The evangelist included the signs in order to make people believe Essay Example for Free

The evangelist included the signs in order to make people believe Essay There is much speculation from scholars as to why John chose to include the signs, which are unique to the fourth gospel. Broadly speaking, there are two main views. The first is that the signs were intended purely to be accurate accounts of Jesus miracles, featuring historically and topographically factual details. The second, and perhaps more widely held, is that John had an evangelistic purpose in mind when he wrote the signs: he wanted to make his readers believe. John chooses to use the word semeia, meaning signs, rather than the dunameis (mighty act, used in the synoptics) to denote the miracles that Jesus performs. Whereas act is a word firmly rooted in a particular place and timeframe, the word sign evokes the idea of the miracles pointing to something else, or foretelling a future event. It implies a greater role and purpose to Jesus miracles than the acts themselves, a divine scheme, thus helping the reader see the link between Jesus (who looks like an ordinary person) and the Father. Johns choice of words alone suggests he wanted the signs to be seen by the reader in a theological light, not an historical one. In fact, John explicitly says of the signs: These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31) Tasker mentions that some scholars in the past believed this statement to be a later addition to the gospel, by a later author or redactor. However, since there is no evidence for this, it is necessary to assume that the original author of Johns gospel wrote the statement themselves. For this reason, it cannot be denied that one of, if not the, main purpose of the signs is to fulfil an evangelistic role. Some might argue that there are parts of the signs that seem to contradict this purpose. For example, neither the third or fourth sign ends with true faith from those involved. In the third sign, the Healing at the Pool, the crippled man does not embrace Christs teachings but instead goes straight to the Jewish authorities, and even tries to shift blame onto Jesus for disregarding the rules of the Sabbath. At the end of the fourth sign, the Feeding of the 5,000, the crowd tries to make Jesus king by force. They do not understand that, as Sanders and Mastin put it, Jesus was a king, buthis kinship was not of this world. Both signs three and four end in the same way: with Jesus quietly leaving the scene, because he has failed to inspire people to faith as he had hoped. Although these signs do result in negative outcomes, they are quite possibly a tool John has deliberately employed to help his readers understand the nature of faith. By giving clear examples of people not recognising Christ as the Messiah, either by falling back on the comfortable familiarity of Judaism (as did the crippled man) or misunderstanding the nature of Jesus authority (like the crowd that were fed), the reader is better able to understand what it means to believe. They can also empathise with Jesus frustration at the fact that he is not producing the effect he intended, even having performed great miracles before peoples eyes, and so begin to know Jesus as a person as well as his divinity. Another objection to the statement in the title is that John includes many details that seem to serve no other purpose than to document the particulars of the sign. For example, in the third sign, there is mention of the Sheep Gate at the Pool in Bethsaida, the five stone colonnades and the fact that the man in question had been crippled for 38 years. However, these are not necessarily included by John for the sake of being historically and topographically accurate. Some details could be symbolic. For example, Marsh suggests that the 38 years could be a deliberate parallel to the 40 days that Moses spent wandering the desert. This parallel might be intended as a subtle message to the reader that Christ has fulfilled Judaism, making it good, just as Jesus makes the crippled man better in the sign. The details that John includes in the signs may also be a way of validating them and convincing the reader that Jesus miracles did take place. It seems that the title claim is justified, and that Johns main purpose for the signs was in fact to make his readers believe. Not only is it explicitly stated in John 20:31, but there is evidence for it throughout the signs. Whilst it appears at first that the gospel being a theological piece of writing and it being an accurate account are mutually exclusive, the two attributes do overlap. As Marsh notes, the historical and topographical details in John often give rise to symbolism and provoke theological thought, and can be just as important as the fictitious component of the signs in encouraging faith in the reader.

Phonics in Early Years Teaching

Phonics in Early Years Teaching Reading is important and motivates students to communicate and think critically and empowers them to learn a variety of lessons. Students in primary schools are still weak and not interested in reading either English or Malay books. They fall short in exams as they have not mastered reading skills and if this weakness is not rectified early, it will be disastrous for a student at secondary level. Reading is a complicated process more accurately described as a number of cognitive processes happening at the same time Hjh. Hasnah Kula , the Senior District Education Officer ( Brunei III ) emphasized how important reading ability in Brunei is and this ability needs to be cultivated from the early years (Primary school) . Reading is about understanding written texts. It is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension. Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written symbols correspond to ones spoken language. Comprehension is the process of making sense of words, sentences and connected text. Readers typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written text. Teaching struggling readers to read takes time and patience. Many teachers are concerned about the numbers of elementary children who struggle with reading. Such concerns are warranted. Studies indicate that when students get off to a poor start in reading, they rarely catch up. Struggling readers encounter negative consequences such as an assignment to special education classrooms or participation in long-term remedial services. Further, as they progress through the grade levels, the academic distance from those who read well grows more pronounced (The Learning First Alliance, 1998; Rashotte, Toregesen, Wagner, 1997; National Reading Panel, 1999; Torgesen, 1998). Why do some students struggle with reading and what can be done to increase their success? These questions plague teachers and parents and are ones that compelled them to search for answers. 1.1 Background of the study Decoding is the ability to apply the knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. Understanding these relationships gives children the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and to figure out words they have not seen before. Although children may sometimes figure out some of these relationships on their own, most children benefit from explicit instruction in this area. Phonics is one approach to reading instruction that teaches students the principles of letter-sound relationships, how to sound out words, and exceptions to the principles. Therefore, appropriate early direct instruction seems to be the best medicine for reading problems. Reading is not developmental or natural, but is learned. Reading disabilities reflect a persistent deficit, rather than a developmental lag in linguistic (phonological) skills and basic reading skills. Children who fall behind at an early age (K and grade 1) fall further and further behind over time. Longitudinal studies show that of the children who are diagnosed as reading disabled in third grade, 74% remain disabled in ninth grade (Fletcher, et al., 1994; Shaywitz, Escobar, Shaywitz, Fletcher, Makuch, 1992; Stanovich, 1986; Stanovich Siegel, 1994). Lack of phonemic awareness seems to be a major obstacle to learning to read (Vellutino Scanlon, 1987a; Wagner Torgeson, 1987). However,in Brunei , it was only in Year 2009 that the phonics approach for teaching reading was introduced . It is one of the approaches that is included in the new educational system,known as the SPN21, where the phonics approach needs to be implemented in teaching reading and writing to Preschool and Year 1 students . The action was also taken in response to a national report which indicates that about 76 percent of students in Year four and 44 percent of students in Year six had not learnt the basic literacy skills in Brunei ( National Study of Student Competencies in Mathematics and English , 2008). In an effort to introduce teachers to the phonics approach, the Ministry of Education had conducted workshops especially for the English language teachers which aims to provide them with the phonics approach knowledge and how it is taught . 