Reflection Paper on Organization Behavior

kiwiberry2900 3/9/2013 MGMT 541 Self-reflection paper Motivation Motivation represents psychological processes that cause arousal, direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal directed. There are substantial positive relations between job characteristics, satisfaction, and motivation. Job characteristics of Variety and Task Significance were found to be particularly important to employee satisfaction and motivation.These are examples that almost everyone will encounter in real life: Job design and job enrichment My work experience when I was in Shanghai was with the Taxation Bureau. Initially I was assigned general work in the department such as doing tax registration for the new companies and I wasn’t motivated. The job was simple, just checking and cataloging all of the documents that the company representatives provided, and giving them the application forms. I also answered related questions and followed up after the companies with the tax license were san ctioned.At this job position, the skill varieties were very limited. The routine work was just following the rules and did not need any professional judgment. After a month or so, I felt bored. Besides the skill variety, the job also lacked autonomy. Sometimes I just went out for some reason, probably there were several company representatives were waiting for me, while other time there is nobody show up in a whole day. As a young woman, I can’t further myself in the job, anyone can do it. I had no progress, no satisfaction about the job and no intrinsic motivation.Although the tasks were significant to the whole bureau, it is hard to see our bigger function of the organization. In the end, after I pleased the human resources department several times, I was allowed to join another department. A lot of young people did not like to be fixed on a general position which would not allow them to accumulate the professional experience and explore the deep side of the field, and that often makes a problem in the hierarchical organization. Equity theory The Shanghai Taxation Bureau in which I had worked for more than 10 years is a hierarchical organization including a lot of levels.It is the administrative and management body that carries out the state’s taxation activities within the administrative jurisdiction of Shanghai Municipality. Its main functions and responsibilities include implementing state taxation laws, regulations and codes, researching and formulating tax development plans and annual work plans for local taxation. The administrative position involves supervising every month’s tax declaration and collection and making sure the money will be transferred into the state treasury according to the related laws, regulations and codes.There are 26 branches attached to the taxation bureau, and over 10000 employees working in the shanghai taxation bureau. Big organizations necessitate more comparison between people, or between branches. Peop le from every section seek to get equal benefits out of their input. There are a lot of couples in Shanghai taxation bureau. So if some branches gave the bonus to their employees, everyone in the whole system knew it. And afterwards other departments will mimic the policy to motivate theirs. That reflected the equity theory.From the equity theory, an individual’s motivation level is correlated to his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the management. The higher an individual’s perception of fairness is, the greater their motivation level and vice versa. In the above context, I remembered that the branch leader who first gave the bonus will emphasize the special task they have completed, in order to stimulate his employees who have experienced high level hardship or difficulties. But other branches will spotlight their own achievements in the assignment, ultimately got the same bonus to protect or comfort their own morale in the workplace.In the yea r-end evaluation, every branch or individual will assess their own projects and achievements in the whole year and the human resource management would make overall balances and give different levels of reward. While some job positions comparatively have more opportunities to make achievements, others have less. Under that kind of situation, the management carried out the policy of job position rotation, therefore, almost every qualified employee with education history of financial and accounting would have the opportunities to rotate their positions. This policy is motivational, Extrinsic motivation and intrinsic otivation At my department people were driven by extrinsic motivation. We compared the bonus income, the benefit to others and calculated the upcoming income or vacation. We also expected to be promoted and got high level benefits. As if that is the core of our daily tasks. Sometimes we did some project according to superior’s will rather than the real information to avoid offending the leader. We even did not consider whether the result was meaningful or not. Although the department management wanted to motivate the employees and gave the gift cards to everyone before the festivals, we were not satisfied.We wanted to get more benefits comparing with employees at other branches. From the theoretic framework, these are hygiene factors which would not make people satisfied. Sometimes we got into research projects and worked with the other teammates. These were independent projects. The person in charge the project totally explained the purpose of the project and we felt we got involved and engaged. We were empowered to use our own way to collect data, analyze it, and draw the conclusion. We felt very satisfied in these projects.We cooperated with each other, attracted by the task, and we can focus solely on the project without complicated interpersonal relationships inside of this kind of temporary group. Further more, it was different from our r outine job, which gave us the opportunity to widen our view, enrich the job content, therefore satisfying all the teammates. This arrangement is like intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on external pressures or a desire for reward.Leadership From my experience, people want to motivate each other. He should build up himself first, has a long-term vision about the organizations, sets a goal for himself, matches the big environment and has the necessary ability or expertise in some area. Then he should also be authorized to be a leader. He may use his social skill and other ability and management resources to motivate people, and bring them together to a higher level. In my personal experience, I met good leaders as well as bad leaders.When I was a volunteer in a nonprofit organization at Chicago, I was elected as a member of the board of trust ees. In this setting, the president is our board leader and he displayed a typical bad leader profile. First of all, he is not a role model. He should have a positive attitude, and be supportive to every volunteer, but unfortunately he always escaped working hard and treated other volunteers like slaves. Secondly, he did not consider the opinions of other board members, he liked to be self-centered and lack of empathy. This character embodied in his schedule and his arrangement.He had no expert power, his personality is awful and he even played tricks in the nonprofit organization, which made everybody astonished. Now he had lost in the election for the board members. Admittedly, the situation above is very unique. Generally most authorized leaders have some attractive traits such as self-awareness, self-confidence, social skills and persuasive abilities. At the same time, they fully understand the organization goals. But different leaders have their own personal features. My friend Fan is a director of the audit department.I had been in his department for 3 years, and we became friends in the end. Fan is a veteran, he had little professional knowledge in auditing, but he knew management well. His job is to motivate all the auditing group leaders and auditors. He used his legitimate power at first to assign tasks to every group. After the tasks were finished, he gave all the evaluation report to every group with the help of his assistant. At the same time, he used his reward and referent power. He always kept the department on the way of organizational goal, showed his positive attitude, gave everybody most extent of autonomy.He also used his personal relationship to strive for the best interest of our department. That is why he got everyone’s respect. In his department, morale is very high. Nobody wanted to leave. Ahthough Fan is a good leader in most aspects except his professional knowledge, he can’t exert his expert power in his leadership. A great leader is a natural leader, who can exert his idealized influence power to his followers, and help to set common goals for the whole organization, incorporate, motivate followers, have them a clear picture of the future, make them active beyond the call of the duty.Bibliography Kreitner, Robert, and Angelo Kinicki. Organizational Behavior. Boston, MA: Irwin/McGraw- Hill, 1998. Print. â€Å"Equity Theory of Motivation. † Equity Theory of Motivation. N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 Mar. 2013. â€Å"Welcome to Shanghai Municipal Office of State Administration of Taxation. † Shanghai Municipal Office of State Administration of Taxation. N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 Mar. 2013. W. Chan Kim. â€Å"Fair Process Managing in the Knowledge Economy. † (n. d. ): n. pag. Web.

Old town white coffee research Essay

This is where Nanxiang Cafà ©, the previous name of Old Town White Coffee, started its business. Mr. Ng, who found the cafà © in 1948. Old town White Coffee 3in1 classic together with the original recipe from 1958 spearheaded a breakthrough in the coffee industry. The company single-handedly captured the original authentic taste of an otherwise localized white coffee, turning into a mobile commodity a fast moving consumer good (FMCG), capturing the South East Asia market. Old Town White Coffee (OTWC) company was began in 1999, started as a classic coffee shop of White Cafà © in Ipoh, Malaysia. With the inspiration of vision and passion to make and serve fine coffee to Malaysian household and food service industry, the founder and executive director, Mr. Goh Ching Mun and Mr. Tan Say Yup created a secret of Old Town 3-in-1 instant white coffee. After launching OLD TOWN Brand, the company strives to be Malaysia Leading White Coffee producer with profitable growth through a combination of organic growth coupled and strong aftermarket business. HISTORY In year 1999 old town successful commercialized 3 in 1 coffee mix under the ‘OLDTOWN’ brand name for the retail sector . In year 2000 old town commenced 1st export of the old town brand 3 in 1 instant coffee mix to Singapore. In year 2001 old town expanded instant coffee mix’s product line to include different variation expanded their export market to H.K In year 2002 old town expanded their nationwide retail distribution to cover east and west Malaysia via hypermarkets and supermarkets. In year 2003 OLDTOWN commercialized their own formulated blend of 3 in 1 instant milk tea In year 2004 OLDTOWN successfully manufactured roasted coffee powder for the food services sector and marketed to the retail sector under ‘NAN YANG’ brand penetrated the exort markets for our instant coffee mix to cover the United State and U.K. In year 2005 OLDTOWN started exporting instant coffee mix to Taiwan and Indonesia expanded vertically into the foodservices sector by opening a chain of cafà © outlets based on the traditional Ipoh coffee shop setting and ambience under the ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFEE’ brand name. In year 2006 OLDTOWN expanded their export market for their instant coffee mix to include Canada and china. In year 2007 OLDTOWN started exporting instant coffee mix to Thailand and Philippines . In year 2008 OLDTOWN launch their 1st partially owned ‘OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE’ cafà © outlet in Singapore In year 2009 OLDTOWN expanded into the ready to drink RTD market segment under the ‘OLDTOWN’ brand name. In year 2010 OLDTOWN commenced operation of fully owned cafà © outlets in Singapore started exporting instant coffee mix to Australia. In year 2011 they commenced cafà © operations under PT OLDTOWN Indonesia opened the first cafà © outlet in China. CEO OF OLD TOWN WHITE COFFEE Lee Siew Heng, a Malaysian, aged 46, is the Group Managing Director of Oldtown Berhad and also one (1) of the two (2) first Directors of Oldtown Berhad, since its incorporation on 30 November 2007. He is also a member of the Remuneration Committee. He brings with him invaluable industry experience, having accumulated more than 20 years of experience in the manufacturing and retailing industries, of which more than 10 years is in the coffee beverage industry. He has been instrumental in the growth and development of the Oldtown Group of companies and has been a key driving force in the expansion of the Group’s beverage manufacturing and cafà © chain operation businesses. As the Group Managing Director, he is currently responsible for the overall strategic direction and overall management of the Oldtown Group of companies. Upon completion of his secondary education in 1986, he started his career as Production Manager of Chong Ngai Knitting Factory Sdn Bhd, a company involved in the manufacturing of garments. In 1991, as General Manager, he was responsible for the overall operations of the said company. He left the company in 1997 to join CN Supplies Sdn Bhd, a company which was then involved in the trading of hotel supplies, where he was appointed as a Director, a position which he still holds todate.

