Problem Identification Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Problem Identification - Case Study Example However, in my personal opinion, the most basic problem faced by the healthcare management today is that of the provision of primary healthcare facilities, particularly in the capacity of disaster management. Disaster Management and the provision of Primary Healthcare: Disaster management encompasses a wide array of emergency situations including civil defense, civil protection, crisis management, homeland security etc. (Emergency Management, 2011). The time frame for which the services of Disaster Management teams are employed in a particular area is known as the transition period. This transition period is not only one of physical loss rather the victims are often emotionally drained by the losses they suffer as an outcome of the disaster. It is during this time that the victims need maximum healthcare facilities that guarantee their well being. The provision of primary healthcare facilities requires the building up of strategic national and international partnerships, which unfort unately does not seem to be the priority of Public Policy developers (Mortier, Bullen, & Guillouzic, 2010, Volume 3).

Video Game Addiction Essay Example for Free

Video Game Addiction Essay In recent years there has been a great increase of children spending too much time playing video games rather than spending time reading books or school related curricular activities. As a result, because children are being introduced to video games at such a young age, they are becoming addicted, resulting in poor academic performance and also affecting their social skills. Video game addiction has been categorized ad an â€Å"addiction† since it’s similar to other addictive behaviors, demonstrating that it can last for years and not solely a symptom of comorbid disorders. Electronic gaming has exploded in popularity and for some children has become their primary recreational activity (Olsen, et al. , 2007). As new technology and new video consoles are released, both children and adults are attracted and end up buying these new consoles. Tech savvy adults like to have the latest technology which leads to the purchase of the products and their children are exposed which leads to an addiction. Studies have shown that, (Weinstein 2010) in different countries have used different scales to assess prevalence of computer game addiction. There have been a whole host of case studies in the medical literature reporting some of the adverse effects of playing video games (21, 22). These have included auditory hallucinations (23), enuresis (24), encoprisis (25), wrist pain (26), neck pain (27), elbow pain (27), tenosynovitis- also called â€Å"nintendinitis† (28–31), hand-arm vibration syn- drome (32), repetitive strain injuries (33), and peripheral neuropathy (34) (Weinstein 2010)Video game addiction has been categorized as (Douglas, et al. , 2011) pathological video game use, commonly called video game â€Å"addiction†. It is considered â€Å"pathological† because of its similarities to â€Å"gambling† addiction, since it’s begins as entertainment, but then progresses to an addiction. Players lose sense of time and control and find playing fun and rewarding, but then becomes dysfunctional because it affects the child’s social growth and their school curricular activities as well as outdoor interest. Users may play compulsively, isolating themselves from other forms of social contact, and focus almost entirely on in-game achievements rather than broader life events (Weinstein 2010). Parents and families are also affected because they find themselves dealing with the child’s addiction that it makes it difficult to monitor the children 24/7. However there are major concerns among parents and Doctors that spending too much time playing video games may eventually put a stress on the child’s social engagement other peers and rather prefer isolation to continue playing these videos games. Others suggest that consumer should be informed about the potential addiction risks that can be attributed to playing video games (Van Rooij, et al. , 2009). Warning messages about [overuse of video games] risks have never appeared before [ such as those found] on leisure products such as bicycles, swings, soccer balls, and guitars, making these specific warning messages very atypical and unusual (Van Rooij, et al. , 2009). However now there are Centers that can be found in different countries including the US that specialized in these types of addiction to assist the children and their families overcome this pathological addiction. According to findings that after children were treated at this Centers and after treatment the gaming hours did reduce a fair amount, with significant progress.

Selection Interview Essay -- Work Careers Jobs Essays

Selection Interview "Selection is increasingly important as more attention is paid to the costs of poor selection, and as reduced job mobility means that selection errors are likely to stay with the organization for longer." (Torrington and Hall, 1998, p221) The selection decision has always been important as the way for a company to obtain the human resource that is appropriate for the job and company. There are many methods for selection such as: testing, advertising, completing application form, screening, corresponding with the prospective employee. Among these, the two principal selection methods, which most are used, are application forms, and interviews. In fact, it is not just one selection method used in practice. Generally, two or more methods are often used in combination. Comparison Of Strengths Selection is two-way process. The interview is a necessarily medium of two-way communication. It supplements the information in the pre-procedures such as application form and reference. It also provides the further particulars respectively to help both ends take decisions. On one side, the interviewer usually has some basic information from the application form or test, and these may require further face-to-face communication to clarify. For the selector, the interview can provide some further evidence and clues concerning the applicant's personal data, circumstances, career pattern and attainments, powers of self-expression, range and depth of interests, intelligence and special aptitudes, behavioural patterns and preferences which selectors are interest in. On the other side, because interview has a broad range of topics, the employer has the opportunity to introduce the company and explain job details in dep... ...take the initiative to either take advantage of classes or to take courses at a local college or attend workshops. It certainly is the employee's responsibility to keep abreast with developments. In almost all professions, those who stay up-to-date are leaders, while those who prefer to rest on previously gained laurels are left behind. REFERANCES: http://www.managementfirst.com/career_management/art_interview.htm A brief history of the selection interview: may the next 100 years be more fruitful http://www.dbm.com/hr/what/new12.html Ten Steps to establishing a "Learning Organization" The Truth About Training When You Need It and How to Get It by Kathy Simmons, IMDiversity Career Center http://careerplanning.about.com/careers/careerplanning/library/weekly/aa052498.htm The Virtual Job Club: Your Guide to Succeeding On the Job Search Job Interviewing