1.2 Statement of the Problem Having an effective teaching instruction such as the phonics approach to teach reading in a classroom would be a relief for any teachers who face problems with students who are unable to read . However, not all students could achieve the same level of reading in a classroom even though the same approach was used and was found to be effective with others. While most students are ready to read on a higher level, effective classroom teachers might recognize that some students are lagging in reading skills. Those students who are not strong readers often are not as successful as they could be in a given content area. Their progress is slow without the help of an observant and effective teacher. This is where a remedial reading program is needed to help these struggling readers to read . In most schools in Brunei, children who have problems in reading are placed in a remedial program through a pull-out system (students are taken to a special room during a particular lesson for a remedial session ) which is run by a special education teacher . However, the remedial lessons were usually implemented for teaching reading in Bahasa Melayu and as a result the reading problem in the English language remains . As for the school in this study,the remedial reading session was run on the initiative of the English language teacher during the English lesson itself. This was seen to be ineffective because this respective teacher found it difficult to provide extra time during the lessons to help these difficult readers because the teacher would also need to deal with some other average students who might need help during the lesson . Therefore,the remedial reading sessions were not consistently done with these difficult readers. A successful remediation requires direct, intensive intervention with an effective program. Effective remediation is not teaching down to a lower level, helping the students learn ways to manage his reading difficulties, or continuing practice of impaired reading. Effective remediation directly builds necessary skills so the students acquire the necessary skills and can advance. To read proficiently the student needs to convert print to sound and develop phonologic processing pathways. ÂÂ  After fundamental phonemic processing is established the student needs to build advanced skills. Effective reading remediation programs directly develop all skills necessary for proficient reading. Phonics could be useful to teach reading to difficult readers in the Primary school, especially in terms of getting them familiar with the sounds of each letter. Moreover, they need a program which can help them to read in a short period of time so that they might not fall back too far from other students of their levels. Ignoring them and hoping that somehow they would catch up and be able to read like their fellow classmates is likely to create problems in the future. 1.3 Purpose of the study This study aims at achieving the following objectives : To explore the implementation of the remedial reading program using the phonics approach for difficult readers in a Year 4 class. To measure the reading achievement of these difficult readers within 3 weeks of daily remedial sessions (30 minutes per day). To promote a suitable time (outside the classroom lesson) for the teacher to run a remedial session with the difficult reading students. 1.4 Research Questions How is the remedial reading session in the school being conducted? How much is the phonics knowledge being included in the program? What is the impact of a constant reading remedial session with difficult readers on their reading performance using a Synthetic phonics approach? To what extent would a morning session hours (before the classroom lesson) and recess hours could be spent for remedial reading session . How much could the students improve from these sessions? 1.5 Significance of the study One of the major struggles of the primary school teachers is how to identify the most effective ways to teach their students how to read, especially with all the different learning styles among children. Children come to school with varied reading abilities and literacy experiences. All children have the ability to learn to read but at different rates and in different ways (International Reading Association, 2000; Moore Whitfield, 2009). It is essential for a teacher to have a comprehensive knowledge of the reading process, the ability to observe and assess a students strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to adapt ones teaching in response to the learning needs of the students (International Reading Association, 2000). It is the responsibility of the teachers to provide reading instruction that meets the needs of these diverse students. Teaching students to read is one of the most challenging things in teaching because teachers would need to be alert with their teaching approaches or instructions so that they meet each and every children needs in learning to read .And while many children follow a typical pattern while learning to read that allows their individual differences to be met with one program, those who do not follow that pattern often fall behind. Many remedial programs are simply a slower version of reading programs used for typical students, but these dont necessarily work for atypical learners. Thats why it might be more effective to develop remedial programs for specific students. Therefore, throughout this study, it was hoped that the result of the research can be beneficial for English teacher in structuring a remedial program for their difficult readers and to get them to reflect on their efforts in helping the these students to learn reading . It was also hoped that the results would be able to make the teachers, school administrator and the curriculum developers of the school under study to realize how important a synthetic phonic approach is to be included in the remedial program . 1.6 Limitations of the Study This study however has its limitations . These include the length of research time , small samples used and also the different reading difficulties of the participants . The sessions were conducted over a three-week period only where the participants were taught five times in a week ( 2.5 hours in total) . The study only involved two students from a Year 4 class in a selected school in Brunei Muara District (small sample size) . The reading difficulties of the participants might be different from others because difficult readers might have so much difficulty in applying the phonics skills and therefore this might vary the instructional approach used in this study with other settings. Thus , the findings of the study should be interpreted with these limitations in mind . 1.6 Definition of Terms The terms below were used in this study: Letter- sound relationship : Skills associated with sound-letter knowledge: the awareness of how spoken sound and written letters relate to each other in the English language the names of letters and the sounds associated with them the ability to recognize words previously seen the ability to apply knowledge of how sounds and letters are related to each other to figure out the pronunciation of words not seen before, which is known as decoding (Shedd, 2008) Phonemic Awareness This skill involves the ability to manipulate and understand sounds, and the relationship between sounds and words. For example, children learn to recognize that two words sound alike (or rhyme), and can identify the first or last sound in a word. They are able to manipulate sounds in words to make up new words (eg might without the /t/ sound is my), and recognize that sentences are made up of separate words. (http://elr.com.au/phonological/design.htm#a03) Difficult Readers Students with the following reading problems : difficulty in matching sounds and letters has trouble in reading and spelling phonetically decode in a very laboured manner Remedial Lessons Lessons conducted especially to help low achieving students which is designed to help these students to improve and simplify their learning difficulties and to catch up with other fellows of the same levels. Phonics Teaching reading by training the students to associate letters with their sound values.