Food Borne Illness Essay

Food that is mishandled can lead to foodborne illness. While the United States has one of the safest food supplies in the world, preventing foodborne illness remains a major public health challenge. Often when you purchase foods from the grocery store or the food market, you have to check all the expiration dates. When a food is expired, they tend to give you a sign that the food is no good. For example, when you go to the store and shop for bread, you have to check the expiration date. If you purchase bread when the date on the bread is expired, the bread will mold within in the next three days or so. The same situation with the expiration dates is for meat as well. According to â€Å"Food Borne Illnesses & Disease† (2012), as pertaining to storage, for example meat, you can store meat in the freeze for a specific amount of time and it will still be as good as it was when you bought it from the store. * * If you store meat over the amount of time that is listed in this chart, the meat is no longer good. The presentation of the products in the store tend to look good when they might not be. Some foods are advertised as being healthy and clean but they could be bad as well. * Listeria, salmonella, E. Coli, Botulism, are some food borne illnesses that America try to avoid everyday. To prevent the food borne illness Listeria, you must set your refrigerator to 40  °F or lower, and the freezer 0  °F or lower. Use a refrigerator thermometer to check your refrigerator’s inside temperature. When you check in your refrigerator and you see juice from hot dogs or any type of meat leaking, you have to clean the inside thoroughly to avoid catching this illness. Clean the inside walls and shelves of your refrigerator with hot water and liquid soap, then rinse. Use precooked or ready-to-eat food as soon as you can. Do not store the precooked or ready-to-eat food in the refrigerator too long. Wash your hands after you touch hot dogs, raw meat, chicken, turkey, or seafood or their juices. Readers might search for more information on the food safety and inspection service website. They can and will inform you about the many illnesses that are out and how you can and can not prevent them. They will also give you many charts on how to take care of your meat and how to store your meat so you will prevent catching any food borne illness. * To determine if the research is credible, you have to search for the same information through other websites as well. Never just go along with one website and say that it is credible. It is very important to use this criteria when searching for information on nutrition and health because on some sources, they might give you information on telling you what to do with your raw foods and you end up getting sick. To avoid all of the confusion and the illnesses, make sure that the sources are credible. References: Food Borne Illnesses & Disease. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Foodborne_Illness_&_Disease_Fact_She

Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Economics - Assignment Example The policy will become costly because the government will be forced to implement the same policy of buying up the surplus of wheat to prevent price from falling. Moreover, the policy 2 is costly than the policy 1 when the government faces a problem in dealing with the excess wheat it bought. The policy is costly because if government opts to purchase the wheat, but it sells it to developing countries at a rock bottom prices. The government can also sell the surplus to farmers by feeding animals or offering it at a reduced price prices to those in need of it, in other countries. However, the policy of paying the farmers the supply price is costly than that of buying the surplus because the price paid to farmers in inevitably higher than the price received from the sale of surplus. 1f) both Policies will produce equal net economic benefit because the cost associated with both policies affect the society directly, and are subtracted from the producer and consumer surplus. From the graph, the net economic benefit is shown by the triangle Q1P1QE. a) In the real world environments, firms are not identical because technology changes continually and diverse firms have different histories. The change in technology will cause the firm to reduce the cost of production, and in turn causes downshift of in each firm’s marginal cost curve. Meanwhile, the short run supply curve that is the total of the firm’s marginal cost curves will shifts downwards. According to Lipsey and Chrystal (2007, 146), the firm’s produces economic profits and output at which price equals marginal cost. In the perfect competition, the marginal cost curve is greater and stiffer than average cost curve. Meanwhile, there will be no new entrants attracted to the industry because the average cost minimizing output is greater. In the short run, the entry of new firms shifts the supply curve to the right. Each firm old and new will cover its total cost by producing at a

On chevron article Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

On chevron article - Essay Example Trust leads to stakeholders commitment C. Commitments increases stakeholders efforts and D. Increased stakeholders effort increases corporate success. In other words, Hosmers theory bases its arguments on the fact that moral behaviours makes a business sound. Hosmer's text, in comparison to Kant, appears to be a managerial text that uses ethics in support of management, thus constituting 'knowledge in the service of power', i.e. ideology. But ethics is not ideology. Ethical philosophy was developed in Greek antiquity by great and renowned philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The maintain that ethics would; for example, demand that managers, IR experts, and trade unionists be honest, helpful, cooperative, sincere, open, benevolent, and modest. But, Hosmer avoids such a relevant list in his theory. (185) 2. Another challenge for management and its ideological outgrowth of managerialism--comes from utilitarianism theory as discussed by (Johnson, Hosmer, Pogge and Horton). Utilitari an ethics is directed towards creating the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Trade unions (Johnson) and many international organisations (Pogge/Horton) work towards this goal. Management according to (Hosmer 2008), however, has other goals and agendas which is primarily to the make profit. This sole purpose as an end in itself, rules out this theory as being ethically justifiable. (p14) and (P4) and (p1-14). 3.

Global language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Global language - Essay Example Moreover, to further business competencies, other nationalities who are able to provide other necessary skills are needed to be employed also. As a result, different races are required to work together. However, because of language barriers, problem may arise when the employees who are from diverse cultures are not able to understand each other. Therefore, a certain level of accuracy in speaking the English language is required by modern employments from applicants. As a result, the problem on miscommunication is lessened by this requirement. As a major role player in the current global business, Koreans, Japanese and Chinese students are enrolling in American schools for them to improve their communication skills and increase their possibility for employment. Most of the students encounter difficulties when they go to American universities. Compared to them, foreign students who arrive in the country at a younger age are able to be more resilient. This is the reason why a lot of students think that they should have come to the United States earlier than they had. Some also think that they could have been more equipped if they used English more often when they were studying in their own country. In addition, they say that they would have done everything they could if only they knew that they will be having such difficulty speaking in English in a foreign land. Consequently, many students made up their minds concerning their learning. Studying may be difficult for them but they do it anyway because they now understand its value. Reading a lot of English books and other materials is another means students employ to meet their needs. Watching English movies is another. However, most students prefer watching the news because they are sure to be able to follow correct grammar and word usage compared to watching movies. In addition, making friends with native

An act of kindness that you did for someone Essay - 1

An act of kindness that you did for someone - Essay Example When I entered into high school, my parents insisted that I begin to learn how to work in order to earn extra income for things that were not covered by my allowance. It was important to them that i learn the value of money and how to spend it wisely. Since I wanted to buy myself a tablet, I decided that I would take up my parents offer and help out at our family store after school and on weekends. I was really looking forward to buying my tablet sooner rather than later. But apparently the universe had other plans for me. I had to do something for others before I could get what I wanted. Tina, our house help, approached my parents and I over breakfast one day and told us that her son was in need of medical care. She had been taking him to the free clinic in town and she was told that he a cancerous tumor on the bridge of his nose and that he needed an immediate operation that was going to cost her $570. Somehow there was something about the diagnosis that did not sit well with me. It seemed not thorough and lacking in analysis. My parents also agreed that the boy should be brought to another doctor for a second opinion. But Tina did not have the money to go to a paid doctor. I had already saved up a little money from the token salary my parents were giving me for helping in the business, a total of $100. Obviously I was inching my way closer to my dream of a tablet. But I felt that Tinas son needed the medical help more than I required the tablet. So I offered my savings to her. I told her to take it and, along with the donations of my parents, take the boy to a specialist for a second opinion. It turned out that the boy was misdiagnosed. The second opinion revealed that he did not have a cyst or tumor at the bridge of his nose. A simple x-ray, according to Tina, showed that the boy had a protruding forehead bone. From the outside, it did look and feel like a cyst because it had a cavity between the forehead and the boys nose, muscle

A Caucasian Man Changed by the Grace of God Essay

A Caucasian Man Changed by the Grace of God - Essay Example The paper talks about my feelings and the risk of being a Christian. It talks about my personal experiences and my way of life after being changed. The paper also contains the story when I entered into my High School life. It talks about the fears I had and the things I did that made me walked away from the presence of God. It tells about how I overcame those trials and testing in my life. It talks about the result of overcoming those trials.Before the world began, everything is nothing but then God created life and light throughout the world. Whoever repents, believe and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will be saved and will receive the great joy of being a Christian.I was young and aggressive back then when I heard the most beautiful story that I have ever heard. It is the complete, enjoyable and touching story of Jesus Christ that was delivered by a very tiny and soft voice, the voice of my Sunday school teacher. As I was hearing the story of Jesus Christ’s suffering s with thirty-nine lashes and was tortured to death, I felt like I was a lost sheep that have gone astray. I was just like a lost sheep turning and running from nowhere. But then with the realization that God will accept me because of His grace and mercy, I willingly offered my life into His hands. That was the time that I have received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. In that very sincere prayer I uttered, I felt like I was floating on the air. I felt like I was free from any kinds of bondage. I felt like no one can defeat me because my life is already in God’s hands.

Marxist Archaeology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Marxist Archaeology - Essay Example In other words, Archaeology should have Marxism embedded in it. According to them, pre-Marxian anthropology is absolute zero. So it is necessary that Marxism be incorporated in the science, according to the author. Marxist archaeologists and anthropologists declare that Marx was highly intellectual. His theories were wonderful. No doubt, there are loopholes in them as well. Some of his theories were unclear and obsolete. Even then, Human sciences and Social sciences have to adopt contributions of Marxism. Otherwise they cannot exist. At the same time Marx also must modify his principles based on modern social sciences. Some feel that Marxism and anthropology/archaeology cannot go together. Social Sciences consist of Functionalism, Structuralism and Phenomenology. The outward appearance does not make a man. It may not be real. Nobody should be carried away by surface form. Marx agrees with this when he says that "All sciences would be superfluous if outward appearance and essence of things directly coincided." Structural Marxism had a unifying perspective in 1976. Even western archaeologists were impressed by Marxian principles, which in fact are the pillars of methodological development.

