Mechanical Test of Ldpe and Hdpe P

Mechanical Test of LDPE and HDPE Processed by Extrusion, Injection Molding, Compression Molding and Sheet Extrusion Abstract LDPE and HDPE were processed by extrusion, injection molding, and sheet extrusion. Their mechanical properties such as tensile strength and percent elongation were measured by tensile test and analyzed statistically (Table 2). During the extrusion process, both polymers underwent die swelling. The water cooled polymer cords have a higher tensile strength but lower % elongation compared to the air cooled cords. HDPE has a much higher strength than LDPE due to its high crystallinity.LDPE and HDPE samples processed by injection molding and sheet extrusion show the same tendency in the extent of yield strength and elastic modulus. For sheet extrusion, the heat treated polymer sheet has a higher strength than the non-heat treated sheet because heating leads to an increase in both crystallinity and crystallite size. The specimen in rolling direction also has a higher strength than those in transverse direction due to the alignment of the polymer chains in rolling direction. UHMWPE (Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) saucer was processed by compression molding.The cross section of the saucer was examined by optical microscopy. Further, the melting temperature of PEO was determined to be 74. 0Â °C ~ 78. 9Â °C. Introduction A polymer is a chemical compound or mixture of compounds consisting of repeating structural units created through a process of polymerization. 1 The units composing polymers derive from molecules of low relative molecular mass. When all the repeating units along a chain are of the same type, the resulting polymer is called homopolymer. Chains composed of two or more different repeat units are termed copolymers.The physical characteristics of a polymer depend both on its molecular weight and shape, and the structure of the molecular chains. The chain structures include linear polymer, branched polymer, crosslinked polym er and network polymer. The polymer synthesized in this experiment, LDPE and HDPE, have different chain structures (i. e. LDPE is a branched polymer and HDPE is a linear polymer. ). The polymer chain structure has a significant influence on polymer crystallinity, which is defined as the packing of molecular chains to produce an ordered atomic array. The mechanical properties that investigated in this paper, such as tensile strength, elastic modulus and percent elongation, greatly depend on the crystallinity of the polymer sample. Polymers play an essential and ubiquitous role in everyday life from those of familiar synthetic plastics and other materials of day-to-day work and home life, to the natural biopolymers that are fundamental to biological structure and function. 1 Quite a variety of different techniques are employed in the forming of polymeric materials. Molding is the most common method for forming plastic polymers.The several molding techniques used include extrusion mold ing, compression molding, blow molding and injection molding. 3 During molding, crystal regions in polymer melts upon heating. The resulted polymer melts are non-Newtonian fluids, and their viscosity depends on the shear rate. Melt index (MI) could be used to indicate the viscosity of the fluid. It is defined as the mass of polymer flowing in ten minutes through a capillary of a specific diameter and length by a pressure applied. 4 Polymer melts are formed into a continuous charge of viscous fluid.The viscous fluid then solidifies into polymer product with specific shapes. During the solidification process, polymer melts recrystallizes and forms spherulite structure consisted of both amorphous region and lamellar. Experimental Procedure Crystallization of PEO Crystallization of PEO (Sigma-Aldrich Co. , St. Louis, MD) was observed by optical microscopy. Sample of PEO powder was placed on glass slide and heated up using hot stage. Both the melting and the solidification processes were observed under optical microscope under crossed polarizer. The melting range was determined to be 74. 0Â °C ~ 78. 9Â °C.Extrusion of LDPE and HDPE Both LDPE (MI = 0. 25, Equistar ) and HDPE (MI = 9, Equistar) pellets were processed into cords using single-screw extruder (Model TL3215B, Extruders ). The die temperature was 350 Â °C, Zone temperatures were all 425 Â °C and the screw speed was about 3. 6 rpm. Water cooling and air cooling were carried out for mechanical properties evaluation. Tensile tests were performed on both LDPE and HDPE cords in order to evaluate their mechanical properties. Compression Molding UHMWPE (Ticona) powder was used to produce UHMWPE saucer by using a compression molding apparatus (Model 3725, Carver).The starting temperature was 245 F, and the molding temperature was 310 F. The cross section of the saucer was examined by optical microscopy. Injection Molding Both LDPE (MI = 9, Equistar) and HDPE (MI = 7, Equistar) pellets were processed into dog b one specimens by injection molding. The barrel, nozzle and mold temperatures used are listed below. Tensile tests were performed on both LDPE and HDPE specimens in order to evaluate their mechanical properties. Table 1. Barrel, Nozzle and Mold temperatures for injection molding. | LDPE| HDPE| Barrel Temperature | 390Â °F| 400Â °F|Nozzle Temperature| 395Â °F| 405Â °F| Mold Temperature| 275Â °F| 275Â °F| Sheet Extrusion Both LDPE (MI = 0. 25, Equistar) and HDPE (MI = 9, Equistar) pellets were processed into polymer sheets using sheet extruder (Model KLB125, Extruders). The die temperature was 375 Â °C. Zone temperatures were all 420 Â °C. Adapter temperature was also 420Â °C. The screw speed was about 20 rpm and the roller speed was set up to 2. 0 rpm. Heat treatment using glass furnace was performed on both polymers. Tensile tests were carried out in order to evaluate the mechanical properties of both LDPE and HDPE. Result and DiscussionCrystallization of PEO The melting tem perature of PEO was determined to be 74. 0Â °C ~ 78. 9Â °C, where the literature melting temperature of PEO is 65Â °C. The polymer melting behavior is a function of the rate of heating5. That the measured melting temperature is higher than the literature value results from the relative high heat rate (20Â °C/ min). Besides, the melting temperature for polymer is a range instead of a single point. The melting temperature depends on the molecular weight of the polymer chain, the thickness of the chain-folded lamellae, the heating rate and the impurity content.Since the PEO samples used contain polymer chains with different size, and they were heat at an inconstant rate, the melting must take place over a range of temperatures. | | | | Figure 1. Micrographs of PEO melting stage at 10X. (a). Full spherulite (red circle) growth at 54. 8Â °C. (b). Spherulite starts to disappear 74. 0Â °C. (c). Spherulite completely disappeared at 78. 9Â °C. A A | B B | C C | D D | Figure 2. Microgr aphs of PEO crystallization stages at 10X. (a). Completely melted polymer. (b). Spherulite start to grow from nucleation site (red circle). (c). Growing of spherulite (red circle). (d).Spherulite structure of PEO and interspherulite boundary. The spherulite consisted of chain-folded crystallites (lamellae) and amorphous region start to grow from the nucleation site at 56. 7Â °C. Individual lamellae are separated by amorphous materials. As shown in Fig. 2 (c), the spherulite keeps growing and getting larger as the recrystallization process continues. When the crystallization of a spherulite structure nears completion, the extremities of adjacent spherulites begin to impinge on one another, forming planar boundaries (Fig. 2 (d)). At 56. 0Â °C, the crystallization process of PEO sample reached completion.Compression Molding A A | B B | Figure 3. Micrographs of middle cut (B) and outer cut (A) of UHMWPE saucer at 20X. The mold is closed with a top force. Pressure is applied to force t he material into contact with all mold areas, and heat and pressure are maintained until the molding material has cured. During that process, particles diffuse together and become one piece. As shown in Fig. 3, the outer cut of the UHMWPE saucer has lower porosity, and the middle section of the saucer has a much higher porosity. The outer region of the saucer was cooled much faster than the middle section of the saucer.Slowing cooling rate in the middle section led to the high porosity. Liquidus polymer shrinks as it solidify into solid leaving a large amount of pores in the middle section. Extrusion and Sheet Extrusion Die swell happened during extrusion as shown in Fig. 4. A flow stream has a constant rate before entering the die. It also occupies a spherical conformation and maximizes the entropy. 6 As it goes through the die, polymer loses its spherical shape and becomes less entangled. Therefore, the entropy is lowered. When polymer melt comes out of the nozzle, the remaining p hysical entanglements cause the polymer melt to relax (i. e. egain a portion of its former shape) and restore the entropy. It appears like the polymer is swelling at the nozzle. Figure 4. Die swelling happened when polymer melt came out of the nozzle. Air cooled LDPE took 3 runs before fracture, and the water cooled LDPE took 2 runs before fracture. As shown in Fig. 5, both water cooled and air cooled LDPE cords have similar elastic modulus and yield strength. However, the air cooled cord has a higher tensile strength but lower percent elongation. Since the degree of crystallinity depends on cooling rate during solidification, the higher the cooling rate , the higher the degree of crystallinity.Increasing in crystallinity increases the hardness but lower the ductility of the polymer cords. Thus, water cooled LDPE cord has higher tensile strength but lower % elongation compared to the air cooled one. Figure 5. Extrusion sample stress vs. strain plot. Red curve represents water cooled LDPE cord, and blue curve represents air cooled LDPE cord. Figure 6. Sheet extrusion sample Stress vs. Strain plot. Blue curve represents heat treated LDPE specimen in rolling direction. Purple curve represents non-heat treated LDPE specimen in rolling direction.Red curve represents non-heat treated LDPE specimen in transverse direction. Green curve represents heat treated LDPE specimen in transverse direction. Figure 7. Sheet extrusion sample Stress vs. Strain plot. Blue curve represents non-heat treated HDPE specimen in rolling direction. Purple curve represents heat treated HDPE specimen in rolling direction. Red curve represents non-heat treated HDPE specimen in transverse direction. Green curve represents heat treated HDPE specimen in transverse direction. Tensile test result of sheet extruded LDPE and HDPE specimens are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 above.HDPE specimens have higher yield strength, elastic modulus and % elongation. HDPE has a linear chain structure. It was highly packed. Therefore, it has a larger density and higher degree of crystallinity than LDPE. Molecular chains are closely packed in an ordered arrangement in crystalline region. The alignment of the packed chains in crystalline region makes the intermolecular secondary bonding much stronger than it is in amorphous region. Thus, HDPE with higher crystallinity has a much higher strength than LDPE. The heat treated specimen has higher yield strength and tensile strength than non-heat treated specimens.It is also due to the increasing in the percent crystallinity, which makes the polymer harder but less ductile. Further, polymer specimen in rolling direction has higher yield strength and elastic modulus, but lower percent elongation compared to samples in transverse direction. It is because during drawing the molecular chains slip past on another and become highly oriented. This alignment once again enhances the tensile modulus in the direction of drawing (RD), while reduces the tensile st rength in the direction (TD) perpendicular to the rolling direction. Injection Molding Figure 8.Stress vs. Strain plot of HDPE samples processed by injection molding. Figure 9. Stress vs. Strain plot of LDPE samples processed by injection molding. Table 2. Statistic data of HDPE and LDPE samples processed by injection molding. | HDPE| LDPE| | ? y (MPa)| E (GPa)| %EL| ? y(MPa)| E (GPa)| %EL| 1| 19. 317| 0. 41| 163| 5. 29| 0. 040| 131| 2| 23. 216| 0. 44| 265| 5. 38| 0. 050| 155| 3| 23. 77| 0. 49| 69| 6. 302| 0. 049| 144| 4| 24. 142| 0. 78| 509| 6. 408| 0. 058| 141| Average| 22. 61| 0. 53| 251. 50| 5. 85| 0. 049| 142. 75| Standard Deviation | 2. 23| 0. 17| 189. 41| 0. 59| 0. 0073| 9. 8| 95% Confidence Interval | 22. 61Â ±3. 54| 0. 53Â ±0. 27| 251. 50Â ±301. 35| 5. 85Â ±0. 94| 0. 049Â ±0. 012| 142. 75Â ±15. 72| Compared to literature value , P-value| t = 3. 22,Df=3,P