Green and Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Green and Sustainable Supply Chain Management Environmental changes across the world have generated a movement to identify the causes of global warming and develop solutions to end it before it is too late. In an effort to achive this, many countries are creating laws and regulations with the specific aim to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gas effect. The truth is that environmental change is upon us. Not only do we have climate problems but we are also dealing with a resource depletion issue. With economies like India and China growing at double digit rates, the population of the world continues to grow creating shortages of many resources that we use to take for granted. Many consumers, stakeholders and businesses are becoming more involved in the growing green movement. Influenced by customer loyalty shifting towards environmentally friendly products, businesses are trying more and more to make their supply chains greener by introducing sustainability strategies throughout their organizations and supplier relationships. The recent focus on sustainability has resulted in a growing need for integrating environmentally safe choices into supply chain management practices. The concept Green Sustainable Supply Chain Management GSCM can be defined as the process of using environmentally friendly inputs and transforming them through change agents into outputs that can be reclaimed and re-used at the end of their lifecycle therefore, creating a sustainable supply chain. The whole idea of a sustainable supply chain is to reduce costs while helping the environment. 2. Sustainability and Profitability A Green Sustainable Supply Chain integrates ecological factors and supply chain management principles to identify the environmental impact of an organizations supply chain processes. Businesses are becoming aware of the importance of this integration to enable a sustainable business strategy. Many are now seeking out solutions and guidance on how to implement a sustainable supply chain. A sustainable supply chain should not be only optimal for the organization, but also optimal in terms of a limited environmental impact. The sustainable supply chain is no longer exclusively about green issues, but also about generating efficiencies and cost containment. As organizations restructure to reduce their companys environmental footprint, supply chains have become a key area of focus. Many people think that being environmentally friendly increases costs. In the past, most of the companies were focused on reducing unit costs. Only later, many companies could do the change and look instead at total landed costs with the on-set of global trade. Some companies also started looking at the usage costs with a piece of equipment- total cost of ownership TCO. Sustainability is a tremendous weapon for companies to reduce their costs. There are many facets of the supply chain that could be improved by looking at it from a sustainability point of view. The consulting firm A.T. Kearney released an analysis of businesses submitting information to the Carbon Disclosure Project that finds more than half of them along with 25 percent of their suppliers are generating cost savings as a result of adopting sustainable supply practices. It is a major action because they believed that at least half of the carbon emissions attributable to some global companies are generated in their supply chains. The Carbon Disclosure Project 2011 Supply Chain Report, which covers 57 global companies and more than a thousand of their supply chain partners, shows that 86 percent of those companies derived value out of addressing their supply chain processes as part of a corporate sustainability initiative. PepsiCo. Is a very good example of this, A.T. Kearney reports that the company saved more than $60 million in energy -16% reduction per-unit across its beverage plants as the result of managing the carbon associated to those activities. Walter Todd, the vice president of operations for PepsiCo UK and Ireland, where many of these savings took place, says: With a robust strategy and proven benchmarks in place, PepsiCo set out to engage and educate suppliers about potential opportunities to innovate their own operations. By providing suppliers access to the same energy assessment tools we use in our own operations, weve seen a mutual return on investment. Pepsi-Co also saved around $44 million by switching from corrugated to reusable plastic shipping containers for bottles. Other major companies have also reported significant savings thanks to a sustainable supply chain strategy: Dell is saving over $20 million annually as a result of packaging improvements. They achieved its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2008. One of Sherwin-Williams facilities reduced disposal costs from $95,000 to around $39,150 in less than two years through source reduction, refurbishment of metal containers, and recovery of fiber and steel. Texas Instruments is saving $8 million per year by reducing its transit packaging budget for semiconductor business by implementing source reduction, recycling and reusable packaging systems. Raymour Flanigan Furniture has saved more than 15 million pounds of waste after renovating a building to serve as a recycling center, now they have the capacity to prepare scrap polystyrene, plastic film, and cardboard for market. Commonwealth Edison generated $50 million in financial benefits from managing materials and equipment by taking a lifecycle management approach to production management. Dow Corning saved $2.3 million by using reconditioned steel drums in 1995 and conserved 7.8 million pounds of steel. It is interesting to notice how several companies have developed new revenue sources on the waste they used to throw out. If a sustainable supply chain can be developed, money can be saved by not having to dispose harmful by-products, reduce of obsolescence, decrease the spent on scrap and resources spent on complying its regulatory issues. Another key issue that sustainable companies are focusing on is the logistics and transportation of the product. A simple action such as filling the trucks as full as possible can represent significant savings; Dell has increased its average truck load and worked with UPS to optimize delivery strategies. Multinational company 3M has developed an innovative system to install adjustable decks in trucks. By placing pallets on two levels they were able to reduce the number of daily truckloads by 40% and save around $110 k per year. Sustainability can be profitable. Improvements in transportation efficiency, operations, raw material selection and packaging are all in the top of the list of green sustainable supply chain initiatives. 3. Sustainability as a competitive advantage Greener supply chain management practices represent a competitive advantage thanks to the increasing customer awareness and regulatory norms. Across industries, there is also a shift in the focus of GSCM programs from compliance to creating value for customers and shareholders. The implementation of Green Supply Chain initiatives has evolved from strictly a compliance issue into a means of generating value. The following table shows how to create value out of traditional cost compliance, including environmental, safety and health business contributions. More and more companies are using sustainability as a competitive advantage to grow market share within their industry. A green supply chain usually pushes the organization towards an improvement of their products, processes, quality and productivity. It can also be considered as an enabler for innovative decisions and brand differentiation improvement. GE now has an Ecomagination program focused on growing their revenue stream from environmentally friendly products to around 20 billion dollars by 2011. They recognized the opportunity associated with saving the environment. Nowadays many companies are offering customers environmentally produced power and charging a premium for that offering. The green initiatives also help a company to maintain and enlarge their customer portfolio. Environmental concern and social responsibility are now considered as an important part of a succesful business strategy. All competitors are under same market force to change their direction and priority towards a more green initiative, therefore, efforts and investments on this area are becoming more and more important. In addition, more countries will enforce importers to import green products to their nations with tax incentives and this will trigger the chances to do global business. In the same direction, new product development should not be only the responsibility of product design and engineering department; it should also include the fully team-work among marketing, engineering, procurement, logistics and materials operations in order to find the best solutions, like how to ship the products effectively, how to ensure that processes will not generate hazardous wastes and emissions to the environment, what green components can be purchased, what is the optimal packaging size and re-cycle materials to pack each prodcut, etc. In brief, companies have to consider the new product development process as part of the green supply chain strategy. The development, implementation and commitment of green supply strategy are not only to fulfill the customer needs; but also to meet general publics expectations to improve and enhance the role in social responsibility and environmental concerns. In exchange, the company will gain sustainable competitive advantage in the industry. 