Essay about Paine and Burke - 1644 Words

HOW FAR DO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES OF EITHER HOBBES AND LOCKE OR PAINE AND BURKE DIFFER. This essay will examine the philosophical difference between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine relating to the French and American Revolutions at the late Eighteenth Century. We are going to present a summary of the debate between these two different philosophers in the first part of this essay. The pros and cons of each man will be looked at in the second and third part of the essay and the final part of this essay will explain why Thomas Paines view was more accepted and legitimate in America than Edmund Burke. In summary this essay will compare and contrast both Paine and Burke views of natural rights, human nature and the government. Burke and†¦show more content†¦Burke also argued against natural rights and explained a custom and practice that develops relation between the government and people. Paine believed in equality and criticised the monarch being chosen by the hereditary succession and by the choice of the people. He wanted the British Constitution to be written because he saw it as not right, and it was brought in during the Glorious Revolution in 1688. According to Burke, there is no natural right for people to choose their governors thus this right is just to degrade the state and bring it lower. Burke did not believe in democracy in any shape or form and saw human rights as being given to you traditionally. For Burke there is no such a thing like equality because some people will always be on the top and others in the bottom and any attempt to change will result in revolution like what happened in France. He argued against the rising ignorance among the people and the importance of education and the tradition being kept. Paine being an egalitarian disagreed with Burke once again, because he saw social contract as consent between the people rather than government and emphasised on non-educated not necessarily stupid as Burke saw them. They have views and being educated will help them do better. Paine believed in ordinary people being given a chance to play political role in society. In addition he believed in the Rights of Man for everybody and everyone have should have the rightShow MoreRelatedThomas Paine vs. Edmund Burke Essay854 Words   |  4 Pagesof their political views. Thomas Paine took the side of the French, opposing his own country, because he believed in a system where people can govern themselves. Edmund Burke took the side of the English because he was supporting his country and believed in a system where there needs to be a higher power to keep people in their place. Thomas Paine was a radical in the way he thought and believed in a total reform of the way people were living at that time. Burke was a Conservative and believed thatRead MoreThe View Of Human Nature : Thomas Paine And Edmund Burke930 Words   |  4 Pagesconstantly being used in the European Middle Ages to describe the view of human nature for Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke. Although both authors have differing views of what it means to be free and equal, they also show differences in their attitude against the type of government within society. With so many differences of opinions between these authors it seems as if there is not much common ground. For Thomas Paine, his ideas center on the fact of every man being equal, God would not want his followers toRead MoreEdmund Burke and Thomas Paine: A Comparative Analysis of Their Views on the French Revolution913 Words   |  4 PagesEdmund Burke and Thomas Paine differed strongly on their views of the French revolution and the wisdom of the proceedings of the French National Assembly in 1789-90. In his book Reflections on the Revolution in France t he conservative Edmund Burke argued that the concept of universal human rights that applied internationally across all societies was a meaningless abstraction that was subversive of social order, while in The Rights of Man the radical democrat Thomas Paine insisted that all human beingsRead More Edmund Burke and Thomas Paines Views on the French Revolution645 Words   |  3 PagesEdmund Burke and Thomas Paines Views on the French Revolution Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine were two of the several strongly-opinionated individuals writing back-and-forth in response to what the others were saying about the French Revolution. Burke, a critic, writes first. Paine, a supporter, responds. In the excerpt from Reflections on the Revolution in France, Burke argues in favor of King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette. When Marie was murdered, Burke says, â€Å"As aRead MoreThe French Revolution And The Revolution1336 Words   |  6 Pagesincluding that of Queen Marie Antoinette and her husband King Louis XVI, it was also a time of great political turmoil which would turn man against man that being the case of Edmond Burke and Thomas Paine. Edmond Burke a traditionalist who believed the people should be loyal to the king against his former friend, Thomas Paine a free thinker who believed in order for things to improve one has to have some sort of change. In a time where it seemed as though things changed over-night the only question isRead MoreThe French Revolution By Edmund Burke Essay1538 Words   |  7 Pageskilling of thousands of people, were actually necessary. The outcome of the French Revolution did not immediately bring about the destruction of the monarc hy and financial prosperity amongst the lower class. Renown critic of the Revolution, Edmund Burke, discusses his distaste for the manners in how the French people violently handled the circumstances they were in through his writing of Reflections on the French Revolution. Contrary to the beliefs of those more conservative, the country’s rewardsRead MoreThomas Paine : Towards An Independent Nation1718 Words   |  7 PagesThomas Paine: Towards an Independent Nation Thomas Paine is most known for his influence in the freedom loving American colonies. With his excellent use of rhetoric and his charisma, he quickly began to gain followers. In his writings, such as Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason, he used these skills to call the Americans to action. Thomas Paine influenced American society and literature with his argumentative pamphlets and influential writings which inspired AmericansRead MoreThe Man Of The Modern Conservatism889 Words   |  4 Pages Burke, the father of the modern conservatism, is well known for his criticism, or contempt of the French Revolution; assuming so, it is not hard to doubt that he in fact sympathized with the American cause. If he is the true father of the conservatism, then the reader may be surprised to hear that he sided with the colonists; however, his decision makes a sense if we acknowledge that Burke regarded the American Revolution as a revolution that is not too far apart from that o f the Glorious RevolutionRead MorePoverty And Poverty1081 Words   |  5 Pagesthis type of dispute is the French Revolution. The French Revolution sparked country across Europe and the world, giving rise to the formation of new political opinion of the poor. Famous authors and politicians during the time, like Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke, sparked an emergence of differing opinions from those commonly held prior to the revolution on the topics of human nature’s impact on poverty and original sin. In today’s day and age, this difference of opinion is still prevalent within mainstreamRead MoreComplications Of The French Revolution1364 Words   |  6 Pagesmonarchy all together. Even Edmund Burke, who became one of the strongest adversaries to the Revolution said I shall Rejoice in seeing such a happy order establish’d in France as much as I do in my consciousness that an order of the same kind, †¦ has been long settled, and I hope on a firm foundation in England. However, this only lasted for a few months as his reservations about the Revolution grew with the increasing violence and radicalisation in France. Burke began to worry that the Revolutionary

Balanced Scoreboard Free Essays

Firstly, financial element is an organizational element which aims at examining whether implementation and execution of company’s organizational strategy are equally contributing to company’s improvement. It is characterized by measures which assess whether the company is able to manage its costs and operations. For Accounting Firm financial element is very important for enhancing performance because it helps to manage revenue growth, profit margins, net operation income and cash flows. We will write a custom essay sample on Balanced Scoreboard or any similar topic only for you Order Now Secondly, customer element aims at defining the value proposition to satisfy customers and to generate more sales. This element is used to measure the delivered value, costs and outcomes – for example, market share or customer satisfaction. In Accounting firm customer element will enhance operational performance, product leadership, customer satisfaction and intimacy. Thirdly, internal process element or perspective aims at creating and delivering the value proposition of customers. The task is to concentrate on key activities and processes to provide value expected by the customers the most effectively and productively. Short-term and long-term objectives are incorporated. In Accounting Firm this element is of great help for developing innovative processes and stimulating further company’s improvement. Internal process assists in improving asset utilization, establishing good relations with external shareholders, etc. Finally, element of learning and growth aims at founding any effective strategy which will concentrate on intangible assets, internal skills and capabilities necessary for value-creating internal process. Human capital, information capital and organizational capital are involved. This element plays important role for Accounting firm as it stimulates improvement in learning, decreases short-term financial loses and contributes to long-term development. References Cobbold, I. Lawrie, G. (2002). The Development of the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management Tool. USA: Performance Measurement Association. How to cite Balanced Scoreboard, Papers

