Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Warehouse Management System

In a WMS, we aim to observe the maximized profits with a minimized cost with certain computerized procedures to enable a seamless process of warehouse operation. With the above consideration, we come up with 4 main special features that are essential to be equipped in the WMS. First of all, we need to have barcode labeling for all the stocks in the warehouse in order to identify each product, keep record in the system and find them out easily.It is necessary for us to have detailed information of every stock in the warehouse by simply identifying the barcode labels with wireless inventory scanner, which could save time, reduce paper work and greatly increase the productivity and accuracy when handling stocks. Barcode labeling is fundamental for WMS as we need to keep tracking the stocks throughout the whole warehouse operation process. Secondly, we think that efficiency is also an undeniable element in WMS, which we consider auto-conveyer as one of our choice of special features to e nhance the efficiency.Auto-conveyor could reduce the need of man power and it is much speedy than the manually controlled way when moving stocks as it could quickly retrieve wanted items. Auto conveyor could also handle some simple sorting and identification work, which greatly reduce the need of manpower. Thirdly, virtual warehouse would be our core feature in the WMS, it acts as an important role in both order management and put away and packing. It provides a comprehensive physical view of the warehouse. With a virtual warehouse, we could have a clear idea of the operating warehouse through the browser.It could facilitate the decision making in the WMS as we could control a lot of process with a virtual warehouse. Indeed, a virtual warehouse is a system that involved a lot of components, but we are now focusing on the order management and the put away and picking management. With WMS, orders could be generated easily on the internet as the information of customers, suppliers and the stocks are kept in the system. It is convenient to add items, notes and select the customer or supplier for your purchase or sales order.This may improve the efficiency and is environmentally friendly when compared with the paper file. It is much less time-consuming to find out the order and customer information. For the put away management, the WMS could utilize the optimum locations for the stocks received in the warehouse automatically. Also in the picking management, the WMS could decide the best location for picking. With this system, we do not have to waste time on finding storage location, while having a greater control in the allocation of resources and facilitates time management.In fact, the virtual warehouse could not work alone, while barcode labeling and auto-conveyor assisted the virtual warehouse a lot in the stance of automation and computerization. They three are interrelated and the virtual warehouse is in the leading position among them, which means it is impo rtant in connecting different parts of a warehouse and make the WMS works. Although the above 3 special features has provide us convenience, efficiency and accuracy, we could not fully rely on a computerized system but to have a feature that could reduce our mistakes to the minimum, ideally, zero mistake.Thus the last feature we include in our WMS is cycle counting. Cycle counting reduces the need for the time-consuming and costly process of shutting down the manufacturing process in order to count inventory, which the inventory auditing procedure is carried out according to a continuous schedule. The result would be a more accurate calculation of stocks in the warehouse. To conclude, we think these four features are able to make a WMS that could control material movement efficiently and most possibly making the maximum profit.

What Is Strategic Spatial Planning Environmental Sciences Essay

IntroductionStrategic spacial planning is arguably an attack which rails against the discourse of the scientific rational comprehensive theoretical accounts of be aftering which has and still does keep a big influence in current manners of planning. This short essay will hopefully explicate to contrivers why a strategic spacial planning attack is more contributing in the current context which we find ourselves in. This will be done through replying a set of inquiries which will clear up the attack, its intent and methods, how it differs from rational comprehensive attacks of maestro planning and land usage planning, why contrivers should utilize it, what can be expected from it, and its utility.What is Strategic Spatial Planning?Strategic spacial planning is a method to assist work out complex spatial jobs through making strategic visions and new spacial individualities. Harmonizing to Kaufman and Jacobs ( in Albrechts, 2001 ) strategic systems originated in the US around the 1950 â €˜s due to the demand for quickly altering and turning corporations to be after efficaciously and pull off their hereafters at a clip when the hereafter seemed ill-defined. In Europe, strategic spacial planning dated back to the 1920s and 30s, and was used to direct the activities of others ( Mastop in Albrechts, 2001 ) . From Albrechts ( 2006 ) it can be understood that the word ‘spatial ‘ brings into focal point the ‘where ‘ of things, the creative activity and direction of particular ‘places ‘ and sites every bit good as the interrelatednesss between different activities in an country, and important intersections and nodes within an country. This spacial focal point allows for a more effectual manner of incorporating different dockets – such as, economic, societal, and cultural – and their spacial impacts ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . The word ‘strategy ‘ has its roots within a military context ; in ancient conflict ground forcess would work out a scheme prior to the conflict on how best to get the better of the enemy. It is understood that this type of scheme had four basic elements – an accurate apprehension of the existent state of affairs, realistic ends, focused resources in countries where they would be most effectual, and continuity of the action until the coveted result is achieved ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . These elements are strongly rooted in systems of strategic spacial planning. In its entireness, strategic spacial planning is a procedure which is directed at a limited figure of strategic cardinal issue countries. It determines an countries strengths and failings in the context of its chances and menaces ; it scans external tendencies, and the resources that are available. It gathers major public and private stakeholders and allows for a wide and diverse procedure of engagement. It develops a realistic long-run vision along with schemes in order to pull off and act upon spacial alteration. Importantly it is orientated towards determinations, actions, consequences, and execution, in the short, average and long-run ( Albrechts, 2001 ) . â€Å" It is so impossible to understand material topographic points and societal nodes such as ‘the metropolis ‘ , ‘the city-region ‘ and ‘the part ‘ in footings of a unidimensional hierarchy of graduated tables † ( Albrechts, 2010:6 ) . This definition illustrates that strategic spacial planning is non a individual construct or process, but it is a set of constructs, processs and tools that are tailored carefully to whatever state of affairs is presented ( Albrecht, 2001 ) . Furthermore it is a development-led attack and a transformative and integrative, public sector-led, and socio-spatial procedure through which a vision, consistent actions and agencies for execution are produced ; these are so able to determine and border what a topographic point is and its potency of what it may go ( Albrechts, 2006 )How does it differ from MASTER PLANNING and LAND USE PLANNING?In order to understand the difference one needs to understand the principle of land usage planning and maestro planning. Land usage planning is a procedure of be aftering which is concerned with the location, strength, signifier, sum, and harmonisation of land development required for a assortment of spacial utilizations ; such as lodging, industry, diversion, conveyance, instruction, and agribusiness. A land usage program in this case fundamentally embodies a proposal as to how land should be used within a set of considered policy as enlargement and restructuring advancement in the hereafter ( Albrechts, 2004 ) . Traditional land usage planning is a more inactive planning attack aimed at commanding land usage through a zoning system and through ordinances. This harmonizing to Albrechts ( 2006 ) seems unfit for bridging the spread between plan-making, political decision-making and execution. This was one of the grounds why the demand arose for a different type of be aftering – a move off from regulative policy and instruments to a development-led attack which aims to step in more straight, coherently and selectively in societal world and development – strategic spacial planning ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . For Albrechts ( 2001 ) strategic spacial planning is to a certain extent rendered towards an integrated socio-economic class of action that supersedes the mere focal point on land usage planning. For Master Planning on the other manus, Friedman ( 2007 ) found that it is about a universally recognized signifier of planning pattern. His study found that in state after state, metropoliss through their authoritiess are mandated to bring forth maestro programs. Basically within these maestro programs states specify future land utilizations and location determinations. Maestro planning is a wholly inactive pattern and harmonizing to Friedman ( 2007 ) it needs to be rethought as it is out of line with the dynamic flows of globalization. Friedman ( 2007 ) defines master be aftering as being typically municipal programs instead than regional programs, and as being entirely concerned with land usage instead than with the entire spectrum of urban policy issues. They are drawn up by a specialised subdivision of municipal authorities instead than through a wider procedure of collaborative deliberation, and the procedure used to pull up maestro programs and acquiring them approved takes old ages therefore rendering them out-dated by the clip they can be implemented. Besides they are top-down, with comparatively minimal citizen engagement, and in conclusion when it comes to big scale undertakings ; maestro programs are frequently set aside to let for necessary alterations in land usage and circulation forms ( Friedman, 2007 ) . Opposing this, spacial planning is derived non from an functionary, compulsory character like maestro planning but from a function that coordinates instruments closely intertwined with urban policy formation and the design and execution of large-scale undertakings. Spatial be aftering involves a scope of histrions that include communities, authorities functionaries and private stakeholders. The chief intent of spacial planning is non to mandate peculiar land uses – as is in the case of maestro be aftering – but to let for a better coordination of urban policies and large-scale undertaking developments across infinite, to prove alternate policies and designs through revising their societal deductions, and to let for an informed public discourse about them ( Friedman, 2007 ) . In metropoliss such as the new downtown peninsula of Vancouver, maestro planning has been abandoned for systems of spacial planning in which be aftering returns by manner of affecting public hearings, bargaining, and dialogues. The consequences of this passage over a period of 25 old ages are testimony to the viability non merely of the Vancouver theoretical account but besides of the more abstract spacial planning theoretical account ( Friedman, 2007 ) .What are its chief PURPOSES and METHODS?Strategic spacial planning as mentioned earlier is used for complex jobs where governments at different degrees and different sectors and private histrions are reciprocally dependent ( Albrecht, 2001 ) . The theoretical account designs plan-making constructions and develops content, images and determination models which can act upon and pull off spacial alteration. It is about building new thoughts and processes that can transport these constructions through, therefore bring forthing ways of ap prehension, ways of consensus, and ways of organizing and mobilising for the intent of exercising influence in different spheres ( Albrecht, 2006 ) . Both is the short and long term, strategic spacial planning focal points on bordering determinations, actions, undertakings, consequences and execution, and incorporates monitoring, feedback, accommodation and alteration of the result. Its intent therefore is non a new political orientation prophesying a new universe order but as a method for making and maneuvering a better hereafter for a topographic point based on shared values ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . Albrechts ( 2006 ) goes farther on to explicate that the seven chief purposes of a strategic undertaking are – to develop an incorporate advanced attack for the assorted undertaking types ; to develop a to the full operational model based on sustainability ; to develop tools for quality direction ; to broaden the multi-actor/multi-level policy scenes and to measure current scenes ; to circulate the attack ; to develop an educational theoretical account ; and to set up a web of cognition between research workers, professionals, and authoritiess ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . The capacity for these undertakings to present the coveted result is dependent foremost on the system itself and on the conditions underlying it – such as structural restraints, and political, cultural, and professional attitudes towards spacial planning. The planning procedure is non intended to flux swimmingly from one stage to the following. It is a dynamic and originative procedure wherein new positions and facts that arise today may change the determinations made yesterday ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . This illustrates that it is ne'er a fixed procedure but is in a uninterrupted start of alteration from get downing to stop. The visions and frames which guide this procedure are ne'er ‘a given ‘ , instead they are to be constructed. The procedure of picturing is the procedure by which groups develop visions of future provinces for themselves, their administrations, metropolis, or their part that are clear, powerful and realistic. Basically this means that the visions are to be constructed within a specific context and scale sing issues that are of involvement within that infinite and within a peculiar combination of histrions. This is to be done within a method that to the full recognises the conditions of power, inequality, and diverseness. â€Å" The vision describes a metropolis or part as it may look like in the hereafter, and it must appeal to the long-run involvements of histrions who have a interest in the metropolis or part † ( Albrechts, 2010:8 ) .Why do this sort of planning?Strategic spacial planning undertakings conduct an in-depth survey of the country, therefore giving pen chant to the location being affected over anything else. With this these undertakings study external tendencies and the resources available hence leting for a wide and diverse procedure. Besides, by doing usage of this type of planning, contrivers are able to aim a assortment of countries ; including urban, rural, and economic countries ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . In the case of urban countries, strategic urban undertakings are utile as they aim to consolidate, transform, restructure or recycle the urban countries for new and emerging demands from public and private histrions. With respects to rural countries, strategic undertakings are utile as they aim to transform rural and suburban kineticss into a more sustainable and qualitative signifier of development while non burying to heighten the cultural significance of these infinites. Last, economic countries are seen as an of import portion of the attempt to maintain up international economic fight. Strategic undertakings seek to turn away from the old construct of concern Parkss spacial construct and direction to a focal point on the demands of houses that are to be translated into specifically designed employment locations ( Albrechts, 2006 ) .And what can we anticipate from it?This inquiry can be divided into two parts ; ‘we ‘ as contrivers and ‘we ‘ as the populace and private histrions. First, the essay will mean to the reference the latter portion. Strategic spacial planning undertakings are strategic to accomplish visions, ends, and aims from a assortment of policy sectors, and are to incorporate the community being affected. Visions is arguably one of the most of import factors of strategic undertakings as they are expected to be placed within the specific context, topographic point, clip and degree, and are to see specific issues that are of involvement to the different histrions ( Albrechts, 2006 ) . Basically what can be expected from strategic spacial planning undertakings is a critical analysis of the chief procedures and structural restraints which form infinites, which adds into a realistic, dynamic, integrated, and declarative long-run vision. It will supply a program for short-run and long-run actions, a budget, and a flexible scheme for execution ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . In footings of the undertakings eventual execution, it will supply believable committednesss to action battle and a clear and expressed nexus to the budget therefore leting for citizens, private-sector, different degrees of administration, and contrivers to come in a consensus ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . ‘We ‘ as contrivers will anticipate a different set of tools, tools which will steer the contriver on what to anticipate when moving as a strategic spacial contriver. For Albrechts ( 2010 ) , he finds it unthinkable that the contriver should move simply as a impersonal perceiver and chorus from playing a function in the building of visions and images. Alternatively, Albrechts suggests that contrivers should be needfully involved, and instrumental in confirming, explicating and implementing images and visions. This is a logical position, as if contrivers simply observe, there expertness in certain state of affairss are non shared, and their utility would be greatly undermined. Strategic spacial contrivers are to alternatively, challenge their ain ‘mental discourse ‘ which limit their creativeness, and get down afresh therefore leting for their creativeness and resourcefulness to flux and to be used in formulating, designing, and constructing new constructs and discourses ( Albrechts, 2010 ) .How utile is it?Strategic spacial planning is a flexible procedure that trades with complex jobs and is able to repair to a broad scope of jobs, but besides trades with each job unambiguously. This characteristic makes the attack really utile as it applies to a scope of different issues. For illustration ; the metropolis of Barcelona started utilizing a strategic planning attack in 1988 in order to heighten the cooperation between the public and private sector with the hope that the sweeten ing will beef up the place of the metropolis as a campaigner for the Olympic Games ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . The metropolis of Turin which was inspired by Barcelona besides undertook a strategic attack in the mid 1990 ‘s, for Turin this formed the footing for rethinking the potency of a former monopolistic town that had been extremely affected by the rise of the car industry. The purpose for Strategic spacial planning here was to transform Turin into a European city – â€Å" a metropolis of activities and know-how † ( Albrechts, 2010:5 ) . For the metropolis of Bilbao, the vision was to transport the metropolis into the economic, fiscal, and cultural capital of the Atlantic Arc. Last, for Prague, strategic spacial planning focused on incorporating the metropolis into European constructions ( Albrechts, 2010 ) . From this it is clear that strategic spacial planning is applicable to a diverse scope of issues and can accommodate easy to what is required in the context for which it is visualizing, therefore rendering it a utile attack to planning.DecisionFrom the information discussed in this essay the attack of strategic spacial planning has been explained. Through utilizing such an attack to be aftering it can be deduced that infinites can be become more active and synergistic both on a local graduated table – and the sectors within that scale – and on an international graduated table. â€Å" In short, episodes of strategic spacial planning informed by â€Å" relational complexness † constructs which accumulate sufficient power to â€Å" go † efficaciously and have digesting stuff and mental effects should be judged in the long-run in footings of their capacity to enrich the inventive resources, originative energies and administration civilizations through which quality of life and experience of diverse citizens and stakeholders in peculiar topographic points are likely to be enhanced. † ( Healey, 2006:19 )

