Marketing Plan - 1852 Words

Marketing Plan Phase III Coffee has been a staple in just about every country to this date and normally a coffee shop would provide this beverage. With the different items available from a vending machine why not make one those items coffee. The marketplace is changing from day-to-day and who knows what the next big thing or fad may be. With the demand for coffee at an all-time high why not take advantage of its demand in the marketplace. The best way to provide coffee in a vending machine is fresh, hot, and at a reasonable price. To accomplish this every aspect of this plan is important to ensure that the customer gets his or her money worth out of the product. The correct placement of the machines along with, the right†¦show more content†¦Value-based pricing allows for the company to rely on the customer’s perceived value of the items they are receiving. Starbucks knows their customers and what they want so the use of this type of pricing strategy allows them to receive the most profit for their product. Bring the best quality and value to the customer all the while being able to retain profits will allow Starbucks vending machines to succeed. By taking full advantage of the globally known Starbucks brand name, utilization of positioning and differentiation strategies can catapult the new line of Starbucks vending machines to its already well established customer base while at the same time as capturing prospective customers in a strong way. According to Marketing, â€Å"Product positioning refers to the place a product occupies in consumers’ minds on important attributes relative to competitive products.† (Kerin, Hartley amp; Rudelius, 2011). As Starbucks competes in today’s market against both privately-owned and corporate coffee houses, the line of Starbucks vending machines will capitalize on a busy and mobile workforce seeking the highest quality of affordable coffee and tea in a quick and easy solution. The vending machines, strategica lly placed in major corporations and work-centers and in public transportation hubs (i.e., subway and bus stations), the cornerstone of positioning willShow MoreRelatedA Marketing Plan For A New Marketing Strategy966 Words   |  4 Pagesthe governmental legal requirements and, on the other hand, defines the organization’s policy administration. For a triumphant marketing plan, understanding the government legal approaches allows for efficient operation and inter-relationship with other organization. Similarly, internal legal policies allow the company to uphold its operation in a set manner. 4.0: Marketing Audit A market audit process is a tool that can never be neglected despite the situation. However, very few companies carryRead MoreMarketing Plan For A Small Business2998 Words   |  12 Pagesin detail. †¢ The benefits of TQM when implementing the strategic plan to meet goals or increasing profit within a small business. †¢ The economy’s motivation of small businesses stability as compared to large businesses that are well established, also the financial assistance of other organization including the government. †¢ Different categories of a company and the importance of CRM to any size business. †¢ To compare the marketing plan of a small business and a large business where it reflects theRead MoreMarketing Plan827 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Marketing Business Environment Marketing Planning: An Overview of Marketing 6 main questions to ask in order to create your marketing plan: 1. Where are we now? (Business Mission, Marketing audit, SWOT analysis) 2. How did we get here? (Business Mission, Marketing audit, SWOT analysis) 3. Where are we heading? (Marketing audit, SWOT Analysis) 4. Where would we like to be? (Marketing objectives) 5. How do we get there? (Core Strategy, Marketing mix decisions, Organization, ImplementationRead MoreMarketing Plan3248 Words   |  13 PagesSAMPLE MARKETING PLAN The following pages contain an annotated sample marketing plan for Blue Sky Clothing. At some point in your career, you will likely be involved in writing—or at least contributing to –a marketing plan. And you’ll certainly read many marketing plans throughout your business career. Keep in mind that the plan for Blue Sky is a single example; no one format is used by all companies. Also, the Blue Sky plan has been somewhat condensed to make it easier to annotate and illustrateRead MoreMarketing Plan4753 Words   |  20 Pagesresponsible firm by highlighting its products based on ecotourism, community tourism and sustainable tourism. 2. Situation Analysis Blaze Mountain travels and Tours has been operating for several years now. The trips have been well received, and marketing is now critical to its continued success and future profitability. Blaze Mountain travels and tours offer concepts like ecotourism and sustainable tourism to older tourists and hard adventure trips to the student tourists. This target market appreciatesRead MoreMarketing Plan3688 Words   |  15 PagesSITUATION ANALYSIS The marketing environment for LIMCOMA represents overwhelming opportunities. It also contains some challenges that the firm believes it can meet successfully. An illustration below shows a SWOT analysis of the company to highlight LIMCOMA’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths LIMCOMA’S dedicated founders understand the target market and products. LIMCOMA has achieved distribution in several markets with quick acceptance The firm has a very littleRead MoreMarketing Plan3847 Words   |  16 PagesA marketing plan is a comprehensive blueprint which outlines an organization s overall marketing efforts. A marketing process can be realized by the marketing mix, which is outlined in step 4. The last step in the process is the marketing controlling. The marketing plan can function from two points: strategy and tactics (P. Kotler, K.L. Keller). In most organizations, strategic planning is an annual process, typically covering just the year ahead. Occasionally, a few organizations may look atRead MoreMarketing Planning : The Marketing Plan Essay1545 Words   |  7 PagesTo attract mixed segment ther is need to marketing planning is indeed the key to the whole marketing process. The marketing objectives state just where the company intends to be; at some specific time in the future. James Quinn succinctly defined objectives in general as: Goals state what is to be achieved and when results are to be accomplished, but they do not state how the results are to be achieved. They typically relate to what products will be where in what market. They are essentiallyRead MoreMarketing Plan For Subway Marketing1516 Words   |  7 PagesExecutive summary The marketing plan has close ties with the overall financial and business plan. This plan contents a strategy for success, and breaks it down into coherent, actionable components that will aid The Sub Shop to implement marketing activities to provide a firm return on investment. The following areas will help explain how the company plans to differentiate the business and product offering from the competition, and define the strategy that will drive its business forward. The aimRead MoreMarketing Plan1891 Words   |  8 Pagesa breakeven point in the second year after opening the store and become profitable in the third year of being in this business. In the first year, our profits will be low, due to low sales and high distribution, inventory, marketing and advertising and sales expenses. Marketing expenses will be very high in the first year. We have to inform the customers about this new product and get the consumers to try out this new concept. It will take â€Å"Just passin’ Thru† some time to build up the customer base

Critical Review of a Psychology Research Article on Students

Research Issues in Psychology Critical Review of a Research Article Pupils who exhibit gifted characteristics along with another disability are referred to as ‘twice-exceptional students’ (Morrison, 2001; Nielsen 2002). This term is used in the article that I have chosen to review, which analyzes the responses and perceptions through interview, of one particular individual (Andrew) who was identified as being gifted and talented (G/T) and who had emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD). What the researchers aimed to accomplish through this analysis was a clearer understanding of Andrew’s community and school experiences, as they stated that there was a lack of empirical data focusing upon pupils who displayed such behaviors.†¦show more content†¦Teaching, according to the Teacher’s Training Agency, â€Å"†¦is a job for those who like and respect young people† (2005). Andrew clearly from his responses, suffered during his schooling, and perhaps felt disrespected as a result of being labelled. His pos ition as an educator a number of years later, enable him to look quite critically upon his educators, almost, one could argue with an expert eye. As well as the questions which are raised about the size of the sample that was used, it is also necessary to point out the lack of detail present concerning how the sample was chosen. Andrew’s reflective experiences several years after they occurred surely cannot be as valid as for example, a sample of children displaying twice-exceptional abilities within schools at the time of commencing the research. Perhaps Morrison and Omdal had valid reasons for choosing Andrew as their lone participant, but this detail is missing from their study. There is no evidence either to suggest whether Andrew was de-briefed about the nature of this study, which could prove significant with regard to his responses to the interview questions, especially as he talks with such fervour about his experiences. Since they only had one participant for this research, an interview was an appropriate method to gain access to Andrew’s experiences in school and in the community. An interview as stated in Cohen et alShow MoreRelatedCritical Evaluation1465 Words   |  6 PagesPY1101 – Writing in Psychology APA 6th Edition â€Å"HOW TO† GUIDE In Psychology, we use the formatting guidelines as set out in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th Edition. This is a starter guide to the APA formatting guidelines. This guide is not all-inclusive, but will help get you started for your first assignment. Burton’s ‘An interactive approach to writing essays and research reports in Psychology’ is the best guide to help you with APA formattingRead MoreConvergent And Divergent Thinking Of Online Learning897 Words   |  4 PagesThe topic that I chose is found in Chapter Nine of the Educational Psychology textbook which talks about complex cognitive processes. The focus of my research paper is on convergent and divergent thinking. I chose this topic because it seemed interesting to learn more about different types of thinking processes and being able to answer questions when using these two types of thinking processes. In this educational psychology class, I have learned the d ifference between convergent and divergent thinkingRead MoreThe Apa Style Of Writing Has Been In Existence For Over1433 Words   |  6 Pagesbeen recognized as a guide for many important disciplines beyond Psychology including business and education which indicates the standards credibility in the publishing community (Hunsley, 2010). The long tradition of the APA standard establishes the credibility and importance. It has evolved to keep up with modern research and technology. Using the same style as others in your profession allows for peer reviewers to read the article quicker and also have a reference go back to so they ensure dataRead MoreScholarly Writing Essay801 Words   |  4 PagesWalden student in a masters or doctorate program. In this Application, you will critique a sample of scholarly writing and provide feedback on ways to make it more effective. To prepare for this assignment: †¢ Read the following Study Notes: Introduction to Scholarly Writing: Finding a Scholarly Voice; Introduction to Scholarly Writing: Purpose, Audience, and Evidence; Citing a Discussion Posting and Course Study Notes in APA Style; and Citing a Laureate Video in APA Style †¢ Review theRead MoreNetwork And Relational Perspectives For Community Psychology1244 Words   |  5 PagesChristens, B. (2014). Linking the Levels: Network and Relational Perspectives for Community Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brian_Christens/publication/261771586_Linking_the_Levels_Network_and_Relational_Perspectives_for_Community_Psychology/links/557b03bc08aec87640d9b364.pdf Summary In the article â€Å"Linking the Levels: Network and Relational Perspectives for Community Psychology†, networks and relationships have great importance for understanding communities, settingsRead MoreSome Current Dimensions Of Applied Behavior Analysis990 Words   |  4 PagesSome Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis. Retrieved from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13109980/pdf/jaba00083-0089.pdf Barrish, H. H., Saunders, M., Wolf, M. (2015, 11 6). Good Behavior Game: Effects of Individual Contingencies for GroupConsequences On Disruptive Behavior In A Classroom. Retrieved from Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1311049/pdf/jaba0080-0043.pdf Bruce A. Thyer, P. (n.d.). What Is Evidence-Based Practice? Brief TreatmentRead MoreCriticle Article Review: Violent Video Games Essay1430 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ Critical Article Review Psychology 475 Liberty University Abstract The aim of this paper is to provide a critical review of the article The Effect of Video Game Violence on Physiological Desensitization to Real-life Violence by Nicholas L. Carnagey, Craig A. Anderson, and Brad J. Bushman (2007). In this article Carnagey, Ander and Bushman experimentally examine the effects that violent video games have on those playing them, specifically in the area ofRead MoreThe Importance Of An Apology For A Deficient Audit925 Words   |  4 PagesPart 1 , 200-400 words, worth 4% Discuss how both articles review the literature and compare the literature review a; Apology Accepted: The Benefits of an Apology for a Deficient Audit Following an Audit V Failure b; Students Behaviors and Views of Paraphrasing and Inappropriate Textual Borrowing in an EFL Academic Setting Review of literature: The information on the subject is not lacking but the inferences of various investigations are not consistent and differ greatly according to the materialRead MoreAssignment : Critical Thinking Psychology948 Words   |  4 PagesUnit 4 Assignment: Critical Thinking in Psychology Shakirah Tulloch PS 501 August 29, 2017 Kaplan University Critical Thinking in Psychology This paper is based off of a peer reviewed research article. The construct being assessed is the self-esteem of adolescents. One who has high self-esteem will feel confident and will see themselves as deserving the respect of others. High self-esteem enables the individual to be happy, have lots of energy, stay focused, and to be successfulRead MoreImproving Student Performance Has Long Been An Issue Contemplated And Researched By Educational Professionals And Psychologists1590 Words   |  7 Pages Critical Assignment 1 Shelby A. Wood Troy University Article 1 Improving student performance has long been an issue contemplated and researched by educational professionals and psychologists. Nowadays, an even greater burden has been placed on the shoulders of teachers, whose livelihoods are being determined by how well their students perform on standardized tests and other academic evaluations. With this increased amount of pressure, teachers are desperate to find ways to improve