National Curriculum Establishes Assessment As Part Of Teaching Education Essay

The National Curriculum establishes appraisal as an built-in portion of instruction and acquisition, saying that ‘assessment is how pupils recognise accomplishment and do advancement, and how instructors shape and personalise their instruction ‘ ( National Curriculum, 2010 ) . Appraisal in all its pretenses is a critical factor in be aftering for short, average and long-run student advancement. If the importance of formative and summational appraisal is recognised during the planning phases, it allows for a more in-depth analysis of pupil accomplishment and attainment and a more constructive rating of the effectivity of personal instruction methods. The focal point of this paper is the importance of effectual planning of both formative and summational appraisal for learning and larning. Without some signifier of appraisal it would be improbably hard for both instructors and scholars to estimate how much advancement has been made during a lesson or over the class of a pecu liar unit of survey. Assessment should non be merely an addition at the terminal of a unit of work, but instead a cardinal constituent of day-to-day schoolroom instruction and acquisition. It is for these grounds that I have chosen it as the focal point of this paper. In its simplest signifier, appraisal is the procedure by which instructors analyse pupils ‘ acquisition ( Briggs and Ellis, 2004. p.63 ) ; nevertheless it is much more than that. Assessment enables scholars to recognize accomplishment and do advancement, and instructors to determine and accommodate their instruction to single demands and aspirations ( National Curriculum, 2010 ) . Research has shown that appraisal ( with explicit respect to its National Curriculum intents ) can be divided into two cardinal countries that work as separate entities yet are inextricably linked. Pachler, Barnes & A ; Field have labelled these two countries as the ‘macro and micro dimensions ‘ of appraisal ( 2009. pp.235-236 ) . The macro strand consists of the national, regional and local/school-based statute law, policy and certification that are often updated and used to make public presentation informations. The micro strand, which involves the monitoring and betterment of single class/pupil cognition, understanding and acquisition, utilises these policies and certification in order to accomplish the consequences required to farther inform and develop the macro strand. This cyclical construction of appraisal merely reinforces its importance, as the success and patterned advance of both the single student and the national instruction system depend upon it. With such significance weighing upon its nucleus application through instruction and acquisition in the schoolroom, it is indispensable that appraisal is given due consideration during the planning procedure in order to guarantee that it is used resourcefully and productively. In order to do the country of appraisal more accessible for schoolroom usage, it is possible to farther categorise it so that it becomes a functional characteristic of instruction and acquisition. The micro strand of appraisal can itself be broken down into two distinguishable yet besides interlinked dimensions, viz. formative and summational appraisal. The Assessment Reform Group have defined the formative, appraisal for larning as ‘the procedure of seeking and construing grounds for usage by scholars and their instructors to make up one's mind where the scholars are in their acquisition, where they need to travel following and how best to acquire at that place ‘ ( Assessment Reform Group, 2002 ) . Pachler, Barnes & A ; Field have defined the summative, appraisal of larning as ‘assessment which describes/summarises what a scholar has achieved/attained. A snapshot of accomplishment. It besides informs instructors of how much of and how good a group of scholars has p rogressed against the intended acquisition results ‘ ( 2009, p.236 ) . The 1987 study compiled by the Task Group on Assessment and Testing ( TGAT ) put frontward the construct that formative and summational appraisal could and ought to be used in tandem for the benefit of student advancement. Harmonizing to the TGAT, uniting the consequences of appraisals with the specific intent of supplying formative information could supply a good general image of a student ‘s educational advancement. However, the TGAT besides claimed that since summational appraisals occur at the terminal of a stage of acquisition, formative information could non be obtained from them and hence could non show an accurate position of the student ‘s educational history ( TGAT Report, 1987. paragraph 25 ) . Therefore, utilizing both signifiers of appraisal together would look to be a cardinal attack to analyzing a student ‘s overall academic attainment and was a nucleus factor in my ain planning for learning and acquisition. The planning procedure itself is at the bosom of instruction and acquisition. It is through be aftering a series of lessons that a clear way for the intended acquisition is achieved. Individual lesson programs relate via units of work to the strategy of work, which outlines the work to be covered over a period of clip or a period of survey defined by scrutiny specifications ( Pachler, Barnes & A ; Field, 2009. p.100 ) . Each single lesson planned demands to be portion of a ‘bigger image ‘ in order to put realistic medium-term larning marks. Killen states that there must be a direct and obvious connexion between what you do lesson-by-lesson and what the course of study suggests students should larn in the long term ( 2006. p.66 ) . A instructor needs to make an effectual Medium Term Plan clear uping what it is a student is expected to larn and a assortment of possible methods to assist them accomplish this. Medium term programs begin to locate the acquisition in contexts t hat are meaningful, relevant and appropriate ( Browne, 2007. p.180 ) . A good organized medium term program with accomplishable larning aims and results will assist to supply a clear and concise instruction and learning way. For the intents of this paper I am traveling to measure the planning and instruction of a sequence of lessons for one Year 7 German category. My first measure in this procedure was to garner every bit much information as I could about the School Phase 1 ( SP1 ) school, the section and the category itself, paying peculiar attending to the school ‘s rare societal scene. I did so as a consequence of anterior reading before geting at the SP1 school, viz. Cohen, Manion and Morrison ‘s recommendation that one should get down by look intoing characteristics and resources of the vicinity in which the school is situated, as some of these may turn out to be relevant to the lessons you will be learning and organizing ( 2002. p.44 ) . Through treatments with my wise man and other members of staff I discovered that a big proportion of the students in the SP1 school semen from military households and as a consequence of the nature of this business, the school can often hold students ge ting and go forthing at any clip of the school twelvemonth. Therefore, it was necessary during the planning procedure to be aware of the likely possibility that a student with no anterior cognition of the linguistic communication may fall in the group at any phase. The Year 7 category was a mixed-ability group comprised of students with no anterior exposure to the German linguistic communication before get downing into Year 7, students who were taught German in Year 6 as portion of a Primary Languages Programme and students who had resided in British Army Bases in Germany for more than six months. With such a varied mix of abilities in the group Cohen, Manion and Morrison ‘s recommendation proved to be important to be aftering the sequence of lessons I was to learn. Before composing my ain average term program I observed the group with their regular schoolroom instructor. I had besides intended to familiarize myself with the section ‘s policies and certification, nevertheless, the section was undergoing alterations and developments at the clip so current and up-to-date policies and certification were non available until after I had taken over learning the category from their regular instructor. As a consequence of this I was non to the full cognizant of the prep or taging processs of the section. This is one of the major countries for betterment I have highlighted for developing my ain professional pattern as I aim to be more thorough in my hereafter apprehension of departmental patterns even when no formal certification is accessible. Despite this reverse, I began to develop my average term program by utilizing the National Curriculum and the Framework for MFL every bit good as the section ‘s Schemes of Work and the Teacher ‘s Guides that corresponded with them. Through treatments with my wise man ( who was besides the schoolroom instructor of this peculiar group ) I established where the category was in their acquisition in conformity with the strategy of work and together we agreed an appropriate starting point for my average term program. I used all of the information available to me until I had created a footing for the instruction and acquisition that would take topographic point over the period of four to five hebdomads. Each hebdomad I taught the group one lesson of 100 proceedingss continuance. Before I took over the instruction of full lessons, I began by learning little elements of them including starting motors and activities during a lesson ; nevertheless they did non characteristic in my average term program as they took topographic point before the agreed get downing point. My average term program covered one full unit of work, consisting of five 100 minute lessons ; nevertheless as it was a on the job papers I altered and amen ded it in line with the advancement of existent instruction and larning which was taking topographic point ( appendix I ) . For each lesson accounted for in the medium term program I included the followers: the lesson focal point with mention to identify model aims, the acquisition aims and expected larning results of the lesson, the resources which may be used during the lesson and a general lineation of possible acquisition activities. I later created single lesson programs for each lesson that would be taught which provided a more comprehensive lineation of the instruction and larning involved ( appendix two ) . With this paper in head I narrowed the focal point of my rating of my planning for learning and larning on my usage of both formative and summational appraisal to inform pupil advancement. I planned to utilize both signifiers of appraisal with specific respect to the monitoring of pupil advancement in Modern Foreign Language Attainment Target 4 – Writing. The SP1 school divides the academic twelvemonth into six footings and teaches a tight, two twelvemonth Key Stage 3 course of study and therefore has high achievement marks for the terminal of Year 7. The section concentrates on these through centering its summational appraisal on one Attainment Target at a clip. â€Å" Focus 3: To raise accomplishment at KS3. Quantitative Targets: To enable 80 % or more of yr7 pupils achieve NC Level 3 by terminal of term 2 in composing † ( appendix three ) . As I would be learning this group during term 2 I incorporated this mark into my planning. I developed lessons in which I tried to guarantee there was equal patterned advance of composing accomplishments. In order to keep a balance nevertheless, composing was non ever a cardinal focal point of the lesson so that attainment of the other three linguistic communication accomplishments ; speech production, listening and reading, could besides be enhanced at a similar gait. As I began to learn and measure full lessons, I noticed that the same job countries of my instruction kept looking which were holding an consequence on students ‘ acquisition. These countries were gait, projection of voice and most significantly lodging to my lesson programs. In the beginning I was non able to interpret my planning of lessons into instruction of lessons. On juncture I left out activities I had planned or created new activities during the lesson that I had non planned for. While this did non hold a damaging consequence on students ‘ acquisition, students ‘ advancement was somewhat inhibited due to my ain inability to present what I had planned. Although I had designed specific appraisal for larning elements of lessons to inform me of student advancement, these countries were sometimes overlooked in the beginning for grounds such as my timings of chief activities were unrealistic or I was concentrating excessively much of my attending on pull offing p upil behavior. As a consequence of this, at the early phases of my instruction, I was frequently unable to give equal clip to measure how much acquisition had really taken topographic point during the lesson. Throughout the lesson, nevertheless, I ensured that I would take notice of those students who were fighting with the acquisition involved and those who were happening it straightforward. In my ratings after the lessons this helped me to find a general feeling of what countries of the lesson I had been successful in instruction and those that I needed to better. Once I had evaluated my instruction in relation to pupils ‘ larning I was able to set up clear countries for development which would help the betterment of both. My planning became more focussed and my timings more realistic so that I was finally able to be after a lesson that I could successfully learn and in which I could supervise the accomplishment of larning results. I began to utilize formative appraisal techniques more often and fruitfully during lessons and could therefore supply more suited aid to students of all abilities. I delivered the sequence of lessons with the summational authorship appraisal in head. While in the beginning I was unsure of how to put undertakings at the appropriate degree for the acquisition which had merely taken topographic point, rating and contemplation of these lessons aided my readying of future lessons guaranting I included and monitored undertakings which showed obvious patterned advance of composing accomplishments. For illustration, w ritten undertakings which showed a development in pupil ability from copying individual words for new vocabulary ( Level 1 ) to gap-filling exercisings which modelled cardinal grammatical constructions ( Level 2 ) to finally accommodating these theoretical accounts and composing their ain sentences utilizing the cardinal vocabulary and grammatical constructions antecedently learned ( Level 3 ) . The bulk of students were so besides able to remember this linguistic communication and grammar from memory during the authorship appraisal itself ( Level 4 ) ( appendix iiii ) . As I stated earlier, the focal point of the section was to raise accomplishment at KS3 so that at least 80 % of Year 7 students attained a Level 3 by the terminal of term 2. To measure the advancement made during this term a formal summational appraisal was given. In this appraisal pupils had to compose a short text about themselves utilizing as much of the information they had learned since the beginning of term 1 as they could. I provided the students with a departmental-approved information outline sheet in English to help them with the undertaking ( appendix V ) . In footings of student advancement and making set marks, my instruction and students ‘ acquisition was successful. The consequences of the summational appraisal show that 94 % of the group achieved a Level 3 or higher, with 83 % of the group really achieving a Degree 4 ( appendix six ) . As a summational consequence this is above the mark set, nevertheless, these consequences mean small if the students themselves do non understand the standard for accomplishing these degrees ( appendix seven ) . In the lesson following the appraisal I planned for the bulk of the clip to be spent on returning the appraisals to students and presenting them to the thought of reflecting on their ain development. I besides provided them with teacher-feedback and allocated clip for students to self-assess their ain advancement and place countries to better for their hereafter acquisition. Harmonizing to the Assessment Reform Group, ‘successful larning occurs when scholars have ownership of their acquisition ; when they understand the ends they are taking for ; when, crucially they are motivated and have the accomplishments to accomplish success ‘ ( cited in Pachler, Barnes & A ; Field, 2009. p.234 ) . Equally good as making attainment marks students, every bit good as instructors, need to develop the ability to reflect upon their ain development and indentify the cardinal countries that can actuate them to better and make higher. I introduced this critical component of womb-to-tomb acquisition by supplying each student with a simple feedback sheet attached to their appraisal, so that it was possible for them to reflect upon their work and distinguish and record countries that they completed successfully and those that they need to better upon in order to raise their attainment degrees in the hereafter ( appendix eight ) . I have discovered from my ain planning and presenting a sequence of lessons why such value is placed on contemplation and rating. Without measuring what you have done in the past it would be an backbreaking undertaking trying to come on in the right way. Evaluation is in itself a signifier of appraisal. Measuring my instruction in footings of students ‘ acq uisition has allowed me to see what advancement I have made and what successes and failures have been encountered along the manner. With this cognition it has become much easier to place clear marks and aims for my future professional development.