4. Sustainability and Suppliers Management One of the bigger issues facing companies these days is the actions of suppliers. Companies today are being held accountable for environmental or social problems created by their suppliers. Corporate buying practices can impact suppliers ability to improve their business conduct. Pressure on cost and efficiency can force suppliers to contravene some of their own standards in order to meet their customers commercial requirements. But as the opposite effect, companies can use their purchasing power to help install best practices in small and medium-sized companies. In fact, the companies that engage their suppliers around these issues constitute one of the most important drivers for spreading corporate green and sustainable principles around the world. Collaboration is the key. Many companies are performing environmental audits or implementing rules of conduct to check the actions of their suppliers. The most successful green efforts in supply chains are based on the creation of value by sharing with suppliers and subcontractors the intelligence and know-how about environmental and emerging regulatory issues and emerging technologies.   Suppliers and customers can strengthen each others performance, share cost of ownership and social license to operate and create a reciprocal value.   Supply chain sustainability must be driven by the originating manufacturers that rely on deep tiers of suppliers and vendors for their products. The reported supplier human rights and environmental violations done by Apples suppliers, is an example of the challenges that suppliers face in managing or influencing these issues on the ground.   Apple recently did the right thing by transparently releasing its Apple Supplier Responsibility 2011 Progress Report, which underscored just how challenging and difficult multi-tiered supply chain management can be. GE and other multi-national companies- including Wal-Mart, Honeywell, Citibank and SABIC Innovative Plastics- have partnered to create the EHS Academy in Guangdong Chinese province.   The objective of this non-profit venture is to create a better trained and capable workforce of environmental, health and safety professionals and give them the management, implementation and technical knowledge to be able to proactively ensure that real performance is sustainable and integrated fully into the overall business strategy and operating system of a company.   Chinese regulatory agencies are also invited to participate as well. The model that GE is using in China offers a positive example of collaborative innovation. One of the main difficulties is the enforcing of supplier sustainability, spceially in growing economies like China or India.   Only a small percentage of suppliers meet the requirements in the codes of conduct- including worker compensation and environmental requirements- of major multinational companies. There are still major challenges related to wages, working hours, overtime compensation, lack of unions and social insurance.   One factor contributing to the difficulties is the high presence and mobility of migrant workers. 5. Green SCOR model Green SCOR incorporated within the SCOR framework can provide immense help by offering information on best practices, waste disposal process and metrics to increase the success of Green SCOR initiatives. It also provides environmental metrics that can be included in the calculations for optimizing the supply chain. GreenSCOR focuses on the impacts of SCM in each stage of the product life cycle. GreenSCOR integrates best practices and metrics into the entire supply chain planning process. It also enables a systematic study of the supply chain to unearth opportunities for making the supply chain greener. Best practices include collaborating with partners on environmental issues, reducing fuel and energy consumption and minimizing and reusing packaging. It also includes the metrics to measure the effects of greening, including carbon and the environmental footprint, emission costs per unit, energy costs as a percent of production costs, waste produced as a percent of production and returned products disposed of versus remanufactured. Processes to address waste management, such as how to collect and manage waste produced during production and testing (including scrap and non-conforming product). It also enables more efficient use of resources and increases the visibility of financial and operations benefits of supply chain practices. Lastly, the metrics can be effectively used to monitor the progress an organization is making towards a green supply chain. By implementing this model a company increases the chance of success of any green initiative. 6. Challenges when implementing a GSC Contrary to what many people could think, making a business sustainability operational within a supply chain is becoming easier, not harder. There is more information available from procurement managers, environmental directors, design engineers, marketing, communication staff and operations managers- among others- and this deffinitely makes a difference when a supply chain decides to go green. But still big challenges like the lack of information about the green supply chain practices and the lack of tools to optimize the supply chain with environmental management makes the implementation less easy. With the trend of global sourcing tracking the carbon footprint of finished products can be difficult; however, new initiatives have emerged for adopting the practice of requesting a carbon footprint from suppliers. Barriers to global trade because of the increasing environmental regulations, more restrictions on hazardous substances, bigger emphasis on lean manufacturing and increased supplier auditing and verification are creating the critical road toward new supply chain management expectations. The seek for efficiencies in supply chain management and producing products while reducing waste is a vital imperative in a recovering economy. Shareholder value, company valuations and possible mergers and acquisitions are affected by supply chain sustainability. This impacts cash management and liquidity, for example, carbon-intensive sectors may see an increase in the cost of capital. The World Resources Institute is working on the new supply chain and product lifecycle greenhouse gas protocols that will frame the new expectations of value chain sustainability accounting and reporting. Increased attention will be paid on conflict minerals, fair labor and other social aspects of sustainability, management of hazardous substances in toys and other consumer products. It is acknowledged by all organizations that the needs of the community are as important as those of other traditional stakeholders. Larger companies are identifying the critical supply chain partners that have the greatest product impact and collaboratively address the environmental and social footprint of their products through the value chain. Consumers will play a leading role behind greater supply chain collaboration. Consumer awareness about sustainability demands a more CO2-friendly supply of products and services. Other main challenge is in monitoring sub-supplier sustainability, this has become a tough task for companies with complex global supply chains.  It is the responsibility of the direct suppliers to ensure that their sub-suppliers acknowledge, understand and accept the companies sustainable requirements.   However, when a supply chain is long and complex, ensuring compliance at many thousands of sub-suppliers represents a major challenge. The future of sustainability will inevitably include the sustainability of entire supply chains, not just direct suppliers One example of this recently has been Dells use of bamboo in its packaging.   