Monday, September 30, 2019

Role of Women in Society (the Story of an Hour and a Rose for Emily)

Kate Chopin’s â€Å"The Story of an Hour† written in 1894 and William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† written in 1930 are two stories that show major roles of women in society. Although the two stories have a different perspective of the women due to their era, they both give a great explanation of how the women were and how they were treated by other people during their time. The women in both of the stories explain how they perceive each of their own roles and how they cope with their own situations, which are much different and alike from our society today.For many years women have tried finding their place in society, which is hard when males are usually perceived as the leaders or ones who control their wives. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour† Chopin explains the freedom of a once married woman, and how much she enjoys her freedom from being married, this story is based on the role of women in marriage and relationships. In the scene where Mrs. Mallard believes that her husband is dead after receiving the shocking news â€Å"She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same† (Chopin 106), this sentence explains that Mrs.Mallard takes it in differently than most other women do when they find out that their husband has died. For a while, Mrs. Mallard is sad but only when she was alone â€Å"When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her† (Chopin 106). When Mrs. Mallard had abandoned herself she caught herself whispering over and over again the words â€Å"Free, free, free† (Chopin 107). This sentence showed that Mrs.Mallard was finally free â€Å"She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring of life† (Chopin 107). The words â€Å"New spring of life† show that Mrs. Mallard had a new spring in life which symbolized freedom. â€Å"There would be no one to liv e for during those coming years; she would live for herself† (Chopin 107), this shows that she has had enough from her marriage and wants to enjoy her freedom and not waste it on someone else, she just wants to enjoy it for herself.Mrs. Mallard was obviously in a bad marriage â€Å"And yet she loved him-sometimes† (Chopin 107), this phrase shows that she was confused about her love for her husband and only loved him sometimes. â€Å"Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own† (Chopin 108), explains that she was just so happy to finally spend those days on her own and not have her husband to hold her back from the things that she loves, that she is finally free to do whatever she enjoys to do. At the end of the story when Mrs.Mallard’s husband shows up at the house and as she looks at him she has a loud screeching cry and that was it. Mrs. Mallard had died of heart disease â€Å"a joy that kills† (Chopin 108). Mrs. Mall ard expected to be free for the rest of her life, then after seeing her husband alive she realizes she will not have her life the way she had imagined and then she died from disappointment of not having her â€Å"Free! body and soul free† (Chopin 107) life. In the story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† Faulkner explains the anger of a lonely, unloved woman that is desperate for affection but is shocked when she does not get it.This story plays a major role of women in society due to uncontrollable anger and revenge. Miss Emily’s lonely life begins from the death of her father which left her depressed and unloved. â€Å"She went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all† (Hemingway 117), this shows that Miss Emily cannot handle being outside of her house while she is depressed. When Miss Emily met Homer Barron in the story, she fell deeply in love with him and people said â€Å"they are married† (Hemingway 120).After being with Homer for a while he finally admitted that, â€Å"he liked men- and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks’ Club† (Hemingway 119). In the scene where Homer had admitted he liked men and threatened to leave the following day, Miss Emily went and bought arsenic poison which showed that Miss Emily could not handle the fact that he was going to leave her. This is a typical role of women in society today because most women have a feeling of revenge when a man threatens to leave them.For a long time after that many people were not surprised when Homer Barron was not seen for some time. In this story Miss Emily poisons her husband and kills him leaving his body in her bed for many years. The ending of the story shows the biggest part in the role of women. Miss Emily is believed that she killed her husband due to the revenge of him threatening to leave her. Miss Emily probably would have not killed her husband if it were not for her father leaving he r at a young age.As Emily grew up she only knew how to be lonely and when she found Homer she took it for granted that he was not going to leave her, and when he finally did threaten to leave her she figured that she would not want to go through loneliness which explains when they found Homer’s body in her bed. She put his body in her bed because she could not handle being alone the rest of her life and she knew if she killed him that he would have no way of leaving. From the two stories Josephine and Miss Emily both saw death as a solution to their situations.Josephine perceived her own role as being a free woman out of marriage, while Miss Emily saw loneliness as a problem. These women did not handle or cope with their situations well at all, which is like most women today. Most women do not know how to handle situations that are very tough, especially ones that make them disappointed. In both of the stories it is the men’s fault for their deaths. Men to this day cau se many women to become disappointed because men are controlling and both of the stories Josephine and Miss Emily were controlled by their husbands or, they were disappointed in what their husbands’ did.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Physical Preparedness Of Columbus Police Essay

Describe in one page or less how you would select the Columbus Police patrol officers to be surveyed. The Research Project: Physical Preparedness of Columbus Police Officers in Citizen Encounters Involving Force. Target Panel: Respondents of this research should have the following qualifications: Must be between the age of   21 – 35 Must have 6 or more months field experience as a Patrol officer of Columbus Must be active in the police force Must be a resident of Columbus Must at least have one physical encounter with a citizen Sample Size: 1000 police patrol officers Methodology: This research will employ a qualitative and quantitative research wherein a representative sample of the target audience will be randomly selected to create a target panel. Through qualitative research by using an open-ended questionnaire, spontaneous or not pre-determined responses are solicited through a free willing method. Meanwhile, the answers from the qualitative research will be further dealt with in the quantitative research using a closed-ended questionnaire that will provide figures or raw data. Through these two types of research, the researcher will determine the cause of the lack of preparation of police officers during encounters with civilians. Construct a brief 5-item unstructured, open-ended questionnaire that will determine the patrol officers’ views as to how well they are prepared for physical encounters with citizens where lethal force is not an issue.    Open-ended questionnaire for Focus Group Discussion What are the risks involved in being a police officer in Columbus? If physical encounter with citizens is not cited, ask about the probability of experiencing physical encounters with citizens while on duty. What kind of trainings did you receive before you engaged in police field operations or patrol duty? Were these trainings able to help you prepare for physical encounters with citizens? Why? If not, why? As a police officer, what do you think are the factors that provoke physical encounters with citizens? Enumerate tactics or methods on how to conduct proper management of physical encounters with citizens? Explain each tactic/method. What are the causes of mismanagement of physical encounters with citizens? How should these be prevented? Construct an 8-item structured questionnaire using closed-end questions that involve multiple response choices that addresses the same issue in Question #2. Closed-ended questionnaire for Survey Questions Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 1. Is your job as a patrol officer worth all the risks?                2. Do you think that force is needed in enforcing the law?                3. Are you willing to employ force when you are threatened by a civilian?                4. Do civilians usually provoke physical encounters with law enforcers?                5. Do you think that the use of force is effective in promoting compliance?                6. Do you think that there is a need to have a good physical and quick-thinking build to better handle physical encounters?                7. Do you think that by having police weapons and gadgets will help you do your job better in enforcing the law?                8. Are you prepared physically, emotionally and psychologically to engage in a physical encounter with a civilian?               