Active contours

Active contours Active contours are one category of variational methods that have been used widely within image segmentation applications. An energy functional is defined with arguments as the image parameters and a closed curve that partitions the objects in the image. There are two main methods of representing the curves such as (a) extrinsic and (b) intrinsic. Extrinsic representation keeps function values at boundary points. Intrinsic lets use of functions that are defined on all the point of the image and are more desirable. Intrinsic representation of a planar curve C using an auxiliary function is denoted as C = f(x; y) j (x; y) = 0g (22) where (x; y) is called level set function of curve C and the zero level of (x; y) is taken as the contour. Curvature  of the closed curve C with level set function  is given by  = div( 5 k5k ) (23) The deformation of the contour is reprsented in a numerical form as a partial differential equation @(x;y) @t =j 5(x; y) j ( + ((x; y))) (24) where  is a constant speed term to push or pull the contour. Mean curvature of the level set function is defined as: ((x; y)) = xx2 yà ´Ã‚€Â€Â€2xyxy+yy2 x (2 x+2 y)3=2 (25) where x is the first derivative with respect to x and xx is the second derivative with respect to x. The role of the curvature term is to control the regularity of the contour and  controls the balance between the regularity and robustness of the contour. Chan Vese formulated the energy function F in terms of an internal force Eint and an external force Eext F(C) = R 1 0 [Eint(C(S)) + Eext(C(S))]ds (26) Eint = length(C) + Area(Cin) (27) Eext = R Cin j I(x; y) à ´Ã‚€Â€Â€ I1 j2 + R Cout j I(x; y) à ´Ã‚€Â€Â€ I2 j2 (28) where  and  are positive fixed parameters which help to smoothen the growing contour. I(x; y) is intensity value of image region and I1 and I2 are average intensity value inside and outside the object region, respectively. IV. IMPLEMENTATION AND ANALYSIS All qualitative and quantitative outcome of the algorithm were recorded by running the Matlab programs with Intel(R) Core (TM) i7 CPU, 3.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM with Matlab 14 (a) on Windows 8. A. Description of Test Data The dataset used in the proposed algorithm consists of scanned images of stained breast biopsy slides from MITOS dataset [35]. Each set is composed of 96 high power field (HPF) images of breast tissue scanned at 40X magnification using two different scanners, Aperio (AP) and Hamamatsu (HM), with a resolution of 0.23-0.24 m:. All the images are 1376  1539  3 size. B. Experimental Strategies This paper qualitatively and quantitatively compares the KHO based optimal nuclei detection performance with the watershed based detection done by S. Ali et al. [8] and blue ratio image based detection done by Irshad et al. [21]. The segmentation performance is compared with local threshold method done by Cheng Lu et al. [22]. 1) Experiment 1: Evaluating the optimal threshold value: Goal of this experiment was to prove the power of KHO based optimal thresholding to detect the exact nuclei regions in histology images. It also compares the optimum value of the threshold obtained by KHO in breast histopathology images with GA, HSA and BFA. 2) Experiment 2: Comparison of Detection Accuracy: Aim of this work is to validate the detection performance of the proposed technique against the watershed and blue ratio techniques in terms of detection sensitivity and precision. 3) Experiment 3: Comparison of Segmentation Accuracy: This evaluates the performance of the detection algorithm in ACM segmentation and compare the results against two state-of-the-art techniques in terms of boundary based distance measures. This experiment also measure the strength of the algorithm to resolve the touching nuclei in terms of touching nuclei resolution.1) Evaluation of Detection Performance: This paper qualitatively and quantitatively evaluates the application of optimal thresholding in nuclei detection performance. The mean objective value and standard deviation express the consistency and stability of the algorithms. The results obtained by KHO are compared with GA, HSA and BFA. The parameters used in these algorithms are given in Table II.The quantitative evaluation of detection performance is carried out by locating the centroid of detected nuclear regions. The measures used to assess the nuclei detection comprise of: 1) Sensitivity (SD); 2) Positive Predictive value or Precision (PD); and 3) F-measure (FD) as given in eq. (26), (27), and (28), respectively. The results obtained are compared with manual detection results by an expert pathologist. The SD and PD values are computed from the number of truepositives (number of correctly detected nuclei, Ntp) , falsepositives (number of wrongly identified nuclei, Nfp) and false negatives(number of nuclei not detected by the algorithm, Nfn). The detected object is considered as true positive if its centroid is within 10 pixels range of manually determined centroid location. If no centroid was manually located within

World Civilizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

World Civilizations - Essay Example This study highlights that  the political structure was reorganized in to two-tier system that allowed for efficiency in administration and the influence of noble families diminished. The administrative officials were selected on merit basis and corrupt officials were dismissed from government. Accordingly, Sui Dynasty established Sui Court and law reforms were carried out in order to remove certain harsh punishments on the people.From this paper it is clear that  the Dynasty came in to rule after a series of conflicts and thus economic social economic reforms were implemented in order to overcome the prevailing financial crisis. The Emperor implemented a land equalization policy that led to land distribution for faming purposes based on the number of people in a certain household. The Dynasty standardized measures and weights and unified the coinage and farmers enjoyed lower taxes thus enhancing the development of the social economy. Another milestone was the construction of Gra nd Canal in order to improve transport and enhance economic exchanges. The Dynasty sought protection from enemies by building the Great Wall in order to prevent invasion from Turks. Confucianism gained popularity and Dynasty expanded Southward due to great emphasis on public works.  Tang Dynasty was marked by rapid social and economic transformation such as religious tolerance, agriculture, revived civil service and education. Empress Wu Zhao improved the civil service and decreased the powers of the old nobility.

Prepare a marketing plan for a company of your choice for the next one Essay

Prepare a marketing plan for a company of your choice for the next one and three years - Essay Example GSK has a unique mission statement which explains their aim and (objective of) providing consumers with new products and with more improved projects. The following essay elaborates the marketing plan of the company by describing the current scenario of the industry and also GSK. SWOT analysis identifies the strength and weakness and also the opportunities and threats of GSK that are changing from time to time with the competitive market. The responsibilities that are taken by GSK towards the environment, consumers and the shareholders have been discussed in the study. To evaluate the position of the competitors of GSK, competitive analysis has been done. The Segmentation, targeting and positioning concept explains the target market of GSK and what they do to position their products among its consumers. Lastly a forecasted budget for the year 2013-2015 has been prepared. The income is expected to decrease, even though it can be assumed that the expenses can be controlled. This would p ossibly because of the unstable condition of the global economy. Mission Statement and Market Overview The mission of the company is to improve the quality of human life by giving them more products and make them feel better and live longer. The Research and Development units, the partners of the company and the workers of the company work in harmony to prevent and treat diseases and make the world a better place to live. The business is focussed towards the delivery of three strategic priorities, which aim to increase growth, reduce risk and improve long term financial performances. These priorities are; 1) growth of a diversified global business, 2) delivery of more products which offer more value, 3) simplifying operating model. Grow diversified global business by creating a balanced business and product portfolio capable of delivering sustainable sales growth. The main business areas are pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare which provide the company significant comp etitive advantages and opportunity of synergy. Deliver products of value: The Company has re-engineered the research and development (R&D) division in the organisation to develop a whole bunch of products that offer improvement in treatment of patients and healthcare providers. The company has outsourced the research activities allowing access to new areas of science and share the risk of development of its partners. Simplify the operating model through global restructuring programmes designed to deliver significant savings to support investment in priority growth business and thus improve competitiveness further. Pharmaceutical companies are making great contribution to the economy of UK,  higher than most  other high-tech industries. The National Health Service (NHS) accounts for more than 98% of UK’s prescribed medicines market, which is the sixth largest pharmaceutical market in the world. Most of this market is driven by approximately 35,000 general practitioners (GP s) of UK. The Pharmaceutical industry of UK is an open market, where the leading foreign companies and brands have strong presence. While the growth rate of this market has been decelerating, it remains one of the fastest growing components in

Sales on Credit Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sales on Credit - Research Paper Example More than that, the firms allow sales of large volume of goods on credit to ensure a larger increase in its applicability to customers. As a result, companies focus on more credit sales to improve sales, ensure attainment of success with the intense competition among business firms while offering the customers with flexible terms of payment that suit them. Considerably sales on credit involve increased allocation for general-purpose credit cards, accounts receivable, notes payable and bad debts entries in the books of accounts. General Preview of Sales on Credit Even though, the option of selling goods to customers for cash remains viable companies have to allow room for sales on credit. More significantly, credit trade acts as an important factor in both, the sales and procurement operations and the corporate asset-liability management as it ensures success in meeting the targeted market of customers. With more risks associated with sales of goods on credit, a company incurs more co st account receivable as the anticipated payment accrue while the likelihood of bad debt occurrence depends on the credit ability of the customers (Warren, Reeve & Duchac 361). In most cases, companies carry out credit analysis of the respective clients who wish to be issued goods and services on credit as a way of being assured that the amount of money owed would be paid. As a result, the company seeks information about the history of the firm’s or individual borrowing through the different relationships with sources of finance to ascertain the liquidity and capability level of the recipient to service the debt (Warren, Reeve & Duchac 362). It is therefore, essential to understand the customer’s profile on whether or not the company will suffer any likely loss from the provision of trade credit. Forms of Sales on Credit Accounts Receivable More significantly, the accounts receivable in a company gives the value of money owed after offering sales for merchandise or ser vices to customers in an open account. Therefore, the value of accounts receivable show the expected payment to be collected for providing a customer with a good or service on credit within the specified terms. Above all, the terms and conditions that govern the credit sale are clearly integrated in the seller’s invoice issued to the buyer (Warren, Reeve & Duchac 361). With the invoice issued only by the seller as evidence of the credit sale, there is no other written evidence of debt executed in the credit contract of the seller and buyer. However, there is always a need for receivables management in organizations that issue credit sales. More importantly, the credit sale involves an element of risk because there is no certainty based on the payment for the goods and services within the stipulated period calling for careful analysis of the risk involved before issuing credit. Accounts receivables is based on economic value as the buyers utilize their economic value of the go ods and services immediately, whereas the seller gets an economic value later when payments are made(Warren, Reeve & Duchac 361). Finally, accounts receivables are accompanied by an element of futurity as the buyer make payment at a future period. As a credit sale, it involves pledging of payments later on accounts receivable financing companies can use it as a security for financing a loan. This is because, the pledging of accounts recei

World Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

World Literature - Essay Example Set in Corinth in Greece, the whole play is enacted in a single scene in front of Medea's house. The nurse and chorus act as conscious-keepers of Medea and the attenders and messengers are employed by the playwright to depict scene shifts through their speech. In fact, the very opening of the play sets the tone of the horrific nature of events to follow. With a voice of doom of one of the nurses of Medea clearly indicates that her mistress, a victim of fate, is out to contrive some untoward scheme. The nurse acts as a foreteller of deeds to ensue. Through her speech we learn how in love she was with Jason and how her dangerous mood was capable of so much anger evil. "There is a subtle but fascinating theme of ethnic tension as Medea and Jason clash" (Mazza, Michael J) throughout the play. Medea lies fasting and weeping ever since she learnt that she was wronged by her husband, recalling memories of her dear father, her country and her home, which she gave up to come away with the man who now holds her in dishonor. Medea had antagonized her father and even killed her own brother in order to run away from a barbarious land to a land of promise along with Jason whom she blindly loves. "My love for you was greater than my wisdom" (lines 571-72) she says. After a series of adventures in which Jason is helped by Medea, they seek asylum in Corinth. Here they lead a respectable life and beget two children till they almost reach their middle age. Trouble brews when Jason gets restless with his complacent life. He wants a secure, wealthy future for his wife and children and hence resorts to infidelity. He wins the heart of Glauce, the daughter of Creon, king of Corinth. He tells Medea that it was not for love that he had promised to marry the princess, but to win wealth and power for himself and his sons. But Medea is infuriated and her unfailing love immediately turns to sheer anger. In a sense, it is Medea's own nature and vicious temper that proves her undoing. "Women don't like violence, but when their husbands desert them, that is different. In life, the worst disasters come from passion" (lines 467-69) Medea gets into a constant state of confusion and anxiety. Initially she weeps over her hapless situation. She feels women are most wretched because they care for one man only. But she gains a little confidence when Aegeus, King of Athens grants her asylum in exchange for helping him beget children by her skills in sorcery. Aegeus realizes that her scorn is justified and sees her as a woman with remarkable forethought. "A brain like yours is what is needed" he says. He fully believes in her powers of creation which is equal to her powers of destruction, which is why he uses her witchcraft to make his queen beget children. With the success of each scheme Medea devises, her resolve hardens and reaches a point of no return. "One can clearly trace the progression within the play of a victim with certain heroic traits who, because of her ill fate and her ruthlessness, becomes a villain" (Kliegl, Michael) Deciding to take her plans forward, she manages to buy a day's time from Creon befor e she is sent on exile. Creon's fate is sealed even though he knows that Medea is "A clever woman, very experienced in evil ways" (lines