The company worked to secure Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for its entire bamboo supply chain, from forest to manufacturing.   The packaging is still a small percentage of Dells overall packaging needs, but it is a start. Another example could be IKEA, according to their sustainability annual report, the company is moving in the right direction.   Although the company they fell short of its goal of having 30% of its solid wood sourced from verified responsibly managed forests, they are working actively to increase the number, especially in China and Russia. The company has a team of nine forestry specialists who are dedicated to the two countries and is working towards certifying forests which are closer to the production facilities of IKEAs suppliers.   IKEA has the goal of having 35% of its solid wood sourced from certified forests by 2012. If companies are not able to manage product compliance such as regulatory norms, they can suffer business interruptions such as product redesigns, delayed market launches, product returns and recalls. Therefore, effective lifecycle management is a key differentiator for short-term as well as long-term to get an advantage and stable position in the market. Suuply chain network and logistics optimization is also key when implementing a GSC, inefficient transportation methods represent a significant part of the ecological problem. It has been illustrated by a recent report that found that as much as 75 per cent of a companys carbon footprint comes from transportation and logistics alone. Transportation management includes load consolidation and route planning to drive cost savings and reduction of environmental impact. Another important challenge is related to establish a reverse logistics network that supports life cycle design and demanufacturing processes. Producers are required to meet specific targets for material recycling and recovery, relative to the total amount of packaging that they have put into the marketplace. This helps to shift the responsibility for collecting packaging and end of life products from local government to producers. Reverse logistics manages the handling and disposition of returned goods, improving a companys ability to put returned goods back on the market. Companies implementing reverse logistics processes can dramatically reduce the waste going into landfills and increase opportunities to reintroduce products to market. Xerox implemented a reverse logistics solution and achieved huge financial benefits of equipment remanufactured and parts reuse amounting representing over $100 million and reduced the waste from landfills. Another important point is the ability to simulate the unpredictable events in the supply chain network flow and evaluate the supply network design frequently. Companies need to work esigning optimum supply chain networks for sustainability incorporating criteria like fuel usage and carbon emissions. Process optimization is another challenge; companies should improve the synchronization of production with customer demand and supplier capacity. The main areas of green manufacturing are reduction in energy, water consumption, waste and emissions that are part of manufacturing processes. And the last challenge I will include is the green reporting, measuring and reporting the environmental impact is the first step towards reducing them. There are direct benefits to organizations from measuring and reporting as because it gives a better understanding of the risks and exposure. Globally, sustainability and environmental reporting are becoming one of the most important management concerns due to increasing pressures of legislation as well as other initiatives. The challenge remains to quantify and report the emission and environmental footprints. It can be a time consuming and costly process that requires extraction of data from multiple systems and manipulating it to arrive at required reports. 7. Findings and conclusions Economic activity has an impact on the environment and the society; industries need to conmsider this into their business operations and costs. It is becoming critical to measure and manage the environmental and social impact of activities and procesess across the supply chain. Green practices and a sustainable supply chain have become a necessity due to both regulatory obligations and economic benefits, yes; a green supply chain can help a company to discover hidden sources of profitability. Increasingly the companies are giving more importance to sustainability to promote loyalty of customers, who are getting more aware about the socio-ecological implications of businesses. A green sustainable supply chain enables business to improve products, process and supply quality and productivity. It also pushes the company to make innovative decisions that respond to green economy requirements, by doing this, companies gain access to key markets through diverse certifications. By using a model such as GreenSCOR incorporated in SCOR version 9, the chances of success in any green initiatives increases. Some key success factors and reccomendations in the implementation of a green sustainable supply chain were identified: Stakeholders should be actively engaged in the sustainability strategies of the business. Green initiatives should be aligned with the strategic objectives of the company. GSCM Best Practices should be adopted when implementing a green supply chain. Technology and models such as SCOR should be used to enable the green initiatives. The company should boost its responsiveness to the expectations of the consumer. Green practices should be designed for minimal environmental impact, focussing the efforts to reduce packaging and in-transit damage when shipping. Planning and inventory management should pay special attention to reducing inventory and identifying optimal distribution solutions. Transportation solutions should be improved by collaboration. Procurement departments should perform lifecycle analysis for choosing products or solutions to minimize environmental impact. Suppliers relationship management should include the regular monitoring of suppliers and sub-suppliers sustainability. Benefits should be extended to the local community, as starting point.

guilty as charged :: essays research papers

In William Goldings, The Lord of the Flies, an illegal killing took place. Unlawful homicides vary from First degree murder to Manslaughter. Second Degree, murder is a killing which is deliberate and planned in combination with felonies. When Piggy had gone to Castle Rock to retrieve his glasses, he ended fighting Jack. While the boys were disputing a rock was thrown at Piggy subsequently making him fall and die. Jack then proceeded to scream to Ralph that that’s what he deserved, approving Piggy’s murder. The Jury should find Jack Merridew guilty of Second Degree Murder in the death of Piggy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Granted, Jack Merridew himself did not kill Piggy; however, he did plan to kill anyone who was in his way when stealing Piggy’s glasses. â€Å"We’ll keep along the sands. Then if he comes, we’ll do our dance again† Jack had planned to kill Ralph, just like they killed Simon in their dance, if he meddled with his plans. Piggy just happened to be the one who interfered with Jack’s plans. Jack’s followers listened to what he said, and Roger rolled the rock at Piggy, killing him. Jack never really cared for Piggy from the start. He wanted him out of his way so he could become chief; he was the only thing that kept Ralph in charge. Jack would have done anything for that position, and Piggy interfered, which resulted in his murder. Jack did plan to kill someone, and Piggy happened to be first.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In addition, Jack treated Piggy with extreme cruelty. Jack's brutal behavior toward Piggy exposed his evil side. This could be why he wanted to kill him, as they began arguing since they had first met. Jack also felt a desire for power; Piggy would never grant him this supremacy, which led to violence either physically or verbally. After Jack let the fire go out, Piggy reprimanded him leading to frustration in Jack; â€Å"This from Piggy, and the wails of agreement from some of the hunters, drove Jack to violence. The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy’s stomach † Jack could have hit anyone else but struck Piggy, showing his deep hatred for him. All Jack needed was the opportunity to kill Piggy, and he would have taken it just like when he punched him in the stomach.

