Marine Insurance Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marine Insurance Law - Essay Example A very important aspect of Marine Insurance law is the risk of ‘perils of the seas’. In maritime journeys, the risk of perils of the sea is the most probable risk to the ship. It is very natural for a ship owner to contemplate marine insurance so that he can recover any loss caused by destruction of the ship due to perils of the sea. There is a condition that is strictly attached with Marine Insurance which is the seaworthiness of the ship in question. S. 39(4) of Marine Insurance Act, 1906 states that, â€Å"A ship is deemed to be seaworthy when she is reasonably fit in all respects to encounter the ordinary perils of the seas of the adventure insured.† It means that the ship must be able to bear the ordinary risks that are encountered in a voyage and the owner must take necessary steps to make any repairs that are required to make the ship seaworthy. If it turns out that the ship was sunk or destroyed because it was not seaworthy, the owner would not be able to recover anything from the insurer. It is also important that the ship is insured against the risk of perils of the sea. The burden of proof that a ship has sunk due to perils of the sea lays on the plaintiff i.e. the owner. However, the defendants are allowed to prove that the ship has not sunk due to the perils of the sea but it is not obligatory. The Popi M In The Popi M [1985]2 Lloyd’s Rep. 1, Popi M, a conventional cargo ship, sank in calm weather in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Algeria in deep water and it was laden with a cargo of bagged sugar. The plaintiffs sought to claim insurance from the defendants, hull underwriters, claiming that the ship sank due to one of the perils that they had insured against. The burden of proof that the ship sank due to the perils of the sea was on the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs explained that the ship had collided with an unidentified, moving and submerged submarine which was unseen and went undetected. Inquiries were made as t o the seaworthiness of the ship and it was found that the ship was seaworthy. It was held that as the true cause of the sinking of Popi M was in doubt and the plaintiffs had failed to provide a justified explanation that the ship had sunk due to the perils of the sea, the plaintiffs’ claim was rejected. This case reveals that the proof on balance of properties is very important in Marine Insurance Law. It means that the proof which has to be given by the plaintiffs must be probable and convincing so that it can be relied upon. A collision with a submarine would surely have a two-fold effect and there was absolutely no evidence to believe that there was, in fact, a submarine that had collided with the ship. It is also very improbable that the collision occurred accidently because the submarine was undetected because even if it was, the ship itself was very detectable and the operators of the submarine would have seen it surely. In any case, this is not included in the risks of perils of the sea. The proof provided by the plaintiffs was insufficient to fulfill the balance of probabilities and the court declared that it was impossible that it could have happened. The defendants had no obligation to give an alternate explanation. It was enough for them that it was very improbable that the ship sank in a calm weather due to perils of the sea. The Marel Another very important case regarding ‘perils of the sea’

Restoration & Recovery Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Restoration & Recovery Plan - Essay Example Interconnected capabilities of information systems allow system operators instant feedback from an inquiry. Moreover, their interconnectedness provides added resources as they provide links to other databases with critical information. For those with harmful intentions, the interconnectivity of public safety systems represents an opportunity. One vile or deleted piece of information can easily infiltrate and corrupt or lock an entire system’s operations and subsequently infect connected systems. It is believed that government systems may become targets of attack (Wilmot, 2004; Wilson, 2003). Instead of using explosives, terrorists may resort to the destructive effects of data packets. According to Lieutenant General Kenneth A. Minihan, groups harboring hostility towards the United States are currently developing â€Å"offensive information warfare capabilities† (Wilcot, 2004, p. 284) making government computers and information systems targets (Wilson, 2003). As a connected subsidiary of the federal government (SafirRosetti, 2006), the Fort Lauderdale Police Department of Florida FLPD and its information systems are equally susceptible to attacks. The Fort Lauderdale Police Department implements several strategies to combat imminent attacks against information systems; however, its strategies require added forethought and planning. Though the risks of information systems is known among systems operators, protection plans are far and few between. Scarce time is invested into the protecting systems. Wilcot (2004) points out the haphazard security of information systems: â€Å"In most agencies, security is relegated to someone in the information services (IS) department, who usually has many other duties.† (p 291) To ensure the safety of its information systems, FLPD relies on its staff (SafirRosetti, 2006) and the administrative department of the Risk Management Division (BCL). The person in charge of

