The disscussion of the conceptual framework Essay

The disscussion of the conceptual framework - Essay Example The IASB’s main role is to assist international users to design an international framework for the preparation and presentation of financial report, a role that has over the years faced major criticism due to the weaknesses in the objectives and the concepts that it is based on. The Framework is developed to address the fundamental reason for the presence of the financial statements, which is to provide useful financial information about the reporting entity to all the related parties (investors, lenders, other creditors) for making decisions about providing resources to the entity. The contents of the Framework are central around the five elements from which financial statements are constructed. This paper aims at identifying and discussing the implementation of the IASB’s conceptual framework based on its hands-on objectives mainly that of providing a basis for administrative standard-setting and resolving accounting controversies in deliberation outline to the accoun ting concepts, principles and focus. The paper is organized into three sections; the first section explains the concepts, objectives and focus of the IASB’s conceptual framework, the second section describes the weaknesses and the basis of the criticism facing the IASB framework while the third section is a conclusion, summary and a discussion of the criticism facing the current IASB’s discussion paper. As stated, the IASB’s framework sets concepts that shape how financial statements are prepared and presented for external users. The IASB framework lacks accounting standard status in comparison to the statement of principles derived from the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board (ASB). The IASB framework contains seven segments that cover areas such as; objectives of financial reporting, the underlying assumptions, Qualitative features of financial information, the fundamental rules of financial

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Speech or Presentation

Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah - Speech or Presentation Example Nonetheless, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is remembered today as being the thirteenth ruler of Kuwait, having ruled the country for close to thirty years. Therefore, he greatly influenced Kuwait, and contributed to the current state of the country. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is among the first Kuwaiti to attend the first school that was opened in the country. The Al-Mubarakiya School was the first school to be established in Kuwait, and this is where Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah schooled. This therefore, shows that this leader embraced education and applied his intelligence and educational knowledge in his leadership. Apart from academic schooling, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was also taught religion, although through a private tutor. He also learnt the English language through private tuition. In addition, he was taught the Arabic literature, as well as the basic scientific skills. This shows us that Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was a knowledgeable man. In add ition, his family, especially his father, knew how to invest in his son through an education. Religion was also core to Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Therefore, he was a leader that was developed in all aspects (‘AMEinfo.com’ WEB). The first leadership responsibility of Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was when he was 23 years-old. He was given responsibility in the region of Ahmadi, to be the director of public security. Later in the year 1962, Kuwait obtained its first Minister of finance and economy, and Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was named as the holder of this position. Therefore, it is clear that, before Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah came into power in the year 1977 as the ruler of Kuwait, he already had an experience in leadership (‘AMEinfo.com’ WEB). A variety of leadership positions continued to shape Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for the leadership task that lay ahead of him. In the year 1965, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah now w as given a greater position, moving from a finance minister to the prime minister of Kuwait. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was finally pronounced an apparent heir and a crown prince in the middle of 1966. Afterwards, when his father, the then ruler of Kuwait passed away, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was crowned as the 13th ruler of Kuwait. This was in December 31, 1977, as earlier mentioned. Therefore, from Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s childhood, it has become clear that his father was interested in him, and invested much in him, knowing that he would be the next ruler of Kuwait. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s rulership in Kuwait was not easy. He was faced with a myriad of challenges during his rulership. These emerged from both the internal and external forces, thus putting his leadership skills to test. Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s rule occurred at a time when there was turbulence in the political and social environment of Kuwait as well as its neighbours, Iraqi, Iran, and Syria. Since Kuwait is one of the Arabic countries and a neighbour to other Arabic countries, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had to get involved in various political issues in which its neighbours were involved. With regard to relationship with foreign countries, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah prioritized peace. However, as a leader of Kuwait, Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah had to address the various threats that came from the external environment. This included the war between Iraq and Iran, which lasted for eight