Critical Evaluation of Currency Unification of GCC Countries The Essay

Critical Evaluation of Currency Unification of GCC Countries The Potential Impact On Member Countries - Essay Example The problem is that the countries in the region do not have enough convergence to make a unified currency work. The per capita incomes between the countries are wildly divergent, as are the debt levels. Plus, only two of the countries have met the threshold regarding inflation. When there are such differing economic problems with each country, there is a need for an autonomous monetary policy that will allow each country to the independence to use exchange rates to fix whatever is broken with their economies. Having a unified currency takes this autonomy away, taking a one-size-fits-all approach to every problem. While the issue of the divergence in economies has been masked by the fact that all the countries in the union have the same economic basis, ie, oil, this is not going to last forever. Therefore the countries in the GCC have to align their member countries with similar economic policies that will be designed to bring the countries more in line with one another on the key eco nomic factors that will make a unified currency work. ... y have to attempt a similar tact as this, however, since the GCC is still a long way from having enough convergence to have a unified currency, it will be a number of years before the GCC will be ready for this, even if the countries change their economic policy right now. This paper will examine the factors that are necessary to have a currency union, as well as examine if the GCC countries meet the standard. There are certain hurdles that need to be faced in order for the currency unification to become a reality, and these will also be examined in greater detail. Further, there are drawbacks and benefit to unified currency, and this will be another section of the paper. Finally, there will be a conclusion and recommendations for the GCC. What is a monetary unification? Monetary unification is a common currency in a region. There are two conditions that economists believe are essential to having a common currency. Mundell (1961) believes that the perfect factor mobility within the r egion is essential for monetary unification, while McKinnon (1962) believes that the openness of the economy is the necessary condition for the adoption of a unified currency.1 If a region can achieve one or the other, preferably both, then that region would be considered to be an optimum currency area (OCA). Monetary integration involves the â€Å"irrevocable fixing of exchange rates, full and complete convertibility of currencies, financial market integration, the complete liberalization of current transactions and a common monetary policy.†2 AlKhilifey & Alreshan (2009) state that a region with unified currency will display the following characteristics: First, the region will have a single currency. Second, the region will have a central bank that will set the monetary policy for the

International Relations...Political Science Essay

International Relations...Political Science - Essay Example As a result the USA and the Soviet Union were left as the world’s only superpowers. The Cold War would result from the rivalry of these superpowers, and only ended shortly before the demise of the Soviet Union itself. Since the end of the Cold War there has been many debates about the position of the USA as the only superpower, as well as whether it is waxing and waning as an empire. There were various military, political, ideological and economic causes for the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union as well as their respective allies. The remarkable feat was that the USA and the Soviet Union had been allies alongside Britain in the first place. Neither power had been in the Second World War from the start, nor would they have become involved without being attacked by Germany and Japan respectively. The Soviet Union had done the bulk of the fighting against Germany, whilst the USA had defeated Japan virtually single-handed. The conferences at Yalta and Potsdam were meant to regulate the post-war world and it was hoped that the relationships between the wartime allies would remain good. The Soviet Union expected to be able to do what it liked in Central and Eastern Europe whilst the USA with Britain believed that those countries would be free to decide their own futures. The Soviet leader Joseph Stalin never had any intention of that happening, by 1948 all the states of Central and Eastern Europe were under communist control, with the Soviet army having a presence in all of those countries, apart from Yugoslavia and Albania. The USA and the governments of Western European countries feared that the Soviet Union wanted to advance further west. Conversely the Soviet Union feared that the Americans wished to end Soviet hegemony over Central and Eastern Europe. Mutual fears and misunderstandings definitely contributed to the onset of the Cold War, with the USA fearing the Soviet Union’s

Shortage of Nurses in Ashford General Hospital Essay

Shortage of Nurses in Ashford General Hospital - Essay Example Moreover, Ashford Hospital together with the other affected hospitals can work together with the universities and colleges so that the student under training can help the existing nurses in the hospitals. Besides, in satisfying the shortage of the nurses, these hospitals should properly reward their nurses so as to act as motivation for the students who are willing to join the profession. It is also the duty of the human resource manager maintain age diversity in the hospitals, for instance, staff should be made of people of different ages so that when a certain group is retiring then there is new blood in the system (Nottingham, et al, 2012). Moreover, proper leadership should also be implemented so as to take care of the welfare of the nurses. In this light, cultural diversity is important because patients can feel that they are well represented. Lastly proper record keeping in the hospital is another fundamental idea that can help curb the shortage of the nurses. Record keeping en hances transparency in work, and resource management will be liable responsible for all the activities that are taking place in the hospitals.IntroductionSeveral Hospitals are victims of nurses’ shortage until the issue has become a national concern in the United States of America. The shortage does affect not only the patients, but also the administration, physicians, nurses and many other stakeholders in the system. In this paper, I have dealt with various factors that lead to the shortage of nurses in different hospitals.

Major Component Agencies of the Dhs Essay Example for Free

Major Component Agencies of the Dhs Essay This paper will discuss what are the major component agencies of DHS and their primary functions. Major Component Agencies of the DHS Major agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are; The Directorate for National Protection and Programs, The Science and Technology Directorate, The Office of Health Affairs, The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), The Office of Investigations, The Office of Detention and Removal Operations, The Federal Protective Service, The Office of Intelligence, The Office of Intelligence and Analysis, The Office of Operations Coordination, The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, The Transportation Administration (TSA), The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), The Citizenship and Immigration Services, The Coast Guard, and The Secret Service. Their Primary Functions The Directorate for National Protection and Programs has five divisions that work to advance the DHS’s risk-reduction mission. The primary development and research arm of the department belongs to the Science and Technology Directorate. The Office of Health Affairs coordinates all medical activities to ensure appropriate preparation for the response to incidents having medical significance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident, administers the National Flood Insurance Program, and prepares the nation for hazards. The CBP prevents terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States. They are responsible for protecting U. S. borders, while simultaneously facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. The largest investigative arm of DHS is ICE. They are responsible for identifying and shutting down vulnerabilities both in the nation’s borders and in economic, infrastructure security, and transportation. The Office of Investigations investigates a wide range of international and domestic activities that violate customs laws and immigration and threatens national security. The department who is ensures the departure from the United States of all illegal aliens through the fair enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws is the Office of Detention and Removal Operations. The Federal Protective Service is responsible for securing, ensuring a safe environment, and policing in which federal agencies can conduct their business at more than 8,800 federal facilities nationwide. Collecting, analyzing, and disseminating strategic and tactical intelligence data belongs to the Office of Intelligence. The Office of Intelligence and Analysis is responsible for using information and intelligence from multiple sources to identify and assess current and future threats to the U. S. The responsibility for monitoring the security of the U. S. on a daily basis and coordinating activities within the department and with governors, law enforcement partners, DHS advisors, and critical infrastructure operators in all fifty states and more than fifty major urban areas nationwide falls under the Office of Operations Coordination. The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office works to enhance the nuclear detection efforts of federal, tribal, states, territorial, and local governments and the private sector and to ensure a coordinated response to such threats. This department protects the nation’s transportation systems. In addition, agents also inspect air carrier operations to the United States, fly air marshal missions, assess security of airports overseas, and training overseas security personnel is TSA. The FLETC provides career–long training to law enforcement professionals to help them fulfill their responsibilities safely and proficiently. The Citizenship and Immigration Services is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and the establishment of immigration service’s policies and priorities. This department is also consider a military department, which protects the public, the environment, and U. S. economic interests in the nation’s ports, along the coast, on international waters, on its waterways, or in any maritime region as required to support national security. Finally, we have the Secret Service who protects the president and other high-level officials and investigates counterfeiting and other financial crimes, identity theft, computer fraud, including financial institution fraud, and computer-based attacks on our nation’s financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure. Final Thoughts The Department of Homeland Security was activated in January 2003 from the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to help combat terrorism after the September 11 attacks on the United States. An outline is provided of what happened when the DHS was formed. Our lives in the United States as we knew it, has forever been changed since 9-1-1. We still have a long way to go to become more aware and secure, but it is not impossible. There are still many loopholes to tackle, red tape to cut, and the lack of proper equipment and training which still needs to be addressed on a continuous basis. On March 1, 2003, the DHS absorbed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and assumed its duties. By doing this, it divided the enforcement and services functions into two separate and new agencies: ICE and Citizenship and Immigration Services. The investigative divisions and intelligence gathering units of the INS and Customs Service were merged forming Homeland Security Investigations. Additionally, the border enforcement functions of the INS, including the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were consolidated into a new agency under DHS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Creation of DHS, n.d.). References Creation-department-homeland-security, n.d. Retrieved on 1215/2012 from http://www.dhs.gov/creation-department-homeland-security Peak, K. J., 2012. Policing America challenges and best practices. Retrieved on 12/15/2012 from Chapter Two, Pages 44-48.

