Water Potential free essay sample

Water potential is the measure of free energy of water in a solution. The purpose of this lab was to find the water potential of a potato cell. The problem of this lab was, if there was a high molarity of solute, would it have a positive or negative water potential? The hypothesis of the experiment was, if there is a high molarity of solute then the water potential would be lower or negative. After obtaining potatoes, we cut them into pieces, weighed them, and then placed them in a solution overnight. In this lab, we explored the potato cell’s water potentiality. From the results, we found that it the higher the molarity of a solution is, the lower the water potential of the potato cell. This finding supports our hypothesis. Introduction: Water will always move from an area of high water potential to an area of low water potential. We will write a custom essay sample on Water Potential or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Water potential is the measure of free energy of water in a solution. Water potential is represented by the symbol ? (psi). Water potential is affected by two physical factors. One of factor is the addition on solute (? s); addition of solutes to a concentration will lower the water potential of that solute, causing water to move into the area. The other factor is pressure potential (? p). An increase of pressure potential raises the water potential. Water movement is directly proportionate to the pressure potential. The equation for water potential is: ? = ? p + ? s The water potential of pure water at atmospheric pressure is defined as being zero. The water potential value can be either positive, zero or negative. An increase in pressure potential results in a more positive value, and a decrease in pressure potential results in a more negative value. In contrast to pressure potential, solute potential is always negative; since pure water has a water potential of zero, any solutes will make the solution have lower or negative water potential. In general, an increase in solute potential makes the water potential value negative and an increase in pressure potential makes the water potential more positive. Methods and Materials: The materials used in this experiment were a large potato, peeler, apple corer, 250 mL beaker, paper towel, scale, six cups, knife, and about 100 mL solutions of: distilled water, 0. 2 M sucrose, 0. 4 M sucrose, 0. 6 M sucrose, 0. 8 M sucrose, and 1. 0 M sucrose. First, we poured 100 mL of assigned solutions into labeled cups. Then, my lab partner and I peeled a potato, and then sliced it. After slicing, we used an apple corer to cut it into pieces, and only using four pieces. Not including the skin. Then we weighed the mass of the potato pieces before placing it in the solutions assigned by our teacher, and recorded. After, we placed them in solutions, and covered them with plastic wrap to prevent evaporation. And we left it to stand overnight. The next day, we removed the cores from the cups, blotted them, weighed the mass of the potato cores, and recorded the change in mass. We recorded the class data, and then calculated the percentage change. We then graphed our data and class data for percent change, and then determined the molar concentration potato cores. Our hypothesis was that if there was a high solute potential then there would be a low or negative water potential. From the data, it clearly follows the rules of water potential. The higher the molarity is, the lower the water potential. The data verifies our hypothesis, making it true. Because there was a low water potential outside the potato pieces, it made the water inside the potato leave the cell, making it hypertonic. It is the opposite for the potato pieces in distilled water. There were no errors in this lab.

Free Essays on Middle East

Conflict on Holy Ground The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most prolonged and bloody conflicts in not only modern history, but in the ancient world as well. The roots of the conflict, as well as the arguments on both sides, are as diversified and complicated as the conflict itself. The conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis has gone on for many years with both sides believing the other to be the cause. The aftermath of the First World War saw the worlds first foreshadow of things to come. Many Arabs believe that the existence of Israel is an act of war. Therefore making the mind set that permeates throughout the region irrational at best. To better understand the conflict. The history of the two parties involved must first be understood. To better understand we must first think of the conflict as a clash between two separate but equally powerful ideologies, the Arab or Islamic and the Jewish or Zionist ideology. Arabs have a long history in the Middle East but that history is not easily explained. Before there was Islam and the area was unified the Arabs were conquered and ruled over by various groups, including the Romans at one point (Glubb 23). At this point in history, most of the Arabic peninsula was inhabited by nomadic tribes who raised various livestock (Glubb 25). There are few accurate historical accounts about the Arabic people. Most of what is known about the Arabic people in that region comes from travelers such as Herodotus, who although he a great historian, did not fully understand the peoples way of life, and therefore could not accurately paint a picture of what their lives were like (Payne 3). The accounts that he does give are not to be taken as accurate truth about the land or the people. One account of the landscapes demonstrates Herodotus’ lack of knowledge on the subject; he says, â€Å"frankincense trees are always surrounded by a swarm of winged and bright ly colored serpents† (Payne 3). The fac... Free Essays on Middle East Free Essays on Middle East Conflict on Holy Ground The Arab-Israeli conflict is one of the most prolonged and bloody conflicts in not only modern history, but in the ancient world as well. The roots of the conflict, as well as the arguments on both sides, are as diversified and complicated as the conflict itself. The conflict between the Arabs and the Israelis has gone on for many years with both sides believing the other to be the cause. The aftermath of the First World War saw the worlds first foreshadow of things to come. Many Arabs believe that the existence of Israel is an act of war. Therefore making the mind set that permeates throughout the region irrational at best. To better understand the conflict. The history of the two parties involved must first be understood. To better understand we must first think of the conflict as a clash between two separate but equally powerful ideologies, the Arab or Islamic and the Jewish or Zionist ideology. Arabs have a long history in the Middle East but that history is not easily explained. Before there was Islam and the area was unified the Arabs were conquered and ruled over by various groups, including the Romans at one point (Glubb 23). At this point in history, most of the Arabic peninsula was inhabited by nomadic tribes who raised various livestock (Glubb 25). There are few accurate historical accounts about the Arabic people. Most of what is known about the Arabic people in that region comes from travelers such as Herodotus, who although he a great historian, did not fully understand the peoples way of life, and therefore could not accurately paint a picture of what their lives were like (Payne 3). The accounts that he does give are not to be taken as accurate truth about the land or the people. One account of the landscapes demonstrates Herodotus’ lack of knowledge on the subject; he says, â€Å"frankincense trees are always surrounded by a swarm of winged and bright ly colored serpents† (Payne 3). The fac... Free Essays on Middle East The Middle East has been a hot bed for political unrest since the end of World War I, when the Western Powers initially divided it up. Today is no different. Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq, is a constant threat to the countries that surround him. The United States’ top officials believe that he has weapons of mass destruction, and he has shown that he has the will to use them. However, going to war unilaterally is not the best route for dealing with Hussein. It will only further destabilize the region, distract efforts against the war on terrorism, and cost both too many lives and too much money. Iraq is a country located in south-west Asia. It has a population of 22,345,000 and the official language is Arabic. It is not a third world country, and 70% of the country is urban. The main import is military weapons and the main export is oil. Since 1968, Iraq’s government has been a dictatorship, the Baath Party, led by Saddam Hussein. They have managed to eliminate any opposing political activity. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, a small neighboring country that is rich with oil. Kuwait was a US ally and produced much of the petroleum that was consumed by the United States. The United Nations demanded that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait, but they did not. A coalition of 39 countries sent troops and aid to Kuwait, including the United States, which sent 100,000’s. The other leading countries were Egypt, France, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. The war lasted for just over one month. Following the war, US troops entered North Iraq, where they helped fleeing Kurdistans. The Kurds had tried to rebel against the Iraq government while they were struggling mightily against the UN coalition, but they were put down. Iraq suffered greatly from the war. It is estimated that 100,000 Iraqis died, as opposed to only 370 coalition troops. However, Saddam Hussein stayed in power because it was feared his removal would hurt the c...

