of the cultural experiences they face as an individual living in that area. When I was researching where certain author’s were from I was able to notice that the â€Å"true† literature is produced from a person who is part of a particular culture because they are living the occurrences first hand. I also realized that the story seemed to be written in a better storytelling format because the author was retelling things that have happened in his or her own culture. Junko Yokota also explains that a piece of literature should be rich in cultural details, use authentic dialogue and relationships, give an in-depth treatment of cultural issues, and include members of a minority group for the text to be complete (Yokota, 1993). When I read each of the elements Junko believed to be crucial in selecting literature I was better able to choose books that had proper multiculturalism in them. I ended up making a checklist that included each of Junko’s ideas allowing myself to pick better types of multicultural books. After reading Junko Yokota’s article I truly believe that I was given a more concrete idea of analyzing multicultural books for the students in my school. The other book that was the main focus in our classroom was MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS by Mingshui Cai. There were many issues discussed in this book that I truly believe helped me develop a more concrete definition on multicultural literature. The first concept that really stuck out in my head was the idea of cultural authenticity. According to Howard the purpose of authentic multicultural literature is to help us liberate from the preconceived stereotypical ideas that cause us to limit our boundaries. I never really analyzed multicultural literature until I took this class, and I did not know what to look for when choosing books. After reading Howard’s idea on the definition of authentic multicultural literature I was more able to understand why books are written for many different cultures. A second concept that was discussed in chapter three of the Cai book was the idea of cultural boundaries. There are people who believe that having someone from outside the culture group writing about a specific culture may cause the information to be inaccurate. I was able to understand this concept much better after reading the ideas that Banks wrote about the four different levels of cross cultural capabilities. Banks states that at level one a person may have experienced a small amount of cross-cultural interactions causing them to only be partially aware of what occurs in the culture. Level two is when a person starts to incorporate some of the objects from the culture into his or her writings. At level three a person is fully included in both cultures. Finally, level four is when a person completely digests the other culture. After reading in detail about the leveling Banks presented I was better able to analyze if a multicultural book was adequate or not because I could look up information on the author to figure out which level they fit into. At the same time I was better able to understand the depths that an author should get into when writing a cultured book. In chapter four of the Cai book I was interested to see the idea of uniaction, interaction, and transaction classifications between the reader and the text. During the uniactional period a reader has to make meaning of the reading on his or her own. I was able to notice in choosing books that sometimes it may not be good for a reader to make their own meaning out of the text because they may make assumptions that are not correct. At the same time I realized that if a book is classified in the uniactional stage the educator would have to provide proper research so the students are able to understand the information better. On the other hand the interactional and transactional theories call for the reader and the text to add to the reading experience, and in the end there is no central meaning assigned. I noticed that many times is was easier to have better classroom discussions when it came to reading interactional or transactional types of literature because there was a better r eader/text interaction. At the same time I found myself looking for books that had a variety of concepts in them because it added information allowing educators to explain more ideas about the culture group at one time. A fourth theory that I found rather interesting and beneficial was the ideas that Bishop had on multicultural literature. He stated that a positive culture view is good for an audience to read, but at the same time the positive view does not have to include only good things that are happening in the culture. An example of this would be a burial ceremony or a special cultural dance. Bishop was explaining that if one can walk away thinking positively about the culture then the book could be culturally correct. I do believe with this idea because we are promoting our students to be more culturally aware of other cultures, and if they are able to see both sides of a culture they are more likely to appreciate it. I also noticed that by picking books that show many different things that occur in culture students are able to see how their culture may relate to others, which truly helps in explaining multicultural groups. The last idea that I took away from the Cai book was the reader response theory. The reader response theory states that a story may have more than one interpretation because of how the reader takes in the information. I thought that this was very beneficial to know because of the fact people from different cultures may not be as familiar with one specific culture group. At the same time I felt more comfortable doing classroom activities knowing that