Finance and Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Finance and Strategy - Essay Example Working capital management is a keystone that determines the short term solvency position of the company. It shows the ability of the firm to meet its short term obligations with its short term resources. Usually it is required to pay off the suppliers, purchase raw materials, wages and other direct expenses related to the core business operations. It ensures the business perpetuity and sustainability (Matz, 2011). It is the difference between short term assets/ current assets and short term liabilities/ current liabilities. Working capital means net current assets i.e. when the current assets exceed current liabilities. A company is expected to have sufficient working capital to meet its current obligations; else it signifies a weak short term solvency position. Working capital includes the following items (Spurga, 2004): It is the time taken to convert the short term assets into cash to meet its short term liabilities. A longer cycle time means that a company takes long time to convert its current assets. For example, company X has a supplier payment period of 30 days and collection period of 60 days. Its working capital cycle is 30 days, resulting in a deficit of 30 days that needs to be financed through short term loans. Companies should aim to reduce its working capital cycle in order to reduce its cost of short term borrowing that impacts the income statement and balance sheet (Periasamy, 2009). The cash conversion cycle measures the cash to cash cycle. Business’ use cash to buy inventory, and produces goods which are sold in the market to earn cash. The measure of the time taken for employment of cash to earn cash is the cash conversion cycle. A longer cycle is significant of longer collection periods, which implies a slow cash conversion cycle. It is calculated by adding the days inventory outstanding to the days sales outstanding and subtracting the days payable outstanding. Each of the mentioned metrics has got

Comparative Essay Between Movies and Books Essay Example for Free

Comparative Essay Between Movies and Books Essay In 2003, David Foster Wallace said â€Å"Reading requires sitting alone, by yourself, in a room†¦I have friends—intelligent friends—who don’t like to read because there’s an almost dread that comes up about having to be alone and having to be quiet†¦When you walk into most public spaces in America, it isn’t quiet anymore. † Although the collective amount of time spent by people reading has declined with our minds, moving pictures with sound continue to further embed themselves in culture. Ask a group of fifteen year olds how many books they have read in the last month, and the likely answer will be that most of them have not finished a book since a month ago. But ask the same group the last time they saw a movie, and a week previous (or less) will fail to be an uncommon answer. A question then poses itself: why is it that one source of entertainment and art is falling out of favor while another is becoming more and more common? One could ascribe the comparative quality of the two, implying that movies are superior to books. However, a more accurate, yet less popular affirmation would be that books are superior to films and that superiority is not necessarily synonymous with prevalence. To go into detail in a movie the same way as one might in a book would be painfully difficult. The resulting abomination would be torturously monotonous due to movies very nature, which panders to the short attention spans of the average person by constantly moving and embellishing ideas with pictures and music. It would also be horribly long, the length of, or longer than an audiobook. For evidence, one could look at documentaries and nonfiction books. The former are far less informative, although one may wish to believe otherwise because a documentary film takes less work to enjoy and is, to some, more pleasurable. Take two lectures, both approximately an hour and twenty minutes in length (approximately the running time of a movie) and both by two highly acclaimed authors. The first, by Thomas L. Friedman, was on his book The World is Flat, and the second, by Temple Grandin, was on her book Animals in Translation. In either lecture, one could see the speaker constantly speaking and cramming more information into their allotted time. Yet neither covered even close to what was in their books. A documentary trying to do such a thing is even more preposterous, demanding copious amounts of time for a garnish of pretty images and smooth transitions. This is the reason scholars do not publish their findings in case-study documentaries but in texts. Long, arduous texts the average person would rather die than pick up. Further evidence is in the quality of film adaptations of books. If one went to see the recent movie Life of Pi after reading the original novel by Yann Martel, a period of misanthropy and depression may not be a completely unrelated concept. The movie was one hundred twenty-seven minutes long and left out numerous important facets, such as Pi’s connection with a Suffi man in part of Pondicherry, his grade-school teacher Mr. Kumar, and the training of Richard Parker. The content of the film was not, however, wanting when compared to others movies of its length. It might take several weeks to finish the book; how could a film-maker be expected to fill all of the information in it into one hundred twenty-seven minutes, with exposition, visual stimulation, and graphic theatrics as obligations? Life of Pi is art as a book, but as a movie, is a source of mass-market entertainment. Although film’s quantitative flaws of constriction are more than surfeit to deem texts as the more valuable mediaform, ample also are its qualitative stiflings. For example, if a movie character began to speak the way Jean Genet does in his books, the production would come across as contrived and pretentious. For a moment I was no longer a hungry, ragged vagabond,† wrote Genet in The Thiefs Journal, â€Å"whom dogs and children chased away; nor was I the bold thief flouting the cops, but rather the favorite mistress who, beneath a starry sky, soothes the conqueror. † Using words like â€Å"vagabond† and â€Å"flouting† in everyday speech is incredibly uncommon, and even english teachers will tell you that using the conjunction â€Å"nor† will get one beat up. Genet, however, is widely regarded as a brilliant artist for, including but not limited to, his beauteous prose. A stark contrasts between books and movies shimmers here. The language in a movie is only of characters, who are constantly in a mode of speech too casual for grace past a certain point, while a book is free to use English (or whatever tongue it is written in) freely. The confinement of characters as one of the only modes of expression—and almost always the most utilized—is also a problem when expressing greater themes. Compare most classic cinema achievements to esteemed novels, and an underlying trend will emerge: movies repeatedly project something about humans, or the nature of man, while books are far ore diverse, sometimes delving deeply into the emotional lives of characters without the chains of lengthy exposition and making discourse seem natural, while some dwell extensively on philosophical musings such as the meaning of life and the cyclical nature of history. One of the biggest reasons books dominate movies is also one of the biggest reasons books are becoming significantly popular. That is, books effect mental wo rk. Culture as a whole has become increasingly fast paced, and the instant gratification of movies fits in with the utmost dexterity. The interactive experience one has with a book is a glorious cradle for the type of deep thought about a topic that lasts maybe thirty minutes rather than thirty seconds. To read a novel by James Joyce, one must spend a significant amount of time trying to process the underlying themes and meanings, often rereading even a small portion several times until it makes sense. Many people loathe James Joyce for the daunting density of his work. But to watch a James Cameron movie, a two hour slot of time is all that is usually given up before a person begins eulogizing or bashing the piece. When one challenges one’s brain, it becomes more powerful, like a exercising a muscle. All aforesaid is meant not to bash movies, but simply to expose how they are surpassed by books. Many people who would argue the converse position are not without reason. Some may sight â€Å"art films† like Citizen Kane and Nosferatu, arguing that despite how these are very different in nature than books, they are greater and more beneficial media. Others would assert that there are more options in film. That there are new dimensions to work in when visuals are added into the mix: lighting, filters, cinematography, etcetera. And an entire other artform is said to be a fundamental part of movies but not books: acting. What a character says on paper can be extremely affected by what the inflection and tone of the speaker is. For example, the phrase â€Å"I wanted to kick his ass† can have a huge shift in meaning when emphasis is put on â€Å"I,† â€Å"wanted,† â€Å"kick,† â€Å"his,† or â€Å"ass. † Books, falling in the numerical eye of statisticians as a great form of media, are truly better and more diverse than the silver screen. Books are far freer to paint with complex detail and long topics, while most movies re tied to a certain length, making books better beacons for information. Freer still are books in the possibilities of both subject matter and ways to express that because they are not stuck on characters so severely. With their richness comes an opportunity for the reader to exercise the brain to a greater degree, enriching all parts of their mental life. Although some people disagree, using great old films and the unique opportunities filmmaking does provide the artist with as talking points, books remain the prevailing art the face of a shrinking audience.

Essay --

Throughout Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he uses his young character to bring light to the injustices of society. Along his adventure, Huck meets different characters, each representing what Twain sees as a fault of society At the beginning of his adventure Huck finds Jim on Jackson’s Island. Twain uses Jim to symbolize the injustice of slavery. During the 1840’s, the southern society saw slaves as property, not as people. Because they were â€Å"not human†, the selling of the inferior beings was justified. Since Huck grew up in this setting, he at first believed slaves were not human. After travelling with Jim Huck began to realize that the being he at one point saw only as a slave was a human being with human feelings. Huck saw Jim’s humanity in the way he reacted to his trick, to the way he cried about his daughter, and even in the way he treated him. By the end of the book, Huck realizes that despite what society may think of him, and despite what even God may think of him, he had to follow his heart and act upon what he felt was right. Later in his adventure...

Annotation on David Abram Essay

David Abram wrote an essay Animism and the Alphabet, which is about how alphabets have affected human society. He talks about how alphabets have worked as a differentiation between human and nature. Socrates and Plato are used as his supporting points. I made annotations as I read this piece, and there are two lines that captured my interest. They are annotations on â€Å" Without writing, knowledge of the diverse properties of particular animals, plants and places can be preserved only by being woven into stories†¦events and interactions.† (Abram, 47) and â€Å"For reading, as soon as we attend to its sensorial texture, discloses itself as a profoundly synesthetic encounter.† (51) First of all, the quote about a versatile writing system was interesting to me, because at first I did not agree on this idea. I thought taking picture could also preserve the data. However, I soon realized that the information we can retain would be very limited with pictures. Also, observing the real piece of the subjects would be better than looking at the picture. For example, the textbooks, which give knowledge, are written in alphabets and some pictures to help readers’ understanding. Although, learning characteristics of animals, such as a story of cicadas in the Phaedrus written by Plato but recounted by Socrates, or other materials and information through stories sounds fun to me, it would take much longer time to catch ideas than just reading the straightforwardly written information. Information is subject to replace at anytime if the future generation finds the error or additional data. If the information were written, then it can be just simply erased and replaced with the corrected one. Thus, it is the simplest and easiest way to store the reports. Second, the topic of synesthetic was also interesting. As we fall into the reading we draw pictures in our mind and slowly all of our senses activate with the reading. I have experienced this when I was reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I usually experience this when I read mysterious or thriller novels or journals such as The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. These books are very descriptive in each scene making readers to easily picture the situations in their minds. It makes easier for me to  peruse the book and keep interested, making me to want to turn to the next page to see what happens next. It was also interesting that as Abram discuss about synesthesia, he used pronoun â€Å"I† a lot. For example, on page 52, he wrote about his experience of feeling empathy by watching a stranger learning to ride a bicycle. By giving his own experience, he makes me to think of my own experience too and connect mine with his and read it with affinity. This is what I thought and felt as I read Animism and the Alphabet by David Abram. Although I was confused when he said that the writing was influenced by animals’ behavior of leaving their tracks, as I read more, I understood his idea and thought it was interesting. The most interesting parts were how he thinks of writing system and his use of pronoun â€Å"I† and synesthesia.