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Difference Between The Two States Of The Community Surrounding Education

Facilitating and increasing possibilities in education remains to be a focal concern among states as it serves as an instrument for development and growth. This is why many states spend a large amount of income and resources for enhancing education to meet the demands of the population in general and the current trends in today’s society. Though there may be similarities in the overall objective, governments apply different e and varied strategies to make such effort a possibility.This can be seen if the educational system of the United States and Saudi Arabia be compared accordingly. Upon close observation, one can see there are striking similarities and differences between the two. They are similar â€Å"in terms of government spending on education, freedom to choose the school where they will attend to, and education for people with special needs, while differ in terms of attitude towards education, literacy rate, religion in school, gender roles, grading scales, and stage s of education† (Stevenson, 2008, p. 1).One major difference between the two states revolves around the attitudes and views of the community surrounding education. Compared to the United States wherein students are expected to attend class in a mandatory manner, Saudi Arabia does not impose such standards on students and remains to be open on individuals who seek to learn (Stalinsky, 2008). This in turn makes the system in United States strict and accountable towards creating educational policies. Another major difference is the statistics and numbers present as far as literacy rate is concerned.The United States educational system boasts of a 99% literacy rate for both men and women and continuously seeks new methods and mechanisms to solidify growth. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia fairs relatively lower than its counterpart and only provide 84. 7% for men and 70. 8% for women (Stevenson, 2008, p. 1). This is why the country is resolved towards establishing numerous framewor ks to help alleviate the increasing number of illiterate in the region. Curriculum content and facilitation is another difference between Saudi Arabia and American education.America offers its curriculum in a diversified manner and caters to different areas such as Physical and Social Sciences. Contrary to this, teaching Islam has been the focal point of Saudi Arabia’s educational system. It derives from the Sharia (Islamic Law) and the Quran as the basis for teaching (Ministry of Education, 2004). Equally men who have been trained under this can provide â€Å"religious secondary education with focus primarily on Islamic and Arabic Studies† (Stevenson, 2008, p. 3).Lastly, the scope of education is also another component that differentiates between the two states. In the United States, the curriculum is equally administered and facilitated both males and females. On the other hand, for Saudi Arabia, â€Å"education is divided into three separately administered systems: general education for boys, education for girls and traditional Islamic education for boys† (Stevenson, 2008, p. 3). Though there has been a move within the government to expand the scope of instruction for women, this practice continues to be prevalent in Saudi Arabia’s society.To conclude, though both the United States and Saudi Arabia are committed towards creating available education for everyone, they have different ways of applying such principle. These differences can be rooted to various cultural beliefs and practices that continue to shape how people think in two states. In the end, despite these differences, it can be argued that each one is committed in providing the necessary avenues to increase proficiency and develop schemes to make its citizens competent and ready to address the challenges of the 21st century.

Monday, July 29, 2019

In Britain, Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was the most Essay

In Britain, Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp was the most numerically significant form of women's political activism since the - Essay Example As the camp gained fame and publicity, the aims of their movement increased. They now demanded the removal of their cruise and started challenging the gender stereotypes of their time (Wilkison, 2002). In addition, the women also came up with a gendered critique of militarism, even as they asked for the restoration of common land to its prior state. The women camp was largely considered a feministic movement, and this raised different reactions from different people. The Greenham protest had a grand contribution in Britain. The number of women groups and campaigns were on the increase as a result of the protest. Anti-war movements and peace activism groups also drastically increased. In 1980, there was the emergence of a women group, Women Oppose Nuclear Threat (WONT), and 1981 saw the formation of Women Peace Alliance. These women group were vigilant in their activities and often conducted protests in the streets. For instance, in February of 1982, women groups came to a decision th at there would conduct a women only protest. The reasons they had for this was that women were less likely to cause violence even when provoked and that the police and soldiers would be less violent when dealing with them (summers, 1988). These women also viewed that the protest would be a sign of women empowerment and they thought that it would help to undermine the domestic division of labour. Encouraging feministic focus would also be achieved by the protest. Their plan was not without its weaknesses and flaws. For instance, it was difficult for married women to neglect their responsibilities so that they can attend the camp. Attending the camp would force these women to be separated from their families. During their stay in the camp, the women had a set of rules that were a guide to how they should relate. Some of these include disallowing men into the camp after dark, staying away from eating meat. Violence against each other was not allowed, and the decision making process was democratic (Wilkinson, 2002). In the camp, the living conditions were poor, and the women had to withstand all kinds of weather. Rainy seasons and the winter period were especially hard for women because of the cold, but their determination kept them going. The women gave up their comforts for the commitment of their cause. Many women were arrested and taken to prison, but eventually, their efforts bore fruit. Between 1991 and 1992, the cruise missiles were removed from Greenham Common and flown to the USA following the signing of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The Treaty is in agreement with the fact that nuclear weapons would have devastating effects on all human-kind. The fact that Greenham was a women only camp many people thought that it had become feminist. To a large extent this is true because, at the camp, the women emphasized the need of women to be deeply involved in politics and leadership roles within the community. Others chose to feminize the feminine protests in the by arguing that the camp taught the women the importance of caring for one another and supporting one another even in difficult times. This was a view held by the radical feminists like Reger, (2005). It is of exceptional significance to note that, from 1983, there was a sharp increase of activities by groups whose agendas were feministic There was a big wave of feminism, both in support of women’s empowerment and development, as well as in support of the cause of the Greenham Common Women’

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Social Issues in Public Sector Human Resource Management in 2034 Research Paper

Social Issues in Public Sector Human Resource Management in 2034 - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that many controversies that are commonly encountered in the public sector fall under human resource management (HRM). AS a matter of fact, HRM accounts for the greatest operating expenditures in the majority of public agencies. The activities of human resource managers in the public sector greatly affect government workers and consequently, public policy. Over the last quarter of the century, many things have happened and much has changed in the various aspects of human life. One of the most remarkable and most impacting happenings is the World War III. During this period many nations including the US used a good portion of their economic and human resources.   Owing to the magnitude of the war and its impacts on society, the country had to traverse a season of recession with its numerous challenges. At the present, the country is striving to address many social issues through its public agencies hence public personnel management is more relevant to the country today than ever. Considering the events of the past 25 years, it is beyond doubt that the human resource has evolved significantly, needs and demands being quite a lot different today.   Among the most vital issues that the current human resource needs to address include reward systems, affirmative action, and social security. Before the Third World War, the United States of America enjoyed a stable economy, the presence of a promising social security system and a relatively peaceful working environment.... The two main components of a reward system are performance and reward according to Norma (67). Over the years, rewards mainly have taken the form of affiliation, direct and indirect financial rewards, and career-related rewards. The hierarchical based rewards system is best suited to organizations that have had sustained success. The recent economic recession has made it difficult for most organizations to reward their employees using this system due to a general decline in the qualitative and quantitative output of the organizations. Most companies have gone through long periods of reduced profits and this has challenged the use of any type of financial rewards. The difficulty of using financial rewards has forced many companies to resort to the utilization of affiliate forms of reward like appraisals. Due to competitive business environment, companies are shifting to career-related motivations like employee education. Furthermore, public agencies have resorted to greater applicatio n of reward systems that focus more on intrinsic motivation as opposed to extrinsic motivation as has been the case during times of favorable economic environments. Formerly HR experts focused their actions on rewarding individual employees more than rewarding groups of workers. On their part, those of present times focus on encouraging group rewards. The present day HR professionals mainly focus on reward systems that promote intrinsic motivation among employees such as recognition and appreciation. Yet again, the current trend is in putting the employee in control of their payslip and rewards. Affirmative action Affirmative action has been very important in ensuring that groups of people who are underrepresented in terms of color, race, nationality or

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Laird Plc a Public Owned British Multinational Company Essay

Laird Plc a Public Owned British Multinational Company - Essay Example The solutions to protect the electronic devices of the users from any potential harmful Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and also safeguard from the heat that is generated during the operation of the device (Laird, 2014a; Laird, 2014d). The company leads in developing, designing and delivering innovative technologies that ensure organizations, applications, and people to stay connected effectively. Laird owns two divisions: Wireless Systems and Performance Materials. The products of Performance Material are distributed to wide markets that include Information Technology and telecom, smartphones, transportation and medical (Laird, 2014c). In this report, the international operation of the company along with competitiveness is examined by performing market and financial analysis. However, the risk associated with the company operations are also studied in order to understand the manner it combats against exchange rate, country, and political risks. The following figure highlights the financial performance of the two main divisions of Laird Plc. The financial performance is evaluated based on the revenue of the divisions over the period 2010- 2013. From the figure, it can be stated that the majority of the revenue during the four years in Laird Plc is generated from Performance Materials. This division accounts for more than half of total revenue that is incurred by the group as a whole. It is observed that the revenue from Performance material division has increased over the years due to the increase in demand for thermal management solutions, shielding materials for electromagnetic interference (EMI) and signal integrity products (SIP) (Laird, 2014c). Despite the growing revenue, the company is encountering challenge because of the highly integrated circuits related to thinner and smaller devices, which are becoming more innovative so as to protect the package devices (Laird, 2014c).

