Waste banana plant (Musa sp.) Trunks as an Alternative source of pulp for paper making Essay

Edible Banana (Musa sp.) the plant is a gigantic herb that springs from an underground stem, or rhizome, to form a false trunk 3–6 meters (10–20 feet) high (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2006). Bananas cannot be grown anywhere because they are very sensitive to strong winds, hence, if planted on open areas, one must use windbreakers for the banana plant not to be harmed, the plant can be also planted on dry lands provided that there is a stable irrigation (Department of Agri-culture, 2010). Paper is a material made of cellulose pulp, derived mainly from wood, rags and certain grasses, processed into flexible sheets or rolls by deposit from an aqueous suspension (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008).It is the most widely used material by mankind since its discovery in China. The average dimensions of a letter sized paper is 8.27*11.69mm The aim of this study is to find out if the pulp from trunk banana is suitable for paper production. Statement of Problem General Objective This study primarily aims to find out if pulp from the banana tree trunk is a better alternative than wood pulp Specific Objectives: 1.) This study aims to find out if paper produce using banana plant trunk’s pulp is more economic than the commercially used tree trunk pulp; 2.) And to find out what is better: 100% banana plant trunk pulp of banana tree trunk pulp plus recycled paper. Hypothesis The paper made in this study will be more cost efficient than paper mass produce by companies using commercial grade wood pulp Significance of the study The paper made from the waste banana plant trunk pulp will Increase the income of the Banana farmers here in the Philippines because instead of simply discarding the Banana plant trunks after harvesting the ripe bananas, they could sell it to factories for added income Scope and Limitation of the Study This study is only limited to the use banana plant trunks and recycled paper in the creation of paper that will be produce by this study. Definition of terms Banana-a treelike tropical palm with large leaves and flower clusters that develop into a bunch of finer shaped fruit which are yellow or red when ripe(Webster’s New Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1999). Wood Pulp-a material prepared by chemical or mechanical means chiefly from wood and used in making paper and cellulose products (Webster’s New Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1999). Review of Related Literature and Review of Related Studies Banana (Musa sp.) Name for several species of the genus Musa and for the fruits these produce. The banana plant-one of the largest herbaceous plants-is said to be native in tropical Asia, but is now cultivated throughout the tropics (The Free Dictionary 2010). Wood Pulp Pulp from wood used in making cellulose derivatives (as paper or rayon) Mold and Deckle A mold is a wooden frame with wire mesh stretched on it while a deckle is just a wooden frame the same size as the mold but is has no wire mesh stretched over it. Related Studies There is a study conducted by the students of University of Cordoba and University of Pablo, Spain (2012) to characterize the banana plant residues and use it in pulping and combustion processes. Another study conducted by the North East Science and technology Institute (2008) which aims to make grease proof paper out of banana pulp fiber. Methodology Tools and Materials The waste banana plant trunk that was used in this study were taken from Brgy. Punta Tabuc, Roxas City, Capiz. The materials that were a machete,3 pcs lower banana plant trunks, a deckle, 3 pcs 10Ãâ€"7 silk screen and mesh wire screen molds, a large stainless steel pot and sodium hydroxide.

Paul Kennedys arguments on the rise and fall of great powers Essay

In the world’s history, the face of the earth has witnessed power supremacy between various countries and states. All along from the Spanish rein in their days on the sun, the Britain, France and now the US. All this scenes on the globe have a significant impact on the relative powers on the either side. The outstanding issue is not the power but forces behind that power rise, sustainability and its fall. Therefore this essay shall examine the ways of measuring this power sustainability according to the Paul Kennedy’s perspective in his argument on the rise and fall of major world powers. Introduction  Professor Paul Kennedy argues about how predictable and determinable is the raising and declining of the major powers in his book entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500 to 2000. In this book he presents the parameters which are used to measure the prospects and indicators of rising and decline of world’s major power. Furthermore, arguments are presented together with empirical studies of the major world powers, which encompass both political and economical dimensions of the Great Powers. This studies rates and discusses the rise and their fall from 1500 to 1980. Additionally, apart from exclusively discussion their rise and fall, his argument goes beyond the prevalent conditions and projects the future of the US, Japan, China, European Economic Commission and USSR. The core of the Kennedy’s argument is that the strength of a power of a nation or a state can only be measured relative to the other existing powers . In this connection, the fundamental issue that he uses as a scale is the fact that major powers rising, falling and their sustainability entirely depend on the available resources and economic durability and military strength relative to its requirements for prospering. Therefore, the argument for measuring the decline or prosperity of a given world power is through military power and its inputs and the economic and productive power. The two measuring devices employed by Professor Paul Kennedy 20 year earlier are the central base for this essay paper. Through use of military and economic propensity this essay shall examine the major world powers their rise and decline. Also related to the Kennedy’s argument is the prediction of the decline of the USSR and US as a major world power or super power , while prediction of gradual but steady raise of china as a major power. The central thesis of Paul Kennedy is that the power of a state needs to be maintained and sustained. Therefore the more the power of a state increases, the more resources shall be needed to maintain. The maintenance of a power should be balance between both in military and economic power . But when more state resources are devoted towards maintaining military power in long term it weakens the power and directs it to the path of decline. While when productivity economy slightly overweighs military expenditure the power is stable and can be maintained. Therefore the key driver of the power of a state entirely relies on the economic component of the power. Thus the main argument is; power can only be maintained by a prudent balance between the creation of wealth and military expenditure. Therefore the essay shall closely look at this argument that emphasizes on the power measuring parameter using the balance between wealthy creation and military expenditure. In order to do this effectively the essay shall evaluate how reliable and valid is the argument basing on the major historical world powers; especially the Germany, France, US, Moguls of India, Ottoman Empire, USSR, China, Japan and Great Britain. Measures for rise and fall of a great power state The countries in this regard power can only be measured and gauged with each other only when their military mighty sustainability costs balances with their economic production or wealth creation through investments or production of gods and services. 0 years earlier Paul Kennedy researched, wrote and interpreted the major world power how they rose over the years into their day on sun and the dark side of their power into decline. Therefore at this point it is worthy to examine how relevant are the two measuring parameter and how realistic are they to today’s reality on our globe, traced from the past and extrapolated into the future. Economic and productive power The key driver of the power of a state entirely relies on the economic component of the power in terms of its productivity. This is because as the government running, planning and execution of the plans depends on the engine of the economy. Most evident is that, British financial strength was the single most decisive factor in its victories over France during the 19th century. Therefore in this argument Professor Kennedy argues that it is possible to detect the rise and fall of different powers in the world by looking at the economic indices. In this regard economic power dictates the power prosperity. For instance the economic dimension is important to maintain the military mighty. In this connection, economic production should overweigh or balance the expenditure to the military sector. For example Spain, Britain, France and Netherlands military expenditure overweighed their economic production that has lead to their declines since then. Addition to that, we can agree today that during the entire 19th to early 20th century the Great Britain was the fore front in the entire world as a great power. The reason for its being on the fore front was the fact that industrial revolution placed it on that position. This is can be empirically evident that Britain per capita grew from 10, 16, 25, 64, 87 and 100 in 1750, 1800, 1830, 1860, 1880, and 1900 respectively. At this time France which was a relative competitor for this great power had its per capita from 9, 9, 12, 20, 28 and 39 in 1750, 1800, 1830, 1860,1880 and 1900 respectively . Therefore gauging at these two difference in the production of the in terms of industrial per capita, it implies that the UK had an upper hand even in financing its major military operations than France therefore can maintain the slot of being major power on the globe . Another indicator that is used to measure the rising and declining power under the economic and productive power; is the relative share of the worlds manufacturing outputs. In this respect, great power states manufacturing output can really determine the peaks and troughs of power. For example UK’s output is1. 9 percent in 1750, then in 1860 it was at 19. 9 percent, and 22. 9 percent in the year 1880. While china’s starts at an index of 32. 8% in 1750 and declines to19. % in 1860, after the Taiping Rebellion and Opium Wars ; then declines further to 12. 5% in 1880. The two combinations give an insight of the power that is capable financially so that it can be able to run its functions effectively. In this light, statistics of war time indicates that during its reign Britain was capable to maintain its war expenditures effectively. Thus in 1688 to 1815 the total wartime expenses were ? 2,293,483,437 , Britain income was pitched at  Ã‚ £ 1,622,924,377. Thus it only had a balance of  £ 670,559,060. But from 1890s the US economy overtook that of Britain and Germany to become the world super power together with other political factors . Thirdly the measures can be in today’s economic environment through the use of the states share of the total world GDP which is a round $45 to $50 trillion. At this juncture Kennedy’s argument predicts the decline of the US as a world super power. Since the share of the US in the world GDP ever declining since 1945 when it over took from Britain. In fact China is a major threat to the US as a world great power. To this effect the statistics indicates that China’s total GDP will be higher than that of the US by 2025, if the trading systems are not interfered with by natural calamities or human caused activities. Military power Military power is necessary to safeguard the overall power and the economic power of the state. Military power is the symbol of real and hard power. All great powers that rose in the face of the earth had a relatively stronger military power that enabled the m defeat major battles and wars. For instance the Germany, France, Britain, Spain and Soviet Union . But that one does not exempt the central thesis of the discussion; power sustainability can only be achieved through a balance between the wealth creation and the military expenditure that do not over stretch the economy of the state. In this regard at the beginning of the 16th century, Spain was the worlds and European great power with excellent armed forces . This made it powerful. But the argument is the measure for this power sustainability; that makes it relative to either prevail or decline. Therefore fort the Spain’s case, this excellent army required sustenance from economic resources. Which were over spent on a higher scale from Spain’s mismanaged resources, deficit budgeting and inflation. Hence in the long run it declined as a major power. The French also saw the same way as Spain at end of the 17th. Whereby France mismanaged its economic resources that was largely used for supporting an increasingly expensive regular armed forces until the period of the American Revolutionary that led to the French Revolution making this expenditures too huge for the economy top support that ended in a bankruptcy ; hence its decline. Britain on the other hand had to have a loan to finance its military campaigns, making it use more of the resources than what it creates as economical input. On the other hand the on his prediction for decline of the US as a major world power in terms of it’s overstretch on the military expenditures, it is evident that US is spending too much on the military. For instance nuclear full-fleet carrier of the US navy that is 20 storey high, that displaces105, 000 tonnes of water. This total expenditure for construction is about $28 billion , which is greatest budget ever in the world’s history. In general, US defense budget only accounts for just over half of total defense expenditure in the world. This together with other reasons makes US ever crisis as a super power. Conclusion The argument of Kennedy Paul about the rise and fall of the world’s greatest powers over human history is to a great extend valid. However it is not 100% accurate and any where in this universe it can not happen. Basing on his central thesis of the argument that; the power measuring parameter using the balance between wealthy creation and military expenditure. The essay has explored these measuring devises used by professor Paul indeed there is some validity in this claims. For instance, china over currently has concentrated on the wealth creation by production and controlled minimal military expenditure: has seen to pose a threat to US supremacy. Therefore whenever the governance system fails to balance there scorecards between the economic output and inputs to sustain military force activities the decline shall be knocking at the door. Whereas the reverse is true.

