Report on UK Bank Essay

Background   The globalisation of business has led to changes of great significance in the business world. The emergence of China and India as centres of manufacturing and services, with equal skills and fractional costs, have led to significant global migration work and far-reaching realignment in the British basket of financial services. In this globalised scenario, the British financial services industry has over time evolved, among other things, into a supplier of high end services in areas of finance, banking and allied information technology. British banks like UKB (assumed name) have been active outside the UK for many decades, especially in former British ruled territories like India and have built up significant expertise in Asian markets. Apart from China, India and the countries of East Asia, the GCC (Gulf Coordination Council) countries have lately emerged as very significant growth areas for banking and financial services. UKB has also opened an office and started banking and financial services operations in Kuwait, pursuant to the changes in Kuwaiti law, in 2004, allowing foreign banks to operate in the country. The bank has ambitious plans for its operations in the Gulf and has accordingly stationed a large team of ten British employees at Muscat to direct UKB’s international business in the GCC states. The bank places great importance on its international plans and has committed significant financial and personnel resources to its plans for business expansion in the GCC countries and is extremely serious in its ambition to become a significant player among the banks and financial institutions providing financial services in Kuwait. The management is confident in its belief that it possesses both domain skills of a very high order and the financial strength required to make a strong success of its operations in Kuwait and thus open the way for further expansion in the GCC countries. The management of UKB has, of late, reasons to believe that the British team at Muscat has operational, managerial and personal issues that need to be resolved to improve job satisfaction and productivity. The relevant issues mainly relate to divides in culture, working methods, value systems and managerial beliefs between the British expatriates and the local Kuwaitis, with whom there is constant contact, as co-employees, customers, suppliers and regulators. Objective The management believes that the situation is serious enough to merit intervention and has asked the author to prepare a report for the attention of all the expatriate employees based in Kuwait. The author has extensive experience of the operations of the GCC countries, both in the capacity of line manager and as consultant to companies operating in the region. This report has been prepared for the use of the bank’s expatriate staff working in Kuwait and will be useful to employees working in other overseas locations as well. The author has tried to provide reasons for UKB’s choice of Kuwait as a business destination, the various issues that are likely to come to the fore when British banking experts have to operate outside the UK for long periods of time, the various managerial, operational, personal and cultural challenges that employees have to face in the course of their everyday life and the best way to deal with them. The author wishes to point out that the text provided in this report is in the nature of general information and the suggestions recommended need to be studied and modified for personal use. The use of â€Å"one size fits all† is patently incorrect, if not downright ludicrous in such situations and the staffs are requested to make the best possible use of the suggestions and recommendations. General Economy of Kuwait Kuwait is a small country situated in the Middle East and a member of the GCC. It holds 8 % of the worlds’ known oil reserves and with the recent explosion in the price of petroleum products has seen significant increases in dollar inflows coming into the country. The country has had a troubled past. It was invaded by Iraq in 1990 under Saddam Hussein and subsequently freed by US intervention. With the removal of Saddam Hussein, the region has now entered a period of stability and oil revenues riding on high prices are driving the country into an economic boom. Travel and tourism is increasing rapidly. Kuwait is in the midst of a sea change, sparked by two recent developments. The unprecedented rise in the price of oil over the last two years has dramatically increased the wealth of the country. Revenues from petroleum sales now priced at more than seventy dollars a barrel were three times projections in 2005. These revenues have brought unplanned riches to this oil-wealthy GCC country. As holder of 8 % of the worlds’ known oil reserves and with annual surpluses in the region of US $ 23 bn, [1] Kuwait is awash with funds and learning to digest this windfall; a flood of dollar inflows which do not show signs of abatement. The death of the Amir Sheikh Jaber and the transition of authority to the new Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, have set the stage for huge economic developments, which are mainly concerned with further development of the emirate’s oil reserves. Revenues from oil make up 50 % of Kuwait’s GDP. The new Amir is in the process of making significant changes in both the oil and non-oil sectors and with erstwhile neighbour, Saddam Hussein out of the picture there is greater confidence to invest. Banking and Financial Services in Kuwait The country, till recently, allowed foreign companies to own up to 49 % of local banks. In 2004, this restriction was removed and full foreign ownership is now allowed, allowing foreign banks like BNP Paribas and UKB to start operations in the country. The major opportunity in the region lies in extending brokerage and financial services to the local population and UKB is trying to actively enter and consolidate its’ presence in these sectors. â€Å"Over the medium term, Kuwait’s financial position is projected to remain strong. The large external current account and fiscal surpluses are expected to lead to a build-up of a large stock of financial assets for future generations.† [2]The country’s sound group of commercial banks, led by the premier Arab bank, National Bank of Kuwait, is well managed and profitable. Kuwaiti Banks have shown remarkable performances. Led by the Bank of Kuwait, the Middle East (BKME) and Kuwait Finance House (with approximately 60 % increases in pre-tax profits), the consolidated assets of the 14 Kuwaiti banks touched record heights in 2005. Banking, financial markets and financial services are preparing a platform for the forecasted boom years. Many international and local banks and financial services companies are vying with each other to improve service and make Kuwait a significant GCC financial center. These plans face two main challenges. Firstly, the stock markets have, after a period of sharp growth, entered a phase of correction, earlier this year with stock values plummeting across the region, eroding shareholder wealth and burning investors. This stock market correction (a drop of a record 14% in March) and larger market declines elsewhere in the Gulf, , have given bankers cause for concern. Rating agency Moody’s has recently cautioned about an asset bubble in the region and that banks may not know the full extent of the possible problem until loans can be assessed at the end of this year. Banking companies operating in Kuwait’s fledgling banking, brokerages and financial services sector have to wrestle with this downturn in investor confidence and face stiff competition from the other financial centers in the GCC countries. The vision of the current Amir’s new regional financial centre needs strategic design, focus, commitment and implementation to succeed. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar all have financial centers competing for supremacy in the Gulf sweepstakes. In this context, with the viability of five regional financial centers yet to be established the financial institutions in Kuwait need to play a very significant role if the country is to become a strong financial hub. The financial and brokerage institutions have to design their strategy in this context and plan their work considering the challenges provided by the availability of substantial local wealth, strategic geographical location, intense regional competition and a slow moving bureaucracy. All companies operating in the field of share and securities brokerage and financial services have to take account of these two developments, which have the potential to act as force multipliers and propel Kuwait’s development manifold. A dynamic leadership wishing to achieve ambitious objectives and armed with adequate resources can achieve far-reaching changes that may be out of the ordinary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To summarize, Kuwait’s banking, brokerage and financial services must find their way to service their customers, optimize performance and create a strategic design with a horizon of at least ten years in a market with many challenges and yet tremendous opportunity. The circumstances under which they need to operate, thrive and grow are as under. Their immediate environment is immensely rich, witness to strong cash inflows and has strong potential for brokerages and companies offering financial services The region is now comparatively stable after the removal of Saddam Hussein and the government is planning significant and far reaching investments in oil development and infrastructure The country is witnessing sharp growth in travel. Investments in top end luxury hotels are increasing with the entry of large international chains. This increase in travel has led to the formation of new regional airlines and additional flights from the big airlines. The region has very active stock markets that are currently in a corrective phase after sustained and dizzy growth. The dip in stock prices has made shares more attractive and increase in buying activity is forecasted The official Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), restructured in 1983 after the collapse of the unofficial stock market in 1982, has become, despite the Iraqi invasion in 1990, the most sophisticated market in the region. The GCC region has five financial services centers, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bahrain, Doha and Kuwait. The other four centers already have a head start over Kuwait and experts doubt whether the region can support five strong centers. The KSE, which is the second largest Stock Exchange in the GCC countries and has a sophisticated and fully automated computerized system is urging its members to provide self-service technologies to its’ clients. It has published APIs and guidelines on the mode of integrating online trading with its’ gateway. A number of international financial institutions and banks are re-entering the region with more skills and expertise as well as deeper pockets. These banks will bring strong competition and international state of art practices to the market places. Though operating under restrictions they will forge alliances with local businesses and strive to increase their service portfolio and business in the region. â€Å"According to the bank’s Kuwait chief executive Nick Nicolaou, HSBC has already built up a staff of 42 and is developing a comprehensive training programme. â€Å"We think we can add value. With our regional and global footprint, we can do a lot that local banks cannot do.† [3] HSBC is likely to emphasise its sub-custodian capabilities for foreign investors among other services.† It is evident that these are momentous times for the banking, financial services, wealth management and brokerage companies in Kuwait. Their choice of strategy during this particular sunrise period will determine largely their survival, prosperity and growth in the coming decade. A number of these companies have also started offering self-service technologies to their clients. This is seen as a big step forward in their client offering. KMEFIC and KAMCO are two brokerage companies who have been frontrunners in adopting this technology. KMEFIC’s services have proved to be notably successful and they are now able to provide services, which cover most of the GCC countries and the US market. The Role of UKB managers The analysis of political and economic analysis provided in the previous two sections indicates the enormous business opportunities present for companies operating in the banking sector. UKB is one of the few foreign banks operating in Kuwait and has substantial early mover advantage. The free space available and lack of strong competition will not last for very long and UKB officials need to exploit the business advantage fully. Banks and financial institutions are also rapidly introducing Self Service Technologies for brokerage and internet banking activities. UKB managers must also thus work towards leveraging their superior banking and technological skills and ensure that their technology on offer is the best possible. Any introduction of modern technology is going to be more stressful in Kuwait than what managers from the UK would have experienced before and managers would do well to remember that technology that does not live up to its promises causes intense customer dissatisfaction. Implementation of technology will need to be done with care, especially with respect to maintenance, back up and support services.   Kuwait and the other GCC countries have business environments that are radically different from the UK, the USA and countries of West Europe. The differences in history, culture, traditions and mores as well as the predominance of religion in everyday life contribute towards creating an environment that appears to be alien and is often a cause for great discomfiture for westerners who wish to put down anchor for extended periods and operate in business environments. It is thus essential to understand the Kuwaiti way of doing business in order to respond adequately to business challenges. The recommendations provided below are common for most of the Arab world and will stand all British expatriates negotiating business contracts in Kuwait. UKB officers should try, as far as possible to follow the following guidelines, extracted from the Australian Government’s website for doing business with Arab states. [4] Information is often unreliable and efforts to expand sources of information will aid understanding of a business situation. This includes advice from other westerners who have more experience of local conditions. Statistics and market data are often imprecise and can lead to wrong forecasting.   Budgets must be realistic, timelines conservative as slippages are very common, and transactions take longer than expected. Extensive networking helps in generating business leads Complex business procedures are common and a contract may take take many visits and apparently unnecessary negotiations. Once contracts are finalized, the clients or business partners often want to move fast often based on a handshake. Finally, everything moves on price and UKB managers must work towards delivering beneficial and tangible price outcomes. Religion, in this case Islam, plays a very definitive role in the life of people of governs interpersonal dealings. A knowledge of the Islamic calendar helps and it is wise not to fix any important meetings for Friday, the Islamic Sabbath, when many offices and shops remain closed. The holy festival of Ramadan occupies one whole month and its dates vary every year. Kuwaitis fast for the whole day and while they are used to the yearly ritual, business activities slow down. UKB managers should plan their work accordingly and factor in these considerations into their budgets and commitments. Business meetings are also very different from the west and are frequent causes of frustration for expatriates used to the professionalism of UK business. Some characteristics [5]   of Arab meetings, very capable of disturbing UKB managers are as follows. The meeting may be disturbed and that too quite often, by phone calls and assistants coming in to sign documents or take instructions. The business world is far more informal and interruptions are the norm, rather than the exception. Totally unconnected people may also come in and remain present, without contributing anything towards the proceedings. Meetings are also often interrupted because of prayer timings. Any show of frustration is looked at with amusement and UKB managers must learn to be patient and impassive in their attitude. The Kuwaitis are very good negotiators and quite adept at sensing the unease of their business counterparts. It thus, remains advisable to stay focused, keep the main negotiating points in play, stay firm but exceedingly polite and never show frustration or impatience at the conduct of proceedings. They will be looking for sincerity and trust and it is important that these reassurances are provided continuously, through word, action and reinforcement of capability. Personal Relationships Expatriates living in foreign locales feel the need to occasionally relax in familiar surroundings. Kuwait has a number of luxury hotels with good cuisine and health club facilities and it is strongly recommended that the British staff make good use of them. It is also however important to mix with important local clients and prominent members of the bureaucracy and gradually build up networking contacts. While engaging with Kuwaitis socially it is important to remember a few local traditions and customs. The right hand is always used for eating and it is impolite to eat with the left. The art of small talk, especially about local events helps in social and business settings. Handshakes are often clasps and should be avoided with females. Regular eye contact is desirable and firmness, as separate from arrogance, leads to respect. The most commonly used term is Inshallah, which stands for â€Å"god willing† and underlines the predominance of religion in all dealings. Conclusion The success of a strategic international thrust depends upon a number of things, the most important being viable business opportunities, excellent domain knowledge, awareness of local political processes and economic conditions and the ability to deliver, technically and economically, a superior product or service. UKB is fortunately placed. It is at the right place at the right time and needs to convert its first mover advantage to consolidate its position as a significant player in the banking and financial circles of Kuwait. The banks expatriate team has the responsibility of carrying forward the objectives of the bank to fruition and economic success. They will need to handle a number of challenges on their road towards their objective. A proper reading of the various suggestions and recommendations provided in the course of this report should certainly make their assignment easier to handle. Bibliography Amir, F.A., Marzouqi, H.A., Mesmer, H and Murtawa, S.S., 2006, Online e Trading for UAE Stock Market. AME Info, 9 October 2006, Available: http://www.ameinfo.com/80199.html Atkins, W, 2004, Worst-case scenarios, The Banker, 10 July 2006, Available: http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1711/Worst-case_scenarios.html Bansal, P., 2004, A question of identity, The Banker, 9 October 2006, Available: http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1708/A_question_of_identity.html Doing business with Qatar, 2006, Australian Government, 9 October 2006, Available: www.dfat.gov.au/publications/business_qatar/doing_business_qatar.html Drejer, A. (2002). Strategic Management and Core Competencies: Theory and Application. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. 9 October 2006, Available: Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101317940 GCC Growth to Slow, 2006, Gulf Industry, 9 October 2006, Available: www.gulfindustryonline.com/bkArticlesF.asp?Article=4113&Section=672&IssueID=234 Timewell, S, 2006, A future to plan for, The Banker, 9 October 2006, Available: http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/4048/A_future_to_plan_for.html Timewell, S, 2005, A transformed terrain for banks, The Banker, 9 October 2006, Available: http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/2953/A_transformed_terrain_for_banks.html Timewell, S, 2006, New Era New Challenges, The Banker, 9 October 2006, Available: http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/4046/New_Era,_New_Challenges.html [1] GCC Growth to Slow, 2006, Gulf Industry [2] Timewell, S, 2005, A changed terrain for banks [3]   Timewell, S, 2006, A future to plan for, Page 1 [4]   Doing Business with Qatar, 2006, Australian Government [5] Doing Business with Qatar

