A Book report on Celia, A Slave essays

A Book report on Celia, A Slave essays Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin In the book Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin, the accounts of one womans life are bound together in a vivid way to relay the circumstances surrounding a female slaves cruel life. The life of this woman named Celia was filled with acts of molestation, rape, murder, and eventual execution. Through the use of court records, correspondences, and newspaper accounts, the author delineated in chronological order the life of Celia: from her purchase by Robert Newsom to her execution on December 21, 1855. When Robert Newsom bought Celia from an unnamed person, the first night that he spent with her he raped Celia. This act was repeated numerously throughout the next five years. It is told to the reader that Celia almost certainly was purchased to replace Newsoms wife who had died months earlier. After years of sexual torment and abuse, Celia killed her master and burned his body to avoid being caught. However, she was caught, tried, and executed for her crime. This of course was not the whole story. Many factors come into play when explaining why Celia murdered Robert Newsom and determining the right course of action for her punishment. The factors influencing Celias behavior can be attributed to the years of rape sustained by Celia. In addition to the emotional instability that encourages Celia to murder Newsom is the ultimatum given by Celias lover, George, to quit the old man (30) or risk losing him as a companion. Also, many people had the opportunity to stand up for Celia and stop the abuse, but for personal reasons, those who knew of the crimes chose to remain quiet. All of these factors have the same thing in common: they each present a person or persons dealing with their own personal dilemmas. In the case of Celia, she could stand up to her master and face physical and emotional punishment and possibly death. It was a choice for h...

Using the Spanish Verb Tratar

Using the Spanish Verb 'Tratar' It may not seem logical that the same Spanish verb might mean to try and to treat, but such is the case with tratar. Tratar is a fairly common verb that also has other meanings that dont seem particularly related. In general, though, the word has to do with dealing with a person, activity, or thing. Often, the meaning of tratar depends on the preposition that follows, although even that isnt always a sure guide. Perhaps more so than with most verbs, you need to rely on the context of the sentence to determine the meaning. Common Meanings of Tratar by Itself One of the most typical uses of tratar is to refer to treating someone or something in a specified way: Nos trataban como a animales y en ocasiones peor. (They treated us like animals and sometimes worse.)Siempre he estado en paz debido a la forma en que mi madre me tratà ³. (I have always been at peace because of the way my mother treated me.) ¡No me trates como a un nià ±o! (Dont treat me as a child!) More specifically, tratar is often used to refer to medical treatment. La enfermedad de Lyme se trata con antibià ³ticos. (Lymes disease is treated with antibiotics.)Los mà ©dicos van a tratar de detener la hemorragia con medicamentos. (The doctors are going use a treatment of stopping the hemorrhage with medications.)Trataron el dolor con morfina por casi una semana. (They treated the pain with morphine for almost a week.)El hospicio trata al paciente como a una persona en su totalidad. (A hospice treats the patient as a person in his or her totality.) Using Tratar With De When tratar is followed by the preposition de and an infinitive, it meant to try or attempt: Aquà ­ no tratamos de ganar mentes y corazones, porque es irrelevante. (Here we are not trying to win hearts and minds, because it is irrelevant.)Trate de nadar por lo menos una hora y quince minutos. (Try to swim at least an hour and 15 minutes.)Los participantes del estudio que fotografiaron sus alimentos perdieron ms peso que aquellos que simplemente trataron de comer ms sanamente. (The study participants who photographed their food lost more weight than those who simply tried to eat more healthily.)Tratarà © de esturiar todos los dà ­as que pueda excepto los lunes. (I will try to study every day I can except for Mondays.)Trata de ponerte en mis zapatos. (Try to put yourself in my shoes.) When the reflexive form tratarse is followed by de, it indicates the subject of something or what its about. Fahrenheit 451 trata de una sociedad totalitaria donde los libros estn prohibidos. (Fahrenheit 451 is about a totalitarian society where books are banned.)Se trata del coche de mi padre, doy una opinià ³n de primera mano. (On the subject of my fathers car, I am giving a firsthand opinion.) ¿De quà © trata? Whats it about?La vida se trata de contentamiento y gratitud. (Life is about contentment and gratitude.) Using Tratar With Con When either tratar or tratarse is followed by con, the preposition usually meaning with, it can refer to a relationship between two or more parties. Note that in some contexts, tratar con can instead me to treat with. Este cambio afectar la manera en que usted trata con su compaà ±Ãƒ ­a de telà ©fonos. (This change will affect the way you do business with your phone company.)Con respecto al amor, no me trato con gente mayor que yo. (When it comes to romance, I dont have relationships with people older than I am.)Sin embargo, muchas veces se tratà ³ con à ©l. (Nevertheless, I often had dealings with him.)Los compaà ±eros tratan con mucho respeto. (The companions treat each other with great respect.) Key Takeaways Tratar often means to treat, as in treating someone or something a certain way, or in providing medical treatment.Tratar de when followed an infinitive usually means to try or attempt.Tratarse de is used to indicate what something is about.

IP 5A English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

IP 5A English - Essay Example Despite this, I felt that this course gave me a direction that I needed. Previously, I had been unable to process as to how I should approach my passion for writing but this course opened a lot of opportunities for me. This did not come all of a sudden but with each assignment, I felt that I came closer to my goal. My biggest achievement in this course was the confidence I got. I learnt that writing is an acquired ability and practice will help me improve upon that ability. The discussion questions further allowed me to understand my strength in the class. My only disappointment is that I was not able to give my cent percent to this course. The stress from hospitalization prevented me from exploring my writing talent to the best of my abilities. I think I would have excelled if not for the deterrent. But despite this, I know that this course gave me the framework from which I could built my future in writing. I believe more reading on this course would have helped the students to explore more writing styles and perspectives. Overall, this course gave me a lot to move forward with. The discussion questions opened up not just new perspectives but better

Country Analysis Bangladesh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Country Analysis Bangladesh - Essay Example The rural birth rate was higher than birth rates in urban areas; in 1985 there were 36.3 births per 1,000 in the countryside versus 28 per 1,000 in urban areas. The crude death rate per 1,000 people decreased from 40.7 in 1951 to 12 per 1,000 in 1985; the urban crude death rate was 8.3, and the rural crude death rate was 12.9. The infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 111.9 in 1985, a distinct improvement from as recently as 1982, when the rate was 121.9. Life expectancy at birth was estimated at 55.1 years in 1986. Men and women have very similar life expectancies at 55.4 and 55, respectively. Population Distribution: In the late 1980s, about 82 percent of the population of Bangladesh (a total of 15.1 million households) resided in rural areas. With the exception of parts of Sylhet and Rangamati regions, where settlements occurred in nucleated or clustered patterns, the villages were scattered collections of homesteads surrounded by trees. Continuous strings of settlements along the roadside were also common in the southeastern part of the country. Until the 1980s, Bangladesh was the most rural nation in South Asia. In 1931 only 27 out of every 1,000 persons were urban dwellers in what is now Bangladesh. In 1931 Bangladesh had fifty towns; by 1951 the country had eighty-nine towns, cities, and municipalities. During the 1980s, industrial development began to have a small effect on urbanization. The 1974 census had put the urban population of Bangladesh at 8.8 percent of the total; by 1988 that proportion had reached 18 percent and was projected to rise to 30 percent by th e year 2000. Figure 1.1 - Bangladesh Population Graph Urbanization: In 1981 only two cities, Dhaka and Chittagong, had more than 1 million residents. Seven other cities--Narayanganj, Khulna, Barisal, Saidpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, and Comilla--each had more than 100,000 people. Of all the expanding cities, Dhaka, the national capital and the principal seat of culture, had made the most gains in population, growing from 335,928 in 1951 to 3.4 million in 1981. rank country population 2005 1. China 1,315,844,000 2. India 1,103,371,000 3. USA 298,213,000 4. Indonesia 222,781,000 5. Brazil 186,405,000 6. Pakistan 157,935,000 7. Russia 143,202,000 8. Bangladesh 141,822,000 9. Nigeria 131,530,000 10. Japan 128,085,000 Figure 1.2 - World Population Table RESOURCES Migration: Internal migration indicated several recognizable trends. Because of increasing population pressure, people in the 1980s were moving into areas of relatively light habitation in the Chittagong Hills and in parts of the Sundarbans previously considered marginally habitable. Agrarian distress caused some movement to urban areas, especially Dhaka. Because of the inhospitable urban environment and the lack of jobs, many newcomers returned at least temporarily to their villages, especially during the harvest season. Unemployment, however, was even

