Finance for Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Finance for Innovation - Essay Example This paper illustrates that financial resources are critically essential in all innovation process aspects and all financial sources are significant. A good financial innovator is Kueski.com, a financial innovator located in Guadalajara in Mexico, which chose a banking platform in Mambu cloud to operate its magnificent and fast-growing lending business. Kueski.com is an innovator that offers online loans through a complicated risk algorithm drawing on several sources of data like a client’s social profile so as to assess his/her creditworthiness. Venture capital industry is regarded as a solution for financial innovation since it addresses most needs for technology startups. Venture capital typically funds innovations through rich investors, university endowment funds, pension funds as well as other institutional investors for a certain period of time. Venture capitalists actively invest and are involved in assisting strategy, operations, marketing, and personnel. Usually, the y restrict give restriction to entrepreneurs from getting funds from other potential investors without explicit permission from the venture capitalists. Venture capital involves specialized funds that are invested and managed in companies by people who best understand the industry that they are investing. The funds offered by venture capital and the equity share kept by managers are sensitive to the ability and experience of the capital providers and how mature the firm that is being funded is. Venture capital usually boosts the value of the funded firms especially if the investors are experienced. There are several stages that venture capital provides funds; Venture capitalists provide finance for research, assessing and developing the initial concept of a business before it reaches the startup stage. It finances businesses that require more funds after the development stage to initiate sales and commercial manufacturing.

My Summer Vacation Essay Example for Free

My Summer Vacation Essay Relaxing out in the sun in the middle of a lake that stretches for miles and miles, is probably one of the most amazing things you could ever see in life. The best part about that, I get to enjoy that every summer. Every summer my family goes to a small cabin on Lake Rainy in Canada. The most memorable time I have ever had with my family was at our family cabin in Canada. It was the summer of 2007 and also one of the hottest trips weve had at our cabin. One of my favorite things about the cabin is that it has no electricity unless we have the generator on. My brothers whined about that for the first couple days! Bubba even tried to convince Aunt Linda to turn on the generator just so he could watch a movie. With no success with my aunt he asked Uncle Tom and got his way. After the kids got the idea that there would be no more turning the generator on for little things like charging their Game Boys, things actually started to get better. With almost all technology set aside we did things unheard of in this day in age. One night we decided we were tired of being bored and I thought my little brother to play Kings Corner, they didn’t like that game very much. I decided it was time for a little easier game; it would have to be easy to catch Bubbas attention. Uno was the game we played most nights. Playing Uno at the cabin was great, the entire family was ordered to play by my Aunt Linda and since she is the boss, no one would have even thought otherwise. Don’t get me wrong we didn’t spend all of our time indoors. We went swimming very frequently, most of the time just to stay cool. It was usually too hot to go fishing, unless you had a death wish. One day when it was cool enough to fish, Kelsey caught the most beautiful Walleye I have ever seen. My little cousin Kimmy wasnt to excited about eating fish so the made her chicken every night we had fish. (This was most nights. ) The only thing I hated about Canada honestly was leaving. On the last day were at the cabin everyone is usually pretty sad to be leaving. It was always nice to get home, but as soon as we would get home we would instantly start to miss watching the sunset on a lake that stretched for miles and miles.

Symptoms And Treatments In Cystic Fibrosis

Symptoms And Treatments In Cystic Fibrosis Abstract Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common genetically inherited diseases which can cause premature death in western populations, with 1 in 2000-3000 new born babies being found to be affected by Cystic fibrosis in Europe [1]. The disease is caused by defective chloride ion channels along the epithelial membrane of the lungs, pancreas and other organs; although there are several hypotheses as to how this dysfunction specifically gives rise to the typical symptoms. The complications associated with the disease are varied, the most significant being the build up of abnormally thick excess mucus which can cause impaired function of the lungs and other major organs. Fortunately research into new treatments has significantly improved the life expectancy of people suffering from this disease. This essay discusses the causes Introduction The name cystic fibrosis refers to the generation of cysts in the pancreas and the formation of excess fibrous connective tissue in the lungs. The internal organs which suffer the most damage as a result of this disease are the lungs and the pancreas; although a variety of other organs are also affected. The first clinical recognition of cystic fibrosis didnt occur until the 1930s when its symptoms were observed and characterised by Dr. Dorothy Anderson. The recessive nature of the disease was confirmed in the mid-forties after an investigation involving over one hundred families; although the defective gene that causes the disease wasnt isolated for another forty years when it was discovered in 1989 by reverse genetics. After the breakthrough in the forties general understanding of the disease increased steadily over the next couple of decades with a major clinical advancements in diagnostics occurring in the fifties with the development of the sweat test. As cystic fibrosis is the result of an autosomal recessive disorder, the sufferer will have to of inherited two copies of the mutated gene (one from each parent) in order to be affected by the disease. The mutation