Emerson Conformity - 839 Words

In his writing, Emerson conveys a distaste for the polite faà §ade he believes many people choose to put on in new company; this facade forces people to engage in bland conversations unless they choose to break free from their â€Å"prison uniforms.† Emerson sees conformity as an obstruction of truly original thoughts and beliefs. He states that once we are born â€Å"Nature is not slow to equip us in in the prison-uniform of the party to which we adhere. We come to wear one cut of face and figure, and acquire by degrees the gentlest asinine expression.† (Emerson 6) In Emerson’s eyes conformity is a grueling kafkaesque process that individuals quietly choose to follow. This facade is a â€Å"prison uniform† in Emerson’s eyes, which is to say he sees the†¦show more content†¦Emerson writes that â€Å"The power men possess to annoy [him] [he gives] them by a weak curiosity.† (12) When Emerson â€Å"gives [company]†¦ a weak curio sity,† he is submitting power to them and pays not only in this loss of power but in his irritation. In addition to losing power, a conformist may also be in pain when they feign interest. In putting on â€Å"the foolish face of praise, †¦ the muscles†¦ grow tight†¦ and make the most disagreeable sensation.† Emerson communicates the great discomfort this compulsion to adhere brings, even stating that â€Å"no brave man will suffer [it] twice.† Emerson effectively argues that the pain of practicing a public persona is actually greater than encountering uncomfortable company, because while a man cannot avoid certain social interactions with complete success he can choose to be forthcoming about his disinterest in his peers. This relates to a greater theme in Emerson’s writing, that being true to one’s self ultimately instead of being true to etiquette leads to a more pleasant, authentic, and rewarding existence. This quote stood out to me because I related to it’s message instantaneously. I have been hyper aware of how I present myself to my peers since I was young. Throughout preschool and primary school I refused to cry in class -- or let my classmates seeShow MoreRelatedSelf-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Non Conformity in Thought and Action1519 Words   |  7 Pagesown spirituality. These transcendentalists tried to urge their ideas of the significance of the self in spiritual life. American transcendentalism reached its peak in New England in the 1840s under the leadership of Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a former Unitarian minister, Emerson was at the forefront of this movement. He stated the importance of the American individualism in terms of moral and intellectual developments in Self Reliance. His essay supported the essence of the American transcendentalismRead MoreEmerson’S Opinion Of Social Media. Ralph Waldo Emerson1691 Words   |  7 PagesEmerson’s Opinion of Social Media Ralph Waldo Emerson is a well-known writer, particularly credited as one of the most influential people in the creation of the transcendentalism philosophy. Transcendentalists, including Emerson, believe in the inherent good of people and nature. Main themes in Emerson’s writing also show his beliefs and opinions on nonconformity, society, and the individual self. Considering what Emerson writes about these topics, we can imagine how he would react to some of ourRead MoreConformity : The Power Of Individuality In Society1048 Words   |  5 Pagescan come to understand why leaders or people in power would fear such an outcome. Murray faced the conflict of gender inequality due to men’s fear that they would not be able to have domain over women, or that women would have domain over men. Conformity is driven by fear, but individuality is strengthened by courage. These authors refused to conform to the expectations and beliefs of society in order to create change. As Walker stated, his ideas would cause others to label him as a restless disturberRead MoreAnalysis Of Ralph Emerson s Self Reliance 748 Words   |  3 Pages Ralph Emerson states in â€Å"Self-reliance† that â€Å"envy is ignorance† and â€Å"imitation is suicide.† One cannot copy and try to be like another. For if you do, it will only lead to your demise. Envy and imitation of another individual are like following someone s shadow blindly. One does not know what lies ahead. When you follow behind someone, you are losing the many opportunities given to you. You reject other opinions and their morals to follow another and live by society’s code. Conforming meansRead MoreMovie Analysis : Think For Yourself 1633 Words   |  7 Pagesa young population growing up in the twenty first century and being surrounded by social media’s newest tweets and pop culture’s varying memes, we seem to let this electronic world determine what our actions as young people will be. We can find conformity take a huge role in this society. As we flip out our overpriced and fragile gadgets from the back pocket our tight unbreathable skinny jeans, we scroll through the infamous Instagram and find ourselves looking at the recent post of those popularRead MoreThe Idea Of Conformity Vs. Non Conformity Emerges1601 Words   |  7 Pages The idea of conformity vs. non-conformity emerges in the American issue for generations as the opposing views on this concept exemplify diverse consequences in choosing which path to follow. In the genre of one’s journey west toward self-discovery, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, written in April 1951 illustrates the journey of him and his friend’s across America in the post war beat generation, as they counteracted the societal norms of that time in order to discover his own true individuality.Read MoreThe Individual in Chains of Illusion† 950 Words   |  4 Pagesindividualism connects Erich Fromm and R.W. Emerson together. Individualism implies a firm understanding of humanism. Humanism advocates man as the sole entity whose purpose is to glorify his/her rational thought. Humanistic ideology prompted the idea of self-reliance and the power of the individual. Both Fromm and Emerson ideologies are coherent with each other. The main difference in their philosophy is the approach one experiences to be an individual. Emerson sees the freedom of the individual in hisRead More Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nonconformity, Integrity, and Self-Reliance945 Words   |  4 PagesRalph Waldo Emerson: Nonconformity, Integrity, and Self-Reliance Emersons transcendentalism is essentially a romantic individualism, a philosophy of life for a new people who had overthrown their colonial governors and set about conquering a new continent, in hopes of establishing new and unique views. Though Emerson is not a traditional philosopher, the tendency of his thought is toward inward reflection in which soul and intuition, or inspiration, are fundamental. The new American neededRead MoreTranscendentalism And The American Renaissance1693 Words   |  7 Pagesof the American Renaissance reform called, Transcendentalism. The Transcendentalism period which outlined majority of the Renaissance, was led by writer, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Transcendentalism is largely defined by the ideals of, religion, self reliance, civil disobedience, individualism, idealism, nonconformity, and nature. Emerson outlined the reform and countless parts of these Transcendentalism ideals, for writers soon to follow this movement. The Norton Anthology of American Literature, presentsRead MoreTranscendentalism; Positive or Negative Essay941 Words   |  4 Pageshow to live life. Those tenets being; Everything reflects the divine soul, God is in nature and man, use your intuition to relate to God and nature, be self-reliant and express your individualism, and be spontaneous and seize the day. Thoreau and Emerson reflect all of these tenets in their poems, and they’re shown in the character Mr. Keating in the movie Dead Poets Society. He teaches the kids at this school all about transcendentalism in English class, and throughout the movie you see the positive

