Company's strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Company's strategy - Essay Example The companies argue that they are not responsible for telling consumers about disadvantages of their products because it will eventually ruin their income and business. The customers in the case study had to search the internet in order to find expected disadvantages of obesity food. The food researchers are working to find, pinpoint and solve health problems caused due to usage of fast food for number of years now (Hill, Wyatt, Reed, & Peters 2003). The court established a comment that said that the company was not at all the only source of information on the side-effects of fast food and therefore, the claim of the plaintiffs is invalid. The legal authority also added that the food chain never requested nor forced anyone into eating their stuff. The company held on to the point that they are not liable for providing information about the quality of the food. But, if one views the case from a societal angle then, the company had a duty to inform the customers about the side-effects of the products. Still, the businesses do not consider ethics as the core and composite part of the business and say that their concern is profitability and because of this reason, ethics are rated at a much lower rank. However, various stakeholders of the company view the case study in a very divergent and different way. Nevertheless, customers considered themselves as betrayed by the company.

A Nationalize Healthcare system is the right thing to do for all Research Proposal

A Nationalize Healthcare system is the right thing to do for all Americans; but can Americans afford it - Research Proposal Example A report issued by the advocacy group Families USA described that the age of the people who are without healthcare coverage is below 65, while those who are 65 and up are covered by government Medicare program. Thirty-three percent of 265 million Americans under 65 have been uninsured for two years. This includes 60.1 million adults and 26.6 million children and teens up to 18 years old. This amount may have been different from the statistic given above by the Census Bureau. This discrepancy indicates one of the weaknesses of the market because it relies on data from the third or forth party as it emphasizes on cost saving. Americans obtain health insurance through a combination of private coverage under employers’ contribution scheme, out of pocket private contribution, and those who are unemployed, without employers’ contribution or unable to purchase insurance under out of pocket schemes are under government Medicare program. The recent bankruptcy cases, such as the mortgage corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which operate under public private partnership scheme, have affected millions of Americans. People abandon their homes (Rucker, 2009) and become homeless (The National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2009; DeLuz, 2006; Rydstrom, 2007). The massive lay off and bankruptcies of the giant automakers Chrysler and General Motor, the Wall Street Journal, the renewable energy corporations, the AIG insurance, and million other bankruptcies of private corporations, all have caused the number of Americans without health insurance to be doubled, from 47 million to 86.7 million people.3 This number represents one-third of the nation’s total population. Peter Jennings, the ABC television anchor presented his documentary entitled Breakdown: America’s Health Insurance Crisis, described the capitalistic attitude of the insurance providers. He said one of the reasons why Americans are now without health insurance is the