Easyjet: the Future of the Company Under Government Intervention

easyJet: The future of the company under government intervention. Introduction Since the inception of the aviation industry, it has had an amazing expansion with passenger growth still at 14% as recent as 2010 [The Economist, 2011]. For the years the aviation industry has been running, each flight causes a negative externality – a root cause of market failure. To solve this problem of market failure, governments have intervened by introducing a number of regulations over the year, to protect the welfare of society. However, the externality the aviation industry causes cannot be solved so simply. Pollution of CO2 and NOx gasses are the negative externalities caused by each flight, and with daily flights the damage is forever raising. To overcome this market failure in the aviation industry, the European Union Trading Scheme will be introduced from 2012. The government will intervene by placing a cap on the amount of gasses firms are allowed to release through their flights. The theory of the plan suggests that emissions will reduce over time and will push airlines to find alternative resources. What’s The Problem? Market failure is the term that economists use to describe situations where one person incurs costs or enjoys the benefits of another's action [Shiell, A, 2010]. There are four main reasons as to why market failure occurs: Monopoly power, Public goods (see Appendix A), Asymmetric information (see Appendix B) and Externalities. Within the airline industry, the latter comes into play. Market failure caused by externalities occurs when a party that is not involved in the decision making (third party) is affected as a result of that decision. There is a negative spill over effect and this causes markets to become inefficient and therefore fail. Externalities are effects of production or consumption on third parties where the price does not cover the full social cost. They are classed as positive (see Appendix C) or negative (see Appendix D) [Helbling, T, 2010]. It is deemed that the externalities of the airline industry have more adverse effects in the form of pollution, which may lead to a decreased quality of life. This problem has been further emphasized in the wake of the constant concerns of global warming in the media. There is also the issue of other externalities such as noise pollution (see Appendix E), congestion (see Appendix E), and the forgone production in terms of a polluted area (where an airport is located) is likely to affect activities such as tourism. Negative externality caused by market failure occurs due to the market not taking into consideration the complete social cost of an action. As firms are profit maximising entities as described by neo classical economics, they will produce a greater quantity of products compared to what is socially desirable. Taking an example of the aviation industry, the social costs of the airliner carrying out more flights is an increase in pollution and the release of other toxic gasses. Equilibrium Quantity 0 Price QMARKET Demand (private value) Supply (private cost) Social cost QOPTIMUM Optimum Cost of pollution As seen by the diagram, the social optimal output level is where the demand curve intersects with the social cost curve. But this is not the case as the current equilibrium is below the optimum one, as private firms only take into account private costs, creating inefficiency and hence market failure. Graph Adopted from: Harcourt Brace ; Company. 2011). Externalities, Chapter 10. p16. There are a number of policies that can be put into the place in order to combat market failure. They may be private such as negation and compensation, or they may be implemented by government. Through direct or indirect measures such as command and control policies or market based policies such as Pigouvian ta xes. (Appendix F). The government had meticulously assessed the aviation market and concluded that there was a noteworthy negative externality in the industry. This externality caused by air travel became the government’s main concern of the industry. They discussed this at the Kyoto Protocol (see Appendix G) and decided to use command and control policies to regulate the industry in order to tackle the problem. There were three mechanisms that came about from the protocol and the third mechanism was deemed most important to the aviation industry; the European Union Trading Scheme (EU ETS). This scheme aimed to be the primary method to reduce emissions. The idea of the EU ETS revolves around the introduction of the carbon market and the cap-and-trade system. This system was introduced in 2005 and commenced an initial trial period to create the markets infrastructure. During the trial period 12,000 facilities within the EU had been placed with an emissions cap, they were not allowed to pollute more than the cap stated but they were allowed to trade these permits if in surplus. The tradable characteristic of these caps gave firms the opportunity to create abnormal profit by selling them onto other firms that need the extra emission permit. [A. Denny Ellerman and Paul L. Joskow, 2008] The topic of much debate has been as to whether governments should have intervened in the industry. It is proven that the air industry only produces 2% of the total greenhouse gasses in the E. U. Therefore, it is hard to pinpoint why governments have targeted the industry in the EU ETS. The EU have stated the main reason for this was to reduce emissions, but, there is evidence in other industries that shows an increase in taxes will not have an effect on pollution. It is important for easyJet to read Appendix H, as it will show that governments might change their approach if their current choice proves ineffective. This will help easyJet know what might be expected of the industry in the future and may also give the firm a case to argue of the current pollution cap which may be deemed unfair by private companies. The Outlook for easyJet The main carriers in the UK are easyJet, Ryan air, flybe and bmibaby. They offer lower prices due to a number of characteristics such as direct booking, high seating density, uniform aircraft types (less economies of scale on servicing and maintenance), the use of secondary or cheaper airports and no frills such as free food and air miles (see Appendix I for further information). The main selling point of easyJet is its low prices. With the new regulations being implemented by 2012 (see Appendix J), expenditure will be sure to go up but this will not only affect the individual company, but the air industry a whole. These systems set up by the Kyoto protocol will cause drastic changes to the budget airline industry. The various firms will have to rethink their cost structure and their business plans. easyJet will need to assess what changes it will have to make and how this would affect them against their competitors. In order to assess the market place, and how easyJet will be affected, Porter’s five forces model needs to be examined. It consists of substitutes available in an economy, the threat of new entrants, the power of the customer, the power of the supplier and the threat from direct competitors. Porter, 2008) The first main threat arising due to higher costs is that of substitute products. The firm will need to analyse its costs compared to alternative means of transport like trains. Currently, short haul distances are cheaper via train but for a long haul journey it is cheaper to use budget airlines, as seen by the diagram to the left. But, this is about to change with new regu lations to reduce CO2 emissions, increasing expenditure for budget airlines. Also, trains are becoming cheaper as they are electric and switching to a full online booking service. The main limitation with people switching to trains is the time constraint. Although the gap in price for long haul flights will reduce, it is hard to see customers moving to trains for these longer distances and the fact that most trains are not direct further makes it eluding for customers to keep use trains. This raises the question, if prices increase, won’t people move to more luxurious airliners such as British Airways and Virgin? This is not the case as the non budget airlines in the industry are all currently performing inefficiently when compared to the budget airlines, and it is this characteristic that will be their downfall. With costs rising due to increasing oil prices (see Appendix K) and the expenses of implementing new technology, budget airlines will still prosper. They are available to provide such a low price and their competitors like B. A will be forced to drop their price and make up the profits elsewhere, if possible. Non budget airlines are beginning to correct their inefficiency and are diversifying to stay alive in the industry but with the finite amount of oil, the budget airlines currently have an upper hand. Dr Patrick Dixon, 2008] The suppliers, in this case, the manufactures of the planes play an essential role, now more than ever, as it is up to them to figure out ways to make planes more efficient. The various firms have taken different approaches on how to deal with government intervention and environmental issues. Airbus advertised their aircraft, the A380, as being ‘more fuel efficient per passenger kilometre than a small family car’ [Emirates, 2011]. A list of furth er features of how the A380 and Emirates are driving towards fewer emissions is available in Appendix L. asyJet have also developed their technology to combat the problem by creating an unducted fan-driven aircraft that its officials believe is the next best thing in fuel efficiency [Commercial Aviation Report, 2007]. To be able to reduce CO2 emissions in the aviation industry there has to be a full focus on ways to reduce them, such as investment in new technology so planes can use alternative fuels (Appendix M) or become more efficient. This creates a trade-off where other problems caused by the aviation industry, noise pollution and the amount of NOx in the environment, will have less focus on them due to the efforts on the CO2 emissions. The suppliers of aircrafts, such as Boeing and Airbus, need to account for this. With the new regulations in place, the main threat is still easyJet’s direct competitors. The current growth in the airline industry is stagnant and will reduce in the coming years as evidenced by Appendix N and this means the firm will need to think of new, more shrewd strategies in order to survive in the market place and a list of recommendations have been listed below. The fight between competitors will now be fiercer than ever, especially between the big two of the low cost airline industry; Ryan air and easyJet. The budget airlines structure is much the same between these firms and it is important for easyJet to use a competitive strategy. Although with these new regulations, new firms will be reluctant to venture into the industry but if incumbent firms are inefficient, new airliners will come into the industry. Recommendations As the new regulations come into place, drastic changes will be made in the air industry. With pledges to reduce carbon emissions and switch to bio fuels, easyJet will have to adjust and remodel its framework. The question on how to reduce emissions is at the top of any firm’s agenda and what method it will use to tackle this problem will be crucial. The general aim is to reduce emissions via newer planes which are seen as greener and thus have a lower carbon footprint. easyJet’s biggest competitor, Ryan air, struck deals with certain airports to reduce costs for them in order for the plane carrier to bring economic benefits to the area. But this plan has backfired as the various airports are finding the deal not viable and these deals are currently being looked in to by the European Commission. When easyJet looks at a way to keep costs low, they should not follow this system as it is deemed illegal and unethical by many but instead should investigate alternative methods. In order for easyJet to set its self apart, it will need to concentrate on competitive strategies such as cost focus or differentiation focus. [Porter, 1980] With cost focus, a firm aims to achieve the lowest costs in the industry. Does the firm then invest in latest technology? This action will be capital intensive in the short run but will help in the long run. Do they concentrate on the short run and keep shareholders happy by simply purchasing excess pollution permits? With budget airlines, the factor above all others is the price. Passengers are not concerned with the pollution emitted; as long as prices remain low. Consumers are happy to pay the minimal price, and if they weren’t, they would be travelling on a more luxurious plane such as BA or Emirates. easyJet’s current stance is to constantly upgrade to new technology as they believe this will increase efficiencies but it is advisable for them to just buy new permits to keep costs low, and to invest in new planes only when need arises. Advertising plays a huge role in the modern world. We see adverts everywhere and corporations pay millions to place their name and logo on various places. What if the airliner sold advertising space in the actual planes? Costs could be considerably reduced if there were advertising opportunities on the flight whether it is on the reading material or on the screens in front of the passenger. The idea of placing adverts to ease costs comes from Freeconomics developed by Chris Anderson. These savings could be passed onto the passenger through lower ticket prices, or simply kept by the company and used for purposes such as growth. Differentiation focus is where a firm sets itself apart from the competition by doing something different. There is currently a gap in the market for mid airliners, in terms of those that are between the range of the premium and budget airlines. The firm can exploit this and step up its efforts to excel in the market. With this the firm can charge a higher price which will offset the higher costs but in return give the consumers services that add value to the product such as car rentals, free food, and higher luggage weight capacity. Also increased customer service will be beneficial if they decide to bump the prices up. There is alot of talk for the use of alternative fuels such as bio fuels and hydrogen, but the advisors point out that it is still not yet a viable option for the firm. As airlines do not manufacturer their own planes, they are reliant on the manufactures like Airbus and Boeing to incorporate planes with these new technologies and at the same time making it commercially viable. These planes will then be available throughout the industry pushing the market more towards a perfect one with homogenous products. But this again ties in with the long-term short-term plan and if the firm are reluctant to invest, they will keep using existing aviation fuels. If other airliners change, then the price of aviation fuel will reduce as the demand will be lower. From the advisors point of view, it will be more profitable to stay in the current segment due to factors such as the global economy being stagnated. In order to remain competitive and increase market share, costs need to be kept to a minimum and this will be achieved by the combination of buying excess permits and advertising. These new regulations will not only be faced by the firm in question but will be faced through the industry as a whole. The way in which the individual airliners react will show whether or not it will survive in this tightening industry. Appendix Appendix A Monopolies – It is easy to see why there is market failure when there are monopolies in the industry and it is because as they have a negatively sloping demand curve, they will tend to maximise profits by ensuring outputs remain at a level where marginal costs are exceeded by price. Public Goods – With