Conduct Books in the 18th Century Essay -- Literature

Conduct Books in the 18th Century Throughout history, conduct books have played an integral part in defining what cultures believed were acceptable and desirable behaviors, as well as representing the ideal person. In the introduction to The Ideology of Conduct, Nancy Armstrong and Leonard Tennenhouse attempt to show how literature and conduct books have been important in relaying these messages and shaping a history of sexuality through the ages. They also point out the interesting fact that these books of conduct have been aimed more at women and far "surpassed in quantity and variety" (Armstrong and Tennenhouse 4) similar types of literature for men. Some of the examples they list of types of conduct literature include pamphlets on marriage, books on manners and morality, and devotional manuals designated for women of the aristocracy. Even in our culture today this type of literature exists in the forms of advertisements, fashion magazines, and exercise books. Again, much of this type of literature is directed at women more than men, which these editors explain as an attempt to specify "what a woman should desire to be if she wishes to attract a socially approved male and keep him happy" (Armstrong and Tennenhouse 5). This makes sense because even today our society is patriarchal, constructed so that women many times have to count on financial support from a man. However, the introduction points out the irony of this, since not only is the desirable woman being defined, but also what a man should find desirable in a woman is defined. also note that this is not necessarily a contradiction, since "the gendered world of information we inhabit today reproduces and maintains the dominant view (Armstrong and Tennenhouse 5). ... ...n," women learn how to be more desirable for men in terms of today's standards. The focus seems to be on independence as well as sexual attractiveness, and although these qualities are quite different from those of the eighteenth century, they are still just as offensive. Just a few of the headings and articles give a clear idea of the messages being sent to women today: "Are you going too far to snag a man?" or "Bikini Body Bummers: Stretch Marks, Bikini Stubble, Flab, Back Acne--You name it, we help you banish it" and even "Cosmo's 10 Commandments" which include, among other things, "ditch the bitchy mood, fall for a nice guy, send thank you notes, keep underwear under cover, and never lose your cool." Even today conduct books remain an integral part of a culture's beliefs and ideals, documenting "a history of sexuality" (Armstrong and Tennenhouse 19) through time.

Introduction to Matlab

CHAPTER-5 SOFTWARE SPECIFICATION MATLAB is a high-performance linguistic communication for proficient computer science. It integrates calculation, visual image, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where jobs and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Typical utilizations include:Math and calculationAlgorithm developmentModeling, simulation, and prototypingData analysis, geographic expedition, and visual imageScientific and technology artworksApplication development, including graphical user interface edificeMATLAB is an synergistic system whose basic information component is an array that does non necessitate dimensioning. This allows you to work out many proficient calculating jobs, particularly those with matrix and vector preparations, in a fraction of the clip it would take to compose a plan in a scalar noninteractive linguistic communication such as C or FORTRAN. The name MATLAB stands for matrix research lab. MATLAB was originally written to supply easy entree to matrix package developed by the LINPACK and EISPACK undertakings. Today, MATLAB uses package developed by the LAPACK and ARPACK undertakings, which together represent the state-of-the-art in package for matrix calculation. MATLAB has evolved over a period of old ages with input from many users. In university environments, it is the standard instructional tool for introductory and advanced classs in mathematics, technology, and scientific discipline. In industry, MATLAB is the tool of pick for high-productivity research, development, and analysis. MATLAB features a household of application-specific solutions called tool chests. Very of import to most users of MATLAB, toolboxes let you to larn and use specialised engineering. Toolboxs are comprehensive aggregations of MATLAB maps ( M-files ) that extend the MATLAB environment to work out peculiar categories of jobs. Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control systems, nervous webs, fuzzed logic, ripples, simulation, and many others. The MATLAB System The MATLAB system consists of five chief parts: Development Environment. This is the set of tools and installations that help you use MATLAB maps and files. Many of these tools are graphical user interfaces. It includes the MATLAB desktop and Command Window, a bid history, and browsers for sing aid, the workspace, files, and the hunt way. The MATLAB Mathematical Function Library. This is a huge aggregation of computational algorithms runing from simple maps like amount, sine, cosine, and complex arithmetic, to more sophisticated maps like matrix opposite, matrix characteristic root of a square matrixs, Bessel maps, and fast Fourier transforms. The MATLAB Language. This is a high-ranking matrix/array linguistic communication with control flow statements, maps, informations constructions, input/output, and object-oriented scheduling characteristics. It allows both â€Å" scheduling in the little † to quickly make speedy and soiled throw-away plans, and â€Å" scheduling in the big † to make complete big and complex application plans. Handle Graphics ®. This is the MATLAB artworks system. It includes high-ranking bids for planar and 3-dimensional informations visual image, image processing, life, and presentation artworks. It besides includes low-level bids that allow you to to the full custom-make the visual aspect of artworks every bit good as to construct complete graphical user interfaces on your MATLAB applications. The MATLAB Application Program Interface ( API ) .This is a library that allows you to compose C and FORTRAN plans that interact with MATLAB. It include installations for naming modus operandis from MATLAB ( dynamic linking ) , naming MATLAB as a computational engine, and for reading and composing MAT-files. DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT Introduction This chapter provides a brief debut to get downing and discontinuing MATLAB, and the tools and maps that help you to work with MATLAB variables and files. For more information about the subjects covered here, see the corresponding subjects under Development Environment in the MATLAB certification, which is available online every bit good as in print. Get downing and Discontinuing MATLAB Get downing MATLAB On a Microsoft Windows platform, to get down MATLAB, double-click the MATLAB cutoff icon on your Windows desktop. On a UNIX platform, to get down MATLAB, type matlab at the operating system prompt. After get downing MATLAB, the MATLAB desktop opens – see MATLAB Desktop. You can alter the directory in which MATLAB starts, specify startup options including running a book upon startup, and cut down startup clip in some state of