Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Advantages and Disadvantages Of A Market Economy. Essay Example For Students

The Advantages and Disadvantages Of A Market Economy. Essay The Advantages and Disadvantages Of A Market Economy. 27/9/96 Command and Market economies Neil SamtaniWhen considering the advantages and disadvantages of command and marketeconomies, you may notice that they are usually straight forward, yet, bothadvantages and disadvantages may merge at times, resulting in an unclear issue,that could be debatable whether it is for the good of the society, or for thegovernment. Therefore, what I am trying to say, is that no matter how hard youtry, it is always impossible to debate on which economic system is better. Bothhave their good points and their bad, but, each is aimed towards a communitythat will make use of it. This community has usually got a majority of peopleeither rich or poor, and, social class usually effects the way people may choosetheir government. In a market economy, the advantages are normally aimed towards themiddle/upper class in a community. This is why we normally find them in richercommunities (i.e. England, USA). The concept of a market economy is to allowpeople to get through life by themselves. Government usually does little tochange the economy, and, the control is given to the people with the money, or,rather, the people with the businesses. The main people in such an economy areusually the consumers, the producers, the owners of private property, and, thegovernment. These are the people with the power. The whole system revolvesaround private gain rather than the interests of everyone in a community. Sincethe rich are in control of the economy, their decisions result in the richgetting richer and the poor getting poorer. This is a perfect example of what Imentioned before, which is the way that you can not categorise all statements. This would be an advantage for the rich, but, a disadvantage for the poor. However, governments may also affect the situation, resulting in the richgetting richer, and, the poor managing to stay alive. The entire idea of the market economy is freedom. The freedom for peopleto do what they want, make what they want, and, sell what they want (to acertain extent). This can also be described as being able to decide WHAT isgoing to be produced (what products), HOW it is going to be produced(organisation, etc.) and FOR WHOM it is going to be produced. This is definitelyan advantage, as freedom and rights are allowed. Besides this, the norm is thatyoure wage is affected by the amount you work. The harder a person works, themore you would expect to get paid. This is another advantage, since people arepaid by the amount they work : a lot of work results in a high outcome, and ahigh income for the person. This is an incentive to work too, since, the pointstated previously can affect a person negatively, since, not enough work canresult in pay cuts or, even job losses. Since the economy is controlled by the rich, a problem that is bound tooccur is the economic growth rates increasing and decreasing. This can result inpeople either spending a lot of money (ending up with more people beingemployed) , and, people not spending a lot of money (ending up with people beingfired, to save money). This means that there is little job security, which isone of the disadvantages we are facing today. This means that not working hardcan result in no source of income. However, since the economic growth changes somuch, nothing can be certain. You can be rich one moment, and bankrupt the next. .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 , .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .postImageUrl , .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 , .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:hover , .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:visited , .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:active { border:0!important; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:active , .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258 .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u77da3d3a8486f965a17a1ef7de160258:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: From Dirt to Duchess EssayThis also means that a man willing to work can not have a job, and below thepoverty line, which is another disadvantage. There are not always enough jobs toaccommodate the people with the ability to work. Advantages DisadvantagesEveryone has rights and freedom to build what they wwant, sell what theywant, and buy what they canafford.Poor people can not necessarily affordmuch. Since there is little government interaction with the community, thepeople have to manage to live without their help. It is usually possible to increase living standards by increasing yourlevel of work, or your quality of it.The economy is controlled by the rich,and, therefore the richhave the power. Their decisions would always be to getthemselves richer, and, that makes the poor poorer. There are strong incentives built into the system to innovate andproduce high quality goods (high quality goods = higher income, low qualitygoods = lower income / unemployment)Since the economy is controlled by thepeople, stable growth is is very difficult. This can result in job losses, dueto a the economic cycle.(boom followed by bust) This result in low job security. Free markets provide choice for the incentives to innovate, and theeconomy to grow.There are bound to be losses. Since job security is low, andthe economy can not always be predicted, bankruptcy is and poverty can creep upon anyone.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Causes and Correlates of Adolescent Drug