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Gender wage gaps Essay

Introduction Everyone is entitled to the equal wages for equal work. However, women’s average income has been lower than men’s in nearly all occupation and women in Canada are still far behind the men’s starting line on wage in the labour market. It is one of many parts of gender inequality in Canada, when considering labour market participation in view of gender. I think that the current measures to settle wage discrimination are not effective enough to correspond to market income inequality. That’s why I choose this topic. It is required to think of new alternatives for closing the gap. So I provide a few ways to figure out gender wage gaps. What is the gender wage gap? The gender wage gaps describe the earning differences between men and women on paid employment in the labour market. It can be measured in many ways, but the most common method is to focus on full time and full year wages. It is also able to be measured the gender wage gap on the basis of hourly wages. The most recent Statistics data of Canada shows that the gender wage gap in Ontario is 28% for full time and full year workers. It means that when a male worker is to earn $1.00, a female worker is to earn only 72 cents. When the Pay Equity Act was passed in 1987, the gender wage gap was 36%. It has been reduced gradually over time. The current situation As a result of women have been investing significant time and resources in their education, women now consist of the majority of undergraduate and master’s degree in Ontario. 62% of university undergraduate students in Canada are women. But women still earn less than men in all occupational categories and all educational levels. Although more women than men go to university or college, they don’t always get paid better than men who have the same work. It is particularly embarrassing that the pay gap is grater  for younger generations of women. There is a 39% gap between men and women’s earnings in the ages from 35 to 44. Women account for 60% of all minimum wage workers and the women at low wages are presenting all age groups. This is the reason that poverty follows women after their retirement with women age 65. It’s over twice as likely as men to be low income. The gender wage gap gets wider when women have children and when they have a part-time job. Women having children earn 12% less than women without children. Women’s opportunities for higher wage are limited by the responsibilities of family which they still burden disproportionately. While now the most majority of mothers work in the paid labour force (almost 70% of women having children under five are working), the employment rate of women with children have much lower than men with children. Making less money for their family than men affects significantly them throughout their lives, which could put women and their children at a higher risk of poverty and decrease their income to earn a lifetime and retirement income. The reason of gender wage gap There are several factors that caused the gender wage gap. According to a report by Dr. Pat Armstrong, the gender wage gap is caused by the following three features of Canada’s labour market, which interact to yield substantially lower wage for women. â€Å"That is 1. The majority of women are segregated from men into different work and different workplaces. In Canada, 67% of women work in traditional occupations such as teaching, nursing, clerical, admin or sales and service jobs in 2009. 2. In general, women’s segregated work is paid less than men’s work. The higher the concentration of women, the lower the pay. Women’s skills and competencies are undervalued because of their association with women, as are sectors and industries such as health care and services in which women predominate. 3. Women’s lower pay reflects the systemic undervaluation of women’s work relative to that of men.† Functionalistic perspectives of the gender wage gap Functionalists have the view that inequality is a product of the traditional  division in human societies. In the past, men had a tendency to attend to more external tasks such as working for company or doing government job and women attended to more internal tasks such as those involved in raising child or doing house work. While both kinds of labour are functional and necessary for a society’s survival, the external tasks which were accomplished by men always have been more highly rewarded than the internal tasks made by women. So in functionalism, it was very natural for men to get higher wage than women. However, gender roles and their accompanying inequalities have changed in industrialized societies. Industrialized society made the traditional division of labor less functional. Even though traditional arrangement remains in force in most societies, the traditional labour of division is no longer meaningful today. That means men and women are the same as the part that comprise the social and men are women must be treated equally if they do the same work. So, I think that it is not appropriate to explain the gender wage gap in functionalistic perspectives any more. Solutions of the gender wage gap There are three solutions which I want to suggest for solutions of the gender wage gap. 1. To support working families Although female workers have lower wage than men, their role is very important part of this society. As we know from this sentence â€Å"Women having children earn 12% less than women not having children†, it is important to make circumstances to focus on work in workplace. Governments and companies need to create more family-friendly workplaces and workplace policies especially for women with children. Work places need to consider providing parental leave and paid leave for sickness and family care. It is also necessary to offer high-quality childcare arrangements and encourage the development of more part-time jobs to pay well and to have good benefits. Not only is such policies good for female workers, but it beneficial to the company that want to hire competent female workers. 2. To increase the minimum wages Because the majority of 534,000 minimum wage workers in Ontario are women,  the increasing of statutory minimum wage is necessary to close the wage gap. Increasing the minimum wage to reflect the rising living costs every year reduces poverty and inequality of income. Ontario’s minimum wage has been fixed at $10.25 for three years. The three year fixing brings the effect lowering the income of minimum wage substantially by 7%. So it results in widening the wage gap. To close the wage gap, I think, the best solution is that the minimum wage is to rise as a certain percentage automatically by laws or rules. Even though it is not possible to determine the specific number because of changing economic conditions every year, it is very effective that the minimum wage increasing is controlled by rules. 3. To need detailed analysis the data Although there are sufficient resources to show that female worker tend to work equal and earn less than men, more detailed analyses are needed to settle underlying causes. Governments need to collect and share particular and reliable country’s data from which the respective gender wage gaps of country can be calculated and compared. This would make it possible to find out effective ways of dealing with the problem and to identify possible improvements to existing legal frameworks likely to lead to decreasing significantly in the wage gap. Wage Gap Program The Pay Equity Office started the Wage Gap Program in 2011, designed to examine current compensation data and assess the possibility of gender wage gaps for non-unionized employees in Ontario’s private sector workplaces. Wage gaps can be caused by a lot of factors, one of which relates to wage equity. The Wage Gap Program enables the Office to more precisely direct its efforts for supporting workplaces that appear to have wage equity gaps. At first, the Office conducted the Program by obtaining correction data from employers with over 500 employees. Workplaces with 250 to 499 employees are being examined now and it is expected that by the fall, workplaces with 100 to 249 employees will be contacted. References Gender Wage Gaps and Earnings Ratios in Ontario. (2012, November 21). Pay Equality Commission: Equal Pay For Work Of Equal Value. Retrieved from http://www.payequity.gov.on.ca/en/about/pubs/genderwage/wagegaps.php Blau, F. and Kahn, L. (2007, February). The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women gone as far as they can? Academy of Management Perspectives, pp.1-23. Morissette, R., Picot, G., & Lu, Y. (2013). The Evolution of Canadian Wages over the Last Three Decades (No. 2013347e). Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. Adshade, M. (2013, January 22). Do women choose lower pay?: The gender wage gap explained. Canadian Business. Retrieved from http://www.canadianbusiness.com/blogs-and-comment/gender-wage-gap/ Armstrong, P. (2008, June). Equal Pay For Work of Equal Value. Expert Report.

Friday, September 27, 2019

World War 1 & 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

World War 1 & 2 - Essay Example At that time U.S. was working on its larger interest of â€Å"containment†. They want to prevent Communism from spreading. Though, United States’ involvement in this war is a extremely controversial subject. Vietnam War was the longest war fought in the history of United States, and had long lasting impact on American society. It was also termed as the first war that was lost by United States. AMERICAN INVOLVEMENT IN THE WAR Communism was viewed as the greatest threat in post WWII era. In December 1949, Chinese communist forces won civil war in China that worried U.S. and its western allies. Allies felt that all of Southeast Asia now might fall to communism. The United States entered as a savior from the threat of communism in Southeast Asia. President of America feared that Communist powers now would take control of Vietnam. Afterwards, state after state might also fall to Communism. Economic and political system of communism was strongly opposed by U.S. Vietnam was se parated in two parts in 1954, after fighting a war of independence against French. When French drew back, Communists took in control of Northern part of Vietnam while Southern part was under non-Communist government. ... America started involving itself in this war initially by supporting South Vietnam with only military advisers. They eventually increased number of advisers nearly about 17,000 initially started from 800, while John F. Kennedy was president of U.S. during the early 1960s. In 1965, after news from U.S. presidency that that United States Navy Ships came under near Vietnam’s coast. By the end of 1965, nearly 80,000 U.S. combatants were in Southern part of Vietnam this number increased to about 543,000 at the height war (1969).The most worried part of this war was when United States conducted 150,000 of air strikes in Northern Vietnam during a single year only. This number is many times more than bombing done by U.S. during WWII. CONSEQUENCES OF AMERICAN PARTICIPATION At the end of the war American role in Vietnam was over. Communist North captured the South Vietnam. Humiliation caused by this defeat from a nation that was termed as a â€Å"fourth-rate power†. It has caused a great loss of self-confidence and pride in the mind and thinking of people who thought United States as unbeatable. It was estimated that about $167 billion were spent on the war. A high political cost was paid by U.S. after Vietnam War. Public’s faith was weakened by it. The main consequence felt was that, after this war Americans never trusted nor respected public institutes. Americans seemed to stay away from the returning veterans rather to give them welcome parades. In this fight more than 2 million soldiers took part, out of whom 58,000 lost their life during the war, 300,000 were physically sounded and many who suffered psychological scars and the 2,387 were listed as missing. Unfortunately nothing was done to support veterans and their families who required assistance in