public goods, market failure arises as the firm usually has no-rivals and it is not excludable meaning any losses are reimbursed from public tax money. Appendix B Market failure due to asymmetric information occurs when one party of a transaction has more information than the other group. One market where this occurs is in the used car market where there is the lemons problem. Adverse selection happens before the transaction as only high-risk consumers will want to buy insurance. Moral hazard occurs after the transaction as once you have insurance, you are likely to act in a more risky way. An example of this is that airliners are likely to operate in risky conditions such as those of the Icelandic ash cloud as they know if the plane gets damaged, the insurance company pays. Quantity 0 Price QOPTIMUM Demand (private value) Supply (private cost) Social cost QMARKET Value of spillover Equilibrium Optimum Appendix C Positive externalities occur when those individuals who are not directly in the market for the good in question gain benefits. Positive externalities may also have an adverse affect on markets and thus could lead to market failure as a smaller quantity than that which is socially desirable is produced. As seen in the diagram, the intersection of the demand curve and the social value curve determines the optimal output level. The efficient output is below the market equilibrium quantity. The aviation industry may bring about positive externalities such as employment opportunities and R;D; this has positive effects pasts the producer as the knowledge gained in this process may lead to other discoveries and developments. Appendix D Negative externalities transpire when there is a cost to an individual who is not directly involved in the production or consumption of a particular good e. . cigarettes. Equilibrium Quantity 0 Price QMARKET Demand (private value) Supply (private cost) Social cost Cost of pollution If there are negative externalities, the cost of production to society is larger than that to the producer. The supply curve will have to be shifted upwards in order to accommodate for the full cost of production to the society. Appendix E Noise pollution has been a growing conce rn ever since the aviation industry was set to grow at an exponential rate. It is the local residents that are in the vicinity of the airport who are mainly affected by this. There has been research to suggest that the noise caused by aircrafts is damaging to humans, there is a full list published by the World Health Organisation stating the effects of noise in Appendix G. As well as being a general annoyance noise damages health, it detracts significantly from the quality of life, it stops local residents enjoying their gardens or simply enjoying peace and quiet, it damages wildlife, it damages the learning ability of schoolchildren and it costs a great deal of money through the costs of noise mitigation and noise abatement. John Whitelegg, 2000]. The World Health Organisation(2010) states that noise has a number of adverse effects which include, hearing impairment, cardiovascular effects and pschedocrine effects. To add more to local resident woes, airports generate an amazing amount of congestion on the roads. It is a hotspot for taxi’s, buses and trains. All of these add to the general emissions we as a human race pollute. Appendix F To combat externalities there may be a number of private solutions available, one in particular is in the form of negotiation and compensation. This would mean the people producing the negative externality reimburse the third parties, other producing positive externalities are compensated by the third parties. Others may be social sanctions and moral codes. Private solutions do not always work and in the case of this occurrence, public solutions need to be taken into account to solve the problem in the form of direct or indirect government’s participation in markets. Figure Adopted from: Office of Fair Trading. (2009). Government In Markets: why competition matters. 14. The two main reasons as to why governments directly intervene in markets are to provide public goods and services that free markets would be unlikely to provide at an appropriate level and to benefit from the commercial value of public sector assets (Office of Fair Trading, 2009). Command and control policies are the regulations set by government and include forbidding certain behaviours like disallowing smoking on the plane, and it could also make cer tain behaviour necessary such as investing in low emission technology. This method of intervention is usually used in the aviation industry. Governments intervene indirectly where there are private markets that produce side-effects that have an impact on social welfare. They include certain acts like the use of tax or subsidies to combat market failure. Price Effects of a Tax Quantity Private cost with tax Private cost Private value Social Value P2 P3 Q2 Q1 Q3 Q1 = Market Value Q2 ; P2 = Full Social Cost In the aviation industry, certain market based policies are in the pipeline and may come to affect in the form of Pigouvian taxes such as fuel tax. As can be seen, the fuel tax could increase the price of an airline trip to P3 which might make consumers feel a lesser need to travel and demand would move to Q3. With this tax on fuel and the current increase in fuel prices due to the unrest in the Middle East, people would find it cheaper to use others means of transport such as trains and ferries and could this be the demise of budget airlines. Appendix G The Kyoto Protocol was a meeting within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto, Japan in 1997. It was in this meeting that 37 industrialized countries agreed to band together to reduce global emissions. From this meeting three mechanisms came about on how to reduce emissions, the first being the clean development mechanism in which members of the original 37 countries to invest in developing countries, for example installing solar panels and energy efficient boilers. The second mechanism to reduce emissions is the joint implementation mechanism; this is when the original members invest in each other’s country where it is easier cut costs [UNFCCC. int, 2011]. Appendix H In regards to the environment, government intervention could have been avoided as no one owns the property right to things such as air. Public goods are free goods available to everyone and include clean air, clean water, and biodiversity; these are mainly non excludable and non rival goods. These public goods have no property rights and thus the business and household sectors do not put enough emphasis on these goods and they often face a collective action problem. So if no one owns these, why should an airliner have to pay for pollution costs as they cannot be technically accountable to anyone? As there is no single owner of the air that is being polluted airlines could argue that it is not their responsibility and so why should they be forced the pay the full social cost. The problem of corporate social responsibility then arises; this would argue the blame for the pollution lies with the airlines as they provide a chunk of air pollution. After undertaking a wide-ranging consultation of stakeholders and the public and analysing several types of market-based solutions, the Commission concluded that bringing aviation into the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) would be the most cost-efficient and environmentally effective option for controlling aviation emissions. [European Commission Climate Action, 2011] Any form of taxation will not work as these measures have failed to work in the reduction of emissions. One example is the car industry where despite the heavy taxes; the number of car owners across Europe continues to increase. Taxation on air transport will not have any effect on the emitence of greenhouse effects but will instead have an adverse effect on the growth within the European area. Also governments putting emphasis on the aviation industry which produces less than 2% of EU emissions means that the main reason for intervention is not an environmental factor. It is unclear as to the reason why air transport is a priority in the ETS instead of larger green house gas producing industry. The impact is so small that if household heating had to improve by 15%, it would cancel out the effect of the aviation industry. Ethically, government intervention was the right way forward as leaving it to the private companies would not have proved effective as their aim is to keep private costs to a minimum. Market failure is bad for your health but social injustice is worse. [Oxford Journals. 32 (1), p12-13]. It is easyJet’s duty to abide by any government law. A number of recommendations have been put below as to how the company can best prosper with these new conventions. Appendix I Low Cost Characteristics – Low cost airliners offer a pricing strategy on a first come first serve basis and this means at the passengers who book earlier pay less. Smith, (No Date) Passenger service costs are lower because there is no free food. Sales and reservation and commission cost lower because virtually everything is done online. The number of staff on board an aircraft is reduced as they are not needed due to not serving food. Smith, (No Date) Appendix J Currently the aviation industry is not included in any of the 12,000 facilities that are included in the trading scheme. However, from the start of 2012 there will be a cap on the CO2 emissions from all international flights that arrive or depart from any EU airport. Airlines will receive the same permits and caps that the previous 12,000 facilities received. These firms will then enter the carbon market where they can buy or sell permits, whichever maybe the case. If the company finds itself with an excess amount of permits they can choose to put them into the market or to simply keep them to cover future emissions. If the airline is in need of more permits they will need to enter the market and purchase the number of permits they require. The firm should also consider investing in alternative technology that will reduce their emissions efficiently. They can also earn emission credits by taking part in the clean development mechanism. [European Commission Climate Action, 2011] The aviation industry has begun to explore new fuels e. g. Bio-fuels. It is out of necessity that new fuels are being researched as these are considers more greener compared to oil. There is currently research into using algae as a bio fuel and into other techniques to make aircrafts more environmentally friendly. Some improvements have already been made through the industry – reduced fuel consumption and passenger-friendly cabins [Commercial Aviation Report, 2007]. Appendix K Oil has always been a finite resource; it was always known it will run out at one time or another. As we approach this time the cost of oil and fuel for the aviation industry will increase as oil becomes rarer. In this time it will be budget airlines that prevail and will continue to operate irrelevant of oil prices. It is their fundamental principle that will pull them through the rising oil prices, to deliver the basic minimum a consumer needs and to charge extra for add-ons. Budget airlines have a way of finding ways to cut costs in non essential places, they will continue this practise and will eventually gain the competitive advantage over others in the industry. For those companies who exceed their permit limit will have to pay a fine, to give up or purchase extra permits to cover their emissions. [John Walker and Amrit MacIntyre, 2008] Appendix L * The Emirates A380 burns up to 20% less fuel per seat than other large aircraft * This is the most significant advancement in reducing fuel burn and emissions in four decades. Low fuel burn means lower C02 emissions. The A380 produces less than 75g of C02 per passenger kilometre, almost half of the European target for cars manufactured in 2008. * Emirates A380s will progressively feature digital inflight magazines, entertainment guides and shopping catalogues, saving 2kg per seat or almost one tonne per aircraft. * Emirates A380s, which offers more space per passenger in all classes, will also meet ICAOâ₠¬â„¢s gaseous emissions standards by a substantial margin. * We will comfortably meet current Stage Three and proposed Stage Four noise level standards. Our new Emirates A380 maintenance facilities in Dubai are state of the art, efficient buildings. * A380s feature lightweight materials that account for 25% of its structure. * Our emissions components – such as NOx – will be well under the regulated ‘cap four’ rule * Emirates is working with Airbus to further reduce weight of our future A380s. * Larger aircraft mean less take-off and landings (in passenger terms, some Emirates A380 versions would be the equivalent of flying up to seven smaller aircraft types). Emirates average fleet age is less than half that of many European airlines, meaning newer technology and efficiency breakthroughs characterise our aircraft. Appendix M The aviation industry has begun to explore new fuels e. g. Bio-fuels. It is out of necessity that new fuels are being researched as oil is a limited resource. There is currently research into using algae as a bio fuel and into other techniques to make aircrafts more environmentally friendly. Some improvements have already been made through the industry – reduced fuel consumption and passenger-friendly cabins [Commercial Aviation Report, 2007]. Appendix N Graph Adopted from: The Economist. (2011). Budget airlines: In the Cheap Seats. With traffic expected to slow, low-cost air carriers are getting fancy, p1. The graphical illustration shows the number of passengers carried by budget airlines are growing but its set to decline from 14% in 2009 – 2010 to 6% by 2013 [The Economist, 2011]. With fewer consumers entering the market, companies have to think of other ways to make money from existing customers. easyJet have approached this by increasing frequency on their routes and using more primary airports. Customer satisfaction will now become an even greater part of the aviation industry with features such as priority boarding and loyalty schemes, also the trivia of losing luggage should become a thing of past. â€Å"The low-cost carrier market used to be about fast growth and uncomplicated strategies,† says Keith McMullan, of Aviation Economics, a consultancy. â€Å"Now it is about slow growth and complicated strategies. † [The Economist, 2011] Reference List 1. [Dr Dixon, P. (2008) , Future of budget airlines, {Online Video] Available: http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=BVTxPbr_UAc. Last accesses 18/03/2011. 2. Economist. 2011). Budget airlines: In the cheap seats. Available: http://www. economist. com/node/18010533? story_id=18010533. Last accessed 03/03. 2011. 3. Elbling, T. (2010). What are Externalities?. Finance and Development. 47 (4), p2. 4. Ellerman, D and Joskow, P. (2008). The European Union’s Trading Scheme in Perspective, p1-3. 5. Emirates. (2011). Em irates greener, cleaner, quieter A380s take to the skies. Available: http://www. theemiratesgroup. com/english/our-vision-values/emirates-a380. aspx. Last accessed 10/03/2011. 6. European Commission Climate Action. (2011). Reducing emissions from the aviation sector. p1. 7. Graph Adopted from: Harcourt Brace ; Company. (2011). Externalities, Chapter 10. Available: http://www. westga. edu/~dboldt/ECON2105/CHAP10. PPT p16. 8. Hamilton, S. (2007). Airline industry grapples with increasing environmental concern. Available: http://www. leeham. net/filelib/091007CAR. pdf. Last accessed 20/03/2011. 9. Hamilton, S. (2007). Airline industry grapples with increasing environmental concern. Available: http://www. leeham. net/filelib/091007CAR. pdf. Last accessed 20/03/2011. 10. Office of Fair Trading . (2009). Government In Markets : why competition