Friday, July 26, 2019

History of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scales Essay

History of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scales - Essay Example The Fifth Edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5) is a relatively new revised method, but has a unique history (figure 1). In 1905, Binet and Simon developed the first formal intelligence test, and Louis Terman created the Stanford-Binet Scale in 1916; this final scale was revised in 1937, 1960, 1986, and 2003. The first versions used items to address functional abilities, and were arranged by levels. The Fifth Edition is a standardized intelligence battery that can be administered to people from ages 2 to 85 years. According to Strauss (2006) the main purpose of the revision was â€Å"to expand the range of the test, to allow assessment of very low and very high levels of cognitive ability†, and to increase its clinical applications (see table 1).The SB5 is based on the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive functioning, which is considered â€Å"one of the well-validated, comprehensive models of cognitive functioning† (Fiorello and Primerano, 2 005). Johnson (2007) describes the Stanford-Binet as â€Å"a comprehensive, norm-referenced individually administered test of intelligence and cognitive abilities†. The test is consists of five factors, which include Fluid Reasoning, Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing, and Working Memory; each factor is further divided in verbal and non-verbal subtests (table 2). The Abbreviated Battery IQ scale consists of two routing subtests: one nonverbal (Object Series/Matrices) and one verbal (Vocabulary) (Coolican, J. et al, 2008).

Thursday, July 25, 2019

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition Essay

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition - Essay Example The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Fourth Edition The children that I work with are ages 11-16 which make it an appropriate test. The first version of this test was published in 1949 and today it is the "most widely used individual intelligence test for children," (Hogan, 2005, p. 306) surpassing the Stanford Binet. "The aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment" (Hogan, p. 297). He also said that intelligence was more than a childs intellectual ability; it also concluded that "the capacity to do intellectual work is a necessary and important sign of general intelligence" (Wechsler, 1952, p. 12 as quoted in Hogan, p. 297). In other words, Wechsler understood that children had the capacity to think on their own and to develop intelligence in more than one way. The original test was an extension of an adult test called the Wechsler-Bellevue test. It included three sub-sections that were not seen before on any intelligence scale: digit span, symbol search and mazes span (Gregory, 1996, p. 209). The test was revised in 1974 (WISC-R), again in 1991 (WISC-III) and in 2003, which is the current version of the WISC-IV (Niolin, 2005). As the WISC-III was being used, some researchers found that they could use Verbal and Performance IQ, and these could be supplemented by a third test that they labeled Freedom from Distractibility (Niolin, 2005).

Reflection to ANMC Codes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Reflection to ANMC Codes - Assignment Example The discomfort was not very unusual because initially all of the patients fed through the tube show some sort of or to some extent their distress. Mr. Luke however frequently moaned or placed his hands on his stomach. His niece Martha came 24hrs after the insertion of the g-tube and she was very displeased at the state of his uncle’s health and pain. She requested for the immediate removal of the tube, she said she presumed it should have been removed after his admitting to the nursing home and he should have been fed by mouth, even though there was no surety that Mr. Luke would be able to take sufficient nutrition by mouth, the physician ordered to remove the tube. However I did not want to proceed to the procedure as it would definitely be damaging for the patient’s health and I am of the opinion that anything possible that can be done to save a human life is necessary and every moment of a human life is necessary so it must be preserved and protected even of those wh o are terminally ill or near death. According to Mr. Luke’s guardian I was just making the dying. process prolong and all of the staff cited the right of the patient to decline the treatment and the nurses should try to reduce the pain of the patient even if that set off a dying process, so the professional ethics side with Mr. Luke and Martha’s decision. ... the satisfactory part for me was just the comforting thought that I was not involved in causing the pain nor was I part of the team that was making a decision which took him to the brim of life. The criticality of the situation is what a nurse ought to do. If treatment is the cause of pain then death or initiation of dying process is a pain itself, so why not safe the life rather then letting one die. Collaborative and Therapeutic Practice I was in the critical care unit in St. Vincent Hospital, Sydney and I received a call from a Mrs. street and she said she was the wife of the patient admitted in the ICU, she asked me whether her husband was still in the unit and what his status was?. Although I was tempted to help the lady so worried about her husband’s condition but according to the competency standards I was not allowed legally to give away patients confidential status or any information so I refused the lady to talk on phone about the condition rather visit in person. I later felt bad about the situation and thought that I did not do the right thing as she might have been in any critical situation but then I was a nurse fulfilling my duties as required. On the other hand I could have gone to Mr. Street and should have asked him his permission to disclose his condition and then tell his wife. Although if necessary as if the patient is unable to permit the disclosure of his condition then a supervisor could be involved in the situation as well because best working relationships require open communication with your supervisor which may become handy at the situations like these. Provision and Coordination of Care Sonia was 50 year old woman admitted to

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

VLAN Network Security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

VLAN Network Security - Research Paper Example Although, VLAN 1 simplifies the installation process of the switch significantly, it also makes the network vulnerable to unauthorized access (Liska, 2003). To improve security on switches, Liska (2003) suggested that the default VLAN should be removed, and each port on the switch should be added to the appropriate VLAN (P.S. Empty ports should be configured with no VLAN). In case if the switch does not allow removal of the default VLAN, then the active ports on the switch should be switched to different VLAN. Liska (2003) further emphasized that the port which is connected to the upstream switch or router should be removed from the default VLAN because it is tagged with all of the VLANs, and therefore, it can provide a gateway to all the traffic on the network if an attacker is successful in determining the default VLAN for the tagged port. The OSI model is based on layered model in which the communication protocol divides its functionality into a series of layers. Each layer provides services to its subsequent, upper layer, and requires services from its preceding, lower layer. However, each layer is isolated from other layers and operates independently to perform a subset of functions. Although, the layer independence provides interoperability and interconnectivity, it also causes security risks because if any layer is compromised, then other layers remain unaware of this (Wong & Yeung, 2009). In OSI model, the Data Link Layer (Layer 2) is very crucial because all the upper layers rely on it to provide the reliable data transfer across physical link – if this layer is compromised, then the entire communication session is compromised. Therefore, it is extremely important to secure this layer and take appropriate measures to mitigate attacks on this layer (Wong & Yeung, 2009). VLAN-based networks are vulnerable to various attacks. Many of these attacks can be initiated by those with the LAN access, from outside the switch.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Internal Controls Essay

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Internal Controls - Essay Example The leadership is composed of qualified people both academically and management wise and hence will not only provide new aspect academically but also ensure that the management system is coordinated which leads to effective planning. The structure of PASSHE comprises of the board of governors, the chancellor, the 14 presidents of the universities and 14 councils of trustees each representing the 14 universities. The board of governors which is made of 20 members is the one that makes the final decision and this prevents power being vested in one person only (the chancellor). The structure also permits decentralization of decisions and resources and hence making planning easier and faster. The culture of PASSHE is mostly derived from the mission statement which is to provide instructions to graduate and undergraduate students beyond even the master’s level and in the fields of arts, sciences and even applied fields. It is this mission that has ensured its sole culture is furthering education and professionalism. It is the strict following of this mission that has led to PASSHE having even over 600,000 alumni, an increase in the universities and even an introduction of new studies. The internal processes of PASSHE include the governance of the employees, students and facilities. The smooth running of these areas is what makes the institution achieve its commonwealth standards. If one of these areas and their processes fails to work or slows down, then the rest will also be affected because these internal processes are interdependent. Planning therefore must involve these areas