Thursday, September 26, 2019

From poe to pole Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

From poe to pole - Assignment Example They are exposed to extremely low temperatures and darkness throughout the winter period but they still survive after the season is over. When I first saw the conditions these animals are exposed to I could not believe that they can sustain their lives for four months. As a human, I am aware that warmth and food are critical conditions for survival. However, the documentary has opened my eyes to appreciate the fact that humans are made different from wild animals. Humans have access to shelter and can change their lifestyles according to changing seasons. For instance, all the animals migrate when winter starts but the emperor penguin and the polar bears live behind (BBC 1). The most important observation is that seasons influence animal behaviour tremendously because animals strive for survival. For instance, the emperor penguins are constantly standing during the winter season. It was astonishing and I forced myself to do some research on the penguin’s behaviour. I discovered that standing on their feet reduces their area of contact with ice to minimal levels and enables them preserve the little body heat that they have. In fact, it was surprising to note that they incubate eggs during the winter season. The other interesting point relates to the existence of the Amur leopard that leaves in the forests of eastern Russia. They are forty in number and are considered to be the rarest cat in the world. According to the narrator, the rare existence of the Amur leopard "symbolises the fragility of our natural heritage" (BBC 1). It is interesting  to have  the narrator connect the existence of animals to the impact of nature on wildlife. The most valued things in life are rare to be found and difficult to get. Our national heritage consists of our values and our environment. However, the world has been experiencing environmental degradation with the increase in human as well as animal population. However, humans are the biggest cause of the fragility of natural

The Medieval Age Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Medieval Age - Essay Example This made the Nobles rebel against the crown often, as they controlled their own local armies. In Manorialism, the 1000’s of acres which belonged to the manor was owned entirely by the nobles. They had complete administrative control over the areas. But, the military power lay entirely with the king preventing Noble's ability to revolt against their lords. Manorialism gave more freedom to the peasants, serfs and the nobles ruling them. They were freed from the duty of guarding their territories fiercely and started to concentrate on developing the areas assigned to them. This system functioned pretty much the same way as the modern governments do. The Last Crusade and the fall of the AcreVenice and Genoa both flourished in trade from 1010. The first crusade started with an emotive appeal from the pope on November 27, 1095. Christians from all over the Europe joined together and waged a war against Muslims in getting their holy land back. This is seen as a .attempt by the churc h to sustain papal control over the mass. However, the first crusade ended successfully with Antioch being captured and King Bohemund of Southern Italy and his descendants becoming its rules for the next two centuries. He encouraged the Italians to establish trade connections with Egypt through Antioch. Venice was the first state to establish trade contacts with Egypt a. They met the Egyptian merchants bringing spices from the South Asia near the Red sea, collected their goods and sold it for huge profit in the Europe.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Assignment3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Assignment3 - Essay Example In other world, in real life, a tree is made up of the main stem and the branches. The branches get support or originate from the main stem. In my example, the same situation ensue, B, C, D and E explain more about A. as you go down the tree, it is clear that branch C and E also have branches. Those are referred to as sub-branches. They explain further on A through C and E. Like I mentioned in the above discussion, this is the most reliable form of diagramming techniques which is easier to explain and understand. The second that I consider my favorite diagramming technique is the dataflow diagram. This example explains how the operation flows from one level to another. The objects that represent data are shown and they obviously relate to the procedure in place. In this case, the diagram is only useful in indicating or rather showing how data flow. It does not require much explanation, in fact if there is any explanation required, it must be very basic. The diagram I have used as my example is self-explanatory, a step explains more about the previous. The other major advantage of this format is that there are writings on the side of the arrow; the writings explain what happens between the stages. Lastly on examples, I will talk about my third favorite diagramming technique. The name of the diagramming technique is Data flow graphs. This is a graph which is in other words referred to as directed graph. It consists of some kind of edges. The edges represent the flow of data. It also contain nodes, the nodes represent all operations that goes on in the graph. The diagram below explains; My response to the question why we should do conceptual analysis of visual images is that it does well in explaining the point deeper. I will use an example of a classroom environment where a teacher, for instance, is lecturing and giving notes to students in titration in Chemistry (this is just an example to explain my point

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Pros and Cons about Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pros and Cons about Abortion - Essay Example Undergoing abortion is a very difficult step to take for any woman and it takes a lot of guts to take the decision. This paper will throw light upon why women choose to abort. Abortion according to many is a very big sin, killing the unborn is an unmerciful act. The irresponsible people in the society, without thinking about the circumstances put themselves in a situation which is extremely undesirable. Everyone must act and behave responsibly to avoid a situation which is undesirable and abortion is without a doubt an undesirable situation for any human being to be in. The biggest con of abortion is that it an unmerciful act, the unborn infant does not deserve to die; there is no mistake of the infant for which the infant should be punished. "Half the percentage of women obtaining abortions is below 25." (Pros and Cons of Abortion, 6 December 2008). This is the age when the people are sexually active and it is highly immoral to involve yourself in a relation without accepting the responsibility which the relation brings with it and opting for abortion is refusing to accept the responsibility. No society appreciates women opting for abortion because it is an immoral act and the same is its biggest con "Some women use abortion as a type of birth control. They sleep with men and do not use protection and think nothing of it to go to the clinic as many as five times in their life to have an abortion. A con against abortion is the nagging thought that a woman went to a clinic, had an abortion, and thus the world was prevented from seeing the birth of the only person capable of attaining a leadership role and initiating a peace accord between warring factions in the Middle East, thus preventing decades of strife and murder. A stable home life is not a guarantee of talent, and illegitimate children have shown themselves to be very bright on occasion, Lawrence of Arabia for one." (Pros and Cons of Abortion, 10 May 2009) Abortion is a very big risk to the health of the woman who opts to undergo abortion. Miscarriages are one of the biggest risks involved when a woman opts for abortion; the biggest risk is to the life of the woman who opts for abortion. There is a high possibility of a woman losing her life when she opts to undergo abortion. Considering the same it is highly insensible to put an individual in a situation where abortion is the only solution. "Every year nearly 42 million women decide to have an abortion and about 20 million of them are forced to resort to unsafe abortion, 98% of which are in developing countries. Unsafe abortion was the cause of 66,500 deaths in 2003, representing 13% of all maternal deaths worldwide. Incidence of unsafe abortion is highest in South America and Eastern Africa whereas mortality rates due to unsafe abortion are much higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world." (Unsafe Abortion, 10 May 2009). An Insight Abortion can have a positive as well as a negative impact on the health of a woman. Women suffering from serious health problems like heart disease, kidney disease etc, have a positive impact of abortion on their health. The body has to be well prepared for childbirth, diseases weakens the body and opting for an abortion many a time helps women in avoiding further health complications. In societies where women are considered child bearing machines, opting for abortion gives them their own identity and the right to choose the fate of their unborn baby. Many women use abortion as a contraceptive, this is both good as well as bad. Good because it keeps a check on the size of the family and limits the expansion of the family, bad because it has

Monday, September 23, 2019

Project Management and Ethics Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Project Management and Ethics - Case Study Example In analysing ethics, this paper will discuss the ethical considerations in the nuclear development and use among the developed countries. The March 11, 2011 earthquake that hit Japan’s Fukushima 1 nuclear plant had adverse effects not only on the lives of the people, but also on the environment. The earthquake, the biggest to hit the country caught the government unawares. The repercussions of the earthquake were devastating. It affected at least 80,000 people within a 12-mile radius through displacements. Further, a considerable number perished from the events that took place during this period. Reports indicate that three months after the earthquake, the plant was still leaking radioactive material. Fuel rods in reactors 1,2 and 3 melted down causing damage to the containment structure, sparking a series of fires in the plant. Additionally, there was extensive damage in infrastructure. In analysing this case, the paper will consider ethical principles and values that could h ave helped in avoiding the events that occurred during this accident. Ethics for a long time has evolved with the evolution of the society. From the times of Confucius, different thinkers, philosophers and thinkers have made considerable contributions to the field of ethics. Because ethics define, elements that make something good or bad, different people have suggested different ways defining good or bad elements of something. Currently, different theories and principles focus on societal ethics. The humanitarianism theory holds the belief that the sole moral obligation of humankind is the improvement of human welfare (Abu-Sada 2012,  p. 85). Over time, evolution of this theory has taken into consideration the concern of other people’s welfare and concern for their safety and reduced level of victimization of people in the society. Developed with relation to the slavery in the United States, contemporary humanitarianisms hold that the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