Personal Ethic statement Essay

†¢Do you agree with the results of your Work Culture Preferences activity? Does it match with what you considered your ideal work culture? Yes, I agree with the results of my Work Culture Preferences activity. The result matches with my considered ideal wok culture. My result was being High powered, and teamwork centered, and expert. I agree with being High powered because I like to try different jobs and learning new skills. These skills will help me become more competitive in a demanding job market. Most demanding jobs are teamwork centered and require being in the creative atmosphere. I’m glad that I received this result to see my strong points in the work culture. This will help me what to expect in a career that I’m looking forward to. †¢Do you think there is a relationship between effective study habits and techniques and being successful in those work cultures? Explain your answers. Yes, I think there is a relationship between effective study habits and techniques of being successful in those work cultures by being successful in those cultures. Study habits and techniques are all part of note taking; they are extremely helpful in remembering important detail about a particular subject. By using effective study habits and techniques, can tremendously help you when taking quiz or test. While taking a test, you can remember from the top of your head of what you had wrote down for studied to answer that question. In work culture, it will help you memorize your work procedure and guidelines. †¢What was your ethical perspective as identified by the ELI, including your blind spot, strengths, weaknesses, and values? My ethical perspective as identified by the ELI was prioritizing the value of autonomy over equality. My concern is to protect individual rights and ensure everyone is treated fairly. I believe that my good is good enough, leaving problems unresolved for everyone else. By doing this, I’m too focused on good motive and don’t see the problems in my method. My strengths are able to make responsible choices that benefit many different individuals  at the same time. Thinking through problem carefully and research options to find the one that will fulfill my duties. My values are to make sure my actions are good for the community as a whole. †¢How do personal ethics play a role in academics? How might they play a role in the workplace? Personal ethics play a role in academics by setting an atmosphere of truthfulness and trust. This help to ensure every decision we make is one that upholds values. They are the decision that make and must continue to lure of the easy way out, by making ourselves better. Personal ethics also play a role in workplace by keeping our work or ideas original to us. This challenges corporation to translate their mission statement into every employee. Leading corporation to higher performance for business and society. In addition, promote employee and customer trustworthy relation for truthful business and services to the company. †¢What connection is there to your ethical perspective and your ideal work culture? The connection within my ethical perspective and work culture is they both require fairness and equality in both. The support of each other as a team benefits and the success of the workplace. It would also increase the want to be at the workplace and part of the team. Creating an environment that encourages people to express opinions and creative atmosphere. These connections promote unity for subordinate, co-worker, and supervisors to work and focus on task at hand. It both encourages people to share and express their opinions. Increasing likelihood of rapid promotion and other benefits to each.

Colour in cinema Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Colour in cinema - Literature review Example ram (2008) argued that the use of colour in cinema has become a preferred and more acceptable part of the viewing audience as against the use of monochrome. In line with the acceptability that has been attached to the use colour in cinema, several theories and concepts have been developed about what different forms of colour represents and how these can best be used to send the right meanings to the viewing audience. This literature review therefore attempts to answer the critical question of how best the multiplicity of colour can be managed in cinema to send the right meaning to audience. Street (2012) noted that the history of colour in motion picture in Britain can be traced as far back as 1899 when Edward Raymond Turner patented a colour additive system in England. However, it was not until 1902 that the additive colour system was tested. This shows that the very first cases of colour in motion pictures in Britain started in the form of additive colour when colour was externally created by mixing the light of two or more different colours (Katz, 1991). The first additive colour system by Turner was regarded by many as complex and so a more simplified version was created by George Albert Smith, which saw commercial success in 1909 (Bordwell & Kristin, 2004). In the study by Street (2012) however, her emphasis was on how the concept of colour in motion pictures was embraced in its early forms in Britain. This is because according to her, the idea of black-and-white films had been with the people for long and was considered superior and natural in state than the earl iest forms of colour films. However, with time, film makers and the audience saw colour films as a way of developing the unique British aesthetic (Jamilla, 2008). It is not surprising that by 1930, there had been several innovators and inventors who had produced films that demonstrated remarkable experimentation and quality through the use of colour (Street, 2012). As colour films have become a part

Cyberterrorism, Cyber terrorists and their methods to launch an attack Research Paper

Cyberterrorism, Cyber terrorists and their methods to launch an attack - Research Paper Example Or to intimidate any person in furtherance of such objectives (Verton, 2003). With ever changing technology, there are ways upon ways to hack or use the internet in a criminal manner such as cyber espionage or information warfare. Cyber terrorism is a combination of cyberspace and terrorism. Often this type of warfare is used to persuade a group or government to follow certain political beliefs. Cyber terrorism can be used to help plan other terrorist activities, soften a target prior to a physical attack and generate more fear and confusion concurrent with other terrorist acts. Cyber terrorism has no boundaries as it is not limited by physical space and can be carried out by anyone and anywhere in the world. This paper aims to provide an explanation of what cyber terrorism is and how it is propagated in information technology world and the impacts it has on the businesses and organisation s that use the internet and networking to carry out their activities. It is important that we i dentify and protect the critical infrastructures which include government operations, gas/oil storage and delivery, water supply systems, banking and finance, transportation, electrical energy, telecommunications and emergency. According to the former secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld in 2002 The nation is vulnerable to new forms of terrorism ranging from cyber-attacks to attacks on military bases abroad to ballistic missile attacks on U.S. cities. Wars in the 21st century will increasingly require all elements of national power – not just the military. They will require that economic, diplomatic, financial, law enforcement and intelligence capabilities work together. Cyber terrorist use different methods to launch a cyber-terror attack. One method is hacking, which is the unauthorized access to a computer or network. An alternative technique is the Trojan horse program designed to pretend to do one thing while actually doing another, with the purpose of damaging the compu ter’s software or system operations. Computer viruses can be spread extremely fast and cause major damage. Computer worms are self-contained programs that are able to spread functional copies of itself or its segments to other computer systems. Then there’s email relates crimes that involve e-mail spoofing, spreading Trojans, viruses and worms. Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that can be accomplished by using a single computer or millions of computers throughout the world. To perpetrate such an activity, the ‘attacker’ installs a Trojan in many computers, gain control over them, and then send a lot of requests to the target computer. And last, but not least, cryptography literally meaning covered writing, involves the hiding of data in another object; it can also be used to hide messages within image and audio file. Although there is no definite way of stopping cyber terrorism there are several measures to prevent such acts. For example, using an up-to-dat e computer security software systems and firewalls, personal vigilance. security levels in private sector critical infrastructure fields. Using a high level virus-scanning program like Kaspersky or Norton devices will be safe from majority of the little viruses that you may come in contact with. In order to understand the cyber terrorism four major elements have to be considered and examined these elements are the perpetrator of the crime , the place where the crime takes place, the tools that are used to aid the perpetration of the crime, the action what actions take