Human Resource Management for Business Process- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theHuman Resource Management for Business Process. Answer: Every organisation has a human resource department for recruiting employees, training and development and their retention. Effective human resource management gives competitive advantage to the organization. Employee centered culture was found to ensure enormous success when adopted by an organisation. In this context the essay discusses how HRM activities enable organizations to become more competitive in their markets.For this purpose the organisation American Express would be considered as an example as it has been successful in this regard. The essay discusses the HRM practices in the area of recruitment and selection, training and development, reward structure and motivation, and retention. Recruitment and selection process is the value added HRM process. It represents the ability of the organisation to hire new employees and improve human capital. The key aspects of HRM in recruitment and selection process is to find the best recruitment sources, use the job market well to source best talent and keep the company operating so that it gains competitive advantage. An organisation must come up with innovative HR practices for implementing recruitment solutions, measuring and analysing the performance of the recruitment process. In order to gain competitive advantage the mangers and recruiters must be quick in making night hiring decisions (Stone et al. 2015). American Express is recognised as Aon Hewitt Regional Best Employer. The global services and payments company has won several awards, which help it drive top talent. Further engagement of the employee is driven by external validation. American Express has tailored strategies to business priorities, after investigating different business environment in its markets. For instance, it has targeted strategy formulated in Malaysia to recruit Japanese employees. It is the combination of traditional recruitment process and social media hiring. This strategy helped the company to successfully fill all the positions and meet the employee composition in different markets. Recruitment of employees takes place effortlessly through leadership-oriented development, strong employer brand, inclusion initiates and progressive diversity (Jauhari et al. 2013). The company ensures competitive advantage by considering regional variations when hiring and giving leadership position to HRs. Successful organisations in the market are found to have HR practices driven towards employees advancement opportunities. Large companies have clearly defined training and development opportunities and paths for its employees. It gives knowledge to the potential employees on how to advance their careers by meeting set goals of the organisation. It adds not only credibility to the organisational claims but also increases new applicants curiosity. In this process the HRM design training programs by monitoring theemployee activity levels, and customer satisfaction (Wright et al. 2011).The human resource practices of American express is geared towards training employees to equip them with skills to deliver client service excellence. For instance, it adopted global rotation program to allow the high performers to work in different markets for six months alternately. It gives new learning opportunities to the employees and builds new skills. Employees prefer to stay with organisation owing to the benefits gained by building new networks and relationships. This process of training and development is unique when compared to traditional approaches like soft skills/cross-cultural training classes. Hence, the organisation has competitive advantage over others. Using leader centric focus, HRM in American express have created strong culture of leadership. Leadership development programs helped develop leadership qualities in people. It is evident from 91% of senior leadership positions filled internally in 2014 (Hewitt 2018). Rewards and recognitions are the tool to retain employee and prevent them to accept another competitive job offer. If the HR managers provide comprehensive benefits to the employees it acts as tool to retain the experienced employees and recruit dedicated talents. HR must act strategically to design employee performance reviews tools. The role of HRM is to design rewards and motivational programs that ensure competitive recruitment and increase revenue growth of company (Hendry 2012). American Express responds to fast-changing market conditions across the mainland, by setting its compensation and benefits, that is upto level of other best practices. The company could hire best talent by customising its rewards and benefits as competitive as rising companies in same market. The organisations HRM is popular for rewarding meaningful results of the employees, celebrate their loyalty and praise employees work. The rewards comprise of monetary and nonmonetary items, e-buttons, personalised e-cards, Blue Awards allow the workers to redeem gift of their choice. CEO gives congratulatory message and crystal awards to hardworking employees. Employees are motivated to participate in sports events to reinforce their potential (Jensen et al. 2016). HRM plays a crucial role in retaining top performers of the organisation. Top performers give high productivity and retaining them allows company to sustain competitive advantage. In this process the company scrutinise the employees work satisfaction, organisational environment, motivational factors and monetary benefits to develop strategies to retain employees (Terera and Ngirande 2014). American express achieves competitive advantage by using innovative retention strategies. Employee retaining in companies are attracted by opportunity to hone project/time management skills and increase cross-cultural awareness through rotation program. Further, the organisation keeps the employees engaged by its healthy living program that promotes good health to employees and their families. Such employee-centered culture helps organisation drive revenue growth and improves productivity. Further, American Express is known for its flexible working hours. It drives innovation and collaboration amon g employees. The HR managers have worked their best to save commute time of employees. It helped retain the employees and attract more from millennials to women. A very few high potential employees have left the organisation owing to its leader-centric focus. The HRM strategy to attract and retain new talent is Employee-value proposition (Marshall et al. 2015). HR retains employee in company as they perceive it to be a global brand with challenging workplace and leader centric culture. Thus employees perceive career progression opportunities and stay loyal (Heckl et al. 2010). These HRM strategies explain the competitive advantage of the organisation over other successful companies in the market. It can be concluded that HRM plays a crucial role in workforce development. An organisation like American Express gains competitive advantage in financial services sector by relying on its human resource managers for recruitment and selection of best talents, training and development programs, rewards and recognitions schemes and successful retention programs. The HRM practices that lead to competitive advantage of an organisation are leadership-centric model, powerful employee value proposition, effective performance management tools, employee career opportunities and empowerment. References Heckl, D., Moormann, J. and Rosemann, M., 2010. Uptake and success factors of Six Sigma in the financial services industry.Business Process Management Journal,16(3), pp.436-472. Hendry, C., 2012.Human resource management. Routledge. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=enlr=id=iTEsBgAAQBAJoi=fndpg=PR3dq=HRM+strategies++american+express+in+financial+sector+ots=EcCaGAKbOBsig=PglJYQXZH83IOnL3W9_mpp0YSdI#v=onepageqf=false Hewitt, A. 2018.Best Employers Regional Case Study American Express. [online] Aon.com. Available at: https://www.aon.com/apac/attachments/talent-organization/best-employers/2013%20Reports/Aon%20Hewitt_BE_Case%20Study_AmericanExpress_final.pdf [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018]. Jauhari, V., Sehgal, R. and Sehgal, P., 2013. TALENT MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: INSIGHTS FROM INFOTECH ENTERPRISES LTD.Journal of Services Research,13(1), p.161. Jensen, J.A., Cobbs, J.B. and Turner, B.A., 2016. Evaluating sponsorship through the lens of the resource-based view: The potential for sustained competitive advantage.Business Horizons,59(2), pp.163-173. Marshall, A.J., Ashleigh, M.J., Baden, D., Ojiako, U. and Guidi, M.G., 2015. Corporate psychopathy: can search and destroyand hearts and minds military metaphors inspire HRM solutions?.Journal of Business Ethics,128(3), pp.495-504. Stone, D.L., Deadrick, D.L., Lukaszewski, K.M. and Johnson, R., 2015. The influence of technology on the future of human resource management.Human Resource Management Review,25(2), pp.216-231. Terera, S.R. and Ngirande, H., 2014. The impact of rewards on job satisfaction and employee retention.Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences,5(1), p.481. Wright, P.M., Boudreau, J.W., Pace, D., Sartain, L., McKinnon, P. and Antoine, R., 2011.The chief HR officer: Defining the new role of human resource leaders. John Wiley Sons.

The Hunger Games Essays That Shows Katniss Qualities free essay sample

Have you ever been taken away from your family and friends? Been forced into a game where to stay alive is the only way to win? The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is about sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the country of Panem from the far- off city called the Capitol. The Capitol divides in districts. It is harsh, cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games until the end of the death and only one survive. Strength and kind Katniss faces challenges and survives the Hunger Games. Katniss has used her strength to try and get through the Hunger Games. When Peeta Mellark had gotten cut by Cato’s sword, he was deeply wounded. Katniss has to try and treat him in order to save his life. We will write a custom essay sample on The Hunger Games Essays That Shows Katniss Qualities or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She runs toward the Cornucopia without cares of her own to get the bag pack of medicine that will survive Peeta’s life. Also, Katniss has bow and arrows that shows her strength. With her bow and arrows, she finds food and kills her enemies. She can do many things and can last longer throughout the Hunger Games. She acknowledges, â€Å"So I focus on the one really good thing that’s happened since I landed in the arena. I have a bow and arrows! A full dozen arrows if you count the one I retrieved in the tree. They bear no trace of the noxious green slime that came from Glimmer’s body†(197). She had also used bow and arrows when she was in District 12 to help support her mother and her sister, Prim. Along with her strength, she has also kindness for others that succeed her to win the Hunger Games. Katniss goes to the Cornucopia to get the bag pack of medicine that will help to save Peeta’s life. At the feast Clove attacks on Katniss but before killing her, Clove makes a foment about Rue. Thresh hears her and survives Katniss from Clove. He doesn’t kill Katniss because Katniss was rue ally and he feels that he owes her. Katniss acknowledges, â€Å" I decorate her body in the flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colors†(237). That shows Katniss loves Rue because she looks like Prim. In conclusion, the author wants to show us how we can face difficult problems in our life with the help of our qualities. If we have good qualities, we can win every challenge. I have a friend who lives in country of India, city is called Bihar. Bihar government is very cruel and harsh. The political status of this city is not good. Bihar city is poor and struggling with food poverty. The people of Bihar are controlling by their government. The girls cannot go to schools and colleges in this city. My friend has very intelligent and has good qualities. She is president of team that is against the government of Bihar. They use their strength and power to change the rules of their city. Finally, they succeeded in their challenge. Like those People or Katniss we can use our qualities to succeed in our life.

Revolutionary Choices essays

Revolutionary Choices essays Thomas Paines pamphlet titled Common Sense had me up in arms ready to fight for independence from England. Self government, anchored along with the whispered promise of protection from a constitution that made it clear that All men were to be created equal. I would have happily shed the yoke called "Duty" to King and Country. Having the opportunity to make choices, choices that would affect me and my familys future, and the future of all American mankind, I would have served as a Patriot without a second thought towards my Loyalist upbringing. In America's beginning, my ancestor's immigrated to this new world to seek asylum and peace. They brought with them a rich history of tradition and culture. They brought with them a sense of freedom. Unbeknownst to them they instituted the same ideas and laws that they were running from, into the minds of their children. The charismatic Patriots were very good at stating the obviousness of current affairs in the colonies, bringing controversial opinions to light. Encouraging all of us to sit up and take notice of what was really going on in our country. Apathy was the number one killer of free thinking. There were too many individuals that condemned the actual process of freedom. Young men and women were being protected by an antiquated way of life, shadowed by patriarchal control. The wars that were fought on our soil offered a fresh and often too realistic look at who was actually governing our country. Loyalist suspicions, against any one who tried to harness the thought of a fight for freedom, were whispered throughout our villages and towns. I heard those whispers and began to turn a deaf ear. Traditional religious views, although altered from the original design, accompanied my fore fathers to the new world. These beliefs could be used as a crutch for anyone who was afraid of change. Any free thinking, that turned young people away from the s...

Why Men Should Consider Becoming a Nurse

Why Men Should Consider Becoming a Nurse Nurses have always been in high demand. That’s as true today as it always was, and the number and scope of nursing jobs is expanding every day. Nurses are more critical to the health care process then ever, and there is currently a shortage of qualified nurses! (And a shortage of primary care physicians†¦ so nurses are even more in constant demand!) As health care demands continue to increase- along with costs- nursing will become even more crucial. In the past, a career in nursing hasn’t been on the radars of many professional men, as it is a career more traditionally filled by women. But really, why not even consider an entire booming career path, one with opportunity for great compensation, job security, and other benefits that might increase your quality of life?Here are some good reasons why men should roll up the sleeves of their scrubs and get involved.Why not?Would you tell your kid to overlook an entire in-demand and lucrative, rewarding career path just b ecause it’s traditionally been a field for one gender or the other? Of course not. So why would you overlook it? The biggest obstacle you’d have to clear as a dude entering the profession would be your own gender stereotypes. Nursing is a highly valued and very sturdy career choice. Why let tired gender stereotypes keep this work only for the ladies?If you’re reading this and considering nursing, congrats! You’re already over that hump! If you can be mentored and trained by highly competent women in a highly technical and demanding field, then you’re good to go.Show you’re an enlightened guy and join this under-appreciated field. Then join an organization like the American Assembly of Men in Nursing for extra support while you break into your new career.You can specialize.Whatever picture you have in your head for what a nurse’s job is like, you’re probably wrong. But probably you also didn’t realize just how wide the op tions are for specialization in the field. Try any number of fields, such as anesthesia, flight, emergency, trauma nursing. Even middle management, nursing education, nurse practitioner work, oncology, psychiatry, pediatrics, and administration.Find your interest, claim your niche, and pursue whichever part of this wide-ranging profession that interests you. Don’t get us wrong- you of course will have to start with the basics and build a solid foundation. But once you do, you have the freedom (and opportunity!) to make it your own.You will likely be well-compensated.Like in most professions, male nurses tend to out-earn female nurses.Hey, this might not be fair, but it’s true. Right out of the gate, you’re more likely to be compensated (more) fairly for your time and work. It’s a consistent and reliable career choice wherein you have a financial leg up. Just be sure once you get hired, you start fighting for fair pay for your female colleagues. After all, they’re just as qualified and overworked as you will be.

SUEERIZE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SUEERIZE - Essay Example Xavantes have since then, perfectly secured themselves from outside attacks, though the nature is too difficult to cope with. The economic strength of a nation restricts the conservation. Poor countries are not very conscious about environment and generally look for technological advancement and education, food, health and safety. International agencies help poor countries unite their conservation programs with their economy. Organization of the â€Å"debt for nature swap† in 1987 helped Bolivia get $650,000 as debt for 160,000 sq m of forest. These days, the very area serves as a biposphere reserve. There is a complete ecosystem whose central zone is so carefully controlled that interference is not possible. Nonetheless, it is permissible to conduct research in the transition zone. In order to provide the ecosystem with complete security, a buffer zone is added. Such ecosystems in the whole world are above 250 in number.

