Human Trafficking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Trafficking - Research Paper Example According to the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), human trafficking is defined according to the nature and purpose of trafficking human beings. Hence, TVPA defines sex trafficking as an act where â€Å"a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age† (Department of States.., 2007, p.7). The TVPA defines other kinds of trafficking as â€Å"the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use offorce, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery†. In simple words, the victims of trafficking are forced to work by keeping them captive (Hart, 2009, p. 4). Forced labor is called trafficking even when a person is forced to work against his will in his own country. According to International Labor Organization (ILO), at a given time, around 12.3 million to 27 million people are the victim of "forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude" in different parts of the world. This shows that the racket of human trafficking is not only strong but is also widespread. The statistics also suggest that traffickers are not restricted to certain areas or countries. In fact, traffickers increase the vulnerability of the victims by trafficking them to the countries at the vast distance, where the victims feel alien due to a large barrier in language and culture.... In simple words, the victims of trafficking are forced to work by keeping them captive (Hart, 2009, p. 4). Forced labor is called trafficking even when a person is forced to work against his will in his own country. According to International Labor Organization (ILO), at a given time, around 12.3 million to 27 million people are victim of â€Å"forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor, and sexual servitude† in different parts of the world (Department of States.., 2007, p.8). This shows that the racket of human trafficking is not only strong, but is also wide spread. The statistics also suggest that traffickers are not restricted to certain areas or countries. In fact, traffickers increase the vulnerability of the victims by trafficking them to the countries at vast distance, where the victims feel alien due to a large barrier in language and culture (Department of States.., 2007, p.7). This further removes the chances of victims asking for help or support from people aro und them. In this way, traffickers use different methods to weaken the victims and make them feel vulnerable, bonded and slave at the hands of the traffickers and customers. Types Of Human Trafficking There are different types of human trafficking like bonded labor, involuntary servitude, domestic servitude, prostitution etc (Hart, 2009, p. 6). People who are victim of human trafficking are forced to work in various fields and farms to plant and harvest the crop (Hart, 2009, p. 6). Some are made to work in restaurants to do cleanup jobs (Hart, 2009, p. 6). Women and children are forced to work hard as domestic servant, either by torturing them physically and emotionally, or by promising them good pay and schooling (Hart, 2009, p. 6). They are made to

Snap Fitness Essay Example for Free

Snap Fitness Essay Why Snap Fitness Is Your Right Choice Starting your own business is a big decision. As you consider options, here are four factors that make us a proven business model with a history of success: The Fitness Franchise Opportunity is a Growing Industry Fitness is in. The percentage of people belonging to health clubs and gyms has doubled over the past 20 years. More growth is expected, fueled by an aging Baby Boomer generation in search of eternal youth and the reality that regular exercise can prevent or control diseases that are driving health care costs relentlessly upward. The 24/7 fitness opportunity is the newest model of fitness centers today. Economically, the health club industry has proven to be recession-proof, averaging an 8% annual growth rate since the early 1990’s across all health clubs and gyms. The gym and health club industrys fastest-growing segment is the 24/7 fitness franchise segment and Snap Fitness is the segments growth-rate leader. Industry Leaders in 24/7 Fitness Franchises [pic] Our fitness franchise concept enables you to offer customers fast, convenient and affordable workouts in clean, comfortable fitness centers just minutes from their homes 24/7. They enjoy the same quality equipment and workout experience offered in traditional full-service gyms but without the crowded parking lots, long waiting lines and inflated monthly dues. In addition, we lead the way in value-added products and services including personal training, tanning, health and wellness programs and much more, helping members to get the best value for their fitness dollar. Our member-friendly policies lead the health club industry we do not require contracts: members pay month-to-month and may freeze their gym memberships when not using them. Best of all, members can work out at any one of our thousands of fitness club locations worldwide, day or night. Combine these amenities with our round-the-clock safety and security system, including in-club surveillance that can be accessed from your home computer, along with panic-button technology and electronic keycard access, and you have a concept unmatched by any of our competitors in the industry. Better Support Systems to Help You Find Success When evaluating the choices for starting your own business our space, youll quickly conclude were the easy decision. From the moment you sign your Franchise Agreement, the support, service and training we provide is unparalleled in the health club industry. Our turnkey operational systems enable you to run your club with as little as one employee, allowing you to be your own boss. Our product lineup extends well beyond what comparable fitness franchises offer giving you more tools to recruit and retain members and create new revenue streams. Whats more, our financial model favors you over the long run. Like us, other franchisors take care of member billing through automated systems. But their monthly fee typically is a percentage of your total dollar transaction the more successful you are, the higher their fee. In contrast, we charge a nominal flat-fee per transaction. The difference can add up to thousands of dollars over a year. It’s your money, why shouldn’t you keep it? If you dont like paying higher taxes simply because you work hard to earn more, youll appreciate our franchisee-friendly financial approach. An Affordable Investment [pic] As outlined in our Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) a prospectus-like document every franchisor is legally required to provide to potential investors your total investment in a Snap Fitness will range from $76,113 to $361,695. In addition, we have finance options available to help you achieve your goal of starting your own business or growing your existing business. Best of all, our ongoing royalty and marketing fees are a set flat-rate, as opposed to other franchises that charge you a percentage of your monthly revenues. For more information, contact us now. A franchise enables you, the investor or franchisee, to operate a business. You pay a franchise fee and you get a format or system developed by the company (franchisor), the right to use the franchisor’s name for a limited time, and assistance. For example, the franchisor may provide you with help in finding a location for your outlet; initial training and an operating manual; and advice on management, marketing, or personnel. The franchisor may provide support through periodic newsletters, a toll-free telephone number, a website, or scheduled workshops or seminars. Buying a franchise may reduce your investment risk by enabling you to associate with an established company. But the franchise fee can be substantial. You also will have other costs: for example, you may be required to give up significant control over your business while you take on contractual obligations with the franchisor. Typically, franchise systems have several components. Costs In exchange for the right to use the franchisor’s name and assistance, you will pay some or all of the following fees. Initial Franchise Fee and Other Expenses Your initial franchise fee, which will range from several thousand dollars to several hundred thousand dollars, may be non-refundable. You may incur significant costs to rent, build, and equip an outlet and to buy initial inventory. You also may have to pay for operating licenses and insurance, and a â€Å"grand opening† fee to the franchisor to promote your new outlet. Continuing Royalty Payments You may have to pay the franchisor royalties based on a percentage of your weekly or monthly gross income. Often, you must pay royalties even if your outlet isn’t earning significant income. As a rule, you have to pay royalties for the right to use the franchisor’s name. Even if the franchisor doesn’t provide the services they promised, you still may have to pay royalties for the duration of your franchise agreement. Indeed, even if you voluntarily terminate your franchisee agreement early, you may owe royalties for the remainder of your agreement. Advertising Fees You also may have to pay into an advertising fund. Some portion of the advertising fees may be allocated to national advertising or to attract new franchise owners, rather than to promote your particular outlet. Controls To ensure uniformity, franchisors usually control how franchisees conduct business. These controls may significantly restrict your ability to exercise your own business judgment. Here are a few examples. Site Approval Many franchisors pre-approve sites for outlets, which, in turn, may increase the likelihood that your outlet will attract customers. At the same time, the franchisor may not approve the site you’ve selected. Design or Appearance Standards Franchisors may impose design or appearance standards to ensure a uniform look among the various outlets. Some franchisors require periodic renovations or seasonal design changes; complying with these standards may increase your costs. Restrictions on Goods and Services You Sell Franchisors may restrict the goods and services you sell. For example, if you own a restaurant franchise, you may not be able to make any changes to your menu. If you own an automobile transmission repair franchise, you may not be able to perform other types of automotive work, like brake or electrical system repairs. Restrictions on Method of Operation Franchisors may require that you operate in a particular way: they may dictate hours; pre-approve signs, employee uniforms, and advertisements; or demand that you use certain accounting or bookkeeping procedures. In some cases, the franchisor may require that you sell goods or services at specific prices, restricting your ability to offer discounts, or that you buy supplies only from an approved supplier even if you can buy similar goods elsewhere for less. Restrictions on Sales Area A franchisor may limit your business to a specific territory. While territorial restrictions may ensure that you will not compete with other franchisees for the same customers, they also could hurt your ability to open additional outlets or to move to a more profitable location. In addition, a franchisor may limit your ability to have your own website, which could restrict your ability to have online customers. Moreover, the franchisor itself may have the right to offer goods or services in your sales area through its own website or through catalogs or telemarketing campaigns. Terminations and renewal You can lose the right to your franchise if you breach the franchise contract. Franchise contracts are for a limited time; your right to renew is not guaranteed. Franchise Terminations A franchisor can end your franchise agreement for a variety of reasons, including your failure to pay royalties or abide by performance standards and sales restrictions. If your franchise is terminated, you may lose your investment. Renewals Franchise agreements may run for as long as 20 years. At the end of the contract, the franchisor may decline to renew. Renewals are not automatic, and they may not have the original terms and conditions. Indeed, the franchisor may raise the royalty payments, impose new design standards and sales restrictions, or reduce your territory. Any of these changes may result in more competition from company-owned outlets or other franchisees.

