Analysis Of Kamala Das s Projection Of Self Essay

Tension and Moral Dilemma occupies an important place, position and appears to be the kernel of Kamala Das’s poetry. Kamala Das’s projection of self is the projection of tension and dilemma in her life. Her projection is biological, psychological, philosophical, confessional, self-expressive, self-recordative, self-explorative and self-realised. Her autobiography â€Å"My Story† is clearly projected in her poems and she is exception to others. Her tension of life and symbioses of opposites form the nucleus, forte and fulcrum of her autobiography. DISCUSSION A mental state, tension is a psychic affair. It is a kind of duality (double-consciousness), uncertainty, schism and split in mind. Similarly, dilemma is a psychological concept of one’s mind. It is a state of indecisiveness what to do and what not to do a Hamletian to be or not to be. It is a sort of qualm, query, monotony, inner agitation and ambivalent attitude. In other words, Kamala Das’s tension and moral dilemma is not only found in her poetry but also in her novels, prose pieces and autobiography in different stages of her life. The real source of creative tension and dilemma in her poetry is between her pervasive philosophic preoccupation and an insistent awareness of the ties stemming from the surrounding milieu. Her problem of tension and dilemma is due to the dissonance and discrepancies of her present background and her own personal life or private self. Apart from this, her tension and dilemma lies in quest

Essay Disabilities in The Short Bus by Jonathan Mooney

In the book, The Short Bus, Jonathan Mooney’s thesis is that there is more to people than their disabilities, it is not restricting nor is it shameful but infact it is beautiful in its own way. With a plan to travel the United States, Mooney decides to travel in a Short bus with intentions of collecting experiences from people who have overcome--or not overcome--being labeled disabled or abnormal. In this Mooney reinvents this concept that normal people suck; that a simple small message of â€Å"you’re not normal† could have a destructive and deteriorating effect. With an idea of what disabilities are, Mooney’s trip gives light to disabilities even he was not prepared to face, that he feared. Mooney embarks on this trip, starting in LA to his†¦show more content†¦What is important is that most of these individuals, who have been labeled disabled are fully able people that if under different circumstances would have more opportunity to advance. However, due to their labels they must fight society in order to fight for themselves. Throughout the book, Mooney not only focused on mental disabilities but physical ones because as they are labeled together, they are very different Mooney then meets a deaf and blind child named, Ashley who is the first person Mooney admits is abnormal. It was due to, two out of five senses not working properly that even Mooney labeled Ashley as broken. During this Mooney discovered the extent of disabilities but also the extent of limitations placed on people with physical limitations. He recounts philosopher, Aristotles views on the able body and the limitations of those who are not given able bodies. Mooney describes that when physical disabilities such as Ashleys, the level of intelligence possible for these people are viewed almost nonexistent. How can one learn if they cannot see or hear? It is Ashleys determination, it is the fact that her disability make it difficult for her to learn but do not stop her from learning that opens a new light is resilience in Mooney. It is one o f the instances in which Mooney, himself learns a valuable lesson. Later on Mooney meets Chad, who has cerebral palsy, and who loves riding roller coasters. During their encounter Chad pointed down to hisShow MoreRelatedReaction Paper1523 Words   |  7 PagesReaction Paper The Short Bus CON 712 Counseling Children and Adolescent Adrianne Green October 19, 2010 Before I began reading this book, I took a moment to think about the title: The Short Bus a Journey beyond Normal and what this book might entail. The term short bus brought back memories to me as a kid, people who were not smart enough to ride the long bus; or people who attended a special school because they were mentally retarded or mentally challenged. I felt connected to some of theRead MoreKent Roberts Is One Of The Character In The Book By Jonathan1160 Words   |  5 PagesRoberts is one of the character in the book by Jonathan Mooney, who was diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is a condition which causes symptoms such as inattentiveness, impulsivity and hyperactivity within individuals. Kent struggles with his ability to conform to the ques of society. As a result, Kent has trouble managing time, being organized, achieving and maintaining goals and keeping a job. Despite his short comings, Kent is extremely gifted and comes

Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol 1 Free Essays

Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol 1 629 PRODUCTIVITY AND INDOOR ENVIRONMENT Derek Clements-Croome1 and Li Baizhan2 University of Reading, Department of Construction Management and Engineering, UK Jukes Associates, UK ABSTRACT Surveys in several office buildings have shown that crowded work places, job dissatisfaction and physical environment are the main factors affecting productivity. the data was produced and analyzed using occupational stress indicator in conjunction with the analytical hierarchical process. hermal problems, stuffiness, sick building syndrome factors and crowded work places were most frequent complaints. We will write a custom essay sample on Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol 1 or any similar topic only for you Order Now the results suggest that the productivity could be improved by 4 to 10% by improving the office environmental conditions. KEYWORDS: SBS, productivity, thermal comfort, perceived air quality, stress INTRODUCTION It is much higher cost to employ people then it is to maintain and operate a building, hence spending money on improving the work environment is the most cost effective way of improving productivity because of small percentage increase in productivity of 0. % to 2% can have dramatic effects on the profitability of the company. The current state of knowledge on this subject is described by Clements-Croome [1]. Practical applications of some of this knowledge is described by Oseland and Barlett [2] METHODS This research focuses on the relationship between productivity and the indoor environment in the offices and takes into account the fact that productivity depends on other factors by using an Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) which has been developed to include an environme ntal dimension [3,4]. OSI is a job satisfaction scale involving question or statements, asking respondent to state what they think or feel about their job as whole or specific aspects of it. Likeret scaling using five, seven or nine point scales is usually used. The OSI has been demonstrated by Arnold [5]. The occupational stress indicator is designed to gather information about groups as well as individuals and it attempts to measure the major sources of occupational pressure; occupational stress; coping mechanisms and individual differences which may moderate the impact of stress. An environmental dimension has been built into this indicator covering temperature, ventilation, humidity, indoor air quality, lighting, noise, crowded work space and is referred to as EPOSI which has been used to gather information about the occupants in the buildings that have been surveyed. This method of self assessment provides valuable information on individual as well as group responses. The data from the questionnaire is analyzed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) originated by Saaty[6]. AHP uses nine point judgement scales for use with detailed questionnaires aided by semi-structured interviews. The method is based on the theory of 630 Exposure, human responses and building investigations hierarchies and is a way of structuring complex multi-dimensional systems, by analyzing the interaction between elements in each stratum of the hierarchy in terms of their impact on elements in the stratum immediately above. It is possible to have several levels of hierarchies, but in this case five have been selected beginning with productivity followed by human factors; system factors; health factors; environmental factors. The questionnaires were answered by occupants across various work grades and tasks and were designed to elicit: background information about the organization and the workplace †¢ how much the environment and the job cause dissatisfaction †¢ the feelings of the subject about their current working situation †¢ the principle causal factors influencing health symptoms of occupants †¢ which factors influence job satisfaction and productivity Semi-structu red interviews were carried out to establish more details about attitudes and reasons behind responses. Office survey A detailed environmental survey was carried out at an office in Reading in 1996. he questionnaire was in five sections: Section A The Questionnaire asks the occupants to judge the physical factors in the environment covering temperature, stuffiness and draughts, dryness, indoor air quality, sunlight, lightning, noise and vibration, and crowded workplaces. Questions were also asked about personal health; job stress; job satisfaction; an overall opinion about the indoor environment; including questions about five categories of sick building syndrome covering sensory irritation; skin irritations; nervous problems; nasal and odor complaints. Section B The questionnaire concerned subjects views on how they liked the office layout and decoration as well as questions about their job in relation to productivity. They are also asked to rate how much personal control they felt had over temperature and lighting. Four questions were asked to determine self assessed productivity covering the amount of work accomplished; quality of work; feeling of creativity; and degree of responsibility. Section C The questionnaire was concerning information which describes the characteristics of the organization, workplace and some personal information. Occupants were then asked about human factors such as well-being; ability to perform; motivation; job satisfaction and technical competence. Finally there was a group of questions concerned with indoor environment; weather; outdoor view; organizational factors; occupational factors; facilities and service; and personal factors. Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol 1 631 Section D The questionnaire was based on information gathered using EPOSI and five major human factors were identified which influence productivity ( well-being, ability to perform, motivation, job satisfaction, technical competence). Six system factors ( indoor environment, weather and outdoor views, organizational aspects, occupational issues, facilities and services, personal aspects) were examined to see how they influenced the human factors. Section E The questionnaire covered interactions between sick building sickness symptoms and an array of personal, occupational and environmental factors. RESULTS Analysis of the data shows that the level of productivity by self assessment reduces as the workspace becomes more crowded, as job dissatisfaction increases and as overall dissatisfaction of the indoor environment increases. he results lead to the overall conclusion that an average the self assessed productivity could be improved by about 10% by improving the office environmental conditions. The Spearman rank-correlation coefficient, rs, was used to assess measure of association between any two variables. The statistical analyzes of the results is given in detail by Li [7]. It was shown that a significant rank-c orrelation exists between self-assessed productivity and environment, job dissatisfaction and job stress, as shown in Table 1. Table 1. The association between self assessed productivity, environment and job factors. Factor Associated Factor Spearman RankCorrelation Coefficient Self-assessed productivity Unsatisfactory indoor -0. 49 environment Job dissatisfaction -0. 36 Job stress -0. 21 Unsatisfactory indoor Job stress +0. 31 environment Job dissatisfaction +0. 43 Job stress Job dissatisfaction +0. 36 There is unique relationship between the individual, the environment and the building they inhabit. Satisfaction with the environment. satisfaction with the environment arises from a number of issues apart from personal health (r=0. 34), sick building syndrome symptoms (r=0. 5), visual and aural problems (r=0. 36), thermal problems (r=0. 49), and crowded work space (r=0. 50). The correlation coefficients were statistically significant for p F? = 0,01 [3, 152] = 3. 92 ) (1) This indicates that subjects who suffer from physical environmental factors will suffer an increase in overall unsatisfactory environment which is positively related to thermal problems, crowded workspace and sick building syndr ome symptoms. The multiple regression equation for job satisfaction was found to be: JD = 1. 2055 + 0. 3157* JS + 0. 2572 * En + 0. 1023 * CS r = 0. 5367, F=19. 56 F? = 0,01 [3,149] = 3. 92 ) (2) This shows that high job dissatisfaction results from job stress, crowded workspace and an overall unsatisfactory environment. For self assessed productivity, the regression equation was developed using a step wise regression procedure: P=6. 8510-0. 3625*En-0. 1542*JD-0. 1329*CS (r = 0. 5083, F= 14. 86 F? = 0,01 [3, 132] = 3. 94 (3) The principal factors which affect self assessed productivity in the offices surveyed were an overall unsatisfactory environment, crowded workspace and job dissatisfaction. A distinction was made between direct effects (i. e. those effects that do not result from any other variable in the model) and – secondary or indirect effects which arise from the interaction between one or more variables in the model. (Cohen 1983). For example an overall unsatisfactory environment has a direct effect on self assessed productivity, but there is also an indirect effect because it also affects job satisfaction which in turn also affects self assessed productivity. The total indirect effect is estimated by the product of the effects of an overall unsatisfactory environment on job satisfaction, and job satisfaction on self assessed productivity. The total effect of environment on self assessed productivity is then the result of combining the direct and indirect effects. Further analyzes showed that the most common complaints about unsatisfactory environments were those connected with high or low temperature variations; stale and stuffy air; dry or humid air. Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol 1 633 CONCLUSIONS The principal conclusions were: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Individual responses illustrate that the majority of respondents believed that the office environment had a direct influence on their well-being and self assessed productivity. When dissatisfaction with the environment and job were high there was a low level of self assessed productivity. Results showed that there were more occupants suffering from an overall unsatisfactory environment than from job stress and job dissatisfaction. People may be wholly satisfied with their job, but could also be quite unhappy about their work environment. In general however people reporting negative attitudes towards the environment were also the people with high job stress and job dissatisfaction. Crowded workspaces, thermal problems, and sick building symptoms due to whatever cause were the principal complaints about unsatisfactory environments. Nearly two thirds of the occupants thought that a 10% or more increase in their productivity was possible by improving the office environment. Results of the analysis also indicated that self assessed productivity could be improved by about 10%. Further analysis using the AHP model illustrated that the ability to perform, and wellbeing, were the two most important human factors that influenced the productivity of occupants in the offices surveyed. These factors together with job satisfaction and indoor environment form a virtuous cluster which is highly important in designing creative workplaces. In this study there was a small effect of the outdoor environment on productivity but this was insignificant compared to the effect of the indoor environment. Indoor air quality and pollution were the most important environmental factors influencing sick building syndrome. Compared with other personal factors (e. g. gender and type A behavior) and occupational factors, job stress was the next most significant factor which gave rise to sick building syndrome symptoms.. Results showed that the primary factors influencing productivity varied between organizations, and also between buildings or offices within the same building. This research has established a reliable methodology for evaluating self assessed productivity. Symbols CS En F JD JS p P r rs SBS Th ———— Crowded working space (7 score) An overall unsatisfactory indoor environment (7 score) For statistical F-test Job dissatisfaction (7 score) Job stress (7 score) The level of statistical significance Self assessed productivity (9 score) The correlation coefficient Spearman rank-correlation coefficient Suffer from SBS symptoms (7 score) Suffer from thermal conditions (7 score) 634 Exposure, human responses and building investigations REFERENCES: 1. Clements-Croome, D. J. , 2000, Creating the Productive Workplace, Spon Routledge. 2. Oseland, N. , Bartlett, P. , 1999, Improving Office Productivity, Longman. 3. Cooper, C. L. , 1998, Occupational Stress Indicator Management Guide, NFERNelson, Windsor. 4. Clements-Croome, D. J. , Li B. , 1995, Impact of Indoor Environment on Productivity, Workplace Comfort Forum, Royal Institute of British Architects, London. 5. Arnold, J. , Cooper, C. L. , Robertson, I. , (1998), Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace, 3ra Edition, Financial Times-Pitman Publishing. 6. Saaty, T. L. , 1972, Analytic Hierarchy Process, McGraw-Hill, New York. 7. Li, B. 1998, Assessing the Influence of Indoor Environment on Self Reported Productivity in Offices, Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, Department of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading. 8. Raw, G. J. , et al. , 1989, Further Findings From the Office Environment Survey, Part I: Productivity, Building Research Establishment, Note No. N79/89. 9. Anderson, D. , et al. , 1990, Statistics for Business a nd Economics, 4th Edition, West Publishing Company, USA. 10. Cohen, J. , Cohen, P. , 1983, Applied Multiple Regression – Correlation Analysis for Behaviourial Sciences, 2†³d Edition, Lawrence Earle Baum Associates, New Jersey/London. How to cite Proceedings of Healthy Buildings 2000, Vol 1, Essay examples