Notes about officer’s Essay

You are the first officer at the scene of an outdoor assault. You find the victim bleeding but conscious, with two of the victim’s friends and several onlookers standing nearby. You call for backup and quickly glance around but see no one fleeing the scene. Describe the steps you would take while you wait for backup to arrive. What kind of search pattern(s) would investigators be most likely to employ in each of the following situations: Two people searching a small area with well-defined boundaries Several people searching a large area  A single person searching a large area Officer Bill Walter arrives at the scene of an apparent murder: a body bearing several gunshot wounds lies on the floor of a small, unair-conditioned house in late July. A pungent odor almost overwhelms him when he enters the house, so he opens a window to allow him to breathe so he can investigate the scene. While airing out the house, he secures the scene and interviews bystanders. When he inspects the scene, he discovers very little blood in the room and little evidence of a struggle. What mistake did Officer Walter make in his investigation? What conclusion did he draw about the scene from his observations? Officer Martin Guajardo is the first responder at an apparent homicide scene. After securing the area, interviewing the sole witness, and calling for backup, he begins to search for evidence. He makes note of a bloody knife lying next to the body, with a small scrap of bloody cloth clinging precariously to the knife. Because it is a very windy day, Officer Guajardo removes the scrap of fabric and seals it in a plastic bag. A few moments later, a crime-scene team, including a photographer, arrives to take over  the investigation. What mistakes, if any, did Officer Guajardo make before the crime-scene team arrived? During his search of a homicide scene, investigator David Gurney collects evidence that includes a bloody shirt. After the crime-scene team has completely processed the scene, Investigator Gurney packages the shirt in a paper bag, seals the bag, and labels it to indicate the contents. He then delivers the shirt to the laboratory with an evidence submission form. There, a forensic scientist breaks the seal, removes the shirt, and performs a series of tests on it. He replaces the shirt, discards the old seal, and places a new seal on the package containing his initials and the date on which it was resealed. What mistakes, if any, were made in handling the shirt? What important elements are missing from the following crime-scene sketch?

Frankenstein-main themes essays

Frankenstein-main themes essays In her novel Frankenstein, Mary Shelley explores a wide range of themes concerning human nature through the thoughts and actions of two main characters and a host of others. Two themes are at the heart of the story, the most important being creation, but emphasis is also placed on alienation from society. These two themes are relevant even in todays society as technology brings us ever closer to Frankensteins fictional achievement. First, lets examine the alienation from society suffered by Frankensteins monster. The cause of his ostracism was his horrific physical appearance. It was so bad that people would not even allow him the chance to speak or get to know the person behind the hideous face. Shelley is criticizing the importance appearance plays in defining our roles as members of society. The monster knows all too well how people will receive him and so tries to appeal to a blind man, the only type of person who could be dependent on him. Sadly for the wretch, the blind man had others on whom he could depend as well, and upon seeing him caused a stir. His one chance at gaining acceptance thus ruined. This causes his anti-social behavior, a problem we deal with presently. Alienation from society causes violent lashings out at the world that rejected him. We have seen this recently with the school shooting at Columbine. The two boys responsible for the bloodshed claimed that their motive was the daily ostracism they had to endure from other students. So too was this the torturous daily routine for the Shelleys monster. And when Frankenstein rejected him, he sought to make Victor an empathizer by killing those whom he loved. Perhaps less than revenge, the monster only wanted someone to know what it is like to be alone and denied love. This brings us the theme of creation, which really contains smaller sub-themes. There is the relationship between the creator and...

Down These Mean Streets essays

Down These Mean Streets essays Down These Mean Streets, an autobiography by Piri Thomas is about a boys journey to manhood on the mean streets of New Yorks Spanish Harlem. While growing up in Harlem, Piri adopted an attitude, which was both hot-tempered and violent. In the end, this personality flaw almost cost him everything, including his life. Whenever Piri faced a problem, he would become angry and resort to viloence. There are many instances where he does this, one in particular is when he is a young teenager and is going to school. The teacher wouldnt let him go to the bathroom and when she grabbed his shirt to stop him from walking out of her class, his shirt ripped. Realizing that she had ripped his shirt he turned around and not thinking of her as a woman, but as something that had to be hit, he punched her in the face. His quick-temper caused him to hit a woman, which shows that he isnt one to think things out and then act in a peaceful manner. Another example of Piris anger happened when he got into an argument with his girlfriend. After a party he walked her home and they got into a verbal fight. When the tensions rose and he couldnt control his anger anymore, he sent his fist through a window which wound him up in the hospital. The most signifficant example of Piris aggression was when he was twenty-two . He and two other people were robbing a nightclub. Piri was guarding the door when a cop from inside pulled his gun and shot him, not thinking of consequences, Piri returned fire. He had shot and almost killed the police officer, earning him a five to fifteen year prison sentence. Eventhough it was Piris personality flaw, it affected many if not all of the people around him. When he chose to solve his problems through violence, it affected the people that he fought, and it affected his family and friends when they had to witness it and then lose him to jail for six years. ...

[WATCH] Do you still need a college degree to be successful

[WATCH] Do you still need a college degree to be successful Many professionals are questioning the value of higher education, both in terms of obtaining a degree in the first place or going back to school for post-graduate work. Joe Short, founder and CEO of his eponymous brewing company, one of the most prominent in the Midwest, sat down with Daily Fuel to talk about his decision to leave college and follow his passion.Joe was asked if leaving his university studies prior to their completion was a difficult choice, and his immediate answer was â€Å"No, in fact it was easy.†Listen to Joe talk about why that was indeed the case, and how often in life experience can be the best teacher.Source: [DailyFuel]

Education Programs for African American Students Essay

Education Programs for African American Students - Essay Example Speaking about the problem mentioned above we should pay attention to the history of Special Education and its functions. It will help to see the current issue from inside. The history of Special Education is an example of realization of democratic principles in educating the children, whose abilities are worse than intermediate. From 1875 to 1920 American schools are a source of social changes. The early attempts of organizing the educational establishments for the children, who needed special care, were included to special schools, where students were prepared for life and got educated. These schools were organized with the aim of giving service to the people with deep, easily identifying disabilities. Later some classes for the disabled were opened in common schools. In 1878 two classes for the students with behaviour disturbance were organised. In the end of the 19th century the responsibility of educating the disabled was recognized. The year of 1954 brought a law, which claimed compulsory education for all people (not considering race, ethnic identity, gender and disabilities). During the history of special education the disability differentiation was the main point for discussion. According to the law students should get special care if they have the following disabilities: mental disability, ear disturbance, speech disturbance, eye disturbance, serious emotional disturbance, autism, and some difficulties in learning.

Humans are rational. Critically discuss the theoretical and empirical Essay

Humans are rational. Critically discuss the theoretical and empirical evidence from psychology for and against this assertion - Essay Example These biases, such as confirmation bias, anchoring, base rate neglect and overconfidence, make up the first section of this essay. The biases are present in behavioral economics, which dictates that humans will behave in a way that is efficient for them in an economic sense, and this makes up the second portion of this essay. There is some indication that humans can be rational when it comes to domain specific tasks – such as exposing cheating or enforcing social contracts. Because of this, more study should be done regarding other domain specific tasks to indicate if there are pockets of rationality in other domain specific areas. Moreover, there is considerable thought that the irrational nature that is detected on the tests could be the result of something other than irrationality at work – such as poorly worded tests, computational errors, incorrect norms being applied, or inattention of the participants. Therefore, it is possible that humans are not as irrational a s these tests might presume. This analysis makes up the third and last portion of this essay. Discussion Reasoning is a part of cognition, which is virtually wholly made up of using inference. There is some question of whether or not reasoning has a separate cognitive system unto itself, or whether or not it is merely a part of the whole of cognition (Manktelow & Chung, 2004, p. 66). That said, reasoning must be distinguished from intuition. The main difference between reason and intuition is that reasoning is done deliberately and consciously, while intuition springs forth from the mind in a spontaneous fashion, without effort or a conscious search (Kahneman, 2003, p. 1450). Thus, when a person is doing an income tax form, he is using reasoning; when that same person revolts at eating a piece of chocolate that is the shape of a cockroach, that person is working from intuition (Kahneman, 2003, p. 1450). Reasoning is a function that is only in the higher order beings, as there has be en no evidence that reasoning is present in animals or children who are pre-verbal (Mercier & Sperber, p. 3). There are three basic types of reasoning, according to Samuels et al. (2004). They are descriptive, which describes how humans actually reason; normative, which describes how humans should reason; and evaluative, which describes the difference between how humans actually reason and how they should reason. In other words, there is an assumed standard that has been established by the normative project, so researchers interested in the evaluative project are interested in finding out how actual reasoning fit the assumed standard (Samuels et al., 2004, p. 1). These are the bases of deciding whether humans are rational or irrational – does their reasoning fit what is normative? If this is the case, then rationality can be presumed, for this would mean that the individual is making decisions that benefit him or herself. There are a series of normative rules that prescribe h ow humans should behave. One of these is cancellation, which means that a human will eliminate â€Å"any state of the world that yields the same results, regardless of one’s choice† (Tverskey & Kahneman, 1986, p. s252). Cancellation is important because only one state will be realized, which makes it easy to evaluate the other options separately for each state. Transivity is another rule, which means that each option in an