Issues Concerning Islam Essay Example for Free

Issues Concerning Islam Essay Muslims have been accused of mutilating women. This practice, however, is denied by the followers of Islam. According to them, â€Å"Female Genital Mutilation† (FGM), which is actually a surgical procedure performed on girls before they reach the age of puberty for the purpose of terminating or reducing their sexual feelings, is not an Islamic practice. They explain that FGM is a tradition of â€Å"Animists, Christians, and [some] Muslims in those countries where FGM is common. † Women are given equal rights under Islam. In fact, the Qur’an decreed that when it comes to public life, men and women should have equal rights and participation. During the time of Muhammad, women were allowed to participate actively in their baya which is the equivalent of today’s practice of political endorsements. Evidence of this Muslim women’s status is the voting rights granted to women in the predominantly Muslim countries like Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. The women in Kuwait followed suit by earning their right to vote and get elected sometime in 2005. In fact, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Prime Minister, divulged a plan to appoint a woman minister in Kuwait soon (Robinson, 2007). Muslims as terrorists and pro-violence Yusuf (n. d. ) said that majority of the Muslims are convinced that while the U. S. government has been blaming terrorism on Islam for years, it was the 9/11 incident which dealt the most telling blow on the credibility and reputation of their religion. This was because the international media was able to depict that many Muslims around the world rejoiced after that incident. The truth is, however, that majority of the Muslim world was saddened by that incident and the repercussions it caused. They would like to tell the world that terrorism is not an official policy of Islam and that, in fact, Muslims also consider terrorists as enemies of their religion. He laments the fact that When a crazy Christian does something terrible, everyone in the West knows it is the actions of a mad man because they have some knowledge of the core beliefs and ethics of Christianity. When a mad Muslim does something evil or foolish they assume it is from the religion of Islam, not because they hate us but because they have never been told by a Muslim what the teachings of Islam are all about. Yusuf blames this lack of Islamic knowledge among Christians to the fact that there is a dearth of credible spokespersons who could defend Islam from its attackers. As a matter of fact, Yusuf stressed that â€Å"Islam is the middle way between excess and neglect† and that terrorism is the preoccupation of zealots and extremists who are, in fact, a plaque of Islam. According to him, there are two types of Muslim extremists whose acts destroy Islam. The first he calls â€Å"reactionary extremists. † This group rejects any form of religious pluralism. According to these reactionary extremists, the world consists of good and evil with nothing in between. Good, according to them, means the reactionary extremists and all those who oppose their actions are evil. Yusuf further explains that these kind of extremists are in the habit of â€Å"excommunicating† other Muslims who reject the way they interpret the Qur’an. However, this kind does not usually resort to violent acts to achieve their goals. Instead, they employ character assassination or takfir to ward their critics (Yusuf, n. d. ). The second type is the â€Å"radical extremist. † These Muslims extremists, according to Yusuf, are the ones who resort to violent acts and tactics to further their objectives. Yusuf stressed that these Muslims act as if they belong to some secret, wicked society whose members believe in the dictum that â€Å"the end justifies the means. † In other words, any method, even the most violent method, is acceptable as long as their â€Å"cause† is advanced. According to Yusuf, this is destroying Islam because the methods employed by Islam should be reflecting the noble ends of the religion. Secondly, Islam is not a â€Å"secret society of conspirators† – rather, it is open with its objectives and traditions which have already been accepted and recognized by people from other religious denominations (Yusuf, n. d. ). Muslims confused with Arabs Muslims object to their being confused with Arabs because it would never be accurate to equate Islam, a religious denomination, with Arab, which is an ethnic grouping. According to Muslims, the reason for this erroneous identification could be the fact that Islam emerged from the culture and society of Arab Bedouins of the 8th century. Another reason might be the fact that the Qur’an was written in Arabic. However, beyond these facts, Muslims should not be identified as Arabs, and vice versa because, according to statistics, â€Å"there are many non-Muslim Arabs, and far, far more non-Arab Muslims in the world. In fact, out of the estimated one billion Muslims worldwide, only about 200 million are Arabs (DHinMl, 2006). Looking at the table below of the top ten countries with the highest Muslim population, only Egypt (at number seven) is an Arab country (Aneki. com, n. d. ). References Aneki.com. (n.d.). Largest Muslim Population in the World. Retrieved November 26, 2007 from http://www.aneki.com/muslim.html Fisher, M.P. (2005). Living Religions, Sixth Edition. Prentice-Hall. Philips, A.A.B. (n.d.). The True Religion. Retrieved November 26, 2007 from http://www.islamworld.net/

Does Poverty Exist in the Uk?

Does Poverty Exist in the Uk? Does Poverty exist in contemporary Britain? The answer to this question depends to a large extent on how poverty is defined and measured. It is, like many sociological issues, an ‘essentially contested concept’ and as such, there has been much debate around what exactly constitutes poverty. However, even accepting that poverty itself denotes different things to different people, it can still be argued that poverty or indeed ‘poverties’ are a real problem in Britain today which need to be addressed by government and society in order to optimise equality in our society. How should we define poverty? It is useful firstly to refer to some widely used definitions. Charles Booth writing in 1889 was one of the first to explore the area of poverty when he published a work showing that one third of Londoners were living in dire poverty. By ‘poverty’ he was referring to a ‘lack of basic requirements to sustain a physically healthy existence [and] sufficient food and shelter to make possible the physically efficient functioning of the body’ (cited in Giddens, 2001, p236). This is referred to as subsistence poverty- literally not having the means to survive. Benjamin Rowntree referred to primary poverty and secondary poverty. By primary poverty he meant those who were unable to afford a basket of necessities for ‘merely physical efficiency’. Secondary poverty referred to those who had more income than those living in primary poverty but who still suffered poverty lifestyles. (cited Flaherty et al 2004, p16) Another widely quoted definition of poverty is Townsend’s. In 1979 he stated, ‘Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or are at least widely recognised or approved, societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are in effect, excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities’ (cited Flaherty et al, 2004, p17). Whilst the World Bank described poverty as ‘the inability to attain a minimal standard of living’, the UN defines poverty as follows: ‘Poverty has various manifestations including lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterised by lack of participation in decision making and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty amidst wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the poverty y of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems, institutions and safety nets’ (Flaherty et al 2004, p13). From this range of definitions can be seen the difference between absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is based on the notion of subsistence which in itself is defined as the minimum amount needed to sustain life. As Alcock points out however, it is a contradiction to say someone is living below subsistence levels because, how can those without enough to live on, live? (1997, p68) The answer of course is that they do not- or at least not for very long. In contrast relative poverty is, in Alcock’s words, ‘a more subjective or social standard’ (1997, p69). This is the poverty which Townsend refers to where poverty and deprivation are judged in the context of the society in which an individual lives. Townsend also looked at poverty in terms of how it affected an individual’s ability to engage in social activities. From this the notion of social exclusion was developed and definitions of poverty broadened to include various types of deprivation. Townsend developed a deprivation index based on items which he saw as necessary to the whole of society and used these along with income levels to measure deprivation. However, there are some difficulties with this approach. For example as Baldock et al point out, where one of the deprivation indicators was not eating cooked meals, some people may prefer to eat salads and sandwiches from choice. (Baldock et al 2003, p119) Therefore it is difficult to differentiate where in some instances people may choose to be without what Townsend considered to be a necessity. Mack and Lansley further developed Townsend’s work by coming up with a ‘consensual approach top poverty.’ They asked respondents what they considered as necessities and from this feedback they measured poverty which they defined crucially as ‘an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities’ (cited in Baldock et al p119). By referring to ‘socially perceived necessities’ they avo ided having to make judgements on what constituted necessities. The difficulties with subsistence approaches to poverty is that it is inevitable that at some point an arbitrary decision will have to be made about what exactly is needed for subsistence. On the other hand, the problem with the relative measure of poverty is that where a society may have a small section of extremely wealthy people, the level of what is considered to be poverty relatively may be artificially high. For our purposes, it is easier to work with Sen’s assertion that ‘if there is starvation and hunger then, no matter what the relative picture looks like there clearly is poverty’ (cited Flaherty et al 2004, p17). However it is measured, it is clear that poverty exists and is even becoming a more acute problem in contemporary Britain. Flaherty et al cite statistics which reveal that between 1979 and 2001/2 the numbers of people living in households with below 60% of the median income after housing costs rose from 7.1 million to 12.5 million, that is, from 13% of the population to 22% of the population (2004, p31). Nearly a third of children in the UK live in poverty and this figure is even higher in Northern Ireland. In March 2003, 7.6 million British people were living on the safety net of benefits of income support or the jobseeker’s allowance. By the mid nineties, Britain’s child poverty rates were third only to the USA and Russia (2004, p69). The measure used to determine poverty by the British government is based on the Household Below Average Income Statistics. The HBAI looks at data along a number of income thresholds. The 60% of median income after housing costs, adjusted for family size, is a measurement tool used as a proxy for income poverty. As Flaherty et al state, ‘it is an explicitly ‘relative’ measure which looks at how people at the bottom of the income distribution have fared in relation to the median’ (2004, p31). As well as being used by the British government, it is also the headline indicator used by the European union to determine those who are at risk of poverty. Although the poverty we refer to here is largely to do with income and having the basic necessities in life- the term poverty is also used to describe people who are missing out on elements of social life which may be considered important by others. For example, cultural poverty or educational poverty. Whilst education is accepted as a basic human right, not having an education does not necessarily mean that a person cannot live a healthy and happy life, whereas not having food and warmth does. These poverties might be more aptly described in terms of social exclusion. Blakemore highlights the differences between social exclusion and poverty. Firstly, social exclusion focuses on relationships to society rather than material resources. Secondly social exclusion normally refers to exclusion from educational opportunities or from the labour market. Thirdly, remedies for social exclusion are different than those for poverty (2003, p85) What kind of people are at risk from poverty? Whilst it would seem natural to assume that unemployed people would be most at risk, this is not the case. Bilton et al (2002) outline which groups o people are more likely to suffer poverty and assert, ‘it is people in low-paid, insecure work who constitute the bulk of those below the income poverty line.’ The second largest group of people likely to suffer poverty are the elderly. ‘because life expectancy has increased, earlier retirement has become more common and state pensions have reduced in real terms, the elderly comprise an ever larger section of the poor. Unequal life chances continue through old age.’ Another group at risk are lone parent families and although less common, large families. In addition those who are sick or disabled are also more vulnerable to poverty(Bilton et al 2002, pp78-79). Millar argued in 1993 that three factors have contributed to the growth of poverty: a significant level of un employment; the increase in low-paid work; the growth of ‘precarious’ or ‘flexible’ employment (cited Bilton, 2002, p79). Such employment patterns tend to optimise profit and boost the economy but the downside is that vulnerable workers especially in unskilled occupations, are lacking in job security and all the benefits that brings. Another question which must be asked is whether it is possible to escape poverty. This depends on social mobility which Giddens defines as ‘the movements of individuals and groups between different socio-economic positions’ (2001, p229). The evidence seems to suggest that whilst those most at risk of poverty may be likely to always be vulnerable to extreme poverty, many people suffer regular periods of short-term poverty. As Jenkins et al state, ‘from a dynamic perspective, one may distinguish three groups: the persistently poor, the recurrently poor, and the temporarily poor’ (cited Flaherty et al 2004, p47) Jenkins et al’s studies over a number of years (1991-1999) found that a pattern emerged of ‘one of relatively short poverty spells for the majority, but relatively long spells for a significant minority.’ For many people life events can be the push factor in or out of poverty. For example exit from family poverty is most likely to co me through finding paid work whilst a change in household composition is more likely to assist a lone parents family’s exit from poverty. (Flaherty et al 2004, p48) In conclusion, the evidence is ample to show that poverty is a very real problem in Britain today whether it is measured in relative or absolute terms or whether it is conceptualised along lines of deprivation or exclusion. What is perhaps most worrying is that as a society, Britain is becoming more unequal than ever before. For example between 1979 and 1995, whilst the incomes of the richest tenth of the population rose by 60%, the incomes of the poorest tenth fell by 8% (Hills 1995, cited Baldock et al 2003, p121). This was still the case in the late 1990s when, according to Gordon et al, ‘the disposable incomes of the poorest and richest groups were still edging apart’ (cited Blakemore, 2003, p78). Those who are most likely to experience a reduction in income levels include ethnic minorities and women. Children are also more likely to suffer the worst effects of poverty. In 1999, Blair promised to end child poverty in a generation. It remains to be seen whether this w ill be achieved although with a mandate for a third term, it can only be hoped that important work already carried out to tackle child poverty will be consolidated. Some policy changes have already begun to make a difference in child poverty but poverty as a whole is still an issue which needs more time and resources devoted to it if poverty is to be eradicated. References Alcock P, (1997)Â  Understanding Poverty 2nd Edition Basingstoke: Palgrave Baldock J, Manning N, Vickerstaff S (2003) Social Policy London: Oxford University Press Bilton T, Bonnett K, Jones P, Lawson T, Skinner D, Stanworth M, Webster A, (2002) Introductory Sociology 4th Ed Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Blakemore K, (2003) Social Policy an introduction Buckinghamshire: Oxford University Press Flaherty J, Veit-Wilson J, Dornan P (2004) Poverty: the facts 5th Edition London: Child Poverty Action Group Giddens A, (2001) Sociology Cambridge: Polity Press

