Monday, September 30, 2019

Performance Management Plan Essay

Good afternoon Traci, after assessing the current status and future needs of Marylee Luther’s construction company and taking some notes from your conversation with her the other day we have compiled a performance management framework that we believe will integrate the company’s goals to its strategy while making the growth move from Michigan to Arizona and staying consistent with the organizations current revenue and employee growth projections over the next year. We will briefly outline this performance management plan as it pertains to the categories of alignment of the performance management framework to the organizational business strategy, organizational performance philosophy, the job analysis process you will complete to identify the skills needed by employees, methods used for measuring the employee’s skills, process for addressing skill gaps, and an approach for delivering effective performance feedback. The framework that has been chosen for the organi zation will ease the growing pains of adding 20% more personnel (130 people) over the next year. Performance Framework Organizations with the revenues and personnel comparable to Mrs. Luther’s construction business have made the move to all inclusive software systems in order to handle the monitoring and scheduled maintenance of both operational and employee performance metrics which allow managers to make real time changes that save time and money for the organization. We recommend WebFOCUS performance management framework or (PMF). According to â€Å"Information Builders† (1996-2013), â€Å"PMF is a comprehensive, fully integrated, out-of-the-box solution that fully supports any existing performance management methodology, such as balanced scorecard (BSC). It comes complete with all the functionality and tools companies need to efficiently and effectively set and communicate strategy across the organization, define related metrics, and involve all stakeholders in monitoring and measurement – all from a single, intuitive, easy-to-access, browser-based environment.† Read more:  Growth Performance Management The PMF software has such features as †¢Performance management data models †¢Pre-built dashboards, scorecards, and reports †¢More than 500 pre-packaged metrics for common industries and business functions †¢Strategy mapping to visualize and communicate strategy †¢The ability to manage performance and risk together †¢Mobile alerts †¢In-depth analytics †¢Link scorecards to operational reports The WebFOCUS framework software will be a good fit for the organization due to the fact that the software will give the organization the ability to maintain consistency and allow for growth in every area of the business. Performance Philosophy In order to facilitate the solidification of the performance framework with the organizations new performance strategy, we have chosen a proven philosophy that encourages the simultaneous improvement of both technical and social aspects of the company through aligning the organizations strategy with its goals and clearly incorporating each employee into a definable part of the business. Core principles are developed as guidelines for members of the organization to operate under to stay in line with the business goals. Here are the principles that should be focused on moving forward. †¢The strategy and goals of the organization are clear to all members of the organization and are an integral part of everyday operations †¢The employees are treated as the organizations key assets and are provided with the training, skill development, and resources to succeed while fulfilling the organizations strategy †¢Work is designed around teams to accomplish the goals of the business as a whole †¢Job processes and structures are streamlined to support a focused part of the organizations strategy †¢The management team is present to provide operational boundaries, resources for tasks and guidance when needed †¢The organization will always exceed the expectations of its customers Identifying Employee Needs Given the fact that construction workers are out on job sites most of the day and cannot voice their needs or concerns when they arise, we recommend a system of top-down check ins daily where managers will have mobile conferences with site supervisors after having team meetings that morning on the different job sites. This will help move any employee needs or issues up the management chain faster. To add to that process management will have quarterly one-on-one meetings with all employees to address any needs and guide in filling any performance or skill gaps that will later be scheduled for improvement. Measuring Employee Skills Using the WebFOCUS software, we recommend having employees taking an online test that can be done at work or home that will identify each employee’s skills and strengths and will put those into a database that measures standards to each job and where that employee excels or falls short in that job and the construction industry. The new software will also keep the company goals and focus for both Michigan and new Arizona facilities simultaneously. Addressing Skill Gaps Construction employees are notoriously hands on people so after a proper skills assessment test to identify strengths and weaknesses in that employees current position we recommend a one-on-one meeting between that employee and their manager where a training map can be discussed and implemented over a three month period which will consist of both online and on-the-job training to bring the employee up to industry standards for their respective position. The training will be monitored by site supervisors and progress will be logged and relayed to upper management. Effective Performance Feedback Performance feedback is essential to both the employee as well as the company so we recommend a system of open communication and full disclosure as they pertain to current and the projected 20% new employees over the next year for the company. The process will consist of the manager clearly conveying their expectations of said employee at the point of hire, informing that quarterly one-on-one meetings with the manager will be held to make sure that employees performance goals are being met, and address any issues or concerns that arise. The process for the yearly performance feedback reviews will consist of a clear ranking system based off of the managers previously stated expectations of that employee, social and technical compliances for that employee, and will give an overall score that will dictate any compensation raise or bonus. The day of the performance feedback the employee will receive a printed out copy of the feedback an hour before their actual meeting with management. This will allow the employee to work out any emotions or feeling within themselves first so that the meeting with their manager can be conducted with fresh eyes and ears. The manager will not address any issue with compensation or wander off topic during the feedback and new goals and expectations will be discussed and implemented from that point. Conclusion The information that has been given in regards to Marylee Luther’s construction company warranted a completely all inclusive software system to be able to make assessments and organize information regarding the business and employees. We feel that the WebFOCUS software chosen for her company will streamline processes and expedite growth as they expand to the Arizona market and provide flexibility for the managers to use in new ways moving forward in both states respectively. We believe that the process changes recommended towards employee relations will empower the employees to expand their own knowledge and foster a sense of accountability and ownership that will ultimately take the company and employee to the next level. References Information builders (1996-2013). Retrieved from http://www.informationbuilders.com/products/webfocus/webfocuspmf The center for organizational design (2012). Retrieved from http://www.centerod.com/high-performance-philosophy/

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Environmental Scanning Essay