How Has Amazon Used Technology Essay Example for Free

How Has Amazon Used Technology Essay 1. How has Amazon used technology to revamp the bookselling industry? Amazon uses technology envelop in search engine of a website. The company captures comments and recommendations of buyers for site visitors to read and also recommends which book to buy. The website captures all the information of the customer such as what pages they are looking at, how much time they spend on site, no of visitors etc. This information is used by the company to evaluate buying and selling patterns of the book industry. 2. Is Amazon using disruptive or sustaining technology to run its business? Amazon is using disruptive technology where it uses new ways to do things that doesnot satisfy the existing customers. This technology brings up new market and destroy the old one to run the business successfully. 3. How could Amazon use kiosks to improve its business? Amazon released a free website that enables its business partners to interact with its website. This website allows partners to create, access to data, populate and even initiating checkout process so that business can improve. This is the way Amazon uses kiosks to improve its business. 4. What is Amazon’s e-business model? Amazon uses Business-to-Customer model because here it sells the product or services to customers over the internet. 5. Which metrics could Amazon use to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of Amazon’s website? Efficiency: Amazon uses following metrics for its efficiency. Throughput: amazon introduces new techniques and brings infront of the customers in a given time and according to time Transaction speed: the website speed is so fast that all transactions of the customers are done quickly. Availability: amazon provides everything for the customers so that it is available for everyone and everything is available in its website. Effectiveness: amazon uses the following metrics for its effectiveness. Customer satisfaction: amazon always thinks about the requirements of the customers so that they will be satisfied.  Ã‚  Conversion rates: amazon charges for the customers for using their site but it be reasonable for the customers to bear.  Sell-through increases: as amazon fulfills the requirements of the customers, sales also increase automatically. 6. What are some of the business challenges facing Amazon? Amazon has been spread global wide. But there are some issues with some countries where language became the main barrier. Site has been forbidden because they include foreign languages through which bookseller site could not be operated. So amazon have to face this challenge for its business improvements.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Pectin Reduces Blood Cholesterol Level

Pectin Reduces Blood Cholesterol Level Xinhao DAI Introduction Pectin is a complex polysaccharide present in plant cell walls, commonly presents in fruits and vegetables, commercially extracted from pulp waster during fruits juice processing. Pectin can be used as gelling agent in jams, marmalades and reduced sugar versions. It creates thickened textures and a homogenous distribution of fruit pieces. The consumption of pectin by human influences transit rate, nutrient absorption rate, and cholesterol absorption and secretion, so pectin is an important dietary fiber. However, the clinical use of pectin is very rarely mentioned (F Brouns, 2012). The degree of esterification (DE) demonstrates the methyl esters in pectin chains. The pectin with DE>50% are high-methoxyl and forms viscous gels in the stomach at pH 2.2-3.5 (Ralet et al., 1994; Sila et al., 2009); the pectin with DE60%) at low pH; low-methoxyl pectin forms gels with divalent cations (notably Ca 2+) at pH 2.5-6 (sugar addition not required) (Thibault and Ralet, 2008). Cholesterol is an important biological molecule, which function as component of cell membrane structure as well as a precursor for the synthesis of the steroid hormones and bile acids. High concentration of cholesterol in human blood is related with coronary vascular disease, atherosis, stroke and many other diseases. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (ESFA, 2010) has published the cholesterol lowing effects of of pectin on glycemia. In general, processing factors like DE, MW, and pectin source (e.g. citrus or apple) may affect the efficacy of pectin (Baker, 1997; Duvetter et al., 2009). Cholesterol lowering in animals Pectin has been reported being able to lower the cholesterol level of blood and liver in various animals, including guinea pigs (Gorinstein et al., 2005), rats (Krzysik et al., 2011), hamsters (Terpstra et al., 2002), chickens (Craig et al., 2006) and rabbits (Ismail et al., 1999). The effect of lowing cholesterol level by nine types of pectin with different molecular composition on 486 male broilers was studies, their serum cholesterol lowing efficacy was ranked as: citrus pectin DE-70 1⠁„4 apple pectin DE-74apple pectin DE-354citrus pectin DE-04low-MW pectin4citrus pectin DE-354cellulose (Craig et al., 2006). The mechanisms of cholesterol lowering in animals mostly are increasing fecal bile acid excretion, reduced plasma triacylglycerol, plasma total cholesterol, hepatic triacylglycerol, cholesterol synthesis and absorption, et al. Some of the mechanisms may be related with humans (F Brouns, 2012). The result of experiments feeding Wistar rats with semipurified diet with psyllium or pectin, cellulose or rice bran supported the hypothesis that the hypocholesterolemic effect of soluble fibers is functioning by increasing synthesis and therefore pool size of bile acids (Hugh B. Matheson, 1995). Another study showed that the hydrophobic amidated pectins significantly modify cholesterol homeostasis in rants and might provide insight of an effective hypochelosterolemic agent. However, the amidation of pectin might reduce its fermentability (M. MAROUNEK, 2007). Overall, pectin influence animal blood cholesterol by affecting cholesterol homeostasis. Cholesterol lowering in humans There are not many clinical studies of pectin cholesterol lowing compared with animal studies. Generally, each gram of pectin lowers LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) by 0.055mmol/L (Brown et al., 1999). A cause-and-effect relationship has been established with 6g pectin in ≠¥ 1 servings for maintenance of normal blood cholesterol concentration (ESFA, 2010). The table 1 summarized the most important studies of pectin lowering cholesterol level before 1988 (Kay Behall, 1986) (Cerda, 1988) Table 1. Pectin Lowering Cholesterol Level Studies Before 1988 A recent crossover study involves hyper-cholesterolemic persons receiving either 15g/day pectin (from citrus or apple, with different DE level) or cellulose with food for 4 weeks. The result showed that (F Brouns, 2012): For relative low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (LDL-C), the effect of citrus pectin and apple pectin are the same, while the pectin with higher level of DE level has better hypocholesterolemic effect. Orange pump fiber worked worse than citrus and apple pectin. The pectin with higher molecular weight works better than the pectin with low molecular weight. In the subsequent experiment providing 6g pectin/day for three weeks, citrus DE-70 and high MW pectin DE-70 reduced LDL-C 6-7% compared with control group. The viscous, gelatinizing citrus pectin alter bile acid enterohepatic circulation; enhance cholesterol excretion into stool (Martinez de Prado et al., 1981; Ide and Horii, 1989; Ide et al., 1990; Fernandez et al., 1994; Terpstra et al., 2002). High-viscosity pectin generally diminishes total cholesterol (TC) by 3-7% in humans. Pectin increases gut viscosity, then reduce the re-absorption of bile acids, increase synthesis of bile acids from cholesterol, thereby reduces circulating blood cholesterol (F Brouns, 2012). The high-viscosity pectin might also interfere with the formation of micelles and/or lower the diffusion rate of bile acid and cholesterol-containing micelles through the bolus, consequently reduce the uptake of cholesterol and bile acids. Many study suggested the favourable effect of pectin on lipids(B.R. Sharma, 2006). The source and type of pectin (degree of esterification and molecular weight) affect the effect of lowing cholesterol. In the study by Brouns et al., it is proven that increased DE and MW help promote the efficacy of lowering of human cholesterol level, and even a high dose of pectin with low DE and MW won’t have significant effect. The EFSA pectin cholesterol-lowering claim should require a minimum level of characterization, including DE and MW (F Brouns, 2012). Even though pectin cannot be directly absorbed by human, it can be fermented by the microorganisms in the large intestine and result in the formation of short chain fatty acid, which could be absorbed and metabolized in the colonic mucosa, liver or peripheral tissue (Kay, 1982). Effective doses Experiments indicate that the dose of pectin needed for different people to achieve the lowering of serum cholesterol level is not the same (Grant H. Palmer, June 1966). The intake of 15 grams of pectin per day for three weeks resulted in a mean 13% diminishment of plasma cholesterol levels. A dose of 40 to 50 grams of pectin per day significantly reduced the cholesterol level in both normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic subjects(B.R. Sharma, 2006). In addition with the claim of consume 6g/day pectin to achieve hypochelosterolemic effect, ESFA (2010) also suggest that the consumption of pectin with meals help reduce the blood glucose after meal and the effect can be achieved with at least 10g pectin per meal ((EFSA), 2011). The hypocholesterolemic effect of pectin combined with apple polyphenols has also been reported (EVA N. JENSEN and DRAGSTED, 2009). There might be taste concerns and potential gastrointestinal disturbance if more than 6g pectin/day was ingested (F Brouns, 2012). At least 6 grams of pectin are supposed to be consumed to achieve hypochelesterolemic effect, and this amount is correspond to 7~8 medium-sized apples (EVA N. JENSEN and DRAGSTED, 2009). Some critique suggested that most of the cholesterol lowering effect of pectin is showed in a cholesterol rich, atherogenic diet (A.H.M. Terpstra, 2002). The effect of cholesterol lowing efficiency in regular diet remained quite questionable. Conclusion Viscous pectin can reduce the cholesterol level of animals and human by increasing synthesis and excretion of bile acid and reducing re-absorption of cholesterol. The hypochelosterolemic effect of pectin depends on the dose of pectin, diet composition, and source and physical and chemical property of pectin itself (including viscosity, molecular weight, and degrees of esterification). The effective daily intake of pectin is at least 6g/per according to EFSA, however a minimum level of characterization should be required to achieve the result.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Refinery And Petrochemical Integrated Development