The Process of Fermentation

The Process of Fermentation Background research Fermentation is a process carried out by many microorganisms and which produces a variety of useful compounds and this reaction is very important in industry for baking and brewing. In fermentation, carbon dioxide gas bubbles out of the solution into the air leaving a mixture of ethanol and water. Ethanol can be separated from the mixture by fractional distillation. Fermentation must be carried out in the absence of air to make alcohol. If air is present, ethanoic acid is made instead of alcohol. This reaction is very important in industry for baking and brewing. Yeast, is most commonly used in baking to break glucose, or other sugars to produce different products. In baking and brewing different type of yeast is used. An enzyme called invertase will convert a sugar called sucrose into smaller sugar molecules called glucose and fructose. Glucose is fermented by the yeast to ethanol and carbon dioxide. The released carbon dioxide causes dough to rise and to hold it high. The produced alcohol contributes to the breads flavour. The optimal temperature for yeast to ferment sugar is 32 °C. In warmer temperature (45  °C) the yeast cells will die. Also fructose and sucrose care used by the yeast as fermentation substrates. Sucrose is directly transformed by an enzyme called invertase, into glucose and fructose. Sucrose is a good substrate for fermentation. When sucrose or glucose is added to the dough, they are faster fermented than maltose. Sugars are small molecules which belong to the class of carbohydrates. As the name implies, a carbohydrate is a molecule whose molecular formula can be expressed in terms of just carbon and water. For example, glucose has the formula C6(H2O)6 and sucrose has the formula C6(H2O)11. More complex carbohydrates such as starch and cellulose are polymers of glucose. The difference between a monosaccharide and a disaccharide can be seen in the following example: How do enzymes work? Enzymes speeds up the biochemical reactions and they work best at an optimum temperature, however if the temperature has increased it will provide more kinetic energy to the molecules involved. Therefore the number of collisions between enzyme and substrate will increase as well as the rate of reaction. If temperature rises above the optimum the enzymes will be denatured. The bonds which are holding the structure together will break and the active sites lose their shape and will no longer react. Reference http://www.chemie.uni-regensburg.de/Organische_Chemie/Didaktik/Keusch/D-fermentation_sugar-e.htm http://www.lycos.com/info/fermentationsugars.html?page=2 Investigating the affects of sugar on the rate of fermentation The aim To investigate on how different types of sugars can affect the rate of fermentation. There are two different types of sugars that I am going to which are monosaccharide and disaccharide sugars. Introduction Respiration is the release of energy from glucose or another organic chemical. The chemical energy in glucose can be used to provide the energy required for growth, repair and movement. This is a controlled process that occurs in small steps and each step requires respiratory enzymes. These enzymes allow the process to take place at body temperature 37C °.m Aerobic Respiration is the normal form of respiration. It requires oxygen and releases the most energy from glucose. This form of respiration occurs within the mitochondria. Glucose + Oxygen = Carbon Dioxide + Water + Energy C6H12O6 + O2 = CO2+H2O + Energy However, it is possible for respiration to take place without oxygen in a process known as anaerobic respiration. It also releases energy from glucose but not as much. When yeast respires anaerobically it produces carbon dioxide and alcohol. When we respire we produce lactic acid. Too much lactic acid causes fatigue to our muscles. Yeast produces ethanol (alcohol) when it respires anaerobically and ultimately the ethanol will kill the yeast. We can respire in both ways too. Normally we use oxygen, but when we are exercising, we may not get enough oxygen into our blood, so our muscles start to respire anaerobically. Word equation for anaerobic respiration: Glucose lactic acid + Energy C6H12O6 2C3H6O3 + Energy Sugars can be categorized as either simple or complex depending on their chemical structure, in other words the number of saccharides (glucids) they are composed of such as: Monosaccharide Are the most basic unit of carbohydrates and they are the simplest form of sugar. Examples of monosaccharide include glucose, fructose , and galactose. Monosaccharides are the building blocks of disaccharides such as sucrose and polysaccharides (such as cellulose and starch). Disaccharide Two monosaccharide joined together by a glycosidic linkage is called a double sugar or disaccharide. The most common disaccharide is sucrose. It is composed of glucose and fructose. Sucrose is commonly used by plants to transport sugar from one part of the plant to another. Polysaccharide Polysaccharides are polymericcarbohydrate structures, formed of repeating units joined together by glycosidic bonds. These structures are often linear, but may contain various degrees of branching. When all the monosaccharide in a polysaccharide is the same type the polysaccharide is called a homo polysaccharide, but when more than one type of monosaccharide is present they are called hetero polysaccharides. http://www.polypeptide-polysaccharide.com/ Hypothesis I hypothesise that glucose sugar which is a monosaccharide will have a greater rate of fermentation than sucrose which a disaccharide sugar. Justification There are different types of sugars that have different effects on the replication of yeast, which would have an effect on the rate of fermentation. Therefore, I am going to investigate the main two sugars (Monosaccharide and disaccharides) to check which type of sugar will have a greater rate of fermentation. Monosaccharides are simple sugars made of 1 molecule of sugar whereas disaccharides are complex sugars made of two molecule of sugar. So, my hypothesis would be that glucose will increase the rate of fermentation than sucrose because glucose is a monosaccharide sugar and therefore has one unit of sugar. This will enable the enzymes in the yeast to break down the bonds of the simple sugar very easily with less energy, and short period of time. Whereas sucrose has two unit of sugars and therefore has twice as much bonds as glucose sugar which will slow down the enzymes action in breaking down the bonds, as it requires more energy with longer period of time to break down the bonds. So, in order to check whether my hypothesis is right or wrong, I will need to perform the experiment by testing the main two sugars glucose (Monosaccharide) and sucrose (disaccharides). Experimental method In the experimental method I have decided to use the technique of titration. A titration is a technique where a solution of known concentration is used to determine the concentration of an unknown solution. So in this experiment, I am going to use the titration technique to find out which type of sugar will produce a greater rate of fermentation. Typically, the titrant is added from a burette to a known quantity of the analyte (the unknown solution) until the reaction is complete. Knowing the volume of titrant added allows the determination of the concentration of the unknown. Often, an indicator is used to usually signal the end of the reaction, the endpoint. http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c123/titratn.html Here are some important apparatus that are important to carry out the titration method: * Burette: The burettes are mainly used for titrations to deliver one reactant until the precise end point of the reaction is reached. Burette used to measure the volume of a solution accurately which can be read to an accuracy of half a division that is to 0.05 cm3.  · Conical flask, beaker: The conical flasks, beakers are used for mixing, reactant and transporting but not for accurate measurements. The volume stamped on the sides of the conical flask and beaker is approximate and accurate to within 5%. * Pipette: Pipettes are used to measure small amounts of solution very accurately and it has a bulb to draw the solution into the pipette. It transfers 25 cm3 (usually to  ±0.05 cm3) of a solution into a conical flask. * Funnel: is a pipe with a wide, often conical mouth and a narrow stem (this will be needed to make sure the transferring of the sodium hydroxide into the burette in smooth and safe as possible). * 0.1M of sodium hydroxide: will be used as the solution in the burette which will indicate the amount of alkali that is needed to neutralize the acid in the fermented solution. * Phenolphthalein indicating solution: this indicator solution will help us see when the solution in the conical flask changes, it is very important that we use the same amount of drops on both solutions this will help us get an accurate colour change result. Apparatus: * 2 g dried brewers yeast. * 200cm 0.2 M fructose. * 200cm 0.2 M lactose. * 2 x 0.5 g ammonium phosphate. * 2 x 0.5 g ammonium sulphate. * 3 x 250cm wide necked conical flask. * 2 x silicone rubber bung with two holes. * 3 x glass fermentation lock. * 3 x 15cm bent glass pipette with 3cm rubber tubing. * 3 x restriction clip (Hoffman clip). * 3 x glass rod. * 50cm burette. * 3 x pipettes. * 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution (about 400cm). * Phenolphthalein indicator solution and dropping pipette. Procedure for day 1: 1. Label two 250cm flask: fructose and lactose and control (water). Add 200cm of 0.2 M sugar solution to the named flasks and 200cm of water to the control flask. 2. Add 2 g of dried brewers yeast and then 1 g of ammonium salts to each flask (0.5 g each of ammonium phosphate and ammonium sulphate). 3. Ensure that the yeast is respuspended and the salts are dissolved in the sugar solution by carefully stirring each solution with a different glass rod. 4. Carefully and firmly insert the fermentation lock and bent pipette into the silicone rubber bungs. 5. place the bungs firmly into the neck of the flasks To assist the fermentation the flask should be placed in an incubator (15 20 C). Procedure for day 2: 1. Set up a burette containing 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution. 2. Swirl the flask to ensure a homogenous mix of culture and remove a total of 25cm of sample (10cm + 15cm). 3. Place the removal sample into a small flask and add two or three drops of phenolphthalein solution. 4. Plot a histogram of the volume of the alkali used to neutralize each sugar solution. The histogram can be used to indicate the extent of fermentation. Justifying day one procedure: There are few things that can affect the preparation of the solutions which are usually known as a potential errors and these error can come from: Weighing balance: we used the 2 decimal place balance to weigh our samples and I think the weighing of the sample would not be reliable as it measures to 2 decimal places. In this case our results might be unreliable because we cannot determine whether it is the exact weight of the sample we are measuring. For example if we weighed out 3g of yeast on the 2 decimal place balance it would only show 3.00g, whereas if we used another balancer which measures the sample to an accuracy of 4 decimal places it would have been better because it would give us 3.0000g. Stirring rod: depending on the pace of stirring the solution if we didnt use the stirring rod gently and frequently it would affect the solubility of the sample that we are making, this is because sometimes we may think that all the solid part in a solution are fully dissolved in the sample. However, sometimes a small amount of the solid may not dissolve properly without noticing it. Therefore, it is very important that we had to stir the solution gently and frequently so that the entire solid are completely dissolved. Room temperature: leaving the solution to ferment over night the temperature of the room is not constant because at night the temperature decreases which would have an effect on the rate of reaction of the fermentation by slowing the reaction down. It would have been better if I could use a water bath so we can take a full control of the temperature and also make it constant. Duration for fermentation: the duration that was provided for fermentation was not enough for the yeast to ferment, if the solution was left for longer period time the sample might have fermented better and also if would have left the solution for longer night probably 2 to 3 nights it would have been better too. However, leaving the samples for more than 4 to 6 nights could affect the rate of fermentation because the longer we leave a sample the more contaminated the sample may get by bacteria. Justifying the procedure of day 2: In day 2 we have used the technique of titration to find out which type of sugar will produce a greater rate of fermentation. However, the manual titration technique is not as accurate as it is industries. The titration technique is carried more accurately on an industrial scales because of the automated machines that are used are automated which carry out the titration in a more accurate way and more than one sample at a time. The titration method: the method only allows us to do one titration at once which was not suitable for our time scale. We were using two burettes one for each solution but we still had to run one burette at a time. Time: I think the period of the titration was not sufficient because we had to carry out three titrations and three repeats for each type of sugar including the control, keeping in mind that we had to record the all values accurately from the titration. Therefore, we would rush in the experiment to finish all the titrations as quickly as we possibly can, so we would not carry out the investigation in an appropriate way which could affect our overall result. Recording the results and how many repeats will be performed In this investigation I will be using two types of sugars which are glucose and sucrose and a control which is water. For each type of sugar including the control I will make 3 repeats so that I can get an average result of the volume of the sodium hydroxide which has been used. I would perform a rough titration for each sugar to help me to decide approximately where the end point is going to be and how much volume of the sodium hydroxide will I need to neutralise the solution that I am testing Type Titre1 Cm ³ Titre2 Cm ³ Titre3 Cm ³ Average Cm ³ Glucose 22.65 34.85 25.90 27.80 Sucrose 52.00 40.45 40.750 46.73 Control 8.15 17.60 8.15 11.30 Once I have completed the experiment and recorded my results accurately to two decimal places, then I will work the average result for both sugars and the control for example, for glucose sugar I would add the results that I have obtained including the rough one and then divide the answer by three. Once I have calculated the average result for both sugars and the control, then I would plot a graph to show the volume of sodium hydroxide that has been used to neutralise each solution which will help to compare which type of sugar fermented better. Titration results Conclusion from the results During the titration process I kept watching for the colour of the solution we were titrating to change from cloudy white solution to a light pink colour. The light pink colour indicate that that neutralisation of the solution we are tittering is completed which known as the end point. Looking at this table it shows that sucrose has a greater rate of fermentation than glucose because it has a higher titre of sodium hydroxide that was needed to neutralise the solution. Therefore, this indicates that sucrose was more acidic and more CO2 dissolved in the sample that we were testing and also more fermentation rating took place. Accuracy of procedure and each piece of equipment used Each piece of equipment we have used, we take the volumes reading from the bottom of the meniscus. Burette used to measure the volume of a solution accurately which can be read to an accuracy of half a division that is to 0.05 cm3. * Rinse equipments before use: We have used distilled water to rinse the equipment before we carry out our investigation because the equipment may not washed properly so it contains other solutions which would make our results unreliable. By rinsing the equipment before using them, would decrease the possibility of getting of contamination. * Labelling equipments: We had to label the conical flasks to ensure that the right sugar is in its labelled conical flask because sugars look the same so labelling conical flasks would help us identify the solution quickly without getting mixed up of which sugar belongs to which flask . * Ammonium salt: As we know that yeast gets food from the surroundings and therefore, we have used the ammonium salt and ammonium phosphate is to feed the yeast with nutrient as ammonia contributes to nutritional needs of such organism.  · Using room temperature for fermentation: Because enzymes within yeast are from different habitats therefore using different temperatures for each type of sugar would affect the fermentation process. Therefore we decided to use room temperature as it is suitable for both types of sugar and the yeast in which perform the fermentation process.  · Swirling flasks: It is very important that we had to swirl the flasks properly before taking the samples out because it would help ensure that all the solids are fully dissolved in the solution and becomes complete solution.  · Using pipette filler to take the samples: we would be using pipette filler because it is good equipment for taking around 25cm3 of the solution.  · Phenolphthalein indicator: We have used this indicator solution to help us to see when the solution in the conical flask changes, so we had to use the same amount of drops on both solutions so that we get an accurate colour change result. Evaluation: The reliability and the accuracy of the investigation: It is very important that we had to follow all the instructions carefully that were provided to us because it would help us work more accurately and get better result on our experiment. However, we would not expect to get the same results for each repeat of titration, because it depends on determining the end point of the reaction. For example, the cloudy white colour is quite similar to the light pink colour therefore; sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the exact end point has been achieved or not , and so we wouldnt expect to get the same results for each time we repeat the experiment. As a result, it would be better to hold the solution up to the light to help us determine the exact end which is the light pink colur in the same range. As we know that yeasts perform better under anaerobic conditions, so if oxygen got into the solution then the condition inside the conical flask will change to aerobic and the process of fermentation will not take place. As a result, we had to ensure that the process is taking place with the absence of oxygen conditions, so we ensured that the bung was firmly fastened into the conical flask that contained the fermenting solution. It was very important that that the bung was fastened otherwise the air that came from the surrounding would affect the yeast respiration by getting into the conical flask to the solution that we were fermenting. Moreover, if the bung is not fastened properly then carbon dioxide will leak from the conical flask would affect on the acidity of the solution because the sodium hydroxide needs to be titrated with an acidic substance so to achieve neutralisation of the solution in the flask. Therefore, keeping the bung fastened will keep the process of fermentation under anaerobic condition. When the samples had been left to ferment overnight, bubbles were produced on the top of the solution because the bubbles were formed from the carbon dioxide gas being given off from the reaction in the solution. This may have an effect on the measurement of the solution in both the pipettes and burettes because the solution must be measured from its meniscus. Therefore we have got to be careful while taking the reading of the solution to take from the meniscus which is the curve at the top of the liquid if did so we would get more accurate and reliable results. There is another factor which can make our investigation unreliable which the temperature. This can have a major effect on the rate of fermentation because enzymes are very sensitive to temperature. Enzymes speeds up the biochemical reactions and they work best at an optimum temperature, however if the temperature has increased it will provide more kinetic energy to the molecules involved. Therefore the number of collisions between enzyme and substrate will increase as well as the rate of reaction. If temperature rises above the optimum the enzymes will be denatured. The bonds which are holding the structure together will break and the active sites lose their shape and will no longer react. There are some factors in which can have an effect on our overall result such as, room temperature, weighing and the concentration of the samples. So Now I going to make a table to show the variables, the effects they may affect the investigation and how they can be controlled during the experiment to get more accurate and reliable data. Controls and variables during this experiment: Variables The effects on the experiment How could it be controlled Room temperature As we know the room temperature is not constant therefore it would affect the enzymes action during the process of fermentation We could have made the temperature constant if we placed the samples inside an incubator which will help the enzymes work better. Weighing Another factor that could affect our overall result is that being very close to the weighing balancer while we are weighing our samples because breathing on the balancer changes the reading of the sample In order to optimise the effects of the air on the weighing balancer while we are taking the reading of the sample is to use an accurate weighing balancer which is surrounded by glass frame and gives the reading of the sample to four decimal places. Concentration of sample If we used the wrong concentration of the sugars, this would affect on our results. In order to make sure that we are using the right concentration we have look carefully at the labels of the solutions which indicates the name of the solution and its concentration. Sources Used http://www.chemie.uni-regensburg.de/Organische_Chemie/Didaktik/Keusch/D-fermentation_sugar-e.htm http://www.practicalchemistry.org/experiments/fermentation-of-glucose-using-yeast,109,EX.html http://www.chemie.uni-regensburg.de/Organische_Chemie/Didaktik/Keusch/D-fermentation_sugar-e.htm http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/P/polysaccharide.htmlhttp://www.gcsescience.com/rc17-fermentation-yeast-alcohol.htm