Physics Viewed As Difficult Subject Education Essay

Chapter 2.02.1 IntroductionPresents, the research workers are concern about the involvement of pupils in larning Physicss, as it is unhappily diminishing. As a research worker semen pedagogues, they would non wish this to go on. So they try to accommodate new manner of instruction and do the schoolroom go more piquant, originative and interacting with the pupils. The research findings are based on literature reappraisal demoing that pupils have troubles on conceptual apprehension in Physics. What are the causes that make pupils dislike Physicss? How is Physics being taught in Brunei Science Education? Furthermore, this subdivision will besides include ways to work out this job, on how teacher need to alter their instructional attack such as improvizing learning manner i.e. be more synergistic in heightening pupils ‘ better apprehension in Physicss with the aid of information and communicating engineering ( ICT ) such as Synergistic simulation. It besides include a reappraisal on how effectual is ICT and synergistic simulation in Physics instruction can be in pupils ‘ apprehension and acquisition. Likewise, attitude of the pupils besides play critical function in their accomplishment of that peculiar topics. Other surveies will besides include on how ICT or synergistic simulation can act upon their attitude towards larning Science will be included. Simulations have been around practically since the coming of computing machines, and research workers have been looking at schoolroom utilizations of simulations for over 20 old ages. We want to see the effectivity of computing machine simulations for back uping scientific discipline instruction and acquisition and foregrounding ways that simulations can be best used to make so. ( Smetana, 2000 ) Computer simulations help the lesson to be more synergistic, reliable, and give meaningful larning chances possible to pupils. Learners can detect, explore, recreate, and have immediate feedback about existent objects, phenomena, and processes that would otherwise be excessively complex, time-consuming, or unsafe. ( Smetana, 2000 ) Even though the computing machine simulations can non replace scientific discipline schoolroom and research lab activities wholly but they offer assorted advantage in footings of pupils originative thought and enquiry accomplishments. ( Sahin, 2006 ) . With the aid of computing machine simulation besides, it can assist explicate the inside informations of what go on in such as atom motions of solid atoms where it truly difficult to visualise in existent life. ( Blake & A ; Scanlon, 2007 )2.2 Brunei Education Systems: SPN21In 2009, instruction system in Brunei had reformed to SPN21 instruction system where the end is to supply holistic instruction for pupil s and to accomplish the fullest potency for all in the close hereafter. Harmonizing to Yussof, ( 2012 ) , cited in SPN21 Curriculum more balanced, 2012, SPN21 provide quality instruction for all to fix the young person for their hereafter grownup functions as capable and originative thought citizens who can lend to society. In add-on to that, Masdi, ( 2008 ) besides emphasized that Science and engineering is important in developing a competitory economic system and prolonging a state ‘s development ( SPN21 to hold new scientific discipline course of study, 2008 ) Harkirat, ( 2006 ) stated that the manner the instructor Teach scientific discipline in Brunei are largely traditional method i.e. chalk and talk. Furthermore, the instructors felt advantageous in learning this manner as this can understate the schoolroom subject as the pupils are busy copying notes from the white board. As a consequences, post accomplishment of this type of learning method shows really small betterment. ( Dhindsa, 2006 ) Surveies made by Pengiran Jadid, ( 2007 ) found out that 185 instructors ‘ learning manner in secondary school turned out to be reasonably traditional i.e. they taught the pupils with auditory and ocular method nevertheless some of the pupils would non preferred this method. ( Bostrom* , 2011 ) . In SPN21 instruction course of study, learning methods need to be alteration to accomplish with the ends. Rahman, ( 2011 ) stated that one of the instructors that join Leadership in Educational Programme ( LEP ) stating that school instructors were told to seek to use new and advanced methods of learning to assist the students cope with the execution of the twenty-first Century National Education System ( SPN21 ) . This encouraged the pupil to transport out their most suited or preferable manner of larning such as researching on the Internet. This will decrease the pupil ‘s dependence on the pedagogues while they learn at their ain comfy pace.A ( Jong, 2011 )2.3 Physics viewed as hard topicHarmonizing Abdul Qadeer Soomro, ( 2011 ) pupils find Physics as one of the debatable countries within the field of scientific discipline. Reason for this is that instructors taught Physics traditional direction. This magnetizes fewer scholars than other field of scientific discipline topics. William ( 2003 ) , province that the major general grounds for happening Physicss uninteresting are that it is seen as hard and irrelevant particularly female pupils. The worsening figure of pupils taking to take Physicss during their farther surveies continues to be a cause for concern for scientific and educational communities around the universe. ( Defty, 2006 ) Students find Physics hard as they have to postulate with different representations such as experiments, expressions and computations, graphs and conceptual account at the same clip. Harmonizing to Redish ( 1994 ) , he explains why pupils describe Physics as hard: Physicss as a subject requires scholars to use a assortment of methods of understanding and to paraphrase from one to the other, covering with tabular arraies of Numberss, graphs, equations, diagrams and maps. Physicss besides requires the ability to utilize algebra and geometry which relate to mathematics topics. This makes larning Physicss peculiarly hard for many pupils particularly those pupils who do non like to job resolution. Muhall, et Al, ( 2001 ) besides added that particularly in electricity and magnetic attraction as instructor find it hard to present this lesson as they barely show what truly traveling on inside a circuit particularly. Electricity is a peculiar job, as it involves highly complex and extremely abstract constructs and therefore wholly dependent on theoretical accounts so that pupils could easy visualise and understand the constructs. In order to make these, ICT can assist teacher in explicating the hard abstract.2.4 ICT in Physics EducationThe rapid alteration in development of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) has made important impact in transforming many facets particularly education in general and higher instruction in peculiar. It is besides significantly importance for the instructors to understand the accomplishments and cognition required in utilizing ICT peculiarly in Physics instruction. ICT alteration instructors ‘ function from spoon feeding the inform ation to pupils to ease pupils to research new information. ( Lubis, et al 2011 ) In order to guarantee that pupils are competent in the country of larning engineerings, instructors tend to alter their attitude and present new ICT tools and engineerings into their Physics categories. ( Jarosievitz, n.d. ) Besides that, surveies done by Tasouris, ( 2009 ) , instructors in Cyprus thinks that with the aid of ICT in Physics instruction pupils can research in-depths the hard constructs, motivate pupils and heighten their scientific apprehension by researching the alive images in synergistic simulation for case. ICT besides enhanced active acquisition among the pupils. They can work on existent life jobs in deepnesss and most significantly doing larning less abstract. With ICT besides encourage collaborative acquisition in footings of interaction and cooperation among instructors and pupils. Unlike static-text and print based text books, with ICT pupils can really see what really happens in certain phenomena for illustration motion of inactive charges in stuffs. Quite figure of surveies has stated that technology-rich acquisition environment has a positive impact on pupil acquisition. Surveies conducted by Fraser, B & A ; Aldridge, J, ( 2003 ) which look intoing whether results, focused and ICT rich larning environment promote pupil accomplishment, attitudes towards capable, attitudes to utilize of ICT and academic efficaciousness. They found out that surely technology-rich larning environment has a positive and important consequence on pupil acquisition, attitudes towards capable, attitudes to computing machine usage and academic efficaciousness. With that engineering assisted direction truly helps pupils to develop a conceptual apprehension of abstract representation of physical scientific discipline as it emphasizes simulation, visual image, life, etc. Hence, to heighten pupils ‘ deeper mental imagination ( Fisher, D, 2003 )2.5 Effective instructional attacks: Traditional Teaching Style vs. Interactive SimulationEffective instruction must include two major constituent i.e. teacher directing out information, and pupils receive and exchange feedback. Major job presents is instructors still comfy of utilizing chalk and speak as their instructional attack. This is because they do non hold clip as they were pressured to complete up course of study and continue rapidly to boring alteration. Brunei instruction system is largely assessment based. This influenced the instructor to merely learn and hotfoot to finish the course of study content without even acknowledge whether the pupils really grasp the construct. To avoid this, ICT is introduced as one of the instruction tools that might assist pupils in their acquisition and made instructors ‘ life easier in footings of explicating hard construct in Physics peculiarly. One of the ICT tools that happen to be truly assisting teacher account better is synergistic simulation. Teacher can really utilize synergistic simulation in on-line site for case Phet. Phet stands for Physics instruction engineering, where the instructors from other state come up with synergistic simulation in each topic and portion to other instructor where they can download it and accommodate it to the schoolroom. The suite includes over 50 research-based simulations that span the course of study of introductory Physics every bit good as sample subjects from advanced Physicss and chemical science. ( Perkins, et al. , 2006 ) The synergistic simulation are free and does non necessitate to utilize cyberspace services. This simulations are designed to be extremely synergistic, prosecuting and do unfastened larning environment in the schoolroom that provided alive feedback to the pupils as good. This simulation supply instructor and pupils higly ocular, dynamic representations of Physics constructs. Furthermore, the simulations seek to construct expressed Bridgess between pupils ‘ mundane apprehension of the worl and the implicit in physical rules. For illustrat ion in electrostatic, utilizing simulation as the theoretical account to explicate the inactive charges truly behave if initiation or conductivity bear downing apply to the stuff etc. Alessi & A ; Trollip S.R. , ( 1991 ) defined simulation in instruction as a powerful technique that gave pupils some facet of the universe by retroflexing or copying it. The simulations besides allow pupils to interact with it in a similar mode to the manner they would respond in existent state of affairss. Students besides play an reliable function transporting out complex undertakings with the simulations. Simulation incorporate an engaging and synergistic attack in the schoolroom as it is more towards pupil centred acquisition. This allows the pupil to research, be funny and generate critical thought. It besides helps developing in constructivism as pupils learn by constructing on their anterior apprehension through a series of geographic expeditions. This besides ignites the pupils ‘ involvement in happening out new things in certain subjects. Furthermore, this aid teacher to explicate the microscopic with the designed theoretical account available. Simulation can be used non merely in schoolroom but besides in research lab. Where instructors can utilize it to put up the experiments that are took clip to put up, or even the practical that is really unsafe to make. ( Noah Finkelstein, 2006 ) Figure 1 and figure 2 below are illustrations of synergistic simulation that can be used in the schoolroom. Figure 1: Simulation on Kinematicss and Energy Figure 2: Simulation on Force applied Harmonizing to Bozkurt & A ; Ilik, ( 2010 ) it has been seen that the groups who study with computing machine simulations are more successful than those who study with traditional methods. In add-on, the analysis that has been made sing beliefs of the groups shows that the instruction methods play a function on pupils ‘ beliefs. With the aid of a powerful simulation many of Physics topics which are hard to learn and present can be made simpler and clearer harmonizing to Zacharia & A ; Anderson, ( 2003 ) . In Shirley Pasion Caday research, the survey reveals that there is a important difference between the average pre-test tonss and average post-tests tonss of the experimental group in the trial on scientific discipline constructs. She besides concluded that computing machine simulation experiment is an effectual tool to capture the involvement of pupils toward the acquisition of Physics as a topic. ( Caday, 2004 ) Research workers analyzing the usage of simulations in the schoolroom have reported positive findings overall. Studies done by Kulik, ( 2002 ) computing machine simulations can be effectual in developing content cognition and procedure accomplishments, every bit good as assisting advancing enquiry and conceptual alteration. It besides helps pupil gained understanding and achievement capable countries, for case Physics. Harmonizing to Ajmian & A ; Fatim ( 2007 ) survey, the understanding per centum in the pupils ‘ larning utilizing multimedia oriented package is much higher, and the consequences are promoting. With synergistic simulation it can better pupils ‘ visual image and particularly in assisting pupils to see construction in phenomena and processes that are traditionally ‘invisible ‘ to pupils i.e. a procedure that can non be seen by bare oculus ‘small procedure ‘ i.e. motion of protons or even ‘big procedure ‘ i.e. motion of Eart h as stated by Lindgren & A ; Schwartz, ( 2009 ) . On top of that, with the aid of synergistic simulation it can rectify pupils ‘ misconception in Physics. However, synergistic simulation still can non replace existent research labs as pupils truly necessitate the scientific discipline accomplishment procedure ( psychomotor sphere ) in making the experiments. However, the usage of synergistic simulation gives pupils the thoughts of what to anticipate in existent research lab experiments hence, Choi & A ; Genarro, ( 1987 ) province that simulations work best and effectual if the experiments require cognitive interaction.2.6 Students ‘ attitudes and achievement towards larning PhysicssStudents ‘ attitude is likely to play critical function in any satisfactory account of their public presentation in schools which is suggested by Schunk & A ; Hanson, ( 1985 ) . Harmonizing to Hendrickson, ( 1997 ) , attitudes are the best forecaster for appraisal of pupils ‘ succ ess. One survey had been done in Turkey where they indicate that scheme direction can act upon the attitude towards larning Physics. In Mehmet, ( 2009 ) survey, he provides some grounds which indicates the correlativity of positive-ness of pupils ‘ attitudes towards scientific discipline with instructional scheme in Physics. Equally long as instructor avoided traditional attack in their instruction, this will increase pupils ‘ involvement and more positive towards the topic. It is realized that Physics is non a popular topic among the pupils and is regarded as hard. If the instructor taught in traditional instruction manner, pupils are prone to memorise the expression for tests since they do non follow the Physics constructs in the schoolroom. Therefore, traditional Physics categories frequently result in pupil failures and negative attitudes towards the topic. ( Mehmet Sahin, 2009 ) Ogunlele, W ( 1993 ) in his surveies besides stated that many pupils developed negative attitudes towards Physics acquisition as a consequence of the fact that instructors are unable to fulfill their aspiration or ends or even their wonder in Physics subjects. Another interesting survey done by Onyinye & A ; Okereke, ( 2012 ) their research showed that pupils negative attitude towards Physics were due to, instructors non leting pupils to execute practical separately because of deficient equipment in the research labs in other words non plenty hands-on experience. Students felt that they have lack motive for category battle. ( Erylmaz, 2011 ) . It is good known that negative attitude towards a certain capable makes acquisition or future-learning of the pupils hard. Therefore, Guzel, ( 2004 ) emphasized that developing pupils ‘ positive attitudes towards scientific discipline lessons is the most of import intent of scientific discipline instruction. Most research workers agreed on how attitude of pupils towards certain capable might act upon their ulterior public presentation or accomplishment in their acquisition. The more negative pupils ‘ position or involvement towards the topic, it will do pupils non to execute better in their survey. Fraser, B & A ; Aldridge, J, ( 2003 ) reveal that pupil academic accomplishment is positively correlated to the pupils ‘ perceptual experiences of the acquisition environment.2.7 DrumheadThe literature reappraisal suggested that, with the aid of ICT and synergistic simulation, these can assist to better Science instruction. In which it can assist teacher to explicate abstract things better. Students will understand more, clear out misconception and avoid rote larning finally. Teacher besides bear in head that to integrate utilizations of ICT in pupils larning, non merely utilizing ICT in explicating but allowing the pupils use the ICT in order to research new things and being syner gistic in the schoolroom. This will do the schoolroom more to pupils centred. In the hereafter, hopefully with the appropriate and changeless usage of ICT and synergistic simulation in schools might develop pupils with rich ICT accomplishments in order to carry through state ‘s vision in 2035.