Refinery And Petrochemical Integrated Development Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development is considered as the largest petrochemical complex project currently in the region of South East Asia. RAPID project is located in Pengerang, South Eastern of Johor state. As the main investor, PETRONAS proposed RM60 billion investment for RAPID project. The major production of RAPID is the crude oil refinery with refining capacity of 300,000 BSPD. The crude oil refinery will act as the spine of the project that will supply sufficient feedstock to the petrochemical complex. With conservative estimate, petrochemical complexes will produce an annual combined production of approximately 3 million tonnes of ethylene, propylene, C4 and C5 olefins. The beneficial condition had attracted few company to partner with PETRONAS in the RAPID project. At present, there are five(5) company which had signed an agreement with PETRONAS to jointly own, develop, construct and operate production facilities for a host of specialty chemical products within Petronas proposed RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Those five(5) company are ITOCHU Corporation of Japan PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, DIALOG, Italy-based Versalis SpA, and Evonik Industries AG. Initially, another German world leading chemical company, BASF, had signed the Head of Agreement (HoA) with PETRONAS. However, in 21 January 2013, PETRONAS announced that the Head of Agreement (HoA) between two parties for a jointly specialty chemicals venture within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor, has been terminated by mutual agreement. Unfortunately, following negotiations, PETRONAS and BASF concluded that it would be in their mutual interest to terminate the HoA as both parties were unable to come to an agreement on the terms and conditions for the implementation of the proposed venture. After the news of termination of HoA between PETRONAS and BASF was released, another company had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with PETRONAS almost at the same time. Evonik Indutstries AG is fully interested to jointly embark on the development of production facilities of specialty chemicals within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Although there are only six(6) company which have signed agreement to be part into PETRONAS RAPID project, it is widely believed that more potential company are yet to join the PETRONAS RAPID project. Therefore, in this chapter, it mostly covers the background and licensors issue of those six(6) company. At the mean time, this chapter will also cover the difference of the development of production facilities of specialty chemicals among the company in different location. Besides that, it will make the comparison of two company in different petrochemical complex based on several aspects. Moreover, this chapter will include the proposed potential company that are feasibility for PETRONAS RAPID project. In addition, this chapter will also analyze the role playing and licensors issue of the latent company within PETRONAS RAPID project. 4.2 Role Playing and Licensor of Company in PETRONAS RAPID project 4.2.1 PETRONAS PETRONAS is considered as the major investor for RAPID project and will own, construct and operate the oil refinery plant and also naphtha cracker plant. PETRONAS, for being one of the leading oil and gas industrial company in the world, has full of experience in constructing and operating the oil refinery plant and also naphtha cracker plant. PETRONAS no doubt has the profession and technology to handle oil refinery plant which refining a capacity of 300,000 BSPD crude oil. PETRONAS has taken the license technology from the previous licensor, Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering (EMRE). Those 300,000 BSPD of crude oil will be refined and converted into different petroleum products, distributed and supplied to entire petrochemical plants within RAPID project. Currently, RAPID project comprised construction work of few petrochemical plants such as hydrogen peroxide plant with a production capacity of 250,000 MTPA, a 220,000 MTPA isononanol plant, an 110,000 MTPA 1-butene plant and a 1,300MW gas-fired power plant. These are only part of the petrochemical plants within RAPID project. There are few investors have not made decision on the construction of petrochemical plants. The decision will be made later the third quarter of this year. On that time, we will know entire plan of RAPID project. However, we can define their move for RAPID project based on the profile of the company such as ITOCHU Corporation of Japan and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited. 4.2.2 ITOCHU Corporation of Japan PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited Both ITOCHU Corporation of Japan and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited are the world leading chemical company in oil and gas industry. The Energy Chemical company under ITOCHU Corporation consists of two divisions: the Energy Division and Chemical Division. The Energy Division facilitates the development and trade of bioethanol, focusing on developments in crude oil, natural gas, and other resources, and the supply chain where trade centres around the world originally operate. On the other side, the Chemical Division handles basic chemicals, synthetic resin, synthetic fibre raw materials, electronic materials, secondary battery-related materials and pharmaceutical products, among others. The company creates synergies in both of these globally operating divisions and have created an optimal value chain in petroleum, gas, and chemicals, in an effort to enrich the lives of people in the world. Another party, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited is the amalgamation of PTT Chemical Public Company Limited and PTT Aromatics and Refining Public Company Limited to be the chemical flagship of PTT Group. The integration results in reaching a total Olefins and Aromatics production capacity of 8.2 million tons per year and petroleum production capacity of 280,000 barrels per day, making it Thailands largest and Asias leading integrated petrochemical and refining company. PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited is strengthened with its diversity of product in both Olefins and Aromatics line, which improves its competitive advantage as well as the ability to reduce risk inherent in the petrochemical industry. On 18th May 2012, ITOCHU Corporation of Japan and PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTCG) have signed the Head of Agreement (HoA) with PETRONAS for the development of PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Mr. Sirisaengtaksin, Chief Executive Officer of PTTGC, said Through this new collaboration, we hope to strengthen our ties and business synergies within the Southeast Asia Region and to also meet the demands of a rapidly growing ASEAN regions population and AEC market growth We hope also to further strengthen our alliance and look forward to a long and sustainable relationship with PETRONAS and ITOCHU far into the future through our collaboration in high value added chemicals to serve the automotive, construction and electronic industries. As mentioned previously, the proposed refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels per standard day and will supply naphtha and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) feedstock for the RAPID petrochemical complex, as well as produce gasoline and diesel that meet European specifications. With such a large amount of crude oil supply, ITOCHU and PTT are able to produce various merchant grades petrochemicals products. In prior, we discuss about the development of ITOCHU Corporation in PETRONAS RAPID project. In fact, ITOCHU Corporation signed a separate Heads of Agreement with PETRONAS and PTT Global Chemical, an integrated refinery, petrochemical, and aromatic player, towards the development of the new project for a few petrochemical downstream projects within the Project RAPID. It is widely believed that the production facilities should be close to the chemical industrial area covered by ITOCHU previously. Therefore, we bravely concluded that ITOCHU Chemical Division will own, develop, constru ct and operate a petrochemical downstream project in PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Generally, ITOCHU trades an extensive lineup of products, including basic chemicals, plastics, electronic materials, and pharmaceutical raw materials. ITOCHU has the higher opportunity to operate synthetic fibre production plant. The licensor of synthetic fibre production plant could be UOP Technology. UOP Technology provide the license of technology for ITOCHU and allow ITOCHU to use the particular technology to operate the synthetic fibre production plant. ITOCHU will demand the feedstock of synthetic fibre from PETRONAS oil refinery as there is sufficient capacity of up to 300,00 BSPD refining crude oil supply. Similarity, as the collaboration partner, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited (PTTGC), collaborate with ITOCHU Corporation and PETRONAS, to own, develop, construct, and operate at least two petrochemical plants in RAPID project. The petrochemical plants are not specified yet until now. However, based on the speech of Mr. Sirisaengtaksin, Chief Executive Officer of PTTGC, it is widely believed that the production of specialty chemical is mostly high value added chemical to serve the automotive, construction, and electronic industries. The future plan announced by PTTGC mentions that there is $11 billion capex by year 2020. PETRONAS RAPID project is also included and considered as one of the significant project in the future plan. The final decision will be on the middle of this year. Nevertheless, we strongly believed PTTGC, associated with ITOCHU Corporation to operate olefins downstream production plant and aromatic plant. Generally, ethylene and propylene can produce polyeth ylene, polypropylene, HDPE, LDPE, and LLDPE. The capacity of these products is considered large in amount as there is sufficient olefins supply. Besides that, aromatic products such as benzene, toluene and mixed-xylene are also produced through the petrochemical plant as well to supply them as raw materials to generate the downstream industries such as polystyrene. Alongside the massive production of olefins, aromatics, and by-product produced, PETRONAS RAPID is expected to fulfil the requirement and massive demand of feedstock from South East Asia country and Asia country especially China. PETRONAS RAPID is expected to step out to become the major and leading raw material supplier within the region in South East Asia and even the entire Asia region. PTTGC operates the aromatics plant and produces and distributes primary aromatics, namely benzene, paraxylene, orthoxylene, toluene, mixed xylenes, and cyclohexane (intermediate product) as feedstock for intermediate and downstream industries. PTTGC runs two aromatics plants, it boast the technology of UOP, a world-renowned licensor known for constant upgrading. Both facilities allow feedstock and product exchange to optimize paraxylene and benzene production. PTTGC plans to produce a total of more than 2.05 million tons of aromatics with an 88% utilization rate and continuous process efficiency improvement which over the past few years record. Alongside the experience of operating the aromatic plant, PTTGC knows the efficiency improvement move and straightly apply into PETRONS RAPID project. The successive moves such as replacement of heat exchanger of the distillation tower to produce 25,000 tons per year of additional paraxylene and installation of pipeline system to the refinery to produce reformate to add value to excess sour naphtha from aromatics plant. PTTGC may apply the technologies into the aromatics plant in RAPID project and produces greater amount and quality of products. PTTGC may rise RAPID project become the leading petrochemical complex in Asia region. On the other sides, PTTGC Group obtains olefins (a collective name for ethylene and propylene) from PETRONAS naphtha cracker plant for intermediate and downstream petrochemical plants in the industrial estate, for HDPE, LDPE, and LLDPE plants within the Group, and for the ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG) plant, wholly owned by PTTGC. The Group produces and sells olefins by-products, namely mixed C4, pyrolysis gasoline, tail gas, cracker bottom, and hydrogen, to domestic and foreign customers. To supplement value to these, PTTGC will operate the butene-1 and butadiene project from mixed C4 with a combined capacity of about 100,000 tons per year. Today, the plants basic engineering design has been completed, with a start-up date in about the second quarter of 2014. In addition, it is widely believed that PTTGC will owns, constructs and operates a 1,300MW gas-fired power plant within RAPID project. The gas-fired power plant supply power throughout the entire RAPID project. The feedstock used to generate the power plant is natural gas that obtained from the crude oil. In order to achieve green environment, the feedstock also can be obtained from the recycled natural gas from other petrochemical plant. This action has not only achieve green environment yet it helps to cut the cost of production. 4.2.3 Italy-based Versalis SpA Italy-based Versalis SpA is the third petrochemical company to join PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. On 17th July 2012, PETRONAS and Itay-based Versalis SpA have signed for Head of Agreement (HoA) to jointly own, develop, construct, and operate elastomer plant within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. Based on the report statement, under the terms of the HoA, the proposed joint venture will produce and market synthetic rubbers by using Versalis technology license and technology know-how. Versalis (formerly known as Polimeri Europa) is a petrochemical company and flagship company of Eni SpA, an Italian multinational oil and gas company. It handles the production and marketing of a wide portfolio of petrochemical products, using a range of proprietary technologies and state-of-the-art production systems and a wide-reaching and efficient distribution network. Versalis provides its own technology of license and proves that Versalis has much confidence to the application of technology for the elastomer plant. For your information, the patent and proprietary technology portfolio ranges from basic products to polymers phenol and derivatives, polyethylene, styrenics and elastomers, but also catalysts, and special chemical products. Versalis contributes a lot of efforts to develop its own proprietary technology by using the direct experience earned at its research and development centre, its production plants, and also considering the feedbacks of the market towards its products. Throughout this approach, Versalis manages to optimize and strengthen the designing of the single devices and plants, of their performances, of the performances of the proprietary catalysts, of the characteristics of the products getting outstanding results in all the technologies of the companys business areas. And this is the reason that Versalis intends to use its o wn technology license. The elastomer technology used for the elastomer plant within PETRONAS RAPID project are: (1) emulsion polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (e-SBR), (2) solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber (s-SBR), (3) SBS copolymers technology (SBS), (4) NBR butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers technology (NBR), and (5) High Cis Polibutabiene rubber technology (HCBR NEOCIS). These technology are mostly believed to be brought and applied into the elastomer plant with PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang Johor. The brief introduction of each technology is needed for more understanding. Emulsion polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber is one of the most common used polymers in worldwide, used in a large variety of applications which significantly