Time Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Time Managment - Essay Example I definitely hoped that I would pick up some learning from this as I definitely did not want to waste time (that would have been truly ironic if that had happened. I was a tad bit skeptical as the seminar started, but the binder with the learning material caught my eye immediately. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is itself to succumb to the violence of our times. Frenzy destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.1 I was slightly taken aback because this seemed highly philosophical. And more importantly, what if I took on too many projects, all of them were properly scheduled and I made sure every hour of my working day counted. As the day went on I realized that this was not just about day planners and to do lists, this was about more than that. Indeed, both day planners and task lists play an important role in time management, but it was important to find out why we wanted to use time efficiently. Indeed if we were saving time what we were saving it for. We certainly could not bank time, so what was the end result there Both managing appointments and keeping to do lists were low hanging fruits. These had to be done anyway. But the purpose of this seminar was to show that there is a lot more to time management. All activities in our life could be put in one of four quadrants. They had to be either urgent and important, urgent and not important, not urgent and important, not urgent and not important. It was not about just getting things done it was getting the things which mattered done. Things which were urgent and important , are emergencies. A good time manager would avoid having too many items in this q uadrant. Plan out the important things so that they never become emergencies. Urgent and not important, these are time consuming non critical activities , they either should be ignored or atleast be moved to the back burner. A Ringing phone for example cries for your attention but you are in the middle of an important project. Let the voicemail get it. You can pick up and call all your voicemails at one time later on. Important and not urgent is the quadrant you want all your entire to do list. No emergencies and you are working only important things. Not important and not urgent. These are items which have to be tossed. They serve no purpose at all. After this we briefly went over the POSEC method. POSEC is an acronym. PRIORITIZE-Your time and define your life by goals. ORGANIZING-Things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful. (Family and Finances) STREAMLINING-Things you may not like to do, but must do. (Work and Chores) ECONOMIZING-Things you should do or may even like to do, but they're not pressingly urgent. (Past-times and Socializing) CONTRIBUTING-By paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference. (Social Obligations)2. It was important to learn that managing was not just about managing individual minutes or hours. It was a big picture which was trying to be put together here consisting of numerous small elements. The numerous small elements in themselves meant nothing unless an overall big picture came into place. Continuing on the philosophy of time management , we made a small detour into

Sales Management Essay Example for Free

Sales Management Essay In order to find a solution to his situation, Evans and those suffering from similar problems have to explore the factors that depress their sales. Diagnosing weaknesses in sales performance is the first stage in improving the level of sales. Sales management is about achieving specified goals. The main aim is to raise sales volume through with the use of certain techniques and methods. Evans, on the contrary, seems preoccupied with achieving goals on his own personal agenda, with little interest in the company’s prospects or his own sales record. Therefore, in order to increase his aptitude as a salesperson, Evans needs to make it a priority. Individuals all come to the workplace for the purpose of achieving their personal goals, something a good boss will always recognize. However, when these goals are incompatible with the goals of the company, the organization should either part with the employee or force him or her to reconsider those goals and their relative importance as compared to the working experience. Evans seems preoccupied with asserting his superiority over people he is selling to. He may be so much impressed with his past record as a technician if there was any that he is willing to compromise the opportunity to sell an item for the pleasure of confirming his superior knowledge. Alternatively, he may be longing for a career of a farmer deep inside and thus wants to see many times more that he is no less knowledgeable than his clients that actually use the machines. While the above is a matter for detailed psychoanalysis, Evans must in the first place find a solution to his problem. To make it happen, he must first of all recognize that there is a problem and establish a list of priorities. The first thing is to question oneself what is more important: being a good salesman or finding additional proof of one’s technical expertise? If good sales skills are a priority, then Evans has to question himself: what are the qualities he is missing in order to improve his sales skills? It is the ability to build rapport with the customer? Or aptitude to convert this good relationship into sales numbers? If he answers â€Å"yes† to the first question, he may then probe further into understanding what exactly alienates his clients about his behavior. As a way to overcome the harmful trend, Evans can be put in a situation where he relives the whole incident, viewing it from the opposite side – that of the client. Thus, the company may pay a salesman to approach Evans with a proposition of purchasing some technological gadget. As the conversation develops, the fake salesman demonstrates that his understanding of the offered technology is way above that of Evans. Evans will have a chance to try out his reaction to this kind of behavior in salespeople – see whether he will be willing to purchase the item or not.   Most likely, being a competitively minded individual, Evans will be hurt to find out that someone with comparable background is more knowledgeable in the field than he is. As a result, he will have a chance to reassess his own line of behavior towards his customers. As another way to combat the harmful tendency, Evans can get a chance to assert his superiority in a way that will corroborate his expertise once and forever and release him of the need to compete with each prospective client he needs. To do this, he may need more interaction with qualified technicians so that he could impress them with his knowledge. The company in which Evans works can organize a competition on technical expertise among salespeople in which Evans would undoubtedly be the winner. He can then carry this title to publicize it to the farmers: the qualification would impress the farmers and make them think that they are indeed talking to an expert, while Evans will not be forced to assert his knowledge every time. In fact, he may simply need to find more qualified people than farmers to discuss technological side of his profession with. For this purpose he can visit various exhibitions and technological fairs and talk to professionals there. Evans can come up with new suggestions to make modifications of the current models, suggestions that can be useful since they are advanced by someone close to the actual users of agricultural machinery. If Evans shifts his focus from self-assertion to finding out about the needs of the farmers, he can score points with them and improve his relationships with prospective buyers of his product. However, getting rid of personal problems that inspire Evans to turn his sales process into a contest is only the first step. The second step is to learn the intricacies of results-oriented sales management. Evans has to realize that in his work his main ambition should be to provide an efficient interface between the company and its customers and to reveal to them the opportunities opened up by new agricultural machinery. If he chooses to make his approach to sales more customer-oriented, Evans can boost both his personal and corporate results. To produce better results, Evans should try to downplay his weaknesses as a salesman and build on his potential strengths. Building on one’s unique strengths will give Evans the desired competitive advantage. Expertise and thorough understanding of the equipment he is selling may be one such strength. Evans has to learn to exploit this strength by turning it into an asset. For instance, he may stress that with his vast knowledge, he may be more helpful than other salespeople in preparing the farmer for the efficient use of the machinery, pointing out its minute details and revealing ways to extend the working life of the equipment. Besides, with his vast knowledge, Evans is the one to select the most suitable piece of machinery to perform the necessary task. He should also pay attention to his weakness that seems to lie in the inability to build a long-lasting relationship with consumers. The value of mutually beneficial relationships cannot be overrated in today’s business environment. This is especially true for markets like that for agricultural machinery, where a restricted number of customers make repeated purchases, with the cost of each being rather sizeable. Salespeople are at the forefront of the company and are directly responsible for generating long-standing seller-buyer relationships that will provide benefits to both sides. In their role as boundary spanners, salespeople are â€Å"the business-to-business marketers primary source of communication with customers† (Shwepker 2003). Aiming to build long-lasting relationships with customers, Evans will improve his sales orientation that will over the long term reflect in increases in his sales volume. To improve his sales orientation, Evans should be more interested in the potential customer. He needs to demonstrate his interest in the customer needs and success through asking questions related to the farmer’s business. So far Evans’s primary focus has been himself and his knowledge. Shifting the balance towards the customer, his or her business and personality can improve the relationship dramatically. Only then will Evans be able to convince the customer that he is genuinely looking for a good match between the customer and the product. Sales orientation is not only about building wonderful relationships; it should include the ability to convert these relationships into sales numbers. Thus, Evans should understand that he is in this business for selling, and the consumer is of primary interest to him as a potential buyer of his agricultural machinery. Everything that can discourage the decision to buy is taboo. On the contrary, every ethical way to induce such a decision is welcome. This rule obviously excludes contests aimed at humiliating the consumer through pointing out deficiency in his or her knowledge. Although raising some ethical issues, Evans can try to capitalize on his past mistakes by offering to repeat the contest to knowledgeable farmers who previously lost to him. If he succeeds in making them believe they won this time, this exhilaration can spur them on to buy his machinery this time. Overall, Evans needs to discard or solve his personal problems that motivate him to see a customer as a potential competitor on knowledge rather than a potential buyer. Making boost in sales numbers a priority, he will be able to improve his performance. To do this, he needs to turn his superior knowledge from a liability into an asset. Bibliography Schwepker, Charles H., Jr. â€Å"Customer-oriented selling: a review, extension, and directions for future research.† Journal of Personal Selling Sales Management (March 22, 2003).

Winston Churchill :: Biography

Winston Churchill One of the most famous and loved men on the allied power side was Winston Churchill. Winston Churchill’s full name was Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill. He was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England on November 30, 1874. Churchill was the oldest son. His father was Lord Randolph Churchill and Winston, like his father, was British. Mr. Churchill was a statesman, a soldier, an author, and a journalist but the one job that he did best and was most important was Prime Minister. A Prime Minister was very responsible for war aspects, or things that go on during the war. Churchill, being Prime Minister in 1940, was good for England because he was a very confident person so he kept his people’s hopes up. Winston made sure that military aid on the allied power side was secure. In return, he got moral support from the United States. Churchill traveled around the world a lot to meet with other leaders and befriended them. Together they made up a strategy that defeated Adolf Hitler. By the end of World War II Churchill and the allied powers had defeated the axis powers. When people saw Churchill walk down the street they felt confident. This is because they saw their hero, Winston Churchill, walk with a big cigar in his mouth. But the one thing that they really liked about him was that he made his hands in the shape of a V for victory. Winston was Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945. The Labour party defeated him in 1945. The party stayed in power until 1951. This was when Winston Churchill regained power again. He stayed in power until April 1955, when ill health came his way and forced him to resign.