Shakespeares Macbeth - A Tragic Hero :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: A Tragic Hero         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Macbeth character in Macbeth by William Shakespeare can be played many ways.   Macbeth's relationship with other characters in the play and Aristotle's theory of a tragedy are ways in which Macbeth is shown as a tragic hero.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the very beginning of the play, Macbeth and Banquo are returning to Scotland from a fierce battle between the Norwegians and the Scottish. They have just won the war for Duncan.   This shows a noble virtue of Macbeth, a requirement of a tragic hero according to Aristotle.   It shows that Macbeth is a loyal person to the King and that he is a great warrior. As they are returning to Scotland, three witches appear and make prophecies about Macbeth and Banquo.   The three witches say â€Å"All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis!   All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!   All hail Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!† (A 1, S 3, 48). Here, Macbeth is interested in what the witches have to say, but he does not really believe them.   A few minutes later, Ross enters.   He tells Macbeth that the thane of Cawdor is in line for death and that Duncan has named Macbeth the new thane of Cawdor.   Now, Macbeth is absolutely shocked. The witches prophecy has come true!   He can not believe it!   But now Macbeth has a lot more on his mind; the third prophecy about becoming the King.   Macbeth knows that if something were to happen to Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan's sons, would be the rightful heirs to the throne. How can Macbeth be King when he is nowhere near the next in line to the throne?   Another requirement for a tragic hero is that he must have a tragic flaw.   Macbeth's tragic flaw is that of ambition; Macbeth's ambition will cause him to decline.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At this point, Lady Macbeth knows all about the witches prophecies. She really wants to be Queen of Scotland so she encourages Macbeth to do what he has to do to get rid of Duncan.   Lady Macbeth is putting an enormous amount of influence on Macbeth.   He thinks that Duncan is a great King and he considers Duncan to be a good friend.   Finally Macbeth gives in to Lady Macbeth and decides that he will kill Duncan while he is visiting Macbeth's castle that same night.   That night, Macbeth kills Duncan. However, afterwards, Macbeth is feeling very sorry for himself.   He can not believe what he has just done.   His ambition has caused him to kill a good friend and even worse, the King!   Here, Macbeth is going crazy.

BIOLOGY VOCABULARY AND ASSESSMENT Essay

1. Binomial nomenclature: Linnaeus’s system of naming organisms, giving a scientific two-word name to each species- the first part being the genus, and the second the species 2. Class: taxonomic group that contains one or more related orders 3. Classification: grouping of organisms or objects based on a set of criteria that helps organize, communicate, and retain information 4. Division: taxonomic term used instead of phylum to group related classes of plants and bacteria 5. Domain: taxonomic group of one or more kingdoms 6. Family: taxonomic group of similar, related genera that is smaller than a genus and larger than an order 7. Genus: taxonomic group of closely related species with a common ancestor 8. Kingdom: taxonomic group of closely related phyla or divisions 9. Order: taxonomic group that contains related families 10. Phylum: taxonomic group of related classes 11. Taxon: named group of organisms ex: phylum, species 12. Taxonomy: branch of biology that identifies, names, and classifies species based on their natural relationships. CH 17 SEC 2 13. Character: inherited morphological or biochemical feature that 14. Cladistics: taxonomic method that models evolutionary relationships based on shared derived characters and phylogenetic trees 15. Cladogram: branched diagrams that represents the hypothesized phylogeny or evolution of a species or group; uses bioinformatics, morphological studies, and information from DNA studies 16. Molecular clock: model that uses comparisons of DNA sequences to estimate phylogeny and rate of evolutionary change 17. Phylogney: evolutionary history of a species  CH 17 SEC 3 18. Archaea: the species classified in Domain Archaea 19. Fungus: unicellular or multicellular eukaryote that is stationary, absorbs nutrients from organic materials in the environment, and has cell walls that contain chitin 20. Protist: unicellular, multicellular, or  colonial eukaryote whose cell walls may contain cellulose; can be plant-like, animal-like, or fungus-like 17.1 ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS: 1. It is easier to communicate and retain information about organisms when they are categorized into groups. 2. In the name given to an organism according to binomial nomenclature, the first part is the genus name, and the second part is the specific epithet, or specific name, that identifies the species. 3. In modern classification systems, people could classify organisms not only on morphological and behavioral characteristics, but also included evolutionary relationships. 4. The giant panda is of the Animalia Kingdom, Chordata Phylum, Mammalia Class, Carnivora Order, Ursidae Family, Ailuropoda Genus and Melanoleuca Species. 5. Since the phyla includes multiple classes, there would be more biodiversity in the phylum than in the class. 6. Taxonomy involves classifying species, but systematics involves discovering new species and relationships. They incorporate information from taxonomy in their studies.

A Simulation Of Sustainability In Urban Environments Environmental Sciences Essay