Urban Regeneration And Social Exclusion In Sheffield Geography Essay

Urban Regeneration And Social Exclusion In Sheffield Geography Essay GEO 151: Assessment I In this essay we will be discussing urban regeneration and social exclusion in Sheffield. The research for this essay was conducted as a series of 2 walks and information comes from observation of these areas. The walk chosen was walk 3 which included Netherthorpe, Kelham Island and the Inner City but the focus of this essay is on one section of the walk Kelham Island. Like many areas in Sheffield, Kelham Island was originally an industrial area, particularly in the manufacture of steel. There are still numerous factories and workshops still standing and their proximity to the River Don suggests the river would have once been used to power the industry in this area. To me, these buildings portray the traditional origins of Sheffield as being a highly industrial city, vast non-descript buildings with many large windows which could accommodate the large space required for heavy industry. From observations made whilst undertaking the walk, it becomes clear that these original buildings can now be divided into different types due to urban regeneration. The first of these is residential. Around Kelham Island many of these former factories have been converted into modern flats and apartments. It is great that the developers are choosing to retain the original look of these buildings whilst totally changing their function as I believe it is important to t ry and retain the historical character of a city. The second main usage of these factory buildings is business- mainly offices, although one of the factories is still used for its original function as a factory, and another has been converted into the â€Å"Kelham Island Museum† which contains many historical artefacts from the area and gives visitors the chance to experience the heritage of Kelham Island. This shows 2 other new land uses in the area business and tourism. The remainder of these factories are currently derelict but in the future may be redeveloped or demolished to be replaced by modern apartments or office blocks. Elsewhere in Kelham Island there are a number of large, highly modern looking apartment and office blocks; this area is known as â€Å"Kelham Riverside† and is described by the   Kelham Island website as â€Å"a stylish mixed use development in a picturesque waterside setting† (http://www.kelhamriverside.com). This area is more aesthetically pleasing and in total contrast to the factories nearby it is strange to see these 2 types of buildings sitting side by side. This is the main site of urban regeneration, but also evokes images of social exclusion. It is clear that this entire area has been totally redeveloped recently; all of the buildings looking less than 10 years old and the focus of employment here has shifted from primary to tertiary. The new apartment blocks which overlook the river are very modern, even futuristic looking incorporating chrome and glass into the design it could be said that these buildings, however, have little ‘character whilst the older factory buildings do. From simple observation, this area looks like a particularly nice area to live, but it becomes apparent that social exclusion comes into play here. Firstly, there are no gardens and very little green space at all and there were no parks or even many benches in this area. Facilities included a small number of pubs and upmarket bars and restaurants, a museum for tourists, and little else other than office blocks. The apartments look expensive and seem to be targeted at affluent young professionals without children as there are no apparent facilities that cater towards the needs of children or the elderly (not â€Å"family orientated†). This idea was backed up during walk by the absence of any youths- the only people to be seen were men and women in suits and a few builders who were working on more developments on the riverside. The presence of the builders did however indicate that further development of this area was underway, which may in the future lead to more facilities for other social groups in order to incorporate them more into this area. The atmosphere in this area was one of peacefulness, although I believed this to be due to the fact that the only people that lived in this area were at work, considering it was in the middle of the day. There was a significant lack of any old or young people- just middle aged people in suits. In the most modern part of Kelham Island it seemed eerily quiet and the environment almost sterile due to the large modern yet plain buildings and lack of any graffiti, litter and advertising. It also gave the impression of being a relatively safe area with the availability of secure underground car parks and high CCTV presence. In my opinion, however, such a high CCTV presence could lead to oppression and fear due to constant surveillance by an unknown authority. Many people are very against this form of security and so is another example of social exclusion against those who do not wish to be recorded constantly. One important thing which was noted during the walk was that on one of the walls of the new buildings in Kelham Island was a large plaque which had the name â€Å"European Regional Development Agency† on it. This agency belongs to the EU and is involved in allocation of the European Regional Development Fund; according to the EU website (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/feder/index_en.htm): â€Å"The ERDF aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. In short, the ERDF finances: direct aid to investments in companies (in particular SMEs) to create sustainable jobs; infrastructures linked notably to research and innovation, telecommunications, environment, energy and transport; financial instruments (capital risk funds, local development funds, etc.) to support regional and local development and to foster cooperation between towns and regions; Technical assistance measures. So, based on this information it seems that the EU thought of South Yorkshire as being less developed as neighbouring regions and have therefore directed a proportion of the ERDF at Kelham Island in order to fulfil the points described above. There were limitations to this study. Firstly, the 2 visits we made were possibly not at the most suitable times, particularly for this area where most of the people living here would have been at work, and any children that do live in the area would have been at school. Another thing was that in this observational walk there was little importance put on personal emotion, or how individuals felt whilst in that particular area. There was also no record of any smells along the walk which is one thing that could possibly be investigated further in any subsequent walks. Word count: 1111 GEO 151: Assessment II Part I For this part of the assessment a series of photos were taken along a route (walk 3) which intended to represent the feel or sense of place in the area regarding social exclusion and regeneration. The 2 photos chosen to be analysed can be seen on the next page (figures 1 and 2). They were both taken at the same time of day (Around 1pm on a Thursday afternoon) and show 2 contrasting areas which are actually only 1-2 minutes walk away from each other, in the area of Sheffield known as Kelham Island. Fig 1 shows one of the more modern looking areas of Kelham Island and demonstrates very obvious urban regeneration as the apartment block buildings on the right hand side of the image are clearly very new. In fact, this whole area looks very clean and tidy, although the lack of people makes the area seem as if it is not inhabited. Behind the apartment buildings and to the left of the image are old factory buildings. It is not clear from the image whether these buildings are currently in use or not but some of the factories in this area have been converted into offices and apartments so it is very likely that being so close to other new developments, urban regeneration would have taken place within these buildings too. I like the fact that these buildings and even a chimney from an old industrial furnace are still standing regardless of the ultra-modern apartments right next to them, it acts to retain the character of the area- being able to market this area to a whole new audience wi thout totally destroying the history ingrained in the factories and workshops which once would have employed the majority of people living here.   The river which runs through the centre of the image would once have been used to power these factories, but has now been developed into a feature and the new pathways and hand railings provide the opportunity to look at the river and brings much character to the area. Social exclusion also comes through in this image, as there is no green space or playing areas for children, no benches or shops very little facilities to support a community. This excludes those who thrive off the community around them which are children and the elderly. Children need other children and spaces to play to fulfil their childhood whilst the elderly require a range of facilities including those which promote sociability with others in the community as they often lead lives of loneliness. This area is not accommodating for either of these types of people. I chose to take a picture of this particular area as I believe it incorporated several elements which were important in portraying Kelham Island the modern apartments, the factories and the river. I also thought this image was an accurate representation of the area during my visit, that being very quiet with few people to be seen.   If a person who was not from Sheffield i believe this image would give them a good idea of what Kelham Island was like, which in my opinion can be described as a cultural mix of historical factories and modern apartments and offices developed to be functional whilst staying true to the heritage of Sheffield. This would be a good image to show to people to give a good idea of what Sheffield looks like a combination of old industry and new development. The second image (Fig 2) shows a totally different scene to that of Fig 1. This is a large industrial looking building which was probably once used as some sort of factory in the past when Sheffields steel industry was booming. Now this building lies empty and disused with windows broken and doors boarded up. Given the fact that this building is disused, the exterior (except the windows) is still in relatively good condition, presumably because these types of buildings were built to be strong and resilient. It is strange in this area how quiet it was considering when this building would have been in use, the sound coming from it and the many other factory buildings in the area would have filled the area. This is a contrasting image as it shows a totally different type of building to Fig 1. Here, it looks as if there has not been any urban regeneration whatsoever as the road is empty apart from one car, the building is disused and the pathways are old and damaged. It does not look lik e a particularly â€Å"run down† area, although it is clear that little if any money has been spent on this site in a long time. If this image were to be shown to a person who was not from Sheffield it would probably serve to confirm the perception that many people have that Sheffield is still a highly industrial city with many ugly buildings. This perception of Sheffield is based on history but is now an outdated view with the amount of money that has and is currently being spent on new development in the area. This image fails to show any of the modern developments which are visible all around the city. GEO 151: EXERCISE 2, PART 2 In the workshop we discussed how the images we took differed from those which we were shown from the pages of tourist guides of Sheffield, local magazines and adverts for places around the city. There were many differences between these images and the photos we took our self, some of them were very obvious (such as the image itself and what it included, what activities were happening and what people were included) and others were more subtle (such as the angles the photos were taken, the time of day, the lighting, etc). We discussed the way that people would perceive these images, particularly if they had never been to Sheffield before and the impression they would get of the city based on these images. The reason why these differences were so apparent was because of the intention of the image and what it was trying to portray. For example, the photos we took ourselves were trying to capture images of social exclusion and urban regeneration so the imagery reflected this. Although they were taken with an aim in mind they were totally natural images as they were not staged, and they were not taken with the intention of implying anything in particular- rather they were accurate representation if the things we saw on our walks which we personally felt reflected urban regeneration and social exclusion. The difference between this and the images we were shown is that most of these had some sort of intention. Those that were on printed materials from organisations such as the Sheffield City Council and Travel South Yorkshire were obviously aimed at attracting tourists to the area.   They were taken by people who are looking to give a good impression of Sheffield and their target audience would be those people who may never have visited Sheffield before and wanted to find out more before they decided to visit. These images focused mainly on either the new, vibrant, modern developments in Sheffield such as the millennium galleries; or the beautiful rugged countryside of Sheffields surrounding areas such as the peak district. The images looked as if they could have been digitally altered to make colours appear more vibrant for example and to give the impression of Sheffield being a clean, modern city which it is in certain areas, but chose not to portray the more deprived areas of Sh effield such as those from the photos we took ourselves. The images on the next page are a sample of those taken from the recommended websites. They show a range of images from around Sheffield and were taken by different people/organisations for different reasons. The 4 large landscapes came from www.creativesheffield.co.uk which is described as â€Å"Creativesheffield is the UKs first ever city development company, charged with delivering Sheffields economic transformation†. The images come from different pages which have individual aims, the headings of which I have written on the images. The first, ‘Live in Sheffield portrays an idyllic, quite countryside area with most of the focus on a family taking a bike ride. The image itself is quite simple and the colours used are earthy and green, again conveying the idea of nature and countryside. There is little going on in the picture, suggesting peace and quiet in the countryside, where families can enjoy a nice day out to escape the hustle and bustle of city living, yet this a rea would not be too far away from Sheffields city centre. This image is aimed at families, such as the one in the image who may be looking to relocate to a city nearby idyllic countryside this image shows that Sheffield can be that place as the peak district is on your doorstep. On the CreativeSheffield page this image is shown at the top of a page where it lists the many benefits of living in Sheffield, and is obviously aimed at people looking to move to Sheffield but maybe wanting some more information. The ‘Develop in Sheffield image is the most obvious image of urban regeneration as it shows a whole landscape of Sheffield showing development. I believe this is an accurate representation of Sheffield as it is currently undergoing a huge amount of regeneration and it is evident that there is a lot of money being spent on the heart of the city redevelopment which is making huge changes to the centre. It shows Sheffield as a sprawling metropolis, but one which is currently b eing given a total makeover, with a vision of the future. The next image, ‘Locate in Sheffield is aimed at businesses looking to locate in Sheffield. It shows an area of Sheffield which looks extremely clean and modern, almost futuristic with the large stainless steel balls dotted around. The large inclusion of glass and steel complements this idea of modernism as they are 2 materials which make a building look sharp and modern. The inclusion of people moving (blurred) in the image is trying to give the impression of Sheffield being a busy commercial centre with people constantly on the go, with a lot going on around Sheffield. All of these images have one thing in common a target audience. Each of them have been taken specifically with a certain audience in mind, rather than randomly as my photos were taken.   