Corporate Governance Essay

Conduct a review of the governance of your organisation (or one with which you are familiar) in the form of a report to the Chairman (or President) of the Governing Board of Directors. In the brief report use the concepts, tools and techniques learned in this subject to review the structure, process and effectiveness of the governance of the organisation and make recommendations for appropriate improvements. Executive summary This report sets out to review corporate governance at a private company, namely, Paramount Insurance Company. The specific objectives were to identify the relevant codes the organisation follows, why they are important and review the structure, process and effectiveness of the governance of the organisation. Throughout the report, it was evident from the findings that Paramount although once a successful organisation, had some governance issues that can and should be improved for the best interest of the company and its policyholders. Finally, several recommendations for improvement of the organisation’s governance were outlined. Introduction Corporate Governance has evolved from the early days of merchants and monopolists and the concept of corporate governance is as old as trade but the phrase is new. (Tricker 2011).At its simplest, corporate governance can be regarded as being ‘about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability’ (Wolfensohn 1999). All corporate entities need governing however, good corporate governance that takes into consideration a variety of frameworks, including various perspectives such as the relationship, stakeholder, financial, and societal. This report will review the corporate governance policies of Paramount Insurance Company Limited (â€Å"Paramount†). Firstly I will supply an overview on the company’s profile and define corporate. Then the report will look at the composition and criteria for the Board of Directors of Paramount and demonstrate any corporate governance issues that the company may be facing. Finally recommendations are given for mod ifications or improvements in the company’s practices relevant to this business. Company profile Paramount was an insurance underwriter predominantly writing motor business for individuals in the United Kingdom. Based in Watford, Paramount Insurance Company Limited (â€Å"Paramount†) wrote motor insurance over a period of around forty nine years until May nineteen ninety six when it ceased underwriting. Initially, the company primarily provided motor package insurance, that later expanded into also writing some legal expenses cover. Paramount was incorporated in Guyana and therefore the company complied with the Insurance Act 1998 and the Companies Act 1998 of Guyana. These acts provided a guide to Paramount along with the Guyana Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) to some of its corporate governance practices. The Corporate Governance Code of Guyana is not mandatory or enforceable but simply provides a list of principles for best practice. Throughout this report, it is evident that Paramount has a number of issues in relation to corporate governance. This eventuated with issues for policyholders as was estimated that there may be 40,000 current policies at the time of the provisional liquidation. Definition of corporate governance The term â€Å"governance† is derived from the Latin â€Å"gubernare† which means â€Å"to  lead†, suggesting rather that â€Å"the governance† (Corporate, in this case) implies more the steering function than the control one. BALC et al. (2013, pp. 14-17). Corporate governance has many definitions as it is often used in a variety of perspectives, operational, relationship, stakeholder, societal, and a financial economics perspective. For the purpose of this report, corporate governance is defined as the relationship that exists between company management, stakeholders and the board. Objectives of the company are usually set, attained and monitored through the structure corporate governance provides. (Balgobin 2008).The Guyana Corporate Code of Governance is similar to the UK codes of corporate governance and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2004).These principles serve as a reference point that can be used by companies to develop their own frameworks for corporate governance that reflect their own circumstances or situations. Composition and criteria at Paramount The Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer There is extensive research on board composition and the importance it places on different aspects of organisation performance. (Kang H, et al 2007). At Paramount the unitary board exists, where according to the textbook, a unitary board is when a company has a single governing body (Tricker 2009). A non- executive director is defined as a person who is not involved in the day to day management of an organisation but rather in business tasks such as strategic planning, and monitoring of executive directors. An executive director tends to be more involved in the managerial aspects of the company. The Chairman and four other directors are independent non-executives, and the CEO and one director are non- executives. Diversity of board members A diverse board is defined as a varied composition of a number of parameters for example, gender and age. ( Jhunjhunwala, S et al. 2012). It is often believed that women bring a somewhat different approach to leadership in an organisation. They are seen as better at building relationships, are perceptive in decision-making, etc. (Hughes et al 2012). Paramount’s board consists of one female executive director, Ann Estorffe, out of its eight members. She previously worked for one of the company’s subsidiaries in the  Caribbean and thus was deemed fit because of her experience, knowledge and competency on insurance and policymaking. In addition, there are no young directors on the board. According to the Company Secretary, all of the board members are in excess of sixty five years of age. This is well above the retirement age outlined by the company, which is 60 years. Some in the company may argue that it is risky to have appointed younger individuals on the board as th ey lack the experience that comes with age and they are higher risk takers. However, studies have shown that diverse boards may help in formulating strategies, improving productivity and creative problem solving. (Jhunhunwala & Mishra 2012).Appointment to the board and subcommittees Tricker et al. 2009 makes reference to two reasons why unitary boards create subcommittees: To enable independent directors to meet separately from the board as a whole, in order to fulfil their oversights roles; To delegate board activities to reduce the burden on the boards as a whole. All the directors are subject to re-election by policyholders every three years but this system is fraught with ineffectiveness to implicit pressure to re-elect the current directors. Paramount had several subcommittees consisting of the audit, remuneration, nomination, marketing, government and compliance committee, finance, and strategic planning subcommittees. This report specifically will be outlining the three committees, which are responsible for providing oversight to management. These are Audit, remuneration and nomination committees. (Tricker 2009) It is the impression of the Board that this power resides with them as they can choose the best person for the committee. In other words, some still feel that the right to appoint board members is the heart of corporate power. (Tricker 2009).Paramount’s audit committee considered and made recommendations to the board on rules, corporate governance codes, and the law. This committee also assists the company to comply with relevant accounting standards and legislation. Hence, this requires a company to have effective internal audit functions to manage the monies entrusted on them. The effectiveness of the audit is reflected in annual reports, with the intent to create transparency aimed at improving accounting and auditing standards and promoting good corporate governance. The Remuneration Committee of Paramount consisted of two independent nonexecutive directors and one chair. This committee is responsible for setting remuneration for  all executives and the chairman however; it is the board or the policyholders that determine the remuneration of non-executive directors. (Guyana corporate governance code 2011) It is said that the remuneration committee is where in interest of the shareholders conflict with that of management. (Carson 2002). The amount of remuneration received by directors and chairman are disclosed in the company’s annual reports In addition, this monitoring ensures that when profits are low, director’s remuneration can be adjusted and the issuing of incentive payments. Directors of Paramount were not viewed as self-serving and were viewed as effective in this aspect of corporate governance. Board performance evaluation One of the principles of Guyana code on corporate governance states that a board should have an annual evaluation of its own performance, its committees and individual directors. In addition, every three years this evaluation should be externally facilitated. This principle aligns with the UK corporate governance code. Studies have suggested that corporate governance markers such as the uses of sub-committees, independent directors, and an appropriate board structure may not be the best forecasters of board effectiveness. (Tricker 2009) In other words, a form of performance appraisal for directors may ensure they act in the best interest of the company and of the shareholders. Performance appraisals give feedback to individuals and facilitate changes or improvements. (Noe et al 2009). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in essence can be defined as corporate entities acting as good citizens not evident within Paramount. UK Companies Act 2006 highlighted that quoted companies have to provide information on environmental matters, employees and social and community issues. Early attitudes towards corporate governance were a voluntary bureaucratic, expensive box-ticking exercise. Board members focused delivering on creating wealth not complying with principles. The changing expectations in the governance of organisations saw CSR strategies and policies developed, along with CSR competency frameworks created to increase shareholder value. Conclusion This report has given an account on corporate governance of a business in the private sector, namely the Paramount Company. The investigation first set  out to discuss the laws and corporate governance codes the company complies with and then reviews the governance in the organisation. The research suggested that organisations should have adapted to principles of corporate governance, however. These included the lack of a nomination committee, and an inactive performance evaluation board and the development of a ccorporate social responsibility framework. It was also apparent that the re-election of directors was ineffective and that retirement age seems not to apply to board members. This may be due to lack of proper succession planning or to the belief that people like similar minded people and in this case age was a commonality. If the above mentioned areas of opportunities were addressed earlier could this have prevented the outcome? That outcome being on the twenty first of May in the year nineteen ninety six the Department of Trade and Industry withdrew authorisation for Paramount to write new insurance business, and avoid having the directors of Paramount petitioning the court to wind the company up. The paper concludes that for too long emphasis of corporate governance has been around the relationship between managers, boards and shareholders and not so much on how corporations are financed and managed. There needs to be a multiple theoretical perspectives employed to allow for a better understanding of issues like allocation of resources and return and overall economic development. Recommendations Based on the report, there were a number of approaches that could have been actioned to improve governance at Paramount. Firstly, the organisation needed to embrace diversity, the acknowledgement that people are different and harnessing this diversity would have provided great benefit to Paramount. Promoting the health, well-being and opinions of staff, promotes individuals being valued. Fitness programs supported by the company with exclusive membership offers is an example of building a stay and thrive culture. This can be achieved through fair and transparent employment practices, regularly communicated to employees. Secondly, to eliminate the subjectivity of nominating board members and also the complacency. Developing a nomination committee consisting of independent nonexecutive directors, will help to establish criteria for selection of board members, which will help to ensure directors chosen, are truly independent to  contribute effectively to the board, to reduce the chances of a dominant director. Thirdly, Paramount should have developed a system to allow for the anonymous re-election of board members by not only outside policyholders but also inside policyholders e.g. employees as well. Fourthly to assist with CSR responsibilities and commitment a corporate policy statement can be generated, focusing on the six core characteristics of; Understanding society Building capacity Questioning ‘business as usual’ Stakeholder relations Strategic view Harnessing diversity Swire Pacific Ltd. developed a decentralized approach to generate its Sustainable Development Policy and appointed Director of Sustainable Development, Robert Gibson, in 2007. The intent was to create a long term approach to the sustainable development of their businesses and excel as corporate citizens. Finally, performance evaluation of board members is important to determine their effectiveness. Paramount took the initiative to form a sub-committee for this process however; it remained inactive for a number of years. This is an imperative function for a company to establish such a committee to see real long-term change and benefits in the governance of the organisation. Feedback on performance is critical for a board to improve any dysfunctional behaviour. References Tricker, B 2009, corporate governance principles, policies and practices, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Balc, L, Ilies, R, Cioban, B, & Cuza, B 2013, ‘Corporate Governance. Conceptual Approaches’, Managerial Challenges Of The Contemporary Society, 5, Pp. 14-17, Business Source Complete, Ebscohost, Viewed 15 July 2014. Balgobin, RS 2008, ‘Board Characteristics that Promote Effective Governance: A Perspective on Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica’, ICFAI Journal Of Corporate Governance, 7, 2, pp. 20-41, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 July 2014. Donaldson, L, & Davis, J 1991, ‘Stewardship Theory or Agency Theory: CEO Governance and Shareholder Returns’, Australian Journal Of Management (University Of New South Wales), 16, 1, p. 49, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 July 2014. Balgobin, RS 2008, ‘Board Characteristics that Promote Effective Governance: A Perspective on Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica’, ICFAI Journal Of Corporate Governance, 7, 2, pp. 20-41, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 15 July 2014. Guyana Corporate Governance Code 2011, viewed on 9 July 2014 Kang, H, Cheng, M, & Gray, S 2007, ‘Corporate Governance and Board Composition: diversity and independence of Australian boards’, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15, 2, pp. 194-207, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 July 2014. Jhunjhunwala, S, & Mishra, R 2012, ‘Board Diversity and Corporate Performance: The Indian Evidence’, IUP Journal Of Corporate Governance, 11, 3, pp. 71-79, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 July 2014. Hughes, R., Ginn ett, R. & Curphy, G 2012, Leadership enhancing the lessons of experience, 7th ed, McGraw Hill Irwin, New York Vafeas, N 1999, ‘The Nature of Board Nominating Committees and Their Role in Corporate Governance’, Journal Of Business Finance & Accounting, 26, 1/2, pp. 199-225, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 12 July 2014. Wolfensohn, J 1999, Financial Times, 21 June.