Question: Discuss about the Causes and Correlates of Adolescent Drug. Answer: Introduction: Experimentation with illicit drugs and substance use is common among youth population. This is the most common reason for early onset of drugs which exposes youth to developmental harm and risk of developing mental health problems. Early onset of drug is also associated with depression, anxiety, psychosis and educational under achievement among youth population. Due to such harm and health risk to youth population, it is necessary to evaluate how far policies and programs implemented for preventing early drug onset among youths have mitigated different risk factors of drug abuse (Modesto-Lowe et al. 2008). The essay particularly evaluates the effectives of this program and preventive strategies to identify strength and weakness in approach. Based on this evaluation, it recommends possible steps to improve current strategies to delay the onset of drugs. Preventative strategies for youth drug onset: Educational programs: As there is emphasis on early intervention to reduce the cost and harm associated with early drug onset among youths, it is necessary to evaluate education programs implemented for youths in Australia. The review of such school based educational programs for preventing alcohol and other drugs revealed that the school-based program has harm minimization goal and it mainly employed the principle of social influence approach or cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). By this approach, youth were taught to resist external pressure and strengthen their coping skills. CBT helped to analyse and modify the negative thinking pattern and behavior of school children. The CLIMATE program for alcohol and cannabis and other programs like SHAHRP, Life Education, Greenhouse project and Resilient Family Intervention gave mixed results. While CLIMATE, SHAHRP and greenhouse projects have significant effect in reducing risk, the other two programs gave no significant results. The main strength of these inter ventions was that the program was implemented by means of a computer-delivery method. This minimized the cost involved in recruiting and training the staffs for education and guaranteed flexible and consistent delivery of information. However, minimum efficacy was found for those schools which had minimum resource for internet based delivery of prevention and where teachers failed to adapt the program according to the needs of particular school (Teesson et al. 2012). Hence, in the future, it is necessary that resource of the school is developed to deliver internet-based educational program to promote efficacy. The key teachings of the educational program should also be supported by evidence (Bonomo and Bowes 2001). As the above evaluation suggested lack of resource regarding computer based program behind the reason for poor outcome of the program, this section particularly evaluates the effectiveness of the universal computer-based Climate School psycho-stimulants and cannabis module. In the randomized controlled study with secondary school children in Australia, students were randomized to computer-based Climate schools program and the usual health classes group. The Climate program was based on social influence approach to harm minimisation. The impact of the Climate Schools program on school children was that they decreased pro-drug attitude due to better awareness about the ill-effects of cannabis and psychostimulants. The frequency of experimentation use of drugs among children significantly reduced which resulted in subdued uptake. In comparison with children who received usual drug education, climate school group children had better used cannabis less often. The advantaged of computer-ba sed delivery was that use of cartoon story raised interest among children and they could recall the information very well. However, one limitation of the Climate School program is that although it reduced childrens intention to use meth/amphetamine among youths, it could not sustain these intention for longer time (Vogl et al. 2014). Hence, to sustain the long-term knowledge and preventive behavior related to early drug onset, it is necessary to continue ongoing intervention in a sequential and regular pattern. The feasibility of the program can be further increased by encouraging children to bring their own laptop to schools. Among all the alcohol education programs implemented in schools, the Climate Schools, All Stars and Project ALERT was most effective in yielding positive results for children. Many other programs lacked efficacy because of poor quality of research and inconsistency in approach. The programs which gave evidence of good effect