affairss. Discontinuing MATLAB To stop your MATLAB session, choice Exit MATLAB from the File bill of fare in the desktop, or type quit in the Command Window. To put to death specified maps each clip MATLAB quits, such as salvaging the workspace, you can make and run a finish.m book. MATLAB Desktop When you start MATLAB, the MATLAB desktop appears, incorporating tools ( graphical user interfaces ) for pull offing files, variables, and applications associated with MATLAB. The first clip MATLAB starts, the desktop appears as shown in the undermentioned illustration, although your Launch Pad may incorporate different entries. You can alter the manner your desktop expressions by gap, shutting, traveling, and resizing the tools in it. You can besides travel tools outside of the desktop or return them back inside the desktop ( docking ) . All the desktop tools provide common characteristics such as context bill of fare and keyboard cutoffs. You can stipulate certain features for the desktop tools by choosing Preferences from the File bill of fare. For illustration, you can stipulate the fount features for Command Window text. For more information, snap the Help button in the Preferences duologue box. Desktop Tools This subdivision provides an debut to MATLAB ‘s desktop tools. You can besides utilize MATLAB maps to execute most of the characteristics found in the desktop tools. The tools are:Current Directory BrowserWorkspace BrowserArray EditorEditor/DebuggerCommand WindowCommand HistoryLaunch PadHelp BrowserCommand Window Use the Command Window to come in variables and run maps and M-files. Figure 5.1: Basic Window of Matlab Command History Lines you enter in the Command Window are logged in the Command History window. In the Command History, you can see antecedently used maps, and transcript and execute selected lines. To salvage the input and end product from a MATLAB session to a file, use the diary map. Runing External Programs You can run external plans from the MATLAB Command Window. The exclaiming point character! is a shell flight and indicates that the remainder of the input line is a bid to the operating system. This is utile for raising public-service corporations or running other plans without discontinuing MATLAB. On Linux, for illustration! emacs magik.m invokes an editor called emacs for a file named magik.m. When you quit the external plan, the operating system returns command to MATLAB. Launch Pad MATLAB Launch Pad provides easy entree to tools, demos, and certification. Help Browser Use the Help browser to seek and see certification for all your Math Works merchandises. The Help browser is a Web browser integrated into the MATLAB desktop that displays HTML paperss. To open the Help browser, snap the aid button in the toolbar, or type aid browser in the Command Window. The Help browser consists of two window glasss, the Help Navigator, which you use to happen information, and the show window glass, where you view the information. Help Navigator Use to Help Navigator to happen information. It includes: Merchandise filter– Set the filter to demo certification merely for the merchandises you specify. Contentss check– Position the rubrics and tabular arraies of contents of certification for your merchandises. Index check– Discovery specific index entries ( selected keywords ) in the Math Works certification for your merchandises. Search check– Expression for a specific phrase in the certification. To acquire aid for a specific map, set the Search type to Function Name. Favorites tab– Position a list of paperss you antecedently designated as favourites. Display Pane After happening certification utilizing the Help Navigator, position it in the show window glass. While sing the certification, you can: Browse to other pages– Use the pointers at the tops and undersides of the pages, or utilize the dorsum and forward buttons in the toolbar. Bookmark pages– Chink the Add to Favorites button in the toolbar. Print pages– Chink the print button in the toolbar. Find a term in the page– Type a term in the Find in page field in the toolbar and chink Go. Other characteristics available in the show window glass are: copying information, measuring a choice, and sing Web pages. Current Directory Browser MATLAB file operations use the current directory and the hunt way as mention points. Any file you want to run must either be in the current directory or on the hunt way. Search Path To find how to put to death maps you call, MATLAB uses a search way to happen M-files and other MATLAB-related files, which are organized in directories on your file system. Any file you want to run in MATLAB must shack in the current directory or in a directory that is on the hunt way. By default, the files supplied with MATLAB and Math Works tool chests are included in the hunt way. Workspace Browser The MATLAB workspace consists of the set of variables ( named arrays ) built up during a MATLAB session and stored in memory. You add variables to the workspace by utilizing maps, running M-files, and lading saved workspaces. To see the workspace and information about each variable, use the Workspace browser, or utilize the maps who and World Health Organization. To cancel variables from the workspace, select the variable and choice Delete from the Edit bill of fare. Alternatively, utilize the clear map. Array Editor Double-click on a variable in the Workspace browser to see it in the Array Editor. Use the Array Editor to see and redact a ocular representation of one- or planar numeral arrays, strings, and cell arrays of strings that are in the workspace. Editor/Debugger Use the Editor/Debugger to make and debug M-files, which are plans you write to run MATLAB maps. The Editor/Debugger provides a graphical user interface for basic text redaction, every bit good as for M-file debugging. You can utilize any text editor to make M-files, such as Emacs, and can utilize penchants ( accessible from the desktop File bill of fare ) to stipulate that editor as the default. If you use another editor, you can still utilize the MATLAB Editor/Debugger for debugging, or you can utilize debugging maps, such as dbstop, which sets a breakpoint. MANIPULATING Matrixs Entering Matrixs The best manner for you to acquire started with MATLAB is to larn how to manage matrices. Start MATLAB and follow along with each illustration. You can come in matrices into MATLAB in several different ways:Enter an expressed list of elements.Load matrices from external informations files.Generate matrices utilizing constitutional maps.Create matrices with your ain maps in M-files.Start by come ining Durer ‘s matrix as a list of its elements. You have merely to follow a few basic conventions:Separate the elements of a row with spaces or commas.Use a semicolon, ; , to bespeak the terminal of each row.Surround the full list of elements with square brackets, [ ] .5.6 Matlab DIP Toolbox Instructions Matlab digital image processing tool chest is able to execute a big assorted image processing undertakings. There are two of import I/O instructions ( imread and imwrite ) to lade and salvage images with assorted extensions. Usual data type of images is 8 spot unsigned whole number which is non conventional for matlab. Major portion of maps deal with dual type variables. accordingly, it is recommended to change over image matrix to duplicate informations type utilizing dual