Soil Mechanics by Jerry Vandevelde

SOIL MECHANICS (version Fall 2008) Presented by: Jerry Vandevelde, P. E. Chief Engineer GEM Engineering, Inc. 1762 Watterson Trail Louisville, Kentucky (502) 493-7100 1 National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying http://www. ncees. org/ 2 STUDY REFERENCES †¢ Foundation Engineering; Peck Hanson & Thornburn †¢Introductory Soil Mechanics and Foundations; Sowers †¢NAVFAC Design Manuals DM-7. 1 & 7. 2 †¢Foundation Analysis and Design; Bowles †¢Practical Foundation Engineering Handbook; Brown 3 Soil Classification Systems * Unified Soil Classification System * AASHTO Need: Particle Sizes and Atterberg Limits 4Particle Sizes (Sieve Analysis) (Well Graded) (Poorly Graded) 0. 1 5 Atterberg Limits Liquid, Plastic & Shrinkage Limits Plasticity Index (PI) PI = Liquid Limit – Plastic Limit (range of moisture content over which soil is plastic or malleable) 6 UNIFIED SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM ASTM D-2487 7 8 Ref: Peck Hanson & Thornburn 2nd Ed. Effe ctive Size = D10 10 percent of the sample is finer than this size D60 = 1. 6mm D30 = 0. 2mm D10 = 0. 03mm 0. 1 0. 1 9 Uniformity Coefficient (Cu) = D60/D10 Coefficient of Curvature (Cz) = (D30)2/(D10xD60) D60 = 1. 6mm D30 = 0. 2mm D10 = 0. 03mm 0. 1 10 Well Graded – Requirements 50% coarser than No. 00 sieve Uniformity Coefficient (Cu) D60/D10 >4 for Gravel > 6 for Sand Coefficient of Curvature (Cz) = (D30)2/(D10xD60) = 1 to 3 11 Is the better graded material a gravel? 81% Passing No. 4 18% Finer No. 200 0. 1 0. 1 12 Gravel if > 50 Percent Coarse Fraction retained on No. 4 sieve % Retained on No. 200 = 82% 1/2 = 41% 19% (100-81) retained on No. 4 sieve (gravel) 19< 41 half of coarse fraction 81% Passing No. 4 18% Finer No. 200 ? sand 0. 1 (â€Å"S†) 13 Well Graded Sand? Uniformity Coefficient (Cu) > 6 = D60/D10 Coefficient of Curvature (Cz) = 1 to 3 = (D30)2/(D10xD60) 14 D60 = 1. 6mm D30 = 0. 2mm D10 = 0. 3mm 0. 1 Well Graded Sand? Uniformity Coefficient (Cu) D60/D10 = 1. 6/. 03 = 53 > 6 D60 = 1. 6mm D30 = 0. 2mm D10 = 0. 03mm Coefficient of Curvature (Cz) = (D30)2/(D10xD60) = 0. 22/(. 03Ãâ€"1. 6) = 0. 83 12% Passing No. 200 sieve: GM, GC, SM, SC 0. 1 >12% passing No. 200 sieve Since = â€Å"S† ? SC or SM 16 What Unified Classification if LL= 45 & PI = 25? From sieve data SC or SM 0. 1 A) â€Å"SC† B) â€Å"SM† C) â€Å"CL† or D) â€Å"SC & SM† 17 Unified Classification Answer is â€Å"A† ? SC 18 AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) 19 What is the AASHTO Classification? 65% Passing No. 10 40% Passing No. 0 18% Finer No. 200 1) 18 % passing No. 200 sieve 2) 65% passing No. 10 sieve 3) 40% passing No. 40 sieve 4) assume LL = 45 & PI = 25 20 18 percent passing No. 200 sieve; 65 percent passing No. 10 sieve 40 percent passing No. 40 sieve; assume LL = 45 & PI = 25 21 AASHTO Classification 1 2 3 4 4 1) 18 % passing No. 200 sieve 2) 65% passing No. 10 sieve 3) 40% passing No. 40 sieve 4) assume LL = 45 & PI = 25 22 AASHTO Group Index 23 Mass-Volume (Phase Diagram) †¢ Unit volume of soil contains: Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil – Air (gases) – Water (fluid) – Solid Particles 24 Moisture Content = ? eight of water/ weight of dry soil ? = Ww/Wd water loss/(moist soil weight – water loss) ? = Ww/(Wm-Ww) and ? =(Wm-Wd)/Wd 25 Mass – Volume Relationships Density or Unit Weight = Moist Unit Weight = ? m ? ?m = Wm/Vt = ? d + ? ?d ? = (? m – ? d )/ ? d ? ?d + ? d = ? m ? m= (1+ ? ) ? d ? d = ?m/(1+ ? ) b 26 Total Volume = ? Volume (solid + water + air) = Vs+Vw+Va ? Va = Vt – Vs- Vw Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 27 Relationship Between Mass & Volume Volume = Mass/(Specific Gravity x Unit Weight of Water) = Ws/(SGxWw) Va Total Volume Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 28Specific Gravity = weight of material/ weight of same vol ume of water Soil Specific Gravity Typical Range 2. 65 to 2. 70 Specific Gravity of Water = 1 29 Saturation = S expressed as percent S = volume of water/ volume of voids x 100 Total Volume Va Air Total S = Vw/Vv x 100 Ww Ws Weight Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Wt Soil Always ? 100 30 Porosity n = volume of voids/ total volume n = Vv/Vt Void Ratio e = volume of voids/ volume of solids e = Vv/Vs Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 31 What is the degree of saturation for a soil with: SG = 2. 68, ? m = 127. 2 pcf & ? = 18. 6 percent A) 88. 4 Total Volume VaAir Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight B) 100. 0 Wt Soil C) 89. 1 32 What are the porosity and degree of saturation for a soil with: SG = 2. 68, ? m = 127. 2 pcf & ? = 18. 6 percent = 107. 3pcf ?d = ? m/(1+ ? ) = 127. 2/(1. 186) Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Soil Ww Weight Wt Ws Ww = ? m- ? d = 19. 9 pcf Vw = Ww/62. 4 = 0. 319 cf Vs = ? d /(SGx62. 4) = 0. 642 cf Va = Vt – Vw – Vs = 1- 0. 319 – 0. 642 = 0. 039 cf Vv = Vw + Va = 0. 358 cf 33 What are the porosity and degree of saturation for a soil with: SG = 2. 68, ? m = 127. 2 pcf & ? = 18. 6 percent Vw = 0. 319 cf, Vs = 0. 642 cf, Vv = 0. 358 cf Total VolumeVa Air Total Degree of Saturation = Vw/Vv x 100 Ww Weight Wt Ws Vt Vv Vw Vs Water = 0. 319/0. 358 x 100 = 89. 1% Soil Answer is â€Å"C† 34 Ref: NAVFAC DM-7 35 Borrow Fill Adjustments Borrow Material Properties: ?m = 110 pcf & ? = 10% Placed Fill Properties: ? d = 105 pcf & ? = 20% How much borrow is needed to produce 30,000 cy of fill? How much water must be added or removed from each cf of fill? Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 36 Borrow Fill Adjustments Borrow Material Properties: ?m = 110 pcf & ? = 10% ?d = ? m /(1+? ) = 110/(1. 10) =100 pcf; Ww = 110-100=10 lbs Placed Fill Properties: ? = 105 pcf & ? = 20% Ww = ? x ? d = 0. 2x 105 = 21 lbs Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 37 Borro w Fill Adjustments Borrow Properties: ? m = 110 pcf, ? d =100 & ? = 10% Placed Fill Properties: ? d = 105 pcf & ? = 20% Since borrow ? d =100pcf & fill ? d =105pcf, 105/100 =1. 05 It takes 1. 05 cf of borrow to make 1. 0 cf of fill For 30,000 cy, 30,000 x 1. 05 = 31,500 cy of borrow Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 38 Borrow Fill Adjustments Borrow Material Properties: Ww = 10 lbs Placed Fill Properties: Ww = 21 lbs Water supplied from borrow in each cf of fill = 10 x 1. 5 = 10. 5 lbs; 21 lbs – 10. 5 = 10. 5 lbs short/1. 05 cf 10. 5lbs/1. 05 cy = 10 lbs of water to be added per cf borrow Total Volume Va Air Total Vt Vv Vw Vs Water Ww Ws Weight Wt Soil 39 Proctor: Moisture Density Relationships Establishes the unique relationship of moisture to dry density for each specific soil at a specified compaction energy MOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONSHIP 108. 0 106. 0 104. 0 D ry D ensity (pcf) 102. 0 100. 0 98. 0 96. 0 94. 0 92. 0 90. 0 88. 0 8. 0 10. 0 12. 0 14. 0 16. 0 18. 0 20. 0 22. 0 24. 0 26. 0 28. 0 Moisture Content (%) 40 Proctor: Moisture Density Relationships †¢ 4† mold 25 blows †¢ 6† mold 56 blows Standard – 5. 5 lb hammer – dropped 12 in – 3 layers Standard: ASTM D-698 AASHTO T-99 Modified: ASTM D-1557 AASHTO T-150 †¢ Modified – 10 lb hammer – dropped 18 in – 5 layers 41 PROCTOR COMPACTION TEST Maximum Dry Density – Highest density for that degree of compactive effort Optimum Moisture Content – Moisture content at which maximum dry density is achieved for 42 that compactive effort Proctor: Moisture Density Relationships MOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONSHIP 108. 0 106. 0 104. 0 Dry Density (pcf) 102. 0 100. 0 98. 0 96. 0 94. 0 92. 0 90. 0 88. 0 8. 0 10. 0 12. 0 14. 0 16. 0 18. 0 20. 0 22. 0 24. 0 26. 0 28. 0 Moisture Content (%)What density is required for 95% Compaction? What range of moisture would facilitate achieving 95% compaction? 43 Proctor: M oisture Density Relationships MOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONSHIP 108. 0 106. 0 104. 0 Dry Density (pcf) 102. 0 100. 0 98. 0 96. 0 94. 0 92. 0 90. 0 88. 0 8. 0 10. 0 12. 0 14. 0 16. 0 18. 0 20. 0 22. 0 24. 0 26. 0 28. 0 Moisture Content (%) 104 x . 95 = 98. 8 pcf A 95% B Range of moisture is within the curve A to B (14 to 24 %) 44 Proctor: Zero Air Voids Line Relationship of density to moisture at saturation for constant specific gravity (SG) Can’t achieve fill in zone right of zero air voids line ZMOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONSHIP 108. 0 106. 0 104. 0 Dry Density (pcf) 102. 0 100. 0 98. 0 96. 0 94. 0 92. 0 90. 0 88. 0 8. 0 10. 0 12. 0 14. 0 16. 0 18. 0 20. 0 22. 0 24. 0 26. 0 28. 0 Moisture Content (%) 45 Proctor: Moisture Density Relationships MOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONSHIP 108. 0 106. 0 104. 0 Dry Density (pcf) 102. 0 100. 0 98. 0 96. 0 94. 0 92. 0 90. 0 88. 0 8. 0 10. 0 12. 0 14. 0 16. 0 18. 0 20. 0 22. 0 24. 0 26. 0 28. 0 Moisture Content (%) If SG = 2. 65 & moisture content is 24% What dry density achieves 100% saturation? A) 100. 0 pcf B) 101. 1 pcf 46 Proctor: Moisture Density RelationshipsMOISTURE-DENSITY RELATIONSHIP 108. 0 106. 0 104. 0 Dry Density (pcf) 102. 0 100. 0 98. 0 96. 0 94. 0 92. 0 90. 0 88. 0 8. 0 10. 0 12. 0 14. 0 16. 0 18. 0 20. 0 22. 0 24. 0 26. 0 28. 0 Moisture Content (%) X ?d=SG62. 4/(1+? SG/100) ? d=2. 65Ãâ€"62. 4/(1+24Ãâ€"2. 65/100) ? d=101. 1 pcf Answer is â€Å"B† 47 Ref: Peck Hanson & Thornburn Static Head 48 Calculate effective stress at point x Ref: Peck Hanson & Thornburn Saturated Unit Weight ? sat 5’ ? sat = 125 pcf Moist Unit Weight ? M Dry Unit Weight ? Dry 7’ Submerged (buoyant) Unit Weight = ? sat – 62. 4 x 49 Calculate effective stress at point x Ref: Peck Hanson & ThornburnTotal Stress at X 5’ ? sat = 125 pcf = 5 x 62. 4+ 7x 125= 1187psf Pore Pressure at X 7’ = 12 x 62. 4 = 749 psf Effective Stress at X = 1187-749= 438 psf x or (125-62. 4) x 7=438 psf 50 Ref: Peck Hanson & Thor nburn Downward Flow Gradient 51 Downward Flow Gradient 3’ Total Stress at X = 5 x 62. 4+ 7x 125= 1187psf Pore Pressure at X ? sat = 125 pcf 7’ = (12-3) x 62. 4 = 562 psf Effective Stress at X = 1187-562 = 625 psf 5’ x or 438 + 3 x 62. 4 = 625psf see previous problem 52 Upward Flow Gradient Ref: Peck Hanson & Thornburn 53 One Dimensional Consolidation ?e/pn 54 Primary Phase Settlement (e log p) ? H = (H x ? )/(1+eo) eo ? H H 55 Consolidation Test Pre-consolidation Pressure Cc = slope of e log p virgin curve est. Cc = 0. 009(LL-10%) Skempton Rebound or recompression curves 56 56 e- l o g p Calculate Compression Index; Cc 1. 50 1. 40 1. 30 Void Ratio (e) 1. 20 1. 10 ksf 0. 1 1 4 8 16 32 (e) 1. 404 1. 404 1. 375 1. 227 1. 08 0. 932 1. 00 0. 90 A) 0. 21 B) 0. 49 57 0. 80 0. 1 1 10 100 Pr essur e ( ksf ) Cc is the slope of the virgin e-log p e- l o g p Cc = -(e1-e2)/log (p1/p2) 1. 50 Cc=-(1. 375-1. 227)/log(4/8) Cc = 0. 49 Answer is â€Å"B† ksf 0. 1 1 4 8 16 3 2 (e) 1. 404 1. 404 1. 375 1. 227 1. 08 0. 932 1. 40 Cc Void Ratio (e) . 30 1. 20 1. 10 1. 00 0. 90 0. 80 0. 1 1 10 100 Pr essur e ( ksf ) 58 Permeability Constant Head Conditions †¢ Q=kiAt †¢ Q= k (h/L)At †¢ k=QL/(Ath) 59 If Q =15cc & t = 30 sec what is the permeability k=QL/(Ath) 10cm 5cm A) 0. 01 cm/sec B) 0. 01Ãâ€"10-2 cm/sec 25cm2 C) 0. 1 cm/sec 60 Constant Head Permeability Calculate k Q =15cc & t = 30 sec †¢ k=QL/(Ath) †¢ k= 15(5)/(25(30)10) †¢ k= 0. 01 cm/sec Answer is â€Å"A† 10cm 5cm 25cm2 61 Falling Head Permeability †¢ k=QL/(Ath) (but h varies) †¢ k=2. 3aL/(At) log (h1/h2) †¢ where a = pipette area †¢ h1 = initial head †¢ h2 = final head 62 If t = 30 sec; h1= 30 cm; h2 = 15 cm L= 5 cm; a= 0. cm2; A= 30 cm2; calculate k A) 2. 3Ãâ€"10-3 cm/sec B) 8. 1Ãâ€"10-6 cm/sec C) 7. 7Ãâ€"10-4 cm/sec 63 Falling Head Permeability k=2. 3aL/(At) log (h1/h2) k= 2. 3 (0. 2) 5 /(30Ãâ€"30) log (30/15) k= 7. 7Ãâ€"10-4 cm/sec Answer is â€Å"C† 64 †¢Flow lines & head drop lines must intersect at right angles †¢All areas must be square †¢Draw minimum number of lines †¢Results depend on ratio of Nf/Nd Flow Nets 6ft 2ft 65 Q=kia=kHNf /Nd wt (units = volume/time) w= unit width of section t=time Flow Nets 6ft 66 What flow/day? assume k= 1Ãâ€"10-5 cm/sec =0. 0283 ft/day Q= kH (Nf /Nd) wt Q= 0. 0283x8x(4. 4/8)x1x1 Q= 0. 12 cf/day 2ft Flow Nets ft 67 Check for â€Å"quick conditions† pc =2(120)= 240 psf (total stress) Flow Nets Below water level use saturated unit weight for total stress ?= 2(62. 4) = 124. 8 (static pressure) = 1/8(8)(62. 4)= 62. 4 (flow gradient) = 240-(124. 8+62. 4) 2ft 2ft 6ft p’c = pc -(? + ) p’c = 52. 8 psf >0, soil is not quick ?sat=120 pcf 68 Stress Change Influence (1H:2V) For square footing z=Q/(B+z)2 69 If Q= 20 kips, Calculate the vertical stress increase at 7 feet below the footing bottom 5’ 8’ 7’ 70 If Q= 20 k ips, Calculate the vertical stress increase at 7 feet below the footing bottom 5’ 8’ z = 0000 (8+7)(5+7) 7’ z = 111 psf 71 Westergaard (layered elastic & inelastic material) If B= 6. 3’ in a square footing with 20 kips load, what is the vertical stress increase at 7’ below the footing bottom? 72 Westergaard Q = 20 kips B = 6. 3’ Z = 7’ z = ? 73 Westergaard 7’/6. 3’ = 1. 1B z = 0. 18 x 20000/6. 32 = 90. 7 psf 74 Boussinesq (homogeneous elastic) Q = 20 kips B = 6. 3’ Z = 7’ z = ? 75 Boussinesq Z/B = 1. 1 z = 0. 3 x 20000/6. 32 = 151 psf 76 Thanks for participating in the PE review course on Soil Mechanics! More questions or comments? You can email me at: [email  protected] com 77