Against racism Essay

Racism dates back thousands and thousands of years back to the caveman times. In the short story â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, Kate Chopin shows how discrimination by skin color can affect people. Desiree was abandoned and raised by Madame Valmonde. Armand, the father of the baby, was a member of the most notable families in Louisiana. He falls in love with Desiree and marries her. After they have a baby, their relationship quickly corrodes. A few months later, Armand realizes the baby’s skin has a darker tint than usual. He accuses Desiree of being black. Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave so Desiree takes the baby and â€Å"disappears among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou† (Chopin 91) and never returns. Armand finds out that Desiree is black when he reads a letter that her mother sent her that read â€Å"she belongs to the race which is cursed with the brand of slavery† (Chopin 92). The story†™s ironic ending has a connection with the story’s setting, imagery, and Chopin’s use of similies. The setting has a major role to the ironic ending because it takes place in antembellum South where blacks are not treated equally to whites. There are several hints at where and when the story takes place. First, Armand’s last name, Aubigny, was â€Å"one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana† (Chopin 89) which tells us it takes place in Louisiana. Also, Chopin says that Armand owns a plantation and many slaves which wouldn’t have been possible after the Civil War times showing that the story takes place during the antebellum period. The name of Armand’s plantation, L’Abri, is also ironic because it means â€Å"the shelter† in French which is ironic for Desiree because it is a bad place for her not a good place. Chopin explains how â€Å"there was something in the air menacing her peace†. The story wouldn’t take place in any other time period or location because if it did, Desiree wouldn’t be discriminated for being black, therefore wouldn’t of run of into the bayou along with the baby. Chopin’s use of imagery leads up to the irony at the end of the story the greatest because Chopin contrasts black and white skin colors. First, Chopin explains how Armand’s plantation is all full of dark colors. â€Å"The roof came down steep and black†¦branches shadowed it like a pall† (Chopin 89). This initial imagery shows Armand’s control. When Armand’s father ran the plantation, he was very nice to the slaves and treated them humanly, but when Armand took the plantation over he was very harsh and cruel, â€Å"under it, his negroes had forgotten how to be gay† (Chopin 89). Armand has a â€Å"dark, handsome face† (Chopin 90). This symbolizes Armand’s hatred and is a foreshadow to the end when it turns out Armand is black. Desiree, on the other hand, is always surrounded by light colors. For example, when she is leaving the plantation towards her death, she was still wearing a thin, white garment, and, â€Å"her hair was uncovered and the sun’s rays brought a golden glean from its brown meshes† (Chopin 91). The colors they are surrounded by also illustrate their personalities. While Desiree, who is â€Å"beautiful and gentle, af fectionate and sincere† (Chopin 88) is surrounded by light, Armand, is â€Å"imperious and exacting† (Chopin 90) is surrounded by dark. The similes that Chopin uses also leads up to support the ironic ending by showing Armand’s emotional changes and Desiree’s feelings of rejection. Most of the similes to describe Armand’s actions happen when he falls in love with Desiree. Even though they knew each other since he was eight years old, he didn’t fall in love with her until they were in their twenties. Chopin explains that sudden love, â€Å"as if struck by a pistol shot† (Chopin 88) was the way everyone in Armand’s family fell in love. Two similes that explain Desiree’s shock add to the ironic twist at the end of the story. First, Desiree realizes her baby is not white and her blood, â€Å"turned like ice in her veins† (Chopin 90). Later, Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave and Desiree turns away â€Å"like o ne stunned by a blow† (Chopin 91). This is how Chopin’s use of similes connect to the ironic ending. The main conflict in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† is ultimately race. This story’s use of similes and imagery, along with the setitng, make for a good ironic ending in which Armand is really black not Desiree. Therefore, racism kills. Racism dates back thousands and thousands of years back to the caveman times. In the short story â€Å"Desiree’s Baby†, Kate Chopin shows how discrimination by skin color can affect people. Desiree was abandoned and raised by Madame Valmonde. Armand, the father of the baby, was a member of the most notable families in Louisiana. He falls in love with Desiree and marries her. After they have a baby, their relationship quickly corrodes. A few months later, Armand realizes the baby’s skin has a darker tint than usual. He accuses Desiree of being black. Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave so Desiree takes the baby and â€Å"disappears among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou† (Chopin 91) and never returns. Armand finds out that Desiree is black when he reads a letter that her mother sent her that read â€Å"she belongs to the race which is cursed with the brand of slavery† (Chopin 92). The story’s ironic ending has a connection with the story’s setting, imagery, and Chopin’s use of similies. The setting has a major role to the ironic ending because it takes place in antembellum South where blacks are not treated equally to whites. There are several hints at where and when the story takes place. First, Armand’s last name, Aubigny, was â€Å"one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana† (Chopin 89) which tells us it takes place in Louisiana. Also, Chopin says that Armand owns a plantation and many sl aves which wouldn’t have been possible after the Civil War times showing that the story takes place during the antebellum period. The name of Armand’s plantation, L’Abri, is also ironic because it means â€Å"the shelter† in French which is ironic for Desiree because it is a bad place for her not a good place. Chopin explains how â€Å"there was something in the air menacing her peace†. The story wouldn’t take place in any other time period or location because if it did, Desiree wouldn’t be discriminated for being black, therefore wouldn’t of run of into the bayou along with the baby. Chopin’s use of imagery leads up to the irony at the end of the story the greatest because Chopin contrasts black and white skin colors. First, Chopin explains how Armand’s plantation is all full of dark colors. â€Å"The roof came down steep and black†¦branches shadowed it like a pall† (Chopin 89). This initial imagery s hows Armand’s control. When Armand’s father ran the plantation, he was very nice to the slaves and treated them humanly, but when Armand took the plantation over he was very harsh and cruel, â€Å"under it, his negroes had forgotten how to be gay† (Chopin 89). Armand has a â€Å"dark, handsome face† (Chopin 90). This symbolizes Armand’s hatred and is a foreshadow to the end when it turns out Armand is black. Desiree, on the other hand, is always surrounded by light colors. For example, when she is leaving the plantation towards her death, she was still wearing a thin, white garment, and, â€Å"her hair was uncovered and the sun’s rays brought a golden glean from its brown meshes† (Chopin 91). The colors they are surrounded by also illustrate their personalities. While Desiree, who is â€Å"beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere† (Chopin 88) is surrounded by light, Armand, is â€Å"imperious and exacting† (Chopin 90) is surrounded by dark. The similes that Chopin uses also leads up to support the ironic ending by showing Armand’s emotional changes and Desiree’s feelings of rejection. Most of the similes to describe Armand’s actions happen when he falls in love with Desir ee. Even though they knew each other since he was eight years old, he didn’t fall in love with her until they were in their twenties. Chopin explains that sudden love, â€Å"as if struck by a pistol shot† (Chopin 88) was the way everyone in Armand’s family fell in love. Two similes that explain Desiree’s shock add to the ironic twist at the end of the story. First, Desiree realizes her baby is not white and her blood, â€Å"turned like ice in her veins† (Chopin 90). Later, Armand tells Desiree he wants her to leave and Desiree turns away â€Å"like one stunned by a blow† (Chopin 91). This is how Chopin’s use of similes connect to the ironic ending. The main conflict in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† is ultimately race. This story’s use of similes and imagery, along with the setitng, make for a good ironic ending in which Armand is really black not Desiree. Therefore, racism kills.

Fundmntls of Intrntionl Businss Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fundmntls of Intrntionl Businss - Essay Example ctul tchnologicl dvlopmnts hv strong implictions for world trd nd output growth. Tchnologicl dvncs drsticlly rducd th trnsporttion nd tlcommuniction costs nd drmticlly chngd th structur of intrntionl trd in th sm tim. In fct, nw tchnologicl chngs lowr th nturl brrirs of spc nd tim tht sprt ntionl mrkts whil librliztion policis th rtificil brrirs to th intrntionl movmnts of goods, srvics nd cpitl. Tchnologicl dvlopmnt my b ccptd s th ngin of th conomic globliztion in th world. Th lvl of tchnology, brodly spking, cn b dfind s stock or combintion of our knowldg nd xprincs on production procss, product qulity, orgniztion of production nd mngmnt, mrkting nd srvics (Kibritcioglu, 1997). In ll countris, th primry xport sctor is mnufcturing industry, xcpt th Middl strn nd fricn countris which r rltivly rsourc bundnt nd hnc, xport minly mining sctor products or oil. Tchnologicl dvncs is th ky fctor in th growing volum of intrntionl trd of goods nd srvics. Tchnologicl gp btwn industrilizd nd dvloping countris s sourc of forign trd, on th othr hnd, my b closd ithr du to th continul dissmintion of informtion from th dvncd ons or both. Thr r mny intrntionl orgniztions tht fcilitt forign trd. mong thm th most importnt nd ctiv is World Trd Orgniztion.