Julian Burnside - Barrister and Refugee - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theJulian Burnside, Barrister and Refugee Advocate. Answer: Julian William Kennedy Burnside was born on 9th June 1949 in Australia barrister. He is an author and an advocate of human right and refugee. He pursue principally in trade, commercial litigation, and administrative law. The staunch opposition by Burnside to the mandatory detention of asylum seeker made him famous, and got a break through to counsel cases which are of high profile (Northouse, 2012). In 2009, Julian was appointed an officer of the order of Australia to deliver as the advocate for human right. He mainly represented the asylum seekers and the refugees as their fundraiser and patron. Early Life Julian mother was Olwen Lloyd Banks, and his father was Kennedy Bryon Burnside, and they lived in Melbourne. Julian father was a protuberant Melbourne urologist. Burnside started his school at Melbourne Grammar School where he performed well and graduated with a lot of prices and scholarships. He then attended Monash University where he studied economics and law with the aim of working as an organization consultant. While still in university, Julian showed a great talent for studying law, and he competed in a mock court competition at Moot Court. Burnside was nominated to go to New Zealand and represent Monash at an international competition where he won a Black Cup for being the best speaker during this competition. The adjudicator who was the chief justice of New Zealand then talked to Burnside and persuaded him to take a career as a barrister. Burnside in 1992 graduated with a bachelor of economics, and a year later he graduated with a Bachelor of Law (Burnside, 2009). Burnside has a family of four. Her wife Kate, a foster son, Mosa and daughter Katherine. Professional Career In 1976, Julian was acknowledged as a barrister of the Supreme Court, and thirteen years later, he was hired a Queens Counsel. Burnside work has always aimed majorly on commercial law. This has enabled him to appear in many commercial cases which are significant mostly trade practices and take-over cases. Burnside was well known as a commercial lawyer due to his representation of high profile cases for wealthiest Australians like Rose Porteous and Alan Bond. Burnside acted for big end town until the late 1990s. In 1998, the battle between Patrick Corporation and the Maritime Union of Australia through the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute which was one Australias longest and severe industrial associations disputes, Burnside acted for Maritime Union of Australia which surprised many people. The matter was moved to the high court of Australia which the union finally won, albeit certain conditions. This is one of the most memorable cases of Burnside, and he describes that for justice of workplace to exist, it was important to have a union of that kind (Burnside, 2009). The involvement of advocate Burnside in the disagreement is shown by Rhy Muldoon in 2007 ABC miniseries Bastard Boys. From the 1990s, Burnside started working more on pro bono legal job on a range of issues related to the human right. He represented Victorias chief civil liberties organization in a case against the government of Australia regarding Tampa affairs and passionately criticized John Howards Government for the detention of asylum seekers immediately they arrived in Australia. With his family, Julian spared a room to host refugee and extra lawyers for refugees, an act which provided a legal representation and a free accommodation of refugees in Australia (Burnside, 2009). Along all this period, Burnside upheld his job as a commercial litigator, appearing on major class actions, general commercial cases, and trade practices cases. Indigenous Australians have also been represented by Burnside with the most famous being the case for Trevorrow Bruce, the Native generation member who sued the Government of South Australia for having separated him from his parents. Mr. Trevorrow won the case, and it was the first time an Australian government was charged guilty of such conduct and the government paid $500,000 compensation in damage (Nohria Khurana, 2013). Burnside was granted the Human Right Law award in 2004 by the Human Right and Equal Opportunity Commission and sponsored by the Law Council of Australia. This was due to his pro-bono authorized work that he did for asylum seekers and also for providing a spare lawyer for refugees. In the same year, Burnside was elected an Australian Living Treasures. Peace Organization of Australia included Burnside on the Australia Peace price in 2007and in 2014, Sydney Peace Foundation awarded Burnside with the Sydney Peace Price award (Van, 2013) As a writer, many books in human right, law, and philosophy has been written by Burnside. In addition to his job as a lawyer, Burnside is a patron of many art organization. He is a chair of two art organization, and he regularly contacts classical sculptures and music compositions. Julian was in charge of Lyle Chan who is an Australian composer for a tongue in cheek work titled Wind Farm music dedicated To Tony Addott. The song gain publicity since it passed the message to the prime minister complaining about anti-renewal energy policy. Some of the cases that have been counseled by Julian Burnside are: He defended Allan Bond He assisted Australian Broadcasting Authorities to interrogate John Laws and Alan Jones, He helped the Maritime Union of Australia in the high court to defeat Patrick Stevedores playing the main role of dramatizing ABC miniseries Bastard Boys Burnside was the counsel for the Ok Tedi natives against BHP Burnside helped Trevorrow Bruce to successfully claim compensation for damage as stolen generation member against the state of South Australia. And this was a historic win (Bass, et al, 2003). He represented Rose Porteous in many actions against Gina Rinehart among other cases Approach of Leadership and Leadership Theory The type of leadership style used by Julian Burnside is democratic. The leader is so relaxed and involves the follower in decision making. In this case, Burnside represented asylums and organized for the refugees a lawyer so that the court should judge whoever was right (Roughton and Mercurio, 2002). The theory used by the leader is the transformational theory. In this theory, the leader interacts with others and is capable of creating a good rapport that results in a high percentage of trust which will eventually increase extrinsic and extrinsic motive in followers and the leader. Burnside transformed his followers through his inspirational nature and charismatic personalities. The attribute of Burnside to asylum and the refugees also provided them with a sense of belonging as they easily identified the leader and his contributions. Key Challenges faced by Leaders Leaders always encounter different problems in their diverse life. The main two challenges that were faced by Burnside were critics and career damage. Critics. Burnside has faced critics in many instances, and the latest instant was in July 2016 when he published a blog post supporting a statement made by Shady AL Suleiman who is an Australian Muslim cleric. Shady comment on HIV/AIDS was purporting that all diseases were being spread by homosexuality citing that when you contact a doctor, you will realize that evil action caused wicked outcomes to the society. Burnside wrote saying that the remarks by AL Suleimans appeared to be true and real as a problem of medical observation. He later received critics from the Spectator Australia and the Herland sun which are opinion columnists. There was also a letter written by Rita Panahi accusing Julian of spreading a label that the spread of HIV/AIDS was a responsibility of Homosexuals. Burnside managed this challenge by explaining in his next post that he did not disapprove gay people hence they should be left to live their life directed by their instincts (Woods, 2004). Leaders can avoid this type of critics by not taking sides or by keeping quite. Career Damage Another challenge faced by leaders is that their career is being damaged. Burnside says that his career has been damaged by activism, because of the time it consumes, and it is to the contrary that the judges and the barrister do not speak on the public issue and he accepts that the rise of Pauline Hanson may seep away his victory. According to Burnside, he is a barrister and e is focused on winning but moving away maybe a personal expense for quite long. There is also a big barrier from the judges as they view Burnside as the leader of the human right who has a great mass behind him. Burnside has come to a view that he may not see success, but he has the pledge to continue trying to fight for human rights (Goleman, 2003). Lesson Learned from Burnside From the action of Julian Burnside, we can learn that we can use our career to fight for other peoples right and be recognized. Julian Burnside used is a career as a barrister and as an advocate to help refugees and the asylums. This act made him win many awards. He also presented the union in the court and helped them win the most controversial case. The cases represented by the advocate were many mostly those of human right and those of commercial laws (Briskman, et al, 2008). From the story, we also learn how to maintain challenges like critics and career. This will help in creating good relation with the public and serving those in need well. The approach used by Burnside was a transformative method with democratic leadership style, and this worked well since trust and rapport were created (Johnson, 2013). References Bass, B.M., Avolio, B.J., Jung, D.I. and Berson, Y., 2003. Predicting unit performance by assessing transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of applied psychology, 88(2), p.207. Briskman, L., Latham, S., Goddard, C., Street, K. and Bentley, P., 2008. Human rights overboard. Melbourne, Victoria: Scribe Publications. Burnside, J., 2009. Wordwatching. Scribe Publications Pty Ltd. Goleman, D., 2003. What makes a leader. Organizational influence processes, pp.229-241. Johnson, C.E., 2013. Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. Sage Publications. Nohria, N. and Khurana, R. eds., 2013. Handbook of leadership theory and practice: An HBS centennial colloquium on advancing leadership. Harvard Business Press. Northouse, P.G., 2012. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage. Roughton, J. and Mercurio, J., 2002. Developing an effective safety culture: A leadership approach. Butterworth-Heinemann. Van Wart, M., 2013. Lessons from leadership theory and the contemporary challenges of leaders. Public Administration Review, 73(4), pp.553-565. Woods, P.A., 2004. Democratic leadership: drawing distinctions with distributed leadership. International journal of Leadership in Education, 7(1), pp.3-26.

Welfare State Essays - Federal Assistance In The United States

Welfare State The role of welfare within our society has always been controversial. This problem emphasizes the need to understand the roles of variable factors when pertaining to the subject of welfare within our society. The proposed analysis will address the phenomenon of welfare assistance and several factors which may contribute to the increase or decrease of welfare assistance to the poor in 4 ways: (1) by defining major concepts and any other concepts about which there is likely to be misunderstanding (2) by further examining the past history pertaining to the subject of welfare assistance within the United States; (3) by developing the formulation of a hypothesis which will provide for an explanation of welfare; and finally (4) determining whether or not the benefits of welfare assistance outweigh the cost. Ultimately, the purpose of this research analysis is to investigate variable factors that may contribute to the increase or decrease of welfare assistance. This cost benefit analysis is an attempt to explain the tentative assumptions of others pertaining to the subject of welfare, in order to determine and explain the relationship of welfare to the economic cost and benefits. Cost-Benefit Analysis Before welfare assistance can be analyzed there is a need to define the terms that will be used. Policies like welfare assistance are worthwhile only if the benefits to society are greater than the costs. When choosing among a set of policies, the policy with the greatest net benefit (benefit over cost) should be chosen. Hence, this is where the term cost-benefit analysis comes from. Cost-benefit analysis is a technique for determining the optimal level of an economic activity such as welfare. In general, an activity such as welfare assistance should be expanded as long as it leads to greater benefits than costs. In purely economic terms, does the benefit of welfare assistance justify the costs of welfare assistance? (Mishan 13) Why Use Cost-benefit Analysis? Since 1981, government agencies have been required to perform cost-benefit analyses called Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIA's) for all major regulations within the United States. Many statutes require that cost-benefit analysis be undertaken and the results be reported to Congress (Mishan 2). Cost-benefit analysis can also be a good way to measure how effective a policy such as welfare assistance has been, or to find ways in which a program can be improved. But, regardless of how it is used, the preparation of a cost benefit analysis provides a useful framework for consideration of the possible effects of a proposed policy. Past History of Welfare Assistance One of the first welfare programs to provide income support to the poor was a federally backed plan called the Aid to Dependent Children (ADC) program. This legislation was introduced with the establishment of the Social Security program during the Great Depression. (Rowley, and Peacock 43) The ADC program which had started nearly sixty years ago is now better known as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, which provided a federal entitlement to economic support for single parents with children younger than 18 who fell below a threshold of assets and income (Rowley, and Peacock 44). Federal guidelines allowed for each state to set its own predetermined needs standards for families of different sizes and living locations. Both the federal government and the states supplied funding for the AFDC program (Rowley, and Peacock 50). In 1996 Congress adopted the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program by enacting the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act which ultimately changed the structure of federal financial assistance to the states thereby abolishing the AFDC program. Another social welfare program was the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Congress established the Supplemental Security Income program in 1972, with payments beginning in January 1974. It replaced the former Federal-State programs of Old-Age Assistance (OAA), Aid to the Blind (AB), and Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled (APTD)( Myles, and Pierson 9). An individual may have qualified for payments on the basis of age, blindness, or disability. Any person aged 65 or older was also eligible. President Richard Nixon enacted the Supplemental Security Income program with the signing of the Supplemental Social Insurance Act. The benefits under this program were originally targeted to the elderly who did not qualify for social security and the blind and disabled whose income and assets fell below the specified thresholds. A third major welfare assistance program is the Medicaid program. The Medicaid program is a health care support program targeted toward the poor. Medicaid was originally suppose to provide the same health care to the poor as privately

Should there be a law when celebrities influence Essays

Should there be a law when celebrities influence Essays Should there be a law when celebrities influence Essay Should there be a law when celebrities influence Essay Anorexia nervosa is an eating upset, characterised by self-starvation. Sick persons tend to hold a distorted organic structure image, frequently sing themselves as larger than they really are. They may develop an intense fright of weight addition, despite the fact they are significantly scraggy. The unwellness has a psychological every bit good as physical footing and is more complex than merely following an utmost diet. Sufferers typically become haunted with nutrient and develop schemes to enable them to avoid eating. The deficiency of nutrient can ensue in failing, desiccation, sterility, kidney failure, bosom failure and decease. Despite considerable research, no individual cause of the unwellness has been established, although the media are frequently criticised for their publicity of super-thin theoretical accounts. In add-on, assorted famous persons, have been blamed for promoting anorexia through their emaciated visual aspects which some argue have led immature misss to endeavor for unnatural and inaccessible ideals, taking to the development of eating upsets. The influence of famous persons have led some to propose that the reply to the job may lie in legal control in the signifier of go throughing a jurisprudence to curtail the celebrity/anorexia influence upon immature misss. In footings of a condemnable jurisprudence and the possibility of conveying a prosecution against a famous person accused of act uponing immature misss to go anorectic, a figure of jobs arise. First, the nature of the offense itself, bing statute law allows for prosecution for non-fatal offenses under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. A possible offense would include subdivision 20, which makes it an offense to bring down dangerous bodily injury ( GBH ) on any individual. There is no uncertainty that the wellness jobs suffered by those with anorexia could amount to GBH but there is an issue with causing – could the famous person concerned be said to hold caused the anorexia? In order to successfully prosecute a famous person in this context, the prosecution would hold to demo, beyond sensible uncertainty, that the behavior of the famous person straight caused a peculiar immature miss to develop anorexia. There are a figure of issues originating here. First, causing would be highly hard to set up. The usual manner of turn outing causing is by using a two-stage trial. First, was the action of the suspect, in this instance the famous person, the factual cause of the victim’s injury? The trial used comes from the instance of R v White [ 1910 ] [ 1 ] and is known as the but for’ trial – but for the actions of the suspect, would the victim have suffered from anorexia? As anorexia is a complex mental unwellness, the cause of which is non normally agreed upon, this would be all but impossible to turn out and surely could non, on the footing of current medical cognition, be attributed beyond sensible uncertainty to a individual cause. As factual causing entirely does non ever give rise to legal liability, even if it could be established, the prosecution would besides be required to turn out legal causing. For legal causing to be established, the actions of the suspect must be the legal cause of the victim’s injury. In relation to anorexia, the prosecution would hold to demo that the behavior of the famous person in inquiry made a important or more than minimal’ part to the victim’s anorexia. [ 2 ] This is possibly easier to turn out than factual causing but would still necessitate medical grounds to back up the averment. This would be really hard to happen. If both factual and legal causing could be established, the suspect may well reason that the fact that no 1 cause of anorexia has been established by the medical profession means that their behavior is merely one of a figure of possible causes. In add-on, the actions of the victim themselves may good be considered to interrupt the concatenation of causing which must take straight from the defendant’s behavior to the victim’s anorexia – in other words, the famous person may reason that it is the victim who has caused their ain anorexia by declining to eat and that they should non, hence, be held responsible. Even if the issues of causing were satisfied, there would be a job with work forces rea, in that the famous person would hold to be shown to hold deliberately caused the victim to develop anorexia or been foolhardy as to whether they did so. The prosecution are improbable to be able to turn out that this was the instance as no jury would be likely to do such a determination merely on the footing of the manner the famous person looked. In the civil kingdom, a instance may be made for carelessness, based on a failure by the famous person concerned to take sufficient attention to protect immature misss from being influenced by their visual aspect. This excessively though is improbable, since the tribunals would likely non enforce the necessary responsibility of attention upon famous persons. If famous persons were held to owe such a responsibility to immature misss, it would curtail their liberty and may even be held to transgress their human rights, as the tribunals would be enforcing their positions upon what constituted a normal weight and how famous persons would be allowed to look/dress and the similar. As there are issues with the bing Torahs, a new jurisprudence could be developed but given the jobs already highlighted in both the felon and civil sphere, any new statute law is likely to run into similar jobs. In decision, hence, there should non be a jurisprudence regulating this country, as the practical jobs associated with it would be excessively great. Alternatively, other influences should be considered, such how to advance the impression of a healthy weight, whilst research and intervention for those enduring from anorexia should be continued. Bibliography Allen, M. Criminal Law, 9Thursdayedition. Oxford: OUP, 2007 Beat. Has Fashion Got Its House in Order? ’ October 2007 Emmett, S. Theory and Treatment of Anorexia and Bulimia. Brunner-Mazel, 1985 Harpwood, V. Modern Tort Law, 6Thursdayedition, Routledge, 2005 Ormerod, D. Smith and Hogan Criminal Law, 11Thursdayedition. LexisNexis, 2005 Web sites BBC At: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/anorexia1.shtml Eating Disorders UK At: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.b-eat.co.uk/Home Accessed 22neodymiumMarch 2008 1