It has been said that we are living in a period of the cult of the Essay

It has been said that we are living in a period of the cult of the personality. With specific examples, consider the emergence and criticisms of docusoaps and - Essay Example The contemporary media scene is such that the main focus is on vague and superficial qualities such as â€Å"the personality† and â€Å"the style† – a distinguishable shift from earlier programming that was more intellectually stimulating and culturally refined. Genres such as Reality shows, talent hunts, game shows, etc rule the roost in what is becoming an increasingly consolidated media space. Within an apparently diverse offering to the public, the issues and topics that find representation are very limited, more so in the news media (Marshall; 2004: 102). The rest of the essay will discuss the conditions that led to the present state of popular media, the direction it is headed and some possible remedies to reverse the situation. To begin with, let us consider the meaning of the phrase â€Å"the cult of the personality†. The phenomenon of people being famous for being famous, as commonly seen in popular media of today is an apt description of the term â€Å"personality cult† (Marshall; 2004: 102). Such factors as the famous person’s achievements, virtues, values, etc are pushed to the background and intellectually thin attributes such as aesthetic looks, eccentric lifestyles, etc are given greater importance. The end result is the manufacturing of celebrity figures, conjured up on the basis of some superficial merits; hog a large share of communication airwaves, depriving representation for more weighty public issues. So while a majority of the general public is addicted to the â€Å"often-grotesque desperation of the rich and the famous†, we have to ask who the real beneficiary of this enterprise is: â€Å"One of the attractions is the many, many levels of stardom. So, while at the top of the pile sit the Madonnas and the Tom Hankses of this world, at the bottom are the reality TV cast-offs that spend their day chasing agents to get them something - anything - that will allow them to strut around inquiring

SAMPLING Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SAMPLING - Speech or Presentation Example Simple random sample? Explain. This sampling plan results in a random sample, but not a simple random sample. The sample collected is a random sample because every school has the same chance of being selected. The sample is not a simple random sample because no teacher will be selected from schools that were not included in the ten schools selected. In other words, some schools have 100% representation in the sample while some schools have no representation at all. 4. A polling company obtains an alphabetical list of names of voters in a precinct. They select every 20th person from the list until a sample of 100 is obtained. They then call these 100 people. Does this sampling plan result in a random sample? Simple random sample? Explain. This sampling plan results in a random sample, but not a simple random sample. This is a case of systematic random sampling. This is a random sample because each person on the list has an equal chance of being selected. This is not a simple random sample because once the first person is selected, the rest of the selections are already determined. 5. The personnel manager at a company wants to investigate job satisfaction among the female employees. One evening after a meeting she talks to all 30 female employees who attended the meeting. Does this sampling plan result in a random sample? Simple random sample? Explain. No, this sampling plan does not result in a random sample and therefore not a simple random sample. This is a case of convenience sampling, as the personal manager only talks to all 30 female employees who attended the meeting that is whoever happens to be

Varying European and Native Motives and the Collision of Cultures in Essay

Varying European and Native Motives and the Collision of Cultures in North America - Essay Example Through the clashing of these interests and motives, a collision of cultures sprung up in North America, resulting in the multicultural society that is North America. The conflicting motives began at the initial stages of European invasion of North America. In 1666, George Alsop asserted that poor Europeans should come to America as indentured servants bound by legal contracts that reflected debts or purchase obligation. On the contrary, Gottlieb Mittelberger was of the opinion that poor Europeans should not come to America as indentured servants. This thus paper explores the influence that the natives’ and the Europeans’ motives had on the collision of cultures in North America (Dudley & Chalberg, 1996). The Motives The clashing of the natives’ and the colonists’ interests and motives has been described by historians and political scientists as a major factor in the current collision of cultures in North America. In fact, the collision of cultures has per meated various aspects of peoples’ lives in North America including food, religion, law, political dispensation and art such as music and literature (Henretta & Brody, 2009). Importantly, it is noteworthy that the collision of cultures occurred as the largely diversified immigrants came from all corners of the world. The motives of the natives and the Europeans were equally diverse. While some of these immigrants came for economic reasons, others came for religious and political motives such as to colonize the Americas. Consequently, there had to be struggles among the natives and the Europeans who formed the bulk of the immigrants coming into North America. These collisions of cultures took different forms ranging from ethnic, religious, economic, and political dimensions. Importantly, it should be noted that the conflicting interests did not only pit native North Americans and the European immigrants against each other but there were also conflicts with African slaves in No rth America and the other nations with vested interests in North America (Henretta & Brody, 2009). Fortunately, the efforts made by all the stakeholders to reduce the cultural, political, religious, and economic conflicts of interests have made North America the multicultural society it is today. The European Colonization of North America The European colonization of North America and the enslavement of West Africans presented a collision of the three cultures that had been developing and existing at different lines since time immemorial. Central to the collision of these cultures were the various individual and collective/national ambitions and impulses of the European colonists and North American Natives. Among the goals targeted by the colonizers of the New World for which their ambitions were burning included long-standing demographic changes, religious expansion, international rivalries and economic gains. At the forefront in the efforts for religious changes were the Protestan t Reformists who wanted to spread their religion to the New World. The collision of cultures in North America thus not only yielded biological exchanges but also new religious dispensations that re-defined both the Old and New Worlds (Henretta & Brody, 2009). The attitudes of the immigrating colonizers towards the Native Americans and the African slaves were thus shaped by their

Fast media report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fast media report - Essay Example The media that was most difficult to avoid was the phone. This is because with the phone am able to access internet, emailing, text messaging, face book and tweeting. In addition, am able to stay in touch with my family members, friends, and colleagues in all corners of the planet with so much ease and at the same time manage projects with teams in different cities within the shortest time possible. Without the phone, I missed my old routine of constant checking my emails, Facebook, and texting with my friends and colleagues. I love the information sharing through the social media platforms and so life without it was very intriguing to me (Simon, 2010). Midway through the exercise, I was feeling isolated and lonely. I imagined that I already had received several calls that I could not answer. I felt the urge and need to check my emails and could only imagine the news and information I was missing in face book and other social media platforms. The dependency was sickening and sucking and I felt that I was on a deserted island where nobody cared about my well-being. The temptation to access the social media platforms kept occurring almost all the time during the eight hours. The eight hours seemed like a month to me and I could not wait to go back to my old routine of social networking, text messaging, emailing, and keeping in touch with all the people I interacted with (Simon, 2010). The media that I missed most was my phone. It was hard for me to go without listening to music that I have stored in my phone. Listening to music when am walking, studying or just doing some chores around the house helps in keeping my moods right. Lack of music forced me to interact with people, open up conversations with people I never used to interact with just to fix my moods. A background that is too quite makes it difficult for me to focus or concentrate on what am doing and

Critically assess Hindu film 'Daya Sagar' (1978) that depicts the life Essay

Critically assess Hindu film 'Daya Sagar' (1978) that depicts the life of Christ. In what way might your chosen film be said to be religious - Essay Example said to have had a long history of use as a missions tool in India, being used to tell the story of Christ to the Indian population in a presentation that makes them feel that they can own the story, since it presents the religious tale in a way that seems culturally relevant. In this sense, the film has a long history of presentation as a religious film. However, as a strictly academic matter, this raises an important set of questions: James Wall (1971), the editor of The Christian Advocate wrote a classic volume of film interpretation that begins with a consideration of censorship of such themes as sexuality in modern cinema and moves toward an aesthetic consideration of the filmmaker’s responsibility when presenting a film as a religious work. In the book, he argues that it is only natural for people oriented toward religion to move beyond a secular concern for assessing film according to religious values to developing standards that can direct the production of film that serves the purposes of religion in a more proactive manner. After all, he writes, concerning Christianity specifically, the need to communicate religious messages is felt as a requirement of the faith by adherents of religion, and film is a particularly good medium to use to communicate with the masses (p. 18). Once we consider the fact that, according to Christian doctrine, â€Å"all realms† are to be used for the Glory of God, i t is no longer controversial to consider the possibility that film, which is sometimes thought to deal mostly with serious secular topics such as drugs and sex, can be used to represent religion as well. In many ways, in fact, appropriating film as a religious tool is similar to the practice of putting Christian-themed lyrics to popular songs in bygone eras, including some tunes that may have been heard more likely in a saloon rather than a bar. It is using an evocative medium to tell a compelling message, and doing so in a way that appeals to the masses. One

Marketing Communication of Adidas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Communication of Adidas - Essay Example The firm that is analyzed in the paper is Adidas. Created in 1925 by Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler, Adidas has dominated the sports apparel and footwear market for over 80 years. Adidas started off as a sports footwear company that designed special shoes for athletes, however, over the years Adidas expanded into sports goods as well. After its success in Germany Adidas expanded to the United States in 1968, and captured the American market in a matter of few years. Adidas’ success worldwide can be attributed not only to its unmatched quality and innovation but also to its marketing strategies. Being a premier sports brand, Adidas has been prominent in the sports world at all levels which has been a huge success factor for the brand. The broad product offering of Adidas has enabled it to capture a global market for itself; the product categories include Football, Basketball, Running, Training and Outdoor sports. Customization and innovation are key growth drivers for the bra nd. Adidas is identified with performance and in order to uphold that brand image it serves its consumers five performance benefits through its products which are designed to be faster, stronger, smarter, cooler and natural. Marketing communication plays a pivotal role when it comes to establishing brand name, loyalty and engaging consumers. The marketing communication of Adidas seeks to achieve three main objectives: creating brand awareness, identifying a need that the brand or product fulfills and finally encouraging action from the audience. It achieves these by employing seamless marketing and communication leadership strategies, rendering authenticity through strategic partnerships and extending brand reach through endorsements and partnerships. A very important growth driver is the brand’s history with athletes and Global sports which has not only created a favorable brand image but also brand awareness and loyalty in the Global arena. Endorsements and sponsorships hav e been the central marketing communication tool of Adidas. By virtue of its nature, the brand has the power to dominate the world of sports through strategic partnerships and celebrity endorsements. The most crucial perhaps, have been endorsements by athletes such as Ian Thorpe, Andre Agassi, Kaka, Zidane, David Beckham et al who embody the brand image and product philosophy and consequently create very favorable attitudes in consumers towards the brand. The brand is, therefore, not only preferred by athletes across the world but also by ordinary consumers who have a passion for sports and who idolize those athletes. Another marketing tool of the brand is associating the brand philosophy to tangible outcomes. This not only renders legitimacy to the brand but also sensationalizes it and therefore leaves a very far reaching impact by creating a brand appeal that is second to none. The ‘golden ball’ for instance was the official football for FIFA World Cup 2006. The brandà ¢â‚¬â„¢s association with major sporting events, leagues, clubs and sports associations as partner, sponsor and licensee has also been a central pillar in propping its marketing communication. Among many such associations some mention worthy partnerships and sponsorships include; the