takes place in a single gene on chromosome 7. This faulty gene leads to the development of a defective cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. In healthy people the CFTR proteins form ion channels to transport chlorine ions across the epithelial membrane of the lungs, pancreas, sweat glands and other organs. It is also thought to regulate the activity of other chlorine-selective channels and some cation-selective (sodium ion) channels. Ions can then pass through these channels thereby maintaining the water potential of the cells. When the fine balance of ion concentration is affected less water is able to pass across the epithelial membrane by osmosis causing excess and highly viscous mucus to build up in the affected organs, resulting in severe long-term respiratory and digestive problems. The human lungs are adapted for use in aerobic respiration by providing a thin, moist surface for gas exchange to take place between the pulmonary arteries and the external environment. For gas exchange to be effective the respiratory surface must comply with Ficks law which requires that the surface area is large, moist and thin to enhance permeability. The resulting fibrosis caused by the disease greatly affects the permeability of the lungs and hence reduces their capacity for gas exchange. Molecular mechanisms There are over 1500 types of mutation which can cause a defect in the CFTR protein, the most common of which is a deletion of phenylalanine at position 508 (à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  F508) which Is the cause of approximately two-thirds of CF cases. The mutations are categorised into six classes determined by their impact on the resulting functionality of the CFTR channels, ranging from reduced to complete non-function. Class I, II and III mutations all result in the absence or substantial reduction of functional CFTR. Class I mutations cause a complete lack of protein production due to premature stop codons arising in the genetic code whereas class II mutations produce a protein that doesnt fold properly and so is consequently degraded by the cell. In a class III mutation the lack of effective binding with ATP molecules leads to the defective regulation of CFTR and so again is classified as being non-functional. Classes IV and V still permit the development of functional CFTR albeit with reduced capacity for chloride ion transport or with reduced production of functional CFTR in general due to promoter mutations that decrease transcription [2]. Class VI mutations also produce functional CFTR although its degradation is greatly accelerated. The F508 deletion results in a class II mutation. There are four main hypotheses as to how this defective gene causes disease although it is not known whether the disease is caused by one or a combination these hypotheses. Two of these, the low volume and high salt hypotheses, provide a detailed description of the complications that arise as a result of faulty CFTR by taking into account the composition of airway surface liquid (ASL). Low volume hypothesis In the case of the low volume hypothesis it was postulated that there is little to no difference in the salt concentration of ASL between healthy people and those suffering from cystic fibrosis. This hypothesis suggests that the symptoms of cystic fibrosis are caused by a dysfunction of the CFTR gene resulting in damaged or ineffective sodium ion channels. The damage caused is ergogenic and reduces the inhibition of the ion channels leading to the excessive movement of sodium ions from the ASL into the airways. The increased concentration of positively charged sodium ions in the airways then drives the absorption of chlorine ions and water, reducing the volume of ASL and dehydrating mucus. The dehydrated mucus becomes highly viscous and the cilia present on epithelial cells which are used to aid the clearance of mucus and to increase lung surface area become compressed by the mucosal build up. This compression of cilia inhibits the clearance of mucus which then continues to build up, further reducing the lung surface area. The excess mucus can also form hypoxic niches that can harbour colonies of pseudomonas aeruginosa. Build up of mucus physically reduces the lung surface area affecting the efficiency of gas exchange. The mucus build up also increases the compression of cilia on epithelial cells which inhibits clearance by cilia and coughing. High salt hypothesis The high salt hypothesis assumes that the airway surface liquid of healthy individuals has a relatively low salt concentration when compared to the ASL of cystic fibrosis sufferers. It suggests that the symptoms of the disease are caused by the disruption or complete absence of CFTR function which causes excess sodium and chloride ions to be retained in the ASL. This increased retention of chloride ions leads to the ASL having an abnormally negatively charged composition. This abnormality impairs the activity of the bodys natural bactericidal enzymes such as lysozyme which rely on electrostatic interactions to attach to the bacterial cell walls; thus allowing bacterial infection to persist in the hypoxic niches formed within the lungs. Abnormally high inflammation It has been speculated that the defective CFTR itself may be the cause of excessive inflammation in the airways. However there is limited evidence to suggest that the defective CFTR is a cause of excessive inflammation in itself but rather that it interferes with the regulation of autophagy. Autophagy is the process by which defective proteins are degraded in order to maintain the balance between the recycling and synthesis of cellular products, for example the degradation of defective CFTR by the cells own lysosomes. Research indicates that large amounts of defective CFTR inhibits autophagy, leading to an accumulation of aggresomes which can cause inflammation in the lungs [3]. The resulting inflammation is what gives rise to the characteristic scarring of lung tissue. CFTR bind with P. Aeruginosa Chronic bacterial infection is common amongst all cystic fibrosis sufferers, specifically the bacterial species pseudomonas aeruginosa which binds readily to the CFTR protein. In healthy people the body initiates an immune response in order to fight off the infection. In cystic fibrosis suffers there is enhanced binding between p. Aeruginosa and the CFTR protein, the bacterium