Sony Case Study free essay sample

Sony had been so successful In the past with the Walkway, Plantation, and other electronics because they were innovative and new for their time. They helped reshape the music and gaming industry as we know it today. Without such developments, technology might not be where it is today. Sonnys competition was also vastly different. At the time of the Walkway, there were no other major competitors and the purchase of CBS Records only furthered their stronghold on the Industry. Sonnys product quality was also superior, as they were known world-wide for reducing electronics of the highest design. 2. Mr.. Idle stated that the integration of the divisions across the global market proved to be quite challenging, but yielded excellent lessons for future mergers. He said that he would have preferred a soft acquisition rather than a hard one, and in saying this, I believe he means that In order to successfully Integrate new divisions In new markets, a strategic alliance would cult the company better than a straight merger. We will write a custom essay sample on Sony Case Study or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This way, the company will be able to assess the major differences in the efferent markets, while not sacrificing production. Mr.. Died noted that there are advantages and disadvantages of this strategy, but I believe the strategic alliance approach works best In the long run as youll have two strong companies, who have a strong knowledge on their current markets, working together to achieve the same goals. 3.Apple succeeded In the digital portable music industry because It took Sony principle of Innovation and used It to Its advantage. Tunes sparked a completely unique and convenient way for consumers to obtain music without leaving their mom, and with the pod the only accessible device to it, users were forced to buy an pod to reap the benefits. Sony seemed to be fixated on the anti-piracy aspect of digital music and their fight stalled any attempts to gain leverage on Apple and other companies. Sony has a lot invested in the music industry, so their fight was valid, but it allowed a company like Apple to gain a large market share by offering a 100% legal way of obtaining music digitally. Sony proved to be somewhat negligent during this time and maybe relied too heavily on the past loyalty of consumers to dig themselves UT the hole. Its apparent that this technique did not help them. 4. Sony surely could have found a different way to approach the digital music Industry, as well as find better ways to successfully integrate different divisions across the globe.Songs carelessness and unawareness to the rise of the Internet allowed a company like Apple to develop Digital Rights Management to gain contracts single device with compatibility. Sony needs to find aware to avoid the culture shock that comes along with major moves to different countries first and foremost. Theyll eve to do more research on countries they plan on operating in in order to avoid a decrease in productivity. Additionally, Sony needs to go back to their roots when they Newer the most innovative of all electronics producers.Their research and development teams need to be sharper in order to uncover the next great potential device and roll with it. 5. At this point, it may be nearly impossible to compete with Apple (although Im sure Apple felt the same way about Sony at one point). Rather than compete with Apple initially, Sony should branch out and focus on a certain market that does not eve a stranglehold on, particularly the computing industry.Sony may want to make their computers/tablets/notebooks more affordable and attractive to buyers, considering they all run on a Microsoft operating system. If they begin manufacturing Innovative computing, it may begin to bring buyers back from Apple. Apples products are notoriously expensive, but there are companies out there producing similar quality at lower prices. If Sony were to follow suit, the buyers could quickly return because people have not forgotten the quality of product Sony has historically produced.

s Advice To America

Machiavelli’s Advice to America Leaders of the world are not just a regular breed of individuals. In present days, the United States citizens elect representatives through a very precautious procedure; people know if the wrong person were to get into office they could cause a downfall of a nation. Not all of Machiavelli’s principles of a leader are strongly practiced in today’s world, yet when revised many compare incredibly to the way the American government is governed. In The Qualities of the Prince, Machiavelli discusses a number of traits that he believes a prince or ruler of his time must have to be safe, successful, and loved by his people. Machiavelli believed in exploring both sides of an issue, â€Å"the art of war and the art of life, liberality and stinginess, cruelty and clemency, the fox and the lion† (36). Most of his instances have something to do with war, he is very repetitive in many of his believed traits and he stands firm with them by giving many examples. By reading The Qualities of a Prince it is very easy to assume that Machiavelli was brilliant in his thoughts during his time, this leaves one to ponder the thought of how successful these traits would be in modern American politics. Americans elect leaders with certain distinct qualities, Machiavelli’s beliefs on leaders characteristics don’t totally relate to our expectations. He does mention that he doesn’t recommend tyranny, meaning one ruler have all the power or use it too his advantage. In American government there are no tyrants, all the power is distributed into branches where decisions are made on agreement on that of which will help the American people the most. The majority of Machivelli’s characteristics of a good leader would not get a man elected in the United States, in his time that wasn’t applicable because you were born a leader. Machiavelli wrote of it to be good to be generous but said that a reputation of it w... 's Advice To America Free Essays on Machiavelli\'s Advice To America Machiavelli’s Advice to America Leaders of the world are not just a regular breed of individuals. In present days, the United States citizens elect representatives through a very precautious procedure; people know if the wrong person were to get into office they could cause a downfall of a nation. Not all of Machiavelli’s principles of a leader are strongly practiced in today’s world, yet when revised many compare incredibly to the way the American government is governed. In The Qualities of the Prince, Machiavelli discusses a number of traits that he believes a prince or ruler of his time must have to be safe, successful, and loved by his people. Machiavelli believed in exploring both sides of an issue, â€Å"the art of war and the art of life, liberality and stinginess, cruelty and clemency, the fox and the lion† (36). Most of his instances have something to do with war, he is very repetitive in many of his believed traits and he stands firm with them by giving many examples. By reading The Qualities of a Prince it is very easy to assume that Machiavelli was brilliant in his thoughts during his time, this leaves one to ponder the thought of how successful these traits would be in modern American politics. Americans elect leaders with certain distinct qualities, Machiavelli’s beliefs on leaders characteristics don’t totally relate to our expectations. He does mention that he doesn’t recommend tyranny, meaning one ruler have all the power or use it too his advantage. In American government there are no tyrants, all the power is distributed into branches where decisions are made on agreement on that of which will help the American people the most. The majority of Machivelli’s characteristics of a good leader would not get a man elected in the United States, in his time that wasn’t applicable because you were born a leader. Machiavelli wrote of it to be good to be generous but said that a reputation of it w...