Methamphetamine essays

Methamphetamine essays In the last decade, methamphetamine use has dramatically increased throughout the United States. This growing epidemic raises concerns for a variety of reasons. First, methamphetamine is extremely addictive and often leads to compulsive use. Secondly, this is particularly problematic because as the abuse problem continues to rise, a growing body of research is demonstrating a wide range of neurotoxic effects that can result from the drug. Methamphetamine administration in laboratory animals has been proven to cause profound and long-lasting toxicity of the brain, most notably to dopamine terminals (Volkow, et al. 2001, p. 377). Recent studies have confirmed that methamphetamine abuse exerts similar effects on dopaminergic systems in humans as well, in addition to other structures of the brain. Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter that plays a role in memory, mood, and motor coordination (Imaging Studies, 2001, p. 12). Damage to dopamine-related structures is linked to numerous l ong-term consequences, including memory impairment, motor deficits, mood disorders, psychiatric symptoms, anxiety problems, and increased aggressive tendencies. In a recent study conducted by Volkow and her colleagues, certain brain areas of methamphetamine users were compared to a control group using positron emission tomography (PET). All of the users met the DSM-IV criteria for dependence on the substance. Their length of abstinence from the drug ranged from 2 weeks to 35 months, and none had a prior history of drug addiction. The comparison group consisted of healthy volunteers with no past history of drug use. The focus of this study was to assess memory and motor impairments due to dopamine transporter reductions in methamphetamine abusers. Researchers were also interested in determining whether the drug produced any significant effect on portions of the brain not innervated by dopamine. A similar study was conducted by Sekine and his...

Marlon Brando, Littlefeather, and the Academy Awards

Marlon Brando, Littlefeather, and the Academy Awards The social turbulence of the 1970s was a time of much-needed change in Indian country. Native American people were in the bottom strata of all socioeconomic indicators, and it was clear to American Indian youth that change was not going to happen without dramatic action. Then came Marlon Brando to bring it all to center stage  - quite literally. A Time of Unrest The Alcatraz Island occupation was two years in the past by March of 1973. Indian activists had taken over the Bureau of Indian Affairs building the year before and the siege of Wounded Knee was underway in South Dakota. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War showed no end in sight despite massive protests. No one was without an opinion and some Hollywood stars are remembered for the stands they would take, even if they were unpopular and controversial. Marlon Brando was one of those stars. The American Indian Movement AIM  came about thanks to Native American college students in the cities and activists on the reservations who understood all too well that the conditions they were living under were a result of oppressive government policies. Attempts were made at non-violent protests - the Alcatraz occupation was completely nonviolent although it lasted well over a year - but there were times when violence seemed like the only way to bring attention to the problem. Tensions came to a head on the Oglala Lakota  Pine Ridge reservation in February 1973. A group of heavily-armed Oglala Lakota and their American Indian Movement supporters overtook a trading post in the town of Wounded Knee, the site of the 1890 massacre. Demanding a regime change from the U.S.-backed tribal government that had been mistreating the reservations residents for years, the occupiers found themselves in a 71-day armed battle against the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service as the eyes of the nation watched on the evening news. Marlon Brando and the Academy Awards Marlon Brando had a long history of supporting various social movements dating back to at least 1946 when he backed the Zionist movement for a Jewish homeland. He had also participated in the March on Washington in 1963 and he supported the work of Dr. Martin Luther King. He was even known to have donated money to the Black Panthers. Later, however, he became critical of Israel and supported the Palestinian cause. Brando was also highly dissatisfied with the way Hollywood treated American Indians. He objected to the way Native Americans were represented in the movies. When he was nominated for an Oscar for his infamous portrayal of Don Corleone in The Godfather, he refused to attend the ceremony. He instead sent Sacheen Littlefeather (born Marie Cruz), a young Apache/Yaqui activist who had participated in the Alcatraz Island occupation. Littlefeather was a budding model and actress, and she agreed to represent him. When Brando was announced as the winner, Littlefeather took the stage dressed in full native regalia. She delivered a short speech on behalf of Brando declining acceptance of the award. He had actually written a 15-page speech explaining his reasons, but Littlefeather later said that she had been threatened with arrest if she attempted to read the entire speech. Instead, she was given 60 seconds. All she was able to say was: Marlon Brando has asked me to tell you, in a very long speech which I cannot share with you presently because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterward, that he must ... very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award.And the reason [sic] for this being ... are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry †¦ excuse me†¦ and on television in movie reruns, and also the recent happenings at Wounded Knee.I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will, in the future ... our hearts and our understanding will meet with love and generosity.Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando. The crowd cheered and booed. The speech was shared at a press conference after the ceremony and was published in its entirety by the New York Times. The Full Speech Native Americans had virtually no representation in the film industry in 1973, and they were primarily used as extras while lead roles depicting Indians in several generations of Westerns were almost always awarded to white actors. Brandos speech addressed the stereotypes of Native Americans in films long before the subject would be taken seriously in the industry. In his original speech as printed by the New York Times, Brando said: Perhaps at this moment you are saying to yourself what the hell has all this got to do with the Academy Awards? Why is this woman standing up here, ruining our evening, invading our lives with things that dont concern us, and that we dont care about? Wasting our time and money and intruding in our homes.I think the answer to those unspoken questions is that the motion picture community has been as responsible as any for degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character, describing his as savage, hostile and evil. Its hard enough for children to grow up in this world. When Indian children watch television, and they watch films, and when they see their race depicted as they are in films, their minds become injured in ways we can never know. True to his political sensibilities, Brando also minced no words about Americas treatment of American Indians: For 200 years we have said to the Indian people who are fighting for their land, their life, their families and their right to be free: Lay down your arms, my friends, and then we will remain together ...When they laid down their arms, we murdered them. We lied to them. We cheated them out of their lands. We starved them into signing fraudulent agreements that we called treaties which we never kept. We turned them into beggars on a continent that gave life for as long as life can remember. And by any interpretation of history, however twisted, we did not do right. We were not lawful nor were we just in what we did. For them, we do not have to restore these people, we do not have to live up to some agreements, because it is given to us by virtue of our power to attack the rights of others, to take their property, to take their lives when they are trying to defend their land and liberty, and to make their virtues a crime and our own vices virtues. Sacheen Littlefeather Sacheen Littlefeather received phone calls from Coretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez as a result of her intervention at the Academy Awards, congratulating her for what shed done. But she also received death threats and was lied about in the media, including allegations that she wasnt Indian. She was blacklisted in Hollywood. Her speech made her famous literally overnight and her fame would be exploited by Playboy magazine. Littlefeather and a handful of other Native American women had posed for Playboy in 1972, but the photos were never been published until October 1973, not long after the Academy Awards incident. She had no legal recourse to contest their publication because she had signed a model release. Littlefeather has long been an accepted and highly respected member of the Native American community despite lingering speculation about her identity. She continued her social justice work for Native Americans from her home in the San Francisco Bay area and worked as an advocate for Native American AIDS patients. She committed herself to other health education work as well and worked with Mother Theresa doing hospice care for AIDS patients.

Swifts A Modest Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Swifts A Modest Proposal - Essay Example The writer begins by ruing the prevalence of beggars and impoverished children and proposes to submit a â€Å"cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful members of the common-wealth† (Swift, para 2, 1729). Starting on this apparently straightforward note, Swift adopts a tone of practical economics and moral righteousness, which prompts the reader to expect him to list some realistic solution. Swift couches his proposal in terms of apparent objectivity, economic calculation and statistical data. However, the reader tends to be uncertain about the writer’s true motivation, and there is a suspicious undertone of irony in the passage where Swift declares â€Å"we neither build houses nor cultivate land† (para 6, 1729). This suspicion is further strengthened when he goes on to speak of young children in terms of a â€Å"saleable commodity† (para 7, 1729). However, Swift succeeds in hiding his real agenda. As the reader is lulled by his argumentative tone, the â€Å"surprise ending† of Swift’s proposal comes as an unexpected jolt: he proposes that poor children be sold on the market as food for wealthy landlords. Although the â€Å"surprise ending† of the writer’s proposal is unexpected, Swift is unable to validate his suggestion. It is now evident that the writer is using satire as a weapon and the piece is not to be taken at its literal or face value. Swift’s proposal is an attack on the prevailing social relations in Ireland, the widespread poverty, the indifference of absentee landlords, and their exploitation of the peasants, and British oppression of the Irish nation. The reader is quick to grasp that Swift’s actual proposal to alleviate the misery of Ireland is stated in paragraph 29: taxation of absentee landlords, use of locally manufactured goods, nationalism, unity and virtue. Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† is a satirical attempt to rouse the conscience of the reader to the plight of the impoverished

Life Style assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Life Style assignment - Essay Example He believes in justice and prefers to swim against the current and do not blindly follow the established ideas unless they are authentic and are in favor of people. It has become an axiom that the established norms and ideas are right and work for the benefit of humanity. However there is an option that can prove this maxim utterly wrong. In the practical world where new strategies function to influence people the individuals with qualities of a salmon can prove to be a great help. The persuasive nature can influence the mode of thinking of people for good. Freedom of choice and independency is essential for every individual. Indolence and independency can take away the worth gradually making the individual completely useless. So in this scenario independency is indispensable to enable the individuals know their worth and they can be beneficial. Vigilance keeps you aware of your surroundings and enables you to remain up to date about the changes that are constantly affecting the market and business world. So in this case vigor can help you to remain active against the current that drives you back. The conventional and outdated ideas can adversely affect the working of the company so a vigorous individual can avoid this. Once you consider yourself in the shoes of the customers you can comprehend their needs. You should be demanding and should bring changes in the products in order to fulfill the demands of the customers that are changing with the dynamic world. Any sort of malpractice can affect the fame and quality of the product. So instead of succumbing to the unfair act, a rebellious salmon can cease the progress of the activity in order to maintain the quality. Implementing your ideas forcefully can develop animosity among peers. So you can avoid this quality of a salmon and become humble instead. However in different cases this quality can be used to make new strategies work. The qualities of being competitive and

East Village NYC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

East Village NYC - Essay Example Marks, and the impact that the various cultures and movements have had on them, making them the East Village and St. Marks that we now know. Geographically placed in-between Houston Street on the southern border, 14th Street on the northern border, the East River on the eastern border, and the Bowery and Third Avenue to the west, the initial consideration is that East Village lies within the Lower East Side, and to some of the native residents, it still is. Regardless of what it is called, East Village has come to be synonymous with dive bars, artists, sidewalk cafes, indie boutiques, and a disreputable hipster artistic that has resisted the homogenization affecting the other parts of Manhattan, but that is also now changing. East Village has long been an urban frontier, acting as a starting point for numerous new immigrants coming to America. For Puerto Rican, Irish, Ukrainian, Jewish, and German immigrants, just to name a few, East Village was more than just a location as it was a toehold that gave them a chance at a fresh start in their lives. Other than immigrants, East Village was a magnet for radicals, artists, reformers, and bohemians. East Village was home to the cultural activity that transformed the global community, but the other side of the coin holds a regular occurrence of neglect and poverty. In a time preceding the establishment of New Amsterdam in the 1600s by Dutch traders, the portion of Manhattan that has changed over time to become the East Village known today was a vast stretch of swampy marshland. Native American game trails and paths crisscrossed with this expanse, and a larger portion of these segments was made into permanent thoroughfares. The largest of them all became what is commonly known as the Bowery. A huge segment of what came to be the East Village was in the beginning part of the expansive farm belonging to the last governor of New Amsterdam, Peter Stuyvesant. John Jacob Astor, who was an Americanized fur baron who switched p rofessions to become a real estate mogul, was the initiator of the transformations that changed the area to a status address, an upgrade from the pastoral countryside it was. This transformation was initiated by his luxurious style set up close to what is now known as Astor Place. By the East Village Visitor Center’s account, Astor place was the most sought after real estate by the close of the 1830s. Some of the most affluent industrialists, politicians, and merchants of that era including Gardiner, Vanderbilt, and Delano were buying property in this area from Astor. Astor Place soon joined the best of America’s fashionable addresses. Stuyvesant built the Reformed Dutch Chapel that later grew into St. Mark. This church was concentrated around the elders, who acted as the electors of their spiritual leader owing to their status as high-ranking congregation members. It is widely thought that during the initial era of St. Mark’s, the church made no secret about be ing people centered. Pew rent was collected at the church, and it selectively attended to the spiritual requirements of the incipient nobility centered on property, money, and trade. Early congregants still wallowing in magnitude of American insurgency considered themselves to be constitutionalists, however, their impartiality was founded predominantly on the protection of both their rights to economic expansion and property. Over time, Iron foundries gave way to blacksmith workshops, service posts gave way to livery posts, and Apartment buildings came