One of the major characteristics that Beowulf and Hamlet Essay Example for Free

One of the major characteristics that Beowulf and Hamlet Essay One of the major characteristics that Beowulf and Hamlet share is the fact that they both rid Denmark of a treacherous monster who poses a serious threat to the land. Beowulf uses his warrior-like skills to fight and conquer a physical monster who literally haunts the swamps outside the state and plagues it with murderous acts. Hamlet’s monster is also one who commits murderous acts, though this is in the form of his uncle Claudius who kills the King (Hamlet’s father) and usurps the Danish throne. The two men, Hamlet and Beowulf, are thrown into these battles as youth, and both take on the challenge willingly. In fact, Beowulf travels from Geatland specifically to meet the challenge of fighting Grendel. Hamlet too takes it upon himself to kill Claudius as soon as he finds out that this man has been the agent of his father’s death. Another characteristic that both Hamlet and Beowulf share is their death and the method in which this occurs. Both are defeated in their final efforts at ridding their homelands of the evil that had infiltrated. In fact, both die though their efforts are successful. Beowulf dies at the hand of the final monster (the dragon) whom he succeeds in slaying, but who also deals Beowulf a deathly blow that eventually kills him. Hamlet also has a similar experience in that, while he is able to slay Claudius by the end of the play, he is caught with a poisoned sword and eventually expires after all his enemies have died. The two characters die by peripheral (yet fatal) blows given them during the melee. Both show bravery by continuing to fight even while they are mortally wounded. Eventually, both succumb to the serious wounds they have acquired, yet they die in the victory of knowing they have defeated their enemies. Beowulf and Hamlet also differ in many ways, one of which is the character that they show throughout the play. While Beowulf displays a warrior-like character, Hamlet shows himself to be fearful and awkward in acting out the desires of his heart. Beowulf is eager to come to the aid of the King of Denmark, and he pauses only to partake of the feast given in his honor before he sets out to kill Grendel. When he encounters the monster, he loses no time in indecision but immediately performs the actions necessary to kill the beast. In fact, Beowulf fights three ferocious beasts throughout the story with the same vivacity and fierceness. Hamlet differs from Beowulf in his character, and he displays the tendency to employ a much more subdued and stealthy course of action. Though he too determines to defend the honor of Denmark’s (former) king by killing his murderer, he demonstrates a greater portion of dalliance and indecision than does Beowulf. When he gets his first chance to kill Claudius, his idle thoughts concerning the condition of Claudius’ heart (while praying) leads him to forfeit that chance and allow Claudius to live. He fails in his pursuits far more than Beowulf does too, because in his second attempt to kill Claudius, he ends up killing Polonius instead. In these ways, Hamlet shows himself to lack self confidence in a manner that is vastly different from Beowulf the ready warrior. Beowulf and Hamlet show differences in the tenure of their lives and the fulfilment of their royal destinies. Hamlet, unlike Beowulf, fails to ascend to the throne to which he is heir. He dies before the throne falls vacant and also fails to prove King Claudius a usurper in any effort to gain his rightful place on the throne. Beowulf, on the other hand, is able to spend fifty years as ruler of his Geat kingdom. In addition to this, Beowulf differs from Hamlet in his ability to live out his live and to attain old age. He is able to demonstrate his strength as a ruler for many years and to gain the respect of his subjects. Hamlet, who dies young, is unable to do any of this. He is never able to command the subjects over whom he was destined to rule precisely because of the fact that his life ends tragically in his youth. Therefore, while both men perform in the role of princes during their youth, Beowulf becomes promoted to the level of king while Hamlet dies with all his potential. Works Cited Beowulf. The Harvard Classics, Volume 49. Frances B. Grummere (Trans. ) 1910. P. F. Collier Son, 1993. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. London: Penguin, 1994.

Green Synthesis of o-Phenyl-benzothiazole

Green Synthesis of o-Phenyl-benzothiazole Green Condensation of o-Aminothiophenol to o-Phenyl-benzothiazole David Fairchild, Alex Irion, Dominic Russo, Luke Sanders Abstract Herein we describe a simple, efficient, and environmentally friendly synthesis of o-arylbenzothiazoles, such as o-phenyl-benzothiazole, under standard ambient temperature and pressure via reaction of o-aminothiophenols with aromatic aldehydes using glycerol as a solvent. The combined characteristics of glycerol allow it to act as both a green and biodegradable solvent, but its high polarity also catalyzes the reaction between various o-aminothiophenols and aromatic aldehydes, hence replacing the need for expensive, and often environmentally hazardous, solvents or catalysts. Land management Water conservation clean-up Green Condensation of o-Aminothiophenol to o-Phenyl-benzothiazole Problem Numerous o-arylbenzothiazoles can be found in a variety of biologically occurring compounds, and they are becoming an increasingly important family of antitumor agents (Kashiyama E et al., 1999)1; moreover, these compounds exhibit biological activity as antituberculosis agents and antiparasitics (Yamamoto K et al., 1998)2, but also serve as useful imaging agents for ÃŽ ²-amyloid (Lee BC et al., 2011)3. Traditionally, most o-arylbenzothiazoles are synthesized by either arylation of benzothiazole with aryl bromides and catalyzed by palladium (II) acetate, copper (I) bromide, or tri-tert-butylphosphine (Vattoly J. Majo, Jaya Prabhakaran, J.John Mann, J.S. Dileep Kumar, 2003)4 or via condensation of o-aminothiophenols by varying functional groups with a number of different catalysts including: trimethylsilyl chloride (S. V. Ryabukhin, A. S. Plaskon, D. M. Volochnyuk, A. A. Tolmachev, 2006)5, manganese (II) oxide (Cecilia D. Wilfred Richard J. K. Taylor, 2004)6, or 1-methyl-3-pentylimidazo-lium bromide (Brindaban C. Ranu, Ranjan Jana, Suvendu S. Dey, 2004)7. Nevertheless, there have been several recent and more environmentally friendly procedures for synthesizing o-arylbenzothiazoles, such as with a mixture of sulfuric acid and silicon dioxide to act as a catalyst (Behrooz Maleki et al., 2010)8, or with p-toluenesulfonic acid in water (Najmedin AziziAlireza et al., 2009)9; however, m any of these recent discoveries require high temperatures, lengthy reaction times, and sometimes result in relatively low yield. In addition, many of the catalysts employed in the traditional reactions are both economically and environmentally costly, thus often resulting in serious environmental pollution, which may affect important waterways for many ecological systems. An important tenet of green chemistry is the minimal use of auxiliary substances and the use of innocuous solvents whenever possible; solvents play a major role in the environmental performance of chemical processes, but also impact cost, safety, and operational health. Thus, the purpose behind green solvents expresses the goal to minimize the environmental impact resulting from the use of solvents in chemical procedures; hence, many of these solvents exhibit similar properties, including: low volatility, low cost, high reusability, low toxicity, low flammability, and high solvation power for both inorganic and organic compounds. Glycerol is one such compound that has recently garnered much attention as a result of these aforementioned qualities since it combines many of the characteristics of water with many of the benefits of ionic liquids. We have therefore chosen this project because the field of green chemistry is an ever-growing and an ever-more-important subfield of chemistry, and because a better and more efficient synthesis of o-phenylbenzothiazole and other o-arylbenzothiazoles will have practical applications toward minimizing potential environmental waste from the preparation of an increasingly important research pharmaceutical. Hypothesis If glycerols high polarity and solvation ability were able to act as a functional group on aromatic aldehydes, then o-phenylbenzothiazole could be produced by simple condensation of o-aminothiophenol. Experimentation Due to the limited availability of many of the basic reagents required for this experiment, we plan on first synthesizing many of the preparatory reagents on a micro scale; these chemicals are more easily available in bulk, and, hence, the following procedures would be unnecessary in practice. The following preparations include: Preparation of Nitrobenzene by Mixed Acid Nitration of Benzene Nitrobenzene is produced by simple nitration of benzene with nitric acid and sulfuric acid acting as catalysts. A 500 ml flask is charged with a stir bar and 8 ml of concentrated 98% sulfuric acid and 84.013 ml of concentrated 90% nitric acid is added slowly (note 1). Once the solution of acids cools, 182.687 ml of benzene is slowly added to the flask (note 2). Once all the benzene is added, the contents of the flask are poured into an appropriate separatory funnel and the bottom aqueous layer is discarded. The crude nitrobenzene is then washed with 40ml of distilled water three times to remove excess acids; once complete, an appropriate round bottom flask (RBF) is charged with the bottom layer (crude nitrobenzene), and the top layer is discarded. A simple distillation of the crude nitrobenzene is performed collecting the fraction between 207Â ° C and 211Â ° C. This distillate is then dried with calcium chloride, and filtered off for future use yielding approximately 170.37 ml of pure nitrobenzene (~83% theoretical yield based on nitric acid). Preparation of Aniline by Reduction of Nitrobenzene Aniline is synthesized by a modified procedure outlined in Vogel (5, p. 892)10. 