Professional Portfolio Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Professional Portfolio - Assignment Example With his history of asthma, he was also manifesting anxiety over possible asthma attacks. His anxiety also put him in danger of a possible asthma attack. (42 words) After discharge, he was set to be discharged back to his home with his wife as his primary care giver. His wife is 70 years old, arthritic and has severe memory problems. She has difficulty moving around the house, but is determined to provide care to her husband. (48 words) Patient needs a nebulizer (salbutamol) in order to ease his chest congestion and speed-up his recovery. He also needs to complete 7-days of antibiotics in order to ensure complete recovery and prevent any relapse of his lower respiratory tract infection. (40 words) The patient is concerned about his prolonged recovery and possible asthma attacks. The carer is concerned about the patient’s difficulty in breathing which may be difficult to manage without medical assistance. (31 words) Patient needs to be referred to a respiratory therapist for further assessment of his coughing. He also needs a social worker who can assist in arranging his care and his daily activities. A private nurse who can assist his wife in the administration of medications and in the nebulization process can also be retained. (54 words) The patient also needs to be referred to his general practitioner for follow-up check-up on the progress of his recovery. He also needs to be referred to a private nurse who can help in the nebulisation and monitor his condition during instances when breathing may be difficult. (47 words) The wife may not be the best care giver for the patient because she is also senile and can sometimes be forgetful in her duties as carer. The wife has also admitted that she is concerned about her husband’s condition and that she does not know how to handle her husband’s condition, especially where difficulties in breathing and asthma attacks would occur. (62 words) The

Smoke detectors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Smoke detectors - Essay Example This aspect compels companies that contravene these laws and other government policies on emissions to pay more in terms of hefty fines and this weakens the financial positions of most companies resulting to closure or struggling of subsidiaries in emerging markets. On equal measure, corruption has seen the recent claims on the dangers of ionization detectors kept from the public. Conspiracy between the government authorities and the some manufacturing companies forms a significant portion of a political risk on the smoke detector industry, because if the agitation on the issue persists, the companies stand to lose on the profits due to low sales. The Chilean government’s stability and convenient policies on smoke detector industry have encouraged foreign investors to invest. For instance, Chile’s stronger governance has enabled existence of a favourable taxation policy, which has relatively reduced the cost of foreign investors entering a country. This has increased business activities in the smoke detector industry. In essence, the Chilean government provides a favourable environment for investors in the smoke detector industry through tax incentives and protection against public misconception about the dangers of diverse produc ts. The target market for the Chilean smoke detectors in the US market is the students and homes. An estimated 20% of homes in the US are installed with the smoke detectors and the government policy requires that all learning institution be installed with such equipment (Razin, Assaf, Vosgerau, and Bufman, 123). This indicates that most of the Chilean smoke detectors land in the schools, colleges and homes. The perspective of this target is that it forms a large market niche for the detectors from the Chilean manufactures. Similarly, another portion of the US market for the detectors from Chile is the residential pool

The Day Chocolate Case Report Essay Example for Free

The Day Chocolate Case Report Essay Introduction The following report discusses the company named the Day Chocolate company. In this report we will take a close look to the case of this company. The Day Chocolate company is different than other chocolate companies as it pays attention to the ones that are making the chocolate: the farmers. The day chocolate company buys all cocoa at Fair trade prices, which means that the farmers receive a guaranteed minimum price for their cocoa. One of the goals of the company is to bring Fair-trade chocolate into the mainstream market but also to produce this chocolate for an affordable price and with a high quality. In this days customers are paying more and more attention to the wellness of the farmers. The day chocolate company is responding well to this need of the consumers. By taking a substantial market share, and paying fare prices to the farmers, often living of just a few dollars a week or even less, they try to help the farmers. The origin of the day chocolate company lies in the United Kingdom. In 1997, together with NGO Twin Trading and The Body Shop, Kupua Kooko sets up the day chocolate company. By introducing the Divine Fair trade milk chocolate bar into the UK confectionary market, the first farmer owned Fair trade chocolate bar is available for the consumer. In a short time the company gained a considerable market share. In the upcoming chapters we will explain why this Fair-trade chocolate was such a success. The source of this success can be found by looking at the segment that Divine is operating in and looking at the trends in this segment. But we are also researching how Devine became such a strong brand and we are taking a close look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company. Furthermore we are going to investigate the opportunities the Day Chocolate company has to expand their business across the domestic borders, here we will also search for the country which is most appropriate for the Day Chocolate company to settle. ? Consumer segment Day chocolate company To make a company more compatible you first have to decide who or what type of customer the company will serve. The best way to do this is to divide the market into segments of consumers, a process called market segmentation. After this is done, it is important to make the decision on which segments the company is going to focus. The day chocolate company is focusing on two main target groups. For each of these target groups they developed a brand, Devine and Dubble. The first target group the day chocolate company is focusing on is a group called ‘concerned consumers’. The consumers who fall into this group are paying extra attention to the environment and human rights. Therefore Fair trade products are developed to serve the needs of this type of consumers. The day chocolate company developed a Fair trade brand for this group, called ‘Devine’. In 1998 the company launched the Fair Trade chocolate bar on the market in the UK. The day chocolate company was one of the first companies to launch a Fair Trade chocolate bar. The price of this chocolate bar is slightly higher than the price of a normal chocolate bar, as the day chocolate company is paying the farmers a fair price for their cocoa. But the consumer finds human rights that important, that they are willing to pay that little extra for their chocolate. A third of all UK consumers have now recognized the Fair trade mark. The second target group the day chocolate company decided to focus on is children. In the beginning of 2000, the company announced a competition where children could come up with a new Fair trade chocolate brand, which would be especially developed for children. In October 2000 the brand Dubble was launched. Dubble is a crunchy Fair trade chocolate bar available for a lower price, this way children can buy the chocolate bar themselves. The day chocolate company also developed a website which is easily accessible for children, they can play games on it and read about Fair trade products. The brands Devine and Dubble are becoming more and more popular. They are for sale in all the top supermarkets in the United Kingdom. But the company also supplies chocolate for own label products in the Co-op and Starbucks. Up till now, the day chocolate company only sold its products within the UK and the USA Day chocolates strengths and weaknesses. Competitive advantage. A very influential factor for future success of the company as well as for the products it is selling it is called a competitive advantage. The competitive advantage can result either from cost advantage, pricing your product lower than that of other companies, or differentiation advantage, having a unique or a better quality product than other companies. Divine chocolate targets the second category, making use the differentiation advantage. Divine Chocolate is the first ever Fair-trade chocolate bar aimed at the mass market’ according to their own statement. The fair trade logo is what makes them stand out from other chocolate companies. By being widely available and well-priced, they make fare trade chocolate available for an ever/always growing public. Strengths and weaknesses One of the biggest strengths of how the Divine chocolate company handles their business is how they approach fair-trade. Besides paying $1600 per tonne of cacao, with the world price being as low as a $1000 per tonne, Divine pays a social premium of $150 dollars per tonne. This premium is being invested in local social projects, sustainable development of the area and better farming. This increases the wellbeing of the cacao planters, but also has a positive influence on Divine Chocolate. By investing in farming and social development, the cacao will be of higher quality. This approach also creates positive publicity for the company, and gives the buyers the feeling that they add to the wellbeing and development of cacao farmers and third world countries in general. An other strength of Divine Chocolate is their availability. By being the one of the biggest, Divine creates economies of scale. Because of this, the company can market chocolate for a lower price, making the company’s products available and affordable to more customers. Also, by being sold in places such as Starbucks, which has a very positive and well-known brand image, and being backed by charity organizations, Divine chocolate has become a reliable and well-known brand. Moving forward to threats and weaknesses the Day Company has a vulnerable reputation by selling the company’s products to very critic customers. The company should pay a lot of attention to whether the farmers are still receiving a fair price, and pay attention to their overall wellbeing. Next to this, they rely heavily on cacao supplies from Ghana, a country that is not situated in the most stable of regions, with civil wars and economic instabilities in the surrounding countries. If there are major issues to be dealt with, there is also a problem of ownership. Being owned and managed by three parties (Kuapa Kokoo, Twin Trading and Oikocredit), all having a big share in the company, it is important that they remain uniform in how to operate the company. ? Customer equity Customer equity is a way of measuring the performance of a company by customer loyalty. As Kotler and Armstrong state: ‘the total combined discounted customer lifetime values of all of the company’s customers (†¦) the more loyal the companies profitable customers, the higher the firms customer equity. The Day Chocolate is actively binding with new customers and keeping in touch with them through social media like twitter and Facebook. They also have an annual poetry contest. By doing this, they become a lifestyle brand, and increase their customer equity Marketing mix The marketing mix is a theory based on four P’s, Product, Price, Place and Promotion. The product of Day Chocolate is, obviously, chocolate. They sell many different flavors of chocolate and special Christmas and Eastern products. All of these products have a fair-trade trademark, which means that Day Chocolate has paid a fair price for the cacao. The price of a Divine Chocolate bar starts at around 75p for a 45 gram milk chocolate bar. This price is about the same as comparable with other fair-trade products in the market. The price is significantly higher than non-fair-trade products. Divine Chocolate also sells gift baskets on their own site, running from 10 to 40 pounds. The raw product, cacao beans, is imported from Ghana. Those beans are then shipped to America and the UK, where the cacao is turned into chocolate. Most of the sales of the finished chocolate bars is in the domestic UK market. The products are sold in all the large retailers and Starbucks. Co-op sells the Chocolate under their own label. The product gets promoted in many ways. Day Chocolate gets a lot of free publicity by simply being a fair-trade product. The positive things they do for the Ghanaian farmers have caused a lot of good, and free, publicity. Next to this, there is an annual poetry contest. Day Chocolate also advertises and samples new products to familiarize the public with