Monday, July 22, 2019

Cults, Hate Groups and Gangs Essay Example for Free

Cults, Hate Groups and Gangs Essay Society is ripening with the essential antagonisms, where in the agreement with the substitute discipline got enclosed by a classification thought. Inconsistency cannot be recognized efficiently to each consideration or actuality. Nevertheless it is simply historical propositional claims. The content is the way in which simultaneously challenge is suggested with how things could be better, but leaves things practically unchanged. It is also reveals the goal of thought is not to continue the blind domination of nature and humans but to point toward understanding. Cults as an exponent of ethnic identity is thus generally either a remnant of a largely political community which once existed but was destroyed by disunion and colonization. For instance in Myers text in A General History for Colleges and High Schools the case of the â€Å"Delphian Apollo† a product of kulturgemeinschaft brought about by other than purely ethnic conditions, but which in turn gives rise to the belief in blood relationship. All history shows how easily political action can give rise to the belief in blood relationship, unless gross differences of anthropological type impede it. Studies claimed the popular as their domain of educating the trends and cultural formations about which it had very little forehand knowledge such as grunge, raves and dead culture in particular. What they did not have and were uncomfortable about was the high enriching center that would facilitate them to see the dialectic between the popular and the academic. † Society envelops with different levels of analysis that can be well-known as cultural province . The specialty of popular culture production array from micro to macro and they take in differences in the group, indoctrination, and distribution of popular culture. † (Jarvie, 2003) Recruiting members: Society of these groups recruits their members by thinking that conveys precise personality and cultural beliefs and standards. Friends recruits friends, family members each other and neighbors recruits neighbors. In Understanding Early Civilization written by Bruce Trigger says contrary to public in belief and the assertion of many proponents of the brainwashing theory of cult conversion, the figures available support neither the proposition that everyone is equally susceptible to recruitment, nor that most converts are recruited through individual contacts in public places. In The Revolution in Anthropology written by Jarvie this groups interview their aspirants, and conducted by clinicians among cult members, former members and relatives of members, a new member have described their experience of depression, inadequacy, sadness, loneliness and rejection just before joining. The cult as a whole is an extension of the leader’s personality and teachings. The leader’s magnificence as well as his or her association with divinity provides an essential feeling of special ness and importance to cult members. It is consider as one of the significant point in information to recruitment. These groups are suitable in sociological category; it cannot be identified and subjected to empirical study, for it does not exist in objective reality. The people, the popular forces are a shifting set of loyalty that cross all social categories, various individuals belong to different popular formations at different times, often moving between them quite fluidly. â€Å"Native meanings and pleasure can be made only within and against white domination without textual reproduction of the power that is being struggled against, there can be no relevance. † (Freidheim, 1976) Sociological understanding makes is a social process, all meanings of self of social relations all the discourses and texts that play such important cultural roles can circulate only in relationship to the social system in out case that of white patriarchal capitalism. It is the constant process of producing meanings necessarily produces a social identity for the people involved, as well as a constant succession of social practices. Society must then, contain both the forces of domination and the opportunities to speak against them, the opportunities to oppose or evade them from subordinated, but not totally disempowered, positions. This culture is made by the people at the interface between the products of the culture industries and everyday life. These groups are made by the people, not imposed upon them; it stems form within from below not form above. They love the art of making do with what the system provides. Well-liked culture also is eminent by its commonness. It constitute in actual fact all of the movement which people spend on enjoying themselves and providing comfort for themselves The fact that the system provides only commodities, whether cultural or material does not mean that the process of consuming those commodities can be adequately described as one those commodities the people into a homogenized mass at the mercy of the barons of the industry. This is made by various formations of subordinated or disempowered people out of the resources, both discursive and material that are provided by the social system that dis-empowers them. It is therefore contradictory to its core. These cultures rely on method and replication. People require to be reminded of what they consider and popular culture does this my do again definite attitude and principles and organizing them into genres. It is mass media, entertainment and diversions. It is heroes, icons, rituals, psychology and religion. It is a way of life, the voice of a people. How do they function: Every hate groups in society feeds on the energy of condemnation. In that regard, they are not much different from the rest of us. It’s just a matter of degree, it does not matter whether the condemnation is generated by the group or directed at the group. Either way, the organization is sustained by the energy of condemnation. The hate groups by actively trying to eradicate them or reform them, or passively assume there is no truth in them. Any sort of condemnation guarantees their continued existence. The function of the hate groups in society is complete when two thins happen. A culture that is made from within and below not imposed from without or above mass cultural theorists would have it. They are always a culture of conflict; it always involves the struggle to make social meanings that are in the interests of the subordinate and that are not those preferred by the dominant ideology, made in relationship to structures of dominance. This relationship can take two main forms that of resistance or evasion. They have six major fundamental values that summarize its sole place in humankind. The primary is likeness and exploitation. Hate groups reflect the legends, viewpoint, and principles of people, but at the equal moment control those same beliefs. In recent years, however, many people have argued that we are seeing the emergence of a universal worldwide culture. They may have various things in mind. â€Å"First, global culture can refer to a set of economic, social and political ideas, assumptions, and values now widely held among elites throughout the world. † (Bromley, 2002) Almost all these people hold university degrees in the physical sciences, social sciences, business, or law; work with words and/or numbers; speak reasonably fluent English; are employed by governments, corporations, and academic institutions with extensive international involvements; and travel frequently outside their own country. How do they succeed: They generally share beliefs in individualism, market economies, and political democracy, which are also common among people in these groups. Hence is tremendously important. Worldwide, however, only a small portion of the world’s population shares in this culture. It is far from a universal culture, and the leaders who share in it do not necessarily have a secure grip on power in their own societies. As such, these proponents view contemporary society as lax and degenerate, and they argue that high culture is not incompatible with many of the newer ideas which most likely to succeed in forming a cult around his vision if the society contains many other persons suffering from problems similar to those originally faced by the cult founder to whose solution therefore they are likely to respond. Often, conservatives who adhere to these beliefs advocate the reintroduction of cultural depth to modern educational systems. It is nonetheless one immensely significant consequence of the globalization of economic activity that has occurred in recent decades. The culture of the hate gangs is currently undergoing one of the greatest crises in its modern history. The old severe order, so extensive during much of the region, is administration out of condensation and out of time. The ruler and ruled has never been superior, while annoyance and anger among the broad population at accessible situation—economic, social, political, and worldwide—is at new heights. â€Å"Gangs’ societies and cultures, languages and peoples by scholars, these society is now occupied in a argument of the allegation of what income in supporting terms;† (Andersen, 2006) both sides are stressed with how to stay away from any sense of predictability about a clash of civilizations and how to allocate blame for the state of severe anxiety between the two sides that affect all levels of the population. Contemporary popular culture as just the aggregate product of industrial developments; instead, it contemporary culture results from a continuing interaction between those industries and those who consume their products Against the conditions of these dramatic events there lies a less dramatic, but perhaps more significant, experience that may have greater impact over the longer run than even intimidation and war. The emergence of a huge and increasing people of hate groups in the region whose presence will likely shake present administration from within more overwhelmingly than even the forces of global policy, this demographic factor, sometimes designated as a demographic â€Å"youth bulge,† refers to the unusually large percentage of hate groups among the overall population. Discrimination was not even yet being exploited for the political ends, but they were important since they corresponded to characteristics cultures. These sociological groups are constructed as a wasteland which executives of the culture industry internationally create programs that will control and manipulate the masses into doing things that will not be beneficial to their lives. Deep inside our characters are the inscriptions missing by the creative and the individuals whose intuitions or ideas leave others changed. The influenced in the commentaries that focus on alternative approach on popular culture that is more accepting, in which does not mean less critical. The ideologies of these groups are then full of gaps, contradiction and inadequacies. They must offer popular meanings and pleasures are constructed out of the relevance between the text and everyday life; popular pleasures derive from the production of these meanings by the people. They belong to the realm of international culture as not worthy to be trained. Society has its central to the high cultural readings as well but it works differently; the high cultural intertextual relations organized around the scholars are more limiting than ones organized around its policies. These features are in the order we want to cover them, the masses gravitate to forms of sample of popular sociological groups since even if they were exposed in reality they could not comprehend it. Trying to be accepted cultures as intellectuals and only pander to the poor taste of the masses, the masses do not have the intellectual capacities to discern between realities and the created worlds of uniqueness of everyone. Reference: Jarvie, I. C. (2003). The Revolution in Anthropology: International Library of Sociology E: The Sociology of Development. Routledge. London UK. p. 86 Freidheim, E. A. (1976). Sociological Theory in Research Practice. Transaction Publishers. Edison, NJ. p. 20 Bromley, D. G. and Melton, J. G. (2002). Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge University Press. Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge. p. 53 Andersen, M. L. and Taylor, H. F. (2006). Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society. Thomson Wadsworth. Belmont, CA. p. 342 Myers, P. V. N. (2004). A General History for Colleges and High Schools. Kessinger Publishing. Whitefish, MT. p. 35 Trigger, B. G. (2003). Understanding Early Civilizations: A Comparative Study. Cambridge University Press. Shaftsbury Road, Cambridge. p. 472

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Sports Essays Handball Teams Championships