In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development, ( WCED 1987 ) stated that â€Å" Humanity has the ability to do development sustainable to guarantee that it meets the demands of the present without compromising the ability of future coevalss to run into their ain demands † . There Out of the many definitions of sustainability this profound statement has become the most widely accepted. It is what these demands are, how we impact upon them and how out impact can be measured or assessed that raises the most argument. ( Parkin et al. 2003 ) Sustainability is frequently symbolised utilizing three over lapping circles ( fig 1 ) , stand foring the three facets of sustainability ( society, economic system and environment ) . However this simple diagram over simplifies the complex interactions which occur between the facets and the big figure of indexs which are used to mensurate our impact. Unless these complex interactions are clearly understood by all the stakeholders it would be impossible to to the full measure the sustainability of any development ( Foxon et al. 2002 ) . A figure of determination support tools have been created to help determination shapers in accomplishing sustainable urban developments. There has been immense attempt and resources put into making DSTs, yet despite this most are seldom used due to either the complexness of their operation or the complexness of their end product ( Isaacs et al. 2007 ) . It is hence believed that there is a demand for new determination support tools that can cover with the complexness of urban design and which go beyond the proficient orientation of old tools ( Sahota & A ; Jeffery 2005 ) to enable a robust appraisal of sustainability within the decision-making procedures. Visual image has been used to help determination devising in a figure of Fieldss including increasing the safety and effectivity of oil boring in the oil and gas industry ( Evans et al. 2002 ) , visualizing medical informations ( Fuchs et al. 1989 ) and battlefield simulations ( Hix et al. 1999 ) . Geographic Information systems are presently the most extensively used visual image platform for determination devising. â€Å" GIS is now a standard point in contrivers ‘ tool kits † ( Drummond & A ; Gallic 2008 ) and there are many illustrations its usage in urban planning and determination devising over the last 20 old ages ( Harris & A ; Elmes 1993 ; Stevens et Al. 2007 ; States 2000 ; Shiffer 1998 ; Lodha & A ; Verma 2000 ) . Traditionally GIS provides the user with a synergistic information researching interface which allows them to cover a figure of different maps onto a 2D surface and allows the user to carry on complex geospatial analysis ( Salter et al. 2009 ) . Howe ver it has been shown ( Lowe 2004 ; Lowe 2003 ) that many non-expert stakeholders have great trouble in decoding and understanding scientific shows and maps. Due to its complexness and high acquisition curve GIS requires the user â€Å" to believe like a geographic information scientist † ( Clarke 2001 ) and is still considered to be a hard to utilize, adept tool ( Traynor & A ; Williams 1995 ) . Its usage in determination devising has made it hard for non expert stakeholders, particularly the general populace, to take part to the full in be aftering determinations ( Salter et al. 2009 ; Al-Kodmany 2002 ) . Most GIS systems are purely 2D, covering with geospatial informations being draped over a map or other geographical representation. While experts can imagine the ocular impact of a proposed development from this program view it is really hard for person non trained in the usage of GIS to make this. This can take to non-expert stakeholder non to the full understanding the effects of the determinations being made and go forth them with an unintended positive or negative position of the planned development ( Danahy et al. 1999 ) . 3D representations nevertheless allow users to rapidly recognize the spacial context of the determination and besides to orientate their position of the proposed development ( Danahy et al. 1999 ) . Peoples develop the ability to voyage and visually process 3D representations of urban environments on a bomber witting degree throughout their lives as they walk through existent universe metropoliss ( Charters et al. 2002 ) . This sub witting ability means that t he user will non hold to work to visualize the development but can concentrate on the determination, and the effects of the determination, being made. SCITY VT S-City VT ( sustainable metropolis visual image tool ) is a paradigm determination support application that is designed to let a wider scope of stakeholders input into the sustainability planning procedure by leting the stakeholders to compare different scenarios utilizing a usage designed simulation and visual image engine. Figure 1: Visual image techniques used in S-City VT The visual image engine utilises a split screen rendering attack which allows the user, utilizing any of the techniques, to compare two scenarios side by side throughout the life rhythm of the development. A figure of visual image techniques have been used to expose the consequences of the implicit in simulation engine which allows the user to non merely compare the external visual aspect of the different scenarios but besides the comparative sustainability of each scenario. As already discussed traditional GIS does non supply a realistic physical representation of the metropolis or development being studied. CAD system do enable the creative activity of 3D theoretical accounts which provide the user with a realistic representation of the edifices and the developments ( Al-Kodmany 2002 ) , nevertheless CAD systems provide no ability to cover extra informations and supply small context out with the edifice or country being studied. The visual image engine combines GIS and 3D urban theoretical accounts and embeds the 3D theoretical accounts in the environing landscape to contextualise the urban country that is undergoing sustainability appraisal. The ability to visualize portion of the metropolis that is undergoing the development or regeneration within the wider metropolis context is likely to better battle with the communicating tool and convey a greater degree of engagement from all participants in the planning procedure ( Levy 1995 ) Fig 4: 3D representation of proposed development within the city-wide context. The usage engine allows the user to hold synergistic control enabling the user to see the proposed development from any imaginable point of view. This allows the user to go to the full immersed in the proposed development, to a much greater grade than 2D programs, GIS, or rendered 3D stills. As has already been shown ( Isaacs et al. 2010a ) S City VT provides the user with a feasible representation of the existent development. Design to Virtual RealityBlendingFig 5: Overview of the index blending technique The blending technique, as shown in figure 5, merely takes the all the sustainability steps for each index, calculated by the bomber system and ANP theoretical accounts, unite them into a individual value. This valued is so mapped to a individual coloring material graduated table. The coloring material graduated table used can be selected from a figure of color graduated tables known for their discriminating abilities ( Levkowitz & A ; Herman 1992 ) these include the het object, magenta, local optimised, and spectral. Using the hot-cold graduated table demonstrated in figure 5 a edifice or floor with high comparative sustainability would look blue while a edifice with low sustainability would look ruddy. This method gives a individual index of sustainability and provides the easiest manner of comparing the comparative sustainability of different options or scenarios.WeavingFig 6: Overview of the index weaving technique Whilst the blending technique, combines the index values, the weaving technique ( figure 6 ) efforts to continue some of the implicit in information so that the user can still place which indexs or bunch are doing the greatest consequence ( negative or positive ) on the sustainability of the edifice. The coloring material weaving technique ( Hagh-Shenas et al. 2007 ) uses a different coloring material graduated table for each index ( figure 6 ) to try to continue this information. The colors from each graduated table are so indiscriminately weaved into a hodgepodge like texture which is applied to each floor of the edifice. The size of the squares or spots in the weave can besides be changed depending on the user ‘s penchants. A little spot size will give an overall representation of the sustainability, with darker sunglassess stand foring low sustainability and lighter sunglassess stand foring higher sustainability. A larger spot size will let user to place rapidly which colou rs stand out the most, and hence which indexs are holding the greatest impact.Traditional Graphical TechniquesRadar graphs, figure 7, let the stakeholder to compare the sustainability of different edifices based on the index values. The form, size, coloring material and point values will be different for each edifice leting a elaborate comparing. Fig7: Comparision of scenarios utilizing traditional radio detection and ranging graphs and coloring material weaving. Parallel coordinates allow the user to compare all index values for all the edifices in a scenario ( fihure 8 ) . Buildings can be selected and their hint in the graph is highlighted. The colors in the graph correspond to those in the blending technique. Fig 8: Parallel co-ordinate graph for sample development. Simple temporal graphs secret plan the all the index values over the life clip of the development. These allow the user to place the interconnectivity of the indexs and to place where and why sudden alterations occur ( figure 9 ) . Fig 9: Index graph demoing alterations in 6 indexs over clip.Real Time SimulationThe index patterning involves developing bomber theoretical accounts that define how each of the indexs vary over infinite and clip. The S-City VT application is built utilizing a modular model supplying flexibleness and leting index theoretical accounts to be changed. For the paradigm application six sustainability index theoretical accounts ( credence, lodging proviso, energy efficiency, noise pollution, employment and economic benefit ) have been developed four of which are described below:Energy EfficiencyThe energy efficiency theoretical account is based on the Nation Calculation Method ( NCM ) which is the industry criterion leting energy efficiency of edifices to be determined ( BRE 2009 ) . The NCM method takes into history a broad scope of factors, including figure of room accesss, Windowss glazing type, exterior building, figure of floors etc, to bring forth a metric depicting the energy effici ency the edifice. A NCM study was developed utilizing the NCM tool, stand foring the typical edifices in the development for a figure of different options including external visual aspect and different mixes of edifice usage. Fig2: Graph demoing temporal alterations in sustainability index due monthly energy fluctuations. This information is input to the energy efficiency theoretical account and attenuated with the temporal energy ingestion informations ( BIS 2009 ) which reflects how the energy usage of the edifices change depending on the clip of twelvemonth. ( fig 2 ) shows how the sustainability index alterations as a map of clip for a 2 different constructing types with different utilizations ( glass, commercial and brick, residential ) .Noise PollutionThe noise theoretical account calculates the degrees of traffic noise geting at each edifice and can besides cipher the proportion of people that will happen certain degrees of noise a nuisance. Datas about the jutting traffic flows for the waterfront development were sourced from Dundee metropolis councils Dundee Waterfront Traffic & A ; Signing Report ( White Young Green 2007 ) . For each route in the proposed development a noise degree is calculated utilizing its projected hourly traffic flow. Using a map provided in CRT ( 1988 ) , ( equation 1 ) this traffic flow can be transformed into a noise degree which corresponds to how loud, in dBs ( dubnium ( A ) ) , the traffic noise is if the hearer were standing about 10 meters off from the route side. equation 1 A noise degree associated at each edifice based on the traffic volume is calculated based on the shortest distance ( vitamin D ) between the noise beginning ( route ) and the edifice utilizing Euclidean geometry. The sound degree emanating from each route is obtained by rectifying the basic noise degree utilizing equation 2. The equation besides includes the tallness ( H ) of the hearer which is changeless in these computations. ( CRTN 1988 ) equation 2 To find the entire noise degree received by the edifice the corrected noise from each route must be summed over n roads in the development ( equation 3 ) equation 3 Each edifice will now hold a noise degree value stand foring the entire degree of noise associated with that edifices location in relation to the roads and their projected traffic flows. Our sustainability step is achieved by normalizing the noise degree ( 0-100 graduated table as before ) and using a non additive map ( equation 4 ( Highways Agency 1994 ) ) , this calculates the per centum of people that will be bothered by a specific degree of noise. equation 4Economic BenefitThe economic theoretical account utilises a discounted hard currency flow computation to find the worth of a edifices current hard currency flow for a specific point in clip. The computation uses a price reduction rate which allows the hard currency flows to be discounted back to their present worth. equation 5 Where CF = hard currency flow for that twelvemonth. R = price reduction rate for that twelvemonth. t = the twelvemonth. In the equation the capital cost for the building of the first edifice is represented by CF0. Capital costs of subsequent edifices will be discounted to this point clip. e.g. the capital cost of a edifice built two old ages after the initial edifice would be discounted utilizing. Each edifice in the simulation has a site readying and building stage, during this clip the hard currency flow in for that period is taken every bit 0 as the edifice would non yet be sold or rented. The simulation is able to reflect the differences between hard currency flows for rented and sold edifices. Buildings which are sold will take a big income at the point of sale. As the edifice has been sold farther hard currency flows for this edifice will be 0. The price reduction factor will besides use to the sale income so for two edifices of tantamount value, a edifice sold in twelvemonth one will hold a higher present value than constructing sold in twelvemonth 10. As the edifice has been sold the upkeep and care of the edifice will be borne by the purchaser and so it non modelled here. Buildings which are rented will take a smaller income every twelvemonth. Rented edifices may hold a rent free period, to promote renters, and will hold a laic period between rentals, during these tim es the hard currency flow for that period will be 0. A price reduction factor is applied to the annual income to find its present value, once more based on the building twelvemonth of the first building.. Fig 3: PV for a individual edifice, built in twelvemonth 0, demoing differences between leased and sold income with different price reduction rates. The initial cost of the edifices are calculated utilizing the edifice type ( e.g. residential, commercial, retail, societal ) and the cost per square meter for that type of edifice. The income from sale or rent is similarly calculated utilizing the jutting income for that type of edifice. These values were sourced from the SET economic study on the waterfront development ( Buchanan 2006 ) . The maximal and minimal valleies are so mapped onto 0 100 and linearly interpolated.CredenceAcceptance corresponds to the credence of possible edifice utilizations within the development. The masterplan for Dundee has been developed and it was possible through treatment with Dundee council to find the possible edifice utilizations which are under reappraisal and included commercial office infinite, retail units, cafe/bar/restaurant and residential infinite. The edifice usage study used a superior system where the participant was asked to rank possible edifice utilizations in order of penchant. If the participant had no penchant between the edifice uses at each rank the proportions chosen at each rank would be equal. To find if this is the instance Friedman trial was performed utilizing SPSS on the average rank of each edifice usage, with the void hypothesis being that the average ranks will be equal. Ranks Mean Rank Commercial 3.37 Retail 2.51 Leisure 1.54 Residential 2.58 Test Statistics a Sample Size 106 Chi-Square 107.264 df 3 Significance. .000 a. Friedman Test The consequences of the Friedman trial show that there is a important difference ( p & lt ; 0.001 ) between how the users ranked the different edifice utilizations. Combined with post-hoc analysis of the consequences it is possible to pattern the acceptableness edifice uses in the undermentioned order ; Leisure ( highest ranked ) , Retail & A ; Residential ( equal ranked ) and Commercial ( Lowest Ranked ) . To make a sustainability index for the acceptableness of each edifice these rankings are mapped onto a 0-100 graduated table, with Leisure at 100 ( highest sustainability ) , Retail & A ; Residential at 50 and Commercial ( lowest sustainability ) at 0.MULTICRITERIA OPINION ANALYSISOne of the jobs with traditional sustainability appraisal is affecting the positions and experiences of a broad scope of stakeholders ( ( Isaacs et al. 2010b ) , . Many of the traditional methods of aggregating index values, such as Multi Attribute Utility Theory ( MAUT ) , lack transparence go forthing the users in a place where they do non to the full understand how the resulting weightings have been derived ( Dodgson et al. 2009 ; Paracchini et Al. 2008 ) . The Analytic Network Process ( ANP ) method uses synergistic web constructions which give a more holistic representation of the overall job ( Saaty 2006 ) . Components of the job are connected, as appropriate, in braces with directed lines imitating the influence of one constituent over another. The constituents in a web may besides be regarded as elements that interact and influence each other in respect to a specific property. ( Saaty 2006 ) . To execute a ANP analysis the determination shaper must place the web through analysis of the job to be solved. The determination shaper must place the bunchs, elements and the relationships and interactions between them ( Bottero et al. 2007 ) . Once the determination shaper has constructed the web to be analysed they must now make a supermatrix depicting the interactions defined in the theoretical account ( Gencer and Gurpinar 2007 ) . The supermatrix is created utilizing the cardinal graduated table and pair-wise method every interaction is described in footings of every component it interacts with ( Saaty 1999 ) . Once this has been completed the normalised eigenvector calculated from the matrix will give the determination shaper the normalised prioritised list of elements. ANP allows cross-cluster interactions every bit good as inter-relationships between elements.. It is structured of course and allows for a more realistic representation of the job, but its chief strength lies in supplying the user with the ability to include their ain personal cognition and sentiments about an interaction through the usage of pair-wise comparings ( Saaty 2006, ; Bottero et Al. 2007 ) . The prioritised list of elements which are derived from the ANP analysis are used in the 3D visual image to supply the user with a individual of sustainability index if required. Al-Kodmany, K. ( 2002 ) Visual image tools and methods in community planning: from freehand studies to practical world. Journal of be aftering Literature, 17 ( 2 ) , p. 189. 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Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary? doi=10.1.1.3.9259. Dodgson, J. , Spackman, M. , Pearman, A. & A ; Phillips, L. ( 2009 ) Multi-criteria analysis: a manual, London: Department for Communities and Local Government. Drummond, W. & A ; French, S. ( 2008 ) The Future of GIS in Planning: Converging Technologies and Diverging Interests. Journal of the American Planning Association, 74 ( 2 ) , pp. 161-174. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.informaworld.com/openurl? genre=article & A ; doi=10.1080/01944360801982146 & A ; magic=crossref||D404A21C5BB053405B1A640AFFD44AE3. Evans, F. , Volz, W. , Dorn, G. , Frohlich, B. & A ; Roberts, D.M. ( 2002 ) Future trends in oil and gas visual image. In VIS '02: Proceedings of the conference on Visualization '02. Washington, DC, USA: IEEE Computer Society, pp. 567-570. Foxon, T. , McIlkenny, G. , Gilmour, D. , Oltean-Dumbrava, C. , Souter, N. , Ashley, R. , Butler, D. , Pearson, P. , Jowitt, P. & A ; Moir, J. ( 2002 ) Sustainability standards for determination support in the UK H2O industry. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 45 ( 2 ) , p. 285-301. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cjep/2002/00000045/00000002/art00007. Fuchs, H. , Levoy, M. & A ; Pizer, S.M. ( 1989 ) Interactive visual image of 3D medical informations. Computer, 22 ( 8 ) , pp. 46-51. Hagh-Shenas, H. , Kim, S. , Interrante, V. & A ; Healey, C. ( 2007 ) Weaving versus blending: a quantitative appraisal of the information transporting capacities of two alternate methods for conveying multivariate informations with colour. IEEE minutess on visual image and computing machine artworks, 13 ( 6 ) , pp. 1270-7. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17968074. Harris, T. & A ; Elmes, G. ( 1993 ) The application of GIS in urban and regional planning: a reappraisal of the North American experience. Applied Geography, pp. 9-27. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/014362289390077E. Highways Agency ( 1994 ) Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. Volume, 11 ( August ) . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //scholar.google.com/scholar? hl=en & A ; btnG=Search & A ; q=intitle: DESIGN+MANUAL+FOR+ROADS+AND+BRIDGES # 3. Hix, D. , Swan, J. , Gabbard, J. , McGee, M. , Durbin, J. & A ; King, T. ( 1999 ) User-centered design and rating of a real-time battleground visual image practical environment. Proceedings IEEE Virtual Reality ( Cat. No. 99CB36316 ) ( Figure 1 ) , pp. 96-103. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //ieeexplore.ieee.org/lpdocs/epic03/wrapper.htm? arnumber=756939. Isaacs, J. , Blackwood, D. , Falconer, R. & A ; Gilmour, D. ( 2007 ) The function of visual image in effectual sustainability appraisal. In M. Horner, C. Hardcastle, A. Price, & A ; J. Bebbington International Conference on Whole Life Urban Sustainability and its Assessment. Glasgow: Glasgow Caledonian university. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //download.sue-mot.org/Conference-2007/Papers/Isaacs.pdf. Isaacs, J. , Falconer, R. , Gilmour, D. & A ; Blackwood, D. ( 2010 ) Enhancing urban sustainability utilizing 3D visual image. Proceedings Of The Institution Of Civil Engineers, p. IN PRESS. Isaacs, J. , Falconer, R. , Gilmour, D. & A ; Blackwood, D. ( 2010 ) Sustainable urban developments: stakeholder battle through 3d visual image. In Continuing of the 11th IASTED International Conference Computer Graphics and Imaging. Innsbruck: IASTED, pp. 265-271. Levkowitz, H. & A ; Herman, G. ( 1992 ) Color graduated tables for image informations. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications ( Cgim ) , p. 72-80. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/38.135886. Levy, R. 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In Sustainability Impact Assessment of Land Use Changes. Berlin: Springer, pp. 349-372. Parkin, S. , Sommer, F. & A ; Uren, S. ( 2003 ) Sustainable development: understanding the construct and practical challenge. Engineering Sustainability, 156 ( 1 ) , p. 19-26. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.atypon-link.com/telf/doi/abs/10.1680/ensu.156.1.19.37055. Salter, J.D. , Campbell, C. , Journeay, M. & A ; Sheppard, S.R. ( 2009 ) The digital workshop: researching the usage of synergistic and immersive visual image tools in participatory planning. Journal of environmental direction, 90 ( 6 ) , pp. 2090-101. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18558460. Shiffer, M. ( 1998 ) Multimedia GIS for be aftering support and public discourse. Cartography and Geographic Information Science, 25 ( 2 ) , p. 89-94. Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ingentaconnect.com/content/acsm/cagis/1998/00000025/00000002/art00004. States, U. 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Announcing Daily Writing Tips Pro