Everyone in Pakistan well as many sitting thousands of miles away, the business community too is waiting to exhale. And so, all that’s visible in the run up to the precise moment – General Elections 2013 – are lots of breathlessly red faces. Generally, election year produces diametrically opposing reactions within the public and private sectors. While the incumbent seeks to woo fickle voters through last ditch spending (think: poverty alleviation, development projects, etc.), the private sector often buries its head and its wallet in the sand until the storm of unpredictability has passed. Consequently, the business outlook for 2013 will remain depressingly unexciting until the new government settles down. The global recession isn’t going away anytime soon and the IMF recently cut global growth forecasts for 2013 to 3.6%, down from its earlier estimate of 3.9%. Although the Pakistani Government is doing its best to convince anyone who will listen that it i s going to manage ‘four’ percent growth in the coming year, nobody is really convinced. The Government doesn’t really have the money to spend. Public revenues – proposed tax amnesty schemes notwithstanding – are low; the fiscal deficit is 8.2% and, to make ends meet, the Government is borrowing heavily from the banking sector. For decent growth, the Government needs a tax-to-GDP ratio in the vicinity of 16%; all it can muster at present is 9.1%. While inflation has finally been brought into the single digit realm, few are deluded enough to imagine it will last. First, global commodity prices (particularly oil) are still heading upwards. Second, with just enough forex reserves left for three months of imports and no bilateral or multilateral donor rushing to save Pakistan from Islamabad, the rupee is poised to come under serious pressure. (In November alone, Pakistan had to repay a staggering $616 million to the IMF.) Third, the Government has the State Bank printing Rs 1.5 billion a day. All inflationary enough on their own, the combined effect of these three will make for a very painful and prolonged hangover . Further, savings are low and the cash flush banks are too busy throwing rupees at the Government to bother with the few businesses that would be willing to invest in Pakistan prior to elections. Simply put, banks would much rather bolster their profits by lending to an insatiable but dependable Government than lend to the brilliant but risky private sector. Significantly, while the  Central Bank has now cut its policy rate by a cumulative 200 basis points since August, its critics are still unhappy with the decision. Their first bone of contention is that the temporarily low inflation numbers do not merit monetary easing and the State Bank is just making it cheaper for the Government to borrow more rather than hauling it up for doing so. Further, they cite data on private sector credit off take that shows that the same actually declined after the deep cut in August (150 basis points) while Government borrowing increased. Businesses, on the other hand, say that interest rates are st ill too high to consider investing. (Foreign investment, of course, requires a climate unavailable in a frontline state in the war against terrorism.) While the specific merits of this allegation can be argued over, the business environment in the country presents a series of uncontroverted and inescapable realities that dilute the impact of the high cost of borrowing. There are obviously those who cry about energy shortages, the unpredictability of supply and the fear that the dollar-rupee exchange rates will cross Rs 100 by June 2013. There are others who moan about the law and order situation and the fact that extortion levels jump up dramatically in the run-up to an election as political parties gather funds for electioneering. But first and foremost is the fact that the entire country is in a state of political flux and the economy is teetering on the brink of a full blown crisis. Typically, investment – be it the setting up of large projects or just the import of new machines for spinning – has a significant gestation period. An investor, who can’t predict whether his deals with the current Government will be honored by the next or what the duty structure will look like by the time his machines come in, is generally wary and prefers to sit on the sidelines until he gets more clarity. Take the example of the energy sector. The long, sizzling summer of 2012 and the frequency of power riots across the country clearly showed that Pakistan has graduated from being energy insecure to an energy crisis state. Throughout this period, the Government and its ministers frequently spoke of the need for more energy related projects, alternative energy and what not at much touted ‘energy conferences’. At various points during the year, the import of energy from even Iran and India were discussed. Clearly, there is significant unmet demand and correspondingly, great returns in the business. Theoretically then, given that energy infrastructure projects take ages to  mobilise, investors should be queuing up to begin these before the summer of 2013. But while a few canny, deep pocketed investors are making ambitious plans, even they are not committing money to these projects just yet. Clearly, the top priority, for even those investors who are mostly immune to political persecution because of their wealth and/or influence, is political stability. This stability, however, refers not only to the political parties that form governments but also the nature of the economic policies they pursue. If an investor raises $200 million to set up an LNG import business, for example, he needs to know what the returns will be and how long the government intends to buy the product for and in the absence of this certainty; no one will cough up the cash. Key External Factors Business, now-a-days is vitally affected by the economic, social, legal, technological and political factors. These factors collectively form business environment. Business environment, as such, is the total of all external forces, which affect the organization and operations of business. The environment of an organization has got internal, operational and general lives managers must be aware of these three environmental levels and their relationship and importance. The term ‘business environment implies those external forces, factors and institutions that are beyond the control of individual business organizations and their management and affect the business enterprise. Business environment influence the functioning of the business system. Thus, business environment may be defined as all those conditions and forces which are external to the business and are beyond the individual business unit, but it operates within it. These forces are customer, creditors, competitors, government, socio-cultural organizations, political parties national and international organizations etc. some of those forces affect the business directly which some others have indirect effect on the business. 5 Key External Factors: * Economic Forces * Social, Cultural, Demographic and Environmental Forces * Political, Governmental and Legal Forces * Technological Forces * Competitive Forces Economic Forces: Economic environment refers to the aggregate of the nature of economic system of the country, the structural anatomy of the economy to economic policies of the government the organization of the capital market, the nature of factor endowment, business cycles, the socio-economic infrastructure etc. The successful businessman visualizes the external factors affecting the business, anticipating the prospective market situations and makes suitable to get the maximum with minimize cost. Social, Cultural, Demographic and Environmental Forces: The social dimension or environment of a nation determines the value system of the society which, in turn affects the functioning of the business. Sociological factors such as costs structure, customs and conventions, cultural heritage, view toward wealth and income and scientific methods, respect for seniority, mobility of labor etc. have far-reaching impact on the business. These factors determine the work culture and mobility of labor, work groups etc. For instance, the nature of goods and services to be produced depends upon the demand of the people which in turn is affected by their attitudes, customs, so as cultural values fashion etc. Socio-cultural environment determines the code of conduct the business should follow. The social groups such as trade unions or consumer forum will intervene if the business follows the unethical practices. Political, Governmental and Legal Forces: The political environment of a country is influenced by the political organizations such as philosophy of political parties, ideology of government or party in power, nature and extent of bureaucracy influence of primary groups etc. political stability in the country, foreign policy, Defense and military policy, image of the country and its leaders in and outside the country. The political environment of the country influences the business to a great extent. Legal environment includes flexibility and adaptability of law and other legal rules governing the business. It may include the exact rulings and decision of the courts. These affect the business and its managers to a great extent. Technological Forces: The business in a country is greatly influenced by the technological development. The technology adopted by the industries determines the type and quality of goods and services to be produced and the type and quality of plant and equipment to be used. Technological environment influences the business in terms of investment in technology, consistent application of technology and the effects of technology on markets. Competitive Forces: * Globalization of corporations, knowledge, products, consumers, and communication. * Growing competition within and across countries, amongst domestic companies, and between domestic and transnational companies. * Link between international trade and international labor standards and parallel efforts to secure labor market flexibility through relaxation of labor laws and standards for stimulating investment, both domestic and foreign * Speedy flow of information, capital, and innovation throughout the world. * Rising expectations of all stakeholders. * Easy access to the best and the least expensive products and services, worldwide. * Rapid pace of change ( £If the rate of change in our organization/society is slower than the rate of change outside the organization/society, we will be led by others.’) * Faster response time (As Smajda of the World Economic Forum avers, the days of big fish eating small fish are over. It is the fast fish which swallows the small fish.’) * Growing socio-economic inequity. Now, we are going to discuss about different sectors which are affected by these key external factors and take opportunities to it but threats are also exists. * Service Sector * Agriculture Sector * Telecom Industry * Cement Industry Service Sector Services sector is largest and fastest growing sector in the world economy, accounting largest share in total output and employment in most developed countries. In case of Pakistan, the shares of services are increasing in all sectors of economy over the period. In fact, the growth rate of services sector is higher than the growth rate of agriculture and industrial sector. The Services sector has registered a growth rate of 4.0 percent during July-March of the fiscal year 2011 12 against 4.4 percent last year. It is dominated by Finance and Insurance at 6.5 percent, Social and Community Services 6.8 percent and Wholesale and Retail Trade 3.6 percent. I. Distributive Services: Transport, Storage and Communications * Railways * Water Transport * Air Transport * Pipeline Transport * Road Transport * Mechanized * Non- Mechanized * Communications * Storage * Water Transport Wholesale, Retail Trade and Hotels and Restaurants * Wholesale and Retail Trade including * Imports * Purchase and Sale Agents and Brokers * Auctioning II. Producer Services: Financial Institution * State Bank of Pakistan * Commercial Bank * Other Financial Intermediaries * Insurance Corporations and Pension Funds III. Social Services: Public Administration and Defense Social Community and Private Services * Education * Medical and Health Services Environmental Scanning: Economic Forces The Services sector contributes 53.8% to Pakistan’s GDP. Its major sub sectors are Finance and Insurance, Transport and Storage, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Public Administration and Defense. Services contribution to our GDP is gradually increasing. During the current period of financial downturn, the services sector has been a major contributor to growth. Pakistan’s GDP grew at the rate of 2.4%in 2010-11. The services sector grew at the rate of 4.1% as against 2.9% last year. The main contributors to this growth are public admin and defense (13.2%) and social services sector (7.1%) A cursory look on the composition of subsectors that contribute most to the services sector shows that retail trade, wholesale trade, research and educational consultancy services, restaurants and hotels, financial, construction, and some business services, such as computer and information technology (IT) services, and professional services, such as engineering, legal and accounting services, IT and related services have been most significant. Banks, DFIs and insurance companies, account for 98 percent of value added in this sector. The finance and insurance sector comprises State Bank of Pakistan, all scheduled (domestic and foreign banks) development financial institutions (DFIs), all insurance (life and general) companies, Modaraba/leasing companies, moneychangers and stock exchange brokers. The financial sub-sector consists of all resident corporations principally engaged in financial intermediations or in auxiliary financial activities related to finance. Social, Cultural and Demographic Forces Demography and lifestyle changes have the major contribution to increase in the growth of consumer demand of services. Pakistan’s consumption data shows that the demand of services is increasing over the time. During the 1985-86 people spent more of their income on goods then services. A number of factors such as income growth, changing demographic profile due to more urbanization, and the socio-economic environment are having its impact on retail scene. Pakistan retail is currently a virgin territory. This is more important in view of the large number of middle class population and available high-disposable income in the age group 25-35 years. Successful Retail Chains like Hyper star, Metro & Makro has opened the avenues for the upcoming retailers. In Lahore, large numbers of households do the grocery shopping at Hyper star, Jalal sons, Alfatah, HKB, Metro, Makro and CSD. This shows the changing lifestyle and shopping preferences of the urban population of Pakistan. This retail growth is also supported by the increasing literacy rate in Pakistan; current urban population is more educated than their ancestors and has a better understanding of retailer influences on shopping as the larger retailer give quality assurances to consumers. Political, Governmental and Legal Forces Governments around the globe are gradually coming online using processes in which Information and Communications Technology (ICT) play an active and significant role, beyond simple digitalization, or automation of governance  services, or provision of LANs, since it is ultimately a tool for good governance and human development. The main objectives of e-Governance are to increase transparency of government working, increase and diversify public information and its value, and increase the quality of products and services being currently offered. This helps reduce high transaction costs (in terms of time, efforts and opportunities lost) by timely and relevant access to government information, especially for those who are disadvantaged or marginalized or living in remote rural areas. Services are still identified with line ministries and government departments; there is increasing recognition amongst policymakers for improvements in skill levels in many sectors and for a departure from inward-looking policies. In view of the dramatic changes in the services sector, regulatory and policy issues have continued to gain importance in policy-making circles for the last 15 years. Technological Forces Technology allows businesses to do everything faster. Many processes that once required ledgers, checkbooks and journal notations have now moved onto computer systems. Logging in and out, updating inventory information and communicating can now are happening much more swiftly. Technology moves very quickly, constantly evolving and creating new devices and faster systems. Businesses note these changes and attempt to move with technology, adapting it to their present and future needs. Pakistan has seen an explosive growth in the ICT sector in the last few years with deregulation and ending of the monopolies of the state sector. The number of mobile phones achieved their 2007 target two years earlier, and the recent deregulation of long distance (LDI) wireless local loops (WLL), other sections have served to provide faster, better and wide coverage, all at lower costs. Competitive Forces Of the non-factors input used by the services sectors, 61.1 percent were  purchased from commodity producing sectors, suggesting strong backward linkages of services with commodity producing sectors. Of the total purchases from the commodity sectors, 73.9 percent were purchased from manufacturing sector, followed by 14.6 percent from construction, and 7.7 percent from electricity and gas sectors. The service sectors purchases from agriculture sector account for 3.3 percent of total purchases from commodity sectors. About 76.5 percent of services sector (public administration and defiance, 40.6 percent and transport and communications 35.9 percent) made purchases from the commodity producing sectors respectively. Forward linkages the shares of individual service sectors in total purchases from commodity producing sectors are agriculture 28.1 percent, mining and manufacturing 70.2 percent, electricity and gas distribution 1.0 percent, and construction 0.7 percent. Technology also increases the possibility of crime. A tech-savvy employee can embezzle funds and make it difficult for the company to trace. Hackers can access personal and financial data of customers who trust the company to keep their information safe. Agriculture Sector Agriculture: Agriculture, also called farming or husbandry, is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi, and other life forms for food, fiber, biofuel and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the development of civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science. Agriculture generally speaking refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant and termite. The word agriculture is the English adaptation of Latin agricultÃ… «ra, from ager, â€Å"a field†, and  cultÃ… «ra, â€Å"cultivation† in the strict sense of â€Å"tillage of the soil†. Thus, a literal reading of the word yields â€Å"tillage of fields†. Agriculture Sector in Pakistan: Pakistan has a rich and vast natural resource base, covering various ecological and climatic zones; due to which the country has great potential for producing all types of food produce. Agriculture has an important role in generating economic growth. Agriculture affects the economy in three ways namely, first, it provides food to consumers and fibers for domestic industry; second, it is a source of scarce foreign exchange earnings; and third, it provides a market for industrial goods. Agriculture Sector is a key sector of the economy and accounts for 21 percent of GDP. The supportive policies of the government resulted in a growth of 3.1 percent against 2.4 percent last year. Major Crops registered an accelerating growth of 3.2 percent compared to a negative growth of 0.2 percent last year. The major crops including Cotton, Sugarcane and Rice witnessed growth in production of 18.6 percent, 4.9 percent and 27.7 percent respectively. However, preliminary estimates of wheat production showed a negative growth due to late receding of flood waters in lower Sindh which hampered the timely cultivation of the wheat crop. Livestock has witnessed a marginally higher growth of 4.0 percent against the growth of 3.97 percent last year. Fisheries sector showed a growth of 1.8 percent. Forestry recorded a growth of 0.95 percent as compared to the contraction of 0.40 percent last year. The total geographical area of Pakistan is 79.6 million hectares. About 27percent of the area is currently under cultivation. Of this area, 80 percent is irrigated and Pakistan has one of the highest proportions of irrigated cropped area in the world. Most of Pakistan is classified as arid to semi-arid because rainfall is not sufficient to grow agricultural crops, forest and fruit plants and pastures. About 68 percent of the geographical area has annual rainfall of 250 mm, whereas about 24 percent has annual rainfall of251 to 500 mm. Only 8 percent of the geographical area has annual rainfall exceeding 500 mm. Hence supplemental water is required for profitable agricultural production, either from irrigation or through water harvesting. Agriculture is largely dependent on artificial means of  irrigation. Of the total cultivated area, about 82 percent or around 17.58 million hectares is irrigated, while crop production in the remaining 3.96 million hectares depends mainly upon rainfall. The Irrigation Canal Command Area (CCA) has been grouped into classes on the basis of the nature and severity of its limitations water logging, salinity, sodality and texture. At present about one-fifth of the cultivated land in CCA is affected by water logging and salinity to varying degrees. An additional area of 2.8 million hectares suffers from sodality. Notwithstanding huge investments, the water table was 0 to 1.5 m under 2.2 million hectares of irrigated land, 1.5 to 3 m under6 million hectares and 0to 3 m under 8 million hectares. Thus Pakistan needs to overhaul its entire drainage and reclamation strategy reduces its cost and makes it efficient. Environmental Scanning: Economic Forces Flooding in 2011, affected crops like rice, cotton and sugarcane, although in the current year, 2011-12, they performed well and provided support and continued to support food security objectives this year. The agriculture sector recorded a growth of 3.1 percent in 2011-12. The profitability of agriculture sector during 2011-12, remained high because the farmers received good prices for rice, cotton and sugarcane, which allowed for greater financial resources passed on to the rural economy. During 2011-12, the overall performance of agriculture sector exhibited a growth of 3.1 percent mainly due to positive growth in agriculture related subsectors, except minor crops. Major crops accounted for 31.9 percent of agricultural value added and experienced a growth of 3.2 percent in fiscal year 2011-12 with negative growth of 0.2 percent in 2011. The role of credit is instrumental in the agriculture sector where Pakistani farmers often lack finances necessary for carrying out vital farming activities. This issue, if not addressed, can cause a multitude of problems, ranging from the exploitation of poor farmers at the hands of informal sources of credit, to a slowdown in the adoption of modern farming techniques and inputs, resulting in slow development of this chief sector of our economy. Social, Cultural and Demographic Forces Agriculture generates productive employment opportunities for 45 percent of the country’s labor force and 60 percent of the rural population depends upon this sector for its livelihood. * Established 40 surveillance and 66 rapid response units (RRUs). * Processed 0.4 million samples of blood, tissues and swabs for screening against Avian Influenza * Establishment of the Bio security Laboratory-3 is under process * Disbursed Rs. 23.5 million as compensation to Avian Influenza affected farmers Pakistan is maintaining Avian Influenza (bird flu) free status since June 2008 million tons was from marine production and the remaining came from inland waters. In July-March, 2010-11 the production was estimated to be 937,082 million tons, where 672,652 million tons was marine and the remaining was produced by inland fishery sector. Recognizing the vital role the sector plays in ensuring food security, generating overall economic growth, reducing poverty and the transforming towards industrialization. Political, Legal and Governmental Forces The present government is determined to improve the quality of life of the people and to banish hunger and malnutrition from the country by making agriculture an efficient, productive and profitable sector of the economy. In order to improve governance in the public sector the government took bold steps and brought in the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of 1973. Accordingly, Ministries performing tasks which were provincial subjects were devolved from the Federal level, including the Ministry of Food and agriculture. Two major steps in order to solve the food security issues on a permanent basis; The first step is the establishment of the National Food Security Council representing Federal, Provincial and local level Governments. Secondly, through a Letter of Intent the Ministry, in collaboration with World Food Program, is launching the Zero Hunger Program  worth US $ 1.6 billion to address the food security objective. A total of 290 veterinary clinics have been established providing veterinary services at 70 percent reduced costs to rural farmers at their door steps i.e. 100 percent achievement. Technological Forces The Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) is engaged in providing seed certification coverage to public and private sector seed companies of the country. It provides seed quality control services through its 28 seed testing laboratories as well as monitoring of seed quality in the market. The activities and achievements of the department during 2011-12 are described below: * During the year 2011-12, forty-five (45) new seed companies were registered, making the total number of registered seed companies in the country 774, which includes four public sector and five multinational companies. * Twenty-two (22) new crop varieties were approved {(5) wheat, (11) cotton, (3) oilseeds, (2) pulses and (1) fodder}. * During 2011-12, different crops offered by the various seed agencies, totaling 502.6 thousand acres, were inspected for certification purposes. * During 2011-12, a total of 13.7 MT of imported seed of various crops and hybrids, with a total value of Rs. 3287.6 million, was tested under the Seed (Truth in Labeling) Rules. 1991 at the port of entries i.e. Lahore and Karachi. * Almost 718 samples of seed and propagating material of various vegetable and fruit crops were tested at the Central Seed Testing Laboratory, Islamabad for detection of fungal and viral disease using latest diagnosis techniques and protocols. The Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department (FSC&RD) is engaged in providing seed certification coverage to public and private sector seed companies of the country. It provides seed quality control services through its 28 seed testing laboratories as well as monitoring of seed quality in the market. Competitive Forces Pakistan is member of the Cairns Group (an alliance of 18 countries looking for ambitious outcome in the Market Access areas), G-20 (group for safeguarding interest of developing countries in agriculture negotiations) and the G-33 (group of developing countries and LDCs aiming to get preferential terms in Market Access and Special and Differential treatment). In negotiations on market access, domestic support and export competition, Pakistan’s stance is supportive of the G-20 collective position. Pakistan strongly supports improvement in market access by reducing tariffs, reducing tariff escalation, and eliminating tariff peaks. Pakistan also works closely with the Cairns Group on tropical products issues. Pakistan has entered into Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with China, Malaysia and Sri Lanka and has exchanged a draft FTA with Singapore which includes an investment protection clause. In addition to WTO membership, Pakistan is party to two agreements for regional trade liberalization. The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) comprised of Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan; and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) with India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives. A Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) have been in place between Pakistan and the United States since July 2003. Both countries are now negotiating a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). Telecom Industry Telecommunication: Word Telecommunication has two parts. One is Tele and other is Communication. Communication means conveying or disseminating the information. Word Tele is a Latin word which means far off. Telecommunication is the dissemination of signals to a far palace for the purpose of sharing some message or idea. In ancient time codes, smokes, drums or other components were used for conveying information but now a day telephones, fax, emails etc is used. So now the new definition of Telecommunication states sharing of data over a distance, through electric means. Telecom Sector in the World: In this fastest growing world information flows through the signals and cables in form voice or text. Telecommunication is not just bringing the people together but it is also bringing different economies, cultures and countries together. Now we can see the whole world as a Global Village. Now Telecommunication is an essential part of our lives. With the Expansion of this sector, the world has gained about $3.85 trillion in year 2008. And the service revenues have reached about $2 Trillion and Expected to reach the level of $3 Trillion in 2013. And this revenue is about 3% of the World GDP. The major part of telecom sector is internet and Telephones. Telecom Sector in Pakistan: Pakistan is on the verge of Telecom revolution Pakistan continues to be one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Reforms introduced by successive Pakistani governments over the last decade have dramatically changed the nature of telecommunications in the country. The Pakistani telecom sector has attracted more than $9 billion in foreign investments. During 2007-08, the Pakistani Communication sector alone received $ 1.62 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – about 30% of the country’s total foreign direct investment. By March 2009, Pakistan had 91 million mobile subscribers – 25 million more subscribers than reported in the same period 2008. In addition to 3.1 million fixed lines, while as many as 2.4 million are using Wireless Local Loop connections Pakistan is ranked 4th in terms of broadband Internet growth in the world, as the subscriber base of broadband Internet has been increasing rapidly with the total base crossing 170,000 in the country. The rankings are released by Point Topic Global broadband analysis, a global research centre. Pakistan according to PC World was amongst those top five countries with the highest SMS traffic processed with 763 million SMS during 2008-09. In terms of year-on-year growth, Pakistan traffic volume grew by 253 percent compared to last year during the same period. The contribution of telecom sector to the national exchequer increased to Rs 110 billion in the year 2007-08 on account of general sales tax, activation charges and other steps as compared to Rs 100 billion in the year 2006-07.Pakistan telecom industry is handling the telecom companies  which are operating at this time like Mobilink, Ufone, Warid, Telenor, Zong etc†¦