Critical Practice in Community Learning and Development- Writing Assignment - 1

Critical Practice in Community Learning and Development- Writing Communities - Assignment Example The content of this paper has three main overlapping aims. The first aim is to provide a detail and specific description on why literacy practices are important for enabling community learning and development. Secondly, this paper gives a theoretical understanding by linking literacy practices with how communities make their sense of living through daily practices. The content of this paper draws attention to vernacular literacy practices, which are often devalued, overlooked, and sometimes referred to hidden literacy practices. The main purpose of writing this essay is to show how literacy practices can help improve the learning of a group of sixteen young people of mixed gender who do not attend mainstream school due to their behavior and other issues. Currently, studies in learning and teaching languages have treated writing, reading, and grammar mastery as different personal skills. This is evident since nowadays language examination is in foreign languages and vernacular differently (Barton & Hamilton 1998, p. 17). In this paper, a more holistic and social view of studying language is approved since people currently vies literacy as the ability to understand textual world in different contexts and forms both in foreign languages and mother tongue(s). Most study materials then interpret literacy as an essential social practice, something the people in a community do with a number of texts to engage in social communities’ meaning making. Literacy practices involve the construction of values, knowledge, attitude, feelings, and beliefs associated with writing and reading of certain texts within a particular context (Barton & Hamilton 1998, p. 23). Literacy practice can be helpful to the group of sixteen young people who do n ot attend school to develop their way of reading and writing since the world is totally changing. Literacy practices realization can take place in particular live events. For instance, in a concrete function where texts are

Biofuel production from waste wood - (Product Life Cycle Assessment Coursework

Biofuel production from waste wood - (Product Life Cycle Assessment (PLCA)) - Coursework Example However, wood pellets have drawbacks including requirement for large storage facilities and continuous removal and control of ashes (Chen, 2009, p 2). It is indispensable to comprehend that use of wood pellets as a substitute energy source to fossil fuels remains essential in significant reduction of global warming effects and minimal emissions of green gases. The report aims at understanding the life cycle of wood pellets and its contribution to environmental degradations. In addition, the report provides an assessment of wood pellets life cycle in relation to its human effects. Besides, the fundamental objective of the report is to assist wood pellets producers in communicating with customers. Moreover, the producers would also ensure better environmental management. Life cycle assessment (LCA) relates to an environmental evaluation device that focuses on analyzing environmental impacts associated with use of a process or product within its entire duration or life. The inherent assessment remains achievable through creation of a systematic model that can carry out quantification of energy and materials consumption and calculation of released wastes and emissions (Manyele, 2007, p 142). Such computation of effects occurs of life cycle of the process or product from raw materials extraction, production, transportation, reuse and use phases, and consequent recycling stage. Therefore, there exist four significant steps in performing LCA including last step called interpretation, life cycle impact assessment, inventory analysis, and the first step being goal and scope definition. Assessment of wood pellets life cycle is domineering in quantifying and analyzing its global warming potentials in comparison to fossil fuels. Moreover, the assessment remai ns vital in communicating with customers that constantly uses fuels and more importantly to investigate impacts of the energy on the environment. The diagram below illustrates the

Mr. Ps Case Study Solution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mr. Ps Case Study Solution - Essay Example As the report stresses  the primary objective being treatment of the patient is important for the patient and his wife to comply with the prescribed medication with the help of an outpatient’s nurse supervision. The medications include ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers, which will improve the health of the patient by stabilizing the patient for more therapeutic measures.This discussion declares that  most patients suffering from CHF diseases are adamant to undertake medication while in hospitals since they pray for their demise. Mr. P’s condition is similar, thus there is need for the patient to receive home care from his wife or the wife may hire a caregiver. The home care will involve contacting the nurse daily after referral and a weekly outpatient nurse’s visit to ensure the patient is in good condition. The patient and the caregiver should be educated on the various ways to improve the health of the patient and the consequences of failure to oblige with t he medication plan. Psychological education is important to ensure that the patient and the caregiver learn to accept the disease. The caregiver will acknowledge the essence of keeping constant communication and trust with the patient that will reduce the pain experienced due to depression and despair.  The patient will learn to become friendlier with the caregiver thus building a bond that will enable decision making easier for both parties and solve depression issues. The caregiver will learn the importance of trusting the patient on some decision making to enhance the patient feeling valuable.

THE REAL VALUE OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND HOW IT IS INCLUDED IN A Essay - 1

THE REAL VALUE OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND HOW IT IS INCLUDED IN A COMPANYS FINANCIAL STATEMENT - Essay Example The knowledge of an organization is what is at time referred to as the brain power; therefore, intelligent capital can be viewed as the intangible assets used by the company in the making of its services and products. Intellectual capital, therefore, can be assumed to be the fundamental aspects of the company’s profit and loss statements, as well as its balance sheets. As such, the value of a business is, therefore, comprised of its revenue generated through its intellectual talents, financial assets, intellectual assets, and physical assets (Barney, et al., 2001). Three elements of intellectual capital include: Human capital mainly comprises of the values provided by business employees through application of expertise and skills ‘know how’. This component of intellectual capital is not owned by a company, and therefore when an employee leaves the company, the human capital consequently decreases (Peloso, 2008). Human capital can, therefore, be used to measure how effective a company is using its people resources as a measure of innovation and creativity. Structural includes the supportive infrastructures, databases and processes of an organization that enables the human capital to function. Components of structural capital include buildings, processes, software and so on. Additionally, structural capital also includes things such as information system, proprietary databases, research and development infrastructure facilities and organization’s image. The diversity of structural capital demands that it is broken down into: process, innovation, and organization capital. Process capital includes procedures of programs and the techniques that implement and enhance the delivery of services and goods. Innovation capital includes intangible assets and intellectual properties of the corporation. Organizational capital, on the other hand

Dan Brown Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dan Brown - Research Paper Example The objective of this paper is to give the reader a thorough description about Dan Brown, details about his novels and accomplishments. Dan Brown tends to stay away from the limelight. Most of the times, the low-profile author is seen at fund-raising campaigns and seminars. A particular event that is worth quoting is the gala at his High School, Philips Exeter Academy, which he attended and announced a gift of $2.2 million to the school (Philips Exeter Academy, 2004). Despite being the author of so many bestselling novels, Dan Brown is still a friendly guy without any supernormal attitude towards others. He does not even seem to be the person who created the strange world of Da Vinci Code (Kaplan, 2009). Dan Brown, according to Kaplan, seems to be surprised that his novel started such a big controversy among the Catholic Group. He was a very religious person in his initial years of his life as he was raised an Episcopalian (Kaplan, 2009). He is much of a scientific guy and believes more in science rather than religion. He said â€Å"science makes much more sense to me†. After his graduation, Brown commenced his career in songwriting and singing. Dan Brown is 45 years of age at the moment with golden hair and blue eyes. The author wakes up early in the morning at around 4:00AM when there are no distractions and works on his novels. At this hour of the day, Dan feels more productive. He does most of his writing activities in his roof space and stops briefly after every hour to do push-ups and other exercises to stay efficient. Dan Brown’s interests in code-breaking from the early stages of his life influenced him to start writing novels which are related to underground government agencies. He graduated from the Amherst College and also studied at the Philips Exeter Academy. There he also worked as an English teacher in the day. His father was a Presidential Award winner for his book on mathematical concepts and he was also a

Personal Reflection on Early Childhood Development Essay

Personal Reflection on Early Childhood Development - Essay Example The development center I chose to observe and participate in was CB and in the following paragraphs is a breakdown of what this facility does and the theories of child development it promotes. CB is a non-profit organization which was established to provide services for families affiliated with the cancer center. The methods that this organization demonstrates very much coincide with two different theories, these being Erickson's and Piaget's approaches within the belief system of child development. It provides a very supportive, nurturing environment so individual personalities of each child can blossom forth. The developmental need of the 'whole child' is the priority of CB while at the same time responding to each families needs. The philosophy of CB is one that wants to promote personal self expression so that every child will be able to accentuate on their own potential, self worth, confidence, interests, and also have a complete sense of joy and fulfillment while in the early learning processes. There are three systematic steps associated with the program at CB and the details that have been observed are in the following bulleted outline. Learning Process the setting for cognitive development at CB is structured to a homelike atmosphere. This promotes comfortability and trust so that the children feel free to immerse themselves in the learning experience Developmental Awareness CB works wholeheartedly to match each child's progressing abilities through child and teacher interaction, though the child is allowed to decide what type of activity will be involved Developmental Goals The development goals are the key essentials of CB in order to provide a secure and sound foundation filled with a myriad of opportunities for children to grow and develop to get positive reinforcements for great achievements within the future There is various information about the program and during my tour and by personal observations; I noticed a monthly newsletter is available as well as information about different staff members in the form of essays. Also, I gathered information as to the sites fee's, enrollment, and age groups of acceptance. The fee is based on a sliding scale so it proves to be beneficial to working class families in the financial aspectual areas. As far as age groups, CB accepts six weeks of age up to kindergarten, and currently has an enrollment of 150 children, including infants. Many families search for programs for their children where they are guaranteed the employee's have the credentials necessary to properly care for their children. CB insures this as all 45 of their employee's have some form of expertise in early childhood development. Also, CB urges its employee's to become actively involved in the workshops that are available on a monthly basis to further their current knowledge. Those without a CDA (Child Development Associate Degree) go through precisive staff training. As aforementioned, CB follows closely in the footsteps of cognitive theorists such as Piaget and Erickson. The CB structure promotes active exploration through interaction with adults and other materials. It is a fact that the stage involving the development of sensorimotor is one of the most detrimental because

Wages v. Wages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wages v. Wages - Essay Example The couple moved with their two children. In light of the decision to move to Kentucky, the mother went to court again requesting a change of custody. She argued that the move to relocate was based on her strong belief that it would be disadvantageous to their child. In her motion, she requested that she did not want to end the relationship between her daughter and her former husband. The father responded by accusing her former wife as a woman who lacked motherliness prior to their divorce. He also pointed out that the mother’s current husband had left her twice and that she had two different jobs and was not in a position to cater for their child appropriately. He wanted to be granted full custody or be relieved from paying child support (Sharp, W. and Antoon, 2005, P.73). He also wanted to stop paying for the child’s hospital insurance unless the court granted him full custody of the child. While the mothers intention to move to Kentucky and leave the child with her former husband was with good intention, it was perceived that it would result in a significant change of circumstances. She was also not best suited to have custody of the child as the former husband had more people whom would help him raise the child much better than the mother would. There was no significant evidence found by the court that moving the child to Kentucky would result in a great change in circumstances. The father was not granted custody. (Sharp, W. and Antoon, 2005, P. 73) The second ruling was made based on the present facts. Custody was not granted to the father as the mother’s motion to change custody was denied. The reversal of the earlier judgment was as a result of the mother’s failure to show the court that she was better suited to have custody. An appropriate visitation schedule was deemed to be better than changing custody basing on the facts present at that

Memo- Gazprom and Itera Essay Example for Free

Memo- Gazprom and Itera Essay In the case study of Gazprom and Itera, we see how different companies and governmental organizations can potentially be able to exploit a large company such as Gazprom for a large profit. Gazprom is a large gas and oil company that is valued very cheaply compared to other large oil and gas companies (such as Exxon Mobil). Browder is a shareholder of Gazprom that identifies several questionable transactions that were done by Gazprom and other organizations that have relationships with Gazprom. He is questioning why the undervaluation could have occurred based on the business being conducted by the oil giant. The problem that exists for Gazprom is that the market perceives the company to have lost 99 percent of its assets, completely devaluing the price of its goods. In reality, only 10 percent of its assets were stolen, and the market is slowly trying to catch up to that truth. Browder is attempting to identify the transactions in order to solve the large problem at hand. These transactions include organizations that work with Gazprom such as Itera (a gas trading company) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (their internal auditor) devaluing the gas and oil Gazprom held in certain situations and reselling it for a profit. In one example, Itera bought gas valued at $35 a barrel from Turkmen gas and resold it to Gazprom for $45 a barrel. PwC thought this difference was acceptable due to transportation costs, even though those were already taken care of separately. In general, the lack of transparency and accountability being administered by management in Gazprom and its partner companies was a fail ure to its stockholders. Browder’s recommendations to the Russian government are vital, mainly due to the fact that it has a 38% controlling stake in Gazprom. Because the vast majority of the operations conducted by Gazprom occur within Russia’s boundaries, it is up to the government to set the correct standards and close loopholes so that organizations and individuals will not exploit such situations. Browder’s recommendations to the U.S. and to the Board of Directors of Gazprom could be essential for enacting change within the  corporate environment to prevent such scrupulous transactions. Though these changes could prove helpful in the reorganization of the company in the long run, the international political environment does not provide Gazprom with the best situation. The fact that Russia’s governmental body has so much stake in the company can greatly complicate things due to the personal influence of those running the government. Several members of the Russian government could fulfill a personal agenda using the government’s stake in the company as leverage (this could have been the case potentially with these transactions). This is also the case with PwC and Itera, both with a lot of power to take advantage of loopholes and other lucrative situations when it comes to Gazprom. There are several things Browder can do to combat this situation, but I think his strategy will be a difficult one to execute alone. He would need to collect more shareholder power before he steps forward with the resolutions. Involving the U.S. and Russian government will be difficult due to the lethargic manner in which these situations can be resolved. Taking care of the company from within should be he first move, but only with the appropriate number of people backing his plan.