there products. And last, Twitter and Facebook are extensively used to keep in touch with customers. Chocolate market trends In order to better understand the confectionary industry and mostly the chocolate market it is important that we take into consideration the general chocolate market trends from a few different national markets as well as from the global chocolate market. In the end of this section, chocolate market threats and opportunities will be examined in order to help build on the final section of this report, namely market expansion. Starting with USA, where Divine is present since 2006 only as a wholesaler, the following market trends have been distinguished: †¢Even with recession slowing down markets, chocolate sales have increased by 3% reaching 17$ bil in 2009. It is expected that the U. S. chocolate market will exceed 19$ bil in 2014. †¢Americans appreciate more the experience provided by chocolate than the simple consumption of it, chocolatiers making innovation one of their main goals. †¢Chocolate is seen as an affordable indulgence by the American consumers. Moving forward to the UK, where Divine satisfies customer taste for chocolate since 1997, similar market trends are recognized: †¢Chocolate represents the top snack choice for UK consumers and it is bought by 50% of the population †¢Consumer’s level of concernment regarding the provenience of the cocoa and company’s ethics has increased †¢The more affluent middle-class parents avoid buying chocolate for their children †¢UK chocolate consumers tend to buy a chocolate flavor for longer periods of time than trying new ones †¢About 40% of the consumers buy less chocolate for health reasons. When talking about the global chocolate market that seems to be growing steadily, m.uch of the growth is attributed to developing regions such as Eastern Europe, Russia, China and India. Moreover, India is suggested as turning out to be the most lucrative place of investment into the chocolate market by 2014. In the already developed world, the growth comes from product differentiation, niche sectors and Fairtrade products. Firms from the chocolate industry understand how much innovation counts for sustainability and huge investments are made to innovate chocolate products. Another interesting trend is represented by the per capita consumption of chocolate that tends to be slightly higher in Nordic and Scandinavian Countries than in other European countries. Opportunities Threats It seems that most of the opportunities and threats that the chocolate market is confronted with have much to do with consumer perception of the product. Firstly, regarding opportunities, for some consumers chocolate represents the ultimate comfort food, even being considered in different studies that chocolate works as an aphrodisiac or can be helpful against depression. Another opportunity is represented by the meaning of chocolate when it is offered as a gift. Many anniversaries, holidays, birthdays act as opportunities for chocolate to be bought and given as a gift. Secondly, moving to threats, chocolate is seen by some potential consumers as being unhealthy by making them gain weight and their children have an anxious behavior. Moreover, consumers question the ethics of the firm producing chocolate and provenience of the cocoa beans. ? Day Chocolate marketing recommendation. After discussing Day Chocolate brand’s strength and weaknesses, market opportunities and threats, it is conclusive that Day Chocolate has a bright future ahead by continuing to deliver satisfaction to its consumers through same products, but opportunities of becoming even more successful should not be overlooked. Firstly, the consumer is becoming more aware of the properties of the product, from the cocoa beans used for making the chocolate to the nutrition figures on the back of the wrapping and to the impact the buying of a chocolate bar, for example, would have on the land of provenience of the beans. Day Chocolate gives the consumer the opportunity of participating to developing of such areas as Ghana with the help of Fairtrade demonstrating that the company understands consumer concerns. By continuing to provide a means of consumer participation to Fairtrade and development of third world countries, Day Chocolate will definitely satisfy the niche of concerned consumers. Secondly, regarding the consumers concerned with the health issue of chocolate, Day Chocolate could easily promote a dark chocolate or a rice chocolate product relating it to the health benefits these types of chocolate present. This way the consumers will feel even more that their concerns are listened to and cared for, Day Chocolate improving customer relationship. Thirdly, when talking about the countries that present a considerable market increase in the latest periods of time, Russia, India, China, even Eastern Europe should be definitely considered as potential market targets and further research should be undertaken in order to see how profitable it would be to expand into one or more of these markets. Moreover, many economists argue that India will prove to be the most lucrative chocolate market by 2014. The matter of distance, cultural as well as psychic should not be overlooked when considering the markets mentioned above, even if the numbers are presenting tempting opportunities for Day Chocolate. The company did not expand so many times that necessary experience could be attributed to the firm’s advantages, a factor that makes us look for expansion to a closer, culturally as well as geographically, area in Europe. Moreover, when considering expansion as an alternative, significant data show that Scandinavian countries Germany have a great chocolate market that is growing annually. In conclusion, the Day Chocolate company’s products offer great satisfaction for consumers concerned with fair trading and give them the opportunity of participating to the development of the lands of provenience for the cocoa beans. For consumers concerned with health issues new, health focused products could be marketed. After considering new products, new markets have also been considered. Alternatives are present both in Europe as well as outside Europe, but only the ones closer to the home market would make most economical and managerial sense. Expansion. In the past years since the founding of the Devine Chocolate, the company has shown to be successful, obtaining a large market share, a excellent brand image, big profits, good business strategy, and the company’s success is still growing. The company has a good market position and it is not likely to be having large problems in the short term, as well as long term orientation. However, it is wise to keep on searching for opportunities to become even more successful in the future. Therefore a tempting and logical step would be to expand the company’s business across the domestic market borders. To make the expansion a success, the risk of failure should be low. Therefore the market should behave similar to the English chocolate market so that cultural distance does not represent too much of an impediment. Day Chocolate needs to search for such a market because the key of the company’s success is the fact that the English chocolate market consists of a large market for luxury chocolate and product awareness such as the Fair-Trade. Besides that, the flavor of the chocolate was adapted to the taste of the English consumers. This means looking for a market where consumers are willing to pay a relatively high price for luxury chocolate products, and have high product awareness. Studies by the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) have shown that the most chocolate is consumed by the north-western European countries and the Scandinavian countries. Below you find a list of the 15 countries with the highest chocolate consumption per person in 2005. Germany †¦ 11. 12 kilograms of chocolate per person (up 7. 8% from 2002), Belgium †¦ 11. 03 kgs (up 24. 2%), Switzerland †¦ 10. 74 kgs (down 1. 7%), United Kingdom †¦ 10. 22 kgs (up 2%), Austria †¦ 9. 43 kgs (up 18. 3%), Norway †¦ 8. 53 kgs (up 3. 1%), Denmark †¦ 7. 74 kgs (down 16. 3%), France †¦ 6. 78 kgs (down 2. 6%), Finland †¦ 6. 77 kgs (up 3. 7%), Sweden †¦ 6. 76 kgs (down 17. 1%), United States †¦ 5. 58 kgs (up 4. 1%), Australia †¦ 5. 31 kgs (up 22. 1%), Italy †¦ 4. 26 kgs (up 8. 1%), Canada †¦ 3. 90 kgs (no change), Poland †¦ 3. 67 kgs (up 11. 2%). The United States is the biggest chocolate market worldwide, however the facts mentioned above shows us that the consumption per person is very low. Besides the average consumption, we should keep in mind that this is the very first expansion of the company. It would not be wise to start expanding in the largest market in the world as the first expansion. The same goes for Russia, China and India. Those markets have very high potential but just like the U. S. Expanding to one of these countries has a very high risk because huge investments will be needed and when the expansion turns out the be unsuccessful the results will be far more dramatic than in case of an expansion in a smaller country, in northern Europe for instance. Besides those risk and consumption reasons, expanding in northern Europe first would be wise because those markets are similar in customer taste to the U. K. market. The northern European countries have a strong and stable economy so the consumers are willing to pay more for a better product. Furthermore, these consumers generally have a high level of products awareness, Day Chocolate would definitely benefit from this because of its brand image and Fair-Trade label. Next to the market significance, also the cultures are not very different. According to the cultural dimensions study by Geert Hofstede the cultural difference between for instance, the U. K. and Germany, is very low. Thanks to this low level of cultural distance it is easier for the company to sell the products, because advertising campaigns do not have to be totally different, and overall procedures will be smoother than in a country with a totally different culture. This also stimulates to expand in northern European countries because the chance of success is proven to be high, thanks to both cultural, as well as market significance. Looking at the taste of the consumers, expanding in Northern Europe would also be a good thing to do because the general taste of the consumers turns out to look very much the same as the taste of the U. K. consumers according to a study by the ICCO. When choosing one single country to be the first one to expand to, we would advice to start in Germany. There are several reasons why Germany would be a good country to start with. First of all, the German consumers are wealthy and are willing to pay extra money for better quality products and have a high level of product awareness. Next to that, the taste of the German consumers corresponds a lot to the U. K. consumer taste. Furthermore, there is a very low level of cultural distance, which makes it easier to market the products. Finally, German chocolate market is the biggest of Europe, however it is not too big for Devine Chocolate to expand to this country because it is not much bigger than the English one. And this expansion will succeed other northern European countries would be very easy to expand to. All these reason make us conclude that German is the ideal country to expand towards. ? Conclusion When looking back at all the different components of the company that we have examined there are several conclusions than can be drawn. First of all there are two well indentified target groups which the Day Chocolate company is aiming at. In the case of Devine chocolate it are ‘concerned’ consumers who are willing to pay more for a better product and have a high level of product awareness. The second target group, of Dubble, are kids. When looking at the growth of the global chocolate market and the forecasted growth of the market, the future is looking good for the Day Chocolate Company. However the number of competitors in the market segment of high-quality ‘fair’ chocolate products is going to rise in the upcoming years, therefore expansion would be a smart move. Also product diversification would be a smart move. The chocolate market suffers under the ‘health-issue’. Therefore other, healthier products need to be developed. The brand image of the company is excellent at the moment, but in the future large numbers of companies are going to try to copy this. Therefore it is extremely important for Day Chocolate to keep on promoting itself as product aware company, and it should emphasize on its help towards the farmers and their local projects. The company should expand outside of the U. K. and Germany would be the most appropriate country to start with. The market is big but not too big for Day Chocolate. The consumers are willing to pay extra for good products and have a high level of product awareness and their taste is very much the same as the English taste. Furthermore, the cultural distance is low and the geographical distance is small. All these reasons make Germany an ideal country to start expanding the Day Chocolate Company outside of the U. K.