Dong Son Drums - Symbols of a Maritime Bronze Age Society in Asia

Dong Son Drums - Symbols of a Maritime Bronze Age Society in Asia The Dong Son Drum (or Dongson Drum) is ​the  most famous artifact of the Southeast Asian Dongson culture, a complex society of farmers and sailors who lived in what is today northern Vietnam, and made bronze and iron objects between about 600 BC and AD 200. The drums, which are found throughout southeast Asia, can be enormousa typical drum is 70 centimeters (27 inches) in diameterwith a flat top, bulbous rim, straight sides, and a splayed foot. The Dong Son drum is the earliest form of bronze drum found in southern China and southeast Asia, and they have been used by many different ethnic groups from prehistoric times to the present. Most of the early examples are found in northern Vietnam and southwestern China, specifically, Yunnan Province and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The Dong Son drums were produced in the Tonkin area of northern Vietnam and southern China beginning about 500 BC and then traded or otherwise distributed throughout island Southeast Asia as far as the western New Guinea mainland and the island of Manus. The earliest written records describing the Dongson drum appear in the Shi Ben, a Chinese book dated from the 3rd century BC. The Hou Han Shu, a late Han dynasty book dated to the 5th century AD, describes how the Han dynasty rulers collected bronze drums from what is now northern Vietnam to melt down and recast into bronze horses. Examples of Dongson Drums have been found in elite burial assemblages at the major Dongson culture sites of Dong Son, Viet Khe, and Shizhie Shan. Dong Son Drum Designs Designs on the highly ornamented Dong Son drums reflect a sea-oriented society. Some have elaborate friezes of figured scenes, featuring boats and warriors wearing elaborate feather head-dresses. Other common watery designs include bird-motifs, small three-dimensional animals (frogs or toads?), long boats, fish, and geometric symbols of clouds and thunder. Human figures, long-tailed flying birds and stylized depictions of boats are typical on the bulging upper part of the drums. One iconic image found on the top of all Dongson drums is a classic starburst, with a various number of spikes radiating out from a center. This image is immediately recognizable to westerners as a representation of a sun or a star. Whether that was what the makers had in mind is something of a puzzle. Interpretive Clashes Vietnamese scholars tend to view the decorations on the drums as a reflection of cultural characteristics of the Lac Viet people, early residents of Vietnam; Chinese scholars interpret the same decorations as evidence of a cultural exchange between interior China and Chinas southern frontier. One outlier theorist is Austrian scholar Robert von Heine-Geldern, who pointed out that the earliest Bronze Age drums in the world come from 8th century BC Scandinavia and the Balkans: he suggested that some of the decorative motifs including tangent-circles, ladder-motif, meanders and hatched triangles may have roots in the Balkans. Heine-Gelderns theory is a minority position. Another point of contention is the central star: it has been interpreted by western scholars to represent the sun (suggesting the drums are part of a solar cult), or perhaps the Pole Star, marking the center of the sky (but the Pole Star is not visible in much of southeast Asia). The real crux of the issue is that the typical southeast Asian sun/star icon is not a round center with triangles representing the rays, but rather a circle with straight or wavy lines emanating from its edges. The star form is undeniably a decorative element found on Dongson drums, but its meaning and nature is unknown at present. Long-beaked and long-tailed birds with outstretched wings are often seen on the drums, and interpreted as typically aquatic, such as herons or cranes. These too have been used to argue a foreign contact from Mesopotamia/Egypt/Europe with southeast Asia. Again, this is a minority theory that crops up in the literature (see Loofs-Wissowa for a detailed discussion). But, contact with such far-flung societies is not a totally crazy idea: Dongson sailors likely participated in the Maritime Silk Road which could account for long-distance contact with late Bronze Age societies in India and the rest of the world.There is no doubt that the drums themselves were made by the Dongson people, and where they got the ideas for some of their motifs is (to my mind anyway) not particularly significant.   Studying Dong Son Drums The first archaeologist to comprehensively study southeast Asian drums was Franz Heger, an Austrian archaeologist, who categorized the drums into four types and three transitory types. Hegers Type 1 was the earliest form, and that is the one called the Dong Son drum. It wasnt until the 1950s that Vietnamese and Chinese scholars began their own investigations. A rift was established between the two countries, in that each set of scholars claimed the invention of bronze drums for their resident countries. That split of interpretation has persisted. In terms of classifying drum styles, for example, Vietnamese scholars kept Hegers typology, while Chinese scholars created their own classifications. While antagonism between the two sets of scholars has melted away, neither side has changed its overall position. Sources This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Dongson Culture, and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Ballard C, Bradley R, Myhre LN, and Wilson M. 2004. The ship as symbol in the prehistory of Scandinavia and Southeast Asia. World Archaeology 35(3):385-403.  . Chinh HX, and Tien BV. 1980. The Dongson Culture and Cultural Centers in the Metal Age in Vietnam. Asian Perspectives 23(1):55-65. Han X. 1998. The present echoes of the ancient bronze drums: Nationalism and archaeology in modern Vietnam and China. Explorations 2(2):27-46. Han X. 2004. Who Invented the Bronze Drum? Nationalism, Politics, and a Sino-Vietnamese Archaeological Debate of the 1970s and 1980s. Asian Perspectives 43(1):7-33. Loofs-Wissowa HHE. 1991. Dongson Drums: Instruments of shamanism or regalia? Arts Asiatiques 46(1):39-49. Solheim WG. 1988. A Brief History of the Dongson Concept. Asian Perspectives 28(1):23-30. Tessitore J. 1988. View from the East Mountain: An Examination of the Relationship between the Dong Son and Lake Tien Civilizations in the First Millennium B.C. Asian Perspectives 28(1):31-44. Yao, Alice. Recent Developments in the Archaeology of Southwestern China. Journal of Archaeological Research, Volume 18, Issue 3, February 5, 2010.

Slavery and Paternalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Slavery and Paternalism - Essay Example The official system was also not a choice for slaves to rely on for aid as they had no official rights. Douglass stated his story when he was a slave. He declares many horrible acts committed by the slaveholders in Talbot County (his birthplace). Douglass declares that in Talbot County slaying or punishing a slave is not considered as unusual or offensive. He further explains the story of a slaveholder who kills two of his slaves and despite of his declaration of the two murders neither anyone put him in jail, nor taken any action against him. Douglass gave some more examples of such horrible deaths of slaves for their minor mistakes. He stated the story of his own cousin who was beaten harshly by a lady with an oak stick just because he fell asleep while watching the lady's child. Such harsh and horrible behavior and dreadful murder of a slave needed to be noticed and forwarded for some solution but this horrifying murder did not seem enough to take action against the lady. One more declaration was that an old slave of Colonel Lloyd was shot just because he encroached mistakenly onto private land. The killer visited Colonel Lloyd to clarify what occurred and the entire issue settled down. Douglass declares quiet repulsively and regretfully that 1"it was worth a half-cent to kill a 'nigger,' and a half-cent to bury one." Chapter 4, pg. 69 Douglass disagrees with the statement that the slaveholders take care of their slaves from their birth till their death and he also refused that slaves have any kind of freedom. As he declares, 2"The whisper that my master was my father, may or may not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little consequence to my purpose whilst the fact remains, in all its glaring odiousness, that slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers; and this is done too obviously to administer to their own lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable; for by this cunning arrangement, the slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slave the double relation of master and father." Chapter 1, pg. 49 Douglass stated the whole period of his slavery in pain and did not like the rules that were just in favor of the slaveholders. He wanted to escape from this disgraceful and terrible County where the slaves were not even considered as human beings. He hated the behaviors of slaveholders with their slaves. The statement of Douglass further points toward the cruelty and fear of the white men (slaveholders). 3"A single word from the white men was enough-against all our wishes, prayers, and entreaties-to sunder forever the dearest friends, dearest kindred, and strongest ties known to human beings." Chapter 8, pg. 90 To support his argument he gave many examples of murders committed by the masters and their cruelty even as a result of the minor mistakes. Colonel Lloyd had a lot of slaves that he does not recognize them all and they do not all recognize him. It is stated that one day as Colonel Lloyd was on a trip; he meets up a slave and inquires him about his master. As the slave answers that he belongs to Colonel Lloyd, he inquires the slave if his master takes care of him. The slave, unaware of

An analysis of factors leading to failure of small businesses in The Dissertation

An analysis of factors leading to failure of small businesses in The Amur Region, Far East Russia - Dissertation Example This publication is important in outlining the background of the Russian policies for small businesses as well as the current business landscape in the country. For instance, there is the discourse devoted on how the business and entrepreneurship climate are currently difficult as demonstrated by the small number of small firms, the low levels of fixed capital investment as well as the capital flight that supposedly exceeded an estimated $15 billion annually. (p. 73) With this OECD (2002) report, several general factors are clearly identified that led to the successes and failures of small enterprises in Russia. In investigating the Amur experience, the corpus of literature of the regional business landscape is essential in depicting the dynamics of setting up and running businesses from policy standpoint as well as from cases of entrepreneurial outcomes. A World Bank research group argued that local government policies are crucial in the growth of small enterprises and that the â₠¬Å"regional data on small enterprises per thousand residents is considered an adequate proxy for local government support for small businesses.† (De Melo, Ofer and World Bank 1999, p10) Several regional cases were identified, compared and assessed. The outcome is an extensive investigation on policy differences, policy reforms, among other economic and political variables that were effectively linked to business performances. Extensive discussion of universal policy areas that cover small-sized businesses are also available in the publication, OECD Studies on SMEs and Entrepreneurship High-Growth Enterprises: What Governments Can Do to Make a Difference. Specific indicators on entrepreneurship that have been derived by OECD from qualitative information on laws and regulations, among other related sources could be adopted by this study at it provided clear roadmap in effectively surveying national and local administrations. These indicators and the methodologies employed to ide ntify them are contained in the OECD’s report called Measuring Innovation (2010). More recent research covering Vladimir Putin’s regime include Ganske’s (2008) book on Russia’s political economy. This work cited the economic reforms that are currently in place as well as several important factors that make small firms fail such as adverse local regulations (licensing, certification, tax inspections, fire inspections and sanitary inspections) and tax policies. (p16) This latter point was further expounded by Sakwa (2004), who argued that although Putin sought to tackle the bureaucratization of the economic landscape and that so far only two large cities have demonstrated some semblance of business dynamism, Moscow and St. Petersburg. (p. 206) Fish (2005) devoted much of his work on documenting the challenges of the effect of bureaucracy on small businesses. The research done by Dana et al. is an excellent resource on current business statistics in Russia s ince it contains critical examination of the data, particularly the numbers, which according to the authors tend to be inflated. One of the reasons given for this argument is that small business owners often â€Å"force onto de facto employees the status of individual entrepreneurs for tax purposes.†