Planned Change Essay -- Organizational Development, Change

Planning according to the class notes (Dr. Smith, Module 5) and Stojkovic et al (2008) is a general application of the notion of planned change. Planned change is made up of a number of behaviors intended to alter individuals, groups, and organization structure and practice (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Although there are several elements of a planned change four of them include innovation and accepting problems, overcoming organizational decision making routines, looking to the future, and continues commitment. First planned change mandates improvement and acknowledges troubles as prospects to pursue real development in an agency’s performance. However, Warren (1997) points out that planned change is not an inactive reaction to organizational climate stress or minimal attempt to decrease organizational strains (Stojovic et al, 2008). Nevertheless, this type of effort is what is usually seen throughout criminal justice agencies. For example, correction facilities are well known for changing titles like guards to corrections officers, convicts to inmates and so on (Stojkovic et al, 2008). To avoid this passive type of change there needs to be a more proactive change implemented in the agency. For example, several law enforcement agencies have put into practice a program called Compstat that requires command staff to study patterns of crime, set calculable objectives to decrease crime, and build up plans to decrease crime in the studied areas (Stojkovic et al, 2008). The second element is overcoming organizational decision making routines. These routines for example, include the garbage can solution which states that individuals in an organization have â€Å"favorite solutions† already preconceived that are waiting for problems to... ...ats for the officers. Thus, if the officer feels he/she will be blamed for any mistakes they will tend to shift most of the responsibility to their superior making them adhere to old policy and practices (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Moreover, if there is not a good line of communication and decision making is centralized, members will be less reluctant to participate in the change process. This will not be healthy for the organization because there will not be a healthy feedback from the members regarding the efficiency of the new program. This could eventually be the demise of the new program. As one can see it is hard to create an organizational climate that is productive and open to change, and more so if there is conflict within the organization. For this reason each step should be thought about and planned for in dealing with the organizations climate.

Lincoln Electric

Should Lincoln Electric enter through an acquisition, a Greenfield site or some type of joint venture? Why? Lincoln should enter through a Greenfield site because an acquisition strategy would not meet Lincoln acquisition criteria’s and Lincoln would likely pay more than it has been used to pay in the past. There might also be issues with family control and competitors in a JV. Lincoln brand is valued in SE Asia and will help Lincoln establish a strong manufacturing base to penetrate the Indian market. However, to be successful with its Greenfield site, Lincoln must adapt its Incentive Plan to meet India’s labour market institutions.Lincoln has to be agile as an organisation to meet the demands of the foreign environment and adapt its corporate culture to the local market. investing in a major facility there? The decision to invest in a major facility in India must be taken with a risk/benefits review of the political and economic conditions, the nature of the market, a nd the competitive situation in India. The political condition is stable and the economy is booming so Lincoln is taking a calculated risk in investing there. Lincoln is financially sound at this time to undertake the planned Indian expansion.Lincoln should be able to finance the expansion given the strong Income Statements since 1994. The opportunities in India are tremendous in the metal fabrication sector. Lincoln can serves this growing market via exports from other locations but it quickly needs to add manufacturing capabilities in India to position itself advantageously. Manufacturing directly in India will enable lower costs, more competitive pricing of welding supplies and competitive advantage when Indian manufacturers start asking for more sophisticated welding technologies like automation and welding robots.Should Lincoln Electric enter through an acquisition, a Greenfield site or some type of joint venture? Why? Lincoln should enter through a Greenfield site because an a cquisition strategy would not meet Lincoln acquisition criteria’s and Lincoln would likely pay more than it has been used to pay in the past. There might also be issues with family control and competitors in a JV. Lincoln brand is valued in SE Asia and will help Lincoln establish a strong manufacturing base to penetrate the Indian market.However, to be successful with its Greenfield site, Lincoln must adapt its Incentive Plan to meet India’s labour market institutions. Lincoln has to be agile as an organisation to meet the demands of the foreign environment and adapt its corporate culture to the local market. Where to place Lincoln's production facilities abroad? In his Distance Still Matter paper, the Harvard teacher Pankaj Ghemavat uses the CAGE model to measure the cultural, administrative, geographic and economic distance between trading countries.Success or failure in foreign markets expansion is often linked to a misinterpretation of the distance framework by man agers. A good CAGE analysis is a must to develop international expansion strategies. Lincoln being an American corporation, it makes business sense to pursue geographical expansion in Commonwealth countries. These countries have a smaller CAGE trading distance with the USA than other countries with different heritage (i. e. Francophonie, Asia). Consequently, India with its British heritage is an excellent choice for Lincoln and market entry might be easier than it was in China.