Cigarette taxes comments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cigarette taxes comments - Essay Example He is assessed, for example, 10 cents as tax for each box. Since he purchased ten boxes, he is supposed to pay a dollar for taxes. Now since he does not want to pay that much tax, he falsifies the receipts, erase the 0 to make it appear that he only bought 1 box, instead of 10. Then he only pays 10 cents. This is tax evasion. And it is illegal. Tax avoidance on the other hand is when a person chooses legal means to pay less tax. For example, New York City charges 10 cents per box of cigarettes. However, in Austin, Texas, for example, the cigarette tax is only 1 cent per box. A person avoiding tax would rather buy cigarettes in Austin than in New York City. This is legal. He does not falsify anything. He does not under-declare amounts. Now it is understandable that people avoids tax. People want to save money. They would look for places where they can buy things less expensively. That is but natural. And they could not be faulted for that. They cannot be blamed if they look for places who charges lower taxes and buy their cigarettes there. And they cannot be blamed if they choose methods to limit the taxes they pay as long as they do it legally. Now, with the problem of the city losing revenue, I think it can be addressed by formulating better regulatory policies. They could promote effective prevention of smuggling of cigarettes, limit mail-order purchases. They could also be stricter in enforcing licenses and they could punish unlicensed vendors and those that violate the law. With respect to those who avoid tax by buying from out-of-state retailers, I don’t think they can do anything about that. It would be too costly to put check points on state boundaries. If the cigarette is bought in another state within the US, it would be difficult to prevent it from entering another US state. This is also the same or people who buys cigarettes in duty free shops. In sum, although I agree that

Of Ocado Chief Executive Tim Steiner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Of Ocado Chief Executive Tim Steiner - Essay Example wastage include indicating a â€Å"use by† label on their products and donating foods that exceed the guaranteed product life but are within product’s â€Å"use by† dates. Carbon emission and food wastage reduction are important initiatives because they uphold a clean and safe environment that benefits businesses and the community at large. Ocado takes deliberate initiatives to reward and appreciate its employees. The company’s employee benefits package includes allowing its employees to own its share with an aim to give them a sense of ownership over the company. It does this through its Ocado Sharesave Scheme that enables employees to save and own shares proportional to their savings. This is an important element of corporate social responsibility because employees are crucial to the success of any business. Charitable donations are an important element of Ocado’s corporate social responsibility. It has a charity committee that organizes events and devices ways of raising funds. Ocado has given to Macmillan Cancer Support, British Heart Foundation and NSPCC. Charitable donations show a company’s selflessness and

Prison Break Essay Example for Free

Prison Break Essay Prison break is an American television series just entering the second season. It is a drama series set around a prison. This five star thriller is based in a prison named Fox River. The masterminded character, Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is the main actor in this series. He plays as a structural engineer, this comes in handy when he plans to break out his step brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), also acted as Drake in Blade Trinity out of prison. Lincoln Burrows (Purcell) is the only family he has, and is on death row, convicted of the murder of the vice presidents brother. In actual fact, the vice presidents brother is hiding. This scheme was set up by the vice president herself and her right hand man, working with the secret service agent Paul Kellerman. (Paul Adelstein) Lawyer Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney) investigates a conspiracy that takes place indicating that Lincoln Burrows was framed for the murder. The evidence was destroyed and Veronica could not get Lincoln exonerated. When a date was set for the execution of Lincoln, Michael has to think fast about how he is going to execute this plan. He has plans of the prison tattooed all over his body. These blueprints are camouflaged by artwork of devils and angels and so not anyone can see it and understand it apart from him. Any phrases or important words would be tattooed backwards or inverted and only could be recognized seeing it through a mirror. He deliberately robs a bank firing a gunshot on the ceiling to acquire maximum security and gets caught intentionally and gets sent to the same prison as his brother. The action inside the prison is full of suspense as the series continues. Michael has to persuade several other prisoners who are important for this escape to happen. Predictably other prisoners acknowledge that there is a scheme going on and they have to be part of the escape for obvious reasons. Psychopath Theodore Bagwell (Robert Knepper) known as T-Bag as his nickname, is a perfect example of why this show is so great. His character is a murder and rapist. His emetic performance is what gets the viewers gripped. Throughout the series there is another plot of whats happening outside the walls. Veronica is working hard to end this conspiracy or to delay the execution. This is not an easy task as she is fighting against the government. The second season is when the cons are on the run. Fernando Sucre, Benjamin Franklin, John Abruzzi, Theodore T-bag Bagwell, Charles Patoshik, David Apolskis, Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows are the Fox River 8 MOST WANTED MEN IN AMERICA. The phrase MOST WANTED sums up the feelings of how the cops would really like to catch them. After the breakout the cons make their way to the airstrip to board a plane that should wait there to pick them up. The plane was unknown and identified by an inspector. The pilot had to leave the cons behind after being suspicious. This is a difficult situation for Scofield and the viewers are worried that the fugitives will be apprehended. He proves his intelligence by having a plan B if they never made it to the airstrip. They all go their different ways to uncover five millions dollars buried in Utah by an inmate that was killed in Fox River. The break out becomes a Federal matter and FBIs have to get involved. Special conniving agent FBI Alexander Mahone (William Fitchtner) is at almost the same intelligence as Scofield and is a real obstacle for him. This undeniable amazing series caught over ten million viewers. Brett Ratner, the director of Prison Break has turned famous after directing the best series with the highest ratings. On www. reviewit. com, 10,000 blogs show the people love the excitement and the suspense they get watching this series. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Miscellaneous section.