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Technology Impact Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Technology Impact Paper - Essay Example This technology gives one of the best opportunities to enlarge printing to commercial field. By sizing, newspaper linking can be removed and as a result the paper can be printed using the heat-set procedure. With the help of hypertext link one can update the many sources of information. This information can be as paper version into the online version. Hand crafting is done by electronic materials for instance many software support technical communicators in these tasks. Management comprises directing and controlling a group of one or more people or entities for the purpose of coordinating them towards completing a goal. Management function of controlling can be applied on the internet. It is directly applied and now it is going to be very famous for dynamic changes in electronic papers. The Internet has been in existence for almost two decades and began to extend into schools about 15 years ago, first into universities and then into schools. It helps the lecturers and students to enlarge learning. But these opportunities can be getting those who can access the internet and proper guidance of usage and getting knowledge from online pages. This process is not systematic in schools. There are many reason involve in this case; budgets; insufficient professional programs for lecturers; a lack of specific curriculum; and deficient training of teachers in technology. For Example Mr. Smith starts announcing to his students that this month they study the social studies chapter capitals of 50 states. He studied his classes for last 10 years. Then suddenly a student comes to Mr. Smith and turns on his laptop and connects the internet through wireless. Then that student says that look at this map of United States; if I clicks on this page then you can view the name of capital, its all images related to its states and capital building, history related to this city and states, all its resources related to nature and all it major industries. She says we should work online pages to get knowledge. We can also research on them. The entire student will help us to complete this work. In this way the students now get knowledge from internet more efficiently rather then impact paper. With the help of electronic mail and "surfing" for information with a browser, involve communicating with others and locating information, but the real power of the Web will come from people being better able to accomplish their "work," regardless of its focus. Chat sessions are a text-based version of synchronous collaboration, as are Multi-User Dungeons, Object-Oriented, or Multi-User Shared version, where a number of people participate simultaneously in a shared conversation or activity. Applications on the desktop for doing exciting

Friday, September 27, 2019

Upcoming presidential election Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Upcoming presidential election - Essay Example This will keep on affecting the US in a negative manner since the superpower nation of the world is already seen as a very racially discriminating nation and McCain’s win will only deter the cause of having some sanity within the relevant folds. Hence there would not be much change if John McCain actually takes the coveted seat, come November 4th, 2008. If Barack Obama seals the spot as the next President of the United States, there will be a huge difference in the way the world sees the racial relations, the race dogma, the attitudes that exist and just about everything which comes under the related settings. This is because Obama is a black himself and he knows that if he becomes the next President of US, he will be the first black to take over such a position – a position that commands respect the world over. The blacks will mark this success as a form of struggle that would see the light of the day and they will celebrate it in an aggressive way. Indeed all other communities except the whites would consider this as a very good omen for the next 4 years in the world’s political scenario. It will affect race and the whole talk related with it if either of the two wins. This is because there is a black Presidential candidate and having him as the President of the US would mean success for the people who have struggled long and hard for their rights the world over. Since this is the first time one such black candidate is vying for this post, McCain’s position is also under the cover. If he gets successful on November 4th, this would mean that the blacks and the minority groups the world over are defeated once again. (Green, 2008) The racial discussion has centered on the premise of personality differences between the two Presidential hopefuls and not on their policies or other significant subjects, which at the end of the day are also equally pivotal in the time and age of today. Thus in the end, the racial discussions will actually come to the fore no