is also able to bind without initiating an immune response. The compromised immune response combined with reduced ability to clear mucus due to compressed cilia further increases the risk of severe infection. Symptoms Visible characteristics typical amongst suffers include a slightly meagre appearance due to inefficient absorption of nutrients and the famously salty sweat used to confirm CF diagnosis. Low levels of oxygen in the tissues due to impaired gas exchange between the lungs and the bloodstream can cause clubbing of the fingers and toes Salty sweat The salty sweat associated with the disease like so many of its symptoms is again caused by faulty CFTR present on the sweat ducts. As sodium ions leave the sweat ducts through ion channels chloride ions follow through them through the CFTR protein channels. However, in cystic fibrosis patients dysfunctional CFTR channels prevent the outward flow of chloride ions from the sweat ducts. The resulting high chloride ion concentration in sweat ducts creates an electrochemical gradient which pulls more positively charged sodium ions into the ducts where the ions combine to form salt (NaCl). The salt is then secreted through pores in the skin resulting in very salty sweat as very little NaCl is reabsorbed. Salt sweat concentration of greater than 60mEq/L is generally considered significant enough to make a diagnosis, although further test may be required. Although poor growth can pose its own health risks the most severe symptoms are caused by the diseases capacity to cause damage to the internal organs. Endocrine CF is commonly referred to as an exocrine disorder meaning the resulting dysfunction affects glands which secrete their products through a duct to the surface of the body or of an organ, sweat glands and pancreatic ducts being an example of this. However some complications can arise in the bodys endocrine glands, glands which secrete their product directly into the bloodstream. Disorders of the endocrine glands tend to affect the secretion of hormones. Damage to the islets of langerhans within the pancreas can impair the secretion of insulin which can eventually lead to CF related diabetes. Pulmonary Lungs are the predominant source of infection, vulnerable to different species of bacteria although P. Aeruginosa becomes predominant; eventually these bacterial colonies form a biofilm which is difficult to remove with antibiotic treatments. The thickening of mucus creates environmental niches suitable for harbouring bacteria. High levels of infection result in an inflammatory response which often leads to extensive tissue damage and scarring regarded as the characteristic fibrosis of the lungs. The resulting fibrosis damages the epithelium of the lungs, making gas-exchange inefficient. Thick mucus also physically reduces the surface area Implications for other organs The lungs arent the only organs that suffer damage as a result of cystic fibrosis Diverse range of other organs affected, majority of these form a part of the alimentary system Lacking digestive enzymes in the intestines Absence of these digestive enzymes impair patients ability to breakdown and therefore digest their food. This generally results in poor growth but in extreme cases can cause severe malnutrition. Alimentary system all digestive systems The formation of cysts blocks ducts in the liver and pancreas preventing the secretion of essential digestive enzymes and hormones. Blocked ducts prevent secretion of enzymes/hormones? Mainly the pancreas which affects absorption of nutrients and can lead to poor growth in suffers Blockage of ducts in the liver New born babies can suffer from meconium ileus, an inability to pass their first faeces (meconium). The resulting ileus can cause blockages in the intestines that can cause rectal prolapse due to the strain involved in producing a bowel movement. Common associations between cases of meconium ileus and CF led to it being used as a postnatal diagnostic technique. Excess viscous mucus isnt only a problem in the lungs. Organs of the alimentary system can also be affected. Thick mucus can block pancreatic ducts preventing the secretion of vital digestive enzymes into the duodenum. The body is then unable to effectively extract nutrients from the ingested foods. Malabsorption is a common symptom of CF generally resulting in poor growth but in extreme cases can cause severe malnutrition. Fertility problems Fertility problems related to CF usually occur before birth whilst the foetus is still developing. Blocking of or complete absence of the connective tube (vas deferens) between the testes and ejaculatory ducts in males means that although they are not sterile they are unable to conceive children by traditional intercourse. In women thick mucus can cause blockages in the cervix or their ovulation cycle may be disrupted malnutrition as a result of CF related enzyme deficiencies. More than 95% of males with CF are infertile. Percentage of CF infertile source world health organisation Treatments Unfortunately there is currently no cure for CF however there are several treatments that can alleviate some of the symptoms associated with the disease, such as the use of hypertonic saline and enzyme replacement. Treatments such as gene therapy are more geared towards creating a permanent cure for CF, although at this moment in time the technology has not been perfected. Pharmacological treatments Fortunately the CFTRs are not the only chloride ion channels available on lung surface epithelium. Certain drugs can stimulate these other channels. Rcjournal. Stimulate the release of calcium or inhibit sodium channels to offset negative effects of whatever hypothesis. Hypertonic saline Major complications of CF stem from the imbalance in ion concentrations caused by the faulty CFTR gene. From this knowledge a line of treatments were developed in order to restore the ionic imbalance and hence improve the bodys ability to clear thick mucus from the lungs. The answer would need to be a sterile solution; high in salts that could be inhaled to replace the ions which werent being transported across the CFTR channels. The solution, hyper tonic saline, is a cheap and effective treatment for reducing the viscosity of mucus in the lungs. After it is inhaled the solution works by creating an osmotic gradient, drawing water into the airways, rehydrating the mucus causing blockages and