Employment Relationship in Industrial Relations

Employment Relationship in Industrial Relations The employment relationship between an employer and an employee has often led to being described by two different terms ‘Industrial Relations or ‘Employee Relations. These, though seen as interchangeable terms often have been under the scrutiny of writers. Employee relations in general can be seen as a relationship between any employer and his workers, i.e., be it in the form of domestic labour, self-employed employers or professionals. On the contrary, Industrial Relations take into account employment in all spheres where economy activity takes place, i.e., industrial relationship. Since there is a misconception that Industrial Relations is just concerned with the study of trade unions, strikes, labour markets etc., and hence in some books writers have used the term employee relations to evade these among general public. However, in context with UK, the term industrial relations is seen to be more appropriate. Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field and is influenced by a lot of internal as well as external factors. The main actors that play an important role in affecting a countrys industrial relations system are employers and management of an organisation, third-party agencies like the state and finally, employees and their representatives, i.e., trade unions. However, it must be noted that each of these actors have functions towards themselves as well as towards the role of other actors. In other words, there is a dependency between all of them. Brief Overview of the Current Changes in Industrial Relations over the last three decades In the last three decades, i.e., since 1980s the industrial relations in Britain has undergone a massive reform. The major changes undergone include the demise of collective bargaining, decline in trade union recognitions and membership density, a reduction in the number of strike activities and an increase in the intervention on law in the industrial relations since 1979. Moreover, there have been reforms in the organisation of the work which is related to restructuring of labour market, new management practices adopted by the employers and globalisation. However, in order to understand how these changes have played a role and influenced the present industrial relations, it is important to have a look at the historical background of it prior to the reforming. Industrial Relations in UK Historical Overview, i.e., before 1979 Earlier, it was seen that the central matter of industrial relations in UK was the concept of ‘free collective bargaining, a term introduced by the Webbs and developed in practice by the trade unions. According to this, the rights of the employees like wage determination among others were supported by the trade unions present in organisations. It was their peak presence during 1960s and 1970s which contributed to the decline of UKs economy because of them leading to increasing unemployment and lower productivity. The employers believed in the old tradition of unscientific management where all the costs regarding technical staff as well as capital were kept to minimum. And any alternative systems regarding organisation of work and for controlling of labour were looked upon as risky. Also, it was seen that the state was not looked upon as a part of the industrial relations system and a contributor towards labour strength due to both the employers and trade unions implying collect ive bargaining or voluntarism phenomenon (as it was called) not wanting any kind of legal intervention. Unions believed that the presence of law might take away workers from unionising and hence just believed in a labour law system and moreover, since employers looked for employee cooperation and productivity, they encouraged trade unions. Owing to all these factors, the Industrial Relations in UK till 1960s started being looked as a problem because of low wage, low productivity and increasing strike activity. Therefore, the concept of reforming it was a prime concern. Now we shall see how there has been change in the management of industrial relations during the last three decades and what does it tell us about the influence of the three major actors on the current framework of industrial relations in UK. Change in the Role of State and Law and its influence During the last three decades, there has been a drastic change in the legislative frameworks with the coming up of Conservative Governments during 1980s and 1990s and the Labour Party beyond 1997 contributing to the development of participation by the law in industrial relations moving beyond the traditional voluntary approach among organisations. The criticism by pluralists that state couldnt play any role in industrial relations was not justified during the Conservative Government Period of 1979-1997. During this period, the government curbed the presence of the trade unions and eradicated the collective bargaining phenomenon with an aim to restricting individual employment rights, giving more freedom to the employers. However, owing to the EUs directive influence on the domestic UK Law, there were a number of issue mismatches between the UK policies and the EU employment policy. As a result of which, UK opted out of the EU Community. Nevertheless, the influence of the EU is still seen there. These de-regulatory measures did not contribute much towards juridification of the industrial relations and the employment relationship was still determined voluntarily. Also, due to the changing law, it was seen that in the period after 1980s and 1990s, the number of days which had been lost in dealing with strikes suffered a decrease indicating that the strike pattern in UK observed a diminishing trend. The influences of these successive Conservative Governments show that the role of the state has had only a negative impact on industrial relations. Though, a number of acts and commissions were developed in order to combat certain issues, but the outcome was very different. In regard to the trade unions, The Employment Act in 1982 made sure that they suffered penalties for all their wrong doings as a result of which the statutory immunities enjoyed by them were gradually reduced. This showed the restoration of the private law. Also the restrictive re-regulation of collective action made changes in the unfair dismissal law to protect the rights of strikers. Both these regulatory techniques made sure that a fully functional labour market was restored unlike before. However, it is noted that though the legislative change provided unions with some national leadership like controlling of strike ballots, it has also led to the deterioration of the financial expenses of the unions. Similarly, the rising influence of the European Community Law saw policies like equality in pay for equality in work between men and women and employment protection taking place in Britain. In spite of restoration of the Equal Pay for Equal Work in 1983, the negative economic outcomes of legislative action relation to pay and productivity have been there. The removal of wage councils has led to pay differences in low-wage sectors and hence widened the pay inequalities in UK. As for the contribution of legislation in improving economic performance, it has only been seen in areas where unionism and closed-shops have eradicated. Moreover, it was Conservatives who were keen on the idea â€Å"of de-regulating labour markets and removing ‘obstacles to the free operation of market forces (Blyton and Turnbull, 1998)† for which they wanted to remove trade unions. However, adopting a strategy based on cost-reduction (i.e., the least labour costs) in times of high levels of unemployment, bad economic activity state, deficits in payments etc., only led to the uprising of an economy having low skill, productivity and wage along with being technologically backwards. Therefore, it is seen that although the successive Conservative laws has reformed the old traditions of UK industrial relations relying on centralised bargaining systems and absence of statutory rights but it hasnt managed to solve many of the problems like that of still continuing unemployment and no legal protection right with employees (be it collective or individualistic). But, post 1997, Labour Party came into force and has been there since then been, maintaining a balance between using legal regulation where required like in new concepts of national minimum wage, individual employee rights and supporting collective bargaining and employee representations along with retaining some earlier Conservatives approaches like restrictions on strikes and internal trade union procedures. But still some restrictions on industrial relations from previous times like the ballots are still there. Moreover, in this period UK signed up with the EU Social Charter which resulted in current legal framework developments like working time regulation and improved rights for non-standard workers among others. This new legislation has also affected the British industrial relations in a different number of ways with having positive along with negative implications. The current Labour Law sees that a legal intervention is a source of employment rights in Britain and the Labour Party seems to maintain labour flexibility with fair universal minimum standards unlike the previous governments. The most important piece of legislation introduced by the Labour Party was the introduction of National Minimum Wage and its influence is seen in the sense that it prevented employers from cutting pay and hence did not affect employment and inflation adversely. Also, in order to support collective bargaining, there was a statutory procedure to gain trade unions recognition under the Employment Relations Act 1999. Though, the current legal framework in UK shows there has not been an aim to remove old philosophies and accept new changes but the aim is to maintain continuity. Nevertheless, it is still evident that there have been tensions and contradictions due to the present Labour Government balancing between pressures from the domestic law as well as maintaining the standards of the EU employment law. This has led to compromises between many aspects like those between managerial freedom and workers relationship and not all EU developments being welcomed in spite of the no longer opposition to becoming a part of it. Furthermore, though the Labour Government has advocated social partnership and fairness, but it is unclear as to how it will achieve these by retaining the old Conservative Law practices of restriction on trade union governance and strikes along with ensuring flexibility in labour market. Also, in UK the employees still have no rights to bargain which is considered important by the all the other European states as necessary and legitimate elements for the industrial relations to work effectively. It is also questionable that how will productivity and flexibility increase in an environment of removed individualistic legal rights and counteracting collective representation. Change in Employers and Management Strategies and their outcomes The earlier British management style was predominant on collectivism but depended on a hostile union-management relationship along with the cost-driven individualism. Moreover, till 1980s, management as an actor in Industrial Relations was not given much importance due to it being considered as not interested in changing things and just responding to the other actors being trade unions and the state in its decision making. However, after the period of 1980s, management has started getting lot of attention owing to its increased activity in taking a lot of initiatives leading to the emergence of lot of key issues. Firstly, it is due to the development of management models which shows the respective roles of it as being a system actor, a strategic actor and a capital agent. However, all these three models arent sufficient to explain the role of management which is diverse consisting of complexity and variety. Secondly, due to the non-presence of legal regulations and multi-employer bargaining, it might be easy for British managers to opt for any choice but this is not as such and can be influenced by variables like sector, size, occupation etc., indicating the variety of management practices. Also, as the British economy shifted after 1980s, the industrial relations underwent a change and the interest of employers too changed. The current framework sees an attitude of social partnership and voice arising from EU policy giving much more rights to employees though not to a great extent as also indicated by the role of state. This new UK policy has begun to reshape the participation of the employees by a direct and an indirect impact and also though the increased legal regulation. Moreover, attempts to involve EI into management practices and consolidate and