Aristotles Meaning of Life essays

Aristotle's Meaning of Life essays From reading Aristotle's philosophies and point of view of life, he gave me the impression that the laws of nature are the boundaries in which humans' lives and the meaning of life evolves around this boundary. Aristotle strongly believed that humans behaved and lived within the laws of nature and there were no Gods and no supernatural forces that affected the way humans could behave or interact. Aristotelian universe is an interaction between form and matter and that every single thing in the universe surrounded and behaved according to the order and purpose of nature. Aristotle also believed that form and matter are two important aspects to meaning of life and that both form and matter are required in order to complete life. Aristotelian form could be absent from matter but it cannot exist independently of matter. According to Aristotle, form is what makes a substance a substance and matters are the materials required in order making it into a substance. In addition, Aristotle also emphasized that in order to understand what constitute a thing, we have to understand and question the four types of causes behind it: (1) Material Cause, (2) Formal Cause, (3) Efficient Cause, and (4) Final Cause. In material cause, behaviours and structures are being formed and changed. In this stage, I believe that Aristotle wants the reader to understand that everything in life needs balance. Too much of certain thing in life is no better than less of a certain thing in life. Following is the formal cause, which shape starts to form because the required ingredient to make up his or her life has been acquired. Once the shape of life starts to form we get to see the changes being done to the person. This change is being known as the efficient cause. Finally, in the final cause we get to see the point of life through entelechy. Entelechy is very important in all living things in this universe because it give completes growth. For example, a circle reache...

The History and Business of Making Lump Charcoal

The History and Business of Making Lump Charcoal Charcoal is a formless mass of carbon and can be made from most carbonaceous materials. It is one of the oldest of man-made fuels and has been prepared under the ground for a thousand years. Charcoal in lump form is still a major source of energy throughout the world and unfortunately, is one of the main causes of deforestation in the World. Historical Charcoal Production Wood charcoal production dates back to ancient human prehistory when  stacks of wood logs on their ends were formed into a pyramidal pile. Openings were created at the bottom of the pile and attached to a central flue for circulating air. The whole woodpile was either constructed in an earth covered pit or covered with clay above ground. A wood fire was started at the flue base and gradually smoldered and spread up and out. Ancient charcoal pits, under average conditions, yielded about 60 percent of the total wood by volume, but only 25% by weight, of charcoal product. Even by the seventeenth century, advances in technology yielded nearly 90 percent efficiency and was a skill that took years to learn and a major investment in kilns and retorts which had long replaced the pit method. Current Charcoal Production Much like the old process, the modern commercial charcoal process is to heat wood with little or no air present which takes special but simple equipment. In the United States, wood is the primary material used for charcoal and is generally procured in the form of residue from sawmills - slabs and edgings. Sawmills love to find users of this material because of environmental problems with burning and disposal of mill wastes. Where there are sawmills, there is an available raw product. The United States Forest Service has estimated that there are nearly 2,000 charcoal-producing units in the United States, including brick kilns, concrete and masonry block kilns, sheet steel kilns, and retorts (a steel metal building). The state of Missouri produces a significant portion of this national charcoal product (they have until recently had less stringent environmental regulations) and 98 percent of all charcoal is produced in the eastern United States. While charcoal can be made from any number of natural materials, hardwoods such as hickory, oak, maple, and fruit-woods are favored. They have unique aromas and tend to produce a better grade of charcoal. Better grades of charcoal come from raw materials with low sulfur content. The uses of charcoal may surprise you. Besides being the fuel that cooks steaks, hot dogs, and hamburgers on a Sunday picnic, charcoal is used in many other processes. It is used in certain metallurgical purifying treatments and as a filter to remove organic compounds such as chlorine, gasoline, pesticides, and other toxic chemicals from water and air. Activated charcoal, which has a super absorptive surface, is growing in use as a purifier. It is used in purifying and refining metals and in the gas masks that were used during the Gulf War. NutraSweet  uses activated charcoal to transform their product into a powder. Activated charcoal is used as an antidote for many types of poisons and is touted as an effective anti-flatulent. Lump Charcoal as a Business Most charcoal manufacturers sell their product as a briquette. This market has been dominated by several companies to include Kingsford, Royal Oak, and major grocery market brands. These companies may or may not make lump charcoal which is an alternate product that has some advantages and has potential as a small start-up business. Some new and exciting grill technologies actually require charcoal in lump form. An entrepreneur hoping to survive in the charcoal industry will require originality and very good and aggressive marketing. Many small companies have survived but most have not made it big. Theyve found that their potential in the niche charcoal market is by making natural hardwood lump charcoal. Innovative ideas like developing a product in a bag that has a fuse, which when lit will ignite the charcoal. This quick light product combined with an easy-to-use paraffin coated container filled with natural charcoal has been a modest success in some local markets. A major hurdle is creating an appealing package. Technical problems with storage make for unappealing packages and can affect sales. You may find your bag on the bottom shelf in the back of the store because of a plain package. You may also have a problem finding distributors that handle small volumes. There is also the potential for other products. Wood charcoal has a low sulfur content, unlike coal or petroleum products. This wood charcoal can be used where other forms of carbon cannot. Developing a specialty activated charcoal for filtration of consumables like air and water is possible. This low sulfur charcoal product would be sold to a large manufacturer of activated carbon like Calgon Carbon of Pittsburgh, PA. Starting a Charcoal Business In addition to the raw material, you will have to have an area suitable for heating the material while allowing only a minimal amount of air circulation. This may be a brick kiln or you may opt for a type of metal building called a retort. You can expect to pay up to several hundred thousand dollars for one of these. You also must develop a sorting and crushing operation. The wood that has been cooked is smaller than its original size by about one-third. It must be broken down into marketable pieces. This would have to be done by a customized piece of equipment made by a made-to-order machine shop. There is no reasonable cost estimate here - youve got to do a lot of leg work. Then you have to bag or package the carbon. Bagging machines are readily available from bagging equipment supply companies. Charcoal presents somewhat of a bagging problem due to a large variance in the sizes of the piece. These problems are not impossible to correct and a bagging line could cost you as much as $100 thousand. You can get less expensive ones. The best strategy for making a business success in lump charcoal is to keep the market local or regional. You might link up with a grill or outdoor oven company and combine your marketing efforts. Advertise the product as superior, natural charcoal that has advantages over briquettes. Many people are not aware that charcoal is available in this all-natural form. Advantages of Lump Charcoal Lump charcoal is an all-natural, 100 percent hardwood product with no additives.Natural charcoal heats faster than briquettes, so food can be cooked over natural charcoal within 5 to 7 minutes after lighting.Lump charcoal can be lit without lighter fluid and with just a match and some newspaper - this means no off-flavors.One pound of hardwood charcoal produces the equivalent heat of two pounds of briquette charcoal. Disadvantages of Lump Charcoal Although lump charcoal is growing in popularity, consumer demand still lags behind formed charcoal briquettes.Even though lump charcoal is a more efficient heat producer, its current price is nearly twice that of briquettes.Lump charcoal is bulkier, has odd shapes, and crushes more easily. It tends to become dusty and flakes off.