reducing its viscosity hence making it easier to cleared and coughed up. Enzyme replacement Enzymes can be *injected* to restore the deficiency created by blockages of pancreatic ducts. Patients undergoing enzyme replacement therapy can expect to see improvements in growth, weight gain and general health as many illnesses arise from poor absorption of nutrients. Nutritional supplements can also be taken to replace those not being absorbed normally. Important short term treatments are giving nutritional supplements to sufferers to relieve malnourishment and promote healthy growth Nutritional plans generally involve high calorie diets rich in vitamins such as vitamin D to develop strong bones and prevent osteoporosis. Gene therapy Soon after the discovery of the defective gene in 1989 efforts were invested in finding a therapy that could target the disease at its genetic roots. Discovery of an effective method of gene therapy would open a virtual goldmine in treating not only cystic fibrosis but also other genetic diseases. One of the current gene therapy techniques for the treatment of CF involves the use of adenoviruses carrying vectors containing corrected copies of the CFTR gene. The adenoviruses carry double stranded DNA which is deposited in the nucleus of the host cell and then transcribed in the same way as the host cells own DNA. However, as this is an example of somatic gene therapy, the DNA of the adenovirus wont integrate with the host genome and the gene will not continue to be expressed after cellular division. This means the effects are not permanent and patients will require subsequent treatments to maintain the effect. There are of course risks associated with the use of viruses to incorporate functional DNA. Even though the viruses being used are non-pathogenic the presence of a foreign body can still initiate an immune response; the resulting inflammation can be dangerous for patients who are already at high risk of excessive inflammation due to immunocomprimisation. An alternative to adenoviruses are adeno-associated viruses (AAV). AAV vectors are non-pathogenic and have been shown to have a lower prevalence to neutralising antibodies when com pared to adenoviruses in vitro [4]. However they do have a relatively small genome of ~4.8 kilobases, with most gene treatments requiring the complete replacement of the viral genome. As a result of this, research is being targeted towards more effective means of gene therapy with tests being carried out with AAV and lipid-vectors. There is a trade off between the effectiveness of the method used to induce the vector. Viral vectors are more effective at integrating the vector into the host DNA compared to lipid vectors, but there is the increased risk of an immune response. Lung transplant In the most severe cases where patients are suffering from chronic infection lung transplants can be carried out where appropriate. In these cases both lungs need to be transplanted in order to prevent the new lung from being contaminated by existing bacterial populations currently present in the patient. Antibiotics Antibiotics tend to be used prophylacticaly as a pre-emptive measure for preventing infection. One common type of drugs used in treatments are macrolide antibiotics can suppress obstructive secretions in airways The macrolide antibiotics work by binding to the 50s subunit of the bacterial ribosome, thereby inhibiting protein synthesis. Conclusion The overall outlook for patients with CF has improved dramatically over the past eighty years since the first clinical recognition in the 1930s. A greater understanding of genetics has enhanced both the fields of clinical diagnostics and treatments. The future of treatments points towards gene therapy, we currently have the technology to do this but further research is needed to overcome the major obstacles such as more efficient transfer and getting the gene expression to last longer. [*http://www.who.int/genomics/public/geneticdiseases/en/index2.html#CF] http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/576200_2 http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/v12/n9/full/ncb2090.html http://www.nature.com/gt/journal/v6/n9/full/3300994a.html Figure 1. Sweat chloride concentrations related to cystic fibrosis (CF) diagnosis. Revised and reprinted by permission from Davis PB. Cystic fibrosis. Pediatr Rev 2001;22:257-264.Figure 1

Osmosis Experiment :: Papers

Osmosis Experiment Aim: The aim of this experiment is to show how osmosis works in a plant cell. Plan: Method The ways we will do this experiment is firstly by getting a beaker and put a 100ml of water in it, then get a visking tube and put it in the beaker, so we don't block the holes with natural grease on our hands. After, we will get another beaker and pour some 1% sugar solution in it. When we have done this, we get one end of the visking tube and 'ruffle' it, then we get some string and one person will tie the end of the tube, while the other person hold it. The visking tube then will go back in the water, while we get a dropper and the beaker of sugar solution. After we will use the dropper to slowly and neatly pour the 1% sugar solution in the visking tube; we will fill it up  ¾ of the way. Then again one person will tie the other end; while the other person holds the tube, so now we have both end tied- we will make sure they are no leaks. When we have done this, we will take the beaker with water and visking tube to a weighing machine; we will then take the visking tube out and measure the mass of it (in grams). After, we will put the visking tube back in the beaker and leave it there for about 20 minutes. When the time is up, we will measure the mass of the visking tube again (in grams). During the experiment, we will observe the visking tube during the 20 minutes and see if the mass has increased or decreased at the end of the experiment. This experiment could be repeated, but using a 10% sugar solution, which would have helped us differ the different mass increase or decrease in both of them. We were planning to do this one to, but unfortunately-due to fewer supplies of visking tubes we could only

Example Exam Paper