Dot

Dot-com Bubble and Boo.com Essay Chapter case: the Failure of Boo. com MBA 612- International Management Submitted to Charls Habis Submitted by Bijaya shrestha Date: April 7, 2009 Chapter case: the failure of Boo. com Question 1: was Boo. com doomed more by its faulty strategy or by its poor implementation? Boo. com was a European company founded in 1998 and operating out of a London head office, which was founded by three Swedish entrepreneurs. Boo. com is the first European global e-commerce entity. The company is launching in the US and Europe at the same time. With offices in London, New York, Stockholm and Munich, they have a desire to permit each national site to be driven by their local developers. The issues Timing Boo. com launched several months of delays after dropping two launched dates and problems with the user experience when Boo. com first launched. Indeed sales had grown rapidly and were around $500,000 for the fortnight prior to the site being shut down. The fundamental problem was that the company was following an extremely aggressive growth plan, launching simultaneously in multiple European countries. This plan was founded on the assumption of the ready availability of venture capital money to see the company through the first few years of trading until sales caught up with operating expenses. Such capital ceased to be available for all practical purposes in the second quarter of 2000 following dramatic falls in the dot crash following the  Dot-com bubble. Boo would probably have failed for this reason even if the user experience had been excellent and the launch on schedule. Problems with the user experience The presentation of products and content on their site were both imaginative and offer an experience. The Boo. com website was widely criticized as poorly designed for its target audience, going against many  usability  conventions. The site relied heavily on  JavaScript  and  Flash  technology to display  3D  views of wares as well as Miss Boo, a sales-assistant-style  avatar. The first publicly released version of the site was fairly hefty—the home page alone was several hundred kilobytes which meant that the vast majority of users had to wait minutes for the site to load though it was assured by those at boo. com that they will keep to a limit of 8 seconds for a page to download. Its interface was also complex with a hierarchical system that required the user to answer four or five different questions before revealing that there were no products in stock in a particular sub-section. Discussion Boo. com has been criticized for poor management quality. The firm had few management controls and many of the personnel were consultants with little relevant business experience. As well as Boo. com failed to create an immersive retailing experience online. The badly designed advertising campaign was another problem faced by Boo. om. They over spent on advertising early on which created a great deal of consumer interest, but then the web site lunch was delayed by about five months by the time consumer got fed up. Boo. com was a victim of internet time, e-commerce move faster in internet time where as e-tailing system takes much longer to develop. In the case of Boo. com web site was not fully designed when it was lunched and changes made later on reducing consumer conf idence. Therefore, going through the case I found that Boo. com was doomed by its poor implementation.

And Then There Was None Book Report Essays - English-language Films

And Then There Was None Book Report Have you ever been in a dark, desolate room in complete seclusion from everyone else where you sense a presence nearby but when you turn around, nobody's there? Have you ever been so afraid that you can't sleep at night? I believe that anyone who is an actual human being can agree with me that, in some way, everyone has felt some kind of fear and excitement due to a scary movie, book, or even reality. After reading this novel by Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, I can honestly say that there is a book out there that can give me the shivers. Never have I been so afraid of a fictional - based story that I wasn't able to go to sleep that very same night I finished the novel. Not only did the plot of the story keep me on the edge of my seat, but the personalities and the secretiveness of the characters kept me in suspense as well. The novel takes place on Indian Island, a location known for publicity and curiosity, yet nobody knows for sure who owns this piece of land. In the beginning chapters of this book, you become familiar with the ten main characters who are out to spend an eight day vacation on this secluded island with only a vague invitation with some variety on each one. The descriptions of each character are specified clearly, yet each individual holds a secret that they wouldn't dare to share with anyone else on the island. When the guests each arrive in their rooms, they find a riddle called ?Ten Little Indians? which plays a significant role throughout the book, for this riddle tells the death of ten men on an island (ironic, eh?). By night time, they are all acquainted with each other, until a noise projecting from the wall tells a story about the guests and how they are all charged for a murder they could never be tried for. Now this book might somehow seem like an episode out of a ?Clue? myste ry?but did ?Clue? ever give you the chills you get on the back of your neck? No, I didn't think so! Suddenly, in the few moments preceding this mysterious message, one of the less important characters drops dead in front of the entire crowd?shocking, right? To make a long story short, all the individuals are petrified and persist to retreat up to their rooms and lock themselves up for the night to keep somewhat safe. One of my favorite scenes of this novel pertains to one of the very last characters to stay alive on the island? Miss Vera Elizabeth Claythorne. A stubborn, spiteful woman who has nightmares about the child she once used to take care of and drowned in her presence. At one point in this book, Very leaves the remaining five individuals and goes up to her room to take a bath. As she steps into the bathtub, she seems to feel someone around her, but when she looks around, nobody's there. When she is finished with her bath, she steps out into the cold, crisp air and can sense the foul smell of seaweed. Slowly, she feels something pull around her neck?something firm and strong. She screams for help, but when the men come to save her, they don't find anything?only a piece of seaweed hanging from the ceiling. The way Christie put suspense and excitement into this scene gave me the biggest scare in the book. She can describe items and characters so well because she uses her imagination and she knows what can ?spook? the audience. Another one of my favorite scenes in this novel concerns Emily Caroline Brent, who was another main character who was an elderly, frail woman. Throughout the book, you hear her complain about everything, and you begin to wonder if she might be the murderer and playing the role of a fragile lady. After the death of another male character, Brent goes to sit down at the dining room table to take a rest and to lust over the taste of sweet honey in her mouth, for Vera had brought up the subject

Requiescat in Pace (R.I.P.) - Definition of R.I.P.