provide good quality of our life. The Versalis proprietary technology achieves wide-range of products which covers all e-SBR field of application like tires, footwears, light coloured and etc. Besides that, High Solids SBR Latices, whose main applications are in moulded foam, gel and non-gel carpet foam and stiffness enhancer Latices, are also leading product based on Versalis proprietary technology. Other the other hand, solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber is the most suitable feedstock for highly specified tyre components used in the fabrication of high performance tyres, where the lowest fuel consumption and the highest durability are required. In order to maintain the quality of polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber, s-SBR proprietary technology has been developed as an alternative to emulsion technology to produce new product grades and also to significantly reduce some environmental impact of the emulsion technology. Following by Versalis SBS technology, it is flexible in catering the different product grades required by the SBS market to meet new application requirements. Hence, the competitive production of the most common SBS grades and the additional SBS grades for special applications are allowed by Versalis SBS technology. Besides that, NBR butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers are copolymers of butadiene (BD) and acrylonitrile (AN) produced by initiation redox catalyst systems to an emulsion polymerisation reaction . The high resistance to oils over a wide temperature range is certainly one of most important feature of Nitrile Rubber. Furthermore, goods NBR-based are normally high strength and resistance to abrasion properties. Originally, Versalis used cold radicalic polymerization technology for NBR production and was then continuously improved and modified its own NBR butadiene-acrylonitrile rubbers production technology based on market requests and feedbacks to meet the safety regulation requirement. At last, High Cis Polibutabiene rubber technology was first developed in the 80s, with the aim to produce rubber grades with specific properties in tyre sector as well as in other industrial applications. Typical High Cis Polibutabiene rubber plant consists of one reaction section, one finishing line and one packaging line. Based on the technology development and experience taken in operation of elastomer plant, it is widely believed that Versalis will focus on the partnership alongside with excellent proven elastomer operation records and wealth of experience and expertise that would significantly contribute towards strengthening PETRONAS and Malaysias position as a key downstream petrochemical player in the South East Asia region or the entire Asia region. 4.2.4 Evonik Industries AG PETRONAS is pleased to announce that a Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed with Evonik Industries AG to jointly engage on the development of production facilities of chemical specialty within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang , Johor. On 13 January 2013, Evonik Industries AG officially signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) with PETRONAS and became the latest petrochemical company investing in RAPID project followed by ITOCHU Corporation, PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited, and Italy-based Versalis SpA. Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Evoniks corporate strategy manages to maintain profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company. Basically, its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Under the LOI, Evonik Industries AG planned to form a partnership with PETRONAS to jointly own, develop, construct and operate facilities for the production of hydrogen peroxide, C4 co-monomer and oxo-products within RAPID project.. The proposed plants within RAPID project are expected to produce a capacity of 250,000 metric tons of hydrogen peroxide, 220,000 metric tons of isononanol (INA) and 110,000 metric tons of 1-butene annually. Furthermore, the hydrogen peroxide will be used to produce propylene oxide by the licensed, eco-friendly hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) process. The licensed technology, HPPO process, was jointly developed by Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Uhde. Evonik is one of the worlds largest producers of hydrogen peroxide and C4 based products with production facilities in Europe, North America, South America, New Zealand, Asia, South Africa and Indonesia. The worldwide capacity of hydrogen peroxide production is in excess of 600.000 tons per year. With more than 100 years of experience in peroxygen chemistry, Evonik is believed able to provide high quality products backed up by professional technical, engineering and sales support within PETRONAS RAPID project. The hydrogen peroxide plant is expected to boast an annual production capacity of 250,000 metric tons thus increasing the current overall hydrogen peroxide in worldwide. The group believes it is going to become the largest manufacturer of hydrogen peroxide. Today, hydrogen peroxide is widely used for various chemical industries. Therefore, it is a wise approach to operate hydrogen peroxide production plant within RAPID project. Generally, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an environmentally friendly chemical used for oxidation reactions, bleaching process in pulp, paper, and textile industries, various waste water and air treatment, and for various disinfection applications. Nevertheless, Evonik has decided to implement the HPPO process with its own technology licensing which is developed by Evonik and ThyssenKrupp Uhde within RAPID project. The innovative HPPO process allows the oxidant to be used to produce propylene oxide. The HPPO process benefits that it requires significantly less investment and allows a high degree of production efficiency. It is also an extremely eco-friendly process. Besides that, oxo-products production plant such as isononanol (INA) production plant will be implemented within RAPID project by Evonik. Basically, isononanol (INA) is the most important raw material used for manufacturing large-volume of plasticizers. Plasticizers are chemical compounds that are used to make PVC materials to be flexible. The plastics become softer and more elastic and pliable for certain desired use. Plasticizers change the physical properties of the plastics without chemically react with the materials. As expected, Evonik plans to produce 220,000 metric tons of isononanol (INA) annually through the plant within RAPID project. This amount of capacity are believed sufficiently for demands throughout the South East Asia region. Most of the isononanol produced renders in the manufacture of DINP (di isononyl phthalate). The technology licensor for the isononanol (INA) production plant will be ThyssenKrupp Uhde. Uhde offers its first-class proprietary technology for the isononanol production plant within RAPID project. Similarly, the proprietary technology is developed based on research and production plants for many years. With this type of approach, the proprietary technology benefits that allows a high degree of efficiency with less investment requirement. In addition, Evonik has confirmed to operate a capacity of 110,000 metric tons annually 1-butene production plant within RAPID project. Evonik uses its own proprietary technology to operate the 1-butene production plant. Basically, 1-butene is used mainly as a co-monomer for polyethylene (LLDPE, HDPE) or co-monomer for ethylene/propylene copolymers. The advantage of 1-butene is mainly to improve for the tear strength of the polymer. Moreover, it is also used as intermediate for the production of various products such as antioxidants, plasticizers, herbicides, corrosion inhibitors or additives to lubricating and hydraulic oils. Evonik Industries AG are focusing on RAPID project seriously as they implement three main petrochemical production plant within PETRONAS RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor. As the Member of the Executive Board of Evonik, Dr. Dahai Yu said, The entire project is set to mark another milestone in our growth strategy in the Asian market. This is why were seeking for a strong long-term strategic partner like PETRONAS. The partnership is expected to strengthen the PETRONAS position as the key downstream petrochemical player as well as to position Malaysia as the number one oil and gas hub in the Asia Pacific region by 2017. Throughout the collaboration, Evonik Industries AG further consolidates its position as one of the world largest producers of hydrogen peroxide and C4-based products. 4.3 The Comparison of RAPID Project and Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex 4.3.1 Construction and Operation Area Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex is playing the significant role in the development of Malaysian petrochemical complexes of the east coast industrial corridor. Although isolated from the nations mainstream economic activities and politically distinctive, these former fishing villages have been transformed into Malaysias petrochemical industrial hub within a thirty years period. Similarly, RAPID project also transforms the fishing villages in Pengerang, Johor into another larger petrochemical industrial hub comparing to the one in east coast industrial corridor (ECIC). Currently, Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex have become the leading role to multi-national petroleum, gas and chemical giants and are widely believed to have received highest concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia. However, Upon target commissioning date in 2016, RAPID will become the largest petrochemical industrial hub within Asia Pacific Region. Kerteh and Gebeng are two different locations but planned to become industrial townships within the east coast industrial corridor (ECIC) of Peninsula Malaysia. The two town are connected by a dedicated railway. In contrast, RAPID project is planned to constructed at only one town area without any connections from other places. The figure 5.3 and figure 5.4 illustrate the Integrated Petrochemical Complex at Gebeng and location plan of RAPID project. Currently KPIC covers over 2,800 acres of land, and is planned to expand to cover about 13,200 acres by the year 2010. In present, GPIC covers about 8900 acres and it is expected to expand to about 23,700 acres by the year 2008. Initially, as statement from DEIA report, RAPID project is planned to cover 6,242 acres of land in Pengerang. The land covered will be further under expansion to be larger than the combination of IPC in Kerteh and Gebeng and in Melaka on the commissioning date by 2016. Verbund site 4.3.2 Capacity of Crude Oil Refinery In past, KIPC was only used as a crude oil channel, and as a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refinery. KIPC channels a capacity of 400,000 BSPD crude oil and 2,200 million cubic feet of LPG. Furthermore, KIPC also received some 250 million of LPG from Indonesia. Comparing to RAPID whereby RAPID is expected to have a refining capacity of 300,00 BSPD of crude oil. Upon target commissioning date in 2016, the countrys total refining capacity is to be increased to 935,300 barrels daily (bpd) from the current 635,300 bpd produced by the PETRONAS refineries in Kertih and Melaka. The refinery production of crude oil in RAPID project is illustrated in figure 4.5. For petrochemical related products, the current production capacity from the PETRONAS complexes in Gebeng and Kerteh is around 2.6 million KMTPA and upon RAPID operation, there will be an increase in production capacity to 6.5 million (KMTPA). It proves that the production capacity of RAPID project is expected to be much greater than GIPC and KIPC. Both Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex and RAPID project have received high concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia. Kerteh and Gebeng Integrated Petrochemical Complex have attracted foreign company to join partnership to own, develop, construct and operate petrochemical plants. In GIPC, the PETRONAS and its joint-venture plants, the Gebeng IPC is also host to a number of multinational chemical companies, such as Amoco Chemicals, which owns and operates a purified terephthalic acid plant, and Eastman Chemicals, which owns and operates a copolyester plastic resin plant. Figure 4.4 illustrates the major petrochemical plant and its production capacity. The MTBE plant produces a capacity of 300,000 pta of MTBE and 80,000 pta of propylene. Besides that, propane dehydrogenation plant produces another capacity of 300,000 pta of propylene. The propylene production plant also add on produces 80,000 pta of propylene. In addition, the BPC Acrylics Complex produces four(4) various of chemical products which are 160,000 tpa Crude Acrylic Acid, 20,000 tpa Glacial Acrylic Acid, 100,000 tpa Butyl-Acrylate, 60,000 tpa 2-Ethyl Hexyl Acrylate. Furthermore, BPC Oxo-Alcohols and Syngas produces five(5) petrochemical products like 80,000 tpa 2-Ethyhexanol, 40,000 tpa Phthalic Anhydride, 100,000 tpa Plasticizers, 160,000 tpa Butanols, 170,000 tpa Syngas. For BPC Butanediol Complex, a capacity of 100,000 tpa Butanediol is produced through the complex. PETRONAS Integrated Petrochemical Complex (IPC) located within the PETRONAS Petroleum Industry Complex (PPIC) in Kertih, Terengganu is an important link in our gas value chain. Receiving gas feedstock from the fields offshore Terengganu, the Kertih IPC principally consists of ethylene-based petrochemical plants. The plants located within this IPC include two ethylene crackers, a polyethylene plant, an ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol plant, a multi-unit derivatives plant, vinyl chloride monomer/PVC plants, ammonia/synthesis gas plants, an acetic acid plant, an aromatics complex and a low-density polyethylene plant. These plants are owned and operated mainly on a joint venture basis with various foreign partners with the advanced technology and experience, financial strength and market access to add value to the business. Figure 4.4 illustrates the major petrochemical plant and its production capacity. The ethylene plant produces a capacity of 400,000 pta of ethylene. Besides that, poly ethylene plant produces capacity of 200,000 pta of polyethylene and 55,000 pta of pipe compounding. The vinyl chloride monomer production plant also produces 400,000 pta of vinyl chloride monomer. In addition, the Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plant produces a capacity of 160,000 tpa PVC, Furthermore, Amonia and Syngas plant produces 450,000 tpa ammonia and 325,000 tpa Syngas. For acetic acid plant, a capacity of 400,000 tpa acetic acid is produced through the plant. The aromatics plant produces capacity production of 500,000 tpa Paraxylene and 188,000 tpa Benzene. Olefins (Second Cracker ) mainly produces 600,000 tpa Ethylene and 95,000 tpa Propylene for downstream production. Ethylene Oxide and Ethylene Glycol production plant produce capacity of 140,000 tpa Ethylene Oxide and 385,000 tpa Ethylene Glycols respectively. Ethylene Derivatives production plant produces five(5) petrochemical products such as 30,000 tpa Ethoxylates, 75,000 tpa Ethanolamines, 60,000 tpa Glycol Ethers, 140,000 tpa Butanol and 50,000 tpa Butyl Acetate to contributes for downstream production uses. The Low Density Polyethylen production plant produces a capacity of 255,000 tpa LDPE. For RAPID project, the capacity of production plants is clearly figured out in previous chapter. Therefore, for the information regarding the capacity of production within RAPID project, you are advised to refer the previous chapter. 4.4 The Comparison of RAPID Project and Titan Petrochemical Complex in Pasir Gudang 4.4.1 Location and Construction and Operation Area Titan petrochemical complex is owned and operated by Titan Chemical Group currently with the name of Lotte Chemical Titan Holdings Sdn. Bhd. Titan petrochemical complex constructed its first facility in Malaysia, a RM300 million polypropylene plant in year 1989. With