Detection of Impurities in Nd Doped Phosphate Laser Glass

Detection of Impurities in Nd Doped Phosphate Laser Glass Detection of the impurities in Nd doped phosphate laser glass by x-ray fluorescence technique Atul Kumar*, M. P. Kamath, A. S. Joshi, P. A. Naik, P. D. Gupta Laser Plasma Division A. K. Singh, M. K. Tiwari Indus Synchrotrons Utilization Division Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore 452013, M.P., India *Email: [emailprotected] Introduction: The advances in laser glass composition and manufacturing have enabled the development of third generation high energy high power (HEHP) lasers like the National Ignition facility (NIF)1 that are being used as drivers for fusion energy studies. These laser glasses are phosphate based because of their low intensity dependent refractive index n2 and have a compositions equivalent to LHG-8 of M/s Hoya, Japan or LG-770 glass of M/s Schott Ltd2. The manufacturing and handling procedures introduce many unwanted impurities in these glasses, leading to lower laser induced damage threshold and lower fluorescence life time. The x-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a powerful technique3 which can identify the elemental composition of such glasses in a non-destructive manner. In the XRF process, the specimen is excited with high energy photons, which can cause individual atoms to ionize. When these atoms undergo relaxation, the electrons relocate from a high energy orbital to a lower one. During this pro cess, fluorescence radiation is emitted. The emitted radiation has lower energy compared to the incident source and it depends on the specific electron transitions of the individual elements. Thus, the resulting x-ray fluorescence spectrum bears the signature of the elements present in the specimen. In the present study, we have performed XRF analysis on different laser glass samples and raw materials used for the fabrication of these glasses namely aluminum metaphosphate (AMP), barium metaphosphate (BMP) and potassium metaphosphate (KMP). The advantage of the this study is that it can indicate to the presence of most of the impurities like transition metal impurities (of interest to us) in one measurement, if their concentrations are of the order of few ppm (by weight) or more. Our studies on the glasses and the raw materials indicate that the raw materials are pure to the desired levels but the glasses fabricated using the raw materials show many impurities. These impurities are expected to enter during handling of the raw materials and from the glass-cullet during fabrication process. This study will help in improving the quality of the glass by repeatedly doing the XRF analysis after every stage, so that faulty handling can be identified. Method of fabrication of the phosphate laser glass: A two arm HEHP Nd:phosphate glass laser chain is operational at Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore4. A joint collaborative project is undertaken with Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), Kolkata to develop the process technology for the fabrication of the phosphate laser glasses equivalent to LHG-8 glass of M/s Hoya, to overcome the existing embargo. The phosphate laser glass is fabricated as a two step process. In the first step, the sintered raw material (AMP, BMP and KMP and Nd2O3 in appropriate fractions) is melted in a silica crucible. The glass-cullet produced as a result of melting in the silica crucible is cast. The cast glass is powdered and loaded in a bottom pouring platinum crucible for optical quality, and chemical and physical homogenization. During these steps in the fabrication, the impurities may be added to the glass at several stages, namely: a) mixing of the raw materials, b) impurities coming from the silica crucible, c) impurities coming from the glass-cullet cast, d) impurities coming from the platinum crucible, e) impurities coming during annealing and fine annealing of the glass. Six samples of laser glass (named LG-1 to LG-6) were fabricated at CGCRI for the studies. XRF analysis was done on different fabricated samples of laser glasses (LG-1 to LG-6) and raw material samples made from AMP, BMP and KMP, to identify the elemental impurities in laser glass and raw materials. In addition to this, the sensitivity of the XRF technique was also ascertained using small amounts of platinum deliberately added to the glass samples. Experiments and Methodology XRF analysis was performed at the BL-16 beamline of Indus-2 synchrotron facility5 on fabricated glass samples and the raw materials after the first step of melting in silica crucible. The glasses had platinum oxide dissolved in them because of its solubility in the laser glass. Platinum comes into the glass as an unavoidable impurity during homogenization of the glass in the platinum crucible. Metallic platinum absorbs at the lasing wavelength (1054 nm) and reduces the laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the laser glass. Oxygen bubbling is done in platinum crucible to reduce the OH bond impurity in the hygroscopic phosphate glass. The oxygen bubbling also oxidizes the platinum metal to its oxide, thereby reducing the metallic platinum in the glass. The other impurities occur because of the poor quality of the silica crucible and/or cast of glass-cullet in addition to poor handling during the mixing of the raw materials in the first step of melting. The glasses with different amounts of platinum oxide were: LG-1(5 ppm Pt), LG-2 (10 ppm Pt), LG-3(25 ppm Pt), LG-4 (5 ppm Pt with O2 bubbling), LG-5 (10 ppm Pt with O2 bubbling) and LG-6 (25 ppm Pt with O2 bubbling). Varying platinum oxide content helped in ascertaining the sensitivity of the technique to Pt impurity. In the experiment, an x-ray beam was incident on sample for excitation and scattered spectrum was recorded by the detector shown in Fig. 1. The samples were excited using 14 keV and 17 keV synchrotron x-rays, selected by a double-crystal monochromator system. The analyses have been done on all the raw powder materials (for qualitative analysis) and on the pallets (for quantitative analysis). 15 mm dia. pallets were formed using a semi-automatic pallet machine. One such pallet is shown in sample holder in Fig. 1. Figure 1: Raw specimens analyzed by XRF measurements The captured data was analyzed using the PyMCA software 6. The calibration of the measured fluorescence spectrum was achieved by selecting the ‘K’ lines of various elements present in the laser glass samples, and in the raw material samples. The method of spectrum calibration however needs a proper comparison with a standard doped sample as a confirmatory test to account for the variation in the actual composition of the fabricated laser glass samples and that measured with XRF. In the present study, XRF method was used to qualitatively see the presence of different impurities, strictly from the yes/no point of view, rather than the full quantitative estimation. Results and discussion: Figure 2 shows a typical spectrum of the fabricated LG-1 glasses and the raw material BMP. The impurities found in the fabricated glasses are listed in Table 1. The silicon impurity occurs because of melting in silica crucible. Sr impurity seen in BMP as Ba and Sr are chemically close to each other. For the same reason, Rb impurity was found in KMP. However, there no impurities were seen in AMP. The transition metal impurities however may come either from during handling of raw materials or through the casts of glass-cullet. This will be ascertained in future by casting the glass in casts made of different materials like graphite, aluminum, and stainless steel. The studies of impurities after the casting of the glass will give idea about its origin. In addition to this, the XRF technique was found to be sensitive to ~ 5 ppm of Pt impurities. Figure 2: a) Typical spectrum of a) LG-1 fabricated glass, and b) Barium meta-phosphate specimen (raw material) Table 1: List of the impurities present in the glass samples Summary: We have presented XRF analysis on different laser glasses (LG-1 to LG-6) and raw materials (AMP, BMP and KMP) used for the fabrication of such glasses. The impurities in these glasses may be entering during handling or coming from the silica crucible, or the cast for the glass-cullet. The XRF method was also found to be sensitive up to ~ 3 ppm of platinum, as was observed in studies of LG-4 glass. In contrast, the raw materials were found to be free from transition element impurities. Further studies to improve the quality of glass are required to be undertaken. Acknowledgement: We acknowledge the contribution of Dr. R. Sen, Dr. Annapurna and other colleagues of the glass division, CGCRI Kolkata for preparation of the phosphate laser glass samples for the XRF studies. References: L. L. Seaver, LLNL report (925) 423 (Oct. 2010) J. H. Campbell and T. I. Suratwala, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 318, 2638 (2000). M. Mantler and M. Schreiner, X-Ray Spectrum. 29, 3 (2000) A.S. Joshi et al, EPJ Web of Conferences 59, 08001 (2013). M. K. Tiwari, P. Gupta, A. K. Sinha, S. R. Kane, A. K. Singh, S. R. Garg, C. K. Garg, G. S. Lodha and S. K. Deb, J. Synchrotron Rad. 20, 386 (2013). V.A. Solà ©, E. Papillon, M. Cotte, Ph. Walter, J. Susini, Spectrochimica Acta B 62, 63 (2007)