178.065 g of tin powder,140 ml of distilled water, and 564.972 ml of 38% hydrochloric acid are charged into a two-way 1 L RBF along with a suitable stir bar. A thermometer and a pressure-equalizing additional funnel with 102.636ml of the previously prepared nitrobenzene are clamped to the RBF. The RBF is placed on a hot plate and slowly heated and stirred while nitrobenzene is slowly added (note 3); upon completion, the solution is set up for reflux for 30 minutes. Thereafter, 39.997 g of sodium hydroxide are added, and the solution is set up for steam distillation. The collected distillate from the previous steam distillation is placed in a suitable separatory funnel, where it is washed with a saturated brine solution. The top layer of aniline is then placed in another suitable RBF and setup for simple distillation; this distillation is carried out until the temperature reaches 130Â ° C. The collected distillate is then redistilled with the fraction between 180Â ° C and 184Â ° C collected (note 4). The final distillate of 90.336 ml (~97% yield based on nitrobenzene) is then poured into a suitable container for storage and future use. Preparation of Acetanilide Acetanilide is prepared by simple acetylation of the previously prepared aniline with acetic anhydride. 77.479 ml of the previously prepared aniline are charged into a 250 ml RBF, and 20 ml of water are added with an additional 2 ml of 38% hydrochloric acid so that the previous two layers mix; a stir bar is also charged in the flask. The solution of aniline hydrochloride is gently heated while stirring is begun. A mixture of 80.200 ml of acetic anhydride are added and 4.5 g of sodium acetate is quickly added all at once. Heat is removed, while vigorous stirring is maintained. The white acetalanilide precipitate is then vacuum-filtered off and then washed with cold water, yielding approximately110.96 g of product with a m.p. between 112Â ° C to 115Â ° C. Preparation and Separation of o-Nitroaniline from Acetanilide o-Nitroaniline is prepared by a slightly modified mixed acid nitration of acetanilide. 100g of the previously prepared dry acetanilide is charged into a two-neck 100 ml RBF along with a suitable stir bar. This set up is placed over a magnetic stirrer (note 5), and a pressure-equalizing addition funnel containing 31.079 ml of 90% nitric acid, 2 ml of 98% sulfuric acid (note 6), and a thermometer are clamped to the RBF. The mixed acids are then slowly added drop-wise in 2 ml portions every ten minutes to allow for adequate cooling of the reaction. Once the acid addition is complete, the addition funnel is removed, and 15 ml of ice water are added, heated to reflux allowing the nitroacetanilides to hydrolyze. After approximately 15 to 20 minutes, the reaction is allowed to cool; once cooled, an equimolar amount of sodium hydroxide (based on acetanilide) is very slowly added to the RBF. The crude mixture nitroacetanilides is then filtered off and dried. This crude product is recrystallized from hot ethanol, thus allowing the p- and o- isomer to separate. The crystals are filtered off and stored for later use, however, the filtrate, which predominately contains o-nitroaniline, is set up for column chromatography with methylene chloride for further purification. Afterwards, the methylene chloride is allowed to evaporate off, yielding approximately 35.621 g of o-nitroaniline with a m.p. between 69Â ° C and 75 Â ° C. Preparation of o-Chloronitrobenzene from o-Nitroaniline Hartman and Brethen (1923)11 found that m-chloronitrobenzene can be synthesized by formation of the diazonium salt from m-nitroaniline. Based on their procedure, o-chloronitrobenzene is similarly synthesized from the previously prepared o-nitroaniline. A 500ml RBF is charged with 15 g of o-nitroaniline and with an equimolar amount of 38% hydrochloric acid, along with an additional 250 ml of hot water, a stir bar, and an additional equimolar amount of hydrochloric acid, and this set up is then placed over a magnetic stirrer. The entire mixture is cooled, and 20 g of sodium nitrite are added slowly with heavy stirring; once this addition is complete, the solution is filtered to remove any amorphous solids. A suitable two-neck RBF is charged with a mixture containing 14.251 g of cuprous chloride in 38% hydrochloric acid; a thermometer and powder addition funnel containing the previously prepared o-nitrobenzenediazonium chloride are clamped to the flask. o-Nitrobenzenediazonium chloride then is very slowly added to the flask over a period of one hour. After this addition is complete, the mixture is set up for reflux until nitrogen stops evolving from the flask, after which the solution is set up for simple steam distillation until no more o-chloronitrobenzene comes over. The distillate is cooled to allow the o-chloronitrobenzene to crystallize; this crude distillate is washed with sodium hydroxide and then with cold water, resulting in approximately 29 g of o-chloronitrobenzene (~62% theoretical yield based on o-nitroaniline). Synthesis of o-Aminothiophenol by Sulfunation of o-Chloronitrobenzene o-Aminothiophenol is synthesized by a modified procedure outlined in US Patent No. 3931321 (1976)12. 10 g of the previously prepared o-chloronitrobenzene with 80 ml of water are charged into a 250 ml RBF. Paraffin oil is used instead of the special emulsion polymerizer outlined in the original patent; the mixture is strongly stirred, and an addition funnel containing solution 15.022 g of sodium sulfide and an equimolar amount of sodium hydroxide is clamped to the flask; the solution is added slowly over 10 minute intervals with periods of cooling in between. The mixture is heated between 100Â ° C and 110Â ° C for approximately two hours. The product is set up for steam distillation until a clear distillate comes over. To this clear distillate, .5 g of activated carbon is added, and the mixture is washed with cold toluene; for further work up, the product is then washed 38% hydrochloric acid until the pH is adjusted to six, and the mixture is poured into a separatory funnel from which the bottom aqueous layer is removed. Excess toluene is then removed by simple distillation, and this distillate is allowed to cool. Approximately 5.461 g of o-aminothiophenol crystallizes (~78.37% yield based on o-chloronitrobenzene) with a m.p. between 22Â ° C and 25Â ° C. Synthesis of Benzaldehyde by Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol Benzaldehyde is synthesized by simple oxidation of benzyl alcohol. A two neck 500 mL RBF is setup with a ring stand and wire mesh pad. A Bunsen burner is then placed below the apparatus, and the RBF is charged with an appropriate stir bar and 103.5 g of sodium persulfate dissolved in a minimum quantity of water. A pressure-equalizing funnel containing 30 ml of benzyl alcohol and a reflux condenser are clamped to the flask. This set up is then heated to reflux while benzyl alcohol is slowly added drip-wise; once all the benzyl alcohol is completely added, the Bunsen burner is extinguished, and replaced with a magnetic stirrer until the solution cools down. Upon cooling, the RBF is setup for steam distillation. The distillate is then poured into a separatory funnel, and the bottom crude benzaldehyde is separated out; this crude product is then dried over magnesium sulfate. Once dried, the benzaldehyde is placed in a suitable RBF and fractionally distilled under vacuum at approximately .109 atm; the fraction between 91Â ° C and 93Â ° C is collected, leaving 19.35 ml of pure benzaldehyde (~65% theoretical yield based on benzyl alcohol). Synthesis of o-Phenyl-benzothiazole from o-Aminothiophenol and Benzaldehyde 2 g of the previously prepared o-aminothiophenol and 1.695 g of benzaldehyde are charged into a 25 ml Erlenmeyer flask with 15 ml of glycerol. The reaction is heated for one hour. Afterwards, water is added until precipitate no longer fell out of solution; the precipitate is purified via recrystallization in hot ethanol, thus resulting in 3.034 g of o-phenyl-benzothiazole with a m.p. between 112Â ° C and 114Â ° C. Works Cited Kashiyama E1, Hutchinson I, Chua MS, Stinson SF, Phillips LR, Kaur G, Sausville EA, Bradshaw TD, Westwell AD, Stevens MF. (1999, Oct 7). Antitumor benzothiazoles. 8. Synthesis, metabolic formation, and biological properties of the C- and N-oxidation products of antitumor 2-(4-aminophenyl)benzothiazoles. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10514287 Yamamoto K1, Fujita M, Tabashi K, Kawashima Y, Kato E, Oya M, Iso T, Iwao J. (1988, May 31). Novel calcium antagonists. Synthesis and structure-activity relationship studies of benzothiazoline derivatives. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3361580 Lee BC1, Kim JS, Kim BS, Son JY, Hong SK, Park HS, Moon BS, Jung JH, Jeong JM, Kim SE. (2011, May 1). Aromatic radiofluorination and biological evaluation of 2-aryl-6- [18F]fluorobenzothiazoles as a potential positron emission tomography imaging probe for ÃŽ ²-amyloid plaques. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21478020 Vattoly J. Majo, Jaya Prabhakaran, J.John Mann, J.S. Dileep Kumar (2003, November 17). An efficient palladium catalyzed synthesis of 2-arylbenzothiazoles. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004040390302272X S. V. Ryabukhin, A. S. Plaskon, D. M. Volochnyuk, A. A. Tolmachev (2006). Synthesis of Fused Imidazoles and Benzothiazoles from (Hetero)Aromatic ortho-Diamines or ortho- Aminothiophenol and Aldehydes Promoted by Chlorotrimethylsilane. Retrieved from http://www.organic-chemistry.org/abstracts/lit1/493.shtm Cecilia D. Wilfred Richard J. K. Taylor (2004, December 3) Tandem oxidation processes for t he preparation of nitrogen-containing heteroaromatic and heterocyclic compounds. Retrieved from http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2004/OB/b315689c#!divAbstract Brindaban C. Ranu, Ranjan Jana, Suvendu S. Dey (2004, February 2). An Efficient and Green Synthesis of 2-Arylbenzothiazoles in an Ionic Liquid, [pmIm]Br under Microwave Irradiation. Retrieved from https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/cl/33/3/33_3_274/_article Maleki B, Salehabadi H, Moghaddam MK (2010, September 5). Room-Temperature Synthesis of 2-Arylbenzothiazoles using Sulfuric Acid Immobilized on Silica as a Reusable Catalyst under Heterogeneous Condition. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24061824 Najmedin Azizi, Alireza Khajeh Amiri, Roya Baghi, Mohammad Bolourtchian, Mohammad M. Hashemi (2009, July 21). PTSA catalyzed simple and green synthesis of benzothiazole derivatives in water. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00706- 009-0209-4 A.I. Vogel, A.R. Tatchell, B.S. Furnis, A.J. Hannaford, P.W.G. Smith (1996). Vogels Textbook of Practical Organic Chemistry (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall W. W. Hartman M. R. Brethen (1923). Organic Syntheses (3rd ed.). Planker, Siegfried Baessler, Konrad (1976) US Patent No. 3931321 Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Curvelet-based Bayesian Estimator for Speckle Suppression