Health disparities in Rural areas Research Paper

Health disparities in Rural areas - Research Paper Example Great health care disparities prevail in United States. Health status of the negatively privileged population is poor. Ethnic and racial minorities suffer great segregation problems in America. The African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans struggle to meet the medical expenses. They are comparatively more vulnerable to chronic diseases than the whites. This ill-privileged group has high mortality rate and negative health outcomes. The heavy racial and ethnic disparities in United States reflect in health care sector also. For example, cancer rate is found to be very high among the African Americans (nearly 25% higher than the whites). Other blacks, especially Hispanics, are highly risky towards diabetes. The black minorities who live in unhealthy environment are also vulnerable to various other problems like AIDS and infant mortality. The healthcare policy of the United States is least favorable for this minority groups. The minority population residing in t he rural areas does not have a proper access to healthcare facilities. There is great disparity in the healthcare access of minorities and rest of the population. Minorities are deprived of efficient and good quality healthcare facilities. Rural residents of United States report poor health. They are more vulnerable to chronic conditions like diabetes. Heart disease is also not uncommon among them. Compared to their urban counterparts, minorities living in rural areas are more prone to diseases and are also deprived of good healthcare facilities. Negatively privileged minorities seldom receive the preventive services, and do not get access to good healthcare service providers. Even though they have more healthcare needs compared to others we find that they do not take proper treatment. The statistics of cancer screening and treatment of diabetes and heart diseases show that minorities are not always benefited of the treatment. Minorities residing in rural areas are disadvantaged bec ause of several reasons. Only nine percent of the doctors of the United States practice in the rural areas though rural areas have a heavy population who are in real need of healthcare facilities. Almost 20 percent of the nation’s population lives in rural areas. Rural residents choose not to avail medical facilities for they have to travel long distance to reach quality healthcare service providers. Certain improvements in healthcare for chronic conditions, availability of preventive services and access to quality healthcare have contributed to the reduction of disparity in healthcare field. These day minorities are fortunate to get better access to healthcare facilities. For example, access to pediatric vision care, timing of antibiotics, counseling for addictions, receipt of mammography and various other things have improved for negatively privileged people. However still there are disadvantaged populations who are not benefited out of these improvements. Asians, Indians, Alaska Natives, Hispanics, Latinos and few other populations still suffer from the lack of quality healthcare service. For example, when we look at the colon cancer screening statistics we can find this disparity. The disparity is increasing in spite of other attempts to give more privileges to the negatively privileged population. Disparities have also affected Hispanics and other people of color. Treatments for psychological disorders also give only a second privileged to blacks and other minorities. Health

Decide by yourself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Decide by yourself - Essay Example It is difficult to pin point an exact time of disappearances of specific individuals after the Bacon Rebellion. What is so mysterious, however, is that the disappearances of numerous freed slave families simply no longer existed on record after the time of the Bacon Rebellion. The Rebellion itself occurred in 1676, but progressively after the rebellion, the disappearances began. A brief history of the Bacon Rebellion will tell us that a few key factors implicated in igniting it involved a decline in tobacco quality due to massive over production and lowered prices, scarce land availability, raised taxes, and an overall low popularity of the government at the time, particularly Governor Berkley. Other factors which played more critically in the events that spurned the rebellion were poor relations with Native Americans. In fact, there was a great deal of unrest between several tribes and the colonists. In some of the raids perpetrated on Native American tribes, it was a case of mistaken identity that made a bad situation worse. Initially, it was the Doeg tribe which instigated the raid. The Susquehanna tribe, however, was victim to the retaliation raid by the colonists. In reality, it was these raids back and forth between Native Americans and colonists that started the Bacon Rebellion. Nathaniel Bacon, a highly popular colonist, began and led the Bacon Rebellion. At the time, Sir William Berkley served as governor of the colony. He would not consent to sending troops to help the colonists in their retaliation against the Native Americans whom the colonists felt posed a threat. Eventually, Bacon and his followers essentially overthrew Berkley. In the end, however, it was Berkley who won with the help of British royal naval ships. It is important to mention that many freed slaves were actually in support of the rebellion as well as part of it. It was the working class colonists and freed slaves against the

Family Variations and Implications to Children Essay

Family Variations and Implications to Children - Essay Example Therefore, the economic, social, and cultural background of a family has a great impact on the behaviors and the upbringing of a child in the community. Children from single parenting portray different characteristics from children with two parents, with the gender of the child being a factor in determining how the family structure and relationships affect children in particular families. Wright & Chrysalis (2007, 16) argue that the rapidly changing family dynamics result in varying characteristics and behaviors in children, indicating that the structure of a family has a direct impact on the upbringing of a child. Therefore, children adopt behaviors and characteristics that mirror the family cultural and economic backgrounds, and family structures in the society. In this report, the various effects of family structures and their effects on children influenced by the social, economic, and cultural factors will be investigated. Berthoud (2) further notes that in black families, the issue of extended family is more profound, and may include grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, among others. Generally, research in most U.K families portrays most traditional family structures are more stable compared to the current marriage structures, which include single parenting and cohabitation forms of marriages (Mooney, Oliver & Smith 2009, 3). Children in stable marriages portray healthy and stable development psychologically, mentally and are in most cases protected from vices experienced by children in the other two forms of marriages (Mooney, Oliver & Smith 2009, 3). Such children are likely to be morally responsible according to stable upbringing, or the favorable atmosphere in these families; they have to learn their cultural orientations and the expected code of behaviors in the society.  