CONFIDENTIAL LG/OCT2008/BEL311 UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA FINAL EXAMINATION COURSE COURSE CODE EXAMINATION TIME ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES BEL311 OCTOBER 2008 3 HOURS INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES 1. 2. This question paper consists of two (2) parts : PART A (13 Questions) PART B (1 Question) Answer ALL questions from all parts in the Question Paper. 3. Fill in the details below : UiTM STUDENT CARD NO. PROGRAMME/ CODE PART ENGLISH LANGUAGE GROUP NAME OF LECTURER 4. 5. You are allowed to bring in your English-English dictionary.Please check to make sure that this examination pack consists of: i) the Question Paper DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO This examination paper consists of 13 printed pages  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 2 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 PART A: READING COMPREHENSION (20 MARKS) Read the following articles and answer all the questions that follow. Article 1 – Spare the Rod? I Schools in Europe and the United Kingdom st opped using the cane to discipline delinquent youngsters following protests from parents and politicians more than 16 years ago.In Malaysia, however, the practice has never left the school grounds. Caning has always been legal in Malaysian schools. The Education Ordinance 1957 (Amended 1959) allows corporal punishments, such as caning, to be meted out by school authorities, but only to schoolboys. An Education Ministry directive issued in 1994 listed eight offences that could warrant caning: truancy, involvement in criminal activities, obscene and impolite behaviour, loitering, dishonesty, dirty appearance and vandalism. 5 IIA probe on human rights awareness among secondary school teachers, students and administrators conducted by researchers from local universities engaged by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (or SUHAKAM, its Malay acronym) revealed the regular use of the cane in schools. What the inquiry found was a gross breach of a child's rights committed by teachers and administrators alike. In their findings, out of the 5,754 students who participated in the survey, about 52 per cent of the students surveyed agreed that caning commonly happened in their schools.It took place more often in rural schools than urban ones and almost 80 per cent of the cases occurred at technical schools. 10 15 III Understandably, SUHAKAM is disheartened by the findings of its study. Commissioner and education working group chairman, Professor Chiam Heng Keng said that while SUHAKAM understands the need to discipline and punish wrongdoers, it maintains that caning is not the best corrective measure. She further added that caning only tells the child to stop whatever he has done. In other words, it does not address the underlying problem. She stressed that teachers must work with parents to get to the root of the problem.She added that harsh punishments tend to reinforce a child's negative attitudes. However, 20 25  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL C ONFIDENTIAL 3 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 she cautioned that we should not confuse upholding the rights of the child with indulging the child. IV Although many experts argue that caning is outdated, even primitive, many educators defended it as a way to stem rising violence in schools. Eighty per cent of teachers agreed that persistent troublemakers in school should be caned. The SUHAKAM probe found that 79. 5 per cent of teachers and 71. per cent of administrators agreed that persistent offenders should be caned though Malaysia had signed the Declaration of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1995. In addition, they also revealed that girls were not spared the rod. Almost seven per cent of female respondents from girl schools had reported this. Under the present Child Act 2001, only boys between the ages of 10 and 18 may be subjected to corporal punishment. 30 35 V Last October, the Ministry of Education allowed teachers other than 40 headmasters, principals and those involved in disciplining students to use the cane.The decision followed the rise in cases of assault on teachers and gangsterism in schools. It was recommended that only certain teachers be empowered to cane students. Ideally, they should have at least 10 years of teaching experience and be married with children. 45 VI The secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, Lok Yim Pheng, admitted that there are other ways of disciplining a student. These include imposing fines, sending students to detention class and making parents sign a pledge to ensure that their children do not misbehave.However, if push comes to shove, then principals and headmasters should use the rod professionally and with compassion. She reiterated that even so, caning should be the penalty of last resort, reserved for absolute hardcore cases and should never be done publicly. 50 The Star, July 15, 2007  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 4 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 QUESTION 1 State whether the following statements are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). a) Caning troublemakers in school is considered a form of maltreatment by most teachers. In the survey carried out by SUHAKAM, both boys and girls were caned.When it comes to caning, the Education Ordinance 1957 clearly contradicts the Child Act 2001. More than half of the respondents in the survey had been caned by their teachers before. (2 marks) QUESTION 2 What do the following words mean as used in the passage? a) ‘breach' (line 14) b) ‘disheartened' (line 20) c) ‘underlying' (line 25) d) ‘stem'(line 31) ___ _ _ _ _ (2 marks) QUESTION 3 Circle your answer for the question below. According to teachers, the following are reasons they support caning in schools except a) Students who repeatedly cause trouble should be caned. b) Caning is one way to prevent violence in schools. ) Caning reduces assault cases and gangsterism in schools. d) Caning has the least negative effect on students. (1 ma rk) b) c) d)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 5 LG/OCT 2008/BEL311 QUESTION 4 Why is caning not the best corrective measure according to SUHAKAM? Give two (2) reasons. (1 mark) QUESTION 5 According to Professor Chiam Heng Keng, what is the best way to overcome discipline problems in schools? (1 mark) QUESTION 6 What is the main idea of paragraph VI? (1 mark)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi IMARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 6 LG/OCT2008/BEL311QUESTION 