Requiescat in Pace (R.I.P.) - Definition of R.I.P. Requiescat in pace is a Latin blessing with Roman Catholic ties that means â€Å"may he begin to rest in peace. This blessing is translated to ‘rest in peace’, a short saying or expression that wishes eternal rest and peace to an individual who has passed away. The expression typically appears on gravestones, and is often abbreviated as R.I.P. or simply RIP. The initial idea behind the phrase revolved around the souls of the dead remaining un-tormented in the afterlife. History The phrase Requiescat in pace began to be found on tombstones around the eighth century, and it was commonplace on Christian tombs by the eighteenth century. The phrase was especially prominent with the Roman Catholics. It was seen as a request that the soul of a deceased individual would find peace in the afterlife. Roman Catholics believed in and placed much emphasis on the soul, and life after death, and thus the request was for peace in the afterlife. The phrase continued to spread and gain popularity, eventually becoming a common convention. The lack of any explicit reference to the soul in the short phrase caused people to believe that it was the physical body that was wished to enjoy eternal peace and rest in a grave. The phrase can be used to mean either aspect of modern culture. Other Variations Several other variations of the phrase exist. Included among them is Requiescat in pace et in amore, meaning May she rest in peace and love, and â€Å"In pace requiescat et in amore†. Religion The phrase ‘dormit in pace’, which translates to ‘he sleeps in peace’, was found in early Christian catacombs and signified that the individual passed away in the peace of the church, united in Christ. Thus, they would then sleep in peace for eternity. The phrase ‘Rest in Peace’ continues to be engraved on the headstones of several different Christian denominations, including the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Anglican Church. The phrase is also open to other religions interpretations. Certain sects of Catholics believe that the term Rest in Peace is actually meant to signify the day of Resurrection. In this interpretation, humans literally rest in their graves until they summoned upward out of it by the return of Jesus. Via Job 14:12-15: 12So  man lies down and does not rise.Until the heavens are no longer,He will not awake nor be aroused out of his  sleep. 13â€Å"Oh that You would  hide me in Sheol,That You would conceal me until Your wrath returns to You,That You would set a limit for me and  remember me!14â€Å"If a man dies, will he live again?All the days of my struggle  I will waitUntil my change comes.15â€Å"You will call, and I will answer You; The short phrase has also been found inscribed on Hebrew gravestones in the graveyard of Bet Shearim. The phrase clearly permeated religious lines. In this situation, it is meant to speak of a person who has died because he or she could not bear the evil around him. The phrase continues to be used in traditional Jewish ceremonies.

Employment Situation of the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Employment Situation of the United States - Essay Example The highest duration of unemployment is 27 weeks and over. The number of people marginally attached to labor force has been increasing and on the other hand, the discouraged workers have decreased (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7). In December the overall Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 200,000. Transportation and warehousing, manufacturing, healthcare, retail trade, and mining reported job gains. Overall weekly hours has reported a minute increase. Same is true for average hourly earnings and average weekly earnings. Diffusion index has also increased for both total private sector and manufacturing sector (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8). There is a clear difference between the unemployment rate of the adults and teenagers. Adult women have the lowest unemployment rate, which is 7.9 % in December after an increase from 7.8 % in November. On the second number is the unemployment rate for the adult men, which is 8.0 in December after a decrease of 8.3 % in November. Teenagers hav e a highest unemployment rate, i.e. 23.1 % after a decrease from 23.7 % in November, as shown in table A-1 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 14). Similarly, according to the table A-2 and A-3 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 15-17), there is the difference in the unemployment rate of the whites, blacks, Asians, and Latinos are different. According to this data, the unemployment rate for Asians has increased to 6.8 % in December from 6.5 % in November (not adjusted seasonally) and is lowest among all other ethnic categories. After them comes the white people of the United States, the unemployment rate for this ethnic category has decreased from 7.6 % in November to 7.5 % in December. Second, the highest unemployment rate is of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, which has decreased to 11.0 % in December from 11.4 % in November.  

Assignment 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

1 - Assignment Example proach that is used by a management team in an organization to find means of improving the quality of the organization’s products and services based on constant refinements in reaction to customer feedback (Sakthivel et al, 2007). The requirements of TQM may be different depending on the type of organization or International Organization Standardization (ISO) series. TQM is applicable to all types of organizations. TQM originated from the manufacturing sector and is currently applied in any form of imaginable organization such as hospital, schools, churches, hotel industry, and highway maintenance. TQM, which is a current focus in e-commerce, it is part of quality management depending on the views of customers (Choisne, de Grosbois, & Kumar, 2009). Question 3: Quality management refers to a function used by companies to make sure that the quality of their operations and goods meets a certain level of standards. Organizational managers and owners are the individuals who typically play the role of setting quality standards for their organizations (Ōno, 2013). The two major parts of quality standards in an organization are design and process quality. Design quality standards define the requirements that goods and services must reach in order to be sold. Therefore, if the goods and services, lack some of these requirements, the company must make corrections to the goods before selling them. On the other hand, the purpose of process quality standards is to design the owner of a business from unnecessary costs that may result from manufacturing rejects or repairs. Process quality standards ensure that the production department follows set procedures in order to achieve the design quality standards. Question 4: In general, quality refers to a definite level or degree of excellence. Therefore, the cost of quality in the workplace refers to the costs incurred while preventing defects’ occurrence and the costs that a firm incurs due to evaluation of its progress

Impact of low number of minorities working in healthcare industry in Research Paper

Impact of low number of minorities working in healthcare industry in usa - Research Paper Example Eventually, the disparities in the provision of care due to racism and ethnic issues will be tackled in details. Given that the majority of the health care providers are the Native Americans, the impact of language barriers in terms of providing care to minorities who could not speak the English language well will be determined. Given that half the US population would be the minorities, the impact of language barrier between the health care providers and the minorities as patients will be thoroughly analyzed. As of November 16, 2009, the total number of population in the United States is 307,946,634 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). In line with this, the total population of white Americans alone is composed of 65% of the total population. The rest of the minorities includes Hispanic (15%), African Americans (13%), Asian (4%), Two or More Races (2%), American Indian & Alaska Native (1%), and Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander (0%) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009b). (See Figure I – US Population by Race & The number of minorities working in the health care industry is very limited as compared to the White Americans. Since the minorities are earning less as compared to the White American physicians, Weeks & Wallace (2006) revealed that black male and female family physicians tend to serve more patients as compared with the White Americans male and female counterparts. This is probably due to the fact that the number of African Americans who are practicing as family physicians is less as compared to the population of African Americans they are serving. Although socio-economic and racial issues are among the common factors that has contributed to lower number of available health care professionals in the United States, Sabin, Rivara, & Greenwald (2008) revealed that the classification of health care profession also matters when it comes to racial bias such that pediatricians are less likely to implicit racial