Sports Essays Handball Teams Championships Handball The team sport handball is in Europe one of the most popular sports. It is played by men and women, kids and elder people. This game has plenty of rules, but who understands them will have lots of fun. Actually everyone can play, but who wants to be professional needs to be in a good shape. Handball is a fast game, you have to know how your teammates acting, and how to overrun the opponent. Normally each team scores between twenty-five and thirty-five goals a game. The history of the world cups, which are hold by the International Handball Federation (IHF) every odd year, that everyone can win. It is very unmoral, that a team defeats the title. The leading teams are good because of their historical background to handball. Germany, where handball is mainly invented between the World Wars, brought this game to Poland, Hungary and France. The countries of Scandinavia (mainly Sweden, Denmark and Iceland) always loved handball more than soccer. During the Cold War handball was the sport for the communists, which showed team hood, ability to fight and that the best team wins. So this game was more established in Germany (East), Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Soviet Union/Russia. The Romania as well as Sweden won the most world cups, all in all four. Approximately twenty international competitions of this kind were hold after the Second World War. This shows that already many different countries won the most important cup. Spain/France brought handball to their colonies all over the world. Regularly participants of the world cup are Brazil, Argentina, Angola, Tunisia and Egypt. In Asia handball was many played in Korea and Japan. At the moment this sport is becoming a more important competition than soccer for the countries/kingdoms in middle-east. All underdogs can bring the big handball nations to struggle, which happens every time. This January/February the European and the Asian Championships were hold. The actual world champion Germany came only to a fourth place. Denmark, which team could not win anything in the past years, but they came back and won sovereign the title. In the Asian Conference Korea could win the cup against Kuwait in the final. Saudi-Arabia got third and Iran fourth. In the competition for the women, there is not as many different nations who champion the world cup. Russia is definitely number one with five titles. Germany won four times the cup, three times by the team of the German Democrat Republic. At the end of this year (2008), the next world cup for the ladies will be hold in France. The Olympic Games in Beijing this year will show made the best homework after the Continental Tournaments in both sexes. For the men Denmark is the top favorite for the gold medal and for the women it will be Russia. Handball History Similar games to handball were already played in the Antique. The Greece played the â€Å"Urania Game† and the in the Roman Empire the Harpastron was a popular game. But these sports can not defined as the game from today. Neither the frescos in the castle Runkelstein in Alto Adige (South Tyrol, Italy) nor the playbook â€Å"Handballspiel† (handball game) published by Guts Muth 1797 as well as the mini field game â€Å"Handbold† by the Danish sport teacher Holger Nielsen are the ancestors of handball. The 1891 founded Zenrtalausschuss fà ¼r Volks- und Jugendspiele (central committee for folk and youth games) in Germany didnt have any handball in it pages. Soccer took at the end of the 19th century leadership in Europe, so handball is a reaction on it. The sport teacher Hagelauer invented the Torballspiel (goal ball game) in 1891. This game was put into the category of gymnastic games. The beginning of the sport handball is to find in Sweden in 1906. This game was very similar to soccer. In 1911 another sport teacher invented handball, which was almost the same as the Swedish one. Out of these different forms of the new sport, Mr. Heiser published the main base of the modern handball. This game was at the beginning only for girls and women. October 29, 1917 is the date when the modern handball become reality. The basic rules were adopted from the game â€Å"Hazena†, which was played in Czechoslovakia. Karl Schelenz overwrote the some of the rules to make this new game also available for men. These newer version made handball to one of the most popular sports in Europe. After the First World War handball become a sport in schools. In the rivaled sport organizations in Germany were the first games hold. Each organization had his own rules. The end of the confusing ruling made the Nazi-Party in 1934 with the consolidation of the institutional powers of the different sport organizations. Earlier, in 1928, the International Amateur Handball Federation was founded in Amsterdam. This Federation adopted official rules which were made during a meeting of the International Amateur Athletic Federation in Den Haag in 1926. They have set the international rules. In 1934 handball became an Olympic sport. The first tournament was then during the Olympic Games 1936 in Berlin. Only six nations attempted the new sport. Surprising was, that the United States of America were one of these, even when they got the last place. The undefeated winner was Germany. Second place took Austria and third Switzerland. The other participants were Hungary and Romania. Whereas handball became a popular sport for males, the females decided instead to play netball. The field handball was only in 1936 an Olympic sport. In 1972 the indoor handball was first played during the Olympic Games in Munich. In 1938 the first IAHF World Cup was hold in Berlin. Only four teams played this tournament, Germany, Austria, Sweden and Denmark. But this was not the first international meeting of handball teams. Already in 1910 teams of ship companies from Sweden and Denmark fought against each other. These tournaments were hold in gyms. From middle of the 1930s till 1941 Germany dominated handball against the teams from Scandinavia. During the Second World War the new popular sport almost died. In August 1946 the International Handball Federation was founded in Copenhagen. After that first tournaments as field handball were hold in the English and American Zones in Germany. Together with the founding of the Deutscher Handball Bund (DHB German Handball Association) in 1949 in the Feral Republic of Germany, teams fought for the first German Championship in field and indoor handball. The Handball Association for the German Democratic Republic was found in 1958. The national team from western Germany won all four world titles till 1966, but one as all together (1959) with the players from the Russian Zone. Now worldwide handball became a popular sport. For instance there wOnly in northern Europe it took longer, even they were the ones who played handball before the World War. The reason was simple. The weather was to cold to play a season from Spring to Fall. They came to the idea to play handball in gymnasiums again. Unlucky there came another problem. The gyms were to small to play along the field handball rules. One of the main things were that they changed the numbers of players from eleven to seven. All in all the new indoor handball made the sport independent from the weather and increased the safety for the players. This had an effect on the scenes of the games. The teams played in new different formations, used different plays and tricks to overrun their opponent. More and more handball became a faster sport and today indoor handball is one of the fastest team sports in the world. Sweden and Denmark showed, that in handball was and is everything possible. At the beginning indoor and outdoor handball were treated equal. During the 1960s the cities and towns in Germany built gyms, which were sponsored by the federal government. More and more teams began to play the indoor version, which was way more spectacular and in1972 the Field Handball League was stopped. The final death hit for the field handball came, as indoor handball was recognized as an Olympic sport in 1972 and for women in 1976. In 1975 the last German field handball championship were hold. This was the end of the milestone for modern handball. Handball Rules An indoor handball field has to be forty meters long and twenty meters wide. For the safety of the players and public viewers, there should be a safety area around court, which is between one and two meters wide. The mid-field line divides the court into two halfs, which are exactly similar. The goals are the end of the court and in the middle. This is similar to soccer, but the goals are smaller. The International Handball Federation says, that the goals has to be two meters high and three meters wide. From each post is a six meter quarter circle. These are from the ground line (the line on which the goal stands) towards the middle of the field. Between these to quarter of a circle is a three meter line. All in all its is almost a half circle. In this area is only the goalkeeper of the defending team allowed. The Free-throw line has the same form as the six-meter line, but it is nine meters from the posts. All fouls, which the defending team commits on the striking team commits, have to be continued from the free-throw line. Seven meters away from the goal is the penalty line. The substitution area is for each team three meters from the middle towards its defending site. A handball game has two half times of each thirty minutes. The half time break has to be ten minutes long. If there is a draw after regular time and they need a winner (in tournaments) there is a overtime rule. The overtime is two times five minutes. If there is still a draw, there is the next overtime and after that it comes to a penalty shootout. During the game the clock will be stopped for harder fouls, penalties and time-outs as well as for injured players. The referees categories if there is a need to pause the game for a certain foul. Each team gets one time-out per half. These time-outs are sixty seconds long. The ball has to be round. The size for men handball has to be between fifty-eight and sixty centimeter and it should weight between 425 and 475 grams. The balls for women is smaller. It should be between fifty-four and fifty-six centimeter and 325 and 375 grams. In each game has to be at least two balls. One is in use, the other in reserve. Each teams is allowed to have fourteen players. At the same time can play only seven players, one of them should be the goalkeeper. In tactic situations they can use the goalie as a field player. The other player are substitutes. To begin of the game there has to be at least five players of the team to start the competition. Delayed players has to be always accepted. The team can lose players because of penalties or injuries, but there is no limit to stop the game, the referee can decide if there is need to do it. Each team gets only four officials. One of them has to be the head one. He is the only person who is allowed to talk to the referees and he has to make sure, that there are only the four same officials and team players during the game. Every player can be substituted as often as the team wants. Every substitution has to be in the substitution zone. If the team makes a mistake, a penalty will follow. If one player got an injury or is bleeding, he has to leave the court immed iately. The player of the team have to wear the same shirts, which has a different color from the opponent. The goalkeeper needs to wear a different color than his teammates and the opponent. The number on the back of the shirt has to be at least twenty centimeter and on the chest at least ten centimeter big. The wearing of the earrings, necklaces etc. is forbidden. The goalkeeper is allowed to block the shot with all parts of his body. He is the only one who is allowed in the goal area (six meter half circle). He can is also allowed to leave this area, but then he has to follow the rules, which are for every field player. All his actions have to be safe, he can not make any movements to mislead his opponent in a way could get injuries. For instance running out to stop the opponent player. He is not allowed to touch the ball outside of the goalie area, if he is still in it. He also can not bring the ball make from outside into the goalie area. The player can play, hit, catch, or stop the ball with your hands, arms, head, back, thigh, or knees, but not with his foot or lower leg. He only can keep the ball for three seconds without doing anything, also can he move only three steps with the ball in your hands. To move over the court the player can dribble the ball. When he catches the ball after the dribbling he can not start dribble again. The player has to pass or shoot the ball. To pass the ball the person can also sit, knee down, or lie down. If the ball touches the referee, the game will be continued like normal. If the player runs out of bound with the ball, there has to be throw-in for the other team, the same is, when the ball rolls or flies out of bounds. The team gets the ball, which did not touch the ball as last. In handball is no passive play allowed. If the referee recognize a passive playing, then he has to tell it. If the striking team is still playing passive, there will be a free-throw for the other team. The striking team gets a goal, if the ball has moved completely of the goal line and if there were no fouls. The referee has to signal the goal with to short whistles. If the referee stopped the game before the ball moved over the goal line, than it does not count. In the handball game is it possible to make own goals. These goals are counted normal for the other team. If the ball was stopped by something else then the players or the goalie, for instance the audience, the referee has to decide if the there could have been a goal or not. After a goal the other team has to bring the ball back into the game with throw from the middle line. The team with the most goals is the winning team. Each goal is like one point. The teams can only earn these with shooting goals. Every game has to be lead by two referees. They can start punish the player when they move onto the field (only if there is a discrimination or violent action against opponent players). The same rules after the game. The referees also have to check the court and the goals as well as they decide which ball is going to be used. They have to check the teams too, like the jerseys, participating players and officials. One of the referees leads the coin flip. The other one has to be present. The whole game has to be lead by the same referees. The have to guide the game after rules, which are made by the International Handball Federation and the local association for the sport of handball. If the referees punish a person different for the same foul, than they have to take always the heavier punishment. If both referees decide for the opposite team, than both have to come together and decide, how they are going to rule. The referees have also to write down the goals, warnings, and disqualifications. They referees can decide when to interrupt, stop or end earlier the game. The wearing of black clothes is mainly for referees. If they are going to wear another color, it has to be a bright one, which is totally different from any player of both teams. Works Cited Prof. Dr. Braun, Harald. Zur Geschichte des Handballspiels. Handball History. 1997/1998. University Bremen. 18 Feb 2008 http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~hospo/Geschichte-Sportarten.html. Herden, Jan-Frederick. DHB Handball Regeln. handball rules. 01/08/2005. Deutscher Handball Bund. 18 Feb 2008 http://www.handballregeln.de/. Fleischer, Nicole. Geschichte des Handballs. Die Anfaenge. 2006. HaSpo Bayreuth. 18 Feb 2008 http://hi.haspo-bayreuth.de/beginn.htm. IHF International Handball Federation http://www.ihf.com Summers, David. The Sports Book. 1. New York, NY: DK Publishing, 2007.