Radio summury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Radio summury - Essay Example They are of compelling topics, and they aim at advertising new music (Bing, Alison, & John, 314). It is an engaging program that an individual does not get tired of listening. The reception from the listeners is positive, and this markets the program. In addition, the songs played deliver significant messages to the people. It promotes cultural diversity, which directly facilitates peace and cohesion among the people. However, the show would be livelier in the presence of co-host. One hour a long time for one host and he gets tired and bored during the show. Also, to criticize the music two parties are required because one person cannot praise and criticize the same song. In addition, there many callers at the same time and this cause delays in the program. During commercial breaks, advertisements appealing to the listeners to support the program are aired. This is a brilliant strategy for the station to get funds from well wishers who are fans of the show, Music from Other Minds. : 50 Contests (the host tell the listeners to vote for their best song by sending certain codes for the songs to get the song of the day. He also asks a question based on the played songs where the winner gets a free copy of the songs tape and compact disc.) : 58 Ending remarks (the song that has the majority votes is announced and the listener who won the question of the day is rewarded. The host ends the show with the winning song playing- Beyonce Knowles

Profiling Genome of Tibetan Chicken

Profiling Genome of Tibetan Chicken Profiling the genome-wide DNAmethylation pattern of Tibetan chicken  using whole genome bisulfite sequencing Abstract Background: Tibetan chickens living at high altitudes show specific adaptations to high-altitude conditions, but the epigenetic modification bases of these adaptations havent been characterized. Results: We investigated the genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in Tibetan chicken blood using whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS). Generally, Tibetan chicken exhibited analogous methylation pattern with that of lowland chiken. A total of 3.92% of genomic cytosines were methylcytosines, and 51.22% of cytosines in CG contexts were methylated which was less than those in lowland chicken (55.69%). Moreover, the base next to methylcytosine of mCHG in Tibetan chicken had a preference for T, which was different from that in lowland chicken. In Tibetan chicken, the methylation levels in the promoter were relatively low, while the gene body maintained hypomethylated. DNA methylation levels in upstream regions of the transcription start site (TSS) of geneshad a negative relationship with the gene expression level, and the DNA methylation of gene-body were also negatively related to gene expression. Conclusions: We firstly generated the genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in Tibetan chicken, and our results will be helpful for future epigenetic studies in adaptations to high-altitude conditions and provide a new idea for the prevention and treatment of mountain sickness and other hypoxia-related diseases to human. Keywords: Epigenetics, DNA methylation, MethylC-Seq, highland chicken, adaptation, extreme environment.   Ã‚   Background DNA methylation is a crucial epigenetic modification that plays a vital role in genomic imprinting [1], transcriptional repression [2], and chromatin activation [3]. In recent years, we have gained knowledge on the association of DNA methylation with cellular differentiation, development, and disease, however, little information is available concerning the DNA methylation modifications under long-term extreme environment. Environmental aspects influence through both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms [4, 5]. Several studies have tried to establish the relationship between environmental factors and DNA methylation in humans. It was reported that reduced global DNA methylation in whole blood was related to exposure to ambient air pollution at the home addresses of non adults [6]. In malignant cells, airborne benzene induce a significant decrease in the methylation of LINE-1 and AluI, and increasing airborne benzene levels can cause hypermethylation in p15 and hypomethylation in MAGE-1 [7]. The average level of methylation in p16 was increased in patients with benzene poisoning compared with control group, while no alternation was observed in the p15 methylation [8]. Korea et al. revealed that most organochlorine (OC) pesticides were inversely and significantly related to the methylation of Alu [9]. In the prenatal pregnant women, lead exposure was inversely related to genomic DNA methylation in white blo od cells [10]. Moreover, base on the epigenetic inheritance mechanisms, adaptive traits that result from the environment can be transferred to the next generation. For instance, environment containing endocrine-disrupting chemicals can affect the germ line and promote disease across offspring via DNA methylation [11]. Above researchs shows that environmental conditions could induce DNA methylation alternation to to influence disease, prompting us to explore whether DNA methylation is associated with the unique adaptations of farm animals to hypoxia and high-dose ultraviolet radiation in high-altitude environments. The Tibetan chicken which lives in high-altitude environment has smaller body, lower heart rate, higher spleen rate and erythrocyte volum than low-altitude chicken. Previous research showed that humans relocating to high-altitudes might undergo acute mountain sickness, high-altitude pulmonary edema, and high-altitude cerebral edema [12]. Whereas, the Tibetan chicken is greatly adapted to the low-oxygen and high-altitude environment and displays good performance in terms of survival and has high reproduction [13]. Therefore, investigation the genome-wide DNA methylation of Tibetan chicken, understanding the effects of DNA methylation on the plateau adaptability, may provide a new idea for the prevention and treatment of mountain sickness and other hypoxia-related diseases to human. In this study, we perform whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) on Tibetan chicken blood to analyze their global DNA methylation patterns. The DNA methylome distribution in the Tibetan chicken genome was shown for the first time. Our results will provided an important resource for exploring low-oxygen adaptation mechanism in high-altitude district. Methods Animals In this study, one Tibetan chicken was obtained from Xiangcheng County in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture with the living place about 3500 meters above sea level. Blood samples were collected and stored at -20  °C for bisulfite sequencing. Total genomic DNA was collected from the blood with the use of a TIANamp Genomic DNA Kit (Tiangen, Beijing, China). All experiments in this study were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations, and were approved by the Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province. MethylC-Seq library construction and sequencing DNA was fragmented by sonication with a Sonicator (Sonics Materials) to a mean size of approxi ­mately 250 bp, followed by blunt ending, 3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ²-end addition of dA, and adapter ligation, in which Illumina methylated adapters were used according to the manufacturers instructions (Illumina). The bisulfite conversion of Tibetan chicken DNA was carried out using ZYMO EZ DNA Methylation-Gold kit (Zymo Research, Irvine, CA, USA) and ampli ­fied via PCR with 12 cycles. Ultra-high-throughput pair-end sequencing was performed by the Illumina Genetic Analyzer (GA2) on the basis of manufacturer instructions. Raw GA sequencing data were processed using Illumina base-calling pipeline (SolexaPipeline-1.0). Data Filtering Data filtering was performed via the elimination of the adaptor sequences, contamination and low-quality reads from raw reads. Low-quality reads consist of three types including: 1) Contain adaptor sequence; 2) N base number over 10%; 3) The number of base whose quality less than 20 over 10% was trimmed, and the read which accord with one of them will be removed. Only cleaned data were used for the downstream analyses. Reads Alignment On the forward read of each read pair, observed cytosines were replaced with replaced with adenines, and the observed guanines were replaced with adenines on the reverse read of each read pair. The alignment form reads were then mapped to the alignment form gallus_gallus reference genome by SOAP aligner[14]. Each hit with a single placement with a minimum number of mismatches and and a clear operation chain was defined as unambiguous alignment (uniquely mapped reads) and was used for ascertainment of methyl-cytosine. The copy numbers of the local region was estimateed by calculating the the uniquely mapped reads. Estimating methylation levels Methylation level was determined by dividing the number of reads covering each mC by the total reads covering that cytosine, which was also equal the mC/C ratio at each reference cytosine. The function is showed as following: Methylation level = 100 * GO enrichment Analysis GO annotations of Tibetan chicken genes were downloaded from the Ensembl (ftp://ensembl.org/pub/current/otherdata/Gene_ontology/gallus_gallus_glean_gene.go). GO comparative analyses between inter ­ested genes groups were performed using BGI WEGO (http://wego.genomics.org.cn/cgi-bin/wego/index.pl). KEGG Pathway Analysis Different genes usually interact with each other to exercise their biological functions. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomesà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ KEGGà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °is the main public pathway database. Super geometry analyses were conducted to find the KEGG pathways enriched in genes differentially methylated compared to the whole genome. The calculation formula is the same as that in GO function analyses, N represents number of genes with pathway annotation; For the number, n is the number of differentially expressed genes corresponding N, M represents number of all genes which have a particular pathway annotation; m represents numbers of differentially expressed genes which have a particular pathway annotation. Pathway mapped Q value à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 0.05 defined as the pathway of significant enrichment. Through significant enrichment of the pathway, we can determine the most main in biochemical pathways and signal transduction pathways. Results       Global mapping of DNA methylation In the present study, blood samples from a Tibetan chicken were used to generate three libraries for genome-wide methylation sequencing. All libraries showed nearly complete bisulfite conversion (99.7%). A total of 41.3 Gb raw data were obtained from three blood samples. After data filtering, 151,345,614, 165,745,108 and 141,554,972 clean reads were generated for the three libraries, respectively. Of the total reads, 75.6% were mapped to the reference genome, with 28 X Whole-genome average coverage depth, which could reveal the data quantity of clean data because of the characteristics of bisulfite sequencing (Table 1 and 2). Cytosine patterns have 3 major types (CG, CHG and CHH, H represents non-G base, hereinafter inclusive) according to the sequence context. Therefore, we analyzed the relationships between effective sequencing depth and genome coverage for different cytosine patterns (Figure S1, S2). Figure S1 reveals that there is a negative correlation between the effective sequencing depth and the percentage of cytosine in genome. The Figure S2 shows that the distribution of genome coverage varies with sequencing depth accord with the Poisson distribution, and the depth of the distribution`s apex is near to the genome average sequencing depth. In additon, we performed effective coverage analysis base on three different levels: chromosome, gene region and genomic feature. The effective coverage of all cytosine in each chromosome ranges from 82.77% to 97.86%, except for 24.96% in chr17 , while the CpG effective coverage of each chromosome ranges from 86.74% to 97.5%, except for 23.58% in chr17 (Table S1). Moreover,coverage of all cytosine in CDS and intron region was 95.94% and 93.66%, respectivelyà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’ and CG coverage in CDS and intron region was 96.04% and 93.45%, respectively (Table S2). DNA methylation patterns In Tibetan chicken, the methylation level of all genomic C sites was more than 3.9%. Patterns of Cytosine methylation in Tibetan chicken were found to have three major types (mCG, mCHG and mCHH) according to the sequence context. We discovered overall genome-wide levels of 51.22% CG, 0.4% CHG, and 0.45% CHH methylation in the Tibetan chicken (Table 3). In whole genome, the CG methylation occupied over 96% of cytosine methylation, which is the primary cytosine methylation pattern. However, the rate of mCHH was only 3% and the rate of mCHG was 1%(Fig. 1A). Methylation status of CG, CHG and CHH differ between species, even varies with different conditions concerning time, space and physiology within a single organism. Figure 1b showed that percentage of the methylation level of methyl-cytosine varies with methylation level. In the tibet chicken blood, more than 75 % of mCG sites were 60-100 % methylated (Fig. 1b). In addition, chromosome1 was used as an instance to illuminate the methyl-cytosine density distribution in chromosome, and the methyl-cytosine density showed large variations throughout the chromosome 1, which was similar to other chromosomes (Fig. 1c) Proximal Sequence Features Analysis To identify whether the particular local sequences were markedly enriched as the DNA methylome of Arabidopsis, we analyzed the sequence adjacent to sites of CG and non-CG methylation. The methylation ratios of all potential 9-mer sequences were calculated, and the methylated cytosine was located at the fourth position in these sequences (permitting an analysis of three bases upstream of CHG, and CHH methylation). As shown in figure 2, hardly a sequence preference was found in the CG-flanking regions of the hole genome or in the mCG-flanking regions. Moreover, the highest frequency base that next to the CHG cytosine in genome was A, followed by T and C, while the base following the mCHG methylcytosine has a preference for T, followed by A and C. In CHH context, the fifth position that proximal to the sites of cytosine has a preference for C, and the sixth position prefer to T, which is similar to the mCHH(Fig. 2). DNA methylation levels of different functional regions Different genomic features are associated with distinct regulation functions. To study the DNA methylation profile in different genomic features, the heat map was used to present the distribution of methylation level in the CDS, downstream, Genome, intron and upstream (fig. 3). The comparative analysis of mean DNA methylation levels revealed that different gennome regions showed distinguishing DNA methylation levels. Additionally, we analyzed DNA methylation patterns across the transcriptional units at whole genome level. In Tibet chicken, most of the promoter regions have an association with CpG islands and are hypomethylated, which showed a lower CG methylation level than the gene-body and the gene downstream. Moreover, methylation of CG declined sharply before the TSS and increased markedly towards the gene body regions and stayed at a plateau until the 3 end of the gene body, and two obvious peaks were present in the regions of the internol exon and the last exon (Fig. 3). The me thylation of CHG had the same varying tendency with the methylation of CG, but was characterised by mitigatory changes compared to the rapid changes of CG methylation. Furthermore, the methylation peaks of both CG and CHG were presented in the internal and last exons in which the methylation lows of CHH appeared. DNA methylation levels ofpromoter and genebody Methylation of the promoter suppresses gene expression, but the functional role of gene-body DNA methylation in highly expressed genes has yet to be clarified. To better characterise the methylation of promoter and gene-body, a comprehensive analysis of methylated genes and unmethylated genes in gene-body and upstream2k was performed. In total, 14,018 genes were methylated in both promoter and gene-body, while 505 genes were exclusively methylated in promoter and 409 genes were exclusively methylated in gene-body, and 231 genes unmethylated in both promoter and gene-body (fig. 4A). Gene ontology analysis of methylated and unmethylated genes revealed the top-ranked enriched GO terms were related to the cellular process, metabolic process, and response to stimulus in the biological process (BP) category. The cellular component (CC) category mainly comprised genes involved in cell, cell part, and organelle. Within the molecular function (MF) category, binding, catalytic activity, and tr ansporter activity were highly represented (fig. 4B and 3S). In addition, KEGG analysis showed that genebody methylation genes were clustered in the metabolic pathways, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum, and calcium signaling pathway, while the genebody unmethylation genes were clustered in metabolic pathways, Fc gamma R-mediated phagocytosis, and endocytosis. Moreover, promoter methylation genes were most involved in ubiquitin mediated proteolysis, oocyte meiosis, and melanoma, while , promoter unmethylation genes were most involved in N-Glycan biosynthesis, Glycosylphosphatidylinositol(GPI)-anchor biosynthesis, and Fat digestion and absorption (fig. 5). DNA methylation and gene expression level DNA methylation of promoter generally suppress gene transcription via inducing a compact chromatin structure. We obtained the gene expression profiles of Tibetan chicken from the GEO database. Based on expression levels, all genes were divided into ten groups, from the lowest 10% and to the highest 10%. Furthermore, the genomic regions that 2 kb upstream of the TSS were defined as the proximal promoter, and used the mean methylation as the methylation level of each group. The correlation analysis showed that gene expression level was negatively related to the mean DNA methylation