integrate voice measures indicate the confident approach of the current British management towards organisational participation. Furthermore, new management prerogatives have emerged with changes in the thinking of management and strategic intentions of large firms to manage labour with an emphasis on individualism moving away from the traditional norms of collectivism in 1970s. They are looking forward to a single-employer bargaining system which helps firms link its labour to the product market and brings in new payment systems and grades along with need for more flexibility, single unionism and individualisation of industrial relations. Therefore, this new strategy shows moving away from external market structures by linking industrial relations to the needs of business. In spite of all these changes, the influence of the new management too hasnt been that good. It is clear that employers after 1980s and 1990s adopted individualistic manners for determination of pay conditions and shift from the collectivism approach led to the introduction of two different styles involving high commitment practices in a union as well as non-union environment. However, what ais seen contrasting here is that, even though union presence led to encouraging efficient management along with the high commitment practices and partnership agreements with the employees relating to a new form of collective bargaining so as to increase productivity, still it has not been possible to identify the current style of management. The main reason seen to be is that after 1980s, the decline in unionism has allowed management wider choice to choose which style to adopt be it with unions or without. And evidence still suggests that â€Å"management are driven more by a cost-minimisation and opportunistic approach to employees, reflecting more than anything a traditional lifestyle (Edwards, P. 2003)†. Also, the deregulation of collective bargaining has led to the development of organisational employment systems with employment relations dependency on human resource management having minimized unionised role. Furthermore, there also have been problems with individualism or non-collective reforms stating that they cannot comply with a single formula. An example of this is seen from the fact that in order to restructure and reorganise its business when Knowco created an individualised employee relations it was faced with employee insecurity and low trust between managers and staff. And hence it is worth questioning that whether, the use of individualism will protect the firms or worsen competitive tendencies. These facts state that the present influence of management is to manage its employee relations both individually and collectively. To add to all this, despite decline in unions as a means of employee representations, still more and more companies are indulging in partnership in the presence or absence of trade unions. And even though there has been a shift from conflicting industrial relations to a one with new employment trends, still the new employers and unions have a striking relationship. This is due to the new management strategy model consisting of its effects on trade unions and partnerships. Hence, even without partnership or with it, trade-unions will have to make organisational participation work as well as manage tensions and conflicts in employment relationship skilfully. Lastly, it should be pointed that the managements main aim is cooperation and compliance both in regard with its employees, but the problem faced by the former till date is the old managerial issue of maintaining a labour which is cost-effective, productive and co-operates. This is due to the fact that the management in UK still relies on short-term tendencies. Moreover, the absence of the trust between employees and management is the biggest obstacle for a better industrial relations system in UK. This is evident from the so called Labour Partys social partnership strategy, according to which where there are no employee rights either governed by law or through rights in a de-regulated market; employees can just trade their pay for their labour resulting in exploitation by employers. Therefore, for management to effectively contribute for the development of better Industrial Relations and improve the UK industry, it should bring about a change in its attitudes so as to build up trust and confidence in its workers along with concentrating on enhancement of productivity than maintain cost-minimising approach. Changes in Trade Unions and their influence Though the unions have been at their highest peak till 1979, but after this with the emergence of the Conservative Governments, there has been a decline in Union membership from 55% in 1979 being at its peak to 33% presently along with a huge demise in collective bargaining indicating a continual drop in trade union recognition after 1980s. Though, union membership is required, but if it doesnt influence dealings with the management it is not worth anything. The 2004 WERS survey showed that in comparison to the 1998 survey there has been a fall in union recognition from 33 to 27 percent. Also, 77 percent managers agreed that they would directly speak with the employees instead of wanting trade unions to fight for employee rights in comparison to 8 percent who disagreed to it. Moreover, 33 percent stated that unions dont help in improving performance at the workplace in comparison to 23 percent who agreed that they improve. These results show that management believes in generally sett ing terms for its workers, with legislation, trade unions and industry agreements playing a minimalist role. In the current scenario, by means of interviews with different industry employers and unions, a case study shows the impact of Employment Relations Act (ERA) 1999 on trade unions and employers. According to the study, there has been a widespread agreement between the two with employers recruiting mangers with an ability to deal with unions showing no hostility towards unions and unions tolerating the legal law interference by the government. Most of the employers have agreed to the statutory recognition of the unions and started reviewing their policy of anti-unionism. Though they have accepted the presence of unions, still they give them limited rights seeking their views for organisational changes but giving them no influence on pay-setting. However, while giving employees consultative rights, ERA moves away from the contemporary industrial relations practices taking it back to the adversarial system. This can affect trade unions by giving them a chance to develop their presence wi th no-members. This indicated that collectiveness of workers is returning but with an attitude of representative and consultative agreements rather that the old norm of free collective bargaining. Contrary to this is a fact that though this collectiveness gives consultations rights, it might make unions have more influence on employers by the former just letting the latter know of the key issues and this might make them freer from the dependence on the fundamental levels of the lay activists. This weakening of power of the unions can be attributed to have taken place due to a variety of global changes highlighting an employment shift from unionised to non-unionised sectors due to competitive product markets and internationalisation of labour markets. Also, restructuring of employment led to more self employment and a fragmented workforce with the size of the workplace being smaller, indicating challenges for the unions to recruit elsewhere which they couldnt afford due to lack of resources and organisation skills. Though a contrasting point was that in 1980s during unemployment rise in the entire Europe, when all countries unions brought a wage cut to stir employment opportunities, UK was the only exception with its distribution of wages brining a real gain. A discussion on union membership in countries outside and within OECD during 1970-2003 showed that there is a level of decline in the union density in many of these countries (except four) with unions being more popular in public than private sectors. This was also evident from the WERS 2004 Survey, according to which union density in public sector was 64 percent compared to meagre 22 percent in the private sector. Although there was a probability that more male members were a part of unions but females too were there though in public sectors noted again by the WERS Survey (53 percent women being members compared to 46 percent men). The most important feature which came out from the discussion was that age plays a major role in deciding to be a member in unions and it follows an inverted U-shape with maxima at 50. This is due to a main factor that since young and new workers in a union are usually paid less than that of the older union workers, it becomes an added advantage to employ ers to hire them. Also, a number of possibilities arise like older union members quit their jobs and get promoted to non-union jobs in order to increasing their earning levels, older members though enjoy union benefits, they forget to pay their union due etc. The increasing decline in Unions in 1980s and 1990s along with the increase in non-union workplaces show that the reversal of this trend is unlikely. However, these findings indicate that unions now know how they can get recognition through different routes (example: the participation in ballots) by the ERA. But, the potential of this act to control decline can be seen as a future research agenda for industrial relations. Unions have not been able to influence the Industrial Relations in a positive way, in spite of the fact that during the reforms of unions in 1980s and 1990s, their decline has been able to stop the decline of UKs economy to an extent, because of the new legislation adopting a ‘third way of interaction between the government and the unions, thereby eradicating the phenomenon of anti-unionism. They still are faced with a number of challenges. The key problem is that there is still rivalry between unions for members in UK which leads to a lack in coordination between union movements and depicts further problems of recruitment and organisation. They also have to deal with the challenges of their decreasing membership along with the increasing managerial attack in the form of policies of cost-reduction leading to the unions having to bear a scope with limited finances. Also, there has been evidence by a research conducted on to test unemployment measures effects on inflation results , which lead to the fact that high union density can cause unemployment and hence shouldnt be there. Finally, though the presence of the traditional unionism approach of collective bargaining can although lead to a less attrition rate, it also contributes to low productivity and poor performance in jobs in firms. Thereby, it should be stated that in order for the industrial relations in UK to not crumble further and rise again, the unions have to find a way to deal with these current problems. Conclusion In the end we should examine whether Industrial Relations in UK has really improved from the previous times. There have been some positive as well as negative outcomes. Firstly, though there has been a decline in the number of strike activities saving work stoppage days but other problems have also arisen particularly relating to an increase in number of ACAS or tribunal cases with employees complaining about the behaviour of their employers. This suggests that the climate at workplaces still shows a dispute between managers and employees perceptions. Secondly, diminishing collective measures and resorting to individual measures indicate the present scenario has little place or role for trade unions to influence events. However, a contrary point to this is that, the concept of individualism is already seen as a failure and hence the recognition for the efficaciousness as well as legitimacy of representation by collective interest is seen to be encouraged both by the UK as well as the European Law. Also, the efficacy of challenging systems of workers involvement, i.e., partnership and high performance workplaces indicate more scope for trade unionism analysis in future. Finally, in spite of the fact that Labour Party will maintain legal regulations in employment conditions and markets, UK becoming a part of the EU Social Charter, leads to the imposition of EU laws into the national laws which can have implications on domestic laws like the directive introduced in national system for informing and consulting workers. To sum it all it can be said that the Industrial Relations in UK can be improved to a greater extent if all the actors in it, i.e., state, management and trade unions realise the need for long-term measures indicating a wider area for the rights of employees and the joint regulation of the employment relationship.