The Influence of Farming on the IS Economy

The Influence of Farming on the IS Economy From the nations earliest days, farming has held a crucial place in the American economy and culture. Farmers play an important role in any society, of course, since they feed people. But farming has been particularly valued in the United States. Early in the nations life, farmers were seen as exemplifying economic virtues such as hard work, initiative, and self-sufficiency. Moreover, many Americans - particularly immigrants who may have never held any land and did not have ownership over their own labor or products - found that owning a farm was a ticket into the American economic system. Even people who moved out of farming often used land as a commodity that could easily be bought and sold, opening another avenue for profit. The American Farmers Role in the US Economy The American farmer has generally been quite successful at producing food. Indeed, sometimes his success has created his biggest problem: the agricultural sector has suffered periodic bouts of overproduction that have depressed prices. For long periods, the  government helped smooth out the worst of these episodes. But in recent years, such assistance has declined, reflecting governments desire to cut its own spending, as well as the farm sectors reduced political influence. American farmers owe their ability to produce large yields to a number of factors. For one thing, they work under extremely favorable natural conditions. The American Midwest has some of the richest soil in the world. Rainfall is modest to abundant over most areas of the country; rivers and underground water permit extensive irrigation where it is not. Large capital investments and increasing use of highly trained labor also have contributed to the success of American agriculture. It is not unusual to see todays farmers driving tractors with air-conditioned cabs hitched to very expensive, fast-moving plows, tillers, and harvesters. Biotechnology has led to the development of seeds that are disease- and drought-resistant. Fertilizers and pesticides are commonly used (too commonly, according to some environmentalists). Computers track farm operations, and even space technology is utilized to find the best places to plant and fertilize crops. Whats more, researchers periodically introduce new food products and new methods for raising them, such as artificial ponds to raise fish. Farmers have not repealed some of the fundamental laws of nature, however. They still must contend with forces beyond their control - most notably the weather. Despite its generally benign weather, North America also experiences frequent floods and droughts. Changes in the weather give agriculture its own economic cycles, often unrelated to the general economy. Government Assistance to Farmers Calls for government assistance come when factors work against the farmers success; at times, when different factors converge to push farms over the edge into failure, pleas for help are particularly intense. In the 1930s, for instance, overproduction, bad weather, and the Great Depression combined to present what seemed like insurmountable odds to many American farmers. The government responded with sweeping agricultural reforms - most notably, a system of price supports. This large-scale intervention, which was unprecedented, continued until the late 1990s, when Congress dismantled many of the support programs. By the late 1990s, the U.S. farm economy continued its own cycle of ups and downs, booming in 1996 and 1997, then entering another slump in the subsequent two years. But it was a different farm economy than had existed at the centurys start. - This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Comparison of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and The Iraq War of 2003 Essay

Comparison of the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and The Iraq War of 2003 - Essay Example War and reports of war have been a reality of our life, more so in recent times. After 9/11, the threat of war had been looming large, especially with the President George Bush coming out with knee-jerk jingoistic reactions, which was pardonable considering the shock and dismay generated by the incident.Then came the actual war in 2003. The question of the political expediency of the War of 2003 was drowned in a collective American fear of threats to security. George Bush's speeches were also engineered to keep the morale of the people high, in the tradition of past war leaders of the world (Churchill, for instance)In this war rhetoric, the image of the American soldier was glorified. The soldier was a savior and a friend. In the First Gulf War of 1991, George Bush, Sr. had done the same thing. He depicted through his speeches, the perfect image of an American soldier. Our soldiers, he said, are "some of the finest men and women of the United State of America" who "leave their spouse s and their children, to serve on the front line halfway around the world. They remind us who keeps America strong: they do." (Bush). He continues, "in the face of danger, they are brave; they are well-trained, and dedicated" (Bush) He mentions that they are willing to sacrifice their lives and their time to be with their families to fight for peace for the whole world (!)There is deceptiveness, conscious or unconscious, in a speech of this nature. It is implied that peace is brought about through war - a debatable statement. There is also an implication that those who fight are there, by their own free will. "There was an American soldier who said to an Iraqi soldier: 'it's okay, you are all right, you are all right'. . . Let us always be caring and good and generous in all we do" (Bush) The image is sought to be created as if the American soldiers have gone to have a party in Iraq. It needs a vigilant media to talk of an Abu-Ghraib or a Guantanamo Bay. Bush's American soldier is t he perfect gentleman (something like the British image of their 'bobby'- the gentle policeman - who nevertheless shot an innocent Brazilian immigrant on mere suspicion that he was responsible for the London train station bombings!) Bush's speeches are cleverly done, and achieve the purpose they want. In that sense they are masterpieces of their own genre of political writing. However, they seem to fall on the border of fact and fiction. Coming to Swofford's Jarhead- the irony is that this is 'fiction', but it gives a more real picture of war than do Bush's speeches! Swofford talks of the war from a soldier's perspective. There is no attempt to romanticize it. He talks of the dirt and the dust, and the rape, pillage and arson that taint war. He brings home to us that there is never a clean war or a good war. All war is terrible and dehumanizing. Swofford himself fought as a young marine in the Gulf War of the 1990's. He had written his memoirs then, and he uses this to liberally create the atmosphere of his story. He writes of writing to loved ones, " I was in the desert, sending out messages worldwide, claiming for love with my pen, and with each letter I wrote and sealed part of me escaped the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At time I thought I might write myself away" (Swofford, 37). Swofford's book is a powerful book about the truth of war. As a matter of fact, we must remember that throughout history, there have been many who have fought wars and have come back convinced that peace is the only solution for bringing about lasting comfort to all humanity. Swofford tells what we all perhaps instinctively know, that the real reasons for war are "the old white fuckers and others who have billions of dollars to gain or lose in the oil fields, the deep, rich, flowing oil fields of the kingdom of Saud" (Swofford, 11). Solyan's article, What Bodies talks about the attempt by the US government to hide truth from

The public needs to know Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The public needs to know - Research Proposal Example Its management is also costly and leaves most families poor besides the fact that available management strategies only slows down the disease’s effects. I, in this paper, present a proposal for a business of developing a new drug for cancer patients in order to reduce cancer’s currently experienced effects. Economic situation The new drug development is expected to cost about one billion U.S. dollars, inclusive of involved tax and miscellaneous expenses. Most of the projected cost will be invested in research and will be used to purchase research facilities and to offer remunerations and incentives to researchers, research assistants, and research participants. Some donors, research agencies, government institutions, and nongovernmental organizations have pledged their support for the initiative, and received and pledged donations amount to $ 400 million. This is, however, 60 percent short of the total required amount. As a result, the next phase of the drug development project that was scheduled to kick off in four months time may be delayed. Being a social initiative, the drug development program is not profit oriented and will rely on donations from well-wishers. We therefore appeal for further donations from people and organizations to facilitate the project that will develop a low cost drug for managing cancer (Neidle, 2011). Special needs of the target population The project seeks to meet diversified social needs. The overall benefit of the drug in suppressing cancerous growths and involved consequences on patients and the society will serve these needs. One of the special needs is the preservation of cancer victims’ lives. Even though the developed drug does not offer treatment to the disease, preliminary research indicates that it will greatly suppress cancerous growths, at any stage, and therefore sustain victims’ lives. The suppressed growth will further minimize and possibly mitigate pain among cancer patients to achieve h igh quality of life. Retention of a cancer patient’s cognitive ability is another special need that the developed drug will meet. This will be derived from the drug’s potential to suppress further growth and to subsequently control realized symptoms among patients. Preliminary tests have also indicated the drug’s milder side effects, as compared to those of the currently applied cancer management techniques such as chemotherapy, which will meet the need for more effective drugs with less significant side effects (Livestrong, n.d.). Process The proposed drug development project will follow the laid down guidelines for developing and testing a new drug. The first involved step, preclinical research, has been done. This involved scientific research into development of cancerous cells, involved factors into such growth and proposed drug components for countering the growths. The next stage of the development process will involve a multi staged set of trials with inc reasing number of test participants at each advanced stage. Each of the trial stages will involve evaluation of effects of the drug on cancerous growth and possible effects on the volunteers. The process will involve three trials in which 50 volunteers will participate in the first trial, 200 participants will be involved in the second trial and 2000 in the third trial. The drug, upon successful tests, will then be filed with the responsible national drug agency for approval. The remaining stages of the