it was all right for children to take their own ideas away from the book after it was read. Also, I felt more confident in choosing books that I knew were culturally valid even if my students would take away their own meanings from the information provided. After looking at many different researchers I truly believe that I have changed as an educator. I am more confident in finding books that explain different culture groups. At the same time I do look for books that define the culture in many ways. I always thought that reading books to the class with many different â€Å"colored people† in the story gave children the idea of multicultural literature, but I was wrong. I have learned that focusing in on a specific culture group allows children to see the culture inside and out in a very complex fashion. During this course I have found myself spending a great deal of time on the internet looking at different book reviews to determine if the literature I am reading to my students is valid. At the same time I noticed some of the materials I thought were wonderful were not because they were not stating applicable information. I have learned to fill my classroom with multicultural books because it is crucial for children to lea rn about all types of cultures in the world we live in. When I do go buy a book I find myself reciting the information that I learned from the theorists I suggested above to ensure that I am finding culturally correct books. Another issue that I believe was crucial to my learning in this class was how I have changed over the semester. At the beginning of the semester I really thought I was not going to like the amount of work we had to do every week, but now that we are at the end of the semester I truly appreciate reading everything I read. I learned so much about analyzing books, and what to look for in a good multicultural book that I feel like a better educator. After our class met on Mondays I would go back to school and continuously analyze books because of the information I was presented with. This class was required for my masters program in language and literacy, but I do not look at in that way because I feel like I have learned such a great deal not only from readings but from the people in my class. Now that this class is coming to an end I have filled my classroom library with a great deal of multicultural books, feel that I have a concrete idea on what makes a good cultured book, and h ave received many ideas on how to incorporate these types of books in my classroom. A quote that I remember when I think of multicultural literature did not come from anything we read this semester, but the meaning reminds me of how important it is to teach a story fully and completely. The quote was found when I was looking some information up on the Internet for this course. Thomas De Quincey states, â€Å" There is first the literature of knowledge, and secondly, the literature of power. The function of the first isto teach; the function of the second isto move, the first is a rudder, the second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to the higher understanding or reason, but always through affections of pleasure and sympathy.† I truly believe that when we help move our children through literature they are better able to understand to concept of multicultural literature. At the same time we will all be better educators because we are using a wealth of knowledge to inform the ones who will be the future of our nation. Research Papers on Final Reflection for Multicultural Literature - EssayStandardized TestingMind TravelEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesQuebec and CanadaHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andHip-Hop is ArtPersonal Experience with Teen Pregnancy

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Definition and Examples of Surface Structure in Grammar

Definition and Examples of Surface Structure in Grammar In transformational and generative grammar, surface structure is the outward form of a sentence. In contrast to deep structure (an abstract representation of a sentence), surface structure corresponds to the version of a sentence that can be spoken and heard. A modified version of the concept of surface  structure is called  S-structure. In transformational grammar, deep structures are generated by phrase-structure rules, and surface structures are derived from deep structures by a series of transformations. In  The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar  (2014), Aarts et al. point out that, in a looser sense, deep and surface structure are often used as terms in a simple binary opposition, with the deep structure representing  meaning, and the surface structure being the actual sentence we see. The terms  deep structure  and  surface structure  were popularized in the 1960s and 70s by American  linguist  Noam Chomsky. In recent years, notes Geoffrey Finch, the terminology has changed:  Deep and surface structure have become D and S structure, principally because the original terms seemed to imply some sort of qualitative evaluation; deep suggested profound, whilst surface was too close to superficial. Nevertheless, the principles of transformational grammar still remain very much alive in contemporary linguistics (Linguistic Terms and Concepts, 2000). Examples and Observations The surface structure of a sentence is the final stage in the syntactic representation of a sentence, which provides the input to the phonological component of the grammar, and which thus most closely corresponds to the structure of the sentence we articulate and hear. This two-level conception of grammatical structure is still widely held, though it has been much criticized in recent generative studies. An alternative conception is to relate surface structure directly to a semantic level of representation, bypassing deep structure altogether.  