Announcing Daily Writing Tips Pro Announcing Daily Writing Tips Pro Announcing Daily Writing Tips Pro By Daniel Scocco When we launched Daily Writing Tips back in 2007, our goal was a simple one: to help people improve their writing skills. Over 2,000 articles later, we believe we have achieved that goal. Today, we are launching a new section called Daily Writing Tips Pro. Our plan is to provide more features and tools for our readers who are serious about improving their English. Below, youll find some questions and answers that explain how everything works. What features are included in Daily Writing Tips Pro? Pro subscribers will have access to: 1. full articles delivered via email seven days a week. 2. writing exercises delivered via email seven days a week. 3. exercise archives with over 100 interactive exercises on a wide range of topics. 4. writing courses with lessons delivered weekly via email. 5. an aggregator of online writing jobs, updated daily. What if I am already an email subscriber? Current email subscriptions will keep working. The only change is that instead of the full articles, you will now receive an excerpt of each article. In order to read the full article, just click on the link to our website. If you want the full articles via email, youll need a Pro subscription. What about access to the website will it change? Not at all. We will keep publishing all our articles on the website as we have always done, and accessing them will remain completely free. Will the exercises be available on the website? No. Exercises are available only to Pro subscribers. Once you become a member, youll start receiving them via email, and youll be able to log in to the members area to access the exercise archives. What is the cost of the Pro subscription? The subscription costs $9.90 per month if you decide to pay monthly, or $6.70 per month if you pay yearly. We will increase the price in the future, but if you sign up today youll be locking your subscription fee, so you wont be affected by future changes in the price. Which writing courses are included? Right now, the Freelance Writing Course is available. Registration used to cost $97, but youll get access to all the lessons as a Pro member for no additional cost. We plan to add one new course every quarter, and youll get access to those as well without paying anything extra. Can I try it free before deciding? Absolutely. When you sign up for a Pro account, the first 15 days are free. Youll need to set up a PayPal subscription, but you wont get charged a dime during the trial period. If you decide its not for you, simply email us, and well cancel your subscription on the same day. Ready to try it? Click here to get to the Daily Writing Tips Pro page, where you can read all the details and sign up. Youll even be able to test-drive some of our exercises, so check it out! Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Computer Terms You Should KnowDeck the Halls5 Ways to Reduce Use of Prepositions