Essay --

Final Examination (2) Discuss the three approaches to property valuation. What is the process of each? When might it be better to use one approach over the other? The three approaches to property valuation are: comparable sales approach (market data approach); income approach; and cost summation approach. Comparable sales approach is determined by using recent sales of similar properties to the one being assessed. This estimates true property value by comparing the property that is in question to others that have been recently sold and then making the adjustments as needed. The idea is that you need to find market areas that have relative or same economic status. Once this process is done then you can group the â€Å"parcels† in different categories, i.e. size, year it was built, the size of the lot, etc. The book says that the property that is not sold is compared to similar property that a market value can be observed and then infers a value. (LJJ, 155) It is common in jurisdictions to assess parcels as a percentage or fraction of the full market value. In theory it does not make a difference if the full value or fractioned value is assessed, the outcome should be the same. When using fractional assessment you need to use a higher tax rate than using market value assessment. This seems to make taxpayers more comfortable but can lead to problems if different fractions are used in the same jurisdiction. Another problem is that this approach requires a large number of sales and can be time consuming if done annually or for the first time. This approach is great for residential properties. The income approach converts the future returns from ownership of a â€Å"parcel† into their present value equivalent. This approach can be done by c... ...edit of the issuing government. This non-guaranteed bond is backed by a certain business-like government activity and not a larger government entity that has taxing powers. Some revenue bonds can have lower interest rates than obligation bonds. If for example a water district with a excellent history of borrowing may have a lower interest rate than a general obligation bond with a declining property tax and low personal income. (LJJ, 492) Unlike obligation bonds these types of bonds generally do not need or require a popular vote and are repaid by the users f the service. This means that no tax dollars are directly used which is considered a good thing. The more costly of the two bonds are revenue bonds because they generally have higher interest rates. If there was a default on the general obligation bonds then taxes would have to be raised which is less popular.

Carol Ann Duffys Little Red-Cap and Delilah Essay -- Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy's "Little Red-Cap† and â€Å"Delilah" â€Å"During the 1980s, a unique type and style of women-led peace protest strategies emerged that relied on the powerful language, and particularly the powerful imagery of women as a group engaged in an extended protest against nuclear weapons† (LaWare 18). Carol Ann Duffy’s book, The World’s Wife, was first published in Great Britain in 1999, and two of its dramatic monologues similarly rely on the powerful language and imagery of women engaged in a protest against historically patriarchal narratives and male violence. â€Å"While some peace encampments [in the 1980s] included men and women, many were women only, including one of the first and longest lasting peace encampments, the Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common in Newbury, England, which evolved into and ignited a women’s peace movement† (LaWare 18). â€Å"[T]housands of women from Britain and the world†¦ later visited and lived at the camp during its almost twenty years of existence, until the last group of women left in 2000[,]† and while it’s not clear whether Duffy visited the camp, the camp’s strategies of resistance are embedded in two of her poems (LaWare 19). The speakers of â€Å"Little Red-Cap† and â€Å"Delilah† employ the camp’s strategies of physically embracing a symbol of male violence, subsequently defacing the symbol through an act of creative nonviolence, and finally transforming the symbol’s patriarchal sphere into a space filled with peace and feminine imagery. First, the speakers of Duffy’s two poems resemble the protestors at Greenham Common who physically embraced a symbol of male violence: [T]he Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp gained both national and international attention in D... ...orld’s Wife. New York: Faber, 1999. 28-29. ---. â€Å"Little Red-Cap.† The World’s Wife. New York: Faber, 1999. 3-4. Holy Bible, New International Version. Zondervan, gen. ed. International Bible Society, 1984. BibleGateway.com. Gospel Communications International. 14 May 2005 search=judges%2016&version1=31>. LaWare, Margaret L. â€Å"Circling the Missiles and Staining Them Red: Feminist Rhetorical Invention and Strategies of Resistance at the Women’s Peace Camp at Greenham Common.† NWSA Journal 16.3 (2004): 18-41. Little Red Riding-Hood Picture Book. London: George Routledge and Sons, circa 1870. The Little Red Riding Hood Project. Ed. Michael N. Salda. Dec. 1995. The de Grummond Children’s Literature Research Collection, University of Southern Mississippi. 14 May 2005

Transmission of Pain Signals by the Brain at the Spinal Level Essay

Transmission of Pain Signals by the Brain at the Spinal Level Pain has been defined by Coates & Hindle as an unpleasant emotional and sensory experience which signals a potential or actual damage to tissues (2011, p. 213). Pain is a common human experience and can emanate from injury and illness. There are two main types of pain; acute pain is short-lived, lasting for minutes or several days and its onset often takes place rapidly. It results from the activation of pain nerve endings or nociceptors either by internal or external pain stimuli. On the other hand chronic pain is continuous and sometimes recurrent and can last for weeks, months or even years. Chronic pain is usually not located at or related to the tissue undergoing trauma (Draper & Knight, 2007, p. 104). Various theories have been proposed to explain the mechanism underlying the transmission and perception of pain. These include the specificity theory which maintains that specific fibers and pain receptors are activated by injury after which the pain signals are projected via the spinal pathway to an area in the brain that interprets the pain. In this regard, the specificity theory virtually equates the peripheral injury with the psychological experience caused by the pain (Anderson, 2004, p. 355). However, this theory has been found to harbor several limitations as research about pain has intensified with time. In light of this, the gate theory that was proposed by Melzack and Wall has had a major contribution to the understanding of pain transmission and perception (Pain Game Part 2, 2011). Research has demonstrated that pain is affected by psychological and physiological factors which helps to explain the mechanism underlying inhibition and/or facilitaion of pai... ...t has been noted that the gate control theory proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 formed the foundation of understanding the process of pain signal transmission. The dorsal horn of the spinal cord is the region of the CNS that controls the passage of pain signals by means of opening and/or closing the gate. Pain can only be perceived if reaches the brain. Events that cause excitation such pain signals and the release of excitatory or facilitatory chemicals cause the gate to open whereas inhibitory events such as competing nerve impulses caused by rubbing trigger closure of the gate. The gate can also be closed due to descending inhibition enhanced by relaxation or the use of pain-relieving medication such as morphine. The brain stem is responsible for controlling the transmission of pain signals via the ascending and descending pain pathways.