The Role Of Energy In Human Development Environmental Sciences Essay Free Essays

In November, 2009 the UN Development Programme ( UNDP ) office noted that 1.5 Billion people of the universe, about one-fourth of current universe population are still without electricity ( EIA World study, 2009 ) . They are largely in rural developing universe. We will write a custom essay sample on The Role Of Energy In Human Development Environmental Sciences Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now The UNDP besides highlighted the pressing demands to guarantee that the energy demands of developing states are cardinal to any new clime alteration understanding. The bulk of them who live in the dark are in the least developed states ( LDCs ) of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, harmonizing to the study ( The Energy Access Situation in Developing States: A Review Focusing on the Least Developed Counties and Sub-Saharan Africa. ) Mr. Olav Kjorven, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Development Policy, told newsmans in New York at the launch of the study: â€Å" Expanding energy entree is indispensable to undertake planetary poorness. It needs to go on at the lowest cost and in the cleanest manner possible to assist developing states set up a low-carbon path to development, † He besides noted: â€Å" Almost half of the humanity is wholly disconnected from the argument on how to drive human advancement with less emanations and greener energy because their world is much more basic than that. They carry heavy tonss of H2O and nutrient on their dorsums because they do n’t hold transport ; they cook over wood fires that amendss their wellness, non with electricity, gas or oil, † â€Å" We must guarantee that energy demands of these people are cardinal to a new clime understanding, † he added, mentioning to the treaty to control nursery gas emanations that states are trusting to accomplish when they meet in the Danish capital in December, 2009 Kjorven noted that two million people die every twelvemonth from causes associated with exposure to smoke from cooking with biomass and coal and 99 per cent of those deceases occur in the development states. In LDCs and Sub-Saharan Africa, half of all deceases from pneumonia in kids under five old age s, chronic lung disease and lung malignant neoplastic disease in grownups are attributed to the usage of solid fuel, compared with 38 per cent in developing states overall. Interestingly, most of these people live in a part where there is plentifulness of sunlight ( see Figure 1.1 and 1.2 ) , and it is no â€Å" projectile scientific discipline † that sunlight can be converted to electricity. The Photo-voltaic ( PV ) engineering that converts the sunshine to electricity has been known since 1950s, and the agencies to hive away PV electricity when the Sun is reflecting and do it available when it is dark has been applied for old ages. Furthermore, electricity generated in this manner is local and distributed. It can be used where it is needed, and therefore wo n’t necessitate transmittal of electricity from a cardinal bring forthing station to remote rural countries, and thereby would extinguish all electricity transmittal related issues or costs which would be Millions of dollars in order to convey the electricity grid to these distant rural countries of the universe. Among the assorted energy utilizations, run intoing illuming demands affordably and faithfully is frequently the basic demands for human life, and the underlying key to any economic development, and riddance of human poorness. Lighting helps people gain extra clip for working, reading in the eventide, basking greater security and more comfort. The quality of visible radiation from a electric beginning is many times better when compared with kerosine lamps or tapers, and is less risky to wellness, and safe. Compared to the visible radiation provided by electricity that the people in the developed universe usage, the visible radiation from a kerosine lamp is really subdued. In order to read under this light 1 has about put the books straight over the lamp. In add-on, being at so close propinquity with these lamps, the kids are bound to inhale the exhausts from these lamps which are toxic and unhealthy. Therefore, the absence of modern visible radiation as provided by the electricity im pedes non merely the analyzing ability of these hapless kids but besides it creates serious wellness jobs. Pode ( Pode, 2008 ) noted â€Å" In footings of costs, visible radiation from kerosine is far more expensive than provided by electric visible radiations. The cost of utile light energy ( $ /Lumen Hour of visible radiation ) for kerosine is more than 300 times higher than the inefficient incandescent bulbs, is more than 1600 times higher than a Compact Fluorescent visible radiation bulb and more than 3000 times higher than a LED † . The International Finance Corporation ( IFC ) estimates that $ 38 Billion is spent yearly, chiefly by the hapless, on fuel-based lighting ( World Bank Group Progress on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects in Fiscal Year 2006: Bettering Lifes ) . A alteration to electric visible radiations ( CFL and LED based ) would be less than 1/2000 of this tremendous costs for illuming, a economy of mammoth proportion. 2.1 Introduction Every twenty-four hours about 122 PW of sunshine reaches the Earth ‘s surface. This is plentiful compared to the 13 TW of entire energy consumed by worlds. Solar energy ( electricity ) is created by the sunshine. When the sunshine strikes a PV cell, a stuff made from Si or sand that is similar to the stuff used in doing computing machine memory french friess, the energy contained in the sunshine ( the photons ) excites the atom within the semiconducting material stuff, and motion of these loose atoms creates electromotive force ( direct current electromotive force ) and electric current. Therefore every bit long as there is Sun, and the sunlight hits a PV cell at that place will be PV electricity. This is sustainable and is plentiful. 2.0 System Installation Issues End product of solar PV panel can change significantly with its siting- location every bit good as its disposition ( tilt angle ) relation to place of the Sun. Since the PV electricity is generated by the Sun, the sum of sunshine hitting the PV cell will find how much solar electricity can be obtained from a PV cell at a location. The disposition of the Sun with regard to the PV cell is of import as it would order the sum of Sun ‘s energy that would hit the surface of the PV faculty, and its continuance. Therefore, a solar PV panel that can track the Sun as it moves from E to west during the twenty-four hours can bring forth the most sum of solar electricity at a location. Where such trailing solar PV is non executable, the solar panel should be mounted at an angle so that it hits the Sun sheer for most of the clip and gets the sunshine during most of the twenty-four hours, Similarly, shadowing will impact the sum of Sun received on the PV panel and will impact the sum of end p roducts. A Solar Pathfinder ( hypertext transfer protocol: //www.solarpathfinder.com ) or similar instrument should be used to find the optimal location of the faculty, and topographic point it. The UNDP has postulated that â€Å" The most basic demands for human development are to take long and healthy lives, to be knowing, to hold entree to the resources needed for a nice criterion of life and to be able to take part in the life of the community. Without these, many picks are merely non available, and many chances in life remain unaccessible † ( hypertext transfer protocol: //hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/indices/hdi/ , accessed 5/1/2010 ) . Since 1970s international Keynesiasm highlighted the planetary mutuality with two major countries of concerns: a new international economic order ( NIEO ) and transportation of resources to the hapless population of the universe ( the 3rd universe states, 3W ) to run into the basic demands in development ( Preston, P.W. , ( 1996 ) , Development Theory, ISBN 0-631-19554-8 ) . See figure below. The function of energy in human development was foremost highlighted in an UN Report, prepared by the Brundtland Commission ( Brundtland Report, ( 1987 ) , United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development ( WCED ) , 1987, hypertext transfer protocol: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brundtland_Commission, accessed June, 2010 ) . Lack of entree to affordable energy was besides noted as one of the major causes of poorness and deficiency of human development. The disparities in energy usage between the developed universe and the under-developed universe was besides noted, with a suggestion that the developed universe take a broader function in taking this huge disparity. The authoritiess of the First universe states and the cardinal establishments of the post-second universe war broad capitalist systems, the IMF, the World Banks, the NGOs realized that they must suit to force per unit areas of reform, and pay attending to this NIEO by transportation of resources to the hapless stat es to run into their basic demands, and turn toing the energy poorness was on top of the docket. ( Preston, P.W. , ( 1996 ) , Development Theory, ISBN 0-631-19554-8 ) . We will discourse how this development attack for the full universe specially for the energy hapless states was addressed under this NIEO ( see Figure I.1 ) . Modern energy as provided by electricity provides many chances for human development. It reduces the clip needed to execute basic family jobs. The clip therefore saved could be used for income coevals, increased societal activities and educational intent. It has been determined that energy ingestion has important correlativity with GDP every bit good as HDI. A study published by IEA indicates that the states with high ingestion degree of per capita electricity, attain upper rank of both economic activities ( GDP per capita ) and HDI as shown Figs. I.4 and I.5, severally. Figures I. 4 and I. 5. Electricity Consumption and GDP ; and Electricity ingestion and HDI Income Generation -Enterprise development through electricity creates occupations -Higher productiveness through Mechanization – -Small scale industries such as, weaving, knitting etc. for rural development Education -Lights enable easiness of analyzing after dark – -Reduced clip needed for executing regular family jobs. The saved clip can be used for analyzing and fostering instruction – ( ICT ) Modern energy enables one to entree computing machine, communicating and information based chances which are causes for digital divide, and cognition based societies Health – Unhealthy pollutants such as ensuing from toxic dodo fuel based energy are reduced – – Arduous work related to roll uping firewood is reduced specially for adult females and kids – – Handiness of modern inoculation and medical specialty storage installations improves wellness of the local population Environment -Reduction in usage of fuelwood prevents devastation of trees and woods – Energy efficient contraptions could cut down energy wastes -Promotes climate protection -Fosters globalisation of community and more societal interaction How to cite The Role Of Energy In Human Development Environmental Sciences Essay, Essay examples