How can a manager motivate a workforce and what are the major benefits Essay

How can a manager motivate a workforce and what are the major benefits of this to a company support your answer with examples - Essay Example The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze the effects of motivation in the workplace. The employees responsible for maintaining a workforce motivated are the managerial staff. The manager is also accountable for the overall performance of the workforce and the company as a whole. There are different techniques that managers can utilize to motivate the staff. A technique that can be used to motivate workers is reinforcement. Reinforcement is the administration of a consequence as a result of a behavior (Schermerhorn, et al.). The use of reinforcement can help increase the persistence of a worker. Two conditioning theories associated with reinforcement are classical conditioning and operating conditioning. Classical conditioning is a form of learning that takes place due the presence of stimuli that manipulates behavior. Giving a dog a steak after an action is an example of classical conditioning. In human beings an example of stimuli at work is seeing the boss smile. Operan t conditioning differs from classical conditioning in that it manipulates the consequences. Managers can use positive reinforcement to increase the likelihood of an employee repeating a behavior. An employee can also be influenced not to commit certain behaviors by imposing negative reinforcement consequences such as punishment. Content theories of motivation deal with an attempt to satisfy individual needs. A popular content theory that managers can use to motivate the staff is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is composed of a pyramid of five needs. The five needs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization (Cherry). The physiological need deals with the need for biological maintenance including food, water, and substance. A manager can ensure this need is met by giving the workers a lunch hour, two fifteen minutes breaks during the shift, and as many bathroom breaks as needed. Safety has to do with the need for security and protection. Hiring a security guard to secure the work premises is a way to comply with the worker’s security need. The social need is associated with love, affection and sense of belongingness. A manager can help comply with the social need in a company by fostering a work environment of collaboration and teamwork. The esteem need deals with the need for respect, prestige, recognition, competence, and mastery. A good manager can comply with this need by promoting from within and by creating a code of ethics at the firm. Self-actualization is the highest order need of the pyramid. This need is associated with desire for fulfillment and to be able to expand and use a person’s abilities. Managers can help fulfill that need by offering training and development opportunities to its employees. A process theory of motivation that can help managers inspire their workers is equity theory. According to equity theory an individual’ s motivation level is correlated to his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the management (Managementstudyguide). When an employee feels there is an injustice in his level of pay in comparison with other employees with the same level of experience and job position the worker will react adversely to the situation. The perceived injustice will cause the employee to lose motivation and perform poorly. A manager can comply with the implications of equity theory by working with the human resource department to analyze the salary scales of

International Financial Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International Financial Management - Assignment Example Hedging is one feature of the forward market. MNC’s. Hedging the amount that they are supposed to receive or pay in foreign currency will make the spot rate unimportant for them till their future payment. There is very little difference between the forward and future market. But the differences are very important. Unlike the forward market, which is characterized by personalized contracts with no initial payment necessary, future market have standardized contracts with at least marginal payment paid initially. This implies that the amount that is being transacted can be of any value. Future contracts specify the volume of a particular currency to be used for transaction at the specified date. Secondly, for forward contracts there is no organized exchange present in the future contracts as the contracting parties directly do the transactions. Thirdly, the contract size depends on the contracting parties in case of the forward contracts. But, for the future contracts, contract s ize is standardized. Fourthly, future contracts are government- regulated and bears low risk while forward contracts are unregulated and are high-risk bearing as there are chances of default. (Madura 2009, pp. 108-110)   Speculators purchase currency futures to capitalize their expectation about the ups and downs associated with respect to currency movement. Suppose a speculator expects appreciation of a particular currency in the future. They can then buy future contracts and hence lock the price of that currency for a specific settlement date. On this date they can buy their currency at a rate specified in the futures contract and sell it at the spot rate, which is less than the rate specified in the futures contract. If  the spot rate has appreciated, then they extract profit. Different expectations of the speculators guide their decisions to sell and purchase future contracts. Corporations use currency futures to hedge and thus reduce their

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin - Essay Example Contrary to most racism and sexism stories, there was no implication of any form of abuse inside the house of the couple but the trouble that was happening was within the thoughts of Mrs. Mallard. She recognized the norms and mores of her time and tried her best to be the wife society expected her to be but her natural desire for the outside world was so strong she desired more of the outside world than her home. This circumstance brought the tragedy in her life, not being contented with a life that seemed to have imprisoned her. During Mrs. Mallard’s solitude, it was mentioned that she loved her husband sometimes but often did not, for whatever reason, the author chose for the reader to think about. However, the very following sentence explains that the self-assertion she finally possessed was the strongest impulse of her being, even stronger than the love she felt for her husband. One could almost imagine the husband to be a loving man and probably that was what made Mrs. Mallard love him. However, living in a society that could affect even the events inside the home, Brently Mallard could have been the type who lived according to the suggestions of his environment so that he had to keep his wife inside the house and make the expected homebody wife out of her. Unfortunately, the wife was not the common type of woman who would be satisfied staying in the house all day long. The whispered words of Mrs. Mallard, â€Å"Free! Body and soul, free!† that she kept repeating exposed the perception of the woman of herself. That she had been kept as a prisoner in the house, is what made her want to escape and take the freedom that she always desired. Physically, her being kept in the house could have had a tremendous effect on her way of thinking, considering herself more of a prisoner than a wife who needs to attend to the necessities of housekeeping. However, the line â€Å"There would be no powerful

Analysis of eBay ECommerce Models and Applications Essay

Analysis of eBay ECommerce Models and Applications - Essay Example It is used to evaluate the historical keys to victory and failure and modern progress. It identifies and assembles a commerce-enabled store website and observes what is considered necessary both to develop and sustain the conception store. It also studies suitable approaches and technologies for creating a flourishing e-shop business. It judges the suggestion of mobility on e-business value chains. From now on, you will be grateful for that 'e-commerce' is a rapid developing spot of both practice and research. A large amount of what you read will use the terms e-business model(s) and e-commerce model(s) interchangeably. The clarification that tracks makes a wide difference between the two. e-business model is a 'structure' for organizing e-businesses in terms of planned business objectives, and e-commerce model is a scheme for commerce, processes that give details, in familiar terms, where the supplies and capital flow. Companies are taking the little risk path. They are utilizing the source of internet for doing business on the same old strategies to attain lower cost expenses. The main risk is that e-commerce grows as an island in the customary business and the increasing gap between the two could compromise the entire business. The sites on internet are emerging as new market places for people. ... Fundamentally the business on internet is divided in to three areas, Business to business (also known as B2B), Business to consumer (also referred as B2C) and consumer to consumer (i.e. C2C). Amazon.com a famous domain which sells books over the world wide internet which sells books over the Internet, is an example of a B2C E-commerce initiative where the company gets in touch with its consumers directly. This is equivalent to the direct selling concept popularized by companies such as Amway. The only difference is that the selling is done via the Net. On the other hand, ChemConnect.com and Chemdex.com (which deal with chemicals) are B2B E-commerce initiatives that bring two firms together on the virtual market place. One of the ideal examples of the sites including all these features is "eBay." It is a small world of internet and trade itself and has developed as an important business model for e-commerce. When eBay first started on, the site instantly turned out to be a well-liked channel for auctioning figurines, but it soon merged into other markets as it was a part of them such as automobiles, business and industrial tools, and customer electronics, where the average sales price (ASP) is higher. Increasing the ASP was a dangerous component of increasing sales for eBay, as eBay's contract fees are based on a percentage of sales. The higher the ASP, the more money eBay earns on each of the million transactions it assists. EBay has found and internationalized computerized online person-to-person auctioning. Formerly, such commerce was carried out through garage sales, collectibles shows, flea markets, and classified advertisements. An online marketplace helps easy checking for buyers and permits sellers to record an item for sale within minutes of registering.

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin - Essay Example Contrary to most racism and sexism stories, there was no implication of any form of abuse inside the house of the couple but the trouble that was happening was within the thoughts of Mrs. Mallard. She recognized the norms and mores of her time and tried her best to be the wife society expected her to be but her natural desire for the outside world was so strong she desired more of the outside world than her home. This circumstance brought the tragedy in her life, not being contented with a life that seemed to have imprisoned her. During Mrs. Mallard’s solitude, it was mentioned that she loved her husband sometimes but often did not, for whatever reason, the author chose for the reader to think about. However, the very following sentence explains that the self-assertion she finally possessed was the strongest impulse of her being, even stronger than the love she felt for her husband. One could almost imagine the husband to be a loving man and probably that was what made Mrs. Mallard love him. However, living in a society that could affect even the events inside the home, Brently Mallard could have been the type who lived according to the suggestions of his environment so that he had to keep his wife inside the house and make the expected homebody wife out of her. Unfortunately, the wife was not the common type of woman who would be satisfied staying in the house all day long. The whispered words of Mrs. Mallard, â€Å"Free! Body and soul, free!† that she kept repeating exposed the perception of the woman of herself. That she had been kept as a prisoner in the house, is what made her want to escape and take the freedom that she always desired. Physically, her being kept in the house could have had a tremendous effect on her way of thinking, considering herself more of a prisoner than a wife who needs to attend to the necessities of housekeeping. However, the line â€Å"There would be no powerful

Pacific Northwest History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Pacific Northwest History - Essay Example nds west of the Missouri River that begun during the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and continued with the acquisitions of Texas, the Oregon territory, the Mexican Cessions and ended with the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. This history is written from a viewpoint of whites, with the Indian tribes living on the land previously for several centuries largely ignored, often mentioned only as footnotes. The Indians did not have much documentary records on this. Another important fact when considering the history of the US Pacific Northwest is to acknowledge the existence of the native peoples prior to the arrival of the European settlers to the area. Many history books hardly touch on the sensitive topic and if they do, only cursorily. The Indian peoples, especially in California, burned the foothills and valleys, increasing the spread of grasslands and the number of deer (White 3). In other words, they developed the land to generally make it habitable primarily through slash-and-burn tactics of clearing and this made their land attractive to the new settlers interested in cattle raising ventures. The US Pacific Northwest history is a story of conquests and the mixing of diverse racial groups and is generally conceded to have begun when Europeans first arrived there in 1528 (ibid. 5). Early travelers to the region noted the charred and blackened landscapes, a result of deliberate burning. An account by the peripatetic David Douglas, a Scot employed by the Horticultural Society of London, noted burned and charred terrain in the Willamette Valley in his 1826 journals. The natives said its purpose was to hunt deer easily (Robbins 24). Overton Johnson predicted the West, notwithstanding their wildness and danger, offer inducements for white mans stronger hand to subdue the present wild and implacable inhabitants (ibid. 50). Skirmishes gradually reduced Indian populations and diseases like malarial outbreaks further decimated the natives, illnesses Indians believed were brought