7 According to the secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, only â€Å"if push comes to shove, then teachers and headmasters should use the rod professionally and with compassion† (lines 49-51). Under what conditions did she recommend this? List two (2) conditions. (2 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 7 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 Article 2 – Caning Does More Harm Than Good I The Women's Centre for Change Penang (WCC) notes with gr eat concern the recent proposal to extend caning as a method to handle discipline problems involving schoolgirls.We caution against the use of the cane on children regardless of gender. II The caning of a child is in direct contravention of the Convention on the Rights of The Child (CRC), of which Malaysia is a signatory. Caning contravenes Article 19 of the CRC. Under the article, the governments must protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for his or her care. Furthermore, corporal punishment is a form of child abuse. There is no evidence to suggest that this method can improve a child's learning ability. 5 10 III Caning may not be the most effective way to deal with problems of indiscipline.While it may bring about the immediate compliance of the child, the issues of physical harm as well as emotional damage to the child need to be taken into consideration. Corporal punishment can lead to increased antisocial behaviour, aggression and chr onic defiance. Furthermore, inflicting severe punishment and using mental humiliation on children have adverse effects such as loss of selfesteem and personality changes with ramifications on adult life. The use of the cane can be abused, especially when frustrations are vented. However, teachers who are fed up with the rising cases of indiscipline in schools may say caning is justified. 0 15 IV The social consequence of caning is that it sends a clear message that violence is an acceptable form of behaviour in society, that is, it is all right to use violence and inflict pain to teach a child something. This goes against all efforts to reduce the level of violence in our society. V Caning may seem to be a quick fix solution to misbehaviour, but it fails to address the root causes of the problem. The causes involve an inability to fit into a rigid, examination-orientated education system, the negative effects of 25  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 8 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 overty, the need to challenge boundaries, insufficient guidance from the home, dysfunctional family situations, negative influences from the neighbourhood environment, among others. 30 VI WCC would therefore urge the Ministry of Education to: 1. Work with other agencies and community groups, for example those dealing with the health, welfare and rights of the child, so as to provide support where needed, to both students and school authorities; 2. Consult with experts in various fields to work out alternative forms of discipline which include behaviour modification programmes that help enhance positive behaviour of students; 5 3. Support school teachers by reducing the number of students per class, having teacher assistants, providing skills training in class control and handling difficult students, having access to highly trained counselors and child psychologists; 40 4. Have a more balanced education system which moves away from an over-emphasis on examinations towards a more holistic education which cultivates the child's other potentials. Prema E. Devaraj, Programme Director, Women's Centre for Change, Penang. The Star, December 3, 2007  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARACONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 9 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 QUESTION 8 What does Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of The Child state? (1 mark) QUESTION 9 Caning as a measure of instilling discipline among students can lead to emotional damage. List four (4) kinds of damage. (2 marks) QUESTION 10 â€Å"The social consequence of caning is that it sends a clear message that violence is an acceptable form of behaviour in society, that is, it is all right to use violence and inflict pain to teach a child something. † (lines 21-23) What does Prema Devaraj mean by the above sentence? 2 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 10 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 QUESTION 11 How can the â€Å"negative influences from the neighbourhood environment† (lines 29-30) cause students to misbehave in school? (2 marks) QUESTION 12 List two (2) recommendations made by the Women's Centre for Change to the Ministry of Education on how to help teachers in the classroom. (1 mark) QUESTION 13 The education system should move away from an over-emphasis on examinations and become more holistic in order to develop the students' other potentials or talents.State two (2) ways the education system can develop the students' other potentials or talents. (2 marks)  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 11 LG/OCT2008/BEL311 PART B : WRITING (20 MARKS) QUESTION 1 You are a school counselor and you are asked to give a talk to a group of teachers. Based on these two articles â€Å"Spare the Rod? † and â€Å"Caning Does More Harm Than Good†, you have developed the following opinion about the issue: â€Å"Caning should not be allowed in schools today† Using the information from the two articles, write a spe ech of about 300 words to support your opinion.Include three main ideas with supporting details for your talk. (You must use information that you have gathered from reading the two articles but marks will be deducted if you copy sentences from the articles). In-text citations and proper acknowledgement of references used must also be included.  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 12 LG/OCT 2008/BEL311  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL 13 LG/OCT 2008/BEL311 END OF QUESTION PAPER  © Hak Cipta Universiti Teknologi MARA CONFIDENTIAL

What You Should Know About Travel Writing