India during The Great Recession

India during The Great Recession India during the ‘Great Recession Introduction: Economists called the financial crisis of the 2007 2009 as the â€Å"Great Recession†, since it is a critical factor and vital cause for the failure of many businesses and significant influencer that has worsened many economies. After US busted out the housing bubble, this raised the rates of sub-prime and mortgage rates. India, the country which is fully an export driven economy like many other countries, the GDP of India mainly relies on domestic consumption. If a countrys GDP is based on domestic consumption, then how this financial tsunami did left vestige in India. The software industry, though not a prime deterministic factor for Indian economy, contributes notable financial transactions towards Indian economy. This brought flow of foreign funds in to the economy. The portfolio investments are visible in the Indian stock exchanges where foreign borrowings and FDI inflows remain less visible. When the global economies started decelerating, all these three factors bound t o decease, which caused an impact on Indias emerging economy. The following essay is presented in a macroeconomic perspective, when the period of growth alternated to a period of stagnation, how Indian economy faced the crisis and how government and Reserve Bank of India responded by taking various steps to handle the economic downturn. Effects in Indian Economy India, after a subsequent growth, experienced a decline in its economy due to the global economic downturn. Faced many uncertainties like stumbling industrial growth, reduced foreign exchange and diminishing rupee value. This economic instability gave a worst hit in Indian economic portfolio by acutely affecting Indian banks. Many public sector units and banks, who invested money into derivatives, were funded by Lehman Brothers Inc and Meryl Lynch Inc for the exposure in the derivatives market. As Lehman Brothers Inc dissolved, many companies including leading banks in India filed losses for few hundred million dollars. The impact of this huge financial crisis affected not only the financial markets primarily, but also the Indian IT industry, availability of global funds, and decrease in exports. Reduced Availability of Global Funds The availability of the global funds, which is accounted as one of the major driving force of the emerging economies like India, was considerably less. The initial stage experienced a rise in the interest rates and the equity prices were affected as the funds transformed into bonds. This less inflow didnt affect the GDP of the Indian economy, since it holds the larger share on its domestic household savings. Indian companies, which relied on the foreign funds for its trading activities, were allowed less access, which affected corporate profitability due to high interest rates, created large demand for the domestic fund access and peer supply pressure restricted from capacity increase. Effects in Indian Exports India faced a sudden decline in its exports during this economic crisis, as a piece of Indian economy is a sole dependent on exports. In October 2008, after 35% growth in the previous months, filed its decrease in exports calculated to 15%, and shipments decreased to 33.33%, recorded to be a largest drop ever. This drop affected many industrial sectors right from the manufacturing goods to jewellery exports. This fall in the exports which lead to many job losses estimated to be 1million and closure of many small units. Effects in Indian IT Industry As discussed above, one of the main tools to transact and access the flow of foreign funds is the Indian IT industry, which contributes significantly a mind share towards the Indian GDP. Indian IT companies are well accredited for its quality software and services, well stated to be a major employment opportunity creator. Since, India has abundant labor resources and plays a major service provider across the globe. Many foreign companies are attracted to the Indian IT companies for its software development and for its service outsourcings. The recent outsourcing boom into India from the foreign countries mainly from US left an impact in the in the IT industry, which is accounted to be a major player in employment and foreign exchange. Approximately 60% of the Indian IT sectors revenue is fully based only on the US suppliers. Around 30% of the industrys revenue is generated from the financial services companies from US. Indian companies were appreciated for its flexibility in work, Qu ality product deliveries and for its efficient services. As there were no intense partnering between Indian firms and major financial services, major share of the IT firms were saved from the impact of the recession. Even though, some Indian IT companies partnered with US financial companies like Lehman Brothers Inc and Meryl Lynch Inc affected a little. This slowdown in the US economy lead 70% of the firms to negotiate for lower rates with their suppliers and nearly 60% have cut back the contracts. The sudden fall in the US economy reduced the growth of Indian IT firms down by 2-3%. Now and then many new outsourcing opportunities were given to the Indian companies from the US firms, which involved in mergers and acquisitions, since the companies would look forward to reduce its selling, general and administrative costs through offshore developments. Even when some firms were affected a little in the economic downturn, however this crisis created equal opportunities in the outsourcing side of the IT industry. Effects in Indian Financial Industry The Indian financial market remained resilient, when the foreign institutional investors disappeared. As the impact of the economic crisis, the mental attitude of investors took a drift to withdraw from risky markets ended with substantial capital outflow that led to a liquidity crunch putting Indian stock market under huge pressure. Indian market continued to be healthier since its prime drive is through domestic consumption which includes productivity in agricultural sector, domestic infrastructure products and through small medium enterprises. Indian banks have gained the investors trust and have most of the deposits, since most of the banks are nationalized and the investments are protected by the Indian Government. Even though the domestic banking is secure as the nationalized banks remain the core of the system. This economic crisis created fragility as many banks invested the investments of US financial firms into the derivatives. Many other factors like decline in the foreign exchange reserves held by Reserve Bank of India, diminished value of rupee with respect to US dollar value, and decline in the share value of the stocks. Steps for the Recovery Efforts made by the Reserve Bank of India to stop the depreciating rupee value led to a proportionate fall in the foreign reserves value of India. The Indian economy experienced a high inflow of money in the form of capital investment. This decreased the value of rupee with dollar; India faced a large trade deficit and factor payments abroad such as debt repayment and profit repatriation. Along with this the stock market side also showed a decline after its steady increase during previous months. The government of India and the Reserve Bank of India started responding to this challenge by following various efforts and procedures in order to maintain a free flow position of rupee liquidity, maintain the foreign exchange liquidity and maintain it credit tracks through strict monetary policies to avoid inflationary pressures. But however, it changed its current approach towards the current scenario eased the monetary constraints by reducing the interest rates, reduced the quantum of bank reserves impounded by central bank and expanded with liberalization to refinance facilities for export credit. To manage the foreign exchange, the Reserve Bank of India made an upward adjustment on interest rate ceiling on the foreign deposits by non-resident Indians. Substantially relaxed the external commercial borrowings regime for corporate. It allowed access to foreign borrowing to non banking financial companies and housing companies. The Reserve Bank of India even took many unconventional measures to boost up the economy from the liquidity scenario. Many Indian banks were given a currency swap facility especially for Indian rupee and US dollar to fulfill the short term fund requirements. IT also supported many non banking financial organizations through an exclusive refinancing channel. Housing and exports were boosted to reach higher levels by enabling the lending resources even to small industries. In addition to the various efforts of the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Government of India constituted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act to make the fiscal sustainable in the global economic crisis. The emergency act by the government of India seeks a relaxation from the fiscal targets. Two fiscal acts were launched. Both the fiscal acts valued around 3% of the GDP, which included agricultural farmer loan waiver, infrastructure investments, additional coverage for SMEs and public spending. These fiscals were injected to stimulate demand. As the result the amount accounting to 7% of the GDP made available in the financial system. India is witnessing a mixed result of growth prospects in this economic downturn. The services sector which accounts for the 57% of the Indias GDP and has been the prime growth engine in the last five years is slowing mainly in the construction, transport, communication, trade, hotels and restaurants. Indias exports which account for 15% of the economy grew 3.4% to 168.7 billion in the fiscal year ended march 3108, missing a target of 200 billion set by the government. Corporate margins were down due to the high input costs and the weakened demand. Business confidence had been affected due to the uncertainty in the economic condition. India certainly had some advantages in this financial crisis. The inflation fell sharply, faster than expected, which is measured by the wholesale price index. Thus the fall in inflation should revive consumer demand and reduce costs for the corporate. Fiscal prices will open up the spending on the infrastructure developments as the decline in the global crude oil and naphtha prices will reduce the amount of subsidy given to the oil and fertilizer companies. Imports are expected to shrink more than the exports, to keep the current account deficits at some modest levels. The banking system in India with its well capitalized and prudently regulated measures, helped to sustain the financial market stability to a larger extent. Gaining confidence from the foreign investors on Indian economy is an additional plus, due to the comfortable levels of foreign reserves. The negative impact of the wealth loss effect in the capital markets that have plagued the developed countries will not affect India because majority of Indians have bordered themselves away from assets and equity markets. Credit for agriculture will also remain unaffected because of Indias mandated priority sector lending. The farm waiver package from the government acts as an additional insulation to the agricultural sector. Indias several social safety and awareness programs e.g. the rural employment guarantee program, will protect the poor and migrants from ill effects of global crisis. Conclusion Thus the global financial crisis made a hit in the Indian economy. After severe uncertainties in various sectors such as IT industry in India, Financial market in India, Non availability of global funds and impact in the export business have given broader outlook to the impact of the global financial crisis, starting from US and how it had en route to India. All the fields were discussed with several insights on how the various industries have been affected by this economic downturn, some had opportunities to grow and some were flattened, since the Indian economy is one of the emerging economies in the world, which recorded to be the least affected by this economic crunch. Even government faced a wide range a problems during this credit crunch. The Indian Government and The Reserve Bank of India, worked collaboratively with consultation and coordination, after initiating and implementing various processes, rules and acts, kept this huge economic problem under control. Thus the global economic crisis is inevitable till the economy of the developed, developing countries become stable and self sustainable. The effects of the economic downturn are a test to check the financial stabilities in market and regulations across the global economy.