The role of National Training Awards in Terms of Improving Employee Essay

The role of National Training Awards in Terms of Improving Employee Development in the Current Political, Economic, Social and Technical Environment - Essay Example As the discussion stresses the NTAs accept competitors from all divisions, industries and regions across the UK and provide with an exclusive opportunity to have individual’s training appraised against the best in the UK. Department for Education and Science has established NTA in 1987 which has been independently administered by U.K. Skills and advocated as the training sector’s adaptation of Oscars. This body merged with People’s Training Awards to establish a single display for training eminence. Games of the XXX Olympiad or 2012 Summer Olympic Games, London will watch the high demand in sophisticated mechanical skills. New opportunities will open up and every major sector will require skill.   These new opportunities and skills will help U.K. to compete with the developing economies like India and China. The main issue of this case study is how NTA helps in improving employee development in the current political, economic, social and technical environment. We will be going through the core aspects of NTA and cite examples to show the achievements and benefits of NTA.   From this paper it is clear that recently certain initiatives have been taken by the donors like the European Social Fund (ESF) and the University for Industry (UfI) who has recognized training and development of retail sector as a primary aim in terms of enhancing economic affluence, competitiveness and employment. In a case study of Thorn Lighting Limited, the main point of discussion was the Spennymoor enterprise in UK, whose objective was to supply the quality products at a minimum cost provided to satisfy customers’ needs. The enterprise hired above one thousand workforces and since 1989 has gone through changes in organizations and culture allowing doubling its share in market.

Iran's Military Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Iran's Military Assessment - Essay Example As discussed above that the Iranian Military strategy has changed since the revolution of 1979 and as such its overall focus in on maintaining the regime and strengthening its hold over the power. 2In order to secure the regime, Iranian military is therefore focused upon the deterrence strategy. Further, the strategy is also focused upon surviving against hard military threats from US and Israel and as Iran continue to hold a military and foreign policy in a manner which is targeted at US and Israel. (Eisenstadt 2001) Iran’s overall composition of forces is based upon holding more than 2 different military build-ups which are focused upon overseeing different strategic objectives of the country. The military as such comprised of Army, Navy and Air force however, it is also supported by the Army of the Guardians of Islamic Revolution. The Army of Guardians of Islamic Revolution has its own factions of air, sea and ground forces. Iran has more than 500,000 ground forces which form the part of Iranian Military whereas the Army of the Guardians of Islamic Revolution has estimated to have more 120,000 personnel. Iran also has a separate paramilitary force which has approximately 100,000 personnel. The paramilitary force is also believed to have more than a million reserve personnel who can be called upon if needed.3 Iran’s naval force, its overall composition as well as proficiency is based upon Islamic Revolution, Iran’s overall relationships with its neighbors and to some extent Petroleum too. Iran’s Navy is also split into two parts i.e. the one which existed during Shah Era and the one which was created after revolution. Iran’s Naval force is mainly based in it’s the Strait of Hormuz which is only 90 nautical miles long and 35 nautical miles wide.4 Iran’s naval proficiency is based upon its doctrine of asymmetric war which Iran

XMGT DISCUSSION WK1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

XMGT DISCUSSION WK1 - Essay Example is known as a moral dilemma, where the decision maker faces two or more ethically uncomfortable alternatives (Schermerhorn Jr., Hunt, Osborn, & Uhl-Bien, 2011, p. 208). Many times organizations have to choose between what the â€Å"right† thing to do is and the expectations that shareholders place on them. Most businesses are in operation for profit, so this generally guides their ethical behavior. The problem is that society has become cynical about ethics in business because they know that organizations only want to appear ethical and would rather make money at all costs. An example of this is large corporations that choose to outsource work to third world countries. The working standards and labor unions may be missing in those countries, so an opportunity is presented to take â€Å"advantage† of the situation yet still do nothing illegal. Even though an action may be legal, it may not be ethical. This is a fine line in determining what is okay and what is not. It is really up to the organizations themselves to decide, because if they are found to be involved in unethical practices, then it can negatively affect their brand

Iran's Military Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Iran's Military Assessment - Essay Example As discussed above that the Iranian Military strategy has changed since the revolution of 1979 and as such its overall focus in on maintaining the regime and strengthening its hold over the power. 2In order to secure the regime, Iranian military is therefore focused upon the deterrence strategy. Further, the strategy is also focused upon surviving against hard military threats from US and Israel and as Iran continue to hold a military and foreign policy in a manner which is targeted at US and Israel. (Eisenstadt 2001) Iran’s overall composition of forces is based upon holding more than 2 different military build-ups which are focused upon overseeing different strategic objectives of the country. The military as such comprised of Army, Navy and Air force however, it is also supported by the Army of the Guardians of Islamic Revolution. The Army of Guardians of Islamic Revolution has its own factions of air, sea and ground forces. Iran has more than 500,000 ground forces which form the part of Iranian Military whereas the Army of the Guardians of Islamic Revolution has estimated to have more 120,000 personnel. Iran also has a separate paramilitary force which has approximately 100,000 personnel. The paramilitary force is also believed to have more than a million reserve personnel who can be called upon if needed.3 Iran’s naval force, its overall composition as well as proficiency is based upon Islamic Revolution, Iran’s overall relationships with its neighbors and to some extent Petroleum too. Iran’s Navy is also split into two parts i.e. the one which existed during Shah Era and the one which was created after revolution. Iran’s Naval force is mainly based in it’s the Strait of Hormuz which is only 90 nautical miles long and 35 nautical miles wide.4 Iran’s naval proficiency is based upon its doctrine of asymmetric war which Iran

Federal Landham Law and California Trade Secret Essay

Federal Landham Law and California Trade Secret - Essay Example The Federal Lanham Law has been able to deal with critical societal issues and thus making it a relevant act. For instance, it helps to curb contravention of unregistered brand names, service marks, phony advertisements, product disparagement and trade dress. Most importantly, this act has turned to be the standard medium for assertions of violation of trade dress not that are not registered in the form of both products and services. As a result, the state courts are apparently formulating rules and tapering requirements so as to put frontiers on assertions of trade dress breach (Miller 83). This act clearly depicts criticisms as to what makes up trademark infringement, resultant court decisions. Though, brand names particularly those that involve the internet, there seem to be some sort of laxity. Principally the Lanham law has, civil and criminal requirements for desecrations of their particular provisions, it also offers civil remedies in the event of exclusive rights infringement (Belmas 67). Federal Lanham Law also verifies the civil remedies in cases where an action of intrusion has been brought forward by the ultimate owner. If the central government chooses to impeach organizations or individuals for any of the above violations, the detention terms are clearly set forth in the Lanham’s law and it explicitly describes the offense and also it discerns the criminal fine to be paid in cash. On the other hand, there have been continuous arguments about this law. The question of whether this law has really brought constructive development especially in the field of intellectual assets, is still leaving a lot of uncertainty. It does not seem to resolve the conflict of consumer confusion and unfair competition. It appears more as a gratuitous expansion of restricted rights, diminishing the store of existing designs and symbols that are essential for the sort of liberated competition that should be of benefit to the welfare of the consumer. Critics view t his act as a bad idea with the intention of hurting intellectual property. Nevertheless; others acclaim it as a suitable and very grand weapon in the endless fight against advertising and sales strategies that are a basis of consumer confusion and fraud. In conclusion, this is one of the preeminent acts that have ever been adopted as it entirely protects persons against the high rates of fraud (Belmas 122). California is among the states that have taken up this trade secret act. The California trade secret commonly known as (CUTSA) was agreed to with the aim of promoting, rewarding innovations and technological advancement and to sustain commercial ethics. The endorsement of CUTSA gave a platform of unitary descriptions of trade secret misuse. CUTSA, overtly states that it does not prevent assertions based upon violation of contract, unlawful remedies, or other allegations that do not have their basis on trade secret. Just like the other trade secret laws, this act primarily forbids misuse of trade secrets. In addition, this law also compels criminal penalties in cases where trade secrets are stolen. Misuse of these operational secrets comprises theft, corruption, falsification, infringement or enticement of a violation of an obligation to keep secrecy, or surveillance through electronic or any other means. However, independent derivation

Owner vs. Steward Essay Example for Free

Owner vs. Steward Essay Owner vs. Steward BY vflnel 23 Owner vs. Stewart Owner vs. Steward in the Kingdom Being the owner means that it belongs to you. Its yours. You have all rights to it. There are no limitations on what you decide to do or not to do with it. You are in full control of your possessions, regardless of how much you have. You are faithful to what is yours. You rule over it. It is your Lord. And nothing or no-one can take it from you. A owner knows all commands all and administers all. A owner makes all the decision on your life, your finances, your well being, your past. Present and your future. Now being a steward you have to understand that you are Just a manager of the affairs of the master, with the best interest of the master in mind, the steward knows that the master will return and settle all accounts for which they are responsible. A steward doesnt own anything. For every beast of the field is mine. And the cattle on a thousand hills. ow all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beast of the fields are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you: For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. -Psalms 50: 10-12. 1f you take away the servant/master relationship from the idea of stewardship then you take away obedience and put sovereignty in the hands of the steward. As a steward you dont have a say so over things that dont belong to you. Being good steward is impossible to do unless you have the proper perspective about the things in your life. Being a steward you have to be careful about your desires to be rich! Even money doesnt belong to you. Therefore in order to be a good steward you must never view money as a end in itself, but merely as a resource used to accomplish goal and obligation as outlined by God. A good steward has its rewards. God promises that if we are faithful stewards over what we have, God will reward us to be stewards over more things. (Matthew 25:23). So understanding the two we can go on to prosper in the Kingdom.