Geo 509 – Major Paper

Introduction The purpose of this report is to analyze and illustrate the geographical origins of eragrostis tef along with details of its global dispersion. The common name of the crop in Ethiopia is tef. It was chosen for its cultural significance and it’s importance Background In Ethiopia, about 4. 9 million acres of land is devoted to its production every year. From 2003-2005 production statistics indicated that tef accounted for about 29% of the land and 20% of the gross grain production of all major cereal cultivation in the country (National Research Council).Eragrostis tef belongs to the grass family Poaceae, and is species of Eragrostis. It contains about 350 species and tef is the only cultivated cereal (Seyfu). Its name tef is originated from the Amharic word yate-tef-ah, which means, â€Å"lost†. Since the grains are so small they are easily misplaced (Kloman). It is the world’s smallest food grain and is as small as a grain of sand. It also has quite similar traits to other grains such as quinoa and millet. Tef grows anywhere from 30 to 120 cm in height, with slim stems and long, narrow, smooth leaves.It is a loose or compact panicle. The really small grains are 1. 5 mm long, and there are about 2,700 seeds in a gram (Seyfu). The plant uses a Carbon 4 photosynthesis, which uses light efficiently while having low moisture demands. This gives the plant the ability to stand high heat and bright lighting therefore able to harvest in any unpredictable or difficult climate. Also the plant's resistance to diseases, pests, and heavy soils and it’s inexpensive costs to raise and very quick to produce give it special appeal (Tadele).Tef tends to thrive under growing condition from elevations that range from sea-level to as high as 2800 meters, and in various temperatures, soil, terrains and rainfall conditions (not where there is too much rainfall though) (Seyfu). Varieties of Tef * Magna (white) tef – This type is grown in the cooler seasons and is slow maturing. It is superior for grain due to its higher demand in the market. But it is blander in taste compared to the darker types (Seyfu). * Sergegna (mix of white and brown), kay (red), and tiqur (black) tef – This type is superior for fodder and is faster maturing.The darker the color the richer in flavor and nutrients (Seyfu). * Abolse tef – An improved strain being tested and studied currently in Ethiopia. It has shown good results in early studies based upon its yield and baking quality. There is no record of this new strain being distributed as of yet (Kloman). Due to its properties to survive and grow through harsh climates, Ethiopian farmers grow tef for either two purposes as a staple or as a standby product. When planted as a staple, they grow it as their primary component in their trade or business.So it is normally planted late and harvested well into the dry season. But as a standby, the farmers wait till their main crop suc h as maize or wheat shows signs of failing. They then plant a faster maturing tef such as the red or brown tef as a backup source of food in case of disaster. What also makes tef very attractive is that it is a grain that contains no gluten, at least none of the type found in wheat (Ingram). For this reason people with severe allergies to wheat gluten or health enthusiasts are buying tef these days.Due to the seeds small size it makes it difficult to plant and prepare the fields. It is difficult to get an even distribution of seeds and also the wind or rain can bury the seeding before it has spouted. Then separating, inspecting and grinding such tiny seeds is very strenuous and time consuming. History Tef is common all over Ethiopia and its major varieties were found only in that part of the world. Among with numerous other crops, the precise date and location for the domestication of tef is unspecified.But, there is no uncertainty that it is actually an ageless crop, where domestic ation took place. It has been documented by some historians such as Ponti that tef has long been cultivated in Ethiopia for its grain from some time between 4000 BC and 1000 BC (Engels); Shaw disputed that tef must have been domesticated before the introduction of wheat and barley to Ethiopia or else the tef, would have never been cultivated. The use of tef was quite crucial for the Abyssinians, since the amount of tef seed required to plant were hundreds of times smaller than that of wheat (Ingram).This productive potential and minimal time and seed requirements have protected them from hunger when their food supply was under attack from numerous invaders in the past. It was reported by Unger in 1866 that tef seeds were also found in the Egyptian Pyramid of Dashur in 3359 BC (National Research Council). Dried tef straws were suggested to have been used in the making of mud bricks used in the Pyramid of Dashur as well (Seyfu). The closest wild relative to tef is generally considered to be eragrostis pilosa this species is recorded as an annual growing weed from Eritrea and Northern regions of Ethiopia (Ingram).Vavilov has recognized Ethiopia as the center of origin and variety of tef (National Research Council). Due to the fact that several widespread and non-widespread species of eragrostis, some of which are considered the wild relatives of tef, are found in Ethiopia. Since the genetic diversity for tef does not exist anywhere else in the world except in Ethiopia, confirms that tef originated and was domesticated in Ethiopia. Production Areas of Ethiopia The regions of Shewa, Gojam, Gonder, Wello and Welega are the major tef-production areas (Seyfu). As can be seen in fig. these regions are concentrated in the central highland areas of Ethiopia. These areas suffer from waterlogging and these other parts of the country suffer from low moisture stress (Seyfu). The water logged soils of these regions seem to be a unique environment for agriculture since there i sn’t any other grain that can be grown in this environment. Tef is grown in almost all regions of the country for home consumption since it is the preferred grain. Local markets are also able to charge the highest price compared with other cereals, which is why farmers use it as their cash crop. There is going to be a map here) Global Spread James Bruce (1730-1794) was a travel writer and a traveller of Scottish decent. He travelled through Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia) in search of the foundation of the Nile River; his discoveries were published in his 1768 book â€Å"Discover the Source of The Nile†. In his journeys he mentions of a grain called tef that was grounded and used in their diet as much, if not more than wheat. It is also said that Bruce had taken some grain back with him to a Botanic Garden in Florence, Italy.This led to the publication in 1775 of the first botanical description of the plant, which made tef known worldwide. But it would be The Royal Bo tanic Gardens, (Kew Gardens) located in the United Kingdom that would’ve been responsible for the distribution of tef seeds to various other botanic gardens in India and the colonies. In 1887, was the first issue of seeds and it was to India, Australia, and South Africa. The trials were set in the elevated portions of these countries and all places where maize and wheat cannot be cultivated. These trials were successful.Which led to the introduction of tef to other parts of the world such as: * Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania by Skyes in 1911 * USA, Malawi, Zaire, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Argentina by Burt Davy in 1916 The most effective trial was in the northern region of South Africa (National Research Council) . It was reported that the crop was very rapid in growth and was maturing in seven or eight weeks from the time of planting. When it normally matures between 80 – 160 days. Favorable Growing Conditions Sunlight – The length of sunlight should be between 11- 13 hours.Rainfall – The average annual rainfall in tef-growing areas is 1,000 mm, but the range is from  300 to 2,500 mm. Tef is able to resist moderate drought, but there should be three good rain days. Altitude – It can be grown from  near sea level to altitudes over 3,000 m. Most is cultivated between 1,100 and 2,950 m. Temperature – While tef has some frost tolerance, it will not survive a prolonged freeze. But it can tolerate temperatures as high as 50 °C (Ogadan regions of Ethiopia) Soil Type – Tefs' tolerance of soil types seems to be very wide. It performs well even on the black cotton soils that are notoriously hostile to crops and farmers.Patterns of Consumption Human Consumption Tef is a cereal grain that is usually grounded to flour that is mainly used for injera that is a popular fermented sour pancake, porridge and baked goods. Is often used in North America as a thickener for soups and stews. Alcoholic beverages are also made from tef such as tela and katikala. Due to its high mineral content, it has also been used in mixtures with chickpea soybeans and other grains for baby foods. Cattle Feed Tef straw is used as animal feed, especially during the dry season. Farmers feed tef straw preferentially to lactating cows and working oxen (Tadele).Farmers prefer tef straw to the straw of any other cereal because of its sweetness (which is appealing to the cattle), high nutritive value, high yield, rapid growth, drought resistance and ability to smother weeds. In South Africa various productive types have been selected for hay production. It has since been exploited in the USA. It has increasingly become abundant, and is growing in dozens of states. It is also predominately cultivated in Australia for these purposes as well. Ornamentals There has been a growing interest in Europe, the United States, and Japan to grow tef for its visually appealing features (Tadele).Since it stands straight, dense a nd has a orderly feature, often has multi-colored leaves and it’s open fluffy panicles, tef can be extremely eye-catching. Erosion Control The non-weedy features of tef give it the ability to serve as a good temporary ground cover. South Africans are now using tef as a â€Å"nurse crop† that quickly covers the ground and fosters the establishment of permanent grasses planted along with it (Seyfu). It is already being used in mixtures to protect opencast mine workings, stream banks, and other erodible sites in South Africa. ConstructionIn Ethiopia, tef straw  is the preferred binding material for walls, bricks, and household containers made of clay. Overall Impact Tef has increased in popularity in so many countries that the Ethiopian government has to instill routine bans of exporting this grain. During the lean season where the production of tef is minimal the exportation of the crop will increases prices for it inside the country. With this scarcity in effect tef g rowers outside of Ethiopia has increased tremendously. Currently there are many tef providers in the USA for human consumption and forge for livestock.Another influence in popularity is the shift in consumer’s nutritional habits. There has been an increase in vegetarians (tef is high in protein) and the increased awareness of gluten allergies (tef is a good alternative for wheat). Also the rise in Ethiopian immigrants and the related rise in the popularity of Ethiopian food have increased demand for this staple crop. Its not just Ethiopian migrates, it is everyone; Ethiopian food is becoming more mainstream. There are tef fields in the states of Oregon, Kansas, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Virginia.The US Agriculture Department and other institutions are in support of the cultivation of tef. Currently there are government grants offered to farmers in Kansas to cultivate tef on their farms (Kloman). Also the Univers ity of South Dakota and Cornell University have pushed for farmers in their states to start the cultivation of crop as well, for scientific research (Kloman). Other US institutions have been quite successful in their trials: * University of Nevada – They leaped at opportunity to begin a project to grow tef in 2002. In 2008 they produced 800,000 pounds of tef and in 2009 produced a million pounds (Kloman).The production was so successful that the university was approached by retailers from Ethiopia with a deal to buy as much as four million pounds. * Idaho – The Teff Co. is America’s largest producer of tef; it has been in business for 25 years (Kloman). Wayne Carlson, who lived and worked in Ethiopia in the 70’s as biologist, started The Teff Co. When he returned to the US he found that the climate and geologic region of Idaho was similar to that of Ethiopia’s prosperous regions where tef is grown. As the East African population of the US started t o grow significantly Carlson realized an investment opportunity.The Boston Globe reported in 2004 that he grows about two million pounds of tef grain annually (Kloman). Dun & Bradstreet Inc. (business information company) estimated its annual sales to be $1. 2 million (Kloman). Carlson reports this is still not enough to meet the demand. * To express just how competitive the industry has become. Carlson has recently pleaded guilty in April of 2012 for harassing a rival tef grower, Tesfa Drar, of Teff Farms in Minnesota regarding the production and distribution of their grains (Wax). Carlson was sentenced to a year’s probation. Nutritional ValueTef grains are nutritionally similar to wheat; but are actually more nutritious. The reasons for this may be due to the fact that since the seeds are so small they have a greater proportion of fiber (the nutrients are concentrated on the outside of the seed) and are almost always produced as whole grain flour. Tef is rich in energy (353 -367 kcal per 100 g) and its fat content averages to about 2. 3 percent (Seyfu). The grain reportedly contains 11% protein, which higher than that in maize or oats. The tef cultivated in the US though have been showing an even higher protein level of 14% on a consistent basis (Seyfu).These specific proteins should be highly digestible because it is high in the main protein fractions that are most digestible. Overall, it has an excellent balance of amino acids. Teff is higher than wheat in a dozen amino acids, especially the essential lysine, and slightly higher in such nutrients as potassium, zinc and aluminum. The mineral content is also good, iron and calcium are especially notable. The absence of anemia (iron deficiency) in Ethiopia where tef consumption is present is presumably due to the grain’s good iron content.The amount of calcium is equivalent to that of half a cup of spinach (Seyfu). It’s also an excellent source of vitamin C, which is not commonly found in grains. Resistant starches are a newly revealed type of nutritional fiber that is either not digested or partially digested until it reaches the large intestine, where bacteria uses it for energy (Hopman). This is beneficial for blood-sugar management, which would be ideal for those suffering from diabetes. It is also beneficial for weight control and colon health. About 20-40% of the carbohydrates in tef are resistant starches (Hopman).Bibliography Seyfu, Ketema. Tef, Eragrostis Tef (Zucc. ) Trotter. Rome, Italy: IPGRI, 1997. Print. National Research Council. Lost Crops of Africa. Vol. 1. Washington: National Academy, 1996. Print. Grains. Kloman, Harry. Mesob across America: Ethiopian Food in the U. S. A. New York: IUniverse, 2010. Print. Bai, Guihua, Mulu Ayele, Hailu Tefera, and Henry T. Nguyen. â€Å"Genetic Diversity in Tef [Eragrostis Tef (Zucc) Trotter] and Its Relatives as Revealed by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNAs. †Ã‚  Euphytica  112. 1 (2000): 15-22. Kluwer Ac ademic Publishers, 1 Mar. 2000. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. . Ingram, Amanda L. , and Jeff J. Doyle. â€Å"The Origin and Evolution of Eragrostis Tef (Poaceae) and Related Polyploids: Evidence from Nuclear Waxy and Plastid Rps16. †Ã‚  American Journal of Botany  90. 1 (2003): 116-22. Print. Assefa, Kebebew, Ju-Kyung Yu, Getachew Belay, Hailu Tefera, and Mark E. Sorrells. â€Å"Breeding Tef [Eragrostis Tef (Zucc. ) Trotter]: Conventional and Molecular Approaches. †Ã‚  Plant Breeding  130. 1 (2010): 1-9. Print. Tadele, Zerihun. New Approaches to Plant Breeding of Orphan Crops in Africa: Proceedings of an International Conference, 19-21 September, 2007, Bern, Switzerland.Berlin: Stampfli, 2009. Print. Alaunyte, Ieva, Valentina Stojceska, Andrew Plunkett, Paul Ainsworth, and Emma Derbyshire. â€Å"Improving the Quality of Nutrient-rich Teff (Eragrostis Tef) Breads by Combination of Enzymes in Straight Dough and Sourdough Breadmaking. â€Å"Journal of Cereal Science  55. 1 (2012): 22-30. Print. Engels, Jan, J. G. Hawkes, and Melaku Worede. Plant Genetic Resources of Ethiopia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print. Wax, Emily. â€Å"As Americans Embrace Ethiopian Cuisine, Its Farmers Grow More Teff. â€Å"Washington Post. The Washington Post, 31 July 2012. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. .