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Engineering Essay

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Engineering Essay Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are a class of device which make conversion of electrochemical fuel to electricity with negligible pollution[1]. SOFCs have two major configurations: flat planar and tubular and the SOFCs system consists of a stack that is made of many unit cells. Each unit cell is composed of two porous electrodes, a solid ceramic electrolyte and interconnects. Unlike other fuel cells, the SOFCs conduct oxygen ions from the cathode to the anode through the electrolyte, and hydrogen or carbon monoxide reacts with the oxygen ions in the anode[2]. The materials of anode and cathode have different requirements; the anode should withstand a very reducing high temperature environment whilst the cathode has to survive a very oxidising high temperature environment[3]. Among all the important fuel cells under development, the solid oxide fuel cells operate at the highest operating temperature, typically between 600 and 1000à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™[4]. So the SOFCs has also been called the third-generation fuel cell technology because it was expected to be put into application widely after the commercialisation of Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells (PAFCs) (the first generation) and Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells (MCFCs) (the second generation)[2]. The solid oxide fuel cell is composed of all solid components with the electrolyte acting as an oxide ion conductor and operating at high temperature (~1000à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™) in order to ensure adequate ionic and electronic conductivity for the cell components[5]. 1.1.1 SOFC Advantages and Disadvantages SOFCs have a number of advantages due to their solid materials and high operating temperature. Since all the components are solid, as a result, there is no need for electrolyte loss maintenance and also electrode corrosion is eliminated[6]. Since SOFCs are operated at high temperature, expensive catalysts such as platinum or ruthenium are totally avoided[2, 6]. Also because of high-temperature operation, the SOFC has a better ability to tolerate the presence of impurities as a result of life increasing[6]. Costs are reduced for internal reforming of natural gas[6]. Due to high-quality waste heat for cogeneration applications and low activation losses, the efficiency for electricity production is greater than 50 ¹Ã‚ ªand even possible to reach 65 ¹Ã‚ ª[2, 6]. Releasing negligible pollution is also a commendable reason why SOFCs are popular today[5]. However, there are also some disadvantages in existence for deteriorating the performance of SOFCs. SOFCs operate high temperature, so the materials used as components are thermally challenged[5]. The relatively high cost and complex fabrication are also significant problems that need to be solved[6]. 1.1.2 SOFC Applications Due to the advantages mentioned above, SOFCs are being considered for a wide range of applications, such as working as power systems for trains, ships and vehicles; supplying electrical power for residential or industrial utility[2, 7]. 1.1.3 SOFC Components and Configurations A SOFC system is composed of fuel cell stacks, which consist of many unit cells. There are two major configurations, tubular and planar, being pursued, described generally as follows. Tubular unit cell is shown in Figure 1[8, 9]. The schematic illustrates the corresponding current flow direction and components. According to X. Li[2], due to easy stacking consideration, recently more and more tubular cells have the structure of cathode inside and anode outside the electrolyte layer. The planar unit cell has a flat structure with a bipolar arrangement, as shown in Figure 2[10]. Seung-Bok Lee at el.[11] reported that since the more effective current collection by planner interconnects, planar SOFCs have superiority in power density. On the contrary, the thermal and mechanical properties of tubular SOFCs are better than that of planner SOFCs. Table 1[2] lists a comparison of the two different SOFC cell configurations Table 1 A comparison of the two different SOFC cell configurations[2] Advantage Disadvantage Ease of manufacturing Edge current collection Tubular No need for gas-tight cell sealing Low-power density Less thermal cracking due to thermal expansion mismatch High materials cost Lower fabrication cost High temperature gas-tight sealing Planar Ease in flow arrangement High assembly effort and cost Higher power density Stricter requirement on thermal expansion match An SOFC stack consist of many unit cells, which are connected by interconnects. Figure 3[12] illustrates image of planar SOFC stack. 1.1.3.1 Cathode The typical material for the cathode is strontium-doped lanthanum manganite (La1-xSrxMnO3, x=0.10-0.15), because of its good electrochemical activity for oxygen reduction, high electronic conductivity, good stability[2, 4].Other materials, like platinum and other noble metals have also been considered as candidates of the SOFC cathode due to the highly oxidising environment. However, considering the high cost of platinum, it is not best choice to use this metal as the cathode. 1.1.3.2 Anode Though as for the cathode, precious metals like platinum can be used for the SOFC anode, the most widely used material is a nickel-zirconia cermet, i.e. a mixture of nickel and yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) skeleton[2]. About 20 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ¦-40 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ porosity in the anode structure is good for mass transport of reactant and product gases[1, 2]. Nickel plays the role as the electrocatalyst for anode reaction and also can conduct the electrons produced at the anode whilst the yttria-stabilised zirconia is used for conducting oxygen ions[2]. 1.1.3.3 Electrolyte There are a number of materials that can be used for the SOFC electrolyte. Among them, yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ), i.e. zirconia doped with around 8 mol ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ yttria and gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC) is the most widely used materials suitable for the SOFC electrolyte. GDC has very good ionic conductivity, but it also shows a high electronic conductivity[5]. Compared with GDC, YSZ is stable in either reducing or oxidising environments and has a good conductivity to transmit ions, especially at sufficiently high temperature. But unlike GDC, YSZ shows little or no capability to conduct electrons. Each time two yttria ions (Y3+) replace two zirconia ions (Zr4+) in the zirconia crystal lattice, three oxide ions (O2-) replace four O2- ions, which make one O2- site become vacant, as shown in Figure 4[5]. The vacancies are determined by the amount of yttria doped. So it seems superficially that the more yttria doped, the better the conductivity. But there is an upper limit for the amount of doped yttria, which is shown in Figure 5[5]. The peak conductivity appears at yttria concentration of 6% to 8 mol%. Very dense YSZ has a very low gas permeability, which does not allow the reactant gases to mix. However, since YSZ has a low ionic conductivity, in order to ensure the ohmic loss and match with other components, it has to be made about 20-50 ÃŽÂ ¼m thick [1, 2]. 1.1.3.4 Interconnects Interconnects are used to connect the neighbouring cells. Materials which act as interconnect must have properties of high electronic conductivity[1]. Ceramics are usually used for the interconnect since the operating temperature is around 1000à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. Mg-doped lanthanum chromite, LaCr1-xMgxO3 (x = 0.02-0.01) shows advantages because its electronic conductivity typically increases with temperature[2]. However, although noble metals have good electronic conductivity, their high price limits their becoming a candidate for the interconnect[ 2, 4]. 