Grass Silage Quality In Malaysia

Grass Silage Quality In Malaysia There were different management systems been practiced in the livestock industry in Malaysia. The intensive system was widely practiced, particularly in the pig and poultry sector and as for the ruminant industry; it varies from extensive to intensive system. The majority of feedstuffs used in rations for pig and poultry were imported (Anon, 2002), although to some extent locally produced ingredients were also included in the ration. The imported ingredients range from cereal grains, vegetable and animal proteins such as soybean meal, corn gluten meal, fish meal and meat and bone meal, mineral sources and various micro-ingredients like vitamins, minerals and other additives used to improve feed efficiency and growth. Maize and soybean meal were the major imported ingredients. Locally available raw materials make up about 30 percent of the total feed ingredients in Malaysia (Anon, 2002). However, the use of locally produced ingredient depends on supply, cost and also quality. The locally produced ingredients were tapioca and fishmeal. However, the amount produced was not sufficient to meet the requirements of the local feed industry (Anon, 2002). The milling factories and the by-products of oil extraction that produce soybean meal, wheat bran, pollard, and rice bran were always available and usually included in poultry and pigs feed. The ruminant industry depends primarily on locally available feedstuffs, for example palm kernel cake, oil palm frond, palm oil sludge, and soy waste, with only some supplementation provided by imported ingredients. The major  local materials used were crop residues and other agro-industrial by-products such as rice bran, copra cake, palm kernel cake, oil palm frond, sago, tapioca and broken rice (Anon, 2002). 2.2 Source of Fodder and Forages for Ruminants 2.2.1 Oil palm frond (OPF) Oil palm was one of the commercial plantation crops other than rubber, oil palm, cocoa and pineapple in Malaysia. Since the 1970s, Malaysia had been the largest producer and exporter of palm oil products in the world. Oil palm produces the most abundant biomass with oil palm fronds have been shown to be a very promising source of roughage for ruminants. The average crude protein value of OPF was about 7% (Asada et al., 1991; Wong and Zahari, 1992; Dahlan, 1992a). However, the average crude protein (CP) composition of 11.0% in the leaflets suggests its potential value for livestock feeding as its CP contents was far above the critical 6.25% CP level required to maintain normal intake by ruminants (Playne, 1972). OPF leaflets had a higher CP value and crude fat content than petiols (Oshio et al., 1990). However, Akmar et al. (1996) reported that OPF contained a considerable amount of lignin and silica which could reduce its nutritive value when fed to ruminants. Cellulose levels were usually lower than hemicellulose in both petioles and leaflets. Although OPF was available throughout the year, it must be collected and pilled up and also used readily or even chopped immediately within two days after pruning. Collection of OPF incurs high costs in which accounted the costs of pelleting and transport. OPF tends to become mouldy during storage due to high water contents of more than 55% (Dahlan, 2000). In order to prevent mould, drying was essential in which also incurred high processing costs. In addition, OPF contains very low protein (5.0-7.0%) and OPF becomes mouldy if not processed (Dahlan, 2000). Mouldy feedstuffs may contain fungal toxicins and were less palatable and have low nutritive value. Low protein content and unbalanced mineral content resulted in low digestibility and low absorption or availability of nutrients for maintenance and production (Dahlan, 2000). Consideration also have to be given to the high silica content in OPF and the slow rate of fermentation of fibre, which reduce VFA and the role of end products of fibre digestion in relation to the over all efficiency of energy utilization. These limitations can be overcome by physical or mechanical processing such as immediate chopping, grinding and drying, pre-digestion of fibre through chemical and biological treatment and stimulation of rumen microbes by supplementation with energy and protein rich ingredients or with urea and molasses and supplementation with essential minerals like Ca, P and S to balance up the nutrient content of OPF (Dahlan, 2000). 2.2.2 Rice Straw as a Feed for Ruminants Traditionally, rice straw was fed during the periods of feed shortage, but the nutrients for maintenance does not provided adequately. Studies had been shown that buffaloes (Wanapat et al., 1984; Wongsrikeao and Wanapat, 1985), cattle (McLennan et al., 1981; Wanapat et al., 1982, 1984; Suriyajantratong and Wilaipon, 1985) and sheep (Vijchulata and Sanpote, 1982) that were with fed straw alone lose body weight. The straw was usually fed in the long form, but in some parts of Asia, notably India, it may be chopped for limiting selection and wastage of the feeds given (Doyle et al., 1986). There were times in which the amount of straw collected and stored does not enable farmers to feed their animals ad libitum. In these feeding systems, salt was sometimes provided, but other mineral supplements were not given. Other forages offered with rice straw to stall-fed ruminants were practiced by many Asian farmers. The quantitative information about how much of these forages were fed and how frequently they were given was of little information. The most common feeds available with rice straw were the roadside native grasses, while other important forages were cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), gliricidia (Gliricidia maculata), leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) and sesbania (Sesbania grandiflora) (Doyle et al., 1986). Also in specific areas forages from many other trees, crops and water weeds, including acacia (Acacia arabica), banana (Musa spp.), jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), and water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), were utilized (Doyle et al., 1986). 2.3 Grass Production in Malaysia Over the last 20 years, the pasture research team in Malaysian Agriculture Research Development Institute (MARDI) had introduced several hundreds of improved tropical pasture accessions, and promising species and genera have been identified (Wong et al. l982, Wong and Mohd Najib, 1988). The Digitaria genus, Brachiaria humidicola and B. dictyoneura were adapted to the bris soils; B. humidicola and Tripsacum andersonii (Guatemala grass) were important on acid sulphate soil and in areas with a high water table; while on peat, Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) was outstanding. Other promising grasses including Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) and Signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) were able to perform in any of the sedentary and alluvial soils and in all agroclimatic zones. In the highlands, Napier, Guinea, Signal, Guatemala and Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) and Nandi setaria (Setaria sphacelata cv Nandi) had good production records. They had shown vigorous growth and seed sett ing. In the mid 1970s, improved pastures were established as part of the establishment of eight commercial ranch operations (9,682 ha); six farms in Peninsular Malaysia, and one each in Sabah and Sarawak, developed by the National Livestock Authority (Majuternak), with the aim of increasing commercial livestock production (Wong and Chen, 1998). Current total areas of ranch pastures were approximately 25,000 ha in Peninsular Malaysia, 5,000 ha in Sabah and 20,000 ha in Sarawak (Wong and Chen, 1998). These pastures faced some problems of persistence (Chen, 1985) in which they were mainly correlated with the requirement of improvement of the poor tropical soils. The soils had high saturation of aluminium (60-80%) and low soil pH 4.0-5.5 (Wong and Chen, 1998). Break-even on the investment for ranching of animals on tropical pastures in Malaysias circumstances takes about 10-12 years due to the intense initial capital input and high interest rate of bank loans (Clayton, 1983). Unfavourable cli mate in Malaysia is also a problem that hinders the development of tropical pastures for seed production in the poor seed setting of most of the promising pasture species (Wong and Chen, 1998). However, there were a few had been identified for small scale production of seed for local needs and such species were the Ruzi grass (Brachiaria ruziziensis) and Guinea grass (Wong and Chen, 1998). 2.4 Napier Grass (Pennisetum Purpureum ) Napier grass or scientifically called as Pennisetum purpureum was a species of grass native to the tropical grasslands of Africa. It was a tall perennial plant that may reach a height of six meter, with razor-sharp leaves 30-90 cm long and up to three centimetre broad (Duke, 1983) and producing 15 tillers at maturity. Its natural habitat was in riverbed areas, and able to grow up to 10 m high (Eilittà ¤ et al., 2004) but it was also a drought-tolerant (Bassam, 2010) and where it grew well in drier areas with a drier periods not more than four months. It had a very high productivity, both as a high protein forage grass for livestock and as a biofuel crop which might be 50-55 t/ha/year DM (Bassam, 2010). It can be grown along with fodder trees along field boundaries or along contour lines or terrace risers to help control erosion. It can be intercropped with crops such as legumes and fodder trees, or as a pure stand. The advantage of Napier grass was that it propagates easily. This fo dder is very important for smallholder farm (Goldson, 1977) which greatly contributed to dairy cattle feeding in Kenya and CP content of 7.6% produced by 10-40t ha-1 DM (Wouters, 1987). In the highlands, napier, guinea, signal, Guatemala and kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) and Nandi setaria (Setaria sphacelata cv Nandi) were the promising forages with good production record. Napier grass was best suited to high rainfall areas, but as drought-tolerant grass it can also grow well in drier areas in which are suitable for Malaysias climate. Napier grass can propagates easily and has high growth and yield potentials. Its soft stem makes it easy to cut, the young leaves and stems are tender which makes very palatable for livestock, and the Napier grass is suitable for feeding ruminant as cut and carry system. 