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Issus on Populr Journlism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Issus on Populr Journlism - Essay Example In rÐ µcÐ µnt timÐ µs Ð ° numbÐ µr of issuÐ µs Ð °nd notions hÐ °vÐ µ Ð °ppÐ µÃ °rÐ µd in thÐ µ fiÐ µld of journÐ °lism Ð °s its dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µnt hÐ °vÐ µ broÐ °dÐ µn Ð °nd gÐ °inÐ µd morÐ µ Ð °rÐ µÃ °s to discovÐ µr. OnÐ µ of such issuÐ µs rÐ µfÐ µrs to tÐ °bloidisÐ °tion which is Ð ° tÐ µrm frÐ µquÐ µntly usÐ µd in journÐ °lism Ð µnvironmÐ µnt. JournÐ °lists, mÐ µdiÐ ° critics Ð °nd Ð °cÐ °dÐ µmics Ð °pply this tÐ µrm to chÐ °rÐ °ctÐ µrizÐ µ rÐ µcÐ µnt trÐ µsnds in thÐ µ mÐ °ss mÐ µdiÐ °. Ð ° shift to nÐ µw Ð °nd morÐ µ Ð µntÐ µrtÐ °ining kinds of journÐ °listic contÐ µnt with thÐ µ dominÐ °ncÐ µ of visuÐ °l prioritiÐ µs ovÐ µr thÐ µ vÐ µrbÐ °l tÐ µstifiÐ µs thÐ µ involvÐ µmÐ µnt of tÐ °bloidisÐ °tion. ThÐ µ shift in thÐ µ kind of lÐ °nguÐ °gÐ µ usÐ µd, Ð °nd thÐ µ strÐ µss upon thÐ µ sÐ µnsÐ °tionÐ °l Ð °nd thÐ µ Ð µmotivÐ µ, Ð °nd thÐ µ incrÐ µÃ °sing dominÐ °tion of visuÐ °lly dÐ µtÐ µrminÐ µd discoursÐ µ, undÐ µrminÐ µ thÐ µ plÐ °cÐ µ of rÐ µÃ °son. Ð °t thÐ µir most Ð µxtrÐ µmÐ µ, critics of tÐ °bloidisÐ °tion sÐ µÃ µ it Ð °s onÐ µ mÐ °jor Ð µlÐ µmÐ µnt provoking Ð ° crisis of public lifÐ µ thÐ °t is Ð µroding thÐ µ bÐ °sis of dÐ µmocrÐ °cy. On thÐ µ othÐ µr hÐ °nd, thÐ µrÐ µ Ð °rÐ µ thosÐ µ who Ð °rguÐ µ thÐ °t thÐ µrÐ µ is littlÐ µ or no Ð µvidÐ µncÐ µ for growing tÐ °bloidisÐ °tion, Ð °nd thÐ °t thÐ µ trÐ °ditionÐ °l functions of thÐ µ mÐ °ss mÐ µdiÐ ° continuÐ µ to bÐ µ dischÐ °rgÐ µd Ð °t lÐ µÃ °st Ð °s wÐ µll Ð °s thÐ µy hÐ °vÐ µ bÐ µÃ µn in thÐ µ pÐ °st. OthÐ µrs wÐ µlcomÐ µ thÐ µ sprÐ µÃ °d of tÐ °bloidisÐ °tion, which thÐ µy sÐ µÃ µ Ð °s broÐ °dÐ µning Ð °nd dÐ µmocrÐ °tizing thÐ µ contÐ µnt of thÐ µ mÐ °ss mÐ µdiÐ °. ThÐ µ old wÐ °ys of thÐ µ mÐ µdiÐ ° wÐ µrÐ µ thÐ µ prÐ µsÐ µrvÐ µ of Ð °n Ð µlitÐ µ minority.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

TEXAS ELECTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

TEXAS ELECTIONS - Essay Example For example, in the 2000 Election Williamson County voted 67.79% for Republicans compared to 47.87% National, 59.29% Statewide, and 46.88% Travis County. In the 2004 Election Williamson County voted 64.96% for Republicans compared to 50.73% National, 61.08% Statewide, and 41.99% Travis County. In the 2008 Election Williamson County voted 55.75% for Republicans compared to 45.67% National, 55.45% Statewide, and 34.44% Travis County. This last election showed that more Republicans voted for Obama than McCain when compared to when Bush was a candidate. The Governor Elections had the same trend. In the 2002 Election, Williamson County voted 68.34% for Republicans; whereas statewide 57.80% voted Republican and Travis County had 46.76%. In the 2006 Election, Williamson County voted 42.79% for Republicans; whereas statewide 39.02% voted Republican and Travis County had 26.43%. It must be noted in this election both Republican and Democratic votes suffered due to two independent candidates. The trend between Williamson County and Travis County was Williamson County voted less for Freidman 11.37% to Williamson County 13.49% and a state wide percentage of 12.44%.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Media in Saudi Arabia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Media in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example Basically, every government is made up of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. This is also the case with Saudi Arabia. The executive is made up of the King who is also the prime minister and other two deputy prime ministers together with the cabinet which is appointed by the king and is composed mainly of members of the royal family. The legislature is simply made up of the Consultative Council which is150 member committee which is headed by a chairman chosen by the king himself. All the other members are also selected by the king but in 2003, it was announced that there were plans to hold elections for half of the membership of the committee as a way of enhancing democracy. The judiciary is represented by the Supreme Council of Justice which makes sure that the law is implemented (Metz, 2004: pp48-53). This paper seeks to analyze Saudi Arabia with special emphasis on the media in general. The paper will describe the role of the media, its freedom, its regulation and ma ny other issues surrounding the Saudi media in general. Saudi Arabia has evolved over time from being the most pious and inward-looking underdeveloped desert kingdom to become one of the richest countries in the world thanks to the fast oil resource. Actually, 90% of Saudi exports are petroleum and petroleum products. These exports are made to countries such as South Korea, Singapore, China, US, Taiwan and Japan. The petroleum sector in Saudi Arabia claims a massive 80% of the budget revenue, 45% of GDP (albeit 40% of GDP is taken care by the private sector (Metz, 2004: pp48-53). The country has been under a tight leadership guided by the stringent Sharia law. This law has seen the abuse of human rights as well as abuse of democracy demonstrated by draconian media laws that gag free media. Saudi has once been accused of an authoritarian monarchy well riddled with extremists groups that tries to defy the rule of the monarchs. These extremists have had to organize and execute acts of terrorism as a way of forcing the government to make reforms. The most notable of the terrorist strikes was the 2003 suicide bombings that left more than 30 dead in the capital Riyadh. The suicide bombers were suspected to be linked to the global Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda. The 2003 Riyadh attack has since been named the Saudi's version of September 11. It may be true that the extremists may be calling for a long overdue reform but their approach has missed the point. Nevertheless, the government of Saudi Arabia has had to face the very daunting task of instituting and enacti ng reform as a result of pressure from both extremists and non extremist groups such as the media (Randall, 1998: pp123-128) as well as combating the ever rising problem of violence from extremist groups. The ruling monarchy of Saudi Arabia has been passed down the bloodline of the royal family since the 18th century. Hitherto, it has been the wish of the royal family to emancipate Saudi Arabia from militant violence by ensuring stability. They have planned to do this by clearing all the militant or dissident groups. This plan is evident by the welcome gesture to the US troops that have been stationed in Saudi especially after the 1990 Iraq's attack on Kuwait.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Network Security Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Network Security Questions - Assignment Example Botnets mainly send harmful mails in form of spam campaign messages to the target points of the attackers. The botnet can therefore spread as viruses, Trojans or worms through emails and websites. The objectives of botnet attack are to enable the attackers spy on the victims and gain access to sensitive information such as financial statements. They steal the victims’ credentials and hijack banking information, ultimately leading to stealing of money. Their transactions run concurrently with those of their victims. The attackers can also use botnet to access the system source codes. Botnet attackers can use their victims’ computers and resources for sending malicious spam. These can then spy other victim’s and execute denial of service command against them. The victims spend a lot of money as well as time to recover from the consequences. Worse still, botnet attacks can land victims into legal challenges. It is not easy for the victim to realize from the onset that the sender of the malware is in fact a fellow victim. In that case, the end victim may take sue the supposed attackers. On the other hand, Proxy firewalls are intermediate barriers that accept every traffic instructions moving into a network. It achieves this through impersonation of the actual receiving point of the traffic in the network. From the results of inspection, it grants or denies access and the proxy firewall relays feedback to the destination. After the destination replies, proxy firewall ends the connection. Only one of the two computers remains connected to the global network. ACLS are not capable of reading past packet headers. This gives only basic details concerning the network. In this regard, ACLs packet filtering is not sufficient in itself to eliminate network threats. Proxy firewall demands that every application require a separate proxy at the level of each application. Proxy firewall network suffer

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Banks Deal with Documents and Not with Goods, Services or Performance Essay - 1

Banks Deal with Documents and Not with Goods, Services or Performance to Which the Documents May Relate - Essay Example The limitations of the bank’s role in dealing with documents without exceeding these limits in the light of judiciary’s view will be discussed.4 This is divided into three sections: the principle of independence in the bank’s role in complying with the documents, analysing the doctrine of strict compliance and the position of the bank in interpreting the doctrine and the bank’s duty in relation to the exceptions to the above doctrines. 2. The Principle of Independence 2.1 General overview As Goode highlights, the principle of independence, or the principle of autonomy, is the most essential principle of a document of credit (DC).5 It is not an exaggeration to say that the true benefits of the LC go hand-in-hand with this principle. It is the â€Å"cornerstone of the law relating to a letter of credit†.6 This means that an LC is separate and independent from underlying contracts between the credit’s parties7. In Nareerux Import Co. vs. ... ctual obligations towards the latter.11 Generally, not carrying out some or all of these obligations does not give the buyer the right to ask the bank to withhold payment to the seller as long as the documents presented by the beneficiary are compatible ‘on their face’ with the LC12. This is true unless it does not fall into any of the exceptions13 that will be discussed in Section 3 of this essay. Therefore, the commitments of both the confirming bank and the issuing bank are considered in regards to the documents and not the goods. This has been confirmed in the Sztejn vs. Henry Schroeder Banking Corporation 14 case, where the court stated that: â€Å"It is well-established that a letter of credit is independent of the primary contract of sale between the buyer and the seller. The issuing bank agrees to pay upon presentation of documents, and not the goods. This rule is necessary to preserve the efficiency of the letter of credit as an instrument for the financing of trade.†15 Moreover, Act 4(a) the UCP 600 states that a credit is a separate transaction from any other underlying contract, and banks are not bound to such contracts. Therefore, the role of the bank is to honour, negotiate or fulfil obligations under the credit.16 However, the bank, as a plaintiff or defendant, in the case regarding the LC, does not have the right to plead its relationship with the other bank or with the buyer. This is true even in the case when the buyer does not pay for the LC.17 2.2 Case Laws under the Principle of Independence The sanctity of the LC and its separation from any contractual relations between the credit parties has been emphasized in many case laws18. This makes independency of the bank’s role related to the DC very clear. Thee role of a bank is related to the