Manganese Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements

Manganese Facts - Periodic Table of the Elements Manganese  Basic Facts Atomic Number: 25 Symbol: Mn Atomic Weight: 54.93805 Discovery: Johann Gahn, Scheele, Bergman 1774 (Sweden) Electron Configuration: [Ar]4s2 3d5 Word Origin: Latin magnes: magnet, referring to the magnetic properties of pyrolusite; Italian manganese: corrupt form of magnesia Properties: Manganese has a melting point of 1244/-3 °C, boiling point of 1962 °C, specific gravity of 7.21 to 7.44 (depending on allotropic form), and valence of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7. Ordinary manganese is a hard and brittle gray-white metal. It is chemically reactive and slowly decomposes in cold water. Manganese metal is ferromagnetic (only) after special treatment. There are four allotropic forms of manganese. The alpha form is stable at normal temperatures. The gamma form changes to the alpha form at ordinary temperature. In contrast to the alpha form, the gamma form is soft, flexible, and easily cut. Uses: Manganese is an important alloying agent. It is added to improve the strength, toughness, stiffness, hardness, wear resistance, and hardenability of steels. Together with aluminum and antimony, especially in the presence of copper, it forms highly ferromagnetic alloys. Manganese dioxide is used as a depolarizer in dry cells and as a decolorizing agent for glass that has been colored green due to iron impurities. The dioxide is also used in drying black paints and in the preparation of oxygen and chlorine. Manganese colors glass an amethyst color and is the coloring agent in natural amethyst. The permanganate is used as an oxidizing agent and is useful for qualitative analysis and in medicine. Manganese is an important trace element in nutrition, although exposure to the element is toxic in higher quantities. Sources: In 1774, Gahn isolated manganese by reducing its dioxide with carbon. The metal may also be obtained by electrolysis or by reducing the oxide with sodium, magnesium, or aluminum. Manganese-containing minerals are widely distributed. Pyrolusite (MnO2) and rhodochrosite (MnCO3) are among the most common of these minerals. Element Classification: Transition Metal Isotopes: There are known 25 isotopes of manganese ranging from Mn-44 to Mn-67 and Mn-69. The only stable isotope is Mn-55. The next most stable isotope is Mn-53 with a half-life of 3.74 x 106 years. Density (g/cc): 7.21 Manganese Physical Data Melting Point (K): 1517 Boiling Point (K): 2235 Appearance: Hard, brittle, grayish-white metal Atomic Radius (pm): 135 Atomic Volume (cc/mol): 7.39 Covalent Radius (pm): 117 Ionic Radius: 46 (7e) 80 (2e) Specific Heat (20 °C J/g mol): 0.477 Fusion Heat (kJ/mol): (13.4) Evaporation Heat (kJ/mol): 221 Debye Temperature (K): 400.00 Pauling Negativity Number: 1.55 First Ionizing Energy (kJ/mol): 716.8 Oxidation States: 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 0, -1 The most common oxidation states are 0, 2, 6 and 7 Lattice Structure: Cubic Lattice Constant (Ã…): 8.890 CAS registry number: 7439-96-5 Manganese Trivia: Manganese dioxide is used to make clear glass. Normal silica glass is tinted green and the manganese oxides add a purple tint to the glass that cancels out the green. Because of this property, glassmakers called it glassmakers soap.Manganese is found in the enzymes necessary to metabolize fats and carbohydrates.Manganese is found in the bones, liver, kidneys, and pancreas.Manganese is important in the processes that form bones, clots blood, and regulates blood sugar.As important as manganese is to our health, the body does not store manganese.Manganese is the 12th most abundant element in the Earths crust.Manganese has an abundance of 2 x 10-4 mg/L in sea water (parts per million).The permanganate ion (MnO4-) contains the 7 oxidation state of manganese.Manganese was found in a black mineral called magnes from the ancient Greek kingdom of Magnesia. Magnes was actually two different minerals, magnetite and pyrolusite. The pyrolusite mineral (manganese dioxide) was called magnesia. Manganese is used in steel production to fix the sulfur found in iron ores. It also strengthens steel and prevents oxidation. References: Los Alamos National Laboratory (2001), Crescent Chemical Company (2001), Langes Handbook of Chemistry (1952), CRC Handbook of Chemistry Physics (18th Ed.) International Atomic Energy Agency ENSDF database (Oct 2010)

Amylase, Catalase and Invertase Enzyme Labs Essays - Nutrition

Amylase, Catalase and Invertase Enzyme Labs Essays - Nutrition Amylase, Catalase and Invertase Enzyme Labs IB Biology SL Y1 22 April 2014 Amylase, Catalase and Invertase Enzyme Labs Introduction Catalase Catalase is responsible for converting hydrogen peroxide1, which is harmful within living organisms, into water and oxygen molecules. This experiment investigates the effect of hydrogen peroxide on boiled and raw materials such as potatoes, liver, yeast cells, etc. If boiled materials were put into hydrogen peroxide, there would be no significant enzymatic reaction because the boiling temperature would already denature catalase in those materials, preventing any enzymes from functioning properly. Invertase Sucrose is hydrolyzed into monosaccharide form of fructose and glucose by invertase that catalyzes the hydrolysis1. Invertase can be obtained from yeast, which will be used in this experiment. The yeast suspension solution will show positive result to Benedicts solution test that indicates the presence of sugar. Amylase Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch into glucose through the process of hydrolysis2. It initiates the breakdown of starch to glucose in seeds during germination. To identify the presence of starch, iodine test will be used. If the result shows no color change into deep purple, that indicates the absence of starch and implies the presence of glucose that is broken down from starch. Boiled corn seeds would show least amount of color change in agar plate (from dark purple into transparent) because the high temperature would have already denatured amylase in seeds. Aim of experiment These three enzyme experiments aim to investigate each enzymes role in breaking macromolecules into simple molecules of smaller units. Data collection Table 1.0 Qualitative observation of catalase lab Material/extract being testedBoiled extracts reaction on H2O2Raw extracts reaction on H2O2 Liver X (No apparent reaction occurring) Solution quickly fluffed up with fine bubbles; the lower section of solution that was not fluffed was relatively transparent. Corn leafSubtle reaction of tiny bubbles slowly rose; solution remained dominantly clear. Ground meatSolution reacted and created fine, creamy bubbles while lower part remained clear. Yeast Solution was dominantly clear with tiny bubbles rising rapidly from the bottom. PotatoSubtle reaction of tiny bubbles slowly rose; solution remained dominantly clear. Table 2.0 qualitative observation of invertase lab Sucrose solution being testedGlucose strip testBenedicts solution Yeast suspensionLight green spots of 100mg/LLight yellow orangish solution that is translucent and milky Distilled waterLight green shades of 100mg/L but are spread out in a smoother mannerNegative result: dark greenish brown color Table 3.0 qualitative observation of amylase lab Types of corn seedsReaction after applying iodine on agar plates Soaked seedsPlates contained spots of transparent area where soaked corn seeds were place. Overall, there were tiny dots and large patches of dark blackish purple color on agar plate. Boiled seedsNo large patches of dark color, except similar tiny dots that were all over the agars surface. There were transparent spots where seeds were placed. Dry seedsTraces of dark blackish purple color surrounded the areas where corn seeds were placed (transparent). Agar plate was filled with tiny black dots. Agar plate had the darkest shade of color compared to the rest. Conclusion Catalase lab The extracts that were experimented to investigate the enzymatic reaction of catalase on hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) included liver, corn leaf, ground meat, yeast, and potato. All the boiled extracts of these materials yielded no apparent enzymatic reaction when tested with H2O2. This proves how temperature, which is one of the factors that can impact enzymatic reaction, is responsible for chemical reactions not happening. Catalase in these materials were boiled at 100, apparently it exceeded each of their optimal temperature. Consequently, catalase within each material was denatured and not able to perform its function properly when tested with H2O2. On the other hand, all the raw extracts reacted to H2O2 at different degrees. Catalase in liver and ground meat extracts caused apparent reactions to H2O2 while catalase in corn lead, yeast, and potato extracts created less apparent enzymatic reaction to H2O2. Their differences in amount of reaction might be explained by various factors su ch as how pH level in raw meat and liver may be closer to the optimal pH level for catalase to catalyze. Invertase lab This lab involves observing effects of adding yeast and distilled water to sucrose solution, which is an example of disaccharide. Despite the poor ability of glucose strips to indicate glucoses presence, the use of Benedicts solution allowed more reliable proof of glucoses presence