Ethical Principles for Research

Ethical Principles for Research There is four well-known moral principles constitute the basis for ethics in research. They are first, the principle of non-maleficence. It means that the research must not cause harm to the participants in particular and to people in general. Second is the principle of beneficence. That show the Research should also make a positive contribution towards the welfare of people. It should be provide benefit for whatever treatment is. Third is the principle of autonomy. The research must respect and protect the rights and dignity of participants. For my perspective if my doctor ask me to take an antibiotic to treat the infection, is my right to consent the treatment or withdraw my consent. Next is the principle of justice. The benefits and risks of research should be fairly distributed among people. The ten general ethical principles, presently relevant for social science research in health are as follows. First is essentiality. This is for undertaking research it is necessary to make all possible efforts to get and give adequate consideration to existing literature/knowledge and its relevance, and the alternatives available on the subject/ issue under the study. Second is, Maximisation of public interest and of social justice. That means that the research is a social activity, carried out for the benefit of society. It should be undertaken with the motive of maximisation of public interest and social justice. Third is knowledge, ability and commitment to do research. It shows that sincere commitment to research in general and to the relevant subject in particular, and readiness to acquire adequate knowledge, ability and skill for undertaking particular research are essential prerequisites for good and ethical research. Next is the respect and protection of autonomy, rights and dignity of participants. This research involving participation of individual must not only respect, but also protect the autonomy, the rights and the dignity of participants. The participation of individual must be voluntary and based on informed consent. Next is the privacy, anonymity and confidentiality. It shows that all information and records provided by participants or obtained directly or indirectly on/about the participants are confidential. For revealing or sharing any information that may identify participants, permission of the participants is essential. Then, the precaution and risk minimisation. For this research all research carries some risk to the participants and to society. Taking adequate precautions and minimising and mitigating risks is, therefore, essential. Then,non-exploitation. The research must not unnecessarily consume the time of participants or make them incur undue loss of resources and income. It should not expose them to risks due to participation in the research. The relationship within the research team, including student and junior members, should be based on the principle of non- exploitation. Contribution of each member of the research team should be properly acknowledged and recognised. Next is public domain. It needed all persons and organisations connected to research should make adequate efforts to make public in appropriate manner and form, and at appropriate time, information on the research undertaken, and the relevant results and implications of completed research. Then, accountability and transparency. The conduct of research must be fair, honest and transparent. It is desirable institutions and researchers are amenable to social and financial review of their research by an appropriate and responsible social body. They should also make appropriate arrangements for the preservation of research records for a reasonable period of time. Last but not least, totality of responsibility. The responsibility for due observance of all principles of ethics and guidelines devolves on all those directly or indirectly connected with the research. They include institution where the research is conducted, researcher, sponsors/funders and those who publish material generated from research.

Ethical Theory, Utilitarianism and Kant’s Theory Essay

Ethics is a branch of philosophy which has a central concern of determining of how people should live their lives in accordance of distinguishing the right actions from wrong actions (Boatright, 2007, p. 7). In ethics normative theory propose different principles on how society can deal with this dilemma and that is through the introduction of deontological and theological ethical system. Deontological ethics or non-consequentialist theory requires people to do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do regardless of its consequences (Barry, Sansburry, & Shaw, 2009, p. 1). On the contrary, teleological or consequentialist approach sees action to be morally right or wrong due to its producing type of consequences like pleasure, welfare, knowledge, or happiness (Barry, et. al. , 2009, p. 61). Different approach on deontological and teleological ethics was introduced in explaining the different views of philosophers in accordance of decision making or resolving our daily problems. Firstly is Immanuel Kant, the famous deontologist introduced relationship between duty and the morality of human actions. He stated that an action can be considered moral if and only if it is in relation to our good will which is in accordance with the moral law instead of just basing it on our natural inclination (Boatright, 2007, p. 66). He specified that doing things based on our feelings or self-interest even though it might look like we are doing our duty it has still no moral worth. He then stated that we should relate our subjective choice on moral law which explained that in every intention on our acts should include maxim which is use by Kant’s to set the standard of morality or the categorical imperative (Barry, et. al. , 2009, p. 72). He proposed that based on this maxim people can only act if this action can be become a universal law or which can possibly accepted by the majority. In addition to this, action should always be in respect on other people, that we should never treat others as merely means to our end or to use others for the attainment of our own interest. On the other hand, Jeremy Bentham, one of the first to develop the utilitarian theory, a form of teleological ethics; approach the issue by always relating our actions to the moral doctrine which stated that the morality of our action can be weight to its consequences, that if it results o the greatest good for the human welfare the action is right, if not then it is wrong (Barry, et. al. , 2009, p. 72). He then added that a moral prescription of utilitarianism requires that consequences should not only be taken in consideration of an individual but also in respect of the common good. Added to the consequentialist theory is egoism, which equates morality to the attainment of an individual’s long term interest (Barry, et. al. , 2009, p. 59). As stated in Kant’s theory, maxim should always take into account other people which are a total rival to egoism in which the basis of moral act is self-interest. Another proponent of deontological approach was the British scholar W. D. Ross, a well-known opponent of utilitarianism. Ross emphasised other non-consequentialist perspective emphasizing our duty of care to those who depend on us (Barry, et. al. , 2009, p. 72). Unlike utilitarianism we cannot have single obligation to maximise happiness for our obligations which develop out of different relationship or our different roles to others. For an instance, our duties as a mom to our children, sister to our siblings and a friend to colleagues vary on each. Another deontological approach by Ross and other contemporary philosophers explained that our moral obligation is our prima facie (Barry, et. al. , 2009, p. 73). In relation to utilitarianism’s ratio of good consequences over its bad outcome prima facie explains that one of our obligations can be overridden by a more important obligation that in reality there will come a time that we need to choose from which of our moral duties must outweigh. But then again, unlike utilitarianism, prima facie recognize a genuine obligation that the reason behind this decision is because of the inherit act itself, like breaking our promise to attend to a friend’s party over bringing someone injured to the hospital. Although, we can see that deontological theory is somehow totally contradicting to teleological theory we should still put into account that both views what makes right acts right. As stated earlier, utilitarianism presents moral action based on the greatest happiness for the greatest people. Utilitarians hardly believe that the principle of utility should be the one universal moral code. Principle of utility describes as the greatest happiness principle, that whenever people need to make a choice they should consider the one that can maximise their happiness and minimise their unhappiness for the benefit of the greatest number of people (Boatright, 2007, p. 33). Within the scope of the theory of utilitarianism is the existence of its two subdivisions namely the act of utilitarianism and the rule of utilitarianism which is somehow coincides with each other but in a way see the said theory in a different point of view. Both act and rule utilitarianism agree that an ethical decisions should merely be based on its consequences, that any chosen decision which minimizes the utility is morally wrong and whatever will result in maximising utility is considered to be morally right (Boatright, 2007, p. 2). In addition to this, both views that an individual must aim to act in regards to maximising the happiness of the group as a whole, not just on acting based on their intention to maximise their self-interest (Boatright, 2007, p. 33 ). However, in regards to the assessment of maximising the greatest happiness of the people conflicts arises between the said subdivisions of utilitarianism. Act of utilitarianism is said to be more straight forwards who entails that â€Å"always do whatever act that will create the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people† (Boatright, 2007, p. 36 ). Jeremy Bentham believed that the only criteria for an action to be moral if it will result to the maximisation of utility. He based his moral theory in accordance with hedonism, that whatever is pleasurable for human is good and whatever is painful is bad thus, he insisted that pleasure and happiness is the ultimate intrinsic value or our act. Bentham introduced the hedonistic calculus which can serve as an individual’s guide to act based on the maximisation of utility. This calculation states that individual must rate in accordance to seven proposed consequences: intensity, duration, certain or uncertainty, remoteness, fecundity, purity, and extent. Once the individual equates all the said pleasures and pains on each side, he can then decide to which action result to more pleasure for the common people involve. This approach of Bentham received negative feedback from other utilitarians because of lack in providing overall happiness in the future. Other utilitarians specified that hedonistic calculus is unclear of how long and individual must wait to whether their actions is right or wrong. The inconsistency that was observed in Bentham’s hedonistic approach gave rise to the formulation of rule-utilitarianism. This approach gave emphasis on the relationship of act and the context in which the act occurs. It considers more than just a singular situation by taking into account various types of situation and the respective right actions which both should be based in a set up rules to maximize utility. This set up rule is grounded by harm principle which states that rightful actions should prevent harming people. Another basis of the said rule is the golden rule which states that individual should not do something which he cannot be accepted by everybody and standard of judging should not only be based on single happiness, but the greatest amount of happiness in total(Boatright, 2007, p. 8). Compare to act utilitarianism, rule utilitarianism is said to provide stronger foundation for the accomplishment of ethical decisions for it satisfied both present actions and present situation, but also considered present actions and future situations. On the other way around, rule utilitarianism and Kant’s theory which we just mentioned earlier can present the often confusion that people fac ed in reality of which of the said approach will bring the most moral act. Both of them set some standards in which we can base our actions to determine its morality. Kant’s theory proposed that our actions can only be seen as morally right if it is relation to our good will which is in accordance to the moral law. In here, Kant’s stated that our every intention should include maxim which can be either an act than can be accepted universally or a deed that will take into consideration the respect for other people which generally explained by the golden rule. Same with rule utilitarianism, Bentham introduced the set up rules as standard of moral act which is also grounded by the golden rule and the principle of harm which in a way is relative to the universal acceptance, that harming people in our actions just for maximising our utility cannot be accepted by society. In contrast, Kant’s insisted that moral obligation has nothing to do with the consequence in which rule utilitarianism is promoting. Our actions to be moral should just arise from a moral law that is binding on all rational beings.