Curvelet-based Bayesian Estimator for Speckle Suppression Curvelet-based  Bayesian  Estimator  for  Speckle  Suppression  in  Ultrasound  Imaging Abstract.  Ultrasound images are inherently affected by speckle noise, and thus the reduction of this noise is a crucial pre-processing step for their successful interpretation. Bayesian estimation is a powerful signal estimation technique used for speckle noise removal in images. In the Bayesian-based despeckling schemes, the choice of suitable statistical models and the development of a shrinkage function for estimation of the noise-free signal are the major concerns. In this paper, a novel curvelet-based Bayesian estimation scheme for despeckling of ultrasound images is developed. The curvelet coefficients of the multiplicative degradation model of the noisy ultrasound image are additively decomposed into noise-free and signal-dependent noise components. The Cauchy and two-sided exponential distributions are assumed to be statistical models for the noise-free and signal-dependent noise components of the observed curvelet coefficients, respectively, and an efficient low-complexit y realization of the Bayesian estimator is proposed. The experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed despeckling scheme in providing a signifi cant suppression of the speckle noise and simultaneously preserving the image details. Keywords:Ultrasound imaging, curvelet transform, speckle noise, Bayesian estimation, statistical modeling. Introduction Ultrasound imaging is important for medical diagnosis and has the advantages of cost effectiveness, port-ability, acceptability and safety [1]. However, ultrasound images are of relatively poor quality due to its contamination by the speckle noise, which considerably degrades the image quality and leads to a negative impact on the diagnostic task. Thus, reducing speckle noise while preserving anatomic information is necessary to better delineate the regions of interest in the ultrasound images. In the work of speckle suppression in ultrasound images, many spatial-based techniques that employ either single-scale or multi-scale filtering have been developed in the literature [2-4]. Earlydeveloped single-scale spatial filtering [2] are limited in their capability for significantly reducing the speckle noise. More promising spatial single-scale techniques such as those using bilateral filtering [4] and nonlocal filtering [3] have been recently proposed. This work was supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and in part by the Regroupement Strategique en Microelectronique du Quebec (ReSMiQ). These techniques depend on the size of the fi lter window, and hence, for a satisfactory speckle suppression, they require large computational time. Alternatively, multi-scale spatial techniques [5], based on partial differential equations, have been investigated in the literature. These techniques are iterative and can produce smooth images with preserved edges. However, important structural details are unfortunately degraded during the iteration process. As an appropriate alternative to spatial-based speckle suppression in ultrasound images, many other despeckling techniques based on different transform domains, such as the ones of wavelet, contourlet, and curvelet, have been recently proposed in the literature [6-8]. Wavelet transform has a good reputation as a tool for noise reduction but has the drawback of poor directionality, which makes its usage limited in many applications. Using contourlet transform provides an improved noise reduction performance due to its property of fi‚exible directional decomposability. However, curvelet transform offers a higher directional sensitivity than that of contourlet transform and is more efficient in representing the curve-like details in images. For the development of despeckling techniques based on transform domains, thresholding [7] has been presented as a technique to build linear estimators of the noise-free signal coefficients. However, the main drawback of this thresholding technique is in the difficulty of determining a suitable threshold value. To circumvent this problem, non-linear estimators [6] have been statistically developed based on Bayesian estimation formalism. For the development of an efficient Bayesian-based despeckling scheme, the choice of a suitable probability distribution to model the transform domain coefficients is a major concern. Also, while investigating a suitable statistical model, the complexity of the Bayesian estimation process should be taken into consideration. Consequently, special attention should be paid to the realization complexity of the Bayesian estimator that results from employing the selected probabilistic model in one of the Bayesian frameworks. In this paper, to achieve a satisfactory performance for despeckling of ultrasound images at a lower computational effort, a new curvelet-based Bayesian scheme is proposed. The multiplicative degradation model representing an observed ultrasound image is decomposed into an additive model consisting of noise-free and signal-dependent noise components. Two-sided exponential distribution is used as a prior statistical model for the curvelet coefficients of the signal-dependant noise. This model, along with the Cauchy distribution is used to develop a low-complexity Bayesian estimator. The performance of the proposed Bayesian despeckling scheme is evaluated on both syntheticallyspeckled and real ultrasound images, and the results are compared to that of some other existing despeckling schemes. Modeling of Curvelet Coefficients The multiplicative degradation model of a speckle-corrupted ultrasound image g(i,j) in the spatial domain is given by g(i,j) = v(i,j)s(i,j)(1) where v(i,j) and s(i,j) denote the noise-free image and the speckle noise, respectively. This model of the noisy observation of v(i,j) can be additively decomposed as a noise-free signal component and a signal-dependant noise: g(i,j) = v(i,j) + (s(i,j) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1)v(i,j) = v(i,j) + u(i,j)(2) where (s(i,j) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1)v(i,j) represents the signal-dependant noise. Taking the curvelet transform of (2) at level l, we have y[l,d](i,j) = x[l,d](i,j) + n[l,d](i,j)(3) where y[l,d](i,j), x[l,d](i,j) and n[l,d](i,j) denote, respectively, the (i,j)th curvelet coefficient of the observed image, the corresponding noise free image and the corresponding additive signal-dependant noise at direction d= 1,2,3, ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ·,D. In order to simplify the notation, we will henceforth drop both the superscripts land dand the index (i,j). In this work, in order to reduce the noise inherited in ultrasound images, we propose exploiting the statistical characteristics of the curvelet coefficients in (3) to derive an efficient Bayesian estimator. Thus, one needs to provide a prior probabilistic model for the curvelet coefficients of xand n. It has been shown that the distribution of the curvelet coefficients of noise-free images can be suitably modeled by the Cauchy distribution [9]. The zero-mean Cauchy distribution is given by px(x) = (ÃŽÂ ³/à Ã¢â€š ¬)(x2 + ÃŽÂ ³2)(4) where ÃŽÂ ³is the dispersion parameter. The noisy observation is used to estimate the Cauchy distribution parameter ÃŽÂ ³by minimizing the function 2   Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  yyt (t) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬  (t) eà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ dt(5) where à Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  y(t) is the empirical characteristic function corresponding to the curvelet coefficients yof 22 the noisy observation, à Ã¢â‚¬  y(t) = à Ã¢â‚¬  x(t)à Ã¢â‚¬  E(t), à Ã¢â‚¬  x(t) = eà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ³|t|, and à Ã¢â‚¬  E(t) = eà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢(à Ã†â€™Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½/2)|t| deviation à Ã†â€™Eobtained as with the standard à Ã†â€™E= MAD(y(i,j)) 0.6745 (6) In (6), MAD denotes the median absolute deviation operation. Now, in order to formulate the  Bayesian estimator, a prior statistical assumption for the curvelet coefficients of nof the signal dependant noise should also be assumed. From experimental observation, it is noticed that the tail  part of the empirical distribution of ndecays at a low rate. Hence, in this paper, we propose to use  a two-sided exponential (TSE) distribution given by 1 pn(n) =eà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢|n|/ÃŽÂ ² 2ÃŽÂ ² (7) where ÃŽÂ ²is a positive real constant referred to as the scale parameter. The method of log-cummulants  (MoLC) is adopted to estimate the parameter ÃŽÂ ², and thus the estimated ÃŽÂ ²Ãƒâ€¹Ã…“ is obtained by using the  following expression: ÃŽÂ ²Ãƒâ€¹Ã…“ = exp 1N1  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   N2 log(y(i,j))+ ÃŽÂ ¾ (8) N1N2 i=1j=1 where ÃŽÂ ¾is the Euler-Mascheroni constant and N1 and N2 defi ne the size N1 ÃÆ'-N2 of the curvelet  subband considered. Bayesian Estimator Due to the fact that each of the Cauchy and TSE distributions has only one parameter, one could expect the process of Bayesian estimation to be of lower complexity. The values of the Bayes estimates xˆ  of the noise-free curvelet coefficients xof a subband under the quadratic loss function, which minimizes the mean square error (MSE), are given by the shrinkage function: xˆ (y) =px|y(x|y)xdx P pn(yà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢x)px(x)xdx =P p(yà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢x)p(x) (9) It is noted that a closed-form expression for xˆ (y) given by the above equation does not exist. Thus, in order to obtain the Bayesian estimates for the noise-free curvelet coefficients, the two integrations associated with (9) are numerically performed for each curvelet coefficient. Since this procedure requires an excessive computational effort, the bayseian estimates are obtained by replacing the associated integrals in (9) with infi nite series as suggested in [10]. Accordingly, the Bayesian shrinkage function can be expressed as eà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y/ÃŽÂ ²[f (y)ÃŽÂ ¶] + ey/ÃŽÂ ²[ f(y) + ÃŽÂ ¶] xˆ (y) =(10) eà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y/ÃŽÂ ²[f21(y) + ÃŽÂ ¶2] + ey/ÃŽÂ ²[à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢f22(y) + ÃŽÂ ¶2] where f11(y) = f12 (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y) = sin(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) Im E( à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y+ jÃŽÂ ³)à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Si(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) + à Ã¢â€š ¬ 1ÃŽÂ ²2 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y+jÃŽÂ ³ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢cos(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²)   Re   E1(ÃŽÂ ² + Ci(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) ,(11) f(y) = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢f 1à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y+ jÃŽÂ ³ (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y) = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ sin(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) Re E()+ Ci(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) 2122ÃŽÂ ³1ÃŽÂ ² 1à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢y+jÃŽÂ ³Ãƒ Ã¢â€š ¬ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ³cos(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²)   Im   E1(ÃŽÂ ² à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Si(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) + 2 ,(12) ÃŽÂ ¶1 = lim f12 yà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ (y) = sin(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Si(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) + à Ã¢â€š ¬ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢cos(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²)Ci(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²), and(13) ÃŽÂ ¶= lim f 11 (y) =sin(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²)Ci(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) +cos(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) à Ã¢â€š ¬ Si(ÃŽÂ ³/ÃŽÂ ²) + (14) 222 yà ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ In the equations above, j= à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡Ãƒ ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1, Im{ ·}and Re{ ·}are the imaginary and real parts, respectively, of a complex argument, and E1( ·), Si( ·) and Ci( ·) are, respectively, the exponential, sine and cosine  integral functions obtained as in [10]. Experimental Results Extensive experimentations are carried out in order to study the performance of the proposed despeckling scheme. The results are compared with those of other existing despeckling schemes that use improved-Lee fi ltering [2], adaptive-wavelet shrinkage [6], and contourlet thresholding [7]. Performance evaluation of the various despeckling schemes is conducted on synthetically-speckled and real ultrasound images. In the implementation of the proposed speckling scheme, the 5-level decomposition of the curvelet transform is applied. From the experimental observation, applying a higher level of decomposition of the curvelet transform does not lead to any improvement in the despeckling performance. Since the curvelet transform is a shift-variant transform, the cycle spinning [11] is performed on the observed noisy image to avoid any possible pseudo-Gibbs artifacts in the neighborhood of discontinuities. In the proposed despeckling scheme, only the detail curvelet coefficients are despec kled using the Bayesian shrinkage function in (10). The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) is used as a quantitative measure to assess the despeckling performance of the various schemes when applied on synthetically-speckled images. Table I gives the PSNR values obtained when applying the various schemes on two synthetically-speckled images of size 512ÃÆ'-512, namely, Lenaand Boat. It is obviously seen from this table that, in all cases, the proposed despeckling scheme provides higher values of PSNR compared to that provided by the other schemes. To have a better insight on the despeckling performance of the various schemes, the results in Table 1 are visualized in Figure 1. It is obvious from this fi gure that the superiority of the proposed scheme over the other schemes is more evident when a higher level of speckle noise is introduced to the test images. In order to study the performances of the various despeckling schemes on real ultrasound images, two images obtained from [12] and shown in Figure 2 are used. Since the noise-fr ee images cannot be made available, one can only give a subjective evaluation of the performance of the various despeckling schemes. From Figure 2, it is clearly seen that the schemes in [2] and [6] provide despeckled images that suffer from the presence of visually noticeable speckle noise. On the other hand, the scheme in [7] severely over-smooth the noisy images thus providing despeckled images in which some of the texture details are lost. However, the proposed despeckling scheme results in images with not only a signifi cant reduction in the speckle noise but also a good preservation of the textures of the original images. Table 1: The PSNR values obtained when applying the various despeckling schemes on Lenaand Boatimages contaminated by speckle noise at different levels. 34 [2] 32[6] 30[7] Proposed 28 26 24 22 20 18 0.10.20.30.40.50.71 Standard deviation of noise (a) 32 [2] 30[6] 28[7] Proposed 26 24 22 20 18 16 0.10.20.30.40.50.71 Standard deviation of noise (b) Fig. 1: Quantitative comparison between the various despeckling schemes in terms of PSNR values: (a) Lenaimage; (b) Boatimage. Conclusion In this paper, a new curvelet-based scheme for suppressing the speckle noise in ultrasound images has been developed in the framework of Bayesian estimation. The observed ultrasound image is fi rst additively decomposed into noise-free and signal-dependant noise components. The Cauchy and twosided exponential distributions have been used as probabilistic models for the curvelet coefficients of the noise-free and signal-dependant noise components, respectively, of the ultrasound image. The proposed probabilistic models of the curvelet coefficients of an observed ultrasound image has been employed to formulate a Bayesian shrinkage function in order to obtain the estimates of the noise-free curvelet coefficients. A low-complexity realization of this shrinkage function has been employed. Experiments have been carried out on both synthetically-speckled and real ultrasound images in order to demonstrate the performance of the proposed despeckling scheme. In comparison with some other ex isting despeckling schemes, the results have shown that the proposed scheme provides higher PSNR values and gives well-despeckled images with better diagnostic details. (b) (c)(d)(e)(f) (g)(h)(i)(j) Fig. 2: Qualitative comparison between the various despeckling schemes. (a)(b) Noisy ultrasound images. Despeckled images obtained by applying the schemes in (c)(g) [2] ,(d)(h) [6] ,(e)(i) [7] and (f)(j) the proposed scheme. References Dhawan, A.P.: Medical image analysis. Volume 31. John Wiley Sons (2011) Loupas, T., McDicken, W., Allan, P.:   An adaptive weighted median fi lter for speckle suppression in medical ultrasonic images. IEEE transactions on Circuits and Systems 36(1) (1989) 129-135 Coup ´e, P., Hellier, P., Kervrann, C., Barillot, C.: Nonlocal means-based speckle fi ltering for ultrasound images. IEEE transactions on image processing 18(10) (2009) 2221-2229 Sridhar, B., Reddy, K., Prasad, A.: An unsupervisory qualitative image enhancement using adaptive morphological bilateral fi lter for medical images. International Journal of Computer Applications 10(2i) (2014) 1 Abd-Elmoniem, K.Z., Youssef, A.B., Kadah, Y.M.: Real-time speckle reduction and coherence enhancement in ultrasound imaging via nonlinear anisotropic diffusion. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 49(9) (2002) 997-1014 Swamy, M., Bhuiyan, M., Ahmad, M.: Spatially adaptive thresholding in wavelet domain for despeckling of ultrasound images. IET Image Process 3(3) (2009) 147-162 Hiremath, P., Akkasaligar, P.T., Badiger, S.: Speckle reducing contourlet transform for medical ultrasound images. Int J Compt Inf Engg 4(4) (2010) 284-291 Jian, Z., Yu, Z., Yu, L., Rao, B., Chen, Z., Tromberg, B.J.: Speckle attenuation in optical coherence tomography by curvelet shrinkage. Optics letters 34(10) (2009) 1516-1518 Deng, C., Wang, S., Sun, H., Cao, H.: Multiplicative spread spectrum watermarks detection performance analysis in curvelet domain. In: 2009 International Conference on E-Business and Information System Security. (2009) Damseh, R.R., Ahmad, M.O.: A low-complexity mmse bayesian estimator for suppression of speckle in sar images. In: Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), 2016 IEEE International Symposium on, IEEE (2016) 1002-1005 Temizel, A., Vlachos, T., Visioprime, W.: Wavelet domain image resolution enhancement using cycle-spinning. Electronics Letters 41(3) (2005) 119-121 Siemens   Healthineers:   https://www.healthcare.siemens.com/ultrasound. Accessed:   2017-01-06.