The Life Of Konstantin Serseyevich Stanislavski Film Studies Essay

The Life Of Konstantin Serseyevich Stanislavski Film Studies Essay The American theatre is renown throughout the world for its acting and glamour. It has its beginnings in the early Eighteenth Century and was notably introduced by The Hallams in the year 1752. Though the acting at the time was noted to be above par, there was still room for improvement. Additionally, there was the lack of proper acting methods or procedures which would help actors to improve their acting. Although today the American theatre is widely known throughout the world for the production of thought provoking as well as entertaining plays, it should be noted that this is due to early pioneers of modern acting. One such pioneer is Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski. Many of the current thespians consider acting techniques before the innovation of Konstantin s universal system to be archaic. Close research, thus shall be paid to this revolutionary theory in this paper and this is necessary when focusing on the evolution of theatre to its current level. In early acting productions, especially those of social signifance, it is noted that most of the acting techniques were based on Stanislavsky s Moscow Art theatre. Hence, it can be said that most of modern acting ideas and practices were drawn from Stanislavsky. This paper is therefore an in-depth analysis into the life of Konstantin Serseyevich Stanislavski. It will include research into areas such as his biography and the acting methods that he developed. Additionally, it will include research on how he influenced the acting industry both during his lifetime and after his death. Moreover, it will include his achievements as well as the contributions that he made towards modern acting. An understanding of the American theatre is essential for development of the film industry. Biography Konstantin (or Constantin) Sergeyevich Stanislavsky was born in Moscow on January 5th 1863 during the transition from the serfdom of Czar-ruled Russia under Peter the Great, to the free enterprise of the Industrial revolution. Stanislavsky s father was a manufacturer while his mother was born of a French actress. He is renowned for having impacted or influenced the acting process more than anyone else in the twentieth century. His acting career began when Stanislavski was 14. At that time he joined a theatrical group known as the Alekyseyev circle in which he soon became the main attraction. During the late 1800s, his acting improved and soon he was producing and directing plays. For Konstantin, being brought up by a wealthy father meant that he did not experience financial hindrances during his early stage performance days. In 1885, at age 25, he adopted the stage name Stanislavsky and a while later, established the Society of Art and Literature at the Maly Theatre, where he got experience in ethics, aesthetics and stagecraft. It wasn t long before he began to question and pose challenges to the traditional stage approach. In 1888, he formally married Maria Perevoshchikova who was a school teacher. She eventually became his devoted disciple and a gifted actress. She went by the name Lilina. In 1898, together with Vladimir Nemirovich Danchenko, Stanislavsky founded the Moscow Art Theatre, Russia s first ensemble theatre. Vladimir was responsible for administrative and literary matters while Stanislavsky catered for production and stage. In this capacity, he was not only stern, but also uncompromising in training of actors. He was strict on the genuineness of the performance on stage. The theatre emphasized on a realistic presentation and attention to every minute detail of a production. Consequent productions became legendary under the careful, often autocratic, direction of Stanislavski, achieving classical status in the coming years. Apart from being an actor, a director, coach and a successful businessman, Stanislavsky was also a teacher. Stanislavsky is renowned for developing the Stanislavsky system/method which is a theory of acting. In it, he explained that actors had to achieve an emotional identification with their characters, while at the same time remaining independent of the role in order to help it to the needs of the play. In a nutshell, Stanislavsky demanded the reproduction of genuine emotions at every performance in order to fully convey the character s emotions. As both a director and actor, Stanislavsky showed an amazing subtlety in rendering psychological patterns and a rare gift for satirical characterization. He eventually became a dominant influence on the Russian elite of the time. In 1912, he founded the First Studio. This is where many of his innovations were adopted by many upcoming actors. On October 29, 1928, Stanislavsky suffered a heart attack while acting in The Three Sisters during the Moscow Art Theatre s 30th anniversary. From then on, he put acting aside and focused on directing and educating actors and directors alike for the rest of his life. Stanislavski died on August 7th 1938, just before the start of World War II, maintaining the ideal of a peaceful, socially ethical world. Method Acting Method acting can be explained as an approach to acting based on the idea that an actor should have an emotional identification with their characters. This is important to come up with an enticing film. For the purposes of production several methods have been applied in a bid to expound on film science. Stanislavski viewed the theatre especially that of Russia to be one whose function is not only to entertain but to affect the audience directly with the life of the theatre. Method acting strives to aid actors develop a sincere and deeply felt performances. Vital features of method acting are derived from the work of Konstantin. He formulated an approach that dealt with the psychological and emotional aspects of acting. In his argument, Stanislavsky maintained that the core business for an actor was to be believable rather than to be understood. Stanislavsky implemented methods such as emotional memory to achieve this believable truth . In this case, he suggested that for a performer to get into character where he or she is expected to be frightened, the performer had to remember an occurrence in which they experienced fear, and physically reenact the fear that they felt when acting. Stanislavski further emphasized the need for an actor to take their own personality on stage when playing a character. This was in contrast to earlier methods of acting which encouraged the actor to become the character putting their emotions at bay. Method acting is the most common approach by most modern actors. The actor tries to think and feel the same way as what the character would. Stanislavsky protested against the old manner of acting where emotional rhetoric and non-stylized props, sets and costumes were used. Instead, he chose to show a different form of drama realism. In this setting, the dialogue involved more of everyday speech. Another distinct feature of method acting is that the actors perform to each other rather than to the audience. The play unfolds on stage in such a manner that to the audience, it is as if one wall to a house is transparent or invisible so they can see what is unfolding inside. Therefore, the actors perform without acknowledging the presence of the audience. In Stanislavsky s theory/method, the actor strives to achieve several objectives. Firstly, the actor aims to project the character s actions making them seemingly natural and convincing. Secondly, the actor is supposed to portray the character s inner drive, that is, their aims or objectives. Third, develop the character convincingly. Then most importantly, the ability and willingness to work as a team with fellow actors. Acting exercises and activities Actors implementing the Stanislavsky system perform several exercises to generally improve their performance on stage. Relaxation exercises are primarily designed to help the performer to release tension and anxiety and to make the use of their limbs and voices effortless and fluid. Some actors achieve this through yoga. During yoga, the body and mind are in state of calm, balance and tranquility and this enables the actor to be whatever character they are required to be. Concentration exercises are designed to help nurture the performer s ability to concentrate on an event, person or object on stage. Stanislavsky referred to the specific points of this focus as circles of attention . Actors focus on an object or position/location and afford it their utmost attention ignoring everything else. For this type of exercise, the actor can be done in numerous different ways. For instance, the actor can recite the alphabet backwards severally, or engage in a more challenging exercise that demands concentration. Observation is an acquired skill. The performers are required to observe different people from various backgrounds and ages. From this observation, they are expected to analyze how the subjects go along their daily business and then incorporate those details into their performances. An actor can easily and frequently engage in observation exercises. For example, an actor can try to remember the model, color and number plates, gender and approximate age of the drivers of vehicles passing at a street or outside their apartment. One such acting exercise developed by Konstantin Stanislavski was the Magic If Exercise. It basically requires the actor to question himself in order to proper assimilate the character s role that the actor will be playing. A sample of the exercise is as follows: 1. (Magic If) Sit, stand and walk with justification. (Sit by the window to see why there was shouting on the adjacent street. Sit in order to read the paper. Stand in order to better see the cause of shouting. Stand in order to stretch one s legs. Walk to take a walk. Walk to see what the commotion was all about. Stanislavski influence on the film/theatre industry during his time The Seagull a play produced by Anton Chekhov had been a failure in its original production in St Petersburg in 1896. However, and with a lot of challenges, Stanislavsky was authorized by Chekhov to restage it. Under Stanislavsky s and Danchenko s direction, The Seagull became a success, catapulting Moscow Art Theatre as a new force in the world stage. This led to the acknowledgement of Chekhov as a great playwright whereas after the failure of The Seagull during its debut, Chekhov had vowed never to write again. Consequently, after the success of The seagull , Chekhov wrote, The Three Sisters (1901) and the The Cherry Orchard (1903) exclusively for the Moscow Art Theatre. Were it not for Stanislavsky, it is safe to assume that Chekhov s career would have never made a come-back and the world would have been robbed of such a great playwright as Chekhov. Apart from helping actors get in touch with the concept of showing genuine emotions and feelings on stage breaking from the old system where the actor kept strictly to the exact words and actions dictated on script, Stanislavsky s method of acting also demanded that they acknowledge the unsaid messages within the script. This in turn influenced playwrights like Chekhov to make a change in their mode of writing in order to accommodate more elusive emotionally engaging work. In 1902 Stanislavski continued with his success streak when he staged Maksim Gorky s The Petty Bourgeois and The Lower Depths. Stanislavsky played several powerful roles including; Astrov in Uncle Vanya in 1899 and Gayev in The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov in 1904; Doctor Stockman in Henrik Ibsen s An Enemy of the People in 1900; and Satin in The Lower Depths. In these roles, Stanislavsky made yet another great contribution to theatre by being a great actor and setting the bar for young actors. He was shaping the world of acting not only as a director, but also as an accomplished actor in his own right. In 1912, Stanislavsky founded the First Studio and there, his models and ideas were undertaken by many young actors. By 1918, Stanislavsky was managing the Bolshoi Opera Studio, which was later named after him. In 1922, he staged Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky at the Bolshoi Opera Studio which was accredited as a major reform in opera. Stanislavsky made tremendous contribution in not only stage theatre, but also through excellent performance at the opera, sparked what may be termed as a revolution in opera at the time. Stanislavski realized that theatre was at its best when profound emotions content was in tandem with expressive theatrical form and oversaw the production of William Shakespeare s Twelfth Night in 1917 at the First Studio. From 1922 to 1924, Stanislavsky and the Moscow Art Theatre toured Europe and the United States. During this tour, Stanislavsky went in the capacity of the director and leading actor. He also, of course as the founder, had an administrative position in the group. As Stanislavsky travelled the world and introduced his system wherever they toured, many expressed great interest in his system. Therefore, he also contributed greatly in helping spread his system across the world and creating awareness among the circles of film and theatre at the time. It was also during this time that he wrote his autobiography which he called My Life in Art. Stanislavski went on to stage Aleksandr Ostrovsky s An Ardent Heart in 1926 and The Marriage of Figaro by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais in 1927. The latter demonstrated very bold attempts at theatricality. What proved to mark a milestone in the soviet theatre was Armoured Train 14-69 which was V.V. Ivanov s play about the Russian Revolution in 1927. Stanislavski continued his experiments and more research on finding what he termed as a conscious means to the sub-conscious which basically meant the search for an actor s emotions. In 1935, with the advantage of modern scientific research on the interaction of the brain and the body, he started on his final approach called method of physical actions. This approach was based on emotional creativity. It demanded that the actors assimilate the character s physical and psychological emotions at any given time. This approach also had another impact. It influenced the playwright s writing and structuring of the play. Stanislavsky s influence on the film/theatre industry after his time After the death of Stanislavsky, his work was advanced by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio from the 1940s. The success of Stanislavsky s work was clearly shown in the fact that some of the most successful actors/performers even after his death, had been educated using his system, being Strasberg s students. Some of those now renowned actors include: Al Pacino, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Robert De Niro, Alec Baldwin, and Dennis Hopper, just to name a few. Therefore, it is no assumption that Stanislavsky has had a tremendous impact on the film/theatre industry to this day. When a comparison is done between Lee Strasberg and Konstantin Stanislavsky s method, it is noted that Lee s method is heavily influenced by Affective Memory. Stella Adler, who was taught the Method of Physical Action, introduced Lee Strasberg to the new system or method of physical action. Lee who understood the differences rejected the method. He insisted that acting was recollection of emotion. However, it should be noted that Lee Strasberg was based on Stanislavsky s approach. Lee was a student of Boleslavski, the founder of the American Laboratory theatre, who was originally taught by Constantine Stanislavski. The famous actor Charlie Chaplin was quoted as saying that Stanislavski s book, An actor Prepares, tells what an actor needs to inspire himself or herself to profoundly express his emotions. Many other actors acknowledge that his books on acting preparation have been inspiring and his Universal Method has greatly impacted on their acting. Based on Stanislavski s system, many more approaches have been formulated by scholars over the years. Many of these are just a variation of Stanislavsky s system. Nevertheless, they have factored in new trends and colossal changes in the film and theatre industry since the 20s while trying to improve and build on the ideas of Stanislavsky making his system a kind of a framework on which many more innovations are designed to serve specific demands in a performance, or to formulate universally sound approaches to better performance by actors. Research has been carried out on the various works of Stanislavski in an attempt to better understand and implement his universal system. The system which he innovated is also the basis for which many modern acting schools were formed. Research has also shown that method acting is widely practiced among modern American actors. His theories are the used during study by many actors, some of who have become very successful. With Stanislavski s method acting approach still being taught in many acting schools his model is still very much in use in the modern world and has had impeccable effects on performance both in film and theatre. His books are crucial reading materials for aspiring actors and are used in many acing schools. His works (plays and theatre films) are subject to critical study and analysis in modern acting and film-making schools. His mansion in Moscow is currently a public museum and research centre containing the original manuscripts written by Stanislavski, his library collection and the collection of theatre costumes and stage sets used by Stanislavski. Summary Stanislavski s life was wholly emerged in acting. He devoted himself to perfecting his acting skills and of those around him. His mentors and coaches can be regarded as inspiring him and pushing him into visualizing and eventually realizing this dream. Stanislavski not only produced a system that was adopted by actors the world over, he was also a revered playwright, actor as well as director. His notable works which are now classics, many of which were adapted into black and white films include: Stanislasvski s single handedly changed the acting world by the introduction of seemingly simple methods. By many actors he is regarded as the father of acting. He taught actors the simple fact that in order to properly depict the character they are acting, it is necessary for the actor to fit himself in the actors shoes, thus his universal system. By the use of simple techniques, Stanislavski s was able to completely remodel how actors prepare for themselves. His contributions to the acting world can indeed not be ignored for without him the current acting scene would not be as captivating as it is now. Thus, Stanislavski has contributed greatly towards the evolution of modern acting through his universal method. His books, his films, and his universal system have enabled actors to greatly improve their own acting and are highly regarded in the acting world.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Employee/Employer Rights Essay -- Business and Management Studies

Employee/Employer Rights I am writing this coursework to explain the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees at Richer Sounds. I will also explain the procedures to deal with disputes and with health and safety issues that occur in Richer Sounds. First of all I will describe the main laws, which protect employees within businesses. All businesses/organisations must display details of the Health and Safety at Work Act in a prominent place. A legal requirement at work is to have a safe environment and both employees and employers have to abide by the Health and Safety at Work Act and various regulations that have followed this act. The responsibility of safety is that of each line manager and, finally, the chief executive or head of the organisation. The Human Resources Department also have a part in Health and Safety as they provide information and support to managers on Health and Safety issues. Usually in large organisations they have a health and safety officer who has overall responsibilities for health and safety policies and training. Within other organisations there may be a safety committee, which is made up of representatives from managers to employees. The responsibility of this group is to make sure that all legal requirements are being met. Many businesses also have safety representatives who attend meetings of the safety committee. The representatives are selected by recognised trade unions and elected by union members, n...

Friday, July 19, 2019

Framing Apologies in a Political and Diplomatic Context Essay -- criti

Introduction This essay is an analysis of the 2005 paper, by Janna Thompson, â€Å"Apology, justice and respect: a critical defence of political apology.† A paper presented at the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics 12th Annual Conference, Adelaide, September 28–30. This paper can be found at http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/gig/aapae05/documents/thompson.pdf. Summary This paper critically evaluates the importance of negotiations and expansive discourse in framing apologies, especially in a political and diplomatic context. Focusing on two relevant Sino-American issues, viz. the 1999 bombing at the Belgrade Chinese embassy by US aircraft and the 2001 airplane collision between a Chinese fighter jet and an American spy plane, the author evaluates pragmatism in diplomatic apologies, with specific reference to the US apology to China during these two events. Methodology and Objectives This study was based on off-the-record interviews that were conducted in late 2001 with four anonymous US State Department officials who were involved in public negotiations of the US apologies. The author writes that his aim in carrying out these interviews was threefold. Firstly, he wished to clarify the intricacies of international diplomatic apologies. Secondly, he intended to â€Å"probe† the opinions of official diplomats on such apologies. Finally, he aimed that this study would contribute to a greater understanding of the characteristics of diplomatic apologies and the pragmatics involved therewith. Observations Through this study, the author puts forth the fact that most political apologies are framed in such a way that both the nations’ real political goals are achieved. For carrying out an act ... ...graphs 51, no. 3: 227-242, accessed August 10, 2011, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/13165_Chapter1.pdf. Gopen, George, and Judith Swan. â€Å"The Science of Scientific Writing.† American Scientist, November, 1990. Accessed August 10, 2011. https://www.americanscientist.org/issues/issue.aspx?id=877&y=0&no=&content=true&page=4&css=print. Strongman, L. 2011. ‘What on earth?’: Understanding ambiguity toleration in business communication. PRism 8(1): 1-14, accessed August 10, 2011, http://www.prismjournal.org/fileadmin/8_1/Strongman.pdf. Thompson, Janna. 2005. â€Å"Apology, justice and respect: a critical defence of political apology.† Paper presented at the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics 12th Annual Conference, Adelaide, September 28–30. Accessed August 10, 2011. http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/gig/aapae05/documents/thompson.pdf.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Social Change Theories Essay -- Sociology

Social Change Theories Richard Roberts said, "As long as our social order regards the good of institutions rather than the good of men, so long will there be a vocation for the rebel." Moreover, the theories of functionalism, the conflict theory, and punctuated equilibrium enable rebels to emerge due to their theories' misplaced sense of value. Functionalism, largely influenced by Talcott Parsons, can be interpreted in several ways, creating the different versions of functionalism such as biocultural functionalism and structural-functionalism, which have different main aspects of belief. Bicultural functionalism expresses the belief that because of physiological needs social institutions were created in order to fulfill these needs. This belief suggests that functionalism, the belief that anything simply occurs because it serves a function, is based upon the individual's needs which include reproduction, food and shelter. Alternatively, the social structure and society as a "system of relationships" is also part of functionalism as the structural-functionalism view. According to the structural-functionalism it is not the individual that is important, but society as a whole. "He suggested that a society is a system of relationships maintaining itself through cybernetic feedback, while institutions are orderly sets of relati onships whose function is to maintain the society as a system." Overall functionalism in the idea that there is a disconnect between the mental states and the physical, and that mental states can only be identified through their functional role ("Functionalism." Web. N.p.). Parsons "[†¦] contributed to the structural-functionalist school conceptualized the social universe in terms of four types and levels of '... ...ll College. N.p., 21 Feb. 2000. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. . Morrow, Sarah , and Robert Lusteck. "Marxist Anthropology - Anthropological Theories." Department of Anthropology - The University of Alabama. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. . Porth, Eric, Kimberley Neutzling, and Jessica Edwards. "Functionalism - Anthropological Theories." Department of Anthropology - The University of Alabama. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. . "Punctuated Equilibrium | Academic Room." Educational Websites | Online Books | Online Classes | Open Access. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2012. .