Geography and History of the Island Nation of Samoa

Geography and History of the Island Nation of Samoa Samoa, officially called the Independent State of Samoa, is an island nation located in Oceania. It is about 2,200 miles (3,540 km) south of the United States state of Hawaii and its area consists of two main islands - Upolu and Savai. In 2011, Samoa  moved  the International Date Line because it claimed it has more economic ties with Australia and New Zealand (both of which are on the other side of the dateline) than with the United States. On Dec. 29, 2011, at midnight, the date in Samoa changed from Dec. 29 to Dec. 31. Population:  193,161 (July 2011 estimate)Capital:  ApiaArea:  1,093 square miles (2,831 sq km)Coastline:  250 miles (403 km)Highest Point:  Mount Silisili at 6,092 feet (1,857 m) History of Samoa Archeological evidence shows that Samoa has been inhabited for over 2,000 by migrants from Southeast Asia. Europeans did not arrive in the area until the 1700s and by the 1830s missionaries and traders from England began arriving in large numbers.At the beginning of the 20th century the Samoan islands were politically divided and in 1904 the easternmost islands became the U.S. territory known as American Samoa. At the same time, the western islands became Western Samoa and they were controlled by Germany until 1914 when that control passed to New Zealand. New Zealand then administered Western Samoa until it gained its independence in 1962. According to the U.S. Department of State, it was the first country the region to gain independence.In 1997 Western Samoas name changed to the Independent State of Samoa. Today, however, the nation is known as Samoa throughout most of the world. Government of Samoa Samoa is considered a parliamentary democracy with an executive branch of government made up of a chief of state and a head of government. The country also has a unicameral Legislative Assembly with 47 members who are elected by voters. Samoas judicial branch consists of a Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the District Court and the Land and Titles Court. Samoa is divided into 11 different districts for local administration. Economics and Land Use in Samoa Samoa has a relatively small economy that is dependent on foreign aid and its trade relations with foreign nations. According to the CIA World Factbook, agriculture employs two-thirds of the labor force. The main agricultural products of Samoa are coconuts, bananas, taro, yams, coffee, and cocoa. Industries in Samoa include food processing, building materials, and auto parts. Geography and Climate of Samoa Geographically Samoa is a group of islands located in the South Pacific Ocean or Oceania between Hawaii and New Zealand and below the equator in the Southern Hemisphere (CIA World Factbook). Its total land area is 1,093 square miles (2,831 sq km) and it consists of two main islands as well as several small islands and uninhabited islets. The main islands of Samoa are Upolu and Savai and the highest point in the country, Mount Silisili at 6,092 feet (1,857 m), is located on Savai while its capital and largest city, Apia, is located on Upolu. The topography of Samoa consists mainly of coastal plains but the interior of Savai and Upolu have rugged volcanic mountains.The climate of Samoa is tropical and as such it has mild to warm temperatures year round. Samoa also has a rainy season from November to April and a dry season from May to October. Apia has a January average high temperature of 86ËšF (30ËšC) and a July average low temperature of 73.4ËšF (23ËšC).To learn more about Sa moa, visit the Geography and Maps section on Samoa on this website Sources Central Intelligence Agency. (28 April 2011). CIA - The World Factbook - Samoa. Retrieved from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ws.htmlInfoplease.com. (n.d.). Samoa: History, Geography, Government, and Culture- Infoplease.com. Retrieved from: infoplease.com/ipa/A0108149.htmlUnited States Department of State. (22 November 2010). Samoa. Retrieved from: state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htmWikipedia.com. (15 May 2011). Samoa - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samoa

What is the significance of the dates 1453 and 1763 to the emergence Essay

What is the significance of the dates 1453 and 1763 to the emergence of modern Europe - Essay Example With the introduction of Gun powder, traditional protocols of one-on-one combats were confined to the past. This made the whole enterprise of war more mechanical than ever before. The demise of Constantinople and the simultaneous rise of the Ottoman Empire are also significant from a theological point of view. For the first time in European history, a Christian kingdom was overwhelmed by an Islamic one. The relevance of this event to the modern day Europe is quite obvious, as most scholars acknowledge â€Å"the clash of civilizations† today – a famous thesis of Professor Samuel Huntington. Hence, it is not an exaggeration to state that the reverberations of this clash of two radically different cultures are still felt in modern Europe. By 1453, the Byzantine kingdom was reduced to a small and weak entity that extended little beyond the city of Constantinople. But, in spite of their modest stature, the Byzantines antagonized most of their neighbours. To their disadvantage, â€Å"the Roman and Orthodox churches had mutually excommunicated one another in 1054, and although there had been a formal Bull of Union in 1439 there was still enmity between the two wings of the church. Constantines efforts to paint the plight of Constantinople as the plight of Christendom all but failed†1. As mentioned before, after 1453 Islam had entered the erstwhile Christianity dominated European kingdoms. If modern day Europe is seen as a culturally diverse continent, then the conditions for this outcome were set in the centuries following 1453 when the Ottoman Empire attained its peak. The flourishing of the Ottoman Empire was not just confined to military success. This period also saw the rise of Islamic art and architecture that would have a major influence in modern European art and architecture as well. Another legacy of the reign of the Sultans can be seen in the social and infrastructural organization of certain modern European cities. The

Facility Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Facility Management - Essay Example ‘Green buildings provide financial benefits that conventional buildings do not’ (Kats 2003). This dissertation attempts to find an optimum path for green construction where the possibly higher costs of using sustainable technologies and materials can be offset by lower running costs of such facilities. Facilities management mainly deals with the management of facilities of communal buildings like offices, colleges, hospitals, etc. Facility management is very similar to property management but is in most cases applied to larger commercial properties where the operations and management of the building is more extensive and complex. Newer buildings and facilities need to be developed with a ‘green’ design basis, contextual relevance, cost sensitivity, adherence to building code as also the fundamental requirement of functioning in the best manner possible i.e. it is very important that the building serve its necessity (Atkins& Brooks, 2005). A green building consists of several aspects, including the building envelope, building services including HVAC, Electricals, IBMS, Efficient waste management (including solid waste and e-waste) and a Water Balance Plan that seeks to reach a point where all the amount of water that the facility needs is used productively within it. S tress on the importance on the building envelope in the ‘greening’ of a facility is obvious, as it is in many ways the first line of defence against wasteful energy expenditure. It may be considered like an epidermal covering that regulates the inside, as also indicated the status of components within the body. It is important as a gateway between the climate-controlled interior and the uncontrolled exterior environment. This allows for a differentiation from the surroundings and provides an entity for the building on its own (Barret & Baldry, 1991). The

Global Economic Environment and Marketing Essay - 2

Global Economic Environment and Marketing - Essay Example The changes that have taken place in the world economy have led to the replacement of the traditional trade methods by capital movements. It can be observed that the global economy has given the local economies only a subordinate role in the market operations (Kotler et al., 2012). Economic systems have changed from what was traditionally known to new systems, which have taken into consideration the areas that are affected by globalization. The areas considered in modern economic systems include governance in various countries operating in the global market, capital and trade flows, hierarchy of command in terms of transport and communication, services funded through taxes and many others (Masterton &Pickton, 2004).The field of marketing in the global economy has experienced dynamic changes as well. Therefore, companies operating in the global economy should put into consideration these aspects and employ changes that fit the requirement of marketing in the modem global economy. The report will focus on McDonald, which is a multinational corporation operating in the fast food industry and supplying millions of customers across the world. (Solomon, 2009). The Macdonald Company has established its branches in almost all countries of the world. In this regard, the company experiences varied economic challenges and opportunities in different countries. With the current world economic state, the developing countries are struggling to better their economic status (Drummond et al., 2003).. In this case, the McDonald company experiences reduced economic gains in the developing countries compared to the developed nations. Another challenge that faces MacDonald Company in the global economy is the stiff competition in the developed economies. In this regard, it can be witnessed that operating in the international markets requires outstanding skills and knowledge since it involves dealing with high-level risk. Essentially, operating in a

Supply-Chain Flow Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Supply-Chain Flow Management - Case Study Example   Gaining customer loyalty is a corporate challenge today in this increasingly competitive and crowded marketplace because of the eventual profitability it will provide. The changing business world allowed customers to change as well. Company management had shifted their focus on their clients or customers so as to stay successful in business with the need to completely reformulate their conventional business aims and purposes from being process-focused to customer-centred. With the advent of technological innovations, logistical decisions about delivery operations, stockholding, warehousing and economies of scale get more complex solutions in today's business environment. According to Bowers, Martin and Luker (1990), supply chain management is considered as one of the most important strategic aspects of any business enterprise where decisions about coordinating of production of goods and services, store inventory, list of suppliers, and cost-effective and timely distribution are made. Supply chain management functions in order to design and manage the processes, assets and flows of material and information to answer the needs and demands of the customers and clients. The supply chain is traditionally characterized as a stable system in which components and goods move smoothly from supplier to assembly customers. In addition, supply chain refers to the suppliers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers that involved in manufacturing a product and getting it to consumers (Lee & Billinton, 1995). A supply chain is also defined as a network of independent or semi-independent corporation bodies collectively accountable for procurement, developing and or manufacturing and distribution scheme connected with one or more groups of related products (Janyashankar et al, 1996). Research study shows that supply chains increase in their complexity as the number of nodes increases (Bacharach and Lawler, 1980). They also argue that genetic algorithms can be an efficient method to locate a good solution quickly in one to fifty node networks. Supply chain design models are making decisions worth millions of dollars, usually without integrated analysis of the variability of the proposed system (Hane & Sudar, 1998) McKinnon's interview study found that Supply Chain managers are responding to such pressures by such actions as increased backloading, improved vehicle routing, greater load consolidation, the redesign of packaging and changes in the ordering system (McKinnon, 1998). As such, companies at present are deploying supply-chain management (SCM) systems to enhance efficiency across the product lifecycle by streamlining procurement, production, fulfilment, and distribution processes. To help ensure that an SCM solution provides the intended return on investment, the enterprise network infrastructure must work together seamlessly since its effectiveness depends on the ability of users to access up to the minute information across the supply chain. Organizations usually share proprietary corporate data with external suppliers and partners while ensuring maximum security. This requires integration of applications and data across multiple geographically dispersed supply chain partners, as well as internal integration with legacy systems.  