included revealed use of multiple peer-reviewed publications as the reason for good outcome in such programs (Roche et al. 2014). Similarly, the study regarding primary school drug education in UK indicated that impact cannot be measure as understanding of true effects requires long timescale. Therefore, the study suggested that those programs are successful that are long-term and intensive on their goals and employ interacting teaching styles and wider community to mitigate the early drug use (Lloyd et al. 2000). Hence, the review suggest that most effective alcohol education program is dependent on availability of effective resource such as managing accessibili ty issues and training staffs in efficiently adapting the program in school setting. Furthermore, extension of supportive network is also essential to guarantee the success of the program such as collaboration with families and local community to bring a cultural change and reinforce preventive message not just in schools but at family and community level too. Preventative strategies for youth drug onset: policies: The National Drug Strategy (NDS) is one of the policies regarding the prevention of substance use, risk and harm in Australia. This was a supply reduction and harm reduction strategy to disrupt supply of illicit drugs, prevent uptake of harmful drugs and reduce drug related to harm to people. The National Drug Strategic Framework was implemented in Australia in 2004 which provided a balanced approach to reducing the supply and demand of drugs. Apart from training, monitoring and evaluation, the policy also focussed on research and other measures to prevent the harm associated with drug use (National Drug Strategy - National Drug Strategic Framework 2017). The goal of the national policy was to set an evidence based prevention agenda by means of strategic mapping of system and pathways that are interconnected with risk factors and outcome. The strategy was effective as it dependent on extensive review of scientific literature to implement corrective actions for the community. Extensiv e research was done in all areas related to efficacy of different risk and protection model, cost-effectiveness of alcohol and drug interventions, legal status of drugs, patterns of use in early years and impact on individual and families (Butler 2005). There is strong implication of the efficacy of this policy. The developments and actions mentioned in this policy can guide public level action reducing the harm of drug use among youths. In future, there is a need to invest in early childhood development and maximize human potential to take full advantage of the protection and risk reduction approach to prevention of drugs. Cannabis is one of the drugs highly used by adolescent children and young adults. They intermittently use this drug till the age of 20 for experimentation purpose and very few of them proceed to long-term regular use. Considering the high prevalence of lifetime use among females in between 1995 to 2000, a vigorous campaign was launched to take action against this practice. To distinguish harm reduction as a policy goal, the main criteria was to include harm reduction as a primary goal and to plan strategies that can bring net-reduction in drug-related harm. Some of the issues found in the strategy of harm reduction is that lack of longitudinal research on adverse health effects delayed making causal inferences. Secondly, the irrational policy and drug law reform acted as an obstacle in evaluation of action for explicit harm reduction. This issue is widely found in raising awareness regarding harm reduction for cannabis. The most probable chronic harm of regular use include cannabis d ependence syndrome, cognitive impairment, respiratory distress and the harm related to acute use include psychological impact such as dysphoria, panic attacks and paranoia. As adolescents particularly belong to high-risk group for adverse effect of cannabis, there is a need to consider legal harm of preventive cannabis use among youths (Swift et al. 2000). There is a need to develop a balance between harm reduction approach and acceptable public message so that other issues are not exacerbated. A realistic and flexible approach will help to yield positive results. Recent research findings should also be included in the strategy to reduce the harm related to enhance health and well-being of society. There is great argument regarding the implementation of the harm reduction approach into an adolescent context. This debate exists due to the views on zero tolerance and legalization of certain drugs. Zero tolerance approach is also not ethically correct because abrupt ban or disruption may also harm addicted individual or youths. Zero tolerance promotes complete prohibition of any form of drug use. On the other hand, legalization and decriminalization of drugs involves removing criminal sanction for possession and sale of drugs. Many oppose these two steps as by this means drug use will further increase among youths (Bonomo and Bowes 2001). Harm reduction approach can balance these two extreme issues by means of implementing two forms of strategies. The first may focus on reducing harms among drug users and other