Cold Sassy Tree :: essays research papers

Cold Sassy Tree   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Cold Sassy Tree† reminds me of a soap opera, only this movie ends. â€Å"Cold Sassy Tree† and soap operas relate to our everyday lives in many ways. Soap operas are very dramatic and full of events, just like this movie. A plethora of gossip also goes around in this small community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"Cold Sassy Tree† the setting is your general soap opera or an everyday â€Å"Little House on the Prairie†, only with more gossip and drama. I believe that the setting affects the viewer in a way which brought the viewer in closer to the characters, almost feeling as if you were in the movie. When viewing this movie, I personally felt a sense of closeness. I felt that I knew all the gossip of the town and that the small families let me into their everyday routines only to view from an outside position. The setting also affects the character greatly. Living in a small town makes it very easy to know every ones business. When you know everybody in your town you also seem to hide things or not be around everybody all the time, which is not possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Briefly, â€Å"Cold Sassy Tree† is about a small community, mostly made of women who love to gossip. One young woman marries secretly and runs off to have fun with her new husband, Mr. Blackeslee. Through-out the movie little scenes happen that do not play a big role in the overall plot. Near the end, Mr. Blackeslee gets very sick and his young wife, Love, tries her hardest to get him well. Mr. Blackseslee dies and it is hard for Love to overcome his death. Before he dies Love informs her husband that she is pregnant, which shocks him, for he had always wanted a son.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Do not judge a woman by her mistakes. This is only one of the major themes portrayed in this movie. Just as everyone makes mistakes, Love also made a few mistakes, which made all the women think of her as bad. Later, after Love’s husband had died, all the women began to be friendly to her, for they figured out she was more than what they thought. Another theme portrayed is, â€Å"what’s best is not always what you expect.† I believe in this theme, for when Mr. Blackseslee died, the viewer knew it was for the best. However, Love did not think that was how everything was going to be, she thought he would recover and be ok, then later realized this probably was best.

Re-reading of ‘A Birthday Present’