The term surface grammar is sometimes used as an informal term for the superficial properties of the sentence.(David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th ed. Wiley, 2011)A deep structure is . . . the underlying form of a sentence, before rules like auxiliary inversion and wh-fronting apply. After all raisings apply, plus relevant morphological and phonological rules (as for forms of do), the result . . . is the linear, con crete, surface structure of sentences, ready to be given phonetic form.(Grover Hudson, Essential Introductory Linguistics. Blackwell, 2000) Surface Structure Cues and StrategiesThe surface structure of the sentence often provides  a number of obvious cues to the underlying syntactic representation. One obvious approach is to use these cues and a number of simple strategies that enable us to compute the syntactic structure. The earliest detailed expositions of this idea were by Bever (1970) and Fodor and Garrett (1967). These researchers detailed a number of parsing strategies that used only syntactic cues. Perhaps the simplest example is that when we see or hear a determiner such as the or a, we know a noun phrase has just started. A second example is based on the observation that although word order is variable in English, and transformations such as passivization can change it, the common structure noun-verb-noun often maps on to what is called the  canonical sentence structure SVO (subject-verb-object). That is, in most sentences we hear or read, the first noun is the subject, and the second one the object.  In fact, if we made use of this strategy we could get a long way in comprehension. We try the simpler strategies first, and if they do not work, we try other ones.(Trevor A. Harley,  The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory,  4th ed. Psychology Press,  2014) Chomsky on Deep and Surface Structures[T]he generative grammar of a language specifies an infinite set of structural descriptions, each of which contains a deep structure, a surface structure, a phonetic representation, a semantic representation, and other formal structures. The rules relating deep and surface structuresthe so-called grammatical transformationshave been investigated in some detail, and are fairly well understood. The rules that relate surface structures and phonetic representations are also reasonably well understood (though I do not want to imply that the matter is beyond dispute: far from it). It seems that both deep and surface structures enter into the determination of meaning. Deep structure provides the grammatical relations of predication, modification, and so on, that enter into the determination of meaning. On the other hand, it appears that matters of focus and presupposition, topic and comment, the scope of logical elements, and pronominal reference are de termined, in part at least, by surface structure. The rules that relate syntactic structures to representations of meaning are not at all well understood. In fact, the notion of representation of meaning or semantic representation is itself highly controversial. It is not clear at all that it is possible to distinguish sharply between the contribution of grammar to the determination of meaning, and the contribution of so-called pragmatic considerations, questions of fact and belief and context of utterance.(Noam Chomsky, lecture given in January 1969 at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Rpt. in Language and Mind, 3rd ed. Cambridge University  Press, 2006)

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Barnes and Nobles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Barnes and Nobles - Research Paper Example The company increasing the use of online sales as a technique of embracing technology related to knowledge and skill framework KSFs is one of its success factors. Additionally, consumers’ behaviors especially on making purchase especially on books have completely been revolutionized as they prefer the online purchase compared to the traditional physical ways of purchase. The expansion of online mode of purchase of books enabled Barnes and Noble Inc to gain competitive leverage over its competitors or rivals such as Borders. The ability of this firm to maintain its position as one of the largest book sellers can be attributed by its modalities in maintaining the ever emerging presence of technology. Moreover, its development of its e-reader called the Nook has proved to be success with time (Sidney, 2010). The second indicator of success for this company is related to its manufacturing strategy. It acquired Sterling Publishing Company as a part of its strategy in increasing its manufacturing capability (Hall & Gupta, 2010). It also has a well coordinated distribution system where the sales of Nook are inside their bookstore for example best –buy and B & N website (online). In addition, its marketing strategy encompasses its ability to establish the company as a brand in the market as it offers its client’s e-books, magazines et cetera. Customers are also able to enjoy reading at the companies stores due to the availability of free wi-fi. Furthermore, retail stores are employed in geographic markets that are attractive in not only the promotion but also the selling of devices that are digital and have contents (Sidney, 2010). The management of the company is cognizant to the ever changing circumstances in the business climate of books. They have embraced these changes by incorporating the use of online sales platform (Sidney, 2010). The firm enables sharing information between its workers as well as the customers. This