Employment Appropiate Section

Questions: Task 1a) Produce a response in the form of a set of brief, non-technical notes suitable for inclusion in a letter to the potential client. You do not have to produce theletter. As a minimum your notes must include explanation of:Describe the purpose of taxation levied in the UK, the legislation and procedure used to administer taxation in the UK, the main types oftaxation collected in the UK, distinguishing between direct taxes and,indirect taxes and the main ways in which taxation is assessed andcollected in the UKAnalyse the main roles and responsibilities of the tax practitioner in the UKExplain the implication for the tax payer of non-payment of taxes includingmexamples of the penalties which may be incurred. Task 2 You are required, On behalf of Jay Cobb, to prepare the appropriate sections of the employmentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ section of the UK Income Tax Return for year 6 April 2014 to 5April 2015. Task 3 You are required to prepare a taxation computation for Jay for the year to 5 April 2015. 2.1 and 2.2 In order to complete task c) you will need to take account of the following ratesand allowances which will apply to Jay:Personal Tax Allowance 2014/2015, = 10,000Basic rate of tax, based on taxable income between 0 and 31,865, = 20% Higher rate of tax, based on taxable income between 31,865 and150,000, = 40% Answers: Task 1 Taxation is a system in which government mandatorily collects contributions from the tax payers. Basically tax is collected for three main purposes firstly, for the fulfillment of the fund required by the government in its operations. Secondly, for the control and monitor the economic factors of the country since taxes play a very significant role in economy and thirdly for the wealth redistribution to maintain equality in the nation. Since 1689, the legislation of the tax system is under the control of the Parliament. And yet since 1911, tax law is the only legislation controlled by Parliament which is not scrutinized in detailed by the House of Lords. However, the prospect of the rejection still lies with House of Lords. (government, 2013) The main types of tax collected are Income tax, National Insurance, Value Added Tax (VAT), Corporation Tax, Council Tax, Business Rates, Excise duties and other taxes such as stamp duty, carbon tax, airport tax, inheritance tax, and capital gains. Most of the taxes are collected by the HM Revenue and Custom. The pie chart shown below depicts the volume of taxes collected by the government from different sources in the year 2011-12. (Pettinger, 2014) Direct taxes are directly levied on the payers, whereas indirect taxes are collected from the service providers or the manufacturers of the goods but the burden of such tax ultimately falls on the consumers. Self-assessment procedure is used by the HMRC. The payers involved in self- employment doing business etc need to file tax return whereas for the employees the tax is deducted automatically from wages, pension and savings. The last date of filing the return online is 31st January. Keeping records is necessary to fill in the tax return correctly. On the basis of the report submitted by the tax payer HMRC will automatically calculate what the payer owes as tax. (Self assessment tax returns, 2015) (Oratore) The roles and responsibilities of the tax practitioners are to provide their clients prompt resolution to tax uncertainty and legal compliances. They need to give a clear understanding of risk and opportunities which the clients are required to make amongst choices which are most suitable to them. Tax practitioners draw attention of its clients towards the impact of the tax consequences. It helps the large tax payers decide about the dealings with the foreign authorities as well. It is the responsibility of the practitioner to keep its client informed about new rules issued. This way client will be able to comply with all the rules required to be fulfilled by them. (Mayer, 2012) The implications for non-payment of taxes are by the tax payer or its agent is penalty. The penalty can be imposed if the return or any tax document is inaccurate or tax has been unpaid, understated, over-claimed, and under assessed. Though the agent has been given responsibility to comply all the proceedings but still the liability for penalties for late payment, late filing or any error in the paper work lies with the tax payer itself. The penalty of 100 shall be imposed if the tax return is up to 3 months late however this may increase with the increasing delay period. If the tax payer has reasonable excuse for the delay he may appeal against the penalty imposed. (Self assessment tax returns, 2015) The main purposes of the form are given as below: (PAYE Forms: P45, P60, P11D, 2015) P60 This form is a proof of the tax paid by the employee in a particular tax year. It is provided by the employer latest by 31st May in paper or electronically. P45 This form is provided by the employer to its employee at the end of its service to such employer. In case the employment is ceased in the mid of any tax year in that case this form is helpful for tax purpose since it depicts the amount of tax already paid by the employee for the particular tax year. This form is divided into four parts; part 1 is handed over by the employer to the HMRC and the rest to the employee. Employee retains part 1A for its own records and hand over the rest part 2 3 to the new employer. P11D This is the form sent by the employer to the HMRC in case the employee is receiving any benefits in kind. This form is applicable when the earnings of the employee including the worth of the benefit are at least 8,500 in a tax year. This form contains the worth of such benefit and it is the duty of the employer to inform employee what is mentioned in the form. On behalf of Jay Cobb, we are preparing the information required to fill the tax return of the employment section. The following are the information required to be furnished in the tax return. (HMRC, 2015) First of all the Name is to be given i.e. Jay Cobb, and then the Unique Tax Payer Number which is 9878912652. Pay from this employment the total of P45 and P60 before the tax was taken off = 32,000 UK Tax took off in Box 1 - 5,000 Tips and other payments not on you P60 Not Applicable PAYE tax reference of the employer ( on P45/P60) 321/XYZ/B Employers Name SPO Consultancy Ltd. If were a company director No ( Jay was neither a director nor the partner) If were ceased being a director before the date of 6 April 2015, then mention the date on which the directorship was ceased Not Applicable Whether company was a close company No Whether Jay is a part-time teacher in England or Wales and are on the Repayment of Teachers Loans Scheme for this employment No Now the Benefits from the employment are to be disclosed in the relevant boxes. Information from Form P11D can be utilized here to fill the boxes. Company Cars and Vans Not Applicable Fuel for company cars and Vans NA Private medical and Dental Insurance - 3,000 Voucher, credit cards and excess mileage allowance NA Goods and other assets provided by employer NA Accommodation by the employer NA Other benefits such as interest-free or low-interest loan - NA Expenses payments received and balanced charges NA The Employment Expenses required to be furnished by Jay Cobb, are listed below with the relevant figures. Business travel and Subsistence Expenses NA Fixed Deductions for Expenses NA Professional Fees and Subscriptions - 150 Other Expenses and Capital Allowances. - NA Tax Computation of employed and self-employed is shown below: Jay is 26 years old employee of SPO Consultants Ltd. with gross pay of 32,000. His tax deduction has been 5,000; therefore, net tax liability will be after deducting 5,000 from the tax liability amount. The payment date is 31st January. (Calculate PAYE on your Salary) Gross Pay - 32,000.00 Tax-Free Allowance - 10,000.00 Total Taxable - 21,991.00 Tax paid - 4,398.20 National Insurance - 2,885.28 Student Loan - 0.00 Total Deductions - 7,283.48 Net Wage - 24,716.52 NI Employer - 3,318.07 Jay has sold some land in March 15 which he has purchased as an investment at a purchase cost of 120,000. The sale price of the transaction was 140,000 with some disposal expenses involved such as estate agency cost and legal cost. The chargeable assets are the business assets, shares other than NISA, ISA or PEP, property other than main home or main home if its used for business purpose, let out or very large and personal possessions worth 6,000 or more other than car. (Capital Gain Tax, 2015) For an individual, the excess of the sale price to the acquisition cost will be the capital gain taxable. Capital gain tax is computed after allowing the annual exemption being 11,000 for the tax year 2014-15. The rate is 18% for the basic tax payer and 28% for the higher tax payer. However here the Capital Gain tax computation of Jay Cobb is given as below: (CGTC, 2015) Asset Name - Land Disposal Date - March/2015 Net Disposal Proceeds - 134,750 Purchase Price - 120,000 Other Acquisition Cost - 1,500 Total Gain [3-4-5] - 13,250 Annual Exempt - 11,000 Net Gain [6-7] - 2,250 Rate of Tax - 18% Capital Gain Tax [8*9] - 405 Task 2 Self Employed It is a simple calculation of income tax and Class 4 NICs. It requires the Income, Expense, rent a room income (if any) details to compute the tax liability. (Tax Calculators) The self employed need to apply to local tax office and obtain the schedule D status. If the 80% of the income is not from a single client or customer than the officer is satisfied and allows such status. After obtaining this status proportion of the house cost can be claimed as cost in case the house is partly used for the business purpose. The tax liability is to be paid in two installments two months apart. However if the annual turnover exceeds 49,000 the person has to obtain VAT registration. As per the details given for the past two years in the question, Ben Jack needs not to take any VAT registration. Self Employed tax payers need to maintain full records for the period going back over 7 years. Schedule D is divided into four cases: Case 1: tax in respect of trade other than mentioned in Schedule A Case 2: tax in respect of loan relationship, annuity, etc. Case 3: tax on overseas income Case 4: the tax on annual profit was not falling under any other category. (Tax for the self-employed person, 2001) The tax rates for the year are mentioned below: (Income tax rates and allowances, 2015) Year Adjusted Profit Tax Rate 2012-13 36,000 20% 2013-14 45,000 40% The adjusted profit for tax purpose is computed in the following manner: Net profit for the period - 54,600 Add: Private Items of Expenditure - 4,500 Add: Disallowed expenses for tax purpose - 3,500 Less: Writing Down Allowance of car (20,000*8%) - 1,600 Adjusted Profit - 61,000 Task 3 By the corporate the corporation tax is paid on the difference between the sale price and the purchase price after deducting any expense on sale. To this resultant amount the amount calculated by multiplying the inflation index factor with the purchase cost, is deducted. This is called take away the indexation allowance from the profit. Now this indexation allowance is deducted from the indexation allowance of the expenses. The final figure computed is the gain to be taxable. (Corporation Tax when you sell a business asset, 2015) The computation of Capital Gain is given below: Sale proceeds- 900,000 Disposal Costs - 43,000 Net sale proceeds [1-2] - 857,000 Purchase Cost - 600,000 Net of Sale proceed and purchase cost [3-4] - 257,000 Enhancement Cost - 100,000 Subtracting the enhancement cost [5-6] - 157,000 Inflation factor when purchased - 156 Indexation Allowance [4*8] - 93,600 Deducting indexation allowance from profit [7-9] - 63,400 Inflation factor for expense - 176 Indexation Allowance [6*11] - 17,600 Deducting indexation allowance [10-12] - 45,800 Capital Gain = 45,800 The capital allowance to be claimed during the year amounts to 215,000 as per the details given in the question. These capital losses can be claimed by reporting it to the HMRC. These losses can be claimed on the chargeable assets to reduce the total taxable income. These losses used to reduce the taxable income are called as allowable losses. If the tax free allowance still exceeds the chargeable asset then the excess would be carried forward to the next tax year. The losses can be claimed only through tax return. It can be carried forward to the maximum of 4 years from the year of disposal of the asset. The asset which has become worthless or are of negligible value still the losses on such assets can be claimed. (Capital Gain Tax- if you make a loss, 2015) If a companys financial year covers two corporation tax financial years then in that case the corporation tax will be assessed by proportionately dividing the profit in the no. of days falling in each of the tax year. As in the given question the financial year of the company is from 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015 whereas the tax year is between 6th April 2014 5th April 2015. Thereof there is a difference of approximately 5 days. This difference can be handled by proportionately dividing the profit in the two tax years and apply the relevant rates of such years to the bifurcated profits. The profit given in the question is 1,193,000 and the losses are 200,000, therefore the net taxable income becomes 993,000 after deducting losses. The calculation of the amount which will be subject to corporation tax is shown below: (Corporation Tax Rates and Reliefs, 2015) Tax year 13-14 Period 1/04/14 5/04/14 No. of Days 5 Adjusted Profit (993,000*5/365) 13,602.74 Tax year 14-15 Period 6/04/14 31/03/2015 No. of Days 360 Adjusted Profit (993,000*360/365) 979,397.26 The taxable income after deducting losses is 993,000. The applicable tax rate as per the tax year and the income comes to 21% (given). The marginal relief is to be computed on the excess of taxable income and 1.5 million. The last day to pay the corporation tax is the day when 9 months end after the end of the accounting period. In this question the accounting period ends on 31st march 2015, therefore in that case the dead to pay the corporation tax would be by the end of December 2015. The Corporation Tax computation of Glimmer Plc is shown below: (Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill, 2015) Serial No. Particulars Details Amount () 1. Adjusted Profit Given 1,193,000 2. Losses Given 200,000 3. Taxable Income [1-2] 993,000 4. Corporation Tax Rate Given 21% 5. Tax on Income [3*4] 208,530 6. Marginal Relief (1500000-993000)*1/400 1,268 7. Net Tax Liability [5-6] 207,262 As per UK taxation policies and guidelines if any interest, royalty or wage is paid certain amount will be withheld from the total amount and the balance will be paid to the recipient. This retention is known as withholding tax. It is the tax deducted at source by the payer and submitted to the Her Majestys Revenue and Customs. This withholding tax is deducted at a certain fixed percentage i.e. 20%. It is the payers responsibility to deduct the tax, account for it to the HMRC, and pay it to HMRC within the specified time. Any default in compliance will lead to fine and penalties to the payer. In UK withholding tax is applied only to the income of revenue nature, no tax shall be paid for income of capital nature. (Witholding Tax - Overview, 2014) Here in the mentioned case Glimmer Plc has paid interest on loan to its debenture holders amounting 300,000 on which it has deducted 20% withholding tax amounting to 64,000 since the mentioned interest amount is of income nature and not of capital nature.. The balance amount 256,000 is paid to the recipient i.e. debenture holders. This amount of 64,000 is to be paid by Glimmers Plc to HMRC within the specified time limit otherwise it will amount to penalty and interest. (UK Corporate - Witholding Taxes, 2015) References Calculate PAYE on your Salary. (n.d.). Retrieved 2015, from Income tax calculator: https://www.incometaxcalculator.org.uk/index.php?yr=2015age=0time=1ingr=32000 Capital Gain Tax. (2015, April 09). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/work-out-your-capital-gains-tax-rate Capital Gain Tax- if you make a loss. (2015, April 09). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax/losses CGTC. (2015). Retrieved 2015, from UK tax Calculators: https://www.uktaxcalculators.co.uk/capital-gains-tax-calculator.php Corporation Tax Rates and Reliefs. (2015, April 01). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/corporation-tax-rates Corporation Tax when you sell a business asset. (2015, April 06). Retrieved June 2015, from gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/tax-when-your-company-sells-assets/work-out-a-chargeable-gain Government, H. (2013). A guide to UK Taxation. UK Trade Investment. HMRC. (2015). Retrieved 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419579/sa102-2015.pdf Income tax rates and allowances. (2015, April 06). Retrieved June 2015, from gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-income-tax/income-tax-rates-and-allowances-current-and-past Mayer, B. H. (2012, May 25). The new role of the Tax Practitioner. Retrieved June 2015, from Lexology: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=af3cb9aa-24e5-4960-bc1f-d91b984565bc Oratore, V. (n.d.). Making Of Tax Law. Retrieved 2015, from The Barrister Magazine: https://www.barristermagazine.com/archive-articles/issue-46/making-of-tax-law-:-tax-legislation-has-a-peculiar-status-in-the-uk.html Pay Your Corporation Tax Bill. (2015, June 05). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.Uk: https://www.gov.uk/pay-corporation-tax PAYE Forms: P45, P60, P11D. (2015, May 21). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/paye-forms-p45-p60-p11d/p60 Pettinger, T. (2014, November 17). Tax Revenue Sources in UK. Retrieved June 2015, from Economics help: https://www.economicshelp.org/blog/4001/economics/tax-revenue-sources-in-uk/ Self-assessment tax returns. (2015, June 12). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/overview Self-assessment tax returns. (2015, June 12). Retrieved June 2015, from Gov.UK: https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/deadlines Tax Calculators. (n.d.). Retrieved 2015, from The Tax Donut: https://www.taxdonut.co.uk/tax/business-tax-planning/tax-calculators Tax for the self-employed person. (2001, August 15). Retrieved 2015, from the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2001/aug/15/careersadvice.tax UK Corporate - Withholding Taxes. (2015, May 01). Retrieved June 2015, from PWC: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/uk/taxsummaries/wwts.nsf/ID/United-Kingdom-Corporate-Withholding-taxes Withholding Tax - Overview. (2014). Retrieved June 2015, from LexisPSL Tax: https://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/lexispsl/tax/document/393773/55KG-S061-F18C-V2WS-00000-00/Withholding%20tax%E2%80%94overview