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Explain How the Understanding of Peace Is Expressed Through the Sacred Texts in 2 Religious Traditions Essay Example for Free

Explain How the Understanding of Peace Is Expressed Through the Sacred Texts in 2 Religious Traditions Essay By looking into their sacred texts and teachings on peace, we can gain a valuable insight into how these religions explain peace. The teaching of peace is central to Christianity. They use the sacred text of the bible, mostly the New Testament with emphasis on the Gospels as the source for teachings on peace. The New Testament states peace as a virtue and identifies it as a key element of God. Christians use Jesus’ example to illustrate the ideal model for peace in their lives. This model allows for adherents to understand the peace of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit and peace in relationships whereby Christians are expected to work in harmony with others in order to achieve peace As well as this the teaching on war and peace â€Å"love your neighbour as yourself. †(Matthew) and the teaching on peace and justice are both exemplified by Pope John XXIII’s notion that there can only be peace if there is justice. The Christian teaching on peace revolves around the covenant relationship between the adherent and God. This peace is given by Christ and is shown in the sacred texts of the New Testament â€Å"My peace I leave with you,† and is described as â€Å"one of the fruits with the spirit. †(Galatians). Jesus tells his followers that â€Å"in me you may have peace,† (John) suggesting that the concept of spiritual peace is embodied in the teachings of Jesus Christ. The importance of peace is clear in the Beatitudes were Jesus stated â€Å"blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God†. Christians believe that through baptism they have been called to follow Jesus’ as their model in life. By following his example, Christians acquire peace by obeying the commands of Jesus and therefore the principle teachings of Christianity â€Å"You must love your neighbour as you love yourself. † The bible states that Christians can achieve peace through the specific teaching of Jesus to forgive those who have wronged you. â€Å"If he wrongs you†¦you must forgive him. † (Luke). Forgiveness and compassion is at the heart of the Bibles message. Further to this, Christians can achieve peace through their practice of individual and communal prayer. The Christian biblical view on peace is one that demonstrates the idea that they should work for it. Through the beatitudes, Christians are encouraged to be the peacemakers in society. â€Å"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God. † Further to this, Christians believe in the sanctity of life through the covenant of the 10 commandments which state â€Å"Thou shall not kill. † Peace is work of justice and the effect of charity. In the case of conflict, Christians resort to the idea of violence being a last resort and refer to the Just War theory in order to determine whether conflict is applicable. The bible teaches adherents to promote peace on an international level, aiming to work for peace, justice and reconciliation. Islam like Christianity was a religion founded on the virtue of peace. Islam is referred to in the Qur’an as â€Å"the paths of peace† and it is taught that peace must always be actively sought out by Muslims. The Qur’an sees reconciliation as a basic stance and states that Allah abhors the disturbance of peace. Muslims too believe that there can only be peace if there is justice. In Islam, peace takes a variety of forms. It is seen as a quality of personal tranquillity and fulfilment bestowed by Allah to reward submission. This surrender of mental and physical devotion begins with the concept of Dhikr, the remembrance of Allah in all aspects of Muslim life. The Qur’an states that â€Å"In remembrance of God do hearts fins satisfaction. † This concept is embodied by the 5 pillars of Islam. Through the Salat, attention is drawn to Allah, marginalising distraction in order to devote more fully to the divine. Sawm and Zakat illustrate physical sacrifices for Islam which allows the adherent to appreciate Allah’s role as of life. The Hajj focuses on morality by allowing the adherent o come closer to Allah in their individual search of inner peace. Along with this, the study of the sacred texts of Islam, the Qur’an and Hadith equips adherents with necessary theological understanding for a meaningful life of submission which in turn brings peace. This study allows Muslims to understand peace being a reward for following the teachings of Allah and his prophet Mohammad. Peace be upon you because you have persevered. † Another concept of achieving peace is through collective worship. It encourages commitment in the struggle against the greater Jihad. Like Christianity, Islam encourages adherents to strive for peace. Both typify the complex relationship between religion and peace. The standard greeting to another person in Arabic is â€Å"As-Salamu-Alaykum (Peace be with you) † (Qur’an), which encourages Muslims to â€Å"Promote peace among men. † (Sura). There are various organisations in Islam that promote peace. E. g. The Islamic Conference which promotes world peace and safeguards the interest of the Muslim world. The understanding of peace throughout both Christianity and Islam has been influenced by their sacred texts. It is ultimately through the interpretation of these texts that adherents learn the values of peace. They all demonstrate that peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but is also a complex intertwined system of teachings and that there are various avenues to achieving the ideal state of peace.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Orthokinesis In Slaters Relative To Humidity