may focus on those vulnerable to initiating drug use. For example, educational campaigns related to safely injecting drugs can reduce blood borne infection and educational strategies on social context can educate young children about the risk of this drugs in their development stage. This would be a rational and relevant approach to achieve better response and prevent drug-related harm. Recommendation to improve program or strategies to current program and strategies: The review and evaluation of current program and strategies to delay the age of drug onset presents weakness in approach resulting in poor response or wide issues at public level. Although some programs were found to be highly effective in integrating right resource to reduce the use of drugs, other programs failed due to lack of adequate infrastructure and training in staff regarding implementing the program. This problem was mainly seen in educational program implemented at school level. For instance, Climate school program was highly efficacious in reducing drug related in harm in school children, however poor outcome was seen due to limitations in infrastructure and design of the program. To improve the performance of school-based educational program in reducing risk of drug use, there is a need to specifically target high-risk group adolescents. The advantage of focusing on high-risk group is that it will maximize preventive outcome for high-risk students as well as lead to positive health behaviour in other youths (Teesson et al. 2012). Secondly limitation found from the evaluation of approach was that educational programs and modules were prepared without integration of peer-reviewed intervention strategies to prevent drug use. This resulted in poor quality of prevention programs resulting in poor or moderate outcome. Hence, extensive research is required while preparing educational modules so that evidence based public intervention is delivered and the program has the potential to improve health behaviour in long-term too (Jenson and Fraser 2015). Improvement in primary prevention strategies for drug prevention is also necessary so and it should be based on theoretical foundation for prevention. For example, while designing educational programs, social determinants, risk and protective factors of health should be adequately covered (Munro and Ramsden, 2017). There are various public health system model available and selecting of these models should depend on the setting, context and severity of drug use issue in target group. Community based approach is necessary so that not just youths, but teachers, parents and local community groups are involved in curbing the menace of high drug use among children. To promote success of intervention, infrastructure and program should be tailored to the needs of the local community and keys actions should be consistent with overall program objectives (Spooner 2009). Conclusion: The essay focused on the public health issue of high prevalence and early onset of drug use among youths. Youths engage in this practice to experiment or gain the ecstasy of drugs. As many of them shift to lifetime consumption of drugs, it leads to many health related consequences such as drug dependency, psychological problem and paranoia. Hence, the evaluation of current educational program and policies was necessary to analyse the extent to which they are effective in delaying in early onset of drugs. This evaluation helped in the identification of limitations in the approach and proposed possible recommendation to yield better results and sustain them for long-term too. Reference Bonomo, Y.A. and Bowes, G., 2001. Putting harm reduction into an adolescent context.Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health,37(1), pp.5-8. Butler, S., 2005. The prevention of substance use, risk and harm in Australia: a review of the evidence.Drugs: education, prevention and policy,12(3), pp.247-248. Jenson, J.M. and Fraser, M.W. eds., 2015.Social policy for children and families: A risk and resilience perspective. Sage Publications. Lloyd, Ruth Joyce, Jane Hurry, Mike Ashton, C., 2000. The effectiveness of primary school drug education.Drugs: education, prevention and policy,7(2), pp.109-126. Modesto-Lowe, V., Petry, N.M. and McCartney, M., 2008. Intervening early to reduce developmentally harmful substance use among youth populations.The Medical journal of Australia,188(8), p.494. Munro, G. and Ramsden, R. 2017.Primary prevention: preventing uptake of drugs. [online] Available at: https://file:///C:/Users/SONY/Desktop/Shopify/Shopify/1315953_80810843_DrugUseinAustralianSociety.pdf [Accessed 15 Apr. 2017]. National Drug Strategy - National Drug Strategic Framework. 