Even though the photos which I took had a purpose, which was to portray social exclusion and urban regeneration in different areas around Sheffield, they were taken in a totally natural way and were a reflection of what I saw. I did not intentionally omit anything from the images, however I did intentionally try to incorporate all aspects of what I could see in my surroundings into my images- as a photo is just a snapshot of what I was surrounded by. Also, the images from the website (in most cases) had the intention of marketing Sheffield to a specific market, be that families looking to relocate, or new businesses deciding where to locate their offices. GEO 151 Assessment 3 Part 1 To prepare for the interview i made sure i had all the main questions that i was going to ask the subject ready. I typed these out and left large gaps underneath the questions so that i had enough space to write plenty of notes from the interview. I contacted the subject and arranged a time that was convenient for them, and so that i could get their consent to conduct the interview. I then met up with the subject in my flat so that it would be in a comfortable, quiet environment that was convenient for the subject. I took notes on the interview rather than recording it, which i would probably not do in the future. The conversation flowed well as the questions were well structured and i made a point of using prompts to promote further conversation into a certain topic (for example, â€Å"what do you mean by† or â€Å"can you tell me a bit more about†) However, because i was taking notes the conversation became slightly disjointed as i was having to make notes on intervie w whilst asking questions, so at points i had to pause to catch up on my notes before i could ask the next question. Also, this meant i didnt have a full record of the interview, just brief notes. If i were to do this in the future i would record the interview and make a transcript as this would be more useful for analysis of the data. GEO 151 Assessment 3 Part 2 The data we were provided in the transcribed interviews followed the themes already being analysed throughout this course urban space (and regeneration) and social exclusion; but they also touched on issues of crime and disorder- particularly among the youth and talked extensively about housing and other projects which were being implemented into the community in order to improve the social wellbeing of the people living in these places. In addition to the theme of community, the theme of family was also discussed often in both the interviews and how families help shape a community. The 2 interviewees were from different areas in Scotland one a deprived anonymous area (EDDEP), the other an affluent anonymous area (EDAFF), but looking at similar issues throughout, therefore giving 2 different perspectives. The process of analysis and coding involves carefully reading through material transcribed from an interview and selecting labels to associate with specific parts or whole sections of data. This can apply to single words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs and the codes relate to certain themes or ideas expressed through the text. It may also relate to specific words and phrases. The coding itself involves marking specific part of the text based on these themes or ideas to make it easier to compare and analyse parts of the text that may be relative (for example, sections that discuss similar ideas). This also makes it easier to search the data and find any patterns emerging throughout so that this can be further investigated. To code the interview i was provided, i read through the text twice to make sure I had a complete grasp of the text, and the concepts involved in the interview. After this, i carefully went through the text, picking out common words or themes which i then annotated at the side of the page by hand. Some of these tags were of particular words or simple sentences or references to a theme, but often the tags applied to whole sections of the text and often these tags overlapped. My interpretation of the first interview is that the subject is someone who lives in a deprived area of Edinburgh (EDDEP), talking about their experiences working as a project staff member in this area of Scotland. Throughout the interview, she talks about housing and new developments in the area and the effect this has on social and community problems. In particular the topics included alcoholism and their exclusion from society, however the subject felt that although these alcoholics were excluded from conventional society, they had created their own community and had their own issues and conflicts within this segregated community. Topics also included youth crime and disorder. The subject felt that this crime and disorder among the youth population maybe a result from social exclusion, as EDDEP is a deprived area which offers little to stimulate the youth.   They also mention how family can greatly influence the community in which they live due to the way they deal with youth an d the elderly. The second interview is taken with a councillor for the more affluent area of Edinburgh (EDAFF) and also touched upon housing issues in Edinburgh, with reference to families. In this interview the subject talks more about   the boundaries between the affluent and deprived areas of Edinburgh, and the fear in the community of some of the people living in the deprived areas due to the division between them. Again there is a lot of emphasis on crime and disorder, particularly among the youth of the area, however the problems in this area seem more trivial, as oppose to the serious crime mentioned by the subject in the first interview The strengths of my analysis and interpretation are that I believe that from reading through the interviews several times I managed to get a firm grasp of the issues being covered throughout and was able to find patterns of topics throughout through coding the transcripts. In the future I think I could code the transcripts slightly better as i feel that my labels may be slightly superficial many of them simply describe the topics being discussed in that part, and could be more in depth.   However, i think this form of data is quite valuable as a lot of the topics featured can be explored a lot more in depth than with other methods such as questionnaires. GEO 151 Assessment 3 Part 2 The data we were provided in the transcribed interviews followed the themes already being analysed throughout this course urban space (and regeneration) and social exclusion; but they also touched on issues of crime and disorder- particularly among the youth and talked extensively about housing and other projects which were being implemented into the community in order to improve the social wellbeing of the people living in these places. In addition to the theme of community, the theme of family was also discussed often in both the interviews and how families help shape a community. The 2 interviewees were from different areas in Scotland one a deprived anonymous area (EDDEP), the other an affluent anonymous area (EDAFF), but looking at similar issues throughout, therefore giving 2 different perspectives. The process of analysis and coding involves carefully reading through material transcribed from an interview and selecting labels to associate with specific parts or whole sections of data. This can apply to single words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs and the codes relate to certain themes or ideas expressed through the text. It may also relate to specific words and phrases. The coding itself involves marking specific part of the text based on these themes or ideas to make it easier to compare and analyse parts of the text that may be relative (for example, sections that discuss similar ideas). This also makes it easier to search the data and find any patterns emerging throughout so that this can be further investigated. To code the interview i was provided, i read through the text twice to make sure I had a complete grasp of the text, and the concepts involved in the interview. After this, i carefully went through the text, picking out common words or themes which i then annotated at the side of the page by hand. Some of these tags were of particular words or simple sentences or references to a theme, but often the tags applied to whole sections of the text and often these tags overlapped. My interpretation of the first interview is that the subject is someone who lives in a deprived area of Edinburgh (EDDEP), talking about their experiences working as a project staff member in this area of Scotland. Throughout the interview, she talks about housing and new developments in the area and the effect this has on social and community problems. In particular the topics included alcoholism and their exclusion from society, however the subject felt that although these alcoholics were excluded from conventional society, they had created their own community and had their own issues and conflicts within this segregated community. Topics also included youth crime and disorder. The subject felt that this crime and disorder among the youth population maybe a result from social exclusion, as EDDEP is a deprived area which offers little to stimulate the youth.   They also mention how family can greatly influence the community in which they live due to the way they deal with youth an d the elderly. The second interview is taken with a councillor for the more affluent area of Edinburgh (EDAFF) and also touched upon housing issues in Edinburgh, with reference to families. In this interview the subject talks more about   the boundaries between the affluent and deprived areas of Edinburgh, and the fear in the community of some of the people living in the deprived areas due to the division between them. Again there is a lot of emphasis on crime and disorder, particularly among the youth of the area, however the problems in this area seem more trivial, as oppose to the serious crime mentioned by the subject in the first interview The strengths of my analysis and interpretation are that I believe that from reading through the interviews several times I managed to get a firm grasp of the issues being covered throughout and was able to find patterns of topics throughout through coding the transcripts. In the future I think I could code the transcripts slightly better as i feel that my labels may be slightly superficial many of them simply describe the topics being discussed in that part, and could be more in depth.   However, i think this form of data is quite valuable as a lot of the topics featured can be explored a lot more in depth than with other methods such as questionnaires. GEO 151 Assessment 4 The first section of this module was based on observational methods in qualitative data research. This visual method involved observing the â€Å"real world† the built and natural environment whilst walking a route through Sheffield, specifically taking note of scenes which represent social exclusion and urban regeneration. Although mainly focused on the visual observation of a place, this can also include observation of sounds and smells. The task was to undertake this walk and observe the surroundings, while keeping the themes of social exclusion and urban regeneration in mind, and recording the observations in an appropriate manner. During this walk I mainly focused on the built environment of the area when thinking about urban regeneration, and the people in the area and the facilities available to them for social exclusion. I then had to do a write up of these observations and discuss. I believe this method is an important way to get a good impression of an area, so woul d be an effective way to start a research project about an area. It provides good basic ideas about an area, such as those mentioned. The negatives of this method are that it is not a particularly ‘in-depth method, and much further investigation into an area would be required via other methods. The second section involved visual methods. The task for this section was to photograph scenes of urban regeneration and social exclusion from the walk, so that they could be referred to at a later date and used to compare to other images of Sheffield taken from various sources (magazines, websites, etc). From these photos we could also analyse the impressions that these photos gave of Sheffield, especially to someone who had never visited Sheffield before.  Ã‚   I felt that this method was fairly effective, and a very good way of conveying ideas of urban regeneration more so than urban exclusion to other people through showing them photos that were took. I do feel however that a weakness of this method is that it is highly variable, as the photos represent one snapshot of an area and are not totally representative of a whole area. Also, the images taken would be very different depending on the time of day and even the weather, as poor weather in images can often convey a sense of unwelcoming. In the future I would try to take some panoramic photos which would include far more of the surrounding than by a standard size photograph, and would therefore be more representative of the area. The third method used was â€Å"in depth interviewing†. To prepare for this the task we were asked to carefully read through a transcribed interview and then use coding in order to analyse themes and patterns throughout the text. This gave me an idea about how in depth interviews would slow, and about how I would go about analysing it afterwards. To conduct my own interview, I first had to write a framework for the interview, and contact the subject to make sure I had permission to conduct the interview and to arrange a suitable time and place. Throughout the interview I made sure I used plenty of prompts as well as just questions when I wanted to discuss a poin