English Literacy Essay Example for Free

English Literacy Essay The class I will be taking for my three lessons contains 25 grade 9 students. Of these students there is 15 girls and 10 boys. 12 of these students are currently working at the average literacy level for grade 9 students. There are 8 students working at an above average level, and 5 students at a below average level. Of these 5 students, 2 boys have behavioural issues, and struggle to stay attentive for long periods. Twice a week there is a Teacher’s Aid available to work with small groups for up to 2 hours. This 2 hour period is often used to help break up lessons for the 2 boys with behavioural problems, or occasionally separate them if the need arises. Throughout these literacy lessons the Teacher’s Aid will be available to help the 5 students who are currently below average literacy levels, as well as prompt deeper discussion around the chosen text, with other students in the class. The chosen text for this literacy unit is the song ‘Imagine’, originally written and performed by John Lennon. Over a period of 3 lessons this text will be explored and examined through the three receptive modes of listening, reading and viewing. The text ‘Imagine’ provides a range of relevant literacy demands for grade 9 students. It is an excellent example of literature that is well structured by an author, for a specific purpose and effect. As stated by the Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2011), â€Å"By the end of year nine students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect†. Some of the literacy demands that can be explored by students in this text include language for interaction, text structure, expressing and developing ideas. These opportunities are provided by the written content and theme of John Lennon’s song. He uses certain devices, such as metaphor and sentence structure, to suggest the world could be a better place without religion, ownership, war and possibly cultural differences. By analysing the written text, students will have the opportunity to analyse and reflect on how the author has put these messages across. It is also a goal for year 9 students to be able to discuss the content and appeal of an author’s literary style (ACARA, 2011). Other literacy demands that are prominent for this text are examining and responding to literature, as well as interacting with others. Lines in the text, such as â€Å"No people below us, above us only sky†, offers students the opportunity to evaluate and discuss their own ideas on the meaning, and intent of the author. Some students may find the comprehension of these tasks easier than others. This can be due to some students having less prior knowledge in specific areas, and therefore may be working at a lower level of literacy (Emmitt, Komesaroff Pollock, 2006). In this case I as a teacher, as well as the Teacher’s Aid, will be there to support and facilitate learning. Visual and auditory features of this text are also significant to the literacy content. The film clip for the song contains Mr Lennon playing a piano and singing in a large empty house, with a woman sitting with him. This provides students with an opportunity to analyse the message of the video clip by itself, and in relation to the written lyrics. The ability for students to make connections between the lyrics and clip will be encouraged. Contradictions, such as John playing a beautiful piano inside of a mansion whilst singing about no possessions, will also be looked for in students understanding of the text. The melody of the song is uplifting and enjoyable, and provides another aspect of literacy that students can identify with the authors use of text to cause effect. With the aim of providing an effective literacy environment, as well as rich opportunities for literacy to take place, a variety of learning practicing will be implemented. This text allows learning practices such as discussion, group work and presentation. It will be important for me as a teacher to use differentiation whilst providing questions for students, to evoke interest and learning . As suggested by Camborne’s 7 conditions of learning, engagement in crucial in producing an optimal learning environment. Open class discussions involving all students can be used to generate this engagement as well as immerse students into the text (Campbell Green, 2006). Group work will provide another environment where certain students may be more comfortable participating and allow diversity in all student’s learning. The variation provided by the text allows the use of video clips and audio tapes as a form of diversity, which is important in stimulating and motivating students (Campbell Green, 2006). Another key to maintaining motivation in students is encouragement and feedback. This is an important practice throughout any unit and links to Camborne’s learning condition of response. This condition advises feedback from not only teachers but also peers, in both formal and informal settings. It is important that feedback is offered in a constructive and in a positive environment (Westwood, 1999). The strategy I will implement throughout my three lessons with be based around a combination of verbal and written tasks. This will provide students with numerous opportunities to discuss and engage with the text. It will also allow me as a teacher to guide students towards specific learning outcomes related to my context of health. Using the selected strategy, students will be guided towards ‘exploring and reflecting on personal understanding of the world and significant human experience gained from interpreting various representations of life matters from texts’. This is drawn from the grade 9 literacy strand within ACARA 2011. This learning outcome strongly relates to health and wellbeing in society, and provides students with the opportunity to discuss their own thoughts and feelings on such topics. As the lessons progress students will be able to analyse the world, and human health related issues of the text. The selected strategy will permit activities such as linking the general theme of the song to other famous text. The uplifting message of the text ‘Imagine’ suggests that if people work together, the world can become a better place. Other texts such as ‘I have a dream’ by Martin Luther King Junior, have strong links to this message and can be used to strengthen students understanding of the chosen learning outcome. Demonstrating how to make links between different texts by me as the teacher will be important in providing students the opportunity to observe learning occurring (Wing Jan, 2009). Another important aspect of my lessons will be making sure I cater for all students when setting tasks. Support from the Teacher’s Aid, and myself, as well as a variation in difficulty levels required in tasks, will help students achieve the chosen learning outcome. When teaching literacy to grade 9 students in this context it will be important to structure lessons and strategies used to guide students in a clear and precise manner*. I have found Camborne’s 7 conditions of learning an effective theory to use when planning for the literacy demands of a text, as well as literacy practices to be implemented into the classroom. It is also important to use scaffolding through a unit of work, especially when the intended learning outcome is at a level students have not previously achieved (Winch, Johnston, March, Ljungdahl Holliday, 2006). Bloom’s Taxonomy is a good example of how to scaffold correctly and create rich learning opportunities. Bloom’s Taxonomy also links to Camborne’s conditions. The condition of ‘Use’ for example, where students use their knowledge through their everyday lives, links with the later stages of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Scaffolding should be guided by the strategies chosen by the teacher to engage students in each lesson of the unit (Campbell Green, 2006).

History of the Novel :: Free Essay Writer

The arrival of the novel was not a sudden process. Stories have existed among mankind since the cave man began drawing on the walls. From the Bible to Homer's epic poems to Shakespeare's plays the evolution of the novel has been a gradual but steady process. Now it must be made clear that books existed before the eighteenth century, fiction was written–however, the idea of a ‘novel’ did not come into existence until the 1700s. Although there is no way to credit the ‘first’ novel, however there are at least three â€Å"groups of works† which can be designated as the novels â€Å"predecessors† (Stoddard 30). These three consist of: 1. The Greek Romances "All that we have of it is evidence, more or less complete, of the existence of eight tales" (Stoddard 30) including the story of Nimrod, the story of Dinias and the story of Sinonis. These are stories of adventure and romance. According to Stoddard, these stories focus mainly on external events. These stories do not discuss the internal emotions of the hero. It is a story "wholly external depicting only adventures of the body, of the physical senses" (Stoddard 35). 2. The Italian and Spanish Romances These texts have "vastly influenced the literature of Europe" (Stoddard 39). Although they are similar to the Greek romances with their adventurous tales, there is a more sentimental feel to these stories. These texts take the "pastoral" idea of romance and images of the sentimental lover and longing for the past come into mind. "They are not the novel" (Stoddard 41) but when studying these works, one can see the influence the played on the eighteenth century novel. 3. Prose Romances of Chivalry They tell stories of knights rescuing the damsel in distress and riding off into the sunset. "Tracing a direct line of decent is difficult, but the spirit of these romances of the chivalric deeds"

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Dominic Cole’s IELTS Blog www. dcielts. com The bar chart below shows the quarterly profit forecast for three major US companies in 2012. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the chart. You should write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Quarterly pro? t forecasts for three major US companies in 2012 1500 1350 1200 Pro? t in millions of dollars 1050 900 750 600 450 300 150 0 Jan-March Apr-June July-Sept Oct-Dec Microsoft Ford IBM Dominic Cole’s IELTS Blog www. dcielts. comThis bar graph shows the quarterly change in pro? ts for Microsoft, Ford and IBM in 2012. The ? rst point to note is that while both Microsoft and IBM are predicted to show a substantial growth in pro? ts in this period, there is going to be little movement in the ? gures for Ford. It should also be remarked that although IBM will start the year with the lowest margin, it is predicted to be the most pro? table company by the end of the year. If we look at the numbers in detail we see that Ford is expected to make a ? st-quarter pro? t of around $825 million and this should rise marginally to $900 million by the end of September, only to fall back to its starting point by December. In stark contrast, IBM is predicted to show a steady growth in pro? ts throughout the year, shooting up from just over $180 million to exactly $1,200 million by the year? s end. After a dif? cult ? rst quarter where its pro? ts drop by around half to around $200, Microsoft is forecast to follow a similar pattern of steady growth from April to December, ? ishing at $600 million. notes 1. This report relates to future predictions. See the variety of language that refers to the future 2. The report starts by noting the two main points: general growth apart from Ford and that IBM moves from the least pro? table to the most pro? table 3. The second paragraph deals with each company in turn. It is linked by the comparisons comparing Ford to IBM and then IBM to M icrosoft 4. The word pro? t is repeated consistently but there is some effort to use synonyms or related phrases

Discuss the whether you believe that the reading on the passive-aggression organization has implications in the UAE

Yes! I should say that passive-aggression organization has implication in the UAE because as Gary Neilson, Bruce Pasternack, and Karen Van Nuys pointed out, no company that has never suffered such syndrome. The passive-aggression organization syndrome is a general situation that has been experienced by business organizations not only in many parts of America, but also in Europe.As Neilson, Pasternack, and Van Nuys stated, problems develop gradually as company grows through a series of â€Å"well-intended but badly implemented organizational changes†¦,† I believe that passive-aggression organization has implication in the UAE because controlling and delegating authority by those at the top often creates problems and complexities that can result to this problem. The survey that was conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton reveals that one in five of about 30,000 respondents to a global online survey admitted they suffered this syndrome.In my view, it is reasonable to say that passi ve-aggression has implications in the UAE. Provide a workplace example from your own experience where you have observed attribution theory occurring. Attribution theory occurs perhaps in every work place where there are both a sound leadership and performance failures. In the banking sector where performance required among employees were customer relations and number skills, occurrence of attribution theory is often seen in this context. Poor performance outcomes are blamed on someone’s customer relation’s skills.Bank employees are paid not only to cater to the need of the clientele; they are also paid to show customer care which mat require skills. Employees often attribute their failures to their lack of skills in customer relations skills. Discuss what you believe is the most important factor to be managed when implementing a change program in the workplace. I believed that the most important factor to be managed when implementing change program in the work place is the change process itself as this could be easily misunderstood by the employees.There are some aspect that needs to be considering when implanting this change such as the behavior of the individual in the organizational settings and the consequences of this change in the employee performance. In the organizational setting, Vecchio stressed that organizational culture provides influences among the employees that could motivate them to bring out their best. Thus, when implementing a change program in the work place, it is important to consider how the change process will have impact on the organizational setting.