THE IMPACT OF MONETARY POLICY ON NIGERIAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Essay Example for Free

THE IMPACT OF MONETARY POLICY ON NIGERIAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Essay Monetary policy being an economic tool is used to stabilize the economy. It is a tool used by the government through monetary agencies like the Central Bank to control the supply of money in an economy. It is used to bring about economic growth and development through the control of inflation. It impacts the economy cannot over-emphasized. It has very positive impacts on the economy and helps in building a sustainable economy. Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. It is maintained through actions such as increasing the interest rate, or changing the amount of money banks has to keep in the vault(bank reserves). It can be used to increase or decrease the volume of money in circulation based on the situation at hand. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The intent of the proposed study is to critically examine the impact of monetary policies on the Nigerian economy. The focus will be on how monetary policies adopted in recent years have impacted on the Nigerian economy. How the federal government have strived through the use of monetary policies to stabilize and develop the Nigerian economy. The intent is to provide adequate information to readers on the roles played by monetary authorities and monetary policies in ensuring economic growth and development in the entity called Nigeria. An objective approach shall be employed in order to bring about valid arguments and conclusions. LITERATURE REVIEW Scholars in the economic and financial field have written articles on the proposed research topic. Professor Kunle Adamson in 2002 wrote an article in this regard.he placed emphasis on the then proposed re-denomination of the naira by the then CBN governor Professor Charles Soludo. He critically analysed how the re-denomination of the naira would have impacted the Nigerian economy. Another literature to be reviewed is the article written by Dr Okoro A. Sunday(Ph.D) of the Ebonyi State University. He critically examined the long-run equilibrium relationship between monetary policy instruments and economic growth in Nigeria. The intent  of the proposed research is to explore the various angles to the research topic. The poor implantation process would also be critically examined.

Nuclear Power is a Dangerous Waste of Time :: Argumentative Essays, Persuasive Essays

Nuclear power has been around since the first atomic plant was made operational on December 2, 1942. These plants are an efficient way of producing electricity. They can power every electric item we use today, from TV’s to computers and every thing in between. As great as they may seem, how do we deal with the radioactive waste left over? The answer is, we don’t. Until we, as a civilization, find a better way of dealing with this waste, we should hold off on converting fossil fuel plants to nuclear. As of today, there is no real way to dispose of nuclear waste. While theories of ridding our earth of this harmful radioactive substance vary, the many attempts, have included every thing from simply burying it, to sending it out of our orbit into space. The most popular method to date seems to be â€Å"long term storage.† But what, exactly, does the â€Å"long term storage† mean? It means storing air tight barrels of nuclear waste in facilities until they lose their potency. As good as this method may sound on paper, the process I’ve just described to you can take up to 20,000 years. This means that the waste storage facilities will have to be secured from robbers, terrorists, and the effects of nature for a period of time in which not only their designers will die, but also, quite possibly the countries in which they are located will crumble. Other, more reasonable methods include transmutation: a process in which toxic elements are transformed into less toxic substances. For instance, plutonium can be turned to uranium. This is done by using â€Å"fast consumer† reactors, which use the discarded radioactive isotopes of nuclear reactors and â€Å"consume† them, leaving isotopes which are less dangerous and have only about half the life and potency of the original waste.

Talk Show Guests Should Go to Therapy Instead :: essays research papers

The Talk Shows Each day, thousands of talk shows spend a great deal of time and money for people to attend their show from all across the country to discuss their personal problems and get them resolved. Each day, thousands of people go through the ritual of being humiliated or excited by these talk shows. Instead, they should go to a professional therapists and not a talk show, like The Maury Show, to discuss their problems. Most professional therapists offer a wide variety of options or choices as well as important ideas that are not offered by talk shows. If the people have not decided on a therapist to learn more about the many different ways to deal with their problems then there is no other help. Matelski stated that ?daytime talk shows helped local programmers fill the gaps in their schedules brought about by increased federal broadcast regulation in the 1970s-specifically, U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-imposed Financial Interest and Syndication rules.? I feel that daytime talk shows should not be played at all because the things that are shown are very negative toward the people that watch them. Most professional therapists also have a more diverse occupation than those of The Maury Show. In a therapist?s office the people have an opportunity to discuss their physical, mental, sexual, and emotional problems to improve their life. It is true that The Maury Show does not offer the prestige of the professional therapists. However if prestige is significant, the people could complete a session at a better-known therapy. And whether the advice the people receive at a therapist is equal to that provided by a more prestigious therapy can be determined only on a case by case basis, since much of the success of any talk show depends on the individual people.

Compare the 1st and 2nd Great Awakening Essay

There are many factors that triggered the religious revivals known as the Great Awakenings. These awakenings encouraged citizens to partake in religious ceremonies and activities. Some agreed and joined the bandwagon, some refused. The awakenings had aspects that resulted in great long term benefits in government, education, and society. During the 1730s it was apparent that most colonies had established their own religions. Some strict churches preached that we are all sinful and that only a faithful few would be saved. The increase in production and manufacturing of goods increased colonial wealth, but led most colonists astray from their religion and influenced their temptation to live less godly lives. That is when the Great Awakening began. The Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival movement that taught â€Å"rebirth† and that God was forgiving. Churches became amplified, preaching the need to become a new and better person of faith, which was said to be the ultimate religious experience. Preachers said that followers should accept that they are sinners and ask for salvation. Many religious men contributed to the Great Awakening. Two of the religious men were George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. Whitefield was a young Anglican preacher, everywhere he went he brought an ample amount of people and converted them. Whitefield claimed that God was lenient and forgiving, rather than telling people they were all going to hell because they were sinners. Edwards was the beginning of the revival, he emphasized the power of an extant and intimate religious experience. Like Whitefield, Edwards attracted large crowds with his powerful sermons. The Awakening was divided into two major groups called the â€Å"Old Lights† and the â€Å"New Lights.† The â€Å"New Lights† were one of the religious groups that grew as a result of the Great Awakening, they were Baptist. The â€Å"Old Lights† challenged authority and hierarchy and were a make-up of Congregationalists and Anglicans. With these new groups came religious diversity, but helped colonists become more aware of life beyond their town or church. In the 1790s, during a great migration west, the Second Great Awakening began. This revival saw converts in the thousands. It sparked numerous reform and social movements, as Christians began working to perfect society and bring fair treatment for all. One of the major influential religious leaders was Charles Finney. Finney was known as â€Å"The Father of Modern Revivalism,† he made significant innovations in preaching and religious meetings. Finney tended to be very outspoken and a hardcore criticizer of other Christian teachings. Another influential religious leader was James McGready. McGready became significant in sparking the Second Great Awakening. He hosted loose organized church meetings called frontier camps, which were meetings where preachers delivered informal sermons to large congregations. There was a major site where the largest Protestant revival movements happened, it was called Cane Ridge. At the Cane Ridge Revival a Presbyterian preacher named Barton Stone led the conferences. Stone wasn’t always the only speaker, at any given time 3 or 4 preachers would be delivering sermons. Also men weren’t the only ones that could participate in the Second Great Awakening revival. Due to women’s’ complete exclusion from politics, women jumped at the chance to participate in Christian work. Women became exceedingly important in the spreading of the religious teachings. Some other effects of the Second Great Awakening would include Crusaders fighting for women’s rights, abolition of slavery, temperance, education reform, etc. Although these two religious revivals seemed virtually the same, there are many key differences between the two Great Awakenings. One major difference would be the fact that the Second Great Awakening influenced social reform. Crusaders, who were just citizens, fought for the rights of not only women, but rights for blacks too in the Second Great Awakening. The first Great Awakening influenced more of a personal reform for ones’ self. Allowing colonists to see that there was light beyond their darkness. One similarity the two shared would be the emphasis of morality and religious teachings. Another difference would be that George Whitefield, a significant leader from the very first Great Awakening, tried to prevent slaves from attending religious teachings, while the Crusaders, a group of rebels fighting for social reform for women and slaves, wanted to include slaves and women in not only the religious ceremonies, but introduce them more in society also. One more similarity they shared was the influence of new Protestant based divisions including: Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, Presbyterianism, Methodism, and more. Both of the Great Awakenings were influential in many different ways, but the Second Great Awakening provided more diversity within society. The Second Great Awakening made people question government and society and inspired groups like the Crusaders to fight for peoples’ rights. The Crusaders fought deeply for the rights of enslaved black men and women and white women. They also fought for temperance and education reform. Alcohol became a major problem in the 1800s. People were getting drunk and wreaking havoc in the streets and causing disruption. That’s when the Temperance Movement began, the goal of this movement was to teach the evils of drinking, and ultimately get rid of drinking or limit it, but that all depended on the government and if the citizens would choose not to drink. In conclusion the historical legacy of these two movements paved the way for open-minded thinking and multiple reforms that shaped the way the nation is now. From the blacks being able to mingle with the whites, to the women of our nation being able to vote and drive. The Great Awakening left different footprints on all of the colonial religions and divisions. Its legacy was an urgent concern with individual salvation and faith, defining religious beliefs for oneself rather than accepting them from government authorities, selecting a minister for his charisma and preaching style rather than for his wealth and social status, and accepting those who shared a similar style and concerns no matter what the religion. Women became more influential in many congregations which believed that, if females were converted, they would lead their children and husbands to salvation. Responsibility for multiple congregations became more common among the smaller congregations that resulted from the divisions in churches. Both the Old and New persuasions formed intercolonial and interdenominational networks that helped to break down brutality and confinement, and prepared Americans for accepting the religious diversity that was on the horizon.