2017. Nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au. [online] Available at: https://www.nationaldrugstrategy.gov.au/internet/drugstrategy/publishing.nsf/Content/national-drug-strategic-framework-lp [Accessed 15 Apr. 2017]. Roche, A., Battams, S., Cameron, J. and Lee, N., 2014.Alcohol education for Australian schools: What are the most effective programs?. [online] Available at: https://nceta.flinders.edu.au/files/7914/1534/0597/EN556.pdf [Accessed 15 Apr. 2017]. Spooner, C. 2009.Causes and correlates of adolescent drug abuse and implications for treatment. [online] Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09595239996329 [Accessed 15 Apr. 2017]. Swift, Jan Copeland, Simon Lenton, W., 2000. Cannabis and harm reduction.Drug and Alcohol Review,19(1), pp.101-112. Teesson, M., Newton, N.C. and Barrett, E.L., 2012. Australian school?based prevention programs for alcohol and other drugs: A systematic review.Drug and Alcohol Review,31(6), pp.731-736. Vogl, L. E., Newton, N. C., Champion, K. E., Teesson, M. (2014). A universal harm-minimisation approach to preventing psychostimulant and cannabis use in adolescents: a cluster randomised controlled trial.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy,9(1), 24.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Nitrogen Essays - Industrial Gases, Nitrogen, Pnictogen,

Nitrogen Nitrogen, symbol N, gaseous element that makes up the largest portion of the earth's atmosphere. The atomic number of nitrogen is 7. Nitrogen is in group 15 (or Va) of the periodic table. Nitrogen was discovered by the British physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772 and recognized as an elemental gas by the French chemist, Antoine Laurent Lavoiser about 1776. Nitrogen is a colorless, odorless tasteless, nontoxic gas. It can be condensed into a colorless liquid, which can be compressed into a colorless, crystalline solid. Nitrogen exists in two natural forms, and four radioactive forms (artificial). Nitrogen melts at -210.01 degrees C, (-349.02 F), boils at -195.79 C (320.42 F), and has a density of 1.251 g/liter at 0 C (32 F) and 1 atmosphere pressure. The atomic weight of nitrogen is 14.007. Nitrogen is obtained from the atmosphere by passing air over heated copper of iron. The oxygen is removed from the air, leaving nitrogen mixed with inert gases. Pure nitrogen is obtained by fractional distillation of liquid air; because liquid nitrogen has a lower boiling point than liquid oxygen, the nitrogen distills of first an can be collected. Nitrogen compresses about 4/5ths by volume of the atmosphere. Nitrogen is inert and serves as a diluent for oxygen in burning and respiration processes. It is an important element in plant nutrition; certain bacteria in the soil convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form, such as nitrate, that can be absorbed by plants, a process called nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen in the form of protein is an important constituent of animal tissue. The element occurs in the combined state in minerals, of which saltpeter (KNO ) and Chile saltpeter (NaNO ) are commercially important products. Nitrogen combines with other elements only at very high temperatures of pressures. It is converted to an active form by passing through an electronic discharge at low pressure. The nitrogen so produced is very active, combining with alkali metals to form azides; with the vapor of zinc, mercury cadmium, and arsenic to form nitrides; and with many hydrocarbons to form hydrocyanic acid and cyanides, also known as nitriles. Activated nitrogen returns to ordinary nitrogen in about one minute. In the combined state nitrogen takes part in many reactions; it forms so many compounds that a systematic scheme of compounds containing nitrogen in place of oxygen was created by the American chemist Edward Franklin. In compounds nitrogen exists in all the valence states between -3 and +5. Ammonia, hydrazine, and hydroxylamine represent compounds in which the valence of nitrogen is -3, -2, and -1, respectively. Oxides of nitrogen represent nitrogen in all the positive valence states. Most of the nitrogen used in the chemical industry is obtained by the fractional distillation of liquid air. It is then used to synthesize ammonia. From ammonia produced in this manner, a wide variety of important chemical products are prepared, including fertilizers, nitric acid, urea, hydrazine, and amines. In addition, an ammonia compound is used in the preparation of nitrous oxide (N 0) a colorless gas popularly known as laughing gas. Mixed with oxygen, nitrous oxide is used as an anesthetic for some types of surgery. Used as a coolant, liquid nitrogen has found widespread application in the field of cryogenics. With the recent advent of ceramic materials that become superconductive at the boiling point of nitrogen, the use of nitrogen as a coolant is increasing. In conclusion, it seems as if Nitrogen is very helpful in the modern world. It is used in dentists office's to using it for industrial applications. Without this element the world would be a little different in some fields.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Character Study - The Inspector from An An Inspector Calls essays