What You Should Know About Travel Writing Travel writing is a form of creative nonfiction in which the narrators encounters with foreign places serve as the dominant subject. Also called  travel literature. All travel writing- because it is writing- is made in the sense of being constructed, says Peter Hulme, but travel writing cannot be made up without losing its designation (quoted by  Tim Youngs in  The Cambridge Introduction to Travel Writing, 2013). Notable contemporary travel writers in English include  Paul Theroux, Susan Orlean, Bill Bryson,  Pico Iyer,  Rory MacLean,  Mary Morris, Dennison Berwick,  Jan Morris, Tony Horwitz,  Jeffrey Tayler, and Tom Miller, among countless others. Examples of Travel Writing By the Railway Side by Alice MeynellLists and Anaphora in Bill Brysons Neither Here Nor ThereLists in William Least Heat-Moons Place DescriptionLondon From a Distance by Ford Madox FordNiagara Falls by Rupert BrookeNights in London by Thomas BurkeOf Trave, by Francis BaconOf Travel by Owen FellthamRochester by Nathaniel Hawthorne Examples and Observations The best writers in the field [of travel writing] bring to it an indefatigable curiosity, a fierce intelligence that enables them to interpret, and a generous heart that allows them to connect. Without resorting to invention, they make ample use of their imaginations. . . .The travel book itself has a similar grab bag quality. It incorporates the characters and plot line of a novel, the descriptive power of poetry, the substance of a history lesson, the discursiveness of an essay, and the- often inadvertent- self-revelation of a memoir. It revels in the particular while occasionally illuminating the universal. It colors and shapes and fills in gaps. Because it results from displacement, it is frequently funny. It takes readers for a spin (and shows them, usually, how lucky they are). It humanizes the alien. More often than not it celebrates the unsung. It uncovers truths that are stranger than fiction. It gives eyewitness proof of life’s infinite possibilities.(Thomas Swick, N ot a Tourist. The Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2010) Narrators and NarrativesThere exists at the center of travel books like [Graham] Greenes Journey Without Maps or [V.S.] Naipauls An Area of Darkness a mediating consciousness that monitors the journey, judges, thinks, confesses, changes, and even grows. This narrator, so central to what we have come to expect in modern travel writing, is a relatively new ingredient in travel literature, but it is one that irrevocably changed the genre. . . .Freed from strictly chronological, fact-driven narratives, nearly all contemporary travel writers include their own dreams and memories of childhood as well as chunks of historical data and synopses of other travel books. Self reflexivity and instability, both as theme and style, offer the writer a way to show the effects of his or her own presence in a foreign country and to expose the arbitrariness of truth and the absence of norms.(Casey Blanton, Travel Writing: The Self and the World. Routledge, 2002)V.S. Naipaul on Making InquiriesMy books ha ve to be called travel writing, but that can be misleading because in the old days travel writing was essentially done by men describing the routes they were taking. . . . What I do is quite different. I travel on a theme. I travel to make an inquiry. I am not a journalist. I am taking with me the gifts of sympathy, observation, and curiosity that I developed as an imaginative writer. The books I write now, these inquiries, are really constructed narratives.(V.S. Naipaul, interview with Ahmed Rashid, Death of the Novel. The Observer, Feb. 25, 1996) Paul Theroux on the Travelers Mood- Most travel narratives- perhaps all of them, the classics anyway- describe the miseries and splendors of going from one remote place to another. The quest, the getting there, the difficulty of the road is the story; the journey, not the arrival, matters, and most of the time the traveler- the traveler’s mood, especially- is the subject of the whole business. I have made a career out of this sort of slogging and self-portraiture, travel writing as diffused autobiography; and so have many others in the old, laborious look-at-me way that informs travel writing.(Paul Theroux, The Soul of the South. Smithsonian Magazine, July-August 2014)-  Most visitors to coastal Maine know it in the summer. In the nature of visitation, people show up in the season. The snow and ice are a bleak memory now on the long warm days of early summer, but it seems to me that to understand a place best, the visitor needs to see figures in a landscape in all seasons. M aine is a joy in the summer. But the soul of Maine is more apparent in the winter. You see that the population is actually quite small, the roads are empty, some of the restaurants are closed, the houses of the summer people are dark, their driveways unplowed. But Maine out of season is unmistakably a great destination: hospitable, good-humored, plenty of elbow room, short days, dark nights of crackling ice crystals.Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. Boats are repaired, traps fixed, nets mended. â€Å"I need the winter to rest my body,† my friend the lobsterman told me, speaking of how he suspended his lobstering in December and did not resume until April. . . .(Paul Theroux, The Wicked Coast. The Atlantic, June 2011) Susan Orlean on the Journey- To be honest, I view all stories as journeys. Journeys are the essential text of the human experience- the journey from birth to death, from innocence to wisdom, from ignorance to knowledge, from where we start to where we end. There is almost no piece of important writing- the Bible, the Odyssey, Chaucer, Ulysses- that isnt explicitly or implicitly the story of a journey. Even when I dont actually go anywhere for a particular story, the way I report is to immerse myself in something I usually know very little about, and what I experience is the journey toward a grasp of what Ive seen.(Susan Orlean, Introduction to My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Whos Been Everywhere. Random House, 2004)- When I went to Scotland for a friends wedding last summer, I didnt plan on firing a gun. Getting into a fistfight, maybe; hurling insults about badly dressed bridesmaids, of course; but I didnt expect to shoot or get shot at. The wedding was taking place in a medieval castle in a speck of a village called Biggar. There was not a lot to do in Biggar, but the caretaker of the castle had skeet-shooting gear, and the male guests announced that before the rehearsal dinner they were going to give it a go. The women were advised to knit or shop or something. I dont know if any of us women actually wanted to join them, but we didnt want to be left out, so we insisted on coming along. . . .