1.1.5 Electrochemical Conversion The air is carried to the cathode and the oxygen reacts with electrons from the external circuit yielding oxide ions[2, 4]: Cathode: O2 + 2e- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ O2- (1) The electrolyte does not permit the oxygen pass through it, but the oxide ions migrate from the electrolyte to the anode. At the anode hydrogen or carbon monoxide reacts with oxygen ions to produce water or carbon dioxide[2, 4]: Anode: H2 +O2- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ H2O + 2e- (2) CO + O2- à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ CO2 + 2e- (3) This releases electrons to move through the external circuit to the cathode, thus generating an electric current. So the overall cell reaction occurring is[2, 4]: H2 + O2 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ H2O +Waste Heat + Electric Energy (4) CO + O2 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ CO2 +Waste Heat + Electric Energy (5) The electrochemical conversion is shown in Figure 6[13]. 1.2 Electrolyte Materials 1.2.1 Zirconia Zirconia is a white ceramic, with the properties of high temperature, wear and corrosion resistance, high melting point and low coefficient of thermal expansion. Historically, the application of zirconia has been in refractory and ceramic paints[2]. However, with the development of advanced technologies, due to its stabilised and excellent properties mentioned above, it can be used as electrical conductivity material in the solid oxide fuel cells, wear parts and sensors. Zirconia can exist in three different crystal structures: monoclinic, tetragonal and cubic. At room temperature, it naturally exists as the form of the monoclinic crystalline structure. When the temperature reaches around 1100à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, the crystal form changes to tetragonal, and then to cubic at about 2370à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™[14]. Pure zirconia is never used because of its unstable properties, so many dopants are added to stabilise the higher temperature forms and hence avoid the damaging tetragonal to monoclinic transformation, e.g. MgO, CaO, Ce2O3, and Y2O3. Of these, yttria is the most common dopant, yielding yttria stabilised zirconia (YSZ). 1.2.2 Yttria Stabilised Zirconia (YSZ) and the Effect of Different Yttria Contents YSZ is considered to be an important electrolyte material for solid oxide fuel cells. The proportion of yttria in YSZ is still under research, but is often around 8 mol%. This yields a cubic fluorite-structure YSZ, which displays good thermal stability, good ionic conductivity at high temperature and a thermal expansion compatibility with electrode materials[15]. However, it is mechanically weak as a result of the high fraction of vacancies present in the structure. Different amount of yttria in zirconia has different effect on the properties of YSZ, including ionic conductivity, toughness, fracture strength etc[16]. 8 mol% yttria stabilised zirconia (8YSZ) has a cubic structure with properties of high ionic conductivity, good chemical stability but its low mechanical strength, limits the fabrication[17, 18]. However, for 3-7 mol% Y2O3, both cubic and tetragonal phases exist in the microstructure. Table 2[19] lists comparison of phases for different yttria concentration in zirconia. Table 2 Phase variation for different concentration of yttria in zirconia[19] %Y phase 2YSZ Tetragonal with some monoclinic 3YSZ Pure tetragonal 4.5YSZ Cubic and tetragonal 6YSZ and higher cubic If the YSZ has a great volume fraction of metastable tetragonal phase, which will provide good mechanical properties (strength and toughness) to the ceramic[16]. For example, 3 mol% yttria stabilised zirconia (3YSZ) has an excellent mechanical properties of high flexural strength and good fracture toughness. M. Ghatee et al.[16] also demonstrated that 3YSZ shows higher electrical conductivity than 8YSZ at T550 °C. That is because the activation energy of electrical conductivity for 3YSZ is lower than 8YSZ at all temperatures. And the strength of the material is determined by grain size and flaw size[16]. 1.2.3 Nanostructured Zirconia Nanostructured ceramics are expected the average particle size is less than 20nm[20]. And recently, nanotechnology have drawn much attention because of the good mechanical properties, i.e. increasing of hardness, strength, of the materials in nano-size. It is reported that the electrical conductivity of nanostructured YSZ is about 2-3 orders of the magnitude larger than that of microcrystalline YSZ[15]. Since nanostructured YSZ has many advantages, the development of nanocrystalline YSZ electrolyte grows rapidly. Y. Chen et al.[15], has synthesised nanocrystalline YSZ electrolyte via the plasma spray technique. 1.3 Characterisation of YSZ 1.3.1 Ionic Conductivity Conductivity is a measurement of whether charges transport well or not. Ionic conductivity is derived from  ion mobility rate, which is determined by carrier concentration c and carrier mobility u, which is shown in Equation 1 [5]. (1) [5] where is the charge number of the carrier, is Faradays constant. 1.3.1.1 AC Impedance Spectroscopy Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a widely used technique for differentiating different losses, i.e. anode activation losses, ohmic losses and cathode activation losses. Impedance, Z, a judgement of the capacity of a system to resist current flow relates to variation of time and frequency. It is given by the following Equation 2[5]: Z = (2) [5] Where: V(t) is time-dependent voltage = V0 cos() i(t) is time-dependent current = i0 cos() V0 and i0 are the amplitudes of voltage and current is radial frequency is phase shift It often uses sinusoidal voltage perturbation, V = V0cos(), dominating responded current, i = i0cos(), to measure impedance. So according to Equation 2, impedance Z is written by Equation 3[5]: Z = = Z0 (3)[5] Ionic conductivity is often investigated by impedance spectroscopy. Temperature and frequency are important factors which should be controlled accurately[21]. Measurements are often processed using platinum electrodes, in air. The YSZ electrolytes are coated with platinum paste on both sides. Two platinum wires which adhere to each side of the YSZ electrolyte were connected to the frequency response analyser. And the measurements are carried out under the temperature range of 200-1000 °C[21, 22]. 1.3.1.2 4-Probe Method 4-point probe method is used to measure the electrical impedance of YSZ. The configuration of the 4-point probe shown in Figure 7[23], is composed of four independent electrical terminals, the two probe (A and B) are used to provide current whilst the potential drop is measured by the inner terminals (C and D)[23, 24]. Figure 7 Principle of 4-point probe technique[23] And the face contact should be ensured when the measurement was made[25]. According to H. Kokabi[23], before measurement, the following two assumptions must be processed: The area of measurement is uniform; The diameter of the contact point is far less than the distance between two probes. 1.3.1.3 Sintered Density and Grain Size Effect on Ionic Conductivity According to X.J. Chen et al.[21], ionic conductivity can be divided to two parts: intragranular conductivity and intergranular conductivity. The former one is related to density, while the later one depends on the grain size and grain boundary. Intragranular conductivity increases with increasing density, and intergranular conductivity increases with the sintering temperature till 1350à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™, then drop down[21]. It is reported that high densities and small grain sizes can improve the electrical and mechanical properties of YSZ[26]. In the case of the porosity, >10%, can has great reduction for conductivity because the pores hinder the conduction way between grains[26]. On the contrary, the fully dense YSZ has a maximum conductivity. Han et al.[27] said that the grain boundary motion induces grain growth, which is driven by two processes: grain boundary diffusion and grain boundary migration. They both make densification increase, but the latter one gives rapid grain growth[22]. So if dense sintering with little grain growth needs to be achieved, hindering grain boundary migration, whilst keeping grain boundary diffusion active, is a good method. The activation energy for grain boundary migration, which is the least energy to ensure migration occurring, is higher than that for grain boundary diffusion. So as D. Mà ¦land[22] suggests, it is better keeping the sintering temperature to no more than 1300 °C, which means that grain boundary migration is inhibited, but grain boundary diffusion is active.