The Club :: essays research papers

In The Club, friendship and loyalty are forgotten. The characters in this play sneak around behind each other’s backs, trying to achieve one thing; they are trying to hold onto their position. They want to replace some members of the Club so that they can start a new and better club, without the interference of â€Å"busy-body’s†. Although Laurie shows loyalty to his team, and Ted shows loyalty to the club, Jock and Gerry are continually stabbing Laurie and Ted in the back. Gerry, the career administrator, seems to be on everybody’s side but he is actually the one who makes the bullets for all the other bunnies to fire. Ted, the Club president, means well but can’t help sticking his nose into other people’s business. Geoff is the new recruit and could not care less about the game of football. Laurie is the coach of the team and as they are not doing the best, he finds out that at the end of the play that he is going to be sacked. Danny is the captain and long-time club champion of the team. He too is about to get the axe after years of charitable service. And then there is Jock, who is an interfering ex-president. He is also the holder of the Club’s longest player record.  â€Å"Ted’s going to have to resign soon. He’s got himself into real trouble. I can guarantee that he won’t be around in a month or two.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  [Page 17]  â€Å"We’re not going to renew Laurie’s contract at the end of the year.†  â€Å"We’re going to try and not renew his contract at the end of the year.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  [Page 18] The above quotes show Gerry Cooper, the clever manipulator that he is, in action. First, Gerry talks to Laurie and tells him that Ted will have to resign soon. Laurie is unaware of the fact as to why he will have to resign but he knows that Ted is about to go bankrupt. Gerry leaves Laurie, leaving him thinking that he is safe and that Ted will go. The second quote shows Ted and Gerry talking. Ted tells Gerry that he does not want Laurie’s contract renewed at the end of the year. Gerry agrees with Ted by saying that he will try not to renew it, only after he told Laurie that Ted was going to have to resign. By now, Gerry has convinced Laurie that Ted will be quitting the club.