level of the promoter regions (fig. 6A; r=-0.93, pshowed little difference in these ten groups with different expression level (fig. 6B; r=-0.83, p Discussion Genomics technologies have been extensively used to investigate the adaptations of humans, animals and plants to extreme conditions [15, 16]. However, the relationships between the adaptions and the epigenetic modifications that result from extreme environmental exposures remains to be further elucidated. To date, the methylation pattern of Tibetan chicken remains unknown. To improve our understanding of the association between epigenetic modifications andadaptations to hypoxia and high-dose ultraviolet radiation in high-altitude environments, we analyzed whole-genome single-base resolution DNA methylomes by WGBS to provide the genomewide DNA methylation patterns in Tibetan chicken blood and interrogate the potential role of DNA methylation in adaptations to high-altitude environments. Genome-wide DNA methylations of lowland chickens have been researched using MeDIP-seq [17, 18], MBD-Seq [19], and Methyl-MAPS [20], which measure methylation base on immunoprecipitation and restriction enzyme digestion. Compared to WGBS, these technologies generate lower resolution and coverage, and fail to obtain methylation level for CHG and CHH. For example, Only 32 % of CpG coverage was obtained from the study of lowland chicken using Methyl-MAPS [20]. In the other lowland chicken study, the CpG coverage ranges from 83.72 to 91.57 % using MethylC-seq [21]. In the current study, the CpG effective coverage of each chromosome ranges from 86.74% to 97.5%, except for 23.58% CpG coverage of chr17 in Tibet chicken. In lowland chicken, more than 55.69% of cytosines in CG contexts were methylated which is much higher than those in Tibet chicken (51.22%), while the percentage of mCHG and mCHH in Tibet chicken was higher than those in lowland chicken. In addition, 96.24 %, 0.86 % and 2.89 % of all methylcytosines were present in the CG CHG and CHH context, respectively, while the CG methylation in Tibet chicken occupied only 96% of cytosine methylation. Moreover, the base next to methylcytosine of mCHG in lowland chicken had a preference for A, while that in highland chicken prefer to T. All these indicated that the highland environments decrease the global CG methylation levels of chicken, and change the sequence context preferences for methylation, suggesting that the methylation involve in the adaptations of chicken to high-altitude environments. In Tibetan chicken genome, the DNA methylation level rapidly down before the TSS and markedly increased towards the gene body regions and stayed at a plateau until the 3 end of the gene body. These methylation features discovered in this study consistently match with those previously reported in bovine placentas [22]. Similar to the lowland chickengenome, the Tibetan chicken genome has two CG methylation peaks in the internal and last exons, but the difference is that the lowland chicken genome showed a mitigatory methylation level in the genome regions before the TSS [21], suggesting that the long-term hypoxia and UV radiation under high-altitude conditions cause methylation alternation. The promoter plays a crucial role in the regulation of gene transcription and most of the promoter regions are hypomethylated [23], while the gene-body DNA methylation is associated with chromatin structure and elongation efficiency, and prevents spurious transcription initiation [24, 25]. In present study, we found the promoter is hypomethylated, whereas the methylation level in gene-body is relatively high, a finding that is similar to those from previously reported in human [26] and lowland chicken [17]. Hypermethylation of the promoters represses gene transcription [27], and the reduction of methylation at the promoters causes gene overexpression [28]. In human embryonic stem cells, Laurent et al. reported that 20% of the most highly expressed genes displayed the lowest methylation levels in promoter. We analyse the relationship between the methylation and the expression inTibetan chicken, using the method reported in previous studies [17]. Similar to reports in humans [17, 29, 3 0] and lowland chicken [5], DNA methylation level in 2 kb upstream of genes is negatively related to the gene expression level in Tibetan chicken, this was further evidence that DNA methylation at the promoters is involved in gene silencing. Methylation in gene-body is more prevalent than in promoter, but the role of gene-body methylation in gene regulation remains unclear. Previous researchs showed that gene-body methylation has an intricate correlation with expression level. Most researchers believed that the methylation of gene-body is positively correlated with gene expression [26, 29, 31, 32], although several researchers have indicated that intragenic methylation might inhibit gene transcription [24]. However, the correlation between gene-body methylation and expression levels in bovine placentas is non-monotonic and the moderately expressed genes show the highest methylation in gene-body [22]. Our data demonstrated that methylation in the gene-body of Tibetan chicken may decrease gene expression. However, methylation in gene-body is just one of the thousands of factors that affect gene transcription. Therefore, further studies centering on the DNA methylation of certain regions that display distinct effect in gene regulation are needed to clarify the complicated epigenetic mechanism underlying high-altitude environments and its relationships with adaptations to hypoxia and high-dose ultraviolet radiation in high-altitude environments. In summary, the present study provides the first comprehensive analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in the blood of highland chicken, and our results can be used for future studies on epigenetic gene regulation in highland chicken. This study contributes to the knowledge on epigenetics in highland animals. References 1. Tirado-Magallanes, R., et al., Whole genome DNA methylation: beyond genes silencing. Oncotarget, 2017. 8(3): p. 5629-5637. 2. Li, S., et al., Genome-wide analysis reveals that exon methylation facilitates its selective usage in the human transcriptome. Brief Bioinform, 2017. 3. Keown, C.L., et al., Allele-specific non-CG DNA methylation marks domains of active chromatin in female mouse brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2017. 4. Daxinger, L. and E. Whitelaw, Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance: more questions than answers. Genome Res, 2010. 20(12): p. 1623-8. 5. Chen, Z.J., Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms for gene expression and phenotypic variation in plant polyploids. Annu Rev Plant Biol, 2007. 58: p. 377-406. 6. De Prins, S., et al., Influence of ambient air pollution on global DNA methylation in healthy adults: a seasonal follow-up. Environ Int, 2013. 59: p. 418-24. 7. Bollati, V., et al., Changes in DNA methylation patterns in subjects exposed to low-dose benzene. Cancer Res, 2007. 67(3): p. 876-80. 8. Xing, C., et al., Methylation and expression analysis of tumor suppressor genes p15 and p16 in benzene poisoning. Chem Biol Interact, 2010. 184(1-2): p. 306-9. 9. Kim, K.Y., et al., Association of low-dose exposure to persistent organic pollutants with global DNA hypomethylation in healthy Koreans. Environ Health Perspect, 2010. 118(3): p. 370-4. 10. Pilsner, J.R., et al., Influence of prenatal lead exposure on genomic methylation of cord blood DNA. Environ Health Perspect, 2009. 117(9): p. 1466-71. 11. Crews, D., et al., Transgenerational epigenetic imprints on mate preference. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2007. 104(14): p. 5942-6. 12. Srivastava, S., et al., Association of polymorphisms in angiotensin and aldosterone synthase genes of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system with high-altitude pulmonary edema. J Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone Syst, 2012. 13(1): p. 155-60. 13. Li, M. and C. Zhao, Study on Tibetan Chicken embryonic adaptability to chronic hypoxia by revealing differential gene expression in heart tissue. Sci China C Life Sci, 2009. 52(3): p. 284-95. 14. Li, R., et al., SOAP2: an improved ultrafast tool for short read alignment. Bioinformatics, 2009. 25(15): p. 1966-7. 15. Turner, T.L., et al., Population resequencing reveals local adaptation of Arabidopsis lyrata to serpentine soils. Nat Genet, 2010. 42(3): p. 260-3. 16. Liu, S., et al., Population genomics reveal recent speciation and rapid evolutionary adaptation in polar bears. Cell, 2014. 157(4): p. 785-94. 17. Li, Q., et al., Genome-wide mapping of DNA methylation in chicken. PLoS One, 2011. 6(5): p. e19428. 18. Hu, Y., et al., Comparison of the genome-wide DNA methylation profiles between fast-growing and slow-growing broilers. PLoS One, 2013. 8(2): p. e56411. 19. Carrillo, J.A., et al., Methylome Analysis in Chickens Immunized with Infectious Laryngotracheitis Vaccine. PLoS One, 2015. 10(6): p. e0100476. 20. Tian, F., et al., DNMT gene expression and methylome in Mareks disease resistant and susceptible chickens prior to and following infection by MDV. Epigenetics, 2013. 8(4): p. 431-44.