Review of DNA and Protein Microarray for BioMEMS Technology

Review of DNA and Protein Microarray for BioMEMS Technology In recent years increase in genetically caused diseases is one of the major threat to mankind. Some of the genetically caused diseases are down syndrome, diabetes, obesity, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis. This review paper explains how BioMEMS (Biological MicroElectroMechanicalSystem) technology used in microarrays and finding of gene expression which leads to medicine for particular diseases. BioMEMS research has been acquiring importance, due to the possibility of exploiting miniaturization to create new opportunities in medicine. BioMEMS systems in general have more diversity of materials and function than conventional MEMS devices. In BioMEMS ink-jet printing, photolithography techniques were introduced to deposit protein and DNA in array. DNA and protein micro-arrays based BioMEMS could be very extensively for rapid detection, drug discovery, and screening, especially when combined with integrated micro-fluidics and sensitive detection technologies. The techniques used to d efine patterns on semiconductor surfaces were utilized to construct arrays of single-stranded DNA. Once single strands of known sequences (capture probes) are placed at specific known sites on a chip surface, hybridization with molecules of unknown sequence (target probes) can reveal the sequence. Microarray-based gene expression profiling can be used to identify genes whose expression is changed in response to  disease caused genetically by comparing gene expression in infected to that in uninfected cells or tissues. Protein and antibody arrays can play a key role in search for disease-specific proteins that have medical, diagnostic, prognostic, and commercial potential as disease markers or as drug targets and for determination of predisposition to specific disease via genotypic screening. Array-based integrated chips and micro-fluidics hold a great potential for the development of high-throughput approaches to systematically analyze these proteins and to assign a biological fun ction, determine protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions. This paper tells about varies applications of BioMEMS to detect the defective gene the causes diseases and the fabrication methods used in microarrays chip production. Keywords: LOC Lab-on-a-chip, BioMEMS (Biological MicroElectroMechanicalSystem), ÃŽÂ ¼TAS (Micro Total Analysis System), Oligonucleotide, Microdroplets , Electrospray. 1. Introduction Microarray technology has been applied to study of gene expression to study mechanisms of diseases and to accelerate the drug discovery process. There is a definite trend towards increasing the use of molecular diagnostic methods, and biochip technologies, along with bioinformatics techniques. Classification of human disease using microarrays is considered to be important. The emphasis is not only on diagnosis but also on disease management, including monitoring the effect of treatment and determining prognosis [1]. Microarray and lab-on-a-chip systems are going to fulfill these new requirements, including the miniaturization of biological assays as well as the parallelization of analysis. Although the concept has been performed by miniaturizing the analytical equipments, the technology comes from the microeletromechanical and microelectronics industries [2]. Lab-on-a-chip technology is the method of choice to integrate processes and reaction and scale them down from conventional gla ssware to microfluidics, involving micro-sized channels in glass or polymer chips [3]. DNA microarray also knows as DNA chips, comprise a new technology emerging at a tremendous pace because of its power, flexibility, sensitivity and relative simplicity [4]. BioMEMS for proteomics can be divided into LOC device for specific tasks such as protein isolation, purification, digestion, and separation; and microarray device for high throughput study of protein abundance and function. An emergence of DNA, protein microarray has emerged over the last few years with commercial potential beyond the confines of the research laboratory [5]. In this paper we start our discussion with the history of microarray; subsequently we go into the details of general techniques used in DNA and protein microarray followed by fabrication and the application and future of microarray. 2. History of Microarray Microarray technology evolved from Southern blotting, where fragmented DNA is attached to a substrate and then probed with a known gene or fragment [6]. The first reported use of this approach was the analysis of 378 arrayed lysed bacterial colonies each harboring a different sequence which were assayed in multiple replicas for expression of the genes in multiple normal and tumor tissue [7]. These early gene arrays were made by spotting cDNA onto filter paper with a pin-spotting device. The use of miniaturized microarray for gene expression profiling was first reported in 1995 [8]. This technology allowed scientists to analyze thousands of mRNAs in a single experiment to determine whether expression is different in disease state. Unfortunately, mRNA levels within a cell are often poorly correlated with actual protein abundance [9]. A complete eukaryotic genome on a microarray was published in 1997[10]. The development of biochip has a long history, starting with early work on the und erlying sensor technology. In 1953, Watson and Crick announced their discovery of now familiar double helix structure and sequencing techniques by Gilbert and Sanger in 1977 [11, 12]. Two additional developments enable the technology used in modern DNA-based biosensors. First, in 1983 Kary Mullis invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, a method for amplifying DNA concentration. This discovery made possible the detection of extremely small quantities of DNA in samples. Second, in 1986 Hood and co-workers devised a method to label DNA molecules with fluorescent tags instead of radiolables, thus enabling hybridization experiments to be observed optically [13]. A big boost in research and commercial interest came in the mid 1990s, when ÃŽÂ ¼TAS (Micro Total Analysis System) technology turned out to provide interesting tooling for genomics application, like capillary electrophoresis and DNA microarray [14]. Immunoassays, the precursor to protein chips available since t he 1980s, exploit the interactions between antibodies and antigens in order to detect their concentrations in biology sample. Their creation, however, is tedious and expensive. As to this, research at Harvard University combined the technology of immunoassays and DNA microarray to develop the protein chip [15]. 3. DNA Microarrays and Fabrication 3.1 Introduction Microarray analysis allows simultaneous of gene and gene products, including DNA, mRNA and proteins. There are basically two formats: cDNA microarrays and oligonucleotide microarrays. A cDNA microarray is an orderly arrangement of DNA probe spot printed onto a solid matrix such as glass, nylon, or silicon. The substrate is usually less than 4ÃÆ'-4 cm, while the spot size is less than 250ÃŽÂ ¼m. A DNA molecular probe is tethered (embedded and immobilized) to each spot on microarray. surface modification of the substrate, such as wit poly-L-lysin or silane, facilitates adhesion of the DNA probes. Hybridization is the base pairing between target and the probe, and is limited by the sensitivity and specificity of the microarray. There are three basic types of oligonucleotide microarrays: gene expression, genotyping (SNPs), and resquencing. Genomic DNA may be used for the study of SNPs, while expressed DNA sequence (cDNA clones, expressed sequence tags or ESTs) are used for gene expre ssion [17]. 3.2 Microarrays for Gene Expression Gene expression microarrays are tools that tell how much RNA (if any) a gene is making. Since 1977, and prior to microarray, only a few genes could be studied at a time using the northern blot analysis. GeneChip (Fig. 1.1) microarrays use the natural chemical attraction, or hybridization, between DNA on the array and RNA target molecule from the sample based on complementary base pairs. Only RNA target molecule that have exact complementary base pair bind to the prob. Gene expression detection microarray is that they are able to measure tens of thousands of genes at a time, and it is this quantitative change in the scale of gene measurement that has led to a qualitative change in our ability to understand regulatory processes that occur at the cellular level. It is possible to obtain near comprehensive expression data for individual tissues or organs in various states. Compressions are possible for transcriptional activity across different tissue, and group of patients with and witho ut a particular disease or with two different diseases. Microarray studies are designed in principle to directly measure the activity of the genes involved in particular mechanism or system rather than their association with a particular biological or clinical feature [18]. Although genes may be thousand of base pairs long, it is only necessary to construct a probe of 25 bases that represent a unique complementary portion of the target gene. In other words, the short probe on the microarray measures the expression of the complete gene by sampling only a small section of the gene. In some instances, as little as one RNA molecule out of 100,000 different RNAs in an original sample may be detected [19]. Sensitivity is the ability to identify the rarely expressed transcripts in a complex background. Specification is the ability to discern between different family members. The hybridization efficiency of two nucleic acid strand depends on 1) Sequence-dependent factors for length, extent of complementarity, and overall base composition; 2) Sequence independent factors such as the concentration of the probe and target, time, temperature, cation concentration, valency character, pH, dielectric and chaotropic medica, surface characteristics of the solid, and density spacing of the probe molecules; and 3) Sample-dependent complex background signal, which are probes interacting with the wrong complementary sequence [20]. Fig 1.1 GeneChip probe microarray cartridge (Image courtesy of Affmetrix) 3.3 Microarray for SNPs Small difference in a DNA sequence can have major impact on health. Deletions, insertions, and other mutations of as little as a single base pair may result in signification disease. Identification these mutations require determining the exact sequence for thousand of SNPs distributed throughout the genome. Using microarray, it is possible to scan the whole genome and look for genetic similarities among a group of people who share the same disease. Using microarray to genotype 10,000 to 100,000 SNPs, it is possible to identify the gene or group of genes that contribute to disease. For example, if a large group of people with a given diagnosis have several SNPs in common, but not healthy people, then mutations may be looked for within those SNPs. A genotyping microarray may look for up to 100,000 SNPs or more [21]. 3.4 Fabrication DNA spotting may be accomplished by depositing PCR amplified ESTs (500-5000 base pairs), or by in suit synthesis of oligodeoxynucleotide sequences (20-50 base pairs) on the substrate. There are variety of spotting techniques that include mechanical and ink-jet style application. The GeneChip brand arrays provide high levels of reproducibility, sensitivity, and specification. The following process steps are used for fabrication of the GeneChip: 1) GeneChip probe array are manufactured through a combination of photolithography (Fig 1.2) and combinatorial chemistry. With a calculated minimum number of synthesis steps, GeneChip technology produce array with hundreds of thousands of different probes packed at an extremely high density. Small sample volumes are required for study. Manufacture is scalable because the length of the probe, not their number, determines the number of synthesis steps required. 2) Manufacturing begins with a 5-in square quartz wafer. Initially the quartz is washed to ensure uniform hydroxylation across its surface. Because quarts is naturally hydroxylated, it provides an excellent substrate for the attachment of chemical, such as linker molecules, that are later used to position the probes on the arrays. Fig 1.2 Photolithographic technique are used to locate and add nucleotides for fabrication of array of probe (Image courtesy of Affymetrix) 3) The wafer is placed in a bath of silane, which reacts with hydroxyl groups of quartz, and forms a matrix of covalently linked molecules. This distance between these silane determines the probes packing density, allowing array to hold over 500,000 probe location, or features, within a mere 1.28cm2. Each of these features harbors millions of identical DNA molecules. The silane film provides a uniform hydroxyl density to initiate probe assembly. Linker molecules, attached to the silane matrix, provide a surface that may be spatially activated by light (Fig 1.3). 4) Probe synthesis occurs in parallel, resulting in the addition of an A, C, T or G nucleotide to multiple growing chains simulataneously. To define which oligonucleotide chains will receive a nucleotide in each step, photolithographic masks, carrying 18 to 20 ÃŽÂ ¼m2 windows that corresponds to the dimensions of individual features, are placed over the coated wafer. The windows are distributed over the mask based on the desired sequence each. When the UV light is shone over the mask in the first step of synthesis, the exposed linkers become deprotected and are available for nucleotide coupling. critical to this step is the precise alignment of the mask with the wafer before each synthesis step. To ensure that this critical step is accurately completed, chrome marks on the wafer and on the mask are perfectly aligned. 5) Once the desired features have been activated, a solution containing a single type of deoxynucleotide with a removable protection group is flushed over the wafers surface. The nucleotide attaches to the activated linkers, initiating the synthesis process. 6) Although the process is highly efficient, some activated molecules fail to attach the new nucleotide. To prevent these outliers from becoming probes with missing nucleotides, a capping step is used to truncate them. In additional, the side chains of the nucleotides are protected to prevent the formation of branched oligonucleotides. Fig 1.3 GeneChip fabrication steps (Image courtesy Affmetrix). 7) In the next synthesis step, another mask is placed over the wafer to allow the next round of deprotection and coupling. The process is repeated until the probes reach their full length, usually 25 nucleotides. 8) Although each position in the sequence of an oligonucleotide can be occupied by one of four nucleotides, resulting in an apparent need for 24ÃÆ'-4, or 100, different masks per wafer, the synthesis process can be designed to significantly reduce this requirement. Algorithms that help minimize mask usage calculate how to best coordinate probe growth by adjusting synthesis rates of individual probes and identifying situations when the same mask can be multiple times. 9) Once the synthesis is completed, the wafer are deprotected and diced, and the resulting individual arrays are picked and packed in flowcell cartridges. Depending on the number of probe features per array, a single wafer can yield between 49 and 400 arrays. 10) The manufacturing process ends with a comprehensive series of quality control tests. Additional, a sampling of array from every wafer is used to test the batch by running control hybridizations. A quantitative test of hybridization is also performed using standardized control probes [22]. 