Communication and Professional Relationships with Children and Young People Essay

1. Know how to interact with and respond to children and young people. 1.1. Describe how to establish respectful, professional relationships with children and young people. The starting point in working effectively with children of all ages is your relationship with them. Children who feel valued and who enjoy being with you will respond better. This means that they are more likely to enjoy playing and learning and are far more likely to behave well. The basis of forming a relationship with children is to consider what their needs may be and to adapt the way in which you work to meet these needs to suit the age or stage of development. You need to make sure that children are always able to turn to someone when they are upset, disappointed or dealing with problems. They need familiar, friendly and supported faces. This means you need to be a good listener. 1.2. Describe with examples how to behave appropriately for a child or young person’s stage of development. It is important that when you are communicating with children you take into account their stage of development. Pupils in foundation stage and KS1 These children are still very young and are still developing their communication skills. When speaking to them, ensure that you get down to their level and not towering over them, as this can be very intimidating for them. You need to give clear instructions and check that they understand fully. This age of children tire quickly and will not maintain concentration for long periods so it is important that they understand. They will also need reminding that is important to listen and take turns when speaking. Pupils in KS2 This is the stage where their communication has progressed. They will be used to more formal conversation and will be less self-centred. Some may still need to be reminded about waiting their turn. Pupils in KS3 They will know and understand different ways in which we can communicate. Teenagers may become more self-conscious about speaking in front of others and may get embarrassed more easily. It is important that they are given more time in groups to build up confidence. 1.3. Describe how to deal with disagreements between children and young people. Disagreements will occur on a regular basis, many at break and lunch times, but also in the classroom. It is important that when dealing with a problem that you find out exactly what happened and hear both sides of the story. They need to know that they have been heard and that their point has been put across. You will need to decide if one of them or both were at fault, if apologies need to be made and if any further action is required, such as talking to another member of staff. 1.4. Describe how own behaviour could: promote effective interactions with children and young people Children always look up to adults and will take lead from adults around them. If we show good behaviour then they will take that in. impact negatively on interactions with children and young people We can’t tell them to do something when we do not do it ourselves! 2. Know how to interact with and respond to adults. 2.1. Describe how to establish respectful, professional relationships with adults. Most teachers accept that all children are unique and different, but sometimes they expect all adults to have the same views as themselves. This is hardly the case, and you need to be ready to respect adults who have a different opinion or have a very different lifestyle. When you are able to do this, everyone benefits. Parents may feel able to talk to you more freely, while you may learn from colleagues who see things from a different perspective. You need to approach and respond politely, be committed to cooperative working. 2.2. Describe the importance of adult relationships as role models for children and young people. Children always benefit when the adults around them are able to collaborate. Parents are more likely to support you and share information if you have developed a strong relationship with them. In the same way, children are more likely to get prompt support from professionals outside the setting if you have built a good working relationship with them. Children are also sensitive to the way in which you work with colleagues. They will notice the atmosphere and model their own behaviour on the way in which you treat each other. 3. Know how to communicate with children, young people and adults. Very young children often aren’t able to express their thoughts and feelings in words, or express them poorly. Because of this, it’s important that adults working with them can listen carefully and help children to learn how to express themselves and also provide what they need. Adapt vocabulary and repeat what you have said when speaking to younger pupils to check on their understanding. Children are ‘social learners’ and learn by copying other people, so any adults working with them should model good communication, both speaking and listening, so that children will learn from them. Children need to know that they are being listened to and heard. This helps them to build up a rapport and trust with adults and promotes better relationships. The more you learn how to listen to children, the better you will be able to assess their abilities and interests and plan for their next steps in learning and development. You will also get to know them well and then you can support their emotional needs by being in tune with them. The better and sooner children learn to communicate, the more easily they will form friendships and their confidence and self-esteem will increase. 3.1. Describe how communication with children and young people differs across different age ranges and stages of development. Younger than 2 years Vocabulary is limited. Communicating mainly through body language and by reading facial expressions. 2–3 years Starting to copy adults, learning more words and gaining confidence. 3–4 years Starting to string words together and may be using questions. For children aged 2-4 years, once they have a few words, adults can help them by showing an interest in what they are saying. Adults can listen to what children say and repeat it. Sometimes they might repeat it so that children can hear the phrase correctly. This helps children learn without knowing it. This is better than telling children that they have said it wrong. Adults can also help a child’s communication by exposing new words to them. 4–8 years Using language to build relationships. Developing reading and writing skills. 8–16 years Developing discussion and negotiation skills. More confident and using more complex language. Adults Can communicate using complex language. Able to use verbal and non-verbal communication. 3.2. Describe the main differences between communicating with adults and communicating with children and young people. When communicating with children, we need to be very clear in what we say. They need to be very clear on what we expect of them, so that they learn to communicate well themselves. We need to try not to use complicated language or give them long lists of instructions, they will only make what we are saying more difficult to take in. 3.3. Identify examples of communication difficulties that may exist. You should adapt the way in which you communicate according to their needs. They may have a speech impediment for example and may struggle with words. Allow them to take their time and do not fill words in for them or guess what they are going to say as this will cause them more distress. Sign language may need to be used for a child with hearing difficulties and extra training may be needed. Different ideas – People may interpret things differently and have a different concept of what everyone should be doing. Poor communication – Not passing on information and failing to agree as a team can cause problems within school. Different personalities – Everyone is different and sometimes, despite the best efforts, certain individuals just cannot get along. Cultural differences – May communicate in a different way. For example, in some cultures eye contact in not encouraged. 3.4 .Describe how to adapt communication to meet different communication needs. How we communicate to one another depends on several things, the age of the person we are speaking to, the context of the conversation and the communication needs of the individual. This applies to both children and adults. We frequently adapt the way we communicate to someone without realising it. If speaking to someone with a hearing impediment, we make sure to speak clearly. Some families may speak another language as their main one and may need a translator. 3.5. Describe how to deal with disagreements between: the practitioner and children and young people Disagreements with children need to be managed carefully and if necessary, seek advice. If a pupil is arguing with you, you should tell them that you are not going to discuss anything with them until you have both taken time out. the practitioner and other adults Any conflicts with other adults need to be resolved as soon as possible and you will need to show sensitivity. The longer a problem goes on for, the harder and more difficult it will be to put right. Sometimes getting another adult to mediate. It is impossible to work effectively if the atmosphere is tensed. 4. Know about the current legislation, policies and procedures for confidentiality and sharing information, including data protection. 4.1. Identify relevant legal requirements and procedures covering confidentiality, data protection and the disclosure of information. Data Protection Act (1998) – Legislation that ensures pupils’ personal information is locked away or password-protected if stored on computers. Every Child Matters – This green paper stresses the Importance of more integrated services and sharing of information between professionals. Confidentiality – Safeguarding all pupil information and ensuring that the people you are sharing information with are authorised to receive it. Disclosing information – When information has to be shared with outside agencies, for example, when neglect or abuse is suspected. 4.2. Describe the importance of reassuring children, young people and adults of the confidentiality of shared information and the limits of this. As a learning support practitioner, you will come into regular contact with confidential information. You may need to reassure parents and other adults that the information that you are authorised to know will be kept confidential. Pupil records that hold their personal information, date of birth, home address and medical details are important for you to have access to in an emergency, but they must remain locked away otherwise. You may need to know other information about the pupil, such as their current assessment level or if they have any special educational needs. This information must remain confidential and can only be shared between authorised staff members. 4.3. Identify the kinds of situations when confidentiality protocols must be breached. If you receive information, for example, if someone confides in you, it is important to remember that there are some situations in which you need to tell others. An example is if you are told of child abuse or another situation in which the child is at risk. At all times though it is important to tell the individual that if they give you information that you cannot keep to yourself, that you will not be able to keep it confidential

Market Structure / Supply & Demand Essay

Monopoly – one person or company dominates provision of a particular product or service, in the absence of competitors. Consumers do not have a choice for provision of the product in question. A monopoly can ‘call the shots’ on their product (price, availability etc.) as there is no alternative on offer to consumers. Monopolists tend to produce a limited number of product which are then sold at a high price (there is no need to compete). (Control of demand) The British Government seeks to restrict the behaviour of monopolies, so preventing unfair business behaviours. Oligopoly – a small number of dominant firms or individuals compete to provide a product or service. Competition is limited and as a result, very closely related. Everything a competitor does directly affects your business. E.g. If one company drops its prices all the other businesses in the oligopoly are affected. Business decisions must always consider competitor’s influence / reaction. An oligopoly may agree to maintain artificially high prices – technically illegal but difficult to prove if nothing is in writing. Duopoly – taken literally a duopoly means 2 firms control a market. In reality is usually means that 2 firms dominate a market by having the biggest share in it. Examples of duopolistic markets include Coca Cola and Pepsi as dominant suppliers of soft drinks. There are many competitors in the field but Coke and Pepsi have such a huge share of the market that they don’t usually see them as competition or influence on their business decisions. Perfect competition – theoretical – as are all the above definitions. Multiple providers offer a wide choice to a broad spectrum of consumers. Consumers benefit from freedom of choice and businesses competing for their  custom through competitive pricing and customer service. Supply and Demand The concept of supply and demand is at the heart of a market economy. Prices, earnings, and the supply of goods is determined by the demand for it by consumers. Demand – In economic terms this is the amount of a product (or service) desired by consumers. Supply – The quantity of a product or service a producer is willing to make available to consumers and the price at which they want to sell that product. Demand Curve – a graph showing the correlation (or demand relationship) between the price of a product or service and how many consumers would desire it at different prices (if all other variables are unchanged). It is an attempt to quantify preference. I.e. how much a consumer is willing to pay for something and at what point the cost outweighs the desire. Companies may use this demand relationship as a pricing guide and to determine how much of a product to manufacture, which in turn indicates the level of resources required. The simplest interpretation which can be drawn is that as prices rise, demand drops and vice versa. As we can see from the graphic above, at point A the highest price (P1) reflects the lowest quantity demanded (Q1). Conversely, at point C the number of units in demand (Q3) is much greater when the price (P3) is considerably lower. The downward slope of the curve reflects a negative relationship between price and quantity demanded. I.e. as one factor rises, the other drops and vice-versa. Variables other than price affecting demand. Demography – the statistical make up of consumers (age range, income bracket, education, political persuasion etc.) all influence the demand for goods and services. Income – a rise in income often correlates with a rise in demand for a good. The exception to this is if a good is considered ‘inferior’ – a rise in income may result in a switch to goods considered to be of higher quality. (e.g. ‘plonk’ to fine wine) Substitutes –  Supply Curve The basic premise from the supplier’s point of view is that the higher the price a good can be sold for – the more a business will be willing to supply. References Bized.co.uk. 2014. Biz/ed – Interactive Supply and Demand 1 | Biz/ed. [online] Available at: http://www.bized.co.uk/learn/economics/markets/mechanism/interactive/part1.htm [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014]. Heakal, R. 2014. Demand Curve. [image online] Available at: http://i.investopedia.com/inv/tutorials/site/economics/economics3.gif [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014]. Heakal, R. 2014. Supply Curve. [image online] Available at: http://i.investopedia.com/inv/tutorials/site/economics/economics4.gif [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014]. —————- BBC News. 2014. Economy tracker: Inflation. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10612209 [Accessed: 7 Apr 2014]. HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs. 2013. Government incentives help 1,100 companies lift off. [press release] 7 November 2013. Staff, I. 2012. Economies Of Scale Definition | Investopedia. [online] Available at: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/economiesofscale.asp [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014]. http://www.etoro.com/blog/etoro-voice/19112013/8-things-investors-watching-google/?dl=30001303&utm_medium=Media&utm_source=46599&utm_content=6579&utm_serial=google3.aspx&utm_campaign=google3.aspx&utm_term=http://paid.outbrain.com/network/redir

Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils Using Gas Chromatography Essays

Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils Using Gas Chromatography Essays Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils Using Gas Chromatography Paper Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils Using Gas Chromatography Paper Isolation and Analysis of Essential Oils using Gas Chromatography Lyndon Justin T. Guzman Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City Date Performed: February 2; February 4, 2011 Date Submitted: February 18, 2011 Abstract The purpose of this experiment is to isolate the essential oil from eucalyptus leaves as a pure compound; moreover, the components of the essential oil, camphor and limonene, will be then separated using gas chromatography technique, identify the components by their retention times, and compute for the concentration and percentage content of each component by their peak areas and peak heights. The volatile oil from eucalyptus leaves was isolated with the use of steam distillation setup, then using a separatory funnel to pipette out the extract from the distillate. A gas chromatography, with nitrogen gas as the carrier gas and a flame ionization detector, was used to separate and characterize the components of the essential oil. The retention times, peak areas, and peak heights were obtained for qualitative and quantitative analysis. A percentage of 0. 05% and 2. 85% were obtained as the content of camphor and limonene in the extracted oil, respectively. It also goes to show that limonene has greater concentration than that of camphor in the essential oil extract. Indeed, steam distillation and gas chromatography techniques are essential methods for extracting essential oils and separating natural compounds from plants. I. Introduction Gas chromatography is used for separations of volatile or reasonably volatile organic liquids and solids. In this method of chromatography, the components are partitioned between a liquid coating on the column (the stationary phase) and an inert gas (the mobile phase). The stationary phase for gas chromatography is usually an organic polymer coated on the inside of a tube, such as long capillary, and the mobile phase is an inert gas, such as hydrogen, helium, or nitrogen. (Druelinger, 2000) Figure 1. Schematic diagram of a gas chromatographic system. cee. vt. edu/ewr/environmental/teach/smprimer/gc/gc. html A small volume (1-10 ? L) of a mixture of volatile substances (usually dissolved in a solvent) is injected by syringe onto a heated column through which an inert carrier gas is flowing. The heat applied, as well as the gas flow, helps the molecules from the sample travel through the column. Smaller, more volatile molecules generally emerge first from the opposite end of the column and are detected. The detector is connected to a recorder/data system, which shows a deflection when a sample passes the detector in proportion to the amount of sample detected. Compounds are eluted through an exit port either in an intact form or as combustion products, depending on the type of detector used. (Druelinger, 2000) The characteristic aromas of plants are due to the volatile oils, or also known as essential oils, which have been used since antiquity as a source of fragrances and flavorings. These oils occur in all living parts of the plant; they are often concentrated in twigs, leaves, flowers, and seeds. Essential oils are generally complex mixtures of hydrocarbons, alcohols, and carbonyl compounds mostly belonging to the broad group of plant products known as terpenes. (Dalrymple and Moore, 1976) One of the many types of samples easily characterized by the technique of gas chromatography is the essential oil. These essential oils are isolated from the plant tissue by steam distillation. Since organic compounds are generally miscible with one another, this phenomenon is usually observed only when one of the liquids is water with one or more immiscible organic liquids; in these cases, the distillation process is called steam distillation (Ault, 1983). The technique of steam distillation is based upon the principle that each component of immiscible liquid mixtures contributes to the total vapor pressure as if the other components were not there (Druelinger et. l. , 2000). As the temperature of such a mixture in an apparatus open to the atmosphere is raised, the vapor pressure of each substance increases until the total vapor pressure equals the pressure of the atmosphere. Since the total vapor pressure is the sum of the individual vapor pressures, the total vapor pressure must become equal to atmospheric pressure at a temperature below the boiling point of either pure substance (Ault, 1983). The mixture thus distills at a temperature below the boiling point of either pure component. This can be explained using a combination of Dalton’s and Raoult’s Law: Patm = XAPÂ °A + XBPÂ °B where Patm is the atmospheric pressure, XA and XB are the mole fractions of compounds A and B, and PÂ °A and PÂ °B are the vapor pressures of pure liquids A and B. Their individual contributions are dependent on their respective mole fractions, and both liquids contribute to the vapor pressure of the system (Institute of Chemistry, UPD, 2010). In this experiment, a major constituent of volatile oils from eucalyptus leaves will be isolated as a pure compound with high purity via steam distillation. These essential oils are camphor and limonene and by using the gas chromatography technique, the different components of the eucalyptus essential oil will be separated. This experiment also aims to manipulate the gas chromatography system and change conditions in order to effectively and efficiently separate the components, and therefore achieve a good resolution. The components will be identified by determination of their retention times relative to those of a homologous series of n-alkanes by co-injection with authentic (standard) samples. II. Methodology Extraction of Essential Oils by Steam Distillation A steam distillation setup was prepared as shown in Figure 2 below (Note 1). The sample (Note 2) was cut into small pieces and an amount enough to fill three-fourths of a 1-L round bottom flask was collected. 400-mL distilled water was weighed and added into the flask. The mixture was steam distilled rapidly until you have about 100 mL of the distillate. Figure 2. Steam distillation setup. pharmainfo. net/reviews/fractional-distillation-binary-solvent-mixture The distillate was placed in a separatory funnel and 2. 0 g NaCl was added. The funnel was left to stand until separation of layers occurred. All the extract was then pipetted out (Note 3). The mixture was dried by adding enough anhydrous sodium sulfate to the mixture until the sodium sulfate swirled freely. If the entire drying agent clumped, another spatula-full anhydrous sodium sulfate was added. The mixture was then swirled. The mixture was dry if there were no visible signs of water and the drying agent flowed freely in the container. The essential oil and aqueous distillate were stored in separate tightly-sealed, properly-labeled containers (vials) in the freezer for future use in the FT-IR analysis experiment or GC experiment or special project (Note 4). Gas Chromatographic Analysis of Essential Oils Solution Preparation 1. Reference Solution. Separate stock solutions of 500 ppm of camphor and limonene in acetone were prepared. 50-300 ppm working standard solutions were also prepared (50, 100, 150, 200, 250 ppm) (Note 5). 2. Essential Oil Extract. 0. 5 mL of the pure extract (from steam distillation) was measured and diluted with acetone in a 10-mL volumetric flask. Instrumentation Gas chromatography was performed using a Shimadzu GC-14B using Equity 1 (30 m x 0. 25 ? m ID, 0. 25 mm film thickness) capillary column with N2 as a carrier gas. The following were the operating conditions: N2 flow rate| 1. 0 mL/min| Column temperature| initial 50Â °C (at 4 mins)| Ramp| 20Â °C/min to 210Â °C| Injector temperature| 200Â °C| Detector temperature| 250Â °C| Before the start of the experiment, the GC must have warmed up. Refer to the GC condensed procedure. Gas Chromatographic Analysis 1. 0 ? L of the standard camphor solution was injected and its chromatogram was generated. The procedure was repeated using limonene standard solution. The recorded retention times and peak areas of these substances were noted. 1. 0 ? L of the test solution (essential oil extract) was injected. Using the retention times determined from the chromatogram with the standard solution, the components of the standard solution was located on the chromatogram obtained with the test solution (Note 6). After all solutions have been injected and data computer-processed, the GC was left to run at the highest column temperature used in the experiment with the N2 gas flowing at a slower rate than the experimental flow rate for 15-20 minutes. The injector temperature was set to room temperature and slowly lowered the column temperature down to room temperature with the N2 gas still flowing in the system. Once everything reached room temperature, the gas flow was left to stand for another 10-15 minutes, after which the GC can be turned off. Notes 1. Boiling chips were added to the steam generator and sample flasks. 2. Each group must use different plant samples. 3. There should be two layers after the addition of NaCl solution. One was mostly water. The other was mostly extracted oil. To find out which is which, a small amount of water was added to the flask, whichever layer dissolved the water drop was the aqueous layer. The layer of essential oil was then carefully pipetted out. . If you have to get more of the organic layer out of the water, you can perform a back-extraction (solvent extraction) experiment. 5. All standard and sample solutions were stored in a well-filled, airtight container, protected from light and a temperature not exceeding 25Â °C. 6. The assay was not valid unless the number of theoretical plates calculated for the peak due to limonene at 110Â °C was at leas t 30000; the resolution between the peaks corresponding to limonene and cineole was at least 1. 5. Waste Disposal All solid wastes were disposed in the trash can. Waste acetone was poured into properly labeled waste container exclusively for acetone. Do not pour waste acetone in the sink! III. Results and Discussion The extraction of the essential oils, camphor and limonene, from the eucalyptus leaves sample was carried out using the steam distillation technique. camphor Figure 3. Structural formulas for camphor and limonene. The boiling point of the oily, aqueous distillate will never exceed the boiling point of water. This is because both water and the oily component each contribute to the total vapor pressure as if the other component was not present. The mixture boils when the combined vapor pressures of water and oil equal the atmospheric pressure. The oil has a small, but significant vapor pressure at 100Â °C, so that the boiling point of the mixture will be just below the boiling point of water. (Druelinger, 2000) The mass of the eucalyptus leaves that were extracted was 112. 98 g. 100 mL of the distillate was produced from the steam distillation. Only a small amount of oil was extracted within the distillate by a separatory funnel. The components of the oil sample were then separated and characterized using the gas chromatography technique with a flame ionization detector. Nitrogen gas served as the carrier gas or the mobile phase that moved the sample throughout the column. The chromatograms, plots of detector response versus time, of the standards and the sample were taken. Retention times were noted for qualitative analysis. Peak areas and peak heights were also recorded for and quantitative analysis of the essential oils. Table 1. Retention times of camphor and limonene standard and sample solutions. Solution| Retention Time (min)| pure standard camphor| 9. 021| pure standard limonene| 7. 908| extracted camphor sample| 9. 347| extracted limonene sample| 7. 89| From the given data above for the retention time, the retention time of the camphor and limonene from the standard solutions, 9. 021 min and 7. 908 min, respectively, were close to the retention time of the camphor and limonene with that of the sample solution, 9. 347 min and 7. 889 min. It was deduced that the camphor and limonene from the sample solution were present compounds in the extrac ted oil from eucalyptus leaves. Below is a table shown for the resulted peak areas and peak heights from the chromatograms of camphor and limonene standard solutions. Table 2. Peak areas and peak heights of camphor and limonene standard solutions. Solution| Peak Area| Peak Height| pure standard camphor| 46848| 17109| 50 ppm| 4427| 1113| 150 ppm| 12904| 4627| 200 ppm| 20417| 6065| 250 ppm| 15683| 5282| pure standard limonene| 56156| 20681| 50 ppm| 4419| 1236| 150 ppm| 15058| 4946| 200 ppm| 20464| 6452| 250 ppm| 20875| 5913| Figure 4. Camphor standard solutions vs. Peak area. Figure 5. Camphor standard solutions vs. Peak height. Table 3. Determination of the concentration of camphor component in the sample. Camphor Sample| Value| Concentration (ppm)| Peak Area| 5820| 67. 8| Peak Height| 1544| 61. 57| From the plotted calibration curve on the peak height and peak area for the camphor component, a regression equation is formulated in each curve with linearities almost equal to 1. From the acquired data on peak area and peak height of the camphor sample, the concentration of the camphor is 67. 98 ppm when the peak area is 5820 and 61. 57 ppm when the peak heigh t is 1544. Figure 6. Limonene standard solutions vs. Peak area. Figure 7. Limonene standard solutions vs. Peak height. Table 4. Determination of the concentration of limonene component in the sample. Limonene Sample| Value| Concentration (ppm)| Peak Area| 306384| 2875. 39| Peak Height| 102881| 2943. 95| From the plotted calibration curve on the peak height and peak area for the limonene component, a regression equation is formulated in each curve with linearities also almost equal to 1. From the obtained data on peak and peak height of the limonene sample, the concentration of the limonene is 2875. 39 ppm when the peak area is 306384 and 2943. 95 ppm when the peak height is 102881. To determine the percentage content of the components of the essential oil, the area normalization method is applied. Determining the areas beneath all of the peaks of a chromatogram enables to assign percentages to each of the components of a sample. Table 5. Determination of the percentage content of camphor and limonene sample. Component| Area| Total Area| % Content| camphor| 5820| 10766407| 0. 05%| limonene| 306384| | 2. 85%| Using the formula for area normalization, the computed percentage contents for camphor and limonene are 0. 05% and 2. 85%, respectively. This suggests that there is a greater amount of limonene in the oil extracted from the eucalyptus leaves than that of camphor. The very low percentage implies that extracting and separating natural organic compounds from essential oils give you a very low yield that’s why you need to have huge amounts of starting material to extract from to get a relatively high percentage of its components. IV. Conclusion In this experiment, the essential oil from eucalyptus leaves was isolated as a pure compound by steam distillation. The components of the eucalyptus essential oil, camphor and limonene, were separated using the gas chromatography technique having a flame ionization detector. The components were also identified through determination of their retention times and were confirmed that camphor and limonene are present, having a retention time of 9. 347 and 7. 889, respectively. Calibration curves on peak areas and peak heights on camphor and limonene were formed. Concentrations of the components were calculated and gave 67. 98 ppm and 61. 57 ppm for camphor, and 2875. 39 ppm and 2943. 95 ppm for limonene. The percentage contents of the components were also determined. The essential oil extracted constituted 0. 5% camphor and 2. 85% limonene. Steam distillation is a useful method for isolating high-boiling liquids, such as oils, from other non-volatile organic compounds, such as waxes, complex fats, proteins, and sugars (Druelinger, 2000). Natural oils can be isolated readily by steam distillation. Individual compounds can be separated from the essential oil by gas chromatography wherein the components of a vaporized sample are separated as a consequence of bei ng partitioned between a mobile gaseous phase and a liquid stationary phase held in a column. Gas chromatography is the most widely used technique for qualitative and quantitative analysis for analysis times are short, very small amounts of sample are required and an ideal tool for the microscale and miniscale organic laboratories. If you want to obtain large percentage of compounds from the extracted essential oil, you need to have huge amounts of eucalyptus leaves and it will take you a long time to steam distill. The standards should be injected under the same set of conditions for if not, this will lead to erroneous comparisons of data. You can manipulate some parameters like type of column, carrier gas flow rate, injector temperature, and column temperature to compare some effects on the quantitative breakdown of the experiment. V. References Skoog, D. A. , West, D. M. , Holler, F. J. and S. R. Crouch. 2004. Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry, 8th edition. Thomson Learning Asia, Singapore. Institiute of Chemistry. Intermediate Chemistry Laboratory II Manual. 2010. University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines. Druelinger, M. L. , B. A. Gaddis and A. M. Schoffstall. 2000. Microscale and Miniscale Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiments. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. , USA. Dalrymple, D. L. and J. A. Moore. 1976. Experimental Methods in Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition. W. B. Saunders Company, USA. Ault, A. 1983. Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry, 4th edition. Allyn and Bacon, Inc. , USA. VI. Appendix Calculations Concentration of camphor component in the sample peak area = 5820 regression equation: y = 103. 48x – 1214. 9 5820 = 103. 48x – 1214. 9 x = 67. 98 ppm peak height = 1544 regression equation: y = 33. 317x – 507. 9 1544 = 33. 317x – 507. 29 x = 61. 57 ppm Concentration of limonene component in the sample peak area = 306384 regression equation: y = 106. 88x – 937. 57 306384 = 106. 88x – 937. 57 x = 2875. 39 ppm peak height = 102881 y = 35. 106x – 469. 43 102881 = 35. 106x – 469. 43 x = 2943. 95 ppm Percentage content of camphor sample %content = (area / total area) x 100 %co ntent = (5820/10766407) x 100 %content = 0. 05% Percentage content of limonene sample %content = (area / total area) x 100 %content = (306384/10766407) x 100 %content = 2. 85% Answers to Questions 1. The gas chromatography technique is used for separations of volatile or reasonably volatile organic liquids and solids. 2. Thermal conductivity detectors (TCD), flame ionization detectors (FID), and electron capture detectors (ECD) are commonly used type of detectors. The thermal conductivity detector, which was one of the earliest detectors for gas chromatography, senses a difference in thermal conductivity of gases eluting from a GC column. The thermal conductivities of helium and hydrogen are roughly 6 to 10 times greater than those of most organic compounds. Thus, even small amounts of organic species cause relatively large decreases in the thermal conductivity of the column effluent, which results in a marked rise in the temperature of the detector. (Skoog et. al. , 2004) Flame ionization detectors, the most widely used and applicable detector for GC, consist of a flame fueled by hydrogen gas. Functional groups, such as carbonyl, alcohol, halogen, and amine, yield fewer ions or none at all in a flame. The detector is insensitive towards non-combustible gases such as H2O, CO2, SO2, and NO2. These properties make the FID a most useful detector for the analysis of most organic samples, including those that are contaminated with water and the oxides of nitrogen and sulfur. (Skoog et. al. , 2004) The electron capture detector has become one of the most widely used detectors for environmental samples because this detector selectively responds to halogen-containing organic compounds, such as pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls. (Skoog et. al. , 2004) 3. An elution with a single solvent or a solvent mixture of constant composition is isocratic. For samples with a broad boiling range, it is often desirable to employ temperature programming, whereby the column temperature is either increased continuously or in steps as the separation proceeds. 4. polydimethyl siloxane – general-purpose nonpolar phase, hydrocarbons, polynuclear aromatics, steroids, PCBs polyethylene glycol – free acids, alcohols, ethers, essential oils, glycols 5% phenyl-polydimethyl siloxane – fatty acid methyl esters, alkaloids, drugs, halogenated compounds 50% cyanopropyl-polydimethyl siloxane – polyunsaturated fatty acids, rosin acids, free acids, alcohols . Table 6. Internal Standard method for GC. % analyte| Peak height analyte| Peak height internal std| Peak height ratio (analyte/internal std)| 0. 05| 18. 8| 50. 0| 0. 38| 0. 10| 48. 1| 64. 1| 0. 75| 0. 15| 63. 4| 55. 1| 1. 15| 0. 20| 63. 2| 42. 7| 1. 48| 0. 25| 93. 6| 53. 8| 1. 74| unknown| 58. 9| 49. 4| 1. 19| Figure 8. Peak Height Ratio vs. Percent Analyte. regression equat ion: y = 6. 9x + 0. 065 slope = 6. 9 y-intercept = 0. 065 concentration of unknown: . 19 = 6. 9x + 0. 065 x = 0. 16304 standard deviation = 0. 007939 Chromatograms Figure 9. 50 ppm standard solution chromatogram. Figure 10. 150 ppm standard solution chromatogram. Figure 11. 200 ppm standard solution chromatogram. Figure 12. 250 ppm standard solution chromatogram. Figure 13. Pure standard camphor solution chromatogram. Figure 14. Pure standard limonene solution chromatogram. Figure 15. Essential oil extract chromatogram.