Study of economic growth and development China The WritePass Journal

Study of economic growth and development China Introduction: Study of economic growth and development China Introduction:National High-Tech RD (863) Programme in BriefPolicy Context and ImplementationFunding and ImpactConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction: Economists have during recent time associated economic growth to research and development ability of a country. One of such economic models is called the endogenous growth model. According to the endogenous growth model, research and development is a key driver of technological innovations using human resources capital and the existing knowledge (Romer, 1986). This theory goes on to state that innovation is then used to produce goods which will contribute to the permanent increase in the growth rate of output. Innovations that are endogenously created are essential to a sustainable economic growth.   Research Development therefore can be regarded as an engine for the creation new technology and goods. China has a long history of research and development. The ancient China is celebrated for having invented paper, printing, compass and gun powder. China has also made great invention in the agricultural sector as well as in the astronomy (Sevin 1982). From 1946 to 1970, China pursued a socialist agenda with government playing the central role of coordinating all state affairs. Even though China was considered as a low income country during this period, it invested a lot into Research and Development motivated in order to become a world military power. Elite research institutes such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences were created to support the research and development and China rapid progress in nuclear technology, space technology, and genetic engineering in the 1960s and 1970 testifies to the partial success of this system. However as the Soviet Union was suddenly divided in the 1960, this advancement could not be sustained because China was then dependent on the importation of Tec hnology from its main ally the Soviet Union.   Beginning from the period of Chinese economic reform in 1979, Research and Development in China experienced two transitions:   first, from plan to market economy as it moves away from a centrally directed innovation system, secondly, from low income developing country toward Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) industrialised country status as it intensifies its innovation effort and more effectively deploys the ensuing technological gains. According to the comparative measures of RD intensity among countries of OEC from 1991 to 2003, China’s RD intensity rose to 1.4 percent. Beginning from 1980 to 1990, the central government of China in its bid to catch up with other developed countries decided to formulate and finances science and technology programme throughout the countries. Programmes such as the 863 project and the 973 project were designed to promote science and technology capabilities and to catch up with the growing technological and innovation gap between China and the West. Other programmes such as the Torch programme were designed to support local high –tech industries by providing direct government grant and tax incentives to industries. This essay focuses on the Chinese National RD (863) programme. The objective there is to critically examine the programme, evaluate its output and impact and provide recommendation for its future directions (Naughton,2007). National High-Tech RD (863) Programme in Brief The National High-Tech Research and Development Programme also known as the 863 programme came into being on the 3rd March 1986, when four top China scientists addressed a private letter to Deng Xiaoping, the then Leader of the China calling for the establishment of an Elite project devoted to technology that would make china the â€Å"xin jinshu geming† the new technological revolution. Deng Xiaoping agreed and approved the proposal and directed that action must be taking immediately to implement the programme.   The project was then codenamed 863 programme for the year and the month of its birth. The 863 Programme has set as objective to provide funding for technological research and innovation which were of a strategic importance to the economic and social development of China. It was expected that the programme will enable China achieve a technological â€Å"leap frog† especially in areas were China already enjoys a relative advantages and support the implementation of the third phase of china modernisation process. In recent years, the programme has been extended to include the development of key technologies, in agriculture, biology, environmental protection, renewable energy and information technology. Policy Context and Implementation The programme 863 can be described as part of the general reform efforts that begun in 1979. It was important to move the country away from the socialist approach which was more focused in investing in military research which did help improve the Chinese people wellbeing. The Chinese government also believed that a reform of the economy was important as it will enable a rapid economic growth, improvement on technological innovation and fast infrastructure development that will improve the quality of life of Chinese people. The 863 programme was constituted of an emerging China’s high-technology sector, which includes a number of high level government agencies, state-run research institutes, public and a growing private RD investment funds. The programme could be described as an attempt of the government’s openness policy adopted toward international trade and foreign investment by providing investment attraction to foreign investors through tax incentives and co-investment in research.   The project came to being at a time the government needed to find a lasting solution to its energy needs which became high as the volume of industries and the number of imported cars have increase dramatically. According to the New Yorker, by 2001, more than two thousand new cars were bought in China everyday and millions of barrels were imported from outside and depended of its coals to generate more eighty percent of its energy. This phenomenon was rendering China very polluted and the impact of clima te change could undermine China’s future stability. It was therefore for China to develop new technology to find new solution to its energy and pollution management. The central government wanted to focus on the development renewable energy and as a result made available direct significant public funding to research, product development and application of technologies in the renewable sector. The Ministry of Science and Technology is the lead body in charge of developing science and technology strategy, policy and coordinating other government agencies that were involved in the implementation of the project. Other institutions such as the Chinese Academy of science, the Natural foundation Committee and the Academy of Engineering were also playing important roles in the allocation of funding to research institutes. Funding and Impact Data from the Ministry of Science and Technology reveals a continuing growth in the Chinese Expenditure on Research and Development. In 1996 the gross domestic expenditure on RD was 404 million Yuan and by 2006 the figure has increased to 3003 million Yuan.   China currently spends almost 1.5 percent of it of its GDP on research and Development. China’s expenditure on RD can be regarded as high considering the fact that the living standard of living is still low. By comparison the level of expenditure among OECD countries ranges between 2-3 percent. China is the only low and middle country that depicts such intensity on Research and Development expenditure (UNDP 2001). The government of China is the principal provider of funds for the realisation of the programme. Data from figure 2 shows that government funding is around seventy percent of the total fund that the programme attracted in 2006. Other sectors such the Businesses and Foreign Direct Investment also contribute to funding RD. Figure 1. Gross Domestic Expenditure on RD, 1996-2006 Source: Ministry of Science and Technology 2007 Figure 2: GERD by source of funds and sector performance Source:   MOST 2007 Even though it is believed that the 863 programme has immensely contributed to the China’s recent technological and industrial development an examination of the impact is required to justify the large amount of fund pumped in to the programme.   The 863 programme is heavily dependent on government fund. At the beginning of every year the commission in charge of award of grant set it objectives and calls for bid. The government intention is just to fulfil its catch up agenda with the west. Researchers and research institutes that are involved in the programme are therefore under indirect pressure to deliver the set objectives. As a result Research and Development is often riddled with plagiarism, falsification of data and conflict of interest. In 2004, the popular Chinese researcher from Shanghai Jiao tang University, Chen Jin was involved in a fakery scandal after having received more than ten million dollar in grant to produce a Chinese microchip to rival the American Intel . The situation is a rampant one among Chinese academics and researchers and the reason is that because it is public fund that is involved many researchers are afraid of taking risk since failure may be expensive to them and to the government as this may mean waste of fund among public opinions. According to information from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the 863 programme was a successful project as it helps China invent new technology such as the world First man –loading HTS Maglev, the Third Generation Intelligent Robot that can move freely and avoid barriers and able to talk with human within a certain distance and the Atmosphere and Environmental Monitoring Laser just to mention few. Considering the amount of money the Chinese government spend on Research and Development it is not encouraging to say that China high tech export is highly dominated by foreign investment. According to report from OECD, in 2006, China surpassed the European Union, the US and Japan to become the world largest exporter of high-tech. This is mainly due to the relocation of production capacities of multinational enterprises into China. The China technological advancement has little to do with the indigenous High Tech market. Most of the firms producing High Tech goods in China a re mostly foreign companies; China only contributes in labour term (Xing, 2010). The 863 programme in its conception cannot be said to be a programme which has been designed to promote RD in China. The central government plan was to improve the image of China and it is purely the continuity of the socialist agenda. The only change is that, instead of developing military capabilities, the Deng Xiaoping administration decided to focus on economic catch up. All the projects that were executed under the programme cannot be described as things that will contribute to long term economic growth of China. In the infrastructural and construction area, it is a fact that that the programme has helped China to achieve a historical record in road, railways and airline development. Between 2000 and 2005, the road length in China has increased from 250.700 km to about 1, 930,500 km. Also the Railways have experienced a rapid development. China now has double tracked rails of 25, 000km and electrified rail of 20,000 km. The civil airline has also been developed and today China h as become world second largest air transporter after the United States (Liang Chuan, 2008). Some may argue that China needs all these infrastructural development to elevate its status to a developed country. There is even a Chinese old saying which says that â€Å"If you want to be rich, you must first build road†. But the problem is all these constructions are heavily dependent on public fund and no other country spend so much on infrastructure as China does. According to one study it is estimated that China will need to spend around $132 billion ever year from 2006 to 2010 to maintain these constructions. Moreover the central government does not take into account the social cost of all these development projects for the common Chinese people in terms of lost of land and environmental problems.   The speed at which these projects are executed also poses a problem of quality and standard in the construction and engineering process.   In October 1999, the $52 million 0ne h alf mile-long   Zhaona Mountain bridge   which was built over the young river in Ningbo started to has sways and shack a month before its opening date and inspectors discovered cracks caused by engineering and design flaws. So also in the month January of same year 1999, two bridges collapsed in two different places killing 47 people and injuring more than 30 others (Hays 2008). Another core problem with the 863 programme was the incentive packages the central government made available to motivate researchers and RD firms. It is believed that the central government support to RD through the 863 programme has contributed to the rapid rise of China in the patent applications. Data for figure 3 from the Ministry of Science and Technology shows that the total domestic patent applications increased from 383.157 to 470,342 between 2005 and 2006. The design applications increased from 151,587 to 188,027 within the same year. This tremendous achievement can on the one side be attributed to the zeal and hard work of Chinese researchers but on the hand it can be attributed to the incentives made available by the central government. Figure 3 Patent application filed and patents granted by SIPO Source: Ministry of Science and Technology, 2007 The 863 programme put in place incentive packages ranging from tax reduction to several concessions. In a paper published the Economist title â€Å"Innovation in China: Patents yes ideas maybe† it was stated that â€Å"Professors who do are more likely to win tenure. Workers and students who file patents are more likely to earn a hukou (resident permit) to live in a desirable city. For some patents government pays cash bonuses for others it covers the substantial cost of filling. Corporate income tax can be cut down from 25% to 15% for firms that file many patents. They are also more likely to win lucrative government contracts. One could say the patents applications filed did not mean so much to the applicants compared to the gains and interest the application may yield for them. Therefore the quality and originality, patents designs, and inventions were questionable. Closely link to this argument is that fact the 863 programme did not promote the culture of innovation among Chinese researchers and enterprises. The Ministry of Science and Technology which is the principal government agency coordinating the 863 programme stated that one of the key objectives of the programme was to strengthen the innovation capabilities of Chinese researchers and enterprises so that they can become technical bodies that will support the national aspiration of China to achieve socio-economic development. The programme supported some innovative ideas such as the development of an Intelligent Robot, the Coal-fired MHD Power Generation and the Experimental Fast Reactor. Otherwise, most realisations under the 863 programme were heavily dependent on importation of technologies. The programme was following the international high technological development but did not focus on the development of local indigenous technology (Chunliang, 2008). Conclusion The 863 programme has enabled the Chinese government to achieve a considerable economic and industrial advancement. In order to consolidate all these achievement is important that the 863 programme be reformed to rather focus its attentions on promoting indigenous innovative research and development activities which can turn China into technological advanced country. Incentives and motivational elements in the programme for researchers and private investors should also be reviewed as this may put local investors at a competitive advantage over foreign investors and deter them from investing into RD in China. Finally Chinese Government has to enforce the weak intellectual property right regime in existence at the moment. References ROMER, P. (2005) â€Å"Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth† Journal of Political Economy, 94 (5):1002-1037 SAMINI, J. A ALERASOUL, S. M. (2009) â€Å"RD and Economic Growth: New Evidence from Some Developing Countries† Australian Journal of Basic Applied Sciences, 3(4):3464-3469 HU. A G. Jefferson, G. H. (2008) â€Å"Science and Technology in China† China’s Great Economic Transformation. Ed. L . Brandt   and T. Rawski, New York   City, Cambridge University Press NAUGHTON, B. (2007) â€Å"The Chinese   Economic: Transition and Growth, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press PENTAS, P. (2005) â€Å"Natioanl High-Tech Research and Development Program 863: Introduction, Objective and Organisation [Online] ppentas.com/thesis/National_RD_Programm_863.pdf, Accessed on the 17/05/2011 ONOS, E. (2009) â€Å"Green Giant: Beijing’s Crash Program for Clean Energy† The New Yorker [Online] newyorker.com/reporting/2009/12/21/091221fa_fact_osnos, Accessed on the 17/05/2011 XING, Y. (2010) â€Å"Chinas High-Tech Exports Myth and Reality† EAI Background Brief N. 506 [Online] eai.nus.edu.sg/BB506.pdf, Accessed on the17/05/2011