Civil Disobedience: Are We Morally Obliged to Obey Unjust Laws? Essay

Are we morally obliged to obey even unjust laws? This moral question addresses what we commonly know as civil disobedience. In order to properly discuss civil disobedience and whether or not it is moral to disobey laws, we must first characterize civil disobedience. In Peter Singer's book, Practical Ethics he begins to characterize civil disobedience as arising from "ethical disagreement" and raising the question of whether "to uphold the law, even if the law protects and sanctions things we hold utterly wrong?" (Singer 292). Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay entitled Civil Disobedience that was published in 1854 in the collection of essays called Walden; or Life in the Woods. Thoreau first wrote of civil disobedience in opposition to the Mexican War, but his words still hold truth and meaning for us today. In Civil Disobedience Thoreau explains his ideas about government and whether or not we should obey laws that do not appear to the individual to be moral. Thoreau recognizes that there can be abuse to government, and simply because something is passed as law, does not make it right. He says: The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it (Thoreau 1). With civil disobedience, we are discussing government and the law, and if we should uphold laws, even when they are not morally right and how, if we are to go against the law, should we do that? We should not have to obey laws that are unjust, but we also must look at each individual instance where injustice is occurring and carefully determine how to act. Civil disobedience must remain civil and not become violent. If disobedi... ...ly enough said, that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience. Law never made a man a whit more just; and by means of respect for it, even the well disposed are made the agents of injustice (Thoreau 2). Violence is hard to justify when discussing civil disobedience. The whole idea behind civil disobedience is that it is a way to bring attention to an injustice without causing harm to others. Bibliography # Singer, Peter.Practical Ethics. Second Edition. Cambridge University Press. 1993. # Thoreau, Henry David.Civil Disobedience and Other Essays. Dover Publications, Inc. Dover Thrift Editions. 1993 # The Sevagram Ashram. http://www.mkgandhi.org/sevagram/default.htm # People v Pitts. Michigan No. 186260. LC No. 95-003317. 1997. http://www.milawyersweekly.com/micoa/186260.HTM

Feminist Issues in The Handmaids Tale Essay -- Feminism Feminist Wome

Feminist Issues in The Handmaid's Tale      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood, can be classified as a distopic novel. The Republic of Gilead in The Handmaids Tale is characteristic of a distopia in that it is not intended as a prediction of the future of our society, but rather as a commentary on current social trends. Atwood has created this nation by isolating what she might consider the disturbing aspects of two diametrically opposed factions of our society (namely the religious right and radical feminism) as a theory as to what would happen if these ideals were taken to an extreme. Because she points out similarities in the thoughts and actions of the extreme religious right and certain parts of the feminist movement, some critics have labeled The Handmaid's Tale as anti-feminist. I would like to discuss the specific parts of the novel that lead to this opinion, and then discuss whether I believe this novel was intended as or can be seen as an attack on feminism.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The issue of pornography is one of the most significant in the Republic of Gilead. Pornography has become illegal and is used as a generalized illustration of the many perceived societal problems before the theocracy gained power. While receiving training at the hands of the Aunts the handmaids are repeatedly shown violent pornographic videos to demonstrate how much better off women are in this time as opposed to previously. Offred's experience of watching these videos is intertwined with her memories of her mother and her participation in anti-pornography riots and magazine burnings.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By placing these instances side by side Atwood shows that pornography is a point at which two extremes of society (here feminist and religio... ...feminism. By taking this view we can see that Offred could be considered a feminist and that people involved in women's right's movements over changing times may come to represent completely different values than they did originally (which explains the occasional overlap of feminist and religious movements, assuming that religious ideals are static). Freedom from subjugation is at the heart of all feminist movements, regardless of what form they take.    References Leavitt, JW, Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America, 1750-1950. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1986. Moore, Pamela, Atwood, Margaret: The Handmaid's Tale. Boston, MS: Houghton Mifflin, 1986. Wertz RW, Wertz DC, Lying-In: A History of Childbirth in America. New York, NY: Free Press, 1977. www.wsu.edu:8000/~brains/science_fiction/handmaid.html www.med.upenn.edu   

The Theme of Alcestis :: Alcestis

The Theme of Alcestis      Ã‚  Ã‚   Alcestis by Euripides is distinct from other Greek Tragedy, due to its fairy tale origins. It was the fourth play in a set and would therefore have taken the place of a satyr-play. Satyr-plays were usually a light, comic play used as a form of relief from the previous heavy tragedies. The play has its comic elements, Heracles and Death playing the main comic figures but is there a more serious meaning hidden within the comedy? Philip Vellacott in his introduction to a collection of Euripides' plays, states that the main theme of the play is the "unequal relationship of man to woman." He believes this theme to be a reading of the play that would not be accessible to spectators who watched the play purely for enjoyment, but would be found by those capable of serious reflection. Did Euripides foresee such a reading of the play and is there enough evidence to support such a view?    In the play, the experience of man and woman do appear to be set up against each other. On the one hand there is Admetus and the chorus of the citizens of Pherae and on the other, there is Alcestis aligned with other second-class citizens, the servants. The chorus sympathise almost exclusively with Admetus and the servants with Alcestis. The servants and Alcestis are associated with each other from line 192:    "She took each one by the hand, and spoke to each...even the humblest."    Alcestis shows how she cared for the servants by being so thoughtful during her suffering. Later in the play another servant hails Alcestis as a mother figure. With such a bond between them, the servants see things from Alcestis' point of view. In telling the chorus the events of the day, the servant speaks entirely with sympathy for Alcestis, recalls what she has said and done and how she is becoming weaker and weaker. The servant does not mention Admetus until the chorus pointedly ask about him. In her reply the servant shows how Admetus is coping with the situation. Line 200: "Oh, yes, he weeps...Beseeching her not to desert him."    Here the irony of the situation is recognised by the servant.