The Storm †Creative Writing

The Storm – Creative Writing Free Online Research Papers A big storm hit the Caribbean islands today. Although storms, specially big hurricanes, are usual things in these islands, this storm wasn’t foresaw by the weather forecasts from the last few days. So it was a bad surprise for everybody. One of the many people surprised by the storm is John Brown, an English tourist who was surprised by the storm in a telephone box on the Norwich 21523 street. Before the storm began, John was trying to telephone his mother in London. The line was busy and he had to wait. It was a bit windy and it was slowly raining, so he was waiting in the telephone box. Suddenly, the rain got harder and the wind blew stronger. He closed the door and decided to stay there, because the hotel was far from there. For a few minutes, while the storm lasted, he thought he will die. He was very afraid. But the rain stopped as suddenly as it had started and he couldn’t believe that he was still alive. Then he tried to get out of the telephone box and he realized that the door was stuck. He looked around and he didn’t saw anybody. What should he do? He picked the phone and he wanted to call somebody, anybody. Finally, the centralist answered: ‘Yes.’ ‘Hello! Please, can you help me? I’m stuck in this phone box and I can’t get out of here.’ ‘O.K. Calm down! I’m sure that we can do something for you. What happened?’ ‘Well, I was trying to make a long distance call and the rain started†¦ and a tree fell over the phone box†¦ and the door is stuck. Help me! I can’t get out!!’ ‘Don’t worry, I’ll send somebody to help you right away. Just tell me where you are.’ ‘I’m on the Norwich 21523 street. You can’t miss me.’ ‘O.K. Don’t worry, sir, somebody is leaving to you right this moment.’ ‘Please hurry! I’ll be out of air soon!’ ‘Relax, John, we’ll help you. But I have to help other persons, too. I have to hang up now, all right?’ ‘O.K.’ ‘Stay calm. We won’t forget you.’ Research Papers on The Storm - Creative WritingThe Spring and AutumnEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenPETSTEL analysis of IndiaHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite ReligionUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresQuebec and CanadaThe Hockey GameHip-Hop is ArtThe Effects of Illegal Immigration

American Black Bear

American black bear is the smallest but most common bear seed in North America. People tend to think that bears are extremely dangerous, especially for humans. In fact, the bear is a harmless creature and has a very kind attitude. Compared to all other kinds of bears, the American black bear is in the middle of the size. It is smaller than Polar bear but bigger than lazy bear. Asian black bears differ in size depending on their position in the world, gender, the amount of food available, the timing, and their genetics. The ancestors of American black bear and Asian black bear are separated from Sun Bear 4.58 mya. Then American black bear was separated from Asian black bear 4.08 mya. The fossil of the early American black bear was in the port of Kennedy, Pennsylvania, very similar to Asian seeds, but later specimens grew to the size of Grizzlies. From the Holocene to the present, the size of American black bear seems to shrink, but it is controversial for these fossil sample age. Cons istent with phylogenetic contradiction and D statistics, the DFOIL statistics found a gene flow between the ancestors of American black bear / brown bear / polar bear cactus and Asian black bears (FIG. 4, Table 1). Euroria bear overlaps with other bear species geographically and is widely distributed like Asian black bear. It was found in the fossil layer of 2.5 Ma - 1.0 Ma1, 31 in Europe. The broad geographical distribution will explain the almost equally strong gene flow from Asian black bear seen in D statistics to Brown bear (Supplementary Figure 14). Finally, there is a gene flow signal between America and Asian black bear. Gene flow can occur on the US side or Asian side of the Bering Strait, consistent with intra-species mitochondrial capture 2 (Figure 3). Most of weak gene flow signals are shown in Figure 1.

Business plan (entrepreneurship) Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Business plan (entrepreneurship) - Thesis Example GetLaunched! offers the following propositions to its users: 1. Seamless and uncomplicated participation, with most of the technical aspects, such as compliance, ironed out by the company; 2. All-or-nothing scheme where collected money is returned to supporters if the proposal fails to achieve its goal within the given time; 3. No hidden or initial fees as the company implements a flat rate fee only on successful proposals; 4. By special arrangement, the company has access to the proponent’s account for 5 years for the sole of purpose of taking out and delivering the shares of profits of supporters, which are given in proportion to the latter’s investment. 5. Sharing of profits with supporters will be limited to 5 years and structured in such a way as not to unduly burden the proponent because the spirit of crowdfunding is not strict investment but more towards philanthropy. The Opportunity There are more than 2 billion internet users, which can be harnessed to realize the aims and goals of GetLaunched!. According to statistics, internet users number 2,095, 006,005 in 2011 up by about 480.4% from the 360,985,482 users in 2000. Facebook alone has more than 500,000 million users as of 2011 statistics. There is in every person a need for charity because it gives them self-actualization. Fundraising expert and author of â€Å"Grassroots Fundraising† Kim Klein states that every person has an urge to give because it makes them feel powerful and good-like and not merely an onlooker. GetLaunched! will tap into this need and use it to turn somebody’s life around. The gap between economic classes is widening and people on the lower social strata are getting more and more marginalized. The gap between social classes are growing bigger and bigger, and there is a need to try to level the playing field, and crowdfunding is one of the more acceptable means. Business Concept Online crowdfunding is getting popular in social networking sites, but at p resent there are only a handful operating. GetLaunched! is capitalizing on the growing popularity of crowdfunding, not only as a business endeavor, but as a means of helping people from both sides of the spectrum: for proponents to realize their dreams of materializing their business dreams, and; for supporters to channel their inner philanthropic urges. Industry Overview Crowdfunding had its origin in 1997, when American fans raised $60,000, through internet campaign, so that the British Rock band Marillion could do a US tour. French filmmakers Guillaume Colboc and Benjamin Pommeraud used the same strategy in 2004 to fund a film, raising a total of $50,000 within three weeks over the internet. Their counterparts in America Spanner Films raised ?900,000 the same way to finance a documentary film about climate change. Fig. 1 The Crowdfunding Mechanism Today, several crowdfunding societies offer themselves as platforms to raise funds for various ends - to support talent in the arts, t o market original inventions, to initiate charitable events and start small businesses. The present market has still room to grow dramatically because of the millions of internet users, which are ready to invest or donate money for causes that they can emotionally connect to. Figure 1 illustrates how crowdfunding can snowball from a small close circle of family and friends to a number of supporters that can donate and/or investments the right amount needed to launch a project. Target Market GetLaunched! targets two types of users: the proponents, and; the

Micro Regionalism and Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Micro Regionalism and Globalization - Essay Example The various lobbies like South-South cooperation, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC etc. are important economic and political motivated organizations that give impetus to micro regionalism. The new scale of economy and the leverage gained through regional cooperation goes a long way in establishing the global presence of small states while ensuring their unique identity (Breslin & Hook, 2002). Globalization, on the other hand, is primarily motivated by the political ideology and economic interests to exploit opportunities across the wider geographical area. It is backed by technology and migration of people across the globe. It has opened new job opportunities across the globe and facilitated the greater inflow of capital to the poor countries. But it has also brought into sharp focus of the hegemony of the rich and the powerful nations like America who exploit sm all regional states for their vested interests. Hence, one can state that socio-economic forces of micro regionalism are stronger than that of globalization mainly because micro-regional dynamics provide the states with greater leverage to exploit their resources and promote regional development for higher bargaining power, especially with the West. OPEC is the prime example of micro regionalism that has established its global entity with the strong influence on the price and trading of petroleum products.

What is a strategic control system what role does accounting play in a Essay

What is a strategic control system what role does accounting play in a strategic control system are the strategic management accounting in Caterpillar effecti - Essay Example The process can be considered as a fundamental due to the fact that it involves even the strategic management accounting as one of the essential aspects. Basically SMA is one of the specializing areas in strategic control systems due to the fact that it deals primarily on management accounting issues specifically by using data and information related to finances and accounting (SMA Supplementary Notes 2-3). The strategic control management then can be considered essential in the operation of the whole system and in the specific aspects of the operation as well. In relation to management accounting, the said process can be considered to be involved in the study of the different groups involved in the market along with the market’s behaviour, the determination of most effective solutions and implementation of the said strategies (SMA Supplementary Notes 3). The main role of strategic control system in accounting is evident in the dimensions covered by the SMA. Specifically, it is the planning of possible projects and implementations of different plans related to financial issues. Due to the characteristic of being strategic, there are different alternatives and contingencies that are presented to ensure the success of the operation. It is important to consider though that management accounting is not the sole field wherein strategic control system is involve. Although majority of the companies concentrate on the strategies to improve and achieve profits for the company, the coverage of the system is extensive due to the involvement in different aspects and departments of the company or organization. Based on the study by Ittner & Larcker, the main processes included in the strategic control system are the strategic implementation process, the internal and the external monitoring (3). The said processes are applied