Harry Houdini - The Great Escape Artist

Harry Houdini - The Great Escape Artist Harry Houdini remains one of the most famous magicians in history. Although Houdini could do card tricks and traditional magic acts, he was most famous for his ability to escape from what seemed like anything and everything, including ropes, handcuffs, straightjackets, jail cells, water-filled milk cans, and even nailed-shut boxes that had been thrown into a river. After World War I, Houdini turned his knowledge about deception against Spiritualists who claimed to be able to contact the dead. Then, at age 52, Houdini died mysteriously after being hit in the abdomen. Dates: March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926 Also Known As: Ehrich Weisz, Ehrich Weiss, The Great Houdini Houdini’s Childhood Throughout his life, Houdini propagated many legends about his beginnings, which have so oft been repeated that it has been difficult for historians to piece together the true story of Houdini’s childhood. However, it is believed that Harry Houdini was born Ehrich Weisz on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. His mother, Cecilia Weisz (neà © Steiner), had six children (five boys and one girl) of which Houdini was the fourth child. Houdini’s father, Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz, also had a son from a previous marriage. With conditions looking bleak for Jews in Eastern Europe, Mayer decided to emigrate from Hungary to the United States. He had a friend who lived in the very small town of Appleton, Wisconsin, and so Mayer moved there, where he helped form a small synagogue. Cecilia and the children soon followed Mayer to America when Houdini was about four years old. While entering into the U.S., immigration officials changed the family’s name from Weisz to Weiss. Unfortunately for the Weiss family, Mayer’s congregation soon decided that he was too old-fashioned for them and let him go after only a few years. Despite being able to speak three languages (Hungarian, German, and Yiddish), Mayer couldn’t speak English-   a serious drawback for a man trying to find a job in America. In December 1882, when Houdini was eight years old, Mayer moved his family to the much larger city of Milwaukee, hoping for better opportunities. With the family in dire financial straits, the children got jobs to help support the family. This included Houdini, who worked odd jobs selling newspapers, shining shoes, and running errands. In his spare time, Houdini read library books regarding magic tricks and contortionist movements. At age nine, Houdini and some friends established a five-cent circus, where he wore red woolen stockings and called himself Ehrich, Prince of the Air.† At age eleven, Houdini worked as a locksmith apprentice. When Houdini was about 12 years old, the Weiss family moved to New York City. While Mayer tutored students in Hebrew, Houdini found a job cutting fabrics into strips for neckties. Despite working hard, the Weiss family was always short on money. This forced Houdini to use both his cleverness and confidence to find innovative ways to make a little extra money. In his spare time, Houdini proved himself a natural athlete, who enjoyed running, swimming, and bicycling. Houdini even received several medals in cross-country track competitions. The Creation of Harry Houdini At age fifteen, Houdini discovered the magician’s book, Memoirs of Robert-Houdin, Ambassador, Author, and Conjurer, Written by Himself. Houdini was mesmerized by the book and stayed up all night reading it. He later stated that this book truly sparked his enthusiasm for magic. Houdini would eventually read all of Robert-Houdin’s books, absorbing the stories and advice contained within. Through these books, Robert-Houdin (1805-1871) became a hero and a role model to Houdini. To get started on this new passion, the young Ehrich Weiss needed a stage name. Jacob Hyman, a friend of Houdini’s, told Weiss that there was a French custom that if you add the letter â€Å"I† to the end of your mentor’s name it showed admiration. Adding an â€Å"I† to â€Å"Houdin† resulted in â€Å"Houdini.† For a first name, Ehrich Weiss chose â€Å"Harry,† the Americanized version of his nickname â€Å"Ehrie.† He then combined â€Å"Harry† with â€Å"Houdini,† to create the now famous name â€Å"Harry Houdini.† Liking the name so much, Weiss and Hyman partnered together and called themselves â€Å"The Brothers Houdini.† In 1891, the Brothers Houdini performed card tricks, coin swaps, and disappearing acts at Huber’s Museum in New York City and also at Coney Island during the summer. About this time, Houdini purchased a magician trick (magicians often bought tricks of the trade from each other) called Metamorphosis that involved two people trading places in a locked trunk onstage behind a screen. In 1893, the Brothers Houdini were allowed a spot to perform outside the world’s fair in Chicago. By this time, Hyman had left the act and had been replaced by Houdini’s real brother, Theo (â€Å"Dash†). Houdini Marries Bessie and Joins the Circus After the fair, Houdini and his brother returned to Coney Island, where they performed at the same hall as the singing and dancing Floral Sisters. It wasn’t long before a romance blossomed between 20-year-old Houdini and 18-year-old Wilhelmina Beatrice (â€Å"Bess†) Rahner of the Floral Sisters. After a three-week courtship, Houdini and Bess were married on June 22, 1894. With Bess being of petite stature, she soon replaced Dash as Houdini’s partner since she was better able to hide inside various boxes and trunks in vanishing acts. Bess and Houdini called themselves Monsieur and Mademoiselle Houdini, Mysterious Harry and LaPetite Bessie, or The Great Houdinis. The Houdinis performed for a couple of years in dime museums and then in 1896, the Houdinis went to work in the Welsh Brothers Traveling Circus. Bess sang songs while Houdini did magic tricks, and together they performed the Metamorphosis act. The Houdinis Join Vaudeville and a Medicine Show In 1896, when the circus season ended, the Houdinis joined a traveling vaudeville show. During this show, Houdini added a handcuff-escape trick to the Metamorphosis act. In each new town, Houdini would visit the local police station and announce that he could escape from any handcuffs they put on him. Crowds would gather to watch as Houdini easily escaped. These pre-show exploits were often covered by a local newspaper, creating publicity for the vaudeville show. To keep audiences further amused, Houdini decided to escape from a straitjacket, using his agility and flexibility to wiggle free from it. When the vaudeville show ended, the Houdinis scrambled to find work, even contemplating work other than magic. Thus, when they were offered a position with Dr. Hill’s California Concert Company, an old-time traveling medicine show selling a tonic that â€Å"could cure just about anything,† they accepted. In the medicine show, Houdini once again performed his escape acts; however, when attendance numbers began to dwindle, Dr. Hill asked Houdini if he could transform himself into a spirit medium. Houdini was already familiar with many of the spirit medium’s tricks and so he began leading sà ©ances while Bess performed as a clairvoyant claiming to have psychic gifts. The Houdinis were very successful pretending to be spiritualists because they always did their research. As soon as they pulled into a new town, the Houdinis would read recent obituaries and visit graveyards to seek the names of the newly dead. They would also subtly listen to town gossip. All this allowed them to piece together enough information to convince crowds that the Houdinis were real spiritualists with amazing powers to contact the dead. However, feelings of guilt about lying to grief-stricken people eventually became overwhelming and the Houdinis ultimately quit the show. Houdini’s Big Break With no other prospects, the Houdinis went back to performing with the Welsh Brothers Traveling Circus. While performing in Chicago in 1899, Houdini once again performed his police station stunt of escaping handcuffs, but this time it was different. Houdini had been invited into a room full of 200 people, mostly policemen, and spent 45 minutes shocking everyone in the room as he escaped from everything the police had. The following day, The Chicago Journal ran the headline â€Å"Amazes the Detectives† with a large drawing of Houdini. The publicity