How Managers Can Apply Their Interpersonal, Informational and Essay

How Managers Can Apply Their Interpersonal, Informational and Decisional Roles to Influence the Performance of Their Organizatio - Essay Example Leadership is the process of manipulating other people to achieve specified objectives or goals. From a business point of view, a manager is a person, who has been given the mandate to influence the employees of a given organization in order to achieve the organization goals. Therefore, leadership roles are to communicate ideas, motivating employees, and gaining their commitment, enthusiasm, and acceptance so that they can support and implement the organizational goals and objectives. A manager should be a person who can perform the following roles; 1. Interpersonal roles: Should be able to perform, symbolic and ceremonial skills. Should also be one who can direct and monitor the subordinates, through communication and counsel, and be one who can maintain links in information through mail, meetings, and phone calls. 2. Informational roles: Can seek and receives information by maintaining personal contact with stakeholders and scanning periodicals and reports, transmits the informatio n to employees through reports, speeches and memos. 3. Decisional roles: An excellent manager is one who can come up with new ideas and delegate the idea responsibility to other persons. He should be one who can take the necessary action during crisis and disputes among his subordinates, a skilled negotiator who can represent his unit in budget, sales, purchases, and union contracts. Thematically, this paper seeks to show, by use of relevant case examples, how managers can influence successful performance of their organization through the application of the managerial skills discussed above. The three managerial roles will be discussed separately, in order to analyze each of them critically. Interpersonal roles Interpersonal skills are required, in order, for the manager to perform as a figurehead role in the organization, and this is considered to be a leading management function. An organization cannot succeed if the managers cannot direct and monitor their subordinates. In a case example; Intermatic Inc, a company located in spring Grove, Illinois was on the verge of bankruptcy. Jim miller, a former employee, was asked to return as president of the firm. He applied his interpersonal roles that enabled him to restructure the whole firm; he directed his staff and managed to bring the firm back from the edge of bankruptcy to its growth, profitability and survival (Lussier & Achua, 2010). For a manager to have strong interpersonal skills he should be capable of performing the following roles; 1. The figurehead role: Any manager or leader in an organization is capable of performing this role; it includes the caring out of basic tasks such as, presiding at meetings, and signing important documents (Davis, 2006). 2. The leader role: This is the role that influences how most leaders perform all other roles, the tasks that are preformed in this role include tasks like; evaluation of employee performance, coaching and giving instructions, training and hiring new empl oyees (Davis, 2006). 3. The liaison role: The liaison role is involved with the interacting and communicating with people outside the organization, and several tasks that include the developing of relationships, attending of professional meetings, maintaining contact with organizations and other people, and networking (Davis, 2006). Interpersonal skill is an individual’s capability to perform the above roles. In another case example, British airways hired a

Journal Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journal Report - Essay Example a) Truthfulness – does not only stating the facts. Being truthful meant avoiding slanting the facts to create a false and an inaccurate impression out of the actual facts. This is principle is crucial to dispel the negative connotation about the PR profession. b) Authenticity – meant being true to the profession. As differentiated from truthfulness, the PR practitioner must practice the craft with lofty objectives aside from the self-interest of its client. It meant practicing the profession with utmost integrity that the recipient of information conveyed by the practitioner should benefit those who receives it. c) Respect- meant the placing of proper value or importance to the public who will consume the information that the PR practitioner will dispense. It meant that in the practice of the craft, an ethical PR person should strive to provide better choices among its audience and to foster understanding instead of misinformation. d) Equity – meant the fair prac tice of the PR profession. It meant that a PR professional should not take advantage those who are in a less privilege situation in advancing its PR objectives. e) Social responsibility – just like any job, the PR profession must be exercised with a sense of social responsibility. This means taking into consideration the common good of the public at large as the PR person exercises his or her profession. It also means serving not only the interest of those who have, but also should serve the interest of those who have less in society. 2. Functions of PR I am interested with I am very much interested with the societal function of Public Relations. It is the function of Public Relation that deals with the public at large that includes functions such as consumer relations and marketing communication. I find this specific function of Public Relation that deals with the public a very exciting job because I am in a position not only to dispense news and information, but is also emp owered to shape the point of view, perspective and opinion of people about the product and organization I represent. When the above ethical principles is integrated in the practice of the craft, the PR profession can become a potent force for good; which can foster understanding and goodwill not only about the product and organization I represent but also on issues between people. 3. What is the significance of the article to the fields of public relations? The article discussed how the relationship between journalists and PR professionals are shifting from a love-hate relationship to a more cooperative environment because of the introduction of new technology. The traditional relationship of the two has been characterized as adversarial with the PR professionals always seeking the journalists and the journal was able to explain how this was â€Å"turned around†. This is significant because the literature explained how the emergence of technology and its platforms such as blo gs, twitters, social networking and LISTERV(e-mail list management software system), HARO (help a reporter out, a social networking site for journalists asking for sources for their stories) was able to transform the formerly distrustful relationship between the journalists and PR practitioners. 4. What is the sign

How Managers Can Apply Their Interpersonal, Informational and Essay

How Managers Can Apply Their Interpersonal, Informational and Decisional Roles to Influence the Performance of Their Organizatio - Essay Example Leadership is the process of manipulating other people to achieve specified objectives or goals. From a business point of view, a manager is a person, who has been given the mandate to influence the employees of a given organization in order to achieve the organization goals. Therefore, leadership roles are to communicate ideas, motivating employees, and gaining their commitment, enthusiasm, and acceptance so that they can support and implement the organizational goals and objectives. A manager should be a person who can perform the following roles; 1. Interpersonal roles: Should be able to perform, symbolic and ceremonial skills. Should also be one who can direct and monitor the subordinates, through communication and counsel, and be one who can maintain links in information through mail, meetings, and phone calls. 2. Informational roles: Can seek and receives information by maintaining personal contact with stakeholders and scanning periodicals and reports, transmits the informatio n to employees through reports, speeches and memos. 3. Decisional roles: An excellent manager is one who can come up with new ideas and delegate the idea responsibility to other persons. He should be one who can take the necessary action during crisis and disputes among his subordinates, a skilled negotiator who can represent his unit in budget, sales, purchases, and union contracts. Thematically, this paper seeks to show, by use of relevant case examples, how managers can influence successful performance of their organization through the application of the managerial skills discussed above. The three managerial roles will be discussed separately, in order to analyze each of them critically. Interpersonal roles Interpersonal skills are required, in order, for the manager to perform as a figurehead role in the organization, and this is considered to be a leading management function. An organization cannot succeed if the managers cannot direct and monitor their subordinates. In a case example; Intermatic Inc, a company located in spring Grove, Illinois was on the verge of bankruptcy. Jim miller, a former employee, was asked to return as president of the firm. He applied his interpersonal roles that enabled him to restructure the whole firm; he directed his staff and managed to bring the firm back from the edge of bankruptcy to its growth, profitability and survival (Lussier & Achua, 2010). For a manager to have strong interpersonal skills he should be capable of performing the following roles; 1. The figurehead role: Any manager or leader in an organization is capable of performing this role; it includes the caring out of basic tasks such as, presiding at meetings, and signing important documents (Davis, 2006). 2. The leader role: This is the role that influences how most leaders perform all other roles, the tasks that are preformed in this role include tasks like; evaluation of employee performance, coaching and giving instructions, training and hiring new empl oyees (Davis, 2006). 3. The liaison role: The liaison role is involved with the interacting and communicating with people outside the organization, and several tasks that include the developing of relationships, attending of professional meetings, maintaining contact with organizations and other people, and networking (Davis, 2006). Interpersonal skill is an individual’s capability to perform the above roles. In another case example, British airways hired a

Decisions in Paradise Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Decisions in Paradise Paper - Essay Example Issues Kava is an island located in the South Pacific. The country has certain social problems due to the fact that the region has a very diverse ethnic and cultural background. Diversity can lead to problems of segmentation between the populations. Another issue with the population of Kava is that the age composition is extremely low. In Kava over 50% of the population is under the age of 15. For business a population with such a low median age is bad because minors are not a part of the labor force of a nation. There are health concerns within the population of Kava. The country has been hit hard by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. If a lot of the employees are infected with the HIV virus this could have a negative impact on the company because the insurance costs are going to be high. Another issue with the population of Kava is that a large portion is indigenous. Indigenous cultures tend to have lower levels of formal education in comparison with urban cultures. A major business risk of do ing business in Kava is that the region is susceptible to multiple natural disasters scenarios including earthquakes, tsunamis, tornados, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes. The Kava territory is also susceptible to terrorist threats from internal and external sources. Problem Statement Kava is a country that has had troubles attracting foreign investment due to the underdevelopment of the region and the high risk of natural disasters. There is nothing the people of Kava can do about the inherent business risk that nature poses to companies that penetrate this marketplace. Environmental Analysis Doing business in Kava is a high risk proposition for Starbucks Cafe. The country is susceptible to many kinds of natural disasters. To offset the risk of this proposition the company can invest in insurance, but the premiums are going to be high. Despite the country’s susceptibility to natural disasters the country has valuable strategic agricultural crops for Starbuck s Cafe including coffee and cocoa. Due to the high unemployment and necessity of the region Kava would be a perfect location to implement a fair trade coffee plantation. Stakeholders Perspective There are numerous stakeholders that must be considered in any expansion plan into Kava. As a company investing in a foreign market the firm must act in the best interest of the shareholders. The shareholders of Starbucks Cafe expect expansion projects to generate a profit. To accept the project its net present value (NPV) must be higher than cero (Besley & Brigham, 2000). A second stakeholder group that must be considered is the government of Kava. The government of Kava is looking for ways to decrease the unemployment rate and increase its tax revenues. The only way for the government to achieve those goals is by attracting foreign investment. A third stakeholders group that has to be considered is the population of Kava. There are a lot of children living in Kava. Employing the adult popu lation will enable the parents to be able to provide food, medicine, and shelter to the innocent children. A large portion of the population of Kava is composed of indigenous people. Protecting their unique culture and identity is important. The diversity of the population