Re-read ‘A Birthday Present'. By means of close analysis of the language of this poem, demonstrate how Plath achieves her effects in this poem, and by means of BRIEF reference to one or two other poems, say how typical of her writing you find it. Plath's poem ‘A Birthday Present' creates binary oppositions of images by using antithesis. An example of antithesis in this poem is when the narrator asks, â€Å"is it ugly, is it beautiful?† The adjectives ‘ugly' and ‘beautiful' are opposing images. The structure of this phrase is mirrored in the line below when the narrator asks, â€Å"has it breasts, has it edges?† These two images are opposite as when we imagine ‘breasts' they are round and smooth and not sharp like an ‘edge'. By using this linguistic device Plath creates a ‘seesaw' effect between positive (‘beautiful') and negative (‘ugly') lexis. Plath uses this device of conflicting lexis throughout the poem creating a tension. Furthermore, it can also be said that Plath uses these binary oppositions on a more subtle level to create the theme of good vs. evil. This theme can be seen in some of Plath's other poems. Take ‘Face Lift' or ‘Morning Song' for example, the theme of good and evil is represented by the images of babies she juxtaposes with those of death. The same binary opposition of images is used in ‘A Birthday Present' when the narrator says, â€Å"White as babies' bedding and glittering with dead breath.† Again the two juxtaposed images are of death and babies. It can therefore be said that this theme is typical of Plath's writing and is probably influenced by the miscarriage she suffered prior to writing these poems. Another device that Plath employs for a specific effect in this poem is her use of the personal pronoun ‘you'. The narrator questions, â€Å"Is it impossible for you to let something go and have it go whole?† and, â€Å"Must you kill what you can?† Many other writers use this device to achieve the desired effect of involving the audience as it addresses them directly. However Plath also has another motive. On first glance one may assume that the narrator is questioning the present as it is the apparent focus of the narrator throughout the poem. However, considering the number of references to God throughout the poem, (â€Å"My God what a laugh!†, But my god, the clouds are like cotton.†) one could assess that the question is actually aimed at God. Moreover, the theme in ‘A Birthday Present' of questioning God can be linked to some of Plaths other poetry. Plath's father died when she was a young child. From studying her life I found out that she loved and idolised her father. In her poems ‘Daddy' and ‘Full Fathom Five' Plath makes subtle suggests that she now sees her father as a God-like figure. In ‘Full Fathom Five' she writes, â€Å"You defy other Godhood. I walk dry on your kingdom's border†, when talking to her father. This could therefore be evidence that although she may seem to be addressing the birthday present with questions in this poem she is really questioning to her Dad. The theme of Dad arises in many of Plath's poems and so this poem is typical of her writing. Like many of Plath's other poems she uses personification in ‘A Birthday Present' to make an inert object appear to have a life of its own. The narrator is describing the present when she says, â€Å"I feel it looking. I feel it thinking†. The two verbs are actions that only a living person could do. Plath, however uses them to make the present in the poem come alive. The literary device of personification is typical to some of Plath's other poems. One example is in her poem ‘Cut' where she personifies her thumb by referring to it as ‘Little pilgrim', ‘Saboteur' and ‘Kamikaze man', before reminding us at the end of the poem that it is just a ‘Thumb stump'. This is therefore a device that Plath uses typically in her writing. In conclusion, many of the themes and ideas found in ‘A Birthday Poem' can also be found and mirrored in Plath's other poetry. She also uses a range of literary and linguistic devices in this poem that is typical of her writing.

Critical Analysis of a Journal Article Essay

The study of Oncology concerns most and every citizens. Oncology is the study of anything about the nature, medication, and strategic methods in understanding and treating cancer (Kaminsky, 2009). Based on the information provided in the two articles, Oncology was the main focus of the authors. The authors discussed two distinct strategies in dealing with treating the cancer patients. However, I found Takimoto’s (2008) article more convincing than the other article written by Bertino et. al. (2007). To start with, the article by that of Takimoto discusses the proposed method of phase 0 clinical trials to human and animal testing in attempt of the doctors and clinicians to find a cure against cancer. Also, in the article, several advantages of using the clinical trials are imparted like: the reduction of time, and minimal cost of injury or any other harm to both human and animals. Therefore, I agree that phase 0 clinical trials should be performed. In the article innovation was emphasized and linked to the development of products (medicines) through creative manipulating of the dosages that the sample animals or humans, as participants of the trials should receive. Moreover, it was preconceived my many that several dosage could make a patient weak or worse. Thus, it is important among clinicians to define how the dosage should be executed and when shall it stop (Takimoto, 2009). References Bertino, J. , & Greenberg, H. J. (2007). College of clinical pharmacology position statement on the use of microdosing in the drug development process. The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 47,418-419. Retrieved January 28, 2009 from the Medline database. Kaminsky, A. (2009). What is oncology? Retrieved January 31, 2009 from http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-oncology. htm Takimoto, C. (2009). Phase 0 Clinical trials in oncology: A paradigm shift for early drug development? Cancer Chemotherapy Pharmacology, 63,703-709. Retrieved January 28,2009 from http://www. SpringerLink. com