Case Study of KFC Malaysia Holding

Case Study of KFC Malaysia Holding â€Å"A Case Study of KFC Malaysia Holding: Channel used by KFC to solve communication crisis† Abstract On 6th February 2013,the kitchen staff of KFC I- City outlet at Shah Alam, has gone violent towardone of the customers due to miscommunication. The customer was then put on the floor after a heated argument between the staffs and the customer.This problem then solve by KFC Malaysia Holding with a proper alternatives. One of the alternatives used by the company is to use the right channel in solving the issue. Basically, the main aim of this research is to examine the channel used by KFC Malaysia Holding to solve the communication issue specifically the incident of staff and customer caught into a fighting. This research is tries to answer the question of the effectiveness of the channel used by the company to solve the problem or issue. The survey method will be employed in this research for data collection. As this method fall under quantitative method, SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software will be used to analyze the data. The finding of this research will help the future researchers to understand the effectiveness of channel used by the Food & BeveragesCompany in solving their problem or issue. Besides, this research will help to add more literature on the same topic. Keywords: Channel, problem, Food & Beverages, Effectiveness Literature Review Definition of Crisis In Effective Crisis Communication (2011), crises can best define as unique moments in the history of an organization. Nowadays, the word â€Å"crisis† has been used widely in a daily conversation. People used this word to describe their problem. For example, they refer to this word if they forgot about their appointments with their clients, having a bad hair days or even quarrel with the family members. All of these are awful experiences do not portray or describe the crisis. When it comes to the company, most of the company refers crisis as something that rel ated to the problem. For example low sales or short of manpower are assume as the crisis to the company. All of the situations are not crisis. But, usually the company will consider all the situations as crisis. Crisis is defined as any situation that is threatening or could even threaten to harm people or property, seriously interrupt business, damage reputation and/or negatively impact stock value (Jonathan Bernstein,2006). According to Hermann (1963), he identified three characteristics of separating crises that are surprise, threat and short response time. An event will not achieve the level of crisis without coming as a surprise, posing a critical level of threat and forcing a short response period. Robert, Timothy & Matthew(2011) mentioned in their study that crises can be divided into two categories which are intentional crises andunintentional crises. â€Å"Intentional crises are those international acts which is designed to harm an organization such as terrorism, sabotage, workplace violence and poor risk management whereas unintentional crises are the crises caused by natural and some uncontrollable factors such as natural disasters or product failure† (Robert, Timothy & Matthew, 2011). As for the incident case happened in KFC Malaysia I-City outlet, the incident are category under the unintentional case of crisis. The incident happened due to some misunderstanding between the worker and a customer who has been waiting for the food for some times and did not get the food.

Adam Smiths economic theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Adam Smiths economic theories - Research Paper Example Smith has emphasized that a historical perspective is necessary to study the science of man and society, and only with this study it is possible to establish an efficient social science system. He has said that in any society it is the collective contribution of all individuals that lead to economic stability since it is the individuals who produce and sell goods according to their requirements as a society. He has named the controlling factor of this mechanism as the invisible hand. The principle rule of classic economics is that non-intervention of the government in the marketplace will give freedom to everyone to contribute towards economic growth by creating the required goods for the greatest number of people. Adam Smith Adam Smith was an eighteenth century Scottish philosopher who is known as the father of modern economics. He was baptized on June 5, 1723. He is well known for his two books: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). He studied moral philosophy from the University of Glasgow under the renowned philosopher Francis Hutcheson. In 1740, he entered the Balliol College, Oxford after being awarded the Snell Exhibition (Biographiq, 3-4). In his second book Wealth of Nations, Smith has given a coherent description of the history of development of industry and commerce in Europe, and has voiced his opinion against the doctrine of government intervention in trade and commerce. He has also explained that a sustainable economy is possible by people’s effort to fulfill their self-interests through competition. Smith’s economic philosophy contributed towards â€Å"creating the modern academic discipline of economics and provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for free trade, capitalism, and libertarianism.† (Biographiq, 3-4) Economic theories The invisible hand theory Smith has focused on people’s contribution towards production, and has argu ed that it is the annual labour which is the principle source to meet the demands of the consumers regarding all necessaries and conveniences of life. The produce of the labour is generally consistent with the immediate produce of the labour, or the commodities or services that are purchased with the produce from other nations. Therefore, the produce from labour or what is purchased with the produce can be more or less in proportion to the demand in the consumer market of a nation. This means that the nation is economically developed when there is better supply of necessaries and conveniences or is economically worse when there is insufficient supply of the same. Smith has argued that this proportion is determined by two factors – 1) skill and dexterity of labour and proper application of the skills, 2) proportion of labour employed to that of labour not employed in useful work. Smith has emphasized only on these two factors irrespective of the soil and climate of the nation (Smith[1], 8). According to Smith, it is the market conditions that are responsible for the production of right kind of goods and services. This is because the objective of the producers and manufactures is to make profits by supplying goods and services to the market. If there is no intervention by the government in the matters of trade, then the business environment of the nation will be free from government restrictions. This will lead to well-being of the public with increased competition between producers and manufacturers to produce goods and services as and when required by the public. This is the general picture of a free market economy. With growing competition betwe

Will upload an attachement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Will upload an attachement - Essay Example The team must understand the obligatory skills required in running the business. Recruited workers are required to have adequate experience and knowledge that is relevant to the operation of the Eastern Foods Company business. There must be people specifically knowledgeable in each department of the Company. For instance, the production department should have people with the best knowledge of production. The team is required to balance the diversity of the people in the workplace by considering crucial factors like sexual orientations, marital status, and ethnicity among other factors(Sims, 2007, p. 134). But, all these criteria should be implemented in consideration to what is required for each job description. For example, it sounds unusual recruiting a female manpower team where the job description clearly outlines the need for male manpower. Similarly, there is need to recruit a special marketing team that will take time to acquaint with the new project and concentrate on it holistically. The marketing team is to consist of people with marketing backgrounds, possibly graduates with previous experience in the marketing department of a different Company. The finance department needs to outline possible measures to contain the costs involved in running the new business. Cost management is a major factor in the running of the business and will determine the difference between the success and failure of the business. The department should be ready to consider various expenses that touch on the people that are part of the business. Such costs may involve training costs, health-care benefits, and hiring process costs. The costs cut into the bottom line of the business, and the management team should figure out how much, how many, and how often these benefits should be offered. Obviously, the Company will have it rough balancing its financial statements. The management is to develop standardized

Latino Narrative Film Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Latino Narrative Film - Research Paper Example Speaking about Latin cinema of that period, it is worth mentioning that common historical destiny of the all countries of the continent largely led to the commonality of the social problems that most of the Latin countries faced with. It also determined the interrelation and spiritual affinity, which found the expression in the cinematograph. In most general terms, the Latin cinema is closely connected with the national reality and national identity (Shaw, and Dennison 6). The current paper will consider and compare two examples of the Latino cinematography, Romero (1989) and Innocent Voices (2004), brightly representing the national idea and national values in the context of the civil war in El Salvador. Due to the different social statuses of the main heroes, these two stories appear to be different, but the common problem of national oppression makes them alike. The comparison of the films will be conducted with the enclosing of the historical context, short description, reasons a nd methods of imaging, the authors used in both movies. Before starting to analyze the movies and understand the relevance of the problems discussed in films, it worth considering the historical background. The suggested movies tell their stories that developed during the civil conflict in El Salvador in 1970’s – 1980’s. ... king measures of this, but was ensuring the interests of large landowners and foreign monopolies that naturally led to the roll of the public moods â€Å"to the left†, to communism. The electoral frauds during the 70’s and the violent suppressions of public demonstrations against resulted in the bitterness of national mind. In the 70’s the left powers of El Salvador were increasingly inclining to use the force, when democratic methods did not help. The main part of the activities of sabotage and â€Å"hit-and-run† attacks in the 70’s was carried by the several revolutionary leftist groups. In the leadership of these groups there was a constant discussion on the ways of combating: whether to use force or to agitate among people. The leader of the communist party, Salvador Cayetano Carpio, stood for the violent methods and the introduction of the Vietnamese tactics of the long struggle against the governing regime. In the early 70’s Carpio left the Communist party and created the Farabundo Marti Liberation People's Forces (FPL) (Manwaring, and Prisk 39). The energy of Catholic clergy and the creation of the nation-wide organizations such as trade unions and peasant federations led to broadening of the base of the left forces and the creation of the conditions to seize the power. A large number of converted to communism came from the universities. There was an external factor of the socialistic revolution in Cuba contributing to the strengthening of the tension on the governing regime. The latter in El Salvador was conservative and economically dropping behind. Moreover, most of its money means was received as a help from the United States (Murray 14). From the beginning of 1980’s there started an intensive integration of the â€Å"left† radicals. Already in 1980