Maple Sap Collection and Syrup Production

Maple Sap Collection and Syrup Production Maple syrup is a natural forest food product and, for the most part, only produced in temperate North American woodlands. More specifically, the sugary sap is mostly collected from the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) which grows naturally in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. Other maple species that can be tapped are red and Norway maple. Red maple sap tends to yield less sugar and early budding causes off flavors so its seldom used in commercial syrup operations. The basic process of sugar maple syrup production is fairly simple and has not dramatically changed over time. The tree is still tapped by boring using a hand brace and drill bit and plugged with a spout, called a spile. The sap flows into covered, tree-mounted containers or through a system of plastic tubing and is collected for processing. Converting maple sap into syrup requires removing water from the sap which concentrates the sugar into a syrup. The raw sap is boiled in pans or continuous feed evaporators where the liquid is reduced to a finished syrup of 66 to 67 percent sugar. It takes an average of 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of finished syrup. The Maple Sap Flow Process As do most trees in temperate climates, maple trees enter dormancy during winter and store food in the form of starches and sugar. As day temps start to rise in late winter, stored sugars move up the trunk to prepare for feeding the tree growth and budding process. Cold nights and warm days increase the flow of sap and this starts what is called the sap season. During warm periods when temperatures rise above freezing, pressure develops in the tree. This pressure causes the sap to flow out of the tree through a wound or tap hole. During cooler periods when temperatures fall below freezing, suction develops, drawing water into the tree. This replenishes the sap in the tree, allowing it to flow again during the next warm period. Forest Management for Maple Sap Production Unlike managing a forest for timber production, sugarbush (term for a stand of sap trees) management does not depend on maximum annual growth or growing straight defect-free timber at an optimum stocking level of trees per acre. Managing trees for maple sap production is focused on annual syrup yield on a site where optimal sap collection is supported by easy access, adequate numbers of sap-producing trees, and forgiving terrain. A sugarbush should be managed for quality sap producing trees and less attention is paid to tree form. Trees with crooks or moderate forking are of little concern if they produce a quality sap in adequate quantities. Terrain is important and has a major influence on sap flow. Southern facing slopes are warmer which encourages early sap production with longer daily flows. Adequate accessibility to a sugarbush decreases labor and transport costs and will enhance a syrup operation. Many tree owners have opted not to tap their trees in favor of selling sap or leasing their trees to syrup producers. There must be sufficient numbers of sap producing maples available with desirable access to each tree. We recommend you check with a regional sap producers association for buyers or renters and develop an appropriate contract. The Optimal Sugarbush Tree and Stand Size The best spacing for a commercial operation is about one tree in an area measuring 30 feet x 30 feet  or 50 to 60 mature trees per acre. A maple grower can start at a higher tree density but will need to thin the sugarbush to achieve a final density of 50-60 trees per acre. Trees 18 inches in diameter (DBH) or larger should be managed at 20 to 40 trees per acre. It is very important to remember that trees under 10 inches in diameter should not be tapped due to serious and permanent damage. Trees over this size should be tapped according to its diameter: 10 to 18 inches - one tap per tree, 20 to 24 inches - two taps per tree, 26 to 30 inches - three taps per tree. On average, one tap will yield 9 gallons of sap per season. A well-managed acre might have between 70 and 90 taps 600 to 800 gallons of sap 20 gallons of syrup. The Making of a Good Sugar Tree A good maple sugar tree usually has a large crown with significant leaf surface area. The greater the crowns leaf surface of a sugar maple, the greater is the sap flow along with increased sugar content. Trees with ​crowns more than 30 feet wide produce sap in optimum quantities and grow larger faster for increased tapping. A desirable sugar tree has a higher sugar content in the sap than others; they are typically sugar maples or black maples. It is very important to have good sugar producing maples, as an increase of 1 percent in sap sugar reduces processing costs up to 50%. The average New England sap sugar content for commercial operations is 2.5%. For an individual tree, the volume of sap produced during one season varies from 10 to 20 gallons per tap. This amount depends on a specific tree, weather conditions, sap season length, and collection efficiency. A single tree can have one, two, or three taps, depending on size as mentioned above. Tapping Your Maple Trees Tap maple trees in early spring when daytime temperatures go above freezing while nighttime temperatures fall below freezing. The exact date depends on the elevation and location of your trees and your region. This can be from mid to late February in Pennsylvania to mid-March in upper Maine and eastern Canada. Sap usually flows for 4 to 6 weeks or as long as the freezing nights and warm days continue. Taps should be drilled when temperatures are above freezing to reduce the risk of damage to the tree. Drill into the trunk of the tree in an area that contains sound sap wood (you should be seeing fresh yellow shavings). For trees with more than one tap (20 inches DBH plus), distribute the tapholes evenly around the circumference of the tree. Drill 2 to 2 1/2 inches into the tree at a slight upward angle to facilitate flow of sap from the hole. After making sure that the new taphole is free and clear of shavings, gently insert the spile with a light hammer and do not pound the spile in the taphole. The spile should be set properly to support a bucket or plastic container and its contents. Forcefully mounting the spile can split the bark which prevents healing and could cause a substantial wound on the tree. Do not treat the taphole with disinfectants or other materials at the time of tapping. You always remove spiles from the tapholes at the end of the maple season and should not plug the hole. Tapping done properly will allow tapholes to close and heal over naturally which will take about two years. This will ensure that the tree continues to remain healthy and productive for the remainder of its natural life. Plastic tubing can be used in place of buckets but can become a bit more complicated and you should consult a maple equipment a dealer, your local maple producer, or Cooperative Extension Office.