Wire Metamaterials-Based Microring Resonator

Wire Metamaterials-Based Microring Resonator Wire Metamaterials-Based Microring Resonator in Subwavelength Structure Ahmed A. Ali, Mohanned J. and A. H. Al-Janabi Abstract In this work we present the possibility of building a subwavelength microring resonator by manipulating the unite cell in the wire metamaterials. The proposed structure consist of mesh of copper wires. Firstly linear waveguide, bended waveguide as well as beam splitter were investigated at microwave range (737 MHZ), then the full structure of microring resonator were tested using commercial finite difference package CST Microwave. Introduction Natural materials are made up by lots and lots of small elements like atoms and molecules. Some of these materials are amorphous, others are crystalline [1]. Our main interest is in the interplay of waves and materials restricted to classical physics, the key parameter is a/ÃŽ », where a is the distance between elements in the material and ÃŽ » is the free-space wavelength. Artificial materials in which atoms and molecules are replaced by macroscopic, man-made, elements [2]. All dimensions are bigger than those in natural materials. When the separation between the elements is comparable with the wavelength then we have the Bragg effect [3][4], and when the separation is much smaller than the wavelength then we can resort to effective-medium theory [4]. In the former case we have talked about photonic bandgap materials [5] and in the latter case about metamaterials [6]. Generally, PCs are composed of periodic dielectric or metallo-dielectric nanostructures that have alternating low and high dielectric constant materials (refractive index) in one, two, and three dimensions, which affect the propagation of electromagnetic waves inside the structure [7]. Due to this periodicity, PCs exhibit a unique optical property, namely, a photonic band gap (PBG) where electromagnetic mode propagation is absolutely zero due to reflection. PBG is the range of frequencies that neither absorbs light nor allows light propagation. By introducing a defect (point or line or both) in these structures, the periodicity and thus the completeness of the band gap are broken and the propagation of light can be localized in the PBG region. Such an outcome allows realization of a wide variety of active and passive devices for signal processing such as, add-drop filters, power splitters, multiplexers and demultiplexers, triplexers, switches, directional couplers, bandstop filters, bandpass filters, and waveguides. However, because of their wavelength-scale period, PCs result in large devices. This seriously restrains the range of applications, specifically in the low-frequency regimes where the wavelength is large. Metamaterials, on the contrary, possess spatial scales typically much smaller than the wavelength1 Since they were theoretically proposed by Pendry et al [8], and experimentally demonstrated by Smith et al.[9], metamaterials have attracted intensive research interest from microwave engineers and physicists in recent years because of their wide applications in super-lenses [6], [10], slow light [11], [12], optical switching [13], and wave guiding [14], [15] Metamaterials are usually studied under the approach of the effective medium theory and experimentally measured from the far field [4]. They are mainly considered for their macroscopic properties owing to the subwavelength nature of their unit cells. Recently, Fabrice Lemoult et al [16] have merged the wave guiding possibilities offered by PCs and the deep subwavelength nature of metamaterials by focusing on the propagation of waves in metamaterials made of resonant unit cells that are arranged on a deep subwavelength scale to go beyond the effective medium approximation. By manipulating the unit cell of the wire they were able to experimentally investigate the main components that can be used to control waves at the deep subwavelength scale: a cavity, a linear waveguide, bending as well as the beam splitter Here we were be able to model their system first using the CST Microwave studio. Then we would expand the work to built a ring resonator used as add-drop filter or to built the field up to gain the nonlinear effect. Firstly the frequency response for the system were measured for a mesh of 20*20 Copper wires with 0.3cm diameter and 1.2cm separation 40cm (a) and length by measuring the S21 between two discrete ports position on the opposite side of the system, as shown in the system configuration figure (1), then the result were compared with the same structure but with 37cm length as shown in figure (2). figure (1) structure for the system under consideration, 20*20 Copper wires Figure (2) S21 for the both wire lengths with the frequency selective line The scanned bandwidth was about 300MHz from (600-900) MHz, then a certain frequency (737MHz) were selected on which the short wires (37cm) would have maximum transmission and the longer ones (40cm) wires would have the lower transmission (band gap region slightly above the resonance frequency of fn=nC/2L, were n: an integer C: speed of light, L:wire length). Linear waveguide were investigated by shorting a single raw of wires (37cm) inside the 20*20 mesh of (40cm) wires and recording the field propagation on the waveguide as shown in figure (3), profile of the signal inside the waveguide illustrated in the inset give the waveguide width of ÃŽ »/32 Figure (3) subwavelength waveguide by shorting one row of the wires It clearly shows the weak propagation on the system due to weak interference between our unit cell, wires here,. Anyhow the counter plot for the waveguide, shown in figure (4), clearly shows the resonance around the short wires and forbidden propagation around long ones. Figure (4) subwavelength waveguide by shorting one row of the wires (contour view) To enhance the coupling between the unit cells (wires here) and increase the waveguide efficiency two adjacent rows of wires were shortened. The field map for the latter case were presented in figure (5). Figure (5) subwavelength waveguide by shorting two rows of the wires (showing good coupling) Bended waveguide and beam splitter were simulated also as shown in figures (6 and 7) respectively. Figure (6) subwavelength bended waveguide Figure (7) subwavelength beam splitter Finally, the complicated structure of microring resonator were molded as shown in figure (8) Figure (8) subwavelength ring resonator References [1]N. D. Ashcroft, NeilW. and Mermin, Solid state physics, First. Orlando, FL: Saunders College Publishing, 1976. [2]D. Smith, W. Padilla, D. Vier, S. Nemat-Nasser, and S. Schultz, â€Å"Composite medium with simultaneously negative permeability and permittivity,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 84, no. 18, pp. 4184–7, May 2000. [3]C. J. Humphreys, â€Å"The significance of Bragg’s law in electron diffraction and microscopy, and Braggs second law.,† Acta Crystallogr. A., vol. 69, no. Pt 1, pp. 45–50, Jan. 2013. [4]B. A. Slovick, Z. G. Yu, and S. Krishnamurthy, â€Å"Generalized effective-medium theory for metamaterials,† Phys. Rev. B, vol. 89, no. 15, p. 155118, Apr. 2014. [5]S. Arismar Cerqueira, â€Å"Recent progress and novel applications of photonic crystal fibers,† Reports Prog. Phys., vol. 73, no. 2, p. 024401, Feb. 2010. [6]J. B. Pendry, â€Å"Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect Lens,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 85, no. 18, pp. 3966–3969, Oct. 2000. [7]E. Yablonovitch, T. Gmitter, and K. Leung, â€Å"Photonic band structure: The face-centered-cubic case employing nonspherical atoms,† Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 67, no. 17, pp. 2295–2298, Oct. 1991. [8]W. J. Pendry, J.B.; Holden, A.J.; Robbins, D.J.; Stewart, â€Å"Magnetism from conductors and enhanced nonlinear phenomena,† IEEE Trans. Microw. Theory Tech., vol. 47, pp. 2075–2084, 1999. [9]S. Shelby, R.A.; Smith, D.R.; Schultz, â€Å"Experimental verification of a negative index of refraction,† Science (80-. )., vol. 292, pp. 77–79, 2001. [10]N. Fang, H. Lee, C. Sun, and X. Zhang, â€Å"Sub-diffraction-limited optical imaging with a silver superlens.,† Science, vol. 308, no. 5721, pp. 534–7, Apr. 2005. [11]Q. Bai, C. Liu, J. Chen, C. Cheng, M. Kang, and H.-T. Wang, â€Å"Tunable slow light in semiconductor metamaterial in a broad terahertz regime,† J. Appl. Phys., vol. 107, no. 9, p. 093104, May 2010. [12]R. Singh, C. Rockstuhl, F. Lederer, and W. Zhang, â€Å"Coupling between a dark and a bright eigenmode in a terahertz metamaterial,† Phys. Rev. B, vol. 79, no. 8, p. 085111, Feb. 2009. [13]H. Kind, H. Yan, B. Messer, M. Law, and P. Yang, â€Å"Nanowire Ultraviolet Photodetectors and Optical Switches,† Adv. Mater., vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 158–160, Jan. 2002. [14]A. Wang, A. Tuniz, P. G. Hunt, E. M. Pogson, R. A. Lewis, A. Bendavid, S. C. Fleming, B. T. Kuhlmey, and M. C. J. Large, â€Å"Fiber metamaterials with negative magnetic permeability in the terahertz,† Opt. Mater. Express, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 115, Apr. 2011. [15]A. Argyros, â€Å"Microstructures in Polymer Fibres for Optical Fibres, THz Waveguides, and Fibre-Based Metamaterials Open Access Library.† [Online]. Available: http://www.oalib.com/paper/2813112#.U_EI7mPFNDQ. [Accessed: 17-Aug-2014]. [16]F. Lemoult, N. Kaina, M. Fink, and G. Lerosey, â€Å"Wave propagation control at the deep subwavelength scale inmetamaterials,† Nat. Phys., vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 55–60, Nov. 2012.