Evolution Of Speaker Manufacturing English Language Essay

Evolution Of Speaker Manufacturing English Language Essay A speaker is an electrical device that converts electrical signals to mechanical motion in order to create sound waves. A transducer, which is another name for a speaker, is a device that converts one form of energy to another. The speaker moves in accordance with the variations of an electrical signal and causes sound waves to propagate through a medium such as air or water. The first electrical speaker, patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, was for the earpiece of the telephone. This design was later improved upon by Ernst Siemens and Nicola Tesla in 1877 and 1881 respectively. Siemens and Tesla used a metal horn driven by a membrane attached to a stylus to create the design of what would be the basis for the modern speaker. Thomas Edison was working on a design at this time using compressed air as the amplifying mechanism. He quickly found this was not the most effective way to create the mechanical waves that produce sound. He quickly withdrew his application for a patent an d settled on the metal horn design. The metal horn speaker is a speaker which can be found on antique record players. Metal Horn Speaker Moving Coil Speaker The modern design of the moving coil driver was established by Oliver Lodge in 1898. Lodge was a British physicist and writer that was involved in many key patents involving wireless telegraphy. In 1915, Magnavox emerged as the first public company to produce a loudspeaker. This design was the first practiced use of the moving coil drivers in a loudspeaker. Magnavox was started in that same year by Edwin Pridham and Peter L. Jensen. The companys focus was on developing consumer electronics. They would later go on to be the first to develop a phonograph loudspeaker. Today Magnavox is owned by one of the world leaders in electronics, Phillips. In 1924, Chester W. Rice and Edward W. Kellogg received the first patent on the moving-coil principle, direct radiator, and loudspeaker. Their patent was different from the previous attempts because of the adjustment of mechanical parameters in their design. The fundamental resonance of the moving system takes place at a lower frequency than that at which the cones radiation impedance becomes uniform. In 1926, Rice and Kellogg sold the loudspeaker, Radiola which was superior to anything else previously invented because it decreased sound distortion and improved audio quality for the buyer. These speakers used electromagnets instead of large powerful magnets in their design. The electro magnets were used because larger, more powerful magnets were not available at a cheap enough price at the time. In the 1930s, manufactures began placing two or three band passes worth of drivers in their speakers, which allowed for increased quality, sound pressure levels, and frequency response. Many of the components involved in the production of modern speakers have been improved upon from their initial designs. The biggest improvements have occurred mainly in the makeup of the materials in the speaker and in the enclosure design. The diaphragm materials and permanent magnet materials are some of the other speaker components which have improved throughout the years. With the advent of computer aided design and increased accuracy in measuring techniques, the development of the speaker and quality of sound have grown exponentially in recent years. The modern loudspeaker has a similar makeup to that of earlier designs, but some of the basic ideas behind the design have changed to give us the speaker we have today. The Modern Speaker Modern speakers use a permanent magnet and an electromagnet to induce the reciprocating motion of the diaphragm. The alternating current going through the electromagnet constantly reverses the magnetic polarity of the coil thus reversing the forces between the voice coil and the permanent magnet. This causes a rapid back and forth motion of the coil resembling that of a piston. When the coil moves it causes the diaphragm to vibrate the air in front of the speaker, creating sound waves. The frequency and amplitude of the electrical audio signal dictates the rate and distance that the voice coil moves thus determining the frequency and amplitude of the sound waves produced by the diaphragm. Drivers are only able to create sound in a given range of frequencies, thus many different types of drivers must be manufactured to account for the wide range of possible frequencies. The main components of the modern speaker are the diaphragm, permanent magnet, suspension, voice coil, and basket with three other important features being coaxial drivers, speaker enclosures, and audio amplifiers. In the following sections we will break down each component and investigate the improvements of each component including those in the material selection and the manufacturing process. Diaphragm One of the main components of a speaker is the diaphragm, sometimes called a speaker cone. The diaphragm can also be referred to as the diaphragm and its surrounding assembly including the suspension and the basket. However for our purposes the suspension and the basket will be individually discussed in later sections. Movement of the diaphragm causes sound waves to propagate from the speaker thus producing the noise we hear. The ideal properties of a diaphragm are minimal acoustical breakup of the diaphragm, minimal standing wave patterns in the diaphragm, and linearity of the surrounds force-deflection curve. The diaphragm stiffness and damping qualities plus the surrounds linearity and damping play a crucial role in reproducing the voice coil signal waveform. Eighty five percent of the diaphragms sold worldwide are made of cellulose fibers because they can be easily modified by chemical or mechanical means to giving it a practical manufacturing advantage not found in other common diaphragm materials, although reproducibility can be a problem. The lack of reproducibility can affect imaging, depending on the precision and quality of production. Cellulose is also advantageous over other diaphragm materials because of its low cost to produce. Although Cellulose works well as a diaphragm, new synthetic materials are emerging that are more lightweight, allowing for better audio quality, reduced distortion, and increased vibration and shock durability. These materials include polypropylene, polycarbonate, Mylar, silk, fiberglass, carbon-fiber, titanium, aluminum, aluminum-magnesium alloy, and beryllium. Polypropylene is the most common plastic material used in a diaphragm. The polypropylene is normally mixed with a filler, such as Kevlar, to reduce the manufacturing costs or it can be to alter the mechanical properties of the diaphragm. Polypropylene diaphragms have been increasingly more popular with the advancements in modern adhesive technology. Although with all plastic materials present, the material tends to have a viscoelastic creep, which is the materials tendency to slowly deform and stretch when under repetitive stresses. However, polypropylene diaphragms are still a popular choice for high performance speakers due to their consistent performance. Research is presently underway in attempts to create new plastic based materials such as TPX, HD-A, HD-I, Neoflex, and Bextrene for diaphragms. These materials generally have the same characteristics as polypropylene so the manufacturing costs cannot be justified for full production. Another option for low-frequency applications are woven fiber diaphragms. The woven fibers such as carbon fiber, fiberglass, and Kevlar are bonded together with a resin. When the high tensile strength of the woven fibers mixes with the adhesive and bonding characteristics of the resin it results in an incredibly stiff material. This stiffness results in a great low-frequency diaphragm, however the stiffness causes rough high-frequency responses. There have been numerous attempts to improve the high-frequency problems of woven fiber diaphragms such as using two thin layers of Kevlar fabric bonded together with a resin and silica microball combination and another attempt employed a sandwich structure of materials with a honeycomb Nomex core. But again, as with the advanced plastic materials, the cost of manufacturing versus the performance of the material cannot yet be justified. The final modern practical material for diaphragms is metal. Metals worst downfall is its terrible damping attributes which causes extreme high-frequency distortion. The most common metal of choice are aluminum and magnesium alloys. Due to the lack of technological advances in damping agents to add to these alloys, metal diaphragms are very rarely used in high-frequency applications. However, these alloys have been commonly used in lower end frequencies with great success. Permanent Magnet Modern driver magnets have become predominately permanent magnets. Historically this function was filled by the use of electrically powered field coils. When high-strength permanent magnets became available, they eliminated the need for the additional power supply that drove the coils. When this happened, Alnico magnets became popular. Alnico magnets are created from alloying aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. Until about 1980 Alnico magnets were primarily used but because of their tendency to become demagnetized, permanent magnets have since been made of ceramic and ferrite materials. Ferrite magnets are constructed by mixing iron oxide with strontium and then milling the compound into a very fine powder. The powder is then mixed with a ceramic binder and closed in a metal die. The die is then placed in a furnace and sintered to bond the mixture together. Sintering is the process in which the particles of the powder are welded together by applying pressure and heating it to a temperature below its melting point. Although the magnetic strength to weight ratio of ferrite magnets is lower than Alnico, it is considerably less expensive, allowing designers to use larger yet more economical magnets to reach a desired performance. In manufacturing, the most significant technical innovation of the speaker is due to the use of neodymium magnets. Currently neodymium magnets are the strongest permanent magnets known to man. For this reason neodymium magnets significantly help in producing smaller, lighter devices and improve speaker performance due to their great capacity for generating strong magnetic fields in the air-gap. A neodymium magnet is an alloy of neodymium, iron, and boron to form the molecule Nd2Fe14B. The molecular structure of this molecule is a tetragonal crystalline structure. Important properties in a magnet are the strength of the magnetic field, the materials resistance to becoming demagnetized, the density of magnetic energy, and the temperature at which the material loses its magnetism. Neodymium magnets have much higher values for all of these properties than other magnetic materials except that it loses its magnetism at low temperatures. For this reason it is sometimes alloyed with terbium and dysprosium in order to maintain its magnetic properties at higher temperatures. Suspension Another critical element in speakers is the suspension. The purpose of a suspension system is to provide lateral stability and make the speaker components return to a neutral point after moving. A typical suspension system includes two major components, the spider and the surround. The spider connects the voice coil to the frame of the speaker and provides the majority of the restoring force. The surround connects the top of the diaphragm to the frame of the speaker and helps center the diaphragm and voice coil with respect to the frame. Both components work together to make sure the diaphragm and coil assembly move strictly linearly and in line with the center of the permanent magnet. The spider is usually made of a corrugated fabric disk, impregnated with a stiffening resin. The name comes from the shape of early suspensions, which were two concentric rings of Bakelite material, joined by six or eight curved legs. The surround may be resin treated cloth, resin treated non-wovens, polymeric foams, or thermoplastic elastomers that are molded onto the cone body. An ideal surround has sufficient damping to fully absorb vibration transmissions from the cone to surround interface, and the durability to hold out against long term fatigue caused by prolonged vibration. Advancements in suspension manufacturing have come from innovations in synthetic suspension materials. The use of synthetic materials like kevlar or konex instead of cotton, has made todays speakers much more stable than those made as recent as ten years ago. A more durable suspension means that a speakers sound quality can remain unaltered for a longer period of time. This is especially a concern for speakers that generally operate at low frequencies since lower frequency sounds are created by larger diaphragm travel and larger diaphragm travel must be supported by more suspension travel. Voice Coil The wire in a voice coil is usually made of copper, though rarely aluminum and silver may be used. Voice coil wire cross sections can be circular, rectangular, or hexagonal, giving varying amounts of wire volume coverage in the magnetic gap space. The coil is oriented co-axially inside the gap; it moves back and forth within a small circular volume (a hole, slot, or groove) in the magnetic structure. The gap establishes a concentrated magnetic field between the two poles of a permanent magnet, the outside of the gap being one pole, and the center post (called the pole piece) being the other. The pole piece and backplate are often a single piece, called the poleplate or yoke. This magnetic field induces a reaction with the permanent magnet causing the diaphragm to move thus producing the sounds we hear. Voice coils can either be overhung, longer than the magnetic gap, or underhung, shorter than the magnetic gap, depending on its application. Most voice coils are overhung thus preventi ng the coil from being overdriven, a problem that causes the coil to produce significant distortion and removes the heat-sinking benefits of steel causing the speaker to heat rapidly. The most important characteristic of a voice coil is that it be able to withstand large amounts of mechanical stresses and also be able to dissipate heat to its surroundings without causing damage to the speakers other components. In early loudspeakers the voice coil was wound onto paper bobbins to remove heat from the system. At the time this was enough to cool the system at average power levels but as larger amplifiers became available allowing for higher power levels new technologies had to emerge. To cope with the increasing power inputs the use of alloy 1145 aluminum foil was widely used as a substitute for the paper bobbins. Aluminum was popular to industry due to its low cost to manufacture, its structural strength, and it was easy to bond to the voice coil. However, problems with the foil emerged over extended use at increased power levels. The first problem was the foil tended to transfer heat from the voice coil into the adhesives used inside the speaker causing them to thermally degrade or even burn. The second problem was the motion of the aluminum foil inside the magnetic gap created currents that actually increased the temperature of the voice coil, thus causing long-term reliability issues. In 1955 a new material was developed called Kapton, a polyimide plastic film, to replace the aluminum foil. Kapton solved all the problems that were associated with the aluminum foil however Kapton or even its improved cousin Kaneka Apical, were not perfect. Both high-tech materials were costly to manufacture and had a tendency to soften when heated. Although Kapton and Kaneka Apical had their downfalls they became the most widely used coating for voice coils