Orthokinesis In Slaters Relative To Humidity There are many different species slaters and for this experiment I chose to test the Porcellio scaber or more commonly known as the Rough Common Woodlouse. This humidity test links to the slaters ecological niche through examining its preferred habitat which is known to be dark, damp and sheltered areas. The Slaters that I collected for testing, I found under old flat pieces of wood that were on damp soil and leaf litter near the Waikato River. A structural adaption that slaters lack is a waxy cuticle layer that is used in most insects to minimise desiccation therefore they are more likely to dry out. As Slaters lack this adaptation of surviving unfavourable conditions, they use other adaptations to remove themselves from these conditions. For example slaters have an orthokinetic response to humidity and temperature. Orthokinesis is a non directional response of the change in the rate of movement due to a stimulus. This means that the slaters will increase their rate of movement when the humidity or temperature is unfavourable so they move out of that area quicker therefore minimising desiccation. Other adaptations are a negative phototaxis which means that they move out of areas that have higher light intensities so that they can minimise desiccation. Slaters are also found clumping together to avoid water loss. The adaptations of slaters are shown in there ecological niche of dark, cool and damp environments. Though knowing their ecological niche I am going to test how different humiditys affect the rate of orthokinesis in slaters so I can determine their preferred humidity. Aim: The aim for this investigation is to determine whether orthokinesis (speed of movement) in Slaters is affected by increasing or decreasing humidity percentages in their test environment. Hypothesis: I think that the lower the humidity the faster the Slaters will travel as it will want to quickly return to an environment that has a higher humidity percentage. While when a Slater is in a high humidity environment the Slater will slow down or completely stop as it would have found a favourable environment. Therefore I think the Slater will move fastest when humidity is 12.5% (LiCl) and will stop moving when humidity is 93.5% (KNOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™). Null Hypothesis: Different humidity percentages will have not affect on the rate of movement in Slaters. Controlled Variables: Experiment is conducted in the same room and the same place on that room. (Middle desk of the project room) Lights are off in all experiments so change of light intensity cannot cause a difference in the rate of movement. Blinds are shut so no change in light intensity from natural light. Air conditioner kept at 20 °C so change in temperature cannot be the cause for change in rate of movement. Wait 5 minutes for humidity percentage to change to the required humidity that will be created from each chemical so that Slaters have time to become accustomed to their new environment and respond how they naturally would. Use a random selection of Slaters so a random part of the population is being tested and the experiment is relevant to the population. Repeat test of each chemical / Humidity percentage 5 times in each trail and do 3 trials to give a fair test and make sure that the selection of data is large enough to accurately portray the population. Place clear, heavy, plate piece of glass or other heavy clear material on the Petri dish. This holds the experiment in place and stops the humidity from being altered due to incoming or outgoing air into the surrounding environment. Method: Collect all the equipment. 75 Slaters; stored in an ice-cream container with damp soil, bark and raw potato for food. (Collect Slaters 2 days before experiment to allow Slaters to settle into their new environment). The chemicals LiCl, MgCl, Mg(NOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, NaCl and KNOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™ which will be used to alter the humidity in the experiment to determine whether it is a stimulus that will affect orthokinesis. 5 Petri dishes. (Plus spare to balance glass sheet) 5 pieces of gauze or other breathable material. Stop watch. Ball of string. White board marker. Sheet of glass or clear plastic. 25 mL measuring cylinder. Set the air conditioner at 20 °C; close the doors, windows, shut the blinds and turn off the lights (this will insure the environment will be the same in all the experiments except for the humidity and that no other stimulus will affect the validity of the results). By setting the temperature at 20 °C it will cause the chemicals to produce the already proved humidity. LiCl- 12.5% humidity MgCl 33% humidity Mg(NOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ 52.9% humidity NaCl 76% humidity KNOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™ 93.5% humidity And wait 5 minutes to allow the temperature in the room to reach or drop to 20 °C. Starting with LiCl, add 15 mL of LiCl into a Petri dish (by measuring with a 25 mL measuring cylinder) which will create a humidity of 12.5% in the test environment. Place a piece of gauze (or other breathable material) over the Petri dish but be careful that the gauze doesnt touch the chemical (LiCl) as the Slaters cannot touch it as it would result in injury to the Slaters and it would affect their orthokinesis and the results would be invalid. Place a randomly selected Slater from the ice-cream container on the gauze, place the lid on the Petri dish and place the glass or plastic sheet on the top of the Petri dish balancing it on both sides by putting other unused Petri dishes under the glass as well. This will keep pressure on the Petri dish so humidity cannot escape through gaps between the lid and dish. If it were to escape it would make results invalid as humidity wouldnt be accurate. Wait 5 minutes ( timing on the stop watch) to allow the LiCl (the chemical) to reach the already identified humidity percentage by causing a reaction that makes Hà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡O either move into or out of the chemical which alters the water content in the air of the environment. This waiting period also allows the Slater to have time to settle into the new environment and take in the humidity. This stops fear and a still changing humidity from influencing the rate of movement and causing the results to be invalid. After waiting 5 minutes, time another minute on the stopwatch and during this time follow the path of the Slater with a whiteboard pen drawing on the glass. Stop tracing when the minute is up. Take off the glass sheet without smudging the whiteboard pen tracings and remove the Slater from the Petri dish and place it into another ice cream container with soil, bark and food so that the Slater doesnt get mixed up with the Slaters still to be tested. Place the lid back on the Petri dish as quickly as possible. Lay a length of string along the whiteboard marker line from the start to the end. Get as exact as possible and mark on the string where the whiteboard marker starts and ends. Take the marked string and lay it flat on the table and measure between the two marked points to find the distance that the Slater travelled. Record data in a data table. Sub the distance into the formula v=d/t (speed equals distance that the Slater travelled divided by the time taken to travel it). This formula will give you the average speed of the Slater during this test and therefore the orthokinesis of the Slater. Use 60 seconds as your measurement of the time taken because the measurement of distance was taken over 1 minute. Remove the whiteboard marker from the glass sheet with a clean cloth. Repeat steps 2 9 four more times using LiCl, until you have 5 travelling distances of Slaters under the humidity created by LiCl. This data will create unbiased results once the 5 pieces of data is averaged. Repeat steps 2 11 using the different chemicals (MgCl, Mg(NOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡, NaCl, KNOà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™) using a separate Petri dish for each chemical, this will give data of different speeds of Slaters under the different humiditys. This will give you data that will allow you to compare and contrast speeds relative to the humidity. Record all data in a data table. Steps 1 11 are classified as 1 trail. Do at least 3 different trail so that a large proportion of the population is accounted for in the data. Data and Graphs: 12.5% 33% 52.9% 76% 93.5% 1 2.5% Conclusion: The data that I have collected supports my hypothesis that the lower the humidity the faster that the slaters travel, while, when the humidity is high, the slaters will have a slower rate of movement. The scatter graph shows that at 76% and 93.5% humidity slaters travelled significantly slower than at 33% and 52.9% humidity. However at the extreme humiditys of 12.5% and 93.5% humidity I found that my hypothesis was incorrect as the results didnt support my assumption that 93.5% humidity would cause the slaters to stop moving while 12.5% humidity would cause the fastest rate of orthokinesis. The graph shows that 12.5% humidity had a slower rate of movement than 33% humidity and that 93.5% humidity had a faster rate of movement than 76% humidity. The best fit curve show that the rate of movement increases as the humidity moved either side of the preferred humidity. This experiment also proves that humidity has an effect on orthokinesis in slaters and therefore the null hypothesis is in correct. Discussion: I designed and completed this experiment to discover whether or not different humiditys will affect the rate of orthokinesis in Slaters. Through my data I found that humidity does affect orthokinesis in Slaters. When the humidity was at 76% the Slaters moved at their slowest therefore showing that Slaters are at their preferred humidity; they are moving at a slower rate as they dont need to move away quickly as they are already in favourable conditions. At both 33% and 52.9% humidity the Slaters moved significantly faster than they did at the preferred humidity of 76%. This presents the idea of unfavourable conditions as they are travelling faster and therefore wasting energy in order to spend less time in these conditions, and by moving away they are less likely to suffer from desiccation. Slaters are extremely sensitive to desiccation and dont possess many structural adaptations to protect themselves from desiccation. Unlike most insects, Slaters lack a waxy cuticle layer, this layer helps to prevent drying out as it minimises evaporation of water from the exoskeleton. Therefore they rely on their orthokinetic response to remove themselves from areas that cause desiccation by speeding up their rate of activity. This reaction makes it more likely that they will move out of the unfavourable conditions quickly so they spend less time in an area that can cause desiccation and death. At 12.5% humidity Slaters travelled slower than when they were at 33% humidity even though it is a more unfavourable condition. The 12.5% humidity at 20 °C has more drying power that 33% humidity at 20 °C so therefore desiccation will being to occur earlier at 12.5% humidity when compared with 33% humidity. The earlier desiccation means that the Slaters cannot physically travel at increased speeds as the desiccation causes problems with the Slaters respiration. The Slaters transport oxygen using pseudo trachea which are small hollow air tubes which carry the oxygen to the Haemolymph. Moisture is needed in the pseudo trachea to dissolve the oxygen and allow it to diffuse into the Haemolymph. Without the moisture the oxygen cannot dissolve and therefore cannot enter the Slaters body for it to use and without oxygen the Slater will die. The Slaters orthokinetic response at 12.5% humidity is to increase its rate of activity in order to get out of those conditions. This is w hat causes the increase of speed compared to the speed of Slaters at the preferred humidity. However because of the early desiccation, the Slaters activity rate is limited because of restricted respiration therefore the speed of the Slaters at 12.5% is less than the speed of the Slaters at 33%. While at 93.5% humidity although the rate of orthokinesis was similar with that or 76% humidity Slaters still moved slightly faster at 93.5% humidity. This is because 93.5% humidity the conditions are not completely favourable as the humidity is so high that it causes the Slaters to become overloaded with water. This effect can also be seen when Slaters leave their shelters after heavy rain as they need to transpire the water that they have taken on. When a Slater takes on too much water they cannot respire properly as the distance that the oxygen needs to diffuse becomes too long therefore the Slater doesnt receive the necessary oxygen that it needs to function this will result in the drowning and death of the Slater. This is why when at 93.5% the rate of movement of Slaters increase from the speed of Slaters at the preferred humidity of 76% even though it is only a slight increase in the rate of movement as the 93.5% humidity is only slightly more unfavourable than 76% humidity. Evaluation: The results of my tests, which have been place in the scatter graph above show that there is a significant relationship between humidity and the rate of orthokinesis in slaters. As the r ² value is 0.9703 it can be seen that 97% of my datas variation can be contributed to the change in humidity rather than any other variable. This means that my conclusion is valid. During my experiment I had to control many variables so that my results were valid and to prove that the change in the rate of orthokinesis was due to the change in humidity and not due to another variable. For example through my research I found that Slaters are nocturnal animals and that light intensity can also affect their rate of orthokinesis; Because of this, when I did my testing I closed all the blinds and turned off all the lights. By creating this environment I replicated the time period (night) in which Slaters are most active so that I could see significant differences in their rate of movement. By turning off all the lights and closing the blinds I also eliminated another variable that is known to change the rate of movement in Slaters. This meant that my results were valid as I insured that my data wasnt a result of changes in light intensity but was due to the change in humidity. I set the air conditioner at 20 °C during all my experiments as change in temperature is also a variable that can affect the rate of orthokinesis. By having the temperature the same though all my experiment I eliminated it as a changing variable and once again insured that changes in the speed of Slaters was due to change of humidity and not another variable. Another reason that I set the air conditioner to 20 °C is because that the chemicals I used required that temperature in order to react and produce the predetermined humidity. Drying power of humiditys also can change due different temperatures. For example the drying power of 33% humidity at 20 °C can be different to the drying power of 33% humidity at 30 °C which could affect the rate of desiccation in Slaters and therefore affect the data on the rate of movement. So by keeping the same temperature in all experiments I made sure that the data was valid and not a result of different drying powers due to different temperatures. By allowing timing before each testing it meant that the Slaters werent out of their comfort zone and by the time it came to testing the results were based on the Slaters natural response to the change in humidity and not by the fact that they were under stressful conditions. Also by taking a large sample size and repeating the test numerous times through different trials I made sure that the data I collected was an accurate representation of the populations reactions to changes in humidity and how it affects their rate of movement. The large random sample size means that the results were not based on one type of Slaters change in rate of movement; for example the change in rate of movement in old Slaters. Therefore by having a random selection of Slaters I was incorporating all types of Slaters so the data I collect was an accurate response of the populations change in the rate of movement relative to change in humidity. The repeat trials also meant that my results could be conclusi ve and when I came across an outlier that would have disrupted my results I would have be able to successful recognise any significant outliers and retest them to use in my average. Because I controlled these variables, my data and conclusion must be valid as the only stimulus left that could have affected orthokinesis is humidity.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Asian Philosophies of Critical Thinking Essay -- Critical Thinking Essa

Asian Philosophies of Critical Thinking The research question of this extended essay came across at a very early stage in my life. Having been born and developed from a family with all its members being University instructors and professors, I was often involved in arguments related to the lack of critical thinking in Asian cultures. As I got older, having had the chance to emerge in different cultures, I started to develop my own viewpoints and answers. I started to wonder about the truth between the real differences of Asian and Western philosophies of critical thinking. This extended essay, intended to be a research and investigation, bearing the title  ¡Ã‚ §Asian Philosophies of Critical Thinking: divergent or convergent to Western establishments? ¡Ã‚ ¨ is in fact however merely just a summary of my viewpoints and answers which I have developed throughout the years. In the first section of the essay,  ¡Ã‚ §Logical Tradition in India and China ¡Ã‚ ¨ I will attempt to give evidence of critical thinking in two Asian cultures that I have chosen; namely India and China. In India, I will argue that critical thinking is clearly visible in historical texts such as the Caraka and Nyayasutra. This is presented as the well-known five-membered argument, a system of logical deduction, similar to the Aristotelian syllogism found in the west. In China I would focus mainly on the two schools of logical thought, the Mohists and the Logicians. For the Mohists I would argue that critical thinking is a vital element in the building of what they call  ¡Ã‚ §mental models. ¡Ã‚ ¨ For the Logicians, I would study deeply the writings of Hui Shih and Kungsun Lung, I would show that in fact both of them developed systems of logical and paradoxical thinking that could well serve as the foundations of modern science. If critical thinking is clearly presentable in these Asian cultures then why are there still concerns for introducing it to them? This is the question I intend to answer in the latter section  ¡Ã‚ §Needham's Grand Question and Fuller's Interpretation. ¡Ã‚ ¨ During this section, I would also show that discussions of modern science seem to enable us to see how the tradition of critical thinking arose and how they were promoted or discouraged. I would cover how Asian historical, economic, social and cultural factors have a big influence on their development of critical thinking. Lastly I woul... ...nusya: Journal of Humanities, 1 (forthcoming). Hostetler, Karl. 1991. Community and Neutrality in Critical Thought: A Nonobjectivist View on the Conduct and Teaching of Critical Thinking. Educational Theory, 41.1, 1-12. Matilal, Bimal Krishna. 1990. Logic, Language and Reality: Indian Philosophy and Contemporary Issues. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. McGuire, John. 1998. Is Critical Thinking Cultural Thinking?. Unpublished ms. McPeck, John E. 1991. What is Learned in Informal Logic?, Teaching Philosophy, 14.1, 25-34. Needham, Joseph. 1969. The Grand Titration: Science and Society in East and West. London: Allen & Unwin. Paul, Richard. 1993. Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World. Santa Rosa, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking. Ronan, Colin A. 1978. The Shorter Science and Civilization in China: An Abridgement of Needham's Original Text. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Sutton, Robert. 1995. Realism and Other Philosophical Mantras. Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, 14.4, 18 pars., http://www.shss.montclair.edu/inquiry/summ95/sutton.html. Tscherbatsky, F. Th. 1962. Buddhist Logic. New York: Dover.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Relationship between Fiction and Reality Explored in The Things They Ca