Quantative analysis of caffeine content

Quantative analysis of caffeine content Caffeine was extracted from decaffeinated coffee and normal tea using DCM as the solvent and compared with prepared solutions of caffeine using reverse phase HPLC. The experimentally determined result was a caffeine concentration of 7.598?g/ml for decaffeinated coffee compared with 5.9?g/ml reference and 0.4049mg/ml for tea against 0.26mg/ml[1]*. Introduction Caffeine (1) is the most commonly consumed non-prescription stimulant. It is a member of the xanthine (2) family[1] and is structurally related to other plant alkaloids such as theobromine (3), commonly found in cocoa beans and chocolate. The average person in the UK drinks over thee cups of tea a day,[2] and so quantatively knowing the amount of caffeine that is contained in a cup of tea is particularly important. Caffeine acts on certain adenosine receptors in the brain[3], although there is evidence that action on these specific receptors may stimulate others such as dopamine receptors, commonly associated with reward[4]. More chronic effects of caffeine consumption include irritability, impaired concentration, muscle-aches, nausea, vomiting and blurred vision[5]. HPLC denotes high pressure liquid chromatography. In this experiment, reverse phase HPLC was used, meaning that partially polar organic solvents were used as a mobile phase against a non-polar stationary phase, in this case, octadecyl silane chains[6]. HPLC is a useful tool in analysing quickly and accurately relative abundances of various chemicals contained within a sample. The experiment was undertaken to evaluate the caffeine content in an average cup of tea and an average cup of decaffeinated coffee. Experimental The experiment was carried out according to the University of Bristol Second Year Laboratory Manual. Results were analysed by reverse HPLC using an isocratic solvent system consisting of 10 mM ammonium acetate, methanol and tetrahydrofuran at a ratio of 90:8.5:1.5. The non-polar phase featured octadecyl silane chains at a particle size of 5 ?m. The injection volume was 10 ?l, flow rate was 1.5ml min-1 with UV monitoring at 273nm. Preparation of Tea One tea bag was added to 200ml of boiling deionised water and boiled (ca. 10 minutes) with occasional agitation. Tea bag was removed and solution allowed to cool to room temperature. Sodium chloride (5g, 0.856moles) added with calcium hydroxide (1g, 0.0135moles) twice filtered by Bà ¼chner filtration. 20ml transferred to extraction funnel, extracted with DCM (20ml) three times. Magnesium sulphate added to dry DCM thoroughly of all water. Evaporated to dryness via rotary evaporation. Remaining solid dissolved in DCM and made up to 20ml. Preparation of Decaffeinated Coffee 1.50g of Decaffeinated Coffee granules was added to 200ml of boiling water and allowed to cool to room temperature. Calcium hydroxide added (1g, 0.0135moles) to decaffeinated coffee solution. Solution twice filtered via Bà ¼chner filtration. 20ml of solution transferred to extraction funnel and extracted with three equivalents of DCM (20ml). Magnesium sulphate added to dry the DCM, Bà ¼chner filtered and evaporated to dryness via rotary evaporation. Remaining solid dissolved in DCM and made up to 20ml. Results and Discussion The tea solution was originally brown and transparent, and the coffee was black. Addition of calcium hydroxide changed the colour of both solutions to an opaque dark brown. Tannins are precipitated by lime water, and so this is likely to be what precipitated out in the tea and coffee solution.[7] This precipitate was then removed by Buchner filtration. It was also found that both solutions, coffee especially, readily formed emulsions and bubbles in the extraction funnel, and so a large quantity of magnesium sulphate was needed to remove all water from the extractions. This may have interfered with the full extraction of the caffeine. The absorption intensity for Tea was 7108493 units. Substituting this into equation 1 allows us to calculate the caffeine concentration in Tea. The solved concentration is 0.4049mg/ml. The absorption intensity for Decaffeinated Coffee was 79233 units. Substituting into equation 1 allows us to calculate the caffeine concentration in decaffeinated coffee. The solved concentration is 0.007598mg/ml. Errors in solution concentration The error for the balance used to measure out the caffeine powder for the standard solutions was  ±0.00005g. The error for the 20ml volumetric flasks used was  ±0.1ml. Substituting these to find maximum and minimum values into the moles equation allows for accurate error analysis. Substituting these values into the data and plotting onto a graph grants the ability to draw the same graph above with error boxes. It also allows for maximum and minimum gradients to be drawn with the maximum and minimum values. From this information precise errors in the concentration of tea and decaffeinated coffee can be calculated. Substituting maximum values into a graph enables the gradient and intercept to be calculated, and hence the positive error in caffeine concentration of the tea and decaffeinated coffee solutions. The same can be done with minimum values. Substituting in values of absorbance for tea gives a maximum value of 0.4069mg/ml and minimum value of 0.4029mg/ml. For decaffeinated coffee the maximum value of 7.639?g/ml and minimum value of 7.558?g/ml. Literature values for the caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee are in the region of 0.5-1.5mg per 177.44ml1, which is between 0.0003-0.009mg/ml. This is close to the recorded value of 7.598?g/ml  ± . The literature values for the caffeine content in tea are 15-75mg/ml per 177.44ml, which is between 0.088-0.440mg/ml. This is close to the recorded value of 0.4049mg/ml  ± . Both of the obtained values are within the range given in reference; however both results are in the upper end of values that should be obtained. This could be due to poor measurement of either the reference caffeine peaks or instant coffee measurement. Conclusion The isolation of caffeine from tea and instant coffee was successful and the values obtained from the quantative analysis of a sample by reverse HPLC compared favourably to reference values. More accurate values for caffeine content could be obtained by larger quantities of instant coffee samples and by repetition of assays involving caffeine extraction from tea. The importance of defining the quantity of caffeine in decaffeinated coffee is important since the concentration must remain low. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my demonstrators Jack Davidson and Chun Zhu for helping me with the experiment and my lab partner Ben Gough. References B. A. Weinberg,B. K. Bealer, The world of caffeine: the science and culture of the worlds most popular drug, Routledge (2001) pp. 216. G. A. Spiller, Caffeine, CRC Press, (1998) pp. 38. U. Gupta, Caffeine and behavior: current views and research trends, CRC Press (1999) pp. 1. R. S. J. Frackowiak, Human brain function, Academic Press (2004) pp. 446. B. A. Weinberg, B. K. Bealer, The world of caffeine: the science and culture of the worlds most popular drug, Routledge (2001) pp. 304. University of Bristol, School of Chemistry, Level 2 Teaching Laboratory Manual 2009/2010. P. J. Van Soest, Nutritional ecology of the ruminant, Cornell University Press (1994) pp. 204-205.

The Oresund Fixed Link Project Construction Essay

The Oresund Fixed Link Project Construction Essay The Oresund Fixed Link was a project initiated in 1991 by the Swedish and Danish governments and completed and opened in July 2000. The bridge, island and tunnel combination connects the two metropolitan areas of the Oresund region, Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. The Link consists of the Oresund Bridge, a two-level (one for traffic, one for rail) pylon-supported structure, the Oresund Tunnel, a 4km-long tunnel, and the Peberholm Artificial Island which would transfer the traffic from the submerged tunnel to the bridge. It was undertaken in a cooperative effort between the Swedish and Danish governments whereby they would each form half of the owner company (Øresundsbro Konsortiet) in 1992, which in turn was responsible for financing, planning, designing, building and eventually operating the link (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). We will attempt to demonstrate that the Oresund Fixed Link is one of the more successful mega-projects. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ has argued that mega-projects such as the analogous Channel Tunnel, Sydney Opera house or Millennium Dome are subject to cost and time overruns and quality shortfalls. The factors behind those deficiencies include a politicization of the tendering and project proposal process, the legacy complex which can besiege governmental spending and the inefficient management of projects on a public level. The experience of the Oresund Fixed Link, whilst not without short-comings, is recognized as being a project that in terms of the QCD paradigm was satisfactorily managed and far removed from the problematic projects of its time. To this end, in May 2003, the Oresund Bridge won the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) Outstanding Structure Award, recognizing not only its design and construction but more importantly in our context, its adhere nce to the proposed deliverables. Project Phases: Concept Identifying the need and opportunity: The need for a link between Denmark and Sweden which crossed the Oresund sound was not a novel one in 1991. In fact, the region had been the subject of territorial disputes between the nations dating back to the 1600s and had fallen under ownership of both nations at various times (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Lack of political will and unstable economic conditions had prevented the Link from being properly canvassed before the late 1980s. There were a range of economic, infrastructural and political factors which created a need for a bridge between the two nations in the early 1990s. Firstly, although Sweden was not member of the European Union (then EEC) at that time, its attention had been directed to accession during the European recession of the late 1980s (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Denmark had already acceded to the EEC in 1986. The increased focus on European integration meant that links, allowing the movement of goods and labour in particular would be required. Furthermore, Denmark as part of continental Europe, could act as a gateway to Sweden and Finland in the north. European integration was thus a driving factor behind the Link and the potential benefits it could have in bringing the two nations and indeed Europe and Scandinavia closer together. A more practical consideration in determining the demand for the Link was that of offering an alternative to the ferry-based transport service that was in place at the time. The ferry service, with irregular timetabling and being subject to good weather conditions, could be allowed to operate more efficiently if there were an alternative link which allowed both trade, leisure and commuter traffic(Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). The need for the link between Denmark and Sweden to increase efficiency and integration provided an opportunity to create a single Oresund metropolitan area. The conglomeration of the two separate Copenhagen and Malmo markets would allow for a common housing and labour market and increased commercial and educational opportunities. As Denmark and Sweden became more involved in the European process, and Europe became more integrated and markets more competitive, it was apparent that the Oresund region could become a leading metropolis and hub if connected. The opportunity was also present for both nations as the Scandinavian banking crisis brought both nations into recessions and paved the way for stimulatory spending on infrastructure and other projects. Initial Risk Assessment: An immediate risk at the time of conception was posed by the economic conditions brought about by the Scandinavian banking crisis (IMF, 2002). Although this presented an opportunity, the economic climate at that time was far from certain and that uncertainty could have strong implications on financing interest rates and resource and supply costs from overseas in the light of exchange rate fluctuations. The division of the stake in the consortium overseeing company between Swedish and Danish governments allowed the mitigation of risk by reducing cost of borrowing (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Another obvious risk faced by the project initiators was that being a mega-project, handing over responsibility for design and construction to just one company places strong burden on that firm. In order to mitigate this risk, the initiators separated the project into three parts the Tunnel, the Bridge and the artificial island linking the two so as to hopefully improve delay, cost and quality. Whilst this reduces the risk of default and delay on the contract, it does pose an additional risk of non-communication or worse still non-compliance between the separate components of the design. The risk that the Link would damage the environment was very much in the consciousness of the project initiators from the outset (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). This may be because Denmark and Sweden are traditionally active in the conservation sphere, place emphasis on sustainable development and have the worlds tightest controls on offshore construction. Or it could be as a result of strong lobby-group pressure which raised concerns regarding the potential environmental impacts of the Link (American University, 2005). Whichever it may be, the initiators committed, with some spurring on, to the creation of a project which was as much environmentally friendly as possible. The potential bad publicity and financial losses from environmental damage was something which the initiators wanted to avoid. Alternative Approaches: There were few alternative approaches to the Oresund Link project, given the set parameters of joining Sweden and Denmark and creating value (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). The opportunity to link Malmo and Copenhagen metropolitan areas implied long-term, quantifiable value creation. One alternative may have been the Danish city Elsinore and Swedish Helsingborg, which are closer than Copenhagen and Malmo across the Sound, however the initiators believed that more benefit would be derived by joining two large cities and offering a connection near Copenhagen Airport to benefit air travelers (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Alternatives to the 3-part project were also few. This is because the land under the Sound was not even. As such, it would not be possible to build a bridge which spanned the whole sound nor a tunnel without incurring extra cost. Scope Management Project Definition: The project offered the following opportunities for the project initiators: Create stronger trade and investment links between Denmark and Sweden as two nations Create further integration between continental Europe and Scandinavia Provide an alternative transport mechanism crossing the Sound so as to increase the efficiency of trade and business and leisure travel Develop the Malmo-Copenhagen metropolitan area into one of the leading hubs in Europe Offer a symbolic and impressive structure to the two nations The overall objective, by which the success of the project might be gauged, was, as stipulated in the treaty, to construct a Link which was ecologically motivate, technically possible and financially reasonable to prevent any detrimental effects to the environment. The scope of the project would include: Tender for the design of the Link Construction of the Link Construction and development of the surrounding areas Time Management: Unlike other mega-projects such as sites for the Olympic Games, the time was not especially short for the Oresund link. The initiators evidently wanted to keep it as short as possible, to capitalize on the growing links in Europe and to provide the service to consumers as quickly as possible. Additionally, by minimizing time, the two states could attempt to reduce cost overrun. The initial time span was set at 10 years from the signing of the treaty in 1991 (Oresundsbro Konsortiet, 2009). Quality Management: Quality was seen as perhaps the most important parameter to be satisfied in the project, above cost and time. The consortium was charged with ensuring that the quality of the Link met all European safety and structural standards (Eurocodes) (Kjaer, 2001). In addition it was stipulated that in terms of safety, The Link should be no more dangerous than using the national roads or railroads (Kjaer, 2001). The Link also had to improve transport time across the Sound. A very important parameter set for the designers and constructors was to limit the environmental impact of the Link. Cost Management: The budget for the construction cost was set at 13.9billon DKK or 2.4billion USD in 1990 prices (Kjaer, 2001). The consortium was charged with the financing, budgeting and planning. Since the Consortium was owned by the Swedish and Danish governments the financial resources, within reason, were not as constraining a factor as the quality objective. Furthermore, the fact that project was financed outside of state budgets by the consortium meant it was not subject to restrictions on resource allocation by the respective governments. Project Phases: Development Design Selection of the Link As we mentioned in the precedent chapter, after the Swedish and Danish government set up a 50:50 joint venture Øresundsbro Konsortiet in 1992, the company then organized a design competition for the bridge in early 1993. The competition took over for 2 months; the result came out in July that year with two entirely different bridge concepts chosen by the owner for further discussion before the final decision taken: -Group ASOs two-level, mainly steel, structure, with the motorway placed above the railway, ASO Group was initiated by Arup(specialized in structural engineering and who has carried out the Sydney Opera House and the Pompidou Center in Paris) and formed as well with SETEC (France), Gimsing Madsen and ISC (both Denmark), Tyrà ©ns (Sweden), and with Georg Rotne (Denmark) as architect to the Group; A single-level, mainly concrete, bridge, with the motorway between the two railway tracks, developed by the ØLC consortium. They both had a cable-stayed main span. Following the awards, as to make an easier and wiser decision for the selection of designer, a continuous scheme designs were prepared to confirm the concepts developed during the short competition period, along with the consultants worked with the Owner to develop the project and get ready for the construction phase. Thus the further design process can be defined as: Consultations with authorities to obtain their approval establish a design basis and a contract strategy set up administrative procedures develop the design in some detail prepare tender documents Whereas it turned out that ASOs strong and robust design concept was safely carried through this whole design process with only very few and insignificant modifications. Tender documents were issued for proposals from both semi-final winners- ASO and ØLC in December 1994, for two contracts for each: one for the approach spans, and the other for the cable-stayed spans. The tenders were returned in June 1995, and after the evaluation, the single contract was signed with Sundlink Contractors in November 1995 for the whole of ASO Groups two-level design for the bridge. The other two main contracts one for Dredging and Reclamation and one for the Tunnel had been let during the summer, and several coast-to-coast contracts were let during 1997-98 for the railway and for various installations such as SCADA / traffic control, communications, toll system and the terminal area. Design and Construct Contract Strategy The Owner had early decided to let the contracts as design-and-construct contracts, but modified so as to safeguard the conceptual designs that had been prepared. In essence the contracts were for detailed design and construction. As we have emphasized that such a Design Construction contract allowed avoiding any possible incompatibilities caused by different designer and constructor so that Owner were able to minimize the risks in this aspect. According to the contract documents, we can clearly identify the principles behind the Owners contract strategy which included: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Detailed design-and-build à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A 100 years service life à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Application of well-known technology à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Control and documentation of quality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Division of risks attributable to ground and weather conditions and obtaining permits. The contract documents were written expressly for the project, and defined the Owners requirements regarding function, aesthetics, safety, and environmental protection. Everything required to fulfill those requirements was included in the Contractors scope of work, with only specified duties on the Owner. The Contractor was responsible for the detailed design as well as for the construction of the work, and was given considerable freedom regarding the means and methods of doing his work which is also a factor key for the success of this mega project. In essence the Owner specified what the Contractor should achieve, and the Contractor determined how to achieve it. The Contractor was responsible for supervising his own work and for providing documentary evidence that he had done so and that the quality of the work he had done was of the standard required by the Contract. The Owner monitored the Contractors performance but this did not relieve the Contractor of his obligations under the contract. This contract strategy led to several special documents being included in the tender documents issued to the bidders, in particular definition drawings, an illustrative design, reference conditions, and quality system requirements. The definition drawings described the design features, geometry, and materials that should be retained in the Contractors design, and at the same time defined the limits within which he had the freedom to choose. The illustrative design showed the bidders, for information only, a comprehensive design that fulfilled the Owners requirements. Risk Assessment So as to minimize the possible risks could ever take place during the construction phase, the Owner assigned ASO as the developer of the Operational Risk Assessment of the entire Øresund link. But since ASO itself was involved in it, the process would benefit from the contribution of external reviewers, so Professor Tendrup Pedersen from the Danish Technical University was appointed to review the marine aspects and Arup to review the remainder. As far as we know, it is the first time such a comprehensive risk analysis has been undertaken during the design of a major fixed link. A fully quantified risk assessment of the human safety and traffic delay risks was carried out for a comprehensive list of hazards: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ fire à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ explosion à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ train collisions and derailments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ road accidents à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ ship collisions and groundings à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ aircraft collisions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ toxic spillages à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ environmental loads beyond design basis. Initially, the assessment attempted solely to identity the risks beyond those of typical stretches of motorway and railway on mainland Denmark or Sweden. However, it soon became obvious that this approach could be improved by considering total risks and being able to compare the Links risks with international risk acceptance criteria. We found out that the risk assessment was carried out along with the design process and influenced several design decisions, the most significant being the size of the bridge pier foundations to withstand ship impact, the realignment of the main shipping channel to reduce groundings, and the provision of passive fire protection on the tunnel walls and ceilings.