2.4.1 Production, characterization, and nutritional quality of Napier grass The general fodder grass species used in the S.E. Asian region was mainly the tall-growing types such as Pennisetum purpureum (Napier or Elephant grass), Panicum maximum (Guinea) and Tripsacum laxum (Guatemala grass). Napier had a yield record of up to 84800 kg DM/year when fertilized with 897 kg N/ha per year and cut practices were done every 90 days with annual rainfall of 2000 mm (Vicente-Chandler et al., 1959). The highest yielding fodder and most promising fodder was Napier grass (Anindo Potter, 1994) which had a dry matter yields surpassing many of tropical grasses (Humphreys, 1994; Skerman Riveros, 1990). Napier grass had tender, young leaves and stems, which was very palatable for livestock and grew very fast. The young and immature Napier grass was highly digestible but as maturity increased, yield also increased, but quality decreased. The digestibility increased as lignifications of the plant material increased with grass height and maturity. Attempts have been made to make hay out of Napier grass (Brown Chavulimu, 1985; Manyuchi et al., 1996) but the succulent stems limit the rate of drying (Snijders et al., 1992a) and with excess drying the stems may become hard and brittle and less palatable to livestock. The cell wall, composed primarily of the structural carbohydrates cellulose and hemicellulose, was the most important factor affecting forage utilization (Van Soest, 1994) as it comprises the major fraction of forage DM and its extent of degradation by the microflora had important implications on forage digestibility and intake (Paterson et al., 1994). The structural polysaccharides composed primarily of cellulose and hemicelluloses were primary restrictive determinants of nutrient intake. The digestibility of forage in the rumen was related to the proportion and extent of lignification (Van Soest, 1994). Chemical composition and digestible DM may be poor indicators of the nutritive value of Napier grass because it d oes not provide the profile of absorbed nutrients. 2.4.2 Effect of cutting interval on nutritive value of grass During the wet season, the tropical forage species grow very fast, with forage yields often exceeding animal requirements. If not cut and fed, it will continue to grow, producing very long and fibrous material, low in energy and protein (Moran, 1945). If this forage was harvested and successfully stored as silage at the same stage as it is cut for producing milk, then it could be fed back during the following dry season. Although the quality of the forage will be slightly lower than its fresh state (10-15% lower in good ensiling conditions), it will still be better quality than many of the forages only available for dry season feeding. Conversely, in some locations, the silage can supplement other good quality but very slow-growing forages. Forage harvested for silage should be at the same age of maturity (its optimum), as if feeding fresh (Moran, 1945). Napier grass should be harvested following 30 to 40 days re-growth in the wet season, at about 75 to 150 cm in height, or optimum quality and for ease of transporting to livestock in smallholdings. At this stage, the Napier grass will have about two to three nodes showing on the stem. The Napier grass was harvested every 45 days during the wet season and contained 12% dry matter (DM), 7.5% crude protein (CP) and 62.2% NDF (Moran, 1945). 2.5 Grass Silage The usage of silage was very essential in ruminant nutrition (Akyildiz, 1986). Silage, which produced by ensiling method, enables feed conservation in tropical countries such as Malaysia. Grass silage was extremely variable in terms of feeding value and preservation quality. OMara et al., (1998) indicated that supplementing grass silage with other forages improves dairy cow performance. Feed sources such as molasses, cereal grains and salt are usually added to silage for ensiling practices and to increase those forges in respect of increasing microbial fermentation and eliminating microbial toxins (Akyildiz, 1986; Jacobs et al., 1995; Kaya et al., 2009). There are four identifiable roles played by ensilaging the roughage (Cowan, 1999). Primarily, these were to build up reserve of feeds for utilisation during periods of feed deficiency; to have regular supply of feed to increase productivity of animals; to utilise surplus fodder for better management and utilisation and lastly to conserve for use during feed scarcity and additional demand for feed (Cowan, 1999). Silage was also routinely fed to increased productivity of beef and dairy cattle by providing nutrients necessary to nutritionally balance existing diets. Silage usages were pictured to increase in the S.E. Asian region. There were several reasons for this optimism. Stable supply of forage throughout the year was recognised as the key constraint for further development in cattle production in northeast Thailand (Shinoda et al., 1999), and this was generally true for other developing parts of the region. It had been noted that the economic boom of the 1980s and early 1990s have changed the dairy livestock perspective of S. E. Asian farmers and they have become more progressive and farms move from being subsistence to commercialised units (Wong, 1999). Silage making was less dependent on weather especially in areas where the cutting practice of the forage was constrained by the seasonal condition. Usually, there were five steps involves in silage making, harvest forage or collect material; materials transport to the silo; filling of silo; packing and compacting the materials for the exclusion of air to favour anaerobic fermentation; and sealing of silo. The types of silo for ensilaging process and for storing silage were horizontal silo, small vertical cylindrical silos, plastic bags, plastic drums and plastic film wrapping of baled fodder (Chin and Idris 1999). There were also some additional steps in order to make good silage, wilting to reduce moisture (many of silage making in Malaysia do not involve wilting); chopping for easy compaction; use of additives to increase soluble charbohydrate and protein; and use of enzymes to aid fermentation. The main usage of silage is for fodder conservation and to make feed available during t he scarcity of feed supply (Mohd Najib et al. 1993). 2.5.1 Evaluation of Silage Quality Organoleptic criteria were used to assess the silage quality, which employed silage colour, smell and texture. They were practical and do not required references of a laboratory. However, evaluation made using these criteria was subjective and proned to misinterpretation due to a trend toward the use of the larger rather than a smaller number of silage quality categories which results in differences of opinion (Woolford, 1984). Chemical assessments of the principal fermentation products give a straightforward basis to assess the quality of silage. Flieg (1938; 1952), suggests that silage quality was better evaluated according to the relative amounts of lactic, acetic and butyric acids in silage: The higher the proportions of lactic and acetic acids to butyric acid, the higher the score and the better the quality. Carpintero et al. (1969) established a good positive correlation between pH value and ammonia expressed as g kg-1 of the total nitrogen in direct cut-grass and clover silages. According to his study, it was considered critical for the anaerobic stability of silage and the ammonia content would be 111 g kg-1 of the total nitrogen at pH 4.2. Langson et al. (1960) proposed that the classification of grass silage as good, intermediate or poor was according to the levels of pH, lactic acid, ammonia, butyric acid and spore count. The pH level, dry matter (DM) and nutrient contents of grass silage were varies; depending on the kind, vegetation period and additives given (Haigh et al., 1985; More et al., 1986; Rinnie et al., 2002; Cone et al., 1999; Baytol and Muruz, 2003). A study done by Moore et al. (1986), using three different silage sampled of mixed grasses, the DM contents were 34.3, 29.9 and 38.8% respectively, crude protein (CP) contents were 8.12, 9.37, 11.87% respectively and the pH level was 4.6, 4.6, and 4.4 respectively. Another study was done from silage samples made of grass from late vegetation period the CP content and the pH level were 11.3% and 4.10, respectively. Numerous investigators have stressed the importance in the ensiling process of the percentage of dry matter in the green crop. Wilson and Webb (1937) recognized the importance of the sugar content of plants for making silage, and reported values for a number of different species. Some values for sugar have been reported by Archibald (1953), but they were for chopped green crops with added preservatives. Watson and Ferguson (1937) and Allen et al. (1937) have compared composition and digestibility of the green crop and the resulting silage. Peterson et al. (1935) made a study of dry matter, the several forms of nitrogen, and carotene contents in the crop and in the silage. Earlier studies have shown the criteria which indicated the quality (good or poor) in grass silage from the standpoint of organoleptic and laboratory tests were: pH, and content of volatile bases, butyric acid, and lactic acid (Archibald et al., 1954). High values for lactic acid indicate good quality silage; high values for the other three criteria were an indication of poor quality silage, as odour, texture and dry matter losses was concerned. Values for these have been statistically correlated with the following constituents in the green, un-ensiled crop: water, protein, fiber, N-free extract, and total sugar. Effluent flowing out of the storage for no longer than 2 to 4 weeks was an indicative that the silage was slowly deteriorating due to entry of air (Moran, 1945). Wilted silage produced little or no effluent unless the stack was poorly sealed. Un-wilted silage will produce some effluent, which may leak out of drums and stacks into the soil. Only small amount of silage effluent will leaked from well-sealed drums and plastic bags, and may even leak slowly from upturned drums. It was important not to remove drum lids, untie bag tops or hole their bottoms to let moisture out, or to see how they are going. This will allow far too much air to enter, leading to very poorly fermented silages, and even just compost. Characteristics of silages that had undergone an unsatisfactory fermentation: had a strong, pungent, very unpleasant smell; had a strong ammonia smell; contained excess moisture when squeezed or continually oozes from the base; mouldy or slimy; had undergone much deterioration (>20% DM loss); slightly damp and dark brown; the plastic sheet or lid has not stopped air entry for many days (Moran, 1945). Chemical composition of the raw material had a dominating influence on the fermentation in conventional silage. In the forage crops, chemical composition were influenced by the weather, growth conditions, the level of fertilizer applied, and the maturity of the material at harvest (Woolford, 1984). These factors in turn influence those components of prime importance to fermentation such as fermentable substrate together with organic acids and their salts. Weather could have a significant effect on silage fermentation by its effect on water soluble carbohydrates in grass (Stirling, 1954). The sugar content of a crop harvested in the early morning after several days of dull wet weather with no sunshine was low compared with similar material cut from the same plot one week earlier following brighter weather. Temperature and light intensity were more important influences on sugar content of a crop than its maturity (Wieringa, 1961). 