Relationship between Fiction and Reality Explored in The Things They Carried      Ã‚  Ã‚   In many respects, Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried concerns the relationship between fiction and the narrator. In this novel, O'Brien himself is the main character--he is a Vietnam veteran recounting his experiences during the war, as well as a writer who is examining the mechanics behind writing stories. These two aspects of the novel are juxtaposed to produce a work of literature that comments not only upon the war, but also upon the actual art of fiction: the means of storytelling, the purposes behind them, and ultimately the relationship between fiction and reality itself.    Through writing about his experiences in Vietnam, O'Brien's character is able to find a medium in which he can sort through his emotions, since "by telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths" (158). He does not look upon his stories as therapy--he recounts his stories since they are a part of his past, and who he is now is the direct result of them:   Forty-three years old, and the war occurred half a life-time ago, and yet the remembering makes it now. And sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. (38)    O'Brien's character makes several comments on storytelling in certain sections of the novel, such as "How to Tell a True War Story." Through making these comments, the narrator is not only justifying the intent of The Things They Carried,but he is also provid... ...ally draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality." --Patricia Waugh, Metafiction: The Theory and Practice   of Self-Conscious Fiction.New York: Methuen, 1984.    Sources Cited and Consulted: Calloway, Catherine. "'How to Tell a True War Story': Metafiction in The Things They Carried." Studies in Contemporary Fiction 36.4 (1995): 249. Expanded Academic ASAP. Jarraway, David R. "'Excremental Assault'" in Tim O'Brien: Trauma and Recovery in Vietnam War Literature.": Modern Fiction Studies 44.3 (1998): p.695-711. Kaplan, Steven. "The Undying Uncertainty of the Narrator in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried." Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 35.1 (1993): 43. Expanded Academic ASAP. O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Life in the Country Verse Life in the City Essay

Even though amenities are more accessible when you live in a big city, it is healthier to live in the country because of the differences in culture and the surroundings. It is healthier and safer to live in the country rather than in the city for a number of reasons, one being that there is less congestion out in the country. With congestion and over population of a city brings gangs and violence. With gangs come drugs, killings, and murders. People become very territorial when a space is over crowed or congested. It was reported that last year in the first week of summer in Battle Creek, Michigan, there was a total of 13 shootings all related to either gangs or drugs. When you live out in the country there are less people living right on top of each other. There isn’t a large amount of crime and acts of violence, because people have their space and they respect others space as well. They don’t feel as though they have to fight to keep what they have because there is plenty to go around. With that being said it is my personal opinion that with more space there is less drama that would build up the kinds of animosity that would make someone want to commit murder. Which is why growing up in the country I can’t remember a time when we had to make certain that our doors and windows were locked, that goes for both our home and our vehicles. Not only is there an increase in crime there is also an increase in pest, rodents, and critters. There are more cases of cockroach infestations in a larger city then there is out in the country that is all because of the congestion. Having to live with cockroaches creates a major health hazard because of the risks posed by cockroach antigens for people who suffer from asthma, also because they carry disease-causing germs. Some of the methods people traditionally use to eliminate them cause additional health hazards. Pesticides are never healthy to breathe in to even ingest. If you put down bate to kill them you risk them tracking it all over your home. If you have pets you have to worry about them consuming it before the cockroaches. Another way people commonly try to treat a cockroach infestation is to bomb their house. There is a reason you can’t be home for this kind of treatment, and why you need to open all the windows in your home at least an hour before you can return. It is very harmful to breathe in. Cockroach antigens are made up of proteins that can be found in the insect’s saliva, feces, eggs, and shredded cuticles. These antigens can cause allergic reactions and asthmatic episodes when they are inhaled because they are airborne. According to health house, â€Å"A large study supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has demonstrated conclusively that the combination of cockroach allergy and exposure to the insects is an important cause of asthma-related illness and hospitalizations among children in U. S. inner-city areas. † There is a major difference in the surroundings that can affect a person’s health from living in a larger city versus living in the country. The food that we consume in a larger city is so full of preservatives and additives. There are more fast food restaurants available for a quick meals. Some of the side effects of eating out and ordering in all of the time include high cholesterol, and clogged arteries. The majority of foods found out in the country are organic, because they are home grown. Living in the country as a child we always had a garden with fresh vegetables. Another difference is the air that we breathe when living in a larger city, because there are so many fast food chains and factories, there is higher pollution in the air. For extremely larger cities like Chongqing, Beijing, and Shanghai they have smog alerts where you have to wear a protective mask to prevent you from breathing in harmful pollutants. When you live in the country you’re not at risk of this because there aren’t as many factories creating these pollutants, so the air is crisp and fresh. The worst thing you have to worry about in the country is when farmers lay down the fertilizer for their crops that is an unpleasant smell. One good thing about living in a larger city as opposed to living out in the country would be that there are hospitals. When you live out in the country there aren’t as many hospitals available to you. Just like with everything else there is so much more open space and less people, which create less reasons and finances to have a hospital, because there are fewer reasons for health risks and that you are less likely to have to rush off to an emergency room, doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be one close by you never know what might happen. A farmer might get his hand caught in a machine while trying to perform routine maintenance. A child could ingest some sort of chemicals such as pesticides. This would have to be the only down fall I can see about life in the country versus living in a large city. However for an extreme emergency there is always an option of having an air lift. You can also still call 911 and have an ambulance out to your place maybe even sometimes faster than if you were living in the city just because there is less traffic. There are always going to be things that challenge our health, wellness, and survival; however, the risks are higher living in the city as opposed to living in the country for two main reasons. First when living in the city there is so much more congestion, overcrowding, and diversity that can bring out the worst in people; in this case, the worst of these brought out are drugs and violence. When you live out in the country you don’t have to worry about these kinds of things as much. The second thing that challenges our health and wellness is what we consume. The air that we breathe to the nourishment we give to our bodies. We are not perfect but the little things that we can change to improve our situation the closer we can come to optimal health and wellness. References americanlungassociation. com battlecreekenquire. com healthhouse. com

Monday, September 16, 2019

My Future as a Criminal Lawyer

In twenty years, the one job I could see myself doing would be as a criminal lawyer. A criminal lawyer (a. k. a. appeals defense attorney/ appeals defense lawyer) is a lawyer that defends the organizations, individuals, and entities that have been charged with a crime. Their duties include basic fact finding, legal analysis, legal motions, memorandums, request bargaining, jury selection, and participating in trials and sentencing.Their salaries average from $50,000 to $105,000 a year, putting them in a high-middle class range. To be a criminal lawyer, you must have a four year undergraduate degree, and a J. D degree which you must attend 3 years of law school to complete, but to get into law school you must complete a law school administration test. I know that to be a criminal lawyer, I must try my hardest in school and put time and patience into my work. I want to be a criminal lawyer because out of all careers, this one best fits my abilities.I am very good at arguing and it keeps me busy, which I like. I'm also good at looking at the pros and cons of situations. The salary will also benifit me greatly. Some of the other plans that I have for my future will be complicated without having a good salary. And if I have children to care for, they would have all needs necessary. So, after thinking of all of this, it's is obvious that being a criminal lawyer is the right choice for me.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Optical Computing Essay