Character Study - The Inspector from An An Inspector Calls essays After watching an Inspector calls, I am sure it is obvious to any one who watches it that the inspector is not what he seems at all. At first you have no suspicions of the Inspector, but as the play gradually moves on it slowly dawns on you that the Inspector might be an impostor. In this essay I am going to write about a few different points, and who the Inspector might be. All of my theories may be correct but we will never know which theory is actually right. The Inspector is obviously as real as all the other characters in body and can eat and drink and is solid. I know that J.B.Priestley became very interested in the fourth dimension and time. That is why I think that the inspector may have gone back in time or there might have been a time slip of some sort to make sure that these people new what they had done. Another theory might be that the Inspector represents truth and is not a real person at all but just a representative of justice. I think that this is a very plausible idea and probably Priestley's own thought. I think that the Inspector gives it away when he gets far too emotional and worked up about things. A real police inspector would not get so involved. Here is an extract from the play, at the end of Act 2 where the Inspector gets too involved: Inspector: "(very sternly) Her position now is that she lies with a burnt-out inside on a slab. (As Birling tries to protest, turns on him.) Don't stammer and yammer at me again, man. I'm losing all patience with you people. What did he Say? Here the Inspector gets to emotional about such a small thing. I also think that a real police inspector would treat Birling with more respect. It is true what Birling says about him being a public man and telling the chief of police because he is a friend. Here is an extract were the Inspector treats Birling with disrespect; it is near the beginning of Act 2: Sheila: (urgently, cutting in) You mustn't try to build up a kind o...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Analyzing Plato's and David Hume's View of Death Essay

Analyzing Plato's and David Hume's View of Death - Essay Example The following will break down his argument concerning ‘prior knowledge’ or ‘recollection’. In turn, the philosophy of David Hume will be presented. Concerning death, Hume was famously a non-believer in any type of an afterlife, and famously, when his good friend Adam Smith visited him when he was dying, he just joked about it with him and was quite cheerful [Norton 23]. For Hume, all that exists, is within the 'perceptable' world. Where Plato maintained that we have prior knowledge, Hume argues that any notion of 'continuity' or 'sameness' through time, is a notion not that we are born with, but have been conditioned to have. What might appear to come from beyond the senses, is just the product of conditioning that begins in perception and the perceivable world. To state or argue that we have a priori knowledge, is to necessarily posit this as succinct from the senses. In other words, this is a form of knowledge which can be understood as ‘interactingà ¢â‚¬â„¢ with the senses or perception, but it is also a form of knowledge which is distinct as well. Toward establishing this important distinction, Plato raises the problem with respect to the notion of â€Å"equals† and unequal's. However, he arrives at these abstractions through an argument which claims that â€Å"learning is recollection† [Plato 73B]. ... However, this process of learning necessarily involves ‘recollection’, and second, we are capable of making abstractions concerning this process of learning. For example, from the notion of similarity and difference, we can arrive at more abstract notions such as ‘equal’ and ‘unequal’. Further, we can abstract these notions from the sensible or perceivable objects which there are often predicated of: â€Å"what of the equals themselves† [Plato 74C]. The â€Å"knowledge of the nature of the equal itself† [Plato 75B], is a problem which leads Plato to distinguish â€Å"prior knowledge† [Plato 74E] from â€Å"perception† [Plato 75B]. This is an important argument in relation to Plato’s notion of a â€Å"dualism between reality and appearance† [Russell 134], and moreover, it is an important problem with respect to the ontological difference between ‘continuity’ and ‘change’ which wa s raised in the introduction of the present analysis. In a sense, the â€Å"nature of the equal itself†, is given a different ontological status than things which are ‘unequal’. For example, in the world of ‘perception’, all things are different or unequal. In other words, there is change, decay, growth, death, corruption, generation, and so forth. As mentioned in the previous section, all of nature is marked by a process of â€Å"becoming† [Plato 71E]. Thus, if everything which we perceive is different and changing, and yet we are capable of abstracting notions such as ‘equality’ – that is, we have â€Å"knowledge of the nature of the equal itself†, then, where does this knowledge come from? We could not have acquired this knowledge through

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster Research Paper