Approaches to Psychology Essay Example for Free

Approaches to Psychology Essay The psychoanalytic approach was started and developed mainly in Europe between 1900 and 1939 by Sigmund Freud, a Viennese doctor who specialized in neurology. As a doctor, he became interested in the field of hysteria the manifestation of physical symptoms without physical causes and became convinced that unconscious mental causes were responsible, and could be responsible for all mental disorders and even our personality. He created the theory of personality, and based his ideas upon intensive case studies of a considerable range of patients, especially his infamous study on Little Hans, a young boy who Freud carried out psychoanalysis upon. Bowlby (1946) applied Freuds theories when he used psychoanalysis on a large group of children with various ages on a study of habitual delinquency. The central emphasis is on dynamic, biological processes especially those taking place in the unconscious mind, and involves the idea of psychic determinism, i. e. Freudian slips. Freud said that we all have instinctual drives wishes, desires, needs, or demands, which are hidden and suppressed from the consciousness because society disapproves of their open expression. Freud proposes three main components of the mind; the id, the ego and the superego. The id operates on the pleasure principle and its goal is immediate gratification and reduction of tension caused by irrational impulses. The ego operates on the reality principle, and controls the id in its reaction with the world. The superego operates on the idealisation principle, with norms and values of society being internalised. According to this approach, we all undergo psychosexual stages oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital which gradually motivate the individual to focus on the libido, and can be linked with the Oedipus complex. The libido is described as psychic energy behind primary drives of hunger, aggression, sex and irrational impulses. Fixation at any of these stages can lead to behaviour in our adulthood reflecting earlier stages of our childhood, which are caused by unresolved conflicts. For example, fixation at the oral stage can cause adult behaviour that is centred on the mouth (eating, smoking, etc. ) The purpose of psychoanalysis was as a therapy to treat mental disorder by means of treating the unconscious mind. The methods that Freud used for investigating the unconsciousness were by means of case studies, and deep analysis and interpretation. Free association involves the uninhibited expression of thought association, no matter how bizarre or embarrassing, from the client to the analyst. Dream analysis involves the analyst attempting to decode the symbols and unravel the hidden meaning (the latent content) of a dream from the dreamers report (the manifest content). Freud used his theory to explain a number of topics. He explained that the development of personality came from fixations or defence mechanisms, and that aggression was caused by hydraulic drives and displacement. Abnormality was seen as the consequence of early traumas and repression, which subsequently could impair our moral and gender development, the latter being the result of the Oedipus complex. The psychoanalytic approach has been greatly influential within psychology, in areas such as psychotherapy and developmental theories, and also beyond in art, literature and other sciences, some 100 years since Freud first developed his ideas. His theory has had some experimental support in certain areas, such as repression and fixation. Freud introduced the world to the concept of the unconscious, and regarded his case studies like Little Hans and Anna O as firm empirical support for his theory. He thought his belief in determinism and detailed collection of data were scientific, yet many psychologists today argue that his theories and ideas are too biological, that is that they rely too much on the influence of basic instincts and physical drives. Most of Freuds ideas and concepts came from only a handful of results on the study of children. Freud could have allowed his own prejudices to shape his analysis, leading to no objective measures. His close interventions and feedback to the childs family could have changed the childs behaviour and that of its family. Psychoanalysis lacks rigorous empirical support, especially regarding normal development, and leads to reductionism, i. e. it reduces human activity to a basic set of structures, which cant account for behaviour. Freuds ideas have been accused of being irrefutable, and are therefore theoretically unscientific. Another approach to psychology is the behaviourist approach, which concentrates on the theory of learning and behavioural therapy, and tries to explain behaviour in terms of its relation to environmental events (stimuli), rather than any innate factors. The view that behaviour should be the sole subject matter of psychology was first advanced by the American psychologist John B. Watson in the early 1900s. His position came to be called behaviourism. He believed that psychologists could not afford to speculate upon the unobservable inner workings of the mind, since they are too private to be studied scientifically. For the behaviourist, much of their research focuses on objectively observable behaviour, rather than any internal process. The approach proposes that behaviour is radical, and that it is caused and maintained in this way.