Banking Sector Essay -- Financial System, Bank Runs

Traditionally, the existence of bank runs was a very frequent phenomenon in Europe during the 19th century. It was mostly seen in the emerging countries where the boeotian level was low. Kaminsky and Reinhard introduced a new concept in the banking sector called twin crises. The twin crises concept started since 1980 and occurs when both currency and banking crises take place simultaneously. This harmful phenomenon anticipated a significant recession after the 1933 when the Federal Reserve System imposed the concept of Deposit Insurance in the US. In the same directions all governments around the world tried to find ways to prevent crises. Several schemes like the Suspension of convertibility and penalty on short-term deposits followed the implementation of Deposit Insurance scheme. As a result of the establishment of these new schemes, policy makers and bankers focused their attention and criticism on the recent concept of moral hazard that came into surface during the savings and loan crisis of 1980. In order to begin analyzing the macroeconomic concept of bank runs I have to mention that there are literally two general views. The first group of economists such as Diamond and Dybvig (1983), Chang and Velasco (2001) and Cooper and Ross (1998) supports that bank runs are self-fulfilling prophecies, unconnected to the real economy of the country. Under this view, if agents do not expect a bank run to take place, the risk-sharing mechanism of the banking sector operates beneficially and an efficient allocation of resources is achieved. On the other hand, if the agents believe that a bank run will occur then they will all have the tendency to run and withdraw their money as soon as possible to avoid losing them. The second appr... ...mplementing the 5 regulatory policies as I mentioned above at the end of the first part of this paper. The Diamond and Dybvig model clearly explains why these five policies were introduced. Firstly, the suspension of convertibility was introduced in order for events like the example of the bad equilibrium be avoided and keeping the bank alive. On the same line was introduced the tax on short-term deposits as well in order to disencourage depositors to withdraw their money early. In addition, the FCDI scheme was implemented in order to remove the fear of a bank run from the investors to eliminate the occurrence of panic within the financial market. Furthermore, the ICDI scheme was introduced to eliminate the concept of moral hazard that is caused by FCDI. Finally, the capital requirement scheme was established in order to keep the banks more liquid and solvent.