Understand the individual elements of the extended marketing mix Assignment - 2

Understand the individual elements of the extended marketing mix - Assignment Example th the analysis of the growth of a firms market share about markets collection, products, and enterprises as well as a conclusion making on the basis of resource allocation. McDonalds have increased its market share over the years through innovations. Of recent development include innovation is the introduction of both a vegetarian and a vegan menu in its list of products especially in continents where majority of the population are against certain animal proteins. The product mix in the McDonalds follows BCG marketing matrix and hence enables it stay on course of profitability and sustainability. By using the BCG matrix, it has been able to monitor its products portfolios in terms of product growth, depth and size. Using the BCG model the McDonalds have considered increased promotional campaigns in countries where they are not well known yet. As such, McDonalds have shown high tendencies to allocate much more resources in product marketing and brand building. Product promotion as a marketing mix is widely used by McDonalds. It widely uses television, radio and billboards in their product and service promotion. The organization has carefully used certain slogans that captures and leaves a mark on the consumers minds. Some of these slogans include, "we love to see you smile; Food, Folks, and Fun; Its a good time for the Great Taste of McDonalds; I love it." These promotional strategies have resulted in customers becoming accustomed to going to McDonalds restaurants for there is an assured derivation of utility from their money (Bahaudin, 2007). What might be considered as a "star" or a "cash cow" is carefully examined and evaluated to determine its right position within the BCG matrix in the UAE. To maintain a competitive edge beyond fellow competitors, they keep on innovating and introducing new products to the market that make them relevant to the needs of the customers all the time. This makes them move large volumes of products of high quality that targets all

BUS COM WK3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BUS COM WK3 - Essay Example In the article the authors conducted a specific type of study in which they tracked for about 60 families and their hundred above children. They inquired about the effects the divorce had produced on them. They found out that the boys of the divorced families do not have any goal; they do not want to grow in life, while the girls of the divorced families do not trust other men in their lives. They suffer from the special type of fear in which they fear from bounding themselves in a family with a man. This fear is known as the Sleepers affect. In short with the data the authors tried to prove the negative effects of the divorce on the children. The declared that the divorce is traumatizing and it produces severe effects on the lives of the affected families. I totally disagree with both the authors and their statistics. It is just that they wanted to show the negative side of the issue. The data was not neutrally collected. Only the negative theme was extracted. The authors presented a graph in their study in which they tried to show that most of children suffer emotional and behavioral problems after the marriage of their parents. According to the data presented it shows that about 25% of children of such families suffer from mental disorders. They did not show in the graph the prior state of the children of such families. It must be possible that the children were in great stress due to the constant family conflicts of marriage and after divorced their mental state was improved due to living alone or with the single parent. The authors also showed by statistics that approx 66% of the women from the age of 9 to 23 suffered from the sleeper effect. They were too afraid to bind themselves in any relation. Also the memories of the divorce of their parents never helped them to make a stable relation. The greater flaw in the study is that these women might be afraid of the poor marriages not the divorces. They

What is a strategic control system what role does accounting play in a Essay

What is a strategic control system what role does accounting play in a strategic control system are the strategic management accounting in Caterpillar effecti - Essay Example The process can be considered as a fundamental due to the fact that it involves even the strategic management accounting as one of the essential aspects. Basically SMA is one of the specializing areas in strategic control systems due to the fact that it deals primarily on management accounting issues specifically by using data and information related to finances and accounting (SMA Supplementary Notes 2-3). The strategic control management then can be considered essential in the operation of the whole system and in the specific aspects of the operation as well. In relation to management accounting, the said process can be considered to be involved in the study of the different groups involved in the market along with the market’s behaviour, the determination of most effective solutions and implementation of the said strategies (SMA Supplementary Notes 3). The main role of strategic control system in accounting is evident in the dimensions covered by the SMA. Specifically, it is the planning of possible projects and implementations of different plans related to financial issues. Due to the characteristic of being strategic, there are different alternatives and contingencies that are presented to ensure the success of the operation. It is important to consider though that management accounting is not the sole field wherein strategic control system is involve. Although majority of the companies concentrate on the strategies to improve and achieve profits for the company, the coverage of the system is extensive due to the involvement in different aspects and departments of the company or organization. Based on the study by Ittner & Larcker, the main processes included in the strategic control system are the strategic implementation process, the internal and the external monitoring (3). The said processes are applied

BUS COM WK3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BUS COM WK3 - Essay Example In the article the authors conducted a specific type of study in which they tracked for about 60 families and their hundred above children. They inquired about the effects the divorce had produced on them. They found out that the boys of the divorced families do not have any goal; they do not want to grow in life, while the girls of the divorced families do not trust other men in their lives. They suffer from the special type of fear in which they fear from bounding themselves in a family with a man. This fear is known as the Sleepers affect. In short with the data the authors tried to prove the negative effects of the divorce on the children. The declared that the divorce is traumatizing and it produces severe effects on the lives of the affected families. I totally disagree with both the authors and their statistics. It is just that they wanted to show the negative side of the issue. The data was not neutrally collected. Only the negative theme was extracted. The authors presented a graph in their study in which they tried to show that most of children suffer emotional and behavioral problems after the marriage of their parents. According to the data presented it shows that about 25% of children of such families suffer from mental disorders. They did not show in the graph the prior state of the children of such families. It must be possible that the children were in great stress due to the constant family conflicts of marriage and after divorced their mental state was improved due to living alone or with the single parent. The authors also showed by statistics that approx 66% of the women from the age of 9 to 23 suffered from the sleeper effect. They were too afraid to bind themselves in any relation. Also the memories of the divorce of their parents never helped them to make a stable relation. The greater flaw in the study is that these women might be afraid of the poor marriages not the divorces. They

Cote d’Ivoire Essay Example for Free

Cote d’Ivoire Essay Cote d’Ivoire was one of the most stable societies for decades, until a crisis hit them in 1986 which caused the collapse of cocoa prices worldwide. This country is the biggest producer of cocoa in the world, so they were affected pretty badly. The cocoa plantations started in the 1920s in the southeast part of the country, expanding to the center west and then to the southwest by the 1970s. Every year the state would fix the prices of cocoa and the differences in price between world and country would be taken by the government there. They would, however, use it on the country for better living. The income from cocoa is mainly what inspires industrial growth, along with the development of infrastructure. The capital was Abidjan (capital of the former French colony) until it was moved to Yamoussoukro after the crisis occurred in an attempt to balance the country out; which so happens to be the birthplace of the current president. Despite the capital moving, most of the wealth remained in Abidjan. After the crisis jobs became so scarce, especially in places such as Yamoussoukro that people would move back to the rural areas in an attempt to find jobs. With a surprise, they found there was little land left and a lot of foreigners; creating tension. With all that tension, land and crops turned into a sort of politics; over who was Ivorian and who wasn’t. Now, as this country struggles with higher populations and few jobs, will they overcome it? Gabon Gabon is one of the richest nations of Africa south of the Sahara. They rely on crop harvesting and natural resources such as oil, although a non-renewable source. Gabon happens to be the 13th largest exporter of oil. When Gabon first gained independence, lumber was 75% of their exports. Today, it is 6% of their exports because of the importance of oil. Their main way of making funds is through oil, which is 50% of their exports. While it brings in a lot of money for the country, it causes citizens to struggle since it is harder for them to sell their goods such as crops. If they continue to rely on non-renewable sources, when it runs out their country will suffer. The president, however, is working on trying to rely less and less on oil. They plan on exporting more lumber and crops. Part of the issue, is that Gabon only imports 50% of their required foods and the citizens suffer for that. With all the sudden logging in forests they are endangering the species living within it. So after hard work of group members from the National Geographic Society, the president announced that there would be a National Park system covering 10% of the forests. Wealth in Gabon is fairly unbalanced; there are those who make plenty of money while there are those that make enough to make it by. Majority of the population resides on the coasts in two cities, Port-Gentil and Libreville. Between those two cities there is no means of transportation other than by air or by water. It is difficult to go between the two cities. One-third of the population resides in the capital city, Libreville, nicknamed â€Å"The City of Bees† because of the fact they are all piled atop one another. As this country works, to relieve its issue of vulnerability and lessen the dependence of oil, they work together to provide for one another; both animal and people alike. Laos Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite their efforts to raise way of living. The Mekong River is 11,000 miles long through and along Laos, serving as a barrier between Laos and its neighboring countries. That is, until â€Å"The Friendship Bridge† was constructed, connecting Thailand and Laos together. Laos is the least developed country amongst its area, and life expectancy there is low; fifty three years roughly. Many of the children are malnourished, about 43% of them. Children have also been dying, falling prone to Malaria and other diseases, diarrhea, or infections due to lack of clean facilities and medicines. That and much of the population reside in the rural areas of Laos. Laos is using hydro-electric power to connect them to the rest of the world. They produce an excessive amount of electricity, more than they can use. So they sell all that excess electricity to Thailand for good profit. They make only can use 20% of the electricity they make. Laos has over 60 dam sites that can eventually be developed into a hydro-electric power plant. It is a hope that they can use this to improve the country and to help its people. However, they cannot afford to pay for construction of the dams and generators required. Another problem is the effect it would have on the people living near the river. Will the dam make enough money that causing problems for the villagers below will be worth it? Another thing is the fact that only 8% of the rural population is connected to the electric grid. Roads connecting to China and Thailand are in progress, for more networking between the countries. One issue that worries citizens of Laos is the major problem of AIDS/HIV in Thailand. While â€Å"The Friendship Bridge† is definitely something they have always needed, they do not want their country suffering even more than it already is because of it. The president of Laos wants his country to grow, but at a rate that is suitable for everyone so they can all adapt. He believes that a country growing too fast is a bad thing; that humans shouldn’t grow so fast. So as they work toward building dams for their hydro-electric plants for profit, they will have to decide which dams will be good in the long run, for everyone.