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Rise and Fall of Shakespeares Lady Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

The Rise and Fall of Lady Macbeth         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lady Macbeth's character is one of complexity;   slowly,   but continuously changing throughout the play.   What begins as a struggle for power and a longing to shred her femininity turns Lady Macbeth into what she fears most - a guilt ridden weakling.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the beginning ( I, v, 43-54) ,   we see Lady Macbeth reacting to the news of her husbands success and King Duncan's visit.   This ignites her lust for power.   In the quote â€Å"...unsex me here, /   And fill me from the crown to the toe top full/ Of direst cruelty!   make thick my   blood;.../ Come thick night,/   And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/ That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,†Ã‚   Lady Macbeth talks of wanting all of the cold blooded aspects of â€Å" manliness† so she can kill King Duncan with no remorse - she sees herself   as having these qualities more than her husband,   and because of this,   in a sense, wishes to shed her womanhood.   We can see this ruthless nature more in depth in the quote â€Å"I would,   while it was smiling in my face,/   Have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums,/ and dash'd the brains out,   had I so sworn as you/ Have done to this† (I,vii,56-59)   She is obviously a very bitter female, frequently referring to her role as a woman,   both physically and emotionally in negative ways.   In the above quote,   Lady Macbeth is commenting on her husband's lack of gall,   stating,   that quite frankly,   she would make a better man than he.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although still a very strong woman,   we see the first signs of weakness in Lady's Macbeth's character in Act II,   Scene ii,   12-13.   She says,   â€Å"Had he not resembled/   My father as he slept,   I had done it.†Ã‚   She is giving an excuse for not killing Duncan herself.   As you can plainly see,   this is not the same Lady Macbeth that would bash a baby's brains in in the beginning of the play. Throughout the play,   Macbeth's character grows stronger as Lady Macbeth's will regresses.   It even gets to where Macbeth will not include his wife in his villianous schemes,   where at one time,   it was Lady Macbeth who was implementing these schemes in his head in the first place.   In a sense,   the two characters switch roles;   Lady Macbeth taking a backseat to her husband almost becoming wallpaper for the rest of the play.   The turning point for Lady Macbeth is when she learns of her husband's slaying of Macduff's family.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Precursors to Suicide in Life and Works of Sylvia Plath and Sarah Kane