Creative Writing †Big Me Essay

In the world of fantasy, the child chooses the roles he wants to play. In the world of fantasy, the child finally finds his essence and feels that he is valued by others. In Dan Chaon’s â€Å"Big Me†, showing and telling serves the instrument of the child’s imagination, and the means of escaping his real-world loneliness. Dan Chaon creates an unbelievable image of the child who tries to define his role and meaning in the world, through the prism of thirty-two-year-old Andy O’Day who tells the story of his childhood. â€Å"I never felt like danger. I was convinced of my own powers of stealth and invisibility. [†¦] He couldn’t see me unless I chose to be seen† (Chaon, 2002). In Chaon’s story showing and telling, observation and imagination provide a young boy with unlimited power – the power that he cannot use in real world, and the power he needs to compensate for the constantly increasing sense of loneliness. He is going through a difficult period when his parents are drinking and quarreling; his brother attempts a suicide; under the increasing social pressure, the child can no longer remain realistic, and to some extent his showing and telling becomes the key to moral, mental, and spiritual salvation. To be a Detective for Andy means to save the imagined two million city of crime, and to have an opportunity to penetrate into other houses for investigation: â€Å"I had been going to his house frequently by that time. I had a notebook, into which I had pasted the Santa photo, and a sample of his handwriting, and a bit of hair from his comb. [†¦] There were letters: â€Å"I am tired, unbelievably tired, of going around in circles with you. [†¦] I had copied this down in my detective’s notebook† (Chaon, 2002). Andy imagines himself a Detective; he investigates the way other people live; he writes everything down into his small notebook – this is how his showing and telling works. The need to control other people’s lives does not leave him as he reaches the thirty second year of his life. His showing and telling turns into the second life, which he secretly leads as a reminiscence of his early years when he could sense the smell of the unlimited power of a Detective in a two million city. References Chaon, D. (2002). Big me. In D. Chaon, Among the Missing, Ballantine Books.

Preview of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile 11th Edition †New Features for College Students!

Preview of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile 11th Edition – New Features for College Students! The 11th edition of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn ® Profile will be published soon (projected January release date!), and one of the new additions is a guide to LinkedIn ® for college students. At this time of college admissions fervor, I thought it would be appropriate to reveal this section especially for my blog readers! LinkedIn ® For Students and LinkedIn ® Youniversity are two of LinkedIn’s newest features. If youre one of the 39 million college students on LinkedIn ®, or if you’re considering becoming one of them, you will get value from my newest appendix, which addresses some features you may have not realized were available to you. Enjoy! LinkedIn ® For Students LinkedIn ® Youniversity LinkedIn ® for Students is filled with videos and tips on the most effective ways to use LinkedIn ®, from building your personal brand to getting an internship. Available videos cover a variety of topics to get you started with networking, discovering your career passion and prepping for interviews. Youll also find checklists and tip sheets for building your student profile and utilizing LinkedIns Alumni tools. Student Jobs 101 provides tips for optimizing your LinkedIn ® profile, approaching the college job hunt, and applying for internships and entry-level positions. Jobs for Students and Recent Graduates is LinkedIns search engine for internship positions and jobs for recent graduates. Search by industry for a list of positions that may interest you. LinkedIn for Students Articles contains a collection of articles written by LinkedIns top writers related to college and career. LinkedIn ® Youniversity is designed to help students find the perfect college. Its a one-stop hub where you can communicate with other students, advisors and future classmates. Here are just a few of its features: University Rankings Find out which schools are best rated in terms of placing new graduates. Read how LinkedIn ® attains these ratings in LinkedIn ®s Official Blog article, Ranking Universities Based on Career Outcomes. University Finder Just tell LinkedIn ® what you want to do and theyll show you the top schools for that industry career. Field of Study Explorer LinkedIn ® takes your field of study (based on your profile) and lists the top business and connections for you. Decision Boards Create a pin board where you can keep all of your top picks from your University Rankings, Finder and Field of Study tools in one place, plus get start conversations to get advice from people you trust and respect.When you select a preferred university and/or field of study, your Decision Board will appear on your profile page. Visitors will then have the opportunity to help you make your decision based on their experiences. For more information on how to use LinkedIn ® Youniversity, read LinkedIn ® Official Blog article, Social + Data = Better Decisions for Students. I would love to hear how you or your college student children are using these new LinkedIn ® features. And if you don’t have my book yet and you want to know how to optimize the value you get from LinkedIn ® as a job seeker, business person, or student, just go How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn ® Profile. If you purchase the book in PDF format, youll receive unlimited lifetime updates! Finally, if youd like me to address a particular LinkedIn ® topic you dont see covered in my book or blog, just email me at BrendaB@TheEssayExpert.com with your suggestion. The answer to your question might be featured in the next edition! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinDecember 8, 2014