Application Performance Optimization and Load Balancing

Application Performance Optimization and Load Balancing Application Performance Optimization and Load Balancing using RAID and Caching Techniques Akilesh Kailash Sunil Iyer Kolar Suresh Kumar Sabarish Venkatraman    ABSTRACT As the data processing and demand for storage grows, the performance of a critical application should always be intact with respect to disk I/O. There has been considerable improvements related to disk seek, latency and spindle speeds; However, these improvements have not met the challenges and addresses the need for better performance and load balancing. The challenge of any Database administrator is to maximize the Application I/O performance and ensure the high availability with zero downtime. This performance challenge can be met using I/O monitoring, Load balancing, Cache management and RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) technologies. The primary goal of this paper is to exemplify the details of successfully solving the I/O problems of a database application in a consistent fashion with the ap propriate RAID configurations, caching mechanisms and load balancing algorithm. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.3.2 [Design Styles]: Mass storage – RAID. D.4.2 [Storage Management]: Secondary storage, Storage hierarchies. D.4.3 [File Systems Management]: File organization. D.4.4 [Communications Management]: Input/Output. D.4.5 [Reliability]: Backup procedures, Fault-tolerance. General Terms Algorithms, Performance, Design, Theory, Reliability. Keywords RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks I/O – Input/Output DBA – Database Administrators HA – High Availability OLTP – Online Transaction Processing. IOPS – HBA – 1. INTRODUCTION RAID technology addresses the need for higher storage capacity in IO system and provides the feature of data redundancy. This helps in efficient and improved disk access and avoids data loss by disk failures. Theoretically, RAID is mainly used to create a logical disk from two or more physical d isk drives in order to provide high bandwidth. RAID is an imperative part of storage stack and fabric layer and is coordinated by various storage vendors like EMC, Hitachi, NetApp. RAID technologies have enumerated different methods in building storage stacks and sub-systems for different kinds of databases. Thus, the two main technical reasons for switching to RAID are scalability and high availability in the context of I/O and system performance. As the database sizes of today have grown manifold from the gigabytes to petabytes range, the intricacy to scale I/O performance of such gigantic systems is needed very much for critical applications. Load balancing is a critical factor in environments like Operating Systems, Clusters, Networking and Applications. They play a quintessential role in the performance and reliability of any environment avoiding catastrophic failures. In a quotidian scenario, the resource allocation and load balancing are done through hash methods, genetic alg orithms and several scheduling algorithms in Operating systems. Many database applications demand high throughput and availability from storage subsystems. For instance, a stock market application running in New York stock exchange will need to have a high throughput and bandwidth with absolutely no downtime. This requires continuous operation i.e., the need to satisfy each I/O request even in the case of disk failures. It is not acceptable to meet the aforementioned requirements at the cost of deprived performance mainly in real-time applications such as video and audio. It is highly unacceptable if a video is played at slower speed or the data is lost during transmission and ends abruptly.

Global Warming and how it effects he world in a negative way and how Essay

Global Warming and how it effects he world in a negative way and how it must be stopped - Essay Example The outcomes are very severe like those of glacier’s melting as the internal environment of the globe heats up, which can cause an increase in sea level which would eventually be disastrous for coastal cities round the globe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Third Assessment Report projected various emission outcomes, under which North America, over the next century could warm at 1-3˚C in under low emissions, or 3.5-7.5˚C in a high emissions scenario (Gupta 41). Every other country is suffering from the effects of global warming and it has become a big environment opponent. But a big issue in stopping global warming is that the emission of carbon dioxide guaranty increased economic activity and hence, it cannot be slowed down or diminished completely. A wise solution is that ethanol must be used in automobiles as a fuel since it is renewable and does not cause as much green house effect as caused by burning of other fossil fuels. No doubt the concep t of global warming swallowing the whole earth has greatly mobilized the people and they are trying any possible means to reduce its effect like performing recycling and using alternative fuels (ethanol fuel

Life Cycle of the Service Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Life Cycle of the Service Industry - Essay Example As the report declares the products are of a wide variety due to few cases of imitation and replication. Competition is not intense because the industry is yet to be flooded with new firms. For a firm to survive this stage, it needs to advertise its services and take measures to retain customers.  At the growth stage, demand is growing because the industry can penetrate the market. Firms are utilizing and innovating new technology. The quality and design of products improves because they now know what the clients want. Competition is growing because of new entrants leading to mergers and exit of some firms. For a company to survive this stage, it should be creative in the way it offers its services.  This discussion stresses that at the maturity stage, demand is improving due to repeat buying. Customers are also becoming price sensitive. Firms are using innovative technology to beat their rivals and retain clients. Consumers can now differentiate between the firms through their b rands. Competition is stiff. Weaker firms are falling out. A company that survives this stage should have a strong brand, better technology and the muscle to rival out competitors. The decline stage is the final phase of the industry cycle. The demand for the services has gone down due to obsolescence. There is little technological innovation in firms. The services are all similar in the eyes of the consumers. The competition is intense- there are price wars and exits.  

Comparing and contrasting Adult Fans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Comparing and contrasting Adult Fans - Essay Example That is why I call it an obsession with an activity/ even in ones life. Different people have different hobbies depending on a wide array of factors. While some love playing video games on their computers, others like listening to music, others still find reading romantic novels their most preferred activity and so on. Ask anyone what they do regularly in their lives and you will be fascinated at the varied answers you will receive, these are their hobbies. Several factors influence the liking of such hobbies in different people. Such include, social class, level of education, peer types, environment, age, sex, occupation, etc. Hobbies are mostly done during leisure hours, some people however find it necessary to allocate some time at least in between their core duties to fit in some time for their hobbies. To this extent therefore, we can argue that different people have different levels of fanaticism for different hobbies. In this paper, I will look at the various factors which inf luence the choice of hobbies in adult population of LEGO and bronies. Hobbies tend to change considerably from childhood to adulthood. Children seem to like playing while in the ages of between 2- 5 years. Playing different soft games which do not involve a lot of brain work such as computer games, biking, etc. depending on their social classes dominates their lives and forms their hobbies. These hobbies tend to be common to both boys and girls in the same cultural setting. Such hobbies however changes as the children grow into adulthood. At about 10 and 15 years the teenage boys and girls get interested in totally different activities in all cultural diversities of the world. Moreover, more changes occur above this age as the teenagers graduate to young adults. Several factors play jointly to facilitate these changes. Such factors are varied and include the changes in lifestyles and places of residents with new friends and environments which come about with totally different

Theoretical Position. Standards for Evaluating Theories Essay

Theoretical Position. Standards for Evaluating Theories - Essay Example On the other hand, epistemology deals with the scope and nature of knowledge. Standards for Evaluating Theories There are five standards for evaluating theories and they include scope, testability, parsimony, utility and heurism. In the assessment of the scope of a theory, one has to determine how much and how good a theory defines and explains. Testability is the second standard for evaluating theories; in this aspect the theory is investigated to know whether it is correct or not, or [if it is incredible such that it does not require to be tested] (Can this be reworded without the word "incredible" and "does not require" to be tested? Our text does not cover the concept of a theory being so incredible it doesn't require testing). A third standard for evaluating theories is parsimony; parsimony can be referred to as simplicity. In this context, the theory does not have to be complex. The fourth standard is utility; many people tend to think that theory as being academic and esoteric (when it can have a functional use). The last standard in evaluating theories is heurism. What is the heuristic value of the theory? In this context, one asks himself if the theory leads to new thinking or its contribution to the knowledge of something and if it offers us with the possibility of further investigation (Wood, 2004). Some of the standards or criteria are more important than others; this is because I think they are more subjective than the others. I believe scope, parsimony, and utility to be more important than the others. In the context of scope, some of the theories claim to define and offer an explanation to almost all features of mass communication (including the medium, the recipient of the media messages, the content and the communicator). There are theories that provide an explanation and a description of only one feature of mass communication. For instance, â€Å"feminist theories which although can cover the whole domain of mass communication, often only foc us on media content and the portrayal of women in media content† (Fourie, 2001, p. 46). When considering how well a theory defines something, one has to distinguish whether the theory offers a full or partial description of all the important aspects of the phenomenon. For instance, a theory can focus on all or partial aspects of mass communications process (medium, messages, communicator and recipient) (Fourie, 2001, p. 43). In regard to parsimony, it is thought that majority of the best theories are simple and they permit sound description and explanation. For example, the Roman Jakobson’s theory of communication functions has been used in many ways by a number of researchers to investigate the components of mass communication (Jakobson, Pomorska & Rudy, 1985, p170). In the context of utility, theories are supposed to possess practical importance in terms of the individual understanding of the phenomenon with the aim of managing the phenomenon and enhancing the phenome non. A theory assisting us in understanding how mass communication operates â€Å"can lead to our control of this phenomenon to the benefit of people and society† (Fourie, 2001, p57). Ontology Ontology can be defined as the division of philosophy that deals with the organization and the nature of being (Maedche, 2002, p56). In other words, it is a branch of philosophy that explains the characteristic and organization of the being. My ontological position is that the characteristics and organization

Awarness-raising and selling Investors in people Assignment

Awarness-raising and selling Investors in people - Assignment Example Advertising entails paying to ensure dissemination of information that identifies well a brand, service or product, or an organization that is promoted to massive customer base at one time. As economies grow, advertising become more important, since more consumers or buyers have the income as a result advertising can get positive results; good and efficient advertising results costs money. Advertising campaigns should have a clear defined objective. Advertisements should grow out of the investor’s overall marketing strategies and the promotion jobs assigned to the advertising agency. Advertising objective must be more precise rather than personal selling objectives. The marketing agencies’ specific objectives and well formulated budget can accomplish the following to investors: assist position the investors’ brand by persuading and informing target customers about its benefits; introduce new products and service to specific target markets; obtain desirable outlets or inform customers where they can acquire or buy a product; avail on-going contacts with targeted customers, in case when salespersons are not available; make way for salespersons by availing the company’s identity and the benefits of its products; obtain immediate buying action; assist in maintaining relationships with the satisfied customers and encouraging more purchases; and building more trust relationships with the client base (Pride and Ferrell, 2010). The advertising objectives determine the two basic types of advertising, institutional or product. The Product advertising targets selling of the product and includes competitive, reminder, and pioneering advertisement. The Institutional advertising promotes an organization’s reputation, ideas, and image instead of a particular product. Pioneering advertising is in developing primary demand for particular product category instead of the demand for a particular brand; usually at early

Change in Family Arrangements in Tanzania and UK Assignment

Change in Family Arrangements in Tanzania and UK - Assignment Example â€Å"Christianity is a relatively new religion in Tanzania having introduced into the country during the 18th Century by professional missionaries. About two-thirds of East Africa’s Muslims reside in Tanzania which is the most populous of the East African countries† (Saeed, n. d) Because of these huge differences between these countries, the family arrangements, life principles, attitudes customs etc in these two countries are entirely different. This paper briefly analyses the Continuity and change in family arrangements in Tanzania and UK in three disciplines; economics, psychology and politics â€Å"The agro sector contributes more than two-thirds of the GDP. It accounts for almost 85% of the total exports and employs nearly 80% of the population. However, agriculture is restricted to the coastal plains, since nearly 90% of the land is not arable† (Economy watch Tanzania, n. d). At the same time one of the pathetic aspect of Tanzanian agriculture is the fact that only 4% of the total land area is used for agricultural purpose because of the geographical peculiarities and bitter climatic conditions. Even though, most of the agricultural products like coffee, tea, cashews, cotton etc are exporting from Tanzania, the farmers are getting very less price for their products because of the mediators in between production and exporting. Industrial sector is contributing very little to the Tanzanian economy. In fact industry in Tanzania is one among the smallest in Africa. Tanzanian government has recently taken some significant measures to liberalize the Tanzanian economy i n order to capitalize on the opportunities provided by globalization, liberalization and privatization. Tayari (2010) has pointed out that small-scale industries should be encouraged in Tanzania for the proper economic developments as did by many other countries (Tayari, 2010).