until 1992 when a material called Hisco P450 was developed. Hisco P450 is a thermoset composite created by using a thin film of fiber glass cloth and impregnating it with a polyimide resin. This combination allowed for necessary mechanical strength and endurance of the polyimide and necessary temperature resistance and stiffness of fiberglass. Hisco P450 was able to withstand the grueling temperature requirements of professional speakers while also maintaining enough rigidity to withstand the mechanical stresses associated with long-term, high-frequency motions. In recent years the copper wire that is almost always used as the voice coil has been replaced sparingly with aluminum wire in extra sensitive, high-frequency applications. The aluminum wire is lighter than the copper wire and has about two thirds of the electrical conductivity allowing the wire to move at higher frequencies inside the magnetic gap. Variations of the aluminum wire include copper-clad aluminum and anodized aluminum. Copper-clad aluminum allows for easier winding along with an even more reduced mass. The anodized aluminum is effectively insulated against shorting which removed the concerns of dielectric breakdown. Aluminum wires are great lightweight, low-inductance choices for voice coils however, they do have their downfalls. The thermal characteristics of aluminum causes power limitations with the coil. If too much power is passed through the aluminum coil it can cause the adhesive bonds between the wire and the bobbin, or the bobbin to the spider and coil to weaken or even burn. To cope with the ever increasing power demands on the voice coil in addition to wrapping the coil in some high-tech material to increase its thermal properties, the voice coil has also been submerged in a ferrofluid, an oil that is used to conduct heat away from the voice coil and also creates a small magnetic field thus increasing the power handling capacity of the voice coil. Basket The basket or frame (as seen below) is the fixture used to hold the diaphragm, voice coil, and magnet in the proper place. The rigidity of this part is extremely important to prevent rubbing of the voice coil and prevent random movements that could cause problems with the permanent magnet. The three most common types of modern baskets are cast metal baskets, rigid baskets made out of stamped steel or aluminum, and cast plastic baskets. Each type of basket offers different advantages and disadvantages; these will be discussed in the flowing paragraphs. The stronger the basket the more power the speaker can handle before failure occurs. A well made basket should have a high power rating, be lightweight, and be able to conduct heat away from the voice coil to prevent physical changes or even possible demagnetization of the permanent magnets. Cast metal (above right) baskets are the most rigid of the three in all directions, but they are the most expensive to make. Cast metal baskets are made by melting down the desired metal to liquid form. The scorching hot liquid metal is then poured into a mold and once the liquid metal dries inside the mold, the mold is removed revealing a cast metal basket. Cast metal baskets although more expensive than the other two options, usually are more rigid thus preventing motion. They also have better damping characteristics, and they are also more easily manufactured allowing for more intricate shapes. Cast metal baskets are usually the preferred basket choice for higher quality speakers. A less expensive and yet less rigid basket can be made out of stamped steel. The stamped steel or aluminum sheets arrive to the manufacturer preformed. The sheets are then drilled using a hydraulic press to cut holes in the sheet to allow air flow to and from the diaphragm. The sheet is then pressed using another hydraulic press using a die to form the desired shape. Stamped metal baskets tend to be weaker than their cast metal counterparts. This weakness could cause the basket to flex if the speaker is being used at high volumes. The final option, which is even less expensive, is a cast plastic basket. Cast plastic baskets are made by using the liquid plastic and pouring it into the desired shaped mold. When the liquid plastic dries the mold is removed revealing a cast plastic basket. Just like cast metal baskets, cast plastic baskets are easily manufactured allowing for intricate shapes. The lightweight characteristics of the plastic would also make the speaker lighter allowing for smaller power consumption. However, as with most engineering decisions, the performance of the part proportionally decreases as the cost to produce the part decreases. The decreased cost of production of the plastic basket means that it is a weaker basket. This weaker, plastic basket will allow for the most flexing as compared to cast metal and stamped steel baskets. The power rating of the speaker would also be less than that of the metal baskets, both cast and stamped, due to the weaker strength characteristics of plastic in com parison with metal. Coaxial Drivers Coaxial drivers are the components of a speaker that radiates sound from the same point or axis. This is done by placing a high-frequency driver in the center of a low-frequency driver so that they produce sound waves from a single point in a loudspeaker system rather than separate locations. This allows for a more beneficial design over having the low and high frequency drivers separate. There are many different types of drivers and each driver produces sound within a limited frequency range. Subwoofers, woofers, mid-range drivers, and tweeters are all driver types capable of emitting different ranges of sound. A coaxial driver takes one of these higher frequency drivers and places it within a lower frequency driver. For example, a tweeter, the high frequency unit, could be placed in the center of a woofer, the low frequency unit, so that both drivers emit sound from the same point. This example can be seen in the images below. This design, which improves sound quality, was first de signed by Altec Lansing in the 1940s. Although it has many advantages, it is still an uncommon practice in the manufacturing of speakers due to technical and budgetary considerations. Enclosures The enclosure of a loudspeaker serves three functions and is made with a specific design that helps improve the quality of the sound produced by the speaker. The first function the enclosure performs is separation of the sound waves. It accomplishes this by preventing sound waves generated at the back of the speaker from interacting destructively with sound waves generated at the front of the speaker. The enclosure is intended to reduce distortion created because the waves that emanate from the front of the speaker are out of phase with the waves emanating from the rear of the speaker. If the front and rear waves were to overlap with one another it would result in wave interference. The second function the enclosure serves is to stop any echo and reverberation that would be created from the two differing sound source locations on the speaker. Because waves are created at the front and rear of the speaker, the two different sets of waves travel through the air differently as a result of their relative locations, and arrive at the person listening at different times. The third function the enclosure serves is to deal with the vibrations produced by the driver and to deal with the heat produced by the electronic components. Enclosures did not always have the fully enclosed container design that they now commonly have. Although present day practices say that enclosures need to have a back, before the 1950s they lacked one due to the cooling functions of an open container. Sealed enclosures, the most common type of enclosure, is completely sealed so no air can escape. With this type of enclosure the forward wave travels outward into the surroundings, while the backward wave is limited to only fill the enclosure. With a virtually airtight enclosure, the internal air pressure is constantly changing; when the driver retracts, the pressure increases and when the driver moves out, the pressure decreases. Both movements create pressure differences between the air inside the enclosure and the air outside the enclosure. Because of this, the driver motion always has to fight the pressure differences caused. These enclosures are less efficient than other designs because the amplifier has to boost the electrical signal to overcome the force of air pressure. The force due to air pressure does, however, provide an additional form of driver suspension since it acts like a spring to keep the diaphragm in the neutral position. This makes for tighter, more precise soun d production. Enclosure designs range from very simple, rectangular particle-board boxes (above left) to very complex cabinets made of composite materials (above right). The simplest enclosures are made to prevent destructive interference caused by overlapping of the front and rear sound waves from the speaker. The most complex enclosures contain acoustic insulation and internal baffles, which prevent interference. Solid materials such as heavy wood, are typically used when building enclosures in order to absorb the vibration caused by the speaker driver. This vibration dampening is extremely important. A speakers sound output would be drowned out by the drivers vibrations if there were not an enclosure incorporated into the design. Since the beginning of the production of enclosures, the most advantageous properties required for minimal energy loss through the enclosure walls have remained unchanged. Different strategies employed to reduce energy losses are to use thicker enclosure walls, denser hardwood plys and sturdier bracing. The downside to these methods is that they all add significant weight to the enclosure. However, with the production of newer materials that possess an increased stiffness-to-mass ratio this is changing. These new materials can improve performance and reduce weight, while also reducing the cabinets resonance. The end result is that a greater amount of the speakers en ergy is delivered in the intended direction rather than into mechanical vibrations which are wasted and produce a decrease in sound quality. A recent alternative to heavy wood construction of enclosures is the use of composite materials. It was for the aerospace industry that composite materials such as carbon-fiber were originally developed. Carbon-fiber was a success because of the high demand for a material with increased strength and rigidity. Speaker applications, such as enclosures use carbon-fiber materials to create a product with a vastly decreased weight and increased strength and rigidity. Enclosures built with carbon-fiber can weigh less than half as much as enclosures built from heavy wood. These enclosures which limit the speaker resonance can provide as much as 3 dB more output than the same speaker would have otherwise had in a heavy wood enclosure. Furthermore, carbon-fiber enclosures are extremely durable adding quality to the final product and they require almost no maintenance. Even though carbon-fiber enclosures cost around twice as much to produce as traditional enclosures, the lighter weight and ext ra output offer two very advantageous tradeoffs. Amplifier An amplifier is any device that increases or decreases the amplitude of a signal. An audio amplifier increases low-power audio signals to a suitable level for loudspeakers. When dealing with a speaker there are a many audio amplifiers involved. These amplifiers are responsible for pre-amplification, equalization, tone control, and mixing effects followed by a higher power amplifier which creates the final amplification for suitable levels of sound output. Amplifiers are found in wireless receivers and transmitters, CD players, acoustic pickups, and hi-fi audio equipment. Amplifiers are used for high-quality sound production, and depending upon the quality of the amplifier, they may cause distortion, which the speaker enclosures are meant to deal with. Distortion in amplifiers is caused by difference in phases of the output waveform and the input waveform. The smaller the difference in between the output and input waveforms the greater the quality of final sound. Audio amplifiers cons ist of resistors, capacitors, power sources, wires, semiconductors, and stereo jacks all combined on an electronic work board to produce the type of amplifier needed. Types of Speakers Woofers are loudspeaker drivers designed to produce sounds of low frequency from around 40 hertz up to around 1000 hertz. The most common design for a woofer is the electro-dynamic driver, using a stiff paper cone driven by a voice coil. Woofers are important to allow for a range of frequency that will hit a low level. Effective woofer designs efficiently convert low frequency signals to mechanical vibrations. The vibration of the air out from the cone creates concentric sound waves that travel through the air. If this process can be done effectively, many of the other problems speakers run into will be greatly reduced such as linear excursion. For most speakers the enclosure and the woofer must be designed to work hand in hand. Usually the enclosure is designed around the woofer, but in some rarer cases the enclosure design can actually dictate the woofer design. The enclosure is made to reflect the sounds at the right distance, so that they will not be wave cancelling reflections. Below you can see an example of a common woofer. A subwoofer is a woofer with a diameter between 8 and 21s. Subwoofers are made up of one or more woofers. They can be arranged in many different configurations to produce the best quality of sound. Subwoofers usually play frequencies between 20 hertz and 200 hertz, well within the range of human auditory levels. The first subwoofer was created in the 1960s and added to the home stereo to create bass for sound reinforcement. Up until this point the only form of audio player which contained bass was a phonograph player which was created by Magnavox. This allowed for a more accurate array of music. Subwoofers are used in all sound systems today such as in cinemas, cars, stereos, and for general sound reinforcement. A mid-range speaker is a loudspeaker driver that produces sound between 300 hertz and 5000 hertz. These are less commonly known as squawkers. Midrange drivers can be found as cone speakers, dome speakers, or compression horn drivers. Mid-range speakers usually resemble small woofers. The most common material the cone is made out of for a mid-range is paper although they can be found to be coated or impregnated with polymers or resins to improve vibration dampening. Much of the rest of the mid-range speaker is made from plastic polymers. Mid-range speakers which employ the dome set up usually only use 90 degrees of the sphere as the radiating surface. These can be made from cloth, metal or plastic film. The voice coil in this design is set at the outer edge of the dome. Mid-range drivers are most commonly used for professional concerts and are compression drivers coupled with horn drivers. Rarely mid-range speakers can be found as electrostatic drivers. Mid-range speakers handle the most prominent part of the human-audible sound spectrum. This is the region where most sound emitted by musical instruments lie. This is also where the human voice falls in the audible spectrum. Most television sets and small radios only contain a single mid-range driver. Tweeters are a loudspeaker designed to produce frequencies from 2,000 to 20,000 hertz. Some tweeters on the market today can produce sounds of up to 45000 hertz. The human ear can generally only hear up to about 20000 hertz. The name tweeter comes from the extremely high pitch it can create. Modern tweeters are different from older tweeters because older tweeters were smaller versions of woofers. As tweeter technology has advanced, differen