Personal Narrative - Driving Test :: Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative- Driving Test As I walked out of the courthouse and down the ramp, I looked at my mom in disappointment and embarrassment. Never wanting to return to that dreadful place, I slowly drug my feet back to the car. I wanted to curl up in a little ball and I didn't want anyone else to know what I had done. Gaining my composure, I finally got into the car. I didn't even want to hear what my mom had to say. My face was beat red and I was trying to hide my face in the palms of my hands because I knew what was about to come; she was going to start asking me questions, all of the questions I had been asking myself. Sure enough, after a short period of being in the car, the questions began. "Honey, how could we have miscalculated six months? My frustrated reply to every question was, "I don't know!" Maybe this was a sign I was going to fail. I could only imagine how my brother and sister were going to make me feel. They had teased me about studying so hard for the permit test. Now here I was, not actual failing the drivers test, but failing to go on the correct day. Exactly one month later, all of the fears that happened in the past were returning. Was I going to fail? Was I going to get the same, strict instructor? As I slide out of the car and slowly shut the door, I could only hope that the same person wouldn't be there when I attempted to take my driving test last time. With that thought running through my head, my brain was in overdrive. All the wheels were turning as fast as they possibly could. I tried to zone out the negative stories I heard by telling myself, "I can do this. I just drove through town on a practice run and I did perfectly fine." Of course, the fear of failure kept popping in my head and I couldn't get rid of it.Sluggishly, I made my way to the entrance of the courthouse. As I reached for the door, I let out a sigh of worry. I moseyed down the stairs trying to stall as long as possible. All that I could picture was the instructor with dark, slanted eyebrows that made a wrinkle between his two critical eyes.

Arizona Needs to MIne Black Mesa :: Counter Argument

To the northeastern part of Arizona lay a debacle between the Native American citizens and a coal mining company known as Peabody Coal. In the seemingly unending conflict between the two groups, the problem began in 1968 when the Hopi and Navajo tribes both signed leases to Peabody Coal for mining. The contract included paying both tribes more than $1000 per acre-foot of natural aquifer water each year (Peabody Energy Online par 4). As time drew on, many indigenous people were alarmed that the water was carelessly being depleted from their land. Mining on Black Mesa should still be kept in progress because Peabody Coal helps support the fight against high-cost electricity, recent findings have stipulated that mining on Black Mesa is not as potentially harmful as many would like to think it is, and it offers jobs to the local economy. If a group of people give certain privileges to another, and the affects of it prove to help the economic society surrounded by it, there r eally is not a problem. Black Mesa, a natural resource for water is still being occupied by Peabody Coal, the world’s largest coal company. Located on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations of Northern Arizona, the mining company pumps water out of the Navajo Aquifer (N-Aquifer) which is mixed with grated coal known as slurry. The slurry is then pumped through a pipeline to Nevada’s Mohave Generating Station where it is converted into low-cost electricity (Peabody Energy Online par 3). Peabody has two mines on Black Mesa which includes the Peabody Coal Mine as well as the Kayenta Mine, both help to produce enough coal that supports 1.5 million people in the Southwest including Arizona, Nevada, and California (Peabody Energy Online par 8). The low-cost electricity is quite affordable for the people who live in the area. Peabody Coal has many coal mines around the world which help fight to keep the cost of energy down. Peabody Coal had stated that they do respect the values and beliefs of the native people that occupy the reservations. In that sense, the coal company consoled the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining for concerned questions about the usage of the groundwater. According to the OMS 2004 annual report, the N-Aquifer is in a stable condition, the quality is still excellent, and streams that were presumed to be in an unstable condition due to the mining, is not the cause:

Gladwell Power of Context Analysis

Gladwell Power of Context Analysis Common belief in todays society would most likely base an individuals behavior on factors such as genes, upbringing, personal convictions, a persons history, personality, etc. These factors seem like reasonable and logical conclusions, but which is most significant? Is there anything missing? Malcolm Gladwell, a writer for The New Yorker and author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference, has a special desire to come up with an answer to this question.In the chapter â€Å"The Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime† Gladwell examines this interesting question and comes up with an answer of his own. According to Gladwell the different conclusions listed above do play a role in determining how one behaves but are not the most significant factors. Gladwell believes that the immediate environment has the most significant influence on ones behavior, also referred to as his Power of Context theory.Although Gladwell understands that this theory might sound a bit crazy to most he stands by his belief by offering different means, both directly and indirectly, to help persuade his readers into accepting this â€Å"radical idea†. Gladwell presents a number of different studies which help substantiate his claim. He begins the chapter by discussing the transformation of the New York City subway system that took place in the late 1980’s. In the years leading into the transformation conditions on the subway were extremely poor with crime rates at a all time high.The Broken Window Theory, based on the same premise as the Power of Context according to Gladwell, was put into effect resulting in a dramatic decrease in the crime rate. Another study, held at Stanford University, examined what causes prisons to be such a nasty place; â€Å"was it because prisons are full of nasty people, or was it because prisons are such nasty environments that they make the people nas ty? † This study concluded that certain situations are powerful enough to â€Å"overwhelm people’s inherent predispositions. In other words, the participant’s surroundings caused what we consider mentally healthy people to crack and break down. In addition to the previous two studies mentioned, Gladwell also cites another study conducted by Princeton University. This study suggested that what you hold in your heart and your thoughts are less important in guiding your behavior than the immediate context; disproving the idea that personal convictions guide the way one behaves. Evidence is effective in Gladwells effort to convince readers that the immediate environment influences behavior significantly, but is not his only means in doing so.In addition to providing evidence to validate his claim, Gladwell also employs the use of rhetorical strategies. Rhetorical strategies are efforts made by an author to help persuade their readers into accepting their main argume nt. Recognizing such strategies is crucial when effectively examining and analyzing texts because it gives readers the power to decide how they choose to respond to an authors (Gladwells) view. Without this valuable knowledge readers are more susceptible of falling victim to this strategy and are more willingly ready to accept his claim.With that being said, it is essential to recognize the rhetorical strategies used by Gladwell to properly examine and evaluate his argument. In an effort to sway reader into accepting his claim Gladwell links his Power of Context Theory with the Broken Windows Theory. Gladwell makes the decision to connect one another when discussing the success of the Broken Window theory in the transformation the New York subway system; asserting that they â€Å"are one and the same. Gladwell understood that he was likely to meet much opposition in respects to his claim, especially from those who do not believe the environment plays a role in determining ones beha vior. A majority of people would concur that other factors play a much more significant role when determining behavior; as he himself even acknowledges his claim to be a â€Å"radical idea. † Such resistance would greatly threaten Gladwells attempt in persuading his readers. Gladwell attempts to undermine opposition by linking his theory to another, one in which has already been proven to be successful.Doing so not only allows Gladwells audience to see his theory applied in real life situations but also helps build credibility to his claim as well. This strategy is quite clever in his attempt to persuade the reader; without doing so his audience would likely still have some doubts regarding his claim and whether or not changing the environment plays a key role in shaping personality. Evaluating this strategy leads to the conclusion that showcasing the relationship between the Broken Window theory and Gladwells claim helps better his chance of persuading his readers.Another pe rsuasive strategy used by Gladwell is citing scientific evidence from different prestigious universities around the country. Gladwell discusses studies including the prison study done at Stanford and the Good Samaritan study done at Princeton as well. Gladwell anticipated that many people would not accept such a â€Å"radical idea† if he was the only one who has working to prove his claim to be true. By citing such universities Gladwell effectively removes the opposition from those who might not believe this is an important topic and would simply ask, â€Å"Who cares? By stating these major universities held studies it helps persuade readers that this topic is not only important in the academic community but to a degree also to be important to our country as a whole. Gladwell understands most of his readers are assumedly intelligent so citing such information might help sway the hesitant into believers. Essentially, Gladwell implies that his claim is one of great importance without coming right out and saying it.Without doing so many people would stick with their convictions and hold the belief that this topic is not one of any importance; leading to a rejection of his claim all together. Finally, another strategy used by Gladwell in his text was acknowledging other factors indeed play a role in influencing ones behavior. Gladwell does so after citing both studies done at the different universities, stating in one instance â€Å"This does not mean that our inner psychological states and personal histories are not important in explaining ones behavior. By acknowledging other factors as playing a role he avoids the resistance of those who believe that those factors are the only factors that influence our behavior. Gladwell refers to his idea as being hard to accept on numerous different occasions throughout his text, leading one to believe he anticipated resistance from those who had trouble accepting his claim about environment playing the biggest role in influencing behavior. This aspect of the text increases reader’s likelihood of accepting Gladwells claim because it shows that he is not rejecting common belief, but adding his take on it.Rejecting a person’s belief will not only anger them but also decrease any chance at getting them to accept your argument. Gladwell understands this fact and hopes to avoid this problem by agreeing with what he assumed his readers would be feeling. If Gladwell decided not to do so I belief he would face a bigger challenge in changing the way people think about behavior and might not have been as successful in his attempt to persuade his readers. As evident throughout this essay, Gladwell offers different means, both direct and indirect, to help persuade readers into accepting his claim.Gladwells direct use of evidence sets a solid foundation on which he can place his argument that the environment significantly influences ones behavior. Providing evidence helps substantiate his arg ument while his use of different rhetorical strategies assists his efforts in persuading his readers to accept it. Identifying such strategies is beneficial because it allows you to make an informed and educated decision on whether or not you agree with Gladwells c

Comparison/Contrast Between American Indians Essay

e reallyplace 400 years ago, the Powhatan Indians inhabited a place called Jamestown, Virginia. Their every-day smell was disrupted, though, when, in 1607, a ship carrying men from Eng acres came to claim their land, qualification Jamestown their new capital. This could get down been seen as a bright opportunity for both parties the Powhatan Indians could have shared their noesis of the land they occupied, and the face could have shared somewhat of the skills and applied science brought over with them. But, of course, the twain groups found that they had numerous dis correspondentitys. They had a hard time manduction and trading because of how different they were, much(prenominal) as in their belief systems, materials and resources, and their living environments to draw a few.As stated before, the Powhatan Indians and the side of meat had different belief systems. For example, the English, much uniform many Americans today, were mo nonheist, believing in hardly cham pion god. The Natives, on the another(prenominal) hand, believed that thither were many gods. There were not only if differences in their phantasmal beliefs, though. For instance, the Powhatan Indians honored their women and hard-boiled them with a high respect. They believed that women were the giver of livelihood in society, therefore they were greatly valued. The Colonists, on the other hand, believed that women were property. Land ownership was a conflict as well. While the Indians believed that the land was something that was Mother Earths and could not be owned, the English claimed land as theirs every chance they got.Another difference amid the Powhatan Indians and the Settlers was resources and how they were used. The Natives, for example, used hand-make weapons and tools that were made of stone. With the English, though, came their knowledge of metal, meaning that they had more than than advanced tools and weapons made of this material. There was a difference in th e types of foods as well. Back in England, when one referred to corn whisky, it was meant as anything in the stalk family. When the English came to the New World, though, they were introduced to the Indians version of corn maize. This wasnt the best thing, because when the settlers ate the maize, they became very sick, as they werent used to it.The two parties in some ways had similar living environments. For instance,both the Indians and the English had religious gathering areas. For the English, there was a bighearted church where everyone gathered for prayer. The Indians, on the other hand, had a dance circle where the concourse gathered. Houses in the two environments were different as well. The Indians built semi-permanent houses called Yehakins. The Yehakins had a hut-like structure to them with fire-pits in the center. The English had more structured houses that were do just like houses seen today. They were rectangular with straightforward roofs on top, and a fireplace kinda than a fire-pit. Because of differences in their housing structures, they likewise had different cooking procedures. The Indians cooked things using an undecided fire outside. The Colonists used a technique in their fireplaces called down-hearth cooking.Eventually more and more English came to live the new life in the New World. With them they brought more and more of the English culture, making more conflicts between them and the Powhatan Indians. The Settlers starting claiming a little more of the native land every day, making it hard for the Indians to live in such a small space. Although there was a lot of potential for both parties to wax from each other, differences got in the way, in some cases causing more diminishing of the cultures than growth.