Angels Demons Chapter 102-105

102 Piazza Navona. Fountain of the Four Rivers. Nights in Rome, like those in the desert, can be surprisingly cool, even after a warm day. Langdon was huddled now on the fringes of Piazza Navona, pulling his jacket around him. Like the distant white noise of traffic, a cacophony of news reports echoed across the city. He checked his watch. Fifteen minutes. He was grateful for a few moments of rest. The piazza was deserted. Bernini's masterful fountain sizzled before him with a fearful sorcery. The foaming pool sent a magical mist upward, lit from beneath by underwater floodlights. Langdon sensed a cool electricity in the air. The fountain's most arresting quality was its height. The central core alone was over twenty feet tall – a rugged mountain of travertine marble riddled with caves and grottoes through which the water churned. The entire mound was draped with pagan figures. Atop this stood an obelisk that climbed another forty feet. Langdon let his eyes climb. On the obelisk's tip, a faint shadow blotted the sky, a lone pigeon perched silently. A cross, Langdon thought, still amazed by the arrangement of the markers across Rome. Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers was the last altar of science. Only hours ago Langdon had been standing in the Pantheon convinced the Path of Illumination had been broken and he would never get this far. It had been a foolish blunder. In fact, the entire path was intact. Earth, Air, Fire, Water. And Langdon had followed it†¦ from beginning to end. Not quite to the end, he reminded himself. The path had five stops, not four. This fourth marker fountain somehow pointed to the ultimate destiny – the Illuminati's sacred lair – the Church of Illumination. Langdon wondered if the lair were still standing. He wondered if that was where the Hassassin had taken Vittoria. Langdon found his eyes probing the figures in the fountain, looking for any clue as to the direction of the lair. Let angels guide you on your lofty quest. Almost immediately, though, he was overcome by an unsettling awareness. This fountain contained no angels whatsoever. It certainly contained none Langdon could see from where he was standing†¦ and none he had ever seen in the past. The Fountain of the Four Rivers was a pagan work. The carvings were all profane – humans, animals, even an awkward armadillo. An angel here would stick out like a sore thumb. Is this the wrong place? He considered the cruciform arrangement of the four obelisks. He clenched his fists. This fountain is perfect. It was only 10:46 P.M. when a black van emerged from the alleyway on the far side of the piazza. Langdon would not have given it a second look except that the van drove with no headlights. Like a shark patrolling a moonlit bay, the vehicle circled the perimeter of the piazza. Langdon hunkered lower, crouched in the shadows beside the huge stairway leading up to the Church of St. Agnes in Agony. He gazed out at the piazza, his pulse climbing. After making two complete circuits, the van banked inward toward Bernini's fountain. It pulled abreast of the basin, moving laterally along the rim until its side was flush with the fountain. Then it parked, its sliding door positioned only inches above the churning water. Mist billowed. Langdon felt an uneasy premonition. Had the Hassassin arrived early? Had he come in a van? Langdon had imagined the killer escorting his last victim across the piazza on foot, like he had at St. Peter's, giving Langdon an open shot. But if the Hassassin had arrived in a van, the rules had just changed. Suddenly, the van's side door slid open. On the floor of the van, contorted in agony, lay a naked man. The man was wrapped in yards of heavy chains. He thrashed against the iron links, but the chains were too heavy. One of the links bisected the man's mouth like a horse's bit, stifling his cries for help. It was then that Langdon saw the second figure, moving around behind the prisoner in the dark, as though making final preparations. Langdon knew he had only seconds to act. Taking the gun, he slipped off his jacket and dropped it on the ground. He didn't want the added encumbrance of a tweed jacket, nor did he have any intention of taking Galileo's Diagramma anywhere near the water. The document would stay here where it was safe and dry. Langdon scrambled to his right. Circling the perimeter of the fountain, he positioned himself directly opposite the van. The fountain's massive centerpiece obscured his view. Standing, he ran directly toward the basin. He hoped the thundering water was drowning his footsteps. When he reached the fountain, he climbed over the rim and dropped into the foaming pool. The water was waist deep and like ice. Langdon grit his teeth and plowed through the water. The bottom was slippery, made doubly treacherous by a stratum of coins thrown for good luck. Langdon sensed he would need more than good luck. As the mist rose all around him, he wondered if it was the cold or the fear that was causing the gun in his hand to shake. He reached the interior of the fountain and circled back to his left. He waded hard, clinging to the cover of the marble forms. Hiding himself behind the huge carved form of a horse, Langdon peered out. The van was only fifteen feet away. The Hassassin was crouched on the floor of the van, hands planted on the cardinal's chain-clad body, preparing to roll him out the open door into the fountain. Waist-deep in water, Robert Langdon raised his gun and stepped out of the mist, feeling like some sort of aquatic cowboy making a final stand. â€Å"Don't move.† His voice was steadier than the gun. The Hassassin looked up. For a moment he seemed confused, as though he had seen a ghost. Then his lips curled into an evil smile. He raised his arms in submission. â€Å"And so it goes.† â€Å"Get out of the van.† â€Å"You look wet.† â€Å"You're early.† â€Å"I am eager to return to my prize.† Langdon leveled the gun. â€Å"I won't hesitate to shoot.† â€Å"You've already hesitated.† Langdon felt his finger tighten on the trigger. The cardinal lay motionless now. He looked exhausted, moribund. â€Å"Untie him.† â€Å"Forget him. You've come for the woman. Do not pretend otherwise.† Langdon fought the urge to end it right there. â€Å"Where is she?† â€Å"Somewhere safe. Awaiting my return.† She's alive. Langdon felt a ray of hope. â€Å"At the Church of Illumination?† The killer smiled. â€Å"You will never find its location.† Langdon was incredulous. The lair is still standing. He aimed the gun. â€Å"Where?† â€Å"The location has remained secret for centuries. Even to me it was only revealed recently. I would die before I break that trust.† â€Å"I can find it without you.† â€Å"An arrogant thought.† Langdon motioned to the fountain. â€Å"I've come this far.† â€Å"So have many. The final step is the hardest.† Langdon stepped closer, his footing tentative beneath the water. The Hassassin looked remarkably calm, squatting there in the back of the van with his arms raised over his head. Langdon aimed at his chest, wondering if he should simply shoot and be done with it. No. He knows where Vittoria is. He knows where the antimatter is. I need information! From the darkness of the van the Hassassin gazed out at his aggressor and couldn't help but feel an amused pity. The American was brave, that he had proven. But he was also untrained. That he had also proven. Valor without expertise was suicide. There were rules of survival. Ancient rules. And the American was breaking all of them. You had the advantage – the element of surprise. You squandered it. The American was indecisive†¦ hoping for backup most likely†¦ or perhaps a slip of the tongue that would reveal critical information. Never interrogate before you disable your prey. A cornered enemy is a deadly enemy. The American was talking again. Probing. Maneuvering. The killer almost laughed aloud. This is not one of your Hollywood movies†¦ there will be no long discussions at gunpoint before the final shoot-out. This is the end. Now. Without breaking eye contact, the killer inched his hands across the ceiling of the van until he found what he was looking for. Staring dead ahead, he grasped it. Then he made his play. The motion was utterly unexpected. For an instant, Langdon thought the laws of physics had ceased to exist. The killer seemed to hang weightless in the air as his legs shot out from beneath him, his boots driving into the cardinal's side and launching the chain-laden body out the door. The cardinal splashed down, sending up a sheet of spray. Water dousing his face, Langdon realized too late what had happened. The killer had grasped one of the van's roll bars and used it to swing outward. Now the Hassassin was sailing toward him, feet-first through the spray. Langdon pulled the trigger, and the silencer spat. The bullet exploded through the toe of the Hassassin's left boot. Instantly Langdon felt the soles of the Hassassin's boots connect with his chest, driving him back with a crushing kick. The two men splashed down in a spray of blood and water. As the icy liquid engulfed Langdon's body, his first cognition was pain. Survival instinct came next. He realized he was no longer holding his weapon. It had been knocked away. Diving deep, he groped along the slimy bottom. His hand gripped metal. A handful of coins. He dropped them. Opening his eyes, Langdon scanned the glowing basin. The water churned around him like a frigid Jacuzzi. Despite the instinct to breathe, fear kept him on the bottom. Always moving. He did not know from where the next assault would come. He needed to find the gun! His hands groped desperately in front of him. You have the advantage, he told himself. You are in your element. Even in a soaked turtleneck Langdon was an agile swimmer. Water is your element. When Langdon's fingers found metal a second time, he was certain his luck had changed. The object in his hand was no handful of coins. He gripped it and tried to pull it toward him, but when he did, he found himself gliding through the water. The object was stationary. Langdon realized even before he coasted over the cardinal's writhing body that he had grasped part of the metal chain that was weighing the man down. Langdon hovered a moment, immobilized by the sight of the terrified face staring up at him from the floor of the fountain. Jolted by the life in the man's eyes, Langdon reached down and grabbed the chains, trying to heave him toward the surface. The body came slowly†¦ like an anchor. Langdon pulled harder. When the cardinal's head broke the surface, the old man gasped a few sucking, desperate breaths. Then, violently, his body rolled, causing Langdon to lose his grip on the slippery chains. Like a stone, Baggia went down again and disappeared beneath the foaming water. Langdon dove, eyes wide in the liquid murkiness. He found the cardinal. This time, when Langdon grabbed on, the chains across Baggia's chest shifted†¦ parting to reveal a further wickedness†¦ a word stamped in seared flesh. Angels & Demons An instant later, two boots strode into view. One was gushing blood. 103 As a water polo player, Robert Langdon had endured more than his fair share of underwater battles. The competitive savagery that raged beneath the surface of a water polo pool, away from the eyes of the referees, could rival even the ugliest wrestling match. Langdon had been kicked, scratched, held, and even bitten once by a frustrated defenseman from whom Langdon had continuously twisted away. Now, though, thrashing in the frigid water of Bernini's fountain, Langdon knew he was a long way from the Harvard pool. He was fighting not for a game, but for his life. This was the second time they had battled. No referees here. No rematches. The arms driving his face toward the bottom of the basin thrust with a force that left no doubt that it intended to kill. Langdon instinctively spun like a torpedo. Break the hold! But the grip torqued him back, his attacker enjoying an advantage no water polo defenseman ever had – two feet on solid ground. Langdon contorted, trying to get his own feet beneath him. The Hassassin seemed to be favoring one arm†¦ but nonetheless, his grip held firm. It was then that Langdon knew he was not coming up. He did the only thing he could think of to do. He stopped trying to surface. If you can't go north, go east. Marshalling the last of his strength, Langdon dolphin-kicked his legs and pulled his arms beneath him in an awkward butterfly stroke. His body lurched forward. The sudden switch in direction seemed to take the Hassassin off guard. Langdon's lateral motion dragged his captor's arms sideways, compromising his balance. The man's grip faltered, and Langdon kicked again. The sensation felt like a towline had snapped. Suddenly Langdon was free. Blowing the stale air from his lungs, Langdon clawed for the surface. A single breath was all he got. With crashing force the Hassassin was on top of him again, palms on his shoulders, all of his weight bearing down. Langdon scrambled to plant his feet beneath him but the Hassassin's leg swung out, cutting Langdon down. He went under again. Langdon's muscles burned as he twisted beneath the water. This time his maneuvers were in vain. Through the bubbling water, Langdon scanned the bottom, looking for the gun. Everything was blurred. The bubbles were denser here. A blinding light flashed in his face as the killer wrestled him deeper, toward a submerged spotlight bolted on the floor of the fountain. Langdon reached out, grabbing the canister. It was hot. Langdon tried to pull himself free, but the contraption was mounted on hinges and pivoted in his hand. His leverage was instantly lost. The Hassassin drove him deeper still. It was then Langdon saw it. Poking out from under the coins directly beneath his face. A