Awarness-raising and selling Investors in people Assignment

Awarness-raising and selling Investors in people - Assignment Example Advertising entails paying to ensure dissemination of information that identifies well a brand, service or product, or an organization that is promoted to massive customer base at one time. As economies grow, advertising become more important, since more consumers or buyers have the income as a result advertising can get positive results; good and efficient advertising results costs money. Advertising campaigns should have a clear defined objective. Advertisements should grow out of the investor’s overall marketing strategies and the promotion jobs assigned to the advertising agency. Advertising objective must be more precise rather than personal selling objectives. The marketing agencies’ specific objectives and well formulated budget can accomplish the following to investors: assist position the investors’ brand by persuading and informing target customers about its benefits; introduce new products and service to specific target markets; obtain desirable outlets or inform customers where they can acquire or buy a product; avail on-going contacts with targeted customers, in case when salespersons are not available; make way for salespersons by availing the company’s identity and the benefits of its products; obtain immediate buying action; assist in maintaining relationships with the satisfied customers and encouraging more purchases; and building more trust relationships with the client base (Pride and Ferrell, 2010). The advertising objectives determine the two basic types of advertising, institutional or product. The Product advertising targets selling of the product and includes competitive, reminder, and pioneering advertisement. The Institutional advertising promotes an organization’s reputation, ideas, and image instead of a particular product. Pioneering advertising is in developing primary demand for particular product category instead of the demand for a particular brand; usually at early

The Human Being and Living The Good Life Essay Example for Free

The Human Being and Living The Good Life Essay This paper contains the different definitions of what it means to be a human being and living a good life. In this paper we will take a look at Hobbes and Augustine’s definition of the human being and the good life. Both of these philosophers give examples of what they think the good life is, and the desires of human nature. In this paper I will talk about Augustine and his thought of how in order to live a good life, one needs to seek God to find true happiness. I will also talk about what being a human being and living the good life means to Hobbes, and his thought of how human equality is the ticket to happiness and the good life. I think Augustine offers a more accurate description of the human being and the good life because I agree that true happiness can’t be found in earthly things. I believe there is much more to life than finding happiness and self-worth in success, money, fame, popularity, and etc. Life chasing after materialistic items won’t bring you happiness because you will always feel like there is something more you want and desire, the materialistic items won’t satisfy you. Augustine’s definition of the human nature is one that is a God-seeker. Augustine agrees with Plato that the human nature has a mind to think and choose. He also believes that human beings have the free will to choose between good and evil. He believes that the human beings search for ultimate fulfillment and happiness. He believes that the good life is a life following God. Augustine believes that the only way to find eternal happiness and live a fulfilled life is following God because human beings are born as natural sinners; only when we find God, the emptiness in our heart is filled with eternal love and happiness. His definition of the good life is not one free of suffering, troubles, or sorrow, but one with faith in God. He believes that the grace of God is what will make u s happy and a relationship with God is true happiness. He believes that when we seek materialistic existence it ultimately leads to despair. He believes that a person that chases materialistic items is one who is selfish, because that person is always thinking about what the world/ another person can do for me; A godly person is one who appreciates the world for who it is and  another person for who he/she is. A godly person finds the life fulfilled. He believes that because human beings are all sinners, chasing after materialistic items will only lead to more sin and addiction, it won’t give us the ultimate satisfaction and fulfillment. Augustine shares his personal experience with us about how he chased after materialistic items and stole for fun, but it was never enough to fulfill him. He talks about his lust and search for love, but he didn’t find true love, fulfillment, or happiness until he found God. Human beings are the same, they chase after fame, money, popularity, success, and material items, but they will always feel the void, emptiness, and unfulfilled. Materialistic happiness is only temporary. Ultimate fulfillment and happiness requires spiritual existence and not tangible existence. Hobbes believes that the definition of human nature is a person who desires happiness. Hobbes believes that happiness is relative to the individual. There is no universal happiness. Hobbes believes that human beings are self-centered, self- preservative, and desire power. Hobbes believed that the state of nature would lead to the state of war because there are no laws in the state of nature, human beings have absolute freedom and the absolute freedom will lead to a constant state of fear. Hobbes believes that human beings are self-centered and self-preservative because they think about themselves before thinking about others. Hobbes believes that the basic components of human nature are competitiveness, diffidence, and glory. We do whatever we can to defend what we have, which makes us diffident. We all seek to have the repetition that others admire, which makes us seeking of glory. Hobbes believes that human equality is the good life. He believes that humans are equal in terms of body and mind. We are equal in body because we all have the ability and strength to kill each other. We are equal in mind because of prudent and practical intelligence (knowledge gained through experience). We all share the ability to learn from experience. That is why for Hobbes, everyone deserves the same rights and all rights. He believes that the only way to reach happiness and the good life is equality because human beings are naturally competitive. If everyone and everything is equal, then the competition will not be there because everyone is getting all the same things and same rights and there is nothing to fight over, so there will be peace. I think Augustine gives a better description of the human being because I agree that chasing after materialistic items can’t fill the empty void that is felt in the heart, only the love and mercy of God can fill that empty void. I believe that God created us and we won’t feel that everlasting love or happiness until we find God again, and I believe that only He can fill that empty void in our hearts. The materialistic items can bring temporary happiness and joy but that happiness and joy will eventually go away, and you feel that emptiness again. I agree that all human beings are born as sinners and we go after materialistic items like money, fame, popularity, success, love, and etc., and even when we do have all those materialistic items, we always want more. Human beings are selfish and enough never seems to exist in our vocabulary. I can speak from my personal experience because I desire for money, success, love, fame, and popularity as well. Even though I have a part-time job and I’m making enough money for me to spend on food, daily necessities, clothes, entertainment, and enjoyment, it still doesn’t seem enough. I always want to make more money, because to me there is no such thing as too much money. I desire for success because being successful means you can make lots of money and get lots of fame and popularity. I like to feel loved, whether it is by friends, family, or a significant other. Like Augustine, I realized that all these materialistic items brings me temporary joy, happiness, and fulfillment but it doesn’t last because it still doesn’t feel like it’s enough to make me feel satisfied. It wasn’t until one of my friends starting bringing me to church, and I learned about God and the love and mercy He has shown us and given us; it was then that I realized that I need God in my life. After finding God and accepting Him, I felt the emptiness in my heart that I tried to fill with materialistic items and temporary happiness, was finally filled with eternal happiness and fulfillment. I knew that the good life and living a life following God didn’t mean that I wouldn’t be facing trouble or that life was going to be easy, that I wasn’t going to face trials, temptations, or sufferings, but I knew that a life following God meant happiness and faith and trust that God will be there for me no matter what. Having that faith in Him made me fill fulfilled. I also began looking at things differently, instead of thinking about myself and the things I can get from money, fame, popularity, or success, I began thinking about how I can give to others and society with  the success or money or fame I have or will have. I began to think of the things I can do for others or for society, instead of what others or the society can do for me. I became more selfless i nstead of being selfish. Even though my life isn’t perfect and I still face sufferings and trails daily, I feel fulfilled because I have God in my life; and I wasn’t able to feel this way or find this happiness when chasing after the materialistic goods. That is why I believe Augustine’s definition is an accurate one. We can spend our entire life searching for happiness and we can have all the money in the world, or all the fame and popularity in the world, and we can feel loved by our significant others and family members and friends, but we will still feel unhappy, empty, lonely, or something is missing. God alone can fill that emptiness and loneliness, no one or nothing else can fill it. That is why I believe that even though following God may not be perfect and easy, that everlasting happiness and eternal love is worth it. Hobbes is right that the human beings desire happiness and is selfish and competitive and want popularity. However, I disagree that there is no universal happiness. There is universal happiness for whoever finds God. I believe that because we were all born as sinners, accepting God as our savior and knowing that He loves us even after all the sin we commit, we’ve committed, and we will commit, will makes us feel loved and accepted by our Heavenly Father. That is the fulfillment we need. We can find everlasting love and eternal happiness in our Heavenly Father. That is why I believe that in order to have a good life, one has to seek God and live for and through Him.