Harsh Perspectives of Youth in Garland’s The Beach :: Garland The Beach Essays

Harsh Perspectives of Youth in Garland’s The Beach  Ã‚  Ã‚   As his narrator, Garland offers us Richard, a less than balanced individual, in possession of a tenuous grip upon reality. He is arrogant and reckless, often believing himself to have nothing left to learn ("Fucking New Guy? ... New to what?" p87) and convinced of his own immortality ("Yea, though I walk through the valley of death I will fear no evil, for I am the evilest motherfucker in the valley" p87) The beach is supposed to represent the highest level of escape attainable, but can only be from the outset a disappointment, because it is already built up in his mind into something unobtainable; "It's silly really. I think I was expecting an . . . ideology or something. A purpose." p96 Richard being the narrative voice, one can logically infer that it is his perspective which is intended by Garland to be representative of the youth culture depicted. My first impression is that the very fact that Richard commits his story to text is indicative of a desperate need for recognition, and his style of narration suggests that its writing is not likely to be meant as a catharsis. As a character, he is shallow and self-glorifying beyond the point to which readers might sympathise with his reckless actions: p163 "Collecting ... experiences was my primary goal when I first started travelling. I went about it in the same way as a stamp-collector goes about collecting stamps ... Then I had to graduate to the more obscure stuff. Being in a riot was something I pursued with a truly obsessive zeal, along with being tear-gassed and hearing gunshots fired in anger." The cultural phenomenon of travelling, as distinct from tourism, is one reserved for domination almost exclusively by youth. In Richard's mind, as in others, it becomes the acquisition of experiences with only slight moral differentiation between them, merely a reinforcement in the mind of the collector of their own broadening life perspective; a form of validation which, whilst owing nothing to established mainstream cultural value systems, replaces these with a generation-created classification hierarchy which is just as strict. Established value systems provide the catalyst for tensions within the group, which emerge at the earliest stages immediately upon Richard's arrival: "There's only five people with Walkmans in the camp, and I've refused all of them batteries in the past.

Value Analysis

Value Analysis or Value Engineering 1. Explain, how does value chain approach helps an organisation to assess its competitive advantage Answer: Most of the firms define value chain as mission of creating product or services. For these firms, the products or services generated are more important than any single step within their value chain. These firms use the value chain approach to better understand and identify which segment, distribution channel, price point, product differentiation, selling proposition and value chain configuration will yield them the greatest competitive advantage.The way the value chain approach helps these firms to assess competitive advantage includes the use of following steps of analysis : (i)Internal cost analysis — to determine the sources of profitability and the relative cost position if internal value creating processes. (ii)Internal differentiation analysis – to understand the sources of differentiation (including the cost) within inter nal value creating processes, and iii)Vertical linkage analysis – to understand the relationships and associated costs among external suppliers and customer in order to maximize the value delivered to customers and to minimise cost. These type of analysis are not mutually exclusive. In fact, firm begin by focussing on their internal operations and gradually widening their focus to consider their competitive position within their industry. The value chain approach used for assessing competitive advantage is an integral part of the strategic planning process. 2. Write a short notes on value analysisAnswer Value analysis (also known as value engineering) is a systematic interdisciplinary examination of factors affecting the cost of a product or service in order to devise means of achieving the specified purpose at the required standard of quality and reliability at the target cost. The aim of value engineering is to achieve the assigned target cost by (i) identifying improved pr oduct designs that reduce the product’s cost without sacrificing functionality and/or (ii) eliminating unnecessary functions that increase the product’s costs and for which customers are not prepared to pay extra for.Value analysis or value engineering is one of the most widely used cost reduction techniques. It can be defined as a technique that yields value improvement. It investigates into the economic attributes of value. It attempts to reduce cost through a. design change, b. modification of material specification, c. change in the source of supply and so on. It emphasises on finding new ways of getting equal or better performance from a product at a lesser cost without affecting its quality, function, utility and reliability.For example, the function of a fastener is to join two or more parts. Value analysis examines the value of this function in terms of alternative methods such as welding, taping stapling, etc. in view of the stress and vibrations involved in a specific application. In value analysis each and every product or component of a product is subjected to a critical examination so as to ascertain its utility in the product, its cost, cost benefit ratio, and better substitute etc. When the benefits are lower than the cost, advantage may be gained by giving up the activity concerned or replacing if for betterment.The best product is one that will perform satisfactorily at the lowest cost. The various steps involved in value analysis are : 1. identification of the problem; 2. collecting information about function, design, material, labour overhead costs, etc. , of the product and finding out the availability of the competitive products in the market; and 3. exploring and evaluating alternatives and developing them. In other words value analysis brings out clearly the areas where the cost of a product can be reduced by pointing out : 1. Unnecessary items, components in a product to be removed. . Possibility of substitution with reduc ed cost without affecting its quality. 3. Possibility of overall simplification in design manufacture etc. of a product. 3Value Engineering is more effective than any other cost reduction technique like Work Study, Automation etc. — Discuss this statement in the Indian context. Answer. Value engineering or value analysis is one of the most widely used cost reduction technique in the purchasing and production areas. It aims at reducing cost through change, modification of material specification, change in the source of supply of material and so on.It emphasis’s on finding new ways of getting equal or superior performance from a product at a minimum cost without affecting its quality, function and reliability. It is the process of subjecting each and every component of a product to a critical examination so as to ascertain : (i) Its utility in the product; (ii) Its cost; (iii) Whether is cost commensurate with its utility ; (iv) Whether it can be replaced by a cheaper co mponents ; (v) Whether it can be does away with ; (vi) What the competitors are using in place of it ; and (vii) Whether anybody is buying it at cheaper price.Utility means usefulness; this can be easily and definitely measured when the concerned component or the service can be obtained form outside — the price measures it usefulness. In some cases where an outside market does not exist, utility would be measured only subjectively. Still one would have a fair idea of whether the benefit obtained, say in terms of better appearance, is worth the costs incurred. Usually it would be profitable tom tap outside sources if the price is lower than the cost.But this decision needs to be made with great care as the question of fixed and sunk costs is very important. Value engineering bring clearly the areas where the cost of product can be decreased by pointing out: (i) Unnecessary items/components in a which might have had once some utility but now are redundant and, therefore, dispen sable ; (ii) the possibilities of component — substitution with reduced cost without affecting the quality of the product; and (iii) the possibilities of overall simplification in design / manufacture etc. f a product. The relationship between value engineering and cost reduction a. Value engineering is done with a view to reduce the cost and cost reduction looks upon value engineering as one of its prime tools. b. Cost-reduction has always followed a critical examination of the benefit incurred. Value engineering is a careful and as far possible, quantities appraisal of the benefit derived at each stage of work.Where the benefits are lower than the cost, advantage may be gained by giving up the activity concerned or replacing it by something else. c. Work study automation etc, do reduce cost but in most cases, they save only labour cost by improving efficiency, etc. On the other hand, value engineering relates the worth of the product, its value to the function it is intende d to perform and makes a sizeable in the cost of the materials by design changes, substitution etc.