surrounding Houdini and his handcuff act caught the eye of Martin Beck, the head of the Orpheum theater circuit, who signed him for a one-year contract. Houdini was to perform the handcuff escape act and Metamorphosis at the classy Orpheum theaters in Omaha, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto, and San Francisco. Houdini was finally rising from obscurity and into the spotlight. Houdini Becomes an International Star In the spring of 1900, 26-year-old Houdini, exuding confidence as â€Å"The King of Handcuffs,† left for Europe in the hopes of finding success. His first stop was London, where Houdini performed at the Alhambra Theater. While there, Houdini was challenged to escape from Scotland Yard’s handcuffs. As always, Houdini escaped and the theater was filled every night for months. The Houdinis went on to perform in Dresden, Germany, at the Central Theater, where ticket sales broke records. For five years, Houdini and Bess performed throughout Europe and even in Russia, with tickets often selling out ahead of time for their performances. Houdini had become an international star. Houdini’s Death-Defying Stunts In 1905, the Houdinis decided to head back to the United States and try to win fame and fortune there as well. Houdini’s specialty had become escapes. In 1906, Houdini escaped from jail cells in Brooklyn, Detroit, Cleveland, Rochester, and Buffalo. In Washington D.C., Houdini performed a widely publicized escape act involving the former jail cell of Charles Guiteau, the assassin of President James A. Garfield. Stripped and wearing handcuffs supplied by the Secret Service, Houdini freed himself from the locked cell, and then unlocked the adjoining cell where his clothes were waiting all within 18 minutes. However, escaping just from handcuffs or jail cells was no longer enough to get the public’s attention. Houdini needed new, death-defying stunts. In 1907, Houdini unveiled a dangerous stunt in Rochester, N.Y., where, with his hands handcuffed behind his back, he jumped from a bridge into a river. Then in 1908, Houdini introduced the dramatic Milk Can Escape, where he was locked inside a sealed milk can filled with water. The performances were huge hits. The drama and flirting with death made Houdini even more popular. In 1912, Houdini created the Underwater Box Escape. In front of a huge crowd along New Yorks East River, Houdini was handcuffed and manacled, placed inside a box, locked in, and thrown into the river. When he escaped just moments later, everyone cheered. Even the magazine Scientific American was impressed and proclaimed Houdini’s feat as one of the most remarkable tricks ever performed. In September of 1912, Houdini debuted his famous Chinese Water Torture Cell escape at the Circus Busch in Berlin. For this trick, Houdini was handcuffed and shackled and then lowered, head first, into a tall glass box that had been filled with water. Assistants would then pull a curtain in front of the glass; moments later, Houdini would emerge, wet but alive. This became one of Houdini’s most famous tricks. It seemed like there was nothing Houdini could not escape from and nothing he could not make audiences believe. He was even able to make Jennie the elephant disappear! World War I and Acting When the U.S. joined World War I, Houdini tried to enlist in the army. However, since he was already 43-years old, he was not accepted. Nonetheless, Houdini spent the war years entertaining soldiers with free performances. When the war was drawing to a close, Houdini decided to try acting. He hoped that motion pictures would be a new way for him to reach mass audiences. Signed by Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures, Houdini starred in his first motion picture in 1919, a 15-episode serial titled The Master Mystery. He also starred in The Grim Game (1919), and Terror Island (1920). However, the two feature films did not do well at the box office. Confident it was bad management that had caused the movies to flop, the Houdinis returned to New York and founded their own film company, the Houdini Picture Corporation. Houdini then produced and starred in two of his own films, The Man From Beyond (1922) and Haldane of the Secret Service (1923). These two films also bombed at the box office, leading Houdini to the conclusion that it was time to give up on moviemaking. Houdini Challenges Spiritualists At the end of World War I, there was a huge surge in people believing in Spiritualism. With millions of young men dead from the war, their grieving families looked for ways to contact them â€Å"beyond the grave.† Psychics, spirit mediums, mystics, and others emerged to fill this need. Houdini was curious but skeptical. He, of course, had pretended to be a gifted spirit medium back in his days with Dr. Hill’s medicine show and thus knew many of the fake medium’s tricks. However, if it were possible to contact the dead, he would love to once again talk to his beloved mother, who had passed away in 1913. Thus Houdini visited a large number of mediums and attended hundreds of sà ©ances hoping to find a real psychic; unfortunately, he found every one of them to be a fake. Along this quest, Houdini befriended famous author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who was a devoted believer in Spiritualism after having lost his son in the war. The two great men exchanged many letters, debating the truthfulness of Spiritualism. In their relationship, Houdini was the one always looking for rational answers behind the encounters and Doyle remained the devoted believer. The friendship ended after Lady Doyle held a sà ©ance in which she claimed to channel automatic-writing from Houdini’s mother. Houdini was not convinced. Among other issues with the writing was that it was all in English, a language Houdini’s mother never spoke. The friendship between Houdini and Doyle ended bitterly and led to many antagonistic attacks against each other in newspapers. Houdini began to expose the tricks used by mediums. He gave lectures on the topic and often included demonstrations of these tricks during his own performances. He joined a committee organized by Scientific American who analyzed claims for a $2,500 prize for a true psychic phenomena (no one ever received the prize). Houdini also spoke in front of the U.S. House of Representatives, supporting a proposed bill that would ban telling fortunes for pay in Washington D.C. The result was that even though Houdini brought about some skepticism, it seemed to create more interest in Spiritualism. However, many Spiritualists were extremely upset at Houdini and Houdini received a number of death threats. Death of Houdini On October 22, 1926, Houdini was in his dressing room preparing for a show at McGill University in Montreal, when one of the three students he had invited backstage asked if Houdini really could withstand a strong punch to his upper torso. Houdini answered that he could. The student, J. Gordon Whitehead, then asked Houdini if he could punch him. Houdini agreed and started to get up off a couch when Whitehead punched him three times in the abdomen before Houdini had a chance to tense his stomach muscles. Houdini turned visibly pale and the students left. To Houdini, the show must always go on. Suffering from severe pain, Houdini performed the show at McGill University and then went on to do two more the following day. Moving on to Detroit that evening, Houdini grew weak and suffered from stomach pain and fever. Instead of going to the hospital, he once again went on with the show, and collapsed offstage. He was taken to a hospital and it was discovered that not only had his appendix burst, it was showing signs of gangrene. The next afternoon surgeons removed his appendix. The next day his condition worsened; they operated on him again. Houdini told Bess that if he died he would try to contact her from the grave, giving her a secret code - â€Å"Rosabelle, believe.† Houdini died at 1:26 p.m. on Halloween day, October 31, 1926. He was 52-years old. Headlines immediately read â€Å"Was Houdini Murdered?† Did he really have appendicitis? Was he poisoned? Why was there no autopsy? Houdini’s life insurance company investigated his death and ruled out foul play, but for many, uncertainty regarding the cause of Houdini’s death lingers. For years after his death, Bess attempted to contact Houdini through sà ©ances, but Houdini never contacted her from beyond the grave.