Assignment 1: Preliminary Product Screening Report

PRELIMINARY PRODUCT SCREENING REPORT: OPAL JEWELRY 16/08/2012 Assignment one. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Gems and jewelry play a significant role in Australian customs and traditions, making this sector integral to the economy and one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Precious opal ranks with diamond, as one of the most valuable of gemstones. Opal jewelry can have a big variation on their values, opals materials to make those jewelries can start at AUD$1. 00 per carat and go to AUD$20,000. 00 per carat. Apart from Australia and Slovakia the only other countries with a significant production of opal jewelry have been Mexico and Brazil.Australian opal jewelry can be a sound long-term investment, with value appreciation climbing yearly. Weakness: Australia does not invest in overseas marketing for jewelry, if the country started investing on that, opportunities would came, building up the opal market overseas Australians have the opals as old-fashioned jewelry; they should be re -educated about that. Compliance: Intellectual property (IP) is an essential tool to protect your ideas and the work you generate as a designer in the fashion industry.It’s also one of the essential building blocks of Australia’s economy, because it helps foster creativity and reward innovation. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Executive summary: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Page: 2 Introduction: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page: 4 Research Findings: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page: 5 Analysis and Conclusions: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page: 12 Opal types: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Page: 13 INTRODUCTION: Since the l ast century, Australia has been the prime producer of gem opal in the world. Now a day, Australia exports over 90 per cent of natural opal, making a significant contribution to Australia's economy.The infinite variety of color and pattern makes opal a very special stone. Opal is unique in that the stone changes color when it is rocked back and forth or when it moves on the neck so mounting it in Australian opal jewelry displays the rock in the very best setting. The task for this assignment 1 in certificate IV international trade was to undertake preliminary screening of an Australian product. The task was to choose and research an Australian product made in Australia from mostly Australian resources that we wish to market internationally.Once the product was selected we were then asked to perform a research using primary and secondary resources for our research. To be Included in this research are vital pieces of information such as price, product, promotion and place, consumers of the product, competitors in the industry and the product cycle of our product. Through this preliminary research we will be able to gain an idea of whether or not exporting our chosen product will be a successful venture or whether there will be risks involved. The Australian product I have chosen is Opal Jewelry. RESEARCH FINDINGS:PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: There are more then 19 mines situated all over Australia. New south Wales, for example, is famous for your black opals. This state has the largest proportion of Australian Opals in term of value. There we can find two mines: Lightning Ridge and White Cliffs. Queensland produces Boulder Opal, which is a unique type of opal and is found attached to a host rock, ironstone. Only Queensland have the Boulder opal, and is found in deposits in weathered  sedimentary Cretaceous rocks in the west of the state. This state have four mines, which are: Quilpe, Winton, Opalton and Yoah.South Australia has four active opal mining fields, Andamooka , Coober Pedy, Lambina and Mintabie. South Australia is largest producer of opal in terms of volume, and produces the white opal, crystal opal or ‘milky' type of opal. Source: http://www. costellos. com. au/opals/types. html This research is based in a business operated in Queensland, having as a main product Boulder opal. Although, the company also sells all types of opals jewelry, rings, pendants, earrings, beads, and watches. (BUSINESS LOGO. ) Source: http://www. opalsdownunder. com. au/Images source: http://www. opalsdownunder. com. au/opal-pendants/ COSTUMERS DETAILS: The opal jewelry Is displayed in the full gamut of jewelry settings: rings, earrings, pendants, brooches, bracelets, studs, cufflinks and other type of jewelry to suit every occasion and budget. You can even have custom-made opal jewelry for your engagement ring or for any other appropriate gift-giving occasion. Or maybe you just want to spoil yourself. As the price of the jewelry made with opals varies grea tly, consumers may also vary according to the price of the product.There are jewelries made of opal, which are for tourists, with a lower cost. Others, such as black opal, which has great value, are for higher-class consumers, who admire and do not save money to buy a good jewelry. Source: â€Å"Laszlo’s opal and jewelry†, 2001-2010, viewed 10 august 2012, http://www. opal-jewelry. com/about. htm RETAIL INFORMATION: Opals are very common Jewelry in Australia. The ones made for tourists are usually sold in local markets, with a lower cost. But, we also find Opals in famous jewelry stores with a higher value.Web sites such as e-bay, or even jewelry websites made just to sell them. There are a huge variety of them, offering all forms of payment. On this company, for example the website shows some of the most important currencies that may be interested to buy their products. All the prices are showed in Australian dollars, with their currency conversion below the pictures to make it easier for the costumers to think how much does the jewelry costs in their own country. At the moment the product is only sold domestically within Australia in their store, Situated on the Bruce Highway on sunshine coast.Also, this product it is predominantly sold online at its website http://www. opalsdownunder. com. au, here the customers can browse through the available products on offer and place an online order. Once they have chosen, they can then add the product to their online cart and proceed to pay. The payment method is Credit Card or Debit MasterCard/ Visas, there is also the option to pay by PayPal. On this company, for example, the website shows some of the most important currencies that may be interested to buy their products.All the prices are showed in Australian dollars, with their currency conversion below the pictures to make it easier for the costumers to think how much does the jewelry costs in their own country, followed by the payment methods. Sou rce: https://www. opalsdownunder. com. au/cart PRICE DETAILS: The color, size and type of precious opal are factors that determine the price paid for the gemstone. Usually the price is based on the quality of the opal and expressed per carat. Furthermore, there is a marked difference between the value of uncut opal compared with the value of cut and polished opal.Like anything, marketing has a great impact on determining the value of a product. Opals are as unique and individual as the people who buy them. And a personal taste and preference can also affect the price this product. Another issue is that the different colors and patterns can appeal to different markets. Although, you can have material that can start at AUD$1. 00 per carat and go to AUD$20, 000. 00 per carat. One big influence when we talk about Opal values is the Opal tone: it refers to the background or the ‘underlying color' of the opal, which ranges from black through dark to light.Generally opals with a blac k or dark body tone are more valuable than those with a white, light, or crystal body tone, because a stone with a darker body tone tends to display colors more vibrantly. Black opals are the most prized opal and may realize prices over AUD $15,000 a carat. Opal Jewelry can also vary between the products, one simple opal pendent for example, starts with AUD 136, 00, but an opal ring costs around AUD 230. 00. As was mentioned before, we can also find in the market more affordable opal jewelry, but usually, they are not made with gold, or silver or valuable materials.SOURCE: http://www. opalsdownunder. com. au COMPETITORS: Apart from Australia and Slovakia the only other countries with a significant production of opal jewelry have been Mexico and Brazil. There are a few other countries, which have small occurrences of precious opal, usually from volcanic rocks, but these have met with little commercial success. Another very valuable stone and well regarded by consumers, the diamond, i s also seen as a competitor. Although, diamonds do not have the range of prices and types of productions that have opals.A top quality black opal can influence in the price, giving a higher price per carat than a good, clear one-carat diamond. Very different to to the diamond industry, there is no monopoly in the world marketing of opal and true market forces of supply and demand determine price. Another difference is that, opals have a wide range of values, which can satisfy a greater number of consumers, becoming a popular stone. And that do not happen with Diamonds. Apart of those countries, and the diamond, other mines in Australia are the biggest competitor that Opals Down Under have.With the websites facilities, the mines also sells the product for another countries, or domestically, for Australians. SOURCE: â€Å"Mining and Gems Global Industry†, 2008, viewed 10 august 2012, ;http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer? sid=c49106d4-941d-433b-9f22-8f7280b7d19b %40sessionmgr104;vid=14;hid=125; PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE: Australian opal can be a sound long-term investment, with value appreciation climbing yearly. Australian fields are slowly running down, so the values on quality gems will regularly increase year by year.For the overseas investor, it is easier to buy at the source of supply and save money. â€Å"COOBER Pedy's colourful opal mining industry is falling victim to the state's mining boom†. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER], viewed in 10 august 2012, ;http://web. ebscohost. com/ehost/detail? vid=3;hid=125;sid=bd0f4262-c765-4e52-b405-3b86c70d60ac%40sessionmgr112;bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCx1cmwsY3BpZCZjdXN0aWQ9czEyNDE5NzEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#db=anh;AN=201206091017391615; PROMOTION: Nationally, this company uses newspaper, magazines and sales to promote their sales.But also, a way that they use to promote is from Internet. Their website is a good way to promote their products and their store, but to promote their websites, coupons a re also showed in on-line magazines, giving the costumers discounts of this product, and giving the costumers an opportunity to have a look on their websites: source: http://saltmagazine. com. au/articles/web-exclusives/pepper-march-spa-restaurants-events. aspx WEAKNESS OF THE PRODUCT: Even with so many good things to talk about the market for jewelry opals, we also have to look at his weak side.One way Australian opal could further its reach would be through aggressive strategies of marketing. Australia spends almost to nothing with the promotion of opal overseas or even with in his own country. For example, last year, a South African diamond mining company called De Beers, spent around AUS$150million in Japan marketing diamond engagement rings, as opposed to Australia which, in the same year, spent AUD$100,000. 00 in all the promotion of opal overseas. Australia could make more marketing campaigns about opals, and that would increase the demand.Another weaknesses of the market is that, according to opal retailer Con Retsas, if we educate Australians about opal that could be the first step towards telling the world about the gem and build up its global reach. He said that â€Å"Many Australians perceive opal jewelry as old fashioned, something that Grandma wore. † But if you compare an opal to a diamond, even a lower grade opal can be really interesting and beautiful to look at as opposed to a poor diamond, which is nothing flash or colorful as the opals. Source: â€Å"The Gemmological Association of Australia (GAA)†, C 2012, viewed 10 August 2012, ;www. gem. rg. au ;. COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW: About IP Australia: IP Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for administering patent, design, trademark and plant breeder’s rights. By granting these rights, and contributing to the improvement of Australian and international IP systems, IP Australia is supporting Australia’s economic development. Intellectual property (I P) is an essential tool to protect your ideas and the work you generate as a designer in the fashion industry. It’s also one of the essential building blocks of Australia’s economy, because it helps foster creativity and reward innovation.Australia’s IP laws provide a legal framework to protect your innovative and creative ideas and designs. Legally enforceable IP rights encourage technological innovation and artistic expression in industries, such as fashion and design, and help to build and expand businesses, create new jobs and stimulate the sector both in Australia and overseas. Source: http://www. ipfashionrules. gov. au/ Conclusion: Today, the Australian opal jewelry industry is made up of a large number of individual companies generally working their own claims.A single opal field is explored and developed by several hundred individual miners, making the jewelry market develop, and have a huge quantity of competitors. Historically, the continued developme nt of the industry has relied upon chance discovery. Other than putting more funds into marketing Australian opal jewelry, I believe that display stores around the world, representing Australian opal jewelry as a product rather than individual jewelry businesses would be a start in the global promotion of Australian opal jewelry.With this promotion nice quality of jewelry as artistic designed pieces, could make the market reach the status it deserves. This industry is young, and Australia has much to do in order to promote the jewelry industry to its biggest potential. Yet, with industry perseverance, opal jewelry will be soon recognized by the world, for the art it is. Opal jewelry is a great gift, or souvenir that represents Australia, making this industry have a large number of types of consumers.To conclude, In my opinion, Australia has reached his national target with the opal jewelry market, and now is ready to export this amazing art and show the world not just the beauty of the rings, watches, pendants, but a little bit of his culture as well. Australian opals jewelry has the best quality, design and also the biggest resources making opals jewelry an easier market to export. Type of opals: Boulder opal is also classified as solid opal.It is a variety of precious opal that has the host rock forming naturally as part of the gem. This type of opal is often cut with the ironstone left on the back, as the opal often just a thin vein of precious opal is present. The opal forms within the cavities of the boulders in both vertical and horizontal cracks. Boulder opal can be found in many different shapes and sizes, from as small as a pea, to as big as a family car which can also be black or light depending on the appearance of the stone when viewed from the surface.Black/Dark Opal Black Opal is easily distinguished by the blackness of the background â€Å"body tone† or body color, which shows a play of color within or on a black/dark body tone, when view ed from the face up. The term ‘black opal' does not mean that the stone is completely black, some of them have a light crystal color bar, giving the otherwise light opal a dark appearance. Even expensive black/dark opals may have only a very thin color bar. Light/Crystal OpalCrystal Opal has a transparent, translucent, or semi-translucent body, which is also referred to as the â€Å"diaphaneity† of a stone. Crystal opals can display any color of the spectrum in a beautiful play of color because they are cut with a high cabochon. The translucence of a crystal opal often gives it clarity and vibrancy of color and may be transparent through to nearly opaque, although it usually has a light body tone or white body color. Source: â€Å"King opal†, 2009, viewed 10 august 2012, ;http://www. kingopal. com. au/types-of-opal. php;