Mexican National Anthem

Mexican National Anthem One of the most impressive choral performances Ive heard was when I was part of a crowd of hundreds of thousands one Sept. 15, the eve of Mexicos Independence Day, on Mexico Citys main plaza, known as the ZÃ ³calo. Late in the night, the crowd sang this song, the Mexican National Anthem, known officially as el Himno Nacional Mexicano. The anthem was written in 1853 by poet Francisco Gonzlez Bocanegra, although it didnt become official until nearly a century later. It was originally written with 10 verses and a chorus, although only four verses are typically sung. The anthem is usually sung starting with a chorus followed by the four stanzas, with the chorus sung between each stanza and at the end. Estribillo: Mexicanos, al grito de guerraEl acero aprestad y el bridn,Y retiemble en sus centros la tierraAl sonoro rugir del can. Chorus: Mexicans, when the war cry is heard,Have sword and bridle ready.Let the earths foundations trembleAt the loud cannons roar. Estrofa 1: Cia oh Patria! tus sienes de olivaDe la paz el arcngel divino,Que en el cielo tu eterno destino,Por el dedo de Dios se escribi;Mas si osare un extrao enemigo,Profanar con su planta tu suelo,Piensa oh Patria querida! que el cieloUn soldado en cada hijo te dio. Stanza 1: May the divine archangel crown your brow,Oh fatherland, with an olive branch of peace,For your eternal destiny has been writtenIn heaven by the finger of God.But should a foreign enemyDare to profane your soil with his tread,Know, beloved fatherland, that heaven gave youA soldier in each of your sons. Estrofa 2: Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intenteDe la patria manchar los blasones!Guerra, guerra! Los patrios pendonesEn las olas de sangre empapad.Guerra, guerra! En el monte, en el valleLos caones horrsonos truenenY los ecos sonoros resuenenCon las voces de Unin! Libertad! Stanza 2: War, war without truce against who would attemptto blemish the honor of the fatherland!War, war! The patriotic bannerssaturate in waves of blood.War, war! On the mount, in the valeThe terrifying cannon thunderand the echoes nobly resoundto the cries of union! liberty! Estrofa 3: Antes, patria,que inermes tus hijosBajo el yugo su cuello dobleguen,Tus campias con sangre se rieguen,Sobre sangre se estampe su pie.Y tus templos, palacios y torresSe derrumben con hrrido estruendo,Y sus ruinas existan diciendo:De mil hroes la patria aqu fue. Stanza 2: Fatherland, before your children become unarmedBeneath the yoke their necks in sway,May your countryside be watered with blood,On blood their feet trample.And may your temples, palaces and towerscrumble in horrid crash,and their ruins exist saying:The fatherland was made of one thousand heroes here. Estrofa 4: Patria! Patria! tus hijos te juranExhalar en tus aras su aliento,Si el clarn con su blico acento,Los convoca a lidiar con valor:Para ti las guirnaldas de oliva!Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria!Un laurel para ti de victoria!Un sepulcro para ellos de honor! Stanza 4: Fatherland, oh fatherland, your sons vowTo give their last breath on your altars,If the trumpet with its warlike soundCalls them to valiant battle.For you, the olive garlands,For them, a glorious memory.For you, the victory laurels,For them, an honored tomb.