Community Gardens Essay -- Personal Narrative Culture Papers

Community Gardens As I tire of the ongoing struggle between my umbrella and the wind, I look for a warm, sheltered corner to pause and pull myself together. All I see is a deserted parking lot. Frustrated, I step onto the concrete under the awning of a neighboring building and fumble with the weathered wiring of my umbrella. Fighting the torrential rain isn’t my idea of a nice afternoon as my venture to explore the picturesque EastVillage turns into hugging the side of a building to escape a storm, staring at black pavement marked and divided with white lines. As I muse over how unpleasing the aesthetics of a parking lot are, I notice a worn 8 by 11 sticker stuck to the wall of the building. The phrase Save Our Gardens frames a torn caricature of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. I wonder why someone would put up a poster in this parking lot because no one is likely to see it. The tears on the sticker stand out because they remove the first printed layer of the image. Someone who inhabited this space just as I have has made a physical statement representing his or her response to the sticker. Was it the mocking picture of Giuliani that captured their attention and inspired their resistance? Was it the gardens? Or was it the location? Regardless, it is clear that the Save Our Gardens sticker has aroused controversy. I am reminded of â€Å"Enactments of Power: The Politics of Performance Space,† an essay by Ngugi Wa Thiong’O that investigates the rich content of a performance space in the context of post-colonial Kenya. He explains that the â€Å"space is never empty† (291). According to Ngugi, even a space as sterile as a parking lot can be â€Å"the site of physical, social, and psychic forces in society† that often reveal points of contention, mani... ...l interview. 23 Feb. 2003. Geertz, Clifford. â€Å"Deep Play: Notes on a Balinese Cockfight.† The World Through Art: The Advanced College Essay. Ed. Darlene A. Forrest, Pat C. Hoy II and Randy Martin. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 145-78. Goulish, Matthew. â€Å"How Does a Work Work Where?† The World Through Art: The Advanced College Essay. Ed. Darlene A. Forrest, Pat C. Hoy II and Randy Martin. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 184-87. Greenblatt, Stephen. â€Å"Culture.† The World Through Art: The Advanced College Essay. Ed. Darlene A. Forrest, Pat C. Hoy II and Randy Martin. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 188-95. Sonia. Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2003. Thiong’O, NgugiWa. â€Å"Enactments of Power: The Politics of Performance Space.† The World Through Art: The Advanced College Essay. Ed. Darlene A. Forrest, Pat C. Hoy II and Randy Martin. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. 287-319.

Abortion Should be Illegal in American Society Essay -- The Right to Li

I must admit that the concern for the mother's safety is important, and that is exactly why abortion may not be the best option. There are many complications that affect a person after having an abortion, but I will only mention two. The first complication of having an abortion is a possibility of developing a mental disorder. The second complication is an increased risk of breast cancer. A study done by professors in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Manchester; showed that women who had an abortion have a risk of developing mental disorders (Major et al). The study also concluded that people who had prior psychological disorders have an even greater risk of developing a mental disorder, than people who did not have a history of psychological disorders (Major et al). In another study, a conclusion was reached that people that went through an abortion are more likely to develop mental disorders, than people that went through pregnancies (Reardon e t al). The research data that people use as a source for their information vary, because the amount of research done on the issue is minimal. However, the current indication is that an increase risk in psychological issues is associated with abortions. I am confident in the data that I obtained, because the information was taken from credible sources. The data that I located only mentioned that people are at risk of developing psychological disorders after abortion, but the articles did not go into detail about the specific disorders. The most remarkable danger for people that seek an abortion is an increased risk in developing breast cancer. The increased risk in breast cancer may be a compelling argument. Current studies show that people who have ... ...00. 10 Mar. 2006 . Reardon, David C., et al. â€Å"Psychiatric admissions of low-income women following abortion and childbirth.† CMAJ. 13 May 2003. 11 Apr. 2006 . Sade, Robert M. â€Å"Defining the Beginning and the End of Human Life: Implications for Ethics, Policy, and Law.† Blackwell Synergy. Mar. 2006. 11 Apr. 2006 . Turner, T. â€Å"Induced Abortion Might Elevate a Woman's Breast Cancer Risk in Later Years† JSTOR. Jan. 1995. 10 Mar. 2006 .