direction. Instruction manuals as imshow and use signifier purely obey such dynamic scope restraints. three types of images are defined in matlab: colour, grey and indexed. For each pel of a colour image, 3 bytes are dedicated to colour constituents. It is possible to transform good known colour infinites withmakecformandapplycform. A particular instance of grey images is black and white images with merely two strength degrees. The last image type is indexed image in which each pel has an index umpiring to an spec ific colour in associated colour map. Color infinite transforms are besides applicable to colourise maps while colour maps besides obey dual and uint8 dynamic scopes. except for pull outing colour image from grey or BW images ( which has its ain ambiguity ) , there are maps to change over other images. The often used Image Processing tool box instructions are shown below: ImshowDisplay image ImreadRead image from artworks file ImwriteWrite image to artworks file ImfinfoInformation about artworks file ImnoiseAdd noise to image ImcropCrop image ImresizeResize image ImrotateRotate image ImsaveSave Image Tool MakecformCreate colour transmutation construction ApplycformApply device-independent colour infinite transmutation gray2indConvert grayscale or binary image to indexed image ind2grayConvert indexed image to grayscale image mat2grayConvert matrix to grayscale image rgb2grayConvert RGB image or colour map to grayscale ind2rgbConvert indexed image to RGB image label2rgbConvert label matrix into RGB image multithreshMultilevel image thresholds utilizing Otsu ?s method im2bwConvert image to binary image, based on threshold graythreshGlobal image threshold utilizing Otsu ‘s method graysliceConvert grayscale image to indexed image utilizing multilevel thresholding im2doubleConvert image to duplicate preciseness im2int16Convert image to 16-bit signed whole numbers im2java2dConvert image to Java buffered image im2singleConvert image to individual preciseness im2uint16Convert image to 16-bit unsigned whole numbers im2uint8Convert image to 8-bit unsigned whole numbers imadjustAdjust image strength values or colormap imcontrastAdjust Contrast tool imsharpenSharpen image utilizing un crisp cover histeqEnhance contrast utilizing histogram equalisation adapthisteqContrast-limited adaptative histogram equalisation ( CLAHE ) bwmorphMorphological operations on binary images bwareaArea of objects in binary image bwulterodeUltimate eroding bwareaopenRemove little objects from binary image imcloseMorphologically close image imdilateDilate image imerodeErode image imfillFill image parts and holes imopenMorphologically unfastened image imcloseMorphologically close image strelCreate morphological structuring component ( STREL ) subimageDisplay multiple images in individual figure immovieMake film from multiframe image implayPlay films, pictures, or image sequences imwarpApply geometric transmutation to image imdisplayrangeDisplay Range tool imdistlineDistance tool imroiRegion-of-interest ( ROI ) base category impixelregionPixel Region tool imellipseCreate draggable oval impolyCreate draggable, resizable polygon imrectCreate draggable rectangle imfreehandCreate draggable freehand part imlineCreate draggable, resizable line impointCreate draggable point RoipolySpecify polygonal part of involvement ( ROI ) poly2maskConvert part of involvement ( ROI ) polygon to part mask roicolorSelect part of involvement ( ROI ) based on colour roifillFill in specified part of involvement ( ROI ) polygon in grayscale image roifilt2Filter part of involvement ( ROI ) in image imshowpairCompare differences between images Introduction to Matlab Lab 1 Introduction to MATLAB and Simulink Objectives: 1. The student should be able to understand the used of Matlab simulation package for analysis. 2. The student should be able to understand the used of simulink tool to analyse a given system. Part A: Matlab programming 1) Use MATLAB to generate the transfer function G(s) = 5(s+15)(s+26)(s+72) s(s+55)(s+47)(s+56)(s+89) in the following ways: The ratio of factors (i) (ii) The ratio of polynomials (b) Test the transfer function for (i) Stability Step response. Peak time? Settling time? % Overshoot? (ii) (iii) Steady state error for a unit step input 1 Part B: Simulink tool. ) Find the transfer function T(s) = C(s)/R(s) for the system shown in Figure 1. Given that G1(s) = 1/(s+7), G2(s) = 1/(s2+2s+3), G3(s) = 1/(s+4), G4 = 1/s G5(s) = 5/(s+7), G6(s) = 1/(s2 + 5s+10), G7=3/(s+2) and G8 = 1/(s+6). {Hint : Use the connect and blkbuild commands in MATLAB's Control System Toolbox} (a) Analyse the system for stability, steady-state error a nd time response to a unit step input, a unit ramp input and a hyperbolic input. (b) Connect the blocks in SIMULINK and verify for the time response obtained in (a) . G8(s) G6(s) R(s) G1(s) + + + G3(s) + G7(s) + G2(s) + + G4(s) + C(s) G5(s) Figure 1 2

Diana Cazares Photo Write Essay Nightlife

He was born on October 7, 1891 in New Orleans, Louisiana and died on January 16, 1981 at the age Of 89 in Chicago, Illinois. He is one of the major contributors to the Harlem Renaissance, or the New Negro Movement, a time in which African American art reached new heights not only in New York but across America. His early paintings of night scenes, and crowd scenes were influenced by jazz culture, and are perhaps his most popular and most prolific. It looks like with all the dancing, drinking, and socializing going on, they would forget the outside world.I can imagine how troubles would slide off, for a moment of fun and abandon. I hope can give this painting justice with my words. Sincerely, Diana Cares Dry. Marcia Mitchell English. 1301 . VII Archibald John Motley Jar. American, 1891-1981 Nightlife, 1943 â€Å"Nightlife† came across this painting after searching and searching all of the links provided. I am drawn to vibrant colors, music, and dancing, so it was no surprise th at this particular painting had caught my eye. Music helps me in my troubled times, somehow sways my thoughts to more positive ones.What Archibald depicts in this painting is a contrast as to what was going on in reality. Racism roamed among African-American society but in the midst of this club, all you can see is people making the most Of their life, relishing in the jazz music. As stare at this picture, I see a crowd of African-American people enjoying a night at a cabaret, as it was called back then. In the background you see two bartenders tending to the needs of their customers. The wall is lined with countless selection of spirits, tempting the already intoxicated patrons.You can see people sitting down at the counter, awaiting someone to pull them up to dance and forget the outside world. Others are already looking three sheets to the wind, their heads on the counter. Couples sitting at tables, equally taking pleasure in the music, yet still caught up in each other. The musi c seems to be stimulating their senses into wild abandon. There's a jukebox to the right blasting the invigorating tunes. So much movement every. Veer with people dancing to the music, you could almost hear it from the look on their faces.The women fully clad in their best dresses outfitted for exactly this scene. Blue, green, yellow, purple, red colors inviting you to look intently at such uninhibited fun, almost making you wish you were in that scene yourself.