Chapter 2 Exercises & Case Exercises Essay

Exercises 1. Consider the statement: an individual threat agent, like a hacker, can be a factor in more than one threat category. If a hacker hacks into a network, copies a few files, defaces the Web page, and steals credit card numbers, how many different threat categories does this attack fall into? a. Overall, I believe this attack falls into four major threat categories: deliberate acts of trespass, compromises to intellectual property, technical failures, and managerial failure. Furthermore, I believe this attack would be categorized as a deliberate act of theft/trespass which compromises intellectual property due to technical and managerial failures. b. It seems as this hacker was deliberately causing harm (i.e. copying files, vandalizing the web page, and theft of credit card numbers); due to their method of entry – hacking into a network – it leaves me to believe there were some technical failures, such as software vulnerabilities or a trap door. However, that is just one possibility as to what could have occurred. This could have also been a managerial failure; say the unknown hacker used social engineering to obtain the information to gain access to the network – proper planning and procedure execution could have potentially thwarted this hacker†™s attack. 2. Using the Web, research Mafiaboy’s exploits. When and how did he compromise sites? How was he caught? c. Michael Demon Calce, also known as Mafiaboy, was a high school student from West Island, Quebec, who launched a series of highly publicized DDoS (denial-of-service) attacks in February 2000 against large commercial websites including: Yahoo!, Fifa.com, Amazon.com, Dell, Inc., E*Trade, eBay, and CNN. Calce also attempted to launch a series of simultaneous attacks against nine of the thirteen root name servers. d. On February 7th, 2000, Calce targeted Yahoo! With a project he named â€Å"Rivolta† – meaning riot in Italian. This project utilized a denial of service cyber-attack in which servers become overloaded with different types of communications, to the  point in which they completely shut down. Calce managed to shut down the multibillion dollar company and the web’s top search engine for almost an hour. His goal was to establish dominance for himself and TNT – his cybergroup. Over the next week, Calce also brought down eBay, CNN, Amazon and Dell via the same DDoS attack. e. Calce’s actions were under suspicion when the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police noticed posts in an IRC chatroom which bragged/claimed responsibility for the attacks. He became the chief suspect when he claimed to have brought down Dell’s website, an attack not yet publicized at the time. Information on the source of the attacks was initially discovered and reported to the press by Michael Lyle, chief technology officer of Recourse Technologies. Calce initially denied responsibility but later pled guilty to most of the charges brought against him – the Montreal Youth Court sentenced him on September 12, 2001 to eight months of â€Å"open custody,† one yea r of probation, restricted use of the Internet, and a small fine. It is estimated that these attacks caused $1.2 billion dollars in global economic damages. 3. Search the Web for the â€Å"The Official Phreaker’s Manual.† What information contained in this manual might help a security administrator to protect a communications system? f. A security administrator is a specialist in computer and network security, including the administration of security devices such as firewalls, as well as consulting on general security measures. g. Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. Since telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely linked with computer hacking. i. Example of Phreaking: Using various audio frequencies to manipulate a phone system. h. Overall, a security administrator could use this manual to gain knowledge of terms associated with phreaking and the in’s & outs of the process (i.e. how it is executed). However, the security administrator should focus on Chapter 10 – â€Å"War on Phreaking† – this section (pg 71-73) deals with concepts such as access, â€Å"doom,† tracing, and security. An administrator could reverse engineer this information to protect his/her systems from such attacks. 4. The chapter discussed many threats and vulnerabilities to information security. Using the Web, find at least two other sources of information on threat and vulnerabilities. Begin with www.securityfocus.com and use a keyword search on â€Å"threats.† i. http://www.darkreading.com/vulnerability-threats ii. Dark Reading’s Vulnerabilities and Threats Tech Center is your resource for breaking news and information on the latest potential threats and technical vulnerabilities affecting today’s IT environment. Written for security and IT professionals, the Vulnerabilities and Threats Tech Center is designed to provide in-depth information on newly-discovered network and application vulnerabilities, potential cybersecurity exploits, and security research results j. http://www.symantec.com/security_response/ iii. Our security research centers around the world provide unparalleled analysis of and protection from IT security threats that include malware, security risks, vulnerabilities, and spam. 5. Using the categories of threats mentioned in this chapter, as well as the various attacks described, review several current media sources and identify examples of each. k. Acts of human error or failure: iv. Students and staff were told in February that some 350,000 of them could have had their social security numbers and financial information exposed on the internet. v. â€Å"It happened during an upgrade of some of our IT systems. We were upgrading a server and through human error there was a misconfiguration in the setting up of that server,† said UNCC spokesman, Stephen Ward. l. Compromises to intellectual property: vi. Today we bring news of action against a site that supplied links to films, music and games hosted on file-hosters all around the world. Authorities say they have charged three individuals said to be the administrators of a very large file-sharing site. vii. To get an idea of the gravity local police are putting on the case, we can compare some recent stats. According to US authorities Megaupload, one of the world’s largest websites at the time, cost rightsholders $500m. GreekDDL (according to Alexa Greece’s 63rd largest site) allegedly cost rightsholders $85.4m. m. Deliberate acts of espionage or trespass: viii. The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell. ix. Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world’s most secretive organization – the NSA. x. Additional, interesting, read: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57600000/edward-snowdens-digital-maneuvers-still-stumping-u.s-government/ 1. The government’s forensic investigation is wrestling with Snowden’s apparent ability to defeat safeguards established to monitor and deter people looking at information without proper permission. n. Deliberate acts of information extortion: xi. Hackers claimed to have breached the systems of the Belgian credit provider Elantis and threatened to publish confidential customer information if the bank does not pay $197,000 before Friday, they said in a statement posted to Pastebin. Elantis confirmed the data breach Thursday, but the bank said it will not give in to extortion threats. xii. The hackers claim to have captured login credentials and tables with online loan applications which hold data such as full names, job descriptions, contact information, ID card numbers and income figures. xiii. According to the hackers the data was stored unprotected and unencrypted on the servers. To prove the hack, parts of what they claimed to be captured customer data were published. o. Deliberate acts of sabotage or vandalism: xiv. Fired Contractor Kisses Off Fannie Mae With Logic Bomb xv. Rajendrasinh Babubha Makwana, a former IT contractor at Fannie Mae who was fired for making a coding mistake, was charged this week with placing a â€Å"logic bomb† within the company’s Urbana, Md., data center in late October of last year. The malware was set to go into effect at 9 a.m. EST Saturday and would have disabled internal monitoring systems as it did its damage. Anyone logging on to Fannie Mae’s Unix server network after that would have seen the words â€Å"Server Graveyard† appear on their workstation screens. p. Deliberate acts of theft: xvi. Four Russian nationals and a Ukrainian have been charged with running a sophisticated hacking organization that penetrated computer networks of more than a dozen major American and international corporations over seven years, stealing and selling at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers, resulting in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. q. Deliberate software attacks: xvii. China Mafia-Style Hack Attack Drives California Firm to Brink xviii. A group of hackers from China waged a relentless campaign of cyber harassment against Solid Oak Software Inc., Milburn’s family-owned, eight-person firm in Santa Barbara, California. The attack began less than two weeks after Milburn publicly accused China of appropriating his company’s parental filtering software, CYBERsitter, for a national Internet censoring project. And it ended shortly after he settled a $2.2 billion lawsuit against the Chinese government and a string of computer companies last April. xix. In between, the hackers assailed Solid Oak’s computer systems, shutting down web and e-mail servers, spying on an employee with her webcam, and gaining access to sensitive files in a battle that caused company revenues to tumble and brought it within a hair’s breadth of collapse. r. Forces of nature: xx. Websites Scramble As Hurricane Sandy Floods Data Centers xxi. The freak storm flooded data centers in New York City, taking down several major websites and services — including The Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Gawker — that depended on them to run their businesses. xxii. Several websites stored their data at a lower Manhattan data center run by Datagram, whose basement was inundated with water during the storm, flooding generators that were intended to keep the power on. s. Deviations in quality of service from service providers: xxiii. China’s Internet hit by biggest cyberattack in its history xxiv. Internet users in China were met with sluggish response times early Sunday as the country’s domain extension came under a â€Å"denial of service† attack. xxv. The attack was the largest of its kind ever in China, according to the China Internet Network Information Center, a state agency that manages the .cn country domain. xxvi. The double-barreled attacks took place at around 2 a.m. Sunday, and then again at 4 a.m. The second attack was â€Å"long-lasting and large-scale,† according to state media, which said that service was slowly being restored. t. Technical hardware failures or errors: xxvii. A hardware failure in a Scottish RBS Group technology center caused a NatWest bank outage. xxviii. It prevented customers from using online banking services or doing debit card transactions. u. Technical software failure or errors: xxix. RBS boss blames software upgrade for account problems xxx. The boss of RBS has confirmed that a software change was responsible for the widespread computer problems affecting millions of customers’ bank accounts. v. Technological obsolescence: xxxi. SIM Cards Have Finally Been Hacked, And The Flaw Could Affect Millions Of Phones xxxii. After three years of research, German cryptographer Karsten Nohl claims to have finally found encryption and software flaws that could affect millions of SIM cards, and open up another route on mobile phones for surveillance and fraud. Case Exercises Soon after the board of directors meeting, Charlie was promoted to Chief Information Security Officer, a new position that reports to the CIO, Gladys Williams, and that was created to provide leadership for SLS’s efforts to improve its security profile. Questions: 1. How do Fred, Gladys, and Charlie perceive the scope and scale of the new information security effort? a. Charlie’s proposed information security plan aims at securing business software, data, the networks, and computers which store information. The scope of the information security effort is quite vast, aiming at securing each vulnerability – in addition to the aforementioned, the new information security plan also focuses on the company’s staff. Since extra effort will be required to implement the new managerial plan and install new security software and tools, the scale of this operation is quite large. 2. How will Fred measure success when he evaluates Gladys’ performance for this project? How will he evaluate Charlie’s performance? b. Gladys is appointed as CIO of the team, which is gathered to improve the security of the company due to virus attack that caused a loss in the company; I believe Fred will measure Gladys success by her ability t o lead, keep the plan on track (i.e. time management) and successfully sticking to the proposed budget. Charlie was promoted to chief information security officer, a new position that reports to the CIO; I believe Fred will measure Charlie’s success by his ability to implement the new plan, report his/their progress and the overall success of the new system. 3. Which of the threats discussed in this chapter should receive Charlie’s attention early in his planning process? c. Portable Media Management (Ex. USB, DVD-R/W) should receive Charlie’s attention early in his planning process