Infection and its prevention Essay Example

Infection and its prevention Essay Infection and its prevention have been a prime concern of mankind for a long time. Infection is a condition that results when a microorganism is able to invade the body, multiply and cause injurious effect or diseases. (McCall Tankersley, 2007:71) Infection control therefore refers to policies and procedures used to minimize the risk of spreading infections, especially in hospitals and human or animal health care facilities. The purpose of this is to reduce the occurrence of infectious diseases. The aim of this essay is to look at how infection control and the theatre environment impact on a patient undergoing surgery. The first part of the essay looks at infection control in the hospital setting in general; touching on issues such as hospital acquired infection like Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium Difficile (CD). Then the essay delves into the design of the surgical theatre and how it impacts on patients; it further talks about surgical etiquette placing much emphasis on hand washing as this is the first defence in preventing transmission of pathogen (Radford et al, 2004). Finally a conclusion is drawn on all the issues raised and their impact on the patient undergoing surgery. We will write a custom essay sample on Infection and its prevention specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Infection and its prevention specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Infection and its prevention specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In the past, surgery would have been performed in a convenient location such as the patients home or a hospital ward with only basic infection control in place (Essex-Lopresti 1999). In Phillips (2004) describes the process for preparing the room as rudimentary, amounting to little more than removing furniture and non essential items and boiling linen, perhaps fumigation if time allows. Today, most surgery takes place in operating theatres that are specially designed for that purpose. There are two types of infection, the endogenous and exogenous infection. Endogenous infection occurs when microorganisms that normally exist harmlessly in one part of an individual to become pathogen, whereas exogenous infection happens when microorganisms from other source or from other person, object, animal or the environment (Woodhead 2005). Infection control refers to policies and procedures used to minimise the risk of spreading infection especially in hospitals. Nosocomial or hospital acquired infection (HAI) occur in approximately 5% of all hospital patients. The longer a patient stays in hospital, the higher the risk of getting HAI and sometimes even leading to death. There are many reasons why patients infected with HAI: Firstly weak immune system which makes them more vulnerable to infection due to patient sickness or treatment. Secondly, infection agent can be introduced to the patient by medical procedures and thirdly, on admission with infectable disease agent, patient can transfer diseases to a patient or patient to staff or visitor (Jones, 2008). HAI has, over the past few years dominated the media with its coverage of the superbugs, in particular MRSA and CD. A HAI or nosocomial is that which is acquired or develops as a result of treatment while the patient hospitalised for more than 48 hours and who did not have signs and symptoms of such infection on admission. Radford et al (2004) cited the research of Emmerson et al (1996) 9% of patients admitted to hospital acquire HAI from surgical wound infection after hospital discharge. MRSA has the ability to resist to one or more conventional antibiotics. Study suggests many people are carriers of MRSA but are colonised in their nose or back of their throats and on their normal flora. Report from BBC news (2005) stated that about 100,000 get infected with MRSA each year when they get admitted into hospital. The only way health care workers can reduce this infection is; a good hand washing between patients, a good standard hygiene in hospital and patients with MRSA treated in a highly isolated as much as possible. The operating theatre is designed in accordance by national and processional guidelines as described by Woodhead et al (2005). Each department is divided into three zones, the outer or dirty zone which is unrestricted area where normal clothing can be worn; it contains the entrance to changing areas and usually has access to remove theatre waste. The clean or semi-restricted zones are the staff changing rooms, anaesthetic and recovery rooms and sterile supplies. Access is restricted and all personnel and patients have to wear theatre attire. There is exception sometimes to patients that need support, such as children, mental ill patients or translators to the anaesthetic room. The sterile or restricted zones include the operating theatre, preparation rooms and the scrub areas. Surgical attire and possible masks will need to be worn at all times (Davey Ince 2004). Sterile areas should avoid overcrowding by theatre staff to reduce the risk of accidental contamination to sterile instruments and layout. To reduce airborne contamination, movement of staff and patient should be kept to a minimum. This helps to reduce airborne bacteria from entering the operating theatre (Woodhead 2005). Ventilation, temperature, humidity and airborne contamination have an important role in the design of a good operating theatre. In order to control the movement of air, the operating department requires specialised ventilation system. Usually the system employed in ventilating modern operating departments are laminar airflow (LAF) technology and positive pressure (PP) systems; these are in theory designed to reduce surgical site infections. The theatre is particularly arranged in a way so that air pressure is filtered moving air from clean to less clean areas and this continues when the theatre room is not in use. This is in place to reduce the airborne contamination, reduce expired anaesthetic gases and to control temperature and humidity, thus reducing and minimising bacterial growth. Adequate ventilation in theatre can be achieved by properly closing theatre doors, windows are well sealed, ceiling solid and the floor impermeable to washable material with no gaps or cracks and cove red joints where it meets the wall. Also shelving should be kept to a minimum (Weaving P, et al 2008). In orthopaedic theatre the air is ultraclean. These system are used when the risk and consequences to developing infection are greater. Ultra clean air, provided by the laminar flow systems, is designed to move particle free air over the aseptic operating field in one direction; it can be in vertically or horizontally sweeping away particle in its path. These canopies have the capacity to provide up to 400 to 500 air change per hour and can reduce the incidents of surgical site infection ,so together with good practice and the use of prophylactic antibiotics, the impact of surgery upon the patient should be favourable (Woodhead et al 2005) . 37à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ C and high humidity is the optional where most bacteria reproduce, to keep a theatre room free from bacteria the temperature should be between 20 to 24oc and humidified air levels of 50 to60%, this help to suppress bacteria growth, also help create a good impact upon the surgical patient, as infection rates are considerably lower (Davey and Ince 2004). Infants, children and burnt patient need a warmer temperature to avoid hypothermia, therefore each operating theatre have its own controls for regulating the temperature (Mangum 2001). There are two types of lighting found in theatre, the laminar lighting used to light the operating theatre and auxiliary and the surgical lighting. Both harbour microorganisms on it surfaces due to the movement and activities of staff in the operating theatre (Phillips 2004). This should be clean regularly to reduce the risk of infection. The theatre must be damp dusted before the first case of the day, and it is essential to clean and disinfect all contaminated areas of the theatre at the end of each case (Mangum, 2001) Infection control as defined earlier as policies and procedures use to minimize the risk of spreading infection, staff do not always go by this policies and guidelines. For example policies on air movement in the department, normally doors between the anaesthetic room and theatre are mostly left open by staff therefore affecting the positive pressure from working effectively. Staff need constant trainings and made aware of updated policies. These measures will help to control infection. According to Woodhead et al (2005), 300 million skin squames are shed per day and about 10% of this have microorganisms of which smaller particles stay as airborne for some hours. Some big particles may rest on work surfaces, furniture and equipment. 37% of airborne microbial contamination can be reduced if in every 3 minutes air is changed in the theatre. Different type of waste should be separated and disposed of in the right way. All waste known, or considered to cause disease in humans or other living organisms is considered infectious waste (DH, 2006). In the authors trust yellow is the colour coding for clinical waste which can cause a risk of infection or can be hazardous. Green bags for the linens. All waste bags should not be more than three quarters full (Davey Ince, 2004) and it is the duty of the staff to ensure that and dispose off in the appropriate manner to meet the requirement of the control of substances hazardous to health regulation (COSHH). Maintaining a safe and clean environment is essential for a good impact upon surgical patients, but staff themselves can be a source of microbial contaminated (Green et al, 2003). Staffs are screened by their occupational health department. They are annually screened for such infections as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B.; this screening is mandatory and is design to protect patients from exposure from infected staff. Microorganisms are shed from exposed skin, hair and mucus membranes, so to achieve a sterile field and to reduce infection for both patients and staff; staff need to wear appropriate clothing, prepare patients, use sterile equipment and eliquette during surgery. According to Radford et al (2004), every staff working within the theatre context needs to change into suit and trousers as classed as personal protective equipment (PPE) made from cotton fabric to reduce skin cells to the surroundings. Other PPE such as footwear, mask, eye protection etc. are also worn by staff as an infection control measure during surgery. Hospital Acquired Infections may not be eradicated but many outbreaks can be prevented through effective hand washing. Transient microorganisms are easily removed during hand washing therefore it is one of the most important procedures to prevent the spread of infection (Woodhead Wicker 2005). Hand antisepsis started in the 1860 by Joseph Lister. He realised decay is caused by microorganism and it can be prevented by disinfecting the clinical environment and all equipment with carbolic acid. It also included staff having their hands washed in a solution of 5% carbolic acid before undertaking surgery. Other development on surgical hand antisepsis occurred including scrubbing the hands and arms with a brush where the term scrub comes from. Also introduction of alcohol rubs in the late 1990s which contain antiseptic agent such as chlorehexidine gluconate alcohol solution which when rubbed on the hands does not need rinsing (Tanner 2008). Hand washing takes place before and after patient contact, following removal of protective clothing, immediately following contamination with blood or body fluids and after handling contaminated or potentially contaminated articles (Davey and Ince 2004, p39). This hand washing is a form of standard precautions for all staff to practice since staff cannot tell which patient is contaminated; therefore it is one of the most important procedures to prevent the spread of infection. Healthcare workers handling patient with their catheter, bed linen, wound, disposal of linen and waste come in contact with microorganisms. Also staff or practitioners caring for MRSA patients can have the pathogen on their skin for a few hours, this means it can transfer to another patient or staff easily. During these times, hand washing is vital to help stop the spread of infection. Surgical hand scrubbing gets rid of transient microorganisms which help to minimise the number of resident microorganisms in the recent study of Tanner 2008. Before hand scrub, all jewellery with the exception of single plain band must be removed. False nails and nail polish is not acceptable, since they harbour pathogens as studied by Heddewick et al (2000). Aqueous antiseptic solution such as Chlorhexidine gluconate and providone-iodine are efficient in removing transient organisms and reducing resident organisms to a safe level. Frequent hand wash minimise a low bacterial count under gloves which is accepted by all healthcare workers. To start effective hand scrub, temperature of the water must be checked; also arms and hands must be wet before applying anti-microbial solution. The hands and arms are washed from fingertips to the elbows and hands are held higher than elbows in order to prevent microorganisms dropping back to the fingertips. There is no agreed time for how long a surgical hand wash should last, but between 2 5 minutes have been vouched for by most researchers as enough and effective. Hands should be properly dry. Alcohol based hand rubs are also effective for use between patient contact. When used, the right technique should be employed to ensure it covers the relevant areas and left to dry (Woodhead et al 2005). Sterile gowns are worn after hand scrub to prevent bacteria from scrub staff to the surroundings or operating site, thus reducing surgical side infection (SSI) (Radford et al ,2004). Gloves must be put on using the closed gloving technique, not touched by the staff members bare hands. During orthopaedic operation, double gloving is recommended as any perforations will be highlighted and sterility will not be compromised. Surgical instrument and sterile equipment are prepared in the preparation room just before use, thus minimising the risk of contamination from airborne microbes. Patients are then positioned on to the table before a scrub nurse wheels the trolley into the operating area (Davey and Ince, 2004). A patients skin around the incision site is disinfected to reduce the number of bacteria present so as to reduce the risk of endogenous infections. The most effective antiseptic are those which are alcohol based. This has to be left on the skin to evaporate before draping begins (Weaving et al, 2008). The rationale behind this is to reduce the natural flora from getting into the incision and avoiding the patient contracting SSI. The rest of the patient is covered by draping which comes in disposable or reusable; this is to provide a sterile field in which the operating team can work without risk of contaminating themselves or the instrument. Draping start from the incision site working out towards the peripheries and should not be removed until dressing applied and surgery completed (Radford et al, 2004). Infection can not be totally eliminated and has serious consequences for the patient; however the risk of contracting infection can be reduced by adhering to infection control procedures and policies such as effective hand washing, wearing the appropriate personal protecting equipment. The design of the operating department also plays an important role in the success of controlling infection. Ventilation system needs to be working effectively to achieve its use; temperature and humidity parameters need constant checking. The continuous education of staff about theatre policies and regular update of the policies will go a long way to help reduce infection in theatre.