The Best IB Economics Notes and Study Guide for SL

The Best IB Economics Notes and Study Guide for SL/HL SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you taking IB Economics but feel you aren't learning enough from your class alone? Maybe you need more explanation of certain economics topics? If you need some help in your IB Economics SL/HL class, this study guide is for you. I’ve gathered all of the best free IB Economics study guides and notes into one useful article. This IB Economics study guide is organized according to the IB Economics Syllabus. How to Use TheseIB Economics Notes and Study Guide If you are looking for help with one topic, use the Command + F function on your keyboard to search this article for that topic. For instance, if you want to learn more about Markets, use Command + F to bring up the search function. Type in â€Å"Markets† and it’ll bring up all of the study materials for Markets. I separated the resources into: Quick reference: one-page summary of material if you just need a quick refresher. Longer notes: notes (generally 3-10 pages) if you need more of an in-depth explanation. How Should You Use This Article During the School Year? If there are any subjects that you feel youdon'tcompletely understand after learning them in class, use these notes to review them and fill any knowledge gaps. You should also use these notes to regulary review past topics you covered in class to be sure you don't forget earlier topics and have to cram right before the exam. To score well on the IB Economics exam, you should be studying and reviewing the topics you cover in class throughout the year. This will help you cement this information in your mind so you're not struggling for answers on test days. In addition to these notes, you should also take several practice tests. This will help you test your knowledge and get a better idea of how well you'll score on test day.FindIB Economics HL and IB Economics SL past papers, Free and Official, in our other article. Common Study Mistakes for IB Economics SL/HL It's important to avoid falling behind in IB Economics SL/HL; there's just too much material to learn easily if you get significantly behind. You need to master the topics during the school year to ace your IB Economics papers. Some common mistakes are: Avoiding topics you don’t understand in class. If you didn’t learn it in class, you need to look for help elsewhere whether through this IB Economics study guide or tutoring. Waiting to study until a week or two before the papers. There are a lot of concepts to master. A week or two is not enough time to learn them all (that is why IB Economics is taught over 1 to 2 years). Learn the topics as you’re supposed to learn them in class. Use this study guide if you need extra help. Want to get better grades and test scores? We can help. PrepScholar Tutors is the world's best tutoring service. We combine world-class expert tutors with our proprietary teaching techniques. Our students have gotten A's on thousands of classes, perfect 5's on AP tests, and ludicrously high SAT Subject Test scores. Whether you need help with science, math, English, social science, or more, we've got you covered. Get better grades today with PrepScholar Tutors. Section 1: Microeconomics Longer notes: Basic Definitions Longer notes: PPF and PPC Longer notes: Free Market vs. Planned Economy 1.1 Competitive markets: demand and supply (some topics HL only) Quick reference: Markets Longer notes: Markets Quick reference: Demand Quick reference: Supply Quick reference: Market equilibrium Quick reference: The role of the price mechanism Quick reference: Market efficiency 1.2 Elasticity Longer notes: Elasticities Quick reference: Price elasticity of demand (PED) Quick reference: Cross price elasticity of demand (XED) Quick reference: Income elasticity of demand (YED) Quick reference: Price elasticity of supply (PES) 1.3 Government intervention (some topics HL extension, plus one topic HL only) Quick reference: Indirect taxes Quick reference: Subsidies Quick reference: Price controls 1.4 Market failure (some topics HL only) Longer notes: Market Failure Quick reference: The meaning of market failure Quick reference: Types of market failure 1.5 Theory of the firm and market structures (HL only) Longer notes: Theory of the Firm (HL) Section 2: Macroeconomics Longer notes: Measuring National Income Longer notes: Introduction to Development Longer notes: Unemployment and Inflation Longer notes: Distribution of Income 2.1 The level of overall economic activity (one topic HL extension) 2.2 Aggregate demand and aggregate supply (one topic HL only) 2.3 Macroeconomic objectives (some topics HL extension, plus one topic HL only) Longer notes: Macroeconomic Models 2.4 Fiscal policy 2.5 Monetary policy 2.6 Supply-side policies Quick reference: Evaluation of supply-side policies Longer notes: Demand-side and Supply-side policies Section 3: International Economics 3.1 International trade (one topic HL extension, plus one topic HL only) Longer notes: Reasons for trade Longer notes: Free trade and protectionism Longer notes: World Trade Organization (WTO) 3.2 Exchange rates (some topics HL extension) Longer notes: Exchange rates 3.3 The balance of payments (one topic HL extension, plus some topics HL only) Longer notes: Balance of payments Longer notes: Balance of Payment problems 3.4 Economic integration (one topic HL extension) Longer notes: Economic integration 3.5 Terms of trade (HL only) Longer notes: Terms of trade Section 4: Development Economics 4.1 Economic development 4.2 Measuring development 4.3 The role of domestic factors 4.4 The role of international trade (one topic HL extension) 4.5 The role of foreign direct investment (FDI) 4.6 The roles of foreign aid and multilateral development assistance 4.7 The role of international debt 4.8 The balance between markets and intervention Longer notes: Sources of Economic Growth and/or Development Longer notes: Consequences of Growth Longer notes: Barriers to Economic Growth Longer notes: Growth and Development Strategies Longer notes: Evaluation of Growth and Development Strategies What’s Next? Learn more about IB Economics: Want some more IB Economics study materials?Check out our guide to every IB Economics past paper available, including free and official papers. Looking for more info on what IB Economics covers?Read our complete guide to the IB Economics syllabus to learn every topic that will be covered in the course. Wondering which other IB classes you can take?Take a look at the complete list of IB courses to see what your options are. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Finance-Whether to undertake a project or not Research Paper

Finance-Whether to undertake a project or not - Research Paper Example As per the latest audited financial statement of the company (for the financial year ended 201), the company employees more than 164,000 and has more than 70 operational plants worldwide in six continents. Ford Motors well established business attracts a great deal of consumer base irrespective of demography. The primary business of the company comprises of high end state of the art cars both for the individual as well as for the industrial use. The company, through its resilient and effective marketing tactics, has able to capture significant market shares in the automotive industry worldwide. Following is an extract from the financial statement of the company which presents the movement in the market share of the company for the current financial year of 2011 The company divides its revenue into two broad segments which are through automotive and through financial services. The automotive structure is further divided into four segments of 1) Ford North America, 2) Ford South Americ a, 3) Ford Europe, and 4) Ford Asia Pacific Africa. Whereas, the ford financial services are divided into 1) Ford Credit, and 2) Other Financial Services. The company has improved its asset allocation strategy and has also rejuvenated its business strategy and global competitive strategy. The proactive approach has resulted in an increase of 5.7% in sales revenue from the automotive and financial services business. The financial year 2011 proved to be another progressive year for Ford Motor Company. During the current year, the company’s revenue increased by 5.7% during the current year to an impressive $136,264 million which has caused the operating profit to increase by a staggering 21%. The company, following its growth strategy, aspires transform its operation into multi channel business. The company has taken major steps in investing its direct sales business which enhanced the revenue during the current financial year. In addition, the company is actively following its strategy of refurbishing its plants and giving them a new and improved look. The refurbishment has resulted in an increased production capacity and has created a more opportunities for the company. The following table compares the financial results of Ford Motor Company, for the financial year 2011 with that of the year 2010. As quite evident from the above comparison, the financial outlook of the company has improved. The increase in group revenue primarily pertains to the increase in like-for-like sales as well as the addition of new plants and outlets, both in and outside of North America. Since Ford Motor Company do a significant number of its sales overseas, the company’s revenue is majorly increased due to the fluctuation in exchange rate. Although the recent credit crisis and global economic meltdown proved to be a hurdle, but the impact was offset by prudent risk management and apt allocation of capital investment. The gross profit to sales ratio for the year ended De cember 31, 2011 was 6.37% which has decreased by notably during the current year. The increase in the profit is due to the fact that during the current year the company did not spend any exceptional cost which it incurred during the prior year on strategic restructure. In addition, the company took strong measures to control its finance cost during the

Teaching case study for international marketing Essay

Teaching case study for international marketing - Essay Example Its various strategies and marketing activities are also discussed. Poundland is one of the famous companies in the retail industry. It is a British multinational company having its presence in most of the big countries of the world. It is a public limited company. The company was established in 1990 by Stephen Smith and Dave Dodd. The company deals with various types of products like kitchen ware, home, healthcare, gifts etc. The company sells all of its products at  £ 1. The company is considered as the largest single priced retailer in UK. In 2014 the company earned revenue of 997.8 million pound. In that year the profit of the company was  £ 13.9 million. The firm has around 10,020 employees who play vital role in operating the business process. The target of Poundland Company is to increase its market share and customer base. The company has expanded its business operations in many countries of the world. Now it is focusing on expanding its business in China. This country can be a big market for this company. The firm has the objective to t he entire market of China. In different other countries the company is enjoying strong growth in customer acquisition and sales (Halliburton and Ziegfeld, 2009). The company expects the same business growth after expanding into China market. Poundland is into the retail industry for a long period of time. The retail stores of Poundland sell products of different brands. The company also has products of its own. The company is famous for selling all products for  £ 1. This unique pricing policy helps the brand to attract maximum number of customers. The firm promotes its brand by maintain its strong and active presence in different social media sites like facebook, twitter, pin interest etc (Agrawal, 1995). Through this social media sites the company performs different marketing activities for increasing its brand value. The brand has large number of female customers. The