Chapter 33 The Death Eaters

Voldemort looked away from Harry and began examining his own body. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face; the red eyes, whose pupils were slits, like a cats, gleamed still more brightly through the darkness. He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. He took not the slightest notice of Wormtail, who lay twitching and bleeding on the ground, nor of the great snake, which had slithered back into sight and was circling Harry again, hissing. Voldemort slipped one of those unnaturally long-fingered hands into a deep pocket and drew out a wand. He caressed it gently too; and then he raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where Harry was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying. Voldemort turned his scarlet eyes upon Harry, laughing a high, cold, mirthless laugh. Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them. â€Å"My Lord†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he choked, â€Å"my Lord†¦you promised†¦you did promise†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hold out your arm,† said Voldemort lazily. â€Å"Oh Master†¦thank you, Master†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed again. â€Å"The other arm, Wormtail.† â€Å"Master, please†¦please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Voldemort bent down and pulled out Wormtail's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Wormtail's robes up past his elbow, and Harry saw something upon the skin there, something like a vivid red tattoo – a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth – the image that had appeared in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup: the Dark Mark. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Wormtail's uncontrollable weeping. â€Å"It is back,† he said softly, â€Å"they will all have noticed it†¦and now, we shall see†¦now we shall know†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He pressed his long white forefinger to the brand on Wormtail's arm. The scar on Harry's forehead seared with a sharp pain again, and Wormtail let out a fresh howl; Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail's mark, and Harry saw that it had turned jet black. A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard. â€Å"How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?† he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. â€Å"And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?† He began to pace up and down before Harry and Wormtail, eyes sweeping the graveyard all the while. After a minute or so, he looked down at Harry again, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face. â€Å"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father,† he hissed softly. â€Å"A Muggle and a fool†¦very like your dear mother. But they both had their uses, did they not? Your mother died to defend you as a child†¦and I killed my father, and see how useful he has proved himself, in death†¦.† Voldemort laughed again. Up and down he paced, looking all around him as he walked, and the snake continued to circle in the grass. â€Å"You see that house upon the hillside, Potter? My father lived there. My mother, a witch who lived here in this village, fell in love with him. But he abandoned her when she told him what she was†¦.He didn't like magic, my father†¦ â€Å"He left her and returned to his Muggle parents before I was even born. Potter, and she died giving birth to me, leaving me to be raised in a Muggle orphanage†¦but I vowed to find him†¦I revenged myself upon him, that fool who gave me his name†¦Tom Riddle†¦.† Still he paced, his red eyes darting from grave to grave. â€Å"Listen to me, reliving family history†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he said quietly, â€Å"why, I am growing quite sentimental†¦.But look, Harry! My true family returns†¦.† The air was suddenly full of the swishing of cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy space, wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and masked. And one by one they moved forward†¦slowly, cautiously, as though they could hardly believe their eyes Voldemort stood in silence, waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, crawled toward Voldemort and kissed the hem of his black robes. â€Å"Master†¦Master†¦Ã¢â‚¬  he murmured. The Death Eaters behind him did the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his robes, before backing away and standing up, forming a silent circle, which enclosed Tom Riddle's grave, Harry, Voldemort, and the sobbing and twitching heap that was Wormtail. Yet they left gaps in the circle, as though waiting for more people. Voldemort, however, did not seem to expect more. He looked around at the hooded faces, and though there was no wind rustling seemed to run around the circle, as though it had shivered. â€Å"Welcome, Death Eaters,† said Voldemort quietly. â€Å"Thirteen years†¦thirteen years since last we met. Yet you answer my call as though it were yesterday, we are still united under the Dark Mark, then! Or are we?† He put back his terrible face and sniffed, his slit-like nostrils widening. â€Å"I smell guilt,† he said. â€Å"There is a stench or guilt upon the air. A second shiver ran around the circle, as though each member of it longed, but did not dare to step back from him. â€Å"I see you all, whole and healthy, with your powers intact – such prompt appearances! and I ask myself†¦why did this band of wizards never come to the aid of their master, to whom they swore eternal loyalty?† No one spoke. No one moved except Wormtail, who was upon the ground, still sobbing over his bleeding arm. â€Å"And I answer myself,† whispered Voldemort, â€Å"they must have believed me broken, they thought I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment †¦. â€Å"And then I ask myself, but how could they have believed I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living? â€Å"And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort†¦perhaps they now pay allegiance to another†¦perhaps that champion of commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?† At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred, and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them. â€Å"It is a disappointment to me†¦I confess myself disappointed†¦.† One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle. Trembling from head to foot, he collapsed at Voldemort's feet. â€Å"Master!† he shrieked, â€Å"Master, forgive me! Forgive us all!† Voldemort began to laugh. He raised his wand. â€Å"Crucio!† The Death Eater on the ground writhed and shrieked; Harry was sure the sound must carry to the houses around†¦.Let the police come, he thought desperately†¦anyone†¦anything†¦ Voldemort raised his wand. The tortured Death Eater lay flat upon the ground, gasping. â€Å"Get up, Avery,† said Voldemort softly. â€Å"Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? I do not forgive. I do not forget. Thirteen long years†¦I want thirteen years' repayment before I forgive you. Wormtail here has paid some of his debt already, have you not, Wormtail?† He looked down at Wormtail, who continued to sob. â€Å"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?† â€Å"Yes, Master,† moaned Wormtail, â€Å"please. Master†¦please†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yet you helped return me to my body,† said Voldemort coolly, watching Wormtail sob on the ground. â€Å"Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me†¦and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers†¦.† Voldemort raised his wand again and whirled it through the air. A streak of what looked like molten silver hung shining in the wand's wake. Momentarily shapeless, it writhed and then formed itself into a gleaming replica of a human hand, bright as moonlight, which soared downward and fixed itself upon Wormtail's bleeding wrist. Wormtail's sobbing stopped abruptly. His breathing harsh and ragged, he raised his head and stared in disbelief at the silver hand, now attached seamlessly to his arm, as though he were wearing a dazzling glove. He flexed the shining fingers, then, trembling, picked up a small twig on the ground and crushed it into powder. â€Å"My Lord,† he whispered. â€Å"Master†¦it is beautiful†¦thank you†¦thank you†¦.† He scrambled forward on his knees and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes. â€Å"May your loyalty never waver again, Wormtail,† said Voldemort. â€Å"No, my Lord†¦never, my Lord†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Wormtail stood up and took his place in the circle, staring at his powerful new hand, his face still shining with tears. Voldemort now approached the man on Wormtail's right. â€Å"Lucius, my slippery friend,† he whispered, halting before him. â€Å"I am told that you have not renounced the old ways, though to the world you present a respectable face. You are still ready to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture, I believe? Yet you never tried to find me, Lucius†¦.Your exploits at the Quidditch World Cup were fun, I daresay†¦but might not your energies have been better directed toward finding and aiding your master?† â€Å"My Lord, I was constantly on the alert,† came Lucius Malfoy's voice swiftly from beneath the hood. â€Å"Had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me -â€Å" â€Å"And yet you ran from my Mark, when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer?† said Voldemort lazily, and Mr. Malfoy stopped talking abruptly. â€Å"Yes, I know all about that, Lucius†¦.You have disappointed me†¦.I expect more faithful service in the future.† â€Å"Of course, my Lord, of course†¦.You are merciful, thank you†¦.† Voldemort moved on, and stopped, staring at the space – large enough for two people – that separated Malfoy and the next man. â€Å"The Lestranges should stand here,† said Voldemort quietly. â€Å"But they are entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me†¦.When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honored beyond their dreams. The dementors will join us†¦they are our natural allies†¦we will recall the banished giants†¦I shall have all my devoted servants returned to me, and an army of creatures whom all fear†¦.† He walked on. Some of the Death Eaters he passed in silence, but he paused before others and spoke to them. â€Å"Macnair†¦destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now, Wormtail tells me? You shall have better victims than that soon, Macnair. Lord Voldemort will provide†¦.† â€Å"Thank you, Master†¦thank you,† murmured Macnair. â€Å"And here† – Voldemort moved on to the two largest hooded figures – â€Å"we have Crabbe†¦you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you, Goyle?† They bowed clumsily, muttering dully. â€Å"Yes, Master†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"We will, Master†¦.† â€Å"The same goes for you, Nott,† said Voldemort quietly as he walked past a stooped figure in Mr. Goyles shadow. â€Å"My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful -â€Å" â€Å"That will do,† said Voldemort. He had reached the largest gap of all, and he stood surveying it with his blank, red eyes, as though he could see people standing there. â€Å"And here we have six missing Death Eaters†¦three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return†¦he will pay. One, who I believe has left me forever†¦he will be killed, of course†¦and one, who remains my most faithful servant, and who has already reentered my service.† The Death Eaters stirred, and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks. â€Å"He is at Hogwarts, that faithful servant, and it was through his efforts that our young friend arrived here tonight†¦. â€Å"Yes,† said Voldemort, a grin curling his lipless mouth as the eyes of the circle flashed in Harry's direction. â€Å"Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honor.† There was a silence. Then the Death Eater to the right of Wormtail stepped forward, and Lucius Malfoy's voice spoke from under the mask. â€Å"Master, we crave to know†¦we beg you to tell us†¦how you have achieved this†¦this miracle†¦how you managed to return to us†¦.† â€Å"Ah, what a story it is, Lucius,† said Voldemort. â€Å"And it begins – and ends – with my young friend here.† He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry, so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle. â€Å"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?† Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that he almost screamed in agony. â€Å"You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him – and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen†¦.I could not touch the boy.† Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harry's cheek. â€Å"His mother left upon him the traces other sacrifice†¦.This is old magic, I should have remembered it, I was foolish to overlook it†¦but no matter. I can touch him now.† Harry felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch him, and thought his head would burst with the pain. Voldemort laughed softly in his ear, then took the finger away and continued addressing the Death Eaters. â€Å"I miscalculated, my friends, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself. Aaah†¦pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost†¦but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know†¦I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal – to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked†¦for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive, and without the means to help myself†¦for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of a wand†¦. â€Å"I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second, to exist†¦.I settled in a faraway place, in a forest, and I waited†¦.Surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me†¦one of them would come and perform the magic I could not, to restore me to a body†¦, but I waited in vain†¦.† The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing. â€Å"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals – snakes, of course, being my preference – but I was little better off inside them than as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic†¦and my possession of them shortened their lives; none of them lasted long†¦. â€Å"Then†¦four years ago†¦the means for my return seemed assured. A wizard – young, foolish, and gullible – wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of†¦for he was a teacher at Dumbledore's school†¦he was easy to bend to my will†¦he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. I was not to be assured immortal life. I was thwarted†¦thwarted, once again, by Harry Potter†¦.† Silence once more; nothing was stirring, not even the leaves on the yew tree. The Death Eaters were quite motionless, the glittering eyes in their masks fixed upon Voldemort, and upon Harry. â€Å"The servant died when I left his body, and I was left as weak as ever I had been,† Voldemort continued. â€Å"I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers†¦.Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour†¦I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess†¦and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters cared what had become of me†¦.† One or two of the masked wizards in the circle moved uncomfortably, but Voldemort took no notice. â€Å"And then, not even a year ago, when I had almost abandoned hope, it happened at last†¦a servant returned to me. Wormtail here, who had faked his own death to escape justice, was driven out of hiding by those he had once counted friends, and decided to return to his master. He sought me in the country where it had long been rumored I was hiding†¦helped, of course, by the rats he met along the way. Wormtail has a curious affinity with rats, do you not, Wormtail? His filthy little friends told him there was a place, deep in an Albanian forest, that they avoided, where small animals like themselves had met their deaths by a dark shadow that possessed them†¦. â€Å"But his journey back to me was not smooth, was it, Wormtail? For, hungry one night, on the edge of the very forest where he had hoped to find me, he foolishly stopped at an inn for some food†¦and who should he meet there, but one Bertha Jorkins, a witch from the Ministry of Magic. â€Å"Now see the way that fate favors Lord Voldemort. This might have been the end of Wormtail, and of my last hope for regeneration. But Wormtail – displaying a presence of mind I would never have expected from him – convinced Bertha Jorkins to accompany him on a nighttime stroll. He overpowered her†¦he brought her to me. And Bertha Jorkins, who might have ruined all, proved instead to be a gift beyond my wildest dreams†¦for – with a little persuasion – she became a veritable mine of information. â€Å"She told me that the Triwizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. She told me many things†¦but the means I used to break the Memory Charm upon her were powerful, and when I had extracted all useful information from her, her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. She had now served her purpose. I could not possess her. I disposed of her.† Voldemort smiled his terrible smile, his red eyes blank and pitiless. â€Å"Wormtail's body, of course, was ill adapted for possession, as all assumed him dead, and would attract far too much attention if noticed. However, he was the able-bodied servant I needed, and, poor wizard though he is, Wormtail was able to follow the instructions I gave him, which would return me to a rudimentary, weak body of my own, a body I would be able to inhabit while awaiting the essential ingredients for true rebirth†¦a spell or two of my own invention†¦a little help from my dear Nagini,† Voldemort's red eyes fell upon the continually circling snake, â€Å"a potion concocted from unicorn blood, and the snake venom Nagini provided†¦I was soon returned to an almost human form, and strong enough to travel. â€Å"There was no hope of stealing the Sorcerer's Stone anymore, for I knew that Dumbledore would have seen to it that it was destroyed. But I was willing to embrace mortal life again, before chasing immortality. I set my sights lower†¦I would settle for my old body back again, and my old strength. â€Å"I knew that to achieve this – it is an old piece of Dark Magic, the potion that revived me tonight – I would need three powerful ingredients. Well, one of them was already at hand, was it not, Wormtail? Flesh given by a servant†¦. â€Å"My father's bone, naturally, meant that we would have to come here, where he was buried. But the blood of a foe†¦Wormtail would have had me use any wizard, would you not, Wormtail? Any wizard who had hated me†¦as so many of them still do. But I knew the one I must use, if I was to rise again, more powerful than I had been when I had fallen. I wanted Harry Potters blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago†¦for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too†¦. â€Å"But how to get at Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows, protected in ways devised by Dumbledore long ago, when it fell to him to arrange the boy's future. Dumbledore invoked an ancient magic, to ensure the boy's protection as long as he is in his relations' care. Not even I can touch him there†¦.Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup†¦.I thought his protection might be weaker there, away from his relations and Dumbledore, but I was not yet strong enough to attempt kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards. And then, the boy would return to Hogwarts, where he is under the crooked nose of that Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So how could I take him? â€Å"Why†¦by using Bertha Jorkins's information, of course. Use my one faithful Death Eater, stationed at Hogwarts, to ensure that the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire. Use my Death Eater to ensure that the boy won the tournament – that he touched the Triwizard Cup first – the cup which my Death Eater had turned into a Portkey, which would bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection, and into my waiting arms. And here he is†¦the boy you all believed had been my downfall†¦.† Voldemort moved slowly forward and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand. â€Å"Crucio!† It was pain beyond anything Harry had ever experienced; his very bones were on fire; his head was surely splitting along his scar; his eyes were rolling madly in his head; he wanted it to end†¦to black out†¦to die†¦ And then it was gone. He was hanging limply in the ropes binding him to the headstone of Voldemort's father, looking up into those bright red eyes through a kind of mist. The night was ringing with the sound of the Death Eaters' laughter. â€Å"You see, I think, how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me,† said Voldemort. â€Å"But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance. And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, when there is no Dumbledore to help him, and no mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger. Just a little longer, Nagini,† he whispered, and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching. â€Å"Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand.†