3.5 Microarray Data Analysis Data filtration is performed by selecting threshold pixel intensity; and 2-, 5-, or 10- fold difference between the samples. Different genes with an identical profile may represent a coordinate response to a stimulus. Genes with opposite profiles may represent repression. To compare expression profiles it is necessary to define a set of metrics, or operations that return a value that is proportional in some way to the similarities or difference between two expression profiles. The most commonly used metrics are Euclidean distance and Pearson coefficient of correlation [23]. 3.5.1 Euclidean Distance Two or more profile of each of two genes are compared as a mathematical matrix operation of n-dimensional space, where n is the number of expression patterns available. The Euclidean distance is the square root of the summation of the difference between all pairs of corresponding values. For two genes the distance is as follows: Where d is the distance, e1 is the expression pattern of gene1, e2 is the expression pattern of gene 2, and i is the element of the expression profile: Gene1 (e11, e12, ., e1n) and gene1 (e21, e22, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.,e2n). 3.5.2 Pearson Correlation Coefficient The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) gives a value of from -1 to 1, and closer to 1 (negative and positive correlation, respectively). The closer two profiles have the same expression, the closer the value will be to 1: Where and Sen are the mean and typical deviation of all of the point of the nth profile, respectively. 4. Protein Microarray and Fabrication 4.1 Introduction Protein microarrays are becoming an important tool in proteomics, drug discovery programs, and diagnostics [24]. The amount of information obtained from small quantities of biological samples is significantly increased in the microarray format. This feature is extremely valuable in protein profiling, where samples are often limited in supply and unlike DNA, cannot be amplified [25]. Protein microarrays are more challenging to prepare than are DNA chips [26] because several technical hurdles hamper their application. The surfaces typically used with DNA are not easily adaptable to proteins, owing to the biophysical differences between the two classes of bioanalytes [27]. Arrayed protein must be immobilized in a native conformation to maintain their biological function. Unfortunately, proteins tend to unfold when immobilized onto a support so as to allow internal hydrophobic side chains to from hydrophobic bonds with the solid surface [28]. Surface chemistry, capture agents, and detect ion methods take on special significance in developing microarrays. Microarrays consist of microscopic target spots, planer substrates, rows and columns of elements, and probe molecules in solution. Each protein assessed by a microarray should be the same as the partial concentration of each protein in the biological extract [29]. The past ten years have witnessed a fascinating growth in the field of large-scale and high-throughput biology, resulting in a new era of technology development and the collection and analysis of information. The challenges ahead are to elucidate the function of every encoded gene and protein in an organism and to understand the basic cellular events mediating complex processes and those causing diseases [30-33]. Protein are more challenging to prepare for the microarray format than DNA, and protein functionality is often dependent on the state of proteins, such as post-translational modification, partnership with other proteins, protein subcellular locali zation, and reversible covalent modification (e.g. phosphorylation). Nonetheless, in recent years there have been considerable achievements in preparing microarray containing over 100 proteins and even an entire proteome [34-36]. Randox Laboratories Ltd. Launched Evidence, the first protein Biochip Array Technology analyzer in 2003. In protein Biochip Array Technology, the biochip replaces the ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) plate or cuvette as the reaction platform. The biochip is used to simultaneously analyze a panel of related tests in a single sample, producing a patient profile. The patient profile can be used in disease screening, diagnosis, monitoring disease progression or monitoring treatment (wiki Biochip). Protein expression profiling, protein-protein binding, drug interaction, protein folding, substrate specificity, enzymatic activity, and the interaction between protein and nucleic acids are among the application of protein microarrays. Abundance-based microarray, including capture microarray and reverse-phase protein blots, measure the abundance of specific biomolecules using well defined and high specific analyte-specific reagents (ASRs). Different classes of molecules can act as capture molecules in microarray assays, including antigen-antibody, protein -protein, aptamer-ligand, enzyme-substrate, and receptor-ligand [37]. 4.2 Spotting In situ synthesis of protein microarrays as done for DNA microarrays is impractical. Other forms of delivery-based technology must be incorporated. One-drop-at-a-time (microspotting) techniques including use of pins, quills or hollow needles that repeatedly touch the substrate surface depositing one spot after the next in an array format; shooting microdroplets from a ejector similar to ink-jet printing; and depositing charged submicron-sized droplets by electrospray deposition (ESD). Alternatively, parallel techniques such as microcontact printing (ÃŽÂ ¼CP), digital ESD, and photolithographic controlled protein adsorption can be used. Currently, micospotting by robotic techniques has greater use in the research setting, whereas parallel techniques offer cost saving for mass production for commercial use [38]. 4.3 Microcontact printing (ÃŽÂ ¼CP) In microcontact printing stamps are typically made from a silicon elastomer and used to make a microarray of spots with feature size from 0.01 to 0.1ÃŽÂ ¼m. Steps for stamping include the following [38]: 1) Activation of the stamp surface to increase hydrophilicity or to introduce grups for inking to target molecules such as antibodies, protein A, or streptavidin. 2) Direct adsorption of protein molecules or their binding to capture molecules over a period of 0.5-1 hours. 3) Rinsing. 4) Drying in a nitrogen stream for about a minute. 5) Pressing the stamp against a suitable substrate for about a minute to allow transfer of the semidry materials. Disadvantages include poor control of the amount of materials transferred, small amount of deposited materials, and possible changes in protein function. Microarrays containing up three different proteins were fabricated by ÃŽÂ ¼CP technique and tested as a detection system for specific antibodies [39]. Immunoassay were successfully performed using the patterned protein microarrays, and were characterized by fluorescence microscopy and scanning- probe microscopy. The characterization revealed the quality of the protein deposition and indicated a high degree of selectivity for the targeted antigen-antibody interaction. 4.3 Electrospray Deposition (ESD) The basic physics underlying the newly emerging technique of electrospray deposition (ESD) as applied to biological macromolecules. Fabrication of protein films and microarrays are considered as the most important applications of this technology. All the major stages in the ESD process (solution electrification, formation of a cloud of charged microdroplets, transformation of microdroplets into ions and charged clusters, deposition, and neutralization) are discussed to reveal the physical processes involved, such as space charge effects, dissipation of energy upon landing and neutralization mechanisms [40]. In electrospray deposition, protein is transferred from the glass capillary positioned 130-350 ÃŽÂ ¼m above a conducting surface. Micro-sized charged droplets move in an electric field created by the difference in electric field potential between the tip and the substrate surface and by the spatial charge of the droplet cloud. The electrostatic repulsion expands the cloud, and microdroplets are deposited as a round spot. The spot density is greater at the center [38]. Two new techniques were recently developed in these laboratories for fabrication of protein microarrays: electrospray deposition of dry proteins and covalent linking of proteins from dry deposits to a dextran-grafted surface. Here we apply these techniques to simultaneously fabricate 1200 identical microarrays. Each microarray, 0.6 ÃÆ'- 0.6 mm2 in size, consists of 28 different protein antigens and allergens deposited as spots, 30à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢40 ÃŽÂ ¼m in diameter. Electrospray deposition (ESD) of dry protein and covalent linking of proteins from dry deposits to a dextran-grafted surface has been studied from fabrication of microarrays. Electrospray (ES) deposition has been applied to fabricate protein microarrays for immunochemical assay. Protein antigens were deposited as arrays of dry spots on a surface of aluminized plastic. Deposition was performed from water solutions containing a 10-fold (w/w of dry protein) excess of sucrose. Upon contact with humid air, the spots tur n into microdroplets of sucrose/protein solution from which proteins were either adsorbed or covalently linked to clean or modified aluminum surfaces. It was found that covalent binding of antigens via aldehyde groups of oxidized branched dextran followed by reduction of the Schiff bonds gives the highest sensitivity and the lowest background in microarray-based ELISA, as compared to other tested methods of antigen immobilization [41]. Protein microarray with an antibody-based protein array for high-throughput immunoassay, with an ESD method using a quartz mask with holes made by an abrasive jet technique, has been performed. An antibody solution was electrosprayed onto an ITO glass, and then antibodies were deposited and cross-linked with a vapor of glutaraldehyde. The dimeters of the spots were approximately 150 ÃŽÂ ¼m. The arrays were then incubated with corresponding target antigenic molecules and washed. The captured antigens were collectively detected by fluorescence and chemiluminescence. The signals were quantitatively visualized with a high-resolution CCD [42]. 4.4 Surface immobilization In many proteomics applications, one is interested in the facile and covalent immobilization of protein molecules without the use of any special tag or chemical modification. This is most conveniently achieved via chemical reactivity towards the commonly available -NH2 groups on the surface of protein molecules. One of the most efficient leaving groups towards -NH2 is N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) attached via an ester bond. We have developed an NHS surface based on the zero background PEG coating. It allows for fast immobilization reactions with the remaining NHS groups easily washed off to expose the zero background PEG coating (Fig 1.4). In subsequent assays, the PEG functionality ensures that binding of particular molecules to the surface is only through the specific interaction with the immobilized protein molecule and the commonly seen background problem is solved without the need of a blocking step. Fig 1.4 NHS activated surfaces for the immobilization of proteins, peptides, antibodies (Image courtesy: ZeroBkg ® ) Peptide and protein microarrays fabricated on NHS/PEG/glass slides (Fig 1.5) Nanoliter droplets of peptide (21 amino-acids) or protein (fibrinogen) solution containing 10% glycerol are deposited on the glass slide with a robotic arrayer and incubated for 10 minutes. NHS-groups in remaining area are removed by a deactivating buffer for 30 minutes at room temperature. The immobilized peptide or protein on the surface is detected by incubation with the primary antibody specifically against the peptide or fibrinogen, followed by wash and incubation with cy3-conjugated secondary antibody. The glass slides are imaged on a laser scanner. The most important result is the exceptionally low background due to the PEG coating. While the NHS/PEG coated glass slides are ideal for protein, peptide, and antibody arrays, they are also useful as low background surfaces for other microarrays, such as oligonucleotides, carbohydrates, and other small molecules. The non-fouling property of the high densit y PEG coating becomes critically important when one uses such an array for the study of complex biological samples, such as plasma or serum. In order to detect molecules of low abundance, such as cancer biomarkers, one needs to minimize non-specific adsorption of other abundant biomolecules [43]. Fig 1.5 Fluorescence images of peptide (left) and protein (Fibrinogen, right) microarrays fabricated on NHS/PEG/glass slides and detected by immunostaining. The diameter of each spot is ~100 ÃŽÂ ¼m (Image courtesy: ZeroBkg ® ).   4.5 Self-assembling Protein Microarrays Molecular fabrication of SAMS depends on chemical complementarily and structural compatibility, both of which confer the weak and noncovalent interaction that bind building blocks together during self-assembly. Water-mediated hydrogen bonds are important for living system. In nature the assembly of peptide and proteins has yielded collagen, keratin, pearl, shell, coral and calcite microlenses, and optical waveguides [44]. The application of self-assembly techniques in the design of biocompatible protein microarray surfaces, immobilizing cells, and lipid layers, and spotting techniques has been reviewed by others [45-46]. 4.6 Detection Strategies Detection and readout of complex formation in each spot is performed with fluorescence, chemiluminescence, mass spectrometry, radioactivity, or electrochemistry. Label-free methods include mass spectrometry and SPR. Labeled probe methods include use of a chromogen, fluorophor, or a radioactive isotope. Direct strategies use a labeled antibody to directly bind to the target molecule immobilized on the substrate. Amplification strategies based on avidin-biotin binding enhance sensitivity. Indirect strategies use an immobilized antibody for capturing labeled, specific molecules from the sample. Sandwich assay as noted earlier require two distinct antibodies foe detection of a capture molecule. The first antibody is immobilized on the substratum, and serves to capture the molecule of interest. A second labeled antibody then binds to the first complex allowing detection [47]. 5. Application of Microarray Ever since the first 1000 probe DNA microarray was reported over a decade ago [48], great strides have been made in both quantitative and qualitative applications. Today, a standard DNA chip contains up to 6.5 million spots and can encompass entire eukaryotic genomes. A plethora of alternative applications are continually reported, albeit at various stages of maturity. What was once seen solely as a transcript profiling technology has now emerged as a reliable format for genotyping, splice variant analysis, exon identification, ChIP-on-chip, comparative genomic hybridization (CGH), resequencing, gene synthesis, RNA/RNAi synthesis and onchip translation [49]. Perhaps the most exciting recent developments from a drug discovery perspective come from the integration of diverse technological innovations into microarray-based solutions, especially for other classes of molecular entity. From small molecules (e.g. metabolites, nucleotides, amino acids, sugars) to oligomeric and polymeric der ivatives thereof, microarrays are now allowing us to examine the intra-class (e.g. protein-protein) and inter-class (e.g. protein: small molecule) interactions of these bio-system components on a systems-wide level. Yet, despite the appearance of a diversity of microarray types (e.g. Small Molecule Microarrays (SMMs) [51], Protein-Nucleic acid (PNA) microarrays [52], Glyco-chips [53], peptide chips [54], antibody chips [55], cell and tissue microarrays [56]), each differs in their relative contribution to the Voltaire challenge. Certainly the foremost of such opportunities are thos