2.5.2 Improving the Quality of Silage Ensiling generally produces better quality roughage than hay because less time is required to wilt the feed, when the forage loses nutrients, causing a reduction in feed quality. The principles of silage making were the same regardless of size of operation, the major difference being in the type of storage used (Mickan, 2003). Unfortunately tropical forages and legumes were not well suited to ensiling due to their inherent low concentrations of water soluble carbohydrates, compared to temperate species (Moran, 1945). However, rapidly wilting the forage or adding a fermentable substrate, such as molasses before ensiling, will usually result in well-fermented silages. Tropical species were difficult to ensile because of their high buffering ability i.e. their resistance to changes in pH. To enable them to undergo a more satisfactory fermentation, two techniques were available to small holders; wilting the forage prior to ensiling and adding a fermentable substrate at ensiling (Moran, 1945). Napier grass will be about 12-15% DM at harvest and should, if possible, be wilted to at least 30% DM. when harvested in the morning, wilting may only require the heat of the afternoon of that day, but when cut later in the day or on cloudy days, it may need wilting till midday of the following day. The layer of the material to be wilted should be no thicker than 10cm and should be turned over two to three times to encourage wilting. If too thick, the forage will heat and begin to decompose and encourage the wrong types of bacteria to grow. Forage quality and dry matter will be lost. Since leaves dry more quickly than stems, smashing or conditioning the nodes on the stems and the stems themselves will increase the wilting rate. If the fresh forage cannot be wilted, the fermentation of the silage will be improved by mixing the chopped material with 3% to 5% molasses (on a fresh weight basis) just prior to ensiling. Adding water to the molasses is not recommended as the forage is already too moist and extra water will just reduce the fermentation quality. Rather than mixing it thoroughly, the molasses can be spread as layers in the forage, say every 10 to 15 cm. where the molasses was applied, the silage ferments better and was sweeter smelling, but the overall silage quality was still good. Other suitable fermentable substrates include rice bran or formulated concentrates (mixed at 10%) in layers with molasses (5%) poured on top of the rice bran. We found the silage surrounding the rice bran was drier and more acidic (pH 4.1) compared to silage with no additive (Moran, 1945). The shorter the chop length, the better the compaction, hence less air was trapped in the forage, resulting in better silage quality. Chopped lengths should be from 1 to 3 cm. if chopped lengths were longer, additional molasses (5-6% on a fresh forage basis) may improve the fermentation. However, the stems should be chopped to small lengths because they were harder to compact. Leaves can be left at 3 to 8 cm length. Where the forage had become too long but was still in the vegetative state, only chop and ensile the leaves and the top end of the stems to produce higher quality silage. Regardless of the system of the silage storage, the forage must be compacted as densely as possible, so compact it until it was difficult to insert your finger into the stack. The shorter the material was chopped, the more dense it can be packed and the less air that will be trapped inside the stack. The entire silage storage should be filled and sealed in one day, and at a maximum, two days. Silages in well-sealed storages that prevent the entry of air or water will maintain their quality for much longer than will silage in poorly sealed storage. 2.5.3 The Effects of Certain Additives on the Grass Silage Quality The main concern with the ensilage of tropical forages was the low dry matter and water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content. Wilting can overcome this problem but it may not be preferred or always possible during adverse climatic conditions. Suitable additives become an alternative to wilting. Even where wilting was carried out, additives were recommended to improve the fermentation and nutritive value of conventional as well as round bale silages (Bates et al. 1989; Staples 1995). The additives were used to improved silage preservation by ensuring that lactic acid bacteria dominate the fermentation phase in the ensiling process (Titterton and Bareeba, 1999) and they were divided into three general categories; the fermentation stimulants, e.g. bacterial inoculants and enzymes; fermentation inhibitors such as propionic, formic and sulphuric acids; and substrate or nutrient source, such as maize grains, molasses, urea or anhydrous ammonia (Woolford 1984; Henderson, 1993; Bolsen et al. 1995). The use of molasses was not only improves the energy content of silage but also ensures low pH and prevents proteolysis (Rasool et al. 1999). Four percent molasses added to the ensiled material generally improved silage quality derived from grasses in terms of increased lactic acid content (Aminah et al. 1999). Molasses, ground maize and palm kernel cake have been utilised locally as additives. Ensiled poultry litter was successfully included in the feed of ruminants as a protein supplement (Kayouli and Lee 1999) and, locally, poultry litter had been ensiled together with pineapple waste. However, the inclusion of additives, although encouraged, was not often carried out due to additional costs and the availability problem. It should be noted that silages have been successfully produced with neither wilting nor use of additives. Maize and forage sorghum crops were made into excellent silage and S. sphacelata var. splendida and P. purpureum were converted into acceptable silage without additives (Aminah et al. 1999). Inoculation. Since most forage crops intended for the silo are well seeded with lactic acid organisms, it is not to be expected that lactic acid cultures applied to forage to be ensiled will be of very much benefit. This with certain exceptions has been the finding abroad (6) and what similar work has been done in this country has been relatively ineffective. Inoculation of forage in the silo seems particularly absurd when the inoculum is tobe applied, as is the case with one commercial product, on layers of silage at the 1-filled level, the 2-filled level, the 3-filled level, and at the top of the filled silo. Whey. Soured cheese factory whey is an inoculum which at the same time has a certain amount of lactose for further fermentation. But since several hundred pounds of whey are required to supply the necessary sugar for proper acidity, to avoid excessive amounts of moisture the forage will in most cases need to wilt for several hours in the sun before ensiling. Condensed soured whey is a more logical preservative, as also is powdered whey. The cost of the latter two products and the bother of a very thin liquid, like ordinary whey, may not make whey in its svarious forms very attractive. 2.6 Production and Characterization of EM Professor Dr Teruo Higa developed the technology of EM in the 1970s at the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. The first solutions contained over 80 species from 10 genera isolated from Okinawa and other environments in Japan. With time, the technology was refined to include only the four important species cited earlier, namely Lactic Acid Bacteria, Photosynthetic Bacteria, Actinomyces and Yeast. Lactic acid bacteria: produces lactic acid from sugars. Food and drinks such as yogurt and pickles have been made by using lactic acid bacteria. However, lactic acid is a strong sterilizer. It suppresses harmful microorganisms and increases rapid decomposition of organic matter. Moreover Lactic acid bacteria enhances the breakdown of organic matter such as lignin and cellulose, and ferment these materials which normally take plenty of time. Lactic acid bacteria have the ability to suppress Fusarium propagation which is a harmful microorganism that causes disease problem in continuous cropping. Under Fusarium conditions promotes the increase of harmful nematodes. The occurrence of nematodes disappears gradually, as lactic acid bacteria suppress the propagation and function of Fusarium. Yeasts: synthesize antimicrobial and useful substances for plant growth from amino acids and sugars secreted by photosynthetic bacteria, organic matter and plant roots. Bioactive substances such as hormones and enzymes produced by yeasts promote active cell and root division. Their secretions are useful substrates for eff ective microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria and actinomycetes. Actinomycetes: are the structure of which is intermediate to that of bacteria and fungi, produces antimicrobial substances from amino acids secreted by photosynthetic bacteria and organic matter. These antimicrobial substances suppress harmful fungi and bacteria. Actinomycetes can coexist with photosynthetic bacteria. Thus, both species enhance the quality of the soil environment, by increasing the antimicrobial activity of the soil. EMAS ® (EM Activated Solution) is a fermented product derived from EM-1 ® product mixed with sugarcane molasses and water. EM-1 ® is made up from three groups of bacteria: Photosynthetic bacteria, Lactic Acid bacteria, and yeast. EM-1 ® when mixed with molasses and then non-chlorinated water mixed with the later mixture and then the solution is fermented for seven days and produced as a product called EMAS ®. EMAS ® have the special ability to preserve, restore and revive and it is expected to have a better. 2.6.1 Effective Microorganisms (EM) as Silage Additives The effects of the use of EM-silage in corn silage are less prominent than as to the use in grass silage (Wikselaar, 2000). However, in general the same trends at the use of EM-silage in grass and corn silage are percept