narrow, black cylinder. The silencer of Olivetti's gun! Langdon reached out, but as his fingers wrapped around the cylinder, he did not feel metal, he felt plastic. When he pulled, the flexible rubber hose came flopping toward him like a flimsy snake. It was about two feet long with a jet of bubbles surging from the end. Langdon had not found the gun at all. It was one of the fountain's many harmless spumanti†¦ bubble makers. Only a few feet away, Cardinal Baggia felt his soul straining to leave his body. Although he had prepared for this moment his entire life, he had never imagined the end would be like this. His physical shell was in agony†¦ burned, bruised, and held underwater by an immovable weight. He reminded himself that this suffering was nothing compared to what Jesus had endured. He died for my sins†¦ Baggia could hear the thrashing of a battle raging nearby. He could not bear the thought of it. His captor was about to extinguish yet another life†¦ the man with kind eyes, the man who had tried to help. As the pain mounted, Baggia lay on his back and stared up through the water at the black sky above him. For a moment he thought he saw stars. It was time. Releasing all fear and doubt, Baggia opened his mouth and expelled what he knew would be his final breath. He watched his spirit gurgle heavenward in a burst of transparent bubbles. Then, reflexively, he gasped. The water poured in like icy daggers to his sides. The pain lasted only a few seconds. Then†¦ peace. The Hassassin ignored the burning in his foot and focused on the drowning American, whom he now held pinned beneath him in the churning water. Finish it fully. He tightened his grip, knowing this time Robert Langdon would not survive. As he predicted, his victim's struggling became weaker and weaker. Suddenly Langdon's body went rigid. He began to shake wildly. Yes, the Hassassin mused. The rigors. When the water first hits the lungs. The rigors, he knew, would last about five seconds. They lasted six. Then, exactly as the Hassassin expected, his victim went suddenly flaccid. Like a great deflating balloon, Robert Langdon fell limp. It was over. The Hassassin held him down for another thirty seconds to let the water flood all of his pulmonary tissue. Gradually, he felt Langdon's body sink, on its own accord, to the bottom. Finally, the Hassassin let go. The media would find a double surprise in the Fountain of the Four Rivers. â€Å"Tabban!† the Hassassin swore, clambering out of the fountain and looking at his bleeding toe. The tip of his boot was shredded, and the front of his big toe had been sheared off. Angry at his own carelessness, he tore the cuff from his pant leg and rammed the fabric into the toe of his boot. Pain shot up his leg. â€Å"Ibn al-kalb!† He clenched his fists and rammed the cloth deeper. The bleeding slowed until it was only a trickle. Turning his thoughts from pain to pleasure, the Hassassin got into his van. His work in Rome was done. He knew exactly what would soothe his discomfort. Vittoria Vetra was bound and waiting. The Hassassin, even cold and wet, felt himself stiffen. I have earned my reward. Across town Vittoria awoke in pain. She was on her back. All of her muscles felt like stone. Tight. Brittle. Her arms hurt. When she tried to move, she felt spasms in her shoulders. It took her a moment to comprehend her hands were tied behind her back. Her initial reaction was confusion. Am I dreaming? But when she tried to lift her head, the pain at the base of her skull informed her of her wakefulness. Confusion transforming to fear, she scanned her surroundings. She was in a crude, stone room – large and well-furnished, lit by torches. Some kind of ancient meeting hall. Old-fashioned benches sat in a circle nearby. Vittoria felt a breeze, cold now on her skin. Nearby, a set of double doors stood open, beyond them a balcony. Through the slits in the balustrade, Vittoria could have sworn she saw the Vatican. 104 Robert Langdon lay on a bed of coins at the bottom of the Fountain of the Four Rivers. His mouth was still wrapped around the plastic hose. The air being pumped through the spumanti tube to froth the fountain had been polluted by the pump, and his throat burned. He was not complaining, though. He was alive. He was not sure how accurate his imitation of a drowning man had been, but having been around water his entire life, Langdon had certainly heard accounts. He had done his best. Near the end, he had even blown all the air from his lungs and stopped breathing so that his muscle mass would carry his body to the floor. Thankfully, the Hassassin had bought it and let go. Now, resting on the bottom of the fountain, Langdon had waited as long as he could wait. He was about to start choking. He wondered if the Hassassin was still out there. Taking an acrid breath from the tube, Langdon let go and swam across the bottom of the fountain until he found the smooth swell of the central core. Silently, he followed it upward, surfacing out of sight, in the shadows beneath the huge marble figures. The van was gone. That was all Langdon needed to see. Pulling a long breath of fresh air back into his lungs, he scrambled back toward where Cardinal Baggia had gone down. Langdon knew the man would be unconscious now, and chances of revival were slim, but he had to try. When Langdon found the body, he planted his feet on either side, reached down, and grabbed the chains wrapped around the cardinal. Then Langdon pulled. When the cardinal broke water, Langdon could see the eyes were already rolled upward, bulging. Not a good sign. There was no breath or pulse. Knowing he could never get the body up and over the fountain rim, Langdon lugged Cardinal Baggia through the water and into the hollow beneath the central mound of marble. Here the water became shallow, and there was an inclined ledge. Langdon dragged the naked body up onto the ledge as far as he could. Not far. Then he went to work. Compressing the cardinal's chain-clad chest, Langdon pumped the water from his lungs. Then he began CPR. Counting carefully. Deliberately. Resisting the instinct to blow too hard and too fast. For three minutes Langdon tried to revive the old man. After five minutes, Langdon knew it was over. Il preferito. The man who would be Pope. Lying dead before him. Somehow, even now, prostrate in the shadows on the semisubmerged ledge, Cardinal Baggia retained an air of quiet dignity. The water lapped softly across his chest, seeming almost remorseful†¦ as if asking forgiveness for being the man's ultimate killer†¦ as if trying to cleanse the scalded wound that bore its name. Gently, Langdon ran a hand across the man's face and closed his upturned eyes. As he did, he felt an exhausted shudder of tears well from within. It startled him. Then, for the first time in years, Langdon cried. 105 The fog of weary emotion lifted slowly as Langdon waded away from the dead cardinal, back into deep water. Depleted and alone in the fountain, Langdon half-expected to collapse. But instead, he felt a new compulsion rising within him. Undeniable. Frantic. He sensed his muscles hardening with an unexpected grit. His mind, as though ignoring the pain in his heart, forced aside the past and brought into focus the single, desperate task ahead. Find the Illuminati lair. Help Vittoria. Turning now to the mountainous core of Bernini's fountain, Langdon summoned hope and launched himself into his quest for the final Illuminati marker. He knew somewhere on this gnarled mass of figures was a clue that pointed to the lair. As Langdon scanned the fountain, though, his hope withered quickly. The words of the segno seemed to gurgle mockingly all around him. Let angels guide you on your lofty quest. Langdon glared at the carved forms before him. The fountain is pagan! It has no damn angels anywhere! When Langdon completed his fruitless search of the core, his eyes instinctively climbed the towering stone pillar. Four markers, he thought, spread across Rome in a giant cross. Scanning the hieroglyphics covering the obelisk, he wondered if perhaps there were a clue hidden in the Egyptian symbology. He immediately dismissed the idea. The hieroglyphs predated Bernini by centuries, and hieroglyphs had not even been decipherable until the Rosetta Stone was discovered. Still, Langdon ventured, maybe Bernini had carved an additional symbol? One that would go unnoticed among all the hieroglyphs? Feeling a shimmer of hope, Langdon circumnavigated the fountain one more time and studied all four fa;ades of the obelisk. It took him two minutes, and when he reached the end of the final face, his hopes sank. Nothing in the hieroglyphs stood out as any kind of addition. Certainly no angels. Langdon checked his watch. It was eleven on the dot. He couldn't tell whether time was flying or crawling. Images of Vittoria and the Hassassin started to swirl hauntingly as Langdon clambered his way around the fountain, the frustration mounting as he frantically completed yet another fruitless circle. Beaten and exhausted, Langdon felt ready to collapse. He threw back his head to scream into the night. The sound jammed in his throat. Langdon was staring straight up the obelisk. The object perched at the very top was one he had seen earlier and ignored. Now, however, it stopped him short. It was not an angel. Far from it. In fact, he had not even perceived it as part of Bernini's fountain. He thought it was a living creature, another one of the city's scavengers perched on a lofty tower. A pigeon. Langdon squinted skyward at the object, his vision blurred by the glowing mist around him. It was a pigeon, wasn't it? He could clearly see the head and beak silhouetted against a cluster of stars. And yet the bird had not budged since Langdon's arrival, even with the battle below. The bird sat now exactly as it had been when Langdon entered the square. It was perched high atop the obelisk, gazing calmly westward. Langdon stared at it a moment and then plunged his hand into the fountain and grabbed a fistful of coins. He hurled the coins skyward. They clattered across the upper levels of the granite obelisk. The bird did not budge. He tried again. This time, one of the coins hit the mark. A faint sound of metal on metal clanged across the square. The damned pigeon was bronze. You're looking for an angel, not a pigeon, a voice reminded him. But it was too late. Langdon had made the connection. He realized the bird was not a pigeon at all. It was a dove. Barely aware of his own actions, Langdon splashed toward the center of the fountain and began scrambling up the travertine mountain, clambering over huge arms and heads, pulling himself higher. Halfway to the base of the obelisk, he emerged from the mist and could see the head of the bird more clearly. There was no doubt. It was a dove. The bird's deceptively dark color was the result of Rome's pollution tarnishing the original bronze. Then the significance hit him. He had seen a pair of doves earlier today at the Pantheon. A pair of doves carried no meaning. This dove, however, was alone. The lone dove is the pagan symbol for the Angel of Peace. The truth almost lifted Langdon the rest of the way to the obelisk. Bernini had chosen the pagan symbol for the angel so he could disguise it in a pagan fountain. Let angels guide you on your lofty quest. The dove is the angel! Langdon could think of no more lofty perch for the Illuminati's final marker than atop this obelisk. The bird was looking west. Langdon tried to follow its gaze, but he could not see over the buildings. He climbed higher. A quote from St. Gregory of Nyssa emerged from his memory most unexpectedly. As the soul becomes enlightened†¦ it takes the beautiful shape of the dove. Langdon rose heavenward. Toward the dove. He was almost flying now. He reached the platform from which the obelisk rose and could climb no higher. With one look around, though, he knew he didn't have to. All of Rome spread out before him. The view was stunning. To his left, the chaotic media lights surrounding St. Peter's. To his right, the smoking cupola of Santa Maria della Vittoria. In front of him in the distance, Piazza del Popolo. Beneath him, the fourth and final point. A giant cross of obelisks. Trembling, Langdon looked to the dove overhead. He turned and faced the proper direction, and then he lowered his eyes to the skyline. In an instant he saw it. So obvious. So clear. So deviously simple. Staring at it now, Langdon could not believe the Illuminati lair had stayed hidden for so many years. The entire city seemed to fade away as he looked out at the monstrous stone structure across the river in front of him. The building was as famous as any in Rome. It stood on the banks of the Tiber River diagonally adjacent to the Vatican. The building's geometry was stark – a circular castle, within a square fortress, and then, outside its walls, surrounding the entire structure, a park in the shape of a pentagram. The ancient stone ramparts before him were dramatically lit by soft floodlights. High atop the castle stood the mammoth bronze angel. The angel pointed his sword downward at the exact center of the castle. And as if that were not enough, leading solely and directly to the castle's main entrance stood the famous Bridge of Angels†¦ a dramatic approachway adorned by twelve towering angels carved by none other than Bernini himself. In a final breathtaking revelation, Langdon realized Bernini's city-wide cross of obelisks marked the fortress in perfect Illuminati fashion; the cross's central arm passed directly through the center of the castle's bridge, dividing it into two equal halves. Langdon retrieved his tweed coat, holding it away from his dripping body. Then he jumped into the stolen sedan and rammed his soggy shoe into the accelerator, speeding off into the night.