Alcohol and Tobacco

Alcohol and tobacco use is becoming more common every day in our society. The media is continuously advertising tobacco companies and different brands of alcohol, while the government is continuously sending warning messages about the harm that alcohol and tobacco can cause. Tobacco can forever damage you’re your internal organs, while alcohol can cause major damage to your body as well as the people surrounding you. Although the public knows about the negative effects of these products, people still continue to use the substances without thinking twice.These products are legal if you are of age, so people will continue to experiment with alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, drugs are not legal and are not advertised all over the media because they are prohibited in our society. If drugs were legal, experimentation and usage of these dangerous and deadly drugs would skyrocket. The usage of alcohol and tobacco is legal, but the usage of drugs should be prohibited in the Unit ed States. A theory is that if a person tries one drug such as marijuana, there is a high likelihood that that person will eventually try a harder drug such as cocaine.This is a very scary thought. If drugs were legal, many more individuals would be trying them. The media would be advertising cocaine like it was voldka. There is a large difference between these two products. People would feel like it was okay to experiment with the drug because its usage was legal. This could be harmful, because everyone can have a different effect to each drug. Drugs such as cocaine and heroin are highly addictive and dangerous. They not only cause damage to the person using but also to surrounding people.I am not trying to undersize alcohol and the damage it can cause, but at least there are laws against driving while intoxicated so that you can prevent yourself from harming another individual. Tobacco use affects your body in the long run, but other than second hand smoke, it does not directly pu t others in danger. Certain drugs can make a person spiral out of control and make them do certain things that they would never do if they were clean. A counter viewpoint is that drugs should be legalized because it is a person choice to use or consume whatever they wish.Advocates of legalizing drugs say that people will use drugs if they have the desire to whether it is legal or illegal. They mention that what is the difference between tobacco and alcohol versus drugs. Alcohol can be just as damaging to other people as drugs can be sometimes. The United States is a free country where we can speak how we feel and do how we feel and no one can tell us how to live our life. They say that if people want to use alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, they should have the freedom to do so. Both sides make valid points, but I definitely feel that drug usage would contaminate our society even more. Alcohol and Tobacco Alcohol and tobacco use is becoming more common every day in our society. The media is continuously advertising tobacco companies and different brands of alcohol, while the government is continuously sending warning messages about the harm that alcohol and tobacco can cause. Tobacco can forever damage you’re your internal organs, while alcohol can cause major damage to your body as well as the people surrounding you. Although the public knows about the negative effects of these products, people still continue to use the substances without thinking twice.These products are legal if you are of age, so people will continue to experiment with alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, drugs are not legal and are not advertised all over the media because they are prohibited in our society. If drugs were legal, experimentation and usage of these dangerous and deadly drugs would skyrocket. The usage of alcohol and tobacco is legal, but the usage of drugs should be prohibited in the Unit ed States. A theory is that if a person tries one drug such as marijuana, there is a high likelihood that that person will eventually try a harder drug such as cocaine.This is a very scary thought. If drugs were legal, many more individuals would be trying them. The media would be advertising cocaine like it was voldka. There is a large difference between these two products. People would feel like it was okay to experiment with the drug because its usage was legal. This could be harmful, because everyone can have a different effect to each drug. Drugs such as cocaine and heroin are highly addictive and dangerous. They not only cause damage to the person using but also to surrounding people.I am not trying to undersize alcohol and the damage it can cause, but at least there are laws against driving while intoxicated so that you can prevent yourself from harming another individual. Tobacco use affects your body in the long run, but other than second hand smoke, it does not directly pu t others in danger. Certain drugs can make a person spiral out of control and make them do certain things that they would never do if they were clean. A counter viewpoint is that drugs should be legalized because it is a person choice to use or consume whatever they wish.Advocates of legalizing drugs say that people will use drugs if they have the desire to whether it is legal or illegal. They mention that what is the difference between tobacco and alcohol versus drugs. Alcohol can be just as damaging to other people as drugs can be sometimes. The United States is a free country where we can speak how we feel and do how we feel and no one can tell us how to live our life. They say that if people want to use alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, they should have the freedom to do so. Both sides make valid points, but I definitely feel that drug usage would contaminate our society even more.

Beer in France Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beer in France - Essay Example Denmark leads the continent with the highest number of alcohol users at 93% followed by Sweden and Netherlands at 90 and 88% respectively. On the other hand, the alcohol consumers were in Portugal at 58% with Italy and Hungary at 60% and 64% respectively, a trend that has remained intact since 2006 (Conibear, 32). Therefore, as the statistics above indicate, France is a moderate alcohol consumer, making it necessary for any marketers to understand beer or alcohol consumption trends in the country before implementing any marketing strategy. France portrays interesting dynamics with regard to beer and alcohol consumption at large. According to Conibear (34), there has been a drastic culture change in France, Italy and Spain about beer and alcohol consumption since the 1980s. Reports on beer consumption in France indicate an interesting trend with the average number of beer consumers decreasing significantly since the 1990s. For instance, Conibear (35) reports of a decline in the number of alcohol consumers above 15 years since the 1980s. The French beer consumption per capita in 1980 was 20, declining to 15.4 in 1990 and 14 by the year 2000 (Conibear 34). Age too is an influential factor with regard to beer intake across France. While 68% of persons above 50 years preferred wine, 29% of consumers between 14 and 29 years preferred beer, while port had more preference among women consumers (Conibear, 35). France is an average beer producer in Europe compared to other European countries. According to a beer statistics report, France produced 14,731,000 hectoliters of beer in 2009, 16,290,000 hectoliters and 15,910,000 hectoliters of beer in 2010 and 2011 respectively (Brewers of Europe, 4). The above figures indicate an average level production compared to Germany, which had over 95,000,000 hectoliters of beer in the three consecutive years. These data affirm that

Intercultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Intercultural communication - Essay Example Today, many people believe that the city is the world leader in many things such as arts, communication and finance. For instance, the city prides itself as having one of the finest and multifaceted ports in the world. Additionally, New York City serves as headquarter to several organizations and corporations including United Nations. Besides being one of the major economic hubs in United States, New York City is also centre of media and communication, publishing and fashion designing (Unites States Census, 2011, p. 1). Demographics Historians describe New York City as the city that continually receives the highest number of immigrants. This is the reason why many refer to it as â€Å"melting pot† referring to the highly populated regions on the eastern parts of the city. With over 800 languages, it is clear that people from different backgrounds have come to live in the city. However, English is the most common language that many New Yorkers speak. According to census report of 2010, New York City has a population of 8,175,133 people. The greatest demographic features of the city remain cultural diversity, as there are people from different backgrounds living there, and population density. ... You will find people from at least every nation in the world living in New York. In fact, the city is home to Indians from the northern hemisphere, Chinese, Jewish community, Africans, and even Koreans. Nevertheless, in terms of race and ethnic composition, the whites top with 58 percent followed by Hispanics at 18 percent and Blacks at 14 percent (Unites States Census, 2011, p. 1). Language spoken at home With almost every community in the world represented in the city, people living in New York speak over 800 languages. In their homes, people from the same background can choose to speak their mother tongue. However, the most dominant language of communication in New York is English, and many immigrants have mastered this language in order to communicate with the natives. Certain homes also use Spanish and it is actually the second most popular language in New York City, Of course, not forgetting the other languages although very few number of New York residents use them. According to the census of 2010, children aged over five years, irrespective of the background of their parents, speak English as their primary language in addition to another language. However, the fluency in speaking English depends on one’s background. Socioeconomic levels New York being an economic hub, the expectations are that many people living there are doing well socially and economically. However, depending on one’s background, the socioeconomic levels are not the same for all residents of New York City. Truth is, many New Yorkers are above the scale economically. However, it is important to note that in any society. We have the low class, middle class and upper class people. Majority of New York residents are middle class with well-paying jobs or own some business

LEADERSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

LEADERSHIP - Essay Example Leadership entails numerous skills that enable the leader to get the best out of his/her followers. The skills required include the ability to motivate, inspire, facilitate, empower and focus once followers towards the accomplishment of an identified aspiration (Ricketts 2009, p. 1). Despite the prior definition suggesting that, leadership is a skill, it is imperative to acknowledge that it is also a process, which seeks to realize an objective. Therefore, the leader has to channel the powers of follower towards accomplishing an agenda (Katz 1955, p. 37). Leadership is a subject, which has generated great debate. Some scholars assert that leadership is inborn. Hence, leaders are born with that trait. Conversely, others argue that the skill is natured in the leadership environment. The process of nurturing leadership entails exposing an individual to situations that demand leadership skills (Kotter 1990, p. 56). Leadership is a vital aspect in organizations. Ineffective leadership wil l have countless impacts on an organization. First, an organizational leader ensures that the resources of the organization are focused towards the realization of certain objectives (Northouse 2007, p. 234). However, absence of proper leadership would result in uncoordinated efforts. Such effort would not realize the objectives of the organization. Leadership gears up of all the organizational aspects towards the realization of corporate goals. ... However, leadership originates from the ability to galvanize, influence and inspire. Therefore, a powerful leader does not necessary possess power, but has the capability to inspire, galvanize and influence. Ultimately, an individual can possess power but is not a leader (Rowe 2001, p.50). Leadership Development Programme Inculcating leadership skills is imperative since it enables individuals to lead organizations and followers. Leadership skills are vital in the current world. Therefore, an individual should constantly develop such skills (Hollander 1992, p. 50). Developing such skill is a tricky undertaking. As such, it requires proper strategizing to ensure the development of such skills. The best means to develop leadership skills is undertaking a leadership development programme (LDP). A trainer in a manner, which suits the recruit, designs the programme. LDP is a subjective programme, which seeks to develop leadership skills (Morrow, Jarrett & Rupinski 1997, p. 109). Its subje ctive nature allows the trainer to design a programme, which suits the leadership needs, resources, and time framework of an individual. The trainer undertakes a vital role in not only enhancing but also planning and assessing the leadership skills. The success of such a program will depend on the corporation between the trainer and the trainee. This section of the write-up seeks to design a LDP for an individual, which will last 4 years (Baldwin & Ford 1988, p. 70). First, I should identify a leadership trainer who has the capability to develop my skills. Subsequently, the trainer should assess the skills that I possess. Based on the assessment we should then brainstorm on the skill I require. This session should yield certain results. First, it should outline the leadership skill that

Different types of Intermodal movement by Air Essay

Different types of Intermodal movement by Air - Essay Example Rockets are mainly used for launching satellites, spacecraft, space shuttles and space research stations. A rocket is always misunderstood to be a spaceship by the laymen. Spacecraft, satellites and space shuttles are meant for space and planetary exploration in particular. Though aircraft, spacecraft and rockets share a common feature that they are airborne, they differ totally from each other in their looks and use. A rocket is a multipurpose instrument used in air, water and space with necessary modifications but the use of aircraft is sensibly limited to the earth atmosphere as they can not fly in the outer space with their wings and wing-shaped propellers where there is no gravitation. But the technology of rockets has become so simple that it has spread like a computer virus and is mostly misused by terror groups which have acquired the expertise. It is true that the rockets are playing the lead role in the space exploration at present but the day may not be far off when they would be replaced by the aircraft made up of air breathing rocket engines. The movement by air, for both people and cargo, is bound to take new vistas. Use of different types of airborne vehicles for different purposes would undoubtedly pick up by leaps and bounds in this space age. Basically, airborne vehicles can broadly be divided into two classes such as atmospheric vehicles comprising airplanes and helicopters which move with in the earth’s atmosphere and non-atmospheric vehicles comprising space craft, space shuttles, deep space probes, satellites and rockets which move in earth’s outer atmosphere (Anderson, 2004). Each of them is totally different among themselves serving a different purpose and having its own advantages and disadvantages in relation to its use. For decades now, we have been extensively using aero planes and helicopters for airborne movement as other vehicles have not come in to use for common purposes. The use of spacecraft and rockets for the general

The Right To Fashion Among Individuals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Right To Fashion Among Individuals - Essay Example The philosophy of fashion speaks about how style is different from fashion wearing clothes means helping to give one’s body a sense of appearance that helps to define ourselves. Most people can understand what kind of a person one is just by the clothes he or she wears. Having an eye for detail or for fashionable clothing helps to up a person’s level of appearance in the eyes of both her/himself and in the eyes of other people around him. Not being able to reveal fashion through personal senses, or not being able to dress oneself in the kind of clothing one wants to is equivalent to the same feeling of having one’s body chained and not being able to do anything about it. Fashion is like freedom and liberation from the monotonous lives that most people live in the world today. It helps to bring about change and color in a person’s outlook towards life. It helps a person to feel light and also helps to alter his or her mood. This was fashion – dressin g oneself as one wanted to and trying to bring about a sort of look and appearance in the clothing of a person. This same activity and process were carried out in different parts o the world with respect to different kinds of clothing that were born from the creativity and uniqueness that different people had. Today, they are known as designers; however, in those days, they were known as the harbingers of freedom and creativity. Fashion is restricted now though, in many parts of the world and women are not given their due right to dress as they please.

Ancient Religions Essay Example for Free

Ancient Religions Essay The ancient Norse religion was commonly followed and practiced by people in northern regions of the world, such as Scandinavia, Norway, Iceland and surrounding countries. It was believed that the world first came about when a northern and southern land, Niflheim and Muspellheim, both joined together. Niflheim (house of mists) , an extremely cold, icy land and Muspellheim (home of desolation) the seemingly opposite of Niflheim, a hot, fiery land. As both lands joined together, the reaction of the contrasting temperatures caused the ice of Niflheim to melt creating the first two living creatures Ymer, the giant and Audhumla, a female cow. From these two the first Gods were created (Odin, Vile and Ve), and from them the first human beings were created by Odin from an elm and ash tree. Due to a disagreeance between Ymer and the God’s, the giant was killed and from his body, landforms and other living races were created. The gods were revered by many as they were the creators of the races and established the different parts of the world, the world tree or Yggdrasil included. The Yggdrasil is one of the principal beliefs in Nordic religion as it was known as the centre of their nordic universe, the world tree was said to have held nine different realms within its branches. The realms were situated in different areas of the tree at the top, within the canopy; Asgard (heaven) was located. This is where many gods lived including Odin in Valhalla. In addition to Asgard two other realms Vanaheim (home of the fertility god) and Aflheim (home of light elves) were located at the highest level of the world tree. These realms were known as â€Å"divine†. Norse folk believed that Midgard, the middle section of Yggdrasil held the human world. Along with midgard, Nidavellir, Jotunheim and Svartalfhiem, home of the dwarves, giants and dark elves were also present here. At the third and bottom level of the tree the two lands that created the first living beings are found. It is believed that Hel, the place of death, is part of the harsh, destitute lands of Niflheim. Hel is connected to one of the three main root of the world tree and it is known as the underworld, the second root leads to Jotunheim( realm of the giants) and the third is connected to the divine realm, Asgard. The roots linked together the different levels and realms of the tree, likewise Bifrost, a magical bridge located between Asgard and the human world, Midgard was another connection between realms, allowing gods an entrance into the mortal world. The Influence of the Nordic beliefs in society was great as followers of the ancient religion could identify with the extreme life conditions and harsh weather that was also portrayed in the Nordic creation story. The Norse saw their conditions of life as a blessing from the gods and often used these gifts to the greatest advantage for example men often became farmers, cultivators, tradesmen or traders. Women in Nordic society also searched for meaning and insight from the gods as they held powerful positions in the religion. Women played a strong part in the community and often had to run the villages when the Viking warriors were away. The Norse strived to maintain a balanced lifestyle from the influence of what they had learned and incorporated from the gods. Odin was known as a wise and great warrior and many Viking men chose to follow the same path by becoming a warrior also. I was believed that one of the only worthy ways to die was to die in battle. This factor greatly contributed to the decisions of the Norse men. When a warrior died in battle he would go on to Valhalla, in the divine realm, if not they would go to Hel. The Norse people not only sought meaning from the gods, but from the actions and rituals they performed.