Precursors to Suicide in Life and Works of Sylvia Plath and Sarah Kane Introduction We are going to describe factors associated with the suicidal process in lives of Sarah Kane and Sylvia Plath as reflected in the late works of these two female authors who committed suicide when they were 27 and 30 years old. Antoon Leenaars and Susanne Wenckstern (1998) have written: ?Suicide notes are probably the ultrapersonal documents. They are the unsolicited productions of the suicidal person, usually written minutes before the suicidal death.? Literary works of suicidal authors written in the time before their death can be read as such suicide notes. It is possible that the suicidal process set off before Sarah Kane started to write her best play and before Sylvia Plath wrote the best poems of her life. They might have been either created in an attempt to set the suicidal process back (Viewegh, 1996) or as a pure manifestation of this suicidal process which might have brought about sudden burst of strong internal creative powers. In both cases we might take these works as suicide notes and poetic accounts on a dramatic search for the meaning of life and existence. Nevertheless no suicide note is able to give a complete account of the suicidal mind. Such a note must be put in the context of the individual life as Shneidman said (1980) and in the context of broad theoretical formulations about suicide and personality functioning in general as stated by Leenaars (1988) if one wants to understand the motives lying behind. 1 Risk Factors for Suicide Very concise description of risk factors for suicide has been offered by Leenaars (1988) and is based on studies of 10 theories of suicide. There are 5 subcategories included under the intr... ... Leenaars, A. A. & Wenckstern, S. (1998). Sylvia Plath: A protocol analysis of her last poems. Death Studies, October 1, 1998, Vol. 22, Issue 7, ISSN: 0748-1187. Retrieved May 6, 2005 from Academic Search Premier Database. Plath, A. & Plath, S. (Eds.) (1975). Letters Home. London: Faber and Faber. Shneidman, E. S. (1980). Voices of death. New York: Harper & Row. Shneidman, E. S. (1982). The suicidal logic of Cesare Pavese. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 10, 547-563. Stirman, S. W. & Pennebaker, J. W. (2001): Word Use in the Poetry of Suicidal and Nonsuicidal Poets. Psychosomatic Medicine. 63, p. 517-522 ï ¿ ½ 2001 American Psychosomatic Society, Retrieved December 20, 2004 from http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/full/63/4/517 Viewegh, J. (1996). Sebevra?da a literatura (Suicide and literature). Brno: Nakladatelstvï ¿ ½ Tomï ¿ ½?e Jane?ka 10