(Susan Orlean, opening paragraph of Shooting Party. The New Yorker, September 29, 1999) Jonathan Raban on the Open House- As a literary form, travel writing is a notoriously raffish open house where different genres are likely to end up in the bed. It accommodates the private diary, the essay, the short story, the prose poem, the rough note and polished table talk with indiscriminate hospitality. It freely mixes narrative and discursive writing.(Jonathan Raban, For Love Money: Writing - Reading - Travelling 1968-1987. Picador, 1988)- Travel in its purest form requires no certain destination, no fixed itinerary, no advance reservation and no return ticket, for you are trying to launch yourself onto the haphazard drift of things, and put yourself in the way of whatever changes the journey may throw up. Its when you miss the one flight of the week, when the expected friend fails to show, when the pre-booked hotel reveals itself as a collection of steel joists stuck into a ravaged hillside, when a stranger asks you to share the cost of a hired car to a town whose name youv e never heard, that you begin to travel in earnest.(Jonathan Raban, Why Travel? Driving Home: An American Journey. Pantheon, 2011) The Joy of Travel WritingSome travel writers can become serious to the point of lapsing into good ol American puritanism. . . . What nonsense! I have traveled much in Concord. Good travel writing can be as much about having a good time as about eating grubs and chasing drug lords. . . . [T]ravel is for learning, for fun, for escape, for personal quests, for challenge, for exploration, for opening the imagination to other lives and languages.(Frances Mayes, Introduction to The Best American Travel Writing 2002. Houghton, 2002)

Ionization Energy Definition and Trend

Ionization Energy Definition and Trend Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion. The first or initial ionization energy or Ei of an atom or molecule is the energy required to remove one mole of electrons from one mole of isolated gaseous atoms or ions. You may think of ionization energy as a measure of the difficulty of removing electron or the strength by which an electron is bound. The higher the ionization energy, the more difficult it is to remove an electron. Therefore, ionization energy is in indicator of reactivity. Ionization energy is important because it can be used to help predict the strength of chemical bonds. Also Known As: ionization potential, IE, IP, ΔH ° Units: Ionization energy is reported in units of kilojoule per mole (kJ/mol) or electron volts (eV). Ionization Energy Trend in the Periodic Table Ionization, together with atomic and ionic radius, electronegativity, electron affinity, and metallicity, follows a trend on the periodic table of elements. Ionization energy generally increases moving from left to right across an element period (row). This is because the atomic radius generally decreases moving across a period, so there is a greater effective attraction between the negatively charged electrons and positively-charged nucleus. Ionization is at its minimum value for the alkali metal on the left side of the table and a maximum for the noble gas on the far right side of a period. The noble gas has a filled valence shell, so it resists electron removal.Ionization decreases moving top to bottom down an element group (column). This is because the principal quantum number of the outermost electron increases moving down a group. There are more protons in atoms moving down a group (greater positive charge), yet the effect is to pull in the electron shells, making them smaller and screening outer electrons from the attractive force of the nucleus. More electron shells are added moving down a group, so the outermost electron becomes increasingly distance from the nucleus. First, Second, and Subsequent Ionization Energies The energy required to remove the outermost valence electron from a neutral atom is the first ionization energy. The second ionization energy is that required to remove the next electron, and so on. The second ionization energy is always higher than the first ionization energy. Take, for example, an alkali metal atom. Removing the first electron is relatively easy because its loss gives the atom a stable electron shell. Removing the second electron involves a new electron shell that is closer and more tightly bound to the atomic nucleus. The first ionization energy of hydrogen may be represented by the following equation: H(g) → H(g) e- ΔH °Ã‚   -1312.0 kJ/mol Exceptions to the Ionization Energy Trend If you look at a chart of first ionization energies, two exceptions to the trend are readily apparent. The first ionization energy of boron is less than that of beryllium and the first ionization energy of oxygen is less than that of nitrogen. The reason for the discrepancy is due to the electron configuration of these elements and Hunds rule. For beryllium, the first ionization potential electron comes from the 2s orbital, although ionization of boron involves a 2p electron. For both nitrogen and oxygen, the electron comes from the 2p orbital, but the spin is the same for all 2p nitrogen electrons, while there is a set of paired electrons in one of the 2p oxygen orbitals. Key Points Ionization energy is the minimum energy required to remove an electron from an atom or ion in the gas phase.The most common units of ionization energy are kilojoules per mole (kJ/M) or electron volts (eV).Ionization energy exhibits periodicity on the periodic table.The general trend is for ionization energy to increase moving from left to right across an element period. Moving left to right across a period, atomic radius decreases, so electrons are more attracted to the (closer) nucleus.The general trend is for ionization energy to decrease moving from top to bottom down a periodic table group. Moving down a group, a valence shell is added. The outermost electrons are further from the positive-charged nucleus, so they are easier to remove. References F. Albert Cotton and Geoffrey Wilkinson, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry (5th ed., John Wiley 1988) p.1381.Lang, Peter F.; Smith, Barry C. Ionization Energies of Atoms and Atomic Ions. Journal of Chemical Education. 80 (8).