Endothelial tight junction proteins Essay

endothelial affluent union proteinsIntroduction The endothelium is situated at the inner side of all kinds of vessels and comp vacates of a monolayer of endothelial prison boothphones. Inter-endothelial unitings comprise ad unificational interlinkinges, much(prenominal) as adherens junctions (AJ), cheeseparing junctions (TJ) and hurly burly junctions (GJ) that play essential subroutines in tissue integrity, hindrance work out and interelectric cellular communication respectively. These junctional complexes are mendd to those found at epithelial junctions with notable changes in terms of certain molecules and bodily structure. Endothelial junctional proteins play beta roles in tissue integrity still similarly in vascular permeability, leukocyte extravasation and angio agentsis. Dormant endothelium may be exposed to stimuli provoking leukocyte extravasation at seditious positions and propagating angiogenesis. two activities get down an intense involve on en dothelial cell-cell junctions. Tight junctions aid the submit functional objective of establishing a barrier inwardly the membrane, by controlling paracellular permeability and sustaining cell polarity. They fulfil this by constricting apical or basolateral transmembrane dispersion of lipids and they have been suggested to contribute in regulating proliferation and specialism of epithelial cells. However, the components that are knotted and the signal routes touch are unknown (Mitic & Anderson 1998). Tight junctions are make up of integral membrane proteins claudins, occludin, tricellulin, junctional adhesion molecules (JAMs), including some(prenominal) peripheral membrane proteins such as the support PDZ- domain proteins. This review will however, focus on ZO-1 and ZONAB.Histology of endothelia junctions The junctional structures situated at the endothelial intercellular sally are related to those located at the epithelial tissue however, their formation is mor e inconsistent and in intimately vascular beds their topology is less constrained than in epithelial cells. Adherens junctions, tight junctions and gap junctions are in most cases intermingled and create a complex zonuler ashes with disparities in depth and thickness of the sub-membrane plate associated with the junctional structure (Franke et al. 1988 Rhodin 1974). In contrast to epithelial cells, GJs are a great deal found close to the luminal surface. Hence, the term apical junction used to jointly describe epithelial TJ and AJ may not be applied to the endothelium. The endothelium forms the vascular barrier with controlled permeability properties between the personal credit line and the vestigial tissues. Tight junctions exhibit considerable inconsistency among opposite segments of the vascular tree (Franke et al. 1988). This disparity composes a major evidence of vascular bed differentiation of endothelial cells and has a strong concussion on vascular permeability and leukocyte extravasation. Variations concern the complexity degree of the occluding strands as well as tight junction composition. boastfully Artery endothelial cells, which are exposed to high up f scurvy rates, display a well-developed system of tight junctions. Within the microvasculature, tight junctions are less complex in capillaries than in arterioles, and even less in venules. It is important to mention that, post-capillary venules are the primary site of leukocyte extravasation, and accordingly, they display a high content of permeability mediator receptors, such as those for histamine, serotonin and bradykinin. On the some fresh(prenominal) hand, blood brain barrier (BBB) and the blood retinal barrier (BRB) are predominantly well-to-do in Tight articulations and endothelial tight junctions have been principally studied in these sites. Endothelial intercellular realms differ from those of epithelial cells by the absence of desmosomes (Franke et al. 1988). The tran sitional filaments, comprised in the endothelium by vimentin molecules, are poorly connected to cell-cell contacts. However, contrary to the situation in epithelia, the vimentin filaments may be associated to endothelial adherens junctions in junctional structures similar to desmosomes, called complexus adherens. It must be emphasized that interendothelial junctions are vibrant structures, subjected to multiple regulations. Moreover, leukocytes burst out majorly in postcapillary venules either through with(predicate) transcellular or paracellular methods. irruption via the intercellular junction is a rapid and controlled demonstrate, through which the leukocyte is squeezed in the fissure (diapedesis), followed by rapid junction reformation. ZO-1 is a protein located on the cytolic membrane plate of intercellular tight junctions and is engaged in transducing signals at cell-to-cell junctions. ZO-1 links tight junction transmembrane proteins to a cytoplasmic plaque and the a ctin-based cytoskeleton (Aijaz et al. 2006 Tsukita et al. 2001). In epithelial cells, ZO-1 interrelates with the written text cypher ZONAB to regulate cells proliferation in a cell density related manner (Balda & subject field 2000) however, the functions of ZO-1 and ZONAB in endothelial cells are still not intelligibly understood. Unpublished work shows that downregulation of ZO-1 in endothelial cells stimulates re dispersal of two transmembrane proteins claudin-5 and JAM-A, and radical changes in the cytoskeleton affecting the localization of mechanosensor proteins and VE-cadherin role in the control of cell-cell tension. These observations imply that one function of ZO-1 in endothelial cells is to coordinate components of the tight junction and associate them to the cortical cytoskeleton. However, it is unfamiliar whether the ZO-1 associated transcription gene ZONAB is linked to such ZO-1 effects. Despite the fact that, ZO-1 explicitly associates with epithelial tigh t junctions (Stevenson et al. 1986), it has been ascertained that the protein appears in the gist in the process of proliferation (Gottardi et al. 1996). While the functional impact of the nuclear localization is currently not clear, studies break off that these discrete subcellular distributions of ZO-1 are exquisitely sensitive to the res publica of cell-to-cell contact. ZO-1 plays a major role of restraining ZONAB and regulates its hookup in the nucleus through cytoplasmic requisition. MDCK cells found in the epithelium exhibit two forms of this Y-box transcription factor (ZONAB) i.e. ZONAB -A and ZONAB -B which vary in a 68-amino acid supplement. Both categories of ZONAB bind to ZO-1 and link with intercellular junctions (Balda & discipline 2000). ZONAB was initially designated in canine kidney epithelial cells (MDCK) and is a Y-box transcription factor. Y-box transcription factors are multipurpose control mechanisms of gene expression and studies suggest that they pla y a super acid role in enhancing proliferation (Bargou et al. 1997). ZONAB is one of the tight junction-associated doubled localization protein it lays to junctions where it attaches to the SH3 surface of the adaptor protein ZO-1, and to the nucleus where it regulates transcription. The distribution of ZONAB is controlled by the cell density as it localizes to both junctions and nuclei in low density, proliferating cells, and becomes constrained to the cytoplasm in high density cells (Balda & Matter, 2000). This distribution is excessively exhibited in its transcription legal action, as ZONAB is transcriptionally vigorous in proliferating cells but inactive in non-proliferating cells. In the MDCK cells, ZONAB is obligatory for customary rates of proliferation and controls G1/S phase transition (Balda et al. 2003). ZONAB affects cell steering wheel development by two unequivocal processes it controls the nuclear assemblage of CDK4 through a subscribe to interaction and controls revelation of genes encoding cell cycle regulators for example, PCNA and cyclin D1 (Balda et al. 2003 Sourisseau et al. 2006 ). In 3D principles of MDCK cells, regular ZO-1 and ZONAB processes are prerequisite for epithelial cyst formation, implying that the Y-box transcription factor besides controls epithelial differentiation (Sourisseau et al. 2006). Since ZO-1 and ZONAB can also relate with other(a) types of intercellular junctions, for instance the gap junctions, in cells that lack tight junctions, it is possible that ZO-1 or ZONAB mansion is also of useful significance in other cell types other than epithelia (Ciolofan et al. 2006 Giepmans & Moolenaar 1998).Aims of the study The aim of the study is to discover the functional consequences of downregulation of ZONAB in endothelial cells, and whether and how ZONAB cross-talks with other junctional components to regulate endothelial cell migration, proliferation and angiogenesis. Currently, we are flavour at s imilarities and differences between the phenotype of downregulation of ZO-1 or ZONAB by ribonucleic acid interference. Changes in expression and localization of a attached protein are analysed using specific antibodies for immunoblots and immunofluorescence.Preliminary Results It is observed that downregulation of ZO-1 or ZONAB resulted in similar redistribution of actin and vinculin from cell-cell junctions to reach fibers and focal adhesions, respectively. However, the localization of transmembrane proteins such as Claudin-5 and JAM-A is affected by downregulation of ZO-1 rather than by downregulation of ZONAB. The localization of the polarity protein PAR-3 is changed in both conditions. Additionally, downregulation of ZONAB causes changes in ZO-1 by immunofluorescence that needs to be tested for expression by immunoblots. Next, we will remember other transmembrane proteins (e.g. MD3 and claudin-1), polarity proteins (PKCzeta), Rho regulators and mechanotransducers such as PAK2, Zyxin and YAP. ZONAB is a DNA and RNA binding factor that it is composite in transcription (e.g. cyclin D1 and PCNA) in the nucleus and supplanting (e.g. cell cycle dis renderor p21) in the cytosol. Thus, we are also trying to identify new genes regulated. We have determine that expression of fibronectin is regulated by ZONAB. We are evaluating whether the changes in protein expression of fibronectin are due to ZONAB role on transcription or translation, using actinomicin D to inhibit transcription or cyclohexidimide to inhibit translation. Additionally, we are clear new genes identified by cDNA pasture analysis of endothelial cells with downregulation of ZONAB. The tight junction localizing protein ZO-1 symptomatically forms a continuous band around the apices of well-differentiated, confluent, polarized epithelial cells in culture. However, under nonconfluent conditions, endogenous ZO-1 can localize to the nucleus in addition to the border of cell-cell contact. Z ONAB manifestation tends to be high in proliferating but low in growth-impeded MDCK cells, implying that high manifestation levels might be a necessity for cell proliferation (Balda & Matter 2000). ZONAB curb in the nucleus as well as tight junctions in proliferating cells, however, it is not noticeable in the nucleus of nonproliferating high density cells (Balda & Matter 2000), proposing that appeal of ZONAB in the nucleus might be necessary for efficient proliferation. ZO-1 quantities are low in proliferating cells and they rise with cell density, and overexpression of ZO-1 hinders accumulation of ZONAB in the nucleus (Balda & Matter 2000) hence, ZO-1 may control proliferation by inhibiting ZONAB from accumulating in the nucleus. Overexpression of ZO-1 in low density cells triggers a redistribution of ZONAB from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and reduced proliferation. CDK4 is a major regulator of G1/s transition (Sherr 2000 Malumbres & Barbacid 2001). Thus, ZONAB could cont rol proliferation by regulating the process or the localization of CDK4. Since ZONAB binds CDK4, the nuclear pools of the two proteins may diminish in a parallel manner. Symplekin is have with ZONAB in the nucleus hence, it could be argued that Symplekin modulates the transcription activity of ZONAB. Increased expression of Symplekin results in stimulation of the transcriptional suppresser ZONAB. However, it is also noted that Symplekin is absent in endothelial cells (Keon et al. 1996). ZONAB controls cell cycle entry. ZO-1 overexpression results in a diminution in DNA synthesis, implying that entry into S-phase was distressed. These experiments will allow understanding the role of ZO-1 and ZONAB in endothelial cells. Depending on the results, we plan to test how these two proteins are involved in endothelial stress conditions such as shear stress and high glucose.Conclusion The collaboration of ZO-1 with tight junctions can only be momentous for the stabilization of ZO-1 , as opposed to attaching ZO-1 to the plasma membrane so as to constrain nuclear accumulation of related proteins. This is supported by the opinion that a truncated protein comprising only the HA-tagged SH3 domain accumulated in the Cytosol, but was adequate to decrease proliferation and nuclear accumulation of ZONAB (unpublished data). ZONAB and ZO-1 control proliferation and the ultimate cell density of MDCK cells. Explanations that ZO-1 accumulates with change magnitude cell density, and overexpression of ZO-1 in transfected cells lowers the final density proposes a pattern in which ZO-1 serves as a beatnik for cell density whereby, on reaching the room access level, provokes growth impediment by cytoplasmic sequestration of ZONAB and the related cell cycle kinase CDK4. It will be essential to control how the ZO-1 or ZONAB pathway associates with the other signaling methods that affect proliferation. Vascular endothelial stress induces dysfunctions that have been interest ed in many diseases such as diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, characterization of the role of tight junction molecules in different endothelial cell behavior and functions will help us to understand the molecular mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and these findings may be implicated in prognosis and possibly to develop new treatment strategies.ReferencesBalda, MS and Matter, K 2000. The tight junction protein ZO-1 and an interacting transcription factor regulate ErbB-2 expression. EMBO J. 19, pp 2024-2033.Balda MS, Garrett MD and Matter K, 2003. The ZO-1 associated Y-box factor ZONAB regulates epithelial cell proliferation and cell density. J. cellphone Biol. 160, pp 423-432.Bargou RC, K Jurchott, C Wagener, S Bergmann, S metzner, K Bommert, MY Mapara, KJ Winzer. M Dietel, B Dorken, and HD Royer, 1997. Nuclear localization and increase levels of transcription factor YB-1 in primary homophile breast cancers are associated with intrinsic MDR1 gene expression. Nat. Med. 3 pp 447-450.Ciolofan C, Li XB, Olson C, Kamasawa N, Gebhardt BR, Yasumura T, Morita M, Rash JE and Nagy JI, 2006. Association of connexin36 and Zonula occludens-1 with zonula occludens-2 and the transcription factor zonula occludens-1 associated nucleic acid-binding protein at neuronal gap junctions in rodent retina. Neuroscience 140 pp 433-451.Franke WW, P Cowin, C Grund, C Kuhn, HP Kapprell, 1998, The Endothelial Junction the plaque and its component., in N. Simionescu, M Simionescu (Eds.), Endothelial cell biology in health and diseases, Plenum publishing corporation, unused York. pp 147-166.Giepmans BN and Moolenaar WH, 1998. The gap junction protein connexin43 interacts with the second PDZ domain of the zonary occludens-1 protein. Curr. Biol. 8. Pp 931-934.Gottardi CJ, M Arpin, AS Fanning and D Louvard, 1996. The junction-associated protein, zonular occludens-1, localizes to the nucleus forward the maturation and during the remodeling of cell-cell contacts. Proc. Natl. Ac ad. Sci. USA. 93 pp 10779-10784.Keon BH, S Schafer, C Kuhn, C Grund, WW Franke, Symplekin, a novel type of tight junction plaque protein, J Cell Biol. 134 (1996) 1003-1018.Malumbres M and M Barbacid, 2001. To cycle or not to cycle a critical decision in cancer. Nat. Rev. Cancer. 1 pp 222-231.Mitic LL and JM Anderson, 1998. molecular architecture of tight junctions. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 60 pp 121-142.Rhodin, JAG 1974, Histology, Oxford University Press, in the buff York.Sherr, CJ 2000. The Pezcoller lecture cancer cell cycles revisited. Cancer res. 60 pp 3689-3695.Sourisseau T, Georgiadis A, Tsapara A, Ali RR, Pestell RG, Matter K and Balda MS, 2006. Regulation of PCNA and cyclin D1 expression and epithelial morphogenesis by the ZO-1 regulated transcription factor ZONAB/DbpA. Mol. Cell. Biol. 26, pp 2387-2398.Stevenson, BR, JD Siliciano, MS Mooseker, and DA Goodenough, 1986. Identification of ZO-1 a high molecular weight polypeptide associated with the tight junction (zonula occlude ns) in a variety of epithelia. J. Cell Biol. 103 pp 755-766.Source document