Desulfurization Simulated Gasoil

Desulfurization Simulated Gasoil Desulfurization Simulated Gasoil by Polyoxometalate/H2O2/Ionic Liquid System Arouna Dolo, Yu-Hui Luo, Wen-Wen Ma, Xin-Xin Lu, Yan Xu, Kaiwen Ma, Nah Traorà ©, Hong Zhang Abstract The Keggin-type catalysts (Q)3+nPW12-nVnO40 (n= 1-3) were synthesized by ionic exchange for oil extraction/catalytic oxidation desulfurization (ECODS) of DBT, BT and 4,6-DMDBT. The samples were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra analysis. The experimental results indicated that (STA)6PW9V3 exhibits superior catalytic activity and durability with about 99.14% desulfurization rate from the 500 ppm model oil within 1 h at 40 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, and no obviously decrease in its catalytic performance was observed after five consecutive ECODS recycles with about 98% recovery rate. Therefore, the Keggin-type material is a promising and efficient catalyst for the catalytic oxidation desulfurization of diesel fuel. Keywords: Catalysts, Polyvanadotungstates, Extraction/oxidation desulfurization, Ionic liquid, Keggin-type polyoxometalates 1. Introduction The combustion of hydrocarbon generates gaseous contaminants, such as SOx and NOx species, which lead to environmental hazards, including acid rain, air contamination and ozone consumption [1]. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS), a standard refining technology, is very efficient in removal of thiols, sulfides and disulfides. However, it is less effective when dealing with refractory sulfur compounds such as benzothiophene (BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) [2]. This attracts noteworthy efforts to explore an efficient approach for sulfur removal from oil, including extractive desulfurization (EDS), oxidative desulfurization (ODS), biodesulfurization (BDS) and absorptive desulfurization (ADS) or their combination. Among them, extractive/catalytic oxidative desulfurization (ECODS) has emerged as an intriguing approach due to its superior desulfurization activity, selectivity and stability [3]. Various catalysts, such as commercially available molybdic compound [4], phosphotungstic acid,[5] peroxotungsten complex [6] and polymolybdates [7] have demonstrated good efficiency with ECODS. However, phase-transfer limitation across the interface and lack of adaptive reaction environment in the hydrophobic ILs are the main drawbacks in these systems. The Keggin-type containing-vanadium POMs PMo12-nVnO40(3+n)- and PW12-nVnO40(3+n)− have demonstrated to be an effective and robust catalyst for various oxidation reactions, including ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and sulfur under mild conditions [8, 9]. However, few reports on the catalytic oxidative desulfurization by PW12-nVnO40(3+n)− encapsulated with organic alkyl chains have been reported. In this work, we used Keggin-type containing-vanadium POMs H3+nPW12-nVnO40 (n= 1-3) grafted with a series of alkyl chains, including stearyltrimethylammonium bromide (STA ·Br), hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br), and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DDA ·Br) as catalysts, [Bmim]PF6 as extractant solvent in the presence of H2O2 as oxidant for desulfurization. The results show that, among the synthesized catalysts (STA)6PW9V3 exhibited superior activity. Reaction parameters, such as the influence of vanadium structure, oil/catalyst mass ratio and H2O2 dosage on the desulfurization were investigated. From our experiments, it suggests that the higher number of vanadium-substituted to the catalyst results the better catalytic activity. 2. Experimental 2.1. Materials preparation Synthesis of H4PW11VO40 (PW11V), H5PW10V2O40 (PW10V2) and K6PW9V3O40 (PW9V3): PW11V , PW10V2 and PW9V3 were synthesized as reported in the literature [11, 12]. Surfactant-Encapsulated POMs (SEPs) were synthesized via ionic exchange of method of PW12-nVn and surfactants (STAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br, HDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br and DDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢B), respectively. PW12-nVn were dissolved in water, whereas surfactants were dissolved in alcohol. The two solutions were mixed, filtered, washed with water and ethanol before drying for 24 h to obtain the final products. All catalysts used in this work were characterized according to the reported literatures. 2.2. ECODS for oil model Synthesis of ionic liquid and model oil: Ionic liquid [Bmim]PF6 was synthesized as mentioned in the literature [10]. The ECODS was conducted via initially mixing model oil with [Bmim]PF6 inside two-necked round-bottomed flask immersed in water bath at various temperature 40, 50 and 60  °C, respectively. The ECODS commenced after addition of H2O2 30 wt. % into the (STA)6PW9V3 under stirring for 3h. Intermediate samples were collected at different reaction times from 10 min to 160 min. The remained sulfur-containing compounds in model oil after the reaction were analyzed by GC. 2.3. Characterization FT-IR spectra were measured on a Mattson Alpha-Centauri spectrometer in the range of 4000-400 cm-1. Thermogravimetric analysis was performed on Perkin-Elmer Thermal Analyzer under nitrogen atmosphere at heating of 5  °C/min till 600  °C. UV absorption was measured with Cary 500 UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. 3. Results and discussion The ECODS was tested in comparison with other desulfurization systems, such as the extraction, the chemical oxidation and the catalytic oxidation (Table 1). Interestingly, the ECODS system was superior to others desulfurization systems. This is due to the persistence of catalyst with IL and oxidant in the same reaction somehow stimulates legend effect, which stabilizes the oxidant and subsequently enhances activity. In addition, the high oil-model solubility in ionic liquid results in less binding energy of adsorbents on the system, thus contributing to a much higher sulfur removal. Three different surfactants were used to synthesize (Q)6PW9V3, (Q)6PW10V2 and (Q)6PW11V (Q = STAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br, HDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br and DDAà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â€ž ¢Br) to investigate the influence of surfactant alkyl-chain length on the catalytic performance. As shown in Fig. 1, the efficiency of DBT removal in ECODS are about 99.14%, 95% and 81% by using (STA)6PW9V3, (HDA)6PW9V3 and (DDA)6PW9V3 as catalysts, correspondingly. In contrast, surfactant-encapsulated POMs (Q)5PW10V2 and (Q) are slightly less efficient than (STA)6PW9V3. Fig 2 shows the removal of DBT at 40, 50 and 60  ºC, respectively. The results show that removal of DBT via ECODS increases with temperature rising. After 10 minutes for the ECODS reaction, the DBT removal efficiency was 38.47% at 40  °C, while 80.36% at 60  °C. Also, the DBT removal efficiency became stable for all three temperatures after an hour. These results depict the superior catalytic activity at 60  °C. However, the excessive higher temperature will lead to thermal decomposition of H2O2, thus low desulfurization efficiency [14]. As a result, although the catalytic effect is sluggish at 40  °C, which took around 1 h to remove about 99% of sulfur, it is economically preferred due to low energy cost and higher H2O2 stability. In addition, the durability of (STA)6PW9V3 was investigated on DBT removal for five interval cycles. The results show that, the catalyst keeps around 98 % of its activity after consecutive 5 cycles (Fig S8). Furthermore, the catalyst, (STA)6PW9V3 , reserved all its characteristic peaks without significant shift after the durability test (Fig S9). The ECODS capability of DBT, BT, 4,6-DMDBT were evaluated using (STA)6PW9V3 as catalyst. The achieved desulfurization efficiency were about 99.14%, 91.09% and 71.06% for DBT, 4,6-DMDBT and BT at 40  ºC within 1 h, respectively, as shown in Fig 3. The data reflects the superior ECODS efficiency of DBT compared to 4,6-DMDBT and BT resulting from distinct electron density of BT (5.739), DBT (5.758) and 4,6-DMDBT (5.760) [15]. Thereby, high electron density eases up sulfur removal and vice versa. However, 4,6-DMBT is the exception due to the persistence of two methyl groups in carbon chain, which cause steric hindrance [16]. 4. Conclusion In summary, the Keggin-type organic-inorganic framework catalysts, (Q)6PW11V, (Q)6PW10V2, (Q)6PW9V3 [Q=C18H37N(CH3)3 (STA), C16H42N(CH3)3 (HDA], C12H3N(CH3)3 (DDA)], were synthesized by ionic exchange approach for oil extraction/catalytic oxidation desulfurization. Their desulfurization efficiencies were investigated by varing reactants concentration and reaction parameters. Intriguingly, (STA)6PW9V3 with longer carbon chain and higher V content exhibits superior catalytic activity compared to its counterparts. The ECODS presents better performance compared to others systems. Furthermore, (STA)6PW9V3 exhibits a drastic durability. From the experiment, it maintained catalytic activity with 98% recovery rate after five consecutive ECODS cycles. Acknowledgment We gratefully acknowledge financial support by the NSF of China (21271038, 21071027), the China High-Tech Development 863 Program (2007AA03Z218) and analysis and testing foundation of Northeast Normal University. References [1] R. Martinez-Palou, R. Luque, Applications of ionic liquids in the removal of contaminants from refinery feedstocks: an industrial perspective, Energy Environ. Sci. 7 (2014) 2414-2447. [2] W. Jiang, W. Zhu, Y. Chang, Y. Chao, S. Yin, H. Liu, F. Zhu, H. Li, Ionic liquid extraction and catalytic oxidative desulfurization of fuels using dialkylpiperidinium tetrachloroferrates catalysts, Chem. Eng. J. 250 (2014) 48-54. [3] S. Ribeiro, A.D.S. Barbosa, A.C. Gomes, M. Pillinger, I.S. Gonà §alves, L. Cunha-Silva, S.S. Balula, Catalytic oxidative desulfurization systems based on Keggin phosphotungstate and metal-organic framework MIL-101, Fuel Process. Technol. 116 (2013) 350-357. [4] W. Zhu, H. Li, X. Jiang, Y. Yan, J. Lu, L. He, J. 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Liu, L. Xia, S. Zang, High-Efficient Oxidation–Extraction Desulfurization Process by Ionic Liquid 1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium Trifluoroacetic Acid, Energy Fuels 28 (2014) 6677-6682. [15] Z. Jiang, H. LÃÅ", Y. Zhang, C. Li, Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuel Oils, Chin. J. Catal. 32 (2011) 707-715. [16] M. Zhang, W. Zhu, S. Xun, H. Li, Q. Gu, Z. Zhao, Q. Wang, Deep oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene with POM-based hybrid materials in ionic liquids, Chem. Eng. J. 220 (2013) 328-336. Highlights A series of Keggin-type catalyst was successfully synthesized; The influence factors for catalytic oxidation desulfurization were discussed in detail; As synthesized catalyst exhibited superior catalytic activity and durability. Figure captions Fig. 1 Influence of surfactant alkyl-chain length on the catalytic oxidation of DBT. Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil (S content = 500 ppm); time = 1 h; T = 40  °C; H2O2 = 64  µL, [Bmim]PF6 = 1 mL. Fig. 2 Influence of temperature on the removal of DBT. Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil (S content = 500 ppm); (STA)6PW9V3 = 3.5 mg; time=3 h; H2O2 = 64  µL, [Bmim]PF6 = 1 mL. Fig. 3 Influence of different sulfur-containing compounds. Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil; S content (BT, DBT and 4,6-DMDBT was 250, 500 and 250 ppm respectively); (STA)6PW9V3 = 3.5 mg; time = 3 h; T = 40  °C; H2O2 = 64  µL; [Bmim]PF6 = 1mL. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Tables Table 1 Influence of different desulfurization systems on removal of DBT Reaction conditions: 5 mL model oil (S content=500 ppm); t=1 h; T =40  °C; H2O2= 64  µL, catalyst = 3.5 mg, [Bmim]PF6=1 mL 1