Cracks Detection using Digital Image Processing

Cracks Detection using Digital Image Processing Cracks detection using digital image processing   in MATLAB Usually visual investigation methods have been used for inspection and monitoring of concrete infrastructures. Huge and tall structure such as cables bridges, high rising towers, dams and industrial power plant are known to have an inaccessible area and limitations in inspection field due to its geometry structure which is often dangerous , labor -intensive and involves lot of risks. So, with rapid development in technology and its uses, researcher   are trying to overcome these problem. Every now and then some research is going regarding these problem and trying to overcome it. So, I also have come with the idea of using digital Image processing   in mat lab to detect the cracks in such structure. Literature   Review:- As   of todays world, digital Image processing is getting better and better   and used in all areas of science. With   the help of digital image processing tools, various image processing can be applied to detects the cracks in structure. Not only in structures but also for   bridges, towers, power plant and also in structure   like steel ,roads, fatigues and sewer pipes. A number of research studies have been conducted regarding   detection of cracks by using Digital   image processing .(1)The author of Korea Institute   combines UAV technology in the process of recent breakthroughs and digital image analysis techniques   to detect cracks in structure. In this study, the crack detection program with digital image analysis techniques was developed in order to the crack and width of the structure automatically. The developed program attempted to perform the image analysis for crack detection with Morphology method based morphological hydraulics and specially designed Morphological link for crack(Morph link-C)algorithm for S/W development was applied to the program. The digital image was acquired in order to evaluate UAV applicability and performance and field application of the crack detecting program after targeting the bridges in common use. Comparing with the measured values in order to verify reliability of the new structural inspecting system for application in this study, it is verified that the accuracy above a certain level is secured. Also, The below three core technologies shall be considered to develop the technology possible to detect cracks and calculate crack width of large structure through the digital image analysis and to put this technology to practical use. Optimal digital image acquisition and filming equipment configuration Crack analysis technique of a number of mass digital images Combining technique of multiple images that different positions are captured And also the author from china(2)  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   proposed   inspection system for measuring cracks in concrete structure and providing objective crack data to be used in safety assessment. The system consists of the mobile robot system and crack detecting system. The mobile robot system is controlled to keep a constant distance from the wall to acquire image data with a CCD camera on scanning along the wall. The crack detecting system extracts crack information from the acquired image using image processing. To improve accuracy of crack recognition, the geometric properties and patterns of cracks in a structure were applied to image processing. Also,   an inspection system using an image process, which can be a solution to the problems of crack detection in concrete structure, slow rate, subjectivity, and the inefficiency in managing data. Also, the system ensures the validity and possibility based on the experiment in the indoor structure, road tunnel, and subway tunnel. However, an erroneous recognition of a crack as non-crack and vice versa prevails. Therefore, the system is semi automated to get rid of wrong recognition of non crack as crack, and to identify crack by a graph search method using the user-based input of the start point and end-point of crack. In order for a crack inspection system to develop into an expert system, there needs to be further study of the characteristics of cracks and the algorithm must move towards complete automation. Similarly,(3) The Komatsu Engineering Company has developed and commercialized an image acquisition system that can acquire the images of road and tunnel lining by using a laser-scanning device .(4) The Railway Technical Research Institute in Japan developed an image acquisition system of railway tunnel lining by using line CCD cameras. (5)Road ware Group Inc., Canada commercialized a system that acquires an image of the road with a CCD camera, an ultrasonic sensor, and a gyro-sensor with a speed of80km/h and a resolution of 3~4cm [7]. Those systems are useful to collect data of cracks, leakage, scale, and spall but only by using the image acquisition, and not through automatic defect detection. The algorithm for crack detection and measurement is required for fully automatic inspection system. It is necessary, therefore, to develop the automatic crack detection and measurement algorithm to obtain both fast inspection and objective crack data. From the author of University of central Florida , paper describes the mechanism of non-destructive bridge inspection methods using HRDI and HDV digital crack detection and IR thermograph   technology and the benefits of the combination thereof. The feasibility of applying these technologies for in-service bridge inspections are demonstrated and evaluated in the State of Florida under  the university-government-industry collaboration research program. The purpose of the joint research effort is to utilize the innovative technology for more efficient bridge inspection programs and bridge management in Florida by developing a new quantitative performance measure for long term bridge monitoring, such as crack ratio and delaminated area, and the use of objective data resulting in more efficient and scientific bridge inspection database and management system. With the quantity of roadway structure assets increasing annually, coupled with concurrent increasing rates of deteriorati on being experienced by many of the existing structures, bridge owners need to find new and creative ways to ensure the structural safety of their bridges while they all too often face problems of reduced budgets and dedicated bridge inspection resources. Currently, the determination of bridge condition ratings in  many countries is generally subjective depending on individual inspectors knowledge and experience, as well as varying field conditions. For the evaluation and documentation of concrete deterioration (cracks, efflorescence, delaminating, spalls, etc.) and changes overtime, the current practice of visual inspections can be lacking in accuracy and completeness, as well as time consuming and costly if road closures and access equipment  are required for the inspection. Using the proposed new non-destructive technologies, bridge engineers can quickly and efficiently obtain objective current bridge condition information that has traditionally been obtained by more time con suming and more subjective close-up visual inspections and sounding tests. The digital output of these NDE inspection techniques improves on-site inspection safety and objectivity and contributes to improved inspector efficiency by significantly reducing the amount of inspection time in the field. However, it must be noted that while most of the NDE or sensor technologies do offer new efficiencies and/or additional objective assessment results to the bridge inspection process, they are not a substitute for inspectors conducting on-site specific follow-up and detailed structure investigations. While improved efficiencies in bridge inspection methods resulting from the application of the above NDE technologies bring significant benefits to the overall bridge inspection process, they are not a substitute for the continued need for sound and experienced engineering judgment. The authors believe that by offering new and improved inspection technologies to experienced bridge engineers and inspectors, bridge inspection programs will be strengthened through enhanced inspection data and will be more objective, consistent, scientific, and efficient. Based on the nature of calculation   and development of technology approach to process image, Image Processing Technique for crack detection can be divided into several categories. Each image consists of pixel which are represented by its integer values from 0 to 255. Based on these pixel values Operation technique conducted is accomplished in the spatial domain. However , desirable outcome cannot be obtained in spatial domain. So in this case ,usually Fourier or wavelet transformation is performed on the image. Again, the outcome image is processed in frequency domain. After wise, to reconstruct the image in spatial domain   an inverse transformation is applied. Another procedure to detect cracks using image is based on the training algorithm to solve a problem. In this process ,some technique directly deal with image without any training while other first construct   a database which is divided into two subsets, the subset with crack image and subset with un-cracked images. For each subset ,a decision line is defined to represent the characteristics index, such as shape factor. With the help of these image , a program is used which is capable of comparing new images with decision line and assign it to the subset where it belongs. Especially Neural network and clustering   method are widely used among the popular training techniques to learn the decision line. Basically, two approaches have been applied to detect cracks from the images.   Using dye solution and the other is without using dye solution to the surface material. Usually ,In this dye based detection process, a particular dye solution such as fluorescent is injected on the surface of concrete or other material. Depending on the solution type   and color special or ordinary cameras are used to scan the surface of the material. These dye based method were used in past for detection of mini or micro cracks in different types of material like concrete ,ceramics tiles etc and also any kind of structure. The other approach for finding crack   is based on the color image without using dye solution. Since these method is less costly and less time consuming it is currently more popular. A number of research studies have been conducted regarding the surface   crack detection technique in different material. One of these attempts can be seen in work of Kittler at al. They proposed an idea of training based algorithm to get samples of the region, which are void of defects in the spatial domain. In this process, the new pictures were analyzed for the presence of any defects and also to find the location of the defects. In this method, clustering technique and morphological operation were performed to analyze the images. The experimental output of this method is shown in the figure below.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Figure . Crack detection on ceramic tiles (Kittler, Marik, et al. 1994) Image processing technique has been used for inspection of cement based materials for micro cracks and other micro defects (Ammouchea at al 2000). In this process, a red dye solution is used with the surface. So the dye solution can penetrate the porous region of the surface while the excessive solution are   removed by polishing the sample surface. Once the dye solution is injected, a color image of 256 x 265 was taken from camera of the surface. The following operation is carried out on the taken image. O(x,y) = max { R(x,y)0 G(x,y) } Where, O(x,y) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Intensity of the output gray level image at (x,y) co-ordinates R(x,y) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Intensity of the original image at (x,y) co-ordinate in red region. G(x,y) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Intensity of the original image at (x,y) co-ordinate in gray region. Afterward, using a thresholding value, the gray level   image is converted to the binary image. Then, using entropy maximization method value of the thresholding is evaluated. This method is based on maximization of the entropy function à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã¢â‚¬Å" of gray level pixel. à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã¢â‚¬Å"(k)=   [  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   ] where, Pà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢ is the probability of a given pixel to have an intensity of i (Pà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢=Nà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢/N)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ni Number of pixel having i intensity   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   N Total no of pixel   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Wà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ W1 Lower and upper bound of the probability to find pixel intensity And also computed as:-   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   k Based on the threshold to obtain binary image, a lower bound thresholding operation is performed. Then , using two morphological operations of eroding and rebuilding the binary image is post processed. This operation is conducted to eliminate noisy and small objects (i.e. Less than 10 pixel) from the image. However, second series of operation are needed to obtain the shape factors which are used to decide whether the pixels in a binary image are associated with cracks or other defects. To do so, a dimensionless packing density index Fc is defined. Fc = (2-4) Where, Aab=Object area Aac= Area of its circumscribed circle The value of Fc is equal to 1 for a circle and tends towards 0 for a very elongated object.Fig below shows results obtained in this method Fig. Also, Abdel-Ghader (_Abdel,Osama and kelly 2003) proposed an idea to find cracks on concrete surface using image processing technique .In this work, they implemented   and compared 4 cracks detection method   which include Fast   Haar Transform( FHT), Fast Fourier Transform( FFT),Sobel edge detector   and canny edge detection. They used 50   concrete image from a bridge deck of which 25 pictures with cracks and 25 pictures without cracks for   their research .From their research ,they concluded that FHT was more efficient and effective method rather than other 3 method. Basically, FHT, a simplified   Wavelet transformation decomposes the image into low and high frequency components, the mother Wavelet à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ª(t) of Haar function and scaling à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã¢â‚¬Å"(t) are defined as: à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ª(t) =   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Relationship between Haar wavelet and scaling function and scaling function with itself is shown below   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   à ¡Ã‚ ´Ã‚ ª(t)=)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   (t)=) In this process, to detect crack the three quadrants of the first level transformation i.e. 2,34 are passed through a high pass filter to reduce nose and   combined together to get magnitude of images. To decide whether crack exists or not, an empirical thresholding value is used. Fast   Fourier transfer motion (FFT) are used to derive the frequency component of the image intensity. The transformation and   the inverse transformation were carried out using: F(u, v)= F(x, y)= The canny edge detection is a convolution filter to detect filter noise from the image while processing. In addition, thresholding value is defined to see if a pixel belongs to an edge region or not. The   Sobel edge detection is also a convolution filter defined for vertical and horizontal edges in images. This edge detection technique helps to detect the change in the image intensity in neighboring pixels. Filtering was done using convolution operation for each filter separated. Then, two filtered images is combined together at each location and result is a gray level image with enhanced edges. G x =   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   G y= Default value of thresholding is defined as  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   where Another attempt to detect cracks in concrete specimen using optical fluorescent microscopy can be found in   this research( Litorowicz   2006). To continue these processes, a fluorescent dye solution   was used. The specimens were then light using Nikon optical microscope at a magnification of 10 times. The images were captured using a Sony DXC 350 P video camera. Then, image pro Plus analysis software was introduced to perform the image processing operation. Then, using segmentation method, the RGB images is connected into a binary image. The threshold level was calculated based on the effect of the dye solution to the surface. To distinguish cracks pattern, several parameters were introduced: Angle between the vertical axis and the major axis of the ellipse covering   the connected component Area of each connected component Dendritic   length, which is the total length of all the one-pixel thick branches.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   4. Area ratio (i.e. of the area of the counted object and the entire area of the active image.)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   5.Radius ratio (i.e. The ratio of maximum radius and minimum radius for each connected component)   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   6. Roundness using perimeter 2/4à Ã¢â€š ¬2 x Area. Intelligent crack detection on the concrete crack image using neural network was proposed in Moon and Kim paper (2011). This research was conducted to develop an automatic detection system that analyze the concrete surface and visualize the crack more effectively and efficiently. Basically this research consists of two parts: Image processing and image classification. First stage include image processing tools like filtering, subtraction and morphological operation in order to extract cracks from the background image (i.e. data such as the number of pixel and the ratio of major axis to minor axis for pixel area. While in second step, existences of cracks are identified using neural network to automate the image classification. In this process, 105 images (cracked and non-cracked) of concrete were used as a trained image including every kind of cracks. Following steps were carried out for image processing : Fig. Image processing steps   to detect cracks First step in image processing is to convert RGB image into gray level intensity image followed by a subtraction transformation as follows: à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- ) = à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥ {à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¡Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ËœÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ½Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã…“-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- [à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼(à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- ) à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼(à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ- )], 0} Where ,I(xi)   and I(xj) are   the intensity pixel of xi and X j respectively.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Ri Neighborhood of that pixel xà ¡Ã‚ µÃ‚ ¢ . When the subtraction is negative number, it is represented as zero. Once improved subtraction method is used, threshold value is defined to detect cracks more effectively. The thresholding operation is given as: à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦) = {2 ÃÆ'- à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Å" à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   > à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¡   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  (à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¥, à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¦)  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ-à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬Å" à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¼Ãƒ °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¡ To further smooth the image, a Gaussian law pass filter was applied. Then, an input gray level image is converted to a binary image where the values are represented as 0 or 1. Using Otsus   method or valley emphasis method, the threshold value was selected. Morphological image processing including closing and   labeling were applied to the image to extract image component such as shape of crack. The optimal parameters and their level associated with above operation are   mentioned below:   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Fig. Parameters and their levels Using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) crack images were distinguished from non-cracked images. Also images were automatically identified as the crack or non-cracked images using ANN. The output value was represented either cracked (value 1) or non-cracked (value 2). Another example of tracing based image processing technique can be found on Nishikawa research paper (2012). A robust automated image processing method was applied to crack detection on concrete surface. This method consists of two parts: First part consists of automatic construction of a filter for crack detection while the other part consists of noise removal and determination of indistinct cracks using iterative process. Using generic algorithm the part is conducted, where genetic individuals was represented as a tree structure. Using a trained   program, a large number of images were combined and several images filtered were converted into a tree structure. An illustration of tree structure concept is shown below.   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Fig. Construction of Tree structure   with multiple filters(Aoki and Nagao 1999) A combination of generic program was computed to train the program and results were compared to the target image (i.e. image generated by visual inspection. The comparison was between the distinct distributions of brightness between the images. To measure the filter performance the following formula was used. E= Where,    N- No of training images in database K-th target image -Output image -weighted image . -   Brightness of the weighted image in crack region )- brightness of k-th target image at position (i,j) To reduce the false negative result, a superimposition operation using low resolution image was implemented. Figure below shows the algorithm used in above algorithm. { algorithm}