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster - Research Paper Example If left unchecked, these can result in casualties equaling or even exceeding the body count of the previous natural disasters. This being the case, this study intends to take a look at the specifics of the incident – what occurred, as well as how and why. Concluding the study shall be a brief reflection on the incident and its immediate and distant aftermath. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 4 The Disaster 5 Radiation – The Deadly Consequences 8 Reflection 14 Conclusion 15 References 16 Introduction The disaster that occurred at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant last March came right on the heels of the then-recent earthquake and tsunami that rocked the nation. The said occurrence was a consequence of these natural calamities, and was in fact joined by other nuclear accidents all over Japan. However, the one in Fukushima stands out as the largest. In fact, the magnitude of the disaster is said to be comparable to the tragedy at Chernobyl decades ago (Thomson- Reuters, 2011). The comparison to Chernobyl came courtesy of experts on the subject, which should say something on how catastrophic the Fukushima incident was. On the International Nuclear Event Scale, its rating was a 7, exactly the same as that of Chernobyl, whereas the Mile Island Disaster trailed behind at 5. As shall be explained below, the Japanese government tried to dismiss and downplay the incident to extent, but was eventually forced to concede to its magnitude. Fortunately, casualties resulting from the immediate disaster were relatively few. For sure, the natural calamities that preceded the disaster claimed over 9,000 more lives than the accident at Fukushima. Even then, the latter was still hardly equivalent to a slap on the wrist. The death toll immediately following the disaster numbered at 47. Two of these were Fukushima plant workers unlucky enough to get caught in it, and who sustained multiple external injuries before ultimately dying of blood loss. The other 45 who perished had been patients at an evacuated hospital in Futaba, and who had mostly been suffering from dehydration and starvation. Unfortunately, though, the relatively low immediate body count might be balanced out by an even bigger death toll if things are left the way they are now. As with the disaster at Chernobyl – and, more to the point, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the area remains irradiated, and cleanup efforts continue up till today. The threat of radiation is arguably the most terrifying thing to have come out of the disaster. The other consequences which have resulted from the accident cannot be seen by human eyes. However, these are unmistakably there, and can in fact result in a much higher body count if left unchecked. Even as it is now, the constant threat of being irradiated has rendered numerous surrounding villages and neighborhoods uninhabitable, which by itself is already a monumental setback for the unlucky ones living there (Maeda, 2011). The Disaster As already noted, the Fukushima disaster ranks among the biggest nuclear catastrophes in recent history, easily at par with or even exceeding what happened at Chernobyl (Thomson-Reuters, 2011) though still on a somewhat lower scale compared to the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombs. Considering that multiple reactors were involved at Fukushima, in contrast with

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Southwest Airlines' Cost Optimization to Create an Attractive Price Case Study

Southwest Airlines' Cost Optimization to Create an Attractive Price for Economy Class Travelers - Case Study Example There are many factors which have helped Southwest Airlines in its survival and success. This essay attempts to outline those factors and strategies on the basis of the following parameters: Financial Planning, Financial control, Costing, Decision making.Financial planning has played a vital role in growing its business. The correct timing of its decisions has made a huge difference in increasing market capitalization (Sims, 68). Southwest Airline has gained a further advantage by packing more seats into the aircraft which increase the seat kilometer revenue generated per block hour.Instead of buying more jets to deal with its growing business, Southwest planned and got better deals on the lease. Hence it paid substantially less per block hour for lease rental, than other carriers. Southwest has implemented its financial planning in such a way that low fares when combined with high frequencies and excellent punctuality have resulted in an increase in its revenues. Â  Southwest plans its finances very efficiently. Â  It hires new pilots with ten years contract and motivates them by offering a share in profits. This is an example of astute planning. It means that if Southwest was making losses at any particular time then the losses can be shared with the pilots. This strategy also makes the staff much more accountable. Another important aspect of financial planning was operating on low distance routes and targeting of road passengers.Southwest plans its expenditure very efficiently and effectively. The customer service strategy of providing a full meal was costly in two ways. One, it increases the per unit costs and secondly more staff is required to provide the service. Southwest’s plan of not following this trend has saved it the cost of food as well as the number of staff employed. In other airways, when six to eight employees per flight were required, southwest managed to function with only four. This kind of planning was crucial for decreasing the c osts and increasing the revenues.