Jainam Shah Kalol Institute Of Technology, Kalol, Gujarat, India. jainam_8888@yahoo.co.in Abstract—Optics has been used in computing for a number of years but the main emphasis has been and continues to be to link portions of computers, for communications, or more intrinsically in devices that have some optical application or component (optical pattern recognition, etc). Optical digital computers are still some years away, however a number of devices that can ultimately lead to real optical computers have already been manufactured, including optical logic gates, optical switches, optical interconnections, and optical memory. The most likely near-term optical computer will really be a hybrid composed of traditional architectural design along with some portions that can perform some functional operations in optical mode. Computing applications as a consequence of faster processing speed, as well as better connectivity and higher bandwidth. II. NEED FOR OPTICAL COMPUTING The pressing need for optical technology stems from the fact that today’s computers are limited by the time response of electronic circuits. A solid transmission medium limits both the speed and volume of signals, as well as building up heat that damages components. One of the theoretical limits on how fast a computer can function is given by Einstein’s principle that signal cannot propagate faster than speed of light. So to make computers faster, their components must be smaller and there by decrease the distance between them. This has resulted in the development of very large scale integration (VLSI) technology, with smaller device dimensions and greater complexity. The smallest dimensions of VLSI nowadays are about 0.08mm. Despite the incredible progress in the development and refinement of the basic technologies over the past decade, there is growing concern that these technologies may not be capable of solving the computing problems of even the current millennium. The speed of computers was achieved by miniaturizing electronic components to a very small micron-size scale, but they are limited not only by the speed of electrons in matter but also by the increasing density of interconnections necessary to link the electronic gates on microchips. The optical computer comes as a solution of miniaturization problem. Optical data processing can perform several operations in parallel much faster and easier than electrons. This parallelism helps in staggering computational power. For example a calculation that takes a conventional electronic computer more than 11 years to complete could be performed by an optical computer in a single hour. Any way we can realize that in an optical computer, electrons are rep laced by photons, the subatomic bits of electromagnetic radiation that make up light. I. INTRODUCTION With the growth of computing technology the need of high performance computers (HPC) has significantly increased. Optics has been used in computing for a number of years but the main emphasis has been and continues to be to link portions of computers, for communications, or more intrinsically in devices that have some optical application or component (optical pattern recognition etc.) Optical computing was a hot research area in 1980’s.But the work tapered off due to materials limitations that prevented opt chips from getting small enough and cheap enough beyond laboratory curiosities. Now, optical computers are back with advances in self-assembled conducting organic polymers that promise super-tiny of all optical chips. Optical computing technology is, in general, developing in two directions. One approach is to build computers that have the same architecture as present day computers but using optics that is Electro optical hybrids. Another approach is to generate a completely new kind of computer, which can perform all functional operations in optical mode. In recent years, a number of devices that can ultimately lead us to real optical computers have already been manufactured. These include optical logic gates, optical switches, optical interconnections and optical memory. Current trends in optical computing emphasize communications, for example the use of free space optical interconnects as a potential solution to remove ‘Bottlenecks’ experienced in electronic architectures. Optical technology is one of the most promising, and may eventually lead to new III. SOME KEY OPTICAL COMPONENTS FOR COMPUTING The major breakthroughs on optical computing have been centered on the development of micro-optic devices for data input. A. VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) VCSEL (pronounced ‘vixel’) is a semiconductor vertical cavity surface emitting laser diode that emits light in a cylindrical beam vertically from the surface of a fabricated wafer, and offers significant advantages when compared to the edge-emitting lasers currently used in the majority of fiber optic communications devices. The principle involved in the operation of a VCSEL is very similar to those of regular lasers. Fig. 2. Optical Interconnection Of Circuit Boards Using Vcsel And Photodiode VCSEL convert the electrical signal to optical signal when the light beams are passed through a pair of lenses and micromirrors. Micromirrors are used to direct the light beams and this light rays is passed through a polymer waveguide which serves as the path for transmitting data instead of copper wires in electronic computers. Then these optical beams are again passed through a pair of lenses and sent to a photodiode. This photodiode convert the optical signal back to the electrical signal. B. SLM (Spatial Light Modulators) SLM play an important role in several technical areas where the control of light on a pixel-by-pixel basis is a key element, such as optical processing and displays. 1) SLM For Display Purposes Fig. 1. Two semiconductor materials sandwiching an active layer There are two special semiconductor materials sandwiching an active layer where all the action takes place. But rather than reflective ends, in a VCSEL there are several layers of partially reflective mirrors above and below the active layer. Layers of semiconductors with differing compositions create these mirrors, and each mirror reflects a narrow range of wavelengths back in to the cavity in order to cause light emission at just one wavelength. For display purposes the desire is to have as many pixels as possible in as small and cheap a device as possible. For such purposes designing silicon chips for use as spatial light modulators has been effective. The basic idea is to have a set of memory cells laid out on a regular grid. These cells are electrically connected to metal mirrors, such that the voltage on the mirror depends on the value stored in the memory cell. A layer of optically active liquid crystal is sandwiched between this array of mirrors and a piece of glass with a conductive coating. The voltage between individual mirrors and the front electrode affects the optical activity of liquid crystal in that neighborhood. Hence by being able to individually program the memory locations one can set up a pattern of optical activity in the liquid crystal layer. C. Smart Pixel Technology Smart pixel technology is a relatively new approach to integrating electronic circuitry and optoelectronic devices in a common framework. The purpose is to leverage the advantages of each individual technology and provide improved performance for specific applications. Here, the electronic circuitry provides complex functionality and programmability while the optoelectronic devices provide high-speed switching and compatibility with existing optical media. Arrays of these smart pixels leverage the parallelism of optics for interconnections as well as computation. A smart pixel device, a light emitting diode under the control of a field effect transistor can now be made entirely out of organic materials on the same substrate for the first time. In general, the benefit of organic over conventional semiconductor electronics is that they should lead to cheaper, lighter, circuitry that can be printed rather than etched. D. WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) Wavelength division multipl exing is a method of sending many different wavelengths down the same optical fiber. Using this technology, modern networks in which individual lasers can transmit at 10 gigabits per second through the same fiber at the same time. which interact with light and modulate its properties. Several of the optical components require efficient-nonlinear materials for their operations. What in fact restrains the widespread use of all optical devices is the in efficiency of currently available nonlinear materials, which require large amount of energy for responding or switching. Organic materials have many features that make them desirable for use in optical devices such as 1) High nonlinearities 2) Flexibility of molecular design 3) Damage resistance to optical radiations Some organic materials belonging to the classes of phthalocyanines and polydiacetylenes are promising for optical thin films and wave guides. These compounds exhibit strong electronic transitions in the visible region and have high chemical and thermal stability up to 400 degree Celsius. Polydiacetylenes are among the most widely investigated class of polymers for nonlinear optical applications. Their subpicosecond time response to laser signals makes them candidates for high-speed optoelectronics and information processing. To make thin polymer film for electro-optic applications, NASA scientists dissolve a monomer (the building block of a polymer) in an organic solvent. This solution is then put into a growth cell with a quartz window, shining a laser through the quartz can cause the polymer to deposit in specific pattern. V. ADVANCES IN PHOTONIC SWITCHES Logic gates are the building blocks of any digital system. An optical logic gate is a switch that controls one light beam by another; it is ON when the device transmits light and it is OFF when it blocks the light. Fig. 3. a. Wave length division multiplexing b. A WDM System WDM can transmit up to 32 wavelengths through a single fiber, but cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the present day communication systems. So nowadays DWDM (Dense wavelength division multiplexing) is used. This can transmit up to 1000 wavelengths through a single fiber. That is by using this we can improve the bandwidth efficiency. IV. ROLE OF NLO IN OPTICAL COMPUTING The role of nonlinear materials in optical computing has become extremely significant. Non-linear materials are those, Fig. 4. Optical AND-logic gate To demonstrate the AND gate in the phthalocyanine film, two focused collinear laser beams are wave guided through a thin film of phthalocyanine. Nanosecond green pulsed Nd:YAG laser was used together with a red continuous wave (cw) He-Ne beam. At the output a narrow band filter was set to block the green beam and allow only the He-Ne beam. Then the transmitted beam was detected on an oscilloscope. It was found that the transmitted He-Ne cw beam was pulsating with a nanosecond duration and in synchronous with the input Nd:YAG nanosecond pulse. This demonstrated the characteristic table of an AND logic gate. A. Optical and Gate In an optical NAND gate the phthalocyanine film is replaced by a hollow fiber filled with polydiacetylene. Nd:YAG green picoseconds laser pulse was sent collinearly with red cw He-Ne laser onto one end of the fiber. At the other end of the fiber a lens was focusing the output on to the narrow slit of a monochromatic with its grating set for the red He-Ne laser. When both He-Ne laser and Nd:YAG laser are present there will be no output at the oscilloscope. If either one or none of the laser beams are present we get the output at the oscilloscope showing NAND function. faster read-out rates. This research is expected to lead to compact, high capacity, rapid-and random-access, and low power and low cost data storage devices necessary for future intelligent spacecraft. The SLMs are used in optical data storage applications. These devices are used to write data into the optical storage medium at high speed. Fig. 6. Optical Disk More conventional approaches to holographic storage use ion doped lithium niobate crystals to store pages of data. For audio recordings ,a 150MBminidisk with a 2.5- in diameter has been developed that uses special compression to shrink a standard CD’s640-MB storage capacity onto the smaller polymer substrate. It is rewritable and uses magnetic field modulation on optical material. The mini disc uses one of the two methods to write information on to an optical disk. With the mini disk a magnetic field placed behind the optical disk is modulated while the intensity of the writing laser is held constant. By switching the polarity of the magnetic field while the laser creates a state of flux in the optical material digital data can be recorded on a single layer. As with all optical storage media a read laser retrieves the data. A. Working The 780nm light emitted from AlGaAs/GaAs laser diodes is collimated by a lens and focused to a diameter of about 1micrometer on the disk. If the re is no pit where the light is incident, it is reflected at the Al mirror of the disk and returns to the lens, the depth of the pit is set at a value such that the difference between the path of the light reflected at a pit and the Fig. 5. Optical NAND-logic gate VI. OPTICAL MEMORY In optical computing two types of memory are discussed. One consists of arrays of one-bit-store elements and other is mass storage, which is implemented by optical disks or by holographic storage systems. This type of memory promises very high capacity and storage density. The primary benefits offered by holographic optical data storage over current storage technologies include significantly higher storage capacities and path of light reflected at a mirror is an integral multiple of halfwavelength consequently, if there is a pit where light is incident, the amount of reflected light decreases tremendously because the reflected lights are almost cancelled by interference. The incident and reflected beams pass through the quarter wave plate and all reflected light is introduced to the photodiode by the beam splitter because of the polarization rotation due to the quarter wave plate. By the photodiode the reflected light, which as a signal whether, a pit is on the disk or not is changed into an electrical signal. VII. APPLICATIONS 1) High speed communications: The rapid growth of internet, expanding at almost 15% per month, demands faster speeds and larger bandwidth than electronic circuits can provide. Terabits speeds are needed to accommodate the growth rate of internet since in optical computers data is transmitted at the speed of light which is of the order of 3.10*8 m/sec hence terabit speeds are attainable. 2) Optical crossbar interconnects are used in asynchronous transfer modes and Shared memory multiprocessor systems. 3) Process satellite data. VIII. MERITS 1) Optical computing is at least 1000 to 100000 times faster than today’s silicon machines. 2) Optical storage will provide an extremely optimized way to store data, with space requirements far lesser than today’s silicon chips. 3) Super fast searches through databases. 4) No short circuits, light beam can cross each other without interfering with each other’s data 5) Light beams can travel in parallel and no limit to number of packets that can travel in the photonic circuits. 6) Optical computer removes the bottleneck in the present day Communication system IX. DRAWBACKS 1) Today’s materials require much high power to work in consumer products, coming up with the right materials may take five years or more. 2) Optical computing using a coherent source is simple to compute and understand, but it has many drawbacks like any imperfections or dust on the optical components will create unwanted interference pattern due to scattering effects. Incoherent processing on the other hand cannot store phase information. X. SOME CURRENT RESEARCH High performance computing has gained momentum in recent years, with efforts to optimize all the resources of electronic computing and researcher brain power in order to increase computing throughput. Optical computing is a topic of current support in many places, with private companies as well as governments in several countries encouraging such research work. A group of researchers from the University of Southern California, jointly with a team from the University of California, los angles, have developed an organic polymer with a switching frequency of 60 GHz. This is three times faster than the current industry standard, lithium niobate crystal based device. Another group at brown university and the IBM, Alma den research center has used ultrafast laser pulses to build ultra fast data storage devices. This group was able to achieve ultra fast switching down to 100 picoseconds. In Japan , NEC has developed a method for interconnecting circuit boards optically using VCSEL arrays .Another researchers at NTT have designed an optical backplane with free-space optical interconnects using tunable beam deflectors and mirrors. The project achieved 1000 interconnections per printed circuit board; with a throughput ranging from 1 to 10 Tb/s. XI. FUTURE TRENDS The Ministry of Information Technology has initiated a photonic development program. Under this program some funded projects are continuing in fiber optic high-speed network systems. Research is going on for developing Fig.7. Use of optical devices in future New laser diodes, photo detectors, and nonlinear material studies for faster switches. Research efforts on an particle thin film or layer studies for display devices are also in progress. At the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, efforts are in progress to generate a white light source from a diode case based fiber amplifier system in order to provide WDM communication channels. XII. CONCLUSION Research in optical computing has opened up new possibilities in several fields related to high performance computing, high-speed communications. To design algorithms that execute applications faster, the specific properties of optics must be considered, such as their ability to exploit massive parallelism, and global interconnections. As optoelectronic and smart pixel devices mature, software development will have a major impact in the future and the ground rules for the computing may have to be rewritten. XIII. REFERENCES [1] [2] See for example: Chemical and Engineering ews, â€Å"Photonic Crystals. Assembled on Chip†, 79(47), 31 (2001). P. Boffi, D. Piccinin, M.C. Ubaldi, (Eds.), Infrared Holography for Optical Communications— echniques,MaterialsandDevices,SpringerTopics in Applied Physics: Vol 86, July 2002. Alain Goulet, Makoto Naruse, and Masatoshi Ishikawa, â€Å"Simple integration technique to realize parallel optical interconnects: implementation of a pluggable two-dimensional optical data link†, Applied Optics 41, 5538 (2002) Tushar Mahapatra, Sanjay Mishra, Oracle Parallel Processing, O’Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol, California, USA, 2000. S. J. van Enk, J. McKeever, H. J. Kimble, and J. Ye, â€Å"Cooling of a single atom in an optical trap inside a resonator,† Phys. Rev. A 64, 013407 (2001). A. 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