Essay --

INTRODUCTION For this assignment, I will be focusing on the unemployment situation in Greece. The reason why I choose unemployment in Greece is because the country is facing a  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­high unemployment rate of at least 27.8% in October 2013, the highest jobless rate in the entire area of Europe. Greece high unemployment started as early as 8.5% in 2009. This is the sixth year that Greece has seen its recession. Unemployment in Greece is also a major problem for the economy as this will decrease the production rate of the country therefore lowering the country’s GDP CAUSES OF UNEMPLOYMENT: The country now has 1.5 million of its population with no jobs. In the 27.8% of population being unemployed, 64.9% of the population are youth between the age of 15-24 years old. Greek youth unemployment has reached to the highest percentage of at least for the last six year, reaching the highest record for the last decade. Greece is in a debt crisis after the election on 2009 which resulted the opposition Pasok socialist party to win, making George Papandreou to takes over as new prime minister. On January – March 2010, the government announces of 2 more austerity measures. Austerity measures are official actions being taken by the government during the period of adverse economic situation. It is to reduce budget deficit by using a combination of spending cut or increasing the tax. However the austerity measures are resulted by facing a mass protests and strikes by the public. The strikes grew as big as 10 thousand people in early 2011. On the February of 2011, the protester s march on to parliament to counter government efforts to pass on the new austerity laws. Majority of the protesters are students between the ages of 15-24 who are lookin... ...vicious cycle ends in 2014. Greece will return to the markets, it will start to become a normal country again. The debt will be declared viable, without the need of loan agreements, without the need to borrow money," The government officials also mention that the country’s largest tax dodgers owe around â‚ ¬13 billion in unpaid tax. CONCLUSION In conclusion, I would assume that the economy crisis in Greek will not end quickly. The worst of Greek economy may probably be over, but the recovery will still need some years. The governments are still attempting to solve the economic crisis and the population are still attempting to seek for work. Greece debt issue and unemployment should start to fall in 2014, and may even have economic growth by the end of 2014. And if the tax dodger would not avoid paying their taxes, the economy condition may recover a lot faster.