How to Write a Communications Term Paper A Complete Guide

How to Write a Communications Term Paper A Complete Guide When assigned a communications term paper to write you are given an entire term to work out your topic, do research, find the necessary information and put the results in writing. It may seem like you have a lot of time to do it – but it is plenty of work as well. The writing alone is likely to take a lot of time (term papers are often 6000 words long, sometimes longer). A communications term paper should present a sufficient amount of original research, which means that you cannot fully rely on outside sources. If you are given this assignment to work as a part of a group, it may involve even more problems, because collaborating with other people is always more difficult than doing things on your own – you have to rely on others to do their parts of the job. As your term paper is going to be responsible for a significant portion of your grade, you should start paying attention to this job early on. These communications term paper tips will help you organize your efforts in the right direction. Choosing a Topic: Samples Ideas from Our Writers When you write an essay in college, the topic is usually assigned to you. With term papers, things are usually different – you choose the topic yourself, although with an input from your instructor. Ideally, you should talk things over with him and select something that will both be interesting for you and acceptable from his point of view – after all, your instructor has already seen dozens if not hundreds of students’ terms papers and knows which kinds of topics work and which do not. As you are going to spend an entire term writing this paper, don’t take this choice too lightly, lest you find out that with the topic you’ve selected you a bit more than you can chew and it is already too late to swap it for something else. Here are some recommendations that can help you: Look for something you have interest in. Firstly, you probably already know a fair amount about this subject and can save time you would otherwise spend digging for information. Secondly, the quality of one’s writing is always higher when one writes about something he is fascinated with. If you cannot think about a specific topic, try at least to delineate a general area you would like to explore (e.g., development of communication skills in children); Try using online academic oriented search engines (Refseek, PubMed, iSeek to name a few). Some of them are discipline-specific, others are general purpose, but all are useful both to search for sources of information and to have a look at the existing body of research on this or that topic. Looking through their results can help you find a topic that has a fair amount or research on it but still has bits you can dig in without repeating existing works; Once you’ve decided on the general area you want to cover, narrow your topic down to something more manageable. Don’t be overenthusiastic, though – too narrow a topic is just as bad as a too broad one, as you may find it difficult to find viable research dealing with it; Make sure that the topic you’ve settled down on contains a question (direct or implied one). The thing is, a communications term paper isn’t a comment on something or a description of an existing situation in the research on this or that topic. It is your original work, in which you study the situation on your own and present your findings – and findings are impossible if there weren’t any questions asked beforehand. Thus, â€Å"Body Language† isn’t a very good topic as it doesn’t contain a question. â€Å"The Role of Body Language in Successful Communication†, however, is a much better choice, because it implies one: Is body language important for successful communication? Talk your topic over with your instructor, and do it as early as possible to have an opportunity to research and choose another one if need be. Your instructor will be able to point out potential problems with your topic that you don’t see right now, and unless you are positive you can deal with them you should better listen to what he has to say – he has much more experience dealing with this sort of thing. Eventually, the topic you select should meet two basic criteria: be narrow enough to research it more or less exhaustively in your allotted word count and be broad enough to offer a sufficient research discourse to build upon. Here are some examples of what you may be looking for: Factors Influencing Development of Communication Skills in Children from Birth to Five Years of Age; Communication Apprehension in Group Videoconferencing; The Role of Technology in Human Communication in the Mobile Age; What Influences the Development of Conflict Resolution Skills in Children; Discourse Analysis of Everyday Speech. Gathering and Researching Sources One of the most important skills for a researcher in the field of communication is critical reading and analysis of the existing body of research. There are three basic reasons why it is so important: You won’t be able to produce a high-quality term paper with novel findings in your field if you don’t know the current research on the topic you’ve chosen; Critical analysis of the works by other researchers teaches you to notice strong and weak points in their argumentation – a skill you can successfully apply when reading your own work. Knowing where and how other people make mistakes will help you avoid them in your term paper and foresee potential counter-arguments to your reasoning; You should take every bit of information with a grain of salt – sources vary greatly in quality and veracity, and only prolonged experience in critical reading can teach you how to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy ones. The quantity of sources doesn’t always translate into quality – don’t be tempted to use a source just to add an extra item to your page. If it (or, worse yet, a number of them) turns out to be low-quality, it can negatively affect the value of your entire term paper. If you’ve chosen your topic carefully, there should be more than enough viable sources for it, so don’t be greedy. Where to Look for Sources Here are some good places to start: The reference section of your textbook. Look through the reference section for the chapter dealing with the general research area you are writing about and see if there are any suitable sources there. You can repeat this trick with any other source you find; Reading list for your course. If you’ve selected a topic at all relevant to the course you are taking, you are likely to find some good specimens here; Online academic databases like JSTOR and EBSCO. They contain not just the titles of the books and articles but also a host of useful information on them, like when they were published, how many times they were referred to in peer-reviewed papers and so on. This data is an excellent indication of a source’s relative quality; Librarians and your instructor – ask those who work with sources on a regular basis. Chances are, they can offer you exactly what you need. How to Evaluate Sources As we’ve already stated, sources vary greatly in terms of usefulness and trustworthiness. In order to avoid relying too much on sources that can later turn out to be dubious, you should ask yourself the following questions before putting any trust into any of them: Is the author qualified? Is he a specialist in the field he is writing about? Does he have any relevant credentials to prove his qualification? Is it possible to get in touch with him to get a comment on his work? Does he have any other publications on the same or a close topic (look for them using several different search engines)? Is this person referred to by any other credible sources? Who published the source? What is the source of the publication? Does it have any sponsors or affiliations that may be interested in the one-sided presentation of the subject matter? Does the publisher take responsibility for the content it publishes? Is it possible that the author is biased in any way? Are there any signs of explicit or implicit bias? Is the author’s language emotional? Does the author belong to an organization that may have a biased view on the subject? What is the source’s purpose? Is it to inform or to persuade? Are the author’s methods sound and appropriate? Check the methodology page for possible inconsistencies or poorly chosen methods (taking the subject into account). Does the author provide sufficient data to prove his conclusions? Is there enough evidence to back up the author’s assumptions? Writing Introduction and Conclusion These two parts are written more or less the same as in any other academic writing assignment. The introduction states the problem, does its best to grasp the reader’s attention and smoothly leads on to the thesis statement. The conclusion sums up the paper, states whether the initial hypothesis was proved or disproved and clarifies whether any subsequent research in this area is in order. Thesis Statement Thesis statement summarizes, in short, the main point of your communication term paper. The main things to consider here are as follows: It should be short – usually one sentence, no more than two; It should contain a single most important point of your paper. What do you try to prove? What is the main finding of your term paper? It should be definite – no ambiguities, no vagueness. Body Paragraphs Communication term papers have a standard of writing every student has to follow. All paragraphs should be written in more or less the same fashion: first, you introduce the new point, then provide evidence to back it up (quotations, statistics, interviews, etc.), then deal with potential counter-arguments and finalize it by summarizing the point and connecting it back to the thesis statement; Be laconic. The fewer words you use, the better. If anything can be said shorter than it is, rewrite it this way. However, the key is to remain understandable – don’t strive for brevity for the sake of brevity, just trim the fat; Don’t use emotional language. What you write is a work of science, not fiction, there is no place for emotions, bias or anything else of the kind; Use quotations sparingly, especially direct ones. The words of other researchers, however well-reputed, aren’t considered sufficient evidence in science. You should focus on facts, statistical data and repeatable experiments and not on what other people say about them; Don’t use the first person in your writing. Phrases like ‘I think’ and ‘I believe’ are too personal and have no place in any research writing, writing on communication included. Revision You may be quite tired of your paper by the time you finish it, but the first draft never means the end of work – at least if you want to achieve good results. In order to produce a truly memorable communication term paper, you have to put it through revision. If possible, give yourself at least one full day to simply have a little rest from this work. You will be able to see your paper with fresh eyes and find more mistakes this way; Ask a friend or a peer for an opinion about your paper. Make sure to choose somebody who you can trust. Ask them if parts are connected logically, if all chapters of the paperwork as intended, if they have any more constructive criticism to impart; Read your term paper aloud. Quite often this allows you to notice flaws that remain hidden when presented in text form; Don’t be afraid of cutting whole paragraphs. More isn’t always better – if your paper works better without something, remove it, even if by itself it is a fascinating piece of information; Consult with your style guide and check if your paper complies with it. We hope that this communications term paper guide will help you prepare and write your next term paper – good luck!