International Business in United Arab Emirates

International Business in United Arab Emirates Country Analysis The United Arab Emirates is a federal republic consisting of seven states referred to as emirates. Geographically, the United Arab Emirates is located on the south eastern part of the greater Arabian Peninsula which is itself found in the South Western part of the Asian continent (the gulf of Persia).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on International Business in United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More UAE neighbors the Islamic republic of Oman and Saudi Arabia. The seven emirates making up the entire state are Dubai, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah. The largest of the emirate cities is Dubai; the second largest city Abu Dhabi, however is the one that doubles up as the capital of the UAE because it is the nerve centre of all industrial, political as well as cultural activities. Political System The constitution that was enacted in the year 1971 provides the basis by which the political affairs of the UAE are run. This document contains a number of inter twinned bodies of government.. The form of politics in practice can be said to be a compromise of the various aspects seen in a federal system, a monarchy and a presidential system. This is because all the seven emirates are absolute monarchies and partially independent from the central federal government, the president however is the head of state and the prime minister the head of government with authority over the country’s foreign policy, Emirates security and national defense. The central government is made up of the traditional arms of government that is, the executive arm consisting of the president his deputy and the prime minister with the entire cabinet; the legislative arm that makes laws as well as the judicial arm that interprets the laws. The federal supreme council, which is made up of emirs (representatives) from each of the seven emirates is tasked with the responsibility of electing the president and the entire cabinet including judges of the Supreme Court. The representative (emir) elected from Abu Dhabi the state capital, automatically holds the position of president whereas the emir elected from Dubai the largest city becomes the official premier. The degree of influence of all the emirates conclusively can be seen in the particular position they hold within the federal government and in as much as each of them is fairly autonomous from the rest, they are each allocated a proportion of revenue from the national budget.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Economy Being a member of the United Nations Organization (UN), World Trade Organization WTO), the Arab League and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); The United Arab Emirates has the seventh largest reserves of petroleum globally. Its econo my is arguably the most comprehensively developed in the entire Middle East. According to latest rankings provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), UAE has an impressive Gross Domestic Product (per capita) with its nominal GDP per capita standing at $ 46, 584. Its Human Development index is 35th internationally and is part of the reason as to why it has been classified as a high income economy (Ball et al 2008, p 150) The CIA’s world fact book places the country’s per capita GDP at number 3 in the Middle East coming next to Qatar and Kuwait; and number 14 universally. Petroleum products export (oil and natural gas) are a significant contributor to its national GDP. Other factors that have however made the economy to boom are its expansive manufacturing industry, an established tourism and service sector and most of all, its building and construction prowess in real estate business. Infrastructure The development in the country’s infrastructure has witne ssed a tremendous revolution with the setting up of magnificent structures the world has ever known. The Burj Khalifa (standing at 0.8Km) is now the tallest building on earth and it is found in the UAE, the Dubai World Central International Airport shall also become the most expensive airport ever constructed in the universe when its construction finally concludes. Other magnificent real estate properties in the country include the Palm Island which is a man made island (the largest ever artificial island) in the world, the artificial archipelago and the world’s largest shopping mall (The Dubai Mall). Such lucrative infrastructure makes the country appealing for investments in real estate. As part of its uniform economic foreign policy, local influence has to be felt in all businesses enterprises in the UAE and this explains the existence of a common standard requiring that all businesses except for the ones classified in the free trade zones in the country have no less than 51% shareholding being local. This is a clear strategy that is aimed at ensuring the locals (Emiratis) are in the lead towards economic empowerment (Balasubramanyam 1985, p. 159 ). Cultural Practices UAE has largely become multi cultural in recent years. Its cultural mix has however been gradually domineered and centered around the Islamic faith. In this cosmopolitan set up, Muslim culture is largely seen in the way the residents have to assemble everyday five times to pray from the mosques that are visible in the entire country. The country’s music, attire, cuisine and architecture are purely Arabic with the Eid al Fitr and Ramadan being the common Islamic holidays.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on International Business in United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The non interference stance and the liberalism seen in the United Arab Emirates has contributed to economic progress, it is common to see Hindu temples as well as churches constructed alongside mosques to demonstrate the level of religious tolerance in this country. This has further increased the number of visits by tourists and thus enhanced the hotel industry. Investment in Real Estate An investment in Hotel Real Estate would be the most strategic in the United Arab Emirates, this is because the country’s infrastructure is extra-ordinarily established. The infrastructural development alone is responsible for close to thirty seven percent of all project value constructions. The seven Emirates have simultaneously realized that there is a future in the real estate sector with such big investments in the entertainment, leisure and generally tourism. The central government therefore provides incentives to both local and international commercial developers to bring in their investments in this sector. The current president of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed has moved in to entice development in real estate in especially the northern emirates by apportioning an amount of 16 Billion Dirham (about 4 Billion Dollars) for the expansion of infrastructure in these regions. This money is expected to among other things open up the road network and establish new housing schemes both residential and commercial premises in these areas considered to be having a deficit of such facilities. The federal (local) governments have also been adequately funded and provided with sufficient logistical inputs to help them provide the necessary public utilities that will attract real estate investment in their respective regions. Electricity and water has been provided as part of the infrastructure by the local Emirates to attract investments in these regions. The United Arab Emirates being basically a desert country utilizes 100% thermal energy as opposed to hydro electricity which is unheard of and generally unreliable depending on surface run off. Plans have also been instituted by the central government to augment this energy source with nuclear sources seen as most efficient and highly effective. Communication has also been greatly enhanced in not only the major emirates, but also other upcoming centers to make the areas attractive to invest. Real estate investment in the UAE has therefore been increasingly enhanced by the foregoing factors and shows tremendous ability to grow and multiply its market value. The long run results are not only desirable but also possess an enormous avenue for resale due to the appreciation in the value of land and buildings occasioned by adequate infrastructure.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More External investors in real estate in the UAE are able to obtain financing from the developed network of banks in the country. Real estate departments are also available in the various emirates. Land reclamation is key because the entire country is in the Arabian Desert and therefore specific strategies must be put up to reclaim desert land and make it attractive for settlement and commercialization. This has however been made easier by the federal electricity and water authorities that are tasked with ensuring that these resources are readily available using the cheapest means possible. Entry Strategy Since every country in the world is currently striving to be a regional force and play an important role in international business activities, particular legislations have to be put in place in order to control and accurately measure the degree of foreign direct investments as well as local investments. The established rules regarding the transfer of foreign capital in the United Arab Emirates is meant to enhance the ease of capital flight and ensure a much more free flow of ideas and money while at the same time ensuring the protection of the property owned by foreign investors. Investors thus feel safer and secure under this frame work as it prescribes a number of legally accepted forms of property ownership and outlines the various courses of action that may be available in law for an aggrieved investor. The laws that deal with a number of business activities including the formation and ownership of business organizations may vary slightly from one Emirate to another because of the initial point mentioned about their autonomy. Every individual Emirate has its own established standard of creating wealth and revenues. The central government has however tried to formulate a blanket law that shall act as a common standard. In the establishment of this law, a compromise position has been struck between the sovereignty and autonomy of the individual Emirates and the demands of progress and economic well being advanced by the central government. In the creation of this foreign investments law however, it was a unanimous agreement by all the federal Emirates that the welfare and economic well being of each and every individual Emirati is the bottom line. While they all realized the central need to make the UAE a one stop shop and a global reference point for any form of international investment, they upheld the significance of welfare and the progress of the nation. UAE has an investment legislation that makes it mandatory for any form of direct foreign investment in the country to be having a 50 plus 1 majority stake under the control of the indigenous Emiratis (David 1992, p 175.However in the recent past UAE has launched a new system to attract foreign investors in the emirates, by introducing free zones that offer incentives to foreign investors such as exemptions from import and export tax corporate tax and income tax among others. The zone s comprise of various businesses including; manufacturing, banking, assets and estates management, logistics, information and technology etc. They also have all the amenities, infrastructure communication systems and all other essential facilities for operation. Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone is one of them and is involved in the production and selling of manufactured goods, domestically and for the international market there are over 950 different activities in the zone. The zones regulations allow companies to have full ownership of the assets for the entity. Nasouh, (2009) says â€Å"Other major benefits are: exemption from the many normal requirements for foreign investors such as: a company must have local ownership, pay taxes and duties, and restricted transfer of capital, profits and salaries†. Companies do not require local sponsorships to create other branches of their business. The zones authorities keep a register for all companies in existence, register new businesses and set the rules and regulations for them. From the above information about Dubai’s investment policies, the high control strategy would be the best to way of entry. The strategy enables companies to have maximum control hence creating a physical presence in the foreign market. A major feature of the strategy is the foreign direct investment option which entails direct ownership and control of assets. Direct investment is the most advanced, complicated system which also has a high risk. It is best suited for well developed economies like that of the emirates, and all types of business can use the strategy including the service industry. The major benefits of using the system are: there is rapid growth of the markets, reduced costs, increase sales and revenues and it also protects both the domestic and foreign markets. The system also has two different ownership structures which are the; wholly owned direct investment and in this structure the company owns its foreign assets and equity fully, the second is the equity joint ventures in which two companies form a new entity and share control of the business. The best structure for an investor operating in the free zones is the wholly owned direct investment because it is allowed and will yield more benefits. Another feature of the system is the vertical integration which comprises of the activities an entity chooses to engage in; any of the three stages which are, production, selling or distribution of products can be fully applicable in the zones depending on a company’s objective. Production Marketing Strategies As earlier mentioned in this discussion, the religion and culture that is predominant in this region is Islam. This culture has percolated through the society and in as much as it is a liberal and tolerant (cosmopolitan) setting, the Arabic language, dress, food and particularly architecture are domineering. For an establishment in real estate to be successful therefore, it must be align ed to the available infrastructure and architecture which borrows heavily from the Islamic faith (Poynter Rugman 1982, p 54). A marketing strategy that may also double up as an entry strategy in the industry may be to identify and cling on real estate probate leads. Such probate leads are generally available because of the existence of property left behind by a deceased person. Such may be left to their immediate beneficiaries being available as their next of kin, these heirs may quickly want to sell off the property, and thus it may be worthwhile to establish these heirs. These can be easily located from offices of probate attorneys. In cases where the property was owned by a renowned realtor, its acquisition will have the benefit of goodwill and reputation already created by the proceeding owner. Another rather effortless method of marketing real estate products is through the construction of quality assets with spectacularly unique designs. Magnificent designs will market themse lves and quality products shall attract the appropriate levels of clientele in the market. The construction of the Burj Khalifa, for instance by Emaar (one of the most renown property developers in the UAE) cost 1 Billion US Dollars but since it is the world’s largest sky crapper it has attracted international attention from the media and architects, a factor that has marketed it not only locally but also abroad. The use of the internet and local media may also be a helpful and powerful marketing medium for advertising. Advertisements may be placed on either local or online newspapers or through the use of other realtors and agencies. The use of the internet as a marketing medium is greatly boosted by the developed telecommunications infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates. The level of internet spread is now 2.4 users per subscription and this extensiveness in use makes it a strategic source of marketing and publicity. The internet contention is also largely considered sa fe because it is usually filtered and regulated by requisite authorities to discourage sexual materials and religious profaning sentiments, views or ideas. International Business Risks The economy of particularly Dubai was hugely affected by the events in Wall Street in the global economic downturn that was witnessed from the year 2007 to 2010. These resulted in the average economy decreasing slightly to up to about 4%. Since majority of the world’s economic crisis may be difficult to control, the only reasonable way that seems practically reasonable to apply in the mitigation of enterprise risk is diversification. Since such forms of financial risks have far reaching effects, investors are expected to diversify their portfolios to avoid subsequent losses in their investments in the country. In real estate for instance, diversity may take the form of constructing not only commercial premises but also residential and religious or public properties so that when the market busin ess is low for private home owners (like the situation was in the United States with home mortgages) revenues can be obtained from other market sectors like hotel and tourism. Political risk may be minimized by ensuring that the entity conforms to the political philosophies of the country where it operates. The politics of the UAE are fairly stable and thus upheavals and major revolutions are uncommon, however with the advent of religious fundamentalism and terror movement killings in the name of religion, the entity must be positioned in a way that it will not contravene any religious or political doctrines that are largely viewed as being against the prevailing faith (Nausoh 2009, p. 25). A potential risk of property investment in the UAE may also be associated with the oversupply of properties in the form of houses, commercial buildings and other rental premises. The available infrastructure is being exceedingly attractive to many investors and with barriers to cross border forei gn direct investments lessening, this may cause many players to saturate the industry. The result of this could be the witnessing of decreasing yields or stagnating prices of properties. This is however only a long run possibility because in the current assessment, no such saturation is visible especially in the minor Emirates (Roth Morrison 1992, p 751) The economy of the country and indeed of many neighbors in the region has been built around petroleum exports, without any immediate plans to diversify the economy, a petroleum glut or a decrease in the cost of petrol products including gas worldwide may cause a massive indention of the country’s economy. The Emirate of Dubai has foreseen this potential risk and thus tried to augment the petroleum input in its GDP with a developed banking and commercial sector as well as improved tourism. The opinion of many analysts on this subject however is that as long as the oil prices remain at $ 35 per barrel and above, this risk may be ignored, but the future is always uncertain (Salisu 1991, p. 191). Therefore, the United Arab Emirates provides good and diversified opportunities for any foreign investor to invest in. in addition the rules, policies and regulations have made it easier for both the investor and the Emirates serve their interests without any conflict either economically, politically or socially. Ball, D, McCulloch, W, Geringer, J, Minor, M McNett, J 2008, International Business: The Challenges of Global Competition, McGraw-Hill, NY. Balasubramanyam, V, 1985, Foreign direct investment and the International transfer of technology, Current Issues in International Trade, Macmillan, London. David, G 1992, Economic integration and foreign Direct investment in the EC, Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 5(2), pp. 10-50). Nasouh, N 2009, Heavy snowfall on Ras Al Khaimah’s Jebel Jais Mountain cluster, Gulf News, https://gulfnews.com/. Poynter, T Rugman, A 1982, World product mandates: how wil l multinationals respond? Business Quarterly, vol 47, no.3, pp. 54-61. Roth, K Morrison, A 1992, Implementing global strategy: Characteristics of global subsidiary mandates, Journal of International Business Studies, vol 23, no. 4, pp. 715-735. Salisu, M 1991, EP, IS and direct foreign investment in LDCs, International Trade and Global Development, Routledge, London.