Jefferson and his Times essays

Jefferson and his Times essays Jefferon and his people had become a political group that favored the adoption by the states of the Constitution The Federalists were conservatives; they favored a strong centralized government, encouragement of industries, attention to the needs of the great merchants and landowners, and establishment of a well-ordered society. : Hamilton had outlined a plan of government with a strong central authority to replace the weak system of the Articles of confederation he was one of the most powerful leader. First election held under constitution. Tecumseh establishes tribal confederacy to resist white expansion. Jackson and Taney remove federal deposits from Bank of United States. Wigs held their first national Convention. Samuel Morse sends the first telegraph message.Massachusetts supreme court declares unions and strikes legal.John Deere manufactured first steel plow.Failed revolution in Germany spurs emigration to America.Second Great Awakening takes place. Aaron Burr kills Alexander Hamilton in a duel.Bacons Bill No. 2 reopens trade with Britain and France.United States declares war on Great Britain.Jackson invades Florida, ends first Seminole War Supreme Court hears Dartmouth college v. Woodward and McCulloch v. Maryland. Jefferson and Burr tie vote in electoral college.Jefferson becomes president after congress confirmselection.Tecumseh establishes tribal confederacy to resist white expansion.First Bank of the United States closes after its charter is not renewed. Madison vetoes internal improvements bill.Mississippi enters the Union. First election held under constitution.First President of the United States.Tennessee becomes sixteenth state. XYZ affair precipitates state of quasi war wit h France. Jefferson and Burr tie vote in electoral college. Jefferson becomes president after congress confirms election. Tecumseh establishes tribal confederacy to resist white expansion.First Bank of the United States closes...

Clark Surname Meaning and Origin

Clark Surname Meaning and Origin The Clark surname is an occupational name for cleric, clerk, or scholar - one who can read and write, from the Old English cler(e)c, meaning priest.  Also from the Gaelic Mac a Chlerich/Cleireach; son of the cleric or, sometimes, clerk. During the Middle Ages, the common pronunciation of -er was -ar, so the man who sold items was the marchant, and the man who kept the books was the clark. At the time, the primary members of the literate class were the clergy, which in minor orders were allowed to marry and have families. The term clerk (clark) eventually came to designate any literate man. The Cleary / OClery surname, one of the oldest surnames in Ireland, is often anglicized to Clarke or Clark. Clark is the 25th most popular surname in the United States and the 34th most common in England. Clarke, with an e, is actually more common in England - coming in as the 23rd most popular surname. It is also a very common name in Scotland (14th) and Ireland. Surname Origin English, Irish Alternate Surname Spellings ï » ¿CLARKE, CLERK, CLERKE Famous People With the Surname CLARK William Clark - one half of the legendary Lewis Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean, along with Meriwether Lewis.Guy Clark - American singer/songwriterArthur C. Clarke - British science fiction writer, best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey Genealogy Resources for the Surname CLARK 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Clark(e) Surname DNA ProjectThis project was started to determine if the early Clark families in Virginia were of the same family, and/or if they were connected to explorer William Clark. The project has now expanded to include a broader scope of Clark families around the world. Clark Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Clark surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Clark query. There is also a separate forum for the CLARKE variation of the Clark surname. FamilySearch - CLARK GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Clark surname and its variations. DistantCousin.com - CLARK Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Clark. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Obama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Obama - Essay Example In the US state of Ohio, there was great resonance between President Barack Obama’s arguments and those of the voters regarding the economic woes that America has experienced in the recent years as a result of the Bush government (â€Å"Fox News Exit†). On the national level, President Barack Obama’s campaign played a very important role opposing the supposed war on women by Romney. This gained President Barack Obama heavy support of the female voters whereas Mitt Romney gained no more than a point from the 2008 performance of John McCain. In addition to that, President Barack Obama also approved of the gay marriages in America understanding the fact that gays are growing in population in America. This gained him the support of the gay community as well and has contributed to his presidency for the second time. I personally think that President Barack Obama won the re-election fundamentally because he is black by ethnicity. The blacks in America have grown in population over the years and they see President Barack Obama as their own representative in such a prestigious institution as the government. Equality of races in America has been a growing concern since the end of slavery, but since then, the blacks’ rights have been subjugated at different levels, though not as overtly and openly as they were in the time of slavery. A vast majority of the black Americans voted for President Barack Obama because they did not want to lose their representation in the most powerful seat in America. The white Americans, on the other hand, were not quite as conscious about being represented in the government as the black Americans were because the former have always been more than sufficiently represented everywhere in America. So the white Americans primarily based their decision of voting betwee n President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on the basis of their evaluation of their individualistic strengths and weaknesses. Understandably, some white Americans did find

What it means to receive my Black Belt in Kung Fu Essay

What it means to receive my Black Belt in Kung Fu - Essay Example I perceive this accomplishment as a major achievement in my life, and am grateful to the almighty that I had followed the eight essential elements that constitutes such a feat. A positive mind serves the purpose of keeping one constantly motivated. Whatever one does in life, whether it leads to success or failure, has to be augmented with a positive attitude. This will enable one to accept the facts of life and to emerge stronger out of any situation. Kung Fu had always provided me some reason to look up to myself. I was always required to set some standards to myself and to live up to it. This made me a highly positive individual who is willing to turn any negative aspect in life to something positive. For instance, whenever I found myself lacking in energy or focus, I told myself that what any other person could achieve could be achieved by me as well. I always considered my mentor a role model and followed the regime he suggested. And I was never disappointed by this attitude in life, for I was never defeated by any amount hard work. The very fact that I had to practice martial arts on a daily basis helped me maintain my body healthy. I realized that a healthy body is the best asset one could have. It made me feel ultimately confident in taxing situations. I also realized that my physical appearance was highly enhanced by a healthy body, which resulted in a lot of respect and admiration from those who were associated with me. This did boost my self-confidence and motivated me further to follow a strict regime of exercises and Kung Fu practice. I started slow and steady, but progressed to a stricter, more systematic regime, which could have led to a very healthy body which I can be proud of. Balanced relationships matter the most in human life. I was not really convinced at first of maintaining a balanced relationship with the help of learning martial arts. But, after