Effects of Fungicide Iprodione and Nitrification Inhibitor

Effects of Fungicide Iprodione and Nitrification Inhibitor Effects of fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate on soil enzyme and bacterial properties Manyun Zhang a, b, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Weijin Wang a, c, Yaling Zhang a, Ying Teng b, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ , Zhihong Xu a, à ¯Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¯Ã‚ Ã‚  a Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia b Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China c Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Dutton Park, Queensland 4102, Australia Abstract Agrochemical applications may have unintended detrimental effects on soil bacteria and soil health. However, limited studies have been conducted to evaluate the effects of repeated fungicide applications and interactive effects of different agrochemical applications on soil bacteria. In this study, an incubation experiment was established to evaluate the potential influences of fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) on soil enzyme and bacterial properties. Weekly iprodione applications decreased the activities of all enzymes tested, and single DMPP addition inhibited soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and urease activities. Compared with the blank control, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance significantly decreased following repeated iprodione applications, but increased after DMPP application. After 28 days of incubation, the treatment of iprodione and DMPP applications had higher bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance than the counterpart with i prodione applications alone, and the similar trends were also observed in the Shannon index. Repeated iprodione applications significantlyincreased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, but decreased the relative abundances of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. The combined applications of iprodione and DMPP increased the number of members of Gaiellaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae and Methylobacteriaceae. Simultaneously, bacterial community structure was significantly changed by repeated iprodione applications, alone or together with the DMPP. These results showed that repeated iprodione applications exerted negative effects on soil enzyme activities, bacterial biomass and community diversity. Moreover, relative to iprodione applications alone, extra DMPP application had the potential to alleviate the toxic effects of iprodione on soil bacterial biomass and community diversity. Keywords: agrochemicals; soil enzyme; 16S rRNA gene; bacterial community diversity and structure Introduction Fungicides play important roles in ensuring the crop quality and yield in modern agriculture (Maltby et al., 2009; Sabatier et al., 2014). The infections and phytopathies caused by fungi are the major problems and threats in agricultural production, which leads to the intensification in applications of fungicidal agrochemicals (OMaille, 2015). Previous research has shown that in some developing countries, fungicide application dosages were as high as 8 kg ha-1 y-1 (Liu et al., 2015). Iprodione, as a broad-spectrum fungicide, has been widely used in the intensive agriculture to control phytopathies of cash crops, and iprodione residuals have already been detected in water (Goewie et al., 1985; Sauret et al., 2006), soils (Leistra and Arrià «nne, 2004) and vegetable and fruit (Picà ³ et al., 2004; Juanà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Garcà ­a et al., 2005; Angioni et al., 2012). According to a report of the Pesticide Data Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture (2014), the detected amount of iprodion e was the highest among all agrochemicals, and iprodione was the only fungicide detected in baby food. Besides the crop phytopathies caused by fungal pathogens, the lower utilization efficiency of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission are also worldwide problems in agricultural production (Clough et al., 2007; Menà ©ndez et al., 2012). As a result, nitrification inhibitors are sometimes applied to enhance the utilization efficiency of N fertilizer. The most widely used nitrification inhibitor in recent years is 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) (Menà ©ndez et al., 2012; Florio et al., 2014). The fungicide iprodione and nitrification inhibitor DMPP may be simultaneously applied into soils in some circumstances. Fungicides are designed to control fungal pathogens, but their lethal effects are not constrained to fungi only (Duah-Yentumi and Johnson, 1986; Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011; Schnug et al., 2015). Once entering into agricultural soil, fungicides and their degradation metabolites may have detrimental effects on soil bacteria and, hence, the overall soil environment. There have been increasing research interests in the impacts of iprodione on environmental safety (Leistra and Matser, 2004; Verdenelli et al., 2012; Morales et al., 2013), because the iprodione is widely applied into agricultural soils at high dosages. Previous studies generally focused on the impacts of a single iprodione application, whereas few studies paid attention to the effects of repeated iprodione applications which occurs in intensively managed cropping systems. Furthermore, iprodione and other agrochemicals (such as DMPP) may be applied into agriculture soils simultaneously. To the best of our knowledge, few stud ies have been conducted to evaluate the interactive effects of different agrochemicals. Researches are, therefore, required to better understand the effects of combined iprodione and DMPP applications on soil bacterial properties. In this study, the iprodione and DMPP were applied into an agricultural soil. Soil enzyme activity, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance and bacterial community structure were determined. The main objectives were to (1) assess the effects of iprodione and DMPP on soil enzyme activities; (2) evaluate the impacts of agrochemicals on soil bacterial biomass via determining bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance; (3) reveal the responses of soil bacteria at different taxa to the agrochemical applications; and (4) compare the potential impacts of iprodione and DMPP applications on soil bacterial community structure. This study will improve our current understanding of the ecological risks of iprodione and DMPP applications, alone or together, on soil nutrient cycling and bacterial properties. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. The chemicals and soil samples A commercial wettable powder formulation of iprodione (Bayer Crop Science, Hangzhou, China) and a chemical reagent DMPP (purity > 97.0%; CIVI-CHEM, Shanghai, China) were used for soil treatments. Soil samples were taken from a farmland (36.78†² N, 118.67†² E) located in Shandong Province, China. The surface soil (0-20 cm) was collected, air-dried at room temperature, mixed thoroughly and sieved (< 2 mm) prior to use. The selected physical and chemical properties of the soil were as follows: sand (50-2000 ÃŽ ¼m), 31.4  ± 1.4%; silt (2-50 ÃŽ ¼m), 36.9  ± 0.8%;   clay (< 2 ÃŽ ¼m), 31.7  ± 0.6%; soil pH (in water), 7.19  ± 0.05; organic carbon (C) content, 10.0  ± 0.1 g kg-1; total N content, 0.93  ± 0.01 g kg-1; Olsen-P, 28.8  ± 0.2 mg kg-1;   NH4OAc-K, 69.9  ± 1.5 mg kg-1; cationic exchange capacity,   16.9  ± 0.4 cmol kg-1. All treatments were added with urea at 200 mg N kg-1 dry soil before the iprodione or DMPP application so that enough substrate ( NH4+-N) was available for soil nitrification (DMPP is generally applied with the urea in agriculture). 2.2. Experimental design Four treatments were used in this study: Treatment 1 (CK), without any iprodione or DMPP applications; Treatment 2 (IPR), weekly iprodione applications at 1.5 mg kg-1 dry soil (the frequency followed the instructions); Treatment 3 (DAA), nitrification inhibitor DMPP application at 2 mg kg-1 dry soil (equivalent to 1% of applied urea-N) at commencement; and Treatment 4 (I+D), weekly iprodione and initial DMPP applications as described in treatments 2 and 3. Each treatment was prepared in triplicates. The chemicals were dissolved in double distilled H2O (ddH2O) and then applied into the test soil. Sixty glass bottles (4 treatments 5 sampling time 3 replications) were filled with the treated soil at 150 g dry weight per bottle. Soil moisture was adjusted to 60% of the water holding capacity and was maintained by the additions of ddH2O. The soil samples were then incubated at 28  °C in the dark, and after 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days of incubation, soil samples were collected after mixin g thoroughly in each bottle for analyses of soil enzyme and bacterial properties. 2.3. Soil enzyme activity and geometric mean of assayed enzymes activities Soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase activity was determined using a soil enzyme assay kit (Catalogue No. HK000218, Toyongbio Company, Shanhai, China). The analytical method was based on that soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase can hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl-ÃŽ ²-D-glucoside to generate p-nitrophenol. The determination method followed the manufacturers protocol, after treated with toluene, soil samples were incubated with the p-nitrophenyl-ÃŽ ²-d-glucoside and citrate-phosphate buffer (pH = 6.0) for 1 h at 37  °C. The reaction product (p-nitrophenol) concentration was determined with a spectrophotometer at 410 nm, and the results were expressed as ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil urease and phosphatase (acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase) activities were determined with the commercially available quantitative analytical kits (Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, Nanjing, China). In the analytical kit of soil urease (Catalogue No. T017), urea was used as the substrate that can be hydrolyzed by soil urease to generate NH 4+-N. Prior to the urease determination, the test soils were treated with the toluene, and then they were incubation with the urea and citrate buffer (pH = 6.7) for 24 h at 37  °C. The concentration of NH4+-N generated from urea hydrolysis was determined via the indophenol blue method, and soil urease activity was expressed as ÃŽ ¼g NH 4+-N g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil phosphatase activity was determined with disodium phenyl phosphate as the enzyme reaction substrate. Soil phosphatase could hydrolyze the disodium phenyl phosphate at different pH conditions, and in the analytical kits of soil phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase (Catalogue No. T008 and T009), the buffers were acetate buffer (pH = 5) and borate buffer (pH = 9.4), respectively.   After 24 h of incubation at 37  °C, enzyme actions were terminated, and released phenol was determined at 660 nm. Soil phosphatase activities were expressed as ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1. Soil arylsulphatase activity was determined according to the method of Floch et al. (2009) with minor modifications. P-nitrophenyl-sulfate was used as the reaction substrate, and the buffer was 0.5 M acetate (pH = 5.8). After 1 h of incubation, the reaction was halted by the additions of 0.5 M CaCl2 and 1 M NaOH, and the p-nitrophenol concentration was measured with a spectrophotometer at 410 nm. The soil arylsulphatase activity was expressed as ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1. The geometric mean of assayed enzymes activities (GMEA) was calculated to integrate data from variables that have different units and variation range. The calculations were made by following Hinojosa et al. (2004). where Glu, Ure, AcP, AlP and Ary were soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase and arylsulfatase activities, respectively. 2.4. Soil DNA extraction and real time quantitative PCR (qPCR) The genomic DNA of soil samples was extracted from approximately 0.5 g of soil with a Fast DNA SPIN Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals, Cleveland, OH, USA). Soil bacterial biomass was revealed via determining bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance, and qPCR was performed to assess bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance with the universal primers 515F (5-GTGCCAGCMGCCGCGG-3) and 907R (5-CCGTCAATTCMTTTRAGTTT-3). The standard curve of qPCR was obtained by performing serial dilutions of the plasmid containing bacterial 16S rRNA gene. Each qPCR reaction was prepared in a 20.0 ÃŽ ¼L of solution consisting of 10.0 ÃŽ ¼L of SYBR ® Premix Ex Taqâ„ ¢ (TaKaRa Biotech, Dalian, China), 7.6 ÃŽ ¼L of sterile ddH2O, 2.0 ÃŽ ¼L of soil template DNA and 0.4 ÃŽ ¼L of universal primers. The thermocycling conditions were as follows: 95  °C for 3 min, followed by 45 cycles at 95  °C for 10 s, 56  °C for 30 s, 72  °C for 30 s, and then plate reading. The melting curve analyses were conducted by gradually heatin g the PCR mixtures from 65  °C to 95  °C with the determination of SYBR green signal. Negative control was run with sterile ddH2O as the template. After testing the diluted soil DNA suspension, there were no inhibitions detected for the qPCR, and the amplification efficiency of the target gene was 114.52%, with R2 > 0.995. 2.5. The Illumina MiSeq and sequenced data analysis At the end of incubation, soil bacterial community was also analyzed with the Illumina MiSeq platform. After amplifying the V4 region of bacterial 16S rRNA gene with the primers 515F/907R, the PCR products were purified and then subjected to the Illumina Miseq platform (Majorbio Bio-Pharm Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China) to sequence nucleic acid bases of PCR products. The raw reads were de-multiplexed and filtered via the QIIME (version 1.17) with reference to the following standards: (1) The approximately 300 bp reads were truncated at the end side, receiving an average quality score of < 20 over a 10 bp sliding window, and shorter sequence reads (truncated length < 50 bp) were discarded; (2) raw reads with vague bases were discarded; and (3) only sequences with > 10 bp overlap were assembled with reference to the overlapped sequences, and the unassembled reads were unwanted. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were clustered within a 0.03 difference via the UPARSE (version 7.1 http://drive5.com/uparse/) for assessing community richness (Ace and Chao1 richness estimators) and community diversity (Shannon and Simpson indices). The richness estimators Ace and Chao1 were nonparametric and abundance-based estimators, which could predict the true value of taxa based on the proportion of rare taxa in a sample and were suitable for community richness ana lysis (Sogin et al., 2006; Gihring et al., 2012). The Shannon and Simpson indices were used for heterogeneity assessment, and the main difference between them was in the calculation method of taxa abundance. 2.6. Statistical analysis Two-way analysis of variance was conducted to detect significant differences among treatments, sampling times and their interactions, and Duncans multiple range test was used to compare statistical significances (P < 0.05) of the means among different treatments at each sampling time and among different incubation time in a specific treatment. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) method (http://huttenhower.sph.harvard.edu/galaxy/root) was employed to reveal biomarkers of soil bacteria among the treatments. The sequencing data were further processed to assess similarities and discrepancies of the whole bacterial community structure among different treatments using the principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). 3. Results 3.1. Soil enzyme activities and GMEA Soil enzyme activities were significantly affected by the treatments, but the interactions between treatments and sampling time were not significant for the ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase activities (Table S1). The ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease and arylsulfatase activities in the CK treatment increased significantly during the first 7 days of incubation (P < 0.05, Fig. 1). By the end of the incubation, the soil enzyme activity in the CK treatment rose from 1004  ± 51 to 1278  ± 133 ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, from 60.9  ± 4.9 to 323.0  ± 19.6 ÃŽ ¼g NH4+-N g-1 dry soil d-1 for urease, from 698  ± 129 to 802    ± 76 ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for acid phosphatase, from 2.21  ± 0.12 to 2.23  ± 0.13 ÃŽ ¼g phenol g-1 dry soil d-1 for alkaline phosphatase, and   from 20.9  ± 2.7 to 28.8  ± 2.3 ÃŽ ¼g p-nitrophenol g-1 dry soil h-1 for sulphatase. After 7 days of incubation, there were no significant differences in soil enzyme a ctivities between IPR and CK treatments, with the exception of acid phosphatase activity. However, soil enzyme activities in the IPR treatment decreased after repeated iprodione applications. DMPP application had no significant effects on phosphatase and arylsulphatase activities during the whole incubation period, but ÃŽ ²-glucosidase and urease activities were consistently inhibited by the DMPP application (89.8% and 76.5% % of the control after 28 days of incubation, respectively). It is interesting to note that, after 28 days of incubation, the activities of soil enzymes in the I+D treatment tended to be higher than those in the IPR treatment (Fig. 1). As shown in Table 1, the GMEA in the CK treatment increased significantly during the first week and remained relatively stable during the following three weeks of incubation. However, compared with the CK treatment, the GMEA was negatively affected by repeated iprodione applications, and the GMEA in the DAA treatment also tended to be lower than their counterparts from 7 days to the end of the incubation (88.9% of the control after 28 days of incubation). Consistent with the trend presented in Fig.1, the GMEA in the I+D treatment was significantly higher than its IPR counterpart after 28 days of incubation (P < 0.05). 3.2. Soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances Both the treatments and sampling time could significantly affect soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances (Table S1). The gene abundances in the CK treatment increased from 3.89-109 to 1.64-1010 copies g-1 during the 28 days of incubation (Fig. 2). A single iprodione application generated negligible effect on soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance after 7 days, but repeated iprodione applications significantly (P < 0.05) decreased soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance, relative to the CK treatment. At the end of the experiment, the bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in the IPR treatment was 6.55-109 copies g-1 dry soil, which was the lowest of the four treatments. The gene abundances in the DAA treatment tended to be higher than those in the CK treatment, especially from 14 days onwards. Relative to the iprodione applications alone, extra DMPP application at the commencement increased the gene abundances, after 28 days of incubation, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance in the I+D treatm ent was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that from the IPR treatment. 3.3. Soil bacterial community diversity A total of 624067 raw sequences (> 200 bp) was obtained from the four treatments, and the average length of valid sequences was 396.71. The similarities and differences among OTUs of the four treatments were demonstrated in a four-set Venn diagram (Fig. 3). The unique OTUs were 12, 16, 13 and 22 for the CK, IPR, DAA and I+D treatments, respectively, and the four treatments shared 1653 OTUs. After 28 days of incubation, the Ace and Chao1 estimators, and Shannon index of the CK treatments were 1863  ± 37, 1853  ± 24 and 5.55  ± 0.15, respectively (Table 2). The IPR treatment had the lowest estimator Chao1 (1772  ± 17) and Shannon index (5.40  ± 0.05) among the four treatments, while the I+D had the highest estimator Chao1 and Shannon index. The Simpson index showed no significant differences among the four treatments. Relative to the CK treatment, DMPP application did not exert adverse effects on richness estimators and diversity indices, and DMPP applications had the potential to increase the Shannon indices. 3.4. Soil bacterial community structure The OTUs could be assigned into 11 predominant phyla which were in the following ranking orders: Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, Chloroflexi, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Nitrospirae, Saccharibacteria and Verrucomicrobia, and the relative abundances of these phyla varied among the different treatments (Fig. 4A). The phylum Proteobacteria was the most abundant, comprising approximately 37.2%, 45.9%, 36.4% and 39.8% OTUs for the CK, IPR, DAA and I+D treatments, respectively. The phylum Actinobacteria was the second most abundant, and the proportions varied from 14.5% to 21.9%. There were no significant differences of relative abundances across all the predominant phyla between the CK and DAA treatments (Fig. 4B). However, compared with the CK treatment, repeated iprodione applications significantly (P < 0.05) increased the relative abundance of phylum Proteobacteria, but decreased the relative abundances of Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria. A t the genus level, the genera Micromonospora, Gemmatimonas, Haliangium and Bacillus accounted for large proportions in the twelve soil samples (Fig. 5). 3.5. Comparison of bacterial community structure LEfSe analysis demonstrated that there were significant associations among predominant bacterial taxa in the four treatments (Fig. 6). The predominant bacterial taxa were the Opitutaceae and Xanthomonadales families in the CK treatment, the Xanthomonadaceae, Erythrobacteraceae, Sphingomonadaceae Sphingomonadales and Rhodocyclaceae families in the IPR treatment, the Streptomycetales Order and the Gemmatimonaceae and Cytophagaceae families in the DAA treatment and the Gaiellaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae, and Methylobacteriaceae families in the I+D treatment. The results of LEfSe analysis further revealed that, consistent with the relative abundances shown in Fig. 4, the phylum Protebacteria increased following iprodione applications. A two-dimensional PCoA plot of bacterial community structure explained 68.2% of the total variance, with the PCoA1 having a greater power of separation (accounting for 57.7%). The two-dimensional PCoA demonstrated that the treatments without iprodione applications (CK and DAA treatments) resulted in a shift to the left along PCoA1 (Fig. 7A). There was no significant difference in the PCoA values (both PCoA1 and PCoA2) between the CK and DAA treatments, and this suggested that soil bacterial community structure was not significantly altered by the DMPP application. However, iprodione applications alone (IPR) or together with the DMPP (I+D), shifted the bacterial community to the right side along PCoA1. The IPR and I+D treatments were located in the opposite directions of the origin, with the I+D treatment having lower PCoA2 values. Consistent with the trends presented in the PCoA plot, four clusters could be grouped for these twelve soil samples (Fig. 7B): Cluster 1 contained the samp les of the DAA treatment, CK_1 and CK_2, but the CK_3 sample alone was classified into Cluster 2; Cluster 3 consisted of the samples of I+D treatment, and the samples of IPR treatment were all grouped in Cluster 4. 4. Discussion 4.1. Effects of iprodione applications on soil enzyme and bacteria As a soil xenobiotic, the fungicide iprodione displayed toxicity to soil bacteria on various aspects including the activity, biomass and community diversity (Duah-Yentumi and Johnson, 1986; Verdenelli et al., 2012). Previous researches have also revealed that the principal degradation metabolite 3, 5-dichloroanniline is more biologically toxic and stable than its parent compound iprodione (Athiel et al., 1995). Consequently, both the fungicide and its degradation metabolites have the potential to inhibit the non-target bacteria. On the other hand, the broad-spectrum fungicide could inhibit the flourish of fungi, which can also exhibit the indirect impacts on soil bacteria community (Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011; Verdenelli et al., 2012). The ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, urease, phosphatase, and arylsulfatase are essential in the cycling of C, N, P and S in soil, respectively (Muà ±oz-Leoz et al., 2011). The activities of these enzymes tended to decline after repeated iprodione applications, highlighting the severe impacts of repeated iprodione applications and perhaps the accumulations of its metabolites on soil nutrient cycling. The fungicides could negatively affect soil enzyme activities as a result of: (1) directly reducing the biomass of soil microbes that produce enzymes, (2) competing for the active sites of enzymes with substrates, (3) decreasing the substrate bio-availability through the reaction with substrates, and (4) reacting with the enzyme-substrate complexes (Wang et al., 2009). In the IPR treatment, soil enzyme activities and bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances decreased concurrently. We postulated that the declines of soil bacterial biomass caused by iprodione applications might have resulted in the decreases of soil enzyme activity. Soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene (both the abundance and community diversity) has been used as an important ecophysiological index for assessing soil contamination (Sipilà ¤ et al., 2008; Bell et al., 2014). In this study, soil bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundance was not significantly affected by the first iprodione application, but decreased with repeated iprodione applications (Fig. 2). The result was consistent with earlier finding of Duah-Yentumi and Johnson (1986) that the impacts of iprodione on soil microbial biomass differed between single and repeated applications. The reasons for these phenomena might be that accumulations of the fungicides and perhaps their degradation products following repeated application increased its eco-toxicity (Trabue et al., 2001; Zhang et al., 2016). Direct measurement of soil bacterial community could reveal shifts in the diversity due to fungicide applications, which might not be detectable by measuring overall bacterial activities and biomass (Lupwayi et al., 2009). Repeated iprodione applications resulted in consistent reductions in the values of bacterial alpha diversity (Table 2). The result was in agreement with the finding of Verdenelli et al. (2012) that iprodione application had significantly negative impacts on microbial community diversity in both agricultural and grassland soils. Moreover, repeated iprodione applications led to declines in the relative abundances of phyla Chloroflexi and Acidobacteria (Fig. 4). The Chloroflexi is associated with the second step of soil nitrification and plays key roles in soil N cycling (Sorokin et al., 2012). As decomposers in soil environment, Acidobacteria could degrade torganic matters derived from plants and soil animals, maintaining soil nutrient cycling and energy flow (Ward e t al., 2009). These changes in the relative abundances of functional bacteria indicated that iprodione applications might slow down soil organic matter turnover and soil nitrification.In this study, we found that repeated iprodione applications, alone or together with the DMPP, caused significant changes in the soil bacterial community structure. In contrast, Wang et al. (2004) showed that a single iprodione application at lower dosage was not detrimental to the soil bacterial community. Given that iprodione was often repeatedly applied at high dosages in intensive agricultural systems, shifts in bacterial community as observed in this study could lead to a series of alternations in soil microbial communities and soil C and nutrient cycling. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the long-term ecotoxic effects caused by repeated applications. 4.2. Effects of DMPP application on soil enzyme activities and bacteria Compared with the CK treatment, DMPP application resulted in significantly lower soil urease activity, (Fig. 1), which was largely responsible for the decline in GMEA in the DAA treatment. It is interesting to note that soil ÃŽ ²-glucosidase, as a proxy for soil organic matter mineralization capacity, was also negatively affected by the DMPP application. Maienza et al. (2014) revealed that DMPP application had adverse impacts on the growth of soil heterotrophic bacteria and fungi. All these results suggested that DMPP might have the potential to slow down soil organic matter decompositions, and this could get supports from previous research results that DMPP could reduce soil carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions (Weiske et al., 2001; Maris et al., 2015). The LEfSe analysis revealed that Gemmatimonadetes and Cytophagia families increased following DMPP application (Fig. 6). The Gemmatimonadetes containing photosynthesis genes could assimilate CO2 into organic material via phototrophic pathway and transform solar radiation into metabolic energy, which plays an important role in the increase of soil organic matter content (Zeng et al., 2014). Some strains of the Cytophagaceae family have the nifH gene and have the potential to increase soil N content by biological N fixation (Xu et al., 2014). Dong et al. (2013b) also reported that DMPP application could significantly increase soil nifH gene abundances. These results indicated that apart from inhibiting soil nitrification, DMPP application might have the potential to improve soil C and N contents via (1) decreasing CO2, CH4 andNOX emission;(2) slowing down soil organic matter decompositions; (3) promoting the flourish of some functional microorganisms; and (4) promoting activity of N-fixing bacteria. Consequently, although soil urease and ÃŽ ²-glucosidase were inhibited, the whole soil bacterial biomass increased following DMPP application (Fig. 2), and this is also one of the positive effects generate d by DMPP application. An increase in soil bacterial biomass is commonly found in parallel with increases in community diversity (Weinbauer et al., 2007; Torstensson et al., 2015). Based on the data presented in Table 2, we found that DMPP application promoted, rather than decreased, soil bacterial community diversity, which is consisted with the result of Dong et al. (2013a). Furthermore, both the PCoA and UPMGA indicated that a large proportion of soil bacterial community in the DAA treatment overlapped with that in the C