Movie Yasmin Essay

‘Yasmin is remarkable as a film for its cinematic economy: not a scene, shot or speech is wasted. ’ Explore some elements of the film in relation to this statement. The movie Yasmin, released in 2004 and written by the highly acclaimed writer of The Full Monty, Simon Beaufoy, is an impressive drama about what it means to be an Asian-looking Muslim in Britain of the 21st Century. The story is about the young and vivid Yasmin, a woman who tries to â€Å"succeed, by the skin of her teeth,†[1] in the two worlds she grew up in.On the one hand there is her life at home with her believing father and rebellious little brother, for whom she has to mark â€Å"time as a dutiful Muslim wife until her arranged marriage can be terminated. â€Å"[2] On the other hand there is her life outside this domesticity, where she is â€Å"like a fugitive, maintaining a double life as she changes into Western clothes, wins employee of month award at work and goes to the pub with colleag ues. â€Å"[3] One of the main topics of the movie is the difficult tension between being a religious and respectful woman and integrating into the Western society.Another important theme in the movie is the impact that the terror attacks in September 2001 had on the British Asian community in Britain. Yasmin’s story therefore deals with a wide range of themes such as discrimination, guilt, and the progress of searching for one’s own identity. It is especially â€Å"remarkable as a film for its cinematic economy (since) not a scene, shot or speech is wasted. † There are no fill-ups in this movie, everything has a meaning. This essay will explore some carefully chosen scenes of the movie concerning its sometimes hidden or masked intention and meaning.It will therefore especially concentrate on the beginning scene, which is regarded as being â€Å"the strongest part of the film†[4]. A closer look at the opening of the film is worth it since every well comp osed novel or film is creating a deliberate relationship between the beginning and the rest of the movie. It will be examined in the following, that additionally in the case of Yasmin the directors develop a consistency, a pattern of the main themes of the film, in the beginning.Everything is already there in the very first three and a half minutes; things shown in the opening reappear later in the movie; conflicts the film deals with can already be assumed in moves, placements, and pictures. It will be proven that, if taken into account every detail, every shot of the scene, the viewer will already be able to see the whole film in miniature in the beginning. The essay will therefore also have a closer look on what is shown in the opening scene and will then search for coherences and connections throughout the rest of the movie.It will hereby not go through the scene chronologically but will pick up separate shots of it and put them together in categories; although it will start wit h the first shot to which the viewer is introduced in the movie. When Khalid, Yasmin? s father, lopes over a typical grey English street followed by Nazir, Yasmin? s brother, a few steps behind him, Nazir? s bearing strikes the viewer immediately: the way he creeps a few steps behind his father with the hands in his pockets expresses discouragement, maybe even irritation.He seems to be unhappy with the situation, possibly because it? s too early in the morning, since gentle beams of sunrise just touch the wall behind them; possibly because he dislikes the purpose of their walk. His father, however, hastens to raise this purpose: in his hurry he turns around to see where his son has got to. It becomes clear that it is the father who controls the situation— that he is the leader whom the son has to follow. So apart from the obvious, the authority person walking in front might tell the viewer something about the relation between father and son.One could even go further and sugge st it might also tell something about their attitude towards life, about their religion, about the way the head of the family is treated in the Islam faith. The scene therefore implicates the parental respect of which is set value in this family. How important this topic is to Yasmin? s father Khalid becomes more and more clear during the course of the movie: he repeatedly calls for respect towards the parental authority over his children. When Yasmin is complaining about her husband and gives him humiliating names, Khalid reprehends her immediately and stresses his will with a slight slap.He even repudiates Yasmin when she dares to apply for a divorce against his will. So the viewer already gets in this very first scene, in the very first seconds, an initial impression of what domestic life in this family is about: about respect and family ties. The two move on and finally arrive at the mosque, which is gated by a metallic blind. After abandoning their shoes, Nazir and Khalid enter the interior of the mosque; and in doing so they pace over a formidable carpet in a remarkable red. It s admirable how strikingly this little scene influences the movie? s atmosphere: after the grey and dusty outside of the mosque with its bleak stone-walls and metallic blinds covering the entrance, the viewer now gets an impression of the inside; the colourful, bright, shining red carpet. The jump is a quiet astonishing little moment: the greyness outside opposes the bright shining colour of the huge carpet these seemingly little people are crossing (amplified by the way the scene is shot: with bird? eye view). Inside the mosque the viewer gets a sense of richness, a glimpse on the whole tradition, an idea about the Islam faith. The scene is not just remarkable because of its visual orchestration, but also in introducing the viewer to this huge and rich religion and the way it sees the world. Later in the beginning scene there is a shot that shows the grey and grim wall of a Yorks hire stone house in the front, again contrasted by the beautiful outlines of the colourful mosque in the background.The two absolutely different styles of architecture standing next to each other implicate a huge imagery: the mosque as a symbol for the tradition and a stonewall which symbolizes the here and now, indicates how the life of the Muslim people in Great Britain stands side by side with the traditional life of the British natives. This deliberate expression of a coexistence of the two traditions is an expression of crossing cultures at its best in this movie, and at this point of the movie it also stands for a successful integration of the Muslim tradition into the British society.This impression is furthermore stressed during the course of the beginning scene: the mosque is using modern techniques; it is using the loudspeaker, the microphone, so a lot of quite modern technology. Satellites are shown. Here the movie is not only supposing the ageing culture of Islam against the modern British culture of science and technology but goes further: it brings it together. There is an interchange going on here through what the viewer can hear (the singing of Nazir) and what he can see (the loudspeakers and satellites).By bringing these aspects together at the same time the fusion becomes immediately clear to the viewer. In another shot of the beginning scene the viewer observes the vivid life of the Muslim community that is taking place in the streets of the town. Even though one quickly might suggest that this shot might be just a fill-up it, in fact, goes further: the viewer here gets an impression of what the life in this Muslim community is like. The reason for that is that later in the film, after the 11th of September 2001, the same streets are depicted deserted, isolated, dead.Whereas the beginning scene expresses the successful integration of the Muslim tradition into the British society, the contrasting scene in the middle of the movie now stands fo r the failure of this coexistence, for the loss of community. The remarkable contrast of this two scenes is to â€Å"illuminate Muslims' increasing disenchantment with Western society†[5] after the terror attacks. So it now comes clear that nothing in the movie is there without reason: showing a typical East-Asian community in a British town is not a fill-in but is a part of the whole effort of later showing a community being disrupted. Nothing in the movie is wasted.One of the most impressing returning scenes of the movie is Nazir singing in front of the microphone. Also this theme is introduced in the beginning scene: after watching the film the first time, the peaceful scene in the beginning immediately reminds the viewer to the very last scene in the movie, when Khalid, the father is putting in a tape into the recorder as an ersatz for the son. This final scene has a huge impact on the viewer since one here really realizes that Nazir has gone off and will not come back. I t is therefore a really tragic little moment: it is emotional even though there is no actor playing the emotion.What is on the first glance less striking but not less important is that the image of the son singing comes back three times during the course of the movie; in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end. It runs through the film like a red thread: in the beginning it is, as said, introducing not only to the family? s religion but also to the family background itself. In the scene in the middle of the movie Nazir, before he starts, coughs as if he smoked too much. Since the viewer knows that he started â€Å"indulg(ing) in petty drug dealing and consorting with local girls†[6], it seems as if he became corrupted by what he is doing with his life.His coughing therefore is again not without meaning but stands for Nazir? s life becoming more difficult to handle. The returning scene is a marker in the film and each time it means something different: in the beginning it is quite straight forward, in the middle it appears as a comment for what happened to Nazir and his life, and in the end it is tragic since he is gone and will never come back. So as a major thread throughout the movie the scene with the singing Nazir displays the different states the movie and its protagonists are currently in. A similar red thread s the theme of dressing and clothes that recurs throughout the film and, again, the theme is already introduced in the opening. By watching Yasmin changing her clothes hidden by one of the typical grey stone-walls one gets an impression of this girl transforming herself into another person. Yasmin makes an enormous effort of putting herself into the trousers, since they are really too tight. She tries hard to fit herself in, she even has to jump up and down. The connection is easy to make: this movie is about someone who tries to fit in with two different worlds, tries to force herself in.So here the choice of incredibly tight trousers simply indicate what Yasmin really wants: she wants to make herself fit. If something returns deliberately, a number of times, during the film it becomes a symbolic act: when Yasmin for example dresses up to revolt against her father later in the movie, it symbolizes Yasmin? s wish to break out, to be able to be herself. In the end of the film she switches to traditional Muslim clothes, since she is at this point of the movie staying in the side of the traditional. Here the clothes express how a religious thought became fixed and hardened. Dressing here becomes a signifier for her state of mind.Since it returns later in the movie several times it always tells the viewer something when it comes to clothes. So by following how the dressing in this movie changes throughout the plot one gets a neat impression of how the state of Yasmin’s mind changes with it. The clothes are never chosen without reason in Yasmin, there is an intention in every piece the actors wear. Even though i t is just a little detail it strikes the viewer and is therefore very well-thought. So after Yasmin changed her clothes she turns over to her car and plays around with it: she locks and unlocks it with her remote control several times.This car is, as Yasmin later in the movie declares, not a ? t. p. car`, a ? typical paki-car`, but a sporty, feminine little cabriolet in an outstanding red. With this car, she wants to separate herself from those typical Pakistani people, and, even further, wants to declare her independence: â€Å"it gives her a life away from her husband and her home†[7]. By buying this car she is able to show herself and everybody else that she is different, what makes it an act of almost deliberate despair. But on the other hand, by playing around with the car, she expresses her excitement.She does it simply because she can. This gives the viewer a sense of how she is playing with things she owns, how she creates the parts of the world around her she can con trol in the way she likes it. The motif also returns later in the movie, after 9/11: Yasmin gets in the car and there is a news report on the radio about the terror-attacks. Yasmin? s reaction is as playfully as in the beginning of the movie: she just puts a CD in, and listens to the music. She does simply not want to think about, does not want to care. The viewer gets an impression of the ambiguity of Yasmin? life, of how difficult it must be to live in two different worlds, to create her life successfully around the different expectations the people she deals with have of her. The last shot of the opening scene in the movie depicts this challenge in a deliberate way: it shows the long, small, winding road Yasmin has to take day by day to drive to work and back. This road is the connection of the two worlds she lives in; it is a connecting thread between not only two different locations but two different worlds. Yasmin is having this journey – this transformation, this strug gle – every day.By driving over this street she is migrating from one world to another and she has to transform herself before she is accomplished with the migration, since she changes her identity day by day. Furthermore the road is connecting the two different worlds as well as dividing them. That becomes clear through the visual impact of this shot: the road is crossing the whole screen and Yasmin and her little car have to follow its way through the landscape; it deliberately makes the viewer ask: how long will it take her? And how long will she stand this?The struggle of â€Å"balancing two separate worlds in quest to please (a) conservative family, without sacrificing the obvious advantages of the Western environment†[8] is depicted as lovely and rich in detail in the movie Yasmin. It is â€Å"the beautifully realised opening, entirely without dialogue for a good few minutes, (that) is the strongest part of the film†[9] as it, as shown, already gives the w hole of the movie, its main conflicts, themes and topics in miniature. Although this is a primarily visual scene, dialogue, if used in the movie, is very effectively— â€Å"Not a scene, shot or speech is wasted. But the dialogue is used economically and not in the opening: it is a visual opening; in general, Yasmin is a visual movie. Every scene, every act, every piece of clothing has a meaning. As the director of the movie, Kenny Glenaan himself, says: â€Å"obviously the beauty is what you can do within the frame and some people are amazing at doing that. â€Å"[10] Bibliography Dilks, Richard, Yasmin, in Close-Up Film, 2003, http://www. close-upfilm. com/reviews/y/yasmin. htm Docherty, Alan, Yasmin – Kenny Glenaan, in Culture Wars, 2001, http://www. culturewars. org. uk/2004-02/yasmin. tm Glenaan, Kenny, in a BBC Interview, last updated in September 2004, http://www. bbc. co. uk/films/festivals/edinburgh/yasmin. shtml Jennigs, Tom, Tom Jennings’ essay on c inema representations of European Asians & Muslims, 2005, http://libcom. org/library/ae-fond-kiss-dir-ken-loach-yasmin-dir-kenny-glenaan-head-dir-fatih-akin-film-review The Hindu Magazine, Being Asian, Muslim and British, Online edition of India's National Newspaper, 2003, http://www. hindu. com/mag/2004/11/14/stories/2004111400270200. htm ——————————— [ 1 ].Docherty, Alan, Yasmin – Kenny Glenaan, in Culture Wars, 2011, http://www. culturewars. org. uk/2004-02/yasmin. htm [ 2 ]. Docherty, Alan, Yasmin – Kenny Glenaan, in Culture Wars, 2011, http://www. culturewars. org. uk/2004-02/yasmin. htm [ 3 ]. Docherty, Alan, Yasmin – Kenny Glenaan, in Culture Wars, 2011, http://www. culturewars. org. uk/2004-02/yasmin. htm [ 4 ]. Dilks, Richard, Yasmin, in Close-Up Film, 2003, http://www. close-upfilm. com/reviews/y/yasmin. htm [ 5 ]. Docherty, Alan, Yasmin – Kenny Glenaan, in Culture Wars, 2011, http://www. culturewars. org. uk/2004-02/yasmin. tm [ 6 ]. Jennigs, Tom, Tom Jennings’ essay on cinema representations of European Asians & Muslims, 2005, http://libcom. org/library/ae-fond-kiss-dir-ken-loach-yasmin-dir-kenny-glenaan-head-dir-fatih-akin-film-review [ 7 ]. Dilks, Richard, Yasmin, in Close-Up Film, 2003, http://www. close-upfilm. com/reviews/y/yasmin. htm [ 8 ]. The Hindu Magazine, Being Asian, Muslim and British, Online edition of India's National Newspaper, 2003, http://www. hindu. com/mag/2004/11/14/stories/2004111400270200. htm [ 9 ]. Dilks, Richard, Yasmin, in Close-Up Film, 2003,