Response paper to Ian Hodder’s “Ethics and Archaeology” Essay Example for Free

Response paper to Ian Hodder’s â€Å"Ethics and Archaeology† Essay Ian Hodder’s article, â€Å"Ethics and Archaeology: The Attempt at Eatalhoyuk,† basically discusses in detail the different roles that archaeologists assume during an excavation and also their ethical obligation and duty to the different communities on the site. Hodder claimed that the roles of archaeologists are not only limited to studying human culture through unearthing, recovering, documenting, analyzing, and interpreting remains, historical objects, artifacts, and landscapes. In addition, he also claimed that they do not also work solely to serve the interest of their benefactors and sponsors. Rather, Hodder stated that archaeologists have bigger roles and wider responsibilities to the different sectors of the excavation site. In short, aside from the interest of their sponsors and other organizations that fund the digs, Hodder believes that it is also the duty of archaeologists to reach to the multiple communities, interest groups, or stakeholders of any excavation site. In his paper, Hodder mainly focused his arguments on the Eatalhoyuk excavation site where is the director of the archaeological dig. According to him, the stakeholders of most sites can be narrowed to four: the politicians, the local residents, the New Age Goddess followers, and the artists. Hodder noted each of these communities has its own agenda or interest and it is part of the archaeologist’s duty to somehow satisfy them. One of the stakeholders that are common to almost all archaeological sites is the politicians or those in the seat of power. Generally, based on Hodder’s paper, all politicians support archaeological digs have their own agenda or interests. These may involve governors, mayors, or government representatives from the surrounding area of the site. Hodder claimed that although a lot of these politicians hail the archaeological site for its richness in history, culture, and identity, among others, their interests mainly lie on a single thing— widespread publicity. While the politicians’ desire to be seen on television or read on the newspapers is normal, Hodder stressed that it is the archaeologist’s role to limit the ways in which they use the site for their personal motives. He also stated that archaeologists should also verify every piece of information that a politician gives to the public about the site. For example, there are certain politicians who claim to be descendants of the site’s residents and speak about his or her origins. In this case, it is the archaeologists’ responsibility to verify these claims and ensure that they are true. Another community that has its own interests is the local residents. According to Hodder, in general, these residents, who have low incomes and limited education, mainly have practical concerns such as earning money for helping in the excavation. However, they are also concerned about the history of the sites and how they contributed to their identity. In this regard, Hodder stated in his paper that is archaeologists job to educate them about their cultural history and identity using solid evidence found on the digs. In turn, these local residents may relate their personal experiences from living in the site’s environment to tourists and researchers as these are helpful information. The New Age Goddess groups, on the other hand, mainly go to excavation sites, such as in Eatalhoyuk, to pray and to practice their beliefs which are in honor of their Goddess, which was a highly significant figure in the past. Their main concerns, according to Hodder, would mostly be regarding the history of the Goddess and the role of women in the Eatalhoyuk’s past. Thus, the archaeologists should try to address these concerns and provide evidence that would show how women lived in the communities of Eatalhoyuk thousands of years ago. By doing so, Hodder surmised that this would not only serve the Goddess’ groups interests but also avoid any misinformation regarding the site’s history. Finally, another sector that has shown significsnt interest in Eatalhoyuk is the artists group. Hodder noted that over the past years, more and more artists have arrived at Eatalhoyuk mainly to create works about the site. However, he claimed that there are also certain artists who help in the interpretation, reconstruction, and visualization of the art objects found in the site. Hodder stated that the main concern of this group is whether the objects unearthed during digs and excavations could be considered art or not. Meaning to say, most of these artists are particularly interested in identifying and describing the works of art recovered from sites. In this regard, the archaeologists involved, according to Hodder, should ensure that these works of art or aesthetic objects are verified to be genuine using past studies and other evidence found on the site. Certain artists also inquire about the role that art played in the history of Eatalhoyuk and it is the archaeologist’s duty to satisfy those questions to the best of his or her abilities. In short, what Hodder was trying to point out in his paper was that archeologists should always consider the agenda and interests of all the groups and sectors concerned during an excavation as it reaps greater rewards and is also more ethical than serving only personal interests. Personally, I agree with Hodder’s claims in his paper. His use of historical evidence and real life situations make his arguments very convincing. I also think it is unethical for archaeologists to go on digs mainly to become famous or serve their own interests only. Rather than setting one agenda, I believe it is important to work with different communities as exemplified by Hodder’s work in Eatalhoyuk as there are greater things at stake. Since archaeologist’s experiences firsthand what it’s like to be in an excavation site or dig, he or she should use his or her knowledge and skill to verify all the information and answer all the questions surrounding an archaeological site. This is not only professional obligation but also an ethical duty. Works Cited Hodder, Ian. â€Å"Ethics and Archaeology: The Attempt at Eatalhoyuk. † Near Easter Archaeology 65 No. 3 (2002): 174-181.

Downfall of Female Body Image: Media’s Influence Essays -- Social Issu

Throughout the years, the connotative definition of beauty has gone through constant change. In today’s world, young women are constantly under the impression that they have to fit the current definition in order to fit in with society and be recognized by men. Many girls feel they need to fit the mold instead of being their true unique selves. Every single individual is different in their own way, however the media has drilled it into every young girl’s mind, that they have just like a Barbie doll in order to be happy. Furthermore, these same girls are resorting to extreme methods in order to feel like they fit in such as taking unhealthy weight loss pills and developing eating disorders. Advertising has caused more harm than good in this particular situation by compelling girls to feel like they cannot be themselves. Even fashion trends have added to this downfall of women’s individualism. Teenage girls feel the need to match the current fashion trend, no matter how expensive, just so they can feel the same as everybody else. As Andrew Delbanco explains in his work, The Real American Dream, consumer culture has the power to â€Å"evacuate the self† (105). This is exactly what is happening in today’s world due to media influence. Young women are idolizing media images and trying to imitate them. This in turn is causing a negative effect on individualism. Young women should grow up wanting to be themselves as individuals. Girls should not mature with the mindset that they want to be just like the models in magazines and television commercials. Kristin Noelle Weissman discusses the effects of the mass media in her book Barbie: the icon, the image, the ideal. Weissman explains, Wood 2 â€Å"The mass media –as a primary and ... ...y. Women all over the world are affected by the media. Even the slightest flash of a tall and skinny girl in a TV commercial can have an influence on a young girl that just wanted to watch cartoons. Starting as kids, icons such as Barbie engrain is a child’s mind that beauty and being thin comes with popularity and happiness. But what happens when those goals of the media’s Wood 10 perfect image are just out of reach? This can cause negative effects on young women and has been for several years. Women everywhere are stuck on the idea that they have to look like Barbie or like the models and celebrities in magazines, sometimes resulting in detrimental methods such as eating disorders. These women eventually develop a loss of their individuality and are left unhappy and disappointed. The cookie-cutter idea is taking over society and the media is to blame.

Making a buffer

Name Date experiment performed   CRN of lab section: Grade: Days late: Instructor Initials: General Grading Items 25 Points Attendance at Pre-lab MeetingCopies of lab pages attached; labeled with name and date, complete information, readable, data recorded matches results given in report| /5| Waste was properly disposed of and lab area was cleanedEvaluation of student performance overall (student was on time, followed safety rules, performed the lab correctly and within the time allowed, etc) Total for General Grading Items Data Analysis and Interpretation Part | 75 Points| Titration Curves| /25|Question 1Question 2Question 3Total for Data Analysis and InterpretationData Table Buffer A| Buffer B| Mass of NaC2H3O2 used to prepare buffer (grams)Volume of buffer prepared (mL) 100. 0| 100. 0Molar concentration of HC2H3O2 in buffer (M) Initial pH of bufferVolume of 0. 5 M NaOH to raise pH by 2 units (mL)Volume of 0. 5 M HCl to lower pH by 2 units (mL)Volume of 0. 5 M NaOH at equivalence point (mL)Data AnalysisWrite reaction equations to explain how your acetic acid-acetate buffer reacts with an acid and reacts with a base.Buffer capacity has a rather loose definition, yet it is an important property of buffers. A commonly seen definition of buffer capacity is: â€Å"The amount of H+ or OH– that can be neutralized before the pH changes to a significant degree. † Use your data to determine the buffer capacity of Buffer A and Buffer B. (Graphically, we can identify buffer capacity by the sudden change to a very steep slope. )Say, for example, that you had prepared a Buffer C, in which you mixed 8. 203 g of sodium acetate, NaC2H3O2, with 100. 0 mL of 1. 0 M acetic acid. a. What would be the initial pH of Buffer C? b. If you add 5. 0 mL of 0. 5 M NaOH solution to 20. 0 mL each of Buffer B and Buffer C, which buffer’s pH would change less? Explain.

Do Teenagers Need a Part Time Job

Do you believe that teenagers should have a part-time job before they graduate from high school? The purpose of this essay is the explain the reasons why teenagers should have a part-time job before they graduate from high school. First of all, this would allow teenagers to be prepared for the real world. Often some teenagers will go out on their own unprepared and dependent on family or friends for money. Secondly, this could help teenagers become more responsible. Furthermore, having a part-time job would allow teenagers to have spending money. By having a part-time job this allows teenagers to be prepared for the real world. Teenagers can expand their knowledge skills and gain experience for future full-time jobs. Often teenagers may not be aware of the knowledge needed in their employment. Having the experience from part-time jobs would allow them to be more prepared. Teenagers would also learn financial skills for when they go away from home to college or university. Another thing is that by having a part-time job while still in high school that teaches teenagers responsibility by saving their earnings. Responsibility is key to being successful and by having a part-time job, teenagers improve in their accountability. Due to the fact that some students are irresponsible, they may be more efficient to become punctual and reliable. Teenagers would better understand what it is like to hold a part-time job while keeping up in school and homework. Therefore realizing what their parents do on a daily basis. For example, holding a full-time job and meeting the family responsibilities. Teenagers could also think about saving their earnings for buying the things they would like. Money is something almost every teenager wants. If teenagers had a part-time job, this would allow them to have spending money they earned by themselves. With the check they’ve received or money saved from working, they can go out to the movies, go bowling, buy clothes or just buy anything they want. Teenagers would have to spend their earnings very wisely, so they are not asking their parents for money. In conclusion, I strongly believe that it is important for teenagers to have a part time job before they graduate from high school. Although, having a part time job could take time away from yourself such as working on homework or spending time with friends, teenagers can put time aside for a night they aren’t working to go to a movie or just do something they enjoy. Part time jobs have many benefits so I don’t see why some teenagers stay at home doing nothing or spending too much time with friends, when they can be working and getting prepared for the future. Teenagers need to learn life skills early in life. So they are not living at home, with no jobs after high school if they are not going to pursue there education. This is why teenagers should have part-time jobs.