Operations management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Operations management - Essay Example They all convert inputs in order to provide outputs which are required by the customer.† The resources that go into an operating system include materials (physical items that are consumed), machines (physical items that are used), and labor (people who provide or contribute to the operation of a system). The transformation process is one that adds value to the goods or services that are offered by a business. Wild (2002, pg. 6) says that operations management â€Å"is concerned with the design and the operation of systems for manufacture, transport, supply, or service.† The activities you would expect to find in an operating system include manufacturing, which consists of process, match, batch, and jobbing (where something is physically created); transporting (where something is moved from where it was created to a different place); supply (where ownership is changed), and service (where someone or something is accommodated). An operating system is, â€Å"a reflection of the purpose it serves for its customer, i.e., the utility of its output to the customer (Wild, 2002, pg. 4). The external influences of the design of any system can necessarily vary. Examples of these include money, utilities, the external marketplace, the economy, the weather, disastrous situations, the state of the company, stakeholder opinions and actions, the availability of materials, the availability of machines, the availability of labor, the labor market, the availability of proper facilities, the demand for the products or services that are being offered, and the availability of transportation for goods that have been manufactured. 2. A company with poor productivity & customer service record wishes to improve throughput, reduce operating expenses and inventories by installing better process technology. What would you recommend and why? Improving throughput, reducing operating expenses and inventories will take quite a bit of organization on the part of the company. In

Gilt Groupe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gilt Groupe - Essay Example According to the study Gilt groupe made riverbed manage their traffic. Gilt had to ensure their website was user friendly and while maintaining the simplicity. The page has to be attractive to display the products being merchandised. Through shifting to cloud environment, gilt would realize flexibility, speed, and expansion in their operations. In addition, Gilt groupe (GG) had to ensure safety of their data and security. If data is not well protected from hackers and crackers, the competitors of GG could get access to their strategy and goals which could hamper the achievement of their objectives. In order to ensure this, gilt group depended on the services of riverbed. The problem that faces Guilt group is how to ensure that there large number of users access their sites without difficulty and failure. What continued to pose additional challenge was the fact that the number of visitors accessing the site during the peak periods continued to rise. An unreliable site would make the company lose vast profits making an investment in the cloud environment urgent and profitable. This paper outlines that to help crack the challenges facing the groupe, it sourced the services of Riverbed and this enabled them to achieve the following. GG tripled their traffic within a year meaning that the number of people who accessed and shopped from their site increased. Again, the groupe managed to in moving their architecture from hosted environment to a cloud environment that was simple to operate. With this, everything worked successfully including fault tolerance in the cluster. Moreover, the multi-tier service managed by Riverbed allowed Guilt to manage their infrastructure with a common and reliable content cache.