A World without Oil Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A World without Oil - Research Paper Example Our reliance on motor vehicles would make us look for alternative solutions such as electric cars, which are few or converting vehicles that function on natural gas. Following this, a world without oil would dictate the need to replace the oil based infrastructures with new technologies and new sources of energy. The World would revert to the way it was when oil was an unavailable resource. Everything would be local, small farming communities, homes with wood-burning stoves, no more international business, and office places. To some extent, the world would be a better place free from pollution as oil is the major attribute of pollution. Lastly, a world without oil would mean the development of other forms of energy as mentioned previously. With this in mind, the aim of this paper is to discuss how a world without oil would be like. Miller (8) believes that, a world without oil would affect transportation and there would be a dramatic increase of prices for goods and services. This is because civilization and agribusiness depends on large machines that use oil in production and transportation. Insect repellent and fertilizers require oil gas during distribution and production process. When oil is not available, there would be an increase costs on agribusiness as there would be an increasing prices of pesticides and fertilizers, which would result to increase of food prices. Lack of oil would result to small farming communities, as many would lack resources that augment better farming. As discussed by Nakaya (12) indicates that, most of farming activities heavily depend on oil for better harvest, efficient marketing, and distribution. Lack of oil would lead to poor farming and many farmers would fail to meet their expectations. To Miller (25), agriculture is best appealing when there is efficient marketing and transporting at affordable prices. Resourceful transportation is indispensable for successful agricultural marketing. As mentioned, lack of oil would resul t to poor transportation and thus, farmers will be disadvantaged when selling their crops. Expensive services would lead to small farming due to the net profit acquired from the investment. Still, unavailability of oil would cause impassable, infrequent, and slow transport services and this would lead to losses of crops such as fresh vegetable, milk, or tea. There would be low investment on farming, as many farmers would suffer losses. According to McCage (19), the nature of transportation strongly influences the pattern of global business. Trade is usually chocked off by poor transport and in turn affected by underlying factors such as geographical barriers and distance. Oil is fundamental in transportation and its unavailability would deteriorate economic growth. Air transport that heavily depends on oil would responsibly reduce international trading, as traders would lack means to transport commodities. This would have effect on development as many countries would not have the op portunity to trade with other countries. There would be geographical barriers, as many would lack means of transportation. From the above assumption, one can argue that much of transportation depends on oil and therefore its unavailability may deteriorate transportation. Although there may be substitutes, they may not be in quantities needed to maintain the road system (Ross 19). Rose continues to argue that, the world would revert to the way it was when oil was an unavailable resource

Alternative investments consistently provide higher returns as well as Essay

Alternative investments consistently provide higher returns as well as diversification benefits to client portfolios Discuss this statement highlighting the most common types of alternative investments - Essay Example e negatively influenced – no matter even the limitation in these products’ performance is high or low; the examination of the investors’ preferences under normal market conditions has led to the assumption that alpha returns is likely to be preferred as an investment tool instead of beta return. The nature and the performance of this investment product can be used in order to explain the increased interest of investors on alpha returns. However, under the influence of the current financial crisis, the attractiveness of alternatives and structured products has been reduced showing the strong dependency of investment decisions on the market conditions. In order to understand the increase in clients’ preferences on alpha returns it would be necessary to refer primarily to the characteristics of the specific investment; in accordance with Dorsey (2007, p.5) ‘alpha often is a virtual catchall for the return generated by an alternative investment that is not considered to be related to equity beta’. The above type of alternative investment seems to be preferred by investors – instead for the beta return; this differentiation on the investors’ preferences can be explained by analyzing the characteristics of the specific two investment products. The term beta return reflects ‘beta is the amount of return for a security or fund that is explained by its benchmark or component benchmarks’ (Dorsey, 2007, p.6); in other words, the main difference between the alpha and the beta return is that the former focuses on the factors influencing the performance of a specific investment while the latter r efers to the market prices in general. In this context, the alpha return is likely to be preferred by investors as it offers a clearer view on the potential performance of a particular investment; the identification of the price of the market to which an investment is related is of secondary importance for the investors of the particular market. From another point