Participatory sensing services for smart phones The WritePass Journal

Participatory sensing services for smart phones   1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motivation Participatory sensing services for smart phones   1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motivation2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Background3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Methods4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Metrics for evaluation5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Outputs6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Workplan7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ReferencesRelated   1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Motivation In modern society, environmental pollution is usually a headache for citizens, especially those who live in the urban areas. Many researches have shown that there is a direct link between environmental pollution and health effects. In the last two decades, the overall environment quality has improved. However, there is still a concern about environmental pollution in the urban areas. Citizens, especially the elderly and children, are vulnerable to the effects of environmental pollution. Nowadays, the latest technologies in the wireless field provide an innovative approach for the citizens to access the information about environmental pollution. With over 3 billion subscriber lines active today, nearly half the world’s population uses mobile phones [1]. Given the right structure, the ubiquitous mobile devices could act as sensor nodes, capable of capturing, classifying, and transmitting environmental data, such as image, acoustic, and temperature. In the foreseeable future, other sensors may be embedded in or connect wirelessly to the mobile phones to gather information about air pollutants, like CO2, NO2 and SO2. Participatory sending can employ a variety of devices to collect data; however, some special characteristics of mobile phones enable them to be an unprecedented tool for engaging participants in sensing their local environment. The sheer ubiquity across the geographic and demographic spectrum and the broad proliferation of cellular infrastructure and mobile phone usage make it possible to collect data over large areas for little incremental cost. Participatory sensing will utilize current wireless network, which consists numerous mobile phones, to form a vast interactive participatory sensor network that enables professional users and lay public to gather, analyze and share environment information [2]. Citizens, especially the elderly, children, urban commuters, urban office workers and students, will benefit from such a revolutionary technology. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Background In virtue of the rosy prospect and importance of participatory sensing, there are more and more research institutes engaging in this field. The concept of PES has been proposed in recent years (Karatzas, 2005; Burke et al., 2006; Goldman et al., 2009), and related projects have been in development around the world, especially in the USA and Europe [3]. PEIR, one of the most successful participatory sensing projects, is research collaboration between CENS, UCLA and Nokia. It makes use of Internet to allow citizens to use their mobile phones to interact with PEIR, and explore and share the impact between environment and the citizens. PEIR senses pollution by  using existing infrastructure  without user intervention  and emphasizes how individual transportation choices simultaneously influence both environmental impact and exposure, which makes it different from other existing carbon footprint calculators [4]. Eye on Earth project of the European Environment Agency is a two-way communication platform on the environment. It has introduced the participation of millions of ordinary people to create the first environmental portal that includes citizens’ observations on air and bathing water quality at present. Eye on Earth aims to gradually include information on many other environmental topics and grow to a global observatory for environmental change [5]. MESSAGE is to provide data collecting through three sensor platforms for the planning, management and control of the environmental impacts of transport activity at urban, regional and national level. Mobile phones are investigated to support a sensing system, in which people play an important role [6]. In addition to the projects introduced above, other participatory sensing projects have also appeared, such as Living Environments, Citysense, Common Sense, Envitori and MIMAQ [3]. A lot of evidences have shown that new intuitive ways of interactions and user friendly context aware service can be introduced by various sensors in mobile phones. Therefore, mostly specialized sensors were applied in participatory sensing. Some projects also suggest that standard sensors already embedded in the mobile phones can be used for this. Overall, there are a variety of participatory sensing projects, and they can be divided into three categories according to the participation patterns [1]: Collective Design and Investigation. A group of individuals work together to decide where, what and why to sense. Then a data collection system is collectively designed, and an investigation is conducted. The group interprets the data and acts on the results. An evident feature of this participatory pattern is that the community of participants owns the entire process. Instead of serving merely research subjects, individuals play an active role in the investigative process. Public contribution. Individuals or organizations define inquiries and then other individuals collect data in respond to such inquiries. In this case, participants actively engage in the data collection and make contributions to an effort they find meaningful. For organizers, they can gather as many data as possible at a scale unachievable by professionals acting alone. Personal Use and Reflection. Individuals log information about themselves, like images, sounds and so on. Such recorded information may reveal hidden habits and patterns in one’s life after analyzed and visualized. Participants use the results for personal discovery to reflect on, evaluate, and perhaps change patterns that were previously overlooked.    3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Methods Data collection and interpretation are the heart of participatory sensing which places the emphasis on the involvement of citizens and community groups. In spite of participation patterns, the basic process for every participatory sensing project is similar, and it can be broken down into the following eight steps: coordination, capture, transfer, storage, access, analysis, feedback and visualization [1]. Coordination explains the sensing effort to the participants and provides necessary guidance to them. Capture is the collection of data on a mobile phone, which is the core step of participatory sensing. Data can be captured by the existing sensors already embedded in the mobile phones or by those specialized sensors connecting wirelessly to the mobile phones. In the course of data collection, the credibility of data must be guaranteed. More significantly, data about geographical position and time must be captured every time. Transfer is processed automatically by mobile phones via wireless network. Mobile phone software takes the responsibility of uploading data and makes it transparent to the participants. Furthermore, mobile phone software should be tolerant of inevitable network interruptions. Storage takes place on servers which are distributed remotely in the Internet. Access is under the control of project organizers and participants according to the privacy policy. Due to the possible disclosure of private information about the participants, it is of vital importance for the participants to determine what information to share and with whom. Analysis includes various data-processing methods, the calculation of group statistics and the integration of contributed data into statistical and spatial models that can be used to determine patterns in space and time. Feedback may be required in the event of a project triggering manual or automatic events. Visualization is closely related to the analysis. It is the step to present the contributed data after analysis. In some sense, well-designed visualization increases the applicability of a participatory sensing project. The project of Participatory sensing services for smart phones can be divided into two collaborative subprojects based on the Android platform, one focusing on data gathering and the other one dealing with the data processing and visualization. We take the responsibility for presenting data in some friendly and easy-understandable way. Thus the data analysis and visualization are the center of our work. For the subproject of data processing and visualization, we have to deal with data and services. In the assumption that the contributed data are already available and their credibility has been verified, we get data via a server-based application which acts as a data storage. This server-based application will provide web service interfaces for data access. Thus WSDL language for web services will be utilized to develop an Android-based application with the aid of development environments like Eclipse. There are a wide variety of available solutions to make use of web services via Android, and the solution to use ksoap2 will be suitable for our project. The data accessed via web services can be classified into two kinds: subjective data and objective data. Subjective data: a categorization of the quality of the environment. They are feedback commented and reported by the citizens on the air quality. We intend to make use of the EEA categorization for air pollution, which is applicable on eyeonearth.eu/. Objective data: in the form of numeric values. They are automatically captured by the sensors or reported manually by the users. Images, sound, location and time are objective data. All data processed in the frame of participatory sensing project will include the following three categories of information: Georeference. Geographical position and time is extremely important for participatory sensing, and forms the cornerstone of the follow-up work. User categories. At the initial stage, our project will serve the urban commuters, office workers, students and the elderly. Other categories of users are possibly added if necessary at the later stage. We allocate every user group a unique ID, which will be used to identify the category which the users belong to. Furthermore, category ID will be used to send a request to the server which involves user category. Thematic profiling. Our project is to process information about environment and we aim to deal with air pollution, odors, noise, traffic congestion and waste. In order to present the result of the contributed data to the participants in a user-friendly and easy-understandable way, GMap API may be utilized to map the georeference and thematic profiling, which will provide an interactive feature between our project and participants. Due to the distinct flexibility, Modest Maps API is an alternative to achieve the same goal. 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Metrics for evaluation To encourage the handset owners to participate in our project, privacy protection policy has to be taken into account to prevent privacy disclosure. One of the basic rules is that participants cannot access other people’s private information, and such an attempt should be denied. Furthermore, the data visualization should be easily and readily comprehended or understood not only by the professional users but also by the general public. In some sense, the degree of understandability of data presentation determines the scope of applicability of participatory sensing. Another metric related to the visualization is that the users are able to customize the configuration to present what they want. With regard to air quality, if the concentration of air pollutants detected does not fall into the scope which is safe and suitable for humankind, the participants should receive a warning, so that they can take actions to avoid being harmed. Due to regional differences, different air pollution standards are applied in different areas. 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Outputs The output of our project is an application running on the Android platform. Interested people can download it from the Internet and install it in their Android phones to access the information about environment surrounding them. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Workplan The rough time schedule of our project is listed below, including the milestones and corresponding estimated completion dates. In table 1, some stages may overlap with others. In the course of project development, the time schedule may be changed according to specific situation. Milestone Anticipated completion date Analyze the project and do literary review February 28, 2011 Define the project scope February 28, 2011 Write the research proposal March 23, 2011 Study mobile phone programming techniques May 27, 2011 Make a plan for the project May 28, 2011 Implement the project July 28, 2011 Test the project August 3, 2011 Take field trials August 5, 2011 Deliver the project August 8, 2011 Complete the dissertation August 19, 2011    7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   References [1] J. Goldman, K. Shilton, J. Burke, D. Estrin, M. Hansen, N. Ramanathan, S. Reddy, V. Samanta, M. Srivastava, R. West, â€Å"Participatory Sensing: A citizen-powered approach to illuminating the patterns that shape our world† [2] J. Burke, D. Estrin, M. Hansen, A. Parker, N. Ramanathan, S. Reddy, M. B. Srivastava, â€Å"Participatory Sensing† [3] https://projects.inf.ed.ac.uk/msc/project?number=P165 [4] http://urban.cens.ucla.edu/projects/peir [5] eyeonearth.eu/About.aspx?culture=en-GB [6] http://bioinf.ncl.ac.uk/message/?q=node/5 Participatory sensing services for smart phones 1. Motivation Participatory sensing services for smart phones 1. Motivation2. Background3. Methods4.Metrics for evaluation5. Outputs6. WorkplanReferencesRelated 1. Motivation In modern society, environmental pollution is usually a headache for citizens, especially those who live in the urban areas. Many researches have shown that there is a direct link between environmental pollution and health effects. In the last two decades, the overall environment quality has improved. However, there is still a concern about environmental pollution in the urban areas. Citizens, especially the elderly and children, are vulnerable to the effects of environmental pollution.   Nowadays, the latest technologies in the wireless field provide an innovative approach for the citizens to access the information about environmental pollution. With over 3 billion subscriber lines active today, nearly half the world’s population uses mobile phones [1]. Given the right structure, the ubiquitous mobile devices could act as sensor nodes, capable of capturing, classifying, and transmitting environmental data, such as image, acoustic, and temperature. In the foreseeable future, other sensors may be embedded in or connect wirelessly to the mobile phones to gather information about air pollutants, like CO2, NO2 and SO2. Participatory sending can employ a variety of devices to collect data; however, some special characteristics of mobile phones enable them to be an unprecedented tool for engaging participants in sensing their local environment. The sheer ubiquity across the geographic and demographic spectrum and the broad proliferation of cellular infrastructure and mobile phone usage make it possible to collect data over large areas for little incremental cost. Participatory sensing will utilize current wireless network, which consists numerous mobile phones, to form a vast interactive participatory sensor network that enables professional users and lay public to gather, analyze and share environment information [2]. Citizens, especially the elderly, children, urban commuters, urban office workers and students, will benefit from such a revolutionary technology. 2. Background In virtue of the rosy prospect and importance of participatory sensing, there are more and more research institutes engaging in this field. The concept of PES has been proposed in recent years (Karatzas, 2005; Burke et al., 2006; Goldman et al., 2009), and related projects have been in development around the world, especially in the USA and Europe [3]. PEIR, one of the most successful participatory sensing projects, is research collaboration between CENS, UCLA and Nokia. It makes use of Internet to allow citizens to use their mobile phones to interact with PEIR, and explore and share the impact between environment and the citizens. PEIR senses pollution by  using existing infrastructure  without user intervention  and emphasizes how individual transportation choices simultaneously influence both environmental impact and exposure, which makes it different from other existing carbon footprint calculators [4]. Eye on Earth project of the European Environment Agency is a two-way communication platform on the environment. It has introduced the participation of millions of ordinary people to create the first environmental portal that includes citizens’ observations on air and bathing water quality at present. Eye on Earth aims to gradually include information on many other environmental topics and grow to a global observatory for environmental change [5]. MESSAGE is to provide data collecting through three sensor platforms for the planning, management and control of the environmental impacts of transport activity at urban, regional and national level. Mobile phones are investigated to support a sensing system, in which people play an important role [6]. In addition to the projects introduced above, other participatory sensing projects have also appeared, such as Living Environments, Citysense, Common Sense, Envitori and MIMAQ [3]. A lot of evidences have shown that new intuitive ways of interactions and user friendly context aware service can be introduced by various sensors in mobile phones. Therefore, mostly specialized sensors were applied in participatory sensing. Some projects also suggest that standard sensors already embedded in the mobile phones can be used for this. Overall, there are a variety of participatory sensing projects, and they can be divided into three categories according to the participation patterns [1]: Collective Design and Investigation. A group of individuals work together to decide where, what and why to sense. Then a data collection system is collectively designed, and an investigation is conducted. The group interprets the data and acts on the results. An evident feature of this participatory pattern is that the community of participants owns the entire process. Instead of serving merely research subjects, individuals play an active role in the investigative process. Public contribution. Individuals or organizations define inquiries and then other individuals collect data in respond to such inquiries. In this case, participants actively engage in the data collection and make contributions to an effort they find meaningful. For organizers, they can gather as many data as possible at a scale unachievable by professionals acting alone. Personal Use and Reflection. Individuals log information about themselves, like images, sounds and so on. Such recorded information may reveal hidden habits and patterns in one’s life after analyzed and visualized. Participants use the results for personal discovery to reflect on, evaluate, and perhaps change patterns that were previously overlooked. 3. Methods Data collection and interpretation are the heart of participatory sensing which places the emphasis on the involvement of citizens and community groups. In spite of participation patterns, the basic process for every participatory sensing project is similar, and it can be broken down into the following eight steps: coordination, capture, transfer, storage, access, analysis, feedback and visualization [1]. Coordination explains the sensing effort to the participants and provides necessary guidance to them. Capture is the collection of data on a mobile phone, which is the core step of participatory sensing. Data can be captured by the existing sensors already embedded in the mobile phones or by those specialized sensors connecting wirelessly to the mobile phones. In the course of data collection, the credibility of data must be guaranteed. More significantly, data about geographical position and time must be captured every time. Transfer is processed automatically by mobile phones via wireless network. Mobile phone software takes the responsibility of uploading data and makes it transparent to the participants. Furthermore, mobile phone software should be tolerant of inevitable network interruptions. Storage takes place on servers which are distributed remotely in the Internet. Access is under the control of project organizers and participants according to the privacy policy. Due to the possible disclosure of private information about the participants, it is of vital importance for the participants to determine what information to share and with whom.   Ã‚   Analysis includes various data-processing methods, the calculation of group statistics and the integration of contributed data into statistical and spatial models that can be used to determine patterns in space and time. Feedback may be required in the event of a project triggering manual or automatic events. Visualization is closely related to the analysis. It is the step to present the contributed data after analysis. In some sense, well-designed visualization increases the applicability of a participatory sensing project. The project of Participatory sensing services for smart phones can be divided into two collaborative subprojects based on the Android platform, one focusing on data gathering and the other one dealing with the data processing and visualization. We take the responsibility for presenting data in some friendly and easy-understandable way. Thus the data analysis and visualization are the center of our work. For the subproject of data processing and visualization, we have to deal with data and services. In the assumption that the contributed data are already available and their credibility has been verified, we get data via a server-based application which acts as a data storage. This server-based application will provide web service interfaces for data access. Thus WSDL language for web services will be utilized to develop an Android-based application with the aid of development environments like Eclipse. There are a wide variety of available solutions to make use of web services via Android, and the solution to use ksoap2 will be suitable for our project. The data accessed via web services can be classified into two kinds: subjective data and objective data. Subjective data: a categorization of the quality of the environment. They are feedback commented and reported by the citizens on the air quality. We intend to make use of the EEA categorization for air pollution, which is applicable on eyeonearth.eu/. Objective data: in the form of numeric values. They are automatically captured by the sensors or reported manually by the users. Images, sound, location and time are objective data. All data processed in the frame of participatory sensing project will include the following three categories of information: Georeference. Geographical position and time is extremely important for participatory sensing, and forms the cornerstone of the follow-up work. User categories. At the initial stage, our project will serve the urban commuters, office workers, students and the elderly. Other categories of users are possibly added if necessary at the later stage. We allocate every user group a unique ID, which will be used to identify the category which the users belong to. Furthermore, category ID will be used to send a request to the server which involves user category. Thematic profiling. Our project is to process information about environment and we aim to deal with air pollution, odors, noise, traffic congestion and waste. In order to present the result of the contributed data to the participants in a user-friendly and easy-understandable way, GMap API may be utilized to map the georeference and thematic profiling, which will provide an interactive feature between our project and participants. Due to the distinct flexibility, Modest Maps API is an alternative to achieve the same goal. 4.Metrics for evaluation To encourage the handset owners to participate in our project, privacy protection policy has to be taken into account to prevent privacy disclosure. One of the basic rules is that participants cannot access other people’s private information, and such an attempt should be denied. Furthermore, the data visualization should be easily and readily comprehended or understood not only by the professional users but also by the general public. In some sense, the degree of understandability of data presentation determines the scope of applicability of participatory sensing. Another metric related to the visualization is that the users are able to customize the configuration to present what they want. With regard to air quality, if the concentration of air pollutants detected does not fall into the scope which is safe and suitable for humankind, the participants should receive a warning, so that they can take actions to avoid being harmed. Due to regional differences, different air pollution standards are applied in different areas. 5. Outputs The output of our project is an application running on the Android platform. Interested people can download it from the Internet and install it in their Android phones to access the information about environment surrounding them. 6. Workplan The rough time schedule of our project is listed below, including the milestones and corresponding estimated completion dates. In table 1, some stages may overlap with others. In the course of project development, the time schedule may be changed according to specific situation. Milestone Anticipated completion date Analyze the project and do literary review February 28, 2011 Define the project scope February 28, 2011 Write the research proposal March 23, 2011 Study mobile phone programming techniques May 27, 2011 Make a plan for the project May 28, 2011 Implement the project July 28, 2011 Test the project August 3, 2011 Take field trials August 5, 2011 Deliver the project August 8, 2011 Complete the dissertation August 19, 2011 References J. Goldman, K. Shilton, J. Burke, D. Estrin, M. Hansen, N. Ramanathan, S. Reddy, V. Samanta, M. Srivastava, R. West, â€Å"Participatory Sensing: A citizen-powered approach to illuminating the patterns that shape our world† J. Burke, D. Estrin, M. Hansen, A. Parker, N. Ramanathan, S. Reddy, M. B. Srivastava, â€Å"Participatory Sensing† https://projects.inf.ed.ac.uk/msc/project?number=P165 http://urban.cens.ucla.edu/projects/peir eyeonearth.eu/About.aspx?culture=en-GB http://bioinf.ncl.ac.uk/message/?q=node/5